Place:Heddington, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Heddington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England 3 miles (5 km) south of Calne. The parish includes the hamlet of Heddington Wick. The parish population at the 2011 UK census was 456.

The northern boundary of the parish follows the Roman road from London to Bath. In the early medieval period, the same course was followed by the Wansdyke earthwork.

A small estate called Splatts originated with land purchases in the 1620s by Robert Child, whose son Francis (1642–1713) was the founder of one of the first London banks, Child & Co. The land descended in the Child family and in 1729 Splatts House was built for another Francis Child on his marriage to Priscilla Brooke. The estate continued as the seat of the Childs until 1780 when it was superseded by Osterley Park, London.

There was a church at Heddington c. 1130, when it was given to Monkton Farleigh Priory. The Church of England parish church of St Andrew dates from a 13th-century rebuilding and the south arcade survives from that period; the north arcade is from the 14th. The tower is 15th-century and the building was restored in 1840-1 and 1976.[8] The font may be from the 12th century or may be an 1840s copy. The tower has six bells, of which one is dated 1605 and three 1741. The building was designated as Grade II* listed in 1960. Parish registers date back to 1538.

In 1887 Stockley was transferred from Calne ecclesiastical parish to Heddington. The benefice was united with Calstone Wellington (which until then had been united with Blackland) in 1962.

Quakers were active in the parish from the late 17th century and by 1681 had a burial ground west of the church, which went out of use before 1818 and was sold c. 1930.

Wesleyan Methodists built a small brick chapel in 1851 near Heddington Wick, on the road to Heddington; by 1864 its Sunday school was well attended. The chapel fell into disuse in the mid 20th century.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 17, pppp159-172 - Parish: Heddington". 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.