Bishopstrow


Bishopstrow is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, on the southeastern edge of the town of Warminster. The village is about from the town centre, and the parish extends northeast from the Wylye valley onto Salisbury Plain.
The village lies south of the old Warminster to Salisbury road, formerly the A36, now the B3414. The modern A36 passes to the south of the village.

History

The name may come from "bishop's tree", meaning the place where St Aldhelm's staff miraculously grew into an ash tree. When Bishopstrow was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 it was held by Edward of Salisbury.
In the 18th century Bishopstrow House stood between the Salisbury road and the river. In 1817 William Temple built a new house on the north side of the road using the Bath architect John Pinch the elder, which has been operated as a hotel and restaurant since 1977.
In the north of the parish, almost half of its area falls within the Imber Range military training zone.

Governance

The parish is considered too small to support a parish council, so instead it has a parish meeting, a body in which all electors for the parish are voting members. Almost all local government functions are carried out by Wiltshire Council, a unitary authority created in 2009. The village is represented in parliament by Andrew Murrison, and in Wiltshire Council by Christopher Newbury, both Conservatives.

Amenities

The Church of England parish church of St Aldhelm is a Grade II* listed building. The site may have been in use since the 8th century; the building is from the 14th century, rebuilt in 1757 and restored in 1876.
Bishopstrow College is an independent school for children aged 7–17 who do not have English as their first language. There is no state school in the parish; a two-room school was built in the village in 1848 and closed in 1921.

Notable people