Compton Chamberlayne’s social history over four centuries, recounted through the forgotten stories of over twenty families who lived there for different periods, presents an authentic example of bygone rural life in Wiltshire’s chalk country. Today’s quiet village belies a tumultuous past, notably unusual in continuing to resemble a feudal state until the late 1800s. Apart from tracing the population’s suffering from enclosure and industrialisation, this book includes intriguing accounts of conflicts, insults, court cases and fights for justice. The author, who has intimate knowledge of the village gained from four resident generations of her own family, relates humorous personal memories of life there and fascinating random facts from the region. Family history researchers will gain insight into how manor court records, wills, taxation documents, leases, and all manner of other deeds held by their local archives, as well as newspaper reports and autobiographical accounts, can be used to reveal individual family stories.