Market Lavington, United Kingdom

History

There was a Roman settlement near the present parish church, which was followed by a Saxon settlement, including a cemetery which was used in the 5th to 7th centuries. Thus the area was continuously occupied from the late Roman period until the establishment of the medieval planned town in the 13th century. The archaeology was assessed in advance of housebuilding to the northwest of the church in 1991–5, and building of the community centre and car park southwest of the church in 2006.

Domesday Book has two entries for Laventone, with a large combined population of 38 households, 12 acres of woodland and three mills. The ancient parish included the detached tithing of Gore, about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Market Lavington church, where a manor was recorded in Domesday Book; this area was transferred to West Lavington in 1884 and is now farmland. At the same time the tithing of Fiddington, a narrow strip separating Market Lavington from Easterton, was transferred from West Lavington.

In 1254 Richard Rochelle, a landowner, was granted a charter to hold a weekly market, which competed with markets at Devizes and Steeple Ashton. Markets continued to be held until the mid-19th century.

Thomas Tanner, who became Bishop of St Asaph, was born in 1674 at Market Lavington where his father (also Thomas) was vicar.

From the History section of Market Lavington on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.