Grovely Wood is one of the largest woodlands in southern

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. It stands on a chalk ridge above the

River Wylye The River Wylye ( ), also known in its upper reaches as the River Deverill, is a chalk stream in Wiltshire, England, with clear water flowing over gravel. It is popular with fly fishermen. A half-mile stretch of the river and three lakes in W ...

Barford St Martin Barford St Martin is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of Wilton, Wiltshire, Wilton, around the junction of the A30 road, A30 and the B3089. Barford is known as one of the Nadder Valley vill ...

parish, to the south-west of the village of

Great Wishford Great Wishford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Wylye Valley in Wiltshire, England, about north of Wilton, Wiltshire, Wilton and northwest of Salisbury. The village lies west of a bend in the River Wylye and ...

, within the

Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs, marketed as the Cranborne Chase National Landscape, is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covering of Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. It is the sixth largest AONB in England. The ar ...

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

. It is recognised for its nature conservation importance through designation as a County Wildlife Site. Among the species found here is the

Purple Emperor ''Apatura iris'', the purple emperor, is a Palearctic butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. Description Adults have dark brown wings with white bands and spots, and a small orange ring on each of the hindwings. Males have a wingspan of , and ...

butterfly. To the west of Grovely, on the same ridge, lies another large block of woodland,

Great Ridge Wood Great Ridge Wood, formerly also known as Chicklade Wood, is one of the largest woodlands in southern Wiltshire, England. Mostly within the parishes of Boyton and Sherrington, and entirely within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Are ...

. Adjacent to Grovely, to the north, lies the grassland

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

Ebsbury Down. Another SSSI,

Baverstock Juniper Bank Baverstock Juniper Bank () is a 2.6 hectare Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest to the north of the village of Baverstock in Wiltshire, England. Baverstock Juniper Bank is within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area o ...

, is also nearby. There is much

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 ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

archaeology in the vicinity of the woods. A

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

runs east to west through the centre of the wood, and at the western end are the Iron Age/

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

settlements of Hanging Langford Camp and Church End Ring. Just to the north of the woods lie the sites of two Iron Age

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

Ebsbury The site of Ebsbury, in Wiltshire, England, includes the remains of an Iron Age enclosed settlement, field system and possible hill fort, and a Romano-British enclosed settlement. The site occupies the spur of a downland hill with the possible h ...

, and

Grovely castle Grovely Castle is the site of an Iron Age univallate hill fort in the parish of Steeple Langford, in Wiltshire, England. The remaining ramparts stand approximately high, with deep ditches, although ploughing has damaged the earthworks in some ...

; as well as an Iron Age farm enclosure, known as East Castle.

Boundaries

In the 13th century, Grovely Forest extended north and east to the

, and south to the Nadder; on its western boundary were the villages of

Wylye Wylye () is a village and civil parish on the River Wylye in Wiltshire, England. The village is about northwest of Salisbury and a similar distance southeast of Warminster. The parish extends north and south of the river, and includes the ha ...

and

Teffont Evias Teffont Evias is a small village and former Civil parishes in England, civil parish, now in the parish of Teffont, on the River Nadder, Nadder valley in the south of Wiltshire, England. Edric Holmes described the village as "most delightfully si ...

. At a Grovely swainmote held in March 1603, a jury drawn from

and

declared that the forest then consisted of fourteen coppices. Seven lay north of 'Grim's Dyke' in Great Wishford, while the others lay south of the dyke in Barford St Martin. The combined areas of these fourteen coppices correspond to what was formerly the extra-parochial area of Grovely Wood. By 1839, the boundary of Barford parish had moved north to include almost all of the woodland. Grovely Wood was an extra-parochial tract until 1858, when it became a

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 ...

. On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with Barford St Martin. In 1931 the parish had a population of 31.

Ancient custom

According to a mediaeval custom, villagers of

have a right to gather firewood in Grovely Wood on 29 May,

Oak Apple Day Restoration Day, more commonly known as Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day, was an English, Welsh and Irish public holiday, observed annually on 29 May, to commemorate the restoration of the Stuart monarchy in May 1660. In some parts of England th ...

. On this day, villagers claim their ancient rights to collect wood from Grovely, said to date back to the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and to have been confirmed by the Forest Court in 1603, thanks to a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

for the collection of wood in the

Royal Forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

of Groveley.

Folklore

Grovely Wood has two stories associated with it.

The Handsel sisters

The four Handsel sisters were of Danish origin but they had moved to the Wilton area. Coincidentally, an outbreak of smallpox in 1737 killed 132 people. The local people became convinced that the sisters were responsible for the deaths and accused them of witchcraft and an alliance with the devil. Without an official hearing the sisters were taken to Grovely Wood, murdered by being bludgeoned over the head, and buried a little way apart from each other so that they could not conspire against their murderers. There are four gnarled beech trees associated with the sisters; because either the trees were planted to mark their graves or they mysteriously grew on top of the unmarked graves to remind the locals of their dreadful deed. Sightings of the sisters have been reported over the years. There is a hollow at the back of the largest tree where people leave offerings. The trees are located approximately 50 meters away from the Roman road some ten minutes walk from the Wilton end of the wood.

The Burcombe Woodsman

The ''Burcombe Woodsman'' is thought to be a poacher who was hanged from a tree for his 'crimes', or possibly an artist who painted in watercolour and was accidentally shot in the woods during a deer cull. It is said that he lodged in Burcombe thus earning him the title of the Burcombe Woodsman. Sightings of him have been reported, usually after hearing the cracking of a twig. An image on

Purbeck marble Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone. Geology S ...

found at

Steeple Langford Steeple Langford is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, northwest of Wilton. It has also been called Great Langford or Langford Magna. The village lies on the north bank of the River Wylye, and is bypassed to the no ...

in 1857, a portrait of a man wearing a long robe, with a

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

hanging from his left shoulder, may be of Alan de Langford,

Verderer Verderers are forestry officials in England who deal with common land in certain former royal hunting areas which are the property of the Crown. The office was developed in the Middle Ages to administer forest law on behalf of the King. Verderers ...

of Grovely Wood at the end of the 13th century.

''The Beauties of England and Wales'' (1814)

The

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

John Britton reports in a volume of his ''The Beauties of England and Wales'' (1814) that

Second World War

The Royal Air Force had an ordnance depot at Chilmark, west of the wood, during and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and parts of the wood provided cover for munitions storage. Until , use was made of sidings at the nearest station,

; the area was also used for the same purpose by the United States Air Force, via Wishford station.

Present day

The

Old Sarum Way Old Sarum Way is a Long distance footpath, long-distance footpath in Wiltshire, England that forms a circle around the city of Salisbury. The route uses public roads, public Rights of way in England and Wales, rights of way and some newly cr ...

long-distance footpath enters the wood.

References

{{coord, 51.107, -1.932, dim:10000_region:GB-WIL, display=title Forests and woodlands of Wiltshire County wildlife sites in England Former civil parishes in Wiltshire