Place:North Savernake, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

North Savernake was a civil parish in Wiltshire, England that existed until 1934 when it was merged into the newly formed parish of Savernake along with the neighbouring parish of South Savernake with Brimslade and Cadley. The Ordnance Survey map of 1900 shows the two parishes to the southeast of the town of Marlborough. These are the only facts about North Savernake found in the two basic references of Wikipedia and A Vision of Britain through Time. Even the Victoria County History of Wiltshire (referenced below) only discusses the area under the name of the merged parish. However, it supplies sufficient details to give a more historical outline of the two former parishes.

North Saverake was originally a tything within the Selkley Hundred and was deemed a parish in 1857. The Savernake Forest, still owned by the Marquess of Aylesbury, covered a large portion to the northwest of the parish. The remainder of the parish included several farms but no significant settlement.

Usually a tything was part of another parish. In this case there is no reference to the parish concerned, but given its location, it is probably Preshute, situated to the west of Marlborough. Some of Preshute's territory was transferred to North Savernake in the middle of the 19th century.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 16, pp207-215 - Parish: Savernake. 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.