Berwick St Leonard

In 1934, part of the southwest of the parish including the village of Hindon, was transferred to an adjoining parish. A small stream rises near that village and flows intermittently, under wet conditions. Soon after leaving the parish the stream forms Fonthill Lake and then joins the Nadder near Tisbury. The northern boundary of the parish is the watershed between the Nadder and the Wylye. The soil is chalky and mainly used for arable cropping and sheep, but increasing numbers of cows have been kept since about 1980.[2]

The A303 trunk road, linking London with southwest England, crosses the parish. Berwick St John village is on the B3089 about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) to the south.[2] The Monarch's Way is a 615-mile (990 km) long-distance footpath that passes through the parish.[3]

There is a prehistoric earthwork near Penning, in the north of the parish.[4] From before 1650 to around 1900, nearly all the land in the parish belonged to a single farm, probably Cold Berwick Farm, which appears on a 1773 map but had been demolished by 1822.[2]

In the 11th and 12th centuries the manor was probably part of Shaftesbury Abbey's Tisbury estate.[5] Berwick House is from the late 18th century.[6]

St Leonard's Church was built in the 12th century and rebuilt in 1860. It has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.[7] The church was closed in 1966,[8] declared redundant in 1973 and is now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[9]

The parish is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all significant local government functions. The civil parish does not elect a parish council. Instead the first tier of local government is a parish meeting, which all electors are entitled to attend.[10]

Media related to Berwick St Leonard at Wikimedia Commons

• "Berwick St. Leonard". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.