Bremhill War Memorial

Bremhill War Memorial

Bremhill War Memorial, which sits in the churchard of St. Martin's church, was dedicated in November 1920 'in memory of the Men of 'this Parish who laid down their lives in the Great War, 1914-1918.

Each place of worship within Bremhill Parish was also presented with an illuminated and framed Roll of Honour bearing the names of the men who served the parish during the Great War by Mr Bull of East Tytherton.

The Wiltshire Times[1] reported on November 13, 1920, that after the cross was dedicated by Archdeacon Bodington, it was unveiled by Lady Lansdowne, who said:
"This ceremony is one of a great many in which, not only throughout our own country but throughout the British Empire, our people have been taking part during the last few months. How much these unveilings mean to us mothers. They are the expression of our gratitude to those who during the Great War, laid down our lives for us, and for all that we hold most precious, the love we felt for them while they were with us, and for the respect which we feel for their memory. It is because we desire that these feelings shall survive when we are no longer here that we are setting up in almost every village, a permanent memorial such as this, which shall remind our successors of the debt which they owe to these brave men"

Bremhill War Memorial Dedication

The stone is inscribed with the following:
'SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO / WENT FROM THIS PARISH TO SERVE THEIR / KING & COUNTRY & WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN DEFENCE OF RIGHT, JUSTICE AND LIBERTY IN/ THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918'

The 20 names that follow are:
Henry George Aspeck
Thomas Baker
Walter John Cook Brittain
George Charles Chubb
Clement James Eatwell
Charles Fortune
Reginald James Freegard
Albert James Harding
Frederick James Henley
Oliver Arthur Henley

Harold King
Jesse Edward Lewis
Percy James Matthews
Edwin Minty
Arthur Francis Ponting
Tom Ponting
Frederick Charles Robins
Herbery Henry Rumming
Sidney Selman
James Henry Summers


The Grade II listed memorial is constructed of Portland stone. Upon a tall, octagonal shaft, itself set on a square plinth and two stepped hexagonal base, is a Maltese Cross variant. A Maltese Cross consists of four 'V' or arrow shaped concaved quadrilaterals which converge at right angles in the centre. It developed from earlier forms, which consisted of eight-pointed crosses, and is known as a heraldic cross variant from the Knights of Malta. Malta was a medical recovery outpost during WWI.

References:
[1] Wiltshire Times,  Saturday 13 November 1920 [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001557/19201113/299/0012 [Accessed on 8 November 2019]

Timeline Calne: 3 November 1863, Calne's Unofficial Holiday

The Calne branch of the railway opened to passengers on Tuesday, 3 November, 1863. On this day an unofficial holiday took place with all shop closed and the 4th Wiltshire Volunteer Corps Band paraded through the streets. As with most English holidays, it apparently rained heavily on this day in 1863!

The excusion train to Bath opened the line, with an estimated 1000 passengers travelling on that first train, with many left behind due to lack of space.

The branch railway, of 5 and a quarter miles, cost £54,000 and was opened with nearly no debt. All stone required for the build, including bridges, came from Mr. Benjamin Baily's land. A standard run from Calne to Chippenham took 10 minutes in 1863, with 12 passenger trains running daily.

Reference:
Tanner, G., 1972. The Calne Branch. Oxford Publishing Co.

Place Names of Calne: Plants

Some of the many plant-related street names in Calne.

In 2018, the Royal Mail reported that a quarter of British streets and houses are named after plants (flowers, trees, seeds, etc.)[1][2]. While Calne doesn't have such a high percentage locally, at least 43 street names are named after plants, see table below.

Why have plant names become so common?
Well as we can see from the table below, a few of the newer estates have adopted a flower theme, such as the 10 plant-themed streets spanning off Lavender Drive and the 6 streets leading off Woodsage Way. With only 8 being what I've classed 'lone streets', basically streets that don't have an obvious (to me) theme and may have been built as single streets, perhaps sometimes as infill. Not only that, but as areas become built up, it can often separate us from nature, so these names can help make us feel good by their association to nature, particularly the native choices as we're likely to have a personal history with them - such as climbing an Oak, or being viciously attacked by a Hawthorn hedge that your mother has tasked you with pruning!


These themed estates can be useful in that locals may instantly know where a road is based on a theme. It can able be useful for emergency services and visitors to the town when an estate has a theme, particularly if it is different from neighbouring streets and housing estates. Interestingly, in Calne most plant-themed housing developments are on the edge of current housing, presumably where there is enough room for 6-10 different streets.

With some of the newer estates, the suffixes may not have any connection with that location in the past. So, Hazel Grove, which is part of the Lavender Drive estate, is unlikely to have previously been a grove of Hazel trees - it may have been, but it may be best to consider that it's a case of providing unique and interesting names for each development. Some streets like Elm Grove are named for houses near the site, or that have been demolished to make way for development.

The suffixes here include can provide information about what type of street your looking for, as per the Wiltshire Council policy on Street Naming[3]:

Street Name	Development	Native?	Recorded in Wiltshire
Acorn Lane	Cherhill View	Native	Yes
Appletree Road	Off Abberd Way	Native (Crab Apple)	Yes
Azalea Close	Lavender Drive	Non-Native	Yes
Bay Close	Rookery Park	Non-Native	No
Bluebell Grove	Off Duncan Street	Native (English Bluebell)	Yes
Campion Close	Off Duncan Street	Native	Yes
Cherry Tree Court	Off Newcroft Road	Native	Yes
Clover Grove	High Penn Park	Native	Yes
Cornflower Close	Off Duncan Street	Native and introduced	Yes
Cowslip Grove	Off Duncan Street	Native	Yes
Elder Court	Lavender Drive	Native	Yes
Elm Close	Rookery Park	Native and introduced	Yes
Elm Grove	Off Silver Street	Native and introduced	Yes
Fir Grove	Off Quemerford	Non-Native	Yes
Foxglove Way	Off Duncan Street	Native	Yes
Hawthorn Close	High Penn Park	Native	Yes
Hazel Grove	Lavender Drive	Native	Yes
Heather Way	Lavender Drive	Native	Yes
Holly Close	Lavender Drive	Native	Yes
Honeysuckle Close	Lansdowne Park	Native	Yes
Jasmine Close	Lavender Drive	Non-Native	No
Juniper Close	High Penn Park	Native	Yes
Larkspur Drive	High Penn Park	Non-Native	Yes
Lavender Drive	Lavender Drive	Non-Native	No
Lilac Way	Lavender Drive	Non-Native	Yes
Lime Tree Close	Curzon Park	Native (Small-leaved)	Yes
Lovage Lane	High Penn Park	Non-Native	No
Lupin Close	High Penn Park	Non-Native	No
Magnolia Rise	Lavender Drive	Non-Native	No
Maple Close	Lavender Drive	Native (Field Maple)	Yes
Meadowsweet Drive	Lansdowne Park	Native	Yes
Oak Close	Curzon Park	Native	Yes
Penny Royal Close	Chilvester Farm	Non-Native	No
Poppy Close	Lansdowne Park	Native (Common Poppy)	Yes
Primrose Close	Off Duncan Street	Native	Yes
Rosemary Close	Lansdowne Park	Non-Native	No
Saffron Meadow	Chilvester Farm	Native (Meadow Saffron)	Yes
Tamarisk Close	Lavender Drive	Non-Native	No
Water Mint Way	Chilvester Farm	Native	Yes
Wintergreen	Chilvester Farm	Native	Yes
Woodsage Way	Chilvester Farm	Native	Yes
Yew Tree Close	Curzon Park	Native	Yes
Sycamore Drive	High Penn Park	Non-Native	Yes
Sorrel Street	High Penn Park	Yes (Common and Sheep's)	Yes

The development off Duncan Street was built in the 1980s. The Lavender Road development was built in the early 1990s.

Elm Grove was built c. 2007 by Hannick Homes, after around 10 years of attempting to gain permission to redevelop the site. In 1997, the last of 9 doctors, Dr. Richard Lawson, to practise at Elm Grove retired and was permitted to change the house use from a doctors surgery to residential[5].

High Penn Park started development in 2017. The Lansdowne Park development was built in the 2000s.

The development adjacent to St. Edmunds Catholic School (Bluebell Grove and Cornflower Close) was built c. 1985 by M.P. Pitman & Co, Calne as a development of two bedroom houses with three two bedroom bungalows.

Finally, the Curzon Park estate was built in the 1960s and 1970s, with additional development recently by GreenSquare.

 

To discover more about the place names of Calne, buy the book:

References:
[1] Country Living. 2019. A Quarter Of British Houses Named After Flowers – Most Popular Flower And Tree Street Names. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.countryliving.com/uk/homes-interiors/property/a20868538/quarter-british-houses-streets-flower-tree-plant-names/. [Accessed 24 January 2019].
[2] Ideal Home. 2019. The Royal Mail reveals the most popular flower and tree themed house and street names in the UK. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.idealhome.co.uk/news/royal-mail-flower-tree-house-street-names-203762. [Accessed 24 January 2019].
[3] Wiltshire Council. 2019. Street naming and numbering | Wiltshire Council. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/planninganddevelopment/streetnaming.htm. [Accessed 24 January 2019].
[4] Gillam, B., 1993. The Wiltshire Flora. 1st ed. Oxford: Pisces Publications. 
[5] PA: N.97.0213.F,  04/00131/S73, 07/02119/FUL.