Everleigh

Everleigh, situated on the extreme north-east of Salisbury Plain, is one of the few remaining chalk downland villages in the county sitting on light loam overlying chalk. The parish is approximately 5 kilometres long and 3 kilometres wide and around 3286 acres.  

 It is located on the plain itself, rather than in the valleys as most of the other Plain villages, at a height of over 500 feet looking over the Bourne Valley towards Chute Forest to the east, the Avon valley to the west and over the Plain to Salisbury in the south. 

 Although in the early 19th century William Cobbett commented on the lack of trees, bushes and hedges, the parish was originally in Chute Forest.

Cobbett did note a row of sycamores in 1826 to the south of the garden of the Crown Inn, which it has been suggested were planted by the incumbent vicar in 1660.  In more recent times there were trees in the north-eastern corner, which the army re-planted with firs and beeches in the late 1950s.  

 The name ‘Everleigh’ gives some indication of the early development of the settlement with Old English ‘eofor’ meaning wild boar and ‘leah’ meaning clearing (within Chute Forest). There are comparatively few prehistoric traces but a drove road runs north-east from Pewsey to Everleigh. The Snail Down barrow group comprises nearly thirty round barrows (of at least 5 different types) ranging from Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age (some of which overlie Beaker settlements). The barrows revealed primary burials of late Neolithic and Earl Bronze Age with secondary burials of Middle Bronze Age and Romano-British date. There are Bronze Age/Iron Age boundary ditches which suggest that the area around the mounds changed from burial to pastoral usage.

Many of the barrows were excavated in the 19th century by Sir Richard Colt Hoare many containing Beaker sherds.  

 Everleigh is situated on the old Roman road from Salisbury to Marlborough, lying equidistant between the two as well as between Andover and Devizes. Three Romano-British villages have been found within 3 miles of the barrow cemetery. One on the eastern edge of the barrows was excavated by Hoare around 1800. There has been much pottery found in the area following ploughing.

To the west of Everleigh Down there was also a likely Romano-British field system plotted by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments for England from aerial photographs in 1995.  

 There is a local legend that the causeway running between Everleigh and Silbury Hill linked residences of Ina, Kind of West Saxons (688-726 A.D.) Although the claim cannot be substantiated, there is pond near the Manor House in Everleigh historically known as King’s Pond. 

 Everleigh is not named in the Domesday Book but could have been included amongst lands granted to Robert de Beaumont (who accompanied William the Conqueror to England and made Earl of Leicester). Upon the death of the son of the grandson of Robert de Beaumont the lands were divided between female heirs. John de Montford (the grandson of one of these women) exchanged Everleigh with the King for other lands.

Everleigh lands passed to Edmund, Earl of Lancaster (fourth son of Henry III). The lands passed with the Lancaster title and became part of the Duchy of Lancaster. They were granted to Edward Seymour in 1547 but after his execution passed to Sir Ralph Sadleir (Secretary of State under Henry VIII, later falconer to Queen Elizabeth and jailor of Mary Queen of Scots at Tutbury Castle).  

In his Highways and Byways Hutton recounts how Sadleir was so fond of hawking that he could not refrain from practicing it nor from allowing his prisoner from participating in the sport, ‘for which he was severely reprimanded’. The ‘Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes’ 1893 published an account by the Hon.

Gerald Lascelles; ‘not far from the Manor House, is the old chalk pit, to this day known as Sadleir’s Pit, where tradition says that a member of the Chief Falconer’s family met their death by galloping over the edge following a flight’. 

 Everleigh House was built by Sir Ralph and he evidently did not lose his passion for hawking as he passed Everleigh on to his son Henry, who shared a passion for the sport (and who entertained King James in 1603). The house had several interim owners, including Sir John Evelyn of West Dean, before it was bought by Sir John Astley in 1765, whose family held the estate until 1917.  

 The Astley’s were an important family for the parish; Francis Dugdale Astley was elected High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1775 and was buried in the church he erected. His son John was also High Sheriff and created baronet in 1821.

Another John Dugdale Astley became an accomplished runner, shot and amateur rider, publishing ’50 years of my life’ in 1890.  

 The manor house bears the coat of arms (as does the Church, West Everleigh Farmhouse amongst other buildings in the parish). The present building is Georgian architecture rather than Elizabethan with the stone pillared porch bearing the Astley arms.  

 A fire destroyed the interior in late 1881 and foundations of an earlier structure were found during the repairs. The original house comprised of 3 blocks; a central building with east and west wings.

Additions through the years mean it is now a complete block.  

 In 1917 it came to the hands of the National Deposit Friendly Society. It was modernised including hot and cold running water, central heating, electric lights etc. It was requisitioned by the government during WW2 when it was used as a military hospital and since July 1942 as a research laboratory (Emergency Vaccine Laboratory, now the David Bruce Laboratory). During 1942 a hospital for the use of the American Army was built in the grounds, which has since been demolished and is now back to agricultural use. 

 The population of the parish has never been high. The poll tax of 1377 records 99 contributors. The increase in parkland in the 14th century associated with rural depopulation is exemplified in Everleigh which had a new park in 1361. The population census in 1801 reveals 321 inhabitants.

And in 1815 there were 17 cottages in village, containing several shops. The population dwindled down to 264 in 1951, and 210 in 1971. In 1980 there were 173 electors registers and an estimated 50 children. The civilian population has remained stable, the village population declining gradually over the last couple of decades but the more recent presence of military personnel has meant that the total population has increased. 

 The principal farming of the area is arable and sheep. The late 13th century estate included capital messuage of 524 acres of arable land valued at £8 14s., meadow and pasture and poorer lands. A 1361 account has 360 acres of arable (with half lying fallow and used as common land). The meadow land was used commonly for pasture after the haymaking.

There was pasture for 3 draught animals, 12 oxen, and 500 sheep. 

 In the 13th-15th centuries large demesne flocks were held on the downs including flocks of 600-900 at Everleigh. Large numbers of stock were sold at Martinmas, and sheep washing and shearing was an important annual event with extra labour hired. There was still a flock of around 800 sheep in 1936 when the wool was sent to the Marlborough wool fair. 

 Although farming was important, Everleigh was notable for sporting pursuits, particularly hunting; hare coursing, and falconry. The important figures associated with the manor in the 16th century, Sir Ralph and Henry Sadleir, were both expert falconers.

The sporting estates created good employment for the locality and there was good income to be gained from leasing the hare warren and rights over the estate. The rabbit warren was valued at 60s. In 1297 but by the 15th century it was the hare warren that was a main feature of the estate and often leased separately from it. The hare-warren is marked on the Andrews and Dury’s map of 1773, about a mile south of the village and in 1581 extended 3 miles in all directions.  

 Until the end of the 18th century it was not an organised sport (the first club to be set up in England was not until 1776, with the first Wiltshire club, the Deptford Inn Club formed in 1819).  Coursing organised by clubs reached a peak of popularity in the mid 19th century, and there was an Everleigh Union Club in 1857.

The Everleigh downs were still well regarded for hare coursing until well into the 20th century, though it began to decline following the Ground Game Act of 1880 which gave land tenants equal rights with the landlord to the hares and rabbits on the land. The Everleigh club was the last club remaining in Wiltshire at the beginning of the 20th century and was one of the largest in the south of England.  

 Horse racing is also popular in the region which hosts training stables attached to the Crown (the 6 to 1 1897 winner of the Grand National, Manifesto, trained here). Other than farming, the chief employment in 1980 was the Training Stables, small hotel and the Army Vaccine Laboratory.

In 1903 stables to house up to 14 racehorses were built near to the village, in addition to those associated with the Crown. 

 The village sits on a junction between on Andover to Devizes and the old Salisbury to Marlborough route (perhaps following the course of the old Roman road from Old Sarum). The section between Marlborough and Everleigh was turnpiked in 1762. The route between Swindon and Salisbury was subject to petitions for turnpiking in 1761-2, but was the state of the road near Salisbury was considered good and the Act was passed for a road stopping short at Everleigh. 

 In 1772 Everleigh passed to Francis Dugdale Astley who, after his second marriage, reorganised the village. He demolished the main settlement which was grouped close to the house and Church and diverted the turnpike around the new park boundary.

The Coate-Marlborough route was turnpiked in 1819, the toll schedule for which shows a higher charge for vehicles with more narrow wheels which cut into the surface.  

 The army constructed some of the roads which are also open to the public including the Everleigh to Fittleton road. 

 As a small village, the Rose and Crown occupies an important position. It is mentioned in 1713 and there was an inn of that name acquired by Sir John Astley and cleared along with the church and cottages near to the manor house.  

 The current Crown was an inn by 1792.

Previous to its current use it was a former Dower House, originally an ‘L’ shape with the original front entrance facing south, now facing east. The Court of Perry Sessions was held monthly at the Crown until 1907 when it was transferred to Ludgershall. The inn has housed some interesting guests; Sir Richard Colt Hoare stayed there while excavating in the area in the 19th century and William Cobbett in ‘Rural Rides’ speaks highly of his stay in the inn in 1826 saying it was ‘one of the nicest, and in summer one of the pleasantest in England....’.  

 The Parish Council was formed in 1894 after the passing of the Local Government Act.

The first chairman was Mr William Grace and first meeting was held December 31st.  

 The village relied on ponds and wells for a water supply until 1913 when piped supply reached the Manor House and East Everleigh from a borehole in the valley north of the Church, and reservoir holding 50,000 gallons on high ground east of the Church. In 1919 a borehole was sunk at West Everleigh, with a reservoir nearby and at Mill Hill, which supplied both farms and the remaining cottages. Deeper boreholes were sunk to supply the wartime American Hospital, and in 1953 the Rural District Council inaugurated a public supply using this infrastructure.  

 Post Office Telegraph Services were extended to the village in 1888, and the telephone arrived in 1918 with the first public kiosk in 1933.

Electric light and power came to village for military use in 1940 and a public supply was made available in 1948 after intensive efforts by the parish council. Street lighting for part of the parish became available in 1959. 

 The village has also enjoyed the lighter side of life being one of the first places in Wiltshire at which cricket was played. The village had cricket and football clubs and quoits was also played regularly. The oldest institution in the village with a written record is the Old Friendly Society whose original rules were drawn up in 1848. There was a brass band, whose heyday was in the 1870s and 80s. 

 The village has experienced and been influenced by historically important events.

The first incidents of the Swing Riots spread from Kent into Wiltshire in Mid-November 1830 and Everleigh had suffered arson attacks before the end of the month. 

 The military have influenced the development of Everleigh through the World War Two camp, later laboratory and its associated services. 

 Following the outbreak of World War 2 the manor house was requisitioned by the Government and was used as a military hospital. In 1942 it became a research laboratory and is now known as the David Bruce Laboratory, laboratories and administrative offices for the Royal Army Medical Corps.   

 Much of the parish land is owned by the Army and used for tank training.

The barrows on Snail Down were under threat from damage caused by this tank training, and although the immediate area was classed out of bounds to military vehicles the deterioration continued due to frost and other natural agencies as well as continued military use, even after attention was drawn to the problem in 1951. Rescue operations were undertaken to avoid complete destruction, financed by the Ministry of Works.