Sutton Benger

Sutton Benger lies in the Dauntsey Vale, the wide floodplain of the Bristol Avon. The river forms much of the eastern boundary of the parish.

A settlement at Draicote with 22 households was recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book survey.[4] Draycote Cerne was a separate parish until it was merged into Sutton Benger in 1934.[5]

The manor belonged to Malmesbury Abbey. Soon after the Dissolution it was acquired by Robert Long (d.1581), who also owned Draycot. The estate remained in the Long family, later the Tylney-Long baronets, until 1812 when it passed by marriage to the 4th Earl of Mornington. The Earl's descendants held the land until 1920 when it was sold as separate farms.[5]

Sutton Benger village developed along the Swindon-Chippenham road. Manor Farmhouse has 13th-century origins[5] and was altered and extended in the 17th and 19th centuries.[6]

The road through the village was the A420 which ran from Bristol to Swindon and Oxford. This section was reclassified as the B4069 some time after the building of the M4 motorway in the early 1970s, passing to the north of the village.

The Anglican Church of All Saints is Grade II* listed.[7][8] The stone rubble building has 12th-century origins and a 15th-century tower; it was heavily restored in 1851 by J.H. Hakewill. The circular stone font, decorated with a scalloped band, may be from an early date.[9] Of the five bells, one is from c. 1400 and the dates of three others range from 1631 to 1706.[10]

The benefice was united with those of Christian Malford and Tytherton Kellaways in 1966.[11] Today the parish is part of the Draycot benefice, which also covers Seagry and Kington Langley.[12]

St James's Church, Draycot Cerne was built around 1300 and declared redundant in 1994. Also Grade II* listed, it is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust.[13][14]

The civil parish elects a parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all significant local government functions.

Draycot Cerne and Seagry, formerly separate parishes, were added to Sutton Benger in 1934. In 1971 all land north of the newly built M4 was transferred to a recreated Seagry parish.[15]

The village has a primary school,[16] a post office[17] and a doctors surgery. The village hall has a recreation ground and a multi-use games area. Several community groups make use of the hall including a pre-school, Benger Bears,[18] a playgroup, WI and Over 60's group.

There is a pub - the Wellesley Arms,[19] a restaurant - La Flambé,[20] and a hotel/restaurant - The Bell House Hotel.[21]

In 2008 Faccenda Group closed their chicken processing plant in the village, with the loss of 450 jobs, moving production elsewhere.[22][23]

• Several generations of the Quaker Fry family lived in the village, among them John Fry (d. 1775) whose son Joseph founded the Bristol chocolate and cocoa business which became J. S. Fry & Sons[5]
• Rt Rev Christopher Lipscomb, vicar of Sutton Benger from 1818, became first Anglican Bishop of Jamaica
• Gabrielle Aplin (born 1992), singer-songwriter, was brought up in the village

Media related to Sutton Benger at Wikimedia Commons

• "Sutton Benger". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
• Sutton Benger Parish Council