WELCOME TO EASTON ROYAL

In the 9th century when King Alfred was preparing to fend off marauding Vikings, a series of tracks were carved out of the countryside to enable access for his armies. These tracks were known as herepaths, or ‘army paths’, and in more peaceful times began to be extensively used by travellers and hauliers, eventually becoming viapublica – roads maintained at central government expense.

One such herepath ran between Pewsey and Hungerford. Soon tuns (homesteads) and settlements along its length grew to be highly dispersed agricultural communities, dependent for their existence on commons such as Savernake.

The tuns of Estun (Easton), its neighbour Middle Tun (Milton Lilbourne), together with a more western settlement somewhere in the vicinity of Pewsey, were not recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, but may at that time have been part of the large estate of Wootton owned by King William. At least four religious institutions held land in Easton in the Middle Ages. This may indicate that there was an earlier Saxon monastery nearby, or simply reflect endowments by the king and a wealthy elite.

So where did the ‘Royal’ come from? The name results from the mistaken antiquarian belief that Henry VIII had made the village church a royal donative - a living wholly outside the jurisdiction of the bishop and controlled by a royal appointee.  This classy but erroneous affix has stuck and remains unofficial.

At the start of 2021, the village consisted of 111 houses accommodating a population of around 230.  The main street is a road of half a mile in length, flanked by houses and dividing at the southern end into two ancient chalk tracks. Both rise on opposite sides of Easton Hill and Easton Clump to the downs and beyond to Salisbury Plain. Although originally a village dependent on agriculture for its existence, only three out of eight working farms in the early 1900s survived into the next century.

Easton Royal is a rural community much like any other, relying on villagers to support the functions of parish, school, church, hall, pub, together with a myriad of ad hoc activities. But our history and the people who have lived here are not like any other. This website has been compiled from village archive material with the intention to capture and celebrate that unique heritage.

Elizabeth Johnson - Chair, Easton Royal Heritage Group

Committee Members: Ray and Carole Choules, Colin Edwards, Julie Farrell, Ian Johnson, Judith McLain.