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.
The village lies just west of the A4361 road between Swindon and Devizes, about 3 miles (5 km) north of Avebury. The minor road through the village continues west to Clyffe Pypard.
The remains of a Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age stone circle lie largely hidden on a low ridge, about 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) northwest of the village. [2] The ancient trackway known as The Ridgeway crosses the east of the parish. [3]
In 1086, Domesday Book recorded 37 households at Wintreburne, and land held by Amesbury Abbey. [4] The name Winterbourne refers to seasonal streams in the area, which meet to form the upper waters of the River Kennet. The Bassett suffix is from lords of the manor in the 12th and 13th centuries, [3] and distinguishes the parish and village from Winterbourne Monkton, close by to the south.
Winterbourne manor was granted in 1194 to Alan Basset (d.1232/3), whose name appears in Magna Carta as an advisor to the king. [5] The manor was inherited in turn by his sons Gilbert (d.1241), Fulk (later bishop of London, d.1259) and Philip (Justiciar of England, d.1271). Philip's daughter Aline married Hugh le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer (d.1265) and thus the manor was inherited by her son Hugh Despenser the Elder (advisor to Edward I, executed 1326). The manor reverted to the Crown; the Wiltshire Victoria County History traces its later ownership. [3] The present manor house, just north of the church, was built in brick in the late 18th century. [6]
There were further settlements at Rabson (southeast of Winterbourne Bassett) and Richardson (southwest). Rabson probably dwindled to a single farmstead by the 16th century; [3] the house known as Rabson Manor, 400m south of the church and now surrounded by farm buildings, dates from the early 17th century. [7]
Richardson (Ricardestone in 1242) was further south. [3] The site of the deserted village – a scheduled monument – survives as building platforms, enclosures and tracks, one leading to a ford across the river. A country house here was demolished in the 19th century. [8]
Winterbourne Bassett and the larger adjacent parish of Broad Hinton elect a joint parish council called Broad Hinton and Winterbourne Bassett. It falls within the area of the Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority which is responsible for all significant local government functions.
There was a church by 1121, linked to Lewes Priory. Fulk Basset was rector from c.1214 to c.1239. The church was dedicated to St Catherine in the 16th century but was known as St Peter's in 1848; since 1904 the dedication has been to St Katherine and St Peter. [3] The present parish church is a rebuilding from the 14th century; its only earlier features are the font – 12th century [9] or early 13th [10] – and a limestone grave slab of the late 13th century. [10]
The nave and chancel are in random sarsen while the 15th-century four-stage west tower is in limestone ashlar. Many of the furnishings, including the oak pulpit and reader's desk, are 17th-century. Renovation in 1857-8 saw replacement of the roofs, but the rest of the structure and most of the windows were retained; the northwest window of the chancel has fragments of 14th or 15th-century glass. [11] There are three bells, one cast in 1583 and the others in the 19th century. [12] The church was designated as Grade I listed in 1958. [10]
Pevsner writes that the church has "excellent Decorated work". He notes that the Despensers were lords of the manor at the time, and that the north transept with its "unusually dainty detail" may have been their chapel. [13]
The benefice was united with Berwick Bassett in 1929, although the parishes remained separate; the incumbent was to live at the Winterbourne Bassett parsonage. [14] The union was dissolved in 1951 [15] and the benefice was held in plurality with Broad Hinton. [16] In 1975 a team ministry was created for the area, [17] and today the parish is part of the Upper Kennet Benefice, alongside seven others around Avebury. [18]
There was a small school in the village from 1875 to 1966; primary school children now go to Broad Hinton. [19] A Methodist chapel was built in 1904 and sold in 1960. [20]
The village has a public house and restaurant called The Winterbourne, [21] owned by a community benefit society. [22]
Avebury is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about 5.5 miles (9 km) west of Marlborough and 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Devizes. Much of the village is encircled by the prehistoric monument complex also known as Avebury. The parish also includes the small villages of Avebury Trusloe and Beckhampton, and the hamlet of West Kennett.
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.
Broad Hinton and Winterbourne Bassett is a parish council area comprising the adjacent civil parishes of Broad Hinton and Winterbourne Bassett, in the English county of Wiltshire.
Broad Hinton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlets of Uffcott and The Weir.
West Overton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Marlborough. The river Kennet runs immediately north of the village, separating it from the A4 road. The parish includes the village of Lockeridge, also near the river, further east (downstream).
The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the historic county of Dorset, and most of Wiltshire. The diocese is led by Stephen Lake, Bishop of Salisbury, and by the diocesan synod. The bishop's seat is at Salisbury Cathedral.
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.
Winterbourne Gunner is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Winterbourne, in Wiltshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) northeast of Salisbury. The village is near the River Bourne and the A338 road, and is close to Winterbourne Dauntsey. In 1931 the parish had a population of 292. On 1 April 1934, the parish was abolished and merged with Winterbourne Earls and Winterbourne Dauntsey to form Winterbourne parish.
Broad Town is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Royal Wootton Bassett and 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Swindon. The parish includes the hamlet of Thornhill and the farming hamlet of Cotmarsh.
Limpley Stoke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It lies in the Avon valley between Bath and Freshford, and is both above and below the A36 road.
Clyffe Pypard is a village and civil parish about 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) south of Royal Wootton Bassett in North Wiltshire, England.
Milton Lilbourne is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England, in the Vale of Pewsey between Pewsey and Burbage. It is largely a mixed residential area centred on the Manor. The nearest town is Marlborough, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) to the north.
Woodborough is a small village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire, England, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Pewsey.
Winterbourne Earls is a village in Wiltshire, England. The village is in the Bourne valley on the A338 road, about 3.4 miles (5 km) northeast of Salisbury.
Great Hinton is a small village and civil parish about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Melksham and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north-east of Trowbridge in Wiltshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Bleet and Cold Harbour.
Winterbourne Stoke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) west of Amesbury and 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge.
The Church of St Mary Magdalene is the Anglican church in the village of Winterbourne Monkton, north of Avebury in Wiltshire, England. It is a 19th-century rebuilding of a structure dating from the 14th century.
Hinton Parva, also known as Little Hinton, is a village in the Borough of Swindon in Wiltshire, England. It lies about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the eastern edge of the Swindon built-up area, and is separated from the town by farmland and the village of Wanborough. The village has a Grade I listed church which has Norman origins. Hinton Parva was a separate civil parish until 1934, and is now in the parish of Bishopstone.
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.
Winterbourne is a civil parish in south east Wiltshire, England, about 3.5 miles (6 km) northeast of Salisbury. The parish encompasses the contiguous villages of Winterbourne Dauntsey, Winterbourne Earls and Winterbourne Gunner, together with the hamlet of Hurdcott south of Winterbourne Earls.
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