Visit Heytesbury Places

Welcome to Visit Heytesbury Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Heytesbury

  

Heytesbury Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Heytesbury

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Heytesbury history

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Chalk downland north of Heytesbury village has prehistoric earthworks including long barrows and round barrows. Strip lynchets are visible north and east of Cotley Hill. The parish lies between the Iron Age hillforts of Scratchbury Camp and Knook Castle. A Romano-British settlement has been identified on Tytherington Hill, in the far south of the parish. Chapperton Down, west of Imber, has evidence of settlement and field systems from the same period and earlier. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded a small settlement of eight households at Hestrebe, with a church. The hundred of Heytesbury, south and east of Warminster, comprised seventeen places. The Hungerford family held land at Heytesbury by the 1390s, and reared sheep in the surrounding area in the next century. Family members include Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford of Heytesbury. John Marius Wilson’s Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–1872) described Heytesbury as follows: HEYTESBURY, a small town, a parish, a sub-district, and a hundred, in Wilts. The town stands on the river Wylye, and on the Somerset and Weymouth railway, near Salisbury Plain, 4 miles SE by E of Warminster; was known, to the Saxons, as Hegtredesbiryg; took afterwards the names of Haresbury, Haseberie, and Heightsbury; is now commonly called Hatchbury; was, in the time of Stephen, the residence of the Empress Maud; was, in 1766, nearly all destroyed by fire, and afterwards rebuilt; consists now chiefly of a single street; possesses interest to tourists as the central point of a region abounding in British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish remains; and gives the title of Baron to the family of A’Court. It sent two members to parliament from the time of Henry VI till disfranchised by the act of 1832; was a borough by prescription; and is now a seat of courts leet. It has a post office under Bath, a railway station, two chief inns, a church, an Independent chapel, a national school, and an endowed hospital. The church dates from the 12th century; was partly rebuilt in 1470; underwent a thorough restoration in 1866, at an expense of about £5,500; is cruciform; has a massive tower; and contains the burial place of the A’Courts, and a tablet to Cunningham, the antiquary. The hospital was founded in 1470, by Lady Hungerford, for a chaplain, twelve poor men, and one poor woman; was rebuilt in 1769; forms three sides of a square, two stories high; and has an endowed income of £1,373. A weekly market was formerly held; and two fairs are still held on 14 May and 25 Sept. – The parish comprises 3,380 acres. Real property, £4,713. Pop., in 1841, 1,311; in 1861, 1,103. Houses, 237. The manor belonged to the Burghershs; and passed to the Badlesmeres, the Hungerfords, the Hastingses, and others. Heytesbury House, the seat of Lord Heytesbury, is on the N side of the town; was partially rebuilt about 1784; contains a fine collection of pictures: and stands in a well wooded park. Cotley Hill rises from the woods of the park; commands a very fine panoramic view; is crowned by a tumulus; and was anciently fortified. Knook castle, Scratchbury camp, Golden barrow, and many other antiquities are in the neighbourhood. The living is a vicarage, united with the vicarage of Knook, in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £350. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. – The sub-district contains also eleven other parishes, and is in Warminster district. Acres, 27,546. Pop., 4,372. Houses, 946. – The hundred contains thirteen parishes, and part of another. Acres, 33,040. Pop., 5,572. Houses, 1,209. Between 1449 and 1832, Heytesbury was a parliamentary borough, returning two members of parliament. An elementary school was provided in 1838, immediately southwest of the church. By 1858 there were 50-60 pupils and 40-50 infants. The school moved to a new site, off the High Street west of the church, in 1900, and came under Wiltshire County Council control in the early years of that century. Children of all ages attended until 1931 when those over 11 transferred to the new Avenue Senior School at Warminster. The school continues to serve Heytesbury and Tytherington as Heytesbury CofE Primary School.

You can visit Heytesbury places with Walkfo Heytesbury to hear history at Heytesbury’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Heytesbury has 13 places to visit in our interactive Heytesbury map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Heytesbury, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Heytesbury places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Heytesbury & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 13 audio facts unique to Heytesbury places in an interactive Heytesbury map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Heytesbury Places Map
13 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Heytesbury historic spots	Heytesbury tourist destinations	Heytesbury plaques	Heytesbury geographic features
Walkfo Heytesbury tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Heytesbury

  

Best Heytesbury places to visit

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Heytesbury has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Heytesbury’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Heytesbury’s information audio spots:

Church of St Peter and St Paul, Heytesbury The Church of St Peter and St Paul, Heytesbury is the Church of England parish church. It was a collegiate church from the 12th century until 1840. The present building is largely 13th-century and is Grade I listed.

Visit Heytesbury plaques