From Chicklade And Pertwood, A Short Parish History by E.R. Barty, M.A., Chicklade, Old Rectory, first published December 1955:
THE POPULATION OF CHICKLADE
What may be regarded as the first English Census is Bishop Camplan’s Church Census of 1676 (Wilts. Notes and Queries, Vol. III.) taken for the purpose of computing the numbers of members of the Church of England, Dissenters, etc. The parish of Chicklade in the decantus of Chalke had:- Conformists, 50; non-Conformists, 2; Papists, 0.
This was only a partial census, children were not included.
Population
150 in 1801.
130 in 1811. Colt Hoare.
139 in 1821.
122 in 1851.
143 in 1861.
122 in 1871.
97 in 1881. Kelly’s Directory.
42 in 1911.
62 in 1931.
53 in 1953 (at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.)
Along with the decline in population, there are in later years fewer land owners with larger estates. In 1915 Kelly’s Directory mentions two – Mr. Hugh Morrison, of Little Ridge, and Lady Octavia Shaw Stewart; in 1935, Major J.G. Morrison and the Duke of Somerset.
We came to realise that the reduction in numbers and lack of communal life in smaller villages corresponds to frequent movement and less stability among rural populations.
Further, the loss in numbers is the outcome of the more central organization of larger estates on a more impersonal and mechanical basis.
A social revolution that has brought many benefits has also had its less desirable effects.