Wimborne Minster

Wimborne Minster is a small market town in East Dorset and the name of the Church in the town. On weekends and national holidays, the popular town crier can be seen in the main square and around the Minster.

Wimborne Minster Church
This is a Saxon Church, with Norman and Gothic architecture. It is famed for its chained library and the tombs of King Ethelred, the brother of Alfred the Great, as well as the tombs of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his duchess, the maternal grandparents of King Henry VII of England. This is made of Dorset Limestone and New Forest Stone to keep it strong.

Wimborne Model Town
The model town is one of the largest and longest established model towns in England. It depicts Wimborne at the time the model was made, in the 1950s. It is at 1/10 scale, resulting in the model of the Minster being several feet high. The model shop windows accurately show the goods which the real shops were selling at the time. The exhibition also includes a model railway based on Thomas the Tank Engine, which was opened by Christopher Awdry, and expanded in 2014.

Main photo © Copyright Philip Halling