Category: Fovant: Gleanings

Firefighters from Tisbury attended a chimney fire at a cottage in Fovant on Monday evening, 7th January 2013, soon after 7.40 p.m.

From the Visitors’ Guide To Wiltshire, circa 1973:

Fovant, like most valley villages in Wiltshire, was founded by the Saxons. They called it Fobbefunt.

Before that time, people of the Early Bronze Age, about 1500 B.C., lived on the high greens and ridges on either side of the ford near the present church hall and left many stone implements to mark their abode.

Horsemen from Chitterne used to meet smugglers from Southampton, at Chiselbury. Another man, from North Bradley, used to ride the thirty miles to Fovant to pick up two kegs of brandy.

Boulter, the famous highwayman, was caught at the Cross Keys. Jack Rattenbury, another famous highwayman, used to work the old turnpike road on the top of the downs. The staple in an oak tree by the side of the road, to which he used to tie his horse, was still there a few years ago.

The courts of the manor were held at “The Cross.” The remains of the pound, the lock-up, and the stone uprights of the stocks are still preserved.

The enclosure map of 1787 is preserved.

The land charters relating to Fovant, dated 901 and 994, and a parchment, dated 1765, on which is written the judgement on Joseph Marks of Fovant, for swearing twenty-one oaths, are still preserved.

Above the village, cut into the chalk of the downs, are the famous Fovant badges. These replicas of army badges date from the First World War.

From The Official Guide, Salisbury & Wilton Rural District, Wiltshire, c.1950:

Fovant
Covering an area of 2,203 acres, Fovant is situated two miles away from Dinton Station, and seven miles from Wilton. The ancient Parish Church of St. George has an embattled Western tower containing five bells, and was restored in 1863. The Registers date from 1541. The parish is also served by a Congregational chapel, and has a parish hall, which has been rebuilt, the original hall having been destroyed by fire. In the village may be seen the remains of the old stocks.

During the First World War, there was a large military training camp in the parish, and Regimental Crests carved in the chalk hillside by the troops are still maintained.

The parish is served by a Post, Money Order and Telegraph Office.