The civil parish covers 2,696 acres (1,091 hectares), and has long east-west and short north-south axes, stretching from the downs west of the River Avon to the watershed of the Avon and Till rivers in the east. Most of it is chalk downland, but there is some alluvial gravel deposited around the river. The village was formerly in two parts based around two manors: East End and West End. The East End was in the vicinity of Bulford Road, while the West End was based at the High Street. These streets are aligned north and south and the church is set between them, in the north of the village. The East/West dichotomy was brought to an end with the construction of a large council estate centred on Coronation Road during the 1950s between the East and West Ends. Therefore, it would be better to say that the village is, nowadays, divided into a North End and South End: the North contains the old, pre-20th-century village, with expensive, mainly thatched houses, whereas the South contains the council houses (many of which are now privately owned).