Liddington

"LIDDINGTON, (or Lyddington), a parish in the hundred of Kingsbridge, county Wilts, 4 miles S.E. of Swindon, its post town and railway station, and 8½ N.E. of Marlborough. The village, which is small, is wholly agricultural. It is situated on the road from London to Newbury and Hungerford. The parish includes the hamlets of Caste, Liddington Wick, Liddington Warren, and Kedbourn. On Beacon Hill was a large circular earthwork called Liddington Castle, or Badbury Castle Camp. The Wilts and Berks canal runs up to Swindon. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1776, and a commutation has since been effected for a rent-charge of £221. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, value £325.

The church, dedicated to All Saints, is a very ancient stone structure, with a square tower containing five bells. It has a roof of timber frame work, and contains a font of great antiquity. The church was thoroughly restored and open sittings fitted in lieu of the old pews in 1850. It contains tombs of the Abbot and Abbess of Shaftesbury, the founders of the church. There is a National school, also a place of worship for the Wesleyans. Situated in a dell are the remains of the old moated manor-house, a specimen of Elizabethan domestic architecture. The Duke of Marlborough is lord of the manor."

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

Liddington is 4 miles S.E. of Swindon. Grid Ref SU205813. Postcode SN4 0HB. Population 407 in 1831, 357 in 1951.