| South Wraxall | |
St. James parish church |
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South Wraxall
South Wraxall shown within Wiltshire |
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| Population | 453 (as of 2001) |
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| OS grid reference | ST833655 |
| Unitary authority | Wiltshire |
| Ceremonial county | Wiltshire |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRADFORD-ON-AVON |
| Postcode district | BA15 |
| Dialling code | 01225 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| List of places: UK • England • Wiltshire | |
South Wraxall is a village and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England.
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The village is located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Bradford on Avon, with B3109 road passing just east of the village. The neighbouring villages are Lower Wraxall from south, Monkton Farleigh from west, and Atworth from east.
The name comes from old English wrocc, meaning a buzzard, although it was also used as a personal name. Its name was first mentioned in 1468 as Suthwroxhall, distinguishing it from North Wraxall which is 6 miles (9.7 km) away. Other spellings of the name included wroxhal (1227) and wrokeshal (1242). Nevertheless, South Wraxall was not mentioned in Domesday Book, as it was grouped in with Bradford on Avon.
The civil parish of South Wraxall was created in 1894, together with the parishes of Holt, Winsley and Limpley Stoke all being alloted from the former parish of Bradford Without.
Most of the buildings of South Wraxall are of the 17th and 18th centuries, built from locally-quarried dressed stone, or stone rubble construction with stone slates. Besides quarrying, the main occupation around the area was agriculture, including shepherding; there were also weavers in the early 1800s, and some clothworkers by the mid-19th century.