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Purton
"PURTON, a parish in the hundred of Highworth, county Wilts, 6 miles N. W. of Swindon, its post town, and 4 N.E. of Wootton Bassett. It is a station on the Cheltenham branch of the Great Western railway. The village is situated on an eminence near the Wilts and Berks canal, and is chiefly agricultural. Red-street, in this parish, is the site of a battle between the royalists and parliamentarians. At a short distance from the village are traces of a double-ditched Danish camp. The parish includes the hamlet of Braydon, once a forest, but disafforested in the 5th of Charles II. The Cricklade union poorhouse is situated in this parish.
The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, value £690. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a commodious structure with two towers, one of which is crowned with a lofty spire, and contains five bells. The interior of the church contains monuments to the families of Ashley Cooper and Maskelyne. The parochial charities produce about £97 per annum, of which £17 goes to Stephen's school. There is a National school for both sexes. The Independents and Primitive Methodists have each a place of worship. Dr. Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal, was buried here in 1811."
[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]
Purton is 3 miles N of Wootton Bassett, 3 miles NW of Swindon. Grid Ref SU094876. Population 1,778 in 1831, 2,678 in 1951.
Archives and Libraries
Purton Museum and Historical Society has a small museum, hosts meetings and courses, and copies of the publications listed below, in the Bibliography section.
Bibliography
The Bulletin, A4 approx. 22 pages, Published twice per year. Articles and features on items of historical interest to the Purton area. October 2001 issue includes: Purton's war defences - the anti-tank ditch, Evacuated to Purton - memories of a wartime evacuee, History of the Purton Twinning Association.
Robbins, Alec - The Workhouses of the Wootton Bassett & Cricklade Union. Published 1992, A4 152p. ISBN 0 95171421X. Subjects: A history of the treatment of the poor in former days on Purton. The administration of the Poor Laws. The development of the Purton Alms Houses and the Workhouse. The Purton Charities.
Robbins, Alec - Records & Recollections of Purton & District. Published 1994, A4, 218p. ISBN 0 952484307. This book looks at the considerable changes of the 20th century upon the lives of the people of Purton and the neighbouring villages, thowing light on the social history of the villages of North Wiltshire.
Dixon, Rick - Purton's Past: 2nd Edition, in preparation for 2003/4. The 1st edition of this book covering the history of the village has been out of print for some years. A 2nd edition, much up-dated is in preparation. Subjects: Ringsbury Camp (c 50 BC), the Romans in Purton, Purton's Saxon cemetery, Purton in the Domesday Book, Medieval Purton, Edward Hyde 1st Earl of Clarendon, Anne Hyde and the House of Orange, Nevill Maskelyne and the Longitude story, the development of the modern village.
Churches
- (no dedication), Braydon, Church of England
- St Mary, Church End, Church of England
- Braydon & Leigh Methodist Church , Queen Street, Braydon, Methodist
- Purton Stoke Methodist Church , Pond Lane, Purton Stoke, Methodist
- Chapel, B4696, Red Lodge, Other
- Chapel, Play Close, Other
- Congregational Chapel, Other
- Primitive Methodist Chapel, Other
- Purton Methodist Church, Other
- Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Other
You can also perform a more selective search for churches in the Purton area that are recorded in the GENUKI church database. This will also help identify other churches in nearby townships and/or parishes. You also have the option to see the location of the churches marked on a map.
Church Records
Common to all parishes is a Key to Abbreviations and a description of Church Records and Indexes for Wiltshire, including a complete Marriage Index for the county.
Indexes and registers of the parish church of Purton, St Mary:
- WSRO registers: Chr 1564-1986, Mar 1558-1985, Bur 1558-1951
- BTs with gaps from 1592
- IGI Mar 1559-1837 Batch M152571
- VRI Chr 1559-1842, Mar 1559-1837
- Phillimore Marriages 1558-1812 (vol 7)
- Wiltshire Index Service Burials 1800-1837
Description and Travel
Gazetteers
- A transcription of the section for Purton from the National Gazetteer (1868).
- The entry for Purton from A Vision of Britain through time.
- Ask for the gazetteer for a calculation of the distance from Purton to another place.
Genealogy
Richard Carruthers is the On-line Parish Clerk for Purton - see the Wiltshire OPC site for more details.
Historical Geography
Maps
- View maps of Purton and places within its boundaries.
- This place shown on a Google map.
- Google Streetview
- StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps.)
- Open StreetMap
- Bing (was Multimap)
- OldMaps (Old Ordnance Survey maps.)
- Old Maps Online (Other old maps.)
- National Library of Scotland (Best site for old maps)
- Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
- English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
- Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
- Elgin Road Works
- GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)
- All places within the same township/parish shown on a Google map.
- Nearby townships/parishes shown on a Google map.
- Nearby places shown on a Google map.
Societies
You can also see Family History Societies covering the nearby area, plotted on a map. This facility is being developed, and is awaiting societies to enter information about the places they cover.