Lea, Wiltshire

Lea is a village in Wiltshire, England, lying approximately 1.5 mile (2 km) east of Malmesbury. It is part of the civil parish of Lea and Cleverton which includes the village of Garsdon and the hamlet of Cleverton. Garsdon was a separate parish until 1934. The Charlton Stream forms the western boundary of the parish, and joins the River Avon near Cowbridge in the southwest of the parish. The Woodbridge Brook flows east–west across the parish to join the Charlton Stream northwest of Lea village. The southern boundary of the parish follows approximately the B4042 Swindon–Malmesbury road.

The Domesday Book of 1068 recorded a settlement of 17 households at Gardone, and land held by Malmesbury Abbey. The abbey retained the land until the Dissolution when it was granted to Richard Moody, whose descendants included Sir Henry Moody MP (c.1582–1629). Garsdon church has Washington family graves and a memorial; members of another branch of the family, headed by Lawrence Washington (1602–1653) are ancestors of George Washington, first President of the United States. The manor passed by marriage to Sir Robert Shirley, later Earl Ferrers, in 1671; his grandson sold it to Paul Methuen in 1758, and in turn his grandson sold it in 1843 to Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, who also owned the nearby Charlton estate. The Howards sold the manor and farm in the 1930s. In the late 17th century the main Oxford Bristol road ran east–west through Garsdon parish, following the ridge in the east of the parish. The church of St Giles, Lea, has a 15th century west tower; the rest was rebuilt and enlarged during restoration in 1878. There was a church at Garsdon in 1265.

Calvinistic Methodists built Zion chapel in Lea village c.1808, which was rebuilt in 1861. It was later used by Congregationalists and then Baptists, who continue to use it in 2018. Primitive Methodists built Jubilee Chapel at Garsdon Heath, northeast of Garsdon village, in 1860. The building remained in use until the late 20th century or early 21st, but by 2012 had become a private house. Primitive Methodists also built a chapel at Cleverton in 1874, replacing an earlier chapel. The building was still in use in 2018.

Lea & Garsdon CE Primary School serves Lea, Cleverton, Garsdon and Charlton. The village has a public house, the Rose and Crown, and a village hall. Other facilities in the village include a tennis court, a table tennis table, a former telephone box converted to a library and a children's play area. Lea had a cricket team between 2002 and 2009: the "Lea Lackadasicals". They played around ten friendly matches a year, normally on a Sunday afternoon.