Snap is an abandoned village near Aldbourne in Wiltshire, England. It is unusual in that it was not abandoned until the 20th century.

Snap
Extinct settlement
Site of Snap village
Site of Snap village
Snap is located in Wiltshire
Snap
Snap
Snap within Wiltshire
Coordinates: 51°29′14″N 1°40′51″W / 51.4872°N 1.6808°W / 51.4872; -1.6808
CountryEngland
CountyWiltshire
ParishAldbourne
First recorded1268
Population
 (1914)
 • Total0

The village was recorded in 1268 under the name of Snape. It was always a small place: in the 14th century there were 19 poll-tax payers, in 1773 there were between five and ten cottages, and at the 1851 Census the population was 41. In 1905, Henry Wilson, a butcher from Ramsbury, bought the two farms in the village and converted them from arable to sheep farming, which deprived the villagers of their work. By 1909 there were only two residents, and by 1914 the village was deserted.

Most of the buildings were destroyed when the site was used for military training in the First World War, and were later plundered for building materials; only earthworks are now visible. The name is remembered in Snap Farm.

The site lies near the Ridgeway National Trail.

References

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  • Baggs, A. P.; Freeman, Jane; Stevenson, Janet H. (1983). "Parishes: Aldbourne". In Crowley, D. A. (ed.). A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 12. Victoria County History. University of London. pp. 67–86. Retrieved 3 April 2021 – via British History Online.
  • Leighton, Barry (20 January 2016). "Village vanished in a Snap". Swindon Advertiser. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
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  Media related to Snap, Wiltshire at Wikimedia Commons