not to be confused with Box, Gloucestershire
human village in England
Reading: Box, Wiltshire – Wikipedia
Box is a large village and civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England, about 3 miles ( 5 kilometer ) west of Corsham and 5 miles ( 8 kilometer ) northeastern of Bath. Box besides falls in the easternmost partially of the Avon Green Belt. Besides the greenwich village of Box, the parish includes the villages of Ashley and Box Hill ; Hazelbury manor ; and the hamlets of Alcombe, Blue Vein, Chapel Plaister, Ditteridge, Henley, Kingsdown, Middlehill, and Wadswick. To the east the parish includes much of Rudloe, once a village but now a housing estate of the realm, and the defense establishments and associate businesses on the web site of RAF Rudloe Manor. occupation here dates back at least to Roman times. The sphere is known for its finely stone and for centuries Box quarries were celebrated for their product. today Box is possibly better known for its Brunel -designed Box railway burrow. Box has been twinned with Sorigny, a commune in central France, since 2016. [ 3 ]
geography [edit ]
position of Box in Wiltshire Box lies in Wiltshire, close to the borders with Somerset ( roughly 1.0 mile ( 1.6 kilometer ) away as the crow flies ) and Gloucestershire ( about 1.9 miles ( 3.1 kilometer ) aside ). The place where the three counties meet is marked by the Three Shire Stones. The settlements in Box are on higher establish above the steep-sided valley of the Bybrook river, a feeder of the Bristol Avon. Limestone rock is found in much of the parish. Box Ground, a hard-wearing variety of Bath rock, was extracted at quarries such as Box Mine which are nowadays closed. As of 2015, the remaining source of Box Ground is Hartham Park pit at Corsham. [ 4 ] The southerly boundary of the parish follows the Roman road from Silchester to Bath. The road through Box greenwich village, descending to Bathford and Bath, was turnpiked in 1761 to provide a route from Chippenham and Corsham to Bath ; this became the salute A4. [ 5 ]
history [edit ]
prehistoric settlements in the area were hilltop forts such as Bury Camp, 4 miles ( 6 kilometer ) union of contemporary Box village. There is tell in the form of numerous re-used standing stones that there may have been a stone circle on Kingsdown. [ 6 ]
[7] Mosaics from the Roman Villa The Romans built the Fosse Way about 2 miles ( 3 kilometer ) to the west. Near the contemporary Box church is the site of a Roman state house which was excavated during the nineteenth hundred, then in 1902–1903 by Harold Brakspear, [ 7 ] and again in 1967–1968. [ 8 ] Nothing is visible today, as the remains lie under later buildings, gardens and the churchyard. [ 8 ] There was a major rebuild in the late 3rd or early fourth hundred which changed it into the largest villa in the Bath area. The villa had one of the richest collections of mosaic floors of any build in Roman Britain, with remains found to date in 20 rooms, there being 42 rooms positively identified in the main villa and 15 more under investigation. Room 26 appears to be a major presence chamber in the manner of that at Trier. [ 9 ] A villa such as this would have been the concentrate of a large estate of the realm and the focus of concern for at least six potential auxiliary villas or farmsteads at Ditteridge, Hazelbury [ 10 ] and Shockerwick ( near Bathford ) and those further afield at Colerne, Atworth, and Bradford on Avon. In 1086 the Domesday Book recorded 25 households at Hazelbury [ 11 ] and six at Ditteridge. [ 12 ] The earliest record of Box is from 1144 when Humphrey II de Bohun was a landowner. [ 5 ] The greenwich village is shown on a 1630 map and by this time fabric weave was an important home-based industry, supplying clothiers in nearby towns such as Bradford on Avon. [ 5 ] Springfield House was built in 1729 : once a workhouse and a school, the three-storey build has been converted into flats. [ 13 ]
Box railway place in 1963 The Great Western Main Line railroad track ( from London to Bristol and the South West ) crosses the parish, and the Box Tunnel, 1.83 miles ( 2.95 km ) long, was built under Box Hill. Construction took place between 1838 and 1841 with up to 4,000 men employed. At inaugural Box post was built close to Ashley, where the A4 crosses the cable ; Box Mill Lane station was built a mile close to Box village in 1930. Both stations closed in 1965 when local services were withdrawn. Fogleigh House on London Road is a Grade II listed sign of the zodiac, built for pit owner C J Pictor in 1881. [ 14 ]
origin of the place-name [edit ]
early documented forms of the name include ( Latin ) Bocza and ( English ) Bocks, Boekes, and even Books. “ The lineage is very obscure ” ( Kidston ). [ 15 ] local lore that the appoint is derived from the Box bush Buxus sempervirens is improbable. [ 16 ] There is no supporting evidence at all, and Buxus is not native to the area. There is, however, a connection with beech. Box ( Wilts ), Box ( Glos ), Box Hill ( Surrey ), and places such as Boscombe ( Wilts ) and Le Bosc ( France ) all feature extensive beech woods growing on diverse limestones .
stone quarries [edit ]
rock found in the archaeological probe of Box Roman Villa is of local origin and Roman freemasonry may be seen at the base of the wall between the church of St. Thomas a Becket and Box House. [ 17 ] Legend has it that St Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury ( c. 639–709 ) threw his boxing glove on Box Hill, saying, “ dig here and you will find gem ”. Box stone was used for the construction of Malmesbury Abbey in the late seventh century. Stone quarried in the parish was used in the late 12th and early 13th centuries for the abbeys at Stanley and Lacock, and in the 15th and 16th for Great Chalfield Manor and Longleat House. [ 5 ] ecstasy of stone was improved in 1727 when the Avon was made navigable between Bath and Bristol, and again in 1810 when the Kennet and Avon Canal provided a route from Bradford to London. The railroad track made transport much cheaper, and the excavation of the burrow revealed huge beds of pit on both sides of the telephone line. [ 5 ] Underground quarries were carved out between Box and Corsham, with pit carried by narrow-gauge railways to yards at Box and Corsham stations. [ 18 ]
Box in July
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The vertex period for quarrying was between 1880 and 1909 when millions of tons of stone was cut. The quarries continued working until 1969. [ 5 ] As of 2015, quarrying continues on a smaller scale at Corsham, [ 19 ] where the Box Ground level has been re-encountered at a lower grade in the Hartham quarry, from which the stone for the obelisk at the Box Rock Circus ( below ) was extracted .
Disused quarries [edit ]
RAF Rudloe Manor, a headquarters site handling intelligence and directing operations, was established in the far east of the parish in 1940. Until 1945, critical functions were housed underground in a worked-out quarry, Brown ‘s Quarry, to the north of Tunnel Quarry. [ 20 ] underground in the like area, Spring Quarry was requisitioned in 1940 in order to create a shadow factory for aircraft engine fabricate, following the bombard of the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton. Construction took longer than expected and little production was achieved before the web site closed in 1945. [ 21 ] Artist Olga Lehmann was invited to paint murals in the workers ‘ eating areas ; in 2013 these were designated as Grade II* listed. [ 22 ] Between the late 1950s and 2004, Spring Quarry served as the cardinal Government War Headquarters, a self-sufficient government headquarters for manipulation in the event of a nuclear conflict. Box Mine became a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1991 .
railroad track tracks in Box stretching west towards Bath
government [edit ]
Village sign The civil parish elects a parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary agency, which performs all significant local politics functions. The parish falls within the Box and Colerne electoral cellblock, which starts in the south at Box and stretches north to Colerne. The ward ‘s population taken at the 2011 census was 5,200. [ 23 ]
religious sites [edit ]
There were Saxon churches at Ditteridge and Hazelbury, and possibly at Box. [ 24 ] The Church of St Thomas à Becket in Box has 12th-century origins. Although nothing is presently visible, it has been posited [ 25 ] that the chancel stands over the fifth hundred house-church of the Roman villa ( above ), in analogy to the villa at Lullingstone and Chedworth. Alterations were made in the fourteenth hundred and a bell chamber and octangular steeple in the “ dress ” style were added to the Norman tower in the 15th. far restoration began in 1713 and in 1831 the church was extended with a south aisle ; the interior was restored in 1896-7 by H.W. Brakspear. In 1960, the construct was designated as Grade I listed. [ 26 ] There are four bells. Two were recast by Taylors in 1936 and two are pre-reformation, notably the Sancta Katerina tenor bell which is thought to be a Bristol bell of about 1485. [ 27 ] [ 28 ] The church service of St Christopher, Ditteridge stands over a erstwhile Saxon church. It was rebuilt by the Normans and re-dedicated in 1087. It consists of a single nave and chancel and is Grade I listed. [ 29 ] A single bell hangs in an external bellcote. Although the bell has no inscription, the cast detail suggests a bell of the fourteenth century, probably cast locally. The church service of All Saints, Hazelbury fell into neglect before 1540. It was located on a knoll in an area union of Hazelbury Manor shown on the seventeenth hundred map as “ Olde Church Feilde ”. mining by Kidston in the early on twentieth hundred indicated a single-cell church service with a semi-circular apse at the east end. The stone sarcophagus immediately at St Thomas a Becket came from here. Kidston notes that carved freemasonry from the church was re-used in Hazelbury Manor. [ 30 ] Chapel Plaister has a little wayside church service, rebuild in 1340 and linked to a hostel for travellers ; it is besides Grade I listed. [ 31 ] The placement of the Chapel of St David at Fogham mentioned in Kidston [ 15 ] has not been discovered. Box Methodist church was built in 1897, replacing a smaller Ebenezer Chapel built on the same web site in 1834. [ 32 ] An adjacent hall and Sunday school, opened in 1907, were sold for residential use in 2001. methodist chapels were besides established at Box Hill ( 1867 ) [ 33 ] and Kingsdown ( 1869, rebuild 1926 ). [ 34 ] Both closed in 1967 and the congregations joined with Box church service. [ 35 ]
Facilities [edit ]
The Recreation Ground Box is home to Box Church of England Primary School. The earliest school was established near the church in 1708 ; the present construction on the High Street is from 1875. [ 36 ] Pevsner describes it as “ Gothic, with a atrocious, lank tower ”. [ 37 ] The Selwyn Hall ( build 1969 ) is used for community functions and houses the village library. [ 5 ] The village has sporting facilities including a lawn bowl green, two tennis courts, a cricket lurch, a football pitch, and flush a belittled basketball area. These are all located in or around the Recreation Ground ( a piece of estate with an area of about 4.4 hectares ).
Box Rock Circus [edit ]
besides on the refreshment ground is the singular ‘Box Rock Circus ‘, a 22 foot ( 6.7 meter ) diameter set which is an earth-science educational facility. [ 38 ] It was constructed during 2012 by local craftsmen with stone donated by numerous companies and funded chiefly by landfill tax funds. The facility was formally opened on 14 May 2013 by Professor of Geosciences Communication, and television receiver personality, Iain Stewart .