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Brief History of All Cannings, Wiltshire

The earliest settlement was on the downs above the village with the Neolithic enclosure at Rybury Camp. This was also used as a camp in the Iron Age. There is also evidence of Bronze Age settlement between Rybury Camp and the current village, and also of Roman settlement in the same area.

Rybury Camp with All Cannings in the sunlight in the Vale beyond (AFCG, Sept 2001)

A village probably existed on the current site in the Vale by the 10th Century - the invading Danes referred to Canning Marsh (probably the area to the north and west of the village, still known as the 'moor') in 1010. The name All Cannings derives from Old Canning.

There was a church from the early 13th Century - the earliest features in the current All Saints' church are late Norman. By the 14th Century the village had grown to a considerable size, relative to the area, and there was a significant mill running on the Moor Brook. This had gone by the 18th Century.

The Kennet & Avon Canal (now just a leisure amenity) was built to carry goods between Bristol and London from 1796-1810. It is just north of the village.

Its population peaked around 1841 when the census showed 663 inhabitants. It is only just getting back to that level thanks to recent housing development.

More detail and colour on All Cannings' history can be found at Wiltshire County Council's: Wiltshire: A History of its Landscape and People