Winterslow 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 ...
with a population of around 2,000, about northeast of
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 ...
in Wiltshire, England, and lying south of the
A30 London Road. It is sited on the
Roman road between
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 r ...
and
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
.
Settlements in the parish are the villages of West Winterslow and Middle Winterslow, and the hamlets of East Winterslow and The Common.
History
The area has evidence of prehistoric settlements, including
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 pri ...
features and an
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 mostly appl ...
hillfort
A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
at
Ashley's Copse, straddling the border with Hampshire in the northeast of the parish.
Middle Winterslow lies along a
Roman road which runs due west towards
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 r ...
.
The three settlements (today's West, Middle and East Winterslow) are recorded in the 1086
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 manusc ...
as ''Wintreslei'', meaning "Winter's mound or burial place".
The Winterslows developed as separate manors, with Middle Winterslow known for a time as Middleton.
As recently as 1958, the village around All Saints' church was named on maps as Winterslow, with West Winterslow adjacent to its southeast. On current maps and road signs, both areas are West Winterslow.
From the 17th century, the
Winterslow Hut
Winterslow Hut was a late 17th-century coaching inn on the London to Exeter stagecoach route at Winterslow, Wiltshire, England. Its isolated location on Salisbury Plain between Salisbury and Andover, with a spring close by, made it a useful res ...
was a roadside
coaching inn near Middle Winterslow. Later the Pheasant Hotel or Pheasant Inn, the business closed in 2007 and the much-altered building is now four dwellings.
Governance
The civil parish elects a
parish council. It is in the area of
Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council is a council for the unitary authority of Wiltshire (excluding the separate unitary authority of Swindon) in South West England, created in 2009. It is the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council (1889–2009) and the ...
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.
An
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
in the same name exists. This ward starts on the outskirts of Salisbury in the south west and stretches in a northeasterly direction to Winterslow. The total ward population taken at the
2011 census was 3,894.
Religious sites
Parish church
![All Saints Parish Church - Winterslow - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/All_Saints_Parish_Church_-_Winterslow_-_geograph.org.uk_-_472222.jpg)
The
Church of England parish church of All Saints at West Winterslow dates from the early 12th century, but was largely rebuilt in 1849–51 by
T.H. Wyatt, using coursed flint.
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 ...
writes that it is externally mostly Wyatt's work. It has a small chancel, an aisled nave which was doubled in length by Wyatt, and a south porch with two-stage tower above, capped with a pyramidal tiled roof. Surviving 12th-century features are the east part of the nave the south aisle, as well as the simple tub font. The north aisle was added in the 13th century; the chancel is all Wyatt's, apart from the 13th-century chancel arch. 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 1960.
The pulpit is mostly 17th century.
One of the six bells was cast by John Wallis in 1593; the others were recast by
John Taylor & Co
John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...
in 1910, when the peal was rehung. A 1918 window in the north aisle, in colourful
Pre-Raphaelite
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...
style, is by
Karl Parsons
Karl Bergemann Parsons (23 January 1884 – 30 September 1934) was a British stained glass artist associated with the Arts and Crafts movement.
Early life, 1884 – 1898
Parsons was born in Peckham in south London on 23 January 1884, the 12th a ...
.
Eastern parts of the parishes of Winterbourne Dauntsey and Winterbourne Gunner were transferred to Winterslow parish in 1956. Today the church is one of the Clarendon group, alongside eight others.
Others
A brick and flint
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 ...
dedicated to St John the Baptist was opened at The Common in 1860, and is also part of the Clarendon group.
A
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
chapel was built at The Common in 1810; the present building dates from 1865.
An
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
church, the Gospel Lifeboat Mission, was opened at Middle Winterslow in 1891. The present building is from 1979.
Winterslow
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
Church, at West Winterslow, is a
tin tabernacle
A tin tabernacle, also known as an iron church, is a type of prefabricated ecclesiastical building made from corrugated galvanised iron. They were developed in the mid-19th century initially in the United Kingdom. Corrugated iron was first us ...
built in 1908.
Notable buildings
Roche Old Court at East Winterslow, a former
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
and farm (named for the Roches family, tenants of an estate in the 14th century)
was partly rebuilt around 1620 in red brick with stone quoins. The house has six bays and 18th-century additions, 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 six-bay barn from the 16th century or early 17th is also Grade II* listed. There is another Grade II* barn of similar age at Old Manor Farm, West Winterslow.
Also near East Winterslow, Roche Court is a
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
standing in parkland, built in 1804–5 to replace an earlier house, for Francis Thomas Egerton to designs of the London architect
C. H. Tatham.
The two-storey house in limestone ashlar at first had a four-bay front but three bays were added at the left side; the entrance has a
tetrastyle
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
Tuscan portico. The house was designated as Grade II* listed in 1987.
The orangery and garden loggia are thought to be part of the original garden design, in the same period as the house. The stable block is also of 19th-century date.
Kings Farm at West Winterslow is a largely complete example of a
cruck-frame open-hall house, built in 1460 and later altered and extended. It was designated as Grade II* listed in 2022 after its age was established by
tree-ring dating.
Madeleine, Countess of Bessborough founded the New Art Centre in
Sloane Street
Sloane Street is a major London street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, crossing Pont Street about halfway along.
History
Sloane Street takes its name from Sir H ...
, London in 1958, which was relocated to Roche Court in 1994 as the New Art Centre Sculpture Park and Gallery. Exhibition spaces have been added to the property, including a 1998 glass wall which links the house and orangery. Since 2005 the Roche Court Educational Trust, a charity, promotes appreciation of sculpture and other arts among young people through visits to the park and by outreach.
Notable people
John Roches
Sir John Roches (c.1333–1400), of Bromham, Wiltshire, was an English admiral, diplomat, magistrate and politician.
Political career
He was made Ambassador to the Kingdom of Aragon from 30 October 1377 to 4 May 1378, and again from 20 Jun ...
(c.1333–1400), ambassador, MP and admiral, inherited a share in Winterslow manor through his mother.
William Hazlitt
William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...
(1778–1830), author and critic, wrote in a room at the Winterslow Hut; his wife Sarah owned a cottage at Middle Winterslow.
Peter Bellinger Brodie (1778–1854, conveyancer) and his brother
Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie (1783–1862, pioneering physiologist and surgeon) were born here.
From at least 1955, Roche Court was the residence of Sir Geoffrey Ronald Codrington, a retired colonel in the
Territorial Army. He was a
Gentleman Usher to
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...
and
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
, and
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 ...
for 1955. A tablet in the church, commemorating refurbishment of the chancel in 1975, bears the names of Codrington and his wife.
Amenities
Winterslow CE Primary School, Middle Winterslow, serves the parish and nearby villages. It was built as a
National School in 1856 and educated children of all ages until 1962.
At Middle Winterslow is a large modern village hall with a tennis court. There is one
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 Lord Nelson at Middle Winterslow. The Lion's Head at The Common closed in 2018. There is a
convenience store near the Lord Nelson.
The
Clarendon Way
The Clarendon Way is a recreational footpath in Hampshire and Wiltshire, England. It starts beside the waters of the River Itchen in the centre of Winchester and ends near the River Avon at Salisbury Cathedral. The path passes through the ...
long-distance footpath passes through Middle Winterslow and West Winterslow; its route along the Roman road is shared with 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 ...
.
Development controversy
A housing development at Middle Winterslow was proposed in 2011 and met with objections from some residents, leading to part of the site – the 7.5 acre Brown's Copse – gaining protection in 2015 through classification as a
village green
A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...
. A plan to build 46 houses was submitted in 2017 and withdrawn after meeting local opposition.
References
External links
Winterslow village website
{{authority control
Civil parishes in Wiltshire