16th-century pulpit and five 17th-century bells are also from the earlier church. 18th-century tombs remain in the disused churchyard of the former church, some 150 metres to the northeast. 20th century The Stert and Westbury Railway was built through the parish by the Great Western Railway Company in 1900, providing routes from London to Weymouth or Taunton. There was a station at Lavington, from Erlestoke by road. It was closed in 1967 and no local stations remain; the nearest railway stations are Pewsey and Westbury. In the 1930s, the War Office purchased of land in the parish, for accommodation for personnel undergoing training in the area. The Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map of 1958 shows many small buildings south of the road, opposite Erlestoke House; although the access tracks remain, the buildings are no longer standing. The Army's Senior Officer's School moved into Erlestoke House in 1939, and continued in the wings after the central part was seriously damaged by a fire in 1950. Since 1960 the site has been occupied by prison establishments which became HM Prison Erlestoke, with several additional buildings constructed around the house. Local government Erlestoke has an elected parish council. It is in the area of the Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for most significant local government functions. Amenities The church is now part of the benefice of Bratton, Edington and Imber, Erlestoke, and Coulston. The Wessex Ridgeway long-distance footpath crosses Stoke Hill in the south of the parish. A former walled kitchen garden has been the home of Erlestoke and Coulston Cricket Club since 1991. Erlestoke golf course opened in 1992, west of the village. There was a pub, the George and Dragon, in a 17th-century building; it closed in April 2015. People The composer Peter Seabourne lived at Brouncker's Court Farm in Erlestoke from 1961 to 1989, studying at Clare College, Cambridge (1980–83) with Robin Holloway. The composer Anthony Scott (pupil of Gerald Finzi and Ralph Vaughan Williams) also lived in the village in the late 1980s, as did the comedians Lenny Henry and Dawn French. References Sources Map 'Explorer 143', published by the Ordnance Survey, , revised 2004. External links Erlestoke at Wiltshire Community History Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire