Chiseldon is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Borough of Swindon The Borough of Swindon is a unitary authority area with borough status in Wiltshire, England. Centred on Swindon, it is the most north-easterly district of South West England. History The first borough of Swindon was a municipal borough, ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, England. The village lies on the edge of the

Marlborough Downs The North Wessex Downs are an area of chalk downland landscapes located in the English counties of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. The North Wessex Downs has been designated as a National Landscape (formerly known as Area of ...

, a mile south of junction 15 of the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...

, on the A346 between Swindon and

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

. The large village of

Wroughton Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 road, A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junc ...

is to the west. The parish includes the hamlets of Badbury, Badbury Wick,

Draycot Foliat Draycot Foliat is a hamlet in the civil parish of Chiseldon, in the Swindon district, in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England, on the back road between Chiseldon to the north and Ogbourne St. George to the south. The nearest major town ...

, Hodson, and

Ridgeway View Ridgeway View is a hamlet south of the village of Chiseldon near Swindon, in the county of Wiltshire, England. During World War I, a large hutted army camp was built to the east of Draycot Foliat, which was later called Chiseldon Camp. From 19 ...

; the ancient manor of Burderop is also within the parish.

History

Settlements in the area date back to prehistoric and Roman times, but Chiseldon itself was started by the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

s. The

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 recorded a large settlement of 70 households at ''Chiseldene''. It takes its name from the Old English cisel dene, or gravel valley. At one point the nearby hamlet of

was larger than Chiseldon. Chiseldon lies on one of the country's oldest highways, the

Icknield Way The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern and eastern England that runs from Norfolk to Wiltshire. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills. Background It is generally said to be, withi ...

, although this section of the road is more commonly known as

The Ridgeway The Ridgeway is a ridgeway or ancient trackway described as Britain's oldest road. The section clearly identified as an ancient trackway extends from Wiltshire along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs to the River Thames at the Gori ...

. The spelling "Chisledon" has also been used, and continues in the name of the ecclesiastical parish. In 2004, a group of

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

cauldrons were discovered at a site close to the centre of the village. This unique find, the largest group of Iron Age cauldrons to be discovered in Europe, was excavated in June 2005 and again in 2010. Now thought to comprise 17 cauldrons, they were taken to the British Museum for conservation and research. The

Midland and South Western Junction Railway The Midland and South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR) was an independent railway built to form a north–south link between the Midland Railway and the London and South Western Railway in England, allowing the Midland and other companies' t ...

was constructed in 1881 and ran through the centre of the village until 1961, with a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

that linked the village to Swindon Town station to the north and Marlborough to the south. Chiseldon Army Camp was opened in 1914 and closed in 1962. During both World Wars it was heavily used as a training base for troops. A World War I soldier, Arthur Bullock, recorded overcrowding and appalling conditions, including, in the canteen, having to re-use tables and plates from a previous sitting, on which lay 'bones and chewed bits of gristle'. He also recalls being kept awake by a St Bernard dog, 'the mascot of the camp'. In World War II the camp was a major base for US Army troops. Houses which were formerly married quarters are now known as

. An area in and around the village was designated as a

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

in 1990. The Chiseldon Local History Group maintains a website with information about the history of the village. They also organise a programme of lectures and have a museum in the village.

Religious sites

One record states that the church at Chiseldon was granted in 903 to

Winchester Abbey Hyde Abbey was a medieval Benedictine monastery just outside the walls of Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was dissolved and demolished in 1538 following various acts passed under King Henry VIII to dissolve monasteries and abbeys (see Dis ...

. This association continued until the Dissolution, in or shortly before 1540. Holy Cross, the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

, is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

building which is called "fairly large" by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. The earliest masonry is the five-bay arcades of c.1200, and the south and east windows of the chancel are also from the early 13th century. The head of a small Anglo-Saxon window is built into a pier near the south-west corner of the nave. The windows on the west side are from the 13th or 14th centuries, as is the altered south doorway. The three-stage 15th-century tower is in unusual position backing onto the south aisle, its base providing a porch. One of the six bells is from c.1399 and four are from the 17th century. Restoration by C.E. Ponting in 1892 saw the renewal of the stalls using 16th-century carved panels; the exterior was little changed beyond the replacement of the chancel roof at a steeper angle. The church has much stained glass from the late 19th century, and a 1939 window in the north aisle by

Christopher Webb Christopher Rahere Webb (1886–1966) was an English stained glass designer. His unusual second name was derived from that of the founder of St Bartholomew's Priory in London where his father, Edward Alfred Webb and his uncle, Sir Aston We ...

. There are several wall monuments, 18th and 19th century, to members of the Calley family of Burderop. Stone memorials inside the church include a depiction of Edward Hellish (died 1707) and his large family. Historic England describes the churchyard as well stocked with chest tombs and headstones, mostly from the 18th century. In 1923, the parishes and benefices of Chiseldon and Draycot Foliat were united. Today the parish of Chisledon with Draycott Folliatt is at the centre of the

Ridgeway benefice The Ridgeway Benefice is a group of parishes in Wiltshire, England, to the north of Marlborough, Wiltshire, Marlborough. The parishes are Chiseldon with Draycot Foliat; Ogbourne St Andrew, which also serves the hamlets of Ogbourne Maizey and Rock ...

, which also covers Ogbourne St Andrew and Ogbourne St George.

Primitive Methodists The Primitive Methodist Church is a Christian denomination within the holiness movement. Originating in early 19th-century England as a revivalist movement within Methodism, it was heavily influenced by American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–18 ...

built a chapel and school in the village in 1896, replacing an earlier building. The chapel was sold for residential use sometime after 1967 and Methodists share the facilities of the parish church.

The parish

The Parish of Chiseldon encompasses not only the village but also the neighbouring hamlets of

and Hodson. Draycot Foliat had its own church and parish in the medieval period, but in 1571 the Bishop of Salisbury ordered the church in Draycot to be demolished, as neither parish could sustain their own rectors any longer. As Chiseldon was the larger, Draycot was incorporated into that parish, and the materials from the church in Draycot were used to repair the church in Chiseldon. In 2017 a community governance review redrew the northern boundary of the parish to follow the M4, transferring the area to the north to the newly created Central Swindon South parish. This area included the former hamlet of Coate and the modern housing development of Badbury Park, on the southeastern edge of Swindon.

Local government

As well as having its own elected parish council, Chiseldon also falls within the area of the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

, which is responsible for all significant local government functions. It is part of the Chiseldon and Lawn ward for elections to

Swindon Borough Council Swindon Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Swindon in the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. It was founded in 1974 as Thamesdown Borough Council, and was a lower-tier district council until 1997. In 1997 it was re ...

Amenities

The village has a school, Chiseldon Primary School, which had 193 pupils in 2021. The village has a surgery, and two hotels, one of them Chiseldon House Hotel. There are two pubs in the parish: the Patriot's Arms in the village, and the Plough Inn on the main road north of the village. There is also a social club. Local shops declined in the 20th century, as in many villages, due to people shopping in larger towns (

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

) rather than in the village. Current local shops include a small newsagent, a hairdresser, a small supermarket and a petrol station. The small supermarket was an army barracks before it was converted into a shop.

References

External links

Chiseldon Parish Council

Chiseldon Local History Group

The changing face of Chiseldon
– BBC Wiltshire, 2002 {{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire Borough of Swindon