Farley is a village in southeast

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 east 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 ...

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

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, 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 ...

, 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 an Old soldiers' home, Old Soldiers' retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse — the ancient sense of the word "hospital" — by King Charles II of Eng ...

, London, which was designed and built by

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...

; 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 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 ...

. 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

The

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 (London), National Portrait Gallery. He was Arch ...

and designated as Grade I listed in 1960. The churches at Farley and Pitton were chapelries of St Mary's at Alderbury 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 (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...

and 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 ...

, 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 bio ...

, 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 ...

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

Pitton and Farley Parish Council

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