Population 112 (in 2011) Civil parish Marden Region South West Shire county Wiltshire Post town Devizes | OS grid reference SU085578 Unitary authority Country England Dialling code 01380 UK parliament constituency Devizes | |
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Marden is a small village and civil parish 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Devizes in the county of Wiltshire, south west England. The parish is in the Vale of Pewsey which carries the upper section of the Salisbury Avon; to the south the parish extends into Salisbury Plain.
Contents
Map of Marden, Devizes, UK
History
The Anglican Church of All Saints dates from the 12th century and is Grade I listed.
Parish registers survive from 1684 and are kept in the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives.
John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-1872) described Marden as follows:
MARDEN, or MERTON, a village and a parish in Devizes district, Wilts. The village stands on the river Avon, 2 miles SW of Woodborough r. station, and 6 ESE of Devizes; and has a post office, of the name of Marden, under Devizes. The parish comprises 1,278 acres. Real property, £2,291. Pop., 235. Houses, 49. The manor belongs to S. R. Neate, Esq. Two remarkable tumuli formerly were in the neighbourhood, 240 feet in circuit, and 40 feet high; and are supposed, by some writers, to mark the scene of Ethelred's defeat by the Danes in 871; but whether they were sepulchral barrows or the earthwork of an ancient British temple, is an open question. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £170. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. The church is ancient; has two Norman arches and an embattled tower; and is finely ornate, both without and within. There is a national School.
Marden has been suggested as a possible location for the Battle of Merton (871).
Local government
The civil parish elects a parish council. Local government services are provided by Wiltshire Council, with its headquarters in Trowbridge, and the parish is represented there by Paul Oatway, who succeeded Brigadier Robert Hall in 2013.
Archaeological site
Marden Henge, close to the village on the other bank of the Avon, is a large Neolithic site.