Everleigh

"EVERLEIGH, (or Everley), a parish in the hundred of Elstub, county Wilts, 5 miles N.W. of Ludgershall, and 5 S.E. of Pewsey, its post town. The high road from Andover to Devizes passes through the village. Some of the early Saxon kings held their court here. It was formerly in the possession of the Plantagenets, dukes of Lancaster, hut became the property of the crown on the accession of Henry IV. Queen Elizabeth gave the manor to Sir Ralph Sadler, from whose descendants it was purchased in the 18th century by the Astleys. The village was anciently a market town of considerable note. It is a petty sessions town, and a polling place for the S. division of the county.

The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Salisbury, value £675. The church is a structure of the early part of the present century, with tower surmounted by pinnacles, and is considered a handsome edifice. It is dedicated to St. Peter, and contains a monument to Francis Dugdale Astley, Esq., who founded the present building. There is a National school for both sexes. Some ancient British relics have been found in the vicinity. Everleigh House is the principal residence. About 2 miles to the S. of the village is the fortified camp of Chidbury, to which there appears to have been a covered way from Everley. Sir F. Astley, Bart., is lord of the manor."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]