East Knoyle is a small village and former civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in 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...

, in the south west of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The parish lies on the A350 road about nine miles south of Warminster

Warminster

Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. It has a population of about 17,000. The River Were runs through the town and can be seen running through the middle of the town park. The Minster Church of St Denys sits on the River Were...

, fifteen miles west of Salisbury

Salisbury

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...

, and two miles south west of Hindon

Hindon, Wiltshire

Hindon is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of Salisbury and south of Warminster. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Hindon was a market town but is now a village...

, at grid reference ST880305. It is the birthplace of Sir Christopher Wren

Christopher Wren

Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...

.

History

East Knoyle was part of the ancient Hundred of Downton.

Unusually for England, parish register

Parish register

A parish register is a handwritten volume, normally kept in a parish church or deposited within a county record office or alternative archive repository, in which details of baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded.-History:...

s survive from 1538 and are kept in the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives.

John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales

Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales

The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales...

(1870-1872) notes two tythings in East Knoyle, Milton and Upton.

East Knoyle's population has risen and fallen in recent centuries, with a period of growth in the 19th century. In 1801, the population was 853, and by 1831 it had reached 1028, but in 1901 it was down again to 814. In 1951, the population was still at 821, but by 1971 it was only 699.

In 1885 the southern part of the former parish of Pertwood

Pertwood

Pertwood is a very small village, former civil parish, and manor, near Warminster in the county of Wiltshire in the west of England. Its land and houses now lie in the parishes of East Knoyle and Sutton Veny and have fewer than twenty inhabitants....

 was added to East Knoyle.

Clouds House

Clouds House

Clouds House is a Grade II listed building located near the village of East Knoyle in rural Wiltshire. Designed in the 19th century by Philip Webb for Percy and Madeline Wyndham, Clouds was Webb’s grandest design following on from Red House in Bexleyheath for the artist and close friend William...

, a listed building near the village, was designed in the 19th century by the architect Philip Webb

Philip Webb

Another Philip Webb — Philip Edward Webb was the architect son of leading architect Sir Aston Webb. Along with his brother, Maurice, he assisted his father towards the end of his career....

 for Percy Wyndham

Percy Wyndham (politician)

The Honourable Percy Scawen Wyndham DL, JP , was a British soldier, Conservative politician, collector and intellectual...

 and is one of Webb's grandest designs. It is now occupied by the 'Clouds' charity

Charitable organization

A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

 as a rehabilitation centre

Drug rehabilitation

Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...

 for drug and alcohol dependence

Alcohol dependence

Alcohol dependence, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing an entity in which an individual uses alcohol despite significant areas of dysfunction, evidence of physical dependence, and/or related hardship.-Definition and diagnosis:According to the DSM-IV criteria for...

.

Local government

East Knoyle elects a consultative parish council, while Wiltshire County Council

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...

, have their offices in Trowbridge

Trowbridge

Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....

. The village is represented in Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 by the Member

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Westbury, Andrew Murrison

Andrew Murrison

Dr Andrew William Murrison is a doctor and Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. After serving as the Member of Parliament for Westbury from 2001 to 2010, at the 2010 general election he was elected for the new seat of South West Wiltshire.-Early life:The son of William Gordon...

.

People

The architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 Sir Christopher Wren was born at East Knoyle on 20 October 1632.

The author Joan Wyndham

Joan Wyndham

Joan Olivia Wyndham was a British writer and memoirist who rose to literary prominence late in life through the diaries she had kept more than 40 years earlier, which were an account of her romantic adventures during the Second World War, when she was an attractive teenager who had strayed into...

(1921–2007) was also born in the village.

Further reading

• Anthony Claydon, The Nature of Knoyle: East Knoyle, the people and the place (Hobnob Press, East Knoyle, 2002, 208 pp., ISBN 0-946418-13-6)