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diff --git a/11410.txt b/11410.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf20d6d --- /dev/null +++ b/11410.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10621 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Wanderings in Wessex, by Edric Holmes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Wanderings in Wessex + An Exploration of the Southern Realm from Itchen to Otter + +Author: Edric Holmes + +Release Date: March 2, 2004 [EBook #11410] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WANDERINGS IN WESSEX *** + + + + +Produced by Dave Morgan, Beth Trapaga and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + +[Illustration: WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL.] + + +WANDERINGS IN WESSEX + +AN EXPLORATION OF THE SOUTHERN REALM +FROM ITCHEN TO OTTER + + +BY EDRIC HOLMES + +Author of "Seaward Sussex," etc. + + + +With 12 full-page drawings by + +M.M. VIGERS + +and over one hundred illustrations in the text by the author. + +Map and Plans + + + + Dear hills do lift their heads aloft + From whence sweet springes doe flow + Whose moistvr good both firtil make + The valleis covchte belowe + Dear goodly orchards planted are + In frvite which doo abovnde + Thine ey wolde make thy hart rejoice + To see so pleasant grovnde + + (_Anon. 16th Century_) + + + +NOTE + +The obvious limitations imposed by the size of this volume upon its +contents, and the brief character of the reference to localities that +require separate treatment to do them justice, would call for an +apology if it were not made clear that the object of the book is but +to introduce the would-be traveller in one of the fairest quarters of +England to some of its glories, both of natural beauty and of those +due to the skill and labour of man. + +The grateful thanks of the author are due to those of his predecessors +on the high roads and in the by-ways of Wessex who, in time past, +have chronicled their researches into the history and lore of the +country-side. In one way only can he claim an equality with them--in +a deep and undying affection for this beautiful and gracious province +of the Motherland. + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAP. + + INTRODUCTION + + I WINCHESTER AND CENTRAL HAMPSHIRE + + II SOUTHAMPTON WATER AND THE NEW FOREST + + III POOLE, WIMBORNE AND THE ISLE OF PURBECK + + IV DORCHESTER AND ITS SURROUNDINGS + + V WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND + + VI WEST DORSET + + VII EAST DEVON + +VIII THE SOMERSET, DEVON AND DORSET BORDERLAND + + IX SALISBURY AND THE RIVERS + + X STONEHENGE AND THE PLAIN + + XI THE BERKSHIRE BORDER AND NORTH HAMPSHIRE + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +FULL PAGE DRAWINGS + +Winchester Cathedral _Frontispiece_ +St. Cross +Bargate, Southampton +Corfe Castle +Cerne Abbey Gatehouse +Weymouth Harbour +The Charmouth Road +Ottery Church +Sherborne +Salisbury Cathedral +Stonehenge +Marlborough + + +PEN AND INK SKETCHES IN THE TEXT + +The Dorset Coast--Mupe Bay +Font, Winchester Cathedral +Plan, Winchester Cathedral +Steps from North Transept, Winchester +Gateway, Winchester Close +Winchester College +Statue of Alfred +City Cross, Winchester +West Gate, Winchester +The Church, St. Cross +Romsey Abbey +The Arcades, Southampton +Netley Ruins +On the Hamble +Gate House, Titchfield +The Knightwood Oak in Winter +Lymington Church +Norman Turret, Christchurch +Sand and Pines. Bournemouth +Poole +Wimborne Minster +Julian's Bridge, Wimborne +Cranborne Manor +St. Martin's, Wareham +The Frome at Wareham +Plan of Corfe Castle +Corfe Village +St. Aldhelm's +Old Swanage +Tilly Whim +The Ballard Cliffs +Arish Mel +Lulworth Cove from above Stair Hole +Durdle Door +Puddletown +Dorchester +Napper's Mite +Maiden Castle +Wyke Regis +Old Weymouth +Portland +On the way to Church Ope +Bow and Arrow Castle +Portesham +St. Catherine's Chapel +Beaminster +Eggardon Hill +Bridport +Puncknoll +Chideock +Charmouth +Lyme from the Charmouth Footpath +Lyme Bay +Axmouth from the Railway +Seaton Hole +Beer +The Way to the Sea, Beer +Branscombe Church +Sidmouth +Axminster +Ford Abbey +Tower, Ilminster +Yeovil Church +Montacute +Batcombe +Sherborne Castle +Bruton Bow +Marnhull +Blandford +Milton Abbey +Gold Hill, Shaftesbury +Wardour Castle +Wilton House, Holbein Front +Bemerton Church +Old Sarum +Salisbury Market Place +High Street Gate +Plan of Salisbury Cathedral +Gate, South Choir Aisle +The Poultry Cross, Salisbury +Longford Castle +Downton Cross +Ludgershall Church +Gatehouse, Amesbury Abbey +Amesbury Church +Plan of Stonehenge (restored) +Stonehenge Detail +Enford +Boyton Manor +Longleat +Frome Church +Westbury White Horse +Porch House, Potterne +St. John's, Devizes +Bishop's Cannings +Silbury Hill +Devil's Den +Garden Front, Marlborough College +Cloth Hall, Newbury +Wolverton +The Inkpen Country +Whitchurch +Holy Ghost Chapel, Basingstoke +Basing +Corhampton +Map of Wessex + + + +ARCHITECTURAL TERMS + +_The following brief notes will assist the traveller who is not an +expert in arriving at the approximate date of ecclesiastical +buildings._ + +SAXON 600-1066. Simple and heavy structure. Very small wall openings. +Narrow bands of stone in exterior walls. + +NORMAN 1066-1150. Round arches. Heavy round or square pillars. Cushion +capitals. Elaborate recessed doorways. Zig-zag ornament. + +TRANSITION 1150-1200. Round arched windows combined with pointed +structural arch. Round pillars sometimes with slender columns +attached. Foliage ornament on capitals. + +EARLY ENGLISH 1200-1280 (including Geometrical) Pointed arches. +Pillars with detached shafts. Moulded or carved capitals. Narrow and +high pointed windows. Later period--Geometrical trefoil and circular +tracery in windows. + +DECORATED 1280-1380. High and graceful arches. Deep moulding to +pillars. Convex moulding to capitals with natural foliage. "Ball +flowers" ornament. Elaborate and flamboyant window tracery. + +PERPENDICULAR 1380-1550. Arches lower and flattened. Clustered +pillars. Windows and doors square-headed with perpendicular lines. +Grotesque ornament. (The last fifty years of the sixteenth century +were characterized by a debased Gothic style with Italian details in +the churches and a beauty and magnificence in domestic architecture +which has never since been surpassed.) + +JACOBEAN and GEORGIAN 1600-1800 are adaptations of the classical +style. The "Gothic Revival" dates from 1835. + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The kingdom of Wessex; the realm of the great Alfred; that state of +the Heptarchy which more than any other gave the impress of its +character to the England to be, is to-day the most interesting, and +perhaps the most beautiful, of the pre-conquest divisions of the +country. + +As a geographical term Wessex is capable of several interpretations +and some misunderstandings. Early Wessex was a comparatively small +portion of Alfred's political state, but by the end of the ninth +century, through the genius of the West Saxon chiefs, crowned by +Alfred's statesmanship, the kingdom included the greater portion of +southern England and such alien districts as Essex, Kent, and the +distinct territory of the South Saxons. + +The boundaries of Wessex in Alfred's younger days and before this +expansion took place followed approximately those of the modern +counties of Hants, Berks, Wilts and Dorset, with overlappings into +Somerset and East Devon. + +The true nucleus of this principality, which might, without great call +upon the imagination, be called the nucleus of the future Britain, is +that wide and fertile valley that extends from the shores of the +Solent to Winchester and was colonized by two kindred races. Those +invaders known to us as the Jutes took possession of Vectis--the Isle +of Wight--and of the coast of the adjacent mainland. The second band, +of West Saxons, penetrated into the heart of modern Hampshire and +presently claimed the allegiance of their forerunners. + +That seems to have been given, to a large extent in an amicable and +friendly spirit, to the mutual advantage of the allied races. + +It would appear that these settlers--Jutes and Saxons--were either +more civilized than their contemporaries, or had a better idea of +human rights than had their cousins who invaded the country between +Regnum and Anderida to such purpose "that not one Briton remained." Or +it may be that the majority of the inhabitants of south central +Britain, left derelict by their Roman guardians, showed little +opposition. It is difficult for a brave and warlike race to massacre +in cold blood a people who make no resistance and are therefore not +adversaries but simply chattels to be used or ignored as policy, or +need, dictates. In 520 at Badbury Hill, however, a good fight seems to +have been made by a party of Britons led, according to legend, by the +great Arthur in person. The victory was with the defenders and had the +effect of holding up Cerdic's conquest for a short time. Again some +sort of resistance would seem to have been made before those +mysterious sanctuaries around Avebury and Stonehenge fell to the +Saxon. It is possible that the old holy places of a half-forgotten +faith were again resorted to during the distracting years which +followed the withdrawal of the Roman peace that, during its later +period, had been combined with Christianity. Whatever the cause, it is +certain that something prevented an immediate Saxon advance across the +remote country which eventually became Wiltshire and Dorset. But the +end came with the fall of the great strongholds around Durnovaria +(Dorchester) which took place soon after the Saxon victory at Deorham +in 577, twenty-five years after Old Sarum had capitulated, thus +cutting off from their brothers of the west and north those of the +British who still remained in possession of the coast country between +the inland waters and savage heathlands of East Dorset and the still +wilder country of Exmoor, Dartmoor and Cornwall. + +So, by the end of the sixth century, the Kingdom of Wessex was made +more or less an entity, and the dark-haired, dark-eyed race who once +held the country were in the position of a conquered and vassal +people; for the times and the manners of those times well used by +their conquerors, especially in the country of the Dorsaetas, where at +the worst they were treated as useful slaves, and at the best the +masters were but rustic imitators of their forerunners, the Romans. To +the most careless observer a good proportion of the country people of +Dorset are unusually swarthy and "Welsh" in appearance, though of the +handsomer of the two or three distinct races that go to make up that +mixed nation, which has among its divergent types some of the most +primitive, both in a physical and mental sense, in Europe. + +In the ninth century the Kingdom of Wessex had assumed a compact +shape, its boundaries well defined and capable of being well defended. +The valley of the Thames between Staines and Cricklade became the +northern frontier; westwards Malmesbury, Chippenham and Bath fell +within its sphere, and Bristol was a border city. To the east of +Staines the overlordship of Wessex extended across the river and +reached within twenty miles of the Ouse at Bedford. These districts +were the remnants of the united state of the first King of the +English--Egbert, whose realm embraced not only the midland and +semi-pagan Mercia, but who claimed the fealty of East Anglia and +Northumbria and for a few years made the Firth of Forth the north +coast of England. To the south-west the country that Alfred was called +upon to govern reached to the valley of the Plym, and so "West Wales" +or Cornwall became the last retreat of those Britons who refused to +bow to the Saxon. + +It will be seen how difficult a matter it is to define the district +this book has to describe, so the southern boundary of the true Wessex +must be taken as the coast line from the Meon river on the east side +of Southampton Water to the mouth of Otter in Devon. On the north, the +great wall of chalk that cuts off the south country from the Vale of +Isis and the Midlands and that has its bastions facing north from +Inkpen Beacon to Hackpen Hill in the Marlborough Downs. East and west +of these summits an arbitrary line drawn southwards to the coast +encloses with more or less exactitude the older Wessex. + +Outside the limits here set down but still within Alfred's Kingdom is +a land wonderful in its wealth of history, gracious in its English +comeliness, the fair valleys and gentle swelling hills of South-west +Devon, wildly beautiful Dartmoor and the coloured splendour of Exmoor, +the patrician walls of Bath, and the high romance of ancient Bristol. +Under the Mendip is that gem of medieval art at Wells, one of the +loveliest buildings in Europe, and the unmatched road into the heart +of the hills that runs between the most stupendous cliffs in South +Britain. Not far away is Avalon, or Glastonbury if you will, the +mysteries of which are still being mysteriously unfathomed. From the +chalk uplands of our northern boundary we may look to the distant vale +in whose heart is the dream city of domes and spires--Oxford, and +trace the trench of England's greatest river until it is lost in the +many miles of woodland that surge up to the walls of Windsor. East and +south is that beautiful and still lonely country that lies between the +oldest Wessex and the sister, and ultimate vassal, kingdom of Sussex; +the country of the Meonwaras, a region of heather hills and quiet pine +combes that stretch down to the Solent Sea and the maritime heart of +England--Portsmouth. + +Across the narrow bar of silver sea is an epitome of Wessex in +miniature, Vectis, where everything of nature described in these +following chapters may be found, a Lilliputian realm that contains not +only Wessex but morsels of East Anglia and fragments of Mercia and +Northumbria, combined with the lovely villages and pleasant towns that +only Wight can show. + +All this storied beauty is without the scope of this book but within +the greater Wessex that came to the King who is the really +representative hero of his countrymen. The genius of the West Saxon +became for a time, and to a certain extent through force of +circumstance, a jealous and rather narrow insularity, without wide +views and generous ideals, but to this people may be ascribed some of +the higher traits that go to redeem our race. That their original +rough virtues were polished and refined by their beautiful environment +in the land that became their heritage few can doubt. That their +gradual absorption and amalgamation with the other races who fought +them for the possession of this "dear, dear land" has resulted in the +evolution of a people with a great and wonderful destiny is manifest +to the world, and is a factor in the future of mankind at which we can +but dimly guess. + +[Illustration: THE DORSET COAST--MUPE BAY.] + +The scenery of Inner Wessex is as varied as the materials that go to +make it up, from the bare rolling chalk downs of Salisbury Plain to +the abrupt and imposing hills around the Vale of Blackmore. To most +who travel in search of the picturesque and the beautiful, the Dorset +coast and the country immediately in the rear, will make the greatest +appeal. The line of undulating cliffs, often towering in bold, +impressive shapes, that commences almost as soon as Dorset is entered +and continues without a dull mile to the eastern extremity of +Weymouth, is to some minds the finest stretch of England's shore +outside Cornwall, a county that depends entirely on its coast line for +its claim to beauty. To some eyes, indeed, the exquisite and varied +colouring of the Dorset cliffs is more satisfying than that of the +dour and dark rocks of Tintagel and the Land's End. And if Wessex +cannot boast the sustained grandeur of the stern face that England +turns to the Atlantic waves, the romantic arch of Durdle Door, the +majestic hill-cliff that rises above the green cleft of Arish Mel, and +the sombre precipices of St. Aldhelm's, with the smiling loveliness of +the Wessex lanes and hamlets behind them, will be sufficient +recompense. + +Hampshire has been given the character of having the least interesting +shore of all the southern counties. This is a matter of individual +taste. The surf that beats on the sands from Bournemouth to +Southampton Water washes the very edge of the "Great Wood." Again, the +long pebble wall of the Chesil Bank and the barrier "fleets" of middle +Wessex are a real sanctuary of the wild. This is almost the longest +stretch in England without bathing machine or bungalow. Remote and +little visited also is the exquisite sea country that begins at the +strange little settlement of Bridport Quay and ends in Devonshire. To +the writer's mind there is nothing more lovely in seaward England than +the scenery around Golden Cap, that glorious hill that rises near +little old "Chiddick," and no sea town to equal Lyme, standing at the +gate of Devon and incomparably more interesting and unspoilt than any +Devon coast town. + +But the traveller in search of something besides the picturesque will +not be contented until he has explored the wonderful region that +enshrines the most unique of human works in Britain, belonging to +remotely different ages and widely dissimilar in aspect and +purpose--Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. No one can claim to know +Wessex until some hours of quiet have been spent within the walls of +the ancient capital, and no one can know England until the spirit of +the English countryside, the secluded and primary village of the +byways with its mothering church, rich with the best of the past, has +been studied, known and loved. This is the essential England for which +the yeoman of England, whose memorials will be seen in almost every +Wessex hamlet, have given their lives. + +[Illustration: ST. CROSS.] + + + + +CHAPTER I + +WINCHESTER AND CENTRAL HAMPSHIRE + + +The foundations of the ancient capital of England were probably laid +when the waves of Celtic conquest that had submerged the Neolithic men +stilled to tranquillity. The earliest records left to us are many +generations later and they are obscure and doubtful, but according to +Vigilantius, an early historian whose lost writings have been quoted +by those who followed him, a great Christian church was re-erected +here in A.D. 164 by Lucius, King of the Belgae, on the site of a +building destroyed during a temporary revival of paganism. The Roman +masters of Lucius called his capital, rebuilt under their tuition, +"Venta Belgarum." The British name--Caer Gwent--belonged to the +original settlement. The size and boundaries of both are uncertain. +Remains of the Celtic age are practically non-existent beneath +Winchester, though the surrounding hills are plentifully strewn with +them, and if Roman antiquities occasionally turn up when the +foundations of new buildings are being prepared, any plan of the Roman +town is pure conjecture. The true historic interest of Winchester, and +historically it is without doubt the most interesting city in England, +dates from the time of those West Saxon chiefs who gave it the +important standing which was eventually to make it the metropolis of +the English. + +The early history of Winteceaster is the history of Wessex, and when +Cerdic decided to make it the capital of his new kingdom, about 520, +it was probably the only commercial centre in the state, with +Southampton as its natural port and allied town. As the peaceful +development of Wessex went on, so the population and trade of the +capital grew until in a little over a hundred years, when Birinus came +from over seas bearing the cross of the faith that was soon to spread +with great rapidity over the whole of southern England, he found here +a flourishing though pagan town. After the conversion of King Cynegils +the first Wessex bishopric was founded at Dorchester near the banks of +the Thames, but by 674 this was removed to the capital where there had +been built a small church dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, probably on +the site now occupied by the cathedral and originally by the church of +Lucius and its predecessor. + +The great structure we see to-day is remarkable in many ways. It is +the longest Gothic building in the world, and is only exceeded by St. +Peter's in Rome. In spite of the disappointment the stranger +invariably experiences at his first sight of the squat tower and +straight line of wall, its majestic interior, and the indefinable +feeling that this is still a temple and not a mere museum, will soon +give rise to a sense of reverent appreciation that makes one linger +long after the usual round of "sights" has been accomplished. The war +memorial, dignified and austere, that was placed outside the west +front in the autumn of 1921, is a most effective foil to the +singularly unimposing pile of stone and glass behind it. But, however +it may lack the elegance of the usual west "screen," this end of +Winchester Cathedral has the great merit of being architecturally +true. + +[Illustration: FONT, WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL.] + +Of the first Saxon building nothing remains. In this Egbert was +crowned King of the English in 827. It was strongly fortified by St. +Swithun, who was bishop for ten years from 852. At his urgent request +he was buried in the churchyard instead of within the cathedral walls. +Another generation wishing to honour the saint commenced the removal +of the relics. On the day set aside for this--St. Swithun's day--a +violent storm of rain came on and continued for forty days, thus +giving rise to the old and well known superstition of the forty days +of rain following St. Swithun's should that day be wet. + +Under Bishop Swithun's direction the clergy and servants of the +cathedral successfully resisted an attack by the Danes when the +remainder of the city was destroyed. Soon after this, in the midst of +the Danish terror, Alfred became king and here he founded two +additional religious houses, St. Mary's Abbey, the Benedictine +"Nunnaminster;" and Newminster on the north side of the cathedral. Of +this latter St. Grimald was abbot. Nearly a hundred years later, in +Edgar's reign, the cathedral itself became a monastery, with Bishop +Athelwold as first abbot. He rebuilt the cathedral, dedicating it to +St. Swithun; it had been originally dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul. +Within this fabric Canute and his wife were buried; that earlier +Conqueror of the English having made Winchester his imperial capital. +A few years later, on Easter Day, the coronation of St. Edward took +place with great pomp. Soon after the advent of William I, who made +Winchester a joint metropolis with London and was crowned in both, the +building of the great Norman church by Bishop Walkelyn was begun; the +consecration taking place on St. Swithun's day 1093. Of this structure +the crypt and transepts remain practically untouched. The nave, though +Norman at its heart, has been altered in a most interesting way to +Perpendicular without scrapping the earlier work. Walkelyn's tower +fell in and ruined the choir in 1107, legend says as a protest against +the body of Rufus being placed beneath it. The present low tower +immediately took its place. Bishop de Lucy was responsible for +rebuilding the Early English choir about 1200. The famous Bishop +Wykeham completed the work of his predecessor, Edyngton, in rebuilding +the west front, and he it was who beautified the nave. The great east +window dates from about 1510; the lady chapel being rather earlier in +date. + +[Illustration: PLAN, WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL.] + +The extreme length of the cathedral is 556 feet; the breadth of the +transepts being 217 feet, and as the nave is entered the majestic +proportions of the great church will be at once appreciated. +Particular notice should be taken of the black font brought from +Tournai; it has the story of St. Nicholas carved upon it. The +situation of this and the tombs and other details will be quickly +identified by reference to the plan. On the south side is the chantry +of Bishop Wykeham, now fitted up as a chapel. Farther east is a +modern effigy, much admired, of Bishop Harold Browne, who died in +1891. A very beautiful iron grille that once protected the shrine of +St. Swithun now covers a door on the north side of the nave. Certain +of the piers in the nave were repaired in 1826-7 and the "restorer," +one Garbett, inserted _iron_ engaged columns on the face of that +one nearest to Bishop Edyngton's chantry, it is said for the sake +of economy and strength! Some of the stained glass in the nave, +according to Mr. Le Coutier, dates from the time of Bishop Edyngton, +and that representing Richard II is a work contemporary with Bishop +Wykeham. This part of the building has been the scene of many +progresses--magnificent and sad--from the coronation processions of +the early kings and the slow march of their funerals to that of the +wedding of Mary I, when the queen blazed with jewels "to such an +extent that the eye was blinded as it looked upon her." But the most +unforgettable of all was on that dreadful day when the troops of +Waller marched up the nave, some mounted and all in war array, to +despoil the tombs of bishop and knight of their emblems of piety and +honour and to destroy anything beautiful that could be reached with +pike or sword. + +On the right of the choir steps is Bishop Edyngton's chantry and on +the left the grave of the last Prior, Kingsmill, who afterwards became +first Dean. In the centre of the choir stands the reputed tomb of +William Rufus. This part of the building forms a mortuary chapel for +several of the early English Kings, including Canute. Their remains, +with those of several bishops, rest in the oak chests that lie on the +top of the choir screen. They were deposited here by Bishop Fox in +1534. This prelate was responsible for the beautiful east window; a +perfect specimen of old stained glass. The fine pulpit dates from +1520. In the choir, the scene of Edward Confessor's coronation in +1043, Mary I and Philip of Spain were married. The fine carvings of +the stalls date from 1296 and their canopies from 1390. They are among +the earliest specimens of their kind in Europe. + +[Illustration: STEPS FROM NORTH TRANSEPT, WINCHESTER.] + +The magnificent reredos was erected by Cardinal Beaufort; it is, of +course, restored. "The wretches who worked their evil will with this +beautiful relic of piety had actually chiselled the ornament down to a +plane surface and filled the concavities with plaster." It bore at one +time the golden diadem of Canute; behind it stood the splendid silver +shrine of St. Swithun, decorated with "the cross of emeralds, the +cross called Hierusalem" and who shall say what other gifts of piety +and devotion, all to become the spoils of that arch-iconoclast--Thomas +Cromwell. + +Bishop Fox's chantry was built during his lifetime. It is on the south +side of the reredos, Gardiner's being on the north. Behind the reredos +are the chantries of Bishop Waynflete and of the great Cardinal +Beaufort. The latter claims attention for its graceful beauty and the +peculiarities of character shown in the face of the effigy within. He +is termed by Dean Kitchin, who draws attention to the "money-loving" +nose, the "Rothschild of his day." Beaufort was the representative of +England among the judges that condemned St. Joan of Arc to the flames +and, at the time of writing, a memorial to the Maid is in course of +preparation, to be set up near the Cardinal's tomb; an appropriate act +of contrition and reparation. Beyond the space at the back of the +reredos is the Early English Lady Chapel with an interesting series of +wall paintings depicting the story of our Lady. Here is the chair used +by Mary I at her wedding. Although it is unusual to praise anything +modern, the beautiful stained glass in this part of the cathedral, +forming a complete design, must be admired by the most confirmed +"antiquary." + +It is in the transepts that the earlier architecture can be seen at +its best. This is nearly all pure Norman work, as is that of the +crypt. It has been suggested that the latter antedates the Conquest so +far as the base of the walls is concerned. Here is an ancient well +which may have served the defenders during the Danish siege. + +On the wall of the north transept is a large painted figure of St +Christopher. The chapel of the Holy Sepulchre (about 1350) stands +between the transept and the choir. In the south transept Izaak Walton +rests beneath a black marble slab in Prior Silkstede's chantry. + +The epitaph, written by Bishop Ken, may be quoted: + + ALAS! HEE'S GONE BEFORE + GONE, TO RETURNE NOE MORE; + OUR PANTING HEARTS ASPIRE + AFTER THEIR AGED SIRE, + WHOSE WELL-SPENT LIFE DID LAST + FULL NINETY YEARS AND PAST. + BUT NOW HE HATH BEGUN + THAT WHICH WILL NERE BE DONE: + CROWN'D WITH ETERNAL BLISSE, + WE WISH OUR SOULS WITH HIS. + +Near by is an old oak seat used by the monks between the services, and +a modern effigy of Bishop Wilberforce which strikes a Victorian note +in its general effect. The cathedral treasury was once the repository +of Domesday Book, also known as The Book of Winton. + +Just before the Great War commenced, the costly operation of +underpinning the cathedral was brought to a successful conclusion. +Much alarm had been felt after the architect's report was made public. +There is little doubt that a more or less general collapse of the +structure would have occurred had this very necessary operation been +long deferred. Large sums were spent in the closing years of the +nineteenth century in the repair of the roof and walls. A tablet +recording the particulars is placed at the west end of the nave. + +On leaving the cathedral some time may be spent in exploring the +interesting precincts and in endeavouring to reconstruct the medieval +aspect of this part of the city. The narrow "Slype," or public right +of way between the south transept and the site of the ancient +chapter-house, was probably made to replace a passage through the +interior, an intolerable nuisance at all times, but especially during +service hours. The old circuit wall of the monastery is still +standing, and the entrance to the deanery should be seen; this dates +from about 1220. The cloisters were destroyed for some unknown reason +in 1570. The ruins of Wolvesley Castle erected by Bishop de Blois +about 1150 are close to the cathedral on the south-east. It was the +residence of the Bishops, and part of the buildings formed an angle of +the city defences. The name Wolves _ey_ or _island_ is said to be a +survival from early Saxon days when the tributary Welsh here made an +offering of wolves' heads to their masters. + +[Illustration: GATEWAY, WINCHESTER CLOSE.] + +There are some very scanty and doubtful remains of the New Minster on +the north of the cathedral. This was pulled down at the dissolution of +the monasteries. Nunnaminster was also swept away during this woeful +time. + +The College of St. Elizabeth stood near St. Mary's. Founded by Bishop +John de Pontissara in 1301 it was dedicated to St. Elizabeth of +Hungary. After the Dissolution it was sold to the Warden of St. Mary's +for three hundred and sixty pounds, subject to the condition that the +church should become a grammar school for seventy-five students, or +that it should be pulled down. This fate befell the building, which +had three altars and a total length of 120 feet as was shown in the +dry summer of 1842 when the outline of the walls was distinct in the +grass of the meadows on the south-east of Winchester College. + +[Illustration: WINCHESTER COLLEGE.] + +Winton is now as famous for St. Mary's College as for the cathedral +itself, and though not the earliest foundation of all the great +schools, it can claim to having taught Eton the rules of good +pedagogy. Henry VI came here to ask advice and obtain experience for +his new college on the banks of the Thames. The school was founded by +Wykeham in 1387 for "seventy poor scholars, clerks, to live college +wise and study grammar," and its roll contains a goodly proportion of +England's great men. Here students were taught rather more than is +stated above, and "Manners Makyth Man" became the watchword of the +foundation. + +It was appropriate that the first of the great schools should be +established in the city of the warrior-student Alfred, the first of +that semi-barbarian race of monarchs to turn to the higher things of +the mind, and without losing the leadership of the nation and the love +of his people in so doing. On the contrary, he gained his niche in the +world's history as much for this virtue as for the heroic side of his +character. The King's palace stood not far from the river bank and +probably the college buildings cover part of the site. Like most Saxon +domestic structures, it was of wood, and no visible traces remain, +though the recent interesting discoveries at Old Windsor lead one to +wonder what may lie hidden beneath the turf here. + +[Illustration: STATUE OF ALFRED.] + +The Hero-King was buried, first in the cathedral, and then in the +Newminster. After the destruction of this building by fire, his +remains were removed to Hyde Abbey on the north of the city. This met +the fate of most other monasteries at the Dissolution, and the site of +the final interment and, according to some accounts, the actual +sarcophagus itself, were desecrated by eighteenth-century vandals in +order to build a lock-up! + +The bronze figure of Alfred, standing with sword held aloft as a +cross, on its colossal block of granite at the bottom of High Street, +is an inspired work by Hamo Thornycroft. It was erected in 1901 to +commemorate the millenary of the king's death and is the most +successful statue in the kingdom, imposing in its noble simplicity. + +High Street is still quaint and old fashioned, though it has few +really ancient houses. "God-Begot House" is Tudor and the old "Pent +House" over its stumpy Tuscan pillars is very picturesque. Taking the +town as a whole it can hold its own in interest with the only other +English medieval city worthy of comparison--Chester. The visitor must +have a fund of intelligent imagination and a blind eye for +incongruities and then his peregrinations will be a remembered +pleasure. The beautiful gardens belonging to the houses around the +close and the black and white front of Cheyney Court will be +recollected when more imposing scenes have faded. + +The "George Hotel," though it but modestly claims to be "old +established," is said by some authorities to stand on the site of an +hostelry called the "Moon" that was very ancient in the days of +Richard II. The new title was given about the time of Agincourt when +the battle cry--"St. George "--had made the saint popular. + +The City Cross is graceful and elegant fifteenth-century work, much +restored of course, and in a quaint angle of some old houses that +rather detract from its effectiveness. The exact site of the inhuman +execution of Mrs. Alicia Lisle in September, 1685, is unknown, but it +was probably in the wider part of the High Street. This gentle old +lady, nearly eighty years of age, had given shelter to two men in all +innocence of their connexion with Sedgemoor, but the infamous Jeffreys +ordered her to be burnt; a sentence commuted by James II to beheading. + +The City walls were almost intact down to 1760. Now we have but the +fine West Gate and the King's Gate, over which is St. Swithun's +church. The churches of Winchester are little more than half their +former number. St. Maurice has a Norman doorway and St. Michael a +Saxon sundial. St. John Baptist and St. Peter, Cheesehill, are of the +most general interest. The former has a screen and pulpit over four +hundred years old; transitional arches; and an Easter sepulchre. The +latter is a square church mostly in Perpendicular style but with some +later additions more curious than beautiful. Visitors to St. +Lawrence's should read the inscription to Martha Grace (1680). St. +Bartholomew's, close to the site of Hyde Abbey, shows some Norman +work. In 1652 the Corporation petitioned Parliament to reduce the +several city parishes into two, deeming a couple of ministers, one for +each church, sufficient for the spiritual requirements of the city. In +connexion with this a tract was issued describing the ghastly +condition of the churches, one, St. Mary Kalendar being a garbage den +for butcher's offal, another, St. Swithun's, Kingsgate, was let by the +corporation as a tenement and had a pigsty within it! + +[Illustration: CITY CROSS, WINCHESTER.] + +The ancient castle and residence of the Kings of England is now +represented only by the Great Hall, dating from the early part of the +thirteenth century. It is used for county business and is a good +specimen of the domestic architecture of the time. The great interest +of the hall is the reputed Round Table of King Arthur, placed at its +west end. Experts have decided that it cannot be older than 1200. The +painted names upon it are those of Arthur's Knights. These were +executed in the reign of Henry VIII and replaced earlier inscriptions. +The Hospital of St. John Baptist is in Basket Lane. Established by +John Deverniche, one of the city fathers, in 1275 for the succour of +aged wayfarers, it was suppressed at the Reformation, but reverted to +its original purpose in 1829, and is thus one of the oldest living +foundations of its kind in the kingdom. + +Charles II desired to revive the royal glories of Winton and +commissioned the erection of a palace which was unfinished when he +died. After being used as a barracks, the fine building was +practically destroyed in 1894 by a disastrous fire. This element was +almost as great an enemy of old Winchester as the reformers +themselves. On one occasion the town was fired by a defender, Savaric +de Mauleon, on the approach of a French army under Louis the Dauphin. +When the other, and junior, capital was receiving its cleansing by +fire in 1666, Winchester was being more than decimated by the plague, +which was as direful here as anywhere else. + +The city is 1,025 years old as a corporate town. Its staple business +in medieval times was the sale of wool or its manufacture into cloth. +Standing midway between two great tracts of sheep country, it was the +natural mart for this important trade and therefore prospered and +became rich. St. Giles' Fair, once famous and of great importance to +cattle and sheep farmers, finally expired about the middle of the last +century. In its prime it was of such a nature that the jurisdiction of +the Mayor and the City Courts was in abeyance for sixteen days from +the twelfth of September. It was held on St. Giles' Hill just without +the town. The fair was under the patronage of the Bishop, who +appointed a "Justice of the Court of Pavilion" during the period of +the fair. + +[Illustration: WEST GATE, WINCHESTER.] + +The chief excursion that every one takes, and that every one should +take, from Winchester is to St. Cross. The beautiful old Norman church +and its equally beautiful surrounding buildings almost rival +Winchester Close itself in their interest and charm. A short walk +southwards through the suburb of Sharkford leads direct in a little +over a mile to this goal of the archaeologist. A slightly longer but +pleasanter route goes by the banks of the Itchen. + +St. Cross is the oldest charity, still living its ancient life, that +remains to us. Its charter is dated 1151, but it was founded nearly +twenty years earlier by Bishop Henry de Blois. The document set forth +that thirteen "poor men, so reduced in strength as to be unable to +raise themselves without the assistance of another" should be lodged, +clothed and entertained, and that one hundred other poor men of good +conduct should dine here daily. The munificent charity of the founder +was soon abused and the funds had the common habit of disappearing +into the capacious pockets of absentee masters. William of Wykeham and +his immediate successor, Beaufort, caused reforms in the +administration and added to the foundation, the latter instituting an +almshouse of "Noble Poverty," which was partly carried out by Bishop +Waynflete in 1486. The brethren of this newer foundation wear a red +gown; those of the old, a black gown bearing a silver cross. Even +within living memory scandals connected with the administration were +perpetuated; an Earl of Guildford taking over L1,000 annually during a +period of fifty years for the nominal mastership. This peer was a +nephew of Bishop Brownlow North. It was in 1855 that the Hospital was +put on its present footing and the charity of the hundred diners +finally became the maintenance of fifty poor people of good character +in the vicinity. + +To the average tourist the chief interest seems to be the dole of +bread and beer which must be given to whoever claims it until the two +loaves and two gallons of liquor are exhausted. The well-clothed +stranger who has the temerity to ask for it must not be surprised at +the homoeopathic quantity which is handed to him. I am informed that +the genuine wayfarer receives a more substantial dole. + +The beautiful church of the Holy Cross measures 125 feet in length, +and 115 feet across at the transepts. The choir is a fine example of +Transitional Norman with a square east end. The ancient high altar is +of Purbeck marble. The Early English nave and the Decorated west front +show the centuries through which the church grew. It is said that it +was originally thatched, the lead roof being placed by Bishop Edyngton +in 1340. A fine screen which now divides the chancel from the north +aisle came from St. Faith's church, as did the old Norman font. The +fine old woodwork and ancient tiles (some having upon them the words +"Have Mynde.") are noteworthy. The chancel contains the magnificent +brass of John de Campeden who was Wykeham's Master of the Hospital and +who was responsible for raising the church and domestic buildings from +a ruinous state to one of comeliness and good order. The mid-Victorian +restorations, though fairly successful, included a detestable colour +scheme which goes far to spoil the general effect of the interior and +should be removed, as was done after much agitation, some years ago in +St. Paul's Cathedral. It is a great pity that any attempt should be +made to imitate this seemingly lost art. Far better to leave the walls +of our churches to the colouring that time gives than to wash or paint +them with the tints that seem to be inevitably either gaudy or dismal. + +The buildings inhabited by the brothers form two quadrangles. The +outer court has the "Hundred Men's Hall" on the east side, the gateway +tower and the porter's lodge being on the south. From this runs an +ambulatory and overhead gallery to the church. The hall porch bears +the arms of Cardinal Beaufort over the centre and inside are various +relics of his time, such as candlesticks, pewter dishes, black leather +jacks, etc., and in the centre of the hall is the old hearth. The +actual dwellings of the brethren are in the inner court on the west +and part of the north side. The buildings erected by Beaufort have +disappeared; they were on the south of the church. + +No description can give any adequate idea of the beautiful grouping of +these old grey walls, which must have been the inspiration of one who +was artist as well as architect. In June and through the summer months +the beautiful garden and its fish pond belonging to the master's house +is a sight not easily forgotten. + +[Illustration: THE CHURCH, ST. CROSS.] + +Winchester does not make a particularly good picture from any of its +surrounding hills. Its crown--the cathedral--lacks that inspiring +vision of soaring, pointing spire that causes the wayfarer leaving +Salisbury to turn so many times for a last glimpse of its splendour +against the setting sun. Its square and sturdy tower lacks the grace +of those western lanterns whose pinnacles are reflected in the waters +of Severn and Wye. But the town, with the long leaden roof of the +cathedral among its guardian elms, makes a pleasant and very English +picture as we ascend the long road to St. Catherine's Hill, which +rises directly east of St. Cross. This hill may be the true origin of +Winchester as a settlement. It is an ideal spot for a stronghold, +either for those whom the Romans displaced or for the Conquerors +themselves. Its great entrenchments look down directly upon the river +flowing in its several meandering channels beneath. On the other side +of the hill from the river valley the Roman highway comes in a great +curve from its straight run off Deacon Hill to distant Porchester, +though by far the greater portion of that course has been lost. The +bold clump of trees on the summit, so characteristic of the chalk +hills, is visible for miles and takes the place of towers and spires +to the returning Wykehamist, eager for his first glimpse of Winton. +Paths may be taken to the southward across Twyford Down that +eventually lead into the Southampton highways, by which a return can +be made to the city. + +Among the more interesting near-by villages, that will repay the +traveller for the walk thither, are the "Worthy's":--Headbourne, +King's, Abbot's and Martyr's. To reach the church at Headbourne Worthy +from the road one crosses a running stream by a footbridge. The little +building is Saxon in part and won the enthusiastic regard of Bishop +Wilberforce. It is exceedingly quaint and, although restored, unspoilt +in appearance. Over the porch was once a hermit's cell. The clipped +and much maltreated stone Rood at the west door is Saxon work and the +most interesting item in the church. + +A little further away is King's Worthy, with an uninteresting and +rebuilt Perpendicular church in a pretty spot on the banks of the +Itchen. At the far end of the village the Roman road to Basingstoke +leaves the way taken by the pilgrims from Winchester to Canterbury at +Worthy Park, and the straggling houses on its sides soon become the +hamlet of Abbot's Worthy, a name reminiscent of the time when the +countryside was parcelled out among the great religious houses. This +village was once in the possession of Hyde Abbey and afterwards became +the property of that Lord Capel who defended Colchester for the King +during the Civil War. Martyr's Worthy, a mile farther, has a Norman +arch to the doorway of its church, but is otherwise unremarkable. +"Martyr," by the way, is a misspelt abbreviation for "Mortimer." +Itchen Abbas, the goal of this short journey, is not five miles from +the centre of Winchester and is a great resort of fishermen. Here +Charles Kingsley came to stay at the "Plough" and, I am told, wrote a +good part of _Water Babies_ between spells upon the trout stream +near-by. Possibly these charming chapters were planned while the +author watched the placid waters before him. + +The main road winds on to pleasant Alresford, where Mary Russell +Mitford was born. The principal attraction of the town is a large +lake, made by Bishop de Lucy in the twelfth century as an aid to the +navigation of the Itchen. Not so far as this, and in the same +direction, is Titchborne, quiet and remote among its trees with an old +church that boasts a Saxon chancel and with memories of the +Titchbornes, whose separate aisle and secret altar for the celebration +of mass indicate their devotion to the old faith. But our return route +passes Abbas church and crosses the river to Easton, a rambling and +pleasant river-village full of mellow half-timbered houses and with a +church that boasts a Norman apse and fine chancel arch. There is a +unique monument in this church to the widow of William Barton, Bishop +in turn of St. Asaph, St. David's, Bath and Wells, and Chichester, +whose five daughters _married five bishops_! The walk across the +meadows to Winnal and the city is one of the best near Winchester, but +is hardly pleasant after wet weather. The hilly road, about three +miles long, direct from Martyr's Worthy, affords pretty glimpses of +the Itchen valley and the low Worthy Downs beyond. Just before the +last descent toward Winnal there is a fairly good view of Winchester +itself. + +The straight, dusty and rather wearisome Roman road to Southampton +runs up to a spur of Compton Down, a once lonely hill but now +unsightly with the red-brick and plate glass of suburban Winchester. +Near the conspicuous roadside cross--a memorial to fallen +heroes--there is a distant view of the city, veiled in blue smoke, to +the rear. Compton church, in the combe beyond, has made good its place +in history by recording its ancient past in the porch of the building +erected in 1905. The old church is actually one of the aisles of the +new, and here may be seen an ancient wall painting and two piscina. A +little over a mile to the south-east is picturesque Twyford on the +wooded banks of the Itchen. Here Pope went to school for a time, and +in the chapel of Bambridge House close by Mrs. Fitzherbert was married +to the future George IV. + +Twyford Church was believed by Dean Kitchen to be built on the site of +a Stone circle. Two large "Sarsens" or megaliths lie by the side of +the building, and a magnificent yew stands in the churchyard. Shawford +Downs, that rise above the river and village, are scored with +"lynchets" or ancient cultivation terraces and there is no doubt that +the neighbourhood has been the home of successive races from a most +remote age. + +The high-road continues over hill and down dale to Otterbourne, with +its memories of a celebrated Victorian writer, Miss Charlotte M. +Yonge. The Rood in the rebuilt church was erected to her memory nearly +twenty years ago. The tall granite cross in the pretty churchyard +commemorates the incumbency of Keble, the author of the _Christian +Year_, who was also vicar of Hursley, three miles away to the +north-west, where a beautiful church was erected through his efforts +on the site of an eighteenth-century building, and, it is said, paid +for by royalties on his famous book. At Hursley Park Richard Cromwell +resided during the Protectorate of his father. He is buried with his +wife and children in Hursley church. + +[Illustration: ROMSEY ABBEY.] + +A road runs westwards from near the summit of Otterbourne Hill through +the beautiful woods of Hiltingbury and Knapp Hill to the valley of the +Test at Romsey. There are a couple of inns and a few scattered houses, +but no village on the lonely seven miles until the parallel valley is +reached. + +Romsey Abbey dates from the reign of Edward the Elder, and his +daughter, St. Alfreda, was first Abbess. Another child of a +king--Mary, daughter of Stephen--became Abbess in 1160, and her uncle, +Henry de Blois of Winchester, built the greater part of the present +church about 1125, the western portion of the nave following between +1175 and 1220. The building is 263 feet long and 131 feet broad across +the transepts. The interior is an interesting study in Norman +architecture and the change to Early English is nowhere seen to better +advantage. Portions of the foundations of the Saxon church were laid +bare during repairs to the floor in 1900. A section is shown beneath a +trap door near the pulpit. + +A peculiar arrangement of the eastern ends of the choir aisles is +noteworthy. They are square as seen from the exterior, but prove to be +apsidal on entering. At the end of the south choir aisle, forming a +reredos to the side altar, an ancient Saxon Rood will be seen; the +Figure is sculptured in an archaic Byzantine style. The Jacobean altar +in the north choir aisle was once in the chancel and had above it +those old-fashioned wooden panels of the Lord's Prayer and Ten +Commandments that may still be met with occasionally. When these were +removed an ancient painted reredos was found behind them. It is now +placed in the north choir aisle. The subject is the Resurrection and +the painting is dated at about 1380. In a glass case is the Romsey +Psalter which, after many vicissitudes, has become once more the +property of the Abbey. + +In 1625, for some unknown reason, the two upper stages of the tower +were pulled down and the present wooden belfry erected. Outside the +"nuns door" is a very fine eleventh-century Rood that owes its +preservation to the fact that for many years it was covered by a +tradesman's shed! + +Nothing remains of the conventual buildings but a few scanty patches +of masonry. The history of the Abbey was not a very edifying one and, +although every effort was made to save the house at the Dissolution, +chiefly by the exhibition of the imposing royal charters of foundation +and re-endowment, the many scandals recorded gave the despoilers an +additional, and possibly welcome, excuse for their work. + +A great amount of careful and reverent restoration was carried out +some years ago by the late Mr. Berthon, a former vicar; but he will +probably be remembered by posterity as the inventor of the portable +boat that bears his name and which is still made, or was till +recently, in the town. Romsey (usually called _Rumsey_) is not a good +place in which to stay and, apart from the Abbey, is quite +uninteresting. In the centre of the town is a statue of Lord +Palmerston, who lived at Broadlands, a beautifully situated mansion a +short distance away to the south. + +A pleasant journey by road or rail can be taken up the valley of the +Test between the low chalk hills of Western Hampshire to Stockbridge +(or even farther north to Whitchurch or Andover, but these districts +must be left until later). At Mottisfont, four miles from Romsey, was +once a priory of Augustinians. Remnants of the buildings are +incorporated with the present mansion. In the church perhaps the most +interesting item, by reason of the alien touch in this remote corner +of Hampshire, is an heraldic stone of the Meinertzhazen family brought +here from St. Michael's, Bremen, at the end of the nineteenth century. +The square font of Purbeck marble is of the same date as the Norman +arch in the chancel. Just to the south of the village a branch line of +railway follows a remote western valley to its head and then drops to +the Avon valley and Salisbury. To the east is another lonely stretch +of country through which the ridge of Pitt Down runs to the actual +suburbs of Winchester. At the western end of this ridge, and about +three miles up the Test from Mottisfont, are the villages of +Horsebridge and King's Somborne on the southern confines of what was +once John of Gaunt's deer park. The present bridge is higher up the +stream, but the railway-station is on the actual site of the ancient +road between Winchester and Old Sarum and the "horse bridge" was then +lower down stream and almost immediately due west of the station. +Somborne gets its prefix from the fact that an old mansion usually +called "King John's Palace" formerly stood here, it may be that it +belonged to John of Gaunt. Certain mounds and small sections of wall +are pointed out as the remains of this house; they will be found to +the south-west of the church; a much restored, but still interesting, +thirteenth-century building. The font, of Purbeck marble, is very +fine; of interest also are the late Jacobean chancel rails and certain +crosses and monograms on the north doorway. + +A road runs for six miles north-westwards up into the chalk hills by +the side of the Wallop brook to the euphoniously named villages of +Nether, Middle, and Over Wallop. The first and last have interesting +churches, but the excursion, if taken, should be as an introduction to +perhaps the most remote and unspoilt region of the chalk country. +Although the Wallop valley is fairly well populated, the older people +are as unsophisticated as any in southern England. The scenery is +quietly pleasant, the hills away to the southwest exceeding, here and +there, the 500 feet contour line. One of them, near the head of the +valley, is named "Isle of Wight Hill." It is only upon the clearest of +days that the distant Island is seen over the shoulder of the +neighbouring Horseshoe Hill and across the long glittering expanse of +Southampton Water. + +Proceeding up the fertile valley of the Test, Stockbridge is reached +in another three miles. This sleepy old country town and one-time +parliamentary borough occasionally wakes up when sheep fairs and other +rural gatherings take place in its spacious High Street, but on other +days it is the very ideal of a somnolent agricultural centre; it is, +therefore, a pleasant headquarters from which to explore the +north-western part of the county. The long line of picturesque roofs +and broken house-fronts, in all the mellow tints that age alone can +give, makes as goodly a picture as any in Hampshire. On the right-hand +side, going down the street, is the Grosvenor Inn with its projecting +porch. Next door is the old Market House and across the way stands the +turreted Town Hall. + +Alone in a quiet graveyard at the upper end of the town is the chancel +of old St. Peter's church, now used as the chapel of the burying +ground. Most of the removable items were taken to the new church +erected in High Street in 1863, including certain fine windows and the +Norman font of Purbeck marble. In a neglected corner of the old +churchyard is the tombstone of John Bucket, one-time landlord of the +"King's Head" in Stockbridge. It bears the following oft-quoted +epitaph: + + And is, alas! poor Bucket gone? + Farewell, convivial honest John. + Oft at the well, by fatal stroke + Buckets like pitchers must be broke. + In this same motley shifting scene, + How various have thy fortunes been. + Now lifting high, now sinking low, + To-day the brim would overflow. + Thy bounty then would all supply + To fill, and drink, and leave thee dry, + To-morrow sunk as in a well, + Content unseen with Truth to dwell. + But high or low, or wet or dry, + No rotten stave could malice spy. + Then rise, immortal Bucket, rise + And claim thy station in the skies; + 'Twixt Amphora and Pisces shine: + Still guarding Stockbridge with thy sign. + +The main street crosses the Test by two old stone bridges and from +these, glancing up and down the street, one has a charming view of the +surrounding hills which fill the vista at each end. The road out of +the town to the east runs over the shoulder of Stockbridge Down on +which is a fine prehistoric entrenchment called Woolbury Ring. Thence +to Winchester is a long undulating stretch of rough and flinty track +with but few cottages and no villages on the way until tiny Wyke, +close to the city, is reached. One welcome roadside inn, the "Rack and +Manger," stands at the cross roads about half way, and occasional +ancient milestones tell us we are on the way to "Winton." + +Our itinerary through west-central Hampshire has not included that +little known fragment of the county that lies to the west of Romsey +and is a district of commons and woods, part of the great forest-land +that we shall hurriedly explore in the next chapter. The chief +interest here, apart from the natural attractions of the secluded +countryside, is a simple grave in the churchyard of East Wellow, a +small by-way hamlet about four miles from Romsey. Here is the last +resting place of Florence Nightingale who lies beside her father and +mother. The supreme honour of burial at Westminster, offered by the +Dean and Chapter, was refused by her relatives in compliance with her +own wish. So East Wellow should be a pilgrim's shrine to the rank and +file of that weaponless army whose badge is the Red Cross. + +[Illustration: BARGATE, SOUTHAMPTON.] + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SOUTHAMPTON WATER AND THE NEW FOREST + + +Bitterne is now a suburb of Southampton on the opposite side of the +Itchen, but it may claim to be the original town from which the Saxon +settlement arose. It is the site of the Roman Clausentium, an +important station between Porchester and Winchester, and when the +Saxons came up the water and landed upon the peninsula between the two +rivers they probably found a populous town on the older site. This +conjecture would account for the name given to the new colony--_Southhame +tune_--ultimately borne by the county-town and the origin of the shire +name. It is as the natural outlet for the trade of Winchester and Wessex, +standing at the head of one of the finest waterways in Europe, that +Southampton became the present thriving and important town. + +To-day its commercial prestige, if not on a par with Liverpool, Hull +or Cardiff, is sufficiently great for the town to rank as a county +borough. The magnificent docks are capable of taking the largest +liners, and as the port of embarkation for South Africa its +consequence will increase still more as that great country develops. +On the banks of the Itchen many important industries have been +established during the last quarter of a century and, as a result of +this and the inevitable disorder of a great port, Southampton's +environs have suffered. But more than any other town in England of the +same size, have the powers that give yea or nay to such questions +conserved the relics of the past with which Southampton is so richly +endowed. The most famous of these is the Bargate (originally "Barred" +Gate), once the principal, or Winchester, entrance to the town. It +dates from about 1350, though its base is probably far older. The +upper portion, forming the Guildhall, bears on the south or town side +a quaint statue of George III in a toga, that replaced one of Queen +Anne in stiff corsets and voluminous gown. The various armorial +bearings displayed are those of noble families who have been connected +with the town in the past. Within the upper chamber are two ancient +paintings said to represent the legendary Sir Bevis, whose sword is +preserved at Arundel, and his squire Ascupart. Sections of the town +wall may be found in several places, but the most considerable portion +is on the north side of the Westgate, where, until the middle of the +last century, when Westernshore Road was made, high tides washed the +foot of the wall. The arcading of this portion is much admired, and +deservedly so. So far as the writer is aware, no other town in England +has medieval defences of quite this character remaining. The +picturesque Bridewell Gate is at the end of Winkle Street and not far +away is all that remains of "God's House" or the Hospital of St. +Julian, "improved" out of its ancient beauty. The chapel was given to +the Huguenot refugees by Queen Elizabeth; a portion of the original +chancel still exists and within the Anglican service continues to be +said in French. The house known as "King John's House," close to the +walls near St. Michael's Square, dates from the twelfth century and is +therefore one of the oldest in England. Another old building in Porter +Lane called "Canute's House" is declared by archaeologists to be of +the twelfth century, but Hamptonians, with some degree of probability, +claim that the lower walls are certainly Saxon, so that the +traditional name may be right after all. In that part of the town +nearest to the docks are several stone cellars of great age upon which +later dwellings have been erected, in some cases two buildings have +appeared on the same sturdy base. A particularly fine crypt is in +Simnel Street, with a window at its east end. At the corner of Bugle +Street is the "Woolhouse," said to belong to the fourteenth century; +very noticeable are the heavy buttresses that support this fine old +house on its west side. Another old dwelling in St. Michael's Square +may have been built in the fifteenth century. Tradition has it that +this was for a time the residence of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. + +[Illustration: THE ARCADES, SOUTHAMPTON.] + +The reference to Canute's House brings to mind the tradition, stoutly +upheld by Hamptonians, that it was at "Canute's Point" at the mouth of +the Itchen, and not at Bosham or Lymington, that the king gave his +servile courtiers the historic rebuke chronicled by Camden. By him, +quoting Huntingdon, we are told that "causing his chair to be placed +on the shore as the tide was coming in, the king said to the latter, +'Thou art my subject, and the ground I sit on is mine, nor can any +resist me with impunity. I command, thee, therefore, not to come up on +my ground nor wet the soles of the feet of thy master.' But the sea, +immediately coming up, wetted his feet, and he, springing back, said, +'Let all the inhabitants of the earth know how weak and frivolous is +the power of princes; none deserves the name of king, but He whose +will heaven, earth, and sea obey by an eternal decree.' Nor would he +ever afterwards wear his crown, but placed it on the head of the +crucifix." There is little doubt that Southampton was one of the +principal royal residences during the reign of the great Northman, and +nearly a hundred years before, in Athelstan's days, it was of +sufficient importance to warrant the setting up of two mints. + +The only medieval church remaining to Southampton is St. Michael's, +which has a lofty eighteenth-century spire on a low Norman tower. Here +is another of those black sculptured Tournai fonts one of which has +been noticed in Winchester. The interior must have presented a curious +appearance in the early years of Queen Victoria. During her +predecessor's reign the incumbent placed the pulpit and reading-desk +at the west end and reversed all the seats so that the congregation +sat with their backs to the altar. The purpose of this is beyond +conjecture. St. Mary's, designed by Street, was erected on the site of +the old town church in 1879 as a memorial to Bishop Wilberforce. All +Saints' in High Street is a classic building standing on the ground +occupied by a very ancient church. Isaac Watts was deacon of Above Bar +Chapel, noteworthy for the fact that the immortal hymn "Oh God, our +help in ages past" was first sung within its walls from manuscript +copies supplied to the congregation by the young poet. Among other +famous men who were natives of Southampton may be mentioned Dibdin and +Millais. + +As might be expected from its geographical position and the many +centuries it has been a gate to central England, Southampton has had a +chequered and eventful history. Before the days of those supposedly +impregnable forts in Spithead which bar to all inimical visitors a +passage up the Water, the town was not immune from attack from the sea +and in 1338 an allied French, Genoese and Spanish fleet sailed up the +estuary and attacked the town to such good purpose that the burgesses +were forced to fly and from a safe distance saw their homes burned to +the ground. Another assault was made by the French in 1432, but +profiting by bitter experience, the citizens had by now constructed +such defences and armed them so well that this attack was an +ignominious failure. + +The port was the scene of several great expeditions overseas before it +gave its quota to that greatest of all crusades in 1914. It saw the +start of Richard Lion-Heart's transports, filled with the chivalry of +England, on their way to challenge the power of Islam. The town +records show that 800 hogs were supplied by the citizens for feeding +the army _en route_. Perhaps the most famous of the sailings was that +of the twenty-one ships that carried the English army to the victory +of Crecy. Again seventy years later there was another great sallying +forth to the field of Agincourt, nearly frustrated by the machinations +of Richard, Earl of Cambridge. This scion of the Plantagenets and his +fellow conspirators were beheaded and afterwards buried, as recorded +on a tablet there, in the chapel of God's House. From Southampton the +_Mayflower_ and _Speedwell_ sailed in 1620: the latter being discarded +at Plymouth. + +The modern aspect of Southampton's streets is that of the bustle and +activity of a midland town, and the narrow pavements of Below and +Above Bar have that metropolitan air which a crowd of well-dressed +people intent on business or pleasure gives to the better class +provincial city. It would seem that the inevitable accompaniment of +such prosperity is the meanness of poorly-built and squalidly-kept +suburbs. When the superb situation of Southampton is considered one +can but hope that some day, in the new England that we are told is on +the way, a great transformation will take place on the shores of +Itchen and Test. + +The excursion that every visitor should take is down the Water to +Cowes. Few steamer trips in the south are as pleasant and interesting. +In consequence of the double tides with which Southampton is favoured, +the chance of having a long stretch of ill looking and worse smelling +mud flats in the foreground of the view is almost negligible. Unless a +very thorough knowledge of the shore is desired, the view from the +deck will give the stranger an adequate idea of the surrounding +country. The passing show of shipping, of all sorts, sizes and +nationalities, is not the least interesting item of the passage. The +writer's most vivid recollection of Southampton Water in the early +summer of 1918 is not of the beautiful shores shimmering in the June +sun, but of an extraordinary line of "dazzle ships" in the centre of +the waterway, moored bow to stern in a long perspective, or it would +be more correct to say, want of perspective, the brain and the eye +being so much at variance that the ends of the line could scarcely be +believed to consist of ships at all. + +[Illustration: NETLEY RUINS.] + +The ruins of Netley Abbey can best be seen by taking the pleasant +shore road from Woolston and Weston Grove. The distance is a little +over two miles from the Itchen ferry. The so-called Netley Castle was +once the gate-house of the Abbey, converted into a fort when Henry +VIII devised the elaborate scheme of coast defence that has dotted the +southern seaboard with a more scattered (and more picturesque) series +of Martello towers. + +The ruins of the Cistercian Church which once graced this shore and +raised above the trees its lighthouse tower, a seamark by day and a +beacon by night, are among the loveliest in Wessex. Though perhaps +these relics of a former splendour, when they consist of more than a +few bits of broken masonry, should rather be said to be heartrending +in their reminder of what we have lost. + +Not so beautiful is the great pile, a mile to the south, built during +the Crimean war for the invalid warriors and named after their Queen. +A short distance away is another great building, or series of +structures, erected during the Great War, to further our claim to the +empire of the air. + +[Illustration: ON THE HAMBLE.] + +The Hamble river is the only considerable stream before the barrier +spit of Calshot Castle is reached. This comes down from historic +Bishop's Waltham with its considerable remains of the "palace" of the +earlier Bishop of Winchester. After passing Botley, an ancient market +town, the river widens into an estuary haven altogether out of +proportion to the stream behind it, and at Bursledon, where it is +crossed by the Portsmouth highway, it becomes really beautiful: the +curving banks are in places embowered in trees that descend to the +water's edge. When the tide is full the scene would hold its own with +many more favoured by the guide books. The fields around are devoted +to the culture of the strawberry for the London market, and the crops +are said to be finer than those of the better-known Kentish districts. + +Two finds from the stream bed are in Botley market hall, a portion of +a Danish war vessel and an almost entire prehistoric canoe. + +[Illustration: GATE HOUSE, TITCHFIELD.] + +A name better known to the majority of our readers will be that of the +Meon, a further reference to which district will be found in the +concluding chapter. The waters of this longer stream rise on a western +outlier of Butser Hill and, draining a remote and beautiful district +served by the Meon Valley Railway, reach Titchfield Haven over three +miles below the Hamble. Titchfield, two miles as the crow flies from +the sea (for we are now on the open waters of the Solent), is a +pleasant old town with an interesting church and the gatehouse remnant +of a once famous abbey of Premonstratensians. Part of the tower and +nave of the church are Saxon, and the remainder is in a whole range of +styles. A chapel on the south was once the property of the abbey and +is called the Abbot's Chapel, this has a fine tomb of the first and +second Earls and first Countess of Southampton. Perhaps of more +interest to some visitors will be the flag hung near the opening to +the chancel. This was the first to fly over Pretoria after the British +occupation. + +The western shore of Southampton Water may be accepted as the eastern +boundary of the New Forest, as the straight north and south valley of +the Salisbury Avon is its western barrier. From the sea at +Christ-church Bay to the Blackwater valley west of Romsey is about +twenty miles and all this great district partakes more or less of the +character of the country seen from the Bournemouth express after it +leaves Lyndhurst Road. To attempt to describe in detail this unique +corner of England would be beyond the possibilities of this book or +its author, and only the barest outline will be attempted. + +One authority claims 95,000 acres as the extent of the Forest. The +present writer would increase this estimate considerably. About +two-thirds of the more central portion are crown lands, and as will be +seen by the most superficial view (from the afore-mentioned express +train for instance) much of the central woodland is interspersed with +farms and arable land and a large extent of open heath, as are those +outlying fringes in the Avon valley and elsewhere. It is unaccountable +that the word "forest" should have so altered in meaning during the +course of centuries that its earlier significance has almost become +lost. The word is associated in every one's mind with the density of +tropical foliage or the dark grandeur of northern fir woods. Forest as +a topographical suffix denotes a wild uncultivated tract of hilly or +common land, more often than not quite bare of trees. The great +expanse of Radnor Forest is well known to the writer and not even a +thorn bush comes to the mind in picturing its miles of fern-clad +billowy uplands. + +The "New" Forest was first so called by the Conqueror. He brought +within its bounds certain tracts that had been preserved by his +predecessors, but that he "burnt and razed whole villages, and +converted a smiling countryside into a wild place devoted to the +king's pleasure" is extremely improbable, unless we may credit William +with an altruistic care for the sport of his great-grandchildren at +the expense of whatever little popularity he may have had in his own +time. Undoubtedly the folk of this part of Hampshire felt aggrieved at +losing their rights over a great stretch of wild common where the more +democratic Saxon kings had taken their pleasure without interfering +with the privileges of the churl. That certain small settlements were +at some time abandoned is attested by names such as Bochampton, +Tachbury, Church Walk, etc., and it is said that Rufus established +certain dispossessed peasantry in far-off portions of his kingdom. The +Conqueror's immediate successors made cruel and arbitrary laws, in +connexion with the preservation of the deer, that were much mitigated +by the Forest Charter of 1217 which provided that death should no +longer be the penalty for killing the King's deer, but merely a fine, +or imprisonment in default. + +The wild life of the Forest is much the same as that of the remoter +parts of rural England, apart from the ponies and the deer. Of the +latter only a few still roam the glades. An Act was passed in 1851 for +their removal, when the number was reduced from nearly 4,000 to about +250 of two kinds--fallow deer and red deer. Latterly roe deer have +appeared, adventurers from Milton Abbey park. The New Forest pony was +a distinct breed and the writer has been told that it was the +descendant of a small native horse, but its characteristics have been +lost through scientific crossing with alien breeds. A legend used to +be current in the Forest that the ponies were descended from those +landed from the wrecked ships of the Spanish Armada, but there is a +limit to what we may believe of this wonderful fleet. Most villages +along the south coast having rather more than the usual proportion of +dark-haired folk have been claimed as asylums for the castaway sailors +and soldiers of Spain by enthusiastic amateur anthropologists. + +Before breaking-in, the Forest pony is a wild and often vicious little +beast--more so, perhaps, than its cousins of Wales and Dartmoor--and a +"drive," when the little horses are corralled, is an exciting and +interesting affair, human wits being pitted against equine, not always +to the advantage of the former. + +Small companies of rough-coated donkeys may occasionally be seen, in +an apparently wild state, roaming about the more open parts of the +Forest. Some years ago the breeding of mules for export was a +recognized local concern, but this seems to have fallen into +desuetude. + +Badgers and otters are common, as is the ubiquitous squirrel. The +badger, however, is seldom seen by the chance visitor by reason of its +nocturnal habits, but it is said to be more numerous than in any +similar wild tract in the south. The smaller wild mammals, carnivorous +and herbivorous, and a truly representative family of birds, including +one or two rare visitors, have here a perfect sanctuary. The forest is +obviously a happy hunting ground for the lepidopterist and botanist. +The latter will find many of the rarer British orchids in the central +"dingles" and on the more remote western borders. During the Great War +a large number of trees were felled and the usually silent woods +re-echoed with the noises of a Canadian lumber camp. About this time +great flocks of migratory jays from central Europe were noticed in the +eastern parts of the Forest. For the pedestrian who toils over the +Forest roads in the height of summer there is one form of wild life in +evidence that claims his whole attention, and that is the virulent and +audacious forest fly. Only the strongest "shag" and gloved hands can +keep this horrible creature at bay. + +The observant stranger will notice a large proportion of small, dark +folk among the inhabitants of the Forest. It is a fascinating matter +for conjecture that these may be remnants of the Iberians that once +held south Britain or even, perhaps, of a still older people left +stranded by the successive races that have swept westwards by way of +the uplands to the north. + +The western shore of Southampton Water has little of interest to +detain the visitor. The small town of Hythe, almost opposite Netley +Abbey, has nothing ancient about it, though it is a picturesque and +pleasant little place. Fawley, nearly opposite the opening of the +Hamble, has a fine late Norman church with much Early English +addition. Calshot Castle is another of those forts of Henry VIII +already mentioned, and once round the corner of this spit we are in +the Solent at Stanswood Bay. A few miles farther and the beautiful +estuary of the Beaulieu river runs into the recesses of the Forest. +Small steamers sometimes bring holiday-makers from Southampton to the +port of Beaulieu, called Bucklershard, where, over a hundred years +ago, there was an attempt to make a new seaport. It is difficult to +believe that this quiet creek was, during the second half of the +eighteenth century, the birthplace of many "wooden walls of old +England." Here among other famous ships was launched the _Agamemnon_, +commanded by Nelson at the siege of Celvi, where he lost his right +eye. An unfortunate disagreement between the shipbuilders and the +Admiralty, in which the former were so ill advised as to seek the help +of the law, led to the abandonment of the yards. At St. Leonards, +nearer the mouth of the estuary, is the ruin of a chapel belonging to +the Cistercians of Beaulieu and also portions of their great barn, +said to be the largest in England (209 feet by 70 feet). The great +Abbey church, nearly four miles off, was entirely swept away during +the Demolition. It was here that the wife of the King Maker took +refuge after the death of her husband at the battle of Barnet. A few +days before, on the actual day of the fight, arrived Margaret of Anjou +with reinforcements for Henry VI. Some years later, after his repulse +at Exeter, Perkin Warbeck sought sanctuary, the right of which had +been granted to the monastery by Pope Innocent IV. The monks' +refectory is now the parish church and a very fine and interesting one +it makes. Considerable portions of the domestic buildings remain. +Palace House, the residence of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, was once the +gatehouse of the abbey. + +A return must now be made to Southampton, and the Christchurch road +taken through Totton to Lyndhurst. The station for the latter town is +over two miles away on the Southampton road, where the railway makes a +wide detour to Beaulieu Road and Brockenhurst. The absurd title given +to Lyndhurst by local guide-books, "Capital of the New Forest," is +uncalled for. Certainly it is nearly the centre of the district and is +within convenient distance of some of the most beautiful woodlands, +but nothing could be a greater contrast to the surroundings than this +new-looking brick excrescence. It has one fine old Jacobean +building--the "King's House," where the Forest Courts are held. The +Verderers, of whom there are six, are elected by open ballot. They +must be landowners residing in or near the Forest and may sit in +judgment upon any offence against Forest laws. These Verderers Courts +have been held since Norman days and the old French terms "pannage," +"turbary" and so on, are still used. Further, the old name for the +court, "Swain Mote," indicates a Saxon origin for this seat of +greenwood justice. + +[Illustration: THE KNIGHTWOOD OAK IN WINTER.] + +The spire of Lyndhurst church can be seen for miles wherever high +ground and a break in the woods render this possible. It surmounts a +mid-Victorian erection of variegated bricks in about the worst +possible taste for its situation. The one redeeming feature is a wall +painting of the Ten Virgins by Lord Leighton. + +A little over two miles away, and on the road to the Rufus Stone, is +Minstead church, which will make a different appeal to the +understanding stranger. This is (or was lately) a charming survival +from the days of our grandfathers with a three-decker, old room-like +pews, and double galleries. Malwood Lodge, close by, is a seat of the +Harcourt family, and not far away, about a mile and a half from +Minstead church, is the spot where William Rufus was killed by that +mysterious arrow which by accident or design, relieved England of a +tyrannical and wicked king. The "Rufus Stone," as the iron memorial is +called, with its terse and non-committal inscription was placed here +by a former Lord de la Warr. The body was conveyed to Winchester in +the cart of a charcoal-burner named Purkiss, and descendants of this +man, still following his occupation, were living within bow-shot of +the memorial one hundred years ago. The family "enjoyed for centuries +the right to the taking of all such wood as they could gather _by hook +or by crook_, dead branches, and what could be broken, but not cut by +the axe." It is said that the train of accidents that befell the +Conqueror's family in the Forest was considered by Hampshire folk to +be a just retribution for his iniquity in "making" it. His grandson +Henry, his second son Richard, and lastly his third son Rufus, all met +a violent death within its glades. + +A short distance westwards we reach the "Compton Arms Hotel" and +Stoney Cross, from which an alternate route through beautiful +Boldrewood can be taken back to Lyndhurst or a long and lonely but +good road followed all the way to Ringwood, nine miles away on the +Avon. The traveller who would explore the recesses of the forest +remote from the beaten track should make his way north and west from +Stoney Cross through the sandy heaths of Eyeworth Walk and the +mysterious depths of Sloden with its dark yews of great and unknown +age. Not far from Stoney Cross on the way to Fritham, are a number of +prehistoric graves clustered closely together, and an interesting +relic of the Roman occupation exists at Sloden where there are mounds +of burnt earth, charcoal, and broken pottery. The locality has long +been known as "Crock Hill" and is evidently the site of an earthenware +factory. The road going south and west by Broomy Walk leads to +Fordingbridge on the Avon. Here is a beautiful and interesting old +church, a typically pleasant Hampshire town, and a quiet but +delightful stretch of the river. + +The straight high road, that runs south from Lyndhurst through the +thick woodlands of Irons Hill Walk and the giant oaks of Whitley Wood, +reaches Brockenhurst in four miles. This small town, to the writer's +mind, is pleasanter and less sophisticated than Lyndhurst, though +boarding-houses are as much in evidence and the railway station is +close to the main street. The church stands on a low hill among the +trees of the actual forest. Here was recently to be seen, and possibly +is still, a quaintly ugly survival in the squire's pew, placed as a +sort of royal box at the entrance to the chancel. The building is of +various dates and contains a Norman font of Purbeck marble. The +enormous yew of great age will at once be noticed in the churchyard. + +The main road continues over Whitley Ridge to Lymington nearly five +miles from Brockenhurst, passing, about half-way on the left, Boldre, +with an old Norman church among the thickly-set trees on the hill above +Lymington River. The village and inn are at the bottom of the valley +near a bridge that carries the Beaulieu road up to the great bare +expanse of Beaulieu Heath. + +After passing the branch railway, and about half a mile short of +Lymington, is a fine circular prehistoric entrenchment called Buckland +Rings. The road now drops to the one-time parliamentary borough and +ancient port of Lymington, now only known to the majority as the point +of departure by the "short sea route" to the Isle of Wight, and those +who make the passage when the tide is out do not usually regret the +shortness of their stay on this particular bit of coast. But their +self-congratulation is wasted, Lymington itself is a very pleasant and +clean town, even if its shore is a dreary stretch of salt marsh, grey +and depressing on the sunniest day. There are some fine old houses in +the picturesque High Street, though none of them remember the day in +1154 when Henry II landed on the way to his coronation. The much +restored church will be best appreciated for the picture it makes from +the other end of High Street. + +Though a fashionable resort in those days when any seaside town was a +possible future Brighton, Lymington is never likely to become crowded +with visitors again, but artists find many good studies on the river +and in the town and even on the "soppy" flats themselves, and there are +salt baths at high tide for those unconventional holiday-makers who +favour the place. + +To resume the main route through the forest from Lyndhurst the western +road must be taken. It presently turns sharply towards the south and +penetrates the fastnesses of the woods lining the Highland Water. Here +we find the celebrated Knightwood Oak and the grand beeches of Mark +Ash, nearly two miles away in the depths to the right, but worth the +trouble of finding. In less than six miles from Lyndhurst the traveller +reaches the cross-roads at Wilverley Post on the top of Markway Hill, +and in another long mile Holmsley station on the Brokenhurst-Ringwood +railway. Then follows an undulating and lonely stretch of four and a +half miles of mingled wood and common and occasional cultivated land to +the scattered hamlet of Hinton Admiral, that boasts a station on the +South Western main line to Bournemouth. There is now but an +uninteresting three miles to the outskirts of Christchurch. + +[Illustration: LYMINGTON CHURCH.] + +The one-time Saxon port of Twyneham and present borough of Christchurch +(the change of name, like several others in the country, was due to the +over-whelming power of the ecclesiastical as opposed to on the secular) +has a similarity to Southampton in its situation on a peninsula between +two rivers before they form a joint estuary to the sea. But, alas, +although the waterways of the Avon and Stour are considerable, +Christchurch Harbour long ago silted up and the long tongue of land +that runs eastward across the mouth effectually bars ingress to +anything in the nature of a trading vessel. + +The town, though pleasant enough in itself, has but one real +attraction for the visitor and, judging by the crowds of +holiday-makers brought in every day by motor, tram and train from the +huge pleasure town on the west, the study of ecclesiastical +architecture must be gaining favour with the British public. Or is it +that the uncompromising modernity of Bournemouth, without even the +recollection of a Hanoverian princess to give it antiquity, drives its +visitors in such swarms to the one-time Priory, and now longest parish +church in England. + +The old Saxon minster, after passing through many vicissitudes +(including a particularly humiliating one at the hands of William +Rufus, whose creature, Flambard, made slaves of its clergy and ran the +church as a miracle show!), became in the middle of the twelfth +century an Augustinian priory and the choir of the new building was +finished just before 1300. At the crossing of nave and transepts the +usual low and heavy Norman tower had been built with the usual +result--it collapsed and brought some of the choir down with it. This +was again rebuilt during the fifteenth century, which period also saw +the rise of the western tower that graces every distant view of the +town. The transepts have beneath them Norman crypts, though the +structure immediately above is of varying date, with a good deal of +original work remaining, including an apsidal chapel. The Lady Chapel +was built in the fifteenth century; over it is a room known as "St. +Michael's Loft." This served for years as Christchurch grammar school. + +[Illustration: NORMAN TURRET, CHRISTCHURCH.] + +Every one will admire the beautiful rood screen, well and carefully +restored in the middle of the last century, and the unusual reredos +which represents the Tree of Jesse and the Adoration of the Wise Men. +On the left of the altar is the Salisbury chantry and in front a stone +slab to Baldwin de Redvers (1216). There are several fine tombs in +other parts of the church including that of the last Prior, who has a +chapel to himself at the end of the south choir aisle. The fine +monument to Shelley at the west end of the church is as much admired +for its beauty as it is criticized for its "unfitness for a position +in a Christian church" (Murray). The female figure supporting +Shelley's body represents his wife. Mr. Cox in his _Little Guide to +Hampshire_ draws attention to the fact that the conception is "an +obvious parody of a Pieta, or the Virgin supporting the Dead Christ" +and therefore in the worst possible taste. The poet had no personal +connexion with Christchurch. His son lived for some years at Boscombe +Manor. + +The custodian shows, when requested, a visitors' book where, on one and +the same page are the signatures of William II and Louis Raemaekers! + +Comparatively few old buildings remain in the vicinity of the great +church and the visitor will not need to make an exhaustive exploration +of its environs, but before leaving Christchurch the fine collection +of local birds brought together and mounted by a resident of the town +should not be missed. + +Embryo watering places, the conception of the "real estate" fraternity +whom Bournemouth has set by the ears, line the low shore of +Christchurch Bay between Hengistbury Head and Hurst Castle. First +comes Highcliffe, this has perhaps the most developed "front," then +Barton, nearly two miles from New Milton station, and lastly +Milford-on-Sea, the most interesting of them all, but suffering in +popularity by reason of the long road, over four miles, that connects +it with the nearest stations, Lymington or New Milton; possibly its +regular habitues look upon this as a blessing in disguise. Milford is +well placed for charming views of the Island: it has good firm sands +and a golf links. An interesting church stands back from the sea on +the Everton road. The thirteenth-century tower will at once strike the +observer as out of the ordinary; the Norman aisles of the church were +carried westwards at the time the tower was built and made to open +into it through low arches. The early tracery of the windows should be +noticed. The addition of transepts and the enlargement of the chancel +about 1250 made the church an exceptionally large structure for the +originally small village. + +Southbourne, one and a half miles south-west of Christchurch, will +soon become a mere outer suburb of Bournemouth. It almost touches +Boscombe, that eastern extension of the great town that has sprung +into being within the last fifty years. Southbourne is said to be +bracing; it is certainly a great contrast to the bustle and glitter of +its great neighbour. There is a kind of snobbishness that strikes to +decry any large or popular resort, seemingly because it _is_ large and +popular, but surely there must be some virtue in these huge watering +places that attract so many year after year, and if Southbourne +pleases only Tom, and Bournemouth Dick and Harry _and_ their friends, +well, good health to them! That their favourite town does not start +off a new chapter may offend the latter, but they will perhaps admit +that although it is on the west side of the Avon the town among the +pines forms, with its sandy chines and the trees that gave it its +first claim to popular favour, an extension and outlier of the great +series of heath and woodland that has just been traversed and that it +makes a fitting geographical termination to south-western Hants. + +Though the pines themselves have not been planted much longer than a +hundred years, they now appear as the only relics of a lonely and +rather bare tract of uncultivable desert. Local historians claim that +the beginnings of Bournemouth were made in 1810, but it would appear +that only two or three houses existed by the lonely wastes of sand in +the first few years of the Victorian era. One of these was an adjunct +to a decoy pond for wild fowl. The parish itself was not formed until +1894, and although fashionable streets and fine churches and a +super-excellent "Winter-garden" had been erected when the writer first +saw the town, not much more than twenty years ago, the front was +extremely "raw" and the only shelter during a shower was a large tent +on the sands that, on one never-to-be-forgotten occasion, collapsed +during a squall upon the crowd of lightly-clad holiday-makers +beneath. But this is a very dim and distant past for Bournemouth, the +"Sandbourne" of the Wessex novels. The town is now as well conducted +as any on the English coast. It is large enough and has a sufficient +permanent population to justify its inclusion in the ranks of the +county boroughs. It is becoming almost as popular as Ventnor with +those who suffer from weak lungs, though it can be very cold here in +January. + +[Illustration: SAND AND PINES, BOURNEMOUTH.] + +Bournemouth will be found a convenient centre, or rather starting +point, for the exploration of the beautiful Wessex coast. From the +pier large and comfortable steamers make the passage to Swanage, +Weymouth, Lyme and further afield. Another advantage which these large +towns have for the ordinary tourist is that he may generally count +upon getting some sort of roof to cover him when in the smaller coast +resorts lodgings are not merely at a premium but simply unobtainable +at any price. + +[Illustration: CORFE CASTLE.] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +POOLE, WIMBORNE AND THE ISLE OF PURBECK + + +The South of England generally is wanting in that particular scenic +charm that consists of broad stretches of inland water backed by high +country. The first sight of Poole harbour with the long range of the +Purbeck Hills in the distance will come as a delightful revelation to +those who are new to this district. The harbour is almost land-locked +and the sea is not in visual evidence away from the extremely narrow +entrance between Bournemouth and Studland. A fine excursion for good +pedestrians can be made by following the sandy shore until the ferry +across the opening is reached and then continuing to Studland and over +Ballard Down to Swanage. + +Poole town is a busy place of small extent but containing for its size +a large population. The enormous development of industry in the +surrounding districts during the Great War must have brought the +number of folks in and around Poole to nearly 100,000, thus making it +the most populous corner of Dorset. This figure may not be maintained, +but a good proportion of the work concerned with the waste of +armaments has been transformed into the commerce of peace. One cause +for the modern prosperity of this old town is its position as regards +the converging railways from the west and north as well as from London +and Weymouth. + +[Illustration: POOLE.] + +Poole, like a good many other places with as much or as little cause, +has been claimed as a Roman station. There seems to be no direct +evidence for this. The first actual records of the town are dated +1248, when William de Longespee gave it its first charter. This Norman +held the manor of Canford, and Poole church was originally a chapel of +ease for that parish. The present building only dates from 1820 and +for the period is a presentable enough copy of the Perpendicular +style. Poole was a republican town in the Civil War and sent its +levies to help to reduce Corfe Castle. The revenge of the other side +came when, at the Restoration, all the town defences were destroyed, +though the king was not too unforgetful to refuse the hospitality of +the citizens during the Great Plague. + +The only remarkable relics in Poole are the Wool House or "Town +Cellar" and an old postern dating from about 1460. The Town Hall, with +its double flight of winding steps and quaint high porch was built in +1761. Within, as a commemoration of the visit recorded above, is a +presentment of the monarch who must have had "a way with him," since +his subjects' memories apparently became as short as his own. + +But Poole's most stirring times were in the days when Harry Page, +licensed buccaneer and pirate, made individual war on Spain to such +good purpose that the natives of Poole were astounded one morning to +see upwards of one hundred foreign vessels dotted about the waters of +the harbour, prizes taken by the redoubtable "Arripay," as his +captives termed him. Nothing flying the Spanish flag in the Channel +seemed to escape him, until matters at last became so humiliating that +the might of both countries was brought to bear on Poole, and the town +underwent a severe chastisement, in which Page's brother was killed. +This spirit of warlike enterprise descended to the great grandchildren +of these Elizabethans, for in Poole church is a monument to one +Joliffe, captain of the hoy _Sea Adventurer_, who, in the days of +Dutch William, drove ashore and captured a French privateer. In the +following year another bold seaman, William Thompson, with but one man +and a cabin-boy to help him, took a Cherbourg privateer and its crew +of sixteen. Both these heroes received a gold chain and medal from the +King. Another generation, and the town was fighting its own masters +over the question of "free imports." In spite of the usually accepted +fact that smuggling can only prosper in secret, Poole became a sort of +headquarters for all that considerable trade that found in the nooks +and crannies of the Dorset coast safe warehouses and a natural +cellarage. So bold did the fraternity become that in 1747, when a +large cargo of tea had been seized by the crown authorities and placed +for safe keeping in the Customs House, the free traders overpowered +all resistance and triumphantly retrieved their booty, or shall we +say, their property? and took it surrounded by a well-armed escort to +various receivers in the remoter parts of the wild country north-west +of Wimborne. The leaders of this attack were afterwards found to be +members of a famous Sussex band and the incident led to tragedy. An +informer named Chater, of Fordingbridge, and an excise officer--William +Calley--were on their way to lay an information, when they were seized +by a number of smugglers and cruelly done to death. For this six men +suffered the full penalty and three others were hanged for the work +done at Poole. + +The waters of Poole Harbour are salt as the sea outside though fed by +the rivers Frome and Puddle, and so of course its best aspect is when +the tide is full. The erratic ebb and flow is more pronounced here +than at Southampton and there are longer periods of high than low +water. Brownsea Island, that occupies the centre of this inland sea, +with its wooded banks of dark greenery makes an effective foil to the +sparkling waters and long mauve line of the Purbeck Hills. There is +always deep water at the eastern extremity of the island, to which +boats can be taken. Here are Branksea (or Brownsea) Castle, an +enlarged and improved edition of one of Henry's coast forts, and a few +cottages. Other small islands, populated by waterfowl, lie between +Brownsea and the Purbeck shore, where on a small peninsula is the +pretty little hamlet of Arne, remote, forgotten and very seldom +visited by tourist or stranger, but commanding the most exquisite +views of the harbour and surrounding country. It is possible that in +the near future the amenities of Poole Harbour may disappear or at +least change their quiet aspect of to-day, for at the time of writing +a scheme is afoot to deepen the channels and render the harbour +capable of taking the largest ships within its sheltered anchorage. + +Six miles north of Poole, in the valley of the Stour where that river +is joined by the Allen or Wim, stands Wimborne Minster surrounded by +the pleasant old town that bears the full name of its only title to +renown. This is another claimant for a Roman send-off to its history, +and with better grounds than Poole, though here again authorities +differ, some maintaining that Badbury Rings, the scene of the great +defeat of the West Saxons by the British, was the original +Vindogladia. A Roman pavement has been discovered within the area +covered by the Minster Church; whether this is a remnant of a +considerable station or only of a solitary villa is unknown. + +[Illustration: WIMBORNE MINSTER.] + +The beautiful Minster, one of the "sights" of Bournemouth, and, +although farther afield, almost as popular as Christchurch, was +founded at an early date in the history of Wessex, but the actual year +is unknown. It must have been very early in the eighth century that +the two sisters of King Ine, Cuthberga and Cwenburh, joined in forming +a sisterhood here. Both were buried in the original building and +eventually became enrolled in that long list of Saxon Saints whose +names have such a quaintly archaic sound and whose lives must have +been a matter of high romance, considering the experiences through +which they lived. St. Boniface asked for the help of the Wimborne +sisterhood to carry on his missionary labours among the benighted +tribes of Germany, and several establishments in the marshes and +woodlands along the shore of the Baltic Sea were the daughter houses +of this mid-Wessex abbey. The Saxon church was probably destroyed +during the Danish terror, but rebuilding commenced again before the +Conquest and the church became a college of secular canons. + +As will be seen by a first glance at the central tower, Norman +workmanship is in evidence in the exterior. The pinnacles and +battlements that give the upper part such a curious and incongruous +appearance were added in 1608. Previous to this it had a spire that +was erected in the late thirteenth century, but in 1600, while a +service was being conducted, "a sudden mist ariseing, all the spire +steeple, being of very great height was strangely cast down; the +stones battered all the lead and brake much timber of the roofe of the +church, yet without anie hurt to the people." The other tower at the +western end was a 1450 addition, about which time several alterations +were made, including a new clerestory. The soft and beautiful tints in +the old stone are not the least charming feature of the exterior. +Before entering the church the "Jack," a figure in eighteenth-century +dress that strikes the hours on a bell, should be noticed. The medley +of architecture will be seen directly one enters by the north porch. +The arches of the nave are of three distinct types; those at the west +end being Decorated, the three in the middle late Transitional, and +that nearest the tower an earlier example of this style. The choir is +a mixture of late Norman and Early English. The altar is placed +unusually high and this adds much to the dignity of the church. The +east window is of great interest to archaeologists. Conjectured to +have been constructed about 1210-20 when the apsidal east end was +pulled down, it forms one of the earliest instances of "plate" +tracery. Some old Italian glass has been inserted in it. On the south +side of the chancel will be seen the fine tomb of John Beaufort, Duke +of Somerset, grandfather of Henry VII and grandson of John of Gaunt. +Above the tomb is suspended an old helmet weighing over 14 lbs. This +was found during some restorations, buried in the nave. It is supposed +to have belonged to the Duke. Beyond this are the canopied sedilia and +piscina. On the north side is a slab of Purbeck marble which may have +replaced the original memorial of King Ethelred, who was buried in the +older church. The tomb on this side of the chancel is that of +Gertrude, Marchioness of Exeter, and wife of the Marquis beheaded by +Henry VIII. The oak benches that extend across the front of the +sanctuary were placed here when the church was in Presbyterian +keeping. They are usually covered with white wrappings, which, to the +casual visitor, have the appearance of decorators' dust-cloths, but +are really "houseling linen." The relics that once made the Minster +famous and a place of pilgrimage for the credulous were many and +various. Reputed fragments of our Lord's manger, robe and cross; some +of the hairs of His beard, and a thorn from His crown; a bottle +containing the blood of St. Thomas a Becket, and St. Agatha's +thighbone. + +The fine old chest with its six different locks, one for each trustee, +in the St. George's or north choir aisle, will be remarked. This is +the receptacle for the deeds of Collett's Charity at Corfe Castle. +Beside another very ancient chest (possibly used for "relics"), is an +effigy of an unknown knight, conjectured to be a Fitz Piers, also a +monument to Sir Edmund Uvedale. In the south, or Trinity, aisle is the +Etricke tomb; here lies a recorder of Poole, the same who committed to +prison, after his capture on one of the wild heaths near Ringwood, +that one-time hope of protestant England, the unfortunate Duke of +Monmouth. This Anthony Etricke was buried half in and half out of the +church in pursuance of a curious whim that he should lie neither in +the open nor under the church roof. He caused the date of his death to +be carved upon the side of the sarcophagus but, as may be seen, the +date had to be advanced twelve years when he did demise. There is a +finely vaulted crypt under the altar and over the fourteenth century +vestry is an interesting library where the books were once chained to +the shelves. It was instituted in the seventeenth century for the use +of the laity of Wimborne as well as for the minster clergy and may +thus claim to be one of the very earliest libraries in existence. It +contains, among other curiosities, a copy of Raleigh's _History of the +World_ with a hole burnt through its leaves, through the carelessness +of Matthew Prior, who was a resident of Wimborne. On the wall of the +western tower is a brass to this worthy. + +The town has the usual pleasant and comfortable air of an English +agricultural centre, with few really old buildings, however, and a sad +amount of mean and jerry-built streets in the newer part near the +station that does not give the stranger a favourable first impression +if he comes by rail. There are some picturesque alleys and "backs" +around the Minster and the walks in the rural environs of Wimborne and +up the valley of the Stour are most charming. On the north-west of the +town is St. Margaret's Hospital, with a restored chapel that still +retains some ancient portions. This was originally a leper's hospital +and the foundation dates from about 1210. + +[Illustration: JULIAN'S BRIDGE, WIMBORNE.] + +A long mile east of Wimborne station is Canford Magna, the mother +parish of a large district. The small church still retains a goodly +portion of the original Norman structure. The fine modern stained +glass is worthy of notice, but the recent additions are in poor taste +and too florid a style. Near by is Canford Manor, an imposing pile +belonging to Lord Wimborne and once the home of the Earls of +Salisbury. The greater part of the present house was designed by Sir +Charles Barry, the architect of the Houses of Parliament. The +remainder dates from the early part of the nineteenth century, except +"John O'Gaunt's Kitchen"--the only portion left of the ancient +manor-house. Canford village is of the model variety, each house +bearing the "seal" of the lord of the manor. + +From quite near Wimborne station delightful walks may be taken across +the park, which, under certain reasonable restrictions, is open to the +public. To the south stretches the wide expanse of Canford Heath, +which once upon a time extended to the sea at Canford Cliffs, now a +fashionable part of Bournemouth. Eastwards, crossed by the Ringwood +road, is another series of heaths, sparsely inhabited and known by the +various names of Hampreston, Parley Common, St. Leonard's Common and +Holt Heath. There are few parts of Southern England where is so much +idle land, apart from the New Forest, as in eastern Dorset. These +moors are beautiful for rambling and camping, but heartbreaking to any +one with the mind of a Cobbett! + +The direct Salisbury road climbs for ten miles gradually upwards, and +passing Hinton Parva church on the right, and, about a mile farther, +the site of a British village close to the road on the left, takes a +lonely and rather dull course until it reaches the small hamlet of +Knowlton, where there are the remains of a church built inside a round +earthwork which has its walls _outside_ the ditch, thus indicating, in +all probability, a use religious rather than military and an unbroken +tradition into Christian times. The way continues in a north-easterly +direction until it winds past the conspicuous tumulus, said to be a +temple or place of justice, on the summit of Castle Hill, just short +of the one-time important, but now much decayed market town of +Cranborne. The church here is an imposing and beautiful Early English +erection, with some remains of an earlier Norman building. A priory of +Benedictines was founded at Cranborne in Saxon times by Aylward, but +nothing of this still earlier building can now be traced. The fine +embattled tower dates from that era of fine towers--the Perpendicular. +The west window is a memorial to the celebrated Dean of St. +Paul's--Stillingfleet, a member of a family who once lived in one of +the old cottages here. The ancient pulpit will be noticed; this bears +the initials of an abbot of Tewkesbury, who died in 1421. Some wall +paintings were discovered under a coat of distemper about twenty years +ago, and there is a fine monument with recumbent figures to Sir Edward +Hooper. + +[Illustration: CRANBORNE MANOR.] + +The little "Crane bourne" that comes down from the lonely chalk +uplands between Cranborne Chase and Pentridge Hill gives its name to +the town, which in turn gives a title to the Cecils. The manor is said +to have as long a history as that of the church, but the present +building dates mainly from about 1520. The Jacobean west wing was +built by the first Cecil to take possession. The early Stuart kings +were frequent visitors, and Charles I stayed in the house just before +the fight at Newbury in 1644. At Rushay Farm, near the lonely hamlet +of Pentridge, William Barnes, the Dorset poet, was born, and a +forefather of Robert Browning was once footman and butler to the Banks +family who lived at Woodyates. A tablet in Pentridge church +commemorates his death in 1746, but, needless to say, it has only been +erected since his great descendant became famous. A memorial to the +poet has also been placed in the church inscribed with a line from +_Pippa Passes_: "All service ranks the same with God." + +Cranborne Chase, a lonely district of wooded hills that we shall +approach again in our travels, is partly in Dorset and partly in +Wilts. It is a remnant of the great deer forest that, originally in +the possession of various feudal lords, became Crown property in the +reign of the fourth Edward and remained in royal hands until the time +of James I. During that long period, and for many years afterwards, it +was a region where the scanty population, innocent as well as +lawbreaker, lived in constant fear of the barbarous laws governing the +chase. Mutilation, the dungeon or heavy fine, according to the rank of +the offender, was the punishment for taking the deer. Ferocity often +breeds ferocity, and the inhabitants of the forest were for long a +dour and difficult race. The locality seemed destined to raise +gentlemen of the road, and in the seventeenth century and during the +next, the dim recesses of the woods were utilized for storing the vast +quantities of goods landed free of duty at Poole and elsewhere. +Wiltshire people say that the original "Moonrakers" were Wiltshire +folk of Cranborne Chase, and the story goes that a party of horsemen +crossing a stream saw some yokels drawing their rakes through the +water which reflected the harvest moon. On being questioned they +confessed that they were trying to rake "that cheese out of the +river:" with a shout of laughter at the simplicity of the rustics the +travellers proceeded on their way. The humour of the joke lies in the +fact that the "moonrakers" were smugglers retrieving kegs of rum and +brandy and that the horsemen were excise officials. But the folk-lore +origin of "Moonraker" is said by the Rev. J.E. Field to belong to a +very early period, probably before the day of the Saxon and to be +contemporaneous with the "Cuckoo Penners" of Somerset, who captured a +young cuckoo and built a high hedge round it; there they fed it until +its wings had grown, when it quietly flew away, much to the astonished +chagrin of the yokels. This is a widespread legend and belongs to +other parts of England besides Somerset. + +The road from Wimborne to Blandford, four miles from the former town, +passes on the right an imposing hill crowned with fir trees. This is +the famous Badbury Rings. Here the conquering West Saxon met his most +serious set-back and almost his only real defeat. The camp is +undoubtedly prehistoric and was not a permanent settlement, but rather +a military post of great strength for use in time of war. The ramparts +consist of three rings of "wall" with a ditch to each, the outer being +a mile round. The hill is noteworthy for its extensive views, reaching +in clear weather to the Isle of Wight. The Purbeck Hills appear far +away over the beautiful park of Kingston Lacy, the seat of the Bankes, +an old county family. The house contains a fine collection of pictures +not usually shown to the public. + +The road it is proposed to follow leaves this demesne to the left and +in two miles reaches Sturminster Marshall on the banks of the Stour. +The old church with its pinnacled tower was restored so carefully that +its ancient character has to a large extent been retained. The church +was originally Norman, but several additions of varying dates have +been made to it. As the church is entered, two fifteenth-century +coffin lids will be noticed in the porch. Within is a brass to a +former vicar (1581) and a slab to Lady Arundel of Nevice. The memorial +to King Alfred was presented to the church a few years ago by R.C. +Jackson, the antiquary, to commemorate the supposed connexion of this +Stour Minster with the great king. + +Passing Bailey Gate, which is the station for Sturminster, the Poole +road is reached in a few minutes; turning left and following this for +a mile, the pedestrian may take a rough track uphill to the right that +leads to Lytchett Matravers, an out-of-the-way village with a +Perpendicular church and an unpretending inn. Two miles to the +south-east on the Poole-Wareham road is Lytchett Minster, remarkable +for the extraordinary sign of its inn, the "St. Peter's Finger." This +has been explained by Sir Bertram Windle as a corruption of St. Peter +ad Vincula. The inn unconsciously perpetuates the name of an old +system of land tenure, Lammas-day (in the Roman calendar St. Peter ad +Vincula) being one of the days on which service was done as a +condition of holding the land. The pictured sign itself, however, is +very literal in its rendering of the name. One of the finest views +obtainable of Poole and its surroundings is from Lytchett Beacon, and +in the opposite direction, the tower in Charborough Park is a +conspicuous landmark. + +The direct road from Lytchett Matravers goes by Sleeping Green (we are +approaching the land of queer names) and reaches Wareham in five miles +after passing over the lonely Holton Heath, an outlier of the Great +Heath of Dorset, that wide stretch of moorland that Mr. Hardy has made +world-famous under the general appellation of "Egdon Heath." + +Wareham, pleasant and ancient, is, after the capital, the most +interesting inland town in Dorset. Its position between the rivers +Frome and Puddle, that unite just before reaching Poole Harbour, was +of value as a strategical point and from very early times, possibly +prehistoric, the town was strongly fortified by its famous "walls" or +earth embankments that enclose to-day a much greater area than the +town itself. + +Roman antiquities have been found of such a character as to prove its +importance at that period. It was one of the towns where Athelstan's +coins were made. It was accounted a first-class port by Canute and +proved a place of contention between Alfred and the Danes. At one time +eight churches stood within the walls and a castle erected by the +Conqueror overawed the inhabitants until the tussle between John and +the Barons led to its destruction. The churches that remain are three +in number, and two are of much interest. St. Martin's, on a high bank +at the northern entrance to the town, is a restored Saxon building, +the traditional resting place, until his body was removed to +Tewkesbury, of Beohtric, King of Wessex, in 800. The characteristic +work of this period may be seen in the chancel arch and windows and in +the "long and short" work at the north-east angle of the church. + +Our Lady St. Mary's is the large and handsome church on the banks of +the Frome, here crossed by an old stone bridge that carries the Corfe +road across the river. The first church on this site is supposed to +have occupied the space now covered by St. Edward's Chapel. Here +Edward the Martyr was brought after his murder at Corfe Castle, the +body being afterwards transferred to Shaftesbury with great pomp and +splendour. The temporary coffin of the king may be seen near the font. +It is of massive stone with a place carved out for the head. The nave +and chancel have been much altered and partially rebuilt. Over St. +Edward's chapel, which dates from the thirteenth century, and is +supposed to be built on the site of the Saxon chapel, are the remains +of another chapel with a window looking into the church. The most +interesting part of the building is the Chapel of St. Thomas a Becket +on the south side of the east end. This forms a receptacle for various +curiosities, including several brasses, a stone cresset, a Roman lamp +and a stone bearing a Scandinavian inscription, besides the piscina +and sedilia that belong to the structure itself. The chapel would +appear to have been made in the buttressed wall of the church. On the +north side of the chancel is an effigy of Sir Henry d'Estoke and on +the south a figure of Sir William of that ilk. The embossed alms dish +and old earthenware plate for the communion should be noticed. An +historian of Dorset--John Hutchings, once rector here--has a monument +to his memory. The figures in relief upon the leaden font represent +the Apostles. Antiquaries are also interested in some ancient stones +built into the old Norman doorway near the pulpit. The ancient +sculpture of the Crucifixion was once outside over the north porch. +The inscription is said to be: "Catug consecravit Deo," but it is +almost impossible to make anything of it at a cursory examination. + +[Illustration: ST. MARTIN'S, WAREHAM.] + +Holy Trinity Church was for a long time in a state of ruin, but it has +now been repaired and is used as a mission room. All the other old +churches of Wareham have been swept away by fire or decay and with one +or two exceptions their very sites are lost. + +Wareham is built on the usual regular plan of a Roman town, though it +is not certain that the thoroughfares follow the actual lines of the +original Roman streets. Evidences of this period are too vague and +uncertain to make any pronouncement. The streets to-day have the +mellow cleanly look of the country town unspoilt by any taint of +modern industrialism, but of actual antiquity there is none. This is +due to the great fire that raged in 1762 and to all intents and +purposes wiped the town out. During the Great War the narrow pavements +were thronged with khaki. A great military encampment extended +westwards along the north side of the Dorchester road for a +considerable distance, and, judging from present appearances, part of +this wooden suburb of Wareham appears of a permanent character. + +The road over the old and picturesque Frome bridge passes at once into +the so-called Isle of Purbeck and gradually rises toward the hills +that cut across the "island." The views ahead, which include the +striking conical peak called "Creech Barrow," are of increasing +beauty, and when we approach the break between the long range of +Knowle Hill and Branscombe Hill, the strikingly fine picture of Corfe +Castle filling the gap makes an unforgettable scene. Just before +reaching the hillock upon which the castle stands, and three and a +half miles from Wareham, a road turns left, crossing the railway, and +winds by the northern face of Nine Barrows Down to Studland. + +[Illustration: THE FROME AT WAREHAM.] + +The original name for Corfe was Corvesgate, or the cutting in the +hills. This is its usual alias in the Wessex novels. The position was +so obviously suited for a sentry post that it was probably entrenched +in prehistoric times. Two small streams, the Byle brook and the +Steeple brook, run northwards on each side of the mount, uniting just +below it to form the Corve River. At first sight the mound appears to +be artificial, so velvety smooth and regular are its green sides in +contrast with the pile of ruin on its crown. + +King Edgar is credited with the first fortified building; this was +used as a hunting lodge by his second wife Elfrida, who perpetrated +the cruel murder of her stepson Edward while he was drinking a cup of +wine at her door. The horse he was riding, no doubt spurred +involuntarily by the dying king, galloped away, dragging the body +along the ground, until it stopped from exhaustion. The dead monarch +was, as already related, buried at Wareham, but the real ruler of +England, Archbishop Dunstan, had it exhumed and reburied with much +solemn pomp at Shaftesbury Abbey. + +During the Conqueror's reign, that great era of castle building, the +keep was first erected; by the reign of Stephen it was so strong that +he failed to take it from Baldwin de Redvers, who held it for Matilda. +John kept the crown jewels here, good evidence of its solidity, also a +few Frenchmen of high rank, of whom twenty-two were starved to death, +or so tradition says. The Princess Eleanor, captive for forty years, +was imprisoned here for a great part of that time by the same "Good +King John" who, as a punishment for prophesying the king's downfall, +had bold Peter, the hermit of Pontefract, incarcerated in the deepest +dungeon and subsequently hanged. + +During the de Montfort rebellion the castle was held against the king. +Edward was kept here for a time by Isabella before his murder at +Berkley. The castle then passed through several hands until the time +of Elizabeth, when it was sold to Sir Christopher Hatton. During this +long period, the fabric was added to and improved until little of the +Norman structure remained. All the new buildings seem to have been +constructed with but one purpose, that of making an impregnable +fortress. The widow of Sir Christopher sold the castle to +Attorney-General Sir John Banks, ancestor of the Bankes of Kingston +Lacy, in whose occupation, or rather in that of his wife, it was to +have its invincibility put to the test. Sir John was with the king's +forces at York in 1643 when the army of the Parliament gathered upon +the Knowle and East hills. During six weeks repeated attacks were made +by the forces of Sir Walter Earle, but without success, and eventually +the siege was raised. In 1646 treachery succeeded where honest warfare +failed. Colonel Pitman, an officer of the royal garrison, admitted a +number of Roundheads, who obtained possession of the King's and +Queen's towers. The remainder of the building became untenable by the +poorly armed defenders, who had parted with their ordnance long before +as a matter of policy. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF CORFE CASTLE.] + +Months were spent by the victorious Parliamentary forces in mining the +foundations and in the systematic destruction of the magnificent +defences. As we see it to-day, the actual masonry is practically in +the condition left by the explosions, so massive is the material and +so indestructible the mortar. + +The sketch which accompanies these brief notes will make the plan of +the castle clear, but no description can give any adequate notion of +the strange havoc wrought by the gunpowder. It speaks well for the +good workmanship of the builders when one remembers that these leaning +towers, that appear to be in immediate danger of collapse, have been +in the same condition for nearly three centuries. The western tower +has been carried down the hill nine feet from its original position, +but is still erect and unshattered. Part of the curtain wall was +completely reversed by the force of the explosive and now shows its +inner face. Whoever superintended the work of demolition must have +been one of the chagrined and disappointed attackers who was human +enough to vent his feelings, at much expense and great risk of life +and limb, on the stubborn old walls. + +[Illustration: CORFE VILLAGE.] + +Corfe, small town or large village, is picturesque and pleasant enough +in itself without the added interest of the castle and the beauty of +the surrounding country. The church is dedicated to the martyred +Edward. It was rebuilt in 1860, excepting the fourteenth century +tower, with its quaint gargoyles, and the Norman south porch. From the +tower, shot made from the organ pipes of the church was hurled at the +castle during the siege. The clock was constructed while Elizabeth was +queen and curfew is still rung daily from October to March at 8 p.m. +Within the church may be seen the old altar frontal used prior to the +Reformation, and the fifteenth-century font. Of much interest are the +quotations from the churchwardens' accounts that are preserved in the +church room. + +The old market cross is gone. On its stump there was erected in 1897 a +new Latin cross to commemorate the jubilee of Queen Victoria. +"Dackhams," the Elizabethan manor standing back from the Swanage road, +and now called Morton House, is a fine specimen of Tudor building. The +architecture of Corfe, as in most of the inland villages of the +"island," is most pleasing; a distinctive note being the pillared +porch with a room above. + +Corfe Castle retained a mayor and eight "barons" until 1883. The last +to hold office (a Bankes) was also Lord High Admiral of Purbeck, a +picturesque title over three hundred years old. It will come as a +surprise to most readers to hear that Corfe was admitted to rank as a +Cinque Port. The town returned the usual two members in pre-reform +days. + +A pleasant route out of Corfe is to take a path between cottages on +the left of the lane leading to West Orchard, and, crossing several +meadows, to pass over the breezy Corfe common to the Kingston road. +This gives the traveller a series of beautiful views and an especially +fine retrospect of Corfe Castle. In a short two miles Kingston, +climbing up its steep hill, is reached. The church, a landmark for +many miles, was built by Lord Eldon in 1880. It was designed by Street +in Early English. With its severe and lofty tower the exterior has a +coldly conventional aspect not altogether pleasing. Inside, the large +amount of Purbeck marble employed gives a touch of colour which, to a +certain extent, relieves the austerity. Not far away is the older +church built in Perpendicular style by Lord Chancellor Eldon. The seat +of the Eldon family is at Encombe, a lovely cup-shaped hollow opening +to the sea about a mile and a half away, and not far from the lonely +Chapman's (or perhaps Shipman's) Pool, a deep and sheltered cove on +the west of St. Aldhelm's Head. A path can be taken that crosses the +fields until the open common, which extends to the edge of the great +headland, is reached. On the summit, 450 feet above the waves, is a +little Norman chapel dedicated to the first Bishop of Sherborne, whose +name the headland bears and _not_ that of St. Alban, as erroneously +given in so many school geographies and in some tourist maps. This +chantry served a double purpose, prayers being said by the priest +within and a beacon lit upon the roof without, for the succour and +guidance of sailors. A cross now takes the place of the ancient beacon +bucket. It is said that the chapel was instituted by a sorrowing +father who saw his daughter and her husband drowned in the terrible +race off the headland in or about the year 1140. It was restored by +the same Earl of Eldon who built the Kingston church, and is looked +after by the neighbouring coast-guard. The interior is lit by one +solitary window in the thick wall and in the centre is a single +massive column. Some authorities have questioned its original use as a +place of prayer, but tradition, and a good deal of direct evidence, +point to the ecclesiastical nature of the building. + +[Illustration: ST. ALDHELM'S.] + +The tale of wreck and disaster off this wild coast reached such a +dreadful total that in 1881 after much agitation a light was erected +on Anvil Point and declared open by Joseph Chamberlain, then President +of the Board of Trade. Between the two heads, which are about four +miles apart, is the famous "Dancing Ledge," a sloping beach of solid +rock upon which the surf plays at high tide with a curious effect, +possibly suggesting the quaint name. This section of cliff, like the +whole of the Dorset coast, is of great interest to the geologist and +the veriest amateur must feel some curiosity on the subject when it is +apparent to him that the beautiful scenery of this shore is caused +mainly by its being the meeting place of so many differing strata. The +Kimmeridge clay will be noticed at once by its sombre colour, almost +quite black when wet, and in times of scarcity actually used as fuel. +This clay rings Chapman's Pool and extends westwards to Kimmeridge +Bay. St. Aldhelm's Head is built up of differing kinds of limestone, +the fine bastions of the top being composed of the famous Portland +stone itself, the finest of all the limestones from a commercial point +of view. + +To walk from St. Aldhelm's along the cliff to Anvil Point and so into +Swanage is possible but fatiguing, and perhaps not worth the labour +involved. Winspit Quarry and Seacombe Cliff would be passed on the +way; between the two are some old guns marking the spot where the East +Indiaman _Halsewell_ went down in a fearful storm in January, 1786. +This tragedy was immortalized by Charles Dickens in "The Long Voyage." +Out of 250 souls only eighty-two were saved by men employed at Winspit +Quarry. Some of the passengers are buried in the level plot between +the two cliffs. + +Worth Matravers, a mile and a half from the Head and four from +Swanage, is a village at the end of a by-way that leaves the Kingston +road near Gallows Gore(!) cottages, a mile west of Langton Matravers. +The name of both these villages connects them with an old Norman +family once of much importance in south-east Dorset. It is said that +one of them was the tool of Queen Isabella and the actual murderer of +Edward. + +Worth is famous for its fine early Norman church, also restored by the +Earl of Eldon. The tower, of three stories, the nave, south door and +chancel arch, all belong to this period. The chancel itself is Early +English. The carved grotesques under the eaves of the roof are worthy +of notice. Not the least remarkable thing about Worth is the tombstone +of Benjamin Jesty, who is claimed thereon to be the first person to +inoculate for smallpox (1774). Langton Matravers need not keep the +stranger; its church was rebuilt nearly fifty years ago and the +village is unpicturesque. + +We now approach Swanage, a delightful little town, well known and much +appreciated by those of the minority who prefer a restful and modest +resort to the glitter and crowds of Bournemouth. That it will never +attain the dimensions of its great neighbour to the north is fairly +certain. Swanage is in a comparatively inaccessible position. Barely +eight miles from Bournemouth as the crow flies, it is twenty-four +miles by rail and about the same by road. So that during the five +years of war, when the steamer service was suspended, Swanage had no +day trippers and the quietness of the town was accentuated, and the +camp on the southern slopes of Ballard Down did not interfere to any +great extent with this somnolence. But now the steamers pant across to +Swanage pier again and unload the curious crowd who make straight for +the Great Globe and Tilly Whim and pause to "rest and admire" as they +breast the steep slopes of Durlston. + +[Illustration: OLD SWANAGE.] + +The tutelary genius of Swanage is of stone and the two high priests of +the idol were Mowlein and Burt. Some undeserved fun has been poked at +the shade of the junior partner, who conceived the enormous open-air +kindergarten that has been formed out of the wild cliff at Durlston. +For the writer's part, while venturing to deplore certain +incongruities such as the startling inscription that faces the visitor +as he turns to survey the Tilly Whim cavern from the platform of rock +outside, a feeling of respect for the wholehearted enthusiasm and +industry of the remarkable man who was responsible for these marvels +is predominant. Every guide to Swanage enumerates in exhaustive detail +the objects which make the town a sort of "marine store" of stony odds +and ends. The best of these cast-offs is the entrance to the Town +Hall, once in Cheapside as the Wren frontage to Mercer's Hall. The +"gothic" tower at Peveril Point at one time graced the southern +approach to London Bridge as a Wellington memorial. The clock at the +Town Hall is said to be from a "scrapped" city church and the gilt +vane on the turret of Purbeck House on the other side of the way is +from Billingsgate. Not the least surprising of these relics are the +lamp-and-corner-posts bearing the names of familiar London parishes. + +When Swanage was Danish Swanic (it was called Swanwick in the early +nineteenth century) it witnessed the defeat of its colonizers in a sea +fight with Alfred. The irresponsible partners commemorated this by +erecting a stone column surmounted by four _cannon balls_. A queer way +of perpetuating a pre-conquest naval victory, but possibly the +projectiles were less in the way here than at Millbank. Not far away, +attached to the wall of the Moslem Institute, is a coloured geological +map of the district, another effort at the higher education of "the +man on the beach." It is certainly a good idea, and may lead many to a +further study of a fascinating science, for nowhere may the practical +study of scenery be made to greater advantage than near Swanage. + + +Perhaps the most graceful curve of coast line in Dorset is Swanage +Bay, and to see it at its best one should stroll across the rising +ground of Peveril Point. To the right are the dark cliffs of Purbeck +marble that encircle Durlston Bay; to the left across the half-moon +stretch of water is the white chalk of Ballard Point guarded by "Old +Harry's daughter," the column of detached chalk in front. At one time +this was one of a family, but "Old Harry" and his "wife" have sunk +beneath the waves and the sole remaining member of the family may +disappear during the next great storm. Beyond, indistinct and remote +during fine weather but startlingly near when the glass is falling, +are the cliffs of Alum Bay in the Isle of Wight, and the guardian +"Needles." + +The picturesque High Street should be followed past the Town Hall with +its alien Carolean front, and the long wall of Purbeck House that is +said to be made up from the "sweepings" of the Albert Memorial at +Kensington. Down a lane at the side of the civic building is the old +"Lock Up," with an inscription as quaint as it is direct, for it tells +us that it was erected "for the prevention of Wickedness and Vice by +the Friends of Religion and Good Order." Farther up High Street is a +cottage, creeper-clad and picturesque, where Wesley stayed while +preaching to the quarrymen. The best part of this stroll is towards +the end, where a space opens out on the right to St. Mary's Church and +the mill pond which is surrounded by as extraordinary a jumble of +queer old roofs and gables as may be seen in Dorset. The church has +been rebuilt and much altered and enlarged, but the tower is as old as +it looks and has seen several churches come and go beneath it. There +is no door lower than the second story and it must have been reached +by a ladder. It was undoubtedly built for, and used as, a fortress in +case of need. + +Although there is little of beauty in the quarries that honeycomb the +hills to the west of Swanage, the industry that is carried on is of +much interest as a surviving guild or medieval trades union. One of +the laws of the "company," unbroken from immemorial time, is that no +work may be given to any but a freeman or his son who, after seven +years' apprenticeship, becomes a senior worker upon presenting to the +warden a fee of 6_s_. 8_d_., a loaf of bread and a bottle of beer. The +guild meet every Shrove Tuesday at Corfe to transact the formal +business of the year. Each quarryman and his partner, or partners, +hold the little independent working allotted to them apart from the +remainder of the quarry. This obviously prevents blasting and each +block of stone is cut out by manual labour. + +[Illustration: TILLY WHIM.] + +Purbeck marble is famous all over southern England, and many historic +buildings, from the Temple church in London to Salisbury and Exeter +Cathedrals, are enriched by the beautifully polished columns of this +dark-coloured limestone. The caves at Durlston, with their intriguing +name, are simply abandoned quarries, although all sorts of fanciful +legends have grown up about them. To any one familiar with the plan of +the working of a quarry, the sloping tunnel that gives access to the +cave will prove the origin to be artificial. Nevertheless, Tilly Whim +is romantic enough to please the most fastidious of the steamer +contingent and the scene from the platform of rock in front of the old +workings is as wild and natural as could well be imagined. As for the +open-air schoolroom above on Durlston Head a description is hardly +necessary. That the pedagogic master mason was not without the saving +grace of a sense of humour is proved by the once plain block of stone +provided for those who would perpetuate their own greatness, now +literally covered with names and initials. The staring red and white +"castle" that crowns the cliff is a restaurant built to accommodate +the day visitor, but if the evidence of discarded pastry bags and +ginger-beer bottles that at times litter and disfigure the cliff and +caves is to be regarded, the castle is not as well patronized as it +should be. This unseemliness is kept under by what appears to be a +daily clean up, though the writer has never met the public benefactor +who makes all tidy in the early morning hours before the steamers have +discharged their crowds. Possibly this is the same individual who +keeps the tangle of blackberry and tamarisk pruned down so that while +resting with "Sir Walter Scott" or "Shakespeare" we may duly admire +the view across Swanage Bay. + +No one should omit the glorious walk northwards across the fine +expanse of Ballard Down to Studland. The coast road round the bay is +taken to a path bearing to the right in the pleasant suburb of New +Swanage. At the time of writing this leads through the before-mentioned, +partly derelict, military camp and, after passing on the right the old +Tudor farmhouse called Whitecliff, emerges on the open Down. The +rearward views gain in beauty with every step, and when the summit is +reached at the fence gate and the stone seat that seems to have +strayed from Durlston, a magnificent and unforgettable view is +obtained of Poole Harbour and the great heathland that stretches away +to the New Forest. Every intricacy of the harbour can be seen as on a +map, and its almost landlocked character is strikingly apparent as the +eye follows the bright yellow arc of sand to the cliffs of Bournemouth. +That town has most of its more glaring modernities decently hidden, +and the pier and a few spires and chimneys seem to blend into the +all-pervading golden brown of the Hampshire coast. In the near +foreground Studland looks very alluring in its bowery foliage, but +before descending the hillside the long and almost level Down should +be followed to the right past the shooting range, provided the absence +of a warning red flag gives permission. By a slight detour to the +right as the ground slopes toward that extension of Ballard Down +called Handfast Point, fearsome peeps may be had of the waves raging +round Old Harry's daughter and the submerged ruins of her parents. +Care must be taken here in misty weather, the cliffs are sheer, and +unexpected gaps occur where nothing could save the unwary explorer in +the event of an unlucky slip. Little is gained by following the cliff +top all the way to the extreme edge of the Point, and a return may be +made from hereabouts or a short cut made to the path leading to +Studland. + +[Illustration: THE BALLARD CLIFFS.] + +Studland was until quite lately one of the most unspoilt of English +villages. An unfortunate outbreak of red brick has slightly detracted +from its former quiet beauty, but it is still a charming little place +and claims as heretofore to be the "prettiest village in England," a +claim as impossible of acceptance as some other of the challenges made +by seaside towns. But it is unfair to class Studland with the usual +run of such resorts; perhaps its best claims upon us are negative +ones. It has no railway station, no pier, no bandstand, no parade, in +fact the old village turns its back upon the sea in an unmistakable +manner. + +The foundations and lower parts of the walls of the church are +probably Saxon. The building as we see it is primitive Norman without +later additions or any very apparent attempts at restoration, though a +good deal of legitimate repairing has been carried out during the last +few years. The solemn and venerable churchyard yews lend an added air +of great age to the building. Close to the church door is the +tombstone of one Sergeant Lawrence, whose epitaph is a stirring record +of military service combined with a dash of real romance, though +probably the sergeant's whole life did not have as much of the essence +of dreadful war as one twelve months in the career of a present-day +city clerk. + +A long mile west, on the northern slopes of Studland Heath, is the +famous Agglestone "that the Devil while sulking in the Isle of Wight +threw at the builders of Corfe Castle" or, according to another +account, from Portland. Probably the confusion arose through the +original reporter using the term "the Island." Natives would know that +the definite article could only refer to their own locality! The stone +is an effect of denudation and is similar to other isolated sandstone +rocks scattered about the south of England, e.g., the "Toad" Rock at +Tunbridge Wells and "Great upon Little" near West Heathly in Sussex. A +short distance away is a smaller mass called the "Puckstone." The +derivation of the larger rock is probably Haligstane--Holy Stone. So +difficult is it to contemplate the ages through which gradual +weathering would bring these stones to their present shape that +scientists, as recently as the middle of the last century, were at +variance as to their natural or artificial origin. + +A by-road, a little over five miles long, runs under the face of Nine +Barrows Down and Brenscombe Hill to Corfe. It is a picturesque route +and has some good views, but a much finer way, and but little longer, +is along the top of the Downs themselves culminating at Challow Hill +in a sudden sight of Corfe, backed by the imposing Knowle Hill. This +walk is even surpassed by that along the hills westwards from Corfe. +In this direction a similar by-road also runs under the long line of +the Purbeck Hills, here so called, but on the south side of the range +through Church Knowle which has an old cruciform church pulled about +by "restorers" as far back as the early eighteenth century and several +times since. The village is pleasant in itself and beautifully +situated. A short distance farther is an ancient manor house dating +from the fourteenth century. Its name--Barneston--is said to +perpetuate a Saxon landholder, Berne, so that the foundations of the +house are far older than this period. Over three miles from Corfe is +the small church hamlet of Steeple; here a road bears upward to the +right, and if the hill top has not been followed all the way from +Corfe it should certainly be gained at this point. Not far away and +nearer Church Knowle is Creech Barrow, a cone-shaped hill commanding a +most extensive and beautiful view, especially north-westwards over the +heathy flats of the Frome valley to the distant Dorset-Somerset +borderlands. The narrow Purbeck range now makes obliquely for the +coast, where it ends more than six miles from Corfe in the magnificent +bluff of Flowers' Barrow, or Ring's Hill, above Worbarrow Bay. This is +without doubt the finest portion of the Dorset coast, not only for the +striking outline of the cliffs and hills themselves but for the +beautiful colouring of the strata and the contrasting emerald of the +dells that break down to the purple-blue of the water. Neither drawing +nor photograph can give any idea of this exquisite blend of the stern +and the beautiful. + +[Illustration: ARISH MEL.] + +Eastwards, Gad Cliff guards the remote little village of Tyneham from +the sea; certain portions of this precipice seem in imminent danger of +falling into the water, so much do they overhang the beach. At +Kimmeridge Bay the cliff takes the sombre hue seen near Chapman's Pool +and the beach and water are discoloured by the broken shale that has +fallen from the low cliff. It is thought that a sort of jet jewellery +was made here in Roman times; quantities of perforated discs have been +found about the bay--termed "coal money" by the fishermen. The greasy +nature of this curious form of clay is remarkable. Naphtha has been +obtained from it and various commercial enterprises have been started +at Kimmeridge in connexion with the local product but all seem to have +failed miserably because of the unendurable smell that emanates when +combustion takes place. + +The "Tout" forms the eastern extremity of Worbarrow Bay; this boldly +placed and precipitous little hill forms a sort of miniature Gibraltar +and is one of the outstanding features of this bewilderingly intricate +shore. On the farther or western side of the bay is the exquisite +Arish Mel Gap,[1] that, taking all points into consideration, +particularly that of colouring, is probably the finest scene of its +kind on the English coast. Picturesquely placed at the head of the +miniature valley is Lulworth Castle, grey and stern, and making an +ideal finish to the unforgettable picture. A spring in the recesses of +the dell sends a small and sparkling stream down to the gap, the sides +of which in spring and early summer are a blaze of white and gold, +challenging the cliffs in their display of colour. A path climbs +gradually by an old wind-torn wood up the landward side of Bindon +Hill, with gorgeous rearward views across the fields of Monastery Farm +to the northern escarpment of the Purbeck Hills. The path very soon +reaches the top of Bindon that seems to drop directly to Mupe Bay and +its jagged surf-covered rocks. In two miles from Arish Mel the path +ends directly above the delectable Lulworth Cove, and of all ways of +reaching that unique and lovely little place this is the most +charming. Care must be taken on the steep side of Bindon. Several +accidents have taken place here. One of them is perpetuated by an +inscription on a board placed upon the hillside. The path must be +followed until it drops into the road leading to the landward village. + +[1] Correctly--_Arish Mel_. "Gap" and "Mel" are synonyms in Dorset. + +[Illustration: LULWORTH COVE FROM ABOVE STAIR HOLE.] + +Lulworth bids fair, or ill, to become a "resort" apart from the +descents from Bournemouth or Weymouth, which are only of a few hours' +duration. Before the Great War there was an extension of West Lulworth +round the foot of Bindon Hill, but the railway at Wool is still a good +five miles away and the great majority of seaside visitors seem to +fight shy of any place that has not a station on the beach. + +Lulworth has been described and photographed so many times that a +description seems needless. It would want an inspired pen to do any +portion of this coast full justice. Suffice it to say that the cove is +almost circular, 500 yards across, and that the entrance is so narrow +as to make it almost invisible from the open sea. The contortions of +the cliff face within the cove would alone render the place famous. + +More often sketched than Lulworth; perhaps because it is easier to +draw, is Durdle Door or Barn Door, the romantic natural arch that juts +out at the end of Barndoor Cove. The outline has all the appearance of +stage scenery of the goblin cavern sort. So lofty is the opening that +a sailing boat can pass through with ease. Behind it is the soaring +Swyre Head, 670 feet high, and the third of that name in Dorset. +Between this point and Nelson Fort on the west of Lulworth Cove is +Stair Hole, a gloomy roofless cavern into which the tide pours with a +terrifying sound, especially when a strong sou-wester is blowing. + +[Illustration: DURDLE DOOR.] + +East Lulworth is a charming old village, three miles from the cove and +two from West Lulworth. Close to it is the castle that completes the +picture at Arish Mel. The church, much altered and rebuilt, is +Perpendicular, and in it are interesting memorials of the Welds to +whom the castle has belonged since 1641. This family are members of +the Roman church, and a fine chapel for adherents of that communion +was built in the park at the end of the eighteenth century. It is said +to be the first erected in England since the Reformation. The ex-king +Charles X of France sought and found sanctuary at Lulworth Castle in +August, 1830, as Duke of Milan. He was accompanied by his heir, the +Duke of Angouleme, and the Duke of Bordeaux. + +[Illustrtion: CERNE ABBEY GATEHOUSE.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +DORCHESTER AND ITS SURROUNDINGS + + +The railway from Wareham to Dorchester runs through the heart of that +great wild tract that under the general name of Egdon Heath forms a +picturesque and often gloomy background to many of Mr. Hardy's +romances. These heath-lands are a marked characteristic of the scenery +of this part of the county. Repellent at first, their dark beauty, +more often than not, will capture the interest and perhaps awe of the +stranger. Much more than a mere relic of the great forest that +stretched for many miles west of Southampton Water and that in its +stubborn wildness bade fair to break up the Saxon advance, the heaths +of Dorset extend over a quarter of the area of the county. + +Wool is five miles from Wareham and is the station for Bindon Abbey, +half a mile to the east. The pleasant site of the abbey buildings on +the banks of the Frome is now a resort of holiday-makers, adventurers +from Bournemouth and Swanage, who may have al-fresco teas through the +goodwill of the gatekeeper, though it would appear that they must +bring all but the cups and hot water with them. The outline of the +walls and a few interesting relics may be seen, but there is nothing +apart from the natural surroundings to detain us. The old red brick +Manor House, close to the station, and in plain view from the train, +was a residence of the Turbervilles, immortalized by Hardy. Of much +interest also is the old Tudor bridge that here crosses the Frome. + +[Illustration: PUDDLETOWN.] + +At Wool the rail parts company with the Dorchester turnpike and soon +after leaves the valley of the Frome, traversing a sparsely populated +district served by one small station in the ten miles to Dorchester, +at Moreton. Here a road runs northwards in four miles to the "Puddles" +of which there are several dotted about the valley of that quaintly +named river. Puddletown, the Weatherbury of the Wessex woods, is the +largest and has an interesting church, practically unrestored. The +Athelhampton chapel here contains ancient effigies of the Martin +family, the oldest dating from 1250. The curiously shaped Norman font, +like nothing else but a giant tumbler, will be admired for its fine +vine and trellis ornament. The old oak gallery that dates from the +early seventeenth century has happily been untouched. Athelhampton +Manor occupies the site of an ancient palace of King Athelstan. Though +certain portions of the present buildings are said to date from the +time of Edward III the greater part is Tudor and very beautiful. +Affpuddle, the nearest of the villages to Moreton Station, has a +perpendicular church with a fine pinnacled tower. The chief object of +interest within is the Renaissance pulpit with curious carvings of the +Evangelists in sixteenth-century dress. Scattered about the +heath-lands in this neighbourhood are a number of "swallow holes" with +various quaint names such as "Culpepper's Dish" and "Hell Pit." At one +time supposed to be prehistoric dwellings, they are undoubtedly of +natural formation. + +Bere Regis, rather farther away to the north-east, is the Roman +Ibernium. This was a royal residence in Saxon days and a hunting lodge +of that King John of many houses; very scanty remains of the buildings +are pointed out in a meadow near the town. Part of the manor came to +the Turbervilles, or d'Urbervilles, of Mr. Hardy's romance. The +church, restored in 1875 by Street, is a fine building, mostly +Perpendicular with some Norman remains. Particularly noteworthy is the +grand old roof of the nave with its gorgeously coloured and gilt +figures, also the ancient pews and Transitional font. There are +canopied tombs of the Turbervilles in a chapel and some modern stained +glass in which the family arms figure. Bere Regis is the "Kingsbere" +of Thomas Hardy, and Woodbury Hill, close by, is the scene of +Greenhill Fair in _Far from the Madding Crowd_. Here, in the oval camp +on the summit, a sheep fair has been held since before written records +commence. These fairs, several of which take place in similar +situations in Wessex, are of great antiquity. Some are held in the +vicinity of certain "blue" stones, mysterious megaliths of unknown +age. + +It is doubtful if any town in England has so many remains of the +remote past in its vicinity as Dorchester. Probably the Roman +settlement of Durnovaria was a parvenu town to the Celts, whose +closely adjacent Dwrinwyr was also an upstart in comparison with the +fortified stronghold two miles away to the south; the "place by the +black water" being an initial attempt to establish a trading centre by +a people rather timidly learning from their Phoenician visitors. The +great citadel at Maiden Castle belonged to a still earlier time, when +men lived in a way which rendered trade a very superfluous thing. + +Modern Dorchester is a delightful, one might almost say a lovable, +town, so bright and cheery are its streets, so countrified its air. +But it is probably true that nearly every one is disappointed with it +at their first visit. Historical towns are written of, and written up, +until the stranger's mind pictures a sort of Nuremburg. Dorchester is +a placid Georgian agricultural centre. In fact there is very little +that antedates the seventeenth century and yet, for all that, it is +one of the most interesting towns in the south. Its loss of the +antique is due to more than one disastrous fire that swept nearly +everything away. It is when the foundations of a new house are being +dug that the past of Dorchester comes to light and another addition is +made to the rich store in the museum. Describing "Casterbridge" Hardy +says: "It is impossible to dig more than a foot or two deep about the +town fields or gardens without coming upon some tall soldier or other +of the Empire who had lain there in his silent unobtrusive rest for a +space of fifteen hundred years." It is needless to say that +"Casterbridge" and the town here briefly described are identical. To +the limits laid down by the Roman, Dorchester has kept true through +the ages, and until quite lately the town terminated with a pleasant +abruptness at the famous "Walks" that mark the positions of the Roman +Walls. The so-called Roman road, the "Via Iceniana," Roman only in the +improvement and straightening of a far older track, passed through the +town. This was once the highway between that mysterious and wonderful +district in Wiltshire, of which Stonehenge is the most outstanding +monument, and the largest prehistoric stronghold in England--the Mai +dun--"the strong hill," south of Dorchester. + +The South Western station is close to another fine relic of the past, +though this cannot claim to have any Celtic or pre-Celtic foundation. +The great circle of Maumbury Rings was the original stadium or +coliseum of the Roman town; the tiers of seats when filled are +estimated to have held over twelve thousand spectators. The gaps at +each end are the obvious ways for entering and leaving the arena. In +digging the foundations of the brewery near by, a subway was found +leading toward the circus, which may have been used by the wild beasts +and their keepers in passing from and to their quarters. Maumbury was +the scene of a dreadful execution in 1705, when one Mary Channing was +first strangled and then burnt for the murder of her husband by +poison, though she loudly declared her innocence to the last. On this +occasion ten thousand persons are said to have lined the banks. It is +difficult at first to appreciate the size of the Rings. If two or more +persons are together it is a good plan to leave one alone in the +centre while the others climb to the summit of the bank. By this means +a true idea of the vast size of the enclosure may be gained. + +[Illustration: DORCHESTER.] + +The "Walks" are the pleasantest feature of modern Dorchester and run +completely round three sides of the town, the fourth being bounded by +the "dark waters" of the Frome. They are lined with fine trees planted +about two hundred years ago; the West Walk, with its section of Roman +Wall, is perhaps the best, though the South Walk with its gnarled old +trees is much admired. They all give the town an uncommon aspect, and +there is nothing quite like them elsewhere in England. The contrast on +turning eastwards from the quiet West Walk into bustling High West +Street is striking and bears out the claim that Dorchester still keeps +more or less within its ancient bounds, for turning in the other +direction we are soon in a different and "suburban" atmosphere. High +West Street is lined with pleasant eighteenth century houses, the +residences or offices of professional men intermixed with some +first-class shops. Once these houses were the mansions of county +families who "came to town" for a season when London was for several +reasons impracticable. The chief buildings are congregated round the +town centre; here is the Perpendicular St. Peter's church, a building +saved during the great fire in 1613 when nearly everything else of +antiquity perished. Outside is the statue of William Barnes, the +Dorset poet, whose writings in his native dialect are only now gaining +a popularity no more than their due. The bronze figure represents the +poet in his old fashioned country clergyman's dress, knee-breeches and +buckled shoes, a satchel on his back and a sturdy staff in his hand. +Underneath the simple inscription are these quaint and touching lines +from one of his poems ("Culver Dell and the Squire"): + + "Zoo now I hope his kindly feaece + Is gone to vind a better pleaece; + But still wi' v'ok a-left behind + He'll always be a-kept in mind." + +The speech of the older Dorset folk is the ancient speech of Wessex. +It is not an illiterate corruption but a true dialect with its own +grammatical rules. But alas! fifty years of the council school and its +immediate predecessor has done more to destroy this ancient form of +English than ten centuries of intercourse between the Anglo-Celtic +races.[2] + +[2] A good example of the Dorset dialect is contained in the message +sent to the King by the Society of Dorset Men at their annual banquet +in London. + + "TO HIS MAJESTY KING JARGE + + Sire--Dree hunderd loyal men vrom Darset, voregather'd at th' + Connaught Rooms, Kingsway, on this their Yearly Veaest Day, be + mindvul o' yer Grashus Majesty, an' wi' vull hearts do zend ee + the dootivul an' loyal affecshuns o' th' Society o' Darset Men + in Lon'on. In starm or zunsheen thee ca'st allus rely on our + vull-heart'd zympathy an' suppwort. Zoo wi'out any mwore ham-chammy + we ageen raise our cyder cups to ee, wi' th' pious pray'r on our + lips that Heaven ull prosper ee, an' we assure ee that Darset Men + ull ever sheen as oone o' th' bright jools in yer Crown. I d' bide, + az avoretime, an' vor all time, Thy Vaithful Sarvint, + + SHAFTESBURY (President o' Darset Men in Lon'on)." + +In the porch of the church lies the "Patriarch of Dorchester," John +White, Rector of Holy Trinity, who died in 1648 and who seems to have +kept the town pretty well under his own control. A Puritan, he +incurred the hatred of Prince Rupert's followers, who plundered his +house and carried away his papers and books. He escaped to London and +was for a time Rector of Lambeth, afterwards returning to Dorchester. +He raised money for the equipment of emigrants from Dorchester to +Massachusetts and thus became one of the founders of New England. +Inside the church the Hardy tablet to the left of the door is in +memory of the ancestor of both that Admiral Hardy who was the friend +of Nelson and the great novelist whose writings have been the means of +making "Dear Do'set" known to all the world. The monument of Lord +Holles is remarkable for a comic cherub who is engaged in wiping his +tears away with a wisp of garment; the naivete of the idea is amusing +in more ways than one. Another curious monument, badly placed for +inspection, is that of Sir John Williams. The so-called "crusaders" +effigies are thought to be of a later date than the last crusade; no +inscriptions remain, so that they cannot be identified. The curfew +that still rings from St. Peter's tower is an elaborate business. +Besides telling the day of the month by so many strokes after the ten +minutes curfew is rung, a bell is tolled at six o'clock on summer +mornings and an hour later in the winter. Also at one o'clock midday +to release the workers of the town for dinner. + +Holy Trinity Church was destroyed in the great fire. Another +conflagration in 1824 removed its successor. The present building only +dates from 1875 and is a fairly good Victorian copy of Early English. +All Saints' was rebuilt in 1845. It retains the canopied altar tomb of +Matthew Chubb (1625) under the tower. The organ here was presented by +the people of Dorchester, Massachusetts, for the founding of which +town John White, the rector of Holy Trinity, was mainly responsible. + +[Illustration: NAPPER'S MITE.] + +The County Museum, close to St. Peter's Church, should on no account +be missed. Here is stored a most interesting collection of British and +Roman antiquities found in and around Dorchester, and also of fossils +from the Dorset coast and elsewhere, together with many out-of-the-way +curiosities. "Napper's Mite" is the name given to the old almshouse in +South 1615 with money left for the Robert Napper. It has a queer open +gallery or stone verandah along the street front. Next door to it is +the Grammar School, which owes its inception to the Thomas Hardy who +is commemorated in St. Peter's, and whose benefactions to the town +were many and great. Of equal interest, perhaps, is a house on the +other side of the street that was once a school kept by William +Barnes, surely the most serene and kindly schoolmaster that ever +taught unruly youth. Barnes, in addition to his other literary work, +was secretary of the Dorset Museum, but his incumbency at Whitcombe +and the small addition to his income obtained in other ways did not +amount altogether to a "living" and he was forced to take up schooling +to make both ends meet. The poems were never a financial success, +though they always received a chorus of praise and appreciation and +led many literary lions to meet the author. After years full of sordid +cares Barnes was granted a civil list pension and the rectory of Came. +Here, in the midst of the peasantry he loved so well, this gentle +spirit passed away in 1886. + +The lodging occupied by Judge Jeffreys during the Monmouth Rebellion +trials or "Bloody Assize" (1685), when seventy-four were sentenced to +death on Gallows Hill of dreadful memory, and 175 to transportation to +carry westward with them the bitter seeds that bore glorious fruit a +century later, was in a house still standing nearly opposite the +museum. This almost brings the list of historical buildings in +Dorchester to a close. The County Hall, Town Hall and Corn Exchange, +all unpretentious and quietly dignified, represent both shire and +town. The few buildings left by the seventeenth-century fire seem to +have included a highly picturesque group near the old Pump (now marked +by an obelisk) and at the commencement of High East Street, where a +dwelling-house went right across the highway. This was pulled down by +a corporation filled with zeal for the public convenience. The +improvement, regrettable on the score of picturesqueness, has given us +the noble view down the London road. The other great highways that +approach the town from the west and south do so through fine avenues +of trees which give a distinctive note to the environs of Dorchester. + +Fordington is usually described as a suburb of Dorchester; this is not +strictly correct. It had always been a dependent village and was not +simply an extension of the town. Its church is a fine one, with tall +battlemented tower and a goodly amount of Norman work. A quaint old +carving over the Norman south door is of much interest. It represents +St. George as taking part in the battle of Antioch in 1098. Some of +the Saracens are being mercilessly dispatched while others are +pleading for quarter. The stone pulpit bears the date 1592 and the +initials E.R. The late Bishop of Durham, Dr. Moule, was born at +Fordington Vicarage. + +Stainsford, about a mile from the Frome bridge, is the original of the +scene in _Under the Greenwood Tree_. Several members of the Hardy +family lie in the churchyard here, and the novelist was born at Higher +Bockhampton, not far away. The carving of St. Michael on the face of +the church tower should be noticed. Within the building are memorials +of the Pitt family. + +Above the short tunnel through which the Great Western line runs to +the north, and about half a mile along the Bradford Peverell road, is +Poundbury Camp. "Pummery" is an oblong entrenchment enclosing about +twenty acres, variously ascribed to Celts, Romans and Danes, but +almost certainly Celtic, with Roman improvements and developments. +There is a fine view of the surroundings of Dorchester from the bank. +It is only by the most strenuous exertions that the railway engineers +were prevented from burrowing right through the camp. The cutting of +this line brought to light many relics of the past, a great number of +which are in the Dorchester Museum. + +[Illustration: MAIDEN CASTLE.] + +On the south-west side of the town, two miles away near the Weymouth +road, is the greatest of these prehistoric entrenchments; Mai-dun or +"Maiden Castle" is the largest British earthwork in existence. It is +best reached by a footpath continuation of a by-way that leaves the +Weymouth road on the right, soon after it crosses the Great Western +Railway. The highest point of the hill that has been converted into +this huge fort is 432 feet; the apex being on the east. The marvellous +defences, which follow the lines of the hill, are two miles round and +the whole space occupies about 120 acres. From east to west the camp +is 3,000 feet long and about half that measurement in breadth. On the +south side there are no less than five lines of ditch and wall. On the +north the steepness of the hill only allows of three. Over the +entrance to the west ten ramparts overlap and double so that attackers +were in a perfect maze of walls and enfiladed so effectually that it +is difficult to imagine any storming party being successful. On the +east the opening, without being quite so elaborate owing to the +steepness of the hill, is equally well defended. The steep walls on +the north are no less than sixty feet deep and to storm them would be +a sheer impossibility. What makes this splendid monument so +interesting is the assertion made by nearly all authorities on the +subject that these enormous works must have been excavated without +spade or tool other than the puny implement called a "celt." Probably +wall and ditch were elaborated and improved by the Romans, and while +in their occupation the name of the hill became Dunium. Blocks of +stone from Purbeck, used at certain points of the defence, were no +doubt additions during this period. + +A pleasant journey may be taken through the Winterbourne villages that +are strung along the line of that rivulet, which, as its name +proclaims, flows only in the winter months. It is on the south side of +Maiden Castle. The first village with the name of the river as a +prefix is Came, two miles from Dorchester. Here Barnes was rector for +the last twenty-five years of his life. His grave is in the quiet +churchyard quite close to the diminutive tower. Within the church is a +fine carved screen and several effigies. Proceeding westwards we come +to Herringstone where there is an old house once the seat of the +Herrings and, since early Jacobean days, of the Williams family. Then +comes Monkton, close to Maiden Castle. The church is Norman, much +restored. St. Martin follows; a picturesque hamlet with a fine church, +the last in the west of England to dispense with clarionet, flute and +bass-viol in the village choir. On sign-posts as well as colloquially +this hamlet is known as "Martinstown." Steepleton boasts a stone +spire, rare for Dorset, and a curious and very ancient figure of an +angel on the outside wall declared by most authorities to be Saxon. +The last of the villages is Winterbourne Abbas, seven miles from +Winterbourne Came. The whole of the low hillsides around the hamlets +of the bourne are covered with barrows, some of which have been +explored with good results, though indiscriminate ravishing of these +old graves is to be deplored. + +Another short excursion from Dorchester is up the valley of the Cerne. +About a mile and a half from St. Peter's Church, proceeding by North +Street, is Charminster, a pretty little place in itself and well +situated in the opening valley of the sparkling Cerne. Here is a +church with a noble Perpendicular tower, built by Sir Thomas Trenchard +about 1510. The knight's monogram is to be seen on the tower. Within +the partly Norman church are several monuments of the family, which +lived at Wolfeton House, a fine Tudor mansion on the site of a still +older building. Its embattled towers, beautiful windows and ivy-clad +walls make up an ideal picture of a "stately home of England." +Wolfeton was the scene of the reception in 1506 of Philip of Austria +and Joanna of Spain, who were driven into Weymouth by a storm. (The +incident is referred to in the next chapter.) This occurrence may be +said to have founded the fortunes of the ducal house of Bedford. Young +John Russell, of Bridport, a relative of the Trenchards, happened to +be a good linguist, which the host was not. He was sent for, and so +well impressed the royal couple that they took him with them to +Windsor. Henry VII was quite as much interested, and young Russell's +fortune was made. He stayed with the court until the next reign, and +at the Dissolution got Woburn Abbey, a property still in the hands of +his great family. + +Continuing up the Cerne valley, Godmanstone, a village of picturesque +gables and colourful roofs, is about four and a half miles from +Dorchester. Here the valley narrows between Cowden Hill and Crete +Hill. The Perpendicular church has been restored, and is of little +interest. Nether Cerne, a mile further along and two miles short of +Cerne Abbas, also calls for little comment, but "Abbas" (or, according +to Hardy, "Abbots Cernel") is of much historic interest. + +Cerne Abbey was founded in 987 by Aethelmar, Earl of Devon and +Cornwall. Legend has it that the monastery originated in the days of +St. Augustine, but of this there is no proof, though it is certain +that a religious house nourished here for nearly a century before the +Benedictine abbey was established. The first Abbot Aelfric was famous +for his learning, and his Homilies in Latin and English are of much +value to students of Anglo-Saxon. Canute was the first despoiler of +Cerne, though he made good his plunderings tenfold when peace, on his +terms, came to Wessex. Queen Margaret sought sanctuary here in 1471 +with her son, the heir to the English throne. At the Abbey, or on the +way thither from Weymouth, the courageous Queen learned of the defeat +of the Lancastrian army at Barnet. From Cerne she went to lead a force +against the Yorkists at Tewkesbury. There she was defeated, her son +brutally murdered and all hope lost for the cause of her imprisoned +husband, the feeble and half-witted Henry VI. + +A most beautiful relic of the Abbey is the Gatehouse, a fine stone +building that has weathered to the most exquisite tint. The grand +oriel window and panelled and groined entrance are justly admired. The +remaining ruins, however, are almost negligible. The Perpendicular +church is remarkable for its splendid tower, on which is a niche and +canopy enshrining an old statue of the Virgin and Child. Within is a +good stone screen and a fine oaken pulpit dating from 1640. Cerne town +seems never to have recovered its importance after the loss of the +Abbey. For its size, it is the sleepiest place in Dorset and its +streets are literally grass grown. The surroundings are beautiful in a +quiet way, and the town and neighbourhood generally provide an ideal +spot for a rest cure. North-east of the town is a chalk bluff called +Giant's Hill, with the figure of the famous "Cerne Giant," 180 feet in +height, cut on its side. "Vulgar tradition makes this figure +commemorate the destruction of a giant, who, having feasted on some +sheep in Blackmore and laid himself down to sleep, was pinioned down +like another Gulliver, and killed by the enraged peasants on the spot, +who immediately traced his dimensions for the information of +posterity" (Criswick). An encampment on the top of the hill and the +figure itself are probably the work of early Celts. The "Giant" is +reminiscent of the "Long Man of Wilmington" on the South Downs near +Eastbourne. An interesting experiment in the communal life was started +in 1913 near the town. After struggling along for five years it +finally "petered out" in 1918, helped to its death, no doubt, by the +exigencies of the last year of war. + +A return may be made by way of Maiden Newton, about six miles +south-west of Cerne, passing through Sydling St. Nicholas, where there +is a Perpendicular church noted for its fine tower with elaborate +gargoyles. The old Norman font and north porch are also noteworthy. +Close to the church is an ancient Manor-house with a fine tithe barn. +This belonged in 1590 to the famous Elizabethan, Sir Francis +Walsingham. Maiden Newton is a junction on the Great Western with a +branch line to Bridport. + +The beautiful churchyard is the best thing about Maiden Newton. The +village had seen, prior to the late war, a good deal of rebuilding; +relative unattractiveness is the consequence. This seems to be the +almost inevitable result of the establishment of a railway junction. +The church stands on the site of a Wrest Saxon building, and is partly +Norman with much Perpendicular work. Cattistock, a long mile north, is +unspoilt and pretty both in itself and its situation. It has a fine +church, much rebuilt and gaudily decorated, with a tower containing no +less than thirty-five bells and a clock face so enormous that it +occupies a goodly portion of the wall. + +If the railway is not taken one may return by the eight miles of high +road that follows the Frome through Vanchurch and Frampton to +Charminster and Dorchester. The first named village though pleasant +enough, calls for little comment, but Frampton (or Frome town) is not +only picturesquely placed between the soft hills that drop to the +wooded banks of the river, but has also other claims to notice. The +church, though it has been cruelly pulled about, has an interesting +old stone pulpit with carvings of monks bearing vessels. A number of +memorials may be seen of the Brownes, once a renowned local family, +and of their successors and connexions, among whom were certain of the +Sheridan family, of which the famous Richard Brinsley Sheridan was a +member. Near Frampton in the closing years of the eighteenth century a +Roman pavement was discovered, bearing in its mosaic indications of +Christian designs and forms. + +The straight and tree-lined Roman road that runs west from Dorchester +is, except for fast motor traffic and a few farm waggons bringing +produce to the great emporium of Dorset, usually deserted, for it has +no villages of importance on the fourteen miles to Bridport. +Winterbourne Abbas is more than four miles away and Kingston Russell, +exactly half-way to Bridport, is the only other village on the road. +This was once the home of the Russells who became Dukes of Bedford. +Here was born Sir T.M. Hardy and here died J.L. Motley, author of the +_History of the Dutch Republic_. The poor remnants of the old manor +house are to be seen in the farm near the hamlet. + +[Illustration: WEYMOUTH HARBOUR.] + + + + +CHAPTER V + +WEYMOUTH AND PORTLAND + + +The fashionable Weymouth of to-day is the Melcombe Regis of the past, +and quite a proportion of visitors to Melcombe never go into the real +Weymouth at all. The tarry, fishy and beery (in a manufacturing sense +only) old town is on the south side of the harbour bridge and has +little in common with the busy and popular watering place on the north +and east. Once separate boroughs, the towns are now under one +government, and Melcombe Regis has dropped its name almost entirely in +favour of that of the older partner. + +How many towns on the coast claim their particular semicircle of bay +to be "the English Naples"? Douglas, Sandown and even Swanage have at +some time or other, through their local guides, plumed themselves on +the supposed resemblance. It is as inapplicable to these as it is to +Weymouth, though the latter seems to insist upon it more than the +rest. Apart from the bay, which is one of the most beautiful on the +coast, boarding-house Weymouth is more like Bloomsbury than anywhere +else on earth, and a very pleasant, mellow, comfortable old +Bloomsbury, reminiscent of good solid comfortable times, even if they +were rather dowdy and dull. Not that Weymouth is dull. In the far-off +days of half-day excursions from London at a fare that now would only +take them as far as Windsor, the crowds of holiday-makers were wont to +make the front almost too lively. But away from such times there are +few towns of the size that make such a pleasant impression upon the +chance tourist, who can spend some days here with profit if he will +but make it the headquarters for short explorations into the +surrounding country and along the coast east and west, but especially +east. + +The first mention of Weymouth in West Saxon times is in a charter of +King Ethelred, still existing, that makes a grant of land "in Weymouth +or Wyke Regis" to Atsere, one of the King's councillors. Edward +Confessor gave the manor to Winchester, and afterwards it became the +property of Eleanor, the consort of Edward I. The large village slowly +grew into a small town and port. + +[Illustration: WYKE REGIS.] + +Wool became its staple trade, and in 1347 the port was rich enough to +find twenty ships for the fleet besieging Calais. At this time +Melcombe Regis began to assume as much importance as its neighbour +across the harbour. The only communication between the two was then a +ferry boat worked hand over hand by a rope. Henry VIII built Sandsfoot +Castle for the protection of the ports, and while Elizabeth was Queen +the harbour was bridged and the jealousy between the towns brought to +an end by an Act passed to consolidate their interests. Soon after +this the inhabitants had the satisfaction of seeing the great galleon +of a Spanish admiral brought in as a prize of war, the towns having +furnished six large ships toward the fleet that met the Armada. + +During the reign of the seventh Henry a violent storm obliged Philip +of Castile and his consort Joanna to claim, much against their will, +the hospitality of the town. The Spanish sovereigns, who were not on +the best terms with England, were very ill, and dry land on any terms +was, to them, the only desirable thing. They were met on landing by +Sir Thomas Trenchard of Wolveton with a hastily summoned force of +militia. King Philip was informed that he would not be allowed to +return to his ship until Henry had seen him, and in due course the +Earl of Arundel arrived to conduct the unwilling visitors to the +presence of the king. As we saw while at Charminster, this incident +led to the founding of a great ducal family. + +It is to George III that Weymouth owes its successful career as a +watering place, although a beginning had been made over twenty years +before the King's visit by a native of Bath named Ralph Allen, who +actually forsook that "shrine of Hygeia," to come to Melcombe, where +"to the great wonder of his friends he immersed his bare person in the +open sea." Allen seems to have been familiar with the Duke of Gloucester, +whom he induced to accompany him. So pleased was the Duke with Melcombe, +that he decided to build a house on the front--Gloucester Lodge, now +the hotel of that name--and here to the huge delight of the inhabitants, +George, his Queen and three daughters came in 1789. An amusing account +of the royal visit is given by Fanny Burney. The King was so pleased +with the place that he stayed eleven weeks, and by his unaffected +buorgeois manner and approachableness quickly gained the enthusiastic +loyalty of his Dorset subjects. Miss Burney's most entertaining +reminiscence of the visit is the oft-repeated account of the King's +first dip in the sea. Immediately the royal person "became immersed +beneath the waves" a band, concealed in a bathing machine struck up +"God save Great George our King." Weymouth is in possession of a +keepsake of these stirring times in the statue of His Hanoverian +Majesty that graces(?) the centre of the Esplanade. It is to be hoped +that the town will never be inveigled into scrapping this memorial, +which for quaintness and unconscious humour is almost unsurpassed. A +subject of derisive merriment to the tripper and of shuddering aversion +for those with any aesthetic sense, it is nevertheless an interesting +link with another age and is not very much worse than some other +specimens of the memorial type of a more recent date. It has lately +received a coat of paint of an intense black and the cross-headed wand +that the monarch holds is tipped with gold. The contrast with the +enormous expanse of white base, out of all proportion to the little +black figure of the King, is strangely startling. + +Not much can be said for St. Mary's, an eighteenth-century church in +St. Mary's Street which carries the Bloomsbury-by-Sea idea to excess. +The church has a tablet, the epitaph upon which seems quite unique in +the contradictory character it gives to the deceased: + + UNDETH LIES YE BODY OF + CHRISR. BROOKS ESQ. OF JAMAICA + WHO DEPARD. THIS LIFE 4 SEPR. 1769 + AGED 38 YEARS, ONE OF YE WORST OF MEN + FRIEND TO YE DISTRESD. + TRULY AFFECTD & KIND HUSBAND + TENDER PART. & A SINCR. FRIEND + +The artist was unfortunate in his choice of abbreviations and +strangers are sometimes sorely puzzled; some, indeed, never guess that +"worst" has any connexion with "worthiest." The altar piece, difficult +to see on a dull day, was painted by Sir James Thornhill, a former +representative of the borough in Parliament. Sir Christopher Wren was +also for a time member for Weymouth, and portraits of both, together +with the Duke of Wellington and George III, adorn the Guildhall, a +good building at the west end of St. Mary's Street. The twin towns +were unique in their choice of members; in addition to the great +architect and famous painter, a poet--Richard Glover, author of +_Leonidas_--of no mean repute in his own day, was chosen and the +_original_ Winston Churchill, father of the great Duke of Marlborough, +also sat for Weymouth. + +[Illustration: OLD WEYMOUTH.] + +Within the Guildhall is to be seen a chest from the captured Armada +galleon and an old chair from Melcombe Friary, of which some poor +remnants existed in Maiden Street almost within living memory. On the +other side of the harbour is Holy Trinity Church, built in 1836. This +has another fine altar painting of the Crucifixion, thought by some +authorities to be by Vandyck. + +Certain portions of old Weymouth are very picturesque, with steep +streets and comfortable old bow-windowed lodging-houses patronized +almost exclusively by the better class of seafarer; merchant captains, +pilots and the like. A few of the lanes at the upper end of the +harbour may be termed "slums" by the more fastidious, but it is only +to their outward appearance that the word is applicable. Some of these +cottages are of great age and a number have been allowed to fall to +ruin. In Melcombe Regis at the corner of Edmund and Maiden Streets may +be seen, still embedded in the wall high above the pavement, a cannon +ball shot at the unfortunate town during the Civil War, in which +unhappy period much damage was done, the contending parties +successively occupying the wretched port to the great discomfort of +the burgesses. + +Radipole Lake is the name given to the large sheet of water at the +back of Melcombe, formed by the mouth of the Wey before it becomes +Weymouth Harbour. The name is actually "Reedy Pool," so that "lake" is +a tautology reminding one of a similar blunder, often made by folks +who should know better, in speaking of "Lake" Winder_mere_. Radipole +is spoilt by an ugly railway bridge and some sidings belonging to the +joint railways that lie along the eastern bank for some distance. The +water is enlivened by a large colony of swans and also in the summer +by boating parties, who prefer the quietude of the pool to the +possible discomforts of the bay. But the bay is the reason for holiday +Weymouth, not only for the beauty of its wide sweep and the remarkable +colouring of the water, but for the firm sands with occasional patches +of shingle that lie between shore and sea from the harbour mouth +almost to Redcliff Point. + +The chief excursion from Weymouth is to Portland, and of course every +one must take it, but there are other and finer ways out of the town, +most of which show the "island" at its best--as an imposing mass of +rock in the middle distance. + +[Illustration: PORTLAND.] + +A ferry plies between the steamer quay, just beyond Alexandra Gardens +and the Nothe, the headland extremity of the peninsula upon which old +Weymouth is built. This is one of the best points from which to view +the bay. Portland is also well seen "lying on the sea like a great +crouching anumal" (Hardy). The commanding parts of the Nothe are +heavily fortified and the permanent barracks are always occupied by a +strong force. On the south are Portland Roads, usually interesting for +the number of warships congregated there. There are exceedingly +powerful defences at the ends of the breakwaters and the openings can +be protected from under-water attack by enormous booms. The first wall +took twenty-three years to build by convict labour and it explains the +origin of the prison at Portland, which was not established as some +think, because of the difficulty of escape, but solely for the +convenience of "free labour." It is said that the amount of stone used +in the oldest of the breakwaters was five million tons. + +If the road is taken into Portland the village of Rodwell, at which +there is a station, is at the parting of the ways, that to the left +leading to the shore at Sandsfoot Castle, one of Henry's block houses +that played a part in the Civil War. It is not a particularly +picturesque ruin, though its purchase by the Weymouth corporation will +prevent any more of the wanton damage it has suffered in the past. The +other route goes direct to Wyke Regis, upon the hill above East Fleet +and the Chesil Bank. Wyke is the mother church of Weymouth and is a +fine Perpendicular structure in a magnificent position. Its list of +rectors starts in 1302, so that the church must be on the site of an +earlier building. The churchyard is the resting place of a large +number of shipwrecked sailors who have met their death in the dread +"Deadman's Bay," as this end of the great West Bay is termed. + +The road into Portland is across a bridge built in 1839, the first to +connect the island-peninsula with the mainland. Then follows a long +two miles of monotony along the eastern end of Chesil Beach, and the +most ardent pedestrian will prefer to take to the railway at least as +far as Portland station if not to the terminus at Easton. The lonely +stretch of West Bay, in sharp contrast to the animation of the Roads, +cannot be seen unless the high bank of shingle on the right is +ascended. Portland Castle is on the nearest point of the island to the +mainland. This also was built by Henry VIII and is in good repair and +inhabited by one of the officers of the garrison. + +The road ascends to Fortune's Well, as uninteresting a "capital" as +could well be imagined and for the sheer ugliness of its buildings and +church probably unsurpassed. Its only claim to notice is the +extraordinary way in which its houses are built on the hillside, one +row of doorsteps and diminutive gardens being on a level with the next +row of roofs, so steep is the lie of the land. Above the village is +the great Verne Fort occupying fifty acres on the highest point of the +island and commanding all the approaches to the Roads. + +[Illustration: ON THE WAY TO CHURCH OPE.] + +The route now bears right and soon reaches a high and desolate plateau +littered with the debris of many years quarrying. The only saving +grace in the scenery is the magnificent rearward view along the vast +and slightly curving Chesil Bank which stretches away to Abbotsbury +and the highlands of the beautiful West Dorset coast. The prison is +still farther ahead to the left. There would be fewer visitors to +Portland were it not for a morbid desire to see the convicts. Parties +are often made up to arrive in time to watch the men as they leave the +quarries in the late afternoon. Soldiers and warders mount guard along +the walls and the depressing sight should be shunned as much for one's +own sake as for that of the prisoners. Good taste, however, is a +virtue that usually has to give way before curiosity. + +The road now descends to Easton, a place of remarkably wide streets +and a number of well-built churches, not all of the Establishment, +however. The solid old houses, consisting entirely of the local stone, +are not uninteresting and are in keeping with the dour and bleak +scenery of the island. The mistake of importing alien red bricks of a +most aggressive hue has not been made here. Those that flame from the +hill slope above Portland station only succeed in emphasizing the +general bleakness of their surroundings. At Easton clock tower a +street called "Straits" turns left and east and presently a broad road +leads downhill to the right to the gates of Pennsylvania Castle, +built, it is said, at the suggestion of George III by John Penn, +Governor of Portland, and a descendant of the great Penn in whose +honour it was named. A narrow passage by the castle wall brings us to +Rufus, or "Bow and Arrow" Castle, to which the third name of "Red +King's Castle" has been given by Hardy in _The Well Beloved_. Its +picturesque ivy-clad shell is perched on a crag at the head of Church +Hope Cove, really "Church Ope" or opening. In the grounds of +Pennsylvania Castle, shown on application, are the ruins of an ancient +church, destroyed by a landslip. The disaster brought to light the +foundations of a far older building. Near the ruins is a gravestone +with the following mysterious epitaph: + + "IN LIFE I WROATH IN STONE; + NOW LIFE IS GONE, I KNOW + I SHALL BE RAISED + BY A STONE AND B + SUCH A STONE AS GIVETH + LIVING BREATH AND SAVETH + THE RIGHTEOUS FROM THE + SECOND DEATH." + +Gravestones of the twelfth century, thought to be the oldest +headstones in England, were brought to light in excavations consequent +on the landslip. + +The Cove will possibly be considered the only pleasant place in +Portland. It is well wooded, of perfect outline, and with a miniature +beach where shingle, rocks and greenery mingle in picturesque +confusion and a remarkably crystalline sea laves the milk-white stones +and gravel. Cave Hole, near by, is a fine sight in rough weather. + +[Illustration: BOW AND ARROW CASTLE.] + +The road continues to the small hamlet of Southwell and paths lead +onward amid rather tame surroundings to the flattened headland known +to the world as Portland Bill, but to all Portlanders as the "Beal." +This headland is crowned by a lighthouse which has replaced two older +and discarded buildings. In wild weather the scene at the Beal is +magnificent, in spite of the low altitude of the cliff. Pulpit Rock is +the quite appropriate name given to the curiously shaped block of +limestone which stands close to the water. The "Shambles" lightship, +about three miles from the Beal, warns the mariner off the long and +dangerous sandbank known by that ominous name on which so many good +ships have perished. Around the bank, in February, 1653, the Dutch and +English fleets under van Tromp and Blake, circled and fought for three +days until the Hollanders had lost eleven ships of war and thirty +merchantmen. + +To return on foot to Portland station or the mainland, the best way is +to keep along the edge of the western cliffs for the sake of the grand +forward views. The tall tower in the centre of the island in sight +from the higher parts of the roads is Reforne, the chief parish +church, built in 1706. Near the prison is St. Peter's Church crowned +by a dome and built by convict labour. The fine mosaics in the chancel +were worked by a female convict. As a rule the domestic architecture +is as dour as the huge rock upon which the cottages are built, though +a few of the older dwellings are picturesque with their heavy stone +roofs clothed in gold and green moss, but as the quarries have grown +in size and importance most of them have been swept away. As +uncompromising as their island are the Baleares--the Slingers--who +kept invaders, Roman, Saxon and Dane, for long at a respectful +distance with the ammunition that lay close at their feet. Underground +habitations of the British period were found about forty years ago and +ancient trackways of prehistoric time were to be seen in those days +when the island was merely a great sheep-walk and before gunpowder and +chisel obliterated them. The Romans named the island Vindilis. Many +traces of their occupation have been found, including several +sarcophagi. + +Insular customs and prejudices among the islanders are various and +strange. Intermarrying until quite lately was the rule, and it must be +annoying to eugenists to find that the natives are such a hardy and +vigorous race. The "Kimberlin," as all foreigners from the mainland +are called, is still looked upon with a certain amount of suspicion, +and oftener than not advances are met with a surliness that must be +understood and so forgiven. Heredity is stronger in remote and insular +districts than in those where the channels of communication are free, +but the long story of brave and self-sacrificing endeavour to save +life on their inhospitable shores more than counterbalances any lack +of manners in this ancient race, which is probably very nearly +identical with that of the old men who lived in the rock chambers +under Verne. That stain on the honour of so many dwellers on the +coast--a strange and unaccountable throwback--the crime of wrecking, +has never been charged against the Portlander. + +One of the most fearful storms ever recorded on this shore was that of +November, 1824, when Weymouth esplanade was practically destroyed, and +cutters and fishing boats were tossed into the main streets, one of 95 +tons being washed right over the Chesil Bank. On Portland Beach in +November, 1795, several transports, with troops for the West Indies on +board, were stranded, and two hundred and thirty-four men drowned. + +Dissent is strong in the island as the several squarely plain +meeting-houses testify. The constant repetition of three names on the +stones in the burying grounds--Attwooll, Pearce and Stone--will bring +home to the stranger the insularity of the "Isle of Slingers." + +The royal manor of Portland antedates the Conquest. It then included +Wyke, Weymouth and Melcombe. It is semi-independent of Dorset, being +governed by a Reeve, who is appointed by male and female crown tenants +from among themselves. The "Reeve-Staff" is an archaic method of +recording the payments of rates, and is similar to the old Exchequer +tallies, to the burning of the many years' stores of which, and +consequent conflagration, we owe our present Houses of Parliament. The +Reeve Court is still held at the old "George Inn" in Reforne. Among +the old customs to be mentioned is that of the "Church-gift," in which +the parties to a sale of property meet in the church and in the +presence of two witnesses hand over deeds and purchase money. The +transaction is then as complete as it is legal. + +Inigo Jones first discovered the virtues of Portland stone and built +Whitehall with it. Sir Christopher Wren was so struck with its good +qualities that he decided to use it for the new St. Paul's and many of +the city churches and public buildings. It is now the most widely used +building stone in this country, and though it lacks the beautiful +colouring of West of England sandstone, to "Bath" stone and the rest +it is immeasurably superior in wearing qualities. Apart from the crown +quarries, where convict labour is employed, the stone is worked by a +kind of guild, very similar to that in operation near Swanage; the +employment being handed down from father to son. + +To make a brief exploration of the country east of Weymouth the road +should be taken that keeps close to the shore until the coastguard +station at Furzy Cliff is reached. Here a path, much broken in places, +ascends the cliff, and continues to Osmington Mills, the usual goal of +the summer visitor in this direction. Not far away is the great fort +on Upton Cliff, built to command the Eastern approaches to Portland +Roads. Holworth Cliff was, in the twenties of the last century, the +scene of a curious outbreak of fire. The inflammable nature of the +strata caused the miniature Vesuvius to smoulder for a long time, with +dire effect upon the atmosphere for many miles around. It is possible +for the pedestrian to proceed to the beautiful coast that culminates +in the lovely region about Lulworth Cove. About eight miles from +Weymouth the path reaches one of the several Swyre Heads in Dorset. +This commands wide views over a remote and seemingly deserted +countryside. From this point one may penetrate inland by bridle-ways, +in two miles, to the village of Chaldon Herring, situated in a +pleasant combe to the North of Chaldon Down. The church is remarkable +for the new fittings, all designed by and for the most part the work +of, a former incumbent. The Saxon font and Norman chancel arch are +also of much interest. + +The highroad from Wareham to Dorchester makes a wide loop southwards +from the railway at Wool and approaches Chaldon a mile away to the +north. Between the village and the turnpike is a ridge upon which are +the remarkable tumuli called "The Five Maries." From this spot is +another wide and beautiful view embracing the greater part of Dorset, +and in its absence of habitations emphasizing the loneliness of the +central portion of the county. The highroad may now be taken by +Overmoigne to Warmwell Cross on the return to Weymouth, but a better +way, covering about nine miles in all, is, for those who can sustain +the fatigue of "give and take" roads with rather indifferent surface, +to take the hill top to near Poxwell. This is a delightful village +with a very beautiful Manor House dating from 1654. The situation of +this house, backed by the smooth Down, is exquisite, and the building +reminds one of many fine old houses that stand just below the +escarpment of the Sussex Downs. On the hill beyond the village is a +small prehistoric circle of fifteen stones within a miniature wall and +ditch; from this point there is a good marine view toward Weymouth and +Portland. The direct road to these places now passes through +Osmington, rapidly becoming suburban, although three miles from the +town centre. The rebuilt church is of little interest, but its +immediate surroundings are very pleasant. In the churchyard is a small +portion of the wall of the old Manor House. An inscription on the +church wall should be noticed, it runs thus: + + MANS LIFE. + MAN IS A GLAS. LIFE IS + A WATER THATS WEAKLY + WALLED ABOUT: SINNE BRING + ES DEATH: DEATH BREAKES + THE GLAS: SO RUNNES + THE WATER OUT + FINIS. + +Beyond the village, a startling apparition breaks upon the view to the +right. This is the hero of Weymouth on his white Hanoverian horse. +"Although the length is 280 feet and its heighth 323 feet, yet the +likeness of the King is well preserved and the symmetry of the horse +is complete." The fact that the horse is galloping away from Weymouth +has often been remarked; this was a blunder on the part of "Mr. Wood, +bookseller, who carried the great work to a successful conclusion." + +Sutton Poyntz, in a charming situation between spurs of the hills, has +been spoilt by the erection of the Weymouth Waterworks. This is the +"Overcombe" of Hardy's _Trumpet Major_. Chalbury Camp, to the west of +the village, is a prehistoric hill fort with traces of pit-dwellings +within the entrenchment. To the south-east of the camp, on a spur of +the hill and in the direction of Preston, is a remarkable and +extensive British cemetery, from which numbers of cinerary urns and +other relics have been excavated. It is to be hoped that this sort of +curiosity has now exhausted itself and that these resting places of +dead and gone chieftains will be allowed to remain unmolested in the +peaceful solitudes which their mourners chose for them. + +Preston is a little over two miles from Weymouth. There are still a +number of old thatched cottages here and a Perpendicular church with a +Norman door. The visitor will notice the ancient font; also a +hagioscope and holy water stoup. At the foot of the village is an old +one-arched bridge over the brook that comes down from Sutton Poyntz. +It is said to be of Norman date and was even supposed at one time to +be Roman. Not far from the church is a Roman villa with a fine +pavement, unearthed in 1842. Breston is supposed to be on or near the +site of Clavinium. + +The monotonous line of the Chesil Beach that has been seen from +Portland is, in its extreme length, from Chesil Bay under Fortune's +Well to near Burton Bradstock, where it may be said to end, more than +eighteen miles long and the greatest stretch of pebbles in Europe, +ranging from large and irregular lumps at Portland to small polished +stones at the western extremity. It is said that a local seafarer +landing on the beach in a fog can tell his whereabouts to a nicety by +handling the shingle. For about half the distance, that is to +Abbotsbury, the Fleet makes a brackish ditch on the landward side. +Behind this barrier is a country of low hills and quite +out-of-the-world hamlets seldom visited or visiting. Chickerell, the +nearest of them to Weymouth, has a manufactory of stoneware and a +golf-course, so that it is not so quiet and remote as Fleet, Langton +Herring and the rest, which depend almost entirely on the harvest of +the sea for a livelihood. + +The first place of any importance west of Weymouth is Abbotsbury. The +best method of getting there is by the branch railway from Upwey +Junction, which for some occult reason is at Broadwey, leaving Upwey +itself a mile away to the north. Here is the "Wishing Well" beloved of +the younger members of the char-a-banc fraternity who come in crowds +from Weymouth to drink part of a glass of very ordinary water and +throw the remainder, at the instance of the well keeper, over the left +shoulder. As far as the writer is aware there is no particular history +attached to this spring. The arch and seats have been erected for the +benefit of the visitor. But there are less harmless ways of spending a +summer afternoon, and for those who have no "wish" to make, a visit to +the sixteenth-century church will be appreciated. Here is some ancient +woodwork, a pulpit dating from the early seventeenth century, and +three carved figures of the apostles in quaint medieval costumes. + +Nottington, a mile to the south of Broadwey, was once a spa, first +resorted to as far back as the reign of George I. The well house, +visited by the third George, is now a residence and the pleasant +surroundings are made picturesque by an old water mill. + +The railway penetrates a lonely stretch of country with one wayside +"halt" on the way to Portesham (indifferently "Porsham" or "Posam"). +This is a convenient station from which to visit the Blackdown +district. The large village was the birthplace of Admiral Hardy, whose +ugly monument upon the hill does not improve the landscape. The Norman +and Early English church has a fine tower with a bell turret. A good +Jacobean pulpit and panelled ceiling are among the details of the +interior. The brook that runs down the street gives a pleasant +individuality to a village otherwise uninteresting. + +[Illustration: PORTESHAM.] + +Blackdown is 789 feet above the sea, and the Hardy column, 70 feet +high, is a conspicuous landmark over a wide circumference. This hill +and its outliers are a museum of stone circles and dolmens, the best +known of which is the "Helstone," or Stone of the Dead. On Ridge Hill, +north of Abbotsbury, are the five large stones, almost lost in a +tangle of nettles and undergrowth, called the "Grey Mare and her +Colts." + +Abbotsbury is famous for its Abbey, St. Catherine's Chantry, and the +Swannery. The latter is probably the most attractive of the sights to +the majority of visitors, and it is certainly worth seeing. +Application must be made, during the afternoon as a rule, to the +keeper. On a board near the gate is a record of the great sea flood +during the storm of 1824, when the country around was inundated to a +depth of 22 feet. Besides the sight of the long lines of white swans +on the Fleet, there is an interesting decoy for trapping wild duck, +the procedure being explained by the courteous attendant. The history +of the Swannery takes us back to Elizabeth's days, when one John +Strangeways was in possession not only of the swans but of the abbey +and much else besides. It is still in the possession of his +descendant, Lord Ilchester, to whom the new Abbotsbury Castle belongs. +This was destroyed by fire about nine years ago and has since been +rebuilt. The original "Castle" is a small prehistoric entrenchment +west of St. Catherine's Chapel. The grounds of Lord Ilchester's +mansion are very fine, the sub-tropical garden being of especial +interest, and contains many rare plants and trees. Admission is +granted at certain times, and advantage should, if possible, be taken +of the permission. + +The sixteenth-century church with its sturdy embattled tower is +interesting. In the doorway will be noticed the lid of a sarcophagus +that has the presentment of an abbot carved upon it, but nothing to +show who the one-time occupant was. Some old stained glass still +remains in the windows and an archaic carving of the Trinity may be +seen upon the wall of the tower. It is conjectured that this was +removed from the abbey at the time of the Dissolution. + +A skirmish took place within the church during the Civil War and marks +are pointed out in the Jacobean woodwork of the pulpit as those of +bullets fired during the fight. Doubts have been thrown upon this, and +the damage placed to the account of amateur decorators at the time of +harvest festivals! The writer prefers the more romantic explanation, +but is open to correction. The sounding board over the pulpit is +contemporary with the base and is a fine piece of work. + +Close to the churchyard is Abbey Farm. Portions of the buildings +include remains of the once famous Benedictine Abbey of St. Peter, +founded about 1040 by Orc, a one-time steward of Canute and afterwards +in the service of Edward the Confessor. At the Dissolution the abbey +came into the possession of an ancestor of the Strangeways who owned +the Swannery when that first became known to history. The abbey, like +many others, is said to have been built on the site of an older +religious house, dating from very ancient days. There is a gatehouse, +with an arch of later date, remaining, besides the fragmentary +portions in the farmhouse. Many houses in Abbotsbury have pieces of +ecclesiastical stonework or carving built into their heavy walls, and +arched windows seem to have been transplanted bodily from the +dismantled abbey to the dwellings in the village. + +By far the most notable building in Abbotsbury is the +fifteenth-century Monastic Barn, a fine structure 276 feet long. Its +plan is as perfect as its simple but imposing architecture; the +ecclesiastical appearance is heightened by the lancet windows between +the heavy buttresses and the slight transeptal extensions that give +the structure the form of a cross. The abbey fish pond, fed by the +stream that runs through Portesham street, till remains below the +tithe barn, and though its farmyard surroundings are very different to +those it had when the brethren gathered around the banks on Thursdays +of old, it is still, with its island centre of old trees, a +picturesque finish to the scene. + +St. Catherine's Chapel on the hill above the sea is an erection in a +situation similar to that of the far older building on St. Aldhelm's +Head. Its appearance, however, is quite different, and it is +Perpendicular in style. The turret at the north-west corner, the two +porches and clerestory, are very evidently of another age to the heavy +Norman of St. Aldhelm's, though St. Catherine is solidly built and has +weathered many a fierce storm without suffering any apparent damage. +The walls are nearly four feet thick and the buttresses are sturdy in +proportion. The fine stone roof is greatly admired and is a wonderful +piece of work. The turret was probably used as a beacon, and the +chapel seems to be identical in everything but style with St. +Aldhelm's. On the east side of the south door are three curious +depressions in the stonework said to be "wishing holes," one for the +knee and the higher ones for the hands. + +[Illustration: ST. CATHERINE'S CHAPEL.] + +The views of the Dorset seaboard during the climb to this exposed +eminence are as fine as one would imagine. The contrast between the +hilly country to the west and the long sweep of the Chesil Beach +backed by the "fleets" is very striking. From our vantage point the +stretch of coast immediately to the west is shown to be quite bare of +hamlet or settlement of any kind beyond a few isolated houses. +Puncknoll, which we shall reach in the next chapter, is the nearest +village, fully four miles from St. Catherine's and nearly half that +distance from the sea. + +Winding lanes, solitary also of human kind and delightful to wander in +for the sake of their treasures of flower and insect life, meander +across White Hill and its sister ridge. One of them passes within a +short distance of the "Grey Mare" and her children and, farther on, +another group of mysterious stones. This way would take us to Little +Bredy, a village which, of no interest in itself, has been made a +scene of much beauty by the artificial widening of the little Bride +just below its source as it passes through the grounds of Bridehead. +The last resting places of our Neolithic ancestors are scattered in +great numbers about the heights that enfold the narrow cleft of the +infant stream. + +[Illustration: THE CHARMOUTH ROAD.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +WEST DORSET + + +The branch line of the Great Western from Maiden Newton makes a wide +detour northwards to reach Bridport, passing through a very charming +and unspoilt countryside where old "Do'set" ways still hold out +against that drab uniformity that seems to be creeping over rustic +England. In this out-of-the-way region are small old stone-built +villages lying forgotten between the folds of the hills and rejoicing +in names that makes one want to visit them if only for the sake of +their quaint nomenclature. + +The first station is laconically called Toller. It serves the two +villages Toller Fratrum and Toller Porcorum. The Toller of the +Brothers is charmingly situated on the side of a low hill. It once +belonged to the Knights of St. John, whence its name. The Early +English church has an old font sculptured with the heads of what may +be saints, a possible relic of Saxon times; some antiquaries have +declared the work to be British of the later days of the Roman +occupation. In the church wall is a curious tablet representing Mary +Magdalene wiping our Lord's feet. The manor house was built by Sir +James Fulford, the great opponent of the Puritans. It is a delightful +house in an equally delightful situation and the beautiful tints of +the old walls will be admired as well as the admirable setting of the +mansion. + +Toller of the Pigs may only mean the place where hogs were kept in +herds. The village is of little interest and has not the fine site of +the other. In the church is a font that is supposed to have once +served as a Roman altar. + +Over the hills to the south-east is the little village of Wynford +Eagle, so called from the fact that it once belonged to that powerful +Norman family, the de Aquila, who held Pevensey Castle in Sussex after +the Conquest. The church is an exceedingly poor erection of 1842, but +preserves a Norman tympanum from the former building. The carving +represents two griffins or wyverns facing each other in an attitude of +defiance. Wynford Manor House is a beautiful building of the early +seventeenth century. Under the stone eagle that surmounts the centre +gable is the date 1630. This was the home of the great Thomas +Sydenham, the founder of modern medicine. He was wounded while serving +in the army of the Parliament at the battle of Worcester and, probably +in consequence of the ill success that followed the bungling treatment +he received, determined to practise himself and adopt rational methods +for the treatment of disease and injury. He died in London in 1689, +aged 65, and lies in the churchyard of St. James', Piccadilly. + +Three miles or more to the north of Toller are the villages of Wraxall +and Rampisham (pronounced "Ramsom"). The former has near it two +interesting old houses--the Elizabethan manor of Wraxall and an old +farmhouse that was a manor in the reign of King John, though the +present building was not erected until 1620. Rampisham is in a lovely +situation at the bottom of a wooded and watered dingle. Here is +another picturesque old mansion and an interesting stone cross in the +churchyard with a platform for open-air preaching. The base of the +cross is carved with representations of the martyrdoms of St. Stephen, +St. Edmund and St. Thomas a Becket, though they are so worn that one +must accept the identification on trust. Another carving is of St. +Peter and the cock, with figures of monks, knights and fools. Within +the church are some brasses worthy of inspection. + +Hidden away among the hills of Western Dorset is Beaminster, a little +town so placed that it may be visited from several different railway +stations without much to choose in mileage or roads; possibly +Crewkerne on the main line of the South Western Railway is that most +used. It is about six miles from Toller, Bridport and Crewkerne, and +therefore as quiet as one would expect it to be. But "Bemmister" is +not by any means a dead town and is, for all its want of direct +railway transport, of some importance as the centre of a rich dairy +country. The situation at the bottom of a wooded amphitheatre is +delightful:-- + + "Sweet Be'mi'ster that bist abound + By green and woody hills all round, + Wi' hedges reachen up between + A thousan' vields o' zummer green + Where clems lofty heads do show + Their sheades vor hay-meakers below + An' wild hedge-flowers do charm the souls + O' maidens in their evenin' strolls." + + (Barnes.) + +The Perpendicular church has a remarkably handsome tower of +yellow-brown stone with sculptured figures showing the chief events in +the life of our Lord. Part of the interior is Early English. Monuments +of the Strodes, a great local family, will be noticed, and also some +good stained glass. The church, and the old "Mort House" attached to +it, were fortunately spared in the several disasters by fire that, as +in Dorchester, have removed almost everything ancient. The present +smart and modern appearance of the main street is the consequence of +the last conflagration in 1781, though this was not so serious as two +others in the seventeenth century. The first of these started during +the fighting between the forces of King and Parliament. + +[Illustration: BEAMINSTER.] + +Charles II stayed at the "George" in his groom's disguise during the +flight after Worcester. This inn was rebuilt during the last century. +About a quarter of a mile out of the town to the south-west is the +Tudor Manor of the Strodes, standing in Parnham Park. Certain portions +of the house are older than the sixteenth century, and a window bears +the name and date "John Strode 1449." Mapperton House is another fine +old mansion. It stands two miles to the southeast in a secluded dingle +lined with closely-growing trees and the beautiful colour of the early +sixteenth-century stone building is a delightful contrast to the +greenery around. The finely designed entrance gateway is surmounted by +two eagles in the act of rising from the posts. The old house forms +two sides of a picturesque quadrangle, Mapperton church being on the +third. + +Three miles north-westwards of Beaminster is Broadwindsor, amidst +scenery pleasant enough from the farmers' point of view, for these are +"fat lands," but more tame than that seen between Toller and the +former town. Not far away, however, are the finely-shaped summits of +Pilsdon Pen and Lewsdon Hill, nearly of the same height and remarkable +alike from certain aspects. "Pilsdon Pen," says an old writer, "is no +less than 909 feet above the sea, and therefore 91 feet short of being +a mountain!" Who gave the 1,000 feet contour line that arbitrary +nomenclature is unknown. Usually in Britain double that height is +taken as the limit, but it is perhaps more fair to allow each +countryside its own standard. Pilsdon is much more imposing than some +of the "lumps" that are double its altitude on the table-land of +central Wales, where the bed of the Upper Wye is not many feet below +the height of the "Pen." That, by the way, is a Celtic suffix; it +would be interesting to know if the word has continued in constant use +since British times. + +The chief claim to fame on the part of Broadwindsor is that the famous +Thomas Fuller, witty writer and wise divine, was its royalist parson +and that he preached from the old Jacobean pulpit in the parish +church. This building has been well restored by the son of a former +vicar. The usual Perpendicular tower surmounts a medley of Norman and +Early English in the body of the church. + +But this is a long way from the Tollers, and the road must now be +taken by Mapperton, back to the train that provokingly burrows through +cuttings, with an occasional flying glimpse of lovely wooded dell and +tree-crowned hill, on the way to Powerstock or, according to +Dorset--"_Poor_ stock." + +The well-restored church here is interesting. There is a very early +Norman arch in the chancel with beautifully sculptured pillars and +capitals. Upon the hill top above the village is the site of +Powerstock Castle that was built within the ramparts of an ancient +earthwork by King Athelstan. A short distance to the south-east is +Eggardon Hill (820 feet) with a great series of entrenchments upon its +summit which deserve to rank with those of Maiden Castle and Old +Sarum. The fortifications have a strong resemblance, on a smaller +scale, to the first-named stronghold. + +[Illustration: EGGARDON HILL.] + +Our present goal--Bridport--is one of those pleasant old English +towns, cheerful and bright, and to outward seeming entirely +prosperous, which make the average Londoner who has to earn his living +long for the chance to try his fortune there. For the traveller on his +first visit a great surprise is in store; with a name such as this one +pictures in advance a place of quays on a sluggish river, fairly wide +and very muddy, opening to the sea, with the conventional loungers, +tarry and fishy scents and a fringe of lodging houses. But nothing +could be farther from the truth. Here is no evidence of the sea at +all, and although West Bay, the real "quay" of Bridport, is less than +two miles from the High Street, the town seems to be surrounded by +hills and to be solely concerned with the neighbouring farmers and +their interests. The only direct relation with marine affairs is the +important manufacture of fishing nets and "lines" for which Bridport +has been noted for many years. To say "he was stabbed with a Bridport +Dagger" was a polite way of breaking the news that your acquaintance +had been hung! Leland was quite deceived by this old joke, probably +ancient in his time--the sixteenth century, and refers to the dagger +industry in perfect good faith. The arms of the town are three +spinning hooks behind a castle; this proves that the industry is no +modern one and until lately hemp was one of the staple products of the +country immediately around. + +Ten pounds only were spent on the defences during the Civil War and +the inhabitants seem to have made as half-hearted an attempt in +opposing the Royalist besiegers as in the preliminaries of warfare. +Charles II arrived here in his flight towards Sussex and rested at the +George Inn, but the identity of this hostelry seems in doubt. There is +a "George" at West Bay that claims the honour of sheltering Charles. +The one in High Street has been pulled down save a small portion +incorporated in a chemist's shop. When leaving, the party of fugitive +Royalists turned northwards down Lee Lane, their pursuers continuing +along the Dorchester road. A memorial stone by the wayside records the +escape of the King, who was in his groom's dress with Mrs. Coningsby +riding pillion behind. + +[Illustration: BRIDPORT.] + +A skirmish in which the Duke of Monmouth's officers, with the +exception of Colonel Wade, emerged with but small credit to themselves +took place on the morning of June 14, 1685. After marching through the +night from Lyme the unfortunate yokels who made up the Duke's "army" +displayed much coolness and bravery in the fight recorded on a +memorial in the church to "Edward Coker Gent, second son of Robert +Coker of Mapowder, Slayne at the Bull Inn at Bridpurt, June the 14th +An. Do. 1685, by one Venner, who was a Officer under the late Duke of +Monmouth in that Rebellion." + +Bridport is first known to history in the year preceding the Conquest +when it had a priory (St. Leonard's) and a mint. These have entirely +disappeared and almost all the medieval structures except the +church--a good Perpendicular building with Early English transepts. +The only monument of interest, except that of Edward Coker, is a +cross-legged effigy of one of the de Chideocks in the north transept. +The handsome pulpit and reredos are modern. An old house in South +Street called "Dungeness" was contemporary with the Priory, and near +by is a fine old Tudor house, once the Castle Inn, but now used as a +club. + +The picturesque Town Hall with its clock turret is the best known +feature of Bridport and lends quite a distinctive air to the broad +High Street which has the vista of its west end filled by the +cone-shaped Colmers Hill. South Street leads to West Bay, at the mouth +of the diminutive Bride or Brit. The little town of late, mainly +through the exertions of the Great Western Railway, has made an +attempt to transform itself into a watering place. The coast is +attractive and possibly at some future date the railway and the local +landowner will have their way, but at present West Bay is in a state +of transition. Many who knew the primitive aspect of the tiny port +before the paved front and its shelters came to keep company with the +hideous row of lodging houses that stand parallel with the Bride, will +deplore the change, or hope for the time when that change will be +complete and nothing is left to remind them of the lost +picturesqueness of Bridport Quay. + +Burton Cliff is the name of the odd rounded hill on the east that has +been cut neatly in half by the slow wearing of the waves. On the other +side of it is Burton Bradstock, nearly two miles from West Bay +station. This place is unremarkable in itself but must be mentioned +for its beautiful and picturesque situation. It has been found by the +holiday-maker, and houses of the red brick villa type are likely to +increase in number unless the local builder can be prevailed upon to +use local material. The restored cruciform church, Perpendicular in +style, has a modern addition in its clock, a relic of the old building +of Christ's Hospital in the City of London. + +[Illustration: PUNCKNOLL.] + +Away to the north beyond the small village of Skipton Gorge, is +Skipton Beacon, a hill with a striking and imposing outline. Equally +fine, though on a much smaller scale, is Puncknoll, away to the east +of Swyre. The hill or knoll is usually called Puncknoll Knob by the +country people and, very absurdly, Puncknoll Knoll by some of the +guide books. It commands a perfectly gorgeous view of the sea and +shore as far as Abbotsbury and over West Bay to the hills around Lyme. +The village that takes its name from the hill is behind it to the +north. In the small church is an old Norman font covered with carvings +of interlaced ropes and heads; also some memorials of a local family, +the Napiers, one of which is a refreshing change in regard to its +inscription, which runs: + + READER, WHEN THOU HAST DONE ALL THAT THOU + CANST, THOU ART BUT AN UNPROFITABLE SERVANT. + THEREFORE THIS MARBLE AFFORDS NO ROOM FOR + FULSOME FLATTERY OR VAINE PRAISE. + + SR. R.N. (Robert Napier). + +Behind the church is a beautiful old manor house, and the village has +some delightful examples of the unspoilt and typical thatched stone +cottage of Dorset. + +A lane to the north leads down to the valley of the Bride and the +direct road back to West Bay. A mile to the east is Litton Cheyney +and, a mile farther, Long Bredy up among the hills where the Bride +rises. Turning west from the lane end, the road descends the valley +toward the sea amid beautiful surroundings, and reaches Burton +Bradstock in a short three miles. + +Bradpole village is a mile north of Bridport Town station. The rebuilt +church is hardly worth the short journey, but mention must be made of +the monument in the churchyard wall to W.E. Forster, who was born in a +cottage not far away. Another tablet commemorates the flight of +Charles II through the village. Loders, a mile farther, and Uploders, +a continuation on the other side of the Dorchester railway, are worth +a visit. The former was once the seat of a Benedictine priory founded +in the reign of Henry I. The church has a hagioscope and a square +Norman font. A doorway and window of this period in the chancel were +uncovered during restorations. The winding stairway to the chamber +over the porch will be noticed and a representation of the Crucifixion +on the lower stage of the tower. + +The road from Bridport to Lyme Regis has been described as the best +and the worst in the south of England. For the occupant of a touring +car the way is a succession of changing views as charming as they are +varied. For a loaded horse the eight and a half miles of switchback +must be a long-drawn-out agony in which the descent of the last hill +into Lyme is worse than the terrible pull to its summit. The writer +knows this road only from the point of view--and pace--of the +pedestrian, and he knows of few more lovely or more tiring. Fanny +Burney described the drive as "the most beautiful to which my +wandering feet have sent me; diversified with all that can compose +luxuriant scenery, and with just as much approach to the sublime as is +in the province of unterrific beauty." The long ascent of "Chiddick" +Hill commences soon after leaving the mill pool just outside Bridport. +To the right, a turning leads to Symondsbury, where there is an old +cruciform church with a central tower and, in the chancel, the tomb of +Bishop Gulston, uncle of Addison. Away to the left and near the sea is +Eype in a delightful combe that ends in the sea at Eype Mouth. On Eype +Down is an ancient earthwork of much interest to archaeologists. It +was from this hill that Powell, the aeronaut, was blown out to sea in +a balloon nearly forty years ago. + +[Illustration: CHIDEOCK.] + +After a long wind round the side of Chideock Hill the high road +descends towards the village of that name. A stile on the left gives +access to a footpath to the "Seatown" of Chideock. The pedestrian +should enter the meadow to rest and admire the perfect view down the +V-shaped combe to the sea. Away to the left Thurncombe Beacon lifts +its dark summit. The answering height to the right is lordly Golden +Cap. Its well-named crown is more than 600 feet above the waves that +dash against Wear Cliffs below. + +Chideock is a clean pleasant street of houses most of whose occupants +let lodgings or cater for the passing traveller in one way or another. +The Perpendicular church was restored in a rather drastic manner about +forty years ago; this brought to light a crude wall painting. At the +east end of the south aisle will be seen a black marble effigy of a +knight in plate armour. This is Sir John Arundell, an ancestor of the +Lords Arundell of Wardour in Wiltshire. The de Chideocks were the +original owners of the countryside and in a field beyond the church to +the north-east is the moat which once surrounded their castle, +dismantled soon after the close of the Civil War as a punishment for +the annoyance it caused the army of the Parliament in interfering with +the communications of Lyme. It changed hands several times during the +war, but while held by the Royalists it seriously compromised their +opponents on the west. + +The Manor House is a seat of the Welds, a Roman Catholic family. In +the grounds of the manor is a very ornate church belonging to that +communion and a cemetery that has an interesting chapel, the walls of +which are covered with paintings. + +The scenery is now becoming Devonian in character, of the softly +pleasant aspect of the south, lines of hill occasionally rising into +picturesque hummocky outline; wide troughed valleys richly timbered, +with mellow old farmhouses here and there about their slopes, +connected by deep narrow flowery lanes extraordinarily erratic in +direction, or want of it. The cider country is still far off, however; +for Dorset, though the soil and climate are well suited to it, has not +yet looked upon the culture of the apple as an important item in +farming, and orchards of any sort are few and small in size. + +The Lyme road climbs up from Chideock round the steep face of Langdon +Hill and reaches its summit level, over 400 feet, about a mile out of +the village. In front, to the right, is Hardown Hill and to the left, +Chardown. Out of sight for the present, but soon to come into view +again, is Golden Cap which may be reached by one of the roundabout +lanes going seawards, with a short stiff climb at the last. The view +from the summit is as glorious as it is wide. In clear weather the +extremities of the great bay--Portland Bill and Start Point--can be +seen, and most of the beautiful coast between them. Passing between +Hardown and Chardown the road drops to Morecombelake, an +uninteresting village in a charming situation. The lane to the right +goes down to Whitchurch Canonicorum in Marshwood Vale. Here is the +interesting church of St. Wita (or St. Candida), Virgin and Martyr. +The chancel, part of the nave and south door are Transitional, about +1175, the transepts being built about twenty-five and the tower two +hundred years later. The chief interest in the church is the so-called +shrine of St. Candida opened twenty years ago during repairs to the +church wall. Within a stone coffin was found a leaden casket +containing a number of bones declared to be those of a small sized +female. Upon one side of the box was the following inscription: + + Hic . Reqesct . Relique . sce . Wite + +The bones were placed in a new reliquary and again deposited within +the restored shrine. The three openings in the front were made to +receive the offerings of the faithful and pilgrims from afar. There +are several monuments here to the De Mandevilles; John Wadham, +Recorder of Lyme (1584); Sir John Geoffry of Catherstone (1611) and +others. The terrific name of this small village simply indicates that +the canons of Salisbury and Wells claimed the parish tithes. Across +the valley from Whitchurch rise the outstanding eminences--"Coney" +(Conic or King's) Castle and Lambert's Castle, the latter crowned with +a fine clump of trees. The name of the valley seems to have deceived +some old writers into thinking it a region of chills and agues and of +cold sour soil. It has always been famous for its oaks, but perhaps it +may claim a greater fame as a minor Wordsworth country, for on the +north side of the vale is Racedown Farm, the home of the poet for +about two years. Dorothy Wordsworth said it was "the place dearest to +my recollections" and "the first home I had." Perhaps the most +striking view in this part of Dorset is that one from the Axminster +road at the point on Raymond's Hill called Red Cross. At dusk, when +the intervening fields and woods are shrouded in gloom, Golden Cap +takes on a startling shape against the evening sky. The huge truncated +cone and the separate bays on either side--mostly differing entirely +in colour--make the centre of as fine a prospect as any in the south. +This road, Roman for the most part, has the rare feature of a tunnel, +cut to make the steep ascent to Hunter's Lodge Inn practicable for +modern traffic. + +[Illustration: CHARMOUTH.] + +The Marshwood Vale ends at Charmouth, to which the road from +Morecombelake now descends round the northern slopes of Stonebarrow; +on the far side of this hill is the derelict parish of Stanton St. +Gabriel, with a ruined church and two or three cottages in a superb +situation under the shadow of Golden Cap. Charmouth is one long street +running up the hill on the Lyme side of the Char. It is one of those +pleasantly drowsy places that even the advent of the public motor from +Bridport fails to excite. That its restfulness is appreciated is +evidenced by the number of houses that let apartments. The distance +from the railway at Lyme and Bridport will effectually bar any +"development." Jane Austen's description still holds good:--"Its high +grounds and extensive sweeps of country, and, still more, its sweet +retired bay, backed by dark cliffs where fragments of low rock among +the sands make it the happiest spot for watching the flow of the tide; +for sitting in unwearied contemplation." (_Persuasion._) + +The picturesque old George Inn on the right-hand side of the street is +sometimes pointed out as the lodging occupied by Charles II, but this +was at the "Queen's Arms" nearly opposite; it is now a Congregational +Manse. "Everything was in readiness for the departure at midnight, but +Captain Limbry, master of the ship, came ashore just after dark for +his luggage. Questioned by his wife he foolishly admitted that he was +concerned with the safety of a dark gentleman from Worcester. Without +more ado the good woman pushed him into his bedroom and turned the key +upon him." Charles and his friends waited in vain at the inn, the +"dark gentleman" as insouciant as ever, the rest of the party greatly +perturbed. Urgently advised by Ellesdon (organizer of the escape) to +wait no longer, the party took to the Bridport road, and so in the +early morning the fugitives rode up and down the hills these pages +have just traversed, in an endeavour to find sanctuary in a ship, the +only inviolable one, that they were not to gain until far distant +Brighthelmstone was reached. + +[Illustration: LYME FROM THE CHARMOUTH FOOTPATH.] + +Charmouth Church is as ugly as one would expect of an erection of the +last year of the Sailor King. Within are preserved some of the +monuments from the old building. It is said that a Roman station was +established somewhere on this hill, and that after fierce fighting in +the bay the Danes captured and held the Char valley for some years. It +is possible that many of the country people have a strain of the wild +northern blood in their veins. Close to the church and the Coach and +Horses Hotel, the unpretentious but comfortable hostelry on the left +of the street, a lane leads to the coastguard station and beach. + +The shore can be followed to Lyme, but only at low water. By far the +best way is to keep to the high road, passing through the cutting made +in the hill for the better passage of the coaches, and named by the +more proper "Windy Gap," and by the rest "The Devil's Bellows." In a +storm the wayfarer is likely to be blown back to Charmouth. At the top +of the hill a path turns leftwards to the open cliff and affords the +traveller the most exquisite views of Lyme, the bay and the +surrounding hills. This path eventually rejoins the main road near the +cemetery. Within is a fine Celtic cross erected to commemorate those +who perished in the _Formidable_ in 1915. + +It is only during the last twenty years that Lyme has found itself as +a popular resort. It must have been a tragic business to the select +few, that opening of the light railway from Axminster in 1903. Before +that time enthusiasts, among them Whistler and several other famous +artists, braved the six miles of rough road from the nearest station +to reach the picturesque old town on the Buddle, and possibly formed +some sort of league to keep their "find" dark. Happily the place is +still unspoilt and the hand of Jerry has not descended. The visitor +who arrives by the South Western after a delightful trip, all too +short, on the miniature Alpine line that burrows through hillsides and +swerves across valleys, over the last by a highly spectacular viaduct, +is agreeably surprised to find himself at a terminus while apparently +still in the wilds. If the little motor train went down to the seaside +it could never pant back again. But the eye is unoffended in the long +walk down the steep road to the shore, and in these days when the +canons of good taste seem to have some weight with property owners and +builders it is probable that the growth of Lyme will be effected with +circumspection. As it is, the snug little town is almost unaltered, +except for a slight and necessary clearance at the river mouth, from +the days when Louisa Musgrove lived at Captain Harville's house. Every +one who stays at Lyme must buy or borrow a copy of _Persuasion_. It is +wonderful how an old-fashioned tale such as this novel of Jane Austen +will delight and interest the most blase of readers when he or she can +identify the scenes depicted in its pages, and how the early Victorian +atmosphere of the book will seem to descend on the quaint streets that +have altered so little since it was written. + +Lyme seems to have started life in the salt boiling line, and to +distinguish it from Uplyme was called Netherlyme-supra-mare. The first +patrons of the industry were the monks of Sherborne Abbey. This was in +the days of Cynwulf of Wessex. Five hundred years later it became +"Regis," a haven and chartered borough under Edward I, and from this +far-off time dates the unique stone pier called the "Cobb," restored +many times since. The town suffered much from French attacks and +revenged itself by sending ships to harry the commerce of the then +arch-enemy. The Cobb had been allowed to fall into such a state of +disrepair in the reign of Elizabeth that that irate lady refused to +renew the borough charter until the townsfolk made good the damage. +This was done and Lyme soon redoubled its importance in the eyes of +the Government, so much so that on the outbreak of the Civil War it +was looked upon as an almost indispensable possession both by +Royalists and Parliamentarians. Its vigorous resistance to the King is +one of the outstanding incidents of the war; Blake, afterwards +Admiral, conducting the marine defence. The beseiged were successful +after two months of the most desperate fighting, and the women of Lyme +proved Amazonian in the help they gave their menfolk. In 1672 the +Dutch gave the English fleet a trouncing within sight of the town. + +The most famous event connected with the Cobb was the landing of +Monmouth thereon in June, 1685. The ill-starred prince knelt on the +stones and thanked God "for having preserved the friends of liberty +and pure religion from the perils of the sea." Not many days passed +before some enthusiasts from Lyme who had followed the gallant lad +were brought back to the Cobb and hanged there in sight of their +neighbours. John Tutchin, author of the _Observator_, was sentenced by +Jeffreys to be whipped through Lyme and every other town in the +county, to be imprisoned seven years, and pay a fine of one hundred +marks. He petitioned to be hanged, and was pardoned. But these poor +men were avenged three years later when William of Orange landed a +number of his troops on the same spot. A few days afterwards that +narrow, dull, conscientious, well-intentioned and wholly religious +Roman Catholic, James II, fled from his throne and country. + +During early Hanoverian days Lyme seems to have languished. +Privateering; the trade with France and Spain; the industries of the +town, weaving and lace making; all dwindled to vanishing point. Half +the houses became ruinous, and the population had decreased to an +alarming extent when that saviour of half the old coastwise towns of +England--the valetudinarian--came upon the scene about 1770, and by +the commencement of the Victorian era Lyme had embarked upon a time of +modest but steady prosperity which still continues. Its fine air and +superb situation would, if the town were fifty miles nearer London, +result in "developments" that would soon ruin its character. + +[Illustration: LYME BAY.] + +Lyme church is Perpendicular, though the tower is far older, the +vestry room being part of the ancient church. Of much interest is the +tapestry on the west wall representing the marriage of Henry VII. On +the front of the gallery (1611) and on the Jacobean pulpit (1613) are +inscriptions setting forth the names of their donors and the dates. +The rood-screen is modern but the old double lectern is interesting; +chained to it is a "Breeches" Bible and Erasmus' "Paraphrase." One of +the stained-glass windows is a memorial to that celebrated daughter of +Lyme--Mary Anning, who with the enthusiasm of a greybeard hammered and +chipped at the cliffs around in a most ungirlish style, but to such +good purpose that she unearthed the Ichthyosaurus that now astonishes +the visitor to the Natural History Museum in Kensington. + +In Pound Street is an auxiliary church that in 1884 was converted out +of a stable into the present beautiful and uncommon little building. +Of particular merit are the fine tapestries and the altarpiece of +Venetian mosaics. In Church Street stands an old house once belonging +to the Tuckers, merchants and benefactors of the town. It is now named +Tudor House and is really of that date, although its exterior hardly +looks its age. The Assembly Rooms at the end of Broad Street mark the +time when Lyme was starting upon a career of fashion. In the new Town +Hall erected on the old site to commemorate the first Victorian +Jubilee is an ancient door from the men's prison, and a grating from +the women's quarters, let into the wall; in the Old Market stands an +ancient fire engine and the stocks, removed here from the church. Near +by is the "Old Fossil Shop" devoted to the sale of fossils and fish, +as quaint a combination of trades as one could imagine. The old houses +around the Buddle are of dark and mysterious aspect. This part of the +town has always had a romantic air, here and there slightly flavoured +with squalor, though of late, especially about the course of the +river, improvements have effected a change. Curious customs of great +antiquity such as the Saxon Court Leet and the Court of Hustings, a +copy of a London civic institution dating from the first charter of +the town, have continued to present times. + +The other famous girl of Lyme, besides Mary Anning, was Jane Austen, +who lived with her parents at Bay Cottage, the white house near the +harbour. Here it is supposed that _Persuasion_ was written. Captain +Coram, the bluff seaman and tender-hearted philanthropist who spent +his small fortune on the Foundling Hospital, and. Sir George Somers, +who colonized the Bermudas, were both local worthies. The latter died +in the West Indies, but his body was brought home to Dorset and buried +at Whitchurch Canonicorum. + +The beautiful coast west of the Cobb is described in the next chapter, +but mention must be made of the Landslip Walk. Several falls of the +cliff, here resting on a precarious foundation of sand and blue has +clay, have from time to time occurred and have produced this wide +tract of broken and tumbled ground, only to be equalled in its +picturesque confusion by the better known Undercliff in the Isle of +Wight. The greatest "slip" took place in 1839 on Christmas Day and the +country people were awakened during the night by loud and continuous +noises like the rumble of distant artillery. It was found the next +morning that a chasm nearly a mile long and about 400 feet wide had +been formed parallel with the shore. This subsidence continued for a +couple of days and took with it, without loss of life, several +cottages. The wildly erratic disorder has been covered with a lovely +profusion of flowers and plants in the sheltered valleys and ravines +of this miniature Switzerland, and the whole undercliff as far as +Rousdon and beyond is a wonderland of beauty. + +Uplyme, three-quarters of a mile beyond the station, is in Devon. This +may have been one of the pleas put forward a few years ago when +strenuous efforts were made to get Lyme Regis transferred to the +western county. The pretty village is about a mile and a half from +Lyme Esplanade on the Axminster road. The church has been judiciously +restored, but there is nothing of great interest to be seen apart from +the old yew tree in the churchyard. Not far away is a beautiful old +manor house called the "Court Hall"; it is now a farm house. The fine +porch and queer old chimneys make a picture worth turning aside to +see. + +[Illustration: OTTERY CHURCH.] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +EAST DEVON + + +To go from one Dorset or East Devon coast town to another by rail +involves an amount of thought and a consultation of time-tables that +would not be required for a journey from London to Aberystwyth, and +unless the traveller hits on a particularly lucky set of connexions he +will find that he can walk from one town to the other in less time +than by taking the train. From Lyme to Seaton by the Landslip is +barely seven miles; by rail it is fifteen, involving two changes. From +Seaton to Sidmouth is nine miles by road and twenty-four by rail, with +two changes and a possible third. Each of these sections can be +comfortably tramped by the average good walker in a morning or +afternoon with plenty of time for "side issues" and rambling about the +towns themselves in the evening. One word of warning to those who +adopt this method of seeing their own land, the only effective way in +the writer's opinion. Do not be deceived into thinking that a mile on +the map is a mile on the road. In this country of hills and valleys +the distance can be added to considerably by these "folds in the +tablecloth." A contour map in colours such as Bartholomew's "half +inch" is a great help in this matter. + +From Lyme the walk westwards by the cliff is, of course, the most +beautiful way. Our present route, by the high road, passes between +Rousdon, _the_ great house of the neighbourhood, and Combpyne, where +there is a station, the only one between Lyme and Axminster. This is a +pleasant place, lost between hills, and quite out of sight from the +railway. It has a church, built about 1250, with a gabled tower and +with a hagioscope in the chancel. The communion plate dates from +before the Reformation and is said to have been in constant use for +more than four hundred years. In the thirteenth century a convent +stood here; part of the buildings are now a farmhouse, but the +villagers still point out the "Nuns' Walk" close by. A series of +lonely and delightful lanes, difficult to follow without a good map +(directions given by a rustic require a super-brain to remember their +intricate details), lead down to the high road just short of the +bridge over the Axe. Here a turn to the right leads to picturesque old +Axmouth. The houses climb up a narrow combe down which tumbles a +bright stream from the side of Hawksdown, the hill which rises to the +north-east and is crowned by an ancient encampment. The church was +originally Norman, but only the north door and south aisle remain of +this period. In the chancel, which is in the Decorated style, is the +effigy of a priest within a recess, and in a chantry chapel a monument +to Lady Erle of Bindon. The curious wall paintings were discovered +during the restoration of the church some years ago. An old standard +measure for corn called the "Lord's Measure" is kept in a recess in +the churchyard wall. Turning to the left from the church are some +ancient cottages. On one of the chimneys will be seen the date 1570 +and a motto: "God giveth all." Not far away is the entrance to +Stedcombe, a house designed by Inigo Jones, which replaced an older +building destroyed in the Civil War. Bindon, the home of Sir Walter +Erle, a famous officer of the Parliamentary army, is about a mile from +the village in the direction of the Landslip. It is a fine +sixteenth-century mansion, now a farmhouse, a chapel attached to which +is more than a hundred years older than the original building. + +[Illustration: AXMOUTH FROM THE RAILWAY.] + +A road by the east bank of the Axe leads in a mile to Seaton, which is +at the actual Axe mouth. This is a town almost without a history, +although it still makes the not-proven assertion that it is the site +of Moridunum. Some years ago the townsmen, with the idea that the +label is the principal thing, stuck the word along the Esplanade wall +in letters of black flint. Although the claim is not an impossible +one, the probabilities point to the junction of the two great roads, +the Fosse Way and the Icknield Way, near Honiton, as being the actual +site of the Roman station. The remains of a villa of this period, +together with various relics, pottery and coins, were found sometime +ago at a place called Hannaditches just outside the town, so that the +ubiquitous Latins were at any rate here. + +Seaton is quite a different town to Lyme; it has practically no +ancient buildings and the few old cob cottages that made up the +original village have entirely disappeared. A "restoration" of the +church in 1866 destroyed most of the old features, including a +beautiful screen. The main fabric belongs to the Decorated period with +some Perpendicular additions and very scanty remains of the original +Early English building. The hagioscope in the chancel appears as a +window in the outer wall. The Perpendicular tower replaces an older +erection on the south side, of which the base alone remains. A flat +gravestone in the churchyard has the following curious inscription:-- + + JOHN STARRE + + Starre on Hie + Where should a Starre be + But on Hie? + Tho underneath + He now doth lie + Sleepinge in Dust + Yet shall he rise + More glorious than + The Starres in skies + + 1633 + +The main streets of the town are pleasant enough, though most of the +houses are small and of the usual lodging-house type. Seaton depends +for its deserved popularity upon its open position, in which it +differs from most Devon and Dorset resorts; its bracing air, due to +the wide expanse of the Axe valley, and above all to the beautiful +surrounding country. Treasure hunts along the beach for garnets and +beryls are among the excitements of a fortnight in Seaton. + +The unimposing way in which the Axe enters the sea will be remarked at +once. It is supposed that the Danes made use of the river mouth as a +harbour for their pirate ships and it was without doubt a port of some +importance in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. For the siege +of Calais it provided two ships. But Leland (temp. Henry VIII) remarks +that the silting up of the Axe had made the harbour useless for all +but "small fisschar boates." The river now has great difficulty in +getting to the sea at all through the high bank of shingle. + +A good deal of Honiton lace is made both here and at Beer, though this +East Devon industry is slowly dwindling in the several localities in +which it was once an important commercial item. + +[Illustration: SEATON HOLE.] + +The environs of Seaton are beautiful and interesting. The most popular +excursion is to the Landslip at Dowlands. The nature of the scenery is +so strange and bizarre, as well as beautiful, that it would impress +the most stolid and sophisticated as something quite out of the +common. North of the town are the villages of Colyford and Colyton; +visitors are usually content to view these from the train, but they +are worthy of closer inspection. The first-named is now a small +village two miles from the sea. It is on the high road from Lyme Regis +to Exeter and was once an important borough with a charter dating from +the reign of Edward I. Colyton, a mile farther, is a queer old place +with narrow, crooked streets. Its Perpendicular church is of much +interest, and seems to have been designed by an architect with +original ideas who, however, has not been preeminently successful in +its details. The square battlemented tower with its octagonal lantern +above is poorly executed, but otherwise the uncommon conception +arrests attention and is worthy of praise: The parvise chamber over +the porch, like many others, was for a long period the town school. +The nave, rebuilt about the middle of the eighteenth century, is of no +interest, but the Perpendicular arches between the chancel and aisles +are very elaborate and fine. The Pole chapel is formed out of the +eastern end of the south aisle and separated from the other portions +by a stone screen of elaborate and beautiful workmanship. Within are +the ornate figures of Sir John Pole and his wife. On the other side of +the chancel is the Jacobean mausoleum of the Yonges, a great local +family during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The +Gothic tomb with the recumbent figure of a girl upon it is known +locally as "Little Chokebone." Margaret Courtenay, daughter of an Earl +of Devon, was said to have been suffocated by a fish-bone, but the +tradition has been doubted. From the armorial bearings above the tomb +it would appear that the figure represents one of the daughters, or +possibly the wife, of the sixth Earl of Devon. An interesting +inscription in the south transept perpetuates the name of John +Wilkins, who was minister from 1647 to 1660 when, as a Nonconformist, +he was deprived of the living. + +The vicarage was originally built in 1529 by Canon Brerewood, who +erected the stone screen of the Pole chapel. It has been altered and +partly rebuilt, but the porch retains the original inscription placed +there by the Canon--" _Meditatio totum; Peditatio totum_." + +Colcombe Castle, half a mile from the town, is now Colcombe Farm. It +was once the seat of the Courtenays and the headquarters of Prince +Maurice during the Civil War. In 1680 the Duke of Monmouth stayed +either here or at the Great House near by, now a farm, but once +occupied by the Yonges. An old stone arch in a field above the castle +covers a spring of clear cold water. + +Seaton Hole, the western extremity of Seaton Bay, lies under White +Head, which is not white but brownish grey. Up the steps from the +beach, a path leads from the "Hole" for a mile of steep up and down +walking and then the explorer reaches Beer, famous for its "free +trade" and its memories of a prince of smugglers--Jack Rattenbury; +the 'Arrypay of Seaton Bay. His adventures, though not on the grand +scale of the hero of Poole, were exciting enough, from his capture by +the French, while ship's-boy on a local coaster, to his attempted +arrest by a posse of soldiers in a Beer inn, where his escape was +effected by the women of the village raising the cry "A wreck! a +wreck!" and diverting his captors' attention. Rattenbury died in 1833 +after receiving the princely sum of one shilling per week pension +during the last years of his life from Lord Rolle. During this period +he dictated his memoirs for publication in Sidmouth, to an editor who +unconsciously gave the book a delicious touch of humour by putting +into the mouth of this son of a Devon shoemaker the grandiloquent +phrases of an early Victorian divine. + +[Illustration: BEER.] + +The picturesque and unspoilt little beach and the village street +leading down to the sea are in great contrast to the new houses built +on the hill behind, and the fine new church erected at the instance of +the Lord of the Manor, one of the Rolle family. This replaced an +ancient chapel dedicated to St. Michael, from which two old memorial +tablets were transferred; one is to "Edward Good, late an Industrious +fisherman," who left twenty pounds in trust for the poor of Beer and +Seaton in 1804, and the other to "John, the fifth sonn of William +Starr of Bere, Gent., and Dorothy his wife, which died in the plague +was here bvried 1646." The dwelling of this Starr family was the Tudor +house at the end of the main street which bears on it the design of a +star, the rebus of the one-time owners. + +A firm tradition is current among the fishermen, most of whom gain a +livelihood in the summer by boat hire, that their forefathers were +Spaniards shipwrecked in the Cove just after Beer had been depopulated +by the plague, and that they settled in the empty houses, +intermarrying with the maids of Devon left in the village. The story +is certainly made convincing by the remarkably dark and foreign +appearance of the villagers, especially in the case of the older men. + +The famous quarries, from which the stone for Exeter Cathedral was +taken, are about a mile from the village. The subterranean quarries +are not now worked. They were used by the Romans and possibly before. +The passages extend for a long distance under the hill and are said to +communicate with the shore. They were no doubt of great value to the +smugglers. It is extremely dangerous to attempt the penetration of the +mysterious passages and caves without a competent guide and a +dependable light. Holes of unknown depth filled with water are met +with in the passages and a fatal accident is possible in any unwary +exploration. + +Bovey House is about a mile to the north. It is chiefly remarkable for +a well about 180 feet deep which has a square chamber, 30 feet down, +undoubtedly built as a hiding place. Another secret chamber in one of +the chimneys is traditionally said to have hidden Charles II, but it +has been proved that he did not pass this way. + +[Illustration: THE WAY TO THE SEA, BEER.] + +Beer Head is the last outpost of the chalk and is a dazzling contrast +to the prevailing reddish yellow of the Devonian coast. On the other +side of the airy common that crowns the head, and that is known as +South Down, is the delightful village of Branscombe (usually +pronounced "Brahnscoom") built in the three valleys that unite at +Branscombe mouth, the opening to the sea under the shadow of Bury +Camp. The fine cruciform church is mainly Norman but with Early +English and still later additions. It is supposed that the base of the +tower is of Saxon workmanship. A monument (1581) in the transept is to +Joan Tregarthen, her two husbands and nineteen children. One of the +sons of her second marriage was the founder of Wadham College, Oxford. +In the churchyard is a rough pillar usually described as a coffin-lid. +It is probably a "Sarsen," indicating that the church site was used +for worship in prehistoric times or at least that it was a place of +sepulture. There are two headstones of very early date--1579 (?) and +1580, and the tomb of Joseph Braddick (1673) bears the following +curious epitaph: + + "STRONG AND IN LABOUR + SUDDENLY HE REELS + DEATH CAME BEHIND HIM + AND STRUCK UP HIS HEELS. + + SUCH SUDDEN STROKES + SURVIVING MORTALS BID YE + STAND ON YOUR WATCH + AND BE ALLSO READY." + +There are several other curious records here that will repay perusal +by their quaintness and unconscious pathos. One is rather ferocious: + + "STAY, PASSENGER, AWHILE AND READ + YOUR DOOM I AM + YOU MUST BEE DEAD." + +The dedication and the name of the village are in some doubt. +Authorities make claim for St. Brendan as the patron, hence +Branscombe. A chapel was built at Seaton in honour of this traveller +saint. + +[Illustration: BRANSCOMBE CHURCH.] + +The coast at Branscombe is wildly beautiful, and an interesting ramble +may be taken at low tide among the masses of rock that form a sort of +undercliff; the miniature valleys between are carpeted with rare and +beautiful flowers. It is not practicable to continue by the shore +except at the expenditure of much exertion. The road to Sidmouth +should be taken by way of the few houses that constitute Weston, and +then by the highly placed Dunscombe Farm and the picturesque ruin near +it. These winding lanes lead eventually to the lonely little church +hamlet of Salcombe Regis--"King Athelstan's salt-works in the Combe." +This is one of those sweetly-pretty lost villages by the sea which one +hesitates to mention lest a speculator should investigate with the +idea of an elaborate "simple life" hostel in his mind. But Salcombe is +too difficult of approach, even for faddists, although only a nominal +two miles separates it from the South Western terminus on the other +side of the hill. The church dates from 1150, though aisles were added +a hundred years later and the tower in 1450. + +We now approach the borders of the older Wessex, the limit for which +for want of definite evidence to the contrary the writer has had to +fix arbitrarily at the mouth of the Otter. The last of the coast towns +in this region is one of the best centres in south-east Devon for a +detailed exploration of the countryside. That is, the best if a coast +town must be chosen. To the writer's mind a better plan is to make a +break from this established usage and get quarters in one of the quiet +old places about eight or ten miles inland, such as Ottery or +Axminster. But Sidmouth is an exceedingly pleasant spot, in which one +need never feel dull or bored, and in which the vulgarities one +associates with the "popular" watering place are entirely absent. The +bright and clean appearance of the stuccoed houses, nearly always +painted white, contrasting with the red of the cliffs and the green +foliage with which the town is embowered, is very effective and even +beautiful. The houses are grouped in a compact and cosy way between +the two hills, although of late years a number of new and, at close +quarters, staring red brick efforts at modernity have been made on the +hillsides. But these are decently covered, in any general view of the +town, in the wealth of trees that climb the lower slopes. + +[Illustration: SIDMOUTH.] + +Certain quarters of Sidmouth have an air of antique and solid +gentility that is a heritage from those days when it was a select and +fashionable resort before the terraces of Torquay were built on the +lines of its parent--Bath. After Lyme it was the first of the western +coast towns to bid for the custom of the habitues of such inland +resorts as Tunbridge Wells, Cheltenham and the like. The +Victorian-Gothic building known as Royal Glen, originally Woolbrook +Cottage, was for several years the home of the Duke and Duchess of +Kent and the infant Princess Victoria. The Duke died here in 1820 and +Queen Victoria caused a window to be placed to his memory in the +rebuilt parish church. + +The town is mentioned in Thackeray's _Pendennis_, and was the home of +the immortal Mrs. Partington, an old acquaintance of Sidney Smith; she +is supposed to have lived in one of the cob cottages that used to be +on the front. Like the Lords with Reform, so was Mrs. Partington with +the Atlantic Ocean, which she tried to keep out of her front door with +a mop. "She was excellent at slop or puddle, but should never have +meddled with a tempest." If she was an actual character the good +dame's house probably stood where now the fine esplanade runs its +straight course between Peak Hill and the Alma Bridge over the Sid. At +the bridge the shingle bank baulks the stream from a clear course into +the sea and usually forces it into an ignominious and green scummed +pool that slowly filters through the stony wall. From the bridge a +path ascends to the Flagstaff, where there is perhaps a better view +than that from the much higher Peak Hill on the west. Torbay, Start +Point, and the south Devon coast are in full but distant view across +the bay, but Teignmouth and Dawlish hide behind the promontory called +Black Head. + +The direct Honiton road goes up the valley of the Sid through pleasant +Sidford, which has a fine old farmhouse called Manstone and a number +of picturesque cottages, and through Sidbury, beneath the encampment +called Sidbury Castle. The Early Norman church at Sidbury is +interesting. Alterations at various dates have given the building +thirteenth-century transepts and a roof and aisles dating from two +hundred years later. The fine Norman tower was entirely rebuilt about +forty years ago when the two figures of SS. Peter and Giles were found +and placed on the new west face. A Saxon crypt was discovered under +the chancel when that portion was restored and a trap door gives +access to this chamber from the floor. The church porch has a room +over it known to the villagers as the "Powder Room." It is thought +that this formed a sort of magazine for the troops quartered in the +neighbourhood during the Napoleonic wars. + +The "Sid Bury" is the tree-clad hill on the west. Upon its crown is an +encampment with a ditch, its bottom 45 feet from the summit of the +wall. The view, except down the Sid valley to the sea, is restricted, +but in every direction it is beautiful. + +About half a mile north of the village is a fine old mansion called +Sand, belonging to the Huish family and erected in the closing years +of the sixteenth century. It is now a farmhouse, but practically +unaltered from its ancient state. + +The coast from Sidmouth to the mouth of the Otter bends +south-westwards in a long sweep and encloses within the peninsula thus +formed the small and uninteresting village of Otterton that has on the +other side of the river a station on the line running from Ottery St. +Mary through Budleigh Salterton to Exmouth. The fine Peak Hill has its +western slopes running down to the Otter valley just north of Bicton +Park, where is a magnificent arboretum. The line from Sidmouth climbs +round the northern slopes of the hill and drops into the valley at +Tipton St. John's. The train then follows the waterside as closely as +may be to Ottery St. Mary. This beautifully placed town is as +delightful and convenient to stay in as any in Devon. + +Ottery's proud boast is that it has the grandest church, apart from +the great fane at Exeter, in the county. It is said that it owes its +plan and general appearance to the inspiration of the Cathedral, and +there is a striking resemblance on a small scale to that beautiful and +original building. Not that St. Mary's is a small church; for the size +of the town which it dominates it is vast. Erected during the period +when national ecclesiastical art was at its most majestic and +imposing, the Early English style of the greater portion of the +structure is given diversity by certain Decorated additions. The +beautiful stone reredos is at present empty of figures. Behind the +altar the Lady Chapel, which has a stone screen, contains an old +minstrels' gallery. The carving here, and the vaulting throughout the +church, but especially in the chapel on the north side, is deservedly +famous. During the time of Bishop Grandisson, about 1340, the church +was made collegiate. In 1850 a so-called restoration by Butterfield +did much damage, and some of the woodwork then introduced could well +be "scrapped" and the church again restored to something of its +previous simple dignity. The painting of the nave and chancel roofs +has a peculiarly "cheap" and tawdry effect. + +Sir Walter Raleigh is said to have lived in the town for a time, and +during the Civil War it was for a month the head-quarters of Fairfax, +who turned the church tower into a temporary fortress. Samuel Taylor +Coleridge was a native of Ottery and the son of one of its vicars. The +poet was only nine when his father died in 1781. He was then placed in +the Bluecoat school and there met his lifelong friend, Charles Lamb. +The theological studies that at first seemed to be his natural bent +were no doubt a consequence of his early environment. Near the church +is a house now occupied by Lord Coleridge. Thackeray spent his school +holidays at Larkbeare, the house of his stepfather, Major Carmichael +Smith, and afterwards used Ottery ("Clavering St. Mary") as the scene +of part of _Pendennis_. + +The steep, narrow streets around the church have lost many of their +picturesque old buildings, though a few of the smaller houses remain +in the side turnings. The pleasant aspect of the town is greatly +increased by the beauty of the river and of its banks both above and +below the bridge. The stream is a great favourite with anglers, and +Otter trout have a great reputation. + +The great high road from Exeter to London passes a short distance +north of Ottery and follows the river valley on its way to the old +town under the shadow of Dumpdon Hill. Honiton is of world-wide fame +in connexion with the beautiful lace that is still made in the +vicinity. The long and broad High Street is practically all there is +of the town, except for a few shops and smaller houses on the way to +the railway station. Save on market day Honiton sleeps the hours away, +or seems to do so; possibly there is an amount of business done behind +doors, and in a quiet way, to account for the comfortable appearance +of the burgesses (for this is a municipal borough). By reason of its +sheltered position from any breeze that may be blowing aloft and its +open arms to the sun, the town has, on an ordinary summer's day, the +hottest High Street in England; that fact may partly account for its +air of somnolence. + +The Perpendicular cruciform church suffered greatly from fire some +years ago, though happily the tower escaped. A beautiful old screen +and several other interesting details were entirely destroyed. The +black marble tomb of Thomas Marwood commemorates a fortunate physician +who cured the Earl of Essex of an illness and was rewarded by Queen +Elizabeth with a house and lands near the town. On the Exeter road is +St. Margaret's Hospital, endowed by Thomas Chard, Abbot of Ford +(1520), for nine old people. It was originally a lazar-house founded +about 1350. The chapel was built by its later benefactor. + +A curious custom is kept in Honiton Fair week, usually held the third +week in July. On the first day of the Fair a crier goes about the +streets with a white glove on a long wand crying: + + "O yes the Fair is begun + And no man dare be arrested + Until the Fair is done." + +It is said that this strange privilege is still respected. + +The high road to Axminster climbs up the long ascent of Honiton Hill +(there is an easier way over the fields to the summit for +pedestrians), and with beautiful views on the left keeps to the high +lands almost all the way until the drop into the valley of the Yarty. + +Axminster is on a low hill surronded by the softer scenery of typical +Devon. The by-ways near the town are narrow flowery lanes such as are +naturally suggested to one's mind whenever the West Country is +mentioned. Axminster has given its name to an industry that has not +been carried on in the town for over eighty years, though "Axminster" +carpets are still famous for their durability and their fine designs. +The whole period during which the manufacture was carried on in the +town did not cover a century. The carpets were made on hand-looms and +the house, now a hospital, that was used as the factory is opposite +the churchyard. + +The church is said to have pre-Norman work beneath the tower. The +building as it stands is mostly Perpendicular, but with certain +Decorated details in the chancel and a Norman door. The sculptured +parapet of the north aisle is interesting. On it are the arms of many +ancient families of the county. The two effigies in the chancel are +supposed to represent Gervase de Prestaller, once vicar here, and Lady +Alice de Mohun. In the churchyard is a tombstone with two crutches; +this is the grave of the father of Frank Buckland, the famous +naturalist, who was born here in 1784. + +[Illustration: AXMINSTER.] + +The town suffered greatly during the Civil War. It was taken by the +Royalists and used as a head-quarters during the investment of Lyme +Regis. It was the resting-place of William "The Deliverer" on his way +from Lyme northwards. He is said to have stayed at the "Dolphin" while +it was the private residence of the Yonges. + +Close to the Axe and to the main line of the railway are the scanty +ruins of Newenham Abbey, once of great renown. Founded in 1245 by the +de Mohuns, it met with the usual fate at the Great Dispersal. A mile +farther, on the Musbury road, is Ashe Farm, which once belonged to the +Drake family. A daughter of the house married one Winstone Churchill, +and here in 1650 was born John, afterwards to become the great Duke of +Marlborough. These Drakes were claimed by Sir Francis as his +relatives, but they rather fiercely repudiated the claim, and this +obscure county family took proceedings against the great Seaman for +using their crest--a red dragon. Gloriana, however, retaliated by +giving her bold Sir Francis an entirely new device showing the dragon +cutting a most undignified caper on the bows of his ship. The effigies +of three of these Drakes, with their wives in humble attitudes beside +them, are to be seen in Musbury church, another mile farther on. + +Somewhere in this fertile and beautiful valley, between Axminster and +Colyton, was waged the great battle of Brunanburgh between the men of +Wessex led by Athelstan and the Ethelings, and Anlaf the Dane, an +alien Irish King, who captained the Picts and Scots. Five Kings (of +sorts), seven Earls, and the Bishop of Sherborne were killed, but the +victory was with the defenders. Athelstan founded a college to +commemorate the battle and its result, and caused masses to be said in +Axminster church for ever (!) for the repose of the souls of those of +his friends who fell. + +The London road from Honiton runs a beautiful and lonely course of +fourteen miles up hill and down dale to Chard in Somersetshire, +passing, about half way, the wayside village of Stockland. The hills +that here divide the valleys of the Otter and the Yarty are crossed by +the high road and involve several steep "pitches" up and down which +the motorist must perforce go at a pace that enables him for once to +view the landscape o'er and not merely the perspective of hedge in +front of him. The remote little village of Up-Ottery is away to the +left on the infant stream surrounded by the southern bastions of the +Blackdowns. Here is the fine modern seat of Viscount Sidmouth. Beacon +Hill (843 feet), to the north of the village, commands a celebrated +view, as wide as it is lovely. + +[Illustration: SHERBORNE.] + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SOMERSET, DEVON AND DORSET BORDERLAND + + +Chard is a place which satisfies the aesthetic sense at first sight and +does not pall after close and long acquaintance. The great highway +from Honiton to Yeovil becomes, as it passes through the last town in +South Somerset, a spacious and dignified High Street with two or three +beautiful old houses, among a large number of other picturesque +dwellings which would sustain the reputation of Chard even without +their aid. First is the one-time Court House of the Manor, opposite +the Town Hall. Part of the building is called Waterloo House. It was +built during the last quarter of the sixteenth century. A very +beautiful and spacious room with two mullioned windows and a fine +moulded ceiling graces the interior. This apartment is panelled with +the most delightful carvings of scenes from the Old Testament, and +with birds, animals and heraldic designs above the noble fireplace. +The back of this house is even more charming than the front and the +visitor should pass through the porch and passage-way for the sake of +a glimpse at its old gables and mellow walls. The Choughs Inn at the +west end of the town, not far from the church, is another fine example +of late medieval architecture. Here also one should not be content +with a mere passing glance. The interior is well worth inspection, as +the old woodwork and queer guest rooms of the ancient hostelry have +been jealously preserved. The present Town School was erected in 1671, +but a pipe bears the date 1583, indicating an earlier building on the +site. + +The early fifteenth-century church is cruciform if we regard the high +porches as transepts. The whole building, including the tower, is very +low in proportion to its length. The fine gargoyles will be noticed +before entering; equally elaborate is the roof of the chancel, but +perhaps the most striking item is the magnificent tomb of William +Brewer (1641) in the north transept. + +As at Honiton, the mile of High Street is undeniably a true section of +the Fosse Way, though at each end the modern road departs from the old +way and shirks the hills. The geographical position of the street is +interesting in that it stands on a "great divide." During rain the +gutters take the water in two directions, to the English Channel and +the Severn Sea. There is no clear evidence of the existence of a Roman +station hereabouts, though it is more than probable that such was the +case. The name of the town proves it to have been a Saxon settlement. +Bishop Joscelyn of Wells made its fortune by his endowments and the +gift of a borough charter. Chard bore its part in the Civil War and +Charles I was obliged to stay here for a week, in his retreat from the +west country, awaiting the commissariat that Somerset had failed to +provide. "Hangcross Tree," a great oak, stood within living memory in +the lower town on the way to the South Western station. This was the +gibbet upon which twelve natives of Chard, followers of Monmouth, paid +the penalty for their rebellion. + +[Illustration: FORD ABBEY.] + +The excursion _par excellence_ is to Ford Abbey, situated about four +miles away on the banks of the Axe. (Prospective visitors who wish to +see more than the exterior must make preliminary inquiries.) The +situation is beautiful, as was usually the case with those chosen by +the Cistercians. Unlike most of the great abbeys despoiled by the +iconoclasts of the Dispersal, Ford fell into the hands of successive +families who have added to and embellished the great pile without +entirely doing away with its ancient character. A good deal of +alteration was carried out by Inigo Jones who destroyed some of the +older work and inserted certain incongruities more interesting than +pleasing. The imposing appearance of the south front amply atones for +any disappointment the visitor may experience at his first sight of +the buildings from the Chard road. Over the entrance tower is the +inscription: + + ANO' D'NI MILLESIMO QUINQUESIMO VIC'MO OCTA'O + A D'NO FACTUM EST THOMA CHARD ABB. + +The beautiful cloisters are much admired and the magnificent porch is +one of the finest entrances in England. In the "state" apartments the +grandeur of the ceiling in the Banqueting Hall is almost unique. The +great Staircase was designed by Inigo Jones; this leads to the Grand +Saloon in which are five Raphael tapestries, the finest in England; +unsurpassed for the beauty of their colouring. The original cartoons +are in South Kensington Museum. The visitor is conducted through the +Monks' Dormitory to the Transitional Chapel, the resting place of +Adeliza, Viscountess of Devon, who founded the Abbey for some homeless +monks, wayfarers from Waverley in Surrey, who had unsuccessfully +colonized at distant Brightley and were tramping home. This was in +1140. In 1148 the church was completed. The carved screen is +elaborately beautiful and there are several interesting memorials of +the families who have held this splendid pile of buildings, now the +property of the Ropers. The traveller by the Exeter express has a +charming glimpse of the picturesque "back" of the abbey, should he +make his journey in the winter. In summer the jealous greenery hides +all but a stone or two of the battlements. + +Chard is surrounded by a number of small and secluded villages. Most +of them are delightfully situated on the sides of wooded heights or +between the encircling arms of the hills. The most charming is perhaps +Cricket St. Thomas on the south of the Crewkerne road. On the other +side of this highway, on the headwaters of the River Isle, is another +beautifully situated hamlet called Dowlish Wake, after the ancient +Somerset family of that name who flourished here in the fourteenth +century. A short distance north is Ilminster, an ancient market town +with a beautiful Perpendicular church crowned with a poem in stone +that is of surpassing loveliness even in this county of lovely towers. +White Staunton, four miles away to the west towards the Blackdown +country, has a church remarkable for the number of interesting details +it contains, though the fabric itself is rather commonplace. Its +treasures include a very early Norman font, curious pewter communion +vessels, a squint having an almost unique axis, some ancient bench +ends and medieval tiles in the chancel. St. Agnes' Well, a spring near +the church, is said to be tepid, and to have healing qualities. Near +by is an old manor house dating from the fifteenth century. In its +grounds are the foundations of a Roman Villa discovered about forty +years ago. + +[Illustration: TOWER, ILMINSTER.] + +Proceeding along the London road over Windwhistle and St. Rayne's +Hills, and with delightful views by the way, Crewkerne is reached in +eight miles from Chard. This is a pleasant little market town of no +great interest apart from its noble fifteenth-century cruciform church +which has an uncommonly fine west front, with empty niches, alas! but +beautiful nevertheless. The porch is another interesting feature of +its exterior. Here are quaint figures of musicians playing upon +various instruments. At the end of the south transept is a small +chamber, the actual purpose of which is unknown; it may well have been +the cell of an anchorite. + +The first impression on entering the church is one of light and +airiness, due to the size and number of the windows, of which that at +the west end is the finest. The wooden groining of the tower is +curious, and the base of the walls show the existence of a former +building that lacked the present aisles. The ancient font belongs to +the older structure. A figure of St. George, that was once outside and +over the west window where the dragon is still _in situ_, two old +chests, and a number of brasses complete the list of interesting +objects within. To the north of the church are the old buildings of +the grammar school, now removed to a site outside the town to the +east. + +About two miles to the north is the curious old church of Merriott, +built during several periods. The extraordinary carving over the +vestry door called the "fighting cocks" is in the eyes of the +villagers its chief merit! There are also some interesting gargoyles +and a very ancient crucifix. A mile farther is the pleasant village of +Hinton St. George. The fine village cross, though much mutilated, +still retains enough of its former splendour to make us regret the +many we have lost. The old thatched house known as the "Priory" is a +delightful building. Hinton House is the home of the Pouletts, a +famous family who came originally from the North Somerset sea-lands. +Part of the house dates from the reign of Henry VIII. The family came +into prominence about that time, for a member named Amyas was knighted +after the fight at Newark. He became more famous still perhaps for his +collision with Wolsey when the latter was a young man, for he had the +misfortune to put the future great prelate in the stocks! The family +became pronounced Protestants and one of the grandsons of Amyas was +gaoler of Mary Queen of Scots. These beruffed and torpedoe-bearded +Elizabethans are in Hinton Church, a fine and dignified building that, +like many other Somerset churches, is more imposing outside than +within. + +South Petherton is about three miles north. Here is another fine +church with an uncommon octagonal tower placed upon a squat and square +base. Of more interest is the beautiful house, known as "King' Ine's +Palace," which dates from the fifteenth century. It may have been +erected on the site of one of that Saxon monarch's many houses. There +are one or two ancient buildings in this village as also at Martock, +another delightful hamlet still farther north. But we are being +tempted outside our arbitrary boundary and must return to the Yeovil +road that wanders up hill and down again into the charming vales of +the Somerset borderland by way of East Chinnock and West Coker. In the +latter large and rambling village is a church of note for the unique +horn glazing of the small windows in its turret. The Decorated +building has a squat tower out of all proportion to its size. The +manor dates from the fourteenth century and belongs to the Earl of +Devon. + +There is an alluring sound about the name of Yeovil; a name suggestive +of ancient stone-walled houses with roofs clothed in russet moss with, +perhaps, a hoary ruined keep on a guardian mound and a clear swift +moorland stream flowing between encircling hills. But the reality is +very different. Many years ago, when two great railways took the town +into their sphere of influence, factories and streets began to appear +as if by magic and just before the Great War a fresh impetus was given +to Yeovil by the development and extension of certain well-known local +firms. In fact the present appearance of the town is that of an +industrial centre of the smaller and pleasanter sort, but with the +inevitable accompaniment of mean houses and uninviting suburbs. The +main streets of the newer parts are spacious and clean, but are +reminiscent of an ordinary London suburb. + +The great glory of Yeovil is its church, the interior of which is one +of the most impressive in Somerset. Its lofty and graceful arches and +wonderful windows belong to a period when the Perpendicular style was +at its best and purest. The crypt beneath the chancel is of much +interest. The single central pillar supports a fine groined roof. The +church has few interesting details, but the magnificent lectern with +its undecipherable inscription and a couple of brasses will be +noticed. There are but few old houses in the centre of the town. + +[Ilustration: YEOVIL CHURCH.] + +The usual excuse of disastrous fires is offered, and one did occur in +1449 when 117 houses were destroyed, but more probably ruthlessness on +the part of eighteenth-century owners is responsible for this dearth. +In Middle Street is the George Inn, an old half-timbered house, and, +opposite, the still older "Castle," said to have been a chantry house. +The Woborne Almshouses were founded about 1476, but no portion of the +early buildings remain. + +One of the most delightful views in South Somerset is that from +Summerhouse Hill, about half a mile away; another, magnificent in its +extent, can be had from the Mudford road that runs in a north-easterly +direction. The great central plain is spread before one with distant +Glastonbury Tor on the horizon. The environs of Yeovil are delightful. +One of the best short excursions is to East Coker, the birthplace of +William Dampier, two miles to the south. The church and Court are +beautifully placed above the old village and a picturesque group of +almshouses line the upward way to them. + +Five miles north of Yeovil on the Fosse Way, where a branch road +leaves the ancient Bath-Exeter highway for Dorchester, stands the old +Roman town of Ilchester, or Ivelchester. An unimportant one at that, +for the Romans made but little attempt to build in the wild and remote +country that was to be the home of an obscure Saxon tribe--the +Somersetas. Ilchester to-day is strangely uninteresting and we have to +depend entirely upon the imagination for even a plan of the Roman +town, of which no vestiges remain. Possibly these disappeared during +the Civil War when the town was fortified. The church has an octagonal +tower with the rare feature that its sides are the same form from base +to parapet. The older portions of the building are Early English, but +it has suffered from a good deal of pulling about. This is the only +one remaining of the five churches of which Ilchester could once +boast. A much maltreated market cross stands in the main street with a +sundial stuck on the summit of its shaft. Otherwise there is little to +detain the stranger. Roger Bacon, philosopher and scientist, was a +native of the town or immediate neighbourhood. At Tintinhull, two +miles to the south-west, are some fine old houses, ancient stocks, and +an Early English church of much interest. The church's tower is on the +north side, an unusual position. Bench-ends, brasses and ancient tiles +are among the objects likely to interest the visitor of antiquarian +tastes. Montacute, still farther south and on the road from South +Petherton to Yeovil, should be visited if possible. Here is a +beautiful Elizabethan house, the seat of the Phelipses. Its east front +is decorated with an imposing row of heroic statues; its west front is +almost as magnificent. Taken altogether it is perhaps the grandest +Tudor house in the county. The interior well bears out the sumptuous +appearance of the great pile from the outside. A great gallery, one +hundred and eighty feet long, extends through the whole length of the +building, and the hall is equally grand. + +[Illustration: MONTACUTE.] + +This great house replaces a one-time Cluniac monastery founded in +1102, though in 1407 the establishment abandoned the foreign rule of +Cluny and became an ordinary English Priory. All that is left of the +ancient buildings is a beautiful gateway with turrets and oriels +dating from the fifteenth century. St. Michael's Hill, or "Mons +Acutus," is remarkably like Glastonbury in outline, and is the scene +of a wonderful legend. Here was found the sacred Rood that was +eventually taken in the days of Canute to distant Waltham in Essex, +where afterwards there arose the great Abbey of the Holy Cross. + +Montacute Church is a building that has seen much legitimate +"tinkering," not of the restorer's brand but of the sort that delights +the antiquary. The earliest work is very early Norman. This is seen in +the chancel arch and then we come down through the various stages of +architectural history--Early English transepts, a Decorated window on +the south side and, what is almost inevitable for Somerset, the +Perpendicular nave. The tower is also "Somerset," and very dignified +and beautiful. + +From the hill of Hamdon near by we obtain one of those exquisite +prospects of this English countryside that few can look upon unmoved. +The beautiful hills of Somerset and Dorset, fading into the gentlest +tones of soft purple and blue, ring the horizon on every side. +Alfred's tower, built to commemorate the victory over the Danes, is +far away on the Wiltshire border, but appears startlingly close for +some rare moments when winter rain is near. Away to the west are the +distant Quantocks and the hills of "dear Dorset," fold after fold, in +the south. Close under the steep northern face of Hamdon is Stoke, +with a quaint, and delightful inn known as the "Fleur de Lis," and a +beautiful old church with a Norman tympanum, an elaborate chancel arch +of the same date, and many other gracious and interesting details. If +the direct road is taken from Montacute to Yeovil we pass through +Preston Pucknell with its small and over-restored Decorated church. Of +more interest is the fine tithe-barn close by, and a beautiful old +medieval house with delightful porch and elaborate chimney. + +Three miles north-east of Yeovil is the interesting church and manor +house at Trent. In the latter the fugitive Charles II was hidden, and +his hiding-place can still be seen. The stone spire of the church is a +rare feature hereabouts and within will be found many interesting +items, including the finely carved screen and bench ends, some bearing +the words "Ave Maria"; the pulpit carved with scenes from the life of +Christ and the chantry chapel and tombs, one of Sir Roger Wyke, +_temp_. Edward III. The very beautiful churchyard contains an old +chantry house built in the reign of Henry VI and the shaft and steps +of an ancient cross. + +About four miles south-east of Yeovil is the village of Yetminster, +with a station on the Weymouth line of the Great Western Railway. To +reach it we may pass through the village of Bradford Abbas, where the +abbots of Sherborne once had a residence. The moated house still +exists as Wyke Farm. A short distance away is a tithe-barn of noble +proportions. The church has one of the finest towers in Dorset (for +here we are again across the border). The west front is remarkable for +its canopied niches. Within is a stone screen and beautifully panelled +roof. Yetminster churchyard is worth the climb thither for the sake of +the lovely view without the added attraction of the beautiful +Perpendicular church, restored about thirty years ago. Within will be +noticed some ancient wooden benches with the Tudor badge at their +ends, spared by the restorer, who has here done his work carefully and +well. On the chancel arch may be seen the gaps left in the stonework +where the old wooden screen once stood, also the stone brackets for +the rood-beam. The ancient colouring, mellowed and softened by long +time, still remains on the beams of the roof. The fine west window +will be noticed and also other windows, small and curiously placed. +The church has a north door, possibly a "Devil's Door," through which +the exorcised spirit passed at the baptismal service. About two miles +south-east of Yetminster is the small village of Leigh, with a +sixteenth-century church and the remains of two ancient crosses. In +the vicinity is a remarkable "maze" or prehistoric "Troy Town." + +The Weymouth Railway could be taken from Yeovil to Evershot, nine +miles to the south, among the beautiful hills and valleys of what may +be described, for want of a better name, as the Melbury Downs. The +ridges of these North Dorset highlands are traversed to a large extent +by good roads from which most delightful views may be had, delightful +not only for their great extent but for the exquisite near peeps at +the remote and lost villages and hamlets that sleep in their deep +combes. The western extremity of this particular group of hills is +Cheddington, about three miles from Beaminster, where is, perhaps, the +most extensive view in Dorset. Evershot village is a mile and a half +to the west of the station and within a few minutes' walk of St. +John's Spring, the source of the Frome. The rebuilt church contains an +interesting brass to William Grey (1524), rector, and depicts him in +pre-reformation vestments holding the sacred elements in his raised +hands. A road leads north through the lovely glades of Melbury Park, +Lord Ilchester's seat, to Melbury Sampford. Melbury House is of three +main periods--fifteenth century in the older and hidden portions, +sixteenth century as regards the main building erected by Sir Giles +Strangeways, and late seventeenth century when the Corinthian pillars +were added to the east front. The beautiful sheets of water--feeders +of the Yeo (for we have crossed the "divide") lend an added grace to a +park rich with groves of magnificent trees. One of them, called "Billy +Wilkins," is a famous oak, thirty-seven feet in girth. Sampford church +is a cruciform Decorated building with some interesting monuments to +the Strangeways, the family of Lord Ilchester. The late peer was the +donor of the beautiful modern reredos, and the decoration of the +chancel is due to him. Melbury Bubb stands a mile or more to the east +under the shadow of the imposing Bubb Down. Its diminutive church has +been much restored and has little of interest, except some ancient +glass that has been left in the windows. A glorious walk could be +taken eastwards by lonely little Batcombe with its marvellous legends +of "Conjuring Minterne," whose grave is in the churchyard. Thence the +solitary hill-way goes by the mysterious stone called "Cross in Hand" +along the tops of the hills past High Stoy (860 feet), an outstanding +bastion, Ridge Hill and Buckland Newton. + +[Illustration: BATCOMBE.] + +The short five miles of road from Yeovil to Sherborne passes over the +curiously named Babylon Hill. A proposal was made at an Academy dinner +a short time ago to label the small towns and villages of Britain with +artistic signs giving the name of the place and denoting pictorially +or otherwise its leading characteristic. The idea is a good one, +though it is capable of being carried to extreme lengths and abused. +In wandering over the English countryside one is often at a loss, even +with a good map in the pocket, to know the name of the hamlet or +village one is entering. It is insulting to the villager and +humiliating to oneself to ask "What place is this?" The well-known +black and yellow signs of the Automobile Association label such +villages as stand on a high road. But the obscure by-way hamlet, +perhaps of more interest, is quite incognito. However, Babylon Hill is +clearly marked on the map if not on the roadside, and we proceed +through a pleasant country quite unlike the district we have just +traversed and partaking more of the character of Leicester and the +"Loamshire" of the novelist than of Somerset. The beautiful Abbey +Church of Sherborne, the town of the "Scir bourn" or Yeo, is not well +seen from the approach on the west, for we are on the wrong side of +the long slope on which it is built. The town itself is attractive and +pleasant, and has several old and beautiful houses to delight the +traveller, but every other interest is dwarfed by its magnificent +Abbey. Originally founded as the Cathedral of the see of Sherborne in +705, it had as its first bishop the great and learned Aldhelm. At this +time the then city was the capital of the new western extension of +Wessex and an important and strategic stronghold in the long and +bitter struggle with the Danes. The earlier bishops were not only +priests but soldiers, and seem to have acquitted themselves well as +leaders in battle and generals in council in the many engagements that +took place between the Channel and the Severn. More than one fell +fighting and one, Bishop Ealhstan, totally defeated the invaders and +did much to keep Wessex for the English. A successor of +his--Asser--reverted to the tradition of learning established by the +first of the Saxon prelates; he was the contemporary of Alfred, and to +him we owe a great deal of our knowledge of the King. During this +period the trade and industry of the city (it had an important +manufactory of cloth) had grown steadily with its rise as a military +and ecclesiastical centre, but when the see was removed to Old Sarum +in 1075, Sherborne received a blow from which it never recovered. + +In some respects there is a similarity between the Abbey of Sherborne +and the Cathedral at Winchester. In certain portions of each building +the same extraordinary transformation has taken place in the same +interesting way. The original heavy Norman piers of the nave have been +pared and carved into the soaring lines and panel work of the +Perpendicular period. This alteration was carried out here by Abbot +Ramsam about the year 1500. In the north transept is the organ, a fine +and famous instrument. The ceiling of the south transept was presented +by the last Earl of Bristol and is composed of black Irish oak. The +Earl's monument with his effigy and that of his two wives, stands +beneath. There will be noticed on the south wall a memorial to two +children, the offspring of Lord Digby; the lines of the epitaph were +written by Pope. The window above is a modern work by Pugin. On the +east of this transept is the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. The font is +singular if, as is stated, it was formerly ornamented with brass +plates. They are said to have been fixed within the quatrefoils on +five sides, the remaining three being plain. + +The magnificent choir shows the essential beauty of Perpendicular--the +aspiring line--at its very best. The vaulting seems to carry the +upward flow, as it were, of the stonework to the roof centre without +any loss of the soaring effect. The beautiful windows are all modern +but they are entirely in keeping with the old work. The stalls are +original fifteenth-century carving and the miserere seats and canopies +above should be particularly noticed. The reredos contains two modern +designs in alto-relievo. A peculiar russet tint in the stonework near +the roof is said to have been occasioned by a fire which took place +during one of the many quarrels between the monastery and the town, +due mostly to a difference of opinion as to the ownership of the nave. +An arrow with a fiery tail, shot by one of the clergy of the town +church, lodged in the temporary thatched roof of the new choir and +caused the fire which did much damage, even melting the bells in the +tower. + +Behind the high altar, let into the floor of the old processional +path, is a brass thus inscribed: + + NEAR THIS SPOT WERE INTERRED + THE MORTAL REMAINS OF + ETHELBALD AND ETHELBERT HIS BROTHER + EACH OF WHOM IN TURN SUCCEEDED TO THE + THRONE OF ETHELWOULF THIER FATHER KING OF THE + WEST SAXONS AND WERE SUCCEEDED IN THE KINGDOM + BY THIER YOUNGEST BROTHER ALFRED THE GREAT. + +In the beautiful Wickham Chapel is the monument to Sir John Horsey, +the temporary owner of the Abbey at the Dissolution. He at once sold +the church to the town for one hundred marks, the equivalent then of +about seventy pounds. St. Katharine's, sometimes called the Leweston +Chapel, contains the Renaissance tomb of John Leweston and his wife. +Bishop Roger's Chapel is on the north of the choir. This is Early +English so far as the walls actually belonging to the chapel are +concerned. It contains the battered effigy of Abbot Clement (1163) and +some others unknown. + +Perhaps the most interesting item in the great church is the doorway +on the north side of the west wall, which is said to be an actual +portion of the ancient Saxon cathedral of St. Aldhelm. The extension +of the Abbey westwards of this wall was known as Alhalowes and was the +town church until the break-up of the monastery rendered it +superfluous. It had a tower of its own in which the secular priests +caused a bell to be rung during the devotions of the monks, to the +great annoyance of the latter. The Chapel of Our Lady of Bow and the +portion of the Lady Chapel itself that escaped demolition at the +Dissolution was at that time separated from the Abbey and made part of +the adjoining school buildings. The great tower is one hundred feet in +height and holds a peal of eight bells with two extra--the sanctus and +the fire-bell. The latter is inscribed: + + LORD, QUENCH THIS FURIOUS FLAME + ARISE, RUN. HELP. PUT OUT THE SAME. + +The tenor bell was given by Cardinal Wolsey, once rector of Limington, +eight miles away in Somersetshire, and recast in 1670. Around the rim +runs the following: + + BY WOOLSEY'S GIFT, I MEASURE TIME FOR ALL, + TO MIRTH, TO GRIEF, TO CHURCH, I SERVE TO CALL. + +The school referred to above is believed to date back to the year 705, +that of the foundation of the Cathedral. Those portions of the +monastery buildings that had fallen into private ownership were handed +over to the school authorities in the middle of the last century. They +comprise the Abbot's Hall, Guest Hall, Kitchen and Abbot's apartments. +The Abbey Conduit at the end of Chepe Street dates back to 1360. It is +a charming survival with groined stone roof and open arcade around, +and it gives a very picturesque and special character to this end of +the street. + +The Hospital of SS. John Baptist and John Evangelist was founded on +the site of a much older establishment by Henry VI in 1437. The modern +buildings were erected in 1866. The Chapel, Governor's Room, and some +of the ancient dormitories remain. A fine screen divides the chapel +from the ante-chapel and some beautiful and ancient glass still exists +in the south window. A tryptych, depicting the miracles, that once +stood in the chapel, may be seen in the Governor's Room. + +[Illustration: SHERBORNE CASTLE.] + +During the Civil War Sherborne decided for the king, and consequently +the old castle, which stood beyond the suburb of Castleton, was +dismantled, and its ruins used for building the present castle, the +home of the Digbys. The original building was erected by Roger of Caen +and had seen some history from the time of its siege in 1139 by King +Stephen. It became for a short period the home of Sir Walter Raleigh. +In the fine park the infant Yeo is dammed and broadened into a +graceful sheet of water. Here also is the eminence known as Jerusalem +Hill and the seat where Raleigh is said to have sat smoking to be +discovered by a scared retainer, who threw a pot of ale over his +master, thinking him on fire. Pope was for a time the guest of one of +his patrons--Lord Digby; and the Prince of Orange stayed here on his +progress from Devon to London. The Gate-house of the old Castle is a +picturesque ruin, Norman in style with inserted Perpendicular windows. + +Sherborne is a pleasant and healthy town with many quaint nooks other +than the immediate precincts of the Abbey. Although perhaps not as +central as Yeovil for the exploration of the more interesting villages +of South Somerset, it is a good place in which to stay for a few days +or even longer. Perhaps the most lasting impression made by the town +will be that of hush and silence; not that it is stagnant or utterly +decayed, but even the main streets are saturated with the grave air of +a cathedral close, a fitting atmosphere for a place which retired from +active city life over eight hundred years ago. + +An interesting excursion may be made to Cadbury Castle, five miles +north of Sherborne. A round of about fifteen miles, to include the +villages of Marston Magna, West and Queen's Camel, Sparkford (with a +station on the Great Western) North and South Cadbury, Sutton Montis +and Sandford Orcas, would take the explorer through a delightful +countryside dotted with beautiful old houses--some of them fallen from +high estate to the status of comfortable and roomy farmhouse, but +usually with a fabric well cared for--and quaint and ancient churches. +Of these North Cadbury, Marston and Sandford claim the most attention. +The first is a large and dignified Perpendicular building with finely +carved tabernacles in the chancel and several interesting features, +including a curious brass to Lady Magdalen Hastings. Close by is a +beautiful old manor house. Marston is much older than the generality +of Somerset churches and has the scanty remnants of "herring-bone" +work in the outside wall of the chancel. At Sandford is a delightful +manor house with the loveliest of terraces and gardens and an old +gate-house with an upper chamber. The interesting church contains a +curious tablet depicting a knight in white armour and two ladies, one +holding a skull. This is Sir William Knoyl and his two wives, the one +with the skull being his first. The goal of the journey, Cadbury +Castle, is, according to strong local tradition, no less a spot than +Camelot, the palace and castle of the king of romance and hero of the +British--Arthur. It will be remembered that to Camelot came the sword +Excalibur "that was as the light of many candles." In the moonlight, +the twelve knights, led by their prince, ride round the hill on horses +shod with silver and then away through the trees to Glastonbury. As +they disappear, the thin notes of a silver trumpet came back on the +midnight air. Some are of opinion that the hill is hollow, and that +Arthur and his company sleep within, awaiting the day of impending +doom for Britain. Then they will break the chains of slumber and come +to her aid. Some say that of late the Prince and his followers _did_ +come forth. Every intelligent native for miles round knows that the +hill is indeed hollow, for this can be proved by calling to your +companion through the opening of Arthur's Well high on the eastern +face of the hill while he stands at St. Anne's Well away on the other +side. Another legend has it that the hill is not full of men but of +gold, the treasure house of the fairies, but this is a belief that +will only appeal to grosser minds. + +The marvellous earthworks that crown the hill were undoubtedly +prehistoric in their origin and, like the walls of Maiden Castle, they +have been faced at a later date with stone. There are four lines of +wall and ditch, and they enclose an area of nearly twenty acres. Old +Leland becomes enraptured at the sight: "Good God! what vast ditches! +what high ramparts! what precipices are here!" It will be seen at a +glance how well adapted this eminence was for defence. There is +nothing to the north but the great expanse of the Somerset plain +broken by the isolated Glastonbury Tor. In the wide and beautiful view +from the earthworks the Mendip range runs away toward the Severn Sea +on the right; to the left front are the broken summits of the +Quantocks and to the extreme left the beautiful hills of the +Somerset-Dorset borderland. + +The Shaftesbury road passes through pleasant country, with no +particular features but with occasional good views, to Milborne Port, +not quite three miles to the east. A few new buildings on the +outskirts of the little town have failed to rob it of its medieval +air. It can actually boast of a Norman guildhall, or at least the +building has a doorway of that period, which is near enough. The poor +battered and despoiled remains of a market cross stand in the centre +of the street. This mere village once sent two members to Westminster, +and its former importance as a market town and county centre is shown +by its magnificent and ancient church. Although the nave has been +rebuilt and the chancel is not the most perfect form of Perpendicular, +the centre of the church will repay scrutiny, for it is of peculiarly +solid and majestic appearance. It is even thought by some authorities +to be Saxon. The Norman details to be noticed include the fine south +door, the arches of the transepts and the windows in the south arm. +The old font and the piscina in the wall of the nave, as well as other +piscina in the chancel, are noteworthy. + +The Shaftesbury road goes by the parklands and early +eighteenth-century mansion of Venn, the seat of the Medlicotts, and +then bears south-east towards the village of Caundle Purse. There are +several Caundles in this part of Dorset, but "Purse" is the only one +of much interest. It lies just off the road to the right, under the +wooded Henover Hill. Its sixteenth-century manor house bears the name +of "King John's House," as do several others over the length and +breadth of England. It is probable that a hunting lodge used by the +Angevin kings once stood hereabouts, as this countryside was in their +time the great forest of the White Hart. The church is small and +over-restored, but it contains a few interesting brasses. + +The main road soon forks, the right-hand branch winding over a +two-mile stretch of tableland and then dropping to Stalbridge. The +main route goes directly over Henstridge Down and descends the hill to +the large village of Henstridge on a main cross-country road and with +a station on the Somerset and Dorset Railway, making it a convenient +point from which to take two interesting side excursions--northwards +to the hill-country beyond Wincanton and south to the upper valley of +the Stour. The old Virginia Inn at the cross roads claims to be the +actual scene of the "quenching" of Sir Walter Raleigh. Henstridge +church is much restored, or rather, rebuilt, but still contains the +fine canopied altar tomb of William Carent and his wife. + +Proceeding northwards first we may take the road by Templecombe that +was once a preceptory of the Knights Templars and now has a station on +the main line of the South Western Railway, to Wincanton, a small +market town on the Cale ("Wyndcaleton") at the head of the Vale of +Blackmore. Though of high antiquity it does not seem to have had much +place in history, apart from its relation to Sherborne in the Civil +War, when it became a base for operations against the Royalist +garrison there. An old house in South Street is pointed out as the +lodging of the Prince of Orange on his journey towards London. A sharp +fight took place between his followers and a small body of Stuart +cavalry, resulting in the utter rout of the latter. A poor and +uninteresting old church has been altered out of all likeness to the +original (much to the advantage of the building) and there is very +little of antiquity in the town. + +The station next to Wincanton is Cole, within easy reach of the old +towns of Castle Cary and Bruton. A public conveyance meets the trains +for the latter, a little over a mile away. The situation of Bruton, in +the picturesque valley of the Brue between Creech and Redlynch Hills, +is extremely pleasant. A goodly number of ancient houses survive and +the church, at one time a minster, is of much beauty and interest. Its +west tower is of great splendour and its nave of the stateliest +Perpendicular. The contrast of the chancel to the rest of the building +is more peculiar than pleasing. At the Dissolution the monks' choir +seems to have been allowed to fall into ruin, and the present +restoration was made in 1743 in a debased classic style. Effigies of +Sir Maurice Berkeley, Constable of the Tower (1585), and his wives are +in a recess. He became the owner of the abbey after the Dissolution. A +portion of a medieval cope is shown in the nave and two chained books +(Erasmus and Jewel). The ancient tomb at the west door is that of +Gilbert, first Abbot after the status of the Priory was raised (1510). +The small north tower, an uncommon feature, is a relic of the older +portion of the Priory, originally founded by William de Mohun in 1142. +All that remains of the conventual buildings are a columbarium or +stone dove-cote on a hillock just outside the town and the Abbey +Court-house on the south side of High Street. On the front will be +seen the arms of de Mohun and the initials of Prior Henton. + +[Illustration: BRUTON BOW.] + +Close by Bruton Bow, an extremely picturesque medieval bridge over the +Brue, is the school founded by Fitz-James, Bishop of London. It was +suppressed with the abbey and refounded by Edward VI. The Sexey +Hospital was established by a native of Bruton who was penniless when +he left the town and rose to be Auditor of the Household to Queen +Elizabeth and James I. The beautiful Hall-chapel is panelled in black +oak, and the buildings make a quaint and pleasing picture. + +Castle Cary, nearly three miles west of Cole station, does not fulfil +the expectations raised by its name. Until 1890 the very site of the +castle had been lost. The lines of the keep are now marked by a row of +pillars in a meadow at the foot of Lodge Hill. A fortress of the +Lovells, it was attacked and taken by Stephen. Soon afterwards it +seems to have been dismantled or destroyed. The church is well placed +on an eminence but has been practically rebuilt and is of little +interest. + +Ditcheat and Evercreech, respectively two and five miles to the north, +are beautiful and interesting places. The latter has a church with one +of the most glorious towers in Somerset, but here again we are leaving +our arbitrary boundary and wandering too far afield. The road from +Cary to Wincanton runs through Bratton Seymour and keeps to the summit +of a ridge of low hills, commanding here and there lovely views, +especially near "Jack White's Gibbett" at the cross roads above +Bratton. The Bruton-Wincanton road is even more interesting, as it +passes within a short distance of Stavordale Priory. The church, which +is still intact, and also a good portion of the conventual buildings, +are exquisitely situated under the great hill of Penselwood, part of +the line of hills that runs from above Bourton almost to Longleat and +that forms the high boundary of Somerset and Wiltshire. The ridge is +crowned by a number of entrenchments, and prehistoric remains are +frequent. Ballands Castle and Blacklough Castle are succeeded by Jack +Straw's Castle close to "Alfred's Tower" on Kingsettle Hill. This +tower was built by a Mr. Hoare in 1766 and commemorates the historic +spot where in 879 the cross was raised against the pagan Dane. + + ALFRED THE GREAT A.D. 879 + ON THIS SUMMIT ERECTED HIS STANDARD AGAINST DANISH INVADERS + TO HIM WE OWE THE ORIGIN OF JURIES AND THE CREATION OF A NAVAL FORCE + ALFRED, THE LIGHT OF THE BENIGHTED AGE + WAS A PHILOSOPHER AND A CHRISTIAN + THE FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE + AND THE FOUNDER OF + THE ENGLISH MONARCHY AND LIBERTIES. + +The eye ranges over a magnificent expanse of western England. If the +tower is ascended one may stand just a thousand feet above the sea. +The door is usually locked, but the key may be obtained from a lodge +near by, down the slope to the east. This walk can with profit be +extended to Long Knoll (945 feet) over two miles north-east; beyond is +Maiden Bradley, an interesting village not far from the confines of +Longleat, the famous and palatial seat of the Marquis of Bath; but +this country must be left for another chapter. + +After this long divergence a return must be made to Henstridge, where +a walk of less than two miles takes one over the Dorset border to +Stalbridge, a sleepy old town that is not troubled by the fact that it +has a station on the Somerset and Dorset Railway and that fast +expresses from the north roar down the Blackmore Vale to Bournemouth +and the sea. The church will not detain the visitor, for it was +rebuilt in 1878. The old cross on four steps in the centre of High +Street, with its rough carvings, is of more interest. It dates from +about 1350. Above the town on a hillside is the mansion at one time +inhabited by Sir James Thornhill, and not far away an obelisk erected +by the painter in honour of his patron George II, which used to be +known as "Thornhill Spire." + +The Blandford high-road makes a wide loop to the south-west by +Lydlynch. A shorter route following the line of the railway takes us +in less than five miles to Sturminster Newton, where the Blackmore +Vale ends and the Stour flows in a narrow trough between low hills. + +[Illustration: MARNHULL.] + +Sturminster is a small and ancient town on the eastern bank of the +Stour. "Newton" is on the west side of the river and looks as old as +its neighbour. The two are connected by a medieval bridge of six +arches. Sturminster Church was almost entirely rebuilt, except for the +tower, nearly a hundred years ago. Newton Castle was once a stronghold +of the Kings of Wessex. A few scanty remnants of the fortress can +still be seen close to the road and river. A road to the north passes +by Hinton St. Mary, with a rebuilt church high up on a breezy hill, +and reaches Marnhull, the "Marlott" of Thomas Hardy. The Early English +church has some remains of an early Norman building and some later +insertions. The tower is a landmark for many miles around. A careful +restoration some years ago brought to light several interesting +details that had been hidden for some two hundred years or more; +including a stairs to the rood-loft, a squint, and the piscina. The +alabaster effigies on a cenotaph are believed to represent Lord Bindon +and his wives (about 1450). The following remarkable epitaph on a +former clerk is said to have been written by his rector: + + HERE UNDER THIS STONE + LIE RUTH AND OLD JOHN + WHO SMOKED ALL HIS LIFE + AND SO DID HIS WIFE: + AND NOW THERES NO DOUBT + BUT THEIR PIPES ARE BOTH OUT + BE IT SAID WITHOUT JOKE + THAT LIFE IS BUT SMOKE; + THOUGH YOU LIVE TO FORESCORE + TIS A WHIFF AND NO MORE. + +A short distance to the north, through the hamlet of Flanders, is the +fine sixteenth-century mansion called Nash Court. + +An alternative road to the Blandford highway follows the river and +rail through Shillingstone, an interesting village that had a year or +two since (and may still have) a maypole; a beautiful village cross; +and a much restored Norman and Early English church containing a +pulpit presented by a Londoner who sought sanctuary from the great +plague. The road then goes by Broad Oak and over Sturminster Common to +Okeford Fitzpaine, Banbury Hill Camp being passed on the right about +half way. Okeford has a church interesting to the antiquary. It has a +Decorated west window that is said to have been turned inside out. +Part of the ancient screen and rood-loft still remain, together with a +piscina in the chancel. It is said that the upper part of the pulpit +was at one time used as a font. The old font, restored, for many years +formed part of the wall of the churchyard. The road continues up the +long tongue of Okeford Hill with wide retrospective views. At the +summit a by-way turns to the right along the ridge, which gradually +increases in height until it reaches its summit three miles away at +Bulbarrow Hill (902 feet) just above Rawlsbury Camp. The magnificent +view up Blackmore Vale and northwestwards toward Yeovil is worth the +journey to see. Rawlsbury is a prehistoric circular entrenchment with +a double wall and ditch. Stoke Wake village is just below and +Mappowder is about two miles away by the fields, but much farther by +road. This last is an old-world hamlet eight miles from a railway, +where curfew is still rung in the winter. In the church is an +interesting miniature effigy that probably marks the shrine of a +crusader's heart. + +Continuing over Okeford Hill the road presently drops to Turnworth +House at the head of a long narrow valley leading down to a string of +"Winterborne" villages (or more correctly--Winter_bourne_). The +situation of the mansion and village is very beautiful and very +lonely. Few seem to wish to brave the long ascent of the hill and one +can pass from Okeford to Turnworth many times without meeting a +solitary wayfarer. Turnworth Church is Early English, rebuilt on the +exact lines of the old fabric and retaining the ancient tower. + +The first of the Winterbournes--Strickland, lies a long mile beyond +Hedgend Farm, where we turn sharp to the left and traverse a very +lonely road, sometimes between close woods and rarely in sight of +human habitation until the drop to the Stour brings us to Blandford +Forum, a pleasant, bright and clean town built within a wide loop of +the river that here begins to assume the dignity of a navigable +stream, crawling lazily among the water meadows, with back-waters and +cuts that bring to mind certain sections of the Upper Thames. The two +fine thoroughfares--Salisbury and East Streets--which meet in the wide +market place are lined with buildings, dating from 1732 or later, for +in 1731 a great fire, the last of a series, destroyed almost the whole +of the town and its suburbs. The old town pump, now a drinking +fountain, records that it was "humbly erected ... in grateful +Acknowledgement of the Divine Mercy, That has since raised this Town, +Like the Phoenix from its Ashes, to its present flourishing and +beautiful State." Several lives were lost in this disaster and the +great church of SS. Peter and Paul perished with everything that +previous fires had spared. The present erection is well enough as a +specimen of the Classic Renaissance, but need not detain us. At one +time Blandford was a town of various industries, from lace making to +glass painting, but it is now purely an agricultural centre. + +[Illustration: BLANDFORD.] + +Blandford St. Mary is the suburb on the west side of the Stour. The +Perpendicular church has a tower and chancel belonging to a much +earlier period. A former rector was an ancestor of the great Pitt, and +one of the family--"Governor" Pitt, is buried in the north aisle. The +family lived at Down House on the hills to the westward. A more +ancient family, the d'Amories, lived at Damory Court near the town. +The famous Damory's Oak is no more. Its hollow trunk served as shelter +for a whole family who were rendered homeless by the great fire. An +old barn not far from the Court is said to have been a chapel +dedicated to St. Leonard; it still retains its ecclesiastical doors +and windows. + +[Illustration: MILTON ABBEY.] + +The seven miles of undulating and dusty road westwards from Blandford, +that we have partly traversed from Winterbourne Strickland, leads to +Milton Abbas, a charming village surrounded by verdured hills and deep +leafy combes. Here is the famous Abbey founded by King Athelstan for +Benedictines. The monks' refectory, all that remains of the conventual +buildings, indicates the former splendour of the establishment. The +abbey church, built in the twelfth century, was destroyed during a +thunderstorm after standing for about two hundred years; the present +building is therefore a study in Decorated and Perpendicular styles. +It is, after Sherborne and Wimborne, the finest church in Dorset. The +pinnacled tower is much admired, but the shortness of the building +detracts from its effectiveness. It is not certain that the church +ever had a nave, though the omission seems improbable. The interior is +usually shown on Thursdays, when the grounds of the modern "Abbey" are +open to the public. Within the church the fifteenth-century reredos, +the sedilia and stalls, and the pre-Reformation tabernacle for +reserving the consecrated elements (a very rare feature) should be +noticed. Two ancient paintings of unknown age, probably dating from +the early fifteenth century, and several tombs, complete the list of +interesting items. The ancient market town that once surrounded the +Abbey was swept away when the mansion was erected in 1780, so that the +present village is of the "model" variety and was built by the first +Earl of Dorchester soon after his purchase of the property over one +hundred and fifty years ago. Church, almshouses and inn, all date from +the same period. Time has softened the formality of the plan, and +Milton is now a pleasant old-world place enough, somnolent and rarely +visited by the stray tourist, but well worthy of his attention. The +church contains a Purbeck marble font from the abbey, but otherwise is +as uninteresting as one might expect from its appearance. Milton was +originally Middletown from its position in the centre of Dorset. + +Three miles down stream from Blandford, near Spettisbury, is the +earthwork called Crawford Castle. An ancient bridge of nine arches +here crosses the Stour to Tarrant Crawford, where was once the Abbey +of a Cistercian nunnery. Scanty traces of the buildings remain in the +vicinity of the early English church. This village is the first of a +long series of "Tarrants" that run up into the remote highlands of +Cranborne Chase. Buzbury Rings is the name of another prehistoric +entrenchment north of the village; it is on the route of an ancient +trackway which runs in a direction that would seem to link Maiden +Castle, near Dorchester, with the distant mysteries of Salisbury +Plain. + +For the traveller who has the time to explore the Tarrant villages a +delightful journey is in store. Although there is nothing among them +of surpassing interest, the twelve or fifteen-mile ramble would be a +further revelation of the unspoilt character and quiet beauty of this +corner of Dorset. Pimperne village, on the Blandford-Salisbury road, +where there is a ruined cross on the village green and a rebuilt +church still retaining its old Norman door, is on the direct way to +Tarrant Hinton, just over four miles from Blandford. Here a lane turns +right and left following the Tarrant-brook that gives its name to the +seven hamlets upon its banks. Hinton Church is beautifully placed on +the left of this by-way which, on its way to Tarrant Gunville, +presently passes Eastbury Park, a mile to the north. Only a fragment +of the once famous house is left. The original building was a +magnificent erection comparable with Blenheim, and built by the same +architect--Vanburgh--for George Dodington, one time Lord of the +Admiralty. The property came to his descendant, the son of a Weymouth +apothecary named Bubb, who had married into the family. George Budd +Dodington became a _persona grata_ at court, lent money to Frederick +Prince of Wales, and finished, at a cost of L140,000, the building his +grandfather had commenced. This wealthy commoner, after a career at +Eastbury as a patron of the arts, was created Lord Melcombe possibly +for his services to the son of George II. At his death the property +passed to Earl Temple who was unable to afford the upkeep and +eventually the greater portion of this "folly" was demolished. The +lane that turns south from the Salisbury high-road goes through +Tarrants Launceston--Monckton--Rawston--Rushton and Keynston and +finishes at Tarrant Crawford that we have just seen is in the valley +of the Stour. + +Two roads run northwards to Shaftesbury from Blandford. One, the hill +way, leaves the Salisbury road half a mile from the town and, passing +another earthwork on Pimperne Down, makes for the lonely and beautiful +wooded highlands of Cranborne Chase, with but one village--Melbury +Abbas--in the long ten miles of rough and hilly road. The other, and +main, highway keeps to the river valley as far as Stourpaine, and then +bears round the base of Hod Hill, where there is a genuine Roman camp +inside an older trench. Large quantities of pottery and coins +belonging to the Roman period have been found here and are stored in +various collections. The way is now picturesquely beautiful as it goes +by Steepleton Iwerne, that has a little church lost behind the only +house in the hamlet, and Iwerne Courtenay. The last-named village is +off the main road to the left, but a by-path can be taken which leads +through it. The poorly designed Perpendicular church (with a Decorated +tower) was erected, or rather rebuilt, as late as 1641. The building +is famous as the prison for those guerilla fighters of the Civil War +called "Clubmen," who consisted mostly of better class farmers and +yeomanry. They had assembled on Hambledon Hill, the great entrenched +eminence to the west of the village, and seem to have been officered +by the country clergy. At least they appear to have greatly chagrined +Cromwell, although he spoke of them in a very disparaging way, and +deprecated their fighting qualities. Iwerne Minster, the next village +on the road, possesses a very fine cruciform church of dates varying +from Norman to Perpendicular, though the main structure is in the +later style. The stone spire is rare for Dorset. Iwerne Minster House +is a modern mansion in a very beautiful park and is the residence of +one of the Ismays of steamship fame. Sutton Waldron has a modern +church, but Fontmell Magna, two miles from Iwerne Minster, will +profitably detain the traveller. Here is an actual village maypole, +restored of course, and a beautiful Perpendicular church, also +restored, but unspoilt. The lofty tower forms an exquisite picture +with the mellow roofs of the village, the masses of foliage, and the +surrounding hills. The fine east window is modern and was presented by +Lord Wolverton, a one-time Liberal Whip, who was a predecessor of the +Ismays at Iwerne Minster House. The west window is to his memory. +Compton Abbas, a mile farther, has a rebuilt church. The charm of the +situation, between Elbury Hill and Fontmell Down, will be appreciated +as the traveller climbs up the slope beyond the village toward Melbury +Down (863 feet), another fine view-point. As the road descends to the +head waters of the Stour, glimpses of the old town on St. John's Hill +are occasionally obtained on the left front and, after another stiff +climb, we join the Salisbury road half a mile short of High Street. + +Shaftesbury is not only Shaston to Mr. Hardy, but to the natives also, +and, as will be seen presently, it had at least two other names in the +distant past. It is one of the most romantically placed inland towns +in England and would bear comparison with Bridgenorth, were it not +that the absence of a broad river flowing round the base of the hill +entirely alters the character of the situation. According to Geoffrey +of Monmouth it was founded by Hudibras, son of the builder of +Caerleon, and was called Mount Paladur (Palladour). It was without +doubt a Roman town, as the foundations of Roman buildings were +discovered while excavations were being made in High Street about +twenty years ago. Alfred rebuilt the town and founded St. Mary's +Abbey, with his daughter Aethelgiva as first abbess. The removal of +the body of the martyred Edward hither from Wareham, after his murder +at Corfe Castle, gave Shaftesbury a wide renown and caused thousands +of pilgrims to flock to the miracle-working shrine. For a time it was +known as Eadwardstow and the Abbess was a lady of as much secular +importance as a Baron. The magnificent Abbey Church was as imposing as +any we have left to us, but not a vestige remains except the +fragmentary wall on Gold's Hill and the foundations quite recently +uncovered and surveyed. One of the most interesting discoveries is +that of a twisted column in the floor of the crypt that is thought to +be part of the martyr's shrine. + +[Illustration: GOLD HILL, SHAFTESBURY.] + +Shaftesbury once had twelve churches, but one only of the old +structures remain. This is a fine Perpendicular building of simple +plan, chancel and nave being one. The tower is noble in its fine +proportions and the north side of the nave aisle is beautifully +ornamented and embattled. Holy Trinity and St. James' are practically +new churches, although rebuilt on the ground plans of the original +structures. On the west side of the first-named is a walk called "The +Park" that would make the fortune of any inland health resort, so +magnificent is the view and so glorious the air. The hill on which the +town is built rises abruptly from the valley in a steep escarpment, so +that the upper end of High Street is 700 feet above the sea. There is +therefore only one practicable entrance, by way of the Salisbury road. +Of actual ancient buildings there are few, although at one time there +was some imposing medieval architecture in this "city set on a hill," +if we may believe the old writers. It once boasted a castle besides +the Hostel of St. John Baptist and its many churches. It may have been +in this castle that Canute died in 1035. + +The station for Shaftesbury is Semley, just over the Wilts border, but +it is proposed to take the longer journey to Gillingham, nearly four +miles north-west, which is the next station on the South Western main +line. This was once the centre of a great Royal "Chase," disforested +by Charles I. It was also the historic scene of the Parliament called +to elect Edward Confessor to the throne, and at "Slaughter Gate," just +outside the town, Edmund Ironside saved Wessex for the Saxons by +defeating Canute in 1016. The foundations of "King's Court Palace," +between Ham Common and the railway, show the site of the hunting lodge +of Henry III and the Plantagenet kings. Gillingham church was spoilt +by a drastic early nineteenth-century restoration. The chancel belongs +to the Decorated period. There are several interesting tombs and a +memorial of a former vicar over the arch of the tower. He was +dispossessed as a "malignant" during the Commonwealth, but returned at +the Restoration. + +Gillingham cannot show many old houses and it has the appearance of a +busy and flourishing manufacturing town of the smaller sort without +any of the sordid accompaniments of such places. Its commercial +activities--pottery and tile-making, breweries and flour mills, linen +and silk manufacture, are mostly modern and have been fostered by the +exceptional railway facilities. In its Grammar school, founded in 1526 +by John Grice, it still has a first-rate educational establishment +with the added value of a notable past, for here was educated +Clarendon, the historian of the Great Rebellion, and several other +famous men. + +[Illustration: SALISBURY CATHEDRAL.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SALISBURY AND THE RIVERS + + +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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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." + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: STONEHENGE.] + + + + +CHAPTER X + +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 tree in a meadow below the hill. This tree was destroyed in a +blizzard during the winter of 1896. The Early English and +Perpendicular church is quaint and picturesque. On its tower will be +seen an inscription to Thomas Pitt and within, an ancient hour-glass +stand. The old Parsonage has the inscription over the entrance:-- + + PARVA SED APTA DOMINO + + 1675 + +The road now crosses the Avon bridge at a point where the western road +from Old Sarum once forded the river, and follows the valley to the +three Woodfords, Lower, Middle, and Upper. Just past the middle +village, in a loop of the Avon, is Heale House, now rebuilt. In the +old mansion Charles took refuge during his flight after Worcester. The +secret room in which he hid was preserved in the reconstruction. Lake, +a beautiful old Tudor House, lately burned, but now restored, stands +near the river bank south of Wilsford, through which village we pass +to reach West Amesbury, eight miles from Salisbury. The fine modern +mansion not far from Wilsford is the seat of Lord Glenconner. + +[Illustration: GATE-HOUSE, AMESBURY ABBEY.] + +Another route which keeps on the east bank of the Avon through a +sometimes rough by-way, starts from the Salisbury side of the Avon +bridge, close to Old Sarum, and passes through the hamlets of Little +Durnford, Salterton and Netton to Durnford, where there is a fine +church, partly Norman, with an imposing chancel arch and north and +south doors of this period. The remainder of the building is mainly +Early English. Some old stained glass in the Perpendicular windows of +the nave should be noticed and also the chained copy of Bishop Jewel's +_Apologie or Answer in Defense of the Churche of Englande_, dated +1571, in the chancel. The pulpit dates from the early seventeenth +century and is a well-designed piece of woodwork with carving of that +period. A brass to Edward Young and his family, two recessed tombs in +the south wall, a few scraps of wall painting, and the fine Norman +font with interlaced arches and sculptured pillars, are some of the +other interesting items in this old church. Ogbury Camp rises above +the village to the east; a lane to the north of it leads in rather +more than three miles to Amesbury. + +In the mist of legend and tradition that surrounds the towns and +hamlets of the Plain the origin of Amesbury is lost. The name is +supposed to be derived from Ambres-burh--the town of Aurelius +Ambrosius--a native British king with a latinized name who reigned +about the year 550. In the _Morte d'Arthur_ "Almesbury" is the +monastery to which Guinevere came for sanctuary, and romantic +tradition asserts that Sir Lancelot took the body of the dead Queen +thence to Glastonbury. We are on firmer ground when we come to the +time of the tenth-century house of Benedictine nuns dispersed by Henry +II for "that they did by their scandalous and irreligious behaviour +bring ill fame to Holy Church." It had been founded by a royal +criminal, that stony-hearted Elfrida of Corfe, who murdered her +stepson while he was a guest at her door. But very soon there was a +new house for women and men--a branch of a noted monastery at +Fontevrault in Anjou--of great splendour and prestige in which the +women took the lead. To this Priory came many royal and noble ladies, +including Eleanor of Brittany, granddaughter of Henry II and Eleanor +of England, widow of Henry III. The Priory met the same fate as most +others at the Dissolution and its actual site is uncertain. Protector +Somerset obtained possession of the property and afterwards a house +was built by Inigo Jones, most of which has disappeared in subsequent +additions and alterations. While the Queensberry family were in +possession the poet Gay was a guest here and wrote, in a sham cave or +grotto still existing on the river bank, the _Beggar's Opera_, that +satire on certain aspects of eighteenth-century life which, strangely +enough, became lately popular after a long period of comparative +oblivion. + +Amesbury Church once belonged to the Priory. Its appearance from the +outside gives the impression that it is unrestored. This is not the +case, however, for the drastic restoration and partial rebuilding has +taken place at various times. The architecture is Norman and Early +English with Decorated windows in the chancel. The double two-storied +chamber at the side of the north transept consists of a priest's room +with a chapel below. The grounds of the Priory at the back of the +church are very lovely, the river forming the boundary on one side. +Amesbury town is pleasant and even picturesque, and the Avon in its +immediate neighbourhood may be described as beautiful. It is the +nearest place to Stonehenge in which accommodation may be had and is +also a good centre for the exploration of the Plain. The western road +runs in the direction of Stonehenge. On the crown of the hill to the +right, just before reaching West Amesbury, the so-called "Vespasian's +Camp" is seen. This is undoubtedly a prehistoric earthwork. + +[Illustration: AMESBURY CHURCH.] + +The description of Salisbury Plain in the _Ingoldsby Legends_ is +hardly accurate now:-- + + "Not a shrub nor a tree, + Not a bush can we see, + No hedges, no ditches, no gates, no styles, + Much less a house or a cottage for miles." + +The usual accompaniment of the chalk--small "tufts" of foliage, that +become spinneys when close at hand, dot the surface of the great +plateau. Green, becoming yellow in the middle distance and toward the +horizon french-grey, are the prevailing hues of the Plain, but at +times when huge masses of cloud cast changing shadows on the short +sward beneath, the colours are kaleidoscopic in their bewildering +change. This immense table-land, from which all the chalk hills of +England take their eastward way, covers over three-fifths of Wiltshire +if we include that northern section usually called the Marlborough +Downs. + +We now approach the mysterious Stones that have caused more conjecture +and wonder than any work of man in these islands or in Europe and of +which more would-be descriptive rubbish has been written in a +highfalutin strain than of any other memorial of the past. Such +phrases as "majestic temple of our far-off ancestors," "stupendous +conception of a dead civilization" and the like, can only bring about +a feeling of profound disappointment when Stonehenge is actually seen. +To all who experience such disappointment the writer would strongly +urge a second or third pilgrimage. Come to the Stones on a gloomy day +in late October or early March when the surface of the great expanse +of the Plain reflects, as water would, the leaden lowering skies. Then +perhaps the tragic mystery of the place will fire the imagination as +no other scene the wide world over could. Stonehenge is unique +whichever way one looks at it. In its age, its uncouth savage +strength, and its secretiveness. That it will hold that secret to the +end of time, notwithstanding the clever and plausible guesses of +archaeologist and astronomer, is almost beyond any doubt, and it is +well that it should be so. + +The appearance of Stonehenge has been likened to a herd of elephant +browsing on the Plain. The simile is good and is particularly +applicable to its aspect from the Amesbury road--the least imposing of +the approaches. The straight white highway, and the fact that the +Stones are a little below the observer, detract very much from the +impressiveness of the scene. The usual accompaniments of a visit, a +noisy and chattering crowd of motorists, eager to rush round the +enclosure quickly, to purchase a packet of postcards and be off; the +hut for the sale of the cards, and the absurdly incongruous, but +(alas!) necessary, policeman, go far to spoil the visit for the more +reverent traveller. But if he will go a little way to the south and +watch the gaunt shapes against the sky for a time and thus realize +their utter remoteness from that stream of evanescent mortality +beneath, the unknown ages that they have stood here upon the lonely +waste, the dynasties, nay, the very races, that have come and +conquered and gone, and the almost certainty that the broad metalled +highway which passes close to them will in turn disappear and give +place, while they still stand, to the turf of the great green expanse +around; then the awe that surrounds Stonehenge will be felt and +understood. + +The early aspect of Stonehenge was far more elaborate than as we see +it to-day, and the avenues that led to the inner circles and the +smaller and outer rings have to a large extent disappeared. The stones +are enclosed in a circular earthwork 300 feet across. The outer circle +of trilithons, 100 feet in diameter, is composed of monoliths of +sandstone originally four feet apart and thirty in number. Inside this +circle is another of rough unhewn stones of varying shapes and sizes. +Within this again, forming a kind of "holy place," are two +ellipses--the outer of trilithons five in number and the inner of blue +stones of the same geological formation as the rough stones of the +outer circle. Of these there were originally nineteen. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF STONEHENGE (RESTORED).] + +Near the centre is the so-called "altar stone," over fifteen feet +long; in a line with this, through the opening of the ellipse, is the +"Friar's Heel," a monolith standing outside the circles. The larger +stones or "sarsens" are natural to the Marlborough Downs, but the +unhewn or "blue" stones are mysterious. They are composed of a kind of +igneous rock not found anywhere near Wiltshire. A suggestion by +Professor Judd is that they are ice-borne boulders accidentally +deposited on the Plain during the southward drift of the great ice +cap. One of the sarsen stones is stained with copper oxide, and this +fact has been taken to point to Stonehenge being erected somewhere in +the Bronze Age--that is, not longer ago than 2000 B.C. Excavations +about twenty years ago brought to light a number of stone tools, +fragments of pottery, coins and bones. Belonging to a long period of +time, the finds were inconclusive. It is quite possible that the ring +of rough blue stones were erected by a primitive race of stone men and +that a continuous tradition of sanctity clung to the spot until, in +the time of those heirs and successors of theirs who used bronze +weapons and were acquainted with the rudiments of engineering, the +imposing temple that we call Stonehenge came into being. + +It will be well at this point to make brief reference to the +interpretation placed on Stonehenge by various writers. Henry of +Huntingdon (1150) calls it Stanhenges, and terms it the second wonder +of England, but professes entire ignorance of its purpose and marvels +at the method of its construction. Geoffrey of Monmouth (1150) +ascribes its origin to the magic of Merlin who, at the instance of +Aurelius Ambrosius, directed the invasion of Ireland under Uther +Pendragon to obtain possession of the standing stones called the +"Giants' Dance at Killaraus." Victory being with the invaders, the +stones were taken and transported across the seas with the greatest +ease with Merlin's help, and placed on Salisbury Plain as a memorial +to the dead of Britain fallen in battle. Giraldus Cambrensis, Robert +of Gloucester and Leland all give a similar explanation. About 1550, +in Speed's _History of Britain_ and Stow's _Annals_, Merlin and the +invasion of Ireland are dropped and sole credit given to Ambrosius for +the erection. Thomas Fuller (1645) ridicules tradition and consider +the stones to be artificial and probably made of sand (!) on the spot. +Inigo Jones about the same time attributes the erection to the Romans. +His master, James I, having taken a philosophic interest in the +Stones, had desired him to make some pronouncement upon them. This +monarch's grandson, in his flight, is said to have stopped and essayed +to count the stones, with the usual result on the second trial. Pepys +a short time after went "single to Stonehenge, over the Plain and some +great hills even to fright us. Come thither and find them as +prodigious as any tales I ever heard of them, and worth going this +journey to see, God knows what their use was! they are hard to tell +but may yet be told." + +About the middle of the eighteenth century the Druid temple legend +began to gain ground and many great men gave support to their +interpretation; it is not yet an exploded idea. Stukely, the +archaeological writer, gives a definite date--460 B.C.--as that of +their erection, and Dr. Johnson, writing to Mrs. Thrale, says:--"It +is, in my opinion, to be referred to the earliest habitations of the +island as a druidical monument of, at least, two thousand years, +probably the most ancient work of man upon the island." In the last +part of this sentence the great doctor either forgets, or shows his +ignorance of, the antiquities at Avebury. Sir Richard Hoare, at the +close of the century, is equally convinced that this explanation is +the right one. Other theories current about this time were--that it +was a monument to four hundred British princes slain by Hengist (472); +the grave of Queen Boadicea; or a Phoenician temple; even a Danish +origin was ascribed to Stonehenge. Perhaps the most curious fact +connected with the literary history of Stonehenge is that it is not +mentioned in the Roman itineraries or by Bede or any other Saxon +writer. + +In 1824 the following interesting article by H. Wansey appeared in the +_Gentleman's Magazine_. + + "In my early days I frequently visited Stonehenge to make + observations at sunrise as well as by starlight. I noticed that the + lower edge of the impost of the outer circle forms a level + horizontal line in the heavens, equi-distant from the earth, to the + person standing near the centre of the building, about 15 degrees + above the horizon on all sides. + + "Stonehenge stands on rather sloping ground; the uprights of the + outer circle are nearly a foot taller on the lower ground or + western side than they are on the eastern, purposely to keep the + horizontal level of the impost, which marks great design and skill. + The thirty uprights of the outer circle are not found exactly of + equal distances, but the imposts (so correctly true on their under + bed) are each of them about 7 cubits in length, making 210 cubits + the whole circle. + + "If a person stands before the highest leaning-stone, between it + and the altar stone looking eastward, he will see the pyramidal + stone called the Friar's Heel, coinciding with the top of + Durrington Hill, marking nearly the place where the sun rises on + the longest day. This was the observation of a Mr. Warltire, who + delivered lectures on Stonehenge at Salisbury (1777), and who had + drawn a meridian line on one of the stones. Mr. Warltire asserted + that the stone of the trilithons and of the outer circle are the + stone of the country, and that he had found the place from whence + they were taken, about fourteen miles from the spot northward, + somewhere near Urchfont. + + "If the person so standing turns to his left hand, he will find a + groove in one of the 6-foot pillars from top to bottom, which (in + the lapse of so many ages, and swelled by the alternate heat and + moisture of two thousand years, has lost its shape) might have + contained in it a scale of degrees for measuring; and the stone + called the altar[3] would have answered to draw those diagrams on, + and this scale of degrees was well placed for use in such a case, + for one turning himself to the left, and his right hand holding a + compass, could apply it most conveniently. With all this apparatus + the motions of the heavenly bodies might have been accurately + marked and eclipses calculated, a knowledge of which, Caesar says, + they possessed in his time. + + "Wood and Dr. Stukeley both make the inner oval to consist of + nineteen stones, answering to the ancient Metonic Cycle of nineteen + years, at the end of which the sun and the moon are in the same + relative situation as at the beginning, when indeed the same + almanack will do again. + + "In my younger days I have visited Stonehenge by starlight, and + found, on applying my sight from the top of the 6-foot pillars of + the inner oval and looking at the high trilithons, I could mark the + places of the planets and the stars in the heavens, so as to + measure distances by the corners and angles of them.... + + "It is very remarkable that no barrow or tumulus exists on the east + side, where the sun (the great object of ancient worship) first + appears." + +[3] "Dr. Smith says that he has tried a bit of this stone, and found +that it would not stand fire. It is, therefore, very improbable that +it should have been used for burnt sacrifices." + +The theory put forward in this article has in late years been upheld +by no less an authority than Sir Norman Lockyer, who thinks that the +practice of visiting Stonehenge on the longest day of the year--a +pilgrimage that goes back before the beginnings of recorded history, +essayed by a country people not addicted to wasting a fine summer +morning without some very strong tradition to prompt them--goes far to +bear out the theory that Stonehenge was a solar temple. If this is so, +the mysterious people who erected it were civilized enough to have a +good working knowledge of the movement of the heavenly bodies, and +probably combined that knowledge with a not unreasonable worship and +ritual. Sir Norman Lockyer's calculations give the date of the +erection as about 1680 B.C. + +Lord Avebury considers that it is part of a great scheme for honouring +the famous dead, and many modern writers have adopted the same view. +That the Plain near by is a great cemetery is beyond doubt, but then +so are more or less all the chalk hills of Britain. + +There is more than one explanation of the probable method of the +construction of the trilithons. A writer in the _Wiltshire +Archaeological Magazine_ (W. Long) puts forward the theory that an +artificial mound was made in which holes were dug to receive the +upright pillars. When these were in position the recumbent block could +easily be placed across the two and, all the trilithons being +complete, the earth could be dug away, leaving the stones standing. +Professor Gowland, however, does not favour this view in the light of +his recent discoveries and is inclined to credit the builders with a +greater knowledge of simple engineering. + +[Illustration: STONEHENGE DETAIL.] + +In 1918 Stonehenge, which hitherto had formed part of the Amesbury +Abbey estate of Sir Cosmo Gordon Antrobus, was sold to Sir C.H. Chubb, +who immediately presented it to the nation. The work of restoration is +being carried out by the Office of Works, and the Society of +Antiquaries are, at their own expense, sifting every cubic inch of +ground under those stones that are being re-erected--to the dismay of +many of that body--in beds of concrete! Much apprehension has been +felt by archaeologists that this renovation will have deplorable +results, but it is promised that nothing is to be done in the way of +replacement which cannot be authenticated. At the time of writing the +work is still in progress and all is chaos. When the hideous iron +fence is replaced by the proposed ha-ha, or sunk fence, and new sward +grows about the old stones the general effect will be greatly +improved. The excavators have re-discovered certain depressions shown +in Aubrey's Map (1666) and which had long since disappeared to outward +view. There is little doubt that they held stones more or less in a +circle with the "Slaughter Stone." It is conjectured that, as in the +case of the inner blue stones, this outer ring was constructed before +the more imposing trilithons were erected, perhaps at a period long +anterior. Each of the holes already explored contain calcined human +bones. + +Stonehenge Down; Wilsford Down to the south; Stoke Down westwards, +and, in fact, the whole of the great Plain is a maze of earthworks, +ditches, tumuli and relics of a past at which we can only guess. Here, +if anywhere in Britain, is haunted ground and perhaps the silence of +earlier writers may be explained by the existence of a kind of "taboo" +that prevented reference to the mysteries of the Plain. + +The exploration of the upper Avon may be extended from Amesbury to +Durrington (one mile from Bulford station), where is an old church +containing fine carved oak fittings worth inspection. Across the +stream is Milston, where Addison was born and his father was rector. +Higher up the river is pretty Figheldean with its old thatched +cottages embowered among the huge trees that line the banks of the +stream, and with a fine Early English church. The monuments in the +Decorated chancel are to some of the Poores, once a notable family. +The church also contains certain unknown effigies. These were +discovered at some distance from the church, probably having been +thrown away during some earlier "restoration!" + +[Illustration: ENFORD.] + +Netheravon is famous for its Cavalry School. Of its Norman and Early +English church Sydney Smith was once a curate, to his great +discomfort. The tower here is very old and some have called it Saxon. +The student of _Rural Rides_ will remember that here Cobbett saw an +"acre of hares!" Fittleton is another unspoilt little village, and +Enford, or Avonford, the next, has a fine church unavoidably much +restored after having been struck by lightning early in the nineteenth +century; the Norman piers remain. All these villages gain in interest +and charm to the pedestrian by being just off the high road that keeps +to the west bank of the river. Upavon, however, is on a loop of this +highway and sees more traffic. Here is a church with a Transitional +chancel; it is said that the contemporary nave was of wood. The fine +tower and present nave belong to the thirteenth century. The Norman +font with its archaic carving and the fifteenth-century crucifix over +the west door should be noticed. Upavon was the home of a kindred +spirit to Cobbett, for here was born the once famous "Orator Hunt," +farmer and demagogue--rare combination! He was chairman of the meeting +in Manchester that had "Peterloo" as its sequel. Near Upavon, but down +stream, is the small and ancient manor house of Chisenbury, until +lately the property of the Groves, one of whose ancestors suffered +death for his participation in the rising of Colonel Penruddock during +the Commonwealth. + +At Rushall the narrow valley of the Avon, guarded by the opposing +camps of Casterley and Chisenbury, is left for the transverse vale of +Pewsey, on the farther side of which are the Marlborough Downs. A +number of chalk streams drain the vale and go to make up the +head-waters of the Avon; in fact two streams, both bearing the old +British name for river, meet hereabouts; the one rising about two +miles from Savernake station and the other about the same distance +from Devizes. Along the northern slope of this vale the canal made to +join the Kennet and Thames with yet another, the Bristol Avon, runs +its lonely course. Five miles west of Rushall is the divide between +the waters of the English Channel and the Severn Sea, and the Bristol +Avon receives the stream that rises but a mile from its namesake of +Christchurch Bay. High in one of the combes at this end of the valley +is the small village of All Cannings, said to have been of much +importance in the dark ages as a Saxon centre. All it has to show the +visitor now is a cruciform church with Norman and Early English +fragments and a good Perpendicular tower. + +The villages of Pewsey Vale are many and charming. All are well served +by the "short-cut" line of the Great Western, over which the Devon and +Cornwall expresses now run. Across the vale, in an opposite direction +to the iron way, runs the Ridgeway, a road probably in use when +Stonehenge was not, and Silbury Hill, that mystery of the Marlborough +Downs, was yet to be. On the western side of this old road are the +villages of Patney and Chirton. At the latter is a very beautiful +Transitional church. Near Beechingstoke, close to the Ridgeway, is a +famous British village, the entrenchment containing about thirty +acres. The old road comes down from the northern highlands between +Milk Hill (964 feet) and Knap Hill, the two bluffs that rear their +great bulk across the vale. Here beneath the "White Horse," a modern +one cut at the beginning of the nineteenth century, are the old +churches of Alton Priors and Alton Berners, the latter partly Saxon. + +The road north-east from Rushall runs through Manningford Bruce. The +church here is possibly Saxon; it has a semi-circular apse. On the +north wall of the chancel is a tablet to Mary Nicholas with arms +bearing the royal canton. This was her reward for helping Charles in +his flight after the battle of Worcester. Manningford Abbots once +belonged to the Abbot of Hyde. The rebuilt church is only of interest +in possessing a very fine pre-Reformation chalice. Two miles farther +is Pewsey, a pleasant town surrounded by the chalk hills. From those +to the eastward Cobbett, when he beheld the vale stretched out before +him, broke into one of those simple but graphic descriptive touches +that help to make the _Rural Rides_ immortal, "A most beautiful sight +it was! Villages, hamlets, large farms, towers, steeples, fields, +meadows, orchards and very fine timber trees. The shape of the thing +was this: on each side downs, very lofty and steep in some places, and +sloping miles back in other places, but on each side out of the valley +are downs. From the edge of the downs begin capital arable fields, +generally of very great dimensions and in some places running a mile +or two back into little cross valleys formed by hills of downs. After +the corn-fields come meadows on each side, down to the brook or river. +The farmhouses, mansions, villages and hamlets are generally situated +in that part of the arable land that comes nearest to the meadows. +Great as my expectations had been, they were more than fulfilled. I +delight in this sort of country..... I sat upon my horse, and I looked +over Milton and Easton and Pewsey for half an hour, though I had not +breakfasted." + +Pewsey Church has a Transitional nave and Early English chancel; the +oblong tower being Perpendicular. The carved reredos was designed and +worked by Canon Pleydell-Bouverie, who also made the communion rails +from some timbers of the _San Josef_, a ship taken by Nelson at the +battle of Cape St. Vincent. The roof of the organ chamber and vestry +are of much interest; they are part of the refectory roof of Ivychurch +Priory. + +The country to the north of the little old town is very beautiful. The +precipitous wall of the Marlborough Downs, with several lovely and +little-known villages at its foot, is a remarkable feature of the +landscape. The high road to Marlborough, that climbs the hills for +three fatiguing miles, passes through the small village of Oare, where +there is a modern red-brick church. Not far away to the west are the +hamlets of West and East Towel, lost in the lonely by ways beneath the +hills. Above them in a fold of the Downs is Huish, dropped down amidst +memorials of a long vanished past. Dewponds, earthworks and "hut +circles" cover the hills in all directions. At Martinsell, the +camp-crowned hill to the east of the high road, until recent days a +festival was held, the beginnings of which may have been in Neolithic +times. On Palm Sunday young men and maidens would ascend the hill +carrying boughs of hazel. They would, no doubt, have been scandalized +if told that the ceremony had anything but a Christian significance. +The prospect of the Vale from this hill-side, or from the high road +itself, is not easily forgotten, and the beech-woods and parklands of +Rainscombe, that fill the broad but sheltered hollow below, make a +lovely foreground to the view. + +We must now return to the lower end of the Vale of Wylye which has +been noticed at Wilton, where the river, road and rail come down a +narrow defile from Heytsbury and Warminster. This valley has on the +north and east the familiar aspect of Salisbury Plain. On the south +and west are those wooded hills that are seen also from the +neighbourhood of Fonthill, and though both sides of the valley are +made of the same material--the current chalk of Wiltshire--they are +very unlike in their superficial scenery. The Wylye is perhaps the +most beautiful of Wiltshire rivers, and although it has an important +cross-country railway running close to it for the greater part of its +length, the villages and hamlets upon the banks are peculiarly calm, +secluded and unspoilt. + +The high road from Salisbury to Warminster turns northwards at +Fugglestone past the two Wilton stations, without entering that town +and, passing through Chilhampton and South Newton, reaches the hamlet +of Stoford, which has an old inn close to the river bank. A short half +mile westwards is the picturesque old village of Great Wishford, said +to be derived from "welsh-ford," where the church has been so much +restored that it is practically a new one. The chancel with its fine +triple lancet window is Early English. The altar tomb of Sir Thomas +Bonham has his effigy in a pilgrim's robe which is said to commemorate +that knight's seven years' sojourn in Palestine. An incredible +tradition, current among the country people, says that Lady Bonham +gave birth to seven children at one time, and that the sieve, in which +they were all brought to the church to be christened, hung in the old +nave for many years. The fine tomb in the chancel is that of Sir +Richard Grobham (1629). His helmet and banner are suspended upon the +opposite wall; an old chest in the south aisle is said to have been +saved from a Spanish ship by this knight. + +The main road continues up the valley to Stapleford, where is a fine +cruciform church with Norman arches on the south of the nave and with +a door of this period on the same side. The fine sedilia and piscina +in the fourteenth-century chancel should be noticed, and also the +well-proportioned porch that has within it a coffin slab bearing an +incised cross. Here the valley of the Winterbourne comes down from the +heart of the Plain at Orcheston through Winterbourne Stoke and Berwick +St. James; a lonely and thinly populated string of hamlets seldom +visited by the ordinary tourist, but of much charm to those who +appreciate the more unsophisticated type of English village that, +alas! is becoming more rare every day. Both Berwick and Stoke have +interesting old churches. + +Continuing up the Wylye we reach Steeple Langford, situated in the +most beautiful part of the valley. Here is a Decorated church with +good details and a remarkable tomb-slab bearing an incised figure of +an unknown huntsman, also a fine altar tomb of the Mompessons. The +rector here in the days of the Parliament was ejected in the depth of +winter with his wife and eleven children, suffering great hardship +before succour reached them. Little Langford is across the stream in +an exquisite situation. Deeply embowered among the trees is the small +cruciform church with an interesting Norman door, showing in the +tympanum, a bishop, said to represent St. Aldhelm, in the act of +benediction. We may keep to the road that closely follows the railway +on the south side of the stream to Wylye, a quiet little place half +way up the vale. Here is a Perpendicular church with a pinnacled tower +and an Early English east end. The Jacobean pulpit stood in the old +church at Wilton and was brought here when that was rebuilt. A famous +pre-Reformation chalice is preserved among the church plate, and the +village is proud of its bells. One bears the words "Ave Maria"; +another not so old is inscribed "1587 Give thanks to God." Across the +stream the hamlet of Deptford stands on the main road, which goes by +Fisherton de la Mere to Codford St. Mary. Here another quiet valley +opens up into the Plain and leads to the remote villages of Chitterne +St. Mary and All Saints, among many relics of the prehistoric +past--"British" villages and circles, tumuli and ditches. Codford St. +Mary Church, though partly rebuilt, is still of interest and has a +Transitional Norman chancel arch and fine Norman font. The Jacobean +pulpit and Tudor altar tomb of Sir Richard Mompesson should be +noticed. The altar is said to have been made from the woodwork of a +derelict pulpit from St. Mary's, Oxford. Cobbett was enthusiastic +about the well-being of the country and its farmers hereabouts, and +was especially delighted with the rich picture that this part of the +Wylye makes from the Down above. Codford is the village taken by +Trollope for the scene of _The Vicar of Bulhampton_. + +Codford St. Peter, where there is a railway station, has a +much-restored church, practically rebuilt. The ancient sculptured +stonework in the chancel, discovered during the rebuilding, is said to +be Saxon. The font with its curious Norman carvings is noteworthy. On +the other side of the vale are three interesting villages, beautifully +placed--Stockton, Sherrington and Boyton. Stockton Church is +Transitional with an Early English chancel. Its screen was erected by +the former Bishop of Worcester, Dr. Yeatman-Biggs, in memory of his +wife and brother. The wall separating nave and chancel is uncommon in +its solidity, the small opening being more in the nature of a doorway +than of a chancel arch. Two squints made it possible for the people to +see the movements of the minister at the altar. In the north aisle is +the canopied tomb of John Topp (1640) and on the other side of the +church, that of Jerome Poticary. Both these worthies were wealthy +clothiers, and the first-named built the beautiful manor house which +we may still see near by. The old panelling and moulded ceilings of +this mansion are very fine specimens of seventeenth-century +workmanship. Jerome Poticary also built himself a fair dwelling that +is now a farmhouse. The picturesque Topp almshouses and pleasant old +cottages together with the charm of the natural surroundings make this +village a delightful one. Sherrington once had a castle owned by the +Giffards, but all that is now to be seen is the green mound where once +it stood, close to the little old church. Boyton church is a fine +example of the Decorated style. It has some older Early English +portions. The windows in the Lambert chapel are much admired. Here are +also two altar tombs; that with a figure in chain armour, +cross-legged, represents the crusading Sir Alexander Giffard. An +interesting discovery was made of a headless skeleton under the +chancel floor, supposed to have been the remains of a Giffard who lost +his head for rebellion in the reign of Edward II. Boyton Manor, a +beautiful old house, is not far away. It was built in the early +seventeenth century and was for a time the residence of Queen +Victoria's youngest son. + +[Illustration: BOYTON MANOR.] + +Upton Lovell, about a mile from Codford St. Peter, has a church, the +nave of which was built in the seventeenth century. The chancel +belongs to the original Transitional building. An altar tomb with an +effigy in armour is supposed to be that of a Lovell of Castle Cary. +The manor was held by this family and from them the village takes its +name. An unhappy story is told of one of the family, a participant in +the Lambert Simnel rebellion, who managed to find sanctuary here, and, +perhaps through his retainers being in ignorance of his whereabouts, +was starved to death in the secret chamber in which he had hidden +himself. His skeleton was discovered long afterwards seated at a table +with books and papers in front of it. Knook is the next village, a +mile below Heytesbury. Here is a church that, in spite of ruthless +restoration, has retained its Norman chancel and a south door with a +fine tympanum. Also the old manor house has still much of its former +dignity in spite of its change of station. Away to the north, on one +of the rounded summits of Salisbury Plain, is Knook Castle, a +prehistoric camp that was utilized by the Romans and possibly by the +Saxons after their invasion of the west. + +Heytesbury or Hegtredesbyri, seventeen miles from Salisbury, has a +station half-way between the old town and Tytherington on the south, +and is an ancient place that had seen its best days before the dawn of +the nineteenth century. It was another of the "rotten" boroughs and +fell into a period of stagnation from which the railway seems to have +lately rescued it. Many new roads and houses have sprung up without, +however, spoiling the appearance of this pleasant little place. The +church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, is chiefly Early English with +Transitional work in the chancel and Perpendicular in the nave. In the +north transept is the Hungerford chantry, to whose founder is due the +chantry seen in Salisbury Cathedral. The south transept contains a +tablet in memory of William Cunnington (1810), to whose researches the +antiquaries of Wiltshire owe a great deal of their information. This +church was made collegiate by Bishop Joscelyn in the twelfth century. +Heytesbury Hospital was founded by Lord Treasurer Hungerford, whose +badge, two sickles, may be seen over the entrance. In the beautiful +park are some magnificent beeches and a group of cedars below the +fir-clad Copley Hill which is crowned by a prehistoric camp. + +At Tytherington there is another church, very small and old and once a +prebend of Heytesbury. In the early days of the last century service +was only performed here four times a year, and a legend was once +related to the writer of a dog that had been accidentally shut up in +this church at one service and found alive and released at the next, +ten weeks later! A mile farther is Sutton Veny, where there are two +churches, a fine new one, and an old ruined building of which the +chancel is kept in repair as a mortuary chapel. The manor house is +picturesque and rambling, as is the village itself, straggling along +the road to Warminster. At the upper end of the street a cross road on +the right leads to Morton Bavant and to the main route on the north +side of the stream. The partly rebuilt church is of little interest, +excepting perhaps the arch of chalk that supports the fourteenth-century +tower, but the village deserves the adjective "sweet." The stream, +although now of small size, and the surrounding hills that rise close +by into Scratchbury Camp, make a lovely setting for the mellow old +cottages and bright gardens that one may hope are as good to live in as +they are to look at. Close by the village certain Roman pavements were +found in 1786, but the site is now uncertain and the mosaics have been +lost. At the cross roads just referred to, the left-hand road climbs +the hill to the Deverills--Longridge, Hill, Buxton, Monkton and +Kingston, pleasant hamlets all, of which the first has the most to +show. Here is a fine church partly built of chalk and containing the +tomb of the Sir John Thynne who made Longleat. The old almshouses were +founded by his descendant, Sir James, in 1665. In Hill Deverill Church +is a monumental record of the Ludlows. To this family General Ludlow, +of the Army of the Parliament, belonged. Beyond the last of the +Deverills is Maiden Bradley, alone with its guardian hills, which ring +it round with summits well over 800 feet above the sea. Long Knoll is +the monarch of this miniature range and well repays the explorer who +climbs to its summit with a most delightful view. In Maiden Bradley +Church is the tomb of Sir Edward Seymour, Speaker of the House in the +reign of Charles II, and a fine Norman font of Purbeck marble. + +Resuming the route northwards from Sutton Veny, Bishopstrow is soon +reached. Above the village to the north is the great rounded hill +called Battlesbury Camp, crowned with the usual entrenchments and +surrounded by the curious "lynchets" or remains of ancient terrace +cultivation. Bishopstrow Church dates from 1757, when it replaced a +building with Saxon foundations and east end. The main road is now +taken on the north bank of the stream and in two miles, or twenty-one +_direct_ from Salisbury, we arrive at the old town called, no one +knows why, Warminster. It may be that the Were, the small stream or +brook running into Wylye gives the first syllable, but that St. Deny's +Church was ever a minster there is no evidence, though it is +occasionally so called by the townspeople. Now quite uninteresting, +the church was rebuilt some thirty years or more ago. In High Street, +close to the Town Hall, is the chantry of St. Lawrence, still keeping +its old tower but otherwise rebuilt. For its age and situation +Warminster retains little that is ancient, but it is a pleasant and +very healthy town, 400 feet above the sea. Here, in the early +nineteenth century, two eminent Victorians--Dr. Arnold and Dean +Stanley--received their first education at the old Grammar School. +St. Boniface College, established in 1860, is a famous house of +training for missionaries. Warminster has "no villainous gingerbread +houses running up and no nasty shabby-genteel people; no women +trapesing about with showy gowns and dirty necks, no Jew-looking +fellows with dandy coats, dirty shirts and half heels to their shoes. +A really nice and good town" (Cobbett). + +The great show-place and excursion from Warminster is Longleat. To +reach the great house and famous grounds we take the western road +which reaches the confines of the park in a little over four miles and +passes under the imposing mass of Cley Hill, an isolated eminence of +about 900 feet, on the summit of which a curious "ceremony" used to +take place, as at Martinsell, on Palm Sunday. The boys and young men +from neighbouring villages would ascend the hill to play a game with +sticks and balls. Not one could say why, but that it was "always +done." Undoubtedly this was an unconscious reminiscence of a pagan +spring festival. + +Longleat is indeed a "stately home of England" and one of the most +famous of those larger mansions that are more in the nature of +permanent museums for the benefit of the public than of homes for +their fortunate possessors. In normal times the galleries are open on +two or three days in the week, according to the seasons, and holiday +crowds come long distances to see the magnificent house and its still +more splendid surroundings, perhaps more than to inspect the art +treasures which form the nominal attraction. Still these are very fine +and should, if possible, be seen. + +[Illustration: LONGLEAT.] + +The origin of "Long Leat"--the long shallow stream of pond and +lakelets artificially widened and dammed--was, like that of so many +other great houses, a monastic one. An Augustinian Priory stood here +before the Dissolution, but when the Great Dispersal took place it had +already decayed and no great tragedy occurred. Protector Somerset had +a young man attached to his retinue, and in his confidence, named Sir +John Thynne who, when his master lost his head, very adroitly kept his +own, afterwards marrying the heiress of a great London merchant--Sir +Thomas Gresham. This enabled the husband to add greatly to the small +property he had already purchased, which included the old priory +buildings, and the altered state of his fortunes prompted him to erect +a stately residence on the old site. His first efforts were destroyed +by a disastrous fire, but in 1578 the stately house was finished and, +as far as the exterior is concerned, was practically as we see it +to-day. The interior was entirely remodelled at the beginning of the +nineteenth century by Sir Jeffrey Wyatville. James Thynne--"Tom of +Ten Thousand "--was the Lord of Longleat in 1682. He was engaged to +the beautiful sixteen-year-old widow of Lord Ogle, when she had the +misfortune to attract the attention of Count Konigsmark, a Polish +adventurer, whose hired assassins waylaid and shot Thynne in Pall +Mall. The Count escaped punishment, but his instruments were hanged +upon the scene of the crime. The property then passed to a cousin who +became the first Viscount Weymouth. The third Viscount was made +Marquis of Bath when he was the host of George III in 1789. A famous +guest of the first Viscount was Bishop Ken, who stayed at Longleat for +many years as an honoured visitor. + +Amongst the treasures on the walls of the corridors and saloons are +several Holbeins, portraits of contemporaries of his, including Henry +VIII. There are also a number by Sir Peter Lely, one being of Bishop +Ken and another of his friend and host; several interesting paintings +of celebrated men of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and some +good representative examples of great artists from Raphael to Watts. +The grand staircase and state drawing-room are of admirable +proportions and form part of the work of Wyatville. In the +drawing-room is treasured a cabinet of coral and a writing tablet +which belonged to Talleyrand. The great hall, which contains a +collection of armour and ancient implements of war of much importance +and value, has a fine wooden roof and minstrels' gallery. Among the +stags' horns that decorate the walls will be seen two mighty +headpieces that once belonged to Irish elks and were discovered in a +peat bog. The chimney-piece here belongs to the period before +Wyatville began his transformation of the interior. + +Not least of the attractions of Longleat are its surroundings. The +park is sixteen miles round, and a large portion of this great space +is taken up by garden and pleasaunce, as distinct from the deer park +itself. The approach from Warminster and the north is by a wooded +ascent with Cley Beacon to the right and past "Heaven's Gate," a +favourite view-point with Bishop Ken, who, it is said, composed the +morning hymn associated with his name while contemplating the +inspiring scene before him. Almost as fine is the approach from the +south through the arched gateway on the Horningsham road. This route +passes through groves of magnificent timber and by the string of +delightful ponds that give the place its name. + +The road that hugs the Plain on its western side goes almost directly +north from Warminster and, passing Upton Scudamore, reaches Westbury +in less than four miles. The history of this old town is closely bound +up with that of the kings of Wessex and at Westbury Leigh is a site +called the "Palace Garden," encircled by a moat said to have once been +the residence of these monarchs. The Westbury White Horse is supposed +to have been cut as a memorial of the great victory of Alfred over the +Danes in 890 (or 877). In the later Middle Ages, this town, like many +others in the west, was a centre of the cloth trade, and, later, iron +foundries were a feature of the place. + +The handsome cruciform church, in the midst of its fine chestnut +trees, is of much interest. Originally Norman, the greater part of the +present building is early Perpendicular. The dingified central tower +and the spaciousness of the interior will be admired. On the south of +the chancel is the Willoughby Chapel, on the north, that of the +Maudits. The south transept contains a monument of Sir James Ley, +created Earl of Marlborough by Charles I. The chained book, a copy of +Erasmus' _Paraphrase_, and also the fine, though modern, stained glass +in the east and west windows is worthy of notice. + +A new suburb has grown up on the western side between the original +town and the railway junction nearly a mile away and the immediate +surroundings of the station, as we enter it from the south, are +reminiscent of a northern industrial town. Smoke and clangour, and +odours not often met with in Wiltshire, are very insistent. Not so +many years ago Westbury was in a backwater, if that term may be +applied to railways, but now that it is on the new main route to Devon +and Cornwall the industrial aspect of the town may increase greatly +during the next few years. + +Frome, six miles away over the border in Somersetshire and on this +same new way to the west, has shaken off its ancient air of bucolic +peace and now prints books and weaves cloth and does a little in the +manufacture of art metal work. The town, nevertheless, is very +pleasant despite its strenuous endeavour to make money in a way +Mercian rather than West Saxon. Its broad market place and steep and +picturesque streets leading thereto, especially that one named +"Cheap," and the rural throng that congregates on market and fair days +is distinctly that of Wessex. Frome Church is more beautiful within +than without. It is approached, however, by a picturesque and steep +ascent of steps, on the left-hand wall of which are sculptures of the +Stations of the Cross. The church is extraordinary for the number of +its side chapels and its amazing mixture of styles, but the interior +has an air of much dignity and even beauty, which was greatly added to +by a restoration which took place during the fifties of the last +century. Perhaps the most interesting item about the church is the tomb +of Bishop Ken, who was brought here from Longleat "at sunrising." His +body lies just without the east window and the grave is thus described +by Lord Houghton:-- + + A basket-work where bars are bent, + Iron in place of osier; + And shapes above that represent + A mitre and a crosier. + +[Illustration: FROME CHURCH.] + +Again we have been tempted too far afield and must return to the +eastern road out of Westbury that follows the Great Western Railway to +Bratton, not far from Edington station. Above to the right, on one of +the western bastions of the Plain, is the White Horse just mentioned. +It is of great size--180 feet long and 107 in height. It was +"restored" many years ago and the ancient grotesque outline altered by +vandals who should have known better. Above the figure is the great +entrenched camp called Bratton Castle, containing within its walls 23 +acres. Bratton Church is built in a peculiar situation against the +side of the Down. The fine cruciform structure, with a handsome four +storied central tower, dates from about 1420 and occupies the site of +an older building, probably Norman. The brass to Seeton Bromwich +(1607) should be noticed. We now proceed by the northern foot of the +hills to Edington, where is one of the most beautiful churches in +Wiltshire, exceeding in its proportions and dignity some of our +smaller cathedrals. It was originally the church of a monastery of +Augustinians founded in 1352 by William of Edyngton, Bishop of +Winchester. A tragedy took place here in 1450 during the Cade +rebellion, when the Bishop of Salisbury (Ayscough) was seized by the +rioters while he was celebrating mass, taken to the summit of the +Downs and there stoned to death. A chapel was afterwards built on the +spot, but the exact site is uncertain. The Bishop's fault was that, +being constantly with the Court, his diocese was neglected and his +flock suffered. + +The church was both conventual and parochial; the nave, as usual in +such cases, being the people's portion. The chancel, both in +proportions and detail, is a very fine example of the Decorated style. +In the south transept is a beautiful altar tomb with a richly carved +canopy; the occupant is unknown. So is the resting-place of Bishop +Ayscough. Another fine monument is that in the nave to Sir Ralph +Cheney (1401). The beautiful and original fourteenth-century glass +should be noticed and also the Jacobean pulpit. Of the conventual +buildings nothing remains, but a few fragments of the succeeding +mansion of the Pauletts are now incorporated in a neighbouring +farmhouse. A magnificent yew in the churchyard probably antedates the +present church, and may have been contemporary with an earlier parish +church of which all record has been lost. + +[Illustration: WESTBURY WHITE HORSE.] + +The road goes onward through the charming villages nestling under the +northern bastions of the Plain that is still on the right hand as it +was at Heytesbury. We are now on the opposite side with lonely Imber +four miles away over the hills, the only settlement between the former +town and Edington. "If one would forsake the world let him go to +Imber," says a modern writer, and an old couplet runs "Imber on the +Down, four miles from any town." After passing Coulston and Erlestoke +(a gem among beautiful hamlets), from rising ground near by, may be +obtained truly glorious views of the west country toward Bath and +Bristol and the distant Severn Sea. A lane now turns left to +Cheverell, where is a fine old mansion with an interesting courthouse +and cells for prisoners, and an Early English church with a +Perpendicular tower. Within the church is a tablet to Sir James +Stonehouse, of interest to those who have explored the Plain, for this +was the "Mr. Johnson" of Hannah More's _Shepherd of Salisbury Plain_ +and the cottage in which the shepherd--David Saunders--lived is still +shown in the village. + +We now approach a parting of the ways. The Salisbury-Devizes road +crosses that we have been travelling, which runs west and east from +Frome to Andover. Southwards toward Salisbury is the pleasant little +town of West Lavington. Here is a famous college for farmers known as +the Dauntsey School. It was endowed in 1895, partly from certain +moneys left by Alderman Dauntsey who flourished in the fifteenth +century. The Dauntsey almshouses were also an institution associated +with this benevolent merchant. The church is an interesting building +of various dates, from Norman to Perpendicular. The Dauntsey chapel +was erected on the south side in the early fifteenth century for the +family of that name; another, called the Beckett chapel, stands to the +south of the chancel. A fine altar tomb, one of two in the south +transept, bears a recumbent effigy of Henry Danvers. Among other +objects of interest is the memorial of Captain Henry Penruddocke, shot +by soldiers of the Parliament, while asleep in one of the houses of +the village. The road through West Lavington leads to the heart of the +Plain at Tilshead, passing at its highest point St. John a Gore Cross, +where a chantry chapel once stood, a shrine where travellers might +make their orisons before braving the terrors of the great waste. +Tilshead met with a curious misfortune in 1841, according to the +inscription on one of the cottages. A great flood, caused by a very +sudden thaw which liberated some miles of snow-water on the higher +portions of the Plain, tore down the narrow (and usually waterless) +valley and caused great destruction in the tiny village; the old +Norman church being the only building that was quite undamaged. Market +Lavington is farther east on the Pewsey road. It was once of some +importance and is one of those decayed towns that almost justify +Cobbett's claim that the population in the valleys around the Plain +was very much greater in olden days. The church here has a fine +Perpendicular tower, and is partly of this style and partly Decorated. +Within will be observed a squint, an ancient credence table in the +chancel, and a stoup in the vestry. + +[Illustration: PORCH HOUSE, POTTERNE.] + +Our road now runs northward past Lavington station to Potterne, three +miles from the Lavington cross roads and eleven from Westbury. This is +one of the most attractive villages in Wiltshire; remarkable for its +half-timbered houses of the fifteenth century, especially that known +as "Porch House," purchased and restored by the late George Richmond. +This is supposed to be identical with the old Pack Horse Inn that once +stood in the village. Potterne Church is a fine example of Early +English, and the natural dignity of the building is enhanced by its +domination of the village around it. It is said to have been built by +the same Bishop Poore who erected Salisbury Cathedral, and is the only +church on the present site. An earlier building was once in the old +churchyard. The Perpendicular tower will be admired for its +proportions and detail. When restorations were in progress in 1872 the +archaic tub-shaped font, now standing at the end of the church, was +discovered under the present font. Around the rim are inscribed the +words of the ancient baptismal office:--SICUT. GERVUS. DESIDERAT. AD. +FONTES AQUARUM. ITA. DISIDERAT. ANIMA. MEA. AD. TE. DS. AMEN. (Psalm +xlii. 1). There are several interesting brasses and memorials in the +church and outside on the north side will be seen an old dole table +for the distribution of alms. + +Two miles of pleasant undulating road now bring us to Devizes upon its +hill beyond the railway. The town kept, until about a hundred years +ago, its old style "The Devizes"--Ad Divisas,[4] the place where the +boundaries of three manors met. This is the generally accepted +explanation of the name, though there is still room for conjecture. +Remains, considerable in the aggregate, of the Roman period have been +discovered in the town and immediate neighbourhood. It is quite +possible that a Roman origin of the town itself may be looked for; but +it is as a feudal stronghold hold that Devizes began to make its +history and as a humble dependency of that stronghold the modern town +took its beginning. The castle was built by Bishop Roger in the early +years of Henry I, and its chief function seems to have been that of a +prison. Robert, the eldest son of the Conqueror, was shut up in it. +Soon afterwards, its builder, having taken the side of Maud in her +quarrel with Stephen, was imprisoned in a beast house belonging to the +castle, when the king, in one of his smaller successes, took +possession. Another notable prisoner was Hubert de Burgh, who escaped +and flew to St. John's Church for sanctuary; his gaolers recaptured +him at the altar, but soon afterwards gave him liberty on being +threatened with the wrath of the Church. During the reign of Edward +III the nephews of the French king were kept here as hostages. Its +last appearance in history was during the Civil War, when the keep was +defended by Sir Edward Lloyd for the King, but according to Leland it +must by that time have fallen into evil state, for, in 1536, he +writes: "It is now in ruine and parte of the front of the towres of +the gate of the kepe and the chapell in it were caried full +unprofitably, onto the buyldynge of Master Baintons place at Bromeham +full four miles of," and after Cromwell had "slighted" it, the +remnants, goodly enough even then, were used as a free quarry by +anyone desiring to build. The mound and ditch that surrounded the +outer walls and a few fragments of the masonry of a dungeon is all +that can be seen to-day, but the mound is crowned by a modern and +rather imposing castellated building. + +[4] An ancient countryman may occasionally be met with who will direct +the pedestrian to "the 'Vize." + +The Castle church was St. John's, though of course the fortress had +its own chapel within the walls. Originally a Norman building, St. +John's was much altered during the fifteenth century, when the present +nave was erected and the Tudor chapels of the chancel were added. The +tower is one of the finest and most dignified that we have in the +older style. The ceiling of the south chapel, added to the church by +Lord St. Amand, is a beautiful example of the woodwork of the early +Tudor period, as is that of the present vestry and one-time chapel on +the north side. An extension of the nave took place in 1865, when the +old west front was much altered. + +[Illustration: 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." + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: 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. + +[Illustration: DEVIL'S DEN.] + +To the south-east of Silbury is the "Long Barrow," one of the most +famous in England. This tumulus is over 330 feet long and about 60 +feet wide. When the stone chamber was opened some years ago, four +skeletons were found within. Vestiges of a small stone circle remain +on the South of the Bath road, between it and the Kennet, and almost +on the track of the Ridgeway. If the Way is followed northwards towards +the slopes of Overton Hill we reach the "quarry" where most of the +megalithic monuments of Wiltshire originated. These extraordinary +stones, thickly scattered over the southern slopes of the Marlborough +Downs, are generally known as the "Grey Wethers," or "Sarsens." At one +time supposed to have been brought to their present position by +glacial action, they are now said to be, and undoubtedly are, the +result of denudation. They are composed of a hard grey sandstone which +once covered the chalk; the softer portions wearing away left the +tough core lying in isolated masses upon the hills. Not far away in +Clatford Bottom is the "Devil's Den," a cromlech upon the remains of a +long barrow; the upper slab measures nine feet by eight. The Downs +above Fyfield form a magnificent galloping and training ground for the +racing stables near by. Our road, the Bath highway, now follows the +Kennet into Marlborough, six miles from Avebury. + +[Illustration: MARLBOROUGH.] + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BERKSHIRE BORDER AND NORTH HAMPSHIRE + + +Marlborough is in Wiltshire, but it will be legitimate to start a +slight exploration of the middle course of the Kennet from the old +Forest town. Here the clear chalk stream, fresh from the highlands of +the Marlborough Downs, runs as a clear and inviting little river at +the foot of the High Street gardens. For Marlborough is a flowery and +umbrageous town in its "backs," however dull it may appear to the +traveller by the railway, from which dis-vantage point most English +towns look their very worst. + +Although the river was never wide enough to bring credit or renown to +Marlborough, the borough had another channel of profit and good +business in its position on the Bath Road. The part that great highway +played in the two hundred years which ended soon after Queen Victoria +commenced her long reign seems likely to have a renewal in these days +of revived road travel. Ominous days are these for the iron ways that, +for almost a century, have half ruined the old road towns of England, +but at the same time left them in such a state of suspended animation +that they are mostly delightful and unspoilt reminders of another age. + +The fine and spacious High Street that once echoed with the horns of a +dozen coaches in the course of an afternoon now hums with the +machinery of half a hundred motors in an hour, and if they do not all +stop, some do, and leave the worthy burgesses a greater amount of +wealth and a cleaner roadway than their more picturesque predecessors. + +The municipality is very ancient and still retains some quaint +customs. Not that, however, of the medieval fee for admission to the +corporation consisting of two greyhounds, two white capons, and a +white bull! The last item must have given the aspirant for civic +honour much wearisome searching of farmyards before he found the +acceptable colour. Like so many of the old towns through which we have +wandered, Marlborough has suffered from fire; one in the middle of the +seventeenth century was of particular fury, for, with the exception of +the beautiful old gabled houses on the higher side of the sloping main +street, the town was then practically destroyed. "Two hundred and +fifty dwellings and Saint Mary's church are gone, and over three +hundred families forced to crave the hospitality of the neighbouring +farmers and gentry, or wander about the fields vainly looking for +shelter. Every barn and beast-house filled to overflowing." + +The tradesmen of High Street say that theirs is the widest street in +England. This may be so. It is undoubtedly one of the most pleasant +and picturesque, and "the great houses supported on pillars," to which +Pepys refers in his Diary, still remain on the north side. + +Marlborough had not actually a Roman beginning. The station known as +Cunetio was nearly three miles away to the east. But the castle hill +antedates this period considerably and is supposed to be an artificial +mound of unknown antiquity, perhaps made by the men who reared Silbury +Hill. It is said that within lie the bones of Merlin. Quite possibly +this idea arose from the resemblance of the ancient form of +Marlborough--"Merlebergh" to the name of the half legendary sorcerer. +The real origin of the town-name is supposed to be the West Saxon +"Maer-leah" or cattle boundary. Here was erected in the earlier years +of the Conqueror's reign a castle that was strengthened and rebuilt in +succeeding generations until, somewhere about the rise of the Tudor +power, it was allowed to fall into decay. It was probably in the +Castle Chapel of St. Nicholas that King John was married to Isabella +of Gloucester in 1180, and in the church at Preshute, the parish +church of the Castle, is an enormous font of black marble brought from +this chapel. A tradition has it that King John was baptized in it. The +only real fighting recorded as taking place around the Castle, while +it was in existence, was during the time of Fitz Gilbert, who held it +for the Empress Maud. Of more importance was the sallying forth, +during the Civil War, of the Royalists, who had fortified a mansion +which had arisen from the Castle ruins, against the republican town, +capturing and partly burning it. The soldiers displayed great +savagery, fifty-three houses being destroyed. The garrison of "the +most notoriously disaffected town in Wiltshire" was the first taken in +the War. The Castle was also famous as the place of meeting for the +Parliament of Henry III which passed the "Statutes of Marlborough," +the Charter for which Simon de Montfort had risked and suffered so +much. + +Of more living interest are the ancient and beautiful buildings of +Marlborough School, instituted in 1843 by a number of public-spirited +men, headed by a priest of the Church of England--Charles Plater. The +school is the scene of Stanley Weyman's _The Castle Inn_, for it was +formerly that historic hostel, one of the finest and most famous in +England, before the disappearance of the road traveller caused the +collapse of the old-fashioned posting-houses. Before the year 1740 it +had been a mansion, originally built by Lord Seymour during the reign +of Charles II. It afterwards passed through several hands, and, while +in the possession of Lady Hertford, saw the entertainment of some of +the literary lions of the day, including Thomson of _The Seasons_ and +Isaac Watts. In 1767, when it had become the largest inn in England, +it was the headquarters of Lord Chatham who, while on the road, +developed an attack of gout and, shutting himself up in his room, +remained there some weeks. "Everybody who travelled that road was +amazed by the number of his attendants. Footmen and grooms, dressed in +his family livery, filled the whole inn and swarmed in the streets of +the little town. The truth was that the invalid had insisted that +during his stay all the waiters and stable boys of the 'Castle' should +wear his livery." The fine school chapel was added in 1882 and several +extensive and necessary additions have been made to the original +buildings. Among famous headmasters may be mentioned Dean Bradley and +Dean Farrar. + +[Illustration: GARDEN FRONT, MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE.] + +King Edward the VI Grammar School is at the far end of the town. The +old buildings were pulled down in 1905. In this school Dr. +Sacheverell, who was born in Marlborough, received his education. The +present St. Mary's Church practically dates from the great fire of +1653, and is a very poor specimen of debased Perpendicular. The +chancel was added in 1874. A Norman doorway at the west end should be +noticed. The tower of the church shows traces of the Royalist attack +on the town in 1642. St. Peter's Church, not far from the College, is +Perpendicular, and from its high and finely designed tower, curfew +still rings each night through the year. Within, the groined roof and +beautiful design of the windows are worthy of notice. + +Beautiful in the extreme is the walk through Savernake Forest which, +if it is not to be compared with the New Forest either in size or +wildness, does in one particular surpass the latter, namely in its +magnificent vistas and beech avenues. The central walk between +Marlborough and Savernake is unsurpassed in England and probably in +Europe. It leads to Tottenham House, situated at the eastern extremity +and belonging to the Marquis of Ailesbury. This mansion stands on the +site of an old house of the Seymours, to whom the Forest passed from +the Plantagenet Kings (it was a jointure of Queen Eleanor). By marriage +the estates afterwards went to the Bruces, who still hold them. + +Herds of deer roam the open glades, and wild life is abundant and +varied. In some parts of the Forest the thickets and dense undergrowth +are reminiscent of the district between the Rufus Stone and +Fording-bridge in the greater Forest, but the highest beauty of +Savernake lies in the avenues of oak and beech which extend for miles +and meet about midway between Durley and Marlborough. Here are no fir +plantations to strike an alien note. Rugged and ancient trees that +were saplings in Stuart times or before and the dense young growth of +to-day are all natural to the soil. The column that stands on high +ground, a little over a mile from Savernake station, commemorates, +among other events, the temporary recovery of George III from his +mental illness. + +Great Bedwyn was once a Parliamentary borough and, in more remote +times still, a town of importance. It has a station on the +Reading-Taunton Railway and can be reached by circuitous roads from +Savernake Forest. Although nominally still a market town, it is really +but a large village. It is mentioned in the Saxon records as the scene +of a battle between the men of Wessex and those of Mercia in the great +struggle for domination in 675. The cruciform church is a fine +structure, mostly built of flint and dating from Transitional times. +The chancel is Early English and the transepts Decorated, but the nave +is of the older style with fine ornamentation. In the chancel will be +noticed the effigy of Sir John Seymour (1536), the father of Protector +Somerset. A brass commemorates another John Seymour, brother of the +Protector. There is also a monument to a daughter of Robert Devereux, +Earl of Essex. In the south transept is an effigy, cross legged, of +Sir Adam de Stokke (1312) and a plain slab with an incised cross of +another of his family. The church has a quantity of stained glass of +much beauty. An ancient Market Hall once stood in the centre of the +spacious main street; while it stood the villagers were reminded of +the vanished glories of Bedwyn. The road proceeds past Chisbury Hill, +a prehistoric camp on the Wansdyke. Within the earthwork is a barn +that was once the Decorated church of St. Martin. Mr. A.H. Allcroft +thinks that the original building was erected shortly after the drawn +battle between Wessex and Mercia that took place on the Downs +hereabouts in 675. Froxfield is reached just short of the Berkshire +border and the way accompanies the railway and canal through Little +Bedwyn, where is a stone-spired church dating from the early +thirteenth century. Froxfield Church is outside the village on a hill. +It is a small and ancient Norman building, quaint and picturesque. The +old Somerset Hospital here was founded in 1686 by Sarah Duchess of +Somerset for thirty widows of the clergy and others; about half that +number are now maintained in the beautiful old buildings, grouped +round a quadrangle high above the road. + +At Hungerford, the first town in Berkshire, over nine miles _direct_ +from Marlborough, we return to the Kennet. The townsmen are proud of +the fact that their liberties were given them by John of Gaunt, who +held the Royal Manor, which afterwards became the property of the +town, and as proof of the charter they still show the stranger a +famous horn presented to the burgesses by the great Duke of Lancaster. +A fierce battle is said to have raged on the banks of the Kennet +between West Saxons and Danes, where now anglers whip the stream for +the fat trout that this part of Kennet breeds. The historic _Bear Inn_ +was the lodging of William of Orange on the night of December 6, 1688, +when he received the messengers of James II. Hungerford Church is now +of small interest. It has been rebuilt within recent times and +contains little from the old building. A cross-legged effigy is +supposed to represent Sir Robert de Hungerford (1340). + +In coming from Marlborough to Hungerford the valley of the Kennet has +been left to the north, but only for the purpose of noting the +beauties that lie around Savernake Forest and the course of the Avon +Canal. The Kennet in its upper course is equally beautiful and, if +possible, an additional journey should be made through the picturesque +village of Axford, passing on the way Mildenhall, the one-time +Cunetio. The site of the Roman station is now marked by Folly Farm. +The most attractive place on this part of the river is Ramsbury, six +miles from Marlborough and five from Hungerford. That this little town +was evidently of great antiquity is proved by the important place it +held in the tenth century, when it was a "stool" of the Bishop of +Wiltshire. Originally the name of the town was Hrafensbyrig or +Ravensbury. The Early English church contains a number of interesting +relics of the supposed cathedral discovered in the restoration of the +existing building. They consist of sculptured stones of fine design +and well preserved. In the Darell Chapel is an altar tomb and others +to various members of this once famous family. A canopied tomb of +William de St. John stands in the chancel. Other interesting items are +the finely sculptured font and stoups at the north and south doors. +Ramsbury Park has been passed on the way here from Marlborough. In it +is the manor house, a seventeenth-century building, containing a +famous collection of armour. The Kennet is at its best as it flows +through the park. + +On the Hungerford side of Ramsbury, and to the south of the Kennet, is +the famous Littlecote Manor, a magnificent and unexcelled +sixteenth-century house. Built by the Darells it passed to the +Pophams, one of whom was a leader of the Parliamentarians. A gruesome +and probably true story is told of the last of the Darells--"Wild +Dayrell." A midwife deposed that she had been fetched blindfold to +attend a lady at dead of night. When her offices were over, a +wild-looking man seized the infant and hurled it in a blazing fire. +Afterwards apprehended, Darell by some trick managed to defeat +justice. + +A beautiful side excursion can be taken soon after leaving Ramsbury to +Aldbourne, three miles from the Hungerford road. This small town, +which boasts a fine church of much dignity and interest, is situated +at the end of the lonely expanse of Aldbourne Chase. From the heights +above views may be had of the distant Cotswold and Malvern Hills. +Chilton Foliat, picturesquely placed on the river bank, is the only +village passed on the way to Hungerford. Its church contains a number +of monuments to the Popham family and a cross-legged effigy of an +unknown person. + +Kintbury is three miles from Hungerford on the road which follows the +canal and railway toward Newbury. The interesting and partly Norman +church was pulled about in a shameful manner in the middle of the last +century. Another restoration about forty years ago repaired the +mischief as far as was possible. The Norman doorways remain much in +their original condition, also the chancel arch and the two squints. +Kintbury is a pleasant and typical Berkshire village, little altered +by the railway, which seems to have spared these old towns and +villages in the Kennet valley in a remarkable way, possibly because +"desirable villadom" has taken itself entirely to the banks of the +Thames away to the north. + +The road may be now taken northwards over the Kennet Bridge in two +miles to Avington, which is only about two miles from Hungerford +direct and just off the main Newbury road. The church here should on +no account be missed. It is a perfect gem of pure Norman architecture, +the only portion of later date being the Tudor south porch and arch +near the font; the priest's door; vestry arch and window, and a low +side window. It will be noticed that the chancel arch is broken at the +top. The font has grotesque sculpture upon it, the subjects being +doubtful. The early carvings and arabesques in the church are of great +interest and will repay careful scrutiny. Avington is one of the +smallest of hamlets, but wonderfully pretty in its setting of green on +the river-bank. The picturesque rectory is close to the church. + +The Newbury road runs about half a mile north of the river past Stock +Cross and Benham Park to Speen, generally supposed to be identical +with Spinae, the Roman station at the junction of the roads from Bath +and Cirencester to Silchester. Not far from the rebuilt church is an +ancient well over which has been erected in recent years a Gothic +arch. One mile farther, eight from Hungerford, and we are in Newbury, +perhaps the "new burb" in comparison with the older settlement of +Speen. A castle built in 1140 was in existence but a few years. It was +destroyed by King Stephen after being held for the Empress Maud during +a three months' siege. Newbury took part in the Wars of the Roses and +stood for the House of York. When the Lancastrians entered the town in +1460 the partisans of York were put to the sword. Every one has heard +of "Jack of Newbury." He was a rich cloth merchant named John +Smallwood who lived in North-Brook Street at a time when the town was +famed for its woollen trade. His patriotism led him to gather one +hundred and fifty of the youth of Newbury and, himself marching at +their head, took part with his men in the battle of Flodden. His house +still stands, although greatly altered to outward appearance; in its +old rooms Henry VIII was received as a guest and proffered to the +worthy clothier a knighthood in recognition of his services to the +state, an honour which Smallwood sturdily refused. + +During the Marian persecutions the Master of Reading School--Julian +Palmer, with others, was burnt at the stake. But the stirring events +of the Civil War eclipse the earlier historical interest. Two +important battles were fought in the near vicinity of the town. The +first took place on September 20, 1643. The Londoners, under Essex, +were returning to the capital after raising the siege of Gloucester, +and had taken the longer, and southern, route as being the most open +and practicable. News of the approach reached the King at Oxford and +it was decided to stop them and give battle. Essex had led his men out +of Hungerford the day before and in the evening he found his way +barred by the Royalist cavalry at Newbury Wash. The Parliamentary +forces bivouacked on Crockham Heath and next morning opened the +attack. They were fortunate enough to be able to seize the high ground +commanding the Kintbury road before the King's men awoke to the +importance of the position. The Life Guards under Biron charged up the +hill with great valour, but failed to shift the stubborn townsmen, and +brave and gentle Falkland was killed in the melee. On the Highclere +road, about a mile out of Newbury, stands the monument to this noble +and pathetic figure, whose heart seems to have been broken by the +wretched times in which he lived. + +On the other side of the field Prince Rupert, after repeated attempts +to cut a way through the London infantry, met with as little success +as the Guards, and the vanguard of the Parliamentary Army had forced +its way steadily along the London road, so that, when night fell, +after a day of heroic fighting on both sides, the King decided to +retire into Newbury, and the way into London was open to the +Republicans. + +The second battle took place after a year had passed, on October 27, +1644. The King's cause had been victorious in the west, and his army +had afterwards successfully relieved Donnington Castle. The Royal +forces were in a strong position to the north of Newbury, between Shaw +House and the Kennet, with Donnington in the centre of the defences. +The Army of the Parliament, under the joint command of Essex and +Manchester, and numbering among the sub-commandants Cromwell and the +redoubtable Waller, made a concerted attack from front and rear. In +this fight the honours may be said to have lain with the King as, with +the exception of the artillery, the Royal losses were small and a +successful retreat during the night quite defeated the object of the +Republican attack, which was to smash, once and for all, the army +opposed to them. + +Beautiful old Shaw House, one of the finest in Berkshire, still shows +traces of the fight in the earthworks that partly encircle it. The +mansion was built by another celebrated clothier of Newbury, one +Thomas Dolman, whose namesake and descendant was knighted at the +Restoration. + +Newbury Church was rebuilt by "Jack of Newbury," and the date of its +completion (1532) may be seen on a corbel. This was after Smallwood's +death, the work being finished by his son. The clothier's brass (1519) +may be seen among others. The appointments of the church are fine and +imposing; the Jacobean pulpit, dated 1607, should be noticed, also the +history of the church, in the form of an illuminated chart, on the +west wall. The hero of the town was married in the chapel of the old +Hospital of St. Bartholomew which was turned into a school in the +reign of Edward VI. Some of the school buildings are of a later date +than this. The most picturesque old house in the town, which really +contains few that are ancient, is Newbury Museum, once the Cloth Hall. +There is a pleasing glimpse of the Kennet from the short high bridge +in the main street and a still pleasanter view of the bridge itself +from the river path below. + +[Illustration: CLOTH HALL, NEWBURY.] + +A charming excursion can be taken to Lambourne, up in the heart of the +chalk hills to the north-west. This was one of King Alfred's towns, +and until the coming of the light railway one of the most unknown and +remote in the kingdom. Railway and road follow the course of the +Lambourne, a delightful river, clear and cold from the chalk and never +seeming to run dry, as do other streams of a like nature in +exceptionally hot summers. Another railroad goes directly north from +Newbury and forms the main route between Oxford and Winchester. This +also penetrates the heart of the Berkshire uplands and taps a district +inexhaustible in charm and interest, in the centre of which is +Wantage, famous as the birthplace of Alfred. But this country has been +fully described by Mr. Ditchfield in "Byeways in Berkshire." + +The Bath road in a little over three miles from Newbury reaches +Thatcham, once, by all accounts, a large and prosperous market town, +but this was in the days of the Angevin kings. The great market square +probably dates from their time and the battered remains of the old +market cross may have replaced a still more ancient one. The fine +church has a Norman door and Transitional arcading, but a very +thorough "restoration" has obliterated most of the ancient features. +The Danvers and Fuller tombs should be seen, also an interesting brass +to Thomas Loundye. The fabric of a chantry chapel at the other end of +the village dates from 1334, but it was much altered in externals in +the early eighteenth century, when it was turned into a school. + +The Bath-London road that we have travelled from Marlborough now +approaches the most beautiful stretches of the Kennet, lined with fine +parklands on the gentle northern slopes of the valley. The high hedges +and fences are in places very jealous of the beauties they encircle, +but there are charming glimpses here and there of this pleasant +countryside. Woolhampton, with a modern church of no particular +interest, is passed four miles from Thatcham, and two miles farther +comes Aldermaston Station, where we leave the great highway and turn +south to Aldermaston Wharf on the Kennet Canal. This is a most +pleasant spot, and to enhance the charm of the surroundings a large +sheet of ornamental water has been formed, close to, and fed by, the +channel. Aldermaston village is nearly two miles to the south-west and +well-placed among the wooded hills that march with the Hampshire +border. The aspect of the village is as unspoilt as any in the old +Berkshire by-ways. At the southern end of the street are the gates of +Aldermaston Park; a picturesque expanse of broken ground with several +fine avenues, and populated by herds of deer. The old Jacobean mansion +was burnt down in 1843, although a few of the ancient features were +saved and incorporated in the new house. Close to the park is the +church, the foundations of which are Norman, as are also the very fine +and uncommon west door and two blocked-up doors in the chancel and +nave. In the chapel on the south side is the tomb of Sir George +Forster and his lady (1526) with their twenty attendant children. The +knight's feet rest against his favourite hound and a lap dog is +pulling at the lady's dress. There are also brasses to some other +members of the Forster family which owned the manor during Elizabethan +days. The pulpit and sounding board belong to this period. The lancet +windows of the chancel date this portion of the church as about 1270. +There are some ancient frescoes, faint and dim by contrast with the +modern scheme of decoration; they represent St. Christopher carrying +our Lord, and, below, a mermaid and fish. + +Silchester is about four miles to the south-east by winding ways that +lead over the hills of the Hampshire border. The traveller who comes +prepared to find the actual ruins of the Roman Calleva spread before +him will be grievously disappointed. The economic necessities of to-day +have rendered the surrender of the site to the agriculturist as +necessary as it is appropriate. The sandy soil of North Hants is a +better protection to these remnants of a former civilization than all +the tarpaulins or sheds that would otherwise have to be used. Minute +and accurate plans of the foundations, that include those of a small +Christian Basilica, were made in sections, as they were uncovered, over +a period extending from 1864 to 1910. For a detailed study of the +surveys, and of the many antiquities capable of removal, those +interested must visit the Reading Museum. It has been found that the +walls of Calleva followed the irregular outline of a former British +stronghold, and instead of the usual square plan the outline of the +city was seven-sided. The remnants of the flint walls are nearly one +and three-quarter miles round and contain within their circumference +about 100 acres. Within the east gate is an old farmhouse and the +interesting parish church of Silchester, dating mostly from the +thirteenth century. + +The beautiful fir woods that are such a feature of the surrounding +landscape make rambles in any direction most delightful. By-ways may be +taken eastwards to the Stratfields--Mortimer, Saye and Turgis. The +second is well known as the residence of the great Duke of Wellington +and his successors, who hold it by presenting a flag to the King on the +anniversary of Waterloo. + +About three miles south of Silchester is an interesting church at +Bramley. It is more than probable that the ruins of the former place +were used by the builders of this church. The older portions, the north +side of the nave and the font, are Norman. Part of the chancel is Early +English and the tower, built of brick, just antedates the Civil War. +The ugly Brocas chapel on the south side was erected in the opening +years of the nineteenth century. It contains a "monstrous fine" +sculpture of one of the family and bears on the roof their gilded +Moor's head crest as a vane. The most interesting detail in the church +is a series of wall paintings, including one of the martyrdom of St. +Thomas a Becket. The west gallery was added in the early eighteenth +century and is a handsome erection. Not far away is the fine old Manor +House, now divided into tenements, but still a gracious and dignified +"black-and-white" building. + +A by-way going westwards through "Little London" eventually leads to a +number of interesting villages, among them Pamber and Monk Sherborne, +which form one parish. The church used by Pamber is a remnant of the +old Priory church founded by Henry I, and consists of the ancient choir +and tower dating from the end of the twelfth century. Within are a few +relics of this period, including several old coffin slabs, a font and a +wooden cross-legged effigy belonging to the thirteenth century. Monk +Sherborne Church has a Norman door and chancel arch and also a piscina +of this period. The remainder of the much-restored fabric is mainly +Early English. + +For our present goal--Kingsclere--the way is circuitous, but extremely +pleasant. (In fine weather it is possible to take a short cut by field +paths for the greater part of the distance.) After crossing the almost +obliterated Port Way, as the road from Silchester to Old Sarum is +called, and nearly eight miles of cross country rambling from Bramley, +a main highway is reached at Wolverton, where the church is reputed to +be a work of Sir Christopher Wren. This is unlikely, but the design of +the tower is familiar to anyone acquainted with London City and dates, +with the remainder of the fabric, from 1717. The red-brick walls +relieved by white stone are a little startling at first in such an +out-of-the-way village, but their effect is not unpleasing, and when +the church is entered its fine proportions will be admired by anyone +not slavishly bound to the worship of "Gothic." The powers that once +ruled here evidently thought otherwise, for several attempts have +obviously been made to do away with some of the classic details. The +fine contemporary woodwork of the chancel and other irreplacable +details were destroyed or seriously damaged by a destructive fire about +twelve years ago. + +[Illustration: WOLVERTON.] + +In another two miles Kingsclere is reached. This is a very ancient +town and was under the Saxon Kings, as its name proclaims, a royal +manor. Its "papers" go back to the eighth century. After the +Conqueror's day it passed into the hands of the church, and Rouen +Canons were its overlords. When they became aliens in political fact, +the manor passed to William de Melton. King John had one of his +hunting lodges at Freeman tie on the south of the town. No history has +been made at Kingsclere since Charles passed the night of October 21, +1644, here, on his way to Newbury, but there is an air of "far-off +things and battles long ago" about the quiet little town and its grey +and solemn Norman church. The stern square church tower is a fine +example of early twelfth-century work, majestic in its simplicity, but +apart from this the exterior appears to have been scraped clean of +ancient details by a drastic restoration. Within, the spacious and +fine proportions of the building atone for a great deal that has been +lost by the mistaken zeal of Victorian renovators. The font, pulpit +and Norman north door are of especial interest; of less ancient +details, the Jacobean pulpit and the great chandelier, dated 1713, +call for notice. + +The Downs to the south of Kingsclere are of much beauty and +comparatively unknown to the tourist. Although of no great height and +unremarkable in outline, the splendour of the colouring, especially +after August is past, of the woods that cover the sides of the +undulating billows of chalk is unforgettable. The Port Way, ignoring +all hills and dales in its uncompromising straightness, occasionally +shows itself as a rough track along the open side of a spinney, or as +a well-marked score in the escarpment of a Down, but never as a modern +highway east of Andover. The road winding and up and down westwards +from Kingsclere is a pleasant enough adaptation of a possible British +trackway, and brings us in a short four miles to Burghclere, where +there is a station on the Great Western Railway between Newbury and +Winchester. At Sydmonton, half a mile short of the railway, a grassy +lane leads up to Ladle Hill (768 feet), the bold bastion of chalk to +to the south. Here we may obtain a fine view of the characteristic +scenery of northern Hampshire. The curving undulations of the chalk +have many a hut circle and tumulus to tell of the fierce life that +once peopled these solitary wastes. Then the valleys were shunned as +inimical to human kind. Now the depths of almost every wrinkle and +fold has some habitation, and many a small hamlet lies out of sight +among the trees, unguessed at from the hill-road above. Away to the +south is Great Litchfield Down--literally the "Dead-field"; perhaps +the scene of a great battle, but more probably the cemetery of a +forgotten race. The still higher Beacon Hill (853 feet) appears close +at hand, as does Sidown, on the other side of Burghclere, where is +perhaps an even finer view. The old church down by the railway station +was "polished up" in a very painstaking way about fifty years ago, but +still retains a Norman nave which seems to have resisted the +sandpapering process. Highclere Park and Castle form a show-place of +the first rank; the park being beyond all praise. The slopes of the +Downs and some of their summits are within this beautiful domain of +the Earls of Carnarvon. Ear away from the Castle the park is entirely +natural and unconfined, but around the house--for an actual "castle" +is non-existent--magnificent avenues of rhododendrons make a perfect +blaze of colour in the early summer. The "Jacobean" pile high on the +hillside is so only in name, for it was built by the architect of Big +Ben. Once a favourite residence of the Bishops of Winchester, the +Castle passed to the Crown in the sixteenth century and then, after +purchase by Sir Robert Sawyer, to the Herberts by intermarriage with +the last-named knight's family. Highclere Church is a new building +designed by Sir Gilbert Scott and stands just outside the park. It +replaces an erection of the late seventeenth century which used to +stand within a stone's throw of the castle upon the site of another +building of great antiquity. + + +It is possible to make a way past the woods of Sidown and by the Three +Legged Cross Inn to Ashmansworth, where a few years ago a number of +wall paintings, one an unique depictment of Pentecost, were discovered +on the walls of the little old church that are supposed to have Roman +materials built into them. From here we may continue more or less +along the summits of the chalk uplands until the famous Inkpen, or +Ingpen, Beacon is reached, in an isolated corner of north-western +Berkshire. But alas! the former glory, on the map, of the Beacon has +departed. Until quite recently it was thought that this, the highest +section of the chalk in England, exceeded that mystic 1,000 feet that +gives such a glamour to the mere hill and makes of it a local +"mountain." An added slur was cast upon Inkpen in the handing to the +neighbouring Walbury Hill Camp of an additional five feet by these +interfering Ordnance surveyors. The new maps now read--Walbury Camp +959 feet; Inkpen, 954. But the loss of 18 yards or so does not seem to +have altered the glorious view from the flat-topped Down or to have +made its air less sparkling. The grand wooded vista down the Kennet +valley toward Newbury is a sharp contrast to the bare uplands north +and south. Walbury Camp, a fine prehistoric entrenchment, is distinct +from Walbury Hill, slightly lower, on which is Combe Gallows, a relic +of the past kept in constant repair by a neighbouring farmer as a +condition of his land tenure. Inkpen village is more than a mile away +to the north. Here is a church once old but now smartened up to such +an extent that its ancient character is not apparent. The building, +however, has not lost by the change. The modern appointments are both +beautiful and costly. + +[Illustration: THE INKPEN COUNTRY.] + +At the back of the Beacon is the lonely little village of Combe, sunk +deep in a hollow of the hills that rise all around it. It has a small +Early English church of little interest, but the village is worth a +long detour to see because of its unique position. Here was once a +cell of the Abbey of Bec in Normandy. A stony hill-road goes out of +the settlement southwards, between the huge bulk of Oat Hill (936 +feet) and Sheepless Down, back into Hampshire. The road eventually +leads to Linkenholt, another hamlet lost in the wilderness of chalk, +and then by Upton to the Andover highway at Hurstbourne Tarrant on one +of the headwaters of the Test. The map name is rarely used by the +natives, who term the place "Up Husband"; it was officially spelt "Up +Hursborn" as lately as 1830. It is a village in a delightful situation +and delightful in itself, though of late years the architecture of the +"general stores" has replaced some of the old timber-framed houses on +the main street. But the George and Dragon, even if it shows no +timbers on its long front, wears an old-fashioned air of prosperity +that belongs to the coaching past. Tarrant Church, like so many others +hereabouts, has been sadly "well restored," but still retains a +Transitional south door and some rather remarkable wall paintings. + +The Andover road rises through Dole's Wood and passes over the hill to +Knight's Enham and Andover. The last-named busy little town of to-day +owes much of its prosperity to the fact that it is an important +meeting place of railways connecting three great trunk lines. To +outward view Andover is utterly commonplace; everything ancient has +been ruthlessly improved away, and that curse of the railway town, an +appendix of mean red-brick villas, mars the approach from the west. It +has a past, however, which goes back to such remote times that its +beginnings are lost in those "mists of antiquity" which shroud so much +of the country described in our preceding chapter. The "dover" in the +town-name is probably the pre-Celtic root which meets the traveller +when he arrives at Dover and greets him again in unsuspected places +from the "dor" in Dorchester and the Falls of Lodore to the "der" in +Derwent and smoky Darwen. All have the same meaning--_water_; and +"an," strangely enough, is a later and Celtic word for the same +element, the equally ubiquitous "afon." So that Andover should be a +place of many waters, which it is not. A small stream--the +Anton--flows almost unnoticed through the town, though its name seems +to have been given occasionally to the whole of the longer Test that +it meets a few miles to the south. + +Written records of Andover before Wessex became a kingdom do not +exist. But scraps of tessellated pavement in the vicinity show that it +was a locality well known to the Romans, and the Port Way, that great +thoroughfare of the Empire, passed within half a mile of the modern +railway junction. In 994, Olaus, King of Norway, is said to have been +baptized here, his sponsor being Ethelred the Unready. The town +received its charter from King John and took part in the disagreement +between Stephen and Matilda, when it had the misfortune to be burnt. +It saw two of the Stuarts when the evil days for each were reaching +their culmination. Charles I stayed here on his way to the last battle +of Newbury, and James II slept at Priory House while retiring from +Salisbury to London just before the arrival of William of Orange. The +town returned two members to Parliament before the Reform Act, and +afterwards one until 1885. Half legendary are some of the tales of the +hustings at Andover in those days of "free and open" voting, and the +old "George" seems to have been a centre of the excitement on election +days, where most of the guineas changed hands and where most free +drinks were handed to the incorruptibles. It was here during the +candidature of Sir Francis Delaval that his attorney had occasion to +send him the following bill-- + + "To being thrown out of the window of the George Inn, Andover; to + my leg being broken; to surgeon's bill, and loss of time and business; + all in the service of Sir Francis Delaval + L500." + +This rough treatment was in consequence of the poor lawyer having, at +his patron's instigation, invited the officers of a regiment quartered +in the town, and the mayor and corporation, to a dinner at the +"George," _each in the other's name_. At this same inn Cobbett, in one +of his _Rural Rides_, had an adventure with mine host and pushed his +opinions down the throat of the assembled company in his usual manner. +This inn, and the "Angel," were great places in the posting days, when +the Exeter Road was one of the most important arteries in England. +They are among the pleasant survivals of eighteenth-century Andover, +for there is nothing that appears on the surface older than that +period, except the Norman door of the churchyard--all that is left of +the fine building pulled down in 1840 to make way for the present +imitation Early English church--and a piece of wall on the north side, +a remnant of a cell belonging to the Benedictine Abbey of Saumur. +About three miles west of Andover is Weyhill, a village celebrated for +its fair and immortalized in _The Mayor of Casterbridge_. It at one +time claimed to be the largest in England, but in these changed days +its rural importance has diminished. The fair takes place in October +and now covers four consecutive days instead of the original six. The +first day is Sheep Fair followed by "Mop" (hiring), Pleasure, and Hop +Fairs with horses every day and several side-shows such as "Cheese +Fair" and the like. It has been thought possible that Weyhill is +referred to in _The Vision of Piers Plowman_--"At Wy and at Wynchestre +I went to the Fair." + +We now propose to turn eastwards for the last time and to follow the +main London road along the northern boundary of Harewood Forest +through Hurstbourne Priors ("Down Husband") and then past the wide +expanse of Hurstbourne Park, in which stands the seat of the Earl of +Portsmouth and which clothes the northern slopes of the Test valley +for more than a mile with its beautiful woods and glades. Its eastern +boundary is close to Whitchurch, seven miles from Andover. Whitchurch +was another famous posting centre and, like Andover, a rotten borough. +Here an important cross-country route from Oxford to Winchester tapped +the Exeter road and here the modern ways of the Great Western and +South Western cross each other at right angles. At the famous "White +Hart" Newman wrote the opening part of the _Lyra Apostolica_ while +awaiting the Exeter coach in December, 1832. The great tower of All +Hallows still stands, but little besides of the old building. While +the restoration was in progress a Saxon headstone was brought to +light. It bears a presentment of our Lord's head with the following +inscription:-- + + HIC CORPUS FRIDBURGAE REQUIESCAT + IN PACE SEPULTUM + +[Illustration: WHITCHURCH.] + +The old chapel of Freefolk, little more than a mile out of the town, +dates from 1265 and came into existence because the winter floods on +the infant Test prevented the good folk of the vicinity getting into +Whitchurch. The famous Laverstock Mill, where the paper for Bank of +England notes has been made for two hundred years, is not far away by +the side of the high road. The owners of the Mill, and of Laverstock +Park, are a naturalized Huguenot family named de Portal, whose +ancestors came to England and settled in Southampton during the +persecution of the Protestants that followed the revocation of the +Edict of Nantes. When Cobbett rode by the Mill he made the following +unprophetic utterance:--"We passed the mill where the Mother-Bank +paper is made! Thank God! this mill is likely soon to want employment. +Hard by is a pretty park and house belonging to 'Squire' Portal, the +_paper-maker_. The country people, who seldom want for sarcastic +shrewdness, call it 'Rag Hall!'" + +Nearly four miles from Whitchurch comes Overton, once a market but now +a quiet village that shows signs of activity (apart from the ceaseless +procession of motor traffic) only on one day in the year, July 18, +when a great sheep fair takes place. For Overton is a centre of the +great sheep-down country of north Hampshire. The church is +unremarkable except that the nave has Norman pillars with arches of a +later date above them. The fine old manor house near the railway +station is called Quidhampton. + +After passing Ashe we reach Deane, where a road to the right leads in +a mile and a half to Steventon, at the rectory of which village Jane +Austen was born in 1775, her father holding the incumbency for many +years. As we rejoin the main road Church Oakley lies to the right at +the source of the Test. Here stands a church built about 1525 by +Archbishop Warham, whose ancestors lived at Malshanger, nearly two +miles away to the north. After passing Worting, ten miles from +Whitchurch and two from Basingstoke, that we are nearing a large town +becomes apparent, and soon the gaunt and curious clock tower of +Basingstoke Town Hall comes into view, a land-mark for many miles. + +[Illustration: HOLY GHOST CHAPEL, BASINGSTOKE.] + +The "Stoke Bare-hills" of Thomas Hardy has changed the tenor of its +way several times in history. It started by sending members to +Parliament three hundred years before it became a borough in the reign +of the first Stuart, when it was already famous as a manufactory of +silks and woollens. A time of inanition followed until the great +period of road travel set in, when it became the most important centre +between London and Salisbury. Then with the iron way came another +phase that at one time threatened to bring the town into line with +Swindon, Crewe and other railway "wens"; but except for some miles of +small red-brick villas, packed close together on the bleak wolds that +surround the town, it has not greatly suffered and is still +essentially agricultural. Quite lately a new industry has grown up +here, the manufacture of farming implements. + +Close to the railway station are the ruins of the chapel of the Holy +Ghost, founded by Bishop Fox in 1525. They stand in the ancient +cemetery which dates from the time of the Papal Interdict (1208) when, +in consequence of King John's quarrel with the Pope, burial in +churchyards was suspended. Basingstoke Church was built in the early +sixteenth century and contains some of the old glass from the Holy +Ghost Chapel. + +The most interesting place in the vicinity of Basingstoke is Old +Basing, two miles to the east, and ever memorable as the scene of the +defence of Basing House. This magnificent mansion had been built by +William Paulet, first Marquis of Winchester, on the site of the +original Norman castle of Basing. When the Civil War broke out, the +fifth Marquis, John Paulet, decided to defend the house for the King, +and gathering his friends and retainers about him, amply provisioning +his cellars and "writing 'Aimez Loyalte' on every pane of his windows +with the diamond of his ring," he calmly awaited the Roundheads, who +were soon in possession of Basingstoke. Two hundred and fifty Royalist +soldiers had already joined the garrison when the actual siege began +in July, 1643. The attackers under Waller numbered seven thousand, but +by December, after great losses, they were forced to withdraw. The +following spring another determined effort was made to starve out the +garrison, but the arrival of Colonel Gage with reinforcements from +Oxford put fresh heart into the "nest of hornets," and the news that +their fortress had been renamed "Basting House" by their admiring +friends stiffened their resolve. During the next few months, however, +religious differences within led to a weakening of the heroic defence +and to the beginning of the end, and after two thousand lives had +already been lost, Basing House fell to the redoubtable Cromwell in +person on October 14, 1645, about one hundred of the defenders being +killed in the final assault and some three hundred prisoners taken. + +Of this historic site there remain but a few walls and the Gate-house. +The area covered by the entrenchments was about fourteen acres and the +garden must have been a place of beauty before the litter of the siege +marred the trim walks and parterres. The country people were bidden +help themselves when the victors departed with their prisoners, and +the work of ruin was quickly complete. + +[Illustration: BASING.] + +Basing church, which was used in the attack on the House, is of the +fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and contains many memorials of the +Paulet family. Its outside is much more striking and handsome than its +interior, which has a rather empty and featureless appearance. Not far +from Basing is the great entrenchment of Winklebury Castle, over 3,000 +feet round. From the edge of its commanding vallum Cromwell took the +observations for his successful assault on Basing House. + +Sherborne St. John, two miles north of Basingstoke, has an old church, +with an ugly tower built in 1833. The Brocas brasses and the fine +Jacobean pulpit are interesting. The Vyne, a celebrated mansion, is +one mile farther along our road. The greater part of the building is +four hundred years old, though certain additions and alterations are +due to Inigo Jones. Its beautiful chapel has some old French glass, +inserted in the windows in 1544, and other details of much interest. + +Between the hills to the south, nearly four miles from Basingstoke, is +the small village of Herriard and the neighbouring park named after +it. Its Transitional church has been much rebuilt, but still contains +several items of interest, including a fine chancel arch and some old +stained glass. North-east of the park is the old and partly Saxon +church of Tunworth, about four miles direct from Basingstoke. The +Herriard road continues in a little over six miles to Alton, a +pleasant and out-of-the-way old town, but with little left of its +former picturesque streets. Alton is famous for its ale made from the +hops grown in the immediate neighbourhood. The church has a door +covered with bullet marks, a legacy from the Civil War, when the +troops of the Parliament under Waller attacked the Royalists, who had +fled to the church for sanctuary. A good deal of Norman work is +visible in the base of the tower. The Jacobean pulpit and misericords +in the choir call for remark and also the interesting "memoriall" on a +pillar of the nave to the "Renowned Martialist "--Richard Boles--who +defended the church during the attack referred to above. + +From Alton the Meon Valley Railway follows the high road to distant +Fareham on the shores of Portsmouth Harbour, and penetrates a lonely +countryside, perhaps the least-known portion of Hampshire. For the +first ten miles the railway and road traverse the uplands that are a +continuation of the Sussex Downs and part of the great chalk range of +southern England. In one of the nooks of this tableland, two miles +from the station at Tisted and four from Petersfield, is Selborne, +made for ever famous by Gilbert White, who lived at The Wakes, the +picturesque rambling old house opposite the church. At West Meon the +actual valley from which the railway takes its name is entered. The +infant stream, here a mere trickle under the hedgerows, comes down +from East Meon, three miles away, where there is a cruciform church +containing a black Tournai font, and an old stone pulpit dating from +the fifteenth century. Close by is a manor house, once the property of +the Bishops of Winchester. Warnford, a mile below West Meon, has a +church of great interest. It is a Norman building on the site of the +first sanctuary erected for the converted Meonwaras by Wilfred of +York. Several noteworthy features may be seen, including a Saxon +sundial from the original church. At Corhampton two miles further +south, a Saxon church still remains, though it has lost its early +apsidal chancel. + +[Illustration: CORHAMPTON.] + +The building has apparently been erected on a mound, possibly +prehistoric. Droxford station is within a four-mile walk of Hambledon +where, in 1774, modern cricket was first played. Droxford Church is +another fine old building that, with those just enumerated, lends an +added interest to this delightful valley, the scenic charm of which +would alone be sufficient recompense for the trouble involved in +exploring it. Customs and beliefs are more primitive and the forms of +speech more archaic than in the region beyond the New Forest, and the +natives have a goodly amount of the old Jutish blood in their veins, +possibly more than their relatives of the Isle of Wight. The swelling +hills of that delectable land fill the vista as we descend between +Soberton and Wickham, where the valley divides the main portion of the +ancient Forest of Bere from the scattered woodlands of Waltham Chase +and, at the last-named village, widens into the lowlands that stretch +between Tichfield and Fareham and the busy activities of Portsmouth. + +We now near the end of our brief exploration of Wessex and, returning +to Basingstoke, take the last sixteen miles of our course over the +great road, straight and lonely of houses, that runs across the hills +to Winchester. The Romans built up the solid foundations of the +greater part of this highway which passes through no villages, though +it has several within a short distance of its straight hedges and +interminable telegraph posts. Near the _Sun Inn_, high on the chalk +hills five miles from Basingstoke, a lane turns left to Dummer, worth +visiting for the sake of the old unrestored church dating mostly from +the early thirteenth century. The old beams and the large +sixteenth-century gallery have escaped "improvement." The oak pulpit +is said to date from the early fifteenth century. The most striking +feature of the interior is a canopy over the chancel arch, a relic of +the rood that once stood beneath it. Several interesting brasses of +the At Moores, and a squint at the back of a recess, or image niche, +should be noticed. George Whitfield's first ministry was in this +church. Close by is the ancient manor house, partly of the fourteenth +century, and on the Basingstoke side of the village is Kempshott Park, +a "hunting lodge" of George IV. The bare rolling Downs reach a height +of over 650 feet east of Dummer, in the neighbourhood of Farleigh +Wallop and Nutley. On the other side of the Winchester highway North +Waltham has a rebuilt church in "Norman" style. Steventon, the +birthplace of Jane Austen, already mentioned, is but a short distance +farther. East Stratton is another out-of-the-way village off the high +road to the left and just beyond Stratton House, a seat of the Earl of +Northbrook. A magnificent avenue of beech trees leads to Micheldever +village, and also, in the opposite direction to the station, to that +point on the South Western Railway where the traveller to Southampton +notes that the exhausted pant of the engine has changed to an easy +glide as the train passes the summit tunnel and rolls down to +Winchester. The dim recesses of Micheldever wood extend to the east of +the Roman road on its undulating but perfectly straight course until +it drops to Headbourne Worthy. + +As we descend the last few miles the ancient capital of Wessex and of +England is seen ahead lying in the lap of its enfolding hills. The +blunt and stern outline of the grey cathedral is softened by the misty +veil, shot with mingled gold and pearl, that rests softly over the +valley and that obliterates everything mean and unworthy in the scene +before us. Just as the memories of great and famous days that cling +round the old towns of Wessex--threads of faith and chivalry, valour +and high endeavour--make an opalescent robe to hide for a moment the +futilities of the present. + +[Illustration: MAP OF WESSEX.] + + + + +INDEX + +Abbotsbury +Abbot's Worthy +Addison +Aelfric +Aethelmar +Affpuddle +Agglestone +Agincourt +Aldbourne +Alderbury +Aldermaston +Alfred +Alfred's Tower +All Cannings +Allen, Ralph +Allen River +Allington +Alton +Alton Berners +Alton Priors +Alvedeston +Amesbury +Amesbury, West +Andover +Anne Boleyn +Anning, Mary +Ansty Hill +Anton +Anvil Point +Arish Mel +Arne +Arnold, Dr. +Arthur +Arundell of Wardour +Ashe +Ashmansworth +Asser +Athelhampton +Athelstan +Athelwold +Aubrey, John +Aurelius Ambrosius +Austen, Jane +Avebury +Avebury, Lord +Avington +Avon (Bristol) +Avon (Southern) +Axe, River +Axford +Axminster +Axmouth +Aylward +Ayscough, Bp. + +Babylon Hill +Bacon, Roger +Badbury Hill +Bailey Gate +Baleares, The +Ballands Castle +Ballard Down +Banbury Hill +Bankes, Sir John +Barbury Camp +Barford St. Martin +Barn Door +Barnes, Wm. +Barneston +Barrow Hill +Barton-on-Sea +Barton, Wm. +Basing +Basingstoke +Batcombe +Battlesbury Camp +Baverstock +Beacon Hill +Beaminster +Beaufort, Cardinal +Beaufort, John +Beaulieu River +Beckford, Wm. +Beckhampton +Beechingstoke +Beer +Beer Head +Bemerton +Beohtric +Benham Park +Bere Regis +Berthon, Mr. +Berwick Basset +Berwick, St. James +Berwick, St. John +Bicton Park +Bilbury Ring +Bindon +Bindon Abbey +Bindon Hill +Birinus +Bishop's Cannings +Bishopstone +Bishopstrow +Blackdown +Blackdowns, The +Blacklough Castle +Blackmore Vale +Blake, Admiral +Blandford +Boldre +Boldrewood +Boscombe +Botley +Bourne Valley +Bournemouth +Bovey House +Bower Chalke +Bowles Family +Boyton +Bradford Abbas +Bradpole +Bramley +Branscombe +Branscombe Hill +Bratton +Bratton Castle +Bratton Seymour +Bridehead +Bride River +Bridport +Broad Chalke +Broadwey +Broadwindsor +Brockenhurst +Browne, Bp. Harold +Browning, Robert +Brownsea Island +Bruton +Bubb Down +Bucket, John +Buckingham, Duke of +Buckland Rings +Bucklershard +Budleigh Salterton +Bulbarrow Hill +Burford Park +Burghclere +Burlesdon +Burney, Fanny +Burton Bradstock +Butser Hill +Buzbury Rings + +Cadbury, North and South +Cadbury Castle +Caer Gwent +Calleva +Calshot Castle +Camel, Queen's and West +Camelot +Campeden, John de +Canford +Canute +Casterley +Castle Cary +Castle Hill +Cattistock +Caundle Purse +Cerne, The +Cerne Abbas +Chalbury Camp +Chaldon Herring +Challow Hill +Chapman's Pool +Chard +Chard, Thos. +Chardown +Charles I +Charles II +Charles X of France +Charlton +Charminster +Charmouth +Chater +Chatham, Lord +Cheddington +Cherhill Down +Chesil Bank +Cheverell +Chickerell +Chilton Foliat +Chideock +Chilhampton +Chirton +Chisbury Hill +Chisenbury +Chislebury Camp +Chitterne +Cholderton +Christchurch +Churchend Ring +Church Hope Cove +Church Oakley +Churchill, Winston +Church Hill +Civil War +Clarendon +Clatford Bottom +Clausentium +Clearbury Camp +Cley Hill +Cobbett (_Rural Rides_) +Codford, St. Mary +Codford, St. Peter +Colcombe +Cole +Coleridge, S.T. +Collingbourne Ducis +Collingbourne Kingston +Colyford +Colyton +Combe +Combe Gallows +Combpyne +Compton +Compton Abbas +Compton Chamberlaine +Coney Castle +Coombe Bisset +Copley Hill +Coram, Capt. +Corfe Castle +Corhampton +Coulston +Cowden Hill +Cowes +Cranborne +Cranborne Chase +Crawford Castle +Crecy +Creech Barrow +Creech Hill +Crete Hill +Crewkerne +Cricket, St. Thomas +Cromwell, Oliver +Cromwell, Richard +Cunetio +Cuthberga +Cwenburh +Cynegils + +Damory Court +Dampier, Wm. +Danes, The +Dauntsey School, etc. +Deadman's Bay +Deane +De Aquila +De Blois, Bp. +De Burgh, Hubert +De Campeden, John +De Chideock +De Lacy, Bp. +Delaval, Sir Francis +De Longespee, Wm. +De Mauleon, Savaric +De Montacute, John +Deorham +Deptford +Deverill Villages +Deverniche +"Devil's Den" +Devizes +Dickens, Chas. +Dinton +Ditcheat +Dodington, G. Bubb +Donhead St. Andrew +Donhead St. Mary +Dorchester +Dorchester (Oxon) +Dorset Dialect +Dorset Heaths +Dowlands +Dowlish Wake +Downton +Drake, Sir Francis +Droxford +Dummer +Dumpdon Hill +Dunium +Dunstan, Archbp. +Durdle Door +Durleston +Durnford +Durnovaria +Durrington + +Ealhstan, Bp. +Earle, Sir Walter +East Chinnock +East Coker +East Knoyle +East Meon +Easton +East Stratton +East Wellow +Ebbesborne Wake +Ebble Valley +Edgar +Edington +Edmund, Ironside +Edward Confessor +Edward the Martyr +Edyngton, Bp. +Egbert +"Egdon Heath" +Eggardon Hill +Eldon, Lord +Eleanor, Princess +Eleanor, Queen +Elfrida +Elizabeth, Queen +Ellandune, Battle of +Encombe +Enford +Erlestoke +Ethelred +Etricke, Anthony +Evercreech +Evershot +Eype + +Falkland +Farleigh Wallop +Fawcett, Henry +Fawley +Fielding +Fifield Bavant +Figheldean +Figsbury Rings +Five Maries +Fisherton Delamere +Fittleton +Flambard +Flanders +Flowers Barrow +Fonthill Abbey +Fonthill Giffard +Fontmell Magna +Ford Abbey +Fordingbridge +Fordington +Forster, W.E. +Fortunes Well +Fosse Way +Fovant +Fox, Bp. +Frampton +Freefolk +Freemantle +Frome +Frome, River +Froxfield +Fugglestone +Fuller, Thos. +Furzy Cliff +Fyfield + +Gad Cliff +Gay +Geoffrey of Monmouth +George III +Glastonbury +Gloucester, Duke of +Glover, Richard +Godmanstone +Golden Cap +Great Bedwyn +Great Wishford +Gresham, Sir Thomas +"Grey Mare" +Grovely Wood + +Hackpen Hill, +Hamble River +Hambledon +Hambledon Hill +Hamdon +Handfast Point +Hanging Langford Camp +Hardown +Hardy, Admiral +Hardy, Thomas +Harewood Forest +Harnham +Hawksdown +Hazlitt, Wm +Headbourne Worthy +Heale House +Helstone +Hengistbury Head +Henover Hill +Henry II +Henry III +Henry VI +Henry VII +Henry VIII +Henry of Huntingdon +Henstridge +Henstridge Down +Herbert, George +Herriard +Heytesbury +Highclere +Highcliffe +High Stoy +Hiltingbury +Hindon +Hinton Admiral +Hinton Parva +Hinton St. George +Hinton St. Mary +Hod Hill +Holmsley +Holton Heath +Holworth Cliff +Honiton +Honnington +Horsebridge +Horsey, Sir John +Horton Down +Hubert, Bp. +Huish +Hungerford +Hungerford, Sir Edward +Hunter's Lodge +Hursley +Hurstbourne Priors +Hurstbourne Tarrant +Hurst Castle +Hythe + +Ibernium +Icknield Way +Idmiston +Ilchester +Ilminster +Imber +Inkpen Beacon +Isle of Wight +Isle, River +Itchen, River +Itchen Abbas +Iwerne Courtenay +Iwerne Minster + +Jack Straw's Castle +James I +James II +Jefferies, Richard +Jeffreys, Judge +Jesty, Benj. +Jewel, Bp. +John +John of Gaunt +Johnson, Dr. +Joliffe, Capt. +Jones, Inigo +Jonson, Ben +Joscelyn, Bp. +Jutes + +Keble, John +Kempshott Park +Ken, Bp. +Kennet, River +Kimmeridge Bay +Kingsclere +Kingsettle Hill +Kingsley, Chas. +Kingsmill, Prior +King's Somborne +Kingston +Kingston, Lacy +Kingston, Russell +King's Worthy +Kintbury +Knapp Hill +Knights' Enham +Knightwood Oak +Knook +Knowle Hill +Knowlton +Konigsmark, Count + +Ladle Hill +Lake +Lamb, Chas. +Lambert's Castle +Lambourne +Lambourne Downs +Langdon Hill +Langton Herring +Langton Matravers +Lawrence, Sir Thos. +Lea, Lord Herbert of +Leigh +Leland +Lewsdon Hill +Linkenholt +Littlecote Manor +Lisle, Mrs. Alicia +Litchfield Down +Little Bedwyn +Little Bredy +Little Durnford +Little Langford +Little London +Litton Cheyney +Lockyer, Sir Norman +Loders +Long Barrow, The +Long Bredy +Longford Castle +Longleat +Long Knoll +Louis the Dauphin +Lovells, The +Lucius +Ludgershall +Ludlow, Edmund +Lulworth Castle +Lulworth Cove +Lulworth East +Lulworth West +Lydlynch +Lyme Regis +Lymington +Lyndhurst +Lytchett Beacon +Lytchett Matravers +Lytchett Minster + +Maiden Bradley +Maiden Castle +Maiden Newton +Malwood +Manningford Abbots +Manningford Bruce +Mapperton +Mappowder +Margaret of Anjou +Mark Ash +Market Lavington +Markway Hill +Marlborough +Marlborough Downs +Marnhull +Marshwood Vale +Marston Magna +Martinsell +Martyr's Worthy +Marwood, Thos. +Mary I +Massinger +Maud, Empress +Maumbury Rings +Melbury Abbas +Melbury Bubb +Melbury Downs +Melbury Sampford +Melcombe Regis +Meon +Merlin +Merriot +Middle Down +Middle Wallop +Milborne Port +Mildenhall +Milford-on-Sea +Milk Hill +Milton Abbas +Milton Abbey +Minstead +Mitcheldever +Mitford, Mary Russell +Monk Sherborne +Monmouth, Duke of +Montacute +Montfort +Morecombelake +Moreton +Morton Bavant +Motley, J.L. +Mottisfont +Moule, Bp. +Mowlem and Burt +Mupe Bay + +Nadder Valley +Nash Court +Nelson +Netheravon +Nether Cerne +Netherhampton +Nether Wallop +Netley Abbey +Netley Castle +Netton +Newbury +Newenham Abbey +New Forest +Newman, Cardinal +New Milton +Newton Tony +Nightingale, Florence +Nine Barrows Down +Norrington +North, Bp. Brownlow +North Waltham +Nottington + +Oakford Fitzpaine +Oare +Oat Hill +Odstock +Ogbury Camp +Olaus of Norway +Old Sarum +"Orator Hunt" +Orc +Orcheston +Osmington Mills +Osmund, Bp. +Otter River +Otterbourne +Otterton +Ottery St. Mary +Overton +Overton Hill +Over Wallop + +Page, Harry +Palmer, Julian +Palmerston +Pamber +Parnham Park +Patney +Paulet, John +Pennsylvania Castle +Penruddocke, Col. +Penselwood +Pentridge Hill +Pepys, Samuel +Perkin Warbeck +Peter of Pontefract +Peveril Point +Pewsey +Pewsey, Vale of +Philip of Castile +Pilgrim Fathers +Pilsdon Pen +Pimperne Down +Pitman, Col. +Pitt Down +Pitt Family +Place House, Tisbury +Poole +Preston Harbour +Poore, Bp. +Pope +Portal Family +Potterne +Port Way +Porton +Poticary, Jerome +Pouletts, The +Poundbury Camp +Powerstock +Poxwell +Prescombe Down +Preston +Preston Pucknell +Prior, Matthew +Puckstone +Puddle River +Puddletown +Puncknoll +Purbeck Hills +Purbeck Marble + +Quidhampton + +Radipole +Rainscombe +Raleigh, Sir Walter +Rampisham +Ramsbury +Rattenbury +Raymond's Hill +Red Cross +Redlynch Hill +Reforne +Richard, I +Richard, III +Richard, Earl of Cambridge +Ridgeway +Ring's Hill +Ringwood +Robert of Gloucester +Rodwell +Roger, Bp. +Romsey +Roundway Down +Rousdon +Rowde +Rufus Castle +Rupert, Prince +Rushall +Russell, John + +Sacheverell, Dr. +Saint Aldhelm +Saint Aldhelm's Head +Saint Alfreda +Saint Boniface +Saint Candida +Saint Catherine's Chapel +Saint Catherine's Hill +Saint Cross +Saint Edyth +Saint Elizabeth's College +Saint Grimald +Saint John a Gore's Cross +Saint Leonards +Saint Mary's College +Saint Swithun +Salcombe Regis +Salisbury +Salisbury Cathedral +Salisbury Plain +Salterton +Sandford Orcas +Sandsfoot Castle +"Sarum, Use of," +Savernake Forest +Scratchbury Camp +Seacombe Cliff +Seaton +Selborne +Semley +Shaftesbury +Shakespeare +Sharkford +Shaw House +Sheepless Down +Shelley +Shepherd's Shore +Sherborne +Sherborne St. John +Sheridan +Sherrington +Shillingstone +Shipton Bellinger +Sidbury +Sidford +Sidmouth +Sidney, Sir Philip +Sidown +Silbury Hill +Silchester +Skipton Beacon +Skipton Gorge +Sleeping Green +Sloden +Smallwood, John +Smith, Sidney +Soberton +Solent +Somers, Sir Geo. +Southampton +Southampton Water +Southbourne +South Newton +South Petherton +Southwell +Spanish Armada +Speen +Spencer +Stainsford +Stair Hole +Stalbridge +Stanley, Dean +Stanswood Bay +Stanton, St. Gabriel +Stapleford +Stavordale Priory +Stedcombe +Steeple Langford +Steepleton Iwerne +Stephen +Steventon +Stillingfleet, Dean +Stockbridge +Stock Cross +Stockton +Stoke +Stoke Farthing +Stoke Wake +Stonehenge +Stonehouse, Sir Jas. +Stoney Cross +Stour, River +Stourpaine +Stourton, Lord Charles +Strangeways, John +Stratfields, The +Stratford +Stratford, Tony +Studland +Sturminster Marshall +Sturminster Newton +Sutton Mandeville +Sutton Poyntz +Sutton Veny +Sutton Waldron +Swallowcliffe +Swanage +Sweyn +Swyre Head +Sydenham, Thomas +Sydling St. Nicholas +Sydmonton +Symondsbury + +Tan Hill +Tarrant Villages +Teffont Evias +Teffont Magna +Templecombe +Test River +Thackeray +Thatcham +Thompson, Wm. +Thornhill, Sir James +Three Legged Cross +Thynne, Sir John +Tidworth +Tilly Whim +Tilshead +Tintinhull +Tisbury +Titchborne +Titchfield +Toller Fratrum +Toller Porcorum +Topp, John +Tottenham House +Totton +Towel, E. and W. +Trafalgar +Trenchard, Sir Thos. +Trent +Trollope +Tunworth +Turberville Family +Turnworth House +Tutchin, John +Twyford +Twyneham +Tyneham +Tytherington + +Upavon +Uploders +Uplyme +Up Ottery +Upton +Upton Cliff +Upton Lovell +Upton Scudamore +Upwey + +Vanchurch +Venn +Venta Belgarum +Verne +Vespasian's Camp +Victoria +Vigilantius +Vindilis +Vindogladia +Vyne, The + +Wade, Col. +Walbury Hill Camp +Walkelyn, Bp. +Waller, Genl. +Wallop's, The +Walsingham +Waltham Chase +Walton, Izaak +Wansdyke +Wantage +Wardour Castle +Wareham +Warham, Archbp. +Warminster +Warnford +Watts, Isaac +Waynflete, Bp. +Wayte, Bp. +Wellington, Duke of +Wesley, John +Wessex, Boundaries of +West Bay +Westbury +West Coker +West Kennet +West Lavington +West Meon +Weston +Weston Grove +West Saxons +Weyhill +Weymouth +Whistler +Whitchurch +Whitchurch Canonicorum +White, Gilbert +White Hart Forest +White Horse, (Westbury) +White, John +Whitesand Cross +White Sheet Hill +White Staunton +Whitfield, George +Wickham +Wilberforce, Bp. +Wilbury House +William I +William II +William III +Wilsford +Wilsford Down +Wilton +Wilton House +Wimborne Minster +Wincanton +Winchester +Winchester Cathedral +Winchester College +Windwhistle Hill +Windy Gap +Winklebury Camp +Winklebury Castle +Winnal +Winspit Quarry +Winterbourne Stoke +Winterbourne Villages (Blandford) +Winterbourne Villages (Dorchester) +Winterbourne Villages (Kennet) +Winterbourne Villages (Salisbury) +Winterslow Hut +Wolfeton House +Wolsey, Cardinal +Wolverton +Wolvesley Castle +Woodbury Hill +Woodford +Wool +Woolbury Ring +Woolston +Worbarrow Bay +Wordsworth +Worth Matravers +Worting +Wraxall +Wren, Sir Christopher +Wyatt, James +Wyatville, Sir J. +Wyke +Wyke Regis +Wykeham, Bp. +Wylye +Wylye River +Wynford Eagle + +Yeovil +Yetminster + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Wanderings in Wessex, by Edric Holmes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WANDERINGS IN WESSEX *** + +***** This file should be named 11410.txt or 11410.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/1/11410/ + +Produced by Dave Morgan, Beth Trapaga and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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