Purton

St Mary's Church, Purton.

Purton is a large village in North Wiltshire with a current population of about 4,000 including chavs. The civil parish of Purton also contains the village of Purton Stoke, and the hamlets of Bentham, Hayes Knoll and Restrop.

The village is of a linear structure, lying along the old road between the historic market towns of Cricklade (4 miles to the north) and Wootton Bassett (4 miles to the south). The main, and closest, urban centre is Swindon with the towns of Cirencester and Chippenham also nearby. Both Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire are within close proximity. The railway station is now closed, but Purton can be reached from junction 16 (Swindon West) of the M4 motorway or by leaving the A419 at Cricklade and following the B4553 or alternatively from junction 17 of the M4. The village is accessed by one ‘B’ road, which is narrow, has a weight and speed limit and is unsuitable for heavy vehicles. There are also a number of minor country lanes and roads to the village.

Purton sits on the brow of a hill, with views across to Cricklade and the Thames floodplain. Nearby, Bradon Forest stretches out to Minety in the west.

Village amenities include several shops, post office, pubs and restaurants, doctor’s surgery, dentist, and veterinary surgery. The way the village has developed means that there is now not one central focus for shopping. A few shops exist on the main road at the junction with Pavenhill, and a few are around the bend in the road near the Village Hall.

Purton has an unusual church, St Mary the Virgin, with a tower at one end and a spire at the other. This is one of only three parish churches in England that has both a spire and a tower; the other two being at Wanborough and Ormskirk.

Education

There are currently two schools in Purton:

• St. Mary's Church of England Primary School is the local infant school. It is on a split site: infants in the original Victorian building which opened in 1861; and the juniors in the buildings further up College Road which opened in the 1970s, along with the school's swimming pool.
• Bradon Forest School is the secondary school. Built in 1962, it caters for pupils from Purton parish, Lydiard Millicent, Cricklade, Ashton Keynes and West Swindon. The school does not have a sixth form, so students either travel to Cirencester College, Swindon College or New College, Swindon.

Until relatively recently Purton Stoke had its own primary school. It opened in 1894; and at its peak had 100 pupils. However, numbers dropped continually from the 1930s when older pupils were educated in Purton, until there were only around 30 pupils left in the 1970s. The school closed in 1978. The building is now used for the Jubilee Gardens Project and is situated on Purton to Cricklade road.

Nature reserves

Four Wiltshire Wildlife Trust nature reserves are located within Purton Parish:

• Brockhurst Meadow: Found at the end of Brockhurst Lane, just below Ringsbury Camp, Brockhurst Meadow is a rushy hay meadow with signs of Ridge and furrow farming practices. Wildlife includes many wildflowers of wet meadows: ragged robin, sneezewort, meadowsweet, marsh thistle, spotted-orchid, heath spotted-orchid, adder's-tongue fern, sedge species and the insects which feed on them such as the marbled white butterfly. Grid reference: SU 069 869.
• Blakehill Farm: Partly situated in Purton parish, this old WWII airfield can be reached from the Chelworth to Minety road (B4040) or walked to from Purton Stoke. The huge grasslands house mammals such as roe deer and brown hare; birds including kestrel, skylark, wheatear, winchat and stonechat. Butterflies include small copper and brown hairstreak. The site was purchased from the Ministry of Defence to form a large meadow of around 600 acres (243 hectares), and was opened to the public in 2005. It rears a small quantity of organic grade beef, usually rare breeds such as Longhorn cattle. These cattle ensure grasses and other common plants do not begin to dominate over the other rarer plants. Grid reference: SU 073 923.
• Stoke Common Meadows: Situated at the end of Stoke Common Lane in Purton Stoke, Stoke Commen Meadows consist of a small wood and grasslands, with ancient hedgerows and ditches Wildlife found here includes mainly wildflowers: Pepper-saxifrage, sweet vernal-grass, heath-spotted orchid, adder’s-tongue fern (Ophioglossum), bugle, ox-eye daisy and common knapweed. Some of the fields are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Grid reference: SU 070 904.
• Red Lodge Pond: Found at the beginning of Red Drive in Braydon Wood, just off the B4042 from the Braydon Crossroads to the Minety Crossroads. The reserve contains a large pond and a small meadow with a concrete platform in the middle: the remains of an old sawmill. Wildlife includes plants such as water horsetail, common spotted orchid; and woodland butterflies including white admiral and silver-washed fritillary. Grid reference: SU 054 888

Restrop Farm and Brockhurst Wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The site can be found at the end of Mud Lane, or at the end of Brockhurst Lane, but is mainly private land. Brockhurst Meadow is part of the farm.

Public houses

Only four pubs remain in the village:

• The Angel Hotel in the High Street is thought to be the oldest public house in the village. It was built in 1702.
• The Royal George is the oldest pub in Pavenhill.
• The Bell is Purton Stoke's only pub.
• The Forester's Arms is on the parish boundary near Common Platt.

There are two member's clubs: The Red House Club on Church Street, and The Working Men's Club, now Purton Club on Station Road.

Several pubs in the village have closed:

• The Queen's Arms was near to the Post Office in the High Street.
• The Hope Inn at the Collins Lane junction closed in 1995 and is now the Elmgrove Saddlery.
• The Ghost Train, called The Railway Hotel until the station's closure in 1963, closed in early 2008.
• The Live and Let Live in Upper Pavenhill had the best views of any pub in the village, looking over the Braydon area. It closed in 1967.
• The New Greyhound in Pavenhill also closed in early 2008.
• The Forester's Arms was situated opposite the George in Pavenhill and closed in 1904.
• The Mason's Arms was situated in the recently demolished house in Thompson's Garage in the Upper Square. It was a pub until 1945.
• The Fox Inn served the Fox area.
• The Blue Pig was situated on Purton's boundary at the Brinkworth to Minety and Purton to Garsdon crossroads near to Ravensroost Wood but closed a couple of decades ago.

History

Place names origins: Onomastics

The name Purton is derived from old English pirige (pear) and tun (enclosure or homestead).

Prehistoric, Saxon, and Mediæval

Like the neighbouring town of Cricklade, Purton boasts its own remarkable landmarks and archæology. Whereas Cricklade is a Saxon town, Purton can demonstrate much from the Iron Age, and Roman Britain times.

Purton is a very old community with historical connexions to many interesting people. It is probable that at different times during its development, from the early Neolithic settlers, through the Romans and Saxons, distinct areas of the village were occupied. Later a mediæval settlement leading to the pattern of the village we see today came into being.

Ringsbury Camp, which has evidence of settlement during the Neolithic period, is actually considered to be an Iron Age hill fort dating from about 50 B.C. There is suggestion that the remains of a Roman villa lie under the soil at Pavenhill, on the Braydon side of Purton; whilst at The Fox on the east side of the village, grave goods found together with bodies show that a Saxon cemetery existed in Purton, the burials being from the pagan period.

Purton’s first mention in the historical record was in the year 796 when the Saxon King Ecgfrith of Mercia gave 35 hides from Purton to Malmesbury Abbey. The Abbot of Malmesbury continued to be the Chief Landlord of Purton throughout Saxon and Norman times, suggesting that an earlier church almost certainly stood at Purton.

Early modern times to the present

Religious history

The current parish church of St Mary the Virgin appears at one time to have dedicated to St Nicholas. The surviving parish registers date from 1558 (Marriages and Burials)/1564 (Baptisms), with some gaps, 1641-47, which coincide more or less with the unrest associated with the English Civil War period.

In addition to the parish church, there was a Quaker Meeting House at Purton Stoke in the parish during the late 17th century and early 18th century. Later, there were two Methodist chapels belonging to different Methodist denominations. There was also a Congregational Chapel situated at the site of the Scout Hut in the High Street; it was demolished in 1969. A Methodist church also exists in Purton Stoke, situated north of Purton, within Purton parish.

Wartime

There are a number of concrete pillboxes within the parish, which were part of the defence strategy of southern England during the Second World War. These form a rough line; along which a deep trench also ran along the line from Ballards Ash near Wootton Bassett, to the River Ray near Blunsdon Steam Railway Station. A former airfield at Blakehill Farm, north of Purton Stoke, is now a Wiltshire Wildlife Trust nature reserve. American troops were stationed in Braydon Wood, and attended dances at the local dances in the Angel Hotel during World War II. Anti-tank devices (chains across the road, set in concrete blocks) were installed on the parish boundary; across Tadpole Bridge which spans the River Ray. The Cenotaph on the High Street is a memorial to those who died in both World Wars.

It is thought a battle took place during the English Civil War in the Restrop area. A cannon ball was discovered in the area and several place names refer to a battle; including the alternative name of Restrop Road, Red Street (which may signify the road was covered in blood) and Battlewell. A mile away there is a lake called Battle Lake in Braydon Wood, accompanied by a farm called Battlelake Farm.

Local Families

Maskelyne

During Tudor times, the Maskelyne family were both a significant landlord and landowner in Purton, having inherited rights granted by the last Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey to the Pulley or Pulleyne family, from whom they descended on the distaff side. The Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne (1732-1811) who was, in 1765, appointed as the Astronomer Royal, was a noteworthy member of this family who were involved in Purton life for over four centuries from the 1500s. Nevil Maskelyne lived at Down Farm. Though born in London, his grave is in Purton churchyard. A Miss Maskelyne lived in the village until her death in the 1960s aged over a century.

Hyde and Ashley-Cooper

The well-known Tory statesman and author Edward Hyde, who served as MP for the nearby borough of Wootton Bassett in the 1630s, lived at College Farm in the centre of the village where it is likely that his daughter Anne Hyde, first wife of King James II of England also lived for a time. After serving King Charles II of England during his years of exile under the Commonwealth and Republic, he later became Lord Chancellor of England, was raised to the peerage as Earl of Clarendon, and appointed the Chancellor of the University of Oxford. By a curious fluke, his Whig arch-rival, Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, also had property in Purton parish. The Ashley-Cooper family also held the advowson of the parish church.

Sadler

By the late 19th century and into the early part of the 20th century, other local families had risen to the gentry level after becoming significant landowners in the parish. Among these was James Henry Sadler, Esq., D.L., J.P., (1845-1929) who, though a Purton native, lived in nearby Lydiard House in the neighbouring parish of Lydiard Millicent, Wiltshire, until his death. A strict but generous benefactor of the old school, Sadler gave the cricket ground and Workingman's Institute to the village. Described as the last unofficial Squire of Purton, his father was Dr Samuel Champernowne Sadler, F.R.C.S., of Purton, who built the Pump House at Salt's hole, a natural hotspring used for medicinal purposes since the Middle Ages and possibly earlier. Under Dr Sadler and subsequent owners, attempts were made to develop this natural attraction as Purton Spa, and to market the spring waters for their healing qualities.

Other prominent or long-established families

Other locally prominent, or gentry, families include those of Bathe, Canning, Hill, Carter, Digges, Ernle, Francome, Kemm, Langton, Martlewright alias Morse, Nanfan, Phillips alias Major, Plummer, Prower, Richmond (Richman), Sheppard, Stephens, Wykeham-Martin.

Old village names include Bunce, Gleed, Hayward, Holliday, Iles, Jefferies, Kibblewhite, Large, Moulden, Newth, Rawlings, Shurmer, Telling, Warman, and Paish.

Local studies

Genealogy and prosopography

A study of the interconnexions of people within the parish, based on the registers and other historical evidence, since the earliest recorded period, is being prepared (2006) under the working title, The Plenteous Pear Tree: Pedigrees and Progress of Purton's People Past and Present, a parish prosopography of Purton, Wiltshire, with ramifications elsewhere in North Wilts. and beyond, under the auspices of Richard Carruthers-Żurowski, a Canadian-based, Oxford-trained historian and genealogist.

Victoria County History: Local History

The Victoria History of the County of Wiltshire volume covering the hundreds of Cricklade and Staple, where Purton lies, is planned to appear within the next few years.

People

People with connexions to Purton, Wiltshire include:

• The Right Honourable Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
• The Lady Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, first wife of James II of England
• The Right Honourable Sir Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
• James Kibblewhite, pre-Olympic English running champion
• The Reverend Dr Nevil Maskelyne, D.D.
• Dr Desmond Morris
• Billie Piper

See also

• Purton Stoke
• Ringsbury Camp
• Purton F.C.

References

1. E.R. Richardson Purton's Past, (1919)
2. The Story of Purton
3. Wiltshire Notes and Queries
4. Wiltshire Archælogical and Natural History Society Magazine
5. Wiltshire Record Society publications
6. Kelly's Post Office Directories
7. E.R. Kelly (ed.), Wiltshire, p. 263 (on Purton Spa)
8. Susan E. Kelly, Charters of Malmesbury Abbey (2005), pp. 279-281 (on the ancient parish boundaries of Purton)
9. Joseph Stratford Wiltshire and its worthies: notes topographical and biographical (1882) p. 143
10. Charles Edward Fox-Strangways & Horace Bolingbroke Woodward, The Jurassic Rocks of Britain, Geological Survey of Great Britain (1895), p. 340 (on Salt's hole)
11. Purton's Past, A. Robbins, 1991, Purton Historical Society.
12. Walks in the Parish of Purton, Volumes 1 and 2, 2003 and 2008, Purton Parish Council.

External links

• Wiltshire Community History
• Purton Village
• PurtonWeb
• 1^st Purton and Lydiard Scout Group
• Purton Stoke website