Chiseldon
Encyclopedia
Chiseldon is a village
in the borough of Swindon
, Wiltshire
, England.
The village lies on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, a mile south of junction 15 of the M4 motorway
, on the A346 between Swindon and Marlborough. The hamlets of Draycot Foliat
, Hodson
, Badbury
and Liddington are nearby, and the village of Wroughton
is around two miles to the west.
The village houses a school - Chiseldon Primary School which currently has some 158 pupils enrolled, most of them from the village itself. The Holy Cross Church is also located in Chiseldon. The Church, was built in the thirteenth century along with other local churches in Ogbourne St. George
and Ogbourne St. Andrew
. The village has a surgery, as well as two Hotels, an Esso
Petrol Station, two shops (one housing a Post office
) and various other businesses. The engineering consultancy firm Halcrow Group Limited, soon to be CH2MHill, operates from Burderop Park, located in the parish.
There are two pubs in the village, The Patriots Arms and the Plough Inn. There is also the Social Club. The Elm Tree Pub has now closed down; this was originally a thatched beer house and was constructed in 1845 . The pub was named after the elm tree which was located on the village green until the 1970s.
Chiseldon telephone exchange serves 1048 residential and 39 non-residential properties.
and was called Chiseldene at the time. At one point the nearby hamlet Draycot Foliat
was larger than Chiseldon. Chiseldon lies on one of the country's oldest highways, the Icknield Way
, although this section of the road is more commonly known as The Ridgeway
.
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway
line was constructed in 1881 and ran through the centre of the village until 1961, with a station
that linked the village directly to Swindon Town station
to the north and Marlborough to the south.
During World War II
there was an American army
camp near the village. Remaining houses now known as Ridgeway View
.
but other denominations of Christianity are present. Holy Cross
Church of England parish church
has a dwindling regular attendance but many more attend on special occasions. There is a small congregation of Methodists
in the village. The Methodists had a 19th century church in the village, but sold it in 2006 due to low finances, low attendance, and regulations requiring the Methodist church to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act
by building a ramp, which the church could not afford. Holy Cross parish now lets the Methodists use the church hall for services. The two groups co-operate on occasions, such as a joint service in 2007 to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
Some villagers adhere to other major religions, but they are limited to a few families. Holy Cross parish is in the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury
, unlike the rest of the borough of Swindon, which is within the Diocese of Bristol
, but like the rest of Wiltshire
.
and Hodson.
Draycot Foliat
once had its own Church and Parish in the Mediæval period, but in 1571 the Bishop of Salisbury ordered the Church in Draycot to be demolished, as neither parish could sustain their own rectors any longer. As Chiseldon was the larger, Draycot was incorporated into its Parish, and the materials from the Church in Draycot were used to repair the church in Chiseldon.
, which is responsible for all significant local government
functions.
) rather than in the village. Current local shops include Chaplins (a small newsagency), a hairdresser and a small supermarket (that offers many commodities and is larger than Chaplins or any other store in Chiseldon). The store was an old army barracks later converted into a shop. Until recently it was a SPAR
convenience store but is now part of the 'Premier' chain, named Meadow Stores. Previous local businesses included a chip shop, which was run by a coal miner, whose customers apparently used to find traces of coal in their chips. Many other non-shop businesses survive. There also used to be a small village post office which was renamed the 'Penny Black' in 2007. It closed and the post office services are now offered in Meadow Stores.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
in the borough of Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England.
The village lies on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, a mile south of junction 15 of the M4 motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
, on the A346 between Swindon and Marlborough. The hamlets of Draycot Foliat
Draycot Foliat
Draycot Foliat is an hamlet in Wiltshire, England, on the back road between Chiseldon to the north and Ogbourne St. George to the south. The nearest major town is Swindon which is about north. The most notable feature is probably the small Airstrip with its model helicopter instruction centre...
, Hodson
Hodson village
Hodson is an unspoilt hamlet in a small valley, just south of Swindon, Wiltshire, England and the M4 Motorway, and near a junction with the Chiseldon to Wroughton main road. It has a popular traditional English public house called the Calley Arms....
, Badbury
Badbury, Wiltshire
Badbury is a hamlet of the civil parish of Chiseldon in Wiltshire.There is evidence that in 955 King Eadred granted Badbury, then containing twenty-five hides, to Saint Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey. The manor of Badbury was held by the Abbey at the time of the Domesday book, when it was...
and Liddington are nearby, and the village of Wroughton
Wroughton
Wroughton is a large village in Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and is south of Swindon.-History:The earliest evidence of human presence in the area is from the Mesolithic period, although this is fairly limited...
is around two miles to the west.
The village houses a school - Chiseldon Primary School which currently has some 158 pupils enrolled, most of them from the village itself. The Holy Cross Church is also located in Chiseldon. The Church, was built in the thirteenth century along with other local churches in Ogbourne St. George
Ogbourne St. George
Ogbourne Saint George is a village on the River Og about north of Marlborough, Wiltshire.-Manor:In the Middle Ages the manor of Ogbourne St George belonged to the Benedictine Bec Abbey in Normandy. Ogbourne Priory was founded in about 1149 as a daughter house of the abbey...
and Ogbourne St. Andrew
Ogbourne St. Andrew
Ogbourne St Andrew is a small village in Wiltshire. It is near the village of Ogbourne St George and the hamlets of Ogbourne Maizey and Rockley. The village is lacking in local facilities because it changed from a farming-based community into a commuter-based one and therefore lost its local shop...
. The village has a surgery, as well as two Hotels, an Esso
Esso
Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...
Petrol Station, two shops (one housing a Post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
) and various other businesses. The engineering consultancy firm Halcrow Group Limited, soon to be CH2MHill, operates from Burderop Park, located in the parish.
There are two pubs in the village, The Patriots Arms and the Plough Inn. There is also the Social Club. The Elm Tree Pub has now closed down; this was originally a thatched beer house and was constructed in 1845 . The pub was named after the elm tree which was located on the village green until the 1970s.
Chiseldon telephone exchange serves 1048 residential and 39 non-residential properties.
History
Settlements in the area date back to prehistoric and Roman times, but Chiseldon itself was started by the Saxons. The village was included in the Domesday BookDomesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
and was called Chiseldene at the time. At one point the nearby hamlet Draycot Foliat
Draycot Foliat
Draycot Foliat is an hamlet in Wiltshire, England, on the back road between Chiseldon to the north and Ogbourne St. George to the south. The nearest major town is Swindon which is about north. The most notable feature is probably the small Airstrip with its model helicopter instruction centre...
was larger than Chiseldon. Chiseldon lies on one of the country's oldest highways, the Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
, although this section of the road is more commonly known as The Ridgeway
The Ridgeway
thumb|right|thumb|The ancient tree-lined path winds over the downs countrysideThe Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road...
.
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway
Midland and South Western Junction Railway
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway was, until the 1923 Grouping, an independent railway built to form a north-south link between the Midland and London and South Western Railways allowing the Midland and other companies' trains to reach the port of Southampton.-Formation:The M&SWJR...
line was constructed in 1881 and ran through the centre of the village until 1961, with a station
Chiseldon railway station
Chiseldon railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in Wiltshire.- History :The station opened on 27 July 1881 on the Swindon Town to Marlborough section of the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway...
that linked the village directly to Swindon Town station
Swindon Town railway station
Swindon Town railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway at Swindon in Wiltshire. The station was sited in the Old Town area about one-and-a-half miles from the Great Western Railway's Swindon Junction.- History :...
to the north and Marlborough to the south.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
there was an American army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
camp near the village. Remaining houses now known as Ridgeway View
Ridgeway View
Ridgeway view is a small hamlet a mile outside the village of Chiseldon near Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, England. During world war II it was an American army camp but it is now home to around 50 houses, a HGV testing centre and a small stables....
.
Religion
Most of the population are members of the Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
but other denominations of Christianity are present. Holy Cross
Christian cross
The Christian cross, seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity...
Church of England parish church
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 the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
has a dwindling regular attendance but many more attend on special occasions. There is a small congregation of Methodists
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...
in the village. The Methodists had a 19th century church in the village, but sold it in 2006 due to low finances, low attendance, and regulations requiring the Methodist church to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act
Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which has now been repealed and replaced by the Equality Act 2010 , except in Northern Ireland where the Act still applies...
by building a ramp, which the church could not afford. Holy Cross parish now lets the Methodists use the church hall for services. The two groups co-operate on occasions, such as a joint service in 2007 to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
Some villagers adhere to other major religions, but they are limited to a few families. Holy Cross parish is in the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury
Diocese of Salisbury
The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England. The diocese covers Dorset and most of Wiltshire and is a constituent diocese of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Salisbury and the diocesan synod...
, unlike the rest of the borough of Swindon, which is within the Diocese of Bristol
Diocese of Bristol
The Diocese of Bristol is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. It is based in the city of Bristol and covers South Gloucestershire and parts of north Wiltshire to Swindon...
, but like the rest of Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
.
The Parish
The Parish of Chiseldon encompasses not only the village but also the neighboring hamlets of Coate, Draycot FoliatDraycot Foliat
Draycot Foliat is an hamlet in Wiltshire, England, on the back road between Chiseldon to the north and Ogbourne St. George to the south. The nearest major town is Swindon which is about north. The most notable feature is probably the small Airstrip with its model helicopter instruction centre...
and Hodson.
Draycot Foliat
Draycot Foliat
Draycot Foliat is an hamlet in Wiltshire, England, on the back road between Chiseldon to the north and Ogbourne St. George to the south. The nearest major town is Swindon which is about north. The most notable feature is probably the small Airstrip with its model helicopter instruction centre...
once had its own Church and Parish in the Mediæval period, but in 1571 the Bishop of Salisbury ordered the Church in Draycot to be demolished, as neither parish could sustain their own rectors any longer. As Chiseldon was the larger, Draycot was incorporated into its Parish, and the materials from the Church in Draycot were used to repair the church in Chiseldon.
Local government
As well as having its own elected parish council, Chiseldon also falls within the area of the Borough of Swindon unitary authorityUnitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
, which is responsible for all significant local government
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
functions.
Local businesses
Local shops declined in the 20th century, like in many other villages, due to more people shopping in larger towns (SwindonSwindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
) rather than in the village. Current local shops include Chaplins (a small newsagency), a hairdresser and a small supermarket (that offers many commodities and is larger than Chaplins or any other store in Chiseldon). The store was an old army barracks later converted into a shop. Until recently it was a SPAR
SPAR
Spar , trades from approximately 12400 stores in 34 countries worldwide and is the world's largest independent voluntary retail trading chain. Spar was founded in the Netherlands in 1932 by retailer Adriaan Van Well and now, through its affiliate organisations, operates through most European...
convenience store but is now part of the 'Premier' chain, named Meadow Stores. Previous local businesses included a chip shop, which was run by a coal miner, whose customers apparently used to find traces of coal in their chips. Many other non-shop businesses survive. There also used to be a small village post office which was renamed the 'Penny Black' in 2007. It closed and the post office services are now offered in Meadow Stores.