Lea and Cleverton
| Lea | |
|---|---|
 Lea & Garsdon Primary School |
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 Lea
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| Lea shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 812 (in 2011) |
| OS grid reference | ST958866 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Malmesbury |
| Postcode district | SN16 |
| Dialling code | 01666 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Parish Council |
Lea is a village in Wiltshire, England, lying approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Malmesbury. It is part of the civil parish of Lea and Cleverton which includes the village of Garsdon and the hamlet of Cleverton. Garsdon was a separate parish until 1934.
The Charlton Stream forms the western boundary of the parish, and joins the River Avon near Cowbridge in the southwest of the parish. The Woodbridge Brook flows east-west across the parish to join the Charlton Stream northwest of Lea village. The southern boundary of the parish follows approximately the B4042 Swindon–Malmesbury road.
An early resident of Lea, in 1340, was Ralph of Combe and his name survives in the name applied to the south west corner of the village of Lea, which is Combe Green (Ordnance Survey spelling), sometimes misspelt as Coombe Green.
A school was built at Lea in 1873, replacing an earlier one-room school. Children of all ages attended until 1954 when older pupils transferred to Malmesbury School; in 1976 the school buildings were extended.
The population of the parish peaked at 494 at the 1871 census, declined to 337 in 1931 and then increased as new housing was built, almost all in Lea village.
The Domesday Book of 1068 recorded a settlement of 17 households at Gardone, and land held by Malmesbury Abbey. The abbey retained the land until the Dissolution when it was granted to Richard Moody, whose descendants included Sir Henry Moody MP (c.1582–1629).
In 1631, the manor was bought by Sir Lawrence Washington (d. 1643), a Registrar of Chancery; his son, also Lawrence (1622–1662) was elected for Malmesbury in 1661. Garsdon church has Washington family graves and a memorial; members of another branch of the family, headed by Lawrence Washington (1602–1653) are ancestors of George Washington, first President of the United States. The manor passed by marriage to Sir Robert Shirley, later Earl Ferrers, in 1671; his grandson sold it to Paul Methuen in 1758, and in turn his grandson sold it in 1843 to Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, who also owned the nearby Charlton estate. The Howards sold the manor and farm in the 1930s.
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Wikipedia