Pewsey is a village and civil parish at the centre of the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, about 6 miles (10 km) south of Marlborough and 71 miles (114 km) west of London. It is within reach of the M4 motorway and the A303 and is served by Pewsey railway station on the Reading to Taunton line.
| Pewsey | |
|---|---|
 High Street, Pewsey | |
 Flag | |
  Pewsey Location within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 3,797 (2021 Census)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SU165600 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Pewsey |
| Postcode district | SN9 |
| Dialling code | 01672 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Parish Council |
The parish includes the settlements of Kepnal to the east, Pewsey Wharf (on the Kennet and Avon Canal) to the north, Sharcott to the west, and Southcott on the south-east.
History
editThe place name comes from the Old English "peose", or "piosu" meaning "pea" "island," collectively meaning "island, or dry ground in marsh, where peas grow." [2] Archaeological excavations on Pewsey Hill show evidence of a settlement in the 6th century.[citation needed] In the Tudor era, the Manor of Pewsey belonged to the Duchess of Somerset. [citation needed]Several of the village's houses were built in this era: the timber framed cruck house at Ball Corner, Bridge Cottage on the Avon and the Court House by the Church.
In 1764, the founder of the Methodist movement John Wesley (1703–1791) preached at Pewsey's Church of England parish church. The rector at that time, Joseph Townsend, was responsible for the building of Pewsey's first bridge over the River Avon.
The Kennet and Avon Canal reached Pewsey in 1810. Of more lasting effect for the village was the completion of the Hungerford to Devizes section of the GWR's Berks & Hants line in 1862, which allowed fast travel to London and to the West Country. Since 1906, the line at Pewsey has been part of the Reading to Taunton line, a more direct route via Westbury to the West Country.[3]
In 1898 Pewsey Carnival was first held, a tradition that flourishes today with a fortnight of events, including The Feaste, culminating in an illuminated procession in mid to late September.[4]
A prominent statue of King Alfred the Great, the former Anglo Saxon King of Wessex and a local landowner, stands in the middle of the village.
Pewsey White Horse
edit
The Pewsey White Horse hill figure is located on a steep slope of Pewsey Hill about 1 mi (1.6 km) south of the village, and can be viewed from several places in the surrounding area. It was cut in 1937 and is one of the smaller Wiltshire white horses. It replaces an earlier one which was possibly cut in 1785.
Governance
editThe civil parish elects a parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority which is responsible for most local government functions. The Pewsey electoral division covers the parishes of Pewsey, Milton Lilbourne, Wootton Rivers and Easton Royal,[5] and elects one member to Wiltshire Council.[6]
Education
editPewsey Vale School is a state secondary school, without a sixth form.
Pewsey has a state Primary Academy, Pewsey Primary School which is linked to Pewsey vale secondary school. It appeared in the 100 Most Improved Schools table for its 2013 results and its 2014 results put it in the top 100 schools nationally.[7] An Ofsted inspection in 2012 rated the school as 'good' and this was confirmed by a short inspection in 2017.[8]
St. Francis School, an independent preparatory school, is just outside the village.
Churches
editParish church
edit
The parish church of St John the Baptist stands next to the main road in the south of the village and is built in flint and sarsen with limestone dressings.
A church at Pewsey was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.[9] The present building has work from the late 12th or early 13th centuries in the four-bay arcades,[10] on foundations of large sarsens;[11] Pevsner suggests the arches were cut through the walls of an earlier building.[12] The plain font bowl is also from the 12th century.[11] The chancel was rebuilt in the late 13th or early 14th century, the clerestory added in the late 14th or early 15th century,[10] and the ashlar west tower added in the 16th century.[13]
In 1861, G.E. Street largely rebuilt the chancel and added the south chapel,[13] reusing early windows from the chancel. Restoration in 1889–1890 by C.E. Ponting included the addition of the north porch.[11]
The tower has six bells, the oldest cast in 1620 by Purdue of Salisbury; two others from the 18th century are by Rudhall of Gloucester.[14] On the outside of the tower's east wall hangs a sanctus bell cast by James Burrough of Devizes in 1754.[13] The church was recorded as Grade I listed in 1964.[11]
Notable rectors include Joseph Townsend, from 1764 until his death in 1816.[15] Townsend, who lived in Bath, was known for his work in medicine, geology and the theory of economics.[16]
Today the church is central to the Vale of Pewsey Team, which includes many rural parishes around Pewsey.[17]
Others
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A Methodist chapel was built in 1873 and became a church in 1932.[18]
The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family was built in 1964.[19]
Amenities
edit
Pewsey has a post office, a petrol station, and a Co-op supermarket. The village has an Indian restaurant[20] and five pubs (the Royal Oak, the Crown Inn, the Moonrakers, the Coopers Arms, and The Shed Alehouse micropub[21]). At Pewsey Wharf, north of the village, is the Waterfront bar and bistro.
Pewsey Sports Centre, run by Wiltshire Council, is next to Pewsey Vale School. Its facilities include a 25m heated indoor swimming pool, squash courts and a large multi-sport hall.
Pewsey Heritage Centre is a museum run by the local history society, housed in Avonside Works, a former foundry building used by the agricultural engineering firm of Whatley & Hiscock. The company's collection of historic farm machinery forms the core of the museum's collection.[22]
Jones's Mill is a wetland nature reserve by the Avon. Pewsey is connected to London Paddington via its railway station, a short walk from the village centre.
Notable residents
edit- Richard Hardinge (c.1593 – 1658), Groom of the Chamber to the then Prince of Wales, later King Charles II
- Stephen Duck (c.1705 in Charlton, Pewsey Vale – 1756), poet[23]
- Joseph Gilbert (1800 in Puckshipton – 1881), pastoralist and winemaker[24] from Pewsey Vale in South Australia from 1839
- Francis Carter (1851–1935), Anglican priest[25] who served in Cornwall, Kent, East Anglia and South Africa
- Harold Sheppard (1889–1978), cricketer
- Major General Peter George Francis Young (1912–1976), senior British Army officer,[26] General Officer Commanding Cyprus District from 1962 to 1964
- Elinor Goodman (born 1946), journalist, political editor of Channel 4 News from 1988 to 2005
- Moose Harris (born 1967 in Devizes), bass guitarist
- Mary Killen, newspaper advice columnist and TV personality known for appearances on Gogglebox
- Tara Shears (born 1969), Professor of Physics[27] at the University of Liverpool
- Ian Walker (born 1971), former goalkeeper[28] for the England national football team and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
- Shelley Rudman (born 1981), winner[29] of the silver medal in the skeleton bob, Britain's only medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Sport and leisure
editPewsey has two rugby teams and a junior club. For the 2017–18 season, Pewsey Vale 1st XV plays in the SSE South West Division, Dorset & Wilts 1 North League. PVRFC have a joint second team called Alfred's Nomads, shared with Marlborough RFC; they play in Dorset and Wilts 3 North.
Pewsey has a Non-League football team Pewsey Vale F.C. who play at The Recreation Ground. In July 2014 Pewsey Vale Youth FC was awarded 'FA Chartered Standard' Club of the year by the Wiltshire Football Association.
Wiltshire Council run Pewsey Leisure Centre which is next to Pewsey Vale School. Its amenities include a 25m heated indoor swimming pool (used for swimming, float play, kayaking and snorkelling), squash courts and a multi-sport hall (used for badminton, indoor cricket/football/rugby, basketball, volleyball, circuit training, archery and martial arts (judo, taekwondo and kung fu)).
Pewsey has a running club. A Bowls Club is next to the Tennis club. A swimming pool and gym offer a range of courses including spinning and aqua-aerobics.
Pewsey Music Festival, established in 2007, is a celebration of live music held each August in Cooper's Field, behind the Cooper's Arms pub.[30]
References
edit- ^ "Pewsey". City population. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
- ^ https://www.houseofnames.com/pewsey-family-crest#:~:text=The%20Pewsey%20surname%20is%20a%20habitational%20name%2C%20taken,or%20dry%20ground%20in%20marsh%2C%20where%20peas%20grow."
- ^ Oakley, Mike (2004). Wiltshire Railway Stations. Wimborne: The Dovecote Press. pp. 101–103. ISBN 1904349331.
- ^ "Pewsey & District Feast & Carnival". PADFAC. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
- ^ "Election Maps: Great Britain". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ "Your Councillors". Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 26 July 2024.
- ^ "Primary school league tables: Best results". News – Education. BBC. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ^ "Short inspection of Pewsey Primary School". Ofsted. February 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2019.
- ^ Pewsey in the Domesday Book
- ^ a b "St John the Baptist, Pewsey, Wiltshire". Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture. King's College London. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d Historic England. "Church of St. John the Baptist (1035703)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (revision) (1975) [1963]. Wiltshire. The Buildings of England (2nd ed.). Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 368–370. ISBN 0-14-0710-26-4.
- ^ a b c Baggs, A P; Freeman, J; Smith, C; Stevenson, J H; Williamson, E (1999). Crowley, D.A. (ed.). "Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 16: Kinwardstone Hundred: Pewsey". British History Online. University of London. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ^ "Pewsey, S John Bapt". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ^ "Townsend, Joseph (1763 - 1816)". Clergy of the Church of England Database. King's College London. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ Morris, AD (1969). "The Reverend Joseph Townsend MA MGS (1739–1816) physician and geologist--'Colossus of Roads'". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. 62 (5): 471–7. doi:10.1177/003591576906200523. PMC 1811030. PMID 4890357.
- ^ "Pewsey - St John the Baptist". The Vale of Pewsey Team. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
- ^ "Methodist Church, Pewsey". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ "Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family, Pewsey". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
- ^ Molnar, Hannah (11 February 2022). "Wiltshire's cleanest curry houses according to hygiene ratings". Wiltshire Live. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ Hicks, Amber (23 July 2015). "Warm welcome for Pewsey's new micropub". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ^ "Pewsey Heritage Centre". pewsey-heritage-centre.org.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- ^ Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive, Stephen Duck (1705?-1756) retrieved December 2017
- ^ Marjorie Findlay, 'Gilbert, Joseph (1800–1881)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University retrieved December 2017
- ^ A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge, Carter, Francis Edward retrieved December 2017
- ^ Liddell Hart Military Archives|The Collection|YOUNG, Maj Gen Peter George Francis (1912-1976) retrieved December 2017
- ^ University of Liverpool, Department of Physics, Our Staff, Tara Shears retrieved December 2017
- ^ Soccerbase Database retrieved December 2017
- ^ BBC Sport, Winter Sports, 27 September 2014 retrieved December 2017
- ^ "Pewsey Music Festival". Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
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External links
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- Pewsey Parish Council
- Pewsey Heritage Centre
- Historic Pewsey Photos at BBC Wiltshire
- Day Out: The Vale of Pewsey – a 30-minute BBC TV programme made in 1984 of a day spent exploring Pewsey Vale