Collingbourne Ducis

Collingbourne Ducis is a small village and civil parish on Salisbury Plain in the English county of Wiltshire in England. It is one of several villages on the River Bourne, which is a seasonal river usually dry in summer.

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History

From the Domesday Book we know Earl Harold held the manor, and in 1256 the village was named 'Collingbourne Earls', after the Lord of the manor, the Earl of Leicester. John of Gaunt inherited the manor, became the Duke of Lancaster, and the village was thus known as Collingbourne Ducis or Dukes.

James Rawlings established The Bourne Iron Works in the village in the 1860s, where his family made agricultural implements until the outbreak of WW II.

In 1882 the village was connected to the rail network, but lost its rail connection during the 1961 dismantling of the British railway network when the Beeching report, 'Reshaping British Railways', was implemented.

In 1974 a Saxon cemetery of archeological significance was discovered in Cadley, and in 1998 a Saxon settlement was found in Saunders Meadow during the construction of a housing estate.

Surrounded by agricultural land and army ranges, many of the population now commute to city jobs.

Local Government

Collingbourne Ducis is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the areas of Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council. All three councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

In the 2002 census, the parish had a population of 849.