Population 176 (in 2011) Region South West Sovereign state United Kingdom Dialling code 01380 UK parliament constituency Devizes | OS grid reference SU032593 Country England Post town Devizes Ceremonial county Wiltshire | |
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Stert is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. Its nearest town is Devizes, about 2 miles (3.2 km) away to the northwest.
Contents
Map of Stert, Devizes, UK
The village is south of the A342 Devizes-Andover road. The Wayside Monument (previously known as The Long Monument) stands at the roadside, just over the border in Etchilhampton parish. It was erected in 1771 and dedicated to James Long of Wedhampton, who had promoted the diversion of the road to a more southerly route, avoiding Etchilhampton Hill.
History
Stert was recorded as having 22 households in the 1086 Domesday Book. In 1393 William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester, conveyed the manor to New College, Oxford who retained ownership until the middle of the 20th century.
The Manor Farmhouse, next to the church, is from the 17th century and late 18th.
A school was built in the village in 1842 and attended by children of all ages. The school closed in 1927 after a decline in the local population.
Religious sites
A chapel at Stert is first mentioned c. 1232 and it has always been a chapelry of Urchfont parish. The church of St James stands on the highest ground in the parish. In 1846, to increase its capacity it was largely rebuilt by J.H. Hakewill, retaining the Perpendicular north aisle.
A Methodist chapel was built in the village c. 1869 and sold to the Devizes Baptists in 1887. The chapel closed in 1957 and passed into residential use.
Railways
The Berks and Hants Extension Railway was built through the parish, passing close to the north of Stert village, for the GWR in 1862. This provided a route from Hungerford via Pewsey to Devizes, where trains continued westward on the 1857 line. In 1900 the GWR built the Stert and Westbury Railway, which diverged from the earlier line near Patney, east of Stert parish, and later formed part of the parish's southern boundary. This line avoided the hill at Devizes to make a direct route to Westbury and southwest England; in 1906 it became part of the Reading to Taunton Line.
The line through Devizes closed in 1966 and was dismantled, while the 1900 line is still in use.