IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Bradenstoke, CHIPPENHAM, SN15 4EN

The path leads to Upper Town

Built in 1777 and still in service

Part of the Lyneham and Bradenstoke parish council's facilities.

The Strict Baptist chapel was founded in 1777 and has a burial ground to the rear of the property. Built by Isaac Turner of Calne, it was adorned with a clock and bell of 1775, provided by John Broom of Castle Combe. The chapel is said to be the only one in Britain that has a bell to summon worshippers. Repair work and restoration was needed and in 1928 £500 was raised to carry out the work; the bellcote rebuilt around 1960. With dwindling congregations, the church shut for a time in 1997 but was re-opened a year later.

"Bradenstoke is a village in Wiltshire, England situated to the north of the RAF Lyneham airbase and to the south of the River Braydon. Originally lying within Braydon Forest, the "stoke" means "settlement". The parish itself is named Bradenstoke cum Clack, the latter being an ancient earthworks. Largely consisting of a long, narrow, main street, it has 3 churches, one shop and a pub. The former Bradenstoke Priory was founded in 1142 by Walter D’Evereaux, sheriff of Wiltshire, for the Augustinians. Having fallen into disrepair after the Dissolution of the monasteries, it was dismantled in 1930 to provide parts of a renovation of St.Donat's Castle, Wales, which had been bought by William Randolph Hearst." The above was copied from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradenstoke

Clack Mount is an enigmatic ancient site. There are few solid details to draw from, but it appears to be a Bronze Age barrow mound, surrounded by later motte and bailey earthworks. Some writers have labelled the burial mound as Scufa's Barrow, and is mentioned in Anglo-Saxon documents, but this is not fully proven. Its location close to the ruinous Bradenstoke Abbey suggests that some of the earthworks here are much later, even perhaps that the area was landscaped as a prospect in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries. Certainly, there is a small mound that was built as a WWII pillbox.

A large sign outside the pub.

A post-medieval prospect mount and World War Two pill box, more information at http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=212263

The Cross Keys Inn is the last surviving pub in Bradenstoke (The nearby Jolly Trooper Inn is now a private residence). Outside is what appears to be a taxi, with graphics. Do they do home deliveries of drinkers?

A mixture of cottages of different ages. On the shade side is the Cross Keys Inn.