Aldbourne Heritage Centre

In the 14th century Snap was the smallest settlement in the parish, and one of the poorest in the county; there were 19 poll-tax payers in 1377.

In the early 17th century there was a row of five cottages along the southern side of the valley. There may have been a cottage nearby at Woodsend in the early 16th century.

In 1773 there were between 5 and 10 houses at Snap, about half as many at Woodsend, and Leigh Farm between them.

Woodsend expanded in the early 19th century; c. 1850 it included sixteen cottages, and a chapel and a school were built. The population in 1851, including that of Leigh Farm, was 84; at Snap there were 41 inhabitants.

Agricultural changes led to the desertion of Snap soon after 1900. In 1909 there were only two residents. Most of the houses were destroyed by Army gunnery practice during the First World War, although an uninhabited farmhouse still stood in the 1930s. Rubble marked the sites of houses in 1982. At Woodsend the school and chapel were closed and several cottages abandoned in the early 20th century.

 

The Abandoned Communities website also have a few pages on Snap.