WIMBORN-MINSTER, (Dorset) 16 m. from Dorchester, 82 cm. 98 mm. from London, is bet. the r. Stour and the Allen, and had
the name of Minster from its mon. wherein the West-Saxon K. Etheldred was buried, who was slain by the Danes, anno 872.
This is the largest p. in the Co. has a noble Ch. built cathedral-wise, 180 feet long, with a fine tower in the middle,
thereon stood a spire, (taller, they say, than that of Salisbury) which in the last century fell down, and another tower
at the W. end. The two towers are each about 90 feet high. Here is the only choir in the Co. to which bel. 4 singing men,
6 boys, with an organist. A very fine fr. sc. was founded here by Margaret Countess of Richmond, mother to Henry VII. the
stipend of which Q. Eliz. augmented, and annexed it to the foundation. 'Tis a populous but poor place, chiefly maintained
by knitting stockings. Here is a Mt. on F. Fairs on Good-F. June 29, and Sept. 3, and a cattle Mt. begins here on Good-F.
which lasts 7 weeks. Bet. this and Cranborn, is a wood called Harley; from which, and these two Ts. ariseth this proverb,
" That when Harley is hareless, Cranborn " whoreless, and Wimborn poorless, " the world will be at an end." This T. is
said to have been a winter quarter for one of the Roman legions, whose summer station was at Badbury-Hill, 2 m. off, and
that they adorned it with many magnificent buildings. This T. was once a hamlet to the manor of Kingston-Lacy.