Place:Berwick Bassett, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Berwick Bassett is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about 6 miles (10 km) northwest of Marlborough and 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Swindon. The village is on the west bank of a headstream of the River Kennet and close to the A4361 road, formerly the A361, which links Devizes and Avebury with Wroughton and Swindon.

The parish of Berwick Bassett is part of Calne Hundred and comprises about 1400 acres about 3 mi (5 km) north of Avebury. It has a slender rectangular shape, oriented east and west, and is crossed from north to south by the upper part of the River Kennet, which flows only in the winter months. The village of Berwick Basset lies to the west of the stream and has a small village green close to the bridge, around which are clustered the Manor, Home Farm and Berwick House Farm.

History

There are a number of ancient sites in the parish; these include flint tools, Romano-British pottery fragments, cropmarks, enclosures, a round barrow and a medieval farmstead. The ancient trackway known as the Ridgeway forms the eastern boundary of the parish. Berwick was not recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and was probably part of the king's Calne estate. The Bassett suffix, from the lords of the manor in the 13th century, had been added by the early 14th century.

Manor Farmhouse or Old Manor House, next to the church, is from the late 15th century or early 16th. The newer Manor House, near the stream, is from the early 17th.

The population of the parish peaked at 203 at the time of the 1851 census. As of 2011 it was 43. A National school was built near the church in 1847 and was in use until 1922.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 17, pp9-17 - Parish: Berwick Bassett". 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.