Boyton, Wiltshire

Boyton

Boyton Manor, c. 1910, briefly the country house of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany
Boyton
 Boyton shown within Wiltshire
Population 181 (in 2001) [1]
OS grid referenceST9510539698
Civil parishBoyton
Unitary authorityWiltshire
Ceremonial countyWiltshire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Warminster
Postcode district BA12
Dialling code 01985
Police Wiltshire
Fire Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK ParliamentSouth West Wiltshire
List of places
UK
England
Wiltshire

Coordinates: 51°09′22″N 2°04′12″W / 51.156°N 2.070°W

Boyton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 181, including the village of Corton, which forms part of the parish.

The Great Ridge Wood, which lies mostly within Boyton, covers about a quarter of the parish.

Location

The village is situated about seven miles east of Warminster, in the Wylye Valley, close to the A36 road and Salisbury Plain. Its nearest towns are Warminster and the city of Salisbury.

History

In the thirteenth century, there was a castle in the village. A one time occupant of the castle was Hugh Giffard and his wife Sibyl, who was the daughter and co-heiress of Walter de Cormeilles. Hugh was father of the Walter Giffard who became Archbishop of York and Chancellor of England. Another son was Godfrey Gifford, Bishop of Worcester and himself also Chancellor of England.

The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) described Boyton as follows:

BOYTON, a parish in the hundred of Heytesbury, in the county of Wilts, 3 miles to the S.E. of Heytesbury, its post town, and 7 from Warminster. The Salisbury branch of the Great Western railway passes near it. The parish is situated on the south side of the river Willy, a branch of the Nadder, and contains the hamlet of Corton. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury, of the value of £549, in the patronage of the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford. The church, which is dedicated to St Mary, is a good specimen of early English architecture, and has been recently restored. It was erected in 1301, and contains a fine circular window and an ancient font. There are some small charitable endowments. Boyton House, the old seat of the Lamberts, was built in 1618. CORTON, (or Cortington), a township in the parish of Boyton, hundred of Heytesbury, in the county of Wilts, 1 mile S. of Heytesbury, and 1 N.W. of Boyton. It belongs to the Lambert family.[2]

From 1876 to 1882, the historic Boyton Manor, next to the Anglican parish church, became the first country house of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the youngest son of Queen Victoria.[3] When he got married, he moved his establishment to Claremont, a house in Surrey, but is still commemorated locally today in the name of a public house called the Prince Leopold in the neighbouring village of Upton Lovell.

Local government

Local government services are provided by Wiltshire Council, based in Trowbridge some fifteen miles to the north. Boyton (with Corton) has its own elected parish council of five members.

The village is represented in Parliament by the MP for South West Wiltshire, Andrew Murrison, and its representative in Wiltshire Council is Christopher Newbury.

See also

References

  1. "Boyton Census Information". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  2. Boyton, genuki.org.uk
  3. Charlotte Zeepvat, Prince Leopold: the untold story of Queen Victoria's youngest son (1998)

External links

Media related to Boyton, Wiltshire at Wikimedia Commons