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Liddington is a small unremarkable village on the edge of the Marlborough Downs overlooking the town of Swindon. It is bypassed by the B4192 Swindon to Hungerford road. The ancient Ridgeway traverses the parish just north of the village and the Iron Age hill-fort known as Liddington Castle overlooks the village. Liddington Castle, locally called Liddington Camp, is a late Bronze Age and early Iron Age hill fort.
The parish church, dedicated to All Saints, is a very ancient stone structure, with a square tower containing five bells. Like many churchyards, that at Liddington has masses of naturalised primroses which are worthy of a viewing. The tower of All Saints is being restored and when finished a new ring of six bells will be installed and the original five bells left in place for the interest of future generations. The church itself was thoroughly restored and open sittings fitted in lieu of the old pews in 1850. The church contains tombs of the Abbot and Abbess of Shaftesbury, the founders of the church. Apart from the hill fort on Liddington Hill there is a relatively intact control bunker for a co-located Starfish and Quick Light (QL) site. This would have been used to control fires, which would have acted as a decoy to enemy planes targeting the town of Swindon in the second world war. Liddington is on the B4192 Swindon to Hungerford road, about 4 miles southeast of Swindon. |
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Liddington