Category: Crockerton: Gleanings

Mrs. Beatrice McClellan White (1898 – 1969), of Longbridge Deverill, writing in 1960, on the subject of Crockerton, noted:

When I was a child the old people used always to refer to the ‘Bath Arms’ as the ‘Marlborough’, and the hill to the south of the Warminster road is still called Marlborough Hollow. I think it is quite probable that the inn took its name from the Duke of Marlborough as a short time ago, when the house was being repaired, a date was found on the stonework of 1737, and it was in this year the Duke of Marlborough bought the manor at Hill Deverill.

Old people talk of three public or beer houses in Crockerton. In fact, I have been told there were seven at one time. I am not quite certain of their situation but certainly the ‘Duke Of Marlborough’ is the present ‘Bath Arms’. There was also a ‘King’s Head’ and the ‘Waggon & Horses’. One was the first left after passing the old Turnpike house at the top of Rainbow Hill and the junction of Parsons Lane; another was the last house in Clay Street before coming to Shearwater; and a fourth was the last house in the rank at Sutton End.

Mrs. Beatrice McClellan White (1898 – 1969), of Longbridge Deverill, writing in 1960 on the subject of Crockerton, noted:

Although now Crockerton is all agricultural, this used not to be so. As early as 1260, in a survey made by Glastonbury, there is mention of a pottery and a mill. What the mill was I do not know – it was probably flour. In a 17th century picture to be seen in County Hall, Trowbridge, a mill is shown at the foot of Potters Hill, the steep hill up to the church (1 in 4) from the main village, on the little stream now known as Horse Water. There is no trace of this mill left or any records. Possibly this stream was larger before Shearwater Lake was made by damming the stream. This may possibly be the mill of Domesday.

Mrs. Beatrice McClellan White (1898 – 1969), of Longbridge Deverill, writing in 1960 on the subject of Crockerton, noted:

Another 13th century industry carried on there [at Crockerton] was making whetstones from the local stone. Even now, men from Crockerton will try and find a bit of ‘Crockerton stone’ to sharpen their knives on; my husband was one of these men.

Mrs. Beatrice McClellan White (1898 – 1969), of Longbridge Deverill, writing in 1960 on the subject of Crockerton, noted:

In the 17th century, Foxholes was, according to old maps, much larger than now and consisted of at least one large house and fourteen cottages, which included a rack of cottages on the west side of the Warminster road under the wood – at least four cottages. I can well recollect when the ground was let as allotments; these were probably the gardens to the old cottages.

There is also a rather unsightly galvanised iron building there. This was built by public subscription as a Men’s Reading Room and Church Room. It was built in 1891 by Carson & Toone of Warminster, at a cost of about £120. It is now used as a Parish Hall. Prior to the Reading Room being built, the middle classroom (now the kitchen) of Longbridge School, was used as a Reading Room.

Mrs. Beatrice McClellan White (1898 – 1969), of Longbridge Deverill, writing in 1960 on the subject of Crockerton, noted:

At Foxholes, a little hamlet lying between Longbridge Deverill and Crockerton, there is not much of interest.

The biggest house [Foxholes House] is, I believe, fairly old. In the middle of the hall floor there is a stone bearing the Bath coat of arms, but why this should be there no one seems to know. For about 30 years, until about 1905, this house was the home of the curates of the parish.

I have lately learned that when the floor at Foxholes was being repaired a further stone was discovered, either near or under the Bath coat of Arms, with the name Charles Thynne on it, which I think proves the fact that Lord Charles Thynne lived there at some time, possibly when he became Vicar of Longbridge Deverill before the Vicarage was built for him about 1880.

Mrs. Beatrice McClellan White (1898 – 1969), of Longbridge Deverill, writing in 1960 on the subject of Crockerton, noted:

In the old days the hills must have been very steep, as, especially Rainbow Hill, where the old road used to run can be plainly traced on the side of the banks, at some later date the top of the road was taken off and put into the bottom, thus putting, at any rate, one house well below road level.

Mrs. Beatrice McClellan White (1898 – 1969), of Longbridge Deverill, writing in 1960 on the subject of Crockerton, noted:

In 1942, during the war, a bomb fell in the lane opposite the church [Holy Trinity, Crockerton], breaking all the windows and damaging the roof, also taking off the roofs of several houses in the lane. Luckily no one was hurt. The windows of the church including those over the altar, which had formerly been of stained glass, were all replaced with plain glass.