| Ramsbury | |
Holy Cross parish church |
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Ramsbury
Ramsbury shown within Wiltshire |
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| Population | 1,969 (2001 census)[1] |
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| OS grid reference | SU2771 |
| Parish | Ramsbury and Axford |
| Unitary authority | Wiltshire |
| Ceremonial county | Wiltshire |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Marlborough |
| Postcode district | SN8 |
| Dialling code | 01672 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Devizes |
| Website | Ramsbury & Axford Community |
| List of places: UK • England • Wiltshire | |
Ramsbury is a village in Ramsbury and Axford civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The village is in the Kennet Valley near the Berkshire boundary. The nearest towns are Hungerford about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east and Marlborough about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west. The much larger town of Swindon is about 12 miles (19 km) to the north.
The civil parish includes the hamlet of Axford about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of Ramsbury. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 1,969.[1]
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Littlecote Roman Villa is in the parish. The earliest written history of Ramsbury can be traced from the Saxon era when the bishopric of Ramsbury was created in 909 AD. The see was moved to Old Sarum in 1075.
Church of England parish church of the Holy Cross dates from the 13th century. It has a ghost story: according to local legend, if you count the hundred studs on the north door at midnight, it will open, and the ghost of 'Wild' William Darrell of Littlecote House will come out.[2]
During the Second World War there was a Royal Air Force airfield on a ridge of high ground to the south of the village.[3]
Ramsbury has an elected parish council[4] and also falls within the area of the new Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all of the most significant local government services.
Local people are known as Ramsbury Bulldogs, contrasting with the neighbouring village of Aldbourne, where the locals are known as Dabchicks.
The village's notable residents have included Sir Francis Burdett, a radical Whig politician, and his daughter Angela Burdett-Coutts. In 1837 Angela became the richest woman in England when she inherited her grandfather's fortune. Over several years she gave most of this money away to good causes. By the time she died in 1906, Angela Burdett-Coutts had given away nearly three million pounds. Both lived in Ramsbury Manor, originally built in 1680 by John Webb, a son-in-law of Inigo Jones. Ramsbury Manor was stated by the 1966 Guinness Book of Records to have been the "most expensive" house in Britain, bought by an American property dealer in May 1965 for £275,000, in total with its 460 acres of land, for £650,000. It is now the home of Harry Hyams, the property tycoon who built the office block Centre Point at the junction of Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street, London. The Manor was the target for a major burglary by a professional gang in 2006. The culprits received long prison sentences in 2008.[5][6]
Stefan Persson, the owner of H&M, also has a main residence on the outskirts of Ramsbury. He also owns the Ramsbury microbrewery[7] which brews Ramsbury Gold bottled beer amongst others. Composer David Fanshawe lived near Ramsbury until his death in July 2010.[8]
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