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Allington 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
, England, about southeast 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 settl ...
and northeast of
Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
. The parish includes the village of
Boscombe Boscombe () is a suburb in Bournemouth England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 ...
; both villages are on the River Bourne and the
A338 road The A338 is a major primary route in southern England, that runs from the junction with the A35 at Poole in Dorset to the junction with the A420 at Besselsleigh in Oxfordshire, a distance of . In Bournemouth and Poole the road is known as ...
. Most of the west boundary of the parish is also the county boundary with Hampshire.


History

The south of the parish has evidence of
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
settlement and 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, ...
villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
; the Port Way
Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
crossed the parish in the southeast. Allington is recorded in the
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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086, when there were eight households and one mill at ''Alentone'', on land held by
Amesbury Abbey Amesbury Abbey was a Benedictine abbey of women at Amesbury in Wiltshire, England, founded by Queen Ælfthryth in about the year 979 on what may have been the site of an earlier monastery. The abbey was dissolved in 1177 by Henry II, who founded ...
. By 1377, Allington was still a small village, with 35 poll-tax payers. The settlement developed where a minor road from
Winterslow Winterslow is a civil parish with a population of around 2,000, about northeast of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, and lying south of the A30 London Road. It is sited on the Roman road between Old Sarum and Winchester. Settlements in the par ...
forded the river and crossed the road from Salisbury; the Winterslow road was obliterated in the early 20th century by the military training area. The Salisbury road went through the centre of the village, passing east of the church, until 1835 when a short bypass was made, taking it immediately west of the church. At the southern end of the new section is a
pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
now called the Old Inn, an early 20th-century rebuilding of an establishment standing there in 1848 or earlier. James Bell's ''A new and comprehensive gazetteer of England and Wales'' (1836) says: Boscombe had a school from 1902; after it closed in 1972, children attended the newly built school at Porton. In 1934 the neighbouring small parish of Boscombe was added to Allington parish.


Military installations

Land in the southeast of the parish – the whole area southeast of the railway line – has been part of the Porton Down military training area since the early 20th century. The
Porton Down Porton Down is a science and defence technology campus in Wiltshire, England, just north-east of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and ...
science park, which houses the headquarters of the
Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
's
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is "to maximise the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK". The a ...
, is nearby in Idmiston parish. The military aircraft test establishment now known as
MoD Boscombe Down MOD Boscombe Down ' is the home of a military aircraft testing site, on the south-eastern outskirts of the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The site is managed by QinetiQ, the private defence company created as part of the breakup of the D ...
encroaches on the northwest part of the parish. There was a small airfield on Boscombe Down in the First World War, which was reopened in 1930 as a bomber base and then repurposed in 1939 as an aircraft research and testing station.


Religious sites

The
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...
of St Andrew at Boscombe dates from the 14th century and is
Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
. Nearby, the former rectory began as a
hall house The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...
in the 15th century and is now Grade II* listed. The church of St John the Baptist at Allington is an 1851 rebuilding of a church which was largely 13th-century; the new building kept the same plan and details, and incorporated fragments of 12th-century stonework. It was declared redundant in 2010 and is now in the care of the
Friends of Friendless Churches Friends of Friendless Churches (FoFC) is a registered charity formed in 1957, active in England and Wales, which campaigns for and rescues redundant historic places of worship threatened by demolition, decay, or inappropriate conversion. As ...
. The benefices of Allington and Boscombe were united in 1924, and the incumbent was to live in the Allington parsonage house. In 1970 the parishes were united, and in 1973 they became part of the Bourne Valley Benefice. St Andrew's became the sole parish church after the Allington church was declared redundant in 2010. A cottage at Allington was converted into a
Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...
chapel in 1843 and extended in 1981. By 2014 the building had returned to private occupation.


Railways

The Andover to Salisbury railway opened across the southeast of the parish in 1857. In the north of the parish, the
Amesbury and Military Camp Light Railway The Amesbury and Military Camp Light Railway (also known as the Bulford Camp Railway) was a branch line in Wiltshire, England, constructed under a light railway order, the Amesbury and Military Camp Light Railway Order 1898, dated 24 September 18 ...
was built in 1901 to serve
Bulford Camp Bulford Camp is a military camp on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Established in 1897, the site continues in use as a large British Army base. The camp is close to the village of Bulford and is about north-east of the town of Amesb ...
, with a station at
Newton Tony Newton Tony (formerly Newton Toney) is a rural English village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, close to the border with Hampshire. Situated in the River Bourne, Wiltshire, Bourne Valley, Newton Tony is abo ...
where the line crossed the Allington road. This line closed to passengers in 1952, with goods services continuing until 1963.


References


External links


Community site: Allington with Boscombe parish
* {{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire