| Heytesbury | |
|---|---|
 A late 18th-century formermaltings, Heytesbury | |
  Heytesbury Location withinWiltshire | |
| Population | 696 (in 2011)[1] |
| OS grid reference | ST925426 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Warminster |
| Postcode district | BA12 |
| Dialling code | 01985 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Parish Council |
| 51°10′59″N2°06′32″W / 51.183°N 2.109°W /51.183; -2.109 | |
Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and acivil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of theWylye, about3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) southeast of the town ofWarminster.
The civil parish includes most of the small neighbouring settlement ofTytherington, and the deserted village ofImber.
Chalk downland north of Heytesbury village has prehistoricearthworks includinglong barrows[2] andround barrows.[3]Strip lynchets are visible north and east of Cotley Hill.[4][5]
The parish lies between theIron Agehillforts ofScratchbury Camp andKnook Castle. ARomano-British settlement has been identified on Tytherington Hill, in the far south of the parish.[6] Chapperton Down, west of Imber, has evidence of settlement and field systems from the same period and earlier.[7]
TheDomesday Book of 1086 recorded a small settlement of eight households atHestrebe, with a church.[8] Thehundred of Heytesbury, south and east of Warminster, comprised seventeen places.[9]
The Hungerford family held land at Heytesbury by the 1390s, and reared sheep in the surrounding area in the next century.[10] Family members includeWalter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury.
John Marius Wilson'sImperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–1872) described Heytesbury as follows:
HEYTESBURY, a small town, a parish, a sub-district, and ahundred, in Wilts. The town stands on theriver Wylye, and on theSomerset and Weymouth railway, nearSalisbury Plain, 4 miles SE by E ofWarminster; was known, to the Saxons, as Hegtredesbiryg; took afterwards the names of Haresbury, Haseberie, and Heightsbury; is now commonly called Hatchbury; was, in the time ofStephen, the residence of theEmpress Maud; was, in 1766, nearly all destroyed by fire, and afterwards rebuilt; consists now chiefly of a single street; possesses interest to tourists as the central point of a region abounding in British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish remains; and gives thetitle of Baron to thefamily of A'Court. It sent twomembers to parliament from the time ofHenry VI till disfranchised by theact of 1832; was aborough by prescription; and is now a seat ofcourts leet. It has a post office underBath, a railway station, two chiefinns, a church, an Independent chapel, a national school, and an endowedhospital. The church dates from the 12th century; was partly rebuilt in 1470; underwent a thorough restoration in 1866, at an expense of about £5,500; is cruciform; has a massive tower; and contains the burial place of the A'Courts, and a tablet to Cunningham, the antiquary.[11] The hospital was founded in 1470, by Lady Hungerford, for a chaplain, twelve poor men, and one poor woman; was rebuilt in 1769; forms three sides of a square, two stories high; and has an endowed income of £1,373. A weeklymarket was formerly held; and twofairs are still held on 14 May and 25 Sept. – The parish comprises 3,380 acres. Real property, £4,713. Pop., in 1841, 1,311; in 1861, 1,103. Houses, 237. Themanor belonged to the Burghershs; and passed to the Badlesmeres, the Hungerfords, the Hastingses, and others. Heytesbury House, the seat ofLord Heytesbury, is on the N side of the town; was partially rebuilt about 1784; contains a fine collection of pictures: and stands in a well wooded park. Cotley Hill rises from the woods of the park; commands a very fine panoramic view; is crowned by atumulus; and was anciently fortified. Knook castle, Scratchbury camp, Golden barrow, and many other antiquities are in the neighbourhood. The living is avicarage, united with the vicarage ofKnook, in thediocese of Salisbury. Value, £350. Patron, theBishop of Salisbury. – The sub-district contains also eleven other parishes, and is in Warminster district. Acres, 27,546. Pop., 4,372. Houses, 946. – Thehundred contains thirteen parishes, and part of another. Acres, 33,040. Pop., 5,572. Houses, 1,209.[12]
Between 1449 and 1832, Heytesbury was aparliamentary borough, returning twoMembers of Parliament. ThisBorough of Heytesbury was aburgage borough, meaning that the right to vote was reserved to the householders of specific properties or "burgage tenements" within the borough; there were just twenty-six of these tenements by the time of theReform Act 1832, and all had been owned by theheads of the A'Court family as an inheritance since the 17th century, giving them complete control of the choice of the two Members.[13] The Reform Act 1832 swept away all theserotten and pocket boroughs and greatly increased the enfranchised population.
Anelementary school was provided in 1838, immediately southwest of the church. By 1858 there were 50-60 pupils and 40-50 infants. The school moved to a new site, off the High Street west of the church, in 1900, and came under Wiltshire County Council control in the early years of that century. Children of all ages attended until 1931 when those over 11 transferred to the new Avenue Senior School at Warminster. The school continues to serve Heytesbury and Tytherington as HeytesburyCofE Primary School.[14]
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A church was mentioned atHestrebe in theDomesday Book of 1086,[8] which became acollegiate church in the 12th century.[15] The presentparish church is from the 13th century and is a Grade I listed building.[16]
At Tytherington, a chapel was founded in the 12th century. The small church of St James is mainly from the 16th and is Grade II* listed.[17]
St Giles' Church, Imber, dates from the late 13th century and is a Grade I listed building.[18] It is now aredundant church in the care of theChurches Conservation Trust.[19]
ACongregational chapel was built in Heytesbury village in 1812 and replaced c. 1868. The chapel closed sometime after 1955.[20] There was aPrimitive Methodist chapel at Tytherington.[21]
Elizabeth Woodville (1437–1492), wife ofEdward IV, mother ofElizabeth of York and thePrinces in the Tower, was housed at the East Manor, with Elizabeth of York and her four sisters, following the sudden illness and subsequent death of Edward IV.[22][23]
The antiquaryWilliam Cunnington (1754–1810) was of Heytesbury, and investigated many prehistoric sites on the downs.[10]
Heytesbury House was built for theAshe à Court family.Sir William à Court was created a Baronet in 1795 and theBaronry of Heytesbury was created in 1828 for his son, alsoSir William.
The poetSiegfried Sassoon spent the latter part of his life at Heytesbury House, which he purchased in 1933. His sonGeorge Sassoon grew up there and inherited the house on his father's death in 1967; he lived there until 1994, when it was sold.
Major-GeneralGlyn Gilbert (1920–2003) settled at Heytesbury.
Heytesbury House, acountry house rebuilt in 1782, is Grade II* listed.[24] In 1985 the southern part of the park surrounding the house was the subject of acompulsory purchase order to allow construction of the A36 bypass,[25] separating the house from its cricket field and requiring a new entrance to be made from the west. The gate piers and curved flanking walls at the former southern entrance, from the early 19th century, are still standing.[26] In the early 21st century the house and stables were converted into several residences.[27]
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The Hospital of St John and St Katherine was founded in 1442[10] by Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford and re-endowed in 1472 by Margaret, widow of his sonRobert. Thealmshouse provided housing for twelve poor unmarried men and one woman (who was responsible for domestic duties), under the oversight of a chaplain or warden appointed by the Chancellor of Salisbury Cathedral. There was a school-house and from time to time a schoolmaster. Around 1769 the hospital burned down and a new building was erected, of two storeys around three sides of a courtyard.[28] The architect wasEsau Reynolds (1725–1779) of Trowbridge.[29] In 1968 the building was designated as Grade II listed.[30] The hospital continues as a registered charity.[31][32]
On the High Street is a small octagonalvillage lock-up or blind house, probably dating from the 18th century.[33]
A parish council known as "Heytesbury, Imber and Knook" covers this parish and the neighbouring parish ofKnook.[34] Local government services are provided byWiltshire Council, which has its offices in nearbyTrowbridge.
TheA36 road bypasses the village to the north; an Ordnance Survey map of 1958 shows the road's earlier route along the High Street.[35] TheWessex Main Line railway (opened here in 1856) runs to the south, and until 1955 there was astation on the Heytesbury-Tytherington road.[36]
Media related toHeytesbury at Wikimedia Commons
