Draycot Foliat
Encyclopedia
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
in Wiltshire
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...
, on the back road between Chiseldon
Chiseldon
Chiseldon is a village in the borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England.The village lies on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, a mile south of junction 15 of the M4 motorway, on the A346 between Swindon and Marlborough...
to the north and Ogbourne St. George
Ogbourne St. George
Ogbourne Saint George is a village on the River Og about north of Marlborough, Wiltshire.-Manor:In the Middle Ages the manor of Ogbourne St George belonged to the Benedictine Bec Abbey in Normandy. Ogbourne Priory was founded in about 1149 as a daughter house of the abbey...
to the south. The nearest major town is Swindon
Swindon
Swindon is a large town within the borough of Swindon and ceremonial county of Wiltshire, in South West England. It is midway between Bristol, west and Reading, east. London is east...
which is about 5 miles (8 km) north. The most notable feature is probably the small Airstrip with its model helicopter instruction centre. There is one smallholding, called Draycot Farm, and a larger farm, Sheppard's Farm which comprises some 750 acres (300 hectares). Attached to Sheppard's farm is a tiny set of industrial buildings, most notably, the Intellectual Property Law Offices of Berry Davies LLP. In addition to this there are between ten and twenty other houses. The Og
River Og
The River Og is a short river in Wiltshire, England.It rises near the hamlet of Draycot Foliat, and flows south through Ogbourne St George, Ogbourne St Andrew and Ogbourne Maizey to Marlborough, where it joins the River Kennet....
, a tributary of the River Kennet
River Kennet
The Kennet is a river in the south of England, and a tributary of the River Thames. The lower reaches of the river are navigable to river craft and are known as the Kennet Navigation, which, together with the Avon Navigation, the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Thames, links the cities of Bristol...
(itself a tributary of the Thames), flows for about half of the year down the centre of the hamlet forcing the road into a sharp hairpin bend.
Farming history
In 1086 it was recorded that Draycot had enough land for six ploughs, and at the time, there were two ploughs and a serf on five hides held in the demesneDemesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
while there were three ploughs, four villeins and seven bordars on the remaining hides. There were in total 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) of pasture and eighteen of meadow at the time of the Domesday Survey. By 1842 there were 605 acres (2.4 km²) of arable land, 76 acres (307,561.4 m²) of meadow and 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) of woodland within the parish, split among the three farms, Draycot, Sheppard's and Kings. In 1849, King's farm was offered for sale, and bought by Draycot farm, giving the situation found today.
The name
Since the earliest mentions of the settlement the name has been spelt in many ways including combinations of Draycot, Draycote, Draycott, Dreycot, and Dreycott with Foliat, Folliatt, Foliatt and Folyat and occasionally just Crawecot or just Draycote. The preferred spelling currently is Draycot Foliat and that name appears on a local signpost, however many maps and similar resources give the spelling of Draycott Foliat, considered incorrect by the inhabitants.The church
Draycot Foliat had a small church, and the nearby village of Chiseldon was considered within the Draycot parish; however, the situation was reversed in 1571 when Edmund GheastEdmund Gheast
Edmund Gheast was a 16th-century cleric of the Church of England.Guest was born at Northallerton, Yorkshire, the son of Thomas Geste...
became the Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Sarum (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...
) and ordered the church be demolished. It was ordered, because neither Draycot nor neighbouring Chiseldon were wealthy enough to sustain their own rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
s, that the two parishes be merged. Because the Chiseldon parish was larger, it was proposed that the Draycot parish be subsumed by it, and because Chiseldon's church was in a state of disrepair, the Bishop ordered that Draycot's church be demolished and the raw materials used to repair Chiseldon. Tradition has it that the extension to Holy Cross church Chiseldon known as Draycot aisle was constructed from these raw materials. The resulting parish was expected to pay the sum of five Shillings and twelve pence to the Deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
of Wiltshire
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...
every Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
. This order was signed, not only by Edmund Gheast, but also by both Edmond Chandoyes and Thomas Chaderton, the patrons of Chiseldon and Draycot and Christopher Dewe, the vicar of Chiseldon.
In some weathers, the outline of the church can still be made out and it appears to have been about seventy-five feet long and twenty wide.
Today, Draycott Foliat is part of the parish of Chiseldon
Chiseldon
Chiseldon is a village in the borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England.The village lies on the edge of the Marlborough Downs, a mile south of junction 15 of the M4 motorway, on the A346 between Swindon and Marlborough...
with Draycot Foliat, part of the Ridgeway Benefice
Ridgeway Benefice
The Ridgeway Benefice consists of the Wiltshire parishes of Holy Cross Chiseldon with Draycot Foliat, Ogbourne St Andrew, which also serves the hamlets of Ogbourne Maizey and Rockley, Ogbourne St George. It is part of the in the Diocese of Salisbury of the Church of England, which is part of the...
in the Marlborough Deanery.
Chiseldon Camp
During the First World War there was a military camp at Draycot, and a long siding was built from the Midland and South Western Junction RailwayMidland and South Western Junction Railway
The Midland and South Western Junction Railway was, until the 1923 Grouping, an independent railway built to form a north-south link between the Midland and London and South Western Railways allowing the Midland and other companies' trains to reach the port of Southampton.-Formation:The M&SWJR...
at Chiseldon railway station
Chiseldon railway station
Chiseldon railway station was on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway in Wiltshire.- History :The station opened on 27 July 1881 on the Swindon Town to Marlborough section of the Swindon, Marlborough and Andover Railway...
to serve it. In 1930, a small railway station, Chiseldon Camp Halt
Chiseldon Camp railway station
Chiseldon Camp Halt was a small railway station on the Midland and South Western Junction Railway line south of Swindon in Wiltshire.-History:...
was built on the main line about a mile south of Chiseldon station and about half a mile from the camp. The line and both railway stations closed in 1961.
In the Second World War an American army base was built on the other side of the road from Draycot. When the war ended, the Americans returned home but left a series of roads behind them. There are a few houses on these roads, built after the site was auctioned off in 1980. These houses can be considered as part of Draycot Foliat as they are within the original boundaries of the parish.