Milton Lilbourne 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 authorit ...

in the county of

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, in the

Vale of Pewsey The Vale of Pewsey or Pewsey Vale is an area of Wiltshire, England to the east of Devizes and south of Marlborough, centred on the village of Pewsey. Geography The vale is an extent of lower lying ground separating the chalk downs of Salisbu ...

between

Pewsey Pewsey is a large village and civil parish at the centre of the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, about south of Marlborough and west of London. It is within reach of the M4 motorway and the A303 and is served by Pewsey railway station on the Re ...

and Burbage. It is largely a mixed residential area centred on the Manor. The nearest town is Marlborough, to the north. The parish includes the following hamlets: *

Clench Clench may refer to: People *Clench (surname) Places in England * Clench, Wiltshire, in the parish of Milton Lilbourne ** Clench Mill, a windmill in Wiltshire * Clench Common, a hamlet in the parish of Savernake, Wiltshire In fiction * Clench ...

– to the north, near

Wootton Rivers Wootton Rivers is a small village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire, England. The village lies about northeast of Pewsey and south of Marlborough. During the 20th century its population halved and most of its facilities close ...

* Fyfield with Fyfield Manor – west, near Pewsey (not to be confused with the village of Fyfield near Marlborough) * Little Salisbury – west, on the Pewsey-Burbage road * Littleworth – north, on the other side of the Pewsey-Burbage road * Milkhouse Water, formerly Milcot Water – northwest, by the Avon * New Mill – north, also by the Avon The parish is unusual in that it has a long thin shape and is one of the few to have boundaries on the uplands to both south and north of the Vale. The southern boundary passes by a

long barrow Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repre ...

and the northern one abuts the prehistoric fort on Martinsell Hill.

History

The parish contains several prehistoric features including the Giants Grave to the south (a

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 ...

) and a

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 ...

Barrow Cemetery at Milton Hill Farm. "Milton" in the village's name probably derives from its position as "middle tun" between Pewsey and

Easton Royal Easton Royal is a village in the civil parish of Easton in Wiltshire, England, about east of Pewsey and south of Marlborough. The village was the location of Easton Priory from 1234 to 1536. The village mistakenly gained the Royal suffix in ...

, the "east tun". "Lilbourne" is from Lillebonne, the surname of lords of the manor. The Manor House dates from c.1710 and is Grade II* listed.

Parish church

There was a vicarage here by 1195. 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, ...

of St Peter is in squared and coursed rubble with stone dressings, and ashlar copings and battlements. When the chancel was rebuilt in the 14th century, the jambs of the arch of the 12th-century church were retained; the four-bay north arcade is from the 13th century. Restoration of the chancel in 1859 was to designs of

G.E. Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford, London, Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Gothic Revival architecture, Vi ...

, and in 1875

J. L. Pearson John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency ...

retired the nave, aisle and porch. The northwest tower has six bells, five of them cast by Robert Wells II in 1789. The building was recorded as Grade II* listed in 1959. The benefice was united with

in 1929, and with Pewsey and

in 1991. Today the parish is part of the Vale of Pewsey team of churches, centered on St John's, Pewsey.

Transport

The Kennet and Avon Canal crosses the parish, using the Avon valley. The Reading to Taunton railway follows the same route; the nearest station is

. From 1928 to 1966 there was a halt at

, a short distance outside the parish.

Amenities

Facilities include the Village Hall with its playing fields. On the Pewsey-Burbage road in the area known as Little Salisbury stood the Three Horse Shoes pub, closed in 2009. The nearest shops are in Pewsey, about away.

References

External links

Milton Lilbourne Parish Council
* *

{{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire