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Village in Wiltshire, England

Box is a large village and civil parish within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Wiltshire, England, about 3 mile (5 km) west of Corsham and 5 mile (8 km) northeast of Bath. Box also falls in the easternmost part of the Avon Green Belt. Besides the village of Box, the parish includes the villages of Ashley and Box Hill; Hazelbury manor; and the hamlets of Alcombe, Blue Vein, Chapel Plaister, Ditteridge, Henley, Kingsdown, Middlehill, and Wadswick. To the east the parish includes much of Rudloe, formerly a hamlet but now a housing estate, and the defence establishments and related businesses on the site of the former RAF Rudloe Manor. Occupation here dates back at least to Roman times. The area is known for its fine stone, and for centuries Box quarries were famous for their product. Today Box is perhaps better known for its Brunel designed Box railway tunnel. Box has been twinned with Sorigny, a commune in central France, since 2016.

Box lies in Wiltshire, close to the boundaries with Somerset (roughly 1.0 mile (2 km) away as the crow flies) and Gloucestershire (about 1.9 mile (3 km) away). The place where the three counties meet is marked by the Three Shire Stones. The settlements in Box are on higher ground above the steep sided valley of the Bybrook River, a tributary of the Bristol Avon. Limestone rock is found in much of the parish. Box Ground, a hard wearing variety of Bath stone, was extracted at quarries such as Box Mine which are now closed. By 2015, the remaining source of Box Ground was Hartham Park quarry at Corsham. The parish boundary follows the Bybrook in the north east, and its tributary the Lid Brook in the north west. The southern boundary of the parish follows the Roman road from Silchester to Bath. The road through Box village, descending to Bathford and Bath, was turnpiked in 1761 to provide a route from Chippenham and Corsham to Bath; this became the present A4.

Prehistoric settlements in the area were hilltop forts such as Bury Camp, 4 mile (6 km) north of present day Box village. There is evidence in the form of numerous re used standing stones that there may have been a stone circle on Kingsdown. The Romans built the Fosse Way about 2 mile (3 km) to the west. Near the present day Box church is the site of a Roman country house which was excavated during the 19th century, then in 1902–1903 by Harold Brakspear, Nothing is visible today, as the remains lie under later buildings, gardens and the churchyard. A villa such as this would have been the centre of a large estate and the focus of interest for at least six possible subsidiary villas or farmsteads at Ditteridge, Hazelbury and Shockerwick (near Bathford) and those further afield at Colerne, Atworth, and Bradford on Avon. In 1086 the Domesday Book recorded 25 households at Hazelbury and six at Ditteridge. The earliest record of Box is from 1144 when Humphrey II de Bohun was a landowner.

Early documented forms of the name include (Latin) Bocza and (English) Bocks, Boekes, and even Books. "The origin is very obscure" (Kidston). Local lore that the name is derived from the Box bush Buxus sempervirens is improbable. There is no supporting evidence at all, and Buxus is not native to the area. There is, however, a connection with beech: Box (Wilts), Box (Glos), Box Hill (Surrey), and places such as Boscombe (Wilts) and Le Bosc (France) all feature extensive beech woods growing on various limestones.

Stone found in the archaeological investigation of Box Roman Villa is of local origin and Roman masonry may be seen at the base of the wall between the church of St. Thomas a Becket and Box House. Legend has it that St Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury (c. 639–709) threw his glove on Box Hill, saying, "dig here and you will find treasure". Box stone was used for the construction of Malmesbury Abbey in the late 7th century. Stone quarried in the parish was used in the late 12th and early 13th centuries for the abbeys at Stanley and Lacock, and in the 15th and 16th for Great Chalfield Manor and Longleat House. The peak period for quarrying was between 1880 and 1909 when millions of tons of stone was cut. The quarries continued working until 1969. where the Box Ground stratum has been re encountered at a lower level in the Hartham quarry, from which the stone for the obelisk at the Box Rock Circus (below) was extracted.

RAF Rudloe Manor, a headquarters site handling intelligence and directing operations, was established in the far east of the parish in 1940. Until 1945, critical functions were housed underground in a worked out quarry, Brown's Quarry, to the north of Tunnel Quarry. Underground in the same area, Spring Quarry was requisitioned in 1940 in order to create a shadow factory for aircraft engine manufacture, following the bombing of the Bristol Aeroplane Company at Filton. Construction took longer than expected and little production was achieved before the site closed in 1945. Artist Olga Lehmann was invited to paint murals in the workers' eating areas; in 2013 these were designated as Grade II* listed. Between the late 1950s and 2004, Spring Quarry served as the Central Government War Headquarters, a self sufficient government headquarters for use in the event of a nuclear conflict. Box Mine became a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1991.

The civil parish elects a parish council. It is in the area of Wiltshire Council unitary authority, which performs all significant local government functions. The parish falls within the Box and Colerne electoral ward, which starts in the south at Box and stretches north to Colerne. The ward's population taken at the 2011 census was 5,200. Brian Mathew has represented the ward on Wiltshire Council since May 2017.

There were Saxon churches at Ditteridge and Hazelbury, and possibly at Box. The Church of St Thomas à Becket in Box has 12th century origins. Alterations were made in the 14th century and a bell chamber and octagonal spire in the "decorated" style were added to the Norman tower in the 15th. Further restoration began in 1713, and in 1831 the church was extended with a south aisle; the interior was restored in 1896–7 by H. W. Brakspear. In 1960, the building was designated as Grade I listed. The church of St Christopher, Ditteridge stands over a former Saxon church. It was rebuilt by the Normans and re dedicated in 1087. It consists of a single nave and chancel and is Grade I listed. The church of All Saints, Hazelbury fell into disuse before 1540. It stood on a knoll in an area north of Hazelbury Manor shown on the 17th century map as "Olde Church Feilde". Excavation by Kidston in the early 20th century indicated a single cell church with a semi circular apse at the east end. The stone sarcophagi now at St Thomas a Becket came from here. Kidston notes that carved masonry from the church was re used in Hazelbury Manor. Chapel Plaister has a small roadside church, rebuilt in 1340 and linked to a hostel for travellers; it is also Grade I listed. The location of the Chapel of St David at Fogham mentioned in Kidston An adjacent hall and Sunday school, opened in 1907, were sold for residential use in 2001. Methodist chapels were also established at Box Hill (1867) and Kingsdown (1869, rebuilt 1926). Both closed in 1967 and the congregations joined with Box church.

Box parish has 232 listed buildings, more than many Wiltshire parishes. Three churches are listed at Grade I: St Thomas at Box, St Christopher at Ditteridge and Chapel Plaister. Also Grade I listed is Hazelbury Manor, about 0.6 mile (1 km) west of Box village: built around a 15th century hall, enlarged in the next century and again enlarged and partly rebuilt in the 1920s. The Grade II* listed houses are Hill House Farmhouse at Middlehill, 16th and 17th century; Coles Farmhouse at Alcombe in the north west of the parish, mid 17th century; Drewett's Mill on the By Brook below Box Hill, mid 18th century; Cheyney Court, Ditteridge, early 17th century; and Rudloe Manor, to the east near Corsham, four bays, late 17th century with an attached 15th century element. Both portals of Middlehill Tunnel and the west portal of Box Tunnel are also Grade II* listed. Ashley Manor is Grade II listed and was owned by the Long family during the 16th and 17th century, followed by the Northey family from 18th to the 20th century; it was divided into three dwellings in the 1970s. Springfield House, Grade II, was built in 1729: formerly a workhouse and a school, the three storey building has been converted into flats. Box Primary School is also Grade II listed. Box House is Grade II listed, built c.1810–20 for the Rev. I. W. W. Horlock, patron and vicar of Box for his own use, and used as the vicarage until 1874. The Rudloe Arms is a Grade II listed building with a four storey Gothic tower in 14 acres, currently a hotel and restaurant run by Marco Pierre White. A war memorial next to the Bath Road was unveiled on 23 October 1920, honouring the 43 Box parishioners who died in the First World War. A further 18 names, of those who had died in the Second World War, were added in July 1949.

Box is home to Box Church of England Primary School. The earliest school was established near the church in 1708; the present building on the High Street, with attached house, is from 1875. Pevsner describes it as "Gothic, with a terrible, spindly tower". The Selwyn Hall was built in 1969, and named for longtime vicar of Box, Rev. Tom Selwyn Smith (1912–2003). It is used for community functions and houses the village library.

Also on the recreation ground is the unique 'Box Rock Circus', a 22 feet (7 m) diameter circle which is an earth science educational facility. It was constructed during 2012 by local craftsmen with stone donated by numerous companies and funded principally by landfill tax funds. The facility was formally opened on 14 May 2013 by the Professor of Geosciences Communication, and television personality, Iain Stewart.