Steeple Langford
| Steeple Langford | |
|---|---|
 Salisbury Road |
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 Steeple Langford
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| Steeple Langford shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 515 (in 2011) |
| OS grid reference | SU038374 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Salisbury |
| Postcode district | SP3 |
| Dialling code | 01722 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Steeple Langford is a village and civil parish on the River Wylye in the English county of Wiltshire, 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Wilton. It has also been called Great Langford or Langford Magna.
The parish contains two hamlets on the other (south) side of the river: Hanging Langford and Little Langford (formerly a separate civil parish). To the west, along the road from Salisbury, is the settlement of Bathampton.
Steeple Langford contains thatched cottages and has several lakes created by the flooding of worked-out gravel pits.
There is little doubt that the element 'Langford' refers to a ford over the River Wylye, around which the village grew up. The name 'Steeple Langford' has generally predominated over the alternative of 'Great Langford', and it has long been presumed (for instance, by William Cobbett) that the first element of this name refers to an architectural steeple. However, early forms of the name include 'Stapel', 'Steppul', and 'Staple' Langford, and one writer on the origin of the place-name has suggested that
"the prefix Staple sometimes indicates that to a town was granted the privilege of holding a market. Probably a stapol or pole may have been set up to show this to all who passed through. Or the ford may have been protected by stakes".
The Church of England parish church of All Saints is a Grade I listed building. The font is Norman, but the church also contains some pre-Conquest stonework and sculpture.
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Wikipedia