Coulston (until 1934 called East Coulston) 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
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, five miles northeast of the town of
Westbury, just north of the B3098 road. The village lies under the north slope 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 ...
and the parish extends south onto the Plain.
The parish has an elected
parish council called Coulston Parish Council.
Coulston has a mix of old and new houses, about sixty-five in all. The number of buildings listed as of architectural or historic importance is thirteen (all listed
Grade II
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 ...
). There is no shop or surviving public house.
History
The parish was originally called East Coulston, and until 1934 the theoretical
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of West Coulston (immediately adjacent to East Coulston and including the village school) was a part of a
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
Edington Eddington or Edington may refer to:
People
*Eddington Varmah, Liberian politician
*Eddington (surname), people with the surname
Places
Australia
* Eddington, Victoria
United Kingdom
* Eddington, Berkshire
* Eddington, Cambridge
* Ed ...
parish, known as Baynton and Coulston. In that year East and West Coulston were united into a parish called simply Coulston.
A small school was built c. 1855 at West Coulston but was closed by 1899. The schoolroom is now the village hall, while the attached schoolmaster's house is a private residence.
The
Stert and Westbury Railway
The Stert and Westbury Railway was opened by the Great Western Railway Company in 1900 in Wiltshire, England. It shortened the distance between London Paddington station and , and since 1906 has also formed part of the Reading to Taunton line fo ...
was built by the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
Company, running to the north of the village and opening in 1900. The nearest station was
Edington and Bratton. The track continues in use as part of the
Reading to Taunton Line
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...
but the station closed to passengers in 1952 and to goods in 1963.
Notable buildings
Baynton House is an exquisite
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
rebuilt in the 1780s, set in extensive gardens. The house is next to the Coulston Deer Park, which has a herd of deer and is owned together with Baynton House.
Coulston House, a smaller manor house near the main settlement of the village, built in the late 18th century, was previously a farmhouse. A substantial farm courtyard close to Coulston House was converted into several houses in the late 20th century. One of these houses is called ''The Granary'' and was once a grain barn.
Church
The parish church has 12th-century
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
origins. In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, its dedication was to
Saint Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...
, but since the early 19th century it has been to
Saint Thomas of Canterbury.
The chancel was built in the 14th century and rebuilt during
restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
in 1868; the south side of the nave has a blocked 12th-century doorway, while the windows are from the 17th century.
The
Wiltshire and Swindon Archives
The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, serves as a focal point for heritage services relating to Wiltshire and Swindon. The centre opened in 2007 and is funded by Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Counc ...
, in
Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...
, holds the
parish register
A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...
s of East Coulston for the following periods.
*Christenings: from 1714 to 1974
*Marriages: from 1714 to 1994
*Burials: from 1714 to 1992
The churchyard has the grave of Francis Savill Kent, murdered in 1860 when almost four years old at
Road Hill (now in Somerset, then in Wiltshire). His half-sister
Constance Kent
Constance Emily Kent (6 February 1844 – 10 April 1944) was an English woman who confessed to the murder of her half-brother, Francis Saville Kent, in 1860, when she was aged 16 and he aged three. The case led to high-level pronouncements ther ...
confessed to the crime and was imprisoned; the case aroused press interest and inspired books and television dramatizations.
The parish is now part of the benefice of Bratton, Edington and Imber, Erlestoke, and Coulston.
Population
The population was 103 in 1831, 155 in 1951.
Pronunciation
The name of the village has been pronounced ''Cohlst'n'' at least since the late 19th century, and this is used by all long-term residents. The pronunciation ''Coolst'n'' is sometimes used by outsiders but locally is deemed to be incorrect.
Notable people
*
Mary Delany
Mary Delany ( Granville; 14 May 1700 – 15 April 1788) was an English artist, letter-writer, and bluestocking, known for her "paper-mosaicks" and botanic drawing, needlework and her lively correspondence.
Early life
Mary Delany was born at C ...
, formerly Mary Granville (1700–1788), a
Bluestocking
''Bluestocking'' is a term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800), the "Queen of the Blues", including Eliz ...
artist and writer, was born at Coulston.
*
George Fuller of
Neston Park
__NOTOC__
Neston Park is an English country house and estate in the village of Neston, some 2 miles (3 km) south of Corsham, Wiltshire. The name of the village of Neston is derived from the name of the house.
The present house dates fr ...
(1833–1927), MP for Westbury, was born at Baynton.
*
Elizabeth Godolphin
Elizabeth Godolphin (baptised in 1663 – 29 July 1726) was a British school founder and benefactor. She is buried in Westminster Abbey. Godolphin School, Salisbury, is named after her.
Life
Her birth date is unknown but she was baptised in 1663 ...
, who founded Salisbury's
Godolphin School, was baptised here in 1663.
*
Donald Wright
Donald Richard Wright (February 2, 1907 – March 21, 1985) was the 24th Chief Justice of California.
Biography
Born in Placentia, California, Wright earned his Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 1929 and his Bachelor of Laws from ...
(1923–2012), schoolmaster, headmaster of
Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury.
Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into the ...
, lived at Coulston in retirement.
Images
File:St Thomas Coulston England.jpg, Disused watercress bed, dating from the 1950s, and parish church
File:Erlestoke map 1922.jpg, Local map, from 1922
See also
*
Coulston (surname)
References
External links
* Wiltshire Community History
Coulston* GENUKI
East Coulston
{{authority control
Villages in Wiltshire
Civil parishes in Wiltshire