Tilshead () is a village and

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 authority ...

in the county of

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 ...

in Southern England, about northwest of the town of

Amesbury Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settle ...

. It is close to the geographical centre of

Salisbury Plain Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wi ...

, on the

A360 road The A360 is an A road in Wiltshire, England, running from Devizes to Salisbury, through the villages of Potterne, West Lavington, Tilshead, and Shrewton, and passing near the Stonehenge ancient monument. Route The road is long and starts at ...

approximately midway between the villages of

Shrewton Shrewton is a village and civil parish on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, around west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. It lies on the A360 road between Stonehenge and Tilshead. It is close to the source of the River Till, which flows ...

and

Market Lavington Market Lavington is a civil parish and large village with a population of about 2,200 on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, south of the market town of Devizes. The village lies on the B3098 Westbury–Urchfont road w ...

, and is near the source of the River Till. Its population in 2011 was 358, down from a peak of 989 inhabitants in 1951.

History

Salisbury Plain has much evidence of prehistoric activity. One kilometre south of Tilshead village, under the ridge of Copehill Down, is the

White Barrow White Barrow is a large Neolithic long barrow just below the crest of Copehill Down on Salisbury Plain, just south of the village of Tilshead in Wiltshire, England. It is a scheduled monument, and is owned by the National Trust. It was the firs ...

, a large

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

long barrow. To the southwest and southeast are ancient boundary ditches, partly followed by the parish boundary; the ditch in the southeast has a long barrow next to it. The name of the settlement derives from "Theodwulf's hide". In 1086, ''Tydolveshyde'' or ''Tidolthide'' was a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

and large royal estate, with a relatively large population of 164 households and nine mills. The

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...

of South Tilshead was a

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

of Romsey Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries, and came to be a detached part of the hundred of

Whorwellsdown Whorwellsdown was a hundred of the English county of Wiltshire, lying in the west of the county to the south of the towns of Bradford on Avon and Melksham and to the north and east of Westbury. An arm of the hundred reached several miles southwa ...

. The name Tilshead came into use in the 16th century. The river was called the Winterbourne until around the start of the 20th century, when the name River Till began to be used on

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

maps. The village has houses from the 17th and 18th centuries, some thatched. Tilshead House, on the High Street, is a three-storey house of the early 19th century, in red brick.

Tilshead Lodge Tilshead Lodge (now demolished) was a large 18th-century country house, southwest of Tilshead in Wiltshire, England, and about northwest of Salisbury. History Tilshead Lodge was built in the early 18th century, probably as a sporting lodge. By ...

was built in the early 18th century to the southwest of the village, then rebuilt c. 1800. The estate was used for racehorse training in the early 19th and early 20th centuries, then was sold to the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

in 1911 and 1933. The house was demolished sometime after 1957.

Local government

The civil parish elects a parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, which is responsible for all significant local government functions.

Religious sites

Parish church

Tilshead,_St_Thomas_a_Becket,_Wiltshire_-_geograph

There was a church at Tilshead in the early 12th century, possibly since Saxon times. The three-bay north and south arcades with their square piers are from that period, and the font bowl is also from that century. The chancel was rebuilt in the mid-13th century, and were renovations in the 17th and 18th centuries included re-roofing it.

T.H. Wyatt Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870–73 and being awarded its Royal Gold Medal for A ...

and D. Brandon directed restoration in 1845-6 which added the south porch and north vestry, and there was further work in 1904. The church is built in flint and limestone, partly chequered, and has a low central tower with a small conical roof; it was recorded as

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1958. The three bells were cast in 1764 by Thomas Bilbie I. Income from the church went to

Ivychurch Priory Ivychurch Priory was a medieval monastic house in Alderbury, southeast of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. According to Historic England, "all that remains is a cylindrical pier with multi-scalloped capital and part of the double-chamfered arch wit ...

near Salisbury from 1317. The dedication to St Thomas is first recorded in 1763; it may come from the link with Ivychurch, as it is thought that the saint stayed at the priory during the

Council of Clarendon The Constitutions of Clarendon were a set of legislative procedures passed by Henry II of England in 1164. The Constitutions were composed of 16 articles and represent an attempt to restrict ecclesiastical privileges and curb the power of the Chur ...

in 1164. A plain-fronted vicarage was built in red brick to the west of the church in 1818, and sold c.1972. In 1971 the benefice was united with those of Chitterne and

Orcheston Orcheston ) is a civil parish and village in Wiltshire, England, lying on Salisbury Plain less than a mile north-west of neighbouring Shrewton. The present-day parish combines the two former parishes of Orcheston St Mary and Orcheston St George ...

. Today the parish forms part of the Salisbury Plain benefice, which also encompasses the churches at

Others

A small redbrick

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

chapel was built next to the main road in 1882 and closed in 2015.

Amenities

Tilshead has a primary school, St Thomas à Becket C of E (Aided) Primary School, which was built next to the church in 1905. There is a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

– the Rose and Crown, a 17th-century building – and a village hall. The whole length of the River Till (which is a winterbourne, dry for much of the year) is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Military land

Much of Salisbury Plain is used by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

for military training. Westdown Camp, to the east of the village, is an accommodation centre for the

Salisbury Plain Training Area Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in the south western part of central southern England covering . It is part of a system of chalk downlands throughout eastern and southern England formed by the rocks of the Chalk Group and largely lies wit ...

. RAF Tilshead, to the southwest of the village, was in use from 1925 to 1941.

References

External links

*
Parish website
{{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire