Collingbourne Kingston: Village History and Chalk Landscape

Collingbourne Kingston lies mostly in the upper Bourne Valley; the entire parish is on chalk. The church, traditional rural architecture, archaeological sites and varied paths give the place several clearly distinct facets. If you are looking for hotels in Collingbourne Kingston, you can first consider whether you would like your travel plans to focus mainly on village history, landscape or events. Local features show how these different interests compare.

St Mary’s and Traditional Building Styles

The parish church of St Mary dates from the 12th century, and possibly from an even earlier period. The tomb of Sir Gabriel Pile and his wife Anne lies beneath a canopy. It is one of only three tombs in Wiltshire classified as “eight poster”. The tomb thus provides a distinctive feature within the church’s long architectural history.

Traditional rural architecture is also represented in the village, with examples built of brick and timber framing, as well as thatched roofs. These different building styles offer another perspective on the architectural character of Collingbourne Kingston. While the church stands out for its historical period and the tomb, these examples highlight materials and forms of construction.

Chalk Landscape and the Bourne Valley

The Bourne flows from north to south through the middle of the parish and often dries up. Both its course and this feature are part of the landscape. Chalk provides the geological framework for the entire parish. The layers in the east are described in more detail: on higher ground in the eastern half, clay-with-flints overlies the chalk.

A regional reference point is the Shalbourne Vale and Wick Down area, a chalk downland landscape with a chalk escarpment. It extends in an arc west of Collingbourne Kingston, north of Shalbourne and east of Ashmansworth. This distinguishes the local setting of the upper Bourne Valley from the broader landscape around the chalk escarpment.

Archaeological Sites

Godsbury is an Iron Age enclosure covering 1.5 acres. An enclosure of a similar period and size lies on Aughton Down. The two sites can be compared by period and scale.

Oldhat Barrow lies on the western parish boundary. There is a barrow near Summer Down Farm, and another enclosure lies on the eastern boundary, near Heath Copse. The locations therefore range from Godsbury to archaeological features on different edges of the parish. They help distinguish the prehistoric sites from one another by location.

Bridleway, Footpath and Byway

The local paths differ in classification and route. Bridleway Collingbourne Kingston 1B runs from the U/C 8053 road via Brunton Farm and Tinkerbarn. Footpath Collingbourne Kingston 33 runs along the southern edge of Heath Copse to Chute 3 footpath. A byway from Sunton Farm continues as a Collingbourne Kingston byway towards Lynden Barn.

This gives you three distinct paths, each with its own name and reference points: a bridleway, a footpath and a byway. Their descriptions help distinguish the routes without combining them into a single route. To identify a path, both its name and the places mentioned along its route are important.

Village Hall and Events

The Village Hall is near the village centre. The road to Brunton branches off the A338 immediately north of St Mary’s Church; the hall is a short walk along this road. The church and road therefore provide clear reference points for locating the hall in the village.

The hall hosts weekly Coffee Mornings, monthly quiz nights and annual Village Fetes. These recurring events take place at different intervals. If you would like to include a particular event in your travel plans, check the current event dates.

Discover more destinations: Temple, Steeple Ashton, Edington, Broad Chalke, Wootton Bassett, Manningford Abbots, Larkhill, Pewsey.

For the main travel overview: Wiltshire.