Nomenclature

The name "Wilcot" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon wil, meaning good, well or pleasant, and cote or cot meaning habitation or dwelling. Thus wil-cote would be "the pleasant abode." Or, if wil is used for wyll, a well, it would be "the dwelling at the well." Cot is also found in Draycot, derived from drei - three, cot - habitations. Draycot was previously a separate Manor.

Parish History

The first known mention of Wilcot is dated AD 964 in a grant made by Edmund the Elder of the Manor of Pevesie (Pewsey) to Hyde Abbey The designated boundary includes mention of the "ford at Wilcot".

Domesday Book 1085

"In the hundred of Swanborough are 183 hides & one and an half virgates. Of this the Barons have 70 hides, one and an half virg. The King of the land of King Harold has 25 hides, 3 virg in demesne. Edward the Sheriff has 7 hides; Bishop Geofrey 4 hides;.. And for 83 hides, 3 virgates are paid to the King £25.2.9...." (hide and virgate are land areas).

Among the Manors are:

"Wilcot. Edward of Saresbury (= Salisbaury) holds Wilcot of the King .. Here is a new Church, a magnificent mansion and a good vineyard." (Wilcot is the only house in Wiltshire that King William's officials thought worthy of mentioning in Domesday Book.)
"Draicote. The Bishop of Constance holds Draicote, and Roger of him."

From later documents (Chart or Patricius AD 1169 and Monasticon Ab 1256), we can learn that Edward's estates were divided between his two children, Walter and Matilda. Wilcot went to Walter, who founded Bradenstoke Priory and endowed it with land in Wilcot. (Bradenstoke is 14 miles north west of Wilcot.)

Patronage

At the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Manor of Wilcot was granted to William Alleyne, who sold it to John Berwick seven years later. Edward VI (1547 - 53) granted the church of Wilcot to the same John Berwick, who died in 1574.

His tomb is in the chancel, where it is recorded that his daughter Anne married Sir Thomas Wroughton. Hence the Wroughtons became Patrons of the living and held this to the beginning of this century. One of the Wroughtons, Sir Giles, was a personal friend of Oliver Cromwell, who often visited Wilcot.

Figgares Field

There were several cottages here belonging to the estate. If any in the village misbehaved themselves, they were sent there to "Coventry." They were bought by Miss Susannah Wroughton, last Lady of the Manor. Her sister, Charlotte had married in the Montagu family in 1783, which subsequently inherited the estate.

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