Quidhampton

The parish is situated between Salisbury and Wilton and formed part of the ecclesiastical parish and tything of Fugglestone St. Peter from medieval times. Over the years sections of the parish were included in either Salisbury or Wilton. In 1894, when parish councils were set up, a new area comprising part of Fugglestone St. Peter, Quidhampton and Bemerton became the new civil parish of Bemerton. An area of Bemerton was transferred to Salisbury in 1927. A little later a new civil parish was created in 1934, covering an area of 850 acres with a population of 331 and given the name of Quidhampton. In 1954, 134 of those acres were taken into the city of Salisbury, the parish was then included in the Salisbury and Wilton Rural District Council until 1974.

The parish consists of a long narrow strip of water meadows and marshland with alluvial soil in the river valley, rising to a chalk plateau. At the western end of the parish is an area, between the rivers Nadder and Wylye; most of this great marsh was later inclosed into Wilton Park. In the Middle Ages the parish was partly arable and the rest downland, but since the mid 18th century has become almost all arable, although in the early 21st century almost all the parish is pasture land. A gravel pit is mentioned in 1632 and within the parish are many old chalk pits. A survey in 1568 shows a road from Minster Street in Wilton running through Great Marsh to Quidhampton, but this was never a turn-pike. A minor road running almost parallel with the main Salisbury Wilton road serves the settlement of Quidhampton; it is shown on a map of 1783 crossing the Nadder at 'Tumbling Bay Bridge' and ending near Wilton House, though by 1789 the extension of Wilton Park blocked the road. Main roads in the area were reconstructed in very straight lines during the extension of Wilton Park, and were tree-lined, but these had to be replanted after gales in 1930; one of these forms part of the western boundary of Quidhampton parish.. The tree-lined roads were a feature of the area and the road through Quidhampton village was also tree-lined.

There is little evidence of pre-historic occupation, though Roman roads crossed the area. In the 13th century the families Nosuch and Falk were free tenants in the parish, selling and exchanging properties. There is no evidence of Quidhampton as a separate manor, for the most part it was split between the manors of Fugglestone and Bemerton. A water mill at Quidhampton is first mentioned in 1332. During 1334 countrymen paid 1/15th of the value of 'movables' i.e. their personal property, as tax and poll tax payers (over 14 years of age) in the year 1377 numbered 75. Rents granted to the prior of Ivychurch, by Robert of Hungerford in 1334, for holdings in Quidhampton and Bemerton were valued at 52 shillings. It was recorded that in 1320 the township of Quidhampton and Bemerton were to pay half the cost of repairing 'Kingsmill Bridge'. In 1537 a lease was granted to Robert Seymour - with the land eventually becoming part of the Pembroke estate.

A three field system was in operation during the 15th and 16th centuries, when it was recorded that Quidhampton Down, lying between Fugglestone Down and Bemerton Down, covered 140 acres. Wool was important for the clothiers of Wilton. Walter Gray, a clothier from Wilton was leasing a mill situated at Quidhampton from the abbess of Wilton in 1536. During 1567 it was recorded that George Crede possessed rights of common for 100 sheep at Quidhampton. It is assumed that he was a member of the Crede family who were prominent in Wilton in the late 15th early 16th century. A survey in 1553 noted four copyholders had land in the parish, but all were small holdings, the largest only 12 acres of arable land. Around 1560 the mill at Quidhampton was used as a fulling mill and was leased by Nicholas Poole at a rent of 65 shillings and 8 pence; it was still recorded as a fulling mill in the 18th century, but had disappeared by the 19th century. During 1699 weavers from Quidhampton were included in a charter obtained by Wilton, which enabled them to form a guild in order to exclude foreign competition.

The layout of the settlement has altered little since the 18th century. Two or three timber-framed houses remain from the 16th or 17th century, although much altered. The mill was to the west of the village situated on the river Nadder.

There is no parish church in Quidhampton and residents are likely to have used that of Fugglestone St. Peter, although there could have been a division in the village with those living at the eastern end attending St. Andrew's at Bemerton. This may have accounted for the rise in non-conformity as in 1720 the house of John Thring of Quidhampton was registered as a non-conformist place of worship. A house in the parish was registered for Methodist worship in 1807 and a third registered for Independent worship in 1813. The Baptist chapel was built and registered in 1835; in 1851 the evening congregation numbered 25, but it was out of use by the turn of the century. A Mission Hall, on land given by the Pembrokes, was built by public subscription in 1852, and enlarged in 1925 to serve as a Mission Church.

In 1841 there were 79 houses in Quidhampton and the population was 333, in 1951 there were 101 dwellings in the civil parish. In 1875 a Directory listed one blacksmith, one carpenter, two shopkeepers, one shoe maker and one brewer trading in the parish, along with two public houses, including The Bell, formerly The Blue Bell. The White Horse listed in 1830 was still in use in the 21st century.
In 1552 Simon Forman, physician, surgeon and astrologer, who had a reputation for healing the sick and mentally afflicted, was born in the village. The religious poet George Herbert was rector at Bemerton, including Quidhampton, from 1630 until his death in 1632.