Alderton is a village in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, England, southwest of

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Luckington Luckington is a village and civil parish in the southern Cotswolds, in north-west Wiltshire, England, about west of Malmesbury. The village is on the B4040 road linking Malmesbury and Old Sodbury. The parish is on the county border with Glouces ...

. The

South Wales Main Line The South Wales Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell De Cymru), originally known as the London, Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway or simply as the Bristol and South Wales Direct Railway, is a branch of the Great Western Main Line in Great Britain. ...

, the main railway from Swindon to Bristol and South Wales, runs close to the south of the village where it passes through the Alderton Tunnel.

Parish church

There was a church at Alderton in the 12th century, later dedicated to St Giles. In 1844–5 it was rebuilt by James Thomson at the expense of

Joseph Neeld Joseph Neeld (1789–1856) was Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom for the rotten borough of Gatton, Surrey from March to July 1830 and for Chippenham, Wiltshire, England from September 1830 to March 1856. Career Neeld was one of five b ...

, who bought Alderton manor in 1927. Re-used elements from the earlier building include the north doorway and the three-bay arcade, both of c. 1200; and from the 15th century, the nave roof and the rood screen. Some masonry from the old church was re-used in the building of the nearby school, also at Neeld's expense. Thomson worked on other churches in the area, including St Margaret's, Leigh Delamere. There are monuments to the Gore family, including Thomas Gore (1632–1684), a

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

and writer on heraldry. The tower has six bells, of which five were cast by Mears for the 1844 restoration. The building was designated as Grade II* listed in 1959. Alderton parish is now one of eight served by the Gauzebrook group ministry.

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* * * Villages in Wiltshire {{Wiltshire-geo-stub