GREAT CHEVERELL
The parish (fn. 1) is situated 4¾ miles south of Devizes. (fn. 2)
It covers 1,846 a. and is long and narrow in shape. (fn. 3)
From the north-eastern boundary at Mill Farm
across Great Cheverell common, the terrace on
which the village stands, over Great Cheverell Hill
to its south-western boundary on Great Cheverell
Down, the parish measures 4¼ miles. It is just over
a mile wide at Townsend. Cheverell wood marks
the northern boundary. A tributary stream of the
Semington brook, which rises immediately north
of the secondary Lavington-Westbury road, flows
northwards past the village and the area known as
the Green (see below) and marks the boundary
between Great Cheverell and its easterly neighbour
Little Cheverell. It has been suggested that 'Cheverell' is of Celtic origin and represents an amalgamation of kyuar (Middle Welsh, land to be ploughed
in common) and ial (British, fertile or cultivated
upland region), a thesis which the settlement's
position above the clay vale on the comparatively
high greensand ridge would support. The form
'Capreolum' (Latin capreolus, kid, roe-buck), used
in the early 12th century, merely represents an
attempt to render the name into Latin. (fn. 4)
The northernmost part of the parish, and a strip
which extends along the eastern boundary as far as
the Green, lie on the Portland Beds at c. 238 ft. (fn. 5)
That stratum gives way about ½ mile south to the
beds of Gault Clay situated below the 225 ft.
contour line. The whole area, well watered by
springs and small streams, was under permanent
pasture in 1973. The use of the clay soils for arable
cultivation in former times, is, however, attested by
ridge and furrow marks directly east of Common
Farm. (fn. 6) About ½ mile southwards the clay vale gives
way to the scarp of the Upper Greensand ridge. The
settlement stands there just above the spring line
with the church on the highest point at c. 318 ft.
Southwards the arable land of the parish, as in
former times, extends over the greensand terrace
and across the exposed chalk hill lands. The greensand is replaced south of the Lavington-Westbury
road by successive narrow strata of Lower and
Middle Chalk. There, on the western boundary
with Erlestoke, the open expanse of chalk is broken
by a plantation known as Folly wood situated just
north of the crest of the Middle Chalk which stands
at over 575 ft. To the south, eastward-flowing
streams, now dry, formerly cut three shallow
valleys through the Middle Chalk, exposing the
underlying Lower Chalk for c. ½ mile. That hollow,
which lies just below 425 ft. at its lowest point on
the eastern boundary, was the site of Great Cheverell
Hill and Glebe Hill Farms before land south of the
Lavington-Westbury road was bought by the War
Department in 1933. (fn. 7) It is sheltered to the south
by the recurring Middle Chalk of Great Cheverell
Hill which rises steeply for c. ¼ mile. There the
Middle gives way to the Upper Chalk which rises
to over 675 ft. immediately south of the course of
the old Bath-Salisbury slow coach road (see below),
in 1973, as formerly, the limit of the parish's arable
land. (fn. 8) Southwards the land falls gently away across
an open tract of rough pasture known as Cheverell
Down, formerly occupied by the parish sheep runs.
At its southern tip, and enclosed on three sides by
the Upper Chalk, a dry valley on whose bed strata
of Middle and Lower Chalk are successively
exposed, lies below 450 ft. Since 1933 Cheverell
Down has been included in the military training
area based on Imber. (fn. 9)
Archaeological evidence attests human activity in
Great Cheverell since at least the late Bronze Age,
and it is likely that an area on Cheverell Down was
settled in Roman times. (fn. 10) In 1334 the parish made
the second largest contribution to the fifteenth of
that year in the small hundred of King's Rowborough. (fn. 11) Great Cheverell's total of 73 poll-tax
payers in 1377 was again second only to Market
Lavington in the same hundred. (fn. 12) The number of
inhabitants contributing to the benevolence of
1545 and the subsidy of 1576 was small compared
with those of other parishes within the enlarged
hundred of Swanborough. (fn. 13) When the population
was first systematically enumerated in 1801, 457
people lived in Great Cheverell. (fn. 14) A temporary
decline in 1811 was followed by an increase to
576 inhabitants in 1831. Thereafter the decline,
caused by agricultural depression and low wages in
the Devizes area, (fn. 15) began again and continued
throughout the later 19th and earlier 20th centuries.
In 1951, possibly because of the expansion of
council housing, the population rose slightly to 351
people. There were 415 inhabitants in 1971, a rise
attributable to the fact that staff from Erlestoke
Detention Centre then lived in Great Cheverell. (fn. 16)
By 1513 Gangbridge provided access across the
small stream which rose west of the road leading
north from Great Cheverell past the Green. (fn. 17)
Most roads which served the parish in 1773 either
continued in use or could be traced as footpaths in
1973. (fn. 18) The village seems always to have been
bypassed by the main thoroughfares. The slow
coach road from Salisbury to Bath, a farm track in
1973, ran on a north-westerly course across Cheverell
Down. (fn. 19) Similarly the secondary Lavington-Westbury road runs c. ½ mile south of the village on
an east-west course below the chalk scarp. It was
turnpiked shortly after 1757–8. (fn. 20) The lane to Mill
Farm (formerly Winsmore's Mill) and to Worton
(in Potterne), which branches off that which
formerly led across Great Cheverell common to
Marston (in Potterne), was apparently laid between
1773 and 1802. (fn. 21) The G.W.R. line to Westbury
and the west of England was constructed through
the north of the parish and opened in 1900. (fn. 22) The
road leading northwards past the Green and one of
the lanes providing access to Common Farm were
then diverted over bridges.
'Morgoneslane', subject to flooding, is mentioned
in the early 15th century and 'Millelane' in the
earlier 16th century. (fn. 23) Both were probably in the
northern part of the parish but their exact locations
are unknown. The village was described c. 1700 as
'pleasantly situated on sandy ground . . . between
hill and vale . . . upon an eminence above the vale
to the north, by which it affords a most pleasant
prospect for the space of 10 or 15 miles northward
. . .' (fn. 24) The church stands on the ridge's highest
point with the Manor House and earlier-19thcentury Manor House Farm to the west, Manor
Farmhouse to the south-east, and the Old Rectory
to the north. In the 18th century, as in 1973, the
village extended eastwards from the church along
Church Street and its eastern extension Low Street,
both so named c. 1700, north-eastwards to the
Green, and southwards along High Street to Townsend. (fn. 25) The junction of Church Street with High
Street forms the central point of the village. The
Glebe House, from which the glebe estate was
farmed (see below), stands behind a small garden
on the north side of Church Street to the north-west
of that junction. (fn. 26) It is a two-storeyed house of
chequered brick with stone dressings. Of early18th-century origin, the building has a later extension to the north and internally has been remodelled
in the 20th century. Its south entrance front has
been altered at various times. To the west of the
junction stands the Bell inn, a substantial 18thcentury building so called by 1771. (fn. 27) Several large
cottages of similar date, some of which incorporate
17th-century features, are found along High Street
and also between that road and the southern end of
the Green. Their size, and position close to and
slightly raised above the road, give the village a
crowded, closely built-up appearance. Most represent
former copyhold farm-houses and each, as in former
times, has a large garden at the rear. (fn. 28) That formerly
called the Old House (the post office in 1973)
stands at the south-east of the T-junction north of
High Street directly on the road but high above it
on a stone plinth. Formerly occupied by the Mattock
family, it has 'J.M. 1770' picked out in contrasting
brick on its north-west front. (fn. 29) No. 42 High Street
is a small symmetrically-fronted brick house with
stone dressings, tiled roof, and a central 'venetian'
window at first-floor level. It was the home of the
Potter family, manufacturers of sheep bells in the
19th century, and bears a stone date tablet inscribed
'E./H. Potter 1757'. (fn. 30) In the earlier 19th century,
besides a number of cottages, some middle-class
residences were built. Such are the small but
stylish brick house with wrought- and cast-iron
porch facing south down High Street; Laurel House
(no. 48 High Street), the inscription 'M.S.S. 1843'
on its chimney stack and a contemporary smithy
and carpenter's workshop behind identifying it as
the home of Mark Sawyer, a prominent local
nonconformist and millwright; (fn. 31) and Highfield
House on the north-east corner of High Street.
The east side of the road running north from the
village by way of the area called the Green is shown
built up in the later 18th century. (fn. 32) That housing
probably represented settlement on the edge of
what was once, as the name of the area suggests,
common land. Nothing of 18th-century date,
except a house on the north-west corner of the
Green junction, remains visible and existing
buildings strung out along the east side of the
Green are externally of 19th- and 20th-century
date. Common Farm, which lies near the boundary
with Erlestoke in the north-west corner of the
parish, was probably built shortly after 1700 when
much of the common was inclosed (see below). At
one end of the house there is a contemporary dairy
with cheese room above and these were later extended
by the addition of a south wing. Apart from some
private dwellings in the village and at the Green
and Townsend, new building has been mostly
limited to council housing. Several such houses
were built between the First and Second World
Wars at Townsend. A council estate was constructed east of High Street at Garston and Green
Lane in the 1950s, and another at Hill Corner c.
1960. A small estate to house staff from the Erlestoke Detention Centre was built in that part of
Erlestoke Park situated in Great Cheverell after the
Second World War. It was considerably enlarged c.
1960. In 1973 two blocks of council flats and some
garages were being built at Townsend. (fn. 33)
Manors and Other Estates.
Land to
be identified with the later manor of GREAT
CHEVERELL was thegnland T.R.E. It was
acquired by William FitzOsbern, earl of Hereford
(d. 1071), who afterwards exchanged it with the
king for land in the Isle of Wight then attached to
the royal manor of Amesbury. Thus in 1086 Great
Cheverell was held by the king and deemed part of
Amesbury manor. (fn. 34) Hamelin de Ballon afterwards
received a royal grant of Great Cheverell. His
grandson William, son of Hamelin's daughter and
eventual heir Emmeline and her husband Reynold
FitzCount, claimed in 1166 that Hamelin had been
dispossessed of Great Cheverell. (fn. 35) The lands were
later restored and some time in Henry II's reign
Hamelin's estates, including Great Cheverell,
were divided between William's brother Reynold
and Geoffrey FitzAce and his wife Agnes, probably
a sister of William and Reynold. (fn. 36) Reynold de
Ballon was dispossessed of his share before 1179,
probably by Robert Boveincurt, who forfeited it c.
1179. (fn. 37) The estate was restored to Guy de Boveincurt
in 1190 and the same year Reynold de Ballon
recovered it from him. (fn. 38) By 1207 the moiety had
passed to Reynold's son John. (fn. 39) The FitzAce share
may be identified with the lands in Great Cheverell
which Richard of Cromhale, William of London,
and Margery de Limesy, Hamelin de Ballon's
heirs in a moiety of his lands, reconveyed to their
overlord John de Ballon in 1227. (fn. 40) Thus re-united
the manorial estate passed c. 1235 to John de
Ballon's son and namesake. (fn. 41) The younger John
died c. 1275 and was succeeded by his brother
Walter de Ballon, on whose death shortly before
1288 the estate passed to his brother Reynold. (fn. 42)
Reynold assigned a third of the manor in dower to
Walter de Ballon's widow Iseult who married
secondly Hugh de Audley. (fn. 43) In 1288 Reynold sold
the manor, presumably including the reversion of
Iseult's third, to Robert Burnell, bishop of Bath and
Wells, and to Robert's nephew Philip Burnell. (fn. 44)
Robert died in 1292 and Philip in 1294. (fn. 45) In 1295
the two-thirds of the manor of Great Cheverell of
which Philip Burnell had died seised were assigned
as dower to his widow Maud. (fn. 46) On her death late
in 1315 or early in 1316 she was succeeded by her
daughter Maud, wife of John de Haudlo. (fn. 47) The
Haudlos settled two-thirds of the manor on themselves in tail male with remainder to the right
heirs of Maud in 1316 and the following year
dealt similarly with the reversion of Iseult de
Audley's third. (fn. 48) That third escheated to the
Crown on the forfeiture of Iseult's husband Hugh in
1321 but was restored to her after his death c. 1326,
and certainly by 1339 had been reunited with the
manor. (fn. 49) Maud de Haudlo was apparently dead by
1337 when the estate was held by her elder son
Thomas, who like his younger brother (see below),
assumed the name Burnell. In 1339 Joan, Thomas's
widow, was tenant for life. (fn. 50) Joan (d. 1369) and her
second husband Reynold de Cobham (d. 1361)
surrendered the manor c. 1357 to her brother-inlaw Nicholas Burnell, upon whom the reversion
had been settled in 1339 by his father John de
Haudlo (d. 1346). (fn. 51) Nicholas was succeeded at his
death in 1383 by his son Hugh (d. 1420), from whom
the manor passed, in accordance with an earlier
settlement, to Hugh's granddaughter Margery,
her husband Edmund Hungerford, then both
minors, and to Edmund's father Walter, later 1st
Lord Hungerford, who retained it (see below). (fn. 52)
The manor was thenceforth designated CHEVERELL BURNELL to distinguish it from the estate
known as Cheverell Hales, acquired by Walter
Hungerford in 1425 (see below). (fn. 53)
In 1442 Walter, Lord Hungerford (d. 1449),
conveyed Burnell to trustees to endow an almshouse at Heytesbury. (fn. 54) The grant, however, did not
have immediate effect. Walter apparently released
his rights in the estate c. 1447 to his son Robert (d.
1459), who in 1458 enfeoffed trustees for the same
purpose. (fn. 55) After Robert, Lord Hungerford's, death
the feoffees conveyed some of his lands, apparently
including Burnell, to his widow Margaret, suo jure
Baroness Botreaux (d. 1478), with remainder to
his son Robert, 3rd Lord Hungerford (attainted
1461 and executed 1464). (fn. 56) In 1462 Richard, duke
of Gloucester (later Richard III), received a grant
of Robert's lands, repeated in 1468. (fn. 57) Margaret
Botreaux disputed the grants and in 1469 Gloucester
agreed that the feoffees should continue to hold
Burnell and pledged himself to apply to the king
for licence to endow an alms-house at Heytesbury. (fn. 58)
In 1472 Margaret and the feoffees were licensed to
endow the alms-house with the manor of Cheverell
Burnell. (fn. 59) The Hungerford family seem to have
retained an interest in Burnell, most apparent
during the later 16th century when the affairs of the
alms-house appear to have been conducted irregularly. Burnell was forfeit to the Crown on the
attainder of Walter, Lord Hungerford (attainted
and executed 1540), but was restored in 1554 to his
son Sir Walter Hungerford. (fn. 60) It was again in royal
hands in 1585 when it was granted in socage to
Theophilus Adams and Thomas Butler. (fn. 61) It was
later restored, since in 1596 Sir Walter Hungerford
died seised of Burnell and was succeeded there by
his half-brother Sir Edward Hungerford. (fn. 62) Following the commission of enquiry into Heytesbury
Hospital's affairs in 1607 Burnell was confirmed
three years later as an endowment at its reincorporation. (fn. 63) The estate was retained by Heytesbury
until 1863, when it was exchanged with Simon
Watson-Taylor for land in Urchfont. (fn. 64) Burnell
thereafter descended like Erlestoke in the WatsonTaylor family until the earlier 20th century. (fn. 65)
In 1919 the Great Cheverell estate was sold to
J. H. and F. W. Green, who the following year sold
Manor farm (56 a.), representing Burnell manor, and
Cheverell Hill farm (552 a.), apparently formed
from the hill land of both Burnell and Hales manors,
to the executors of J. M. Coleman. (fn. 66) In 1933 Mrs.
Mary Jane Wells and others sold Cheverell Hill
farm to the War Department, owners in 1973. (fn. 67)
Edward Merewether tenanted the demesne of
Burnell manor in 1438 and members of the same
family remained tenants until c. 1480 when they
became tenants of Hales manor (see below). (fn. 68) John
Sheriff was lessee in the earlier 16th century. (fn. 69)
John Harris occupied the demesne in 1562, although
in the same year Heytesbury Hospital granted a
term of 61 years to Leonard Parry of Salisbury. (fn. 70)
The Harrises apparently remained resident tenants,
however, and in 1616 Burnell was leased to Thomas
Harris the elder. (fn. 71) At his death c. 1638 Thomas was
succeeded there by his son John Harris. (fn. 72) John
died c. 1660 and was succeeded by his widow Jane
alias Joan and their son Thomas. (fn. 73) When Thomas
died in 1664 the lease of Burnell was renewed to
his mother. (fn. 74) In 1691 Jane Harris's grandson
Thomas Harris Bruges became tenant. (fn. 75) He surrendered his lease shortly before 1723 and that
year Heytesbury leased Burnell to Bruges's brotherin-law Isaac Warriner of Conock (in Chirton). (fn. 76)
Thereafter Burnell passed in the Warriner family like
the rectorial tithes of Conock to Gifford Warriner (d.
1820). (fn. 77) In 1826 a lease was granted by Heytesbury
to George Watson-Taylor (d. 1841), whose son
Simon acquired the freehold in 1863 (see above). (fn. 78)
Manor Farmhouse, which stands south-east of
the church, incorporates a partly timber-framed
range of the 17th century. There is an early-19thcentury extension to the south-west which probably
replaced earlier buildings. The elaborate beams of
the earlier range indicate a substantial house,
which, the 17th-century date suggests, was probably
built by the Harris family. In 1973 the house was a
private residence.
By 1237 land at Great Cheverell, known from the
mid 15th century as the manor of CHEVERELL
HALES (see below), had been subinfeudated by
the Ballons to Walter de Goderville. (fn. 79) The overlordship of the estate descended like the capital manor
(see above) and is last mentioned in 1374. (fn. 80) On his
death c. 1250 Walter de Goderville was succeeded
by his elder daughter Joan, wife of Geoffrey
Gascelyn (d. before 23 Aug. 1282). (fn. 81) Joan died
before 28 Sept. 1287 and was succeeded by her son
Edmund Gascelyn (d. 1307), and grandson Edmund
Gascelyn, who in 1314 received a grant, repeated in
1320, of free warren in his lands at Great Cheverell. (fn. 82)
When Edmund died in 1337 his estate, in accordance with a settlement made in 1326, passed to his
widow Eleanor (d. 1349) and after her death to
their son Geoffrey Gascelyn. (fn. 83) In 1373 Geoffrey
leased the estate to Sir Ralph Cheyney for ten
years. (fn. 84) On Geoffrey's death in 1374 a third of
his estate was assigned to his widow Elizabeth
(d. 1394) in dower, while the remainder passed to
their younger daughter Christine, later the wife of
Edward Hales. (fn. 85) She sold her Great Cheverell
estate to Walter Hungerford, later 1st Lord Hungerford, in 1425 and thereafter it descended like the
capital manor (Burnell) until 1920 when J. H. and
F. W. Green sold Manor House farm (105 a.),
representative of Hales manor, to Charles Butcher.
The Manor House was then sold as a private
dwelling. (fn. 86) Both the Manor House and the farm
were afterwards owned by Mrs. Helena S. Bateson
(d. 1958), whose trustees sold to Sir Delaval J. A.
Cotter in 1959. (fn. 87) The Manor House was the
property of Brigadier and Mrs. Oliver Brooke and
the farm that of Mr. R. H. Fielding in 1973.
Hales was tenanted in 1426 by Roger Herbard
and thereafter by various farmers until 1480 when a
John Merewether worked the demesne. (fn. 88) A branch
of the Merewether family remained resident there
as tenants of Heytesbury Hospital until the later
17th century. (fn. 89) Known lessees include John
Merewether the elder (d. 1583), who was granted a
lease by Heytesbury in 1569, his son John the
younger (d. 1613), and grandsons John (d. 1626),
Richard (will pr. 1633), and Jeffrey (d. 1663). In
1654 Jeffrey Merewether surrendered his lease and
Heytesbury granted Hales to Priscilla Merewether
(d. 1672), his brother Richard's widow. (fn. 90) She
apparently surrendered the lease c. 1669, when
James and William Townsend acquired it. William
released his interest therein to his brother James in
1680. (fn. 91) James Townsend the elder (d. 1730)
surrendered Hales in favour of his son and namesake, who became lessee of Hales in 1725. (fn. 92) On his
death in 1748 James the younger was succeeded by
his nephew John Wadman of Imber, after whose
death in 1793 Hales passed to his trustees, in whose
hands it remained in 1802. (fn. 93) The farm, reckoned at
74 a. in 1833, was leased to Elias Bassett and
William Barker in 1825. (fn. 94)
The Manor House stands directly west of the
church and commands extensive views over the
vale to the north. Its southerly garden, for which
the greensand ridge provides natural terracing, is
separated from the churchyard by a yew hedge of
considerable age. The nucleus of the present house
was probably built as a gentleman's residence by
James Townsend the elder (d. 1730) to replace an
earlier farm-house soon after he acquired sole
interest in the Hales lease in 1680 (see above).
Townsend's original house, U-shaped in plan with
northwards-projecting arms, was of brick with
stone dressings and had two storeys and an attic.
It was enlarged in the early 18th century by the
addition of a separate kitchen wing to the east, in
1973 linked to the house by a connecting range of
later date. By 1773 the greensand scarp fronting
the house to the north had been laid out as a park. (fn. 95)
Townsend's great-nephew and eventual successor
at Hales, John Wadman (d. 1793), seems to have
remodelled the house externally and internally in
the later 18th century, when it was known as 'the
great house'. (fn. 96) The open court between the wings
was then filled in to form a central entrance bay
surmounted by a gable. A rainwater head inscribed
'1781' on the north front may date the alterations.
Further additions were made in the early 19th
century, notably the insertion of a staircase in the
space created by the infilling of the courtyard.
The two-storeyed gazebo south-west of the house
is probably of early-18th-century date. Its cellar is
built into the bank behind the terrace south of the
house, from which the upper storey is approached
by a flight of steps. That storey, like the house, is of
brick with stone quoins, and is surmounted by a
pyramid slate roof with ball finial.
Ambrose Dauntsey (d. 1555) held a freehold
estate of 2½ virgates of Hales manor in 1541–2. (fn. 97)
The land seems eventually to have passed to Ambrose's grandson Sir John Dauntsey, who in 1630
died seised of 106 a. in Great Cheverell held in
socage. (fn. 98) No more, however, is known of it.
In 1544 Nicholas Halswell conveyed an estate at
Great Cheverell and other places to Thomas
Horton (d. 1549). (fn. 99) Thomas's sons William and
Edward dealt with it by fine c. 1554–5. (fn. 100) The younger,
Edward, apparently retained it and died seised in
1603. (fn. 101) He was apparently succeeded there by his
nephew and heir William Horton, since it was held
by William's son Toby in 1618. (fn. 102) That year Toby
Horton sold the estate to his kinsman Sir John
Horton of Broughton Gifford. (fn. 103)
Members of the Merewether family, farmers of
Hales manor (see above), also held small freeholds
in the parish. John Merewether the younger (d.
1613) held 1½ virgate there which passed to his son
and namesake (d. 1626). (fn. 104) Thomas, the brother of
John (d. 1613), also had a small freehold which
passed at his death in 1602 to his son, another
Thomas, then a minor. (fn. 105)
Economic History.
In the 13th century the
present parish was divided between two estates,
later known as the manors of Cheverell Burnell and
Cheverell Hales (see above). As extended in 1275
the capital manor, later known as Burnell, contained 81 a. of arable worth 8d. the acre, 15 a. of
meadow worth 2s. the acre, pasture for 40 oxen at
6d. each beast, and pasture for 250 sheep at 1d.
each animal. Assessed rents totalled £5 7s. 10d.
and the whole estate was worth £14 2s. 1d. (fn. 106) Nineteen years later the estate was valued at £11 19s. 9d.,
a sum which included the rent of free men worth
14s. 3d., and rents of customary tenants and cottars
worth £2 18s. 10d. at Michaelmas and £1 18s. 4d.
at Easter. The sheep pasture was worth £1 5s., the
several pasture 13s. 4d., 200 a. of arable were worth
2d. the acre, and 12 a. of meadow 1s. 6d. the acre. (fn. 107)
In 1421 the 182 a. of arable land within Burnell
manor were worth £2 5s. 6d., of which 104 a., worth
1d. the acre, were situated at the Ridge Way, on the
hill and middle hill, and in the marsh. The marsh
arable (20 a.) was then under pasture. The best
arable, 42 a. worth 8d. the acre, mostly lay on the
greensand soils, then known as East and West
Sand, but also partly on the clay land. Some 21 a.
were then worth 4d., and another 14 a. 2d. the
acre. Of the 17 a. of meadow worth £1 6s., that in
the 'Brodedaywyn', 'Cutdaywyne', and 'Watschip',
totalling 10 a., was worth 2s. the acre, that in
'Horsgarston' (4 a.) worth 1s. the acre, and that in
'Northmede' (3 a.) worth 8d. the acre. Besides a
sheep pasture on the hill worth £2 10s. there were
beast pastures in the 'Smethe', 'Oldheye', and the
'Garston'. (fn. 108) In 1438 rents of free tenants amounted
to 14s. 5d., while customary rents of tenants called
'nethermen' and 'overmen' were worth respectively
£2 0s. 6d. and £4 6s. 8d. (fn. 109) During 1539–41 three
freeholders held very small estates within Burnell
manor. Eight copyholders, half of whom held two
copyholds, and among whom members of the
Mattock family were prominent, then paid rents
totalling £11 17s., while another eight who held at
will, including the demesne farmer, paid rents
totalling £24 11s. 10d. (fn. 110)
In 1438 Edward Merewether tenanted Burnell
demesne at £10 yearly. The farmer then received
£2 0s. 8d. in rents from ten holdings and cottages
within the demesne. (fn. 111) As described above, the
demesne was afterwards leased by the Harris family
as resident farmers in the 16th and 17th centuries,
and by their kinsmen, the Warriners of Conock, in
the 18th and earlier 19th centuries. (fn. 112)
The estate later known as the manor of Cheverell
Hales contained 300 a. of arable worth 6d. the
acre in 1287. Some 20 a. of meadow were worth
1s. 6d. the acre. There was pasture for 36 oxen at
6d. each ox, a several pasture for 5 plough horses at
8d. each horse, and another for 350 sheep at 1d.
each animal. There were then 5 free tenants, while
8 customers who held between them 4 virgates of
land owed works worth £2 9s. The total value of
Hales was £14 13s. 3½d. (fn. 113) In 1349 the estate apparently contained 2 carucates of land; of the 120 a.
of arable 80 a. were sown each year, while the
remainder lay fallow. There were 12 a. of meadow
worth 1s. the acre, a several pasture of 15 a. was
worth 7s. 6d., and another which contained pasture
for 200 sheep was worth 8s. 4d. Rents of free and
villein tenants totalled £1 4s. (fn. 114) In 1542 the rents of
6 free tenants were assessed at £1 8s. 7d.: customary
rents totalling £2 18s. 1½d. were then paid by 6
tenants, of whom one had a two-virgate holding,
another, two half-virgates, three had half-virgates,
and the sixth a cottage only. Ten tenants held at
will, including Hugh Merewether the demesne
farmer, and members of the Mattock family. (fn. 115)
In 1426 Hales demesne was farmed at £8 yearly. (fn. 116)
The farm later became fixed at £9. (fn. 117) As described
above, the estate was worked by various tenants in
the earlier 15th century. During the later 15th, 16th,
and earlier 17th centuries the Merewethers, and
during the later 17th and earlier 18th centuries the
Townsends, were established there as resident
farmers. (fn. 118)
Few details are known of the sheep and corn
husbandry upon which the parish's economy was
based since earliest times. There were apparently
200 sheep within a moiety of Great Cheverell
manor in royal hands in 1185. (fn. 119) Great Cheverell's
connexions with the local woollen industry date
from at least the early 16th century, when there
was a fulling-mill at the northern tip of the parish
(see below). The tenantry flock was stinted at 24
sheep to the yardland c. 1700. (fn. 120) At that time some
800 a. in the parish were sown yearly, and the excellence of the local barley for seed was particularly
remarked upon. Dairy cows, which produced good
butter and cheese, were then maintained on the
low-lying pastures in the north of Great Cheverell. (fn. 121)
There were many sheep in the parish in the later
18th century. (fn. 122) Appointments of two sheeptellers at the spring manorial courts are recorded
from 1778. (fn. 123) In 1851 there was a self-employed
sheepskin-dealer in the parish. (fn. 124)
In 1677 common meadow land was situated partly
in Great Cheverell common and the north meadow
in the north-west corner of the parish. (fn. 125) The common
itself was reported to contain 349 a. in 1700. A
narrow strip of land along the north-west boundary
with Erlestoke was then inclosed by agreement of
those tenants who had rights there. The two most
substantial customary tenants, Henry and Thomas
H. Bruges, received an allotment which later became
known as Common farm. (fn. 126) As a copyhold within
the manor of Great Cheverell, it passed like the
lease of the Burnell estate from Thomas H. Bruges
to the Warriners of Conock, tenants until the early
19th century. (fn. 127) George Watson-Taylor was admitted to the farm (61 a.) in 1827 and from him it
passed to his son Simon, who, as described above,
acquired the freehold in 1863. (fn. 128) Thereafter it became part of the Erlestoke estate and as such was
bought in 1919 by J. H. and F. W. Green, who
again offered the farm (198 a.) for sale in 1920 and
1921. (fn. 129) As a dairy holding with 40 cows, the farm
was noted for the production of cheeses in the 19th
and early 20th centuries. (fn. 130)
In the later 18th century, before parliamentary
inclosure, Joshua Smith, owner of an estate at
Erlestoke, began to acquire copyholds along the
north-west boundary between Great Cheverell and
Erlestoke in order to extend the park he had created
at Erlestoke. At inclosure in 1802 he was allotted
38 a. to replace his land in the open fields and rights
in the remaining commons of Great Cheverell. (fn. 131)
At the same time he also acquired another two
copyholds (84 a.), formerly held by Job Gibbs, in
the north-west corner of the parish. (fn. 132) Similarly by
1802 Jacob Pleydell-Bouverie, earl of Radnor, had
acquired four small freeholds, for which in 1802 he
received allotments totalling 140 a. in the north of
Great Cheverell abutting his Little Cheverell
estate. (fn. 133)
In 1802 arable was situated in the sand fields
which stretched south from the village across the
greensand soils to the Westbury-Lavington road, and
in the clay fields, which lay south of that road
and extended southwards from it across the Lower
and Middle Chalk. (fn. 134) The arable hill fields occupied
the succeeding beds of Lower and Middle Chalk
as far south as the old Bath-Salisbury road which
formerly led north-west across the chalk ridge to
Tinhead (in Edington). Beyond lay the downland
pastures of Great Cheverell, also inclosed at that
time, as was the remainder of the common (see
above) and the common meadows. Of the 1,463 a.
so inclosed, Heytesbury Hospital, as lord, received
an allotment of 235 a. for Burnell manor and another
of 170 a. for Hales. As mentioned below, the rector
received a substantial acreage to replace both tithes
and glebe. Apart from the allotment mentioned
above made to Lord Radnor, a further 247 a. of
freehold land were allotted to at least nine owners
of smallholdings. A total of 425 a. of copyhold land
was allotted to 32 tenants of Heytesbury Hospital.
The process of consolidation of farms which had
begun c. 1700 continued after inclosure. In 1833 the
521 a. of land in Great Cheverell held by lease of
Heytesbury Hospital were divided amongst Burnell
manor farm (275 a.) and another estate of 138 a.,
both tenanted by George Watson-Taylor, and that
of Hales (74 a.), worked by Elias Bassett and William
Barker. The 1,231 a. of copyhold land were then
apportioned amongst 43 copyholds, of which 8,
held by George Watson-Taylor, made a farm of
285 a. The only other copyhold farm of appreciable
size at that date was that of 65 a. held by William
Bartlett the elder and his son and namesake. (fn. 135)
In 1863 most of the parish became part of the
Erlestoke estate when, as described above, Simon
Watson-Taylor acquired the freehold of the land
held by Heytesbury Hospital in Great Cheverell.
It remained part of that estate until the earlier
20th century. (fn. 136)
During at least the later 12th century Great
Cheverell may have been included within Selwood
forest. (fn. 137) Thereafter no woodland in the parish is
mentioned. In the 18th and 19th centuries, however,
local landholders pursued a tree-planting policy.
By 1725 James Townsend, tenant of the Hales estate,
had planted trees on Great Cheverell common. (fn. 138)
The woodland (2 a.) on the glebe in the north-west
corner of Great Cheverell was planted by the rector
c. 1734 and known as the Coppice. (fn. 139) Henning
coppice on the western parish boundary is mentioned
in 1758. (fn. 140) In 1783 the rector reported that timber
on the glebe of Great Cheverell included 30 oaks in
Henning, 21 ash trees in the Home close, and
elsewhere 41 elms. He stated that he had planted
more elms in 1781 and another 50 in 1782. (fn. 141) In the
earlier 19th century Joshua Smith, who, as described
above, had acquired a small copyhold estate in the
west of the parish to enlarge Erlestoke park, between
1802 and his death in 1819 planted Folly wood on
the western parish boundary south of the WestburyLavington road, and Townsend wood south-east
of Henning wood. (fn. 142) Similarly between 1802 and
1832 an earl of Radnor (probably Jacob, d. 1828),
planted Greenlands wood east of the road to Worton
(in Potterne) and Cheverell wood on the northern
parish boundary. (fn. 143) Oak timber on the Heytesbury
estate at Great Cheverell was valued at £5,000 in
1833. (fn. 144) Greenlands wood was grubbed up in
1957. (fn. 145) In 1962 Cheverell wood (33 a.), late the
property of Miss Alice Bond, was offered for sale. (fn. 146)
In the 18th century John Mattock held at will of
Heytesbury Hospital a dwelling called the Old
House (see above), a mill-house, malt-house, and
granary. (fn. 147) John's granddaughter Mary and her
husband William Chandler were tenants c. 1771.
The estate, including mill- and malt-houses, remained in the Chandler family until the early
19th century. (fn. 148) By 1834, however, the malt-house,
then the property of William Bartlett the younger,
had been converted into four cottages: no further
mention is found of the mill-house. (fn. 149) In 1802
William Giles was copyhold tenant of Heytesbury
Hospital at a brickworks on the Portland Beds at
the Green north-east of the junction of the road
from Common farm with that leading to Worton
(in Potterne). (fn. 150) Seven men were employed there in
1851. (fn. 151) In 1855 and 1867 William Dunford was
described as a brickmaker. (fn. 152) The Potter family,
owners of Winsmore's (later Potter's) Mill, made
edge-tools there until the early 19th century (see
below). From at least 1827 to 1880 they made sheep
bells, probably, as has been suggested, in the forge
adjoining no. 42 High Street. (fn. 153) The business, which
was afterwards taken up by William Lancaster (d.
1919) and carried on in a blacksmith's shop at
Townsend, is described elsewhere. (fn. 154) In 1851 Mark
Sawyer (d. 1853) employed 7 men and 3 boys to
make machinery for the many near-by water-mills
in workshops behind no. 48 High Street. (fn. 155) The
business was carried on for a few years by his sons
Joseph and Nathaniel but by 1867 had passed to the
Dunford family who continued as mill-wrights until
the early 20th century. (fn. 156)
As described elsewhere, in 1933 land in Great
Cheverell south of the Westbury-Lavington road
was acquired by the War Department. (fn. 157) The
southern quarter, Cheverell Down, was afterwards
included in one of the firing ranges of the Salisbury
Plain area. The remainder, in 1973 mostly under
arable cultivation, was leased by the War Department to local farmers, of whom the most substantial were W. J. Oram of White House, West Ashton,
Trowbridge, and the executors of J. W. Nosworthy
(d. 1972) of Great Cheverell. (fn. 158) In 1973 the parish
was given over to mixed farming. Of the smaller
pasture farms in the north of the parish, Manor
House farm, Mill farm (110 a.), and Common farm
(c. 140 a.), then had herds of dairy cows. (fn. 159) Marketgardening, noted as an occupation of the parishioners
c. 1700, was still carried on south of the village on
the greensand soils in 1973. (fn. 160)
Mill. In 1324 Henry and Walter Ennok and
others held a small estate of the lord of the capital
manor. (fn. 161) It is probably to be identified with that
held in 1421 by John Stourton (cr. Baron Stourton
1448 and d. 1462), and named the following year as
'Ennokes'. (fn. 162) The first mention of a water-corn-mill
attached to the estate occurs in 1449 when it was
noted to be in poor condition. (fn. 163) The mill, to which
3 a. of pasture were attached, was used for fulling
by 1526 and continued to be so used until at least
the end of the 17th century. (fn. 164) The Stourtons retained
the mill estate until 1544 when William, Lord
Stourton (d. 1548), sold it to Thomas Long (d. 1562),
whose widow Joan afterwards held it for life. (fn. 165)
Joan died c. 1583 and was succeeded by her husband's nephew and heir Edward Long. (fn. 166) The estate,
still known in 1613 as 'Enocks', passed c. 1622 to
Edward's son Gifford (d. 1635), who held it of
William Brouncker as of his manor of Melksham. (fn. 167)
In accordance with a settlement made in 1631 the
mill probably passed after Gifford Long's death to
his son Edward. (fn. 168) At some date John Winsmore
(d. 1697), members of whose family had leased the
estate in the earlier 17th century, bought the freehold and devised it to his son Thomas. (fn. 169) In 1699
Thomas and his wife Deborah conveyed the estate,
which comprised a water-mill, 3 a. of meadow, and
8 a. of pasture in Great Cheverell, to James Axford. (fn. 170)
When offered for sale in 1784 the Winsmore mill
estate comprised a moiety belonging to Richard
Aldridge and another late the property of Isaac
Axford, a bankrupt. The mill was let to Henry and
James Potter in 1785. (fn. 171) James Potter (d. c. 1812),
owner in 1802, made edge-tools at the mill, then
called Potter's. (fn. 172) In 1837 the estate, then owned by
the Watson-Taylors, contained a meal-mill, let to
Edward Price, and an iron-mill tenanted by Thomas
Williams. (fn. 173) Mill farm, estimated at 110 a., was
devoted to dairying and owned by Mr. A. Coleman
in 1973. (fn. 174)
The former mill-house and buildings are situated
on the extreme north-eastern parish boundary on
the south side of the lane to Worton (in Potterne).
All are of later-18th- or earlier-19th-century date
and stand in the apex of two north-westwardsflowing head-streams of the Bristol Avon which
formerly fed the mill-pond. The former corn-mill
stands north-west of that pond. An undershot
wheel at its south-west end drove, through largely
wooden gearing, three stones. A near-contemporary
extension on the north-east apparently housed beltdriven static machinery. The former iron-mill,
which stands south-east of the pond, retains a
chimney. (fn. 175) Both buildings were used for storage in
1973.
Local Government.
Separate manorial
courts for Burnell and Hales manors were held from
at least the later 13th century. (fn. 176) Records are extant,
with gaps, from 1421 to 1537. Both courts were
generally held twice yearly on the same day,
although the presentments of each homage were
made and entered separately. (fn. 177) In 1422 the court
of the capital manor, shortly afterwards named
Burnell, was called that of Great Cheverell and its
homage known as that of Eastcourt. The Hales
homage was designated that of Westcourt. (fn. 178)
Besides the usual small agricultural and tenurial
matters, the Hales court dealt in 1422 with an alleged
rape, and the Burnell court in 1436–8 with the case
of the Felpot family, serfs who had left the demesne
without the lord's permission. (fn. 179) Later records,
extant from 1719, show the courts to have been
merged at some date and thereafter known as the
court of Great Cheverell manor. Still generally
held twice yearly, the courts were mostly concerned
with copyhold business. Although held until 1908,
courts after 1887 were mostly formal. (fn. 180)
Overseers' papers dealing with the settlement,
apprenticing, and removal of paupers cover the
later 17th to the earlier 19th centuries. (fn. 181) No accounts
are known to survive for that period. In 1835 Great
Cheverell became part of Devizes poor-law union. (fn. 182)
Paupers were apparently housed in cottages at the
Green called the 'barracks' in 1852. (fn. 183) No other
parish records except registers are known.
Church.
In the earlier 12th century Hamelin de
Ballon gave the church of 'Capreolum', to be identified with that of Great Cheverell, with all the
tithes and the priest's land belonging to it, to the
abbey of St. Vincent at Le Mans (dép. Sarthe),
probably for the endowment of a dependent priory
at Abergavenny (Mon.). (fn. 184) At some date before 1288
the church reverted to the Ballons. In 1288 Reynold
de Ballon, lord of the capital manor, granted the
advowson to Robert Burnell, bishop of Bath and
Wells (d. 1292), and to Robert's nephew Philip
Burnell (d. 1294). (fn. 185) The advowson was assigned in
dower in 1295 to Philip's widow Maud (d. 1315 or
1316). (fn. 186) Her right to present was in some way
disputed by Edmund Gascelyn, under-tenant of the
Burnells in the estate later known as Cheverell Hales
(see above). (fn. 187) The rector he presented in 1314 was
not instituted, however, and Maud shortly afterwards
appointed a rector. (fn. 188) From at least 1307 until 1435
the rectors presented vicars to the bishop for
institution: nothing, however, is known of the
arrangements made for their support. (fn. 189) After Maud
Burnell's death the advowson of the rectory descended with the capital manor and passed with it in
1420 to Margery and Edmund Hungerford and to
Edmund's father Walter, later 1st Lord Hungerford. (fn. 190) Although Edmund and his father together
presented a rector in 1435, Walter, Lord Hungerford (d. 1449), apparently retained the advowson. (fn. 191)
It afterwards passed to his son Robert, Lord
Hungerford (d. 1459), and then to Robert's widow
Margaret, suo jure Baroness Botreaux. In 1476
Margaret Botreaux and trustees granted the advowson in fee to Thomas Tropenell. (fn. 192)
From Thomas (d. 1488) the advowson passed
successively to his son Christopher (d. 1503), grandson Thomas (d. 1547), and great-grandson Giles
(d. a minor 1553). (fn. 193) Giles's heirs, his sisters Anne,
wife of John Eyre, Elizabeth, wife of William Charde,
Eleanor, wife of Andrew Blackman, and Mary,
wife of John Young, in 1557 conveyed the advowson
to trustees, who the following year settled it on Mary
and John Young. (fn. 194) By 1582 the advowson had been
acquired by William Brouncker (d. 1596), from
whom it passed to his son Henry (d. 1598), and
grandson William, a minor, in whose place the
Crown presented in 1601 and 1609. (fn. 195) Richard
Goddard presented in 1623. (fn. 196) In 1640 the advowson, by then the property of William Gough and
his wife Alice, was sold to John Davenant, bishop
of Salisbury (d. 1641). Shortly afterwards the
bishop gave the advowson to Queens' College,
Cambridge, of which he had formerly been president. (fn. 197) In 1774 Queens' exchanged it with William
Bouverie, earl of Radnor (d. 1776), for the advowson
of Seagrave (Leics.). (fn. 198) The Radnors remained
patrons of Great Cheverell until 1837 when William
Pleydell-Bouverie, earl of Radnor (d. 1869), sold
the advowson to the Revd. Robert Moulton
Atkinson (d. 1873), who in 1841 presented himself. (fn. 199) Patronage rights were acquired c. 1865 by
Miss Mary E. Ainge, who in 1865 presented
Edward Gunner (d. 1885). (fn. 200) Gunner apparently
acquired the advowson at some date. (fn. 201) Charles
Richard Gunner of Bishop's Waltham (Hants)
was patron in 1886. The rectory was in the gift of
trustees, whose is unspecified, in 1892. Richard
Henry Smith of Stroud (Glos.) was patron in 1912.
The following year, in conjunction with J. H. Burn,
rector 1892–1912, R. H. Smith transferred the
advowson to Robert William Bourne upon whose
death at an unknown date it passed to his widow,
Mrs. Henrietta L. Bourne (d. c. 1956), whose
trustees were patrons in 1973. (fn. 202) From 1936 the
rectory was held in plurality with the united
benefice of West Lavington with Little Cheverell. (fn. 203)
Little Cheverell was detached from West Lavington
in 1958 and united with the rectory of Great
Cheverell, the patron of Little Cheverell being
entitled to make the first presentation to the united
benefice. (fn. 204) The Cheverells were disunited in 1965. (fn. 205)
In 1968 Great Cheverell rectory was united with
the benefice of Erlestoke and remained so in 1973. (fn. 206)
The church was valued for taxation at £8 in 1291
and throughout the Middle Ages. (fn. 207) In 1341 that
sum included a ninth part of the great tithes worth
£5 6s. 8d., small tithes worth 9s., and land worth
10s. yearly. (fn. 208) The rectory was worth £16 10s. 8d.
in 1535. (fn. 209) The rector estimated its worth at £200
less outgoings in 1750 and 1766. (fn. 210) The net average
yearly income of the benefice from 1829 to 1831
was £353. (fn. 211)
In the early 18th century tenants of estates in
Great Cheverell were reported to have previously
leased their own tithes. (fn. 212) In 1723, however, John
Bartlett leased all the tithes for three years at £160
yearly. With his brother James he remained lessee
in 1729. (fn. 213) Walter Post, rector 1731–c. 1772, took the
tithes in kind from 1733. In 1750 he reported that
those arising from Common farm (see above) had
for some time past been farmed at £12 yearly. (fn. 214)
The tithes were merged at inclosure in 1802 and an
estate of c. 304 a., described below, was allotted to
the rector. (fn. 215)
The glebe, first mentioned in the early 12th
century, was reckoned at c. 30 a. in 1677, a total
made up of small amounts of meadow and pasture
in the north meads and the common, and c. 23 a. of
arable land in the east and west fields. (fn. 216) When part
of Great Cheverell common was inclosed c. 1700
the rector was allotted 10½ a. there to replace his
pasture rights. (fn. 217) The small farm of c. 40 a. so
formed, farmed from the building known in 1973
as the Glebe House and described above, was
leased to James Bartlett in 1729. (fn. 218) From 1733 the
rector farmed the glebe himself. In 1750 most of the
glebe land lying in the common was under arable
cultivation, although some 2 a. had been planted
as a coppice by the rector c. 1734. (fn. 219) A considerable
number of trees, including many elms, were planted
on the glebe by Sir James Stonhouse, Bt., rector
1780–95. (fn. 220) At inclosure in 1802 14 a. directly north
of the Rectory in Great meadow were allotted to replace glebe. (fn. 221) Thus, with the land allotted in place of
tithes and mentioned above, an estate of c. 330 a. was
formed. It lay chiefly south-east of the village in the
East Sand and Clay fields and south of the Lavington-Westbury road in a narrow strip along the
eastern parish boundary. (fn. 222) The rectory estate, then
reckoned at 346 a. and worked as two farms, was sold
on the instructions of the rector in 1918. The Glebe
farm of 130 a. was sold to F. Giddings, whose
family retained it for many years. (fn. 223) Most of the
land was later sold to J. W. Nosworthy. (fn. 224) The
remainder, reckoned at only 20 a. of pasture in
1970, and the Glebe House were then offered for
sale in two lots. (fn. 225) The Glebe House was a private
dwelling in 1973. (fn. 226) The Glebe Hill farm of 176 a.
was sold in 1918 to James Chapman, who in turn
offered it for sale in 1921. (fn. 227) In 1933 E. F. Chapman
sold part of the hill farm (207 a.) to the War Department, owners in 1973. (fn. 228)
The parsonage-house mentioned in 1677 may be
identified with a building which in 1802 stood
directly north-east of that known in 1973 as the
Old Rectory. (fn. 229) It was fronted in the later 18th
century by two small formal gardens or 'courts'. (fn. 230)
In 1783 it was described as of three distinct dates:
constructed partly of rough stone, partly of lath
and plaster, and partly of timber and brick, it was
then roofed with tiles and stone slabs. (fn. 231) A pair of
18th-century brick gate-piers with stone cornices
and vase finials, extant in 1973, marked the entrance
to the driveway. R. M. Atkinson, rector, replaced
that house in 1844. (fn. 232) The Rectory, as the new
building was known, was unoccupied after 1936
(see above) and some time before 1939 was acquired
by Frank L. Carter and his nephew Sir Charles
Chitham. (fn. 233) Thenceforth called the Old Rectory, it
remained in private occupation in 1973. The
assistant curates who served the church in the late
1930s and early 1940s (see below), and from 1958 to
1963 the last resident rector, lived at the Parsonage. (fn. 234)
That house, built c. 1938–9 at Garston, was later
sold as a private dwelling and was known as 'Beech
End' in 1973. (fn. 235) The rector then lived at Erlestoke
(see above).
In 1574 it was noted that the profits of ½ a.
called Racham close in Great Cheverell had formerly
been used to maintain the church's Paschal taper.
Tenanted by John Mante, the land was then worth
2d. yearly. (fn. 236) By will dated 1725 James Townsend
(d. 1730) bequeathed 10s. chargeable on a house
called Garnam's to the minister for a yearly Good
Friday sermon. The charity was deemed lost in
1834. (fn. 237)
John Lybbe, presented in 1539, and his successor
Richard Chandler (d. c. 1582), were also successively
masters of Heytesbury Hospital. Both held additional preferments elsewhere. (fn. 238) An assistant
curate was employed in 1550. (fn. 239) The rector, also
incumbent of Little Cheverell, did not reside in
1783 and his assistant curate, who lived at Great
Cheverell, also acted as assistant curate of East
Coulston. (fn. 240) From 1829 to 1831 the incumbent, a
prebendary of Salisbury cathedral, was also vicar
of Britford. He employed an assistant curate at
Great Cheverell. (fn. 241) The rector was non-resident in
1864 and the church was again served by an
assistant curate. (fn. 242) The parish had resident assistant
curates in 1939 and 1943. (fn. 243) In 1965 the incumbent
of Worton with Marston and Poulshot was curate
in-charge of Great Cheverell. (fn. 244) The curate-incharge from 1966 to 1967 lived at Erlestoke. (fn. 245)
Notable incumbents include Owen Wood, rector
1601–9, dean of Armagh and a chaplain-in-ordinary
to James I, and Sir James Stonhouse, Bt., rector
1780–95. (fn. 246) Richard Lawrence (d. 1838), rector
1796–c. 1806, was also incumbent of Rollestone
from 1800. He later became archbishop of Cashel
and wrote a number of theological works. (fn. 247) No weekday services were held in 1783: Holy Communion
was then celebrated at Easter, Whitsun, Michaelmas, and Christmas. That year there were 35 communicants at Easter and 29 at Whitsun. (fn. 248) In 1864
two Sunday services were held, and weekday
services on Good Friday and Christmas day only.
The Sacrament was then administered to an average
of 20 communicants at Easter, Midsummer,
Michaelmas, and Christmas. (fn. 249)
The church of ST. PETER, so dedicated by 1705
but in 1476 to both St. Peter and St. Paul, (fn. 250) stands
high on the greensand scarp at the western end of
Church Street. It has a chancel with north vestry,
nave with north chapel and south porch, and west
tower. The herringbone flintwork of the chancel
suggests a possible 11th-century date. It is more
likely, however, to be a late example of this form of
construction for the chancel's earliest features, the
north and south lancet windows, south priest's
door, and the recessed tomb in the interior north
wall, are all of the earlier 13th century. The nave
incorporates a fragment of early masonry in its
north-west corner and among its furnishings is a
13th-century font. (fn. 251) As indicated by the surviving
14th-century tower arch, the nave had achieved its
present length by that time. A three-light east
window was also inserted in the 14th century. (fn. 252)
The tower, which also existed by that date, was
rebuilt and a crenellated upper storey with a southeast staircase turret added in the 15th century. A
window on the south side of the chancel was inserted at that time. The church was apparently
extensively remodelled by the Tropenell family,
patrons 1476–1553 (see above). Some time during
either the later 15th or earlier 16th centuries the
nave walls were rebuilt in ashlar, square-headed
windows inserted, a barrel-shaped roof constructed,
and a south porch added. The porch retains a
contemporary door. A north chapel, later known as
the Townsend chapel (see below), was built in a
style similar to that of the nave, but with a flatspan ceiling. Its roof was restored in 1699 and some
bosses added. (fn. 253) By 1704 a gallery had been put
across the west end of the nave and the ceiling of
the roof above painted with angels on a blue background. (fn. 254) In 1749 the chancel was given a new
double roof of oak and its side walls were partly
rebuilt. (fn. 255) The whole church was restored and
refitted under the direction of W. H. Woodman in
1868. (fn. 256) Apart from the removal of the gallery and
the building of a vestry in the angle between the
north chapel and chancel, structural alterations
were limited to the chancel. The north and south
walls were heightened, the arch and east end rebuilt,
and the whole reroofed. In the north-east angle of
the north or Townsend chapel, a large wall monument of white and grey marbles surmounted by a
cartouche of arms commemorates James Townsend
(d. 1730), a benefactor of the parish, and his wife
Catherine (d. 1737). (fn. 257) The church clock is reputed
to be originally of 1629. (fn. 258) Mrs. Helena S. Bateson
(d. 1958), of the Manor House, by will proved 1959,
bequeathed £500 to the rector and churchwardens
of Great Cheverell to be invested and the annual
income used to maintain the church fabric. (fn. 259)
There were three bells in 1553. (fn. 260) One, of medieval
date from the Salisbury foundry and inscribed
'Sancte os munde [sic] ora pronobis', survives. A
'great bell' weighing 499 lb. was bought by the
parish in 1698. (fn. 261) By c. 1700 there was a peal of five
bells. Ringing was then one of the chief pastimes
of the young men of the parish. (fn. 262) The whole ring,
except the medieval bell and probably that of 1698,
was either recast or replaced in the earlier 18th
century. It was probably the 1698 bell which was
recast in 1879 by Llewellins and James of Bristol.
A new treble, cast by Mears of Whitechapel (London), and inscribed as the gift of Sir Charles
Chitham, was added in 1949 and the whole peal
then rehung. (fn. 263)
The king's commissioners allowed Great Cheverell to retain a chalice weighing 9 oz. in 1553. (fn. 264) The
church plate in 1772 comprised silver chalice,
flagon, and paten. (fn. 265) The chalice, described as of
later-16th-century date in 1891, was no longer
among the plate in 1973. (fn. 266) The parish then had a
flagon and paten hall-marked 1842 and a cup of
more modern design. (fn. 267) A register was reported c.
1700 to date from 1560. (fn. 268) The book was lost by
1783. (fn. 269) In 1973 registrations of baptisms ran from
1653, burials and marriages from 1654. Marriage
entries are missing from 1754 to 1837. (fn. 270)
Nonconformity.
The slackness of two
parishioners in attending church was reported in
1585. (fn. 271) Two were similarly presented in 1662. (fn. 272)
One, Richard Amor (d. 1668), who had refused the
minister altar dues and the Easter offering, was one
of a group of Quakers at Great Cheverell attached
to the Market Lavington meeting. (fn. 273) The Hudden
family were Quakers in 1674. (fn. 274) Thomas Axford
and the Paxton family were called 'anabaptists' the
same year. Thus the eleven nonconformists enumerated in 1676 probably included others besides
Quakers. (fn. 275) No nonconformists were reported in
1767 or 1783. (fn. 276)
In 1816 James Potter's house, occupied by Mark
Sawyer, was certified for worship by Independents. (fn. 277)
The congregation, which included James Potter the
elder, bell-founder, his son and namesake, William
Dunford, brickmaker, and other tradesmen from
Great Cheverell and the surrounding area, built a
chapel on lifehold land of the manor south-west of
the cross-roads at the Green in 1833. (fn. 278) The chapel
was later reconstituted Strict Baptist, with Mark
Sawyer as minister and preacher, and was known
as Little Zoar Baptist chapel in 1851. (fn. 279) That year
Mark Sawyer (d. 1853) stated that 40 people had
attended both morning and afternoon services on
Census Sunday. (fn. 280) The chapel, which afterwards
apparently became General Baptist, was leased from
the lord of the manor in 1872 by G. Anstie of Devizes,
who that year transferred it to the Wiltshire and
East Somerset Baptist Association, which used it as a
mission chapel until 1877. From then until at least
1907 it was a station of the Bratton Baptist chapel. (fn. 281)
Little Zoar chapel, as part of the Watson-Taylor
estate in Great Cheverell, was sold to the rector in
1907 and used firstly as a parish room and later as a
village hall. (fn. 282) A new chapel, of red brick with stone
dressings, was built directly east of the old one in
1907 and General Baptists still worshipped there
in 1973. (fn. 283)
Thomas Dowding's house was used for worship
by an unspecified denomination of Protestants in
1850 but no more is known. (fn. 284) A mission room
registered by Wesleyan Methodists in 1891 flourished only for a few years. (fn. 285)
Education.
By will dated 1725 James Townsend
(d. 1730) devised a newly-built cottage, then
occupied by William Stevens, to whomever was
willing to teach six poor children living in Great
Cheverell. Anyone accepting the post would receive
the rent of 1 a. of land at Marston (then in Potterne).
He would also be allowed to take 100 willow or ash
faggots yearly from trees Townsend had planted on
Great Cheverell common, a right exchanged in 1802
for an acre of land in the marsh. (fn. 286) The free school
apparently lapsed for some years in the later 18th
century. In 1783 the school-house needed repair.
That year three charity children were sent there.
The rector then paid a schoolmaster at Great
Cheverell to teach another 20 children. (fn. 287) Sixty
pupils in addition to the charity children were
taught at Townsend's school in 1808. (fn. 288) In 1818
the teacher's income from the land mentioned above
amounted to £3 10s. Some 34 children then attended. (fn. 289) The cottage which housed the school
stood in Church Street directly west of the Bell inn
and in 1834 was let to William Boulton at £2 10s.
yearly. (fn. 290) The parish clerk was master and then taught
reading, writing, and the Catechism to the six
charity children and to another 40 boys and girls
whose parents made small payments. In 1835 the
rector also contributed to the school's upkeep. (fn. 291)
In 1844 the rector, R. M. Atkinson, conveyed a
small amount of glebe land as a site for a school, to
be united with the National Society and managed
by the rector and the archdeacon of Wilts. (fn. 292) The
income from Townsend's educational charity was
thenceforth applied to the National school. In 1858
50–60 children attended the two-room school,
which stood on the north side of the road leading
east to the Green. The instruction they received
from their teacher, who had formerly been a pupil
teacher at Devizes, was 'rudimentary'. (fn. 293) In 1876 a
school board was formed and the school let to it
until 1903 when the rector resumed possession.
The income from the Townsend bequest was
applied to a Sunday school until 1878. A Scheme
established that year directed that the income
should be divided and half used to pay the school
fees of certain poor children attending the daily
school, the remainder to finance the Sunday
school. Schemes of 1892 and 1895 provided for the
entire charity income to be spent on the Sunday
school. The former school-house adjoining the Bell
inn was sold c. 1900 and the purchase money of £60
invested in stock. In 1904 most of the £6 6s. 8d.
income from Townsend's educational charity was
spent on Sunday-school prizes. There was then a
balance of £7 in hand.
In 1906 an average of 74 children had attended
the day school during the past year. (fn. 294) It could accommodate 49 boys and girls and 30 infants in 1914 and
over the past year an average of 51 children had
attended. Thereafter the average attendance figures
declined until the late 1920s, when numbers began
to rise once more and in 1938 an average of 53
pupils attended the school. (fn. 295)
By deed of 1958 Mrs. Helena S. Bateson established a trust to help to maintain the school. The
trust's income was c. £16 in 1970. (fn. 296) Another trust
for the benefit of the school was registered in
1970. (fn. 297) The income of Townsend's educational
charity, £13 in 1973, was then also applied to the
school. (fn. 298) The 51 children then on the roll were
taught by three teachers. Additional accommodation
was provided in a temporary wooden classroom
behind the school. (fn. 299)
Charities for the Poor.
By will dated
1725 James Townsend (d. 1730) devised land at
Easterton (in Market Lavington), out of the income
from which 40s. was to be spent each 21 December
on clothing two unrelieved poor men or women,
and a shillingsworth of bread distributed at church
each Sunday by the parish clerk, beginning in
November, to five or six poor people, any surplus
being the clerk's perquisite. (fn. 300) In 1799 the Easterton
land was exchanged at inclosure for c. 5 a. in the
West Clay field there. The rent of £12 was used in
1834 to buy three grey coats, hats, and dresses distributed at Christmas. Twelve poor parishioners
then received a 2d. loaf each Sunday from the parish
clerk, who received £1 yearly for making the distribution. From 1867 to 1869 £16 was spent on
clothing and bread. In 1904 the £10 rent from the
Easterton land was spent in accordance with
Townsend's wishes. In 1901 and 1902 5 men and 4
women, and in 1903 4 men and 6 women, received
clothing. Distribution of bread began in December
and those who received poor relief were also eligible.
From c. 1941 clothing and bread were replaced by
doles made each December to certain parishioners
chosen by the churchwardens. In the 1950s yearly
payments averaged £6 10s. In 1962 the Easterton
land was let at £10 yearly. There was then a balance
of £3 8s. 10d. in hand. (fn. 301) A rent of £25 yearly was
received in 1973. (fn. 302)
Townsend also directed by will that the churchwardens and overseers should allow the poor yearly
those branches, cut from trees he had planted on
Great Cheverell common, which remained after an
allowance, described above, had been made to the
schoolmaster. (fn. 303) At inclosure in 1802 that right was
exchanged for an allotment of c. 5 a. in the common. (fn. 304)
The poor's ground, as it was called in 1834, lay on
the northern parish boundary directly east of the
lane which formerly led north-west to Marston (in
Potterne). (fn. 305) Fifty-four poor families each had 14 p.
there, free of both rent and tax. In 1904 eight or
nine of the allotments were uncultivated, two were
often held by one person, while others were worked
by people who were not considered poor. The
allotments, known as the 'poor plot', were administered by the parish council in the 1960s and were
then still available at nominal rents to parishioners.
Most plots, however, were then uncultivated. (fn. 306)
In 1834 the rector and parish officers considered
themselves entitled, in accordance with the 1633
statutes of Heytesbury Hospital, to nominate a man
from Great Cheverell to fill every fourth vacancy in
the alms-house. (fn. 307) Old men from Great Cheverell
were certainly received there in the 18th and earlier
19th centuries. (fn. 308) The 1633 statutes were set aside
in the 19th century and in the 20th century men
from the village were no longer entitled to preference
when vacancies occurred.