Steeple Ashton

Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Steeple Ashton was a manor of Romsey Abbey, at the centre of the abbey's large estates in the area. It was also part of the hundred of Whorwellsdown, and was the site of the hundred's courts.[2]

The first element of the village's name may represent a former steeple of the church. However the prefix "Staple" or "Steeple-" sometimes indicates the privilege of holding a market, with a stapol or pole being set up to advertise its location to all passing through.[3] Steeple Ashton was indeed once a market town, having been granted a weekly market in 1266;[2] a market cross (dated 1679) still stands on the village green.[4]

In the early 16th century, possibly in 1503, a great fire affected the cloth industry within the small town, and when it came to rebuilding they moved to the nearby town of Trowbridge, where the River Biss provided power for fulling mills.[5] The business of the market then moved to neighbouring towns such as Market Lavington.[2]

The road through the village, connecting Edington in the southeast to Trowbridge in the northwest, formed part of a route from Salisbury which fell out of use in the later 18th century.[2]

In 1818 the parish extended north and west to include Great Hinton, Semington (with Littleton), and West Ashton. In the late 19th century separate civil parishes were created for each of those three areas, greatly reducing the area of Steeple Ashton parish.[2]

The parish had 955 inhabitants in 1991, half the number it had in 1981.[1] This is due to the parish boundary of Trowbridge being moved to include new housing estates which had been built at the edge of the town but within the parish of Steeple Ashton. The estimated population as of mid 2018 was 1,403.[6]

There is a village hall[20] and a village shop staffed by volunteers.[21]

The Longs Arms public house in the centre of the village was built c.1700 and extended in the late 19th century.[22] It is named for the Long family of West Ashton who owned much of Steeple Ashton until 1930.[23]

A National School was provided in 1828 by the Long family.[24] In 1941 senior pupils were transferred to schools in Trowbridge and the school continued as St. Mary's Church of England VA Primary School.[25] The school closed in 2003 and most children transferred to Keevil school.

The manor house, northeast of the church, was built in 1647 for the Bennett family, in brick with a three-gabled limestone ashlar front.[26] The house and its estate was bought in 1799 by Richard Long of Rood Ashton,[2] and remained in the Long family until the 1970s, the last owners being Richard Long, 4th Viscount Long (1929–2017) and his first wife Margaret (1928–2016).[27] In 1968 the house and its late-17th century former granary were recorded as Grade II* listed.[26][28]

Market cross and lock-up, on the village green

The Listing indicated that many modifications were made to the manor in the 20th century. The manor was offered for sale in mid 2020, after being upgraded over the previous decade; for example, an atrium was added, "linking the main body of the house to an adjoining courtyard", according to Country Life. Amenities included three reception rooms, six bedrooms and two bath/shower rooms.[29]

Five other houses in the parish are Grade II* listed, including Ashton House (c.1400)[30] and Black Barn Cottage (15th century).[31]

On the small village green are a 1679 market cross in the form of a Tuscan column carrying a sundial and a ball finial,[4] and an 18th-century village lock-up.[32]

A war memorial in the form of a cross stands on the High Street,[33] and in the churchyard is a small green village pump manufactured by Lee Howl.[34] Elsewhere, three 1930s gas petrol pumps remain at a disused George Moore petrol station,[35] with a further, more skeletal gas pump in a gated area behind.[36][37]

The village abuts Keevil Airfield, a former Royal Air Force station which served during World War Two as home to squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces, and later as a launch site for gliders taking part in the Normandy invasion of France and Operation Market Garden. As of 2018, the airfield was still used occasionally "for military purposes and large training exercises" according to the Royal Air Force.[38]

These days, there is a Gliding club (Bannerdown Gliding Club) at the airfield. The club is affiliated with RAF Brize Norton.[39]

Fields to the southeast of Steeple Ashton are a 26.5 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (grid reference ST914558), notified in 1998.[40]

Media related to Steeple Ashton at Wikimedia Commons

• English Nature website (SSSI information)