SAVERNAKE FOREST, a chapelry and an ancientforest in Marlborough district, Wilts. The chapelry is in Great Bedwin parish; lies 2 miles N W of Bedwin r.station, and 4½ S E by E of Marlborough; and was constituted in 1864. Post-town, Hungerford. Pop., 465. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, not reported. Patron, the Marquis of Ailesbury. The ancient forest includes the chapelry; comprises adomain of 16 miles in circuit; retains much of its ancientsylvan character; displays a grandeur of forest sceneryhighly interesting to artists; formed part of the jointure of Queen Eleanor; passed to the Seymours, Dukes of Somerset; went by marriage, in 1676, to the Bruces; and belongs now to the Marquis of Ailesbury. S. F. House, formerly called Tottenham Park, is the Marquis'sseat. A column, seen through a long vista from the Nfront of the mansion, crowns a lofty height, and was erected in 1789 to commemorate events in the life of George III.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))