Biddestone is a village and civil parish in northwest Wiltshire, England, about west of Chippenham and north of Corsham. The parish includes the smaller settlement of Slaughterford. Geography The Bybrook River forms the western boundary of the parish, while the northern boundary follows approximately the Bristol to Chippenham road, now the A420. The parish is just inside the eastern boundary of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Sites of Special Scientific Interest include Honeybrook Farm and Colerne Park and Monk's Wood, both near Slaughterford. History A settlement at Bedestone, with four households, was recorded in Domesday Book in 1086. The Manor House (at the south-east entrance to the village, Grade II* listed) and Manor Farmhouse are from the 17th century, as are Pool Farmhouse and Elm Cottage (both south of the village green). Willow House, north of the green, is dated 1730: a three-storey house with a formal five-bay south front. Local government The civil parish elects a parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which is responsible for all significant local government functions. Religious sites Parish church The Church of England parish church of St Nicholas is Grade I listed. It was built in the 12th century in rubble stone, on the foundations of an older church; the south door (with a pair of columns, and a cross in the tympanum) and two windows in the chancel survive from that period, while the rest of the building dates from the 13th and 14th centuries. The east gable of the nave has a 13th-century bell-turret described as "remarkable" by Nikolaus Pevsner. Apart from changes to the windows and the 15th-century rebuilding of the chancel arch and addition of a short octagonal stone spire to the bell-turret, the church was unaltered until the mid-19th century. Then the roofs were renewed and stone from the demolition of St Peter's church was used to extend the chancel to form a sanctuary. The nave was restored in 1900. The stone font with zigzag decoration is from the 12th century, and the eroded or defaced heads at the corners of its base may be 13th-century. The panelled west gallery on thin iron columns is from the late 17th century, and the box pews are from c.1800. Sometime before 1953, the benefice was united with Slaughterford. Today the parish is part of the Bybrook Benefice, a group of ten rural