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There is a popular supposition locally that Silverley was a plague village and rather than the population migrating to Ashley, they all died. In fact, both these theories can be disproved, although the records become confusing to say the least. We have already suggested that in 1291 Silverley was 3 times the size of Ashley, but to simply accept this on the face of the valuations would be wrong as I cannot state the criteria on which they are based. It is a guideline and in the absence of any other, it’s the best comparison we have. During the 13th Century the Knights Hospitallers of Chippenham accumulated property in Ashley and Silverley until nearly half their lands came to lie in these 2 villages and in 1338 these lands were considered to form a separate estate.
Given that Kirtling was a very important village at the time perhaps we can start to see why the Normans took such an interest in the area. 14th Century tax returns refer to “Ashley-cum-Silverley” and the Poll Tax of 1377 shows 116 taxpayers, evidence of growth within both communities.
Unfortunately, we now have to jump a hundred years or so because there is little material concerning the villages during the later Middle Ages, but the lay subsidy (1522-24) recorded 36 heads of households, the Bishop’s return (1603), 120 communicants and the Hearth Tax of 1666 and 1674 recording 43 householders and 41 householders respectively. All this translates to about 200 inhabitants, more evidence of growth.
So far we’ve said nothing about movement of population and the reason for this is simple. There are no records of migration between the 2 centres and the gradual decline of Silverley can only be guessed at from church records. There is definite evidence both St Mary’s and All Saints were both in use between 1516 and 1564 with 9 requests for burial at Ashley and 5 at Silverley. There is one very interesting burial request. In 1516 Thomas Lancaster asked to be buried within the church “In the aisle before the Trinity alter”. This implies the presence of more than 1 alter and perhaps side aisles to house them, suggesting All Saints was bigger and more important than it should have been for such a small village.
On the other hand, George Boissier, writing in 1827 before the area was planted, said the church had consisted of a nave, chancel and north and south porches. Perhaps the areas referred to as the north and south porches could have housed extra alters. A geophysical survey of the site might yield fascinating results. The last request for burial at Silverley seems to be that of John Colet in 1564.
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