Charlton, in full Charlton St Peter, is a small 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

Vale of Pewsey The Vale of Pewsey or Pewsey Vale is an area of Wiltshire, England to the east of Devizes and south of Marlborough, centred on the village of Pewsey. Geography The vale is an extent of lower lying ground separating the chalk downs of Salisbury ...

in the English 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 ...

. The village lies about southwest of

Pewsey Pewsey is a large village and civil parish at the centre of the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, about south of Marlborough and west of London. It is within reach of the M4 motorway and the A303 and is served by Pewsey railway station on the Re ...

. The village is in the north of the parish, between the River Avon and the

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

Upavon Upavon is a rural village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. As its name suggests, it is on the upper portion of the River Avon which runs from north to south through the village. It is on the north edge of Salisbury Plain ...

road, the A342. To the south the parish extends onto

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 ...

Parish church

The

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St Peter was largely rebuilt by J.L. Pearson in 1858. Fragments of a 12-century building survive, and the tower is from the 15th or 16th centuries. The north

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

chapel, c. 1523, is in memory of William and Marion Chaucey. In 1964 the church was designated as

Grade II* 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 ...

. The first record of a vicar at Charlton is from 1306, and by that time the church had been appropriated by the nearby Upavon Priory; in 1423 Upavon and Charlton were granted to the

Augustinian Augustinian may refer to: *Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine *Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs *Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo * Canons Regular of Sain ...

canons of

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 ...

, southeast of Salisbury, who held them until the

Dissolution Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

. Today the parish is served by the Vale of Pewsey team ministry.

Local government

Post-Medieval coin , Half Guinea of George II (FindID 267137)

Charlton shares a parish council, named

Charlton and Wilsford Charlton St Peter and Wilsford Joint Parish Council is a grouped parish council serving the adjacent civil parishes of Charlton St Peter and Wilsford, in the Vale of Pewsey in the English county of Wiltshire. Charlton and Wilsford elect a sin ...

, with the adjacent parish of Wilsford. It is in the area of

Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council is a council for the unitary authority of Wiltshire (excluding the separate unitary authority of Swindon) in South West England, created in 2009. It is the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council (1889–2009) and the ...

and is represented there by Paul Oatway, who succeeded Brigadier Robert Hall in 2013. The two councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

Traditions

The village

inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

is the ''Charlton Cat'', "a solitary little inn at the foot of the downs". This establishment was originally called the Red Lion, later the Poores Arms after

Edward Poore Edward Poore ( 1704 – 1780) was the member of the Parliament of Great Britain for Salisbury for the parliament of 1747 to 1754, and for Downton for 13 December 1756 to 1761.Rushall in the eighteenth century, but the villagers had long known it as ''The Cat'', from the ill-painted lion of the original sign. This name was formally adopted in 1921. Charlton and the neighbouring village of Rushall hold an annual village cricket match each year in June. It used to be played in each village alternately, but in recent years since the Village Lunch has been established in Rushall Village Hall, the match has been played in a field behind the Old Barns. In the last few years a tug-of-war competition has been started, only seriously between the men for the trophy, but there are a women's and children's tug-of-war as well.

Notable people

Stephen Duck, 18th-century poet, was born here and the grave of his wife Mary is in the churchyard. The "Duck Feast", held annually at the Charlton Cat in the first week of June, commemorates his life and work. The cost is met from the rent of "Duck's Acre", a field in Rushall donated for the purpose by

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...

References

External links