Inglesham
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Inglesham
| static_image_name = Inglesham Church (geograph 3984334).jpg
| static_image_caption = St John the Baptist Church, Inglesham
| coordinates = {{coord|51.684|-1.704|type:city(50)_region:GB-SWD|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference = SU206984
| population = 112
| population_ref = (in 2021){{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Inglesham: population statistics |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southwestengland/admin/swindon/E04001093__inglesham/ |website=CityPopulation.de |date= |access-date=18 April 2023}}
| civil_parish = Inglesham
| unitary_england = Swindon
| lieutenancy_england = Wiltshire
| region = South West England
| country = England
| post_town = Swindon
| postcode_district = SN6
| postcode_area = SN
| dial_code = 01367
| constituency_westminster = Swindon North
| website =
}}
Inglesham is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England, notable for the Grade-I listed St John the Baptist Church. The village is just off the A361 road about {{convert|1|mi}} south-west of Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Most of the population lives in the hamlet of Upper Inglesham, which is on the main road about {{convert|1.3|mi|0}} south of the village.
The parish forms the extreme north-east corner of the Borough of Swindon and County of Wiltshire, and is bounded to the west and north by the River Thames (which also forms the county boundary with Gloucestershire), and to the east by the county boundary with Oxfordshire (Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes). The River Cole forms part of the eastern boundary.
As the parish's population is small, it has a parish meeting instead of a parish council.{{cite web |url=http://ww5.swindon.gov.uk/moderngov/mgParishCouncilDetails.aspx?ID=643&LS=4&J=1 |title=Inglesham Parish Meeting – Councillors |date=2004–2006 |work=Council & Democracy – Parish council |publisher=Swindon Borough Council |access-date=11 October 2010}}
The Round House, Inglesham is often used by boaters as a landmark to denote the westernmost point most cabin cruisers and narrowboats can travel along the Thames, as beyond Inglesham the river becomes too clogged with vegetation and too shallow to effectively navigate.
Parish church
The 13th-century parish church of St John the Baptist was restored in 1888–89Pevsner & Cherry, 1975, page 276 and is listed Grade I.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1023391|desc=Church of St John the Baptist|access-date=14 January 2021}} The benefice and parish were united with Highworth in 1940.{{London Gazette
| issue = 34900
| date = 19 July 1940
| pages = 4432–4434
}} The church was declared redundant in 1980,{{cite web |date=25 March 1980 |title=No. 48140 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/48140/supplement/4590 |access-date=20 September 2023 |website=The London Gazette |page=4590}} and is now cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.{{Cite web |title=Church of St John the Baptist, Inglesham, Wiltshire |url=https://www.visitchurches.org.uk/visit/church-listing/st-john-inglesham.html |access-date=2023-09-20 |website=Churches Conservation Trust}}
In the churchyard is a Grade II* listed 15th-century stone cross. The base and shaft survive but the cross itself has been lost.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1355932|desc=Churchyard Cross|access-date=14 January 2021|fewer-links=yes}}
Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Cistercian Beaulieu Abbey held the manor and benefice.Hockey, 1974, page 259
Secular history
Until 1844 Inglesham was a detached part of Berkshire. It was transferred to Wiltshire by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844.Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, 7 & 8 Vict. c. 61
Church Farmhouse is a former watermill that was rebuilt in the 17th centuryGarside, 2005, page 3 and is listed Grade II*.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1023392|desc=Church Farmhouse|access-date=14 January 2021|fewer-links=yes}} Several other houses in the parish are listed Grade II, as are the late 18th-century Halfpenny Bridge that carries the A361 across the Thames into Lechlade,{{National Heritage List for England|num=1023393|desc=Lechlade Halfpenny Bridge|access-date=14 January 2021|fewer-links=yes}} and a Cotswold stone rubble barn at College Farm built in about 1800.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1299767|desc=Cotswold Stone Barn to South West of College Farmhouse|access-date=14 January 2021|fewer-links=yes}}
Inglesham lock is at the eastern end of the Thames and Severn Canal and the Cotswold Canals Trust is currently raising funds to restore its structure and part of the canal. The Round House was the lock keeper's cottage.
See also
References
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Sources
- {{cite book |last=Garside |first=Helen |title=Inglesham Parish |year=2005 |publisher=Swindon Borough Council |location=Swindon |url=http://www.swindon.gov.uk/de/inglesham.pdf |access-date=10 October 2010 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- {{cite book |editor-last=Hockey |editor-first=S.F. |series=Southampton Records Series |title=The Beaulieu Cartulary |volume=XVII |year=1974 |publisher=Southampton University Press |location=Southampton |page=259}}
- {{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author-link1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget |title=The Buildings of England: Wiltshire |orig-year=1963 |year=1975 |edition=revised |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Harmondsworth |isbn=0140710264 |pages=276–277}}
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Category:Villages in Wiltshire