Norton Bavant
Encyclopedia
Norton Bavant 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
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...

.

Location

The village is 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of the market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...

 of Warminster
Warminster
Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. It has a population of about 17,000. The River Were runs through the town and can be seen running through the middle of the town park. The Minster Church of St Denys sits on the River Were...

, just off the A36 road
A36 road
The A36 is a trunk road and primary route in England that links the port city of Southampton to the city of Bath. At Bath, the A36 connects with the A4 road to Bristol, thus enabling a road link between the major ports of Southampton and Bristol. Originally, the A36 continued onto Avonmouth, but...

 to Salisbury, and at the edge of Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering . It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known...

. To the north lies Scratchbury and Cotley Hills Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the iron age hillfort of Scratchbury Camp
Scratchbury Camp
Scratchbury Camp is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort located on Scratchbury Hill, near the village and civil parish of Norton Bavant in Wiltshire...

.

History

John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales
The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales is a substantial topographical dictionary first published between 1870 and 1872, edited by the Reverend John Marius Wilson. It contains a detailed description of England and Wales...

(1870-1872) described Norton Bavant as follows:

NORTON-BAVANT, a village and a parish in Warminster district, Wilts. The village stands on the river Wiley
River Wylye
The River Wylye is a classic southern England chalk stream; champagne clear water flowing over gravel. Consequently, it is popular with anglers keen on fly fishing.- Course :...

, adjacent to the Salisbury and Westbury
Westbury, Wiltshire
Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, most famous for the Westbury White Horse.-Name:The most likely origin of the West- in Westbury is simply that the town is near the western edge of the county of Wiltshire, the bounds of which have been much the same...

 railway, 1¼ mile N W of Heytesbury
Heytesbury
Heytesbury is a village in Wiltshire, England, in the Wylye Valley, about three miles south of Warminster.-History:...

 r. station, and 2¾ S E by E of Warminster. The parish includes a detached portion, separated from the main body by Warminster parish. Post-town, Warminster. Acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...

s, 2,165. Real property, £3,549. Pop., 261. Houses, 61. The property is divided among a few. Norton House is a chief residence. The living
Benefice
A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...

 is a vicar
Vicar
In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

age in the diocese of Salisbury
Diocese of Salisbury
The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England. The diocese covers Dorset and most of Wiltshire and is a constituent diocese of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Salisbury and the diocesan synod...

. Value, £250. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church was recently rebuilt. There are a parochial school, and charities £4.

Local government

Norton Bavant is considered to be too small to elect a parish council, and instead has a Parish Meeting, at which all electors for the parish are able to speak and vote. Local government services are provided by Wiltshire Council
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...

, which has its offices in Trowbridge
Trowbridge
Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....

. The village is represented in Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

 by the MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Westbury, Andrew Murrison
Andrew Murrison
Dr Andrew William Murrison is a doctor and Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. After serving as the Member of Parliament for Westbury from 2001 to 2010, at the 2010 general election he was elected for the new seat of South West Wiltshire.-Early life:The son of William Gordon...

, in Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council is the unitary authority for most of the county of Wiltshire, in the West of England, the successor authority to Wiltshire County Council and to four districts—Kennet, North Wiltshire, Salisbury, and West Wiltshire—all of which had been created in 1973 and were...

 by Christopher Newbury
Christopher Newbury
Christopher Newbury is an English politician, a member of the Congress of the Council of Europe since 1998 and an Independent member of Wiltshire Council since 2009.-Early life:...

.

See also

  • 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....

    for etymology of Bavant. Village was owned by the Beaufaunt family, later usually spelt Bavant.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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