Winterbourne-Basset (St. Catherine)

WINTERBOURNE-BASSET (St. Catherine), a parish, in the union of Marlborough, hundred of Selkley, Marlborough and Ramsbury, and N. divisions of Wilts, 7 miles (N. W.) from Marlborough; containing 275 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2000 acres, and is situated on the road from Bath through Devizes to Swindon; the soil near the village is a good loam, and on the rise of the hills appears chalk, with its usual mixture of flints. Some property here formerly possessed by the Baskervilles has descended to Lord Holland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18. 9. 7., and in the gift of Magdalene College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £674. 15.; there is a parsonage-house, and the glebe consists of 80 acres. The church is a small ancient edifice with a neat tower, containing portions in the early and later English styles; it has a handsomely carved font, and in one of the aisles is a singularly elegant window: the chief monuments are of the family of Baskerville, who long resided here. Among the various Druidical remains are, a double circle of rude stones, a barrow surrounded with large stones, and the supposed site of buildings once occupied by Archdruids.