Burbage 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 the Vale of Pewsey, Wiltshire, England. It is about south of Marlborough and west of Newbury. The parish includes the hamlets of Durley, Eastcourt, Marr Green, Ram Alley, Stibb Green, The Warren (which is close to Tottenham House), and Westcourt.

Local government

Burbage is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It is in the area of

Wiltshire Council Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire in South West England, and has its headquarters a ...

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

. Both councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

Geography

Burbage stands on a watershed at the eastern end of the Vale of Pewsey, with streams to the east draining to the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

via the Dun and Kennet; to the south draining to the Salisbury Avon via the River Bourne; and to the north and west direct to the Avon. The village High Street was the main north–south road from Marlborough to Andover, now the A346 primary route, until a bypass was built to the west in 1991. A more minor route from Pewsey to Hungerford and the M4 (designated A338 to the east and B3087 to the west) passes to the south of the village. Burbage no longer has a station on the nearby Reading to Taunton line, the nearest stations being at

Great Bedwyn Great Bedwyn is a village and civil parish in east Wiltshire, England. The village is on the River Dun about southwest of Hungerford, southeast of Swindon and southeast of Marlborough. The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunt ...

(which has commuter services to London) and . Burbage lies in the heart of the North Wessex Downs, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

History

The 1086

Domesday 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 ...

survey recorded a church, four landholders and 15 households, and a further eight households at the settlement later known as Wulfhall or Wolfhall, about three-quarters of a mile to the east. In the 16th century, Wulfhall was the seat of the Seymour family; among them

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (; 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, who was ...

, who was queen to

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

. The Seymour manor house was demolished in 1723 and replaced by a larger house nearby. Wulfhall was anciently a tithing of

parish and was transferred to Burbage parish in the late 19th century. The Kennet and Avon Canal, completed in 1810, crosses the parish just north of the village, where it passes through the Bruce Tunnel. Burbage Wharf was further west, where the canal passes under the present-day A346. The

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

's Berks and Hants Extension Railway from to was built close to the canal in the 1860s, eventually becoming part of the to section of the main line from in 1906. The GWR built north of the village, above the canal tunnel;

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

ways closed it in 1966 but the line remains in use. Until 1947 there was also a goods-only station at Burbage Wharf. The

Midland and South Western Junction Railway The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' t ...

opened from to in 1882, the latter station being situated in nearby West Grafton. The northern section of the M&SWJR line from

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

to had opened in 1881, and this was joined to the southern section from 1883 by using the Great Western Railway's branch between Savernake and . In 1898 the M&SWJR got its own route between Marlborough and Grafton and a new station opened at . The M&SWJR had therefore become a route between and

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

and the Midlands. British Railways closed it in 1961. The population of Burbage peaked at around 1600 with the building of the railway in 1860, declining to a low point of 1000 a century later. It has since increased steadily, regaining its 1860s level in the 21st century. The first school in the village was built at Eastcourt in 1806, rebuilt in 1856 and supplemented by a separate building for younger children in 1861. This school was taken over by the county council around 1906, and educated children of all ages until Marlborough secondary school opened in 1946. The 19th-century buildings (designated Grade II listed in 1988) were closed in 1989 upon the opening of the new school, and became a private residence.

Church and chapel

The

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

of All Saints was rebuilt in 1854 by T.H. Wyatt, then extended with a south aisle in 1876. The original church was from the 12th century and was rebuilt in the 14th and 15th, when the tower was added; the porch was added in the 16th. The present church retains only the tower and porch of the earlier building, and is

Grade II* 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, H ...

. The church is now part of the Savernake team ministry. A small Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built at Eastcourt in 1822, and replaced by a larger building on the High Street in 1906. This closed in 1996 and is now a private house.

Amenities

Burbage Primary School serves the village and surrounding area. The school was built in 1989 on a centrally-located site, between the High Street and Eastcourt. Burbage has a village hall and a cricket club, Burbage and Easton Royal CC, who play in the Wiltshire division of the West of England Premier League. There is one pub: the ''White Hart'', on the High Street in the centre of the village.

References

External links

Burbage at Wiltshire Community HistoryBurbage Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire