Little Cheverell 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
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. In some sources the
Latinized name of Cheverell Parva is used, especially when referring to the parish. The village lies on the B3098
Westbury– West Lavington road, which skirts the northern 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 is about east of Westbury and south of
Devizes.
Like its neighbour to the west,
Great Cheverell
Great Cheverell is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, south of Devizes. In some sources the Latinized name of Cheverell Magna is used, especially when referring to the ecclesiastical parish.
The parish includes Great Cheverell ...
, the parish is narrow from east to west, but extends south onto higher ground where its southernmost part has been within the
Imber Range military training area since 1943.
The civil parish elects a
parish council. It is in the area of
Wiltshire Council unitary authority
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...
, which is responsible for all significant local government functions.
History
A large settlement of 111 households was recorded at ''Chevrel'' in the Domesday Book of 1086.
The population of the parish peaked in the 19th century, with 295 recorded at the 1841 census; numbers in the 20th century were in the range 150 to 200.
The
Stert and Westbury Railway was built across the parish 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 in 1900, providing routes from London to
Weymouth or
Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
. There was a station called
Lavington, just beyond the east boundary of the parish, by the bridge over the A360. The line remains open but the station was closed in 1967 and no local stations remain; the nearest are
Pewsey and
Westbury.
Hawkswell House, south of the church, was built in brick in 1914–1920 for
Robert Awdry
Robert Awdry (20 May 1881 – 3 February 1949) was an English cricketer who later became chairman of Wiltshire County Council. He played nine first-class matches for Oxford University Cricket Club between 1902 and 1904.
The third son of C ...
, to designs of Arthur Campbell Martin (who also designed additions to
Dauntsey's School, West Lavington). Awdry, a cricketer and county councillor who was chairman of
Wiltshire County Council
Wiltshire County Council (established in 1889) was the county council of Wiltshire in the South West of England, an elected local Government body responsible for most local government services in the county.
As a result of the 2009 restructur ...
from 1946 to 1949, lived here until the house was commandeered by the War Office in 1941.
Parish church
There was a church at Little Cheverell by 1291. The
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, ...
was earlier called St Nicholas's but has been dedicated to St Peter since at least 1850.
The squat west tower is from the 13th century, while the rest of the 14th-century church was rebuilt (and increased in length) in 1850 to designs of
T. Cundy.
From 1915 onwards, the benefice of Cheverell Parva was united at various times with Great Cheverell (Cheverell Magna) and/or West Lavington. Today the parish is part of the Benefice of the Lavingtons, Cheverells & Easterton.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Little Cheverell Parish Council
{{authority control
Villages in Wiltshire
Civil parishes in Wiltshire