Descriptive Tour of the Village

effont – Magna and Evias – has many the gardens, many trees and open outbuildings. A far reaching panorama of chalk There is a small cluster of traditional, times been described as one of Wiltshire’s In spring an almost deafening chorus greets the downland and wooded hills, Teffont Magna 19th, 20th and 21st-century most beautiful villages and it is clear that dawn and a wide mix of birdsong fills the air uninterrupted by buildings, never Housing Restraint Area dwellings nearby. Tmost of us feel it is a great privilege to live here. at most times. The “kiew” of buzzards circling fails to take your breath away as you three sets in the village, built in the The next part of the village has a above their prey, the chattering of house martins leave the A303 and join the C277 mid-19th century by the Pembroke It is impossible to define all the elements which timeless and peaceful feel. Ducks and swallows gathering the rich supply of approach road to Teffont Magna. The Estate (the principal land owners in make up its unique charm, but the swiftly often rest on the grassy verges which insects, the laughter of a green woodpecker and road crosses Teffont Down, turns Magna from 1552) as farm labourers’ flowing icy chalk stream, along which most of meet the road without kerbstone or rooks coming home to roost in tall trees on the left and winds gently down the hill cottages, using local stone with Welsh the village is built, is intrinsic to its character. pavement and to the left horses graze hillsides are all familiar sounds. In the dark night between arable fields. In summer you slate roofs. Their design and use of Although very low in recent years, it has never in the pasture, which is enclosed skies owls and bats hunt the valley and we have are often greeted by a leaping hare and been known to dry out. The valley, with its many on the road side by mixed hedges a clear view of the stars. This describes only a the sound of skylarks as you turn the springs and richly wooded surrounding hillsides, “How the descent from the A303 and sets the foreground for the small part of the unique identity of the village corner to make your descent; trees is green and lush for most of the year. The makes my heart sing every unspoilt group of buildings at Manor and the delicate balance between the natural clothe the valley below and the spire landscape still prevails and is not dominated by time...... ” Villager’s comment Farm. No longer a working farm, and built environment. We have a precious jewel of Evias church piercing this green the buildings. it is approached up a drive fenced here which needs to be cared for so that future mantle is the only sign of a settlement. with iron railings. The Georgian There is a soft organic look to the settlement. In generations can enjoy living here as we do. quality materials were acclaimed for The stream rises at Springhead, farmhouse is built with dressed local all lights and weathers, the buildings and linking their excellence at the time. All have Six approach roads descend into Teffont. on the left as you enter the village, stone, has an attractive overhanging boundary walls, with their living patina of greyish moved with the times, been extended There is no ribbon development at any of these opposite a farm attraction and a clay-tiled hipped roof and sash white, gold and terracotta coloured lichen, the and altered. There is another pair a “gateways” and villagers wish to protect this rural group of agricultural buildings. It windows typical of the period. It was gentle grey of the thatch and soft tones of the little further along up a track to the quality. flows into a pond then crosses under built by the Pembroke Estate. The weathered clay tiles appear to have grown from left which still have their wash houses the road and meanders roughly due farm was divided up in the latter part the ground. On winter days the sun pays only a A 30 mph speed limit applies throughout the in the gardens. south, through the length of Magna of the 20th century, leaving only a brief visit to the valley which is often hung with village, much needed because of the passage of and into the Water Meadows. Just round the corner on the left, few paddocks around the house. The mist, but there is great beauty in the low shafts heavy vehicles. Spring Cottage is one of the oldest in relatively complete group of model of early morning sunlight catching steam rising A little further on behind a hedge on Teffont divides naturally into three parts and we the village. Set back behind a stone farm buildings and dovecote, which from the stream or frosty thatched roofs. the left is the first pair of Pembroke will start from the northern end which is also the wall and garden it dates back to the were built about 1870, have recently Cottages, doubled in size to make a An abundance of wildlife is dependent on the source of the stream. 16th century and has unusually large been sympathetically restored and single house in the 1990s. It is one of stream, the lush valley and uncultivated areas, pointed thatched gabled dormers. converted for use as livery stables.

Page 18 Teffont Village Design Statement Teffont Village Design Statement Page 19 On the opposite side of the road all From here there is a view of the little The entrance to the old village pound, paddling children, while the seats on proportions of its neighbours. The Turning round, as you begin properties are set in open fields and church to the south. On the right, where stray animals were kept, is on the green provide a tranquil meeting grounds are enclosed by low stone the descent into the village from bounded on the stream side by low set well back over a bridge, is Moon the left. The road then passes through and resting place for villagers and walls and mixed hedges and contain Chilmark, you notice the great natural stone walls. The delightful Cottage, a small baffle-entry thatched a very narrow gap between the weary passers-by. the village playground. height of the eastern hillside ahead, thatched Yew Tree Cottage is said to stone cottage. A little further on Church and Wren’s Cottage and in which is apparent from as far away St. Edward’s Church is a small Looking back from here there is a have been the mill for Manor Farm. is The Malthouse, a 17th-century winter two mid 20th-century houses as Fonthill Bishop. On the left there buttressed rubble and dressed stone delightful scene: the Church, with its It is built with dressed local stone and farmhouse altered in the early 19th dominate the hillside ahead. are impressive views in winter of building. It has a plain clay-tiled golden cockerel weather vane glinting positioned gable-end to road with century when it was also the “Hole unmarred countryside and the little The C277 joins the old Salisbury to roof and a double course of stone in the sun and the Wren’s cottage an old stone, cob and tiled boundary in the Wall” local ale house. Now a (C277) road winding up to the A303. Hindon Turnpike road and to the slates at the eaves, a simple stone group. It is a constant inspiration for wall (originally thatched) enclosing private house, it has plain clay tile To the right are views across fields left are three picturesque early 18th- porch and no tower or spire. Dating artists and photographers and is a key its garden and bordering the stream and Welsh slate roofs. The stream to a The Upper Holt wood and a century small stone cottages: Wren’s from the 13th century, it is the oldest visual point in the village. to its north. There is a late 20th- flows through the garden and part of magnificent line of lime trees. and Old Turnpike remain thatched building in the village and replaced century thatched stone garage which its southern boundary is formed by Crossing Spark’s bridge, which was and Jasmine with its pantiled roof a wooden structure which burnt The road passes through a steep, complements the scene. the church. built by the Fitz family in 1717, completes the group. An old wrought down, remnants of which were found narrow cutting as you re-enter the possibly to replace a ford, the “Old iron and wooden finger post points when digging for main drainage. village, revealing the Village Hall Turnpike” runs up to the right of the the way to Dinton and the tiny lane The unembellished interior, where on its island ahead, then bends very Village Hall and joins the B3089. rises steeply out of the village, past a sunlight streams through the clear sharply to the right. Turning right, the road makes a steep much altered and extended cottage diamond pane windows, provides a Top left to right: Manor Farm, ascent out of the village and climbs on the left which was once the old toll peaceful meditative space for all its Wren’s , Old Turnpike and Jasmine cottages, towards Chilmark. There are three Moon cottage, St Edward’s Church. house, and the former Black Horse visitors. Apart from its ecclesiastical outlying properties, including a horse Below left to right: Yew Tree Cottage, coaching inn, which is still thatched, function, it also lends itself to The Malthouse with St Edward’s to the left. stud, and nearby a listed milestone on the right. concerts. The tiny churchyard, rests in the verge. enclosed by iron railings, is often About half a mile further on a visited by bantams from a nearby track to the left leads to an outlying garden. farm. The historic sunken lane then becomes dark and tree-canopied Continuing south, the former with one or two ancient coppiced village school, closed in 1936, is specimens; the old Parish boundary now a thriving Village Hall, which stone can be seen in the bank and it has recently undergone extensive is still easy to imagine the mail coach restoration and modernisation. It clattering by on its way to London. sits behind the stream in its own grounds, on a triangle where the Heading back down to the roads meet. Designed by local crossroads, a red post box is set into architect John Harding and built in the wall of the graveyard. Across 1877 with local stone, it has typical the road, the church stands behind schoolroom windows, large and the tiny village green and both are south facing, high enough not to bordered by the stream. A huge slab distract the children, but letting in of stone spans the stream here and copious daylight–a feature which once led to a medieval “A” frame greatly enhances its diverse use building which was demolished in today. The steeply pitched half- the mid-20th century. It now makes hipped and gabled clay-tiled roof a launching point for ducks and successfully reflects the thatched

Page 20 Teffont Village Design Statement Teffont Village Design Statement Page 21 Fitz House group and Goodfellow Cottages opposite. This area of the village is collectively a valued feature and another key visual point. The eastern side of the valley is steep-sided here, any harsh sound and the vibration of heavy vehicles reverberate across the valley. These green undeveloped spaces help to absorb this. The attractive Fitz House group is arranged around three sides of a courtyard and includes a large thatched rubble stone 15th-century barn, its gable end bordering the stream, which passes briefly inside This is the most densely populated of its chapel windows were hidden. thatched late 17th-century cottages, vernacular or traditional building Central Magna the garden alongside a gated stone part of the village. A pavement runs Adjacent to Barnmead is the 1990’s set back a little from the stream, materials of the village. down the left or eastern side of the The Thatches, a late 18th-century close of houses mentioned in the completes this scene. In their midst is the unusual Read’s main road (B3089). Much of the thatched former farmhouse. “New Building” section. “Teffont is an island in a Rooks roost in tall trees near Hillside Cottage, a partly timbered house. It development in the last 20 years has Alongside it, a thatched stone and sea of over-developed vil- Opposite is Cook’s cottage, where Cottages and in the lime trees which was re-built in the early 21st century been along this main road down to brick barn borders the pavement dormer windows and artificial tiles lages. We have a duty to fu- command the ridge above Fitz House from the remains of, and in a similar Larkham’s Farm. This has resulted in and within living memory the old replaced thatch in the late 20th ture generations not to de- and were once partnered by ancient style to, Read’s Close, an early 19th- a significant loss of the defining open grappling iron for dragging down century. This has partly been used elms. Shy, grey wagtails launch from century building. Bathurst Cottage, spaces. blazing thatch was hooked to its stroy it. The villages have as a template for the “Barnmead” roofs here to snatch insects and enjoy almost opposite, which sits behind a walls. Nearby is the first of the little evolved gradually and in On the corner on the right are the development. the protection of the walls bordering quirkily sculptured box hedge, is also thatched and weather-boarded linear fashion. Backfill de- attractive rubble stone and thatched the rushing stream for their nesting not traditional in style, even though it bus shelters and behind is Farleigh Post Office Cottages which hug velopment has been kept sites. Water voles live in the soft is said to date from the 17th century. Cottage, a late 20th-century thatched The thatched 17th-century Teff the stream and date from the early at bay until recently. The banks of the stream beside the road. The house, as seen today, is white and rendered building. The white Cottage, next to the stream on the 17th century. They housed the last pebbledashed brick. It has pleasing rendering is probably a reflection of right, has cob walls which have been rural identity of the village, From here until Larkham’s surviving shop and the post office Barnmead opposite, before it was rendered and painted. Next door and especially the water mead- Farmhouse, there is piecemeal 20th which sadly closed in the mid 1990s. restored to its former appearance. set right back in the former farmyard and 21st-century development of Top Left Post Office Cottages The gardens and open fields behind ows, is under threat and Top Right: The Reading Room and its setting This little surprise, now a dwelling, for Fitz House is Caister House, built houses and bungalows mainly along the stream side of the road, rise gently must be protected at all Lower left: Fitz House was a Methodist Chapel, built about in the 1990s, replacing a small stone the left hand side of the road, half Lower right: Bathurst Cottage to a ridge. costs” 1820. Its brick front wall and stone barn. of them built within the last 10 To the left, a field rises steeply sides had subsequently been rendered Villager”s comment years. Some do not reflect either the Opposite, a listed red telephone forming a green backcloth behind and painted white and the arches box stands outside the small stone wall. Fitz House was home to the Reading Room which was built prosperous sheep- farming Fitz just after and to commemorate the family from the mid 1600s until the First World War. It is now a village mid 1800s. They enlarged a smaller amenity and there are pleasing dwelling into the dressed limestone views from here up to Hillside– house as seen today and built the the third terrace of Pembroke crosspiece as a wool barn in 1700. It Cottages, King’s Orchard and the was converted in the early 1900s and woods beyond. The paddock to its thatch on the house and cottage was south and the protected lime trees replaced by hand-made clay peg tiles which border the pavement here, and pantiles around the same time. provide a characteristic break, or The little stone and clay-tiled cottage breathing space, in the linear building beside the stream has a half-hipped development along the main road roof and was said to have been and foreground for Hillside Cottages where they dipped and sheared the above; also a setting for the historic sheep. Goodfellow Cottages, a pair of

Page 22 Teffont Village Design Statement Teffont Village Design Statement Page 23 proportions and features, The road bends sharply to the left including pointed fanlight around the recently built high windows and a fish scale tiled stone boundary wall of Larkham’s roof. The stream flows through Farmhouse, opposite which stood its garden and into the water the old village petrol pumps; meadows. this is a dangerous corner with a turning to Evias on the right. Opposite, an ancient, narrow, The pavement comes to an end sunken bridlepath, Dark Lane, outside Three Hands Cottage on joins the old coffin path and the opposite side of this corner. leads eventually to Dinton Church. To its south two recently built houses are on the site of a “Please don’t turn Teffont former wooden dwelling. The Birches had to be placed further into either a museum or back and raised up owing to the mere pastiche...” presence of water at road level Villager’s comment which was discovered during its construction. The main road leads out towards The road narrows here and the Dinton and there is a scattering pavement comes to an end. It of late 20th-century houses and continues on the west side of the bungalows on this eastern exit road and runs above the water of the village. Although none meadows, another defining open of them is in the vernacular of space and greatly treasured part the village, they are all set well of the rural character of the back from the road within ample village. Still “drowned” within gardens containing mature trees living memory to bring on early and shrubs, so their combined grazing for the sheep, it is a effect does not impose on the old sanctuary for wildlife: the heron meadows which surround them. is often seen fishing and egrets The old charcoal burner’s cottage perch in the bushes beyond. nestles at the back of these There are long views across the meadows and further up the hill fields to the Upper Holt woods. on the left, a large reconstituted stone barn, The Long House, Further down the road is built as a heavy horse centre in the second characterful the 1990s, has been converted bus shelter. The early 18th- into a private house. century Larkham’s Farmhouse occupies an imposing position The road rises steeply through on the corner, ideal for its beautiful deciduous woods, transformation into the Black passing the second listed Horse Inn around 1843. The milestone on the right. At its lease was transferred here from summit are two lodges: on the the Old Turnpike road after left a small stone and slate-roofed the building of the new road to building was originally the lodge Salisbury (now the B3089). It was to Philips House in Dinton. It is struck by lightning and burnt here that we will turn right and down in 1915 and when rebuilt, take the most picturesque and handmade clay tiles replaced much cherished approach into the thatch. The Inn survived as a Teffont Evias. business until the late1990s and Top to bottom left: is now a private house. There is Larkhams Farm, the ‘Oaks’, an old bread oven in the wall of The Lodge on the turning to Evias. the extension near the road. Facing page: The Water meadows.

Page 24 Teffont Village Design Statement leading eventually to Tisbury. There is a leafy triangular junction on the right, from which a road runs down to Evias and a recently remade wooden fingerpost points the way. The tiny hamlet of Ley on the edge of the parish–three quarters of a mile along the Tisbury road–was once part of the Evias estate. It consists of a group of farm buildings recently converted to dwellings, a cottage, bungalow and a little further on Ley Farmhouse, a handsome square early 19th-century stone building with a Welsh slate roof, is still a working farm. Several of its outbuildings have recently been sensitively restored. You almost feel you are stepping back cattle grazing amongst specimen Returning to the finger post, the later, the elegant spire, designed by character, winds its way along the far in time as you enter the demesne of Teffont Evias trees in the foreground, the Manor road into Evias takes a sharp turn George Gilbert Scott. It has a Welsh edge of the stream fronting the high Teffont Evias. Most buildings relate Special Restraint Area house, manor cottages and church to the left and runs down a little hill slate and fish scale tiled roof. stone boundary wall of the Manor’s historically to the Manor and the behind, and the green backcloth of past the former coach house for the kitchen garden, then gives way to a Restraint and Conservation Areas, The Manor, owned by the Keatinge majority remain under its single the Upper Holt woods beyond. To Manor. On the right is another view field. From here to the Old Forge, but nonetheless is a beautiful stretch family for generations, was converted ownership. There has been little the left of this group, fields rise gently of the church, behind a low wall and the fields run behind and between of the landscape which features in to flats in the 1950s. Extensions, visual change for over a century and to a wooded ridge. This spectacular approached over an arched bridge the buildings and slope gently up to views from many parts of the village. including fanciful battlements, this is a major factor in its special setting is possibly the most treasured through impressive iron gates. This woods. flamboyant chimneys, loggias (now protection under the Local Plan. All The essence of Evias becomes apparent in the village and has featured in tranquil, streamside setting makes a gone) and follies disguising utilities Howard’s House, once Dower House but two dwellings within the Special immediately after turning right. The guidebooks, films and planning perfect foreground for the Manor. were added to a large 16th and to the estate is now a hotel. The main Restraint Area are listed and there little cottage, once lodge to the Manor, guidance leaflets. It is generously The small 15th and 16th-century 17th- century house in the early 19th part of the house, built sideways is no pavement, which contributes was built around 1816 of rubble stone loaned each year for the Village Church of St. Michael and All century. Both buildings include stone on to the road, is a curious mix of to its rural character. Although like and thatch in the “Picturesque” style, Show as there is no other appropriate Angels–some of which was probably taken from the quarries in the woods styles. It carries a datestone for 1623 Magna it is a linear development, it is characterised by exaggerated dormers, community space. reclaimed from an earlier church–was opposite, above the small cemetery. and was originally a smaller house. quite different; the valley here is more steep catslide roof and gothic diamond The road crosses the lake and renovated and enlarged in the Gothic An attic floor was added around open and less steep and there are still pane windows. As you continue up the narrow immediately climbs steeply up again Revival style to designs by Charles 1837, to include “Swiss chalet-type” many defining open spaces. The only road the grassy verges on the left There are fine views of the chalk Fowler early in the 19th century. wooden brackets on the deep eaves recent development has been up Holt Above : Teffont Manor and Church. are smothered with snowdrops downland here and shortly afterwards Below left to right: Evias finger post , This included the addition of the (now a home to swifts) inspired by Lane which is outside the Special in February. A box hedge, full of a lane on the left leads to Goldens, The road by Evias Lake. pinnacled two-stage tower and a little its owner’s “Grand Tour” through which belongs to the Manor and Switzerland. At the same time, a new was built with stone from the mill wing was added along the roadside house further along, soon after it was and both include pointed gothic destroyed by fire in 1904. arched windows. A delightful cobbled courtyard, carriage house and stables The road descends steeply through date from the earlier period of the parkland enclosed by iron railings house and remain little changed. and still feels like the drive to the Manor which it once was. As a A datestone for 1682 appears on the beautiful and quintessentially English thatched Montague Cottage nearby. scene comes into view you realise Next is a group of buildings you are entering an exceptional which collectively encapsulate the place. There is a serene lake with manorial history of Evias. The little gliding swans, who have reared their school bungalow, over the stream young here for generations. Ducks, moorhens, a heron and little egrets Above: Evias looking south to Home farm. perch in bushes at the water’s edge. Belowvva: Howard’s House Hotel and To the right is a timeless view of Enderley cottage.

Page 26 Teffont Village Design Statement Teffont Village Design Statement Page 27 There are two traditional cottages up Carter’s Lane, a bridleway much loved by walkers, which soon leads to open countryside. It links back in a “horseshoe” via a permissive track, to the Holt Lane bridleway further north. The old lime kilns which for centuries provided for the local building mortar can still be seen part way up the lane. Continuing along the road, cedar shingles have replaced thatch on Rose Cottage, which still has a bread oven protruding from its wall. Greystones, opposite, built part way up the hillside and set well back in a garden on the right, with its high, arched behind a stone wall, is now thought A short walk from here, Riverside of local rubble stone with dressings of social housing in the village, a group views to the downs. When sun stone mullion windows and the to have originally been a barn for a pair of simple, thatched stone Bath stone, embellishments include of four unobtrusive and modest drenched in winter, it gives a great lift almshouses (now Acacia Cottage) Home Farm. It is a tall, three-storey cottages on the right, are the only castellated parapets and Tudor arched reconstituted stone retirement to walkers who live in the valley below. up to the left were both built for the stone building, with a shallow pitched unlisted dwellings in the SRA. The windows. The roofs are Welsh slate bungalows completed in 1977. estate workers in the late 1800s. They Finally, returning to the road and road crosses over the stream that has and clay tiles. It sits proudly within its are stone with ornamental roof tiles “New development should turning left, the last village smithy flowed from the southern end of the open setting, with lawns rolling down and decorative ridges. Ahead is the be proportionate and “...any large scale develop- was housed in a building to the right Water Meadows in Magna, behind to the stream and a sweeping gravel 17th -century thatched Home Farm in sympathy with the ment would damage the and before that in Forge Cottage. Three Hands and Brooklyn and drive. house and completing the group Three Hands Cottage and Brooklyn character of the village” through the grounds of Bridges. character of the village....” across the stream to the right, the Villager’s comment To the north of Bridges and over (both thatched) on the left are characterful thatched , weather- A mixed hedge borders a field to the a little stone bridge is Holt Lane, Villager’s comment “Picturesque” in style, similar to The boarded, timber-framed barn of Welsh slate roof and it was recently right and behind a mature beech a tarmac lane petering out into a Lodge, with exaggerated deep eaves similar date. discovered that the Georgian façade hedge on the left is Bridges — a track. On the left The Holt a small, To the right several late 20th–and early and arched diamond pane windows. is “false” and probably added in the farmhouse which was refaced and early 18th-century dressed stone 21st-century dwellings have been built They make a most unusual and House martins, swallows and early 1900s. An attractive group of enlarged in a simple Gothic Revival and thatched barn, which was and opposite is the delightful 16th- decorative welcome to the village sparrows gather and swoop at this stone barns, set around a cobbled style from 1841-2, probably by subsequently turned into a cottage, century Holt Cottage, where a cruck when entering on the B3089 from junction and you may catch the yard and including a listed 17th- Moffatt, for its use as a rectory. Built has been extensively altered and frame is still visible, along with square- Dinton. bright blue flash of a kingfisher century cowshed, borders Greystones Clockwise from top Left : added to in the late 20th and early panelled timber framing with brick Clockwise from Top left: darting up the stream. Bridges, Holt cottage, Brooklyn, to the north. Howards House courtyard, Greystones, 21st centuries. Next door is the only nogging, perhaps replacing earlier Home Farmhouse. Montagu and Enderley cottages. wattle and daub. It has a good example of well rounded thatch with a simple wrap over ridge. Opposite is a small recently built reclaimed stone studio, of good proportions, with a plain clay tiled roof and painted wood frame windows; the building is pleasing to the eye and complements both its built and natural surroundings. It was recently the subject of a Civic Society award “For the quality which had gone into the design and workmanship…” Soon the lane becomes a bridlepath that enters beautiful countryside and leads eventually to Chilmark. This secret and spacious valley running between the Upper and Lower Holt woods, has outstanding southerly

Page 28 Teffont Village Design Statement Teffont Village Design Statement Page 29