Thomas Burton moves to Sandy Lane

By 1891, my great, great grandfather, Thomas Burton was in his sixties and had moved 14 miles away from Monkton Farleigh to the village of Sandy Lane, Wiltshire, which has at various times been voted the prettiest village in Wiltshire. Its rows of stone-built, thatched cottages are the finest in the county. Click on the map below to see Sandy Lane's proximity to Monkton Farleigh



Here's a typical house in Sandy Lane


By 1901, Thomas and his wife Martha were in their seventies and had moved to the villiage of Rowde, some four miles southeast of Sandy Lane. Here, Thomas tells the census worker that year that he was a "retired farmer." I suspect that Thomas and Martha moved to Rowde because their son Albin was living there and farming. Here's a piece I found on the web about Rowde:

"Rowde seems to be one of those communities that have existed for over a thousand years but in many ways do not have a great deal of recorded history. Its name comes from a Saxon word meaning a reedy place and there was certainly a village here in late Saxon times. In fact there was a settlement to the north-east of the village, near Rowde Farm in Iron Age and Romano-British times and, although it is pure speculation to suggest it, there could have been continuous occupation from then through to the recorded settlement in the early 11th century."

Thomas Burton died in 1902, presumably in Rowde, so I hope to be able to find his headstone in a churchyard there. His wife Martha didn't die until 1913, but the district is listed as Chippenham, not Devizes as was true with Thomas. It will take more research to determine where my great, great grandmother Burton was buried.

Great, great grandfather, Thomas Burton

My great, great grandfather, Thomas Burton, lived in the village of Monkton Farleigh, Wiltshire, England for many years. On the 1881 census he lists his address as the Monkton Farleigh Church Farm where he was working as a "Farm Baliff." Recently, I found this picture of the Church Farm that is now functioning as a Bed and Breakfast. The converted barn is pictured.


Here's a bit of information on Monkton Farleigh from a Wiltshire government site:

The community was made up predominantly of farm labourers (like my great, great grandfather, Thomas Burton), although there were also clothiers, weavers, maltsters, tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, blacksmiths, grocers, thatchers etc. There are no registers of occupations until 1700. By the 19th century there was a very rapid growth of the industry of stone quarrying and by 1881 Hobhouse stated that nearly half of the labourers were quarrymen. Bath Stone was sent by rail all over the country. The population in 1801 was 264, and in 1851 was 359 (Thomas Burton moved to Monkton Farleigh some time before 1851).

The buildings of Monkton Farleigh are principally two storey buildings, constructed of rubble or of coursed stone (some maybe constructed by Thomas Burton's son, Joseph the mason). They generally display tall, Victorian type chimneys, with stone slate or tiled roofs. Other points of architectural interest include stone mullioned windows and gables. The King’s Arms retains an early 16th century doorway with a 17th century two storey porch, with original windows and a corresponding projection at the back with a circular stair. The Fox and Hounds Inn at Farleigh Wick has curious courtyard and entrance pillars.

The parish of Monkton Farleigh is situated in the extreme north western bend of an isolated chain of hills, at one end of which is Bradford on Avon and another Chippenham. The ground on which the village stands is from 6 to 700 feet in height (733 feet at the Tower on the Down). There is woodland in the south west corner of the parish, as well as small clumps of trees in other places. There is a park and avenue of elms adjoining the Manor House. The village is situated on high ground in the centre of the parish (four miles north west of Bradford on Avon and five and a half miles east of Bath). The village still commands some fine views, especially eastwards. There is sand and clay in the parish, but the soil is generally known as the stone brash. The quarries of freestone are a peculiar feature of the upper or west end of the parish. The A363 from Bradford on Avon to Bath passes through Farleigh Wick, a hamlet at the southern end of the parish. Sir Charles Hobhouse, in his history of the parish in 1881, stated that “probably in all Wiltshire there is no place where the combination of scenery – hill and valley, wood and stream, distance and home views is more varied and beautiful.”