Shaw is a village in 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Melksham Without Melksham Without is a civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. It surrounds, but does not include, the town of Melksham and is the largest rural parish in Wiltshire, with a population of 7,230 (as of 2011) and an area of . In 1894 the ...

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. It is about northwest of

Melksham Melksham () is a town on the River Avon in Wiltshire, England, about northeast of Trowbridge and south of Chippenham. At the 2011 census, the Melksham built-up area had a population of 19,357, making it Wiltshire's fifth-largest settlement aft ...

on the A365 Melksham to

Box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

road, where the B3353 diverges to

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south-eastern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 national route, southwest of Swindon, southeast of Bristol, northeast of Bath and southwest of ...

History

The manor of Shaw was recorded in the 13th century and became a tithing of Melksham parish. By 1335 there was a chapel of St Leonard, but there are no records of this chapel after 1460. The higher ground to the west of the village was known as Shaw Hill. Shaw House, built in 1711 and extended c. 1840, is Grade II* listed. The house was used as a school in the early 19th century, as a home for the elderly in the 20th century, and as of 2015 has returned to residential use. The Anglican Christ Church was built in 1838 to designs by T.H. Wyatt, and served Shaw and Whitley as a chapelry of 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, ...

at Melksham. This church proved to be too small and was rebuilt in 1905 to designs of C.E. Ponting at the expense of Charles Selwyn Awdry, who had served as

High Sheriff of Wiltshire This is a list of the Sheriffs and (after 1 April 1974) High Sheriffs of Wiltshire. Until the 14th century, the shrievalty was held ''ex officio'' by the castellans of Old Sarum Castle. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Go ...

. The new church is in the Arts and Crafts Gothic style and is a Grade II*

listed building 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 ...

, having been so designated on 13 February 1985.

Amenities

The village has a primary school, Shaw CE Primary School, built next to the church in 1874 and extended in 1901, 1911, 1973, 2003 and 2009. Children of all ages were educated here until 1953. The Shaw & Whitley Community Hub established Whitley Stores Community Shop in the neighbouring village of Whitley in August 2021.

Shaw Trust

The

Shaw Trust Shaw Trust is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which supports people with complex needs into good work. It was founded in the village of Shaw in Wiltshire in 1982. Shaw Trust surpluses are reinvested through its charitable S ...

was formed in the village in 1982 and grew into a national charity, helping over 50,000 disabled and disadvantaged people into independent living and employment each year. It also works with the Shaw Education Trust which runs a number of academy schools across the country.

References

External links

* {{authority control Melksham Without Villages in Wiltshire