The River Avon

(The following notes refer to the 'ancient' parish of Sutton Benger, when it was separate from Draycot Cerne, and before the arrival of the M4 gave part of the parish to Seagry.)

The River Avon has formed part of the boundary between Sutton Benger and Christian Malford for about 100 years. Parishes were created in the Anglo Saxon period, between 500 AD to 1066; boundaries were written down in Charters, many of which have been lost. However, the boundaries for Sutton Benger can be found in a document known as the Registrum Malmesburiense. This register of charters was compiled in the late thirteenth century, and is attributed to the historian William of Malmesbury. Most of the charters in the document date back up to 500 years before William's time.

The charters are all in Latin, and the boundaries are based on natural features such as points in or on the ground, wooded features, or hills and rivers. They typically use language like 'follow the stream from the elm tree to the meadow, then go to the crest of the hill ...'; they normally follow a clockwise direction around the boundaries. The one for Sutton Benger uses the old Saxon measurement 'a hide' which effectively represented the amount of land sufficient to support a household. It was about 120 acres (49 hectares). Sutton Benger at this time was known simply as 'Sutton' and was a detached part of the Manor of Brokenborough (near Malmesbury).

Et hii sunt termini X hidarum pertinencium ad Manerium de Brokeneberge que sunt de centum hidis nominatis hoc est de Suttone. In primis ubi meta que Raheie vocatur extenditur usque Cutelwlle 7 ab eo usque merebrok 7 per eundem rivum usque in Avene. Ab eo directe per Alveum aque processu continuo usque ad segmede a parte orientali usque Brodewulle.

And these are the boundaries of the ten hides belonging to the Manor of Brokenborough which are part of the hundred hides mentioned above, that is Sutton. First where the boundary which is called roe-deer hedge extends to kettle spring. And from there to boundary brook. And along that brook into the Avon. From that straight along the stream … to the east part of sedge meadow, to broad stream.

A keen landscape historian might still be able to work out where 'roe-deer hedge' and 'kettle spring' are - they probably relate to landmarks in the Nabals Farm area which might still be visible today. My own attempts to decipher the document suggests that 'boundary brook' was probably the brook which ran from the Scotland Hill area to Seagry Hill to the Avon. The 'east part of sedge meadow' might be in the area east of Sutton Lane Farm, while 'broad stream' would be Chissell Brook / Stein Brook. The western boundary, between Sutton Benger and Draycot Cerne, has always been a generally straight north-south line, following no natural features.

The bunker covered by vegetation is a Type 22 pillbox with porch, according to the database maintained on the Know Your Place website. https://maps.bristol.gov.uk/kyp/?edition=wilts

The River Avon through Chippenham was part of a defensive line during the Second World War, fortified with bunkers in case of a German invasion. This part of the defences was known as 'Stop Line Green'; many of the bunkers can be seen at various places along the river, such as in the golf course in Monkton Park.

Sutton Benger actually has the remains of three bunkers; one here, one a few hundred yards to the north, and one a few hundred yards south of the main road. The other two are not close to Public Rights of Way.

If you continue the walk across the Avon and through Christian Malford Meadows, you will see a much better preserved bunker on the other side of the river.

The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre (WSHC) has a record of a planning application from 1943 relating to the construction of an Engineering Plant Repair Works for the Sutton Engineering Co.

The requirement was for the building of a light engineering workshop to the south of the Sutton Benger – Christian Malford road; the workshop was needed in order to centralise plant repairs for various workshops, farm machinery, etc; some of the justification was that the machinery had to be repaired to support the ongoing Second World War effort.

Despite the fact that the workshop was deemed essential to support the war effort, the Rural District Council turned down the planning application for a number of reasons, including its ‘unsuitability in terms of location and access’. The reasons for rejection were written both on the location diagram and on the workshop plans. One of the notes in the paperwork points out that the proposed site would conflict with the planned / proposed A420 by-pass to the south of Sutton Benger (which was never built).

Roughly the same site was eventually used for buildings to support a gravel pit, and as the location of facilities to support the ‘North Eastern Sewerage’ project.

The Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre (WSHC) has a record of a planning application from 1948 relating to the erection of garages and workshops, etc, for the Pyramid Sand and Gravel Company.

The requirement was for retrospective planning approval for the workshop etc, to support gravel extraction that had been on-going in Ordnance Survey fields 124 and 125, south of the Sutton Benger – Christian Malford road, since ‘before 1943’. It seems that, although the gravel extraction had been given planning approval, the workshops etc had been built without any approval.

The application was given provisional approval to 1953, then subsequently extended (retrospectively again!) from 1955 to January 1959.

Why is the sewage treatment works located so close to the River Avon? Because that is how it was designed - to facilitate discharges of waste water.

Many houses relied on ‘earth closets’ until the mid-1900s. It is not exactly clear when water closets first arrived in the village, but papers in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre (WSHC) show a plan for a new system, with a single sewerage treatment plant south of the road between Sutton Benger and the River Avon, and with ‘disposal of the effluent’ into the river.

The Victoria County History notes that:

... the bridge over the Avon, linking Sutton Benger and Christian Malford, was built in the 18th century, possibly c. 1756: it has cutwaters separated by three segmental arches. It was widened in the 20th century. West of the bridge a stone causeway for pedestrians runs for c. 300 m. along the north side of the road.