Mere, a parish to be covered by Volume 19.
The newly published Wiltshire VCH volume on Chippenham and its environs is no 20 in the series, and we are told that it is the first to be published since the volume on Cricklade and its environs appeared back in 2011. The Cricklade volume is no 18. So, what has happened to volume 19?
Back in 2013, when there were still permanent staff working on the WVCH, they were reporting that they were “in the final stages of research and writing for VCH Wiltshire Volume 19: Longleat and the Deverills. The volume will be submitted to VCH Central Office for editing in late 2013”. Two researchers, Victoria Bainbridge and Alex Craven, were employed as lecturers by the University of the West of England, funded by Wiltshire Council. But, that spring, the staff learnt that Wiltshire Council was no longer able to fund their employment and that their redundancies were to be negotiated.
The story of how the Wiltshire VCH Trust was set up to carry forwards the VCH in Wiltshire, leading to production of the Chippenham volume, has been told in another blog. What about volume 19? VCH Headquarters in London (the Institute of Historical Research in the University of London) agreed to finish off the work which the researchers thought was in its final stages. Fortunately, they received a legacy which they were able to ringfence for use to pay for this finishing off. Less fortunately, it turned out that there was more to be done than had been realised.
The work so far done was reviewed and it was decided to refocus the volume into one centred on Mere, leaving the area around Heytesbury for a future volume; and that further work was needed to revise and expand the work already done. The volume as now conceived will include histories of 11 ancient parishes. Longleat is covered in the chapters on two parishes, Horningsham (principally) and Longbridge Deverill. The 11 parishes lie together in a contiguous block forming the south-west corner of Wiltshire. As originally conceived the volume would also have included the parish of Compton Chamberlayne because it anciently fell within the hundred of South Damerham, along with several of the Deverill parishes included in the volume. But Compton Chamberlayne lies well to the east, surrounded by parishes of Cawdon and Cadworth hundred, so it will now be covered in the volume on that hundred, on which research has not yet begun.
Other commitments at VCH Headquarters have slowed progress. But Adam Chapman at VCH Headquarters is now leading the work, with several others also involved (including, from the old team, Alex Craven) and it is approaching completion. Publication of the volume is now expected in 2028.
That, in brief, is why volume 19 will be appearing after volume 20. This may seem rather odd but it emphasises the significance of funding in carrying on the work of completing the VCH. If you would like to help in ensuring that we can do this, please consider making a donation. There is a button on this page. Your donation will help us complete research on volume 21 and pave the way for the remaining four volumes. But, so far as volume 19 is concerned, the important thing is that the work is now nearly done and we can look forward to its publication pretty soon.