Silton

For other uses, see Silton (disambiguation).

Silton is a small village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated in the Blackmore Vale four miles (six kilometres) northwest of Gillingham. In the 2011 census, the civil parish had 57 households and a population of 123.^[1]

Silton
Parish church of St Nicholas, Silton
Silton Location within Dorset
Population	123
OS grid reference	ST783293
Unitary authority	Dorset
Ceremonial county	Dorset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Gillingham
Postcode district	SP8
Police	Dorset
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	North Dorset
List of places UK England Dorset 51.0631°N 2.3127°W / 51.0631; -2.3127

In 1086, Silton was recorded in the Domesday Book as Seltone;^[2] it had 16 households, 11.5 ploughlands, 28 acres (11 hectares) of meadow and 4 mills. It was in the hundred of Gillingham and the tenant-in-chief was William of Falaise.^[3] This original settlement was near the church, on a low ridge between the River Stour and a minor tributary to the southwest.^[4]

Silton was for many years the country residence of Sir Hugh Wyndham (1602–1684), whose memorial by the sculptor Jan van Nost is in the parish church of St Nicholas. Wyndham's Oak, an historic tree named after Wyndham, stands nearby.^[5]

Henry Harris farmed at Manor Farm in Silton, and represented the parish on the Shaftesbury Rural District Council from 1910-13. The Harris family still farms at Manor Farm today.