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Brixton Deverill is a small village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Warminster in Wiltshire, England.

Brixton Deverill
Village hall
Brixton Deverill Location within Wiltshire
Population	83 (in 2011)[1]
OS grid reference	ST863388
Civil parish	Brixton Deverill
Unitary authority	Wiltshire
Ceremonial county	Wiltshire
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Warminster
Postcode district	BA12
Dialling code	01985
Police	Wiltshire
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	South West Wiltshire
Website	Parish Council
List of places UK England Wiltshire 51.148°N 2.197°W / 51.148; -2.197

The parish is in the Deverill Valley which carries the upper waters of the River Wylye. The six villages of the valley – Kingston Deverill, Monkton Deverill, Brixton, Hill Deverill, Longbridge Deverill and Crockerton – are known as the Deverills.

History

In 1086, Domesday Book recorded a settlement called Devrel with 25 households, a church and a mill, on land held by the Abbey of Bec-Hellouin, Normandy.[2] The lord in 1068 had been the Saxon Brictric, resulting in the 'Brixton' prefix to the placename.[3]

The abbey lost control of the estate during the wars with France, and in the 1440 Brixton was granted to King's College, Cambridge, who held it until 1941.[3]

The population of the parish peaked in the 1860s and 1870s, standing at 227 at the 1871 census, then fell sharply to 69 in 1901. The next century saw only a small increase, reaching 83 in 2011.[1]

Local government

Brixton Deverill parish includes the small isolated settlement of Lower Pertwood. It elects members to a parish council called Upper Deverills, shared with the neighbouring parish of Kingston Deverill.[4] The two parishes fall within the area of the Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all significant local government functions.

Church

The Anglican Church of St Michael the Archangel dates from the 13th century and has a 15th-century tower; restoration was carried out in 1730 and 1862. The font from St Giles, Imber, was relocated here following the evacuation of that village in 1943.[5] In 1968 the church was designated as Grade II* listed.[6][7]

Roman villa

In April 2016 it was announced that the remains of a large Roman villa had been discovered in the village in February 2015.[8][9] After excavations by archaeologists from Historic England and The Salisbury Museum, a mosaic floor was uncovered of a large Roman property, similar in size and structure to the great Roman villa at Chedworth, Gloucestershire. Surviving sections of walls, 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in height, have confirmed that the mosaic formed part of a grand villa, thought to have been three storeys in height, its grounds extending over 100 metres (110 yd) in width and length.[10]

Dr David Roberts, archaeologist for Historic England, said:

This site has not been touched since its collapse 1400 years ago and, as such, is of enormous importance. Without question, this is a hugely valuable site in terms of research, with incredible potential.

The discovery of such an elaborate and extraordinarily well-preserved villa, undamaged by agriculture for over 1500 years, is unparalleled in recent years. Overall, the excellent preservation, large scale and complexity of this site present a unique opportunity to understand Roman and post-Roman Britain.[10]

The site is now known as the Deverill Villa after the name of the 17th-century house owned by Luke Irwin, who made the discovery. Irwin, a Dublin-born designer who makes hand-made silk, wool and cashmere rugs, found the remains in 2015 while laying electricity cables beneath a stretch of ground to the rear of his property. A Roman stone coffin, suitable for a child, which was being used as a plant pot, was also discovered.[10]

References

External links

• "Brixton Deverill". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 17 February 2015.

Media related to Brixton Deverill at Wikimedia Commons

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