The Galliard Trio

At St Swithin's Church

Sat 16th June 7:30pm

For full details please click here to see the "Forthcoming Events" page on our Benefice site at ComptonBassett.com

The Easter tradition of a Cross being placed on the hill near Oldbury Castle and the Cherhill White Horse was observed again this year. A crowd of parishoners gathered in Cherhill and the procession then wended its way out of the village and up the hill, following the cross. The younger members of the congregation also had their own smaller version of the cross to bear on their journey.

The procession was lead by our Rector, Philip Bromiley, from St James church following a church service. After erecting the cross, there was a short service of dedication and hot cross buns and hot drinks were laid on after the return journey.

The cross remains during the Easter period. The poignancy of the cross on a lonely hilltop, silhouetted against the dark skies we have endured this Easter weekend, cannot be overlooked and is perhaps a fitting reminder to all of the Christian faith.

The White Horse Inn wins
Wiltshire Life
Pub & Restaurant of The Year

We offer our heartiest congratulations to Danny, Tara and all their staff at The White Horse Inn for their recent nomination, and then winning of the Wiltshire Life Pub & Restaurant of The Year Award. Since working with the owners of the pub, John & Sally Reis, to refurbish the entire interior of the premises and the bed and breakfast accomodation, the pub has really become the shining jewel in the crown of the village. Danny and his team of chefs work in the kitchens to produce some of the finest food in Wiltshire with every dish being produced entirely on the premises from only the finest of ingredients, whilst Tara and her staff work tirelessly to ensure that all are made to feel entirely welcome in the bar and restaurant.

Our church has been really going through the ways since Christmas!

It was indeed a sad day when some of our ancient church roof was stolen and became another statistic in the worsening trend of metal thefts that plagues our society all over the country. About three tonnes of lead was removed from the church roof one night recently and the matter is currently in the hands of our church insurers for the repair of the damage and replacement of the missing roof covering.

A great deal of time and money is given to the upkeep and general maintenance of our church, not just now, but our village ancestors have done so before us for hundreds of years. It is a tragedy of our times that there are those who feel it is their right or privelage to attack the focal point of our community with such impunity and apparent disregard for the history we have fought for so long to preserve. We would all like to be able to hand our church on to future generations in the same good order that we ourselves have recieved it in. Church security is being reviewed as we understand it, but perhaps now is a timely point to remind ourselves that a cautionary eye cast over the church and its access route as we drive past each day and our willingness to report cars or other vehicles parked at a suspicious time or behaving in a suspicious manner may be enough to prevent further attacks on our collective historical village property.

Wiltshire Council have published the proposed submission draft Aggregate Minerals Site Allocations Development Plan Document. This final round of formal consultation means that we can comment only on the "soundness" of the plan before it is submitted to The Secretary od State, for independent examination later this year. The consultation time was for six weeks and is due to end on 12th March.
It is of concern to residents of Compton Bassett as it shows two proposed new sites for winning and working sand up to 2026. Those who were present at the meeting in the village hall on 16th June 2011 will recall assurances that there was a finite point beyond which sand and gravel extraction could not run and if this new proposal goes ahead this will then exceed this limit. One of the proposed sites is to the north of Andrew's Patch and the other to the east. A third site at Freeth has been removed from the plan.

The other important plans before the council is also concerning Hills and their application for a Municipal and Commercial Materials Recovery Facility and Waste Transfer Facility at their Lower Compton site. It was first presented to our Parish Council and to members of the village community during the meeting on 16th June by Andrea Pellegram. Since this meeting there have been many important meetings and consultations concerning the suitability of this application and the effect it will have on us in Compton Bassett and the surrounding infrastructure. After one such meeting the planned submission of the plans was deferred until May pending further reports from Hills. We will keep you informed!

The New Non Emergency Number is now live in our area!

101 is the number to call when you want to contact your local police - when it’s less urgent than a 999 call. 101 is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.