Baverstock

Baverstock is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Dinton, in Wiltshire, England, about 7 miles (11 km) west of Salisbury. The village has 10 private dwellings, a church and several farm buildings. The manor of Hurdcott, a hamlet of a few houses, lies to the southwest of the village (not to be confused with Hurdcott near Winterbourne Earls). In 1931 the parish had a population of 43. The name Baverstock derives from the Old English Babbastoc meaning 'Babba's place'. To the north of the village is cultivated chalk downland and extensive mixed woodland. To the south the village is bordered by the River Nadder meandering through water meadows. The road through the village from the B3089 terminates in unmetalled farm track. Baverstock civil parish was reduced in size when its southeast part, including Hurdcott hamlet, was transferred to Barford St Martin on 24 March 1884; the whole of Baverstock parish was absorbed into Dinton on 1 April 1934. North of the village lies Baverstock Juniper Bank, a 2.6 hectares (6.4 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at grid reference SU035336.