OS grid reference ST903860 Country England Post town MALMESBURY Ceremonial county Wiltshire UK parliament constituency North Wiltshire | Region South West Sovereign state United Kingdom Postcode district SN16 Civil parish Norton, Wiltshire | |
England s smallest working church bremilham church wiltshire
Bremilham, also known as Cowage or Cowich, is a small settlement and former civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is near the hamlet of Foxley in the parish of Norton. The nearest town is Malmesbury, about 2 miles (3.2 km) away to the north east.
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The place-name 'Bremilham' is first attested in 1065, as 'Bremelham', and means 'village where brambles or blackberries grew'. In 1831, the population of the parish was 33. On some present-day maps, only Cowage Farm is shown.
Bremilham was a small ecclesiastical parish until 1893 when it was united with Foxley. In 1934 Foxley (with Bremilham) was transferred to the civil parish of Norton.
Church
Bremilham's tiny Church of England parish church claims to be the smallest in England, measuring ten feet by eleven feet. It is the surviving part of a 15th-century church and is Grade II listed. One service is held each year. It has no dedication and the parish registers go back only to 1813.