Winster is a vert attractive little village on the A5074 Bowness to Levens road, just two miles from the active village of Bowness.
A winding lane amongst grand old chestnuts and beeches brings us to a spot too easily missed by travellers today. On the Lancashire border, it is just a group of quaint houses with a with inn, a tiny school, and a small church among the trees. In springtime it is lost in a glory of apple and damson blossom, in summer it is a rare corner of wild flowers and here about the gateposts are slabs of stone pierced by five holes with bars through...though nobody seems to know why.
At one time the River Winster formed the Westmorland/Lancashire county boundary.
One of Winsters most notable characters would have been Jonas Barber, the famous clockmaker. During the period 1682-1720 he worked from Brime House and was later succeeded by his son and subsequent grandsons in the work. Jonas barber 9the third) died in 1802 leaving all his clock making materials to henry Phillipson who moved to Ulverston. As you can imagine, every house of importance had at least one of his 'grand-father' clocks.
At the same house in later years too lived William Pearson, a poet and naturalist who was never happier than when he was showing Wordsworth the loveliness of this lonely valley.
Winster's history spans many centuries and first records of it go back to 1170. The first church here was built in the late 16th century but since then has been replaced by the current Holy Trinity Church, consecrated in 1875.
Winster is without fear of argument an unpoilt village of scattered white-washed stone cottages, the focal point being the 'The Brown Horse' pub...itself dating back to the early 1800s.
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