| Official Name: | West Ashton |
| Static Image Name: | West Ashton St John.jpg |
| Static Image Caption: | Parish church of St John the Evangelist |
| Coordinates: | 51.3°N -2.175°W |
| Os Grid Reference: | ST879557 |
| Population: | 737 |
| Population Ref: | (2011 census)[1] |
| Civil Parish: | West Ashton |
| Unitary England: | Wiltshire |
| Lieutenancy England: | Wiltshire |
| Region: | South West England |
| Country: | England |
| Constituency Westminster: | South West Wiltshire |
| Post Town: | Trowbridge |
| Postcode District: | BA14 |
| Postcode Area: | BA |
| Dial Code: | 01225 |
West Ashton is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is about 2miles southeast of Trowbridge, near the A350 between Melksham and Yarnbrook which bypasses Trowbridge. The parish includes the hamlets of Dunge, East Town and Rood Ashton .[2]
West Ashton was anciently a tithing – alongside Great Hinton and Semington – of the large Steeple Ashton parish, within the hundred of Whorwellsdown. These tithings became separate civil parishes in the late 19th century.[3]
The village has a primary school, West Ashton Church of England Primary School,[4] and a village hall.
The Anglican Church of St John the Evangelist was built in 1846 to designs of T.H. Wyatt with funding from Walter Long. Its east window is a 1920 war memorial, which Pevsner states is the work of Henry Payne.[5] In 1988 the church was designated as Grade II listed. It has the family crypt and monuments to the Long family of Rood Ashton House.
An ecclesiastical parish was created for the church at some point. From 1962 and again from 1964, the parish was held in plurality with Heywood. In 1982 the benefice was united with St Thomas, Trowbridge and today is part of a group ministry which also includes Holy Trinity Church, Trowbridge.[6]
Rood Ashton House was a country house that had belonged for two centuries to the Long family. In February 1930, the house and 4100acres estate were put up for auction by Lord Long's executors, six years after his death. The estates were bought by a syndicate of his tenants, and in the 1960s the house was sold again. The new owner stripped the house of its assets, removing the lead roofing, internal panelling and fireplaces, and leaving it a roofless shell. The north wing is the only surviving part of the house, and is a Grade II listed building.
To the north of the village on the A350 is the folly known as Long's Park Castle, originally a lodge for Rood Ashton House. It is now used as holiday accommodation.[7]