Place:Clyffe Pypard, Wiltshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Clyffe Pypard is a village and civil parish about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of Royal Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire, England.

The parish includes the large hamlet of Bushton, the small hamlet of The Barton, the former separate (in the 14th century) village of Bupton, and the shrunken medieval village of Woodhill.

The ancient name of White Cleeve (or "Clive" in the Domesday Book) refers to the chalk escarpment that traverses the parish. The ancient parish had five tithings: Clyffe Pypard, Broad Town, Bushton, Thornhill, and Woodhill (which included Bupton). In 1884, Broad Town was made into a new civil parish which also included Thornhill.

The Manor House, north of the church, was built c. 1840 for the Goddard family.

A Free School was established at Thornhill, funded in 1782 by a bequest in the will of Thomas Spackman, a local carpenter who prospered at his trade in London. The parish church has a large sculpted memorial to Spackman who is portrayed with his tools. The school continued until 1875. A National School had existed since 1850.

There has been a church at Clyffe Pypard since the 13th century. Pevsner writes in The Buildings of England: Wiltshire that the Church of England parish church of St Peter is "in a lovely position below a wooded stretch of the cliff". The building is from the 15th century but the chancel was rebuilt in 1860 by William Butterfield, who carried out further restoration for the Goddard family in 1873–74. The organ installed in 1873 is by Eustace Ingram. In 1955 the church was designated as Grade I listed.

Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture, is buried in the churchyard together with his wife.

Bushton

Bushton has the sole remaining pub in the parish, and the village hall.

Bupton

Bupton can be found in the southwest of the parish and its name appears to arise from land owner William Bubbe, since variations of the name include 'Bubbeton' and 'Great Bupton'. Bupton today consists of farms and farmland, but in the 14th century it was a medieval village with many more dwellings than today.

Woodhill

There was a small chapel and windmill at Woodhill in the 14th century. The name Woodhill derives from a corruption of 'woad', as the location is a 'hill where Woad grows' – woad being a plant which gave a blue dye for fabric. Woodhill Park is a Georgian country house built in the 18th century. Richard Pace added the southeast range in 1804. Northwest of the house is the site of the medieval village, including evidence of a moated manor house; the site is a scheduled ancient monument.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 9, pp23-43 - Parish: Clyffe Pypard. British History Online. University of London.
• From this Ancestry page you can browse the Wiltshire parishes which have parish register transcripts online, quite often from very early dates. However, reading the early ones requires skill and patience. Transcriptions should also be in FamilySearch.
• A further collection of online source references will be found on the county page for Wiltshire.