Kington St Michael

Kington St Michael is a small village 3 miles north of Chippenham, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom, with approximately 700 inhabitants.

Amenities

The village has a post office & shop, a primary school, "The Jolly Huntsman" pub, a village hall, a social club, St. Michael & All Angels parish church [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/123279] and a recreation field overlooking the Millennium Wood. The hamlet of Easton Piercy is part of the parish of Kington St Michael.

There are plenty of clubs and activities held in the village hall including pre-school, youth club, WI and Autumn Club.

The village is linked to Malmesbury and Chippenham via the A350 road. The M4 motorway (J17) is 3 miles north of the village, going west to Bath, Bristol & Cardiff and east to Swindon, Reading & London. The nearest railway station is in Chippenham, giving mainline access west to Bristol and east to London Paddington. The nearest airport is Bristol International Airport.

Kington St Michael is approximately 101m above sea level.

Broadband has been enabled in the village and there is mains gas throughout most of the village.

History

Kington St Michael was originally called Kington, indicating a Royal Saxon farm or manor, and was first recorded in 934 AD.

The village is sited on a brash limestone outcrop and remains a Street Village in pattern to this day. The church of St. Michael and All Angels dates back to the 12th century. There used to be a sheep market held in the area in front of the Almshouses, and other markets held in enclosures nearby. "The Jolly Huntsman" pub was originally called "The White Horse" and contained the brewery at the back of its premises. The wells supplying the water are 80 feet deep and are still accessible to this day. It is reputed that there was a tunnel between "The White Horse" and "The White Hart" opposite (today a private dwelling house). There was also another, smaller hostelry on the main street.

The manor house was rebuilt in the 1860s by Squire Herbert Prodgers. He also gave the village its school and schoolhouse, which was used until the late 1970s until the current school was built. A major fund raising exercise in the village enabled the whole building to be converted into a well-used Parish Hall, which was given charitable status by the Parish Council at that point. The complex of old and new Parish Halls will be of major benefit to the area in the years to come.

Originally Kington St Michael included the the hamlet of Kington Langley, but this became a separate parish in 1865. The burial grounds are maintained in the Parish Church, and the two villages retain responsibility for the six Almshouses located in Kington St Michael. Lands in the parish were bestowed upon Glastonbury Abbey and a house of Benedictine nuns was established at The Priory.

The hamlet of Easton Piercy is now part of the parish of Kington St. Michael but until late in medieval times was a separate village and parish with its own small chapel, graveyard and cross. The chapel was taken down around 1610.

External links

* [http://www.kingtonstmichael.com Village website]
* [http://www.francisfrith.com/search/england/wiltshire/kington+st+michael/photos/kington+st+michael_photos.htm Old photos]