The village of Wilcot nestles at the foot of the Marlborough downs in the heart of the Pewsey Vale. It is a delightful place with thatched stone cottages in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Kennet and Avon Canal runs through the village. The name Wilcot is derived from the Anglo-Saxon ‘wil’ meaning good or pleasant and ‘cote’ meaning habitation or dwelling. Thus ‘wil-cote’ would be ‘the pleasant abode’.
Holy Cross Church was built along with a manor house early enough to feature in the Domesday book, along with it's vineyard, and the manor was the only private house in Wiltshire to merit a mention in this record. It is thought that the earliest manor was used as a monastic institution, housing visiting clergy who held services in the church. It has since been virtually rebuilt but it is possible that the refectory and some cells for monks are identifiable in the present building.
Towards the end of the Twelfth Century the church was reconstructed but it still retains some Norman features and a curious squint in the chancel which at one time held water. In 1876, the church was gutted by fire but rebuilt with some changes, the following year.
The Golden Swan is the third inn to be built in the village. The first was probably near the cross roads at Cross Hayes and was apparently destroyed by fire in around 1746. The second was built in what is now a paddock in Back Lane in 1752 and the Golden Swan, which replaced it in 1859, has one of the steepest thatched roofs in Wiltshire.
The present shape of the village evolved from two dramatic events. The first was the building of the Kennet and Avon canal, opened in 1816 and the second resulted from the building of Stowell Park, when a number of cottages there were moved to surround what is now the Green.
The village school was closed in 1969 and was purchased by the village to serve as a village hall.
