Place:Berwick St. James, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Berwick St. James is a village and civil parish on the River Till in Wiltshire, England, about 7 miles (11 km) northwest of Salisbury, on the southern edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish includes the hamlet of Asserton. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 185, reducing to 142 at the 2011 census.

Yarnbury Castle, an iron age hillfort, is partly within the parish. In the Domesday Book of 1086, estates at Berwick and Asserton were part of Winterbourne Stoke; by the 12th century the village had its present name. Stapleford Castle, a medieval ringwork castle, was just south of the parish at Stapleford. Manor Farmhouse, on the village High Street, is late 16th century; Berwick House, to the west of the High Street, is early 19th century.

In medieval times Asserton was a village or hamlet, with its own church or chapel, and in the 14th and 15th centuries it was a separate tithing. In 1557 Asserton manor was granted to James Basset, a courtier to Queen Mary. Asserton House was built in the late 18th century and rebuilt early in the 19th.

The Church of England parish church of St James is Grade I listed. Originating in the 12th century and with a 17th-century tower, the building was restored in 1871.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 15, pp168-177 - Parish: Berwick St. James". 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.