Wiltshire Victoria County History

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The VCH emblem, which includes the coat of arms of England Victoria County History (shield).png
The VCH emblem, which includes the coat of arms of England

The Wiltshire Victoria County History, properly called The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire but commonly referred to as VCH Wiltshire, is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England. It forms part of the overall Victoria County History of England founded in 1899 in honour of Queen Victoria. With eighteen volumes published in the series, it is now the most substantial of the Victoria County Histories.

Contents

Overview

A set of Wiltshire volumes was planned from the start; the authors engaged included Maud Davies, who began writing in 1906. However, the VCH central office ran into financial difficulty in 1908, and although work resumed in 1910 in ten counties, Wiltshire was not among them. [1]

In 1947 the Wiltshire project was revived, leading to publication of the first volume in 1953. For many years the project was chiefly funded by Wiltshire County Council and other Wiltshire local authorities and managed by the Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee.

In 2002 the project became a partnership between the county council (later Wiltshire Council) and the University of the West of England, employing a county editor and an assistant county editor, with offices at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham. Beyond writing the history itself, the staff promoted local history by giving talks and presentations to local societies. The chairman of the Wiltshire VCH Committee said in a news release in December 2003: "While the big red volumes are still at the heart of the Wiltshire Victoria County History, we are keen to take our county history out to as many people as possible, through affordable publications, modern technology, and new ways of working". [2]

In 2014 the Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee was wound up because all funding partners had ended their funding, and the continuation of the project became the responsibility of the Wiltshire Victoria County History Trust. [3] Work is expected to proceed more slowly, according to available resources, but will continue to be overseen, and volumes published, by the Institute of Historical Research of the University of London.

Staff

List of county editors

List of assistant county editors

Until 1968, there was only one assistant editor, but after that there were sometimes two. [7]

Volumes published

General volumes

Topographical volumes

A series of volumes addresses the history of Wiltshire on a parish-by-parish basis, arranged according to the former hundreds.

Planned publications

Three topographical volumes are in preparation: [14]

Four further volumes will complete the coverage of the county. In no particular order, these will cover: [14]

Parishes now in Wiltshire but recorded elsewhere

Shalbourne is covered by the History of the County of Berkshire. [18]

South Tidworth, now part of Tidworth parish, is covered by the History of the County of Hampshire. [19]

Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee (1947–2014)

The committee was established in 1947. [20] It did not control the day-to-day work of the staff (who were initially employed by the University of London and later by the University of the West of England), but from the early days of the Wiltshire County History project the committee was responsible for ensuring that funding was available for staff salaries and other expenses, offices provided, and suitable projects undertaken. [21] The members of the Committee represented the main financial contributors to the project (initially these were Wiltshire County Council and other local authorities in Wiltshire, and by 2009 Wiltshire Council and the University of the West of England), and also the Central Committee of the Victoria County History, the University of Winchester, the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society and the Wiltshire Local History Forum. The Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, as Custos rotulorum, was also an honorary member of the Committee.

The Committee was wound up in 2014 after all major contributors had withdrawn their funding for the Wiltshire VCH, so that there were no longer any partners to be represented. At that point, the project was handed over to the Wiltshire VCH Trust, with support from the national organisation of the Victoria County History.

Chairmen of the Committee

Wiltshire Victoria County History Trust

The Trust, originally established in 2004 as the Wiltshire Victoria County History Appeal Trust, is a registered charity. [28] Until 2014 it was responsible for raising funds for the work of the VCH beyond its core activities. With effect from February 2014, after the core funding of Wiltshire Council and the University of the West of England had been withdrawn, the Trust took on the whole responsibility for the Wiltshire VCH. [3]

Chairmen of the Trust

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Victoria County History</i> English history project

The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of England, and was dedicated to Queen Victoria. In 2012 the project was rededicated to Queen Elizabeth II in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee year. Since 1933 the project has been coordinated by the Institute of Historical Research in the University of London.

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

Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junctions 15 and 16. The village is about 2.2 miles (3.5 km) south of Swindon town centre on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town of Marlborough is about 11 miles (18 km) to the south, and the World Heritage Site at Avebury is about 7 miles (11 km) to the south.

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

Tidworth is a garrison town and civil parish in south-east Wiltshire, England, on the eastern edge of Salisbury Plain. Lying on both sides of the A338 about 3+12 miles (5.6 km) north of the A303 primary route, the town is approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Andover, 12 miles (19 km) south of Marlborough, and 13 miles (21 km) north by north-east of Salisbury. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was approximately 10,600.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berwick Bassett</span> Small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England

Berwick Bassett is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Marlborough and 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Swindon. The village is on the west bank of a headstream of the River Kennet and close to the A4361 road, formerly the A361, which links Devizes and Avebury with Wroughton and Swindon.

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

Winterbourne Bassett is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Swindon and 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Marlborough.

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

Winterbourne Monkton is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Avebury Stone Circle and 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Marlborough.

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

Berwick St John is a village and civil parish in southwest Wiltshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) east of Shaftesbury in Dorset.

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

Bowerchalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Salisbury. It is in the south of the county, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the boundary with Dorset and 2 miles (3.2 km) from that with Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Mead End, Misselfore and Woodminton.

Fulk Basset was a medieval Bishop of London.

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

Lydiard Tregoze is a small village and civil parish on the western edge of Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, in the south-west of England. Its name has in the past been spelt as Liddiard Tregooze.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Mary Magdalene, Winterbourne Monkton</span>

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St Nicholas's Church in Berwick Bassett, Wiltshire, England dates from the early 13th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II* listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was declared redundant in 1972, and was vested in the Trust the next year. Services continue to be held at the church a few times a year.

William Page was a British prolific and pioneering historian and editor. For the last three decades of his life he was general editor of the Victoria County History.

Ralph Bernard Pugh was an historian and editor of the Victoria History of the Counties of England from 1949 to 1977.

<i>Gloucestershire Victoria County History</i> Encyclopaedic history of Gloucestershire

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The Somerset Victoria County History is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Somerset in England, forming part of the overall Victoria County History of England founded in 1899 in honour of Queen Victoria. With ten volumes published in the series A History of the County of Somerset, the Somerset VCH is among the most substantial of the Victoria County Histories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackpen White Horse</span>

Hackpen White Horse is a chalk hill figure of a white horse on Hackpen Hill, located below The Ridgeway on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, two miles south east of Broad Hinton, Wiltshire, England. It is one of nine white horse hill figures located in Wiltshire. It is also known as the Broad Hinton White Horse due to its proximity to the village. Supposedly cut by local parish clerk Henry Eatwell in 1838 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria, the horse is 90 feet (27 m) wide by 90 feet (27m) high. The horse is regularly scoured and maintained.

References

  1. Howells, Jane (February 2015). "Maud Davies and the Victoria County History of Wiltshire" (PDF). The Recorder. Wiltshire Record Society. 14: 3–6.
  2. PR 1357 Double boost for prestigious history of Wiltshire, 4 December 2003
  3. 1 2 "The Trust". Wiltshire Victoria County History. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  4. 1 2 'Editorial note', A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 12 (1983), p. XV, at british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2008
  5. Douglas Crowley was assistant editor from 1968 to 1977 and was then county editor until 2006. His early research was on manorial administration, and as editor he directed research on volumes 11 to 18 of the series. He was also Honorary Editor of the Wiltshire Record Society from 1972 to 1976. His publications include The Wiltshire Tax List of 1332 (Wiltshire Record Society, vol. 45, 1989), The Court Records of Brinkworth and Charlton 1544–1648 (Wiltshire Record Society, vol. 61, 2009)
  6. Virginia Bainbridge was appointed as county editor in 2006, having joined the Wiltshire VCH in 2004 as assistant editor and after working as assistant editor of the Oxfordshire VCH from 1999 to 2004. Her work has given her a broad perspective on changing social patterns and local institutions and her research interests focus on the Reformation. She is the author of Gilds in the Medieval Countryside: Religious and Social Change in Cambridgeshire 1350–1558 (Boydell and Brewer 1996) and is currently writing a book on English Nuns 1400–1600.
  7. "Consequently it was possible in 1968 to appoint a second assistant editor in addition to the editor and assistant editor already employed... The post of a second assistant editor was filled in September 1968 by Mr. D. A. Crowley." From 'Editorial note', A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 9 (1970), pp. XV
  8. 1 2 3 4 "W. R. Robins, the first Chairman of the Committee, died in 1959, shortly after his resignation from the Committee, and his successor, J. L. Calderwood, in 1960." From Editorial note in A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), p. XIII. Retrieved 27 November 2008
  9. 1 2 "It has to be recorded here that in May 1964 K. H. Rogers resigned from the assistant editorship, and was replaced in October 1964 by Colin Shrimpton." From 'Editorial note' in A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 8 (1965), p. XIII at british-history.ac.uk 16067. Retrieved 27 November 2008
  10. 1 2 3 4 'Editorial note', A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 9 (1970), pp. XV, at british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
  11. 1 2 3 "Also in 1997 Janet Stevenson retired, and in 1998 Jane Freeman resigned, as assistant editors after 32 and 20 years' service respectively... In January 1999 Carrie Smith took up the post of Assistant Editor." From 'Editorial note', A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 16: Kinwardstone Hundred (1999), p. XIII at british-history.ac.uk accessed 27 November 2008
  12. James Lee was appointed in 2006. He had worked on several research projects, spanning the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. His research interests focus on urban history and the history of the south west region. His book Preachers and Politics: The Later Stuarts, the Church and Public Political Culture was published in 2007.
  13. VCH Wiltshire Staff at victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/counties/Wiltshire
  14. 1 2 "Wiltshire Victoria County History" . Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  15. "Wiltshire vol XIX". Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  16. "Wiltshire vol XX - Chippenham". Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  17. "Volume 21: South East Wiltshire". Wiltshire Victoria County History. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  18. Page, William; Ditchfield, P.H., eds. (1924). "Victoria County History – Berkshire: Vol 4 pp228-234 – Parishes: Shalbourne". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  19. Page, William, ed. (1911). "Victoria County History - Hampshire: Vol 4 pp391-394 - Parishes: Tidworth, South". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  20. 1 2 Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee 1947–1955 from A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 3 (1956), p. 13
  21. For the constitution of the Committee, see Editorial Note to A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume VII (1953).
  22. Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee as at 1 March 1965 from A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 8 (1965), p. XV
  23. Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee as at 1 January 1970 from A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 9 (1970), p. XVII
  24. 1 2 "Group Captain F. A. Willan, C.B.E., D.F.C., D.L., died in November 1981 shortly after being succeeded as Chairman of the Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee by Mr. N. J. M. Anderson, M.C., D.L., who had earlier succeeded him as Chairman of the County Council." From 'Editorial note', A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 12 (1983), pp. XV
  25. Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee as at 1 January 1983 from A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 12 (1983), p. 16
  26. Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee as at 16 September 1998 from A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 16 (1999), p. 14
  27. Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee as at 28 February 2002 from A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 17 (2002), pp. 14–15
  28. "Registered Charity no. 1102882". Charity Commission. Retrieved 17 February 2018.