WOOTTON RIVERS
Wootton Rivers village lies 6 km. south of
Marlborough. (fn. 91) Besides the village, the parish
contains East Wick Farm, which possibly stands
on the site of what was a small village in the
Middle Ages. (fn. 92) The suffix in the parish's name
is the surname of lords of the principal manor
and was in use in the 14th century. (fn. 93) In 1300 the
land between the eastern arms at the north and
south ends of the parish, which either was or
might soon have become part of the parish, was
probably woodland and was defined as a southern tail of Savernake forest. It remained part of
the forest in 1330, when the land east and west of
it was disafforested, (fn. 94) and as Brimslade it remained
extra-parochial until the 19th century. (fn. 95) Wootton
Rivers parish measured 1,200 a. (486 ha.). In 1987
Brimslade was transferred to it from Savernake
parish, and a small area was transferred from it to
Savernake. Wootton Rivers parish thereafter
measured 705 ha. (fn. 96)
The parish boundary follows a dry valley and
a ridge on the south-east, but no prominent
natural feature marks it elsewhere. On the north
and in several other places it is marked by roads
and paths. Sharp bends in the boundary with
Milton Lilbourne may be partly the result of a
compromise between the rector of Wootton Rivers and the appropriator of Milton Lilbourne
church who disputed tithes c. 1215 and c. 1327. (fn. 97)
The line of the boundary with Easton along a
road was confirmed in 1908. (fn. 98)
Upper Greensand outcrops over the whole
parish except its north end, where chalk outcrops
and the southern scarp of the Marlborough
Downs crosses the parish from east to west. A
small area in the extreme north is overlain by
clay-with-flints. (fn. 99) An intermittent head stream
of the Christchurch Avon flows from north-east
to south-west across the south half of the parish.
To the north the land reaches 205 m. on the
down at the western boundary, to the south,
where it is undulating, it reaches 170 m. at the
eastern boundary. The stream leaves the parish
at 130 m. Open fields lay in the centre and north
parts of the parish, common pasture in the south
and on the downland in the north. The parish
contained very little woodland. (fn. 1)
There were 51 poll-tax payers at Wootton
Rivers in 1377; they presumably included the
inhabitants of East Wick. (fn. 2) The population of the
parish was 313 in 1801 and 367 in 1811. It was
over 400 between 1821 and 1871, reaching a peak
of 470 in 1841; it was between 300 and 400 in the
period 1881-1911, between 300 and 200 thereafter. The parish had 247 inhabitants in 1981
and, after the boundary changes of 1987, 271 in
1991. (fn. 3)
The Roman road from Mildenhall to Old
Salisbury, and in the Middle Ages a main
Marlborough-Salisbury road, may have run
north-south across the parish. The direct course
of a Marlborough-Salisbury road through
Wootton Rivers would have been blocked in the
16th century when north of the parish the west
part of Savernake forest was inclosed as Savernake great park, and later the main
Marlborough-Salisbury road ran further east. (fn. 4)
Wootton Rivers village is linked to the present
main road from Marlborough to Salisbury and
Andover (Hants) by a lane leading north-eastwards and by others leading to Burbage. It is
linked to another main Marlborough-Salisbury
road, which runs through Pewsey, by three
lanes, one via East Wick, one via Milton Lilbourne, and one via Clench in Milton Lilbourne;
the lane via East Wick had been diverted south
of the farmstead by 1732. The road along the
northern boundary, in use in the early 18th
century, has never been tarmacadamed and was
a track called Mud Lane in 1997. (fn. 5)
The Kennet & Avon canal was built across
the parish c. 1807 and was opened fully in 1810. (fn. 6)
A wharf, a lock, and a lock keeper's house were
built immediately south of the village, and there
is another lock in the east part of the parish. The
canal was restored in the 1970s and the locks
were reopened in 1973. (fn. 7)
The Berks. & Hants Extension Railway, built
parallel to and immediately south of the canal,
was opened across the parish in 1862. Since 1906
it has been part of a main London-Exeter line.
A passenger halt was opened at the south end of
the village in 1928 (fn. 8) and closed in 1964. (fn. 9) Two
railways from Marlborough, one opened in 1864
and the other, part of a Swindon-Andover line, in
1898, crossed the north-east tip of the parish. They
were closed in 1933 and 1964 respectively. (fn. 10)
A barrow at the north-east end is the only
evidence of prehistoric activity in the parish. (fn. 11)
The parish was in Savernake forest until 1330,
when the whole of what was the parish until 1987
was disafforested. (fn. 12)
The church, the rectory house, and the demesne
farmstead of Wootton Rivers manor stand as a
group at the south end of the village. (fn. 13) The
church stands on rising ground and, when it was
built in the 14th century, replaced a church
which may have stood on a lower site. (fn. 14) The
demesne farmhouse, called Manor Farmhouse
in 1997, is two-storeyed and mostly thatched. (fn. 15)
At its west end it incorporates part of a medieval
house built of large blocks of limestone; that
part may have been the chamber wing of a house
which c. 1600 was probably large. There survive
in it a timber ceiling with heavily moulded
beams and chamfered joists on the ground floor,
a heavily moulded beam on the first floor, and
three four-centred headed doorways. One of
those doorways is in the west wall and is
double-chamfered; a large, blocked, chamfered,
three-centred arch abuts it and may be older.
The surviving walls of the medieval house were
patched with flint and rubble in the 17th century and with brick in the 18th; a mullioned
window was inserted in the north wall in the
17th century. The part of the house which stood
east of the medieval walls was replaced by a
timber-framed range of three bays and a half
built in the 17th century, possibly in 1680. (fn. 16) In
the 18th century the lower part of the south wall
of that range was rebuilt in brick and rubble,
two bays built of brick were added on the east,
and the house was reroofed. In the west wall,
probably in the 18th century, large segmentalheaded openings were made and a brick arch
was built within the medieval one. In the 19th
century an outbuilding was attached to the
house at the east end of the north front. In the
late 20th dormer windows were constructed, the
outbuilding was converted to part of the house,
and there were many minor alterations.
The copyhold farmsteads of Wootton Rivers
manor were built north of the demesne farmstead
beside a curving north-south street. (fn. 17) The street
runs along a valley a little west of the floor, and
at its north end was served by a pond in which
the water of a stream flowing, perhaps intermittently, southwards down the valley was trapped.
Between Manor Farm and the pond, which was
apparently filled between 1732 and 1842, there
were probably 25-30 houses beside the street in
1732 (fn. 18) and most, including several built in the late
16th or early 17th century, were standing in 1997.
There was some rebuilding in the 18th century,
and in the 19th a school and a nonconformist
chapel were built, (fn. 19) but the main period of building after the 17th century was the 20th.
Most of the village was designated a conservation area in 1975. (fn. 20) In 1997 c. 25 houses built
before 1800, nearly all of them thatched, stood in
the street. On the east side near the south end
Church Farmhouse, built c. 1600, is of three bays
with stone chimney stacks between the bays. The
heavy, square-panelled, timber frame of its back
wall survives; its front wall was rebuilt in brick in
the 18th century. After a fire in 1978 the house
was raised from 1½ storey to 2 storeys and its roof
was changed from thatch to tiles. (fn. 21) Further north
on the east side Somerset Farm is a three-bayed
timber-framed house of the 17th century, and the
Royal Oak is an extended and altered house of
17th-century origin. The Royal Oak was open as
a public house from 1848 (fn. 22) or earlier and in 1997.
On the west side of the street Noyes Farmhouse
is another three-bayed, timber-framed, 17thcentury house; in the 18th century its east and
main front was clad in brick, in the early 19th
century it was extended south by two bays, and
in the mid 20th century its interior was altered
and a single-storeyed west extension was built.
Further north on the west side of the street St.
John's Cottage, timber-framed and of the late
16th century or early 17th, unusually for Wootton
Rivers was built on an L plan.
By 1732 cottages, including a timber-framed
one and a brick one dated 1717, both of which
survive, had been built on the waste at the north
end of the street near the pond. (fn. 23) In the main part
of the street a village hall and c. 15 houses were
built in the 20th century. Off the street to the west
four council houses and two council bungalows
were built in South Bank in the early 1950s, (fn. 24) at
the south end of the street four estate cottages
were built in 1961, and at the north end of the
street north of the site of the pond several houses
and four bungalows for old people were built in
the 20th century. In the later 20th century that
north part of the street was called Forest Road.
When the railway was built in 1862 a lane to
Milton Lilbourne was diverted to run beside and
south of it for c. 150 m.; (fn. 25) that part of the lane was
later called Station Road. Off Station Road 10
council houses were built between 1924 and 1945. (fn. 26)
East of Wootton Rivers village a farmstead
called Heathy Close was standing in 1732: a
mid 20th-century house stood on the site in
1997. In the south part of the parish a small
group of cottages and houses stood c. 350 m.
south-east of the church in 1732. Of five houses
standing there in 1997 one, of red brick and
thatch, survived from 1732, and another, Flitwick House, was built of red brick with
decorations of grey brick between 1842 and
1886. On other sites south-east of the village
buildings standing in 1732 and 1842 had been
demolished or replaced by 1997. South of the
village a hamlet beside the Milton Lilbourne
lane had taken the name Cuckoo's Knob by
1886. A thatched house standing there in
1732 (fn. 27) and possibly of 17th-century origin survived in 1997, as did a brick house, built in
1738 (fn. 28) and extended later, and two pairs of
19th-century cottages. A pair of council houses
was built at Cuckoo's Knob in the 1930s and
four bungalows for old people later. West of the
village a new farmstead, Lady Margaret Farm, was
built c. 1972. (fn. 29)
WOOTTON RIVERS 1842
East Wick.
In the Middle Ages East Wick was
the name of a manor on which there were
customary tenants (fn. 30) and, like its neighbours Wick
(later Clench) in Milton Lilbourne parish and
West Wick in Pewsey parish, (fn. 31) may have been a
small village. East Wick Farm may stand on the
site of a demesne farmstead which was probably
standing in the 14th century; (fn. 32) it was the only
farmstead at East Wick in the 18th century and
almost certainly in the 16th. (fn. 33) The present farmhouse, tall, three-bayed, and of red brick and
flint, was built in the late 18th century or early
19th; it was extended in the later 19th century.
In 1997 it stood among extensive farm buildings
of the 19th and 20th centuries. South of it a pair
of cottages of 1977 and a house of 1984 replaced
buildings of the mid or later 19th century. (fn. 34)
MANORS AND OTHER ESTATE.
Between
801 and 805 Byrhtelm gave Wootton, almost
certainly including what was later the land of
Wootton Rivers, to Ealhmund, bishop of Winchester, and his see in an exchange. (fn. 35) There is
no evidence that it belonged to the see later. A
large estate called Wootton was held by Queen
Edith in 1066 and by the king in 1086. The
estate, which was assessed at 30 hides and on
which two churches stood, (fn. 36) almost certainly
included more land than what was later Wootton
Rivers parish. The additional land most likely to
have been included in the estate is that of Easton,
which may then have had a church and, because
in the mid 12th century it was the marshal's,
may have been the king's in 1086. The estate
may also have included the land of Wick in
Milton Lilbourne parish which, because it was
later an endowment of Battle abbey (Suss.), may
also have been the king's in 1086. Neither Easton
nor Wick was mentioned in Domesday Book. Of
other nearby places not mentioned in Domesday
Book, Froxfield was held with Wootton in the
early 9th century, and Milton Lilbourne is likely
to have been part of an estate other than Wootton
in 1086. (fn. 37)
WOOTTON RIVERS manor was held by
Walter Giffard, earl of Buckingham (d. 1164),
half of whose estates had been acquired by
William Marshal, earl of Pembroke (d. 1219), by
1190. (fn. 38) The manor had been subinfeudated by
1202, when Marshal was overlord. (fn. 39) Thereafter
the overlordship descended with the lordship of
Wexcombe manor in Great Bedwyn. (fn. 40)
By 1202 the lordship in demesne of Wootton
Rivers manor had been held by Walter de Leites,
surrendered by him to William Marshal, and
granted by Marshal to Walter de Rivers (fl. 1212)
for 1 knight's fee. (fn. 41) In 1222 Rivers's relict
Margaret and William de Rivers had interests in
the manor, (fn. 42) which in 1242-3 was held by
another Walter de Rivers. (fn. 43) The manor passed
to Walter's son Richard (d. by 1304), to Richard's son John (fn. 44) (d. c. 1314), and in turn to
John's sons Thomas, (fn. 45) a minor, (fn. 46) and John, who,
while a minor, held it in 1325. (fn. 47) In 1330 Rose,
the relict of, presumably the younger, John
Rivers, held a third of it as dower. Sir Robert
Bilkemore and his wife Anstice held the manor,
including the reversion of Rose's portion, from
1330 or earlier. (fn. 48) In 1346 they were disputing
the title to all or part of it with Simon Simeon,
perhaps Rose's husband, and Thomas Rivers,
perhaps her son, (fn. 49) and in 1351 Sir Robert and
Anstice conveyed the manor to Thomas (fn. 50) (d.
1375). From the death of Thomas, who had a
son John, the manor was held for life by his relict
Isabel; (fn. 51) it was held by Isabel in 1377, (fn. 52) by Hugh
Craan, perhaps her husband, in 1384 and 1403. (fn. 53)
By 1412 the manor had passed, presumably by
inheritance, to Thomas Rivers. (fn. 54) In 1428 it was
held by Roger Rivers, (fn. 55) and in 1441 was sold by
Henry Rivers to Sir John Seymour. (fn. 56)
From the death of Sir John Seymour in 1464
Wootton Rivers manor was held by his relict
Isabel, on whose death in 1485 it passed to his
grandson John Seymour. (fn. 57) From John's death in
1491 (fn. 58) it was held by his relict Elizabeth (fl.
1536). (fn. 59) It reverted to John's grandson Sir Edward Seymour (cr. Viscount Beauchamp 1536,
earl of Hertford 1537, duke of Somerset 1547),
on whose execution and attainder in 1552 it
passed by Act to his son Sir Edward (cr. earl of
Hertford 1559, d. 1621), a minor. From 1553 to
1675 it descended with Tottenham Lodge in
Great Bedwyn successively to William, duke of
Somerset (d. 1660), William, duke of Somerset
(d. 1671), and John, duke of Somerset (d.
1675), (fn. 60) and it passed like Pewsey manor to
Sarah, duchess of Somerset (d. 1692). (fn. 61) By her
will Sarah gave Wootton Rivers manor to St.
John's College, Cambridge. (fn. 62) The college owned
c. 850 a. in the parish in 1840, (fn. 63) 675 a. in 1997. (fn. 64)
In 1964 it sold Church farm and Somerset farm,
a total of c. 150 a., to Charles Antrobus, whose
relict Mrs. Pamela Antrobus owned them in
1997. (fn. 65)
At his death c. 1330 William Harding held 2
yardlands at East Wick in chief and land, not
held in chief, consisting of what was later called
EAST WICK manor and of land which, near
East Wick, lay in Milton Lilbourne and Pewsey
parishes. The whole estate descended to his
daughter Anstice (fn. 66) (d. 1353), wife of Sir Robert
Bilkemore (d. 1361). Probably on Bilkemore's
death it passed to Anstice's grandson (Sir) John
Lillebonne, (fn. 67) who by 1368 had given it to
Thomas Hungerford in an exchange. (fn. 68) In 1369
Hungerford conveyed the estate to trustees, (fn. 69)
and in 1371 Henry Sturmy conveyed that part
of it which was not held in chief to Easton
priory. (fn. 70) By an exchange licensed in 1390 the
priory apparently gave the land near East Wick
and in other parishes to Sir William Sturmy. (fn. 71)
East Wick manor was held by the priory until
the Dissolution (fn. 72) and was apparently granted
with Easton Druce manor in Easton to Sir
Edward Seymour, Viscount Beauchamp, in
1536. (fn. 73) From 1553 East Wick manor passed with
Tottenham Lodge and Tottenham House in
Great Bedwyn in the Seymour, Bruce, Brudenell, and Brudenell-Bruce families and, from
1552 or earlier to 1675, with Wootton Rivers
manor. (fn. 74) George Brudenell-Bruce, marquess of
Ailesbury, sold it to the Crown in 1950. In
Wootton Rivers parish in 1997 the Crown owned
c. 200 a., of which c. 150 a. was part of East Wick
farm. (fn. 75)
In 1268 Gillian Bowcliffe held 1 yardland at
East Wick which was later held with the keeping
of part of Savernake forest. William Bowcliffe
held it in 1275, (fn. 76) and in 1315 he or another
William Bowcliffe conveyed it to William Harding, (fn. 77) who held other land at East Wick with the
office of a forester of Savernake forest. (fn. 78) At his
death c. 1330 Harding held 2 yardlands for
service as keeper of the west bailiwick of the
forest. (fn. 79) The land descended with East Wick
manor until 1371 when, as land held in chief, it
was retained by Henry Sturmy. (fn. 80) It descended
with Burbage Sturmy manor from Henry (d.
1381) to Sir William Sturmy (d. 1427) and Sir
John Seymour (d. 1464). (fn. 81) From 1441 it also
descended with Wootton Rivers manor and was
presumably merged with that or East Wick
manor. (fn. 82)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
In 1086 the estate
called Wootton, which almost certainly included
land not later part of Wootton Rivers parish, had
land for 30 ploughteams. On 13 hides 1 yardland
of demesne there were 2 teams and 12 servi; 40
villani and 17 coscets had 14 teams. There were
6 a. of meadow and 18 square furlongs of
pasture. (fn. 83)
There is no evidence that the demesne of
Wootton Rivers manor included land in open
fields. In 1314 it consisted of 118 a. of arable, 6
a. of meadow, a several pasture of 20 a., and a
pasture called Totteridge which lay south-west
of Wootton Rivers village adjoining pasture
called Totteridge in Milton Lilbourne parish. (fn. 84)
In the later 16th century the demesne consisted
of c. 110 a. and lay, as it probably did in 1314,
in closes south-west of the village and near the
demesne farmstead. Totteridge close was then
accounted 20 a. The demesne also included the
right to feed cattle and 300 sheep on the common
pastures of Wootton Rivers. (fn. 85)
In 1314 the customary tenants of Wootton
Rivers manor were seven yardlanders, three
½-yardlanders, and five cottars; none of them
owed labour service. (fn. 86) In the later 16th century
the manor included 10 yardlands in 10 copyholds; there was c. 22 a. to each yardland, most
of which lay in the open fields. The largest
holding was of 45 a., the smallest of 11 a.; each
had a farmstead presumably in the village street.
There were also six copyholders each with a
cottage and between 2 a. and 12 a. Around the
village there was then 10-20 a. of home closes
and, mainly east of the village where land lay
inclosed as Heathy closes, the copyholders had
c. 35 a. in small closes of meadow and pasture
and the glebe included 14 a. in closes. (fn. 87)
The open fields of Wootton Rivers, shared by
the copyholders and the rector, lay mainly northwest of the stream which flows across the south
part of the parish from north-east to south-west;
the scarp of the downs, which lies east-west
across the north part, diminishes in steepness
from west to east and was ploughed. In the
Middle Ages there were probably two main
fields, one north of the village and one west. By
the later 16th century, when there were fields
called North-east and North-west, the north
field had apparently been subdivided. Southbrook was an open field of c. 6 a. lying south-east
of the village and of the stream. In the 16th
century the downland, called the Lawn, north
of the scarp, and much of the land south-east of
the stream was common pasture for sheep and
cattle, and there was a small common meadow
called West moor. The copyholders had feeding
in common for 727 sheep, the rector for 60, the
lessee of the demesne for 300, and the lessee of
East Wick farm for 120; as many cattle could be
fed in common as could be kept on each holding
in winter. (fn. 88)
In 1607 West field, the common pasture, then
called Search, south-east of the village, and a
common pasture called Inlands were inclosed by
agreement. Common rights over West field,
probably c. 75 a., were eliminated, but the land
continued to be worked in small parcels and in
1842 most of the fields west of the village were
of less than 5 a. Search, 275 a., and Inlands, 10
a., were allotted at the rate of 13 a. for the right
to feed 60 sheep, and in 1842 there remained c.
10 fields of c. 13 a. south-east of the village. (fn. 89)
The Lawn, 160 a., had been inclosed, divided,
and allotted by 1682. (fn. 90)
Southbrook field and 130 a. north of the village
remained open arable, and in the later 17th century
the 130 a. lay as Great North field and Little North
field. (fn. 91) Southbrook field and the 130 a. were
inclosed by Act of 1836: the land lay inclosed in
1838 although an award was not made until 1842. (fn. 92)
In the early 18th century the demesne of
Wootton Rivers manor was held on leases in
portions. In 1732 it was a single farm, later called
Manor farm, of 237 a. In 1795 the farm had 274
a. Most other farms in the parish apparently
remained small; apart from East Wick farm none
is known to have exceeded 100 a. in the 18th
century. (fn. 93) In 1842 Manor farm had 265 a.,
copyholds totalling 291 a. may have been worked
as a single farm, c. 240 a. of Wootton Rivers's
land was held by the tenant of East Wick farm,
and there may have been three farms each of c.
50 a. worked from farmsteads in the street. All
but c. 100 a. was arable. (fn. 94)
Manor farm remained largely arable in the
mid 19th century, and in 1860 the principal
crops grown on it were wheat and legumes. (fn. 95)
Later in the 1860s c. 20 cattle and 500-600
sheep were kept on it and wheat and a feed
crop of turnips were grown. (fn. 96) In the later 19th
century and the early 20th dairying was increasingly important in the parish and milk
was sent to London by rail. (fn. 97) In 1910 Manor
farm had 328 a. and there were apparently five
other farms, of which the largest was 167 a.,
based in Wootton Rivers village. East of the
village 55 a. was then worked from Savernake
parish as part of Brimslade farm, (fn. 98) as it was in
1997. (fn. 99) From 1912 to 1942 the farm of 167 a.
was held on lease by Wiltshire county council
and sublet as smallholdings. (fn. 1) After 1945 some
dairy herds were replaced by cattle reared for
beef. (fn. 2) From 1972 most of Wootton Rivers's
land has been worked with land outside the
parish as part of East Wick farm and devoted
to arable and dairy farming. (fn. 3)
The estate called Wootton in 1086 had on it
36 square furlongs of woodland. (fn. 4) A few small
copses were standing on Wootton Rivers's land
in the earlier 18th century, the earlier 19th, and
in 1997; one of 4 a. east of the village was
grubbed up between 1842 and 1886. (fn. 5)
A mill said in 1194 to stand at Wootton (fn. 6)
probably stood at Wootton Bassett. (fn. 7)
In the 19th century coal was unloaded at
Wootton Rivers wharf on the Kennet & Avon
canal, and a passenger boat plied between Wootton Rivers and Devizes until 1851. (fn. 8) Thomas
Holmes, an iron founder and machine maker,
was working at Wootton Rivers in 1848, and
between 1855 and 1859 a firm of iron founders,
engineers, and agricultural implement makers,
Oatley & Morris, later Oatley & Whatley, began
trading there. The firm apparently left the parish
between 1865 and 1867, presumably for
Pewsey. (fn. 9) From 1975 to 1985 SSI Ltd. made
scientific instruments at Wootton Rivers; (fn. 10) in
1997 the company was in business in Pewsey.
East Wick.
In the Middle Ages East Wick
may have been a small village with its own small
open fields. In 1330 the manor had as demesne
93 a. of arable and the hay from 4 a. of meadow
and had on it 2 yardlanders and 12 cottars as
customary tenants. (fn. 11) East Wick farm, 113 a.,
probably included all East Wick's land in the
earlier 16th century, when it had 4½ a. of
meadows, 77 a. of pastures, and 31 a. of arable,
all in severalty. Its arable lay in fields of which
the names, North and South, (fn. 12) suggest that they
were formerly open, and the farmer was presumably entitled, as he was later, to feed cattle and
sheep in the common pastures of Wootton Rivers. The farmstead from which the farm was
worked almost certainly stood on or near the site
on which the present East Wick Farm had been
built by the 18th century. (fn. 13)
From 1570 or earlier East Wick farm had land
in Clench in Milton Lilbourne parish in addition
to that in Wootton Rivers. (fn. 14) About 1600 it had 210
a. and included 106 a. of arable, 22 a. of meadow,
and 76 a. of pasture; the farmer then had feeding
for 120 sheep in Wootton Rivers and for 240 in
Clench. (fn. 15) To replace feeding for cattle and sheep
on Search common in Wootton Rivers 25 a. was
allotted in 1607. (fn. 16) In Wootton Rivers parish in
1732 East Wick farm had 143 a. lying as a strip
along the parish boundary north and south of the
farmstead. (fn. 17) In 1842 the farm, 449 a., consisted of
that land and 306 a. adjoining it in Clench; the
tenant also held c. 240 a. elsewhere in Wootton
Rivers. (fn. 18) In 1910 the farm had c. 470 a., including
the 143 a. but not the other land in Wootton
Rivers. (fn. 19) In 1972 most of the land of Wootton
Rivers was added to East Wick farm, thereafter an
arable and dairy farm of c. 1,500 a. A new dairy,
Lady Margaret Farm, was built c. 1972, and in
1997 a dairy herd of over 300 cows was kept. (fn. 20)
A copse of 7 a. stood immediately south of
East Wick Farm in 1732. (fn. 21) It was grubbed up
between 1842 and 1886. (fn. 22)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Records of the
court of Wootton Rivers manor survive for
1455-6, 1561-4, and 1575, for several years in
the 17th century, for 1702, and for 1710-1900.
From the 17th century the court was called a
court baron. It was not usually held more than
once a year and its main business was always to
record the death of tenants and surrender of and
admittance to copyholds. In 1455-6 it ordered
the repair of tenements and the making of
hedges, in 1575 the inheritance customs of the
manor were presented, and from the 17th
century rules were made for feeding animals
in common. (fn. 23) A court was apparently held for
East Wick manor in the 14th century. (fn. 24)
The parish spent £49 on poor relief in 1775-6,
an average of £81 in the three years beginning
1782-3, and £107 in 1802-3 when regular relief
was given to 14 adults and 6 children, occasional
relief to 21 people. (fn. 25) The number receiving
regular relief had risen to 32 by 1813, when £371
was spent. (fn. 26) In the 1820s and early 1830s spending fluctuated between £131 and £348: it was
usually between £200 and £250. (fn. 27) Wootton Rivers became part of Pewsey poor-law union in
1835, (fn. 28) and of Kennet district in 1974. (fn. 29)
CHURCH.
A church belonging to the abbey of
Mont St. Michel (Manche) stood at Wootton
Rivers in 1086; it was one of two churches on
the estate called Wootton, the second of which
may have stood at Easton. (fn. 30) In the early 13th
century Wootton Rivers church was served by a
rector, and the abbey was entitled to a pension
from its revenues. (fn. 31) In 1991 the rectory was
united to Pewsey rectory and the united benefice
of Easton and Milton Lilbourne to form a new
Pewsey benefice. (fn. 32)
In 1212 the abbey of Mont St. Michel and
Walter de Rivers, lord of Wootton Rivers manor,
agreed that each should present alternate rectors. (fn. 33) There is no evidence that the abbey ever
presented, and the advowson descended with the
lordship of the manor. In the name of the lord
of the manor, who was then a minor, three
separate claimants each presented a candidate
for the rectory in 1321; a fourth candidate was
collated by the ordinary. (fn. 34) Simon Simeon, who
presented in 1349 and 1350, possibly had an
interest in part of the manor. (fn. 35) In 1425 Sir
William Sturmy presented, possibly by grant of
a turn, in 1555 the Crown presented because the
lord of the manor was its ward, and in 1629
Roger Sherfield presented by grant of a turn. (fn. 36)
Sarah, duchess of Somerset (d. 1692), devised
alternate rights of presentation to St. John's
College, Cambridge, and Brasenose College,
Oxford: (fn. 37) the first presentation after 1692 was by
St. John's College in 1728. (fn. 38) From 1991 the
colleges have been members of the board of
patronage for Pewsey benefice. (fn. 39)
In the Middle Ages the rectory was poor: it
was valued at £5 in 1291, (fn. 40) was exempt from
taxation because of its poverty in the late 15th
century, (fn. 41) and was valued at £8 in 1535. (fn. 42) At
£379 its value was close to the diocesan average
c. 1830. (fn. 43) The rector was entitled to all tithes
from the parish. (fn. 44) They were valued at £405 in
1838 and commuted in 1843. (fn. 45) The glebe was
accounted 40 a. in 1341, (fn. 46) later as 1 yardland. In
the later 16th century it consisted of 15 a. in
closes, the first cut of ½ a. of meadow, a nominal
10 a. in the open fields, and feeding for cattle
and 60 sheep. The rector was allotted 13 a. of
Search common when it was inclosed in 1607 (fn. 47)
and 8 a. of the Lawn when it was inclosed. In the
late 17th century he held 41 a. in closes and the
nominal 10 a. (fn. 48) He was allotted 6 a. at the inclosure
of c. 1836 (fn. 49) and held 49 a. of glebe in 1842. (fn. 50) The
rector sold 44 a. in 1917. (fn. 51) The rectory house was
replaced by one built in the early 18th century and
said in 1732 to be new. (fn. 52) The new house, doublepile and red-brick, had a main west front of five
bays, the central three of which project; in 1997
early 18th-century fireplaces and panelling remained in the principal rooms of the west part of
the house. In the earlier 19th century a tall façade,
of red and blue chequered brick with a pedimental
gable flanked by chimney stacks, was built on the
south, which was converted to an entrance front;
in the same period a similar façade and a service
room were built on the north, and a large drawing
room raised over a basement was added on the
east. In the 1960s a south doorcase in neoclassical
style was added and steps were built from the
drawing room to the garden. (fn. 53) The house was
sold in 1960. (fn. 54) A new one built north of it was
sold in 1971. (fn. 55)
In 1550, when the rector lived outside the
parish, communion could not easily be administered in the chancel because its roof was in such
bad repair. (fn. 56) Peter Waterman, rector from 1630,
was accused in 1646 of preaching and of using
the threat of exclusion from communion in
support of the royalist cause. He was also said
to have done manual labour unfitting for a
minister. He had been sequestrated by 1653,
restored by 1660. (fn. 57) Under the will of Sarah,
duchess of Somerset, from 1728 to 1905 each
rector held a scholarship endowed by the duchess at either St. John's College or Brasenose
College. (fn. 58) In 1783 a morning and an afternoon
service were held each Sunday and services were
held on fast days and on days following great
festivals. Some poor parishioners rarely went to
church, saying that they had no suitable clothes,
and few attended the weekday services. Communion was celebrated at Christmas, Easter, and
Whitsun and on the Sunday after Michaelmas.
The number of communicants, c. 40 at Easter,
was said to be rising because religious tracts had
recently been distributed in the parish. Inhabitants of Brimslade and South Savernake tithing,
which was extra-parochial and in which no
church was built until c. 1854, attended Wootton
Rivers church. (fn. 59) By 1812 the number of communicants in Wootton Rivers had fallen to 12. (fn. 60)
On Census Sunday in 1851 a morning service
was attended by 147 people, an afternoon one
by 92. (fn. 61) In 1864, in addition to Sunday services,
there were services at the great festivals. Communion was celebrated at Christmas and Easter,
on Whit and Trinity Sundays, and on the first
Sunday of each month; of 20 communicants,
between 7 and 10 usually received. (fn. 62) From 1965
to 1970 the rectory was held in plurality with
Savernake (Christchurch) vicarage and from
1971 to 1986 with the united benefice of Easton
and Milton Lilbourne. (fn. 63)
The church of ST. ANDREW, so called in
1763, (fn. 64) is built of flint with sarsens and has an
undivided chancel and nave with south porch
and west bell turret. Most of the building is
14th-century. The roof, incorporating turned
posts, which rest on collars, and cusped braces
is apparently 17th-century. A wooden screen
separating the chancel and the nave had been
removed by 1812. (fn. 65) In the early 19th century the
church had a plain weatherboarded bell turret
with a pyramidal cap and a vane. (fn. 66) About 1861
it was restored conservatively to designs by G.
E. Street: (fn. 67) the roof covering was renewed and
the bell turret was replaced by a taller one with
decorative bracing and a tiled broached spire.
In 1553 plate weighing 2½ oz. was
confiscated and a chalice of 11 oz. was left in
the parish. A chalice and paten cover made later
in the 16th century belonged to the parish in
1891 and 1997. (fn. 68)
Three bells hung in the church in 1553. A
ring of five bells cast in 1793 by Robert Wells
of Aldbourne hung in the turret in the 1920s and
in 1997. (fn. 69)
Registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials
survive from 1728. (fn. 70)
NONCONFORMITY.
A meeting house for
Methodists was licensed in 1821. (fn. 71) A Methodist chapel was built in 1881 (fn. 72) and closed in
1967. (fn. 73)
EDUCATION.
In 1783 a few children were
taught at a school probably in the parish. (fn. 74)
Four schools were open in 1818, (fn. 75) two, with a
total of 39 pupils, in 1833. (fn. 76) A Church of
England school was opened in 1845; (fn. 77) in 1846-7
there were 74 pupils at that and one other school
in the parish. (fn. 78) In 1848 the church school was
endowed with £150 raised by Ann Briant; in
1858, when it had 90-100 pupils and was probably the only school in the parish, its income
from the endowment was £4 10s., in 1901 £4
2s. (fn. 79) A new school was built in 1864. (fn. 80) From the
1860s to 1907 there were usually c. 80 pupils. (fn. 81)
Average attendance was 41 in 1918-19, higher
in the 1920s, and 43 in 1937-8. (fn. 82) The school
was closed in 1979. (fn. 83)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
Boys born on
the land of Wootton Rivers manor were entitled
to benefit from the Broad Town charity for
apprenticing endowed by Sarah, duchess of
Somerset (d. 1692), (fn. 84) and widows living on it
qualified as manor widows for admittance to
Froxfield almshouse, which was also endowed
by the duchess. (fn. 85)
Probably in 1901 a Mrs. Merriman endowed
a coal charity for the poor of Wootton Rivers. It
and an associated charity, the Carey trust, had
ceased to exist by 1994. (fn. 86)