Lea and Cleverton

"LEA, a parish in the hundred of Malmesbury, county Wilts, 2 miles S.E. of Malmesbury, its post town. It is a small agricultural parish, containing the hamlet of Cleaverton. There is a large corn-mill in the neighbourhood, worked by a small stream flowing into the Avon. The land is chiefly pasture. The soil is a sandy loam, alternating with clay. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £30, and the vicarial for £188 9s. The living is a vicarage annexed to the rectory* of Garsden, in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. The church, dedicated to St. Giles, is an ancient edifice, with a square tower containing five bells. It is supposed to have been erected before the Conquest, and was restored in 1840. There is a free school for both sexes. The parochial charities produce about £6 per annum. There is a chapel for the Independents. The Earl of Pembroke is lord of the manor."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]

Lea is 2 miles S.E. of Malmesbury. Grid Ref ST957863. Postcode SN16 9PB. Population 419 in 1831, 582 in 1951. Cleverton is a mile East of Lea.