West Lavington, Wiltshire

West Lavington

All Saints' Parish Church
West Lavington
West Lavington shown within Wiltshire
Population 1,502 (in 2011)[1]
OS grid reference SU007530
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town DEVIZES
Postcode district SN10
Dialling code 01380
Police Wiltshire
Fire Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK Parliament
Website Parish Council

West Lavington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the north edge of Salisbury Plain. The village is on the A360 road between Devizes and Salisbury, about 5 miles (8 km) south of Devizes. The parish includes the hamlet of Littleton Panell.

The parish was formerly known as Bishops' Lavington, the land having been granted to Roger, Bishop of Salisbury in 1136, and remaining in the hands of the bishopric throughout the Middle Ages.[2]

Religious sites

The Anglican All Saints' Church is Grade I listed.[3] It is from the 12th century or earlier, with many later alterations and additions.[4] It has a 1910 painting entitled "Virgin and Child" by Louis Davis.

Ebenezer Baptist Church was built at Littleton Panell in 1848[5] and is affiliated to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches.[6]

Also at Littleton Panell, a Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1900.[7] It closed in 1967 and was bought by the Catholic Church, reopening as St Joseph's in 1971.[8]

Amenities

Dauntsey's School, an independent day and boarding school, is situated in the village. The nearest state secondary school is Lavington School in Market Lavington.

There is also a primary school, Dauntsey Academy Primary School,[9] built in 1999 at a new site to replace a 19th-century building on the High Street.[10]

The village has a pub, the Churchill Arms. There is a village hall,[11] a shop with a Post Office,[12] and a doctors' surgery.

The Stert and Westbury Railway was built through the parish by the Great Western Railway Company in 1900, providing routes from London to Weymouth or Taunton. At the same time a station named Lavington was built north of Littleton Panell where the line crosses the A360. It was closed in 1967 and no local stations remain; the nearest railway stations are Pewsey and Westbury.

Littleton Panell

Lavington Lane separates Littleton Panell from West Lavington

Littleton Panell is a contiguous hamlet in the parish of West Lavington. Its extent is disputed but its centre is north of the A360/B3098 crossroads and south of the old railway station for the Great Western Railway. The former manor house, a'Beckett's, is now offices and its grounds were for many years a fruit farm; more recently they have been planted as a vineyard and an orchard.

Notable people

William Talman, architect and pupil of Sir Christopher Wren, was born at West Lavington in 1650.

David Saunders, whose life inspired Hannah More's tract The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, was born at Littleton Pannell in 1717 and was buried in West Lavington churchyard in 1796.[2]

Richard Godolphin Long was baptised at West Lavington in 1761. He became High Sheriff of Wiltshire and a Member of Parliament, and built Rood Ashton House near West Ashton.

Actor George Baker, best known for playing Inspector Wexford on television, lived in the village prior to his death in 2011.

References

  1. ↑ "Parish population 2011". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 7 pp198-206". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Church of All Saints, West Lavington (1198014)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  4. ↑ "Church of All Saints, West Lavington". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "Baptist Chapel, West Lavington". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  6. ↑ "Providence Baptist Church & Ebenezer Baptist Church". Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  7. ↑ "Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, West Lavington". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  8. ↑ "St. Joseph's R.C. Church, West Lavington". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  9. ↑ "Dauntsey Academy Primary School". Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Dauntsey's Aided Primary School, West Lavington". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  11. ↑ "West Lavington Village Hall". Charity Commission. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  12. ↑ Moore, Joanne (30 March 2016). "Celebrations as village post office re-opens". Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 30 March 2016.

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