Bowerchalke
Encyclopedia
Bowerchalke or Bower Chalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire
, England
, about 9 miles (14.5 km) southwest of Salisbury
. It is in the south of Wiltshire, about 1 miles (1.6 km) from the county boundary with Dorset
and 2 miles (3.2 km) from that with Hampshire
. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
, which is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation
. The River Chalke
, a classic chalk stream
, rises in the village and joins the River Ebble
at Broad Chalke
, flowing into the Hampshire Avon
south of Salisbury
. The Bowerchalke Downs
, also known as Woodminton Down, Marleycombe Down and Knowle Down, were defined as a 318 acres (128.7 ha) Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1971.
The church of the Holy Trinity dates from the 13th century, and Nobel prize
winning novelist William Golding
is buried in the churchyard.
The earliest known sign of inhabitation is the bowl barrow
on 'Marleycombe Down', which was probably built in either the Neolithic
or the Bronze age
(3300–1200 BCE). The Bowerchalke Barrel Urn was excavated in 1925 by Dr R Clay, from the bowl barrow and the repaired urn is part of the collection at Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes
Two hoards of gold and silver coins and rings from the 4th century were discovered by metal detector
ists near Bowerchalke in the 20th and 21st centuries. They were used by the Durotriges
, a Celt
ic tribe that lived in South Wiltshire and Dorset before the Roman occupation
, became Romanised by circa AD 79 and gave their name to Dorset. The first discovery was a hoard of 17 gold staters (coins), examples of which are now displayed in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. http://www.salisburymuseum.org.uk/galleries/index.php?Action=4&obID=28&prevID=34&oprevID=8 The second hoard of 2 gold rings and 5 silver coin
s dated to 389 AD was found in 2002 nearby the original
An Anglo-Saxon charter
of 826 records the name of the area including Bowerchalke and Broad Chalke as Cealcan gemere.
In 955 the Anglo-Saxon King Eadwig granted the nuns of Wilton Abbey
an estate called Chalke which included land in Broad Chalke and Bowerchalke. The charter records the village name as aet Ceolcan.
A charter in 974 records the name as Cheolca or Cheolcam.
The Domesday Book
in 1086 divided the Chalke Valley into eight manors, Chelke or Chelce or Celce (Bowerchalke and Broad Chalke
), Eblesborne (Ebbesbourne Wake
), Fifehide (Fifield), Cumbe (Coombe Bissett
), Humitone (Homington), Odestoche (Odstock
), Stradford (Stratford Tony
and Bishopstone
) and Trow (circa Alvediston
and Tollard Royal
).
In the 12th century the area was known primarily as the Stowford Hundred then subsequently as the Chalke Hundred. This included the parishes of Berwick St John, Ebbesbourne Wake
, Fifield Bavant
, Semley
, Tollard Royal
and 'Chalke'.
A charter of 1165 records the village name as Chalca, and the Pipe Rolls
in 1174 record it as Chalche.
The Curia Regis Rolls of 1207 records the village name as ChelkFeet of Fines, and another of 1242 records it as Chalke.
The name Burchelke first appeared in 1225.
The church of the Holy Trinity dates from the 13th century.
A Saxon charter of 1304 records the village name as Cheolc and Cheolcan. The Feudal Aids of 1316 uses Chawke, whilst a Saxon Cartulary of 1321 uses Cealce. the Tax lists of 1327, 1332 and 1377 variously record the name as Chalk Magna and Chalke Magna. Brode Chalk was first mentioned in 1380.
Circa 1536 Henry VIII
granted Chalke to William Herbert (later Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke) during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
. Henry VIII 'much valued' William Herbert, a successful and ambitious soldier, who also became his brother-in-law through his marriage to Anne Parr, sister of Henry's last wife Catherine Parr
. King Henry heaped favours and honours (Knighthood) upon Herbert and granted the estates of Wilton, Remesbury (north Wiltshire), and Cardiff Castle
.
Chalke was a comparatively large, disconnected estate that was separated into the two ecclesiastical parishes
of Broad Chalk and Bowerchalke in 1880. Additionally, much of the land of the new Bowerchalke parish was annexed from Fifield Bavant in 1885.
William Thick was born in 1845 at 'Misselfore Green' but left the village in 1868 to join the Metropolitan Police
at Whitechapel
in London (warrant No 49989). In 1889, while investigating the Whitechapel murders, Sergeant Thick was named in letters as a prospective perpetrator, to wit I have very good grounds to believe that the person who has committed the Whitechapel Murders is a member of the police force. ...Sergeant William Thick. (Sergeant Thick is no longer a suspect.)
From 1878 until 1924 a unique village newspaper was written, printed, published and sold for a farthing by the Reverend Edward Collett, documenting the social history of the village. Two original sets of the papers still exist. One set is retained by Bodleian Library
at Oxford and the second is on loan to the Wiltshire and Swindon Archive by its custodian Paul Lee, where it can be viewed in their offices at Chippenham. The papers were researched and published by Rex Sawyer as The Bowerchalke Parish Papers in 1989 after he had discovered the original printing press
in his garden. In 2004 they were republished as Collett's Farthing Newspaper: the Bowerchalke Village Newspaper, 1878-1924. Collett was also a keen amateur photographer and the majority of the photographs featured in the book are taken from his photograph album of that period.
Anglo-Canadian poet Marjorie Pickthall
(1883–1922) lived in Bowerchalke from 1913 to 1919, spending summers at Chalke Cottage where she wrote prolifically. She also attempted to start an enterprise in market gardening as part of the war
effort.
In 1919 the Pembroke family started to sell the individual farms.
First World War
poet Siegfried Sassoon
lived in the village for a while before moving to Heytesbury
.
The Nobel prize
winning novelist William Golding
, author of Lord of the Flies
, The Inheritors
, etc. is buried in the village churchyard of the Holy Trinity
, having lived the middle part of his life in a cottage on the banks of the River Chalke. He also named the Gaia hypothesis which was conceived by his fellow walking companion Dr James Lovelock
who lived in the village from circa 1960-1980 at both 'Pixies Cottage' Misselfore and at 'Clovers Cottage' Mead End. His daughter Christine Lovelock is an internationally noted athlete and artist, exhibiting paintings of both the village and nearby Marleycombe Down
.
International violinist Iona Brown
lived in the village at 'Misselfore Cottage' from 1968 until her death in 2004. When she took part in BBC Radio 4
Kaleidoscope explaining how hard it was to play her signature piece The Lark Ascending
by Ralph Vaughan Williams
, she said that the lark song during long walks on nearby 'Marleycombe Down' was a central tenet of her performance.
. The old school buildings now serve as the Village Hall.
The village pub, The Bell Inn, closed in 1988 and is now a residential dwelling known as 'Bell House'.
The once renowned village cricket
team, thanks in part to the dynasty of 'cricketing Gullivers' (Brian, David, Derek, Richard
and Robin), closed circa 1973/74. As a tribute to the village cricket team a website blog exists titled Memories of Bowerchalke Cricket Club.
Andy Barter
photographer was born and lived at Woodminton farm, Bowerchalke 1967.
The village Post Office
and General Stores closed in 2003. The nearest Post Office is in Broad Chalke.
An article about the closures called 'Village of the Damned', written by David McKie
, was published in The Guardian
on 30 June 2005. A response to this article titled 'Bowerchalke is not the village of the Damned' was written by Will Heaven, Assistant Comment Editor of the Daily Telegraph on 30 August 2009.
The village was the location for the fire in Stanley Kubrick
's 1975 film Barry Lyndon
based on William Makepeace Thackery's novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon
at 51°0′30.75"N 1°59′18.30"W.
In 2011 Bowerchalke's cricket ground became the main venue for the first Chalke Valley History Festival, organised by local author James Holland.
, a 128.6 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSI). The English Nature
citation from 1971 states :-
"This site is an extensive area of floristically
rich chalk grassland, a habitat which has become increasingly scarce due to agricultural intensification. It lies along an escarpment of the Middle Chalk overlooking the Ebble Valley
in South Wiltshire and has slopes of several aspects. Present on the site are plant and animal species with a nationally restricted distribution."
"Most of the site comprises species-rich turf in which Sheep's Fescue (Festuca Ovina) and Meadow Oat-grass
(Avenula pratensis) are major components whilst Quaking grass (Briza media
), Salad Burnet
(Sanguisorba minor), Small Scabious
(Scabiosa columbaria
), and Cowslip
(Primula veris
) are widespread and frequent."
"Several species considered indicative of continuous management in the absence of fertilisers, herbicides and ploughing also occur throughout. These include Clustered Bellflower
(Campanula glomerata), Frog Orchid
(Coeloglossum viride), Chalk Milkwort
(Polygala calcarea) and Betony (Stachys officinalis
)."
"There is, however, much variety within the vegetation and several species that are generally scattered in the turf such as Glaucous Sedge
(Carex flacca
), Spring-Sedge
(Carex caryophyllea), Wild Carrot
(Daucus carota) and Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria
) show localised abundance."
"Over quite extensive areas Dwarf Sedge
(Carex humilis) becomes dominant, a species largely restricted to the downs of south west Wiltshire
and Dorset. Two other species with a localised national distribution are early Gentian
(Gentianella anglica) and Musk Orchid (Herminium monorchis). The latter is found in an area particularly rich in Orchids including Pyramidal Orchid
(Anacamptis pyramidalis), Bee Orchid
(Ophrys apifera), Common Spotted Orchid
(Dactylorhiza fuchsii), Fragrant Orchid
(Gymnadenia conopsea) and Twayblade (Listera ovata)."
"Where the sward has been more lightly grazed Upright Brome
(Bromus erectus
), Hairy Oat-grass
(Avenula pubescens), Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata
) and False Oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius
) become more predominant. Associated with these are herbs such as Yellow Rattle
(Rhinanthus minor), Greater Knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa
) and Common Knapweed
(Centaurea nigra
) as well as species common to the whole site like Salad Burnet
and Cowslip
. In these areas there are also colonies of Meadow Saxifrage
(Saxifraga granulata
) and small populations of both Greater Butterfly Orchid
(Platanthera chlorantha
) and Adder's-tongue
(Ophioglossum vulgatum
)."
"Scrub is scattered on some of the slopes becoming dense in one or two places. There is a diversity of shrub
and tree
species; Hawthorn
, Blackthorn
, Wayfaring tree, Gorse
, Whitebeam
, Hazel
and ash
."
"Anthills produced by the Yellow Meadow ant
(Lasius flavus) are a feature of several slopes.
The grassland supports a variety of butterfly
species including Dingy Skipper
, Dark Green Fritillary
and Common Blue
. The Adonis Blue
is also found where its larval food plant, Horseshoe Vetch
(Hippocrepis comosa) grows in favourable conditions. In Britain this butterfly is confined to a limited number of chalk and limestone
grassland sites in the south."
"Birds typical of this habitat include Skylark
, Corn Bunting
, Yellowhammer
and Grey Partridge
. Both European Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker
visit the site to feed and Buzzard
and Kestrel
hunt the area."
weathering and erosion over the last 1 million years.
The unseen underlying rocks of Bowerchalke started to form in shallow seas surrounding volcanic islands up to 1,000 million years ago (Proterozoic
), circa 60
-70 degrees south
of the equator, the latitude of present day Argentina. 'Proto-Bowerchalke' and the rest of England and Wales
are part of Avalonia
, a micro-continent that broke away from the southern landmass, and was 50 degrees south
of the equator circa 500 mya. It joined with Baltica
just south of the equator 400 mya, and was crushed between Baltica, and Laurasia
(North America), and Gondwanaland (Africa, Australia, Antarctica and South America
) 350 mya whilst near the equator (Variscan orogeny
). Avalonia was landlocked and buffeted within Pangea just north of the equator 270 mya, and became part of a desert in the northern tropics 230 mya. Eventually it formed the west coast of Eurasia
as America split away to form the Atlantic Ocean
120 mya. Bowerchalke then laid under warm chalk forming seas until being uplifted 70 mya as Africa started to collide with the European plate in the (Alpine Orogeny
), and in the cooler shallow waters river clay sediments capped the chalk. In the last million years the periglacial weathering has completely removed several hundred feet of chalk.
The main portion of the village is formed on the unique 'Bowerchalke greensand inlier
' (an area of older rock completely surrounded by younger layers), highlighted in green on the adjacent map. It is not immediately obvious to the naked eye or on the standard Ordnance Survey
maps with 10 metre contours but the apex is strikingly characterised by the 'island' drawn on the Andrews 1773 map. Its presence can be detected in the friable sandy soils in the centre of the village.
The Greensand
inlier is a slightly dome shaped area of hard, coarse, olive-green coloured sandstone rock which has had its covering of softer chalk eroded away by 60 million years of weathering since the region was lifted out of the sea. The Cretaceous
Upper Greensand is circa 120 million years old and was deposited in brackish, oxygen depleted, water when Bowerchalke was located at around 35 degrees north
of the equator, roughly equivalent to southern Spain
and Portugal
. At that time it was still part of the supercontinent Pangea which was just starting to split and form the Atlantic ocean
. The nearest continuous Upper Greensand exposure is along the A30 in the Nadder
valley at Fovant
. The closest 'unique greensand inlier' is near Andover in Hampshire.
Surrounding the greensand is a ring of younger Lower Cretaceous Chalk
which is circa 100 million years old (darker blue on the adjacent map). The chalk was formed in warm, shallow, well oxygenated waters from the remains of micro-organisms
(coccolithophores), over millions of years. At this time the Atlantic Ocean was circa 100 miles wide and Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Somerset were a single island with rivers draining their nutrients into the warm sea that covered Wiltshire, Hampshire, the east of England
, Northern France, Denmark and northern Germany
.
Surrounding the lower chalk is a ringlike region of still younger Middle Cretaceous
chalk (circa 80 my)(light blue on the adjacent map). The whole area is bounded by the 'vast expanse' of Upper Cretacious chalk (shown white on the adjacent map) that continued to form when Bowerchalke was circa 45 degrees north, roughly equivalent to Bordeaux or the Dordogne in France. It was still under a shallow sea but Somerset
, Ireland
and Scotland
had become separate islands. Bowerchalke was probably 15–30 miles offshore from the 'coast' between Shaftesbury
and Dorchester.
Above the exposed Cretaceous chalk slopes of Marleycombe the hilltops are covered with a very young layer of Pleistocene
'Clay
with Flint
' that is circa 1-10 million years old and formed by alluvial
sediments in cold shallow waters (pink on the adjacent map). The flint
s were formed in multiple layers as the clay sediment built up, and were then concentrated into a single dense layer as the last million years of sub glacial weathering washed the minute clay particles away.
The steepness of the north facing Marleycombe Down contrasts with the gentle rolling slopes towards Ebbesbourne Wake
. This is mainly due to erosion during the sustained permafrost
and tundra
like conditions in the periglacial zones of multiple ice age
s. Although the southern limit of the main glaciation is a line across North Wiltshire
that corresponds to the M4 corridor
, the sun rarely melted the north facing snow pockets on Marlecombe Down, thus they eroded the soft chalks and clays by eating back into them, leaving the very steep scarp faces. The sporadic melting of snow and ice was forced to drain north east along the course of the River Chalke and River Ebble
in occasional summers, plus scouring the now dry channel that forms Church Street and Costers Lane. The southern boundary between the greensand and chalk, is concealed beneath a layer of heavy clay that has accumulated at the bottom Marleycombe Down due to the periglacial solifluction
. This scouring has also located the natural spring that supplies the River Chalke, whereby the rainfall from the surrounding watershed, having been filtered and channeled through the porous chalk, rises at the natural spring at 'Mead End' where the water table
sits on the underlying impervious greensand layer.
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, about 9 miles (14.5 km) southwest of Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
. It is in the south of Wiltshire, about 1 miles (1.6 km) from the county boundary with Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
and 2 miles (3.2 km) from that with Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs
Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs
The Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers of Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. It is the sixth largest AONB in the country....
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
, which is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation
Southern England Chalk Formation
The Chalk Formation of Southern England is a system of chalk downland in the south of England. The formation is perhaps best known for Salisbury Plain, the location of Stonehenge, the Isle of Wight and the twin ridgeways of the North Downs and South Downs....
. The River Chalke
River Chalke
The River Chalke is a small river within the English county of Wiltshire, the most significant tributary of the River Ebble.The river rises at Bowerchalke and flows through the Chalke Valley to join the Ebble at Mount Sorrel in Broad Chalke...
, a classic chalk stream
Chalk stream
Chalk streams have characteristics which set them apart from watercourses associated with other rock types.Aside from those with an interest in the geological and ecological disciplines, the term chalk stream is most widely used among a small group of fly fishermen ,...
, rises in the village and joins the River Ebble
River Ebble
The River Ebble is one the five rivers of the English city of Salisbury.Rising at Alvediston 12 miles to the west it joins the River Avon 2 miles south of Salisbury at Bodenham , after flowing through Ebbesbourne Wake, Fifield Bavant, Little London, Knapp, Mount Sorrel, Broad Chalke, Stoke...
at Broad Chalke
Broad Chalke
Broad Chalke, sometimes spelled Broadchalke , Broad Chalk or Broadchalk, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 8 miles west of the city of Salisbury. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 652 but this has now risen to around 850...
, flowing into the Hampshire Avon
River Avon, Hampshire
The River Avon is a river in the south of England. The river rises in the county of Wiltshire and flows through the city of Salisbury and the county of Hampshire before reaching the English Channel through Christchurch Harbour in the county of Dorset....
south of Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
. The Bowerchalke Downs
Bowerchalke Downs
Bowerchalke Downs , is a 128.6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1971. The downs encompass the entire southern outlook of the village of Bowerchalke in the Salisbury district of Wiltshire, England, and are adjacent to both the Hampshire and Dorset...
, also known as Woodminton Down, Marleycombe Down and Knowle Down, were defined as a 318 acres (128.7 ha) Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1971.
The church of the Holy Trinity dates from the 13th century, and Nobel prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winning novelist William Golding
William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
is buried in the churchyard.
Origins
It is not known when Bowerchalke was first inhabited or what it was called but fragmentary records from Saxon times indicate that the whole Chalke Valley area was thriving, the River Ebble also being known as the River Chalke.Earliest signs
The earliest known sign of inhabitation is the bowl barrow
Bowl barrow
Bowl Barrow is the name for a type of burial mound or tumulus. A barrow is a mound of earth used to cover a tomb. The bowl barrow gets its name from the fact that it looks like an upturned bowl...
on 'Marleycombe Down', which was probably built in either the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
or the Bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
(3300–1200 BCE). The Bowerchalke Barrel Urn was excavated in 1925 by Dr R Clay, from the bowl barrow and the repaired urn is part of the collection at Wiltshire Heritage Museum, Devizes
4th century
Two hoards of gold and silver coins and rings from the 4th century were discovered by metal detector
Metal detector
A metal detector is a device which responds to metal that may not be readily apparent.The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field...
ists near Bowerchalke in the 20th and 21st centuries. They were used by the Durotriges
Durotriges
The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman invasion. The tribe lived in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire and south Somerset...
, a Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic tribe that lived in South Wiltshire and Dorset before the Roman occupation
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
, became Romanised by circa AD 79 and gave their name to Dorset. The first discovery was a hoard of 17 gold staters (coins), examples of which are now displayed in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. http://www.salisburymuseum.org.uk/galleries/index.php?Action=4&obID=28&prevID=34&oprevID=8 The second hoard of 2 gold rings and 5 silver coin
Silver coin
Silver coins are possibly the oldest mass produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks. Their silver drachmas were popular trade coins....
s dated to 389 AD was found in 2002 nearby the original
9th century
An Anglo-Saxon charter
Anglo-Saxon Charters
Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s; the oldest surviving charters granted land to the Church, but from the eighth century surviving...
of 826 records the name of the area including Bowerchalke and Broad Chalke as Cealcan gemere.
10th century
In 955 the Anglo-Saxon King Eadwig granted the nuns of Wilton Abbey
Wilton Abbey
Wilton Abbey was a Benedictine convent in Wiltshire, England, three miles from Salisbury on the site now occupied by Wilton House. A first foundation was made as a college of secular priests by Wulfstan, Ealdorman of Wiltshire, about 773, but after his death was changed into a convent for twelve...
an estate called Chalke which included land in Broad Chalke and Bowerchalke. The charter records the village name as aet Ceolcan.
A charter in 974 records the name as Cheolca or Cheolcam.
11th century
The Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in 1086 divided the Chalke Valley into eight manors, Chelke or Chelce or Celce (Bowerchalke and Broad Chalke
Broad Chalke
Broad Chalke, sometimes spelled Broadchalke , Broad Chalk or Broadchalk, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 8 miles west of the city of Salisbury. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 652 but this has now risen to around 850...
), Eblesborne (Ebbesbourne Wake
Ebbesbourne Wake
Ebbesbourne Wake is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about twelve miles south-west of Salisbury.-Village life:Village life today, for the population of 226, centres around the unassuming Horseshoe Inn in...
), Fifehide (Fifield), Cumbe (Coombe Bissett
Coombe Bissett
Coombe Bissett is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, at . It is one of the villages in the River Ebble valley.-Description:...
), Humitone (Homington), Odestoche (Odstock
Odstock
Odstock is a village and civil parish about south of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England.In the woods about Odstock are earthworks. The meaning of the name is probably "Odo's stockade".Odstock's parish population was 118 in 1801, 158 in 1901 and 535 in 1971...
), Stradford (Stratford Tony
Stratford Tony
Stratford Tony, also spelt Stratford Toney, formerly known as Stratford St Anthony and Toney Stratford, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England...
and Bishopstone
Bishopstone, Salisbury
Bishopstone is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, one of the villages in the River Ebble valley. It is located about south-west of Salisbury. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 614....
) and Trow (circa Alvediston
Alvediston
Alvediston is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 91 . It is about eight miles east of Shaftesbury, at , and is the source of the River Ebble....
and Tollard Royal
Tollard Royal
Tollard Royal is a village and civil parish on Cranborne Chase, Wiltshire, England. The parish is on Wiltshire's southern boundary with Dorset and the village is southeast of the Dorset town of Shaftesbury....
).
12th century
In the 12th century the area was known primarily as the Stowford Hundred then subsequently as the Chalke Hundred. This included the parishes of Berwick St John, Ebbesbourne Wake
Ebbesbourne Wake
Ebbesbourne Wake is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about twelve miles south-west of Salisbury.-Village life:Village life today, for the population of 226, centres around the unassuming Horseshoe Inn in...
, Fifield Bavant
Fifield Bavant
Fifield Bavant /'fʌɪfiːld 'bavənt/ is a very small village and former civil parish in Wiltshire, England, seven miles south west of Wilton, midway between Ebbesbourne Wake and Broad Chalke....
, Semley
Semley
Semley is a village in Sedgehill and Semley civil parish in Wiltshire. The village is about north-east of Shaftesbury in neighbouring Dorset.-Manor:...
, Tollard Royal
Tollard Royal
Tollard Royal is a village and civil parish on Cranborne Chase, Wiltshire, England. The parish is on Wiltshire's southern boundary with Dorset and the village is southeast of the Dorset town of Shaftesbury....
and 'Chalke'.
A charter of 1165 records the village name as Chalca, and the Pipe Rolls
Pipe Rolls
The Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rolls, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury. The earliest date from the 12th century, and the series extends, mostly complete, from then until 1833. They form the oldest continuous series of records kept by...
in 1174 record it as Chalche.
13th century
The Curia Regis Rolls of 1207 records the village name as ChelkFeet of Fines, and another of 1242 records it as Chalke.
The name Burchelke first appeared in 1225.
The church of the Holy Trinity dates from the 13th century.
14th century
A Saxon charter of 1304 records the village name as Cheolc and Cheolcan. The Feudal Aids of 1316 uses Chawke, whilst a Saxon Cartulary of 1321 uses Cealce. the Tax lists of 1327, 1332 and 1377 variously record the name as Chalk Magna and Chalke Magna. Brode Chalk was first mentioned in 1380.
16th century
Circa 1536 Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
granted Chalke to William Herbert (later Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke) during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
. Henry VIII 'much valued' William Herbert, a successful and ambitious soldier, who also became his brother-in-law through his marriage to Anne Parr, sister of Henry's last wife Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
. King Henry heaped favours and honours (Knighthood) upon Herbert and granted the estates of Wilton, Remesbury (north Wiltshire), and Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Castle is a medieval castle and Victorian architecture Gothic revival mansion, transformed from a Norman keep erected over a Roman fort in the Castle Quarter of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The Castle is a Grade I Listed Building.-The Roman fort:...
.
19th century
Chalke was a comparatively large, disconnected estate that was separated into the two ecclesiastical parishes
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Broad Chalk and Bowerchalke in 1880. Additionally, much of the land of the new Bowerchalke parish was annexed from Fifield Bavant in 1885.
William Thick was born in 1845 at 'Misselfore Green' but left the village in 1868 to join the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
at Whitechapel
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
in London (warrant No 49989). In 1889, while investigating the Whitechapel murders, Sergeant Thick was named in letters as a prospective perpetrator, to wit I have very good grounds to believe that the person who has committed the Whitechapel Murders is a member of the police force. ...Sergeant William Thick. (Sergeant Thick is no longer a suspect.)
From 1878 until 1924 a unique village newspaper was written, printed, published and sold for a farthing by the Reverend Edward Collett, documenting the social history of the village. Two original sets of the papers still exist. One set is retained by Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
at Oxford and the second is on loan to the Wiltshire and Swindon Archive by its custodian Paul Lee, where it can be viewed in their offices at Chippenham. The papers were researched and published by Rex Sawyer as The Bowerchalke Parish Papers in 1989 after he had discovered the original printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
in his garden. In 2004 they were republished as Collett's Farthing Newspaper: the Bowerchalke Village Newspaper, 1878-1924. Collett was also a keen amateur photographer and the majority of the photographs featured in the book are taken from his photograph album of that period.
20th century
Anglo-Canadian poet Marjorie Pickthall
Marjorie Pickthall
Marjorie Lowry Christie Pickthall , was a Canadian writer who was born in England but lived in Canada from the time she was seven...
(1883–1922) lived in Bowerchalke from 1913 to 1919, spending summers at Chalke Cottage where she wrote prolifically. She also attempted to start an enterprise in market gardening as part of the war
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
effort.
In 1919 the Pembroke family started to sell the individual farms.
First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
poet Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC was an English poet, author and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's...
lived in the village for a while before moving to Heytesbury
Heytesbury
Heytesbury is a village in Wiltshire, England, in the Wylye Valley, about three miles south of Warminster.-History:...
.
The Nobel prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winning novelist William Golding
William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
, author of Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding about a group of British boys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves, with disastrous results...
, The Inheritors
The Inheritors (William Golding)
The Inheritors is the 1955 second novel by the British author William Golding, best known for Lord of the Flies. It was his personal favourite of all his novels and concerns the extinction of the last remaining tribe of Neanderthals at the hands of the more sophisticated Homo sapiens.-Plot...
, etc. is buried in the village churchyard of the Holy Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, having lived the middle part of his life in a cottage on the banks of the River Chalke. He also named the Gaia hypothesis which was conceived by his fellow walking companion Dr James Lovelock
James Lovelock
James Lovelock, CH, CBE, FRS is an independent scientist, environmentalist and futurologist who lives in Devon, England. He is best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, which postulates that the biosphere is a self-regulating entity with the capacity to keep our planet healthy by controlling...
who lived in the village from circa 1960-1980 at both 'Pixies Cottage' Misselfore and at 'Clovers Cottage' Mead End. His daughter Christine Lovelock is an internationally noted athlete and artist, exhibiting paintings of both the village and nearby Marleycombe Down
Bowerchalke Downs
Bowerchalke Downs , is a 128.6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1971. The downs encompass the entire southern outlook of the village of Bowerchalke in the Salisbury district of Wiltshire, England, and are adjacent to both the Hampshire and Dorset...
.
International violinist Iona Brown
Iona Brown
Iona Brown, OBE was a British violinist and conductor.Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury. Her parents Antony and Fiona were both musicians...
lived in the village at 'Misselfore Cottage' from 1968 until her death in 2004. When she took part in BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
Kaleidoscope explaining how hard it was to play her signature piece The Lark Ascending
The Lark Ascending
The Lark Ascending is a work by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, inspired by George Meredith's 122-line poem of the same name about the skylark. The work was written in two versions: violin and piano, written in 1914; and violin and orchestra, written in 1920. The orchestral version...
by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
, she said that the lark song during long walks on nearby 'Marleycombe Down' was a central tenet of her performance.
Modern history
The village school closed in 1976 and children from Bowerchalke now attend the school in neighbouring Broad ChalkeBroad Chalke
Broad Chalke, sometimes spelled Broadchalke , Broad Chalk or Broadchalk, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 8 miles west of the city of Salisbury. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 652 but this has now risen to around 850...
. The old school buildings now serve as the Village Hall.
The village pub, The Bell Inn, closed in 1988 and is now a residential dwelling known as 'Bell House'.
The once renowned village cricket
Village cricket
Village cricket is a term, sometimes pejorative, given to the playing of cricket in rural villages in England. Many villages have their own teams that play at varying levels of the English cricket pyramid....
team, thanks in part to the dynasty of 'cricketing Gullivers' (Brian, David, Derek, Richard
Richard Gulliver
Richard James Gulliver is a former English cricketer. Gulliver was a left-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born at Bowerchalke, Wiltshire....
and Robin), closed circa 1973/74. As a tribute to the village cricket team a website blog exists titled Memories of Bowerchalke Cricket Club.
Andy Barter
Andy Barter
Andy Barter is a world-renowned photographer living and working in London where he lives with his partner Psychologist, and Television Presenter Laverne Antrobus and their three children.He was born in Bowerchalke England in 1967...
photographer was born and lived at Woodminton farm, Bowerchalke 1967.
The village Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
and General Stores closed in 2003. The nearest Post Office is in Broad Chalke.
An article about the closures called 'Village of the Damned', written by David McKie
David McKie
David McKie is a British journalist and historian. He was deputy editor of The Guardian and continued to write a weekly column for that paper until 4 October 2007, with the byline "Elsewhere". Until 10 September 2005, he also wrote a second weekly column, under the pseudonym "Smallweed"...
, was published in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
on 30 June 2005. A response to this article titled 'Bowerchalke is not the village of the Damned' was written by Will Heaven, Assistant Comment Editor of the Daily Telegraph on 30 August 2009.
The village was the location for the fire in Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's 1975 film Barry Lyndon
Barry Lyndon
Barry Lyndon is a 1975 British-American period romantic war film produced, written, and directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray which recounts the exploits of an 18th century Irish adventurer...
based on William Makepeace Thackery's novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon
The Luck of Barry Lyndon
The Luck of Barry Lyndon is a picaresque novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in serial form in 1844, about a member of the Irish gentry trying to become a member of the English aristocracy...
at 51°0′30.75"N 1°59′18.30"W.
In 2011 Bowerchalke's cricket ground became the main venue for the first Chalke Valley History Festival, organised by local author James Holland.
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Marleycombe Down, Knowle Down and Woodminton Down comprise the entire southern outlook of the village. They are jointly known as the Bowerchalke DownsBowerchalke Downs
Bowerchalke Downs , is a 128.6 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1971. The downs encompass the entire southern outlook of the village of Bowerchalke in the Salisbury district of Wiltshire, England, and are adjacent to both the Hampshire and Dorset...
, a 128.6 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI). The English Nature
English Nature
English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006...
citation from 1971 states :-
"This site is an extensive area of floristically
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
rich chalk grassland, a habitat which has become increasingly scarce due to agricultural intensification. It lies along an escarpment of the Middle Chalk overlooking the Ebble Valley
River Ebble
The River Ebble is one the five rivers of the English city of Salisbury.Rising at Alvediston 12 miles to the west it joins the River Avon 2 miles south of Salisbury at Bodenham , after flowing through Ebbesbourne Wake, Fifield Bavant, Little London, Knapp, Mount Sorrel, Broad Chalke, Stoke...
in South Wiltshire and has slopes of several aspects. Present on the site are plant and animal species with a nationally restricted distribution."
"Most of the site comprises species-rich turf in which Sheep's Fescue (Festuca Ovina) and Meadow Oat-grass
Arrhenatherum
Arrhenatherum, commonly called Oat-grass or Button-grass, is a genus with seven species and subspecies from the grass family Poaceae. It grows in Europe and the Mediterranean. Wild forms resemble Wild Oat or Fescue...
(Avenula pratensis) are major components whilst Quaking grass (Briza media
Briza media
Briza media is a perennial grass in the family Poaceae and is a species of the genus Briza.Common name includes Quaking-grass, Cow-quake, Didder, Dithering-grass, Dodder-grass, Doddering Dillies, Doddle-grass, Earthquakes, Jiggle-joggles, Jockey-grass, Lady's-hair, Maidenhair-grass, Pearl Grass,...
), Salad Burnet
Salad Burnet
Sanguisorba minor is a plant in the family Rosaceae that is native to western, central and southern Europe; northwest Africa and southwest Western Asia; and which has naturalized in most of North America...
(Sanguisorba minor), Small Scabious
Scabiosa
Scabiosa is a genus in the teasel Family Dipsacaceae of flowering plants. Many of the species in this genus have common names that include the word scabious; however some plants commonly known as scabious are currently classified in related genera such as Knautia and Succisa; at least some of...
(Scabiosa columbaria
Scabiosa
Scabiosa is a genus in the teasel Family Dipsacaceae of flowering plants. Many of the species in this genus have common names that include the word scabious; however some plants commonly known as scabious are currently classified in related genera such as Knautia and Succisa; at least some of...
), and Cowslip
Primula veris
Primula veris is a flowering plant in the genus Primula. The species is found throughout most of temperate Europe and Asia, and although absent from more northerly areas including much of northwest Scotland, it reappears in northernmost Sutherland and Orkney.-Names:The common name cowslip derives...
(Primula veris
Primula veris
Primula veris is a flowering plant in the genus Primula. The species is found throughout most of temperate Europe and Asia, and although absent from more northerly areas including much of northwest Scotland, it reappears in northernmost Sutherland and Orkney.-Names:The common name cowslip derives...
) are widespread and frequent."
"Several species considered indicative of continuous management in the absence of fertilisers, herbicides and ploughing also occur throughout. These include Clustered Bellflower
Clustered bellflower
Campanula glomerata, common name Clustered Bellflower or Dane's Blood, is a species of the genus Campanula, belonging to the family Campanulaceae...
(Campanula glomerata), Frog Orchid
Frog Orchid
The Frog Orchid, or Coeloglossum viride, also known as the Long-Bracted Green Orchid and Dactylorhiza viridis is a monotypic genus of the family Orchidaceae generally found within the palearctic ecozone throughout the mid to northern United States through Canada, and in the British Isles and parts...
(Coeloglossum viride), Chalk Milkwort
Polygala
Polygala is a genus of about 500 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Polygalaceae, commonly known as milkwort or snakeroot...
(Polygala calcarea) and Betony (Stachys officinalis
Stachys officinalis
Stachys officinalis, is commonly known as Purple Betony, Betaine , Betonie , Bishopwort, Lousewort, Wild hop, Wood betony , or Bishop's wort....
)."
"There is, however, much variety within the vegetation and several species that are generally scattered in the turf such as Glaucous Sedge
Carex flacca
Carex flacca, with common names blue sedge, gray carex, glaucous sedge, or carnation-grass, , is a species of sedge native to parts of Europe and North Africa....
(Carex flacca
Carex flacca
Carex flacca, with common names blue sedge, gray carex, glaucous sedge, or carnation-grass, , is a species of sedge native to parts of Europe and North Africa....
), Spring-Sedge
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
(Carex caryophyllea), Wild Carrot
Wild carrot
Daucus carota is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe, southwest Asia and naturalised to northeast North America and Australia; domesticated carrots are cultivars of a subspecies, Daucus carota subsp...
(Daucus carota) and Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria
Anthyllis vulneraria
Anthyllis vulneraria is a medicinal plant native to Europe. The name vulneraria means "wound healer".-Description:...
) show localised abundance."
"Over quite extensive areas Dwarf Sedge
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
(Carex humilis) becomes dominant, a species largely restricted to the downs of south west Wiltshire
South West Wiltshire
South West Wiltshire is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
and Dorset. Two other species with a localised national distribution are early Gentian
Gentian
Gentiana is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Gentian family , tribe Gentianeae and monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With about 400 species, it is considered a large genus.-Habitat:...
(Gentianella anglica) and Musk Orchid (Herminium monorchis). The latter is found in an area particularly rich in Orchids including Pyramidal Orchid
Pyramidal orchid
The Pyramidal Orchid, Anacamptis pyramidalis, is an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the Genus Anacamptis of the family Orchidaceae...
(Anacamptis pyramidalis), Bee Orchid
Bee Orchid
The Bee Orchid is an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the family Orchidaceae.-Etymology:The name "Ophrys" derives from the Greek word "ophrys", meaning "eyebrow", while the Latin name of the species "apifera" refers to the bee-shaped lip.-Description: The Bee Orchid grows to a height of ....
(Ophrys apifera), Common Spotted Orchid
Common spotted orchid
The Common Spotted-orchid is acommonly occurring species of European orchid. It is widely variable in colour and height, ranging from 15 to 60 cm in height. The flower colour can vary from white to pale purple with purple spots. The lip has three lobes...
(Dactylorhiza fuchsii), Fragrant Orchid
Fragrant orchid
Fragrant Orchid is an herbaceous plant belonging to the family Orchidaceae.-Etymology:The name of the genus Gymnodenia is formed from Greek words "gymnos" meaning "nude" and "adèn" meaning "gland" and refers to the characteristics of the organs for secreting nectar...
(Gymnadenia conopsea) and Twayblade (Listera ovata)."
"Where the sward has been more lightly grazed Upright Brome
Bromus
Bromus is a large genus of the grass family . Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 to 400, but plant taxonomists currently recognize around 160–170 species...
(Bromus erectus
Bromus erectus
Bromus erectus, commonly known as either upright brome or meadow brome, is a dense, course, tufted perennial grass. It can grow to 120cm. Like many brome grasses the plant is hairy.-Description:...
), Hairy Oat-grass
Arrhenatherum
Arrhenatherum, commonly called Oat-grass or Button-grass, is a genus with seven species and subspecies from the grass family Poaceae. It grows in Europe and the Mediterranean. Wild forms resemble Wild Oat or Fescue...
(Avenula pubescens), Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata
Dactylis glomerata
Dactylis glomerata, Cock's-foot and orchard grass, is a common species of grass in the genus Dactylis, native throughout most of Europe, temperate Asia, and northern Africa.-Distribution:...
) and False Oat-grass (Arrhenatherum elatius
Arrhenatherum elatius
-Introduction:Arrhenatherum elatius, with the common names false oat-grass, tall oat-grass, tall meadow oat, onion couch and tuber oat-grass, is a perennial species of grass, common in the temperate regions of Europe....
) become more predominant. Associated with these are herbs such as Yellow Rattle
Yellow rattle
Yellow Rattle or Cockscomb, Rhinanthus minor, is a flowering plant in the genus Rhinanthus in the family Orobanchaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia....
(Rhinanthus minor), Greater Knapweed (Centaurea scabiosa
Centaurea scabiosa
Centaurea scabiosa or Greater Knapweed is a perennial plant of the genus Centaurea. It is native to Europe and bears purple flower heads.Greater knapweed is found growing in dry grasslands, hedgerows and cliffs on lime-rich soil...
) and Common Knapweed
Centaurea
Centaurea is a genus of between 350 and 600 species of herbaceous thistle-like flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere; the Middle East and surrounding regions are particularly species-rich...
(Centaurea nigra
Centaurea nigra
Centaurea nigra is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family known by the common names Lesser Knapweed, Common Knapweed and Black Knapweed...
) as well as species common to the whole site like Salad Burnet
Salad Burnet
Sanguisorba minor is a plant in the family Rosaceae that is native to western, central and southern Europe; northwest Africa and southwest Western Asia; and which has naturalized in most of North America...
and Cowslip
Primula veris
Primula veris is a flowering plant in the genus Primula. The species is found throughout most of temperate Europe and Asia, and although absent from more northerly areas including much of northwest Scotland, it reappears in northernmost Sutherland and Orkney.-Names:The common name cowslip derives...
. In these areas there are also colonies of Meadow Saxifrage
Saxifrage
Saxifraga is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 440 species of Holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages. The Latin word saxifraga means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin + ...
(Saxifraga granulata
Saxifraga granulata
Saxifraga granulata is a flowering plant of the genus Saxifraga in the family Saxifragaceae.-References:...
) and small populations of both Greater Butterfly Orchid
Orchidaceae
The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...
(Platanthera chlorantha
Platanthera chlorantha
Platanthera chlorantha, commonly known as the Greater Butterfly-orchid, is a species of orchid in the genus Platanthera. It can be found throughout Europe and Morocco. The name Platanthera is derived from Greek, meaning "broad anthers", while the species name, chlorantha, means "greenflowered".The...
) and Adder's-tongue
Ophioglossum
Ophioglossum is a genus of about 25-30 species of Ophioglossales in the family Ophioglossaceae, with a cosmopolitan but primarily tropical and subtropical distribution. The name Ophioglossum comes from the Greek, and means "snake-tongue".Adders-tongues are so-called because the spore-bearing stalk...
(Ophioglossum vulgatum
Ophioglossum vulgatum
Ophioglossum vulgatum, commonly known as the Southern adderstongue, is a species of the plant genus Ophioglossum. It is native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with a scattered distribution in Europe, Asia, northwestern Africa, and eastern North America.This plant grows from a...
)."
"Scrub is scattered on some of the slopes becoming dense in one or two places. There is a diversity of shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
and tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
species; Hawthorn
Common Hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna, known as common hawthorn or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of hawthorn native to Europe, northwest Africa and western Asia. It has been introduced in many other parts of the world where it is an invasive weed...
, Blackthorn
Blackthorn
Prunus spinosa is a species of Prunus native to Europe, western Asia, and locally in northwest Africa. It is also locally naturalised in New Zealand and eastern North America....
, Wayfaring tree, Gorse
Gorse
Gorse, furze, furse or whin is a genus of about 20 plant species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia.Gorse is closely related to the brooms, and like them, has green...
, Whitebeam
Whitebeam
The whitebeams are members of the Rosaceae family, comprising subgenus Aria of genus Sorbus, and hybrids involving species of this subgenus and members of subgenera Sorbus, Torminaria and Chamaemespilus. They are deciduous trees with simple or lobed leaves, arranged alternately...
, Hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
and ash
Ash tree
Fraxinus is a genus flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45-65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous though a few subtropical species are evergreen. The tree's common English name, ash, goes back to the Old English æsc, while the generic name...
."
"Anthills produced by the Yellow Meadow ant
Yellow meadow ant
The Yellow Meadow Ant, Lasius flavus, is one of the most common ants in Central Europe, although it also occurs in Asia, North Africa and eastern North America.The queen is 7–9 mm long, males 3–4 mm and workers 2–4 mm...
(Lasius flavus) are a feature of several slopes.
The grassland supports a variety of butterfly
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
species including Dingy Skipper
Dingy Skipper
The Dingy Skipper, Erynnis tages, is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. It ranges from Europe across Asia Minor and Central Asia to the Amur region.Erynnis tages favours open grassy habitats up to 2,000 metres above sea level...
, Dark Green Fritillary
Dark Green Fritillary
The Dark Green Fritillary is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family.The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic ecozone - Europe, Morocco, Iran , Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea and Japan.-Subspecies:...
and Common Blue
Common Blue
The Common Blue is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, widespread over much of the Palaearctic. Recently, Polyommatus icarus was discovered in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada by Ara Sarafian, an amateur entomologist who observed the butterfly from 2005 to 2008...
. The Adonis Blue
Adonis Blue
The Adonis Blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.-Habitat:The preferred habitat of the adonis blue is calcareous grasslands with hot and dry conditions.-Species decline:...
is also found where its larval food plant, Horseshoe Vetch
Horseshoe Vetch
Hippocrepis comosa, known as Horseshoe Vetch, is a flowering plant. It is the sole food of the butterfly species Polyommatus coridon, or the Chalkhill Blue....
(Hippocrepis comosa) grows in favourable conditions. In Britain this butterfly is confined to a limited number of chalk and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
grassland sites in the south."
"Birds typical of this habitat include Skylark
Skylark
The Skylark is a small passerine bird species. This lark breeds across most of Europe and Asia and in the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Even in the milder west of its range,...
, Corn Bunting
Corn Bunting
The Corn Bunting, Miliaria calandra, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae...
, Yellowhammer
Yellowhammer
The Yellowhammer, Emberiza citrinella, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae. It is common in all sorts of open areas with some scrub or trees and form small flocks in winter....
and Grey Partridge
Grey Partridge
The Grey Partridge, Perdix perdix, also known as the English Partridge, Hungarian Partridge, or Hun, is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds...
. Both European Green Woodpecker and Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
The Great Spotted Woodpecker , Dendrocopos major, is a bird species of the woodpecker family . It is distributed throughout Europe and northern Asia, and usually resident year-round except in the colder parts of its range...
visit the site to feed and Buzzard
Buzzard
A buzzard is one of several large birds, but there are a number of meanings as detailed below.-Old World:In the Old World Buzzard can mean:* One of several medium-sized, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings....
and Kestrel
Kestrel
The name kestrel, is given to several different members of the falcon genus, Falco. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around over open country and swoop down on prey, usually small mammals, lizards or large insects...
hunt the area."
Geology
The rocks of Bowerchalke that can be seen today were deposited underwater between 120 and 70 million years ago (mya) until they were then uplifted from the sea and have been sculpted by periglacialPeriglacial
Periglacial is an adjective originally referring to places in the edges of glacial areas, but it has later been widely used in geomorphology to describe any place where geomorphic processes related to freezing of water occur...
weathering and erosion over the last 1 million years.
The unseen underlying rocks of Bowerchalke started to form in shallow seas surrounding volcanic islands up to 1,000 million years ago (Proterozoic
Proterozoic
The Proterozoic is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The name Proterozoic comes from the Greek "earlier life"...
), circa 60
60th parallel south
The 60th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 60 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. No land lies on the parallel—it crosses nothing but ocean...
-70 degrees south
70th parallel south
The 70th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 70 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane in the Antarctic. The parallel passes through the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.Mariners regard the waters in the 70° south as "Godless"....
of the equator, the latitude of present day Argentina. 'Proto-Bowerchalke' and the rest of England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
are part of Avalonia
Avalonia
Avalonia was a microcontinent in the Paleozoic era. Crustal fragments of this former microcontinent underlie south-west Great Britain, and the eastern coast of North America. It is the source of many of the older rocks of Western Europe, Atlantic Canada, and parts of the coastal United States...
, a micro-continent that broke away from the southern landmass, and was 50 degrees south
50th parallel south
The 50th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 50 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and South America....
of the equator circa 500 mya. It joined with Baltica
Baltica
Baltica is a name applied by geologists to a late-Proterozoic, early-Palaeozoic continent that now includes the East European craton of northwestern Eurasia. Baltica was created as an entity not earlier than 1.8 billion years ago. Before this time, the three segments/continents that now comprise...
just south of the equator 400 mya, and was crushed between Baltica, and Laurasia
Laurasia
In paleogeography, Laurasia was the northernmost of two supercontinents that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from approximately...
(North America), and Gondwanaland (Africa, Australia, Antarctica and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
) 350 mya whilst near the equator (Variscan orogeny
Variscan orogeny
The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...
). Avalonia was landlocked and buffeted within Pangea just north of the equator 270 mya, and became part of a desert in the northern tropics 230 mya. Eventually it formed the west coast of Eurasia
Eurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
as America split away to form the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
120 mya. Bowerchalke then laid under warm chalk forming seas until being uplifted 70 mya as Africa started to collide with the European plate in the (Alpine Orogeny
Alpine orogeny
The Alpine orogeny is an orogenic phase in the Late Mesozoic and Tertiary that formed the mountain ranges of the Alpide belt...
), and in the cooler shallow waters river clay sediments capped the chalk. In the last million years the periglacial weathering has completely removed several hundred feet of chalk.
The main portion of the village is formed on the unique 'Bowerchalke greensand inlier
Inliers and outliers (geology)
An inlier is an area of older rocks surrounded by younger rocks. Inliers are typically formed by the erosion of overlying younger rocks to reveal a limited exposure of the older underlying rocks. Faulting or folding may also contribute to the observed outcrop pattern...
' (an area of older rock completely surrounded by younger layers), highlighted in green on the adjacent map. It is not immediately obvious to the naked eye or on the standard Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
maps with 10 metre contours but the apex is strikingly characterised by the 'island' drawn on the Andrews 1773 map. Its presence can be detected in the friable sandy soils in the centre of the village.
The Greensand
Greensand
Greensand or Green sand is either a sand or sandstone, which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment, that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called glauconies and consist of a mixture of mixed-layer clay...
inlier is a slightly dome shaped area of hard, coarse, olive-green coloured sandstone rock which has had its covering of softer chalk eroded away by 60 million years of weathering since the region was lifted out of the sea. The Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
Upper Greensand is circa 120 million years old and was deposited in brackish, oxygen depleted, water when Bowerchalke was located at around 35 degrees north
35th parallel north
The 35th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 35 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America and the Atlantic Ocean....
of the equator, roughly equivalent to southern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. At that time it was still part of the supercontinent Pangea which was just starting to split and form the Atlantic ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. The nearest continuous Upper Greensand exposure is along the A30 in the Nadder
River Nadder
The River Nadder is one of the chalk stream rivers of southern England, much sought after by fly fishermen because of its clear waters and abundance of brown trout. It is one of the main tributaries of the River Avon, rising from a number of springs and small streams at Donhead St. Mary in south...
valley at Fovant
Fovant
Fovant is a medium-sized village and civil parish in southwest Wiltshire, England. It is located between Salisbury and Shaftesbury on the A30 road in the Nadder valley. Its name is derived from the Old English Fobbefunta, meaning "spring of a man called Fobbe"...
. The closest 'unique greensand inlier' is near Andover in Hampshire.
Surrounding the greensand is a ring of younger Lower Cretaceous Chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
which is circa 100 million years old (darker blue on the adjacent map). The chalk was formed in warm, shallow, well oxygenated waters from the remains of micro-organisms
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
(coccolithophores), over millions of years. At this time the Atlantic Ocean was circa 100 miles wide and Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Somerset were a single island with rivers draining their nutrients into the warm sea that covered Wiltshire, Hampshire, the east of England
East of England
The East of England is one of the nine official regions of England. It was created in 1994 and was adopted for statistics from 1999. It includes the ceremonial counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. Essex has the highest population in the region.Its...
, Northern France, Denmark and northern Germany
Northern Germany
- Geography :The key terrain features of North Germany are the marshes along the coastline of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs, and Luch...
.
Surrounding the lower chalk is a ringlike region of still younger Middle Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
chalk (circa 80 my)(light blue on the adjacent map). The whole area is bounded by the 'vast expanse' of Upper Cretacious chalk (shown white on the adjacent map) that continued to form when Bowerchalke was circa 45 degrees north, roughly equivalent to Bordeaux or the Dordogne in France. It was still under a shallow sea but Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
had become separate islands. Bowerchalke was probably 15–30 miles offshore from the 'coast' between Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...
and Dorchester.
Above the exposed Cretaceous chalk slopes of Marleycombe the hilltops are covered with a very young layer of Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
'Clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
with Flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
' that is circa 1-10 million years old and formed by alluvial
Alluvial fan
An alluvial fan is a fan-shaped deposit formed where a fast flowing stream flattens, slows, and spreads typically at the exit of a canyon onto a flatter plain. A convergence of neighboring alluvial fans into a single apron of deposits against a slope is called a bajada, or compound alluvial...
sediments in cold shallow waters (pink on the adjacent map). The flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
s were formed in multiple layers as the clay sediment built up, and were then concentrated into a single dense layer as the last million years of sub glacial weathering washed the minute clay particles away.
The steepness of the north facing Marleycombe Down contrasts with the gentle rolling slopes towards Ebbesbourne Wake
Ebbesbourne Wake
Ebbesbourne Wake is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about twelve miles south-west of Salisbury.-Village life:Village life today, for the population of 226, centres around the unassuming Horseshoe Inn in...
. This is mainly due to erosion during the sustained permafrost
Permafrost
In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...
and tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
like conditions in the periglacial zones of multiple ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
s. Although the southern limit of the main glaciation is a line across North Wiltshire
North Wiltshire
North Wiltshire was a local government district in Wiltshire, England, formed on 1 April 1974, by a merger of the municipal boroughs of Calne, Chippenham, and Malmesbury along with Calne and Chippenham Rural District, Cricklade and Wootton Bassett Rural District and Malmesbury Rural District...
that corresponds to the M4 corridor
M4 corridor
The M4 corridor is the area in the United Kingdom adjacent to the M4 motorway, which runs from London to South Wales. The area is a major hub for high-technology companies...
, the sun rarely melted the north facing snow pockets on Marlecombe Down, thus they eroded the soft chalks and clays by eating back into them, leaving the very steep scarp faces. The sporadic melting of snow and ice was forced to drain north east along the course of the River Chalke and River Ebble
River Ebble
The River Ebble is one the five rivers of the English city of Salisbury.Rising at Alvediston 12 miles to the west it joins the River Avon 2 miles south of Salisbury at Bodenham , after flowing through Ebbesbourne Wake, Fifield Bavant, Little London, Knapp, Mount Sorrel, Broad Chalke, Stoke...
in occasional summers, plus scouring the now dry channel that forms Church Street and Costers Lane. The southern boundary between the greensand and chalk, is concealed beneath a layer of heavy clay that has accumulated at the bottom Marleycombe Down due to the periglacial solifluction
Solifluction
In geology, solifluction, also known as soil fluction, is a type of mass wasting where waterlogged sediment moves slowly downslope, over impermeable material. It occurs in periglacial environments where melting during the warm season leads to water saturation in the thawed surface material ,...
. This scouring has also located the natural spring that supplies the River Chalke, whereby the rainfall from the surrounding watershed, having been filtered and channeled through the porous chalk, rises at the natural spring at 'Mead End' where the water table
Water table
The water table is the level at which the submarine pressure is far from atmospheric pressure. It may be conveniently visualized as the 'surface' of the subsurface materials that are saturated with groundwater in a given vicinity. However, saturated conditions may extend above the water table as...
sits on the underlying impervious greensand layer.
External links
- BBC Domesday Project - Bowerchalke: Parish; Roads; Transport; Post & Telephone; Farming; Farmers' Attitudes; Arable Farming; Dairy Farming; Beef Rearing; Sheep Farming; Horse Breeding; Woodminton Hamlet; Woodminton Attitudes; Vernditch Chase; Natural History; Birds; Flowers; Anglican Church; Lifestyle.
- Images of Bowerchalke at Geograph.com
- The Durotriges at Romans in Britain
- Sergeant William Thick and the Whitechapel Murders
- Cranborne Chase - Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
- Cranborne Chase AoONB - Geology map showing Bowerchalke inlier
- Salisbury Diocesan Guild of Bell Ringers maintain a page with details of the Parish church.
- Wiltshire County Council Libraries and Heritage copy of Andrews' and Dury's map - 1773
- Wiltshire County Council Libraries and Heritage copy of Andrews' and Dury's map - 1810
- Bowerchalke at Wiltshire County Council - Community History Site
- Paintings of Bowerchalke by Christine Lovelock at 'Artists Against Windfarms'
- Paintings of Bowerchalke by Christine Lovelock at 'ChrisLovelock.co.uk'
