Nettleton 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 ...

about northwest of

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

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. The parish includes the villages of Burton and West Kington, and the hamlets of Horsedown, Nettleton Shrub and West Kington Wick. The northern section of Nettleton village is known as Nettleton Green. Until 1934, Burton and Nettleton were separate parishes.

Geography

The eastern limit of the parish is the boundary with the county of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. The Burton Brook and Broadmead Brook flow through the north and south of the parish respectively, meeting to form the Bybrook River on the eastern boundary of the parish. Nettleton Mill, an ancient watermill which was part of the

Castle Combe Castle Combe is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is around north-west of Chippenham and north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had ...

estate, is on the Broadmead Brook at the southeastern boundary of the parish. The

Fosse Way The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis ( Ilchester), Aquae Sulis ( Bat ...

runs through the parish, crossing both brooks.

History

Lugbury Long Barrow is a chambered long barrow about east of the village.Pevsner & Cherry, 1975, page356 Excavations in the 19th century found 28 human skeletons in its chambers. WP 20140413 17 26 59 Pro

Remains of 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, ...

settlement of about 30 buildings have been found in the north-west of the parish, where the

crosses the Broadmead Brook, south-west of Brotton Hill wood. This was excavated between 1956 and 1971; it is now field and woodland again. It was interpreted as a religious site, including an octagonal shrine some 10 metres in diameter. Apollo Cunomaglus may have been its overall patron; dedications to other deities, probably including Diana, Mercury, and

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

with his Gaulish consort

Rosmerta In Gallo-Roman religion, Rosmerta was a goddess of fertility and abundance, her attributes being those of plenty such as the cornucopia. Rosmerta is attested by statues and by inscriptions. In Gaul she was often depicted with the Roman god Merc ...

, were also found.

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 ...

recorded 24 households in 1086.

Religion

Nettleton has had a

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

chapel since 1823. The

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 ...

is St Mary's at Burton; West Kington has a church of St Mary the Virgin. The benefice of Littleton Drew (in Grittleton civil parish) was united with Nettleton in 1960. Today the parish is served by the Bybrook Team Ministry.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Nettleton Parish Council
* {{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire Roman sites in England Archaeological sites in Wiltshire