Bowerchalke

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bowerchalke or Bower Chalke is a village and civil parish in the Salisbury district of Wiltshire, England, about 12 miles east of Shaftesbury at 51°0′30.0″N, 1°58′30.00″W. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 378.

The Nobel prize winning novelist William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, etc is buried in the village churchyard of the Holy Trinity, having lived the the middle part of his life in a cottage on the banks of the River Chalke. He also named the Gaia hypothesis, that was conceived by co-resident Dr James Lovelock.

A large hoard of early British coins was discovered by metal detectorists near Bowerchalke. Examples of the coins are now displayed in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. (Bowerchalke Gold Staters)

The village pub, 'The Bell', was closed in 1988 and is now a residential dwelling known as 'Bell House'.

The village school closed in 1976 and children from Bowerchalke now attend the thriving and highly successful school in neighbouring Broad Chalke. Construction of a new (and much larger) school at Broad Chalke started in 2006.

The once renowned village cricket team, thanks in part to the dynasty of 'cricketing Gullivers' (Brian, David, Derek, Richard and Robin), closed circa 1980.

The village Post Office and General Stores closed in late 2003. The nearest Post Office is now in the neighbouring village of Broad Chalke.

The Village Hall (located across the road from the Church) is the venue for a wide range of activities.

An extremely well written article with the somewhat questionable title 'Village of the Damned' written by David McKie was published in The Guardian on 30 June 2005.

The river Chalke rises in the village and flows into the River Ebble at Broad Chalke.

Wiltshire County Council Libraries and Heritage hold copies of Andrews' and Dury's maps of Wiltshire dated 1773 and 1810.

The Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Bell Ringers maintain a page with details of the Parish church.