Luckington

Last updated

Luckington
The Post Office, Luckington.jpg
Post office, Luckington
Wiltshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Luckington
Location within Wiltshire
Population630 (in 2011) [1]
OS grid reference ST833839
Civil parish
  • Luckington
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Chippenham
Postcode district SN14
Dialling code 01666
Police Wiltshire
Fire Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
UK Parliament
Website Parish Council
List of places
UK
England
Wiltshire
51°33′14″N2°14′31″W / 51.554°N 2.242°W / 51.554; -2.242

Luckington is a village and civil parish in the southern Cotswolds, in north-west Wiltshire, England, about 6+12 miles (10 km) west of Malmesbury. The village is on the B4040 road linking Malmesbury and Chipping Sodbury. The parish is on the county border with Gloucestershire and includes the village of Alderton and the hamlet of Brook End.

Contents

Geography

The Cotswolds are designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) which means it is recognised as containing some of Britain's finest countryside. As such it is protected as a special landscape of national importance. The area covers 790 square miles, of which some 80% is farmland. The region is delineated by the belt of rich limestone – the source of building materials for cottages, fine buildings and churches. The limestone Cotswold stone in the northern Cotswolds is a rich honey coloured brown which gradually grades creamier towards the south at Luckington.

Badminton House is just across the county border, about 1+34 miles (2.8 km) southwest of Luckington village. Parkland of the Badminton estate extends a short distance into Luckington parish. [2]

In a valley to the south of the village, seasonal springs are the source of the Bristol Avon. The Avon, from Luckington, passes through Malmesbury and Chippenham towards Bath and Bristol. The 17th-century writer John Aubrey was probably referring to one of these springs when he wrote: "In this village is a fine spring called Hancock's-well… It cures the itch and Scabbe; it hath done much good to the eies," and again the editor Jackson adds: "Hancock's well is still resorted to for the cure of sick dogs, bad legs and the like". [3] J H P Pafford et al. [4] tell us that at the time of writing the well still had the reputation of being good for the eyes. Hancock's well still flows strongly in its stone culvert down to the river close by.

History

Ordnance Survey map, 1817-1830 series Luckington from OS 1817- 1830 series map.jpg
Ordnance Survey map, 1817–1830 series

Evidence of Neolithic settlement includes Giant's Cave, a chambered long barrow in the west of the parish. [5] The Fosse Way Roman road forms part of the parish boundary in the southeast. Five roads meet at Luckington, principally the former Oxford-Bristol road via Malmesbury and Sherston. [6]

The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded two manors with 21 households at Lochintone and two manors with 15 households at Aldritone. [7] [8] From 1141 until the 14th century, the manor of Luckington was held by the Earls of Hereford; [6] from the 17th century until the early 19th it was owned by a Fitzherbert family, who enlarged Luckington Court c.1700. [9]

Alderton was acquired by the Montagu family of Lackham, then bought in 1827 by Joseph Neeld. When the estate was sold in 1966, most was bought by the Duke of Beaufort. [6]

A school was built in Alderton at Joseph Neeld's expense in 1844, some materials coming from the renovation of St Giles' church. In 1858 there were 20–30 children. The school closed in 1923, with pupils transferred to Luckington. [10] [11]

A National School was built in Luckington in 1874, with two classrooms. This school continues as Luckington Community School. [12]

A Primitive Methodist chapel was built in Luckington in 1903 in "tin tabernacle" style, and today is part of the North Wiltshire circuit. [13] [14]

The Badminton railway line was opened across the parish in 1903, [15] running just south of Alderton where it passes through the Alderton Tunnel. The track continues in use as part of the South Wales Main Line, although the local stations – Hullavington was closed in 1965, and Badminton closed in 1968.

Parish church

Parish Church Luckington Church from the south - geograph.org.uk - 488845.jpg
Parish Church

The parish church of St Mary and St Ethelbert dates from c. 1200; the surviving parts from that date include a three-bay arcade and a two-bay arcade to the southeast chapel, both much restored. The lower stages of the tower are from the same century. The tower was completed in the 15th century, and the windows and roof of the nave and aisle are from the same period. Restoration in 1872 by A.W. Blomfield included the rebuilding of the chancel and southeast chapel. [16] [17]

The tower has four bells: one dated c. 1520 and the others from the 17th century. [18] The church was designated as Grade I listed in 1959. [16]

The parish is now one of eight served by the Gauzebrook group ministry. [19]

Luckington Court

Luckington Court Luckington Court - geograph.org.uk - 4065.jpg
Luckington Court

Luckington Court, close to the parish church, dates from the 16th century. The house has been Grade II* listed building since December 1952. The listing states that it was built ca. 1700 "for H. Fitzherbert, on C16 or earlier core"; the family owned it until the early 1800s. [9] A dovecote may be of the same period. [20] Both the interiors and exterior were used to represent Longbourn, the Bennet family home, in the BBC's 1995 TV series Pride and Prejudice . [6]

An earlier manor on the same site was used by King Harold II as a hunting box, prior to 1066. Some time before the current house was built, there was another house on the site, called Peach House. [6] The current house was enlarged and remodelled in 1921 when it was owned by the Johnson-Ferguson family. The owner in 1995 and in 2013 was Angela Horn, according to published reports. [21] [22]

In addition to the seven-bedroom house with six reception rooms, the property also includes a stable and outbuildings, five cottages and farm buildings. [23]

Other listed buildings

Nearly half the buildings in the parish are Grade II listed. These include the Forge House (c.1700), [24] Manor Farmhouse in Alderton (1676), [25] Witches Cottage (17th century), [26] North End House (1655 and c.1800), [27] Luckington Manor (late 17th), [28] and the Post Office Stores (17th and 18th century). [29] There is also a small village lock-up from the 18th century, in ashlar with a stepped ashlar roof. [30]

Village life

Luckington has a community school [31] with fewer than fifty pupils taught by three full-time teachers and two teaching assistants. There is a children's playground located on Church Road near the Green, run as a charitable organisation. [32] There are good playing fields (one soccer pitch) and a village hall, each run by committees.

The farms which surround Luckington are both dairy and arable; some are owned by the Badminton Estate. The Duke of Beaufort's Hunt and the proximity of Badminton have a bearing on village culture. Luckington holds its own fête each year, usually early in July.

The Old Royal Ship Inn [33] is a popular village pub with walkers and cyclists, and the Beaufort Hunt [34] meets there occasionally.

Notable people

Books and further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle Combe</span> Village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England

Castle Combe is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is around 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Chippenham and 10 miles (16 km) north-east of Bath. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 356.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sherston, Wiltshire</span> Human settlement in England

Sherston is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) west of Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England. The parish is bounded to the north by the county boundary with Gloucestershire, and to the southeast by the Fosse Way, a Roman road. The parish includes the hamlets of Easton Town, immediately east of Sherston; Pinkney, further east along the Malmesbury road; and Willesley, to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Easton Grey</span> Human settlement in England

Easton Grey is a small village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, on the county boundary with Gloucestershire. The village lies just south of the B4040 road between Malmesbury and Sherston, about 3.5 miles (6 km) west of Malmesbury. The Church of England parish church has a 15th-century tower and was rebuilt in 1836.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Box, Wiltshire</span> Village in Wiltshire, England

Box is a large village and civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) west of Corsham and 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Bath. Box also falls in the easternmost part of the Avon Green Belt. Besides the village of Box, the parish includes the villages of Ashley and Box Hill; Hazelbury manor; and the hamlets of Alcombe, Blue Vein, Chapel Plaister, Ditteridge, Henley, Kingsdown, Middlehill, and Wadswick. To the east the parish includes much of Rudloe, formerly a hamlet but now a housing estate, and the defence establishments and related businesses on the site of the former RAF Rudloe Manor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashton Keynes</span> Village in Wiltshire, England

Ashton Keynes is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England which borders with Gloucestershire. The village is about 5 miles (8 km) south of Cirencester and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Cricklade. At the 2011 census the population of the parish, which includes the hamlet of North End, was 1,400.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brinkworth, Wiltshire</span> Human settlement in England

Brinkworth is a village and civil parish in northern Wiltshire, England. The village lies between Royal Wootton Bassett and Malmesbury, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the M4 motorway and 9 miles (14 km) west of Swindon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somerford Keynes</span> Village in Gloucestershire, England

Somerford Keynes is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, close to the River Thames and about 5 miles from its source. It lies on the boundary with Wiltshire, midway between Cirencester, Swindon and Malmesbury. The parish population at the 2011 census was 479, and a 2019 estimate put it at 558. The parish includes the village of Shorncote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hullavington</span> Human settlement in England

Hullavington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, just to the north of the M4 motorway. The village lies about 4 miles (6 km) southwest of Malmesbury and 5+12 miles (9 km) north of Chippenham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlton, Brinkworth</span> Human settlement in England

Charlton is a village and civil parish in North Wiltshire, England, about 2 miles (3 km) northeast of Malmesbury and 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of the village of Brinkworth. The parish includes the hamlet of Perry Green and the Charlton Park estate. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 425.

Thomas Paty was a British surveyor, architect and mason working mainly in Bristol. He worked with his sons John Paty and William Paty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yatton Keynell</span> Human settlement in England

Yatton Keynell is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is on the B4039 road near Castle Combe, about 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Chippenham, and about the same distance to the east of the county border with South Gloucestershire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alderton, Wiltshire</span> Human settlement in England

Alderton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Luckington, in Wiltshire, England, 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of Malmesbury. In 1931 the parish had a population of 107. On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with Luckington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oaksey</span> Village in Wiltshire

Oaksey is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the county boundary with Gloucestershire. The village is about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of the market town of Malmesbury and a similar distance south of the Gloucestershire market town of Cirencester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malmesbury</span> Town in Wiltshire, England

Malmesbury is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately 14 miles (23 km) west of Swindon, 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Bristol, and 9 miles (14 km) north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upper waters of the Bristol Avon and one of its tributaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leigh, Wiltshire</span> Human settlement in England

Leigh is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of Ashton Keynes and 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Cricklade. It is on the edge of the Cotswold Water Park and near to the county border with Gloucestershire. The parish includes the hamlet of Waterhay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inglesham</span> Human settlement in England

Inglesham is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England, notable for the Grade-I listed St John the Baptist Church. The village is just off the A361 road about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west of Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Most of the population lives in the hamlet of Upper Inglesham, which is on the main road about 1.3 miles (2 km) south of the village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sopworth</span> Human settlement in England

Sopworth is a small village and civil parish in northwest Wiltshire, England, on the county's border with Gloucestershire. The village lies about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) west of Sherston and 6.5 miles (10 km) west of Malmesbury. The parish is within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crudwell</span> Village in England

Crudwell is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England. The nearest towns are Malmesbury, about 4 miles (6.4 km) to the south-west, and Cirencester, Gloucestershire 8 miles (13 km) to the north-east. Also to the north-east is Cotswold Airport. Kemble village, about 4 miles (6.4 km) away, has the nearest railway station, with services to London Paddington and Gloucester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norton, Wiltshire</span> Human settlement in England

Norton is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south-west of Malmesbury. The parish includes the hamlets of Foxley and Bremilham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodbourne, St Paul Malmesbury Without</span>

Rodbourne is a small village in Wiltshire, England, in the civil parish of St Paul Malmesbury Without about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of the town of Malmesbury. The hamlet of Rodbourne Bottom is 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south of the village.

References

  1. "Wiltshire Community History – Census". Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  2. Historic England. "Badminton House – park and gardens (1000561)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  3. Aubrey 1862, pp.105–106
  4. Collectanea, 1953, p.29
  5. Historic England. "Giant's Cave (1010394)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 "Luckington". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  7. Luckington in the Domesday Book
  8. Alderton in the Domesday Book
  9. 1 2 Historic England. "Luckington Court (1022373)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  10. "Alderton School". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  11. Historic England. "The Old School House (1283264)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  12. "Luckingon Community School". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  13. "Primitive Methodist Chapel, Luckington". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  14. "Luckington". North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  15. "Victoria County History – Wiltshire – Vol 4 pp 280–293: Railways". British History Online. University of London. 1959. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  16. 1 2 Historic England. "Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert (1199767)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  17. "Church of St. Mary and St. Ethelbert, Luckington". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  18. "Luckington". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  19. "Luckington: St Mary and St Ethelbert". Gauzebrook Group Ministry. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  20. Historic England. "Dovecote north of Luckington Court (1022375)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  21. Fullerton, Susannah (1 January 2013). Celebrating Pride and Prejudice: 200 Years of Jane Austen's Masterpiece. Voyageur Press. p. 211. ISBN   9780760344361.
  22. Luckhurst, Colin (5 May 2000). "History house | Guardian daily comment". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  23. "The Cotswolds manor house rumoured to be Prince Harry and Meghan's new home". Country Life. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  24. Historic England. "The Forge House (1199657)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  25. Historic England. "Manor Farmhouse, Alderton (1363842)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  26. Historic England. "Witches Cottage (1022385)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  27. Historic England. "North End House (1022379)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  28. Historic England. "Luckington Manor (1283149)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  29. Historic England. "The Post Office Stores (1022383)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  30. Historic England. "The Lock-up (1283174)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
  31. "Home". luckingtonschool.co.uk.
  32. https://www.facebook.com/luckingtonplayground/timeline?filter=2 [ user-generated source ]
  33. "The Good Pub Guide 2021".
  34. "Home". beauforthunt.com.
  35. Western Daily Press, 19 April 1948
  36. "Britain's Finest – Luxury Hotels, B&B, Inns, Attractions, Gardens, Museums, Galleries, Historic Houses, Restaurants, Spas & Golf Courses".
  37. The Vansittart brothers
  38. Maud Coleno's Daughter: The Life of Dorothy Hartman 1898-1957, John Dann, Troubador Publishing, 2017, page 309, ISBN 978-1-78589-971-3
  39. British Telephone books 1880–1984
  40. John H. Waller (1996), The Unseen War in Europe: Espionage and Conspiracy in the Second World War, I.B.Tauris, pp. 18–19, ISBN   978-1-86064-092-6
  41. John Dann (January 2017). Maud Coleno's Daughter: The Life of Dorothy Hartman, 1898–1957. Troubador. pp. 219–220. ISBN   978-1-78589-971-3.
  42. The Two of Us: My Life with John Thaw, Sheila Hancock, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2005

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Luckington at Wikimedia Commons