Editing Avebury (village) (section)

== Modern history ==
[[File:Avebury - panoramio (10).jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Entrance to Avebury Manor]]
The [[Roman road from Silchester to Bath]] followed the Kennet valley west from [[Cunetio]] (near Marlborough), then continued over West Down. A section of the [[Agger (ancient Rome)|agger]], some 300 metres (yards) long and up to {{convert|1|m|ft}} high, is visible south-west of Beckhampton.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1014556|desc=Section of Roman Road 560m north east of Beckhampton Buildings|access-date=28 July 2021|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

[[Domesday Book]] in 1086 recorded a church at ''Avreberie'' but no further details;<ref>{{OpenDomesday|SU1069|avebury|Avebury}}</ref> the population of the settlement may have been recorded under another estate name. Fourteen households were recorded at ''Backentone'', on land held by Gilbert of Bretteville.<ref>{{OpenDomesday|SU0868|beckhampton|Beckhampton}}</ref> The village grew around the church and the manor houses of Avebury and Avebury Trusloe. In 1377 there were 134 poll-tax payers in the village, making it one of the largest settlements in Selkley [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]], together with 31 at Beckhampton and 24 at West Kennet.<ref name="vch">{{cite web|author-last1=Baggs|author-first1=A.P.|year=1983|editor-last=Crowley|editor-first=D.A.|title=Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 12 pp86-105 – Parishes: Avebury|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol12/pp86-105|access-date=15 October 2017|website=British History Online|publisher=University of London|author-first2=Jane|author-last2=Freeman|author-first3=Janet H|author-last3=Stevenson}}</ref>

Henry I granted an estate at Avebury to his chamberlain William de Tancarville, who in 1114 granted it to the [[Abbey of Saint-Georges, Boscherville]], Normandy, leading to the establishment of [[Avebury Priory]].<ref name="Pugh">{{Cite book|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol3/pp392-393|title=A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 3|date=1956|publisher=University of London|editor1-last=Pugh|editor1-first=R.B.|editor1-link=Ralph Pugh|series=[[Victoria County History]]|pages=392–393|chapter=Alien houses: Priory of Avebury|access-date=16 July 2021|editor2-last=Crittall|editor2-first=Elizabeth|via=British History Online}}</ref> After the expulsion of the [[Alien priory|alien priories]], in 1411 the manor was granted to the [[collegiate church]] at [[Church of St Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay|Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire]]. The college exchanged the land with the Crown in 1545, and in 1547 the manor was granted to the courtier [[William Sharington|Sir William Sharington]], who had extensive landholdings in Wiltshire and neighbouring counties. Later owners included [[William Dunch (1508–1597)|William Dunche]] (from 1551); [[John Stawell]] (from 1640); his son Ralph, created [[Ralph Stawell, 1st Baron Stawell|Baron Stawell]] in 1683; Adam Williamson (d.1798), [[governor of Jamaica]]; [[Sir Henry Meux, 2nd Baronet|Sir Henry Meux]] (from 1873), MP and brewery owner, and his son, also [[Henry Bruce Meux|Henry]]. Manor Farm (excluding the manor house) was sold off in 1902, and bought by the National Trust in 1943.<ref name="vch" /> The house, [[Avebury Manor and Garden|Avebury Manor]], was bought in 1955 by [[Francis Gerald William Knowles|Sir Francis Knowles]], who restored it and began to open it to the public in 1956. After passing through several hands following his death in 1974, the house was bought by the National Trust in 1991.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Leighton|first=Barry|date=24 December 2014|title=When Ken was King of the castle|url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/11687133.when-ken-was-king-of-the-castle/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-08|website=Swindon Advertiser|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808144937/https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/11687133.when-ken-was-king-of-the-castle/ |archive-date=8 August 2021 }}</ref>

The land held by the church at the time of the Domesday survey was granted to [[Cirencester Abbey]] by Henry III in 1133. In 1604 the rectory estate was granted to the Dunche family, and probably merged with the manor estate.

=== Avebury Trusloe ===
Another manor held by the abbey was bought by Joan Trusloe in 1563, and around 1628 the estate known as Avebury Trusloe was held by William Dunche; he sold it to [[Edward Bayntun (died 1657)|Sir Edward Baynton]] in 1633. The [[Wiltshire Victoria County History|Victoria County History]] traces the later owners including [[Alexander Keiller (archaeologist)|Alexander Keiller]], who bought a farm in the 1920s and sold it to the National Trust in 1943.<ref name="vch" /> The house known as Trusloe Manor began as a rebuilding c.1520, was later reduced in size to four bays, and in the 1980s gained a large rear wing.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1033758|desc=Trusloe Manor|access-date=6 August 2021|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

=== Beckhampton ===
Racehorses have been trained at Beckhampton House, using gallops on West Down, since the mid 19th century.<ref name="vch" /> Notable trainers include [[Sam Darling (jockey, born 1852)|Sam Darling]] and his son [[Fred Darling]] who had nine [[Epsom Derby|Derby]] winners between them in the first half of the 20th century; then [[Noel Murless]] between 1948 and 1952, followed by [[Jeremy Tree]], and since 1990 [[Roger Charlton]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Roger Charlton|url=https://rogercharlton.com/|access-date=16 July 2021|website=}}</ref>