Down Ampney (pronounced ''Amney'') is a medium-sized village located in

Cotswold district Cotswold is a local government district in Gloucestershire, England. It is named after the wider Cotswolds region. Its main town is Cirencester. Other notable towns include Tetbury, Moreton-in-Marsh, Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Campden. Nota ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The population taken at the 2011 census was 644. It is off the A417 which runs between

Cirencester Cirencester (, ; see below for more variations) is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, west of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswolds. It is the home of ...

and

Faringdon Faringdon is a historic market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, south-west of Oxford, north-west of Wantage and east-north-east of Swindon. It extends to the River Thames in the north; the highest ground is on the Rid ...

(in Oxfordshire) on the A420, and about north of

Cricklade Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227. History Cricklade ...

, which is on the A419 which runs from Cirencester to

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

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 ...

History

Down Ampney was notable in medieval times as one of the seats of the powerful

Hungerford family Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the R ...

, whose principal

family seat A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families to ...

was at

Farleigh Hungerford Farleigh Hungerford () is a village within the civil parish of Norton St Philip in the Mendip District, Mendip district, in Somerset, England, 9 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset, Bath, 3½ miles west of Trowbridge on A366 road, A366, between Trow ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. The Down Ampney estate later passed from the Hungerford family to the Earls of St German (the Eliot Family).

Ralph Vaughan Williams

The Old Vicarage in Down Ampney was the birthplace in 1872 of composer

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, whose father, the Reverend Arthur Vaughan Williams (1834–1875), was vicar of All Saints. In 1906 the composer wrote a tune for the hymn "

Come Down, O Love Divine "Come Down, O Love Divine" is a Christian hymn usually sung for the festival of Pentecost. It makes reference to the descent of the Holy Spirit as an invocation to God to come to into the soul of the believer. It is a popular piece of Anglican chu ...

" which he titled "Down Ampney" in honour of his birthplace.

RAF Down Ampney

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

RAF Down Ampney Royal Air Force Down Ampney or more simply RAF Down Ampney is a former Royal Air Force station located north east of Cricklade, Wiltshire and south west of RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. The airfield operated during the Second World War from F ...

airfield was a base for Dakota aircraft seeing active service in the war. The airfield played an important role in the Battle of Arnhem, 1944.

Governance

Down Ampney has a Parish Council, currently with 7 members. The current Chair is local resident Ray Jenkins. As of May 2015 the village became part of 'The Ampneys and Hampton Ward' on

Cotswold District Council The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames, Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the be ...

. The current District Councillor is

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

Lisa Spivey who was elected in the 2019 United Kingdom local elections. Ampney Crucis is part of the wider

South Cerney South Cerney is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, 3 miles south of Cirencester and close to the border with Wiltshire. It had a population of 3,074 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 3,464 at the ...

electoral division for elections to

Gloucestershire County Council Gloucestershire County Council is a county council which administers the most strategic local government services in the non-metropolitan county of Gloucestershire, in the South West of England. The council's principal functions are county road ...

, the current County Councillor is

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Shaun Parsons who was elected in the 2017 United Kingdom local elections.

All Saints' Church

All Saints' Church is an ancient building that was founded by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

in 1265. It lies on the edge of the village; its peripheral location was brought about when the centre of the village shifted north due to the effects of the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

. Its prominent

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

dates from the 14th century, although much of the church fabric seen today is the product of

Victorian restoration The Victorian restoration was the widespread and extensive refurbishment and rebuilding of Church of England churches and cathedrals that took place in England and Wales during the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. It was not the same proce ...

work carried out in 1863. The church contains a number of elaborate monuments to the Hungerford family, including a 1637 Renaissance-style monument to Sir John and Sir Anthony Hungerford. Among the medieval memorials are two recumbent effigy tombs of Sir Nicholas de Valers (d.1300) and Lady Margaret de Valers (d.1320). The wooden fittings in the church, including the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

, and

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

were designed in 1898 by

Charles Ponting Charles Edwin Ponting, F.S.A., (1850–1932) was a Gothic Revival architect who practised in Marlborough, Wiltshire. Career Ponting began his architectural career in 1864 in the office of the architect Samuel Overton. He was agent for Meux br ...

. Another screen in the north transept screen dates from 1900 and incorporating painted Jacobean panels displaying the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

of Sir Anthony Hungerford. Today the church is a

Grade I listed building 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 also a 20th-century stained-glass window in commemoration of 271 Sqn and the R.A.S.C who flew in the Dakota aircraft from the airfield for the Battle of Arnhem in 1944. The church holds an annual Arnhem Service in memory of the wartime operation. Another stained-glass is dedicated to the memory of Rev, Arthur Vaughan Williams who is buried in the churchyard. The church featured in the 2017 Channel 4 television programme '' Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages''.

Amenities

In addition to the church and the airfield, the village has a school which is more than 150 years old, a multi-use games area for younger residents, a tennis club, a village hall and a small village shop. The Down Ampney estate, comprising almost all of the farm land in the parish, is now owned by the

Co-operative Group Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care. The Co-op ...

.Statutory Declaration of D. N. Humphreys
/ref> File:Ampney Brook from Sheeppen Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 350346.jpg, Ampney Brook File:East House, Down Ampney - geograph.org.uk - 331224.jpg, East House File:Down Ampney war memorial - geograph.org.uk - 353575.jpg, War memorial File:Stained glass Arnhem memorial window, All Saints Church, Down Ampney (geograph 3301249).jpg, Arnhem memorial window, All Saints' Church File:The Old Vicarage, Down Ampney - geograph.org.uk - 1570362.jpg, The Old Vicarage, birthplace of Ralph Vaughan Williams

References

External links

Down Ampney Parish CouncilMidi of the tune "Down Ampney"Down Ampney Village Website
* {{authority control Villages in Gloucestershire Cotswold District Ralph Vaughan Williams