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Purton is a small village in North Wiltshire with a current population of about 4,000. North Wiltshire is a local government district in Wiltshire, England. ...
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 urban centre is Swindon however the towns of Cirencester and Chippenham are closer for shopping and employment centres. Both Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire are within close proximity. The railway station is now closed, but Purton can be reached from junction 16 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. Cricklade is a small town in north Wiltshire in England, on the River Thames, situated midway between Swindon and Cirencester. ...
Wootton Bassett is a small market town located west of Swindon in the English county of Wiltshire. ...
For other places with the same name, see Swindon (disambiguation). ...
Cirencester is a market town in Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles (150 km) west northwest of London. ...
Statistics Population: 30,000 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: ST919733 Administration District: North Wiltshire Shire county: Wiltshire Region: South West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Wiltshire Services Police force: Wiltshire Constabulary Fire and rescue: Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service Ambulance: Great Western Post office...
Gloucestershire (pronounced ; GLOSS-ter-sher) is a county in South West England. ...
Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ...
The M4 motorway is a motorway in Great Britain linking London with Wales. ...
The A419(T) is an English dual carriageway trunk road between Swindon, Wiltshire, and Cirencester, Gloucestershire. ...
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. Several places exist with the name Thames, and the word is also used as part of several brand and company names Most famous is the River Thames in England, on which the city of London stands Other Thames Rivers There is a Thames River in Canada There is a Thames...
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. It has been suggested that Ecclesia (Church) be merged into this article or section. ...
This article is about the architectural term. ...
A modern spire on the Lancaster University Chaplaincy Centre A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. ...
A parish church is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches. ...
Wanborough is a village to the south-east of Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. The name is thought to derive from Wain, i. ...
Ormskirk is a market town in North West England, situated thirteen miles north of Liverpool and fifteen miles south of Preston. ...
History The name Purton is derived from old English 'pur' (pear) and 'ton' (enclosure or homestead).
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. For other uses, see Saxon (disambiguation). ...
Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ...
Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between 43 and 410. ...
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. An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ...
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. Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC - 50s BC - 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC Years: 55 BC 54 BC 53 BC 52 BC 51 BC 50 BC 49 BC 48 BC 47...
Celtic polytheism refers to the religious beliefs and practices of ancient Celts until the Christianization of Celtic-speaking lands. ...
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. The current 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, particularly in the Civil War years, 1641-47. Events December - Coenwulf becomes king of Mercia. ...
Ecgfrith (died December 796) was a King of Mercia who briefly ruled in the year 796. ...
Interior of the Abbey, showing the unusual watching-loft projecting above the nave. ...
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.
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 who was, in 1765, appointed as the Astronomer Royal, is a noteworthy member of this family who were involved in Purton life for over three centuries from the 1500s. A Miss Maskelyne lived in the village until her death in the 1960s aged over a century. Nevil Maskelyne. ...
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. ...
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. Edward Hyde may refer to several different people, including: Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609-1674), English historian and statesman Edward Hyde (c. ...
Lady Anne Hyde (March 1637 – March 31, 1671), daughter of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, became the first wife of James, Duke of York (the future King James II of England), and the mother of two British queens, Mary II and Anne. ...
James II of England (also known as James VII of Scotland; 14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) became King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland on 6 February 1685, and Duke of Normandy on 31 December 1660. ...
Charles II King of England, Scotland and Ireland Charles II (29 May 1630–6 February 1685) was the King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 30 January 1649 (de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. ...
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor and prior to the Union the Chancellor of England and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom, and its predecessor states. ...
The title Earl of Clarendon was created in 1776 for the politician and diplomat Thomas Villiers, second son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey. ...
The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ...
A rough picture of Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (July 22, 1621 – January 21, 1683) was a prominent English politician of the Interregnum and during the reign of King Charles II. Cooper, born in the county of Dorset, suffered the death of both...
By the late 19th century and into the early part of the 20th century, other families had risen to the gentry level 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, Wilts. 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, 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.
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.
The Victoria History of the County of Wilts. volume covering the hundreds of Cricklade and Staple is planned to appear within the next few years.
People People with connexions to Purton, Wiltshire:- Sources: Purton's Past; The Story of Purton; Wiltshire Notes and Queries; Wiltshire Archælogical and Natural History Society Magazine; Wiltshire Record Society publications; Kelly's Directories. A rough picture of Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (July 22, 1621 – January 21, 1683) was a prominent English politician of the Interregnum and during the reign of King Charles II. Cooper, born in the county of Dorset, suffered the death of both...
Lady Anne Hyde (March 1637 – March 31, 1671), daughter of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, became the first wife of James, Duke of York (the future King James II of England), and the mother of two British queens, Mary II and Anne. ...
James II of England (also known as James VII of Scotland; 14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) became King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland on 6 February 1685, and Duke of Normandy on 31 December 1660. ...
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 1609–9 December 1674) was an English historian, statesman and grandfather of two queens regnant, Mary II and Anne. ...
Nevil Maskelyne. ...
Dr Desmond Morris (born 24 January 1928 in the village of Purton, UK) is most famous for his work as a zoologist and ethologist. ...
Billie Paul Piper (born Lianne Piper[1] on 22 September 1982) is an English actress. ...
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