Wilcot

Wilcot
Wilcot
 Wilcot shown within Wiltshire
Population 558 (2011 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSU140608
Civil parishWilcot
Unitary authorityWiltshire
Ceremonial countyWiltshire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town PEWSEY
Postcode district SN9
Dialling code 01672
Police Wiltshire
Fire Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK ParliamentDevizes
List of places
UK
England
Wiltshire

Coordinates: 51°21′N 1°48′W / 51.35°N 1.80°W

Wilcot is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, two miles north-west of Pewsey. The settlements within the parish include the three main villages of Huish, Oare and Wilcot, plus the hamlets of Wilcot Green, West Stowell, Draycot Fitz Payne, and Rainscombe.[2]

History

The parish was described as follows in The National Gazetteer (1868):

WILCOT, a parish in the hundred of Swanborough, county Wilts, 6 miles S.W. of Marlborough, 10 E. of Devizes, and 1½ mile N.W. of Pewsey. The village is situated close to the Avon and Kennet canal. There are about 200 acres of open downs. The soil is generally a rich loam, and the land chiefly arable. The parish includes the tythings of Draycott-Foliat, Care, and Stowell, or Towel. At the time of the Norman survey it had a church, vineyard, and seat of Edward de Salisbury, and subsequently came to the Lovells, by whom it was held till the reign of Henry VII. There are several chalk pits. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury, value £150. The church is dedicated to the Holy Cross. Colonel Wroughton is lord of the manor.[3]

As noted by the Gazetteer, at the time of the Domesday Book Wilcot was one of the manors of Edward of Salisbury, who was High Sheriff of Wiltshire from 1070 to 1105 and had a "very good house" there.[4]

There is a 17th century legend that Wilcot Vicarage was haunted by the incessant sound of a tolling bell. It is said that a wizard caused the tolling at a request of a drunkard, who wanted to revenge himself on the vicar for refusing to ring his bells late at night.[5]

Governance

All significant local government services are provided by the Wiltshire Council unitary authority, with its headquarters in Trowbridge, and the parish is represented there by Paul Oatway, who succeeded Brigadier Robert Hall in 2013. In Parliament it is represented by the Member for the Devizes constituency, Claire Perry.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Parish population 2011.Retrieved 15 March 2015".
  2. ↑ "Wiltshire Community History: Wilcot". Retrieved February 28, 2014.
  3. ↑ WILCOT, Wiltshire at genuki.org.uk, accessed 20 August 2011
  4. ↑ Judith A. Green, The Aristocracy of Norman England (2002), p. 62
  5. ↑ Ash, Russell (1973). Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. Reader's Digest Association Limited. p. 188. ISBN 9780340165973.

External links

"Wilcot and Huish with Oare parish website". Retrieved Februyary 28 2014. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

Further reading

See also