Wilsford is a small village and civil parish in the Vale of Pewsey in the English county of Wiltshire, about southwest of Pewsey. The Salisbury Avon forms part of the northern boundary of the parish. To the south, beyond the A342 from Devizes to Upavon, the parish extends onto Salisbury Plain. History Evidence of prehistoric activity on the high ground of Wilsford Down includes a round barrow, next to the ancient Ridgeway track which marks the southern boundary of the modern parish. Nearby is a series of banks and ditches of uncertain date. To the west of the village is evidence of a henge enclosure known as Wilsford Henge, although it can only be seen as a cropmark in aerial photographs. Excavations of the site began in 2015. The ancient parish had two tithings: Wilsford and Manningford Bohune, a detached area some to the east. The latter became a separate civil parish in 1871 and is now part of Manningford parish. In 1377, Wilsford had 77 taxpayers and Manningford Bohune 43. The population peaked in the mid 19th century, with around 300 at Wilsford and 280 at Manningford. Numbers at Wilsford halved by the end of that century, and continued to fall; 1971, when Wilsford had a population of 100, the Wiltshire Victoria County History described it as "remote and undeveloped". Wilsford village developed near the river, along an east–west road which linked nearby villages. The Devizes to Upavon road – turnpiked in the 1760s and now the A342 – takes a more southerly route, towards the slope of the Plain. In 1897 the War Department bought the land south of the road for inclusion in the military training area. Today the lower parts are leased to farmers while the higher ground is within the Salisbury Plain Training Area. A school was built in 1848 and educated children of all ages until 1934. The building was demolished after the school closed in 1965; the nearest primary school is at Rushall. Manors Domesday Book has no separate entry for Wilsford; in 1086 the estate was held by Ælfric of Melksham and mortgaged to Edward of Salisbury. Edward gave it to his daughter Maud and her husband Humphrey de Bohun, and it remained in that family who were later Earls of Hereford. In 1421 the estate passed to Anne, Countess of Stafford whose son Humphrey was made Duke of Buckingham. On the