Newton Tony

The Port Way Roman road crossed the parish to the south-east.{{Cite book |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol15/pp143-153 |series=Victoria County History |title=A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 15 |chapter=Parishes: Newton Tony |pages=143–153 |editor-first=D. A. |editor-last=Crowley |author-first1=A. P. |author-last1=Baggs |author-first2=Jane |author-last2=Freeman |author-first3=Janet H. |author-last3=Stevenson |date=1995 |via=British History Online |publisher=University of London |access-date=28 December 2022 |archive-date=24 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221224172240/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol15/pp143-153 |url-status=live }} A settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Newentone, on seven carucates (ploughlands) of land held by Alfred of Marlborough.{{OpenDomesday|SU2140|newton-toney|Newton Toney}} By 1257, the manor was held by Roger de Tony (or Tosny), hence the suffix Tony; the last of that line to inherit was Alice de Toeni (c.1284–c.1325), later Countess of Warwick.

The manor house, no longer standing, was in the north of the village; from the later 17th century it was the home of the Fiennes family. From 1710 it was superseded by Wilbury House, about {{convert|1.2|km|order=flip}} north-east of the village.

A church had been built by the 12th century; the present church is a complete rebuild of 1844.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1135699|desc=Church of St Andrew|access-date=7 January 2016|fewer-links=yes}} A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1877 and closed in 1981.{{Cite web |title=Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Newton Tony |url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1291 |access-date=8 January 2016 |website=Wiltshire Community History |publisher=Wiltshire Council |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004152020/https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1291 |url-status=live }}

Until the late 20th century, the name of the village and parish was Newton Toney.{{Cite web |title=Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain, sheet SU24 |website=National Library of Scotland |url=http://maps.nls.uk/view/95749872 |access-date=7 January 2015 |date=1958}}

Most local government functions are carried out by Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority. The parish forms part of the electoral division of Winterslow and Upper Bourne Valley, which elects one councillor.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Unitary council election on Thursday 6 May 2021: Winterslow and Upper Bourne Valley |url=https://elections.wiltshire.gov.uk/Home/Division/5793 |website=Wiltshire Council |date= |access-date=28 December 2022 |archive-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228175628/https://elections.wiltshire.gov.uk/Home/Division/5793 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Election Maps: Great Britain |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |website= |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=28 December 2022 |archive-date=20 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220103943/https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |url-status=live }}

Newton Tony is represented in the House of Commons as part of the constituency of Salisbury. Since the 2010 general election, Salisbury has been represented in Parliament by the Conservative MP John Glen.{{Citation |title=John Glen |website=Parliament of the United Kingdom |url=https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/john-glen/4051 |access-date=28 December 2022 |archive-date=18 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518082850/https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/john-glen/4051 |url-status=live }}

Newton Tony is approximately {{Convert|9|mi}} north-east of its post town, Salisbury, about {{Convert|30|mi}} north-west of Southampton and about {{Convert|40|mi}} south-east of Bath. Nearby towns and villages include Cholderton, Allington, Amesbury and Grateley.

Newton Tony lies in the valley of the River Bourne, which cuts through the village.

File:Newton Tony - St Andrews Church - geograph.org.uk - 1303270.jpg

The parish church of St Andrew was built in 1844 to a design in 14th-century style by Thomas Henry Wyatt and David Brandon, replacing an older church on the same site. According to one source, it was built at the expense of the Malet family;{{Cite web |title=St Andrew Newton Tony: Church History |url=https://www.bournevalleychurches.org.uk/church-history-st-andrew-newton-tony.html |access-date=2022-12-24 |website=Bourne Valley Churches |language=en |archive-date=11 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240911092822/https://www.bournevalleychurches.org.uk/church-history-st-andrew-newton-tony.html |url-status=live }} inside are monuments to several of their members. The Grade II listed building is in flint with limestone dressings, and above the south porch rises a short tower with a shingled spire.

The stone font, a plain bowl, is 12th-century.{{Cite web |title=St Andrew, Newton Tony, Wiltshire |url=https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=3595 |access-date=29 December 2022 |website=The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland |publisher=King's College London |archive-date=29 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229133140/https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=3595 |url-status=live }} One of the four bells was cast at the Salisbury foundry c.1499.{{Cite web |title=Newton Tony |url=https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/10696 |access-date=29 December 2022 |website=Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers |archive-date=29 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229133138/https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/tower/10696 |url-status=live }} Today the parish is within the area of the Bourne Valley group, alongside five neighbouring rural parishes.{{Cite web |title=St Andrew Newton Tony |url=https://www.bournevalleychurches.org.uk/st-andrew-newton-tony.html |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=Bourne Valley Churches |language=en |archive-date=10 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240810201533/https://www.bournevalleychurches.org.uk/st-andrew-newton-tony.html |url-status=live }}

The five-bay former rectory, uphill from the church, was built for Reverend John Akins in 1778, in Flemish brick on a stone plinth.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1184164|desc=Old Rectory|access-date=30 April 2019|fewer-links=yes}}

A redbrick Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in the High Street in 1877; it closed in 1981.

Wilbury House is an 18th-century house designed by William Benson. It has been designated a Grade I listed building.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1300348 |desc=Wilbury House |access-date=7 January 2016}} A combined summer house and ice house in the grounds, from the same date, is designated Grade II*.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1313163 |desc=Summer House at Wilbury House |access-date=7 January 2016 |fewer-links=yes}}

West Farmhouse, at the north end of the village, is a flint and limestone building from the 17th century which incorporates part of a 15th-century house.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1135701|desc=West Farmhouse|access-date=28 December 2022|fewer-links=yes}} At the south end, Manor Farm is from the late 18th century.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1135698|desc=Manor Farmhouse|access-date=28 December 2022|fewer-links=yes}}

{{Anchor|Newton Tony railway station}}

In 1857 the London and South Western Railway company opened a line from Andover to Milford station at Salisbury, which crosses the parish south-east of Newton Tony village, parallel to the Port Way. The railway remains in use as part of the West of England Main Line; the nearest station is Grateley, some {{Convert|3|mi|km|0}} east of Newton Tony village.

The Amesbury and Military Camp Light Railway, opened in 1902, connected with the main line to the east of the village. It carried largely military goods and passengers to Amesbury, extending later to Bulford, Larkhill and Rollestone. There was a station with two platforms, a goods siding and cattle yard west of Newton Tony, to the south of the Allington road.{{Cite book |last1=Oakley |first1=Mike |title=Wiltshire Railway Stations |date=2004 |publisher=The Dovecote Press|isbn=1904349331 |location=Wimborne |page=95}} The line closed to passengers in 1952 and to goods in 1963, after which the track was dismantled.

Newton Tony C of E Primary School serves the village and neighbouring communities. It was opened in the 1950s on the same site as a national school built in 1857, which was destroyed by fire. Land for the school had been given by Sir Alexander Malet.{{Cite web |website=Wiltshire Community History |title=Newton Tony Church of England VC Primary School |url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1324 |publisher=Wiltshire Council |access-date=8 January 2016 |archive-date=4 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004152013/https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1324 |url-status=live }}

The village has a recreation ground and a village hall. The village pub, the Malet Arms, is in a building from the early 18th century.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1184127 |desc=Malet Arms |access-date=8 January 2016 |fewer-links=yes}}

The RSPB bought Manor farm in 2005{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=RSPB Reserves 2011 |url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/2011_tcm9-289385.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416144452/http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/2011_tcm9-289385.pdf |archive-date=16 April 2016 |website=RSPB |page=44 |via=Internet Archive}} and manage it as RSPB Winterbourne Downs for the benefit of farmland wildlife, especially the stone curlew. Some fields continue to be grazed by livestock, while over {{Convert|200|ha}} have been returned to chalk grassland.{{Cite web |title=Winterbourne Downs Nature Reserve, Wiltshire |url=https://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/winterbourne-downs |access-date=2022-12-29 |website=The RSPB |language=en-GB |archive-date=4 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804020957/https://rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/reserves-a-z/winterbourne-downs/ |url-status=live }} The nature reserve abuts Porton Down, where there is further protected grassland and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Thomas West, 1st Baron West inherited the manor from his father in 1386.

Nathaniel Fiennes, MP, officer in the Parliamentarian army and Cromwell's Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, was lord of the manor in later life and died at Newton Tony in 1669. His daughter Celia (1662–1741), brought up there, became well known for a series of books recording her travels around Britain.

Sir William Benson bought the house and manor sometime after 1691, and his son, also William, built Wilbury House around 1710. Later owners included Fulke Greville (1717–1806), Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1744, and later MP for Monmouth and a minor diplomat. Between 1803 and 1925, Wilbury was the home of the Malet baronets, beginning with Sir Charles (1752–1815) who had been created a baronet in 1791 for his diplomatic services in India, while an official of the East India Company; his son and grandson were also diplomats. The house, park and two farms were bought in 1939 by Edward Grenfell, 1st Baron St Just, a partner in the merchant bank Morgan, Grenfell & Co., MP for the City of London and a director of the Bank of England. His son Peter (1922–1984) inherited in 1941, and his second wife Maria Britneva continued to live there until 1994.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1001245|desc=Wilbury House: Park/Garden|grade=II|access-date=20 August 2019|fewer-links=yes}} Wilbury was owned and restored from 1996 by Miranda Guinness, widow of Benjamin Guinness of the Dublin brewing family, and inherited by her son Rory in 2010.{{cite web |date=September 2019 |title=Visit: Wilbury Park, Wiltshire |url=https://georgiangroup.org.uk/event-directory/visit-wilbury-park-wiltshire/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720221147/https://georgiangroup.org.uk/event-directory/visit-wilbury-park-wiltshire/ |archive-date=2019-07-20 |website=The Georgian Group}}

George Whitaker had been the first provost at Trinity College, Toronto and Archdeacon of York, Toronto. After he retired from his posts in Canada in 1881 he was appointed as rector of Newton Tony, but died the next year.{{cite DCB|title=Whitaker, George|first=Christopher Fergus|last=Headon|volume=11|url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/whitaker_george_11E.html}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.newton-toney-village.org.uk/ Newton Toney Parish Council]

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Category:Civil parishes in Wiltshire

Category:Villages in Wiltshire