Leigh Delamere services

Leigh Delamere is a motorway service station on the M4 motorway situated one mile west of Junction 17, between Bristol and Swindon (close to Chippenham and Malmesbury). It is owned by Moto, and has a Marks & Spencer. The nearby settlement is called Leigh Delamere, and is a small hamlet comprising a church, eight almshouses and eight houses, most of which have recently been renovated during a major modernization of the hamlet following the demise of Manor Farm. The almshouses have recently been sold. The new owners are going to split the building into two houses.

Resident Jon Jeeves was recently elected to the parish council as Leigh Delamere's representative, a position that had been vacant since the departure of Ed King.The church, St. Margaret's, has many relics and influences from the Knights Templar. However, it is now closed, but a special service was held on 29 June 2008. Leigh Delamere is in the parish of Grittleton, which is looked after and funded by the By-Brook Benefice, headed by Canon Ann Ashcroft.Leigh Delamere is in the constituency of North Wiltshire, and the current MP is James Gray (Conservative).The hamlet is just 5 miles from Chippenham.

Since 2007, a bund has been proposed to be built around the hamlet of Leigh Delamere to reduce the noise of motorway traffic. The residents of Leigh Delamere voted on whether to build the bund and the vote won with a landslide victory. Only one resident voted against it.

St. Margaret's Church

The church, St. Margaret's, has many relics and influences from the Knights Templar. However, it is now closed, but a special service was held on 29 June 2008. Leigh Delamere is in the parish of Grittleton, which is looked after and funded by the By-Brook Benefice, headed by Canon Ann Ashcroft.More than 100 people attended the service on 29 June 2008. They came from all around the benefice, as well as the village itself.The church is still looked after by the residents of the village. They take it in turns to look after the church's grounds, and the keys to the church are kept by resident Harriet Tupper.

By-Brook Benefice

The By-Brook Benefice is an organization that looks after and funds eight church parishes in Wiltshire. The Benefice covers the parishes of Littleton Drew, Castle Combe, Yatton Keynell, Nettleton, West Kington, Grittleton and Leigh Delamere, Biddestone and Slaughterford.

The Benefice was set up in 1999 to help fund a group of smaller churches in the rural areas of north Wiltshire. The current Team-Rector of the By-Brook Benefice is Canon Ann Ashcroft. ^{[Wikipedia:Footnotes| [broken footnote]} , who has held the position of Team-Rector since 2007.

External links

* [http://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/services/leigh/ Motorway Services Online - Leigh Delamere] [http://www.stpaulsweb.co.uk/latest/]

References