Rowde
| Rowde | |
|---|---|
 Village hall with parish church behind it |
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 Rowde
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| Rowde shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 1,382 (in 2011) |
| OS grid reference | ST979627 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DEVIZES |
| Postcode district | SN10 |
| Dialling code | 01380 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Rowde is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire, on the A342 about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) northwest of Devizes.
The village now mainly consists of modern brick built houses, but a number of 17th-century buildings still remain in the centre of the village, including the George & Dragon public house. This was pre-dated in the village by another pub, a timber framed and thatched building that was destroyed by fire in 1938; a replacement, the Cross Keys now stands in its place.
On the outskirts of Rowde are the Caen Hill flight of locks of the Kennet and Avon Canal. The canal rises 237 feet by means of 29 locks, 16 of them in a straight line at Caen Hill [1]. The canal was constructed between 1794 and 1810 and served to link Devizes with Bristol and London. It fell into disuse after the coming of the railway but has been restored, and is now used for leisure purposes.
The small hamlet of Rowde Hill, consisting of around 10 residences, lies around 1.3 miles (2.1 km) west of the village towards Sells Green and Melksham, at the junction of The Common and Berhills Lane (though this is not signposted).
The parish has a village hall, built in 1887 as Rowde Reading Room and Coffee Tavern.
Rowde C of E Primary Academy serves Rowde and nearby villages. Built in 2006, it replaced a school in Marsh Lane which was built in 1841 and extended in 1907.Rowdeford School, to the north of the village, is a Special Needs school.
The Anglican church is dedicated to St. Matthew and has a 15th-century tower. It has a font designed in 1850 by Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, architect, who was born in Rowde and lived for a time at Rowdeford House (now the home of Rowdeford School).
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Wikipedia