By the end of the saxon era, Milborne Port had become an important settlement - certainly important enough that, during the reigns of Ethelred and Canute, it possessed a mint.

Occupation of the area before the arrival of the Saxons, even before the Roman occupation, is evidenced by the remains of a prehistoric camp just to the east of the outlying hamlet Milborne Wick.

The Domesday Book
At the time of William the Conqueror's Domesday Survey of 1086/7, Milborne Port was recorded as a royal manor, as it had been during the time of the Confessor. It possessed six mills which paid 77 shillings and six pence and a market. 56 burgesses of the manor paid 20 shillings. The Count of Mortain and St Edward's Church also held possessions in Milborne Port.

The remains of a medieval cross stand in the centre of the village

The mills, which rightly gave the village its name, also contributed greatly to its medieval prosperity. At the time of William I's Domesday Book of 1087, no less than six watermills were recorded here along little river Gascoinge. They served the woollen, flax and hosiery industries which were the mainstay of the village's economy before the arrival of the leather industry in the guise of saddle, boot and shoe making.

The gloving industry arrived at Milborne Port on a large scale around 1810 and took the place of the already declining flax industry, an industry which had survived since before the Dark Ages, but died out completely only a few years later.

Whitmore Bacon Ltd - the Tannery (Nov 2002)

In the third millenium, the gloving industry has all but died out, save for a few tiny pockets of stubborn resistance. The leather industry which has been here for centuries is still represented by the extensive works of Whitmore Bacon Ltd, tanners, besides the river which powered the old watermills. But as the fourth year of the new millenium approached, even this vestige employing [[?????]] is threatened.

Milborne Port. Is it a town? Is it a village? Thousands of motorists who pass along the busy A30, of which the High Street is part, see it as just another bottleneck with some quaint houses to be negotiated as hastily as possible. Perhaps they notice the Old School and Ven House.

The Town Hall in the High Street from North Street

It possess a Town Hall, as befits its standing as a borough. It possesses a Guildhall. Yet it also possesses a 'Village Hall'. Incorporated as a borough, and as such, Milborne Port would have enjoyed rights and privileges which its townsfolk of old would have been proud of and guarded with the utmost jealously. Thus we should perhaps, rightfully, call it a town. But, straying off the High Street, the busy A30, or best taking the place in on foot, it retains very much the atmosphere of a village. Perhaps then, we should acknowledge this by calling it a village. It appears that we are left with a personal choice.

Perhaps we should be mindful of the fact that, as we read this short history, tommorow's history of Milborne Port is being made today and the actions of its townsfolk, villagers (as you will), visitors, those who just drive through it, those who's decisions impinge upon it whether at local, county, national or European level, will all shape its future.

A walk through Milborne Port, from Newtown in the west to Kingsbury's old mill will reward the explorer with much that it has to offer. For those who wish to explore the village, or browse through its many treasures, a separate page is being prepared and will be available shortly.

In the 1920s and '30s, long before the advent of supermarkets and superstores, Milbrone Port counted approximately sixty to seventy businesses and shops - and they were the life blood of the place. The village still has a very impressive variety of good quality shops and businesses - please support them whenever you can to ensure that the village remains the thriving, active and friendly place it is now. A directory of local businesses is available if you > click here < or on the 'Milborne Port Directory' of the green side-menu on any page connected with the village and click on 'Goods & Services'.

Medieval Milborne Port
Roads of Milborne Port   (History)

Modern Milborne Port forms a finger of Somerset which encroaches southwards into Dorset which county surrounds it on three sides. The parishes to the west (and north of Sherborne) were in Somerset until nearly the end of the 19th century when they were transferred to Dorset beacuse of the unusual provisions for relief of the poor which prevailed at the time;