Buttermere, Wiltshire
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|static_image_name= St James's, Buttermere - geograph.org.uk - 243792.jpg
|static_image_caption= Church of St James
|coordinates = {{coord|51.347|-1.511|type:city(50)_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}}
|official_name= Buttermere
|population = 49
|population_ref= (in 2011) {{cite web|title=Buttermere Census information|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Census?communityId=43|work=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=21 March 2013}}
|civil_parish= Buttermere
|unitary_england = Wiltshire
|lieutenancy_england = Wiltshire
|region= South West England
|constituency_westminster= East Wiltshire
|post_town= Marlborough
|postcode_district = SN8
|postcode_area= SN
|dial_code= 01488
|os_grid_reference= SU342610
|website=
}}
Buttermere is a small village and civil parish on the eastern boundary of Wiltshire, England, about {{convert|4.5|mi|km|0}} south of Hungerford and {{convert|10|mi|km|0}} southeast of Marlborough. The village stands above the steep escarpment of Ham Hill, and at {{convert|257|m|ft}} above sea level it is the highest village in Wiltshire{{citation needed|date=June 2010}} and probably the highest in Wessex.
The parish includes the hamlet of Henley, southwest of Buttermere village and next to the county border with Hampshire, and the western flanks of Inkpen Hill.
Toponymy
A settlement at Buttermere is recorded in the 930s as Butermere, and as Butremare in Domesday Book.{{OpenDomesday|SU3461|buttermere|Buttermere}} The name is thought to derive from {{langx|ang|butere + mere}} and is generally agreed to mean "lake with good pasture".{{cite book |last= Mills |first= A.D. |year= 2003 |title= Oxford Dictionary of British Place Names |page= 90 |publisher= Oxford University Press |location= Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-852758-9 }}
History
File:Medieval finger-ring (FindID 962606).jpg carrying the Christ Child, found in Buttermere in 2019{{cite web |url= https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/962606 |title= Finds record for: HAMP-88F8B2 |author= Hinds, K |access-date= 28 Aug 2022 |publisher= The Portable Antiquities Scheme}}]]
The manor of Buttermere was recorded in the 9th century, and from the 11th was held by St Swithun's priory, Winchester. Henley's land was probably added to the parish in the 11th century, when it was also held by St Swithun's. The parish was part of Savernake forest until 1330.{{Cite book |author-last1=Baggs |author-first1=A. P. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol16/pp82-88 |title=A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 16 |author-last2=Freeman |author-first2=J. |author-last3=Smith |author-first3=C. |author-last4=Stevenson |author-first4=J. H. |author-last5=Williamson |author-first5=E. |date=1999 |publisher=University of London |editor-last=Crowley |editor-first=D. A. |series=Victoria County History |pages=82–88 |chapter=Buttermere |access-date=28 August 2022 |via=British History Online}}
The population of the parish was steady at around 130 for the whole of the 19th century but declined in the 20th, reaching 39 in 1971.
A small school was built near the rectory in 1872, and closed in 1944 when there were only nine pupils.{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Parochial School, Buttermere|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1504|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=13 March 2016}}
Parish church
The Church of England parish church of St James is one of the smallest in Wiltshire.{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |authorlink1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget (revision) |year=1975 |origyear=1963 |title=Wiltshire |series=The Buildings of England |edition=2nd |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=0-14-0710-26-4 |page=154}} There was a church here in the 13th century, and a watercolour by John Buckler in 1806 shows a simple building with a wooden west turret. In 1855-6 the church was rebuilt on the same footprint, using salvaged materials, with a small central spire.{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Church of St.James, Buttermere|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1571|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=13 March 2016}}{{National Heritage List for England|num=1365465|desc=Church of St James|access-date=13 March 2016}}
The church is in the parish of Ham and Buttermere, which is part of the Savernake team ministry.{{cite web|title=Ham & Buttermere|website=Savernake Team|url=http://www.savernaketeam.org.uk/ham-and-shalbourne/ham-and-buttermere/index.html|access-date=13 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509191119/http://www.savernaketeam.org.uk/ham-and-shalbourne/ham-and-buttermere/index.html|archive-date=9 May 2016|url-status=dead}}
Local government
Buttermere civil parish is governed by a parish meeting, a form of governance applied to parishes with a small population. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all significant local government functions.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category-inline}}
- {{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Buttermere|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/43|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=13 March 2016}}
{{authority control}}