Steeple Langford
Encyclopedia
Steeple Langford is a village
and civil parish
in the English
county of Wiltshire
, six miles north west of Wilton
. It has also been called Great Langford, or Langford Magna.
The parish contains the tithing of Hanging Langford and the settlement of Bathampton.
Steeple Langford contains thatched
cottages and has several lakes created by the flooding of worked-out gravel
pits.
, around which the village grew up. The name 'Steeple Langford' has generally predominated over the alternative of 'Great Langford', and it has long been presumed (for instance, by William Cobbett
) that the first element of this name refers to an architectural steeple
. However, early forms of the name include 'Stapel', 'Steppul', and 'Staple' Langford, and one writer on the origin of the place-name has suggested that
parish church
of All Saints is a Grade I listed building. The font
is Norman
, but the church also contains some pre-Conquest
stonework and sculpture
.
A carved medieval roof boss in the north aisle
of the church represents a dog, its body coiled and surrounded by foliage.
In 1857, when the chancel
of the church was demolished, a slab of Purbeck marble
was found, about 26 inches by 14, bearing an incised portrait of a man wearing a long robe, his hands raised to hold a plain shield or receptacle, with a horn
hanging on a strap from his left shoulder. This was tentatively identified as Waleran Venator (Waleran the Huntsman), who held land in the parish and was patron of the living in the 11th century, which was the approximate date of the chancel. However, from the costume being of a later date, Alan de Langford, Verderer
of Grovely Wood
at the end of the 13th century, has also been suggested.
John Murray noted in 1859 that the church "contains a rich altar-tomb to one of the family of Mompesson, but it has long lost the steeple which formerly distinguished it".
The parish register
s now held in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre
cover the years 1674–1924 (christenings), 1674–1980 (marriages), and 1674–1873 (burials).
finds in the parish include flint tools, a polished axehead and pottery, as well as a bowl barrow
and the remains of a round barrow
; from the Bronze Age
axeheads, a palstave
and a chisel; from the Iron Age
pottery, a rotary quern fragment and a circular enclosure; from the Romano-British
period coins, a polished and painted pebble, and a needle; from the Saxon period a spearhead and a silver brooch; medieval strip lynchets; and field system
s and earthwork
s of various dates. At Hanging Langford Camp, a Mesolithic
flint axe and Romano-British brooches have been found.
The Domesday Book
records that:
Sir Lawrence St Martin, a descendant of Waleran, died c 1320 in possession of 'Stupel Langford'.
In the time of King Edward III
, John de Steeves held Steeple Langford in return for a knight
's service.
As result of the Penruddock uprising
of 1655, three men of the parish, Nicholas Mussell, yeoman, and Henry Collyer and Joseph Collier, gentlemen, were found guilty of high treason
against Oliver Cromwell
.
Arthur Collier
, a metaphysician, a native of the parish and rector
from 1704 to 1732, is notable for his Clavis Universalis (1713).
As a child of about ten in the 1770s, William Cobbett
spent a whole summer in the village, and his happy memories of his stay led him to take one of his 'Rural Rides' into Wiltshire some fifty years later. However, he wrote in 1826 that
In June 1795, it was reported that some 120 sheep had been killed at Steeple Langford by a freak hail
storm.
The population of the parish was 501 in 2001, much the same as in 1801, having peaked at 628 in 1861.
A detailed history of the parish is contained in Volume XV: Amesbury hundred and Branch and Dole hundred (1995) of A History of the County of Wiltshire
.
aided primary school is called the Wylye Valley School. This takes children between the ages of four and eleven and, unusually for a primary school, divides itself between two sites, with some classes based in the school at Salisbury Road, Steeple Langford and others at Cherry Orchard, Codford
. This school was formed by a merger of the Steeple Langford Church of England Aided Primary School with the Codford Church of England Primary School. The Steeple Langford school site closed at the end of the summer term 2010, after which all children were taught at the Codford Site.
have been turned into a wildlife reserve called the 'Langford Lakes Nature Reserve', under the ownership of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. The reserve has an area of fifty acre
s, and species include Mallard
, Gadwall
, Tufted Duck
, Common Pochard, Northern Shoveler
, Eurasian Wigeon, Kingfisher
, Great Crested Grebe
, Common Tern
, Osprey
, Brown trout
, Grayling
, Otters
, and Water Voles.
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...
and 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 the English
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...
county 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...
, six miles north west of Wilton
Wilton, Wiltshire
Wilton is a town in Wiltshire, , England, with a rich heritage dating back to the Anglo-Saxons. Today it is dwarfed by its larger and more famous neighbour, Salisbury, but still has a range of notable shops and attractions, including Wilton House.The confluence of the rivers Wylye and Nadder is at...
. It has also been called Great Langford, or Langford Magna.
The parish contains the tithing of Hanging Langford and the settlement of Bathampton.
Steeple Langford contains thatched
Thatching
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge , rushes, or heather, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates...
cottages and has several lakes created by the flooding of worked-out gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
pits.
Name
There is little doubt that the element 'Langford' refers to a ford over the River WylyeRiver Wylye
The River Wylye is a classic southern England chalk stream; champagne clear water flowing over gravel. Consequently, it is popular with anglers keen on fly fishing.- Course :...
, around which the village grew up. The name 'Steeple Langford' has generally predominated over the alternative of 'Great Langford', and it has long been presumed (for instance, by William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
) that the first element of this name refers to an architectural steeple
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
. However, early forms of the name include 'Stapel', 'Steppul', and 'Staple' Langford, and one writer on the origin of the place-name has suggested that
Church
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...
parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
of All Saints is a Grade I listed building. The font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...
is Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
, but the church also contains some pre-Conquest
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
stonework and sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
.
A carved medieval roof boss in the north aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
of the church represents a dog, its body coiled and surrounded by foliage.
In 1857, when the chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
of the church was demolished, a slab of Purbeck marble
Purbeck Marble
Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone quarried in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England.It is one of many kinds of Purbeck Limestone, deposited in the late Jurassic or early Cretaceous periods....
was found, about 26 inches by 14, bearing an incised portrait of a man wearing a long robe, his hands raised to hold a plain shield or receptacle, with a horn
Blowing horn
The blowing horn or winding horn is a sound device by and large shaped like a horn or actually a cattle or other animal horn arranged to blow from a hole in the pointed end of it...
hanging on a strap from his left shoulder. This was tentatively identified as Waleran Venator (Waleran the Huntsman), who held land in the parish and was patron of the living in the 11th century, which was the approximate date of the chancel. However, from the costume being of a later date, Alan de Langford, Verderer
Verderer
Verderers are officials in Britain who deal with Common land in certain former royal hunting areas which are the property of The Crown.-Origins:...
of Grovely Wood
Grovely Wood
Grovely Wood is one of the largest woodlands in southern Wiltshire. It is situated on a chalk ridge above the River Wylye to the south of the village of Great Wishford, within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...
at the end of the 13th century, has also been suggested.
John Murray noted in 1859 that the church "contains a rich altar-tomb to one of the family of Mompesson, but it has long lost the steeple which formerly distinguished it".
The 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 now held in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre
Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre is a building in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, which serves as a focal point for heritage services relating to Wiltshire and Swindon. It is funded by Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council...
cover the years 1674–1924 (christenings), 1674–1980 (marriages), and 1674–1873 (burials).
History
Steeple Langford has a rich archaeological history. NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
finds in the parish include flint tools, a polished axehead and pottery, as well as a bowl barrow
Bowl barrow
Bowl Barrow is the name for a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from the fact that it looks like an upturned bowl...
and the remains of a round barrow
Round barrow
Round barrows are one of the most common types of archaeological monuments. Although concentrated in Europe they are found in many parts of the world because of their simple construction and universal purpose....
; from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
axeheads, a palstave
Palstave
A Palstave is a type of early bronze axe. It was common in the mid Bronze Age in north, western and south-western Europe. In the technical sense, although precise definitions differ, an axe is generally deemed to be a palstave if it is hafted by means of a forked wooden handle kept in place with...
and a chisel; from the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
pottery, a rotary quern fragment and a circular enclosure; from the Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of 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, a people of Celtic language and...
period coins, a polished and painted pebble, and a needle; from the Saxon period a spearhead and a silver brooch; medieval strip lynchets; and field system
Field system
The study of field systems in landscape history is concerned with the size, shape and orientation of a number of fields. These are often adjacent, but may be separated by a later feature.-Types of field system:...
s and earthwork
Earthworks (archaeology)
In archaeology, earthwork is a general term to describe artificial changes in land level. Earthworks are often known colloquially as 'lumps and bumps'. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features or they can show features beneath the surface...
s of various dates. At Hanging Langford Camp, a Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
flint axe and Romano-British brooches have been found.
The Domesday Book
Domesday 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...
records that:
Sir Lawrence St Martin, a descendant of Waleran, died c 1320 in possession of 'Stupel Langford'.
In the time of King Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
, John de Steeves held Steeple Langford in return for a knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
's service.
As result of the Penruddock uprising
Penruddock uprising
The Penruddock uprising was one of a series of coordinated uprisings planned by the Sealed Knot for a Royalist insurrection to start in March 1655 during the Protectorate of the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell....
of 1655, three men of the parish, Nicholas Mussell, yeoman, and Henry Collyer and Joseph Collier, gentlemen, were found guilty of high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
against Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
.
Arthur Collier
Arthur Collier
Arthur Collier was an English Anglican priest and philosopher.-Early life:Collier was born at the rectory of Steeple Langford, Wiltshire...
, a metaphysician, a native of the parish and rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
from 1704 to 1732, is notable for his Clavis Universalis (1713).
As a child of about ten in the 1770s, William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
spent a whole summer in the village, and his happy memories of his stay led him to take one of his 'Rural Rides' into Wiltshire some fifty years later. However, he wrote in 1826 that
In June 1795, it was reported that some 120 sheep had been killed at Steeple Langford by a freak hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
storm.
The population of the parish was 501 in 2001, much the same as in 1801, having peaked at 628 in 1861.
A detailed history of the parish is contained in Volume XV: Amesbury hundred and Branch and Dole hundred (1995) of A History of the County of Wiltshire
Wiltshire Victoria County History
The Wiltshire Victoria County History is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England. It forms part of the overall Victoria County History of England founded in 1899 in honour of Queen Victoria...
.
School
Steeple Langford's 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...
aided primary school is called the Wylye Valley School. This takes children between the ages of four and eleven and, unusually for a primary school, divides itself between two sites, with some classes based in the school at Salisbury Road, Steeple Langford and others at Cherry Orchard, Codford
Codford
Codford is a village and civil parish south of Salisbury Plain in the Wylye Valley in Wiltshire, England at .-Location:The village is on the A36 road between Salisbury and Warminster...
. This school was formed by a merger of the Steeple Langford Church of England Aided Primary School with the Codford Church of England Primary School. The Steeple Langford school site closed at the end of the summer term 2010, after which all children were taught at the Codford Site.
Langford Lakes
Three lakes created by gravel workings alongside the River WylyeRiver Wylye
The River Wylye is a classic southern England chalk stream; champagne clear water flowing over gravel. Consequently, it is popular with anglers keen on fly fishing.- Course :...
have been turned into a wildlife reserve called the 'Langford Lakes Nature Reserve', under the ownership of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. The reserve has an area of fifty acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s, and species include Mallard
Mallard
The Mallard , or Wild Duck , is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia....
, Gadwall
Gadwall
The Gadwall is a common and widespread duck of the family Anatidae.- Description :The Gadwall is 46–56 cm long with a 78–90 cm wingspan. The male is slightly larger than the female, weighing on average 990 g against her 850 g...
, Tufted Duck
Tufted Duck
The Tufted Duck, Aythya fuligula, is a medium-sized diving duck with a population of close to one million birds.- Description :The adult male is all black except for white flanks and a blue-grey bill. It has an obvious head tuft that gives the species its name.The adult female is brown with paler...
, Common Pochard, Northern Shoveler
Northern Shoveler
The Northern Shoveler , Northern Shoveller in British English, sometimes known simply as the Shoveler, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and Asia and across most of North America, and is a rare vagrant to Australia...
, Eurasian Wigeon, Kingfisher
Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australia...
, Great Crested Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
The Great Crested Grebe is a member of the grebe family of water birds.- Description :The Great Crested Grebe is long with a wingspan. It is an excellent swimmer and diver, and pursues its fish prey underwater. The adults are unmistakable in summer with head and neck decorations...
, Common Tern
Common Tern
The Common Tern is a seabird of the tern family Sternidae. This bird has a circumpolar distribution, breeding in temperate and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia and east and central North America. It is strongly migratory, wintering in coastal tropical and subtropical regions. It is sometimes...
, Osprey
Osprey
The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...
, Brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
, Grayling
Grayling (species)
The grayling is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. It is the type species of its genus. Native to the Palearctic ecozone, the grayling is widespread throughout northern Europe, from the United Kingdom and France to the Ural Mountains in Russia...
, Otters
European Otter
The European Otter , also known as the Eurasian otter, Eurasian river otter, common otter and Old World otter, is a European and Asian member of the Lutrinae or otter subfamily, and is typical of freshwater otters....
, and Water Voles.
Notable people
- Arthur CollierArthur CollierArthur Collier was an English Anglican priest and philosopher.-Early life:Collier was born at the rectory of Steeple Langford, Wiltshire...
, philosopher - Charles Chubb, ornithologist
- General Sir John Whiteley.