Key facts
OS Grid Reference: SU159309
What3words: ///rods.fortunate.bike
Postcode: SP1
Unitary Authority: Wiltshire
Parliamentary Constituency: Salisbury
Laverstock
Laverstock is a historic village which is just 10 minutes from the cathedral city of Salisbury and all it has to offer. It’s close to both the A36 and A30, so has excellent accessibility.
The village itself is on the edge of the South Downs National Park and there are panoramic views from Laverstock Down across to Salisbury and the Cathedral.
Although it’s a quiet village with a stunning backdrop, there are plenty of facilities and a strong sense of community. There’s a village shop for essentials and a parish hall that hosts all kinds of events and activities, from Tai Chi, country and western dancing, exercise and art classes to cubs, scouts, beavers, toddler groups and a Mother’s Union.
The Hampton Park Pavilion hosts cricket and there’s a football stadium too.
There are three schools: Laverstock St Andrews C Of E School; Wyvern St Edmund’s Girl’s Academy and St. Joseph’s RC School.
History
There are signs of Neolithic, Iron and Bronze Age settlements in and around Laverstoke, as well as a Roman cemetery and settlement on nearby Cocky’s Hill. Laverstock is recorded twice in the Domesday Book which suggests that the settlement was then owned by Wilton Abbey, with some parts owned by officers of the king.
Milford Mill Bridge, which links the parish with Salisbury over the River Bourne, dates from the 14th Century, while St Thomas’s Bridge to the north, was named after Thomas Becket who walked an ancient route through the settlement.
In the 13th and 14th Centuries, Laverstock was a successful ceramics centre supplying nearby Clarendon Palace and houses across the south. The workshops and kilns were situated near the Potters Way and Duck Lane of today.
During WWII barrage balloons were tethered at Laverstock and the Home Guard had an observation post on the top of Laverstock Down.
There’s a local history group if you’d like more information.
Walking and cycling
The area around Laverstock is stunning at any time of the year. If you’d like to explore it on foot then here’s a walk, the Laverstock Loop – but if you take it bear in mind that the Duck Inn is sadly now closed.
