GROVELY WOOD WITCHES AND GHOSTS

Teresa V · GROVELY WOOD WITCHES AND GHOSTS

ANYONE HEARD ABOUT THE GROVELY WOOD WITCHES/GHOSTS?

HAVE A LOOK AT THESE LINKS

IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANY OTHER INFORMATION CONTACT TERESA V

http://www.vision-news.tv/page_v1.php?page_id=349

http://www.twilightshadowsparanormal.com/grovelywoods.html

admin sinfulldude · hi and welcome

(was written and posted by madmart former forum's ADMIN )

Hi and welcome to the forum Teresa V.

Thanx for your posting about the GROVELY WOOD WITCHES/GHOSTS i have not heard this story before, where about is Grovery Woods, which part of the country ? So i can try and look up more information for you.

Teresa V

Grovely Wood is behind Wilton Village which is three miles outside of Salisbury (United Kingdom). More and more seems to be emerging about the place - there are two recurring stories - The Burcombe Woodsman and The Grovely Witches (see link to TV report and visit reports in my original posting). If anyone else has any more information please reply to Teresa V.

Thanks

san4uzel · Barford St Martin - grovely woods

hi teresa

here's some history which covers abit about grovely woods, hope it helps?

Barford St Martin - Within the Nadder ward of Salisbury District Council

Barford St.Martin is a small, picturesque village in South Wiltshire located 2 miles from Wilton, the ancient capital of Wessex and some 13 miles from Shaftesbury. It is located on the junction of the A30 and the B3089. The river Nadder runs through the village and Barford is known as one of the Nadder valley villages. Its history can be traced back to the 11th Century and there was reference to Barford in the Domesday Book compiled in 1085/1086.

It has 467 adult residents and boasts a school, a church, a pub and a petrol station. It also has a farm shop and a small landscape gardening company. Much of the surrounding farm land is owned by the Wilton Estate. Barford has an active Parish Council who are determined to improve facilities and the visual appearance of the village. The school is controlled by a Board of Governors and has 46 pupils. St Martin's Church is overseen by a Parochial Church Council and the vicar has responsibility for three other parishes close by.

Potted History:
The earliest mention of the village is in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bereford; the meaning is ‘Barley ford’ – a river crossing which could carry a wagon laden with corn. ‘St. Martin’, from the dedication of the church, had been added by 1304, thus distinguishing it from Barford in Downton parish.

The modern village is sited on a bend of the A30 road from Salisbury to Shaftesbury (Dorset) where the road turns sharply across the river over a hump-backed bridge. The earlier important route was the east – west road from Salisbury to Dinton, Teffont and Chilmark. The present main road came into being in 1788 when the old turnpike from Salisbury to Shaftesbury was allowed to expire and a new Act turnpiked the easier route through Barford to Whitesheet Hill.

This was a fairly typical chalk valley parish with an area of arable and meadow land in the valley bottom and pasture land on rising ground to the north towards Grovely Wood. The inhabitants of Barford and Great Wishford were given the right to gather ‘snapping’ wood in Grovely and on Oak Apple Day (29th May) to gather oak boughs, decorate their churches with some, and take others in procession to Salisbury Cathedral where they laid claim to their ancient rights in front of the high altar. Today the ceremony is only observed in Great Wishford.

It is possible that this area has been continuously occupied since the late Iron Age as a large Romano-British village had its origins in that period. This is to the north of the village being called Hamshill Ditches, comprising extensive earthworks with enclosures, ditches, and many house platforms. This was a large settlement site of the Iron Age and Roman periods which had a large field system around it.

The Saxons may have had a wooden preaching cross here that was later replaced by a stone cross. There was certainly a substantial population here in late Saxon times. In the Domesday Book Barford is divided into four estates with the largest, Hurdcott, being as large as the other three put together and with twice their population. Altogether there were 5.5 hides of land worked by seven plough teams. There were 20 acres of meadow and eight acres (in Hurdcott) of pasture. The mill was in Hurdcott.

A church had been built by the 13th century but the preaching cross could indicate a much earlier congregation here. By the early 15th century the House of Ball, on the site now occupied by East End Farm, is believed to be the house where pilgrims obtained tickets of admission to Wilton Abbey. For later travellers the Barford Inn originated in the 17th century as the Dragon, or Green Dragon. By the early 19th century it was a coaching inn for local traffic and by mid-century it was home to the Green Dragon Slate Club; their annual feast was held on Whit Monday when members paraded to the Green Dragon for lunch and then had tea, with their families, at Manor Farm, where there were stalls and dancing.

In 1812 the villagers bartered the rights to live wood in Grovely Forest for £5 a year from Lord Pembroke. By the mid 19th century Lord Pembroke forbade the right to gather dead wood there, but this was challanged by four local women who deliberately went out and gathered firewood. They were fined but refused to pay and were sent to prison. Faced with this demonstration of determination the village rights to dead wood were confirmed the following day and the women were released from prison, being feted on their return to the village.

There are about 240 houses in the parish and they range from the Old Rectory and Little Orchard, originally of the 15th century, East End Farmhouse of around 1600, several houses and cottages of the 17th and 18th centuries, a few of the 19th and modern housing from the 1950s, with the first council houses were built in 1946. In 1980 Gall Bridge, the narrow hump-backed bridge across the original Barley Ford, was swept away and replaced with a modern, but less characterful, bridge.

The soil in the parish is mainly chalk and the chief farming has been arable and pasture, mainly for sheep. The area of the parish is 1,646 hectares.

landlover · wiltshire folklore / customs

hello teresa

below i've listed information about various folklore customs connected with wiltshire and grovely woods / villiages

Oak Apple Day

Here's a date for your diary: 29th May, or Oak Apple Day as it is in Great Wishford near Wilton.

This special day is still celebrated in the village and perpetuates an ancient right to collect firewood in nearby Grovely Wood.

Early in the morning of 29th May, residents are woken by an excited crowd making its way to forest, where an oak bough is removed, decorated and then hanged from the tower of St Giles' Church.

In order to maintain their charter, the villagers must proclaim their right at a special ceremony in Salisbury Cathedral, where they repeat the ancient refrain: "Grovely, Grovely and all Grovely".

The celebrations are then continued back in Great Wishford, with dancing and general revelry.

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Moonrakers?

If you're born and bred in the county, you can rightfully claim to be a 'Moonraker'.

But who were the first Moonrakers?

There are many communities who lay claim to originating the story but the one we favour is set in Devizes where a group of sixteenth century smugglers were forced to hide their contraband in The Crammer after being surprised by a visit from the excisemen.

As a ruse, the smugglers pretended they were attempting to rake a 'cheese' that had rolled into the water.

The excisemen, seeing the men were in fact raking the moon's reflection, left the simple country-folk to their labours and rode out of town, unaware that the Wiltshire men were having the last laugh!

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Beltane

Beautiful Beltane - this is a time of year when flowers and blossoms are in full colour and the energies of the land surge with life-force as we tip over from Spring in to Summer.

Also known as May Day, Beltane is the second of the 'Earth' festivals on our Wheel of the Year and is the holiday that celebrates the sacred union of the Goddess and the God. Myths say that at this time, the young God (sun/son) who was re-born at the Winter Solstice has blossomed into manhood and he and the Goddess become lovers. Through their union and fertility, all life begins again on the earth.

The ancients believed that the Wheel of the Year would not keep turning without their help so, like the other festivals, Beltane has long been celebrated with feasts and rituals. One of these is dancing around the Maypole and, here in Wiltshire, it would have been traditional to see this on many village greens. The May pole symbolises the God, the soft colourful ribbons that entwine around the pole represent the feminine and the dance is their blissful union. How gorgeous! Read more abut the Ansty maypole - see links in righthand box.

During these celebrations our ancestors would also act out the human version of this union by spending a night making love in the fields to ensure the fertility of the land. Children conceived at this time were considered especially blessed and were known as Merry-be-Gots.

On Beltane eve they would also build two large fires known as Bel fires to invoke the sun god, Bel, and his blessings and protection. The tribe's herds were driven between these fires to purify them and ensure their fertility before taking them to the summer grazing lands. Young couples might also jump over the Bel fires to declare their intention to handfast (marry) at the summer solstice.

What the early church made of all this one can only imagine but, yes, they too wanted to make their mark on this time of year. The Christian ceremony at the beginning of May is known as Roodmas (Mass of the Cross), rood being a Middle English word for cross. It seems strange that the Church should want to associate this life-giving time of the year with an instrument of crucifixion but, I feel, the deeper meaning of this mass is about Christ's resurrection and that would tie in with the energies of Beltane.

In Wiltshire, on May 3rd in 1998, a crop circle formation appeared in oilseed rape next to Silbury Hill and was called The Beltane Wheel. This is an ancient symbol used at Celtic festivals in May and is made up of 33 tongues of flame, maybe like the fires of Bel.

As you can see, beautiful Beltane is a time that welcomes the return of vitality, passion and fertility. But this is not just about the physical - it includes the fertility of the imagination and how you express your creativity in life. How might you want to be creative today?

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devilish tales

Several parts of the county lay claim to their own devilish tales - hardly surprising when you consider his role in the basic premise of good versus evil.

At Warminster, he appeared in the form of a hare during the public execution of two men in the town.

In the nearby village of Longbridge Deverill, he showed up on Palm Sunday as a black dog and in Blunsdon, near Swindon the Devil has been seen taking the shape of a crow.

It seems that the Devil really had it in for various Wiltshire towns and villages.

The most famous story concerning Beelzebub and his devilish antics involves Silbury Hill, near Avebury.

The story goes that the Devil was on his way to Marlborough to bury the townspeople under a huge pile of earth but luckily he was distracted by the magical mystics of Avebury who managed to persuade the Devil to drop his load just outside the henge - where Silbury is today.

Cley Hill near Warminster is associated with a similar tale concerning the Devil - but this time it was the do-gooders of Devizes who were on the Devil's burial list.

On this occasion, the Lord of Darkness lost his way, and left his load of earth where Cley Hill is today - although, why Warminster managed to escape his efforts remains a mystery!

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Flying monk

Icarus is remembered for his attempt at flying - and we all know his fate after he scorched his feathers flying too close to the sun.

Another ill-fated flyer was Brother Elmer, who in 1010 repeated Icarus attempt by attaching a set of wings to his arms and jumping off the tower of Malmesbury Abbey.

Needless to say the hopeless hanglider was seriously injured and never walked - or flew again.

Malmesbury's flying monk and his attempt to fly himself into the history books might not have been successful, but he did foresee the Norman invasion following a sighting of Halley's comet and became recognised as a prophet.

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Name calling

Are you a Bradford Gudgeon or a Trowbridge Knob?

May be you prefer to be known as a Dabchick or even a Crocodile!

People from many Wiltshire towns and villages are blessed with a sobriquet or nickname, often associated with folklore, legend or historical fact.

For example, villagers from Aldbourne are known as Dabchicks following the sighting on the village pond of a mysterious bird.

A local quack (no pun intended) was taken to identify the strange creature and after some deliberation proudly announced to the gathering that it was nothing more than a dabchick.

Elsewhere, in Bradford on Avon, the golden fish that adorns the top of the town's lockup is reputedly meant to be a gudgeon.

As a result, those born and bred in the town can lay claim to being gudgeons.

Their neighbours in Trowbridge are known as Knobs - and for a similar reason.

On top of the roof of the town's blindhouse is a rounded ball - hence the nickname for local residents.

In Upavon, local are known as Upavon Jacks.
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BLACK DOGS

The website on Dilton Marsh tells the story about Dead Maids in Chapmanslade. (This part of Chapmanslade used to be part of Dilton Marsh.) The site is at www.dilton_marsh.org.uk/people/deadmaids/php

A young lady of the parish was being pursued by two suitors. The two men decided to fight a duel to determine which one of them should marry her.

In the ensuing duel, one of them was shot dead.

This man had been the owner of a black dog which, seeing the demise of its master, attacked the other man, killing him.

Totally distressed at losing both her suitors, the young lady then took her own life and was buried at Dead Maids crossroads, which is located on the edge of the old parish.

Since then, the black dog has haunted the local woods, which appropriately are called Black Dog Woods.

Another story suggests that the black dog was, in fact, owned by a highwayman who used to conduct his business on what is now Black Dog Hill, on the A36.

Today, there is a straight round running up the hill, but in previous times the road used to meander tortuously up the hill and, with its many bends, was an ideal place for a highwayman to lurk.

The dog's job, by the way, was to leap up onto the stagecoach and attack the driver in the neck, thus halting the vehicle.

So, watch out if you are on the A36 between Warminster and Bath (the modern version of the black dog is a speed camera, by the way!).

san4uzel · Room 4 Black Swan Hotel in Devizes.

Room Four of the Black Swan Hotel in Devizes.

Hauntings

The 17th century inn is a base for the town's Ghost walk Tours - and it's a good place to start, since the inn boasts a number of mysterious apparitions and ghostly happenings.

On several occasions guests who stay in room 4 have had to leave the room in the middle of the night because they claim to have witnessed something too scary to share the hospitality with! The story goes that the room is haunted by a young woman in a long flowing dress who appears through a wall and then sits in a chair next to one of the windows. The woman spends a short while looking out of the window before floating and exiting through another wall behind the bed!

Ghosts have also left their mark in the cellar of the Black Swan and previous ghost hunters have managed to photograph what seems to be the image of a face on the cellar's wall.

Helena · Grovely woods

I've came across this rhyme which talks about ghosts and the grovely woods area ? :-'

the rhyme is what's called a poemscape'

what is a 'poemscape'? In this case, a
representation in words of the physical shape / customs / folklore / people of the whole of the SW area written about in rhyme

'The Exeter Riddling Rhymes'

oh but I was glorified to bunkum on kingston black
and kecksey-brandy-o'd to high cockalorum way beyond where
huntspills o'er sedgemoor and hayle murmurs to de lanc in
trendles ringed to dead woman's ditch like tufter snuffled stags
fish doggéd and glatt-eeled out to dry where scratchwell bays
athwart the razor adze of culver and east darts through
badger's holt diddle diddle dumpling my son's a dread the fairy
toot at nempnett thrubwell's got to his head bhangra rocked,
crimmercrocked, tollered down and slashed in ogham to bang
the brow 'gainst the iron pan of exmoor I beseech the ticklish
boy bishop's benison god wot protect ye vert and venison
tanglefooted nan tow spookéd grisly as the bisley hole glory,
power and hallelujah S.T.C loves D.W! Que sera sara? my
lady hath a sable coach with horses two and four johnny ivie
my lady hath a gaunt bloodhound that goeth on before the
man done good my lady's coach hath nodding plumes the
driver hath no head moonraked to boot my ladye is an ashen
white and one that long is dead out of 'ellofadistance where
ebble riz and wylye grovely grovely all grovely ghost imbered
came yon drowner and crashed and fell like witenagemot unto
sedgebury walloped ‘twixt burderop hackpen and draycot foliat
so please your worship 'twer the wild man of yell'm splash
splash hevva to the ley the boats is gone to sey quacked as a
duck on dev'rill, toothsome as a priddy wallfish, laughable as a
yubberton idiot, riotous as the ottery run, rich as old baptist
hicks, conjoint as the 3-eared rabbits of chagford: go! dodge
the agger and ackling dyke to swive the dorset cursus and
bottlebrush to dudderation where herepath gallops down
manton, morgan's hill, tan hill, milk hill ... savernake pssst
lydford law got him in its claw psst leave it moot to kiftsgate as
evenlode to wychwood psst the suicide rate between 1998 and
2000 was higher among 16-24 year olds in remote rural areas
than in either accessible rural or urban areas." psst understand
me backwards as smugglers' packhorses filling the pantry at
kilve chantry.
BOO !!!!

ANNOTATIONS
REFERENCES

agger', the;- an 'agger' is an embankment

Baptist Hicks;- a fabulously wealthy wool merchant. The wool trade made many merchants rich. Indeed, they used to lend money to the King.
The Golden Fleece was here, in the Cotswolds, rather than on
some Greek island!

bhangra ;- Bhangra is a traditional Punjabi dance that originated in the
fields of northern India. 'Bhangra Rock' is rock music-influenced
Bhangra

Bisley Bone Hole ;- bones from old graves used to be dumped under the seats of this ancient 6-sided memorial. Some 650 years ago the priest fell in and died whereupon the Pope got apoplexy and decreed
there should be no burials for 2 years. The villagers then had to
trek 15 miles along 'Dead Man's Lane' to Bibury to bury their
dead in 'Bisley Piece'

Bottlebrush Down;- Ackling Dyke, from Old Sarum to Badbury Rings in Dorset formed part of the Roman road from London to the south-west. It
passes through the Dorset Cursus on Bottlebrush Down

bunkum ;- nonsense, rubbish, flattery (Felix Walker, an elected Member
from Buncombe County in North Carolina/USA insisted in a
debate in 1821 on speaking beyond his allotted span, saying "I
am bound to make a speech for Buncombe")(nothing at all to do
with the South-West, it just came into my head as I was driving
down the M5 past The King's Sedgemoor Drain!)

Burderop Hackpen and Draycot Foliat;- just couldn't resist the sound of these villages in Wiltshire. Berranburgh field nr Burderop Hackpen was the site in May 2001 of a marvellous crop circle generated by aliens using
interdimensional technology. Draycot Foliat (grid SU182778) is 5
miles SE of Swindon and had a population of 19 in 1831

Crimmercrock ;- 'Crimmercrock's long lane’: the road leading from Maiden Newton to Rampisham in Dorset

dead woman's ditch ;- actually the ramparts of an Iron Age fortification high in the Quantocks, but linked (in my mind?) with the piteous tale of poor Johnny Walford (must be the mist crawling across the ditch on a
grey June day). Broke off with his fiancée, Ann Rice, got another
(‘feeble-minded’) woman with child, married her, killed her in a fit
of frustration, tried to hide her corpse in a ditch, was caught,
condemned, and, after a pathetic farewell to Ann, his true
beloved, was hung off the back of a wain at Walford's Gibbet. As
was the custom, his body was left suspended on the gibbet for
exactly 12 months from the date of the murder. He still lies today
10 feet under at that spot. Wordsworth started to write a poem
on the theme but never finished it.

Dev'rill ;- wylye = tricky stream = Devil's Rill = Deverill (?)

Dorset Cursus ;- a prehistoric construction consisting of parallel earthworks 6 miles long

drowner;- man who looked after water meadows

dudderation;- "Don't dudder me!" (= confuse)(Wiltshire)

east darts;- a Dartmoor River. It flows through Badger's Holt.

'Ellofadistance;- the village of Alvediston where Ebble rises

Evenlode;- the villages of Milton, Shipton and Ascott lie on the Evenlode
under Wychwood. 'Evenlode', mmm ... an Elvish goddess from
Lord of the Rings?

Fairy Toot at Nempnett Thrubwell;- a prehistoric burial mound

ghost Imber ;- village on Salisbury Plain destroyed by the army

glatt-eeled;- a 'glatt' is a conger eel. 'glatting' is to hunt for these vicious-
looking members of the eel family with specially trained 'fish
dogs'. The eels hide under rocks in the mud (Somerset coast /
Watchet). Interestingly, 'glatt' in German means smooth or
slippery. 'aalglatt' means as slippery as an eel (or 'elusive').

Glory, Power and Hallelujah ;- the three children of the Rev. J.H.Smyth-Pigott by Sister Ruth, his 'Spiritual Bride of the Lamb' (he already had a wife). He proclaimed himself 'The New Messiah' and took over the 'Abode
of Love' at Spaxton, the centre of members of the Agapenome,
founded by H.J Prince (aka 'the Beloved') from neighbouring
Charlynch. According to the Bridgewater Mercury of 1908, the
community consisted mainly of women. "Those who have little or
no money are generally blessed with good looks; those who are
not blessed with good looks have the compensating
attractiveness of wealth."

grovely;-
on Oak Apple Day in Great Wishford in the Wylye the locals
were privileged to take and decorate young apple trees which
they then processed to Salisbury Cathedral. Once there they
danced and sang before the High Altar chanting, "Grovely,
grovely, and all grovely!" The Wiltshire royal forests were
Braydon, Chippenham, Chute, Clarendon, Grovely, Melchet,
Melksham, Selwood and Savernake (a oak apple being a acorn)

Hayle and De Lanc;- rivers on Dartmoor

'herepath';- the Saxon 'here-paeth' was a military road (modern German: 'das Heer' = the Armed Forces)

'hevva hevva;- when a huer spotted a pilchard shoal to the ley ('legh'= flat rock) from his Huer's Hut (lookout tower) he would cry 'hevva hevva'
(Cornish for 'shoaling') through a long tin trumpet and the boats
would go to sey (seine)

High Cockalorum ;- "Master of all masters, get out of your barnacle and put on your squibs and crackers. For white-faced simminy has got a spark of hot cockalorum on its tail, and unless you get some pondalorum
high topper mountain will be all on hot cockalorum" Traditional
English fairytale from somewhere. I seem to have got 'hot
cockalorum' mixed up with 'High Pondorosa'.

Huntspill, The;- A man-made watercourse with a sluice at the seaward end constructed in the early 1940's to provide water for a nearby
Royal Ordnance Factory.

iron pan of Exmoor, the;- John Knight acquired the former hunting ground in the heart of Exmoor in the early 19th century and attempted to drain the high moorland plateau around The Chains but was unable to crack 'the iron pan' which traps the water table near ground level

Johnny Ivie;- the mayor of New Sarum in 1627 who stayed despite the plague to execute his office

keksey-brandy-O ;- (brandy drink) sold at the Newtown Randy, Isle of Wight

Kilve Chantry ;- a former staging post for smuggling along the Somerset coast; according to Richard Jeffries, the packhorses used in the trade were taught to understand the usual words of command
backwards. If they were accosted by the revenue men whilst in
pursuit of their illegal activities the smugglers would call out
'Whoa, whoa!' to their horses which, however, would not, as the
revenue men might expect, immediately halt - but set out at a
tearing gallop!

Kingston Black ;- one of the most famous of the old-fashioned cider apples. Named after Kingston St Mary. Written records of cider-making
in Somerset go back to at least the 13th century and bequests
of casks of Somerset cider were common in Somerset wills.

Lydford Law ;- "I oft have heard of Lydford Law, How in the morn they hang and draw, And sit in judgement after." (William Browne 1644).
Lydford Castle was used as a dungeon for those who broke the
harsh forest laws, the complicated system of courts making it
difficult, if not impossible, to escape the Justices' clutches.

moonraked;- Wiltshire smugglers bamboozling poor excise men as usual by hiding their contraband in a pond; caught trying to recover it with hay-rakes. "And what are you up to exactly" asked one excise
man. "Zomebody 'ave lost thic thur cheese," replied one of the
smugglers, pointing to the reflection of the full moon in the water,
"and we'm a-rakin' for 'un in thic thur pond."

my lady hath a sable coach ;- the fearsome Lady Howard of Tavistock. She had 4 husbands and is said to have murdered them all. Travels every night from Fitzford near Tavistock to Okehampton Castle in the form of a black dog in order to collect a blade of grass. No-one knows why.

my son's a dread ;- a ‘dread’ is a Rastafarian

Nan Tow's Tump ;- a barrow at Didmarton, south of Stroud. Legend has it that the burrow is unusually high (9ft) rather than long because it was Nan Tow’s, a local witch’s, house and one of the Dukes of
Beaufort had her buried upright as a punishment for her
wickedness.

Ogham ;- Ogham script was an ancient alphabet consisting of 20 to 25
letters inscribed in stone in the form of straight lines bisecting a
long line or stave, used primarily by the ancient bards of Britain
and Ireland to pass on secret messages and store information
for those conversant with the script

Que sera sara ;- sing along now ... 'whatever will be will be', or, 'How goes it, Sara?'

rabbits ;- (conjoint-eared of Chagford) Chagford is an ancient Dartmoor
town (Saxon: 'gorse-ford'). The roof bosses of the church of St
Michael have a carving of three conjoint rabbits (with only 3 ears
between them), a sign of the tinners

Scratchwell Bay ;- Isle of Wight

Sedgebury Wallop ;- Wiltshire village

Sedgemoor;- The Battle of Sedgemoor on July 6, 1685 at
Westonzoyland, Somerset. The ‘Pitchfork Army’ (poorly-armed
rebels) of the (Protestant) Duke of Monmouth, Pretender to the
throne of James, Duke of York (Catholic), was massacred by
royal troops. Those who weren't massacred were exterminated
with extreme prejudice by, among others, the notorious Hanging
Judge Jeffries.

STC loves DW;- ‘Samuel Taylor Coleridge loves Dorothy Wandsworth’ ("At first he thought his friend's sister rather ordinary, and planned to tell
his wife as much; but then he caught the side-long gleam of
those wild grey eyes and changed his mind...)(from 'William and
Dorothy', a romance by Helen Aston).(note 4 years later - 2007
- actually he didn't, sorry, he loved Asra - Sara Hutchinson;
perhaps he loved his wife - Sara Coleridge ne Fricker.)

Tanglefoot ;- Somerset term for rough cider

the Kiftsgate Stone ;- a moot point (Cotswolds): place where The Moot met to hold court, hear business, discuss events etc

the Ottery Run ;- the Ottery Tar Barrel Run. Burning barrels of tar are rolled down a hill 'controlled' by men with thick padding on their arms. Pagan sun-worshipping ceremony? Excuse for a riot?

ticklish boy bishop, the;- in the 17th c the choristers of Salisbury Cathedral used to elect one of their number to be bishop from St Nicholas Day to Holy Innocents Day (26-28 December). One year, this 'boy bishop' was, it seems, 'tickled to death' by the other choristers (perhaps he had asthma?) and, since he died in office, his statue inside
the west door of Salisbury Cathedral shows him dressed in the
full regalia of a bishop

Toller Down;- scene of home coming in Hardy's 'The Woodlanders'. "It is a lonesome spot, quite sufficient in itself to explain the utter feeling
of isolation which gripped the bride on her introduction to the
wind-swept upland" (The Hardy Guides/Hermann Lea)

trendles ;- ah – Trendle Ring near Bicknoller in Somerset. Hillslope
enclosure dating to the Iron Age. Now, what’s a ‘trendle’?

tufter ;- a trusted stag-hound on Exmoor

wallfish;- Priddy snails ('wallfish') are a gastronomic delicacy

Wild Man of Yell'm, The;-
Yellowham Wood was the haunt of The Wild Man, allegedly the
father of many 'love children' in the neighbourhood

Witenagemot, the ;- an unelected national council in Anglo-Saxon times which met in Calne. In 987 all its members (except the Archbishop Dunstan) were killed when the floor caved in while they 'were debating the vexed question of priestly celibacy'. Dunstan 'clung to a beam'
and was accused of, er, rigging the vote ...

Wylye ;- pronounced [wiley] - no-one can pronounce it, never mind spell
it! River Valley NW of Salisbury

Yubberton idiots ;- the yokals of Ebrington who, for example, 'manured the church tower to make it grow.'

san4uzel · history of some villiages around grovely woods

history of some villiages / churches around grovely woods

ST. JOHN'S, DEVIZES.]

St. Mary's, the town church, has a Norman chancel and Perpendicular
nave and tower. On the beautiful old roof of the nave is a record of
the actual date and the builder's name:--

ORATE PRO AIA WILLI SMYTH QUI ISTA ECCLIAM FIERI FECIT,
QUI OBIIT PRIMO DIE MENSIS JUNII ANNO DNE MILLO CCCCXXXVI.

A fine statue of the Virgin will be noticed in the eastern gable of
the nave. The Transitional south porch has a not unpleasing upper
story dating from 1612.

The streets between the two churches have some good old houses in
them, and the first traversed is called the "Brittox," said to be
derived from "Bretesque," the name for the outer defences of the
castle. The broad market place is one of the most spacious in the
kingdom, and a very interesting sight on market days. Here one may see
the shepherd of Salisbury Plain, or rather, of the Marlborough Downs,
in typical costume--long weather-stained cloak and round black felt,
almost brimless, hat, described by Lady Tennant as having a bunch of
flowers stuck in the brim, but this the writer had never the fortune
to see until the summer of 1921 when the shepherd was also wearing his
own old cavalry breeches and puttees! In the centre of the throng
rises the mock Gothic pinnacled market cross, presented to Devizes in
1814 by Henry Addington, afterwards Viscount Sidmouth, who succeeded
Pitt as Premier. There is a remarkable inscription upon one side of
the pedestal which, for the benefit of those unable personally to
peruse it, a portion is here appended:--

On Thursday the 25th of January 1753
Ruth Pierce of Pottern, in this County agreed with
Three other women to buy a Sack of Wheat in the Market
Each paying her due proportion toward the same.
One of these women, in collecting
The Several Quotas of Money discovered a Deficiency,
And demanded of Ruth Pierce the sum which was wanting
To make good the amount: Ruth Pierce protested
That she had paid her share and said "She wished
That she might drop down dead if she had not."
She rashly repeated this awful wish, when, to the
Consternation and Terror of the surrounding Multitude
She instantly fell down and expired, having the Money
Concealed in her hand.

The "Bear" is a spacious inn made out of two fine old houses, and is
famous as the hostelry where the father of Sir Thomas Lawrence was at
one time landlord. He was a man of literary tastes and public-spirited
withal, for he is said to have erected posts upon the lonely hills
hereabouts to guide wayfarers to civilization. Those who have seen
Salisbury Plain in its winter aspect will appreciate what this meant
at the end of the eighteenth century, when cultivation, and the
consequent fence, was not in existence thereon, and to be lost on the
Downs in the snow was a serious adventure. The account of the Lawrence
family in Fanny Burney's Diary is of much interest and throws an
intimate light on certain aspects of English provincial life at that
time.

Besides a large number of pleasant and dignified houses of the
eighteenth century, Devizes has a few older ones, principally in the
alleys at the back of St. John Street; and some fine public buildings
that would not disgrace a town of more consequence. Foremost among
these is the Corn Exchange, close to the "Bear." On its front will be
noticed a statue of the goddess of agriculture. The edifice over which
she presides is of imposing size and shows how great an amount of
business must have been transacted here in the past. The Town Hall
contains several objects of interest which are shown to the visitor,
including a fine set of old corporation plate. The ancient hall of the
wool merchants' Guild is near the castle. Its purpose has long
forsaken the old walls, but under the care of the present occupiers
the well-being of the building is assured. The museum is well worth
seeing. Here is the famous "Marlborough Bucket," said to be of
Armorican origin. It was discovered near Marlborough by Sir R.C.
Hoare, and its contents proved it to be a cinerary urn of a date
probably not much anterior to the Roman occupation of Britain. The
geological collections--stones and fossils; and some interesting
models of Avebury and Stonehenge, and particularly the Stourhead
antiquities--British and prehistoric--should on no account be missed.

An old diary of royal progresses gives the following account of a
foreign visit in 1786:--

"On September 25 the Archduke and Duchess of Austria with their
suite arrived in town from Bath. On the road, as they came through
the Devizes, they met with a singular occurrence, which afforded
them some entertainment. A custom has prevailed in that place, of
which the following story is the foundation: A poor weaver passing
through the place without money and friends, being overtaken by
hunger and in the utmost necessity, applied for charity to a baker,
who kindly gave him a penny loaf. The weaver made his way to
Coventry, where, after many years' industry, he amassed a fortune,
and by his will, in remembrance of the seasonable charity of
the Devizes, he bequeathed a sum in trust, for the purpose of
distributing on the anniversary of the day when he was so relieved
a halfpenny loaf to every person in the town, gentle and simple,
and to every traveller that should pass through the town on that
day a penny loaf. The will is faithfully adminstered, and the Duke
of Austria and his suite passing through the town on the day of
the Coventry loaf, on their way from Bath to London, a loaf was
presented to each of them, of which the Duke and Duchess were most
cheerfully pleased to accept, and the custom struck the Archduke so
forcibly as a curious anecdote in his travels that he minuted down
the circumstance, and the high personages seemed to take delight in
breakfasting on the loaf thus given as the testimony of gratitude
for a favour seasonably conferred."

[ BISHOP'S CANNINGS.]

St. James' Church, with its fine Perpendicular tower, will be passed
if the main road is taken toward Avebury. A better way for the
traveller on foot is to go by the beautiful avenue called Quakers'
Walk to Roundway Down and Oliver's Camp, the last named being actually
an ancient encampment, given its present name because the battle for
Devizes in the Civil War took place close by. The fight was not a
Parliamentary success and Waller was forced to retire before the
King's men under Lord Wilmot. The Down was in consequence renamed
"Runaway" by the jubilant Cavaliers. Below the face of the hill to the
south-west is the picturesque village of Rowde, famous for its quaint
old inn. If the Roundway route is chosen a descent should be made to
Bishop's Cannings lying snugly under the steep side of Tan Hill. Here
is a magnificent church of much interest and beauty. The cruciform
building is in the main Transitional and Early English. The dignified
central tower has a spire of stone. The corbels supporting the roof
are carved with representations of Kings and Abbots. The interior is
impressive in its splendid proportions and graceful details, and of
especial beauty are the Perpendicular arches inserted in the nave. The
fine triple lancets of the chancel, transepts and west end also call
for notice. To the east of the south transept is the former chapel of
Our Lady of the Bower. This has been the Ernle chantry since 1563. It
contains monuments of this family and an ancient helmet bearing their
crest hangs on the wall. The south transept has a piscina and in the
north transept is a curious old carved chair, said to have been used
by the guardian of a shrine, but whose or what shrine is unknown. The
two-storied building on the north-east of the chancel, consisting of a
sacristry and priest's room, is the oldest part of the church. James I
was entertained in the village during one of his progresses by the
vicar who, with the help of his parishioners, rendered some of his own
compositions for the edification of the King.

The Avebury road now ascends the sparsely inhabited chalk hills, part
of the range known under the general designation of the Marlborough
Downs. To the left, on the northern slopes of Roundway Down, have been
erected a number of gaunt and lofty wireless masts, visible for a
great distance. They may be said to stand in a cemetery, so numerous
are the round barrows scattered about the surrounding hills. After
passing a reservoir on the left the road reaches the lonely
"Shepherd's Shore," nearly 600 feet up. Just past this point the
mysterious Wansdyke is crossed. Hereabouts the Dyke runs in a fairly
straight line east and west, where this direction keeps to the summit
of the hills. It is well seen from our road as it descends on the
right from Horton Down. To the east it eventually becomes lost in the
fastnesses of Savernake Forest. Westwards it is, for some distance,
identical with the Roman road to Bath. The "Wodensdyke" appears to
have been made to protect south-western England from foes coming out
of the midlands, but whether it was the work of Brito-Roman or West
Saxon is unknown. Our way now drops past three conspicuous barrows on
the left, with the Lansdown Column showing up on the summit of
Cherhill Down beyond. This was erected to commemorate the birth of
Edward VII. Presently, in the other direction, to the right front,
appears the dark mass of Silbury Hill, perhaps another monument to a
great monarch, but of an age too distant for conjecture.

Seven miles from Devizes we reach the Bath road at Beckhampton, first
crossing the track of the old Roman Bath-Silchester way about
three-quarters of a mile before it joins the modern road. We are now
in the valley of the Kennet, which here turns east after an infant
course under the long line of Hackpen Hill and through the
out-of-the-way villages of Winterbourne Basset, Monkton and Berwick
Basset. The "winter bourne" is actually the baby Kennet, that in dry
summers hardly makes an appearance. Berwick has a family connexion
with Wooton, over the hills and far away to the north-west. Hackpen is
almost the final effort of the chalk in this direction. At its
northern end it rises to 884 feet, an isolated section being crowned
by Barbury Camp, ringed by its beech trees, from which there is a
grand view north and west. From this point the general trend of the
chalk escarpment is north-east to the Lambourn Downs, between Lambourn
and Wantage. Along the brow of this long ridge wanders that
fascinating old track indifferently termed Ridgeway and Icknield Way,
which only leaves the highlands to cross the Thames at Streatley. But
we are off our own track now and must return to Avebury, or Abury as
the natives have it. The village is a mile from Beckhampton, and a
short distance up the by-road the first glimpse of our goal may be had
on the left in the two "Long Stones" just visible across a field. A
little farther one gets the best distant view of Silbury Hill--one
which shows its artificial character and true shape to great
advantage. The sombre tone of the turf that clothes it is remarkable;
when seen against the pale sweep of the Downs behind, its sides do not
appear to _reflect_ light at all.

[ SILBURY HILL.]

"As a cathedral is to a parish church," Aubrey's comparison of Avebury
with Stonehenge is difficult to understand upon merely a casual visit.
To grasp the unique character of this, the oldest prehistoric monument
in Europe, and perhaps in the world, we must take for granted the
investigations and discoveries of antiquaries and archaeologists
during the last 250 years, and if the comparison between their
conjectural but approximately correct plans and the present aspect of
this mysterious relic of the Stone Age is disappointing and
perplexing, we can only be thankful that the work of Farmer Green and
Tom Robinson, the two despoilers mentioned by the earliest
investigators, has been prevented in their descendants, and that
though the circles are incapable of restoration, the few stones that
remain will be preserved for all time.

Avebury is undoubtedly older than Stonehenge and must belong to the
true Neolithic period, whether the former does or not. Of the original
six hundred and fifty megaliths eighteen are standing and about the
same number are buried. Some are nearly 17 feet high, and the rampart
that encloses the Temple is no less than 4,500 feet round and from 10
to 20 feet in height, though it is computed that from the bottom of
the ditch to the wall must have originally been nearly 50 feet. The
modern village, built of some of the missing stones, is partly within
the circular earthwork. This rampart is the only part of the great
work which can be readily comprehended by the visitor. A circle of one
hundred stones is said by the archaeologist Stukely to have stood
around the edge of the enclosure, forty-four still standing in his
time (1720). The same writer asserts that within the great circle were
two other separate rings consisting of thirty stones, and each
containing an inner circle of twelve stones. The northern of these
rings had three large stones in the middle; the southern, one enormous
stone 27 feet high and nearly 9 feet round. One, or possibly two,
avenues of stones led south-east and south-west; that going in the
direction of West Kennet may still be traced and fifteen stones
remain, but the other is conjectural, if it existed at all. The two
megaliths seen from the Beckhampton road may be a remnant of it. The
purpose of all this intricate and elaborate work is a puzzling problem
and, like the mystery of Stonehenge, will probably remain a secret to
the end. The literature of Avebury, not quite so copious as that of
the stones of the Plain, is also more diffident in its guessing.
Avebury has given a title to the most modest and thorough of its
students, and his writings on this and the other prehistoric monuments
of Wiltshire, a county that must have been a holy land some thousands
of years ago, should be studied by all who have any concern in the
long-buried past of their country.

Avebury Church, just without the rampart, was originally a Saxon
building, its aisles being Norman additions. The chancel was rebuilt
in 1879, but certain old features are preserved. The fine tower is
Perpendicular. The font may be Saxon, though the ornamentation is of a
later date. Avebury Manor House, beyond the churchyard, is a beautiful
old sixteenth-century dwelling; it marks the site of a twelfth-century
monastery.

About one mile south of Avebury rises the extraordinary mound called
Silbury Hill, as wonderful in its way as either of the two great stone
circles of Wiltshire and perhaps part of one plan with them. It is
said to be the largest artificial hill in Europe and bears comparison,
as far as the labour involved in its erection is concerned, with the
Pyramids. The mound is 1,660 feet round at the base and covers over
five acres. It is now just 130 feet high, but when made it is probable
that the top was more acute and consequently higher. A circle of
sarsens once surrounded the base, but these have almost all
disappeared. Pepys repeats an old tradition that a King Seall was
buried upon the hill; but it is extraordinary that Avebury and Silbury
were less known to our forefathers than Stonehenge, and the first
mention of these two places, as being of antiquarian or historic
interest, is in the seventeenth century. Excavations during recent
years have done little or nothing to clear up the mystery of Silbury.
The fact that the Roman road (which leaves the Bath road just west of
Silbury) here deviates slightly from its usual straightness is
significant and proves that the mound was in existence when the road
was made. The villagers around used to ascend the hill on Palm Sunday
to eat "fig cakes" and drink sugar and water. It has been suggested
that this ceremony had some connexion with the gospel story of the
barren fig tree, but it is much more probable that the tradition has a
very early origin. As a matter of fact the cakes were mostly made with
raisins which are called figs by natives of Wessex.

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There are three obvious ways of approaching Salisbury from Shaftesbury
and the west: by railway from Semley; by the main road, part of the
great trunk highway from London to Exeter via Yeovil; and by a kind of
loop road that leaves this at Whitesand Cross and follows the valley
of the Ebble between the lonely hills of Cranborne Chase and the long
line of chalk downs that have their escarpment to the north,
overlooking the Exeter road. These are all good ways, but there is
even a fourth, only practicable for good walkers, that keeps to the
top of the Downs until the Salisbury Race Course above Netherhampton
is reached. This is a splendid route, with magnificent views to the
left and north, and some to be lingered over in the opposite
direction, and the finest of all when the slender needle of Salisbury
spire pierces the blue ahead.

Three miles out of Shaftesbury a road leaves the main route on the
left for Donhead St. Mary; another by-way from this village joins the
highway farther on and adds but a mile or so to the journey. The
church, high up on its hill, is an interesting structure, mainly
Norman and Early English with some sixteenth-century additions. The
round font belongs to the older style. A memorial to one Antonio
Guillemot should be noticed. He was a refugee Carthusian, who came
here with some brother monks during the French Terror. They found
sanctuary at a farm-house placed at their disposal by Lord Arundell of
Wardour, and now called the "Priory," because of its associations. Not
far from the village is Castle Rings, an encampment from which there
is a grand view of the Wilts and Somerset borderland. In one of the
chalky combes just below the hill is an old Quaker burial ground, as
remote and lonely as the more famous Jordans ground was before the
American visitor began to make that a place of pilgrimage. Donhead St.
Andrew, a mile from St. Mary's, is in an entirely different situation
to the latter, the Perpendicular church being at the bottom of a deep
hollow. Both villages are very charming.

The main route continues amid surroundings of much beauty, with the
well-named White Sheet Hill to the right and the wooded and hummocky
outline of Ansty Hill to the left, until the turning for the latter
makes a good excuse for leaving the high road once more. Ansty
village, seven miles from Shaftesbury, is unremarkable in itself, but
has close by it one of the most picturesque and historic ruins in
Wiltshire. The demolition of Wardour Castle came about in this wise.
At the outbreak of the Civil War the owner, Sir Thomas Arundell, was
away from home with the army around the King. Lady Arundell decided to
defend the Castle with the small force at her disposal, barely fifty
men all told, but helped and sustained by the women servants, who kept
the garrison fed and supplied with ammunition. This handful of
defenders held at bay for five days a well-armed force of 1,300 men
commanded by Sir Edward Hungerford, and made good terms for itself
before marching out. These, however, were not faithfully kept by the
Roundheads who, in occupying the Castle, were commanded by Edmund
Ludlow. Sir Thomas (or Lord Arundell, his title had not then received
formal recognition) died of wounds received in one of the western
battles just after the capitulation and his son in turn laid siege to
his own home. The resistance was as stubborn as his mother's had been,
the force within the Castle being many times as great. All hope of
dislodging the Roundheads being lost, the New Lord of Wardour resolved
to blow up the walls with mines, placed beneath them under cover of
darkness. This was done to such good purpose that the garrison, or all
that was left of it, was forced at once to surrender.

[ WARDOUR CASTLE.]

The castle and estates had been acquired from the Grevilles by the
Arundells, an old Cornish family, in the early sixteenth century. The
Arundells were convinced Catholics, and the first of the family to own
Wardour was beheaded in 1552 "as a rebel and traitor" or rather, "as
his conscience was of more value to him than his head." As we see the
building to day it forms a fine example of fifteenth-century
architecture, despite its dismantled state. The walls are fairly
perfect and the eastern entrance with its two towers, approached by a
stately terrace, is most imposing. The gateway is surmounted by an
inscription referring to the two Arundells of the Great Rebellion;
above is a niche containing a bust of Christ and the words "SUB NOMINE
TUO STET GENUS ET DOMUS." The entrance to the stairs, an arch in the
Classic Renaissance style, is a picturesque and much-admired corner of
the ruin.

Not much can be said for the aspect of the new Castle, a building
erected in the eighteenth century. It is a museum of art and contains
many treasures by Rembrandt, Holbein, Velasquez, Vandyke and other
great masters and, most interesting of all, a portrait of Lady Blanche
Arundell, the defender of the Castle. She was a granddaughter of
Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, and so came of an heroic and kingly
line. Another famous relic is a wooden chalice made from the
Glastonbury Thorn, and the splendid (so-called) Westminster chasuble
is preserved in the chapel.

On the high road Swallowcliffe; Sutton Mandeville, with a partly
Norman church; Fovant, nearly opposite Chislebury Camp and with
another (restored) Norman church; and Compton Chamberlaine are passed,
all being a short distance off the road to the left, before it drops
for the last time into the valley of the Nadder. Near the last village
is Compton Park, the home of that Colonel Penruddocke who, in 1655,
led a small body of horsemen into Salisbury and proclaimed Charles II,
at the same time seizing the machinery of law and government. But the
"rising" was not popular; the Colonel got no assistance from the
townspeople and the affair led to his death upon the scaffold.

The most profitable way of approaching Salisbury is to continue
northwards from Ansty by a lane that eventually descends to Tisbury
on the headwaters of the Nadder. This small town has a station on the
South Western main line and a large cruciform church, situated at the
foot of the steep hill on which the town is built. Its present nave is
Early English, but an earlier Transitional building once stood on the
site. The tower is more curious than beautiful and the quaint top
story may be contemporary with the chancel, an addition of the early
seventeenth century. The latter has an elaborately ornamented ceiling
and is the resting place of Lady Blanche Arundell and also of Sir
Thomas, first Lord Wardour, who distinguished himself as a late
crusader in 1595 at the battle of Gran in Hungary, when he captured a
Turkish standard. His helmet is fixed to the wall above his tomb.
Place House, once a grange of Shaftesbury Abbey, at the end of the
village, is an early Tudor manor. The fine gate-house and the
tithe-barn at the side of the entrance court are good specimens of the
domestic architecture of the period. The buildings form a picturesque
group and the all too brief glimpse of them from the railway has
probably caused many travellers thereon to break their journey.

A short two miles to the north of Tisbury, in a lovely district of
wooded hills, is Fonthill Giffard. The church, erected in the Early
English style in 1866, will not detain the visitor, though one might
well be disposed to linger in the charming village. The great "lion"
of this district was the famous and extraordinary Fonthill Abbey, an
amazing erection in sham Gothic, built by Wyatt, that "infamous
dispoiler, misnamed architect" to the order of the eccentric author of
_Vathek_--William Beckford, heir of a wealthy London merchant who was
twice Lord Mayor and died a millionaire. Contemporary prints are
occasionally met with in curiosity shops that bring vividly before us
this specimen of the "Gothic madness" of our great grandfathers. An
enormous octagonal tower arises from the centre of the strange pile of
buildings, which is in the form of a cross with arms of equal length.
Pinnacle and gargoyles, moulding and ornaments, all clashing and at
war with each other, are stuck on anywhere and everywhere; the
nightmare dream of a medievalist. If this was the fruit of Beckford's
brain nothing more need be said. If that of Wyatt's, we can but be
thankful that he did not live long enough to have the commission for
building the present Palace of Westminster. A pile that as it is, is
only too reminiscent of the florid imaginings of the Gothic revival.

The expensive eccenticities of Beckford--he was a collector of
everything costly--brought about the sale of Fonthill and a retirement
to Bath. Not long after the new owner, a millionaire named Farquhar,
had entered into possession, the central tower fell and ruined most of
the "gingerbread" beneath. Perhaps the best thing Wyatt ever did was
his architectural work in the foundations of this sham "abbey."

The present Fonthill House has a small portion of Wyatt's building
incorporated with it. Half a mile away is the new Fonthill Abbey
(so-called). It was erected by the Marquis of Westminster in 1859 and
is in the Scottish Baronial style. The situation, overlooking a sheet
of water formed out of one of the feeders of the Nadder, is beautiful
in the extreme. To the north-west is Beckford's Tower--one of the many
he built (he is buried under one of them at Bath)--from which there is
a glorious view of the hills, woods and waters of this fair country
side. Hindon, about two miles north-west of Fonthill Giffard, is a
small town fallen from the ancient state that it held when it refused
Disraeli the honour of representing it in Parliament. Its pleasant
situation in the midst of the wooded hills that surround it on all
sides, the quiet old houses and dreamy main street beneath the shady
trees that were planted in honour of the marriage of Edward VII, make
its only claim on the notice of the passing tourist. Not far from
Hindon and about three miles from Fonthill Giffard is East Knoyle, the
birthplace of Sir Christopher Wren in 1632. He was a son of its
rector.

From Tisbury a road goes eastwards down the valley of the Nadder
through the small hamlet of Chicksgrove to Teffont Evias, or Ewyas,
the name of the former lords of the manor. This village is most
delightfully situated on high ground above the Nadder. The
sixteenth-century manor house, the rectory and the beautiful church,
are all of much interest. The church was built in the fifteenth
century and has a fine western tower and spire. The Ley Chapel
contains a number of monuments to that family, and the mosaics
representing the Angelic Choir over the east window strike an uncommon
note for a country church. Beyond Teffont Magna, where there is a very
small and ancient church, are the famous quarries which supplied some
of the stone for Salisbury Cathedral and were almost certainly worked
by the Romans. They are now roomy caverns, that, like Tilly Whim at
Swanage, have every appearance of being natural.

Continuing towards Salisbury, the first village passed through is
Dinton, the birthplace of Clarendon, historian of the Civil War. Then
comes Baverstock, with a restored Decorated church, and lastly, before
reaching Wilton, Barford St. Martin. Here is an Early English
cruciform church with one or two interesting features, including an
ancient effigy near the altar, in what appears to be a winding sheet.
The road through these villages, or rather tapping them--the first two
are slightly off the main route to the left--keeps to the north side
of the Nadder valley, at first under the wooded escarpment of the
Middle Hills where are the prehistoric remains of Hanging Langford
Camp, Churchend Ring and Bilbury Ring: and then under the great
expanse of Grovely Wood, which clothes the lonely hills dividing the
valleys of Wylye and Nadder, covered with evidences of an age so far
away that the Roman road from Old Sarum, traversing the summit of the
hills, is a work of yesterday by comparison.

Wilton is an exceedingly interesting place if one considers its
history. It took its name from the Wylye and gave it to the shire. It
was the ancient capital of the Wilsaetas and antedated Old Sarum as
the seat of their bishop. It only just missed being the first town of
the county when Bishop Poore preferred an entirely fresh site for his
new Cathedral after shaking the tainted dust of Old Sarum from off his
feet.

The position of the town, on the tongue of land between the two rivers
just above their meeting place, is ideal as a stronghold and an
imposing position in other ways, but the Wilton of to-day is small and
rather mean in its streets and houses and without any important
remains of its ancient past. Its history begins with the battle of
Ellandune between Mercia and Wessex, in which the victor--Egbert of
the West Saxon line--made good his claim to be overlord of England. It
was here that the greater West Saxon, Alfred, defeated the Danish
invaders, and here again Sweyn turned the tables and burnt and slew in
true pirate fashion. A house of Benedictine nuns was founded in Wilton
at an early date and was enlarged and re-endowed by Alfred. St. Edyth,
one of the nuns, was a daughter of King Eadgar and Wulftrude, who had
been a nun herself. When the Queen died Wulftrude refused to become
the King's consort, and eventually became Abbess of Wilton. The site
of the Abbey is now occupied by Wilton House.

[ WILTON HOUSE. HOLBEIN FRONT.]

According to Leland "the chaunging of this (Icknield) way was the
total course of the ruine of Old Sarisbyri and Wiltoun, for afore
Wiltoun had twelve paroche churches or more, and was the hedde town of
Wilshire." This refers to the new bridge built at Harnham to divert
the route to the south-west through the new city. Still, the collapse
was not utter and the position of the town was enough to save it from
total ruin. Cloth making and the wool trade generally persisted for
many years, and the making of carpets ("Wilton Pile") has persisted to
the present day, despite competition and some anxious years for the
manufacturers.

Of the few unimportant relics of the past may be mentioned the old
Town Cross that stands against the churchyard wall, and the chapel of
St. John in Ditchampton, part of a hospital founded in 1189 by Bishop
Hurbert of Sarum. St. Giles' Hospital, originally for lepers, was
founded by Adeliza, consort of Henry I, and rebuilt in 1624. Wilton
church is as unusual as it is imposing. It was built by Lord Herbert
of Lea while still the Hon. Sidney Herbert. Though the style seems out
of keeping with an ordinary English countryside there is something
about the high banks of foliage surrounding the town that gives the
Italian campanile an almost natural air. The church is in the
Lombardic style and the grand flight of steps, the triple porches and
beautiful cloisters connecting the tower with the main building, are
exceedingly fine. No less imposing is the ornate and costly interior.
In its wealth of marbles and mosaics it is almost without parallel in
England. The two handsome tombs of alabaster in the chancel are those
of Lord Herbert of Lea and his mother. Not the least interesting
feature of this unique church is the fine stained glass in the windows
of the apse, dating from the thirteenth century.

Wilton House stands in a beautiful park that comes almost up to the
doors of the town. The waters of the Nadder as they flow through the
glades have been broadened into a long lake-like expanse spanned by a
very beautiful Palladian bridge. This is the home of the Earls of
Pembroke and Montgomery. Their ancestors were an ancient Welsh family
and great friends of their compatriots, the Tudor sovereigns. Here, as
constant and welcome guests, came Ben Jonson, Edmund Spencer and
Philip Massinger, who was a son of one of the Earl's servants. Here
_As You Like It_ is said to have been played before James I, with
Shakespeare himself as one of the company. Gloriana was a visitor in
1573 and attempted to flirt with Sir Philip Sidney, brother-in-law of
the host, presenting him with one of her auburn locks. Here Sir Philip
wrote a good part of the _Arcadia_. It will be seen that Wilton was a
home for all who had the divine fire within them. Gentle George
Herbert, a relative and esteemed friend, could often come from near-by
Bemerton, and Izaak Walton, who was here collecting material for the
"Life" of his hero, no doubt spent some happy days in contemplation of
the clear waters of the Nadder. Charles I was another visitor, and by
him certain suggestions are said to have been made for some of the
alterations and additions of the seventeenth century. The original
building which followed the dismantled Abbey was designed by Holbein,
but this has almost disappeared except for the central portion over
the gateway. Wyatt was allowed to stick some of his sham Gothic
enormities over the older work about the time he was designing
Fonthill, but an era of better taste soon got rid of these and the
present fronts are Italian in style and very lordly and imposing. The
great hall contains the Vandyck portraits for which Wilton is
preeminently famous, but there are other great masters, including
Rubens, Titian and del Sarto to be seen by those interested, besides a
collection of armour hardly to be surpassed in the country. These
treasures are shown at certain times.

san4uzel · more about Salisbury and wiltshire history

more about Salisbury and wiltshire history;-

BEMERTON CHURCH.]

Although a pleasant and retired little place, Bemerton would not be of
much interest were it not for its associations with the "singer of
surpassing sweetness," the author of _The Temple_. George Herbert
became rector here in 1630 and died two years later, aged 42. He lies
within the altar rails of the church and the tablet above is simply
inscribed G.H., 1633. The lines on the Parsonage wall and written by
the parson-poet were originally above the chimney inside. They run
thus:--

"If thou chance for to find
A new house to thy mind,
And built without any cost,
Be good to the poor
As God gives thee store
And then thy labour's not lost."

In the garden that slopes down to the river there was quite recently,
and may be still, an old and gnarled medlar planted by Herbert. The
well-known painting "George Herbert at Bemerton" by W. Dyce, R.A., in
the Guildhall Art Gallery, gives an excellent picture of the calm
grace of the surroundings and of the heavenly spire of the Cathedral
soaring up into the skies a mile away. The fine new memorial church at
Bemerton is used for the regular Sunday services and Herbert's little
old church for worship on weekdays. It is pleasant to think that the
bells which sound so sweetly across the meadows, as we take the
footpath way to Salisbury, are those that were rung by Herbert when he
first entered his church.

The City of Salisbury, or officially, New Sarum, is a regularly built,
spacious and clean county capital that would be of interest and
attraction if there were no glorious cathedral to grace and adorn it.
As a matter of fact, cathedral towns away from the immediate precincts
suffer from the overshadowing character of the great churches, that
take most of the honour and glory to themselves. This is, of course
but right, and the discerning traveller will keep the even balance
between the human interest of court and alley and market place and the
awed reverence that must be felt by the most materialistic of us when
we come within the immediate influence of these solemn sanctuaries, of
which Salisbury is the most perfect in the land.

[ OLD SARUM.]

It is impossible to give the merest outline of the history of
Salisbury without first referring to that of Old Sarum, or
Sorbiodunum, two miles to the north. The huge mound on the edge of the
Plain was doubtless a prehistoric fortress, though of a much simpler
form than the three-terraced enclosure of twenty-seven acres that we
see there to-day. In Roman times the importance of this advanced
outpost of chalk, commanding the approach to the lower valley of the
Avon, would be appreciated. But it would appear from recent
investigations that little was done to elaborate the defences.
Nevertheless Sorbiodunum was an important Roman town and stood on the
junction of two great thoroughfares--the Icknield Way and the Port
Way. The recent excavations, interfered with to a large extent by the
late war, have been so disappointing in the lack of Roman relics that
a suggestion has been made by Sir W.H. St. John Hope that the true
site of the Roman town may have been at Stratford, just below the
mound to the north-west. It is possible that further excavations will
settle the question.

After the Saxon invasion, Sarobyrig, as it was then called, probably
assumed its present outline so far as the foundation of the walls are
concerned. That a mint of Canute (who according to one tradition, died
here and not at Shaftesbury) and again of Edward Confessor was set up,
and that the town became the seat of the Bishop of Sherborne, was a
proof of its established importance. The smaller central mound of the
citadel itself would appear to have been a work of the Normans, who
divided the space occupied within the outer defences into two parts;
that on the east belonging to the military works, and the western half
pertaining to the Bishop and having within it the original Salisbury
Cathedral. Here was instituted by Bishop Osmund the new English ritual
or "use of Sarum," and here commenced those endless squabbles between
clergy and soldiers that at last resulted in the men of peace leaving
the fortress city.

("Quid Domini Domus in Castro, nisi foederis arca
In Tempho Baalim? Carcer uterque locus,
Est ibi defectus aquae, sed copia cretae,
Saevit ibi ventus, sed philomela silet.")

The commission to inquire into the proposed change was appointed by the
Pope in 1217, and from this year begins the rapid decay of Old Sarum.
The Cathedral was dismantled and much of the material was used in the
new structure in the plain. That the original was a noble building
existing records and ultimate discoveries amply prove. The ground plan
was well seen in the dry summer of 1834, when measurements were taken
and the total length found to be 270 feet. The first church was
seriously damaged by a thunderbolt five days after its consecration,
and the original plan was much elaborated in the rebuilding--

"So gret lytnynge was the vyfte yer, so that al to nogt
The rof of the chyrch of Salesbury it broute,
Ryght evene vyfte day that he yhalwed was."
(Robert of Gloucester.)

Of the castle not so much is known. Leland says in 1540:--"Ther was a
right fair and strong castella within _Old-Saresbyri_ longing to the
Erles of Saresbyri especially the Longerpees. I read that one
Gualterus was the first Erle after the conquest of it. Much ruinus
building of this castelle yet ther remayneth. The dich that environed
the old town was a very deepe and strong Thynge," and again
"_Osmunde_, erle of _Dorchestre_, and after Bishop of Saresbyri,
erected his Cathedrale church ther in the west part of the town; and
also his palace; whereof now no token is but only a chapel of Our Lady
yet standing and mainteynid.... Ther was a paroch of the Holy Rode
beside in _Old-Saresbyri_ and another over the est gate Whereof some
tokens remayne. I do not perceyve that there are any mo gates in
Old-Saresbyri than 2; one by est and another by west. Without eche of
these gates was a fair suburbe. On the est suburbe was a paroche
church of S. John; and ther yet is a chapel standing. The river is a
good quarter of a myle from Old-Saresbyri and more, where it is nerest
on to it, and that is at Stratford village south from it. Ther hath
bene houses in tyme of mind inhabited in the est suburbe of
Old-Saresbyri; but now there is not one house neither within
Old-Saresbyri nor without it inhabited."

It will be seen that in comparison with other English towns Salisbury
is not old. Like several others its foundations were entirely
ecclesiastical, for as soon as the builders of the new Cathedral
started upon their work the civil population of Old Sarum migrated to
the water meadows with as little delay as possible, and the Bishop's
architects planned for them a town with regular streets and square
blocks of dwellings all much of a size, a characteristic that will
strike the most unobservant traveller and which differentiates this
from most other English towns in a marked degree.

[SALISBURY MARKET PLACE.]

From whichever side Salisbury has been entered; by either of the great
roads; or by the railway that, from the east, makes a long tour of the
north side of the town in kindly purpose, it would seem, to give the
passer-by a good view--there rises before him the glorious spire that,
whatever the boast of uniformity of style or perfection of design,
really gives the exterior of the building its unique beauty and
without which it would be cold and dull. To the Cathedral then, as its
spire is calling so insistently, the stranger must inevitably make his
way before troubling about anything else in the town. Our approach
happens to coincide with that of the traveller who arrives by rail,
and down Fisherton Street, an unusually winding thoroughfare for
Salisbury, over the Avon bridge and through the High Street Gate we
enter the most beautiful of those abodes of beauty--the English
cathedral closes. The guide books advise the tourist to make the first
approach by way of St. Anne's Gate, when the gradual unfolding of the
north front of the building makes a perfect introduction to the
Cathedral, but so does that of the sudden view of the whole, with the
tower and spire as an exquisite centre, as we leave the row of
well-ordered houses, mixed with a few quiet shops, that line the
approach from High Street to the north-west angle of the Close. A
pleasing presentment of Edward VII now looks down this old by-street
from the High Street Gate and is Salisbury's tribute to that lover of
peace. The Close is bordered by beautiful old houses, some quite noble
in their proportions, but likely to be overlooked by all but the most
leisured visitor. It is so difficult to look at anything but the tower
and spire, and it is best to forget that another tower, a campanile,
similar to that at Chichester, once stood on this greensward, to be
wantonly destroyed by James Wyatt. This is said to have been
garrisoned by the Parliamentary army during the Civil War. The
Deanery, opposite the west door, is a quaintly charming building and
the gabled King's House is said to date from the fourteenth century.
No incongruous note ever seems to mar the serenity of the great green
square. The passers-by all apparently fit their environment;
schoolgirls in their teens, fresh faced and happy; clergy of the
Chapter, true type of the modern intellectual priest; an occasional
workman employed about the Cathedral, upon whom its impress has
visibly descended; quaint imps in Elizabethan ruffles playing a
seemingly sedate game upon the lawn while their companions are singing
in the choir; the ordinary sightseers who, apart from bank holidays,
always seem to arrive at the same times and in the same twos and
threes, and put on, as do the inevitable butchers' and bakers' youths,
a cloak of decorous quiet when they enter the guardian gateways.

[ HIGH STREET GATE.]

The Cathedral was commenced in 1220 by Bishop Poore and took about
forty years to build, but this period did not include the erection of
the tower and spire which were later additions. The fine and generally
admired west front is, from an architect's point of view, the only
part of the exterior that is not admirable. It is in actual fact,
fraudulent, just as the whole of the upper wall of St. Paul's
Cathedral is an artistic untruth. The west wall of Salisbury is a
screen without professing to be one. The porches are very small in
relation to the great flattish expanse of masonry above them; the
dullness of this was much relieved by the series of statues placed in
the empty niches about the middle of the last century. The original
medieval figures almost all disappeared through the zeal of the
Puritans.

Even the most careless glance down the long outline of the walls,
artistically broken by the two transepts, but never losing the regular
continuity of design, will show the observer that this perfect Early
English building was an inspiration of one brain and that the many
hands that worked for that brain carried out their tasks as a
religious rite. The glory of the tower as we see it was not part of
the original plan, though that undoubtedly included some such crown
and consummation of the noble work beneath. But although the tower and
spire are of a later period--the Decorated, they blend so
harmoniously with the earlier building that all might have arisen in
one twelve months instead of being labours spread over one hundred
years. The rash courage which raised this great pyramid of stone, four
hundred and four feet above the sward, on the slender columns and
walls that have actually bowed under the great weight they uphold, has
often been commented upon. It has been said that the tower would have
fallen long ago had it not been for the original scaffolding that
remains within to tie and strengthen it. In the eighteenth century a
leaden casket was discovered by some workmen high in the spire,
containing a relic of our Lady, to whom the Cathedral is dedicated. In
the summer of 1921 the steeplejacks employed to test the lightning
conductor found that the iron cramps had rusted to such an extent as
to split the stonework. A band of iron within the base of the spire in
process of rusting is said to have raised the great mass of stone
fully half an inch. The iron is now being replaced by gun-metal.

The great church is entered by the north porch, and the immediate
effect of august beauty is not at first tempered by the impression of
coldness that gradually makes itself felt as we compare, from memory,
the interior with that of Winchester or even some of the less
important churches we have visited. But this is perhaps only a
temporary fault, and when the windows of the nave are rejewelled with
the glorious colours that shone from them before the Reformation, the
cold austerity of this part of the great church will largely
disappear. The extreme _orderliness_ of the architectural conception,
the numberless columns and arches ranged in stately rows, vanishing in
almost unbroken perspective, make Salisbury unique among English
cathedral interiors. An old rhyme gives the building as many pillars,
windows, and doors as there are hours, days, and months in the year.

In addition to his other questionable traits, James Wyatt must have
had something of the Prussian drill-sergeant in his nature. Under his
"restoration" scheme the tombs of bishops and knights that once gave a
picturesque confusion to the spaces of the nave were marshalled into
precise and regular order in two long lines between the columns on
each side. For congregational purposes this was and is an advantage,
but Wyatt actually lost one of his subjects in the drilling process
and so confused the remainder that the historical sequence is lost.

[ PLAN OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.]

It is not proposed to describe these tombs in detail. A glance at the
sketch plan on the preceding page will make the position of each quite
clear. Especially notice should be given to (10) William Longespee,
1st Earl of Salisbury; (14) Robert, Lord Hungerford; (13) Lord Charles
Stourton, who was hanged in Salisbury Market Place with a silken
halter for instigating the murder of two men named Hartgill, father
and son. A wire noose representing the rope used to hang above the
tomb. (3) The reputed tomb of a "Boy Bishop," but possibly this is
really a bishop's "heart shrine." Salisbury seems to have been in an
especial sense the home of the singular custom of electing a small lad
as bishop during the festival of Christmas. According to Canon
Fletcher in his pleasant little book on the subject lately published,
no less than twenty-one names are known of Boy Bishops who played the
part in this cathedral. Several modern memorials of much interest upon
the walls of the nave explain themselves. One, to the left of the
north porch as we enter, is to Edward Wyndham Tempest, youthful poet
and "happy warrior" who was killed in the late war. Another will
remind us that Richard Jefferies, although buried at Broadwater in
Sussex, was the son of a North Wilts yeoman and a native of the shire.

The arches at the western transepts will be found to differ from those
of the nave; they were inserted to support the weight of the tower by
Bishop Wayte in 1415 and are similar to those at Canterbury and Wells.
A brass plate was placed in the pavement during the eighteenth century
to mark the inclination of the tower, 22-1/2 inches to the south-west.
It is said that the deflection has not altered appreciably for nearly
two hundred years. The exactness of the correspondence of the
architecture in the transepts to that of the nave almost comes as a
surprise by reason of its rarity to those who are acquainted with
other English cathedrals, and brings before one very vividly the
homogeneity of the design. A number of interesting monuments, several
of them modern, occupy the two arms of the transepts. The choir
roof-painting, sadly marred by Wyatt, has been restored to something
of its former beauty, but it would seem that time alone can give the
right tone to mural decoration in churches, for there is now an effect
of harshness, especially farther east in the so-called Lady Chapel,
that is not at all pleasing. The screen of brass leading to the choir,
the greater part of the stalls, and the high altar and reredos, are
seen to be modern. The altar occupies its old position and was
restored as a memorial to Bishop Beauchamp (1482). The Bishop's
chantry was destroyed by Wyatt, who had shifted the altar to the
extreme end of the Lady Chapel, if we may use the name usually given
to the eastern extension of the Cathedral, but as the dedication of
the whole building is to the Virgin, that part may have been called
originally the Jesus, or Trinity Chapel. On the north side of the
choir is the late Gothic chantry of Bishop Audley and opposite is that
of the Hungerfords, the upper part of iron-work. On the north side of
the altar is the effigy of Bishop Poore, founder of the Cathedral; the
modern one under a canopy is that of one of his late successors,
Bishop Hamilton.

[ GATE, SOUTH CHOIR AISLE.]

The choir transepts are now reached. That on the north side, with its
inverted arch, contains, among others, the tomb of Bishop Jewel (died
1571) who despoiled the nave windows of their colour. He was the first
post-Reformation Bishop of Salisbury. Just within the entrance is the
interesting brass of Bishop Wyville, builder of the spire. It records
the recovery, through trial by combat, of Sherborne Castle for the
church. The slab of the Saint-Bishop Osmund's tomb (1099), one of
those wantonly interfered with by Wyatt and a relic of the Cathedral
of Old Sarum, has been brought from the nave to its present position
near the end of the north choir aisle and not far from its former
magnificent shrine. The chief beauty of the Lady Chapel consists in
the slender shafts of Purbeck marble that support the roof. The
tryptych altarpiece is modern, also the east window in memory of Dean
Lear. Opinion will be divided as to the merit of the roof decoration,
but time will lend its aid in the colour scheme. In this connexion may
be mentioned the means taken here as elsewhere to remove the curious
"bloom," that comes in the course of a generation or two, upon the
Purbeck marble columns. They are oiled!

Attention is again called to the sketch plan for the tombs hereabouts,
and in the south choir aisle, where especial notice should be taken of
the canopied tomb of Bishop Giles de Bridport. The muniment room,
reached from the south-east transept, contains a contemporary copy of
Magna Carta, besides many other interesting manuscripts and treasures.
The Cathedral Library is above the cloisters. Its collection of
manuscripts is magnificent, some dating as far back as the ninth
century. The windows in the cloisters are of very fine design, and
some fragments of old glass in the upper portions show that they were
once glazed. The original shafts of Purbeck marble had so decayed by
the middle of the last century that it was decided to replace them
with a more durable stone. Very beautiful is the octagonal chapter
house, entered from the east walk. The bas-reliefs below the windows
and above the seats for the clergy are of great interest. The
sculptures in the arch of the doorway should also be particularly
noticed. From a door in the cloisters there is a charming view of the
Bishop's Palace and the beautiful gardens that surround it.

An enjoyable stroll can be taken southwards to the Harnham Gate and
the banks of the Avon, and a return made by the old Hospital of St.
Nicholas, founded in 1227 by a Countess of Salisbury, and then by
Exeter Street to St. Ann's Gate at the east side of the close.
Fielding, whose grandfather was a canon of the Cathedral, is said to
have lived in a house on the south side of the gate. Dickens was
acquainted with Salisbury, but not until after he had made it the
scene of Tom Pinch's remarkable characterization--"a very desperate
sort of place; an exceedingly wild and dissipated city." It must not
be forgotten that Salisbury is the "Melchester" of the Wessex Novels
and that Trollope made the city the original of "Barchester."

[ THE POULTRY CROSS, SALISBURY.]

Continuing northwards, a wide turning on the left is termed The
"Canal." This takes us back to that time when the citizens' chief
concern was probably that of drainage, not of the domestic sort--that
did not worry them--but the draining of the water-meadows upon which
they had built their homes. About thirty years ago an elaborate scheme
for the relief of the city from this natural dampness was successfully
carried out. In this wide and usually bustling street the first house
on the right is the Council Chamber, and on the other side of the way
is the fine hall of John Halle, now a business house. The interior
should be seen for the sake of the carved oak screen at the farther
end of the banqueting room and the great stone fireplace. The
beautiful ceiling is also much admired. This was the home of a rich
wool merchant of the town, who built it about 1470. Although it has
passed through many hands and has seen many vicissitudes it has always
been known by his name. A turn to the right at the end of this street
will bring the explorer to the old Poultry Cross. The square pillar
surmounted by sundial and ball which for years supplanted the original
finial has in turn been replaced by a new canopy and cross. The
original erection has been variously ascribed to two individuals,
Lawrence de St. Martin and John de Montacute Earl of Salisbury, in
each case for the same reason, namely, as a penance for "having
carried home the Sacrament bread and eaten it for his supper," for
which he was "condemned to set up a cross in Salisbury market place
and come every Saturday of his life in shirt and breeches and there
confess his fault publickly." Not far away is the church of St. Thomas
of Canterbury, the only really interesting ecclesiastical building in
the city apart from the Cathedral. It is a very beautiful specimen of
Perpendicular and replaced a thirteenth-century church founded by
Bishop Bingham. The painting of the Last Judgment over the chancel
arch was covered with whitewash at the Reformation and the Tudor arms
were placed in front of it. About forty years ago this disfigurement
to the church was removed and the picture brought once more into the
light of day. The old font would seem to have originally belonged to
another church, as its style antedates the foundation (1220) of St.
Thomas' church. A few fragments of old stained glass remain in the
east window and in that of the Godmanstone aisle, in which aisle is an
altar tomb of one of the members of that family. Of the other churches
St. Martin's, in the south-eastern part of the city not far from the
Southampton road, is the oldest, and has an Early English chancel. St.
Edmund's, originally collegiate, was founded in 1268; it has been
almost entirely rebuilt. The Church House, near Crane Bridge, is a
Perpendicular structure, once the private house of a leading citizen
and cloth merchant named Webb. Other fine old houses are the Joiners'
Hall in St. Anne's Street and Tailors' Hall off Milford Street. The
George Inn in High Street has been restored, but its interior is very
much the same as in the early seventeenth century and part of the
structure must be nearly three hundred years older. It will be
remembered that Pepys stayed here and records that he slept in a silk
bed, had "a very good diet," but was "mad" at the exorbitant charges.
He was much impressed with the "Minster" and gave the "guide to the
Stones" (Stonehenge) two shillings. In 1623 a pronouncement was made
that all theatrical companies should give their plays at the "George."
Cromwell stayed at the inn in 1645. Salisbury seems to have been
fairly indifferent to the cut of her master's coat; Royalist and
Republican were equally welcome if they came in peace. Only one fight
is worth mentioning during the whole course of the Civil War--in which
the city was held by each party in turn--and that was the tussle in
the Close, along High Street, and in the Market Place, when Ludlow,
with only a few horsemen, held his own against overwhelming odds. The
"Catherine Wheel" long boasted a legend of a meeting of Royalists
during the Commonwealth, at which, the toast of the King having been
drunk, one of the company then proposed the health of the Devil, who
promptly appeared and amid much smoke and blue fire flew away with his
proposer out of the window. This story rather hints at a republican
spirit on the part of the townspeople. That was certainly manifested
when Colonel Penruddocke led his "forlorn hope" into the city and,
long before, when the Jack Cade rebellion gained a great number of
adherents in Salisbury.

The city had a number of these fine old inns, famous centuries before
the great days of the Exeter road. Nearly all have disappeared, but
the "White Hart" in John Street is little altered and the "Haunch of
Venison" is said to be the oldest house in the city.

In our peregrinations of the streets we have passed two statues
neither of great merit but each perpetuating the memory of men of more
than local fame. The bronze figure in front of the Council House is
that of Lord Herbert of Lea, better known perhaps as Sydney Herbert,
Minister during the Crimean War. The other is a very different manner
of man--Henry Fawcett. The memorial of the blind Postmaster-General
and great political economist stands in Queen Street, close to his
birthplace. The Blackmore and Salisbury Museums are in St. Anne's
Street. Both are most interesting; the first named has an important
collection of Palaeolithic and Neolithic remains.

The history of Salisbury, happily for the citizens, has not been very
stirring, apart from the few incidents already briefly mentioned.
Executions in the Market Place seem to have had an unenviable
notoriety. The most dramatic of these was the beheading of the Duke of
Buckingham in 1484. A headless skeleton dug up in 1835 during
alterations to the "Saracen's Head," formerly the "Blue Boar," was
popularly supposed to be his, though records appear to show that his
corpse was in fact taken to the Greyfriars' Monastery in London. In
Queen Mary's time there was a burning of heretics in the space devoted
to violent death, a space which afterwards saw many others as
needlessly cruel. One is extraordinary in its details. A prisoner
sentenced to the lock-up lost control of himself--possibly he was
innocent--and threw a stone at the judge. He was at once sentenced to
death and removed to the Market Place, his right hand being cut off
before he was hanged. As lately as 1835 two men here suffered the
extreme penalty for arson. To the hanging of Lord Stourton, a just and
well-merited punishment, reference has already been made. But perhaps
the most vindictive execution of all was that of a boy of fifteen in
1632 when Charles I was in the town. The lad was hanged, drawn and
quartered for saying he would buy a pistol to kill the King.

Royal visits have been many. Henry III probably came here when he
granted the charter of New Sarum. When Henry VI visited the city the
inhabitants were ordered to wear red gowns, possibly a piece of sharp
practice on the part of the city fathers, who were nearly all
clothiers or cloth-merchants. Richard III was here at the time of
Buckingham's execution, and Elizabeth under happier circumstances, in
1574, when she was presented by the Corporation with a slight
honorarium of twenty pounds and a gold cup, but James I, who was here
several times on his way to the stag hunting in Cranborne Chase only
obtained a silver cup. Unlike his predecessor, however, he possessed a
consort and the royal pair were presented with twenty pounds each.
James' unfortunate son held here one of those unsuccessful councils of
war that seemed always to turn events in favour of the enemy. The
second Charles came twice in a hurry. The first time was after the
battle of Worcester on his flight to the coast, and again he came for
sanctuary with his whole court when the plague was ravaging the
capital. He was almost the only traveller from London or the east that
the authorities would allow, during that dreadful time, within the
city boundaries; even natives returning home were obliged to stay
outside in quarantine for three months. James II lodged at the
Bishop's Palace on his way to intercept the Prince of Orange, and
here, a month later, William III stayed in his turn while the previous
guest fled the country. It is said that on the day James arrived in
Salisbury an ornamental crown on the facade of the Council House fell
down.

[LONGFORD CASTLE.]

Several delightful excursions can be taken in each direction from
Salisbury. Southwards one may proceed along the Avon valley by the
Fordingbridge road to Britford, passing East Harnham, where the fine
modern church is a memorial to Dean Lear. Britford church is of the
greatest interest to archaeologists, for within it are three arches
which have been claimed variously as Saxon and Roman work. The
remainder of the building is of the Decorated period. An altar tomb
was at one time supposed to contain the body of the executed Duke of
Buckingham. Longford Castle, the seat of the Earl of Radnor, is just
over a mile to the south. The magnificent park extends along the banks
of the Avon in scenery of much quiet beauty. The castle, although much
altered, dates from 1590, and contains a famous collection of
paintings and is especially rich in Holbein's works. Perhaps the most
celebrated of the many treasures housed at Longford is the "Imperial
Steel Chair," once the property of the emperor Rudulf II. It is one of
the most elaborate specimens of metal work in England. Rather more
than a mile west of Longford is the Early English church at Odstock.
It has a fine west tower and several points of interest. The pulpit
dated 1580 bears the following couplet:

"God bless and save our Royal Queen
The lyke on Earth was never seen."

The churchyard contains the grave of one Joseph Scamp, executed for a
crime to which he pleaded guilty; but really committed by his
son-in-law.

The route is now by a lane that follows the course of the river
through Charlton, with Clearbury Camp a mile away to the right, and on
to Downton where we cross the bridge to the large and interesting
cruciform church built at many different periods. The Transitional
nave becomes Early English at the east end and the transepts are made
up of Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular work. The chancel is
entirely of the last-named style and very fine in its proportions and
details. The Norman font of Purbeck marble should also be noticed. The
village was one of the old-time "rotten" boroughs and returned two
members to Parliament. Southey was once elected but declined the
honour. Downton was evidently of some importance in still earlier
days, for on the outskirts of the village, in private grounds, is an
earthwork used in Saxon times as a folk-mote, or open-air local
parliament. It is probable that this was originally a British fort,
for about a mile away is the ancient ford over the Avon where a great
battle was fought in the days of the West Saxon invasion and in which
the attackers were held. Thirty-seven years elapsed before any further
advance was made into Wiltshire. Downton is also one of the places of
which that curious myth story "The Pent Cuckoo" is told.

The road to the south can be followed down the river to Fordingbridge
(_see_ Chapter II), but it is proposed to return by the east bank of
the river past Burford Park and Trafalgar, the renamed Standlynch
Manor, bestowed on Earl Nelson in 1814, to the neighbourhood of
Alderbury, over three miles out of Salisbury on the Southampton road.
The scenery of this part of the Christchurch Avon is very pleasant in
a quiet way, the wide views towards the chalk hills on each side and
the distant spire of the Cathedral, visible from every point of
vantage, make the walk especially enjoyable. Alderbury is said to be
the original village of the "Blue Dragon" of Mrs. Lupin and Mark
Tapley, immortalized by Charles Dickens, though some claim Amesbury to
be the original of this scene. It is difficult to say that any
particular village could be in the novelist's mind if, as seems
probable, he had not seen Wiltshire when _Martin Chuzzlewit_ was
written. St. Mary's Grange, on the Salisbury road, is suggested as the
original of Mr. Pecksniff's residence. Alderbury House was built from
the demolished campanile of Salisbury Cathedral.

To obtain a really good idea of the hill country, apart from that of
the Plain, a walk should be taken, by those who are impervious to
fatigue, to Broad Chalke, about seven miles from East Harnham, or even
farther to Berwick St. John, more than six miles higher up the stream.
The river Ebble itself, if river it can be called, is rarely in
evidence, but the valley it drains is beautiful and, though it
contains quite a string of villages, is so remote as to be seldom
visited by anyone not on business bent. The vale seems to end
naturally at Coombe Bisset, though the river flows on through
Honnington and Odstock for four miles farther before it reaches the
Avon. The church, set picturesquely on its hill at Coombe, is an old
Transitional Norman building with some later additions. The village in
the hollow below appeals to one as a happy place in which to end one's
days. So also appears Stratford Tony, farther up the vale, where, as
its name suggests, the Roman road from Old Sarum to Blandford once cut
across the valley in the usual Roman manner. Bishopstone, the next
village, has a very fine cruciform church, most interesting in its
general details. The patron of the living was the Bishop of
Winchester; thus the village gets its name. It is possible that some
of the bishops took special interest in the building and that would
account for its elaboration. The style is Decorated passing into
Perpendicular in the nave. The chancel and transepts are peculiarly
fine and the vaulting of the first-named will be much admired, as also
the beautiful windows. The south door of the chancel with its handsome
porch and groined roof; the vaulted chamber, or so-called cloister,
outside the south transept, the use of which is unknown; the recessed
tomb in the north transept and the grand arch on the same side of the
church; all call for especial notice.

The right-hand road at Stoke Farthing leads direct to Broad Chalke, or
a longer by-way on the other side of the stream takes us to the same
goal by way of Bury Orchard, a village as delectable as its name.
Chalke likewise boasts of a fine church, also cruciform and dating, so
far as the chancel and north transept are concerned, from the
thirteenth century. In that transept the old wooden roof still
remains. The nave is Perpendicular, solid and plain; the roof quite
modern, though the corbels that supported the old one, carved with
representations of angels singing and playing, were not disturbed. The
sedilia in the chancel and the aumbry in the north transept should be
seen. The lych-gate was erected to the memory of Rowland Williams of
_Essays and Reviews_ fame. John Aubrey, antiquary and nature lover,
who was a native of Easton Pierce in North Wilts, was a resident here
for a long time, and a modern literary association is found in the
fact that the Old Rectory has been the home of Mr. Maurice Hewlett for
some years.

The hills now begin to close in upon the road and another valley
penetrates into the highlands which form the northern portion of
Cranborne Chase. In this vale, in a lovely hollow between the rounded
hills, is the small village of Bower Chalke. Westwards, up the main
valley, we pass through Fifield Bavant, where the church is one of the
many that claim to be the smallest in England. Ebbesborne Wake, the
next hamlet, lies cramped in a narrow gully between Barrow Hill and
Prescombe Down. The restored church is not of great interest, but an
unnamed tomb within bears these very pertinent lines:

AS THOU DOST LYVE, O READER DERE,
SO DYD I ONCE WHICH NOW LYE HEARE;
AND AS I AM SO SHALT THOU BE
FOR ALL IS FRAYLE AS THOU MAYST SEE.

Alvedeston, the last village actually in the valley, lies under a spur
of Middle Down from which there is a magnificent view of the "far
flung field of gold and purple--regal England." Alvedeston church is
an old cruciform building containing the tomb of a knight in full
armour. This is one of the Gawen family. The Gawens were for many
years lords of Norrington, a beautiful old house near by. Aubrey
suggests that they were descended from that Gawain of the Round Table
who fought Lancelot and was killed. The last village, Berwick St.
John, is high upon the hills and close to Winklebury Camp. Its Early
English church, as is usual in this district, has transepts. The
Perpendicular tower, though rather squat, is of fine design and the
interior has several interesting monuments and effigies, including
effigies of Sir John Hussey and Sir Robert Lucie clad in mail. A
pleasant custom obtains here of ringing a bell every night during the
winter to guide home the wanderer upon the lonely hills. This was
provided for in the will of a former rector--John Gane (1735). From
Berwick the hill walk to Salisbury, spoken of in the earlier part of
this chapter, should be taken.

[ DOWNTON CROSS.]

Another valley worth exploring is that of the Bourne, north-east of
Salisbury, down which the main railway line from London passes for its
last few miles before reaching the city. The Bourne is crossed by the
London road nearly two miles from the centre of the town. About half a
mile up stream is the ford where the old way crossed the river to
Sarum. The London road rises to the right and traverses the lonely
chalk uplands to the Winterslow Hut, lately known as the "Pheasant," a
reversion to its old name. Here lodged Hazlitt, essayist and recluse,
for a period of nine years, and here several of his best known
dissertations were penned, including the appropriate "On Living to
One's Self." Charles Lamb, accompanied by his sister, visited him
here. We, however, do not propose to travel by the great London
highway, but to turn to the left just across St. Thomas' Bridge, and
soon after passing the railway we cross the old Roman road where it
appears as a narrow track making direct for the truncated cone of Old
Sarum away to the west across the valley. Figsbury Rings is the name
of the camp-crowned summit to the east of our road. The first three
villages are all "Winterbournes "--Earls, Dauntsey and Gunner. The
first two have rebuilt churches, but the third--Gunner--has a
Transitional building of some interest. The name is a corruption of
Gunnora, spouse of one of the Delameres who were lords hereabouts in
the early thirteenth century. Farther on, Porton will not detain us
very long, but Idmiston has a church that is a fine example of the
style so well called Decorated. The tower, indeed, is Norman, but the
clustered columns of the nave with their carved capitals and bases are
beautiful specimens of fourteenth-century architecture. The Early
English chancel has a triple east window and side lancets. The
two-storied porch is late Decorated or early Perpendicular. A tomb of
Giles Rowbach and tablets to the Bowie family are of interest. One of
the Bowles, a vicar of the church, was a notable Spanish scholar and
made a translation of _Don Quixote_. Boscombe Rectory was once
occupied by "the judicious" Hooker and the first part of the
_Ecclesiastical Polity_ was written here. Another theologian--Nicholas
Fuller--famous in his day, held the living of the next village--Allington.
At Newton Tony, over eight miles from Salisbury, the pleasant scenery
of the Bourne may be said to end. Beyond, we reach an outlying part of
the Plain that is seen to better advantage from other directions.
Newton Tony has a station on the branch line to Amesbury and Bulford
Camp. Wilbury House, on the road to Cholderton, was erected in the
Italian style in the early seventeenth century by the Bensons, a noted
family in those days, one of whose members is commemorated by a brass
in the church. The house was the home of the late Mr. T. Gibson Bowles,
formerly the member for King's Lynn.

[ LUDGERSHALL CHURCH.]

The valley goes on to Cholderton, Shipton Bellinger and Tidworth,
where are situated the head-quarters of the Southern Military Command.
The Collingbournes--Ducis and Kingston--are much farther on, right at
the head of the valley, and eighteen miles from Salisbury. If the
explorer has penetrated as far as Tidworth a train can be taken three
miles across the Down to Ludgershall, a very ancient place near the
Hampshire border. It would seem to have been of some importance in
earlier days. "The castell stoode in a parke now clene doun. There is
of late times a pratie lodge made by the ruines of it and longgethe to
the king" (Leland). To this castle came the Empress Maud and not far
away the seal of her champion, Milo of Hereford, was found some years
since. All that is left to show that Leland's "clene doun" was a
slight exaggeration is a portion of the wall of the keep built into a
farm at the farther end of the little town. The twelfth-century church
is interesting. Here may be seen the effigy of Sir Richard Brydges,
the first owner of the Manor House (or "pratie lodge") which succeeded
the castle. The picturesque appearance of the main street is enhanced
by the old Market Cross which bears carved representations of the
Crucifixion and other scenes from the New Testament.

[ STONEHENGE.]

STONEHENGE AND THE PLAIN

The direct route from Salisbury to Amesbury is (or was) the loneliest
seven miles of highway in Wiltshire. No villages are passed and but
one or two houses; thus the road, even with the amenities of Amesbury
at the other end is, under normal conditions, an ideal introduction to
the Plain. The parenthesis of doubt refers to that extraordinary and,
let us hope, ephemeral transformation which has overtaken the great
tract of chalk upland encircling Bulford Camp. The fungus growth of
huts which, during the earlier years of the Great War, gradually crept
farther and farther from the pre-war nucleus and sent sporadic growths
afield into unsuspected places, will undoubtedly vanish as time
passes, just as the unnaturally busy traffic of the road will also
disappear. Some of the gaunt incongruities visible from near
Stonehenge have, happily, already vanished and in this brief
description they will be, as far as is possible, ignored. Certain it
is that those readers who have had the misfortune to be connected with
them by force of "iron circumstance" will not wish for reminders of
their miseries.

Old Sarum is on the left of, and close to, the road. It can be most
conveniently visited from this side. At present the most interesting
part of the great mound is the actual fosse and vallum. The interior,
while excavations are in progress, is too much a chaotic rubbish heap
to be very inviting. But again this is merely a passing phase and soon
the daisy-starred turf will once more mantle the grave of a dead city.
The valley road turns off to the left a short distance past the
railway and goes to Stratford-sub-castle, just under the shadow of the
great mound to the west. This forms a pleasant enough introduction to
the scenery and villages of the Upper Avon. The Manor House at
Stratford is associated with the Pitt family, for the estate came by
purchase to the celebrated Governor Pitt, the one-time owner of the
diamond named after him. His descendant, the Earl of Chatham, was
member for Old Sarum when it was the most celebrated, and execrated,
of all the "rotten boroughs." For many years the elections took place
under a

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