Winterborne Kingston consists of Kingston, which is two thirds of the western area of the parish, and Turberville (later called Abbots Court Farm) to the east. Still further east is the hamlet of Winterborne Muston. The River Winterborne which flows through the village is a tributary of the River Stour.[4] As the name implies, the river tends to flow only in winter. Kingston means the King held land here and bourne is an old Dorset word meaning River, thus the name of the village can be translated as Kings Land by the Winter River. Amenities in the village include the Greyhound Inn, the Church of St Nicholas, The Dunbury Academy School, the village hall and a recreational ground (including a children's playpark).
Dorset historically had many cottage industries related to the clothing trade. Button making (buttony) developed in the 1680s in the villages with Blandford the main centre. The 1851 census shows that many of the women in Winterborne Kingston were button makers.[citation needed] Most of the men in this area worked as agricultural labourers. The farms in this area were small dairy farms, which supplied dairy products to the London markets. There were also limekilns, which were an important part of the agricultural scene as they produced lime for spreading on the land. Barley was one of the main crops, and was used in the production of malt for the brewing of beer in Dorsetshire and London Breweries. Other trades in the area were carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths and shoemakers.
The chemist and botanist Humphry Bowen (1929–2001), author of The Flora of Dorset (2000), lived near the village during his retirement when he wrote the Flora.[7][8]
