Lydiard Millicent is a village and civil parish 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, about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of the centre of 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...

.

The village has a primary school and a parish hall and recreation field. The Woodbridge Brook

Woodbridge Brook

The Woodbridge Brook, is a tributary of the Bristol Avon. It rises near Lydiard Millicent in Wiltshire in the West Country of England, and flows in a generally westerly direction, joining the Bristol Avon at Malmesbury...

 rises near the village.

History

The first part of the name of the village may be derived from the Old English for ‘gate by the ford’, while Millicent comes from Millicent de Clinton, who owned the manor

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 in the 12th century and was the wife of William de Clinton.
William fitzOsbern

William Fitzosbern, 1st Earl of Hereford

William FitzOsbern , Lord of Breteuil, in Normandy, was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England...

, a close associate of Willam of Normandy

William I of England

William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...

, mentioned the parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

 of All Saints

All Saints

All Saints' Day , often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by parts of Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown...

 in a 1060 endowment. Lydiard Manor is mentioned in the Domesday survey

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...

 of 1086, owned by Geoffrey de Clinton

Geoffrey de Clinton

Geoffrey de Clinton was an Anglo-Norman noble, chamberlain and treasurer to King Henry I of England. He was foremost amongst the men king Henry "raised from the dust". He married Lescelina.-Life:Clinton's family origins are a little obscure...

.

The parish registers now kept in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre

Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre is a building in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, which serves as a focal point for heritage services relating to Wiltshire and Swindon. It is funded by Wiltshire Council and Swindon Borough Council...

 cover the years 1579-1968 (baptisms), 1580-1992 (marriages), and 1580-1988 (burials).

A history of Lydiard Millicent is to be included in Volume XVIII of the VCH

Wiltshire Victoria County History

The Wiltshire Victoria County History is an encyclopaedic history of the county of Wiltshire in England. It forms part of the overall Victoria County History of England founded in 1899 in honour of Queen Victoria...

series A History of the County of Wiltshire, approaching publication in 2010.