CLIFFE-PYPARD, a parish in the hundred of
KINGSBRIDGE, county of WILTS, 4 miles (S. by E.)
from Wootton-Bassett, containing 815 inhabitants. The
living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Wilts, and
diocese of Salisbury, rated in the king's books at £9,
1 and in the patronage of the Rev. E. Goddard. The
church, dedicated to St. Peter, and in which are some
remains of painted glass, was founded by one Cobham,
a knight templar, whose effigy lies near the wall of the
north aisle. This place takes its name from a cliff, and
its adjunct from a court anciently kept, called Pypard;
it is situated at the foot of a chain of hills (a very steep
one separating the north part of the parish from the
south) that runs along the north side of the vale of
White Horse -.there is a hill composed of a kind of freestone,
as white as chalk, but considerably harder, and
much used for paving and building. A free school is
supported by an annuity of about £30.