Category: Kingston Deverill: Gleanings

Upper Deverills Diamond Jubilee Celebration

Monday 4th June 2012

A hog roast followed by lighting of the beacon on Cold Kitchen Hill, Kingston Deverill, will take place on Monday 4th June 2012, to mark Her Majesty The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. This event for the Upper Deverills Diamond Jubilee Celebration, will be accompanied by music and liquid refreshment. The Deverill Players will perform A Right Royal Drama. The evening’s entertainment will start at the Upper Deverills Village Hall, Kingston Deverill, at 7.00 p.m. The beacon, part of a national chain of over 3,000 beacons, will be lit between 10.00 and 10.30 p.m. Tickets, £10 per person (£5 for those aged between 4 and 12) – including the hog roast and drinks – from Richard Cousens, telephone 01985 844970 or email r.cousens@btinternet.com

Wessex Water Proposals At Kingston Deverill

Wednesday 16th May 2012

The Upper Deverills Parish Council will be holding a public meeting on Wednesday 16th May 2012, at 6.30 p.m., in the Upper Deverills Village Hall, Kingston Deverill. A member of Wessex Water will present their proposals in the parish and answer any questions. All members of the public are welcome to attend.

An Evening With Dr. Andrew Murrison, M.P.

The Upper Deverills Village Hall at Kingston Deverill is the venue for “An Evening With Dr. Andrew Murrison, MP” on Friday 4th May 2012, at 7.00 p.m. Dr. Murrison will speak on national and local matters. After his talk he will take questions from the audience for about 40 minutes. In order that the first 10 questions are varied, those attending are invited to email their questions to Richard Cousens who will chair the session on behalf of the Upper Deverills Village Hall Committee: r.cousens@btinternet.com

Upper Deverills Village Hall Needs You!

Wednesday 2nd May 2012

The Upper Deverills Village Hall at Kingston Deverill exists to serve the local community. The Management Committee would welcome new committee members to help ensure that the Hall remains an innovative, vibrant and responsive asset.

With the imminent retirement of Jack May from the Committee, a new Treasurer is also required from May 2012. This is a pivotal function within the Committee.

Go along to the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 2nd May 2012 at 7.30 p.m. if you want to learn more, or phone/email Richard Cousens on 01985 844970 or r.cousens@btinternet.com

Save The Sarsen Stones At Kingston Deverill

Upper Deverills Parish Council and Upper Deverills Village Hall Committee

Save The Stones

If you care about the Kingston Deverill Sarsen Stones please come and listen and speak at an open meeting on: Thursday 8th June 2000 at 7.00 p.m. at Kingston Deverill Village Hall.


The two Sarsen stones in the paddock at Kingston House were almost certainly part of a Neolithic or possibly Bronze Age burial chamber, which was located somewhere on Court Hill, Kingston Deverill, and have therefore been in the parish for upwards of 3,500 years. They were moved sometime more than 100 years ago from their original site on the instruction of the then Rector to the grounds of the Rectory, now called Kingston House, which is in the ownership of the Ralph family. The original site was in the area where King Alfred gathered his armies immediately before his victorious battle over the Danes at Ethandun (probably in the Westbury, Bratton, Edington area).

A committee of residents of the above area called The Ethandun Memorial Committee have proposed erecting a monument to King Alfred’s victory on the hillside above Bratton in a public place. They have negotiated with Christopher Ralph and as a result one of the two Sarsen stones may be about to be loaned to form part of the monument at Bratton. There is a District Council planning application for the proposed monument due to be heard on Thursday 15th June.

One of the stones could leave its historic village, perhaps for ever. Representatives of the Ethandun Memorial Committee will attend a public meeting which is open to everyone at Kingston Deverill Village Hall on Thursday 8th June at 7.00 p.m. If you wish to lesrn more, if you wish to have a say, if you consider that the stones are part of the heritage of “The Valley” . . . . . PLEASE ATTEND

Upper Deverills’ Flower And Produce Show 1985

From the Wylye Valley Life magazine, issue No.33, Friday 23rd August 1985:

The Upper Deverills’ Flower and Produce Show held on 3rd August at Kingston Deverill Village Hall and Cricket Field attracted over 250 entries despite all the problems of this year’s weather conditions and more amazing was the fact that all the vegetables and flowers on show were of a very high standard!

Overall winners in the three main categories were as follows:

Adults ~
joint 1st: Mrs. N. Carnell and Mrs. C. Gunnell;
joint 3rd: Mrs. A. Stratton and Mrs. A. May;

Children,Under 9’s ~
1st: Louise Stratton;
2nd: Darren Lippitt;
3rd: Richard Stratton and Ann Glennie;

Children, Over 9’s ~
1st: Lucy Williams;
2nd: Hazel Smith;
3rd: Simon Williams.

Joint winners of the tractor and fork lift competition were Richard Drake and Rod Dix, who both made a time of 71 seconds for moving timber pallets.

An egg-throwing competition started rather carefully, with Bill Knowles and his son Matthew Knowles achieving an unbeatable target of 89 feet. Needless to say, attempts to break this distance resulted in a lot of broken eggs and some yolk-splattered catchers!

The skittles contest was a keenly fought one and resulted in a play-off during the evening for both the ladies’ event and the men’s event. The eventual winners were Ann Lippitt and Peter Smith respectively. The children’s prize was won by Matthew Knowles.

The day’s merriment was rounded off with a whole lamb spit-roasted by Mr. Ken Chant.