Bowerchalke
| Bowerchalke | |
|---|---|
 Holy Trinity church, Bowerchalke |
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 Bowerchalke
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| Bowerchalke shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 379 (in 2011) |
| OS grid reference | SU018228 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Salisbury |
| Postcode district | SP5 |
| Dialling code | 01722 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Bowerchalke or Bower Chalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Salisbury. It is in the south of Wiltshire, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the county boundary with Dorset and 2 miles (3.2 km) from that with Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Mead End, Misselfore and Woodminton.
Bowerchalke is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The River Chalke, a classic chalk stream, rises in the village and joins the River Ebble at Broad Chalke, flowing into the Hampshire Avon south of Salisbury. The Bowerchalke Downs, also known as Woodminton Down, Marleycombe Down and Knowle Down, were defined as a 318 acres (129 ha) Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1971.
The Grade II* listed church of the Holy Trinity dates from the 13th century, and Nobel Prize winning novelist William Golding is buried in the churchyard.
It is not known when Bowerchalke was first inhabited or what it was called but fragmentary records from Saxon times indicate that the whole Chalke Valley area was thriving, the River Ebble also being known as the River Chalke.
The earliest known sign of inhabitation is the bowl barrow on 'Marleycombe Down', which was probably built in either the Neolithic or the Bronze Age (3300–1200 BCE). The Bowerchalke Barrel Urn was excavated here in 1925 by Dr R Clay, and the repaired urn is part of the collection at the Wiltshire Museum, Devizes.
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