Oare, Wiltshire

Oare was anciently a tithing of Wilcot parish. With effect from May 2021, the parishes of Wilcot and Huish were merged to form the parish of Wilcot, Huish and Oare.

The area is popular with walkers and the Mid Wilts Way long-distance footpath passes through the village.[1] The Giant's Grave at the eastern edge of the village offers views over the village and Vale of Pewsey.[2]

A heart-shaped tree plantation was created in 1999, below Huish Hill in the southeast of Huish parish, near Oare.[3] The heart is a geoglyph, but not a hill figure like the many surrounding "white horses" such as the Marlborough White Horse.

Holy Trinity church

The Goodman family inherited the Oare House estate in 1796 and held it until it was broken up in 1893.[4] In 1857–8 Mrs M Goodman, widow of Reverend Maurice Hillier Goodman who had been vicar of Wilcot, paid for the construction of the Church of the Holy Trinity on a site west of Oare House, as a chapel of ease for Wilcot.[5] She engaged the prolific architect S. S. Teulon, who designed an apsed church in Romanesque style, mostly in red brick with some mildly contrasting colours. The nave and chancel are under one tiled roof, and there is a south porch and west bellcote.[6]

An ecclesiastical parish was created for the church in 1892, formed from part of Wilcot parish together with areas which had been detached parts of Alton Priors chapelry (in Overton parish), Huish and North Newnton.[7]

In 1924 the benefices of Huish and Oare were united, with the parsonage house to be at Huish.[8] Wilcot was added in 1962.[9] In 1972 the parishes of Huish and Oare were united and a team ministry was established for the local area.[10] Today the church is part of the Vale of Pewsey Churches, a group of 16 churches.[11]

Oare House, built in 1740 on the western edge of the village, is Grade I listed.[12] It was largely remodelled in the early 1920s by Portmeirion architect Clough Williams-Ellis. Its gardens, which include a summerhouse also designed by Williams-Ellis,[13] are listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[14] To the west of the gardens stands the Oare Pavilion, completed in 2003 and the only British building designed by I. M. Pei.[15]

At the northern edge of the village is Rainscombe House, built circa 1810 and Grade II listed.[16] Its grounds, in the valley between Oare Hill and Martinsell Hill, are the location for the annual Wiltshire Steam and Vintage Rally, held in June or July.[17]

Oare Church of England Primary School was built in 1914 in the north of the village, replacing an 1850s building near the church.[18] Pupils came from a wider area after 1969 when falling pupil numbers led to the closure of Wilcot school.[19] The school at Oare was remodelled and extended in 2003.[18]

The Giant's Grave, aka the Devil's Grave

• "Wilcot and Huish with Oare Parish Council". Retrieved 30 August 2017.
• "Oare village website". Retrieved 30 August 2017.

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