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THE TOPOGRAPHY OF BURBAGE

The village of Burbage lies at the extreme eastern end of the Vale of Pewsey, a very fertile region which acts as the catchment area for the Salisbury Avon although no river actually runs west-east. The vale runs between chalk downs rising in places to 289 metres, which are part of the North Wessex Downs that range northwards from Salisbury Plain to the Thames valley. To the east of Burbage the Kennet valley cuts through the Downs so that effectively Burbage lies on a connecting ridge of higher ground about 18 kilometres wide with the Marlborough Downs to the north and the Hampshire Downs to the south, (Map I).

The fertile soil of the Pewsey Vale is formed by the drift deposits plus the clay downwash from the Lower Chalk covering the Upper Greensand covering the Upper Greensand which forms the basis of the Vale. Although Burbage does not lie on the Vale floor, the Upper Greensand still reaches the surface, not being covered by the chalk again until a point 4 kilometres east of the village. To the north of Burbage there is an extensive, undulating plateau of clay with flints cut into by sloping dry-valleys on which Savernake Forest now stands.

The parish forms to the west of Burbage in the Vale itself reflect the nature of the land and its differing potential. They tend to be linear so that each settlement has land on the chalk downland for sheep grazing, on the clay downwash for arable, on the greensand for pasture and a water supply emerging in springs at the base of the chalk. While the present parish of Burbage is linear, its land utilization does not exhibit quite the same pattern. The only downland lies in the southwest of the parish - to the southeast the land is level and the same height as the village. Arable and pasture land is mixed around the village and further eastwards the amount of arable increases. It is unlikely that the area of forest ever supported agriculture and therefore I would suggest that this plateau has always been waste/wooded. The surface water in the parish is basically ponds although the River Bourne rises in the south. Until recent times the village water supply was from wells. There was a stream running along where the canal now runs but this was obviously diverted for the construction of the latter.

The topography of the area means that effectively Burbage is at the cross-roads of the north-south, west-east routes. Situated as it is on a well-drained ridge of land, routes can avoid the problem encountered further west, of picking a way through the downs. In addition to the south, the River Bourne provides a route along the edge of Salisbury Plain. The present west-east route runs along Pewsey vale from Devizes skirting the edge of the downs and having reached Burbage it cuts up to Hungerford to join the Kennet valley and follows that natural route to Reading. The canal and railway running from Bath to London follow the lowest stretch of the Vale and were probably avoided in earlier times because of the disadvantages of low-lying, wet ground.

To turn to the site of Burbage itself - as said before it lies on a ridge of land which falls away steeply to the northwest, north and northeast, giving the impression of a dome, (Plate 1). Indeed, it has been suggested that the name of the village directly relates to the topography insofar as in its earliest form, Burhbece, the "burh" element is taken to refer to the Burhstrete along which the village now stretches and the "bece" element to refer to the ridge of land on which it stands. Alternatively the "bece" element could refer to a stream of which there are several in the parish, although none obviously close to the area of occupation. The land around the village is very exposed although less so around Eastcourt, but the soil is extremely fertile. However, while this was an advantage perhaps the greatest incentive for settlement on this site was connected with its potential in relation to trade-routes.

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