Oare is a small village in the east of the 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 ...

, England. The village lies about north 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 ...

, on the A345 road towards

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

, and falls within the civil parish of Wilcot, Huish and Oare.

History

Oare was anciently a

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...

Wilcot Wilcot is a village in Wiltshire, England, in the Vale of Pewsey about southwest of Marlborough and northwest of Pewsey. The village is part of the civil parish of Wilcot, Huish and Oare. The parish was created in 2020 by merging the small ...

parish. With effect from May 2021, the parishes of Wilcot and Huish were merged to form the parish of Wilcot, Huish and Oare.

Geography

The area is popular with walkers and the Mid Wilts Way long-distance footpath passes through the village. The Giant's Grave at the eastern edge of the village offers views over the village and

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 ...

. A heart-shaped tree plantation was created in 1999, below Huish Hill in the southeast of Huish parish, near Oare. The heart is a

geoglyph A geoglyph is a large design or motif (generally longer than 4 metres) produced on the ground by durable elements of the landscape, such as stones, stone fragments, gravel, or earth. A positive geoglyph is formed by the arrangement and alignmen ...

, but not a

hill figure A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and ...

like the many surrounding "white horses" such as the

Marlborough White Horse Marlborough White Horse, also called the Preshute White Horse, is a hill figure on Granham Hill, a fairly shallow slope of the downland above the hamlet of Preshute, southwest of Marlborough in the county of Wiltshire, England. Dating from 1804 ...

Church

The Goodman family inherited the Oare House estate in 1796 and held it until it was broken up in 1893. In 1857–8 Mrs M Goodman, widow of Reverend Maurice Hillier Goodman who had been vicar of Wilcot, paid for the construction of the Church of the Holy Trinity on a site west of Oare House, as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

for Wilcot. She engaged the prolific architect

S. S. Teulon Samuel Sanders Teulon (2 March 1812 – 2 May 1873) was an English Gothic Revival architect, noted for his use of polychrome brickwork and the complex planning of his buildings. Family Teulon was born in 1812 in Greenwich, Kent, the son of a ...

, who designed an apsed church in Romanesque style, mostly in red brick with some mildly contrasting colours. The nave and chancel are under one tiled roof, and there is a south porch and west bellcote. An ecclesiastical parish was created for the church in 1892, formed from part of Wilcot parish together with areas which had been detached parts of Alton Priors chapelry (in Overton parish), Huish and

North Newnton North Newnton is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, southwest of Pewsey. The parish is in the Vale of Pewsey which carries the upper section of the Salisbury Avon. The parish includes the small village of Bottlesford and the hamlet of Hil ...

. In 1924 the benefices of Huish and Oare were united, with the parsonage house to be at Huish. Wilcot was added in 1962. In 1972 the parishes of Huish and Oare were united and a team ministry was established for the local area. Today the church is part of the Vale of Pewsey Churches, a group of 16 churches.

Buildings

Oare House Oare House is a Grade I listed country house in Oare, Wiltshire, England. The house was built in 1740 for a London wine merchant, Henry Deacon. It was largely remodelled in the early 1920s by the architect Clough Williams-Ellis, for Sir Geoff ...

, built in 1740 on the western edge of the village, is

Grade I 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 ...

. It was largely remodelled in the early 1920s by

Portmeirion Portmeirion is a tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village, and is now owned by a charitable trust. The village is located in the co ...

architect

Clough Williams-Ellis Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architec ...

. Its gardens, which include a summerhouse also designed by Williams-Ellis, are listed Grade II on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

. To the west of the gardens stands the Oare Pavilion, completed in 2003 and the only British building designed by

I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...

. At the northern edge of the village is Rainscombe House, built circa 1810 and Grade II listed. Its grounds, in the valley between Oare Hill and Martinsell Hill, are the location for the annual Wiltshire Steam and Vintage Rally, held in June or July. Oare Church of England Primary School was built in 1914 in the north of the village, replacing an 1850s building near the church. Pupils came from a wider area after 1969 when falling pupil numbers led to the closure of Wilcot school. The school at Oare was remodelled and extended in 2003. The Devil's Grave - geograph

References

External links

* * {{authority control Villages in Wiltshire