Compton Bassett, the prettiest village for miles round. Situated as it is in the midst of a well wooded country, and sheltered from the east winds by the Marlborough Downs, it is no wonder, perhaps, that the flowers in the cottage gardens bloom earlier and longer grow finer and seem altogether more luxuriant than in other villages round about. But situation does not account for artistic cottages, built after an Elizabethan model and clustered about and overrun with roses, honeysuckles, clematis and the like, nor for gardens full of rose-trees and other beautiful flowers, and with trim-kept walks and paths and well-grown, well-clipped yew hedges.

No major road crosses the main part of the parish, which was served by a network of lanes. In 1773 there were several north-south lanes. One from Hilmarton ran along the west edge of the parish, one from Highway to Cherhill followed the foot of the scarp across the centre, and one ran along the top of the scarp and crossed Compton Hill; two others marked parts of the eastern boundary. The south part of the Hilmarton lane was called Marsh Lane in 1760 and later. The north-south lanes were joined and crossed by others running approximately east-west. One across the northern part of the parish was called Grammer Lane in 1773, the eastern section of the lane marking part of the southern boundary was called Juggler's Lane in 1885, one passed close to the church, and one leading from Yatesbury was in 1760 and later called Broadway where it ran east of Compton Hill. The western part of Grammer Lane had been replaced by a road on a more north-westerly course by 1828, but most other lanes in use in the 18th century remained as roads, tracks, and paths in 1995. The principal route through the parish then followed the replacement for Grammer Lane, the Cherhill lane, the lane past the church, and Marsh Lane. In 1773 Cowage was crossed east-west by a road which led circuitously from Highway to Bremhill. East of Cowage Farm a road led south from it to Calne.

In 1791 the Calne road was extended north to Wootton Bassett and turnpiked; disturnpiked in 1879, it remained a main road in 1995. The east-west road through Cowage went out of use.

The village evidently originated as two spring-line settlements. The church, Compton Bassett manor house, and the rectory house stand close together on Upper Greensand at the mouth of a coombe, and a group of farmsteads stood a little north-east of them. The buildings of Compton Cumberwell manor stood at the mouth of another coombe a little further north-east. The combined village had open fields which lay nearby. Few buildings older than the 19th century survive in it. A timber-framed 17th-century thatched cottage, built with walls of chalk rubble, stands north of the church; a thatched house of similar date, also with walls of chalk rubble, stands 800 metres north-east of the church, and near it there is a pair of cottages bearing the date 1642 but apparently built in the late 18th century. The village was extended westwards between 1773 and 1828 when buildings called Home Farm were erected west of extensive gardens, long red-brick walls of which survive; a farmhouse was built in the late 19th century.

Much or all of the lowland pasture north and north-west of the village was inclosed in the later 17th century, and by 1773 about seven farmsteads had been built on it. Four, Manor, Dugdale's, Austin's, and Streete, stand as a group north of the village. Austin's Farm is a thatched 18th-century house of three bays built of chalk rubble; Streete Farm has a back wing of the 17th century and a main four-bayed 18th-century range with walls of chalk rubble and a slated roof. North of Streete Farm, Pond Cottage is also 18th-century. In 1773 the name Silver Street was apparently applied to the group; it was presumably a corruption of Selewynes Street, a name recorded in the 13th century. A track leading west from the farmsteads was called Silver Lane in 1828 and later. Lower End Farm, north of the group, was rebuilt in brick in the 19th century. Near the site of Lower End Farm an east-west line of c. 10 buildings, possibly squatters' cottages, in 1773 apparently shared the name Grammer Lane with the lane, which they stood beside. The buildings were demolished, evidently when the lane was diverted between then and 1828. On the west part of the lowland Freeth Farm, a house of 18th-century origin, has a symmetrical south front of three bays and was extended north and east in the 19th century. On the north-west part Breach Farm is a small house of stone and rubble built in the late 18th century.

In the 19th century many houses and cottages were replaced by new ones built for the lord of Compton Bassett manor: the new cottages include several in a line along the lane between the village and the four farmsteads. White's House 600 metres north-east of the church was built c. 1820, most of the new cottages in the mid 19th century. The cottages characteristically have chalk walls, stone-mullioned windows, brick quoins, and many-gabled roofs with dormers; many have been whitewashed. A terrace of three 400 metres north-east of the church was built of brick, incorporates similar roofs and windows, and is dated 1868; the cottages presumably housed estate pensioners in 1898, when they were described as almshouses, but were not used thus in 1930. A school in the village and, at the north-east end, the White Horse inn, built c. 1850 and open in 1855 and 1994, are also in estate style.

Probably in the early 1930s the Breach, a terrace of four council houses, was built 250 metres west of Lower End Farm, and c. 1950 a village hall and Briar Leaze, a group of 20 council houses, were built immediately north of the White Horse. Otherwise there has been little 20th-century building.

In the later 20th century Compton Bassett village was thought of as all the houses from the Breach to Home Farm along the principal route through the parish. Most of it was designated a conservation area in 1974.

On the chalk downland east of the village a farmstead called Nolands may have been built by the mid 17th century; the name was perhaps a punning one or may refer to early ploughland called old land. It stood near the parish's eastern boundary in 1773. In the earlier 19th century, probably soon after 1824, the farmstead was rebuilt on what was apparently the same site. The farmhouse, of brick, survived in 1994, when large and mainly 20th-century farm buildings stood nearby. West of Nolands Farm two mid 19th-century cottages and some 20th-century buildings were called South Nolands in 1994, and a mid 20th-century farmstead was called West Nolands.

The Manors and Estate
An estate of 5½ hides, the origin of Compton Bassett manor, was held in 1066 by Leuenot and in 1086 of Humphrey de Lisle by Pain. The estate evidently passed to Adelize de Lisle, almost certainly Humphrey's daughter, the wife of Reynold or Robert de Dunstanville, to Adelize's son Reynold (d. 1156), and to that Reynold's son Reynold or Robert (d. 1185), who may have given it to his daughter Adelize in 1163-4.

From Reynold or Robert de Dunstanville the overlordship of Compton Bassett manor passed as part of the barony of Castle Combe. It descended to Giles de Badlesmere, Lord Badlesmere (d. 1338), at the partition of whose estate in 1339 it was assigned to his relict Elizabeth (d. 1359) for life with reversion to his sister Elizabeth (d. 1356) and her husband William de Bohun, earl of Northampton (d. 1360). In 1242-3, 1271, and 1324 the manor was erroneously said to be in the honor of Wallingford, Berkshire later Oxon), presumably because the lords in demesne held manors which were part of that honour. In 1428 it was part of the barony of Castle Combe, then held by Sir John Fastolf in his wife's right.

In 1163-4 Adeliza de Dunstanville married Thomas Basset (d. 1181, Headington,
Oxfordshire), who c. 1180-2 granted Compton Bassett manor to his son Alan Basset of Headington, Oxfordshire Lord of Wycombe (d. 1232 or 1233). Alan's heir was his son Gilbert, whose estates were confiscated in 1233 and restored in 1234.

Gilbert Basset married Isabel de Ferrers, of Derbyshire, England (d. by 1260), the owner of a second estate in Compton Bassett, and after his death in 1241 his manor of Compton Bassett was assigned to her as dower. Isabel's second husband Reynold de Mohun, Chief Justice of Common Pleas, held both manors in 1242- 3. The reversion of Gilbert's passed to his brother Fulk Basset, Dean of York and from 1241 Bishop of London (d. 1259), and to a third brother Sir Philip Basset, known as Phillip "the Justicar" Basset, born 1184 in Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, died 29th October 1271 in Stanley, Wiltshire, England

From 1260 or earlier to 1326 Compton Bassett manor descended like Berwick Bassett manor; in 1300 Sir Hugh le Despenser, Lord le Despenser, was granted free warren in its demesne. The Crown held the manor from 1326 to 1377, grants for life being made to Queen Isabel in 1327 and 1331, Queen Philippa in 1359, and Sir Bernard Brocas in 1373. In 1377 the reversion was granted to Edmund, Duke of York, who held the manor at his death in 1402. The manor passed with the title to Edmund's son Edward (d. 1415) and Edward's nephew Richard (d. 1460). From 1461, on the accession of Richard's son as Edward IV, to 1553 it again passed with the Crown; from 1461 it was held by Richard's relict Cecily, Duchess of York (d. 1495), from 1492 to 1547 it was part of the jointure of queens consort, and it was held by Catherine Parr until her death in 1548.

In 1553 Compton Bassett manor was granted to Sir John Mervyn (d. 1566), who was succeeded by his son James Mervyn ( later knighted in 1574, and died 1611). Sir James's heir was his grandson Mervyn Tuchet, Earl of Castlehaven, on whose attainder and execution in 1631 the manor escheated to the Crown. In 1633 it was restored to Tuchet's son James, Earl of Castlehaven (d. 1684). It was settled on James's wife Elizabeth in 1641 but was later sequestrated and in 1652 was sold to Slingsby Bethel and William Cox. In 1653 it was bought from Bethel and Cox by Sir James Thynne and Sir Thomas Thynne, presumably on behalf of Lord Castlehaven, on whom it was settled in 1657.

In 1663 Lord Castlehaven sold Compton Bassett manor to Sir John Weld (born 1582 and died 11th July 1674 in Compton Bassett), who was succeeded by his son William Weld (d. 1698). In 1700 William's son Humphrey sold it to the lawyer and politician Sir Charles Hedges (d. 1714), in 1715 Sir Charles's son William sold it to William Northey.

Changing hands again, in 1758 Northey sold part of it, Compton Bassett House and its park, to John Walker, the owner of Compton Cumberwell manor, who later died in 1758. Walker was succeeded by his son John, who bought the rest of Compton Bassett manor from Northey in 1768 and took the additional surname Heneage in 1777. Walker Heneage (died 1806) devised the manor to his wife Arabella (d. c. 1818), on whose death it passed to his grandnephew George Wyld (from 1818 George Walker Heneage, d. 1875).

In 1838 Walker Heneage owned 1,813 acres in the parish. He was succeeded by his son Clement Walker Heneage (6th March 1831 - 9th December 1901), whose son and heir Godfrey sold the Compton Bassett estate, including lands in neighbouring parishes, in 1918 to the Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd. The society sold it in 1929 to E. G. Harding, who afterwards sold it in portions.

Compton Bassett House
The sons of The Sheriff of Oxford, Thomas Basset; Alan Basset, Lord of Wycombe (d. 1233) and Gilbert Basset (born 1154 and died 1207) may have occupied a house at Compton Bassett, and in 1553 a manor house, evidently timber-framed, was said to need 260 oaks to repair it. A house standing in 1659, presumably a replacement of that of 1553 and later called Compton Bassett House, was apparently on a U plan; the principal approach to it was through its courtyard, which was open to the south-east. Its main range, lying north-east and south-west, had a hall at its north-east end and, south-west of the hall, a screens passage with an entrance at the west corner of the courtyard.

The lord of the manor, Sir John Weld, was said in 1672 to have spent nearly £10,000 on building and, presumably between 1663 and 1672, the courtyard was built over and the house was made rectangular with sides of 130 ft. and 110 ft. and given projecting corner towers. The mullioned and transomed windows were probably retained in the old part of the house; sashes were used in the new south-east front. The walls of the house were of soft white stone; one side, probably the northwest front which was the main entrance front in 1760, had been renewed in brick by 1814. Later in the 19th century the rest of the house was encased in brick, and embattled parapets were added; those changes were presumably made by George Walker Heneage (d. 1875), who restored the house.

In the early 1930s Compton Bassett House was demolished, and in 1935 its stable block was converted to a house, also called Compton Bassett House and extensively altered c. 1990. A levelled area south-east of the site of the old house may be the site of an early 17th-century outer court.

In 1706 there was 29 acres of parkland and c. 25 acres of woodland around or near the house, and the park was possibly surrounded by a stone wall. By 1760 the park had been enlarged and paled; it then surrounded the house on three sides and extended beyond the parish boundary. An avenue of beeches led from the south-west to the main front of the house, and to the north there were kitchen gardens and an orchard.

In the 1770s there was 132 a. of parkland, that east of the house being mostly wooded and crossed by rides and paths. About 1840 the house stood in c. 200 a. of parkland and woodland, including c. 50 a. in Calne and Cherhill parishes. Later in the 19th century flower gardens were made south and east of the house, and in 1877 glasshouses totalling over 200 ft. in length were built mostly in the walled garden east of Home Farm.

Compton Cumberwell Manor
Compton Cumberwell manor was held in the late 12th century or early 13th by William of Cumberwell, in 1222 by his son Hugh, in 1242-3 by Hugh's son Philip and in 1289 by Philip's son Sir John; a Sir John Cumberwell, perhaps another, held it in 1334. By 1339 the manor had passed to Roger de Barley (fl. 1347) and by 1355 to Roger's son Roger (fl. 1372). John Barley held it in 1402, and by 1405 it had passed to William, the daughter and heir of Thomas Barley and the wife of John Blount (d. 1444).

In 1448 William conveyed the manor to John Breche, his wife Isabel, and his son John for their life. The reversion passed in turn to William's son Edmund Blount (d. 1468), Edmund's son Simon (d. 1476), and Simon's daughter Margaret, later the wife of John Hussey (from 1529 Lord Hussey). In 1530 John and his and Margaret's son Sir William sold the manor to William Button (d. 1547). It passed to Button's grandson William Button (d. 1591) and in the direct line to William (d. 1599), William (cr. baronet 1622, d. 1655), and Sir William (d. 1660). Sir William's heir was his brother Sir Robert Button (d. c. 1679), who settled the manor on his wife Eleanor (d. c. 1707) for her life. The manor passed in turn to Sir Robert's brother Sir John Button (d. 1712) and his grandnephew Heneage Walker (d. 1731). Heneage was succeeded by his brother John (d. 1758), the purchaser of Compton Bassett House, whose son John Walker (later John Walker Heneage) bought the rest of Compton Bassett manor in 1768 and merged the two manors.

Nearly all Compton Bassett's land was used in common until the later 17th century, and there was apparently a single set of open fields. About 1200 there may have been only two open fields; in the later 14th century there were possibly three. The well drained land between the scarp east of the village and the clay to the west is not extensive, and there is c. 1,000 acres of downland east of the scarp. If in the 13th or 14th century a third field was brought into cultivation it may have been on the downs. In the later 16th century and later there were three fields, called North, South, and Middle; North field, sometimes called North Down field in the 17th century and early 18th, was presumably at least partly downland. Another part of the downs may have been early ploughland, that in the early 13th century called old land which may have given a name to Nolands farm. The land called Newbroke c. 1608 may also have been ploughed downland, but most of the downs remained common pasture for sheep. There were strip linches east of Streete Farm, an indication that the face of the scarp may have been cultivated in the earlier Middle Ages.

The extensive lowland north and west of the village included commonable meadow, but most was probably pasture for cattle and sheep. An extensive pasture called Penn was probably used in common by the men of Calne, Cherhill, and Compton Bassett and had apparently been divided between them by 1628. Cherhill's part remained commonable until the 19th century; Calne's part had probably been inclosed by 1628. It seems that the lord of Compton Bassett manor received an allotment of an enclosed part of the common in Calne as demesne, and in 1728 he held High Penn farm, 131 a., there; the rest of Penn assigned to Compton Bassett was probably the pastures called Cowpen, c. 90 a., and Oxpen, 112 a., which were commonable in the mid 17th century. The Marsh was mentioned in 1330 and Oatlands in the later 16th century: in 1655 they were estimated at 80 a. and 114 a. respectively. Berrymead, mentioned in 1449 and presumably mown for hay, was estimated at 30 a. in 1655. Of a large commonable meadow called Abberd mead, shared mainly by the men of Calne, Calstone, and Cherhill, 3 a. was defined in 1728 as land of Compton Bassett.

In 1271 the demesne of Compton Bassett manor included 204 a. of arable, 30 a. of meadow, and pasture for 30 oxen. Part of the demesne was held on lease in 1330, as in 1368- 9 the meadows and pastures of it were. By 1372 the area of arable had fallen to 161½ a., of which 31 a. was then fallow; stock included 13 oxen. In 1449 and later the demesne included pasture for part of the year in Berrymead, Forepen, and Freeditch, perhaps in severalty. In the 13th century Compton Cumberwell manor consisted of demesne and customary holdings.

On both manors the customary holdings were apparently small and numerous. In the later 14th century there were probably 17 yardlanders and 16 other customary tenants on Compton Bassett manor, and in the later 16th century four copyholders of Compton Cumberwell manor held between them 39 a. of arable, 7 a. in closes of meadow and pasture, and grazing rights for 9 cattle, 4 horses, and 80 sheep.

In the early 17th century it was alleged that the lord of Compton Bassett manor denied customary rights to grazing in the open fields and common pastures. An agreement to inclose 426 a. of meadow and pasture and 300 a. of arable was reached in 1655. The inclosure of the grassland, that on the lowland north and west of the village, seems to have been partly completed by 1662; Cowpen, Oxpen, part of the Marsh, and the arable were inclosed later. In 1662 the demesne farm of Compton Bassett manor included 140 a. in South and Middle fields and 150 a. of inclosed meadow and pasture. A further 205 a. of meadow and pasture may have been allotted as demesne c. 1655 and may have been in one or more new farms; those allotments included the Marsh, 30 acres, the Freeth, 27 acres, and Berrymead, 26 acres, all said to be capable of much improvement when fenced and, in the case of the Freeth and the Marsh, drained. On the manor in 1662 there were 31 copyholders and c. 15 tenants holding by leases on lives or at rack rent; some copyholds may have lain outside the parish.

In 1706 land held with Compton Bassett House as a park and home farm amounted to 233 a., including 113 a. on which sainfoin was grown, 29 a. of parkland, and 29 a. of woodland. Of Compton Bassett manor 427 a. of arable, 177 a. of meadow, and 205 a. of inclosed pasture were held by copyholders and lessees on lives; an additional 345 a. was in four other holdings, and about then the land of Compton Cumberwell manor was also in four holdings.

Nolands Farm may have been built by the mid 17th century and the eastern part of the downland, where Nolands farm was of 213 a., had been inclosed by 1706. There remained grazing in common for almost certainly over 800 sheep, which in 1700 were stinted at 40 to 1 yardland. In 1707 the lord of Compton Bassett manor inclosed 50 a. of arable and gave pasture rights over 20 a. of other land in compensation. What remained of the open fields was inclosed in 1725 by Act on the terms of an agreement drawn up in 1717, and by 1776 the rest of the lowland pastures and of the gently sloping downland had been inclosed.

In 1776 parkland lay south and east of Compton Bassett House and 105 a. of meadow and pasture, probably adjoining it, was in hand. About five farms were then of 100-130 a., one was of 84 a., and most of the land in the main part of the parish was in holdings of less than 40 a.

There was more grassland than arable in the main part of the parish in 1822, about when the practice of planting wheat every second year was replaced on the farms there by a three-field rotation. In 1822 there remained rights for 648 or more sheep to be fed in common on the scarp face, 63 a.; such rights were extinguished in 1837 under an Act of 1831. In the main part of the parish in 1838 there was 1,000 a. of arable and 1,300 a. of meadow and pasture. Besides the home farm of Compton Bassett manor there were seven, mainly compact, farms each of over 100 a., and several smaller farms. The largest farm was Nolands, 672 a. including 230 a. in Cherhill, for which a new farmstead had recently been built; Breach farm measured 228 a., Freeth 163 a. All the other farmsteads stood between Home Farm and Lower End Farm along the principal route through the parish. The location of the farmsteads and the number of principal farms had not changed by 1886, and those farms had apparently absorbed land of smaller holdings.

Woodland
Compton Bassett had 30 acres of woodland in 1086. Apart from the woodland near Compton Bassett House, c. 25 a. in 1706, the main part of the parish was not well wooded. In 1838 there was 60 a. of woodland. About half stood near Compton Bassett House and most of the remainder was on the face of the scarp and scattered in small plantations on the clay west of the scarp. That disposition of woodland had been little changed by the late 20th century.

Fishponds
Fishponds belonging to the lord of Compton Bassett manor in the early 13th century and to the lord of Compton Cumberwell manor in 1342 are likely to have been on the clay in Compton Bassett. In 1838 there were two fishponds in the park west of Compton Bassett House; ponds east and north-west of the house were apparently not fishponds.

Mills
Two mills were shared equally by those holding the three estates at Compton Bassett in 1086, and may have been the two mills which belonged to the lord of Compton Bassett manor in 1228. One may have stood where there are earthworks on Abberd brook 850 m. NNW. of the church on a site later called Mill Pound: there is no other documentary or physical evidence of a mill in the parish. The other was probably Kew Lane mill in Calne, which was held with Compton Bassett manor in the 17th century and until the 19th.

A weaver lived in Compton Bassett in 1620. A soft white chalky stone was quarried in the parish in the 17th century. A quarry recorded in 1700 may have been that 700 metre east of the church in use in 1760 and 1838. A second quarry east of the church was in use in 1922. There was a brickfield near the site of Freeth Farm in 1706, and a brick kiln stood south-east of the farmstead in 1838. A malthouse was recorded in 1743, perhaps that which stood east of Lower End Farm in 1838. Hangars beside Juggler's Lane were used by an agricultural merchant for storage in the 1950s and by a road haulage company in the 1970s.