Codford St Peter, Wiltshire

Historical Description

Codford St Peter, a parish in Wilts, on the river Wiley, near Codford railway station, 3¼ miles SE of Heytesbury. It includes the township of Ashton-Gifford, and its post town is Codford St Mary, under Bath. Acreage, 1668; population, 260. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £290 with residencce. Patron, Pembroke College, Oxford. The church is a handsome edifice with pointed windows and embattled tower.

Administration

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

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

Church Records

The registers date from the year 1597.

Findmypast, in association with the Wiltshire Record Office, have the following parish records online for Codford St Peter:

Churches

Church of England

St. Peter (parish church)

The church of St. Peter, originally consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and 5 bells, was restored in 1864, a north aisle added, and the old chancel arch replaced by a Pointed arch of fine proportions, on carved corbels supported by Devonshire marble shafts; at the same period the chancel was rebuilt in the Early English style, three ancient sedilia, which belonged to the old chancel, being replaced: the communion table, which is of oak, was given by Bishop Hamilton, of Salisbury: a lectern of oak and gilt iron work was presented in 1897 in memory of the late Alfred Blake: there is a fine Early Norman font, richly sculptured: and in the chancel is preserved some carved stone work discovered in 1864, and presumed to be of Saxon date: there are several memorial stained windows and brasses, also a hatchment of H.R.H. the late Duke of Albany: the church was decorated in 1891, and in 1898 the foundations of the tower and east end were renewed: in 1906 massive balustraded oak altar rails were fixed at a cost of £55, as a memorial to the late Miss Charlotte Anderson: in 1907 the baptistery was panelled and seated in oak at a cost of £ 45: the window in the north aisle is in memory of Mrs. Sarah Wrightwick; the oak screen was given by Capt. Houston: the church will seat about 225 persons: the churchyard was enlarged in 1889.

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 Codford St Peter from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Codford (St. Peter))

Maps

Online maps of Codford St Peter are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

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

• Salisbury and Winchester Journal
• Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette
• Wiltshire Independent
• Swindon Advertiser and North Wilts Chronicle