Kimpton is a village and civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the Test Valley

Test Valley

Test Valley is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England, named after the valley of the River Test. Its council is based in Andover....

 district of 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...

, England. The village is situated west of Andover

Andover, Hampshire

Andover is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton some 18.5 miles west of the town of Basingstoke, 18.5 miles north-west of the city of Winchester and 25 miles north of the city of Southampton...

, in the north of the county, and has a boundary with Ludgershall

Ludgershall, Wiltshire

Ludgershall is a town and civil parish north east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, at grid SU264509. The population was: 535 in 1831; 1,906 in 1951; and 3,775 in 2001. Ludgershall is now officially a town.-Historical features:...

, 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...

. South of Kimpton there is Thruxton

Thruxton Circuit

Thruxton Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near the village of Thruxton in Hampshire, England which is used to host a number of motorsport events including British Touring Cars and Formula 3 racing....

 motor racing circuit, in the parish of Thruxton

Thruxton, Hampshire

Thruxton is just off the A303 road five miles west of Andover. It is a village with a Manor House, thatched cottages and village green...

.

The main settlement in the parish is the village of Kimpton, in the south of the parish; in the north there is the hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 of Shoddesden. In the 2001 census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

, the parish had a population of 352.

Before the reorganisation of local government in 1974, the parish was in Andover Rural District.

The A342

A342 road

The A342 is an A road that runs from Pewsham near Chippenham, Wiltshire to Andover, Hampshire.The road begins at the A4 junction just outside of the small village Pewsham, to the east of Chippenham. It heads south past the village of Derry Hill towards Devizes, briefly meeting with the A3102 near...

 passes through the north-east corner of the parish. The Midland and South Western Junction Railway

Midland 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...

, which runs parallel to the road, was closed to passengers in 1961, however the line remains open as far as Ludgershall

Ludgershall, Wiltshire

Ludgershall is a town and civil parish north east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, at grid SU264509. The population was: 535 in 1831; 1,906 in 1951; and 3,775 in 2001. Ludgershall is now officially a town.-Historical features:...

 to serve an army depot on the edge of the town.

Kimpton Down, a rural area in the north and west of the parish, contains the remains of several historical sites including 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...

s and Roman buildings. Excavations near Shoddesden found a former Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

/Romano-British settlement site.

A racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 training complex at Kimpton Down Stables was opened in 2003 by Toby Balding

Toby Balding

Gerald Barnard Balding, Jr. OBE , known as Toby Balding, is a retired British racehorse trainer.-Biography:He was born in the United States where his father, Gerald Barnard Balding, Sr., ran a polo team and is part of a famous racing family. His brother, Ian Balding, also a retired trainer, trained...

.

The Grade I listed Church of St Peter & St Paul is situated in the village. The church is built of 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...

, stone rubble

Rubble

Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...

 and brick

Brick

A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

, and has a tower and a cruciform

Cruciform

Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...

 layout. The oldest parts of the church are the nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

 and chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

, built in the 13th century; other parts were added later.

External links

• Kimpton Village Web Site
• Kimpton on British History Online
  British History Online
  British History Online is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain. It was created and is managed, as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, the University of London and the History of Parliament Trust..The places...