WELCOME TO WINSHAM!
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Whether you are just a visitor,
or coming to Winsham to live, you are sure of a friendly welcome. It’s
that sort of place. Over a thousand years old, it is recorded in the
Doomsday Book, and there are plenty of links to be found to both its
Saxon and Norman heritage.
Winsham is its original name, but then the Saxon pronunciation probably involved a soft ‘s’
rather than the present ‘sh’. Or so we are told, by people who know
about these things.
The parish that bears its name covers about 12 sq
miles; as a rough guide it is on the southern most tip of
Somerset, bounded to the north by Cricket St. Thomas , to the east by
the River Axe and Dorset, on the
western side is the B3167 (following the site of the old Roman road-The
Fosse Way).
About seven hundred and fifty people live in the
parish, in some 320 households; about 80 % live in the village.
The village is fortunate in having a good pub, The Bell, which also serves excellent food; it also has a 13th C. Church, St. Stephen's, a United Reformed Chapel, and Primary and pre-school, a village meeting place-The Jubilee Hall. It also has an excellent community owned village shop (open seven days a week) and post office, a football club, a community club under re-construction as well as a well-equipped village green, with public seating and play equipment for the kids.
That’s just the start of it!
One of the
go-ahead aspects of living in Winsham is that, by and large, it has good
internet and mobile phone connections. If this is important to you, it
is always a good idea to check a specific location for yourself. Some
low level roads, close to the river, to the south and
east are also prone to minor flooding in exceptionally wet weather.
Nothing serious or long lasting, but if this
is important to you, check it out.
In response to the good internet connections, the Parish is served by ‘ Winsham on the Web’, a network of facilities which is outstanding. Use of these facilities will provide you with the ability to find answers to questions you may have.
In addition to Winsham on the Web, the Joint Parish Magazine is published in print form each month, in conjunction with the adjoining parishes of Thorncombe and Cricket St. Thomas. Contact Sandy Wells on 01460 30579
 Winsham on the Web-the essential guide to Winsham internet services |
The idea first appeared in 2004, when Winsham Parish Web Site was started as a partner to the Winsham Web Museum, which was launched, pre-broadband, two years earlier in 2002. It now encompasses a group of on-line resources that provide a wide range of information relating to the Parish of Winsham, in different forms and styles.
Smartphone, Tablet, Laptop and Desk-top equipment are now part of everyday life, and 'Winsham on the Web' caters for all, demonstrating a lively approach to on-line rural community communications, for the benefit of many.
Winsham on the Web currently has five components: Winsham Parish Council Web Site-Winsham Parish Web Site-Winsham Web Museum-Winsham E-Letter and The Winsham Community Page(Facebook)
They have a common objective of informing readers of what is going on in Winsham, and encouraging the spirit of community. Each have their own followers, due to their contrasting styles and type of content, but with extensive overlap in readership.
Winsham Parish Council Web Site-www.winshamparishcouncil.org.uk
This site has been created in response to a statutory responsibility placed upon the Parish Council to publish detailed information to comply with new transparency requirements introduced in 2015. It carries detailed information about your Parish Councillors, their declared pecuniary interests and contact details, and comes at a time of potentially great change in local government.
It also provides access to minutes and agendas. Details of adopted policies and the agreed Code of Conduct can also be viewed, along with accounting information. And much more.
The list is long but can be easily explored using the menu tabs at the top of each web page.
Winsham Parish Web Site-www.winsham.org.uk
This website is large, and provides rapid access to information on:
Win
sham Shop and Post Office opening hours-The
Bell-Waste Collection and disposal services- Local Medical
Services-Neighbourhood Watch information of domestic
security and Covid -19 - St. Stephen's- Jubilee Hall- parish
organisations-care and services for the elderly and infirm- local bus
service- local suppliers of goods and services, and many other items of
local interest, including information on the many social organisations,
groups and clubs, and regular events, such as the biennial Winsham
Street Fair. Also links to South Somerset District Council and national
organisations of interest to some.
Only by browsing the site will demonstrate how much information is easily accessible
Launched in 2004 as Broadband became available in the village, the Winsham Parish Web Site it soon became effective as the quickest way of providing information to the Parish. Previously Notice Boards and the Joint Parish Magazine and word of mouth were the only means of delivering information, local, social or otherwise. To-day, Winsham Parish Web site carries a vast range of generally reliable information about most aspects of life relevant to the parish. It also carries 'Market Place' used by local businesses as a method of communicating with the on-line residents of Winsham.All the major village resources are represented on the web site, often having their own dedicated area ( portal pages), or by the provision of links to their own web site.
The wide use of photographs also helps report on recent past events. After a period of time, if considered significant, they are transferred to the Winsham Web Museum.
Winsham Web Museum-www.winshamwebmuseum.co.uk
Launched in 2002 after eighteen months of preparatory work this was the UK's first museum site to exist solely in cyber sp
ace. Remarkably this
was done at a time before Broadband was available in the parish, and
everything was done at dial-up speeds! In the years that have
passed, there have been thousands of visitors to the site, which is also
being permanently archived by the British Library.It seeks to entertain and inform. It covers the thousand years of village history, from the time of Winsham's Saxon roots (although a settlement probably existed centuries before, in pre-Roman times). It has no pretensions to be an academic work. It records information from hopefully reliable sources as it receives it, much anecdotal, some speculative, although it does contain a lot of documented information as well. For example, it carries records of Parish Council meetings since it was formed at the end of 1894
It also takes the view that history began yesterday, so it also covers many relatively recent events.
It is a large site, but easily navigable. It takes many hours to explore thoroughly, but equally rewarding is a short visit to explore just one topic. It contains over a thousand pictures.
Winsham E-Letter ( for current edition use link from Winsham Parish Web Site Home page above)
The Winsham e-letter was started in October 2006 to supplement the work of the Parish Web site. It is now usually published each week and is distributed free to nearly 300 subscribers by e-mail, most of whom live in the village. It has a simple format which lists coming events, supplementary information being provided by hyperlinks to the other components of 'Winsham on the Web'.
Access to the current e-letter (as a .pdf file) can also be achieved through a link from the Home Page of the Parish Web Site and the community Facebook page. For a free personal subscription-very popular, contact: john.sullivan22@btinternet.com
Winsham Facebook -The Winsham Community Page
With the development of Social Media, and the rapid growth in use of Smart phones, due in part to the recently improved signal, and tablets, many people, especially younger generations are using Facebook as their preferred method of communication. 'Winsham on the Web' has responded , and 2015 saw the introduction of its own Facebook page. It has gained rapid popularity , and represents the quickest way to move information out to the community at large. It is a 'Private Group' with some 700+ members. A Facebook App is needed.
No matter where you are, or what time it is, as long as you are on-line or have cell net access, you can keep up-to-date with what is happening in Winsham, and you can easily switch between the various communication platforms, to suit your need.
ENJOY!
08-05-2021