Bowerchalke
Bowerchalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Salisbury. It is in the south of the county, about from the boundary with Dorset and from that with Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Mead End, Misselfore and Woodminton. In 2021 the parish had a population of 362.
Bowerchalke is in the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The River Chalke, a classic chalk stream, rises in the village and joins the River Ebble at Broad Chalke, flowing into the Hampshire Avon south of Salisbury.
The Grade II* listed church of the Holy Trinity dates from the 13th century, and Nobel Prize winning novelist William Golding is buried in the churchyard.
History
It is not known when Bowerchalke was first inhabited or what it was called but fragmentary records from Saxon times indicate that the whole Chalke Valley area was thriving, the River Ebble also being known as the River Chalke.Prehistory
The earliest known sign of habitation is the bowl barrow on Marleycombe Down, which was probably built in either the Neolithic or the Bronze Age. The Bowerchalke Barrel Urn was excavated here in 1925 by Dr R Clay, and the repaired urn is part of the collection at the Wiltshire Museum, Devizes.4th century
Two hoards of gold and silver coins and rings from the 4th century were discovered by metal detectorists near Bowerchalke in the 20th and 21st centuries. They were used by the Durotriges, a Celtic tribe that lived in South Wiltshire and Dorset before the Roman occupation, became Romanised by c.79 and gave their name to Dorset. The first discovery was a hoard of 17 gold staters, examples of which are now displayed in the Salisbury Museum. The second hoard of 2 gold rings and 5 silver coins dated to 380 was found in 2002 near the first.9th century
An Anglo-Saxon charter of 826 records the name of the area including Bowerchalke and Broad Chalke as Cealcan gemere.10th century
In 955 the Anglo-Saxon King Eadwig granted the nuns of Wilton Abbey an estate called Chalke which included land in Broad Chalke and Bowerchalke. The charter records the village name as aet Ceolcan. A charter in 974 records the name as Cheolca or Cheolcam.11th century
The Domesday Book in 1086 divided the Chalke Valley into eight manors, Chelke or Chelce or Celce, Eblesborne, Fifehide, Cumbe, Humitone, Odestoche, Stradford and Trow.12th century
In the 12th century the area was known primarily as the Stowford Hundred then subsequently as the Chalke Hundred. This included the parishes of Berwick St John, Ebbesbourne Wake, Fifield Bavant, Semley, Tollard Royal and 'Chalke'. A charter of 1165 records the village name as Chalca, and the Pipe Rolls in 1174 record it as Chalche.13th century
The Curia Regis Rolls of 1207 records the village name as ChelkFeet of Fines, and another of 1242 records it as Chalke. The name Bower Chalke was apparently given to that part of the Chalke estate where lands were in 'bower hold' tenure. The name Burchelke first appeared in 1225. The church of the Holy Trinity dates from this century.14th century
A Saxon charter of 1304 records the village name as Cheolc and Cheolcan. The Feudal Aids of 1316 uses Chawke, whilst a Saxon Cartulary of 1321 uses Cealce. The Tax lists of 1327, 1332 and 1377 variously record the name as Chalk Magna and Chalke Magna. Brode Chalk was first mentioned in 1380. Bower Chalke had become a separate parish by the early 14th century.16th century
c. 1536 Henry VIII granted Chalke to William Herbert during the dissolution of the monasteries. Henry VIII 'much valued' Herbert, a successful and ambitious soldier, who also became his brother-in-law through his marriage to Anne Parr, sister of Henry's last wife Catherine Parr. Henry heaped favours and honours upon Herbert and granted him the estates of Wilton, Remesbury, and Cardiff Castle.19th century
Chalke was a comparatively large, disconnected estate that was separated into the two ecclesiastical parishes of Broad Chalk and Bowerchalke in 1880. In 1885, 283 acres were transferred to Bower Chalke from Fifield Bavant, increasing its area to 3,260 acres.From 1878 until 1924 a unique village newspaper was written, printed, published and sold for a farthing by the Reverend Edward Collett, documenting the social history of the village. Two original sets of the papers still exist. One set is retained by Bodleian Library at Oxford and the second is on loan to the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives by its custodian Paul Lee, where it can be viewed in their offices at Chippenham. The papers were researched and published by Rex Sawyer as The Bowerchalke Parish Papers in 1989 after he had discovered the original printing press in his garden. In 2004 they were republished by The Hobnob Press as Collett's Farthing Newspaper: the Bowerchalke Village Newspaper, 1878–1924.. Collett was also a keen amateur photographer and the majority of the photographs featured in the book are from his album.
20th century
In 1919 Reginald Herbert, 15th Earl of Pembroke started to sell the individual farms.The village school closed in 1976 and children from Bowerchalke now attend the school in neighbouring Broad Chalke. The old school buildings now serve as the Village Hall. The village pub, The Bell Inn, closed in 1988 and is now a residential dwelling known as Bell House.
The once renowned village cricket team, thanks in part to the dynasty of 'cricketing Gullivers', closed c. 1973/74.
21st century
The village post office and general stores closed in 2003. The nearest post office is in Broad Chalke. An article about the closures called Village of the Damned, written by David McKie, was published in The Guardian on 30 June 2005. A response titled Bowerchalke is not the village of the Damned was written by Will Heaven, Assistant Comment Editor of The Daily Telegraph on 30 August 2009.In 2010 the Chalke Valley Cricket Club moved their cricket ground from the Chalke Valley Sports Centre in Broad Chalke to a new ground at Butt's Field, Bowerchalke, behind the Church under Marleycombe Hill, to allow a longer season and better facilities.
In 2011 Bowerchalke's new cricket ground became the main venue for the first annual Chalke Valley History Festival, co-organised by local author James Holland.
Religious sites
Parish church
A church was built at Bowerchalke c.1300. Pevsner and Orbach assess the style of the transept arches, and lancet windows in the nave and chancel, as consistent with that date, indicating that the building's cruciform plan was already in place. The north tower, with porch below, was added in the 15th century; the upper stage of the tower was rebuilt higher in the 19th century. The 16th century saw the addition of the north chapel and the rebuilding of the transepts.Restoration in 1886 by T.H. Wyatt included the rebuilding of the chancel and the addition of the south aisle. The roofs, pulpit, pews and polychrome tiled floor are all 19th-century work. The church was designated as Grade II* listed in 1960.
The plain stone bowl of the font is 12th-century. There is a stone memorial to Alice Good and other tablets of the same family from the late 17th century and 18th century. The heaviest of the ring of bells was cast c.1400 at Salisbury, and another is dated 1611. In 1999 a new frame was installed and the number of bells increased from three to five.
Before and after the church was built, the area was part of the large Broad Chalke parish. Burials continued to take place at Broad Chalke until 1506. From the 16th century the living was a combined vicarage of Broad Chalke with Bower Chalke and Alvediston; in 1880 a separate perpetual curacy was created for Bowerchalke. The living was reunited with Broad Chalke in 1952 and a group ministry was formed in 1972; today the parish is part of the Chalke Valley group, alongside twelve others.
Baptist church
A small chapel was built in stone in 1863–4, close to the church. In 1897 a larger chapel was built next to it in red brick, and the older building converted to a schoolroom. The chapel was still in use in 2007.Amenities
Marleycombe Down, Knowle Down and Woodminton Down are chalk grasslands which comprise the entire southern outlook of the village. They are jointly known as the Bowerchalke Downs, a Site of Special Scientific Interest with many species of plants, insects and butterflies.The slopes of Marleycombe Down are used for hang gliding and paragliding.
The RSPB's Garston Wood nature reserve lies immediately beyond the southern boundary of the parish.
Notable people
- John Drew, schoolteacher, astronomer and meteorologist, was born at Bower Chalke in 1809.
- William Thick was born in 1845 at Misselfore Green but left the village in 1868 to join the Metropolitan Police at Whitechapel in London. In 1889, while investigating the Whitechapel murders, Sergeant Thick was named in letters as a prospective perpetrator, to wit I have very good grounds to believe that the person who has committed the Whitechapel Murders is a member of the police force.... Sergeant William Thick.
- Anglo-Canadian poet Marjorie Pickthall lived in Bowerchalke from 1913 to 1919, spending summers at Chalke Cottage where she wrote prolifically. She also attempted to start an enterprise in market gardening as part of the war effort.
- The Nobel Prize winning novelist William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors, etc. is buried in the village churchyard, having lived the middle part of his life in a cottage on the banks of the River Chalke. He named the Gaia hypothesis which was conceived by his walking companion Dr James Lovelock who lived in the village from c. 1960–1980 at both Pixies Cottage at Misselfore and at Clovers Cottage, Mead End.
- International violinist Iona Brown lived in the village at Misselfore Cottage from 1968 until her death in 2004. When she took part in the BBC Radio 4 programme Kaleidoscope, explaining how hard it was to play her signature piece The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams, she said that the singing of larks she heard during long walks on nearby Marleycombe Down influenced the way she played it.