Population 1,757 (in 2011) Unitary authority Country England Dialling code 01225 Post town Trowbridge | Civil parish Holt Region South West Sovereign state United Kingdom Ceremonial county Wiltshire UK parliament constituency Chippenham | |
 | ||
Holt is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is situated approximately 2 miles (3 km) northeast from Bradford on Avon, on the B3107 road between Bradford on Avon and Melksham.
Contents
Map of Holt, UK
History
The settlement was served by Holt Junction railway station on the Devizes branch of the Great Western Railway until its closure in 1966.
The North Wiltshire Dairy Company had a creamery with private siding access to the station. Taken over by Nestlé, milk trains were dispatched via the GWR and latterly British Railways to London daily. Milk trains stopped on closure of the line.
Governance
The village is part of the 'Holt and Staverton' electoral ward. The ward stretches south west to Staverton and north east to Monkton Farleigh. The total population of the ward taken from the 2011 census was 4,523.
Amenities
Holt has a village shop in which is housed the post office. There are two public houses: The Tollgate Inn and The Old Ham Tree. Local children attend Holt Voluntary Controlled Primary School. The village has a bowls club, and Holt Football Club which is the oldest club in Wiltshire having been established in 1864.
The Glove Factory development contains shops, studios and a cafe.
Landmarks
The Church of England parish church of St Katharine is Grade II* listed. It was rebuilt in 1891 to designs by the Gothic Revival architect C.E. Ponting of Marlborough; the Decorated Gothic south porch and Perpendicular Gothic west tower survive from the earlier mediaeval parish church.
A spa in Holt has left its remains with two stone columns, what remains of a village pump, an architrave with an inscription and a further inscription above the pump. The spa is believed to have been developed from 1715–1750 and to have declined in 1815.
There is also an obelisk war memorial on the village green.
The Tannery factory in Holt has a large, four sided chimney. However it was dwarfed in comparison to the later, nearby chimney at the Nestlé factory at Staverton Mill seen from Holt, which was demolished in 2011.
Holt Manor is a Grade II listed manor house that dates to the 17th century, although the manor estate dates back to the 12th century when it was owned by Shaftesbury Abbey and farmed by the De Holte family. It was later held by the Baron St Amend, and then the de Lisle family until it was sold to Simon Burton, Royal Physician in Ordinary to the King, in the 1740s. In the 19th century the manor was the seat of Thomas Barton Watkin Forster and the painter Mary Forster was raised there. Later occupants have included Giles Clarke, the Chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board.
In the centre of the village is The Courts, a Grade II* listed country house from the early 18th century. The Courts Garden is an example of early 20th–century English garden style, with an arboretum, working vegetable garden and orchard. Other features in The Courts include the Sundial Lawn, another disused village pump and a folly temple. The house and garden are owned by the National Trust.