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Braydon
Braydon is a civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, about northwest of Swindon, between Purton and Minety. A thinly-populated farming area with no settlements apart from the farms, it is best known for sharing its name with Braydon Forest. The population of the parish was 48 in 1881 and was little changed in 2011, at 43. The River Key rises in the parish and flows north-east to join the Thames. Ravensroost Wood, in the far west of the parish, is a nature reserve managed by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. History Evidence has been found of prehistoric people, including a Neolithic axehead and a possible Palaeolithic flint tool. Historian Andrew Breeze considers the area to be the site of the little-documented Battle of Badon, a setback for the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the late 5th century or early 6th. He proposes that it was fought around Ringsbury Camp, an Iron Age hillfort on high ground a short distance beyond the east boundary of the modern parish. In 903, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purton
Purton is a large village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about northwest of the centre of Swindon. The parish includes the village of Purton Stoke and the hamlets of Bentham, Hayes Knoll, Purton Common, Restrop, The Fox and Widham. The River Key, a tributary of the Thames, crosses the parish near Purton Stoke. The village is a linear settlement along the old road between the historic market towns of Cricklade, to the north, and Royal Wootton Bassett, to the south. It is now on a minor road, from junction 16 of the M4 motorway. The village is on the brow of a hill, with views across to Cricklade and the Thames floodplain. Nearby, Bradon Forest stretches out to Minety in the west. The Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin is unusual in having two towers, one with a spire. History The toponym Purton is derived from the Old English ''pirige'' for "pear" and ''tun'' for "enclosure" or "homestead". Early history Ringsbury Camp has evidence of settl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ringsbury Camp
Ringsbury Camp is an Iron Age hill fort, thought to date from approximately the year 50 BC, in the civil parish of Purton in Wiltshire, England. The site is a scheduled monument. Structure Ringsbury is a multivallate fort, as it has a double-banked structure. In all about are enclosed by the surrounding walls. The inner bank is up to 5m high and is surrounded by a 3m deep ditch; the outer bank is 2m high and there are traces of an outer ditch. The fort stands on the brow of an outcrop of Corallian stone, overlooking Braydon Forest to the west and with excellent views to the south and north; there is less of an incline towards the east. It is believed that to ensure visibility was not impeded the builders cleared all areas, and certainly the land towards the west, from trees. The banks are made from limestone rubble. These are not local rocks, suggesting material was transported to the camp from further afield. The stones from the banks are very light, and are known as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minety
Minety is a village in north Wiltshire, England, between Malmesbury – to the west – and Swindon. It takes its name from the water mint plant found growing in ditches around the village, and has previously been known as Myntey. It has a primary school and a successful rugby club. Geography The village is divided into Upper Minety, with St Leonard's church, and Lower Minety (or simply Minety) which grew after the railway arrived. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Brandier, Lower Moor and the former hamlet of Sawyers Hill, now part of Minety village. Swill Brook forms part of the northern boundary of the parish and joins the infant River Thames a short distance outside the parish, near Ashton Keynes. Acres Farm Meadow is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Battery storage power station#Minety Battery Energy Storage Project, Minety Battery Energy Storage Project, about west of the village, was the largest grid-connected battery in Europe when it began ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Badon
The Battle of Badon /ˈbeɪdən/ also known as the Battle of Mons Badonicus ( la, obsessio[nis] Badonici montis, "Blockade/Siege of the Badonic Hill"; ''Bellum in monte Badonis'', "Battle on Badon Hill"; ''Bellum Badonis'', "Battle of Badon"; Old Welsh: ''Badon''; Middle Welsh: ''Gweith Vadon'', "Battle of Badon"; cy, Brwydr Mynydd Baddon, "Battle of Badon Mount/Hill") was a battle purportedly fought between Celtic Britons, Britons and Anglo-Saxons in Post-Roman Britain in the late 5th century in England, 5th or early 6th century in England, 6th century. It was credited as a major victory for the Britons, stopping the encroachment of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms for a period. The earliest references to the battle by the British cleric Gildas date to the 6th century. It is chiefly known today for the supposed involvement of the man who would later be remembered as the legendary King Arthur; although it is not agreed that Arthur was a historical figure, his name first appears in the 9 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Key
The River Key is a tributary of the River Thames in England which flows through Wiltshire. Course The river rises at Braydon Forest near Purton and runs north-east through Purton Stoke, joining the Thames on the southern bank near Cricklade, just upstream of the A419 Road Bridge. The river was crossed by the now-derelict North Wilts Canal a few hundred yards south of Cricklade. In December 2000, as part of regeneration of the canal, rescue work was started on the River Key Aqueduct. The river was also crossed by a bridge of the Midland and South Western Junction Railway, Midland & South Western Junction Railway. Water quality The Environment Agency measures the water quality of the river systems in England. Each is given an overall ecological status, which may be one of five levels: high, good, moderate, poor and bad. There are several components that are used to determine this, including biological status, which looks at the quantity and varieties of invertebrates, angiosperms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is a conservation charity based in Devizes, England which owns and manages 40 nature reserves in Wiltshire and Swindon. It also works to encourage Wiltshire's communities to live sustainable lifestyles that protect the environment. It is one of 46 Wildlife Trusts across the United Kingdom, which together form the largest voluntary organisation dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places everywhere – at land and at sea. It issues a variety of publications including a members magazine, Wiltshire Wildlife. Its digital presence includes social networking, such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. History Formed in 1962 as The Wiltshire Trust for Nature Conservation Ltd, with just seven members contributing £1 per year, the trust was incorporated under the Companies Act on 23 July 1962. Involved in the creation of the trust was acclaimed author and poet John Buxton. The inaugural meeting was held at County Hall, Trowbridge with some 160 p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Breeze
Andrew Breeze FRHistS FSA (born 1954), has been professor of philology at the University of Navarra since 1987. Early life Breeze was born in 1954 and educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. In 1986, he worked as a scholar for the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies at the school of Celtic Studies. He is married with six children. Work Besides numerous research papers on the philology of many Celtic languages, he is the author of ''Medieval Welsh Literature'' (1997) and ''The Origins of the "Four Branches of the Mabinogi"'' (2009). He is also co-author with Professor Richard Coates of ''Celtic Voices, English Places'' (2000). Breeze has written about Mabinogi studies, and ''The Mabinogion'' research, especially addressing historical and political parallels. In 1997 he published the controversial "Did a woman write the Four Branches of the Mabinogi?", proposing a woman composer for this leading literary work of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Villiers, 3rd Earl Of Clarendon
John Charles Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (14 November 1757 – 22 December 1838) was a British Peerages in the United Kingdom, peer and Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament from the Villiers family. Biography Villiers was born on 14 December 1757, the second son of Lady Charlotte Villiers, Countess of Clarendon, Charlotte, daughter of William Capel, 3rd Earl of Essex, and Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon. He was educated at Eton College, Eton and St John's College, Cambridge and graduated with an MA in 1776 and an LL.D on 30 April 1833. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn on 22 June 1779. In January 1784 Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford, Lord Camelford (probably at Pitt the Elder, Pitt the Elder's request) brought Villiers into Parliament at a by-election for Old Sarum (UK Parliament constituency), Old Sarum, and he represented that rotten borough until 1790, and then sat for Dartmouth (UK Parliament ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Neeld
Joseph Neeld (1789–1856) was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom for the rotten borough of Gatton (UK Parliament constituency), Gatton, Surrey from March to July 1830 and for Chippenham (UK Parliament constituency), Chippenham, Wiltshire, England from September 1830 to March 1856. Career Neeld was one of five brothers born to Joseph Neeld (1754–1828), a solicitor and Mary (née Bond) (1765–1857); the family lived in Hendon, Middlesex. He seems to have qualified as a barrister of the Inner Temple but it is known that he set out on a career in property management; in 1821 he took a lease on land in Paddington owned by Westminster Abbey. In 1828, he inherited the substantial sum of £800,000 from his famous great-uncle, Philip Rundell the silversmith, described by James Losh as a "tyrannical miser". The will stated this was a reward to Neeld for giving up a "lucrative profession" to take care of Rundell for thirteen years. With t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grittleton
Grittleton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, northwest of Chippenham. The parish includes the hamlets of Foscote, Leigh Delamere, Littleton Drew and Sevington, and part of the hamlet of The Gibb. The Gauze Brook, a small tributary of the Avon, rises near Littleton Drew and flows east across the parish. The M4 motorway was opened in 1971 across the south of the parish, passing close to The Gibb, Foscote, Sevington and Leigh Delamere. History The Fosse Way Roman road crosses the parish from north to southwest. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded settlements of 23 households at ''Gretelintone'', 15 at ''Sevamentone'' (Sevington) and 16 at ''Liteltone'' (Littleton Drew). The Grittleton estate was bought in 1828 by Joseph Neeld, a London lawyer who had inherited a considerable sum. Over time he replaced the manor house with a much larger building, and built lodges and extensive stables. His philanthropy in the parish included the rebuilding of the near-der ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National School (England And Wales)
A National school was a school founded in 19th century England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education. These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor. Together with the less numerous British schools of the British and Foreign School Society, they provided the first near-universal system of elementary education in England and Wales. The schools were eventually absorbed into the state system, either as fully state-run schools or as faith schools funded by the state. History Prior to 1800, education for poorer children was limited to isolated charity schools. In 1808 the Royal Lancastrian Society (later the British and Foreign School Society) was created to promote schools using the Monitorial System of Joseph Lancaster. The National Society was set up in 1811 to establish similar schools using the system of Dr Andrew Bell, but based on the teachings of the Church of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria County History
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 Victoria of the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria. In 2012 the project was rededicated to Elizabeth II, 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. History The history of the VCH falls into three main phases, defined by different funding regimes: an early phase, 1899–1914, when the project was conceived as a commercial enterprise, and progress was rapid; a second more desultory phase, 1914–1947, when relatively little progress was made; and the third phase beginning in 1947, when, under the auspices of the Institute of Historical Research, a high academic standard was set, and pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
