Place:Savernake, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Savernake is a civil parish immediately south and southeast of Marlborough in Wiltshire, England. The settlements in the parish are the hamlets of Cadley and Clench Common which are both redirected to South Savernake with Brimslade and Cadley. Savernake Forest covers the eastern half of the parish.

Savernake civil parish was created in 1934, with boundary changes in 1987; the predecessor parishes were North Savernake and South Savernake with Brimslade and Cadley.

Savernake (comprising of its two later merged sections) existed as a chapelry in Great Bedwyn parish during the 19th century. The chapter in the Victoria County History of Wiltshire (referenced below) is named Savernake. Savernake is also the reference used in the Family History Library Catalog.

The quotation below describes Savernake as a chapelry prior to 1857. A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Savernake from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"SAVERNAKE FOREST, a chapelry and an ancient forest in Marlborough [registration] district, Wilts. The chapelry is in Great Bedwin parish; lies 2 miles N W of Bedwin [railway] station, and 4½ S E by E of Marlborough; and was constituted in 1864. Post-town: Hungerford. Population: 465. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Salisbury. Value: not reported. Patron: the Marquis of Ailesbury.

"The ancient forest includes the chapelry; comprises a domain of 16 miles in circuit; retains much of its ancient sylvan character; displays a grandeur of forest scenery highly interesting to artists; formed part of the jointure of Queen Eleanor; passed to the Seymours, Dukes of Somerset; went by marriage, in 1676, to the Bruces; and belongs now to the Marquis of Ailesbury. [Savernake Forest] House, formerly called Tottenham Park, is the Marquis's seat. A column, seen through a long vista from the [north] front of the mansion, crowns a lofty height, and was erected in 1789 to commemorate events in the life of George III."

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Savernake.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 16, pp109-115 - Parish: Savernake. 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.