Broad Chalke

infobox UK place
country= England
official_name= Broad Chalke or Broadchalke
latitude= 51.0275
longitude= -1.943
population= 652 [ [http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=800671&c=SP5+5DH&d=16&e=15&g=498167&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1192904234296&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779 Census data] ]
shire_district= Salisbury
region= South West England
shire_county = Wiltshire
constituency_westminster= Salisbury
post_town= SALISBURY
postcode_district = SP5
postcode_area= SP
dial_code= 01722
os_grid_reference=

Broad Chalke, sometimes spelt Broadchalke (by Salisbury DC), Broad Chalk or Broadchalk, is a village and civil parish in the Salisbury district of Wiltshire, England, about 8 miles west of the city of Salisbury. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 652. This civil parish includes the neighbourhoods Knapp and Mount Sorrel.

The picturesque village on the banks of the River Ebble has been home to luminaries such as Sir Anthony Eden (Prime Minister), Sir Cecil Beaton society photographer, and musicians Sir Dennis Chalk [ [http://www.wdyb.freeuk.com/ Wilton and District Brass Band] ] , Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox.

John Aubrey (1626 - 1697) and Maurice Henry Hewlett (1861 - 1923), both authors, lived in Broad Chalke.

The Gurston Down hill-climb course is within the administrative area of Broad Chalke.

The village shop and Post Office J E Fry & Son, is located in South Street & has traded as family butchers under the Fry family for several generations. Since the closure of the old village shop and Post Office around Christmas 1992 the butchers began to sell groceries & everyday items and also incorporated the village Post Office which opened on 15th June 1993.

Broad Chalke is located within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Origins

It is not known when Broad Chalke was first inhabited or what it was called but fragmentary records from Saxon times indicate that the whole Chalke Valley area was thriving. [http://www.southwilts.com/site/Ebbesbourne-Wake-Through-The-Ages/EWTTA3.pdf Ebbesbourne Wake through the Ages by Peter Meers] ]

The Doomsday Book in 1086 divided the Chalke Valley into eight manors, "Chelke" (Chalke), "Eblesborne" (Ebbesbourne Wake), "Fifehide" (Fifield), "Cumbe" (Coombe Bissett), "Humitone" (Homington), "Odestoche" (Odstock), "Stradford" (Stratford Tony) and "Trow" (circa Alvediston and Tollard Royal). In the 12th century the area was known primarily as the Stowford Hundred then subsequently as the Chalke Hundred. This included the parishes of Berwick St John, Ebbesbourne Wake, Fifield Bavant, Semley, Tollard Royal and 'Chalke'. The name "Burchelke" (Bowerchalke) first appeared in 1225 and "Brode Chalk" was first mentioned in 1380. Although Chalke was a comparatively large, disconnected estate it was not separated into the two ecclesiastical parishes of Broad Chalk and Bowerchalke until 1880.

References

External links

* [http://www.broadchalke.info/ Broad Chalke Information, News, Events, Contacts, History, Photos]
* [http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/getcom2.php?id=33 Wiltshire County Council's page on Broad Chalke]
* [http://www.gurstondown.org/broadchalke.htm Gurston Down website]
* [http://www.chalkevalleywatercress.co.uk Website of Chalke Valley Watercress]