Place:Little Bedwyn, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Little Bedwyn (also spelt Little Bedwin, and sometimes called Bedwyn Parva) is a village and civil parish on the River Dun in Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of the market town of Hungerford in neighbouring Berkshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Chisbury.

The Kennet and Avon Canal and the Reading to Taunton railway line follow the Dun and pass through the village. Little Bedwyn is served by Bedwyn railway station, which is about 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of the village at Great Bedwyn.

Most of Little Bedwyn was part of a larger estate called Bedwyn which in the early Middle Ages was held by the kings of Wessex and of England. Anciently the whole parish was within Savernake Forest.

In the mid 19th century there was some uncertainty as to whether the parish included about 150 acres (61 ha) of Savernake Forest lying at the parish's western end, but by the 1880s it had been decided that the land was part of the parish. From then until 1987 the total size of the parish was 4,343 acres (1,758 hectares). In 1987, an area of 120 acres (49 hectares) was transferred to Great Bedwyn.

The population of the parish has fluctuated in recent centuries. Between 1801 and 1871 it rose from 428 to 579, but since then it has fallen gradually and in 2011 stood at 250.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 16, pp50-69 - Parish: Little Bedwyn. 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.