Wanborough, Wiltshire

Wanborough

St Andrew's parish church
Wanborough
 Wanborough shown within Wiltshire
Population 2,069 (in 2011)[1]
OS grid referenceSU2082
Civil parishWanborough
Unitary authoritySwindon
Ceremonial countyWiltshire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Swindon
Postcode district SN4
Dialling code 01793
Police Wiltshire
Fire Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK ParliamentSouth Swindon
WebsiteParish Council
List of places
UK
England
Wiltshire

Coordinates: 51°32′38″N 1°42′00″W / 51.544°N 1.700°W / 51.544; -1.700

Wanborough is a large village and civil parish in the borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The village is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southeast of Swindon town centre. The settlement along the High Street is Lower Wanborough, while Upper Wanborough is on higher ground to the southwest. The parish includes the hamlets of Horpit (a short distance north of Wanborough) and Foxhill, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the southeast.

History

There was a Roman settlement, Durocornovium, slightly northwest of the current village, at a road junction mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary. Being the last vicus on Ermin Way or Ermin Street before the scarp slope of the Marlborough Downs, Durocornovium was a site where horses were watered before the steep climb off the Oxfordshire plain.

Wanborough was recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as Wôdnes-beorg which later became Wodnesborough before becoming Wanborough.[2][3][4][5]

Wanborough is just off the Ridgeway National Trail. Development in a strip along the road frontages characterised the village, which reached maximum development in the 4th century.[6]

Parish church

The Church of England parish church of Saint Andrew is unusual in having a spire at one end and a tower at the other. There are only three parish churches with this feature in the UK. The others are at nearby Purton and at Ormskirk, Lancashire.

Amenities

The village has a primary school and a small post office. The village has five public houses: The Brewers Arms; The New Calley Arms;[7] The Cross Keys; The Harrow;[8] and The Plough. There was also a sixth pub called The Black Horse which closed down early in 2012.

Foxhill had one public house, The Shepherd's Rest which has re-opened as a restaurant serving Indian cuisine and renamed "The Burj".[9]

There is a monthly farmers market in the village hall on the 3rd Saturday of every month, except August where is replaced by the Wanborough Show[10]

Redlands Airfield[11] is a base for microlight aviation and skydiving parachute training.

References

  1. "Wiltshire Community History - Census". Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  2. Jaques, Tony. 'Dictionary of Battles And Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century'. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. ISBN 0-313-33536-2, ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Length: 1432 page
  3. Duignan, William Henry. 'Notes on Staffordshire Place Names'. H. Frowde, 1902. Length: 178 pages
  4. Johnston, James Brown. 'The Place-names of England and Wales. E.P. Dutton and Co., 1916, Princeton University. Length: 532 pages
  5. Green, John Richard. 'A Short History of the English People'. Macmillan, London 1901. Digital: https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofen01greeuoft
  6. Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, s.v. "Durocornovium"
  7. The New Calley Arms
  8. The Harrow Inn
  9. The Burj
  10. Wanborough Show
  11. Redlands Airfield

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