Farley is a village in southeast

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 east 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 Wil ...

Geography

Farley is one of the Dun Valley villages, together with East Grimstead, West Dean and Pitton. Streams which form the River Dun rise to the west and south of Farley, and the river flows east into Hampshire.

Local government

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 authority ...

of Pitton and Farley encompasses the villages of Pitton and Farley. The 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.

Notable buildings

A block of 12 dwellings for poor elderly persons, with accommodation for a warden and containing a schoolroom, was built for

Sir Stephen Fox Sir Stephen Fox (27 March 1627 – 28 October 1716) of Farley, Wiltshire, Farley in Wiltshire, of Redlynch, Somerset, Redlynch Park in Somerset, of Chiswick, Middlesex and of Whitehall, was a royal administrator and courtier to King Charles ...

in 1681 by Alexander Fort. (Sir Stephen also founded the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an ...

, London, which was designed and built by

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

; Fort was Wren's master mason.) The building, also known as Fox's Hospital, 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 continues to operate as a charity. A National School was built in 1867 immediately east of the church, with space for 80 pupils. It gained

voluntary aided A voluntary aided school (VA school) is a state-funded school in England and Wales in which a foundation or trust (usually a religious organisation), contributes to building costs and has a substantial influence in the running of the school. In m ...

status in 1955, when there were 26 attending. Numbers rose in the 1980s and 1990s but then fell, and the school closed in August 2005.

Parish church

All Saints Church, Farley, Wiltshire, England from SW

The

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Church of All Saints was built in 1690 by Sir Stephen Fox (1627–1716) probably to the design of Alexander Fort, opposite the almshouses also built by him. It is built in red brick, in English bond, with stone dressings. The font is original. The church was restored in 1875 by

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery. He was Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commiss ...

and designated as Grade I listed in 1960. The churches at Farley and Pitton were chapelries of St Mary's at

Alderbury Alderbury is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, in the south of the county around southeast of Salisbury. The parish includes the village of Whaddon, which is adjacent to Alderbury, and the hamlet of Shute End. The River Avon fo ...

until 1874, when the parish of Farley with Pitton was established, with Farley church as the parish church. Today the parish is one of the ten covered by the Clarendon team ministry.

Amenities

The village has a

nursery school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

and 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 Hook and Glove. Farley Cricket Club was founded around 1866 and plays in the Hampshire Cricket League.

Blackmoor Copse Blackmoor Copse () is a woodland in southeast Wiltshire, England, managed as a nature reserve by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. The copse lies within Pitton and Farley parish, about east of Salisbury. A area of the wood was notified as a biol ...

, a

biological Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

which is managed as a nature reserve by the

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is a conservation charity based in Devizes, England which owns and manages 40 nature reserves in Wiltshire and Swindon. It also works to encourage Wiltshire's communities to live sustainable lifestyles that protect the e ...

, lies east of the village.

Notable people

(1627–1716), politician and Paymaster of the Forces, born at Farley * Sir Hugh Norman-Walker (1916–1985), colonial official and Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong, retired to Farley

References

External links

*
Farley Hospital
– website for the charity that manages the building {{authority control Villages in Wiltshire