figheldean,cob,thatch,wiltshire,maidment,stonehenge,cottage

We kept getting requests from friends and relations for pictures of the cottage. So we decided to knock up a quick web page to stop your modem being bunged up with MB of large and unrequested pictures. At least this way you can click on the thumbnails of the ones you want to see.

We moved into the Wiltshire village of Figheldean in August 2002 from our previous old cottage near Winchester in Hampshire. We wanted to move further into the country to escape the noise and traffic and to take on a long term project, and we sure have this with the new cottage.

Figheldean is located 4 miles North of the town of Amesbury and has been in existence as a village from medieval times. Click here for the locator map. The village is also bounded on all sides by the military training area known as Salisbury Plain. Anti-Aircraft & Artillery training schools at Larkhill, Army aviation at Netheravon and transport at Bulford are all within a 2-3 mile radius which offers interesting entertainment at times and a lot of military influence. In addition Boscombe Down airfield is the home to the Empire Test Pilots School (believed to be one of the three best test pilot schools in the world) and the RAF Strike/Attack Operational Evaluation Unit. Run under the pseudonym of QinetiQ.

Netheravon is also home to the Joint Services Parachute Centre which runs as a military organised site during the week and as the Army Parachute Association at the weekends which is then open to civilian 'jumpers'.

History abounds in this area with burial mounds all about the area with the largest number per square mile than any other county in the United Kingdom. The stone circle of Stonehenge lies 2 miles to the SW and the circle of Avebury Ring lies 7 miles to the NW. The burial mound of Gallows Barrow (Apr. 2400BC) lies on the edge of the village and one of the Sarcen Stones used to build Stonhenge lies at the bottom of the River Avon on the edge of the village, probably lost due a mishap during transportation.

The house was built around 300 years ago of chalk cob construction with a thatched roof. Originally it seems to have been two houses probably for farm workers and was then coverted into a 3 bed detached home around 30 years ago. It carries Grade II listed status from English Heritage.

As with a lot of the original houses in the village it was aquired by the military in the mid 1750's for use by their personnel in the surrounding military bases. Over the years the military relinquished these properties and alomost all of them have now passed into private hands. This cottage was sold by the army in the early 1980's. 'The Manor' in the village is still in army ownership and the local camp Brigadier is in residence.

We have unearthed a few old pictures from around the cottage such as the one below. The picture below is a view of the old smithy taken around 1850. Our cottage lies to the right of the picture slightly off shot. The edge of the building on the right has now been extensively rebuilt as a garage on the original foundations. At that time it was known as the village reading rooms. The cart track to the left of the reading rooms has been narrowed over the years to a footpath to fields and the allotments beyond. Right of way issue? :)

The smithy shoeing the horse was apparently a Mr Shepherd who now lies alongside his wife in the graveyard of the nearby church.

The chestnut tree at the left of the picture is believed to be the tree mentioned in the US poet H.W Longfellow's poem featuring the phrase "Under the spreading chestnut tree.."

' Under a spreading chestnut tree

The village smithy stands;

The smith, a mighty man is he,

With large and sinewy hands;

And the muscles of his brawny arm

Are strong as iron bands.'

The Village Blacksmith 1839

Click for full version

The cottage has retained most of its original features but previous owners applied a hard cement based render on some of the exterior walls in the early 1980's. Also, a damp proof membrane was applied to the base of the interior walls, to negate the damp problem created by the hard render which no longer allows the cob to 'breathe'. Over time we will get this rectified with replacement lime based plaster and render. Please see the sites links below for links to material suppliers and period construction info.

During the second world war the house and the surrounding land and buildings were used as a billet for Canadian troops prior to D-Day. The buildings that used to be the home to the local smithy are covered in peoples initials engraved into the brickwork by the soldiers that were temporarily stationed here. From time to time visiting Canadians pass by the site to see where they left their marks all those years ago.

A site that contains a lot of useful info for owners of thatch properties in relation to construction, chimneys and fire risk can be found at www.thatch.org. Well worth a look. Good work Leo.

In the 1660's a gentleman known as John Aubrey travelled all over Wiltshire visiting churches and making notes as he went. The results of his ramblings were printed in the mid 1880's. Click here for more info.

An interesting collection of old photographs of the surrounding area. Collated by TL Fuller and taken and complied by 'John' Fuller can be viewed here.