Baydon

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Church of St Nicholas, Baydon.
Church of St Nicholas, Baydon.

Baydon is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire.

Contents

[edit] Local government

Baydon is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

In the census of 2001, the parish had a population of 525.

It's the highest occupied settlement in Wiltshire.

[edit] Location

Position: grid reference SU280780

Nearby towns and cities: Hungerford, Marlborough, Newbury, Swindon

Nearby villages: Aldbourne, Lambourn

[edit] History

Sir Isaac Newton, acquired an estate in Baydon which he settled on three of his grand nephews and nieces days before his death in 1727 1. He later admitted that he had overpaid for it.

Baydon might be a legendary site of a famous battle connected with King Arthur. The village is not too far from the Ridgeway, an ancient path in use before the arrival of the Romans in Britain.

Baydon stands on Ermin Street which runs north to Cirencester.

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources


Note 1: Memoirs of the Life, Writings, and Discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton by David Brewster - 1855 (Google Book Search)

Coordinates: 51.50025° N 1.59802° W