Hindon, Wiltshire

Historical Description

Hindon, a small town and a parish in Wiltshire. The town stands on a declivity facing the woods of Fonthill, 3½ miles NW of Tisbury station on the L. & S.W.R., and 9 SSE of Wai-minster, with a post, money order, and telegraph office under Salisbury. Acreage of parish, 228; population, 495. Hindon is an ancient place, with marks of much vicissitude, sent two members to Parliament from the time of Henry VI. till disfranchised by the Act of 1832, had for representatives Monk Lewis and Henry Fox, afterwards Lord Holland, gave the title of Baron to the Hydes, suffered greatly by fae in 1755 and was afterwards considerably rebuilt, consists now chiefly of one broad street, and has an excellent inn and a church. The church, a stone building, was built in 1871 on the site of the old one. A weekly market was formerly held on Thursday, and fairs are now held on 27 May and 29 Oct. The neighbouring tract to the S and the SE is fertile, ornate, and scenic, and rejoices in the rich demesne of Fonthill, that to the W and the N passes into a wild expanse of down, which has many remains of ancient earthworks, and that to the NE on to the Great Ridge Wood, 2 miles distant, has traces of several ancient British villages. The manor belonged to the Beanchamps, and passed to the Hydes. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; value, o6180 with residence. Patron, the Lord Chancellor.

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 register dates from the year 1595.

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

Churches

Church of England

St. John the Baptist (parish church)

The church of St. John the Baptist, built in 1871, at the cost of Richard, late Marquess of Westminster, on the site of the old church, probably erected about 1555, is of Chilmark stone with Bath stone dressings, in the Early French Gothic style, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, vestry, and a western tower, with spire, containing a clock and 6 bells: there are three memorial windows to the late Marquess of Westminster, d. 1869: the lectern was given in memory of J. G. and T. Hacker: the church affords 400 sittings.

Congregational

Methodist

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 Hindon from the following:

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

Maps

Online maps of Hindon 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