Winterbourne Stoke is a 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, about west of
Amesbury
Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settle ...
and west of the prehistoric monument of
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
.
The village is on the
River Till at the southern 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 ...
, on both sides of a single-carriageway stretch of the busy
A303
The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a prim ...
trunk road.
History
Especially in its east part, the parish is rich in archaeological remains, beginning in the
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 parts ...
period. The easternmost part of the parish (beyond the A360/B3086) is within the Stonehenge section of the
Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage site
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 ...
. This area includes the
Lesser Cursus
The Stonehenge Cursus (sometimes known as the Greater Cursus) is a large Neolithic cursus monument on Salisbury plain, near to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. It is roughly long and between and wide. Excavations in 2007 dated the construc ...
earthwork and adjacent
barrows, and the western tip of the
Greater Cursus (which predates Stonehenge) and the nearby
Cursus Barrows
The Cursus Barrows is the name given to a Neolithic and Bronze Age round barrow cemetery located mostly south of the western end of the Stonehenge Cursus. The cemetery contains around 18 round barrows scattered along an east-to-west ridge, alth ...
. North of the village, on the slopes of the Till valley, are two cemetery sites with
round barrows
A round barrow is a type of tumulus and is one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe, they are found in many parts of the world, probably because of their simple construction and universal purpose. ...
and later earthworks.
A
Romano-British
The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a ...
settlement, medieval earthworks and a field system have been identified on Winterbourne Stoke Down, northeast of the village; in her 1930 survey of Romano-British Wiltshire,
Maud Cunnington
Maud Edith Cunnington (''née'' Pegge; 24 September 1869 – 28 February 1951) was a Welsh archaeologist, best known for her pioneering work on the some of the most important prehistoric sites of Salisbury Plain.
Early life, education, and m ...
noted this settlement to be well preserved.
The
Domesday
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 manusc ...
survey in 1086 recorded a settlement at ''Wintreburne'' with 50 households, a church and a mill, on the king's land;
Edward of Salisbury
Edward of Salisbury was a nobleman and courtier (''curialis''), probably part Anglo-Saxon, who served as High Sheriff of Wiltshire during the reigns of William I, William II and Henry I.
The ''Chronicon Abbatiae Rameseiensis'' (1293) names him as ...
held two small estates. The
Wiltshire Victoria County History
The Wiltshire Victoria County History, properly called The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire but commonly referred to as VCH Wiltshire, is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England. It forms part of the overall Vic ...
traces later owners of Winterbourne Stoke manor, including
John Maltravers, 1st Baron Maltravers
John Maltravers, 1st Baron Maltravers (1290?–1364) was an English nobleman and soldier.
Early life
He was son of Sir John Maltravers (1266–1343?) of Lytchett Matravers, Dorset, born by his first wife Eleanor, about 1290. He was knighted, as ...
(d.1364) and the
earls of Arundel
Earl of Arundel is a title of nobility in England, and one of the oldest extant in the English peerage. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used (along with the Earl of Surrey) by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. The ea ...
in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The church was linked to
Jumièges Abbey
Jumièges Abbey () was a Benedictine monastery, situated in the commune of Jumièges in the Seine-Maritime ''département'', in Normandy, France.
History
Around 654 the abbey was founded on a gift of forested land belonging to the royal fisc ...
, Normandy, from the mid-13th century, then became an endowment of
Sheen Priory
Sheen Priory (ancient spelling: Shene, Shean, etc.) in Sheen, now Richmond, London, was a Carthusian monastery founded in 1414 within the royal manor of Sheen, on the south bank of the Thames, upstream and approximately 9 miles southwest of th ...
, Surrey, on its foundation in 1414.
The manor house, in its own grounds south of the main road, dates from the 17th century and is
Grade II* 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 ...
. A large house built in flint and limestone chequerwork, it has a five-bay main part with cross wings at both ends and was extended around 1920. The road from
Amesbury
Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settle ...
to
Mere
Mere may refer to:
Places
* Mere, Belgium, a village in East Flanders
* Mere, Cheshire, England
* Mere, Wiltshire, England
People
* Mere Broughton (1938–2016), New Zealand Māori language activist and unionist
* Mere Smith, American televisi ...
, now the A303, was
turnpiked in 1761.
A schoolroom was built in 1818, and by 1871 the school was affiliated to the
National Society and had up to 50 pupils.
In 1875 the school moved to a new building on Church Street, but by 1935 attendance had fallen to 17, and it was closed in 1949;
children aged 11 and over went instead to the secondary school at
Wilton which had opened in 1935.
From 1941 to 1945, the RAF had a grass airfield at
Oatlands Hill in the east of the parish. It was a satellite site of
Old Sarum
Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the now ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest re ...
and was used mainly for training.
Geography
The parish of Winterbourne Stoke mostly consists of downland, with chalk outcrops in places. It is bisected from north to south by the
River Till, which rises to the north on
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 which was originally called the River Winterbourne.
The village is located at the junction of the B3083 road, running north and south, and the
A303
The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a prim ...
trunk road, running east and west. The land is gently sloping; level areas near the river have been used as meadowland and slightly sloping land for arable cropping since the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
.
Most of the
Parsonage Down national nature reserve is within the parish. This ancient downland is rich in wild flowers as well as having scrubby areas where
yellowhammer
The yellowhammer (''Emberiza citrinella'') is a passerine bird in the bunting family that is native to Eurasia and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. Most European birds remain in the breeding range year-round, but the eastern ...
s and
turtle doves flourish.
Parish church
![Winterbourne_Stoke,_parish_church_of_St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/Winterbourne_Stoke%2C_parish_church_of_St._Peter_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1238663.jpg)
The
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of St Peter is at the south end of the village. The earliest parts of the building are the 12th-century north doorway and blocked south doorway of the nave;
the nave (which has no aisles) is from later in that century. The crossing, transepts and chancel were added in the 13th century
and at that time the central tower was probably square, although the present tower is from the 14th or 15th century and rectangular. The nave and tower are built in flint with some ashlar dressings. Two windows were added to the nave in the 15th century, and its west end was rebuilt with a large window in the 16th.
At some point before 1800 the north transept was removed.
Extensive restoration in 1838–40 saw the chancel rebuilt in yellow brick on the same foundations, the nave re-roofed, and the north porch added.
In 1881 a vestry was built on the site of the north transept, and a lean-to recess for the organ was added to the chancel.
The church was designated as
Grade II* 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 ...
in 1988.
Two of the four bells were cast at Salisbury around 1400; the peal is said to be unringable. The font is on a 12th-century base although the bowl may be later.
The octagonal pulpit (brought from
St Giles
Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...
in the deserted village of
Imber
Imber is an uninhabited village within the British Army's training area on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It lies in an isolated area of the Plain, about west of the A360 road between Tilshead and West Lavington. A linear village, its ...
) and some of the pews are from the 17th century.
Monuments in the churchyard include a row of five 18th-century limestone chest tombs of members of the Goodenough family.
A new vicarage was built c.1850 and sold in 1938, from which time the role of vicar was held by the incumbent of the united benefice of
Shrewton
Shrewton is a village and civil parish on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, around west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. It lies on the A360 road between Stonehenge and Tilshead. It is close to the source of the River Till, which flows ...
, Maddington and Rollestone.
Today the parish is part of the Wylye and Till Valley benefice, alongside eight others.
Amenities
The Bell Inn, built as a house in the mid 19th century
on the north side of the main road, was in use as a pub by 1855.
The manor estate is a venue for weddings and corporate events.
Road
The
A303
The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a prim ...
which passes through the village is a primary route linking London and central southern England with the southwest. Plans to reroute the road north of the village, as part of the
Stonehenge tunnel project, received Development Consent Order approval in 2020.
References
External links
Winterbourne Stoke Parish Council
{{authority control
Villages in Wiltshire
Civil parishes in Wiltshire