Corsley

Corsley
Corsley
 Corsley shown within Wiltshire
Population 681 (in 2011)[1]
OS grid referenceST8275946764
Civil parishCorsley
Unitary authorityWiltshire
Ceremonial countyWiltshire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Warminster
Postcode district BA12
Dialling code 01373
Police Wiltshire
Fire Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
WebsiteSouth West Wiltshire
List of places
UK
England
Wiltshire

Coordinates: 51°13′09″N 2°14′49″W / 51.219303°N 2.246883°W / 51.219303; -2.246883

Corsley is a village and civil parish 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Warminster in Wiltshire, England, at grid reference ST828467. The parish includes seven hamlets: Corsley Heath (generally regarded as the centre of the parish), Lane End, Longhedge, Lyes Green and three Whitbournes.

Much of the parish was originally part of the Longleat Estate and part of the Longleat Safari Park lies within the parish boundary.

Corsley Mill is now in Chapmanslade parish.

History

Domesday Book says of Corsley "Azor holds one hide in Corselie... Here is ploughed land... and the mill pays 40 pence. And the wood is a furlong in length and half a furlong broad. It is worth 20 shillings."[2] In 1232, Henry III granted the manor of Corsley to Godfrey de Crawcumb, with the right to hold an annual fair on 20 July (the feast of St Margaret) and a weekly market on Fridays.[3]

By about 1250, there were four separate manors, Corsley, Little Corsley, Huntenhull, and Whitbourne.[4]

In 1544, after the monastery at Maiden Bradley had been dissolved, the manor of Whitbourne was sold and the chapel of St John there disappeared.[5] In 1579, Little Corsley was bought by Walter Hungerford of Farleigh Hungerford Castle. In 1539, the manor of Corsley was granted to Edward Seymour, who leased it to his steward John Thynne.[6] In 1560 Thynne was himself granted the manor of Corsley and lived at the present Manor Farm from 1563 to 1568 while building Longleat House.[7]

After the death of Thynne in 1580, his widow, known as Dame Dorothy, lived at Manor Farm as a dower house. At the same time, Sir Walter Raleigh, who was in disgrace, was living at a farm near St Margaret's parish church, Corsley. He and his brother Carew Raleigh used to visit Dame Dorothy, who married Carew Raleigh.[8]

Corsley House was built for the Barton family in 1814, designed by the Bath architect John Pinch the elder as a Greek revival mansion around a previous house.

Sturford Mead was built in 1820 by John Pinch in the Greek revival style for H.A. Fussell, a clothier and dyer from Frome. It was sold to the Longleat estate in 1854: in the 1930s it was occupied by Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath, then Viscount Weymouth, and his first wife Daphne. The gardens were designed by Russell Page.

Local government and MP

Corsley elects a parish council. Most local government services are provided by Wiltshire Council, which has its offices in nearby Trowbridge. The village is represented in Parliament by the MP for South West Wiltshire, Andrew Murrison and in Wiltshire Council by Fleur de Rhé-Philipe.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Wiltshire Community History". Corsley Census Information. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Gough, P. H., The Story of Corsley and its Church (2nd edition, 1974) p. 9
  3. ↑ Gough, p. 13
  4. ↑ Gough, p. 11
  5. ↑ Gough pp. 14-15
  6. ↑ Gough, p. 15
  7. ↑ Gough, p. 18
  8. ↑ Gough, pp. 18-19

Davies, Maud Frances. "Life in an English Village: An Economic and Historical Survey of the Parish of Corsley in Wiltshire." 1909, London, Pub. T.F. Unwin.

External links

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