Lea is a village in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England, lying approximately east of

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

. It is part of the

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Lea and Cleverton which includes the village of Garsdon and the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

of Cleverton. Garsdon was a separate parish until 1934. The Charlton Stream forms the western boundary of the parish, and joins the River Avon near Cowbridge in the southwest of the parish. The

Woodbridge Brook The Woodbridge Brook is a tributary of the Bristol Avon. It rises near Lydiard Millicent in Wiltshire in the west of England and flows in a generally westerly direction, joining the Avon below Malmesbury. The brook has a mean flow of and the wa ...

flows east–west across the parish to join the Charlton Stream northwest of Lea village. The southern boundary of the parish follows approximately the B4042

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

–Malmesbury road.

History

An early resident of Lea, in 1340, was Ralph of Combe and his name survives in the name applied to the south west corner of the village of Lea, which is Combe Green (Ordnance Survey spelling), sometimes misspelt as Coombe Green. A school was built at Lea in 1873, replacing an earlier one-room school. Children of all ages attended until 1954 when older pupils transferred to

Malmesbury School Malmesbury School in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, England, was founded in 1971 with the merger of Malmesbury Grammar School at Filands with Bremhilam Secondary Modern at Corn Gastons. History Until 2002, the school operated on two sites, with the lo ...

; in 1976 the school buildings were extended. The population of the parish peaked at 494 at the 1871 census, declined to 337 in 1931 and then increased as new housing was built, almost all in Lea village. When Sidney Herbert was created

Baron Herbert of Lea Baron Herbert of Lea, of Lea in the County of Wiltshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, since 1862 a subsidiary title of the earldom of Pembroke. The barony was created in 1861 for the politician Sidney Herbert, the fourth son ...

in 1861, his new title referred to this village.

Garsdon

The Domesday Book of 1068 recorded a settlement of 17 households at ''Gardone'', and land held by

Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a former Benedictine abbey dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul. It was one of the few English religious houses with a continuous history from the 7th century throug ...

. The abbey retained the land until the Dissolution when it was granted to Richard Moody, whose descendants included Sir Henry Moody MP (c.1582–1629). In 1631, the manor was bought by Sir Lawrence Washington (d. 1643), a Registrar of

Chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Court of Chancery, the chief court of equity in England and Wales until 1873 ** Equity (law), also called chancery, the body of jurisprudence originating in the Court of Chancery ** Courts of e ...

; his son, also Lawrence (1622–1662) was elected for

in 1661. Garsdon church has Washington family graves and a memorial; members of another branch of the family, headed by Lawrence Washington (1602–1653) are ancestors of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, first President of the United States. The manor passed by marriage to Sir Robert Shirley, later Earl Ferrers, in 1671; his grandson sold it to Paul Methuen in 1758, and in turn his grandson sold it in 1843 to Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, who also owned the nearby Charlton estate. The Howards sold the manor and farm in the 1930s. The manor house is from the 14th century, with additions in the 17th century and later, and is

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. In the late 17th century the main Oxford-Bristol road ran east–west through Garsdon parish, following the ridge in the east of the parish. The boundary between Lea and Garsdon parishes followed roughly the course of the Woodbridge Brook. Population of the parish peaked at 234 in 1831 and then declined, reaching 119 in 1931. Garsdon was added to Lea parish in 1934.

Religious sites

Anglican

An early chapel at Lea had been annexed to Garsdon rectory by the mid 16th century. In the earlier 20th century, Garsdon and Lea and Cleverton were considered a united benefice; in 1987 the rectory of Garsdon with Lea and Cleverton was united with Charlton vicarage. Today the churches at Lea and Garsdon are part of the Woodbridge Group of six rural churches. The church of St Giles, Lea, has a 15th-century west tower; the rest was rebuilt and enlarged during restoration in 1878. There was a church at Garsdon in 1265. The tower of All Saints' church is from the 15th and 16th centuries; the rest was rebuilt and enlarged in 1856.

Others

Calvinistic Methodists Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

built Zion chapel in Lea village c.1808, which was rebuilt in 1861. It was later used by

Congregationalists Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

and then

Baptists Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, who continue to use it in 2018.

Primitive Methodists The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...

built Jubilee Chapel at Garsdon Heath, northeast of Garsdon village, in 1860. The building remained in use until the late 20th century or early 21st, but by 2012 had become a private house. Primitive Methodists also built a chapel at Cleverton in 1874, replacing an earlier chapel. The building was still in use in 2018.

Facilities

Lea & Garsdon CE Primary School serves Lea, Cleverton, Garsdon and Charlton. The village has a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, the Rose and Crown, and a village hall. Other facilities in the village include a tennis court, a table tennis table, a former telephone box converted to a library and a children's play area. Lea had a cricket team between 2002 and 2009: the "Lea Lackadasicals". They played around ten friendly matches a year, normally on a Sunday afternoon.

Local government

Lea and Cleverton is a

with an elected parish council, which styles itself as Lea, Garsdon and Cleverton Parish Council. It is in the area of

Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire in South West England, and has its headquarters a ...

, a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

, which is responsible for most local government functions.

References

External links

Lea, Garsdon and Cleverton Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Wiltshire