Studley is a small village in the county of
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, which lies between Chippenham and Calne. The village is part of the civil parish of
Derry Hill & Studley
Derry Hill & Studley is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England, covering the villages of Derry Hill, Studley, Wiltshire, Studley and Sandy Lane, Wiltshire, Sandy Lane and the hamlet of Pewsham, as well as the country hou ...
.
Geography
Studley is about south-east of the large town 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, ...
, and west of the smaller town of
Calne
Calne () is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, southwestern England,OS Explorer Map 156, Chippenham and Bradford-on-Avon Scale: 1:25 000.Publisher: Ordnance Survey A2 edition (2007). at the northwestern extremity ...
. The centre of the village is about 500m north of the
A4 national route which connects the two towns.
The
Cocklemore Brook
The Cocklemore Brook is a short tributary of the Bristol Avon, some long. It rises near Studley in Wiltshire, England, and flows in a north and then westerly direction, draining the Pewsham area before passing underneath the former Wilts & Be ...
rises near the village.
Nearby villages include
Derry Hill (close by on the other side of the A4),
Bremhill
Bremhill is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about northwest of Calne and east of Chippenham. The name originates from '' 'Bramble hill'.'' In 2021 the parish had a population of 967.
...
,
Pewsham
Pewsham is a small village and former civil parish, now in Derry Hill & Studley parish, just south-east of the town of Chippenham on the A4 road (England), A4 national route towards Calne in Wiltshire, England.
Description
Although signposte ...
,
Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
and
Tytherton Lucas
Tytherton Lucas is a hamlet in the civil parish of Bremhill in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. Its nearest town is Chippenham, which lies approximately south-west from the hamlet. The River Avon passes to the west, and the Cat Bro ...
.
History
An ancient road between Salisbury and Bristol passed nearby.
There were Roman and Romano-British settlements in this area; Roman bricks, and evidence of iron working, can be found in a field on the highest point of the hill. At Buck Hill, south-east of the village, the remains of a
Roman villa
A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions.
Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...
were found in 1753. Because of the forested nature of the area, settlements have always been scattered.
Studley itself is mentioned in 1175 and 1196, and it was closely associated with Stanley Abbey, half a mile to the north-west in
Bremhill
Bremhill is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about northwest of Calne and east of Chippenham. The name originates from '' 'Bramble hill'.'' In 2021 the parish had a population of 967.
...
parish, until its dissolution in 1540.
The area was anciently part of Chippenham
royal forest
A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...
. The
Wiltshire Victoria County History
The Wiltshire Victoria County History, properly called The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire but commonly referred to as VCH Wiltshire, is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England. It forms part of the overall Vic ...
traces the ownership of Studley
manor from the 13th century. It was bought by Edward Hungerford in 1468 and owned by many generations of his descendants. Notables include
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
(c.1560–1636),
George
George may refer to:
Names
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
People
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE
* George, stage name of Gior ...
(1637–1712) and
Walter
Walter may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...
(1675–1754), all of whom were returned to Parliament for various seats. In 1803, Studley was among the estates inherited by Henrietta Maria Anna Walker-Hungerford (d.1820) who in 1807 married
John Crewe, 2nd Baron Crewe
John Crewe, 2nd Baron Crewe (bap. 1772 – 4 December 1835) was an English soldier and a peer. He formed part of the first British embassy to China, and rose to the rank of General. Becoming estranged from the majority of his family, he spe ...
(1772–1835), a landowner who rose to the rank of General in the army. Their son
Hungerford Crewe (1812–1894) was recorded as holding c.175 acres at Studley; his estate passed to his nephew
Robert Milnes, Baron Houghton, later Earl and Marquess of Crewe. In 1996, Robert's great-grandson
Raymond O'Neill, Lord O'Neill owned c.160 acres at Studley.
Studley's manor house, north-east of the village, was lived in by members of the Hungerford family in the 18th century; it had formal gardens and stood in a small park,
and was destroyed by fire c.1800.
The nearby farmhouse built in rubble stone in the late 18th century still stands.
It is possible that a
fulling
Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate ( lanolin) oils, ...
mill existed in the early 13th century at the start of a local cloth industry. One was certainly standing in 1602, and by the middle of the 17th century, Hassell's Mill on the
River Marden
The River Marden is a small tributary of the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon in England. It flows from the hills surrounding Calne and meets the Avon about a mile upstream of Chippenham. The river has a mean flow of .
Course
The Marden rises j ...
(north of Studley) was replaced by New Mill. This was converted to a corn mill in 1728 and continued working until the mid-20th century, being demolished in 1962.
The London-Bristol road meandered through the area now known as
Derry Hill before descending steeply towards Chippenham. Between 1787 and 1810 a new, straighter section was built, with a gentler slope; it is still called New Road.
The Calne branch of the
Wilts & Berks Canal
The Wilts & Berks Canal is a canal in the historic counties of Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, linking the Kennet and Avon Canal at Semington near Melksham, to the River Thames at Abingdon. The North Wilts Canal merged with it to become a ...
was built north of the village, following the far bank of the
River Marden
The River Marden is a small tributary of the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon in England. It flows from the hills surrounding Calne and meets the Avon about a mile upstream of Chippenham. The river has a mean flow of .
Course
The Marden rises j ...
, and was fully open by 1810. Traffic on the canal had ceased by the early years of the next century and it was formally abandoned in 1914; it has been under gradual restoration since the late 1990s.
Studley was included in the civil parish of Calne Without which was created by dividing the large Calne parish in 1890. Boundary changes which came into effect in May 2025 reduced the size of the parish and changed its name to Derry Hill & Studley.
The oldest surviving cottages are of stone and thatch, built in the 17th century. Between 1745 and the middle of the next century there was a Black Dog Inn,
which gave its name to the hill, and later to
Black Dog Halt on the
Chippenham and Calne line
The Chippenham and Calne line was a five mile long single-track branch railway line that ran along the valley of the River Marden in Wiltshire, England, from on the Great Western Main Line to , via two intermediate halts. Built by the Calne Rai ...
, at the east end of the village. In 1761 a new pub called the Rose and Crown was opened; renamed the Soho Inn by 1830, it still had that name in 1999.
In 2018 it reopened as The Black Dog Inn.
There was further building throughout the 19th century, chiefly along the roads and lanes, and even more houses appeared in the 20th century. Nevertheless, the community has remained scattered, largely agricultural with grassland, arable, and woodland. The houses had no mains drainage, gas, or electricity until after the Second World War.
Rumsey
A small estate south-east of Studley village became known as Rumsey's, and in the 18th century had a house called Studley House, just south of the junction of the later A4 road and Norley Lane. This was replaced in the early 19th century by an ashlar-faced farmhouse, with two and three storeys, a central square porch, and a wrought iron verandah along its south front. The house and estate were bought by the
5th Marquess of Lansdown in 1912, and the
8th Marquess sold the house in 1981. Now called Rumsey House, it was sold for £1million in 2000. The two-storey stable block, in brick with ashlar dressings, is of similar date.
Religious sites
Studley was anciently part of the large parish of
St Mary's Church, Calne
St Mary's Church is the main Anglican church in the town of Calne, Wiltshire, England. The church is large and cruciform, with a tall north tower; it stands in a triangular churchyard at the heart of the town. Begun in the 12th century, it is de ...
.
A dependant chapel had been built at Studley by the 13th century, probably by the lord of the manor, but it had closed by c.1480.
Villagers are likely to have used the church at the abbey; since 1540, and until the new parish church was built at
Derry Hill in 1840, they had to travel to Bremhill for church services. A small red-brick
Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built at the north end of Studley Lane in 1855, and a stone schoolroom added in 1896; the chapel remains in use.
References
{{authority control
Calne Without
Villages in Wiltshire