Ramsbury

Ramsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The village is in the Kennet Valley near the Berkshire boundary. The nearest towns are Hungerford about east and Marlborough about west. The much larger town of Swindon is about to the north. Until at least the late 19th century, Ramsbury was considered to be a town, and from 1894 to 1974 its name was used for the much larger Ramsbury Rural District and Marlborough and Ramsbury Rural District. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Axford about west of Ramsbury, and three smaller hamlets: New Town, close to Ramsbury to the southeast, and Knighton and Whittonditch, both about to the east. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 1,989.

Ramsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire. The village is in the Kennet Valley near the Berkshire boundary. The nearest towns are Hungerford about east and Marlborough about west. The much larger town of Swindon is about to the north. Until at least the late 19th century, Ramsbury was considered to be a town, and from 1894 to 1974 its name was used for the much larger Ramsbury Rural District and Marlborough and Ramsbury Rural District. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Axford about west of Ramsbury, and three smaller hamlets: New Town, close to Ramsbury to the southeast, and Knighton and Whittonditch, both about to the east. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 1,989.

History

The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded a large settlement of 156 households at Ramesberie. Littlecote Roman Villa is in the parish. The earliest written history of Ramsbury can be traced from the Saxon era, when the bishopric of Ramsbury was created in 909 AD. Throughout the Middle Ages, Ramsbury traditionally held two annual fairs – a livestock fair in the spring, and a hiring fair or Mop fair at Michaelmas. Nearby Marlborough's tradition of holding one Mop each side of Michaelmas ("Little Mop" on the Saturday before and "Big Mop" on the Saturday after) was originally a means to accommodate the (then) more prestigious Ramsbury Mop. By the 19th century, both fairs had become cattle fairs. The spring cattle fair (traditionally held on 14 May) ceased in 1939. The Michaelmas fair slowly lost its original agricultural connections, becoming purely a funfair in 1946 before ceasing in the 1950s. Between 1942 and 1946, during the Second World War, there was a Royal Air Force airfield known as RAF Ramsbury on a ridge of high ground to the south of the village. An annual carnival was instituted to replace the fairs and survived until the 1990s, but has in turn been replaced with a biennial street fair which sees the High Street closed from the Square to the Memorial Hall.

Ramsbury Building Society

The Provident Union Investment Society was founded in Ramsbury in 1846¹, becoming the Ramsbury Building Society in 1928. It had its headquarters in the Square until 1982 and took as its logo the ancient wych-elm which grew immediately opposite. Subsequent mergers saw the building society subsumed into the Regency and West of England Building Society, then the Portman Building Society, and finally the Nationwide Building Society.

Religion

Medieval episcopal see

In Saxon times, Ramsbury was an important location for the Church, and several of its early bishops went on to become Archbishops of Canterbury. The episcopal see of Ramsbury was created in AD 909 when Wiltshire and Berkshire were taken from the bishopric of Winchester to form the new diocese of Ramsbury. It was occasionally referred to as the bishopric of Ramsbury and Sonning. In 1058 it was joined with the bishopric of Sherborne to form the diocese of Sarum (Salisbury), and the see was translated to Old Sarum in 1075. Although no longer a diocesan see, the bishopric of Ramsbury is now an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury (see Bishop of Ramsbury), and is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.

Education

From 1786 to the 1840s, Edward and Arthur Meyrick ran a school at Ramsbury Hill House on Back Lane and a girls' school was funded by Louisa Read of Crowood House (d.1879¹). In 1878, Mary Jane Lanfear left £600 to fund apprenticeships for local boys. The Lanfear Educational Trust still operates, making small educational grants to young people in Ramsbury and Axford. In 1875, a board school was built on Back Lane, opposite Isles Road. It is now a private residence. Today, Ramsbury Pre-School and Primary School are in modern buildings on Isles Road, while secondary education is provided at St John's School, Marlborough.

Governance

Ramsbury has an elected parish council and also falls within the area of the Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all of the most significant local government services. The parish was part of Ramsbury Rural District from 1894 until 1934, Marlborough and Ramsbury Rural District until 1974, and Kennet District until the creation of the unitary authority in 2009.

The Tree

For centuries, Ramsbury was known for its Tree – a large wych elm which stood in the Square at the heart of the village. The Tree was first mentioned in a report in 1751, by which time it must have already been well established. In its prime, its spread was said to have touched the buildings on all sides of the Square. Photographs from the early 20th century show the Tree in apparently fine health, although perhaps reduced from its former size. But, by the 1920s, the Tree was in noticeable decline. It gradually succumbed to old age, eventually dying in 1983 by which time it would have been well over 230 years old. The gnarled stump remained in the Square for several years while a replacement was discussed. Many villagers wanted to keep the old tree, dead or not, where it had stood for so many centuries. However, after a referendum which threatened to split the village, it was eventually agreed that it should be replaced. Over the course of the second half of the 20th century, Dutch elm disease had ravaged the native populations of elm species and so an oak sapling (sponsored by Portman Building Society) was sourced from Epping Forest and planted to replace the old tree.

Notable residents

Local people are known as Ramsbury Bulldogs, contrasting with the neighbouring village of Aldbourne, where the locals are known as Dabchicks. The village's notable residents have included Sir Francis Burdett (1770–1844), a radical Whig politician, and his daughter Angela Burdett-Coutts. In 1837 Angela became the richest woman in England when she inherited her grandfather's fortune. Over several years she gave most of this money away to good causes: nearly three million pounds by the time she died in 1906¹. Both lived in Ramsbury Manor. Other owners of the manor include William Rootes (from 1958), industrialist and motor manufacturer; and Harry Hyams (from 1964 until his death in 2015), property developer. Stefan Persson, the owner of H&M, has a main residence on the outskirts of Ramsbury. He also owns the Ramsbury microbrewery which brews Ramsbury Gold bottled beer, amongst others. Composer David Fanshawe lived near Ramsbury until his death in July 2010.

Food and drink

There are two pubs situated in Ramsbury: The Bell on the Square and the Crown and Anchor on the corner of Crowood Lane and Oxford Street, as well as the Royal British Legion's branch on the High Street. In addition to the Ramsbury Brewery, Distillery and Smokehouse, several other notable local food and drink producers are based in Ramsbury. The Ramsbury Tea Company, in particular, has won several national awards.

References

Further reading

External links

Ramsbury & Axford website Ramsbury Raven – magazine-style website Ramsbury at Wiltshire Community History – Wiltshire Council

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1364148797 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.