Lea, Wiltshire

The Domesday Book of 1068 recorded a settlement of 17 households at Gardone, and land held by Malmesbury Abbey.[9] The abbey retained the land until the Dissolution when it was granted to Richard Moody, whose descendants included Sir Henry Moody MP (c.1582–1629).[3]

In 1631, the manor was bought by Sir Lawrence Washington (d. 1643), a Registrar of Chancery; his son, also Lawrence (1622–1662) was elected for Malmesbury in 1661.[10] Garsdon church has Washington family graves and a memorial; members of another branch of the family, headed by Lawrence Washington (1602–1653) are ancestors of George Washington, first President of the United States.[11] The manor passed by marriage to Sir Robert Shirley, later Earl Ferrers, in 1671; his grandson sold it to Paul Methuen in 1758, and in turn his grandson sold it in 1843 to Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, who also owned the nearby Charlton estate. The Howards sold the manor and farm in the 1930s.[3]

The manor house is from the 14th century, with additions in the 17th century and later, and is Grade II* listed.[12]

In the late 17th century the main Oxford-Bristol road ran east–west through Garsdon parish, following the ridge in the east of the parish.[3]

The boundary between Lea and Garsdon parishes followed roughly the course of the Woodbridge Brook.[3] Population of the parish peaked at 234 in 1831 and then declined, reaching 119 in 1931. Garsdon was added to Lea parish in 1934.[3]

An early chapel at Lea had been annexed to Garsdon rectory by the mid 16th century. In the earlier 20th century, Garsdon and Lea and Cleverton were considered a united benefice; in 1987 the rectory of Garsdon with Lea and Cleverton was united with Charlton vicarage.[5] Today the churches at Lea and Garsdon are part of the Woodbridge Group of six rural churches.[13]

St Giles', Lea

The church of St Giles, Lea, has a 15th-century west tower; the rest was rebuilt and enlarged during restoration in 1878.[14][15]

All Saints', Garsdon

There was a church at Garsdon in 1265.[3] The tower of All Saints' church is from the 15th and 16th centuries; the rest was rebuilt and enlarged in 1856.[16]

Calvinistic Methodists built Zion chapel in Lea village c.1808, which was rebuilt in 1861.[17] It was later used by Congregationalists and then Baptists, who continue to use it in 2018.[18]

Primitive Methodists built Jubilee Chapel at Garsdon Heath, northeast of Garsdon village, in 1860.[19] The building remained in use until the late 20th century or early 21st, but by 2012 had become a private house.[20]

Primitive Methodists also built a chapel at Cleverton in 1874, replacing an earlier chapel.[3][21] The building was still in use in 2018.[22]