# Porton > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Porton > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Porton.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porton > Source revision: 1336918925 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) For the Maya archaeological site in Guatemala, see [El Portón](/source/El_Port%C3%B3n). **Porton** is a village in the [Bourne](/source/River_Bourne,_Wiltshire) valley, [Wiltshire](/source/Wiltshire), England, about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of [Salisbury](/source/Salisbury). It is the largest settlement in [Idmiston](/source/Idmiston) [civil parish](/source/Civil_parishes_in_England). The village gives its name to the nearby [Porton Down](/source/Porton_Down) military science park, which is home to the [Defence Science and Technology Laboratory](/source/Defence_Science_and_Technology_Laboratory) and related businesses. ## Religious sites The [Baptist](/source/Baptists) faith flourished in this part of Wiltshire in the 17th century, then declined in the 18th. A chapel was built to the south of Porton village in 1865 and enlarged in the 1920s;[1] it was still in use in 2022,[2] but its closure was confirmed at a meeting of the [Baptist Union of Great Britain](/source/Baptists_Together) in March 2025.[3] The [Anglican](/source/Church_of_England) Church of St Nicholas was built in 1877 to designs by [J. L. Pearson](/source/John_Loughborough_Pearson), replacing a building from the 16th century or earlier.[4][5] Built in flint with brick dressings under a tiled roof, the church has a nave with a south porch and bellcote, and a chancel with a vestry.[5] The octagonal font is from the 14th or 15th century, and there is stained glass by [Clayton and Bell](/source/Clayton_and_Bell).[6] St Nicholas became the [parish church](/source/Church_of_England_parish_church) in 1977, when the older [All Saints Church](/source/All_Saints_Church,_Idmiston) at Idmiston was declared redundant.[7] ## Railways In 1857 the [London and South Western Railway](/source/London_and_South_Western_Railway) company opened its line from [Andover](/source/Andover,_Hampshire) to [Milford station](/source/Milford_railway_station_(Salisbury)) at Salisbury, following the Bourne valley and passing southeast of Porton. There was a [station](/source/Porton_railway_station) at Porton from the opening of the line until 1968, with a goods yard until 1962.[8] The railway remains in use as part of the [West of England line](/source/West_of_England_line) but there are no local stations. Between 1916 and 1946, the Porton Down Camp Military Railway ([2 foot gauge](/source/2_ft_and_600_mm_gauge_railways)) ran between the goods yard at Porton station and the Camp, almost a mile to the northeast.[8] ## Amenities The local school is St Nicholas' [CE](/source/Church_of_England) ([VA](/source/Voluntary_aided_school)) Primary School, built in 1972 to replace a school built at Idmiston in 1869.[9] The former Railway Hotel, near the site of the station, is now the Porton Hotel and Restaurant.[10] ## Protected areas There are two Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in the area. [Porton Meadows](/source/Porton_Meadows) is 17.6 hectares (43 acres) of botanically rich unimproved neutral grassland in the floodplain of the River Bourne, which has largely escaped intensive agriculture.[11] A much larger area, 1,561 hectares (3,860 acres) extending into Hampshire and known as [Porton Down SSSI](/source/Porton_Down_SSSI), includes grassland, scrub and woodland; it constitutes the largest uninterrupted tract of semi-natural [chalk grassland](/source/Chalk_grassland) in Britain.[12] ## References 1. ["Baptist Church, Idmiston"](https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/912). *Wiltshire Community History*. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 19 December 2015. 1. ["Porton Baptist Church"](https://web.archive.org/web/20220809192411/https://www.portonbaptist.org.uk/). *portonbaptist.co.uk*. Archived from [the original](https://www.portonbaptist.org.uk/) on 9 August 2022. – via Internet Archive. 1. ["Baptist Union Council: March 2025"](https://www.baptisttimes.co.uk/Articles/713049/Baptist_Union_Council.aspx). [Baptists Together](/source/Baptists_Together). 2025. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20250422005836/https://www.baptisttimes.co.uk/Articles/713049/Baptist_Union_Council.aspx) 22 April 2025 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 6 February 2026. 1. ["Church of St. Nicholas, Porton"](https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/911). *Wiltshire Community History*. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 19 December 2015. 1. Orbach, Julian; Pevsner, Nikolaus; Cherry, Bridget (2021). *Wiltshire*. The Buildings Of England. New Haven, US and London: [Yale University Press](/source/Yale_University_Press). p. 510. ISBN 978-0-300-25120-3. [OCLC 1201298091](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1201298091) 1. No. 47187. 1 April 1977. p. 4501. 1. Oakley, Mike (2004). *Wiltshire Railway Stations*. Wimborne: The Dovecote Press. p. 104. ISBN 1904349331. 1. ["St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, Porton"](https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1501). *Wiltshire Community History*. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 19 December 2015. 1. ["Porton Hotel"](http://www.theportonhotel.co.uk/). Retrieved 19 December 2015. 1. ["Citation: Porton Meadows"](https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1003914.pdf). *Natural England*. 1988. Retrieved 22 September 2022. 1. ["Citation: Porton Down"](https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1003140.pdf). *Natural England*. 1999. Retrieved 22 September 2022. ## External links - ["Idmiston"](https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/124). *Wiltshire Community History*. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 19 December 2015. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Porton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.