Great Wishford
| Great Wishford | |
|---|---|
 St Giles' Church, Great Wishford |
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 Great Wishford
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| Great Wishford shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 368 (in 2011) |
| OS grid reference | SU080355 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SALISBURY |
| Postcode district | SP2 |
| Dialling code | 01722 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Great Wishford is a village and civil parish in the Wylye Valley in Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) north of Wilton and 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Salisbury. The village lies west of a bend in the River Wylye and has a triangular street layout comprising South Street, West Street and Station Road.
To the west of the village lies the Iron Age settlement and possible hillfort of Ebsbury.
The village pre-dates the Norman conquest of 1066, but was only a hamlet at this time. The name has evolved over the years, with recorded names including Wicheford (meaning a ford where wych-elms grow), Witford, Willesford Magna (mid-16th century) and Wishford Magna (early 17th century). Set into the wall of the church is a series of nine engraved "bread stones" that record the price of bread from 1800 (during the Napoleon blockade) until 2000.
Wishford House, West Street, is from the 18th century. It was altered and refronted in c. 1800, and extended later in that century.
Grovely Wood, between Great Wishford and Barford St Martin, was an extra-parochial area. By 1839, the boundary of Barford parish had moved north to include almost all of the woodland.
By the Will of Sir Richard Grobham Howe (c. 1651–1730), a school was established in 1722 at Wishford for teaching reading, writing, accounts, and the Church catechism to twenty poor boys and twenty girls. In 1833 this had an income of £63.5s and was teaching the forty children plus a varying number of "pay-scholars", for whom a small fee was payable. The school's original single-storey brick building stands on West Street, opposite the churchyard; the school was extended (by building at the rear) in the late 19th century, again in the 20th and most recently in 2005.
A church at Great Wishford was recorded in 1207. The present Church of England parish church of St Giles, built of flint and limestone, has a 13th-century chancel and 15th-century tower and was improved in the 16th century, but largely rebuilt during restoration in 1863-4 by T.H. Wyatt. The font bowl is 12th-century, on a 19th-century base. The tower has six bells, five of them from the 18th century.
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Wikipedia