ST. MARY'S CHURCH, CHILTON FOLIAT

After a good service at Church, we went out for a drive to look for some dereliction - and we did find some at Membury, but when we came through Chilton Foliat and I saw the sun shining on St. Mary’s Church, I couldn’t resist asking Mr. HCB to stop so that I could take some photographs.

Chilton Foliat is an ancient settlement, going back to Saxon times, and beyond.  It is a small, typical English country village, with many old and interesting houses, nestled in the undulating landscape of the Marlborough Downs, and lying alongside the River Kennet with a current population of just over 300 adults.  We very rarely stop in the village, but it is a place that we often “pass through” on our way from Swindon to Hungerford. 

We both said that we remembered when the Lych Gate had been freshly thatched, some years ago, but that it had now weathered and looked quite dull.  When I got out of the car and went across the road, which was quite busy, even though it was Sunday, I saw a plaque on the side porch way which read “This Lych Gate was erected in 1921 in memory of the men from this Parish who, at the call of the King and country, laid down their lives in the Great War 1914-1918.”  Apparently, the lime trees that lead up to the church are also a memorial from the Parish to those who died in the First World War and two poppy wreaths, obviously from last Sunday, were still attached to the gateposts.

The names of those who died are recorded on another plaque opposite and it was interesting to note that there were three men with the surname of Harrison and two with the surname of Liddiard - so one wonders if they were from two family groups.  

I decided to take advantage of my Ancestry subscription and looked up the Harrison names and found out that Alfred John was 22 years old in 1914 and was training to be a gamekeeper, probably on the Chilton Estate.  He was killed in Flanders in 1917.  Arthur Edward, his brother, was 18 years old in 1914, and his occupation, according to the 1911 Census was a Plough Boy on a farm.  He too was killed in Flanders in 1916 - so a double sadness for the Harrison family.  I couldn't find any record of Joseph Harrison being killed in the war although he was in the Army in India in 1911, but was obviously from a different family with the same surname.

I found this interesting information: 
Lych Gates - derived from the Old English “Lich” meaning corpse - is a roofed gateway to a churchyard, formerly used at burials for sheltering a coffin until the clergyman's arrival. 

I do have to confess that I did a little “rearrangement” - as I often do - and partly closed the gates, but I did open them again afterwards.  

Chilton Foliat’s “claim to fame” is that the BBC television programme, “The Victorian Kitchen Garden” was filmed in 1987 at Chilton Lodge, which lies between Chilton Foliat and the nearby hamlet of Leverton.  

The village is also just a few minutes away from Littlecote House, a beautiful Grade I Listed Tudor Manor, which was built in the mid 1500s.  It was interesting to learn that Henry VIII courted Jane Seymour at Littlecote and the D-Day landings were planned within the house - something else we have both learned today!  In 1996 it was acquired by Warner Holidays and now operates as a country house hotel.

Today I am grateful for:

1.  A good service at Church - with an excellent sermon
2.  The beauty of the trees, most of which have lost their leaves here in Wiltshire
3.  Mr. HCB’s willingness to drive around the countryside looking for dereliction and then me deciding not to use it!