Compton Chamberlayne

Compton Park House (or Compton House) is a Grade I listed manor house in Compton Chamberlayne, Wiltshire, England, about 7 miles (11 km) east of Salisbury.

Baverstock is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Dinton, in Wiltshire, England, about 7 miles (11 km) west of Salisbury. The village has 10 private dwellings, a church and several farm buildings. The manor of Hurdcott, a hamlet of a few houses, lies to the southwest of the village (not to be confused with Hurdcott near Winterbourne Earls). In 1931 the parish had a population of 43. To the north of the village is cultivated chalk downland and extensive mixed woodland. To the south the village is bordered by the River Nadder meandering through water meadows. The road through the village from the B3089 terminates in unmetalled farm track. Baverstock civil parish was reduced in size when its southeast part, including Hurdcott hamlet, was transferred to Barford St Martin on 24 March 1884; the whole of Baverstock parish was absorbed into Dinton on 1 April 1934. The Church of England parish church of Saint Edith is dedicated to the Wiltshire saint Edith of Wilton and stands on the brow of a slope facing south across the Nadder valley. The building is from the 14th and 15th centuries, with restoration in 1880–1893 by William Butterfield. The building is Grade II* listed. The tower has a ring of three bells, two of which date from the 15th century. Today the church is part of the Nadder Valley team ministry. The churchyard contains, among others, the graves of 32 Australian soldiers from World War I. Soldiers were encamped locally before being transported to the war theatre in France. The majority died from infectious illness. Baverstock Manor is a Grade II* listed house from the 16th century, with later alterations and 1930s restoration. Close to the B3089 is the Penruddocke Arms, a public house named for the Penruddocke family who lived in neighbouring Compton Chamberlayne during the 18th and 19th centuries. North of the village lies Baverstock Juniper Bank, a 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at grid reference SU035336.

Chiselbury is the site of an Iron Age univallate hillfort in Wiltshire, England. The hillfort is sub-circular in plan, and encloses an area of approximately 10.5 acres (460,000 sq ft). It is defined by an earthen rampart up to 3.6 metres (12 ft) in height and an external ditch, up to a maximum of 1.6 metres (5.2 ft) in depth. A gap in the south-eastern side of the rampart, and a corresponding causeway across the ditch, is thought to be the original entrance and is associated with a small D-shaped embanked enclosure, which is apparently visible on aerial photographs. Although the enclosure has subsequently been degraded by ploughing, it is still apparent as a series of low earthworks.Limited archaeological investigation of the interior of the hillfort in the early 20th century failed to find any direct traces of occupation. However, outside of the fort some Iron Age pottery and a lead spindle whorl were found. In addition, two Roman coins, one of which dated to the reign of Emperor Constantine I, were said to have been found within the central area. An Iron Age sword and scabbard were also found on the nearby trackway which runs along the ridge top.The hillfort is abutted on both its northern and southern sides by embanked ditches or cross dykes. Their precise function is unknown but the manner in which they cut the ridge suggests that they were intended to prevent movement along it. The Northern Cross dyke, 90 metres (300 ft) in length, ran from the ditch of the hillfort across the top of the ridge before continuing part way down its northern slopes. Although visible in 1928, the section between the hillfort and the edge of the ridge has subsequently been infilled by ploughing, but survives as a buried feature. The Southern Cross dyke, which survives as a discontinuous series of banks and ditches, (sections of which are filled in but survive as buried features) is a total of 180 metres (590 ft) in length. It travels roughly south-south-east from the D-shaped enclosure, down the southern slope of the ridge, and into the base of a valley. An aerial photograph from 1928 clearly shows the southern cross dyke continuing as a buried feature beneath a trackway which runs along the ridge top, indicating that the trackway came into use after the cross dyke was constructed. An Anglo-Saxon charter also mentions 'the ridgeway' suggesting that the trackway was in use by at least the early medieval period. Referred to as the 'Ten Mile Course' by Dr. Stukeley in 1776, in the medieval and post-medieval periods the trackway was the main route from Wilton to Shaftesbury. By the 18th century it had become a turnpike road, and a map dated to 1773 depicts a toll house immediately to the south of it. The remains of the former toll house structure are visible today as a series of earthworks representing a building platform with a small enclosure immediately to its east.The site, including the cross dykes, is a scheduled monument.Today, the site is also known for the Fovant Badges, a number of regimental badges cut into the chalk of the hill on its northern flank. These were created by soldiers garrisoned near Fovant during the First World War, and are clearly visible from the A30 which runs through the village.

The Fovant Badges are a set of regimental badges cut into a chalk hill, Fovant Down, near Fovant, in south-west Wiltshire, England. They are between Salisbury and Shaftesbury on the A30 road in the Nadder valley, and are approximately 1⁄2 mile (800 m) south-east of Fovant village. They were created by soldiers garrisoned nearby, and waiting to go to France, during the First World War; the first in 1916. They are clearly visible from the A30 which runs through the village. Nine of the original twenty remain, and are scheduled ancient monuments and recognised by the Imperial War Museum as war memorials. Further badges have been added more recently. The Fovant Badge Society holds an annual Drumhead Service which is attended by the Australian High Commissioner, local mayors and members of parliament. These services fund the upkeep of the badges.

Dinton is a village, civil parish and former manor in Wiltshire, England, in the Nadder valley on the B3089 road about 8 miles (13 km) west of Salisbury. The parish population was 696 at the 2011 census, estimated at 733 in 2019. The civil parish includes the village of Baverstock, about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Dinton village.

Philipps House (until 1916 Dinton House) is an early 19th-century Neo-Grecian country house at Dinton, overlooking the Nadder valley about 8 miles (13 km) west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. The house was built in 1816 by William Wyndham to the designs of Sir Jeffry Wyatville, replacing a 17th-century house. In 1916 the estate was bought by Bertram Philipps, who renamed the house after himself, then in 1943 gave the house and grounds to the National Trust. The is Grade II* listed and its parkland (known as Dinton Park is Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.The house is built of Chilmark stone, a local stone also used for Salisbury Cathedral, and Wyatt is believed to have based his design on Pythouse, some seven miles (11 km) away at Newtown, near Tisbury. The house is two-storied with symmetrically set chimney stacks and a central lantern. The main (south) front has nine bays with an Ionic portico. The rooms are planned around a spacious square hall with an imperial staircase to the first floor. The house is one of the first in England to have a central heating system installed, which was achieved by pumping hot air from a boiler in the basement into the stairwell.

Dinton railway station is a disused railway station which formerly served Dinton in Wiltshire, England. It was situated on the West of England Main Line from London Waterloo station to Exeter. It was opened in 1859 and closed to passengers in 1966 and to general goods traffic in 1967. In the First World War, it was the junction for the Fovant Military Railway. The station was about ½ mile from the centre of the village.

Knapp and Barnett's Downs (grid reference SU030266) is a 71.4 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1971.

Dinton Railway Cutting (grid reference SU008309) is a 2,600 square metre geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1990.

Dinton Quarry (grid reference SU006308) is a 3,000 square metre geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, notified in 1990. This long-disused quarry of Middle Purbeck limestone was the main source of the late Jurassic fossil insects described by Brodie in 1845.

Baverstock Juniper Bank (grid reference SU035336) is a 2.6 hectare Biological Site of Special Scientific Interest to the north of the village of Baverstock in Wiltshire, England. Baverstock Juniper Bank is within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The ungrazed chalk grassland is home to over 500 bushes of the lowland juniper, Juniperus communis, subspecies communis. Their seeds attract flocks of finches and yellowhammers to the location as a feeding site in winter. Uncommon species such a horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) and pyramidal orchid are to be found at the SSSI. Butterflies such as the brimstone, speckled wood and small heath have been seen visiting the site. The site was notified in 1971.

The Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, England, organised by the South Western Centre of the British Automobile Racing Club. The first practice meeting was held on 25 June 1967, when Patsy Burt, driving a McLaren-Oldsmobile set a time of 39.90 sec. The first competition event was held on 23 July 1967. The track currently hosts eight competitive events each year; two, two-day events, and five are single-day events. In addition, a Test Day is held annually just before the competitive season starts. The venue also conducts four Hill Climb School days each year, which follow the syllabus set by AHASS (the Association of Hill Climb and Sprint Schools). The venue currently hosts two rounds a year of the British Hill Climb Championship during May and August and seven events of its own championship. The 2020 Hill and Championship Sponsor is Turbo Dynamics, a company owned and run by Peter Marsh, son of the hill's designer, Tony Marsh. In addition to the Turbo Dynamics Championship, the venue hosts rounds of the ASWMC, ACSMC and HSA championships and a number of other national championships. Motorcycles also visit the venue five times a year, and run as part of five of the single-day events. The motorcycle riders are members of the National Hill Climb Association (NHCA). The farmland the course traverses is also used for pheasant shoots and the course itself has found a dual use as a gravity racing venue. The course measures 1058 yards (967 metres), and rises a total of 140 feet (43 metres), although the first section of the track is downhill, a feature unique in British hill climbing, but not unknown elsewhere in Europe. The course was designed in 1965 by Tony Marsh, who was still competing the course in the premier over 2000cc racing car class in 2007. In July 2009, the third round of the Gurston Down Speed Hill Climb Championships was dedicated to Marsh's memory following his death in May.The outright hill record is held by Wallace Menzies, who completed the course in 25.34 seconds on 30 May 2021.