East Knoyle | |
---|---|
Looking north towards the Fox and Hounds pub |
|
East Knoyle shown within Wiltshire | |
Population | 681 (in 2011) |
OS grid reference | ST881305 |
Civil parish |
|
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 | |
Website | http://www.eastknoyle.org.uk/ |
East Knoyle is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, in the south west of England. The village lies just west of the A350 road about 9 miles (14 km) south of Warminster and 5 miles (8 km) north of Shaftesbury, Dorset. It is the birthplace of Sir Christopher Wren.
The parish includes the hamlets of Holloway, Milton, The Green, Underhill and Upton.
East Knoyle was part of the ancient Hundred of Downton.
Unusually for England, parish registers survive from 1538 and are kept in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre.
John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-1872) notes two tythings in East Knoyle: Milton and Upton.
East Knoyle's population has risen and fallen in recent centuries, with a period of growth in the 19th century. In 1801 the population was 853, and by 1831 it had reached 1028, but in 1901 it was down again to 814. In 1951, the population was still at 821, but by 1971 it was only 699.
The market town of Hindon was established in the northeast of East Knoyle parish in the early 13th century; Hindon became a separate civil parish in the later 19th century. In 1885 the southern part of the former parish of Pertwood was added to East Knoyle. Most of this portion was transferred to Chicklade parish in 1986.
Primitive Methodists built a chapel, later called Ebenezer chapel, at The Green in 1843; this closed sometime before 1977. Charles Jupe, a silk manufacturer of Mere, built a Congregational chapel and schoolroom in the village in 1854, replacing an earlier chapel. By 1987 the church had fallen into disuse.