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Ramsbury is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is in the Kennet Valley near the Berkshire boundary. The nearest towns are Hungerford about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east and Marlborough about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) west. The much larger town of Swindon is about 12 miles (19 km) to the north. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Axford about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of the village of Ramsbury, and three smaller hamlets: New Town (Ramsbury), close to Ramsbury to the southeast, and Knighton and Whittonditch, both about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east. (There is a second hamlet named New Town in Enford parish in the Pewsey area.) The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 1,989. Littlecote Roman Villa is in the parish. The earliest written history of Ramsbury can be traced from the Saxon era when the bishopric of Ramsbury was created in 909 AD. The see was moved to Old Sarum in 1075. The Church of England parish church of the Holy Cross dates from the 13th century. It has a ghost story: according to local legend, if you count the hundred studs on the north door at midnight, it will open, and the ghost of 'Wild' William Darrell of Littlecote House (the local manor, now a hotel) will come out. During the Second World War there was a Royal Air Force airfield on a ridge of high ground to the south of the village. [edit] Research Tips
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