Great Cheverell is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, south of Devizes. In some sources the Latinized name of Cheverell Magna is used, especially when referring to the ecclesiastical parish.

The parish includes Great Cheverell Hill, a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest consisting of unimproved species-rich chalk grassland on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain.

History

A large settlement of 111 households was recorded at Chevrel in the Domesday Book of 1086. There were 73 taxpayers in 1377.

The Manor House, next to the church, dates from c. 1690 with enlargement and alteration in the 18th century. Southwest of the house is a Grade II* listed game larder and gazebo of similar date. Glebe House, a former farmhouse north of the church, is from the late 17th century and early 18th.

The Stert and Westbury Railway was built through the parish by the Great Western Railway Company in 1900, providing routes from London to Weymouth or Taunton. There was a station called Lavington, just beyond the east boundary of the parish, about one mile by road from Great Cheverell village. The line remains open but the station was closed in 1967 and no local stations remain; the nearest are Pewsey and Westbury.

To the south the parish extends onto higher ground at Cheverell Down, where the southernmost part has been part of the Imber Range military training area since 1933.

The tower carries six bells: one of c. 1500 and three from the 18th century.

The church was designated as Grade I listed in 1962. The parish registers, now held at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, cover the years 1653-1987 (baptisms), 1654-1994 (marriages), and 1654-1987 (burials).

Chapels

A Baptist chapel was built on the High Street in 1837. Known as Little Zoar, it was used until 1907 when it became the Parish Room, continuing in the same role today as the Village Hall. A new chapel was built in red brick and stone in 1911, a short distance to the east; it was in use in 1973 but is now a private residence.

A new two-room school for 50-60 pupils was built in 1844 on a High Street plot provided by the rector, R. M. Atkinson, with assistance from the Townsend charity for running costs. This became a National School in 1845, a Board school in 1876 and a Church of England school in 1903. Attendance fell to 35 in 1955 but by 1973 had risen to 51.

A larger school, now called Holy Trinity CE Primary Academy, was opened on the south side of the village in 1980 to serve Great Cheverell and nearby parishes including Little Cheverell, Erlestoke and Coulston. The village has a pub with accommodation, the Bell Inn, a late 18th-century building.

Notable residents

  • Jane Gregory (1959–2011), Olympic dressage rider
  • Sir Charles Carter Chitham (1886–1972), policeman in British India

References

Further reading

  • Great Cheverell Parish Council