Bulkington

Semington Brook is the boundary to the west and south. Bulkington was one of the villages featured in the 2003 BBC2 television documentary A Country Parish. There is evidence of cloth factories at Bulkington at Mill House, at the bottom of Mill Lane previously known as Bulkington or Gayford Mill. This was a fulling mill where woollens were finished and cleansed through scouring and beating circa 1486; there were clothiers in 1524 and with the intervention of the Industrial Revolution, a tucking mill and gig mill in 1730. The closure of the mill can be attributed to evidence in 1831 of a cloth "factory" closing in the parish. Evidence of an occupying workforce comes from the study of historical maps by AC Archaeology. These indicated two possible house platforms, with other earthworks including a pond, adjacent to a holloway connecting them to Brass Pan Bridge (near the present-day playing field) pre-dating 1773. Excavations have also uncovered post-Roman pottery from a number of sources including Crockerton near Warminster; Savernake Forest, Marlborough; Laverstock and Verwood near Salisbury, and Bath; thus indicating other movements and occupation in and around Bulkington. There are several green lanes now used as bridle paths that run close to the village including The Drove that extends to Marston, Worton and Erlestoke. The lane that leads to the Drove, across Brass Pan Bridge, carried on itself to the former hamlet known as Folly Green. There are also other tracks towards Keevil and the surrounding area. With a possible pottery production centre at Potterne and the proximity to the River Avon at Melksham, joined by the aforementioned brooks, Bulkington was in no means isolated. This is exemplified by several examples of folklore from the village including links with the giant said to have lived at the Barge Inn, Seend Cleeve, and "Turpin's Stone" which lies by Pentry Bridge, depicting an inscription said to have run: "Dick Turpin's dead and gone,  This stone's put here to think upon."This camera was installed and is maintained by the Environment Agency and can be viewed here. All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0