Chitterne

All Saints Church, Chitterne

Chitterne is a village and parish in the County of Wiltshire, in the south west of England. The village lies in the middle of Salisbury Plain, to the south of the abandoned village of Imber. Its closest major settlements are Warminster and the city of Salisbury.

Features

Surviving part of St Mary's Church

Near the centre of the village is the Church of England parish church of All Saints with St Mary, built in 1863 to designs by T.H. Wyatt. There is also a village hall, which stands on the site of the former village school. A small Church of England chapel of ease next to the manor house is the last remaining part of the mediaeval parish church of St Mary, otherwise demolished in the 19th century. Opposite the village hall is a large sports field, on which cricket and football are played, according to the season. The village also has a public house called The King's Head. There are several notable houses, including Chitterne House, The Manor and The Grange, all grade 2 listed for their architectural merit.

The civil parish of Chitterne also includes an uninhabited 'German Village' or FIBUA, used by the British Army for training in street warfare. This was built in the mid-1980s, before the Berlin Wall was demolished, and is based on a typical village of Saxony in Germany. It was more recently adapted for training troops going to Iraq. A few miles away, across Salisbury Plain in the "Danger Area", lies the remains of the ancient village of Imber, also used for training purposes by the military.

History

Chitterne was previously two separate ecclesiastical parishes, called Chitterne All Saints and Chitterne St Mary. The principal local industries were weaving and agriculture, but the employment profile of the village is now very similar to Southern England generally. The present combined parish was established in the 20th century.

Chitterne was one of the many Wiltshire estates owned in the 12th century by Ela, 3rd Countess of Salisbury.^[1]

Local government

Most local government services are provided by Wiltshire Council, which has its offices in Trowbridge, 15 miles (24 km) to the north. Chitterne also has its own elected parish council of seven members, five representing the ancient parish of Chitterne All Saints and two representing the former Chitterne St Mary.

The village is represented in Parliament by the MP for South West Wiltshire, Andrew Murrison.

Notable people

• Sir Arthur Gooch, 14th Baronet
• John Wallis Titt was born in Chitterne.
• Danny Sullivan, US technologist, lived in Chitterne

Notes

1. ^ History of Chitterne: Ela, Countess of Salibury at chitterne.com, retrieved on 9 May 2010

See also

• List of places in Wiltshire
• List of civil parishes in England

External links

Coordinates: 51°12′N 2°01′W / 51.2°N 2.017°W / 51.2; -2.017