Bishopstone, Salisbury

The area was settled in prehistoric times. There was a bowl barrow near Croucheston Down Farm [2] and Grim's Ditch, a prehistoric earthwork, forms the southern boundary of the parish.[3]

The Roman road from Old Sarum to Dorchester crosses the parish.[4]

The village may have been known as Eblesborne because the land was owned by a man called Ebbel near the burna (river) .[5]

The village of Eblesborne is mentioned by historian Michael Wood in his book Domesday, a Search for the Roots of England because in 902 the Bishop of Winchester leased an estate in 'Ebbesbourne' to Beornwulf at a rent of 45/- a year.[5] In the book Ebbesbourne Wake through the Ages Peter Meers mentions Bishopstone.[5]

By 1166 the village had been acquired by the See of Winchester and the name changed to Bissopeston because of its ownership by the Bishopric.

Domesday Book The Domesday Book in 1086 divided the Chalke Valley into eight manors, Chelke (Chalke - Broad Chalke and Bowerchalke), Eblesborne (Ebbesbourne Wake), Fifehide (Fifield Bavant), Cumbe (Coombe Bissett), Humitone (Homington), Odestoche (Odstock), Stradford (Stratford Tony and Bishopstone) and Trow (circa Alvediston and Tollard Royal).[5]

Faulston House and Dovecote

Old Post Office, Croucheston

The parish contains six ancient villages, possibly since Saxon times. To the north of the river these were Bishopstone, Netton and Flamston; to the south, Throope, Faulston and Croucheston. Names of former settlements survive in Netton Farmhouse (1637),[6] Throope Manor (18th century),[7] and Faulston House (17th century).

[8] The roadside settlement known as The Pitts developed in the 19th century.

The parish church of St John the Baptist is Grade I listed.[9] Evidence survives of a 12th-century building, which was rebuilt as a cruciform church in the 13th century. The tower and two-storey porch were added in the 15th century and restoration was carried out in the 19th.[10][11] There are several monuments outside. By the south transept, a small stone cloister of two vaulted bays shelters a decorated tomb chest, perhaps that of the founder of the church. In the north transept is another richly decorated tomb recess, with stone coffin-lids, and in the south transept a mid-19th-century Gothic monument to a former rector by A. W. Pugin. At one time, above this was a window designed by Pugin and executed by William Wailes; this has since been replaced by clear glass.

A Primitive Methodist chapel was opened in 1833 at Croucheston and continued in use until 1978.[12]

A school was built in Pitts road in 1843 and educated children of all ages until 1932 when it became a junior school, closing in 1977 due to falling pupil numbers.[10][13]

Bishopstone has a village hall[14]

It also has a pub, the White Hart. It had another, the Three Horseshoes in an 18th-century building,[15] but this closed in 2002.[16]

• The geographic coordinates are from the Ordnance Survey.

• Bishopstone Village

Media related to Bishopstone (near Salisbury) at Wikimedia Commons