OPC is Duncan McBurney
Contiguous Parishes (our neighbours)
Beechingstoke – Wilsford – Woodborough
Websites of Interest
The Parish Church of St. James
A church stood in Newnton before 1291, being administered by the abbess of Wilton. The chancel and nave of the current church were originally constructed in the 13th century, the church being dedicated to St. James by 1442. The tower was also added in the 15th century. The church was closed for repairs on a number of occasions in the 19th century with the nave and chancel being extensively rebuilt in 1862. The tower holds four bells, the oldest of which has been assigned to the period 1380 – 1420. Although the tower was repaired in 1959 the bells can only be chimed.
The church backs onto what was Manningford Bohune Common. Manningford Bohune was a detached tithing of the Parish of Wilsford, which did not have its own chapel until 1859. As a result, many residents of Manningford Bohune would use the Church of St. James in North Newnton, rather than travel three miles to their Parish Church in Wilsford.
St. James Gallery St. James Interior Gallery St. James Churchyard Gallery
Church Supported Charities and Funding
Incumbents
John Martin and his 4 Wives 1830-1897 Presentation to Mr. Clift, Churchwarden 1860
Parish Register Transcripts
Bishops Transcripts
There are several runs of Bishops Transcripts that predate the earliest surviving Parish Registers that start in 1755 and these have been transcribed where they exist.
Baptisms (Bishops Transcripts): 1605/06; 1615-1636; 1664-1680; 1710-1727
Marriages (Bishops Transcripts): 1615; 1619-1624; 1635; 1668-1679; 1716-1727
Burials (Bishops Transcripts): 1605; 1615; 1619-1636; 1665-1680; 1711; 1716-1727
Baptisms
Marriages
Burials
Parish Registers held at WSHC
Baptisms 1756-1890
Marriages 1755-1987
Burials 1756-1986
Parish History
Location & Topography
The Parish of North Newnton is located approximately 3 miles south west of Pewsey and 10 miles east south east of Devizes in the Vale of Pewsey. The village that gave its name to the Parish now consists of little more than the medieval church, a few cottages and Falkner Farm House. The church itself is set back some distance from the old Avebury to Amesbury turnpike road that runs from the north west to the south east corner of the Parish, which now has the character of a small country lane.
The Parish also includes the tithing of Hilcott, which until recently was the largest settlement in the parish, Gores, Cuttenham (farm) and detached land at Rainscombe north of Oare approximately 5 miles to the north. The detached land at Rainscombe was transferred to Wilcot parish in 1885.
The Parish also now includes the settlement of Bottlesford (a corruption of the name Botwell’s ford), which was transferred from the Parish of Wilsford (being part of the detached tithing of Manningford Bohune) in more recent times.
In the south east corner of the Parish is the Woodbridge Inn, where the Pewsey to Devizes road crosses the Avebury to Amesbury road. Here the River Avon is augmented by a stream flowing south from Alton Barnes and, presumably, this was also the site of a wooden bridge crossing the river that gave its name to the Inn.
Civil Registration
1837 – April 1936 Pewsey Registration District
April 1936 – Present Devizes Registration District
Buildings and Land
Owners of Land 1873 Land Agreement between Phelps & Parsons 1877
Land Surveys
Farms
Cuttenham Farm
Cuttenham Farm is located in the far South West corner of the Parish next to the Parish and village of Wilsford. When the Manor Farmhouse of North Newnton was destroyed by fire in the 1530s it was not rebuilt, but a new structure (Cuttenham Farm) replaced it next to its fields. A photograph of the farm during the flooding of January 2014 may be seen in the Farms gallery above.
Crime and Legal Matters
Larceny
Trespass
Directories
Kellys 1889 Gillmans 1913 Kellys 1915
Education
Emigration and Migration
In 1840 a Colonial Land and Emigration Commission was created, amalgamating two smaller organisations, to administer arrangements for emigration schemes to the Colonies. Many schemes involved assisted, or free, passage from the UK. In December 1847 agents in Devizes and Enford began advertising free passage to New South Wales, South Australia and the Cape of Good Hope in local newspapers. The advertisements claimed there was a particular need for Agricultural Labourers, Shepherds, female Domestic Servants and Dairymaids. This prompted a surge in emigration from the Vale of Pewsey, including a number of families from Hilcott and North Newnton.
Assisted Emigration Advert 1848
Emigrants
To Australia
Romance Aboard Ship (Smith Family)
Employment and Business
Apprentices
Apprentice records published here may not necessarily mean that the apprentice was from the parish but was apprenticed to a master within the parish.
Benjamin Carter 1741 John Cooper 1711
Miscellaneous Documents
Non Conformity and Other Places of Worship
People and Parish Notables
Census Returns Transcripts
Elections, Polls and Taxes
Poll of Freeholders 1772 Voters List 1832 Voters Lists Revisions 1843 MP Nominations 2015 Poll Book 1818
Family Notices
Poor Law, Charity and the Workhouse
Family Deserted by Robert Woodroffe 1807 Pewsey Union Supplies Tender Notice 1846
Probate
Inquisitions Post Mortem of Lands Held
William, Earl of Pembroke 1630
War, Conflict and Military Matters
War Memorials & Military Gallery
WWI
There is a small memorial inside the Church of St. James that lists all those from the Parish of North Newnton that served in World War I. A separate memorial to those that lost their lives in both the First and Second World War can be found in the small cemetery at Hilcott about 1.5 miles from the Parish Church in North Newnton.
Diocese of Salisbury Memorial Book 1914-1918 Parish Roll of Honour 1914-1918 WWI Volunteers of St. James Parish
Bottlesford
Buildings and Land
Public Houses
Seven Stars is the only public house in the parish and serves North Newnton
Employment
Emergency Services
Wiltshire Constabulary 1858 Jess Barlow Police Constable 1885-1910
People and Parish Notables
Family Notices
War, Conflict and Military Matters
War Memorials & Military Gallery
WWI
WWI Casualty – Herbert James Barlow
Hilcott
Emigration and Migration
Assisted Emigration
The following individuals were granted an assisted passage to New South Wales in Australia
Emigration to Australia
People and Parish Notables
Personal Research Items
Tuck Family Research Burial Extracts – This item was donated by Ken Tuck and contains entries that may or may not relate to the Tuck family however they have been published as such. Many refer to Quaker burials found across the county
