Easton Royal is a village in the civil parish of Easton in Wiltshire, England, about east of Pewsey and south of Marlborough. The village was the location of

Easton Priory Easton Priory was a Catholic priory of the Trinitarian Order in Wiltshire, England from 1234 to 1536.D A Crowley, et al.''Easton''A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 16: Kinwardstone Hundred (1999), pp. 140-149. Date accessed: 14 November ...

from 1234 to 1536. The village mistakenly gained the Royal suffix in 1838 and the name Easton Royal has been in general use since the 1850s. The parish is on the northeastern edge 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 near the eastern end of the Vale of Pewsey.

History

Easton Hill, in the south of the parish, carries prehistoric sites including a bowl barrow and a disc barrow. The village stands on or near the likely route of the

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

between Mildenhall and Old Sarum. From the 13th century the village was on the Marlborough-Salisbury road, until the 17th century when the road took a more eastward course through Burbage. Easton Priory, begun in 1234, was built next to the road in order to aid travellers. By 1833 the village had a small National School, which was replaced by a new building in 1874. A large hall was added to the school in 2005. In 1836 the vicar of Great Bedwyn mistakenly described Easton's

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

as royal; in the 1850s the village began to be called Easton Royal, and this name came into common usage. The name of the parish remains Easton. The population of the parish peaked in the mid 19th century, with 532 recorded at the 1841 census. By 1881 the population had declined to 323, and there was a further slow decline until the number stabilised around 250 by the middle of the 20th century.

Religious sites

Early churches

Although Easton was not recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, one of the two churches of the king's large estate at Wootton may have stood here. By the late 12th century the church may have belonged to the abbey at

La Trinité-du-Mont La Trinité-du-Mont () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A farming village surrounded by woodland in the Pays de Caux, some east of Le Havre, on the D34 road, just north of Lilleb ...

, Upper Normandy; part of the patronage was later given to Bradenstoke Priory. A dispute followed, and was resolved by the bishop of Salisbury in a decision ratified in 1246 which granted the church to the priory that had been founded at Easton c. 1234. The church was enlarged with a north chapel in 1322 and by 1323 was dedicated to St Mary. In 1369 the church was demolished and material taken to enlarge the priory church, which became the parish church.

Holy Trinity

In 1536 St Mary's church was reported to be in poor condition, and in 1591 Sir Edward Seymour replaced it with a new

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

. By 1763 this church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The nave, font and porch survive from 1591; 19th-century restoration included work by

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 ...

in 1852–3, when a south vestry was added with a tower above, and the body of the church was extended westward by one bay. 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 ...

in 1988. The benefice was united with Milton Lilbourne in 1929, and in 1991 with Pewsey and Wootton Rivers. Today the parish is part of the Vale of Pewsey team of churches.

Local government

The civil parish of Easton elects a parish council. The parish is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all significant local government functions.

Amenities

The primary school continues on the same site, now called Easton Royal Academy. There is a village hall at Easton Royal. A pub, the ''Bruce Arms'', is in the west of the parish, close to the boundary with Milton Lilbourne.

Notable residents and benefactors

* Several Esturmys, hereditary wardens of Savernake forest since the Norman Conquest, funded and were buried at Easton church; their monuments were later (c. 1590) moved to Great Bedwyn when the original church fell into disrepair. Named, amongst others, on a stone plaque erected in the church in 1950. * "Major" Sir

John Wildman John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

was captured here in 1655. * Duchess of Somerset, 1672, perhaps

Lady Frances Devereux Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (''née'' Devereux; 30 September 1599 – 24 April 1674) was an English noblewoman who lived during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, Charles I and Charles II. Her father was Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl ...

, the wife of

William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, (158824 October 1660) was an English nobleman and Royalist commander in the English Civil War. Origins Seymour was the son of Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp (who predeceased his own father) by his wife ...

and mother of Henry Seymour, Lord Beauchamp and John Seymour, 4th Duke of Somerset. * Edward Seymour of Easton, c. 1735 later Edward Seymour, 8th Duke of Somerset. * Dr David Herbert Llewellyn, surgeon of the '' CSS Alabama'', was the son of the vicar and is commemorated in the church. He lost his life when the ''Alabama'' was sunk by ''USS Kearsarge'' in 1864. *Sir

Henry Howarth Bashford Sir Henry Howarth Bashford (13 January 1880 – 15 August 1961) was a distinguished English physician, becoming Honorary Physician to King George VI. He was also an author, most notably of satirical novels. Early life Bashford was born in ...

(1880-1961) – historian of the village, who bequeathed land that is now the village recreation ground; commemorated by the village's first

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

at his former residence, the White House. * Nigel Stock (actor)

References

External links

Easton Royal
at Wiltshire Community History
Village website
{{authority control Villages in Wiltshire