Luckington
| Luckington | |
| Wiltshire | |
|---|---|
 The Pump House, Luckington | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST826827 |
| Location: | 51°32’37"N, 2°15’5"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Chippenham |
| Postcode: | SN14 |
| Dialling code: | 01666 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Wiltshire |
Luckington is a village in north-western Wiltshire, close to the Gloucestershire border, in a largely unspoiled little patch of rural landscape. It is on the B4040 road linking Old Sodbury and Malmesbury. Luckington is the first village on the infant Somerset Avon, which rises just across the border in Wiltshire.
The village’s name is Old English, apparently meaning "Lucca’s people's village", after an otherwise unknown founder.
The village
The village has a population of about 550 people who support, along with a pub, a single village shop. This was described by Sheila Hancock (who lives here) in the television programme Room 101 as an example of an outstandingly good Post Office and community hub.
Luckington has a small primary school, for just fifty pupils. There are good playing fields and a village hall, each run by committees.
The farms which surround Luckington are both dairy and arable; some are owned by the Badminton Estate. The Beaufort Hunt and the proximity of Badminton have a bearing on village culture.
Luckington holds its own fête each year, usually early in July.
Churches
- Church of England
- Methodist chapel
Luckington Court Gardens
Luckington Court Gardens have a Queen Anne style house at their centre which was used as the location for 'Longbourn', the home of the Bennet family in a BBC production of Pride and Prejudice in 1995.[1]
Luckington inspired the composer Basil Harwood when writing the hymn tune of that name, often used for Let all the world in every corner sing.
Walkers and cyclists frequent its popular pub, the Old Royal Ship Inn. The Beaufort Hunt also meets there occasionally.
The Sources of the Avon
The seasonal springs which are the sources of the Somerset Avon are in the valley to the south of the village.
There is a concrete-slab footbridge which takes the MacMillan Way over the river. This crossing point is on the site of a long-vanished tannery.
Around Luckington
Just a mile beyond this valley is the village of Alderton, to the south-east. Badminton is a little over two miles away to the south-west, in Gloucestershire.
Abutting Luckington to the west is the Cherry Orchard, which comprises one house and a derelict barn, both owned by the Beaufort Estate. After Cherry Orchard, the west-heading road becomes a track as it crosses the county border into Gloucestershire.
History
In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Luckington as:
A village and a parish in Malmsbury district, Wilts. The village stands near the boundary with Gloucestershire, 7 miles WSW of Malmsbury, and 10 NW of Chippenham r. station; and has a post office, under Chippenham. The parish comprises 1,625 acres. Real property, £3,101; of which £10 are in quarries. Pop., 316. Houses, 78. The property is much subdivided. The manor belonged to King Harold, and passed to the Seymours. There are barrows and a cromlech. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, £382.,* Patron, the Rev. J. F. Goggin. The church is ancient, with a tower; and was, still recently, in bad condition. Charities, £16.
References
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Luckington) |