Little Langford is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of

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

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. Its nearest town is Wilton, about to the southeast. It is in the Wylye valley, to the south of the river; the grass fields adjacent to the river were traditionally flood meadows. In 1931 the parish had a population of 64. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Steeple Langford. In 1086, 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 ...

survey recorded estates held by

Wilton Abbey Wilton Abbey was a Benedictine convent in Wiltshire, England, three miles west of Salisbury, probably on the site now occupied by Wilton House. It was active from the early tenth century until 1539. History Foundation Wilton Abbey is first re ...

Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It wa ...

and

Edward of Salisbury Edward of Salisbury was a nobleman and courtier (''curialis''), probably part Anglo-Saxon, who served as High Sheriff of Wiltshire during the reigns of William I, William II and Henry I. The '' Chronicon Abbatiae Rameseiensis'' (1293) names him ...

. In 1990, the Wilton estate of the

Earl of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...

owned nearly all the land in the former parish.

Notable sights

The

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Church of St Nicholas of Mira is

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 ...

. It dates from the 12th century and was rebuilt in 1864 by T. H. Wyatt, reusing a 12th-century doorway on the south side of the nave.

Alexander Hyde Alexander Hyde (1598–1667) was an English royalist clergyman, Bishop of Salisbury from 1665 to 1667. Life Hyde was born at Salisbury in 1598, the second-born of the four most prominent sons of Lawrence Hyde. At the age of 12 (1610) he entere ...

, later Bishop of Salisbury, was rector from 1634. Little Langford farmhouse (c. 1858) has a

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

entrance tower, lancet windows, and crenellations. Just to the south of the village lies the

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 ...

hill-fort A hillfort is a type of fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late European Bronze Age and Iron Age. Some were used in the post- Roman period. The fortif ...

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 ...

References

External links

*
Little Langford
at genuki.org.uk * {{Commons category-inline Hamlets in Wiltshire Former civil parishes in Wiltshire