Compton Chamberlayne
| Compton Chamberlayne | |
|---|---|
 Compton Chamberlayne |
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 Compton Chamberlayne
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| Compton Chamberlayne shown within Wiltshire | |
| Population | 112 (in 2011) |
| OS grid reference | SU029300 |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Salisbury |
| Postcode district | SP3 |
| Dialling code | 01722 |
| Police | Wiltshire |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Compton Chamberlayne is a small village and civil parish in south Wiltshire, England, situated in the Nadder Valley approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of Salisbury. The River Nadder forms the northern border of the parish, and to the south are chalk hills. The parish is bisected by the A30 road. The village contains approximately 25 privately owned houses, a village hall, and a cricket pitch used by the Compton Chamberlayne Cricket Club.
Most of the inhabited part of the village lies within a small wooded valley which lends credence to the origin of the name "Compton" – tun, or 'settlement in a wooded valley'. The 'Chamberlayne' seems to have been attached when a Robert le Chamberlayne, or possibly Geoffrey le Chaumberlang, took possession of the village in the Middle Ages. The village was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, which shows that at that time the local manor had a mill, some pastureland, meadows and two woods. Today there is no evidence of the manor.
There was a day school in the village in 1819, which had 60 pupils in 1859; around this time it was funded entirely by the Penruddock family of Compton House. By 1871, government grants were received under the National School system. The school closed in 1933 owing to falling pupil numbers.
During World War I there were thousands of Australian and Canadian troops encamped in the fields below the chalk downland before being shipped to France for combat. Compton Chamberlayne burial ground has about 20 graves of Australian soldiers who died, believed to be of influenza, during their transit through the local camp. There is still today a field called 'hospital', previously the site of the military medical facility. The only tangible sign of the previous occupation was the outline of Australia carved in the surface of the chalk downs (grid reference SU 04298 29163) to the southeast of the village, which was left to grass over in 2005. The neighbouring village of Fovant however boasts an impressive display of army regimental badges carved into the chalk downs. Compton Chamberlayne also features a folly in the form of a summer house at 51°04′16″N 1°57′19″W / 51.07114°N 1.95523°W.
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Wikipedia