Key facts
OS grid ref: SU068439
Postcode: SP3
Post town: Salisbury
What3words: ///withdraw.skyrocket.relax
Unitary Authority: Wiltshire
Parliamentary Constituency: Salisbury
Shrewton and Rollestone
Shrewton is a bustling village on the River Till in the Wylye Valley on the A360 with its small village neighbour, Rollestone just half-a-mile away.
This is a central location for Salisbury and Devizes, both about 25 minutes away and Warminster, about 20. The nearby town of Amesbury is less than a 15-minute drive away.
Shrewton has a vibrant local community with shops, a Post Office, pre-school nursery, GP surgery, a day centre, a village hall, and the Shrewton Primary School. There’s also an independent specialist dyslexia day and boarding school called Appleford.
There’s lots going on, with a packed ‘what’s on’ calendar, a Facebook page, and a newsletter, Shrewton News, that keeps locals up to date. The pub is very much a local, called The Plume of Feathers.
There’s a Community Pantry, country markets, a pop-up youth café and tea dances. Shrewton has a football club, that plays at the Recreation Ground, and a cricket club that’s in the Hampshire League.
If you visit the village, you’ll see the dressed limestone village lock-up called The Blind House. Criminals were locked in here in the pitch dark in the 18th Century as punishment.
Cecil Chubb, the last private owner of Stonehenge, was born in Shrewton. Chubb was a barrister and landowner and went to an auction at The Palace Theatre in Salisbury in 1915 to buy a dining table. On impulse, he made the winning bid of £6,600 for Stonehenge! Three years later, he donated it to the nation, now cared for by English Heritage.
Bus services are operated by Salisbury Reds and Stagecoach.
History
Shrewton is mentioned in the Domesday Book as ‘Winterburne’ but by 1236 it was known as Shrewton, derived from the Old English for sheriff’s farm or settlement.
The villages were dominated around WWII by the RAF who had a strong presence across Salisbury Plain.
The flint and limestone ashlar, Grade II listed St Mary’s Church on the High Street dates to the late 12th Century while St Andrew’s at Rollestone is also Grade II listed built in the 13th Century.
Shrewton Manor, on the High Street, is a 17th Century house in limestone and flint.
Walking and cycling
The backdrop for Shrewton and Rollestone is the stunning landscapes of the nearby Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (National Landscape) and the vast expanse of Salisbury Plain so walking the area is a delight.
Here’s a 1.5 mile walk from the parish council website that takes in some of Shrewton’s history.
