Huish, Wiltshire
| Huish | |
| Wiltshire | |
|---|---|
Nov2006.jpg) St. Nicholas's Church, Huish | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU145635 |
| Location: | 51°22’12"N, 1°47’35"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 43 (2011 est.) |
| Post town: | Marlborough |
| Postcode: | SN8 |
| Dialling code: | 01672 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wiltshire |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Devizes |
| Website: | http://www.wilcotandhuish-pc.gov.uk |
Huish is a small village in Wiltshire, two miles north-west of Pewsey and four miles south-west of Marlborough. It is on the south-facing edge of the Marlborough Downs, where the downs adjoin the Vale of Pewsey.
History
A small settlement of 11 households was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, when the lord of the manor was Richard Sturmy[1] or Esturmy.[2] The population of the parish remained low, reaching around 130 at its height between 1831 and 1881, then declining to 30 at the 1971 census.
The church and Manor Farm lie some 300 yards north of the present village, along a lane which continues (now as a track) a mile north-west to the site of the deserted village of Shaw, now in the parishes of Alton and West Overton.[3] By the 18th century there was a hamlet on Huish Hill, straddling the boundary with Wilcot, some 900 metres north of Oare at SU157641; this hamlet began to be abandoned in the 1920s.[2]
In 1803, land to the west of Oare village which belonged to the lords of Huish was deemed part of Huish parish. Thus the southeast boundary of Huish extends close to Oare, and Oare school (now Oare Church of England Primary School) is within Huish parish.[2]
Cold Blow, a thatched house on the outskirts of Oare, was built in 1921-22 to designs of Clough Williams-Ellis.[4]
A heart-shaped tree plantation was created in 1999, below Huish Hill in the south-east of the parish, near Oare.[5] This is a geoglyph, but not a hill figure like the many surrounding "white horses" such as the Marlborough White Horse.
Parish church
A church was recorded at Huish in 1291. The Church of England parish church of St Nicholas was rebuilt in 1785, near the foundations of the 13th-century church but in a smaller size; it was again rebuilt in 1878-9.[6][7]
In 1924 the benefices of Huish and Oare were united, with the parsonage house to be at Huish.[8] Wilcot was added in 1962.[9] In 1972 the parishes of Huish and Oare were united, and at the same time the benefice was extended by adding Woodborough with Manningford Bohune and Beechingstoke.[10] Today the parish of Huish and Oare is part of the Vale of Pewsey team of churches.[11]
The former rectory, a three-bay house in brick of c. 1812, is now a private house.[12]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Huish, Wiltshire) |
References
- ↑ Huish in the Domesday Book
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 A History of the County of Wiltshire - Volume 10 pp 77-82: Parishes: Huish (Victoria County History) ([http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol10/pp77-82 British History Online)
- ↑ A History of the County of Wiltshire - Volume 10 pp 8-13: Parishes: Alton Barnes (Victoria County History) ([http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol10/pp8-13 British History Online)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1192603: Cold Blow
- ↑ Heart shaped wood mystery at Oare': Sarah Jones on BBC News: Wiltshire, 1 February 2010
- ↑ A History of the County of Wiltshire - Volume 10 pp 77-82: {{{2}}} (Victoria County History) - Parishes:Huish (British History Online)
- ↑ National Heritage List 1035682: Church of St Nicholas
- ↑ London Gazette: no. 32910, p. 1553, 22 February 1924.
- ↑ London Gazette: no. 42864, p. 9981, 21 December 1962.
- ↑ London Gazette: no. 45614, p. 2705, 3 March 1972.
- ↑ Huish - St Nicholas
- ↑ National Heritage List 1035683: Old Rectory
- Chandler, John: 'Devizes and Central Wiltshire (Hobnob Press, 2003) ISBN 0-946418-16-0 pages 101-104
