East Knoyle

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Coordinates: 51°4′44″N 2°10′38″W / 51.07889°N 2.17722°W / 51.07889; -2.17722

East Knoyle is a small village and former civil parish in Wiltshire, in the south west of England. The parish lies on the A350 road about nine miles south of Warminster, fifteen miles west of Salisbury, and two miles south west of Hindon, at grid reference ST880305. It is the birthplace of Sir Christopher Wren.

History

East Knoyle was part of the ancient Hundred of Downton.

Unusually for England, parish registers survive from 1538 and are kept in the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives.[1]

John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-1872) notes two tythings in East Knoyle, Milton and Upton.[2]

East Knoyle's population has risen and fallen in recent centuries, with a period of growth in the 19th century. In 1801, the population was 853, and by 1831 it had reached 1028, but in 1901 it was down again to 814. In 1951, the population was still at 821, but by 1971 it was only 699.[1][3]

In 1885 the southern part of the former parish of Pertwood was added to East Knoyle.

Clouds House, a listed building near the village, was designed in the 19th century by the architect Philip Webb for Percy Wyndham and is one of Webb's grandest designs. It is now occupied by the 'Clouds' charity as a rehabilitation centre for drug and alcohol dependence.[4]

Local government

East Knoyle elects a consultative parish council, while Wiltshire County Council, have their offices in Trowbridge. The village is represented in Parliament by the Member for Westbury, Andrew Murrison.

People

The architect Sir Christopher Wren was born at East Knoyle on 20 October 1632.[5]

The author Joan Wyndham (1921–2007) was also born in the village.

Further reading

  • Anthony Claydon, The Nature of Knoyle: East Knoyle, the people and the place (Hobnob Press, East Knoyle, 2002, 208 pp., ISBN 0-946418-13-6)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 East Knoyle, Wiltshire, England at genuki.org.uk
  2. ↑ Descriptive gazetteer entries for East Knoyle at visionofbritain.org.uk
  3. ↑ A vision of East Knoyle AP/CP at visionofbritain.org.uk
  4. ↑ Clouds House at actiononaddiction.org.uk
  5. ↑ 'Wren, Sir Christopher', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004)

See also

External links

Media related to East Knoyle at Wikimedia Commons

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