A church at Pewsey was recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 - making it one of the oldest villages in Wiltshire.

Right in the centre of Pewsey there is a prominent stone statue of King Alfred, unveiled in June 1913 to commemorate the coronation of George V. The significance is the Alfred owned much of Pewsey Vale as a noble whilst his brother was on the throne. In the run up to the campaign against the Vikings he and his brother, then king, agreed that if one of them died the other would take his lands.

The bridge next to it is relatively modern, as it used to be a shallow ford through which horses and carts would pass. The carts had wooden wheels with metal frames and would specifically go through fords such as this in order to get the wood to swell and fill the metal frames

For a real local history treat, The Pewsey Heritage Centre has all manner of old and fascinating items echoing the village's agricultural and industrial past. It has finally re-opened its doors post-lockdown.

The centre is run totally by volunteers, supported by many local organisations including the Parish and District Councils and Pewsey Carnival. But it needs volunteer stewards to step forward to help with everything from cleaning to maintenance.

The collection is housed in the former foundry building of Whatley and Hosier, a water and agricultural engineering firm who moved from Wootton Rivers to Pewsey in about 1870.

The firm was well located to access coal, steel stock and cast iron brought along the canal to Pewsey Wharf. Latterly raw materials would have come in by rail.

After patenting several pump and valve designs, the company expanded into agricultural engineering with the advent of mechanisation on the farms of the fertile Pewsey Vale in the nineteenth century.

The old Phoenix Hotel was one of the first hotels in Pewsey to brew its own beer. It imported hops and brewed successfully for many years.

In one of the photos of the market place, you can see the lock up jail behind the village sign (where King Alfred now stands). The people are standing beside the ford and stables can be seen opposite the hotel.