Place names of Calne: Chaveywell and Chaveywell Court

Chavey likely comes from Chivvy and this area has been known by both. Near the location of Chaveywell Court, was a piggery known as Chivvy well farm. Chivvy possibly means to goad or chase animals and may come from "The Ballad of Chevy Chase" which originated in the early 15th century.

Chaveywell Court.

Chaveywell Court is primarily social housing of 1 and 2 bedroom homes built c. 1975 located just north of the area of Chaveywell, which is part of Castlefieds Canal and River Park. In 2006, an additional four homes were designed by John Lippitt Chartered Architects for Jephson Homes Housing Association (now Stonewater) as two bed social housing[a].

Chaveywell Bridge

Chaveywell
Chaveywell is an area of land that has been in use since at least 1544 when on parcel of land there was "granted by indenture dated 19th October in 1544 to Edward Smalwell."[1]. 1588 saw the Guild Stewards record: "Thomas Foorde, for keeping the beasts at Chavey Well 12d"[2].

The 1500s and 1600s also saw the area being written as Chavye Well and Chavywell, before seeming to settle as Chaveywell in 1653[3].

The Calne branch of the canal was open in 1801 with the route going up to what is now Marden House and the main wharf, now Wharf Sheltered Housing. On its way, just before the final lock was Chaveywell Wharf and the most picturesque bridge in Calne. The canal finally closed in 1906 as it could no longer compete with the Calne branch railway (see Canal Close). In the 1980s, the canal was cleaned out and the bridge restored and reopened in 1989 by The Earl of Shelburne. Additional rejuvenation work was carried out in 2011, costing £4000, which included raising the wharf with a paved area and a retaining wall - an area well used for kids feeding ducks!


Thr 1840s tithe showed this area to be hovels and a yard owned by the Marquise of Lansdowne, occupied by Charles Pinnegar, who ran the Lansdowne Strand (then the Lansdowne Arms) between c. 1825 and 1855. The hovels were likely used as storage for the Lansdowne at the time.

The well was known for its purity of water during the typhoid epidemics that plagued Calne in the 1880s and 1890s. This is remembered by a plaque at the modern outlet of the well. During the Castle Hill excavations in 2010, a trench was dug at Chaveywell, which found a medieval outlet for the spring 3 metres west of the current outlet. The report also detailed the route of the spring from its source, which begins in the grounds of St. Mary's School. From the school the spring runs under Curzon Street, Quarr Barton, Marden Court, Castle Street, following a sourtherly direction to exit at Chaveywell[4].

Chaveywell Spring

In the 1920s the area of Chaveywell was still used as a farm with chicekns and a neatly-thatched rick, shown in photo 42 of Peter Treloar's Calne Revisited.

These days Chaveywell is part of Castlefields Canal and River Park.


References:
[a] Planning application N/06/02619/FUL
[1] Marsh, A., 1903. A HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH AND TOWN OF CALNE. 1st ed. London: HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LTD.
[2] Jackson, J., 1853. Calne. The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, XXIV, 166-219.
[3] Mabbs, A., 1953. Guild Stewards' Book of the Borough of Calne, 1561-1688. 1st ed. Devizes: Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society.
[4] Wiltshire Archaeological & Natural History Society Archaeology Field Group, W., 2011. Castle Hill Calne Wiltshire Archaeological Field Evaluation And Post-Excavation Assessment.