Hullavington

Hullavington is an English village in Wiltshire, just to the north of the M4 motorway, 5 miles south-south-west of Malmesbury and 7 miles north of Chippenham.

History

Hullavington is listed as Hunlavintone in the Domesday Book, [cite web |title=DocumentsOnline |publisher=The National Archives|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7573092&queryType=1&resultcount=1|accessdate=2008-09-22] and it appears that the Marcher Lord "Ralph de Mertemer" (Ranulph de Mortimer) owned a house there. [cite book
coauthors=Henry Alworth Merewether, Archibald John Stephens
title=The History of the Boroughs and Municipal Corporations of the United Kingdom
origyear=1835
url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=R0Y0AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA154&lpg=RA1-PA154&dq=Hunlavintone&source=web&ots=kiVj22qapk&sig=E1i_y1geBYK_puX5Y-BWwCqOctI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=6&ct=result
accessdate=2008-09-22
publisher=Stevens and sons
format=pdf
pages=154]

The population at the beginning of the nineteenth century was 395 (1801 census), rising to 823 in 1901 and was 1,247 in 2001. [cite web |publisher=Wiltshire County Council |title=Wiltshire Community History|url=http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getcensus.php?id=137|accessdate=2008-09-22]

Amenities

It has a garage, a shop, a pub and two churches, one of which meets in the village hall. The hall was recently opened by James Gray, the MP for North Wiltshire, after the previous one burnt down because of an electrical fault.

There is also a Church of England village school which has approximately 150 pupils and is headed by John Barlow. Children from the army camp make up a fair proportion of the school and the army provides entertainment and firework on November 5th which is attended by many surrounding villages.

There are many community events such as the Village Fete which is always well attended and many other meeting and concerts, there are fitness classes, line dancing, concerts, art classes etc, which take place in the village hall.

There are currently three Girlguiding UK units in Hullavington, Brownies and Rainbows, and a Guide unit which opened in September 2007. The Brownies now meet in the village hall and the Rainbow and Guide units meet on the army camp (Buckley Barracks) but are also open to girls from non-military families.

There is a Sunday morning football team who play in the Chippenham and District Sunday Football League Division 2. The current Hullavington Football Club has been running since 1989 and up until this season played in the village. The 2007/2008 has lead us to play at Buckley Barracks which is around 2 miles away on the way towards the M4 junction.

Military Connections

There is a military base in Hullavington, situated next to the village, which was formerly RAF Hullavington but today is the home of 9 Supply Regiment of the Royal Logistic Corps. It has been renamed Buckley Barracks after the VC winner John Buckley of the former Royal Army Ordnance Corps. There are also two Air Training Corps Volunteer Gliding Squadrons that operate out of Hullavington Airfield, 621VGS and 625VGS.

Notable residents and former resident

Jazz pianist Jamie Cullum used to live there [cite web |title=A little Parky in studio |publisher=Swindon Advertiser |date=2003-05-01 |accessdate=2008-08-11 |url=http://archive.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/2003/5/1/156935.html] . Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine moved there in October 2004.

References

External Links

[http://www.621vgs.co.uk/ 621 Volunteer Gliding Squadron] [http://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/smr/getsmr.php?id=2432 Wiltshire Sites and Monument Record Information for Hullavington] (with maps and images)