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Urchfont

Coordinates:51°18′43″N1°56′38″W/ 51.312°N 1.944°W/51.312; -1.944
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Urchfont
Millennium Stone, Urchfont
Urchfont is located in Wiltshire
Urchfont
Urchfont
Location withinWiltshire
Population1,075 (in 2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSU0457
Civil parish
  • Urchfont
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDevizes
Postcode districtSN10
Dialling code01380
PoliceWiltshire
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
WebsiteParish Council
List of places
UK
England
Wiltshire
51°18′43″N1°56′38″W/ 51.312°N 1.944°W/51.312; -1.944

Urchfontis a rural village andcivil parishin the southwest of theVale of Pewseyand north ofSalisbury PlaininWiltshire,England, about3+1⁄2miles (6 km) southeast of the market town ofDevizes.The hamlet ofCuckoo's Corneris in the northwest of the village; the parish includes thehamletsofWedhampton(grid referenceSU060577) andLydeway(SU052578).[2]The population of the parish at the2011 censuswas 1,075.[3]

Urchfont village lies mostly to the north of the B3098 road which connectsMarket Lavingtonto theA342Devizes-Upavonroad. The parish narrows as it extends southeast onto Salisbury Plain and into the military training area.

History

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There are remains of severalbowl barrowson the downland in the south of the parish,[4][5]and evidence of a late prehistoric orRomanfield system on Penning Down.[6]Medievalstrip lynchetscan be seen on the north-facing slope of Urchfont Hill.[7]

Domesday Bookin 1086 recorded a large settlement of 82 households atLerchesfonte,with three mills, and land held bySt Mary's Abbey, Winchester.[8]The land (later as separate estates of Urchfont, Northcombe and Wedhampton) continued in the ownership of the abbey until theDissolutionin the 1530s.[5]

The parish had threetithings,each stretching from north to south: Eastcott (in the west), Urchfont (central) and Wedhampton (east).Stert,to the north, was anciently linked to Urchfont for church purposes but had been made a separate civil parish by the time of the 1881 census.[5]

Amanor housewas standing by 1487, and a new Urchfont House (later calledUrchfont Manor) was built just west of the village in the late 17th century bySir William Pynsent, 1st Baronet.Later owners includedCharles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry(late 18th century) andSimon Watson Taylor(from 1843).[5]Pevsnerdescribes the house as one of the best of its type in Wiltshire.[9]The Grade II* listed building[10]housed an adult education college from 1947 until 2012, when it returned to residential use.

Downland in the south of the parish was bought by the War Department in stages from 1897, and today forms part of the militarySalisbury Plain Training Area.

Origin of the name

[edit]
The village hall of 1930 carries the name Erchfont

The name of Urchfont is often thought to derive from the phrase "Church Fountain" and is possibly derived from Latinfonsmeaning 'spring, fountain, well' (cf.fount), or the first element may be a lost personal name such as Eohric. Over 100 variations of the spelling are recorded; e.g. Lerchesfonte (1086), Erchesfonte(e) (1175, 1605), Erkesfonte (1175), Archesfunte (font) (1179, 1376, 1426), Ur(i)chesfunte (1242, 1289), Orchesfunte (1259), Orcheffunte (1428), Archfounte al. Urshent (1564), Urchefount al. Urshent (1611), Urshent al. Erchfont (1695).[11]

Parish church

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St Michael's church

There was a church at Urchfont, linked toSt Mary's Abbey, Winchesterfrom at least the early 13th century.[5]The present church of St Michael and All Angels dates from the late 13th and early 14th centuries, although the chancel arch and the font are early 13th;[12]the west tower is late 15th-century and has tall pinnacles.[13]The six-bay chancel has fine vaulting with carved Boss es, observed byPevsnerto be like the aisles ofBristol Cathedral;[9]vaulting in the south porch is described byHistoric Englandas exceptional.[13]The aisles were re-roofed in 1631 and 1787, and restoration was carried out in 1864 and 1900.[13]

The eight bells include one which is possibly from the 14th century, and four from the 17th.[14]Monuments include anaediculafor Thomas Ernle (d. 1725) of Wedhampton[13]and the tomb of Robert Tothill sculpted byPeter Scheemakersin 1753.[15]

There is stained glass byWilliam Wailes,some dated 1852.[9]The church was recorded asGrade I listedin 1962,[13]and many of the monuments in the churchyard are Grade II listed, 18th-century chest tombs among them.[16]

Eastcott tithing was part of Urchfont ecclesiastical parish until it was transferred to the new parish ofEastertonin 1874.[17]The church at Stert was annexed to Urchfont as achapelryin the early 13th century,[18]and this relationship continued after Stert was made a civil parish in the late 19th century.[19]Today the churches at Urchfont and Stert are served by the Cannings and Redhorn team ministry, alongside six others in nearby villages.[20]

Governance

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The civil parish elects aparish council.It is in the area ofWiltshire Council,aunitary authority,which is responsible for all significant local government functions.

Amenities

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There is a primary school, Urchfont C of E Primary School.[21]There is a family-run dental practice, Urchfont Dental Care, offering private and NHS services.[22]

The village has tennis courts, a cricket pitch and a skittle alley (within The Lamb Inn pub). Urchfont Cricket Club played in theWiltshire County Cricket Leagueuntil 2017,[23]and now play "friendly" matches against local teams.

TheWessex Ridgewaylong-distance footpath runs north–south through Urchfont village; to the south it turns west to follow the northern scarp of the Plain towardsWestbury.[24]

Railways

[edit]

TheBerks and Hants Extension Railwaywas built through the far northeast of the parish for theGWRin 1862, providing a route fromHungerfordviaPewseyto Devizes and further west. In 1900 the same company built theStert and Westbury Railway,which diverged from the earlier line nearPatney,east of Urchfont parish; later, part of the parish's northwestern boundary was redrawn to follow this line. The line through Devizes closed in 1966 and was dismantled, while the 1900 line is still in use as part of theReading to Taunton Line.[25]

In 2018, proposals were made to reinstate rail access in the Devizes area by building a station at Clock Inn Park, Lydeway, where the Reading–Taunton line is crossed by theA342.[26]In 2020[27]and 2022[28]the project received funding from theDepartment for Transportfor feasibility studies.

Notable people

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SergeantThomas GrayVCwas born in Urchfont in 1914. An Air Observer/Navigator in theRoyal Air Force,he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross after he was killed in action in 1940.

The cricket scorerBill Frindall(nicknamed 'The Bearded Wonder') lived at Urchfont until his death.[29]

Revd.William Noyes(1568–1622), Anglican clergyman of Puritan teachings, was brought up at Urchfont; he was rector ofCholderton,Wiltshire from 1602.

SingerElvis Costellohas owned a summer home in the village since the late 1990s.[citation needed]

The Urchfont Scarecrow Festival

[edit]
Urchfont Scarecrow Festival: Ali Baba

The Urchfont Scarecrow Festival[30](aregistered charity)[31]was the first of its kind in Wiltshire. While other Wiltshire villages have established festivals on a similar model, the Urchfont festival predates them, having been established in 1997.

The idea was first brought to the village by a resident who saw a similar festival in Derbyshire. In its entire history, the festival has been cancelled three times: once in 2001 because of the threat fromFoot and Mouthdisease and in 2020 and 2021 due toCOVID-19.Apart from those cancellations the 25 festivals to date have taken place on the weekend of the first bank holiday in May and have grown to become a major local event attracting thousands of local and national visitors while raising money for local charities and good causes.[32]

Around 50 themed scarecrows made by villagers are displayed around the village, and visitors can buy a trail map which provides clues as to the identity of each scarecrow. There is also a children's trail and the village is a buzz with festivities, food and drink marquees, and activities.

Past festivals have included:

  • 1997 – 2000 – No theme
  • 2001 – Cancelled due toFoot and Mouthoutbreak
  • 2002 – Characters for the Young at Heart
  • 2003 – Professions
  • 2004 – Book Titles
  • 2005 – Songs & Music
  • 2006 – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
  • 2007 – Film Titles
  • 2008 – Scarecrow Pursuits
  • 2009 – Musicals – Stage & Screen
  • 2010 – Pairs
  • 2011 – Advertisements
  • 2012 – A, B, C
  • 2013 – Singers
  • 2014 – Myths & Legends
  • 2015 – At the Oscars
  • 2016 – A World of Firsts
  • 2017 – From the Sublime to the Ridiculous
  • 2018 – It's Showtime!
  • 2019 – Back to the 80s
  • 2020 and 2021 – Cancelled due toCOVID-19pandemic
  • 2022 – World of Colour
  • 2023 – The West Country
  • 2024 – Icons of the Silver Screen

References

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  1. ^"Wiltshire Community History – Census".Wiltshire Council.Retrieved12 June2015.
  2. ^Parish Council
  3. ^"Parish population 2011".Office for National Statistics.Retrieved16 March2015.
  4. ^Historic England."Barrow north-west of Weatherhill Scrub (1010184)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved6 October2020.
  5. ^abcdeBaggs, A.P.; Crowley, D.A.; Pugh, Ralph B.; Stevenson, Janet H.; Tomlinson, Margaret (1975). Crittall, Elizabeth (ed.)."Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 10 pp173-190 – Parishes: Urchfont".British History Online.University of London.Retrieved23 September2020.
  6. ^Historic England."Field system on Penning Down (215263)".Research records (formerly PastScape).Retrieved6 October2020.
  7. ^Historic England."Medieval strip lynchets (215269)".Research records (formerly PastScape).Retrieved6 October2020.
  8. ^Urchfontin theDomesday Book
  9. ^abcPevsner, Nikolaus;Cherry, Bridget (revision) (1975) [1963].Wiltshire.The Buildings of England(2nd ed.). Harmondsworth:Penguin Books.pp. 544–546.ISBN0-14-0710-26-4.
  10. ^Historic England."Urchfont Manor (1035857)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved12 June2015.
  11. ^Wiltshire Council – Wiltshire Community History
  12. ^"Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Urchfont".Wiltshire Community History.Wiltshire Council.Retrieved24 September2020.
  13. ^abcdeHistoric England."Church of St Michael and All Angels (1364609)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved23 September2020.
  14. ^"Urchfont".Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers.Retrieved23 September2020.
  15. ^Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gnnis
  16. ^Historic England."Pierce Monument in Churchyard (1183021)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved24 September2020.
  17. ^"No. 24157".The London Gazette.1 December 1874. pp. 6000–6002.
  18. ^Baggs, A.P.; Crowley, D.A.; Pugh, Ralph B.; Stevenson, Janet H.; Tomlinson, Margaret (1975). Crittall, Elizabeth (ed.)."Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 10 pp155-159 – Parishes: Stert".British History Online.University of London.Retrieved23 September2020.
  19. ^"No. 25370".The London Gazette.27 June 1884. pp. 2799–2800.
  20. ^"St Michael and All Angels, Urchfont".The Cannings & Redhorn Team.Retrieved1 March2023.
  21. ^"Urchfont C of E Primary School".Retrieved12 June2015.
  22. ^"Urchfont Dental Care".Retrieved22 November2018.
  23. ^"2017 Division 1".Wiltshire County Cricket League.Retrieved1 October2020.
  24. ^"The Wessex Ridgeway".Long Distance Walkers Association.Retrieved6 October2020.
  25. ^Oakley, Mike (2004).Wiltshire Railway Stations.Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. pp. 99–101.ISBN1-904349-33-1.
  26. ^Mills, Richard (31 January 2018)."Devizes' 52-year wait for train station could end".Wiltshire Gazette and Herald.
  27. ^Moore, Joanne (23 May 2020)."Devizes wins Government cash for train station project".The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald.Retrieved1 August2020.
  28. ^"Devizes Gateway station moves to next stage after Department for Transport announcement".Wiltshire Council.18 June 2022.Retrieved22 June2022.
  29. ^Cohen, Lewis (2 February 2009)."Wiltshire funeral for cricket statistician Bill Frindall".The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald.Retrieved25 September2020.
  30. ^"Urchfont Scarecrow Festival".Retrieved10 October2024.
  31. ^"Urchfont Scarecrow Festival Charity".Charity Commission.Retrieved29 April2017.
  32. ^"Scarecrow Festival".Urchfont Parish Council.Retrieved14 April2017.
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