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Tilshead

Civil parishes in WiltshireOpenDomesdayUse British English from August 2019Villages in Wiltshire
Village scene, Tilshead geograph.org.uk 2454394
Village scene, Tilshead geograph.org.uk 2454394

Tilshead () is a village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire in Southern England, about 9 miles (14 km) northwest of the town of Amesbury. It is close to the geographical centre of Salisbury Plain, on the A360 road approximately midway between the villages of Shrewton and West Lavington and is near the source of the River Till. Its population in 2011 was 358, down from a peak of 989 inhabitants in 1951.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Tilshead (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.23 ° E -1.951 °
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Address

High Street

High Street
SP3 4RX
England, United Kingdom
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Village scene, Tilshead geograph.org.uk 2454394
Village scene, Tilshead geograph.org.uk 2454394
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Nearby Places

St George's Church, Orcheston
St George's Church, Orcheston

St George's Church in Orcheston, Wiltshire, England, was built in the 13th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a Grade II* listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was declared redundant on 1 March 1982, and was vested in the Trust on 30 October 1985. The church is built of flint and has a Norman north door. The door has single columns which are headed by simple scallop-shaped carvings with fan-shaped leaves in the scallops. The short embattled west tower has a tiled pyramidal roof. It contains three bells which were cast by John Taylor & Co of Loughborough following fire damage to the bells which previously hung there; another source lists four, including a bell from the Salisbury foundry of c.1400. The windows in the nave and Early English chancel and low tower also date from the 13th century. The tower is supported by diagonal buttresses. Inside are the Royal Arms of 1636. The font is of a style popular in the 15th century, although it was made in 1833. The funerary hatchment is also from the 1830s. The church was restored in 1833 by Thomas Henry Wyatt, during which the roof of nave was raised. In 1933 the parish of St George was combined with St Mary's, the other church in the village, which continues in use. In 1988 the church was used as a location for the filming of the BBC television series First Born with Charles Dance ringing the church's bells.

Wessex
Wessex

The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until England was unified. The Anglo-Saxons believed that Wessex was founded by Cerdic and Cynric of the Gewisse, but this may be a legend. The two main sources for the history of Wessex are the West Saxon Genealogical Regnal List and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (the latter of which drew on and adapted an early version of the List), which sometimes conflict. Wessex became a Christian kingdom after Cenwalh (r. 642–645; 648–672) was baptised and was expanded under his rule. Cædwalla later conquered Sussex, Kent and the Isle of Wight. His successor, Ine (r. 689–726), issued one of the oldest surviving English law codes and established a second West Saxon bishopric. The throne subsequently passed to a series of kings with unknown genealogies. During the 8th century, as the hegemony of Mercia grew, Wessex largely retained its independence. It was during this period that the system of shires was established. Under Egbert, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Essex, and Mercia, along with parts of Dumnonia, were conquered. He also obtained the overlordship of the Northumbrian king. However, Mercian independence was restored in 830. During the reign of his successor, Æthelwulf, a Danish army arrived in the Thames estuary, but was decisively defeated. When Æthelwulf's son, Æthelbald, usurped the throne, the kingdom was divided to avoid war. Æthelwulf was succeeded in turn by his four sons, the youngest being Alfred the Great. Wessex was invaded by the Danes in 871, and Alfred was compelled to pay them to leave. They returned in 876, but were forced to withdraw. In 878 they forced Alfred to flee to the Somerset Levels, but were eventually defeated at the Battle of Edington. During his reign Alfred issued a new law code, gathered scholars to his court and was able to devote funds to building ships, organising an army and establishing a system of burhs. Alfred's son, Edward, captured the eastern Midlands and East Anglia from the Danes and became ruler of Mercia in 918 upon the death of his sister, Æthelflæd. Edward's son, Æthelstan, conquered Northumbria in 927, and England became a unified kingdom for the first time. Cnut the Great, who conquered England in 1016, created the wealthy and powerful earldom of Wessex, but in 1066 Harold Godwinson reunited the earldom with the crown and Wessex ceased to exist.

St Mary's Church, Maddington
St Mary's Church, Maddington

St Mary's Church in the Maddington area of Shrewton, Wiltshire, in the west of England, was built in the late 12th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was declared redundant on 29 December 1975, and was vested in the Trust on 26 July 1979.The church has Norman origins, belonging to Amesbury Priory in 1179, with the earliest parts of the existing building dating from the late 12th and early 13th century, however there have been several alterations since, including the renewal of the roof of the nave in 1603 funded by Giles Tooker. Sir Stephen Fox became the lord of the manor in the late 17th century and paid for the rebuilding of the chancel and redecoration. A gallery was added in 1637 but has since been removed. In 1853 the chancel was rebuilt and the whole church restored by Thomas Henry Wyatt, including the erection of the gabled porch.The walls of the nave and chancel have a chequerboard pattern of flint and sandstone. There is a low west three-stage tower, which was added in the 16th century and is supported by diagonal buttresses. The three bells are dated c.1499, 1587 and 1699 and are currently unringable. The interior includes a large plaster cartouche of strapwork enclosing the date 1637, which may be the date of construction of a gallery which has since been demolished. The stained glass includes work by Alexander Gibbs in the south aisle and another by Lavers, Barraud and Westlake in the chancel.Part of a flint and limestone wall, northwest of the church, is from the 17th century. The churchyard has an extension west of the main churchyard, across a footpath, which contains Commonwealth war graves of a Canadian Army soldier of World War I and a Dorsetshire Regiment soldier of World War II.