Aldbourne, a large village and a parish in Wiltshire. The village stands 5 miles from Ogbourn St George station on the L. & S.W.R., and 7 from Hungerford on the G.W.R. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office (Aldbourne, R.S.O.), and was formerly a market-town; but it suffered great devastation by fire in 1760, and has never recovered its old prosperity. Aldbourne Chase, adjacent to it on the W, was a favourite hunting-ground of King John, given by Henry VIII. to the Duke of Somerset, and the scene of the defeat of the Parliamentarians under the Earl of Essex, by the Royal forces under Prince Rupert, but it is now inclosed and cultivated. The parish comprises 8490 acres; population, 1319. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; value, £309. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. The church is ancient, has Norman features and brasses, and has been restored. The church was built chiefly by John of Gaunt, has a noble tower, and a full ring of bells. Part of the parsonage is supposed to be a remnant of the ancient royal hunting-seat. Remains of an ancient British encampment occur near a farmhouse called Pierce's Lodge. There are chapels for Baptists, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, and some good schools.
