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{{short description|Village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
| official_name = Tilshead
| static_image_name = Village scene, Tilshead - geograph.org.uk - 2454394.jpg
| static_image_caption = The Rose and Crown [[public house]] and Tilshead Baptist Chapel, Tilshead
| label_position =
| coordinates = {{coord|51.230|-1.951|type:city(500)_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference = SU035379
| population = 358
| population_ref = (in 2011)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11129712&c=SP3+4SD&d=16&e=62&g=6476341&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1426515359011&enc=1|title=Parish population 2011|publisher=Office for National Statistics|access-date=16 March 2015}}</ref>
| civil_parish =
| unitary_england = [[Wiltshire Council|Wiltshire]]
| lieutenancy_england = [[Wiltshire]]
| region = South West England
| country = England
| constituency_westminster = [[East Wiltshire (UK Parliament constituency)|East Wiltshire]]
| post_town = Salisbury
| postcode_district = SP3
| postcode_area = SP
| dial_code = 01980
| website = [https://tilsheadvillage.com/ Parish Council]
}}
'''Tilshead''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɪ|l|s|h|ɛ|d}}) is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the county of [[Wiltshire]] in Southern England, about {{Convert|9|mi||abbr=}} northwest of the town of [[Amesbury]]. It is close to the geographical centre of [[Salisbury Plain]], on the [[A360 road]] approximately midway between the villages of [[Shrewton]] and [[West_Lavington,_Wiltshire|West Lavington]] and is near the source of the [[River Till (Wiltshire)|River Till]]. Its population in 2011 was 358, down from a peak of 989 inhabitants in 1951.<ref>{{cite web|title=Census|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Census?communityId=224|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref>

==History==
Salisbury Plain has much evidence of prehistoric activity. One kilometre south of Tilshead village, under the ridge of Copehill Down, is the [[White Barrow]],<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1018159|desc=White Barrow|access-date=9 June 2020}}</ref> a large [[Neolithic British Isles|Neolithic]] [[long barrow]]. To the southwest<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1017940|desc=Two boundary features|access-date=9 June 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and southeast are ancient boundary ditches, partly followed by the parish boundary;<ref name="vch" /> the ditch in the southeast has a long barrow next to it.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1009297|desc=Long barrow and Old Ditch linear earthwork, on Tilshead Down|access-date=9 June 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

The name of the settlement derives from "Theodwulf's hide".<ref name="vch" /> In 1086, ''Tydolveshyde'' or ''Tidolthide'' was a [[borough]] and large royal estate, with a relatively large population of 164 households and nine mills.<ref name="vch">{{cite web|author-last1=Baggs|author-first1=A.P.|year=1995|editor-last=Crowley|editor-first=D.A.|title=Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 15 pp263-275 – Parishes: Tilshead|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol15/pp263-275|access-date=7 June 2020|website=British History Online|publisher=University of London|author-first2=Jane|author-last2=Freeman|author-first3=Janet H|author-last3=Stevenson}}</ref><ref>{{OpenDomesday|SU0347|tilshead|Tilshead}}</ref> The [[tithing]] of South Tilshead was a [[Manorialism|manor]] of [[Romsey Abbey]] until the [[dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolution of the monasteries]], and came to be a detached part of the [[hundred (county subdivision)|hundred]] of [[Whorwellsdown (hundred)|Whorwellsdown]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol8/pp193-197|title=Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 8 pp193-197 - The Hundred of Whorwellsdown|date=1965|website=British History Online|publisher=University of London|access-date=11 July 2017}}</ref>

The name Tilshead came into use in the 16th century. The river was called the Winterbourne until around the start of the 20th century, when the name River Till began to be used on [[Ordnance Survey]] maps.<ref name="vch" />

The village has houses from the 17th and 18th centuries, some thatched.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1284629|desc=Dean and Chapter House|access-date=9 June 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> Tilshead House, on the High Street, is a three-storey house of the early 19th century, in red brick.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1023971|desc=Tilshead House|access-date=9 June 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

[[Tilshead Lodge]] was built in the early 18th century to the southwest of the village, then rebuilt c. 1800. The estate was used for racehorse training in the early 19th and early 20th centuries, then was sold to the [[War Office]] in 1911 and 1933. The house was demolished sometime after 1957.<ref name="vch" />

==Local government==
The civil parish elects a [[Parish councils in England|parish council]]. It is in the area of [[Wiltshire Council]], a [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]] which is responsible for all significant local government functions.

==Religious sites==

=== Parish church ===
[[File:Tilshead,_St_Thomas_a_Becket,_Wiltshire_-_geograph.org.uk_-_145932.jpg|thumb|Church of St Thomas à Becket]]
There was a church at Tilshead in the early 12th century,<ref name="vch" /> possibly since Saxon times.<ref>{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Church of St. Thomas à Beckett, Tilshead|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1438|url-status=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=13 June 2020|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council}}</ref> The three-bay north and south arcades with their square piers are from that period, and the font bowl is also from that century.<ref>{{cite web|title=St Thomas a Becket, Tilshead|url=https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?key=WXsiUCI6eyJUZXJtcyI6IlRpbHNoZWFkIn0sIkYiOiJleUowSWpwYk5sMTkifQ&WINID=1591719070323#SWhqkkzE71UAAAFymdl9ag/10168|access-date=12 June 2020|website=Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture|publisher=King's College London}}</ref>

The chancel was rebuilt in the mid-13th century, and were renovations in the 17th and 18th centuries included re-roofing it. [[Thomas Henry Wyatt|T.H. Wyatt]] and [[David Brandon (architect)|D. Brandon]] directed restoration in 1845-6 which added the south porch and north vestry, and there was further work in 1904. The church is built in flint and limestone, partly chequered, and has a low central tower with a small conical roof; it was recorded as [[Grade I listed]] in 1958.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1023968|desc=Church of St. Thomas a Becket|access-date=12 June 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> The three bells were cast in 1764 by [[Bilbie family|Thomas Bilbie I]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Tilshead|url=http://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?DoveID=TILSHEAD|access-date=12 June 2020|website=Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers}}</ref>

Income from the church went to [[Ivychurch Priory]] near Salisbury from 1317. The dedication to St Thomas is first recorded in 1763;<ref name="vch" /> it may come from the link with Ivychurch, as it is thought that the saint stayed at the priory during the [[Council of Clarendon]] in 1164.<ref>{{cite web|title=Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 3 pp289-295 - Houses of Augustinian canons: Priory of Ivychurch|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol3/pp289-295|access-date=12 June 2020|website=British History Online|publisher=University of London|editor-first1=R.B.|editor-last1=Pugh|editor-first2=Elizabeth|editor-last2=Crittall}}</ref>

A plain-fronted vicarage was built in red brick to the west of the church in 1818,<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1023969|desc=Old Vicarage|access-date=13 June 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> and sold c.1972.<ref name=vch /> In 1971 the benefice was united with those of [[Chitterne]] and [[Orcheston]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=45435 |date=19 July 1971|page=8137}}</ref> Today the parish forms part of the Salisbury Plain benefice, which also encompasses the churches at [[Shrewton]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Tilshead|url=https://salisburyplainbenefice.com/tilshead/|website=Salisbury Plain Benefice|date=|access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref>

=== Others ===
A small redbrick [[Baptists Together|Baptist]] chapel was built next to the main road in 1882<ref>{{cite web|title=Baptist Chapel, Tilshead|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1440|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref> and closed in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tilshead Baptist Chapel|url=http://www.tilsheadvillage.com/baptist.shtml|publisher=Tilshead Parish Council}}</ref>

== Amenities ==
Tilshead has a primary school, St Thomas à Becket C of E (Aided) Primary School,<ref>{{cite web|title=St Thomas à Becket C of E (Aided) Primary School - Tilshead|url=http://www.st-thomas-a-becket.wilts.sch.uk/|access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref> which was built next to the church in 1905.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tilshead School|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1399|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref>

There is a [[pub]] – the Rose and Crown, a 17th-century building<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1182208|desc=Rose and Crown Inn|access-date=9 June 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> – and a village hall.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tilshead Village Hall|url=http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Showcharity/RegisterOfCharities/CharityWithoutPartB.aspx?RegisteredCharityNumber=266014&SubsidiaryNumber=0|publisher=Charity Commission|access-date=31 May 2015}}</ref>

The whole length of the [[River Till SSSI, Wiltshire|River Till]] (which is a [[Winterbourne (stream)|winterbourne]], dry for much of the year) is a [[biological Site of Special Scientific Interest]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=River Till SSSI|url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S2000431|url-status=|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=9 June 2020|website=[[Natural England]]}}</ref>

==Military land==
Much of Salisbury Plain is used by the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] for military training. '''Westdown Camp''', {{convert|0.4|mi|km}} to the east of the village, is an accommodation centre for the [[Salisbury Plain Training Area]].

[[RAF Tilshead]], to the southwest of the village, was in use from 1925 to 1941.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|title=Tilshead|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/224|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=31 May 2015}}
* [https://www.tilsheadvillage.com/ Parish website]

{{Commons category-inline}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Wiltshire]]

Tilshead - Revision history

imported>Keith D: Change {{EngvarB}} to {{use British English}}