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Coordinates: 51°24′29″N 1°47′11″W / 51.4080°N 1.7864°W
| Lockeridge | |
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.png)  Lockeridge
Lockeridge shown within Wiltshire |
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| Population | 1,649 |
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| OS grid reference | |
| - London | 74 miles (119 km) E |
| Parish | Fyfield and West Overton |
| Unitary authority | Wiltshire |
| Ceremonial county | Wiltshire |
| Region | South West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| European Parliament | South West England |
| List of places: UK • England • Wiltshire | |
Lockeridge (pop. 1,649) is a village in Wiltshire, England. It lies at the edge of the West Woods in the Kennet Valley, 2.9 miles (4.7 km) west of Marlborough, 3.1 miles (5.0 km) east of Avebury and 10.5 miles (16.9 km) south of Swindon.
Lockeridge and its surroundings have provided evidence of Stone and Bronze Age activity in the area. Field enclosures close to the village indicate Roman occupation, whilst the village itself appears in the Domesday Book of 1086.
Lockeridge today forms an agricultural and commuter community with no local industry. The community is served by a village pub, the Who'd a Thought It, but has no other services.
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History
The area has extensive evidence of Neolithic settlement and a Bronze Age burial site was discovered behind the school in the 19th century. Field enclosures on White Hill (a ridge above the village) provide evidence of Roman occupation probably linked to the nearby fortress town of Cunetio. One possible derivation of the name is from the Old English composite word loc(a)-hrycg meaning "a ridge marked by enclosure(s)".
At the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, Lockeridge was owned by Durand of Gloucester and is described as follows: Durand himself holds LOCKERIDGE. Almær held it TRE, and it paid geld for 2 hides. There is land for 1 plough. Of this 1 hide is in demesne. There is 1 villan and 2 bordars with 1 slave, and 1-acre (4,000 m2) of meadow, and 12 acres (49,000 m2) of pasture and 6 acres (24,000 m2) of woodland. It was worth 40s ; now 30s. These two late anglo-Saxon estates are held to be linked to the cluster of houses at Lockeridge dean at the southern end of the village, and the Eighteenth Century Lockeridge House at the northern end. Lockeridge House is adjacent to Piper's Lane, remnant of a Roman Road.
Building took place between the two Saxon settlements in 12th Century on the order of the Knights Templar who acquired one of the estates between 1141 and 1143. In 1155-6 it acquired land in Rockley to build a Preceptory. Lockeridge is therefore something rare in Britain, namely a planned Templar village. The collapse of the nearby settlement of Shaws as a result of the Plague may have triggered growth as Lockeridge was situated at an intersection of a major east-west route (now the A4) and a crossing of the Pewsey Downs. The Templar link explains the absence (rare in Wiltshire villages) of a Church.
Lockeridge expanded from a hamlet to a village in the 1870s when Sir Henry Meux sited his estate office (Gypsy Furlong) and the estate yard (Yardacre) in the village. Houses, a school and a pub were built at the same time.
In consequence of this history there are three main architectural styles in the village.
- Sarson stone (generally painted or left rough-hewn) and thatched with wheat or wheat-reed mix
- Victorian estate architecture built of dressed stones or Wiltshire redbrick with sarsen banding. Many of these are the work of Charles Ponting, architect to the Meux estate in the 1870s
- Solid brick council housing and a range of in-fill in a variety of styles in the main street and on Back Lane and Rhyls Lane originating in the 20th Century
Governance
Lockeridge forms part of the civil parish of Fyfield and West Overton. It also falls within the area of the Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all significant local government functions.
Note that both the ONS website and the Explorer map (see 'Sources' below) refer to a separate civil parish for West Overton, including Lockeridge but not Fyfield. However the KDC website clearly refers to a joint parish and quotes both population and council membership.
Geography
Lockeridge lies at 51°24′29″N 1°47′11″W / 51.40806°N 1.78639°W (51.408°, -1.7864°) and 74 miles (119 km) west of London.
Position: grid reference SU148677
Nearby towns and cities: Marlborough, Swindon, Devizes, Pewsey
Nearby villages: Fyfield, West Overton, East Kennett, West Kennett
Landmarks
Lockeridge Dene at the south end of the village is a National Trust site and is a conservation area. Sarsen stones are scattered over the area and this is one of the sites from which the stones at Avebury were mined.
The village is adjacent to the nearby West Woods. In the Spring these are carpeted with Blue Bells and provide a major tourist attraction with the woods being opened to vehicles on two weekends.
Walks from the village lead through the West Woods onto the Pewsey Downs and the Wans Dyke. An ancient earth work that ran from Andover to the Bristol Channel. Built as a boundary between tribes in the pre-Roman period it became the border between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex
Transport
The village is served by an "on demand" bus service
Education
The Kennet Valley Church of England Primary School has two locations. The more junior children go to the school in Lockeridge, the more senior to the school in East Kennett. For secondary education most children go on to St Johns College, Marlborough.
Sports
The Kennet Valley Cricket Club plays in the village comprising residents of Lockeridge along with those of West Overton, East Kennett and Fyfield. It also hosts an annual New Years Day football and Rugby match between the west and east of the Kennet Valley for the Baliszewski Cup (named after the founder of the tradition, Edward Baliszewski, who died in 2008). Played by all ages, to ad hoc rules including two simultaneous football matches played with two balls on the same pitch; men may only play with one ball, women and children with either.
See also
References
External links
- Wiltshire County Council Website page on West Overton (which includes Lockeridge), retrieved 22:10 Nov 8, 2004 (UTC).
- Kennet District Council Website page on Fyfield and West Overton Parish, retrieved 21:40 Nov 8, 2004 (UTC).
- [1], retrieved 10:00 Sept 14, 2008 (UTC).
- Map 'Explorer 157', published by the Ordnance Survey, ISBN 0-319-21782-5, revised 1997.
- Fowler, P & Blackwell I (1998) "The Land of Lettice Sweetapple" pp 88-90
- Village Design Statement for Fyfield, Lockeridge and West Overton published in 2000
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