Fovant is most noted for its dramatic hillside where huge regimental badges are carved into the chalk downs and clearly seen from the road. These were created by soldiers garrisoned near Fovant during the First World War and are clearly visible from the A30 which runs through the village. The Fovant Badge Society holds an annual 'Drumhead' Service which is attended by the Australian High Commissioner, local mayors and members of parliament. These services fund the war memorial which is the Fovant Badges, helping to conserve a part of the area's wartime history.
Fovant currently has one functioning pub, The Pembroke Arms, a post office, a village shop and a doctor's surgery. A stream runs through the village.
During WWII the Fovant Badges were deliberately allowed to grow over to prevent them being used as a landmark by the German air forces. They were restored after the war by the Fovant Home Guard platoons who formed an Old Comrades Association, which then became The Fovant Badges Society. Eight crests were restored during 2003, but they are continually under threat due to shortage of funds and may one day again grow over. In the meantime, they are an historic landmark and tourist attraction on the drive between Salisbury and Shatesbury.
An Overview of Fovant's History
Like many other small enclosed rural communities the village of Fovant was relatively bypassed by the larger historical events of national concern. However the village was not entirely cut off from outside influence, so it is worth noting any village contact with such events within the context of our own parochial history.
There is some indication of Early and Middle Bronze Age settlement on Fir Hill and Chiselbury. Evidence of Roman influence in the area is also indicated by the discovery of a Romano British bust in Sutton Mandeville, and some small finds connected with the three stone cist burials found on the hill above the north end of Dinton Road. Broadly speaking though, the village was scarcely inhabited until the Early Middle Ages when the Saxons invaded Britain. The Saxon Land Charters of 901 AD and 904 AD, each mention Fobbefunta, the Saxon name for Fovant.
After the Norman Conquest, the country was divided into areas, each containing one hundred dwellings, for administrative purposes, and all the country’s goods and chattels were listed in the Domesday Book. Fovant is still nominally in the Hundred of Cawden and Cadworth, and has a small entry in the Domesday book.
At the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century, the Abbess of Wilton, dispossessed of Wilton Abbey, was granted lands, a pension, and a house in Fovant for herself and some of her nuns. Wilton Abbey, its lands and wealth was then given to Walter Herbert, who later became the 1st Earl of Pembroke. As Fovant was one of the villages which came within this ‘gift’, Walter Herbert became its feudal lord, with all that the title entails. This situation remained largely unchanged until the sale of Pembroke lands in August 1919.
Religious dissent had a further impact on Fovant during the latter part of the 17th century when a group of Quakers became active in the village. By the end of the 18th century they had moved away. They were followed in the early 19th century by a religious group calling themselves ‘Dissenters’. This group initially worshipped in a house in the village. As their membership grew they were able to build their own Chapel in the High Street. This building, still in regular use, was built in 1828.
By this time the Lower Road, currently the A30, had been turnpiked, superseding that which went over the Downs as the major road to the West. Carriers, passenger and mail coaches plied to and fro between local towns and villages. Employment opportunities were expanded and were further enhanced by the mid 19th century opening of the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway with its station at nearby Dinton. Although people could now move into and out of the village for a host of different purposes, statistically the population remained relatively constant until the mid 20th century.
Self-help in the form of various provident societies had always played a large part in village life. Fovant was also fortunate in having had a resident medical man since the late 18th century. Our school was opened in 1847, well before the Education Act of 1870 required the provision of educational facilities for all children. A village constable was noted as resident in the 1841 census, a sub postmaster is listed in Kelly’s Directory of 1855, and our Parish Council was set up in 1896.
During the Great War of 1914 -1918 Fovant, along with nearby villages, became the site for a very large military camp. Built at the foot of our Downs, an endless array of huts housed large numbers of soldiers. These men though mainly in transit still found time to carve their regimental badges on the Downs. The effect of their presence on the village was immense, and lasting. The 1939 - 1945 war largely bypassed the village in the military sense. However we did have our own Home Guard Unit, there was a searchlight battery in a field beside the Poplar Inn, and at least one German aircraft crashed nearby. Fovant also hosted some unaccompanied evacuee children.
The newcomers, blending into the long existing groups and organisations that already existed, brought a breath of outside air into the village. Invariably they joined in with the activities that constituted the social life of the village, and, in some cases, introduced new ideas which gave rise to the formation of new interest groups. We have a host of such clubs covering a wide range of interests and activities.
Greater access to private and public transport coupled with Improvements in communications undoubtedly aided village social cohesion and aided a wider circle of clientele for all of these activities thus expanding their area of operation
This precis of our village’s history during the last 2000 years barely scrapes the surface of the amount of historical material we have on our website. Log on to www.fovanthistory.org or us for further information.
J.O.H.
Fovant St George’s Church
Churchwardens
Mrs JA Snowdon 01722 714611
Mrs R McDowell 01722 714882
Please see the Rota page for details of services.
Links to other web sites relating to Fovant:
Fovant Parish Council
Fovant History Interest Group
Fovant Emblems