Sherston, Wiltshire
| Sherston | |
|---|---|
 Post office and parish church |
|
 Sherston
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| Sherston shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 1,639 (in 2011) |
| OS grid reference | ST853859 |
| 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 |
Sherston is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) west of Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England. The parish is bounded to the north by the county boundary with Gloucestershire, and to the southeast by the Fosse Way, a Roman road. The parish includes the hamlets of Easton Town, immediately east of Sherston; Pinkney, further east along the Malmesbury road; and Willesley, to the north.
The infant River Avon passes Sherston, Easton Town and Pinkney, on its way to Malmesbury. The parish lies within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The earliest surviving record of Sherston, then called Scorranstone, is an Anglo-Saxon one from the time of Ethelred, who was an Ealdorman of Mercia. Evidence of Roman survives in the parish in the form of ramparts and ditches in a field called Pennymead, which is now the recreation ground. Remains of a Roman villa, built around AD 350, have also been discovered. The Fosseway, a major Roman road, passes nearby.
In 1016 Cnut the Great and his army fought a West Saxon army in a two-day battle on the hills around Sherston. John Rattlebone of Sherston was the leader of the local militia and is now a symbol of Sherston and its community. His name is celebrated in a local pub, the Rattlebone Inn. In 1511 a fire destroyed most of Sherston.
Pinkney was also called Sherston Parva, meaning Little Sherston. The Ordnance Survey map from the 1890s has "Great Sherston" and "Sherston Parva or Pinkney"; by 1951 Great Sherston had become Sherston but both names were still shown for the smaller place.
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Wikipedia