Defibrillators
IPC have adopted the redundant phone boxes in each village to install defibrillators.
The defibrillators have been financed from the Idmiston Parish precept and grant funding from the Tesco “Bags for Life” scheme.
The electronic access code for the defibrillator cabinet is made available via an emergency 999 call to the Ambulance Service and all parishioners should familiarise themselves with their locations:
- BT Telephone Box, Buller Park, Porton, SP4 0LU
- BT Telephone Box, Ladysmith, Gomeldon. SP4 6LD
- BT Telephone Box, Church Road, Idmiston, SP4 0AT
If you are closer to Winterbourne Gunner:
- Winterbourne Arms, Winterbourne Gunner, SP4 6EW
You do not need to know how to work the defibrillator. You will be supported by the ambulance service, and the machine itself talks you through everything you need to do, however:
IT IS VITAL that you know the postcode of your nearest defibrillator to tell the ambulance service, if needed. They will then give you the access code.
Doctors’ Surgery
All patients from Porton and the Bourne Valley including the Winterbournes, Gomeldon, Porton Down, Allington, Boscombe and Newton Toney are welcome to use the Porton branch surgery, part of The Three Chequers Medical Practice.
Please use this facility as much as possible. It is open five days a week for GP consultations and on three days a week for practice nursing.
We have a full dispensary for all prescriptions and all patients resident in the villages are asked to please use our dispensary whenever possible for prescription items.
32 Winterslow Road
Porton
SP4 0LR
Phone: 01722 336441 – press 2 for dispensary
Website, Opening Hours and for further information:
Grit Bins
The salt in the yellow grit bins is provided by Idmiston Parish Council and Wiltshire Council for use on public roads and pathways only.
The bins will be removed if it is found that residents are using it for their own personal use.
All Saints Church
All Saints is seldom used for worship and is cared for by the Churches Conservations Trust.
The Grade-I listed church at Idmiston dates to the 12th century, though much of the current building is 14th century. From that latter period are the clerestory, and two-storey north porch.
The 13th century nave arcades paint an attractive picture, composed of alternating bands of different coloured stone. All Saints boasts a particularly fine collection of carved heads, including external grotesques (often incorrrectly called gargoyles) and internal corbel heads and roof bosses.
The interior features several notable monuments to members of the Bowle family. Among these are a memorial to a former vicar named John Bowle (d. 1788). Bowle was saddled with the nickname Don Bowle, after being responsible for editing an edition of Cervantes’ Don Quixote. An earlier memorial worth noting is that of Giles Rowbach, dated 1633.
Porton Baptist Church
Porton Baptist Church is now closed, and the building has been sold (September 2025). Members of the church can find support from other local Baptist Churches, including Salisbury and Andover Baptist Churches.
Porton was one of the earliest Baptist centres in the county. On 3rd April 1655 a total of 111 people from many Wiltshire and Hampshire villages met there.
Porton was probably chosen because it was some distance from any town and was the home of John Rede, J.P., an ex-Parliamentarian colonel and a prominent Baptist. Meetings were held in a large hall of his farmhouse, Birdlimes Farm. The congregation came from 20 villages and included Baptists from Salisbury.
From the centre of Porton the churches gradually spread through the network of river valleys, with meetings held in a fixed rota of villages. The meeting ceased from 1660, the Restoration, until 1672 during which time persecution of non-conformists was at its height.
Following the Declaration of Indulgence in 1672, meetings restarted and the house of John Rede was licensed for Anabaptist worship. In 1690 Salisbury separated from Porton and by the time the Brown Street Baptist chapel was built in the city (1719), Porton was no longer the chief meeting place in this part of Wiltshire. In 1710 the headquarters of this ‘county church’ moved from Porton to Broughton in Hampshire and the Baptist church in Porton gradually declined.
In the late 18th century two houses, that of William Cook in 1793 and John Hibberd in 1797, were licensed for Baptist worship. A new chapel was built in the High Street in 1865. Since the early years the private burial ground of John Rede had been used by the Baptists and it came into their ownership in 1870. The final burial took place there in 1897, and the chapel was enlarged in the 1920s.
St. Nicholas Church
This was originally a privately endowed chantry chapel set up by Lucia Burgelen at Birdlimes Farm.
By 1545 it had become a chapel of Idmiston church and was served by a curate. The chapel continued to serve the community of Porton and was doubtless enlarged over the centuries.
In 1848 it was described as a small ancient structure with a nave, chancel and a porch on the south side. It had a wooden belfry. Unfortunately the fabric of the church had deteriorated and in 1876-7 a new Church of St. Nicholas was built on a new site, with the Rev. William Dowding, Joseph Waters and Henry Targett providing most of the finance and I.A. Ingram giving the land.
This church of flint, with brick dressings and a tiled roof, was designed by J.L. Pearson and has a nave, chancel, vestry, south porch and a bell cote. It was consecrated on 18th July 1877. Unfortunately the builder did not follow the architect’s specifications and the church needed underpinning later.
There is a reset 15th century font and the registers dating from 1813, other than those in current use, are held in the Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office.
This is a Grade II listed building with more of its features described here
Library
Whilst we don’t have a permanent library, we are serviced by an excellent mobile library which stops at both Porton and East Gomeldon on a periodic basis.
The mobile library will stop at the following places on the following times and dates:
Friday 12th September 2025, Friday 10th October 2025, Friday 7th November 2025, Friday 5th December 2025, Friday 2nd January 2026, Friday 31st January 2026, Friday 27th February 2026
Malvern Way, Porton: Arrive 13.20, leave 13.45
Turning Circle, East Gomeldon Road, East Gomeldon: Arrive 14.45, leave 15.30
Schools
There are two schools in the parish, both Primary Schools.
Gomeldon Primary School
Address: Gomeldon, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 6JZ
Phone: 01980 611370
Website: https://www.gomeldon.wilts.sch.uk/
Headteacher: Miss Catherine Windross
School capacity: 147
Latest Ofsted Report March 2024
St. Nicholas Primary School
Address: Idmiston Road, Porton, Wiltshire, SP4 6JZ
Phone: 01980 610401
Website: https://www.stnicholas.wilts.sch.uk/
Headteacher: Mrs Lucy Hill
School capacity: 130
Number on roll (2025/2026): 139
Latest Ofsted Report December 2023
Support Services
Two organisations exist in this area to provide assistance or help you find assistance when you need it.
Farleys Malone
The Farleys Malone charity was created by Janet Tidd, the former Good Neighbours Co-Ordinator, when the Good Neighbour Scheme closed in 2016. It covers the same area ie Idmiston, Porton, Gomeldon, The Winterbournes, Hurdcott, Allington, Newton Toney & Winterslow, and acts as the link between the community and older vulnerable adults, giving information and signposting to voluntary and statutory organisations that can help you.
Contact details for Janet
Tel. 01980 863405
website: https://www.farleysmalonecommunity.org/
Bourne Valley Link
We can help with social needs such as joining you for a cuppa and a chat, visits to friends and relatives or even just a pleasant drive to a place of interest.
Transport to hospitals, GPs, dental surgeries, hairdressers etc. and shopping are also some of the tasks with which we may be able to assist.
Our volunteers provide neighbourly services to those in need in the Bourne Valley parishes of Cholderton, Newton Tony, Allington, Boscombe, Idmiston, Porton, Gomeldon, the Winterbournes and Hurdcott.
The scheme is a registered charity, volunteers receive expenses only and users are asked to make a small donation to Bourne Valley Link Scheme in a sealed envelope which the driver will provide.
To use the scheme please ring the Co-ordinator on 01980 611117.
Pubs
There are 2 pubs in the parish – one in Porton and one in Idmiston.
The Earl of Normanton (Idmiston)
(01980 610251)
Tidworth Road
Idmiston, Salisbury
Wilts, SP4 0AG
“Pauline and Phil welcome you to the Earl of Normanton, a traditional country pub located 7 miles north of Salisbury on the A338.
We are open for meals seven days a week and pride ourselves on serving well kept real ales and good food (we have been listed in The CAMRA Good Beer Guide for sixteen years running). Exmoor Gold and Hop Back’s Summer Lightning are always available together with 2 or 3 alternating guest ales.
We have employed a young imaginative chef who prides himself on serving a variety of dishes using local produce whenever possible. We have pleasant gardens and bars with log fires.”
Opening Times:
Monday – Saturday:
12.oo noon to 2.45pm (last food orders 2.00pm)
6.00pm to 11.00pm (last food orders 8.45pm)
Sunday:
12.oo noon to 7.00pm (last food order 4.45pm)
The Porton Hotel (Porton)
(01980 610203)
Station Approach
Porton, Salisbury
WiltsSP4 0LA
“The Porton Hotel was once The Old Railway Tavern, and has been converted into a family run hotel, restaurant and bar. The location provides easy access to Porton Down Facilities, the World Heritage site of Stonehenge in Amesbury and the cherished Salisbury Cathedral in the centre of Salisbury.
Whatever the occasion, whether you are on holiday, business or just passing through, our Hotel offers comfortable accommodations, superb home cooked food and fun entertainment.”
Rural Taxi Service
There is a bookable taxi service at Bus Fare rates that runs through the Bourne Valley villages to Amesbury twice a day, from Monday to Saturday.
It travels through the Winterbournes, East Gomeldon, Porton, Idmiston, Boscome, Allington, Newton Tony and finally Cholderton, arriving in Amesbury at 09.55 am and 12.40pm (all times approx.)
Return journeys leave Amesbury at 11.50am and 13.50pm so it is an ideal service for a visit to the doctor or dentist or just to do some shopping.
Services do not run on Sundays or public holidays.
The taxi is an 8-seater minibus with disabled and wheelchair access.
The service will usually pick up at village focal points such as the bus stop or telephone box. Please ask for your nearest village pick up point when booking. It may be possible to pick you up and drop you off at your front door if your address is accessible for the vehicle, please ask for details.
Booking on the previous day before 4pm is essential; booking on Saturday for the following Monday.
Cost is normal bus fare rates, but Wiltshire concessionary Bus Pass holders can travel free!
To book, call 01722 50 50 50 and ask for the:
“Rural Taxi Service from the Bourne Valley villages to Amesbury”.