Ogbourne St George 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 ...

on the

River Og The River Og is a short river in Wiltshire, England. It rises near the hamlet of Draycot Foliat, and flows south for about through Ogbourne St George, Ogbourne St Andrew and Ogbourne Maizey to the eastern edge of Marlborough, where it joins ...

about north of

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

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.

History

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 manus ...

of 1086 recorded a relatively large settlement of 71 households at ''Ocheborne'', corresponding to the later manors of St Andrew and St George. In 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 ...

the manor of Ogbourne St George belonged to the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Abbey of Bec An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nuns ...

in Normandy. Ogbourne Priory was founded in about 1149 as a daughter house of the abbey.Pevsner & Cherry, 1975, page 366 For some two hundred years the priory managed all the English estates belonging to the abbey. During World War II the address of the manor house was used atop a fictitious headed letter from 'Pam' to 'Major Martin' as a part of Operation Mincemeat, a disinformation strategy, the idea being that 'no German could resist the "Englishness" of such an address'.

Buildings

The present manor house is built on the site of the priory and is Listed building, Grade II* listed. The house is Jacobean architecture, Jacobean and the date 1619 is inscribed on one of its chimneystacks. It received some Georgian architecture, Georgian remodelling, including the current glazing of its windows and probably the Hip roof, hipped roof. The Church of England parish church of Saint George is also Grade II* listed and may be Norman architecture, Norman in origin. The three-Bay (architecture), bay Arcade (architecture), arcade of the south aisle is English Gothic architecture#Early English Gothic, Early English Gothic and the arcade of the north aisle is slightly later. The church's windows and bell tower are English Gothic architecture#Perpendicular Gothic, Perpendicular Gothic additions from later in the

. The tower has a Change ringing, ring of five bells, with an 18 hundredweight tenor tuned to E-flat major, E-flat. St. George's is now part of the Ridgeway Benefice along with the parishes of Chiseldon with Draycot Foliat and Ogbourne St Andrew with Rockley. A 14th or 15th century barn at Hallam Farm is Grade I listed. A 17th-century cottage known as Applegarth, on the High Street, is Grade II* listed.

Former railway

The Midland and South Western Junction Railway#Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway, Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway was built through the parish and opened in 1881, with a Ogbourne railway station, station at Ogbourne. The railway company later renamed itself the Midland and South Western Junction Railway. It was made part of the Great Western Railway in 1923. British Railways, into which GWR had been assimilated, closed the line through Ogbourne station in 1961. Part of the line has been obliterated in the Ogbourne St George district by the realignment of the A346 road, A346, but most of the trackbed is now part of National Cycle Route 482, between Chiseldon and

Amenities

The 17th-century Old Crown Inn was a coaching inn and is currently called the Inn with the Well. The village had another public house which has been converted into the Parklands Hotel. Ogbourne St George & St Andrew Voluntary controlled school, Voluntary Controlled Church of England Primary School serves Ogbourne St George, Ogbourne St Andrew, Ogbourne Maizey, Rockley and smaller numbers of pupils from Marlborough. The Ridgeway National Trail passes close to the village.

References

Sources & further reading

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External links

Ogbourne St George Village Website
* * {{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire