Atworth

Atworth is a village and civil parish in the West Wiltshire district of Wiltshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,280. The village is about three miles north-west of Melksham, and nine miles east from Bath.

;Film industry

In the early 21st century, Atworth parish attracted the attention of the film industry. On the southern skirts, the house and grounds of Great Chalfield Manor were used for location filming of the 2008 film version of the historical novel, "The Other Boleyn Girl", and some scenes of the 2008 BBC Television adaptation of "Tess of the d'Urbervilles". [cite web|url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-global/w-news/w-news_the-other-boleyn-girl/w-news_the-other-boleyn-girl-locations.htm|publisher=National Trust|title=Behind the scenes|date=|accessdate=2008-04-16] Fact|date=April 2008

Extracted from "www.atworth.org.uk" with the permission of webmaster (KA Spencer):

Atworth village is situated in the west of the county of Wiltshire, between the towns of Chippenham and Melksham which are to its east, and the magnificent Georgian City of Bath, in the county of Somerset, to its west. The village has a post office, garage, swimming pool, village school, park with tennis court and many beautiful walks. With a population of about 1300, it lies along the A365, the road passing east from Box to Melksham.Although Atworth nestles in a rather idyllic rural setting, it is within easy reach of the Wiltshire market towns of Devizes, Chippenham, Trowbridge, Bradford on Avon, Westbury, Warminster & Frome. The M4 motorway can be accessed eastwards via the A350 just north of Chippenham, or westwards for Bristol and Cardiff via the A4 and A46 north of Bath.

Historical Notes (with acknowledgement to David Webb)
The famous mapmaker and cartographer John Speed (1552 - 1629) shows Atworth on his maps of Wiltshire. However, it appears with the name "Atford". Later, in 1773, the mapmakers Andrews and Drury, published a map of Wiltshire in which Atworth appeared as both "Atford" and as "Attworth". The "At" component of the name has been associated with the word "oat", which may imply a role in the service of grain markets of the time. By the time the Ordnance Survey produced its first maps in the early 19th century, the name "Atworth" was almost exclusively used as the name for the village.

References

External links

* http://www.atworth.org.uk
* http://www.atworth-village-online.org.uk/ Atworth Village Online
* [http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-global/w-news/w-news_the-other-boleyn-girl/w-news_the-other-boleyn-girl-gallery.htm Behind the scenes gallery] – images of Great Chalfield Manor and Lacock Abbey from the 2008 film, "The Other Boleyn Girl ", National Trust