Monkton Deverill (anciently known as East Monkton) is a village 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
Kingston Deverill
Kingston Deverill is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Its nearest towns are Mere, about to the southwest, and Warminster, about to the northeast. The parish and its demographic figures include the village of Monkton Deverill. ...
, 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 five miles south of
Warminster
Warminster () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of 18,173 in 2021.
The name ''Warminster'' occurs first i ...
and four miles north-east of
Mere
Mere may refer to:
Places
* Mere, Belgium, a village in East Flanders
* Mere, Cheshire, England
* Mere, Wiltshire, England
People
* Mere Broughton (1938–2016), New Zealand Māori language activist and unionist
* Mere Smith, American television ...
. The area has been part of Kingston Deverill parish since 1934. It lies on 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 ...
and forms part of a group of villages known as the
Upper Deverills. In 1931 the parish had a population of 108.
History
Two
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 ...
s intersect close to the village. In 1989–1990, archaeologists investigated a 7th-century
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
cemetery in the parish and made a section through a Roman road.
Before the
Dissolution of the Monasteries, Monkton Deverill was a
manor of
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 ...
[Edward Miller, ''The Agrarian History of England and Wales'' (1991)]
p. 363
online and was formerly known as East Monkton. In 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 ...
, its church was a chapel of the church at
Longbridge Deverill
Longbridge Deverill is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about south of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. It is on the A350 road, A350 primary route which connects the M4 motorway and west Wiltshire with Poole, Dorset.
The ...
, also a Glastonbury manor.
For almost forty years, beginning in the late 14th century, the
bailiff
A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary.
Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...
s of Glastonbury Abbey's manors of Longbridge and Monkton Deverill, which were remote from the Abbey's own logistical systems, kept good accounts of their stewardship.
[ These records survive and provide detailed information on the manors' agricultural and other business. They show that most of the grain produced on the land went to markets within ten miles, except in years when it was selling for higher prices. Most buyers of the manors' wool came from within a radius of twenty miles. However, some items, such as ]millstone
Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones.
Millstones come in pairs: a s ...
s, were brought from much farther away.
After the Dissolution, the manor was sold by the Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
to John Thynne
Sir John Thynne (c. 1515 – 21 May 1580) was the steward to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1506 – 1552), and a member of parliament. He was the builder of Longleat House, and his descendants became Marquess of Bath, Marquesses of ...
together with Longbridge Deverill and thereafter descended in his family, who much later became Marquesses of Bath
A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or widow) ...
. The Thynnes have preserved many of Glastonbury Abbey's records at Longleat
Longleat is a stately home about west of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is a Grade I listed building and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath.
Longleat is set in of parkl ...
up to the present day.
The village has two farmhouses dating from the 17th century: Manor Farmhouse and Burton Farmhouse. The mid-18th-century house at number 85 on the village street bears a large panel displaying the Ludlow arms, said to have been moved from Hill Deverill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as mountains. Hills fall unde ...
manor house in 1737.
A small school was built near the church c. 1870 but had closed by 1895. Historic England describe the building (now a private house) as "a good example of a simple village school with Gothic and vernacular detail". The population of the parish was 204 in 1831, but is now lower.
A detailed parish history is in progress and will be published as part of volume XIX of ''A History of the County of Wiltshire
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 ...
''.
Parish church
The former 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 ...
was dedicated to St Alfred the Great.[John Martin Robinson, ''The Wyatts, an architectural dynasty'' (1979), p. 267: "Monkton Deverill, Wilts., St. Alfred the Great. 1845. Old tower retained."] Alfred had marched into the valley of the Deverills in 878, on his way to victory at the Battle of Ethandun
The Battle of Edington or Battle of Ethandun was fought in May 878 between the West Saxon army of King Alfred the Great and the Great Heathen Army led by the Danish warlord Guthrum. The battle took place near Edington in Wiltshire, where Alf ...
.
In 1845, the church was demolished except for the tower, and rebuilt under the direction of Thomas Henry Wyatt
Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected president of the Royal Institute of British Architects for 1870–1873 and being awarded its Royal Gold Me ...
.[ The tower is either late-13th-century (]Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
) or 14th-century (Historic England).
''The Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...
'' noted in January 1846:
The new church contained a fine pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...
, believed to be originally from Belgium, also presented in the mid 19th century by the Rev. Lord Charles Thynne, rector of the parish.['Monkton Deverill – King Alfred', i]
The Deverill Churches
at dial.pipex.com[
Monkton Deverill was anciently a ]chapelry
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century.
Status
A chapelry had a similar status to a Township (England), township, but was so named as it had a chapel of ease ...
of Longbridge Deverill
Longbridge Deverill is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about south of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. It is on the A350 road, A350 primary route which connects the M4 motorway and west Wiltshire with Poole, Dorset.
The ...
, but was transferred to Kingston Deverill
Kingston Deverill is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Its nearest towns are Mere, about to the southwest, and Warminster, about to the northeast. The parish and its demographic figures include the village of Monkton Deverill. ...
in 1892.
In 1928, Edward Hutton noted:
The church was declared redundant in 1971 and has since been converted into a private house.[ The 12th-century stone font was transferred to St Peter's at Stourton. The parish registers are now 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 ...
and cover the periods 1695–1961 (baptism
Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
s), 1749–1958 (marriages), and 1740–1980 (burials).[Monkton Deverill]
at genuki.org.uk
Governance
On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with Kingston Deverill.
Almost all significant local government services are now provided by Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire in South West England, and has its headquarters a ...
, a 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 ...
created in 2009, which has its main offices in Trowbridge
Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England; situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, close to the border with Somerset. The town lies south-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, south-west of Swindon and south-east of Brist ...
. The village is represented in parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
by Dr Andrew Murrison and in Wiltshire Council by Fleur de Rhé-Philipe, both Conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...
.
Notable people
Meredith Frampton
George Vernon Meredith Frampton (17 March 1894 – 16 September 1984) was a British painter and etcher, successful as a portraitist in the 1920s–1940s. His artistic career was short and his output limited because his eyesight began to f ...
(1894–1984), painter and portrait artist, retired to Monkton Deverill. In 1938 he designed for himself a house called Hill Barn, on an isolated site on higher ground south of the village.
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Wiltshire
Former civil parishes in Wiltshire