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The Village

Introduction to Great Cheverell

We hope you enjoy living in our beautiful Wiltshire village and that you find your neighbours friendly and helpful. The Great Cheverell Parish Council has produced this website to improve communication within the village and to give you access to Council documents. It will enable us to keep you in the picture regarding any issues and to advertise village events.

Great Cheverell ‘Land of the Goats’ or more accurately, sheep, sits on the edge of Salisbury Plain with a population of around 600. It is a narrow strip parish, about 7km long and 2km wide, sitting on chalk, clay and greensand. With numerous underground springs, many of the low lying pasture can be very wet.

This area has been occupied about three thousand years, confirmed by the discovery of ancient relics at various sites surrounding Great Cheverell. Items are still discovered in the surrounding fields, Roman coins, jewellery, pottery and tools and can be seen in the local museums at Market Lavington and Devizes.

History of the Village

The village was established in Saxon times, when Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, defended his kingdom from constant Viking attack. He was able to defeat the Danes at the Battle of Edington, a village some 4 miles to the west, subsequently the region prospered with the establishment of the wool trade.

If you wander around the Salisbury Plain villages you will see many references to ‘Bells’, whether as house names, roads or Public Houses. This was a bell making area. Not as you might think, church bells, but sheep and cow bells, which were exported worldwide.

Most of the notable houses sit within the Conservation Area, along the High Street and Church Road. Laurel House, Glebe House, Manor Farmhouse, Highfield House and Manor House, are splendid examples, with many smaller thatched cottages lining the road.

In the 1840s Great Cheverell was the Cribs Causeway of Salisbury Plain, boasting five shops, including a baker. Next door to the current Post Office and shop was an alehouse where beer was manufactured and sold. This preceded the The Bell which was built in 1740. There used to be lots of deliveries in the village, all the usual ones, plus ‘Slopers’ from The Brittox, who sold door to door clothes.

The Village Now

Great Cheverell is a friendly, lively village with its own school, shop, pub, a Village Hall (formerly the Parish Room) and a new Pavilion. The new housing ensures that young families can settle in the village which helps to maintain a balanced community.

Many of the farms are now Equestrian Centres and cows no longer meander up Green Lane to be milked. You are more likely to see horse boxes and horses with riders.

In the 50s, the village hosted a Prize Silver Band led by Bert Rideout. It lasted 10 years, and was very popular around the local villages. This eventually led to a skiffle group who played at The Club Room in The Bell. The Club Room was used for weddings and socials, then became a skittle alley and is now bed and breakfast accommodation. We have our own village group with born again rockers 'The Cheverallites' who play at many of our village events.

Our most notable resident was probably the Revd Awdry who wrote the 'Thomas The Tank Engine' books. He later became a curate at West Lavington.