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Durnford is a
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 authorit ...
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, between
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
and Amesbury. It lies in the Woodford Valley and is bounded to the west by the Salisbury Avon and to the east by the A345 Salisbury-Amesbury road. The parish church and Little Durnford Manor are Grade I listed. The main settlement is Great Durnford, southwest of Amesbury. To the south, on the bank of the Avon, are the small settlements of Netton, Salterton and Little Durnford.


History

Evidence of prehistoric activity in the area includes two
bowl barrow A bowl barrow is a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from its resemblance to an upturned bowl. Related terms include ''cairn circle'', ''cairn ring'', ''howe'', ''ker ...
s (
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...
or
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
) on high ground south of Great Durnford village, and Ogbury camp (Bronze Age or
Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
), a hilltop enclosure on the summit of a ridge close to the village. Durnford is within the
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in Wiltshire, England. The WHS covers two large areas of land separated by about , rather than a specific monument or building. The sites were inscribed as co-listi ...
World Heritage Site, and Great Durnford lies some southeast of the Stonehenge monument. The
Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
of 1086 recorded 71 households at Durnford and a small settlement at Netton. The ancient parish of Durnford included Normanton, north of Great Durnford on the west bank. This part was transferred to Wilsford cum Lake parish in 1885. Little Durnford Manor was built in the late 17th century and remodelled c. 1720-1740. The house is Grade I listed and has a dining room described by
Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...
as "a splendid mid C18 room with a proud chimneypiece and wall panels of tapestry framed in plaster". There was probably a medieval village at Little Durnford, beside the river, but this had disappeared by the 18th century after parkland was created for the manor house. The Manor House at Great Durnford was built in brick in the 18th century, then acquired in 1904 by the politician George Tryon, who altered and extended the house in 1912–13, and became Baron Tryon of Durnford in 1940. Dreda Tryon, wife of George's son Charles, ran a boarding preparatory school for girls at the house from 1942 until 1992. A National School opened in 1844 at Netton, by the turning for High Post, and was rebuilt in 1872. Attendance declined in the 20th century and the school closed in 1975. There was a small 19th-century school at Great Durnford, near the entrance to the Manor House. A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1895 at Netton, next to the school, replacing a nearby meeting house certified in 1812. The chapel closed sometime between 1974 and 1988.


High Post airfield

The Wiltshire Light Aeroplane and County Club opened in 1931 at High Post Aerodrome, southeast of Great Durnford. By 1936 the Wiltshire School of Flying was here, using a grass landing area expanded to , with workshops for aircraft maintenance and a hotel and offices building on the main road. In 1940, the aerodrome became RAF High Post and was the home of the Lysanders of 112 Squadron
RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
. Later in 1940, it was chosen (along with RAF Chattis Hill, Hampshire) as an assembly and test site for
Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
aircraft built in and around Salisbury, after the destruction of factories in the Southampton area. Records list approximately 495 Spitfires assembled at High Post in 1941–43. In the spring of 1944, High Post became
Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public i ...
' flight development site, and the minor road which formed the southern boundary of the airfield was closed to allow extension of its grass runways to the southwest. Prototypes of the Spiteful, intended to succeed the Spitfire, and later the Seafang, were built here. High Post closed in 1947 because it lay under the approach to
Boscombe Down MoD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the southeastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the Def ...
. Vickers moved to the former
RAF Chilbolton Royal Air Force Chilbolton or RAF Chilbolton was a Royal Air Force station in Hampshire, England. The airfield was located in Chilbolton approximately south-southeast of Andover, about southwest of London Opened in 1940, it was used by t ...
and the School of Flying, which had reopened in 1946, moved to Thruxton in 1947. The southern section of the airfield reverted to farmland while the northern part continues in light industrial use. The hotel was replaced by a larger building which (as of 2016) trades as the Stones Hotel.


Parish church

The Church of England parish church of St Andrew, at Great Durnford, was built in the 12th century. Pevsner described it as "a Norman church, remarkably spacious and remarkably rich in furnishings". The north and south doorways are Norman, indicating that the width of the nave has not changed since that time. The chancel and tower are from the 13th century, while the windows are 15th and 16th. Inside are wall paintings, a 12th-century font, a pulpit of 1619, and pews from the 15th or 16th centuries. The tower has an
Angelus The Angelus (; Latin for "angel") is a Catholic devotion commemorating the Incarnation of Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ o ...
bell from the 14th century and four 17th-century bells. The church was designated as Grade I listed in 1958. In 1974 the parish was united with St Michael's at Wilsford and All Saints' at Woodford; today the parish is known as Woodford Valley with Archers Gate.


Amenities

Great Durnford has a
pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
, the ''Black Horse''. National Cycle Route 45 passes through Salterton and Netton on its Salisbury-Amesbury section. The Orange Way long-distance footpath also takes a south–north route, passing through Great Durnford, while the
Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West Su ...
crosses the river from Lower Woodford to Salterton and proceeds over Salterton Down.


Notable residents

*
George Tryon, 1st Baron Tryon George Clement Tryon, 1st Baron Tryon, PC (15 May 1871 – 24 November 1940) was a British Conservative politician who served in a number of ministerial positions in the inter-war years. George Clement Tryon was son of Vice-Admiral Sir George ...
(1871–1940), Conservative politician who served in a number of ministerial positions in the inter-war years. *
Charles Tryon, 2nd Baron Tryon __NOTOC__ Brigadier Charles George Vivian Tryon, 2nd Baron Tryon, (24 May 1906 – 9 November 1976) was a British peer, British Army officer, and a member of the Royal Household. Early life and military career Elder son of George, 1st Baron Tr ...
GCVO The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...
KCB DSO
OStJ The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of c ...
DL (1906–1976), peer, Army officer, and a member of the Royal Household. Assistant Keeper of the Privy Purse to King George VI, Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth II and Permanent Lord-in-Waiting. * Dale Tryon, Baroness Tryon (1948–1997), friend of both Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, and a successful businesswoman in the international fashion world, with the fashion label "Kanga" and couture line "The Dale Tryon Collection".


References


External links

{{Commons category, Durnford, Wiltshire
Wiltshire Council - Wiltshire Community History - Durnford
Civil parishes in Wiltshire