History
History
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Coulston (until 1934 called East Coulston) is a village in Wiltshire, England, five miles northeast of the town of Westbury, just north of the B3098 road. The village lies under the north slope of Salisbury Plain and the parish extends south onto the Plain.

Coulston has a mix of old and new houses, about sixty-five in all. The number of buildings listed as of architectural or historic importance is thirteen (all listed Grade II). There is no shop or surviving public house.

A small school was built c.1855 but was closed by 1899. The schoolroom is now the village hall, while the attached schoolmaster's house is a private residence.

The parish church has 12th-century Norman origins. In the Middle Ages, its dedication was to Saint Andrew, but since the early 19th century it has been to Saint Thomas of Canterbury. The chancel was built in the 14th century and rebuilt during restoration in 1868; the south side of the nave has a blocked 12th-century doorway, while the windows are from the 17th century.

The churchyard has the grave of Francis Savill Kent, murdered in 1860 when almost four years old at Road Hill (now in Somerset, then in Wiltshire). His half-sister Constance Kent confessed to the crime and was imprisoned; the case aroused press interest and inspired books and television dramatizations, including The Suspicions of Mr Whicher based on a book by Kate Summerscale, and starring Paddy Considine and Tim Piggott-Smith.

The parish is now part of the benefice of Bratton, Edington & Imber, Erlestoke, and Coulston.