Ramsbury Timeline

Iron age hill fort at Membury indicates a settlement nearby in the parish

Roman villas at Littlecote, Rudge and Crowood excavated in the 20th century provide evidence of settlement in the parish at this time

Seven Saxon settlements in existence

An iron foundry established in what is now High Street

A Saxon cathedral in existence by this time

Bishopric of Ramsbury created

Bishopric of Ramsbury united with that of Sherborne in Dorset

United see of Ramsbury and Sherborne transferred to Salisbury

Domesday Book records 10 corn mills, 90 hides of land (approx 11,000 acres), 54 plough teams and a population of between 680 and 740

Bishops of Salisbury occupy a park and a palace in Park Town by this time

King Henry III grants the Bishop of Salisbury the right to hold a weekly market, to be held every Tuesday

The present Church of the Holy Cross probably dates from this time; two annual 3-day fairs granted by King Henry III, held in May and September; the weekly market is prohibited because of its detrimental effect on the market at Marlborough

Documentary evidence of a chapel-of-ease at Axford

The present tower on Holy Cross Church built

King Edward I stays 3 days in Ramsbury

The weekly market is still being held despite being prohibited

The chantry of Wotton and York is licensed to celebrate divine service daily in Holy Cross church and to provide schooling in Latin grammar for poor boys

Manor of Ramsbury passes from the bishopric to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford

Chantry dissolved

King Edward VI grants the manor of Ramsbury to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke

The Pembroke Survey, detailing the 1st Earl of Pembroke's estates, including the manor of Ramsbury, compiled; Ramsbury Manor house built for the Earl of Pembroke replacing an earlier house; only 3 mills are now operating

Littlecote House rebuilt for William Darrell, incorporating the medieval chapel of an earlier manor house

John Popham inherits Littlecote Manor - the family are to own it for the next 340 years

Parliament Piece in Back Lane built

Queen Elizabeth I entertained at Littlecote House

First documented evidence of a tanning business in the village

Fire destroys the houses of 130 families

Oliver Cromwell stays at Ramsbury Manor

Elmdown Farm built

Henry Dent holds a school for the children of local Dissenters in his house

Documentary evidence of a school held in Holy Cross Church

Back Lane first so called

House of Henry Dent, a former curate at Holy Cross Church, licensed to hold Presbyterian meetings

Swan Inn (now Windsor House) in the Square in existence

Building of Ramsbury Manor begun for Sir William Jones on the site of the old manor house

Crowood House built in Crowood Lane

Bodorgan House, now Ramsbury Hill, built in Back Lane

Six new bells installed in Holy Cross Church replacing the existing 4 bells

Presbyterian chapel built in Oxford Street

Mill Lane first so called

The Bell Inn and Bleeding Horse Inn at the east and west junctions of High Street and Back Lane in existence

Documentary evidence of a wych elm tree growing in the Square

Presbyterian chapel in Oxford Street demolished by this time

Park and grounds at Ramsbury Manor improved, including the building of the artificial lake and demolition of Park Mill; John Wesley preaches at the workhouse and Ramsbury Park Farm

There are malthouses in High Street and Oxford Street at this time

Three or more tan yards are operating in the village

Fire destroys 40 houses, 5 barns, a tanhouse and 2 malthouses; Newtown is so named

Rev. Edward Meyrick moves his boarding school for middle class boys from Hungerford to his vicarage in Ramsbury, later moving it to Bodorgan House ( now Ramsbury Hill) and Parliament Piece

There is a successful brewing industry by this time selling beer to London

Many labourers from Ramsbury recruited to work for the Patagonian Sheep Farming Company Ltd founded in Patagonia by Walter Brind Waldron

Sir Francis Burdett inherits Ramsbury manor which remains in the family for 250 years

Wesleyan Methodist chapel built on the south side of High Street

William Cobbett writes of Ramsbury in his Rural Rides \" It is a large and apparently miserable village\"; Mary Hannetts house in Axford licensed for Methodist worship

Hilldrop House built

Sunday School begun at Ebenezer Chapel

First Primitive Methodist meeting held in the square; Home Missionary Society begun

By this time the 2 fairs are being held as a cattle fair on 14 May and a hiring fair on 11 October; 5 private day schools and 3 Sunday schools are in existence; farm labourers riot against the introduction of threshing machines by destroying machines and starting fires, resulting in 12 men being transported to Australia

Wesleyan Methodist chapel rebuilt and enlarged

Hungerford and Ramsbury Poor Law Union set up

Workhouse sold and used as a Sunday School; new workhouse built at Hungerford; blind house closed

Organ given to Holy Cross Church by Miss Read

The Old Vicarage built; Congregational (Ebenezer) chapel and adjoining manse and schoolroom built; full-scale brewery set up by Robert Vaisey Fosbury in the former Jenning's tanyard; 6 malthouses still in existence

Primitive Methodist chapel built in Chapel Lane

Provident Union Building and Investment Society established

The National School set up by the vicar, Rev. Hawkins, for both boys and girls; the Post Office is in the Square by this time

A brass iron foundry established by S.T. Osmond at Newtown to make agicultural implements

Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints active in the village with services held in a house licensed for worship

Population reaches a peak of 2,696; Meyrick's boarding school moves to Chiseldon

Congregational Chapel built at Axford

School for girls built in Back Lane by Miss Read of Crowood House

Miss Read's School and schoolhouse given to the parish and becomes the Church School for Girls under the management of the vicar and churchwardens

Church of St. Michael built as a chapel-of-ease at Axford and served from Ramsbury

Blind house demolished; Primitive Methodist Chapel built at Witcha Farm

There are 2 horse-drawn fire engines in the village by this time; watercress industry established in the parish

Fire raging for 2 days damages 25 cottages in Oxford Street, Blind Lane and Tankard Lane and destroys cottages in Crowood Lane

Angela Burdett-Coutts becomes the first woman to receive the freedom of the city of London for her philanthropy among the city's poor

Board School for both boys and girls and schoolhouse built at Axford

Board School for boys and infants opened replacing the National School - the girls from the National School are transferred to the Church School for Girls

New Primitive Methodist chapel built in Oxford Street

Mary Jane Lanfear bequeaths £600 to apprentice poor boys from Ramsbury and East Kennet

Miss Read bequeaths £3,000 for the maintenance of the Church School for Girls

There are 7 inns open in the village at this time

Salvation Army hall built in High Street

71 wells and 39 pumps provide water to the villagers

Schoolroom built adjacent to the Primitive Methodist Chapel

Ramsbury Fire Brigade formed and a new fire engine purchased; Ramsbury Football Club founded

Methodist chapel built at Axford; responsibility for roads in the parish taken over by Ramsbury Rural District Council from 2 Way Wardens

Underground stove installed in Holy Cross Church to provide heating for the first time

Holy Cross Church extensively restored at a cost of £6,000 raised by local subsciption

Road bridge over the river Kennet at the Town Mill built by this time

First Ramsbury Parish Council elected and Ramsbury Rural District Council constituted; 19 oil lamps in Ramsbury and 4 in Axford attached to buildings to provide street lighting

Last remaining tannery in High Street closed; schoolroom adjoining the Ebenezer Chapel rebuilt; Ramsbury Horticultural Society founded

Congregational Chapel at Axford has closed and been demolished by this time

Methodist Silver Band (now Ramsbury Silver Band) founded

Wiltshire County Council take over management of the Church School for Girls and the Board school

Police station moved to Oxford Street

Justice Room in High Street burned down

Osmond's iron foundry in Newtown Road closed

First council houses in the village built in Whittonditch Road

A small manual telephone exchange for 40 subscribers installed in the Post Office

Church House converted into a library, reading room and a billiard room; epidemics of scarlet fever and diptheria in the village

Locally generated electricity, provided by the Ramsbury Electric Supply Company, used for street lighting; Provident Union Building and Investment Society is renamed Ramsbury Building Society

Church School for Girls closes and buildings sold and the girls transferred to the Board School; Memorial Hall and Cross built

Fire brigade disbanded

Wessex Company take over the provision of electricity

Responsibility for roads in the parish passes to Wiltshire County County; a voluntary scavenging scheme is set up to remove refuse

Board School at Axford closed and pupils transferred to the Board School in Ramsbury

Ramsbury Rural District Council replaced by Marlborough and Ramsbury Rural District Council

The water pump in the Square is in a dangerous condition and is removed

The telephone exchange is automated and moved to a new building in Love's Lane; the parish builds its own fire engine; auxiliary fire service established

Cattle fair held on 14 May has ceased by this time; last blacksmith in the village closed

Water supply scheme built for the village

Land between Elmdown Farm and Park Farm used as an RAF airfield during World War II

Board School becomes a County Primary School

A right to hold marriages in the Church of St. Michael at Axford granted

Wesleyan Methodist chapel in High Street closed and the congregation join the Primitive Methodists; Salvation Army no longer active in the village by this time

Sir Oswald Moseley living at Crowood House

Refuse collection taken over by Marlborough and Ramsbury Rural District Council

Local pottery industry in the village

Gas first supplied to the village; underground stove at Holy Cross Church replaced

Over 100 council houses built in the village; the 11 October fair which had changed to a pleasure fair after World War I ceases

Sewerage scheme installed; public convenience built

Old people's home built in High Street; services at the Ebenezer chapel cease and the congregation join with Marlborough under one minister, later to become Ramsbury United Reformed Church

New police house built in Oxford Street

RAF airfield returned to private use

Gas street lamps in Axford converted to electricity

Cobblestones on the pavements in High Street removed

The Old Vicarage sold and a modern vicarage built to the east of it

New doctors' surgery and dispensary built

83 private houses built in the village

New fire station built in High Street

A new and larger telephone exchange built off Oxford Street

The population of the village has dropped to 1,390

Village converted to North Sea gas; beating of the bounds over 26 miles (43km) becomes an annual event from this time

Primitive Methodist chapel and schoolroom renovated

Ramsbury has its own bishop again after 900 years with the installation of the eleventh Bishop, the Rev. John Neale

The Ravensbury Players formed

Wych elm tree in the Square dies from Dutch Elm disease

Last services held at the United Reformed Church and chapel is sold; administrative headquarters of Ramsbury Building Society transferred to Marlborough High Street but official headquarters remain in Ramsbury

Watercress industry ceases

Following a referendum in the village the wych elm tree is removed and an oak tree planted in its place; the primary school is demolished and a new school. Ramsbury Primary School, built; Ramsbury win the Best Kept Large Village in Wiltshire award for the 5th time

New primary school built; Methodist Chapel refurbished

Community bus, the Ramsbury Flyer, inaugurated

Roxy cinema opened in Ramsbury Memorial Hall

Ramsbury and Axford Golf Society formed