Upavon

"UPAVON, a parish in the hundred of Swanborough, county Wilts, 4 miles S.W. of Pewsey, and 9½ S.E. of Devizes. The village is situated on the road from Devizes to Andover, near the river Avon. It was formerly a market town, under a charter granted by Henry III. to Peter de Mauley, and in the reign of Edward I. Hugh Despencer procured a charter of free warren. Here was a Benedictine priory, a cell to Fontanelle Abbey, in France, founded in Henry I.'s time, and given at the suppression by Henry VI. to Ivychurch priory in exchange for lands in Clarendon Park.

About a mile to the westward, on Upavon Hill, are remains of a small entrenched camp, with a prætorium, called Casterley, and intersected from N. to S. by a broad fosse. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Sarum, value £125. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was the priory church, rebuilt in the reign of Henry VII. The parochial charities produce about £11 per annum. There is a National school for both sexes. The Wesleyans and Particular Baptists have chapels. R. Alexander, Esq., is lord of the manor. A pleasure fair is held on the 29th October."

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

Upavon or Uphaven is 4 miles SW of Pewsey. Grid Ref SU135551. Postcode SN9 6EA. Population 498 in 1831, 916 in 1951.