[4] In 1086 in the Domesday Book Winterborne Whitechurch was recorded as Wintreborne;[5] it had 3 households, 1.5 ploughlands and 6 acres (2.4 hectares) of meadow.

[6] Medieval settlement remains, formerly part of Whitechurch, lie on either side of the River Winterborne, south of the present village.

The change probably took place over a long period of time but it is likely to have been accelerated in 1752 when the road became a turnpike; even now the process is not complete since West Farm and cottages at Lower Street still represent the former layout.

The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, has a chancel dating to around 1200, a 14th-century crossing and 15th-century south chapel and central tower.

He was imprisoned for not using the Book of Common Prayer and ejected in 1662, delivering his farewell sermon to a weeping audience on 17 August that year.