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West Lavington, Wiltshire

Historical Description

Lavington, West, a village and a parish in Wilts. The village stands under the Ridge Way, 1 mile SW of Market Lavington, and 6½ miles S by W of Devizes station on the G.W.R. It suffered much from a fire in 1689, is still a considerable place, and has a post office under Devizes; money order office, Littleton Pannell; telegraph office, Market Lavington. The parish contains also the tithing of Littleton Pannell, and is sometimes called Bishops Lavington. It comprises 5906 acres; population of the civil parish, 1088; of the ecclesiastical, 1093. A seat of the Danvers family was here, passed to the Dauntseys and the Montagues, and was sold to the late Duke of Marlborough. A considerable area is disposed in market gardens, for sending produce to Salisbury and Bath. Tumuli and traces of ancient camps are on the downs. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £360 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. The church is good, has an embattled tower, and contains monuments of the Danverses, and a brass of 1550. There are an endowed school, alms-houses for ten persons, and other charities, also a Baptist chapel. At Littleton a large agricultural college was erected in 1894-95.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyWiltshire 
Ecclesiastical parishWest Lavington All Saints 
HundredPotterne and Cannings 
Poor Law unionDevizes 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

The parish register dates from the year 1595.

Findmypast, in association with the Wiltshire Record Office, have the following parish records online for West Lavington:

BaptismsBannsMarriagesBurials
1597-18981657-18121598-19071597-1812

Churches

Church of England

All Saints (parish church)

The church of All Saints is a building of grey stone in the Transitional and Early English styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, transepts, south-eastern chapel, north porch, and an embattled tower, with turret, containing a clock and 6 bells: there is a piscina in the chancel and another in the chapel: the east window and eight others are stained: in the south transept is a fine alabaster monument, with recumbent effigy to Henry Danvers: the church was repaired in 1847, at a cost of about £1,600, and an organ chamber and clergy vestry were added in 1910: there are sittings for 500 persons.

Methodist

Wesleyan Chapel

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for West Lavington from the following:


Maps

Online maps of West Lavington are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Wiltshire papers online:

CountyWiltshire
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Postal districtSN10
Post TownDevizes

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