OPC Vacancy
Contiguous Parishes (our neighbours)
Marden – North Newnton – Patney – Stanton St. Bernard – Wilsford – Woodborough
Websites
St. Stephen’s Church – Services and evants.
The Parish Church of St. Stephen
The first church is recorded in the parish in 1291. The church of St. Stephen, built of rubble and ashlar, has a chancel and a naive with a south porch. The chancel was rebult in 1791. The whole church was thoroughly restored in 1861; the wooden bell turret on the west end of the naive roof was replaced by a stone gable with two bells. The churchyard is renowned for its table tombs. There is a Yew tree with a girth of over 14 feet, probably 600 years old.
St. Stephen’s Gallery St. Stephen’s Interior Gallery St. Stephen’s Churchyard Gallery
St. Stephen’s Churchyard Survey Rectors List 1304-1962
Church Supported Charities and Funding
Parish Register Transcripts
Baptisms
Marriages
Burials
Parish Registers held at WSHC
Baptisms 1566-1986
Marriages 1590-1986
Burials 1566-1987
Parish History
Also known as Beeching or Beauchampstoke
Beechingstoke is halfway between Pewsey and Devizes, about 5 miles from each. In the late 18th Century the village comprised a schoolteacher’s house and thatched cottages along a narrow lane, probably known as The Street.
A few cottages dating from 1773 can be found on the Woodborough and Marden roads; this area was later known as Piccadilly. The hamlet of Broad Street lies along the former Turnpike road to the east of the parish, and contains a few cottages, a butcher’s shop and a corn merchant’s store.
Beechingstoke Manor stands at the entrance to the village on the south side. An ancient track known as ‘Frith Herpath’ is a footpath forming part of the boundary of Beechingstoke. The roads through Broad Street and from Marden, as far as the junction with Puckshipton Lane, were turnpiked in 1840. The Manor of Puckshipton is within the parish. In 1970 there were only four farms in the parish – Manor, Bottle, and Puckshipton were dairy and arable farms, Stoke Farm was solely dairy.
The Berks & Hants Extension Railway opened in 1862. Woodborough station was north of Manor Farm on the site of the old Turnpike road. The station closed in 1966 and the building demolished.
Civil Registration
1837 – Present Devizes Registration District
Buildings and Land
Indenture for Sale, Mortgage etc. Stonyford Mill, Stanton St. Bernard 1764 Owners of Land 1873
Land Surveys
Listed Buildings
Grade II
Old Rectory
Built c1830 for Rev. Edward Caulfeild on the site of the rectory of 1743. It was listed on 19th March 1962. From 1986 to 2008 it was owned by Philip and Azalea Mayhew.
Crime and Legal Matters
Death Sentences & Executions 1757 Transportation of Prisoners 1827 Joseph Plank – Deserter, Burglar & Poacher 1828 Bastardy Examinations 1835-1878
Directories
Post Office 1855 Kellys 1867 Post Office 1875 Kellys 1915 Gillmans 1899 Gillmans 1900 Gillmans 1914
Education
In 1808, twelve children were taught to read at the Rector’s expense. A school was supported by the incumbent and parishoners in 1818. Another began in 1833 supported by parents and was the attended by ten boys and girls. A new school and teachers’ house were built in 1859 and fifteen children were taught there by a mistress, this school closed when Woodborough school opened in 1872 – children from Woodborough, North Newton, Bottlesford (then Wilsford) as well as Beechingstoke were educated there. By 1914 an average number of 121 infants and juniors attended. Numbers fell to 89 in 1922 and to 68 in 1970. The former schoolroom in Beechingstoke was used as a parish hall and the teachers’ house sold as a private dwelling.
Emigration and Migration
Employment and Business
British Postal Service Appointments 1737-1969
Miscellaneous Documents
Non Conformity and Other Places of Worship
1841 the house of Isaac Tilley was registered for meetings
No chapels are recorded in the village.
People and Parish Notables
Wiltshire Friendly Society Membership 1837-1871
Census Returns Transcripts
1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911
The 1841 Census Return for Beechingstoke in unavailable since the original numerators book has been lost and probably destroyed.
Coroners Bills
County coroners were introduced in England in around 1194 once established other boroughs and liberties sought the right to have their own coroner. Often in Medieval times the coroner also assumed the role of the sheriff and his duties weren’t limited to holding inquests on dead bodies although almost a full time post they were unpaid for the duties apart from those that were deemed murder of manslaughter when they would receive 13s. 4d. From the 24th June 1752 a law was passed allowing the coroner to claim £1 for every inquest they attended not held in a gaol and also to claim 9d per mile travel allowance from the place of residence. Inquests held in any gaol were performed at a rate totalling no more than £1. These costs were to be paid from the county rates. In cases of homicide the coroner also received the former fee of 13s. 4d. The coroners submitted their bills at the quarter session sittings for approval. Coroners Bills 1752-1796
Elections and Polls
Poll of Freeholders 1772 Poll Book 1818 Voters List 1832 Voters Lists Revisions 1843
Parish Notables
Callis, John – Sound Engineer to Sir Paul McCartney
Poor Law, Charity and The Workhouse
Charities for the Poor
When the Revd Charles Mayo died in 1829, he bequeathed £100 stock, the income of which was to be used to buy clothing for the old and bibles and prayer books for the children who attended church regularly. In 1834 it was used to buy clothing. During 1867-69, the annual income was £3 and was apparently distributed in accordance with the original bequest but was afterwards variously given out in doles, blankets, bibles, prayer books for confirmation candidates.
1877 – the sale of some common land was sold to Lord Normanton for £42 and this was invested in a charitable fund.
1900 – four people received 10s each and two 5s each
1901 – the income of £1 4s 4d was paid into the parish coal fund.
The charities, which produced £1.2s and £2 10s respectively, were distributed together in 1969 among seven people who each received 10s at Christmas.
Poor Law Union Bread & Flour Contract 1838
Probate
National Probate Index 1858-1966
War, Conflict and Military Matters
WWI
WWI Volunteers of Beechingstoke Parish
Casualties
Samuel Swatton Charles Gale 1916
War Memorials & Memorial Books
Diocese of Salisbury Memorial Book 1914-1918
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Jean Barnwell for her efforts as OPC for this parish.
