Place:Barford St. Martin, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Barford St Martin is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of Wilton, around the junction of the A30 and the B3089. Barford is known as one of the Nadder Valley villages, named for the River Nadder which flows through the parish.

Grovely Wood forms the northern section of the parish.

Grovely Wood forms the northern section of the parish.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Prehistoric sites in the parish include the earthworks known as Ebsbury, an Iron Age settlement, field system and possible hillfort, and a Romano-British enclosed settlement, on a hilltop in the north of the parish which overlooks the Wylye valley. Grovely Ditch or Grim's Ditch, a pre-Roman earthwork, runs through Grovely Wood a little further south.

A small settlement called Bereford, with nine households, was recorded in the Domesday Book compiled in 1085–1086. The St Martin suffix, from the dedication of the church, was added by 1304 to distinguish it from Barford manor in Downton parish. Amesbury Priory acquired 78 acres in 1197, and continued to hold that manor until the Dissolution in 1539.

Grovely Wood, between Barford and Great Wishford, was an extra-parochial area. By 1839, the boundary of Barford parish had moved north to include almost all of the woodland.

In 1884, the hamlet of Hurdcott – on the south side of the river upstream of Barford, with population 67 in 1891 – was transferred to Barford parish from Baverstock. Hurdcott is no longer a placename but the name lives on in Hurdcott Home Farm and Hurdcott House (not to be confused with the Hurdcott House near Winterbourne Earls).

Greensand stone for use in buildings has long been quarried near Hurdcott, and the quarry (now operated by Lovell Stone Group) is one of the few remaining sources.

The St. Martin suffix, from the dedication of the church, was added by 1304 to distinguish it from Barford manor in Downton parish.

Hurdcott House is from the early or mid 19th century[3] and stands on the site of an earlier house.

Grovely Wood, between Barford and Great Wishford, was an extra-parochial area. By 1839, the boundary of Barford parish had moved north to include almost all of the woodland.

Research Tips

• 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.