Category: Wylye: Gleanings

From Wylye, Fisherton Delamere And Deptford Parish Plan, January 2014:

The Shop.
The village shop and post office [in Wylye] are a particularly attractive feature of the village and a lifeline to many in the parish. 90% of respondents use the shop at least once a week and 30% go five or more times. 75% also use the post office once or more a week, and we all know how invaluable the newspaper delivery is and the amount of work that the present management puts into this.

From Wylye, Fisherton Delamere And Deptford Parish Plan, January 2014:

Twenty two council houses were built at Wylye in the 1930s, 50s, 60s and 70s. Between 1970 and 1995 nine private houses were built in Church Street and 18 in terraces between Teapot Street and Town’s End. The whole village was designated a conservation area in 1975. These new houses are reflected in the population figure, which rose by 100 between 1981 and 1991. The village still has a church, post office and pub, but sadly the school closed in 1973. Wylye was bypassed in 1975 when a section of the A303 was moved to farm land west of the village. The Swan Inn was a victim of this change as there was no longer enough passing trade to support two public houses.

Friday 1st November 2013

To Let. Four bed farm cottage on private estate at Ballington, Wylye. Large kitchen/breakfast room. Reception with woodburner. Conservatory and large garden. £850 pcm. £35 pcm for water. Sorry no pets/children. EPC – E53. Admin fee payable. The following fees will apply: Referencing £100 + VAT per person over 18. Guarantor £30 + VAT per person (where applicable). Legal fees £120+VAT per property. Apply Jolly Property Services, Home Farm Road, Wilton, Salisbury, SP2 8PJ. Telephone 01722 741188. www.jolly.co.uk

From the Wylye Valley Life magazine, Friday 1st June 1984:

Advertisement

Situations Wanted. Mature, reliable, state registered nurse offers babysitting service. Please write or call at 7 Chequers Cottages, Wilton Road, Wylye.

The school at Wylye closed in 1973.

The Church Of Saint Mary The Virgin, Wylye, by S.F. Buxton, M.A., Churchwarden. 1971.

Wylye is an agricultural parish, extending up into the downs of Salisbury Plain on the North and South sides of the River Wylye. The Northern part of the parish, known as Deptford (possibly the Deep Ford) was a separate manor, appearing in Domesday Book as the property of Edward of Salisbury, with a mill, long since disappeared, and a Chapel of Ease now used as a barn. The manor passed to the Mompesson family, who were wealthy landowners and wool merchants in the neighbourhood, and from them in the eighteenth century to the Dukes of Somerset, who finally sold their property at Deptford in the early part of the present [20th] century. Wylye village is on the South side of the valley, and is joined to Deptford by a causeway along which runs a stretch of the A303 road from London to Exeter crossing in this short distance no less than seven bridges. The causeway itself probably dates back from the eighteenth century, and there is a small toll cottage of about this date half way across the valley.

The Manor of Wylye formed part of the Estates of the Abbess of Wilton since before the Norman conquest in 1066 until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII in about 1545, when it passed into the possession of William Herbert, later Earl of Pembroke, whose descendant, the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery sold the Wylye property in 1918, mainly to the occupiers. Wylye formed part of the Hundred of Branch and Dole, a combination of two earlier hundreds, Brenchesburgh and Dollesfield, which were merged between the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and King Charles I. The hundreds were groups of parishes, rather similar to Rural Districts today, and it is worth noting that Deptford formed part of a different hundred, the hundred of Heytesbury. The Court of the Hundred of Branch and Dole, at which the business of local government was transacted, took place twice a year at the corner of the hedge at Stapleford, a village near the centre of the hundred and therefore convenient for the purpose.

The parish has few records of more than local interest although the registers date back to 1581, and there are other records of local interest. It is worth mentioning that Pope Nicholas IV in 1291 granted the tenths to King Edward I for a Crusade, and Wylye church, probably then newly built, which was assessed at £10, paid £1 in tax. During the present century [20th] the parish has been united with the adjoining parish of Fisherton de la Mere, and more recently, also with Stockton to form a united benefice.

Wylye Church is dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin. It stands on a low mound in the centre of the village, by the main road. The lych gate was put up in 1885 in memory of the Reverend J.S. Stockwell, who, when rector, was mainly responsible for the rebuilding of the Church. There is a row of Irish yews along the path, which passes close to the village War Memorial. Near this there has been until now an unusual sundial on an eighteenth century plinth, which has been found to be the former font, which was replaced in 1846 when the present font was given by Mr. John Davis, of Bapton Manor, then in the parish of Fisherton de la Mere. It is intended to put the old font inside the Church for its better preservation. It is recorded as having been originally installed in 1765, and the following year new stocks were set up. Some of the gravestones and tombs are of good design and workmanship, and many date back to the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. They are mainly of stone from the nearby quarries of Chilmark and Tisbury. The large and flamboyant tomb by the South gate of the churchyard dates from the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century. The tradition, quoted in the History of Wiltshire, written by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, of Stourhead and published in 1825, is as follows: “a person by the name of Popjay, of mean extraction, went abroad in his early youth, and after some years returned to Wily in his carriage, and with a show of having acquired considerable wealth; he caused this expensive tomb to be built, and the bodies of his mother and sister, who had been dead some time, to be disinterred and placed within it, but shortly after he left the country, and the tomb still remains unpaid for.” There is however, a local tradition that the rector at the time subsequently paid for the tomb and was himself buried in it. The yew tree near the East end of the Church is recorded as having been planted in 1636, and at the same time a row of elms, long since disappeared, were planted, rather unsuitably, along the South side of the Churchyard. In the Churchyard boundary wall there is a stone with the initials I.S., a cross, and the date 1672, carved on it. I.S. were the initials of the Rector, John Stevens, and the stone was probably set in the boundary wall as a boundary mark.

Except for the tower, which is fifteenth century, the whole of the church was rebuilt in 1846, through the efforts of the rector, the Reverend J.S. Stockwell, and only fragments of earlier work remain. The original church consisted only of chancel, tower and nave, and the North aisle and vestry were added when it was rebuilt. The tower is a fine one, with interesting stonework, including rainwater spouts carved as gargoyles. The oak West door is probably the original one, and two other doors, at the entrance to, and on the tower staircase also appear to be original. A church clock was first provided in 1678, and a new one was installed in 1775, probably the one we still have.

Apart from the tower, the only external feature of the church to survive the restoration is the small carved stone panel of the Crucifixion above the porch, which may be from a mediaeval cross in the Churchyard. The Parochial Church Council are concerned at the serious weathering of this and propose to move it under cover inside the church. The crocket built into the wall over it appears to be thirteenth century work, as does a similar crocket built into the wall in the vestry, and it is therefore reasonable to suppose that the original church was built then.

The interior of the church is characteristically nineteenth century. The nave is parted from the North aisle by octagonal pillars, and the pews, of pitch pine, date from the rebuilding; the pew doors were fitted shortly after, at the parish expense and paid for by a rate levied for the purpose, at the request of the holders of the appropriated seats. The font was given shortly after as previously stated. The organ, built by Mr. Keeler, of Bristol, was installed in 1851 at a cost of £85. There are several memorial tablets to members of the Locke and Perrior and other families which are no longer represented in Wylye, and one of them in memory of William Perrior gives details of the Perrior Charity which is still distributed. The capital of this seems to have been invested in 2 ½ per cent. Consols at about par, and the real value of the Charity, as of so many others has largely disappeared.

Practically all the stained glass dates from the rebuilding, and in the accounts painted glass is shown as costing £58. The windows of the South side of the nave show the arms of the Dukes of Somerset and the Earls of Pembroke. The other armorial windows commemorate former rectors, except for the coat of arms in the West window of the North aisle, which is that of Mr. John Davis, of Bapton. I have found no explanation of the patchwork window at the West end of the North aisle, and few or none of the fragments appear to be earlier than the nineteenth century. The East window is a three light lancet window, and the stonework internally dates from the thirteenth century – externally it is nineteenth century – and apart from the tower this is the only important piece of early stonework left in the structure of the church.

The parish book gives an interesting account of the determined efforts of the rector to get the church rebuilt, efforts which lasted for a number of years before they were finally successful, and indeed he had eventually to guarantee large part of the cost as well as to collect large donations from the Earl of Pembroke and his family, the Duke of Somerset, the Bishop of Salisbury and other donors from outside the parish. The architect was Mr. T.H. Wyatt, of Messrs. Wyatt and Brandon, and the final cost was as follows, as set out in a vestry minute for 1846.

Messrs. Hale and Trappe, the contractor . . . . . £955 18s. 3d.
Mr. Miller. Painted glass, etc. . . . . £58 0s. 0d.
The Faculty . . . . £10 1s. 0d.
Messrs. Wyatt and Brandon, architects . . . £63 13s. 0d.
Removing earth in the Churchyard and sundry incidental expenses . . . £39 3s. 9d.
Total . . . . £1125 16s. 0d.

The pulpit, lectern and prayer desk were taken from the Church at Wilton when it was demolished, and were given to Wylye by Lord Herbert, later Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery. They are of richly, if rather crudely carved oak, and the pulpit is dated 1628. The lectern appears to have been made up of two panels from the pulpit, possibly originally forming the door.

There are carved flagstones in the central aisle, commemorating members of the Hayter family, and dating from the eighteenth century. One of this family, Mrs. Sarah Hayter, was the founder of the almshouse in Fisherton Street, Salisbury. There are four further carved armorial stones in the Sanctuary commemorating former Rectors and their wives; these were originally paving stones and are now erected at the sides of the sanctuary. They date from the early eighteenth century. They are of Keinton stone, from Keinton Mandeville in Somerset. The floor tiles, which replaced them when the Church was restored in 1844, were then much admired. The altar incorporates all that remain of the old communion table, the four Jacobean carved legs, and the two end stretchers. There are also three oak sanctuary chairs, all presumably dating from before the middle of the seventeenth century. The large one has been much “made up” with other pieces of carved wood, the two smaller, of a type often seen in churches in this county, are of interest.

The nave is lit from three fine matching brass chandeliers, now wired for electricity; one of them is inscribed “The gift of Thomas Mease 1814” while in the North aisle are smaller ones of similar type. This also came from Wilton Church, to which it had given by Thomas Mease. The “Gothic” type chandeliers in the Chancel probably date from the restoration in 1848, and the Victorian oil lamps hanging in the Sanctuary were given in memory of the Reverend H.T. Powell, a former Rector.

The Royal Coat of Arms, now in the North aisle used to hang above the chancel arch, and was moved a few years ago when it was cleaned and repaired. It shows the arms of George III and dates from 1816, towards the end of his long reign, incorporating on an escutcheon the arms the Kingdom of Hanover, which combines the arms of Brunswick, Luneburg and Westphalia over the Royal Arms of Great Britain.

The tower contains, beside the clock, which is mentioned earlier, a peal of five bells, with the following inscriptions:-

Treble. “John Fricker, John Furnell. Churchwardens 1697” a maker’s mark, a shield with chevron between three bells, two and one.

Second. “Mears and Stainbank 1898. The gift of E.J Lush, many years Churchwarden. To commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.”

Third. “Ave Maria.” In Lombardic characters. This bell is possibly fifteenth century.

Fourth. “Recast 1898. Mears and Stainbank. Jas. Burrough Bellfounder in Devizes fecit 1755. Mr. George Patient and Mr. John Perrior Churchwardens.”

Tenor. “Give thanks to God. I.W. 1587.” The initials I.W. will be those of John Wallis, a Salisbury bell founder 1578-1624.

The Church plate consists of the following:-

SILVER GILT CHALICE. Hallmarked. Date letter Lombardic H for 1525. Maker’s mark a fleur de lys surmounted by a vertical dotted stroke, elsewhere described as a sceptre. The Black letter inscription reads CALICEM. SALUTARI. ACCIPIUM. ET. IN. NOMI+ and on the base in Lombardic lettering IN DOMINO CONFIDO.

SILVER COMMUNION CUP. Hallmarked. Date letter Black letter E for 1562. Maker’s mark a type of fleur de lys. Bought with the next item, a paten of similar type, at Christies by a former Rector and given to the Church.

SILVER COVER PATEN. Hallmarked. Black letter M for 1569 and inscribed date 1570.

ALMS DISH. Hallmarked. Date letter Black letter Capital O for 1671. Maker’s mark an anchor between initials T.H. The armorial bearings (impaling those of his wife) and crest of the donor, an inscription: Deo Trin-Uni optimo maximo patinam argenteam dat dicat consecratque Johannes Stevens hujus ecclesiae de Wyly Rector in usum sacramental in coena Domini Anno. Dom. 1686.

TANKARD. Hallmarked on Lid and rim. Date letter Black letter A for 1678. Maker’s mark TK over a pellet. This piece is of secular origin. Inscribed as the Almsdish above, substituting the words “poculum hoc argenteum” for “patinam argenteam.”

SILVER BOWL. Hallmarked. Date letter F for 1781. Maker’s mark DS over RS. Of secular design. Presented by the Reverend John Eyre, perpetual curate from who is buried here. Inscribed WYLEY CHURCH. 1781.

SILVER GILT FLAGON. Hallmarked London. Date letter i for 1864 maker’s mark EB over JB. Inscribed. Presented to the Inhabitants of the Parish of Wylye by John, Elizabeth and Margaret Fleetwood in memory of their cousin William Perrior who died Dec. 13, 1864.

SILVER GILT PATEN. Matching the above inscription. Presented to the Church of Wylye by Anne, wife of the Revd. J.S. Stockwell, Christmas 1864.

SILVER WAFER BOX. Hallmarked. Date letter I for 1944. Inscribed “Given by Sarah Collins, Easter 1945.”

There are three Charities still annually distributed to the people of Wylye. The earliest dates from 1581 when Dame Mervyn, of the important family of Mompesson, who owned what is now the Bathampton Estate in the adjoining parish, together with his property in Wylye parish, in her will charged her property at Bathampton with a rent charge to provide four quarters of wheat, 25 ells of canvas t 1/- an ell, and 25 yards of narrow blue cloth to be distributed annually. This charity is now distributed as an annual bread distribution.

In 1678 Christopher Willoughby, by deed, gave the interest on £200 to the poor, and added a further £20 in 1681. The interest is payable annually by the Mayor and Corporation of Marlborough to the Rector and Churchwardens.

In 1684 William Perrior bequeathed £500 to the Rector and Churchwardens, the interest on which was to be distributed to five deserving poor men of the parish. This gift is commemorated on Mr. Perrior’s memorial tablet, in the Nave of the Church.

Finally, Wylye parish has a most interesting set of parish registers, starting in 1581, together with other records, including lists of the beneficiaries of the Charities. It is interesting that at least one of the families whose name appears in the registers before 1600, still lives in the parish. The list of Rectors begins in 1318 and is continuous until the present day.

The writer wishes to acknowledge the help given and interest shown by a number of Wylye parishioners, by the Rector, and by the former Rector, the Rev. W.J.F. Groves. Particular thanks are due to Mr. Norman Drinkwater, F.S.A., for advice and help, and for his suggesting that the font which had been removed from the Church in 1846 might be incorporated in the Sundial in the Churchyard.

From the Wylye Deanery Magazine, July 1967:

Wylye School. The Parish Council called a Parish Meeting on Tuesday, 13th June. In addition to the members of the Council 14 other people attended. Col. Jeans explained the plans for the future of the School and said that there seemed no immediate prospect of closure for a few years but that the plan was eventually a merger with Steeple Langford. Meanwhile we are glad to welcome Mrs. Sharp and to know that Mrs. Bowen Jones is making a good recovery.

Friday 12th May 1967

Future trunk road improvements include a bypass for Wylye, with a complex fly-over and a clover leaf pattern to join the A303 with the A36 at Deptford, planned for 1972-1973.

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

Wylye
Covering an area of 3,974 acres, Wylye is situated on the river from which it takes its name, and is served by its own railway station. The parish is eleven miles from Salisbury and ten miles from Warminster.

The Parish Church of St. Mary the Virgin was rebuilt in 1844, of stone, in the Perpendicular style, but contains the oak pulpit and lectern used by Thomas Dampier, who served the church here for over seventy years. The Registers date from 1581. There is also a Congregational chapel and a village hall.

The district is well known to antiquarians because of the number of ancient British camps which have been discovered in the locality.

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