Chute, Wiltshire

Chute is a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It includes the main village of Upper Chute and the smaller settlements of Lower Chute, Chute Standen and Chute Cadley.

The United Kingdom Census 2001 recorded a parish population of 336.

Local government
Chute is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority. Both councils are responsible for different aspects of local government.

Upper Chute
The Church of England parish church of Saint Nicholas is mentioned in Dean Chandler's register in 1405. It was almost completely rebuilt in the period 1869-72 to designs by John Loughborough Pearson. The old church consisted of a chancel and nave with south transept, south porch, and west timber bell turret. The walls were faced with knapped flint and supported by prominent red-brick buttresses, and the 15th century windows were replaced by new ones in 13th-century style. A vestry was built on the north side of the chancel, and the porch and the bell turret were replaced by a new south porch below a tower and a slated spire.

The Cross Keys Inn was built at the turn of the 19th century, and remained open as a public house until 2004, when its owners sought planning permission to turn it into residential property. A 'Save Our Pub' campaign was mounted by locals with the support of the Campaign for Real Ale, and in March 2006 the Cross Keys Inn reopened under new ownership.

Chute Causeway
The Chute Causeway skirts the boundary between Hampshire and Wiltshire, and is a section of the Roman Road that runs from Winchester northwest to Mildenhall (near Marlborough). This particular 2 mi stretch of road runs around the outside rim of a crescent-shaped chalkland dry valley. The road resumes its straight course as it leaves the valley rim in either direction.

Legend
During the reign of Charles II the bubonic plague struck the parishes of Chute and Vernham Dean. As the plague struck Vernham Dean a rector persuaded his parishioners to isolate themselves at the top of the hill along which Chute Causeway runs. When the time came for him to supply the food and care he had promised, the fear he had of the disease meant he didn't uphold his honour and left the villagers to die. He himself did not survive, even after the betrayal of his parishioners, as the plague also killed him. Since then his ghost has been seen to wander up the hill towards the campsite on the Causeway, still never completing the journey he never had the courage to finish.

Location
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