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/.?s5T S-. s-
HARVARD COLLEGE
LIBRARY
FKOM THE FUND OF
CHARLES MINOT
CLASS OF 1828
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<•
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MEMOIES
ILLUSTAATIVB OP
THE fflSTORY AND ANTIQUITIES
WILTSHIRE.
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LONDON :
FRIKTEU BY ROBbOM, LBVKY, AMD FRANKLTN
Ureal New Street, Fetter Lane.
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MEMOIRS
o
ILLUSTRATIVE OP
THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES
OF
WILTSHIRE
AND
THE CITY OF SALISBURY.
COMMUNICATED TO THE ANNUAL MEETING OF
^T^e |[rc1^aeoloafoal JFni^tttttte of iSreat Srttain ans gxtlata,
Held at Salisbury, July, 1849.
.;?^
LONDON:
GEORGE BELL, 186 FLEET STREET.
SOLD ALSO AT THE OFFICE OF THE ARCH^OLOGICAL INSTITUTE,
26 SUFFOLK STREET, PALL MALL EAST.
MDCCCLT.
/
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J\tc IXS-'iT.^
MA^i^A^y^^'
y
•'.(\
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ADVERTISEMENT.
After the year 1848, the Central Committee of the Institute, in
compliance with a wish very generally expressed by the majority
of the Society, made a new arrangement regarding their publica-
tions, in pursuance of which the Journal is now distributed to the
Members, instead of the annual volume which had been previously
given, while the Journal was published by Mr. Parker. As, how-
ever, it was thought very desirable that the publication of the
Memoirs read at the annual meetings should be continued so as to
form a regular series, a subscription-list was opened for this pur-
pose, the publication being undertaken by Mr. George BeU. The
Publisher trusts that the volume which he has now the pleasure of
laying before his Subscribers will not be found inferior to the pre-
ceding ones, either in the list of contributors or in the subject-
matter of the various Memoirs ; and that it will be received by the
Members of the Institute at large as an acceptable addition to the
continuous series of Annual Transactions, of which the present
volume forms the fifth. It is with much regret that, from causes
beyond his control, he is not enabled to give Professor Willis's
History of the Cathedral, which the Central Committee had made
every effort in their power to secure for this volume.
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CONTENTS.
PAGE
On the Results of AacHiEOLooiCAL Investigation in Wiltshire.
By Georob Matcham, Esq. ...... 1
The Topographical Gatherings at Stourhead, 1825-33.
By the Rev. Joseph Hunter, F.S.A. . . .16
On the Early English Settlements in South Britain.
By Edwin Guest, Esq., F.R.S. . .28
With a Map kindly contributed by the Author.
The Examination op Silburt Hill. By the late Very Rev. J. Merbwbthbr,
D.D.,F.S.A., Dean of Hereford 73
DiART OF THE EXAMINATION OF BaRBOWS AND OTHER EARTHWORKS IN THE NEIGH-
BOURHOOD OF SiLBURT Hill and Avebury.
By the late Very Rev. J. Merewbtheb, Dean of Hereford . 82
With thirty-five Illustrations ttom drawings by the Author
Letter relative to Stonehenge. By the Rev. Edward Duke, F.S.A. 113
Remarks on two Communications respecting Stonehenge.
By George Matcham, Esq. . . .121
Painted Glass at Salisbury. By Charles Winston, Esq. . 135
With four coloured Illustrations.
Observations on Ecclesiastical and Monumental Sculpture.
By Richard Wbstmacott, Jun. Esq., R.A., F.R.S. . . .160
Notices on the Domesdat-Book for Wiltshire. By Henry Moody . 177
Notice of the Custumal of Blsadon, Somerset, and of the Agricultural
Tenures of the 13th Century. By Edward Smirke, Esq., F.S.A. . 182
The Earldom op Salisbury. By John Gough Nichols, Esq., F.S.A. . .211
With eight Illustrations.
Notices of the Mints of Wiltshire. By Edward Hawkins, Esq., F.R.S.,
F.S.A., Keeper of the Antiquities, British Museum . . . . 235
Notices of the Mosaic Pavement discovered at Thruxton, Hants, in 1823.
By the late Rev. Jambs Ingram, D.D., President of Trinity College, Oxford . 241
With coloured Illustration kindly contributed by the Author.
Notes on the Sculptures at Wilton House. By Charles T. Newton, M.A.,
Assistant in the Department of Antiquities, British Museum . . . 248
This valuable guide to the striking collection of ancient art preserved at Wilton had been
specially prepared for the gratification of the Members of the Institute, with the
sanction of their noble President. It was presented to the Society by the kindness
of John Murray, Esq., on the occasion of their interesting visit to Wilton.
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Vlll CONTENTS.
'" PAGE
Remarks on Wimborn Minster. By the Rev. J. L. Petit, F.S.A. 279
With ten Illustrationi kindly contributed by the Author.
Report of the Examination op Silburt Hill. By C. Tucker, Esq., F.S.A. . 297
With three sectional Illustrations.
Essay on Market Crosses. By J. Britton, Esq., F.S.A. . . 304
With four Illustrations.
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ON THE RESULTS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL
INVESTIGATION IN WILTSHIRE.
** Salye, magna parens frugum, Satomia tellus
Magna yirOm ! tibi res antique laudis et artis
Ingredior ; sanctoB ausus recJudere fontes.**
Virg. Qeorg, iL 173.
It must be allowed that the county of Wilts, the southern
diyision of which has been now chosen as the scene of in-
vestigation by the Archaeological Institute, does not stand
foremost among those portions of England remarkable for
beauty of scenery, or for majestic remains of monastic and
baronial architecture ; nevertheless it possesses its own
peculiar, I may say exclusive objects of interest, nor is it
entirely deficient in those advantages to which I have re-
ferred. If the traveller stands on the northern ridge of
that part of our Downs known as Salisbury Plain, his eye
will meet beneath him a wide and fertile vale interspersed
with numerous villages and intervening woods, in whose
recesses may still be found the ruined cloister and moul-
dering battlement ; and more than one mansion whose
moated precinct and pointed windows declare their ex-
istence and splendour in the days of the Flantagenets.
Eastward, the rich vale of Pewsey merges in the glades
of Savemake Forest ; and to the west, the country ap-
proaching the banks of the Somersetshire Avon is varied
by the remains of the ancient forests of Fewsham and
Blackmore. To the north, the Marlborough Downs, stretclip
ing into Berkshire, close the view of this extensive scene.
Nor must the stranger suppose, as he travels over our
plains, that all around him is one waste and solitude. On
either side of his road the deep and narrow valleys formed
by the four streams,* which here converge, and, as one
nver, water this city, continuous lines of villages afford
habitation for the population, each of which presents its
manor-place and rustic church, where the antiquary may
• The Nadder, the Wiley, the Avon (proper), and the Bourne.
B
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2 ON THE KESULTS OF
often view a living picture of ancient simplicity. Of the
plain itself, I may observe, that it must be regarded with
favour by the archaeologist, as it has been the means of
preserving those primaeval monuments for which this county
is pre-eminently distinguished.
Of the original tribes who inhabited Wiltshire, re-
searches have been successively made by Camden, Tanner,
Carte, Whittaker, and the writer known as Richard of
Cirencester. If, however, we endeavour to reconcile the
authorities of Ptolemy and Richard, it would seem that the
southern portion of thi& county was occupied on the west
by the Hedui, an undoubted Celtic tribe, and by the Cangi
Durotriges ; a branch of which, the Carvilii, was seated at
Wilton in this neighbourhood ; they, however, were early
displaced, or at least held in subjection, by the Belgic
Confederation, who may be inferred from Ptolemy to have
occupied in Wiltshire the south side of a line drawn from
Bath to Winchester.
But if I have slightly glanced at these tribes them-
selves, I confess myself somewhat embarrassed in selecting
the manner on which I may best advert to their earth-
works and edifices which still surround us.
In addressing myself to a body, many of whom have
conducted their researches in a manner both accurate and
profound, I may be well supposed to have outstripped my
province, if I diverge, except in a cursory manner, from
merely stating the results of the investigation of others ;
nor can I hope altogether to avoid censure in choosing
from so large a mass of speculation that which seems to be
most worthy of remark.
It is well known that, although the barrows on our
Downs early engaged the attention of the curious, it was
not until what an old man may call our own times, that the
effectual method of opening them was discovered. Stukeley
rarely found the true deposit; but Mr. Cunnington and
Sir Richard Hoare ascertained that the primary deposit was
on the native soiU and that a section made in the centre to
the level of the adjoining ground met the real interment.
Conclusions derived from the various forms of barrows
seem uncertain ; but three different modes of depositing
the dead are clearly shewn, and, to a certain extent, their
relative antiquity. " Of these different kinds of inter-
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ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION IN WILTSHIRE. 3
ment, I am of opinion (continues Sir Richard) that the
one of burying the dead entire, with the legs gathered up,
was the most ancient ; that the custom of cremation suc-
ceeded, and prevailed with the former ; and that the mode
of burying the dead entire and extended at full length was
of the latest adoption."*
These facts may assist, therefore, in shewing the pro-
bable period when a barrow was formed. I omit to notice
the deposits in these barrows, as sufficiently known ; but
I cannot pass over the discovery of the " gleyn neyder," or
" holy adder stone," so celebrated by Plinv, and so inti-
mately connected with Druidic worship, wnich it is sup-
posed, and I venture to think rightly, was brought to light
in opening the tumulus. No. 1 0, near Winterboume, Stoke.
Here, in an oblong cist, it was found deposited, with its
circular lines of opaque sky-blue and white, representing a
serpent entwined round a perforated centre.
The exclusive Celtic origin of barrows is argued by
Sir Kichard Hoare, who states that he has never found a
single urn in them well baked or turned with a lathe;
and he holds that the Romanised Britons had dropped the
custom of interment in them.t
The plain between Amesbury and Everley is described
by the same author as an ample and untried field for the
enterprise of the future discoverer. But if he wishes to
see what has been already done, he must obtain access to
the invaluable collection made by that writer himself, —
the spoil, for the most part, of his own indefatigable exer-
tions. A smaller but valuable collection is preserved at
Lake House in this neighbourhood, in which may, I be-
lieve, be seen the relic supposed to be a talus or tessera,
declared by the historian of South Wilts as the greatest
curiosity yet discovered.
If tumuli, which I have first mentioned as first en-
gaging attention, are numerous in this part of our county,
no less so are British camps and earth-works, which have
been investigated with no ordinary care; and* the anti-
quary, by the aid of the historian of ancient Wilts, may
now survey an example of that primitive enclosure to whicn
* Ancient WUts, p. 24.
f Ibid. p. 171 : yet some exceptions
appear, on reference to pp. 93 and 235.
Subsequent interments and deposits in an-
cient barrows are not uncommon.
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4 ON THE RESULTS OF
Caesar adverts in the parish of Great Durnford, near this
city, where a single rampart, without a foss, encloses an
area of sixty-two acres, still called Ogbury .Camp, not as a
defence against invaders^ but as a place of refuge against
the irruption of a neighbouring tribe, whither the Britons
secured their cattle and families.
In that neighbourhood Vespasian's Camp exemplifies
the fact of the Romans taking possession and fortifying a
British entrenchment, where the area, intersected by a
ditch near the centre, still indicates the original work.
Yambury Camp, also a similar example, shews en-
trances not appertaining to the first construction, where
coarse British pottery is found intermixed with fine Roman
ware, and unfashioned querns lie near the coins of the
emperors.
Nor should I omit the discovery of that extraordinary
line of British earthworks westward of this place, called
Wicknell, Castle Ditches, and Chiselbury Camp. Grims-
ditch, intercepted by the Roman road, and Bockerly in this
neighbourhood, probably exemplify the territorial boun-
daries of bordering aboriginal tribes, as they shew a vallum
only on one side ; and the former, at least, has no villages
on its line : on the contrary, on the ridgeways or lines of
communication between British villages, the most discern-
ing eye cannot distinguish on which side the vallum is the
highest, so equally is the ground thrown up on each side.
The ridgeways on our Downs ha,ve been identified with the
trackways of the Britons, of which that near Yambury
Camp is a conspicuous example. Whether Wansdike in
North Wiltshire is referrible to the original inhabitants,
or to the BelgSB, is a subject of debate ; but as part of the
foss was filled to form the Roman road where they join,
above the village df Calston, it seems reasonable to date it
before the invasion of Caesar. But on these trackways
still exist the unique remains of British villages, which
the dry chalk soil and maiden down have preserv^ed.
Whittaker,* with his unwearied research and ardent ima-
gination, could afibrd his readers but slender notions of
these early habitations. The survey of that discovered bv
the late Mr. Seagram, east of Yambury Camp, discloses
the general ari'angement of one of them, in a series of
* History of Manchester.
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ARCH^OLOGICAL INVESTIGATION IN WILTSHIRE. 5
small squares, with an occasional circular line, — whilst the
vestiges of a large British town, called Grovely Works,
agree with the description of Caesar : " Oppidum Britanni
vocant cum sylvas impeditas vallo atque fossa munie-
runt.'** This track is believed to contain more clear ex-
amples of ancient custrametation and early residence than
any remaining in the island. The villages placed on the
Downs were found to be the earliest; those below them
were subsequent sites. The British villages found near
Knook Castle, in the parish of Upton Level, are examples
of those inhabited after the Roman invasion, as is proved
by the mixture of British and foreign pottery, native im-
plements, and Roman coins. Although in digging through
these villages the stone-floors and hearth-stones of the in-
habitants were discovered, few signs of building with flint
were found by Sir Richard Hoare ; but on the estate of
my friend Mr. Duke, I have seen the flint foundations of
these habitations unearthed, and could comprehend that,
when the course of the valley below presented one line of
morass, from the natural interruptions of the stream of the
Avon, the resort and refuge of the beasts of the chase, the
Down above was well chosen as the healthy and unem-
barrassed site of a British village.
I approach the venerable remains of Abury and Stone-
henge with the caution due to the contending opinions of
those learned and ingenious authors who are now no more,
and to the intelligence, critical discernment, and accumu-
lated information, which may distinguish the members pre-
sent of this Institute.
Of Abury it is known that it escaped the observation
of our early antiquaries ; and that, although examined by
Aubrey (who left ms. notices of it), and made the subject
of a pamphlet by Twining, who assumed it to have been
raised by Vespasian and Agricola, it remained for Stukeley
to draw the public attention to this mysterious monument.
His observation and learning suggested the outline which
has been usually considered as correct, and his imagination
led him to infer that it was meant as a sensible image of
the divine mind protecting the body of the hero buried
under Silbury Hill, the largest tumulus, it may be said,
which this quarter of the world presents.
• Caesar, v. 21.
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ON THE RESULTS OF
The measurements of Stukeley were corrected by Sir
Bichard Hoare, who was assisted by a scientific surveyor
and draftsman, Mr. Crocker ; and I believe they were fur-
ther examined by Mn Kickman. Geologists also have
given their assistance in investigating the materials of
these structures, and in disproving an opinion once enter-
tained, that they were in part factitious ; and many years
since, in the library of Stourhead, it was my good fortune
to hear one of your most distinguished members* relate the
various species of stones to be found in the pillars of
Stonehenge, and the different and distant localities from
whence they were taken.
To refer in this place to the numerous authors who
have described or speculated on Stonehenge, from Nennius
to this hour, would be a waste of time. I shall only here
observe, that Dr. Smith was, so far as I recollect, the first
writer who, in 1771* pointed out its astronomical import ;
and it remained for subsequent writers, and particularly
Mr. Bowles, in his Hermes Britannicus^ and the late in-
genious, though often prejudiced, Godfrey Higgins, to ex-
tract gradually and partially, from observation and reflec-
tion, the scheme which appears to have been intended to
be developed by the founders of these temples. But I
trust I shall not be considered as influenced by private
friendship, if I give due weight and observance to the
theory of my friend the Eev. Edward .Duke, who, in his
Druidical Temples of Wiltshire^ has developed a scheme,
which all must consider grand, and many may think suflS-
ciently supported by facts and observation.
If surprise at the discovery of an ancient stationary
orrery in the Wiltshire Downs, on a meridional line ex-
tending N. by S. sixteen miles, with the planets, seven in
number, supposed to revolve round Silbury Hill, should
create an incredulity, that impression may possibly be re-
moved, if the facts are established, that the relative dis-
tances of those heavenly bodies are preserved in their
assumed representations still remaining; if their names
are in part still applied to them ; if the proportions of
the belt of Satium, and that planet itself, may be tested bv
the circle of Stonehenge and its surrounding foss ; if, fur-
ther, it is recollected that the great meetings of the Celtic
* Dr. Buckland, now Dean of Weetminster.
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ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION IN WILTSHIRE. 7
nations were held at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes,
and that these facts are combined with other visible proofs,
—let candour at least be exercised towards the theory of
my ingenious friend.
We may perhaps remember with advantage the an-
cient axiom of philosophy, " Omne receptum ad modum
recipientis recipitur:" let not, therefore, a theory sup-
ported by facts be held absurd for want of knowledge and
consideration necessary to its comprehension. We may
bear in mind that Carnac now presents a monument nearly
as extensive as this supposed line ; that it was an eastern
custom to parcel out ranges of country into astronomical
nomes ; that Mount Meru in Upper India was the pri-
msBval emblem of the earth, with its seven belts typifying
the planets in their elliptic orbits ; and that this scheme
was imitated at Meroe and at Babylon, with its seven
concentric squares and houses ; that if, indeed, as Dio-
genes Laertius asserts, the Druids are to be classed with
the gymnosophists of India, and if, as Caesar relates, they
were so skilled in astronomy, it may require no great
stretch of imagination to suppose that these ancient Bud-
dhist priests introduced here a representation of the celes-
tial universe ; and I think that the observations of Mr.
Bowles on Abury shew that calculations in the calendar
may be there traced. If Teutates or Mercury was the
chief god of the Britons, he also was the inventor of astro-
nomy, if, as is said, he introduced the intercalary days ;
they appear there in his astronomical temple ; and it may
be remembered that, in those dedicated to him in Egyp^
the circle and the serpent were discovered by Denon;
whilst the numerous Toothills in this neighbourhood attest
his general worship. If, again, the groups in these struc-
tures agree with the Metonic cycle and that of the Neros,
it may be difficult to disprove their scientific use.
The ancient date ascribed to these edifices has been
recently denied by the author of Cyclops ChristianuSj who
contends that they were raised subsequently to the aban-
donment of Britain by the Romans, to aid the establish-
ment of a system of Neo-Druidism, fused in another of
perverted Christianity. But this period, marked by fo-
reign invasion and internal contention, seems altogether
un^vourable to such great national undertakings; and
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d
ON THE RESULTS OF
the doubtful and figurative language of the Welsh writings
adduced, and the difierent interpretations of which names
and terms in them seem susceptible, even if they really
support such a view, must materially detract from their
Talue as historical evidence. Nor does it seem reasonable
to suppose, with this author, that the avenues of Abury
were intended to represent Druidical groves. Their ser-
pentine form is described by Stukeley from observation,
and, as I think, with the concurrence of Roger Gale, with-
out reference to, and probably without a knowledge of,
their astronomical import ; and his description receives
some confirmation from the Mithraic sculptures of ancient
Persia, which display, in the representation of the Deity
surrounded by a circle, which is itself supported by a ser-
pent, — an image of the passage of the sun through the
northern portion of the ecliptic, — the identical outline of
the whole design.*
It has been objected that the Druids, or ancient priests,
built their sacred edifices in the recesses of the woods.
Why, then, were these mighty works exceptions t(v their
practice ? To me the answer seems obvious : because in
no other situation could they serve the purposes of astro-
nomy, on which the influence of the priests over the people
depended. If I am correct in this observation, which I
believe has not been made before, their import and object
seem unquestionable.
Passing over the known Roman roads, and the stations
on them, contested by Camden, Horsely, and Stukeley, as
familiar to you, I may advert to the discovery of a road not
mentioned m the Itineraries by Sir Richard Hoare, lead-
ing from Old Sarum to Uphill on the Severn. At the
comer of Groveley Wood he traced the pitched causeway
of this work, and successfully pursued it over Mendip to
the borders of the river Axe; and his conjectural line
• Mr. Duke obseires : ** Had Stukeley
been aware that the ancients did assimilate
the ecliptic to the serpent, he would with
this clue have unravelled that mystery which
has been left to me, in these latter days, to
unfold."— DrttWica/ Templet qf Wiltt, p.
44. Dr. Stukeley 's work on Abury was
published in 1743, in the lifetime of Roger
uale, a well-known antiquary, who accom-
panied him in his survey, and who died
n 1744. I may observe that the plan of
Twining does not agree with the deeerip-
Hon of Aubrey, who mentions a walk be-
tween the circle and West Kennett formed
of stones, and which forms a part of the
serpentine line of Stukeley. Twining does
not place a stone between these points, but
draws a Une of them from the circle called
the serpent's head, near East Kennett, to
the south of Silbury hill. The plan is as
unmeaning as the hypothesis of the au-
thor.
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ARCn^OLOGICAL INVESTIGATION IN WILTSHIRE. 9
from Aquse Solis, or Bath, to Sarum, through Bishopstrowe,
an equi-distant and considerable Roman station, by Over
Street (near this place), where a causeway till lately existed,
assumes the appearance of truth. Mr. Hatcher has shewn
the progress of the Roman army under Vespasian through
this county by the Ickneld Street and Old Sarum ; and
with regard to its subsequent operations under P. Ostorius,
1 feel bound to mention an opinion formed from local ob-
servation, and communicated to me by the late Captain
Clarke of the Artillery, whose knowledge as a military
surveyor was well known, that a line of Roman forts could
be traced from the earth-work known as the Moot, on the
Avon, to the Severn ; to which he referred the passage in
the Annals of Tacitus : " Cinctosque castris Antonam et
Sabrinam fluvios cohibere parat."* To Mr. Hatcher we
are also indebted for tracing, with peculiar success, the
progress of the Saxon invasion in this neighbourhood (at
Charford, Downton, Clearbury, Figbury Camp, and Old
Sarum) ; his local knowledge affording him an advantage
which Whittaker did not possess. To linger on the sites
of subsequent conflicts, as the identity of Ellandun with
Wilton, would scarcely interest the present company ; but
the restoration of the site of the battle of Edington to the
village of that name near Bratton (by Sir Richard Hoare),
from the positive objection of the historian of Manchester,
may be cited to shew the superiority of personal research
over the ingenious theories of the closet. The disposi-
tion of estates in Wiltshire recorded in Doomsday book
is familiar to us by Mr. Wyndham's translation ; and the
lines of descent have been traced, with more or less success,
in the History of South Wilts. The elaborate chartulary
of the Hungerford family afforded great assistance in this
respect. We learn from the lists of knights* fees and
" pedes finium,'* privately printed by Sir Thomas Phillips,
as well as from other sources, that property in this county
soon became sub-divided ; and few baronial estates of
large extent, with their subordinate feudatories, can be
traced. The investigation of our ancient families has
been facilitated by the heraldic visitations and monumental
inscriptions gratuitously supplied by the gentlemen above-
mentioned ; but the critical account of the ancient earls
• Lib. xii. c. 31.
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10 ON THE RESULTS OF
of Salisbury, the correction of their origin, now clearly as-
signed to the house of Roumar, from the errors of former
genealogists, and the romantic events related of several
members of it, as vividly shewn by Mn Nichols in the •
description of Lacock Abbey, assume rather the dignity
smd value of historical research. We are indebted to the
History of South Wilts for extended accounts of the Ab-
beys of Amesbury and Wilton in this neighbourhood.
Several early charters of the first record the dispersion of
the sisterhood for irregular conduct, the transfer of its
possessions to the Abbey of Fontevrault, and its subse-
quent re-establishment. Amesbury has also been illus-
trated by extracts from the chartulary of Fontevrault,
procured by Sir Thomas Phillips. In the history of Wil-
ton Abbey, the character of King Edwy, which is usually
described by monkish writers as hostile to the Church,
shines forth as the donor of 1 00 hides of lands, " so long (ac-
cording to his expression) as Christianity shall flourish ;**
an example of a conveyance to the Church, by offering
charters at the altar, will here be found ; and the ordinance
of Bishop Wyvill, in 1379, for the regulation of the nuns,
affords an interesting insight into the routine and occupa-
tions of monastic life. A portion of the Saxon chartulary
of this abbey is valuable as a vocabulary in the description
of lands ; and a poem on the miracles of St. Edith, written
in 1420, adds another specimen of early attempts at rhyme.
It may be observed that the three great monasteries in
this neighbourhood, Wilton, Amesbury, and Shaftesbury,
which held so large a portion of the surrounding terri-
tory, were all consecrated to the purposes of female devo-
tion ; and that, of all those majestic edifices, time and the
hand of man have " left not a wreck behind." I may here
mention the account of the possessions of the Abbey of
Glastonbury in South Damerham, with the original deed
of gift from King Edmond, assassinated a.d. 946, to his
queen, and ultimately to that foundation ; with two other
Saxon deeds from Kings Edgar and Edred, and the Saxon
perambulation of that wide estate. The outlines of the
ancient cathedral, and of its precincts on Old Sarum, were
clearly ascertained by Mr. Hatcher some years since ; and
are, I believe, easily traced on the turf at this season of
the year. It is needless to refer to the well-known de-
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ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION IN WILTSHIRE. 11
scriptions of our present cathedral by Mr. Britton and
others, although I know not whether the spirit of minute
technicality, which characterises modern investigation, will
be satisfied with them. I have not seen the survey of this
church mentioned by Mr. Gough as made by Sir Chris-
topher Wren, a native (by the way) of our county, nor da
I know that more than a cursory account has been given of
the singular process of super-imposing the tower and spire
on the fabric after its completion. The documents of the
ancient church-music and services, "secundum usum Sa-
rum,*' are universallv known.* Of many illustrious and re-
spectable prelates who have adorned and governed this epis-
copate, the notices have scarcely been commensurate with
the services they have rendered to religion and learning.
Osmond, the patron, if not the founder, of the original
church, himself a prince, a prelate, and a statesman, the
compiler of a liturgy universally adopted, and, in a bar-
barous age, an author and an encourager of learning in
others, might well deserve a modern biographical monu-
ment. Of Jewel, the successful defender of the Reforma-
tion and of the Anglican Church, I know not that a me-
moir exists. Yet we cannot but remark the peculiar
good fortune which has attended this see in so distin-
guished an episcopal succession, and which happily con-
tinues to attend it at the present time. The plans of our
parish-churches are engraved in the History of South Wilts.
My own observation has led me to believe that the adop-
tion of the Anglo-Saxon arch, with its earliest mouldings,
lingered in this country to a later period than that usually
assigned to it. Ecclesiastical patrons have not unfre-
quently given a more ample and ornamental character to
these fabrics, as we see in the examples of Downton, Broad-
chalk, and Bishopstone. The singular cloister attached to
the latter church deserves the inspection and explanation
of this Society. Of sepulchral monuments, time will only
allow me to observe, that few have given rise to more con-
troversy than that in the church of Britford (within a
short walk of this spot), appropriated by some to the Duke
of Buckingham, beheaded here by order of Richard III.
The site of one of the five places of tournament assigned
* A list of them is inserted in Gough ''s | are preserved in the Bodleian Library.
Topography,article ' Wiltshire ;' and many
Digitized by VjOOQIC
12 ON THE RESULTS OF
by Bichard I. may be seen under Old Sarum, in a space
between the roads leading to Bath and to Devizes.
It remains for me to advert to the elaborate topography
of the ancient and royal forest of Clarendon in this imme-
diate neighbourhood, which has been completed since the
death of Sir Bichard Hoare, through the diligent accuracy
of Mr. John Nichols ; and I venture to believe that a more
perfect picture was never presented of an establishment of
this kind than in this hunting-seat, not only of our Nor-
man, but our Saxon kings. Even in those early days,
every part of their plan is found completed ; for the mam-
tenance of the demesne, the preservation of the game, and
the conduct of the chase, when sergeanties, or portions of
the estate, were set apart for the support of the several
foresters. At the Conquest, the hereditary custody of
Clarendon is assigned to a Norman baron, Waleran, sur-
named the Hunter, the office descending even to the fe-
male line and their heirs ; and the three minor bailiwicks
are held by foresters by the same tenure. The hereditary
keepers of the harriers assume their surname from their
occupation, and transmit it to their posterity; and, as
some suppose, did those of the wolf-hounds also. In the
extracts from the Clause-rolls, and those of the Exchequer,
the repairs, the improvements, and the paintings of this
sylvan palace are shewn ; and the foundations lately dis-
covered by Sir Thomas Phillips display the long mass of
irregular building on the ground-floor.
Norrington House, an example of a manor-place, not
of a defensive character, in the reign of Bichard II.,
has found a congenial topographer in the late Charles
Bowles. Of Wilton and its treasures I need not speak.
The designs of Thacker have rendered the original plan
and detail of Longford Castle (a building unique in its
union of Elizabethan and contemporary continental archi-
tecture) familiar to antiquaries. It is scarcely necessary
to add, that many vestiges of ancient building surround us
which are described in Hall's Memorials of Salisbury. Of
these, perhaps the most remarkable are, the Hall of John
Hall, the domicile of a great merchant temp. Edward IV.,
and the subject of an elaborate volume by the Bev. E.
Duke ; the edifice once a convent, and then converted into
a town residence by the family of Audley, and at present the
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ARCHiEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION IN WILTSHIRE. 13
city workhouse, and a good example of the ancient hostel,
not many steps from where we are now assembled.
Of manners, customs, and local incidents, the history
of this city presents no slight memorial. The rise of the
guilds and companies, and the communications arising from
foreign trade, might perhaps be further illustrated, and
deserve a particular investigation in North Wilts, where
several families of Flemish origin appear to have settled.
But the singular position in which the citizens of Salisbury
were placed, as in those days so subservient to the bishops
as lords of the manor, gives a peculiar individuality to this
subject. The process for procuring the canonisation of
St. Osmond, completed in 1456, with the proofs adduced
of miracles wrought at his tomb, and the execution here
of Ann Bodenham for witchcraft in the seventeenth cen-
tury, are both lamentable examples of imposition, credu-
lity, and fanaticism, which may yet be read with interest,
if not with practical advantage. In the work to which I
have alluded,* some spirited sketches are introduced of old
provincial society in this city and county, and also some
original biographies of natives, both written by the late
lamented Recorder of Salisbury, a man who, had he sur-
vived, would have more worthily filled my place in this
assembly, and whose knowledge and talent would have
thrown that interest into this account in which I fear it is
now deficient.
But if I have briefly noticed the results of archsBological
research chiefly with regard to the southern division of
Wilts, I must refer to its northern portion as only not
entirely destitute of description, though still altogether
inadequately investigated. Its more prominent features
have, it is true, been presented to the public in the popular
publications of Mr. Britton ; but his plan necessarily in-
terdicted minute and particular detail. The Abbey of
Lacock has, indeed, found a poet and an historian in Mr.
Bowles and Mr. Nichols ; bnt Malmesbury demands a
thorough investigation of its architecture and its archives ;
and many other monastic houses are unrecorded. Nor
can we say more of the castles of Marlborough — Castle
Coombe, Trowbridge, and Devizes — or of the vast extent
• Modem Wilts, Old and New Sarum, | M.A., and Henry Hatcher, Esq.
or Salisbury, by Robert Benson, Esq.,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
14 ON THE RESULTS OF
of subordinate knights' fees dependent on them. The
mansions of Cbalfield, Wraxal, and Corsham may have
engaged the notice of architects ; but the ancient manor-
houses of Littlecot, Stanton St. Quintin, Charlton, and
Spye Park (with the modern splendour of Bowood), remain
undescribed. It may be hoped that the Wiltshire Society
lately established will in time direct their attention to the
fractical end of topographical research and description,
t is not for me to criticise its proceedings, but I may
venture perhaps to remark, that the application of an-
cient documents, and even local biographies, to this pur-
pose, may possibly be more generally useful than the pub-
lication of them in their original, but often, as some may
think, ungainly and repulsive forms. From the educated
class of resident gentry and clergy in that division very
valuable assistance might be obtained ; and be it observed,
that such communications (when not made the vehicles
of professional pretensions or political controversy), if they
fail to attract general attention, must, at least as a local
benefit, be duly appreciated in their own neighbourhood.
Nor let it be thought that the superintendence of, or
contribution to, such works, is beneath the attention of
superior ability. It is, indeed, the verdict of Samuel
Johnson, that " a mere antiquarian is a rugged being ;"
and we certainly cannot expect that sympathy to be unu
versal which some of us may feel towards the uncouth
phraseology of Leland, or Speed, or Plot, or Heame ; but
all may admire the classical allusions of Camden, and the
unbounded learning of Selden, Bentham may shew us
how architectural detail may be stript of mathematical
formality, and communicated at once with correctness and
interest. We may commend the clear, unpretending dic-
tion and perseverance of Hutchins ; the unwearied labour,
candour, and urbanity of the elder Nichols ; the well-in-
formed mind and high spirit of the English gentleman,
which characterised Dunham Whittaker, and who will
deny to the historian of Hallarashire the praise of an ac-
curate style, acute investigation, and happy development
of his subject ? Had Gray left us a topography, we know,
from his antiquarian sketches, that it would have been
marked by the grace, precision, and genius, which distin-
guished his poetry. Had Scott undertaken the history of
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ARCH^OLOGICAL INVESTIGATION IN WILTSHIRE. 15
his shire, his narrative would have been as attractive as
his historic tales ; and in Thomas Warton, the scholar,
the poet, and the archaeologist, we may see how matured
taste and vigorous understanding could elevate such sub-
jects, and how a lively imagination could transport the
writer into those, scenes and times themselves, without
clouding his mind and impairing his judgment.
I have so long intruded on the time of this meeting,
that the most acceptable sentence I could now utter would
be, "verbum non amplius addam;*' but I must still en-
treat another word on the subject of this essay. Excuses
for the imperfect execution of a voluntary task are rightly
held as nugatory and invalid. My task, however, was
undertaken at the desire of a Secretary of the Society,
expressed only a short time before this meeting; and it
was consequently performed without adequate preparation,
without the appliances of a library, and amidst the inter-
ruptions of other engagements. I am aware that these
circumstances have added to my original deficiencies, in
discussing a subject so interesting and extensive; but if
I had declined it, I might have fallen into a still less sa-
tisfactory position, in being charged with disrespect to the
Archaeological Institute.
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THE TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT
STOURHEAD, 1825-1833.
When called upon, as a member of this Institute, to visit
the county of Wilts, for the purpose of examining some of
the remarkable objects of antiquity with which it abounds,
I could not but have forcibly recalled to my mind visits
which, many years ago, I had been accustomed, from year
to year, to pay to this county, for purposes in many respects
similar. And it soon occurred to me that, in an assemblage
like this, when we are met for the prosecution of archsBolo-
gical researches, for the mutual communication of know-
ledge of the kind formerly acquired, for the encouraging
each other in the prosecution of researches which tend so
directly to the honour of the country to which we belong,
and even to the elevation of our common nature, and for
the propagation and extension of the spirit of a rational
antiquarianism, some account might not be unacceptable of
meetings, on a much smaller scale indeed, but having ulti-
mately the same objects in view, which so many years ago
had been held periodically in the same county.
It will at once be understood that I must allude to the
gatherings of antiquarians at Stourhead, collected year
by year by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, — a venerable name, the
father of the rational school of Wiltshire archaeology, when
he was prosecuting that great work in which he has thrown
so much light upon the history of the several divisions of
this county, so that his name must for ever have a place in
the topographical literature of the country, and by which
he will be, in time to come, honourably distinguished in
the history of his family.
Sir Richard Hoare had possessed, from a very early
period of life, a large share of historical curiosity, and a
large amount also of literary ambition. He published
various works before he gave himself up so entirely as he
afterwards did to the study of British antiquities. He
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TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT STOURHEAD. 17
was originally what we may call an antiquary of the times
called classical, — an antiquary in the Italian sense of the
word, which allows not the honourable name to him who
searches into the remains of barbarous or semi-cultivated
people, or to those whose inquiries are confined to the
remains of mediseval times. But he soon found that Eng-
land is not a favourable country for the prosecution of
researches such as those, that our Eoman remains are poor
though interesting to ourselves, and that they afibrd very
little scope for discovery. He perceived at the same time
that ours was an island still to be discovered^ that it con-
tained a multitude of remains, the works of men in ages
extremely remote, and the works also of noble and inge-
nious spirits, who, in the middle ages, had enriched our
land with splendid eflforts of art, both in architecture and
sculpture. He perceived also, that at the very door of his
own mansion there were mounds, the secrets of which no
one had discovered, — the secrets as respected the purpose
for which they had been erected, or the kind of treasures
over which they might have been heaped. And when,
from the near neighbourhood of his own seat, he cast his
eye upon the wide-spreaA Downs of this county, he saw
them covered with similar works ; while amongst them, and
apparently as coaeval with them, arose those two mighty
and mysterious monuments, Stonehenge and Abury. He
saw in all this a field of inquiry hitherto unexplored, yet
full of curiosity and interest, and where the researches
might be rewarded by valuable discoveries concerning the
condition and habits of the primitive inhabitants of this
island, that certain bounds might possibly be placed to the
period of man's existence in this part of the world, and
some kind of rational history be given of our remotest
ancestors, so as for ever to banish the fables of Jeffery and
the Brute chronicle.
He had in those days, that is, in the transition period^
when he was passing from a Greek and Boman to a Bri-
tish antiquary, two friends, who, with far less favourable
means for gratifying themselves in the pursuits to which
their natural inclinations disposed them, had not less
enthusiasm than he, nor at the beginning were they in-
ferior to him in knowledge, or, perhaps, even in taste.
These were Mr. Fenton, whose portrait visitors to Stour-
c
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18 TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT 8T0URHEAD.
head will well remember as one of the ornaments of the
entrance-hall, and whom Sir Richard Hoare always hon-
oured especially with the name of his friend. Mr. Cun-
nington of Heytesbury was the other, whose attention had
long been attracted by the barrows, and who joined with
a fondness for investigations in these works of the men of
the primeval ages, a curiosity respecting those still higher
antiquities which speak of a ** departed world,*' and are
indeed its " mighty shadow.*' It was, perhaps, at Mr.
Fenton's suggestion that he undertook to translate and
illustrate Giraldus ; and he learned lessons from Mr. Cun-
nington's experience respecting the best modes of inves-
tigating the contents of the barrows.
Not that these gentlemen were, in those days, the
only antiquarian acquaintance he could find in this county,
to which I know not with certainty that Mr. Fenton can
be said to have originally belonged. Mr. Archdeacon
Coxe was a man of historical research, and general literair
curiosity, Mr. Wansey of Warminster had made some col-
lections for the illustration of part of the county, which he
willingly imparted to Sir Richard ; Mr. Hatcher, with the
assistance of Mr. Leman, had prepared his translation of
that very dubious treatise attributed to Richard of Ciren-
cester ; Mr. Britton was then beginning his topographical
inquiries respecting Wiltshire ; and there were one or two
other persons known to him who had some taste for these
researches, and some acquaintance with the subject. It
will not, however, I apprehend, be disputed in this assem-
bly, where there must be some who are better acquainted
with the state of Wiltshire half a century ago than I can
pretend to be, that Wiltshire partook of the general apathy
respecting these exciting and ennobling studies, and that
the number of persons was very small who had any know-
ledge of Wiltshire antiquities or Wiltshire history, or who
desired to possess any. That such a desire afterwards arose
was principally owing to him.
Nor is it meant to be impressed upon this assembly
that Sir Richard Hoare was the first person in England
who sought to penetrate into the secrets of the barrows.
A little research had been made in Derbyshire, and per-
haps other counties in which they are found; but the
researches had been pursued without system, and the ob-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT 8T0URHEAD. 19
ject had often been the mere gratification of an unscien-
tific curiosity ; certainly not with a view of determining
the truth by experiment, and substituting the authentic
results of experiment for the vague and uncertain theories
which were received in the world. There had, however,
been a work in which this had been done in one part of
the kingdom, the Nenia of Douglas, which was published
in 1793. What Sir Richard Hoare did, was to do at
home what had been done in part for Sussex and Kent,
and to do it more completely, and, if more completely,
better. And for this purpose he set resolutely to work,
taking, I believe early, Mr. Ofier to his assistance ; and
engaging a host of sappers and miners, of surveyors and
delineators, he compelled what turned out in most in-
stances to be prison-houses, or rather the secret and quiet
chambers of the dead, to disclose their secrets, and to give
up the treasures that had sometimes been buried with
their long-forgotten tenants. In a few years he had nearly
exhausted the subject : he had examined so many, and
had found so much uniformity in the contents of them,
that he came to the conclusion that a further prosecution
of such researches would add little if any thing new to the
barrow-inventory, the formation of which he soon found
was the ultimatum in barrow-researches. This was his
delightful employment for some of the more active years
of his life. It kept him out of political life ; it was the
substitute for the ordinary avocations of country gentlemen.
According to his own favourite expression, it was more
exciting than a fox-chase. It drew around him whatever
of science and literature there was in this part of the king-
dom } it attracted learned strangers from all countries to
his house, to inspect the curious remains which were orderly
disposed there ; and he had the gratification of seeing that
he had lighted a flame in the bosoms of some of the youths
of Wiltshire, which might in time to come shed still further
light on the things which had been the objects of his own
researches.
Sir Richard Hoare is not to be looked upon as the
mere experimenter. He proceeded to use the results of
his experiments in the way of the best philosophy, by
throwing them into classes, both the barrows themselves
and the things found in them. He compared also the
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20 TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT 8T0URHEAD.
different kinds of barrows with the kinds of artificial re-
mains found in them ; just as the geologist refers the debris
of animal and vegetable life to the different strata in which
they are found, and from thence deduces very important
truths. The results of all this labour he gave to the world
in the two splendid folios which he entitled Ancient Wilt'
shire. The conclusions which are exhibited in that work
are entitled to the greatest respect ; and if still mysteries
hang over your more notable monuments, you share but
with the people of other countries where Cyclopean re-
mains are found; and should the wizard ever arise who
shall dispel these deepest shades, he will be largely in-
debted to the generous and persevering labour of Sir
Richard Hoare, who will present him with accurate ad-
measurements and faithful representations of objects, which
may then have passed from tne face of the earth. One of
the greatest consolations of literature it is to know that
books outlast all other monuments, be they of brass or
marble, or even of earth itself. In this great work Sir
Richard Hoare is entitled to stand very much alone as
its author ; and it is but in that spirit of modesty, which
was a striking part of a character singularly gentle and
amiable, that he assigns to any other person any material
share in the labour.
Having done so much for the county in which he lived,
it now occurred to him that there was a modem as well as
an ancient history to be given of every part of this island ;
and he could not have seen such remains as Old Sarum,
or such a magnificent structure as the cathedral of this
diocese, or the striking remains of monastic grandeur at
Lacock and Malmesbury^ or the monuments of eminent
men of former days in so many of the churches of Wilt-
shire, or such places as Longlete, Wardour, Wilton, and
Longford, without feeling that to know why these things
were, and how they became what they were and are, was
a legitimate subject of curiosity, and might even awaken
an interest not inferior to that which the barrows and the
Cyclopean works of the countj had called forth. Even
his own seat, and the long series of eminent persons who
had sprung from some one who first planted himself at the
six springs of the Stour, their building with French gold,
the vicissitudes in their history, the traditions and the sad
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TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT STOURHEAD. 21
realities belonging to them, had never been made the sub-
ject of historical inquiry ; and as to the villages and smaller
towns of the county, their history was as much unknown
as is the history of the little centres of population in Si-
beria. Even now, notwithstanding what has been done,
how exceedingly imperfect is our knowledge even concern-
ing that greatest event in the history of modem Wiltshire,
the supposed transference of the people of Old Sarum to
the site on which this city now stands I
Wiltshire, in this respect, was, however, in no worse
condition than some of the counties in its neighbourhood.
Only Dorsetshire could claim to have had an elaborate
investigation of what we must, on Sir Richard's principle,
call its modern history, with whom all was modem that
was subsequent to the fourth century. This work, there-
fore, he next undertook ; and he saw in it at once a means
of rendering a valuable service to his county, and of pro-
viding easy and agreeable occupation for the remaining
years of his life. He therefore designed the work, to
which he gave the title of Modern Wiltshire ; and he de-
termined that it should appear with the same splendour in
which the Ancient Wiltshire had come forth. An unfor-
tunate determination this, since books of topography must
necessarily contain many things of trifling import, and not
worthy or fit to be exhibited in splendour of typography,
or in the midst of profuse embellishments.
But topography is a subject on which it is not enough
to form the resolve that a book shall be written, if the
book is to be of any value. The explorer of barrows has
the barrow at hand ; and the philosopher and the poet
retires into his own study, and there completes his work
from the beginning to the end. But the topographer has
to gather his materials from places in which they are de-
posited, widely remote from each other. He cannot invent
a series of patrons and incumbents for his livings ; he
must go to the place where the records lie. He cannot
call up by his imagination the series of knights and esquires
who have formed the lines of the ancient feudal lords ; he
must resort to the places where the memorials of them are
preserved. He cannot, in ordinary circumstances, bring
chartularies to his own house, and still less can he move
the archives of ancient families, if, indeed, he is so fortu-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
23 TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT STOURHEAD.
nate as to be allowed even to consult them. He must visit
the several places of which he has to speak, observe for
himself whatever objects of curiosity there may be, and
study the memorials of the past on the walls and in the
books of the church. All this is the rough-hewing of
topography; the finer work comes afterwards — the com-
bining, the collation of the facts, the making deductions
from them. Now all this, it was neither consistent with
Sir Eichard Hoare's habits, nor, indeed, with the state of
his health, to undertake ; and unfortunately for him, Wilt-
shire had not had, like some other counties, collectors who
had left in manuscript what they had gathered in public
repositories as topographical information. Nor were those
public repositories opened, as they now are ; or the printed
copies so extensively made, or so widely distributed, as
they were some years after, under the liberal administra-
tion of record-affairs, by Mr. Purton Cooper. So that
Sir Richard Hoare soon found, that to execute such a
work as he had undertaken, it was necessary that he should
call in the assistance of others, not of surveyors and drafts-
men only, but of transcribers, and ultimately of persons
who would undertake the whole labour for portions of the
county, subject only to a slight superintendence on his own
part, sufficient to secure the uniformity of his work.
It was out of this that the annual gatherings of topo-
graphers at Stourhead arose.
Always hospitable, always liberal, always generous and
kind, he had long been accustomed to receive at his house
persons of literary tastes and habits ; but now the hospi-
talities assumed something of a more systematic character,
and those who had the honour and privilege to join in
these assemblies were accustomed to expect a summons for
the September week, from Monday to Saturday, as the
invitations always ran. They were not confined to those
who were the actual labourers with him in the work ; in-
deed some of those formed no part of the circle ; but they
were persons known to be devoted to such kinds of studies,
and who were supposed to have it in their power to make
suggestions, to remove special difficulties, to impart casual
information, or in any other way to lend some small assist-
ance in the design, which was still ever the central point
about which the whole turned. Sir Richard had also, it
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TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT STODRHEAD. 23
may be believed, a purpose beyond this, — a purpose accord-
ant with the liberality and kindness of his disposition, the
bringing together men of kindred spirits, that they might
cultivate friendly relations, commune with each other, learn
from each other, and be encouraged and assisted and ad-
vised in any undertaking of their own. He had also the
further purpose of making that noble topographical library
which he had collected useful to his friends, who found in
it every book which the researches of the topographer re-
quire, and, year after year, the new books in this depart-
ment as they made their appearance.
The persons who composed these sodalities were usually
six or seven ; not always the same, as the invitations could
not always be accepted by all to whom they were issued.
It will not be supposed that I am about to name all the
literary friends of the worthy baronet who partook of his
hospitalities ; I shall confine myself in the enumeration to
the persons who may be said to have composed this little
antiquarian club, if such it may be called, many of whom
are like their kind host, now dead, though some are still
surviving ; and I shall begin with the youngest members
of it, two friends, of this county, and who seem to have
caught their antiquarian taste from the father of Wiltshire
archflBology ; I mean Mr. Matcham, to whom more than
one entire hundred was committed, and Mr. Benson, the
late deputy recorder of this city, who had a share in that
which is the most diflScult part of the duties of a topo-
grapher, the history of the metropolitan city. These two
gentlemen were avowedly engaged in the work.
Near to them let me place another friend, who, like
Mr. Benson, was removed from the world before he had
time to bring forth all the good fruits that might have
been expected from his knowledge and learning, one of the
blandest manners and kindest heart, Mr. John Gage, who
had not then assumed the name by which he was after-
wards known, of Rokewood, who was at the time of his
death the director of the Society of Antiquaries, and one
of the most valued of the contributors to the works of that
society. He had already gained for himself a name in the
topographical literature of the country by the publication
of the history of the seat of his ancient family at Hengrave,
to which he afterwards added the history of the hundred
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24f TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT STOURHEAD.
of the county of Suffolk, of which Hengrave is one of the
principal ornaments*
And this reminds me of another gentleman who printed
an account of the seat of his ancestors in another county,
Mr. Thomas Lister Parker, the author of the History of
Browsholme. His turn was most for architectural curiosi-
ties, and more particularly for domestic architecture. He
brought, I remember, on one occasion, an extraordinary col-
lection of drawings of the old mansions of Lancashire and
Cheshire; so large, that scarcely any thing in those counties
that was worth dewing can have escaped his notice.
Then there were the two Bowleses, William Lisle and
Charles, men who will be long honoured in the literature
of their times. Mr. Charles Bowles was one who under-
took a particular hundred, as part of Sir Richard Hoare's
design, and completed it in an admirable manner ; but
Mr. Lisle Bowles's contributions to topography, though
they related to the county, related to places — Lacock
ana Bremhill — which were not comprehended within that
southern part of the county, which only, at that time, Sir
Richard Hoare considered as being his province.
The northern hundreds of Wiltshire it was, at that
time, understood would be undertaken by another of the
Stourhead party. Sir Thomas Phillipps; and it is to be
hoped that he has not yet abandoned the design. It is
known, indeed, that he is still collecting materials, and
that among the immense literary treasures at Middlehill,
there is much which belongs more especially to Wiltshire.
It is to be hoped that something will yet be done, and we
have at least the consolation of knowing that topographical
knowledge, like wine, is seldom the worse for keeping.
There was also the late Lord Arundel of Wardour
occasionalbr present, a man of frank manners and noble
bearing. He also had undertaken one of the hundreds, and
he completed his work before he went to reside at Rome,
where, like the two other topographers of this circle of whom
I have spoken, he was cut off in the midst of his days.
In this circle was also to be found Mr. John Caley,
who had at his command a great amount of the national
records, from which he supplied Sir Richard from time to
time, but sparingly, with materials for his history. I say
sparingly j for in truth Mr. Caley belonged to the old school
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TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT 8T0URHEAD. 25
of English archivists and keepers of manuscripts, now fast
passing away, who had no sympathy with antiquarian zeal,
doing nothing themselves, nor assisting others, but content
with the merest perfunctory performance of their duties.
Those whom I have named formed the party properly
topographical; but it seldom happened that there were
not other persons present beside members of Sir Richard
Hoare's own family and his librarian, Mr. Cassan. There
was not unfrequently an artist, Mr. Smith, son to the Mr.
Smith who invented the poker-drawings. He was engaged
by Sir Richard to prepare a set of portraits, in small, and
in a loose sketchy manner, of his guests, which were not
very successfully performed, though the whole found a
place in the worthy baronet's private apartments.
Nor ought I to omit to mention that there were three
or four clergjrmen who were frequent visitors in those days
at Stourhead, all more or less distinguished in the litera-
ture of the time. Among these were Mr. Meyrick, a fine
scholar and most ingenious man ; Mr. Warner, whose
name is so honourably distinguished in several depart-
ments of literature ; Mr. Skinner, the rector of Camerton,
who left large collections of topographical and philological
matter ; and Mr. Leman, a great master of the Roman
antiquities of Britain.
Such an assemblage, in such a place, and under the
presidency of one so estimable as the master of the house,
could not fail of being most agreeable ; and probably none
of those who were present, and still remain alive, remember
those meetings but with recollections of the rational plea-
sure that they gave. Sir Richard usually breakfasted in
his own apartments, where he occasionally admitted one
or two of his guests, when he was seen with his tables and
the floor strewed with books, manuscripts, and loose papers,
engravings, seals, charters, and all the other paraphernalia
of the antiquarian student, with abundance of copy, and
proof-sheets, and fragments of his own work, on which he
wrought daily with great assiduity. At twelve o'clock he
usually joined the party in the library, where he remained
about half an hour, and did not again make his appear-
ance till the hour of dinner approached, which was com-
monly served at five o'clock. The evenings were passed
in conversation and other amusements.
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26 TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT 8T0URHEAD.
To the mord studious of the party, and especially to
those of them who had not easy access to so rich a col-
lection of printed hooks, the library afforded sufficient
employment ; to the lover of the fine arts, the collection
of pictures, for which the house at Stourhead is so re-
nowned; while the gardens abounded in attractions for
the botanist ; and the beauty of the walks through the
grounds, and the many objects of interest which were pre-
sented in them, were a perpetual relief to all. It will be
seen from this that the studies of the party were not very
intensely pursued, and that the antiquarians were not
wholly absorbed by the objects which had brought them
together. There was no want of holiday ; for there was
no restraint upon any one. Whatever any one could con-
tribute of information or amusement was most graciously
accepted. The days passed smoothly and pleasantly along,
and it was matter of regret to every one when the day of
separation arrived.
That they interested in the progress of Sir Richard's
work some wno had it in their power to render him most
efficient assistance, and that more of the work was accom-
plished than would have been had these annual gatherings
not been instituted, no one can doubt ; but it may be hop^
that they have contributed in some degree to that great
change m the public mind respecting the value and im-
portance of these studies, of which the existence of this
Institute is one among other proofs. We no longer look
with indifference on the works of our ancestors, or think
it a matter of indifference to know why we find a castle
on one site and a cathedral on another ; why a church is
found in some little-frequented spot, and when it was
erected, or whether it is not indigenous to the place, like
the yew tree which grows near it. The spirit is certainly
abroad ; and the question seems now to be, not whether
the curiosity shall exist, but whether objects still re-
main unexamined and undescribed on which that curiosity
shall exert itself. We may console ourselves, however,
with the thought, that there is still much to be done in
binding up in systems the truths which single objects may
have suggested or presented.
To recur a^ain to Stourhead : the last of these re-
unions at which I was present was in 1832, when Sir
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TOPOGRAPHICAL GATHERINGS AT STOURHEAD. 2?
Kichard Hoare was greatly enfeebled ; and perhaps it
was the last that was held ; for he lived only a few years
after that date, in increasing weakness ; yet he continued
working in his favourite emplojrment ; and when he died,
it was but little that remained to be done to complete
his history of that part of the county — the southern half
of it — to which latterly he limited his design. That
little was done by his successor in the title and estate, and
on the same scale of magnificence on which he had him-
self begun the work. He maintained his place in the
high respect of every one to the last, the Atticus of his
neighbourhood, the best of good men, the friend to every
one ; he who set, not in his own county alone, but in the
kingdom at large, examples of correct taste in all that be-
longs to the decoration of the seats of opulence, and of an
energetic employment of time and abilities, which are but
too commonly devoted to pursuits and occupations which
end in the temporary gratification. But who could create
such a place as the family, in successive generations, have
created at Stourhead ? I conclude with the testimony of
one who knew him intimately, and who thus sketches the
scene, as well as the pursuits and the character of its
master*
*' And thou.
Witness, Elysian Tempe of Stourhead !
Oh, not because, with bland and gentle smile.
Adding a radiance to the look of age.
Like eve's still light, thy liberal master spreads
His letter*d treasures ; — not because his search
Has dived the Druid mound, illustrating
His county's annals, and the monuments
Of darkest ages ; — not because his woods
Wave o'er the dripping cavern of Old Stour,
Whose classic temples gleam along the edge
Of the clear waters, winding beautiful ; —
Oh, not because the works of breathing art —
Of Poussin, Rubens, Rembrandt, Gainsborough,
Start, like creations, from the silent walls —
To thee this tribute of respect and love.
Beloved, benevolent, and gen'rous Hoare,
Grateful I pay ; — but that, when thou art dead,
(Late may it be !) the poor man's tear will fall.
And his voice falter, when he speaks of thee."
Days Departed, by W. L. Bowles, 1828.
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ON THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
IN SOUTH BRITAIN.
There is appended to this paper a Map of the South-
eastern portion of Britain and a Chronological Table. The
dates furnished by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle are printed
in italics, and those obtained from other sources in Roman
characters j and by a like diflference of letter, I have dis-
tinguished the English and Anglo-Saxon names of places
from the Welsh and Latin.
The map is intended to shew the political divisions of
Britain in the early part of the sixth century. The an-
cient roads, whether British or Roman, are marked in
continuous or interrupted lines, accordingly as their direc-
tion has been more or less perfectly ascertained ; and the
dikes, which in various places intersect the country, have
their vallum indicated by a shaded line, and the foss (when
present) indicated by a line more lightly marked.
It is reasonable to infer that, when one of these bound-
ary-lines was drawn between two neighbouring tribes, the
earth-work was constructed by the more civilised race, or,
in other words, by the race which had the clearest notions
of the value and the rights of property. We know from
Roman history that the Britons of the coast were a more
civilised race than those who dwelt further inland ; and it
will be observed that the dikes supposed to have been made
by the Belgae, as they gradually expelled the British tribes
who had preceded them, always have the foss to the north-
ward. Three of these ditches are marked in the map :
Bokerly Ditch, south of Salisbury ; the Old Ditch, north
of Amesbury; and Wansdyke (Wodens dike*), portions
* The etymology suggested by Stukelyi
and ^opted by Warton, according to
which Wansdike came from the Webh
word ffufohan, * separation,' is contradicted
by all our Anglo-Saxon charters. These
iuTariably name the earth-work WodeneM
die. The corruption of Wodens dike to
Wansdike is precisely the same we find
in our modem pronunciation of Wednes-
day.
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EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS IN SOUTH BRITAIN.
29
of which may yet be traced across the island from Berk-
shire westward to the Bristol ChanneL Offa's Ditch, on
the borders of Wales, is also in consistency with the prin-
ciple we are illustrating ; for there can be little doubt that
in Offa's day the Englishmen of the lowlands were more
civilised beings than their neighbours, the wild Welshmen
of the mountain.
But there are certain dikes, often known by the name
of GrimsdikeSj which at first sight it is not easy to account
for on this principle. The Grimsditch, south of Salisbury,
has its foss to the south, and, according to the description
of Sir R. Colt Hoare, pierces the line of Bokerly Ditch,
and therefore must have been a later work. As we may
infer from Caesar that the Belgae came into Britain not
long before his time, it follows that the Grimsditch, which
intersects one of their boundary-lines, must have been made
at a period which is clearly within the reach of history.
Yet, from the day when the Belgae first dug Bokerly Ditch
till the Romans left the island, when were the southern
coasts occupied by races less civilised than those of the in-
terior ? Again, the Berkshire Grimsdike, south of Streat-
ley, must have been made by a people who inhabited a
woody and intricate country, to separate their district from
the open plains to the north-westward. At what period
can the construction of such a work in such a locality be
accounted for, on any reasonable hypothesis, before the
arrival in the island of our own ancestors ?
It was the opinion of Stukely that the term Grims-
dike was equivalent to " witches* work ; for the vulgar gene-
rally think these extraordinary works made by help of the
devil ;'' and I believe his opinion is the one which is ge-
nerally entertained by English antiquaries at the pre-
sent day. But the Anglo-Saxon grim-e, a witch, forms its
genitive in an, grim^an, while the phrase which answers to
Grimsditch is always Grimes die. This form of the geni-
tive requires a masculine or a neuter substantive, grim.
I once thought this word might be of English origin ; but
am now inclined to look upon it as connected with the
gruma or groma of the Agrimensors.* If it be so, grimes
* There is another Latin term whose
meaning would be singularly applicable;
grwmi, ol r£r Zpww XiOou Lex* Martinii.
It should be obserred, that our Anglo-
Saxon charters not unfrequently use Latin
phrasesi when describing the boundaries,
some of which must haye been adopted by
our ancestors very soon after their arrivid
in the island.
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so
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
die may be equivalent to boundary-dike. Such a hypothesis
agrees well with the circumstances under which the word
grim occurs in Anglo-Saxon charters and in our modem
provincial dialects. Thus, in an Anglo-Saxon charter* of
the tenth century, we find mention made of a certain lo-
cality called " grimsetenet gemaero,'' the meers or march
of the Grim-setan ; and this term Grim-setan can only be
rendered the inhabitants of the Grim^ i.e. tlie boundary.
Again, our ancestors must have been well acquainted with
the purpose intended to be answered by the Roman walls
in North Britain ; and accordingly we find the wall of An-
toninus still popularly known as the Grimes-dike and the
Scotch Graemes,t located in its neighbourhood ; while at
the western extremity of the southern wall are found the
English Graemes, and near them and in front of the wall,
the village of Grimsdale. Lastly, we often find near these
dikes names which seem to indicate the vicinity of diffe-
rent races. For instance, immediately north of the Wilt-
shire Grimsdike, and not many miles from "Cerdices Ford"
(Char ford), there is a village still called Britford ; and in
some of our Anglo-Saxon charters§ we find in the same
neighbourhood another locality called "Brytta pol,'* the
pool of the Brits. It would not be easy to account for either
of these names except on the hypothesis that around the
Grimsdike Britons and Englishmen were once neighbours,
and continued so for a period long enough to fix on certain
localities names derived from their respective occupants.
I would suggest, therefore, that the names Grim and
Grimsdike may have been given to certain works which
were known to our ancestors as having served the purposes
of boundary-lines. It is not necessary that they should
have been constructed, or indeed even used as boundaries,
subsequently to the Saxon occupation of the island. We
have no clear evidence that the Scottish Grimesdike was
ever used for such a purpose after that event ; and the
two Grimsdikes which run respectively north of Woodstock
and east of Bensington, if we believe the accounts given us
of the former by Stukely and Warton, and of the latter by
• See No. 561 of that valuable work,
Kemble's Codex Diplomaticos.
t Grim setene is, of course, a corrup-
tion of Orim-tetena,
X Grimet is the southern equivalent for
Grceme, The names John Grimes and
John Grceme both signify John of the
Grime or Graeme, llie use of the unin-
fleeted word Graeme, instead of the genitive
Grimes, is characteristic of ihi& northern
dialect
§ Cod. Dipl 778.
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN.
31
Plot, must have been ancient British works made long be-
fore the arrival of our ancestors, and probably selected by
them merely as affording convenient lines of demarcation.
The hypothesis above stated seems to be sufficient to ac-
count for all the peculiarities connected with this particular
class of earthworks.
A very striking feature in the landscape of South
Britain, during the sixth century, must have been the vast
forest which spread over the wealds of Kent and Sussex,
from the mouth of the Bother* as far westward, at the
least, as Privett in Hampshire. The Saxon Chronicle
describes it as 120 miles long and SO miles broad ; and its
real dimensions were probably much greater than we have
represented them. The Welsh called it the Andred, or
uninhabited district ;1: and the Anglo-Saxons, Andredes
Leahf or the Lea of Andred. Natan Leahj or the Lea of
Nat-e, seems to have included that part of the New Forest
which lay north of the Boman road from Nutshalling to
Ringwood — or, in other words, the natural woodland,
which William enlarged into the New Forest, by afforest-
ing the south-western portion of Hampshire — and also that
tract of wood and common, on the other side of the Test,
through which the Itchin flows into the Southampton
Water. It is pretty clear that our modem term Netley,
though not the representative, is the equivalent of Natan
Leah. Anglo-Saxon names of places sometimes take what
may be called the genitival form, as Natan Leah ; and
sometimes appear as mere compounds, as Nate-leah. I
have never met with the compound Nate-leah, but there
can be no doubt it once existed, and that it is now repre-
sented by Netley. It will be observed, that at the points
where the Boman roads from the coast entered this wood-
land, we have on both sides of the Southampton Water
localities called Netley,§ and these localities in all pro-
bability indicated the boundaries of the Lea of Nat-e.
Cerdices Leaky or the Lea of Cerdic, appears to have
consisted of Bernwood Forest, and other woodlands to the
• Sax. Chron. an. 893.
f Ibid. an. 755.
X Andred is compounded of the nega-
tive prefix an, and tredt * a hamlet'
§ The name of NeUey -aeems to have
been common in this woodland district.
On the Bouth- eastern border of Clarendon
Forest, near Salisbury, was a place called
Netley Coppice. Hoare's WUtthire^ 5,
p. 188.
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32
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
north of it ; and in Chearsley, the name of a village
which lies on the eastern border of this district, we pro-
bably have a corruption of the old Anglo-Saxon name,
Cerdices Leah.
There can be no reasonable doubt that the chases of
Waltham and Cranboume, and the districts which now
bear the names of Holt, Chute, Wychwood, Whittlebury,
Grimsbury, Pamber, and Bere Forests, are all of them
relics of ancient woodlands ; and they are accordingly
marked as such in the map. Bearruc-wood, from which,
as Asser tells us, Berkshire took its name, and where,
according to the same authority, the box-tree grew in
great abundance, must have included in its range our
present Windsor Forest ; but, like its representative in the
thirteenth century, it probably stretched up the Kennet
valley — a district, it may be observed, which Henry III.
disafforested, and where are situated Kentbury, Fawleigh,
and other places, which in a grant* by King John to the
Abbey of Amesbury, are mentioned in immediate connec-
tion with certain payments, " de reditu nemoris de Barroc."
There are some reasons for believing that the woods on
the Chiltem Hills were known to the Welsh by the name
of Celyddon.
According to Asser, Ruim was the Welsh name for
Thanet. It probably signified a foreland, and is still pre-
served in the compound Bamsgate.t The strait which
divided Thanet from the mainland is called by Bede the
Wantsumu. The long slip of land lying between the
Andred and the Thames appears to have been known to
the Britons by the name of the Caint, or open country ;
and the downs west of the Andred by that of the GwenU
or champaign. There seem to have been several of these
Gwents in Britain ; and the Bomans obtained their name
for the capital towns by turning Gwent into a feminine
substantive, and then adding the name of the race which
inhabited the particular district, as Yenta Belgarum,
Venta Icenorum, Venta Silurum, &c. The Saxons also
converted the Welsh name of the district into a feminine
substantive, Wint-e^ gen. Wintan ; and they called the
• Dngd Mon. It. 102.
f In East Kent, the gaps in the line of
cliff, which lead down to the shore, are
called gatet. Ranugate therefore means
the gate or pass leading into Bmhm,
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IN SOUTH BBITAIiV. S3
capital of such district Wintan ceaster, the city of the
Wint-e.* Sometimes instead of this genitival form, they
used the compound Wmie-ceasler, and of this compound
the modem name of Winchestert is most certainly a cor-
ruption.
The Venta Belgarum and most of the other British
towns were fortified ; but they do not seem to have opposed
to the invaders the resistance which might have been ex-
pected, except in cases where they were also protected by
natural defences — by wood, marsh, or river — or lay near
one of the two great military lines, that is, either near the
Wall in the north of Britain, or on the ** Saxon Frontier.**
As my views with respect to this latter district vary widely
from those which appear to be generally received at the
present time, I must beg the indulgence of the reader
while I explain in what the difference consists, and what
were the reasons which led me to adopt the notions I
entertain on this subject.
The prevalent opinion at present seems to be, that the
Saxon Frontier, or, as it is generally called, the Saxon
Shore (though the term used in the Noiitia is ** Limes Sax-
onicus"),1: received its name from various Saxon settlements,
which date before the arrival of Hengest in 450 ; and that
when larger bodies of these strangers arrived in the fifth
and sixth centuries, they received encouragement and as-
sistance from their countrymen already settled within this
island. The German writer Lappenberg has carried out
these views with much boldness ; and several English au-
thors, some of them occupying no mean position as literary
men, have not discountenanced them.
I must begin with denying, what in most of these dis-
cussions has been silently taken for granted, that philo-
logical considerations in any way favour the hypothesis
* Monmoathshire, or the Gwent of the
Silures, was called Went (which is merely
a corniption of Wint-e) by our English
chroniclers, as late as the 15th and 16th
centuries.
f The strange etymology proposed by
Leland, and adopted by Camden, has been
again brought forward in some modem
works ; and Sir R. Colt Hoare, though he
refers us to the Venta Belgarum, as the
origin of the word, adds *' unde derivatur
Venta, I never have been able to ascer-
tain." Anc. Hut. N. Wilti.
X When the officer commanding in this
district is formally mentioned, and his au-
thority defined, he is styled *' Comes Li-
mitis Sazonici per Britanniam,'' c. 71.
In two other places, where he is merely
mentioned as one of the subordinates of
some imperial officer of higher grade, he
is distinguished as a " Comes Ldttoris
Saxonici per Britannias." The use of the
plural number seems to shew, that in this
phrase the compiler was using vague and
general language. The more definite title
was no doubt the official one.
D
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34
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
above referred to. The Welsh Marches in Shropshire,
and the Scotch Marches in Northumberland were so
called, not because they were inhabited by Welshmen and
Scotchmen, but because they were open to the incursions
of these two races, and were provided with a regular mili-
tary organisation for the purpose of repelling their incur-
sions. For precisely similar reasons, I believe the South-
eastern coast of Britain was called the " Saxon Frontier.***
If the views we are contending against are to stand, the
historical grounds on which they rest their claims to our
acceptance must be stronger than the philological.
The latest Boman authority on the present subject is
to be found in the Notitia. It is difficult to say when
this work was written, but Gibbon places it between the
years 395 and 407, that is to say, a few years before the
usurpation of Constantino, which was shortly followed by
the retirement of the Bomans from this island. At the
time it was written, the Boman army in Britain amounted
to about 20,000 men, of whom some 5000 were stationed
along the Saxon Frontier. They must have had the most
complete military occupation of the district. Three of
their garrisons lay north of the Thames, and south of this
river, m the most exposed part of the frontier, and where,
according to Gildas and Bede, the Saxons formed their
first settlement, were the garrisons of Beculver, Bichbo-
rough, Dover, and Lymne, at an average distance of some
14 miles ^ from each other ; and further south, garrisons
at Anderida and Portus Adurni. The second legion was
at Bichborough, and auxiliaries in the other garrisons —
Dalmatians, Slaves, Belgic Gauls, Tungrians, &c., but no
Saxons. At this period, it is almost a historical impossi-
* Lappenberg argues, that as the oppo-
site coast of Gaul was c^ed the *' Littus
Saxonicum," from the Saxon colonists
there settled, so the '* Littus Sazonicum
per Britannias*' may have received its name
from a similar immigration. I would ask
him, on what proofs does his m<yor rest?
I believe the Saxon settlements in Gaul to
have been formed at a period tubsequent to
the arrival of Ilengest in this country.
In another place (i. 15), with the like
view of supporting his theory respecting
the " Littus Saxonicum," he tells us that,
according to the Welsh Triads, the Cori-
Cavi (Coraniaid) came firom ** a Teutonic
marshland." Now, one of the Triads in-
forms us, that the " three invading tribes
who finally settled in Britain" were, first,
the Coraniaid, who came from the land of
Pwyl, and settled near the Humber ; se-
condly, the Irish Picts; and lastly, the
Saxons. No one has yet made out who
were the Coraniaid, or where was the land
of PwyL Some think it was A puHa, others
say Poland ; while Dr. Lappenberg OMiimet
it was " a Teutonic marshland," and con-
sequently that the Coraniaid were Ger-
mans. Ilad it suited his hypothesis, he
would just as readily have converted them
into Finns, or Slaves, or Basques.
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN,
36
bility that there could have been Saxon settlements on
the Saxon shore. Nor do I see any reason for believing
that such settlements were formed after the departure of
the Bomans. The Britons would naturally carry out the
military system of their late masters, and would no doubt
provide, to the best of their ability, for the defence of this
important frontier. We must remember, that the Boman
soldiers resembled less the mercenaries of our own army,
than the colonists settled along the military frontiers of
Austria. They were stationary in the same garrisons for
generations ; and, in the course of time, would naturally
give birth to a military population, speaking the Latin
language, (for the various origin of the auxiliaries would
necessitate the use of Latin as a common tongue,) and
doubtless, in other respects, jdistinguished from the pro-
vincials around them. The Saxon Frontier was probably
filled with a high-spirited race, who were alike by descent,
by inclination, and by necessity, soldiers. Instead of wel-
coming the invaders, we shall see reason to believe that
they opposed to them the fiercest and most desperate re-
sistance ; and as the Britons of Strath-Clyde, though of
all the Northern Britons the most exposed, maintained
their independence the longest, so the " Saxon Frontier**
appears to have been the district which last yielded to the
invaders of Kent and Sussex.
The authorities by which conflicting opinions on these
subjects must be finally settled, may be divided into two
classes — the Welsh and the English.
Our oldest Welsh authorities are the two works of
Gildas, his Epistle and his History. The History was
written in the author's forty-fourth year, (which seems to
have coincided with the year 56*,) and the Epistle some
twelve or fourteen years earlier. I am not aware that the
genuineness of these works has been questioned by any
one,* whose scholarship or whose judgment is likely to
• ** Woold a British eccleaastic write
inrectiTe againi t his own church and coun-
trymen ? The work must have heea forged
by some Anglo-Saxon during the dispute
between the two churches respecting the
celebration of Easter." Such, in substance,
is the criticism which has been sometimes
-ventured upon, and which has been lately
reproduced in the compilation made by
Mr. Tliomaa Wright, and published by the
Royal Socie^ of Literature under the title
of ** Biographia Brit Literaria." It might
be sufficient to answer, that all our early
writers, from Bede downwards, receiyed
this ** forgery" as a genuine work. But,
in truth, the criticism shews an ignorance
ofthe habits and feelings of the time. Gril-
das looked upon himMlf less as a natire
Briton than as a Roman provincial ; not,
indeed, a subject of the Roman Empire,
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56
THE EAALY ENGLISH SETtLEMENTS
give weight to his opinion. They may be considered the
safest guides now left to us ; and he that would write the
history of this early period will do well to abandon any
speculation which cannot be reconciled with the facts
handed down to us by Gildas.
The work which bears the name of Nennitis was most
probably written in the eighth century. It is a compi-
lation made originally without much judgment, and it has
been preserved in mss. which are singularly corrupt, and
contain an extraordinary discrepancy of statement. Still,
however, it contains fragments of earlier works, which are
of great interest and value. The materials are said to
have been collected " tam de Annalibus Bomanorum, quam
de Chronicis sanctorum, et de scriptis Scotorum Anglorum-
ijue^ et ex traditione veterum nostrorum/** The editors of
the Monumenta Historica Britamiica, lately published by
the Record Commission, would confine the "writings of the
English" to certain Anglo-Saxon genealogies which Nen-
nius inserted in his History; but there is reason to believe
that he had before him a copy of the Saxon Chronicle^
which in its main features did not difler very widely from
those which have survived to our own times. His Welsh
legends are genuine ; that is, they are the invention of the
people, and not mere fictions of the writer, like so many
of those which Jeflrey of Monmouth has recorded. His
dates, when the intervalis short, as when he states that
an event took place in such a year of a reign, may be relied
upon ; for in these cases the date seems generally to be
taken at once from a Welsh chronicle ; but when he dis-
plays his scholarship, and attempts chronology, the gross
ignorance of himself, or of his transcribers, becomes fla-
grant, and no two mss. are consistent with each other.
but a participator in Roman civilisation, an
upholder of the " Romania/' an opponent
of the ** Barbaria" of his country. In what
terms the ecclesiastics of the 5th and 6th
century could write of their brother pro-
vincials, whether lay or clerical, may be
seen in Salvian's works, Adversui Atari-
tiantt lib. ii. ; De Provid, Dei^ lib. v. vii. &c.
Mr. Wright asserts that the princes whose
Tiames appear in the "Epistle" are not
mentioned in any other work till the time
of Geoffrey of Monmouth. He is altoge-
'ther mistaken. Maelgwn is mentioned in
the poems of Llywarch Hen, in the History
*of Nenniosy in the Book oif Uawdaff, and
in the Annales Cambrise ; and Constan-
tine in the Annales Cambriie and in the
Annals of Tigernach. I may add, that the
facts recorded of these princes are in perfect
consistency with the narrative of Gildas.
* The preface, which was probably an
addition of the 9th or 10th century, states
that the compilation was made "partim
majorum traditionibus, partim scriptis,
partim etiam monimentis veterum Britan-
niae incolarum, partim et de Annalibus
Romanorum, insuper et de Chronicis sanc-
torum patrum, Ysidori scilicet, Jeronymi,
Prosperi, Eusebii, necnon et de hUtoriii
Scotorum Soieosmmque"
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 37
The Ahnales Cambrue and the Welsh Chroriicle^ fcon-
tained in the Red Book of Hergest, are useful works. The
former seems to have been originally written in the middle
of the tenth century. The number of years said to have
elapsed between certain events appears, however, to be
sometimes erroneously computed j and the dates, according
to the vulgar era, which have been supplied by the editors
in the Mon. Hist. Brit, are clearly wrong in some instances,
and in many others questionable.
The History of Jeflfrey of Monmouth appeared in the
middle of the twelfth century, and was denounced by the
ablest men of the day as an impudent imposture. But it
was patronised by the Earl of Gloucester, whose vanity it
ministered to, and the influence of this powerful noble gave
it a popularity which soon spread throughout Europe. Few
of our later historians dare to question the truth of Jef-
frey's statements ; but his history is only a larger collection
of the legends to which Nennius introduced us, added to
and " embellished** without scruple, partly from his own
imagination, and partly, no doubt, from foreign sources,*
and impudently obtruded upon the reader as a translation
of a Breton original.
In some cases we can trace these fictions to their origin.
Welsh writers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries often
mistranslated English and Latin terms. Thus they trans-
lated Chichester (which is really a corruption of the Anglo-
Saxon Cissa-ceaster, the city of Cissa,) into Caer Kei;
and Somerset (which literally means the inhabitants of
Somer, wherever that district may be) they converted, by
their translation, into " the country of Summer." Jeffrey
not only mistranslated, but sometimes invented a mytn
on the strength of his mistranslation. Ambres-burh, the
Anglo-Saxon name of Amesbury, is generally considered,
jand I incline to think rightly, as signifying the burgh of
Ambres, and as answering to the Welsh Caer Emrys, the
city of Ambrosius. Jeffrey seems to have taken Ambres
for a genitive case; and forthwith he invents an Abbot
Ambrius, founder of the great monastery which once ex-
isted in that neighbourhood, and which he calls Ambrii
monasierium. His St. Amphibalus, as Ussher himself re-
* We have reason to belieye that many I respecting Arthur, originated in Breton
of his fiftblesy and more particularly those I legends.
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38 THE EAKLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
marked, is eyidently the represeDtative of the ahbot's
amphibalumy heneath which the ** two royal youths'' sought
refuge when they fled from their murderer Constantine.
In another case, the mistranslation of a Wehh title seems
to have originated a fahle. Nennius, the oldest historical
writer who mentions Arthur, says he was called mab tUhyr^
the terrihle hoy, '^hecause he was cruel from his child-
hood/' Now this expression will also admit of the con-
struction *' son of Uther ;" and its mistranslation no doubt
gave birth to Jeflrey's Uther Pendragon, brother and suc-
cessor of Ambrosius, and father of the invincible Arthur.
This story of Uther is inconsistent with the accounts we
find in Gildas respecting the descendants of Ambrosius,
and seems to have given rise to more falsification of our
early histonr than any other legend connected with it.
Our oldest English authority is the Saxon Chronicle;
for though it was probably reduced to its present shape in
the ninth century, yet many of its entries must have been
written long before the age of Bede ; and, indeed, in his
Ecclesiastical History he actually refers to some of them as
portions of chronicles then extant. Amid all the diversity
of opinion which has prevailed as to the origin of the
Saxon Chronicle, it has been generally admitted that, after
the introduction of Christianity, our ancestors did possess
certain written records illustrative of their national history;
the question asked has been, What records had they before
that date ? what memorials did they leave of events which
occurred during the hundred and fifty years of heathenism ?
Many who nave discussed these questions seem to have
looked upon our heathen ancestors as hardly raised above
the New Zealander in civilisation. Yet we have reason to
believe that in military science they were inferior to none
of their contemporaries ; and in their barrows we find
ornaments and utensils which were certainly not the work
of Roman or British artists, and which nevertheless display
no mean skill in the arts of manufacture. They possessed
a vernacular literature ; for — to say nothing of Beowulf
and the Battle of Fins-Burgh — where is the Saxon scholar
who would venture to plsu^ the Gleeman^s Song at any
later period in the history of Anglo-Saxon literature?
Their princes seem to have ranked with the leading sove-
reigns of Europe ; and the heathen Ethelbert mamed the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
IN SOUTH BRITAIN.
39
daughter of Charibert,* the Christian king of Paris. Is
it likely that a people filling such a place in the scale of
civilisation, and in the estimation of their contemporaries,
should not have had some means of recording the acces-
sions and the deaths of their kings, and the other leading
events of their history ?
But it has been asked, What era did they compute by ?
what characters did they use ? what materials did they
write on? In answer to the first of these questions, I
would answer none. " In the 6th year (after his arrival),
Hengest fought, &c. Two years afterwards, Hengest again
fought, &c. After eight years, Hengest again took up
arms, &c.'' Such was the manner in which Ethelwerd
chronicled events in the tenth century ; and in like man-
ner, the early Welsh chronicles furnish us with relative
instead of absolute dates j the whole string of events de-
pending on the current year, instead of being measured
from some fixed era. All that our ancestors could wish
to know was, how many years ago a particular event had
happened j and such knowledge they could obtain from
these rude records, without troubling themselves about the
reigns of Roman emperors, or the dates of Roman consul-
ships. As to the characters in which these facts were
recorded, what could they be but the runes which our
ancestors brought with them into the island, and which,
even after the Roman letters had been introduced by the
Christian missionaries, were regarded with so much favour,
that Tve often find them transcribed in our mss. even as
late as the thirteenth century, with the title ** Alphabetum
Anglicum^* written over them. As to the materials on which
these records were written, how could there be lack of these,
as long as Britain grew oak, or beech, or alder ?t
Another objection has been raised by Dr. Lappenberg.
Certain events recorded at the beginning of the Chronicle
happen to be separated from each other by an interval of
• Greg. Tor. t. ii. lib. ix. c. 26.
t If we may trust our Webh antiquaries
(lolo Mss. 206), " bardic frames" were
manufectured in the poorer districts of
Wales as late as the 15th and 16th cen-
turies. Their construction was simple
enough. A straight stick of oak, or of
one of the softer woods, was carefully
squared and painted. Letters were then
cut on each of the four faces, through the
coloured surface, so as to give them the
relief afforded by the natural colour of the
wood. A certain number of these sticks
were then ranged between two side-pieces,
in such a manner as to allow of their re^
Tolving on their axes, and thus enabling
the reader to bring each of the four faces
before him in its turn. Two of these
frames might have contained all the entries
in the Chronicle, relating to the century
and a half which elapsed before the intro-
duction of Christianity.
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40
THE EARLT ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
eight years ; and on the strength of this fact, the German
author starts the theory, that the early dates of our Chro-
nicle are regulated according to " a cycle of eight years/'
An Englishman would have considered it incumbent on
him to shew very satisfactory reasons why our ancestors
selected this particular number. Dr. Lappenberg*s at-
tempt is as weak as it well can be; the number 8 is a
divisor of 24, and of the " probably historic" numbers 40
and 64 ; it may have some astronomical allusions, or be
founded on " some myth ;*' 40, one of its multiples, was
used by the Persians as an indefinite number ; and so forth.
He endeavours to prove his case in a diflTerent manner.
He takes the different events recorded in the Chronicle,
and counts the number of years that elapsed from the
landing of the Saxons, sometimes including and sometimes
excluding the year he counts from ; so that, for each event,
he gets two cnances of finding a number divisible by 8.
If these fail him, he has recourse to one of our later his-
torians ; and as the difference of a year, for reasons that
will be hereafter given, is exceedingly common in the dates
of these early writers, he thus obtains another chance of
finding his favourite multiple.* By keeping out of sight
his failures, and bringing under the reader's notice in-
stances in which he has succeeded, he endeavours to im-
press him with the truth of his theory. By a similar
mode of manipulation he might have made out an almost
equally strong case for several other numbers — the num-
ber 6, for example.
It has always appeared to the writer most unreasonable
to doubt, that from their first arrival in the island, our
ancestors had some mode of registering the events of their
history. From these rude memorials were probably formed
more perfect registers, which gradually swelled into the
chronicles we now possess. The oldest extant copy of the
Saxon Chronicle was written shortly before the year 900, or
* To increase his cbances of success,
Dr. Lappenberg ayails himself of the dis-
crepancies of oar Mss., and not nnfre-
qnently represents a mere ittferenee as
tiiough it were a recognised historical fact
Thns, under the date 530, the Chronicle
informs us that Cerdic took Wihtgara-
burh in the Isle of Wight ; and when re-
cording his death, four years afterwards,
teUs Of that he gave the island to his two
nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar. Now, the
arrival in Britain of these two chiefs hap-
pens to date just sixteen years before the
conquest of Wihtgara-burh ; so, to make
the entry square with his theory, he gives
them the honour of the victory: "After
twice eight years, Sttufand Wihtgar, with
their uncle, gained a great victory in tiie Isle
of Wight," &c.
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 41
at the close of Alfred's reign ; but we know that some of its
entries were copied, almost verbatim, from chronicles which
must have been in existence before the time of Bede ; and
there are others which may have been written at a time
when Hengest and Ambrosius were yet rivals. As to the
credit which is due to the chronology of these early records,
I think we may rely on the good sense and the good faith
both of those who made the original entries, and of those
who made the subsequent compilations ; but there is reason
to believe that some of these chroniclers began the year at
mid-winter and others at Easter; and consequently we
must sometimes expect to find the difierence of a year in
their computations. We should also remember that the
monks, who put the chronicles into their present shape,
lived at a time when the science of chronology was imper-
fectly understood ; and therefore, in reducing the dates to
the vulgar era, may sometimes have been betrayed into
mistakes. Making all fair allowances, I believe the dates
of our chronicles will well bear examination, though they
may not exhibit the critical accuracy of later works, which,
with strange inconsistency, is required of them by many,
who aflFect to place these venerable records on the same
level with " the myths" and the fables of Livy.
Bede was bom in 67S, or about eighty years after the
arrival of Augustin in this country. His Ecclesiastical
History reaches to the year 731. In it he tells us that
he learned the facts of our history before the introduction
of Christianity "ex priorum maxime scriptis, hie inde
coUectis/' Among these " writings of the ancients,** the
works of Gildas appear to have held a high place in his
estimation ; but he doubtless also included in the phrase
the ^* scripta Scotorum Anglorumquer to which Nennius
acknowledges his obligations, and to which he himself has
more than once expressly referred. When he states a fact,
on what appears to be the authority of one of these ancient
chronicles, he sometimes adds'"ut perhibent,** "perhibe-
tur,** * &c. ; not that he entertained any " critical doubts**
as to the truth of such statements, but, as it would seem,
merely to distinguish between these rude native records
and the better-digested testimony of the Latin historians.
* The Tery same phrases are used by 1 entries of Uie Chronicle.
Edielwerd, when quoting some of the laitr
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42
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
The histories of Asser,* of Ethelwerd, and of Florence
of Worcester, so far as they relate to the period we have
to review, are all of them based on the Saxon Chronicle.
The additional information, however, which they occasion-
ally give is sometimes of value.
The graphic details with which Henry of Hunting-
don enlivens the scanty records of our early history differ
widely from the slight additions we owe to these three
historians. Whence he obtained them I cannot tell ; and
it is strange indeed, that in an age so sceptical so little
scepticism should have been excited on a subject that is
fairly open to it. The " ancient poems'* which figure so
largely in the speculations of Lappenberg and others, as
one of the sources which supplied materials for the Chro-
nicle, may possibly have performed that office for Hunting-
don ; though we may aoubt if there be any connexion
between them and tne short dry notices which form the
great staple of our Saxon Chronicle. That Huntingdon
sometimes yielded to his imagination, there is no doubt :
his account of the battle of Aylesford may be called ** a
myth,'* or any other hard name the reader chooses, for it
is most certainly a fiction.t
All our historians who wrote after the publication of
Jeffrey's history, shew traces, more or less, of the influence
which he exercised. When, like Wendover, they furnish
dates, or when their accounts are inconsistent with Jeffrey's
narrative, they may nevertheless be of service ; for in these
cases we may reasonably infer that they drew their informa-
tion from other and more trustworthy sources.
It will be seen that, in the opinion of the writer, our
two oldest authorities are also our best. It is both amus-
ing and instructive to observe, that those who assail the
credit due to Gildas and the Chronicle, generally treat
their testimony as unimpeachable, when it does not interfere
* Asser was a Welshman ; bat, from
the circomstances wider which his history
was written, it must rank as one of the
English authorities.
f According to the Chronicle, the
Britons at Aylesford were commanded by
Vortigem, and Horsa was slain ; according
to Nennius, the Britons at Episford were
commanded by Vortimer, and Horsa and
Catigem lost their lires; according to
Hontingdony AmbrosiQi commanded at
Aylesford, Vortimer and Catigem were his
lieutenants, and Hona and Catigem feU.
Nennius, no doubt, wished to reconcile
Welsh history with the Saxon Chronicle,
and Huntingdon to reconcile Nennius with
Gildas. Both have distorted history, but
Huntingdon has added bad faith to bad
criticism ; for his detailed account of the
battle, which was eridently accommodated
to his hypothesis, can be nothing else but
invention.
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 43
mith any favourite theory. The author would consider any
theory relating to our early history which is inconsistent
with that testimony as worthless.
In discussing the present question, we have had, or
shall have, to examine various adverse theories. These
theories, it should he remembered, are inconsistent, not
only with the views of the present writer, but also with
eacn other. He does not stand one against, but one among
many; and as his views agree with those of our early
historians, he mi^ht even cUim for them whatever defer-
ence is due to opinions which have long met with general
acceptance. But it is not on mere weight of authority
that he rests their claims to consideration, nor even upon
the weakness and insufficiency of the conflicting theories ;
but on the great balance of probabilities in their favour,
in their consistency with the character of the times, and in
the wonderful correspondence of dates. Let the reader,
as he proceeds, observe how strikingly coherent are the
following dates : the date of the application to iBtius,
which we learn from Gildas ; of the arrival of the Saxons,
which we learn from Bede ; of the first battle with Vorti-
gem, which we learn from the Chronicle ; of the acces-
sion of Yortigem, and of the disturbances headed by
Guitolinus and Ambrosius, which we learn from fragments
preserved by Nennius. Would he find any such congruity
in ** a mythical history ?" If he be a mathematician, let
him calculate the chances against it.
According to Gildas, the Britons, suffering from famine
and from the ravages of the Picts and Scots, applied to the
Romans for aid. Their letter was addressed, '^iEtio ter
consuli '/' and as ^tius was consul for the third time in
446, it cannot have been written before this date. Failing
in their application, they "put their trust in God,** at-
tacked and repulsed the enemy. This period of trial
was followed bv seasons of unexampled plenty, when the
Britons, relapsing into their old vices, again suffered the
miseries of invasion. The General Council (pmnes con^
silarii)f together with Vortigem, king (dux) of the Bri-
tons, then resolved to call the Saxons to their aid.
" The whelps of the barbarian lioness** arrived in three
ships of the largest size (Jtribm longis navibus), and, at the
bidding of the " ill-omened tyrant,'' were stationed in the
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44
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
eastern part of the island. They were afterwards joined
hy a larger hand, and professing themselves ready to meet
any perils for the sake of their " worthy hosts/* required
that supplies should be furnished them. These were pro-
vided, and for a while stopped the " dog's mouth/' until the^
strangers, anxious for a quarrel, demanded larger supplies^
and when they were not forthcoming, ravaged the country.
Such is the account of the arrival of our ancestors,
which a British writer, born some seventy years after the
event, has left us. He was a man of education and posi-
tion, and must have had within his reach every means of
information which his countrymen then possessed. I see
nothing in his story to alarm even the most jealous seep-
ticism, and I am not ashamed to confess that it carries
with it my entire belief.
In addition to the account left us by Gildas, Bede tells
us that the strangers defeated the Picts and Scots, and were
commanded by two brothers, named Hengest and Horsa.*
He also in three different passages fixes the date of their
arrival in the reign of Marcian (450-457), and, accord-
ing to the construction generally put on one of these pas-
sages,t in the^rstyesv of this reign. It is true, that in two
of these passages oede places the beginning of Marcian's
reign in the year 449, and in one of them in the year 452,1:
instead of the true date 450. The compilers of our Saxon
Chronicle, and our modem historians generally, adopt the
date 449 ; though Florence of Worcester had left the latter
* ** Duces fhisse perhibentur eornm pri-
mi duo fratres Uengist et Horsa." N. Ecel,
1. XT. From this it has been inferred that
Bede had critical doubts about the truth
of the story. I have already mentioned
the construction I put upon these phrases.
3ede was a stranger to South Britain, and
he was in all probability quoting some
Kentish chronicle.
According to Palgrave, '*the names
bestowed upon the sons of Wihtgils seem
to be poetical epithets rather than real de-
nominations; both have the same mean-
'ing, and signify the * snow-white steed/ &c.,
whose form, still constituting the heraldry
of Kent, adorned the standard which led
them forth to yictory." Eng. Comm, c.zii.
I would answer, that Hengest was an Anglo-
Saxon name, just as Wolf and Fox are
English ones ; that the association of two
; brothers in command was characteristic of
the times and of the people ; as was aliio
the alliteration and the play of meaning
which connect together the names of Hen-
gest and Horsa. The assertion that the
Jutes bore " a snow-white steed'' on their
banner, has no authority quoted in support
of it, though an important inference is
drawn from it in a note. 1 do not remem*
her any thing on the subject in Gildas, or
Bede, or Nennius, or the Chronicle, or
Ethelwerd, or Asser, or Florence, or even
Huntingdon. What authority is there for
the statement ?
t ** Anno ab incamatione Domini
quadringesimo quadragesimo nono Mar-
cianus cum Valentiniano regnum adeptus
septem annis tenuit. Tunc Anglorum sive
Suonum gens," &c. Hist. Eecl, 1. xt.
t Lappenberg says 459 ; but he has
not put &e right construction on the pas-
sage in Bede : yid. Chronicon, a.m. 4410.
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN;
45
an example which might have been followed with advan-
tage. This sensible writer fixes the arrival of our ances-
tors in 450, and cites Bede as his authority for so doing.
He saw Bede's error, and corrected it ; for he knew the
essential part of his statement to be, that our ancestors
arrived in the first year of Marcian's reign. He was, no
doubt, aware that computation by the vulgar era was still
a novelty in Bede's day, and that even scholarship like hid
might occasionally stumble in a path so little trodden ; and
certainly he did not consider a few slight errors in calcu-
lation sufficient to destroy Bede's credit as a historian.
The editors of the Mon. Hist. Brit, take a difierent
view of this matter ; and as their authority is likely to carry
weight with it, I make no apology for examining the reasons
on which their conclusions are founded.
Nennius tells us that after the slaughter of the Roman
governors and the death of the usurper Maximus, and the
termination of the Roman rule in Britain^ the Britons for
forty years were kept in alarm by their various enemies-,
till the arrival of the Saxons, an event which is said in some
Mss. to have happened in the reign of Marcian, and in
others "regnante Gratiano Secundo ^quantio/' This
last passage seems to be hopelessly corrupt. I can only
surmise that some copyist, ignorant of Marcian's name, or
puzzled by the corrupted form in which it was presented
to him, supplied his own date, and in so doing confounded
the arrival of the Saxons in the time of Vortigern with the
dreadful inroad made by them some eighty years previously,
and which occupied the time and energies of the first
Theodosius during the first and second years of Gratian's
reign. The dangers which afterwards led the Britons to
remove the Roman officers, and to provide for their own
safety, must have been long remembered ; and the termi^^
nation of the Roman rule in Britain was considered by all
our early historians as an event of the gravest importance.
Nennius,* like the Greek historian Zosimus, places it in
the reign of the usurper Constantine (407-411), and Bede
* Nenn. c. xxr. Twenty yean elapsed
between the death of Maximns and the
usurpation of Constantine ; and in his list
of the emperors who Tisited Britain, Nen-
nius places Constantine next but two after
Maxinms. It is dear, therefore, that Nen*
nins, tiiongh he mentions in the same sen-^
tence the death of Maximns and the termi*
nation of the Roman role in Britain, must
have known that these events were sepa-
rated from each other by a considerable
interval of time.
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46
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
in the yei^r in which Rome was taken by the Goths,* or
A.D. 409, while he fixes the arrival of the Saxons in 449.
Here, then, we have the forty years to which Nennius is
alluding ; and thus far we find a sufficient correspondence
between our three oldest historians, Gildas, Bede, and
Nennius.
But in some of the copies of Nennius we also find cer-
tain chronological notices, according to which Vortigem
obtained the kingdom in the consulship of Theodosius and
Yalentinian (a.d. 425), and the Saxons arrived in the
fourth year of his reign, in the consulship of Felix and
Taurus (a.d. 428). It will be seen these dates contradict
not only Gildas and Bede, but also the account which Nen-
nius himself has given us in the regular course of his his-
tory. I can only suppose that the writer, whoever he may
have been, counted the forty years by mistake from the
death of MaximzcSff which would just bring him to the
consulship of Felix and Taurus. He probably knew from
the Welsn chronicles that the Saxons arrived in the fourth
year of Vortigem's reign, and accordingly fixed upon the
consulship of Theodosius and Yalentinian as the date of
Vortigem s accession.
Strange as it may seem, the editors of the Mon. Hist.
Brit, actually adopt this date for the arrival of the Sax-
ons. They make a feeble attempt to reconcile it with the
former passage in Nennius ; and they get over the adverse
testimony of Gildas and Bede, by pointing to the chrono-
logical errors of the latter, and asserting that Gildas has
not related events in the order in which they occurred.
The latter piece of criticism is opposed to the construction
which has been put on the narrative of Gildas from Bede's
day to the present, and appears to be directly opposed to
every fair construction of that author. According to the
chronology adopted, HengeSt must have lived more than
sixty years after his arrival in this countiy ; and there are
other consequences equally startling. If I were called
* The Gothfl entered Rome by capi-
tulation in 409, and carried it by storm
the following year. The expressions of
Bede may perhaps refer to the latter
erent ; and as Florence of Worcester places
the departure of the Romans in 410, and
the arrbal of the Saxons in 450, iki$ in-
teryal of forty years may possibly have
been the one which Nennius had in Tiew.
f In support of this conjecture, it maj
be obsenred, that in some of the Triads the
death of Maximus and the termination of
the Roman rule in Britain are treated as
if they were synchronous eroits.
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN.
47
upon to make my choice, I do not know but I would
rather side at once with Palgrave and the Germans, and
melt Hengest into a " myth."
The Chroniele, under the date 449, informs us that
the Saxons landed at Ypmnes fleot, which is generally
supposed to be Ebbsfleet in Thanet. The rest of the
entry was probably taken from Bede. I speak with some
little hesitation, because the sentence in Bede which gives
us the information not found in Gildas, contains the
Anglo-Saxon idiom, victoriam sumpsere ; whence perhaps
it might be inferred that there was some early Anglo-
Saxon authority, of which both Bede and the Chronicler
were copyists.
All that we can know of the war which took place
between Vortigem and his dangerous allies, must be ga-
thered from the two following entries in the Chronicle :
" A. 455. Now Hengest and Horsa fought with Wyrt-
geom the king, at the place which is called -Slgeles-ford ;
and his brother Horsa there was slain, and after that
Hengest took to the kingdom and ^sc his son.''
" A. 457. Now Hengest and -Slsc his son fought with
the Bryts at the place which is called Creccan ford, and
there slew they 4000 men ; and the Bryts then forsook
Kent-lond, and with much fear fled to Lunden-bury."
The place where the first of these battles was fought
is called by Ethelwerd ^geles-thrip, and by Huntingdon
Aeiles-treu. ^geles or Egeles seems to be the Welsh
word eglwyst a church, Lat. ecclesia. Aylesford church,
which probably occupies the same site as the Welsh
Eglwys, is situated on the top of the bank over-hanging
the village, and its remarkable position explains the pro-
priety of the names, -ZEgeles-ford, -ZEgeles-thrip, or Aeiles-
treu, that is. Church-ford, or Church-village, or Church-
cross.* This ford of the Eglwys is the lowest on the
Medway ; and here, we have reason to believe, an ancient
British trackway crossed the river. Vortigem was evi-
dently watching this ford to protect West-Eent from in-
vasion when Hengest attacked him.
* In tike manner, ^geles-burh, the
Anglo-Saxon name for Aylesbary, means
the Church-burgh. It would be difficult
to find a more appropriate name for this
ancient town. On the sides of its conical
hill may stiU be traced some portions of
the old earth- works ; while on the summit,
and rising oyer the other buildings, stands
the Tenerable suooesaor of the Wdah eg"
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48 THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
Bede mentions that Horsa's monument existed in his
day in the eastern part of Kent, and still bore the name
of the Saxon chief. From the Chronicle we learn that
Horsa fell at Aylesford ; and two miles north of this vil-
lage is a place called Horsted, where the peasantry point
out a collection of flint-stones as the tomb of Horsa.*
Does not this " undesigned coincidence** strongly corro-
borate the truth of the entry in the Chronicle ?
The name of the place where the second battle was
fought is written in some copies of the Chronicle, Crecgan--
fordf and by Huntingdon Cregan-ford. This is important ;
for no one who has studied the letter-changes of our lan-
guage would venture the hypothesis, that our modem
Crayford was the equivalent of Creccan-ford. The follow-
ing appears to be the true explanation of the philological
difQculty. The Britons seem to have been almost unable
to distinguish between some of the hard and soft letters ;
at any rate, there was much inconsistency in their use of
them. The river Cray was probably called by them both
Crec and Creg, which our ancestors would convert into
feminine substantives, Crecc-e and Cregg-e, gen. Crecc-an
and Cregg-an. The form Crecc-e seems to have become
obsolete, and Cregg-e has been gradually corrupted into
Cray.
Before we investigate the state of parties among the
Britons at this juncture, it may be well to take a glance
at their legendary history. According to Jeffrey of Mon-
mouth, after ^tius had refused his aid, the King of
Armorica was induced to send a small force under the
command of his brother Constantine, who was crowned
king of Britain at Silchester. Constantine at his death
left three sons, Constans a monk of Winchester, Aurelius
Ambrosius, and Uther Pendragon. His son Constans
succeeded him, and was shortly afterwards murdered by
one of the princes of South Wales, named Vortigem, who
usurped the throne. The Archbishop of London, Guito-
linus, fearing for the safety of his young wards, Ambrosius
and Uther, carried them into Brittanv ; and Vortigem, in
order to strengthen his tottering throne, allied himself
with the Saxons.
* Arch. ii. 107. Of course it will not I must neceisarily be the tomb of Horsa.
be taken for granted that these flint-stpnes |
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 49
•This is in part a travestie of real history. The usurper
Constantine passed over to Gaul a.d. 408, and, after various
turns of fortune, was there slain with his son Constans,
whom he had taken from the cloister, and associated with
him in the empire. According to Gildas, the Britons
gained their first successes against the Saxons under the
guidance of Ambrosius Aurelianus, whom he describes as
a man of modesty, " courteous, faithful, brave, and true," as
of Boman descent, and as having in the general calamity lost
his relatives (parentes)^ who had been clothed with the purple.
There is no doubt we have here some incorrectness of
statement. As no Boman usurper appeared in Britain after
the death of Constantine, it is pretty clear that he and his
son Constans were the relatives of Ambrosius, whom Gildas
describes as having been clothed with the purple. But
these, we know, perished in Gaul some half century be-
fore the ravages of the Saxons. Gildas may have wished
merely to say that Ambrosius survived the national cala-
mity m whicn his relatives perished, when the associations
connected with the word " parentes** led him to add the
clause which has produced this confusion. Nothing is
more common in these early histories than to place in
juxtaposition events that were really separated from each
other by considerable intervals of time ; but the present is
perhaps the only instance in which this melting together
of distant events has betrayed Gildas into an absolute
misstatement of facts.
Both our legendary and our real history lead to the
inference that, after the retirement of the Bomans, there
were two great parties in Britain : the Boman, which seems
to have been headed by descendants of the usurper Con-
stantine, or, in other words, by members of the family of
Ambrosius, and the native, or British party. The appli-
cation to ^tius was doubtless made at the instance of
the Bomanised Britons; and his refusal to grant them
the succours they asked for would naturally give the ascen-
dency to their political rivals. We learn from the passage
in Nennius already quoted, and which was probably taken
from a British chronicle, that the Saxons arrived in the
fourth year of Vortigem's reign ; it follows that, if they
arrived in the first year of Marcian*s reign, as Bede tells
us, that Vortigem must have been made king not long
£
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50
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
after the application to ^tius ; and it is fair to conclude
that he owed his elevation to the triumph of his party on
that occasion. When, after the battle of Crayford, the
Britons forsook Kent, and " with much fear fled to Lun-
den-bury/* the power of Vortigem must have been rudely
shaken. Nennius tells us, that while he reigned, he lived
in fear of the Ficts and Scots, and of Roman attack — that
is, of an attack from the Romanised Britons — and also in
terror of Ambrosius. That his fear of Ambrosius and the
Roman party was not groundless, we learn from the follow-
ing passage, for the preservation of which we are also in-
debted to Nennius :
*' A regno Guorthigemi usque ad discordiam Guitolini
et Ambrosii, anni sunt duodecim, quod est Gualoppum, id
est Catguoloph.*'
This important entry, which its very form shews us
must have been taken from an ancient Welsh chronicle,*
has been misunderstood by Ussher, and has led to grave
mistakes in the hands of later writers. Lappenberg and
others convert the Archbishop Guitolinus into " a Bri-
tish prince;'' not the foster-father and patron, but the rival
and enemy of Ambrosius. The passage, as I take it, should
be construed thus :
" From the beginning of Vortigem*s reign to the dis-
sensions headed by Guitolinus and Ambrosius, are twelve
years. This is the Gualoppum, i. e. the battle of Gualoph/*
Counting twelve years from the date of Vortigem's ac-
cession, the " discordia Guitolini et Ambrosii** must have
taken place two years after the battle of Crayford. We
may conjecture t£at the defeated monai*ch fled from Kent,
only to meet his political enemies in London ; and that
the quarrel between them gradually ripened into open war.
As we have reason to believe that the family interest of
Ambrosius lay in Wiltshire and its neighbourhood; and
as, near the Roman road from Old Sarum to Silchester,
and immediately below the remarkable fortress on Quarly
Hill, lies a wide tract of country called the Wallop Fields,
it is not improbable that here was fought the battle comme-
• Compare the following extracts from
the Annale$ CamhruB:
** cccxvi. annus. Bellum inter Brit-
tones et Saxones ; id est, gueith Hirford
(the affair of Hereford).
*' ccccxxii. annus. Urbs Ebranc Tas-
tata est ; id est. Cat Dab gint (the bat-
tle of the Black Gentiles, or Danes)."
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 51
morated in this fragment. How long the war lasted we do
not know ; but, according to Jefirey, Vortigem maintained
himself for some time in South Wales, and there perished.
Before we dismiss this ill-fated chief, we may remark
that the only testimony against him, which has any histo-
rical value, are the expressions used by Gildas, " tyrannus
superbus,** " tyrannus infaustus ;*' and when we remember
the strong Roman prejudices of the writer, we may not
feel inclined to press these very strongly against him. The
story we find in Nennius, of his treacherous dealings with
the Saxons, is inconsistent with the accounts in the Saxon
Chronicle, and was probably invented by the Welsh some
two or three centuries after his death, to lessen the morti-
fication of defeat. The rebukes which, according to the
same authority, he received from Germanus and the clergy
are probably the legendary accounts of disputes whicn
must have often taken place between him and Guitolinus.
According to Wendover, Ambrosius was made king
A.D. 464; but there are reasons, which will appear here-
after, for preferring the year 463. We may conjecture,
that as Vortigem*s successes against the Picts seem to have
placed him at the head of his party, and consequently on
the throne of Britain, so the successes against the Saxons
which Gildas attributes to Ambrosius, may have paved the
way to his attaining the same dignity. We have learnt ^
from the Chronicle, that after the battle of Crayford " the
Brits forsook Kent-lond.'* By ** Kent-lond,** as here used,
we must understand the Welsh district called the Caint,
or, in other words, the open country lying along the river ;
for Gildas tell us, that after the ravages of the Saxons,
«ome of the fugitives still maintained themselves in the
forests, and amid the rocks of the sea-coa^t, where the for-
tresses of the Saxon shore might still afford them pro-
tection from their enemies. After a certain period had
elapsed* (tempore intervemente\ and after " the cruel rob-
bers had in part gone homewards'' (aliquanto cum domum
recessissent)f these fugitives rallied under the guidance of
Ambrosius, and gained the advantages which Gildas has
commemorated.
Unfortunately there is but one entry in the Chronicle
• Thifl may have been the period dur- | Vortigem and Ambrosius.
iDg which the civil war lasted between
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52
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
relating to this second war in Kent ; and that records the
terrible battle, which must have extinguished all hope on
the part of the Britons of expelling the invaders :
" A. 465. Now Hengest and -Ssc fought with the
Weals nigh Wippeds fleet, and there twelve Wealish
aldermen they slew, and of them was there there slain
a thane whose name was Wipped/*
The locality of Wipped's fleet is unknown. Hunting-
don tells us, that the loss in this battle was so great on
both sides, that it was long before either party dared again
to advance beyond their own borders. The loss of twelve
Welsh princes shews us how large was the national force
which the ascendency of Ambrosius enabled him to bring
against the invaders, and at the same time how dreadful
was the defeat which he sustained.
The account of Vortimer*s victories, handed down to
us by Nennius, was probably derived from genuine Welsh
traditions, if it may not claim a more respectable origin.
The British chief, we are told, drove the Saxons to Tha-
net, " et eos ibi tribus vicibus conclusit, obsedit, percussit,
terruit.*' Nenn. c. xlvi. It is afterwards stated, that he
fought against them in four battles, while in the succeed-
ing chapter, which describes these battles, we have only
three* accounted for. It seems probable, that the extract
we have quoted contains the loose legendary account of
these battles ; that the Saxon Chronicle suggested the
number four ; and that some Welsh chronicle furnished
the details contained in c. xlvii. According to this last
authority, Vortimer fought, first, on the river Derguint ;
secondly, at Sathenegabhail, or the house of the ferryboat
(syddin y ceubail)^ which place the Saxons called Epis^
ford ; and, thirdly, at the Stone of the Title, on the shore
of the Gallic Sea. At Episford were slain the Saxon
Horsa, and Vortimer's brother, Catigem ; whence it ap-
pears that Nennius considered the battle of Episford to
be the same as that of Aylesford. In this he must have
been mistaken ; for we know that at Aylesford the Britons
were led by Vortigem. Nennius maj have been anxious
to reconcile Welsh history with the Saxon Chronicle, and
• The edition of Nennius attributed
to Mark the Hermit endeavours to make
out the number four, by referring to the
passage already quoted as giving an ac-
count of the first battle. Unfortunately
that passage describes not one, but three
battles.
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN.
53
have selected the battle of Aylesford as the one which, in
its circumstances, the least contradicted his story of a
Welsh victory.
It is probable that all Vortimer's battles were fought
during the second war in Kent ; for Gildas clearly inti-
mates that the Britons gained their ^r^f advantages over
the invaders under the guidance of Ambrosius. The cir»
cumstance of Vortigern*s sons serving under their father's
rival need not excite distrust. Huntingdon directly as-
serts the fact ; and the character of Ambrosius, and his
recorded liberality to another of Vortigern's sons,* render
it probable. The river Derguint was no doubt the Der-
went in West Kent ; the Stone of the Title is generally
supposed to be Stonor near Richborough ; andEpisford
may possibly be the ford leading into Thanet near Ebbs-
fleet.t If so, two of the three battles must have been
fought within sight of Richborough ; and, as Vortimer is
said by Nennius to have died soon after his last battle, and
to have ordered his body to be buried on the seashore,
it is reasonable to conclude that Richborough and its de-
pendent fortresses were not taken till after his death.
The oldest copies of Nennius never speak of Vortimer as
king, but always as a general. He seems to have acted
as one of the lieutenants of Ambrosius, and simply to have
discharged the duties of " Comes Limitis Saxonici.*'1:
* Nenntus giyes as the genealogy of
Farinmail, king of " Bnelt et Guortiger-
niannm," in Radnorshire ; and traces him
through ten descents from Pascent son of
Tortigem, to whom Ambrosius gaye the
district, " hirgiente Ambrosio, qui fderat
rex in omnes regiones Britannise/'
t According to Bede, the Wantsnm was
fbrdiidile in two phices ; no doubt, in the
places where the waters of the Stour
formed bars, as they worked their way,
northward or southwaird, into the Thames or
the German Ocean. The northern ford must
have been at Wade, and the southern one, in
all probability, a little to the north of Ebbs-
fleet. Ebbs-fleet seems to be a corruption
of Yppes-fleet, which bears to Ypwines-
fleet {die name that occurs in the Chronicle)
the same relation that Wilson bears to
Williamson, or Brighton to Brightelm-
stone, or Boston (Bots-ton) to Botolphs-
ton. The same chief probably gave his
name both to the harbour and the ford.
As we know that ships of burden some-
times sailed through the Wantsum, this
ford could only have been passable at ebb
of tide. During flood, a ferry-boat must
have been used for the conveyance of pas-
sengers ; and hence the Welsh name Sa-
ihenegabhait. Such a name would be in-
applicable to Aylesford ; for the establish-
ment of a ferry over the Medway at this
point was unnecessary, and is altogether
improbable.
% In the *' Oral Tradition and Chro-
nology," compiled soon after the year
1400, it is stated that from Vortimer to
Arthur were fifty-three years, lolo Mss.
416. Counting from Arthur's accession in
516, this interval would bring us to 463,
or the year in which Ambrosius was made
king ; and we might perhaps infer that
the Britons forbore to raise him to that
dignity during the lifetime of Vortimer.
It is just possible that the compiler of the
** Oral Traditions,'' &c. had some trust-
worthy authority for fixing on a period of
fifty -three years ; but his other chronological
notices exhibit the grossest ignorance ; and
we may, after all, be building in cloud-land.
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54
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
The last battle fought by Hengest, which is recorded
in the Chronicle, is the following :
" A. 475. Now Hengest and Msc his son fought with
the Weals, and took countless booty, and the Weals fled
the Engle, as it were fire.**
The circumstances connected with this battle will not
allow us long to hesitate about its locality. The ** count-
less booty** could not have been furnished by the Andred,
nor by the barren heaths and morasses of Surrey ; but at
the south-eastern comer of our modem Kent lie some of
the richest pastures in the island, and the sheep and cattle
of the Romney marshes were no doubt the goodly prize,
the capture of which is so exultingly commemorated in
this entry of the Chronicle. One half of the Saxon shore
must now have been in possession of the invaders ; and the
frontiers of Hengest*s kingdom must, from this date, have
coincided with those of the modem county.
The entry which records the first English settlement
in Sussex is dated four years later.
" A. 477. Now came to Bryten-land ^Ue and his
three sons, Cymen, and Wlencing, and Cissa, with three
ships in the place which is called Cymen*s Ora, and there
slew they many Weals, and some in flight drave they into
the wood, which is called the Lea of Andred.**
Our historians of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
render Cymenes Ora by " Cymeni portus.** But as we
find many localities on the banks of rivers called Oras,
the term must rather have signified a strand or shore ;
probably one on which ships or boats might be hauled up
with safety. A charter,* which, though a forged one, is
for our present purpose good evidence, connects Cymens
Ora with Wittenng, near Chichester ; and there can be
little doubt that it lay along the eastem side of Chichester
harbour.t It has, indeed, been fixed at almost every part
of the Sussex coast ; and the latest work which touches
upon the subject, and which was published under the sanc-
tion of a leamed society, actually lands ^lle at Anderida I
• Cod. DipL pL 992.
t In Sidlesham parish, east of Wit-
tering, is *' a manor-farm/' called Keynor,
which reaches to the sea. Horsfield's Siu-
teXt i. 41. I once thought Keynor a cor-
ruption of Cymen-ora ; but I now think it
represents Icean orot a locality which is
also mentioned in the charter. According
to the description of the boundaries, Cy-
mens Ora must have lain along the west-
em side of the Selsey peninsula.
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 55
As the charter we have quoted is referred to by Camden^
there is no excuse for these blunders.
According to Huntingdon, the peasantry of the neigh-
bourhood rushed on the enemy in scattered and disor-
derly bodies, and appear to have been slaughtered by the
invaders with little loss on their part. The surprise was
followed by a panic, in the midst of which Regnum must
have been taken. As this city derives its modem name,
not from ^lle, but from his son and successor, Cissa (Cis-
sa-ceaster, the Chester or city of Cissa), perhaps we may
infer that Regnum was given to the flames, and that dur-
ing the lifetime of ^Ue the South-Sexe intrenched them-
selves in the neighbouring earth-work. When a footing
was secured on the coast, hundreds of adventurers would
soon flock from Kent and elsewhere; and it must have
been with their aid that, in 485, wZBUe fought the battle
of Mercreds-bum. On this occasion he may have met
Ambrosius and a national army ; for Huntingdon tells us
that the " reges et tyranni Brittonum^ were his opponents.
Both the locality and the issue of this battle are un-
known; but five years afterwards, wZBUe took Anderida,
the locality of which is fixed very satisfactorilv by re-
searches made on the spot, as well as by historical pro-
bability, at Pevensey.
** A. 490. Now -SlUe and Cissa beset Andreds-ceaster,
and slew all that dwelt therein, nor was there thenceforth
one Brit left.'*
This is the entry, whose simple brevity appeared to
Gibbon more ^'dreadful" than all the lamentations of Gil-
das. It records the fall of the last Roman fortress of the
Saxon shore. From this date the South-Sexe must have
occupied the whole line of coast from Chichester eastward
to the marshes of Kent.
Five years after the fall of Anderida, the West-Sexe
effected their first settlement.
" A. 495. Now came two aldermen into Britain, Cer-
die, and Cynric his son, with five ships, at the place which
is called Cerdics-Ora, and the same day they fought with
the Weals.**
Cerdics Ora is placed by Camden in Norfolk, hy Carte
in Dorset, and by the editors of Modern Wiltshire in West
Hants. I think critical reasons may be given to shew that
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56
THE EARLY ENOLISH SETTLEMENTS
it lay along the eastern side of the Southampton Water ;
and that the point where Gerdic landed must have heen
north of the Hamble, and probably at the mouth of the
Itchin river. These reasons will be discussed when we
treat of the settlement made by the Jutish leaders, Stuf
and Wihtgar.
According to Huntingdon, Cerdic formed his men into
a compact body near his ships, and till nightfall had to
withstand the repeated assaults of the Britons. He re-
pelled the assailants, but did not venture to pursue them.
The obstinacy of the conflict is implied in the words of
Ethelwerd, ** ipsi post in fine fuere victores ;*' its frequent
renewal may have been owing to the arrival of fresh suc-
cours from the Venta Belgarum.
This city, the future capital of Wessex, if we may trust
the calculations of the monks of Winchester, was taken
the same year in which Cerdic landed ; for Budbome tells
us in his Hist. Minor.* that when, in 635^ Birinus intro-
duced the Christian rites into one of its ancient churches,
that church had for 142 years been " the Temple of Da-
gon.** Counting, indeed, from 495 to 635, we only get 141
years, even including the year we start from ; but in cal-
culations of this kind, the difierence of a year need not
disturb us.
In the year 501 Port landed at Portsmouth, and slew
a young Briton, who is described as of high nobility —
swithe ethelne. Whoever he may have been,t his loss was
of small importance, compared with the fate of one who
seems to have upheld the cause of civilisation in the west of
Europe with more success, and for a longer period, than any
other individual that appeared after the death of wZBtius.
" A. 508. Now Cerdic and Cynric slew a British king,
whose name was Natanleod, and 5000 men with him. Then
after that was the land named Natan leaga as far as Cer-
dic's ford.''t
No entry in the Chronicle has given rise to more dis-
• Galba A. ; dted Brit EccL Ant.
f It has been suggested that he was
Geraint ap Erbuii whose fall at the battle
of Llongborth (t. e. ship- port) is lamented
by Llywarch Hen. Geraint is also com-
memorated in the Triads as a commander
of one of the Welsh fleets. But Llywarch
Hen represents Geraint as one of Arthur's
officers, and Arthur was not elected "Am-
mherawdyr" till 516. The poet, more-
over, did not flourish so early as the year
601.
X Does not the expression, " as Car
as Cerdic's ford," prove that the entry in
which it occurs was originally written in
some Winchester chronicle ?
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IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 5?
cussion than the present one ; hut I am not aware that the
discussion has led to any explanation of its difficulties. It
always appeared to me that Natanleod was a title, and not,
as it is usually considered, a proper name. Leody though
not found in our Anglo-Saxon dictionaries, occurs in An-
glo-Saxon poems, with the sense of * prince ;* and if we
suppose there was some place called Nat-e (gen. Nat- an),
then Natan-leod would signify the prince of NaUe^ and
Natan leaga the Leas of Nat-e. I helieve such a locality
did exist near our modern Amesbury, and that the Leas of
Nat-e were the woodlands which stretched from the Avon
to the Test and Itchin.
Amesbury, as we have already observed, signified the
burgh of Ambres, or Ambrosius. According to the Welsh
triads, it was once the site of a great monastery.
" The three chief perpetual choirs of the Isle of Bri-
tain : the choir of Llan Iltud Vawr, in Glamorganshire j
the choir of Ambrosius, in Ambresbury ; and the choir of
Glastonbury. In each of these three choirs there were
2400 saints ; that is, there were 100 for every hour of the
day and night in rotation, perpetuating the praise of God
without rest or intermission.'' Probert. Triads 84.
I have vainly endeavoured to trace the ms. used by
Probert; but I can see no reason to doubt the general cor-
rectness of his translation. This particular triad is found
in only one of the collections, which were published in the
Myv. Archaeology ; and there it varies considerably in
form from the copy which furnished our quotation. The
three choirs are stated to have been located in the Isle of
Avallon, Caer Caradoc, and Bangor* The Isle of Avallon
is the well-known site of Glastonbury ; and Caer Caradoc,
though confounded with Salisbury (Old Sarum) by Jef-
frey of Monmouth, is placed near Amesbury by Owen Pugh,
and also by Caradoc of Llancarvan, Jeflfrey's contemporary
(lolo Mss. 45) ; but the selection of Bangor, in place of
Llan Iltud Vawr, shews us that the present was the North-
Welsh, as Probert's copy was doubtless the South- Welsh,
edition of the Triad.
In the older Welsh poems we sometimes find allusions
to a conflict which appears to have taken place in or about
some nawt^^ or sanctuary. It has been keenly contended
* In modern Welsh, nawdd.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
58
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
that these allusions refer to the massacre of the British
nobles by Hengest, and that the nawt was the heathen
sanctuary of Stonehenge. One of the poems which are
supposed to allude to this subject is attributed to Cuhelyn
the Bald, who, according to Owen Pugh, flourished in tne
sixth, and according to the compilers of the Archceology
in the eighth century. It represents Eiteol " excelling in
wisdom,** as the chief of this mysterious locality j and the
structure itself is described as
. . • . mur lor
Maus Pedir pedror
Mawr cor cyvoeth.
.... the Wall of the Eternal,
The quadrangular delight of Peter,
The great Choir of the dominion.
These expressions agree but ill with the hypothesis above
referred to; and though there may be danger in com-
mitting oneself upon a subject of so much obscurity, I
would venture to suggest that this celebrated naztt may
have been the Christian monastery instead of the heathen
temple, and that the legend which makes Stonehenge the
work of Ambrosius (Gwaith Emrys) may have arisen from
his having built or re-edified one of the " Choirs of Bri-
tain'' in its immediate neighbourhood. An attempt on the
part of the invaders to surprise this monastery — ^probably
during one of its great festivals — may have given rise to
the charge of a treacherous massacre ; and Hengest would
naturally figure in the tale, as being the Saxon chief best
known to Welsh fable. The story seems to have been a
favourite fiction in the sixth and seventh centuries, for it
is also told of the Saxons who invaded Thuringia.
Assuming that the monastery at Amesbury was called
by the Welsh the nawt^ it would, according to all analogy,
be known to the Saxons as the Nat-e,* and Natan Leod
would signify the Prince of the Nat-e or Sanctuary. This
title might well be a subject of pride, even to a man as
exalted as Ambrosius. We must not infer, because three
choirs are mentioned, that they were all in existence at the
same time. There is reason to believe that the choir of
* Between Amesbury and Old Sarura
there is a hamlet called Netion, This word
seems to be a corruption of the Anglo-
Saxon Nate^iuHf * the town or homestead
of the Nat-e.' It may have been the
Grange of the monastery.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
IN SOUTH BRITAIN.
59
Glastonbury arose after that of Amesbury was destroyed.
The choir of Ambrosius was probably the monastery of
Britain — the centre from which flowed the blessings of
Christianity and civilisation. Around Amesbury the Bri-
ton was fighting for all that was dearest to him ; and thus
may we account for the desperate resistance which enabled
him to maintain a weak frontier for nearly sixty years
within little more than twenty miles of Winchester.
An argument may be raised against the identity of
Ambrosius and Natan-Leod» on the ground that none of
our historians represent the former as dying in battle. Jef-
frey, with the view, it would seem, of interpolating the fa-
bulous Uther, poisons Ambrosius by the hands of a Saxon
physician ; and his authority is, of course, followed by later
English writers. Foreigners, however, have left us accounts
which approach more nearly to the truth. The Italian
Blondus, in the fifteenth century, represents Ambrosius as
having led the Britons many times against the Saxons,
and as having been at last defeated and slain (Dec. 1,
lib. ii.). Folydore Vergil also assigns him a soldier^s death,
and Stonehenge for a monument (^Hist. Aug. 1. iii.) ; whence
we may infer that, in the opinion of this writer, he fell
somewhere in its neighbourhood. The Flemish chronicler
Sigebert tells us, the Britons made Ambrosius Aurelianus
king, and under his guidance fought with various success
against their enemies for the space of forty-five years.* If we
suppose him to have died in 508, this would fix his accession
in the year 463, and the coincidence of dates seems almost
to demonstrate the identitv of Natanleod and Ambrosius.
It should be observed, that after Jefirey's work appeared,
our historians were greatly puzzled what to make of Na-
tanleod, and generally converted him into one of Uther's
lieutenants I Before Jeflrey's time there was no difficulty
about the matter. The Chronicle styles him '* a British
king ;'* Ethelwerd, " king of the Britons ;** and Hunting-
don, ** chief king of Britain." The last author tells us
that Cerdic was obliged to seek aid from Sussex, Kent, and
Portsmouth before he could meet his formidable antagon-
ist. Who could that antagonist be but Ambrosius ?
* Thu pMMge does not appear m the
early printed editions of Sigebert's Chro-
nicle ; bat it was found in the MB. used by
Ussher, and forms part of the text pub-
lished by Pertz in his Monumenia liiif.
Germ,
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60
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
The next entry in the Chronicle recalls our attention
to the locality of Cerdic's Ora :
"A. 514. Now came the West Seaxe,* into Britain
with three ships, at the place which is called Cerdic's Ora ;
and Stuf and Wihtgar fought with the Brits and put them
to flight/'
The Jutish leaders Stuf and Wihtgar are elsewhere
represented as nephews of Gerdic. From the Jutes, ac-
cording to the testimony of Bede, came the men of Kent,
the men of Wight, and "the kin*' in Wessex (as the
Saxon chronicler renders it), "which they still call the
Juten-kin." Bede elsewhere tells us that the Hamble-
water flowed through the country of the Jutes (^Hist. EccL
iv. 16) ; and at no great distance from this river, we find the
villages of Meon-stoke and East Meon. Here, no doubt,
lived the Meon*ware, whom Bede couples with the men of
Wight {Hist. EccL iv. 13), and who were certainlyt the
Jutish kin above referred to. The Hamble-creek is the
natural inlet of the country ; and here, in all probability,
Stuf and Wihtgar landed. ^ It is, however, a very singular
circumstance that, nineteen years after the arrival of Cerdic,
the new comers should have found the Britons still occu-
pying the country, and ready to resist invasion. It shews
us how slow was the progress of the Sex-e in driving out
the Britons when the latter had fastnesses to shelter uiem-
selves in, whether natural or artificial.
The success of Stuf and Wihtgar must have greatly
strengthened Cerdic's position at Winchester j but it was
not till after the battle at Charford that he ventured to
take upon himself the title of king.
" A. 519. Now Cerdic and Cynric undertook the go-
vernment of the West-Sexe ; and the same year they fought
with the Bryts at the place which is now called Cerdic's-
ford,1: and sithen from that day have reigned the kingly
family of the West-Sexe.*'
* The original may signify, either that
a body of West Sexe, or the Wcst-Sexe
genendly, arrived in 514. The entry may
possibly have been the commencement of
some Jutish chronicle, and been carelessly
altered when adopted into our present com-
pilations. It certainly misled Ethelwerd in
the 10th century ; for he tells us Birinus
preached the Gospel to the men of Wessex
in the year 636, some 120 years after their
arrival in Britain. He must have counted
from the arrival of Stuf and Wihtgar.
t Misled, as it would seem, by a mis-
take in Florence of Worcester, and by a
loose statement in Bede, some of our an-
tiquaries have fixed these Jutes we»t of
the Southampton Water.
X Ethelwerd tells us that Cerdics ford
was on the Avon ; so that its identity with
Chardford or Charford admits of no doubt
Digitized by VjOOQIC
IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 6l
This battle was followed the next year by another,
which was still more important in its consequences. Its
results may be best detailed in the language of Gildas.
" From this time [i. e. from the first successes of Ambro-
sius], one while our citizens, at another time their ene-
mies, were victorious, &c., down to the year of the siege
of Mount Badon (which lies near the mouth of the Severn),
and of that slaughter which is almost the last, and cer-
tainly not the least of those which have been made of the
villains (de furciferis) ; from which year, as I reckon, the
four and fortieth is now commencing, the first month be-
ing now past, and which year was also that of my nativity.
But not even at the present time are our towns inhabited
as heretofore they were ; but waste and ruinous they lie
even to this day, inasmuch as though foreign wars ceased,
civil wars did not. For the recollection of so dreadful a
ruin of our island, and of such unhoped-for succour, dwelt
long on the minds of those who were witnesses of these
marvellous changes, wherefore kings, and public and pri-
vate men, priests and ecclesiastics, observed the duties of
their station ; but when these were gone, and another
generation succeeded, who had not experienced that tem-
pest of ruin, and were only acquainted with times of tran-
quillity and justice, then all tne restraints of truth and
justice were loosened, &c.**
It is clear from this passage, that Gildas looked upon
the battle of Mount Badon as separating a long period of
war and rapine from one of comparative peace and tran-
quillity. He does not mention the name of the Welsh ge-
neral; but both Nennius and the Annales Cambria give
the honour of this victory to Arthur. Several of our En-
glish writers, and amongst others, Rudbome in his Hist.
Major,* allude to the treaty entered into between Arthur
and Cerdic. Higden's notice of it is perhaps the most ex-
plicit, and is thus rendered by his translator :
" Men rede in somme cronykes that Cerdicus fought oft
with Arthur, and yf he were ouercome, he aroose up eft
strenger to fyghte, and atte laste after six and twenty yere
of Cerdicus comynge Arthur was wery, and noyeful to hym,
and gave hym hampshyre and somersete, and called that
* Anglia Sacra, i. 187.
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62
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
countrye Wessex, And he made fayth and swore to
hym," &c. Polychr. c. 6.
Counting six and twenty years from the date of Cer-
dic's landing, and including the first year, we arrive at the
year 520 ; and at this date Roger of Wendover fixes the
hattle of Mount Badon« Jeflrey of Monmouth gives the
date of Arthur's death — it is almost the only date he does
give — as 542; and the Welsh Chronicle in the Red Book of
Hergest, makes an interval of twenty-two years between his
death and the battle of Mount Badon, which again brings
us to the year 520. I think, therefore, we have grounds for
believing that this celebrated battle did really take place
the year* following that in which Cerdic became king.
The passage in Gildas which describes Mount Badon
as lying near the mouth of the Severn seems to fix it with
certainty at Bath, or in its neighbourhood. But there are
reasons which tend to shew that the passage is an interpo-
lation. First, it has all the appearance of an interpolation ;
secondly, it is absent from one of the only two mss. we now
possess, and was not admitted into his text by Josselin,
who had ms. authorities no longer extant ; thirdly, we can
account for the interpolation, inasmuch as we know that,
in the thirteenth century, the Welsh confoundedt the
battle of Mount Badon with the capture of Bath sixty
years later ; fourthly, the name of Mount Badon is inap-
plicable to a place situated as Bath is; and fifthly, the
version of the story which Camden took from Jeflfrey,
and according to which Arthur drove the Saxons from the
walls of Bath, and then defeated them on Bannesdown
Hill, will not explain the difficulty that meets us; for,
according to Gildas, there was an actual siegeX of Mount
* The editors of the Mon, Hiti. Brit.
append the date 516 to the entry in the
Annalet Cambria which records this bat-
tle. I have already expressed my opinion
as to the value which should be pat on
these chronological inferences : vid. p. 37.
f Sharon Tamer and some of oar
other historians have been strangely puz-
zled by the opening paragraph in the
Welsh Chronicle contained in the Red
Book of Hergesti according to which 128
years elapsed between the age of Vortigcm
and the battle of Mount Biulon ; a piece
of chronology that deranges all the dates
of our early history. The explanation is
a simple one. The Welsh compiler looked
into the Saxon Chronicle ; and from the
year 449, when Vortigem is first men-
tioned, to the year 577, when the capture
of Bath is recorded, he counted 128 years.
The capture of Bath he confounded with
the battle of Mount Badon, and hence the
blunder.
% Camden's allusion to the earthwork
on Bannesdown is hardly consistent with
his usual good sense and honesty. The
existence of this earthwork could have do
relevancy to the battle which, on his hypo-
thesis, was fou^t there ; but might ^isily
lead the careless reader to draw very felse
inferences with respect to the " obteaHo
Montis Badonid."
Digitized by VjOOQIC
IN SOUTH BRITAIN,
G3
BadoD, and not merely a battle fought in its neighbour-
hood. It is highly improbable that the West-Sexe, though
they might possibly " harry** the country as far as the
neighbourhood of Bath, should lay siege to a fortress so
far from their own frontier, and in the rear of such for-
tresses as Old Sarum, Barbury Hill, and Cirencester.
They were foot-soldiers, and not, Uke the Danes, horsemen,
who could rapidly transport themselves from one side of
the kingdom to the other. At the date of this battle they
had been settled in Hants and Berkshire for about twenty-
five years; and for more than seventy years after their
arrival in Britain, all the battles which they have recorded
were fought either within the limits of these two counties,
or only a few miles beyond their borders.
It was no doubt by these and similar reasons that Carte
was induced to propose Baydon Hill, on the great Eoman
Road from Silchester to Chichester, as the place of this
battle. But first, there are no earthworks on Baydon Hill ;
and, secondly, Baydon seems to be a genuine English
word. The Mons Badonicus was doubtless so called from
the baths (badouy Welsh) in its neighbourhood. Now, al-
though remains of Roman baths are occasionally met with
on the Gloucestershire and Wiltshire downs, I am not
aware that any have been discovered at Baydon ; and when
we find, in the neighbourhood of this village, localities
called Bay-field and Bay-clifi; we cannot have much doubt
that Bay-don was also an English compound, and not a
corruption of the Welsh word badon. Why may not the
Mons Badonicus be the Badbury of Dorsetshire ? Its ele-
vated site, its great strength and evident importance, and
its name,* all alike favour the hypothesis. It exhibits
ample proof of Roman occupancy ; though, I believe, no
Roman baths have yet been discovered in the neighbour-
hood. It lay also on the borders of the West-Saxon terri-
tory, and in the very district where the Welsh and English
• The Anglo-Saxon hatht a bath, was
a neuter gubstantive ; but the name for
Bath appears to have been a feminine sub-
stantive, Bath-e, gen. Bathrom; whence
Bathan ceaster, the city of BaUi-e. In
Hampshire and its neighbourhood, the
final and medial ih was often pronounced
dt hence, if there were Roman baths near
Badbury, the locality would probably be
called Badd-e. In the Chronicle, Bad-
bury is termed Baddan byrig, the bury or
fortress of Badd-e ; and the modem name
Badbury must be a corruption of the com-
pound Badde - byrig. Huntingdon calls
this fortress Bath-e — ad Bathan. Lib. y.
The Welsh name was probably Dinas Badon.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
64 THE EAKLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
were at that time contending, and where, only the year
hefore, Cerdic had fought the battle of Charford.
The notion which seems to have been entertained by
Rudboume, Higden, and others, their contemporaries, that,
by the terms of this treaty, the whole of Wessex was ceded
to our ancestors, is certainly unfounded : we know that the
greater portion of it did not fall into their hands till many
years afterwards. In the accompanying map I have endea-
voured to trace out what may have been the boundary-line
which separated the two races. The principles I have taken
for my guidance are sufficiently obvious. I have assumed
that the size and figure of our counties, at least in the
south of England, were, to a considerable degree, influenced
by the events of our early history ; and that the grims and
grimsdikes, so plentifully scattered over them, were real
boundary-lijies. It will be seen that there are certain
places near the boundary which are distinguished as Eng-
lish ; and it may be observed that, as contra-distinguish^
from the Welsh, the West-Sexe called themselves by this
name even as early as the times of the Heptarchy. Vid.
the Laws of Ina.
Starting from the sea, the boundary followed pretty
closely that of Western Hampshire, till it reached the
neighbourhood of Old Sarum. It then seems to have
passed along the ditch which gives its name to the Hun*
dred of Underditch ; and to the north of Ditchampton is
distinguished in an Anglo-Saxon charter of the eleventh
century,* by the name of Grimes die. Traces of this
Grimes die are again found in the neighbourhood of
Steeple Langford ;t and a little to the west of Langford
is a village called Fisherton de la Mere. Here the boun-
dary seems to have turned again to the northward ; but
its course towards Amesbury is purely conjectural. From
Amesbuiy it seems to have run along the Beacon Hill
towards Chute forest, and thence to the river Thames, in
a direction which, with one slight exception, is nearly coin-
cident with the western limits of Hants and Berkshire.
That Amesbury was left in possession of the Britons,
there can be little doubt. The name by which it is ge-
nerally mentioned in the Triads is Caer-Caradoc. Now
Caradoc was the name of the Welsh prince who is com-
• Cod. Dipl. 778. t Cod. Dipl. 446.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
IN SOUTH BRITAIN.
65
memorated as Arthur's " battle-knight,** and as " the pillar
of the Cymry/* and who appears to have been, as we shall
hereafter see, the most powerful chief in South Britain at
this juncture. It is not likely that a fortress of the first
class, the residence of Caradoc Vreichvras, would be taken
as long as that hero lived ; and as we have reason to be-
lieve he survived Arthur, he must have lived some twenty
or thirty years after the date of this treaty.
North of the Thames, we know that Eynsham and
Bensington were Welsh fortresses full fifty years after the
battle of Mount Badon ; but that the Sexe had pene-
trated into the valleys of the Cherwell-basin is probable,
because this basin lies open and contiguous to the vale of
Whito-Horse, and was the favourite line on which the
Saxon kings operated against the Britons;* and also be-
cause we find one of the Grimsdikes stretching across it
from the Glym to the Evenlode. From this Grimsdike
the boundary may have passed along the Akemans-street,
and the Aves-ditch,t to Whittlebury forest, and thence
along Cerdic*s-lea to Dorchester. It may then have
crossed the river, so as to cover Wallinga fordX (that is,
the ford of the Wallings, or, as we may perhaps render
it, of the Weals, or Welshmen), and then run along the
Grimsdike and the Chiltem, till it again reached the
Thames east of Streatley. South of the river, it must
have followed the Grimsdike to Purborough Castle ; have
swept round to Spinae by Grimsbury ; and then by the
Welshmen's bridge (Weala brucg§), and the Mare ridges
(i.e. the ridges* of the Meer or March), to Englefield.
Passing the Kennet at Theale,|| it then seems to have run
along the Grimsdike^ to Silchester, and thence along the
• Vid. Sax.Chron. a.d. 527,571. Ar-
thur's battles against the Saxons at the
moath of the river Glem and in the wood
of Caledon (Nennins, c. 64) were also very
probably fonght in this neighbourhood.
t Whether the boundary-line continued
its course along the Akeman St., or passed
to the north of it, depends on the ques-
tion, whether Alchester had fallen into the
hands of the Saxons. It could never have
been a place of strength ; and the exist-
ence of Bicester in its neighbourhood goes
fjar to prove that it was destroyed in these
early wars. Its capture would hardly have
been followed by its ruin at any later period.
X Immediately to the south of the
boundary-line at this point was a locality
called Grimleyt and near it an earthwork
called " the old dike,'' which ran to the
Thames at Wallingford. Cod. Dipl 1069.
§ Cod. Dipt 1152.
II In the old Hampshire dialect th was
often substituted for the initial d, as thar,
therCf ihan,thothf &c, for^re, deaVf den,
doth, Set, Theale seems to be the provin-
cial pronunciation of dole, a boundary.
^ Dr. Beke informs us {Jrch. vol. xv.
p. 179) that the peasantry call this dike
*' Grimmers dike." I do not examine his
etymology, as I am satisfied that Grimmere
F
Digitized by VjOOQIC
66
THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
skirts of the forest to within a mile or two of Chertsey,
in the neighbourhood of which town we find all the marks
of a frontier station. On the English side of the supposed
boundary-line is a place still called Englefield, and on the
Welsh side we find recorded in our charters* the Welsh-
men's road (Weala geat), the Welshman's hythe or port
(Weales huth), and a place called the Shire-pool. I do
not pretend to follow the boundary with any accuracy fur-
ther. It probably passed south to 6uildford,t and then
returned by way of Holwood Hill to London.
I have not been able to check these speculations by
any personal examination of the country ; and no doubt
in many points they require correction. Still, however, I
feel a strong persuasion that in their main features they
do not deviate widely from the truth. But even were this
the case, I would maintain, that, on a subject of such
bewildering confusion as that of our ancient dikes and
earthworks, any reasonable hypothesis that enables us to
group together a certain number of these boundary-lines
can hardly fail to be of service.
The following events recorded in the Chronicle appear
to have occurred during the forty-four years which elapsed
after the battle of Mount Badon, and which Gildas repre-
sents as a period of comparative peace and tranquillity.
" A. 527. Now Cerdic and Cynric fought with the
Bryts at the place that is called Gerdics Lea.
" A. 530. Now Cerdic and Cynric took the Island
Wight ; and a few men they slew in Wihtgara-burh.
" A. 534. Now Cerdic, the first king of the West-
Seaxe, died ; and Cynric, his son, took to the kingdom,
and reigned thenceforth twenty-six winters. And they
gave to their two nephews, Stuf and Wihtgar, the whole
of the Isle of Wight.
" A. 55^. Now Cynric fought with the Brj ts at the
place that is called Searo-byrig; and the Bryt-waels he put
to flight.
dike 18 nothing more than the old pronun-
ciation of Grimes die. Stukeley gives
this earthwork the name of Grimsdike.
He mistook it for a Roman road ; and his
account of it has misled hoth Gough and
Warton.
* Cod. Dipl. 987.
t If Vindomis was situated in the neigh-
bourhood of Famham, the frontier very pro-
bably reached to it, and all Surrey south of
** the Hog's back" may have been Welsh
territory.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 6?
" A. 556. Now Cynric and Ceawlin fought with the
Bryts at Beran-byrig.
" A. 560. Now Ceawlin took to the kingdom among
the West-Sexe.*'
The battle at Cerdics Lea may have arisen from some
misunderstanding about the boundaries ; and there is little
doubt that the Isle of Wight was one of those wasted dis-
tricts which were yielded up to Cerdic after the battle of
Mount Badon. Some copies of the Chronicle make Cerdic
slay many men in Wihtgara-burh (Jeala instead of fed) ;
but the present reading is supported by Asser, Ethelwerd,
and Florence ; and the first of these writers tells us, by
way of explanation, that "the other inhabitants of the
island had been slain, or driven into exile.'' It is probable
that Wihtgara-burh was not the only fortress within the
boundaries of Cerdic's kingdom, which for a while shel-
tered its inhabitants from the sword of their enemies.
The battles at Old Sarum in 552, and at Barbury Hill
in 556^ clearly indicate an aggressive warfare on the part
of our ancestors. These battles were probably not followed
by any of those dreadful inroads, which at an earlier period
carried fire and sword through the island ; and Gildas may
have looked upon them as hardly a greater evil than the
civil wars which were then desolating his country.
I have spoken of Arthur as a historical personage ; for
I see nothing to justify the doubts that have sometimes
been expressed on this subject. His pretensions to the
character rest on a very different footing from those of
Uther. Uther's name was never mentioned before the
publication of Jeffrey's history; while Arthur's battles
are recorded by Nennius, and his name occurs in Welsh
}oems of the sixth century whose genuineness no scholar
las ever doubted, in the Annales Cambriwy and in the
ives of several of the Welsh saints. His relationship,
however, to Ambrosius is evidently a fiction, and one which
we probably owe to the mendacious history we have just
referred to. He seems to have been the nephew of a petty
king in the west of Britain, and to have been elected to the
supreme command solely on account of his soldierly qua-
lities. The account of his battles in Nennius contains one
obvious error. According to all the Welsh chronicles,
more than twenty years elapsed between the battle of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
68 THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
Mount Badon and bis death ; yet although during that
period diflerent tribes of invaders were eflecting settlements
in the east and north of Britain, this battle, we are told,
was the last he fought against the Saxons. It was proba-
bly the last he fought against the Saxons of Wessex ; and
as the war with Wessex was that which most interested
the South Briton who wrote the paragraph, we need not
seek for any other explanation of the blunder.
The accession of Arthur is placed by Wendover in 516,
eight years after the death of Ambrosius. There is some
reason to believe that the immediate successor of Ambro-
sius was his son Owen ; at least the thirty-fourth triad in
Probert*s collection makes this Owen one of " the three
conventional monarchs of Britain;" that is, one of the
monarchs who were chosen by a general convention of the
country. It is true that in this, as in other cases where
mention is made of " Owen son of Ambrosius,*' we find in
the greater number of mss., " Owen son of Maximus;'* but
as the relationship indicated by the phrase " Owen son of
Ambrosius** is in direct antagonism to Jeflre/s history,
we can readily account for the change to " Owen son of
Maximus.'' The assertion that a son of the usurper Maxi-
mus was elected king of Britain is in direct contradiction
to Boman history ; while the election of a son of Ambrosius
is a possible, and perhaps we might add a probable, event.
Arthur may have been elected the " dux belli" on the
death of Owen without children, or with children too
young to meet the exigencies of the times.
One of the triads commemorates ** the three tribes of
the throne," as they existed in the time of Arthur. These
" tribes of the throne" clearly represent the three favourite
divisions, Lloegyr, Alban, and Cymru; that is. South,
North, and West Britain. All the mss. represent Cellewig
in Cornwall as Arthur's chief seat in Lloegyr, and Cara-
doc Vreichvras (that is, Caradoc with the brawny arm)
as his " chief elder," or as the prince pre-eminent in that
district. This Caradoc was no doubt the prince who gave
the name of Caer Caradoc to the stronghold which ad-
joins to Amesbury. He appears to have lost his life at the
terrible battle of Cattraeth, which (according to the gene-
rally received opinion) was fought against the invading
Engle in North Britain; and his son Cawrdav is com-
memorated in the following triad.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
IN SOUTH BRITAIN. 69
" The three supreme servants of the isle of Britain ;
Caradog the son of Bran, the son of Llyr Llediaith ; Cawr-
dav, the son of Caradog of the brawny arm ; and Owain,
son of Ambrosius. They were so called because all the
men of the island of Britain, from the prince to the pea-
sant, became their followers, at the need of the country,
on account of the invasion and tyranny of the foe,** &c.
Probert, Triad 42.
Perhaps we may infer from this tradition, that as the
terror produced by the battle of Netley, and the death of
Ambrosius, led the Britons to rally round the son of their
fallen monarch, so the slaughter at Cattraeth induced them
to elect as their chief the son of the hero who on that
occasion so much distinguished himself. From Caradoc's
connexion with Amesbury, and the position he seems to
have held in the estimation of his countrymen, we may
perhaps be justified in drawing the further inference, that
he was a descendant of Ambrosius.*
Of the five British princes whom Gildas inveighs
against in his Epistle, the two first whom he selects for
censure are Constantine, king of Devonshire (Damnonia),
and Aurelius Conan. He accuses the first of having ^^ that
same year** slain "two royal youths'* in their mother's
arms, and beneath the very " amphibalum*' of the abbot;
and bids Aurelius, whom he describes as even worse than
Constantine, to remember the untimely end of his fathers
and his brothers (patrum frairumqiAe)^ and that he is now
left a solitary and a withered stock. When we consider
the names borne by these princes, and the district one of
them was reigning over, we can hardly avoid the suspicion,
that they were the descendants of Ambrosius, whom Gildas
describes in his history as " having greatly degenerated from
the worth of their ancestors.** In some Welsh mss. foiu:
sons are assigned to the usurper Maximus ; Owain Yinddu,
Ednyved, Peblic, and Cystenyn (Constantine).t As we
• The " Genealogies of the Saints"
generally make him a member of one or
other of the " three holy families ;" bat
as they convert a sturdy warrior into a
saint» it is bat fitting they shoald proiride
him with a saitable pedigree.
t lolo Mss. p. 113. The prominence
which is given to Maximas (Maxsen Wle-
dig) in the Welsh Triads, and which ap-
sias into the shade, may have been due ori-
ginally to the great prevalence ot Breton le-
gends daring the eleventh and twelfth cen-
taries. These legends seem to have been
introdaced into Wales on the return of Rhys
ab Tcwdwr, a.d. 1077 ; and were no doubt
one of the sources from which Jeffrey of
Monmouth drew the materials of his His-
tory. They may very probably have sag-
pears to have thrown the name of Ambro- ' gested hb story of a Breton original
Digitized by VjOOQIC
70 THE EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS
have reasons for believing that the later Welsh copyists
often changed " Owen son of Ambrosius'* into " Owen
son of Maximus/' with the view of accommodating Welsh
history to Jeflrey's narrative ; so we may conjecture, that
with the same view they would transfer to Maximus the
whole family of the British king, and consequently that
Ednyved, Peblic, and Cystenyn, were sons of Ambrosius.
On this supposition, the Constantino whom Gildas in-
veighs against may have been the youngest son of this
monarch. Jeffrey makes him the uncle of Aurelius Conan ;
but it would be more consistent with the facts of our early
history, if we were to consider him as the great uncle.
Possibly he may have borne the same relationship to Cawr-
dav, and to the ** two royal youths,*' his victims. Rowland
represents him as the ancestor of the British princes who
reigned in Cornwall; but the only authority for such a
statement which has fallen under the author's notice, are
certain suspicious genealogies in the Achau Saint Ynys
Prydain.
The following scheme exhibits the ties of relationship
which seem to have connected the different members of
the family of Ambrosius ; and hypothetical though it be,
yet any clue which may assist us in unravelling the intri-
cacies of early British history has claims upon our atten-
tion : —
Constantine, emp. ; slain 411.
I • 1
Constansi emp. ; slain 411. Julian; slain 411.
Ambrodas Aorelianus (Emrys Wledig), king of Britain; slain 508.
I — ' ' :••••: ;
Owen (O wain Vinddu), Ednyred Peblic Constantine (Cystenyn Goronog),
*. king of Britain. : king of Damnonia.
Caradoc Vrdchyras. The British princes who reigned in Cornwall.
Cawrdav, king of Britain. Aurelius Conan. The murdered princes.
The mode in which Jeffrey manufactured his history
of this period is sufficiently obvious. He took four of the
five princes whose names occur in the Epistle, and made
them kings of Britain in the order in which Gildas men-
tions them — Constantino, Aurelius Conan, Vortiper, and
Maelgwn. Unfortunately for Jeffrey, the Annates Cambrice
record Maelgwn*s death of the yellow plague ten years
after the death of Arthur, while they represent Constan-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
IN SOUTH BBITAIN.
71
tine as living nearly to the close of the century. Such
is the history, whose authority modem criticism has at-
tempted to revive, at the same time that it attacks the
credit due to Gildas and Bede I
The British leader at Barhury Hill was most probably
Aurelius Conan. Fifteen years srfter his defeat, the West-
Sexe turned their arms eastward.
"A/571. Now Cuthwulf fought with the Bryt-weals at
Bedican-ford ; and four towns he took, Lygean-burh, and
^geles-burh, and Bensingtun, and Agones-ham. And
the same year he died/*
The march upon Bedford cut through the line of com-
munication which united Yerulam and London with the
rest of Britain, and must have made the battle which
followed it inevitable. On their return, the West-Sexe
swept the valleys of the Ouse and Thame, or the districts
dependent on the burghs of Lenborough* and Aylesbury,t
by the imion of which with the woodlands of the Chiltem
the modem county of Bucks has been formed ; and then
stormed the fortresses, which had hitherto maintained
their independence in the valley of the Thames. The
districts appertaining to Bensington and Eynsham, when
added to the country already occupied by the Saxons north
of the river, nearly completed our modem Oxfordshire.
Only six years later, the West-Sexe pushed their con-
quests to the Severn.
" A. 477. Now Cuthwine and Ceawlin fought with the
Bryts, and three kings they slew, Commail, Gondidan,
and Farinmail, at the place which is called Deorham, and
took from them three chesters, Glewan coaster, and Cyren
ceaster, and Bathan coaster.*'
The battle of Deorham seems to have been the deci-
sive battle which sealed the fate of South Britain. The
loss of Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath, separated for
ever the Britons of Wales from those of Comwall. Neither
the " West Weals'* of Damnonia, nor the Weals beyond
the Severn, could hope successfully to resist an enemy
against whom their united power had been exerted in
* Lenborough U now a hamlet adjoin-
ing to Bnckingham.
t The old ditch which runs along the
edge of the Chiltern from Berkhampstead
to Princes Risborough seems to have been
adopted by the West-Sexe as the western
boundary of their new conquests. It still
bears the name of *' Grimsdilce.''
Digitized by VjOOQIC
72 EARLY ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS IN SOUTH BRITAIN,
vain. The progress of the West-Sexe might be checked
by their intestine feuds, but no sooner were they at peace
among themselves, than their frontier was advanced at the
expense of their neighbours. We cannot, however, follow
their later conquests. The present paper is already much
too long, and has been extended far beyond the limits
originally contemplated by the writer.
Edwin Guest.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A.D.
446. ^tius consul for the third time.
447. Vortigem king.
450. Marcian emperor. Arrival of the Saxons.
455. Battle of Aylesford.
457. Battle of Crayford,
459. " Discordia Guitolini et Ambrosii.**
463. Ambrosias king.
465. Battle of Wippeds-fleet.
473. Battle, and much booty taken*
477. j^lle lands at Cymens Ora.
485. Battle at Mercreds-bum.
490. Anderida taken.
495. Cerdic lands at Cerdics Ora.
501. Port lands at Portsmouth,
508. Natan-leod (i. e. Ambrosius) slain.
614. Stuf and Wihtgar land at Cerdics Ora.
519. Battle of Charford.
520. Battle of the Mons Badonicus. Treaty between Cerdic and
Arthur.
527. Battle of Cerdics Lea.
630. Wihtgara-burh in the Isle of Wight taken.
534. Cerdic dies,
542. Arthur dies.
652. Battle at Old Sarum.
556. Battle at Barbury-Hill.
571. Battle at Bedford.
577. Battle at Deorham.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL,
IN JULY AND AUGUST 1849.
AvEBURY, Silbury Hill, Wansdyke, and their adjacent
downs, studded with tumuli and cairns and earthworks of
endless variety and surpassing interest, were known to me
from my earUest youth ; and so intimately associated in
my memory have they been with those happy days, and
the pleasure of then contemplating and investigating them,
that it required no greater inducement than the intimation
that I might he useful in examining the progress of the
excavations at Silbury, on my way to Salisbury, to attend
the meeting of the Archseological Institute, to determine
me at once to set off for that purpose. Accordingly, on
the evening of July the 18th, I found myself safely de-
posited at the Waggon and Horses Inn at Beckhampton ;
whence, having deposited my luggage and secured a rest-
ing-place within sight of Silbury, I proceeded without de-
lay to inspect the progress already made in its examina-
tion, which had commenced on the 10th of July. Although,
during my sojourn here, my attention was devoted at in-
tervals to the antiquities of the neighbourhood, and not
without success, during such times as the workmen were
engaged in the tunnel, in which there was barely room for
two persons to pass, I purpose to confine my remarks in
this communication to Silbury alone, and to reserve my
other discoveries for a subsequent paper. Before I enter
into the hill itself, I will venture to detail some few par-
ticulars which, although perhaps already known to many,
may yet serve to make this record of what I observed
(and in some respects I alone) more intelligible.
The tumulus was originally formed upon the gradual
slope of a hiU, rising from north to south at an angle of
about four degrees from its point of section with the hori-
zontal base-line of the natural hilL The circumference
Digitized by VjOOQIC
74
EXAMINATION OF SILBURT HILL.
of the tumulus, after the removal for its formation of the
hefore-mentioned natural hill on the east, north, and west
sides to a very considerable extent, is 1550 feet ; and it is
remarkable, although I have not seen it noticed by for-
mer writers, that the verge of the base is set round with
sarsen* stones, 3 or 4 feet in diameter, and at intervals of
about 18 feet; of these, however, only eight are now visible,
although others may be covered with the detritus of the
sloping sides of the tumulus, and overgrown with turf.
The tumulus rises at an angle of 32 degrees, is in its ver-
tical measurement 125 feet high, and has on its summit
a level area of about 100 feet in diameter, in which are
still observable the remains of the shaft worked in 1777
by the Duke of Northumberland and Colonel Drax, and
the mounds of earth which the excavators had not taken
the trouble to throw in. It is much to be regretted that
no detailed account of these operations is upon record, and
it is hardly credible that they could have been completed
without some account of their progress and the discoveries
eflected, and perhaps even yet such documents may come
to light.t On the south the original constructors of this
stupendous mound left two narrow isthmuses of earth, con-
• * Sarsen* is the name given by the in-
habitants of this district to the fine com-
pact white sandstones of which Avebnry
Temple, Stonehenge, the Cromlech at
Clatford, and the Grey Wethers, are com-
posed ; and of which there are tens of thou-
sands still scattered over these hills and
their valleys ; some having evidently formed
cistvaens, with the gallery of approach to
the chamber, some cromlechs, some ave-
nues of approach to consecrated spots,
some circles round the sepulchral deposits,
some lines of demarcation, few of which
are known as they deserve to be, and all,
alas, are annually reduced in their num-
ber by the appropriation of them to the
purposes of building. The stone for the
new railway-bridge at Windsor is taken
from Clatford Bottom. The cromlech
there I recollect when it stood in the
midst of the Valley of Stones ; now it is
surrounded by a field of turnips.
t The following are statements made by
two old men as to the former examination
of Silbury HUl :
Richard Maskelyn, of Beckhampton,
aged eighty, has often heard his father tell
of the miners out of Cornwall that cut in-
to Silbury Hill ; they went, as he heard,
down to the bottom, and they found '* a
man."
John Blake, of Avebury, aged ninety-five
years, states that he recollects when the
miners from Cornwall dug into Silbury
Hill ; it was when he was keeping com-
pany with his first wife, and was about
twenty years of age. He went with her
to see the place, and they cut her gown.
They went down to the bottom, and found
a man — i, f. a skeleton, in the phraseo-
logy of the Wiltshire Downs, where the
flint-diggers are constantly in the habit of
finding skeletons, both in the barrows and
frequently on the verge or slope of them,
as well as in the plain down, unmarked by
any irregularity of surface. These two old
men, therefore, may have been led to in-
fer what was expected, and to declare that
<«a man'' was found; though such asser-
tion indicates rather what they would deem
likely than the positive fact.
I subjoin the only record of this ope-
ration known, extracted from Douglases
Nenia Britannicaf 1793, p. 161 :
" The great hill of Silbury, generally
considered as a barrow, was opened by
the direction of the late Duke of North-
umberland and Colonel Drax, under the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL.
75
necting it with the original hill, about 20 feet below its sum-
mit, on the north side of the London and Bath road, and
about 19 feet above the (geometrical) base of the tumulus.
From the western isthmus the tunnel was commenced. The
first 75 feet were cut through the natural and compact bed
of chalk — the structure of the original hill ; but at that dis-
tance the upper line of the tunnel cut into the surface of the
original hill, which was clearly marked by the vegetable
mould, and upon that by a layer of bluish clay about 2 inches
thick, very soft and tenacious, which represented evidently
the decayed and compressed turf and grass on the former
surface of the hill ; above this was the brownish earthy,
chalky rubble, the artificial components of the mound dif-
fering from that nearer to the centre, as that was piled
up from a moist, this from a higher and drier situation.
The workmen were continually progressing day and night,
as each of the three gangs worked eight hours, three men
only at a time having room to excavate, fill and wheel the
barrows. From the points of junction of the tunnel in the
natural chalk with the line of the surface of the original
hill, they followed that line as their guide, keeping it
about 2 feet below the ceiling of the tunnel ; inasmuch
as there could be little doubt that whatever deposit might
be found would be either on the surface of the original
ground near the centre, or in a cist formed immediately
below that line.
On my first visit they had advanced about 40 yards ;
when at 30 yards, they found in the artificial rubble, im-
mediately above the ground-line, a portion of the tine of
a stag's antler of the red deer species. Very little difier-
ence in the appearance of the walls of the tunnel had as
yet been discernible, when the time came (on Monday
sapposition of its being a place of sepul-
ture. Miners from Cornwall were em-
ployed, and great labour bestowed upon
it. The only relic found at the bottom,
and which Colonel Drax shewed me, was
a thin slip of oak-wood : by burning the
end of it in a wax-taper we proved it not
to be whalebone* which had been so re-
ported. The smell of yegetable substance
soon convinced the Colonel of his mistake.
He had a fancy that this hill was raised
over a Druid oak, and he thought the re-
mains of it were discovered in the exca-
yation ; there was, however, no reason for
considering it to have been a place of se-
pulture by the digging into it The bit
of a bridle discovered by Stukeley, Mid
his assertion of a monarch being buried
there, has only the pleasure of concep-
tion to recommend it. It is not likely
the monarch would have been buried near
its surface, when such an immense mound
of earth had been raised for the purpose ;
and the time in raising it would not agree
with the nature of a funeral obsequy,
which must require a greater degree of
expedition. '^
Digitized by VjOOQIC
76 EXAMINATION OP SILBURY HILL.
evening the 23d) for me to proceed to Salisbury. Having
taken a last inspection on my way, I suggested that it
would be desirable that the workmen should stop when
they reached within two yards of the centre, under the
apprehension that in case they should break into a cist,
or discover any deposit, there might be no person present
to describe and record the particulars. Whilst at Salis-
bury the specimens of new features in the component parts
of the tumulus were sent for inspection. The thin com-
pressed line of clay, formerly grass, could be traced con-
tinuously throughout the tunnel, and the vegetable mould
below it varying in its depth occasionally, and sometimes
considerably ; but at about 30 or 40 feet from the centre
a very marked difference appeared. Instead of the rubbly
chalk forming the artificial substance of the hill, the thin
grass line was covered with a black peaty substance, com-
posed of sods of turf piled together, containing great quan-
tities of moss still in a state of comparative ^eshness, and
which had evidently been taken from the excavated area
on the east, west, and north sides of the tumulus, on the
borders of which a small rivulet runs — a tributary to the
Kennet, — which I have myself seen overflowing almost
the whole of the excavated area at the back of the hill,
and which probably was wont to do so before that work
was effected ; not, of course, to so great extent, but suf-
ficiently to produce the moss now perceptible in the sods
derived from that locality, still retaining its colour and
texture, and to deposit amongst them the freshwater
shells which were interspersed on its surface, and are
still preserved in most remarkable freshness and transpa-
rency. Above and about this layer was a dense accumu-
lation of black earth, emitting a peculiar smell, in which
were embedded fragments of small branches of bushes,
which in many instances, retaining their shape, had been
transformed into a substance of beautiful cobalt-coloured
blue, which was also in great quantity dispersed in small
knobs throughout the layer of this black substance. At
about this spot caudal vertebrae of the ox, or perhaps red
deer, and a very large tooth of the same animal, were
carried out in the wheelbarrows, so that the exact spots
in which they had rested were not known. The follow-
ing general analysis of these substances was obtained by
Digitized by VjOOQIC
EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 77
the kindness of a young gentleman at Mr. Squarey's of
Salisbury, and may serve to shew their chemical cha-
racter: — 1st. The substance nearest the line of original
surface of the hill : iron, sulphuric acid, lime, carbonates,
earthy and organic matters, alumina. 2d. That some-
what higher up in position and of compact black texture :
iron, carbonic acid, lime, sulphates, alumina, phosphates.
Over these the artificial rubble of the hill had assumed a
darker colour, and contained on analysis much the same
components as No. 2. ; as well as those portions below,
from the percolation of water saturated with the qualities
of the substance above. I must not omit to state that in
many places within this range from the centre, on the sur-
face of the original hill, were found fragments of a sort of
string, of two strands, each twisted, composed of (as it
seemed) grass, and about the size of whip-cord. Insects,
especially beetles, and fragments of charcoal, were con-
stantly observable.
On Tuesday morning, the 31st, having reached Marl-
borough from Salisbury on the Monday night, I returned
to Silbury, visiting on our way the Cromlech at Clatford
Bottom, the Roman road on Overton Hill, and the termi-
nation (that which had been) of the South-eastern Avenue
of Avebury, on Hacpen Hill, with its neighbouring tumuli,
and then the eight remaining detached stones of the ave-
nue on the road from Eennet to Avebury, where I remem-
ber six to have stood in their relative positions opposite to
each other.
One line I must devote to the memory of one of the
most agreeable weeks I ever recollect to have spent. The
little party of good and approved archseologists who did
me the honour to allow me to rank as their comrade will,
I am sure, bear testimony to the description I have given
of that happy week j and I shall never forget the manifest
indications of regret when the time came for us to part —
I confess by none felt more acutely than myself, the one
left behind.
On our arrival at Silbury, which my companions had
not before seen, — after due admiration of its imposing and
mysterious grandeur, — we inspected the interior, when it
appeared that the workmen had penetrated to the extent
of 88 yards, in efiect 16 yards beyond the centre of the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
78 EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL.
tumulus. Nothing had heen discovered, excepting the
peculiar condition of the material of which the hill was
composed ahout its centre, or the nucleus from which its
fabricators first commenced the piling of it up. This day
was greatly occupied by the numerous visitors who flocked
from Salisbury and other quarters ; and as we could do lit-
tle at Silbury, we betook ourselves to inspect Avebury, and
subsequently to open some neighbouring barrows. There
was, however, one very remarkable circumstance which the
workmen related, namely, that when they were digging
and picking, at about 72 yards in, the earth above their
heads sounded very hollow, almost like a drum ; and on
experimenting the effect of vigorous blows of the pick-axe
at that spot, it was impossible not to be impressed with the
idea that there must be a cavity above. It was therefore
resolved that the men should cut down the roof from some
8 or 10 yards back, so as to raise the roof of the tunnel at
the centre 6 or 8 feet or more, the earth cut from the
roof forming the floor on an inclined plane. Great was
our disappointment, when we reached the point where our
grand discovery was expected, to find that our operations
had completely silenced the delusive sound, and that all
was dense and compact as below. There was, however, a
very important feature brought to view in this excavation,
namely, a succession of layers of the earth one above the
other at the end of the tunnel, and slightly curved down-
wards at each side. This operation had brought us to
Saturday night ; and on that day our most agreeable
party had taken their leave, whilst I was left alone, with
the responsibility of observing the works, still with some
hope that even yet discoveries might be made which would
help to clear up the mystery in which this noble monument
of our early ancestors is shrouded.
I have omitted to state, what really deserves to be re-
corded, that on the Wednesday in this memorable week
a very large assemblage of the neighbouring gentry were
seen congregated on the embankment to the east of Sil-
bury Hill, where they listened with much interest and
attention to such comments as I was able to make on the
early history and usages of the Britons, especially as to
their sepulchral remains in that neighbourhood ; and sub-
sequently were instructed and highly gratified by an ad-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 79
dress, in his usual style of elegance and perspicuity, on the
subsequent history and usages of the Anglo-Saxons, whose
adopted work of Wansdyke was within their sight, by Mr.
Kemble. The information conveyed this day to those who
possess in their hills and on their estates the precious and
most interesting relics of bygone times in this singularly
curious neighbourhood will, I believe, be not a little in-
fluential in promoting and directing a juster appreciation
and stricter guardianship of the treasures which so fre-
quently are brought to light by the employh of the gentle-
men who farm this county of antiquities, and who are not
less remarkable for their high respectability and intelli-
gence, than they are, as I can testify, for their exceeding
kindness.
But to return to Silbury. Our statement has carried
us down to the night of Saturday the 4th of August. On
the following Monday morning I found that Mr. Bland-
ford, the engineer who had directed the work, consider-
ing that he had accomplished all that he undertook in his
contract with the Institute, had desired the men not to
proceed further under his responsibility. I was therefore
under the necessity of taking on myself to direct their
progress, and they accordingly recommenced their labours
the same day, whilst I communicated with the Institute on
the present state of things. At all events, it was impos-
sible to allow the investigation to stop short, when perhaps
we were within a few feet of the objects of our search.
Nothing could be more evident than the existence of the
primary heaping up of the mound, through the centre of
which, or very nearly so, the elevated tunnel was cut. At
the floor of this was traceable the line of the original turf
of the natural hill, and it was clear to demonstration that
this had not been cut through. No cist, therefore, had
been found below that line in any part yet examined.
What might exist within the range of the conical heaping
up of the earth, which was on all sides so distinctly marked,
was yet to be proved. I therefore directed that a chamber
should be cut at right angles with the tunnel on the right
hand, following the dip of the primary heap. In this
many sarsen stones were discovered, some of them placed
with their concave surface downwards, favouring the line
of the heap, as is frequently seen in small barrows, and
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80 EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL.
casing, as it were, the mound. On the top of some of
these were observed fragments of bone, and small sticks,
as of bushes, and I am strongly disposed to think of mis-
tletoBy and two or three pieces of the ribs either of the ox
or red deer, in a sound and unusually compact state, and
also the tine of a stag's antler in the same condition. This
being the second instance in which this portion of the stag's
horn has been found in these operations, it is not impro-
bable that it may have been specially regarded. This first
chamber having been excavated as far back as the line
marking the conical heaping of the earth extended, a
similar one was formed on the right-hand side of the tun-
nel nearer the entrance, leaving so much of the earth
between as was necessary to support the roof, with similar
results; and on the opposite side a passage was cut at
right angles with the tunnel extending three yards, and
this at the extremity was turned to the left, in consequence
of the peculiar compactness and blackness of the earth,
which also appeared to dip more than elsewhere towards
the west. This having been worked as far as seemed
necessary, another cutting was commenced on the opposite
side northward, and following the curve of the heaping up
of the central cone. In all of these the sarsen stones were
similarly disposed ; but after cutting in this direction
about 3 yards, the workmen came to an upright seam in
the hill, and found before them no longer the dense black
concrete, but loose unconnected chalk, evidently the filling-
in of the shaft, 5 feet wide by 4 feet 6, sunk from the
summit of the hill in 1777*
These operations had occupied until Wednesday the
15th of August, the last day of my most enjoyable sojourn
in these mysterious regions, which I left with much re-
gret. The subsequent investigations were carried on
under the auspices of the Rev. J. Bathurst Deane ; and
it may, perhaps, be satisfactory to him to have found
that Silbury Hill, so far as is yet known, and as he had
declared, was not a sepulchral tumulus. One thing is
manifest, that the examiners of 1777 did not hit the ac-
tual centre of the tumulus, whilst we have excavated its
very core. It is not likely, therefore, that the version
fiven of their discoveries by the ancients Blake and Mas-
elyn, viz. that " they found a man," is correct. Whether
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EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 81
the piling ap of the sods, and the peculiar and marked
effects with which that part of the hill is distinguished
from the rest, and the layer of sarsen stones, shoidd lead
to any future inquiry, — for it is possible that this central
and conical heap might have been the platform, as it were,
on the apex of which the deposit was placed before the
remainder of the hill was raised, — will much depend on the
observations made subsequently to my departure. If no-
thing else has been achieved, a more general knowledge of
these secluded but most magnificent national antiquities has
been effected. Many have wondered at Avebury and Sil-
bury — have seen for themselves the Roman road deflecting
to the right to avoid Silbury — have observed the same
road cutting down the high bank of the Wansdyke, and
adopting its line, who before had no notion that England
possessed such relics. But more than this, an anxious
desire for further information, a sedulous care for the pre-
servation of these and other antiquities of the neighbour-
hood, continually brought to light, has been implanted in
the neighbourhood^ in proprietors and occupiers, and even
in the labourers and flint-diggers, the frequent discoverers
of exquisite remains. And whilst my friend Mr. George
Brown of Avebury has engaged that he will take care,
and his sons after him, that not a stone at Avebury shall
again be injured or removed, I feel confident that a ge-
neral spirit of antiquarian conservatism has been widely
and effectually instilled, from which the cause of archaeo-
logy and our Institute will reap much advantage.
J. M.
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DIARY OF THE EXAMINATION OF BARROWS
AND OTHER EARTHWORKS
IN THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SILBURY HILL AND AVEBURY, WILTS,
IN JULY AND AUGUST 1849.
** Ducere 8ollicit» jucunda obliyia vitae."
July ISth. — Reached the way-side inn, the " Waggon
and Horses,*' at Beckhampton, in Wiltshire, subsequently
yclept by our party the Archaeological Hotel ; proceeded to
inspect tunnel at Silbury Hill, which had then penetrated
SO yards ; went to Avehury, after an interval of 30 years ;
since my last examination missed several stones from thence
and from the Kennet Avenue.
igth. — This day employed in visits to the tunnel and
in obtaining leave to open barrows, successfully and with-
out loss of time, through the aid of Mr. George Brown,
and by the kindness of others in the neighbourhood from
time to time ; made a circuit over the downs east of Ave-
bury. Bye Hill Down, and Hacpen, to select barrows for
examination. The breaking up of the land for tillage
made it very difficult to recognise the exact spots where
I had formerly opened some, and observed others.
QOtk. — Opened a flat barrow (No. 1) of about 05 yards
from skirt to skirt, and 5 feet from the apex to the level
of the surrounding down, situated in the centre of the flat
down about a mile and a quarter from Avebury, and at
half a mile's distance from any other barrow. At the
centre, 18 inches below the surface, were the fragments
of a coarse unomamented vase, containing the bones of a
child which had cut its first teeth, but had not changed
them. In the chalk rubble were numerous pieces of deer's
ribs. 2 ft. 6 in. from the surface was a skeleton of an
adult (A); the thigh-bones measured 14^ inches, the whole
Digitized by VjOOQIC
Edoih liie sanuQ Barro"vr
Bone perforated ia dcree places
Size of orLginal.
' S.Jolim8
G3en .186 Fleet SWuly 1851.
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
JH JoLfiUiS
G- Bell .186 Heet S^ July 1851
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JJ ^ J fiKKmR
GBelLlflGHiBet S* July. 1851.
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'Dijsa^ 13 incloiGg
JP . TnWnTia ■
G.BeaiB6Eeet S* July: 18a
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J.RJabljiiis.
G.BeE.ISeneet S* July. 1851.
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N
' V 'djjbuiH.
GBoll 18t.Fi.-.etS*J.il7l851
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J-K- Jokbuis
G.BeE186Eleet S* July. 1861.
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JJL.JoblriiLS
G.Bell, 186 PLeet SUuly 1851.
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u
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J.ILJobhms
G.BeIL.186ne€t S^ JiifylSa
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GBell.l86FleetS*Ju^l851
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XIL Jobkixis .
(T.Bell,136Picet S^ My 1851.
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a a
"^^■c-^-^
'^'
.^-' -r I-
-^:^^
Hei^t 7 inches. _ DiamT 5 inches.
J.E.JoblttBs
G. Bell, 186 ileet SUuljlBSl.
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J^.Joliihin*.
&Jall.l86neetS^ Ju1t1861.
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g 8
hli
JE. Jdhfams.
G.Bell.lB6FleetSt July 1851.
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BAKROWS, ETC. NEAR SILBURY. 83
frame compressed, the right hand turned back under the
wrist, the left laid across the face, and the bones of the
wrist and forearm between the upper and lower jaws ;
the skull fractured into minute portions. The crouched
posture of the skeleton, the rudeness of the vase with the
bones of the child, the flat form and insulated position of
the barrow, assign it to the earliest period of sepulture.
The molar teeth were much worn, but were evidently those
of a young person.
In o. 2, the first of a range of five large barrows in the
rising ground to the north of the last, nearly in a line, a
mile and a half north-east of Avebury. These diflFer in
form, 2 and 3 being of the bowl-shape, the others of the
more elegant bell-shape, as described by Sir R. C. Hoare
in his Ancient Wilts. Although the second and third of
this range were not opened until the 10th and 11th of
August, I shall describe their produce with the others as
belonging to a separate class. After a laborious excava-
tion of the first (No. 2), from the apex to a depth of 10
feet, until we came to the natural chalk through a thin
layer, at about 9 feet, — i. e. about the level of the surround-
ing ground, — of black mould composed of burnt wood, we
were obliged to give up the hope of any marked discoveries
here. The earth throughout was peculiarly moist, and pro-
bably indicated that this barrow had been examined before ;
there were, however, many fragments of the usual sort of
bones and teeth and charred wood.
No. 3 (August 10th). Somewhat smaller in dimensions
than the others. Large fragments of bone, teeth, burnt
wood; at about 8 feet deep a cist, 18 inches diameter,
formed in the natural chalk bed, containing burnt human
bones and two small pieces (B) of bronze ; (C) a smooth
stone tapering towards one end, which had been broken
off — it may have been a spear-head, and a rather large
flint arrow-head (D), were discovered in the progress of
the excavation, as well as a small one of iron (E).
No. 4 (August 11th). At a depth of about 2 ft. 6 in.
a considerable fragment of a large coarse urn was found,
ornamented with plain hatched lines round the top (F). At
the depth of 5 feet, a cist, formed as usual in the chalk,
was discovered ; this was 2 ft. 6 in. in diameter, the same
in depth ; it contained in fragments, but as it had been
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84 EXAMINATION OF BARROWS
originally deposited, in the centre, a large plain urn filled
with burnt human bones ; the urn was IS inches high (G).
The next, a very large barrow, had previously been opened.
No. 5. This barrow, the last of the five eastward, did
not produce in course of its excavation the ordinary quan-
tity of fragments of bone, teeth, or pottery, but was un-
usually compact and close in its materials ; at about 7 f^t
deep, — the level of the adjacent down, — we came to a cist
formed in the natural chalk, filled with burnt human bones,
the produce apparently of more than one body. This cist
was the largest of those I have met with of this kind ;
but there was no urn, nor any fragment of pottery, to indi-
cate that the bones had been deposited otherwise than
they were found, — they were covered with the black sub-
stance like pounded charcoal.
Qlst. — Whilst the men were commencing their work
at the large barrows on the preceding day, a shepherd
stated that one of the boys had told him that he had
" hooked'* up out of a little barrow on Bye Down Hill a
crock, but he knocked it to bits with the stick. On
visiting the spot, about a mile north-east, it appeared to
be a very small barrow, without any trench round it, and
very little elevated ; the turf on this part of the down is
much broken. At the top of the barrow were evidently
the remains of an urn, of a pottery apparently more com-
pact than those recently discovered ; and from the holes in
the turf, in diflFerent directions, various fragments might be
collected (H). Almost at the verge of the barrow was
a trackway, having a trench on either side ; but it was not
easy to trace it for more than two miles, in consequence of
the cultivation of the hills ; it runs nearly east and west ;
traversing in the easterly direction from this spot the down
called " Temple*' Down, on which, near its course, is a hut
designated by the grandiloquent title of ** Glorian."*
No. 6. This barrow, on being opened, was found to con-
tain at the depth of 2 feet, rather below the level of the
surrounding ground, an oval cist formed in the chalk, about
2 feet by IJ, and 2 feet deep, containing, with burnt hu-
man bones, a great quantity of black sooty dust, with
which the cist was quite filled up ; numerous fragments
* ** Gloria Tanaris/' as suggested by I the site, as connected with the worship of
Mr. Bowles, from the possible sanctity of I that deity.
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AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBDRY. 85
of bones, teeth of deer, and pottery, were interspersed in
the earth forming the mound. It should not be overlooked,
that at about 200 yards to the south of this spot consider-
able quantities of flints had been dug ; these are obtained
by taking off sods of turf, and the flints are generally found
immediately below the brown or vegetable soil in those
places where the vein of flints extends : in this process
frequent discoveries are made of skeletons, &c. After the
flints are extracted, they are piled up in heaps, and the turf
is replaced; in looking over these heaps, a fragment of
good Samian ware (I) made its appearance. I think it is
remarked by Sir R. C. Hoare, in his Ancient Wilts^ that
he met with no Boman remains in connexion with bar-
rows on the north of the London and Bath road, or to
the north of Wansdyke ; if so, this day's discoveries, which
I am about to relate, may be considered to be singularly
fortunate. On the brow of this hill, some 100 yards lower
than the barrow just described, and towards the west, are
four barrows of considerable size, but of the flat form, ex-
cept the second, which is a pond barrow. The first of
these had evidently been previously opened.
No. 7' I commenced on the pond barrow, by sinking a
circular hole of 5 or 6 feet diameter in the centre. The
usual indications of fragments of bones of animals, with bits
of charcoal and broken pottery, were observable here, but
it was clear that no interment had taken place ; and it is
very difficult to imagine what could have been the inten-
tion of this sort of earthwork; on which considerable atten-
tion to the exactitude of the circle, the regularity of the
surrounding mound, and the dip of the interior space, had
manifestly been devoted.
No. 8. The next barrow was one of considerable inte-
rest, as on the skirts of it the gentleman who farms this
district, Mr. Keiiim, had himself found bones and pottery
covered over with convex sarsen stones of about 18 inches
or 2 feet each in diameter. Fragments of a rude thick pot-
tery were discernible over the surface of the ground, and
on opening the centre there appeared four distinct layers
of sarsen stones, ranging with the form of the barrow ;
below which, at the depth of about 3 ft. 6 in., was a circu-
lar cist, filled much as that in No. 6, with burnt human
bones and the black charcoal dust, but without any urn.
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86 EXAMINATION OP BARROWS
The next barrow (No. 9), the most southern of this group,
1 had reserved, like the others below, for the examination oiF
some of our friends, whom I hoped to prevail on to return
with me from Salisbury ; but in order to declare its con-
tents with those to which it belongs, I will describe it here,
although it was not opened till the 14th of August.^ It was
of about the same size as the barrow adjoining, but not
similarly constructed. Several pieces of thick coarse pottery
were exhumed, but not large enough to shew the form or
size of the urn to which it belonged ; one piece had an un-
usual embossed pattern upon it (J). At a little more than
2 feet deep, a cist of somewhat irregular form was opened,
containing, as in the last, the black charcoal-like substance
and burnt bones. A little to the south, below this, the
pickaxe struck against a large stone, which, on being un-
covered, proved to be a large flat sarsen stone, placed over a
cist filled with the same sort of contents ; it was about 3 ft.
6 in. from the top of the barrow, and was itself 3 ft. deep,
containing, therefore, an unusual quantity of burnt bones.
No. 10. Late in the day, we commenced operations on
an insulated flat barrow, not far distant from No. 1 ; per-
haps equidistant from that and No. 5, half a mile eastward.
It was of such slight elevation as to be hardly perceptible
to any but a practised observer, in the monotonous range
of the flat down ; but however insignificant in appearance,
it disclosed contents of singular interest and rarity. On
removing the turf, the quantity of pottery thrown up with
the earth was most unusual — all in fragments, with the
exception of one portion, which had belonged to an urn of
the rude and coarse kind, and of large dimensions, but
even this of better texture. All bore evident indications
of improvement in manufacture ; they were mostly turned
on the lathe, and had undergone the process of kiln-bak-
ing (K). At a depth not exceeding 18 inches, the fragments
of the large vase above mentioned were found, but not in
the centre ; below them, and covered with flat and some-
what convex sarsen stones, were two very small and shallow
cists, containing a few burnt bones. In various parts of
the barrow iron nails were collected of very good form ; and
a little more to the side, in the south-east direction, a small
brass Koman coin was discovered. This led to greater
vigilance j and its novelty greatly excited the interest of
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AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURT. 87
the bystanders of the labouring class, who had on many
occasions shewn a disposition to watch our proceedings,
under the impression, which in all quarters possesses them
— to my cost I know it, in some cases to the destruction of
antiquarian treasure — that such excavations are made for
the purpose of finding money. I must do my friends of
the Avebury district justice in saying, that their quickness
of sight in finding these coins, which were mostly detected
immediately below the turf, could not be surpassed ; whilst
they seemed to manifest a pleasure, after a moment's con-
templation and examination of the prize, in handing it over
to me, with great satisfaction at the increasing number —
one of the youths exclaiming, " Well, Pm blessed if they
bain't all as one as though they wur sowed;*' for on the
whole, after the search of the succeeding Monday, they
amounted to no less than 84. On the evening of this
day I proceeded to join the congress of the Archsdological
Institute at Salisbury. This last barrow was evidently*
the work of Bomano-Britons, who had profited by the in-
struction in the arts which had been introduced by their
fierce but more civilised invaders ; and it indicates, what I
think others also of earlier age demonstrate, namely, that
the same barrow was again and again used for the purposeB
of sepulture, both by those of the same generation — by
whom they may have been regarded as a sort of family
burial-places — and by others of subsequent date. My re-
searches in the last three days had been specially success-
ful. I had found instances of the earliest mode of British
sepulture, with the crouched and unbumt skeleton, and its
rude unbaked urn ; then the first indication of a change
of custom in this essential particular, mostly the last to be
altered, — interment by cremation, derived from the Boman
conquerors, whilst the tumulus was retained ; and then a
still further innovation, — the deposit of all kinds of broken
pottery, iron nails (not belonging to any box or cist, for
they were dispersed in every part of the barrow), as well as
a considerable number of coins, some of which, bearing the
image and superscription of Constantine and Constans,
carry us down to the middle of the fourth century. Let
me add, lest I forget to make the remark, that the conver-
sations I have held with the husbandmen, flint-diggers, and
others, whose lives have been mostly spent in agricultural
Digitized by VjOOQIC
88 EXAMINATION OF BARROWS
operations on these downs, where they have found number-
less skeletons and other remains on the plain downs, and
far from any barrows, have led me to this conviction, that
the barrows should be considered as the resting-places of
the mighty dead, — the chiefs of name, men of renown in
their generations ; whilst the o! xoKKoi, the ignobile vulgus,
were consigned to mother earth just as they fell, to share
at once the oblivion which was but postponed for a brief
period to their harrowed chieftains, and in which both
chieftain and vassal now so equally participate.
After the Salisbury meeting, -a large party started to
inspect Silbury Hill and its interesting neighbourhood, on
Tuesday, July the 31st; whilst a few, reaching Marlborough
the night before, were ready at an early hour to proceed to
the spot. These choice spirits I had the honour to con-
duct to the noble Cromlech at Clatford (L), and the other
objects so worthy of notice en routes as already mentioned
in a former page. We had ample time not only to examine
Silbury, but to lay in, with due regard to the effects of the
pure air of these delightful hungrifying hills, an ample
preservative from the well-prepared table of the Misses
Sloper, at the Waggon and Horses Inn, from this day de-
nominated by us the Archaeological Hotel ; not forgetting
an important article here to be obtained in perfection, and
not by possibility to be surpassed either by the metheglin
of old, or by the most approved and long-renowned " cwrw
dha'* itself. Our Salisbury friends not having arrived — for
they were the sufferers in one of those disasters which seem
to be inevitable concomitants in all such expeditions, first or
last, their coach having broken down five miles from the end
of their journey, thus regaling them with somewhat more of
the refreshing breezes and undulatoiy prospects of the hills
and dales of Wilts than they desired — we, more favoured,
were constrained to proceed without them to inspect the
stupendous remains at Avebury — the area of which within
the circular trench and mound, which is on the outside of
the trench, contains 28 acres — and to mourn over the fallen
and prostrate giants, with the few of their comrades remain-
ing erect, still marking the range of the circles, which once
enforced the adoration of a nation, as it is impossible even
now that they should not impart to the beholder sentiments
of veneration. A melancholy admiration of the zeal even
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AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 89
of erring and uncivilised barbarians — a zeal, which could
combine the physical force of a whole people to raise such
a temple, is surely permissible in this place ; whilst our own
feelings of gratitude for the mercies of a sure revelation,
and the privileges of a pure faith, can hardly be divested
of a blush at the contemplation of such advantages as we
enjoy, yet of which our zeal for the appropriate temples of
the known Grod, the Most High, does not bespeak us always
equally, much less adequately, sensible !
It may be deemed no unprofitable appropriation of our
space and time, to give a brief statement of the number of
stones originally composing this magnificent temple, what
Dr. Stukeley observed, and what we have found there.
The original outer circle was formed of 100 stones;
within this were two smaller circles, not concentric, of
(each) 30 stones ; within each of these a smaller concen-
tric circle, each of 12 stones ; in the centre of the north-
ern inner circle were 3 stones ; in the centre of the south-
em inner circle 1 stone.
Besides these, each avenue was composed of 200 stones,
terminating towards the east on Hacpen Hill, in a double
oval, the outer containing 40 stones, the inner 18 stones ;
in the western range were 2 extra stones about half way,
forming as it were a recess ; and 1 at the termination.
Dr. Stukeley intimates that, in 1723, of the great outer
circle there were only 18 stones erect; prostrate 21 ; in-
cluding 3 broken off at the ground. Of the northern
circle 3 erect, 9 prostrate ; of the inner circle 2 erect, 5
prostrate ; in the cove, or centre, 2 erect ; of the southern
circle 4 erect, 9 prostrate ; of the inner circle 1 erect ; in
the centre none.
Dr. Stukeley adds, that the hollows in the ground where
many of the stones had stood were visible ; as is still the
case in some instances of more recent removal.
The number of stones in the outer circle at present
erect is 7> prostrate 5 ; of one or two of these the stumps
only remain, the rest having been broken off. Of the stones
of the southern circle 2 only remain erect, 3 prostrate ; none
of its inner circle. Of the stones of the northern circle 3
remain erect, 1 prostrate ; of its inner circle 2 prostrate ; of
the central cove 2 erect, and these are the tallest of all.
The stones in the avenues are sadly diminished in
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90 EXAMINATION OF BARROWS
number, even since I first saw them; especially towards
Kennett, the most perfect part ; and I think there may be
in all about 9 or 10 still standing, so scattered as to give
the original curve of its course. In the western avenue
there are only the two extra stones standing, which I have
already mentioned. It is some comfort to know that the
present owner of the circle and the western avenue, Mr.
George Brown, will not allow a single stone to be defaced
or removed ; and he has been the means, in time past also,
of preserving them. The visit of the Archaeologists in
1849 has contributed not a little to increase the feeling
of regard for these venerable relics ; a spirit of conserva-
tism has been instilled into the breasts of all, and, what
is not a little important, of the young, those in particular
who will eventually have the power of guarding these an-
tiquarian treasures. The Christian temple, standing close
upon the mound of the ancient Heathen fane, was not de-
prived of. the investigation and approval it deserves. Its
exterior appearance gives it a much more modern rank
than it claims in reality ; its tower, aisles, and chancel,
are late decorated; the doorway in the porch is Nor-
man, of extremely good character ; and the porch is very
remarkable for its early character in the same style. The
piers and arches, till within a few years, were also Nor-
man, and portions of the shafts and capitals still project
from the eastern and western walls ; these arches were
taken out, and loftier piers, with pointed arches, intro-
duced, in order to obtain more light. There is the front
of a very beautiful rood-loft elevated above the chancel
arch, retaining its colouring and gilding. By this time
the Salisbury party had happily joined us, and an adjourn-
ment to the Downs was speedily effected, where prepara-
tions were made to diversify the interest of the party by
the examination of a barrow. That chosen, No. 11, was
situated in the same plain as that already described as
No. 1 ; but about half or three quarters of a mile more
to the south, and at the foot of the range of the Hacpen
Hill. This barrow was, although small in size, of the
more elevated character, and of the second period; it
afforded, in the course of excavation, pieces of charcoal,
teeth, and fragments of bones and pottery ; and at about
3 feet the workmen came to the top of a cist, formed as
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AND EARTHWORKS N£AR SILBURT. 91
others in the chalk, and filled with humt human bones.
In the middle of these was the leg-bone of some small
animal formed into a sort of pin, very pointed at the one
end, and at the other retaining the form of the joint ; it
bore a high polish (M). Immediately above, on the brow
of the hiU, was No. 12, a double barrow, which some of
the men pronounced to be very promising, as it always
sounded hollow as they passed over it; it did not, how-
ever, fall to our lot, unfortunately, to hit upon the right
J lace. The usual sort of fragments were not wanting ; but
strongly suspect that Dr. Stukeley or Sir Bichard Colt
Hoare, (in whose presence the first barrow I ever saw
opened produced a beautiful early British vase,) could
have given some account of this ; and hence the hollow
sound. I must not omit to record that on this day we
dined — Le. the small party — at Avebury House, in the
refectory of a Benedictine Priory, to meet the owner of Sil-
bury Hill, Mr. Jones, and his young sons : to his tenant,
Mr. Kemm, and his mother, our hostess this day, we are
indebted for their kindness.
Aug. 1st. — The next day was to witness the assem-
blage of the neighbourhood to inspect Silbury ; and this
very picturesque event I have already described in the
former paper. Our party occupied the morning, till the
time of repairing to Silbury, in visiting the barrows lying
near Beckhampton, between the Calne and Devizes roads.
In some of these, very curious urns and remains had been
discovered, some of which I shall describe hereafter ; but
most appeared to have been disturbed. One high up on the
hill in the northern direction was examined, but without
success. It would be an indication of ungrateful disrespect
— for it could not be forgetfulness — were I to omit, though
briefly, to record the employment of the evening of this
day, and the route we took ; albeit it were well to start
somewhat earlier than we did, specially if so splendid a
moon as conducted us home might not be reckoned upon.
But then, as we had been very fully occupied during the
day, some regard was needful to be had toward such dis-
coveries as we might be able to make at the Archaeological
Hotel, calculated to recruit our exhausted strength, which
being satisfactorily accomplished, we proceeded with a verv
docile pair of horses and driver, both desiderata in such
Digitized by VjOOQIC
92 EXAMINATION OF BAKROWS
an expedition, first to Oldbury Castle, a splendid position,
overlooking the rich vale of Calne, Chippenham, Christian
Malford, and Malmsbury, and bearing in its entrench-
ments the characteristics of Eoman occupation, enlarged
possibly at some time on the south-west side, but very pos-
sibly having been previously a British position, and even
subsequently occupied by later warriors. I possess an iron
spear-head, and one of those curious circular stones with a
hole in the centre, found here. Thence we cut across the
down towards the Eoman road, the Via Badonica leading
from Cunetio to Aquae-solis, and which, on arriving at Sil-
bury Hill, which it would otherwise have cut at one-third of
its base, deflects its course. We cannot boast that any of
the dii deceqiie minores, much less Diana herself, Bivia,
Trivia, or whatever she might here have been called of old,
were very propitious to us ; though, in truth, she made ample
amende by her bright guidance, when it was subsequently
so much needed. The devotees of Ceres had strangely cut
up this ancient road ; so that, to traverse it with its full
complement was not so easy a matter, either to the wheels
of our vehicle, to the poor animals who had to draw it, or,
indeed, to its occupants ; to say nothing of the conductor.
So that we traced the ancient way on foot, and were ready,
not unneeded, to replace in its vertical position our totter-
ing and almost subverted equipage, at a spot where the
descent to Calston below would have been facile enough
per saltum^ or per volutationem^ for the road in this part
runs on the very edge of the abrupt and steep precipice of
the hill. After some time spent in these corrective and
directive pursuits, having fairly landed the really patient
driver on the turf, to seek in advance the summit of the
hill, we again became viatores in the strict sense of the
word, and in its cognate road, until we reached its junc-
tion with the famous Wansdyke, the high vallum of
which, in most places from SO to 40 ft. high, is here and
for a considerable distance cut down to fill up the foss and
form the road. From this point our explorations were
by moonlight, bright as day; we had every reason to be
grateful for the propitious aid ; by it we traced the some-
what sinuous range of the Wansdyke; I marked, after
thirty years* absence, a barrow almost on its bank, which
I had meis manibus excavated some 7 or 8 ft. in depth.
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AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 93
finding one solitary glass bead (N), which I still possess.
The Wansdyke, ere it makes its turn to the right by
Shepherd's shore, forms, without any apparent reason, two
right angles ; and its trench at this point is very deep,
and its vallum marvellously high and steep. From hence
we were reluctantly obliged, having succeeded in finding
our equipage, to return towards Silbury. Some of our
party (and one was a lady precious as an Archaeologist and
deserving of all our consideration, as well as her excellent
brother) had to return the same night to Marlborough.
The plain over which we travelled possesses some earth-
works worthy of inspection, especially one enclosing, with
an approaching avenue to it, some curious barrows. To-
wards the right Wansdyke boldly ascends the downs to
Tan Hill ; some say St. Ann's, others the Hill of Tanaris.
The whole of this range is replete with exceeding interest,
and gladly should I be the conductor once more of the
whole Archaeological Institute amidst its varied treasures.
Aug. 2d. — By the i)ermi8sion of Mr. George Brown,
the scene of our operations this day was Windmill Hill,
a large conical eminence rising from the lower ground,
on which, on the south-east, stands Avebury, on the
north-east Monkton, and on the west Yatesbury. Of
Monkton I may take leave to mention, that it possessed,
not many years ago, a fine cromlech, now totally gone ; and
also a long barrow, much resembling the three I shall pre-
sently describe. This has been levelled. I saw the man
who was employed in the profanation. It contained, he
said, " a sort of room built up wi' big sarsens put together
like, as well as a mason could set them ; in the room was
a sight of black stuff, and it did smill nation bad." The
name by which this was known was King's Mill Barrow.
Of Yatesbury we shall have to say somewhat anon.
The apex of Windmill Hill is surrounded by a slight
and single foss, in diameter — for it is almost an exact
circle — about 150 yards. Within this, at the south-east,
are two large barrows; one has evidently been reduced
for agricultural purposes ; and I have since learned that in
it were found seven skeletons, and a very beautiful little
grape urn, according to Sir Kichard Colt Hoare's nomen-
clature, which I have seen, and of which I hope to supply
a sketch. The skeletons were deposited in the side of
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94 EXAMINATION OF BAREOWS
another barrow, but which I could not learn. Now it is
on record, that both Dr. Stukeley and Sir Richard opened
barrows on this hill ; one or two confess to this; but there
are several toward Avebury, on the slope of the hill, which
the plough has worn down, and of these it is of course
impossible to judge with any certainty ; but several such
there are, which look very inviting. We were singularlv
favoured. Three on the east side of the hill were eacn
productive of very interesting remains, one in particular.
Commencing with the lowest on the hill's side, we will
declare the result.
No. 13, of very trifling elevation compared with the
depth at which the cist was found — 3 feet. Many frag-
ments of early pottery, teeth of red deer and ox, a bead (O)
of jet or Kimmeridge coal, and nine very smooth gravel
Eebbles, probably for slinging. The cist, filled with burnt
uman bones, but without an urn, was 3 ft. 6 in. long by
2 ft. wide, and 2 ft. deep.
No. 14. This barrow was about eleven paces from the
rise at the bottom of the trench, which is much deeper
than usual, and the mound surrounding the whole is dso
considerably raised ; from out to out of the rise, 80 paces.
At 14 inches deep were the fragments of a small plain urn
(P), containing the unburnt bones of a child. At some-
thing under 3 feet was a skeleton of an adult in the
crouched position (Q), without any urn. It was very re-
markable, that although the bones were by no means in
such a decayed or unsound state as to lead to the inference
that parts were destroyed from local causes, there were no
vestiges of the bones of the left wrist and hand.
No. 15. This was a much larger and more elevated bar-
row, of the bowl shape, of about 3 feet in its elevation. It
is not improbable that this had been before examined. We
met with no regular cist or deposit, but fragments of rude
pottery were plentiful ; part of the bones of a human skull
of remarkable thickness and development of the internal
processes, two incisores teeth of a dog or fox, one tusk of
a boar, and other teeth and bones in great variety ; but
in particular, a very beautiful and admirably chipped flint
arrow-head (R). Having completed our investigation of
these three barrows, we were invited by my good friend
and a zealous Archaeologist, Mr. Money Kyrle, the rector
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AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 95
of Yatesbury, to proceed to his parish, where there were
several barrows, said to be intact as yet. Whilst we were
inspecting the Church, which, like Avebury, has of later
times been converted in style to late decorated or perpen-
dicular, but in which the south wall contains the piers
and main arches of a Norman church, and the north aisle,
at its west end, a very remarkable early English triplet
window of very small size, and a very elegant and unique
early English font, — the men were sent to commence ope-
rations on two mounds of large dimensions, but, judging
from the irregularities of ground about them, of somewhat
dubious character. In the mean time our attention was
directed to the general and marked unevenness of surface
in the fields of this parish — some of a peculiar character,
as in one instance the appearance of a well in the centre of
a considerable area formed by a mound of earth, in Cow
Leaze — some at a part of the village called Town's-End —
some near the house of Mr. Tenner — trenches more or less
deep and important, with mounds in correspondence. It is
not impossible that a detachment of forces, in their march
previous to the battle of Roundaway Hill, near Devizes, may
have halted here, and thrown up a hasty earthwork for their
defence diuing the night, although the general unevenness
in question cannot thus be accounted for. Let me here men-
tion a little incident, which may possibly be useful in a si-
milar way to future Archaeologists. On seeing a blacksmith's
shop near, I remarked that such an establishment should
never be passed without a regard to the old iron and brass
stores. On asking the principal Cyclops, (though I should
beg his pardon, for he was father of the parish-clerk, one
of our most strenuous coadjutors,) whether he ever had old
spear-heads or such things brought to him with the old
iron, he immediately admitted that he had many times,
and thought he had somewhere one at that time, which,
after a little search, was produced. It is of good work-
manship, of the long four-sided shape. His son, hearing
what was sought for, said there was another about the
house, but it could not be found.
No. 16. This mound, situated near the house of Mr.
Tuckey, to whom, as well as to his family, especially his
eldest son, I am much indebted for repeated attention
and assistance, did not produce any indications of former
Digitized by LjOOQIC
96
EXAMINATION OF BAEROWS
sepulture, except fragments of charcoal, and something
like the oxidation of iron. It was composed of a close
clayey soil, very different from the material of the harrows
on the hills, as were all the four which we examined here ;
and this circumstance greatly added to the labour and
time necessary for the investigation. We therefore pro-
ceeded to the second mound, — I so call them, because I
much doubt if they were barrows. Here, from its size, and
the top being crowned by a clump of fir-trees, the attack
was made from the side by way of trench. Many bones,
of the ox probably, and smaller animals, this hare in parti-
cular, one or two pieces of corroded iron, and a part of the
wards of a key (S) were found; but no sepulchral deposit,
although the trench was carried into the centre.
4^A. — No. 17. Having obtained permission of the pro-
prietor, Mr. Tenner, — who, notwithstanding a growing
crop of beans, liberally sacrificed those which were likely
to be in our way, — we proceeded at as early an hour as
our party could reach the spot, to examine two barrows
situated towards the eastern extremity of the parish, viz.
in *' Barrow Field," and with anticipations the most en-
couraging, as they were distinguished by traditions which
ranked them highly in the estimation of the inhabitants.*
They had been at least 20 ft. high ; their bases were still
of an extent to admit of such a proportionate height. Henry
Shergold, the man who had been employed to lower them,
being fortunately within reach, was sent for, and gave us
the following account as to the first of the two which we
examined, being that towards Avebury. He said, " He
had cut it down a matter of 9 ft., throwing the earth on
the sides, sixteen years ago. There was a little box of
metal 3 inches long ; it had a lid at one end, and a chain
fixed in the middle, and it had been fastened to the end
where it opened ; it was round. About a yard deep, there
were three beads (terra cotta, one was produced), as big
as his finger round ; a knife fit to stick a pig, and two
skeletons lying at full length." At a depth of 8 ft. in
this barrow, we came to a large quantity of very black
substance, like charcoal, or rather burnt straw ; numerous
* A few hundred yards to the south-
east of these barrows, in a field called
Fozburj, the termination of which word
would denote the existence of some earth-
work which has disappeared, before the
plough, various Roman coins, from Trajan
to Valens, have recently been found.
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AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 97
bits of bone of tbe various kinds, fragments of pottery, &c.,
and a large cist containing a considerable quantity of burnt
human bones. The closeness of the soil of which these
barrows were formed, and the depth to which we had to
descend, occupied more than usually our time, and the even-
ing was far spent before we had reached such a depth in
the other barrow (No. 18) as to satisfy our curiosity ; but
the next day, on which we did not proceed to visit Yates-
bury, in consequence of the lamented departure of my kind
and valued companions, the men, under the superintend-
ence of Mr. Money Kyrle, came to a layer of the black
substance, burnt straw apparently, and below that to a
most curious deposit, a cist, at the depth of 8 ft., formed
at the level of the adjoining land, containing an unusual
quantity of burnt human bones. These had been deposited
in the hollow of a tree, and a piece of the cleft wood, the
side of the tree, had been placed over it. From the pecu-
liar clayey and damp quality of the earth, it was so greatly
decayed, that it might be difficult to determine its former
substance, although it appeared by the remains of fibres,
and lines of the grain of the wood, to have been oak ; the
wood was 4 ft. long by 2J broad and 18 inches thick, being
reduced in places by compression. About the middle of
this, on the apex of the mass of bones, and beneath the
wooden cover, lay a bronze blade of a hunting-spear (T) ;
the two rivets which had fixed it to its staff remained in
their respective holes, but the metal, from the extreme
moisture of the situation, had become oxidised through-
out, and when dried extremely brittle and friable; it was
41 inches in length, and 1^ inch in breadth at the broadest
part.
Saturday, the 4th of August, was in the morning chiefly
devoted to Silbury ; and it was arranged that I should be
left in charge, as the examination of the centre was every
hour becoming more and more critical and interesting.
After due consultation respecting Silbury, our steps were
directed to a singularly interesting objecl^ described as an
Archdruid's barrow, lying three quarters of a mile south-
east of Silbury Hill. This appellation I suppose has been
adopted from Stukeley; it ranges about east and west, and
is at least 150 ft. long, higher and broader at the east end,
where it is 30 ft., than at the west. It had evidently been
H
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98 EXAMIXATION OF BARROWS
cut through on the ridge in several places, but not impro-
bably, in most instances, merely for agricultural purposes.
At tne east end were lying, in a dislodged condition, at least
SO sarsen stones, in which might clearly be traced the
chamber formed by the side uprights and large transom
stones, and the similar but lower and smaller passage lead-
ing to it; and below, round the base of the east end, were
to be seen the portion of the circle or semicircle of stones
bounding it. There are two other barrows of this kind in
the neighbourhood, which I may mention in this place ;
the one about three-quarters of a mile south-east of that
just described, which is of much the same character as to
shape and dimensions, but diflfers in construction. I was
induced to visit this in consequence of having been in-
formed by the occupier of the surrounding land, that he
had caused a hole to be dug at the east end for the pur-
pose of obtaining flints ; but that he soon found that it was
made up of round and generally flat sarsen stones, which
came tumbling so about the men that they gave up the
work. It has unfortunately been planted over, as have many
of the larger barrows on Hacpen Hill ; I think in bad
taste. The other is situated on Alton Down, south of Wans-
dyke : all these range in the same bearing, south-east by
north-west. It is ISO ft. long by 30 high. This is still
covered with turf, and has been opened about half-way along
the ridge, but not effectually. It is remarkable for hav-
ing, about half-way down the slope of the east end, a sarsen
stone ; another at the base in the centre. On the south
side, in the trench formed by raising the mound, is a very
curious earthwork, in form an oval, with a mound about
2 ft. high round it, and a sarsen stone in the centre ; the
whole about 40 feet long by 15 broad. In advance of the
barrow eastward, and at its very base, is another earth*
work, of similar height as to its mound, in a line at right
angles with the central line, about SO ft. long, with a re-
turn of 10 ft. on either side. These two curious objects I
visited at so late a period of my Wiltshire sojourn, that
I could not indulge in the gratification of examining them.
It is a satisfaction to mention these three, in the hope that
it may lead to the disclosure of their interesting contents
at some future day.
The time had now arrived for the breaking up of our
Digitized by VjOOQIC
AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 99
happy party ; and I think I may say with certainty, that
there was not one to whom the well-known words of the
Grecian hard might not be applied —
TO ^' a\OQ o^v Kara (jypeva Tvyj/e fiaQuav.
What could I, the lone and deserted, do, but seek those
wilds and desolate hills where not a human footstep would
cross my path, and betake myself to regions so emblematic,
and congenial to my solitary state ? It had been repeatedly
asserted that most of the curious relics which had acci-
dently been discovered, were found on the hills south of
Beckhampton and Kennett, and some of these I shall hope
to be able to figure and describe. On this doleful evening,
then, I strolled in that direction, purposing after such a
reconnoitre to devote a day to the examination of such
barrows as might appear promising. . For the present, I shall
confine myself to the mere allusion to some very remark-
able earthworks which met my view, and shall reserve the
description of them and the barrows in this district for the
subsequent day, on which they were opened.
Tth. — The next investigation which occupied my at-
tention was on Minnow Down, at the summit of a rising
ground near " the Pennings,'* very possibly an ancient
meadow for cattle, belonging to Mr. Brown, at the edge of
which is a very large barrow, which has from time to time
been reduced for agricultural purposes, and produced seve-
ral curious British remains.
No. 19. This very small and slightly elevated barrow,
without a trench, had attracted my observation on my way
to examine more accurately the remains of the tree in the
Yatesbury barrow; its appearance and isolated situation
seemed to bespeak success. It was not, however, of the
class to which, on an outward view, it would have been
assigned. Near the centre, and at about the level of the
surrounding down, was a shallow cist, containing black earth
and a very few burnt bones. Near the top were two small
pieces of good Samian ware. The Roman road runs at no
great distance to the south. There were but few pieces of
pottery of the British or Romano-British character, a few
broken bones of animals, and parts of the jaw of a red
deer. The weather on this day was very unfavourable;
and at night, — much to the satisfaction, I have no doubt,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
100 EXAMINATION OF BARROWS
of the rustics, whose notions respecting the examination of
Silbury and the opening of the barrows were not divested
of superstitious dread, — one of the most grand and tre-
mendous thunder-storms 1 ever recollect to have witnessed,
made the hills re-echo to the crashing peals, and Silbury
itself, as the men asserted who were working in its centre,
to tremble to its base, — although they could not see the
flashes of violet-coloured lightning which lit up the broad
expanse of hills, and defined their outline in their most
distant range.
The next morning broke in calmness and brightness,
and was devoted to my explorations on the southern side of
the river Kennett, and under the line of Wansdyke, which
runs at this point nearly parallel to it. In the four bar-
rows (Nos. 20, 21, 22, 23) which were opened in this
direction, nothing worthy of particular notice was found.
Apparently their situations, single and of low dimensions,
led to the supposition that they were of early date, and
would produce interesting evidence of their class. Two of
them contained cists, with burnt bones, fragments of rude
unbaked pottery, and bones of animals. Whether their
contiguity CO the boundary of another and more powerful
race may account for the poverty of these burial-places and
their tenants when living, I pretend not to say ; but there
are other features in this immediate district which do not
accord altogether with such a supposition — I mean, their
earthworks, which are here well worthy of note, and to
which I have already alluded.
It is difficult to describe such remains without the aid
of diagrams, and I must therefore refer to such as I can
supply as we proceed.
I. Is an irregular parallelogram, containing three or
four compartments, lying on the side of the hill gently
sloping downwards towards the north. The south side is
bounded by a well-defined mound, with a slight trench,
about 100 feet in length. About half-way, running at
right angles, is a mound which expands into an irregular
heap of earth of some height, and joined at its southern
extremity, at about 40 feet, by another mound at right
angles with the first. On the west side are some irregular
entrenchments, with a circular mound at the comer, af-
fgrding apparently the entrance to this enclosure. On the
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AXD EARTHWORKS NEAR 81LBURY. 101
east side the mound runs, for about 100 feet, in a line at
right angles with the south, and is there curved, till it
becomes parallel to the south boundary, for about 40 feet,
when it forms again a right angle northward with another
curve, and continuation of the parallel line to the south
boundary, till it reaches the angle of the eastern mound.
At the comer formed by the intersection of the south and
west mounds was a conical mound, in which were three
large sarsen stones; these were removed, and the earth
below excavated, which was of dark colour and extending
deeper than usual, but nothing was contained in it except
a few fragments of bones of the ox or deer. In the com-
partment adjacent to these was a circular conical hole 10
feet in diameter, 5 or 6 deep. Diagonally, in the next
compartment, were ranged three barrows; that towards
the north-west contained nothing excepting a few small
bits of pottery, charcoal, and bones. The next much the
same. The third, which was of large dimensions, had
been excavated at the apex to some depth ; and concluding
that this had been done by an antiquaij) I did not deem it
prudent to interfere with his work. 1 had, however, the
mortification to learn in the evening, from a shepherd-
boy, " that his father had dug that *un out for shelter/'
To all appearance he must have gone deep enough to have
disturbed any deposit that might have been there.
II. Is higher up on the next hill (the slope of Tan
Hill), and a short distance below Wansdyke. It is a
square enclosure, 200 feet each side, formed by a mound
of earth, 4 feet high, and having a circular mound (as a
barrow) at each comer. On the south side there was an
entrance equidistant from each comer; and on the east
side part of the mound has been cut away.
III. At about a mile and a half south of Kennett is
another singular earthwork. It is formed by a mound
of earth about 3 feet high, and about 200 feet long by 40
broad. This runs across the valley where it is situated,
and rises on one side half as high again as on the other.
At about one-third of the distance from the upper end is
an oval enclosure, having a mound of slight elevation round
it, the area being slightly convex.
IV. At a short distance from the former, on a neigh-
bouring hill, is another earthwork of very remarkable cha-
Digitized by LjOOQIC
102 EXAMINATION OF BARROWS
racier. It stands south from Silbnry Hill, distant aboot
a mile on the west side of the old Andover road, evidently
a British trackway. From its north-east extremity, D, a
vallum extends about half a mile along the ridge of the
down, which has been rendered more precipitous to form
the same. It points towards Silbury, and seems to connect
that mound with the earthwork. On the south and east
sides the fosse bounding the earthwork follows the natural
curve of the hill ; on the west side, where it is straight and
runs up the hill, the vallum gradually diminishes in height.
The peculiar formation of the north side, the entrance at
the north-west angle, and the curious detached and square
enclosure, will be best understood from the ground-plan.
V. The next is not in this district, nor on the same
side of the Kennett, but may as well be mentioned with
others of a similar character. It is situated at the foot of
a portion of the Hacpen Hill, in a cwm which it forms to
the south of the Avebury Down. It is formed by straight
lines of mounds, at right angles, S feet high, 100 paces
long on the south side, and about 80 broad. Parallel with
the eastern side, at about a third of the area, is another
mound and trench running from the north side to within
10 feet of the south mound, where it returns at right
angles for about 40 paces, where it again turns at right
angles towards the north for ^0 paces, where it meets at
right angles a similar mound ranging from the west side to
that described as running parallel with the eastern boundary ;
parallel with this, for about 30 paces and at 3 distant, is
another mound extended so as to form the entrance. Imme-
diately above, u e. to the south of this, the interior com-
partment is excavated to some depth; and above it and
beyond the exterior mound is a recess cut in the slope of
the hill, returned at each end, with a mound towards the
south about 30 paces long. These embankments were
opened in several spots, but nothing found to indicate that
palisades had been raised on them.
Before I leave the southern district, I must record, for
the guidance of brother Archaeologists, the existence on
this side of the Kennett, as well as on the north, of mil-
lions of sarsen stones scattered in the valleys, and in some
instances indicating arrangement in their disposition; thus
in a valley running from Tan Hill south-west and north-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 103
east there are rows of large stones standing up unusually
3 or 4 feet out of the ground, and of large dimensions.
A little more to the south in the same valley is the evi-
dent remnant of a kistvaen ; the larger chamber trace-
able, as well as the passage once leading into it. And
again, on the top of the hill to the south-east is another
evidently of the same kind. These, from hollows formed
by their peculiar construction, present a well-known asylum
for coursed hares ; and if inquired for as the Hares' Holes,
any of the neighbouring rustics would doubtless afford un-
erring direction to them.
10th. — Return we now to our former ground, where
our examinations were concluded in the following days
with singular success. It had been thought that some of
the barrows on Windmill Hill which the plough had worn
down might be worth examination, and two not having
crops upon them were tried, but without producing any
thing more than bones of animals, fragments of pottery and
burnt wood ; the second, burnt wood in considerable quan-
tity. I therefore resolved to pass on to the Avebury Down,
where we had left two of the range of five unexplored, and
these were the next operated upon, as we have already re-
ported of Nos. 2 and 8. Whilst the excavation of these
was in its early progress, I had directed my eye to the
more distant range of the hill on the north-east ; and near
the foot of it, on Monkton Down, attention was soon ar-
rested by very remarkable and unquestionable indications
of British occupation. Commencing from the cultivated
land at the foot of the hill, we observed, in a central posi-
tion, a somewhat long mound of considerable elevation.
On the right and left of this, at some ten paces each way,
were two lower circular but not regular mounds. Above
the long mound, with 6 or 8 feet intervening, was a large
mound of an oval form, the upper portion being the small-
est part, and on the top of this were three large sarsen
stones. Above this, at some 50 yards and at considerable
elevation, the hill had been formed into a flat cone (a road
passing on two sides), with a single trench and slight mound
surrounding it, in diameter 25 feet. Towards the centre
of this were disposed four sarsen stones of considerable
size. At the verge of the lowest long mound, towards the
north-west, were eight sarsen stones of about 2 feet square
Digitized by VjOOQIC
104 EXAMINATION OF BARROWS
above the ground, forming the segment of a circle, the two
horns of which were lost in the mound, and these had been
brought to light by the cultivation of the land below. At
the same level, about 8 feet within the mound, was a large
flat sarsen placed on its edge, and forming with two others
part of an interior circle, or segment. At the verge of the
oval mound above, and cutting its range, were, on the south
side, five large sarsen stones, and on the opposite or northern
side one, evidently the remains of a larger circle of stones,
containing, but not concentrically, those already noticed.
This curious arrangement must be explained with the aid
of a ground-plan.
No. 24 a. In the small mound on the north side were
teeth of deer, oxen, and bones, small fragments of charred
wood, and a small sarsen stone partially rubbed.
No. 25 j3. In the opposite mound were similar remains,
and in very considerable quantities ; and in this was a sar-
sen (U) 3 inches in diameter rubbed down to a cylindrical
form, and the front teeth of an ox.
No. 26 y. Five different openings had been made in this
long mound, which were afterwards conjoined, and formed
one continuous cutting throughout. At y was a large half
of the osfrontis of an ox, and some fragments of horns of
deer, one small tip of an ox's horn.
i. Here, at about a foot from the surface, was found
the head .of apparently a greyhound (V), and close by the
side a fragment of a small ampulla of Roman form, but
somewhat coarse pottery; below was a flat sarsen (W)
rounded at the edge and slightly convex.
No. ^7 e* .1^ the repeated examinations made in the
upper mound within the circle and under the sarsens, ox
and deer's bones and teeth, sarsens of considerable size,
and boar's tusks were found. The excavations both in this
part and in the long mound had been very extensive, and
it must be confessed had resulted in something like dis-
appointment, from the promise their appearance had held
out. To Mr. Hillier, the occupier of this district, and his
lady, who regaled us and a large party with a substantial
tea repast, we were indebted for a most agreeable and
acceptable mode of consolation, and the grand success of
our efforts is yet to be related in the contents of the oval
mound.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
w
\
K?Z1.
:ai(tafe
pBi.
\\ \ ^
V 1 ' ' --_rg
^ ^* ' '*^ ^fc ISii^ ^^^*' \ ' \\ \
JJlJo1>biii8
GBell 186 Beet b^July 1851.
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AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURY. 105
No. 28. On removing the three sarsen stones from the
apex, ahout a foot deep, appeared the fragments of a small
ornamental urn (X) of unbaked and very fragile clay^ con-
taining the skull-bones principally of a very young person,
the sutures not being joined or knit ; near the top was a
sarsen, rounded, and about 2 inches in diameter. The
material of which this barrow was composed was chalk
rubble, very coarse, and not mixed with other substances,
as was generally the case, nor were there fragments of
bones, or urns, or pottery, as observed in others. At the
depth of 5 feet were (Y) the heads of two oxen laid side
by side, and in very perfect condition, but very brittle on
removal ; from the pole to the nose-bone one measured 20
inches, the other 19; from one orbit of the eye to the other
9 inches ; in each the centre of the forehead had been frac-
tured in a circular hole. Below these the same hollow
character of the chalk continued, and the sides of the
chamber, 6 feet in length by 4 feet in breadth, had been
carefully cut in the natural chalk. The heads of the oxen
were laid across the chamber north-east. At a depth of 3
feet below these, and 10 feet from the top, was the skeleton
of an adult (Z), in many parts much decayed, but in the
crouched position, lying on the left side ; behind the head
was a small ornamented urn of unbaked clay (aa), or at
least only fire-baked, and not in a kiln ; the thigh-bone was
19 inches in length ; at the right foot was a small well-
chipped flint arrow-head (66), and a flint spear-head (cc).
A second also was subsequently found near the same spot
(flJcf), though not so well formed.
The whole of this group of mounds presented a singu-
larly interesting character. I cannot say that I should be
fully satisfied that we had exhausted the stores of the long
and two lateral mounds, unless the range of sarsens could
have been fully developed, and the natural chalk as above
pertinaciously pierced ; although, at the time, it seemed to
Mr. Money Kyrle, as well as to myself, that we had ex-
hausted every hope.
No. 29. On the brow of the hill towards the east from
this spot, and overlooking one of those surprising valleys
of stones, in which might be traced long lines of sarsens
arranged for some special purpose, whilst others are hud-
dled together as if they had fallen in such a confused heap.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
106 EXAMINATION OF BARROWS
is a circle, l6 feet in diameter (ee), of sarsen stones, of
which seven only now remain, although the dips in the earth
shew where the others have heen. In the centre of these
are five of the same character and size, surrounding one
lying flat and impacted between them. The first thing
which shewed itself on raising this central stone was a
fragment of red Samian pottery ; it is true it might have
slipped down between the stones at a date long subsequent
to the formation of these circles ; it is certain that it was of
a very diflerent character from the other rude but curious
relics below. These consisted of numerous fragments of
the rudest and thickest kind of pottery, with bones of the
deer or ox, bits of charcoal, and some portions of a yel-
lowish-tinged ochre -looking substance; but lower down,
and near the natural layer of the chalk, were numerous
pieces of flint (^, of about Ij inch across, evidently chip-
ped into form, as if to be held in the hand or fastened
to some handle. There were also many small pieces of
flint, apparently chipped on purpose into thin laminae, in-
tended perhaps for arrow-heads, and either never finished
or possibly spoilt in the difficult and tedious manipulation.
I4fth. — One day only remained to me for these interest-
ing pursuits. The barrow described as No. 9 was one of
this day's investigation ; another was contained within the
range of a circle of stones (gg) of about 9 feet in diameter,
of which eight stones (No. 30) only remained, but hollows
in the turf indicated the positions which four others bad
occupied, and they were known to have been removed for
building purposes. A large quantity of fragments of rude
pottery, of bones of animals, bits of charcoal, teeth of deer,
oxen, and swine, were all that this produced ; and it is not
improbable that it had been before explored, being a short
distance on the north of the five barrows on the Avebury
Down. On the summit of the bill, overlooking toward^
the south-east the Cromlech at Clatford, towards the east
Temple Down, and the south-west and west the Hacpen
range, studded with an immense number of very large sar-
sen stones, many of which indicated arrangement of lines
and segments of circles, there are two spots which, in par-
ticular, challenge attention. The one from the congeries
of very large stones lying on and about each other, as if
they had so fallen from some diflerent and probably more
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AND EARTHWORKS NEAR SILBURT. 107
elevated position ; the other from its conical formation of
earth and most commanding position, and heing surrounded
with sarsen stones in circular arrangement. This was
opened to some depth, hut time did not then suffice to
descend so far as to reach the maiden soil or chalk, or to
satisfy us that nothing more was to he obtained but the
circular and flat sarsen stones of about a foot diameter, not
broken, but worn like pebbles, which abounded, together
with the fragments of charcoal, bones, pottery, and teeth.
No. 31. Returning towards the north-west, a small flat
barrow (Jili) without a trench was the object of our curiosity,
which, although it was situated on the very side of a road,
did not disappoint us. At a depth of 18 inches we came
to five thin sarsen stones of a foot or 16 inches broad or
long, set upon their edges, and within them four other
stones of the same kind, but larger and naturally rounded,
by which an urn containing burnt human bones was packed.
In the centre of this cist, ^ feet S by 10 inches, the urn, as
well as the stones, had been placed on a flat stone below —
the former with its mouth downwards ; it was of rude for-
mation, of the character of that found in No. 4, and about
the same shape; the upper part, 10 inches in diameter,
above the rim being cross-etched. Nearly all below the
rim, from its proximity to the surface, had long since been
crushed and reduced to earth.
'* Hie labor extremus, longarum hec meta Tiaram."
It is no aflbctation to say that I left on the following
day this peculiar but most interesting neighbourhood with
great regret, and not least of all those very many and kind
friends to whom I was so much indebted for the facilities
of exploring the barrows, and who favoured me with so
many marks of their consideration and most thoughtful
kindness. They are too many to specify by name ; but I
trust I may be allowed to assure them all that the recol-
lection of them and the pleasure they studied to afford me
will never cease to command my most grateful and plea-
surable appreciation.
J. M.
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ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY.
TThe following Sketches represent interesting Objects of Antiquity
found in the neighbourhood of Avebury^ which for the most part
are still retained and highly prized by those on whose property
they were discovered.
No. 1. A well-burnt um of thin red pottery, found in
a barrow on the south of Beckhampton, towards Tan Hill,
at the head of a skeleton lying at full length ; round it
were nail-heads, as if of a coffin ; a few feet from this was
a smaller skeleton doubled up. Height of the um 4i
inches, diameter (largest) 2f inches.
2. Small um, 4| inches in diameter, and S inches
high, found in a barrow to the south-east of Kennet, round
which were twelve skeletons ranged with their feet towards
the centre, in which the um was placed.
3 and 4. Found in a barrow on Windmill Hill, with
seven skeletons. Diameter of um 4 inches, length of stone
hammer 5 inches.
5. This um, remarkable for its unique pattern of orna-
ment, and proportions, being much broader and flatter than
usual, and in diameter at the base no less than 5 inches,
whilst it is only 6| high, was found by workmen employed
to obtain materials for husbandry purposes, from a barrow
about a mile from Beckhampton, on the right-hand side of
the Devizes road, containing burnt bones. When brought
home it was nearly perfect ; but having been placed at the
front door, a beggar, whose importunities were not listened
to, broke it with his stick.
6. A small unomamented um of unburnt bluish clay,
was found in a barrow about a quarter of a mile to the
north of the former. Its diameter is 4 inches, its
height 2|.
7. A small plain um, found in the same barrow, and
of similar material. Near it was the skull of a very young
person. It is very remarkable, that where the bones of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
J-R-Jobbuifl
G.BeU.186Reet S^ My: 1851.
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Di-unF 5 inclies
LertgOi li mtihuii
JR.Vc
G.Bell. iBHllpftl S^ Juty 1831.
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J.B, JoiUiiiLs.
G.BeI1.186Fleet S* Jair 1851.
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Diam^
i inches.
Height
4y2 mckes .
4- ^^! iriclies
Height
7 iaohes .
J-R-Jolibms
G.Bell. 186 Heet S* Jiiiv. 1851.
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8
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i^E^^^^'^r ^^T'^iT^^'^^i^^^^^ln
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■^^^^^^^^al^F
^^ ^I^^^^^^Ehh
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9
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HP''V7'^-' t ^^i^h
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^^
,, *.• - - -r- f —
JR.Jol)l)lIlB
G.Bell.l8t;ileet S' July 1851.
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J HJobtma
G-.BeIl.186 Fleet S^July. 1851.
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
GBell. 186 Fleet S^Tidy 1851.
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
JJR JobtmB.
a^eU.lSerieet S^Joly 1851.
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
J.E.Jolihiii8.
G-.Eedl. 186 HeetS^Juty 1851
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T^JdUoiiui.
ajall.l86Ileet S^ My 1851.
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J.R.Jcilibiiis
G.BftI1.186Ileet St Mj 185L
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J.R.JdWmiLS.
G-.Be]1.186Heet S^MjlBSl
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JR. JoUnns
G.BeU.lSeneet S^ Mf. 1851.
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J]lJd}iLbin8
G-.Bell,186Heet S^ Jiily: 1851.
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JJLJoUimB
GJdl.lSeneet S* Julj.1851.
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JltJoblniLs
G.Bell, 186 Fleet S* July: 1851.
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ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY. 109
young persons are found, this form of urn is usually ob-
served. Its diameter is 4J inches, its height 7 inches. In
cases where such remains have been accidentally found by
labourers, it is difficult to ascertain the exact position and
accompaniments. It has been my object to give, as accu-
rately as possible, the account which I received.
8. An urn of brown unbaked clay, of similar form and
dimensions with the last, but with somewhat more orna-
ment, found about a mile and a half west of the former, in
a barrow, about 2 feet from the knees of the skeleton figure
at No. 16, and not more than 18 inches below the surface
of the turf.
9. An urn, 7 inches high by 4i in diameter, found in
digging clay for a pond, near Koundaway Down, without
any irregularity of the ground, but near a skeleton, whose
position could not be ascertained, having been carelessly
disturbed by the workmen.
10. A beautiful and perfect urn, 6| inches high by 3t
in diameter, of unburnt clay, found at the head of a skele-
ton in a crouched posture, and in an oval cist formed in the
chalk, and covered with the same finely powdered. This
is introduced as being the first of the kind I ever saw, and
as having been discovered in the presence of Sir Eichard
Colt Hoare. Its locality was near the Beckhampton and
Devizes road, a few yards only from Wansdyke and Shep-
herd's Shore, south-westward.
1 1. Fragments of a very large unburnt urn, having the
peculiarity of a handle ; its diameter must have been at
least 18 inches. It was found at the large oval barrow
to the south of " the Pennings^* belonging to Mr. George
Brown, above Beckhampton ; contained burnt bones and
a piece of bronze (No. 23), probably a spear-head. This
barrow has been on several occasions reduced for purposes
of husbandry, and has generally produced such relics. It
appears to have been used at different periods as a place of
sepulture, and might yet repay further investigation. " The
Pennings'* is a term at present applied, as the cursor)-
observer would suppose, to a farm-yard and fold near at
hand ; but the phrase belongs to a disused enclosure ad-
joining, of a double square in form, and of some extent, .
surrounded by a slight ditch and mound, on which still
grow many stunted whitethorn bushes. The term ** Pen-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
110 ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY.
nings*' is applied by the husbandmen to other similar en-
closures and earthworks.
12. An urn of usual dimensions, 7 inches high, found
in a barrow of low elevation, a short distance south of a
remarkable long barrow, already described as made up of
circular and convex sarsen stones, to the south of Kennett,
at the feet of a skeleton lying towards the west, and in a
regularly-formed cist.
13. A bronze spear-head, found with the above, 4 inches
long.
14. A stone hatchet of compact bluish stone, resembling
lias, also in the same, five inches long.
15. Posture of a skeleton found in Morgan's Hill above
Wansdyke, without any barrow or irregularity of the sur-
face of the ground, 18 inches below the turf.
16. Posture of a skeleton found with No. 8.
17. Iron spear-head, found in breaking up the down for
cultivation, about a mile and a half to the right of the
Beckhampton and Devizes road, taken at right angles
to that road, about a mile from Beckhampton turnpike ;
9 inches below the surface.
18. A lock of iron, with two keys, found very near the
last mentioned, in ploughing up the same land.
19. Horseshoe found a short distance north-west of
Silbury Hill, with other horseshoes, and a skeleton.
20. Bronze spear-head found in digging flints in the
down south-west of Beckhampton, with black earth round
it, but without any irregularity of ground. Full size of
original, as are the following, to No. 33.
21 and 22. Bone pins found in digging flints on the
same down.
23. Bronze spear-head found with No. 11.
24. Bronze tweezers.
25. Side and front view of a singular bronze leg, having
a groove to make a joint at the knee, and riveted to either
limb. These bronze articles were found very near the line
of the Eoman road (Via Badonica). Could this be part
of such a figure as we read of in Petronius ? " Larvam
argenteam attulit servus, sic aptatam ut articuli ejus ver-
tebraeque laxatsB in omnem partem verterentur,'* &c., pp.
115, 116.
26. 27, 28, 29, 30. Bronze fibulae, &c., all found in
Digitized by VjOOQIC
ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY. 1 1 1
the same immediate neighbourhood, in digging flints on
the down-lands.
31. Portion of a gold torque found in digging flints
on AUington down, near the highest point of the hills
bounding the north side of Pewsey vale ; size of the ori-
ginal, weight 2j oz. troy. The original is in the posses-
sion of the Earl of Ilchester, who claimed it as treasure
trove, being lord of the manor.
32. Iron spear-head found in digging rubble to make
roads on the down, where there was no irregularity of sur-
face, at Lower Upham, parish of Auburn.
33. Stags* horns : above the burr, circumference lOj
inches, at the top 7i*
34. Above the burr 6 inches circumference ; length of
tine 6i inches.
35. Horn of a smaller animal, and more decayed, 8i
inches long. These were found on the neighbouring
downs in digging flints.
36. Portions of gold ornaments found in a barrow on
Boundaway down, near Devizes. The barrow in question
was opened by the orders of the late proprietor, E. F. Col-
ston, Esq., of Roundaway Park. It is a small one, situated
in the apex of the down, which, although particularly men-
tioned by Sir R. C. Hoare, escaped the examination of
that able and indefatigable antiquary. The workmen,
having at a depth of 7 feet, cut through an upper stratum
of peculiarly fine dark mould, and reached the natural
chalk level, came to a skeleton, much decayed, which
had formerly been enclosed in a wooden chest, bound
round and clamped together with strong iron plates or
hoops. Several portions of this iron-work had fibres of
the wood still adhering to them, and remained precisely
as originally placed. The skeleton lav east and west>
the head towards the latter point. At its feet, formed of
about twenty triangular pieces of brass fastened together
with rivets and two thin hoops of the same metal, lay
a cap or helmet, which remained perfect a few minutes
only, falling to pieces on the admission of air. Near the
neck were several large oval garnets, among which was
one, much larger than the rest, of a triangular shape. All
were strongly set in gold. The ovals appeared to form,
with intermediate beads made of twisted gold wire, a
Digitized by VjOOQIC
112 ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR AVEBURY.
necklace, from which the triangular stone hung as the
central pendant. There were also (with several smaller
articles) two pins of gold, fastened to one another hy a
gold chain, with a small medallion hetween them ; on
one side of which is distinctly engraved the figure of the
Cross. Unfortunately none of the parties most interested
in the discovery were present at the exact time, and it is
feared that they did not obtain all the remains, as it was
heard that similar stones had subsequently been sold at
Bath, which had been found on Roundaway down. The
bones of four animals were also found in the comers, said
to be of a dog and cat, a horse and a boar. A coin, small
brass, of Crispus, was also found, proving the date of the
interment. There is no other instance on record of a
similar discovery belonging to the same period in this
district.
37. A celt of brass, extremely perfect, and of metal
remarkable for its dark colour, found at Ramsbury, Wilts,
in digging peat. This, the first article of antiquity pos-
sessed by the writer, was purchased for half-a-crown, when
a schoolboy at Ramsburv.
38. A celt of flint, elaborately worked, and the greater
part bearing a high polish, found in grubbing up a hedge-
row on a bank in the parish of Stanton Fitz- Warren, Wilts.
Both the size of the originals.
•»• The foregoing memorials, compiled by one of the earliest and warmest friends of
the Institute, the late Dean of Hereford, comprise a very curious series of observations
which were in part communicated by him during the meeting at Salisbury. His untimely
and lamented death has deprived the Society of the advantage which would have accrued,
had this interesting recital been here produced under his own immediate care. The ac-
companying Illustrations are from his own drawings, prepared especially for this volume
of the Transactions of a meeting in which he took so warm an interest.
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LETTER RELATIVE TO STONEHENGE,
BY THE REV. EDWARD DUKE.
TO THE SECRETARY OF THE ARCHJBOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.
Mt dsar Sui,
From the time that I heard of the archae-
ological meeting in this neighbourhood^ it had been my
wish and hope to have offered to its members a paper
on Stonehenge, to which I have given my attention for
some years. As the time draws near, however, I find my-
self compelled, although reluctantly, to decline the more
elaborate essay I had purposed. My health, broken by
repeated and very severe attacks of illness, will not allow
the application of mind to a subject for any length of time
without injury.
If, however, you will permit me to do so, I shall venture
to offer to your consideration, and submit to your judgment,
some points which would have found a place in the contem-
plated essay, had I been able to complete it.
I think you may be aware that, about three years
since, I put through the press a small volume bearing
the title of the Druidical Temples of Wilts. In* that work
Stonehenge was considered as forming part of a planeta-
rium, in connexion with Abury, in the more northern part
of the county, and with a series of remains to be traced
on the face of the intervening country, the gigantic pro-
portions of which were such that its meridional line was
extended no less than two-and-thirty miles. It was while
my mind was engaged on this subject, subsequently how-
ever to the publication of the book, that the theory of the
construction of Stonehenge was gradually presented to it,
both with a more distinct outline and in fuller detail. I
have not, indeed, found occasion to reject or displace any
of the opinions I have formerly expressed : my later occu-
pation has been to add to, and complete my view on this
portion of my former subject.
1
Digitized by VjOOQIC
114 LETTER RELATIVE TO STONEHENGE.
I now, therefore, separate Stonehenge from Abury and
the other sacred stations with which, for certain purposes,
it was conjoined, and proceed to regard it (as, of course, it
may be regarded) in the light of a temple standing alone,
entire and perfect in itself, totus in se, tereSy atque ro^
tundm.
In approaching Stonehenge, it may be advisable for a
stranger, who is making his inspection for the first time,
to forbear entering the sacred precincts from that side by
which he would naturally arrive on his road from Salis-
bury ; and to diverge from the path, till he come to the
Gnomon, or index-stone, on the north-east side. He will
walk from thence beneath the centre arch of the three
imposts in front, and so proceed up the temple. In this
way, with ordinary attention and intelligence, its plan will
become evident at once, which otherwise must appear to
the observer involved in a chaotic confusion.
We will suppose our Archaeologist arrived, for the first
time in his life, at the outer circle of this venerable monu-
ment.
This consisted originally of thirty upright stones, joined
together at the top by a continued corona of the same
number of imposts : their substance being a silicious grit,
permeated here and there with a thin vein of quartz ; and
therefore bearing intrinsic evidence that they are Na-
ture's handiwork, and not, as some have supposed — the
great Camden among them — from the manufactories of
man.
Their height is sixteen feet; their sides shaped into
regular parallelograms by the chisel, and their inner sur-
faces bevelled, from the bottom upwards, for the greater
firmness and security of the mass ; a hint which our Nor-
man forefathers did not neglect to observe and follow in
the churches which their piety reared in the neighbour-
ing bournes.
These stones, when first set up, were evidently located
with great art; externally they must have presented a
gentle curve, and internally have shewn a polygon of thirty
sides. We have here, then, thirty stones with their thirty
intervals, each distinct by itself, and yet all linked toge-
ther, and united into one, by the one superincumbent and
encircling corona. In this, therefore, we behold, in their
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LETTER RELATIVE TO STONEHENGE. 115
several and joint characters, the thirty days and thirty
nights into which, anciently, each of the twelve months
of the year was equally divided, — the perpetual, standing
calendar of the Druids for that space of time j or, when
multiplied hy twelve, their almanac for the year.
A simple arrangement truly, and befitting a simple and
unsophisticated people, but not to be denied a higher praise
also; for it has been held truly that works of genius are to
be known by the most perfect adaptation to their end, com-
bined with the greatest possible simplicity. Of the arrange-
ment of their ecclesiastical year we have, it is true, but
little knowledge. Fasts, we may presume, were to them
unknown. Of festival days, days of high rejoicing and holy
observation, we may not doubt that they had their proper
allowance. They were those probably pointed out by na-
ture, or received from earliest primeval tradition — the
equinoxes, the solstices, the new moons, and the sabbath-
days. Thus, in each monthly revolution, the progress of
the month upon any given day would be marked by the
stone at which they might then have arrived ; and by this
calendar, — for the integrity of which its publicity and the
consciences of the priesthood were the vouchers, — the possi-
bility of a national doubt, or of conflicting calculations in
any two different parts of the nation, as to precise timet
whether in regard to the celebration of sacred feasts or to
the fulfilment of civil contracts was averted ; for a reference
was always feasible to the great national calendar at Stone-
henge, whose ^a< would be at once decisive of the doubt
or controversy. It was, in fact, the authority of that day,
from whose voice there was no appeal.
Proceeding inwards, from the circumference to the centre
of the temple, we shall come next to the remains of a circle
of smaller stones, of granite, porphyry, &c., concentric with
the outer circle. On the number of the stones composing
this interior circle much diversity of opinion exists among
antiquaries. Upon this question I shall not now enter, but
assume that the opinion in which Stukeley and Sir B. C.
Hoare concur is the correct one, namely, that it consisted
of neither more nor less than forty. 1 shall take leave,
however, to disagree with Sir Richard, and also Mr. Cun-
nington, as to their decision upon another point. They
have advanced an opinion that the larger stones at Stone-
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116 LETTER RELATIVE TO 8T0NEHENGE.
henge were erected, in point of time, previously to the
smaller ones, which last they think to have been subse-
quently inserted amonop them.
I agree with them in thinking there is great probabi-
lity that the work, as it now stands, is not to be referred
to one and the same era j I dissent from them as to the
part to which the highest antiquity belongs. I here coin-
cide with Mr. Britton, in supposing that this inner circle
of granite pertained to the inner ellipse of the same mate-
rial j and that together they formed one temple many ages
before its enlargement by the fosse and the more massive
sandstones.
In defence of this position it may be observed, that the
circle of forty stones is not astronomical^ but numerical;
consisting, as it does, of four decades, into each of which,
in turn, enter the four mystic numbers from whose aggre-
gate it is formed (i.e. 1+2+3+4 = 10). Now, a nume-
rical circle, as I have held elsewhere, wherever it is found,
must be esteemed prophylactic in its character. And
among all the numerous temples of the Sun, of which re-
mains are extant in various parts of the earth, I doubt
whether a single instance can be produced of a similar
anomaly, — of a numerical circle surrounding an astrono-
mical portion of the temple, and itself embraced by a
second numerical circle. We may justly infer, therefore,
that this construction cannot belong to the original plan ;
and if we allow an addition or alteration at all, it is more
reasonable to suppose it to have been in the way of expan-
sion and increase of grandeur than the contrary.
Still proceeding onwards, we shall arrive next at that
which is perhaps the most interesting part of the temple,
and in many respects without its parallel on the face of
the globe. This is the outer ellipse of large trilithons, — a
happy term, for the invention, or at least the application,
of which we are indebted, as I believe, to Stukeley. These
trilithons are composed of silicious sandstone, and from
the same quarry probably that furnished the stones for
the external circle. Each compages consists of two enor-
mous upright slabs, having tenons on their upper edges,
and an impost lying upon them, and secured m its place
by corresponding mortices. Every trilithon stands uncon-
nected and by itself j the length and breadth of the super-
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LETTER RELATIVE TO 8T0NEHENGE. 117
incumbent stone being such, that its outer edges form a
line with the outer edges of its supports.
Questions have been raised in relation to the original
number of these trilithons, and they have not always
received the wisest answers. Thus Inigo Jones, in sub-
servience to his preposterous theory that Stonehenge was
a Roman fane, dedicated to the god Coelus or Coelum,
would have the number of trilithons to be six; and by
a dexterous twist of these ponderous masses, effected
by the machinery of a strong imagination, he has con-
trived to form with them a hexagon, constructed on the
base-lines of six equilateral triangles. This absurdity is
demonstrated to be such by a single glance at the tem-
pie itself. Stukeley, Wood, and Sir R. C. Hoare, have
pronounced the number, in their opinion, to be ^ve.
These are great names, but even great men may err ;
and from repeated personal observation I am disposed,
with Smith, King, and some others, to be very decided
and positive that, while they yet stood in undiminished
glory, they would have borne witness of themselves that
they were seven. With five alone, only the portion of an
ellipse would be given, whilst the number seven yields a full
and complete one, and draws after it besides very weighty
arguments in proof of its correctness, — thus equalising
the number of the planets, to each of which we may ratio-
nally conclude one of the trilithons was dedicated. Smith,
indeed, boldly takes on himself to appropriate to each
planet its peculiar trilithon. I will not imitate his confi-
dence, although I think it possible that in one or two of
his conjectures he may be right. Stukeley has given an
elaborate geometrical plan of the temple, deserving praise
for its ingenuity, but failing, through its great and unne-
cessary complication, to establish a claim to be considered
probable.
But to return for a while from speculation upon their
uses to the stones themselves. The fact with regard to
them which strikes us most immediately is, the variation
in their respective altitudes. Of the five trilithons of
which we have perpendicular remains, the elevation rises,
from its lowest measurement in the pair toward the en-
trance on the north east side, which are severally nineteen
feet to the top, and attains its loftiest or culminating
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118 LETTER RELATIVE TO STONEHENGE.
point in the single trilithon which stands behind the stone
of astronomic observation, usually, but erringly, called the
altar-stone.
This trilithon raises itself to a commanding height of
no less than twenty-five feet from the ground. The pair
which intervene between this and those first mentioned,
standing opposite in the plan of the temple, correspond
with each other in the height of twenty feet and three
inches. Time has not been wholly foiled in his attack on
these stalwart giants ; but has left the marks of his ravages
on them as on other parts of the temple. Of the shortest
pair of trilithons enumerated above, the one on the left is
yet standing in a perfect state ; and one of the uprights
remains of that on the right j but the other upright, to-
gether with the impost, is prostrate, and either stone is
broken into three pieces. Of the next pair, again, the one
to the left survives, and in beautiful preservation, exacting
admiration for the evenness of its surface and the sharp-
ness of its angles. The opposite trilithon, its partner, after
having sustained the shock of ages, bowed its head and
fell prostrate backward against the outer circle, on January
3d, 1797- Neither of its uprights, nor the impost, have
suffered injury ; except, indeed, that to which they have
since been subjected at the angles by the hands of barbar-
ous man. The fifth and last of these trilithons has one of
its uprights in a horizontal position. It would appear that
this stone, in its fall, must have slid backward, and then,
on reaching the underlying stone of astronomic observation,
have been severed in two by its own weight and the severe
concussion. The other upright is in a leaning condition,
and apparently, rather than really, supported by a slender
stone, one of the inner ellipse, which stands underneath it,
^* Jam jamque lapsorai cadentique
Imminet assimilis."
You will naturally ask after the remaining trilithons,
necessary to complete the given number, seven, since as yet
only ^z;e have received any notice. I can but repeat my
conviction that, if we had lived some ages earlier in the
world's history, our eyes would have beheld seven j since
at present we nave but a marred and imperfect ellipse, and
then should have had a perfect and complete one.
Nor is this a priori reason the only one to be found j
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LETTER BELATIVE TO STONEHENGE. 119
we have also direct evidence to the same point. Within
the inner circle, not far from the entrance on the north-
east, there lies on the turf an impost, having on its more
evenly-worked side two mortices.
This impost is of the same quality as all the other
smaller stones — that is, of granite ; and it is too short to
have made an impost of the outer circle, since it would not
have spanned the interval between any two of the' stones.
Sir R. C. Hoare, in noticing it, speaks of it as if it were
connected with the inner circle. In describing the inner
circle, he says — " No. 2 appears to have belonged to this
circle, and to have been the impost of a small trilithon j
might there not have been another in the vacant space on
the opposite side to correspond with it ?" No doubt there
was another opposite to it ; both of them belonging to this
ellipse of trilithons, which would be incomplete without
them, and gently touching, without intersecting, the inside
curve of the inner or second circle ; and of use, not only to
express the cycle of the planets, but also the cycle of the
days of the week, as the large outer circle expressed that
of the days and nights of the month.
The height of these small trilithons could not nearly
have equalled that of their next neighbours, nor could the
imposts on their summits have surmounted and been seen
over the corona of the outer circle. I confess I am much
gratified by this circumstance, since by it a relation be-
tween the inclined line of these trilithons and the level
corona of the outer circle is capable of actual and irrefra-
gable proof. In order to obtain this proof, I requested
on one occasion, the Reverend L. Tomlinson, the author
of a popular work entitled Astronomic Recreations^ to test
this angle with his instruments, which, assisted by Mr.
Browne of Amesbury, he immediately and obligingly did
in nay presence.
The result of the application of the quadrant was this,
that it was shewn that an inclined line drawn from the
top of the lofty trilithon behind the stone of astronomic
observation to the summits of these small trilithons
would present with the horizontal corona an angle of
twenty-three and a half degrees. Thus, to Mr. Tomlin-
son's surprise, perhaps more than my own, it became evi-
dent that these Druidical philosophers had represented by
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120 LETTER RELATIVE TO STONEHENGE.
this contrivance the inclination of the ecliptic as compared
with the plane of the equator.
I have now only one further portion of the temple with
which to detain your attention.
This is the inner portion of all. It consists of nine-
teen granite pillars, advancing in height in like manner as
the tnlithons. This, known usually as the Metonic cycle,
seems to have heen a constituent part in every temple of
the Sun ; a mode of calculation which, originating m an
earlier philosophy, was incorporated hy the Komans into
their system, and has heen suhsequently accepted hy our-
selves, and used in the construction of our own calendar.
These were some of the chief points which I had pur-
posed to introduce to the meeting in a more formal paper.
As it is, for reasons connected with my state of health,
as I have already said, and because I would not submit to
such a body any thing which I had not been able to ar-
range and revise with the greatest care, I prefer offering
them in the form of a letter to yourself y leaving it to you,
according to your judgment, and the etiquette of our Insti-
tution, to notice them to the assembled Members, or other-
wise, in such way as you may think right.
I confess they have obtained a perfect conviction in my
own mind. Whether they will be equally successful in the
minds of others I cannot foresee.
I beg you will believe me.
My dear Sir,
Your faithful servant,
Edward Duke.
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REMAKES ON TWO COMMUNICATIONS
RESPECTING STONEHENGE,
ADD&X88XD Vt
THE REVEREND EDWARD DUKE
TO THE ARCttff:OLOGICAL INSTITUTE, AND TO THE EDITOR OF THE
GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE.
In a Letter to Charles Tucker^ Esq,
DSAR Silt,
The opinion of Mr. Duke on a subject so familiar
to him as Stonehenge deserves consideration and respect.
He has long directed his attention to antiquities ; has,
during an extended life, resided at the seat of his ances-
tors near that " wonder of the west ;*' has, by his per-
sonal researches and discoveries on the downs and in bar-
rows, contributed, with Cunnington and Hoare, to enlarge
our knowledge of the ancient Britons ; and in his work
entitled the Druidical Temples of Wiltshire has disclosed
a design so bold, so ingenious, and so well supported by
facts, that he may be said, with Stukeley, to have with-
drawn a portion of that veil which has so long enveloped
the Celtic Isis. It is not, therefore, without hesitation,
that I offer these remarks on his communications ; but I am
induced to do so, because, although I differ from my friend
in the application of one or two particulars, I think my
observations, on the whole, will strengthen the view which
he has taken of Stonehenge. The astronomical import of
this edifice is so generally admitted, that it seems to me
superfluous to produce arguments in support of this gene-
ral proposition : the inquiry, therefore, is more appropri-
ately directed to those signs and calculations which its dif-
ferent groups would seem to imply. I agree with Mr.
Duke, that Stonehenge was a " calendar ;** but conceding
to him that the external circle of upright stones had refer-
ence to the days of the month, and by repetition to those
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122
REMARKS ON TWO COMMUNICATIONS
of the year, I do not see that these alone would have ren-
dered it a ^^ perpetual one ;'* for as he rightly considers that
the summer and winter solstices were occasions of great
festivals with the ancient Britons, in a year of twelve
months, each of thirty days, in the whole S60 days, a great
discrepancv would soon occur in the recurrence of the day;
when, for instance, the feast of the summer solstice ought
to he celebrated in that order of timey and in the longest
dayy when, as he says, " the priest fixing his eye on the
gnomon in the distance, would see the sun rise behind its
apex/' Such an imperfect enumeration of time would have
been evidently inconsistent with those practical purposes to
which the Druids are known to have applied their astro-
nomical knowledge. It may indeed be answered that there
are recognised instances of such a computation of time both
among the Jews and the Greeks, each of whom divided the
year into twelve months of twenty-nine or thirty days ; but
the former rectified their calculations by an intercalary
month once in three years, as the latter did by their second
Ilo(r%ihm. No indication, however, of such a practice
is pointed out in this "stone almanac;'* and I think we
shall find that the priests of the fane had no occasion for
this imperfect correction. The eastern origin of Druidical
knowledge is generally admitted, and Herodotus, who lived
nearly six centuries before our era, expressly says, that ** the
Egyptians divide their year into twelve months, giving to
each month thirty days," — so far there is a coincidence ;
but, he continues, by adding five days to every year they
have a uniform revolution of time, (gcrayotw/ ai'a Tav srog
Tivre ^[isgocg bk tov ocPtSfLov, KUi a^i 6 KVKkog rm u§im tg rovro
T6giiafv TocgaYtnrat. Euterpe, 4.) Now, if the Druids were
familiar with the Oriental and Eg)'ptian systems, they must
have received this additional knowledge also. Let us see
if there is not a proof of it in the structure of Stonehenge,
in addition to the thirty stones, indicative not only of the
days of the month, but of twelve ; the corresponding num-
ber of nights being represented by the thirty imposts which
crown the outer circle.*
• We may possibly understand the
meaning of the trilithon as representing
days and nights in this outer circle, if we
bear in mind the information of Cesar :
" Gain se omnes ab Dite patre prognatos
predicant : ob eam causam spatia omnia
temporis non numero diemm, sed noctiam
finiunt: dies natales et mensunm et an-
norum initia sic obsexrant, nt noctem dies
subsequatur."
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RESPECTING STONEHENGE. 1S3
On looking at the plate of this edifice, which is either
sanctioned by Mr. Duke, or contributed by him to the
Gentlemaris Magazine^ and which he calls the " wheel of
time and perpetual calendar of the Druids," we see in that
part of it which he denominates an ellipse, five trilithons,
which, except as being disunited from each other, are ex-
actly similar to those of which the outer circle is composed.
Now, if the latter indicated days and nights, what could
these ^t;e trilithons intimate^ but the Jive intercalary days
and nights required to complete the uniform revolution of
time ? The separation of these trilithons from the outer
circle and from each other, as also their peculiar magni-
tude, may be mentioned to confirm this opinion ; for ** the
intercalary days,** as Baillie has observed in his History of
Astronomy, " were never admitted into the circle of the
year, but were kept distinct, and held in peculiar honour/*
Each of them in Egypt was dedicated to a deity; the three
first to the " powerful ones," Nepthys, Isis, and Osiris, the
fourth to Thoth, and the last to Typhon. And Plutarch
relates a fable of the Greeks, which typified the same as-
tronomical calculation. " In each intercalated day," says
he, ** a deity was born ; for when the Sun threatened that
Bhea should not produce her offspring in any month or
year. Mercury, being enamoured of her, won from the Moon
at dice the twentieth part of each of her annual lunations,
and composed of them Jive days^ which were added to the
year, and thus increased it from 360 to 365 days ; on these
days Bhea gave birth to Osiris, Arueris, Typhon, Isis, and
Neptha."* And these five personages, under Celtic deno-
minations, were, I conceive, represented by the^i?^ majestic
trilithons which form so distinguished a feature in the tem-
ple of Stonehenge. I am aware that Mr. Duke, and some
other writers, contend that there were two other trilithons,
in addition to those above mentioned ; but their separated
position on each side of the entrance, and their compara-
tively diminutive size, prove that they have no connexion
with the gigantic group which I have endeavoured to ex-
plain, and consequently cannot be justly considered as
comprehended in the same signification. Nevertheless, if
our theory is correct, they should still possess their distinc-
tive import, and may perhaps be hereafter shewn to indi-
* Plat d9 Itide et Osiride, toL ii p. 855. ed. Frankfort. 1599.
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124
REMARKS ON TWO COMMUNICATIONS
cate a still nicer computation of time for measuring the
solar year in this mighty maze, which we hold to compre-
hend the " plan" of a " stone almanac/' I agree with
Mr. Duke, that the inner range of small stones placed
about that which is commonly called the altar, being nine-
teen in number, may represent the Metonic cycle of nine-
teen years. Meton was living at the beginning of the
eighty-seventh Olympiad, b.c. 432 ; and he ascertained that
Q35 revolutions of the moon are nearly nineteen revolu-
tions of the sun, and one complete revolution of the moon's
node ; but this computation had an oriental source,* and
was known to the astronomers of Asia long before the time
when it received its present name ; and we have a direct
relation in the second book of Diodorus Siculus, c. 47, that
the natives of the Hyperborean Island, (which, by a con-
currence of circumstances, several antiquaries of note have
identified with Britain, t) held the moon to be an object of
worship.
• "The Greeks in tain attribute to
Meton the cycle which goes by his name.
It was known ages before his time/' Ori-
gine9y by Sir W. Drummond, ii. 237.
t The author of Cyclopt ChrUtianus
protests Tehemently against this identity,
and enters with his usual learning into the
locality of the Hyperboreans. But as-
suming (from the contradictory accounts
of them, and the difficulty of fixing them
in any precise spot) that the term is appli-
cable to northern nations, as compared with
the Greeks extending over the continent
of Europe and Asia, the question may per-
haps be more conveniently reduced to th^
locality of the KcXtuo} of Diodorus Si-
culus. Frontinus, in his Ladn version of
that author, translates the passage thus:
'* Tradunt contra Galliam in Oceano in-
■ulam esse, non minorem SiciM, Arctis
gubjectam, quam Hyperbord incolant ;"
and Wesseling in his note, although he
admits the reasonableness of this interpre-
tation of the KfXrtKi; as far as Diodorus
is concerned, and that he is borne out in
it by the observations of the same author
in his 5th book, c. 32, objects to it as re-
presenting the true meaning of Hecatsus,
as is proved, he says, by the rest of the
passage (ravrrfv {ncapx^ii' M-^^ Kara ras
apKTOVS, KUTOix^iaBcu Je vro rwv oyofJM-
(oficywv *Tir€p^p€«ev aaro rou iropptortpw
K9i(r0ai rris Bopctov vyoris) ; for he main-
tains that the Celtic, according to the an-
cients, extended from Gaul to Scythia,
and that Hecatseus referred to the northern
coasts of Germany. But from the rela-
tion of Herodotus and others, be contends
we ought not to search for the Hyperbo-
reans in the extreme north of Europe.
It is scarcely possible to ascertain a
specific locality for this people from the
father of history (Melp. 13-33). Accord-
ing to Pomp. Mela, the Montes Hyperborei
were beyond the Montes RiphseL Virgil
places them in the neighbourhood of Scy-
thia (Geo. i. 240), and Scythia extended
from east to west along the continent of
Europe and Asia (Ma. t vi. 5S ; Lucan. ii.
680 ; Her. Melp. 8 ; Silius Italic, xilu 20 ;
Hor. ii. 10). Herodotus says, as there are
Hyperborei, so there may be Hypemotii
(Melp. 36) ; thus intimating that the name
is placed generally for the people inhabiting
the northern boundary of the earth; and
as Pliny calls them, **gens fabulosis cele-
brata miraculis," we cannot expect their
position to be very clearly established.
The ovoa^yta has certainly never been
included among the supposed sacrifices at
Stonehenge, nor does it seem absolutely
necessary to identify it with that temple.
If it did not intimate some theological my-
thos, it may have prevailed in some other
region ; for it b not absolutely necessary
to suppose that there was one temple only
for so wide-spread a people. I cannot fol-
low Mr. Herbert through all his authori-
ties on this point, but can recognise an ac-
quaintance in the fcXeiras ow¥ 4Karofifias
of Pindar's tenth Pythian; at the same
time I bear in mind that the poet pro-
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RESPECTING STONEHENGE.
125
Moreover, in this author's account of the descent of
Apollo once in nineteen years, in this island, we find a
direct allusion to the cycle itself. Its adoption, then, by
the Druids may be admitted ; but we may surely inquire
fessedly treads the region of romance, and
defies its discovery by the mariner :
vawri 8*owT€ irc^os iwv
txfpois av €s *1Cir€<p$op€(av ayw-
ifa OaufjMarov 6iBov,
Dismissing, then, the locality of the Hyper-
boreans, except as a northern nation, the
question at issue remains — whether any
other circular temple existed in very an-
cient times in an island opposite the Celtic
shore. Few certainly will deny that, from
the time of Herodotus downwards, the Gel-
tee were held to be the inhabitants of the
western parte of Europe ; and although,
no doubt, the Cimmerians (Herod. Melp.
1 ] ) and Gauls, who were of the same race
(Plut. in CamiL), extended their colonies
to the north, and may thus have also ex-
tended the name of Celtica to those regions ;
yet, in order to ascertain the spot to which
the author in question applies the name,
we must bear in mind the circumstances
also which he connects with it I do not
collect from the notices of Aristotle (Me-
teor. L i. c. 12), Livy (1. v. c 34), or Dio-
dorus Siculus (v. 32), that they considered
the Celtse, properly so called, to have ex-
tended beyond a higher latitude than mo-
dem France; and as the latter expressly
states that the climate of Britain is so far
cold as lying under the Northern Bear
(L V. c. 21), we should not resort to Nova
Zembla, or with Rudbeck to the Baltic, for
Uie Hyperborean island. In fact, we have
the direct statement of Strabo (L ii.) of the
ignorance of the ancients of any inhabited
island in such latitudes. '* The farthest
place of navigation,'' says he, '* in our time
from Gaul towards the north is said to be
Ireland, which, being situated beyond Bri-
tannia, is, on account <^ the coldf with dif-
ficulty inhabited, so that all beyond is con-
sidered uninhabitable.'' In the time of
Csesar the Celtic division of Gaul extended
northward only to the Seine ; and as this
division is founded on a difference of lan-
guage, laws, and customs (L i c. 1), it
must have originated some centuries before.
This locality undoubtedly points towards
Britain. Besides, the island itself is de-
scribed as fertile and the climate temperate
(cuirpouri^ 9iatf>(pov(ray) ; and if an objection
is made to our island as little ** likely to
bear two harvests in a year," it would, a
/ortiorif place an estopel on the regions of
ice and snow. Allowing for a florid de-
scription, the locality must have been such
as to ensure abundance to the inhabitants.
But admitting the assumption that * Cel-
tica' may be rendered * Gaul,' it is objected
that still we should not be guided to Bri-
tain, for the latter word would then apply
to the Cisalpine and Helvetian Gauls, and
then we should look to Scandinavia, which
was once considered an island. But I sub-
mit in answer, that this island is described
as lying opposite or over against Celtica, cv
TOis awrnrtpav Tqs K€\ruc7}S roirois icora
Toy otKtayop, and, as I think, contiguous to
it, and therefore it scarcely could represent
a spot divided from Cisalpine or Helvetian
Gaul by the continent intervening between
the Adriatic and Baltic Seas. That the
Celte in very ancient times occupied the
more eastern parts of Europe, and those
also of Asia, there can be no doubt, for from
thence they migrated to the west ; but no
probable locality for the island in question
has, it seems, been suggested in an eastern
quarter.
From these considerations it appears
to me, that whatever amount of credit may
be given to the relation of Hecatseus, the
locality of Britain is not a serious impe*
diment to the opinion that it is described by
him. In that case, if no other * round
temple' of equal celebrity and antiquity is
found in a similar situation, is it really so
absurd to suppose that Stonehenge itself,
in the island which was the chief seat and
seminary of the Celtic priesthood, may be
admitted as one proof among others of the
identity assumed ? Some antiquaries have
rather ascribed the description of Hecatseus
to A bury, and they may possibly claim the
winged temple mentioned by Mr. Herbert
as a confirmation of their opinion. But
our author derides the notion that the Bri-
tons, like the Hyperboreans, had any direct
communication with the Greeks. Undoubt-
edly the proposition that such an intercourse
existed, taken by itself, may startle a calm
inquirer ; but 1 may observe in its favour :
1 . That if there was some sort of religious
communion between them and any norUiem
and barbarian people, no islanders but the
Britons possessed a regular priesthood.
2. If Pythagoras or his followers, as Mr.
Herbert suggests, imparted their knowledge
to our Druids, and if Abaris the Hyperbo-
rean, as is asserted, was a contemporary with
that philosopher, such an intercourse would
not only be natural but even probable. 3.
The question of the country of Abaris is
not so settled as to render it impossible that
Digitized by VjOOQIC
126
KEMARK3 ON TWO COMMUNICATIONS
how nineteen computed years, — which Mr. Duke asserts,
and perhaps rightly, were represented by this group of
nineteen stones, — could see the relative phenomena of the
sun and moon, particularly those of eclipses, recommence
in the same order, unless these annual revolutions of the
sun were somewhat accurately ascertained, which they cer-
tainly would not have been in a year of three hundred and
sixty days, or twelve lunar months only. Neither would
the important addition of the five intercalary days com-
pletely effect this purpose. These observations have led
me to the consideration that the Druids must have em-
ployed (perhaps secretly) a still more accurate computation
he might have been, as some believe, a phi-
losopher from the Druidic British schools,
where, according to some copies of Caesar
(L vL 13), Greek letters were used, and
hence the gifts of the Greek visitors to the
Hyperboreans, which were inscribed with
Grecian letters (Diod. Sic. ii. 47), may with
some probability be supposed to have been
made to them. 4. The presents sent by the
Hyperboreans, the countrymen of Abaris,
were clearly from the west, for they were
conveyed through various nations to the
Adriatic, and thence to Dodona and Delos
(Herod. Melp. 33). 5. There are indica-
tions of the solar worship, whose Celtic
priests were educated in Britain, having
been known by the ancients to have flou-
rished in the west, if we may be allowed
to include that part of Europe in the Hy-
perborean region (Cic. de Nat Deo. 1. iiL) ;
and Claudian assumes that it was cultivated
among those nations when it ceased at Del-
phos. However that may have been, the
Pythagorean doctrine ( 6 nv0ayopov Koyoi) of
the metempsychosis, which prevailed among
the Gauls (and Britons) (Diod. Sic. v. 28)
is a strong proof among those who deny
its eastern source of a *' direct intercourse''
with the Greeks. 6. Whatever may have
been the amount of religious communica-
tion between the Greeks and the Britons,
it is plain that from the earliest ages the
supply of tin from our island must have
open^ an acquaintance with it If Py-
theas of Marseilles be allowed to have vi-
sited Britain, the Athenians, who were an
early maritime people, may surely have
been so indirectly connected with it as to
have produced an occasional interchange of
visits from travelling or maritime adven-
turers, and of presents to public places of
devotion. Further, the intercourse of the
Carthaginians (who inherited the geogra-
phical knowledge of the Phoenicians) with
the Greeks was sufficiently intimate to
spread a knowledge of Britain among them.
I will not press the Orphic apyopmnuca into
the service of this proposition, as the an-
tiquity of this authority may be a question ;
but 1 may observe, that in the account of
the return of the Argonauts inserted in the
4th book of Diodorus Siculus, cc 56, 57,
the transfer of the worship of the Dioscuri
to the Celts inhabiting the western ocean
is a fact not unworthy of remark ; nor must
we forget that the incidental notices of
Pliny, iv. 30, Polybius, 1. iii., and Tacitus
de vit. Agric, prove the fact that Britain
was described by several ancient writers
whose works are now lost At a later pe-
riod the knowledge of and intercourse with
this distant spot may probably have dimi-
nished. But Mr. Herbert observes with
truth, it could not have declined so greatly
that the island of Britain should be identi-
fied by the Greeks with that of Elizsea at
the mouth of the river Cerambicus, and
therefore the former could not be identi-
fied with the island described by Hecatseus ;
but because some writers suppose that the
Hyperboreans were located in Elixsea, we
need not reject his more minute statement,
that the island he mentions was situated
oflf the Celtic shore. If Herodotus, in ad-
verting to the Casslterides (Thai. 115) does
not mention the name of Britain as con-
nected with them, a similar omission of
name in such a writer as Hecatsus cannot
have much weight as an objection.
Rut instead of extending this note by
further observations, it rather becomes me
to offer an apology for the length to which
it has been already carried ; and I therefore
take leave of the combatants for these op-
posite theories in the well-known words of
the hesitating shepherd :
** Non nostrum inter vos tantas componere
lites:
Et vitula tu dignus et hie. ....
Sat prata bibenmt"
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RESPECTING STONEHENGE.
127
of the solar year. In fact, there can he no douht that
they did so, if they desired to verify their own predictions.
And we must hear in mind that upon this accuracy their
?retensions and power as inspired soothsayers depended.
?he excess of the tropical year over three hundred and
sixty-five days was known to the astronomers of Asia at a
very early period ; and although we have seen that the
Egyptians generally made the year to consist of three hun-
dred and sixty-five days, yet there were classes among them
familiar with a still more accurate measurement. For
Diodorus Siculus relates that the Thebaei of Egypt, the
first among whom philosophy and the more exact astrology
were invented, measuring the days not by the motion of
the moon but of the sun, apportion thirty days to each of
the months ; and after each twelfth montn they intercalate
five days and a quarter^ and in this manner they complete
the annual circle.* This regulation, indeed, gave rise to
the famous Sothiac period, or "magnus annus" of fourteen
hundred and sixty years ; the space of time in which a
quarter of a day in each year would amount to a year
itself. Whether Stonehenge, — which Mr. Duke has shewn
to indicate the days of the month, and which, I believe, I
have proved represents also the intercalary days, — may,
further, point out that fraction of a day necessary to com-
plete the solar year, is a subject worthy of inquiry. It
appeared to me, that such a result might be reasonably in-
ferred by these previous statements, and the objects which
support them, if other details of the structure were ex-
amined. In considering the possibility of this discovery, I
was struck with the fact, that if there were here found to
be specific representations of the six hours^ the nineteen
stones before mentioned in connexion with the Metonic
cycle would indicate the nineteen minutes, which (allowing
a fractional difference of three seconds onlyt) would com-
* TptaKOP$Tjfi€povs fi€P ri$€fi9V0i rovs
firtvas, itwTt 8* ^fitpas kcu reraprov rois
Mi€Ka firiai¥ erecyovo'i, kcu rowry ry rpow^
rov tyiavrov kvkKov wwwXupovffi L. i
0. 50. ed. Wesseling, t. i. p. 59.
t The larger proportion of time would,
of course, be assumed for the last figure in
the number to be represented, unless the
fractional part were represented also. Thus,
in the representation of the moon's age in
the outer circle, we do not see twenty-nine
stones, bat thirty, because the time of a
mean lunation is not twenty- nine days and
eleven hours, or even twelve hours, but
twelve hours forty -four minutet two se-
conds and a fraction ; and therefore the ex-
cess over twenty- nine days being more than
half a day, the period of time would be less
accurately expressed by that number than
Digitized by VjOOQIC
128 REMAKK8 ON TWO COMMUNICATIONS
plete the ancient computation of the solar year, and that
actually adopted by Meton himself.
I proceed to mention my further inquiry into this subject
in considering another part of this temple, and the result
which I have deduced therefrom, leaving its value to be esti-
mated by the judgment of the antiquary, and entirely dis-
claiming the absurd presumption of presenting it as an in-
evitable conclusion. The existence of two smaUer trilithons
(before noticed), one on each side of the entrance, though
not delineated in the plan of every writer on Stonehenge, is
admitted in those of Waltire and Dr. Smith ; and from a
recent communication of Mr. Duke, I have no longer any
doubt of the fact. Both my friend himself and Mr. Browne
of Amesbury point out the transverse stone, with its mor-
tice, of one of them now lying in that part of the edifice.
This stone could never (as they truly observe) have formed
a portion of the outer range of trilithons, on account of its
comparatively diminutive size, being about half the length
of the beam of the great trilithon ; and, for the same
reason, it cannot be assimilated and associated with that
grand group of five within the circle. Now, as the enume-
ration of the stones composing the different groups of this
pile has led me, in following Mr. Duke, to inquire into
their signification, and as we have, by following this plan,
advanced with certainty, as I humbly conceive, in our
course, with reference to our interpretation of them, the
number and comparative size of the stones in these two
smaller trilithons may reasonably be a subject of specula-
tion. I observe that they are six, of a proportion between
those of the larger trilithons and those stones immediately
around the altar ; but the former we have referred to days,
the latter to minutes. Assuming, then, the same reference
and representation of time to these, they should express
periods less than the one and greater than the other ;
these, then, would be hourSj the intermediate divisions of
time ; and if this inference be correct, we thus complete
the scheme of the stone almanac, and point out in character-
istic groups of corresponding numbers the three hundred
and sixty-five days, six hours, and nineteen minutes, which
compose the Metonic year. The priest, then, standing on
by thirty. In the caae mentioned in the I conds only, the same principle would, a
text, there being a difference of three se- | fortiorit be adopted.
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RESPECTING STONEHENGE. 129
"the stone of astronomical observation"* (now called the
altar), so placed as to enable him to catch the first beams
of the morning sun, on the longest day, on the gnomon
without the temple, would hence point out the true calen-
dar to the initiated by means of the surrounding objects,
which represented the exact period of the earth's revolution
round the sun. But this stone had, besides, its own pecu-
liar signification. It is true that the solstices were occa-
sions of feasts among the Druids ; but, like other ancient
nations, they had sacred days regulated by the moon. The
time between two new moons would not be much above
twenty-nine days and a half, and twelve lunations would
then fall far short of the solar year ; neither would the
intercalations to which I have referred effect an exact
adaptation of the lunar revolutions to this precise period.
Confusion, therefore, would occur between the times appro-
priated to these different feasts^ and the lunar year would
require regulation ; hence the establishment of the Metonic
cycle, — and the flat stone within the circle of nineteen
stones would point out the " magnus annus" wherein the
accumulated excess of seven lunations, during that cycle,
would be included, when one complete revolution of the
moon's nodi would be accomplished, and a new period
would commence :
" Magnus ab integro seclorom nascitar ordo."
The different centres observed by Mr. Duke in the
circle of thirty or forty stones, and in that of the trilithons,
prove the truth of his assertion that they had a distinct
origin and design. But I venture to differ from him in his
proposition that the former was the Temple of the Sun, as
I believe it to have been the original Temple of Saturn,
and coeval with those of the Sun and Moon at Abury,
erected in the same primeval style, in the same meridional
line, and forming a part of that immense Druidical orrery
which Mr. Duke has elsewhere elucidated, of which, in
fact, it was the termination. When Mr. Duke describes
the outer circle as dedicated also to this planet^ he calls
it " the more modem and enlarged temple ;*' and conse-
quently he admits that it could form no part of the ori-
ginal series. He has shewn us, as Dr. Smith had pre-
• Duke's Druidical Temples of Wilts, p. 162.
K
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130
REMARKS ON TWO COMMUNICATIONS
viously done, the specific purpose of that magnificent por-
tion of the pile, and I cannot, therefore, admit an infe"
rior destination. It is stated,* that its thirty stones hear
reference to the thirty years, in which time this planet
revolves round the sun ; but if this argument has weight.
Dr. Smith ascribes the same number to the inner circle
also. The numerical question, however, as to this latter
circle is scarcely determinable, as the distance between
these stones is acknowledged to be very unequal. The
erection of the trilithons was, in my apprehension, a subse-
quent design, as seems proved by the use of tools on the
materials, which whilst it included the primal structure
of the Temple of Saturn, was itself dedicated to the wor-
ship of the Sun and Moon,t possibly appropriated to its
own locality, and particularly to the celebration of those
rites and festivals which are known to have taken place at
the summer solstice. Having thus commenced with the
main theory of Mr. Duke, I have endeavoured, in pursuing
it, to shew that Stonehenge, like Abury, is susceptible of
an entire astronomical explanation ; and that it displays in
its different groups not only the rudiments of a lunar ca-
lendar, but, according to the Oriental and Metonic system,
an accurate measurement of the solar year.
It would be presumption in me to prolong this paper,
by entering minutely on the subject of the antiquity of
Stonehenge (involving that of Abury and other similar
monuments in this county); but I venture to submit, that
if its astronomical import be established, we may more
readily refer its erection to those periods when astronomy
was cultivated by a learned priesthood among a rude peo-
ple, as the key to its influence and power. Such, however,
IS not the opinion of a distinguished author, who contends,
with no inconsiderable learning and acuteness, that Stone-
henge and Abury were erected between the times when
the Romans abandoned this island and that of the Saxon
invasion, and that they were the monuments of a system
of Neo-Druidism, recalled from Ireland, which (like the
ApoUinarian heresy in Gaul), involving Christianity in a
Mithraic and mythological system, was tolerated by the
• Dniidical Temples of Wilts.
f This double dedication was common
also among the Romans ; and the metro-
politan catiiedral of St. Paul's was held by
Camden to be raised on the site of a temple
sacred to Apollo and Diana, who also per-
sonified the same celestial objects as those
to which Stonehenge was consecrated.
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RESPECTING STONEHENGE.
131
clergy, and accepted by the people.* But the intestine
commotions, the opposinpf authorities, and the invasion of
foreign enemies, which then agitated Britain, were surely
unfavourable to complete such a change as would transfer
the orisons of the multitude from the church to the crom-
lech. We learn from Gibbon, whose history, founded on
the most extensive research, perhaps affords, in a general
picture, the truest information of these times, that " this
independent country, during a period of forty years, till
the descent of the Saxons, was ruled by the authority of
the clergy, the nobles, and the municipal towns/* Under
the protection of the Romans, ninety-two considerable
towns had arisen, and among these thirty-three cities, each
of whom was governed according to the original model of
the Boman constitution — " the hereditary lords of ample
possessions, when not opposed by the neighbourhood of a
powerful city, aspired to the rank of independent princes,"
— " their situation and their hopes would dispose them to
affect the dress, the language, and the customs of their
ancestors ;'* but " if the princes of Britain relapsed into
barbarism, whilst the ciiies studiously preserved the laws
and manners of Bome, the whole island must have been
gradually divided by the distinction of two national parties,
again broken into a thousand divisions of war and faction
by the various provocations of interest and resentment/*
In addition to these sources of national discord, the in-
roads of the barbarians, though at times repressed, were
constantly recurring, the youth and manhood of the coun-
try was frequently engaged in foreign service ; divisions of
the Boman army, themselves Christians, from time to time
were located in the country ; the population was of mixed
origin, a considerable proportion being of Boman descent ;
and the general consent required to devise and execute
such structures as Stonehenge and Abury, can scarcely be
assumed. Gildas indeed relates that, " during the forbear-
ance of former ravages, the kingdom enjoyed excess of
plenty beyond any preceding time,** when vice prevailed
and religion was greatly debased; but, allowing for his
exaggerated style, we may infer that his remarks apply
* The able work in which this doctrine
it laid down is entitled Cyclops ChrUtu
tmut, by A. Herbert, late of Merton Col-
leg;e, and of the Inner Temple. It is also
the groundwork of bis two previons pub-
lications, Britannia qfter the Ronums, aod
An Euay on the Neo Druidic Heregy.
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132
REMARKS ON TWO COMMUNICATIONS
rather to the heresies which then occurred than to a
national apostacy ; and assuming the latter case, would he
have overlooked the head and front of such offence, the
pagan sacrifices at Stonehenge,* still more the erection of
that heathen temple itself?
At this time the British Church had been established
for about a century: it comprehended thirty or forty
bishops, and an adequate proportion of inferior clergy ;
the former were united with the magistrates in their
synods and councils, in which their attention was directed
to the eradication of false doctrine ;t but, in that case,
they would not be enlisted in the cause of a modified
Druidism. In 425, the heresiarch Pelagius was in Bri-
tain, and St. Germanus twice visited it to counteract his
doctrine. It is possible, as Mr. Herbert asserts, that
these persons, with others, " were plajring a game ;** but
he states that ** nothing is more certain than thsA formal
Druidism did not revive in the Christian Britannia of
the declining empire, and that it contiuued to die away
throughout these islands ;"| though he asserts that, by the
time of the Saxon invasion, '^ the peculiar heathenism of
Britannia, founded upon abolished Druidism, had made
such progress as to leave merely a cloak of Christianity
over its revolting excesses.**§ If, then, the formality of
Druidism is denied on the one hand, and the cloak of
Christianity is admitted on the other, I confess I should
infer that no such erections as Stonehenge could then
have been planned or effected. Aud if new edifices were
raised for a united system of two religions, they would, as
in other cases, bear the marks of that union upon them ;
but I know no writer who has attempted to point out a
Christian symbol on these stones, or in the arrangement of
them, although so slight a ** cloak'' might on this sup-
position be expected to appear. We may admit with this
ingenious and erudite author, that a secret doctrine of
Druidical import was inculcated ; that a reverence for the
ancient circles, the cherished monuments of national inde-
pendence, was encouraged: but would victims be sacri-
* The heads of oxen and the heads and
hortas of deer, with the bones of other ani-
mals, charred wood, and an incense-cup,
were found within the area of Stonehenge
by Stukelcy and Sir Richard Hoare,— if «-
dent Wilts. At Abury large quantities of
bucks' horns, bones, and wood-ashes have
been also discovered.
t Gibbon, c. 31. t Cyd. Chr. p. 99.
$ Britannia after the Romans, p. 43.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
RESPECTING 8T0NEHENGE.
133
ficed at these shrines ? Would Amesbury, as he contends,
have been chosen as the seat of government, in a locality
so unfit for the purpose, if not distinguished from all
antiquity by Stonehenge ? And why should that spot be
selected at this period for its erection, at so short a dis-
tance from a principal Roman city,*^ where many of the
population may have been heretical^ but all sureljr not
pagan 9 As another proof of the more recent erection of
Stonehenge, its design is declared to have been borrowed
from temples erected by the Teutonic nations of the conti-
nent, in other words, by the Saxons or their kindred ; but
we may be allowed to doubt whether the choleric and
harassed Britons would seek their prototypes from an
enemy's country. Objections of this kind might be ex^*
tended, but I submit, in a word, that the unanimity of au-
thority, power, and will, required for raising such cyclopean
structures was wanting to the period in question.t If I
may be allowed to express an opinion on the subject of the
works to which I have referred, I would say, that the real
apostacy of the Britons (independently of their vices and
heresies,) might seem to have been consummated in, and
confined to, the regions of Wales, matured no doubt bv the
imagination of the bards, the immigration of the Cfeltic
Irish, and hatred towards their Saxon neighbours. There,
defended by their mountains, ^^ the independent Britons (in
the words of Gibbon) relapsed into the state of original
barbarism from whence they had been imperfectly re-
claimed.'' Their bards, alike inflamed by religious zeal,
their enmity to the clergy, and poetic enthusiasm, would
dwell with rapture and regret on those antique and con-
secrated fanes now possessed by a hostile race, and to those
hallowed precincts they would refer their mystic doctrines
and allusions ; and would make them the scene of national
or supposititious events. Had these edifices been of such
* Sorbiodunum was one of tbe ten ci-
ties admitted to the privileges of the juM
Lata, at least, on the authority of Richard
of Cirencester ; at any ratCi its importance
as a station on the Roman roads and as a
fortress is sufficiently obvious.
t Although Britain, according to the
expression of Jerome, was the *'fertilis
provincia tyrannorum," yet Gibbon re-
marks (and Mr. Herbert may have esta-
blished the fact) that *' there is reason to
believe that in momentt qf extreme danger
a Pendragon or Dictator was elected by
the general consent of the Britons.' ' But
if there was then a union of power, it was
required and exercised for other purposes
than the erection of national templ^. Who-
ever inspects Stonehenge, and reads the ac-
count of the destruction of Abury, must be
struck with the amount of force required
from a half- civilised people to bring such
a mass of materials together.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
134 REMARKS RESPECTING ST0NEHEN6E.
recent date and doubtful sanctity, erected by Christian
hands, and desecrated by their rites, they would surely
have given place to purer spots and recollections. The
bitter revilers of Christianity could feel little reverence
for the " Cyclopean Christian'' temple of Stonehenge. In
the west of England, more immediately adjacent to this
temple, the offices and practices of the Catholic church do
not appear to have been shaken, although its restraints
may occasionally have been cast aside. Our neighbours,
the Damnonii, at all events, continued to be Christians ;
for Gildas relates of Constantine, their prince, that though
he bound himself by an oath to God and the saints^ that he
would do the duty of a good prince, vet slew two children
of the blood-royal, and their tutors, m two churches under
the amphibalus which the abbot wore ; and of Cuneglasus,
that whilst he was a despiser of God, he was an oppressor
of the clergy ; and also that Maglocunus, another repro-
bate, finished his career by professing himself a monk.
The Druidical religion, whencesoever derived, whether
from Oriental sages, Phoenician mariners^ or Pythagorean
philosophers, seems to have obtained supreme power over
an ignorant people by the influence of knowledge, and
particularly by the exercise of astronomical science. It
had no counteracting creed to arrest its progress, no ex-
ternal enemies to dread; and thus, resistless and unop-
posed, it prompted a barbarous nation, by the influence of
superstition, to raise these mighty piles of rude magnifi-
cence, which, whilst they were the pride of assembled
nations, were still the ensigns of its supremacy, and so
contrived as to display and hand down to its ministers the
secrets of its power.
I remain, dear Sir,
Yours faithfully,
George Matcham.
Newhouset near Downton,
May 6, 1850.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
PAINTED GLASS AT SALISBURY.
Salisbury Cathedral, like many of our ecclesiastical edi-
fices, affords a far better opportunity of studying ancient
painted glass in detail, and learning the conventionalities
of design, which are too often supposed to be the sole test
of style, than of contemplating it in mass, and accustoming
the eye to those other indications of date which are to be
found in its colour and general appearance. The inquirer
who proceeds to Salisbury must therefore be content for
the most part with an examination of little else than frag-
ments, and to consume much time in the laborious process
of unravelling patch-work made up of glass of different
designs and different dates.
The most woful destruction of the painted glass ap-
pears to have taken place during Mr. Wyatf s " restora-
tion*' of the cathedral ; when, in the words of my inform-
ant, ** whole cartloads of glass, lead, and other rubbish,
were removed from the nave and transepts, and shot into
the town-ditch, then in course of being filled up ; whilst
a good deal of similar rubbish was used to level the ground
near the chapter-house.*'* The surviving fragments,t it
* The latter part of this statement was
confirmed by Mr. William Ranger, glazier
to the cathedral, in the employ of Mr.
Fisher, the clerk of the works, — who in-
formed me that he possessed the head of
a figure which some years ago he saw dng
up near the chapter - house, along with
other fragments of painted glass, by some
workmen employed in making holes for
some scaffold-poles. Mr. Ranger, who,
since 1819, has been employed in repairing
the cathedral windows, assisted in placing
the greater part of the painted glass in its
present sitoation. The information 1 have
obtained from him has therefore been par-
ticularly valuable, since it has enabled me
to state positively that such and such glass
was brought from the chapter-house, or
from elsewhere. I may add, that in every
instance I found his information was cor-
roborated by the character of the glass. I
take this opportunity of acknowledging also
the kind assistance I have derived from
Mr. Fisher, and Mr. Osmond, a gentle-
man in Mr. Fisher's office, in the course
of my investigations.
t At the time of the great destruction
of the Salisbury glass, some fragments
were preserved by being transferred to the
windows of Grateley Church, Hants. I
am under a deep obligation to the Rev. C.
Dodson and W. Gale, Esq., the incum-
bent and churchwarden of Grateley, for
having, during the recent repairs of their
church, forwarded these remains for my
inspection. They consist principally of a
few varieties of ornamental borders ; some
ornamental scroll- work, similar in cha-
racter to that of the ** Jesse'' in the west
window of Salisbury Cathedral; a
Digitized by VjOOQIC
136
PAINTED GLASS AT SALISBURY.
seems, were suffered to retain their original position in the
building until about thirty years ago, when the majority
were collected together as they now appear, — an act which,
however praiseworthy in itself, as tending perhaps to pre-
serve the glass from utter destruction, has greatly increased
the diffiiciilty of analysing the fragments, and describing
them intelligibly.
With a view to render this paper as illustrative as pos-
sible of the different styles of painted glass, I propose to
notice first the oldest remains in Salisbury, viz. the origi-
nal glass of the cathedral and chapter-house ; and then,
successively, the Decorated remains in St.Thomas*s Church,
Salisbury, and the Perpendicular glass in the hall of John
Halle ; concluding with some remarks on the later and
modem glass in the cathedral.
The original glass of the cathedral and chapter-house —
by which I mean that which is coeval with these buildings
— is valuable as belonging to different periods of the early
English style ; the oldest specimen being perhaps as early
1240, and the most recent not earlier than perhaps
as
1270 or 1280. Part of this glass belonged to the cathe-
dral and part to the chapter-house. It is now all mixed
together in the cathedral windows ; but I have succeeded
in distinguishing the different portions, and hope that I
fragment of a medallioii, representing the
Annunciation (of tbiSi only a portion of
the angel remains, with a scroll on his
head, Inscribed gabriel, in Lombardic
characters) ; and a very fine circular me-
dallion, set in a square of ornamental work,
representing the martyrdom of St. Stephen.
The saint, habited as a deacon, is in the
act of falling, with his hands in an attitude
of prayer, dead to the ground. A man
imme(Uately behind appears to communi-
cate, with an air of savage exultation, the
fatal event to another miscreant, who is
approaching (as I think is indicated by
the fragments that remain of this figure)
with his mantle filled with stones, and
seems disappointed at being too late. Both
men have decidedly Jewish physiognomies.
The group is delineated with great spirit.
Below is the following inscription, in Lorn*
bardic characters,
STEPHAMYS OBANS BXPIBAT.
The saint's head is painted on a piece of
light ruby glass. This mode of indicating
the effect of wounds is not unusuaL There
is an instance of it in a medallion of the
thirteenth century, at West H orsley Church,
Surrey, representing the angel rescuing St.
Catherine fi'om the punishment of the
wheeL The heads of two of the execution-
ers, who seem to have been struck down by
the angel, are painted on red glass. The
head of St. Stephen in a window of Se-
fonds Church, dated 1524, appears from
the description, and an uncoloured en-
graving of it given in M. Amaud*s Voyage
arehioloffique et pittoretque dans U Di-
parUment de VAube et dans Vaneien DiO'
dee de TroyeSy to be painted on a piece
of white glass streaked with ruby. The
description is as follows : " Celui de ces
vitraux que nous avons fait dessiner re-
pr^sente le martyre de Saint Etienne. On
voit ce saint vStu en diacre, la t^te inond^
du sang, qui jaillit de sea blessores'' (p.
228).
All these fragments at Grateley are of
the same date as the Jesse in uie west
window of Salisbury Cathedral; from which
it may be inferred that they belonged to
the cathedraly not to the chapter-house.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
CATH£DRAL : £A£LY £N6LISH JESSE.
137
may be equally successful in enabling others to distinguish
them.
Of these ancient remains only two specimens retain
their original situation, viz. a part of the glazing of the
second and fourth transept, counting from the north of
the great north transept. The rest are collected in the
west triplet of the nave ; in the west window of each aisle
of the nave ; in the east window of each aisle of the choir ;
in the lower south triplet of the small south transept ;
and in the two centre lights of the upper tier of the south
windows of the great south transept. A few other frag-
ments are preserved in the glazier's room attached to the
cathedral. The subjects consist chiefly of ornamental pat-
terns ; but these are the remains of a " Stem of Jesse/' as
well as some medallion pictures, borders, and shields of
arms.
The remains of the Stem of Jesse are contained in the
lower part and sides of the central light of the northern
triplet of the nave.* They were removed from a window
of the great north transept, in which they had been in-
serted in the course of repairs. Another portion, no longer
existing, is represented in the 79th plate of Carter's An-
dent Architecture^ fig. Q, and is there called ** ancient
glazing in the nave ;" from which I infer that it was in
one of the aisle windows of the nave, which, not impro-
bably, was the original situation of the Jesse. The Jesse
appears, from the existing fragments and from the plate
in Carter, to have been designed according to the usual
type of the period ; and to have consisted of a vine, whose
ramifications formed a central series of ovals containing
representations of our Lord and His principal ancestors,
and supported on ofishoots from the ovals, the figures of
prophets, patriarchs, and other attendants.
Two only of the ovals remain. They are on each side
of the large cinque*cento picture of a bishop enthroned,
which is so conspicuous an object in the lower half of the
central light, and nearly in a line with the head of this
• The window, prerioosly to the pre-
lent glass being placed in it, was filled
with a bad ornamental pattern, the gift of
the Rer. Benson Earle. Of this, the ge-
neral outline is preserved in the 5th plate
of Britton*s Hitt, qf SalUbury Cathedral,
and in a view of the west end of the ca-
thedral, in Dodsworth's Hutory qf Salis-
bury. Some small pieces of the glass are
worked into the west triplet and other
windows of the cathedraL
Digitized by VjOOQIC
138 CATHEDRAL : EARLY ENGLISH JESSE.
figure. In the southern oval is represented our Saviour*
enthroned, holding a book in one hand, the other being
raised in benediction. The head is that of a middle-aged
person ; it possesses much of the Byzantine character, and
is surrounded with a cruciferous aureole. The stigmata
are not shewn in the hands and feet.
In the northern oval is riepresented a female seated,
and in an attitude of adoration. I presume the figure is
intended for the Blessed Virgin.
The most perfect remains of that part of the compo-
sition which constitutes the space outside the ovals is, on
the south side of the central light, near the bottom. It
consists of foliaged scrolls, which support an unnimbed
full-length figure holding a blank label — the usual personi-
fication of a prophet — and an angel. Between these figures
is a small bust, which issues from the termination of one
of the foliaged scrolls, and may be supposed to represent
a prophet or patriarch. Similar fragments of foliaged
scroll-work and figures may be seen higher up, on the
south side of the light ; and higher stiU, in a line with
the large circle almost at the top of the light, are two
demi-attendant figures which, from their size and attitude,
I conclude originally flanked the highest oval of the Jesse.
A good deal of the border originally belonging to the light
that contained the Jesse is used as a border to the central
light of the triplet. A portion of this border is given in
the first plate that accompanies this paper: see fig. 2.f
The whole Jesse is on a ruby ground, the colour of
* I pretume that this is correct. In
the ** Jesse" in the east window of West-
well Charch, Kent, the topmost object is
the Holy Dove ; the second, a similar re-
presentation to that in the text, of one of
the Persons of the Holy Trinity, and whidi
likewise is without the stigmata. The third
subject is the Virgin Mary, unaccompanied
by the Divine Infant. A distinction is
perhaps taken between the representation
of oar Saviour as Judge of the world, —
when He is, I belicTe, inyariably repre-
sented with the stigmata, in allusion per-
haps to Zech. xii. 10, Rev. i. 7,— and when
He is represented either as sitting in His
kingdom, or else in His human capacity.
An instance of our Saviour sitting on a
throne, without the stigmata, is given in
No. 24 of the ArcfuBological Joumaif p.
412. Other examples may be seen in the I
plates to the paper on St Ethelwold*s Be-
nedictional, in tiie 24th voL of the Arcfus-
oloffia, &c. The centre figure of our
Saviour in the north rose of Lincoln Ca-
thedral is unfortunately so mutilated that
it is impossible to say whether or not it
bad the stigmata. Had the fig:ure been
perfect, it would have thrown light on the
subject. See an. account of this window
in the Lincoln volume of the proceedings
of the Archaeological Institute.
f I could have wished that the illustra-
tions which accompany this paper bad been
less rough in their execution; but as they
are a first attempt with the " anastatic pro-
cess"— an invention of great utility where
cheapness of illustration is an object — I
trust they will be regarded with indulgence.
The drawings of the glass in this plate are
made to a scale of 1-^ inch to a foot.
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CATHEDRAL : EARLY ENGLISH MEDALLIONS.
139
which is extremely rich and intense; the main stem is
white, and formed of short lengths of foliage, each termi-
nating in a trefoil or cinquefoil, according to the ordinary
convention of the 13th century. The offshoots are of the
same character as the parent stem ; hut some of the leaves
at the termination of the scrolls are of different colours.
Small hunches of grapes are occasionally introduced.
The attendant figures are tall and slim; the heads have
a certain classical character, and bear considerable resem*
blance to the specimen given in the Hints on Glass Paint-
ingj plate 34, fig. 2 ; which is copied from a contemporary
Jesse in Westwell Church, Kent.
All the draperies are full of small folds, expressed by
outlines so strong and black as almost to render the use of
broader and softer shadows unnecessary. The colouring
of every part of the design is rich, deep, and vivid. The
blue, which is of the peculiar grey though rich hue com-
mon at this period,* and the flesh-colour, are of strong
tint. The white glass is of a greenish blue hue ; it is but
little affected by the atmosphere, and, on the whole, is not
quite so deep as the rather later white glass taken from
the chapter-house, and which is now in the west triplet.
The date of the Jesse is certainly in the first half of the
13th century ; it may be placed as early as 1240.
Of the medallion pictures to which I have alluded,
two appear, from many particulars, to be coeval with the
Jesse. They are inserted beneath the two ovals, in a
line nearly with the feet of the cinque-cento bishop. The
south medallion represents the angel appearing to Zacha-
rias in the Temple; the north, the Adoration of the
Magi. These medallions were brought from the same
window as the remains of the Jesse. Two other medal-
lions of the thirteenth century are inserted in the west
* I am persuaded that the peculiar
tint of the early English bine pot- metal
?:la88, noticed in the text, principally arises
rom the green hue of the white glass that
forms its base. It will be found that some
kinds of modem blue glass may be given
the precise tint of the old» by placing a
piece of early English white ghiss beMnd
them. The nearest approach to the colour
— certainly not to the depth of effect — of
early English blue glass that I have hitherto
met with, is in the window which the late
M. G^rente first put up in Ely Cathedral
In his second window he is not more suc-
cessful than his English contemporaries;
the same remark equally applies to all his
brother's works that I have seen. I fear
that our glass-works are on too extended
a scale to render it worth their proprietors'
while to make glass fit for glass-painting
purposes, and that no advance in this re-
spect is to be expected till the smaller men
take the matter up. An inquiry into the
nature of the colouring material of ancient
blue glass has long engaged my attention ;
but my researches are stUl incomplete.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
140 CHAPTER-HOUSE : EARLY ENGLISH MEDALLIONS.
triplet; but they seem to be French, and possibly were
brought from Normandy with some of the later pictures
now used to fill up the lights. One is the small circular
panel, containing two figures, that is placed in the centre-
light, a little above the oval in which is represented the
Blessed Virgin. It appears to be of the last half of the
thirteenth century. The other is a circle of larger size
inserted near the top of the northern light of the triplet.
There is nothing in any of these medallions that calls for
particular notice. The figures are according to the style
of the period, and the groups are, as usual, plain and dis-
tinct, owing to their simple composition and the manner
in which the individual figures are cut out and insulated
by the surrounding coloured ground of the panel. Mo-
dern glass painters in their imitations of early English
medallions are too apt to neglect the simplicity of the an-
cient arrangement, and to make their own groups confused
and indistinct. It must, however, be admitted that there
are ** authorities" in their favour, as in the case of medal-
lions representing the Ascension or the Day of Pentecost,
in which the complication of the group and want of relief
through the absence of broad shadows cause indistinct-
ness, and create a doubt whether the ancient medallions
in which distinctness is observable were designed with a
view to that quality, or merely in accordance with the pre-
vailing taste for simple compositions, which is equally ex-
emplified in illuminations and drawings intended for the
closest inspection.
The rest of the medallion pictures are of somewhat
later date than the Jesse. They were all removed from
the windows of the chapter-house, and are placed in the
west triplet of the nave and in the west windows of the
nave aisles. From their style of execution I conclude
that they are not earlier than I27O. The principal subject
is a large circle almost at the top of the centre-light of the
west triplet, which contains two figures, a bishop and a
king (Ed. Confessor?), under an archway. The panel
was removed from the middle of the large octofoil of one
of the windows of the chapter-house. On comparing this
circle with the Jesse and the two contemporary medallions,
some remarkable differences in the drawing of the figures
and texture of the glass will appear. In particular, I may
Digitized by VjOOQIC
CHAPTER-HOUSE : EAKLT ENGLISH MEDALLIONS. 141
mention the character of the eyes and eyehrows of the
figures. Their heads somewhat resemhle the example
given in the Hints on Glass Paintings plate 3J. fig. 1.
The flesh-colour is much lighter than that used in the
Jesse, as is also the hlue ground of the panel, though this
has a rich appearance.
The next remains in point of importance are two large
elongated quatrefoil panels, each containing an ecclesias-
tical figure under an archway, which are inserted in each
side of the centre light of the triplet, immediately below
a cinque-cento representation of the Crucifixion, which
forms (reckoning from the top) the third principal object
in the centre of the window. These quatrefoils were re-
moved from the largest spandrils of some of the windows
of the chapter-house. In drawing, execution, and general
character, they entirely resemble the * large circle which
has just been described. Another quatrefoil, like the last,
but containing the figure of a regal person, lies in the
glazier's room attached to the cathedral. It was likewise
removed from the spandril of one of the chapter-house
windows.
The remaining medallions are ten small circles, four of
which are inserted in the upper part of the lower lights of
the west windows of the aisles of the nave ; the rest are
placed in the centre-light of the west triplet. These
circles were all removed from the centres of the quatrefoil
of some of the chapter-house windows. Each circle con-
tains a demi-figure of an angel issuing from a cloud ; and
it would seem that these angels originally formed part of
some subject from the Revelations, or perhaps the Last
Judgment. Some of the angels point upwards with the
hand, and use encouraging gestures ; others carry a book
in one hand. One bears a long napkin (an emblem of our
Lord's Passion) ; another holds a palm-branch and crown ;
a third a book in one hand and a crescent in the other.
In character and execution they exactly resemble the other
subjects taken from the chapter-house.
Six shields of arms in a perfect condition, and a seventh,
of which but little, if any, of the original glass exists, are
placed at the bottom of the lights of the west triplet. The
panels in which they are inserted are made up of frag-
ments, and the crowns above the shields are mostly of Per-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
142 CHAPTER-HOUSE : EARLY ENGLISH HERALDRY.
pendicular date. These shields were removed from the
chapter-house ; and it may be inferred from the plate in
Carter's Ancient Architecture before alluded to, that they
were placed — ^with another coat now lost, but which is re-
{)resented in that plate — ^in pairs, side by side, in the four
ower lights of the east window of the chapter-house. It
is most probable that the shields were arranged in a line
just beneath the spring of the heads of the lights. They
have every appearance of being of the same date as the rest
of the glass from the chapter-house.
The important aid to be derived from heraldry in seek*
ing a date is well known to every antiquary ; I shall there-
fore perhaps be excused if I enter somewhat fully into the
question of the probable ownership of these arms, though
I admit there is too much uncertainty as to what other
shields (if any) there may have been in the chapter-house
windows to warrant any confident conclusion, from this
species of evidence alone, as to the precise time of the exe-
cution of the arms, and of the glass with which they were
originally associated.
The existing arms are: 1. England; gules, three lions
passant guardant, or. 2. France; azure, sem6 of fleurs-
de-lis, or. 3. Paly of eight, or and gules, which I do not
hesitate to assign to Provence; for though the arms of
Provence may be admitted to be properly or, four pallets,
gules, as they appear on the wall of the south aisle of
Westminster Abbey, yet this veiy coat, Paly of eight, or
and gules, occurs in a window in York Minster, associated
with others that leave no doubt of its having been intended
for Provence, and also in the east window of the clerestory,
Westminster Abbey. 4. Plantagenet Earl of Cornwall ;
argent, a lion rampant, gules, crowned or, within a bor-
dure sable besant6. 5. Clare Earl of Gloucester; or,
three chevrons gules. And 6. Bigod Earl of Norfolk ;
or, a cross gules. There are also some pieces of glass very
like Bezants, inserted in a modern blue bordure of the
" made-up" shield before mentioned, and which consists
of a sixteenth century imp, on a ground of white glass, of
the same date as that belonging to the chapter -house.
These Bezants may have formed part of a seventh original
shield ; and if so, in all probability it was a second coat
of Plantagenet Earl of Cornwall, but diflerenced with a
Digitized by VjOOQIC
CHAPTER-HOUSE : EARLY ENGLISH HERALDRY, 143
label. Besides these heraldic remains, there appears in
Carter's plate another coat, as before mentioned, viz. War-
ren ; cheeky or and azure.
The arms of England .may safely be assumed to be
those of Henry III, or Edward I., and Provence was the
paternal coat of Eleanor, the queen of Henry IH., who
survived him, and died in ISQl* The arms of France are
probablv to be referred to St. Louis, who married the
eldest sister of Queen Eleanor, and died in I27O, and whose
shield was carved on the wall of the north aisle of West-
minster Abbey, with his name, " S. Ludovicus Rex Fran-
cie,** inscribed above. The coat of Flantagenet Earl of
Cornwall was borne by Richard Earl of Cornwall and
King of the Romans, the brother of Henry IH., who died
in 1^1. And if this coat was repeated, the second must
have been that of his son Edmund, who succeeded him,
and died in 1800. Clare was the coat of Gilbert de Clare,
Earl of Gloucester, who had married a niece of Henry III.,
viz. a daughter of his half brother, Guy Count of Angou-
l^me, son of Queen Isabella by her second marriage, and
who died in 1295. Warren was that of John Earl of
Warren and Surrey, who had married a half sister of
Henry III., and died in 1304. The remaining coat, or,
a cross gules, was that of Roger Bigod Earl of Norfolk,
whose mother was one of the co-heiresses of the Marshals
Earls of Fembroke, and who, after her death, became
Earl Marshal of England in or about 1245, and died in
1269 or 1270 ; or else that of his nephew Roger, who
succeeded him in the earldom and the office of marshal.
Neither of these two noblemen seems to have been more
nearly allied to the royal family than by a mother and
sister of the mother of Roger, the uncle having respec-
tively married a sister and mother of Henry III.
Now, judging from these several coats, — and it is by
no means clear that there were ever any others in the
windows of the chapter-house, — they indicate a period of
a few years before and after the accession of Edward I. in
1272, as that within which it is likely this glass was exe-
cuted, and particularly if there really were two coats of the
Flantagenets Earls of Cornwall.
It may possibly be thought that the arms of France
may have referred to Margaret, the second queen of Ed-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
144 CHAPTER-HOUSE t EAKLT ENGLISH HERALDRY.
ward L, whom he married in 1^9 ; but that could hardly
be the case, if there were two shields with the arms of
Plantagenet Earls of Cornwall, as Earl Richard died in
I27I; and even if there was only one shield with those
arms, the occurrence of the arms of Provence is unfavour-
able to that supposition.
The arms or, a cross gules, which I have attributed,
and I believe correctly, to Roger Bigod Earl of Norfolk,
may seem to create a difficulty, in consequence of the arms
of the Marshals Earls of Pembroke — per pale or and vert,
a lion rampant gules — having been assumed and used on
seals for some purposes by him after he became earl
marshal; and in consequence of Vincent, in his Errors
of Brooke^ p. 340, having stated, in contradiction of what
Brooke had said of their having been used by him for the
purposes of the marshalship only, that they were used in
donations, covenants, &c., and not in matters of the mar-
shalship at all. But I would submit that this statement
of Vincent is evidently too strong ; for though he might
have known of a seal with those arms being affixed to
donations and covenants, and he might not have met with
any instance of its being employed in matters relating to
the marshalship, yet he could not know that it was not so
used at all ; nor does it follow that the earl, after he was
marshal, used these arms only. In fact, these arms, or a
cross gules, were carved in stone, and painted amongst the
series of shields on the wall of the north aisle of West-
minster Abbey, and inscribed, "Rogerus Bigod Comes
Norfolcie •/' and it is evident that those shields must have
been executed several years after Earl Roger became earl
marshal ; and indeed, in all probability, but a few years
before the date which I have assigned to this glass. Un-
fortunately the seal of Earl Roger, the nephew, affixed to
the baron's letter to the Pope, in 1301, has no arms at
all, but only his name and title ; but it is apparent-, from
what is stated by Milles and Brooke, that Hugh Bigod,
father of the elder Earl Roger, sealed sometimes with a
lion passant, and sometimes with this cross ; and therefore
there is no improbability of these arms being those of
Roger Bigod Earl of Norfolk, though he may have some-
times sealed with the arms of marshal. I am aware that
this coat was borne at a later period by the De Burghs
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CATHEDRAL : EAELY ENGLISH PATTERNS. 145
Earls of Ulster ; but no one of them appears to have been
connected with the royal family, or to have had any im-
portant place in this country till about 1310, when John
de Burgh married Elizabeth de Clare, daughter of Joan
of Acre. On the whole, therefore, it must be evident that
the heraldry in this glass agrees very satisfactorily with the
date which I have assigned to it on other grounds.
The ornamental patterns belonging to the Cathedral
and to the Chapter-house next demand our attention.
The majority of these patterns are of painted glass ; but
there are a few which may be called Geometrical Patterns,
in which the design is expressed solely by the lead-work
used in the construction of the window. The principal
remains of the painted patterns, of which there are be-
tween twenty and thirty varieties, are in the west windows
of the aisles of the nave, in the east windows of the aisles
of the choir^ in the lowest triplet of the small south tran-
sept, and in the two upper south lights of the great south
transept. Some fragments are inserted in the west triplet
of the nave.
These patterns form a series varying in date from that
of the Jesse to that of the shields of arms in the west
triplet. The earlier patterns are distinguishable princi-
pally by the drawing of the foliage ; the scrolls of which
are in general less twisted, and the lobe of the leaf, as
compared with the stalk, is somewhat smaller than in the
later examples. The cross hatching (making, of course,
due allowance for patterns designed for more distant situa-
tions) is in general coarser in the earlier specimens ; whilst
the glass of the later patterns, in which cross hatching is
used, is for the most part of a yellower hue than the glass
of the earlier patterns. The latest patterns, including all
those belonging to the Chapter-house, want the cross-
hatched ground. It is, however, impossible to describe
exactly the minute differences on which the supposition as
to the date of the different patterns rests j it is only by the
eye that they can be appreciated.
The patterns, though various in design, exhibit in a
greater or less degree a principle of composition almost
peculiar to early English glass, which seems to have been
suggested by the idea of forming a rich and complicated
Digitized by VjOOQIC
146 CATHEDRAL : EARLY ENGLISH PATTERNS.
pattern by arranging, in strata or layers, a number of plane
figures or panels, in such a manner that the panels com-
posing each layer might overlap and partially conceal
those beneath. By way of illustrating this principle, I
have given, in Plate I., fig. 1, a rough sketch of a pattern
now in the east window of the north aisle of the choir, and
which, though belonging to the chapter-house, exempli-
fies the system in a more striking manner than perhaps
any of the earlier patterns. It will be seen, on examina-
tion, that the pattern is composed of a number of panels.
Each panel has a well-defined border; and the area of
the panel is covered with an ornament exclusively appro-
priated to it. The smallest panels merely have a narrow
edging, and a quatrefoil, or some such ornament, within ;
the larger panels are ornamented with foliaged scroll-
works, the ramifications of which do not overstep the
limits of the border of the panel, nor extend from one
panel into another; by which the idea that each panel is a
distinct superficies is sustained. A reference to Plate IL,
fig. 1, which gives the analysis of this pattern, will render
the foregoing description more intelligible. In this plate,
A denotes the ground or foundation of the window ; B, a
quatrefoil, which, with seventeen similar panels, some of
which are only partially shewn in the diagram, forms the
first layer or plane of ornament ; C is a circular panel,
which, with seventeen others, constitutes the 2d plane of
ornament ; D is a nearly square, though really octagonal
panel,* which, with three others, forms the 3d plane of
ornament ; E is a circular panel, which, with three others,
forms the 4th plane of ornament ; F is a panel similar to
D, which, with two others, forms the 5th plane of orna-
ment; G is a circular panel like E, which, with two
others, forms the 6th plane of ornament ; H is a circular
panel, which, with two others, forms the 7th plane of
ornament ; I is a circular panel, which, with two others,
forms the 8th plane of ornament; KK are quadran-
gular and circular panels, constituting the 9th plane of
ornament ; L indicates the border of the window, which,
as in the head of the light it cuts the rest of the design,
must be taken to constitute the 10th plane of ornament.
* The pattern being slightly elongated, I rendered this form of panel necessarj.
in ordir to fiU up a particular opening, has I
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CATHEDRAL : EARLY ENGLISH PATTERNS.
147
It is interesting to trace the progressive changes in the
style of omamentsii patterns. Without venturing to assert
that the system just described was excltisively used at the
earliest period, I may safely state that, in general, a devia-
tion from it betokens, at least in the glass of this country,
a lateness of date.* Thus in the Five Sisters at York,
which are carefully figured in Browne^s History of York
Cathedral^ and whose date is probably not much earlier
than 1260, although the before-mentioned principle is in
great measure preserved, it is occasionally violated by
the ornamental scroll-work breaking from the area of a
panel through the border, and extending its ramifications
beyond it, over other parts of the design. The result is to
impair, if not destroy, the idea of the panel's being an in-
dividual superficies, and to reduce what primarily was a
border to a plane figure, to a mere line of decoration laid,
as it were, upon the ground-work of the design. The
transition thus becomes easy from the early English to
the decorated ornamental pattern, in which the foliaged
scroll-work freely spreads itself over the entire area of the
window, forming a ground-work, upon which is laid an
open interlaced pattern of narrow bands and fillets of vari-
ous geometrical forms.
It is easy to recognise in the shape of the principal
fillets the outlines of the panels used in the preceding
style, though these, having ceased to constitute any thing
else than mere lines of ornament, may happen to be linked
together or interlaced. By way of illustrating the text, I
* The principle of ornament by means
of layers of panels, described in the text, is
not fanciful, as might at first be supposed.
I have long ago remarked it in a great va-
riety of examples ; and I believe it is only
once violated, and then in a trifling degree,
in the Salisbury patterns. The instance to
which I allude is in one of the lights of the
south triplet of the small south transept
The following plates may be referred
to in illustration of it: Monographie de
la Cathidrale de Bourgea, plate, £tude 1 1 ,
in which two of the Salisbury patterns are
represented; Grisailles D, in which four
more are given ; and Grisailles E, in which
six other examples are engraved. Many
of the patterns in this plate are misrepre •
sented in having cross hatched grounds.
The border sketched in Plate I. fig. 2, of
the present paper, is in the Grisailles E,
fig. 3, misappropriated to the same chap-
ter-house pattern (furnished in the plate
with a cross-hatched ground,) which I have
sketched in the first plate that accom-
panies this paper, fig. 1. In the French
work, many of the foliaged scrolls are also
erroneously represented in reli^, by thick-
ening, contrary to the fact, one of the out-
lines of the scrolL There are other minor
inaccuracies in these and other engravings
of the Monographie, shewing that the plates
of this work, however magnificent, and use-
ful to those who have seen the glass, are
not to be implicitly trusted. See other
specimens of early English patterns, in
Lyson's Bucks, plate facing p. 488 ; in the
Inquiry into the Difference of Style observ-
able in ancient Painted Glaes, plates 5, 6, 8,
and 10 ; and in Browne's History qf York
Cathedral, plates 61, 03, 65, 67, and 69.
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148 CATHEDRAL : EARLY ENGLISH PATTERNS.
have given in Plate III.* a rough sketch of an early Ger-
man Decorated pattern (see fig. 1), in which the ornamental
scroll-work is confined within the limits of the demi-quatre-
foil panels at the sides of the design, but breaks through
the borders of the demi-quatrefoil panels at the top and
bottom of the design. And also a rough sketch of an
early Decorated pattern from Chartham Church, Kent
(see fig. 2), in which the scroll-work freely extends over
the area of the design. I have also given, in Plate XL, the
analysis (see fig. 2) of a Decorated pattern from Stanford
Church, Northamptonshire. In this diagram, the part
opposite A represents the scroll-work forming the ground
of the pattern ; that opposite B, the interlaced fillets ; and
that opposite C, the complete pattern formed by laying the
interlaced fillets upon the scroU-work.t The outline of
the early English quatrefoil panel will be easily recognised
in the form of the beaded quatrefoil fillet.
The principle of employing several planes of ornament
for purposes of enrichment pervades mediseval decoration.
Its application to iron-work has been pointed out by Mr.
Pugin, and its application to window-tracery by Professor
Willis. In both these cases, in general, each plane is in
design rather complementary than opposed to that of the
plane which precedes it in order of ornament ; but instances
do occur in architecture, as well as in painted glass, where
the general effect of the composition is produced by the
intersection of the designs of different planes of ornament,
as in the triforium arcade of Beverley Minster, figured in
the eleventh page of the Remarks on Beverley Minster in
the York volume of the Archwological Institute^ of which,
for facility of reference, I have given a tracing in Plate I.
fig. 6. We may also recognise the principle of intersects
ing planes of ornament as well in those cases where an
entire picture in painted glass extends beyond the limits of
a single light, and is actually severed by the muUions of a
window ; as in those where the subject rather than the pic-
ture is cut by the muUions, it being composed of separate
individual parts, which occupy the spaces between the
* The drawings are made to a scale of
If inch to a foot The German pattern is
now in the west window of Camberwell
Church.
t In this particular instance the centre
stem of the foliaged scroll-work is inter.
woTcn with the interlaced fillets, which is
rather unusual.
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CATHEDRAL : EARLY ENGLISH PATTERNS. 149
mullions without being touched by them. Of the former
arrangement there are many instances in early Decorated
glass at Cologne, where some of the figures even are cut by
the mullions, and elsewhere ; and very numerous instances
in later glass. Of the latter, the martyrdom of St. Sebas-
tian in the early Decorated glass of Bristol Cathedral, and
the veiT common subject of the Crucifixion, with the atten-
dant Mary and John, in glass of all dates, afford sufficient
examples.
The painted ornamental patterns of the Cathedral and
Chapter-house are principally composed of white glass,
colour being sparinglyintroduced in the borders and cen-
tres of the panels. The white glass in some of the later
patterns belonging to the Cathedral is of a dusky yellow
hue ; in the majority, however, of the patterns, it is of a
cold though rich sea-green hue. To the texture and
hue of the glass these patterns owe their substantial and
solemn appearance, which makes them harmonise with
the character of the architecture, and with the Picture
glass paintings that are coeval with them. The local
colour of the white glass is, except in the dusk of the
evening, less strikingly apparent on a close than on a dis-
tant view. Thus the ancient windows, unlike the modem
copies in the great south transept, are in great measure
independent for richness of the pattern painted on the
glass ; for when the pattern itself is lost in distance, the
local colour of the material shews itself the more dis-
tinctly.
Much of the foliaged scroll-work used in these patterns
is of great beauty ; one of the best specimens is perhaps
afforded by the pattern in the west window of the north
aisle of the nave.
It is impossible to say whether or not all these pattern
windows originally had ornamented borders. If the glass
slightly indicated in the 26th plate of Britten's History of
Salisbury Cathedral was then in its original position, it
would afford ground for supposing that some of the pat-
terns were separated from the stone-work only by a plain
narrow strip of white glass; the small proportion of borders
in existence, as compared with the number of the patterns,
seems somewhat to countenance this supposition. There
is but one border, besides that of the Jesse, coeval with
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150
CHAPTER-HOUSE : EARLY ENGLISH PATTERNS.
the older patterns. A sketch of it is given in Plate I.
fig. 2. It is now in the south light of the west triplet,
mingled with a later border from the Chapter-house. I
think it may be identified with fig. B in Carter's plate,
which is there designated as a " border from the nave.'*
The borders of the patterns in the east windows of the
choir aisles, and the west windows of the nave aisles, were
added at the same time that the patterns were removed
to these situations. The fleurs-de-lis on a blue ground,
which are inserted in the border of the west window of the
south aisle of the nave, were taken from another window
of the Cathedral, and from their form do not appear to be
earlier than the reign of Edward III. That they are not
as old as the pattern is placed beyond a doubt by the fact
of their execution on yellow stained glass.*
It is clear that ornamented borders were used in the
Chapter-house windows. Three varieties of these borders
remain in the west triplet, and are sketched in Plate I.
figs. 1, 4, and 5, which may be identified respectively with
figures U, V, and W in Carter's plate, and which shews
that they belonged to the Chapter-house.t I have appro-
priated one of these borders to the pattern fig. 1 (though
it appears from Carter's plate that the border belonged to
a different pattern), as I found that its addition made the
pattern 4 feet 1 inch wide — the exact width of the Chap-
ter-house lower lights. Another pattern from the Chapter-
house, one half of which is inserted in each of the two
upper south lights of the great south transept, if doubled
and enlarged with a border of equal width to the last,
would also exactly fit the lower lights of the Chapter-house.
This pattern resembles one represented in Carter's plate,
fig. 5. There is one pattern now in the west light of the
lowest triplet of the small south transept of the same cha-
racter as the other patterns from the Chapter - house,
which, if placed in one of the lights of that building,
would admit only of a narrow strip of glass between it and
the stone arch ; but this pattern, if it ever belonged to the
Chapter-house, was removed thence long before the others,
* In the engraving of this pattern in
Shaw's Encyclopedia of Ornament^ the
form of the flears-de-lis is humoured so as
to accord with the date of the pattern.
t A border to one of the windows is
represented in the slight indication of the
Chapter - house glass given in the 14 th
plate of Britton's History of Salitbury Ca*
thedraL
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CATHEDRAL : DECORATED GLASS. 151
and the diflference in the hue of its material favours the
supposition that it originally belonged to some other place,
most probably to a window of the cathedral.
Of the geometrical patterns before alluded to, two
specimens retain their original position in two of the east
clerestory windows of the great north transept. Four other
specimens, which were removed from the clerestory, are
inserted in the lowest part of the lights of the south triplet
of the small south transept, and a few others lie at present
in the glazier's room attached to the Cathedral.
These patterns, as before observed, are entirely com-
posed of plain pieces of glass leaded together. The border
consists of a plain strip of white glass. In design, some
resemble a window of quarries, having banded edges ; but
the majority suggest the idea of a number of plain flat
members interwoven together. Sketches of two examples
are given in Plate IV.* Most of these patterns are en-
riched by the occasional insertion of small plain pieces of
coloured glass. The white glass employed in these pat-
terns is, in general, of a deeper hue than that used in the
painted patterns, and gives the windows, in consequence,
the appearance of having been made up of refuse frag-
ments. Some of the pieces of glass have almost a purple
tint ; the greater part incline from a light to a deep dusky
yellow hue. These diflerences of tint impart great rich-
ness and variety to the patterns. I think it may be as-
sumed that the geometrical patterns are coeval, at all
events, with the later painted patterns that belong to the
Cathedral.
The next glass in order of date consists of a number of
rather early Decorated quarries (in which the yellow stain
is used) that are now employed as a border to the centre
light of the east windows of the north and south aisles of
the choir. These quarries were removed from a window of
the small south transept, near the entrance to the vestiy,
where they were placed squarewise. The fleurs-de-lis m
the border of the west window of the south aisle of the
nave have already been noticed.
It now becomes necessary, for the purpose of continuing
to investigate the remains of painted glass in order of date,
to leave the Cathedral for St. Thomas's Church. The
* The drawings are made to a scale of 1-^ inch to a foot.
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152
ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH : DECORATED GLASS.
first window of the north aisle, counting from the east,
retains in the head of both its outer lower lights and in
all its principal tracery lights, fragments of the scroll-work
and coloured ground of a late Decorated Jesse;* the figures
have all been destroyed. The stem, unlike that of the
Jesse in the Cathedral, is a flowing tendril of white glass,
from which proceed yellow- stained and other- coloured
leaves and grapes. The stem is smear- shaded, and the
ground of the lights is richly diapered. The smaller tra-
ceiy lights are filled with small ornaments in white and
yellow stained glass. The glass appears to be of the latter
part of the reign of Edward III. A few small ornaments
of the same character and date remain in the smaller tra-
cery lights of several of the windows of the north aisle.
The east window of the north aisle has been a figure and
canopy window of the same date as the last glass. The
head of an original canopy, composed of white and yellow
stained glass, remains in the upper part of each of the two
outer lower lights. In the tracery lights are some muti-
lated demi-figures, each under a canopy. Smear-shading
is used in the figures, the drawing of which betokens the
approach of the perpendicular style.
The east window of the soutn aisle has the remains of
canopies in its five lower lights, executed in white and
yellow stained glass. In the two topmost tracery lights is
represented the coronation of the Virgin, and in each of
the other tracery lights is a shield bearing a merchant's
mark. This glass seems to be of the time of Henry VI.
The white glass has a cold greenish tint, but not nearly
so strong as that of the glass in the windows of the north
aisle, which, again, is quite of a difierent hue from the
white glass of the pattern windows of the cathedral and
chapter-house.
In the vestry adjoining the north aisle of this church
is a window of three lights, in which are represented, on
brackets, not under canopies, one of the persons of the
Holy Trinity, St. Christopher, and a saint bishop. The
lights are glazed with ornamental quarries, which form the
• The window itself is of early perpen-
dicular character. It is clear that, in ge-
neral, the changes of style in architecture
preceded the corresponding changes of style
in painted glass. In the glass belonging to
the chapter-honse windows, the form of
ornament is purely early English ; but in
some of the sculpture of that edifice, parti-
cularly of the doorway, the decorated foli-
age occurs.
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HALL OF JOHN HALLE : PERPENDIGULAB GLASS. 153
background to the figures, and have borders composed of
stained yellow ornaments on a red or blue ground. The
glass appears to be also of the reign of Henry VI. The
head of St. Christopher, and the whole of the Divine
Infant, are painted on a piece of very light potmetal pink
glass, an unusual occurrence in English glass of this period.
The elaborate finish of these figures, and general lightness
of the colours used in the window, contrast strongly with
the more simple and vigorous execution of the figures, and
the vivid colouring of the Jesse in the Cathedral. Stipple-
shading is employed ; but owing to a timid application of
it, the figures appear quite flat.
The Hall of John Halle contains some excellent speci-
mens of ornamental glazing and heraldry of the latter
part of the reign of Henry v I., or commencement of the
reign of Edward IV. The windows have all been " re-
stored ;'' but it is easy to distinguish the modem additions,
which are not extensive, from the original glazing. The
lights have borders composed of small rectangular orna-
ments (three varieties placed alternately are generally used)
of white and yellow stained glass, separated by small bits
of plain blue and red, or blue, green, and pink glass. The
upper cuspidation of the light is occupied with a lion's
head, and the next cuspidation on each side with either a
rose, a crown, a star with wavy rays, or a sun, painted on
white and yellow stained glass. Ciphers, instead of roses,
&c. are used in the six cuspidations of one of the lights on
the east side of the hall. The ground of the lights is com-
posed of ornamented quarries, between each row of which is
inserted diagonally a scroll inscribed " drede.*' * A panel
containing either a coat-of-arms or a badge is introduced
in the upper part of each of the lights on the east side of
the hall by being let into the quarry-ground, the pattern of
which is cut by the panel. This mode of introducing the
panels afibrds another and a very common exemplification
of the principle of employing different planes of ornament
for purposes of enrichment. It may be said, indeed, that
in these windows there are five planes of ornament, viz.
1st, the quarry-ground ; 2d, the scrolls, which are sup-
posed to lie on the quarry-ground ; 3d, the panels ; 4th,
• An attempt is made in Duke's account of the hall to assign a meaning to this word.
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154 CATHEDRAL : PERPENDICULAR AND CINQUE-CENTO GLASS,
the shields or badges laid on the panels; and 5th, the
border of the window which cuts the design, A represen-
tation of John Halle himself — of which, however, only the
legs and ground beneath are original — occupies the centre
of one of the lights on the west side of the hall. I must
refer the reader to Duke's account of the hall of John Halle
for a description of the badges, and for the blazon of the
shields.
The next remains in order of date are the pieces of
late perpendicular and cinque-cento glass used to fill up
the west triplet of the nave and the centre-light of the east
windows of the north and south aisles of the choir of the
cathedral. Some of this glass was brought from France,
some from the neighbourhood of Exeter. One subject,
the arms of Henry VH., now in the top of the centre-light
of the west triplet, was brought from one of the south win-
dows of the south aisle of the nave. Not having examined
these remains so minutely as the other glass, I am unable
to give an equally detailed account of them. The subjects
in the west triplet of the nave are, in the south light, a
figure of St. Peter ; a figure praying ; a figure kneeling
before a crucifix (St. Francis ?) ; a group of figures ; and
a female saint ; all which are in the style of the early part
of the l6th century. The subjects in the centre-light are,
a Crucifixion, with Mary and John ; the Virgin crowned ;
a St. Peter ; a bishop enthroned ; all which are of the
16th century, and, as it is said, were brought from Nor-
mandy. Also the Invention of the Cross (the three crosses
are each represented, as a cross-tau) ; a Crucifixion, with
Mary and John ; all which are of the l6th century, and
are said to have been brought from the neighbourhood of
Exeter ; and some angels bearing the Instruments of the
Passion, also of the l6th century, and said to have been
brought from Normandy.
In the north light the subjects are, a bishop, St. An-
thony, the Betrayal of Christ, and a St. Catherine ; all
which are of the l6th century, and are said to be French
glass. Unfortunately I took no memorandum of the sub-
jects in the east windows of the choir aisles ; they are of
the same character as the rest.
Although these glass-paintings are not very favourable
specimens of the state of the art in the l6th century, a ^
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CATHEDRAL : MODERN GLASS.
155
careful examinatioD of them will not be without advantage.
They are executed on a material more flimsy than that used
in the glass-paintings in the vestry-room of St. Thomas's
Church, or in the Hall of John Halle ; yet they are far
more effective ; and the groups of figures, though more
complicated, are as distinct, when seen at a proper distance,
as the simpler groups of the 13th century, and convey to
the spectator as lively an idea of the subject represented.
They thus afford a striking proof of the skill of the glass-
painters of the l6th century, who, principally by means of
admirable arrangements of colour, and the use of powerful
though transparent shadows and brilliant lights, displayed
the hitherto undeveloped resources of their art.
The latest old specimen of glass-painting in the cathe-
dral is the arms of Bishop Jewell, which is dated 1562, and
occupies the quatrefoil of the west window of the south
aisle of the nave. The shield is placed within a wreath ;
and the whole composition is a remarkably favourable
specimen of the period.
It now only remains for me to notice the modem glass
in the Cathedral ; which is comprised in the windows of
the Lady Chapel ; the eastern triplet of the choir ; and
the south windows of the great south transept, with the
exception of the two upper lights.
The eastern triplet of the Lady Chapel is filled with a
representation of the Eesurrection, designed by Sir Joshua
Keynolds,* and executed by Francis Egington of Birming-
ham. I do not question the intrinsic merit of this com-
position, but it is unfortunately not of a nature suited to a
glass-painting. The principal object, and indeed the only
figure represented, is our Lord ascending from the tomb.
In the distance are dimly seen the three crosses on Mount
Calvary. Light emanating from our Saviour's person illu-
minates the objects in His immediate presence ; all around
is gloom. This effect is produced by means which cannot
be satisfactorily resorted to in a glass painting, — the keep-
ing of a very large portion of the picture in comparative
obscurity. For a gloomy or obscure effect in painted glass.
* It 18 stated in Gilpin's Western Coun-
ties, that in bis first design for the window
Sir Joshua represented the mouth of the
tomb closed ; and when remonstrated with,
defended himself on the ground that he had
thereby enhanced the character of the mi-
racle. It is more probable that Sir Joshua
d^ended himself on the authority of ancient
precedents.
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156 CATHEDRAL : AIODERN GLASS.
however it may be aided by the employment of pot-metals,
&c. of deep tint, can only be produced by an exclusion of
the light, with nearly opaque enamels. And this, when
carried beyond a certain limit, occasions a flat, heavy, and,
paradoxical as it may appear, flimsy appearance, destruc-
tive of all impressiveness, and widely different from the
depth and transparency of a picture in oils painted in
equally deep tones. The task was thus imposed on the
glass-painter — even had he possessed sufficient genius, in-
stead of literally copying his model, to have embodied its
spirit— K)f representing what is particularly difficult, if not
incapable of adequate representation in painted glass. A
skilful glass colourist might, to a certain extent, have
succeeded in imparting to the window an effect more in
accordance with Sir Joshua Reynolds* intention ; but the
course adopted by Egington, of executing the window en-
tirely on white glass, with enamel colours and stains, was of
all others that most calculated to ensure an unsatisfactory
result. In comparison with what might have been effected,
the colouring of the window is weak, and its brightest
lights are dull ; and the red-brown enamel in the land-
scape and sky, unaided by pot-metal glass, wholly fails of
producing that supernatural lurid appearance which ap-
pears to have been intended by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
The remaining windows of the Lady Chapel are also
painted by Egington. They are filled with a quarry pat-
tern, having a dull red rose stained in the midst of each
quarry, and thickly covered with a reddish brown ground.
The effect of these windows is, like that of the east win-
dow, dull and heavy, without being deep or impressive.
The subject in the east window of the choir is the Lift-
ing up of the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness. It was
executed by Pearson, after a design by Mortimer, and as
a glass-painting is certainly superior to the east window of
the Lady Chapel. The design is, in principle, not unsuit-
able to a glass painting ; there are no overpowering masses
of heavy shadow, and the more positive colours are carried
to the extreme verge of the picture. The colouring is
lively, and the picture has a certain degree of brilliancy.
Pot-metal glass, as well as enamel colours and stains, is
employed. Still I cannot admit the fitness of the painting
for its situation. The character of the architecture is
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CATHEDRAL : MODERN GLASS, 157
severe, solemn, and gloomy; and would therefore appear
to demand in the glass-painting simplicity of composition
and colouring, as well as depth of tone : in short, a cha-
racter the very opposite to that of the present window, A
genuine Early English Pattern window, though possessing
but little positive colour, would, owing to its depth of ef-
fect, and the gravity and solemnity of its appearance, have
suited the place better. The " Five Sisters** harmonise
admirably with the architecture of the north transept of
York. Another ground of objection appears to be, that
the design is carried across the triplet independent of the
divisions of the lights. It has been shewn in a former
part of this paper, that the practice of extending the de-
sign of a glass-painting beyond the limits of a single light,
is not only fully supported by the best authorities, but is
strictly in accordance with the principles of medieval com-
position. And indeed, when the lights are divided merely
by mullions, the practice might safely be allowed to rest
on its own merits : for, without having recourse to it, it
would often be impossible to break, by the occasional intro-
duction of a group, the painful monotony which would
otherwise be occasioned by the continual repetition of
single figures throughout a series of windows, or even in
one large window, and, at the same time, ensure to the
group sufficient size to produce a satisfactory efiect. But
in the present instance the lights are separated not by
mullions, but by portions of wall, of such breadth as ma-
terially to weaken, if not destroy, the idea of the continuity
of the subject; and thus an unpleasing effect is pro-
duced.
It may be conceded, that in this particular window the
use of a landscape background is unfortunate, because it is
opposed to that simplicity of colouring which is most in
harmony with the character of the architecture. But
apart from this consideration, the objection so continually
urged in certain quarters against the employment in a
painted window of such a landscape background as is com-
?atible with the conditions of glass painting, is untenable,
t is true that the lead lines, and want of atmosphere in-
separable from painted glass, would be fatal to the effect
of a glass-painting in which a landscape formed the most
prominent object ; but the landscape suitable to a glass-
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158 CATHEDRAL : MODERN GLASS.
painting is a mere accessory, one of whose functions is, as
it were, to tie together the composition, and which is very
subordinate in interest to that of other parts of the compo-
sition. And such a landscape may be represented very ade-
quately in painted glass,* quite as naturally indeed as any
other object can be represented in a window. No objection
founded on the want of means of representation can be urged
against the use of a landscape in painted glass, which would
not apply with equal force against its employment in a
fresco, or other large picture. It is possible, no doubt, to
represent almost any subject without such an adjunct; but
none can deny the power of a landscape, when properly in-
troduced, in assisting the picture by an additionsd appeal
to nature, to the performance of its true oflSce, — that of
awakening in the mind a lively idea of the subject repre-
sented. It therefore seems foolish, without some good
reason, to debar the artist from availing himself of it.
The landscape in RaphaePs Miraculous Draught of Fishes
has often been deservedly commended ; if omitted, would
the picture have proved so striking and effective ?
It has sometimes been contended that the use of a
landscape in any mural painting, and bv consequence in a
glass-painting, is improper ; because, when we see a land-
scape painted on a wall, we know that we do not look
upon an opening ; that when we see a landscape high up
in a church window, we know that it is impossible that a
landscape could be visible through a window in such a
situation. The objection, however, is rather ingenious than
solid. It rests on a misapprehension of the true and pro-
per end of painting. This is not delusion ; it is not to
make the spectator suppose that the object represented is
really present in the place where it is represented ; it is
only to awaken in the mind a lively idea of this object.
" Imitations,'' says Dr. Johnson, " produce pain or plea-
sure, not because they are mistaken for realities, but be-
cause they bring realities to mind. When the imagination
is recreated by a painted landscape, the trees are not sup-
posed capable to give us shade, or the fountains coolness ;
but we consider how we should be pleased with such foun-
tains playing beside us, and such woods waving over us.'*
* This is denied in a recent article in l confusion of the writer's ideas is such as to
the Ecclenoloffist, No. 74, p. 81 ; but the I render further comment superfluous.
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CATHEDRAL : MODERN GLASS. 159
It is admitted that no one mistakes any such representa-
tion for a reality; it is therefore hard to perceive what
possible impropriety there can be in our being suffered to
see the representation in a spot where the reality cannot
be, or why a rule should be applied to landscapes, which
does not hold good as to other subjects of painting. A
third objection, and, as it seems to me, the only ground
admitting of argument, is the difficulty of seeing such
pictures from the true perspective point of sight ; but the
fact that numbers of pictures are viewed from what is not
the true point of sight, and are yet seen with undiminished
pleasure, seems to afford a complete answer to it.
The only other painted windows of the Cathedral are
those in the great south transept. The two topmost lights
of the south end are, as before-mentioned, filled with early
glass. The rest contain modem copies of the early Eng-
lish patterns, except the centre-light of the lowest triplet,
which appears to be modem in design. These windows
afford one of the many proofs that, however closely the
design of ancient glass is copied, the imitation cannot be
complete, unless the texture of the ancient material is
copied also.
C. Winston.
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OBSERVATIONS ON ECCLESIASTICAL AND
MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE,
DEUVERED AT THE MEETING OF THE ARCHJEOLOOICAL INSTITUTE
AT SALISBURY,
By RICHARD WESTMACOTT, Jun., R.A. F.R.S.
IS49.
It is an interesting fact, and one of great value in the
objects to which this Society devotes itself, that no coun-
try can produce so complete a series of sepulchral and
monumental sculpture as is to be found in England.
Italy, Germany, and France especially, possess most inte-
resting specimens of different ages and styles, and occa-
sionaUy, in insulated examples, some of superior detail;
but nowhere can we trace so fully as in our own land a
continued series of such works, exhibiting the different
phases of the art as applied to these memorials.
The condition of sculpture, whenever it has been prac-
tised with original feeling or design, will be found to illus-
trate the degree of intelligence, and not unfrequently even
the social state of the people among whom it has existed ;
and it is only after the original impulse or feeling has been
interfered with or destroyed, that this indicative property
and value of art may be said to disappear.
The departure from primitive types, and the introduc-
tion of new elements — the natural consequence of the
constantly changing condition of society and of the human
mind — constitute two of the greatest difficulties with which
the historian of art has to contend in his endeavours to
shew precisely where the art has this illustrative quality :
where it is original, and where it has been disturbed by
mere caprice or by foreign influence. The difficulty be-
comes still greater when, instead of the changes progressing
with the state of society and simply exhibiting its altered
condition, all hold or association with the present or time
being is relinquished; and the fashion has been to re-
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trograde altogether, and to recur for art to a bygone age.
There appears always to have been this tendency to leave,
at one time or other, the real and original, and to adopt
an artificial and, so far, false school of art ; whereby
much that was valuable and of promise has certainly been
lost, and frequently without anv corresponding or compen-
sating good having been gained. That it was so, even in
ancient times, might easily be shewn in the histories of the
Greek, Boman, and even Archaic schools of art ; but the
limits to which these observations must be confined render
it inexpedient to enter at any length upon such an inquiry.
It will be sufficient to say, there is ample illustration of
it in the history of classical art, as will be admitted by
all who have devoted any attention to these subjects. In
more modem times the indulgence of this strange caprice
has been attended with most injurious, and, it may almost
be said, fatal results to art. In what manner this has pro-
duced such evil consequences, as especially bearing on our
present subject, it will be my endeavour to shew in the
course of the* following observations.
It will, I presume, at once be admitted that the Chris-
tian religion opened an entirely new source of inspiration
to Christian artists. Pagan art was not only incapable of
illustrating Christian subjects, but, ingeniously as it was
sometimes applied, the character of representation appro-
priate to the heathen mythology was obviously unfit to be
employed by Christians in aid of their purer religion. So
entirely, indeed, does ancient art appear to have been dis-
regarded and ignored by the earlier Christian artists of all
kinds, whether painters or sculptors, that, to judge from
what was produced in the sixth and seventh centuries after
Christ, it might be imagined that the fine monuments of
Greece had never existed, or, at least, that every example of
it was lost. In the Eastern Churches especially this marked
independence of the ancient schools and types, and origin-
ality with respect to representative art, was exemplified in
the most extraordinary way; namely, by the strict proscrip-
tion of all forms of beauty, and by the studied adoption
of meagreness, and even ugliness, in the representations
of Our Saviour and the Virgin. It is a curious fact that
such a feeling should have arisen among the descendants
of those very Greeks who had carried ideal beauty of form
M
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to its highest perfection. The Western Church acted on
the opposite principle.
Under these circumstances, the origin and growth of
Christian art are highly interesting ; for it was then that
the more deeply-thinking and earnest disciples of the Faith,
awakened to the want of that which the older system did
not and could not supply, discovered, in the same exhaust-
less mine which had already in so many various ways aided
man to illustrate thought and feeling, a new vein from which
the richest produce could still be drawn. It was felt that
the multitude could be interested in and instructed by gra-
phic illustration where they were unable to inform them-
selves by reading; and thus art became enlisted in the great
cause of teaching religious truth. Then arose the illumi-
nators, the mosaicists, the rude fresco painters, and image-
makers, who began to work out most curiously their ideOy
as it were, a principioy and as though there never had been
art before. Christian artists began, in short, as the Greeks,
as the Egyptians, as all others had begun: namely, to
create a school of art for themselves, to be especially em-
ployed in the honour and advancement of religion.*
Among one peculiarly susceptible people in ancient times,
the art, which had originated in precisely the same way, had
attained a most surprising development. After a course of
years, each step they advanced leading to greater excellence,
the Greek sculptors achieved works which still claim our
admiration for the unapproached, perhaps unapproachable,
excellence they exhibit. They offer to us precisely what
imitative art is intended to effect, — expression set forth in
the most perfect forms; leaving, so far as their intention is
fulfilled, nothing to be desired. Now it is interesting, and
not unimportant, to bear in mind, that this was produced
in by far the greater part of their works, and certainly
in those of the best period of the art, in representations
of the persons or actions of their mythology. However
limited and coarse their notions of a divine nature, the
object was to add to the interest and dignity of religion,
by engaging in its illustration the highest powers of the
• That in some respects an acquaint-
ance with a few examples of Greek sculp-
ture preserved in the Campo 'Santo at
Pisa tended to improve the forms in the
works of Niccolo Pisano and his imme-
diate followers, may be admitted ; but this
will not affect the general bearing of these
remarks, nor the view we are justified in
taking of the perfect originality of earlj
Christian sculpture.
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poetical and illustrative genius of the age. To take one
out of many proofs of this. Of the Elean Jupiter of Phi-
dias it was said, "cujus pulchritude adjecisse aliquid etiam
receptsB religioni videtur, adeo majestas operis Deum aequa-
vit.** Thus was art applied to the highest purpose, and
evidently the result was commensurate with the object.*
Turning now to the commencement of Christian art,
we find this was also the aim of the more modem ar-
tist, and the first object the Christian had in its prac-
tice. And can it for a moment be believed, that what
man was able to do five hundred years before Christ, with
a religion for an inciting cause which, though full of
poetry, abounded in absurdities, in anomalies, and in gross-
ness, he could not again do when such a religion as that
taught in the gospel was the object of his thoughts and
study ? A religion, be it remembered, not falling short of
the ancient heathenism in subjects both of sublimity and
pathos, but standing out distinct from other systems in
its freedom from all that degraded and sullied the older
myths and creeds; while it was immeasurably superior
to them by the influence it was capable of exercising on
the finer feelings of our nature by the graces and chari-
ties it inculcates. There is nothing in reason or analogy
to support such a degrading supposition. On the contrary,
judging as we are able to do of art of the class produced
under what may be considered similar conditions, it surely
cannot be denied that there is sufficient evidence that like
causes to those which influenced Greek art were competent
to produce a like effect in Christian art ; or in other words,
considering earnestness of feeling the cause, it may be fear-
lessly asserted there is not less effective character in the
works of the early Christian than there is in the works of
the equally early heathen artists.
Of course, in one respect (the representation of naked
forms), the sculptor of antiquity was able to exhibit more
of the physical beauty of the figure than the Christian artist;
but, allowing it all its great advantages, this belongs to
the material and merely technical, rather than the strictly
aesthetic properties of art. Who that has had an opportu-
* The decline and extinction of scalp-
tore, according to the fine Grecian prac-
tice, even among the ancients, is a curious
phenomenon. It goes far to prove that
perfect execution and the representation
of mere physical beauty are insufficient of
themselves to insure durability and con-
tinuance to a school of art.
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nity of seeing the best productions of Giotto, of the Fisani,
and others of that time, will assert that the early Christian
artists were inferior in grace, in feeling, in character, to the
early Greeks? or, to quote examples nearer home, and which
may be immediately consulted, where shall we find in the
best Greek sculpture any monuments exhibiting these qua-
lities in a higher degree than the exquisite specimens in the
cathedral of this city: in the relievi and heads in spandrels
and bosses in the chapter-house, in the north-west transept,
and in Bishop Bridport's monument ; as well as others to
be met with in our older churches throughout England ?
The remains of these fathers of Christian painting and
sculpture still existing in this country, but more especially
in Italy, fully confirm this appreciation of the merits of
the artists, and justify the hope that might fairly have
been entertained of the ultimate perfection of the Chris-
tian school of art, especially in the Western Church, had
foreign influence not stepped in to arrest its progress.
To the question. Why, then, did not Christian art
reach this perfection ? an answer may easily be found irre-
spectively of the assumed superiority of the subjects in the
heathen religion, or of the equally assumed inferiority of
the artists of modem times. But this is a subject which
claims a more extended notice than can be afforded for it
on this occasion, and it can only be glanced at cursorily.
As we proceed, the causes, in part, of this imperfection
will appear; and it will then perhaps be admitted, that had
Christian art but had fair play, it was quite as capable of
reaching excellence as any that had preceded it.
The monuments preserved in the cathedral of this
city — and I am induced by circumstances to limit my
remarks on this occasion to sepulchral sculpture — furnish
most interesting examples of the class of works alluded
to. They extend from the earliest period of the introduc-
tion of monumental sculpture in this country down to the
corrupted taste, when such works lost all true ecclesiastical
character, — that is, from the eleventh to the seventeenth
century ; and a careful examination of them will shew the
steps of change in the style of art as each, apparently at
first trifling, innovation was introduced.
While I am glad to avail myself of such illustration
so near at hand, it is painful to have to remark upon
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165
the shameful displacement of so many of the finest mo-
numents in this cathedral. But few of them occupy the
situations in which they were originally placed ; and many
of these have their architectural portions (as the tombs on
which effigies are lying) ignorantly made up of fragments
evidently belonging to totally different erections, and to
distinct periods from those to which the sculptured figures
they support are attributable.*
The first object of monuments appears to have been
simply to record a fact ; namely, that here a body was
buried. A stone, sometimes flat and plain, sometimes
slightly roof-shaped (what the French antiquaries call do8
d^ane)^ marked this. There was at first neither name,
nor date, nor emblem. Next there was the desire to
mark the quality or condition of the person buried. A
cross, or perhaps a pastoral staff, was engraved on the
slab ; the representation of the figure of the individual ;
the inscription of the name ; his title or rank ; usually
also the date of his death ; and sometimes a prayer for
the repose of his soul was added.
The earliest examples known in England of slabs with
figures in low relief are in the cloisters of Westminster
Abbey. They are of abbots of the dates 1086 and 11 72
respectively. Those in Salisbury Cathedral, of this cha-
racter of design, are of nearly the same date. They were
not originally in their present situation, but were removed
thither, or at least to this edifice, from the church of Old
Sarum. Like all early sculpture, the relief is extremely
low or flat. They are supposed to represent Bishops
Roger (1 139), and Joceline (1 184). In one of these, where
the head, though of very early work, is evidently a later
addition to the original figure, the action of the right
hand displays great feeling and considerable power of art.
In the other, the treatment of the drapery and other parts
is very characteristic of the rudest era of sculpture; closely
resembling, in many respects that will occur to the anti-
quary, what is called the Etruscan style. It will be re-
marKed that all the earliest monuments, wherever they
occur, are of ecclesiastics. From the fifth to the twelfth
• Potitcript, — Professor Willis en-
tered folly into this subject in his admir-
able discourse on the history of the ca-
thedralf which followed these observations ;
and he exhibited in a ground-plan the ex-
tent of the mischief which ignorance and
recklessness had effected with regard to
these interesting memorials.
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166 OBSERVATIONS ON ECCLESIASTICAL
century the status and power of the Church (the Church
in this sense meaning the clergy) had heen so far organised,
that it exercised a dominant influence over all the art that
was attempted. All art of the time was, in fact, applied to,
or connected with, religious purposes ; and, probably, the
artists themselves were more or less attached to, or con-
nected with, the ecclesiastical establishments. At any rate,
it is evident when sculptured monumental records of indi-
viduals were admitted or introduced into churches, the
more distinguished clergy seem to have claimed the appli-
cation of the art in their own honour.
From the first flat relievi above noticed, works of a
superior character of art came by degrees to be executed ;
and after a time, kings, knights, and ladies, are found to
have their monuments, which were always or almost always
surmounted by their effigies. Among the earliest and best
of such representations in the cathedral, is the monument
of William Longespee (or more correctly Long*espee) first
Earl of Salisbury, the bastard son of Henry 11. by the fair
Rosamond. He died in 1226. The manly, warrior cha-
racter of the figure is particularly striking, even in its
recumbent attitude ; while the turn of the head, and the
graceful flow of lines in the right arm and hand, with the
natural, heavy fall of the chain-armour on that side, ex-
hibit a feeling of art which would not do discredit to a
very advanced school. The earliest regal monument in
England is that of King John in Worcester CathedraL
Although personages not ecclesiastics were now intro-
duced on monuments, a strict conformitv to what may
properly be termed the true ecclesiastical style was still
observed. The Church influence occasioned, as was na-
tural, this similarity of style and design ; and no other
could be so appropriate and impressive. It will be seen
that up to this time there is a general similarity in all
these monumental effigies ; but about the middle of the
thirteenth or towards the fourteenth century, a more ex-
tended character of design appeared, and we then com-
mence an exceedingly interesting period of monumental
sculpture. Erections of various character, from that of
extreme simplicity to works of most elaborate design and
decoration, in memory of kings, queens, nobles, warriors, —
indeed of every person of dignity, or whose relations had the
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means of so honouring them, — now enriched the churches
of the land.
It must again he remarked, that, notwithstanding this
extension or amplification of the composition, all, or almost
all, the monumental designs are still pervaded by what
may be called a religious or devotional character. The
knight, it is true, is sometimes seen in the act of drawing
— or may it not be of sheathing? — his sword ; but the most
common attitude even of the fiercest-looking warrior is that
in which a Christian would fain be found at the most awful
moment of life — its termination — in the act of prayer. His
hands are placed together on his breast, turned upwards, or
even bent back on the bosom. Sometimes at the sides of
the pillow on which his head rests are small attending an-
gels, like guardian spirits of the departed ; sometimes they
are watching; sometimes ministering, as in the small angels
at the head of the effigy of Bishop Bridport, where they are
represented as throwing incense. The elaborate treatment
of such works from the time of Edward 111. to Henry VII.
shews how such monuments may be highly decorated, and
yet have the spirit of the original thought perfectly pre-
served. The very fact of such sumptuous tombs, chapels,
chantries, or whatever form tbey took, being erected to in-
dividuals, was a proof of the respect and honour in which
they personally had been held in life; while the sculptural
enrichment, wherever it was introduced, generally illus-
trates some edifying passage of Scripture, some story of
religious meaning, or, it may be, the legend of a saint.
Curious exceptions are found to this, (as in the Ingham
monument in Norfolk,) but they are exceptions, and occur
rarely. While alluding to the introduction of such illus-
tration in early Christian sculpture, I cannot help direct-
ing your attention to the extreme beauty of some of the
compositions in the spandrels in the old screen-work in a
chapel in the north-east transept, as well as at the entrance
and within the chapter-house of this cathedral, and parti-
cularly of the subjects represented in various parts of the
episcopal monument above referred to. They are indeed
remarkable productions for the time of their execution,
namely, the latter part of the thirteenth century ; and, in
many respects, they are well worthy the study and imita-
tion of artists of our own day.
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The character above noticed as so appropriate and so
affecting in church monuments prevailed in England some
time after a very different style had been introduced in
other parts of Europe; shewing, I think, very satisfactorily,
that we had in this country a class of artists constantly
practising this interesting style of sculpture from age to
age, who were totally uninfluenced by the caprices of taste.
In the mixed design that is found in monumental sculp^
ture in Italy, Germany, and France, much of the religious
character preserved in English works even so late as the
sixteenth century entirely disappears. The idea of placing
in religious edifices objects not in harmony with the feel-
ings appropriate to the place seems not to have entered
the minds of the older artists ; and this fitness constitutes,
it appears to me, one of the great charms we all find in
the early monuments. Very frequently they are not ob-
jects of admiration as works of fine art, technically' con-
sidered; their forms are rude, the details ill understood
and ill executed; but there is withal a fitness, a propriety
in their quiet, sober treatment, which incites our sympathy,
and appeals to our common humanity,— a test quite as power-
ful and certain in the nineteenth as in the eleventh century.
And surely, merely as a matter of what artists call keep-
ingy or harmony, and setting aside higher considerations,
works having reference to death should be of a sober,
tranquil character of design ; and where a further feeling
is attempted to be expressed, as, for instance, reference to
the future, there also the action of the figure should be in
accordance with the subject; exhibiting the submission, the
resignation, or the hope of a Christian, in an action of
prayer or meditation; while lastly, the very fact of the work
being to be placed in a church should insure the preser-
vation of this serious character. It will be found that, so
far as representing the principal figure in an attitude of
meditation or prayer, this character is retained in monu-
ments of a very debased taste in other respects, as may
be seen in those of the time of Elizabeth and James L,
and even later. In Salisbury Cathedral the Somerset
monument on the south-east wall of the lady chapel, the
Mompessor monument, and that of the Gorges family, all
in the very worst taste of design, afford satisfactory illus-
tration of the respect still paid, by habit perhaps, to a prin-
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ciple — a principle which had become confirmed into a
ride. The continuance of this style, in this country, may
be attributed chiefly to two causes : first, perhaps, to the
prestige of the former clergy influence, which helped to
maintain the character which such works had prescript
tively ; and next, from there not having been as yet any
designs of the foreign schools introduced here to seduce
and tempt the artists to abandon the old and expressive
types for a newer fashion; and thus, happily, we were
long saved from the inundation of affectation in art that
had overrun other countries. These I apprehend may be
considered the chief causes of the continuance of this truly
appropriate style of monument ; rather than, as has been
supposed by some, the existence of an universal religious
feeling both in the designers and in the community.
The assumption that such works were always the expo-
nents of deeply religious sentiments demands our notice,
and, with reference to the art of the middle ages, is a subject
for reflection and careful inquiry, because it is sometimes
asserted that the changed and deteriorated style of eccle-
siastical and monumental art is owing to, and indicative
of, the total absence of religious feeling, while the old style
proves the prevalence and universality of a deep devotional
sentiment ; and it is then argued that, till the same feel-
ing, which it is thus assumed pervaded the Christian
community from the eleventh or twelfth to the fifteenth
century, (for this includes the great periods of all eccle-
siastical art,) is realised among us, there can be no hope
of such beautiful works being again produced. This, if
so intended, is rather a startling assertion, when we con-
sider the comparison with reference to the period alluded
to. History tells us there was any thing but a prevalence
of this deep religious impression, this habitual piety, or
superior virtue in the times under consideration.
Setting aside the general ignorance and intellectual abase-
ment of almost all classes, except some small portion of the
clergy, there probably scarcely was an age in which there
was greater looseness of moral feeling and irreligion than
just at that very period when monumental effigies were first
sculptured. It would be impossible, and out of place, here
to enter at any length into such a subject as this ; but the
truth of the remark may easily be tested by a reference
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to all the histories of the time. The reforms introduced
hy Pope Gregory VII. (a.d. 1073) tended to correct some
of the more patent ahuses and the more scandalous vices
that had brought even the highest dignitaries of the
Church into disrepute and dishonour ; but these were
submitted to with the greatest reluctance even by the
clergy themselves, and it by no means appears that they
occasioned any return to primitive piety or devotion, or
to strictly religious objects or cares. On the contrary,
the development of the plans for temporal ascendancy and
aggrandisement which then and afterwards occupied the
chief attention of the Popes, sufficiently prove how little
room or disposition there was for the quiet exercise of
those Christian virtues out of which a deep contemplative
feeling of art would arise. The natural inference from
this must be, that, if the clergy were so deficient in that
spirit and those qualities which should characterise the
teachers of religion, it is not very probable that the commu-
nity — the people — were in a condition of exemplary piety.
It is by no means intended to assert there was no re-
ligious feeling in the age alluded to, — very far be it from
me to say or to think this, — but it is important to shew
that although early, primitive art must have had its origin
in strong and earnest feeling, as was the case with the first
Christian artists, we must not always consider the pre-
valence of a similar style of art an indisputable proof of
the age being one of so much greater piety and virtue than
others that have preceded or followed it j nor that it is
exclusively and necessarily the fruit of the peculiar reli-
gious feeling of the age. Many of the authors of these
works may have been, nay, probably were, persons of great
piety. But neither may we admit the converse of the pro-
position. It is not only charitable, but in accordance with
our knowledge, to believe there may have been quite as
much real feeling, quite as pure, unaffected religious sen-
timent in the individuals who erected, or caused to be
erected, the most cumbrous and tasteless monuments in
the seventeenth century, as in those who, in the twelfth
or thirteenth, placed in Salisbury, or any other cathedral,
those of Vitalis or Joceline, of William Longespee, or of
Bishops Bridport or Poore.
Thus then, though the original impulse doubtless was
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occasioned by a religious sentiment^ — and I am disposed to
believe it was very strong in the artists of the first ages,
who, deeply thinking over the subjects of the works upon
which they were employed, became filled with sincere de-
votional feelings, — yet the continuation of the style was the
eflect of habit, confirmed by certain external influences,
rather than attributable to the peculiarly religious or moral
perfection of the age, or to the general prevalence of senti-
ments of deep piety and devotion.
In modem times monumental design has been per-
fectly anomalous, and as ofibnsive to good feeling as to good
taste, from its utter want of appropriate character. Some-
thing of this is to be attributed to a cause from which
such results could scarcely have been expected ; namely,
the revival of ancient classical literature in the fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries, by which a total revolution was
effected in the leading intellect of the age. This, as may
easily be shewn, also eventually occasioned the change
that came over Christian art; and it is scarcely an ex-
aggeration to say, gave it almost its death-blow. Valu-
able and important as the discovery of these long-hidden
treasures has since been, still, at their first appearance, it
must be admitted the benefit that was derived from an
acquaintance with the literature of the ancients was well
nigh counterpoised by the evils that sprung out of it.
Scholars were so carried away by the charm of these writ-
ings, that they totally neglected the study and improve-
ment of their native tongue j and men of letters, affecting
to consider the dead languages the only fitting medium
of communication among the learned, composed all their
works, and even carried on their familiar correspondence,
in Greek and Latin.
But another and a far worse consequence of these af-
fectations — and this bears especially on our subject — was
the fatal efffect on the faith, and the respect paid to reli-
gion. The courts of the Medici in Florence, and espe-
cially that of Pope Leo X. in Rome, were the centres of
the grossest immorality as well as of undisguised infidelity.
Proceeding consistently in the absurdity of endeavouring
to naturalise,* as it were, the language, manners, and tone
* There was a repetition of this ab- I tioD, with much the same accompaniment,
surdity acted in the first French Revolu- | only attended with still grosser abuses.
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172 OBSERVATIONS ON ECCLESIASTICAL
of feeling and thought of the ancients^ pagan, or, as it
was called, classical art next became regularly introduced
into religious, or rather church sculpture ; and the exam-
ples of ancient Greece were multiplied in every extravagant
way, till at length the long-forgotten heathen mythology
was employed to illustrate the lives and hopes of Chris-
tians, in Christian churches.
It was called * taste ;' but it was precisely the absence
of what it may be presumed is intended to be implied by
that term, which applied things beautiful in themselves to
a purpose for which they were totally unfit. The multi-
tude, as usual, was easily led by the self-elected arbiters
of this false taste. There was no longer a real earnest
meaning in art; and the ^^ antique" was imitated at first
from this caprice, and then from mere habit ; not for its
real merits, or because it was felt or known to be better
than any other — ^for those who dictated its adoption were
seldom good judges of the technical excellence of art —
but simply because it was ancient and " classic.**
This fashion, at least in its application to ecclesiastical
sculpture, happily seems now to be passing away, as its want
of reality and power to address the feelings, and to express
any definite meaning, are seen and admitted. But there
appears to be some need to warn one section of a school
of would-be reformers against opening itself at least to a
suspicion of affectation in another direction. Some who have
urged a return to the peculiar manner of the early artists,
seem, like the pseudo classics, to argue only on the value
of antiquity, and on the fact that a certain class of art
was so practised in a particular century ; and they would
have the rude execution of primitive times in painting and
sculpture imitated, as if the repetition of mere technical
defects were points of valuable design, or shewed real feel-
ing. Some also have declared, in the same spirit, that no
architecture is proper or admissible for church building
but the Gothic, and that of a particular age and style.
Others again, adopting a theory of symbols, assert that the
presence or absence of spirituality is shown as the shape of
a window or the curve of an arch approximates to, or de-
parts from, the favourite standard : whether " early Eng-
lish,** or " the pointed,** or " the decorated,** or any other
style, as the case may be. This seems to be mistaking
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AND MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE.
173
what it must be admitted is a matter oi fancy for one of
principle; while the fact appears to be entirely overlooked,
that Christianity — and it may be hoped its spirituality —
had existed some twelve centuries before what is called
Gothic architecture was known.* In this desire to re-
cur to ancient forms, the Commandments and the Lord's
Prayer, in the vulgar tongue of our own day, are often
exhibited in our churches not only illuminated out of all
recognition, but are written in the obsolete, and, to the
greater number of people, illegible character of four or
five centuries ago. There is a vital mistake in this, in
principle^ to say nothing of its ill effect on art, which can-
not require for its perfection that any means or accessories
it employs should be unintelligible. It is not always re-
membered that, in an age when the religious services were
sung or said in a dead language, and the people kept, per-
haps intentionally, in a state of extreme ignorance, it would
matter but little in what way such inscriptions were set
forth, serving as they did chiefly for ornament. But even
then they were in the character of the time. In these
days, however, when even the humblest classes are being
taught to read, it must at least be supposed that texts and
inscriptions are intended for edification. On the extreme
absurdity of inscribing in a dead language — the Latin for
instance — ^passages and texts from the Sacred Writings,
which by the way were not written in that language (so that
there is not even the excuse of quoting the original), and
then — anomaly on anomaly — exhibiting these in obsolete
early English characters^ it is scarcely necessary to enlarge.
There can be no objection to gilding, enriching, and em-
bellishing letters of an understood and usual form, so long
as it does not interfere with their being legible; but surely
it is mere dilettanteism in taste, and a mockery in fact, to
put such things before the poor in a form that places them
out of the reach of their understanding. If such letter-
ing, in the old English or the Gothic character, were in-
sisted on on principle, or for the sake of harmony of de-
* Something of this may possihly have
arisen from the undue importance given
to the ingenious fancies indulged in by
Durandus {Rationale Divin, Qfflc) and
other writers of the class, respecting whom
Mr. Blozam, in his valuable little Manual,
quotes the following just remark : ** That
the ecclesiastical writers of the thirteenth
century, who wrote on the rules and oere-
monies of the Church, only busied them-
selves in seeking and inventing myetieal
reaeont, which they made the subject of
their works."
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174 OBSERVATIONS ON ECCLESIASTICAL
sign, our buildings in the Grecian style should, of course,
in like manner, have their pediments and friezes, when
inscribed, filled with modem English — or whatever lan-
guage it might be — in Greek characters. These practices,
which often look too much like playing with ecclesiastical
art, and trifling with serious things, are calculated to
throw doubt and discredit on the best intentions, when
they appear so wanting in meaning and common sense.
I venture here to quote the opinion upon this subject
of a writer of admitted power, and whose criticisms on
art will always be considered with the respect due to ear-
nestness of purpose combined with a highly cultivated
taste. His known zeal also in the cause of art applied
to such objects as belong to our inquiry gives an addi-
tional value to the following excellent remarks and advice.
Speaking of inscriptions, the author of the Seven Lamps
of Architecture says: "Let them be plainly written, and
not turned upside down, nor wrong end first. It is an
ill sacrifice to beauty, to make that illegible whose only
merit is in its sense. Write as you would speak it, sim-
ply. . . . Write the Commandments on the church-wall,
where they may be plainly seen; but do not put a dash
and a tail to every letter • . • and remember you are an
architect, not a writing-master."
With respect to the introduction of rude primitive
forms, whether in windows or in painting and sculpture of
sacred subjects, we should always bear in mind that such
representations were without doubt the best that the age
which produced them could then provide. The most able
artists, such as they were, were called in to decorate the
sacred edifices ; and they strove earnestly to do their best.
So should it be now. Modern art is not so perfect that we
need do less than our best; and still less meaning and value
must there be in our productions if we are guilty of the folly
of counterfeiting the rude eflForts of less instructed workmen,
merely because they lived, not, be it remembered, in the
days of primitive Christianity, but during the prevalence
of a certain style of art ; which, it must also be remem-
bered, had but a very short existence. Entertaining the
deepest respect for the motives of many of those who have,
under what I conceive to be a mistaken feeling, advocated
this retrograde movement, I would earnestly protest against
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AND MONUMENTAL SGULFTU2E.
175
80 unreasonable a prejudice ; which would tend to crush all
hope of the present age ever contributing an oflTering of its
own to ecclesiastical decoration ; and which would form a
school of painting and sculpture — and it may even extend
to more serious things — upon rules of cola prescription,
rather than upon reid feeling. If such a state of things
could, by any possibility, be established, it could only lead
to a species of hypocrisy and falsehood. Artists would no
doubt be found (for they would be paid for it,) to affect
ignorance and quaintness, by way of imitating or counter-
feiting the simplicity of the primitive painters and sculp-
tors J and Art, whose privilege and whose glory it should
be to reflect the Truth, would become a mockery and a
sham.
Of the style of architecture best fitted for ecclesias-
tical buildings, whether as regards their adaptation to the
forms of the Anglican Church, or the preference of the
designer for that of one age or another, it would be out
of place here to speak.
** Non nostrCbn est tantas componere lites."*
Our immediate remarks have reference to the illustra-
tive arts of painting and sculpture. The standard of imi-
tation for these is Nature, the perfect forms of which can
alone be the safe and sure guide of the true artist. To
reject this standard, when we cannot but admit its excel-
lence, in favour of the rude quaintnesses of a less in-
structed age, is a poor sacrifice of sense to good intention ;
and, if it does not arise from not knowing what really con-
stitutes fine art, savours more of fancy or affectation than
true feeling. A further evil consequence to which this
movement, if successful, would inevitably lead, would be, as
has been observed, the establishment of a school of artists,
not necessarily^ nor surely, of superior piety, but most cer^
tainly of inferior practical acquirements ; for where beau-
tiful forms are proscribed, the difficult study of Nature's
most perfect works would, as a matter of course, very soon
be neglected.
* It mnst not be imagined that there
is the slightest intention in these remarks
to underrate the exquisite monuments of
Gothic architecture, of which we boast so
many fine examples in this country. It
is scarcely possible to speak in too high
terms of the invention, ideality, and skill
exhibited by the authors of such works in
the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth
centuries. They only apply to the mere
copying of forms, when the grMit want of
the age is earnestness and truth in its art.
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176 MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE.
Much that is most valuable may be learned from the
serious, concentrated character of early Christian art,
because it is real, unaffected, full of meaning, and appro*
priate; and, prompted by my own sincere admiration of
it, I have not hesitated, in the course of these remarks, to
point out generally its paramount excellence in these re-
spects ; but I have desired to shew that it is our duty to
add to this any advanced knowledge we may happen to
possess of the technical part of design ; and so, in fact, to
give our art the character and stamp of our own true
offering.
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NOTICES ON THE
DOMESDAY BOOK FOR WILTSHIRE.
The famed Domesday Book of William the Conqueror is
a register of the lands of England, framed by the order of
that monarch, giving the names of the proprietors, value,
tenure, and services of the several lands or manors therein
described. That portion of the work which relates to
Wiltshire, published about sixty years since by H. Penrud-
docke Wyndham, Esq., is less explicit than the portions
which relate to several other counties. In the first place,
very few churches are mentioned ; and one would be led
to conclude that the number which existed in this exten-
sive county in the reign of the Conqueror did not amount
to fifty, but that the enumeration of churches does not
appear to have been a portion of the duty of the commis-
sioners to whom the survey was intrusted, and that in the
returns for Lancashire, Middlesex, and Cornwall, not one
is mentioned, whilst the returns give 222 for Lincolnshire,
243 for Norfolk, 364 for Siifiblk, and 126 for Hampshire
exclusive of the city of Winchester and the Isle of Wight.
Another omission in the Wiltshire Domesday is that the
manors and estates are not arranged under their respective
hundreds as they are in many other counties, so that there
is great difficulty in connecting the ancient manors with
the present parishes of the same name, where, as is com-
mon in this county, there are several manors and parishes
of the same name, as the Winterbournes, Langfords, Clives,
&c. I question whether at the period of the compilation
of the Domesday Book, 1086, the kingdom was divided
into parishes ; as, in a very careful examination of the
Domesday Book for Hampshire and Wiltshire, I have not
met with a single mention of the word * parish,' or any ex-
pression which would lead me to suppose that such a divi-
sion existed. The churches which are mentioned, most of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
178 NOTICES ON THE
which I douht not are the present parish churches, are in
Domesday spoken of as belonging to the several manors in
which they were situated.
The greater portion of the present parishes of the
county derive their names from the ancient manors men-
tioned in Domesday ; but in several instances the manors
have become divided for parochial purposes, when only one
division has retained the manorial appellation, whilst in
other instances several parishes comprise two or more of
the ancient manors. Thus the parish of Idmiston includes
not only the manor so called, but likewise that of Porton ;
Tisbury, which also includes the manor of Wardour ; and
Mere, which comprises the ancient manors of Mere, Chad-
denwick, Woodlands, and Zeal.
Some of the parishes of the county of which there are
more than one of the same name, owe their distinctive ap-
B illation to the proprietor of the manor recorded in the
omesday Book ; thus there are two parishes of Fonthill,
the one known as Fonthill Bishop's, and the other Fonthill
Giffiards. Now in Domesday we have two manors of the
same name, one of which was held by the Bishop of Win-
chester, who is still the patron of the living, and the other
by Berenger Gifard. Again, there are the two parishes of
Cannings Bishops and AU-Cannings ; and in the Domesdav
Book there are two manors called Caninge, one of whicn
was held by the Bishop of Salisbury, and the other by
the nuns of Winchester. But, not needlessly to multiply
instances, I will but mention one other ; of the severau
Wiltshire Winterboums, there is one within four miles of
this city known as Winterboum Earls, which I take to be
the Winterboum mentioned as forming a portion of the
possessions of the Earl of Salisbury.
I have not been enabled to form an opinion whether
the boundaries of the county are the same now as they were
eight centuries ago, otherwise than where Wiltshire abuts
against Hampshire ; but here I am prepared to say that
the boundaries are the same. All the border parishes of
both counties are mentioned as manors in the counties in
which the parishes are now situated. Thus there is a
manor of Tidworth mentioned both in the Hampshire and
Wiltshire Domesday. We have two parishes of the same
name. South Tidworth in Hampshire and North Tidworth
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DOMESDAY BOOK FOR WILTSHIRE. 179
in Wiltshire; and what is more, the Domesday manors
and present parishes correspond with each other in com-
parative extent. Then we have two Choldertons, one in
Hampshire, and the other in Wiltshire, and two Deans, all
of which are mentioned in Domesday — one Cholderton and
one Dean in Hampshire, and one of each in Wiltshire.
Again, the present parish of Bramshaw is situated partly
in Hampshire and partly in Wiltshire, and even the church
is in both counties, the chancel in the former, and the nave
in the latter. The manor of Bramshaw is mentioned in the
Wiltshire Domesday only ; but the tythings of Brook and
Fritham, which form part of the parish, and are in Hamp-
shire, are mentioned in the Domesday for that county.
In going through the Domesday Book for Hampshire, a
few years since, I was struck with what I then regarded as
the amazing number of mills which appear to have existed
in the reign of the Conqueror in that county, amounting
on the mainland to 2^6 ; but on an examination of the
same authority for this county, I find that it possessed at
the time no less than 390, and that their annual value was
211/. 17^., or, within a fraction, 11*. each. There was,
however, a material difference in their value ; some being
returned as paying from 2s. to 3*., and others as many
pounds.
Having ascertained the value of the ancient mills of the
county, I next turned my attention to what was its gross
rental at the period, and found it to be, exclusive of three
large manors held by the king, which were not assessed,
4373/., which, with the value of the three manors, and
perhaps some few omissions, would fall considerably short
of 5000/. I leave to some Wiltshire gentleman here present
to say what is the present gross rental of the county.
Of the above-mentioned sum, namely 4373/., nearly
one-third, namely 1380/., was absorbed by ecclesiasticad
establishments, &c. The value of the twelve manors held
by the Bishop of Winchester amounted to 186/. ; the four
held by the Bishop of Salisbury to I70/. ; the fourteen
manors held by Glastonbury Abbey to 194/. ; the thirteen
held by Malmesbury Abbey^to I27/. ; the five held by the
New Monastery at Winchester, afterwards Hyde, to 90/. ;
and the twenty held by the Lady Abbess and Dames of
Wilton to 208/.
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180 NOTICES ON THE
The king held twenty-two manors, and besides the pro-
fits arising therefrom received 50/. from the borough of
Wilton, 10/. for a hawk, 20/. for a baggage-horse, and 100
shillings and 5 ounces of silver for quit-rent ; from the third
pennies of Salisbury, 6/. ; of Cricklade, 51. ; and Malmes-
bury, 6/. ; and also 60 pounds by weight from the im-
proved rents of the county.
The Earl of Salisbury held no less than thirty-eight
manors, besides the income of which he received as the
sherifi^ of the county, 180 hogs, 32 flitches of bacon, 2 loads
and 1 bushel of wheat, the same quantity of malt and of
oats; 16 measures of honey, or 16^. instead of the honey,
480 hens, 1600 eggs, 100 cheeses, 52 lambs, 240 fleeces of
wool, 162 acres of com, and 80/. paid him by the collec-
tors of the annual rents.
There is no doubt that at this period Wilton was by
far the most important town in the county ; but there is
no further mention of it than that it paid to the king 50/.
per annum, and 10/. 17*. 6(/. to the Abbess of Wilton.
There is no other mention of the town of Sarisberie, or
Old Sarum, than that the king received from the third
penny 6/. The manor was held by the bishop, and was of
considerable extent and value. The site of the present city
and close of Salisbury I take to be in the pasture of a mea-
dow stated to be two miles and a half long, and one mile
and a quarter broad, belonging to this manor. Writers
in the last and preceding century state, that Bishop Poore
founded his new — that is the present cathedral — in a
pleasant place called Merryfield. The title here given is
no other than a corruption of St. Mary's field ; as we are
told that the bishop erected his cathedral on land which
formed a portion of the demesne of the see ; and what
more likely, than that the meadow should be known as
that of St. Mary, patron not only of the see, but also of
the cathedrals both at Old and New Sarum ?
There are some detached portions of the county locally
situated in Berkshire, near Beading, at the distance of
twenty miles from the eastern border of Wiltshire, which
are not mentioned in Domesday. Were they then con-
sidered a portion of Berkshire ? and if so, at what period
were they separated from it ?
Berkshire wa«?, till a very recent date, a portion of the
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DOMESDAY BOOK FOR WILTSHIRE. 181
diocese of Salisbury. The bishop had formerly a seat at
Sunning near Reading, and in all probability was the pro-
prietor of some of the adjoining manors ; and that after
the erection of the cathedral, and Salisbury had become
the permanent seat of the bishop, he still exercised his
ancient jurisdiction over his distant manors ; and as the
civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions were often blended,
these detached portions became at last to be considered
as a portion of Wiltshire. That is my impression on the
point ; which I now throw out in hopes of obtaining either
confirmation or correction.
H. Moody, Winchester.
.Digitized byCjOOQlC
NOTICE OF THE
CUSTUMAL OF BLEADON, SOMERSET; ^
• AND OF
THE AGRICULTURAL TENURES OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.
There is in the possession of the Dean and Chapter of
Winchester an interesting record of the agricultural and
other rents and services due to the Priory of St. Swithin
in respect of the manors belonging to it in the thirteenth
century,* The manuscript itself is probably of the date of
the first part of the fourteenth century ; but it is a tran-
script of inquisitions taken by juries of tenants at different
periods during the preceding century, from the year 1221
to the close of it. Some few of them are of later date.
The manors are principally situate in Hants, Wilts, and
Somerset. The minute detail of agricultural customs and
services in the several manors will present no feature of
striking novelty to those who are familiar with records of
this description ; yet they are by no means devoid of inte-
rest or value. Indeed records of this class appear to me
deserving of more attention than they have hitherto received
from those who desire to obtain sound and correct views
on the history of their countrymen. In a few instances
they have supplied materials which topographers and sta-
tistical writers have known how to appreciate ; but they
have for the most part either been disregarded as of little
interest, or fallen under the observation of writers who
were incompetent to avail themselves of their contents.
Yet it is only by resorting to such sources that we shall ever
be able to explain the classification of tenures adopted by
those who framed the great survey of the Conqueror, and
* It is due to the Dean and Chapter,
and to Mr. Lampard, the Chapter-clerk, to
express the writei^s obligation to them for
the facilities of inspection kindly afforded
to him.
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THE CU8TUMAL OF BLEADON. 183
identify the population, there described, with those who,
under other names, are found to be the tenants and tillers
of the land at a later period. It is by the aid of such
records alone that we can hope to find a solution of ques-
tions on which great authorities have entertained opinions
very widely difierent : — Whether the establishment of the
Normans in this country permanently aflfected, for better
or worse, the condition of the general body of the people ?
Whether the status of personal and praedial servitude,
during the centuries immediately succeeding that event,
underwent progressive alleviation, or was rendered more
rigorous by the encroaching demands of the dominant
classes ?
Sir M. Wright inclines to the opinion that villans were
found by the Normans in a state of " downright servitude,'*
and were enfranchised by them {Tenures j pp. 216, 217).
Reeves, in his History of English Law^ adopts the same
view (vol. i. p. 39). Sharon Turner also represents the
settlement of the Normans as favourable to personal free-
dom {Anglo-Saxons, b. viii. ch. 9, ad finem). According
to Sir H. Ellis, the serfs and ceorles of the Saxons were
reduced by the conquest to a common slavery {Introd. to
Domesday y vol. i. p. 81). Mr. Hallam {Supplement, notes,
p. 277) seems to think that the state of villenage under-
went deterioration from the villani of Domesday to those
of Bracton and Littleton. That questions of such historical
importance should remain undetermined, shews that the
published materials of general history are still defective
and inadequate.
An enumeration of names, rents, services, and local cus-
toms might seem, at first sight, to convey information of
little value : yet we can trace in them the early practice,
and the gradual improvement of husbandry ; we can per-
ceive and comprehend the system of agricultural tenures ;
the provision made by such tenures, as well for the main-
tenance of the labourer as for the cultivation of the land-
owner's demesne; and the mode of admeasurement and
distribution of the land itself. We can discern the rude
justice dealt by the lord to his peasant-subjects in the ma-
norial court, and the means taken for securing retainers in
the various business of the lord at a time when the grant
of a subordinate interest in land was the most convenient
Digitized by VjOOQIC
184
THE CU8TUMAL OF BLEADON.
method of remunerating personal services.* Nor is ijt a
task unfit for the exercise of a rational curiosity to trace up
to a period antecedent to the Norman dynasty the existence
of local usages, which hear in their very names the impress
of a Saxon origin, and have left behind them no doubtful
vestiges at the present day.
Among the manors described in the custumal of St.
Swithin, I would point out Bleadon as one in which the
services and customs, the mutual rights and obligations
of the lord and the cultivator of his land, are defined with
remarkable fulness of detail. I speak o( mutual rights ; for
some acquaintance with records of this nature disposes me
to think that the legal rights of the manorial tenant, and
the permanence of his tenure in the early history of this
country, have been rather underrated by modem writers.
Among the most exceptionable features of personal vil-
lenage in the middle ages were, the legal inability of
the villan to secure his acquisitions of property ; the re-
straints imposed on marriage in his family ; and the inade-
quate remedies and partial tribunals to which alone he
could resort for the vindication of even his admitted rights.
These, and the exposure to acts of unlawful aggression, were
indeed serious grievances ; but they were such as pressed
with almost equal weight on the free and the serf. Per-
sonal property was everywhere inconsiderable in amount
and precarious in title. It should be recollected too, that
the most important part of the peasant's working stock was
originally supplied by the landlord, and was repaired and
renovated by materials also furnished by him.t The ma-
trimonial restrictions on the peasant were light compared
with the oppressive disabilities of the tenant in capite of the
* Godric, the sheriff, repaid a female
teacher in his family by an estate in Buck-
inghamshire. {Domesday t toL i. p. 149.)
A manor in Surrey constituted the fee of
the Conqueror's man-cook. (Id. p. 36 b.)
Eight centuries afterwards, the goremor
of Chili settled a surveyor's bill with 8^
square miles of forest (Darwin's Natu-
ralUi*9 Voyage, chap, xiii.) The go-
vernor probably laboured under the same
want of ready money at his banker's as
Gk>dric and William. Such modes of re-
muneration are apt to be hastily called
feudals a name applied indiscriminately
by writers of every dass to almost every
obsolete practice of mediseval economy.
It is remarkable that the characteristic
features of the ancient relation between
the lord and his customary tenantry have
been most completely developed and most
obstinately retained in those eastern states
of Europe in which the feudal polity, pro-
perly so called, never prevailed.
t This is well illustrated in the descrip-
tion of the obligations of the free Geburi
in the Saxon Consuetudinal, Thorpe's J n-
cient Lawt, Sfc. of England, voL L p. 435 ;
and the learned editor of the KeUo Regis-
ter points out in his preface the preva-
lence of the same early usage among the
husbandry tenants of Scotland.
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THE CUSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
185
crown. The most valuable rights of persons in a subordi-
nate condition, whatever their personal status^ were pro-
tected, for the most part and in the first instance, by the
jurisdiction of seignorial courts, worked for the profit of
the lord rather than the benefit of the suitor ; or by the
process of superior courts, whose costly and dilatory aid
must have been practicaUy as inaccessible to the simple
freeman as to the serf.*
Bleadon is remarkable on other grounds. It is the
subject of a charter of Eadgar, a.d. 975, which competent
critics have pronounced to be spurious. The history of
the annexation of the manor to the church of Winton is
obscure. We have an early, and, I believe, an unsuspected
charter of Eadwig,t professing to grant fifteen cassates or
hides at Bleodone to Aethelwold, which is recorded in
the Codex Winton among the title-deeds of the priory or
church. According to another authority,^ Githa, the
widow of Earl Godwin, gave the manor to the church of
Winchester, **ecclesiaB Wintoniensi,** in 1053. The Domes-
day Survey§ represents it to be held by the bishop in trust
for the maintenance of the monks, '' de victu monachorum ;''
and describes it as consisting of fifteen hides, with servi, '
villani, and bordarii, including one hide held of the bishop
by Saulf, probably a freehold tenant. The simple form of
early grants to the " church'* generally, or " Deo et eccle-
siae/' afforded obvious materials of litigation. According
to our present notions of conveyancing such a grant would
be void, for want of a proper description of the immediate
recipient of the grantor's gift. Our ancestors were satis-
fied with this undefined form of endowment ; and as long
as the bishop lived, like St. Augustin, in common with his
monks or canons, there was little room for dispute. But
when the bishop afterwards assumed a corporate character
distinct from the convent or chapter of his church, dissen-
* The rolls of manorial and other local
courts m the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries bear witness to an enormous
amount of litigation, producing to the lord
an abundant crop of fines and amerce-
ments. Every fidse step in a suit, every
formal misprision in pleading, and erery
attempt to settle the action out of court,
was a source of revenue which the lord's
officers knew how to cultivate and im-
prove. The annual receipts form no des-
picable item in a bailiff's or minister's ac-
count, and may be seen among the '* per-
quisita curi»" in many a voluminous roll,
still slumbering under the dust of centu-
ries in the muniment rooms of our great
landowners.
t The charter, date 956, is printed
among Kemble's Diplomata Anglo-taxfrn-
icOf voL V. p. 844.
X Historia Minor, anno 1058 ; Whar-
ton, AngUa Sacra, vol i. p. 277.
I Vol. i. foUo 87.
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186
THE CDSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
sions arose in this and other sees respecting the appropria-
tion of the revenues. We are told that Bishop Vauclin, or
Walchelinus, divided all with the monks ;* but as early as
A.D. 1122, an " enormis discordia" broke out between them,
and the bishop was charged with mismanagement and mis-
appropriation of the church property.t There is abundant
proof of the recurrence of similar dissensions ; and 1 cannot
help suspecting that the reputed charter of Eadgar was the
fruit of them, and was framed by the legal adviser of the
monks to settle the question of appropriation, so far as
regarded Bleadon, in favour of the prior and convent. It
purports to give the fifteen hides called Bledone to the monks
of Winchester, and proceeds to describe the property and
its tenants in language so unlike a charter of the tenth
century, and differing so little from that of Domesday, as
to excite a fair suspicion that the document was concocted
from the materials supplied by that survey, by omitting the
name of the bishop, and superadding a description of metes
and bounds borrowed from the earlier charter of Eadwig.t
At the time of the Reformation, the manor was the un-
contested property of the Priory of St. Swithin, and still
belongs to their representatives, the Dean and Chapter of
Winchester. At the date of the survey recorded in the
custumal the tenants consisted of the following classes :
Libert tenentes^ or freeholders, of whom three are men-
tioned, and those only incidentally.
* Wharton, /^n^/ta Sacra, vol i.p. 278.
t *' Enormis discordia inter episcopnm
et monachos pro dilapidatione et ecclesiis
quas episcopos abstolit." Ang, Sac. voL i.
p. 298.
X The charter of Eadgar is printed in
the Diplom, Anglo-tax, vol. iii. p. 219,
from the Cottonian charters. It pur-
ports to grant " Deo et S. Petro mona-
chisque veteris cenobii Wintanse civitatis
5 mansas cnm 15 hydis et 15 caracis
(«tc) terrse cum 18 servis et 16 villanis et 10
bordis {tic) cnm 60 acris prati et pasture
1 leuci et dimidii longitudine, et dimidii
leuci latitudine, ubi a mricolis Bledone
nuncupatur, in perpetuam possessionem
donando donavi, ut habeant et possideant
bene, honorifice, in setemam hereditatem,
et inde prout voluerint libera disponant
et habeant ibidem omni die lunse liberum
mercatum, &c. . . . Hsec dedi dictis mon-
achis in puram et perpetuam elemosi-
nam. Si quis igitur," &c. [Then fol-
low the metes, nearly agreeing with those
in Eadwig's charter.] The entry in Domes-
day is as follows : '* Episcopus tenet Ble-
done. De victu monachor' fait et est.
T. R. E. geldb' pro 15 hidis. Terra est
xvii. car'. De e^ sunt in dominio 3l. hidie,
et ibi iii. car' et viii. servi et xviL vUlani
et X. bord' cum xi. car'. Ibi 1. acr' prati
et pastura L leu' longitudine et dim' leu'
latitudine. Valuit et valebat xv. lib'."
[Then follows the subtenure of Saulf.]
It will be seen that the charter differs
from Domesday in describing the carucates
as 15 instead of 17, the servi as 18 instead
of 8, and the acres of meadow as 60 instead
of 50. It is marked as suspected by Mr.
Kemble, and pronounced to be spurious
by Dr. Hickes in his Dissertation. It is
remarkable that the description in the
Exeter Domesday also differs in the num.
ber of servi from that in the Exchequer
Domesday. As all the old numbers are
expressed in Roman numerals, such va-
riations are common, and may be reason-
ably ascribed to error.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE CU8TUMAL OF BLEADON. 187
Virgarii and dimidii virgarii; the holders of virgates
and hdf-virgates of land. The number of acres in each
virgate is not specified in this manor. In the other manors
of the Priory, the virgate contains a variable number of
acres from 16 to 48 ; generally, it seems, a multiple of 8 ;
the numbers 16 and 32 are of most frequent occurrence ;
and in all of them a hide contains four virgates.
The virgarii are followed by the holders oi ferdella
and dimidiaferdella terroe ; the ferdell being evidently the
quarter of a virgate. In some other manors they are called
ferdellarii and dimidii ferdellariu
Next after these are tenants of messuages with gar-
dens, or with two or three acres of land. They are equi-
valent to the messuagariiy or coiarii, mentioned in some
other manors of the Priory.
The custumal also notices the obligations of men and
women of servile condition within the manor, who occupy
no land to their own ^se, but are bound to render agricul-
tural services. The names of the tenants, who rent moun-
tain pasture and pay herbagium or herbage-rent for it, are
also mentioned ; and the duties and perquisites of the reeve
of the manor are specified.
The above classification of tenants is not materially dif-
ferent from that of all the other Priory manors, nor indeed
(so far as my experience extends) from that of most other
manors in the south and south-west of England. In these
manors the names of the classes occasionally vary ; but
whether called hidarii, hidatariiy virgarii^ bordariiy bord-
manniy bovariiy cotarii, cotmanni, coterelli, cotsetliy cota-
giarii, astrariif mesmagariiy bertonariiy gabularii, censarii,
&c., they derive their distinctive names, not from any
fundamental qualities of tenure, such as now distinguish
freehold, leasehold, and copyhold, but from the quantity
of the land held, or the nature of the tenement, or of the
rent or service rendered in respect of it.
A classification of this kind admits of great varietv
in name, with little substantial difference in nature, if
the lord divided the land of his barton into tenemental
portions, each tenant became a bertonarius. If a cot or
cotland, consisting either of house and land, or (as was
often the case) of land only, was the subject of the ten-
ure, the tenant was a cotarim^ cotmannusy &c. If in lieu
Digitized by VjOOQIC
188
THE CU8TUMAL OF BLEADON.
of services in kind a money payment was received, the
tenant was enrolled among the gabularii, gavelmannij or
censariL The occupancy of a bord constituted a bor-
darius; of an aistre or auster tenement (as in Somer-
setshire), an astrarius. In other parts of England, other
names, peculiar to certain districts, present themselves.
In the north, the husbondi figure in the rentals; in the
eastern counties we have the lancetti and their lancettagia.
In the extreme west the tenants called conventionaru pre-
dominate, probahly so called from the special conventions
under which they held their lands. Each class, however
composed, was only a variety or species of the comprehen-
sive genus which, under the general name of custumariif
villanif bondi^ or rustich are found opposed to liberi or
liberh tenentes in numerous early records and text-writers,
and are unquestionahly at the root of our existing copy-
hold tenure.
I am not aware that any of these tenures necessarily
implied the personal servitude of the tenant, although it
is probahle that in the manor of Bleaden many were in that
condition, as the custumal provides separately for the case
of those personal serfs in the manor who were not tenants
of land under the lord. But the silence of the custumal
with regard to talliage at will, and the ahsence of the well-
known restrictions as to the marriage and ordination of
children, would seem to indicate that in this manor, though
certainly not in some other of the Priory manors, the te-
nants were exempt from those almost unequivocal badges
of the servile state.*
* The Bordaiii in the above ennme-
ratioii derive their name from the borda
or bordagium, which they occapied. The
continued nae of the word in this sense in
France, from the date of the earliest Nor-
man custumal to the present day, seems
to exclude all reasonable doubt on this
point In Gasoony it signifies a nUtairie,
In the Eye custumal (HarL no. 639, f.
68), a *' custumarius" of Stoke manor
renders 2d, and a hen " pro qu&dam bor-
d&." In the Otterton custumal a tenant
who holds a ** bordage'' at will pays 4«.
per annum (Oliver's Mon, Exon, p. 256).
This word affords a striking proof how
much remains to be done to illustrate
the history of manorial tenure. The
bordarii constitute the largest class of in-
habitants enumerated in Domesday; yet
so little is known of them, that one very
learned author (Kennet, Olots, ad voc.) says
that they were distinguished from vilhmi
and other tenants by being of '* less servile
condition ;'* while another still higher au-
thority (Spelman, Glosi, ad voc.) states that
they hold " per servitia plus servilia quam
villani." The most eminent living histori-
cal writer sposdu of the word as ** unknown
to any document except Domesday" (Hal-
lam's Supplem, to his Middle Age$t p> 217).
Yet the bordarii are named as a subsisting
class of tenants in the reputed laws of the
Conqueror ; in several Saxon charters (per-
haps of questionable genuineness) ; in the
Templart* Book, among the Exchequer re-
cords; in the Bvetham Register; in the
Boldon Book ; in the Shqfteebuiy Regis-
ter; the Otterton Custumal; the Liber
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE CUSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
189
The economy of the manor is very clearly displayed in
the custumal. The lord (in this case the prior in right
of his convent) received, as at this day, fixed, otherwise
called assisedf rents in money from both freehold and cus-
tomary tenants, and reaped the profits of hb own demesne
land. The demesne was cultivated, either wholly or chiefly,
by the reserved services of the customary tenants already
described, those services being generally fixed, not by
contract or specific agreement, but by customj binding
alike on lord and tenant, and ascertained by the present-
ment or testimony of the tenants themselves. The virgate-
holders ploughed . the demesne, with their own ploughs,
on one day in each week from Michaelmas to Ascension.
Two extra ploughings at the feast of All Saints were
called (for reasons specified in the record,) graserthes;
another ploughing or harrowing in Lent was called tywe.
A day's labour, called a dayua or dayva manualisy was due
on every Friday from Michaelmas to Ascension-day, two
weekly from Ascension to Lammas, and one weekly from
Lammas to Michaelmas. The punctual attendance of the
Niger of Peterborough ; and in many other
unpublished records and registers.
The doubts expressed by Lord Lough-
borough as to the received opinion of the
derivation of copyhold tenure from ancient
villenage are well known (Astle v. Grant,
Douglas Reports^ p. 725). Another writer
has recently suggested the more probable
descent of copyholders from the class of
tenants called buri in Domesday. See
an article on the Prussian peasant-fiefs in
Edinburgh Review July, 1847, p. 160.
The doubts of Lord Loughborough are
founded on the fact, that personal villen-
age and a tenure analogous to copyhold
are alleged by Selchow to exist contem-
poraneously in northern Germany. His
lordship seems to refer to the hauren or
ruitici, and the leibeigener or hominei
propriit of the old German lawyers (Sel-
chow, Elem. Juris Germ, lib. i. cap. vi.
£fi^att,*lib. L tit. iv.). The reasoning is
not very sound ; for unless the change was
effected at once, there would always be in
existence at the same time some of both
classes until the transition was complete.
With respect to the other conjecture, it
is observable that the buri are mentioned
very rarely in Domesday, whereas the
copyhold tenure has been clearly the ge-
neral peasant- tenure throughout we realm.
If, therefore, the buri and villani are dis-
tinct classes, the exclusive descent of the
copyholders from the buri is not probable.
On the other hand, the gebur or burut
occurs in documents both earlier and later
than the Domesday Survey, and in manors
and places where no such tenants are named
in it The buri of Chilbolton, mentioned
in the custumal of St Swithin, are distin-
guishable from the mrgarii and coterH of
the same manor in little else than name.
In the manor of Hurstboume the same
custumal apparently uses the word as a
generical description of a class of tenants
including those who are designated there-
in by other specific names. In fact, the
buri or boors were only one of the various
kinds of tenants in villenage, who are now
represented by our customary or copyhold
tenants.
It cannot be shewn, nor is it probable,
that all copyholds were once cultivated
by villans in blood, or personal serfs.
« Omnes rusticos,'' says Selchow, " olim
homines proprios faisse et artibus deri,
jurisconsultorum, expeditionibus cruciatis,
&c., ad libertatem enisos esse, nunquam
probatum est." In other words, the pre-
decessor of the copyholder was a peasant-
proprietor or tenant, but not necessarily
a personal slave, as Coke and Blackstone
seem to suppose.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
190
THE CUSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
tenant and a full measure of day's labour were enforced
by stringent regulations.
The tenant and his whole family reaped three bedripet
at harvest-time, and owed six more reapings, called accom-
modationSf with a certain number of labourers, in the au-
tumn. Before St. Thomas's day he contributed, with the
other tenants, to wattle the lord's sheepcote, called the
wuxi, with reeds found by himself. Under the name of
averagium, each virgate-tenant carried the produce of the
demesne to Bristol, Wells, Priddy, Bridgewater, and Ux-
bridge, and also shipped it for sea. Other agricultural
works are particularised, some of which are reckoned as
customary day-works ; others seem to be extra-works.
Thus he was to fetch wood and timber for various pur-
poses ; to assist in carrying com to the mill, and making
ready the wheat, oats, and malt against the Christmas fes-
tivities of the Priory. When the lord sowed wheat in the
hams, the tenant was entitled to his averland^ or acre of
stubble, in consideration of services bestowed on the crops
there. By his aid at sheep-shearing he earned a share
in one of the best cheeses in the lord's cheese-press. He
paid paunage for the feed of his pigs and colts, and toll on
the sale of horses ; but could not sell his male colt, after
weaning, without license, — a prohibition very common
among tenants in villenage at this time.*
Among the cases which excused him from his custom-
ary day of labour, the death or burial of his wife was one.
If rain prevented him from working, he must make up the
lost time on another day.
At Christmas, he and the other tenants who helped at
harvest, with their household, were entitled to the hospita-
lity of the lord, and were feasted with bread, beer, pottage,
a full mess of beef, another of pork, a brewet of poultry
and pork, and cheese ; and they might sit drinking after
* As long ago as 15 John, it was ruled
in the Curia Regis, that neither agricultu-
ral services nor septennial aid disproved
the freedom of the tenure; but to make
fine to the lord for the liberty of marrying
the tenant's daughter or selling his cattle
seems to have been regarded by the court
as proof of villenage. Placitorum Abbre-
viation p. 90, under Trin. 15 Joh. rol. 20.
Middlesex. Yet even these humiliating
disabilities were not conclusive ; for they
might be the consequence of special agree-
ment. See Coke on Littleton, 117 b. The
marriage-fine continued to be p^d in some
manors in which personal servitude had
long ceased. Ths amobyr^ or maiden- fee
— the merces filia, or merchet of English
manors — was paid by the tenants of cer-
tain Welsh manors until a very recent
period, and may perhaps be still demanded.
The marriage-fee of five shillings was cer-
tainly paid to the lord of Bashall in War-
wickshire as late as a.d. 1657. See Wat-
kins, Copyholds, V. ii p. 575.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE CU8TUMAL OF BLEADON. 191
dinner as long as they could see without candles : " sedebit
post prandium et bibet quamdiu de die potest videre sine
candelis accensis/'
The exact composition of this " brewet*' is a mystery
on which some light is thrown by the receipts of " ancient
cookery*' published by the Society of Antiquaries in 1790,
among which divers savoury " browets*' will be found. What-
ever it may be, it is plain that, if the above enumeration
represents the order as well as materials of the dinner,
there is little, except port-wine and candles, to distinguish
a farmer's club-dinner of this day from the fare of the
boors of Bleadon. If sickness kept the tenant at home, he
might send for his dinner ; but in that case the bill of fare
was, as might be expected, of a less copious and solid cha-
racter. The services and perquisites of the demi-virgarii
are similar in kind to those of the virgarii.
The services of the ferdell-holders are described with
equal minuteness. They have a general resemblance to
those of the virgarii, but seem to presuppose the possession
of less working-stock. They do no average with horse and
cart for the lord ; they lend neither plough nor cart to
him, but, on the contrary, appear to be entitled to the use
of his plough and team every other Saturday, and his cart
in autumn. From Lammas to Michaelmas they do, weekly,
three days of such handwork as the bailiff shall prescribe,
and are liable to bedripes and accommodations with one
labourer, and they prepare the vereme-QoriL against Christ-
mas, like the virgate-holders. They pay chersett at Martin-
mas in the form of hens, and not, as in some manors, in the
form of seed or corn. They pay paunage for their pigs,
cattle, and farm-horses ; assist in stacking the hay, com,
and beans ; carry water for brewing ; drive cattle to Win-
chester, and help to plough ; but some of these services
seem to be in lieu of the customary day-works. On Christ-
mas eve and at Camiprivium (the beginning of Lent),
each receives a white loaf and mess of flesh meat ; and
every tenant is bound to eat before the lord at his first
coming : ^^ Manducare debet coram domino in primd die
adventus sui." As the tenants, bound so to eat, were
amerced or fined if they failed, it is evident that this
appearance at the Prior's coming was in some way for the
benefit of the latter. It was probably like the compulsory
Digitized by VjOOQIC
192
THE CUSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
presence of tenants at the lord's alescot, where the guests
were obliged to buy their landlord's beer. In some manors
this scot was released on consideration of an annual pay-
ment, as in Nutshulling, another manor of St. Swithin's.*
From this last class of ferdellarii seem to have been
chosen the lord's herdsman and shepherd, whose duties and
perquisites are fully described. When cattle in his care were
slaughtered for the larder, to the herdsman belonged, by
way of perquisite, the neck, the blood, the revelsticche and
hastingsticche, and five smalUtharmeSy and the vemcoppe and
endless'tharmsy and one pot-therm and minted and a patie
bachtherm as long as the arm from elbow to hand.
To identify the particular sticches {i.e. steaks), and the
tharms or viscera, indicated by these various names, would
require greater familiarity witn the Saxon shambles than I
can lay claim to; and the only inference I can draw from
the enumeration is, that blackpuddings and haggis were
well known to the bucolic tenantry of the Priory, but were
in less esteem among the aristocracy of St. Swithin. The
herdsman's own cattle were allowed some advantages in the
lord's pasture and stall; he was entitled to the first, infe-
rior, milk of the cows and heifers under his charge, as well
as to a share of the whey and buttermilk ; and on every
Wednesday and Saturday between Hockday (Easter) and
Lammas, he received one large bowl of whey, the bowl being
deep enough nearly to cover both his ears : " qui in profun-
ditate ferd cooperiet ambas auriculas pastoris." The reeve
of the manor also received his allowance of whey meted out
to him by the like measure of capacity, adapted to his
own ears instead of those of the shepherd. Among other
perquisites of the shepherd, he had the lord's sheep folded
on his own land between Christmas and Epiphany; the
milk of all the ewes for a week before and after Michael-
mas ; a weaned lamb, called a stilom (or more correctly, a
scilamb) ; a share of whey and buttermilk, like the cow-
herd ; and the fleece of the bell-wether.
In the above customs relating to the cowherd and shep-
herd we perceive a resemblance, almost amounting to iden-
* On a writ De consuetudinibus et
semtiis, tried before justices in Eyre in
25 Henry III., the plaintiff alleged the
obligation of his tenant to come with his
wife at Christmas to his lord with four
loaves, six hens, and six gallons of beer,
** et ibidem cum ipso manducare.'' Such
hospitality needed stringent process to
compel the guests to come in. See Pla-
citorum AbSrev. p. 117.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE CUSTUMAL OP BLEADON. 193
tity, between their perquisites and the rights of the vac-
carius and pastor in the Saxon Custumal* already cited.
In both we have the " boastings,** or first milk of the cows ;
the twelve nights* dung at midwinter ; the weaned lamb ;
the bell-fleece ; the milk of the ewes at the equinox ; and
the bowl of whey or buttermilk. In the Custumal of Bury
St. Edmund's somewhat similar perquisites are also assigned
to the bercarius and vaccarius of MildenhalLt
Another of the ferdell-holders found all the black-
smith's work for the lord's horses and ploughs j and was,
it seems, the common smith of the vill or manor; an
ofELce held by the widow Alicia when the custumal was
compiled.
The holders of half-ferdells performed services resem-
bling those of the last tenants, but of reduced amount.
One tenant, Nicholas Duele, holding five acres of land,
and paying 11^. of rent, was bound to serve on a difierent
element. It was his office to find a ship or boat to go on
his lord*8 service into Wales, at his own cost, to fetch
timber, sheep, brushwood, &c., or to sell com. On the
occasion of a second voyage, the lord was bound to keep
the sailors in victuals. On a third, the lord paid freight
for the vessel ; but Nicholas was even then bound to take
less freight from the lord than from any one else, and to
give him a preference. In time of war (with Wales, I pre-
sume) he was bound to keep a look-out by sea or land,
and to warn the lord and his men against any danger, in
case he should hear any rumour of mischief: — "secun-
dum posse suum munire dominum et homines domini, ne
in malum incidant, si aliquid mali audiat loqui versus do-
minum vel sues.**
The tenants of messuages and gardens paid rent or
gable, and performed day-labour at stated times, and
other light agricultural services. One of these and one
of the holders of half-ferdells were bound to come to the
shern-tredey that is, to help to manure the lord's land.
All the lord*s men and women of servile condition,
who held no land to their own use in the manor, were
compelled to perform three bedripes in autumn, and they
took a sheaf each day for themselves, unless they hap-
pened to be then in the service of some other free man.
* Thorpe's Ancient Lawt, Sfc. yoL I p. 489. f See Harl. Mss. no. 8977.
O
Digitized by VjOOQIC
194 THE CUSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
They and all other autumnal reapers were among the
lord*s guests at Christmas. All the men of the manor, who
hrewed for sale, gave four gallons of ale for toll. From
this payment only two were exempted.
AH the virgate or half-virgate tenants were bound to
serve as reeve, and, as such, to travel on the lord's business
within the county for a fixed reward, and out of the county
at the lord's expense. A ferdell of land, called reeveland^
belonged to him ex officio ; and by way of further fee he
had various easements and rights of common for his cattle ;
the second-best scilom; a bowl of whey, measured, as I
have already noticed, by the depth of his ears \ half an
acre of wheat, of fair quality, called deuland; and a ge-
neral exemption from all customary dayvce manuales, rent,
paunage, toll, and herbage dues.
Some curious instances occur of contrivances to keep
the perquisites of the tenants within reasonable bounds, by
making the custom a check on itself. When the tenant
mows and tedds the grass at hay-time, he receives for his
due a load of grass, as large as he can lift with the handle
of his scythe ; but lest the lord should suffer by any un-
usual effort of strength, the custom provides that, if the
handle should break in lifting the load, the tenant shall
not only lose his grass, but be further mulcted for his at-
tempt. When he cuts and carries reeds for the lord's use,
he is entitled to as large a sheaf of them as he can bind
with one of the longest reeds ; but the size and weight
of the sheaf are limited not only by the length, but also
by the strength of the band, which must consist of a single
and not a double reed. Such, at least, appears to be the
meaning of the custumal. Vague measures of quantity
and capacity were favourites with our ancestors. When
the tenant ploughed or harrowed for beans, the driver of
his team might demand three yepsones of beans, being as
much as the reeve could take up three times with both
hands joined. The German counterpart of this measure-
ment is quoted by Grimm : ** Tantum farinse quantum
ter potest simul capere utr&que manu'' (Deut. Recht Alt.
p. 100) ; and in lands of the Priory of Christchurch, Can-
terbury, every customary tenant who mowed for the lord
had " tantum de herbagio viridi quantum poterit levare
super punctum falce su& ;'' and for harvest-due, as much
Digitized by VjOOQIC
GLOSSABT.
195
oats '* quantum ter in manu sud palmare et leyare po-
terit," and also a tosschef (toss-sheaf) as large as he could
bind with a band of straw cut, but not uprooted — "quan-
tum potest ligare in ligamine metato et non abradicato
neque cum radicibus abstracto ;'** so that he was not even
to have the benefit of the fibrous prolongation of the stalk I
Such Ls an abstract of the agricultural customs of
Bleadon. A transcript of the manuscript, so far as respects
this manor, is subjomed ; a few unimportant details only
having been omitted. Words of very Saxon aspect occur
in it; and the Saxon character itself is occasionally em-
ployed. Of some I have attempted an explanation in the
annexed Glossary with more or less confidence ; and to all
of them I invite the attention of the curious.
The manor consists at this day, as I am informed, of
a bare seignory and quit-rents, with no valuable demesne
attached to it. The services described in the Custumal
have, for the most part, ceased to be exacted; and the
tenements once occupied by the several classes of tenants
above enumerated, as far as can be ascertained, are all
now copyholds for lives, not distinguishable in any mate-
rial respect from ordinary copyholds. The virgates are
now called yard-lands, and the ferdella are farthing-lands.
Edward Smirke.
GLOSSARY
OF SOME OF THE MORE REMARKABLE WORDS USED IN
THE BLEADON CUSTUMAL.
AccoMMODATio (f. 94 b). An autumnal reaping due from the
virgate tenants. Why it was so called, and how it was distin-
guished from a bedripe, does not appear. According to the Otter-
ton custumal, the Yarcombe tenants were bound *^ secare acram.
prati in quHUbet ebdomad& Augusti, et, si necesse faerit, accom-
modare secationem sequentis ebdomadae.** f. 41. This perhaps
explains the word in the Winchester custumal. It was an extra
bedreap.
* Extent of Borle» a.d. 1808. Begiit,
Priorai, Eccl. Chritt. fo. 20, 21. Brit
Mot. Perquisites of the kind noticed
aboTe were by no means oncommon in
other manorsi and in all parts of the
country.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
196 THE CU8TUMAL OF BLEADON.
Afer, Affrus, AvBRiUM (f. 94 b, &c.). A horse or any beast
of labour. See post Ayeragittm.
Amer (93 b). Sometimes written Ambra. A measure said
to contain four bushels. See Thorpe's Ancient Latos, &c. Gloss,
ad fin. The amer cum culmine seems to be the same as amer cum
cumtdlo, heaped measure.
AuGEUM (f. 95). A cheese-press, or perhaps a trough or tray
for cheeses* Un auae, Fr.
AvERAOiUM (f. 94 b). The work done under the obligation
referred to above under the next word. Although the authorities
differ on the subject, the better and more reasonable opinion is, that
it is the Latin form of the French word outrage; and that afer
or aver have the same origin. See Spelman, voc. Avera and Ave-
ragiom, Jameson's Scottish Diet, ad voc.
AvERiARE. To fetch and carry with the tenant's own horse
(javerium) or cart for the lord's use. It nearly corresponds with
the carropera of the Frankish Capitularies.
AvBRLOND (f. 95). An acre of stubble, allowed by way of per-
quisite to the tenant towards the feed of his afer or averium.
Bedripe. Labour bestowed on the lord's harvest ; sometimes
called benripe, henedat/y lovebote, precariuy &c. It is explained in
most of the glossaries, and is usuallv assumed to have been, in its
origin, a voluntary act of favour on tne part of the tenant, converted
into a compulsory due by the lord. I am aware of no proof that it
was ever voluntary; and the name itself may perhaps only imply
that it was due if, and when, demanded, instead of being due on
fixed days and times.
Cherisettum (f. 96 b). Primitise seminum, paid at Martinmas.
This word, spelt in other records ciric-sceat, chursettum, chirseth,
chursectum (often abridged chura'), ciriset, scireset, chirset*, chirc-
sed, and chesset, has been abundantly explained and illustrated ; see
Glossary in Thorpe's Ancient Laws, 8fc. of England, vol. ii., and
Kemble's Saxons in England, voL ii. p. 490. In manors in the
south and west church-shot was more nrequently paid in cocks and
hens than in com or seed. It was sometimes paid in wax. When
it consisted of hens, it was also called hens-yeve; as in Camedon
Prior (Launceston Priory Rental. Anno 18 Edw. IV.) At Christ-
church, Hants, it is, or was, called Martgn-rent. Whether paid in
money or kind, although in its origin an ecclesiastical due, it often
became so far annexed to the lordsnip of the manor as to pass with
it into lay hands.
Cotsetlbscorn (f. 96 b). Those who held ferdells of land
were entitled to one acre of each kind of com, namely, wheat, bar-
ley, and oats. Rye does not appear to have been grown at Bleadon,
for the custumal never refers to it. This allowance was called
cotsetles-com ; it would therefore seem that these tenants ranked as
cotseili; a class mentioned in other places; as in manors belonging
to Shaftesbury, Hyde, &c., as well as in the " Rectitudines singu-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
GLOSSARY. 197
larum personarum" printed in Thorpe's Ancient Laws, 8fc. of
England.
Data. The office of the deye or daya, in the department of
the dayeria or dairy, is explained by Kennet in his Glossary; and
the aumorities are collected in a note upon the word in Mr. Way's
edition of the Promptorium Parmhrum,
Dayua or Dayva. This word, which is often repeated in the
custumal, is not in terms explained there, nor is it noticed in the
glossaries. The context shews that it means a day-work. When
done by the hand, it is there called a dayua manualis, and corre-
sponds with manopera of the Frankish Capitularies. The terms
most employed elsewhere are dieta, dies, diumale opus,joum£e, and
cperaiio. In this custumal it has also two secondary meanings,
namely, the actual produce of the day's work, as where the tenant
is enjoined *^ portare dimiam suam in granarium" (f. 98 b) ; and
also a certain quantity oi land measured, as it seems, by the quan-
tity of labour that it demands. Thus one tenant holds ^^ unam
pecetam terrse continentem unam dayuam terrse" (f. 99 b). In a
will made at Exeter, and entered in the register of St. Jolm's hos-
pital there (f. 58), I find '* unam dyavam ierra^* mentioned, where
the letters y and a are transposed. Tlie word "daiwerka/* or *^dey-
werck," is employed in the same sense, especially in Kentish docu-
ments. It should seem that, although it perhaps originally imported,
in all cases, an actual day's work, it was sometimes set out by mea-
surement, and so became piece-work. Nor was the whole day
necessarily required : thus, in folio 94 of the custumal, " operabi-
tur usque ad summam meridiem pro dayu&, nisi posita sibi fuerit
per perticam dayua." The perquisite of the reaper after his day-
work was a bundle of com called the ^' dayue-handJiiT* (f. 96). I
suspect that the dayne tenants, in Taunton Dean, deriye their
names from some early blunder of a steward, who has read n for u
in the old court-rolls. The word also corresponds with the dayun/ne,
noticed under Packenham manor in the Consuetudinary of Bury.
Harl. Mss. no. 8977.
Deuland. The half acre of com of ayerage quality due to the
reeve was called by this name (f. 101). Perhaps it was diu^-land.
FoRLONGUS (f. 97 b)— FoRiNGA (f. 98). On the first of these
words I haye only to obserye that it cannot be taken as a fixed
measure of area here, or in any contemporaneous suryey of land
in the south or west that I haye seen. It is still oft;en used for
an allotment of land held in severalty in a common field, whatever
be the dimensions. Nor must it be confounded with a ferling of
land, which, in modem court-roUs, has generally become a far*
thing-land. As to '^ foringa," it is probable that the word has Deen
mis-written without an /y at least it is new to me as written.
Fbb8SANg[a] (f. 96). We have seen above that tins article,
with poultry, composed the solid part of the brewet eaten at Christ-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
198 THE CUSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
mas by the tenantry. It occurs in many other documents, as will
be seen under the head Friscinga in Ducange, and in the Prole-
gomena and Glossary to the Polyptic of Irmino, ed. Paris. Whe-
ther it means a porker of a certain age, or the pluck, fiy, or haslet
of a pig at any age, has been a question. The more recent French
word fressure would dispose one to construe it by fry ; but the
weight of authority is clearly in favour of the whole hog. The
reeve of Multon gave, as a present to the lord at Christmas, *^unum
fireceingum, et viginti gallos et gallinas." Spalding Register, Cole
Mss. vol. 43. See also the Liber Niger Petroburgensis, ed. Camd.
Soc. The modern frischling, which in German means a young
boar, is evidently derived from it. Anton, who has noticed it in
his Oeschichte der Landwirthschafty informs us that the name was
given to the young both of pigs and sheep. Vol. i. p. 184, 486,
440; voL ii. p. 197, 810, &c. ; vol iii. p. 891, 406.
Graserthe, also written Grashurthe (f. 9S b). Grass-
ploughing. Probably the garsyrSe of the Bectitiidines, cited supra.
It is explained in the custumal to mean the plough-service due in
consideration of the lord's abstaining from making winter-hays on
the common land, «. e. of leaving more ^ass to the commoners, by
making no enclosures in the winter-tmie. The word occurs in
other records, but not always in exactly the same sense.
Gestum (f. 98, 100 b, &c.). The " eestum natalis domini"
designates the Christmas hospitalities of the Prior. In the glos-
saries it is explained by reference to the well-known droit de
gite ; but there is this peculiarity in the use of it in the custumal,
that it seems to reverse the usual obligation, and describe the hos-
pitality which the tenant was entitled to from his lord. See post
verb. Veremb.
HoRDARius (101 b). This was a well-known officer in the
convent, and is commonly taken to have been the treasurer.
Inntnge (f. 93). The context explains this to mean an annual
rent paid for a right of turning cattle into certain hams or meadows,
when the commons elsewhere are imder water. Innedge-money is
in like manner paid by the tenants of Alboum, Wilts, for the use
of certain demesne lands of the lord.
MiDovERNON (f. 95). 8 o'clock P.M. Halliwell's ArcluBoL Die-
tionary.
Meg' (f. 97). Whey. Maigue, Cotg. ; mesga, Ducange. It
is the '^ cuppa plena mesguii" of the Rectitudines Singtdarum Per^
sonarum. Thorpe, Anc, LawSy vol. i. p. 489.
Orte (f. 97). The reftise of food dropped by the lord's stall-
fed cattle. Such refuse, left by two of the cattle, belonged to the
herdsman. See Jameson's Diet, ad voc. Orte.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
GLOSSARY. 199
Paunagium (f. 95). Sometimes spelt pasnagium and pamia-
gium. The only remarkable thing is, that it is here used as a
payment for depasturing not only swine, (which is the common
meaning of it,) but also horses and oxen.
Revelond (f. 101). The allotment of land occupied ex officio
by the reeve. Such an official tenement is by no means imcommon
in manors.
Rencus (f. 97). A row, as applied to the sheaves standing in
the field.
Richeles (f. 94). They seem to be the rickles mentioned in
Jameson^s Dictionary y ad voc. In this case, bean-slacks.
Roseum (f. 94 b). Reed. Boseau, Fr. Perhaps it includes
rushes and sedge. See Cowel Interp, Ros and Rosetum.
Sherm-trede — Tredeshern (f. 99, 100 b). The word suffi-
ciently explains itself to mean the service of either collecting or help-
ing to spread the manure on the lord's land. From the Saxon scam.
Stilom (f. 97 b, 101). Although the second letter is a pretty
clear t in the ms., there can be little doubt that it should be read c.
It plainly means a lamb separated firom the ewe, i, e, a sdlamb, or
lamb skUed (separated) ; from scylan, a.s. to separate. Skile, in
this sense, is still locally in use ; and akeyUbeast is a partition in a
cattle-stall. See Halliwell's Archceohgical Diet.
TiiscrroB,—Tinaere (f. 93 b, 96 b). The plough-driver, who
tinffs, i. e. goads the oxen, or other beasts, of the plough. The
word is not in the Latin glossaries. In a roll cited by Cullum
(Hist of Hawsted) he is called tentor. The word ting is locally
known m the provinces.
ToYLARDus (f. 101 b). Said to be a sheep or ram; see Cowel,
Gloss, (who cites the Glaston Cartulary) ad voc. Toyliardus.
Thermes or Tharmes (f. 96, 97, 97 b). The viscera of the
cattle and sheep killed by the herdsman and shepherd, and kept
for his own use, viz. : the five small-thermes, the endless-thermes,
the pot-therm, the bach-therm or pane bachtherm. Other parts
noticed are : the revel-steak or sticche, the hasting-steak, and the
vemcoppe or venicoppe. " Minte," though mentioned together with
the therms, is possibly no part of them. It seems to be the herb ?
A similar distribution of the fiy among the officers of the Bishop
of Cologne is noticed by Anton, Landvrirthschafi, vol. ii. p. 806.
■ Tredeshern. See ante Shermtrede.
TrpE (f. 93 b, 99). The penult letter is written like a Saxon
V); but it may be tythe and not tywe. The Lent-ploughing done
by the tenant is called by this name. The season indicates that it
must have been bestowed on the fallows, and was probably a ttoi-
fallowing, called by Fleta and the old writers rehinnaiio. r erhaps
the etymon of the name is to be found in the first syllable of tins
word.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
200 THE CCSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
ToLLENAGiUM (f. 96). Toll paid by the tenant on the sale of
a horse within the manor (f. 96) ; or on the brewing of beer for
sale (f. 100 b). In the first case, it was a money-payment ; in the
last, a payment in kind. Both occur very generally among manor
customs. The last is sometimes called toiaeatery gavehester, and
chepsester; i. e. a sextarins, sester, or setier of the beer brewed for
sale. See Regist Hon, Bichm. Oloss. ad fin. ; Shaftesbury RegisL
Harl 61, f. 80, &c.
Venteria (f. 96, 100). The winnowing.
Vereme— Verone— Vermb (f. 94 b, 96, 96 b, 96). These
seem to be only di£ferent spellings of the same word, perhaps not
very familiar to the scribe himself. It purports to describe the
com provided by the tenants for the Christmas feast of the lord, and
also the feast itself, or the " ^estum natalis domini." If we suppose
that V has been substituted lor /(as would certainly now be done
in Somersetshire), we have a near approach to ikefeorme oxferme
of the Saxons, which bears exactly the same double sense of a corn-
rent and a feast or entertainment. The Saxon custumal in Thorpe's
Ancient Laws, &c. of England, furnishes, in this and other parti-
culars, a parallel case, where it signifies both the provision sup-
plied by me tenant to the lord and the '^ firma natalis domini," or
midvintreS'fearm, which he claimed firom the lord at Christmas.
In Domesday the term is employed in the first sense, as in '^ firma
unius noctis," " firma quatuor septimanarum," and other instances.
The duty *^triturare verreme contra natale domini," mentioned
p. 96, is closely paralleled by the duty of the Cokefield customary
tenants '* flagellare firmam," i. e. to thresh the corn-rents due to
the Abbey of Bury. See the Consuetudinary of Bury, cited supra.
Waldus or Waldum (f. 94). The context requires that this
should be a toall/ but it is rude latinity, even for a compiler of a
rental. In the flat district, in this part of the coimtry, there have
been immemorial fences against the sea ; and many lands are still
held by the prescriptive tenure of wall-work,
Woodkeych (f. 94 b). It is not clear whether this is the
name of some wood, or the name of the service of getting timber
there for the yokes and bows of the team, and for m^ng ploughs.
Wuxi (f. 94 b). The only passage containing the word is the
following : " Debet tegere duas crates et dimidiam de ovili domini
auod dicitur wuxi de roseo suo proprio." It would appear to be
le name, not of the service, but of tie sheepcote itself. To wattle
the hurdles of the cote was called wiscare or toixarefaidam (Custu-
mal of St. Swithin, under the heads of Estone and Eneford). The
custumary tenants of Portswood were bound *' wiscare duas clatas
de falda prions et coUigere wiscas et culmina," &c. (Cartulary of
St. Denys, Southampton. Add. Mss. Brit. Mus.) The "claiise
wiBcatae" in the lands of Melrose Abbey are mentioned in the
Liber Metros, (ed. Bannatyne). The word wish, in the sense of a
Digitized by VjOOQIC
APPENDIX. 201
twig or rod, is not now in general use, though still known in the
dai^ and the kitchen. Wuxi is therefore either the wattled cote,
falda wizata ; or the act of wattling it, wixatio. The interchange
of i and u is common ; thus rise or rix (Sax.) is now rush. Fields
are occasionally called the woxies; there are two so called in
Sparsholt, Hants, which perhaps owe their singular names to this
tenure, or to the sheepcotes on them. The service, commuted into
money, probably gave rise to the payment called watehilver paid
in Compton manor, Kent {Regist Pnor. Christchurch, Canterbury.
Add. Mss. no. 6169, fo. 177 b). It is remarkable that the word
wiscare is in none of the printed glossaries.
WiNTBRHAYE (f. 98 b). An enclosure made by the lord on the
common lands in winter. See ante Gbaserthe. It is of the same
nature as a binghay, noticed in ArcJueol. Joumaly vol. v. p. 122.
Yepsone (f. 93 b). A handftil taken with both hands joined.
Ray, in his catalogue of local words, has, ** Yaspen or yeepsen, in
Essex, signifies as much as can be taken up in both hands joined
together. So Grose, Provincial Gloss, verb. Yaspen; probably on
the authority of Ray. It seems to be derived from gespon, A.s.
REDDITUS, SERVITIA, ET CONSUETUDINES MANERII
DE BLEDONE.
(FoL 93 ei teq, of the Cnstamal of the Priory of St. Swithin, Winchester. Most of the
words in italic are noticed in the preceding Glossary.)
GiLBERTUS HxjppEHUix do Sapkotte tenet unam virgatam terre in
manerio de Bledone et dat domino de redditu ad festum S. Mich,
annuatim x den. et 1** ob. de redditu ad hokeday qui dicitur innynge,
ut possit habere ingressum in pasturam in parte australi prati do-
mini, qui dicitur Bysouthemed, et in unam croftam de tribus magnis
hammis ad pasturam infra les hammes quam dominus inveniet ad
averia sua intranda et in eadem crofta habenda quando alia pastura
que est extra hammes cooperta est salso mari ; et dabit pro quolibet
averio in eadem pastura r ob. ad herbagium [f. 93 vo.] ad festum
S. Johannis Baptiste. Et idem debet arare domino cum caxuca sua
et bobus suis qualibet die Lune a festo S. Mich, usque ascensionem
Domini, exceptis duabus diebus Lune infra xii dies natalis do-
mini, quando due dies Lune accidunt infra eosdem dies, et excepto
die Lune in septimana Fasch ; et licet aliquod festum duplex ac-
cidat die Lune quando debet arare dommo, non debeat eidem
allocari, quin arare debeat in septimana alia die quando jussus
ftierit. Et similiter de pluvia et tempestate, si accidant eadem die,
non debet allocari quin alia die arare debeat Et idem debet arare
duas aruras in hieme que dicimtur graserthe, sc. unam aruram
ante fest. omnium sanctorum et unam post idem festum. Et in-
venta fiiit ista arura ita quod dominus nullum defensum facere
Digitized by VjOOQIC
202
THE CUSTUMAL OF BLEADOJf.
deberet in hieme, quod dicitur wynterhaye, contra averia sua in
nuUo loco super terram suam propter eandem aruram. Et idem
debet in quadragesima arare unam aruram que dicitur ti/fe, yel
herciare pro eadem arura. Et si idem Gilbertus boves suos in
hieme, dum sunt ad herbam, adeo mane sicut voluerit inyenire non
poterit quando debet arare domino^ ita quod tardius quam deberet
yeniat ad aruram, tunc balliyus precipiet eidem sine omni occasione
reyertiy et in crastino citius yenire ad aruram jubebit.* Et quando
arat ad seminandum fabas domini yel herciat et seminat fabas do-
mini, tunc tinctor ejus habebit tot fabas sicut prepositus yel messor
potest accipere duabus manibus junctis de fabis domini ter; sci-
licet, tres yepsones fabarum. Et idem debet facere qualibet die
Veneris a festo S. Mich, usque ascensionem Domini imam daytiam
manualem. Quando triturat firumentum, triturabit unam mensuram
plenam que dicitur amer^ cum culmine ; et debet ventare et portare
in granarium; et quando triturat ordeum pro dayua triturabit et
yentabit duo amer' plena cum culmine pro dayua ; et quando tri-
turat ayenam, triturabit et yentabit tria amer' plena de ayen* pro
dayua sua cum culmine ; et quando triturat fabas yel pisas, tritura-
bit et yentabit duo amer' plena in culmine pro dayua ; et semper
portabit dayuam siiam in granarium cujuscunque bladi fuerit ; et si
fossare debeat pro dayua sua, [f. 94] tunc messor yel prepositus debet
ponere per perticam dayuam suam. Quando fossat contra mare ex
parte forinseca wcddi contra mare quod dicitur 8olye,f time habebit
imam perticatam pro dayua; et quando debet extollere tvaldum
contra mare, habebit unam perticatam et dimidiam pro dayua; et
quando fossat in parte interiori cursum aque in hammis, purgabit
duas perdcatas in longitudine et latitudine de tribus spcais 4 et
idem debet facere qualibet septimana ab ascensione Domini usque
ad yincula beati Petri duas dayuas manuales, et quando saroat
bladum domini pro dayua, yeniet ad sarclatiouem quando ayeria
yillate yenient ad campum, et sarclabit usque ad meridiem simi-
mam. Et in hieme quando claudit circa berthonam yel ortum yel
facit murum yel tegit domos, yeniet cum solis ortu et operabitur
usque ad yesperam pro dayua sua ; et in estate quando claudit circa
berthonam yel ortum yel murum facit yel tegit domos yel aliquid
facit consimile opus, yeniet ad operationem suam quando ayeria
pergunt de yilla ad campum, et operabitur usque ad summam
meridiem pro dayua, nisi posita sibi fuerit per perticam dayua. Et
idem debet facere unam dayuam manualem qualibet septimana ab
ad yincula beati Petri usque ad festum S. Mich. Debet falcare
unam dimidiam acram prati pro dayua et spargere herbam suam
quod dicitur tedde, et habebit unum onus herbe sicut leyare potest
cum ligno falcis, ita quod non firangat ; et, si firangatur, est in mise-
ricordia domini. Et debet releyare herbam dmiidie acre prati
* t. e. The bailiff is not to accept an
imperfect day's work.
t This word requires explanation.
Does it describe the sea or the service ?
t Sic. The first letter seems super-
fluous, and the word should be read per-
ticatii.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
APPENDIX.
203
et facere ad mullonem pro una dayua si jussus fuerit. Item
debet relevare unam acram et dimidiajn feni de feno domini^ nulla
ei allocata dayua. £t idem debet cum carro suo de feno domini
quinque cariationes feni in berthonam, et inyeniet hominem suum
ad mullonem cum furca sua ferrea, qui ponet suum fenum^ quod
cariaverit, super mullonem feni, non allocata ei dayua* Et idem
debet metere unam dimidiam acram frumenti vel ordei vel avene,
et ligare et portare ad tassum pro dayua, et debet falcare dimidiam
acram fabarum et ponere ad richeles pro una dayua. Et debet
metere tres bedripes cum tota famiHa sua; et idem portabit ad
tassum bladum ligatum post quatuor homines ;* et uxor ejus dabit
ujium denarium pro bedripis suis relaxandis. Et idem cariabit
cum carro suo totum bladum quod messum est ad tres bedripes
super [£ 94 yo.] custum suum una cum carris domini. Et debet
metere sex accommodationea domino in autvmipno per totum diem,
soil. iii. accommodationes cum duobus hominibus, et iii accommoda-
tiones cum i. homine per totum diem ; et idem debet falcare duas
cariationes et dimidiam de rosea domini, et cariare cum carro suo
in berthonam domini ; et habebit unam garbam rosei tam grossam
sicut potest ligare cum vinculo non duplicate, set sicut crescit de
longiore roseo, nulla allocata ei dayua.t Et idem cariabit omnes
fabas domini cum carro suo ima cum carris domini sine dayua ; et
idem debet tegere duas crates et dimid' de ovili domini, quod
dicitur wiLxiy de roseo suo proprio; et quod tegatur ante diem
sancti Thome apostoli ante natale per visum bercatorum, et, nisi
tegatur, tunc erit in misericordia domini. Et idem faciet avera-
flum apud BristoU' et apud WeUias per totum annum, et apud
ridie, et post hokeday apud Bruggewauter, cum affiro suo ducente
bladum domini, caseiun, et lanam, et cetera omnia que sibi serviens
precipere voluerit ; et habebit unum quadrantem et dayuam suam
quietam. Et debet facere averagium apud Axebrugge et ad navem
quotiens dominus voluerit, et nichil habebit propter idem avera-
gium. Et si fecerit aliquod averagium die Veneris, que est dies
assueta ad faciendam dayuam, tunc habebit dayuam ejusdem die
quietam. Et debet ire ad nemus cum affro suo pro dayua ima, et
colliget unam summam virgarum, et adducet ad curiam domini ; et
habebit arcem que est ultra ceUam imde summa ligatur, pariter et
alterum baculum qui est ex altera parte equi portantis summam in
occulo dicte arcis.J Et idem debet ire cum affiro suo in wodelonde
quod dicitiir wodekeych propter juga boum et arcus, et propter me-
remium ad carucas domini faciend' super custum suum sine da^a.
Et idem adducere debet bladum carucatorum et daye et porcarii ad
molendinum, et iterum ad hospitium sine dayua. Et unus eorum
ibit secum ad molendinum ; et idem triturabit verone, vid. unum
dimidium amer' plenum de frumento, vel unum amer' et dimid' de
t The sense is not dear; but the pas-
sage seems to allude to the place in which
the rods are stowed away, and to the te-
nant's perquisite out of the horse-load.
* Called " homines metentes" in the
services of R. Gele, post
t t. e. This is not to be in lieu of a
dayva.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
204
THE CUSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
ayena^ contra Natale (td gestum qui dicitur vereme, sine dayua. Et
idem adducet frumentum ad panem ad gestum Natalis domini^ et
braaeum contra Natale ad molendinum, et habebit nnum servientem
de curia secum sine dayua^ et adducet semen ayene et fabarum in
hammis cum affiro suo quando dominus habet carucas suas^ et ber-
ciant* pro arura quando seminant ayenam et fabas in la hamme pro
dayua [f. 95] boc adducet. Et idem babebit unam acram stipularum
et de meliori stipula firumentea, quam dominus babet in bammis, ad .
pascendum affinim suum ; et yocatur averhnde. Et si dominus non
seminayerit frumentum in bamnds^ non babebit acram stiptdarum.
Et idem inyeniet unum bominem ad layandum et tondendum bi-
dentes domini; et idem inyeniet unum bominem ad tondendum
agnos domini; et ille et omnes alii^ qui tondent agnos domini^
babebunt meliorem caseum qui jacet in atigeo ad saliendum in com-
mimi; et si layerit bidentes domini et totonderit^ yel agnos toton-
derit in die Veneris^ babebit unam dayuam quietam. Et idem
dabit paunagium pro pords suis ; si sit porcus superannatus dabit
ujium denarium ; si sit infra annum dabit obolum ; et sus, que est
mater porcellorum^ debet esse quieta. Et dabit paunagium pro
pullano superannatol, denarium; et^ si sit infra^ dabit obolum ; et
babebit affirum suum yel afiros suos quietos de paunagio, si simul
inde fecerit ayera^um domino in eodem anno. Et dabit 9^ de
tottenoffio si yendiderit equum suum yel equam suam infra liber-
tates manerii; et non potest yendere puUanum suum masculum
sibi puUenatum, nisi dum lacteat matrem^ sine licentia seryientis.
Et diabit 1 denarium de paunagio pro quolibet yeteri boye yel
yacca, si quos Occident ad lardarium suum etf idem sit infirmus
yel moriatur babebit unam dayuam quietam. Et si uxor ejus
moriatur yel sepeUatur in die Veneris, que est assueta ad dayuam
&ciendam, babebit 1 dayuam quietam. Et si pluyia impediat
aruram yel bedripes circa meridiem yel nonam yel post nonam
circa midavemon, debet ire ad bospitium:!: sine allocatione aliqua et
redire in altera die ad aruram yel ad bedripes.
Et idem Gilbertus et uxor ejus et tota fiimilia sua, et omnis qui
frierit ad tres bedripes domini, babebit gestum suum in die natalis
domini, qui dicitur § et quihbet babebit unum bonum
panem et bonam ceryisiam et potagium et plenarium ferculum de
camibus bourn, et aliud de camibus porcinis, et gallinas cumfres^
sang* in bnieto et caseum ; et sedebit post prandium et bibet quam-
diu de die potest yidere sine candelis accensis. Et si injGbrmetur
[f. 96 yo.] et sit ad bospitium, et uxor et alique de famUia sua mit-
tant qualem yolunt ad curiam propter prandium eonim, quilibet
babebit unum bonum panem et unam lagenam ceryisie bone et
unum plenarium fercidum de grossis camibus.
[Here follows a list of ten more tenants, eacb also bolding one
* 8ie, in the plural.
t 5t' seems to be wanting here. Kidem
means the tenant, the freedom from a dayra
upon his death was a superfluous boon.
t "Ire ad hospitium" here, and in
other places, means * to go home.'
I A blank in original ; probably vereme
is the omitted word.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
APPENDIX.
205
yirgate ; nine of them hold by the same tenure as the above, and
owe services like those of Gilbert Uppehull. The tenth holds freely,
" tenet liberd de domino/' a virgate formerly of the like tenure,
and pays eight shillings for all services. Then follow Sicardus
Gele, and eleven other tenants, who all hold half virgates.
The services, &c. of Gele are detailed, and are nearly the same
as those of the previous tenants of virgates, called *^ virgarii/* but
less. Each of the others ^' dat, fitcit, et recipit sicut R. Gele."
Among other services, he ploughs ^flw^Ae*,** et triturabitt>en?w."]
[f. 96.] Nicholaus Monachus unum ferdellum terre tenet, et qua-
tuor gallmas dat de cherisetto die S. Martini, et idem faciet tres day-
uas manuales qualibet septimana ab ad vincula beati Petri usque ad
festum S. Michi's, et faciet pro dayua quicquid precipietur eidem
ballivo. Quando falcat, habebit herbam suam sicut ceteri pro
dayua ; et quotiens messuerit pro dayua, debet* coUigere tot spicas
de garbis adunatis ad tassum quot potest tenere in manu sua et
ponere ad hanchiam suam et ligare, que dicitur dayue-handjid ; et
quotiens trituraverit pro dayua, habebit paleam que exit a venteria
dayue sue. Et idem debet metere cum uxore et tota funilia sua iii
bedripes in autumpno, et faciet accommodationes cum uno homine
in autumpno, et triturabit verreme contra Nat' domini, et dabit
paunagium pro porcis suis et pro bobus veteribus et vacds, si quos
occiderit ; et pro affiis suis, quia non facit averagium, dabit pauna-
^um et tallagium si vendiderit, et pro pullanis suis superannatis et
infra, nisi frierit pullenatus post festum d. Joh. Bapt. tunc non dabit
paunagium nee virgarius nee dimtdius virgarius.f Et iste et omnes
alii hujus tenure habebunt unam acram frumenti et unam acram
ordei et unam acram avene nee in meliori nee in pejori, set de medio
bladi domini, quod dicitur cotsetlescom / et debet esse [f. 96 v<>.]
super mullonem feni quando cariant fenum ; et debet esse cum frirca
sua ad tassationem frumenti domini et ordei et avene, quando cari-
ant bladum quod messum frierit ad bedripes ; et debet esse cum
frirca sua ad tassationem fabarum domini et ponere fabas super tas-
sum quando cariant fabas domini. Et idem portabit aquam contra
Natale ad pandozandum, et erit quietus de dayua dum fert aquam,
et habebit in vigilia Natalis domini lagenam cervisie de media cer-
visia ; et debet mgare animalia domini apud Winton super custum
suum, et erit quietus usque dum venerit ad hospitium de dayua ; et
debet tenere carucam vel tingere boves domini si jussus faerit et
esse quietus de omni dayua. Et habebit semper alterum diem sab-
bati cum caruca domini et bobus, et similiter in autumpno cum
carro domini; et habebit in vi^a Natalis domini unum album
panem et unum ferculum cam^is], et ad camiprivium ante qua-
dragesimam unum ferculum camis ; et si festum aliquod accidat in
sua die sabbati propter quod omittitur, vel pluvia vel tempestaa
• " Debet" is here uied in the sense
of a right and not a dutj ; a sense not
very uncommon.
f Qosere, why a foal dropped after
midsummer paid no pannage ? Probably
because it oonld not consume much herb-
age during the current year.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
206 THE CUSTUMAX OF BLEADON.
impediat, non debet eidemin alia die allocari sua dies sabbati.* Et
manducare debet coram domino in prima die adventus sui.
Et debet custodire animalia domini, videl' boves et vaccas in
una pastura et cetera animalia otiosa in alia pastura^ cum pastore
eorundem ; et habebit unum bovem in pastura cum bobus domini
et unam vaccam cum yaccis domini in pastura ; et boyettos suos
habebit cum boyettis domini in pastura quieta de herbagio omnes
quos ad domum suam poterit yemare. Et ubique debet esse quie-
tus de herbagio; et debet in autumpno yenire ad yesperam ad car-
rum domini propter boyes domini sub jugo. Et habebit unam gar-
bam cujuscunque bladi fuerit de ultima cariatione^ et custodiet
boyes domini per totam noctem^ et in mane rediet ad jugum cum
bobus domini^ et custodiet post autumpnum, et semper dum sunt ad
herbam. In summo mane fugabit boyes domini ad jugum. Et si
dominus fecerit lardarium suum de animalibus que idem pastor
habet in custodia sua^ habebit idem pastor de quolibet animali oc-
ciso coUum^ et sanguinem^ et revehticche, et hastingsticche, et quin-
que smalefarmes, et vemcoppe, et [f. 97] endeleseparmes et unum
jpotperm, et minte et pane bachferm continentem longitudinem a
cubito us^ue ad manum. Et quando ligantf boyes domini in boye-
riam in hieme^ debet custodire eosdem et trahere fenum et stramen
quod debent comedere, et portabit in boyeriam, et habebit quod
remittitur ante duos boyes, quod dicitur orfe, per totum terminum
dum boyes domini stant in boyeria ; et habebit boyem suum li^a-
tum inter duos forinsecos boyes domini a yigilia Natalis Domini
usque ad nonam in die Ascensionis Domini ; et custodiet boyes et
yaccas et cetera animalia domini in boyeria de die et nocte, et dabit
eis comedere et adaquabit eosdem quando necesse fuerit, et habebit
lac yeterum yaccarum in prima septimana post yitulationem quando
yituli plus nolunt suggere ii, et haoebit lac juyencarum per quinde-
nam post yitulationem postquam yituli plus nolunt suggere; et
habebit meg* ad partem suam ad curiam ; et habebit partem lactis
quod est sud butiro quando perficitur butirum ; et habebit qualibet
die mercurii et sabbati ab hokeday usque ad yincula beati Petri
unum magnum ciphum plenum de meg' exeunte caseo quando pre-
mitur caseus, qui in profunditate ferd cooperiet ambas auriculas
pastoris ; et idem habebit lac secunde melioris yacce, quando daya
omittet facere caseum per coUectam propter paucitatem lactis post
festum S. Mich*is dum sunt ad herbam, donee yacce ligentur in
boyeria; et tunc non habebit.
Et erit idem pastor quietus de omni dayua, et faciet cum tota
familia sua tres bedripes m autumpno, ezcepto pastore qui custodit
animalia domini in pastura ; et tassabit alteram partem tassi cujus-
libet de blado domini auod messum est ad bednpes in campis ; et
habebit qualibet die ad bedripes unam garbam meliorem que stat
in renco garbarum; et tassabit in grangia et in berthona alteram
* i. e. If a feast day or the weather pre- I f Sic, plaral.
Tents him from having the lord's plough % This is the milk stiU caUed '* beast-
or cart on the proper day, he loses his torn. | logs" or " beastliogs*' in northern parts.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
APPENDIX. 207
partem cujuslibet tassi et faciet semper alteram partem cujuslibet
mullonis feni; et manducabit coram domino prima die adyentus
domini, et non dabit nisi duas gallinas de chersetto^ quia est pastor
animalium domini.
Et idem Nicholans debet cnstodire bidentes domini si jussus
fuerit, [f. 97 vo.] et esse quietus de omni dayua. Et idem portabit sive
removebit qualibet die ovile domini^ et habebit super terram suam
ovile domini a vigilia NataUs Domini usque ad nonam in vigilia
epiphanie Domini si tunc bidentes domini sedent in oyili ; et debet
habere tecturam totius ovilis domini de hockedaye post nonam ; et
habebit in forlongOj ubi ovile domini tardius steterat^ de garbis
ordei simul ligatis unum onus tam grossum sicut potest levare et
portare de eodem forlongo per visum servientis. Et si custodierit
matrices oves per totum annum, habebit* omnium matricium ovium
per unam septimanam ante festum S. Mich, et per unam septimanam
post idem festum S. Mich. Et si dominus traxerit bidentes ad ven-
dendum vel ad lardarium suum faciendum, bercator habebit imam
ovem matricem veterem ; et si custodierit matrices, habebit unum
agnum qui dicitur 8tilom,f ad separationem ; et habebit lac matri-
cium in die pasche ad horam matutinam de quibus agni sunt sepa-
rati ; et custodiet oves matrices usque quo habeant xxx^ agnos ;
time dominus inveniet alium bercatorem ad custodiendum oves
matrices et agnos que agnilaverunt ; et bercator de villa alias oves
matrices custodiet usque ad agnilationem; etpost agnilationem tradet
bercatori domini, et adjuvabit quod agni in mane et sero bene lacte-
antur cum bercatore domini. Et custodiet oves et agnos dum berca-
tor domini vadit comestum> et quousque iterum veniat ; et habebit
lac matricium quarum agni sunt mortui usque ad xxix., donee ami
separentur ; et si excedit xxix^^ dominus habebit lac. Et habeoit
partem suam de me^* curie et lac quod est sub butiro quando
Dutirum perficitur, sicut pastor vaccarum ; et habebit de qualibet
bidente occisa ad curiam de gre^e suo coUum, et sanguinem, et
minte, et potparmes ; et habebit bidentes suas omnes cum bidenti-
bus domini quas custodit; et habebit unum vellus de veller[ibus]
domini, quod dicitur belwetheresjltis, et custodiet bidentes domini
2uod plene possit respondere de velleribus integris domini. Et si
liquid de velleribus amittatur, bercator restituet ad tonsionem, et
habebit in vigilia Natalis Domini unum album panem et ferculum
grossum camjis], et in die Natalis Domini habebit unum panem ad
canem suum ; et &ciet iUe et uxor ejus et tota familia sua tres bed-
ripes domino. Et veniet ad bedripes quando portaverit ovile domini,
et rediet ad vesperam quando hora venerit lactendi matrices, et
habebit unam garbam qualibet die sicut pastor animalium [f. 98], et
debet esse supe r omnia tassa et mullones feni in grangia et in ber-
thona, et non dabit nisi duas gallinas de chersetto, quia est bercator
bidentium domini. Et habebit gestum Natalis Domini, et ille et
uxor et tota famiha sua, que fuerit ad bedripes domini ; et mandu-
cabit ad curiam coram domino prima die adventus' domini.
* The word lae seems to be wanting. f Or $eihmf
Digitized by VjOOQIC
208 THE CUSTUMAL OF BLEADON.
[Here follow the names of seven tenants holding a ferdell of
land each^ of the same tenure and services as Nicholas^ except one
ferdell " quod nunquam consuevit operarL'*
One tenant holds eight acres, and pays Sa. 2d. de gabulo^ and
6d. de quadam /onn^a terre^ &c.]
[f. 98 vo.] Alicia relicta Petri Fabri tenet ferdellum terre et
inveniet unum fstbrum domino et toti ville, et debet idem faber
reparare ferramenta duarum carucarum domini de ferro domini et
facere eadem ferramenta de novo quando necesse fuerit super cus-
turn suum^ et faciet ferros et clavos de ferro domini ad imum affi-um
domini^ et ferrabit eundum affinim de clavis et ferns predictis.
(Some common ajpricidtural services omitted here.] Et ferrabit pa-
eMdum domini in auatuor pedibus in quolibet adventu domini,
et inveniet ferros et clavos. £t manducabit cum domino prima die
adventus domini; et nisi manducaverit cum domino est in miseri-
cordia domini ; et habebit quatuor averia et imum affinmi in pas-
tura domini bj Southemede cum averiis domini otiosis quieta de
herbagio. Et lavabit bidentes domini, et reparabit vellera domini
sicut alii* tondent bidentes.
[Here follow five tenants of half ferdells, ** dimidia ferdella
terre/' with the services of Nicholaus Monachus halved and other-
wise reduced ; one of them " debet subpeditare stercora boum, quod
dicitur tredes-shem"
Jordanus de Furdone holds a messuage and two acres at 18d.
de gabulo, owes two grashurthes in winter, and in Lent a plough-
ing called type, and three bedripes.]
[f. 99 vo.l Nicholaus Duele tenet v. acras terre in hammis.
Dat domino 11^. de gabulo annuatinu £t inveniet navem suam
vel batellum suum ad serviendum domino eundo in servitio do-
mini ad Walliam super custum dicti Nicholai propter merem[ium ?]
vel oves vel buscum vel quid dominus [7], vel ducendo bladum do-
mini ad vendendum ; et alias inveniet navem suam ad serviendum
domino sine fretto, et dominus pascet marinarios deservientes dicte
navi. Et tertio inveniet navem suam ad serviendum domino, et
dominus dabit frettum pro dicta navi ; set idem Nicholaus melius
forum dabit domino <|uam alteri homini, et promptior et pronior
erit ad servitium dommi qtiam alterius hominis ad terdum passa-
gium. Et debet in tempore hostili per mare sive per terram eundo
secundum posse suum muniref dominum et homines domini ne in
malum incidant, si aliquid mali audiat loqui versus dominum vel
suos. Et habebit in commimi pastura de Bledone extra hammes
xxxii matrices bidentes et unum castricium,^: et vii averia otiosa
et unimi affinmi quietum de herbagio.
Adam filius Alvuve tenet messuagium et ortum et unam pece-
tam terre continentem imam dayuam terre. Et debet operari qua-
libet septimana per annum unam dayuam manualem et faciet pro
dayua quicquid precipietur a serviente preter falcare. Et ille et
tULor ejus niciet iii bedripes in autumpno, et habebit qualibet die
* « Qui" seems wanting here. f i. e. monere. X A wether sheep ; CoweL
Digitized by VjOOQIC
APPENDIX, 209
unam garbam^ et debet esse ad tassationem bladi domini in ber-
thona, et habebit qualibet die garbam unam, et debet esse ad mui-
lones feni faciendos^ et habebit garbam unam qualibet die de feno.
Et si messerit pro dayua^ habebit garbam suam ad vesperam. £t
si tritTiraverit pro dayua, habebit paleam [f. 100] suam ad vente-
riam dayue sue. £t dabit paunagium et tollenagium et habebit
gestum Natalis Domini, et lavabit et tondebit bidentes domini.
[Here follow ten tenants of a messuage and garden, or small
quantities of land, who pay gable and light agricultural services :
" triturant verme," and one " veniet ad shermtrede domini/*]
[f. 100 v©.] Omnes homines et femine domini servilis conditi-
onis, terram non tenentes ad propriam mensam in manerio de Ble-
done, facient tres bedripes domino in autumpno, et habebunt unam
garbam qualibet die ; et si serviant alicui libero homini, veluti Per-
sone yel Ade de Suddon in manerio, facient tres bedripes domino
et non habebunt garbam suam, quia sunt ad alterius mensam. £t
omnes homines qui sunt ad bedripes domini in autumpno yenient
et habebunt gestum Natalis Domini adeo bene sicut alii terram
tenentes.
Omnes homines in manerio de Bledone dabunt paimagium et
tollenagium, et dabunt quatuor lagenas cervisie ad tollenagium
quando pandoxant ad yendendum, preter Adam de Suddon et Ali-
ciam relictam Petri Fabri, qui non dabunt.
Omnes homines de Stipelot* tenent unam pasturam que yoca-
tur Newelond, et dant herbag* xx denarios ad festum S. Joh. Bap-
tiste pro eadem pastura.
[Then follows a list of tenants who hold pasture ** juxta montem"
and pay herbage.]
[f. 101.] Tenens yirgatam terre yel dimidiam virgatam terre
debet esse prepositus, et idem debet arare domino et cariare cum
carro suo domino tantum sicut yicinus ejus ejusdem tenure qualis
ipse est. £t faciet tres bedripes cum tota familia sua, exceptis
uxore et magistro seryiente suo; et debet ire in seiritio domini infra
comitatum ad negotium domini perficiendum, et habebit imum de-
narium de crumena domini. £t si eat extra comitatum in seryitio
domini ad negotium ejusdem faciendum, dominus inyeniet sibi
sumptus suos necessaries usque dum yenerit ad hospitium, et habe-
bit imum ferdellum terre sme messuagio quod yocatur revelond;
et habebit equum suum yel jumentum suum in hieme ad fenum
domini, et in estate ad herbam domini in pastura in Saltelond ; et
habebit y yaccas cum yaccis domini in pastura, et habebit oyes suas
in pastura domini semper post oyes domini y yidelicet, omnes oyes
quas potest in hieme ad domum suam legaliter yemare ; et habebit
secundum meliorem agnum femellum post dominum, qui dicitur
stUom, quando separant agnos domini ; et habebit imum magnum
ciphum plenum de meliore meg', qui in profunditate cooperiet
ambas auriculas prepositi; et habebit unam dimidiam acram fru-
menti nee de meliori frumento nee de pejori, set de medio frumento
* Probably Scipelot, now Shiplate, a Tillage or hamlet in the parish of Bleadon.
P
Digitized by VjOOQIC
210 THE CU8TUMAL OF BLEADON.
domini quod dicitur deuland. Et debet esse qiiietus de onmibus
dayuis manualibus^ et est quietus de ffabulo suo; et debet esse
quietus de paunagio et toUenagio et herbagio.
Willielmus de Falcumbe tenet v acras terre, quas Nicholaus
Duele quondam tenuity que fuerunt in manu domini ; et dedit [pro]
predicta terra tenend' domino G, le Noreys, tunc Aardario, xl»
pro introitu [f. 101 yo.]. £t reddit inde annuatim iii* pro omnibus
servitiis ; et nabebit in communi pastura de Bledone extra hanunas
TTT11 oves matrices et unum toylardutn, et vii averia otiosa^ et
unum affirum quietum de herbagio.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
By JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS, Esa., F.S.A.
The descent of the Earldom of Salisbury presents three
distinct series of succession. The first of these, commen-
cing in the middle of the twelfth century, furnishes only
three Earls, who occupied the dignity for about sixty years;
but whose representatives retained some lingering claims
to it for about a century longer. The second series, be-
ginning soon after the expiration of those claims, extends
over the period of two centuries, though, as before, it was
only in the earlier part of that time that there were dis-
tinct Earls of Salisbury, the dignity being subsequently
merged under other titles ; of this, the second race, there
were four Earls in the family of Montacute, two in the
family of Neville, two in the royal house of Flantagenet,
and one Countess by creation, also of that house. From her
death there was no Earl of Salisbury for a period of sixty-
four years ; after which King James I. conferred the dig-
nity on the family of Cecill, which holds it to the present
day. In this last creation, the Earldom of Salisbury is a
mere title by which its owners in male succession inherit
the dignity of a peerage, and which title, from the year
1789, has been accompanied by the higher rank of a mar-
quess. What more than this in relation to the county of
Wilts, and how far differing in its nature and tenure the
ancient Earldom was, it will be the object of the following
remarks in some measure to elucidate.
The family upon which the Earldom was first conferred
had, from the Conquest, occupied a similar though subor-
dinate position ; and they possessed no other surname but
that which they derived from the castle of Sarum. Ed-
ward of Salisbury was the vice-comes of Wiltshire at the
time of the Domesday Survey. If the designation vice-^^
Digitized by VjOOQIC
212 THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
comes were to be regarded as we now regard titles of dig-
nity, we might fairly translate it as viscount, though vis-
count was not really introduced into England as a title of
peerage until the reign of Henry VI. But in early feudal
times titles independent of office did not exist : the comites,
or earls, were actual officers ; and the vice-comeSf who acted
in the absence of an earl, is usually considered as identical
with the functionary known by the English term shire-
reeve, or sheriff. The Latin records of many centuries,
down to modem times, confirm this interpretation.
For many of the reigns of our Norman monarchs, this
office of vice-comes or sheriff was commonly hereditary.
Afterwards it was granted to the same person for several
successive years, at the king's pleasure; and lastly, the
modern practice obtained of appointing a new sheriff every
year. In one instance only, that of Westmerland, an here-
ditary sheriff has been continued to our own times; and the
office has very recently become vacant by the death of the
last Earl of Thanet.
In a chronicle belonging to the nunnery of Lacock in
North Wiltshire, which was one of the foundations of the
Earls of Salisbury, a genealogical history of their ancestry
was given, which, though inaccurate in some particulars,
may, in its general scope, be supposed to have been founded
upon well-remembered tradition. It traces their ancestry
to a certain Walter le Ewrus, comte of Rosmar, who, it
states, before he came into England, was the father of
Gerold comte of Rdsmar ; and after he came hither had a
son named Edward, an Englishman by birth, who was after-
wards vice-comes of Wiltshire.
In the memoir on the Earldom of Lincoln, which I had
the pleasure to offer to the attention of the Institute last
year, I shewed how William de Romara, who was Earl of
Lincoln in the reign of Stephen, was the son of Robert
Fitz-Girold; and that Girold, the father of Robert, was
identical with Girold of Roumare, who was Dapifer of
Normandy before the conquest of England. This Girold,
then, is the person of whom the Book of Lacock speaks as
Gerold comte of R6smar, and who, as it asserts, was the
brother of Edward vice-comes of Wiltshire. But, as in the
descent of the Earls of Lincoln this genealogist dropped
one generation, so it appears very probable that in the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY. 213
descent of the sheriflB of Wiltshire one generation also is
omitted, and that the Domesday Edward was not grand-
father, but great-grandfather of Patrick the first Earl of
Salisbury. Supposing there were two successive Edwards,
this conclusion will be reconcilable with the other memO'
rials we find of the name of " Edward of Salisbury."
But there is no trace in authentic records of any such
person as " Walter le Ewrus, comte of R6smar.'' In fact,
as I shewed last year, the family of Boumare had no pre-
tension to be styled comtes or earls, until William de Ko-
mara was made Earl of Lincoln in the reign of Stephen.
The name of Walter seems to have been borrowed, as we
often find to be the case in old pedigrees, from a lower
generation in the genealogical tree ; and, supposing Girold
Dapifer to have been actually the brother of Edward of
Salisbury, there is reason to believe that their father's name
was also Girold, and that he was the same with Girold the
father of Ralph de Tancarville, the ancestor of the heredi-
tary chamberlains of Normandy.
On Walter comte of Rdsmar, according to the Book
of Lacock, king William the Conqueror bestowed, in re-
ward of his approved service, the whole lordship of Sares-
bury and Ambresbury, L e. Salisbury and Amesbury. At
the period of the compilation of the Domesday Survey in
the year 1080-86, the manor of Amesbury was held by Ed-
ward of Sarisberie, together with other manors in Wilt-
shire, amounting in all to thirty-eight, — not thirty-three, as
Dugdale reckons them in his Baronage. Edward of Salis-
bury was also the lord of several manors in eight other
counties, namely, Somerset, Dorset, Hants, Oxford, Mid-
dlesex, Hertford, Buckingham, and Surrey.
The Survey contains, further, a remarkable enumera-
tion of the rents in kind which Edward received as sheriff
of Wiltshire. They consisted of 130 porkers and 32 bacon-
hogs ; 2 J bushels of bread-corn, and the same of beer-corn;
5 bushels and 1 peck of oats ; 16 pottles of honey, or 16
shillings instead; 480 hens, 1600 eggs, 100 cheeses, 62
lambs, 140 fleeces; corn-rents of 162 acres; and he also
derived 80/. from portions of the reeve-land. But should
the farm-rents fail with the reeves, Edward was bound to
supply the deficiency in the stores (for that time) from his
own lands.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
214
THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
Moreoyer, we have three other records, besides the
Domesday Survey, which bear testimony to the importance
of Edward of Salisbury in the days of the Conqueror, One
is a charter granted by the king to the abbey of Selby,
dated at Londoain the presence of Odo bishop of Bayeux,
Edward of Salisbury (his name occurring second), and
others, " all the king^s court there present/* The period
of this charter must be placed between IO7O, when Bemi-
gius the bishop (another of the witnesses) was consecrated
to the see of Dorchester, and 1082, when bishop Odo was
disgraced. To two other charters the name of Edward is
less prominently attached under the designation of vice-
comes. One of these was granted by the Conqueror's
queen to the abbey of Malmesbury, and bears the date
of a year, namely, 1081 ; and the second is a charter of
the king to the priory of Lewes, which cannot be earlier
than 1080, when William de Kairlipho (another of the
witnesses) became bishop of Durham.
These charters, it is evident, invalidate the statement
of the Book of Lacock, that Edward the sheriff was bom in
England after the Conquest, if there was only one person
of the name ; for in the year 1081, only fifteen years after
that era, he must have been already a man, or would not
have been entrusted with the government of Wiltshire.
In the adoption of the proposition which I have before
advanced, that there was a second Edward, he would be a
native of England, and to him the lingering tradition of the
nunnery of Lacock would properly belong. It is almost
forty years after the period of Domesday Book and of the
charters I have cited, when we again meet with the name
of Edward of Salisbury; and as he then occurs as an active
warrior, that circumstance strengthens the presumption
that we have in his person the representative of another
generation. It was at the battle of Brenmule, by which,
in the year 1119, king Henry I. put an end to a rebellion
in Normandy, that Edward of Salisbury carried the royal
standard ; and on that occasion he is characterised by Or-
dericus Vitalis* as a valiant champion, whose prowess was
most highly conspicuous, and his courage unfailing, even to
* ''Edvardus de Salisburia ibi por-
tavit ▼exillmn, fortis agonista, cujus robur
erat probatione notissimunii et constantia
perseveraiu usqae ad ezitinm.' ' Order icui
VitaUg.
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THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
215
the death. The same author names Edward of Salishury
as one of those who, with earl Stephen (afterwards king
of England), William de Bolmar (afterwards earl of Lin-
coln), Rahel the chamherlain, and many others, refused to
proceed in the ill-fated White Ship, in which, on returning
from this expedition, the king's two sons, with Richard
earl of Chester, and many other distinguished courtiers,
were lost by shipwreck.
No notice has been preserved of the wife of Edward of
Salisbury, either the first or the second ;* but the genea-
logical history of the Bohuns, which was written m the
chronicle of the abbey of Lanthony, near Gloucester, pre-
sents a long statement of the alliance which the daughter
of Edward of Salisbury made with Humphrey de Bohun,
styled the Great. It is as follows : " The lord Humphrey
de Bohun, who was sumamed * with the beard/ who first
came with William the Conqueror into England from Nor-
mandy, a kinsman of the said Conqueror, begat lord Hum-
phrey de Bohun the second. He was called Humphrey the
Great ; who, by the will and command of William Rufus,
son of the said Conqueror, espoused Matilda daughter of
Edward of Salisbury, with which Matilda her father gave
to the said Humphrey in free marriage all his lands and
tenements which were of his own acquisition ; namely,
Weston near Salisbury, Walton, Newenton, Piryton, Staun-
ton (or Staverton ?), Trowbridge, and a messuage in Salis-
bury next the east gate, and the advowson of the church of
the Holy Cross which is founded above that gate, together
with a meadow without Salisbury. And Weston aforesaid
was given in exchange for Wyvelesford and Manningford.
And all the other lands and tenements which were of the
\[
* It ehoold not pass unnoticed that
there was an Edward of Salisbury, appa-
rently of a third generation, living in the
reign of Henry I., and whose connexion
with the same family is shewn by the fact,
that he was a benefactor of the abbey of
St. George of Bocherville, the foundation
of Ralph de Tancarville, the presumed
brother of the Domesday Edward of Salis-
bury. He was also witness to the foun-
dation charters of the abbey of Savigny in
the year 1112. In the year 1131 his wi-
dow was given to Payne de Hocton, son
of William de Hocton. *' William de Hoc-
tona renders accompt in the exchequer of
200/. for the wife of Edward of Sarum,
with the land, to the use of Payne his son.
Paganus de Hoctona renders acoompt of
200 marks of silver and two marks of gold
for the wife of Edward of Sarum." Pipe
Roll, 31 Henry I. (heretofore called 5
Stephen), 8vo, 1831, p. 81. Her name
was Leonia, and she is described as of the
race of Roger de Reines, the Domesday
lord of Rayne in Essex, in the following
passage of a record dated 1 185 : *' Uxor
Roberti de Stuteville est de donatione do-
mini regis, et de parentela Edwardi de
Salisburia ex parte patris, et ex parte ma-
tris est de progenia Roger! de Reines."
Rotuli de Dtminabuij Sfc, 31 Hen. II.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
216 THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
inheritance of the said Edward remained to his son and
heir, Walter of Salisbury."*
It was this Humphrey de Bohun and his wife Matilda
who founded the priory of Farley, in this county. This
took place, according to the register of Lewes priory, in
the year 1125. Among its endowments are mentioned se-
veral of the places already named as constituting the lady's
dower. The monks of Farley had the church of Wivelis-
ford, ten shillings yearly from the church of Trowbridge,
that half of the church of Walton which belonged to the
Bohun fee, and the tithes of the lordship of Staverton.
They also possessed the church of Bishopstrow, and a hide
of land in that village, which is particularly specified as of
the gift of Matilda de Bohun, together with pasture for
a hundred sheep and a yoke of oxen ; but the manor of
Bishopstrow itself, which was one of those belonging to
Edward of Salisbury at the Domesday Survey, descended
in the male line to the countess Ela, who employed it in
the foundation of the nunnery of Lacock.
Of Walter of Salisbury (the next representative of
the family) few facts are on record. As a baron, he wit-
nessed a charter of king Stephen, in the year 1136 ;t and
in 1142 he founded the priory of Bradenstoke, in the vale
of Maknesbury, placing therein regular canons of the order
of St. Augustine. After the death of his wife (as related
in the Book of Lacock), he assumed the tonsure and habit
of the canons ; and there the bodies of both his wife and
himself were placed in one tomb by the presbytery. The
name of his wife was Sibilla de Cadurcis, or (in English)
Chaworth, by whom he left issue his son and heir Patrick,
afterwards tne first Earl of Salisbury. Two younger sons,
Walter and William, are said to have been canons of Bra-
denstoke. Hawise, a daughter, was very honourably mar-
ried in France. She became, in 1126, the second wife of
Rotrou first comte de Perche ; and was remarried before
1145 to Robert of France, comte de Dreux: she died
before 1152.1:
Patrick of Salisbury was a witness to king Stephen's
treaty with Henry duke of Normandy, in the year 1 153.
Having taken part with the empress Maud in her struggle
• Dugdale's Monatticon AngHcanumt \ f Hearne's Liher Niger, p. 808.
".67. \ % Anselme, Hi$L Geneal.
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THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
217
with Stephen, he was by her advanced to the dignity of
Earl of Salisbury, and he occurs under that designation in
the vear 1165.*
]Being lieutenant of Acquitaine for king Henry IL,
he went in pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint lago in
Gallicia; and on his way back was slain by Guy de Lu-
signan on the 27th March, 11 68. His body was in-
terred in the church of St. Hilary in Poictiers ; and Queen
Alianor (whose champion and defender he had been,) pro-
cured, in consequence, from the king her husband, a grant
by which he joined with her in bestowing upon that church
all their customs arising in Benai. King Henry afterwards
drove Guy de Lusignan out of Poictou, whereupon he took
refuge in the army of the Crusaders, and subsequently be-
came king, first of Jerusalem, and afterwards of Cyprus.
Patrick earl of Salisbury is supposed to have had two
wives. Of one no more is known, except that " the soul
of Matilda the countess, my wife," is recommended to the
prayers of the canons of Bradenstoke in his charter to that
priory. It is not improbable that his son Patrick, who
occurs in another Bradenstoke charter,t was the son of the
countess Matilda.
Earl Patrick's second wife was Ela, the widow of Wil-
liam earl Warren, who died in 1148, leaving by her an
only daughter and heiress, Isabel, who afterwards became
the wife of Hameline, base brother to king Henry II.,
from which marriage descended the second house of the
Earls of Warren and Surrey. This Ela was the daughter
of William Talvais comte of Ponthieu, by Helen, daughter
of Odo duke of Burgundy. She died on the 10th Dec.
1174, having had issue, by her second marriage, William
earl of Salisbury,^ and two or three younger sons, whose
names alone are known from the monastic charters of Bra-
denstoke, Stanley, and Southwark.
William Earl of Salisbury took part in the cere-
monial of the first coronation of the lion-hearted king,
which was solemnised with great state at Westminster on
the 3d of Sept. 1 189 ; he carried the verge or rod, ensigned
with a dove on its summit. At Bichard's second corona-
♦ Liber Niger,
t ** Pro anima patris mei comitis Pa-
tricii, et pro anima fratris mei Patricii"
Carta WiUielmi comitis Sarum, — Dugd.
Monaat. ii. 207.
X The charier quoted in the last note
shews that earl William was the son of
Ela.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
218 TH£ EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
tion, which took place after his return from captivity iu
Germany, and which was solemnised in the cathedral of
Winchester on the 18th April, 1194, this earl was one
of four who supported the canopy, namely, the earls of
Norfolk, the Isle of Wight (another style for the earl of
Devonshire), Salisbury, and Ferrers. In the latter year
the earl of Salisbury was also constituted keeper of the
king's charter or grant for licensing tournaments through-
out the country. One of the five steads or fields then
appointed in various parts of England, for the exercise of
tournaments, was situated between Salisbury and Wilton ;
and has been described by our late intelligent historian,
Mr. Hatcher, as occupying the tongue of land between the
Bath and Devizes roads, — a fine area amidst the downs,
which afforded ample space for the lists, and accommoda-
tion for thousands of spectators.
Earl William, though he survived his father for twenty,
eight years, appears to have died in the prime of life. Ac-
cording to the Book of Lacock, his body was buried at the
priory of Bradenstoke. His wife, who survived him for
thirty-five years, was Alianor, daughter of Robert de Vitre,
of Brittany, descended in the male line from a younger
brother of the sovereign house of that country, and other-
wise allied to them, and to the royal house of England.
She was married first to William Paynell, lord of Hambie
in Normandy, and of Drax in Yorkshire, whose widow she
became in 1184: and she was married thirdly to Gilbert
de Malesmains, who in her right held the manor of Gates-
den in Hertfordshire, in the year 1205. Alianor countess
of Salisbury died in Normandy, and was buried by the
side of her daughter Juliana, in the abbey of St. Martin
de Monte Dei, commonly called Mondaye.
By the earl of Salisbury she had issue three daughters,
Ela, Juliana, and Joanna.
As the earldom was considered to be an indivisible
fief, the younger sisters received but moderate portions,
and were married to persons of inferior rank. Juliana
was the wife of Gilbert de Tellieres, who was living in
1219, when he is styled lord of the castle of Creully, near
Bayeux. In the year 1227, Alianor, once Countess of
Salisbury, gave to the abbey of Mondaye ten pounds of
the money of Tours for the observation of the anniversary
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THE EABLDOM OF SALISBURY. 219
of her daughter Juliana then defunct. She left a daughter
and heiress Hylaria, lady of Tellieres, who was the wife of
James de Bovelingham, when she claimed to he a coheir of
Alianor countess of Salisbury, in the year 1233.
Joanna, the third daughter of the countess, was married
to sir Thomas Malesmains, and was mother of Nicholas
de Malesmains, who also claimed to be a co-heir of the
countess Alianor in the year just named. The wardship
of the heir of Thomas and Joanna had been granted to the
earl and countess of Salisbury in the year 1221.*
We now turn again to the book of the nuns of Lacock,
which at this peri^ of our history introduces a romantic
legend of the early life of their foundress, Ela, the eldest
sister. This legend is certainly very liable to sceptical
objection, not only from its poetical character, but because
it opens with three assertions which we have already seen
to be false : the first, that Ela was the only child of her
parents ; the next, that her father died of old age ; and
the third, that her mother was deceased a year before,
and buried at Bradenstoke. However, such as it is, it
will be interesting to follow it in the expressions of the
writer.
Ela, then, he says, the wife of William Longespee I.,
was bom at Ambresbury, her father and mother being
Normans. So her father, failing from old age, departed
to Christ in the year 1196; her mother had died a year
before, and their bodies are entombed at Bradenstoke,
under a marble stone near the porch. Meanwhile the
dearest lady Ela, an orphan both of father and mother,
was conveyed by her kinsfolk and friends into Normandy,
and there brought up under safe and strict keeping. At
that time there was in England a certain knight, named
William Talbot, who assumed the habit of a pilgrim,
crossed over into Normandy, and there stayed during two
years, wandering up and down to discover the lady Ela of
Salisbury. And when he had found her, he put off the
garb of a pilgrim, and clothed himself as a harper ; and
having enter^ the court where she was staying, approving
himself to be a minstrel well skilled in the lays of olden
times, was kindly received as a welcome guest. And when
he found a convenient opportunity, he returned to England,
• Clote Roili, i. 46S.
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S^O THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURT.
taking with him this hoDourable lady Ela, the heir of the
earldom of Salisbury, and presented her to king Richard.
The king most joyfully received her, and gave her in mar-
riage to his brother William Longespee.
This William Longespee was a natural son of king
Henry IL, and his mother was the fair Rosamond ClifforcJC
whose well-known story survives in connexion with the
bower of Woodstock and the cemetenr of Godstow. No
mention of his name occurs at an earlier period than the
time of his marriage. It may be presumed that he was
then a youth just rising into manhood, and that his mu-
nificent brother king Richard took the earliest oppor-
tunity to confer upon him a provision which would be
suitable to his royal birth. Such was then the customary
way of establishing the junior members of the royal house.
Without proceeding to later instances of the kind, two of
very similar character may be noticed in the same century.
The heiress of the earldom of Gloucester was given by king
Henry I. to his natural son Robert; and the heiress of
the Warrens, earls of Surrey, was bestowed first on an
illegitimate son of king Stephen, and afterwards on a base
brother of king Henry H. Such, therefore, was Ela's
natural destiny : whether her mother and her relations
were opposed to it, we cannot expect to find any other evi-
dence beyond the Lacock legend ; but the reality of such
a person as William Talbot, and his subsequent connexion
with the earl of Salisbury's household, appears from his
name occurring as a witness to several of the earl's char-
ters to the priory of Bradenstoke.
The name of William Longespee was chosen by his
father, king Henry H., with historical allusions. It had
belonged to his remote ancestor, William Longespee duke
of Normandy, who was slain in 923. It was also borne
by William comte of Flanders, the son of Robert duke of
Wormandy, and nephew to king Henry I. The earl of
Salisbury's coat-armour was also adopted with ancestral
allusion. The six rampant lions of gold on an azure field,
as displayed on his shield in the cathedral, are the same
which are seen in an enamelled tablet representing his
grandfather, Geoffrey comte of Anjou, which is engraved
in Stothard's Monumental Effigies.
On the feast of the Ascension (May 27) 11 99, king
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THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY. 221
John was crowned at Westminster, and William earl of
Salisbury is named among the nobles present. On the
same day the investiture of two earls was solemnised : the
king then girding William Marshall with the sword of the
earldom of Striguil (or Pembroke), and Geoffrey Fitz-Peter
with the sword of the earldom of Essex ; " for though
(adds the chronicler Hoveden) they were called Earls, and
exercised the administration of their earldoms, yet they
were not till that day girded with the swords of those earl-
doms ; and so that day they served at the table with their
swords girded to them/* It is therefore certain that Wil-
liam Longespee must previously have gone through the
same ceremony, and he had doubtless been girt with the
sword of the earldom of Salisbury during the life of king
Richard. Throughout the reign of king John, the earl of
Salisbury took an active part in public affairs, and was
evidently a personage of as high consideration as a modem
duke of the blood royal. The rolls of king John's close
or private letters abound in records of the king's constant
and profuse bounty to his brother, not only in gifts of lands
and fees, wardships and marriages, but in frequent pre-
sents of money, timber, wine, venison, and a variety of
other things afforded by the royal demesnes, or which at
that period contributed directly to the revenues of the
crown. His movements in continual attendance on the
king have been traced in the History of Lacock Abbey f*
either from the same authority, or from royal charters and
other records. From September l€04 to May 1206 he
was constable of Dover Castle ; and during that period,
in June 1205, he commanded an ineffectual expedition
to Rochelle. In 1209 he was constituted warden of the
Marches of Wales. In May 1213 he witnessed at Dover
the king's treaty of peace with the insurgent barons, and
also the charter by which John resigned his kingdom and
crown to the pope; and on the Sd of October following
he was present when the king performed homage to the
legate of the sovereign pontiff in the church of St. Paul
at London. In the same year he commanded the English
forces sent to aid the comte of Flanders, when invaded
by Philip of France. On this occasion he surprised and
* An$iaU and Aniiquiiie* of Laeock Abbey , by the Rey. William Lisle Bowles and
John Gough Nicholi. 1635. bvo.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
222 THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
burnt the French fleet. In 1214 he was appointed mar-
shal of a more numerous army sent to Flanders, which was
defeated by the French at Bovines on the 27th of July,
one week before which time the earl of Salisbury had been
taken prisoner. He had formed a plan to surprise the
French king whilst attending mass, but was himself cap-
tured in the enterprise with the rest of his party. He was
exchanged the year after for the eldest son of the comte
de Dreux, a cousin-german of king Philip.
On the field of Bunnvmede, in June 1215, when many
of the nobility had recently transferred their support to the
party acting in opposition to the royal authority, and when
their superior force intimidated king John to concede the
Magna Charta, the higher portion of the aristocracy still
adhered to the royal side, and not only Salisbury, but the
earls of Pembroke, Warren, and Arundel, appeared in the
camp of their sovereign. During the troubles which fol-
lowed, Salisbury took an active part, in conjunction with
the renowned Faukes de Breaute, in ravaging the estates
of the barons in the southern counties. This provoked
the invitation of Louis of France ; and at this crisis John
was almost entirely deserted, for the earls of Warren and
Arundel, the earl of Salisbury, and the younger William
Marshall, all joined the invader, as if they made sure that
he would now obtain the kingdom. But it was not long
before the turbulent and miserable reign of John was ter-
minated by death ; and in the ensuing year, the same four
earls all again changed their party, and acknowledged the
young king, Henry III.
It woidd be difficult to determine whether the adher-
ence of Longespee to the French prince, at this crisis,
was an involuntary submission to circumstances, or a de-
liberate abandonment of his own kinsman and sovereign ;
whether his conduct was actuated by a temporising policy,
or whether he despaired of the maintenance of that dy-
nasty to which he owed his own parentage and advance-
ment. For nearly five months after king John's death,
the earl of Salisbury seemed to continue in the service of
prince Louis; but at length, early in March 1217,* he
unexpectedly rose against him when in the isle of Rh6,
from whence the pretender narrowly efiTected his escape by
• Chronicle of Melrose.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
223
the fortuitous arrival of some ships of his own country.
The first intimation of the earl of Salisbury's having ten-
dered his allegiance to his nephew, king Henry IIL, oc-
curs on the 7th of that month.* On the 14th the castle
of Sherborne with the county of Somerset were committed
to his custody ; and its speedy delivery was the next day
urged by a second letter (in the king's name) from the
earl of rembroke, then regent of the kingdom, addressed
to Peter de Maulay, who was warned lest mrough his fault
the royal cause should lose the adherence of the earl of
Salisbury, in which case, as Peter was admonished, he
would occasion the king more damage than it would be
ever in his power to repair.t This shews that the earl of
Pembroke still regarded Salisbury's conduct with suspicion.
After the triumph of the royal party at Lincoln, that city
and the county thereof were committed by the king to the
custody of " his dearest uncle the earl of Salisbury j^t he
relinquishing at the same time the castle of Mount Sorell in
Leicestershire to the earl of Chester.§ For many years the
close rolls are full of grants in money and lands to him.
It was within less than four years after the accession
of king Henry III. that the new church of Salisbury was
commenced. The ceremony of foundation was so far dif-
ferent to the modern practice, that not one, but several
stones were laid by persons of rank. The first stone was
laid by the bishop in the name of pope Honorius, the
second in the name of the archbishop of Canterbury, the
third he laid for himself ; then stepped forward the earl
of Salisbury, and laid the fourth stone ; the fifth was laid
by the countess Ela,|| " a woman truly praiseworthy, be-
cause she was filled with the fear of the Lord." After her,
the other noblemen present each added a stone, and then
in succession the dean and other members of the church.
In the year 1224 the earl of Salisbury was again called
* Close Rollif folio, voL i p. 299.
f **.... ne occasione vestri semciom
ipsius comitif amittamns, qaia nanqoam
tantum boni nobU facietiB qaantmn mali
inferetiB, si per vos idem comes quod absit
a senricio nostro neoesserit.'' Rot, Pat,
1 Hen. in. m. 11.
% Ibid.
§ Cloie Roll, On that day the earl
of Chester's right to the earldom of Lin-
coln had been admitted by the king (see
my Memoir on that Earldom last year).
The city of Lincoln below the hill was
committed to other hands than the upper
town. The castle continued with its here-
ditary guardian who had so well defended
it, the widow Nicolaa de CamviUe.
II Ela de Viteri in the original of Wil-
liam de Wanda : it is possible, therefore,
that the earl's mother, the countess Alie-
nor (de Viteri), and not the countess Ela,
was the lady present.
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224 THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
into active service, being required to accompany his nephew,
the king's brother, Richard earl of Cornwall and Poictou
(who had recently received the degree of knighthood), on
his first campaign. The expedition was destined for the
redaction of Gascony, then in a state of rebellion. They
landed at Bourdeaux on Palm Sunday, the 7th of April,
and passed the next six months in the fulfilment of their
object. In the following October the earl of Salisbury
attempted to return home, but was cast on shore at the
Isle of Rhe. Here he would have remained in conceal-
ment, but being in danger of capture by the French force
then stationed there, he again committed himself to the
waves, and was bufieted about for nearly three months,
until at length he efiected a landing in Cornwall at the
time of Christmas.
With this adventure is connected an incident in which
the history of the earldom is materially concerned. At a
time when nearly all dignities and offices, as well as lands,
were hereditary, and were also subject to inheritance
through females, and when not merely the heiresses them-
selves were debarred from their free choice in marriage,
but even their parents and friends were bound to submit
to the will of a feudal lord or sovereign, there was, of course,
great room for the fortune-hunting of court favourites.
Nor was a widowed heiress, whose children were in their
minority, more safe than one who had not yet been be-
stowed m marriage.
Thus the mother of Baldwin earl of Devon was given
by king John to his foreign mercenary and cruel dispenser
of the fire and the sword, Falkes de Breaute, whom Mat-
thew Paris terms "that impious, ignoble, and base-con-
ditioned man.'* The heiress of Albemarle conferred the
dignity of earl successively on her three husbands, William
Mandeville, William de Fortibus, and Baldwin de Betun ;
it afterwards descended to her son and heir, who was born
of the second husband. Isabel of Gloucester was the wife
first of John (afterwards king), and secondly of Geoflrey de
Mandeville, who were both earls of Gloucester in her right*
In the reign of Edward I., Ralph de Monthermer married
Joan countess-dowager of Gloucester and Hertford ; and
though she was not an heiress (but the king's daughter),
he was styled earl of Gloucester so long as she lived ; but
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TOE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY. 225
on her death, the dimity went to her son ; and Ralph for
many years after survived in the rank of a baron only.
When such were the advantages which accompanied
the acquisition of widows, it may be supposed that the
aspirants to rank and fortune would not long be restrained
by motives of delicacy toward the party most concerned, or
of respect to the memory of her departed lord. Thus it
fared with Ela countess of Salisbury, though she was then
the mother of four sons and four daughters. No sooner
was the earl supposed to be lost, than one of the gallant
bachelors of the court commenced his premature suit. This
was a nephew of Hubert de Burgh, the man who then, as
justiciary, bore the greatest sway in the kingdom. It is
related that he proceeded in the manner best calculated
to attain his ends, by first requesting, through his uncle,
the king's sanction to his intentions. The king (proceeds
the story) having yielded to this petition, provided the
countess could be induced to comply, the justice forthwith
sent Reimund to her in a noble knightly array, to endea-
vour to incline the lady's heart to his favour. But when '
Keimund, with flattering speeches and large promises, at-
tempted to persuade her to consent, Ela, with majestic
scorn, replied, that she had lately received letters and mes-
sages, which assured her that the earl her husband was
in health and safety ; but adding further, that ** if her lord
the earl had indeed been dead, she would in no case have
received him for a husband ; because their unequal rank,
with respect to family, forbad such a union. Wherefore,**
said she, **you must seek a marriage elsewhere, because
vou find you have come hither in vain/* So Beimund de
iBurgh, hearing this, departed from her in confusion.
It will not be impertinent, as connected with the sub-
ject of earldoms, to follow the history of this young man
to its close. After waiting three years, the death of Wil-
liam Mandeville earl of Essex left another countess,
either less unwilling or less able to resist his addresses.
She was Christiana, sister to the Walter Fitz-Robert who
afterwards married the countess of Salisbury's daughter
Ida. But Reimund did not long enjoy his good fortune,
for in 1230 he was drowned at Nantes, from his horse
slipping down a steep bank into the river Loire.
It appears to have been during the absence of the earl
Q
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226 THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
of Salisbury that the justiciary, Hubert de Burgh, twice
visited the new cathedral church, in attendance on the
king ; and it was at this period that he offered to the
church a splendid text of the Gospels, richly bound in
gold and jewels, which continued to be esteemed as one of
its chief treasures, down to the period of the Reformation.
This bounty was very probably bestowed with some view
of enlisting the sympathies of the clergy towards the pre-
tensions of his nephew.
When the earl arrived at his castle of Sarum on Satur-
day the 4th of January, he repaired the same afternoon
to the new cathedral church, where he was received in
procession by the clergy with great demonstrations of joy,
and offered nis thanksgivings for his preservation and safe
return. On the morrow, having heard from the countess
the dishonour which had been done him in his absence,
his indignation would brook no further delay, but he pro-
ceeded at once to the king, who was then at Marlborough
ill in health. His royal nephew received him with great
joy ; but he at once brought forward his complaint against
the justiciary, who, he alleged, had taken the opportunity
of his employment in remote parts, to send a certain low-
bred minion, who, whilst he was yet living, would have dis-
honoured his wife, andhave violently contracted an adulterous
marriage with her. He added that, unless the king caused
full reparation to be shewn him from the justiciary, he would
himself seek redress for so great an outrage, whatever dis-
turbance it might occasion in the kingdom. Upon this the
justicianr, who was present, confessed the fault rested with
him, and renewed his favour with the earl by some valuable
horses, and other large presents ; and so peace being re-
stored, the justiciary invited the earl to his table.
It was at this banquet, according to the same chro-
nicler, that the earl was secretly infected with poison,
which soon after deprived him of life ; but the royal feast-
ings of Marlborough castle may well have acted as poison,
after the privations he had endured for the preceding three
months, without any such dark suspicions adhering to
Hubert de Burgh. However that may have been, the earl
returned grievously sick to his own castle of Sarum, where
in less than two months he died, on the 7th of March,
1226. His body, says the chronicler de Wanda, was
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WILLIAM LONOESPEE, EARL OP SALISBURY.
COUNTER SEAL.
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ELA, COUNTESS OF SALISBURY.
COUNTER SEAL.
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TOE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY. 227
brought to New Sarum, with many tears and deep sighs, on
the day of his death ; and at the very same hour at which,
exactly eight weeks before, he had been first welcomed
in triumph to this beauteous new church. On the mor-
row, being Sunday, he was honourably interred in the new
chapel of the Blessed Virgin, in the presence of the bishops
of Salisbury, Winchester, and one from Ireland, the earls
of Pembroke and Essex, the barons Bobert de Yipont,
Hugh de Gumay, and Ralph de Toani, and a great multi-
tude of knights. His effigy, wholly attired in chain mail,
partly covered with a light surcoat, which is confined at
the waist by the girdle of knighthood, and bearing on his
left arm a long shield ensigned with six golden lioncels
on an azure field, still remains in the cathedral of Salis-
bury, having been removed from the Lady-chapel to the
nave in the year 1790. On his Seal he is represented on
horseback in like attire, but wearing in addition a ponder-
ous helmet, with a great front or cheek-piece. The earl's
will was recorded in the king's close rolls, whence it is
printed in the Excerpta Historical and in a translated form
in the History of Lacock Abbey.
The long agony of suspended hope which the countess
Ela had endured during the protracted absence of her lord,
its apparently happy termination, and the almost imme-
diate loss of the object of her gratified afiection, produced
a permanent efiTect upon her virtuous and devoted spirit.
Of any further ofiTers of marriage that she may have en-
countered after the death of her husband had really oc-
curred, no particulars are handed down to us. We are
only informed, whoever were the suitors, that she reso-
lutely refused them ; virum omnem respuensy is the phrase
of the chronicle of Rochester. The mother of eight chil-
dren, she claimed the privilege of a free widowhood, and
to act in her own person in the administration of her
estates and jurisdictions ; and this she was permitted to
do, having previously, no doubt, paid those large fines to
the crown which were customary for such privileges. For
three parts of the year 11 Henry HI., and likewise in the
following year (according to Dugdale), that is to say, for
some time immediately consequent to her husband's death,
she administered the revenues of the county. After that,
some interruption occurred ; but in the 15th year of the
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228 THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
king's reign, she paid a fine of 200 marks to hold for life
the custody of the county and of the castle of Sarum.
This arrangement continued for ten years, when, having
heen veiled a nun in the abbey she had founded at Lacock,
she retired from all worldly affairs, and dedicated herself
entirely to the duties and observances of religion.
She used in her widowhood a large oval Seal, which
represents her figure at full length holding a hawk, the
emblem of her nobility, on her left hand. On either side
is introduced a lion from her husband's armorial shield,
its head turning round as if to gaze upon her. The secre-
tum impressed on the reverse of the seal is a simple shield
of the seven lioncels, with a marginal legend following the
same shape, inscribed, Secretum Ele comitisse Saresberie.
At the time of the death of the Earl of Salisbury, his
son, William Longespee the Second, was some years
under full age. From a record of the year 1231, it ap-
pears that he had not then attained his majority ; but he
probably had so in 1233, when he was received into the
degree of knighthood. This took place at Gloucester,
where the king kept the feast of Whitsuntide : Thomas
de Newburgh was then invested with the earldom of War-
wick ; two other young earls were also knighted, Roger
Bigot earl of Norfolk, and Hugh de Vere earl of Ox-
ford : but it is especially noted that William Longespee
was girded with the sword of knighthood, not with that
of the earldom of Salisbury.*
At a much earlier age, in the year 1226, he was one
of the nobility who were signed with the cross, in token
of their engagement to join in the crusade ; and in 1240
he actually proceeded to Palestine, returning home in
March 1242. Later in the same year, he was present
at the battle of Xantoigne, in Guienne. During these
transactions he bore the rank and title of an earl, as
William de-Boumare the Third, the heir of the earldom of
Lincoln, had done under similar circumstances ; but still
he was not admitted into possession of his father s earl-
dom. Some legal objections were made to his satisfaction
in this important particular ; and in 1243, the king, as if
in admission of the hardship of his position, granted him
^ '* Willielmus Longespe accingitur gla- | Mal BodL, quoted by Dugdale, Bar, i.
3io oiilitari, sed non fit comes Sarum." | 72.
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THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY. 229
an annuity of sixty marks out of the exchequer, until he
should obtain judgement upon the claim he made to the
earldom of Wiltshire and castle of Salisbury, which judg-
ment the king promised should be given on his return
to England.* Of that judgment we have no record ; and
are therefore left to conjecture why it was unfavourable
to the young earl. The most probable conclusion seems to
he, that the lawyers held he could not inherit the earldom,
except upon his mother's demise. She was now abbess of
Lacock, and had for some years renounced the world ; but
this, it was probably decided by the judges, was not suffi-
cient to vest the earldom in her son.
In the year 1247 William de Longespee again assumed
the cross, and made his peculiar position a reason for re-
questing a special privilege from the pope. His cousin
Bichard earl of Cornwall had collected a very large
sum from being permitted to receive the fines of those of
the English crutce signati who were desirous to redeem
their vows by money -payments. Longespee petitioned
that he might partake in this privilege and its emolu-
ments. '^ My Lord (he said), you see that I am signed
with the cross, and am prepared to proceed on the expe-
dition with my lord the king of the French, to fight for
God in this pilgrimage. I bear a great and well-known
name, that is, William de Longespee ; but my fortune
is small, for my lord the king of England, my kinsman
and natural lord, hath taken away from me the rank of
earl, with its estate ; yet, as he did this judicially, and
not in his anger, or from an arbitrary impulse, I do not
blame him. Thus am I obliged to fly to the paternal
bosom of your compassion, to seek assistance from you
in this necessity.*' The pope yielded to his request, and
William Longespee was supposed to have gathered in con-
sequence more than a thousand marks.t
In July 1249 he took his second departure for the
Holy Land ; and his adventures in this his last and fatal
campaign form a very interesting chapter in the history
of those wars. They are too little connected with the
subject immediately in view to be introduced here; but
they will be found narrated in the History of Lacock Ah-
hey. William de Longespee was slain in the assault of
* Cart, et Pat 27 Hen. 111. m 8. \ Matthew Paris.
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230 THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
the town of Mansoura, in Egypt, on the 8th Feb. 1250.
He had married, in 1226, Idonea, daughter of Richard
de Camville, whose wardship had been ten years earlier
granted to his father for that purpose ; and he had issue
three sons and one daughter.
His son and heir, William Longespee the Third,
was now styled " the young Earl ;'* but neither was he
destined to arrive at possession of the earldom ; for whilst
his grandmother was still living, he received such severe
injuries in a tournament which was held at Blyth, in the
year 1256, that he came to an untimely grave. Having
married, two years before, Matilda, only daughter and
heiress of Walter lord Cliflford, and great-niece of his
own fair progenitor Bosamund Clifford, he left issue an
only daughter, Margaret, whose marriage was arranged,
during her father's fatal illness, with Henry son of Ed-
mund de Lacy. This Henry de Lacy, who was after-
wards earl of Lincoln, became of full age in 1268, and
then did homage with Margaret his wife, and had livery
of all the lands whereof her father Longespee had died
Ela, abbess of Lacock, the original heiress of the earl-
dom of Salisbury, and the countess of the first William
Longespee, died an aged woman in the year 1261, her
great-granddaughter and her affianced husband being then
minors. It was not until the year 1272, that Henry de
Lacy was admitted to his paternal earldom of Lincoln,*
The earldom of Salisbury appears to have lain dormant,
the inheritance being vested in the countess Margaret ;
and to have descended to her only surviving child Alice,
the wife of Thomas earl of Lancaster, Leicester, and
Derby, who, in her right, claimed also, if he did not
actually enjoy, the two additional earldoms of Lincoln and
Salisbury. t He was beheaded in 1322 ; the countess died
without issue in 1348. Her Seal,1: it may be remarked,
exhibits a singular example of the early use of impale-
ment : it has the two coats of Lacy and Longespee im-
paled instead of quartered, as they would have been at a
subsequent period, to typify the union of the representa-
tion of those two families in her person.
• See my memoir on the Earldom of
Lincoln.
t See the anecdote respecting his "five
Earldoms," ibid.
X Engraved in Whitaker's Craven and
in the UUtory of Lacock Abbey,
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WILLIAM MONTACUTE, EARL OF SALISBURY.
COUNTER SEAL.
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THE EABLDOM OF SALISBURY.
231
On the death of the countess Alice, the representation
of the Earls of Salisbury rested with the family of Audley,
as descended from Ela, daughter of William Longespee the
Second. That lady was the second wife of James lord
Audley of Heleigh ; she was the mother of Hugh, who
was summoned to parliament in 1S21, and grandmother of
Hugh, created Earl of Gloucester in 1337, whose daughter
and sole heir, Alice, was married to Ealph lord Stafford.
I have introduced this statement, because, in the year
1832, there was published a pamphlet bearing this title,
"A Genealogical and Historical Account of the ancient
Earldom of Salisbury, shewing the descent of the Baron
Audley of Heleigh from the renowned William Longe-
sp6. Earl of SaUsbury, son of King Henry H. by the
celebrated Fair Rosamond, and shewing also the right
of the Baron Audley to the inheritance of the same Earl-
dom. By Sir Thomas C. Banks, Bart. N.S.** But it has
subsequently been proved by the late Mr. Beltz, Lancaster
Herald, in his Lives of the early Knights of the Garter,
that the Lords Audley have djescended from a former
marriage of James lord Audley, whilst his only known
issue by Ela Longespee was Hugh, father of Hugh earl
of Gloucester, and whose present representative is Lord
Stafford.
It was stated in my introductory remarks that the in-
heritance of the ancient Earldom seems to have been con-
sidered entirely at an end, when a new creation of the dig-
nity was made in the year 1337,* in favour of William
Lord Montacute. Tnis family had ranked as territorial
barons from early times, their principal seat being Mon-
tacute in Somersetshire ; and the first earl was one of the
most gallant commanders of the chivalric age of Edward
UI. He was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Salisbury
in full parliament held in London on the l6th March, 1337,
with a grant of a yearly rent of 20/. out of the profits of
the county, t In his foundation charter of the priory of
Bisham in Berkshire, he styled himself Earl of Salisbury,
Lord of Man and Denbigh. After having survived many
campaigns, not only in Scotland, but in various parts of
* It is remarkable that this was at the
same date when Hugh de Audley, the heir
of the former earldom, was raised to the
dignity of Earl of Gloucester, as above
mentioned.
t Walsingham, p. 117, and Cart 11
Edw. III. no. 55.
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232
THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
Europe, he died at last of bruises received in the mimic
warfare of the court, on the 30th Jan. 1343-4, leaving
William, his son and heir, then fifteen years of age.
The young earl, who had probably participated in
those solemn jousts at Windsor which cost his father his
life, was in the following April selected to become one of
the first founders of the Order of the Garter. Shortly after,
he had nearly become the husband of the lady Joan, " the
fair maid of Kent,'* who was afterwards tne mother of
king Richard II. ; but sir Thomas Holland presented his
petition to pope Clement VI., alleging that she was pre-
viously his wife, and the earl of Salisbury was required to
restore her. He afterwards married Elizabeth, daughter
and coheir of John lord Mohun, and had an only child,
sir William Montacute, who, by a singular fatahty, was
slain by his father in a tilting-match at Windsor in the
year 1382 ; so that a similar accident interfered both with
the accession of this earl to his dignity, and with the suc-
cession to him. The earl himself lived to the age of sixty-
nine, and died on the 3d of June, 1397» being then the
last survivor of the founders of the Garter.*
The earldom next devolved on his nephew, sir John
Montacute, son of the celebrated knight of the same name,
who was a comrade of the Black Prince in his victories of
Cressy and Poictiers, by Margaret, daughter and heir of
Thomas lord Monthermer. He was already forty-seven
years of age, and he was immediately elected to fill his
uncle's stall as «, knight of the Garter. Being the intimate
friend and attendant of his sovereign, king Eichard, he
shared in that prince's misfortunes. He was sent to com-
mand the army raised in Wales to oppose the invasion of
Henry duke of Lancaster, but was unable to keep it to-
gether in consequence of the non-arrival of the king from
Ireland. At the close of Henry IVth's first parliament,
he conspired to seize the king at Windsor, and, failing in
that attempt, fled with the earl of Kent, when they were
seized and beheaded by the townspeople of Cirencester on
the 7th Jan. 1399-1400. In the parliament of the ensuing
year he was declared a traitor and attainted.
* Biographical memoirs of the second
Earl of Sialisbury, and of his nephew, the
third Earl, will be found in Beltz's MemO"
riali of the Order ^f the Garter, The
achievements of the first Earl are detailed
at considerable length in Dagdale's Ba-
ronage.
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WILLIAM MONTACUTE II., EARL OF SALISBURY,
AND LORD OF MAN AND DENBIGH.
THOMAS MONTACUTE, EARL OF SALISBURY.
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THE EAELDOM OF SALISBURY.
233
His son and heir, Thomas, at the time of his father's
death was only twelve years of age; and he, notwithstand*
ing the attainder, appears to have been admitted to the
dignity of Earl of Salisbury immediately upon his coming
of age, as he was summoned by that title to the parliament
of II Henry IV. (1409). He was afterwards a knight of
the Garter, and highly distinguished in the wars of France,
where he was killed, at the siege of Orleans, on the 3d
Nov. 1428. He left issue by Alianor, daughter and co-
heir of Edmund earl of Kent, an only daughter, Alice,
already married to Bichard Neville, younger son of Balph
first earl of Westmerland ; and although bis uncle Eich-
ard de Montacute was found to be his heir male, yet the
Earldom of Salisbury was assigned to the daughter's hus-
band.
This event furnishes an important example of the an-
cient law of inheritance in earldoms, and therefore claims
our especial attention. It appears that a lineal male heir
was already in existence, the issue of the daughter's mar-
riage; and as she was also living, the husband's right to the
dignity, for the terili of his life, was considered complete.
The title of Earl of Salisbury was attributed to Eich-
ARD Neville* in the inquisition taken on the death of
his father-in-law ;t and shortly after, doing his homage,
he had livery of his wife's lands, she being then twenty-
two years of age.t Joining subsequently the army of the
duke of York, when advancing his claim to the throne,
the earl of Salisbury was taken prisoner at the battle of
Wakefield, and beheaded at York on the 31st Dec. 1460.
His son, the next earl of Salisbury, was Eichard
Neville, the king-maker, who was already Earl of War-
wick in right of his wife, the heiress of the Beauchamps.
To that dignity he had been admitted in 1449> and he
continued to bear it until his death in precedence to that
of Salisbury. He was slain at the battle of Bamet on
Easter-day, 1471.
* This was confirmed and exemplified
by letters patent dated 4th May, U42.
(20 Hen. VI. p. 4, m 3.) Sir Harris Ni-
colas {SynopHs of the Peerage) has given
that date for the accession of Richard Ne-
Tille to the earldom ; bnt it is clear that
it shonld be altered to 1428, the date
of his father-in-law's death. By a pre-
vious patent, in 9 Hen. VI. (1431) re-
specting the earl's equipment for France,
it appears that he had then two sons and
two daughters bom. See Dugdale's Ba*
ronage, voL i p. 302.
t Esc 7 Hen. VI. no. 67.
1 Hot Fin. 7 Hen. VI. m. 9.
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234 THE EARLDOM OF SALISBURY.
His two coheirs, Isabel and Anne, were married to
the royal brothers, Greorge duke of Clarence and Eichard
duke of Gloucester. The Duke of Clarence, as husband
of the elder sister, was created Earl of Warwick and Salis-
bury by charter dated the 14th August 1472 ; after his
attainder and death in 1477> the duke of Gloucester's son,
Edward, was created Earl of Salisbury ; the title of War-
wick remaining with his unfortunate cousin, Edward of
Clarence, who, after a life of imprisonment, was beheaded
by king Henry VII. on the 28 th November, 1499, and at-
tainted in parliament. Edward the Earl of Salisbury died in
1484, being then Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester ; and
throughout the reign of Henry VII. there was no Earl of
Salisbury.
In the year 1513, King Henry VIII. being then favour-
ably inclined towards his maternal relations, conferred on
the Lady Margaret Pole, the only surviving child of
George duke of Clarence, the dignity of Countess of Salis-
bury;* and her son Henry, who would have been her suc-
cessor, was, in 1583, summoned to parliament as Lord Mon-
tagu, in allusion to the family name of the earls his ances-
tors ; but both were attainted in the year 1539» and in
1541, on the 27th May, the aged countess was barbarously
dragged to the scaffold, and beheaded on Tower Hill.
From that time there was no Earl of Salisbury during
the reigns of Edward VL, Mary, and Elizabeth. In 1605
King James I. conferred the dignity on his lord high trea-
surer and prime minister. Sir IIobert Cecill, whom he
had previously raised to the titles of Baron Cecill and Vis-
count Cranboume. In that family the succession has been
lineal down to the present holder of the dignity, James
Brownlow William, eighth Earl and second Marquess of
Salisbury, whose father was raised to the marquesate in the
year 1789.
Eleven of the Earls of Salisbury have been Knights of
the Garter, namely, three of the Montacutes, both the
Nevilles, George Duke of Clarence, the three first and the
two last of the Cecills.
• Rot ParL 5 ilen. VIIL n. 4.
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NOTICES OF THE MINTS OF WILTSHIRE.
By EDWARD HAWKINS, Esq., P.R.S,, F.S.A.
It is very well known that, in the early periods of our his-
tory, the money which circulated throughout the kingdom
was struck at various towns, to which the privilege was
granted by the sovereign or prince, who also appointed
certain officers, or moneyers, to superintend the processes,
to ascertain that the coins were of the specified weight and
fineness, and to take care that the king received his dues.
A great variety of documents still remain by which the
existence of mints in very numerous places is ascertained.
There are accounts of the dues paid by certain places for
this profitable privilege, of the expenses incurred in work-
ing the mint, of carrying the dies to the places where the
coins were to be struck, or to Westminster to be examined
by the constituted authorities. There are the names of
certain courtiers, to whom the privilege and the profit were
assigned, as a grant to a favourite, or a reward for services
performed; and we have the names of numbers of the
moneyers assigned to particular places. Now, in all these
records, the county of Wiltshire, from some cause or other,
is remarkably deficient ; and almost every thing which is
known respecting the mints of this county is derived from
the coins themselves. The only towns known, or conjec-
tured, to have been the sites of mints, are Bradford, Cric-
lade, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Sarum, and Wilton.
The claim of Bradford rests upon an extremely slight
foundation. Ending mentions a coin of Ethelred II. on
which appears the word bard ; and, for want of a better
locality, he supposes that there may have been a transposi-
tion of letters, that the word ought to have been brad,
and the town intended possibly Bradford. This town was
a place of some consequence in the times of our Anglo-
Saxon ancestors, and might probably have had a mint;
but, in the absence of any corroborating evidence, it is
somewhat rash to assert it upon the ground of a conjec-
tural emendation of the reading of a single coin.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
236 THE MINTS OF WILTSHIRE.
Criclade has somewhat better claims. There are not,
indeed, any written records at present known to us, but
there are coins which cannot be safely assigned to any
other place ; and the former importance of this town autho-
rises us to expect coins bearing its name. Ending men-
tions a penny of Edward the Confessor bearing the name
of CRECLAD ; in the British Museum is one of the same
king, having crec as the commencement of the name of
the town, and ^lfpine as that of the moneyer. At Bea-
worth there were found fifteen coins of William the Con-
queror bearing the name of the same moneyer, and the
town spelt CRic. Upon another coin of the same king
occurs the name of pvlstan on cric. There cannot be any
doubt, therefore, that a mint did exist in Criclade in the
time of Edward the Confessor and William the Conqueror,
and that the establishment was sufficiently extensive to
require or to admit of at least two moneyers.
Malmesbury certainly possessed a mint in the time of
the Conqueror; for in Domesday Book it is mentioned
as paying one hundred shillings for that establishment,
and coins of that sovereign are known with the name
of SEPORD as the moneyer, and malme indicating this
place. It is probable that the mint here was only co-
existent with the Conqueror, as no coins are now known
bearing its name in any other reign, not even in that of
the Confessor, which are extremely numerous. Even
those of the Conqueror are very rare ; in the large find
at Beaworth, in Hampshire, comprising upwards of 6000
coins, not more than nine or ten can be attributed to this
town, and these not without some little degree of hesita-
tion; for MLM, or only ml, are the letters by which the
name is indicated. The moneyer's name upon all is gods-
brand, which, being a long name, may account for the few
letters used in indicating the town.
Marlborough. Of any mint at this place there are not
any known records ; but there are coins of William the
Conqueror which can scarcely be assigned to any other
place. Buding records one which presents some unpro-
nounceable letters, but which must mean Marlborough —
mrlbrgei. In the British Museum are others reading
FiLD ON MJERLEB ; of such the Bcaworth find contained
five specimens. The Museum also contains a coin on
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE MINTS OF WILTSHIRE. 237
which may he read pvLt^piNE on mli ; if these latter let-
ters are intended as an abbreviation of Marlborough, this
place must, in the Conqueror's time, have possessed two
moneyers, which is an indication of some importance being
attached to the establishment.
Sarum or Salisbury. Even of this city, the capital of
your county, there are not any written records of a mint,
neither of the ancient Sarum nor the less ancient Salisbury.
It is to existing coins alone that resort must be had for
evidence of the existence of a mint ; and the earliest
pieces of this kind are of the reign of Ethelred II., 978
to 1016. On these the name of the city is written searbe ;
on the coins of Cnut the name is written saeber, seber,
SER, sere ; and the names of godpine and pinstan appear
as moneyers, and probably other names are also in exist-
ence ; but as Ruding and other authors have not, in their
descriptions, given the names of the moneyers and towns
together, I am not able at present to specify more than I
have mentioned.
I have been the more particular in drawing your atten-
tion to the exact mode in which the name of the city is
spelt upon coins of this period, because, in addressing the
inhabitants of this city, it is necessary to allude to a coin,
or supposed coin, which it would scarcely be worth while
to mention any where else. You have, in a thin quarto
volume devoted to a description of the Cathedral Church
of Salisbury, an engraving of a coin of Edward the Con-
fessor, which professes to be struck by godric on searrvm.
Now, it will be observed, that this differs from the reading
of any known existing coin ; it also differs from the ortho-
graphy of this town in the old Saxon records; but it corre-
sponds in sound with the modern name of the ancient city.
Of this coin, I believe, no other specimen has ever been
seen than the one from which the engraving was taken,
and that was in the possession of Mr. John White, who
was notorious for his skill and practice of falsifying coins.
The pieces upon which he exercised his fraudulent inge-
nuity were the rude productions of our early Saxon and
English mint, requiring no great amount of artistic skill.
His motive could only have been a disreputable enjoyment
of deceiving the antiquary and reaping some pecuniary
profit. With this person this piece probably owes its ori-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
238 THE MINTS OF WILTSHIRE.
gin ; at all events, his ordinary practices entitle him to the
reputation of adding this to his other forgeries and falsifi-
cations. I am sorry that this piece has not found its way
into the Museum, where its accessibility would have ena-
bled every one to estimate the value of its evidence in
favour of a peculiar mode of writing the name of the
ancient city. I believe I am correct in saying, that in the
long series of coins of Edward the Confessor, there is not
any other which professes to have been struck at Sarum or
SalisbuiT*
Of Harold II. no Salisbury coins are known. Of a
Salisbury mint no mention is made in Domesday Book, nor
does Ending mention the name in his list of the mints of
either William I. or 11. Since his time, however, some
coins of this city have made their appearance, and testify
that the operations of this mint were carried on during
those reigns, though it may perhaps, for causes which we
cannot explain, have been suspended during the time of the
Confessor and Harold. Upon the coins of the Williams
are found the names of godpine, which name occurs upon
the Salisbury coins of Cnut, edpard, esbrn and osbern,
which are possibly the same person, as'sound was more at-
tended to than uniform orthography. The name of the
city is spelt sere, siER, s^ri, serb, serbr, serbir, serbri,
SiERB, s^REB, SJERBi. Thcsc coius worc extremely rare,
indeed scarcely known to exist, before the discovery at Bea-
worth, when about 250 made their appearance.
Ending mentions a single coin of this mint in the reign
of Henry I. ; but the coin itself has not been seen by me.
Ending does not include Sarum or Salisbury in his list
of the mints of Stephen ; but in the British Museum is a coin
which merits some attention, as upon it we read andre on
SALis, which is the first appearance of the modem name
upon any coin. In a collection of the coins of Henrj' I. and
Stephen, discovered several years since, but only very lately
examined and described, are two moneyers of the name of
GILL and PVLFPOLD, on whose coins no further clue to the
discovery of the town is afforded than the letters sa. I am
rather disposed to assign these to Salisbury ; but it must be
recollected that Sandwich begins with the same letters, and
may be considered to have equal claims to them.
In the reign of Henry II., two moneyers of this city
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE MINTS OF WILTSHIRE. 239
appear, Daniel and Levric, and the name of the place is in-
dicated by the letters sal, sale, and saler, all according
with the modem orthography. These coins became first
known to modem numismatists by the discovery of about
6000 coins of this reign at Tealby in Lincolnshire, in the
year I8O7.
The next coin of this city to be noticed is one which
bears the name of willem on salo, and is of the type
which is called by numismatists the short cross coins of
Henry ; but it is disputed whether they were struck by
Henry I. or II. As this coin does not settle the question,
there is not any occasion to enter into the discussion upon
the present occasion. It may only be observed in favour of
one side, that the name of the moneyer does not occur upon
the acknowledged coins of this mint in the time of Henry
II.; and on the other side, that the name of the mint even
does not occur upon the known coins of Henry III.
This is the last appearance of the name of Salisbury
upon any coins of about this period, nor have we any reason
to suppose that a mint was ever worked at Salisbury at
any later period, except, perhaps, during the troublous pe-
riod of Charles I. There are some half-crowns of that king,
upon which may be seen the letters sa, by which I have
little doubt that Salisbury is intended ; in style and work-
manship these pieces strongly resemble others which have
been traditionaUy stated to have been struck in the west of
England. These letters were afterwards obliterated by the
substitution of a round ball, under which, however, some
portion of the letters remain, and other marks shew that
both varieties were produced from the same die. That
these coins owe their origin to Salisbury is merely conjec-
ture, unsupported by any authority ; but as attention has
now been directed to the subject amongst those who are
deeply interested in the local history of this ancient city,
it is to be hoped that amongst the numerous papers and
documents which long lurk concealed and lie neglected in
almost all old towns and cities, some traces may be found
of the attempts which were made to carry on the pecuniary
transactions of the district during the distractions of the
great rebellion.
The last place in this county whose coinage remains
to be noticed is Wilton ; and here, again, the coins them-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
240 THE MINTS OF WILTSHIRE.
selves are the only record. The earliest pieces which hear
the name of Wilton occur in the reign of Eadgar, and the
names of two moneyers appear, ^lfzige and eadpine; and
upon these the first letter of the town is in two different
forms; in some the present form of the douhle v is used, w ;
in others, the Saxon form p, resembling a modem p. Coins
also exist of Ethelred II. ; but of Cnut, though his coins
in general are extremely numerous, not one has occurred
to my notice with the name of Wilton. Edward the Con-
fessor and Harold II. had a mint at Wilton, and in the
time of the Conqueror and his son the mint was probably in
a very flourishing condition, for not less than six names
of moneyers appear connected with this town. Under Ste-
phen, Henry 11., and Henry III., the mint also continued
to flourish ; but after this period no trace of it can be found.
It can scarcely have failed to strike many here present
as a remarkable circumstance, that in an endeavour to trace
the operations of the mints in the various places of this im-
portant county through a succession of reigns, occupying a
period of about 200 years, we have been able to appeal in so
very small a degree to written documents. I am myself not
able to explain the reason why documents upon this sub-
ject should be so rare or so little known respecting this
county, while in many others they are rather abundant.
Much probably may be owing to the want of accurate re-
search. The subject has perhaps not much interested
those who have taken great pains and bestowed much
time and labour upon the investigation of other points
connected with the ancient state and history of the county.
It can scarcely be that the records of this county are
really more defective than those of other counties ; and
I cannot but entertain and express a hope that this our
archaeological inroad into the county may give a fresh
stimulus to inquiring minds, and that the sites of mints
may be at least as accurately investigated, and their his-
tory explored and explained with as much spirit and per-
severance, as those of the barrows which abound through-
out the district.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
NOTICES OF THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT
DISCOVERED AT THRUXTON, HANTS, IN 1828.
BY THE LATE PRESIDENT OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD.
The acoompanying representatioii of this fine pavement has been liberal] j oontribnted
to this Yolnme by the late Dr. Ingram.^
Since I made some obseryations at the meeting of the
Institute at Salisbury, respecting the Boman pavement
discovered at Thruxton in the year 1823, arising natu-
rally, though incidentally, from an address delivered on
the subject of the Boman roads leading from Old Sarum,
particularly that in the direction of Silchester, I have met
with my copy of a small tract published at the time the
pavement was discovered, but which I had mislaid when I
alluded to it at Salisbury. It is entitled. Conjectures^ 8fc.^
by a Gentleman in the Neighbourhood. Leaving the Con-
jectures with a qualified consideration of valeant quantum^
the facts contained in the description of the pavement and
its adjuncts may be comprehended in very few words. It
appears, then, tnat the whole building, of which the tes-
sellated pavement formed a part, was in length eighty-
five feet, and in width fifty feet. Its walls were composed
of large and rough fiints embedded in mortar. These
had fallen inwards, and buried a chalk fioor, in which
were placed two rows of upright stones, five in each row,
of a large size, and perfectly smooth on their upper sur- .
faces, being of polished freestone. These rows of stones
were one-and-twenty feet apart. The lower row passed
from the comer of the pavement. The upper row was
exactly one-and-twenty feet from the pavement, and ran
* This illustration, supplying the most I reduced from a private plate in the pos-
accnrate representation of tiiis striking de- session of Joseph Clarke, Esq., of Saffron
sign hitherto given to the public, has been | Walden, by his obliging permission.
R
Digitized by VjOOQIC
242 THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT AT TDRUXTON, HANTS.
parallel to the lower. The stones were thirteen feet
apart. Midway between the rows of stones, a human
skeleton was discovered, lying on the floor of the building,
and cross-legged. Near to it, and about twelve feet from
the end wall, a small axe, the head of an arrow, and se-
veral coins, &c. were found. At the end another human
skeleton was uncovered, but unfortunately destroyed ; and
at some distance behind the outer wall was a third ske-
leton. The building appears to have been roofed or co-
vered with slates, as numbers of them were found among
the ruins. The walls too, and probably the ceilings, were
plastered and painted, as manv fragments of plaster, va-
riously coloured, were found. No appearance of any ma-
sonry {sculpture ?) was observed on the large free-stones ;
nor was there any trace of timber noticed in the whole
ruin. The tessellated pavement, as far as it was perfect,
measured exactly sixteen feet square ; about three feet of
the lower end, with the greater part of the inscription at
that end, having been unfortunately destroyed ; V and O
being the only letters of which any trace remains in the
accurate plate engraved by Mr. Lickman. It was from a
coloured impression of this excellent and invaluable work,
exhibited at Salisbury, I made the few observations ad-
dressed to the members of the Institute and the respectable
audience assembled there in July last. The opinion I then
entertained of the value and importance of this remnant
of Eoman greatness, I am still disposed to maintain, not-
withstanding the recent discoveries at Cirencester, which
serve but to make the pavement at Thruxton doubly in-
teresting. The figures on the Cirencester pavement are
of the highest class of design, and perhaps stand unri-
valled among similar remains of Eoman or of Grecian art;
but the architectural arrangement of the different com-
partments of the floor at Thruxton, and the disposition of
the embellishments and enrichments are, perhaps, inferior
to none hitherto discovered. The inscription also claims
our particular attention.
The Inscription. — The upper line of this inscription
is quite perfect, and the letters are so large and so clearly
defined, that it is impossible to mistake them. They must
be evidently read thus :
QVINTVS NATALIVS NATALINVS ET BODENJ.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THET MOSAIC PAVEMENT AT THRUXTON, HANTS. 243
This part of the inscription is certainly the most im-
portant; so that there is the less reason to regret the
destruction of the lower line opposite. From the letters
V . . . O, which are partially developed towards the end
in the faC'Simile of Mr. Lickman, we may reasonably con-
clude that this was an ex voto edifice, or that the orna-
mental floor of this room, at least, was an ex voto dedi-
cation of a splendid trophy or memorial of some signal
event. Even if we consider it only as a common tricli-
nium, or banqueting-room of a Roman Praetor or Propra3-
tor, the commemoration of the Bodeni in conjunction with
the name of Quintus Natalius Natalinus gives a degree
of interest and importance to this remnant of Boman art
and magnificence far superior to that of any hitherto dis-
covered. It was this consideration, combined with the
taste and science displayed in the general plan and deco-
rations of the floor, that led the late Sir R. G. Hoare to
pronounce this specimen of Roman pavement superior to
any which he had seen. It is true that we know nothing
respecting Quintus Natalius Natalinus ; but the name is
of classical formation. We find a Natalis in the Annals
of Tacitus, in the time of Nero. He was of equestrian
rank, and in the confidence of Fiso, who headed the con-
spiracy against Nero. It is not improbable that Q. Na-
talius Natalinus might be descended from this Roman
knight, who acted so conspicuous a part on that occasion.
But who were the Bodeni ? There is some reason to
suspect that they were the Bodingas mentioned by Mr.
Eemble in his Catalogue of early settlers in this country,
and who have left their name in Bodenham, Boddington,
&c. The Bodeni or Boduni have been sometimes con-
founded with the Dobuni, as if they were the same tribe,
the first two consonants being transposed ; but it is inuch
more probable that they were distinct from each other,
however difficult it may be to assign to them respectively
their proper localities. If we consider the Greek b, as
usual, substituted for the Gothic v or w, it would not be
unreasonable to trace these settlers to Woden, whose con-,
quests were so extensive, that his descendants must have
been dispersed very widely; and if they formed an alliance
with the Romans, as this inscription would lead us to
conclude, they must have been at that period a people of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
244 THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT AT THRUXTON, HANTS.
some importance and influence. The introduction of the
Christian symhol of the cross into two or three only of the
lozenge ornaments of the outer border, combined with the
circumstance of one cross-legged skeleton discovered in
the ruins, seems to point to that transition period when
the great struggle took place between Christianity and
Paganism. The coins found here are chiefly of that pe-
riod, being of small brass, of Gallienus, Claudius the
Second, Maximianus, Carausius, Constantine the Great,
Crispus, Constantine the Second, Constans, and Magnen-
tins, whence it has been concluded, that the villa, of
which this pavement forms so interesting a part, was con-
structed between a.d. 260 and a.d. 340. It is not likely
that it was anterior to the first date, but it may have been
later than the last mentioned, inasmuch as Magnentius
did not assume the empire till a.d. 350.
This was an eventful period, when the minds of men
were distracted and divided between different systems of
religion, arising from the discordant elements of which the
Roman empire was then composed ; consisting, as it did,
of almost all the nations upon the face of the earth, and
colonies almost the antipodes of each other. Even the
Christian Church was rent asunder in the warm contro-
versy between the Arians on one side, and those who called
themselves Catholics on the other. Julian the Apostate,
as he was called, took advantage of this state of things,
and endeavoured to restore the Egyptian superstition, with
the worship of Isis, Osiris, and Anubis, the favourite
Trinity of ancient Paganism.* There appears at first
sight, certainly, to be something antagonistic and almost
irreconcileable between the crosses in the outer border of
this pavement and the figure of Bacchus in the centre.
But this is not more extraordinanr, perhaps, than the in-
termixture of opposite devices, sucn as the crescent and the
cross, for instance, in a modem Turkey carpet. The de-
corations, in their general character, seem well adapted for
a Roman triclinium. Bacchus is the presiding deity, or
arbiter elegantiarum, with his thyrsis, the mystica vannuSj
* Among the Pomfret marbles at Oxford ia an altar-chair with this inacription :
O IEPEY2 AXILLE02
♦lAAINETOY UIAI
02TPIAI ANOTBIAI
XAPI2THPION.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE MOSAIC PAVEMENT AT THRUXTON, HANTS. 245
in one hand, and a drinkingcup in the other. A panther
or a leopard is seen crouching heneath him, to denote
his all-subduing power; as in the Winterton pavement
Orpheus is represented charming the wild beasts of the
field by the harmony of his lyre. Eight crowned heads
surround the figure of Bacchus ; one of which is distin-
guished from the rest by a kind of Phrygian bonnet, re-
sembling that of the leader of a pantomime. Beyond these
the four seasons of the year are represented in their natural
order, with their respective emblems in succession, as dis-
tinctly, though not quite so elegantly, as on the Cirencester
pavement. These occupy the four angles between the
outer circle and the square border which terminates the
design. The scroll-work which separates the different
compartments, consisting chiefiy of the twisted or braided
guilloche, so constantly used, is very beautifully arranged
and coloured. The prevalence of this worm-like ornament
in ancient mosaics probably occasioned the adoption of the
term opus vermiculaium, as applied to such designs. The
antiquity, as well as the long continuance of such designs,
is evident from the following fragment of Lucilius, pre-
served by Cicero :
'* Quam lepide lezeU compdstae, nt testenils omnes
Arte paWmento atqne emblemate ▼ermicalato !"
That similar designs were executed in the time of
Quintilian, Pliny, Tacitus, and Vitruvius, in the construc-
tion of pavements, may be inferred from various passages
in their works. Not only are the cubic forms of the mate-
rials used accurately described, but the arrangement of
them in squares, triangles, hexagons (like honeycombs)^ oc-
tagons, rhomboidal and other figures, such as we call
lozenges, fusils, &c.* Indeed, there seems to have been a
kind of conventionality of design in all these pavements,
approaching almost to a sterility of invention, which makes
it the more extraordinary that they have not been gene-
rally copied for modem purposes of decoration, instead of
the unmeaning patterns which we generally see.
* Vide Fbociolati, Foroellini, ice in I euiatut, Sfc, edit Bailey. 4to. London,
vocibus $cuiula, t$$ieraf te$9iruia, vermt- I 1828.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
246 NOTE ON A LINE OF ROMAN WAY
NOTE
ON A LINE OF ROMAN WAY LEADING FROM OLD SARUM.
On the occasion of the meeting of the Society at Win-
chester, in 1845, I took occasion to offer some remarks on
the Koman road from that city, leading westward by Old
Sarum, in the direction of the Mendip Hills, and termi-
nating at Uphill, on the Severn Sea. These observations
were communicated by my friend the Warden of New Col-
lege, and have been printed in the volume of the Transac-
tions of the Institute, at their Winchester meeting. My
present object is to request attention to another line of road
diverging from Old Sarum to Silchester, in a north-eastern
direction. Its course through this county is marked satis-
factorily in general, though not by name, on the old map
of Wiltshire, by Andrews and Dury, published in 1773 ;
but, with the exception of a small portion called the
** Port way," it is not distinctly laid down on Faden s map
of Hampshire; at least, it does not appear in the reduced
copy which I have, published in 1796. Near the point
where it is crossed by the road leading to Hurest, are (or
were) two barrows, called " hand-barrows," whence it pro-
ceeds in a straight line almost to Gumbleton, leaving on
the right the church of Winterbourn Gunner, so called
from the ancient family of Gunner. Here it must have
crossed the Winterbourn river towards Porton, or the Port-
way town ; for a trackway passes along under Gumbleton
Hill, which leaves Porton and Idmiston on the west, and
proceeds to the extreme limits of the county at a point
called the " Hampshire Gap." The hills and dales here
are diversified by barrows, wells, and sheep-ponds, with
occasional plantations of fir.
On entering Hampshire, the first place we meet of any
importance is Greatley, the Greatlea of King Athelstan.
Here and at Enham, a little farther on the same line of
road (not at Ensham in Oxfordshire, as it has been some-
times understood), some remarkable synods were held in
Anglo-Saxon times for the promulgation of the laws of the
whole realm. Greatley was a place of so much celebrity,
that it is traditionally said to have had five churches in the
reign of King Athelstan. A little beyond Andover, the
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LEADING FROM OLD SARUM. 24?
Roman road, or foss-way, from Winchester to Cirencester,
and so by Gloucester to the Severn, crosses our present
road almost at right angles ; beyond which point to St.
Mary Boum, which some consider as Vindomis, or Vin-
donum, it is marked as the " Portway." In this interest-
ing locality are several camps and entrenchments, which
appear from their commanding situation to be admirably
adapted for military defence and observation ; and there is,
therefore, every reason to suppose that they were succes-
sively used and occupied, not only by the Romans, but by
other parties who at any time, either before or after, gained
possession of these eminences. Of the Roman villa at
rhruxton, not far from the line of this road, westward, I
have already spoken. With the exception of Colrf-Henley,
probably a corruption, as usual, of Co^Henley, indicative
of the colonial occupation of the Romans, there are few
points requiring any notice here till we arrive at the ter-
mination of the road at Silchester. Therefore I conclude
— " Hie finis longae chartseque viseque."
J. I.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
NOTES ON
THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
Bt CHAELES T. NEWTON, M.A.,
▲B8ISTANT nr THB DBPABTMBNT OF ARTIQUITIES, BBITISH MUSBUM.
NOTICE.
Thb following aooount'of the coUectum of scalptares at Wllum is to be found in
Dallaway's Aneedotei of the Artt m England, 1800, pp. 264-5. ** Thomas earl <^
Pembroke began his collection of statues at Wilton about the dose of the last century.
He purchased such of Lord Arundel's as had been placed in the house, and, by con-
sequence, had escaped the injuries of tiiis climate, so conspicuous in those at Oxford.
They were principally busts. Lord Pembroke was particularly partial to that descrip-
tion of sculpture, as no less than 173 may be seen at Wilton on marble terminL The
scrutinising eye of the connoisseur will not allow many of this great number to be either
antique or genuine portraits. But the Wilton Collection originated in others besides the
Arundelian. When the Giustiniani marbles, in which were 106 busts, were dispersed,
they were purchased chiefly by Cardinal Albani and Lord Pembroke. Cardinal Riche-
lieu was assisted by Lord Arundel, when forming his collection of busts, with intelligence
respecting many in Italy, which he afterwards procured. These were incorporated with
Cardinal Mazarin's marbles, many of which had been bought when Chaiies the First's
statues and pictures were exposed to public auction by a vote of Parliament. When the
Mazarin Collection was likewise sold. Lord Pembroke was a principal purchaser, to
which were added some fine busts from Yaletta of Naples ; a complete assemblage of
all these forms the present magnificent collection at Wilton."
This collection has as yet been very imperfectly described. Engravings of a few of
the statues were published by Carey Creed, London, 1730. Fn 1751, Ri<£ard Cowdrie
published A Deteription of the Ptcturee, Statuee, ^c. at Wtlton House; and in 1758
this work was reprinted, with the name of James Kennedy substituted for that of Cow-
drie in the title-page. Subsequent and enlarged editions of Kennedy's book appeared in
1758, 1769, 1778, 1779, 1786, with a few engravings ; but the uncritical character of his
descriptions rendera it worse than useless. Since his time little has been done for the
illustration of the Wilton Collection. According to K. O. Miiller, some of the statues
are engraved in Richardson's ^de$ Pembrochiana, but this work I have never seen.
There is a slight notice of the collection in Waagen's Art and Artiste in Bngland^
and a much f^cdler one in G^oede's Reite naeh England; but this latter is so fiill of
inaccuracies that it would be hardly worth mentioning, were it not cited by M. Welcker
in his Zeiteehrtft fur Oeech, der alten Kunet, i. p. 592, for the description of a Mexe
of Niobids. The principal statues at Wilton have been engraved by Clarac in his Musie
de Sculpture.
In Uie following notes I have endeavoured, to the best of my judgment, to indicate
what is modem or restored in the Wilton Collection, which, from the scraped and
scoured condition of many of the sculptures, is not always an easy task. Those which
from the state of the surface could not absolutely be condemned, and which seemed
entitled to the benefit of a doubt, are marked with an asterisk.
In the few remarks which have been added on the style of some of the sculptures,
and the meaning of their design, I have not, of course, attempted to exhaust, but rather
to suggest inquiry, — to draw attention to some very interesting works of art in this col-
lection, which have not, it is thought, been hitherto sufficiently appreciated ; and to in-
dicate sources of information about them which are probably litde known, except to
those who have the advantage of constant access to the works of continental Archaeo-
logista. The references to Clarac*s Mueie de Sculpture have been given in every case
where he has engraved a Wilton statue ; the references to Kennedy are dted from the
edition of 1769. The running numben in this list are those at present attached to the
sculptures. For the convenience of identification I have added the names assigned to
the statues in Kennedy's book, most of which are, however, incorrect.
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THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 249
CLOISTERS.
1. A circular altar with three figures in low relief, in
a style imitated from the archaic. The design represents
Dionysos (Bacchus) hoarded, with lon^ hair, and ivy-
crowned. He is clad in a chitouy or tunic, falling to the
feet, over which is thrown an ample peplos, or veil, con-
fined hy a shoulder-helt, and reaching nearly to the feet ;
in his right hand he holds the kantkaros, or two-handled
cup, in his left the thyrsus ; behind him his panther ; in
front a MsBuad or Bacchante, in a chiton^ falling to the
feet, her head and arms enveloped in an ample peplos;
behind, another Maenad, her hair bound with the orna-
ment called sphendone; her peplos confined by a shoulder-
belt, and reaching nearly to the feet, the comer of it held
out in the right hand. Above, the following inscription :
MEAnOMEN : AIONYZON : AfAAOMOR^ON :
BAKXEYTORA : lANGOKARENON
in archaic Greek characters.
" Let OS sing Dionyras, the beautifal, the reveller, the yellow-haired."
The surface of this altar is much injured by scraping
and cleaning. Some doubt has been thrown on the ge-
nuineness of the inscription by Boeckh, Corpus Inscript.
i. p. 54, No. S8. He remarks that the epithets in this
inscription are all to be found in a hymn to Bacchus, of a
late period, Anthol. ed. Jacobs, iii. pp. 185, 217 > a curious,
if not suspicious coincidence. The peculiar form of the
letters may perhaps be the result of an attempt to copy
an earlier inscription; Just as the sculpture itself is an
attempt to reproduce the characteristics of archaic art.
Height, 3 feet 9, inches. On this altar is an urn ; on one
side, a roughly-sculptured bas-relief, representing Apollo
Musegetes attired like a Muse ; he is receiving a roll from
a Victory who stands before him near an altar j behind him
a female figure, in a talaric chiton^ holding a torch ; in the
comer, on the right, Jupiter seated with his eagle; behind,
DM
HOR : FLACC : PUS : MAR :
PAMPH:MIN:FAFECIT
This inscription is partly, if not entirely, false, and the
bas-relief doubtful.
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250 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
2. Bust called Alexander the Great. Modern.
3. Bust of Antoninus Pius ; the armour and drapery
on the shoulders in several marbles of different colour ;
the nose, lower jaw, and neck restored.
4. Terminal head of the bearded Bacchus, called Plato,
much restored and injured.
5. Contest of Hercules and the Achelous ; very much
restored. The head, right arm, left hand, right leg from
above the knee to the ankle, left leg from below the knee
to the foot, of Hercules ; of Achelous, the lower jaw and
beard, and the greater part of the snakes in which his
body terminates, modem. The upper part of the body of
the snake on the left of Hercules, and the head of the
other snake seem antique. The head of the Achelous
has pointed ears, and can hardly be distinguished from
that of a Centaur ; in the expression of agony about the
face, and in the treatment of the mouth and eyes espe-
cially, there is much that reminds us of the head of the
Laocoon ; the same kind of resemblance may be traced in
manv other works of the later Roman period, as, for ex-
ample, the two Centaurs in black marble in the Mus.
Capit. at Rome. The absence of the bulPs horns, which,
in all other monuments of ancient art, form part of the
type of the Achelous, have led to the supposition, that the
group under consideration originally represented, not the
contest of Hercules with the river-god, but that with the
Centaur Nessus ; but as there appears no reason to doubt
that the lower part of the body of the supposed Achelous
has been correctly restored, perhaps this figure is one of
the Giants, who are usually represented with snaky ter-
minations. Hercules, as is well known, took a part in
the Gigantomachia Clarac, PI. 790, A, No. 1994, A.
Height, 3 feet 5 inches. In the pedestal a modem bas-
relief, Diana and Endymion ; in the wall above another
modem bas-relief, Theseus and Ariadne.
6. A laurelled bust, with drapery in coloured marble,
called Perseus ; perhaps Hadrian ; but much injured and
restored.
7. A terminal head bound with a diadem ; imitated
from an archaic original ; the head seems antique ; bust
and inscription modem.
8. A nymph sleeping. Nearly identical in attitude and
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THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE, 251
arrangement of drapery with the celebrated statue of Ari-
adne in the Vatican. — Mus. Pio Clem. ii. PI. 44; see
also ibid. iii. p. 66^ note ft, PI. 43 and PL C. On the base
a lizard, a snail, a stork eating a lizard, a bird eating a
snake, and waves. Right hand restored. — Clarac, PI. 570,
No. 1829, C. Length, 2 feet 10| inches. In the modem
pedestal of this figure a disk, on which, in low relief, a
satyr, Com us, or Marsyas, running along on rocky ground,
and playing on the double flute ; in front of him the trunk
of a tree, much broken, and mended with plaster. In the
wall above, a modem bas-relief, Saturn distributing re-
wards to the Arts and Sciences.
9. Bust of Nero. Modem. — Kennedy, p. 10, PI. 6.
10. Female figure, in a talaric tunic, restored as a
Muse. Drapery of a good character. Head and both arms
modem. Height, 3 feet 9 inches.
11. Bust called Didius Julianus. Drapery of several
coloured marbles. Nose, mouth, and beard restored.
Above, a modem bust, called Libera.
12. Bust called Messalina. Head modem. On the
shoulders a pallium of striped marble, under which is a
tunic of alabaster. Above, a female bust, shoulders
draped ; perhaps Diana.
13. Statue called Antinous, but rather Mercury. Much
restored. The tmnk, and perhaps the head and right
hand, are antique. — Clarac, PI. 806, No. 2023. Height,
6 feet 9 inches.
14. Statue restored as Mercury. The trunk antique.
— Clarac, PL 660, No. 1517, A. Height, 6 feet 9 inches.
*15. Bust called Anacreon.
*16. Bust called Asinius PoUio.
17. Sepulchral bas-relief. Two male figures are re-
clining at a banquet of fruits. At the head of the couch
stands a youthful male figure, who has just filled a wine-
jug, oinocho€j from a large bowl, krater. At the foot of
the couch a procession ; a female figure draped to the feet,
and two youthful male figures, also draped, probably the
daughter and sons of the two sitting personages, are ad-
vancing to them. At their side is a much smaller figure
bringing a ram, and placing an offering on an altar ; the
procession is closed by a female canephoray with a basket
on her head, and a pateia in her right hand ; each of the
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252 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
reclining figures rests against two cushions. Height, 1 foot
9 inches.
18, 19- Two heads in relief in rosso antico. Modem.
20. Bust, called Aristophanes.
21. Boy running as if in pursuit of something flying.
Bight arm and feet restored. The body joined in several
places. The countenance full of expression. — Clarac, PL
878, No. 2237, A. Height, 2 feet 1 inch.
22. Boy playing with cymbals. Much restored. — PL
878, No. 2237, C-
23. A Cinque-Cento bas-relief.
*24. Bust called Coriolanus. Modem.
25. Bust of Antonia. Much injured by cleaning..
26. Modern copy of the Dying Gladiator.
27. A mosaic, with figures raised in relief; perhaps
antique. Such a mode of employing mosaic is very rare.
(See Caylus, Becueil des Ant. tom. iii. p. 228.) Hercules
seated by the tree of the Hesperides ; ne wears a diadem,
and holds the strap of his quiver in his left hand ; before
him one of the daughters of Atlas. The dragon is coiled
round the tree. Length, 1 foot 4 inches; height, 13 inches.
Kennedy, PL 7> P- 20. In the collections of the Society
of Antiquaries is a drawing of another mosaic, apparently
a duplicate ; in the Memoir by Agustin Durand, presented
to the society with this drawing, it is stated that the ori-
ginal is in the possession of D. Benito Maestro of Madrid
(see ArchaBoL xxx. p. 544).
28. Modern bas-relief of Diana and a stag.
29. Bust called Pompey. Drapery modem.
30. Bust called Csesonia, but rather Julia Domna.
Nose restored.
31. A figure on horseback, in alto-relievo ; he wears
a paludamentumy or military cloak, and oriental braccce^ or
trowsers, like those of figures on the arch of Constantine
at Rome. The head, left hand, right shoulder, left leg,
and foot of the man, the head, hind quarter, and left fore
leg of the horse, restored. The details of the costume
and horse-trappings curious : probably of Trajan's time*
Length, 1 foot 9 inches; height, 2 feet 4| inches.
•32. Small bas-relief, Jupiter and Venus seated ; before
them a figure sacrificing.
33. Bas-relief of a bull led to sacrifice by the popa^ and
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THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 253
another figure, both wreathed. From the triangle on the
horns of the bull hangs the infula^ or sacrificial fillet.
34. Female double head ; one bound with a diadem,
the other has rows of curls over the forehead, and the
hair braided. Noses broken, but the rest of the surface
in good condition.
35. Male double head. One face bearded, and bound
with a twisted diadem.
*SG. Male double head.
37. Modem bas-relief, allegorical figures of Painting
and Sculpture.
38. Alto-relievo of a sleeping child in black marble.
A very fine specimen of modem sculpture, probably of
Fiamingo's time.
•39. Bust called Philemon.
40. Bust called Matidia, retouched.
41. Terminal double head of Bacchus.
42. Bust of Titus. Head modem.
43. Fjemale head, bound with ivy and a diadem on the
forehead ; perhaps Ariadne. Drapery restored.
44. 45. Two modem bas-reliefs.
46. Bust of Homer. Nose restored. Rather a coarse
copy of the celebrated portrait, of which several repetitions
are extant. Of these, the bust in the Towneley Gallery is
perhaps the finest, and gives a good example of what may
be termed the picturesque style adopted by the later Greek
artists, shewn in the management of the chiaroscuro gene-
rally, and particularly in the treatment of the hair and eyes.
Of this style the Laocoon was probably the great model.
47. Bust called Annia Faustina. Antique.
48. Group in very low relief, Jupiter seated in a chair
bearing an eagle on his wrist. Before him a candelabrum,
and a young athlete, with his hands in a lebes^ or caldron,
placed on a tripod. Above is inscribed, in archaic letters,
boustrophedon, i. e. the second and fourth lines from right
to left :
MANeEOZ : AieOY : EY
XAPIZTEI : All : ERI :
NIKEI : nENTAeAOY
RAIAOZ
'* Manthens, son of ^thns, offers thinks to Jupiter for his victory in the
Pentathlon (or contest of Ave games) of yonths."
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254 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
Kennedy states in his preface (ed. I769, p. 26), that
this bas-relief came from the Peloponnese. The inscrip-
tion has been published by Bimard de la Bastie, in Mura-
tori*s Thesaur. Inscript. i. pp. 35, 48; Nouveau Trait6
DipL i. p. 626, cf. p. 631 ; Corsini, Dissert. Agonist*
p. 53 ; Spiegaz. di due Ant. Iscrizion. p. 4, by K. O.
Miiller, in B6ttiger*s Amalthea, iii. p. 44 ; and lastly by
Boeckh, Corpus Inscript. i. p. 50, No. 34. The genuine-
ness of the inscription has been strongly disputed by
Maffei, Mus. Veron. p. ccccx. ; see also Donat. Supple-
ment ad Murat. p. xix. ; Villoison, Anecdot. ii. p. I69 ;
both on philological and palaeographical grounds.
The occurrence of the ancient form of the dative El,
instead of H, as it would have been written after the ar-
chonship of Euclides, B.C. 404 ; the difficulty in recon-
ciling such an archaism with the more modem form of the
genitive OYin AieOYand RENTASAOY, which certainly
would not have been used in the Peloponnese before the
period of Euclides ; the unusual form of the A, and the
punctuation between each word, contrary to the rule of
early inscriptions, are the chief arguments against the
genuineness of this monument. They have been duly
weighed by Boeckh, loc. cit., who, however, does not posi-
tively condemn the inscription. It is published as genuine
by K. O. Miiller ; and in Krause's Hellenica (Th. ii. Bd.
2, p. 156) the name Mantheus is inserted among the list
of victors in the Nemean games, solely on the authority of
this monument : compare ibid. pp. 117> 118. It has cer-
tainly been retouched, and both the inscription and com-
position have a very doubtful appearance. The eagle is
more like a dove; the action of the youthful figure, who
places his hands in the lebes^ and the type of his face> have
little of the characteristics of ancient art.
So many and such reasonable grounds of suspicion can
only be accounted for by supposing this bas-relief to have
been, in the first instance, an ancient copy of an archaic
monument, and to have been retouched by some modern
hand. Perhaps, originally, the youth was represented
dedicating to Jupiter the tripod which he had obtained as
a prize ; such dedications were usual among the Greeks.
The modern artist who restored this monument may have
mistaken the meaning of this part of the design, and con-
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THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. ^5
verted this votive action into a mere sacrificial one of
sprinkling water. Height, 1 foot 9 inches.
49. Small alto-relievo of the three Graces. Behind
them two Cupids suspend a wreath. Much restored.
50. Pine-cone, with foliage in relief. Part of some larger
composition.
*51. Bust called Dolabella.
52. Statue of a boy playing with a ball. The trunk
only antique.
53. Young Satyr, holding up in his right hand grapes ;
his left rests on the trunk of a tree, round which a vine is
twined Clara^, PI. 724, No. I67I, F.
54. Bas-relief of boys with grapes, by Fiamingo.
55. Bust of Vitellius. Modern.
56. Statue, with a dolphin at the foot, the drapery
drawn together by the left hand so as to leave the chest
and right arm free, after the habit of orators. Called
Marcus Antonius, but the head and right arm are restored.
— Clarac, PL 921, No. 234^ ; Kennedy, p. 34, PI. 9. The
lower part of this statue is very good art. Height, 3 feet
7 inches.
57. Bust called Portia. Modem.
58. Bust of Marcus Aurelius. Modem.
59. Bas-relief, Cupid ; his head and shoulders enveloped
in a mask representing the head of Silenus ; his hand issues
out of the mouth of the mask towards a Bacchic cistaj round
which is a wreath. Compare Mus. Capit. iii. PI. 40.
60. A sarcophagus, in the centre of the side of which
is represented in relief a temple with folding doors j at the
ends gryphons.
61. The death of Mel eager. Bas-relief from the side
of a sarcophagus. Three groups : 1 . The quarrel with
the ThestiadsB; Meleager is rushing forward, sword in
hand; one of the Thestiadae has fallen at his feet, the
other is drawing his sword; behind, another figure with
a spear ; at the side, a serpent twined round a tree. 2. Al-
thaea, the mother of Meleager, putting the fatal torch into
the flames ; behind the altar stands a Fury with a torch in
her hand, and a female figure imroUing a roll. 3. Mele-
ager on a couch, dying ; in front, an aged figure standing ;
a bearded middle-aged figure supports Meleager^s head ;
behind the couch a youth, looking back, and pointing at
Digitized by VjOOQIC
256 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
the sceDC of the burning torch, and a maiden weeping ; at
the head of the couch, but turned away from the sight of
the dying warrior, is Atalanta. The sword, helmet, and
shield of Meleager are placed by his bedside. At the feet
of Atalanta is a hound looking up. Coarse Boman work,
but in excellent condition. Length, 7 feet ^i inches.
62. A Silenus crouching, and drinking from a kantharos
which he holds in both hands. He is enveloped in a pan-
ther's skin, pardalis^ the face of which covers his head, the
row of teeth appearing on his forehead above the ivy- wreath
with which he is crowned. He sits with his legs crossed
in the Oriental fashion. No part of his body is visible
except the knees, which are covered with hair. The face
full of expression ; the attitude very singular. In fair con-
dition. This figure has probably been applied as an archi-
tectural ornament, as there is a square hole cut at the
back of the head, and a deep groove down the back. —
Clarac, PL 330, A, No. 1755, D. Height, 1 foot 4 inches.
•63. Bust called Vibius Volutianus.
64. Bust called Gryphina. Perhaps a Muse.
65. Bust called Pindar. Modem.
66. Bust called Julia Moesa, the drapery of coloured
marble. Head has been repolished.
67. Bust called Vespasian, but seems of a later period.
Has the drapeir called kena on the shoulders, concerning
which, see British Museum Marbles, x. PI. 13, p. 26.
68. Statue of Bacchus. The trunk and right arm
antique. From the shoulder hangs the kid-skin. — Clarac,
PI. 676, No. 1563.
69. Bust of Caracalla. Fair art. Nose restored.
70. Silenus with the infant Bacchus. Very much re-
stored. No portion of the Bacchus except the arm on the
shoulder of Silenus antique.
71. Cleopatra in alto-relievo. Modem.
72. Nymph in alto-relievo. Modem.
*73. Female bust j the drapery of coloured marble j the
head does not belong to the bust.
74. Egyptian statue, in black basalt, of Hekeiiiecht (?),
an oflBcer of high rank, kneeling down upon both knees,
and holding before him a small naos or portable shrine
(Jcat)^ in which is a standing figure of Osiris in the charac-
ter oiFenti em entente or Pethempamentes, ^^He who dwells
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THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 257
in the West.'' The inscriptions with which the back and
plinth are covered comprise the names and titles of the
deceased, who held the ofiSces of chief of the governors
(of the Nomes), first counsellor, chancellor, chief of the
temple of Neith, priest of the goddess Neith, and cham-
berlain of the palace. It is stated that the deceased was
particularly blessed by the god Phtha, the Egyptian
Vulcan.
I am indebted to Mr. Birch for the following transla-
tion of the whole- The inscription round the plinth reads
thus :
** The devoted to Osiris, the chief counsellor, the
guardian of the gate, and chief of the great temple, He-
kefhecht. An act of homage to Phtha Socharis Osiris, who
gave to him (the deceased person) meals of food and drink
in the festivals of the early part of the year, on the com-
mencement of the year, in the festival of lamps, in the fes-
tival of Thoth, on the festival of Socharis, on that of the
harvest and of the [greater and lesser] heat (solstices), on
the monthly and half-monthly festival, two periods of the
year. Hekefnecht, the chief of the temple of Neith, the
person set over the .... of the heaven . • . . having
charge of the shrine and of the great temple.** Down the
back of the statue: " Consecrated to Phtha Socharis Osiris,
for the chief governor, the seal-bearer, the chief counsellor,
chief of the temple of Neith, and of Anubis, lord of the
heaven, priest of the temple of Bubastis, superintendent of
the district of the fisheries of Tepep (?), chief of the gate,
and governor of the great temple, Hekefnecht, justified
[i. e. deceased].**
This statue is apparently of the age of the 26th dy-
nasty, or about the seventh century b.c. The head and
bust, which are modem, have been restored as those of
the goddess Isis, bearing the lotus-flower, surmounted by
a ball or fruit of the Persea, instead of being made in the
head-attire of a functionary of the 26th dynasty. It has
been engraved by Alexander Gordon, in " An Essay to-
wards explaining the Hieroglyphical Figures on the Coflin
of the ancient Mummy belonging to Captain William Le-
thieuUier ; London, 1737,** folio, tab. ix. " Hoc Isidis simu-
lacrum, cum Osiride suo in arc&, ex lapide bisaltino inter
Cimelia Pembrochiana Wiltoniae asservatum, Thomsa Fre-
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258 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
derick Ann" D.D.D., A. Gordon." It probably came from
Sais. Height, 2 feet 11 inches.
75. Modem bas-relief of Victory surrounded by trophies.
76. Part of a candelabrum. On one of the three faces,
in low relief, a Satyr dancing ; in his right hand a thyrsus,
in his left a kantharosy or two-handled cup ; on his left arm
the panther's skin; on another, a Msanad dancing; the
third face, from the position of the sculpture, is not visible.
*78. Bust, inscribed
M. MOAIOC ACIATIKOC
lATPOC MEGOAIKOC
and above,
IHTHP MEeOAOY AZIATIKE nPOITATA XAIPE
nOAAA MEN EZeAA RAeilN ♦PEZI ROAAA AE AYFRA
This bust was obtained by Thomas earl of Pembroke from
the Duke of Argyll. It appears to be a modem copy of
a bust sent from Smyrna to Paris to M. de Pont Char-
train, Minister of Marine, and after his death presented
by the Due de Valentinois to the Bibliotheque Nationale,
where it now is. See Caylus, Rec. des Ant. vi. PL 42,
p. 142. He says that a cast of it was made in bronze by
M. de Pont Chartrain. "Sans oublier,*' he adds, "la
copie exacte de I'inscription, cet avis pent etre utile aux
curieux k venir. Je connois cette copie, et fen at peu vu
qui soil plus capable de iromper.** Visconti publishes the
original in his Iconographie Grecque, i. p. 284, and there
notices the copy at Wilton, and another engraved in Mont-
faucon. Ant. Expl. Suppl. iii. PI. 8, and described by that
archaeologist as an original work then in the possession of
the Mar6chal d'Estr6es. Visconti explains the inscription
thus:
'' Marcus Modiui AsiatUms, a methodical or scientific physician."
In the second inscription he supposes that M. Modius
Asiaticus is addressed by one of his clients or freedmen,
who placed this bust on nis tomb :
" Farewell, my patron Asiaticus, thou who hast experienced in thy heart many good
things and many griefs."
79. Bust of a boy ; called Alexander Severus. A fine
portrait ; shoulders modem. Height, 1 foot 9 inches.
80. Bust of the period of Hadrian. Shoulders naked.
Inscription modem.
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THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 259
♦81. Bust called Marcellus.
82. Modern copy of the Apollo Belvedere.
83. A group of boys, by Flamingo.
84. Bust, perhaps of Sophocles. The shoulders, of co-
loured alabaster, do not belong; to the head. Nose restored.
85. Funeral banquet. A male figure reclining on a
couch ; in front, on a tripod table, a cake and fruits ; be-
hind him, a veiled female of much smaller stature, bring-
ing fruits ; in front, a draped female figure wrongly re-
stored as Pallas ; the couch is supported by the figure of
a gryphon, the drapery with which it is covered has a fringe
of tassels. Length 1 foot 10 inches, height 1 foot 3 inches.
86. Cupid on a sea-horse. Modem bas-relief.
87. Curtius leaping into the gulf. Modem bas-relief.
— Kennedy, PI. 1.
88. Colossal head of a youth ; called Geta, but rather
of the time of Hadrian ; in a good style ; broken off at the
neck. Height, 2 feet.
89. Tragic mask. The eyebrows converge into a pyra-
midal form, like those of the Laocoon. From the open
mouth, and the character of the hair and beard, which are
those of a marine deity, it is probable that this mask
formed the mouth of a fountain or pipe for the supply of a
bath. Height, 1 foot 7 inches.
90. Head of Bacchus, bearded, and wreathed with
grapes and ivy.
91. Modem copy of the Venus de Medici.
92. Modem bas-relief. Venus and Cupids.
93. Bust called Lucilla, modern.
94. Bust called ApoUonius of Tyana. The drapery and
hand doubtful. — Kennedy, p. 53, PI. 14.
95. The Ephesian Diana. The body of white marble,
the extremities restored in black marble. On the neck
two Victories, holding between them a wreath, and each
with a palm-branch in the other hand ; between them a
crab ; on one side, forepart of a lion ; on the other, a shell-
fish ; below, on the breast, a wreath ; on the shoulders, on
either side, two lions ; below, four rows of beasts, and be-
low these, four rows of animals' heads, the first composed
of winged bulls ; at the sides, altemate bees and flowers ;
on each hip the upper part of a Victory ; below, animals'
heads. The right arm nearly to the shoulder, the left
Digitized by VjOOQIC
260 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
from below the elbow, and both legs from below the knees,
restored. Height, 3 feet.
96. Statue, called Meleager, perhaps Hercules. The
trunk only seems antique. — Clarac, PI. 8O6, No. ^023:
Kennedy, p. 10, PL 5.
97. I)raped figure. Head, right arm, and legs restored,
right shoulder bare, left arm drawn back, and covered
with drapery; called JEsculapius, but more probably an
orator. — Clarac, PI. 550, No. II60 : Kennedy, PL 4, p. 9.
99. Head of Egyptian sculpture in granite. Seems of
a good period ; the nose, lips, and chin restored.
100. Two Cupids. Sculpture of the sixteenth century.
101. Bas-relief in rosso antico. Female Satyr, making
a child dance on her foot. Modem. — Kennedy, p. 18, PL 3.
102. Modern bas-relief. Silenus with Nymphs and
Satyrs.
1 03. Called Octavia, the wife of Nero. The nose, chin,
and laurel-wreath restored ; the drapery of alabaster and
coloured marble, but does not seem to belong to the head.
104. Front of a sarcophagus. Two Cupids in relief,
holding a shield ; below, two panthers, each playing with
a basket of fruit ; at the side two Cupids with reversed
torches ; at each end of the sarcophagus a gryphon.
105. Part of a sarcophagus. Frieze of alternate Ne-
reids and Tritons ; at each comer a head.
106. Silenus reclining. Little of this but the head
and trunk seems antique ; under his arm seems to have
been a panther, restored as a dog. The figure is placed
on a plinth mended with a piece of marble, on which is a
Greek inscription nearly effaced, apparently
EVl M Al lAKOV
Clarac, PL 738, No. 1754, A.
107. Modern bas-relief.
108. Head of Apollo in his androgynous character as
Musegetes. Shoulders modem. — Kennedy, p. 65, PL 21.
A head very similar to this is in the British Museum Eoom,
Synopsis, 1849, p. S. Height, 2 feet 7 inches.
109. Sepulchral stele. Within a wreath
O AHMOZ
below
AIONYZION AIONYZIOY
TOY MHTPOAflPOY
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 26l
meaning that the demuSj or people of the town, had crowned
Dionysius, the son of Dionysius, the son of Metrodorus,
with a wreath. Such honorary inscriptions were very
common in Asia Minor during the Imperial period ; see
Boeckh, Corpus Inscript. passim. Dionysius is represented
as a draped figure with a roll in his left hand, taking leave
of a younger figure ; his cloak is thrown over his arm, two
children stand near ; in the distance a column, surmounted
hy a Siren or Harpy playing on the lyre ; this was a sepul-
chral emblem ; at the comer of the scene a horse's head.
Height, 3 feet 81 inches.
1 1 0. Scipio Asiaticus. Modem.
111. Sarcophagus of the late Eoman period. In the
centre, in a medallion, busts, in relief, of a man wearing
the dress called Icenc^ and of his wife; the male figure
holds a roll; the features of both are very hard; below the
medallion two tragic masks ; at each comer of the sarco-
phagus a lion ; one devours a goat, the other a boar.
112. Cupid asleep. In one hand a kantharosy or two-
handled cup ; his head rests on an amphora lying on its
side.— Clarac, PI. 678, B. No. 156?, A. Length, 1 foot
lOi inches.
113. A square altar, with a divinity sculptured in very
low relief on each of the four sides. 1. Pallas, in front a
snake, Athene Hygieia. 2. Jupiter, holding out an eagle
on his wrist. 3. Neptune (?), walking on rocky ground,
and holding up his drapery from the shoulder with his right
hand. 4. A female figure, perhaps Juno, wearing a tala-
ric chiton snd peplos; in her left hand a sceptre. These
figures have an angular treatment, which characterises the
imitation of the archaic style; preservation indifferent.
Height, 1 foot 5 inches. Noticed incidentally by K. O,
Miifier, Bottiger's Amalthea, iii. p. 45, where the third
figure is called Ares, Mars.
114. Head of an old Satyr, bound with an ivy wreath.
Height, 1 foot 7h inches.
115. Bas-relief, side of a sarcophagus. Venus seated
on the tail of a Triton, who holds by the arm a Nereid ; in
the air flies a Cupid, holding a wreath. On the other side
of Venus a Sea-god, whose form, human to the waist, ter-
minates in a fish's tail combined with horse's legs. A Ne-
reid is caressing this figure. The shoulders and breasts
Digitized by VjOOQIC
262 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
of both the male figures are vandyked with indented lines,
to shew the blending of the human and fishy natures.
116. Statue called Li via, but rather a seated Muse.
Her hair is bound with an opisthosphendone ; the arrange-
ment of the chiton on her breast is peculiar; the head
seems to belong to some other figure ; the right arm ap-
pears antique ; the left, and the disk held in it, doubtfuL
The seat is of a remarkable form. Engraved as Ceres,
Clarac, PI. 438, B. No. 786, E. Height, 5 feet 3 inches.
117- Seated female figure, draped to the feet, called
Didia Clara. Head and arms modem. — Clarac, PL 498, A,
No. 1131, E. Height, 5 feet 1 inch.
*118. Small statue of Muse.
*119. Small statue of Apollo. Much mended and re-
stored, if antique Clarac, PI. 494, B, No. 954, D. :
Kennedy, p. 45, PI. 10.
120. Cippus, inscribed
D M
PROBVS IM :
CLAVDIA S :
but this inscription is modem ; below, in relief, tripod
with the cortina of Apollo surmounted by a winged head ;
on either side, a gryphon ; above, an eagle, the wings
terminating in two snakes. This front is flanked by two
columns, the capitals of which are formed by foliage cu-
riously combined with fish. At the two opposite comers
are two pilasters; between, on each side, is the laurel-tree.
The cippus is supported by a pedimental cover, on which
are two birds holding in their beaks the two ends of a
wreath. The two heads let into the cover are modem.
*121. Head of Pallas in porphyry, in alto-relievo, with
a helmet in verd antique ; perhaps genuine.
*122. Head called Cleopatra. Seems genuine, but the
surface much tampered with. The back of the head-dress
is singular, the hair being drawn back so as to form a clus-
ter of parallel rows of curls.
*123. Head called Germanicus.
124. Cupid bending his bow. Probably a copy of the
celebrated Cupid of Praxiteles, which he preferred to all
his other works. Many repetitions of this figure exist.
Two are in the British Museum. The others are enu-
merated, British Museum Marbles, Part x. PI. 21, p. 45.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE SC0LPTURE8 AT WILTON HOUSE. 263
The wings, arms, and legs from the hips downward of the
Wilton statue are restored. The body is very beautiful,
and worthy to be considered the work of a Greek artist of
the best period. The head has been broken and rejoined
on the neck, a small piece of marble having been inserted
at the join. The expression of the face and the head-dress
very feminine. The nose and chin have been restored.
Engraved, Clarac, PI. 650, No. 1495 : Kennedy, p. 50,
PI. 12. Height, 4 feet 4 inches.
125. Small sepulchral bas-relief. A male figure taking
leave of a seated female figure ; inscribed :
OC AnOAAtONIOC
.... €YKAEAI XAIP€IN
Betouched.
127. Bust called Arsinoe. Modem.
128. Bust called Cassandra. Modern. — Kennedy,
PI. 23.
129. Sarcophagus. Style very late and coarse. In the
centre of the side a group, in relief, of Meleager making a
libation at an altar ; at his feet, the head of the Caledonian
boar; in his left hand, a spear; behind him, Atalanta
placing her arms on his shoulders. She is attired like
Diana, and has a quiver at her back ; on the other side,
another figure ; at each comer, a youthful figure, with a
sword and spear, and wearing a chlamys or cloak ; perhaps
the Dioscuri, as they appear to wear conical caps. At each
end, Sarmatian shields and axes incised in outline.
ISO. A female figure ; her left arm rests on her hip,
and supports the drapery which partially covers her lower
limbs, her right arm rests on a square pillar. The right
hand is wanting, but probably held a hydria, or ewer. The
head, which is joined at the neck, appears modem, as is
also most probably the ewer, which remains attached to
the pillar without the hand which held it ; but from the
flowing hair and the character of the drapery, the restora-
tion of this figure as a water-nymph is probably correct.
The attitude is very graceful. — Clarac, P1.594, No. 1425, A.
Height, 4 feet.
131. Seated female figure, with a cornucopia, called
Pomona, much patched and restored. The head, which
has much of the character of Ceres, is veiled. The upper
part of the cornucopia is antique. The right hand holds
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264 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
something, perhaps meant for ears of com. — Clarac,
PL 438, No. 786, C.
132. The infant Hercules strangling the serpents. His
head and arms restored. — Clarac, PL 783, No. 1957> A.
*134. Bust called Cato Major.
135. Bust of Trajan. Not in good condition, but a
good portrait Nose and ears restored in plaster. The
neck has been broken in two places. On the pedestal are
two Victories, with palm-branches in their left hands, and
holding a wreath in their right hands, below which is a
star.
136. Cupid sleeping on a lion's skin. A small recum-
bent figure, in alto-relievo. Modem.
137. A sarcophagus found near Athens, and brought
over to France in the time of Cardinal Richelieu ; after-
wards in the possession of M. Foucault. In very fine pre-
servation, and very interesting on account of the subjects
pf the bas-relief. It is inscribed
e : K . AYPHAIU). €nA*POA€ITtA)
CYMBIU). ANTUNIA. BAA6PIA COHKE
** To the Infernal Gods, to Aorelios Epaphroditos, her mate, Antonia Valeria
erected this."
From the form of the letters in this inscription, the pro-
bable date of the inscription is the early period of the
Roman Empire.
The principal subject represents Ceres or Demeter send-
ing forth Triptolemus to sow corn. In the centre of the
scene is a female figure seated, with a snake at the side of
her seat ; she wears a chiton, or tunic, reaching to the feet,
with looped-up sleeves, a peplosy or veil, and on her head
the head-dress called sphendone ; on her left shoulder she
carries an object which has always been considered a pe-
dum, but its curved appearance may be only caused by the
bend of the sarcophagus in this place. She is pressing by
the hand a female figure who stands before her, taking
leave, and who wears a chiton without sleeves, across which
is thrown the peplos; her hair flows down her neck ; in her
left hand she holds ears of corn. Next to her, and resting
his right hand on her left wrist as he looks back at the
seated figure, is Triptolemus, standing in his car drawn by
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 265
two snakes. He wears a chlamys, or cloak, in the folds of
which he carries com. At his side is an olive-tree. The
two other figures which complete the central group are a
female figure standing on the left of the seated figure, clad
in a chiton, over which is a short garment falling to the
waist, her hair long and flowing; in her left hand, ears of
com. Behind Triptolemus appears a male figure, hoarded,
carrying on his shoulders a deep basket, such as was used
for gathering grapes. In front of the snakes is a group of
three figures : in the middle a male figure wearing a chlamys ;
on either side a female figure in a chiton and peplos, hold-
ing, one a sceptre, the other a long cylindrical object, which
seems not unlike the handle of a plough, the lower part of
which may have been broken off. See Lenormant and
De Witte, Mon. Ceram. iii. PI. 64, where, in a similar
scene, a figure behind Triptolemus holds a plough. The
figure with the sceptre wears over her forehead an ornament
like a lotus-flower in the centre of a diadem. All these
figures are looking towards Triptolemus : the male figure
rests his hands on the shoulders of his two companions; the
figure with the sceptre caresses, with her right hand, one of
the pair of snakes. At the corner of the sarcophagus is a
female figure in a chiton and peplos, and with flowing hair ;
her right hand rests on the head of a child, who grasps
with both hands the blades of two tall ears of com growing
out of the ground at his feet ; her left, now broken off, has
held a sickle. Behind the seated figure, and with his left
hand on her shoulder, stands the youthful Bacchus, his
hair bound with grapes and vine-leaves. A vine grows on
his right hand. At the comer of the scene appears a fe-
male figure in a biga, her veil or peplos arched over her
head. At her horses' heads stands her charioteer, a female
figure attired like the Diana Yenatrix, in a short tunic
or chiton and buskins. Over her head her veil or peplos
arched over her head ; in her left hand she holds a whip.
Under the horses, is a reclining draped female figure, the
Earth ; her head bound with ivy, grapes, and vine-leaves.
This scene has been variously interpreted: see Welcker,
Zeitschrift fur Gesch. d. alt. Kunst, i. pp. 101-4. My
friend Dr. Emil Braun has suggested to me the following
explanation :
" The whole composition of this bas-relief may be di-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
966 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
vided into four groups, each representing a separate action.
In the whole scene the worship of Ceres is contrasted with
that of Dionysos. Thus, as the vine-tree at the side of
Dionysos is opposed to the olive-tree at the side of Trip-
tolemos, under the shadow of which Ceres is said to have
had rest after her long wanderings, so Dionysos himself,
who lays his hand on the shoulder of the enthroned, veiled,
and crowned figure, and Triptolemos, who hastens to carry
away the female figure who is taking leave of her, are an-
tagonists ; and lastly, at either extremity of the has-relief
we meet with the same contrast between the Cereal and
Dionysiac emblems ; the reclining figure of the Earth is
crowned with grapes and vine-leaves ; and the little boy
at the opposite end, who holds in his hands two tall ears
of com, has an evident relation to Ceres.
" The figure in the biga is certainly Ceres ; and the
figure at her horses' heads Hecate, whom we know to have
conducted Ceres to her lost daughter.
" The seated figure on whose shoulder Dionysos rests
his hand, we may suppose to be Ehea, whose peculiar con-
nexion with the myth of Ceres is well known, and who is
therefore not out of place in a scene of this kind. The
pedum which she holds is a fit attribute for the Idean
goddess ; she is accompanied by a snake, an emblem the
Dionysiac character of which is in no way inconsistent with
Demeter.
** It is doubtful whether the female figure who stands
clasping her by the hand should be considered Ceres or Pro-
serpine. For either attribution many good reasons might
be assigned. It must be observed here, that this goddess
is obliged to follow Triptolemos, while the seated goddess
is destined to remain with Dionysos.
" Of the two subordinate figures near the departing
goddess it is difiScult to guess the names. We may per-
haps venture to give to the bearded figure the name Ver-
tumnus ; to the other female figure, that of lambe.
" The subject of the third group, that in front of
Triptolemos, is the most intricate, perhaps the most in-
teresting of all. The figure who carries a sceptre is Ceres
herself; the male figure is Triptolemos, whose intimate
relation to Ceres is marked by the familiar manner in
which he leans on her shoulder. The other female figure
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 26?
is probably Proserpine, who holds in her hands a long roll,
on which the sacred laws of the Thesmophoriazusse are
inscribed. These same figures occur on a Koman bas-
relief in the Palazzo Colonna, published in Dr. Braun*s
Decades of Ancient Monuments. There a small female
figure is writing on wax tablets the laws dictated by De-
meter Thesmophoros.
" The fourth group, the female figure with the sickle
and the little boy holding the ears of corn, is entirely de-
tached from the rest of the composition. To this child
we may give the name of Plutos, the son of Ceres, who
presses the wealth granted by the Earth, that is to say,
the ripened corn, to his breast. This figure typifies the
harvest itself, the ripeness of which is indicated by the
sickle held in the hand of the female figure.''
M. Gerhard, who has published this bas-relief in his
Antiken Bildwerken, taf. cccx. p. 399, diflFers considerably
from Dr. Braun in his interpretation of it, adhering more
to the explanation proposed by De Boze, Mhnoires de
I* Acad, des Inscrip. iv. p. 648, where this monument was
originally published. M. Gerhard divides the whole com-
position into three groups : the seated figure in the centre
of the scene he considers to be Ceres ; the figure pressing
her by the hand, Proserpine ; the female f^ure holding
ears of corn and standing behind her he takes to be one
of the Seasons or HorsB ; the bearded man behind Trip-
tolemus he conjectures to be a priest, carrjdng on his
shoulders tablets inscribed with the Eleusinian ritual.
But here M. Gerhard has been deceived by the inaccuracy
of the drawing from which his engraving is taken ; for the
object on the shoulder of this figure is certainly a deep
basket, as has been already stated. The group on the
right of Triptolemus he considers most probably the family
of Eeleos. The figure caressing the snake would, accord-
ing to this conjecture, be Metanira, distinguished by the
sceptre in her hand ; the youth leaning on her shoulder,
her son Demophon ; the two other female figures in this
group would be the daughters of Eeleos, and the boy
would also belong to this race. Eeleos himself would be
represented by the bearded figure behind Triptolemus,
already noticed as carrying a basket.
M. Gerhard considers that the group on the left most
Digitized by VjOOQIC
268 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
probably represents the return of Proserpine to the light
of day J the figure holding her horses would thus be Iris.
The arrival of the goddess at Eleusis appeased the anger
of Ceres ; this change would be typified by the union of
Bacchus and Ceres, and the setting out of Triptolemus in
the second scene.
Upon the whole, it seems most probable that the entire
composition consists of three — rather than four groups,
and that the figures on the right of the scene represent
some of the family of Keleos. On a vase, Lenormant et
De Witte, Mon. Ceram. iii. PL 62, we have both Keleos
and Hippothoon in a similar scene, their names being in-
scribed on the vase. May not the youthful figure whom
M. Gerhard calls Demophon be Hippothoon ? The bearded
figure with the basket on his shoulders presents some ana-
logies with an aged figure carrying a cornucopia and a
sceptre, which occurs on another vase, Lenormant et De
Witte, PL 58 (compare PL 57, A.), and whose sceptre
would indicate that he is a king. I therefore agree with
M. Gerhard in calling this figure Keleos, and I am dis-
posed to adopt the remainder of his interpretation. It may
be remarked, that the alliance between Dionysos and Ceres
in this bas-relief is illustrated by two vases, Lenormant
et De Witte, PL 49, A., and PL 48, 49. Length, 6 feet
4 inches.
138. Above, a frieze representing the Four Seasons
as four reclining female figures, each attended by a boy.
Winter and Autumn are placed facing each other, at the
two ends of the scene. Spring and Autumn recline, back
to back, in the centre. Winter is represented draped in
a chiton reaching to the feet, and a peplos drawn over her
head, her right arm only exposed ; before her is a cornu-
copia, on which she rests her right hand. A little boy,
clad from head to foot in a chiton^ chlamySi and braccce or
trousers, is bringing her a hare, thus indicating the sea-
son of the chase. Next is Spring, her feet turned towards
Winter; her head, crowned with flowers, towards Summer.
She wears a veil arched over her head. The shoulder and
breast nearest to Summer are left uncovered. Her left
hand restfi on a cornucopia, which a winged boy supports,
standing with his back to Winter. Next to Spring, but
with her face turned towards Winter, is Autumn, crowned
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE SCULPTUBE8 AT WILTON HOUSE. 269
with grapes and vine-leaves ; the right breast exposed be-
cause nearest to Summer. A winged boy is placing grapes
in her cornucopia. Summer is crowned with ears of com.
She wears a veil arched over her head, but all the upper
part of her body is naked. A winged boy rests one hand
on her cornucopia, and holds a reaping-hook in the other.
The character of the several seasons is further indicated
by the attitude of the four boys ; those of Summer and
Autumn are represented flying, that of Spring walking ;
the Genius of Winter alone is without wings, to indicate
the weary length of that season. At each end of the sar-
cophagus a torch laid horizontally, and a tripod between
two gryphons. The composition of the drapery in the
principal subject is remarkably good. This sarcophagus
has been engraved, Montfaucon, i. PI. 45.
*1S9. Group called Cupid and Ganymede, but rather
Cupid and a young Satyr, who is trying to play on the
syrinx^ or Pan's pipe.
140. Bacchanalian bas-relief of the Cinque -Cento
period.
141. Bust called Poppaea. The head-dress curious.
The hair is gathered into a knot behind, and covered
with a very small net, perhaps a kind of kekryphalos. The
end of the nose and part of the front of the head, includ-
ing the eye and three-fourths of the forehead, restored.
The right hand issues from a mantle thrown over the
tunic.
142. Bust called Augustus, but more probably of the
period of Adrian ; joined at the neck ; shoulders naked.
143. A sarcophagus of the late Eoman period. In the
centre of the front, portrait of a male personage in a me-
dallion, supported by two comucopisB. At the two ends
of the sarcophagus are incised in deep lines battle-axes
and Sarmatian shields crossed.
144. Statue, with a ram on his shoulders, called Jupi-
ter, but rather Hermes Kriophoros ; an ancient imitation
of an archaic statue ; most probably a copy of the statue
by Calamis, described by Pausanias, ix. 22, as existing in
his time at Tanagra. On a copper coin of Tanagra, for-
merly in the collection of Mr. Thomas, now in the British
Museum, is a representation of Hermes Kriophoros, which
corresponds not only with the description of Pausanias,
Digitized by VjOOQIC
270 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
but also with the statue at Wilton. See Mr. Burgon's
Catalogue of the Thomas Collection, p. 197> No. 1477*
Calamis was a contemporary of Phidias, and flourished
B.C. 440. His works, and those of Pythagoras of Bhegium,
are described (Cic. Brut. 18,) as executed in a far freer
style than those of his predecessors, but as still retaining
somewhat of the harshness and rigidity of the ancient style,
when compared with the more perfectly developed art of
Myron. Such a description perfectly applies to the statue
before us. It is sculptured in alto-relievo, on the face
of a terminal block, and is naked in front, with drapery
hanging down the sides. The hair, bound with a diadem,
is arranged in a double row of clustered curls over the
forehead, and hangs in a long tress on each side the neck.
At the ankles are wings, which the later artist in copying
the archaic original has not understood. The general type
corresponds with that of Hermes or Mercury on the Capi-
toline altar and on archaic vases. The surface is in the
finest condition, the head of the ram only being restored.
This statue is engraved as Hermes Kriophoros, Clarac,
Mus. de Sculpt. PI. 658, No. 1545, B. Kennedy, who
calls it Jupiter, says that it came from Thrace. Height,
3 feet ^ inch.
145. A figure of Ceres, clad in a talaric chiton and
peplos. Both arms restored ; the right hand has probably
originally held an inverted torch. See the figure in the
British Museum, presented by Mr. Gaskoin.
146. Figure of a naked boy in a pointed cap tied
under the chin, the arms tied behind the back. Legs re-
stored; patched about the neck and shoulders. Engraved,
Clarac, PL 650, A, No. 1481, A : Gerhard, Archaolo-
gische Zeitung, ii. PL 16, where it is cited by M. Pan-
ofka in illustration of a group in the Berlin Collection
of Sculptures, where a youth, also with his hands be-
hind him, but with his head bound with a diadem, stands
by Apollo. Panofka conjectures this group to be Apollo
and Linus; others suppose that the youth is Mercury,
brought before the tribunal of Jupiter for stealing the
oxen of Apollo. The head of the Pembroke figure is pro-
bably that of Telesphorus, and certainly does not belong
to the body.
147* Europa and the bull. A modem bas-relief.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 271
148. Bust called Caelius Caldus. Front of neck, nose,
and part of chin, restored. A good Roman portrait.
149. Bust called Aventinus. Modem. — Kennedy,
PI. IS.
150. Bust of Otacilia. In fair preseryation.
151. Satyr looking back ; at his feet, a panther look-
ing up. Legs and arms of the Satyr, and the whole of the
panther restored ; head of the Satyr antique, but doubtful
whether it belongs to the body; he is crowned with a pine
wreath. Engraved, Kennedy, p. 49, PI. 11.
15@. A small sepulchral bas-relief. A male figure
standing, clasping by the hand a seated male figure ; both
draped: inscribed
... ATI PAAPrVPC lAAl . . .
153. Modem bas-relief.
155. Sarcophagus. In the centre, an upright thyrsus^
from which hang two festoons of fruit and flowers, sup-
ported on either side by a Cupid. Above the festoons are
two pair of male and female Bacchic masks, — below, four
animals : a tiger and a bull, both reclining and looking
back at one another; a goat reclining; a cock pecking
fruit.
157. Bust called Metellus. Modem. — Kennedy, PI. 1 6.
*158. Bust called Lucan. — Kennedy, p. 65, PL 22.
159- Female figure, clad in a tunic and pallium^ or
veil. She is seated on a seat of rather a peculiar form,
with four legs ; her feet on a footstool ; her hands, one of
which holds a roll, the other a pipe, the attributes of a
Muse, are modern ; but this restoration is probably cor-
rect. The head has been mended at the neck ; nose and
upper lip restored Clarac, PI. 498, A, 990, B.
161. Bust of a female child ; the hair combed back in
ridges, and gathered into a broad plait behind ; probably
a portrait of the period of the Antonines. Fair condition
and execution ; the countenance full of expression. Bust
restored as high as the neck.
*lfi2. Female head, perhaps of Venus.
16s. Bas-relief, representing the destruction of the
Niobids. On the right of the scene is Niobe, her veil
arched over her head, supporting two of her daughters,
who are clinging to her. The mother looks up to heaven
Digitized by VjOOQIC
272 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
in despair. At the opposite end of the composition is the
aged father of the Kiobids, armed with a cuirass and buck-
ler, and having buskins on his feet ; he is endeavouring to
protect, with uplifted shield, a youth who has fallen acn^
his knee. These two figures much resemble the group
found at Soissons, engraved, Saoul Rochette, Mon. Inedits,
PL 79. The rest of the composition is made up of the sons
and daughters of Niobe, with two pedagogues and a nurse.
The scene takes place on the side of a woody mountain.
At the top of the bas-relief, above Niobe, appears the
mountain, Sipylus, reclining and holding a tree in his left
hand ; some of the figures have fallen on the rocks, others
appear on an upper ledge of the mountain ; three are fly-
ing to its woody summit. There are seven sons, of whom
three are mounted; a fourth has fallen from his horse,
and is drawing from his side the lethalis arundo which has
pierced him. There are in like manner seven daughters.
The composition is very crowded, and, like the other bas-
reliefs in the Roman collections representing this subject,
is of a very late period. The nurse is represented as an
old wrinkled woman with a coif on her head. The peda-
gogues have the usual barbaric costume which belongs to
this class. Noticed by Winckelmann, Mon. Ined. Rom.
1767, i., pp. 119-20, Tav. 89, where he engraves another
bas-relief which seems almost identical in composition.
164. Statue called Sabina. The head does not seem
to belong to it. The drapery, an ample pallium, thrown
over a talaric tunic ; in the left hand ears of com, but
this adjunct appears a restoration. — Clarac, PI. 538, B,
No. 1122, C.
165. A colossal female figure called the Muse Urania.
She wears a diadem, a talaric chiton^ and a peplos. This
figure is much restored ; only the right side of the head,
and part of the face on that side, are antique. The right
arm is wanting, the left restored, the lower limbs doubtfuL
*166. Bust called Brutus Senior; the head has the
character of Sept. Severus.
167. Head of a ram in black basalt.
*168. Bust called Didia Clara.
169. Statue called the Father of Julius Caesar; no
part seems antique but the torso from below the breast
to the knee ; the right side and shoulder is left naked, the
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THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 273
left hand rests on the hip, in the attitude of an orator
Clarac, PL 926, No. 0356, A.
170. An Amazon^ kneeling on her right knee and de-
fending herself against a horseman, of whom no trace re-
mains hut one of the hoofs of his horse behind the pelta,
or lunated shield of the Amazon; she wears a short chitouj
girt round the waist, and leaving the right breast exposed.
Her head, left shoulder and breast, right arm, and part of
the pelta^ are restored. — Clarac, PL 810, A, No. 2031, C.
171, 172. Modem bas-reliefs.
173. Head called Alcibiades. The countenance fine,
but much injured. Engraved, Kennedy, PL 25, p. 67.
174. Head called Anacharsis. Modern.
175. Hercules, his head bound with ivy, leaning back
in a very strained and distorted attitude, and grasping his
club in his right hand. Under his left arm is a naked
male figure, probably lolaos, of much smaller proportions,
crouching apparently in terror. The lion's skin of Her-
cules hangs Arom his back and shoulder; his right arm
and the top of his club are restored. The group is a
curious example of the exaggerated theatrical style, of
which the late Roman sarcophagi aflbrd many other ex-
amples. It may be compared with a bronze figure of
Hercules in the Museum of Parma, engraved Monum.
dell' Instit. Arch, di Roma, i. PL 44. In the sculpture
there is great ostentation of anatomical knowledge, but the
details are not true to nature. — Clarac, 79Q> B, No. 1 987-
Height, 3 feet 4 inches.
176. 177* Silenus, Clselia. Modem bas-reliefs.
178. Terminal bust of Socrates.
179. Bust of Marcus Aurelius, with drapery, in mar-
ble, of three difierent colours, much scraped and injured.
Over the librarj'-door a bas-relief, inscribed,
VESTAE SACRVM
C PVPIVS . FIRMINVS ET
MVDASENA . TROPHIME
A female figure, Vesta (?), wearing a talaric ckilon
and a peplos, drawn over the back of her head, which is
bound with the ornament called sphendone. She is seated
on a chair, under which a modius, out of which issue ears
of com, and with a serpent twined round it ; above it a
T
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274
THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
circular object in the form of an ancient cake; in her
right hand a patera^ from which a serpent is feeding ; in
her left a sceptre. Engraved, Montfaucon, i. PI. 27,
p. 62, from Fabretti, ad tabellam Iliados, p. 339.*
Over another door : Head, called Libera. Modem.
Heads in relief : Marcus Aurelius and Faustina, face
to face.
Female head, bound with diadem, called Phaedra. The
face restored.
ENTRANCE HALL.
A colossal Hercules, holding in his right hand a club,
in his left the apples of the Hesperides ; much restored
and scraped. The right arm from the shoulder, the left
from the elbow, modern. Large pieces of marble are in-
serted in the face, breast, left shoulder, abdomen, and
thighs. The legs appear to be antique, though the sur-
face is much injured by scraping. The character of the
original sculpture may be seen in the back, the antique
portion of the left arm above the elbow, and in the toes of
the right foot, which are very finely treated. The head
and general type are those of the Farnese Hercules, but in
a different attitude, and with the addition of the lion's skin.
The style of the sculpture is very similar. This statue ap-
pears to be of Greek marble. — Clarac, PI. 801, No. 2018;
Kennedy, PI. 8, p. 23.
Figure called a Pantheon. A colossal male figure,
with drapery thrown over the lower part of the body, and
passing round to the left shoulder. In his left hand a
cornucopia ; his left foot rests on a fish of a long eel-like
form, of which the head, now broken off, looked up towards
the hand of the figure ; the tail, twisted round, appears be-
hind at the back of his drapery.
This figure is a specimen of Roman art in the time
of Antinous. At first sight it would seem to be that per-
sonage in the character of a divinity, but the features are
more those of Apollo j the hair grows upright from the
forehead, like that of Alexander the Great.
* Montfaucon states that this statue
was discovered « a few years before his time,
in the Villa Mattei, and explains the cir-
cular object at the side as an ancient hand-
mill. He states that the name C. Pupios
Firminus occurs in an inscription erected
in honour of Ant. Pius by the Collegium
of bakers. He therefore concludes that
this bas-relief was dedicated by the bakers
of Rome : but the whole monument has a
very doubtful appearance.
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THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 275
It is difficult, however, to speak positively on this
point, for the expression is much altered by the restora-
tion of the nose, mouth, and chin. In other respects this
statue is intact. The right arm is wanting from the shoul-
der — Engraved, Clarac, PL 438, F, No. 803. A, as the
god Bonus Eventus ; and again, PL 970, B, No. 2501, E,
where it is called an Imperial statue.
A colossal Apollo, nis right arm raised above his
bead,- his left hangs down ; at his side a quiver. Good
Roman work of the Imperial period; surface in fine con-
dition ; the nose, left hand from above the wrist, right
arm between the elbow and the wrist, fingers of right
hand, legs, and quiver restored ; has been broken at the
neck. The original attitude, more probably that of the
Apollo in the Tribune at Florence, where he is leaning
against a pillar, than the other here chosen by the restorer.
Engraved as a Bacchus. — Clarac, PL 693, No. 1635, B ;
the artist has mistaken the clusters of hair for clusters of
grapes.
Statue of Faustina the elder, clad in a tunic reaching
to the feet, over which is an ample pallium or veil. The
attitude and composition of the drapery full of dignity. —
Clarac, PL 949, No. 2443, A.
LIBRARY.
Head of a young Pan, with little bonis on the fore-
head and very feminine features. An example of this
style may be seen in the. two small statues of Pan, en-
graved. Museum Marbles, Part ii. PL 33, 43, inscribed
with the name of the sculptor, Marcus Cossutius Cerdo.
Head of a Boman child, called Annius Verus ; a charac-
teristic portrait in fair condition ; the shoulders covered
with drapery in alabaster ; but it is doubtful whether this
belongs to the head.
SINGLE CUBE ROOM.
Busts. Masinissa and Pyrrhus. Modem. — Kennedy,
PL 18, for Pyrrhus.
Sept. Severus, patched about the face, has a tunic of
alabaster, and a chlamys of coloured marble ; but this
drapery is doubtful.
Bust called Octavia Major ; but from the character of
the head-dress, which is in a plait wound round the head.
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276 THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
more probably of the time of the Antonines. Drapery of
two coloured marbles, but doubtful.
Drusus. A good bust; nose and forehead restored;
head set on a modern neck and shoulders.
Bust called Lucius Verus. Drapery in four marbles, so
as to represent the tunic, armour, and paludamentum^ or
military cloak. Seems antique ; the nose restored.
DOUBLE CUBE ROOM.
Bust called Marcia. Hair in a plait wound round the
head ; nose and ear restored ; the countenance thin and
worn. Tunic of alabaster, over which is a pallium of a
rich yellow marble.
Drusilla. A well-executed bust ; the face in good con-
dition ; the tip of the nose, the neck, and probably the
drapery on the shoulders restored.
*Bust called Horatius Consular. Forepart of the head
restored as far as the nose, and placed on a modem bust ;
drapery of three coloured marbles. The face that of a
Greek youth.
Bust of a youth, called Caius CsBsar. The surface of
the head has been cleaned with acid, but appears antique.
It is placed on a modem bust, covered with drapery in
alabaster.
*Bust called Horatius, of porphyry, with drapery in two
coloured marbles.
•Bust called Cicero. Black marble, with coloured
drapery.
Bust of a boy, called Lucius. A good portrait ; nose
restored ; on a modem bust with drapery in alabaster.
*Bust, called L. CsBsar : drapery in three marbles.
Bust, called Marcus Brutus. A good portrait ; the tip
of the nose restored ; the drapery in alabaster and marble.
— Kennedy, p. 64, PI. 19.
Bust of Julia Mamsea. If antique, much inj ured by clean-
ing. The tip of the nose and plait of hair behind restored.
Tunic of alabaster ; pallium of a rich yellow marble.
A marble urn inscribed
0. M.
ANNIAE TROPHIMENI
Q. VOLVSIUS VERUS CO
IVGI CARISSIME. FECIT.
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THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE. 277
A female figure, reclining on a couch, and holding a patera
in her right hand ; below, offerings on a little table. On
the wall hang, on one side, a cymbal ; on the other, a
basket; on either side grows a laurel-tree, with a bird
pecking ; under each handle is a winged boy, with a torch.
The rest of the urn and the cover are decorated with fruit
and foliage.
*Um, with bas-reliefs, representing nuptial ceremonies,
roughly sculptured in a kind of pumice-stone ; the surface
left unfinished. One scene represents a female figure en-
veloped in ample drapery, and with a head-dress of linen,
placing fruit on a blazing altar from a cantstrum held in her
left hand. Behind her are two female figures, standing by
another altar ; one playing on the tympanum^ the other on
the flute. The scene on the other side of the vase takes
place in a house, as is indicated by the curtain hanging up
behind the figures. A bride enveloped in drapery is seated,
weeping, concealing her face with her veil ; a female at-
tendant is seated before her, washing her feet. The head-
dress of the bride resembles that of the elder Faustina.
Bust, called Antinous, of Greek marble and fine work;
seems a Mercury, and executed by a Greek sculptor ; the
nose, neck, and shoulders restored.
Bust of Lucius Verus, patched about the face, the dra-
pery of alabaster and marble.
Bust, called Constantinus Magnus, much restored. The
hair grows low down behind, like that of the Drusi ; the
drapery, which does not belong to the head, of several
coloured marbles.
Bust, called Marcellus Consul ; a good portrait, joined
at the neck ; drapery of different coloured marbles ; nose
and chin restored.
GREAT ANTE-ROOM.
Small copy of the sleeping Hermaphrodite of the
Louvre; seems antique, but the surface much corroded,
whether from time, or the application of artificial means,
it is difficult to say.
*An ancient painting, said to have been brought from
the Temple of Juno at Praeneste. This appears to be so
painted over and retouched, that it is doubtful whether
any of it is antique.
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^y^S THE SCULPTURES AT WILTON HOUSE.
Two small busts on the chimney, Otho and Vespasian,
both modern.
COLONNADE ROOM.
Two modern bronze busts, one of which is inscribed
Polemon.
CORNER ROOM.
Two modern busts, called Pertinax and Solon.
THE PAVILION.
Hercules and Antaeus ; the body of Antaeus, the body
and arms of Hercules antique and in a good style ; the
left leg of the latter figure restored from the hip down-
ward, and the right from the knee.
Head of a laughing Satyr.
Two statues on opposite sides of the walk leading to
Holbein's Porch.
1. A youthful figure, perhaps Atys, in a short goatskin
tunic, with short sleeves, round which is a small mantle
twisted across his body. In his left hand a shell, in his
right a pipe ; on his head a Phrygian .cap. He wears
boots, socciy tied with leather thongs at the ankles. The
trunk is certainly antique, and curious.
2. A naked male figure, with two long fillets of flowers
hanging down perpendicularly, one on each side, on each
flank, as far as the knee. Restored as Bacchus. Head,
both arms, and panther's skin modern.
HOLBEIN'S PORCH.
Bust, Themistocles. Drapery modem.
In the garden, a column on which are five characters ;
engraved, Kennedj, p. 2, where the form of the last dif-
fers from the original They have been called Phoenician,
but this seems doubtful.
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REMARKS ON WIMBORN MINSTER.
WiMBORN Minster, though much inferior in size to Sher-
bom, Romsey, or. Christchurch, scarcely yields to any of
them in architectural interest. Its remarkable outline,
presenting a large western tower and a square massive
central lantern, cannot but attract attention ; while upon
examination it will be found to contain specimens ranging,
at not very distant intervals of date, from early Norman
down to the barbarians of the last century. These we will
notice in their places, as we proceed in the description of
the fabric.
The historical notices of this church (I refer princi-
pally to Hutchins' History of Dorsetshire^) go as far back as
those relative to Sherborn ; for the nunnery was founded
by Cuthberga, sister to Ina, king of the West Saxons,
in the early part of the eighth century. It was destroyed
by the Danes after 900. Edward the Confessor, or some
of his predecessors of the same name, converted it into a
house for secular canons, when it became a collegiate
church and a royal free chapel. Leland and Tanner say
that it consisted of a dean,.four prebendaries, three vicars,
four deacons or secondaries, and five singing men. A
list of the deans of Wimborn Minster is given by Brown
Willis, from 1224 to 1537, ^^^ deanery being dissolved in
1547. Among them was Reginald Pole, appointed Dean
of Wimborn in 1517. He became Archbishop of Canter-
bury in 1555. I do not find any thing that can assist us in
the architectural history, except that in an old account of
the churchwardens of Wimborn Minster it is said that, in
1459, Dean Keymer gave 20/. towards the rebuilding of
the bell-tower. This date agrees very well with the style
of the western tower, which is perpendicular, of not a very
early character; and we may infer that this tower did not,
like the western tower of Wymondham church in Norfolk,
owe its existence to disputes between ecclesiastics and
parishioners, but stood upon the site of a former tower.
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280 REMARKS ON WIMBORN MINSTER.
probably comprehended in the original design. This com-
bination of two towers was in all likelihood more frequent
than we should be led to suppose from the small number
of examples now remaining. The great western tower of
Hereford fell almost within the memory of man. The
description of the Saxon church at Romsey, in Hunting-
donshire, is well known, in which two towers are men-
tioned in the same position. At Purton, in Wiltshire, is
a church with a central steeple and a large western tower.
This church is decorated and perpendicular.
The outline of Elv Cathedral, before the fall of the
central tower and the addition in height to the western,
could not have been very unlike that of the building we
are now considering.
Another fact is, that the spire of the central tower
fell in 1600, or, according to some, in 1610. In the con-
sequent repair of the tower, the present pinnacles were
added, which, while they make no pretence of congniity
in architecture with any part of the building, yet are in
tolerable keeping with the whole as regards general effect.
The spire was a stone one; its squinches are yet to be
seen in the interior of the upper stage, above the open
part of the lantern.
The plan of the church consists of a nave with aisles ;
a chancel with aisles, the northern of which is its full
length, the southern shorter ; north and south transepts,
of which the latter has on its eastern side a building now
used as the vestry ; a central and a western tower, the latter
not engaged in the aisles ; and a north and south porch.
The north porch of the chancel is a modem addition,
for the purpose of strengthening the wall. Beneath the
eastern part of the choir or chancel is a crypt.
Externally, the Norman features which present them-
selves are the central tower ; part of a course of corbels on
the south side of the choir ; a small doorway in the north
aisle of the choir close to the transept ; and a round stair-
case-turret, on a rectangular base, in the west wall of the
transept. This may possibly be of a very early date ; the
tower itself is late, indeed transition ; in some respects
almost approaching to the earliest pointed portions of the
nave at Romsey. The upper stage has an arcade of inter-
secting semicircular arches, the intervals containing sunk
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REMARKS ON WIMBORN MINSTER.
281
*^iA
NORMAN TUBBEr IN WEST WALL OF TRANSEPT.
pointed arches corresponding to them, some of which are
pierced for windows. The lower stage, which is open to
the interior as a lantern, has a pointed arch between two
round ones ; the latter containing round-headed windows.
The eastern part of the chancel is early English ; the
east window being an unequal triplet, of which the centre
lancet is surmounted by a quatrefoil, the others by an
opening with six foliations. Near the base are decorated
triangular windows which light the crypt. The aisles and
transepts exhibit decorated windows ; some of which have
a geometrical character, as the end-window of the north
transept, which, however, has evidently been mutilated;
some of a form used at an early period of the style, con-
sisting of lights running up to the arch itself; those in the
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282
REMARKS ON WIMBORN MINSTER.
south transept having some remarkable tracery at the top,
and others more approaching the next style. The western
tower is perpendicular, as also the clerestory of the nave,
which has square-headed windows. In the west face of
the tower are some modern insertions.
We will commence our examination of the interior at
the area of the central lantern. The small height of the
church, which brings this lantern nearer to the eye, per-
haps gives it a grandeur which we do not equally recognise
in loftier buildings. Indeed, I can hardly call to my mind
at present any English examples of Norman lanterns open
to the church, except Norwich, and Bomsey since its res-
toration ; and in both these cases the other features of the
building take the eye from the lantern itself. In the pre-
sent case, the eye can more readily grasp all it^ features ;
and notwithstanding the position of the organ, which per-
haps, after all, adds to its picturesqueness more than it takes
from its sublimity, I do not know an interior more striking
in its effect than this portion of Wimborn Minster. The
tower arches are round, of
two plain orders, with a la-
bel, above which is a kind
of keystone and a string.
Over this, on each face,
are two pointed arches,
each containing an arcade
of round arches on shafts,
with the usual Norman fea-
tures, and forming a trifo-
riumorgallery inthe thick-
ness of the wall. Above is
the stage corresponding
with that which appears
externally over the roof,
and, like it, consisting of
two round arches contain-
ing windows, and a blank
pointed arch between; this
also contains a gallery.
The angles of the tower have banded shafts.
We cannot look at this composition without coming to
the conclusion that the lower part, or stage containing
CAPITA!^ OF TOWER ARCH.
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REMAKES ON WIMBORN MINSTER.
283
the tower arches, is considerably earlier than the upper
part, containing the galler}' and the windows. I have
before had occasion to express my belief, that when a
double shaft occurs in the impost, supporting a single
n f! p
SECTION AND ELEVATION OP CENTRAL TOWER AND PART OP NAVE.
plain square-sectioned order of the arch, it is a mark of
early Norman, as being at variance with that principle
of ramification which shews itself in the later examples
of this style, and is more fully developed in the several
stages of Gothic, in which we uniformly observe that when
there is any difference in the number of mouldings, or of
faces, between the arch and the impost, it is in favour of
the former. Thus the simple octagonal pier supports ge-
nerally two orders, which are chamfered, of a pier-arch ;
and a single shaft corresponds with a member of the archi-
trave varied in its section from the plain torus. This is
a rule which pervades Gothic architecture, and upon the
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284
REMARKS ON WIMBORN MINSTER.
general observance of which depends its graceful beauty,
lightness, and mechanical propriety of eflFect ; and it began
to prevail long before the termination of the Norman style ;
on which grounds I look upon a combination in direct
opposition to it, as when a clustered pier supports a heavy
unbroken member of an arch, to be a mark of early date.
The combination I refer to, and which appears at Wim-
bom, is not uncommon ; but the only buildings that I know,
where it occurs, of which the date may be considered
as historically certain, for instance, Norwich, Wymond-
ham, Tewkesbury, and Gloucester, are at least as early as
the first quarter of the twelfth century. I may be wrong
in my opinion, and it is one which ought to be tested, as
involving an important principle. But if I am right, this
church contains very early examples of the pointed arch.
For each of the piers under the eastern side of the tower
has to the eastward a pointed arch of two plain square
orders, having for its eastern impost a combination of
shafts similar to those of the tower piers, but with richer
capitals ; the inner order being supported as before by the
double shaft, but it has no shafts to its western impost,
springing at once from the mass of the tower pier. The wide
jointing of the masonry favours the supposition of antiquity.
Westward of the tower is, on each side of the nave, a
small pointed arch, of two plain square orders, springing
from a bracket in the pier ; and
to the west of this are three
pointed arches on cylindrical
piers; the capitals having the
square abacus with re-entering
angles, and the orders of the
arch being much enriched with
chevrons. The character of
these is pure Norman, without
a mark of transition, and but
for the shape of the arches
would, without hesitation, be
pronounced early in the style.
It is much to be regretted that
the old clerestory, which I am
^y V ^ ' told consisted of small round-
headed arches corresponding
URAtKET I> IMER.
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REMARKS ON WIMBORN MINSTER.
285
with the pier arches, has been wholly concealed by the
plaster, nor is there any way of obtaining access to them
within the aisle roofs. I trust, if any restoration should
take place in the church, these features may again be
brought to light.
The lantern itself, as we have observed, is clearly tran-
sition, and apparently late.
The early English part of the church presents some
very remarkable features. The eastern triplet is, I sup-
pose, unique. The architrave of each light forms, instead
of a simple pointed arch, a kind of large trefoil following
the line of the lancet-shaped window, and encircling the
foliated opening above. These architraves are enriched
with good mouldings, and the centre one has the toothed
ornament. They are supported on clusters of shafts in the
jambs and divisions of the windows.
The north and south windows nearest the east end
have shafts in their jambs, and a very bold ornament in
the architrave. Wherever I have noticed any thing of the
kind, as in the north aisle of the choir at Lichfield, and in
Ozleworth church, in Gloucestershire, it has been in con-
nexion with early work. Though this part of the chancel
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286 REMAKK8 ON WIMBOKN MINSTER.
is early English, the crypt under it is clearly decorated;
and we see that the hases of early English shafts are cut
away to make room for the doors by which it is entered. The
vaulting, which is ribbed, is supported by two plain octa-
gonal and two clustered piers, and two of the arches are
foliated.
The vestry on the south side of the choir is decorated,
probably early in the style, as the vaulting of the roof is
sexpartite.
On the south side of the choir is a fine altar-tomb,
with the effigy of John de Beaufort, grandson of John of
Gaunt, and Margaret his wife, daughter of Sir John Beau-
champ, and grandmother to Henry VII. The chancel is
fitted up like the choir of a cathedral, with rich and beau-
tiful stalls of wood-work in the cinque-cento style. Their
date is 1610. I hope I may here be allowed to say a few
words in behalf of this style, which the lover of Gothic
architecture is very apt to condemn without mercy.
It may be pronounced a style essentially suitable for
wood-work.
The Greek and Roman styles derive their principles,
in great measure, from wooden constructions ; but owing
to the scale and proportions necessary to ensure grandeur,
could not without much difficulty be carried out in that
material. Now, in even a large cinque-cento building, the
ornamental members, for the most part (borrowed as they
are from the Greek and Roman styles), are reduced to a
scale that might perfectly well admit of their being executed
in wood ; indeed, a wooden cinque-cento building would be
more congruous with its material than one carried out, as
is usual, in stone. In this respect the style differs from
Gothic, which, in all its stages, is mainly grounded upon
the requirements and capabilities of stone-work ; and there-
fore, if the cinque-cento be denounced as an inconsistent
or barbarous style for building, it does not follow that
it is objectionable in structures or ornaments of wood.
To carry out the Gothic system in perfection, a great
depth or thickness of material is demanded, which is more
easily attained in stone than wood. What would be a
thicK and heavy slab of wood, in stone would be almost
too thin for security; and thicknesses which, easily procur-
able in stone, are not more than sufficient for Gothic oma-
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KEMARK8 ON WIMBORN MINSTER. 28?
ment, cannot without difficulty be obtained in wood, and
in any case would be much too cumbrous and massive for
the arrangements of a church. I need not say that I fully
appreciate the beauty of much of the wooden tabernacle-work
remaining in our cathedrals, and of the fine rood-screens
which abound in many counties, especially in the west of
England ; but even in these we see how the material has
influenced the style. MuUions and tracery-bars which, in
stone, would have had great depth in proportion to their
width, have, from necessity, their greatest dimensions in
the direction of the face of the screen or panel ; reliefs are
frequently low and without much shadow, and the principal
eflect of the composition often depends on the elaborate
string or cornice of foliage which forms a horizontal finish.
Now, cinque-cento work admits of panelling in very low
relief; it does not require that an impression of depth and
thickness of material be given. If, for the sake of richness,
variety, or play of light and shade, an arch or entablature
be thrown out upon shafts, detached or engaged, they
merely stand forward as forming another plane of orna-
ment. The faces, not the hollows or soffits, are the objects
of interest. Of the projections, the brackets and cornices
of the one style are more consistent, both with the material
and actual construction, than the buttresses of the other,
which are reduced to mere ornamental members. I will
not follow up the comparison further at present. My ob-
ject in making it, is not to cry down the adoption of Gothic
in the fitting up of new churches, or in the re-arrangement
of old ones, but to deprecate the destruction or removal
of very beautiful and really not incongruous work, for the
sake of introducing what is supposed to be more accordant
with the style of the building.
You will, I think, readily admit that most attempts to
execute wood-work of an early English or Norman cha-
racter, more especially the latter, have proved failures.
Now I cannot conceive a more appropriate way of fitting
up a Norman choir than by cinque- cento wood- work ; thus
introducing a composition which, while it repeats many
of the principal lines of the fabric, forms a striking con-
trast with its simplicity, by delicacy and profusion of orna-
ment, and also with its colour and texture, by that of its
own material. As the work in Wimborn Minster is excel-
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288 REMARKS ON WIMBORN MINSTER,
lent in its kind, it will enable you to pronounce whether
I am justified in the above remarks ; which I must again
add, are not intended to disparage works of a diflTerent
character.
The western part of the nave is late, and does not con-
tain much that is interesting ; two pointed arches, of two
chamfered orders, or octagonal piers, intervene between the
Norman part and the western tower. This tower is rather
heavy, and has no elaborate workmanship ; but its double
belfry window, and its octagonal comer turrets and pin-
nacles, give it character; and it combines well with the
richer central tower, which it somewhat exceeds in height.
I have now only to give some of the dimensions of the
church.
ft. in.
Total lengthy exclusive of walls - - - - 184 4
Its total length internally, exclusive of west tower, is - 160 7
Of which the chancel, independently of the central tower, is 63 4
Length of transept 107 1
Width between opposite piers of nave . . . 22 9
Width of nave and aisles 530
Height of western tower to battlements - - - 87 1
Height of central tower 80 5
During my short visit to Wimbom, my time was too
fully occupied in making drawings, notes, and measure-
ments, to admit of any researches with the view of ascer-
taining the original ground-plan, and its successive altera-
tions, or the marks indicating additions, changes of design,
and interruptions of work. In fact, my object has been to
give you as fair a representation as I am able of the build-
ing as it exists, without magnifying its importance; that
you may not, under a false impression, be withdrawn from
the full examination of other specimens equally accessible,
and exceeding it both in magnitude and workmanship.
But that Wimbom Minster offers a wide field for our re-
searches, I am well convinced. Though the known early
date of its foundation establishes no claim to antiquity in
behalf of the present architectural features of a church,
still it assures the antiquary that he is not working upon
barren ground ; that there is at least a possibility of his
meeting, in his researches, with some valuable relic of
past ages. The opportunity of such researches is rapidly
passing away; they must be conducted previously to the
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BEMARKS ON WIMBOBN MINSTER.
289
restoration of a fabric, or still more profitably during its
progress. After the work is complete, we have little
chance of learning any thing beyond what is allowed to
meet the eye of the most cursory observer.
J. L. Petit.
CAPITAL OP ARCH IN NAVE.
U
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291
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WEST PACE OF CENTRAL TOWER.
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^s^
WOODWORK IN CHANCEL.
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PLAN AND SECTIONS
O F
u
-i I>.
MK> 50
SCALE
%| i t i god b\ L
J R Joiibuui O
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If?
REPORT OF THE EXAMINATION OF
SILBURY HILL.
As soon as it became generally known in Wiltshire that
the capital of that county had been selected for the seat
of the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute for
the year 1849, the central Committee received from many
quarters most urgent requests that they would turn their
attention to the remarkable tumulus known as Silbury
Hill, and that a systematic examination of the hill should
take place, by means of careful and scientific excavations
into the centre of the vast mound, in order to discover,
if possible, any objects or remains which could lead to the
formation of just conclusions as to its origin, and a proba-
bly correct knowledge of the use or purpose for which it
had been constructed.
The only recorded notice of any previous examination
is that mentioned by Douglas in his Nenia Britannica,
page l6l, as follows :
" The great hill of Silbury, generally considered as a barrow,
was opened under the direction of the late Duke of Northumber-
land and Colonel Drax, under the supposition of its being a place
of sepulture. Miners from Cornwall were employed, and great
labour bestowed upon it. The only relic found at the bottom, and
which Colonel Drax shewed me, was a thin slip of oak wood ; by
burning the end of it in a wax taper, we proved it not to be whale-
bone, which had been so reported ; the smell of vegetable substance
soon convinced the Colonel of his mistake. He had a fancy that
this hill was raised over a Druid oak, and he thought the remains
of it were discovered in the excavation: there was, however, no
reason for considering it to have been a place of sepulture by the
digging into it. The bit of a bridle discovered by Stukeley, and his
assertion of a monarch being buried there, has only the pleasure of
conception to recommend it; it is not likely the monarch would
have been buried near its surface, when such an immense mound of
earth had been raised for the purpose ; and the time in raising of it
would not agree with the nature of a funeral obsequy, which must
require a greater degree of expedition."
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298 EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL.
Douglas adds :
" These very large hills I have oftentimes considered as temples
to the Sun, by a people the descendants of the Scythse, wnose
religious rites are very similar to those of the Gentiles contempo-
rary with the Patriarchs in Holy Writ, They are found near, and
sometimes within, the circle of our ancient castles. That at Canter-
bury, called the Donjon Hill, evidently preceded the Roman sta-
tion, the Roman wall passing over a part of its base."
As Douglas refers to Stukeley, it may be useful to give
here an extract from Stukeley*s account of Abury, pub-
lished in 1743, in which he refers to Silbury Hill, at pages
41 and 42.
" In the month of March 1723, Mr. Halford ordered some trees
to be planted on the top of Silbury Hill, in the area of the plain 60
cubits in diameter.
" The workmen dug up the body of the great king there buried
in the centre, very little below the surface ; the bones were ex-
tremely rotten, so that they crumbled to pieces with the fingers ;
the soil was altogether chalk.
" Some weeks after, I (Stukeley) came to rescue a great curi-
osity, which they took up ; I bought it of John Fowler, one of the
workmen; it was the bridle, buried also with the monarch, and was
one mass of rust, which I cleaned off with limner's oil. A sketch
is given in PI. xxxvi. There were also deer's horns, an iron knife
with bone handle, all excessively rotten."
If the drawing of the bridle given in the plate is cor-
rect, it appears certain that Stukeley's opinion as to its
antiquity was quite erroneous, and that there is no ground
whatever for supposing it to be either British or Roman, as
it clearly belongs to a period some centuries later ; indeed
there is no evidence at all that it was found in the hill ;
and the more probable version is, that the credulous anti-
quary was imposed upon by the cunning John Fowler.
The romantic theory of the great king and his war-chariot
has no better foundation.
The Committee were aware, that to investigate tho-
roughly so large an earth-work would involve the necessity
of a more considerable expenditure than they felt autho-
rised to charge on the funds of the Institute. A number of
the individual members of the Committee commenced a sub-
scription among themselves, and this being shortly after-
wards liberally contributed to by others, the Committee,
without loss of time, adopted active measures, and, with the
assistance of Mr. Richard Falkner of Devizes, and Mr.
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EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 299
Henry Blandford of Rowde, near that town, civil engineer,
the first preliminary examination of the hill took place on
the Ist June, with the full concurrence of Mr. Jones, the
owner of the hill, and the hearty aid and cordial assent
of Mr. Kemm of Kennett, the occupier of the farm on
which the hill stands. Subsequently some spots on dif-
ferent sides were opened, to ascertain the respective levels
of the natural and artificial soil, and other examinations
were made ; and on the 25th of June, Mr. Blandford for-
warded to the Committee a plan of the meadow, a plan
and section of the hill, and a report as to the practicability
of driving a tunnel into the centre of the hill at its base,
and excavating a chamber within, pointing out at the same
time what appeared to him to be the most advisable spot
for commencing the tunnel, in order to carry the level as
nearly as possible along the original surface of the natural
soil of the meadow at the junction with the artificial
mound. The plan and section and report were accompa-
nied by an offer, on Mr. Blandford's part, to undertake the
necessary work for driving the tunnel to the centre of Sil-
bury Hill, 6 feet 6 inches high by 3 feet wide, on the level
of the natural base (and to replace the earth if required),
by the 24th day of July then next, at a cost not exceeding
30/., provided the Committee of the Institute would under-
take the responsibility as to damages for injury to the land
or otherwise, and put him in possession by the 27th June.
Mr. Blandford also most liberally placed his own time and
superintendence gratuitously at the service of the Institute
during the time the works would occupy.
It appeared to the Committee that this was a most de-
sirable way of accomplishing the object in view ; and Mr.
Blandford being a man of great experience in earth-works
connected with railways, and having much of the requisite
materiel at his command, they decided on accepting Mr.
Blandford^s offer, and requested Mr. Falkner to continue
his assistance, and from time to time report on the pro-
gress of the work.
On the 4th July the Secretary of the Institute visited
Silbury, and in conjunction with Mr. Blandford and Mr.
Falkner decided on the spot at which the opening should
be made. On the 9th July the turf was stripped from that
part of the meadow where the spoil from the tunnel was
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300 EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL.
to be laid ; and on Tuesday the 10th July the excavation
of the gallery was commenced. From this time gangs of
workmen succeeded each other at stated intervals, so that
the work proceeded day and night without interruption.
By Friday evening the 13th, the tunnel had extended to
94 feet from the entrance, about one-third of the whole
intended length, by which it was calculated the centre of
the hill would be attained. The work thus far was car-
ried through the natural soil, a vein of hard undisturbed
chalk, and proceeded in an upward direction, at an incli-
nation of 1 in 28 : the artificial soil was cut into at 33
yards from the entrance; the work was then carried on
through 18 inches of the artificial earth and 5 feet of the
original soil, presuming that by this means any sepulchral
remains must be discovered if they existed. The excava-
tion was carried in this way 54* yards, at which distance,
according to the survey made, the original centre of con-
struction, or true centre of the hill would be attained.
The tunnel, however, did not strike the shaft sunk by the
Duke of Northumberland, although, as it afterwards ap-
peared, it was within 4 inches of it. The next step taken
was to make several lateral excavations to the east and
west near the end of the tunnel. On the 24th July the
works were suspended ; the Dean of Hereford and other
members of the Institute, who had been aiding the exami-
nation, then departing to attend the meeting at Salisbury.
On the 31st July a very numerous party visited the
hill and examined the excavations, and so much interest
was excited, that a very general desire was expressed that
further diggings should be made within the hill, so as to
satisfy the most sceptical that it had been thoroughly ex-
amined. Means were then taken to raise an additional
subscription, and Mr. Bathurst Dean circulated a printed
address, with a plan shewing the situation of the hill with
reference to the Great Temple at Abury, and stating that
the works already executed had exhausted the sums pre-
viously subscribed.
On the 4th August some sarsen stones were found in
one of the lateral excavations on the east side ; they were
much worn, and similar to those found in the surrounding
fields.
On the 6th August the workmen cut into the nucleus
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EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 301
of the mound, where the sods of turf and moss in layers
appeared to be of the greatest thickness ; and, on further
examination, it was satisfactorily shewn, by the curving
layers of turf lying one over the other, that the mound
was commenced by that process. The turf was quite
black, as was also the undecayed moss and grass which
formed the surface of each layer, and amongst it were the
dead shells, &c., such as may still be found in the adjoin-
ing country. The Dean of Hereford, who for some days
after the visit of the members of the Institute had been
directing further excavations to the east and west of the
tunnel, on the 4th of August strongly urged the necessity
of making a still further search, and proposed a cut from
the chamber on the west side in a diagonal direction to-
wards the centre; it was in making this cut that the work-
men came upon the shaft formerly sunk by the Duke of
Northumberland, and the soil being very loose, the prose-
cution of the work in that direction became dangerous.
It was next suggested, that, as all the previous points
tried had produced no remains of any kind, a gallery in
a circular direction, on a more extended radius, should
be made, by which means eveiry part of the centre of the
hill, where it was at all probable that any cist or other
construction would have existed, supposing the earth-work
to have been raised over an interment. These excava-
tions continued under the Dean's superintendence until
the 14th August, and subsequently under the guidance of
Mr. Bathurst Dean until the 20th, and afterwards by Mr.
Blandford until the 30th August. During all these la-
teral and additional works, as well as in the main tunnel,
from the spot where the artificial soil was first entered, it
became necessary, for the safety of the workmen, to prop
up, to prevent the superincumbent soil from falling in.
Nothing extraneous was found, except a few fragments
of antlers and animal bones, and which may have been
thrown up with the earth from the meadow below when
the hill was formed. The dark streak in the soil, mark-
ing the vegetation of the original surface, was found in
every direction taken by the excavators, thus indicating
that the ground had never been disturbed.
In the month of September it became necessary to close
the tunnel ; the props that could be got out with safety
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302 EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL.
were then withdrawn, a brick wall was built up across the
tunnel, at some distance within the mouth ; the earth was
then replaced, so as to make good the form of the hill at
the aperture, and it was turfed over and completed by the
end of September.
Mr. Falkner had previously taken the precaution, in
order to record the examination, in case any future archaeo-
logists should think fit to explore, to deposit a stoneware
vessel, impervious to moisture and hermetically sealed, at
the extreme end of the excavation, close under the side of
the circular gallery, and in the vessel he placed a leaden
plate, on which is engraved the following inscription :
" The Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
caused this tunnel to be excavated, a.d. 1849.
A shaft from the summit to the base had been sunk about
75 years previously by other parties.
On neither occasion was any thing discovered indicative of the
purpose for which the hill was raised."
On the back of this plate is a plan of the excavations.
Mr. Falkner also placed within the vessel a slip of plate
glass, on which was written with a diamond point : " Sil-
bury Hill was opened in July 1849 by the ArchsBological
Institute of Great Britain and Irelaiid ;'* and this was
covered with another piece of plate-glass cemented to it at
the edges. A printed programme issued by the Institute,
dated 28th July, 1849, preparatory to the Salisbury meet-
ing, and the more detailed programme of the proceedings
of the week. The circular address dated from Abury, and
having the plan of the temple, &c. on it. An almanac of
the year 1849; a Devizes newspaper of the 20th Septem-
ber, containing notes of the proceedings at the hill; ex-
tracts from Stukeley's Abury, from Douglas's Nenia Brit.,
and Hoare's Wiltshire, relating to Silbury; a sheet of the
National EncyclopaBdia, containing an article on Abury,
with plans, sections, &c. of the temple; a copy of Mr.
Blandford's survey, sections, &c.
A second similar vessel was also placed just within the
entrance, where the roof appeared to be very secure ; and
in it Mr. Falkner deposited another leaden plate, with in-
scription, a rubbing of the plate first mentioned, and a
memorandum, stating that a more detailed report of the
operations is to be found in the urn deposited in the centre.
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EXAMINATION OF SILBURY HILL. 303
Mr. Blandford reported to the Committee, that the
making the tunnel and other excavations proved satisfac-
torily to him that the purpose of the hill was not sepul-
chral; and it further proved, that the hill had been raised
before the construction by the Eomans of the " Via Ba-
donica,'* or Roman road from Bath to Speen. This road,
as may be seen in the map of the Ordnance Survey, takes
a direction leading through the centre of Silbury Hill; and
although from the fact of the land in the immediate neigh-
bourhood being converted into arable, its traces are less
distinct, had Silbury been a subsequent construction, the
cross section of the road and ditches must have been dis-
covered. This was not the case, and therefore Mr. Bland-
ford inferred that the road was carried round the base of
the tumulus to avoid it, and was thereby diverted from its
otherwise direct course.
A plan and section of the hill, and a plan of the exca-
vations are subjoined.
The sepulchral theory being thus exploded, that which
supposes Silbury Hill to have had some connexion with
the great Temple of Abury, either for the assembling of
the people, or for religious purposes, seems to have a
better foundation.
C. Tucker.
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ON MARKET CROSSES.
By JOHN BRITTON, P.S.A.
Markets, and Market Crosses, with the laws, customs,
and history of the periodical assembly of persons on parti-
cular days for the purpose of buying and selling food, rai-
ment, and other articles appertaining to the wants and
luxuries of man, are essentially connected with each other,
and constitute an interesting theme for inquiry and illus-
tration by the historical antiquary.
The laws and history of fairs and markets are fully
detailed in published statutes, and law-books ; but we are
not so well informed about the origin, specific appropriation,
and peculiarities of those buildings popularly known by the
name of Market Crosses. That these abounded in England,
and indeed throughout Europe, for many centuries after
the Christian advent, may be reasonably inferred from the
specific accounts which are preserved in manuscripts and
published works.
At a very early time markets were chiefly held on
Sundays and holidays, for the convenience of the dealers
and customers who then assembled for the performance of
religious duties ; and the churchyard was generally selected
as the scene of business. But in the reign of Edward the
First (1285), an act of parliament was passed forbidding
markets and fairs in churchyards ; and in I677 (temp.
Charles II.) they were finally prohibited on Sundays. In
many instances markets were granted to monastic bodies,
who consequently received the tolls. Thus a degree of
sanctity became attached to those places, which were palp-
ably distinguished by the erection of stone crosses.
We are informed by several old writers that the monks
frequently harangued the populace from and at crosses;
and it is reasonable to suppose that they urged the neces-
sity of strict adherence to religious ceremonies and dis-
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ON MARKET CROSSES. 305
cipline, as well as honesty and industry.* This advice
was certainly calculated to promote mutual advantage ; for
the husbandman could not be better employed than in
pursuing his own useful occupation, the prosperity of which
would tend to augment the tolls of the market. The
Rev. Dr. Milner, in his History of Winchester (vol. ii.
p. 183), states, that " the general intent of Market Crosses
was to excite public homage to the Christian religion, and
to inspire men with a sense of morality and piety amidst
the ordinary transactions of life."
The earliest Market Crosses, we may reasonably sup-
pose, were similar to those in churchyards, and consisted
of a single shaft only, elevated on steps. They were after-
wards made more lofty, and decorated with pinnacles,
niches, bassi-relievi, figures, &c., as at Winchester, Co-
ventry, Bristol, and other places. In later times they
were adapted to shelter the frequenters of such places from
inclement weather, by being made more spacious, and
arched over ; as at Salisbury, Wells, Cheddar, Malmes-
bury, Chichester, Glastonbury, &c.
BRISTOL CROSS: A MARKET, COMMEMORATIVE, AND CIVIC
MONUMENT.
The stone cross now in the grounds at Stourhead, Wilt-
shire, formerly stood at the junction of four streets in
Bristol, and was known and characterised by the name of
The High Cross. It appears to have been built in 1373,
on the site of an older monument of the same kind, and
was intended principally to commemorate King Edward
III., who at that time conferred important privileges on
the town. Statues of that monarch and of three other
sovereigns were placed in niches around the cross. It was
enlarged and raised to a greater height in 1 633 ; but in
1733 was taken down, on the petition of a silversmith who
lived near it. Some years afterwards it was re-erected in
College Green, but again taken down in 1763. At length
the Reverend Dr. Barton, Dean of Bristol, gave it to Henry
Hoare, Esq., of Stourhead, who expended about 300/. in its
removal to that place, where it was reconstructed in the
* The crotses at Winchester, Leigfaton Buzzard, Blackfriars, at Hereford, and St.
Paul's, London, were of this class.
X
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306
ON MARKET CROSSES.
beautiful gardens of that celebrated domain. It is now a
mere fragment, being a ruin. Such are the vicissitudes
and adventures of a frail monument of piety and art. A
new edifice, in imitation of the old one, is in progress of
erection in College Green, Bristol, from drawings made by
John Norton, Esq,, an architect of Bristol.
WHITEFRIARS CROSS, NEAR HEREFORD.
About one mile west of the city of Hereford, at a place
to which the markets were removed in 1347, when a pes-
tilence, or sort of cholera, raged in that city, stands the
Whitefriars Cross^ as it is commonly called. It consists of
seven steps, and an hexagonal shaft, measuring together
about 15 feet in height. It was formerly much higher.
Each face of the shaft has a shield bearing a lion rampant,
the armorial coat of Bishop Charlston, by whom it was pro-
bably erected, few years after the time above mentioned.*
THE MARKET AND PREACHING CROSS, AT WINCHESTER.
The cross at Winchester is stated, on an engraving
published by the Society of Antiquaries, to have been built
• See Architectural Antiquitiet of Great Britain ^ vol. i.
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ON MARKET CROSSES, 30?
in the time of Edward III. The Rev. Dr. Mihier, how-
ever, assigns it to the reign of Henry VI.
It is divided into three stories, and consists of a central
square pier, with four smaller ones at the angles, termi-
nating in pinnacles, between which, and forming the second
story, are canopied niches, containing originally four sta-
tues, of which only one remains. " The top of this cross
was originally surmounted with a crown, and four small
niches, with statues in them. It now measures 43 feet 6
inches from the ground to the summit ; the lower tier of
arches is 7 feet 10 inches high, and the statue is 5 feet
10 inches."*
At Cheddar, in Somersetshire, is a covered hexagonal
Market Cross of plain design. The arches are almost semi-
circular, without any ornaments, and the parapet is simply
embattled. In the centre is a pillar, rising on a base,
formed by three steps receding from the basement.
THE MARKET AND PREACHING CROSS AT LEI6HT0N BUZZARD,
BEDFORDSHIRE.
In this town is a cross which differs, however, from all
others in being pentagonal in its plan ; consisting of a cen-
tral pier having five small columns attached to it, and
five buttress-piers at the angles. Three small columns are
united to these piers, from which, and the columns of the
central pier, spring diverging ribs, which constitute a rich
traceried roof to the small space enclosed.
Above the arches, externally, are fifteen grotesque heads
in high relief surrounding the cross. The second tier con-
sists of five canopied niches, each of which contained a
statue. The whole is terminated by a crocketted spire or
pinnacle. The basement consists of several steps. The
height of the whole structure is 38 feet.t
MALMESBURY CROSS
is one of the most beautiful Market Crosses remaining. Its
plan is octagonal, the exterior supporting piers terminat-
* See ArchUeeiural AnHquHiea^ voL i., and Milner's Hutory of Winehetter.
t Ibid., and Lysons's Bedfordshire.
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308
ON MARKET CROSSES.
ing in pinnacles, and the central shaft being continued
above the roof, forming an ornamental turret, supported by
flying buttresses. It is supposed to have been built towards
the end of the fifteenth or the beginning of the sixteenth
century. Leland, who was at Malmesbury in the time of
Henry VIII., says, " There is a right faire and costely
peace of worke, for poor market folkes to stand dry when
rayne cummeth : the men of the towne made this peace of
worke in hominum mefnoria.^* *
MARKET CROSS, SHEPTON MALLET,. SOMERSETSHIRE.
In the centre of a spacious area in the town of Shepton
Mallet, Somersetshire, is a Market Cross, the origin and
founders of which are recorded by the following inscription
on the central pillar : " Erected by Walter and Agnes
Buckland, 1500." Certain lands were appropriated by
those persons to repair the cross.
• Itinerary, vol. ii. p 26. Sec BeautieM of Wiltthire, voL iil
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ON MARKET CROSSES. 309
It is octagonal in form, with a column at each angle ;
around the base is a double row of steps or seats ; and in
the upper part are niches, which formerly contained images.*
THE POULTRY CROSS, AT SALISBURY, WILTSHIRE.
The late Mr. Hatcher, in his elaborate History of
Salisbury^ has referred to several documents of the four-
teenth and fifteenth centuries, in which the markets of that
' city are incidentally mentioned.
In testamentary deeds dated in 1S60 and in 1361,
tenements are bequeathed, which are described as being
situated " opposite the market where wheat is sold ;'* " the
market where wools are sold," and where " linen and woollen
thread is sold,'' are also mentioned about the same time.
It was then the custom for persons exercising similar busi-
nesses to dwell in the same quarter of a town ; and we
accordingly find references to the Butcher Row, the Wheel-
wrights' Row, the Ironmonger Row, the Smiths* Row, the
Cordwainers* Row, and the Cooks' Row.
" Of the poultry-market,'* says Mr. Hatcher, " various
descriptions occur. In 1335 a cession was made to the
dean and chapter of two tenements opposite the High CrosSy
xvhere poultry is soW^
Difierent notices appear to indicate that vegetables
* Phelps's History of Somerfithiret vol. ii. p. 204.
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310 ON MARKET CROSSES.
were also disposed of in this market, as at present. In
1361 a tenement is bequeathed opposite the High Cross,
where ^^ fruits and other victuals^' are sold. It is again
mentioned as the market for ^* fruits and vegetables,^* also
for " herbage^** and for " oatmeal and vegetables**
There is some obscurity, however, in the history of the
present Poultry Cross at Salisbury. In the year 1789, Mr.
Henry Wansey of that city addressed a letter to the Society
of Antiquaries, in which he quoted from a life of Richard II.
by a monkish chronicler, an account of its origin, which
has been generally received as correct.
The writer referred to states that Ralph Erghum, who,
as Bishop of Salisbury from 1375 to 1388, was conspicuous
by his persecution of the followers of Wickliff, imposed a
penance on a certain Earl of Salisbury, one of the friends
of that great reformer, who had incurred his displeasure
by some "contempt towards the holy sacrament.*' The
punishment said to have been inflicted was the erection of
" a cross of stone in Salisbury, on which all the story of the
matter should be written (or sculptured) ; and he, the of-
fender, every Friday during his life, to come to the cross,
barefoot and bareheaded, in his shirt, and there, upon his
knees, do penance.'*
Mr. Wansey considers that the present cross was erected
in pursuance of this episcopal command ; but suggests that
John de Montacute, nephew and heir of the then Earl of
Salisbury, and not that nobleman himself, was probably
the party at issue with the bishop, inasmuch as contempo-
rary writers have described him as "one of the chiefs of
the Lollards," whereas the earl himself is not supposed to
have belonged to their party.
Mr. Hatcher dissents altogether from this statement,
by remarking, that the present edifice presents indications
of the style of architecture prevalent in the beginning of
the fourteenth century, before the time of Bishop Erghum;
and consequently infers that it is the identicsd structure
referred to in 1335, as already mentioned, by the name of
" the High Cross, where poultry is sold.'*
This building is of hexagonal shape, and is supported
by buttress piers at the angles, flattened ogee arches, and
is finished by an open parapet. If it ever had an arched
roof, that has been taken away, and other mutilations have
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ON MARKET CROSSES.
811
been made. Over each arch is part of a niche, which was
formerly much higher. Each buttress was probably ter-
minated in a crocketted pinnacle, and there was a central
turret of corresponding character. There is a column in
the centre, the capital of which is formed by demi-angels,
with blank shields.
CRICKLADE.
In the street of Cricklade, Wiltshire, is a cross, or stone
shaft, raised on steps. It is ornamented with quatrefoils
on the base, and niches with canopies at the top. These
appear to have been formerly decorated with statues, as a
similar cross is situated close to one of the churches in the
same town, and contains the crucifixion in alto-relievo, with
other figures.
THE MARKET CROSS, CHICHESTER, SUSSEX.
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312 ON MARKET CROSSES.
This interesting edifice of ecclesiastical architecture,
and of the usages and customs of former times, was erected
by Bishop Story at the close of the fifteenth century, as re-
corded by an inscription on the building. It consists of sl
large central column, from which spring numerous bold
ribs, beneath a vaulted roof; whilst eight pier buttresses
support the superincumbent panelled wall, parapet, pin-
nacles, and flying buttresses. Shields, charged with the
armorial bearings of the bishop already named, impaling
those of the reigning monarch, are attached to the but-
tresses ; whilst the wall between the arches and the outer
ogee mouldings are ornamented with sculptured mitres.
These mouldings terminate with large and elaborate
finials, which serve as brackets to pedestals in niches, sur-
mounted by fine and elaborate canopies. Three inscrip-
tions on tablets fill as many niches, whilst large clock
dials are inserted above them. The clock was presented
by " Dame Elizabeth Farrington, as an hourly memento
of her good-will," in 1724. The building is surmounted by
an open turret, executed in a very bad style. This cross
stands near the centre of the city, at the junction of four
streets ; and though in tolerable condition, has been sadly
injured and defaced by alterations and repairs in the time
of Charles II. ; and again by Charles Duke of Richmond
in 1746 ; but without the least regard to harmony of style
or symmetry. When the Sussex Archaeological Society
visited Chichester in 1847, 1 read a short paper on this
building; and urged the necessity and desirableness of
having it carefully repaired. "As a beautiful, unique,
and very interesting architectural design, as a memorial
of the arts and customs of a bygone age, and as an orna-
ment to the city, it is hoped the citizens will not only pre-
serve it from further defacement, but will also restore it
to its pristine character and completeness/* Subsequent
to this meeting, I addressed the respectable Mayor of Chi-
chester, ofiering to superintend and direct the much-wished
restoration gratuitously, from a love of the subject, and a
desire to mark the era of a remarkable congress of anti-
quaries in Chichester.*
• See Hay*8 Hulory of Chichester ^ Picturesque Antiquities qf English Cities, and
Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain, See also Sussex Archaoloffical Collections,
vol. i. 1818.
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ON MARK£T CROSSES. 313
THE MARKET CROSS AND CONDUIT, GLASTONBURY.
The Market Cross at Glastonbury, in Somersetshire,
was an edifice of unique design, and presented some very in-
teresting features. There is an engraving of it in the first
volume of the Architectural AniiquitieSy from a drawing
made by F. Nash in 1802. In the account of the build-
ing which accompanies that print, I wrote as follows :
" Since this drawing was taken, the cross has been sufiered
gradually to fall in ruins; and about six months back
(I8O6) a part of the central column only was standing.
Since which time the whole has been destroyed, and a
modem building raised on the site. The old one con-
sisted of a large column in the centre, running through the
roof, and terminated with a naked human figure. Clustered
columns at each angle, with odd capitals, bases, &c., and
gables with pinnacles of unusual shape, all unite to con-
stitute this one of the eccentricities of ancient building.
In 1802 I saw a mutilated inscription on it with the date
I604 ; but cannot say that this alludes to the time of its
erection. There were also some armorial bearings carved
on difierent parts of it, including those of Richard Beere,
the last abbot but one of Glastonbury, who died in 1524."
COVENTRY CROSS, WARWICKSHIRE.
The late Mr. Thomas Sharp of Coventry, who was
a diligent and discriminating antiquary, furnished some
interesting documents to the Architectural Antiquities^
respecting the history of this civic edifice. By these it
is recorded that Sir William HoUis, Knight, of Stoke,
gave and bequeathed 200/. to the mayor, &c. of Coventry,
" to make a new Cross in the said city." It was com-
menced in 1541, and finished in three years, on the site
of an old building of the same class. An act of town-leet
was recorded in the corporation-books to guard it against
defacement and injury. In 1628 it underwent some re-
pair and embellishment; and again in 1669, when, by paint-
ing, gilding, &c., " it was made the wonder of the times.'*
The agreement between the mayor, &c. and a certain
" stone-cutter," and three " masons,*' binds the last to exe-
cute '^ all the statues, pinnacles, images, pictures, beasts,
pedistories, canopy of the neeses, fanes, finialls, and all
Y
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314 ON MARIL£T CROSSES.
Other things round the cross/' After completing their
work, they were required to leave the scaffolds, " that the
painters might polish the said cross with colours, &c. as
shall be thought fit/' The items of expenses are given ;
one of which, "for I5,4f03 books of leaf-gold, was 68/. 15$.**
This once gorgeous building became so ruinous in 1771> that
it was taken down, with an adjoining old building called
the Spon-Gate. Unlike the covered Market Crosses, this
consisted of an hexagonal shaft, or mass of masonry, raised
on steps, and measured about 57 feet in height by 42 in
circumference. It was divided into four stories, each of
which was elaborately ornamented with the objects and de-
tails already enumerated.
A Cross at Gloucester was very similar in form and
design to that just described. It was erected in the time
of Richard Duke of Gloucester. A statue of that prince,
afterwards Richard UI., with seven other statues, occu-
pied so many niches. For the widening and improving
the four great streets in the central part of the city, this
building, with some old houses, was taken down in 1749*
The preceding remarks on, and accounts of. Market
Crosses have been mostly abridged from an extended his-
tory and elucidation of stone crosses in the first volume
of the Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain^ the Pic-
turesque Antiquities of English Cities^ and the Architectural
and ArchcBological Dictionary ; in all of which works there
are several engraved representations of the different sub-
jects. Accompanying this paper, at Salisbury, were ex-
hibited some large drawings by Mr. Owen Carter, archi-
tect, of Winchester, who made them for the purpose of
shewing the beauty and effects of the crosses at Salisbury,
Winchester, Chichester, Malmesbury, &c., when restored
to their pristine appearance.
£It is proper to remark that the preceding paper was intended to be farther explained
by oral references to drawings, &c.]
THE END.
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