Hindon, Wiltshire
| Hindon | |
|---|---|
 St John the Baptist Church |
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 Hindon
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| Hindon shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 485 (in 2011) |
| OS grid reference | ST910329 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Salisbury |
| Postcode district | SP3 |
| Dialling code | 01747 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Hindon is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 16 miles (26 km) west of Salisbury and 9.6 miles (15.4 km) south of Warminster. It is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Hindon was a market town but is now a village.
Hindon seems to be an example of a planned settlement, unlike most English villages which have evolved piecemeal over the millennia. If previous settlement in the area was present, no evidence within the village itself has yet been discovered. There are prehistoric field systems and Bronze Age round barrows on the downs nearby.
According to the Estates' Account Rolls of the Bishop of Winchester, Bishop Peter des Roches of Winchester planned the borough as a centre for markets and fairs in 1218; at that time the land was part of East Knoyle parish. The main period of building was between 1218 and 1220 and even today, the medieval settlement pattern can be seen: the main tenements flanked either side of the High Street, with narrow burgage plots running behind the buildings. By c.1250 there were some 150 houses in the village. There were 77 poll-tax payers in 1377. Hindon became a parliamentary borough (see Hindon constituency) in the later Middle Ages, and continued to return two members until it was disenfranchised in 1832; it was reckoned to be an exceptionally corrupt borough even by the standards of the time. Its central position in south-west Wiltshire made it a centre of local government: between 1530 and 1660 it was sometimes a venue for quarter sessions and in 1786 was made the centre of a petty sessional division.
Hindon's prosperity was due to its markets and fairs, and its position on and near main roads. Almost immediately after the foundation of the village in 1218 a weekly market was held and this continued for centuries: Hindon was noted for its market in the mid and late 16th century. As a corn market it was rated by John Aubrey as second only to Warminster in c1650, and in c1707 it was coupled with Chippenham as a great Wiltshire market. In the 19th century the sale of pigs and sheep comprised a sizeable share of the market business, but by the later 19th century the market declined rapidly, and finally ceased in the early 1880s.
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