Fifield Bavant (/'fʌɪfiːld 'bavənt/) is a small village in the

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 ...

of Ebbesborne Wake, in

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, about southwest of Wilton, midway between

Ebbesbourne Wake Ebbesbourne Wake or Ebbesborne Wake is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, some south-west of Salisbury, near the head of the valley of the small River Ebble. The parish includes the hamlets of Fifield Bavant and West End. In 201 ...

and

Broad Chalke Broad Chalke, sometimes spelled Broadchalke, Broad Chalk or Broadchalk, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of the city of Salisbury. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Knapp, Mount Sorrel and Stoke Farthing. ...

on the north bank of the

River Ebble The River Ebble is one of the five rivers of the English city of Salisbury. Rising at Alvediston to the west of the city, it joins the River Avon at Bodenham, near Nunton. Description The Ebble rises at Alvediston, to the west of Salisbur ...

. Fifield Bavant was formerly a separate civil parish. The small

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, begun in the 13th century, is dedicated to Saint Martin and is a

Grade II* 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, H ...

building. The population is now about 20. In 1931 the parish had a population of 43.

History

Fragmentary records from Saxon times indicate that the Ebble valley was a thriving area. 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 ...

in 1086 records the Chalke Valley as divided into eight manors, ''Chelke'' (Chalke –

and

Bowerchalke Bowerchalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Salisbury. It is in the south of the county, about from the boundary with Dorset and from that with Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Mead End, M ...

), ''Eblesborne'' (

), ''Fifehide'' (Fifield Bavant), ''Cumbe'' (

Coombe Bissett Coombe Bissett is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire in the River Ebble valley, southwest of Salisbury on the A354 road that goes south towards Blandford Forum. The parish includes the village of Homington, to the e ...

), ''Humitone'' (Homington), ''Odestoche'' (

Odstock Odstock is a village and civil parish south of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. The parish includes the village of Nunton with its nearby hamlet of Bodenham. The parish is in the valley of the River Ebble, which joins the Hampshire Avon near ...

), ''Stradford'' (

Stratford Tony Stratford Tony, also spelt Stratford Toney, formerly known as Stratford St Anthony and Toney Stratford, is a small village and civil parish in southern Wiltshire, England. It lies on the River Ebble and is about southwest of Salisbury.

and Bishopstone) and ''Trow'' (''circa'' Alvediston).Ebbesbourne Wake through the Ages by Peter Meers
/ref> The name of Fifield Bavant has evolved over the centuries. The Domesday Book records the manor as Fifehide (probably representing Five Hides). By 1264 it was called ''Fifield Scudamore'' because Peter de Scudamore was

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

. By 1463 it was recorded as ''Fiffehyde Beaufaunt'' after ownership had passed to the Beaufaunt family, later usually spelt Bavant. The name Fifehide probably derives from 'five hides'. A hide was once an area of land which would support a household, varying according to time and place and land quality, but typically ranging from 40 to 160

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s, or 16 to 65 hectares. Later in Anglo-Saxon England it was a unit used for assessing land tax. Peter Meers, in his book ''Ebbesbourne Wake through the Ages'', translates Fifield's Domesday entry as:

Alvred f Marleboroughholds Fifehide, Ralph from him. TRE it paid tax for five hides. Land for four ploughs. In lordship three hides, there one plough and three
slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
. Nine villagers (
villeins A villein is a class of serf tied to the land under the feudal system. As part of the contract with the lord of the manor, they were expected to spend some of their time working on the lord's fields in return for land. Villeins existed under a ...
) and six smallholders (
bordars Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery. It developed dur ...
) with two ploughs. Two acres of meadow, pasture half a league long and half a furlong wide. Value £4, now £5. One forge pays 12 d a year and two Wilton burgesses pay 18d. Woolmaer holds one hide from Alvred, the same person held it TRE, it was and is worth 10s.

In 1840, Samuel Lewis's ''Topographical Dictionary'' said of the parish: Fifield Bavant was a separate

for eight centuries. In 1885, it lost its southern area of some 283 acres to

, and on 31 December 1894 the parish was extinguished, when the remaining 870 acres of the northern part were annexed to

. In 1923 the separate ecclesiastical parish also came to an end, when the

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of St Martin's was united with that of St John the Baptist in Ebbesbourne. The parish registers, held in the

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a Ceremonial counties of England, 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, Dorse ...

, record christenings from 1696 to 1991, marriages from 1699 to 1922, and burials from 1696 to 1913.Fifield Bavant
at genuki.org.uk A detailed parish history was published by the

Wiltshire Victoria County History The Wiltshire Victoria County History, properly called The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire but commonly referred to as VCH Wiltshire, is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England. It forms part of the overall Vic ...

in 1987, as part of its ''Volume XIII: Chalke hundred''.

References

External links

Village photo gallery
at pbase.com {{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Former civil parishes in Wiltshire