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Wootton Bassett is located just two miles from
junction 16 of the M4, 4 miles from Lyneham and has served
the surrounding farming community since Saxon times.
The wide High Street of the hilltop town once held livestock
markets and hiring fairs and today is still the hub of busy
commercial life with an interesting variety of historic buildings.
Wootton Bassett had a starting point in recorded history
in 681AD and was known as Wodeton. What is strange, is that
it took 600 years for 'Wodeton', which was described as a
simple Saxon settlement to be joined with its Norman element,
Bassett, named after a nobleman, Alan Bassett. The earliest
records show the place just comprised of 10 hides of cleared
forest land. |
Saxon king Ethelred granted a charter to the Abbot of Malmesbury
Abbey and the locality was established. By the time of the Doomsday
survey, 400 years later, this charter had been lost and the settlement
was shown to be part of a Norman manor. Several generations later,
the manor fell to one Alan Bassett, who not only gave his name to
the town, but also successfully petitioned Henry III in 1219 to
grant a weekly market to the town, which still flourishes to this
day.
Two centuries later Wootton Bassett achieved
further civic significance with the election of the first
known mayor of the town, John Wollmonger. It was thought that
he was chosen from among a number of worthies who ran the
market at that time.
His official duties included becoming the civic head of the
town, as well chief magistrate and coroner. Many years later,
the town was one of several ill-famed districts known as rotten
or pocket boroughs for following dubious electoral practices. |
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Famous distinguishing features in Wootton Bassett
includes the town's parish church of St Bartholomew and All
Saints which has records dating from 1594, with parts of the
church dating from the 14th century. The oldest part of the
church that still remains (from c.1300) is the window (but
not the glass) of what is now called the "Clarendon Window".
Situated at the south-east of the Lady Chapel, the glass
was put in in memory of the Earl of Clarendon who was patron
of the living in the 18th Century.
The most prominent construction is a more recent Town Hall,
which was built at the end of the 17th century and remains
as Wootton Bassett's best-known landmark today. |
Wootton Bassett acquired a royal connection,
believed to be, when Henry VIII took a mistress at Vastern
Manor, to the west of the town. What is known is that
the manor and land belonged to Katherine Parr, his widow until
her death in 1548.
Variously called Fetstern (a fortress), Fastern, or Vastern
it was set on rising ground, almost surrounded by woods which
were later turned into a deer park. The attractive country
house known today as Vastern Manor occupies only a small part
of the original site. |
Vastern Manor
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There were so many pubs
in Wootton Bassett; there were at one time three breweries to
keep the beer flowing. One of these, the Beaufort Brewery off Station
Road survives in its distinctive Victorian gothic factory style.
It is understandably a listed building. The town is particularly
well endowed with public houses. The Waggon and Horses claims to
date from 1612, while the Cross Keys Inn dates from 1742, but may
have been the site of an older tavern. Other hostelries which date
back to the 18th and 19th centuries survive, along with their traditional
English names, the Angel, the Crown Inn, Borough Arms, the Curriers
Arms, to name a few.
Wootton Bassett has retained much of its architectural heritage
notably many Georgian buildings, which line the High Street. Most
of these have been considerately adapted to accommodate the shops
and offices that serve modern-day requirements.
Away from the High Street, there are other fine buildings which
retain a link with the past. They include the Civic Centre, in Station
Road, which began life as a school which was opened, together with
an adjoining schoolmaster's house in 1861 by the Bishop of Salisbury.
It now houses the Mayor's Parlour, Council Chamber and the Citizens'
Advice Bureau.
| Wootton
Bassett links... |
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