View source for Corsley

{{EngvarB|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country =               England
|static_image_name = Corsley Village from Cley Hill (geograph 2463107).jpg
|static_image_caption = Corsley from Cley Hill
|coordinates = {{coord|51.219|-2.247|type:city(500)_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}}
|official_name=     Corsley
|population =  681
|population_ref=  (in 2011)<ref>{{cite web|title=Wiltshire Community History|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Census?communityId=72|work=Corsley Census Information|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=12 August 2013}}</ref>
|civil_parish=  Corsley
|unitary_england          = [[Wiltshire Council|Wiltshire]]
|lieutenancy_england      = [[Wiltshire]]
|region=                 South West England
|constituency_westminster= [[South West Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)|South West Wiltshire]]
|post_town=              Warminster
|postcode_district =     BA12
|postcode_area=          BA
|dial_code=              01373
|os_grid_reference=      ST828467
|website=                {{URL|corsleyandthebridge.co.uk}}
}}
'''Corsley''' is a hamlet and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} west of [[Warminster]] in Wiltshire, England. The parish is on the county border with [[Somerset]]; the Somerset town of [[Frome]] is about {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} to the northwest. The largest settlement in the parish is '''Corsley Heath''', which is on the [[A362 road|A362]] Warminster-[[Frome]] road.
The parish has several small settlements. Lye's Green is between Corsley and Corsley Heath (not to be confused with [[Lye Green, Wiltshire|Lye Green]], in Westwood parish near Bradford on Avon). '''Lane End''' is west of Corsley Heath on the A362, while the small hamlet of '''Sturford''' is to the east. South of the main road are '''Dertfords''', '''Longhedge''', '''Whitbourne Moor''' (formerly Lower Whitbourne), '''Temple''' (formerly Middle Whitbourne) and Whitbourne Springs (formerly Upper Whitbourne).<ref name="vch">{{cite web|website=British History Online|title=Victoria County History – Wiltshire – Vol 8 – Corsley|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol8/pp13-25|publisher=University of London|access-date=7 May 2016}}</ref>
Much of the parish was originally part of the [[Longleat]] Estate and part of the [[Longleat Safari Park]] lies within the parish boundary. [[Cley Hill]], owned by the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]], is in the east of the parish.
==History==
The [[Domesday Book]] says of Corsley "Azor holds one hide in Corselie... Here is ploughed land... and the mill pays 40 pence. And the wood is a [[furlong]] in length and half a furlong broad. It is worth 20 [[shilling]]s."{{sfn|Gough|1974|p=9}} In 1232, [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] granted the manor of Corsley to Godfrey de Crawcumb, with the right to hold an annual fair on 20 July (the feast of St Margaret) and a weekly market on Fridays.{{sfn|Gough|1974|p=13}}
By about 1250, there were four separate [[manorialism|manors]], Corsley, Little Corsley, Huntenhull, and Whitbourne.{{sfn|Gough|1974|p=11}}
In 1544, after the [[monastery]] at [[Maiden Bradley]] had been [[dissolution of the monasteries|dissolved]], the manor of Whitbourne was sold and the chapel of St John there disappeared.{{sfn|Gough|1974|pp=14–15}} In 1579, Little Corsley was bought by [[Walter Hungerford (Knight of Farley)|Walter Hungerford]] of [[Farleigh Hungerford Castle]]. In 1539, the manor of Corsley was granted to [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Edward Seymour]], who in 1547 leased it to his steward [[John Thynne]].{{sfn|Gough|1974|p=15}} In 1560 Thynne was himself granted the manor of Corsley; he built or rebuilt a house at Corsley, part of which survives as Manor Farm,<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1285731|desc=Manor Farm|access-date=7 May 2016}}</ref> and lived there from 1563 to 1568 while rebuilding [[Longleat House]].{{sfn|Gough|1974|p=18}}
After the death of Thynne in 1580, his widow, known as Dame Dorothy, lived at Manor Farm as a [[dower house]]. At the same time, [[Walter Raleigh|Sir Walter Raleigh]], who was in disgrace, was living at a farm near St Margaret's parish church, Corsley. He and his brother [[Carew Raleigh]] used to visit Dame Dorothy, who married Carew Raleigh.{{sfn|Gough|1974|pp=18–19}}
The boundaries of the civil parish were redrawn in 1934. The northern part (including Corsley Mill and Huntenhull) was transferred to the new parish of [[Chapmanslade]], while in the south a portion of Longleat's park and woodland was transferred from Warminster to Corsley.<ref name="vch" />
A [[National school (England and Wales)|National School]] was built at Corsley in 1847 on land owned by Lord Bath, near the church. Children of all ages attended until 1931, when pupils over 11 transferred to the new Avenue Senior School at Warminster.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Church of England Primary School, Corsley|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1116|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref> In 1944 the school became a Church of England [[Voluntary aided school|aided school]]; it closed in 2007 owing to falling pupil numbers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Corsley Church of England Primary School|website=EduBase|publisher=Department for Education|url=http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=126399|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref> The building became a conference centre,<ref>{{cite web|title=New conference centre born out of village school|website=This is Somerset|date=15 January 2009|url=http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/New-conference-centre-born-village-school/story-12311700-detail/story.html|access-date=10 May 2016}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and was a temporary home for Frome's Steiner School from 2012 to 2014.<ref>{{cite web|title=Frome Steiner School moves to its permanent site of 'learning and endeavour'|url=http://www.fromestandard.co.uk/School-moves-permanent-site-learning-endeavour/story-22042056-detail/story.html|website=Frome Standard|date=31 July 2014|access-date=10 May 2016}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==Churches and chapels==
There are two [[Church of England]] churches in the parish. Both are served by the Cley Hill team ministry.<ref>{{cite web|title=Our Churches|url=https://www.cleyhillchurches.org/704281032085.htm|website=Cley Hill Churches|access-date=3 May 2020}}</ref>
The [[parish church]] of [[St Margaret's, Corsley|St Margaret, Corsley]], was built in 1833 by John Leachman on the site of an earlier church.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1285744|desc=Church of St Margaret of Antioch, Corsley|access-date=10 May 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>
[[St Mary's Church, Temple, Corsley|St Mary's Church]] at Temple was built as a [[chapel of ease]] in 1899–1903, in [[Arts & Crafts]] Gothic style, after Mary Barton (d. 1878) of Corsley House left money in her will to provide the church in memory of her husband and son.<ref>{{cite web|title=Church of St. Mary, Corsley|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/933|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1180496|desc=Church of St Mary|access-date=10 May 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> Around 2015 the church was taken into the care of the [[Friends of Friendless Churches]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Corsley|url=http://friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/corsley/|date=2015-10-28|website=Friends of Friendless Churches|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-05-03}}</ref>
[[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan Methodists]] were active from 1769<ref name="vch" /> and a chapel was built at Lane End in 1849, with a schoolroom added late in the century. The chapel closed in 1966 and is in residential use.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Methodist Chapel, Corsley|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/934|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref>
The parish had a [[Baptists Together|Baptist]] congregation by the 1780s, and a chapel was built at Temple in 1811.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Baptist Chapel, Corsley|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/935|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref> Money to pay for the land and the building was raised by the preacher, Richard Parsons of Chapmanslade, who continued as pastor until his death in 1853. Around the middle of the century the chapel was enlarged, and its height increased; the interior was refurbished in 1882. As of 2016 the chapel remains in use as Whitbourne Baptist Chapel.<ref>{{cite web|title=Whitbourne Baptist Chapel|url=http://www.whitbournechapel.org.uk/|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref>
== Notable buildings ==
[[File:The gate to Corsley House - geograph.org.uk - 165814.jpg|left|thumb|Corsley House, 2006]]
Corsley House, a [[Listed building|Grade ll listed building]], was built for the Barton family in 1814,<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1285687|desc=Corsley House|access-date=7 May 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> designed by the [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] architect [[John Pinch the elder]] as a [[Greek revival]] mansion around a previous house.<ref name="wch">{{cite web|title=Corsley|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/72|access-date=7 May 2016|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council}}</ref> Later residents include (from the 1890s) Maud Davies, whose ''Life in an English Village'', published in 1909, is a pioneering sociological study.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Howells|first=Jane|date=February 2015|title=Maud Davies and the Victoria County History of Wiltshire|url=http://www.wiltshirerecordsociety.org.uk/Recorders/Recorder%2014%20for%20printer.pdf|journal=The Recorder|publisher=Wiltshire Record Society|volume=14|pages=3–6}}</ref>
Sturford Mead was built in 1820<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1194491|desc=Sturford Mead|access-date=7 May 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> by John Pinch in the Greek revival style for H.A. Fussell, a clothier and dyer from [[Frome]].  It was sold to the Longleat estate in 1854;<ref name="vch" /> in the 1930s it was occupied by [[Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath]], then [[Viscount Weymouth]], and his first wife [[Daphne Vivian Fielding|Daphne]].  The gardens were designed by [[Russell Page]].
==Local government and MP==
Corsley elects a parish council. Most local government services are provided by [[Wiltshire|Wiltshire Council]], which has its offices in nearby [[Trowbridge]]. The village is represented in [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] by the [[Member of Parliament|MP]] for [[South West Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)|South West Wiltshire]], [[Andrew Murrison]] and in Wiltshire Council by Fleur de Rhé-Philipe.
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
* {{cite book|last1=Gough|first1=P.H.|title=The Story of Corsley and its Church|date=1974|edition=2nd}}
* {{cite book|last1=Davies|first1=Maud Frances|title=Life in an English Village: An Economic and Historical Survey of the Parish of Corsley in Wiltshire|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924029974429|date=1909|publisher=T.F. Unwin|location=London}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=K7EymAEACAAJ Reprinted 2013], Hobnob Press.
==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* GENUKI – [https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/WIL/Corsley/ Corsley]
* [http://corsleyandthebridge.co.uk/ Community website]
{{South West Wiltshire}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Villages in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Wiltshire]]