Upavon

{{Short description|Village in Wiltshire, England}} {{Use British English|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}} {{Infobox UK place | country = England | official_name = Upavon | static_image_name = Upavon, UK - panoramio (1).jpg | static_image_alt = The Ship pub, a large 2-storey building painted white with a thatched roof | static_image_caption = The Ship, Upavon, with church tower behind | map_alt = Upavon is a small village in the centre of Wiltshire | coordinates = {{coord|51.294|-1.808|type:city(1000)_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}} | civil_parish = Upavon | population = 1190 | population_ref = (in 2011)<ref name="census 2011">{{Cite web|url=https://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11129972&c=Upavon&d=16&e=62&g=6475619&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1426361827629&enc=1|title=Parish population 2011|publisher=Office for National Statistics|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref> | unitary_england = Wiltshire | lieutenancy_england = Wiltshire | region = South West England | constituency_westminster = East Wiltshire | post_town = PEWSEY | postcode_district = SN9 | postcode_area = SN | dial_code = 01980 | os_grid_reference = SU135550 | website = {{URL|https://upavonpc.co.uk/|Parish Council}} }}

'''Upavon''' is a rural village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. As its name suggests, it is on the upper portion of the River Avon which runs from north to south through the village. It is on the north edge of Salisbury Plain about {{convert|4|mi}} south of Pewsey, {{convert|10|mi}} southeast of the market town of Devizes, and {{convert|20|mi}} north of the cathedral city of Salisbury. The A345 and A342 roads run through the village.

==History== Occupation of the area dates back to the Iron Age and Romano-British settlement at Casterley Camp, approximately {{convert|1.5|mi}} southwest of the current village, and to the southeast was the small Iron Age settlement of Chisenbury Camp. The first mention of Upavon is in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Oppavrene'';<ref name="domesday">{{OpenDomesday|SU1355|upavon|Upavon}}</ref> although no population was recorded, it can be estimated that the village supported some 200 to 250 people.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Upavon|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/229|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=28 August 2020}}</ref>

The village prospered during the 12th and 13th centuries and started to develop features that are recognisable today. A large Norman church replaced the previous Saxon one, a manor house was built in the south of the village and a market square developed west of the church, in the area that now lies between the two village pubs.

Land in the west of the parish was acquired in 1898 for an army firing range, and in the west a military airfield and flying school were begun in 1912.<ref name="vch" /> Council houses were built in the Avon Square area, about half a mile southeast of the village centre, in stages from c.1920.<ref name="vch">{{cite web|author-last1=Baggs|author-first1=A.P.|year=1975|editor-last=Crittall|editor-first=Elizabeth|title=Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 10 pp159-173 – Parishes: Upavon|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol10/pp159-173|access-date=28 August 2020|website=British History Online|publisher=University of London|author-first3=Ralph B.|author-first4=Janet H.|author-last4=Stevenson|author-first5=Margaret|author-last5=Tomlinson|author-last2=Crowley|author-first2=D.A.|author-last3=Pugh}}</ref>

== Geography == Upavon village lies in the valley where the headwaters of the Avon leave the Vale of Pewsey and cut through the north scarp of Salisbury Plain. The parish extends both east and west onto the downs above the valley.<ref name="vch" />

==Governance== All significant local government services are provided by Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority with its headquarters in Trowbridge, and the parish is represented there by Paul Oatway.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Your Councillors |url=https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0 |access-date=24 September 2024 |website=Wiltshire Council |language=en}}</ref> For Westminster elections, the parish is part of the East Wiltshire constituency.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Election Maps: Great Britain |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |access-date=24 September 2024 |website= |publisher=Ordnance Survey}}</ref>

==Military establishment== {{main|RAF Upavon}} Upavon airfield, now called '''Trenchard Lines''', and previously '''RAF Upavon''', is situated about {{convert|1.5|mi}} east of Upavon village. The site was originally constructed around 1912 as a Royal Flying Corps (RFC) base, and became the home of the RFC Central Flying School on 19 June 1912, later to be the RAF Central Flying School upon formation of the Royal Air Force. Upavon is referred to as the place where the Royal Air Force was formed.

Since 1993 the main function of the military base has changed, and it is now largely an MoD administrative centre, and home to administrative headquarters of the British Army. The grass airfield is still used by the RAF from time to time but is now most frequently associated with regular glider activity, with the only permanent RAF unit based there being No. 622 Volunteer Gliding Squadron, providing glider training to members of the Air Cadet Organisation. The Army Gliding Club also uses the airfield in co-operation with 622 VGS.

==Religious sites== ===Priory church and parish church=== thumb|upright=1.3|St Mary's Church, Upavon <!-- Church of St Mary, Upavon redirects here ---> The church is built of flint with stone banding and is dedicated to St Mary. It was designated as Grade I listed in 1964.<ref name=chlisting />

The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded a church, and land held by the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Wandrille, Normandy.<ref name="domesday" /> A small priory was established in the 12th century, and the church was presumably rebuilt later in that century or early in the 13th, as the chancel and chancel arch are of that period.<ref name=chlisting>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1365553|desc=Church of St Mary, Upavon|access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref> The substantial west tower was added in the late 13th. When foreign priories were expelled in 1378, there were only three monks.<ref name=alien>{{Cite book |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol3/pp396-397 |title=A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 3 |chapter=Alien houses: Priory of Upavon |editor1-first=R.B. |editor1-last=Pugh |editor2-first=Elizabeth |editor2-last=Crittall |date=1956 |via=British History Online |location=London |publisher=University of London |access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref> The octagonal font with elaborate carved decoration is from the 12th century, but mounted on a 19th-century base.<ref name=corpus>{{cite web|title=St Mary, Upavon|website=The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland|publisher=King's College London|url=https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=10308|access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref>

By the early 15th century the church was said to be ruinous, and the nave was re-roofed.<ref name="vch" /> The south aisle was removed sometime before 1859.<ref name=wcchurch>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Upavon|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/974|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref> Restoration in 1875 was by T.H. Wyatt (chancel) and J.P. Seddon (nave rebuilt). In 1910 the five bells were recast and a sixth added.<ref>{{cite web|title=Upavon|url=http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?DoveID=UPAVON|website=Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers|access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref><ref name=wcchurch /> Pevsner attributes the design of the stained glass in the 1918 east window to Henry Holiday.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author-link1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget (revision) |year=1975 |orig-year=1963 |title=Wiltshire |series=The Buildings of England |edition=2nd |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-0710-26-4 |pages=541–542}}</ref>

The churches at Charlton St Peter and Rushall were dependent on Upavon.<ref name="vch" /> By the early 14th century the income from Charlton had been assigned to Upavon Priory, and in 1423 Upavon and Charlton were granted to the Augustinian canons of Ivychurch Priory, southeast of Salisbury, who held them until the Dissolution of the Monasteries.<ref name="alien" /> Rushall became fully independent in 1395.<ref>{{cite web|website=British History Online|title=Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 10 pp136-146 – Rushall|editor-first=Elizabeth|editor-last=Crittall|author-first1=A.P.|author-last1=Baggs|author-first2=D.A.|author-last2=Crowley|author-first3=Ralph B.|author-last3=Pugh|author-first4=Janet H.|author-last4=Stevenson|author-first5=Margaret|author-last5=Tomlinson|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol10/pp136-146|publisher=University of London|year=1975|access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref>

The benefice of Upavon was combined with Rushall in 1924, but the parishes remained separate.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32940 |date=30 May 1924|pages=4294-4298}}</ref> Today the parish is part of the Vale of Pewsey benefice, a group of sixteen churches around Pewsey.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vale of Pewsey Churches|url=https://www.valeofpewsey.org/churches/team-churches/|access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref>

=== Others === Upavon Baptist Chapel, named for the Cave of Adullam in the Old Testament, was built in 1838 of rendered brick, with a slate roof.<ref>{{cite web|title=Strict Baptist Chapel, Cave of Adullam, Upavon|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/975|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1033936|desc=Cave of Adullam|access-date=2 September 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

A Methodist church was built at Avon Square in 1966, replacing an earlier tin chapel. It closed around 2006.<ref>{{cite web|title=Primitive Methodist Chapel, Upavon|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/976|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref>

== Notable buildings == The High Street has several 18th-century buildings, many of them thatched.<ref name=":0" /> The Manor House, in grounds on the right bank of the river, began as a small 15th-century house which has been much altered and extended.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1116444|desc=Manor House|access-date=2 September 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

==Facilities== The village has two public houses – the ''Antelope'' (1765)<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1299326|desc=The Antelope Inn|access-date=2 September 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and the ''Ship'' (early 18th century).<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1365579|desc=The Ship Inn|access-date=2 September 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> There is a shop, a doctors' surgery, a small hairdressers salon, a village hall and a golf course.

The nearest secondary school is at Pewsey and the nearest primary school is at Rushall. A school was built at Avon Square in 1957, replacing a 19th-century building next to the church, to cater for children of RAF personnel; up to 200 pupils could be accommodated.<ref>{{cite web|title=Upavon Primary School|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1095|access-date=3 September 2020|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council}}</ref> Pupil numbers declined as RAF activity reduced and fell further after 1993 when the station was transferred to the Army, leading to closure of the school in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Upavon Primary School|url=http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=126230|website=EduBase2|publisher=Department for Education|access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref>

Service Children's Education has its headquarters at Trenchard Lines.<ref>"[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277236/0961.pdf SERVICE CHILDREN’S EDUCATION ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2012–2013]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20150402132907/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277236/0961.pdf Archive]). Service Children's Education. PDF p. 3/62. Retrieved on 28 February 2015. "Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at Headquarters Service Children's Education, Trenchard Lines, Upavon, Wiltshire"</ref>

The nearest mainline railway station, with links to London Paddington, is Pewsey, about {{Convert|3+1/2|mi|km|0|abbr=}} away.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category-inline}} * [https://upavonpc.co.uk/ Upavon Parish Council] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928122856/http://622vgs.org.uk/ No. 622 Volunteer Gliding Squadron]

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Category:Villages in Wiltshire Category:Civil parishes in Wiltshire