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THE

WILTSHIRE
Areheologueal ond Batural AWiwstory

MAGAZINE.

Publishes under the Birection of the Haciety

FORMED IN THAT COUNTY A.D. 1853.

MOE. Vv.

DEVIZES:

Henry Bout, Sarr Joun Srreer.
LONDON:
Bert & Darpy, 168, Fixer Street; J. R, Swrrn, 36, Sono Square.

1859.

DEVIZES:
PRINTED BY HENRY BULL,
ST, JOHN STREET.

"~~ —_—a—

CONTENTS OF VOL. V.

No. XJ0Hf.

Bradford-upon-Avon: General History of the Parish: By the Rev.

Wikia tee HEIR Y- PJ ONES) J MGAG) «.'jaimtat ores ote lease ied deve mera seeel L=88
Parochial Divisions, 2. Early History, 2-5. Roman remains and coins, 5-8. Saxon
times, 8-10. St. Aldhelm founds a Monastery, 10-12. Ethelred’s gift of the Manor
to the Abbess of Shaftesbury, 17-19. Charter, 19-22. Domesday survey, 23-26.
History from 12th to 14th century, 26-31. From 14th to 16th century, 31-40.
Churches and other buildings, 32-34. Representation in Parliament, 33. Charities,
39. History at the Dissolution of Monasteries, 40-42. School Endowment, 42-43.
The Wool-trade, 44-46. The 17th century, 46-55. Kingston House, 46. Royalists
fined, 47-48. Paul Methwin, 48. Bradford Tokens, 50-51. The 18th century, 55-58.
Settlers in Bradford, 55. Principal Manufacturers, 56. Disturbances, 57. The
19th century, 58-60.

Tue Manor, 60-88. General account of various tenants in olden times, 60-64. Grand
Serjeanty, 64. Knight’s service, 66. Fealty and other services, 67. Vel-noble,
68. Larder-money, 69. Palmsun-money, 70. Feudal incidents, 70-71 Customs,
71-76. The Court Baron, 78-80. Court Leet and View of Frankpledge, 80-83. Officers
of the Manor, the Hundred, and the Borough, 83-87.

Geology of Wiltshire: By G. Pounerr Scropr, Esq., M.P......... . 89-113
Flora of Wiltshire: No. 2. By T. B. Frower, Ese., M.R.C.S., &e. .. 114-126
Account of a ‘ Trinity’ Ring found at Chute: By Mr. W. CunnineTon. 127
Contributions to the Museum and Library. ........ 0220005 ceeeeees 128
Myattenies during the Civil Wars. 5.0... orc a clgkocsjowe ve clsnceeeoce 128

PaGE

No. XLV.

Flora of Wiltshire: No. 3, By T. B. Frowrr, Esa., M.R.C.S. ...... 129-149
Druidism in connection with Wiltshire: By the Rev. J. L..Ross, M.A. 148-192
Edington or Yatton the Ethandun of Alfred: By R. C, ALEXANDER,

ENCE TN cer ttate aezig aie shed t,aislateietg. sis als eieiel cirere wloteieies Sdlasteae yLGox20T
Carduus Tuberosus at Avebury: By Professor BUCKMAN, F.L.S.. 207-209
Bradford-on-Avon, No. 2: By the Rev. W. H. Jones, M.A........ 210-255

The Parish Church, 210. Chancel, 212. Nave 216. Aisle, 216. Kingston Aisle,
218. Tower, 218. Chantries, 221. Vicarage, 224. Church and Parish Registers,
229. Ancient Paintings, 231. Monuments, 232. Mural Tablets, 234. Old Custom
in Church-yard, 244. Tue Saxon Cuuncu, 247. Grove Meeting-House, 252.

Reply to Strictures, &c., The Battle of Ethandun: By Grorar Mat-

CHAM, Esq. 2... cccccccsscccccrercccvessecsescdscsceces «, 256-264

lv. CONTENTS.—VOL. V.

No, ¥¥.

PaGE
Broughton Gifford, History of the Parish: By the Rev. Joun WILKIN-
SON Mv Ats’. = s.cler waist Behar ete slauis sieitvs @ bios eleaisie blo Me eO Oe

Crvir History. Name, 267. - Boundaries and Acreage, 269. Domesday notice and
antiquities, 270. BrovcuTonw Manorrat History : Dunstanville, 282. Badlesmere,
282. Sub-feudatories, 283. Gifford, 287. Audley, 297. Hillary, 303. Hulse, 303.
Troutbeck, 303, Talbot, 303. Le Strange, 305. Shrewsbury, 308. Palmes, 311.
Brydges, 313. May, 313. Horton, 317. Roberts, 327. Hobhouse, 327. Monxron
Manorrar History : Ilbert de Chat, 328. Monkton Farley Priory, 330. Seymour,
333. Long. 335. ‘Chynne, 338. Kingston, 339. Shering, and Keddle, 341.
Pepicrers. Descent of the Manor, 267. The Horton Family, 317.

Bradford-on-Avon, History of, No.: By the Rev. W. H. Jonzs, M.A. 342-390
Tue PAROCHIAL CHaritizs.—The Old Almshouse, 346, The ‘Old Men’s Almshouse,
349. Curll’s Charity, 348. The Charity School, 349. _ Ferrett’s Charities, 352-3.
Thresher’s Charity, 353. Cam’s Charity, 355. Tugwell’s Charity, 855. Strawbridge’s
Charity, 355. Lost Charities. 356.
Op Famitres AND Worrutes, 357. Family of ‘‘ Hall,” 360. Of ‘* Rogers,”’ 366.
Of “‘Yerbury,” 369. Of ‘‘ Methuen,” 378. Of ‘* Cam,” 384. General Shrapnel, 386
General Bush, 386. Rev. Henry Harvey, 389.
Pepicrezs. I. Table shewing intermarriages of Bradford Families, 357. II. ‘ Haut,’
360. III. ‘ Rogers,’ 366. IV. ‘ Yerpury,’ 369. V. ‘Mernuen,’ 378.

Britton’s Monument at Norwood Cemetery: By Mz. W. Cunnineton.. 390

ALEXANDER, R. C. Esa, Note in correction of a statement at p. 199. .... 392
REPORT OF THE SOCIETY FOR 1858. .........-.--. oa: 8\0i8:19) bags aycie es8fe eke ea
Lllustrations.

Bradford. Map of the Ancient Manor (A.D. 1001), p. 19. Barton Barn, 32.
Recessed Tomb in Chancel of Parish Church, 33. Tory Chapel, 35. Bridge
Chapel, 37, Horton’s Merchant’s Mark, 39. Bradford Tokens, 50. Geo-
logical Map of Wiltshire, 89. Wiltshire Fossils, 99-107. Botanico-Geo-
graphical Map of Wiltshire, 114. Trinity Ring, Chute, 127.

Bradford. The Parish Church, p. 210. The Saxon Church, 247. Plate I.
S.E. view. II. Ground Plan.—Chancel Arch.—Figures in wall above it.
III. Elevation of N. Porch.—Doorway between Porch and Nave. IV. E.
elevation of Chancel and Nave. V. Elevatiou of S. side.

Arms borne by the Lords of the Manor of Broughton Gifford, ( Zwo Plates) 267.
Monument to John Britton at Norwood Cemetery, 390.

THE

WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE,

“¢MULTORUM MANIBUS GRANDE LEVATUR ONUS.”—Ovid,

Hradford-upon-Aoon.

By the Rev. Wittram Henry Jonzs, M.A.,
Vicar of Bradford.

. are few towns in Wiltshire more interesting to the
AY acchaslosit or the student of Natural History than Brad-
BUD erhncle Though it has never been the scene of great
stirring events like other places in its neighbourhood, and has

never assumed a position of much political or perhaps even of
social importance, there are nevertheless incidents in its history
which invest its consideration with a more than ordinary charm.
Its situation is beautiful; lying as it does at the eastern extremity
of the valley of the Avon, and being shut in on the north and west
by hills covered with vegetation, and contributing at once to the
shelter and picturesque appearance of the town. There is, moreover,
a quaint, almost romantic, look about its buildings, rising one above
another in successive ranks up the slope of the hill on the north
side, that gives a peculiar character to the place, by no means un-
pleasing to the antiquary. In its immediate vicinity are many
geological treasures; some of the rarest and most curious fossils

1 The substance of this paper was read at the Annual Meeting of the Wilts
Archeological and Natural Society at Bradford, in August, 1857.

I take this opportunity of expressing my obligations to those friends who have
afforded me assistance in the preparation of this paper, either by giving me in-
formation, or replying to enquiries, or allowing me access to documents. Amongst
others I would especially thank Mr, J. Waylen, the Rev. E, Wilton, Mr. W.
Merrick, Mr. C, E. Davis, (of Bath,) and our excellent Secretary, the Rev. J.
E, Jackson. W. 4H. J.

VOL. V.—NO. XIII. B

2 Bradford-upon-Avon.

being found in the Bradford clay. In the ancient buildings too,
one of them perhaps of a date anterior to the conquest,—in the deep
ecclesiastical imprint that may be traced everywhere, the lasting me-
morial of those five hundred years during which the manor apper-
tained to a great Religious House,—in the mansions, one of which
has been restored of late, and remains as a proud evidence of the
ample means as well as the pure taste of its original builder,—in the
manufactures, in times past the source of the wealth of more than
one ennobled family,—there is abundant material for those who
delight in tracing out the actual life and habits of by-gone genera-
tions, and this not simply as a matter of barren curiosity, but as a
means, indirectly at least, of self-discipline and self-improvement.

The parish of Bradford is situated at the north-western side of
Wiltshire, its limits forming for some miles the boundary line of
that county, and separating it from Somersetshire. It contains no
less than 11,272 acres, and had, according to the census of 1851,
8958 inhabitants.. It is divided into ten tithings, and has within
it seven churches, a new one, that of Christ Church, having been
erected about sixteen years ago. All these churches were originally
united in one benefice, and held under the Vicarage of Bradford ;
indeed, for the purpose of the poor rate assessment, all the tithings
are still the constituent parts of one parish. Since the year 1846,
however, the various chapelries have been, for all ecclesiastical
purposes, distinct benefices. The Borovcx and TRow Ls tithings
have been attached as a district to the Church of the Holy Trinity,
i.e.the Parish Church ;—those of Leen, Woottey, and CUMBERWELL
form the district of Christ Church; Hons, with its church dedicated
to St. Catharine, has become a distinct benefice; ArwortH and
Wraxnarn with their two churches, the latter of which is dedicated
to St. James, have been united into one benefice; and, in like man-
ner, Winstey and Limptey SroxE have been joined together under
one Incumbent, with their churches dedicated, the one to St.
Nicholas, the other to St Mary the Virgin.!

1 The above description of the various divisions of the parish is aceurate for
the most part, though not perfectly so, inasmuch as the tithings do not in all
cases correspond with the several ecclesiastical districts. A part of Winsley:

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 3

It is the object of this paper to give a sketch of the history of
the two first named districts; the tithings forming them comprising
the town and its immediate neighbourhood. The history of the
other tithings will only be alluded to so far as such reference may
be necessary for the purpose of illustrating our narrative.

Our plan will be, first of all, to give a general history of Brad-
ford from earliest times to the present, and this as far as possible in
chronological order, interweaving with the narrative such materials
‘ as we have been able to collect on subjects more or less directly
connected with it. In separate sections we shall afterwards lay
before our readers information on several topics of interest and —
importance.

From Earuiest Times To A.p. 80.

John Aubrey in the Preface to his Natural History of North
Wilts describes in the following terms its probable condition in
earliest times. “Let us imagine what kind of country this was in
the time of the ancient Britains, by the nature of the soil, which
is a sour, woodsere land, very natural for the production of oaks
especially ; one may conclude that this North-Division was a shady,
dismal wood; and the inhabitants almost as salvage as the beasts,
whose skins were their only raiment.” There have been some per-
sons in recent days, who have come forward as the apologists for
the old Britons, and have claimed for them a far greater degree of
civilization than is implied in Aubrey’s words. But all, we should
suppose, are agreed that he is perfectly right in his opinion con-
cerning the general character of this part of the country in the
remote times of which he is speaking. No doubt it was covered
with forest; here and there a small portion was cleared away to
afford habitation for the native population, few comparatively in
number, perpetually at war amongst themselves, and frequently
shifting their abode from one locality to another. Indeed, the site

tithing, e.g. and some small portions both of Leigh and Woolley, as being in the
town or its immediate vicinity, form part of the Parish Church district. Other
small portions of the Winsley tithing are attached to the district of Christ
Church,

B 2

4 Bradford-upon-Avon.

of Bradford is, as a glance at an old map will shew at once, just
between two large forest-ranges, the one, the Coit-mawr or Sel-
wood, i.e. the ‘Great Forest’ as Asser interprets the name, extend-
ing to the south by Wingfield, Pomeroy, Frome, &c., and the other,
to the north east, through Holt, Blakemore, Pewsham, and so on
through Wilts, as far as to Braden Forest. It will appear more
than once in the course of this paper, that in olden times, the wood-
land bare a far greater proportion than now to what was arable or
pasture land in our parish. The same thing, indeed, may be ob-
served, though of course in a lesser degree, by inspecting maps of
comparatively modern date, that is, of not more than a hundred and
fifty years ago.

The question naturally arises, “Have we any traces or memorials
in our immediate neighbourhood of these, its earliest inhabitants?”
As yet none have been found to which we can, with anything like
certainty, assign so great antiquity. The habits of our British fore-
fathers were such, that it is hardly likely they would leave behind
them any lasting tokens of themselves, except in the names of places,
or in their places of sepulture, their cromlechs or barrows, as they
are called. Our river still bears its British name,—the Avon. We
are at no great distance from some works which are undoubtedly
British, as, for example, the Celtic burial-ground at Wellow, and
Stanton Drew, one of their ancient hypzthral temples—a ‘/ocus
consecratus’—which, to those who occupied the western part of the
province of the Belgze, was what Stonehenge was to those who lived
in the eastern part.!_ But within the limits of our parish we have
discovered no remains at present of so distinctive a character, as to
warrant us in definitively pronouncing them to be British. Ina
field which forms part of the Belcomb estate, called Temple Field,
lying on the high ground to the north-west of the town, there are
sundry large stones, ranged together on the brow of a hill, in such
a manner as may at first sight seem to warrant a conjecture, that

1 On the subject of British remains within a few miles of our town, the reader
is referred to an interesting paper on ‘ Ancient Earthworks in the neighbourhood
of Bath,’ communicated by the Rey. H. M. Scarth, M.A., to the Journal of the
British Archwological Association, June 1857, p. 98,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 5

has been formed, that they are vestiges of our Druidical forefathers.
Certainly they appear to have been placed in their present position
by design, and can hardly be accounted for by natural causes, such
as the washing away of the soil by successive rains. At the same
time, unless, by digging out a few feet of earth near some of the
stones, we discover more palpable evidences of the site being that
of an ancient burying-place, we must hesitate before we commit our-
selves to such an opinion. As archeologists, we must be doubly
sure before we venture upon a judgement which a little more in-
vestigation may overthrow, and hence, we cannot help thinking
that in the case before us, the wiser, and certainly the safer, ver-
dict would be, —“ Not Proven.”

From A.p. 80—a.p. 450.

There is no mention either in Cesar, or in the Itinerary of
Antoninus, or in the later work attributed to Richard of Ciren-
eester, of any place that at all corresponds with Bradford. We
are in the neighbourhood of many Roman remains. They have
been found (as is well known) in great abundance at Bath, that
city having been from very early times a favourite resort for mi-
litary commanders and other persons of rank in search either
of pleasure or of health. They have been discovered too at Box
and at Warleigh. In the last named place there was a Roman
Villa, the capital of one of its columns being still preserved by Mr.
Skrine. In a field near Iford, the remains of a villa were opened
in 1822, and on a hill near Stowford are some portions of an earth-
work and camp. None of their great roads, however, passed very
near to the site of our present town. The Via Julia, which ran
through Bath to Silchester, came no nearer to us than Medleys,' a

1 «There is a single cottage near Neston, called Medleys, which as the Roman
road there divides the parishes of Corsham and Atworth belonged to neither of
them. It struck’me that this Medleys might have been a Mansio on this road,
and so a corruption of the Latin word ‘‘in medio.” Having afterwards dis-
covered the site of Verlucio (at Highfield, near Sandy lane), this road was mea-
sured between Bath and Verlucio, and the distance found to be 15 miles, and
this Medleys was precisely the half-way house between them.”—MS. note by
Mr. Leman, at p. 470 of Horsley’s ‘ Britannia Romana,’ in the library of the
Bath Literary Institution.

6 Bradford-upon-Aton.

cottage near Neston, so called, as Mr, Leman ingeniously conjec-
tures, because half-way (quasi in medio) between Bath and the
Roman station of Verlucio, at Highfield near Sandy lane. The
other great road, which ran from Old Sarum to Uphill, was of
course at a much greater distance from us. The Fosse-way which
crossed these two, running from Ischalis (Ilchester) to Durocorno-
vium (Cirencester), came no nearer to us than Bath, through which
it passed, intersecting at that point the Via Julia.

We are not without some clear proofs that, during a part, at
least, of those three centuries and a half during which they held
Britain, the Romans were settled in this locality. They were ac-
customed to record their various conquests in a manner peculiarly
their own, and admirably calculated to perpetuate their fame to the
remotest ages. They issued large number of coins, and these were
—we might almost say, still ave—their gazettes, proclaiming the
success of their arms and the reduction of rebellious provinces to
submission. These coins are found in considerable numbers in the
upper part of the town, in what is called Budbury.

No coin of the Roman period has been found, so far as we are
aware, in or near Bradford, to which we could with any certainty
assign a very early date. One or two of Antoninus Pius have been
discovered, about the date, that is, of a.p. 150. The earliest, how-
ever, that has been found in any number, is a small brass coin of
Vicrorinus, who was commissioned by the Emperor Probus, with
whom he was a great favourite, to subdue a revolt in Britain about
A.D. 275. Several have been found also of Trerricus,—of VALENs,
—and of ConsTantTINE the Great, the first who assumed the im-
perial purple in Britain. A few of Crispus; several of Carausius,
the admiral of the Roman fleet, who secured for himself at one time
an all but independent sovereignty in Britain; some of ALLECcTUS,
first the friend, then the betrayer, of Carausius; many of ConsTan-
TINE Junior, and also of the Urss Roma coin, with the reverse of
Romulus and Remus suckled by the wolf; a few of ConstantTINo-
potis, This enumeration brings us down to the latter part of the
fourth century.'

' The following coins, amongst others, have been sent to the writer within the
last few months, and have all been found in the neighbourhood; and for

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 7

From the facts that have been thus detailed we may gather two
probable inferences :—

valuable help in deciphering the legend, &c., he is indebted to his friend, the
Rey. H. M. Scarth, of Bath. About the year 1819, a small silver coin of
Caravstvs, and a brass one of ALLECcTUS, both well preserved, were found in a
field called ‘The Hams,’ (close by Winsley,) which passed into the hands of
Mr. H. L. Tovey, whose collection of coins was sold by auction in 1852.
Vicrorinvus. (c. A.D. 250.) Obv. Head crowned with five spikes in crown.
Leg. 1MP C VICTORINVS AVG. Rev. Female figure with
cornucopia. Leg. PROVIDENTIA AVGG.
TETRICUS. (267-272.) Obv. Head crowned as above. Leg. IMP TETRICVS
PF AVG, Rev. Female with a fillet in her hand and a
child ather feet. Leg. SALVS AVGG.
CaRavsivs. (287-293.) Obv. Head of Emperor crowned. Leg. IMP CA-
RAVSIVS PF AVG. Rev. Female figure. Leg. PAX AVG.
(?) much defaced. .
ConsTantinvus. (311-327.) Obv. Head of Emperor laureated. Leg. SOLI
... Magnus. INVICTO COMITI. Rev. Male figure with radiated crown.
Letters TR one on either side. On the exergue PTR (Pecunia
Treviensis) ; struck at Treves.
... Maximus. Obv. Head of Emperor. Leg. CONSTANT MAX AVG. Rev.
Two foot soldiers holding each a spear and child and standing
opposite a trophy. Leg. GLORIA EXERCITVS. Exergue.

TRP.

CRISPUS. (317-326.) Obv. Head of Crispus laureated. Leg. CRISPVS NOB
CAES. Zev. An altar surmounted with a globe (?) inscribed
VOTIS XX. Leg. BEATA TRANQVILLITAS. In the field
P.A. Inthe exergue PLO. ( Pecunia Londinensis. )

| VALENs. (ce. 330,) Obv. Head of Emperor. Leg. N VALENS PF AVG.
Rev. Female figure with banner. Leg, SECVRITAS REIPVB-
LICAE.

Varentinianvs I. (c. 370.) Obv. Head of Emperor laureated. Leg. DN
VALENTINIANVS PF AVG. Rev, Victory marching. Leg.
SECVRITAS REPVBLCAE. In exergue SMAQ,

ConstantInvs Jun. (340.) Obv. Head of Constantine helmeted. Rev. Altar
with the word VOTIS. Zeg. BEATA TRANQVILLITAS.
In the exergue PLON.

oe Aug. Obv, Head of Constantine galeated. Rev. Altar with
globe and three stars above, inscribed VOTIS XX.
MTs iss Jun, Obv. Head of Emperor with a wreath. Leg. CONSTANT

JVN NOB CAES, Rev. Soldiers with trophies, Leg. GLORIA
EXERCITVS. A great number of these are found; one has on
the reverse two figures of Victory.

Tn addition to these, we meet very constantly with the ‘ Urbs Roma’ coin,
described above; and one with the Legend CONSTANTINOPOLIS and the head
of an Emperor helmeted with a sceptre in his hand on the Obverse; and on the
Reverse a winged female figure with a spear in one hand and the other resting
on a shield, having in the exergue I'.R.P. of the date probably of the latter part
of the 4th century.

8 Bradford-upon-Avon.

Ist. That the Romans began to visit our locality about 80 or 90
years after the final subjugation of Britain by Claudius (a.p.
62) ; that the period when they were most numerous here was from
about a.p. 250 to within some thirty years of their leaving Britain
altogether; and that about the end of the fourth century, they
began to leave our immediate neighbourhood.

2nd. That as most of the coins alluded to have been found in
the upper part of the town, in what is now called Budbury, the
Roman settlement was there.

This spot, situated at the top ofa hill, almost inaccessible at that
time on the south or west, was just such an one as we should, from
the customs ef the Romans, have expected them to select; and it
was the nearest point to Bath, in which place, we know, they clus-
tered in great numbers. There is still, in a field in this locality,
evident appearance of earth-works, and these, a few years ago, were
distinctly traceable in some of the adjoining pieces of ground, be-
fore they were portioned off as garden-plots, and then levelled.
The common name that is given to the field is the “Bed and Bol-
ster,” which, if our hypothesis be true, may be a homely, but cer-
tainly not altogether an inexpressive, description of the “cadlum”
and its corresponding “‘agger” in a Roman encampment.

Though the Romans were in our immediate neighbourhood, more
or less, for some 300 years, yet they have left no traces, except in
these few particulars, behind them in Bradford. There is hardly,
in the Borough or its vicinity, the name of a single place which is
necessarily derived from the Latin tongue.

From a.p. 450—650.

Hitherto we have been almost entirely in the region of conjec-
ture. We now come toa period to which we can with certainty
trace our town, though even yet we have but glimpses of its history.
The kingdom of Wessex, which ultimately comprised, amongst
others, the present counties of Wilts, Hants, and Dorset, was
established, in a.p. 519, by Cerdic, who, after defeating the Britons
in several engagements, made Wintan-Ceaster (or Winchester) the
capital of his newly acquired kingdom. In the course of some 40

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 9

or 50 years his successors gradually extended, the limits of their
dominions; and in the year a.p. 577, Ceawlin gained an important
victory over three British kings at Deor-ham (Derham) in Glou-
cester, which was followed by the surrender of the three important
cities of Glevum (Gloucester), Corinium (Cirencester), and Aquze
Solis (Bath). Now it is from this period (about the end of the
sixth century) that we should*be inclined to date the name, and
perhaps the permanent establishment, of our town; though still
but a small and thinly populated place for many years afterwards.
Within 50 or 60 years of this time, it is spoken of as the scene of
a sort of civil war, between Cenwalch, then King of Wessex, and
some of his disaffected subjects. The name is pure Anglo-Saxon ;
it means simply the Broad Ford over the river Avon, an appellation
perfectly intelligible to those who visit our town during the sum-
mer months, especially after a long drought. Indeed, to a com-
paratively modern date, the Ford was used for all carriages, the
bridge having originally been much narrower than now, and pro-
bably only intended for foot passengers. By looking at the two
sides of the bridge you will perceive that they are of very different
date, and it is said that after the road is somewhat worn, you may
distinctly trace the point at which the newer is joined to the
older work.

Cenwalch, of whom we have just spoken, became King of Wessex
in the year a.p. 642. He at first, we are told, refused to embrace
Christianity. He had been married to a sister of Penda, King of
Mercia, but no sooner did he succeed to the throne than he igno-
miniously dismissed her. Penda, to avenge himself for the insult
offered to his sister, entered Wessex, and after defeating Cenwalch,
chased him out of his dominions. The exile found an asylum in
the territory of Anna, the virtuous king of the East Angles, and
during his three years’ residence there, was induced to abjure hea-
_thenism. At the end of that time he recovered his throne by the
assistance of his nephew Cuthred. It was, however, by no means
held as yet on a secure tenure, for he had to contend with the dis-
affection of the native population, always seeking an opportunity
for revolt. This disaffection broke out at last into an open flame,

10 Bradford-upon-Avon.

and the conflict at Bradford, in the year s.p. 652, was its result.
' It terminated in a decisive victory gained by Cenwalch over the
Britons. This conflict, and a subsequent one (a few years later)
at Pen, in Somersetshire, attended with a similar result, seated him
firmly upon his throne, and gave him opportunity to carry out his
wishes with regard to inducing his subjects generally to follow his
own example in abjuring heathenism. Of his own zeal he had al-
ready given proof, by building a church and monastery at Win-
chester, the size and magnificence of which astonished his country-
men. The battle at Bradford, though but barely mentioned by the
Chroniclers, becomes of much interest, especially to ourselves, if
thus viewed as a subordinate link in that chain of providential
circumstances by which the blessings of Christianity were conferred
on the kingdom of Wessex.

From a.p. 700—850.

Within some fifty years of this time the fact that Christianity
was the religion of Wessex was brought home palpably to the in-
habitants of this spot. For Ina, who had succeeded to the throne,
not only granted to Aldhelm (afterwards Bishop of Sherborne),
permission to build a monastery at Bradford, but also bestowed
some lands for its support. The gift, at least, seems to imply that
the manor of Bradford, in early times, belonged, like those of Chip-
penham, Corsham, Melksham, and others in our neighbourhood, to
the kings of Wessex. Of Aldhelm, we are told that he was of
illustrious Saxon descent. From his youth he was addicted to let-
ters, and increased his store of knowledge by travels both in France
and Italy. For some time he was under the direction of Maidulf, the
Scotch Anchorite, who kept a kind of college at Maidulfes-Burg,
afterwards softened down into Malmsbury.! He subsequently became
a monk of the Benedictine order, built a monastery at Malmsbury,
and was either first or second abbot. He was also abbot at Frome
and at Bradford, and a letter is still extant, in which he mentions
these dignities in such a way as would seem to imply that he was
also the founder of them both. It is an epistle concerning the

1 Wright's ‘ Biograph. Britan. Liter.’ i. 213.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. il

liberty of elections granted to all congregations under his go-
vernment. After a preface, he says, “ Hence it is that I Aldhelm
after having by the divine goodness been enthroned in the
episcopal office, unworthy as I am, secretly resolved within my-
self that my monasteries of Malmsbury, Frome, and Bradanford
over which as Abbot I long presided, should receive an Abbot
selected by the spontaneous voice of my establishment. The pious
determination of my monks opposed this my resolution; and when
I had several times mentioned this in assemblies of my brethren,
none of them would listen to my wishes, but said ‘As long as you
are alive we will most humbly submit to the yoke of your govern-
ment, entreating only that you will by deed secure to us, that,
after your death, no king, or pontiff, or any authority claim
dominion over us, except with our voluntary consent.’” He
then makes the arrangement requested, and the act is confirmed
by King Ina.!

The bishopric to which Aldhelm was appointed a.p. 705 (and
which he held only for the short space of four years), was one of
two sees constituted out of the old Bishopric of the West Saxons,
in the same year. He is spoken of in the Saxon Chronicle as
Bishop ‘west of Selwood.’ His see comprised the counties of
Wilts, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall. For more than
three centuries the see was continued at Sherborne; then it was
removed, first to Wilton,—then to Old Sarum,—then to Salisbury.

Few, from all that we read of him, deserved more fairly to be

canonised by the Church of Rome than Bishop Aldhelm, The
Chroniclers bear ample witness to his life of earnestness and deyo-
tion. He was an elegant writer, and left several works. He was
also an accomplished musician, and in many other respects an able
and learned man. The name is still preserved in ‘ Hilmarton,’ origi-
lly written, as indeed we find it in Domesday Book,—Addhel-
mertone.
The monastery founded in Bradford by St. Aldhelm, is said by
illiam of Malmsbury, to have been dedicated to St. Laurence,

1The document is printed i in the first volume of Kemble’s ‘Codex Diplom?
r the year 705, 4 Gibson’s ‘Camden’s Britannia,’ i, 196,

12 Bradford-upon-Avon.

Its site was most probably near the north-east end of the present
Church, a spot of ground there still bearing the name of the Abbey
yard. It is just possible that a portion of what is now the Charity
or Free School formed part of it, for you can see, at a glance, that
what is now the entrance to the School is a modern addition to a
more ancient building. Further and more careful investigation
may enable us to speak more confidently than we wish to speak at
present of the probable date and original purpose of this building.
The ancient part of it, when severed from the modern additions
with which it is hemmed in, assumes the shape of aChurch or Chapel,
with its Nave, Chancel, and North Porch: and it stands east and
west. In opening the ground immediately adjoining the building
for drainage or other purposes, stone coffins have been discovered,
thus identifying the surrounding site as a place of sepulture.
Within the building, moreover, there are the remains of an arch
just at the point where, if our hypothesis be true, there would
be an entrance from the nave to the chancel. All, however, that
we will venture for the present to say, is, that we certainly here
have the remains of very early, possibly of pre-Norman, work.

Several well versed in architectural knowledge have felt no dif-
ficulty in pronouncing it to be one of the most ancient, and conse-
quently most interesting, buildings in Wiltshire.

From a.p. 850—950.

During the next century, Bradford rose to be a place of some
importance. Whether we were ever favoured with a visit from
Alfred, that greatest of English kings, the Chroniclers do not tell
us. He was often in our neighbourhood, and fought some of his
most decisive battles against the Danes at no very great distance from
this spot. This, however, we know for certain, that within about
50 years of his death, a great council of the ““ Wytan” was held at
Bradford, at which Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury, one of the best
endowed of the religious houses, was appointed Bishop of Wor-
cester. In those early days prelates were nominated to vacant sees
by the king and his great council, the ‘‘ Witena-gemote.” The latter
body comprised many of the most eminent of the clergy, and the

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 13

laity were fairly represented by the secular members of the great
council.! At this time, no doubt, the monastery of St. Laurence

was still standing. Perhaps Dunstan’s election in this place to a
_ bishopric was accidental, but it is not a little remarkable when we
bear in mind the great reverence that he had for St. Aldhelm.
Amongst what William of Malmsbury deems his good deeds he
mentions expressly this, that 250 years after St. Aldhelm’s death
he disinterred his remains, which had been buried at Malmsbury,
in the Chapel of St. Michael, built by himself, and enshrined them
with great solemnity.

From a.p. 950—1000.

It has been supposed by some, that towards the close of the tenth
century, there was a Mint established at Bradford. In early times,
the money circulated through the kingdom was struck at various
towns to which the privilege was granted by the Crown, who ap-
pointed certain officers or moneyers to ascertain that the coins were
of proper weight and that the king received his dues. The county
of Wilts is deficient in records relating to its local mints. The
only towns known, or conjectured, to have had mints, are Bradford,
Cricklade, Malmsbury, Marlborough, Sarum, and Wilton. The claim
of Bradford rests upon an extremely slight foundation. Ruding®
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 transposition of letters—that the word ought to have been
BRAD, and the town possibly Bradford. The town was a place of
_ some consequence in Anglo-Saxon times, and may have had a mint;
_ but, in the absence of any corroborating evidence, it is rash to assert
it upon the ground of a conjectural emendation of the reading of a
_ single coin. .

We have spoken in previous pages of the little traces that the
Britons or the Romans left behind them in the names of places.
Not so, however, with regard to the Anglo-Saxon settlers here ;—
they, have left abundant tokens of their presence. There are

1 Kemble’s ‘Saxons in England.’ ii, 221.
* Annals of the Coinage of Britain. iv. 400.

14 Bradford-upon- Avon.

but few names of places in our parish which are not to be traced to
an Anglo-Saxon source. A few instances taken from the names of
the tithings, and some of the principal places in the parish, will
soon prove the truth of this statement.

Trow ze is spelt in old deeds Treowle. It does not look unlike
an abbreviation of Treow-lege, and so an equivalent to Wood-leigh,
a name not unknown in Wiltshire, and recently adopted by one of
our neighbours for his house; the Anglo-Saxon word for tree being
treow. In like manner Bishopstrow, near Warminster, is clearly
bisceopes-treow.

Woottey in old deeds is written Wif-lege. Amongst the holders
of land, in the time of Domesday, was one Vir, who possessed a hide
of land (about 100 or 120 acres) in Bode-berie (now Budbury), a
much larger tract of ground bearing that name in older times than
now. It may possibly have embraced a portion of what is now in
the Woolley Tything. The tything itself, therefore, may perhaps
have been called from his name.

Leicu and Hotr respectively denote the flat pasture land and
the wood land part of the parish, for such is the original meaning
of the Anglo-Saxon words.

Winstey we find written in Domesday Book Wintres-lege, that
is, the cold or wintry Leigh. Its situation corresponds with its
name, being upon perhaps the highest ground in the parish. The
name of a tract of ground situated at the top of Grip wood (also
very high ground) is still Winder Leaze, or, as it is sometimes spelt,
Winter Leaze.

AtwortH is in old documents written Atan-wurthe or Atten-
worthe. This may well be supposed to be derived from the
Anglo-Saxon words, Atan-weord, that is, Oat-village; the latter
of the Saxon words meaning a farm, manor, or estate. Oat-lands
is not an unknown name in the parish of Bradford. It was the
name of one of the royal residences at the close of the sixteenth
and the commencement of the seventeenth century. King James’s
proclamation enjoining conformity to the Book of Common Prayer
was issued from the royal “manor of Otelands,” July 16, 1604.

1 Cardwell’s Documentary Annals, ii. 60,

By the Rev. W. H. inex: 15

Sroxr (A.S. sféc) means simply a ‘place,’ and here a ‘village.’ In
~ some old documents we meet with it as Winsley-Stoke. The usual
_ prefix now is Limpley. This name is not old, though it occurs in
deeds of the latter part of the seventeenth century. As yet no
satisfactory explanation can be given of it.

A considerable tract of land to the north-west of the town is cal-
led Berririeip and often contracted into Bearfield or Berfield. This
in old deeds is spelt as it would be in Anglo-Saxon Bere-feld, and
this compound would be pronounced Béré-feld, (like the form first
above written,) as in Anglo-Saxon final vowels were sounded. Now
Bere signifies bar/ey (sometimes corn in general) and is the root of
the words Beren now Barn, and of Bere-tin contracted in Barron,
the name of the principal farm in Bradford; the buildings of
which formed part of what in old documents is spoken of as the
“grange’ of the Abbess of Shaftesbury. Bere-fe/d thus interpreted
would mean corn-field or arable land.

FRanK-LEIGH was so called, most probably, from the fact of fo-
reigners settling in that part of the parish. The term Francigena
in olden times included every alien, whether Dane or Norman. We
have good proof of the settlement of foreigners in this locality.
At CumBERWELLI, as we shall presently see, the names of those re-
presented as holders, are clearly indicative of their foreign origin ;—
they are Levenot and Pagen. In the vicinity of Frank-leigh moreover
are the farms called “The Hays,’! or as the word is sometimes
written “Haugh ;” and the name of “ William le Corp de la Haghe”
is often met with in ancient deeds: this word is clearly not of
Anglo-Saxon derivation.

Asu-Lry is so called, no doubt, from the ash trees which once
abounded there. Though little esteemed now, the ash tree was
much prized by the Anglo-Saxons. In their time of heathendom
it was deemed a sacred tree, and always afterwards a favourite with

1 From the French ‘Haye’ a ‘hedge’ or ‘enclosure.’ There was an officer
—ealled the Hay-ward, whose duty it was to preserve the fences and grass of
enclosed grounds from injury. After the ascendancy of the Danes in England
we frequently meet with mention of the Haig-werde. (Ancient Laws and Instit,
of England. i. 441.) The name and office still exist in Bradford. The appoint-
ment to it is made in Court Leet by the Steward to the Lord of the Manor,

16 Bradford-upon-Avon.

them. As late as the time of Edward IV. it was used for bows,
every Englishman under seventeen, being directed, by an act of
that reign, to furnish himself with a bow of his own height, made
of ash or witch-hazel, to save the great consumption of yew.!

Bupgury, or as it was anciently spelt Bode-berie, is probably de-
rived from the Anglo-Saxon words béd? i.e. prayer, and burh a town
or enclosed place. This portion of our parish which was, as has been
already intimated, of much larger extent once than now, may have
been so termed from the ‘ chapel’ built on part of it, and which in
Anglo-Saxon would have been called béd-his, that is, prayer-house
or oratory. The word beads for prayers is not an unusual one.
Amongst documents issued by Archbishop Cranmer in 1534, is one
which is entitled “An order taken for preaching and bidding of the
beads in all sermons to be made within this realm.’

In some cases we have preserved almost the exact form of the
Anglo-Saxon words. Michel-mead (or, as it is sometimes written,
Muchel-mead) a considerable tract of meadow land in the Holt Tith-
ing, close to Staverton, is simply the Anglo-Saxon mycel-meed, that is
great meadow. In like manner Yea-mead, spelt in old deeds He-mede
and L-med, is simply the Anglo-Saxon ed med, that is water meadow ;
this is a portion of land on the banks of the river lying to the south
of Bradford Wood, near Lady Down Farm. Culver-close, moreover,
which is the name given to a field immediately adjoining Barton
Farm House is so termed from the Dove-cot that was formerly
situated in or near it, from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘culfre’ which
signifies a ‘ dove’ or ‘pigeon.’

These examples are enough to show how abundant, in the names
of places, are the traces of the Anglo-Saxon occupation of our
Parish. We will now return from our digression to the regular
course of our narrative.

From a.p. 1000—1086.
The last great person we spoke of as incidentally connected with

1 Brand’s Popular Antiquities. ii. 260, note.

2 It has been suggested to me that'f the word ‘béd’ be taken in a secondary
sense, to mean, that is, ‘ watching’ instead of ‘prayer,’ the whole word may
mean ‘ Watch-tower.’ Its situation on the highest point of the hill gives some
colour to the supposition, but I incline rather to the one suggested above.

5 Remains of Archb, Cranmer, p, 460, Parker Society edition.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 17

our town was the famous Abbot of Glastonbury. We are next to
be introduced to the head of another religious house; this also being
one of the best endowed in the kingdom. And our acquaintance
with the Abbess of Shaftesbury is not to be a transient one like
that with St. Dunstan, but one that is to last for more than five hun-
dred years. Fuller tells us, in his Church History, that so wealthy
were these two communities, that the country people had a proverb
that “if the Abbot of Glastonbury might marry the Abbess of
Shaftesbury, their heir would have more land than the King of
_ England”. What was the history of Bradford Monastery during
the fifty years that elapsed between Dunstan’s election here to the
Bishopric of Worcester, and the commencement of the eleventh
century, it is not easy to say. Probably the monks of St. Laurence
at Bradford, like their brethen at Frome, (a monastery also founded
by Aldhelm) were dispersed during the Danish wars, which raged
fiercely in this part of the country, and were never afterwards re-
assembled. At all events we find that in a.p. 1001 Ethelred ma-
terially increased the possessions of the Abbess of Shaftesbury by
bestowing upon her the Monastery and Vill (i.e. the Manor) of
Bradford; such a gift implying that at this time the manor was
in the hands of the king. It was given, to use Leland’s words,
“for a recompence of the murderinge of 8. Edward his brother;”’
of which deed, though it was carried out by the orders of Elfrida,
Ethelred was supposed not to be wholly guiltless. The Charter,
by which he granted to the Abbess this addition to her reve-
nues, is still in existence. It is to be found among the Harleian
MSS. in the British Museum, and has been printed both by Dugdale!
and Kemble.?

The charter is an interesting document, as it gives us an account
not only of the specific object for which Ethelred bestowed Bradford
upon the Abbess, but also distinctly marks out (insomuch that we
can for the most part trace them now) the boundaries of the Vill
and Manor, or, as we should say, the Parish. On the former point
Ethelred states that “he gave to the Church of St. Edward at -

' Monast. Angl. ii., 471.
2 Codex Diplom. iii. No. 706.

18 Bradford-upon-Avon.

Shaftesbury the monastery and vill of Bradeford, to be always
subject to it, that therein might be found a safe refuge (his exact
words are “‘impenetrabile confugium’’) for the nuns against the insults
of the Danes, and a hiding-place also for the relics of the blessed
martyr St. Edward and the rest of the saints,’’ He expresses moreover
his wish “that on the restoration of peace, if such were vouchsafed
to his kingdom, the nuns should return to their ancient place, but,
‘that some of the family should still remain at Bradeford if it be
thought fit by the superior.” It was indeed at an eventful crisis
that he granted this charter. The miseries of his troublous reign |
seem to have well nigh reached their culminating point. Again and
again had meetings of the Witena-gemote been held, their delibe-
rations issuing only in the fatal step of buying off with large sums
of money the opposition of their dreaded foe. In this very year of
which we are speaking, the Northmen devastated Waltham, Taun-
ton, and Clifton, and were only induced to desist from further
ravages by the immense bribe of £24,000.
- What was precisely meant by Bradford being called “impenetrabile
confugium”’ is not very clear. Probably it was by no means easy of
access to a large armed force, and, in the event of their approach,
the surrounding woods would furnish a secure hiding-place for the
members of the sisterhood. However, hither the Danes came, and
within a few years at most from this time, the monastery is said
to have been levelled with the ground. That most treacherous act
of Ethelred, by which, on St. Brice’s day, a.p. 1002, he ordered an
indiscriminate massacre of the Danes, who, trusting to his promises,
deemed themselves living at peace with him, exasperated them to
madness, and they spared nothing. It is not improbable that either
in the year 1003, when Sweyn laid waste to Wiltshire, or in 1018,
when, at Bath, he received the submission of the Ealdorman Ethel-
mar and the rest of the Western Thanes, our monastery fell. After
1016, the date of the accession of Canute, the Dane, to the throne
of England, it was not likely that the Northmen would destroy
what then they might fairly reckon as their own.

On the second point,—viz., the limits of the Manor of Bradford,—
the charter is very explicit. This portion of the deed is not written,

i eS

eons

[ MONKTON ]
FARLEY

ILTS, 5
ABBEY OF SHAFTESBURY, \
’

co.Ww

AS GRANTED TO THE

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WOOLLEY

WHADOON

SEMINGTON

REFERENCES.

AAA. The chain line outside denotes
the Parish of Bradfo ra.
B. The Parish of Westwood.
Cc. ae Winfield.
DD. The presumed anctent Manor

TROWBRIDGE.

of Withenham, now part of
Farleigh Hungerford Parish.

Ow. KITE LITH

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 19

as the remaining parts of it, in Latin, but in Anglo-Saxon, and
that of a very late period and consequently of an impure character.
We append a copy of it, together with a translation, side by side.
Kemble’s text, which has been adopted, is the nearest probably to
the original, but even this, being a corrupt transcript of the Semi-
Saxon period, presents so many difficulties, in addition to those usual
in Anglo-Saxon boundaries, that the translation must be received,
in several instances, only as a conjectural approximation to the true
reading.

In the accompanying map, (Plate i.) all included within the
dotted line represents the original mandr, as described in the fol-
lowing extract from the charter.

ZHrest of seuen pirien on Sére
here wai, Se schet siSward wid-

First, from seven pear treés on
that military way that ,shoots

ten acceslegle wurd it wrindes
holt and sw4 anlang Herewines
(? here-weges) to Ailfwines hlip-
gate; fram Sane hlipgate ford be
is landschare inne Auene; swaé
ford be stréme inne byssi; swa
iippe bissy on wret ; sw4 onlong-

southward without Acceslegle!
farm out of Wrindes holt? and so
along the military way to A/lf-
win’s stile (/eap-gate) ; from the
stile forth by his balk to the Ar-
on; so forth by the stream to the
iss; then up the Biss on the

! Acces-legle farm. ‘The original meaning of this word was Oak’s-leigh. In
our word a-corn. (A.S. de-corn i.e. the seed of the oak,) we have preserved the
original spelling. By degrees Oak’s-leigh was corrupted into Ow-ley, and now
into Oxen-leaze, the present name of the farm. It is situated in the Holt Tith-
ing at the eastern extremity of the parish of Bradford, just where the road
branches off to Melksham. These seven pear trees,—(by the way, one is tempted
to read wivien, that is, withies, instead of pirien, pear trees, the words being easily
mistaken for one another when written in Anglo-Saxon characters)—were planted
as landmarks, to denote the spot where the parishes of Broughton, Melksham,
and Bradford met. . Kemble notices the frequency with which the withy is
mentioned in describing boundaries in A.S. charters. (Cod. Dip. iii. Introd. p, xli.)

* Wrindes holt i.e. wood. A great part of this Tithing, as its name denotes,
was no doubt originally wood-land. May Wrindes holt have been corrupted
” first of all into ‘ Runt’s Holt’ and, in course of centuries, into ‘ Hunt's Hall’ ?
The situation of the last-mentioned place sufficiently corresponds with the de-
scription in the charter to give some colour to the supposition.

* The Biss. This river, on which Trowbridge is situated, enters the Avon by
Lady Down Farm. The meadow at that point is called Biss- Mouth Meadow.

c2

20

hes wret Sat it comet td Bris-
nodes landschare secu . t . n
(? sceo-wyrhtan) ; ford be is land-
schare inne Swinbréch; for’ be
broke inne Pumberig; ut purh
Pumberig inne Tefleford; ford
mid stréme Sat it cumet té Ailf-
werdes landimare at Wutenham;

Bradford-upon-Avon.

right; so along on the right till
you come to Brisnode’s balk! (the
shoe-maker’s?); forth by his balk
to Swinbrook ;? forth by the brook
to Pomeroy; out through Pome-
roy to Tellesford; forth with the
stream till you come to Ailf-
werd’s landmark at Wutenham;*

1 Brisnode’s balk. By this word, which has not yet passed out of use in Wilt-
shire, we translate the Anglo-Saxon ‘ land-schare,’ which denotes the ridges or
other boundaries, by which one estate was divided from another. This dand-
share oust be on the eastern side of Trowle common, commencing possibly from
the point where the road from Bradford to Trowbridge leaves the former parish.
In Andrews and Dury’s map (1773) the stream which flows into the Biss at this
point is called ‘The Were,’ and is represented as rising near Southwick. This
may perhaps explain Camden’s statement, that Trowbridge is situated on the
Were. [Britannia (Gibson’s edition), i. 199.] In the accompanying map, the Were
is represented as forming the south eastern boundary of Bradford parish. This is
not the case with respect to the present boundaries, several portions on the eastern
side of the stream being in Trowbridge. Originally all this part was common land.
As from time to time the common has been enclosed, allotments of various portions
of it have been made to the different parishes, whose inhabitants had the right
of pasturage upon it. In olden times, possibly the stream formed the boundary
of ‘the Manor.’

2 Swinbrook. This name has now been lost. I can have little doubt however,
that is was the original name of the brook which forms, for the most part, the
southern boundary of Winfield (now spelt Wingfield or Winkfield) parish. This
brook rises in Pomeroy, and flows in a south-eastern direction, till it empties
itself into the Were. Winfield, in Domesday Book is written Wine-fel. Does
the name of the brook give us the key to the original name of the parish? In
the immediate vicinity are several fields that bear the name of Hook-woods,
which looks very much like a corruption of Hog-woods, a name still preserved
at Hinton Charterhouse, about three miles from the spot in question.

3 Wutenham, This name is now lost. We meet with the name ‘ Withenham,’
however, in the Wilts Institutions, several presentations to the Church of that
parish being therein recorded. The Church stood, most probably, half-way be-
tween Westwood Church and Farleigh Bridge, ata point where four roads meet.
Tradition preserves the fact of there having been a church there, and a separate
hamlet and parish, called Rowley alias Withenham. In 1428, the church being
dilapidated, Walter Lord Hungerford obtained permission to unite ‘‘ Withenham
alias Rowley” Church and parish with Farleigh. This is the reason why, to
this day, Farleigh Hungerford parish stands partly in Somerset and partly in
Wilts. There were two distinct manors. Withenham, held by the Hungerfords
under the Lord Zouche ; Rowley, held by them under the Abbess of Shaftesbury.
The name and manor of Rowley still survives. Captain Gaisford’s property,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 21

Sannes of wigewen broke ford be
Ledfwines imare innen Auene:
forS be Auene Sat it cumet td
FerseforS Ses abbotes imare in-
nen Mitford; of Sanne forde gyet
be Ses abbotes imare; eft inté
Auene; swo in dér be Auene
Sat it cumet eft td Ses abbotes
imare to Werléghe; swa be Ses
abbotes imare to Ailfgdres im-
are at Farnléghe; ford be is im-
are 06 Sat it cumet td Ses kinges
imare at Heselberi; ford be Ses
kinges imare Sat it cumet td

Atlfgares imare at Attenwrde;

ford be is imare Sat it cumet t6
Leofwineslandimare at Coseham;
of S4n imare té Ses aldremannes
imare at Witlége; ford be Sanne

thence from wigewen' brook forth
by Leofwin’s boundary to the
Avon; forth by the Avon till
you come to Freshford the boun-
dary of the Abbot in Mitford ;
from the ford you go by the Ab-
bot’s boundary ; then back to the
Avon; so on there by the Avon
till you come to the Abbot’s
boundary at Warleigh; so by the
Abbot’s boundary to Ailfgar’s
boundary at Furleigh ; forth by his
boundary till you come to the
King’s boundary at Haselbury ;?
forth by the King’s boundary till
you come to A‘lfgar’s boundary
at Atworth ; forth by his boundary
till you come to Leofwin’s land-
mark at Corsham; from that boun-

ealled Wiltshire Park, is part of it, and a lane there is still called Rowley lane.
Withenham was probably on the Winfield side of the lane, as in Domesday Book

it is mentioned next to Wine-fel and was held by the same person.

It most

likely spread over that portion of ground which lies between the cross in the lanes,

already alluded to, and Stowford.

1 Wigewen brook. ‘There is no name at all like this, (the literal meaning of

which is ‘war-chariot,’) given to any brook in the direction indicated, at the
present time. Andrews and Dury designate a portion of the stream ‘ [ford
Brook.’ The present boundary line of the parish of Westwood leaves the river
at Iford (which is partly in Westwood and partly in Freshford parish) and
bearing first of all to the west and then to the north-east, reaches the Avon
very near to the point where the river Frome empties itself into it. In a
charter of Ethelred (4.p, 987,) printed in Kemble’s Cod. Dipl. iii. 229, we find

_ Iford spelt Ig-ford, thatris, ‘island ford, from which we may infer that there

was, no doubt, a brook or rivulet formerly, though we have lost the trace of it.

* Haselbury. This is now the name of a Farm-house, with spacious premises,
the remains of its former importance, in the parish of Box. John Leland was
entertained there by John Bonham in 1541. Formerly there was a Church at
Haselbury, though all traces of it have now been lost. The estate belongs to
the Northey family. [See vol. i. p. 144, of this Magazine.] The name of King’s
Down, which is in the immediate vicinity of Haselbury, preserves the memorial
of the fact recited in the charter that the Crown formerly had possessions there.

22

imare Sat it cumet to Ailfwiges
imare at Broctiine to Sanne wude
Se ierad intd Brocttine; eft at
seuen pirien; ford be Ailfnddes
imare innen AiSelwines imare at
Chaldfelde; of his imare innen
Zelfwines imare Se Horderes;
fords be his imare innen Ailph-
wines imare at Broctiine; eft

Bradford-upon-Avon.

dary to the nobleman’s boundary
at Witley ; forth by that boundary
till you come to Ailfwy’s boun-
dary ,at Broughton to the wood!
that runs into Broughton ; again
at seven? pear trees; forth by
ZElfnode’s boundary to Aithel-
win’s boundary at Chalfield ; from
his boundary to the boundary of

into Se pyrien. Elfwine the Treasurer (?); forth
by his boundary to A‘lphwin’s
boundary at Broughton; back
to the pear trees.

It will be seen, that as far as we can trace with accuracy the de-
scription given in the charter of the extent of the ‘ vill of Bradford,’
it includes, not only the present boundaries of the parish, but the
parishes of Winfield, Westwood, and a part of what is now in the
parish of Farleigh Hungerford. Of Westwood we may say, in
passing, that, though in a different hundred from Bradford, and in
many respects quite independent of it, it has from time immemorial
been held jointly with Bradford. As early as 1299, in the reign
of Edward I., it is spoken of as the ‘ Chapel of Westwode in the
parish of Bradford,’ one “ John de Waspre” being named as “Pa-
tronus”; and “Robert de Hauvyle” as, “Clericus.”? It must have
been severed from the manor of Bradford no long time after the
date of this gift to Shaftesbury, for we find it bestowed on Win-
chester Bishopric by Queen Emma, mother of Edward the Con-
fessor.

1 The Wood that runs into Broughton. Though most traces of this wood have
disappeared, yet there is no doubt that the north-western part of this parish
was, in early times, thickly covered with wood, Several portions of ground in
that part of Broughton still bear names which indicate this fact, such as,
Broughton Woods, Light Woods, &e.

2 Seven pear-trees. These can hardly be the same trees already alluded to.
These trees were no doubt planted at the point where the parishes of Broughton,
Chalfield, and Bradford (Atworth) met.

5 Wilts Institutions, sub anno 1299.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 23

- From a.p. 1001.—1100.

We have brought our narrative down to the commencement of
the eleventh century. Then followed the most complete and the
last conquest of England. In a few years the country presented
the singular spectacle of a native population with a foreign sove-
reign, a foreign hierarchy, and a foreign nobility. Domesday Book
was completed in 1086, just twenty years after the battle of Hast-
ings, and that remarkable record shows how the country had been
portioned out among the captains of the invaders. In Bradford,
however, we seem to have been comparatively favoured. The Ab-
bey at Shaftesbury is still spoken of as possessed of Bradford ; and
amongst those who held lands here, by military service under the
King, are several whose names are clearly Anglo-Saxon.

Domesday Book contains the following entries concerning Brad-
ford and its dependencies.

Under the head of Lands of the Church of Shaftesbury we have
the following! :—

(Ch. xii. § 3.) ‘‘The same Church (Shaftesbury) holds Bradeford. It was
assessed in the time of King Edward at forty-two hides. Here are forty
plough-lands (caracute). Thirteen of these hides are in demesne, where are
are eight plough-lands, and nine servants, and eighteen freedmen (coliberti).
Thirty-six villagers (villani) and forty borderers (bordarii) occupy the other
thirty-two plough-lands. There are twenty-two hog-keepers. Thirty-three
burgesses (burgenses) pay thirty-five shillings and ninepence. And one of the
holders pays seven quarts of honey. Two mills pay three pounds. The market
pays forty-five shillings. Here is an arpen* (arpenna) of vines and fifty acres
of meadow. The pasture is one mile and three furlongs in length and three
furlongs broad. The wood is three quarters of a mile long and a quarter of a
mile broad.

§ 5. ‘*To the same manor of Bradeford belongs Alvestone.® It was assessed in
the time of King Edward at seven hides, besides the above mentioned for forty - -two

} Wyndham’s Domesday Book for Wiltshire. p. 160.

2 An Arpen was perhaps something less than an acre. It varied in different
districts.

% Alvestone. It is not easy to explain how Alvestone was first reckoned as
parcel of the Manor of Bradford, nor when it was severed from it. The exact
place alluded to even may be matter of doubt. There are two places in Glou-
cestershire, about ten miles from Bristol, one called Olveston and the other
Alweston, which till lately were held as one living, and the Rectory impropriate
of which now belongs, as does that of Bradford, to the Dean and Chapter of
Bristol.

24 Bradford-upon-Avon.

hides. Here are six plough-lands. Four of the hides are in demesne, where
are three plough-lands. The whole of Bradeford with its appendages was and
is valued at sixty pounds.”

There are also to be found under the head of ‘Lands of Odo
and other Thanes who hold by military service under the King,’
several entries, which seem to have reference to our parish, though
it is difficult in some instances to identify with anything like cer-
tainty the places alluded to. Thus, Brictric is said to hold one
hide in Tro/e!;—Vlf one hide in Bode-berie?;—Uluric three yard
lands Wintreslie’ and one yard land in Tuder-lege* ;—Ulward four
hides in Wintreslie.

In this same record, CuMBERWELL is mentioned, in Cap. xxvii,
under the lands of Humphrey de L’Isle, the Lord also of Brough-
ton and of Castle Combe. In § 5 it is said,—

‘‘Pagen holds Cumbrewelle of Humphrey. Levenot held it the time of King
Edward and it was assessed at four hides. Here are five plough-lands. Two
plough-lands and a servant are in demesne. Two villagers and four borderers
occupy the other three plough-lands. Here are four acres of meadow and five
acres of wood. It is valued at three pounds. The King has one hide of this
manor in demesne where there is no land in tillage. And an Englishman holds
half of it of the King, which is worth eight shillings.”

It is not easy, for many reasons, to draw any very accurate con-
clusions from these entries in Domesday Book. If we presume
that the first extract gives us a general summary of the whole
parish, we have returned as arable land nearly 5000 acres, for such
would be the extent of the ‘forty plough-lands’ (carucate) men-
tioned. If Cumberwell be not included in this summary, and as it
is so specifically mentioned, it may be reckoned separately, there will
be an addition to this estimate of ‘five plough-lands’ more, or some
600 acres. In the former case there would be more than two-fifths,
in the latter about ha/f the land under the plough. Taking even the ~
lesser calculation it gives us a large proportion of arable land in
the parish, and one much above the average. It may perhaps be
accounted for by the fact that it was Church land. For as Turner

194, This is now Zrowle; but as part of what is so called belongs to
Trowbridge parish, it is impossible to assign the hide of land held, as above, to
Bradford with certainty.

2 § 59. Conjectured to mean Bud-bury.
3§ 61. Winsley, see above, page 14. 4§ 61. Turleigh (?)

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 25

remarks, “The Domesday Survey gives us some indications that the
cultivation of the Church lands, was much superior to that of any
other order of society. They have much less wood upon them, and
less common of pasture: and what they had appears often in smaller
and more irregular pieces; while their meadow was more abundant,
and in more numerous distributions.”’!

The meadow and pasture land is reckoned at about four hundred
acres; the wood at about one hundred and forty acres. The small
amount of the former is perhaps accounted for by the fact of there
being in these early times a very large portion of common land
unenclosed and uncultivated, which is not included in the Domes-
day reckoning. The latter calculation may relate principally, if
not entirely, to what is now called Bradford Wood, and does not
include many pieces of wood-land or coppice, that even to this day
remain. Ifso, Bradford Wood, which is now seventy acres in ex-
tent, must formerly have been double that size, by no means an
improbable supposition, as, in a survey of 1785 it is described as
“about 105 acres,” and within the memory of many now living,
parts of it have been grubbed up and tilled. Indeed, nothing is
more evident than that in olden times there was a much larger
extent of wood-land than now. This is true of comparatively mo-
dern days. In a schedule of lands and tenements leased out under
the manor in the eighth year of Charles I., hardly more than 200
years ago, there was one tenement described as being in “ Pepitt
street, near Bradford wood.” The wood alluded to must have
come right down almost into the middle of the town.?

We may from the Domesday return, form a tolerable conjecture
as to the population of our parish, or manor, as it would have been

1 ‘History of Anglo-Saxons,’ vol. ii. p. 552 (8vo edition, 1836.) See also on
this subject Hallam’s ‘Europe in the Middle Ages,’ vol. iii. p. 360.

2 In 1840, the estimated quantity of land then cultivated as arable, meadow
or pasture land, or as wood-land, or common land, was as follows:—

PA PRDIOUIANG | eect. vis /e\e% orate cd x Dx 4362 acres,
Meadow or Pasture land. ...... 5956,
OOO LAN Oe itaie & alelela ayn e.disin o's Ohian 399 iy.
OMIMOW ANG is cte oniselee's «sta 209 ,,

Since that time, however, 201 acres of common land have been enclosed and
brought into cultivation.

26 Bradford-upon-Avon.

called in these early days. Reckoning those named as resident at
Cumberwell, and assuming, in addition to those specifically men-
tioned, a man for every mill, pasture, house, &c., (the plan adopted
by Rickman and Turner,) we have enumerated in all some 175 per-
sons in various employments. Supposing these numbers to have
reference to the heads of families only, and taking four as the
average of a family, it would give us a population of about 700.
Many of these would, of course, live near the lands which they
cultivated, so that the population of the town could hardly have
been more than from three to four hundred at the most.

From a.p. 1100—1300.

We know as yet very little of the history of Bradford for the
two centuries immediately succeeding the Norman Conquest. Our
neighbourhood was the scene of frequent and deadly conflicts, and,
no doubt shared in some of the misery that abounded on every
side during the reigns of William Rufus, Henry I., and Stephen.
In the reign of the last named king it was that the sound of war
was heard almost within our borders, for after obtaining possession
of the castles of Salisbury, Malmsbury, and Devizes, Stephen him-
self laid seige to the Castle of Trowbridge, then belonging to
Humphrey de Bohun, a partizan of the Empress Matilda, but re-
tired after several unsuccessful attempts to take it. The fact of a

‘large Church having been built in Bradford about the middle of
the twelfth century, would seem to imply increasing wealth and
population, and a comparative immunity from those desolating
scourges with which other parts of the country were visited.
With reference to the Church, we will for the present only state, that
the oldest part of it, which no doubt formed the original building,
consists of a Chancel (about two-thirds the length of the present one)
some 34 feet long, anda Nave a little more than twice the length of
the Chancel, both of them being of a proportionate width, built in
the Norman style of architecture. Though the Norman features have

1 The whole number of heads of families in Wiltshire, according to Domesday,
is 10,749. This, according to the calculation above, would give a total popu-
lation of about 42,000 souls. See Turner’s ‘ Anglo-Saxons,’ vol. ili. p. 255.

2 William of Malmesbury’s Chronicle, (a.p. 11389.)

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 27

been for the most part obliterated, yet in the buttresses on the
south side of the building, and in the outlines of the old windows
in the Chancel, and also in one part of the south wall of the Nave,
(though the last has long since blocked up with masonry,) you can
detect sufficient indications of the probable age of the Church.
And yet the few glimpses that we have been able to gain of the
state of Bradford in these early days, do not disclose a condition of
much peace and security. In the time of Richard I. (about a.p.
1190), we find the Hundred of Bradford “in misericordié”’ as it is
was termed,—that is, placed at the mercy of the king and liable to

a heavy ‘amerciament,”! or fine, in consequence of the murder of a

woman named Eva within their boundaries. To escape the penalty

_ they were obliged to put in proof of Engleceria,’ that is, evidence

that the party slain was of English and not foreign descent. This
was in pursuance of a law enacted originally by Canute, in order to
put a stop to the frequent murders of the Danes, the purport of
which was, that if an Englishman killed a Dane, he should be tried
for the murder, or, if he escaped, the town or hundred where the
deed was committed should be amerced sixty-six marks to the
king. In the present instance, a woman named Agatha was
charged with the murder by the father and mother of the deceased
woman, and imprisoned at Sarum. Thence she subsequently esca-
ped with other prisoners, the “ Earl John” having “ broken open
the prison” and so liberated the captives.’

1Amerciament, (from the French mere?) signifies the pecuniary punishment
of an offender against the king or other lord in his court, that is found to be
in misericordid i.e. to have offended, and to stand at the mercy of the king or
lord. Jacob’s ‘Law Dictionary.’ In the records of Court Leet, any one fined
for any offence, is said to be ‘in mercy’ to the amount of the penalty inflicted.

2 Engleceria Angl. Englecery or Engleshire;—an old word, signifying the
being an Englishman. Where any person was murdered he was adjudged to be
Franciygena, that is a foreigner, unless it was proved otherwise. The manner of
proving the person killed to be an Englishman, was by two witnesses, who knew
the father and mother, before the coroner. By reason of the great abuses and
trouble that afterwards grew by it, this Englecery was taken away by Stat. 14
Edward ILI., s. 1.¢. 4. Jacob’s ‘ Law Dictionary.’

* Abbreviatio Placitorum. ‘‘ Hundred de Bradeford in misericordid., In
villa de Bradeford fuit quedam femina occisa Eva nomine et Agatha fuit
capta per appellum matris et patris mortue et inearcerata apud Sarum, Et
quando Comes Johannes fregit gaolam tunc evasit cum aliis prisonibus et nun-

28 Bradford-upon-Avon.

Indeed, it must have been but on a precarious tenure that, in
these early days, the Abbess of Shaftesbury held her possessions in
Bradford. More than once she seems to have been deprived of
them, no doubt in order that their revenues might supply the need
of the reigning monarch. The charters by which they are con-
firmed to the Abbess, one by Stephen and another by John, Kings
of England, allude to a claim having been put forth by Emma,
Abbess at the commencement of the twelfth century, “in the pre-
sence of King Henry and his barons” to sundry possessions,
amongst which were reckoned those “at Bradford and Budbery.”
And the expressions of the charters imply an acknowledgment of
the justice of the claim. The charter of confirmation by King
John was granted May 23, 1205, in the seventh year of his reign.

A few years after the date of this charter, Bradford was honoured
with a brief visit from royalty. Ever wandering about from place
to place, as it has been said, “like the wild Arab nescius stare loco,”

quam post fuit visa. Engleceria fuit presentata ad terminum.” The ‘Comes
Johannes’ was, it is conceived, afterwards King John, who during his brother
Richard’s absence in the Holy Land siezed several of his castles, and sought to
obtain for himself the supreme authority. In this same record, from which we
have just quoted, we find also the following entry of the same date: ‘‘ Walterus
de Chaudefield appellavit Nicholaum et Willielmum quod assultaverunt eum
in pace Domini Regis &e.” Such records, brief as they are, do not imply an over
peaceable state of things at Bradford in the reign of Richard I.

1 See Monastic. Anglic. ii. 482, where both these charters are given. One is
almost a counterpart of the other. ‘‘Sciatis nos intuitu justitie et amore Dei
concessisse simul et reddidisse Deo et Ecclesize 8, Marie et S. Edwardi de Scaftes-
biri in dominio libere et bene possidendas, terras illas omnes quas % pre-
sentia regis Henrici et baronum suorum Emma Abbatissa apud Eaylinges
disrationavit.”* In another place we have ‘‘ Concedimus quoque hidam et di-
midiam quam dedit Aiulphus camerarius pro anima uxoris sue in Bradeforda
et Budeberia.”

2 Bowles’ ‘ History of Lacock,’ p. 106. In Hardy’s ‘Calendar of Close
Rolls,’ (i. 285,) there is a list of deeds, &e., signed at Bradford by King John,
They were about 20 in number, and some had reference to the confiscation of
the lands of those Barons and others who had revolted from their allegiance
to him. In one he orders twenty-two shillings to be paid to the Prior and
Monks of Farlegh ‘‘pro piscaria nostra de Gerna quam de eis habemus ad
firmam p. xxii. sol singulis annis eis inde reddend.” In another he makes

over certain lands possessed by his enemies to the Abbey of Romsey.

® Disrationavit. Ducange defines this word,—‘“ Litigare, causam suam rationibus comprobare.
Rem aliquam rationibus sibi vindicare,” Its primitive meaning is to disprove. In the charters it is
used with reference to the claims advaneed by the Abbess, the effect of which went to disprovg the
right of the Crown, and so to prove the right of her Abbey, in these lands.

o*

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 29

King John came to this town. He was here on the 29th and 30th
of August, 1216. The king had often been in Wiltshire before,
his brother William de Longespee (the natural son of Henry IT.
by the ‘Fair Rosamond’) having, though his marriage with Ela
Countess of Sarum, obtained the Earldom and with it the office of
Sheriff of the County. At the time of the king’s visit to Bradford,
however, the Earl had thrown off his allegiance, though till within a
very short period previously he had been among John’s most faithful
supporters! Among the deeds signed at Bradford by King John
is one which directs the confiscation of part of the Earl’s possessions
at Hinton. It was not long that the king had to endure the mor-
tification of the desertion of his brother, for within two months of
his visit to Bradford he closed his miserable and turbulent reign.?
Our materials are very meagre for the 56 years during which
Henry III. reigned over England. It is well known that during
that long and disturbed reign many abuses crept in. The large
concessions from the Crown which the barons had already won,
made them wish for more, and, as a natural consequence, whenever
they had the opportunity, they began to take more. So much were
the royal revenues diminished by these encroachments, that at the
commencement of the reign of Edward I., a commission was set on
foot for the purpose of enquiring into all such abuses. <A jury of
each hundred and town were impanelled to enquire, amongst other
things, what losses the Crown had sustained by tenants ‘in capite,’

1The Earl of Salisbury was with the king on March 28th in this year at Ples-
sey in Essex, and on the 31st received favours from the king. On August 17th
he was amongst the king’s enemies, just twelve days before John’s visit to
Bradford. (Rot. Lit. Clausar.)

* We might perhaps infer that Bradford was but a small place in these early
times, from the fact that it is not mentioned among the towns in Wiltshire on
which rates were levied (14 Henry II.) “to marry the king’s daughter” to the
Duke of Saxony,—(from which union, by the way, is lineally descended the pre-
sent royal family of England,)-—nor among those from which ‘ aid’ was taken (33
Henry II.) by the King’s Justices. ‘The towns mentioned in the former case
are Chippenham, Melksham, Calne, Malmesbury, Wilton, Salisbury, Heytesbury;
in the latter, in addition to those already named, (and with the exception of
Heytesbury) Marlborough, Combe, Devizes, Bedwin, and West Combe. Madox
‘ History of the Exchequer,’ i. 588, 634,

30 Bradford-upon-Avon.

whether ecclesiastics or laymen, alienating without licence,—or

usurping the right of holding courts, and other Jura Regalia,—or

by divers exactions under the colour of law. Like others, our Ab-

bess was summoned to give anaccount of the way in which she had
“administered the affairs of her manor at Bradford.

Now we do not mean to say that the Abbess, our Lady of the
Manor, claimed more than her rights, but she certainly took care
to get no /ess. No doubt, up to the confirmation of her rights by
King John, the proceeds from her manor, if indeed she got any-
thing at all, must have been very precarious. Evidence produced
before the commissioners seemed to imply that one king (Richard
I.) had been polite enough to relieve her of the trouble of manag-
ing her business matters, and with the trouble, no doubt, took some
little share of the profit. However, complaint was made against
the Abbess on two grounds :—

1st. That the men who lived in the suburbs of Bradford (so I
understand the term “forinseci homines’’') used to attend twice a
year at the Hundred Court of the King at Melksham, but that, in
the time of King John, the Abbess Mary caused them to withdraw
themselves from that hundred, and attached them to her own hun-
dred of Bradford.

Qnd. That the Abbess had usurped rights‘which belonged to the
King over the manor of Bradford.

On the former point the commissioners seem to have acquiesced
in the decision of the Lady Abbess, but on the second an inquiry
took place at Wilton. The King’s attorney, William de Giselham,
pleaded that King Richard had exercised all the rights of chief
lord, and put in evidence to that effect. The Abbess, through her
attorney, however, demanded that the whole matter should be fairly
tried before a jury of twelve men (whose names are given to us),
as to whether she or the king had the greater right to the manor

1 ¢ Forinsect homines.’ Jacob (Law Dictionary.) defines ‘ Forinsecum
Manerium’ as ‘the manor as to that part of it which is without the town,
and not included within the liberties of it. ‘ Placita forinseca’ are, in similar
manner, pleadings in other counties.

“*

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 31

of Bradford. The result was a verdict in favour of the Lady Ab-
bess; the cause was adjourned sine die.

From a.p. 1300.— 1500.

We have now arrived at the close of the thirteenth century-
From this period to the Reformation (but little more than two
centuries and a half), Bradford rose gradually in prosperity, and
consequently in importance. It may be called the era of the Halls
of Bradford, for members of that family were more or less men of
wealth and influence from this time down to the beginning of the
eighteenth century, the last member, John Hall, dying in 1711.
This family may be traced back as early as Henry III.’s reign; for
there is in existence a copy of a deed? by which Mary, Abbess of
Shaftesbury, for the consideration of twenty-five marks paid to her
by Agnes, relict of Reginald de Aula, cedes her rights of wardship
and marriages over their children, and Mary* was Abbess from
1247 to 1252, ie. from the 30th to the 36th year of King Henry
Ill. In fact, there is in existence a valuable series of deeds rela-
ting chiefly to property held by the Hall family in this and the
neighbouring hundreds, and extending from the early period
we have named, down to the 13th year of Henry VII. They are
all written out apparently by the same hand, probably in the
troublesome times of Henry VII., when, it is possible, the originals
were deposited somewhere for safe custody. A few of the originals
were found, together with a beautiful court sword of Spanish steel,
which formed one of the objects of interest exhibited in the Museum
1 Rotuli Hundred. p- 236. Placita de quo warranto p- 797. The enquiry was

held ‘‘apud Wylton coram Salomone de Rof!’ et sociis suis Justic’ dni ibidem

itinerantibus in octab Pasche anno regni Regis Edwardi nono.” The names of
the Jury who were impanelled to try the cause were ‘‘ Johannes de Staverton,
Gulielmus de Leycester, Walterus de Chaudefeld, Robertus de Lusteshall,
Johannes . ... . , Thomas le Rus, Robertus de Meyly, Robertus Mauduit,
Johannes de Perham, Ricardus de Hyweye, Galfredus de Wrokeshall, et Hen-
ricus de Cerne,”

*The deed is called ‘ Charta concessionis quitclaim. et confirmacionis per
Mariam Abbatiss. Shaston. facta Agneti relicte Reginaldi de Aula et heredibus
suis de custodia et maritagio heredum Reginaldi de Aula in manerio de Brad-
ford.” In the deed we read ‘pro hac concessione predicta Agnes nobis dedit
vinginti quinque marcas sterlingor.”

* See the New Monasticon (under ‘‘ SHarrespury”’) for a list of the Abbesses.

32 Bradford-upon-Avon.

at Bradford, in Kingston House in 1851, during the progress of
some extensive repairs, and an account of them was given in our
Archeological Journal for November 1854. These deeds are nearly
100 in number, and throw much light on matters of interest con-
nected with our town. The names of the chief landowners ;—of the
principal inhabitants :—of the old streets ;—of the various churches;
—of the Chantry-Priests;—the customs of the manor,—these are
a few of the points on which this series of deeds gives much in-
formation.

We have spoken of this era, commencing with the time of Hd-
ward I., as one of increasing prosperity for Bradford. There are
many indications of this in the large buildings which were now
erected. That remarkable barn, called Barton Barn (see pl. ii.), well
known to architects for its Early English roof, so framed from the
ground as to be independent of the walls,! was certainly built in the
earlier part of this period. By whom the barn was built is matter
of doubt. Very little can be made out of Aubrey’s observation that
he saw in 1670, at the point of one of the gables, the hand and
battle-axe, the well known crest of Hall. It is quite possible,
moreover, that Aubrey’s eyes may have rather deceived him, for
certainly among the present ornaments of the gables there is not
one that looks at all like the remnant of the hand or battle-axe.

To a little later date also in this period we owe the lengthening
of our chancel, and the insertion of the large east window (the
tracery of which has been lately restored);— also those two
recessed tombs, one on the north and the other on the south side,
the former containing the figure of a female, the latter of a cross-
legged knight. Till lately one of these was completely walled up,
all the label and pediment, with its ornamental crocketting, having
been completely cut away to admit of the wall being flat enough to
receive some large monuments; the other was sadly mutilated :—the
last-named one has been restored (see plate iii.), and it is hoped
that some day we may be able to restore the other.

Whose tombs they are is not at all known. The only two

1 There are barns of similar character and about the same date at Peter-
borough and Ely. See Parker’s ‘Glossary of Architecture,’ under (Roor.)

Eee

SES Soh ere Sie RS SERN SRN EOD EN BONES Eee peste en
cle Kite anawtats é ; 3 = : ce

. . Barton Barn, Bradford , Wilts 1858. ’
, anti. _LLEK LLU

PLATE Il.

Edw.Kite , anastat.

, Bradford Obuech , Wilts. xsss.

SECTION OF
YAMB MOULDINGS.

GY GY
Ly Y
YY»
Z lily DJ
UY

WF Spragg. dal.
Recessed Tomb

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 33

knights whose names we meet with in the deeds of this period are
Sir John de Comerwell and Sir John de Holte, the latter of whom
was Sheriff for Wiltshire in the year 1314. The tomb on the north
side may be that of some female benefactor to the church, or the
founder of some one of the chapels that we now find existing in
divers parts of the town or parish.

We must not forget to mention, moreover, another evidence of
the growing prosperity of our town in these early days. In the
year 1295 (the 23rd of Edward I.) Bradford, then called a ‘ Burgus,’
or borough, .was called upon to send two members to Parliament.
The names of our representatives, which occur several times in the
earlier part of the series of deeds to which we have already alluded,
were Thomas Dendans and William Wager. Though it does not
appear that our town exercised this right more than once, it is
something to know that the Parliament to which Bradford sent
representatives was one of more than ordinary importance. Ina writ
of summons addressed with reference to this same Parliament to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, it is recited that the King of France,
“not satisfied with his treacherous invasion of Gascony, had pre-
pared a mighty fleet for the purpose of invading England, and
effacing the English language altogether from the face of the
earth.” By the English language the King meant the English
nation, but what we have given, is a strictly literal translation of
the words of the writ.1 The Archbishop is commanded “ in fide et’
dilectione” to appear in person at Westminster on Sunday next
after the feast of St. Martin, 13th November, 1295, with the King
and Prelates, the Nobles and other inhabitants of the realm, to
deliberate upon, and ordain, in what manner the impending dan-
gers might be obviated.

Why Bradford discontinued to send members te Parliament we
are not told, though a tolerable conjecture may be formed. In
those early days the distinction of having representatives in the
legislature, so far from being considered a privilege, was deemed a

' Parliamentary Writs, vol. i. p. xlv. The words are ‘‘linguam Anglicanam,
si concept iniquitatis proposito detestabili potestas correspondeat, quod Deus
avertat, omnino de terra delere proponit.”

D

34 Bradford-upon-Avon.

burden. The trading municipia had as yet acquired no weight in
the national council, and all that they desired was to be let alone.
With regard to all except chartered boroughs or towns which were
the actual or ancient demesne of the Crown, it was left to the dis-
cretion of the sheriff to issue writs to such unincorporated places
as could afford to defray the expense of their representatives, and
had a notable interest in the public welfare. The wages of bur-
gesses were tz shillings a day—a sum which at that time, when a
quarter of wheat sold for 4s., and a sheep was considered rather
high at 1s., would be equivalent to about 16 times as much now ;—
and they were allowed a certain number of days for going and re-
turning, about 35 miles being reckoned a day’s journey.’ It was
really rather a costly luxury to the good burghers of Bradford, and
no doubt, here, as elsewhere, the necessary sum was raised with
reluctance by men little solicitous about political franchise. Other
towns in Wiltshire seem to have been of the same mind, and to
have induced the sheriff to omit them from his list. Thus, in the
12th Edward III., the sheriff of Wiltshire, after returning two
citizens for Salisbury, and burgesses for two boroughs, concludes
with these words,—“ There are no other cities or boroughs within
my bailiwick;”—and yet, in fact, eight other towns had sent mem-
bers to preceding parliaments.”

It was no doubt during this period that churches began to mul-
tiply in Bradford. There is still remaining a fragment of the chapel
on Tory—(so termed, it is conceived, because the highest part of
the town,’ from the Anglo-Saxon word Tor, which signifies a

1 John Halle and William Hore received for their services, as Burgesses for
Salisbury, in Parliament for 163 days, the sum of £32 12s.—a sum equivalent
now to £326!—See Duke’s ‘ Prolusiones Historice,’ p. 306.

2 See on this subject, Hallam’s ‘ Europe in the Middle Ages,’ iii., 113.

8 It is to this chapel Leland alludes when he says, ‘‘ Ther is a chapelle on the
highest place of the toune as I entered.’””—Leland entered Bradford from Wrax-
hall. His road lay through a part of Berrifield, then through the Conigre, and
so down by the east end of Tory and Middle Rank into what is now called New
Town. Mason’s lane, now the chief thoroughfare, did not then exist. As he
emerged from the Conigre his attention would be naturally attracted by ‘ the
chapel’ on Tory. In 1743, as appears from a map of the Methuen property at
the time, there are represented only jive houses on the east side, and two, which

PLATE Iv.

FE aw. Kite, anastat.

Wht s. 1358.

Remamy of Torn Chapel, Bradford 2

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 35

high hill or tower)—dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, just
above the spring which supplies the town with water; the
locality beneath it still being called Lady Well, and the adjoin-
ing premises Well-Close. There is still standing the east wall
with its window, and also a niche of very chaste design. (Plate
iv.) The tracery of the window seems to point it out as the
work of the latter part of the fifteenth or the beginning of the
sixteenth century, though it is by no means impossible that the
present building may itself have been originally a restoration, a
previous chapel having stood on the same spot. The churches of
Wraxhall and Holt, and (to judge from what remains of the original
church have been left) of Winsley, are all to be traced to this pe-
riod. Aubrey, moreover, tells us that the chancel window of the
church at Atworth, as he saw it, seemed to be of the date of
Edward III.

In the town, moreover, we had a chapel dedicated to St. Olave,
which stood at the corner of the lane leading up to White Hill,
the street leading from that chapel to the river, or to Mull street,
(now Mill street), being called Frog-mere street. By degrees St.
Olave street became contracted into ’¢ Olav street, and then cor-
rupted into Tooley street, its name within the last seventy-five
years. Since that time it has taken the name of the tything,
and been called Woolley street. As a confirmation of the truth of
this opinion, as to the origin of the name, it may be mentioned
that the street in Southwark, in which St. Olave’s church now
stands, is still called Tootzy street.

It is probable, also, that there was a chapel dedicated to St.
Catherine, and that it formed part of what is now called the Old
Women’s Almshouse, situated at the southern extremity of the
town, at what used to be called Clay acre, now Clay farm. That
there was a chapel at this spot we can have no doubt. Aubrey, in
fact, who visited us 200 years ago, says expressly, “A little beyond
the bridge is a chapel and almshouse of ancient date.” When the

comprised the buildings connected with the chapel, at the west end of Tory, or
Top Rank as it is called. On the same map ‘the chapel’ is called ‘the
Hermitage.

D2

36 Bradford-upon-Avon.

Charity Commissioners visited our town, about 25 years ago, they
elicited from some old people a little information respecting it, and
in their report they state their belief that there was truth in the
tradition that then prevailed (as it still does to the present day)
that the chapel-bell was removed to Winsley Church. Now the
hospital at the foot of the bridge is called, in old deeds, the Hospi-
tal of St. Margaret,! and its memorial is preserved in the street
which is still called St. Margaret street, and in Morgan’s Hill,
which, as late as 1724, was called St. Margaret’s Hill. From the
same deeds, confirmed by later documents, we find that the street
leading from about where is now the entrance to the railroad station
to the Old Women’s Almshouse was called St. Catherine street,”
probably from the dedication of the chapel in question. In Andrews
and Dury’s map of Wiltshire (1770), we find a spot marked as

“ The Chapel,” though from the way in which those words are -

printed, it is difficult to point out with exactness the precise spot
indicated. ;

It may be mentioned, as confirmatory of this opinion, that there
is still the remnant of the observance of a holiday on St. Catherine’s
day. Within a few years only, cakes called cattern-cakes were made
in considerable numbers and sent by the bakers to their customers.
Many of the old people reckon their ages by the festival of this
Saint. A very short time ago an old bed-ridden woman said to
the writer of this paper in true Wiltshire, and, we may add, very

1 By a deed dated 37 Henry VI., Philip Stone conveys to Nicholas Hall one
acre of arable land, lying ‘‘in fine ville de Bradeford juxta grangiam Dne Ab-
batiss. de Shaston ex parte orientali,” and which is further described as being
between two pieces of land belonging to the said Nicholas Hall, one of which
‘“‘abuttat super Je Longhegge,” and the other, ‘‘super viam que ducit versus
hospitale Ste Margarete.” In the will of Henry Long, Esq. of Wraxhall, 1490,
he bequeaths,—“‘ pauperibus Domus Sancte Margarete de Bradford, vis viij*.”

2 The following extract is from an account of lands, &c., belonging to the
manor (c. 1720).—‘‘ Katherine Street. John Harvey holdeth by copy dated 5th
May, 1715, granted him by Hon. Ann Lady Powlett during the lives of John
Harvey and others, and during the widowhood of Ann relict of Robert Harvey,
one Cottage, Barne, and Reek Barton: the Highway east and Culverclose west.”
This sufficiently indicates the correctness of the statement above, as to where
St. Catherine street lay. [For this and other valuable information the writer
was indebted to the late Mr. John Bush. ]

ee

—_——

‘gear sya ‘eaalavag ‘yadsy)) gue af,

yap ‘S8eads amv

4seue ‘arty “MP OT

ngage
De

SN eu ed

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. ov

fair Anglo-Saxon—(and really they are often convertible terms),—
“T’ll be vower-score come Katterntide, and I beant yeable now to
doff or don myself,” which in modern English meant, ‘I shall be
four-score next St. Catherine’s-tide, and I am not able now to un-
dress (do-off} or dress (do-on) myself.”

It is not improbable also, that there was a chapel near Ashleigh.
There is a field still called the Church-field, belonging to the Misses
Bailward, in which a stone coffin, still to be seen, was dug up, and
where there have been found many evidences of its having been an
old burial-ground. At Cumberwell, also, there was a chapel; it is
mentioned expressly in the deeds by which Henry VIII. bestowed
the Rectorial Tithes and the Advowson of the Churches and Chapels
on.the Dean and Chapter of Bristol.

Whilst on the subject of chapels, we may as well speak of the
Chapel on our bridge.! Leland, who visited our town in 1540, |
speaks of the bridge, which he says, had “nine fair arches of
stone,” but does not allude to the chapel. There have been some
who have thought that this was merely a toll-house for the collection
of pontagium—a contribution for the maintaining or re-edifying a
bridge. Aubrey, however, (who wrote 200 years ago) says ex-
pressly, “Here is a strong and handsome bridge, in the midst of
which is a little chapel, as at Bath, for masse.” So that no doubt
its object was to contain the image of the patron saint, and to
receive at once the devotions and alms of passers-by, the latter
being probably given to the swpport of the Hospital at the Bridge-
foot. The chapel itself is built on the centre pier on the eastern side
of the bridge. (Plate v.} It is almost square in plan, and rests on
some good and bold graduated corbelling overhanging the ‘cut-water’
of the pier. The eastern end appears to have projected still further
into the stream so as to form a recess, for the figure, perhaps of the
patron saint. Concerning the dedication of the Bridge Chapel we

1 Of this chapel on the bridge, J. C. and C. Buckler in their ‘Remarks on
Wayside Chapels’ say, (p. 25)—*‘ This little room, which still retains its doorway
on the footpath, and is domed over with ribbed stone-work, appears to have been
partially altered or wholly rebuilt from the level of the floor. The supporting
corbels which spring from the faces of one of the angular piers, and overspread
each other, finally terminating in a square platform, present perhaps an almost
unequalled specimen of ingenious construction,”

38 Bradford-upon-A von.

have no authentic information at present. The “fish”? which forms
the vane at the top of the chapel is, probably, the old ecclesiastical
emblem of our Blessed Lord—the ichthus,\—the letters of which
are the initial letters of other Greek words, signifying “‘JEsus
Curist, the Son or Gop, our Saviour.”

In the deeds, which have been already alluded to, we meet with
the names of some of the Chaplain Priests. Adam Atte-well and
John Middleton were two of them. By adeed dated 7 Henry V.
(a.p. 1420), Reginald Halle provides for the endowment of a chap-
lain to serve at the altar of St. Nicholas in the Church of the Holy
Trinity at Bradford.? A few years later we find Thomas Horton
founding a Chantry, and probably building, if not the whole, at
least part of the south aisle of the church, the date of that portion
of the church being towards the close of the fifteenth century. The
fact of this same Thomas Horton,? we may remark in passing, hay-
ing been a ‘merchant of the staple,’ is recorded by the ‘ merchant’s

1See Parker’s Glossary, under (‘ Vestca Piscts.’)

2 The words of the deed are,—‘‘ Volo quod capellanus idoneus inveniatur. . .
ad celebrandum in Ecclesiaé Sancte Trinitatis de Bradford ad altare Sancti
Nicholai pro anima mea, anima mee matris,” &e.

3 Leland visited Bradford (1538-40), and in his Itinerary, ii. 54, (printed in
the Wilts Archeological Mag., i. 148,) speaks of a rich clothier named ‘ Horton,’
who (his words seem to imply) died no very long time before, his wife being yet
alive. He may allude to the same person as the founder of the Chantry. He
dwelt, according to Leland, in a house built by himself ‘at the north est part
by the Chirch.” He also built ‘‘a goodly large chirch house ex lapide quadrato
at the est end of the chirch yard without it.” I can have no doubt that the
present work-shops, in what is called the Abbey yard, belonging to Messrs.
Edmonds, formed part of Horton’s house, the situation exactly according with
Leland’s description, and having within unmistakable evidences of haying been
formerly a dwelling house. The ‘Church House,’ which is also said to have
been built by Horton, is still standing; it is situated in Church street, and is
now the property of Mr. Butterworth. Both these buildings are of about the
same date, and the similarity of their oak ceilings strikes you at once. The
Church House, which, in a map of 1748, I have seen distinctly marked out as
the building alluded to, was the place in which, before the days of rating, meet-
ings were held for raising funds for church repairs, the poor, &c. The order of
these meetings seems to have been ‘business first, pleasure afterwards,” for no
sooner had they attended to the wants of others than they had a little care for
themselves, and indulging first of all in a little good cheer, then betook themselves
to various kinds of festivities. The memory of one of their amusements is still
preserved in the name—(happily now it is no more than a name)—of the Bull Pit,
where they used to witness the then popular sport of bull-baiting.

;

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 39

mark’ which may still be seen on a brass in the Church, and a
representation of which is here given.

Before we leave the subject of Chantries we may mention, that
aceording to the enquiry made in the reign of Henry VIIL., just
prior to the Reformation, two Chantries. are reported as connected
with the Parish Church; probably the two of whose foundation we
have just given an account. They were each of them valued at
£10 per annum, one of them being held by William Bryd (or
Birde) who was also the vicar, and the other by Thomas Horton.’
In the time of Edward VI. the Chantry, which, like all others,
had by the authority of Parliament been granted to the king, was
sold by the Crown to ...... Horton, a member, no doubt, of

the family of the original founder.?

1 Valor Ecclesiasticus, ii. 81. Who this Thomas Horton was it is difficult to
say, the more so as in the account given of the deductions from the gross value
of the Chantry is the following entry :— ‘‘ Unde in operibus charitatis ex
ordinacione sua per annum liy* iv’.”—As the founder of the Chantry was
a merchant, and a married man, it cannot allude to him. The only plausible
conjectures that can be formed are, either that the founder died before he drew
up his ‘ordinatio’ and left that task to a relation having the same christian
name; or that in the Valor Ecclesiasticus, Thomas is a mistake for James, who
according to the Pedigree in the Visitation both for 1565 and 1623, is called a
‘priest’ and a brother of a Thomas Horton, and who might be living in 1535;
both of them being sons of John Horton, described as of Lullington, Co. Somer-
set. This may be the James Horton, Clerk, mentioned in this Magazine, i. 296.
But all this is mere conjecture.

2 Augmentation Office ‘‘A. Bundle H. ii. No. 19. Immediately adjoining the
vicarage garden, which itself is close to the church, is a large field called Chan-
try Field, and the house that is built on it is called Chantry House. Probably
the land was itself originally the endowment of the Chantry. An older house,
moreover, perhaps stood on the site of the present one, in which the Chantry
Priests resided.

40 Bradford-upon- Avon.

From a.p. 1500—1600.

We have now arrived at the time of the Reformation. Our
Abbess’ rule, which had lasted in all for more than 500 years, was
to come to a close. In 1535 the smaller monasteries were surren-
dered to King Henry VIII. Five years afterwards the royal.
exchequer was filled to overflowing by the addition of the estates
of the larger monasteries. Shaftesbury was surrendered March 23rd,
1539, and with it, of course, went Bradford and its dependencies.
The king, who had thus been immensely increasing some of his
earthly possessions, had meanwhile been getting rid of others—
divorcing one wife, beheading a second, and losing a third shortly
after giving birth to a son. Perhaps it was a happy escape
for our Wiltshire fair one, Jane Seymour, that she was thus early
removed from her high, yet perilous position. The king, we are
told, was inconsolable, and ‘continued in real mourning for her
even all the festival of Christmas.” Two months, however, before
Christmas, he had offered his hand to another. |

But his queens were not the only persons who got into trouble
with Henry VIII. A worthy Vicar of Bradford, William Byrde
by name, fell under his Grace’s high displeasure. He was chaplain
to the Lord Hungerford. The reason alleged for his getting into
disgrace was, that he said to one that was going to assist the king
against the rebels in the north,—‘“‘I am sorry thou goest; seest thou
not how the king plucketh down images and abbeys every day ?
And if the king go thither himself, he will never come home again,
nor any of all them which go with him, and in truth, it were a
pity he ever should come home again.”’ And at another time, upon
one’s saying,—‘‘I ween all the world will be heretics in a little
while,” —Byrde said,—“ Dost thou marvel at that ? I tell thee it’s no
marvel, for the great master of all is a heretic, and such a one as
there is not his like in the world.”

By the same act the Lord Hungerford was attainted. The crimes
specified are, “that he, knowing Byrde to be a traitor, did entertain
him in his house as his chaplain; that he ordered another of his
chaplains, Sir Hugh Wood, and one Dr. Maudlin, to use conjuring,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 41
that they might know how long the king should live, and whether

he should be victorious over his enemies or not.’’

Such charges as these seem to us frivolous. Perhaps, however,
there was more in these so-called chemical experiments than ap-
pears at first sight. The king, we know, for years lived in fear of
the Roman Catholics, and he may have suspected a conspiracy

against his life, carried on under such a pretence. As far as the

_ result was concerned, our vicar fared better than his patron. My

Lord Hungerford lost his head,— William Byrde only his living.’

After Vicar Byrde’s removal, the living of Bradford was held for
some time by Thomas Morley,’ suffragan Bishop of Marlborough.
Of Bishop Morley little is known. He held at the same time with
Bradford, the living of East Fittleton, void also in 1540 by the
attainder of William Byrde. He died in 1553.

Soon after the dissolution of the monastery at Shaftesbury the
king bestowed the prebendal Manor of Bradford, together with the
advowson of the various churches, on the Dean and Chapter of
Bristol, one of the new ecclesiastical corporations that he created
and endowed out of the proceeds of some of the suppressed religious
houses. They still retain both the patronage and the prebendal
manor.

The lay manor was for a time retained by the Crown in its own
hands. It was afterwards leased out by Queen Elizabeth to Henry
Earl of Pembroke. In the eighteenth year of her reign, the same

1 Burnet’s ‘History of the Reformation,’ Part i. B. iii, sub. anno 1540.

* There was a William Bird, ‘Prior of Bath,’ of whom Wood (Fast. Oxon. i.
71.) says that he died 22 May, 1525, in poverty, having expended too much in
‘building and in chemical experiments to which he was extremely addicted.”
He rebuilt the Church at Bath (See Collinson’s ‘Somerset,’ i. 56). They cannot
be the same person, as William Byrde, Vicar of Bradford, was not deprived till
1540. Wood, perhaps, has made some confusion between the two, but if there
were two, and both of them chemists, the coincidence is curious. About that
period, the strange science of Alchemy was very popular.

® Wilts Institutions, 1540, The appointment was made by the king, and is
thus entered, ‘‘ Thomas Morley sedis Merlebergen. Episcopus Suffraganus per
attincturam Willielmi Byrde de alta proditione.”

* The Churches are thus enumerated in the grant which bears date 34 Henry
VIII.—,‘‘ac etiam omnes illas Rectorias et Ecclesias de Bradforde, Wynnes-
leigh, Holte, Attworth, Wraxhall, et Comerweill,” &c. All traces of the church
at Cumberwell have been lost.

42 Bradford-upon-Avon.

queen granted the reversion of the manor to Sir Francis Walsing-
ham, one of the principal Secretaries of State. Sir F. Walsing-
ham had one only daughter, Frances, who was married to Richard,
fourth Earl of Clanricarde,! of the kingdom of Ireland, (afterwards
Lord St. Alban’s), and their daughter, Honora de Burgh, in 1633,
married John Powlett, Marquis of Winchester. The Earl, before
the marriage, settled the Manor of Bradford upon the Marquis of
Winchester and his heirs by Honora de Burgh. There were born
to them, in course of time, four sons and three daughters. The
Lord Francis Powlett, second son of the said Marquis, by surviving
his elder brother, became entitled to the manor and premises, as
well as by a settlement of the manor and lands made on him and
the heirs of his body, by the Marquis of Winchester in his life-time.
The Lord Francis Powlett’s daughter was married to the Rey.
Nathan Wright, of Englefield, county Berks, second son of Sir
Nathan Wright, Lord Keeper, and through her he obtained the
Manor of Bradford. From him it descended to his son, Mr. Pow-
lett Wright, of Englefield. In the year 1774, Mr. Powlett Wright
sold the same, except the farms called Barton Farm and Lady-
Down Farm, sundry houses and dispersed lands, and a right of
fishing, to Paul Methuen, Esq., of Corsham, the ancestor of the
present Lord Methuen, free from a Crown rent of £13 16s 83d,
with which it was chargeable, but subject to an annual payment of
38s, out of the said manor to the old alms-house. From the Methuen
family, it was obtained through purchase by the Hobhouse family,
the representative of whom, the present Lord Broughton, still holds
it. It is still subject as before to the annual payment of £1 18s.
to the alms-house.

It is not generally known that out of the proceeds from Bradford
there was left a sum of £10 12s. 7d. per annum (equal to at least
£100 now) for the establishment of a school for the education of
our youth. The fate of thisendowment is curious. Together with
the Trowbridge fund, of still greater amount, it was coaxed out of
Queen Elizabeth by the City of Salisbury, in 1559, the Mayor and

1 This lady had been twice previously married, first, to Sir Philip Sidney, and
secondly, to Elizabeth’s unfortunate favourite, the Earl of Essex. Burke’s Peer-
age, under, ‘Clanricarde.’

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 43

Corporation of Salisbury urging that their city was a more conve-
nient situation for such a school; Bradford and Trowbridge, on the
other hand, being described as “‘wpland towns, with scanty populations
and a limited resort of gentlemen and merchants; for which rea-
son,” the petitioners urged, “there was no need of such schools, nor
any profit in good learning.” The establishment was: therefore
shifted to Salisbury, where it shared the fate which so often attends
unpurchased favours. It was systematically neglected, and by the
_year 1608 had so declined as to require a committee of investigation.
Next we hear of it occupying some rooms at the Old George Inn,
(still standing,) till it was driven to the Castle Inn. The following
entry, in the Corporation Books for 1624, will show how highly
the good citizens of Salisbury esteemed education :—“ Ordered, that
the school be shifted from the George, that it may no longer be
chargeable and burdensome to the Corporation.” The burgesses
who voted for no school were quite willing to have plenty of play,
and so we find the next entry to be this: —“ Ordered that the come-
dians shall from henceforth have their plays at the George.”
Through this interference of the burgesses of Salisbury, our up-
land Town was, as far as our present information extends, without
provision for the education of its youth till the year 1715, a period
of more than 150 years. In November, 1715, the Rev. Nathan

1 A rough estimate of the population a few years later than this date (1559),
may be formed, by taking the number of burials registered and reckoning them
as averaging two per cent, of the whole population. This is, of course, a very
low average, but it allows for any accidental omissions in the Register and gives
us probably the maximum amount. The calculation, of course, extends only to
those inhabiting the town and its neighbourhood, exclusive of the chapelries,
each of which had its place of interment. On this estimate the following
results are obtained :

For the Average Burials Probable
10 years ending 1590, perannum, 31'8 population, 1590
-F 1600 + 34:3 + 1715
i 1610 ‘. 33°9 " 1695
ree > 16RD ‘ 29° i 1450
1630 23'8 1190

” ” ”
This gives an average population for the 50 years ending 1630 of from 1500 to
1600. ‘The area of this population was at least siz thousand acres, so that pro-
bably not more than half the number of inhabitants lived in the town. This
night fairly be deemed a ‘‘scanty population.”

44 Bradford-upon-Avon.

Wright of Englefield, in the county of Berks, to whom, in right of
his wife, as has been already mentioned, the Lordship of the Manor
of Bradford had descended,—“ for the encouragement of learning
and good manners within the parish of Bradford, demised unto Wil-
liam Methuen and eight others, the building adjoining the Church-
yard of Bradford, commonly called the Skud/-house, and then conver-
ted into a Charity School-house, to hold the same for the term of 1000
years, without impeachment of waste, paying a pepper-corn rent,
upon trust that the said Trustees should use the aforesaid edifice or
building as a Charity School-house,’ &c. The building referred to,
is the very ancient one to which we have already alluded. (Plate ii.)
It was probably used at one time as a Charnel-house, and hence the
name it bore—Skuil-house—at the time of its conveyance to Trus-
tees for the purpose of being used as a School-house.

A notice of Bradford would be incomplete without a few words
on the subject of the wool-trade, in which, from an early period, some
of its principal inhabitants were engaged. For many centuries,
the words of Leland have been true, ‘‘Al the toun of Bradeford
stondith by clooth-making.”! Any one who has at all studied the
early history of our country, must be well aware that, at one time, the
trade in wool was of the greatest importance; in fact our commerce
was almost confined to the exportation of wool, the great staple
commodity of England, upon which, more than any other, in its
raw or manufactured state, our national wealth has been founded.
So that Fuller was quite right when he said, “ Well might the
French ambassador return ‘France, France, France,’ reiterated to
every petty title of the King of Spain; and our English ‘wool,
wool, wool’ may counterpoise the numerous but inconsiderable com-
modities of other countries.’””

Originally our wool was exported to Flanders for the most part,
and there made into cloth. In the time of Edward IIJ, however,
a different plan began to be adopted. In 1331, he took advantage
of the discontent among the merchants of Flanders to invite them
as settlers in his dominions, and they brought hither some manu-

1 Itinerary i. 54.
2 Fuller’s ‘ Worthies.’ Wiltshire ( Introduction).

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 45

factures of cloth, which up to that time had been unknown in Eng-
land. He thus became the Father of English Commerce, a title
not more glorious, but by which he may perhaps claim more of
‘our gratitude, than as the hero of Crecy. From that time the occu-
pation of a merchant became honorable; immense fortunes were
made, and in many instances nobly spent, for we owe some of our
finest churches, best endowed schools, and other charities, to
merchants of the staple. As the duty on wool still formed a prin-
cipal source of the king’s revenue, by an act passed in the 27th
year of his reign, certain towns were appointed as staples or markets
for wool, and to one or other of these all wool was henceforth to be
taken, that there the tax on it might be duly collected.! Our staple
or wool-market was at Bristol. So profitable was the trade that
some of the nobles were even tempted at times to engage init. In
the earlier parts of the 15th century, we find amongst those who
indulged in this speculation the august names of the then Duke of
Suffolk, the Prior of Bridlington, and Margaret of Anjou, the
spirited Queen of Henry VI.?

Whether any of the Hall family, like their namesake John Hall
of Salisbury, were merchants of the staple, we cannot say, but it is
not improbable. As years rolled on, they wondrously increased
their wealth and their possessions. At the close of the 15th century
(as appears by a deed dated 21st Edward IV.) Henry Hall, who
then had lately succeeded to the estates of his father, Nicholas Hall,
had lands in Bradford, Lye, Troll Parva, Slade, Ford, Wraxhall, ©
Holt, Broughton, Marlborough, Okebourn Meysey, in Wilts, and at
Freshford, Iford, Mitford, Frome, Fleete, Widcombe, Portishead,
1 This statute, 27 Edward III. Stat. 2 (1353), provided that the Staple of
wools, leather, woolfels and lead should be held at the following towns,—New-
castle-upon-Tyne, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Westminster, Canterbury, Chiches-
ter, Winchester, Exeter, and Bristol. Before this time, Calais had been the
staple town to which all such commodities from England were exported, and
where the duties of the Crown were received. The above named statute was
passed however, as the preamble sets forth, in consequence of ‘‘the damage
which hath notoriously come as well to us, and to the great men, as to our people
of the realm of England, &c., because that the staple of wools, leather, and
woolfels have been holden out of our said realm, and also for the great profits

which should come to the said realm if the staple were holden within the same
and not elsewhere.” * Duke’s ‘Prolusiones Historice,’ p, 69.

46 Bradford-upon- Avon.

and other places in Somerset. At all events, we know that both
Horton and Lucas were thriving clothiers here before the Refor-
mation. And the words of Leland, already quoted, imply, that in
the middle of the sixteenth century ‘cloth-making’ was very ge-
neral here; the means, in fact, by which the town was supported.
And from that time to the present, the history of our town is little
more than a record of steady and often successful pursuit of the
clothing trade; of large fortunes made, and frequently generously
spent; in more instances than one, of coronets obtained by descen-
dants of our wealthy manufacturers. Of some of them we shall speak
presently ; meanwhile we must resume the regular course of our
narrative.
From a.p. 1600—1700.

The seventeenth century, at which we have now arrived, was an
important one in the history of our town. At the beginning of
this period, we have the erection of that beautiful mansion, now
called Kingston House, which has recently been so well restored by
its present owner, Mr. Moulton. As its history has been so fully
elucidated in a paper contributed to this Magazine! by our Secre-
tary, Canon Jackson, it is unnecessary to say more than that it
was probably built by John Hall, the head of the family at the
time. For the same reason we need only mention that through
the marriage of Elizabeth Hall (the heiress of another John Hall,
grandson of the one who probably built the house, and who was
Sheriff of Wilts in 1670) with Thomas Baynton of Chalfield, and
the subsequent marriage of their daughter, Rachel Baynton, with
the son of Evelyn, Duke of Kingston, the property came into the
possession of that ducal family, and from that time the mansion
has been called Kingston House. The issue of this marriage was
the second and last Duke of Kingston, the father having died be-
fore he came to the title. The second Duke married Elizabeth
Chudleigh, adias the Honorable Miss Chudleigh, alias Mrs. Harvey,
alias the Countess of Bristol, a lady whose career, to say the least,
was not irreproachable. As they had no children, the property
passed to the Duke’s sister, Frances Pierrepoint, who married

1 Wilts Archeological Magazine, i. p. 265.

— —_ —_

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 47

Philip, eldest son of Sir Philip Meadows. Their son became the
first Lord Manvers. He sold Kingston House in 1802, to Mr.
Thomas Divett, who, with a keener eye for profit than architectural
beauty, used it as a store-house for wool, teasels, &c. In 1848, the
premises were sold to Mr. Moulton, and to him we owe the com-
plete restoration, in such excellent taste, of all that remained of
the North Wilts Hall of John Hall.

Of the troublous times which ended in the death of King Charles
I. we have several reminiscences. True throughout to the fortunes
of the falling monarch, many of our leading men were obliged to
compound for their estates on the establishment of the Common-
wealth. Srr Tuomas Hatt, Knight, who at the commencement of
the war had acted as Commissioner in Wilts for pressing men into
the king’s service was, in 1649, fined £660. He asserted on peti-
tion that he undertook the office of Commissioner through threats
from the king and the Earl of Forth, and that he had used his influ-
ence to save his neighbours from free-quarter. This, however, did not
exempt him from a heavy penalty. At this time, he held the Manor
of Bradford under the Marquis of Winchester, with demesnes,
woods, and a watermill, altogether valued at £160 per annum. He
also had house property in Bath.

Epwarp YERsBuRY was another royalist who compounded in 1646,
his fine being £190. He belonged more especially to Trowbridge,
but he is mentioned here because a petition was got up from Brad-
ford to prove his leniency and good neighbourhood whilst exercising
the office of King’s Commissioner. The petition was signed by Paul
Methwin, John Earle, George Godwin, George Grant, Walter
Grant, Thomas Maltman, and Matthew Smith. The Yerbury family
were afterwards implicated in the revolt against the Protector’s
government, known as the Penruddock rising in 1655, but con-
trived,—how it is not easy to say,—to escape the punishment that
then overtook so many gentlemen in the south of Wilts.

We must not omit to mention also, Micuarn Trocomsr, the
Devizes attorney, who spent the latter part of his life in this parish,
in which he possessed some little property, and whose tomb is in
our parish church. He first got into trouble in December, 16438,

48 Bradford-upon-Avon.

when the king opening an assize at Salisbury, indicted several of the
Parliamentary Commanders, and amongst others the Earl of Pem-
broke, for high treason. It was Michael Tidcombe who drew out the
forms of indictment, and the Parliament never forgave him. In
1646, he had to pay a fine of £450 for his estates, which lay at
Great Ashley, in our parish, and also at Bishops Cannings and
at Devizes.

Of two or three occurrences during the seventeenth century, we
must make specific mention.

The first, in point both of time and importance, was the introduc-
tion of a change in the manufacture of cloth, which exercised for
many years afterwards a great influence on the trade, and conse-
quently the prosperity of our town.. Hitherto only a coarse kind
of cloth,—a sort of drugget,—had been made in Bradford, but in
1659, Paul Methwin, the leading clothier of the time, obtained from
Holland some ‘spinners,’ as they are termed, for the purpose of
obtaining, through them, the secrets of manufacturing the finer
kinds of cloth. Before, however, the foreigners had been long in
Bradford, the parochial officers required a bond of indemnity in the
sum of £100 to be entered into by Paul Methwin, lest they might
become chargeable to the parish. The deed recites, that—‘ whereas
Paul Methwin for his own proper gain and benefit did fetch, or was
at charge to fetch or bring, out of Amsterdam in Holland into the
parish of Bradford, one Richard Jonson, otherwise Derricke Jonson,
spinner, with Hectrie his wife and several small children,”’—that,
therefore, lest such persons, as, it is intimated, was not unlikely,
should become a burden on the inhabitants of the parish, the
churchwardens and overseers, for the time being,! thought it right
to require security from Paul Methwin in the sum above-mentioned,
that he would—“ from time to time, and at all times hereafter clearly
acquit, save harmless, defend and keep the inhabitants of the said
parish for ever free, and discharged from all manner of trouble,
expense, costs, charges, and damages whatsoever that they may be
put unto, or charged with, by the said Richard Jonson, &c., for

1 The Churchwardens were John Smith and Walter Perry; the Overseers,
John Crooke, Augustine Perry, and Richard Baylie. —

By the Rev. W. H._ Jones. 49

and towards the maintenance and breeding up of them or any of
them.””!

The name of the place in which these men from Holland lived, is
still called the “Dutch Barton:’” it is situated at the west end of
Church street, on the right hand side of the passage leading to the ©
Abbey yard. The house at the corner and the large adjoining
malt-house occupy the site on which stood, formerly, some of the
cottages in which the foreigners lived. Memorials of their resi-
dence amongst us are often found in those Flemish or Nuremburg
Tokens, as they are called, a kind of spurious coin, which they
brought with them from their native country, and specimens of
which are very abundant.

Whilst speaking of coins, we may allude to the issue of Bradford
Tokens which was made during this century by many of the in-
habitants of the town, employed in trade of one kind or other.

1 T have searched in vain for the original of this deed in the Parish Chest. I
was indebted for the loan of a copy of it to the late Mr. John Bush. In looking
for this deed, however, I met with another of precisely similar character, dated
a few years later (1674), and endorsed,—‘‘ Mr. Wm. Brewer his bond of £100
to save harmless the Parish of Bradford against the Dutchmen.”—The deed
recites that ‘‘ whereas att the desire and request of the said William Brewer of
Trowbridge, and for his benefitt and profit in his trade of a clothier, three
straungers called by the names of Adolfe, Gregorius, and Jone, Dutchmen by
nation, or of Powland, are suffered and permitted to abide in the parish of
Bradford as workmen to the said William Brewer,” &c., that, therefore, a bond
has been taken from him to hold the parish harmless in the event of any of them
or their families becoming ‘‘ for or by reason of poverty, sickness, lameness, or
impotencie” chargeable to it. The ‘ William Brewer,’ above alluded to, is
spoken of by Aubrey (‘Natural History of Wilts,’ p. ii. ch. xii.) —‘‘ Now (temp.
Jacobi ii.) Mr. Brewer of Trowbridge driveth the greatest trade for medleys of
any cloathier in England.”

2 In the year 1721 aresolution was passed in Vestry to purchase from Anthony
Methuen, Esq., a portion of the ‘ Dutch Barton’ for a Parish Workhouse. Be-
fore that time there was nothing but ‘out door’ relief. The Poor-house, as it
was called, was afterwards removed to a spot close to the present railway station,
the Vestry having resolved 25 June, 1754, ‘to hire and take the houses called
‘the Catch’ for the purpose of a Workhouse,’ The premises were afterwards
taken down for the construction of the railway, and the Workhouse removed to
Avoncliff. In an account of lands and tenements belonging to the Prebendal
Manor of Bradford in 1767 the premises are still described as ‘‘ A house called
* The Catch.” Of the meaning of this term, I can, as yet, offer no satisfactory
explanation.

E

50 Bradford-upon- Avon.

During the Commonwealth and the reign of Charles IT. the prac-
tice became prevalent of tradesmen issuing their own half-pennies
and farthings. The want of small change had long been felt as an
inconvenience, so that in the language of several petitioners to
Parliament the poor man often “lost his penny,”
which, whatever may have been its precise signification, implied
great inconvenience. Mr. J. Y. Akerman! has drawn up a list of
the several tokens issued in Wiltshire, and amongst them, of course,
those belonging to Bradford. He gives us the following list, of

an expression

the first two of which we give drawings. Specimens of most of
them are not uncommon in Bradford.

(1). Obverse. PAULE . METHWIN, and three mullets. <A coat
of arms. Crest, a cross. Reverse. IN. BRADFORD, and two mul-
lets. In the field a cross between the letters P. M.

rnc
(2). Obverse. JOHN . COOKE. AND . JOSHUA. FARRAND.
a mullet. In the field a lion rampant. Reverse. OF. BRADFORD.
THEIR . HALF-PENY. and a mullet. In the field, three bugle

horns.

Obverse. Reverse.

(3). Obv. DANIEL. DEVERREL. and a cinquefoil. A regal
crown of the period. Rev. IN. BRADFORD. 1668. and a cin-
quefoil. In the field D. D. four pellets, and two cinquefoils.

(4). Obv. JOHN . COOKE. a cinquefoil, 1666, and another cin-
quefoil. In the field, HIS. HALF-PENY. a cinquefoil, and two
pellets. Rev. OF . BRADFORD. Two cinquefoils and a mullet.

1 List of Tokens issued by Wiltshire Tradesmen in the 17th century. Lon-
don, 1846.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 51

In the field, two cinquefoils, the stems interlaced ; between them
the letters I. M. C.

(5). Ojv. WILLIAM. BAILY. MERCER and a quatrefoil.
In the field, the bust of an ancient queen, like that on the shield
of the Mercers’ Company. Kev. IN.BRADFORD.1668. and
three cinquefoils. In the field, a horse’s head! couped bridled_ be-
tween the letters W. B.

(6). Obv. THOMAS .IBBOTSON. and three mullets. In the
field, HIS. HALF-PENNY. and six pellets. Rev. MERCER.
IN.BRADFORD. Three flowers, the stems twisted in a knot,
between the letters T. I.

(7). Obv. WILLIAM .CHANDLER. and a mullet. The Gro-
cers’ arms. Rev. IN. BRADFORD.16... In the field, W.C.
and two cinquefoils.

(8). Obv. IACOB . ELBEE. OF. and four cinquefoils. In the
field, two tobacco pipes crossed, saltier-wise. Rev. BRADFORD.
1665 . two cinquefoils and a mullet. In the field, I. E. three
cinquefoils and four pellets.

(9). Obv. JOHN PRESTON, OF. A shield of arms. Rev.
BRADFORD 1666 and a cinquefoil. In the field, HIS HALF-
PENY, and a cinquefoil between two pellets.

(10). Obv. JOHN GAGE, OF. The bust of an ancient queen,
like that on the shield of the Mercers’ Company. Rev. BRAD-
FORD 1649, a mullet, and two pellets. In the field, the letters
I G divided by a pellet.

It was, moreover, during the period that we are now considering
that we had a visit from our old friend, John Aubrey. He had at this
time (to use his own expression) his ‘ Essay towards the Natural His-
tory of Wilts’ “ upon the loom,” and certainly his wits must have
been wool gathering when he came into this neighbourhood. His no-
tice of our town is most meagre, and abounds with good intentions,
which, like many others, were never carried into effect. Thus, for
instance, he says of the Parish Church,—“ Mr. T. G[ore]? assures

! Baily of Stowford and of Staverton, had three horses’ heads for their arms,
See coat over door of mansion house, near Staverton Church.

* This was Thomas Gore, Esq., of Alderton, a great friend and neighbour of
Aubrey’s, to whom, on subjects, especially of heraldry or genealogy, he per-
petually referred. See an account of him in this Magazine, vol. iv. p. 107.

52 Bradford-upon-Avon.

me that in the Church here is nothing of antiquities to be found,”
and so, trusting implicitly to the word of his friend, Aubrey did
not himself take the trouble of looking into it. He speaks, more-
over, of a large house in Pippet street, which is still standing,—
“Tn this towne is a faire old built house of the family of Rogers?
of Cannington; here are many old escutcheons (which see); now
it is the seat of Mr. Methwyn’ the cloathier.”” However, so far as
any record of the house, as it then was, is concerned, Aubrey, if he
even did visit it, might as well have staid away, for he says not a
syllable about it. He adds further, “On the top of the North Hill
above Mr. Methwyn’s is the finest hermitage® I have seen in Eng-
land: several rooms and very neat chapel of good free-stone. This
high hill is rock and gravel, faces the south and south west: there-
fore is the best site for a vineyard of any place I know: better in
England cannot be.” On the same subject in his ‘Natural History
of Wilts,’ he says, (ch. ix.) “Elders grow everywhere. At Brad-
ford all the side of the high hill, which faces the south, above Mr.
Paul Methwin’s house, is covered with them. I fancy that that pent
might be turned to better profit, for it is situated as well for a
vineyard as any place can be, and is on a rocky gravelly ground.
The apothecaries well know the use of the berries, and so doe the
vintners, who buy vast quantities of them in London, and some doe
make no inconsiderable profit by the sale of them.” All else that

1 Rogers of Cannington.—-This was a junior branch of the family of Rogers of
Bradford, the first of whom, Sir Edward Rogers of Cannington, in Somerset,
was Comptroller of the Household to Queen Elizabeth, and a Member of the
Privy Council. Thomas Rogers of Bradford, was a Serjeant-at-Law, 1478,
and married one of the heiresses of William Besil of Bradford; the other
heiress, Margaret, being married to Nicholas Hall. The ultimate heiress of the
elder branch of the Rogers family, viz., Dorothy, daughter of Anthony Rogers,
married Sir John Hall, Knt. of Bradford (circ. 1570). Arms of Rogers, Arg.
a chevron between three stags courant sab.

2 This house is still commonly called by the older inhabitants ‘ Methwins,’
and they pronounce it, as though it were spelt, ‘ Methins.’ Within the last
few years the name of ‘ The Priory’ has been chosen for it, As there is no
trace of the house ever having been used, in olden times, for any religious
society, it is almost to be regretted that a name has been adopted which after a
few years might be calculated to mislead enquirers.

’ The Hermitage. Aubrey here alludes to the ‘ Tory Senet which we have
described in page 35.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 53

Aubrey relates concerning our town, besides one or two very brief
notices of buildings, to which we have already referred, is con-
tained in what he calls a “simple old woman’s prophecie of old
Mother Bloker of Bradford.” Though he inserts it in his manu-
script, yet, in a letter,? still preserved in the Bodleian Library at
Oxford, addressed to his friend Mr. (afterwards Bishop) Tanner, he
says, “Pray doe me the favour to blott it out,” deeming it too
modern for insertion. However, here is the old dame’s prediction ;
it may amuse some of our readers.

“ Bristowe shall sinke and Bath shall swimme,

And Bradford be a Haven-towne.”
At present there are no signs of its accomplishment.

It was, moreover, towards the latter end of this century that
Tuomas Brac, an attorney of Woolley, contrived to keep the good
people of Bradford in a state of excitement by some of his perform-
ances.” He has been already noticed in the pages of this Magazine
(vol. iii. 370) as having urged the apprehension of a certain Law-
rence Braddon, whom he saw stopping “at an inn door at a town
called Bradford to drink a glass of cider,” on what may now seem
to us rather insufficient grounds, viz., that he “looked like a dis-

" affected person, by wearing bands and cuffs, and therefore, in that
dangerous time, ought to be examined.” No long time afterwards,
however, the said Thomas Beach, who is said to have been “an
attorney notorious in his country and generation,” himself got into
trouble. In January, 1677-8 (80th Car. II.), in conjunction with
Simon Deverell, bailiff of Bradford, he committed a breach of privi-
lege in assaulting and wounding Mr. Hall, a member of the House
of Commons, and also Mr. Hall’s servant, threatening at the same
time to do him further mischief. ‘This occurred during a sitting
of Parliament. Mr. Beach was accordingly placed immediately in
the custody of the Serjeant-at-Arms.

On the 22nd of F ebruary he acknowledges his offence, and craves

o> a RT a fi ee
Tanner MSS. Bodleian. 126.
* Thomas Beach was ancestor of the Beach family at West Ashton and Wool-
ley. His wife was one of the ‘Martyns’ of East Town in the parish of Steeple
Ashton. He was buried at Steeple Ashton,

54 Bradford-upon- Avon.

forgiveness of the House, but, being very sick—(perhaps we might
say indisposed)—is unable to attend at the bar of the House.

On the 25th he kneels at the bar of the House, and Mr. Speaker
informs him that he is discharged upon condition of making an
acknowledgment and submission for his offence at the next General
Sessions for the County of Wilts. Whilst however the House is
willing to forgive the said Thomas Beach, Mr. Speaker reminds him
that he must not forget to pay the customary fees.

It was during the latter part of this century also that the Mon-
mouth rebellion took place. One is sorry to throw any doubt on
the truth of the tradition which still exists in our town that the
Duke of Monmouth lodged at what a few years afterwards was called
Kingston House, during one of his progresses amongst the gentry
of the West of England. It is not impossible, perhaps we might
say improbable, that the Duke, whose popularity in the West of
England is well known, may have been received by John Hall, as
well as by his brother-in-law Thomas Thynne, at Longleat. As yet,
however, we have found no specific mention of the fact in any
history of the times. The night after a skirmish at Philip’s Norton,
Feversham, who commanded the king’s forces, fell back to Bradford,
and a tradition of their visit, and of some circumstances attending -
it, is still preserved amongst the old people in Bradford. But of a
visit from Monmouth himself there is no actual proof. The story
may perchance have taken its rise from another circumstance which
certainly did take place. So devoted were the people to the unfor-
tunate Duke, that, even after his execution, many continued to
cherish a hope that he was still living,—in fact, that a substitute
had represented him on the fatal scaffold. In 1686 a knave who
pretended to be the Duke made his appearance in our neighbour-
hood, and probably levied contributions /eve, as he had already in
several villages in Wiltshire. At all events, at Bradford our soi-
disant Duke was apprehended, and was afterwards whipped at the
cart’s tail, from Newgate to Tyburn.!

We have in our parish a memorial in some sort of the Duke of
Monmouth. After the fatal battle of Sedgemoor (1685), an officer

1 Macaulay’s ‘ History of England,’ i. 625. (3rd edition, 1854.)

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 55

in his army left in the house of Mr. Davison of Freshford, a pair
of holster-pistols. Through a daughter of Mr. Davison who mar-
ried the present Colonel Yerbury’s grandfather, the pistols came
into the possession of that family. They were sent for exhibition
in the temporary Museum formed on the occasion of the Meeting
of the Wilts Archeological Society at Bradford, in August last.

From 4.p. 1700.— 1800.

We have now arrived at the commencement of the eighteenth
century. By this time Bradford had considerably increased in
population and in importance. Indeed, during the last quarter of
the seventeenth century men and women flocked in from all quar-
ters to obtain employment here. It was the custom in those days,
that every such artizan, who might possibly become chargeable to
the parish, before settling in Bradford should exhibit a certificate
signed by the minister and churchwardens, and other public officers
of his own parish, acknowledging his claim on them in the event of
his falling into distress, and in such a case also covenanting to hold
the parish in which he might settle harmless from all charges. A
very large number of such certificates bearing date from 1670
downwards, are still preserved in the parish chest. And even with
this precaution, the parishioners of Bradford do not always seem to
have been satisfied. They were evidently not a little jealous of the
irruption into their borders of so large a company of ‘straungers.’
And hence the leading clothiers of the town often had to give an
additional guarantee to the parishioners to prevent the possibility
of their being put to any expense, even in the removal of the non-
parochial residents. ‘Two deeds are now lying before the writer of
these pages, one of them relating to a certain “Ann Lowden, of
Bulkington,” who came hither in February, 1677-8, endorsed,—
“Memorand: That Mr. Paul Methwin on Friday, Feb. 22, pro-
mised the parish of Bradford to pay, at any time, for the removing
of the sayd Anne Lowden to Bulkington ;”—and the other relating to
a certain “John Emling of Standerwick, in the county of Somer-
set,’’ who is described as a “ wooll-breaker,’ and who is said to be
desirous of settling in Bradford, because ‘worke is more plenty

56 Bradford-upon- Avon.

there,’ and which is endorsed,—“ July the 6th, 1677. Mr. Anthony
Methwin promised the payment of 3s. 4d. for caution money.”

The energy of the ‘Methwins’ and the ‘Cams’ bore good fruit in
the great increase of the trade of the town ;—indeed Aubrey! bears
witness that “Mr. Paul Methwin of Bradford was the greatest
cloathier of his time.” Nor should we forget to mention Anthony
and William Druce, whose name is still preserved in ‘Druce’s Hill’
(before called ‘The Green’), a spot of ground no great distance
from the church-yard, and who belonged to the Society of Quakers,
then numerous here as in other towns in Wiltshire; and John
Curll, whose memory must ever be held in affectionate esteem in
a parish whose poor inhabitants benefit yearly throtigh his muni-
ficence.2 By the efforts of these and others Bradford enlarged to
a very great degree the extent of its manufactures. Cottages
sprung up in every quarter, each one furnished with its loom, and
plenty of work to secure its constant employment. Our town, in
fact, became a steady-going,—business-like,—money-making place.
Cloth-making was lucrative, and so a large amount of capital was
year by year invested in it. In the year 1723, we find no less than
twenty-five clothiers in the parish of Bradford, the greater part of
them in the town itself, and the value of their stock-in-trade was
computed at £40,000, a sum relatively much larger than it would
be deemed at present, but one which, even thus reckoned, would
bear a small proportion to the capital employed at the commence-
ment of the present century. Amongst the clothiers of that day,
we find the well known names of Heyleyn,—Thresher,—Methuen,
—Druce,—Baskerville,— Halliday,—Shewell,—Shrapnell,—Bush,
—Self,—and Yerbury.

The rest of the history of our town may be shortly told. From
the middle of the last century till within some sixteen years ago, it
is hardly more than a continued record of successful industry. In

1 «Natural History of Wilts,’ p. 113.

2 John Curll bequeathed to the poor of Bradford, not usually receiving alms
of the parish, £30, to be paid annually out of the proceeds of land at Chirton,
near Devizes, and to be distributed in Crowns amongst 120 such poor persons
on St. Thomas’ Day in each year.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 57

the course of years one improvement after another was introduced
into the manufacture of cloth. Trade increased,—our manufacturers
became wealthy,—employment attracted numbers to our town. So
abundant, indeed, was employment, that the wool after having un-
dergone various processes to fit it to be spun into yarn was carried
for that purpose to spinners residing not only in all the neighbour-
ing villages, but as far as Salisbury Plain. The names of Tugwell,
—Atwood,—Head,—Bethel,—Strawbridge,—Stevens,— Phelps,—
&c. ;—names not yet forgotten in the town,—bear ample testimony
to the success that in the latter portion of the last century attended
the spirit and industry of the clothiers of Bradford.

Then came the introduction of machinery, and with it the Factory
System. Then the weavers and others employed in the manufacture
of cloth, instead of plying their craft, as heretofore, in their own
cottages were collected into large buildings, many of them erected
for the special purpose of receiving them. At the commencement
of this century, no less than thirty-two of these were at work in
our town, every building, in fact, which could be converted to the
purpose being made one of these hives of industry. Even the
“Chapel of our Lady” on Tory could not escape such a doom in
an age, when utility, so far as money-making was concerned, was
the sole standard by which all things were judged. And yet what
more striking monitor could there be than the ceaseless ‘click’ of
the ‘weaver’s shuttle’ that life is far too short, too uncertain, to allow
us safely to engross our energies in the pursuit of earthly riches!

It was not, indeed, without a struggle that the employers thus
brought in a new order of things. On the introduction of the
spinning jennies, and the carding machines, no disturbance had
arisen, however much men may secretly have murmured against
them. But when a step further was taken, then their murmurs
broke out into open resistance. On the evening of May, 14, 1791,
a tumultuous mob of nearly 500 persons assembled before the house
of Mr. Phelps' an eminent clothier of the town. The matter of

1 He lived in the first large house on the right hand after passing the bridge,
on the road from Bradford to Trowbridge. The house is now occupied by Mr,
George Spencer. There are still to be seen in the garden wall facing the street
traces of the holes through which Mr, Phelps and his friends fired upon the rioters.

58 Bradford-upon-Avon.

complaint was, that he had converted one of his old carding engines
into a scribbling machine, which the hand-scribblers believed would
eventually throw them out of employ. .A demand was, therefore,
made by the mob that Mr. Phelps should deliver up the machine
into their hands, or else pledge himself never more to work it. On
his refusing to do so the rioters began to throw stones, whereby
many who by this time had come to the assistance of Mr. Phelps
were seriously wounded. They continued their assault until not
only all the windows of the house were broken, but much of the
furniture damaged. Feeling that their lives were in danger, Mr.
Phelps and his friends fired on the mob, and a man, a woman, and
a boy were killed, and two others dangerously wounded. Still the
tumult was unappeased, and, as the only means whereby to save
the further effusion of blood, Mr. Phelps surrendered the obnoxious
machine into their hands, and they burnt it upon the bridge. Some
of the principal rioters were subsequently captured, and sent to take
their trial at the ensuing assizes. The coroner’s inquest which sat
on the slain bodies, returned a verdict of ‘justifiable homicide.”!

From s.p. 1800—1858.

The check given by these disturbances to the onward progress of
our town was but momentary. For half a century after that time
the stream of prosperity flowed steadily on. The parish during
that period numbered more than 10,000 souls within its borders.

At last the tide began to turn. In the year 1841, the failure of
the local Bank and of several of the largest manufacturers threw
hundreds out of work, and cast an abiding gloom over our town,
the effect of which has hardly yet passed away. Then no less than
400 were forced to seek shelter within the walls of the workhouse,
a number much beyond the capabilities of the then existing build-
ings properly to accommodate, and the limit allowed by law. Added
to these, 300 able-bodied men were employed in out-door labour,
in making roads or other parochial improvements. For the

1 The prisoners’ names were Samuel Norman, James Bryant, William Green-
land, and Benjamin Derrett. Against Derrett no bill was found. The rest
were acquitted.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 59

payment of these last-named poor persons, for some time no less
than £70 was required weekly. Poor rates rose to ¢en shillings in
the pound; distress was universal. Many noble efforts were made
to meet the exigencies of the distressed weavers. An emigration
fund of large amount was formed, by which many of them were
enabled ‘to seek in foreign lands employment which here was no
longer to be obtained. By degrees others were helped on their
way to Wales or to the North of England, or to other places more in
our immediate neighbourhood, that there they might earn subsistence
by the labour of their hands for themselves and their families. For
several years there was in some sort an ‘exodus’ of its working
population engaged in manufactures from the town of Bradford.
In the short space of ten years its population had decreased nearly
25 per cent.,! and in 1851 the number of factories at work was less
than a fifth of those at work in fifty years before. It was a dark
period of depression, and yet one marked by several deeds worthy
to be remembered, one of which certainly was the erection, at his
own expense, of those excellent schools attached to the District
Church of Christ Church, (which had itself been built but a few
years before,) which will be a lasting memorial of one whom it was
indeed a privilege to count amongst our fellow-townsmen, even
though for a comparatively short period, the late Captain S. H.
Palairet.

Within the last three years, however, our townsmen have given
good proof that public spirit is not yet extinct amongst them, for
in 1855 they erected at the cost of several thousand pounds a large
and handsome Town-Hall, in which it gave them all sincere plea-
sure, to welcome, and that, too, heartily, the members of the Wilts
Archeological Society in August, 1857. ,

? According to the Census, the population of the whole parish was

C1 NNER ame i ai eer es a aL 10,102
ARR EERIE as Ee a a 10,418
Rr eh eta 8,958

This represents a decrease in the whole parish (including the chapelries) of some
17 per cent, In the rural districts, however, there was probably little alteration
between the numbers in 1841 and 1851. On this calculation the population in
the town and immediate neighbourhood which, in 1851, was 5331, was ten years
before no less than 6781, thus showing a decrease in that short period of nearly
one fourth, or some 25 per cent.

60 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

There are several subjects, on which much interesting information
might be collected together, with reference to Bradford. On four
of them, we will place before our readers such materials as we have
been able to gather for the purpose. The subjects we select ,for
illustration are ;—

I. Toe Manor.

Il. Tue Parisn Cuurcu.
Ill. THe Parocuta, Cuarittes.
IV. THe Worrutss oF BRADFORD.

THE MANOR.!

It was, indeed, a goodly portion that Ethelred bestowed on the
Abbess of Shaftesbury when he gave her the monastery (cenobium)
at Bradford, with all the surrounding lands. She held this gift in
Srankalmoign— (in liberd eleemosyna)*—or free-alms, as it was term-
ed, a tenure which exempted those who held lands under it (as
was the case with most of the ancient monasteries and religious
houses) from all fealty to the king as their superior lord, on the
ground of their rendering spiritual and higher services. The words
of the charter,’ in fact, are most explicit as to the nature of the
gift. Three services only were required of the Abbess, as, indeed,
of all who held under a like tenure, viz., help in repairing the high-
ways and bridges, in building castles, and repelling invasions.

Though in reality but the tenant ‘in capite’ under the king, yet

1 My obligations are due to the Right Hon. Lord Broughton for permission to .
inspect documents relating to the Manor, as also, to Mr. Phelps, his Lordship’s
Steward. The like privilege was granted to me with reference to the Prebendal
Manor by Mr. Bessell, the Steward of the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. For
many interesting extracts relating to similar subjects, I have been indebted to
Mr. H. C.J. Groves.

2“ Abbatissa de Sco. Edwardo tenet manerium de Bradeford, Attworth,
Wrokeshal, Holte, Trulle, Winsleg, Wlfleg ( Woolley) et Ludington de rege in
pura et perpetua eleemosina de veteri feufamento.” Testa de Nevill, p. 153.

3 The words of the charter are, ‘‘ preescripta villa (se. Bradeford) cum omnibus
ad se rite pertinentibus, campis, silvis, pascuis, pratis, ita sane ut ego tpse illam
in usus possederam proprios venerabili supradicte familiz Christo sanctoque
martyri incessanter famulanti semper subjugetur liberrima, tribus tantummodo
exceptis communium laborum utilitatibus; si contingat expeditionem promovert,
arcem pontemque construi.” Codex Aly, Sax, iii, 319.

By the Rev W. H. Jones. 61

for all practical purposes she was the Lady Paramount in the Hun-
dred of Bradford. To her Court Baron, all who held lands within
the Hundred, by whatever tenure, were obliged to do suit. Some,
indeed, of the tenants must have held their lands immediately un-
der the Abbess, as in Domesday no less than thirteen out of the
Jorty-two hides at which the manor was assessed, are said to have
been in demesne, that is, kept in the hands of the Abbess herself
(terre dominicales). "The revenue derived from the whole posses-
sions bestowed by Ethelred in this charter was large. Bradford
with its appendages is valued in Domesday Book at £60, a sum
which, if we are to adopt Wyndham’s plan of calculating its relative
value in the present day, would amount to more than £4000.

Of others holding lands under the Abbess more or less directly,
there were some that held by tenure in Villenage, that is, according
to the custom of the manor, or otherwise, at the will of the Lady of
the Manor, on condition of doing her vil/eine? service ;—again, there
were others that held by tenure in Burgage, on condition, that is,
of paying to the Abbess a certain rent by the year for the tenements
they oceupied, this last being the same as the tenure in Socage?
among the Anglo-Saxons. Of the former Domesday Book mentions
36,—of the latter 28.

Though the authority of the Lady Abbess thus extended over
the Hundred of Bradford, there were, nevertheless, sundry others

‘See Wyndham’s ‘Domesday Book for Wiltshire.’ Introd. p. 20. ‘The
Domesday shillings and pounds are first multiplied by three which will reduce
the ancient money to the present weight. The sum is then multiplied by 73,
to make it accord with the modern value of gold and silver. ‘To this is added
another multiplication by 3, because the real value of the land is now three
times as much as formerly, without any consideration of the plenty or scarcity
of money.” This brings the whole multiple to 673. Thus £60 x 674=£4050.

* This word is now used only in a bad sense. It had no such meaning origi-
nally, though it always denoted, of course, an inferior. ‘‘It is derived,” says
Coke, ‘‘ from the French word villaine, and that @ villa, quia ville adscriptus
est : for they which are now called villunt, of ancient times were called adscrip-
tit.” Coke upon Littleton ii. 11.§172. ‘The villani were the originals of
our present Copyholders and held their lands by doing the services of husbandry
on the lord’s demesne, which were, in after times, commuted for what is now
called a Quit rent.” Wyndham’s ‘Domesday,’ Introd. p. 10.

* Coke upon Littleton, ii. 10. § 162.

62 Bradford-upon-Avon. [The Manor.

who exercised a similar jurisdiction in various parts of the manor.
Those who held lands immediately under the Abbess as tenant ‘ in
capite,’ by degrees granted out portions of them to inferior persons,
and so,—as they became /ords with respect to these under-tenants,
though still themselves tenants with regard to the chief lord,—they
were called mesne (i.e. middle or intermediate) lords. In course of
time, nearly every one of the tythings into which Bradford was
divided had its Lord of the Manor, each of whom held his court, at
which the various tenants were required to do suit and service.
We often meet in old deeds with references to “the court of An-
thony Rogers, Esq., at Holte.”” In one of the documents found
at Kingston House, an account of which was given in this Magazine
(vol. i. 290), of the date 1545, by which one ‘Richard Drewis of
Holte’ has certain lands ‘in the Parke, Lowsly and Holes in Holte,
and also a tenement in Little Holte’ granted to him by lease, it is
expressly added,—“‘to sue (i.e. to do swit) at Roger’s Court at Holte.”
To this day, moreover, there is a payment due annually from the
proprietor of the Manor House at Winsley, with which is held the
Lordship of that Tything, of twenty-five shillings and eight-pence, to
the Lord of the Manor of Bradford, a traditional acknowledgement
of ‘the suit and service’ owed by him, as well as by all mesne lords,
to the chief lord.

But besides these mesne Lords of Manors in the Hundred of Brad-
ford, there were others who, though not exercising any jurisdiction
within the Hundred demanded fealty, and perhaps rather more
substantial acknowledgements, from some of the tenants within the
domain of our Abbess. The Manor of Cumberwell, for example, was
held under the Barony of Castle Combe, and Humphrey de Lisle
(Hunfredus de Insula) the Lord of that Manor claimed from the
tenant at Cumberwell—(in early times one named Pagen)—suit and
service for the same. The Prior of Monkton Farleigh, moreover,
who held the Lordship of that Manor, claimed payment for lands
in this parish :'—there is in existence a deed (of the time of Edward
I.) by which Walter Fayrchild of Wroxale grants to Alice la Loche,

1 As early as 1397, we find Sir Thomas Hungerford giving to Monkton Far-
leigh Priory ‘a house and two ploughlands at Bradeford.’

By the Rev. W. H, Jones. 63

amongst other lands and tenements, some called “Clifcroft and
Bradcroft, and a croft above Hanecleye paying 13d. per annum to
the Lord Prior and Court of Farlege, viz., at Hockeday 12d. and
at Michaelmas ld.”! To this day certain property in the town of
Bradford is held under the Manor of Monkton Farleigh. A field
called ‘the Conigre,’ (one of several pieces of ground bearing that
name in the parish) just behind the house occupied by Mr. Adye,
in Woolley street, and some houses in St. Margaret street, nearly
opposite the present Railway Station, are still held under leases
granted by the lessee of “the Manor of Monkton Farleigh and
Cumberwell,” as it is termed.

Since the date of the grant of the Manor and Hundred to the Abbess
of Shaftesbury, certain changes have taken place. Ina previous page
we have explained at some length its original boundaries (pp. 18-22).
Westwood, which at the first clearly formed part of it, has been re-
moved ; and the parishes of Broughton, Chalfield, and Monkton
Farleigh have been added to it, for they do not seem to be included
within the limits described in Ethelred’s charter. The removal of
Westwood, though so intermixed with the other lands, and not on
the confines of the domain, into a distinct Hundred, that of Elstub
and Everley, is not easily accounted for. In the time of Domesday,
Westwood belonged to the Priory of St. Swithin, Winchester, to
which it had been given by Emma, mother of Edward the Confessor,
and its revenue was allotted for the sustenance of the monks of that
society, (pro victu monachorum).? The Lordship of the Manor of
Westwood now belongs to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester.

The Abbess of Shaftesbury held not only what is now called
the Lay Manor of Bradford, but that also which is termed the
Prebendal Manor. She held, in fact, the impropriate Rectory of
Bradford. Amongst the valuations of the ecclesiastical revenue
of Bradford (of which there are several) the portion of the Abbess
is always reckoned.* A certain quantity of glebe lands and

beet 1 Wilts Archwological Magazine, i, 281. ‘y
* Wyndham’s ‘ Domesday,’ p. 60.

* Thus in the ‘Yaxatio LEeclesiastica,’ under Pope Nicholas (1287), we have

the following entries,

Ecclesia de Bradforde cum capell .............. 4613 4
AAR ri 5 i506 kM vin Rivide 60 3.4 4% pn esiee 5 0 0

64 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

income was allotted to the Vicar for the time being, and to those
who discharged the spiritual duties of the parish in the various
chapels belonging to it, the remainder of the tenth of the
produce belonged to the society of St. Edward at Shaftesbury.
Their portion of the proceeds of the living was leased out from
time to time to various persons, and the ‘firmarius ecclesiw’ as he was
termed—(afterwards the Lord Farmer, now the Lessee of the Great
Tithes)—exercised the right of presenting to the Vicarage. As
early as 1312, we find one ‘Gilbert de Middleton,’ (the same, it is
believed, who was Archdeacon of Northampton, and Prebendary
Rector of Edington, Co. Wilts,) called “jfirmarius ecclesie de
Bradeford,’: and, as such, presenting to the living in that year.

But though the Abbess was to all intents and purposes in the
place of the chief Lord-of the Manor, she was, nevertheless, regar-
ded as herself holding her possessions under the king as Suzerain.
It was, indeed, the main principle of all feudal tenures that they
were held primarily of the king, however many successive mesne
lords there might be; in fact, all lands “ were held mediately or im-
mediately of the king.”? Hence we find such entries as the following,
—‘Thomas of Atteworth holds in Atteworth the fourth part of
a knight’s fee of the abbess, and she of the king.”*—A special
statute, called ‘ Quia Emptores’ was passed in the time of Edward
I., recognizing this principle, by which it was enacted (with
a view of protecting the interests of chief lords, who, by the
multiplied sub-infeudations were losing many of their privileges,
such as escheats, fines on alienations, &c.,)—that, with regard to all
lands so granted out by feoffment, as it was termed, the feoftee
should hold the same, not of the immediate feoffor, but of the next
lord paramount, of whom such feoffee himself held, and by the
same services.

Hence, when lands were held by high and honourable tenures,
such as Granp SEersEanty,! which could be held only of the king,

1 Wilts Institutions (1312). See also ‘Madox Formular.’ p. 386, (9 Edw. IL.)
2 Jacob’s ‘ Law Dictionary,’ under ‘ Tenures.’
3 Testa de Nevill, p. 153.
‘Grand Serjeanty. ‘(Tenure by Grand Serjeantie” says Littleton, ‘‘is,
where a man holds his lands or tenements of our Sovereign lord the king, by

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 65

it was so expressed in the recording document, even though the
-lands were held mediately under the Abbess of Shaftesbury. The
following examples will explain our meaning. They are taken from
a survey of the Manor and Hundred of Bradford (1629-1631 ),
long, of course, after she ceased to hold the Lordship:—they will,

however, suffice for illustration.

“‘Joun Lone,! Esq’. holdeth freely one half yardland in Wraxall as of the
said eae by Serjeancye, viz., to make out all somons in the Hundred
and Court of the Manour of Bradford, which belong to the King as Lord of
the Manour before the Kinges Mats Justices, and at the Countie, and to
somon all the men of Wraxall to do the Lords workes, and to. have his
drinking when the Lords Steward shall keep the Hundred Courts and
Courts of the Manour, and to do all executions which pertain to the said
Hundred at his proper costs and charges besides his drinking.”

“Dante, Yerbury holdeth freely one half yardland in Wraxall as of the fore-
said Manour by Serjeancye, viz., to attend the Bayliff of the Hundred of
Bradford, to take distresses throughout the Hundred, to make somons and

' to bear witness to the Bayliff.”’

It would seem that there were occasions in which the Crown

asserted its rights as Chief Lord. On the appointment for instance
of a newly elected Abbess, the King not only gave his formal sanc-
tion to it, but directed the Sheriffs of the various counties, in which
lands belonging to the Abbey were situate, to deliver seisin of the
same to the Abbess so appointed. This was the case on the election
of ‘Amicia Russell’ in the year 1225.?

such services as he ought to do in his own proper person to the king, as to carry
the banner of the king, or his lance, or to lead his army, or to be his marshall
..... or to be one of his chamberlaines of the receipt of his exchequer, or to
do other like services.” Coke, in his commentary on this last clause, adds, ‘ or,
by any office concerning the administration of justice, quia justitid firmatur
solium.”’ Coke upon Littleton, ii. 2 § 153.

‘In another part of this MS. we have this entry ;—‘‘ John Long, Esq". is
Bayliff of the Hundred by right and tenure of certain lands he holdeth in [MS.
illegible] (Wraxhall ?) as is before set forth.”

* The document is printed in Hardy’s ‘Calendar of Close Rolls,’ i. 553. The
following is a translation ofit.—‘‘The King to the Sheriff of Dorset; Health,- Know
ye that we have given our royal consent and approval to the election of Amicia
Russell, a nun of Shaftesbury, as Abbess of Shaftesbury. Wherefore we direct
you without delay to deliver full seisin to her of all lands, rents, chattels, and
other possessions belonging to the said Abbey. Witness, Henry, the King, at
Evesham, July 3, 1223. ‘he Bishop of Sarum is commanded to do his part in
this matter ;’—viz., of instituting the Abbess to the ecclesiastical rights pertain-
ing to her office.

F

66 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

We have already observed that great as were the privileges and ex-
emptions of the Abbess she was bound nevertheless to assist in some
public works, and more especially to providea certain number of fight-
ing men to attend the King, her chief Lord, in his wars undertaken
for the protection of his dominions. Agnes de Ferrar who was Abbess
from 1252 to 1267, and Juliana Bauceyn, her successor, were both
called upon for such help by Edward I. in his expeditions against
Llewellyn, King of Wales. To enable her to provide such help,
the Abbess, like all other tenants in chief, exacted from those who
held a certain amount of land within the Manor the same free service
which the king exacted fromher. The portions ofland held undersuch
conditions were called Knights’ Fees. The annual value of a
knights’ fee in England was fixed at £20, and every estate supposed
to be of this value, or assessed at that amount, was bound to contri-
bute the service of a soldier, or to pay, in the stead of this, a propor-
tionate amercement called Escuage. The length of service demanded,
or the amount of payment required, diminished with the quantity
of land. For fa/fa knight’s fee 20 days’ service was due, for an
eighth part but 5; and when this was commuted for the pecuniary
assessment above alluded to, a similiar proportion was observed.
We have many instances of tenures by Anight-Service within the
Manor of Bradford. In the record for 1629—John Hall, at Brad-
ford,—John Blanchard, at Great Ashley,—Sir William Lisle, at

Holte,—Daniel. Yerbury, at Wraxall,—and others are said to have.

held lands by this tenure.

Every tenant within the Manor by Knight-Service was bound to
render feulty, if not homage, to the Abbess. From both these obli-
gations, she, as the head of a religious house, was exempted, and as
the latter could only be received by the Lord in person, and the
affairs of the Abbess were managed through her Steward or Senes-
chull, (as he was termed), it is conceived that an oath of fealty was
all that was demanded from the superior tenants within this Manor.
What was implied in this service is best explained in the words of
Littleton—“Fealty is the same that jfidelitas is in Latin—And
when a free-holder doth fealty to his Lord, he shall holde his right

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 67

hand upon a booke, and shall say thus:—‘ Know ye this, my Lord,
that I shall be faithfull and true unto you, and faith to you shall
beare for the lands which I claime to hold of you, and that I shall
lawfully doe to you the customes and service which I ought to doe,
at the terms assigned, so help me God and his saints;’ and he shall
kisse the booke. ’”!

But in addition to this obligation which was thus binding on the
higher order of Tenants within the Manor, all the vassals, of what-
ever degree, were bound to attend the Lord’s courts, and ‘do suit and
service,’ as it was termed. Of the courts themselves we shall speak
presently: all that we will now say is that in course of years this
practice fell into. desuetude, and was commuted into a money
payment instead of personal attendance. Hence we find such
entries as the following, shewing to what a late period these pay-
ments to the Lord of the Manor were continued. The extracts are
of the date 1629-1631.

‘* Freeholders fines for Respite of Suite to the Courts.

Sir William Lisle payeth yearly for Suite fine....¥........... 0 2 0
Sir William Eire payeth yearly for the like.. ............ 2... Oia c0
Pormiertalle;disgr for the likeyy. 30/05)". Ps leetle s/f civlom daisies e- OF LOSES
Pyaluam-Powleth,, Esq*’for the likes. ......0%0- 2s eee siane soles Op as0
thomas Westley, Gent? for the like .-. 0.0.0.2 se cesceces s- O10
minomas Barntield, Gent for the Ike... deiss. 2s. ss 0 seseese® OOS
NMED Mer BOTT ip fois Loo thck Sains Hae vials S08 A Oa hoe aaa tes 0 0 4
TRUSTOGO a «16, he soos, 21 OG Si

In the following extract from the same record we have similar
charges made on the several Tythings and Parishes within the
Hundred. In the case of one Tything, Leigh and Woolley, it
seems that through their ‘Zythingman’ they were wont, even as
recently as two centuries ago, to render personal service and suit
of Court.

‘Yearly payments paid at the Law-days by the Tythingmen.

“The Tything of Attford payeth by the Tythingman at the Lady-day
Leet, in the name of Law-day - silver, 2s. 6d., and at Michas Law-
day 2s. 6d., and for respite of suite to the Three- Weeken Court yearly
at Michas Law-day 12d. in toto per ann. ...................05. 0 6 0

‘ Coke upon ‘ Littleton,’ ii. 2, § 91.
F2

68 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

‘The Tything of Holte payeth by the Tythingman the like sum, and
ERUTTITIOE: BS | DOLOLE yfescrsiee:ayet siete te toise rite cei ten echetetc tee tale rere OLRG 0
‘The Tything of Lighe and Wooley yearly payeth by the Tything-
man at Lady-day Leet, in the name of certain money as Law-day
silver, 2s. 4d., and Michas Law-day, 2s. 4d, but nothing for respite

of suite to this Court, because he commonly appeareth in person.... 0 4 8
*‘The Tything of Trowle by the Tythingman payeth yearly at either
Law-day, 21d., and at Michas for suite of Court, 12d. in toto..... 0 4.6

‘‘The Tything of Winnesley and Stoke by the Tythingman payeth
yearly at either Law-day 4s. and at Michas 2s. for suite fine, in toto 0 10 0
‘‘More the said Tything payeth yearly at Michas a payment called

Wah riled fre cictcitoe ii2y.Jsial ciossteh fs i elol> svehsjata MI ye -peaeeele noe ee 0 6 8
“The Tything of Wraxall payeth yearly by the Dethingmar at either

Law-day, 2s. 4d., and at Michas for suite fine, 16d .........%.... O56)50
“The Tything of Winkfield and Rowleigh payeth no Law-day ied

hutat; Michas for suite fine, 12d. /%2., ... ses) acseainmsi tas Gare seers OL 10
‘The Tything of Chalfield payeth nothing..... .... ... ........ OF 00
“(The Tything of Comerwell payeth no Lawlay Finer but at Michas

POR(SUUROHTMO Sb svese cca eiess sa cy otdiciace veld waieleheleve Oiare «nee ates tie eS On0re6
“The Tything of Broughton also payeth at Michas roe! 16d. yearly,

for’ (IMSsalleeible}| (suite-tinesiz) er... oc seis Segeiniy atin eee Oe:

Som paid, 46s. 10d.”

The whole spirit of the Feudal Tenures was based on the subjec-
tion of the vassal to the Tenant in capite, and hence we commonly
find inserted in old deeds some special service due to the chief lord
of the fee. These services were often merely nominal; still they
preserved the memorial of the relation in which the various under-
tenants, however numerous, stood to the Lady of the Manor. A
very frequent condition is the gift of “a rose at the festival of the
nativity of St. John Baptist :”—sometimes it is “one hal/penny paid
at the same time, or at the festival of St. Michael” (unwm obolum
domino capitali feodi):—in other deeds we find mentioned, “ two
capons at Michaelmas,”—“a pair of gloves and one farthing, ’—half
a pound of cwmmin,—one pound of pepper,—one pound of wax. In
other cases, moreover, it is some service in husbandry to be per-
formed for the lord, the original condition of the tenure of villenage
of which we have already spoken, the last, however, being ulti-

* Vel-noble, Elsewhere this is called Veal-Money. Yormerly the tenants of the Manor at Winsley
had to pay this assessment in kind; afterwards it was commuted for 6s. 8d., the value of a ‘ noble ;?
hence the name Vel-noble. In the margin of the MS., quoted above, we have the following entry,
‘The Homage of the copyholders gathereth within themselves yearly, to be paid at one payment,
vis. viiid.”

ee eee

Sain OS grt.

wifes

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 69

mately commuted for a money payment. The following extracts
from the record of 1629 will illustrate our remarks.

*Watter Gravnt holdeth by fealty, suite of Court, and 4s. 1d. rent, and 1b.
of wax ;—one burgage in St. Olaves Street pr rent 13d.,—one messuage with a
Dovecote in the same street pr rent 12d.,—and one other house, sometimes a
backhouse, pr rent 2s.; in all 4s. 1d.”

“DANIEL YeRBURY holdeth freely [certain lands therein described at Wrax-
all] by Knight-service, and 13s. rent, and one mounctuary* viz., one horse
with his harness, suite of Court to the Hundred and Court of the Manor,
and 2s, yearly for certain works to be done yearly in earinge+ of two acres of
the Lord’s land at seed time, and carriage of three load of hay for the Lord from
Michel Mead to Barton Farme, which work were time out of mind turned to
[deest] rent pr ann. in lieu thereof.”

‘¢ HLIZABETH BLANCHARD, SUSAN BLANCHARD, and JOANE BLANCHARD, sisters
and coheirs of Joun Brancwarpd.. . . hold freely, one messuage and four yard-
lands with their appurts called Great Ashley, by the service of a fourth part of
a Knight's fee and 10s. rent, and 2s. for earinge four acres of the Lord’s land
yearly, and by suite of court to the Court of the Hundred of Bradford from
three weeks to three weeks, and yielding a mounctuary, viz., one horse with
saddle and bridle after the death of the tenant: and also one other messuage
and four yardlands with the appurts, called Budbury, as of the foresaid manour
by the like service of the fourth part of a Knight's fee and 20s. rent, and for
Larder Money} 5s., and suite of Court and mounctuary as before.”

One payment to the Lord, for the time being, it is not easy to
account for. Among the items of revenue we find entered ‘ Money
called Pal/mson money, paid yearly at Easter.’ This would appear
to be ‘Palm Sunday’ money, a payment due on or about that day.
It seems to have been levied on all the Tythings except the Borough
and Trowle. Were it simply an ecclesiastical payment due to the
Rector or Vicar, or Churchwardens, we could the more readily
understand it. In Churchwardens’ accounts in olden times we
often find among the disbursements, the cost of fitting up the Church
against Palm Sunday, and offerings were made by the people for

* Mounctuary i.e. Mortuary. This was a payment made on the decease of a tenant. The difference
between a Mortuary and a Heriot, was, that the latter was paid as a token of subjection to the feudal
Lord, the former as a supposed compensation for tithes omitted to be paid to the Rector, As our Abbess
occupied both of these positions in Bradford, she, of course, enjoyed both privileges. Hart’s ‘ Eccle-
siastical Records,’ p. 305.

+ Laringe i.e. ploughing ; as in Exod. xxxiv. 21, ‘In earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.”
Yr6-land or EarS-land is an expression often used in Anglo-Saxon charters for ploughed land.

+ Larder Money, (lardarium) ; this payment, which seems to have been peculiar to this Manor, is
said to have been a final yearly rent paid by the tenants for liberty to feed their hogs with the mast
of the Lord’s woods, the fat of a hog being called lard. Or it may have been a commutation for some
customary service of carrying meat to the Lord’s larder, as this was called ‘ lardarium’ in old charters.
Jacob's ‘ Law Dictionary,’ ‘‘ Larding Money.”

70 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

the expenses of processions and other ceremonies on that day. A
remnant of the observance is still kept up at St. Mary Redcliffe,

Bristol, where to this day the custom is retained of strewing the ~

Church with rushes on Palm Sunday. But how this payment came
to be regarded as a portion of the revenue of the Lord of the Manor
it is difficult to say, though possibly from the Monastery of Shaftes-
bury having been so many years in possession of the Lordship, it
may have had some ecclesiastical origin in the first instance.
Brand (Popular Antiquities, 1.121) mentions an example from
which we learn the high antiquity of offerings similar to the one in

question. He says,—‘ In the Domesday survey, under Shropshire,
i. 252, a tenant is stated to have rendered in payment a bundle of
box twigs on Palm Sunday, —“Terra dimid. car. unus reddit inde
fascem buxi in die Palmarum.”

But our Abbess enjoyed from her Manor some more substantial
advantages than any of these just described. From what have been
called ‘Feudal Incidents,’ she, like other tenants in capite derived
considerable emoluments. The principal sources from which such

advantages were derived were the following :—

1. Reriers;—these were certain sums of money which a tenant, on
his entrance on a fief by the death of his predecessor, and being
of full age, paid to the Lady of the Manor. Before the conquest
there were no reliefs, but Heriots, paid in kind to the Tenant in
capite, such as horses, arms, &c., of which we have just given
some examples. :

2. Fives on ALIENATION ;—these were sums of money paid by every
tenant to the Lady of the Manor whenever he had occasion to
make over his land to another.

*3. Escurats and Forreirures;—these happened in cases in which
either a tenant died without leaving behind him any heir who
could, according to the terms of the original grant, enter upon
the feud, or in which he committed some act in violation of his
duty towards his Lord, such as rendered him unfit to be trusted
as a vassal. In either case the gift, being determined, reverted
to the giver.

By the Rev. W. H.. Jones. Tl

4. Warpsuips ;—the Abbess as Lady of the Manor had the ward-
ship of the tenant during minority. By virtue of this right she
had both the care of his person and received to her own use the
property of the estate. This right was exercised in the case of
some members of the Hall family in the time of Edward I., by
the Abbess of Shaftesbury. (Sce above, p- 31, note.)

5. Marrraces;—another right given to the Lady of the Manor
was that of tendering a husband to her female wards, while un-
der age, whom they could not reject without forfeiting the value
of the marriage; that is, as much as any one would give the
guardians for such an alliance. This was extended afterwards
to male wards, and became a lucrative privilege. In early deeds
relating to the Hall family we have instances of this privilege
being claimed, or, (which is much the same thing,) of its being
renounced in consideration of a certain amount paid to the

Abbess.

Of course the Manor of Bradford had its peculiar Customs ;—
that is, certain observances concerning the tenure of land, &c., at
first regulated, perhaps, by the will of the chief lord, but at last,
by long usage, acquiring the force of law. The following account
has been compiled from a careful collation of several copies kindly
furnished from various sources to the writer of this paper. The
exemplifications in each case are commonly given in contracted
Latin, a specimen of which is seen in a foot-note on the next page;
these parts are translated and included within brackets.

Tue Customs belonging to and concerning the landes that belong
to the late Monastery of Shaftesburye, as appeareth in an
antient Register thereof (whereof Bradford is parcell).
Dated Monday next after the Feast of St. Hilary, in the
xxv" year of King Edward the Third, (1343).

I. Jmprimis.—If a man take a holde to himselfe and his Wyfe,
as in this case;—[To this Court came John at Style and gave
for a fine four pounds to the Lady of the Manor for an estate to be
had in one messuage, and one yardland, with the appurtenances,
to hold to himself and Alice his wife for the term of their

72 Bradford-upon-Avon. [| The Manor.

99]

lives |’"!—and the said Alice happen to survive her husband, yet
shall she have no better estate than widowhood, vdelicet while
she lives sole and chaste:—and if her husband survive her, and
marrye again, none of his wyves shall have widowes estate for
that his first wyfe was named in the coppye.

II. Item.—Ifa man take a bargaine to himselfe and Alice his
wyfe jointly as thus ;—[To this Court came John at Style and
Alice his wyfe, and gave for a fine ten pounds tor their estate
and entrance into five messuages, and five yardlands, with their
appurtenances, to be had to them for the term of their lives |—if
this Alice do survive her husband and do fortune to marrye again,
yet she shall have this bargaine during her lyfe for that she was
purchaser.

III. Item.—If two persons take a bargaine jointly together, as
thus; [To this Court came John at Style, and John at Oake, and
gave for a fine four pounds for estate and entrance to be had of
and in five messuages, and five yardlands, with their appurtenan-
ces, to be had to them for the term of their lives |—the first pur-
chasers wife shall have no widowes estate, except he do survive
the purchaser joined with him; whosoever doth survive the other
of the two joint-purchasers, his wyfe shall have the widowes
estate.

IV. Item.—Ifaman take a bargain in possesion (in esse) as thus ;—
[To this Court came John at Style and gave for a fine four
pounds for entrance and estate to be had in five messuages and five
yardlands, to hold to himself and Thomas his son for the term
of their lives |—then the said Thomas the sonne must needs have
it if he do survive his father, because his father John at Style
died seised of the bargaine.

V. Item.—If aman buy the revercon of a bargaine, as thus;— |
[To this Court came John at Style, and gave for a fine five pounds
for the revercon to five messuages, and five yardlands, with the
appurtenances now in the tenure of John Dale, to hold to him

1 Tn the original document it is,—‘‘ Ad ist. cur. venit. Joan. at Style et dat
Dne de fine iiijl p. ingress. et stat. habend. in un. messuag. et un. virg. ter. ac
pertin, Tenend., sibi et Alic, uxi ad term. eor, vit.”

By the Rev W. H. Jones. 73

and his brother for the term of their lives |—and if it fortune that
this John at Style do dye before this revercon do fall unto him
(so that he dye not siesed thereof) then the grant made to the
said Thomas being in the Habendum or sequill of the coppye is
clearly void and frustrate, for that the purchaser dyed not seised
of the bargaine.

VI. Item.—Any man that is named in the Habendum or sequill
of any coppye, altho’ he be Tennte and dye seised of the bargaine
having a wyfe, yet this wyfe shall have no widowes estate,
because he is no purchaser.

VII. Item.—If any man buy a bargaine as thus;—[To this Court
came John at Style and gave for a fine four pounds for entrance
and estate in one messuage and one yardlard with the appurte-
nances, to hold to himself and John his son for the term of their
lives, and either of them longest living successively ]!—the same
John at Style may sell and alienate his bargaine when he lyst,
with the consent of the Ladye, and come to the Ladyes Court and
surrender up his estate, and by that surrender he maketh the
estate of his son John to be clearly voyd and of none effect.

VIII. Item.—If two buy a bargaine jointly either in revercon or
possession as thus;—[ To this Court came John at Style, and John
at Oake, and gave a fine of six pounds for the reversion of one
messuage, and one yardland, with the appurtenances, to have the
same for their lives and either of them longest living successive-
ly |—if the same John at Style do sell his estate to any other
person, and make surrender thereof, yet he may not make the

estate of John at Oake voyd or frustrate, for it shall stand in
force straightway upon the surrender for that he is joint-pur-
chaser with him.

IX. Item.—If two persons take a bargain jointly in revercon as
thus;—{ To this Court came John at Style, and Robert his son, and
gave a fine of ten pounds for the revercon of one messuage and
one yardland with the appurtenances, now in the tenure of John
Dale, to hold to the said John at Style and Robert his son, and
Thomas another son for the term of their lives, and the longest
liver of them successively ]—if the first purchaser dye hatte he

1 In the original it is, “ Et eorum alterius diutius viyentis successive.’

74 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

be in possession of the said bargaine yet shall the second
purchaser enjoy it when it doth fall: but if the said purchasers
dye before either of them be in possession, then shall Thomas
that cometh in the Habendum or sequill of the coppie lose his
title thereof.

X. Item.—If any customary tenant lett forth any parcel of the
ground of his Coppyhold, then the tenant which is in revercon
of the same tenement by custom shall have the same paying reason-
ably for it, because he, being in possibilitye of the holde, will
use it better than a straunger.

XI. Item.—Ifa man take a bargaine to himself and to his son,
not naming his wife, as thus;—[To this Court came John at Style
and gave a fine of ten pounds for entrance and estate in one
messuage, and one yardland, with the appurtenances, to hold to
himself, and Thomas his son, for the term of their lives, and
either of them longest living successively |—if the said John at
Style marry two wyves, yet the last-named shall have widowes
estate for that he named no wyfe.

XII. Item.—Any Tenant that dyeth siesed of any yardland, half
yardland, or flarthinge land, shall after his decease pay for a
Heriot,’ his best quick Cattle: also, every Widowe shall pay after
her death the like Heriot.

XII. Item.—If any Widowe clayminge widowes estate do marry
without the Ladyes license, or live incontinent or unchaste, and
be so found by the Homagers, she doth upon that fact forfaite
her estate, and shall after such forfaiture pay a Heriot in form
above said.

XIV. Item.—If any Tenant let fall his house, or suffer his house
to be in great decay upon commandment or payne sett by the

1 Heriot ;—This was a customary tribute of goods and chattels payable to the
Lord of the fee on the decease of the owner of the land. Thorpe in his Glos-
sary to the ‘ Ancient Laws and Institutes,’ derives the word from Here-geatu,
which means literally army equipments, and denoted those military habiliments

which, after the death of the vassal, escheated to the Lord, to whom they were ©

delivered by the heir. By degrees others besides this class of tenants were re-
quired to pay this charge, which commonly consisted of the best quick (i.e. live)
beast that the tenant died possessed of. This, like all other customary dues,
was ultimately commuted for a money payment.

= ee ee

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 75

Steward and Homage and will not mend it, then the said Tenant
shall forfaite his estate of such tenement as he shall holde of the
Ladye, and shall pay a Heriot in form above said.

XY. Item.—If any Tenant dye between Michaelmas and
Ladye-Daye then his Exors shall occupy the tenement until
Ladye-Day paying all rents and duties and also shall enjoy such
wheat as is sown upon the same, and if he dye after Ladye-
Day then to occupie the tenement until Michaelmas, paying and
doing as aforesaid; neverthelesse the next claymer shall have at
Midsomr. the Hay, the Fallow, and the Sheepe-Leases.

XVI. Item.—Every Tenant of custom shall at his first entry
receive a corporal oath to be a true tenant and beare true faith
to his Ladye, to pay and do all rents, fines, and customs belong-
ing to his tenure, and to yield with the Homage and be justified
by the Ladyes Court.

XVII. Item.—If any Tenant do dwell from his Coppyholde so there
be a dwelling house upon it without a license expressed in his
graunt, then he be put in payne xx shillings, x pounds, or more,
and if upon these paynes he will not be resiant, then he to have
a payne of forfaiture by judgment of the Homage and Steward.

XVIII. Item.—No customary Tenant shall retayne or fine any
other than the Ladye, unless he have a copy of lycense; then
having a lycense his undertenant must in ali things supply his
place.

XIX. Item.—If any Tenant by verdict of the Homage be found
that he hath not sufficient goods and chattels to answer the
Ladyes rent and reparacons, then the said Ladye may require
pledges of the same Homage; and if the tenant cannot find them
pledges, then it shall be lawful for the Ladye to take the same
tenement into her own hands.

XX. Item.—Any customary Tenant may take House-bote,! Fire-

1 House-bote, &c.; the Anglo-Saxon word ‘ bot’ signifies ‘reecompence’ or
‘compensation’ and is synonymous with the word ‘estovers’ (from ‘estoffer’ to
furnish) which is of more frequent occurence in legal documents. /ouse-bote
and Fire-bote were, respectively, a sufficient allowance of wood to repair or burn
in the house ;—Plough-bote was an allowance of wood to be employed in repair-
ing instruments of husbandry. We meet also with Hay-bote, an allowance of
the same kind for the repairing of hays, i.e. hedges, or fences.

76 Bradford-upon- Avon. [ The Manor.

bote, Plough-bote, according to the custome belonging to his
Coppyholde; also any offence or trespass done amongst the tenants
ought to be tried in the Ladyes court.

XXI. Item.—If any Tenant make spoil or waste, or cut down
any timber tree without license of the Ladyes officers, then he
shall forfeit his estate if the Homage find it, and if the Homage
do not present it when it is made to appear to them, then if two
or three witnesses do come into court and testifye upon their
oaths, it is sufficient.

XXII. Item.—It hath been used and accustomed that the Ladye
or her officers shall make grants of any coppyholde or customary
tenement out of Court, either at Shaftesbury or elsewhere, at
their pleasure, and also may take surrenders out of the Court at
any place, if there be ¢iree or four of the Ladyes tenants pre-
sent to witness.

XXIII. Item.—If any two persons holding or clayming any
coppyholde by virtue of one graunt or coppye, the one being ad-
mitted and in possession according to the custome, and the other
in the sequil of the coppye or joined in takinge, yet the Ladye
or her officer may graunt the revercon of them both to any other
person or persons as they will.

XXIV. Item.—The custome is, that any woman may take the
revercon of her husband or of any other person, and also take
any hold in possession.

XXV. Item.— The custome is, that the Ladyes officers may
graunt any coppyholde for the term of one lyfe, two lyves, three
lyves, or fower lyves, either in possession or revercon.

XXVI. Item.—Every Tenant must, upon a reasonable warnenge,
serve to the Courts twice by the year, or oftener if the canse so
require, and also must do all their custom workes, unless they be
dispensed withall, and pay their rents at fower times in the
year, if they be demanded.

Other customes there be used, which continuance of time doth
stablish, and which be not here written.

We have spoken in a previous page (p. 61) of the value of the
Abbess’ possessions and emoluments in Bradford at the time of

ee

ee, ee

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 77

Domesday Book. Five hundred years after that date, just before
the dissolution of Monasteries, a valuation was again made of her
property here as well as elsewhere. The record is preserved, and
the following is abstracted from the original Roll in the Aug-
mentation Office.’

Comput. Mrsistrorum Domrnt Rees Temp. Hey. VIII. (1539-40.)

Bradeford. Redd. lib. ten. (Rents of free-tenants).....---- 6 8 6
Atworth ......... Pe ee fae soca lars eben tet 016 3
Chall jb 4d: es556e cep Cobb or UO Tor Cco CnD UC ECan ia Oat 9 10 If
oii 5 .4a55 95 2 SOBRE BORE Usdend sa lorie Dem orrenaCr ange 2 6 O
I Wl en isale we on oct tin cian ee aint eras sees 2) 50
Shetscill © 20s Bee OAS RCO Ean Snr ta son OGOUrCiE mira 310 0
DR es oy ideale giniels nie Sener oi et see Revels ees ss Paes} ile
Bradeford. Redd. cust. ten. (Rents of customary tenants Le.

copyholders) .....-.- esses cece rere ser reeere trees 715 02
Sinine ok AN Aes ae meen coerce sade cece a Papeator 12-9) (02
Morar tee ge sac = ies sicie oi cicitices) idlereiciele: ate unargis's suaieiere areieie + eae 6 13 10
0 Ti chal pe ASAP Ie SESS Me A 1 OSS ea 7 4 33
er aOR AIA oo nS ere cbse talsin's) <inke wale tie ele ohsite «3 aie atlas Ge iteas
ENN, (55 LS i cada wean Yds 11 6 102
PUMBIOIEE, cs eee ore ot eee eee ene erect pe Sneboooe UBD
Bradeford. Firm. Maner (Farm of the Manor) . ......------ 2616 8
Perquis. Curie (Profits of the Court). ....---.-+-. 414 4

Bradeford Hundred. Perquis. Curie......---+-++++ seeeeeee 49 4

Bradeford Rector. Firm. Decim. Garb: &e. (Farm of Rgctorial

Tithes, &0.)....-.202+-cee see eect cece re cect e teens Sie Mold Lies
£191 10 83

This sum, brought to its relative value in the present day, would
represent, at least, £2300. This is, in actual amount, much below
the previeus estimate. It must, however, be borne in mind, that
there is no account here of the value of ‘Alveston,’ in which, at
the former valuation, the Abbess held four hides (about one fourth
of the land so held by her) in demesne, and the language of Domes-
day Book plainly implies that this was added to the general esti-
mate. Moreover, it is well known that the valuation of lands
belonging to the various dissolved Monasteries was made, by the
‘King’s Ministers,’ at as low a rate as possible. Making allowance
for these deductions, there need be no very great discrepancy be-
tween the estimate of 1086 and that of 1540.

! Printed in the New ‘Monasticon,’ under the head of ‘Shaftesbury Abbey.’

78 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

There are no documents known to be in existence of sufficiently
early a date, from which exact information can be obtained respect-
ing the Courts held within the Manor during the days of the Abbess
of Shaftesbury. We have, however, authentic records of the pro-
ceedings of such Courts within thirty years of the dissolution of
Monasteries, and no doubt they were formed on the same model,
and carried out with similar formalities, as those which existed
previously to that period.

It is implied in the document that we have cited in the previous
page, that there were held under the authority of the Abbess,
either directly or indirectly, at least two distinct Courts, one for
the Manor and another for the Hundred, as the profits derivable
from each of these are reckoned in the estimate given of her
revenue. There appears to have been a separate Court for the
Borough, held most probably at the same time and under the same
presidency as the Court for the Hundred. The first-named Court
was the Court Baron, the other two came under the denomination
of Courts Leer. In the former was transacted business more espe-
cially of a civil character, and hence the Court was held solely in the
name and under the authority of the Lord for the time being;—in
the latter, matters of a criminal nature were allowed to be consi-
dered, and the Court was accordingly held under the authority of
the King. Hence the Homagers, or Free-holders, or others, as the
case might be, were summoned by the Steward to attend the “Court
Leet and View of Frankpledge of our Lord the King, and Court
Baron of Lord of the said Manor, Hundred, and
Borough of Bradford.”

I. Tue Court Baron.

This was the court at which all business relating to the Manor
was transacted. The customary tenants or copyholders attended,
and through their Homage, a selected body of themselves chosen
at the meeting of the court surrendered or were admitted to their
holdings, paid their quit rents, and managed all business matters
relating to their several tenures. The Homage presented all cases
in which the Lord’s interests had suffered damage, such as by

———— eee eee ee

ee eee ee

—

a

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 79

trespass on his soil or waters ;—the instances in which copyholders,
contrary to the customs of the Manor, had suffered their tenements
to fall into decay,—the heriots and other charges due to the Lord,
—the repairs necessary to be done to hedges or fences,—in fact all
matters relating generally to their own estates, and that of the
Lord. They had power to levy fines, with the assent of the Lord
given through his Steward, on those copyholders who were found
neglectful of the duties incumbent upon them. Two of their num-
ber were appointed as Afferers,! and these had to settle, or mo-
derate, the amercements to be levied on such transgressors.

But under the head of Court Baron must be included another court
which, though held under the authority of the Lord, is in a measure
distinct from that which we have been describing. This in old docu-
ments is called the THREE WEEKEN Court. This was a court of com-
mon law, and held before the freeholders who owed suit and service to
the Manor, the steward being rather the registrar than the judge.
It was, in fact, the free-holder’s court, and was composed of the Lord’s
tenants, who were bound by their feudal tenure to assist the Lord
in the dispensition of domestic justice. It was formerly held every
three weeks, and hence its name. Its most important business was
to determine, by writ of right, all controversies relating to the
right of lands within the Manor. It might also hold plea of any
personal actions, of debt, trespass on the case, or the like, when the
debt or damages did not amount to Forty shillings. The following
extract from the survey of the Manor in 1629-31 is interesting, as
explaining in few words the nature of the Court ;—of the officers
mentioned therein we shall speak presently.

“Two Three- Weeken Courts are held in Bradford, the one for the
_ Hundred and the other for the Borough, for pleas between partie
and partie under 40 shillings. At which Courts some of the Ty-
thingmen do and ought to appear at the Hundred Three-Weeken

'« Affeerers—(from the Fr. affier, to affirm, or affeurer, to set the price or
assize)—are those who in Courts Leet, upon oath, settle and moderate the fines
and amercements; and they are also appointed for moderating amercements
in Courts-Baron.”-—Jacob’s ‘Law Dictionary.’ In Bradford there were also
appointed two ‘Affeerers’ for the Borough, and the like number for the Hun-
dred, with duties similar to those above described.

80 Bradford-upon-Avon. * [The Manor.

Courts to present all Wayfes, Estrayes, and Trespasses committed
within the Hundred, and do other services of the Court. And at the
Three- Weeken Court for the Borough the Portreeve, and with him
the Burgesses of the Town, ought to appear to witness with him his
presentment. The other Tythingmen with their Reevemen, which
dwell more remote from the place where the Hundred Three-
Weeken Court is kept, do pay yearly, at Michas Law-day, fines for
respite of their suite to the said Courts by custom.” v

Il. Tue Court Leer, anp View or FRANKPLEDGE.

The Courts which we have hitherto been describing took cogni-
zance of matters more or less connected with the Lord’s interest.
The Courts Leet, however, had to deal with matters involving the
interests of the entire community. They are said to have derived
their distinctive appellation from the Anglo Saxon word ‘/eéd,’
which signifies ‘people,’ as though the ‘populi Curiz,’—the ‘Folk-
mote’—in contradistinction to the ‘Hall-mote’ (or Court Baron),
so designated because the free-tenants, being generally few in num-
ber, often held their meeting in the Lord’s hall. ‘View of Frank-
pledge”! meant originally the examination, or view, of the ‘fri8-borh’
i.e. the ‘peace-pledges,’ or guarantees for his good and peaceable be-
haviour, of which every man, not especially privileged, was obliged
anciently to have nine, who were bound that he should always be
forthcoming to answer any complaint. ‘In all Vills throughout
the kingdom, all men are bound to be in guarantee by tens,
so that if one of the ten men offend, the other nine may hold
him to right;”—such, in a few words, in the language of the
laws attributed to Edward the Confessor, is a description of
this system of ‘mutual guarantee’ for the peace and good order-
ing of those who lived within the Hundred. “Tts object was,”
as Kemble well expresses it, “that each man should be in
pledge or surety ( borh) as well to his fellow man, as to the state,

1 «The corruption of the word Fri8-borh, that is, ‘pacis plegium’ or peace-
pledge, into Freo-borh which was soon translated ‘liberum plegium,’ that is,
free pledge or frank-pledge, explains how the present form of the word has been
adopted. To understand the institution, it is necessary to bear in mind the
distinction between these words.” —Kemble’s ‘Saxons in England’ i. 249,

a.
ee oe

‘
By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 81

for the maintenance of the public peace; that he should enjoy
protection for life, honour and property himself, and be compelled
to respect the life, honour and property of others; that he should
have a fixed and settled dwelling where he could be found when
required, where the public dues could be levied, and the public
services demanded of him; and that, if guilty of actions that com-
promised the public weal or trenched upon the rights and well-
being of others, there might be persons appointed to bring him to
justice, and if injured by others, supporters to pursue his claim and
exact compensation for this wrong.” In later years, of course, all
that was implied in the ‘View of Frankpledge’ was an enquiry by
the Steward into the general good and peaceable conduct of those
living within the jurisdiction of the Court, and receiving present-
ments concerning any matters of which the Court was empowered
to take cognizance.

As in the case of the ‘Three Weeken Court,’ so here there seems
to have been one Court Leet for the Borough, and another for the
Hundred, which, though held at thesame time and place, were, never-
theless, distinct from each other. At the former, the Jury were
chosen from the householders of the Borough, at the latter, from
the inhabitants of the Tithings. From those not ‘warned’ specially
to attend the Courts, the ‘Essoign’”! money was collected, as it is,
indeed, to this day, at the rate of ‘one penny’ for each householder.
As late as 1629, as appears from the Manuscript from which we
have made several extracts, the ‘Leets’ or ‘Law-days’ were held
twice in the year,—at Easter and at Michaelmas. For a long time,
however, there has been but one Court-Leet, held at Easter in each
year.

The jurisdiction of this Court was extensive. Even petty trea-
sons and felonies were presentable, though not punishable in it,
the course pursued being to certify the presentment in some supe-
rior court, where the offender might be prosecuted and punished.

1 ¢ Bssoign’ money (from the Fr. Essoine, an excuse,) was the sum paid by
those who did not attend the Lord’s Court, and, in consideration of this pay-
ment, were excused. ‘The old people in Bradfordthave abbreviated the term,
and pronounce it as though it were written, ‘sign-money,’ or, as they more com-
monly say, ‘ sign-pence,’

G

82 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

On all such matters as the following the Jury had to enquire ;—
how far the constables had done their duty;—whether the stocks,
‘the tythingman’s prison,’ were in repair ;—whether any one” had
wilfully assaulted and maliciously drawn blood from the person of
another;—what persons kept places for carding, dicing, skittle-
playing, and the like unlawful games within their tythings ;—who
were scolds, brawlers, raisers of quarrels, eaves-droppers, and news-
mongers;—whether any persons had used false weights or measures;
whether any have been forestallers, ingrossers, or regrators;'—
whether any cottages had been erected contrary to law;—whether
the highways were out of repair;—whether any public nuisances
had been committed to the injury of the community. On all these
and kindred subjects the Jury had to entertain presentments, and
the Court Leet had power to punish transgressors, not only by fine,
but in some cases by imprisonment.

In Courts Leet the Steward always presided as Judge. Here
also, as in the previous case alluded to,? two persons were chosen—
(usually two of the ‘most substantial and knowing’ tenants of the
Manor)—as Affeerers, to whom the following oath was administered:
—“You shall well and truly affeer the several amerciaments and
fines here made, and now to you remembered. You shall spare no
one out of love, fear, or affection, nor raise or enhance any one out
of malice or hatred, but impartially shall do your duties herein.”

One very important duty that devolved on these Courts was, the
appointment of the various officers of the Manor, the Hundred, or.
the Borough of Bradford, Three distinct Juries were appointed,
the first consisting of copyholders under the Manor, (which was cal-
led the Homage Jury,) the other two of residents within the Hun-
dred or Borough respectively, and on these was imposed the task

1 Forestallers are they who buy, or cause to be bought, any corn or other vic-
tuals whatsoever, that is carrying to the fair or market to be sold, before it be
brought into the fair or market. Jngrossers are they who buy corn growing
upon the ground (otherwise than by demise or grant) or any butter or cheese,
or other victuals, with intent to sell the same for unreasonable profit. Regrators
are they that in open fair or market buy and get into their own hands, corn or
other dead victuals, and sell the same again in some other fair or market within
four miles of the same place. Jacob’s ‘Court Keeper,’ p. 34.

* See above p. 79. 3

, =e

ef esa Se

eS

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 83

of nominating persons qualified to serve in the several offices within

the jurisdiction which they represented. From lists so furnished,

the Steward of the Lord of the Manor selected those, who, for the
year then next ensuing, should hold these offices.

The following list of officers has been compiled from an examina-
tion of documents relating to the Manor, bearing date at different
periods during the last 240 years. The various records do not
exhibit strict uniformity in their lists of officers: in later times
some, which were originally distinct, have been merged into others,
whilst some have been rendered unnecessary by the legislature
having provided other means for the performance of the duties that
once appertained to them. Since the year 1774, when, as we have
already stated (p. 42), the demesne lands of the Manor were sold, by
the Lord for the time being, to various persons, there appears to have
been no formal summoning of the Homage Jury at the usual time
of holding the Courts of the Manor. At present there are hardly
more than a sufficient number of Tenants (which must be two at
the least) holding under the Manor, to preserve the Lord’s rights
and privileges in the same.

I. Orricers or THE Manor:—l. Bailiff—2. Hayward.

II. Orricers or tHE Hunprep:—1. Bailiff,—2. Two Constables,,
—3. Haywards, (one for the Hundred generally, and one for
each of the Tythings,)—4. Tythingmen, (one for each Ty-
thing).

II. Orricers or tHe Boroucu:—l. Portreeve,—2. Two Con-
stables,—3. Hayward,—4. Two Sealers and Searchers of
Leather,—5. Two Coroners of the Market,—6. Cryer.

The office of ‘Batter,’ especially that of the Hundred, which
seems in Bradford at one period to have been annexed to the tenure
of certain lands, (see p. 65 note,) was formerly of much importance.
Latterly the duties of this officer consisted chiefly in giving “sum-
mons and warning to all Freeholders, Customary and other Tenants,
Resiants and Inhabitants who owed suit and service to the Lord of
the Manor” to attend his Courts, and further, in carrying out the de-
cisions of the Courts by exacting the fines or amercements, and,
where necessary, serving writs and levying executions.

a2

84 Bradford-upon-Avon. © [ The Manor.

The duty of the ‘ConsraBizs’ consisted generally in préserving
the peace of the neighbourhood, by ‘arresting felons, pursuing hues
and cries according to law, and apprehending rogues, vagrants
and sturdy beggars.’

The ‘TyruincMeEn’ were a kind of petty constables, appointed
for the several Tythings, to assist those just alluded to in the
execution of their office. They had also to make presentments
at the Law-days of offences cognizable at Court Leet, to give the
names of ‘foreigners’ living within their portion of the Manor, and
to collect the Lord’s accustomed dues within their several Tythings.
It was their duty also to hand in lists of ‘ Resiants,’ that is, of in-
habitants, qualified to serve in like office with themselves, and from
these were appointed their successors in the manner we have just
described.

We have already alluded to the general duties of the ‘Haywarp’
(see p. 15). He had, in the discharge of them, to see that the
cattle neither broke nor cropped the hedges and inclosed grounds,
and to keep the grass from hurt or destruction. He had to look to
the fields and impound all ‘estrayes,’ (that is, cattle that tres-
passed,) to inspect that no pound breaches be made, and if any, to
present them at the Leet. When there was a large unenclosed
portion of common land in the parish, the duties of the Hayward
were neither few, nor unimportant. The Haywards of the several
Tythings had first of all to put stray cattle into the pound belong-
ing to their own Tything, and then, if not claimed by the owner
within three days, to bring them to the Hayward of the Hundred,
to be placed by him in the Hundred Pound. After a certain time,
if still unclaimed, they were sold to pay expenses that had been
incurred, and the surplus, if any, belonged to the Lord of the
Manor.

The name ‘ PorTrEEVe’ given to the principal officer of the Bo-
rough, especially when coupled (as in the extract given in p. 80)
with ‘ Burgesses,’ would seem almost to imply the existence of a
charter of incorporation for our town. There is a tradition which
has often been repeated to me by old people, that Bradford was
formerly a chartered town with all the usual privileges, and amongst

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 85

others, with a ‘Portreeve’ as the chief municipal officer, but that, the
inhabitants having been almost swept away by a desolating pesti-
lence, the exercise of their rights fell into abeyance, and was never
afterwards resumed. Other particulars are related, but they are
evidently so distorted a form of the real facts of the case, whatever
they were, that it is not worth while to repeat them. Possibly
there may be a glimmering of truth in these local traditions, which
future research may enable us to interpret more accurately. In our
‘Portreeve’ we may preserve the name of an officer of some impor-
tance formerly, though many of the duties once performed by him
have long fallen into desuetude. At present, and for many years
past, his duties have been very analogous to those of the Bailiff,
already described, inasmuch as to him was addressed the precept from
the Steward of the Lord of the Manor, directing him to summon
and warn those inhabitants who were appointed to serve on the
Borough Jury in Court Leet. He had also,—(and in this, the
duties performed in other cases by the Tythingmen devolved on
him)—to “deliver into Court a list fairly written out of the Free-
holders, Free Suitors, Tenants and Resiants within the Borough,

_ who owed suit and service to, and at, the Court”. No doubt in

ancient times, like the Anglo-Saxon ‘Portgeréfa,’ from whom the
name is derived, this officer had in Bradford, as in other small
towns, to witness all transactions by bargain and sale, and proba-
bly derived some emolument from the proceeds of tolls and fines
levied within his district.} |

For many years one person has been appointed ‘Portreeve and
Hayward,’ as to one united office. No doubt as buildings increased
in Bradford, the duties of the last named officer gradually became
nominal. In the record of Court Leet for 1747, however, the
offices are distinct, two different persons having been appointed,
one as the ‘Portreeve’ and the other as the ‘Hayward’ for the
Borough.

The ‘Leatruer Szarers and SearcueErs’ had to look after the
Tanners and Curriers, to see that they exposed no leather for sale

! On the ‘ Portyeréfa’ or ‘ Portreeve’ who seems originally to have been the
chief officer of the smaller, and commercial, towns, see Kemble’s ‘Saxons in
England,’ ii. 173.

86 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

that had not been properly tanned and dried. All such goods
approved by the officers were sealed with a stamp, the impression
of which was very much like that which shoemakers now put on the
soles of shoes, consisting of three or four small concentric circles.
From the following extract, it appears that the tanners were kept
in tolerably strict order—If a tanner put to sale leather before it
is searched and sealed according to the statute, he forfeits 6s. 8d.
a hide, and for a dozen of sheep-skins 3s. 4d. besides the hides and
skins, or value thereof, and if not sufficiently tanned and dried, he
forfeits the whole.”

The ‘Coroners oF THE Marxer’ had to see generally, that
provisions exposed for sale were good in quality and sufficient in
quantity ; that the weights and measures were up to the standard ;
and, in case of the bread or meat being unfit for food, they had
power to order it to be thrown away, and to inflict a fine on the
offending bakers or butchers. The using false weights or measures
incurred a forfeiture of double the quantity of grain or thing sold,
and in some instances led to imprisonment.

Formerly there was a separate officer called the ‘AtE-ConNER’
who had to look to the goodness and assize of ale and beer. For
very many years no such special officer has been appointed, those
just described exercising the general supervision of all things
vendible by weight or measure.

So well known are the duties of the ‘CryEr’ that we need not
attempt to describe them. In Bradford there was one task that
he was sometimes called upon to perform, that seemed hardly to
belong to him: but as Five Shillings were allowed for his services,
he did not stand upon ceremony. He had to officiate, when some
young offender was ordered, for petty pilfering or other like
transgressions, to receive a public whipping!

The meetings of Court Leet were ordinarily held in olden times
in the Town Hall, or Market-House. As early as 1715 however
we find a Court held at ‘the sign of the Swan’ (apud signum Cygni).
The old Town-Hall was a plain and unpretending building that stood
in the centre of the Town,—(the surrounding site is still called the
‘Old Market Place’)—and joined the block of houses which consti-

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 87

tute the ‘Shambles.’ The mark of the gable-line is still perceptible
on the blank wall against which it formerly stood. It was oblong in
shape, about 25 feet long and 15 feet broad, and was supported on
two sides by a row of stone pillars, all the space below being open,
and appropriated principally to butchers’ stalls. Between pillar
and pillar was inserted some wooden palisading. Above, on the
first floor, there was a room in which the Courts were held and the
business of the Manor transacted. Hard by, were the pillory and
the stocks, the upright post of the former probably serving as a
whipping pillar to which young culprits were bound. The stocks
were afterwards removed to the foot of the Bridge, on the south
side, whence they have now disappeared altogether. Not a few
are there among our ancients who regret that the days are passed,
in which a little summary punishment checked the onward progress
of crime, without the necessity of consigning the young offender
to a gaol, and thus branding him with a mark of disgrace that no
length of time can obliterate.

With all these relics of bygone days, the old Town Hall, as
we have just intimated, has itself passed away. It had long been
in a decaying state for want of repairs. Again and again had
presentments been made concerning it, as a place not only ‘unfit
but unsafe to transact the Lord’s business in.’ Once at least the
Borough Jury were bold enough to present the Steward, for not
attending to their presentments in this particular. No attempt
however was made to sustain the tottering fabric, and one night
the building fell. Whether its fall was caused by accident or
design,—rumour strongly asserts the latter,—men cared not to
enquire. The person is now living who carted away the materials
of the ‘Old Town Hall’ of Bradford, which he previously pur-
chased for the sum of Twenty Shillings!

A few words may be added on the PresenpaL Manor which
for the last three hundred years has been held separately from the
Lay Manor, to which more especially the remarks in the previous
pages have had reference.

The ‘Prebendal Manor’ was, at the Dissolution, bestowed, as we
have already stated, (p. 41.) on the Dean and Chapter of Bristol by

88 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ The Manor.

Henry VIII. In this gift was included all that hitherto had
appertained to the Abbess as ‘Rector’ of Bradford. They hold the
glebe farms and lands,*(the latter lying dispersedly in small por-
tions throughout the whole parish),—the houses built on them in
the town itself,—perhaps the site of the old Hospital of St. Mar-
garet,—the great Tithes,—the advowson of the living. The land
possessed by them amounts to some 530 acres, more than half of
which is in the Tithing of Winsley. On the impropriate Rectory
there are the following charges,—‘ Payment (it is called Pensio) to
the Bishop of Sarum, £2.”; and “Pension to the Dean and
Chapter of Sarum 13s. 4d.”

From a Parliamentary survey made in 1649, the original manu-
script of which is still preserved among the archives of the Dean
and Chapter of Bristol, we extract the following information, and
with this we will conclude our remarks on the ‘Manor of Bradford.’
“‘ Vemorandums. There is a Court Baron belonging to the Mannor

of the Rectorie of Bradford to be kept at the will of the
Lord within the said Mannor.

“The Tenants of the said Mannor are to performe he
suit and service at the Court aforesaid.

“Customes. The Lord by the Custome of the Mannor may graunt
estates for three lives by coppy of Court Roll.

“The Widdow of the purchaser only to enjoy the lands
that her husband shall happen to dye siezed of and not
otherwise.

“The Lord of the Mannor aforesaid can have no Herriott
by the custome of the said Mannor but such as shall be
expressed in the Tenants coppye by agreement between
Lord and Tenant.”

(To.be continued. )

89

Geology of GHiltshive.

By G. Pouterr Scropr, Esq., M.P.

ie N attempting a popular sketch of the Geology of Wiltshire
fe for the readers of this Magazine, it will scarcely be advisable
1o assume that they are all acquainted with even the rudiments
of the science. Those, therefore, who already possess this informa-
tion will, I trust, excuse my commencing with a brief notice of the
_ general series of Rock Formations, of which our county presents on
its surface only a portion.

The science of geology is known to have for its object an exami-
nation of the materials which compose the solid surface of the
earth, with the view to deduce from thence some notions of its
history, that is to say, of the successive physical changes it has
undergone. ©

In the course of their investigations geologists have discovered
a very remarkable similarity (though by no means an identity) in
these materials, throughout every known part of the globe; that is
to say, they observe in almost every country a succession of the
same, or nearly the same rocks, or beds of solid matter, composed
of nearly the same minerals, and having nearly the same structure
and disposition.

These matters, however, are readily distinguishable by their
principal characters into two primary classes, viz.:—

1. The Icnxous, or Crystalline rocks, which appear to form the
base and solid scaffolding of the whole crust of the globe, and to
have been in many places forcibly thrust up from beneath (whence
they are also called Hypogene) through that surface, in a more or
less imperfectly liquid state, and at an extremely high temperature,
by Volcanic, or as it is often called, ‘Plutonic’ agency. These
comprehend the varieties of Granite and Porphyry, Gneiss and

90 Geology of Wiltshire.

Mica-schist, Trachyte and Basalt, or what are often called the Trap
rocks, volcanic lavas, &c. Of this class of rocks we have no example
in our county.

2. The Aqueous or Stratified and Fossiliferous rocks, which are
usually found above, or leaning against, the former class, often
broken through, tilted up and bent, or even squeezed into folds, by
the eruption, or subterranean expansion of these, and which are
disposed evidently by the agency of water in strata (or beds), and
generally (as their name implies) contain fossi/s, that is, the remains
of organized beings, vegetable or animal. These Stratified (or as
they are sometimes called Sedimentary) rocks, consist of slates,
shales, puddingstones, sandstones, marbles, limestones, or clays,
marls, sands, and gravels, of different qualities; for even these last,
though loose in texture, are classed as rocks by geologists. Of these
beds the hardest and most compact, generally speaking, lean
against, or rest immediately upon, the erystalline rocks, and the
looser and softer lie above them. Mountain ranges, for example,
are usually found to be composed of a central axis, or back bone,
of Hypogene crystalline rock, while the sides are formed of strata
of slate, sandstone or limestone, lying one over the other and slo-
ping, or as it is called, dipping away from the axis towards the
plains below, which are formed of nearly horizontal beds of sand,
clay, and gravel, such as the rivers or seas form in the present day
out of the worn and ground-down fragments of the harder rocks.

This, however, is only a general, not an universal rule, for the
stratified rocks are occasionally found, as has been said already,
carried up to very high levels, or tilted and set on end, or broken
and twisted, evidently by some violent heavings or expansions of
the crystalline matter below. And when this has happened, the
strata above these are usually seen to lie across the broken or worn
edges of the former, or ‘unconformably,’ as it is called, in contrast
to the conformable or parallel disposition in which strata are
usually found, and in which they were for the most part deposited.

For (as I should perhaps have just said) all the stratified rocks
are shewn by their composition to have been formed out of sand,
clay, mud, or chalky matter deposited by water, either as drift or

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., U.P. 91

as sediment at the bottom of the ocean or of some lake, or in the
beds of rivers, (whence they, are said to be of Aqueous origin); and
the harder kinds owe this quality either to a kind of setting (or
imperfect crystallization) like that of concrete, or in some cases
probably to the enormous pressure to which they have been sub-
jected, especially after being lifted out of the water, in others it
would seem, to the baking influence of the heated igneous erystal-
line rock below them.

The aqueous origin of even the most solid stratified rocks is
proved by their being often made up of water-worn pebbles, gravel,
sand, or matter like hardened mud or clay, arranged in layers,
sometimes even ripple-marked, like those which the sea or rivers
form before our eyes. It is also still more conclusively shewn,
perhaps, by their containing great numbers of fossil shells, bones
of fish or other animals, marine, freshwater, or terrestrial, and the
remains of vegetable matter likewise, such as rivers still carry down
in great quantity into lakes or seas. These ‘organic remains’ have
also been found most serviceable as a test of the age in the history
of the world at which the several strata where they are met with
were deposited. Because it has been found by a long experience
and very widely extended researches, to the satisfaction of all geo-
logists, that the strata which lie lowest (and therefore must be the
oldest, having been necessarily deposited at the bottom of the
waters, before those which lie above them) contain the remains of
races of animals now altogether extinct, and which are farther re-
moved in character from any now living upon the earth than those
found in the upper beds; while these approach more nearly to ex-
isting races, or shew a larger number of genera and species belong-
ing to existing races, in proportion as they appear from their
position to be of more recent formation. On this kind of evidence
i.e. according to the character of the organic remains contained in
them, which has been called Paleontological, (Paleontology being
the study of ancient races of vegetable or animal life), geologists
are now generally agreed to class the various stratified rocks which
are found more or less over the whole globe, rather than according
to their mineralogical composition or aspect. And upon this evi-

92

Geology of Wiitshire.

dence they divide the whole series of stratified rocks chronologi-
cally, into the following groups, beginning with the oldest, that is

the lowest in the series.

TABULAR View OF FossILIFEROUS STRATA.

1. The Cambrian,

2. The Silurian,

3. The Devonian,
(or old red sand-
stone.)

4. The Carboniferous,

5. Permian, or Mag-
nesian limestone

6. Trias, (formerly
called New Red
Sandstone.)

7. Lias,

Primary (i.e. earlier) Fossiliferous Strata.

8. Oolite, or Jur-
assic system.

Secondary F’. Strat.

divided into 1.

consisting in Britain of the slates, flags,
grits, and limestones of North Wales.
Slates of Scotland; limestones and black
slate of Bala; shales, sandstones, and
limestones of Shropshire.

Slates of Caithness, sandstones of Fife,
Elgin, and Arbroath in Scotland, of
Devonshire in England.

Sandstones and limestones, containing
beds of coal, in England and Scotland,
and including the mountain limestone.
Limestones of Durham and Yorkshire,
and sandstones of North of England.
Limestone and shales of Cheshire and
Lancashire.

Blue limestone and marlstones of So-
merset and Gloucestershire, &ce.
Lower oolite.

2. Upper or great oolite.

3. Oxford clay and Coral rag.
4, Kimmeridge clay.

5. Portland stone and sands.
6. Purbeck beds.

9. Cretaceous System,—divided into

1. Wealden.

2. Lower green sand or ‘ Neo-
comean.’

3. Gault.

. Upper green sand.

5. Lower and upper chalk.

i

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., U.P. 93

10. Eocene—lower, middle, and upper—London clay, Bag-

11. Miocene. shot sands, &c.

12. Pliocene—Crag of Norfolk and Suffolk Diluvial drift, &e.

13. Post-Pliocene, or recent alluvial gravels, sands, brick
earth, peat, &c.

Tertiary Strata.

It may be asked “ Were all these strata at any time continuous
and arranged like the coats ofan onion, over the whole globe?” The
answer is no, nor even over all our island. Many divisions of: the
series are wanting in many places, and this is what my readers will
see on consideration would be most probable, because, while there
have evidently been frequent changes of level in the surface of the
earth, those parts which at one time were below the sea or lakes
having been raised into the air, and others which were once dry
land having sunk below the waters, there was, without doubt, at
‘all times (and therefore at any one definite period) some land above
the water level, and of course, no aqueous or stratified deposits
could during that period be formed there, (except the mere sands
or gravels of its river-beds). And in these high and dry geo-
graphical areas, the beds which were at that time in process of
sedimentary deposition in the adjoining oceans or lakes are neces-
sarily absent. Moreover, even below the waters in certain situations,
such as the deltas at the mouths of rivers, &c., beds of shingle, sand,
gravel, or mud will have been deposited, containing the remains of
shells or animals, suited to live in such situations, while at the same
time a different kind of sediment will have been deposited, tranquilly
perhaps, in the ocean depths at a considerable distance, where very
different races of shell-fish or animals lived and left their remains.
These considerations, with others which it would consume too much
time to dwell upon in this mere sketch, account easily for the fact,
that the different strata mentioned im the above Table, are not only
not found uniformly everywhere, but are nowhere all found of uni-
form appearance and composition, or containing precisely the same
set of fossils. Still there is great similarity of character, even in
the structure and composition of the groups of strata which are
supposed to be of contemporancous origin in all parts of the globe,

94 Geology of Wiltshire.

and sufficient identity or resemblance in the organic remains which
they contain to justify geologists in adopting the chronological
classification above given.

As one example of this fact, I may mention the coal-bearing
so valuable for the uses of man. It is well ascertained that

strata
the true coal in every quarter of the globe, with scarcely an excep-
tion, belongs to one and the same age in the history of the earth.
It is composed of almost identically the same fossil plants, is buried
in the same beds of rolled pebbles, and stone and shale, or indura-
ted mud; and overlies and is covered by strata containing the
same kinds of fossil shells.

It will have been observed in the Tabular view given above, that
speaking generally of this our island of Great Britain, the oldest
stratified rocks appear on the extreme west, and that as we proceed
thence towards the east, we pass in succession over the newer rock
formations. This is owing to the fact, that the high mountain
ranges of the island lie to the west, where, at some early period,
the expansion of subterranean masses of hypogene crystalline rock,
portions of which shew themselves in the granite and trap rocks of
Devon and Cornwall, of Anglesea, the Hebrides, and the Grampians,
have tilted up the stratified rocks on the western side of the island
to a higher level than they generally range at on the eastern side.
It was thought the violence accompanying this process, no doubt, that
the older western strata were broken, bent, and doubled up into
folds, in the manner we see them, and also that the general ‘dip’
or slope of the strata is found to be from west to east, each successive
formation terminating towards the west in a step-like escarpment
or break, from under which the older beds crop out in the manner
indicated in the section here given.

Our County of Wiltshire lying about midway between the east
and west of the island, we find it, as might be expected from what
has been said, to be composed, for the most part, of the middle
series, or secondary strata in the above Table. Its geological
formation is, indeed, of a very simple character. It contains no
older rocks than the upper beds of the Lias, nor any newer than
the chalk, except a few patches of clay and gravel belonging to the

East,

Ipgat SEcTION OF ENGLAND AND WALES ABOVE THE SEA LEVEL.

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., MP. 95

Kocene Tertiaries upon the surface of its chalk downs,
and thealluvial beds of its existing river valleys. More-
over, these strata appear to have suffered comparatively

| Tertiary.

little disturbance; the whole series lying, ‘confor-
mably,’ that is, in parallel beds, one over the other.
On the other hand, within this limited range the
structure of our county exhibits a most instructiye
and interesting variety of sedimentary and fossilifer-
ous strata, well displayed and easily studied, and
which, owing to the happy accident of their having
attracted at an early period the attention of some of
the first and ablest geologists and paleontologists,

Cretaceous
system

|

Oolitic system,

have been recognized throughout Europe as types of
the different formations to which they belong. In-
deed, Mr. William Smith, the very founder of the
science of modern geology, if not a Wiltshire man,
was long a resident in the county, and engaged as a
; surveyor in the construction of the canals which tra-
verse it, at the time of those researches into the
structure of the country which led him to establish,
upon the basis of the facts he there observed, that
theory of the regular arrangement of strata contain-
ing similar organic remains in an order that is never

Lias. |

Trias or
new red
sandstone

Coal
measures

re reversed, which forms’ the leading principle of the
#22 science. (Phillips and Conybeare, Preface, xlv.)

Bz These facts Mr. Smith represented in a series of
4%. Geological Maps, published by him between 1815 and
EF: E 1820, one of which is reprinted to accompany this
Pee paper, as it is in a convenient form for general use,
22” and the divisions and nomenclature employed in it,
4% have been very slightly varied by more recent geolo-
Ce gists; Smith’s own nomenclature of rocks having,
25 as before stated, been generally adopted by subse-
EE quent geologists. Where any material change has
as occurred, a corresponding correction has been intro-
of

duced into the plate. The coloured areas represent-

96 Geology of Wiltshire.

the different beds composing the surface rocks are an accurate copy
of the details given in the Ordnance sheets, very recently issued
from the Geological Survey, as the much smaller scale of the map
would admit of, and are consequently more to be relied on than
those given in Smith’s original map. I subjoin a Table of the

Ascenpinc Srrres oF Rocks (In WitsHiRre),
According to latest divisions of Geological Survey.

Sir C, LYELL’s CLASSIFICATION,

1. Lias shale, clay, or Marlstone 1 Lias.

2. Sand of inferior oolite

3. Limestone of do. \2 Inferior Oolite.
Lower :

avs 4, Fuller’s earth

Oolitic BulGreatonlié
group. inane Sapo 3 Great or Bath

6. Forest marble Oalife:

7. Cornbrash
Middle 8. Oxford clay

4 Oxf }

Oolitic 9. Calcareous grit Z Pte a
group. | 10. Coral rag 5 Coral rag.

c 11. Kimmeridge clay 6 Kimmeridge clay
Pper | 19. Portland sand ;
iti ; . 7 Portland beds.

Dolitie 138. Portland stone crane as
SrOUP: 114, Purbeck 8) oe Por beds

ite
Cretaceous } 16.
group. ie

. Chalk

Lower Green sand
Gault
Upper Green sand

9 Lower green sand
10 Gault
11 Upper green sand

12 Lower White
{ without tins | Chalk

13 Upper White

Lower Ps Plastic clay 14 Lower Eocene

Eocene. (20. London clay 15

Middle )21. Lower Bagshot sand Hg

Eocene. es Bracklesham sand inte
Alluvium. Mammalian Drift 17 Post Pliocene

On reference to the map it will be seen that nearly a full half of

the surface of the county consists of chalk, with or without a thin
coating of Tertiary, or yet more recent sand, clay, and gravel.
This mass of chalk forms our Down-country, being the western por-

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., M.P. 97

tion of the high chalk platform, which constitutes also the greater
part of Hampshire, and sends out four several embranchments, one
to the south into Dorsetshire, another to the north-east into Berks
and Oxfordshire, and two towards the east, which form respectively
the ‘north and south downs,’ by which the intermediate vale country
of the Weald of Kent and Sussex is, as it were, embraced. The
Wiltshire part of this great chalk platform is penetrated by three
wedge-shaped depressions or valleys, having their broader open-
ings to the west, and gradually narrowing to an acute angle towards
the east; viz., the Vale of Pewsey, which divides what are
usually called the Marlborough Downs from those of Salisbury
Plain, and those of Warminster and of Wardour. ‘To the north
the chalk hills overlook the still broader Vale of Swindon, con-
tinued to the east in that of the White Horse, to the south-west
in that of the western Avon. All these vales, of course, occupy
generally far lower levels than the chalk district, and consist of
strata of earlier formation which ‘ crop out,’ as it is called, one
from beneath the other as we travel to the west or north from the
chalk escarpments. Whether the chalk ever extended continuously
over the whole of these vales, may be disputed, but, without doubt,
it did over a considerable portion of their area, and has since be-
come removed by denudation, that is, by the wash and sweep of
water, probably in part that of ocean currents before or during
the rise of this area of the island from below the sea, partly of the
rain to which it has been exposed ever since. And the ‘detritus’
or fragmentary matter carried away from these excavations went
to form those beds of flint gravel, tertiary and post-tertiary, which
we find strewed over the hills and almost filling the valleys of the
Avon, the Thames, and other rivers in the East of England.

The strata exposed in the Vales of Pewsey and Wardour chiefly
belong to the Upper Green sand, which also shews itself through
‘the entire width of the upper Vale of the Wily, between War-
minster and Maiden Bradley. The great northern vale is more
varied in its composition, the several beds of the oolitic series crop-
ping out successively from beneath the Cretaceous group, and
shewing themselves through its whole length from Shrivenham

H

98 Geology of Wiitshire.

and Highworth in the north east, to Bradford and Westbury at the
south western extremity. The softer beds of the series, called the
Oxford and Kimmeridge clays, being more easily worn down and car-
ried away by rains, naturally occupy the lower levels of the vale ;
while the harder beds (Coral-rag, Forest marble, and Oolitic lime-
stone) form successive terrace-like ridges or ranges of hill, stretch-
ing nearly north-east by south west across the north-eastern
corner of the county.

I will now briefly trace the situation and distinguishing charac-
ters of these different strata, beginning with the oldest, or under-
lying beds on the western boundary of the county.

It has been said that the oldest strata in the county are the upper
lias shale and marlstone, which are by many geologists considered
to belong to the same group as the oolitic, or (as it is termed by
continental geologists, from its composing the mass of the Jura
mountains) the Jurassic series. But these lias marlstone beds only
occur in the bottom of the deep valley of Box, where it joins that
of the Avon, barely within the boundary of the county. They are
immediately covered by the sands and limestone beds of the inferior
oolite, which form the substratum of the entire range of the Cots-
wold hills, bordering the Vale of Severn from Bath northwards
through Gloucestershire into Worcestershire. In Wiltshire the
inferior oolite only shews itself in the escarpments of the valleys of
Box and Bradford, being immediately covered by beds of marl and
clay, called ‘Fuller’s earth,’ and these by the ‘ great oolite’ or Bath
freestone, which caps the hills about Bradford, Box, Colerne, and
Castle Combe, and is in turn very soon overlapped by the more fissile
limestones, which are called Forest marble and cornbrash. The uni-
ted thickness of these beds composing the lower oolitic group of the
the Geological Survey, varies, perhaps, from 300 to 500 feet. Some
beds of the middle part of the great oolite are several feet in thick-
ness without a joint, and from them are quarried those magnificent
blocks of cream-coloured freestone, which are now transported by
railway from the neighbourhood of Box to London and many other
parts of England. In the mere sketch, for which alone we have
room in this place, it is impossible to give full lists of the fossil

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By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., UP. 99

shells which are abundantly found through these strata. An oppor-
tunity may, perhaps, be taken for this in subsequent numbers. It
is sufficient here to say, that in the lias marls and sands many
species of Ammonites and Nautili are found, as well as of Belemnites,
Gryphea, Modiola, Arca, Cypricardia, Trigonia, Terebratula, §c. The

Fig... (401 Lyell) most frequent, perhaps, is a species of oyster,
or Gryphea, from the abundance of which
the lias has sometimes been called Gryphite
limestone. The shells of the inferior oolite

chiefly belong to the species of Lima, Pec-
ae tae} ae ten, Avicula, Hinnites, Ostrea, Arca, Trigonia,
Terebratula, Thecidium, Nerinea, Cerithium, Natica, Trochus, &e.
Among the most characteristic shells of the inferior oolite may

be instanced Terebratula fimbria (fig. 2). Rhynchonella spinosa,
Fig. 2 (387).

Fig. 3 (388). Bie (ol

a. Pholadomya fidicula. 4 nat.size.Inf.Ool.
Terebratula fimbria. Rhynchonella spinosa. b. Heart-shaped anterior termination of
Inferior Oolite. Inferior Oolite. the same.

(fig. 3). Pholadomya fidicula, (fig. 4.) and Ostrea Marshii,

(fig. 5). Some beds contain beautifully preserved specimens

of Sea-urchins or Echinodermata, with their spines. The Fuller’s

earth abounds in the small oyster, represented in fig. 6. The

great oolite in Terebratula digona (fig. 7). Patella rugosa, (fig. 8.)
7).

Fig. 5 (396). Fig. 7 (36

Fig. 6 (386).

Ostrea Marshii \ nat. size. Ostrea acuminata. Terebratula digona.
Middle and Lower Oolite. Fuller’s Earth. Nat. size. Bradford clay.
Fig. 9 (371). Fig 8 (370.)

Nerita costulata, Desh. Patella rugosa, Sow.
Great Oolite. Great Oolite.

100 Geology of Wiltshire.

and Nerita costulata, (fig. 9). In many of the lower as well as in
the upper strata of the series the shells are much broken. The
middle beds of freestone, or great oolite, are almost wholly a true
oolite; that is, a rock entirely composed of small rounded grains,
resembling the roe of fish, which appear to have been formed from
successive coatings of carbonate of lime upon a nucleus, consisting
of a minute grain of sand or a fragment of shell. If we imagine
such small grains to have been kept for some time in gentle
motion by slight undulatory movements at the bottom of a sea in
which much carbonate of lime was being slowly deposited, we may
obtain a notion of the mode in which this oolite rock was formed.
Near Bradford thick beds of clay occur, interstratified with the
oolitic limestone beds, and in these are found many Crinoideans or
stone lilies, with their roots or bases still attached to the rock on
which they evidently grew undisturbed for years before they were
enveloped (or, as it were, potted) in the clayey mud, which has
preserved them for our admiration. The wood-cut below, from Sir
©. Lyell’s Manual, gives a representation of these remarkable fossils.

Apiocrinus Parkinsoni, or Pear Encrinite; Miller. Fossil at Bradford, Wilts.

a. Stem of Apiocrinus, and one of the articulations, natural size.

b. Section at Bradford of great oolite and overlying clay, containing the fossil encrinites. See text.

c. Three perfect individuals of Apiocrinus, represented as they grew in the sea on the surface of
the Great Oolite.

d. Body of the Ayiocrinus Parkinsoni.

The slaty or flaggy beds of the Forest marble (much quarried
for roofing tile) are also often interstratified with clay or sand,
and their surfaces frequently shew the ripple mark produced
by the ripple of the waves upon them as they were being deposited
on what was evidently, at the time, a shallow calcareous and sandy

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., M.P. 101

shore, upon which clayey mud was dropped here and there by al-
ternating currents—probably tidal. Many of these rippled sur-
faces exactly resemble the sands left dry by the receding tide
on our present coasts, and like them, are strewn with drifted
shells and bits of wood, and the casts of Annelidz or sea-worms,
and the tracks of crabs or other crustaceous animals. It is
clear, therefore, that this entire range of hills at the time of the
deposition of the oolitic beds that compose them, formed the shore
of an island or continent lying to the westward of the sea in which
these testacea lived. Some beds of the great oolite contain many
fragments of coral, and appear formed by the breaking up of coral
reefs by the waves. In some spots portions of the reef itself are
seen to remain in place. The bones, teeth, palates, and scales of
fishes are frequently met with in the oolite, especially in the Forest
marble, as well as the-remains of some of those extraordinary |
amphibious Saurians, or gigantic lizards, which abound in the Lias
beneath, and of whose supposed forms representations are to be
seen in the Crystal Palace gardens. A few fragments of bones
have also been found in oolitic strata belonging, it is supposed, to
mammiferous animals. And as this is a fact of considerable im-
portance, if clearly made out, it is desirable that all such specimens
as may be hereafter discovered, should be carefully examined by
competent zoologists.

Above and eastward of the Lower oolitic group we find a thick
deposit of bluish clay, usuaJly called the Oxford clay. This forms
the wide surface of the vale of the Avon from Westbury north-
wards to Bradon forest, and thence eastward to that of the infant
Thames at Cricklade and Castle Eaton. It has some hard fossilife-
rous limestone beds near the bottom, where it rests on the Corn-
brash, which from their occurring at Kelloways, near Chippenham,
have been called the ‘Kelloways Rock.’ This is the bluish grey clay
and shale, in some places 400 or 500 feet thick, which caused, and
still causes, so much trouble to the contractors of the Great West-
ern Railway, by the slips which take place in the cuttings through
it, west of Wootton Bassett. It contains great numbers of ‘Cepha-
lopoda’ of the genera Ammonite and Belemnite. Some specimens

102

Fig. 12 (363).

Belemnites Puzosianus,
"Orb.

Oxford clay, Christian Malford.

a, a. projecting processes of the

shell or phragmocone,

4, c. broken exterior of a conical
shell called the phragmo-
cone, which is chambered
within, or composed of a
series of shallow concave
cells pierced by a siph-
uncle.

e,d. The guard or osselet,
which is commonly called
the belemuite,

Geology of Wiltshire.

of both kinds have been found very perfect —
where the clay is fine and seems to have
quietly enveloped them. They retain the
delicate elongated processes, which generally
are wanting. An example of each is given
below from Sir C. Lyell’s Manual. The
large development of the upper shell of the
Belemnite, in which the animal (an extinct
kind of cuttle-fish) lived, is particularly
remarkable. There are few fossils probably
more generally known to my readers than
the Belemnite, (vulgarly called thunderbolt.)
It must be interesting to them to know the
kind of animal to which they belonged. Pro-
bably the use of the spike at the bottom was,
being weighted, to keep the whole shell in a
vertical position while floating in mid water.

Fig. 11 (362).

c

pe
py I

yes =

Ammonites Jason, Reinecke. Syn. A. Elizabethe, Pratt.
Oxford clay, Christian Malford, Wiltshire.

The Oxford clay is overlapped on the east
by beds of a calcareous grit, or sandstone,
and sandy beds, which, with the overlying
strata of a ragged and crystalline limestone

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., MP. 103

generally full of coral, and thence called Coral rag, compose a range
of low hills that stretch across the whole county, ina N.E. and S.W.
direction from Westbury through Steeple Ashton, Rowde, Calne,
Lyneham, and the Lydiards, to Highworth. This range is crossed
by the Great Western Railway at Wootton Bassett, through the
same depression as the Wilts and Berks Canal. In many parts it
preserves still the aspect and structure of a marine Coral reef;
which it no doubt once was. The Corals belong chiefly to the
genera Thecosmilia, (fig. 13). Protoseris, and Thamnastrea. The
Ostrea gregarea, (fig. 14,) is also very characteristic of this portion
of the oolitic series in England as well as on the continent. So
also is the Cidaris coronata, (fig. 15).

Fig. 13 (354).

CON

bs

Thecosmilia annularis, Milne ¢ Oise
Edw. and J. Haime. Ostrea gregarea. Cidaris coronata.
Coral Rag, Steeple Ashton. Coral rag, Steeple Ashton Coral rag.

This range of coralline oolite separates the vale of Oxford clay
from a corresponding vale composed likewise chiefly of clay, gene-
rally dark coloured and bituminous or peaty, called by Smith
Oak-Tree or Kimmeridge clay, from a place of that name in Dorset-
shire where it is prevalent. In our county it occupies a nearly
continuous depression parallel on the east to the coral rag range
just described, and lying between it and the escarpment of the chalk,
from Westbury to Rowde, and again after an interruption of six or
seven miles, from Calne by Highway to Swindon and Shrivenham.
At Swindon, and again in the Vale of Wardour, and also near
Potterne, this clay is overlaid by strata of sand and limestone,

104 Geology of Wiltshire.

which, from the large development their continuation obtains
further south, in the isle of Portland, are called Portland oolite
or sand. These beds are extensively quarried at Fonthill, Tis-
bury, and Chilmark in the Vale of Wardour, whence was ex-
tracted the stone of which Salisbury Cathedral is built. Here
there appears a considerable fault or fracture in the strata along
the southern foot of the chalk escarpment, and the beds of Portland
stone have been tilted up by subterranean disturbance. Some of
them dip at an angle of about 40 degrees towards the north and
east. The Kimmeridge clay is a considerable formation, having
a thickness of from 300 to 400 feet. The Ostrea deltoidea is one of its
most characteristic fossils. In the Portland stone and sand are
found numerous specimens of the Trigonia gibbosa, (fig. 16), and

occasionally corals, such as Isastreea oblonga, (fig. 17).
Fig. 17 (345).

Fig. 16 (346).

AAU nt 2 :
Trigomo gibbora, . 4 Dat. ize. ' Isastreea oblonga, M. Edw. and J. Haime.

As seen on a polished slab of chert from
Portland Sand, at Tisbury.
The organic remains contained in some of the strata immediately
above the Portland stone, are referable to species that must have

inhabited fresh, or at all events brackish water. They were, there-

a. the hinge.
Portland Stone, Tisbury.

fore, probabiy, deposited in an estuary, forming the mouth of some
river. In the isle of Purbeck in Dorsetshire, this freshwater cha-
racter is more strongly marked than in any of our Wiltshire beds,
and in the Weald of Sussex and Kent a great series of beds, con-
sisting of limestones, sandstones and clay, are met with belonging
to this geological period; but this ‘Wealden’ formation, as it is
called, is wanting in Wiltshire. The Portland beds and Kimme-
ridge clay form the highest of the Oolitic series, the Upper oolite
of the Geological Survey.

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., M.P. 105

_ Next in order of succession proceeding eastwards, we find a
purely marine formation of sands and sandstone, which from con-
taining many Chloritic particles, giving it, occasionally, a dirty
yellow or greenish colour, has been called the Lower Green sand,
and is now often styled the Neocomian, from its large development
at Neuchatel, in Switzerland. It underlies another thick band of
marly clay, called Gault, which is separated from the chalk above
it by other sandy beds, to which the name of Upper Green sand
is given. These several formations, with the chalk, compose the
Cretaceous group of the Geological Survey.

In some parts of South Wiltshire, especially alone the north side
of the Vale of Wardour, the Upper Green sand, owing, probably,
to the hard cherty character of some of its beds, rises into a ridgy
range of hilly eminences, projecting themselves in front of, and
parallel to the chalk escarpment behind. One of these at Stour-
head, on the summit of which Alfred’s tower is built, reaches an
elevation of above 800 feet above the sea. In North Wiltshire this
formation occupies a slightly prominent step or terrace below the foot
of the chalk hills. Both the Upper and Lower Green sands are re-
markably rich in fossils, and especially in Aleyonites and otherspong-
iform Zoophytes. The fine collection formed, chiefly from these strata,
by the late Miss Ethelred Benett, (now dispersed) was well known
to geologists; as is also that belonging to our excellent Secretary,
Mr. Cunnington, at Devizes. Almost the entire Vales of Pewsey and
of Wardour, which penetrate far into the chalk platform, as well
as that smaller indentation about Warminster and the Deverills
running up the Vale of the Wily to Norton, are hollowed out of
the Upper Green sand. Overlapping these sandy beds rise the.
steep slopes of the chalk hills, which compose, as has been already
said, the eastern half of our county, and reach, in the instances of
Hackpen, St. Anne’s Hill, and Martin’s Hill among the Marl-
borough Downs, to an elevation exceeding 1000 feet above the sea.

The lower beds of chalk are generally marly, from containing
clay, and often form a sort of lower terrace at the foot of the chalk
slopes. The upper and thicker chalk consists of that pure white
calcareous mass, so well known to most Wiltshire-men, usually too

106 Geology of Wiitshire.

soft for building stone, but sometimes passing into a more solid
state. It consists almost wholly of carbonate of lime. The strati-
fication is often obscure, except where rendered distinct by layers
of flint a few inches thick, sometimes in continuous beds, but oftener
in separate nodules. The matter of which chalk is composed was,
no doubt, once a soft white mud, such as is now being slowly de-
posited in the depths of tranquil seas wherein corals abound and
shell-fish browse on them; and the flints, probably, resulted from a
slow separation of the siliceous particles contained in the mass,
which being heavier and finer than the chalk, filtered through it to
the bottom of each bed, and settled. The flinty particles seem to have
arranged themselves by preference about the sponges, which while
living, contained much silex. Hence in many gravels composed of
flint from chalk, nearly every pebble will be found to contain a
specimen of some such zoophyte. Among the fossils of chalk, be-
sides corallines, Echinoderms are very numerous, as well as Pectens,
Terebratule, Belemnites, and many forms of oyster. Teeth and
palates of fishes also are frequently imbedded in it, but no bones of

land animals, nor any terrestrial or fluviatile shells. All the ap-
pearances lead to the conclusion, that white chalk was deposited in
an open sea of considerable depth. Figs. 18 to 30, represent some

of the most characteristic fossils of the chalk.
Fig. 18 (285).

Fig. 19 (284).

A branching sponge in a flint, from the white chalk.
From the collection of Mr. Bowerbank

Fig. 20 (277).

Ventriculites radiatus.
Mantell.

Ostrea carinata. Chalk marl, Upper, and 4 ;
wer greensand. ; Syn. Goel Joa

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., MP. 107

Fig. 21 (276).

Fig. 23, (271)

Pecten 5-costatus.

Ostrea columba. Plagiostoma spinosum, Sow. White chalk, Upper,
Syn. Gryphea columba. Syn. Spondylus spinosus. and Lower -green-
Upper greensand. Upver white chalk. sands.

Fig. 26 (261).
Fig. 24 (268). hea

Fig. 25 (264),

Terebratula biplicata

Sow. Upper Creta- Terebratula Defrancii. Scaphites equalis. Chalk and

ceous. Upper Cretaceous. Upper Green sand.
Fig. 27 (256).
a 6

a. Belemnites mucronatus.
b. Same, showing internal structure. Upper and Lower chalk.

Fig. 28 (255). Fig. 29 (254)

f, Galerites albogalerus, Lam. Micraster cor anguinum.
; White chalk. White chalk.
; Fig. 30 (253).

ok.

Ananchytes ovatus. White chalk, upper and lower.

,
a. Side view.
6. Bottom of the shell on which both the oral and anal apertures are placed ;
anal being more round, and at the smaller end.

108 Geology of Wiltshire.

The hills composed of chalk are so porous, owing to the loose
texture and numerous crevices of the rock, that the rain falling
upon them sinks into the mass, and rarely runs upon the surface.
Hence its general dryness, and the number of dry combes or hollows
by which its surface is scored, and in which water seldom flows.
The mass of chalk is, however, very retentive of moisture, and acts,
probably, like a great sponge, holding it long in its pores and cre-
vices, and giving it out by degrees in the springs which gush out
at low points, to which’ the uneven surface of some bed of the un-
derlying clayey gault may direct its flow. And hence the river
waters of the chalk district, being thus slowly filtered, are usually
very clear, fine, and equable. It is, also, acireumstance worthy of
remark, that the rivers which drain all the large area of the chalk
district, do not flow in the direction which would seem most natural,
namely, that of the great vales which open out from it towards tie
west, but through narrow channels that cut across the whole breadth
of the chalk platform from N. to 8., or from W. to E., and which,
probably, had their origin in cracks or fissures broken through
this tabular mass of chalk strata at the time it was elevated to its
present high level above the sea in whose depths it was deposited.
Such are the valleys of the Kennet in the North, and of the
Bourne, Avon, Wily, Nadder, &c., in the South. The same fact
is observable in the chalk districts of the counties of Surrey, Kent,
and Sussex. Each of these valley cracks is, probably, coincident
with an anticlinal axis, or saddle-back arrangement, of one of the
secondary, or transverse curvatures of the elevated chalk strata.

The Lower Green sand in Wiltshire rather deserves the name of
Tron or Ferruginous sand, since it generally contains so large a pro-
portion of that metal, as to render many of its beds workable as
smelting ores. This has long been known, and, indeed, traces are
frequent of old smelting furnaces within the Lower Green sand
area, from Seend to Bromham and Sandy-Lane. But the process
could only be carried on successfully, so long as the neighbouring
forest of Pewsham supplied the necessary fuel. That consumed,
the ore, however rich, became valueless, until the railway pierced
this district, and by offering facilities for the conveyance either of

.
:

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., M.P. 109

coal to the ore, or of ore to the coal, made its extraction once more
profitable. And now smelting furnaces are, as my readers of course
know, being built for the purpose at several spot where the ore is
easily obtainable, and speculation is sanguine as to the results. In the
neighbourhood of the Westbury station the ore occurs in the upper
beds of Coral rag. Here, as well as near Trowbridge, there are several
faults, which bring up the Oxford clay and Cornbrash and Forest
Marble into contact with the Green sands, as well as the Kimme-
ridge clay and Coral rag. At Seend again many of these several for-
mations are brought by disturbances into close contiguity. A fault,
I must explain to my non-scientific readers, is a disturbance of
strata which has dropped the beds on one side of a more or less
vertical crevice or crack, or raised those on the other, so that they
no longer range together. It is one of the commonest accidents
of the process of elevation which has raised the marine sedimentary
beds into high and dry land. The thickness of the entire Creta-
ceous group is very great; perhaps, from 500 to 1000 feet.

On many parts of the summit levels of the great chalk platform,
both in the North and South Downs, are found beds of clay, sand,
and gravel, called by geologists, ‘Plastic Clay.’ These are outlying
portions or patches of a great Tertiary marine deposit, of the age
called ‘ Eocene,’ from its being a period when some few shell-fish
existed of the same species as those now inhabiting the ocean, (the
word Eocene being derived from two Greek words, meaning ‘the
dawn’ of the same,) and there is reason to believe that these beds
once covered the whole surface of chalk, but were for the most
part swept off or denuded by the wash of waters which, probably,
accompanied the forcible elevation of these hills from the bottom of
the sea. In the lower levels of the New Forest and Hampshire to
the South, and in Berkshire, Surrey, Middlesex, and Essex to the
East, these clays, gravels, and sands cover a much larger area than
in Wiltshire, and they are distinguished by geologists into three
principal thicknesses. Ist. Plastic clay proper, containing beds of

flinty pebbles in sand and clay, sometimes called Thanet sands.
2nd. Mottled clays with sand beds, called by Mr. Prestwich the
_ Woolwich and Reading series. 38rd. London clay. 4th. Bagshot

110 Geology of Wiltshire.

sands. 5th. Bracklesham sands. In our county they are generally
thin, often reduced to a mere sprinkling of flinty pebbles over the
surface, and rarely containing any fossils, except occasional beds of
an oyster (Ostrea Bellovacina) not very unlike our edible species.

In some of the hollows of the downs about Marlborough and
Kennet, are found those well known and singular masses of hard,
white, siliceous grit, almost saccharine (i.e. crystalline like sugar)
known by the provincial names of Sarsen-stones, Grey-wethers, or.
Druid sandstone, from their having been employed in the construc-
tion of the supposed Druidical fanes of Abury and Stonehenge.
It is the opinion of Mr. Prestwich, that they are relics of concre-
tionary masses formed in beds of pure white sand belonging to the
Lower Tertiary strata that formerly covered the chalk of this
neighbourhood, these masses having been left stranded in the hol-
lows when the the looser materials of the beds were swept away.
Other geologists think they were similarly left from the Bagshot
sands, a higher series of beds in the tertiary scale. They are al-
most peculiar to the Wiltshire Downs. In some places, such as
Clatford and Dean bottoms, there is a remarkably thick trail of
them.

On the whole, we may safely conclude, that these Eocene beds
were deposited in littoral and shallow water, and the chalk on which
they rest must have been brought up very near the surface of the
sea before, or about, the time of their formation. j

These are the most recent marine strata occurring within the
county. Since its elevation into dry land, the bottoms of its val-
leys have been more or less covered or filled with drift or alluvial
deposits of gravel, flint and chalk rubble, and brick earth in the
chalk districts, of these, together with oolitic gravel in the north. In
them are found many land and fresh-water shells, bones of red deer,
ox and horse, and even of elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros,
probably some of the earliest inhabitants of the land. This is the
‘Mammalian Drift’ described by Mr. Cunnington in a recent num-
ber of this Magazine; to which I refer my readers for a more full
and interesting account of its distribution and contents.

To him and other scientific readers of this mere general sketch of

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esq., U.P. EE

Wiltshire Geology, I must apologize for its imperfect character.
My object has been to excite a popular interest in the subject, which
may lead to further inquiry, rather than to enter into those details
which would only be understood by such readers as have already made
it their study. It is not to those only who specially occupy them-
selves with scientific pursuits that the geology of their neighbourhood
should be a matter of some importance. In an agricultural point
of view, a knowledge of the nature and disposition of the subsoils
or strata underlying the vegetable mould of our fields may often
throw light on the value of land, its most fitting system of cultiva-
tion, the depth and direction of drainage, the probable supply of
waters from wells, of building or roofing stones, of clay for tileries,
of limestone for burning, of sand for household use, and other matters
of economical value. The railroads with which our county has been
recently furnished, will in many cases, perhaps, now give facilities
for utilizing minerals formerly of little or no value from defective
means of conveyance, The iron ores of Seend and Westbury now
about to be smelted on a large scale by the coal of Wales or Somer-
setshire, may prove not the only example of this class of benefits.
A correct knowledge of the position of the coal-bearing strata, not
themselves within the limits of our county, but which approach
very near to its western border, and probably underlie the oolitic
range of the Cotswolds, though at far too great a depth to be work-
able, must be serviceable, if only in a negative sense, by preventing
such useless expenditure as took place some years back near
Malmesbury in the vain search for coal, where a geologist would
know it could scarcely by possibility be met with. These con-
siderations will satisfy my readers that some acquaintance with
geology may be practically useful to them.

But there are, probably, few among them who will not also take a
speculative interest in the historical view of physical events to which
the portion of the earth they inhabit has been subjected, set before
them by the geological facts above described. They will learn that
in ages far remote, but yet by no means the earliest that geology
has made known to us, the sea washed the shores of some great con-
tinent then existing to the west of us, and threw up its spoils ona

112 Geology of Wiltshire.

long line of coast running in a N.E. and 8.W. direction across this
island, (the lower oolitic group.) Eastward of this coast and
separated from it by a deep deposit of mud, was formed, ata
later period, a long parallel range of coral reef, (the Oxford
clay and Coral rag). These coralline ranges were, probably, for
some time sinking below the level at which the insects formed them
(as is believed to be the case at present with the coral reefs of the
Pacific,) and were in part covered by another vast thickness of clayey
sediment (the Kimmeridge clay,) and by other calcareous strata (the
Portland beds;) after which a new elevation of this area must have
occurred, bringing up the surface above the sea-level, so as to give
rise to the formation of the Purbeck beds in fresh or brackish water.
Another depression must have then taken place, during which the
sands of the lower Cretaceous group accumulated, and which, pro-
bably, reached its maximum in the period when the thick mass of
white chalk was slowly and quietly settling at the bottom of a ‘deep
deep sea.’ Then this district rose again so near the sea-level as to
receive the littoral gravel, clays, and sands of the lower and middle
Eocene groups. And the rise seems to have continued until these
marine beds, with the chalk on which they rest, not only became
dry land, but reached the elevation at which we now find them of
1000 feet above the sea.

That all these several changes occupied periods of immense dura-
tion, is proved not merely by the enormous thickness of the various
beds thus heaped one over the other, but still more by the changes
of animal life which accompanied their deposition—thousands of
species having become extinct one by one, and succeeded by other
thousands as gradually brought into being ;—those found in the
more recent or highest beds becoming by degrees more and more
like those which are now in existence, until some few at first, and
afterwards a large proportion, appear identical with them. By
what secondary causes the changes in animal life were brought
about, remains (and. will probably always remain,) a mystery.
The same may be said, perhaps, of the contemporary changes of
superficial level. Both processes were, undoubtedly, gradual and
continuous through countless ages. And during all that time not

By G. Poulett Scrope, Esy., MP. 113

a vestige of Man was impressed upon any portion of the earth’s
surface. We are apt to pride ourselves on the possession in our
county of the remains of some of the earliest human inhabitants of
the island. But long before the first aboriginal ‘ran wild’ in our
‘woods,’ all the changes I have rehearsed had ceased, the surface
of the country had assumed its present form—its chalk hills, and
their outlying patches of tertiary sands and gravels stood at their
present high levels; its valleys had been excavated, and covered by
land floods with more recent gravels of terrestrial origin filled with
bones of elephant, hippopotamus, and other animals now foreign
to England, and its surface occupied by the races of the vegetable
and animal creation now existing here. These, be it remembered,
are not imaginary speculations, but facts, attested by evidence quite
as strong as that which: proves the early occupation of our hills by
the unknown builders of Stonehenge, Abury, and the races whose
remains fill our barrows. The strata that compose those hills and the
vales at their foot, are, indeed, the mausolea of countless generations
of the ancient living inhabitants of this area of the world’s surface.
But they are chiefly of marine origin, and testify to the predomi-
nance of the ocean over dry land in this district throughout the

earliest ages to which its geological structure carries us back. Thus

;

is seen to arise the alliance between two of the subjects with which
our Society occupies itself. Geology takes up the history of our

district at the point where the local annals of its human inhabitants

are obscured by the mists of antiquity, and carries it backward
through infinite cycles of ages to an equally misty beginning, by
the light of ‘Paleontological’ evidence disentombed from the
bowels of the earth. No one can assert that this branch of our
studies has not its own special attraction to every inquiring mind.

_ Lhope that the rude sketch here offered of its chief points, may

recommend it to the attention of some who have not yet become
alive to the interest it is fitted to command.

114

Che Flora of Wiltshrre,

COMPRISING THE

Flowering Plants and Ferns indigenous to the County;

By Tuomas Bruces Frower, M.R.C.S., F.L.S., &e., &e.
No. II.

PuysicaAL GEOGRAPHY.

qQILTSHIRE one of the south-western counties of England,
LY) is bounded north-west, and north by Gloucestershire; north-
east by Berkshire; south-east by Hampshire; south-west by Dor-
setshire, and west by Somersetshire. The form or outline of the
county is nearly that of a quadrangle, having its angles respectively,
near Lechlade, Sopworth, west of Malmesbury; Stourhead, west of
Mere; and Cadnam, on the verge of the New Forest. Its utmost
length from north to south is almost 54 miles, and its extreme
breadth east and west, nearly 37 miles.!_ The area is estimated at
1352 square miles, and it lies between the parallels 50° 55° and 51°
43° north latitude, 1° 29° and 2° 21° west longitude.

The surface of the county is varied and undulating throughout. It
includes lofty hills, spacious valleys, extensive irrigated cornfields
(both upland and plain), and open downs, presenting very bold and
commanding views. On a general survey, Wiltshire will be found to
present as great a variety of scenery as any inland county in the
kingdom. In some parts the naked downs impart a wildness to
the prospect, which is strikingly contrasted with the numberless
beauties scattered over the face of the county by the hand of art:
while the hills, aspiring to the bold character and picturesque

1 From a recent survey, the greatest dimension or length of the county, mea-
sured north and south, is from the border of Gloucestershire, between Cirencester
and Fairford, to the border of Dorsetshire near South Damerham, between Cran-
bourne in Dorsetshire and Fordingbridge in Hampshire. The greatest breadth
from east to west is from the junction of the three counties of Hampshire, Berk-
shire, and Wiltshire at Inkpen Beacon, to the border of Somersetshire at Midford
Bridge, south of Bath.

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$ By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 115

scenery of mountains, gradually decline into richly wooded dales
and plains in a high state of cultivation.

There are Two Divisions of the County. The first, or Southern,
includes all the Wiltshire Downs, with their intersecting valleys,
and is separated from the Northern by an irregular line run-
ning round the foot of the chalk hills, from their entrance into the
north-east part of Berkshire, to their south-west termination at
Maiden Bradley. The Downs are an elevated table land intersected
by valleys, which gives the surface a broken appearance, the air
on them being keen, and healthy to robust constitutions; the valleys
although more sheltered from the sweeping winds from the Atlan-
tic, partake of this keen air, which is drawn along their course in
eurrents. The soil on the Downs varies little, being thin, and uni-
formly resting on the chalk, it produces excellent short herbage,
very well suited for sheep pasture, a small portion being onlyecon-
verted into arable land, and that chiefly on the borders of the valleys.
As we descend from the Downs into the valleys, the soil generally
becomes less mixed with flints and of a more loamy nature, in
consequence of the waters washing down portions of the upper soil
of which the finer particles are deposited on the sides of the hills,
and form what is caJled white land. The level part of the valleys,
nearest the rivulets, consists of flints washed down lower and mixed
with fine earth.

The Second, or Northern Division, differs greatly from the south-
ern. The subsoil in this part of the county, instead of being chalk,
consists chiefly of flat broken stone, called provincially corngrit,
being the same as the Cotswold Hills. The top soil is a reddish
calcareous loam mixed with irregular flat stone, and commonly called
stonebrash. In some places a stratum of clay is interposed between
the rock and the top soil, which may easily be known by the oaks
which thrive there, whilst on the other parts the elm thrives best.

SKETCH OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE STRATA OF WILTSHIRE.
With the exception of some unimportant outliers of the tertiary
beds,' the strata of Wiltshire belong to two great geological divi-

__ ' The tertiary strata of Wilts have not been, as yet, fully examined, but it is
hoped that we may ere long be favoured with a detailed account of them by Mr.
ich, Treasurer of the Geological Society.

116 The Flora of Wiltshire.

sions, the Cretaceous and the Oolitic. The difference between these
is strongly marked, and the beautiful undulations of our chalk
downs with their simple clothing of fine turf, contrast very remark-
ably with the rich wooded valleys and pastures of the middle oolites.
The chalk may be considered, from its extent, as the most striking
geological feature, occupying fully one half of the whole area of
the county, forming as it does the extensive downs, which over-
spread the eastern, central, and southern parts; and there can be
but little doubt that a stratum so extensive and differing so much as
it does, both chemically and mechanically from most of the oolitic beds,
will be found to possess certain peculiarities of Floral distribution.
This we expect will prove to be the case as our knowledge of the
botany of the county becomes more extended.

The Cretaceous system, includes, besides the Chalk, the Upper
Green sand, Gault, and Lower Green sand, and in this county these
usually follow with considerable regularity. The outliers of the
chalk escarpment form terraces or gentle slopes along the bases of
the hills.

The Lower Green sand has not hitherto been observed in the
southern division. _

The Cretaceous strata of Wilts are comprised in the following

Table.
STRATA. EXAMPLES.

Upper chalk or chalk with flints, Near Salisbury, Marlborough, and

on most of the higher chalk hills.

Lower chalk and chalk marl, Towards the bases of most of the

chalk hills, as at Bishop’s Can-

nings, Cliff Wancy, Warmin-

f ster, &c.
Upper Green sand, Devizes, Warminster, Pewsey.
Gault, Devizes, Crockerton, Rowde.
Lower Green sand, Seend, Spye Park, Calne.

Wiltshire furnishes examples of most of the members of the
Upper and Middle oolites, and the following Table exhibits a list

¢

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. eee

of the strata and of the localities, where in quarries or in natural
sections they may be most easily studied.

SrraTa. Locatitigs.

Purbeck beds, Swindon, Tisbury.

Portland beds, Swindon, Tisbury, Crookwood.

Kimmeridge clay, Near Devizes, Wootton Basset.

Calcareous grit, Calne, Seend, near Steeple Ashton,

Coral rag and pisolite, Calne, Steeple Ashton, Westbrook

Oxford clay, New Inn near Devizes, Chippen-
ham, Trowbridge.

Kelloways rock, Kelloways, Chippenham.

Cornbrash, Chippenham station, Lacock, Cor-
sham, Trowbridge.

Forest marble, Lacock Abbey, Atford, Stanton
St. Quintin.

Bradford clay, Bradford.

Great oolite, Bradford, Box, Monkton Farley.

Fullers earth, Near Box.

Rivers AND CoMMUNICATIONS.

The county is included in the three basins of the Thames, the
Severn, and the Christchurch or Salisbury Avon. The northern chalk
district, and the northern part of the county are included in the
basin of the Thames. The southern chalk district, with the Green
sand district which begirts it, the Vale of Pewsey east of Devizes,
and Market Lavington with the Vale of Wardour, belong to the
basin of the Salisbury or Christchurch Avon. The western side of
the county south of Warminster belongs to the basin of the Severn,
and the south-western border about Stourhead and Mere is drained
by the Dorsetshire Stour, being included in the basin of the Avon,
with which the Stour unites in Christchurch haven.

The Thames rises in the south eastern slope of the Cotswold

* It may here be remarked, that the strata of Wiltshire generally abound in
fossil organic remains, and the works of modern paleontologists, have been

much enriched by Wiltshire examples. Some large local collections have been
made, and it is to be hoped that our Society may ultimately be able to exhibit

a good illustration of the County Geology.

118 The Flora of Wiltshire.

Hills, and first touches the county at Cricklade Bridge; it flows by
Castle Eaton a distance of four miles to the border of the county,
separating Wiltshire from Gloucestershire, and quits Wiltshire
altogether a little above Lechlade. It receives in its course the
Key, which rises in the northern escarpment of the northern chalk
district; it runs northward passing to the west of Swindon, and
close to the little village of Water Eaton near Cricklade, and has
a course of about ten miles, receiving several brooks by the way.

2nd. The Cole, which has three principal sources, one between
Swindon and Chisledon in the Green sand, a second near Chisledon
also in the Green sand, and one in the chalk escarpment near Bis-
hopstone, close to the Berkshire border; it flows northward on the
border of the county which it separates from Berkshire, and flows
into the Thames a little beyond the border of the county. The
most important feeder of the Thames in this county is the Kennet,
which rises in the Green sand district near its outer-edge, between
Cliffe Pypard and Yatesbury; it flows south and south-east by
Yatesbury and Avebury to Silbury Hill; it then turns eastward by
East Kennet, Manton, Marlborough, Mildenhall, and Chilton Foliot
just below which it touches the border of the county, separating
it from Berkshire, and then at Hungerford quits it altogether. The
course of the Kennet within Wiltshire is about 20 miles.

The Salisbury or Upper Avon rises in the southern slope of the
northern chalk district, in the neighbourhood of Devizes, and. flows
east south-east along the Vale of Pewsey. At Salisbury it is joined
on the right by the Wily, united with the Nadder. A little lower
down, it is joined on the left bank by the Bourne, and afterwards
flows southwards by Standlynch House to Downton, a little below
which it quits the county. Its length from the neighbourhood of
Devizes to the border of the county is about 42 miles.

The Wily rises in the Downs north of Mere in the south-
west part of the county, and flows first east, then north by the
Deverills to Warminster, near which it bends to the east south east
and flows past Heytesbury, Wily, Steeple Langford, Stapleford,
Ditchampton, and West Harnham to Fisherton, where it joins the
Avon. Its whole course is about 27 miles. Near Quidhampton

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 119

on the right it is joined by the Nadder, which rises close to the
Dorsetshire border near Shaftesbury.

The Bourne rises just within the northern boundary of the south-
ern chalk district, and flows southward by Collingbourn Kingston
to Shipton, where it crosses a corner of Hampshire, Cholderton,
Allington, Idminster, the Winterbournes, and Laverstock near
Salisbury, below which it joins the Avon. Its whole length is
about 23 miles.

A yery small part of the county about Mere, in the south west-
ern corner, is drained by the upper waters of the Dorsetshire Stour
which rises at Stourhead. The Stour and the Salisbury Avon unite
just above their outfall into the English Channel at Christchurch.
That part of the county which belongs to the basin of the Severn
is drained by the Bristol or Lower Avon, the sources of which are
in the Cotswold Hills, at Horton near Chipping Sodbury in Glou-
cestershire, and in the hilly districts in the northern part of Wilt-
shire, the united stream is joined at Malmesbury by a stream eight
miles long from Tetbury and Brokenborough. From Malmesbury the
Avon flows in a winding channel south-west by Lacock, Melksham,
Bradford, and Limpley Stoke to the border of the county, and en-
ters Somersetshire between Bradford and Bath.

The Marden rises in the Green sand hills, Compton hill above
Compton Basset, flows by Calne, and after a course of 9 miles flows
into the Avon.

The Were is formed by the junction of several streams, which rise
in the escarpment of the chalk down about Westbury.

The Frome belongs to Somersetshire, but some part of its course
is on the borders of the county. Few of the rivers of Wiltshire
are navigable, and only for a short distance, which is owing to its
central position and comparative elevation. This is partially sup-
plied by canals, of which three are connected with the county.

Ist. The Thames, and Severn Canals, which in its course from
the Thames at Lechlade, to the Stroudwater Canal at Stroud, con-
necting the rivers Thames and Severn, crosses the northern part of
the county near Castle Eaton and Cricklade.

2nd. The Kennet and Avon Canal, which also connects the Thames
with the Severn, by means of their respective tributaries, the Ken-

120 The Flora of Wiitshire.

net and the Bristol Avon. This is about 57 miles long, it com-
mences at the head of the river Kennet at Newbury in Berkshire,
and terminates in the river Avon at Bath. About 41 miles of its
course is in Wiltshire, which it enters near Hungerford. It passes
Great Bedwyn, Devizes, and Trowbridge, and quits the county 4
miles from Bradford, at the Dundas Aqueduct.

3rd. The Wilts and Berks Canal, which connects the Thames near
Abingdon, with the Kennet and Avon Canal, at Semington between
Devizes and Bradford.

Boranicat Drvisions.

In arranging a county into divisions and districts for purposes of
Natural History, no doubt the principle of adhering to watersheds
as boundary lines, so rigidly carried out in the excellent “Flora of
Hertfordshire,” is the sound one, viz,, that each tributary, even the
smallest streamlet, shall be taken with the main stream into which
it runs. But practically this becomes exceedingly inconvenient,
the lines of demarcation being unmarked on maps, and difficult to
find on the real ground.

A more convenient course and one as applicable to the actual
distribution of plants is to seize upon some good visible boundaries,
however artificial, which approximate to the watershed lines, al-
though not very exactly. Of this kind are canals, large streams,
railroads, and highroads, being evident on the ground, and usually
traced on maps. These will, therefore, be taken as being best
adapted for dividing the county into districts for botanical study ;
for all Floras should be sectional, they should be not only a small
whole in their local uses and purposes, but also a part of something
larger and wider, and such a part as may be united, uniformly
and congruously with the other parts, into the one greater whole.

The Kennet and Avon Canal is, therefore, fixed on as one very
visible boundary, right across the county, and tolerably well cor-
responding with its most important watershed, that namely, which
cuts off the southern from the northern portion of the county.! The

' See map of ‘The Botanico-Geographical Districts of the County,’ accom-
panying this paper.

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 121

northern portion will again be divided into two districts, by tracing
the highroad from Devizes through Calne and Wootton Basset to
the Cheltenham railway; the line of which is kept from Minety to
Tetbury. The southern portion will be divided into three districts.
The river Avon from the borders of Hampshire traced up to the
Kennet and Avon Canal near Bishops Cannings, cutting off the
south-eastern district; and the railway from Salisbury through
Warminster and Trowbridge to the Kennet and Avon, cutting off
the south western district. There will consequently be Five leading
Botanical districts, thus,

5. North eastern. 2. South western.

4. North western. 3. Middle.

1. South eastern.

All these are tolerably well separated by lines of demarcation, are
easily found on the land or on the map, and will be quite numerous
enough for the arrangement of localities, and most other purposes
of Geographical Botany. More numerous and minute sub-divisions
have one use, namely, as a means of showing the relative frequency
of species, by reckoning the number of the small districts in which
each species occurs. —

1. Sourm Eastern Disrricr.

This district comprehends the basin of the Bourne, with the
whole of the south-eastern portion of the county; its area being
about 226 square miles. It has the Kennet and Avon canal, from
Bishops Cannings to Hungerford for its northern boundary; the
borders of Hampshire furnishing its eastern and southern, and the
river Avon, traced up from the borders of the county to the Kennet
and Avon canal, forming its western boundary. Its whole area
it eretaceous, with the exception, of the outliers of the Tertiaries, (as
at Silbury Hill and Bedwyn), and of the more regular beds of the
same deposits in the, south-eastern corner of the county; a good
example of which occurs at Alderbury, where the cuttings of the
Southwestern Railway have exposed good sections. This district
is principally drained by the rivers Avon and Bourne, with their
tributary streams. The principal eminences are Upavon, Easton,

122 The Flora of Wiitshire.

and Pewsey Hills, all commanding the Vale of Pewsey, and crowned
with ancient earthworks; also Sidbury Hill, Beacon Hill, 690 feet
high; Mizmaze, Ashley Hill, and numerous others. The earthworks
of Old Sarum are also very conspicuous, being above 339 feet
above the level of the sea, presenting from their summit some varied
and beautiful scenery. It was on the ruins of its walls that Mr.
Dawson Turner and Mr. Sowerby discovered the rare ‘ Sedum
sexangulare,” the only locality known for it in England. This dis-
trict will be found by the botanist remarkably rich in plants. And
the author is not without hope that its “Flora” may yet be much
enlarged by further additions. Dr. Southby of Bulford, and James
Hussey, Esq., claim his especial thanks for the assistance they
have afforded him.

%. Soura Western District.

The south-western district has for its northern boundary the
Kennet and Avon canal: its eastern being formed partly by the
Upper Avon, and the railway from Salisbury through Heytesbury,
Westbury, Warminster, and Trowbridge. The counties of Dorset-
shire and Somersetshire, respectively, form its southern and western
boundaries, including an area of about 272 square miles.

This district contains two small areas of oolitic beds, viz., that to
the west of Trowbridge, and northwards of Westbury Leigh, and
the insulated mass of Purbeck and Portland deposits near Chilmark
and Tisbury in the Vale of Wardour; the Cretaceous series, inclu-
ding the Upper Green sand tracts,! at Warminster and Horning-
sham, celebrated for containing fine fossil sponges and other organic
remains, make up the rest of this district. This district is drained
by the Salisbury Avon, Nadder, Wily, and their tributary streams.

From the summit of many of the hills magnificent views are
obtained. On Cley Hill (900 feet high) the eye ranges south over
the woods of Longleat, eastward along the boundary of Salisbury
Plain, and on the west over a cultivated country to the distant

1 These are here well represented, the whole series of beds of which it is com-
posed rising abruptly on the north side of the valley, and forming a narrow
ridge of unequal height. The thickness here is as much as 50 or 60 feet, and
the upper beds contain Chert.

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 123

heights about Bath, and the indented line of the Mendips. Long
Knoll, 973 feet above the sea, being the extreme west point of the
chalk of Salisbury Plain, occupies a magnificent point of view. In
addition we have Prospect Hill, Whiten Hill, Titherton Hill, Rod-
mead Hill, Whitesheet Hill, and Morley Combe Hill. Alfred’s
Tower occupies Kingsettle, one of the loftiest of the Green sand
hills (800 feet above the sea).

This district possesses considerable variety of soil and surface,
and is in many respects a remarkably favourable one for the botanist,
its Flora having, from time to time, been well investigated by many
excellent observers, viz., the late Aylmer Bourke Lambert,! Pro-
fessor David Don, and William Peete, Esq., who have each dis-
covered plants of great rarity. For a list of most of them (in
addition to the author’s own researches), with many valuable
remarks, he was indebted to the kindness of the lamented Professor
Don.

; 3. Mippte Disrricr.

The middle district has its northern boundary defined by the
Kennet and Avon canal, its eastern by the Salisbury Avon, and its
south-western by the railway from Salisbury through Warminster,
Westbury, and Trowbridge, the area being about 220 square miles.

This district has a small portion of the oolitic strata in the neigh-
bourhood of Trowbridge, Steeple Ashton, Seend, and Poulshot.
The coral rag is particularly well developed at Steeple Ashton, (a
classical spot to paleontologists,) and the surrounding neighbour-
hood. Here the corals of the coral rag are found in greatest
abundance and perfection, showing that this part of our island, at the
time of the deposit, clearly existed in the condition of a coral island in
an open sea. The thickness of the bed is about 400 feet, large por-
tions of it being frequently made up of the remains ofa single species.
An earthy calcareous freestone full of fragments of shells, rests
immediately upon it, surmounted by a fine grained ferruginous
sandstone, slightly oolitic in structure, and containing a few fossils

‘It is to be hoped that a memoir of this eminent Wiltshire Naturalist will

_ ultimately appear in the pages of the Society’s Magazine, with memoirs of others

who have been from time to time resident in, or connected with the county,

124 The Flora of Wiltshire.

that mark the close of the middle oolitic period.!. The rest of the
district is cretaceous, embracing the major part of Salisbury Plain,
forming an elevated platform. It also includes a considerable
breadth of Upper Green sand, ranging westward from Devizes
round the foot of the chalk hills, towards Westbury. This district
is principally drained by the Upper and Lower Avon, the Wily,
and Wily Bourne rivers.

The scenery in this district is wild, consisting of a range of
bleak downs and deep valleys, mostly bare of wood, presenting to the
eye a surface checkered with cornfields and rich pastures. From
Catley Hill we have one of the finest panoramic views in the county.

The author’s list of plants for this district, the result chiefly of
his own observations, is numerous, but much yet remains to re-
ward any botanist, who will give it the careful and diligent ex-
amination which it deserves.

4, Tue Norra Western District.

The north western district is bounded north by the Gloucester
and Cheltenham Railway, commencing at Purton station, passing
Minety to the station at Tetbury, and by the adjoining county of
Gloucestershire; the counties of Gloucestershire and Somersetshire,
respectively, forming its western boundary, its southern being
formed by the Kennet and Avon canal, commencing at Freshford
and terminating at Devizes, whilst its eastern is formed by tracing
the highroad from Devizes through Calne and Wootton Basset, to
the Cheltenham railway. The area occupies about 255 square
miles. ’

The road from Devizes to Calne, cuts off some small portions of
Gault and Lower Green sand at Rowde, Spye Park, Bowden Hill,
and Sandy Lane. With this exception, the north-western district is
oolitic, and has examples of all the strata, from the Kimmeridge
clay to the Fuller’s earth inclusive. The Oxford clay is of con-
siderable importance in this part of Wilts, occupying extensive
levels round Melksham, Broughton Gifford, Chippenham, &e. It

1 The average height of the coral rag hills seems to be about 400 feet above
the level of the sea.

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 125

may also be recognized by the oaks which thrive there, whilst
on other parts the elm thrives best. Mineral waters occur in this
formation at Melksham, Holt, and Seend near Devizes.: The two
former are impregnated with purgative salts, the latter contain
iron and carbonic acid. This district is principally drained by the
Bristol Avon, the Isis, Marden, and their tributary streams.

In addition to the author’s own observations in this district he
is greatly indebted to the labours of Miss L. Meredith, Dr. R. C.
Alexander, and Mr. C. E. Broome, whose lists have been kindly
placed at his disposal. The northern portion of this district also
has not yet been sufficiently investigated.

5. Norra Eastern District.

The north-eastern district is bounded on the north by the adjoin-
ing county of Gloucestershire, on the east by Berkshire, the
southern boundary being formed by tracing the Kennet and Avon
canal at Hungerford to Devizes, and its western by following the
high road from Devizes through Calne and Wootton Basset to the
Cheltenham railway, which separates it from the north-western
district, including an area of 308 square miles. This district in-
cludes the extensive area of chalk north of the Vale of Pewsey,
but the rest beyond Swindon is oolitic. There are considerable
levels of the Kimmeridge and Oxford clays in the neighbourhood
of Wootton Basset. Broad bands of the coral rag extend from
Calne, Hilmarton, and Wootton Basset, towards the north-east,
and these are succeeded by the Cornbrash, Forest marble, &c., &e.
There are some patches of Tertiary gravels in Savernake Forest
and Froxfield, north of Hungerford. The principal eminences are
Charlbury Hill above Little Hinton, Beacon Hill above Liddin eton,
(690 feet above the level of the sea,) Barbery Hill, Hackpen Hill
above the Winterbournes, Beacon Down above Heddington, Round-
away Hill above Devizes, with Easton Hill, St. Anne’s Hill, and
several others. This district is principally drained by the rivers
Kennet, Isis, and Avon, together with their tributary streams.

From the variety of strata occurring in this district, its Flora
will be found remarkably rich in plants, and, although the author’s

126 The Flora of Wiltshire.

lists are numerous, yet he is still desirous of receiving further ad-
ditions, more especially for the neighbourhood of Marlborough, as
yet but little investigated by botanists generally.

Such then are the districts into which it is proposed to divide
Wiltshire, for the better study of its “Flora;” and as previously .
mentioned, the species will be severally traced through each divi-
sion and district, so far as ascertained to occur in them. With a
tabular summary of the. numerical results, we gain an amount of
positive information, and a probable test of negative information,
such as we should be unable to extract from any other local
Flora written in the ordinary method. Again, when this series of
papers is brought to a conclusion, they will comprehend five
several Floras, which will be more or less complete catalogues of
species for as many different sections of the county. Also two
distinct Floras for larger tracts formed from the union of minor
sections. The author will then be better prepared to enter some-
what more fully, than he otherwise could have done, into the
causes which govern the distribution of the various species of
plants throughout the county generally.!

1 For the sake of uniformity with the ‘‘ Cybele Britannica,” (the catalogue of
British plants, published by the Botanical Society of London,) the fifth edition
of which has just made its appearance, has been used as an index of nomencla-
ture and arrangement.

127

Account of a ‘Grinity’ Ming

FOUND IN FELLING AN OAK AT CHUTE, WILTS.

a Side view of the ring, actual size.
6 Enlarged view of upper surface,

a Society is indebted for the accompanying engraving to
&W/)i the liberality of Miss Wickins, of the Close, Salisbury, a lady
whose pencil has been frequently and ably employed in the illus-
tration of the archzological remains of the county.

This ring, which is of very pure gold, is of small size, suitable
to the finger of a female. It is of good design, although not of
very elaborate workmanship. The etching on the facet represents
the Holy Trinity—the Supreme Being holding a crucifix, and
having on the right a dove; in the left corner is a palm branch.
The outside of the ring is of a simple twisted pattern. Inside are
engraved, apparently in a more modern style, the words “ Pensez
bien.” It is now in the possession of T. E. Fowle, Esq., of Dur-
rington, Wilts. A larger gold ring, of very similar design, was
found last year in a garden near Salisbury, and is now in’ the
possession of Mr. Cunnington, of Devizes.

Trinity Rings of more elaborate workmanship, found at Orford
Castle, Suffolk, and within the precincts of Lewes Priory, are de-
scribed and engraved in the Journal of the Archeological In-
stitute, vol. vii. p. 89, 322. They are attributed to the early
_ part of the fifteenth century. Wee

128

Contributions to the AUasenm and Library.

The Committee feel great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of the following
articles, presented to the Society :—

Twenty-two Roman silver coins of the following reigns, Nerva—Fanstina, Jun.
—Titus—Sabina—Faustina—Vespasian—Marcus Aurelius—Trajan—Domi-
tian—Antoninus Pius—and Hadrian ; found at Mere, Wilts, in 1856. (Ducuy
or CORNWALL.)

By the Rey. J. Lockuarr Ross, Vicar of Avebury :—A Black letter Bible,
said to have been discovered during the last century in a hollow tree at Ber-
wick Basset, Wilts. The reason for its concealment is unknown. It after-
wards came into the hands of a grandson of ‘‘Tom Robinson,” (the Abury
stone breaker mentioned by Dr. Stukeley,) in whose family it has continued
until the present time.

By G. Pouterr Scrorg, Esq., M.P., Castle Combe :—‘‘ The Geology and Extinct
Volcanos of Central France,” by the Donor, 1858.

By Mr. Cunnineron, Devizes:—Large Ancient British Funereal Urn, a
bronze penannular Ring, a bronze armlet, and a bronze chisel (?), also an
iron instrument, found at Oldbury, 1858.

By Mr. J. Crarx, Heddington :—Large Roman leaden Coffin, found at Hed-
dington.

By Mr. J. Exten, Devizes:—Impression of the Great Seal of Charles II.

CHiltshive Alotes and Queries.

Wittsuire Durine THE Crvit Wars; or, a Political, Military, and Do-
mestic History of this County, during the Stuart controversy, embracing a
period of one hundred years, that is to say, commencing with the outbreak of
the war in 1640, and terminating with the rebellion of 1745. This, which has
already, in part, appeared in the Wiltshire Independent, J. Waylen proposes
to re-publish in a thick imperial octavo, with additions, and illustrated with
numerous engravings; price not to exceed a guinea. Subscribers’ names to
be sent to Mr. N. B. Randle, or Mr. H. Bull, of Devizes. In furtherance of
such a scheme, the loan of, or privilege of access to, original documents, such
as warrants, inquisitions, parish entries, and private letters, will be esteemed a
favour, and will be duly acknowledgrd.

As the work will contain an elaborate account of the estates of the royalists
in the county on the one hand, and lists of the Parliament’s friends on the
other ; it is conceived that the genealogists will find many an unexplored field.
The engravings to be principally historical groups.

H. But, Printer, Saint John Street, Devizes.

WILTSHIRE
Archealageal ont Batweal Wistory

MAGAZINE

No. XIV. NOVEMBER, 1858. Vor: ae
Contents.

Pacer.

Fiona or Wirtsuree: No. 3, By T. B. Flower, Esq., M.R.C.S..... 129-149
DRvIDIsM IN CONNECTION WITH WittsHigE: By the Rev. J. L.

ee ee ho iene e bis oS 149-192
EpInGToN on YATTON THE ETHANDUN OF ALFRED: By R. C. Alex-

oS Tai Oo ag tote es eer Se a 193-207

Carpuus TuBERosus aT AVEBURY: By Professor Buckman, F.L.S... 207-209

Braprorp-upron-Avon, No. 2: By the Rev. W. H. Jones, M.A... 210-255
The Parish Church, 210. Chancel, 212. Nave. 216. Aisle, 216. Kingston Aisle,
218. Tower, 218. Chantries, 221. Vicarage, 224. Church and Parish Registers,
229. Ancient Paintings, 231, Monuments, 232. Mural Tablets, 234. Old Custom

in Church-yard, 244. Tue Saxon Cuurcnu, 247. Grove Meeting-House, 252.

Repty to Srxicrurzs, &c., Tar Barre or Erwanpun: By Geo.

(EE IT Sc aie Pent a ee ee 255-264

ILLUSTRATIONS.
Braprorp. The Parish Church, 210.
The Saxon Church, 247.
PLI. S§.E. view.
», II. Ground Plan.—Chancel Arch.—Figures in wall above it.
», III. Elevation of N. Porch.—Doorway between Porch and Nave.
», LV. E. elevation of Chancel and Nave,
», V. Elevation S. side.

DEVIZES:
Henry Bunt, Sart Joun Srreer.
LONDON:
Beit & Daxpy, 186, Fier Srrexr ; J. R. Surrn, 26, Sono Square.

THE

WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE,

““MULTORUM MANIBUS GRANDE LEVATUR ONUS.”’—Ovid.

Che Flora of Wiltshire,
Flowering Plants and Kerns indigenous to the County;

By Tuomas Brouces Frownr, M.R.C.S., F.L.S., &., &e.
No. IIT.

i. VASCULAR OR PHANEROGAMOUS PLANTS.
CLASS 1. DICOTYLEDONES OR EXOGEN Z&.
ORDER. RANUNCULACEA, (JUSS.)

Crematis. (Linn.) Virern’s Bower.
Linn. Cl. xii. Ord. iii.

Name. From Clema {Gr.) a vine branch, which its long shoots

resemble.

iM

C. Vitalba. (Linn.) Comp. vitis and alba (Lat.) white vine.

English Botany, t. 612. Reichenbach’s Icones Flore Germanice, iv.64.

Locality. Wedges on a chalky or gravelly soil, frequent through-
out the county. In many places our hedges are completely fes-
tooned by the oppressive luxuriance of this very ornamental climber.
Sh. Fl. July, September. Jr. October, November. Area, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5,

South Division.
South-east District, Salisbury.
South Middle District, Devizes.

. South-west District, Warminster.

North Division.

4. North-west District, Chippenham.
5. North-eust District, Swindon.

Gerarde says it is called ‘Travellers’ Joy,’ because of its decking

Sand

'

adorning the ways and hedges where people travel. In Wilt-

VOL. V.—NO. XIV. K

130 The Flora of Wiltshire.

shire, and in many parts of England, it is called Old Man’s Beard,
from the hoary aspect of the long feathery awns of the seeds, which
remain attached to the plant throughout the winter, and contribute
to enliven the leafless hedges at that dreary season. In the absence
‘of trees to cling to, it will run down the sides of stone quarries
and chalk pits like long ropes, which its twisted fibrous stems
greatly resemble. The slender flexile branches are sometimes used
in this county, for binding copse-wood, and as a substitute for the
more costly pipe or cigar to our young rustic smokers. The ele-
gant term Viorna, implies that it is an ornamental wayside plant,
being derived from Via a way, and orno I adorn. In France the
twigs when stripped of their bark are worked into baskets, bee-
hives, and other light articles. Desfontaines remarks that the
young shoots are not corrosive while they are tender and herba-
ceous, and a very good paper has been made from the feathery
. parts of the seed. In a fresh state I have found the leaves and
fruit acrid and vesicant.

The North American “C. Virginiana,” frequently seen in gardens
in Wiltshire, and greatly resembling this species, has ternate
leaves, dicecious flowers, and a less woody texture.

Txaricrrum (Linn.) Meapow Ruz.
Linn. Cl. ‘xiii. Ord. iii.

Name Thalictron (Gr.) from thallo to be green.

1. T. flavum (Linn). Yellow or common Meadow Rue. Engl.
Bot. t. 8367. Reich. Icones. ii. 44.

Locality. Osier beds, banks of rivers and brooks, wet fields and
ditches, not unfrequent in the county. Perennial Fl. June, July.
Area 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

South Division.

1. South-east District, “ By the river side at Salisbury,” Mr. James
Hussey. “Marshy places in meadows at Downton, and ditch banks
about Fisherton Anger,” Major Smith. ‘“Bulford,” Dr. Southby.

2. South Middle District, “Devizes,” Miss Cunnington. Erlestoke,
Seend, and Trowbridge. |

3. South-west District, “Warminster,” Mr. Wheeler. ‘ Boyton
and river Nadder,” Mr. Rowden.

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 131

North Division.

4. North-west District, “Chippenham and its neighbourhood,”
Dr. R. CO. Alexander. Melksham, Bromham, Bradford, Castle
Combe, and Box.

5. North-east District, Swindon, Cricklade, Purton, and Marl-
borough.

T. Majus. (Smith) Hngl. Bot. ¢. 611. “T. flecuosum.” (Fries) not
Jacquin, is stated on the authority of the late Dr. Maton to grow
by the side of rivulets about Salisbury. Watson’s Bot. Guide, p. 45.
This was an error, as I was afterwards informed by the late Pro-
fessor Don: a larger form of “T. flavum” (Linn.) having been
mistaken by Dr. Maton for this species. A more careful study of
this difficult group, including “T. flavum” and its allies, is still
required from our English Botanists. The fruit would I think
furnish good permanent characters.

May we not have two or three forms grouped under the name
of T. flavum (Linn.) ?

Avemwone. (Linn.) ANEMONE.
Linn. Cl. xiii. Ord. iii.

Name Anemone (Gr.) derived from Anemos (Gr.) the wind, be-
cause the species delight in exposed situations.

1. A. nemorosa (Linn.) wood anemone. Engl. Bot. t. 355. Reich.
Icones, iv. 47.

Locality. Woods, groves, and thickets, common in all the dis-
tricts throughout the county. P. F/. March, May. Area, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5.

South Division.
1. South-east District. Frequent about Salisbury.
2. South Middle District. Devizes.
_ 8. South-western District. Warminster.
North Division.

4. North-west District. Chippenham.

5. North-east District. Swindon. .

A beautiful purple variety of the A. nemorosa flore purpureo is
not unfrequently met with in different parts of the county. The
wood anemone is the most generally diffused of the very few

K 2

132 The Flora of Wiltshire.

species found in Britain, of this eminently continental genus, of
which Sweden alone can boast no less than seven (including Hepatica
and Pulsatilla), whilst it is doubtful whether more than two are
really indigenous to this country. The present species is found
throughout Britain and in all parts of Europe, from Italy to Lap-
land. It also inhabits Siberia, and a slight variety is common in
the United States and Canada. The plant being extremely gre-
garious, it is a great ornament to our woods in early spring, when
the but yet half clothed soil is spangled with the profusion of its
starry blossoms. Mr. Henry Turner of the Botanic Garden, Bury
St. Edmunds, remarks a high degree of fragrance in the flowers of
the wood anemone. And the late E. J. Vernon, Esq., states that
the blossoms emit a delicate almond scent, as in some kinds of
Clematis.

The A. Pulsatilia (Linn.) or Pasque flower, so called by Gerarde
from its flowering about Easter. Mr. Cunnington informs me that a
specimen has recently been sent to Miss L. Meredith from Salis-
bury. Two or three years since this species was reported to me
from Westbury and Warminster Downs, but specimens obligingly
sent were merely the “A. nemorosa flore purpureo.” TI have not as
yet seen any Wiltshire example: specimens in my own Herbarium
are from Cambridgeshire. It has been found at Streatley in Berk-
shire, the adjoining county.

Aponis (Linn.) PuHerasant’s Eye.
Linn Cl. xiii. Ord. iii.

Name. The flos Adonis, or Adonidis of the old herbalists, from
an idea of its being the flower fabled to have sprung from the blood
of Adonis.

1. A. autumnalis (Linn.) Corn Pheasant’s Eye. Engl. Bot. t.
308. Reich. Icones, iii. xxiv.

Locality. In cornfields, but not common in the county. F/. May,
October. Area. 1. 2. 3.* *

South Division.

1. South-east District. ‘ Cornfields on Bishop’s Down near
Salisbury, plentifully,” Major Smith and Mr. James Hussey. “Corn-
fields near Pitton,” Dr. Maton, in ‘ Hatcher's History of Salisbury.’

j

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 133

“Durnford,” Rev. T. Bree. ‘ Amesbury,” Dr. Southby, and on
Salisbury Plain.

2. South Middle District. Cornfields near Stonehenge.

3. South-west District. Great Ridge and Fonthill. ‘“Warmins-
ter,” Mr. Rowden.

This species, at present, appears confined to the South Division
of the County, having no reliable authorities for its occurrence in
the Northern portion, nor do I recollect meeting with it in my
Botanical excursions. And here J would remark that I should feel
particularly indebted to Botanists, whether resident or non-resident
in the county, who may discover any species in those districts
which are left blank, (that is distinguished by an asterisk in the
line which shows the area of the species,) if they would communi-
cate the information; and the request may be extended to any other
information calculated to supply omissions, or to correct errors, in
the Flora which will be published in a supplement on its comple-
tion. On carefully examining this species, the Botanical student
will find it more closely allied to Ranunculus than to Anemone,
differing from the former mainly in the want of nectaries on the
petals, and from the latter by the absence of an involucre. The
flowers when the plant has been for some time dried for the Her-
barium lose their fine scarlet colour, becoming white and diaphanous
like goldbeaters’ skin. The Adonis appears quite naturalized in
the Southern Division of the County. In the fourth volume of the
‘Phytologist, p. 617, Mr. James Hussey has penned some excellent
practical remarks in favour of retaining this ornament of our corn-
fields upon the list of our truly native plants; to which I would
refer the student. This was the plant that our great Ray, during
his Botanical excursions through Wiltshire in company with his
friend Aubrey, tells us they found “inter segetes,”

The “A. estivalis,”’ mentioned on the authority of Withering in
Turner and Dillwyn’s ‘Botanists Guide,” and figured in English
Botany as growing in cornfields on Salisbury Plain, near the road
leading from Amesbury to Everley, was only a variety of A.
autumnalis. Sir James E. Smith in the third volume of his
‘English Flora,’ p. 44, states that the A. estivalis (Linn.) under

134 The Flora of Wiitshire.

which the “A. miniata” and perhaps flammea of Jacquin, Fl. Austr.
t. 354 and 355, may be ranged is a very distinct species, known by
its mostly fine narrow scarlet petals, long and slender spike of
seeds, and less bushy habit. This has never been found in Eng-
land, for specimens sent by my late worthy friend Dr. Withering,
shows his “estivalis” to be but a starved and paler “autumnalis.”
Myosurvs (Linn.) Movseratn.
Linn. Cl. v. Ord. vii.

Name. From mus (Gr.) a mouse, and owrw a tail, which the
spiked receptacle resembles.

1. M. minimus (Linn). Very little mousetail. Engl. Bot. t.
435. Reich. Icones, iii. i.

Locality. Fields on a moist gravelly soil, rare. A. FV. June,
July. Area. 1.* 3. * 5.

South Division. -

1. South-east District. “Berwick St. John,” Mr. James Hussey. —

3. South-west District. ‘Cornfields in the neighbourhood of
Warminster,” Mr. Rowden.

North Division.

5. North-east District. “Cultivated land on Roundway Down,”
Miss Cunnington and Mr. Coward.

These are the only localities I find recorded among my Botanical
notes on the Flora of the county. From its small size, averaging
from two to four inches high, it may be readily passed over unless
diligently sought for. I am more particularly desirous of having
Districts 2 and 4 filled upon competent authority, but any localities
that may be hereafter detected in the county, are particularly re-
quested for future publication.

Ranuncutus (Linn.) Crowroor.
Linn. Cl. xiii. Ord. iii.

Name. From Rana (Lat.) a frog. Growing in moist places.

1. R. heterophyllus (Fries). Comp. Heteros, and phullon (Gr.)
having leaves differing from the regular form. Water Crowfoot.
Engl. Bot. t. 101.

Locality. Pools, ditches, and shallow stagnant waters, common.
P. Fl. May, July. Area. 1.2.3.4. 5.

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 135

! South Division.

1. South-east District. Salisbury.

2. South Middle District. Devizes.

3. South-west District. Warminster.

North Division.

4. North-west District. Chippenham.

5. North-east District. Swindon.

This species, the R. aquatilis of English Botany, Batrachium
heterophyllum (Prodromus Fi. Batav), is plentifully distributed in
all the districts throughout the county, but less so on elevated
ground. When the floating leaves are not produced, but are all
multified and setaceous, it is the R. aquatilis var. pantothrix Fries,
the plant being similar in all other respects. Both states are fre-
quently to be found in the same place. In swift streams it some-
times much resembles “ R. flwitans” (Lam.) Flor. Fr. iii. 84. Reich.
Icones, iii. t. 2. Engl. Bot. Suppl. t. 2870: (a plant, sufficiently dis-
tinguished by the structure of its whip-shaped leaves, but which
has not as yet been noticed in this county), and forms a tran-
sient but very elegant ornament of our rivers and brooks during
the month of June, copiously expanding its large pure white
blossoms, and gracefully undulating its bright green elongated
stems, and hair-like leaves, in the rapid and shallow currents, strik-
ingly reminding us-of the “tresses fair” of Sabrina, alluded to in
Milton’s Comus :—

“« Sabrina fair,
Listen where thou art sitting

Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,
In twisted braids of lilies knitting

The loose train of thy amber dropping hair.”

The R. peltatus, (Fr.) R. floribundus, (Bab.) R. trichophyllus,
(Chaix) and R. Drouetii, (F. Schultz,) have not as yet been ob-
served in the county. Those students who are interested in the
study of these “ Batrachian Ranunculi,’ I would refer to Mr.
Charles C. Babington’s excellent paper in the “Annals and Maga-
zine of Natural History,” for December, 1855.

2. R. circinatus (Sibth), rounded-leaved Water Crowfoot, (never
with floating leaves). Engl. Bot. Suppl. t. 2869. Reich. Icones,

136 The Flora of Wiltshire.

iii. ¢. 2. R. aquaticus albus, circinatus tenuissime divisis foliis,
floribus ex alis longis pediculis innixis. Raii Syn. ed. 3. 249.”

Locality. In canals and marsh ditches, also in ponds, which

preserve an uniform level. P. Fl. May, June. Area. * 2. * 4. 5.
South Division.

2. South Middle District. In the Kennet and Avon Canal near
Devizes.

North Division.

4. North-west District. In the canal near Bradford and Chip-
penham.

5. North-east District. In the canal leading from Swindon to
Cricklade, also at Purton.

The above localities are the only ones I quote for this plant
as noted in my Botanical rambles. It will be probably met
with in all the districts, but the pantothrix form having been fre-
quently mistaken for it by many of my correspondents, there
appears much uncertainty respecting many of the localities sent
me, and I therefore hesitate to quote them for the present. This
plant which was first distinguished as a species by Professor Sib-
thorp in his Mora Oxon, may be known from the true R. aquatilis,
as Mr. Babington well remarks, by its small sessile flat leaves,
which are all divided into finely capillary rigid segments, disposed
in one orbicular plane. In R. aquatilis the leaves are stalked, the
submersed ones very much divided into threadlike segments,
spreading in all directions, so as to form a spherical mass, whilst
in R. fluitans (which has not as yet been noticed in’ Wiltshire),
R. fluviatilis of Sibthorp, the leaves are stalked, but the submersed
ones are divided into a few very long repeatedly forked segments,
which lie parallel with each other in the water. The leaves of this
latter plant are often many inches in length, and retain the same
structure even when growing in stagnant ponds and ditches. I
have observed the leaves of “ R. circinatus coated with earthy par-
ticles, in the same way as those of Chara, though less extensively.

3. R. cenosus (Guss.) Mud Crowfoot. Eny/. Bot. Suppl. t. 2980.
Only observed as yet in small quantity on mud, by the road-side
near Marston Meisy. I should be greatly obliged for any additional

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 137

localities for this species, especially when accompanied by specimens
of the plant so named. It is probably not uncommon in the county,
but the above locality is the only one I have as yet noticed.

3. R. hederaceus (Linn.) Ivy leaved Crowfoot. Engl. Bot. t.
2003. Reich. Icones, iii. t. 2.

Locality. Shallow ponds and on mud, not unfrequent in the
county. P. Fi. June, August. Area. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

South Division.

1. South-east District. ‘Bemerton, near Salisbury,” Mr. James
Hussey. “Ditches near Alderbury, and also near Downton,” Ma-
ton in Hatcher’s ‘ History of Salisbury.’

2. South Middle District. ‘“In the neighbourhood of Devizes,”
Miss Cunnington. Rowde, Seend, Erlestoke, Trowbridge, and
Westbury.

3. South-west District. “Warminster,” Mr. Wheeler. ‘“ Heytes-
bury, Mr. Rowden. Park at Longleat and Boyton.

North Division.

4. North-west District. “Chippenham,” Dr. R. C. Alexander,
and Mr. C. E. Broome. “Bromham,” Miss L. Meredith. Melksham,
Bradford, Corsham, and Malmesbury.

5. North-east District. Swindon, Purton, Cricklade, and Marl-
borough. “Great Bedwyn,” Mr. William Bartlett.

“R. cenosus” (Guss.) being sometimes mistaken for this species, a
careful examination in its native localities will always be desirable.

4. R. Ficaria (Linn.) pilewort, Lesser Celandine, from ficus a fig,
fig-like tubercles of the root. Engl. Bot. t. 584. Reich. Icones.
a ¢. 1.

Locality. Woods, banks, meadows, and in wet places abundantly
wherever it can obtain sunshine in winter, and shade in summer.
P. Fi. April, May. Area. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

General in all the Districts.

5. R. Flammula (Linn.) flame-leaved crowfoot, Lesser Spearwort.
Engl. Bot. t.100. Reich. Icones. iii. 10.

Locality. Ponds and ditches, on moorish or gravelly ground, not
unfrequent in the county. P. Fi. June, August. Area. 1. 2. 3.
4. 5.

|

138 The Flora of Wiltshire.

South Division.

1. South-east District. Salisbury.

2. South Middle District. Devizes.

3. South-west District. Warminster.

North Division.

4. North-west District. Chippenham.

5. North-east District. Swindon.

Examples of “R. flammula B. reptans of Lightfoot reported to
have been found at Swindon and in other parts of the county, are
merely referable to “R. flammula.” Linn. Lightfoot’s plant is much
smaller, with a creeping filiform stem, observed only on the mar-
gins of the Highland Lakes, in barren stony places.

6. R. Lingua (Linn.) tongue-leaved crowfoot. Great Spearwort.
Engl. Bot. t. 100. Reich. Icones. 111. 10.

Locality. In marshy places. Very rare in the county. P. Fi.
June, August. Area. * * * 4. *

North Division.

4. North-west District. In a bog behind the Old Horse and
Jockey, Kingsdown. This is the only locality at present recorded
in the county for this very local plant, where it was first discovered
by the late Rev. Benjamin Richardson and William Sole, Esq. of
Bath, in 1798. Two other localities have been reported me, but
the specimens are merely large examples of “R. flammula.”

7. R. Auricomus (Linn.) Goldilocks from auri (Lat.) gold, and
coma, a lock of hair. Wood crowfoot. Sweet crowfoot. Engl. Bot.
t. 624. Reich. Icones. iii. 12.

Locality. Bushy places and borders of woods. Common, often
without petals, in which state it has been mistaken for Anemone
ranunculoides. P. Fl. April, May. Area. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

General in all the Districts throughout the county. This plant has
none of the acrimony of the other crowfoots, hence its name of sweet
crowfoot.

8. R. acris (Linn.) acrid upright crowfoot butter-cup. Lng.
Bot. t. 652. Reich. Icones, iii. 17.

Locality. Meadows and pastures, common. P. FY. June, July.
Area. 1. 2. 3. 4. 6.

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 139

General in all Districts. The double flowered variety is not un-
common in rustic gardens, and not inelegant.

9. R. repens (Linn.) Creeping (scions) crowfoot. Engl. Bot. t. 516.

Locality. In meadows, moist pastures, shady waste places, and
neglected gardens, very common over the entire county. P. F.
May, August. Area. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

General in all the Districts.

10. R. bulbosus (Linn.) bulbous rooted crowfoot. Engl. Bot. t.
515. Reich. Icones, iii. 20.

Locality. Meadows and pastures, everywhere. P. Fi. May.
Area. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

General in all the districts. This species is acrid, though commonly
eaten along with other herbage by domestic cattle. It increases
plentifully by seed and is of slow growth, though of long duration.
A double variety sometimes seen in gardens is figured by the old
herbalists.

11. R. Airsutus (Curt.) pale hairy crowfoot.

“R. philonotis” (Ehrb.) Koch, loving moisture. Engl. Bot. t.
1504. Reich. Icones, iii. 23.

Locality. Waste ground, on damp but sandy soil ‘that is liable
to be overflowed. A. FV. June, October. Area. 1. * 3. * 5.

South Division.

1. South-east District, Cornfields on Salisbury Plain.

3. South-west District, “In cornfields near Warminster,” Miss L.
Meredith and Mr. Rowden.

North Division.

5. North-cast District, “Great Bedwyn,” Wr. William Bartlett.

This plant as yet has only been observed in three of the five dis-
tricts of Wiltshire. It may not prove to be unfrequent in the
county, when attention has once been directed to it. The seeds,
especially towards the margin, are bordered with an irregular
double or triple row of small sharp prominences, first observed by
my late friend, Edward Foster, Esq. These clearly distinguish it
from our other common crowfoots, with which it has been con-
founded, and likewise prove the “R. parvulus,” of Linneus, to be but
a starved variety of the same species.

140 The Flora of Wiltshire.

12. R. sceleratus (Linn.) hurtful, celery-leaved crowfoot, the most
virulent of its genus. Engl: Bot. ¢. 681. Reich, Icones, iu. 11.

Locality. Marsh ditches and dirty pools, frequent. A. F/. June,
September. Area. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

South Division.

1. South-east District. “Bemerton near Salisbury,” Major Smith
and Ir. James Hussey. ‘Ditch banks at Fisherton,” Maton in
Hatcher’s ‘ History of Salisbury, and “ Bulford,” Dr. Southby.

2. South Middle District. “About Devizes,’ Miss Cunnington.
In ditches at Seend, Erlestoke, and Trowbridge. ‘‘ Westbury,”
Mrs. Overbury.

3. South-west District. “Warminster,” Mr. Wheeler. ‘“Heytes-
bury and Boyton,” Mr, Rowden.

North Division.

4.- North-west District. “Ditches in the neighbourhood of Chip-
penham,” Dr. R. C. Alexander. Spye Park, Melksham, Staverton,
Bradford, Corsham, South Wraxhall, Box, Slaughterford, and
Malmesbury.

5. North-east District. Common at the edges of stagnant pools
at Swindon, Marden, Purton, and Bradon. “Great Bedwyn,” Mr.
William Bartlett.

Easily known by its erect much branched stem, very small pale
flowers, and conical heads of ovaria, in this last respect resembling
“ Myosurus minimus.” The bruised herb is said to raise a blister,
leaving a sore which is not easily healed, and by which strolling
beggars sometimes excite compassion.

13. R. parviflorus (Linn.) small flowered crowfoot. Engl. Bot. t.
120. Reich. Icones, iii. 22.

Locality. Hedge banks and cornfields, less commonly in fields, on
a loamy soil, rare. A. FV. May, June. Area. * * 3. 4. 5.

3. South-west District. ‘Cornfields at Heytesbury and War-
minster,” Mr. Rowden.

North Division.

4. North-west District. ‘Cornfields near Bromham,” Miss L.
Meredith. Kingsdown and Monkton Farley avenue.

5. North-east District. “Great Bedwyn,” Mr. William Bartlett.

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 141

Only as yet observed in the above districts, and in these only parti-
ally distributed, ultimately it may not prove to be rare in the county.
This species is by no means unfrequent in the adjoining county
(Hampshire) as I learn from my late valued friend, Dr. Bromfield,
who informed me it was principally confined to the temperate ma-
ritime and Western parts of Europe.

14. R. arvensis (Linn.) arable, Corn-crowfoot. Engl. Bot. ¢. 135.
Reich. Icones, iii. 21.

Locality. Cultivated fields, abundant, and a troublesome weed,
in clay soils, but less frequent on chalk and gravel. A. Fi. June.
Area. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

General in all the districts.

Easily known by its large prickly pericarps, which has doubtless
obtained. for this plant the opprobrious name it bears in the county
of Devil’s claws. It often completely over-runs many of our corn-
fields, proving a most troublesome weed, and possesses the acrid
and poisonous properties of its tribe in a high degree. The species
of this genus are, in fact, remarkable from the widely different
properties secreted by their different organs, an example of which
is seen in the “R. acris,” for if the leaves are bruised and applied
to the skin it soon produces inflammation, and at length ulceration,
while from its flowers there is exhaled a harmless but agreeable
odour. There are many other tribes of plants which furnish much
more striking examples; this, however, may be sufficient to excite
the student’s enquiry as to what is the peculiar organization of the
different parts of the plant, thus to produce secretions so opposite
in their properties; and why the same plant should secrete in one
part a harmless and odorous substance, and in another a pungent
or virulent one. But as Wordsworth says,

‘By contemplating these forms,

In the relations which they bear to man,

He shall discern, how through the various means,
Which silently they yield, are multiplied

The spiritual presence of absent things.

Trust me, that for the instructed time will come
When they shall meet no object but may teach
Some acceptable lesson to their minds,

Of human suffering, or of human joy.”

142 The Flora of Wiltshire.

CarrHa. (Liny.)
Linn. Cl. xiii. Ord. i.

Name. From kalathos (Gr.) a cup form of flower.

1. C. palustris (Linn.) Marsh marigold. Engl. Bot. t.506. Reich.
Icones, iv. 101.

Locality. Marshy meadows, boggy streams and ditch banks, in
open places, common. P. FV. April, June. Fr. May, June. Area.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

General in all the districts, edging willowy copses with a belt of
gold.

In some of the rural villages in Wiltshire, I have not unfre-
quently heard the inelegant name of Horse blob applied to this plant,
and the Northamptonshire peasant bard, Clare, remarks,

es ’ neath the shelving banks retreat,
The Horse-blob swells its golden ball.”
In America the garish blossoms of this rank, acrid, but showy
plant, are brought to market as a Spring nosegay, under the name
of our far more elegant, though less pretending cowslip.
Aaquitecia. (Linn.) CoLUMBINE.
Linn. Cl. xiii. Ord. iu.

Name. From aquila, (Lat.) an eagle, the nectaries being shaped
like the claw of that bird.

1. “A. vulgaris,’ (Linn.) Common Columbine. Engl. Bot. ¢. 297.
Reich. Icones, iv. 114.

Locality. Woods and bushy places, not uncommon. P. FV. May,
June. Area. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

South Division.

1. South-east District. “ Brickworth near Salisbury,” The Hon. J.
Fox Strangways. ‘Winterslow,” Mr. James Hussey. “Clarendon
wood,” Maton in Hatcher’s ‘ History of Salisbury. “Amesbury,”
Dr. Southby.

2. South Middle District. ‘Woods about Devizes,” Miss Cun-
nington. Woods at Erlestoke, Rood Ashton, and Westbury.

3. South-west District. “Warminster,” Mr. Wheeler. “ Norridge
wood near Corsley,” Diss C. M. Griffiths. Woods at Longleat,
Stourhead, and Great Ridge.

|

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 143

North Division.

4, North-west District. “Chippenham, Dr. R. C. Alexander. In
the wood on the right hand side of the Kingsdown road beyond
Bathford, Colerne Park, Collett’s Bottom, Spye Park, Bowood, and
near Ford.

5. North-east District. ‘In the neighbourhood of Great Bed-
wyn,”’ Ur. William Bartiett ; also Marlborough Forest.

Extended research will probably prove the aquilegia to be not
unfrequent in this latter district, and in other parts of the county
not as yet sufficiently explored by the collecting botanist. Double
varieties of our common columbine with white, pink, or dark crim-
son flowers are often to be seen in gardens. The singularly close
resemblance in the flowers of this plant to a group of birds, has
given rise to the English name of Columbines, from Columba, a dove,
and the Latin generic one of Aquilegia may with as much proba-
bility have been intended to designate a gathering together of
eagles, from the same bird-like conformation and grouping. There
is, however, reason to suppose that the term aquilegia may be sim-
ply the old Latin word aquilegium, slightly altered in termination,
and which signifies a gathering or collecting of water (dew or rain),
from agua and /ego, a purpose for which the hollow or tubular pro-
cesses, or spurs, (nectaries) of the petals seem well fitted, and in fact
they are seldom found without a self-secreted honied fluid which, in
earlier times, may have been mistaken for such aqueous deposit.
Rejecting these etymologies, it will be difficult to account for the
length of the derivative from so simple a root, assuming the
allusion to be merely to the resemblance as, has been asserted by
no means obvious, of the blunt nectaries to the sharp claws of a
bird of prey. The word aquilegia as altered and applied to our:
plant is not of classical antiquity, though the species must have:
been well known to the Ancients by some other name, as it is a
native of most parts of Europe.

“Delphinium Consolida (Linn) and Aconitum Napellus (Linn.)
have been observed occasionally in the county, the former in a.
cornfield at Bromham, by Miss L. Meredith, where it has been
probably introduced with foreign seed; it can only be considered.

144 The Flora of Wiltshire.

an occasional straggler.'! The latter I have generally seen growing
on rubbish heaps and other suspicious looking places in the vicinity
of gardens, where it has been cultivated from time immemorial. It
is therefore not surprising that it should occur spontaneously in
situations analogous to its native places of growth. In the adjoin-
ing county (Somerset), it has the appearance of being truly wild,
in watery ground on both sides of a brook at Ford near Milverton,
occurring at intervals for a distance of three miles, as well as in
other similar situations in that neighbourhood, as I learn from my
friend, Mr. Thomas Clarke of Bridgwater, who has kindly pre-
sented me with specimens for my herbarium.
Hetiesorvs, (Linn.) HELLEBOoRE.

Linn. Cl. xiii. Ord. ii.

Name. From helein (Gr.) to cause death, and bora food, from the
poisonous nature of the plant.

1. H. fetidus,” (Linn.) stinking hellebore. Bearsfoot. Setter
wort. Fingl. Bot. c.18. Reich. Icones, iv. 103.

Locality. In woods, thickets, and stony bushy places along hedge
banks, rare in the county. P. Fl. March, April. Area. 1. * 3.
ed

South Division.

1. South-east District. “Clarendon woods near Salisbury,‘ Major
Smith and Mr. James Hussey.

3. South-west District. “Chapmanslade near Warminster,” Miss
C. M. Griffiths.

1 At the February Meeting, 1858, of the Thirsk Natural History Society, Mr.
J. G. Baker has satisfactorily proved that the ‘‘ Delphinium consolida” of Eng-
lish Botany is in reality ‘‘ Delphinium Ajacis.” The two species may be easily —
known from one another by various characters, amongst others, by those of
their capsules. ‘‘D. Consolida” a glabrous follicle, and as it is probable that
both species may ultimately be observed in the county, I would direct attention
to this circumstance. According to the Floras, ‘‘ D. Consolida”’ (Linn.) extends
from Lapland southward throughout Scandinavia, and is generally diffused in
Belgium and France. ‘D, Ajacis” (Linn.) is frequently subspontaneous in
Belgium, and occurs in France in sandy tracts in many of the departments. For
a more detailed account of these two species, together with ‘D. Orientale”
(Gay) which may sometimes be noticed as an occasional straggler, I would refer

to the excellent description of them given in Grenier and Godrons ‘ Flore de
France tome,’ p. 45.

4

28

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 145

North Division.

4. North-west District. Slaughterford, about Cloud Quarry, Stoke
woods, and in fields on the way to Farleigh Castle. “ Woodman’s
Quarry, Pickwick near Corsham, and in a wood at Weavern’s Mill,”
Dr. R. C. Alexander.

This species may I think be considered a true native in the
county. The late Dr. Bromfield, during his Botanical rambles in
Wilts, inclined to a similar opinion; he was probably the best au-
thority on the subject. The broad deeply cleft leaves with their
rigid evergreen character, and long petioles sheathing the short
caudex, impart to “ H. fwtidus” somewhat of the aspect of a dwarf
fan-palm or palmetto. The species is often seen in cottage gardens,
being a rustic remedy for worms in cbildren, but the employment
of so violent a medicine in unskilful hands has too often been fol-
lowed by serious consequences, and its use is now abandoned in
regular practice. It is from the use of the root as an issue for
horses and horned cattle, that the term Setter Wort is derived, the
word “Settering”’ being in use with farriers to denote the insertion
of a seton or issue, and is probably a corruption of setoning. See
Churchill’s Med. Bot. also Gerarde.

2. H. viridis (Linn.) green Hellebore. Engi. Bot. t. 200. Reich.
Icones, iv. 105.

Locality. In woods and bushy places, on a chalky soil, rare. P.
Fi. March, April. Area. 1. *'3. 4. 5.

South Division.

1. South-east District. “Borders of Clarendon wood, near Salis-
bury,” Major Smith.

8. South-west District. “Berwick St. John,’ Mr. James Hussey.
“Hedges at Fonthill Gifford,’ Miss L. Meredith. “Warminster,”
Mr. Wheeler.

North Division.

4. North-west District. In an old stone quarry at Monkton
Farley, and in Stoke woods. ‘ Ashwick and North Wraxhall,” Dr.
Rh. C. Alexander. “ Woods at Castle Combe,” Miss C. ML. Griffiths.

5. North-east District. “Great Bedwyn,” Mr. William Bartlett.

The localities for this species are all I fear of too suspicious a

L

146 The Flora of Wiltshire.

character for it to be considered truly indigenous to the county.
Further observations on its distribution in Wiltshire are still
desirable, H. viridis having been not unfrequently recorded for H.
fetidus, hence arises much confusion with regard to their respective
stations. Haller reckons up all the reputed virtues of Hellebore
under this species, which, indeed, seems to be what German prac-
titioners have substituted for the true plant of the Ancients, H.
officinalis, (Sibth) in Fl. Grace. t. 523.

To the botanical student the Hellebore affords an excellent illus-
tration of some of the more important doctrines of modern botanical
science. The flowers of most plants possess two series of envelopes,
which surround and enclose the fertilizing organs. The outer
envelope being generally green and somewhat of a leafy appearance,
is called the calyx, whilst the inner one is variously and beautifully
coloured, and receives the name of corol/a. Example, Rose, Prim-
rose, &c. Some plants, however, as the Tulip, Mezereon, Hellebore,
&c., are furnished but with one envelope, which is variously uhder-
stood and differently named by Linnean and Jussieuean botanists.
The former considering the nature of the plant in question to be
determined principally by its colour, describe the Tulip and Mezereon
to have a corolla only, whilst the latter regarding the colour and
appearance of the plant as unimportant, consider it wholly in re-
ference to its situation and structure. Hence these botanists describe
the single floral envelope of the Tulip and Mezereon, &c. as a calyx,
the corolla being entirely absent. Some botanists, as Hooker, Mirbel,
and Brown, unwilling to enlist themselves on either side, have
adopted the convenient term Perianth, (peri about, and anthos the
flower,) to describe the single envelope of the Tulip, Mezereon, &c.,
and describe its parts as petaléid or calycdid, according as they are
coloured and resemble a blossom, or are green and leafy like a calyz.
De Candolle has proposed the term Perigonium, (peri, and gone, a
Greek word used in botanical writings, to signify the stamens and
pistils,) for the single envelope, whatever may be its appearance, and
calls the separate parts of which it consists Tepa/s, in contradistinc-
tion to the petals of the corolla, and the sepals of the calyx. I shall
now endeavour to point out the principles by which the botanical

By Thomas Bruges Flower, Esq. 147

student is to be guided in extricating himself from this labrinth
of conflicting statements and opposing terms, and which will also
enable him to conduct future investigations in cases of doubt and
difficulty.

An attentive consideration of the varied forms of natural objects,
will convince him that bodies exhibiting the greatest apparent dis-
similarity are connected together by intermediate gradations of
structure which thus present a chain of appearances, each link of
which but slightly differs from its fellow, though its extremes are
so unlike. In the present instance the flower of the Hellebore which
is considered by Linnean botanists (Smith, Withering, &c.) to possess
no calyx, but to have petals only with nectaries enclosed, is described
by Hooker, Lindley, &c., as consisting of an outer envelope, which is
the calyx, the nectaries being real petals. This difficulty is at once
removed and the true nature of the structure made intelligible, by
considering Hellebore together with Trollius, “ Myosurus,” Ranuncu-
lus, Aquilegia, Delphinium, and Aconitum, as intermediate gradations
of structure, extending from the extreme of Adonis to that of Ane-
mone or Caltha, the two former genera being furnished with perfect
flowers, composed of calyx and corolla, whilst the two latter have the
calyx only, the corolla being entirely absent. With this view J
would explain the structure of the floral organs in the British
genera of the Ranunculacez, by considering Hellebore to occupy
theoretically the apex of an inverted triangle, from which the
different genera rise to the extremes of the series which may be
supposed to occupy the other angles.

Calyx and Corolla. Adonis* . . . . . *Anemone, Calyx only. ©
Trollius* *Aconitum.
Ranunculus* *Delphinium.
Myosurus* | *Aquilegia.
Hellebore.
(This diagram is merely intended to illustrate the relations which
the allied genera bear to each other.)

Commencing then with an examination of the flower of Hellebore,
we find just within the outer envelope a whorl -of little tubular
bodies, each having the external (with respect to the axis of the

L 2

148 The Flora of Wiitshire.

flower) margin of the tube longer than the inner. The next stage is
Myosurus, in which the disproportionate length of the external
margin is much increased, forming a petal with a tubular claw.
Next the Ranunculus shows the expansion of the outer and diminu-
tion of the inner margin, proceeding to the formation of a petal,
with a minute scale at its base. In Ranunculus auricomus, this scale
is absent, the nectary being merely a naked pore, thus showing an
approach to the next genus, Zo//ius, in which the scale is perma-
nently obliterated, the claw of the petals exhibiting merely an
obscure depression. Finally, in Adonis all traces of the Helleborine
tube are obliterated, the external portion being fully expanded
into a perfect petal.

Commencing again with Hellebore and proceeding to Aquilegia,
we find that the tubular petals have undergone a change of a dif-
ferent description, having been expanded above by the dilatation of
the external margin, and produced below into a hollow horn-shaped
spur. In this plant the petals are five in number, corresponding
to the five sepals of the calyx, but in the next stage, Delphinium,
one is obliterated, and of the other four, two are elongated behind
into spurs and inclosed in the process of the calyx. In Aconitum
Napellus, two more petals are obliterated, and the two remaining
ones are become slender curved bodies (usually called nectaries),
inclosed under the helmet-shaped sepal of the petaloid calyx. In
the last stage, Anemone, &c., all the petals are entirely absent, the
obliteration having been perfected. The flower now possesses but
one envelope, which is a calyx and not a corolla, as (in consequence
of its being beautifully coloured) it is wswally and erroneously con-
sidered by Linnean botanists, Smith, Withering, &. We now see
how improperly botanists of this school describe Aconite and Lark-
spur to possess a corolla of five petals, the parts which they describe
as such, being merely the sepals of the calyx beautifully coloured,
the corolla existing only in the form of the singular rudimentary
petals, which are usually considered as nectaries. As an additional
proof of the correctness of these views, I may remark, that a per-
fectly formed large membranous petal has been found in the flower
of the Aconitum, occupying its proper situation between the two

Druidism in connection with Wiltshire. 149

anterior sepals. In this case only the two lateral petals remained
absent. The botanical student will now see that the tubular nectaries
of Hellebore are real petals, and that the outer envelope of this flower,
as well as the simple and beautifully coloured one of Anemone,
Caltha, &c. is a real calyx, additional proofs of which lie in the facts
that Helleborus niger, which possesses the tubular petals, has its calyx
as much and as delicately coloured as the Anemone nemorosa, and
that in Ranunculus awricomus the real petals are, in cold backward
seasons, sometimes entirely wanting; the calyx being dilated and
more coloured than usual, so as to supply their place. Ifsuch a flower
of the R. auricomus be compared with that of Anemone ranunculoides,
their true relation will be evident, and the propriety of considering
the beautifully yellow coloured floral envelope of the datter as a true
calyx, cannot fail to be recognized.

DArwmdism in connection with Wiltshire.
By the Rzy. Jonn Locxart Ross, M.A., Oxon,
Vicar of Avebury and Monkton.
CHAPTER I.

Pyramipa Stones AND CIRCLES, THE EMBLEMS OF THE PATRIARCHAL

RELIGION.

‘* Nobilis est lapidum structura.”’
¥ “ROM the earliest ages it has been the custom of mankind to
3 pay divine worship to the Supreme Being, the first intima-
tion of which is given in the book of Genesis,! where we are
informed that “Then began men to call on the name of the Lord.”
After the calling of Abraham and Jehovah had appeared to him,
it is related, that “he builded an altar (near Bethel in Canaan)
unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.’
“These altars,” says Dr. Stukeley, ‘‘were the Patriarchal temples

like those of our Druids, the places of public worship; and invoking

in the name of Jehovah is a form of speech importing public wor-
ship on Sabbath days, equivalent to our saying—to go to Church

1 Gen. iv. 26, 2 Gen, xii. 8.

150 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

on Sundays. Invoking was the ordinary method of devotion on
Sabbath days; sacrificing was extraordinary.”

It was the custom of Abraham wherever he took up his abode,
to build one of these temples, as he did afterwards in the plains of
Mamre by Hebron,! and at Beersheba where he planted a grove, and
invoked in the name of Jehovah. This appears to have been the
practice of all his successors, of which numerous intimations have
been given in Scripture. Isaac builded an altar in Beersheba and
invoked in the name of the Lord Jehovah, who personally appeared
to him.? Jacob set up the anointed pillar at Bethel,? and in
Shechem he erected an altar.4| At Bethel he erected another pillar
where Jehovah personally appeared to him and blessed him; this
he anointed, and poured on it a drink offering or libation.? In
Exodus it is related that Moses arose early in the morning, and
builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars. “These” says
Dr. Stukeley, “we have no reason to doubt were set in a circle, as
the like was done after the Israelites were settled in Canaan, till
the temple of Solomon was built: for Samuel when he dwelt at
Ramah, built there an altar to Jehovah, in order to celebrate the
public offices of religion.®

These open circles or temples were commonly erected on plains
and rising grounds, conspicuous and commodious for multitudes or
a whole neighbourhood to assemble in. Public worship is commonly
described in Scripture with reference to such places of assemblage,
as by the prophet Isaiah, “In that day shall there be an altar to
the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the
border thereof to the Lord.’”

The Druidical religion subsisted from a very early period in Gaul
and Britain, and Dr. Stukeley conceives that as the Druids were so
eminently distinguished for their use of groves, this probably in-
timates a more particular relation to Abraham, and that they
derived this custom more immediately from him. The name Druid,
is derived from a Greek word signifying oak, and denotes a priest
of the groves which were formed commonly of oaks, where their

1Gen. xiii. 18. ?xxvi. 25. ‘xxviii, 18. ‘xxxiii, 20. 5 xxxy. 14,15.
61 Sam. vii. 17. 7 Isaiah xix. 19,

By the Rev. J. L. Ross, 151

worship was originally celebrated; and the name ¢emple is derived
from another Greek word, signifying a place cut off, enclosed,
and dedicated to sacred use, whether an area, a circle of stones, a
field, or a grove. These temples were usually encompassed by a
ditch, which one of the ancient writers, Pollux, terms a Peribolus
or dyke surrounding the circle. The ancient temples were also
generally circular, designed to represent in some measure the deity.
Porphyry, another heathen writer, conceives the circle to be dedi-
cated to eternity, for which reason he says, “they anciently made
temples round:” and Pausanias relates that the Thracians were in
the habit of building their temples circular and open at the top.

When these ancient temples came to be perverted to Idolatry,
they were many of them dedicated to the sun, as resembling his
appearance, and the pyramidal stones set in a circle were designed
to represent his rays. All the ancient temples in Britain are in a
circular form, and of a threefold description: 1. Simple round
temples of upright unhewn stones: 2. Serpentine temples or Dra-
‘contic (as at Abury, Wilts,) 7.e. with the figure of a snake annexed :
and 3. Alate or winged, having the appearance of wings annexed
to the circle. These are supposed to have been the figures or sym-
bols of the Patriarchal religion, like the symbol of the Cross which
is regarded by ourselves as an emblem of the Christian Faith.

CHAPTER II.

STONEHENGE.
‘“Deorum gloriosa domus.”

Stonehenge is supposed to have derived its name from the Anglo-
Saxon, and literally means the “hanging stones,’’ from the hanging
parts, architraves, or rather imposts:—pendulous rocks are now
called Henges in Yorkshire. The Ancient Britons or Welsh termed
Stonehenge Choir gaur, “which some,” says Dr. Stukeley, “inter-
pret chorea gigantum, the giant’s dance: I judge more rightly chorus
magnus, the great choir, round church, or temple.” He proceeds
to state that the Cymbri or Welsh believed Stonehenge to be a
sacred place, though they did not profess themselves to be the
builders; and he considers them to be the remains of a Celtic

152 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

colony that came over from the Continent, who inhabited the
South of England, when it was invaded by the Romans under
Julius Cxsar. They are in all probability the remains of the Bel-
gae, of which Stukeley considers the name Welsh to be a corruption,
Ouelgai in Greek, Belgischen and Welschen, in German: and he
mentions that Strabo alludes to their manufacture of flannel, called
lainae, for which the Welsh are to this day celebrated. The Picts,
Scots, Gauls, Irish, and inhabitants of Cornwall are the remains of the
ancient Pheenician colony and primitive Celts; everything ancient
is denominated Irish by the Welsh to this day. They are perfectly
aware that they were not the Aboriginal inhabitants of England,
who were driven at different periods northward and westward into
Scotland and Ireland, and probably after the invasion of the Romans.
“The Irish therefore, or ancient Scottish,” says Stukeley, ‘is the
remnant of the Phenician language, mixed with old Biscayan and
Gallic, dialects of Celts; and some Oriental,—Arabic in particular,
—as Mr. Toland (in his history of the Druids) observes. They are
the descendants of the people who built Stonehenge, and the likey
works; whence spring the strange reports of these stones, coming
from Egypt, from Africa, from Spain, and from Ireland, as retaining
some memory of the steps, by which the people who preceded their
ancestors, travelled; nor they themselves nor even the Belgae pre-
tending to be the builders of this wonderful work. For the Belgae
could not be ignorant of their own coming from the Gallic conti-
nent.”

Cesar informs us in his Commentaries,! that among the Druids
one has the supreme authority, and when he is dead the next in
order succeeds, (by the votes of the Druidical college, if there
be several candidates,) and is called the Archdruid.” At a certain
fixed time of the year the Gaulish Druids meet, in the territories of
the Carnutes, which country is in the middle of Gaul, in a conse-
crated place. Hither all persons from all quarters come, who have
any controversy, and stand to their determination. ‘The discipline
of the Druids arose in Britain, and is said from thence to have been
brought into Gaul: and now they who design to be more thoroughly
initiated therein, go over (to Britain) to learn. Ou this statement Dr.

ae ' Book vi. 13.

eee

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 153

Stukeley remarks, that “the elegant and magnificent structure of
Stonehenge was as the metropolitical church of the Chief Druid of
Britain,” and that “this was the /ocus consecratus,’”’ (locus not ducus
as some copies have it) where they met at some great festivals in
the year, as well to perform their extraordinary sacrifices and reli-
gious rites, as to determine causes and civil matters. ‘The very
building of Stonehenge,” he adds, “tosay nothing of other like
works here, shows it was not in vain, that the youth of Gaul came
to learn of men, who could contrive and execute so mighty a work.’”!

“This celebrated monument of antiquity,” says Clarke in his
“Wonders of the World,’ “stands in the middle of a flat area near
the summit of a hill, six miles distant from Salisbury. It is en-
closed by a double circular bank and ditch, nearly thirty feet broad,
after crossing which an ascent of thirty yards leads to the work. The
whole fabric was originally composed of two circles and two ovals.
The outer circle is about 108 feet in diameter, consisting, when
entire, of sixty stones, thirty uprights, and thirty imposts, of which
there now remain twenty-four uprights only, seventeen standing,
and seven down, three feet and a half asunder, and eight imposts.
Eleven uprights have their five imposts on them by the grand en-
trance: these stones are from thirteen to twenty feet high. The
smaller circle is somewhat more than eight feet from the inside of
the outer one, and consisted of forty smaller stones, the highest
measuring about six feet, nineteen only of which now remain, and
only eleven standing. The walk between those two circles is 300
feet in circumference. The adytum, or cell, is an oval formed of
ten stones, from sixteen to twenty-two feet high, in pairs, and with
imposts above thirty feet high, rising in height as they go round,
and each pair separate, and not connected as the outer pair: the
highest eight feet. Within these are nineteen other smaller single
stones, of which six only are standing. At the upper end of the
adytum is the altar, a large slab of blue coarse marble, twenty inches
thick, sixteen feet long, and four broad: it is pressed down by the
weight of the vast stones which have fallen upon it. The whole
number of stones, uprights and imposts, comprehending the altar,

. ' Stukeley’ 8 ‘Stonehenge, vol. i. p. 10.

154 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

is 140. The stones, which have been by some considered as arti-
ficial, were most probably brought from those called the grey wethers
on Marlborough Downs, distant fifteen or sixteen miles: and if
tried with a tool, appear of the same hardness, grain, and colour,
generally reddish. The heads of oxen, deer, and other beasts, have
been found in digging in and about Stonehenge; and in the cir-
cumjacent barrows human bones. From the plain to this structure
there are three entrances, the most considerable of which is from
the north-east ; and at each of them there were raised, on the out-
side of the trench, two huge stones, with two smaller parallel ones
within.”

Mr. Grose, the antiquary, is of opinion that “ Dr. Stukeley has
completely proved this structure to have been a British temple, in
which the Druids officiated. He supposes it to have been the
Metropolitan temple of Great Britain, and translates the words
choir gaur, ‘the great choir or temple.’ The ancients distinguished
stones erected with a religious view by the name of ambrosie
petre, ambre stones, the word ambre implying whatever is solar
and divine. According to Bryant, Stonehenge is composed of these
ambre stones; and hence the next town is denominated Ambres-
bury.”

Stukeley himself states that he is ‘sufficiently satisfied from
considering the different effect of the weather upon Abury and
Stonehenge, the great diversity in the manner of the works, and
some other considerations, that Abury must be above 700 years
prior to Stonehenge:” and that while Stonehenge was probably
coeval with the building of Solomon’s temple, the temples at Abury
must have been erected about the Patriarch Abraham’s time, or
soon after the expulsion of the Shepherd Kings from Egypt.

Between the temples of Abury and Stonehenge there is undoubtedly
a marked distinction, and the ruins of the latter with its imposts
indicate a very marked advancement on the primitive architecture
observable in the former. Stukeley has assigned several reasons |
founded on the variation of the compass, which he justly supposes
was known to the ancients; this we shall not now however con-
sider, but prefer giving the following account from Strabo of the

' By the Rev. J: L. Ross. 155

form of the more ancient temples in Egypt. ‘The arrange-
ment of the parts of an Egyptian temple is as follows: in a
line with the entrance into the sacred enclosure, is a paved road
or avenue about a hundred feet in breadth, or sometimes less, and
in length from three to four hundred feet or even more. This is
called the dromos. Through the whole length of this dromos, and
on each side of it, sphinxes are placed, at the distance of thirty
feet from one another, or somewhat more, forming a double row,
one oneach side. After the sphinxes you come to a large propylon
and as you advance you come to another, and to a third after that;
for no definite number either of propyla or sphinxes is required in
the plan, but they vary in different temples as to their number, as
well as to the length and breadth of the drome. After the propyla
we come to the temple itself, which has always a large and hand-
some pronaos or portico, and a sekos or cell of only moderate dimen-
sions, with no image in it, at least not one of human shape, but

some representation of a brute animal. On each side of the pronaos,

and in front of it, are what they call wings. These are two walls
of equal height (with the temple ?), but their width at the base is
somewhat more than the breadth of the temple measured along its
basement line. The width of the wings, however, gradually di-
minishes from the bottom to the top, owing to the sides leaning
inward towards one another, up to the height of seventy-five or
ninety feet.”!

Referring to the ancient City of Thebes in Egypt with its hun-
dred gates, celebrated by Homer, Denon remarks that there are
two temples on its eastern and western side, on the site of which
the modern villages of Karnac and Luxor are built. The avenue
from Karnac to Luxor, a space of nearly half a league in extent,
contains a constant succession of sphinxes and. other chimerical
figures to the right and left, together with fragments of stone walls,
small columns, and statues.

The avenues here described, and the wings of the temples men-
tioned-by Strabo discover a striking affinity to some of the Druidical

een ee eee eee

_ * Kitto’s Illustrated Bible, vol. i. pt. 2. p. 166, on the Egyptian temple at Edfou.

156 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

temples, and especially the dracontic temple of Abury. Stonehenge
appears to have been neither of the dracontic nor alate description
of temple, but merely of a circular form with ordinary avenues or
approaches. In this respect it resembles more nearly Gilgal and
many other ancient open temples, both in Britain and other coun-
tries, in various and unconnected quarters of the world.

CHAPTER III.

THE First Cotonists oF Eeypt.
“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations.”

Let us now endeavour to trace some connexion between the
builders of Stonehenge and the patriarchal age.

Much difference of opinion has prevailed with regard to the
locality of Eden and the residence of Noah and his family after
the deluge. There is reason, however, to believe that the situation
of both Paradise and the residence of the Patriarch were rather in
the neighbourhood of Caucasus than the Caspian. Eden is supposed
by some reliable writers to have been an extensive region to the
North of India, and Kedem, whence the descendants of Noah emi-
grated, to have been the most easternly province of the Persian
Empire. In the neighbourhood of this district were probably
Ashur, Cush, Sephar, and many other places mentioned in Scrip-
ture. Kedem signifies ancient, primary, the origin, or original
residence of man.

The Brahmins have a tradition that Shem, the son of Noah,
inhabited the district east of Persia. The City Bamiyan is de-
scribed in their sacred books as the source of holiness and purity,
and is there also termed Shem-Bamiyan from the Patriarch Shem,
by whom according to the Baudhists (or Budhists) it was built: it
is situated between Balac and Cabul, and consists of a vast number
of apartments and recesses cut out of the rock, some of which for
their magnitude are considered to have been temples.

Persian writers have affirmed that this ancient City Bamiyan
existed before the flood, but the Budhists have a tradition that it
was built by a “most religious man called Sharma;” who appears
from other circumstances to have been Shem, and that it was

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 157

inhabited for many generations by his descendants. Hence Balkh-
Bamiyan is said to have been the original residence of Abraham,
who, the Scriptures and the Hindoo books agree in stating, removed
westward to a distant country with Terah his father. There is
reason to believe that Shem (who, as some think, was Melchizedek,)
removed also to Canaan where he blessed Abraham his descendant
after his victory over the kings, the forerunners of the predatory
tribes who at a later period dispossessed the original inhabitants of
Canaan and Egypt.

It is related in the Padma-Purana! (a Hindoo sacred book), that
Satyavrata (or Noah) whose miraculous preservation from a gene-
ral deluge is related at length in the Matsya (or Mish-avatar), had
three sons, the eldest of whom was named Jyapeti, or ‘Lord of the
earth;’ the others were Charma and Sharma, which last words are,
in the vulgar dialects, usually pronounced Cham and Sham, as
we frequently hear Krishyn for Krishna. ‘The royal patriarch,
for such is his character in the Puran, was particularly fond of
Jyapeti, to whom he gave all the region to the north of Hiamalaya,
or the Snowy Mountains, which extend from sea to sea, and of which
Caucasus is a part: to Sharma he allotted the countries to the south
of those mountains; but he cursed Charma, because when the old
monarch was accidentally inebriated with a strong liquor made of
fermented rice, Charma laughed ; and it was in consequence of his
father’s imprecation that he became a slave to the slaves of his
brothers.”

We are afterwards informed that “the children of Sharma tra-
yelled a long time, until they arrived at the bank of the river Nila
or Cali, in Egypt, and that their journey began after the building
of the Padma-Mandira, which appears to be the Tower of Babel,
on the banks of the river Cumudvati, which can be no other than
the Euphrates. On their arrival in Egypt, they found the country
peopled by evil beings, and by a few impure tribes of men, who
had no fixed habitation,’’—and then by the command of Padma-Devi
or the goddess who resides on the lotos, (a spirit who floated ¢ on the

' From Wilford’s 8 ‘Egypt and the Nile,’ Asiat. Res, vol. iii.
* Some doubt is entertained concerning the genuineness of this tradition.

158 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

waters,) they erected a pyramid in honour of her on the very spot
where they were encamped. This pyramid was called Padma-
Mandira from the name of the goddess, which signifies a temple or
palace, and Padmo-Matha (which means a college or habitation
of students, where she instructed Sharma and his family in the
most useful arts, and among other things Yascha-Lipi or the wri-
ting of the Yacshas, a race of superior beings, among whom Cuvera
was the chief.

This Padma-Mandira was probably the town of Byblos in Egypt,
now called Babel, or rather Babel in the first instance, and after-
wards changed into Byblos by the Greeks. Thus it would appear
two Babels were founded about the same time, on the banks of the
Euphrates and the Nile.

These descendants of Shem thus appear to have colonized Egypt
and were regarded as Devatas, Elohim, or. Demi-gods, a name also
given to the Yacshas of the Puranas, who are met with in the
mountains of India and Ethiopia. They were followed by several
other tribes, of the same race probably, from Persia or Misr in
India, the most powerful of whom were the Pallis or Shepherd
kings, who under the name of Titanes were engaged in continual
contests with the first colonists the Elohim or Devatas who in- —
habited Upper Egypt, for two hundred years. After expelling the
Shepherd Dynasty who occupied Lower Egypt, the Elohim re-
mained in possession of the whole of that country till they were
themselves conquered by another body of colonists (descendants of
Cush the eldest son of Ham) from the east, who gave their name to
Hindostan, and who after occupying Canaan, compelled the origi-
nal descendants of Shem to retire into the mountains, perhaps of
Ethiopia and Abyssinia. The Titanes, or Shepherd Dynasty had
previously withdrawn from Egypt to Tyre and the coasts of the
Mediterranean, to whom we shall presently have further occasion
to refer.

CHAPTER IV.
ABRAHAM’S DESCENT, AND CONNECTION WITH CANAAN AND Ecypr.
“Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood, even Terah the father of
Abraham, and they served other gods.”

Abraham is represented in Scripture as having been called by God

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 159

out of Ur of the Chaldees: this Ur or Aur we have strong grounds
for believing was a country or district rather than a city or town,
and that it was situated between Persia and Hindostan. “By en-
quiring,” says Taylor in his continuation of Calmet, ‘‘who were
the Babylonians, we may somewhat approach to determining who
were the Chaldeans; and if we look to Gen. xi, 7., we shall find
that the inhabitants of this country journeyed from the East, from
Kedem, which Kedem we have fixed in the neighbourhood of Cau-
casus. We are next to remember that these Chaldees worshipped
fire and light, under the name of Aur, Ur, Ar, or Our, all words of
the same sound, and varied only in'spelling or in writing, by dif-
ferent nations; so that whether we find Aurite or Ourite, the
meaning is the same. The following are testimonies to our purpose:

“Upon the banks of the great river Ind

The southern Scuthz dwelt: which river pays

Its watery tribute to that mighty Sea,

Styl’d Erythrean. Far removed its source,
Amid the stormy cliffs of Caucasus :

Descending thence through many a winding vale,
It separates vast nations. To the west

The Orite live.

“Meaning that the Auritae live west of the source of the Indus,
in Mount Caucasus; which the reader will find agrees with our
position of Kedem. This is Mr. Bryant’s version of a passage in
the poet Dionysius.!_ Mr. Bryant says,? ‘The Chaldeans were the
most ancient inhabitants of the country called by their name; there
are no other principals, to whom we may refer their original. They
seem to have been the most early constituted and settled of any
people on earth, and to be the only people who did not emigrate at
the general dispersion. They extended to Egypt west, and east-
ward to the Ganges.’

“But we think, by means of Capt. Wilford’s account of Cauca-
sus”’’ (formerly referred to), “we, may conceive without much
danger of error, of the Sanscreet Chasas, C’hasyas, and the Scrip -
ture Chasdim as being closely related, if not the same people,

1 Anc, Myth. vol. iii. p, 226, 2 Obs. 253.
* Which extended from India to the shores of the Mediterranean and Euxine

160 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

originally; for we learn that ‘they are a very ancient tribe,’ and
are mentioned in the Institutes of Menu; and that their ancestor
Zeus Cassios is supposed to have lived before the flood, and to have
given name to the mountains he seized. Their station then is
Caucasus. But when a considerable division of mankind withdrew
to Shinar, they were accompanied by a certain proportion of
C’hasyas or Chasdim, who being a superior caste, or inheriting
stations of trust and dignity, that is priests, if not governors also,
and out of which body the kings were elected, therefore the Baby-
lonian kingdom is called the kingdom of the Chasdim or C’hasyas.

**Somewhat of this distinction is connected with the Patriarch
Abraham; we know he was of Kedem, not of Babylonia; yet Eu-
sebius says, ‘Abraham was a Chaldean by descent.’ Admitting then
the Chasdim to be descendants in the direct line of Shem, a priest
himself, this branch of his posterity might retain their right to the
priestly office transmitted from father to son, in succession, accord-
ing to their custom.”

In order to prove the resemblance between the Chaldean astro-
logers and priesthood with the Druids of Europe, whom we shall
hereafter consider, the following account of these ancient and
priestly Literati from Diodorus Siculus,! quoted by Taylor, may
not be uninteresting.

“The Chaldeans are descended from the most ancient families of
Babylon, and they have adopted a manner of life resembling that of
the priests of Egypt. For in order to become more /earned, and more
equal to the service of the Gods, they continually apply themselves
to philosophy, and have procured above all a great reputation in
astronomy. They study with great care the art of divination,
They foretell the future, and believe themselves able to ward off
evils, and to procure benefits by their expiations, by their sacri-
fices, and by their enchantments. They have also experience in
presages by the flight of birds, and are versed in the interpretation
of dreams and prodigies. Besides this they consult the entrails
of victims, and infer predictions which are considered as certain.
Among the Chaldeans this philosophy remains constantly in the

1 Tab, di, o. 21.

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 161

possession of the same family, passing from fathers to sons, and
this only they study. Whereby, having only their parents for
their masters, he who instructs conceals nothing through jealousy ;
and he who learns brings all his docility to receive instruction.
Moreover, having commenced these studies from the earliest period
of life, they acquire a perfect habitude in these matters, whether
from the facility of learning which is natural to youth, or from the
length of time which they have employed init. The Chaldeans
consider matter as eternal, neither needing generation, nor subject
to corruption. But they believe that the arrangement and order
of the world is the effect of Divine intelligence, and that all which
appears in the heavens or on the earth, is the effect, not of a
causal or of a fatal necessity, but of the wisdom and power of the
Gods.”

After proceeding to shew the extent of their astronomical and
astrological knowledge, Mr. Taylor remarks, ‘‘The reader will com-
pare this description with that given in the Devatér of the system
‘of the ancient Persian Magi. The Interpreter stars of one are
evidently the Mediator stars of the other: the messenger stars are
the watchers of Daniel, or analogous to the Satan of Job: and on
the reports of such messengers no doubt, the Counsellor-gods formed
their decrees, as in the instance of Nebuchadnezzar.”’ From this
account we are enabled to understand why the Babylonian mon-
arch applied to the Chaldeans as wise men and astrologers to ex-
plain the revelations which he had received from the celestial
protectors of his kingdom.

Philostratus also informs us! that the “ Indi are the wisest of all
mankind. The Ethiopian (7.e. the Oriental Ethiopians) are a colony
from them, and they inherit the wisdom of their forefathers. The
hieroglyphics on the obelisks, says Cassiodorus,’ are Chaldaic signs
of words, which were used, as letters are, for the purpose of infor-
mation. Zonaras’ says, the most approved account is, that the
Arts came from Chaldea to Egypt; and from thence passed into

_ Greece. The philosophy of this people was greatly celebrated.

? Vit. Apollon. Lib. ii. quoted in Taylor’s Fragments. * Lib. iii, Ep. 2, 51.
#Y i, p. 52.
M

162 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

Alexander visited the chief persons of the country, who were
esteemed professors of science. Consider the pre-eminence given
to Solomon,! beyond the wisdom of all the sons of Kedem, and
beyond all the wisdom of Mizraim: and with this character com-
pare that of the Chuld:ans, as above, and that of the original Indi,
who are Chaldeans and sons of Kedem too. We find they wor-
shipped fire, so that they were Awrite, and in short, that Ur of the
Chaldees might be the residence of such professors, and such
devotees; for which reason Abraham was directed to quit it. Ur
was probably terrestrial fire ; aérial ignited vapour, rising natu-
rally from the earth, as that at Baku, worshipped as the terrestrial
representative of the great celestial luminary.

“On the whole,” says the author of the above passage, “‘we may
consider the Chasdim or Chaldeans as the philosophic or priestly
order among the Babylonians, and rather a caste among a nation,
than a nation of themselves: much as the Bramins of India (a race
by their own acknowledgement not truly Indian) are at this day,
who preserve knowledge, if any be preserved; who perform reli-
gious functions, and are supposed to maintain the truth of religion
officially ; and whose order sometimes furnishes kings and nobles.
Insomuch that, if we should say of Abraham—he came from Ur a
city of the Bramins: or if we should say—the Bramins were the
wisest of all mankind, yet Solomon was wiser than they were;
though we should certainly offend against terms and titles, yet we
should possibly be near to a fair notion of the Chasdim of Scripture,
and of their character.”

Now we have previously observed that Abraham was an inhabi-
tant of Kedem which was the most eastern district of Persia, and
not a native of Babylonia, yet he is described by Eusebius as haying
been a Chaldean by descent, that is, belonged to the philosophical
and priestly order. Mr. Taylor is of opinion, in his Fragments
which we have previously cited, that the Mesopotamia where God
appeared to Abraham, before he dwelt in Haran, which is in Meso-
potamia on the Euphrates, must have been another Mesopotamia
more to the East, of which Abraham was a native; and that he

ei Kings iv. 30.

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 163

fled at the command of God to another Mesopotamia at a consider-
able distance from his native place for safety, of which he could
not have been assured had he only removed to Mesopotamia near
the Euphrates, which is no great distance from what is in general
described as Chaldea. “It is generally agreed,” says Taylor, “that
Abraham is described as the righteous man who came from the East,!
where the word is not Kedem, but Metzarach, which signifies the
rising-sun, and certainly denotes a remote region.” “Tf then,” he
proceeds to infer, “the same word, MJetzarach denotes the same
country, or nearly the same, then the ‘righteous man’ Abraham,
came from a country far east of Babylon, and consequently far east
of that Mesopotamia to which he fled from the face of the Gods of
his native country ;—which was, as it should seem, the original
seat and establishment of idolatry.” Without further pursuing
this enquiry, it is sufficient to remark that it has been our object
to prove the connexion of Abraham with the principal body of the
Chasdim or Chaldees, and to have acquired from them, as a mem-
ber of their body that philosophical and astronomical knowledge
for which he has been celebrated throughout the East. This know-
ledge he is supposed to have afterwards communicated to the
original inhabitants of Canaan and Egypt, both of whom we have
endeavoured to shew were also descendants of Shem. From this
Patriarch accordingly, and afterwards from his descendant Joseph,
the Egyptians obtained most probably their knowledge, which they
afterwards communicated through Cadmus to the Greeks, and
which has been since through the Tyrian Hercules and the Druids
conveyed to the other nations of Europe, and formed the founda-
tion of our literature and science. Whether then as a temporary
resident in Canaan and Egypt, in his intercourse with Abimelech
King of Gerar, or with the Kings of Egypt, there is little reason
to doubt that Abraham instructed these descendants of their
common ancestor Shem in not merely philosophy and astronomy,
but in the religion of that God who had called him out of Ur of
the Chaldees, and from the idolatry of the Chasdim and his country-
men in Kedem. And it is evident we think, that Abraham could

! Tsaiah xi, 1. 2.
)

M ~

164 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

never have lived on those friendly terms with either the ancient
inhabitants of Canaan or the Egyptians, unless their language and
religion had been the same, which from various incidental cireum-
stances mentioned in the sacred narrative, they appear to have
been. Thus it would appear that Abraham when resident in Ca-
naan was among a people of similar origin with himself, which
illustrates the expression in Genesis of the ‘“ Canaanite being then
in the land,” implying that Canaan had not then been overrun by
another race of foreigners, who afterwards obtained possession of
both Canaan and Egypt, and are supposed to have come from Misr!
in India, which they had formerly colonized as the descendants of
Hind the eldest son of Ham.

“In proof of this Oriental invasion it may be supposed,” says
the author of the Fragments, “very justly, that if the Hamite con-
querors of Egypt subdued and occupied Canaan and Arabia, they
would leave memorials of various kinds, both of their idolatry, and
of their industry; and this no doubt, they have done in the towns
they built, and in the names they gave them. But such histories
of the origin of their towns as have lately reached us are related in
language peculiarly figurative; for instance—war is called a fire or
conflagration ; enemies are described as long grass, or thickets, or
thorns, consumed by fire; and after the conquests of these enemies,
the erection of places of worship becomes the immediate object of
the history, and is considered as the origin of towns. Moreover,
instituting the figure or rite of an idol in such town, is described as
the birth, origin, &c., of that deity; indeed, it might be the original
invention of such a figure, or the primary adoption of such a sym-
bol, for the purpose of employing it as an idol.” The account in
Diodorus Siculus of the conquests of Ninus, who overran the whole
of the East and propagated the Hindoo religion, which is described

1 This word, according to Taylor, is applied by the Arabs to Egypt and its
Metropolis, and it seems to be clearly derived from the Sanscreet. Not knowing
however its origin, they employ it in speaking of any large city, and gave the
appellation of Al-Mizran in the dual to Cufa and Basra: the same word is
also used in the sense of a boundary or line of separation. Of Mizr, the dual and
plural form in Hebrew are Misrain and Mizrim, and the second of them is often
applied in Scripture to the people of Egypt.

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 165

in their Purana by the Hindoo Historians as a conflagration of the
long grass with which the universe was then covered, “mark to
what extent idolatrous worship at that period prevailed: and by its
shewing the origin and establishment of those cities which the Bible
History notices after the Exodus of Israel, we shall better under-
stand against what manner of superstition the servants of Jehovah
had to contend, with the causes of its prevalence over that land
especially, which had been tolerably free from idolatry in the days
of Abraham.”?!

As we are informed in Scripture that Abraham successfully re-
sisted an earlier incursion of some of these Hamite invaders, when
Lot and his family had been taken prisoners, we have less reason
to be surprised at their expulsion at a subsequent period by his
descendants, who thus by a righteous retribution avenged at once
their own oppression in Egypt and the iniquities of which these
usurpers had been guilty in Canaan. Thus the promises of God to
the Patriarchs and his punishment of the Canaanites were in the
fulness of time literally fulfilled.

CHAPTER IV.

Tue Hycst or Tirans.
‘‘Titans,—our Sire’s progenitors.”

The expulsion of the Titans from Lower Egypt, supposed by

1 We may place the following events during the time that Israel was in
Egypt. In Gen. xiv. we read of an irruption and conquest by the Kings of
Persia, Babylonia, &c., who overran Canaan, which continued in subjection
during twelve years; and though they were by God’s mercy defeated by Abra-
ham then, yet it is clear, (1) that from the eastern provinces armies had easy
access to Canaan, where they had probably many partizans; and from Canaan
they might at pleasure invade Egypt, as Nebuchadnezzar, Cambyses, and other
Babylonian monarchs did in after ages. (2) That when Jacob and his family
were gone down into Egypt, the land of Canaan appears to be entirely relin-
quished to whatever might befall it; and we have no history of it during the
interval from its being left by Jacob, to its being re-entered by Joshua. (3.)
Nevertheless, the numerous names of towns which occur in Joshua and are
clearly idolatrous, evince the prevalence of idolatry: and (4.) The seizure of
Egypt by these foreigners during this period, is sufficient proof of their establish-
ment in Canaan not long before. (See Taylor's Fragments, vol. iii. p. 97.) This
invasion of Egypt is probably referred to by the Sacred Historian, when he ac-
quaints us ‘that another king (or dynasty) arose which knew not Joseph :”
thus slightly are civil matters and revolutions alluded to in Scripture, when
they are unconnected with the designs of the Spirit of God.

166 Druidism in. connection with Wiltshire.

many writers to intimate the downfall of the dynasty of the Hyesi
“or Shepherd Kings, has given rise to much diversity of opinion,
not merely in modern but also in ancient times. Originally inhabi-
tants of Canaan, they are supposed to have followed Mizraim to
Egypt, and to have dwelt in that country for a time on friendly
terms with another branch of that family (who adopted the name
of their leader), by whom they were ultimately expelled. This
event Stukeley supposes to have taken place a.c. 1859, when the
Hyesi or Royal Shepherds came over to Britain, under the guidance
of their King Hercules or Assis, from Tyre. These Hycsi or Shep-
herd Kings he supposes had retained possession of Lower Egypt
for 200 years, being engaged during that period in constant warfare
with the Mizraimites, another branch of Indian colonists or emi-
grants, who inhabited Upper Egypt. The Hycsi were termed
Titans or Fenmen by way of reproach, (from living on the banks
of the Nile) by the Mizraimites, who called themselves Elohim or
Gods, and inhabited the more mountainous regions; and on a com-
pact with Tethmoris the Mizraim monarch, in 2120 a.m. they were
finally compelled to quit Egypt to the number of 240,000, under
Assis their King. These struggles for dominion between the Titans
and Mizraimites, both originally of Eastern origin, have in all pro-
bability given birth to the fable of the wars between the Titans
and the Gods, or the inhabitants of Lower and Upper Egypt, in
which the latter were victors. The Titans seem after their expulsion
to have colonized the coasts of the Mediterranean, and subsequently
Cornwall and Britain. We extract the following remarks from
Mr. Penn, upon those fragments of tradition which connect the
original occupants of Greece with the Celtic stock.

He demonstrates that “Celtic terms are still preserved in the
Orphic Hymns, and quotes the following authorities, in which the
Titans are acknowledged as the old inhabitants, and which prove,
that in them we find the parents of the Celtae.

‘«Trrans, illustrious sons of earth and heaven,

Our sire’s progenitors.” Orph. H. 36. 1.
‘Against the Greeks, then shall a future race

Of Titans, pouring from the utmost west,

-Raise the barbaric sword and Celtic war.”—Callim, H. in Delph, 172.

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 167

“To this I may add, that the old poets regarded the Titans as the

original and primitive race of mankind. Hence Orpheus says,
‘From you are all the tribes throughout the world.” —H. in Titanas.
‘‘Some call the Titans the first race.””—<Arati Phenom. Sch. in loco, 16.

“The names by which they were known, Zerrigene, sons of the
earth, imply that generally speaking they were Indigene: Titanes
may be a synonymous term.! Trr, in Hebrew and in Celtic, signifies
earth, and in the latter Hanu, Geni, Eni,—to spring forth, to be
born.

“These Titans, the sons of the heaven and the earth, or of the
climate and the country, and the parents of the Celtae, according
to Hesiod’s account, were driven into the lower parts of the earth
(Lower Egypt ?), into a land already inhabited by some of
their brethren. They must, therefore, have been such branches of
the family as had stayed behind, and had, by force, kept possession
of a land, intended only as a thoroughfare, but were compelled at
length ” (probably by the inhabitants of Upper Egypt or Mizraim-
ites) to follow, as 240,000 other Titans did, the rest.

“The descendants of the Titanian Japetidae may, I think, be
recognized in the Waldenses, the Irish, and the Brigantes. Many
proofs may be given that a Celtic dialect, allied nearly to the Irish,
once prevailed in Thrace.”

Dr. Murray states that the “ primary tribes of Europe are, as is
generally admitted, Ist, the Celtae, ancestors of the Irish; 2nd, the
Cymri, progenitors of the Welsh, Cornish, and Armoricans. In
the west of Gaul, and in Britain, there is evidence to presume that
the greater part of the population consisted of the division of the
Celtic race whose posterity now possesses the name of Cymri” (a
name not known in Cesar’s time, but of modern date) ; ‘‘but in Ire-
land” (and in the Scottish Highlands) “the population was wholly
Celtic, of that original stem which had penetrated in the earliest
ages into Gaul, Spain, and the British Isles.”

' This is doubtful, if we receive the statement given elsewhere, that they in-
habited the banks of the Nile in Lower Egypt, and were by way of reproach
ealled Fenmen or Titans, by the inhabitants of Upper Egypt.

* From a work by Christ”. Anderson.

168 Druidism in connection with. Wiltshire.

As some of our modern philologists seem inclined to repudiaw
Stukeley and to disclaim any connection between our national or
local names and words and the Phenician or Celtic language, it
may be proper to remark, that the term Hycsi remained in Wor-
cestershire in the time of the Romans, and; as Stukeley informs us,
“even to the time of the venerable Bede.” The natives of Wor-
cestershire were called “ Huiciii to which Orduices and Vigornienses
is synonymous.” All these three words denoted shepherds or per-
sons addicted to a pastoral life, such as the Hycsi in Lower Egypt
and the ancient Canaanites in Abraham’s time are known to have
been.

In reply to some philological heresies of this kind, an excellent
antiquarian and admirer of Stukeley, lately made the following
remarks in connection with the word Sarsen, whose Pheenician
derivation had been denied. He suggested a much nearer source
than Pheenician (in the first instance at least), the county namely
in which these Sarsen stones are chiefly to be found. “The Anglo-
Saxon word for a rock or stone,” according to Mr. Falkner,
(of Devizes,) “is Ses, in the plural Sessen, Sessan. The letter e is
sounded ase in there, or in fair, and as ein apres. The people where
the stone is found” (on the Marlborough Downs) “call them Sasens or
Sassens, so that perhaps the word Sarsen is no other than the Anglo-
Saxon word for rock properly pronounced, as many other words
from the same origin are, in the present day. This makes good the
remark of some writer, that the illiterate, in their pronunciation
and use of words, both in the present times and the past have not
gone from us, but we from them. Sesse in Anglo-Saxon is a settle
or seat, which brings to mind the stone seats in church porches,
called settles.”

It is more than probable, however, that Stukeley’s conjecture is
correct, and that Sarsen and many other words have descended to
us through the Anglo-Saxon from a more primitive and general
language, such as the Phoenician or Celtic. No one asserts Anglo-
Saxon to be a primitive or very ancient language, and philologists
are in general agreed that the Greek and Roman and all the
modern dialects have a common and primitive source.

fad

wy Wile eV. J. Li. LOSS. 16u

“Determined,” says Huddleston,’ “to probe the matter to the
bottom, I devoted my serious attention to the history, antiquities,
and language of the Ce/ts. The result was that I found it established
by the most unquestionable authorities, that the Celtic language was
a dialect of the primary language of Asia; that the Celts were the
aboriginal inhabitants of Europe, and that they had among them, from
the most remote antiquity, an order of Lireratt NAMED Drvips, to
whom the Greeks and Romans ascribe a degree of philosophical celebrity
inferior to none of the sages of antiquity.” From the Celtic language
which has a remarkable affinity with the Sanscrit, and is therefore
the aboriginal language of Europe which they colonized, are de-
rived all our modern languages, viz.: the Gothic or German;
Phenician or Moorish in Spain; the Italian from the Gothicized
Roman (the Roman and Greek being both derived from the San-
scrit); the French from the Celtic, Roman, and Gothic; and the
old British (a dialect of the Celtic), whence has been formed the
present English after various transformations from the Saxon and
other languages. The Celts (and of course their Literati the Druids)
are descended from Gomer, the eldest son of Japhet, the eldest son
of the Patriarch Noah, who was the progenitor of the Gomarians
in Asia, the Sacz, the Titans, the Cimri or Cimmerians: and also
of the Celtae who were better known by the name of Gauls.”

In proof of the correctness of this view, we shall conclude this
chapter with a comparison of the Celtic and Greek in the Lord’s
prayer. ‘The Lord’s prayer in Greek, (says Maclean) if put into
the Roman character is pretty intelligible to a Celt of the nine-
teenth century! There we have ‘ouranois,’ for the Celtic awran,
heavens; ‘to onoma sou’ for do ainmsa, thy name; ‘to thelema sou’
for do thoilsa, thy will; ‘ton artén’ for an t-aran, the bread; ‘ofei-
lemata’ for oilpheum, offence, crime, where we may perceive the
palpable transposition; ‘peirasmon’ for beer-as, or buaireas, tempta-
tion; and ‘poneron’ a Cabalistic term equivalent to our Jpheron,
hell, &c. Transposition has multiplied terms, not confounded them.
What in Joshua xix. 8, is Baaleth or Bolet, is in 1 Kings xvi. 31,

"In his preface to Toland’s History of the Druids, p. 670.
? Pezron in his ‘Antiquities of Nations,’ quoted by Maclean.

170 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

Eth-Baal, or Et-Bol. Ain-Ath, whose temple in Canaan was styled
Bith-Anath (Bu-Ain-Tan), is found often reversed, and styled
Ath-an. What matters it whether we say, Rih-Gille, or Gille-
Rih ?)
CHAPTER V.
THe Puenicians.
‘Prima ratem ventis eredere docta Tyrus.”—TZvbullus.

As we have alluded to the probable connection of the Titans with
the Phenicians after their expulsion from Egypt, and also the
affinity of the latter with the Chaldeans, it may be desirable to
give a brief account of that enterprizing people who made Tyre
the metropolis of commerce for so many ages. Such an enquiry
is important from the commercial intercourse of the Phcenicians
with this country and their colonization of Ireland, whose present
inhabitants and language discover their Tyrian original. Though
there has been considerable difference of opinion concerning the
origin of the Welsh, the Cornish, and Armoric or French British,
(to whom may be added the Belgae), some deriving their extraction
from the Teutoni or Goths a German people, and descendants of the
Cimbri who inhabited Jutland or the Cimbric Chersonesus in the
North of Europe, there has never been a doubt respecting the
Trish, who with the Erse or Scottish Highlanders and the Manks,
_ were generally admitted to be of Celtic origin.

We are informed by Tacitus,? that Ireland was more frequented
by merchants for the purpose of commerce than Britain, though
the latter country was visited by Phcnicians on account of
its tin. This Roman historian in another of his works* acquaints
us that Celtic Europe was first colonized by navigators or
emigrants in ships. ‘The Germans.” he says, “ there is reason to
think are an indigenous race and the original natives of the country,
without any admixture of adventitious settlers from other natives.
In the early ages of the world the adventurers who issued forth in
quest of new habitations, did not traverse extensive tracts of land:

1 Maclean’s History of the Celtic Language, pp. 256, 257. =” In Agricola.
3 Tac. de Moribus Germanorum, quoted by Sir W. Betham.

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. i yg

the first migrations were made by sea in ships. Even at this day the
northern ocean, always inimical to navigation, is seldom traversed
by ships from our part of the world.” From the same writer we
further learn that some of the German tribes were of Celtic origin
and particularly addicted to commerce and mining: and Cesar
states that Mercury the patron of merchandize was the principal
deity of the Celtae, which strongly confirms the derivation of
the Celts from the Pheenicians, the merchants confessedly of the
ancient world.

“We have no certain history,” says Sir W. Betham,! “ of the
period when the Celtae first fixed their residence in Europe. He-
rodotus was acquainted with the fact of the Phcenicians having
traded to certain islands beyond the pillars of Hercules for tin.
Diodorus Siculus, Pliny, Strabo, and Plutarch, knew little more.
The most ancient of the Greek writers say, that Hercules (that is
the Tyrians) sailed beyond the pillars of Hercules, and subdued the
giants Albion and Bergion among the Celtae, 7.e. conquered those
islands: and Aristotle says the Pheenicians formed settlements in
the British islands. From all which, the affinity of the Irish
and Pheenician languages, and the remains constantly found in
Treland,’ we can scarcely err in concluding the Celtae to have been
a very early Pheenician colony, who, like their modern imitators,
first formed settlements in Spain, Ireland, Britain, and Gaul, for
commercial purposes, and afterwards sent military expeditions to
conquer and secure these colonies.” From the description of the

! Ulster King of Arms, and author of the Gael and Cymbri, &c.

2 Numerous mines evidently worked at a very remote period, as also specimens
of elaborate workmanship in gold, silver, copper, bronze, &c., are constantly dis-
covered in the bogs in Ireland. ‘Mr. Griffith,” says Sir W. Betham, ‘‘person-
ally inspected almost every mine in Ireland, and from the office he held, was
peculiarly qualified to supply valuable and important evidence, both as a miner-
alogist and metallurgist. He tell us that the mines were extensively worked in
almost every part of Ireland, and that an ardent spirit for mining adventure
must have pervaded this country at a very remote period. And further, that
the ancient Irish possessed skill in metallurgy, we have abundant proofs from
the numberless articles in gold, silver, copper, brass containing zinc, bronze
containing tin, and other mixed metals, that have been discovered in every part
of Ireland, many of which display beautiful forms and exquisite workmanship,”

nie Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

Phoenicians in the prophecies of Ezekiel, a.c. 590,! and Isaiah, a.c.
700,? it is clear that the inhabitants of the two maritime cities of
Tyre and Sidon, had been for ages distinguished as navigators and
merchants, and were therefore quite competent to send forth co-
lonies to the Northern European nations as well as to other countries,
as Carthage and other maritime nations. In Ezekiel, the merchants
of Tarshish (supposed by Betham to be the Western ocean and the
countries situated upon it) are said to have traded at this “fair on
account of the great variety of all kind of these riches, and brought —
silver, iron, ¢in, and lead to this market:” and again, “ Pass ye over
to Tarshish ; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle; is this your joyous —
city, whose antiquity is of ancient days.” Now according to Sir W.
Betham, tin exists not in any part of Europe but in Britain, there-
fore that island must have been at least part of Tarshish, which
signifies the Western ocean and the adjacent countries; and as
Tarshish is also the name of a precious stone the Beryl (or Chryso-
lite) mentioned in Exodus,’ and is not itself of Hebrew derivation
or a Hebrew word, so the same writer conceives that it was obtained
from the district whose name it bears, or some of the countries
situated in Tarshish or the Western ocean, which would thus make
these countries known to the Pheenicians, the only navigators of
antiquity, at least 1500 years before the Christian era. And he
adds, “it is worthy of remark that Cesar says the Britons had not
only mines of silver, iron tin and lead, but that they imported brass,”
with which metals according to Ezekiel, Tyre alone was supplied
by the ships of Tarshish; that is, the vessels which were employed
in trading to Ireland and Cornwall. We proceed now to the
origin of the Phcenicians before they settled in Tyre and on the
Syrian coasts.

“The most learned Persians,” says Herodotus,’ “in the history
of their country, attribute to the Phcenicians the cause of the en-
mity between them and the Greeks. They say that being come
from the neighbourhood of the Red Sea to the coast of (the Mediterra-
nean) our sea, soon after they had established themselves in the country

1 Ezekiel xxvii. and xxviii. 2Tsaiah xxiii. 8 Exodus xxvii. 29.
4 Quoted by Sir W. Betham.

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 173

which they now inhabit, they undertook long voyages by sea, and carried
the merchandize of Egypt and Tyre to many countries, and among
others, to Argos, a city which surpassed all others at that time in
Greece. They add, that the Phoenicians being arrived, set about
selling their goods. Five or six days after their arrival, the wind
being low, a great many women, and among them the king’s
daughter, whose name was Io, the daughter of Inachus, a name
also given to the Greeks, went down to the shore to purchase such
things as were agreeable to their taste, near the stern of the ships;
the Pheenicians rushed up and seized them, and forced the princess
and some others on board the vessels, and having made sail pro-
ceeded to Egypt.”

The Pheenicians are supposed by other authors to have emigrated
from the Persian gulph or from that direction, and Strabo seems
to have adopted this view: referring to the Sidonians, he says, “it
is not known whether we should understand by the Sidonians those
who inhabit the Gulph of Persia, or those of our neighbours, who
are acolony.” Dionysius the Periegete, is of the same opinion as
Herodotus; “The Syrians,” he says, “who live near the sea, and
are called Pheenicians, are descended from the Erythraans: they
were the first who traversed the seas in ships.” Hence, Sir W.
Betham concludes that “the Phcenicians were not Canaanites, ex-
cept by residence, that is, they were not descendants of Canaan:
and if they came from the Persian Gulph, they were a colony of
Chaldeans; therefore the similarity of their anguage, religion, and
customs to the Indians, who borrowed so much from that people,
is not so very wonderful.”

In the reign of Pharaoh-Necho, King of Egypt (who reigned
about 600 years before Christ) we learn from Herodotus," that the
Phenicians were directed by that monarch to “circumnavigate
Africa, and return by the Pillars of Hercules, in the northern seas,
and so to return to Egypt.” Accordingly Herodotus relates that
“the Phoenicians embarked in the Erythriean (or Red) Sea, sailed into
the southern ocean, and when autumn was come, they went ashore,
in that part of the coast of Africa which they had reached, and

' Melpomene, ch. 42.

174 Druidism in connection with Wiitshire.

sowed corn; that they waited till harvest,and when they had obtained
supplies of provision, again put to sea. Having thus navigated for

two years, in the third they arrived at the Pillars of Hercules, .

(the Straits of Gibraltar) and returned safely to Egypt. They
stated on their return that they had sailed entirely round Africa,
and had the sun on their right hand.’ This fact appears to me incre-
dible, but it may not to another. It was in this manner Africa was
known for the first time.”

When this historical event, (which has been ascribed to the en-
terprize of the Portuguese about two thousand years afterwards,
and which discovered the way to India by sea), is coupled with the
superiority in numbers of the Phcenician fleet which accompanied
Xerxes in his invasion of Greece, all doubt as to the ability of the
Pheenicians to discover and hold commercial intercourse with Britain
and Ireland is reraoved. We can now better comprehend the
glowing description of the prophets in regard to Tyre, “Say unto
Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art
a merchant of the people for many isles :’—‘the ships of Tarshish
did sing in praise of thy commerce, and thou wert replenished and
made glorious in every part of the ocean.’”—‘ When thy wares
went forth out of the seas, thou fillest many people; thou didst
enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and
thy merchandize.’””*—* Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the
diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the
emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy ta-
brets and of thy pipes.”* And similar is the language of Isaiah;
“Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city,

whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of

the earth.’”*

It cannot be doubted that the Phcenicians, according to the cus-
tom of antiquity, introduced their religious worship and deities into
the countries which they colonized, on the Red Sea, the coasts of
Syria, and afterwards among the Celtae, particularly in Ireland and
Britain. Their divinities and the worship which they rendered to

1 Or to the North. 2 Ezekiel xxyii. 3 Do. xxviii. 4 Tsaiah xxiii, 8.

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 175

them, were afterwards adopted by the Canaanites and Jews, namely
Bel or Bael-Peor, the sun, and Astaroth i.e. Juno or the moon;
also Dagon, supposed to have been Saturn the inventor of hus-
bandry; and others, as Moloch and Remphaim, which are frequently
. alluded to in the history of the Jews. Under the name of Chon and
Rephain it is supposed Hercules is meant, which is the appellation
given him by the Egyptians. By some the name Hercules is de-
rived from a Hebrew word Haircal, the giver of all light: Rephain
is derived from an Hebrew term signifying giants. Porphyry,
however, supposes the twelve labours of Hercules to be the twelve
signs of the zodiac, through which the sun passes in his annual
course. It may be further remarked, that the Pheenicians cele-
brated their worship in groves like the Druids; the priests of
| Baal being described as priests of the groves, when summoned by
_ Jehu, four hundred and fifty of whom were destroyed.
| Some remarks must now be made on the language of the Pheeni-
cians as identifying them with the Celtae, whose extraction is to
be traced to those ancient navigators. It would be tedious, how-
_ ever, to enumerate the different cities and rivers on the Mediter-
_ reanean coasts which clearly owe their names to a Pheenician origin:
. a list of them is given in Sir W. Betham’s ‘Gael and the Cymbri.’
In mentioning one of the Spanish rivers Mondoneda, which he
derives from maon, heroes, and onadai, unfortunate, he relates
the following anecdote. ‘This river, and the Episcopal city in Ga-
licia, take their name from some event. I had proceeded thus far
when a friend, a Spanish officer, told me of a regiment of infantry
in Spain, now called Espinados Mondonedoes, of which there is
a tradition. He then proceeded to relate that this regiment, having
successfully resisted a conspiracy against an ancient Spanish mon-
arch, (though only thirty out of three hundred survived) obtained
as a recompense the distinction of being the hereditary royal
guards in all time to come, which they have remained ever since.
“ Mondonedoes,” he adds, ‘‘has no meaning in Spanish, nor is there
any period fixed for the event; it must, therefore, be one of the
events of remote antiquity, when the Gaelic was the language of
the country, 7c. the ancient language of Phonicia.” In Erse or
Celtic, this would mean the ‘unfortynste Tem--*?

176 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

The Phenician language has an intimate affinity also with the
Hebrew, which accounts for the intercourse of the spies of Joshua
and the Israelites with the Canaanites. The Phcenicians were not,
it must be remembered, the original inhabitants of Canaan, nor
were they ever conquered by Joshua, they were merely colonists,
and derived, like the Israelites their origin from the Chaldeans.

“Tt has escaped all observation,” says Sir W. Betham, “as far
as I have discovered, that the country about Tyre and Sidon,
as far as Acre, anciently bore this name of Galilee, or country of
the Gael on the sea coast; this very name, Gael, the Pheenician
colonies in Europe called themselves, and gave to their settlement
in Europe. The facts which support this deduction appear to me
so strong that they force themselves on my judgment, and are
also supported by the probable and apparently natural and rea-
sonable course of events. The conclusion appears irresistible, that
the Gael were a Pheenician colony” (probably ejected from Egypt),
“who conquered and settled Celtic Europe at such remote antt-
quity, that when they were found by the Romans in Gaul, Britain,
and Ireland, they had forgotten all but a tradition of their original
country,! their gods, their religion, and their language.”

The identity of the Hebrew, Phenician, and Celtic (¢.e. Irish,
Gaelic, and Manx) languages, has already been mentioned. As
nothing more clearly proves the affinity of different*races than
their language and religion, we shall conclude this account of
the Phoenicians with an extract from a passage in Plautus, which
shews the identity of the Hebrew, Punic, and Irish dialects. From
the similarity of language it will appear, that not merely the
Pheenicians and the Israelites were entitled to deduce their origin
from the most ancient of people the Chaldeans, (with whom also
the Bramins of India, and the Magi of Persia are similarly con-
nected), but that the Celtae, judging from their religion and lan-
guage, can trace their original to the same source; and that their
priests and philosophers the Druids, are almost identically the same
with the Chaldeans, the Bramins, the Magi, and the ancient

1 The use of war chariots by the ancient Britons, proves their Syrian and
‘astern origin.

Sr =. SS CU

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. ya

Egyptian Priesthood, with whom Joseph the great grandson of
Abraham was connected by marriage.

The following collation of the Phcenician and Irish languages
will shew their affinity or even the identity of these two dialects:
the specimen of the former being taken from a Carthaginian speech
in the Peenulus of Plautus, Act v. Sc. i., and published by General
Vallancey from the MSS. of O’Neachtan a celebrated Irish scholar.
It is the address of a father to the Deities of the country to
restore his daughters and nephew who had been taken prisoners
by pirates.

PHENICIAN.
“‘Nyth al o nim va lonuth sicarathissi me com syth,
Chim lach chumyth mum ys tyal mycthi barii imschi.
Lipho can ethyth by mithio ad adan benuthii,
Byr nar ob syllo homal 0 nim! ubymis isyrthoho.
Byth lym mo thym noctothii nel ech an ti daise machon,
Ys i de lebrim thyfe lyth chy lys chon temlyph ula.”

“Bochart,” says Betham, “thinks the speech in Plautus is partly
Punic and partly Libyan. The first lines (given above) he says are
Punic, and he thus describes them in the Hebrew.

HEBREW.

‘Na eth elgonim veelgonath sechorath iismecun zoth,
Chi malachai jitthemu: maslia middabarehen iski.
Lepburcanath eth beni eth gad udi ubenothen

Berua rob sellahem elgonim ubimesuratiben.

Beterem moth anoth othi helech Antidamarchon

Is segada il; Beram tippel eth chele sechinatim leophel.”

Latin: by Bochart.

“‘Rogo Deos et Deas qui hanc regionem tuentur

Ut consilia mea compleantur: Prosperum sit ex ductu eorum negotium meum.
Ad liberationem filii mei manu praedonis, et filiarum mearum.

Dii per spiritum multum qui estis in ipsis, et per providentiam suam.

Ante obitum diversari apud me solebat Antidamarenus,

Vir mihi familiaris; sed is eorum cotibus junctus est quorum habitatio est in

caligine.”
Irisu.

“Niaith allo nimh uath lonnaithe! socruidhse me comsith,
Chimi lach chuinigh! muini is toil, miocht beiridh iar mo scith.
Liomptha can ati bi mitche ad éadan beannaithe,

N

178 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

Biar nar ob siladh umhal; o nimh! ibhim a frotha!
Beith liom! mo theine noctaithe, neil ach tan ti daisie mac coinne ;
Is i de leabhraim tatach leith chi lis con teampluibh ulla.”
English translation of the Irish version of the Punic in Plautus.

Omnipotent much dreaded deity of this country! assuage my troubled mind,
Thou the support of feeble captives: being now exhausted with fatigue, of thy
free will guide to my children.

O let my prayers be perfectly acceptable in thy sight.

An inexhaustible fountain to the humble; O Deity! let me drink of its streams!

Forsake me not! my earnest desire is now disclosed, which is only that of re-

covering my daughters.

This was my fervent prayer, lamenting their misfortunes in thy sacred temples.
From this collation it would appear that the Punic or Libyan of

Plautus is no other than the Irish or Celtic. The affinity of the

Trish and Punic to Hebrew is another point of interest, which has

induced us to give it insertion.

CHAPTER VI.
ORIGIN AND NATURE oF DruIDIsM.
““Tantum Religio potuit.”

“Druidical monuments,” says Grose,! “ consist of Obelisks, being
large stones or pillars set up perpendicularly, carnes or carnedes,
(hence cairns or stones of all dimensions in a conical form) crom-
lechs or cromleches, stones not closed up at the end and sides, Kist
Vaens or Stone Chests of four flags or thin stones, Rocking Stones,
Tolmen or Stones of Passage, Rock Basons and circles or ovals,
similar to the temples at Abury and the smaller one on Overton
Hill.” “The great temple at Abury in Wiltshire,” says Taylor,
“it is said, described the figure of a seraph, or fiery flying serpent,
represented by circles and right lines. Some,” (as Abury) “ besides
circles, have avenues of stone pillars: most, if not all of them, have
pillars or altars within their penetralia or centre. In the article
of magnitude and number of stones, there is the greatest variety ;
some circles being only of twelve feet diameter and formed only of
twelve stones, while others, such as Stonehenge and Abury, con-
tained, the first one hundred and forty, and the second” (or Abury)
“six hundred and fifty-two, and occupied many acres of ground.”

‘ Quoted by Taylor in Calmet, vol. iv. 502.
y

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 179

Previous, however, to the erection of temples, and cotemporaneous
with obelisks and stone pillars, to which reference has previously been
made, “the name of Jehovah was frequently invoked” by Abraham
and others of the early Patriarchs under an ‘oak or in groves,
which usually were erected on eminences, or in Scripture language,
on “high places.” In open plains or countries, as was frequently
the case in the East, where there were few trees, plain unhewn
stones on which no tool had been employed were dedicated to the
worship of the Deity instead of oaks or groves from which Druid-
ism derives its name. “Every thing,” says Taylor, “leads to the
conclusion that the religion of mankind was originally the same,
in its objects, its principles, and its rites: and that, to wherever
the original tribes of men emigrated, with their natural fathers at
their head, or wherever they settled, they retained those religious
customs, notions, and references, which they had received as part
of their patrimony, in the land of their primary residence. This
is of some consequence to us, because Scripture being in many
passages very concise, or merely employing allusions, the writers
in numerous instances taking things to be too well known to need
explanation (as indeed they were to their original readers), we are
glad to avail ourselves of whatever may contribute to a better un-
derstanding of those concisenesses, those non-explanations, which
puzzle and perplex readers of the present day. We naturally turn
with a feeling of general interest to our own island; and especially,
when any remains of that original religion which we have attributed
to the first families of mankind are discovered in it, we embrace
with pleasure the opportunities they afford of inquiring what rela-
tion they bear to subjects incidentally noticed in Scripture. When
among the national antiquities of Britain, some great stone raised
into an upright position presents itself, as a memorial, we recollect
that Jacob raised a stone as a memorial too; when our notice is
attracted by many stones forming heaps, the heap of many stones
formed by Jacob and Laban recurs to recollection; stones of great
magnitude ranged with labour, effort, and skill, in a circle, remind
us that Joshua directed the men of Israel to range a circle of great
stones; and when the idea of a holy place, a place of worship, is

N 2

180 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

connected with such a structure of stones, we inquire whether some-
thing similar were not the character of Gilgal, so often and so
solemnly mentioned in holy writ—the ‘ quarriss,? which may
perhaps receive explanation from Druidical remains still extant in
this island. Was Abraham a Druid? He was as fond of the oak
as any Druid could be.2 Was Joshua a Druid? He certainly
conformed to that character, when he raised a great stone under
the oak, at which stood the tabernacle at Shechem; and when
he observed that the venerable stone “had heard the words of
the covenant,” &c.2 Was Samuel a Druid ? When he erected his
Ebenezer,’ his ‘stone of help,’ he did that which a Druid would have
done. Did Moses forbid the use of iron, the contact of which would
be a pollution to the stones of the altar? The same did the
Druids; they also might say, ‘an altar of earth, or of rough stones,
stones in their natural state shalt thou raise.’ ’”

The twelve stones taken out of Jordan, and erected by Joshua
after the passage of the Israelites and entrance into Canaan, were
evidently placed in a circle, and were intended for a memorial of
this event. “ When your children,” says Joshua, “ask their fathers
in time to come, saying, what mean ye by these stones? Then ye
shall answer them, that the waters of Jordan were cut off before
the ark of the Covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan,
the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a
memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.”® The name Gil-gal
signifies rownd, or circles; and the yearly circuits of Samuel
to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpeh, all of which were pillars or stones
of commemoration, imply a sacredness attached to these erections as
places of public assembly, courts of justice, or stations of sacrifice and
worship.’ This we afterwards learn was the case, as burnt offerings
and peace offerings were dedicated at Gilgal :* Saul was made king
by the Israelites “before the Lord” in Gilgal,*—the very Stonehenge
of the Hebrew nation: Agag was destroyed by Samuel “before the

' English translation.
2Gen. xii. 7, 8. xiii. 4, 18. xxi. 33. 3 Joshua xxiv. 27. 41 Sam. vii. 12.
5 Exodus xx. 25. 6 Joshua iv. 5, 10, 20, to the end. 71 Sam. vii. 16,
§1Sam. x.8. 91 Sam. xi. 17. xiii. 7.

—_— ew!

By the Rev. J. L. Ross, 181

Lord” in Gilgal:! David on his restoration to the kingdom was
received by the people at Gilgal :? and lastly, we find that a college
of priests and prophets existed at Gilgal, which seems to have been
the customary residence of the prophet Elijah.*

“When we recollect therefore,” to cite again the editor of Cal-
met, “that the Druidical circles of stones were temples; that the
greatest Druidical circle of stones in our island, was the place of
assembly for the whole people, as it were; that here were solemn
compacts made, solemn treaties ratified, and national faith pledged,
to say nothing of the administration of public worship, &c., the
conformity to certain ideas which prevailed among the Hebrews in
their early commonwealth, is striking ; and those ideas their great-
est prophets and magistrates were so far from reproving, that they
rather countenanced and supported them. ‘The lesser erections of
stones, their masses, their forms, their application, which appear
most clearly in the earliest Scripture ages, support the acknowledge-
ment of a similitude no less striking between the remote islanders
of the West, and the patriarchs of Palestine in the Hast. The sons
of Japhet, unquestionably, derived many of their institutions from
the same sources as the more favoured sons of Shem; and those
resemblances confirm the proposition that ‘God has made of one
blood all nations of men.’?” And in conclusion he remarks, ‘““We
need say no more in support of our proposition, that the religion
which caused these circles of stones to be constructed, in so many
and so distant places, was once very general among mankind. We
have traced them in India, in Persia, in Western Asia, in Greece,
in Northern Europe, in the British Isles: farther proof is unneces-
sary; the evidence is sufficient, and the inference is most just, that
their origin may safely be placed in those remote ages when the
patriarchal religion maintained itself in much of its primitive sim-
plicity, and while the different tribes of men retained the rudiments,
if not the vigour, of those principles which had been communicated
from their highly venerated, and not very distant, primeval
ancestors.’”4

'1 Sam. xv. 33, 22Sam. xix. 13, 40. 32 Kings ii. 1.
*Calmet’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. iv. pp. 507, 510.

182 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

However pure may have been the patriarchal religion when first
introduced into Britain by the Druids, who had probably after
their expulsion from Egypt, been brought to this country by
the Tyrian Hercules! so far back as the time of Abraham, it cannot
be denied, that like other religions, Druidism degenerated in after
ages, and became not merely corrupted in doctrines but cruel and
infamous in worship. It is not unlikely that later colonists from
Phenicia may have brought along with them the worship of Baal
and Ashtaroth (or the sun and moon) the divinities of the Pheenicians
at a later period. Baal (or the sun) was the most ancient deity of
the Canaanites, and perhaps of the East, and was frequently wor-
shipped by the Israelites, who like the Pheenicians offered human
sacrifices and erected altars in groves, and on high places. Some, how-
ever, have thought that Baal was the Phenician or Tyrian Hercules
a god of great antiquity in Pheenicia, and perhaps this opinion may
not be inconsistent with that of his being the representative of the
sun, who is supposed to have been the first divinity worshipped in
the East after mankind had ceased to invoke the name of Jehovah.”
“The worship of Bel, Belus, Belenus, or Belinus (originally ap-
plied to Jehovah) was general,” says Taylor, “throughout the

1 The Tyrian Hercules or Assis is said to have been one of the kings of the Shep-
herd Dynasty in Egypt, and to have written or been acquainted, says Cicero, with
the Phrygian letters, He was afterwards surnamed Ogmius by the Celts whom
he instructed, which is a word in their language having reference to his know-
ledge and eloquence. This knowledge, Dr. Stukeley supposes, Hercules Ogmius
or Assis, the Pastor King of Egypt may have acquired from Abraham in the
East, and that he brought a knowledge of letters along with our Druids into the
extremest west, in this very early age of the world; for that they ‘‘ had letters,
we have Cwsar’s express testimony.” This Pastor King, as previously observed,
is said to have been expelled from Egypt, which he quitted by an agreement
with Tethmoris (the founder of a new, or restorer of the former dynasty) A.M.
2120, and carried with him 240,000 followers, which enabled him, as the great
navigator Hercules of Grecian antiquity, to transport colonies to various parts
of the Mediterranean and the ocean, and to bring the Pheenician Druids into
Britain. From him, in all probability, the Druids obtained a knowledge of phi-
losophy and religion, for which both in Gaul and Britain, as well as elsewhere,
they were afterwards distinguished. From erecting pillars and temples, Hercules
obtained the surname of Saxanus; and for founding Serpentine or Dracontio
temples, arose, probably, the fable of his destroying two serpents in his cradle.

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 183

British Islands ; and certain of its rites and observances are still
maintained among us, notwithstanding the spread and establishment
of Christianity during so many ages.” Of this he gives several proofs
in different districts of England and Scotland; and a kind of liba-
tion was offered, and eggs and milk, &c., were partaken (till lately)
by parties of young people yearly on Palm Sunday on the summit
of Silbury Hill, which, as we have observed, is connected with the
temples at Abury in Wiltshire.

The original system of the Druids was gradually corrupted and
debased by the contaminating influence of the Carthaginians and
Phenicians, with whom they were connected by extraction and
commercial intercourse. Hence probably were derived those cruel
and abominable rites, such as human sacrifices and the burning of
infants, which have latterly been ascribed to them, and possibly
with justice, though the Romans, in their hostility to the Britons,
have probably coloured or aggravated many of their religious rites.
Even at this later period, we have the testimony of Cesar, that,
while the religion of the Gauls and most of the Germans was
Druidical, the children of their chief men were usually sent over
to Britain to be instructed by the Druids in general and religious
knowledge, who had at that time a celebrated round temple and
other buildings (probably at Stonehenge in Wiltshire), where laws
were enacted and administered, youth were instructed in philosophy
and the mysteries of religion, and divine worship performed by an
arch-Druid and a college of Druidical priests. As far as we can
ascertain with any degree of certainty, the following were the lead-
ing principles of the Druidical system :—

1. The Supreme Being was to be honoured and worshipped as
the Creator and Ruler of the universe ; but in the discharge of this
latter office he was assisted by subordinate deities, who were supposed
to act rather as angels or messengers than as possessed of any in-
herent authority of their own.

2. The people were instructed in the immortality of the soul,
and also in its frequent transmigrations; for they were unable to
comprehend how virtue and vice were to be recompensed merely
hereafter, and not also rewarded or punished in the present life.

184 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

3. They taught that all who were guilty of notorious blasphemy
were to be capitally punished, and that the priests were the sole
judges of such crimes.

4, That men should do unto others as they would be done by ;
and that they should neither injure their neighbour nor themselves.

5. They considered it wrong (like the Pythagoreans) to eat flesh,
milk, or eggs, because human souls might perhaps have inhabited
those bodies.

6. That the first appearance of the new moon was to be observed
with the utmost reverence, as that planet was supposed to have
great influence over the conduct of mankind.

Lastly. Those who committed injustice while inhabiting human
bodies, were to be tormented in the bodies of snakes or other
reptiles, till they had made an atonement for their sins, according
to the directions of the priests.

The cruel and abominable rites of the Canaanites and Syrians
were in latter times too faithfully followed by the Druidical priest-
hood in Gaul and Britain. They were accustomed to offer many of
the captives taken in war, who were, by hundreds at a time, enclosed
in awicker machine, to which the arch-Druid, attended by his
subordinate priests, set fire; and while their miserable victims were
being consumed, the priests chanted hymns or anthems, and the
people danced round the burning pile. The mistletoe was held in
the highest esteem by the Druids, and was conceived to possess
many medicinal virtues: it was sacrilege for any but the priests to
cut it from the oak. In all their public ceremonies the priest stood
with his eyes fixed on heaven, and his face towards the east.
“This ceremony,” says an author! to whom allusion has been for-
merly made, ‘‘was peculiar to all those heathen nations who lived
westward of the Hellespont, as well as the ancient Britons; and
although they had all formed the most unworthy notions of the
Divine Being, yet the hope of a great person being born in the
east seems to have prevailed everywhere among them. This un-

1 Hurd’s Ceremonies and Rites.

ea ————————e

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 185:

doubtedly was handed down to them by tradition; and there is.
great reason to believe that they expected (like Socrates' in Plato)
he would rectify all the abuses that had crept into their religion,
and that he would reign for ever among men. Thus in every
nation we meet with something of a traditional hope of the coming
of the Messiah, although some are ignorant of the character he is
to assume.”’

Druidism, as a system, though some of its more innocent prac-
tices and temple-ruins still linger in our island, was finally abolished
by the Romans under Suetonius, a.p. 62, owing to a rebellion of
the Britons, who, goaded by Roman oppression, had taken up arms
against their invaders. The Druids in a body withdrew to the
island of Mona or Anglesea, in North Wales, where, after a san-
guinary conflict with the Britons, in which most of them perished,
the Romans took nearly four thousand Druids prisoners, and by a
retributive justice (if the accounts of their barbarous practices are
true), burned them alive on their own altars. Fires, it is said, had
been lighted by the Druids in their groves, to consume the Romans,
had the British arms, as they fully expected, been successful; these
groves, both in Mona and other parts of England, were cut down
by their conquerors, and their religion effectually destroyed. Many
of the Druids had, however, previously removed to Ireland, where,
and in the Highlands of Scotland, still exist the only pure descen-

_ dants of the Pheenician colonists and Druids.

We can only briefly here refer to the high estimation in which
Druidism was held for a long period in Europe, where it exercised a
supreme authority over the political and religious affairs of the coun-
tries where it was established.? The antiquity of Druidism was ac-

1 Plato, Alcib. ii.

*The following is a list of the countries where Druidism was established :—
1, Germans, Gauls, and Britons, of Celtic extraction, 2. Saxons, Danes,
Swedes, Norsemen, Muscovites, Russians, Pomeranians, &c., chiefly of Scandi-
navian origin. The Laplanders are supposed to be a Tartar race. 3. Scythians,
Getes or Goths, Thracians, Cymbrians or Cimerians, Lusitanians, of a mixed
extraction, Tartar and Scandinavian. 4, Lithuanians, Polonians or Poles,
Hungarians, Samogethians (whose country borders on Prussia, Livonia, and
Lithuania): these last-mentioned nations, like the preceding, are probably
partly Tartars and partly Scandinavians.

186 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

knowledged by most philosophical writers of both Greece and Rome.
The Abbé Banier in his work on the Mythology of the ancients has
the following remarks on this subject. ‘As I have already proved,”
he says, “that it is very probable the Northern Celtae, the fathers
of our Gauls, had derived a part of their doctrines from the Persians
or their neighbours, so we may pronounce that the Druids had
formed themselves upon the model of the Magi; and to be sure
they have a more remarkable resemblance to them than all the
other philosophers in the world. Accordingly several of the an-
cients were of this opinion, without troubling themselves to consider
by what way the Persian religion may have penetrated into the
extremity of the West. After all, the origin of the Druids is lost
in the darkness of antiquity; and all we can know, is, that the
Greek philosophers, Aristotle, Sosion, and others before them, by
whom they are mentioned, (for they were known in the earliest ages,)
speak of them as of a wise sort of people, very knowing in matters of
religion, and as consummate philosophers in speculation. So high a
notion had they of their knowledge, that Cicero says it was by them
Mythology was invented, and consequently they ought to pass for
the teachers of the Greeks and Romans.’”!

The same writer proceeds to give some account of the Druidical
office and authority. “So great was their authority, that no
affair of importance was undertaken till they were consulted. They
presided in the estates, determined peace or war as they pleased,
punished delinquents, and their power sometimes went the length
of deposing the magistrates, and even the kings, when they did
not observe the laws of the country. They were the first of the
nobility of whom the commonwealth was composed and all bowed
before them. As they formed a body distributed through all the
provinces of the Gauls, by means of their colleges, so they were
entrusted with the education of the youth of first quality in the
kingdom.”

1 Banier’s Myth. of Ancients. vol. iii. b. 6. p. 228.
2This subject is further referred to in a work entitled ‘Traces of Primitive
Truth,’ (in the press) by the writer of this article: the connection of the Druids
with Abury in Wiltshire is likewise referred to in a recent description of the
Druidical Temples, &c., at Abury, by the same writer.

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 187

“To them belonged the right of creating an annual magistrate
to govern in every city, sometimes with the name and authority of
king or vergobret, who could do nothing without them, nor so much
as assemble his council: so that, strictly speaking, it was they that
actually reigned, and the kings were but their ministers, or rather
slaves.

“Justice was administered only by them. Umpires in all the
differences and interests of the nation, they equally decided public
affairs and those of private persons, punished crimes, and in pro-
cesses they adjudged a controverted property to him whom they
thought entitled to it. Those who refused to vield to their decision,
were anathematized; they were interdicted from all sacrifice, and
accounted profane by the rest of the nation, none daring so much
as to frequent their company.

“The Druids had the charge of the whole of religion, which also
gave them an unlimited power. Thus sacrifices, offerings, prayers,
public or private; the privilege of predicting future events, of con-
sulting the gods; of giving responses in their names; of studying
nature; the right of rejecting or establishing new ceremonies; of
seeing to the observance of ancient laws; of making additions to
them according to occurrences; of declaring war, and making
peace; of confirming or annulling the election of kings and vergo-
brets; that is, those who in certain provinces of Gaul” (and the
British Druids were the same in origin and authority) “were like
the Archons of Athens, but only with an annual power ; all these
were their province.””!

The doctrines and science of the Druids have been also described
by Abbé Banier. ‘All the maxims of the Druids tend to make
men wise and just, religious and valiant. The fundamental
points of their doctrines were reduced to these three: To adore
the gods, to injure nobody, and to be brave and courageous. Pom-
ponius Mela speaking of their philosophy, says they professed to
know the form and magnitude of the earth, and in general of the
whole universe ; as also the course of the stars and their revolutions;
and that their retired life in the caves and woods, where they had

1 Banier Myth. vol. iii. “pp. 230, 231, 232,

188 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

their habitation, allowed them full time to meditate upon all these
points.

“Tt is not,” adds the same writer, “‘to be doubted but the Druids,
and in general the Gauls, believed the Immortality of the Soul; and
it was this persuasion made them rush upon death, as a sure means
of attaining a more happy life. Strabo further informs us that the
Druids taught that all things were one day to be destroyed by fire
and water.”

Abbé Banier is decidedly of opinion that the Druids did not
obtain their philosophy or religion from Pythagoras or his disciples,
both of which were known long before his birth in Egypt and
almost the whole East, and had also been taught in Gaul by the
Druids long before the time of that philosopher. In speaking of
their funeral rites, Pomponius Mela states, “that the Gauls in
burying their dead, or the ashes of those they burnt, put into their
tombs their moveables, their accounts, and the bit/s of money which
they had lent, to serve them in the other world; that they even
wrote J/etters also to their dead friends; customs, say they, which
they never would have observed, had they not been persuaded that
their souls passed into new bodies. But is it not well known, that
the partizans of the doctrine of Metempsychosis taught that it
was not always immediately after death that the soul was introduced
into a new body ; that it first went to hell (or the invisible world)
to expiate its faults; that from thence it often passed into the Ely-
sian Fields, where after some stay, (as to the duration whereof they
varied a great deal,) it drank of the water of Lethe which obliterated
the memory of all that had passed, and then it returned into this
world to inhabit a new body, more or less honourable, according to
the merit of its actions? Nothing is more celebrated among the
ancients than those expiations, whereof Virgil fixes the time to a
thousand years. It was therefore to be of use to them in this in-
terval, that the Gauls (i.e. Druids) put clothes, moveables,! and

1 The barrow of Milbarrow at Monkton, Wilts, was recently opened in the
presence of several highly respectable witnesses, and aCinerary urn was discovered
within under some large stones, where also a very ancient key was found, now
in the possession of Mr. Falkner of Devizes, who has drawn up an account of the

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. 189

bills, into the tombs of their dead, and /etters which they had full
time to deliver to those to whom they were addressed.”

discovery, with the names of witnesses attached. The key which is very rusty
and of an antique form, with three plain lateral prongs, bears every appearance
of having been interred with the body beneath which it is said to have been found.
With a salutary dread of such resolute scoffers at antiquarian speculations as
Edie Ochiltree in Scott’s celebrated Romance,* there seems in the present in-
stance to be little doubt that this key was interred at a very remote period and
formed one of the moveables which were sometimes placed in the sepulchres of
the Druids. No clue can, however, be obtained in either the Classical writers
or Druidical accounts of keys being ever, much less customarily interred with a
body or Cinerary urn: still it may have been an occasional practice. The key
in Seripture was the official symbol of authority and distinction, and as the
badge of St. Peter, still adopted by the head of the Romish Communion, and even
as a badge or attendant on royalty, the key still retains its place as an emblem
of office; witness the gold and silver keys assigned to different members of our
own Royal Court. In Holy Scripture, hell and the grave, and death itself are
described as being locked, to which admission and release from its power belongs
to none other than He who brought life and immortality to light. ‘‘I am the
first and the last,’”’ said the Son of God; ‘‘I am he that liveth, and was dead;
and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of
death.”+ ‘‘These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the
key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man
openeth.”{ Hence we learn that our Lord is the author and giver of life, that
He is the resurrection and the life, of which the key is represented as the emblem
in opening and shutting, that is restoring or taking away life. Again the place
of torment is represented in the same book as being locked and opened by a key:
“« And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw astar fall from heaven unto the earth:
and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottom-
less pit.”§ ‘‘ And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of
the bottomless pit and a great chain in hishand. And he laid hold on the
DRAGON, that OLD SERPENT, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a
thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set
a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand
years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.’’||
Among the heathen deities, Mercury who conducted the dead to Hades, or the
state of departed spirits, is represented as having a key as his badge of office, and
Pluto who presided over the realms of the departed is also usually represented
with two keys, intimating his power of “‘ opening and shutting,” of admitting
and allowing the departure of the dead. Now there is at least some probability,
that such a ‘‘moveable” as a key may have been intended to intimate the belief
of the occupant of the sepulchre in a future state, and that the key buried along
with his body or ashes indicated an expectation of the way in which his release
was to be effected, by unlocking his tomb and the ‘gates of death,” and
opening or admitting him into a future state. Indeed, in connexion with the
* Antiquary, vol. i. ch. iv. pp. 47, 51.
+Rey. i. 17, 18. + Rev. iii. 7. ? Rev. ix. 1. || Rev. xx. 1, 2, 8.

190 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

“Such” says Abbé Banier, “were the sciences and doctrines which
the Druids endeavoured to inculcate upon their candidates whose
of term probation was very long.! When any of those candidates had
amore happy genius for speculative sciences than their companions,
the masters sent them into Great Briraty, for their improvement
and further advances, for the Druids of that Island were accounted the
most accomplished of all; whether it was that their being less taken
up than the Gauls, gave them more time to study, or for the reason
we have given above. Notwithstanding this distinction, they
maintained regular correspondence together, and consulted one
another upon all important emergences.

“Besides the study of religion and philosophy, the Druids also
applied themselves to medicine; but they owed all their reputation
in this to the notion people had of their knowing perfectly the
influence of the stars, and that they had insight into futurity: for
as everything in man has a mixture of good and evil, so those sages
who were so much reverenced, addicted themselves to astrology,
divination, and magic; sciences so much to the taste of the people,

Scriptural emblem of the resurrection represented by a key or keys, as also
the badges of the heathen deities Mercury, the conductor of departed spirits
to the regions of the dead, and Pluto the inexorable monarch of these
‘supposed dreary realms, there is room at least for conjecture that a key interred
in a Druidical sepulchre may intimate an expectation of a future resurrection.
The Parish clerk at Abury, Mr. Lawrence Chivers, when digging a grave
some years since in seemingly unopened ground in the Church-yard, at the east
end of the Church, discovered an ancient key covered with rust, about five feet
deep, lying with a ‘‘frame of bones,” which almost immediately crumbled into
dust when exposed to the air. The grave must have been very ancient, and
there was no mound to distinguish nor any stone to mark it. About fifty
years since Mr. Chivers found a nearly similar key, very ancient and rusty, in
another unmarked and undistinguished grave a little to the south of the South
Porch of the Church: no clue could be obtained to this key, which is now lost.
1“ As the Druids wrote nothing, and all their knowledge was digested into
verse, they obliged their novices (like Pythagoras) to learn them by heart, and
these verses were so numerous, that sometimes fifteen or twenty years were
necessary to learn them. Julius Cesar, who relates this fact, gives two reasons
for it: the first is, that the doctorines of the Druids might not be known to any,
and that it might appear the more mysterious; the second is, that the young
people who were obliged to learn these verses, might be the more careful to im-
prove their memory.”—Banier’s Myth. vol. iii. p. 236.

et et ey

By the Rev. J. L. Ross. WL

that though always deluded, yet they never recover from their pre-
judices. The Druids, ’tis true, made some use of botany, but they
mixed with it so many superstitious rites, that it is easy to see they
were no great proficients in it.” Asa necessary preparation for
gathering the plant called Selago, which is thought to have been

_ the black Hellebore, those employed were obliged to be ‘‘clad in

white, to be barefooted, and to offer beforehand a sacrifice of bread
and wine.”

After the introduction of Christianity into Britain, as is com-
monly supposed by Lucius a British prince, a descendant of Carac-
tacus, who had been taken with his family to Rome, the Druids
very generally embraced the Christian faith, which many of their
doctrines might predispose them to receive, and which, says Dr.
Stukeley, “the Roman arms had been unable to destroy.”

“They embraced,” says he, ‘that religion to which their own
opinions and rites had so direct a tendency; this is the sentiment
of Origen.! And it is sufficiently evident, if we consider, that
the first planters of Christianity in Ireland immediately con-
verted the whole island, without the blood of so much as one
martyr. Nay, the Druids themselves, at that time the only
national priests, embraced it readily, and some of them were very
zealous preachers of it, and effectual converters of others. For
instance, the great Columbanus himself was a Druid, the Apostle
of Ireland and Cornwall,” &c. We need not be surprised
at this, if we admit that these famous philosophic priests came
hither, as a Phoenician colony, in the very earliest times, even as
soon as T'yre was founded, during the life of the Patriarch Abra-
ham or very soon after.” If this be admitted, they would neces-
sarily bring with them the patriarchal’ religion, which,” says
Stukeley, ‘‘was so extremely like Christianity, that in effect it
differed from it only in this; they believed in a Messiah who was to
come into the world, as we believe in him that is come. Further
they came from that very country where Abraham lived, his sons

‘Comm, Ezek. iv.

192 Druidism in connection with Wiltshire.

gross of mankind, to stifle the seeds of idolatry ; ‘a mighty prince
and preacher of righteousness.’ And though the memoirs of our
Druids are extremely short, yet we can very evidently discover
from them, that the Druids were of Abraham’s religion entirely,
AT; LEAST IN THE EARLIEST TIMES, and worshipped the Supreme
Being in the same manner as he did, and probably according to
his example, or the example of his and their common ancestors.

Should this view, however, be deemed overstrained, this much
will at least be admitted, that the conquest obtained by Christianity
over Paganism and the almost universal worship of the serpent in
this country and elsewhere, is a striking fulfilment of the first
prediction by the Divine Creator in Paradise, that the serpent’s
head should be bruised (or his worship destroyed) by Him “in
whom,” it was afterwards foretold, “all the nations of the earth
should be blessed.’’*

1 Stukeley’s Stonehenge, vol. i. (fol.) p. 2.

2 On the ancient Norman Font in Abury Church, there is a mutilated figure
dressed apparently in the Druidical priestly garb, holding a crozier in one hand,
and clasping an open book to his breast with the other. Two winged dragons
or serpents are attacking this figure on either side. May not this be designed

to represent the triumph of Christianity over Druidism, in which there was much
veneration entertained for the serpent and serpent worship ?

193

Edington ov Patton the Ethandun of Altced's
bictorp ?

By R. C. Atexanper, Esa., M.D.

f= HERE has lately been renewed in the pages of this Magazine
¥ V): a question as to the march of Alfred, and the site of his
victory in the year 878. All discussion on the subject is vague,
unless we refer to the cotemporary authorities, and see what they
say, and what they call the places mentioned, in their own lan-
guage. The only two of the chroniclers upon whom reliance can
be placed are the author of the Saxon Chronicle for that period,
and Asser. The others wrote much later and copied from them.

The words of the Saxon Chronicle are, “ Da on pere seofoSan
wucan ofer Eastron he [ Ailfred] gerad to Kegbyrhtes-stane be
eastan Sealwuda, and him comon per ongen Sumorscete ealle, &
Wylscete and Hamtunscir, se deel se hyre beheonan se was, & his
gefeegen werun. And he for ymb ane niht of pam wican to Iglea,
and pxs eft ymb ane niht to Mpandune, & per gefeaht wid ealne
pone here, and hine geflymde, & him efter rad 03 pot geweore, &
per set xiv. niht,” &c.—Gibson’s edition, p. 85. Ingram, p. 105.
«Then in the seventh week after Easter he rode to Ecbyrht’s stone
east of Selwood, and there came to meet him all the Somerset and
Wiltshire men, and that part of Hamptonshire that was on this
side the sea, and were glad of him [to see him]. And he marched
after one night from that station [wic] to Iglea, and from this
after one night to pandun,! and there fought against all the
army and routed it, and rode after it to the stronghold, and sat
there a fortnight.”

The words of Asser are, “ Kodem anno post Pascha Alfred rex
eum paucis suis adjutoribus fecit arcem in loco qui dicitur A‘pelin-

1 Our ancestors represented the two sounds of th by p ‘for that in ¢horn and
thistle, and 8 for that in other, thy, and with.

0

194 Edington or Yatton the Ethandun of Alfred’s Victory ?

gaeg, et de ipsa arce semper cum nobilibus vassellis Sumurtanensis
contra paganos infatigabiliter rebellavit. Iterumque in 7 ebdom-
ada post Pascha ad petram Algbryhta, que est in orientali parte
saltus qui dicitur Selwudu, Latine autem St/va magna, Britannice
Coitmaur, equitavit, ibique obviaverunt illi omnes accolee Sumurtu-
nensis page & Wiltunensis, omnes accole Hamtunensis page, qui
non ultra mare pro metu paganorum navigaverant, visoque rege,
sicut dignum erat, quasi redivivum post tantas tribulationes reci-
pientes immenso repleti sunt gaudio, & ibi castra metati sunt una
nocte. Diluculo sequenti illucescente rex castra commoyens yenit
ad locum qui dicitur Aicglea, & ibi una nocte castra metatus est;
inde sequenti mane illucescente vexilla commovens ad locum qui
dicitur EHpandun venit, & contra universum paganorum exercitum
cum densa testudine atrociter belligerans, animoseque diu persistens,
divino nutu tandem victoria potitus, Paganos maxima cede pros-
travit, & fugientes usque ad arcem percutiens persecutus est, &
omnia que extra arcem invenit, homines scilicet, & equos et pecora,
confestim ceedens homines, surripuit, & ante portas Paganice arcis
cum omni exercitu suo viriliter castra metatus est.” — Walsingham’s
edition, p. 16. ‘In the same. year after Easter, King Alfred with
a few of his partisans formed a stronghold in a place which is called
Aftheling-ey, and from this stronghold continued indefatigably to
wage war against the pagans at the head of the noblemen his vas-
sals of Somersetshire. And again in the 7th week after Easter he
rode to the stone [of] Aigbryhta, which is in the eastern part of
the forest which is called Selwood, but in Latin, Silva Magna, in
British Coitmaur; and there there met him all the inhabitants of
Somersetshire and Wiltshire, and all such inhabitants of Hampton-
shire as had not sailed beyond sea for fear of the pagans, and upon
seeing the king received him, as was proper, like one come to life
again after so many troubles, and were filled with excessive joy, and
there they camped for one night. At dawn of the following day he
advanced his standard to a place which is called Alcglea, where he
encamped for one night. At dawn of the following day he came
to a place that is called Epandun, and fiercely warring against the
whole army of the pagans with serried masses, and courageously

9) Oa eee

By R. C. Alexander, Esq., M.D. 195

persevering for a long time, by divine favour at last gained the
victory, overthrew the pagans with very great slaughter, and put
them to flight and pursued them with deadly blows up to their
stronghold, and all that he found outside of it, men, horses, and
sheep he seized, immediately killed the men, and boldly encamped
before the entrance of the pagan stronghold with all his army.”

These two accounts, the Saxon of the Chronicle, and the Latin
of Asser, which Wright maintains is of a later period, are clearly
copied from the same document, or one from the other. The Latin
seems to be an expansion of the Saxon, except in what it says of
the Hampshire men flying beyond sea. The Chronicle seems to
mean the part of the county, on this, the west side of Southampton
water. The account given by the other chroniclers, Ethelwerd ,
Florence of Worcester, Huntingdon, and Simeon of Durham, will
be seen in Giles’s ‘Alfred the Great,’ Jubilee edition, i. p. 72.

The reader will notice in Asser’s account of the victory the words
‘ belligerans,’ warring, ‘diu persistens,’ persevering long, ‘tandem vic-
toria potitus,’ at last got the victory, expressions which imply a
campaign previous to the blockade of the stronghold, rather than a
mere battle, and are important in reference to the camps above
Heytesbury, which if Bratton castle was the Danish fortress, were
probably Alfred’s entrenchments.

In the discussion upon the site of this most important event,
which secured the preponderance of Wessex and its language and
civilization, and but for which we should probably never have had
any Anglo-Saxon literature to tell the tale of those times, there has
hitherto been no attempt made to derive information from an
analysis of the names of places mentioned. People have listened
only to some fancied resemblance of sound between them and the
names of some existing villages, and neglected to ask the meaning
of the ancient terms, and whether it tallied with the supposed site
of those places. In the following remarks I attempt little more
than to call attention to the use of examining these names by ana-
lysis, and do not presume to suppose that I have settled anything.

We learn then from the passages quoted, that Alfred came on
horseback, yrad, equitavit, from A%peling-ey, the island of nobles,

o 2

196 Edington or Yatton the Ethandun of Alfred’s Victory ?

now called Athelney in Somersetshire, through Selwood to his
trysting place at a stone called by the different chroniclers, Ecg-
byrht’s, Aigbryhta’s, Egbriht’s, and Ecgbrich’s. The incidental
notice of Selwood being called in British Coitmaur, is interesting
in reference to the etymology of Aipandun, as showing that that
language was still spoken in Somersetshire 300 years after its
submission to the Saxons. Who this Ecgbricht or Sword-bright
was, is unknown. The spot is generally considered to be that now
called Brixton Deverill. The latter name, Deverill, it has taken
from its Norman owner after the Conquest. Brixton, there can
be little doubt, is formed of the last two syllables of Ecg-brihts-stan,
the h having in Anglo-Saxon the guttural sound of the Dutch gh.
This station we may consider a point ascertained. Here he was
met by levies from the neighbouring counties, and the question is,
which way he marched with them. Perhaps the terms ‘yrad,’
‘equitavit,’ imply that Alfred came with only his immediate re-
tinue as far as Brixton. From this place he marched, ‘for,’ the
next day to a place called variously Iglea, Aicglea, Ecglea, and
AXiglea, which all mean is/and-meadow or flat. The first syllable of
this word, ‘ig’ has in composition the sense of insular. ‘Aig’ means
the same. The letter ¢ between the @ and g in Asser’s account, is
unusual, but I see no reason to doubt its being the common word
‘eg.’ It will explain the numerous variations in the spelling of
this syllable to remark that in all the Germanic languages, the eye,
an egg, and an island are synonymous: the eye having been used
metaphorically for an island, as the nose, ness, for a promontory,
the head for the top of a mountain, and the mouth for the em-bouch-
ure of a river. Our own word is/and is in fact eye-land, and ought
to be spelt so. The s has been taken from the French word is/e in
the same way as the silly we at the end of tongue from the French
langue. It has in fact nothing to do with is/e, which is a corruption
of the Italian isola, itself corrupted from the Latin insula. In
Anglo-Saxon an eye is called wg, egh, eag, eah, eage, and ege,
and the syllable, that in combination with land, lea, and such
words, means insular, follows nearly the same variations, being
properly speaking, like so many other expressions in ordinary lan-

By R. C. Alexander, Esq., M.D. 197

guage, a monosyllabic comparison, and due originally to the poverty
of the ancient vocabulary.! The ‘ea’ of ea-land, is/and, must surely
also be contracted from eah, an eye, and not, as usually given in
Dictionaries, mean ‘ea,’ running water. The differences of spelling
may possibly arise from provincial dialect, but I suspect that in
Anglo-Saxon a g following an /, ¢, or @ gave them all, as in Danish,
the sound of a long i or y. In Danish jeg and steg are pronounced
yi and sty: mig, dig, and sig as my, dy, and sy: regn as ryne, &c.
This awkward way of writing a simple vowel sound most likely
arose from the northern nations having learnt letters from the
Italians, who had not the sound of long 7 or y in their own lan-
guage. Agreeably to this rule ig, eeg, or eg would be merely
different ways of speaking the same word, and be equally pronounced
‘eye.’

The second syllable of Aig-lea means a low lying pasture in dis-

1Tt is curious to see the mutual interchange of meaning in the words used for
eye, egg, and island in the Germanic languages.

Eye. Egg. Island.

Ang.-Sax. ee eg eg

English eye egg _—i-and-ey in Iford, Ramsey, Waln-ey, &c.

Old Fries. eag, eeg age, ag, ach, oge

Low Germ. oog aeghe, aughe, oge, oog in Langer-oog,
Spiiker-oog, &c.

Dutch ooge ei ei

Old Saxon of .

the Heliand 058 &, et

High Germ. auge ei ei- in eiland.

Here we see in Anglo-Saxon the same word eg in all the three senses, in Low
German oog, and in English ey used for the ey and an island, and in High Ger-
man and Dutch the same word ei for egg and island. Thus we have eg and ei
in three senses and oog in only two. But the third meaning of the latter we
find safely embalmed in the Latin word ov-um an egg. This word agreeably
to the usual change of the northern g to a v or w is identical with the Low Ger-
man oog, having merely the case-termination wm added to it. Of this change
of the g to a v or w, we have abundant instances in our own language as com-
pared with Old Norse and German: e.g. low O.N. lagr; bow O.N. bogr, Germ.
bogen; gnaw O.N. gnaga, Germ. nagen; plow and dawter from plough and
daughter. The Greek dv (oon) is the same word as the Latin ovum, allowing for
the digamma, and case-termination ov forum. The Latin v seems from its
identity with the vowel wu to have had the sound of a German w, or in some
degree of our w, but not at all that of our v, and the Greek digamma the same.
Festus, a critic of the third century, tells us that the Aigean sea was called so
from the number of islands in it.

198 Edington or Yatton the Ethandun of Alfred’s Victory ?

tinction from a hill. It is variously spelt lea, leah, leag, legh,
lega and ley. It ischiefly, perhaps exclusively, used in composition.
Its primitive sense, as seen in the Old Friesian words /ege and /ech,
which mean /ow, (Germ. niedrig) is a flat ground. (See Richthofen’s
Alt-Friesisches Worterbuch.) Leo, without sufficient reason, ex-
plains it as a pasture among woods. Kemble thinks it meant
originally a meadow lying fallow after a crop. Cod. Dipl. i. p. 33.
It is undoubtedly connected with the various verbs in the Germanic
languages, which signify die down. A.S. liggan, Germ. liegen, Dan.
ligge. In Old Friesian, so valuable for the light it throws upon
our own vocabulary, lech or leegh are constantly opposed to hach or
haegh, high; like the Scotch ‘laigh and hie.’

Our Ig-lea or Aiglea then, as being an island flat, cannot be
represented by Clay Hill, or by Bugley, which have no water near
them. In what direction shall we find such an island? Now as
Alfred was not marching at the head of an army fully appointed
and ready for fight, but collecting and disposing his levies, as they
came in, he could not have gone far the very next day after his
arrival at Brixton, and we should expect to find this island at no
great distance. It appears to me most probable that it was one of
those in the Willy near Heytesbury, more particularly that at
Upton Lovell. It is the general, but an utterly groundless as-
sumption, that, if the battle was fought near Edington, Alfred
must have marched round under the downs. But at a time when
the low country was full of wood and marsh, it is more reasonable
to think that he would have ascended the hill on the western side,
and met the enemy upon level ground. In doing so he would
cross the Willy somewhere at the point indicated.

From this island, Auglea, he advanced the next day to Aupandun,
The derivation and meaning of this word Avpandun is extremely
obscure, and after considering it with the greatest attention I am
unable to give any from the Anglo-Saxon that is satisfactory. It
is possibly taken from the name of some person called Aipa, and
not resolvable into any elements with which we are acquainted.
It is most likely to be derived from the Welsh aeth, a furze bush.

By R. C. Alexander, Esq., M.D. 199

But let us try what can be made out of it from Anglo-Saxon before
having recourse to a foreign language.

Dun is an open hilly pasture, a down. ‘pan’ would seem to
be an adjective, whose simple form is «ep. This we do not meet
with, but there is a common form of ead easy, namely xd. The
letters p and 8 are so frequently confused, that perhaps there need
not be much importance attached to whether one is used or the
other. Indeed most editors of Anglo-Saxon works print } at the
beginning of a word, and 6 at any other part of it, without regard
to the manuscript. But beside this slight difference of spelling
there is the objection, that we do not, I think, ever find e% applied
to a hill, or bearing any such sense as ‘easy of ascent,’ or like its
compound eadfere ‘easy to travel on.’ With regard to the use of
% and } it is likely that the confusion has arisen from dialectic
difference of pronunciation, and that words which in Wessex were
correctly spelt with the one letter, would in another part of Eng-
land be as correctly spelt with the other. In Alfred’s will the
words Se and dat are thus written agreeably to the modern sound,
but in Iceland the corresponding words are written and pronounced
p, as bessi ‘this’ for instance. It is also probable that the 6 at the
end of a word may, like the Spanish d, take the sound of p. This
derivation of AXpandun from #%, is, grammatically, the most ob-
vious and easiest. The doubt is whether «% ever bears a meaning
applicable toa down. There are several other conjectural deriva-
tions that have occurred to me, but, having no confidence in them, I
will not occupy the pages of this Magazine, or tire the reader, by
detailing them. Of the word ‘heen’ a pagan, a term that might
be thought singularly appropriate to the camp of an ezercitus
paganorum, as Asser calls them, I will only remark that the import-
ance of the letter in all Germanic languages forbid us to think
of it. From the oldest specimen of German in the Mzso-Gothic of
Ulphilas to the modern dialects of England, Holland, and Germany,
there is not I believe a single instance of the / being either omit-
ted or adopted contrary to ancient usage, or occurring in the same
word in one of those languages and not in the other, except in the
ease of the personal pronoun of the third person, (upon which some

200 Edington or Yatton the Ethandun of Alfred’s Victory ?

remarks will be made in a subsequent part of this paper,) and some
foreign words such as Ikenild-street, which is often spelt Hikenild.
Other apparent exceptions will resolve themselves into transitive
forms in h of neuter verbs, or nouns, with an unaspirated vowel, as
hacean, hack, from zex an axe, hedan, feed, from ede flock, haermian,
injure, from earm, wretched, hyran, hear from ear, the ear, &c.

Of the Anglo-Saxon derivations of the word, that occur to me,
the likeliest philologically is the above from 2%, and I suspect that
this word is connected with ‘x’ water, and may imply /eve/ like the
Latin ‘eequus,’ ‘eequor,’ which, no doubt, are connected with ‘aqua’
water, and represent a smooth water-levelled surface.

I think, however, that every reader will agree with me that the
Welsh word ‘aeth,’ a furze-bush, pl. ‘eithin,’ offers a far more pro-
bable explanation of the name. I will here quote what Kemble
remarks upon this adoption of British names by the Saxons.

“Before we proceed to notice these words in detail, it will be
desirable to remark one circumstance which throws considerable
difficulty in the way of their explanation: this is the extremely
corrupt manner in which they are too often written, and which
coupled as it frequently is, with peculiarity of dialect, sometimes
renders it impossible even to settle their true form, a fortiori to
decide upon their meaning. Nor is this the only difficulty which
meets the inquirer. It cannot be doubted that local names, and
those devoted to distinguish the natural features of a country, pos-
sess an inherent vitality, which even the urgency of conquest is
frequently unable to destroy. A race is rarely so entirely removed
as not to form an integral, although subordinate, part of the new
state based upon its ruins: and in the case where the cultivator
continues to be occupied with the soil, a change of master will not
necessarily lead to the abandonment of the names by which the
land itself and the instruments or processes of labour are designated.
On the contrary, the conquering race are apt to adopt these names
from the conquered; and thus after the lapse of twelve centuries and
innumerable civil convulsions, the principal words of the class
described yet prevail in the language of our people, and partially
in our literature. Many then of the words which we seek in vain in

By R. C. Alexander, Esq., M.D. 201

the Anglo-Saxon Dictionaries, are, in fact, to be sought in those of
the Cymri, from whom they were adopted by the victorious Saxons,
in all parts of the country; they are not Anglo-Saxon but Welsh
(i.e. foreign Wylisc) very frequently unmodified either in meaning
or pronunciation.” —Cod. Diplom. vol. iii. p. 15.

It may now be enquired what down there is in the possible line
*of Alfred’s march, to which the name of Furze-down would be ap-
propriate. We do not usually find that bush on chalk downs, but
on gravelly or sandy soil. Being unacquainted with that part of
the country, I can form no opinion as to its probable site, but
should conclude from the character of the booty captured, namely,
sheep and horses, and not oxen or swine, so much more highly
valued at that time, that it was some part of the Plain, if there is
any to which the name is applicable. If I am right in supposing
Iglea to have been an island in the Willy, then it is most likely.
that Alfred marched up over Heytesbury down. There are several
camps there, Battlesbury, a very significant name, Scratchbury,
Knook, &c.

Nor need we be surprized that the Danes should have quitted
their winter quarters at Chippenham, and posted themselves on
the down, for, independant of military reasons for doing so, the
downs were at that time as valuable as the wooded marshy lands
below. If we may judge from the hundreds not being larger on
the Plain than elsewhere, they must have also been as populous.

The camp usually assigned to them, Bratton castle, would agree-
ably to the above reasoning be the right one. But as to Edington
being identical with Avpandun, I have my doubts. There are many
instances where in the carelessness of modern times the ‘dun’
which originally meant an open down, has been changed into ‘ton,’
which meant an enclosed farm or village, but it is more reasonable
to think that there may have been both an Eding-ton and an
Eding-dun.

It is not so easy to account for pan being changed into ding. In
the Scandinavian and German languages the ) and 8 have been re-
placed by ¢ and d, but there is no tendency to this change in Eng-
lish. Far from it, a great number of words once spelt with d are

202 Edington or Yatton the Ethandun of Alfred’s Victory ?

now spelt with th, as father, mother, hither, thither, which in
Anglo-Saxon were feeder, modor, hider, pider. uther is a strong
case in point, for in all Germanic languages it means, as in Greek
and Latin, the feeder, and feed is always spelt with dand not th.
For instance

1. Mes. Goth. fadan feed fadar
2. Angl.-Sax. fedan E feeder
3. Old Fries. feda * feder
4. Dutch voeden Bs vader
5. Iceland: feedi Bs fadir
6. Old Swed. foda be fodur
7. Danish fide 4 foder
8. Old Saxon at food fader

Murder from the Anglo-Saxon mor%or is the only instance where
% has become d or ¢ before a vowel. There are a few like Hadfield
and Sutton, where it has changed before a consonant.

As to the rival claim of Yatton, the distance appears too great
for the first two days’ march of unembodied levies, and in the state
of forest, in which the intermediate country was then lying; but
this is a strategical question with which I will not meddle. Those
who have maintained this idea, which Whitaker first published,
have taken Highley near Melksham for the Iglea where Alfred
encamped the night before the battle. But Highley, in the first
place, is not an island, and then the seeming identity of sound be-
tween the words is a delusion. How Highley was originally spelt,
I cannot discover. There is no mention of it in old books and
maps. But if since the Conquest it has always been spelt as at
present, it is an entirely different word from Ig-lea, and in Anglo-
Saxon times would have been written Hig-lea, or Heah-lea. The
H, as before observed, was formerly in this, as in other Germanic
languages, a most important letter. Among all the names in
Kemble’s Codex Diplomaticus that begin with I, At, or E, there is
not one which in modern English has assumed an initial H; nor
is there one beginning with H, which has dropped it. I=gfeld,
Igford (near Bradford), Igset and Igtun are now called respectively
Tfield, Iford, Eyset and Eyton. This coupled with the fact that

By R. C. Alexander, Esq., M.D. 203

an initial H has never been either assumed or dropped in any
other Anglo-Saxon word, or in any word of any Germanic lan-
guage, till recent days of cockneyism, seems to set at rest the
question of Highley being Iglea. It is more likely to be a hamlet
built in modern times upon a field called High-ley. The map in-
serted in Ingram’s Saxon Chronicle represents the neighbouring
brook as forming an island, but compared with other maps excites
a suspicion that it is only with the aid of field ditches that the
ground acquires an insular character, and, such as it is, Highley
does not stand upon it. Against Westbury Leigh there is the
same objection that it is not an island. Iford near Bradford, would
have been much more plausible.

Next as to Yatton being Aipandun. The name means Gate-farm,
or village from geat a gate, or rather gateway, pronounced yat, as
it is still in the northern counties, a word from which a great
number of other places have derived their names, the Yattons in
Somerset and Herefordshire, the Yates in Gloucester and Lanca-
shire, Yatehouse, Yately, Yatesbury, &c. Yatton could not pos-
sibly be derived from Aipan, for every English word beginning
with y, if of Saxon, was formerly written either with ge or iw, or
with ¢ and some vowel after it. For instance, year, yoke, yard,
yule were spelt gear, geoc, geard, and geol, although unquestionably
pronounced as at the present day; and again Yalding, Yardley and
York were spelt Ealding, Eardleah and Eoforwic; and yew, Yew-
den and Yewcomb, spelt iw, Iwden and Iwcumb. It does not
appear that any truly English name that now begins with a y was
ever spelt with an initial w@ ore. Nor, as before observed, do I
think that there is any instance in the English language of a p
before a vowel becoming ¢. It is not sufficient in these matters to
say that the sounds are much alike and might pass into one ano-
ther, as in other countries. We must humbly observe what actually
has taken place in similar words, and not reason a priori, but from
precedents.

We learn from Mr. Scrope’s paper that Yatton was formerly
called Eaton, and the downs near it Etton downs. That may very
well be so. Geat-ton, Hat-ton and Yat-ton are only different spel-

204 Edington or Yatton the Ethandun of Alfred’s Victory?

lings of the same word, and Etton a shortened form of it. Ea-ton,
with one ¢, would mean a village on a running stream, a name that
would not have been given to Yatton, while the meaning of ‘ea’
was still known, but might easily enough have been corrupted from
it in later times. But Eatton could scarcely be derived from A‘pan,
for the «2 has no more tendency to become ea, than to become ya,
and there is the same anomaly as in the case of Yatton, the change
ofa p toat.

With Slaughterford, as there is no mention of it in the ancient
chronicles, we have in this present enquiry nothing todo. There
may have been a battle with the Danes there, but we have no
evidence that it was Alfred’s battle of Epandun.

Before concluding this paper, I beg to be allowed to say a few
words upon etymological reasoning generally.

There is nothing more illusory than listening to vague resemblance
of sound in words, and concluding upon their mutual connexion
without regard to the laws which govern the changes of a language
as regularly as the declension and conjugation of nouns and verbs.
Those who are familiar with any local dialect will anticipate how
a peasant will pronounce any word that is given to him; how surely
in Wiltshire he will change s to s, and f to 2, and will utter his
a’s broadly, and give a coarse sound to his /’s and 7’s after a vowel.
The changes effected in our language since the Conquest have fol-
lowed rules quite as constant, except perhaps in the case of gh,
with which, since we lost its sound, we seem not to know what to
do. Where a foreign nation learns a new language, and learns it
imperfectly, there is no anticipating how capriciously words may
be altered, but the devolopment of a language in its native country,
and by the race to which it belongs, is not a matter of chance.

And here I would explain what, for the sake of the argument,
it was necessary to state broadly above in the question of Iglea and
Highley, that an initial 4 has never been capriciously adopted or
suppressed in synonymous words in any of the Germanic languages.
The irregularity noticeable in the pronouns of the third person
might seem to contradict this statement, for our word 7¢ is Ait in
Anglo-Saxon, het in Dutch, es in German, and it, {or here and

—

By R. C. Alexander, Esq., M.D. 205

there in some of the manuscripts jit) in the Old Saxon. This
however has not arisen from a mispronunciation of the word, or a
disregard of an i, but from a confusion of two different demonstra-
tive pronouns, which can only be explained by referring back to
the oldest form of German extant, the Mzeso-Gothic of Ulphilas’s
translation of the New Testament made in the 4th century. In
this language we find he and it to be respectively is and ita, cor-
responding to the Latin is and id, and declined

M. Sing. N. M. Plural. N.
N. is (Lat. is) he ita (L.id) N. eis (L. ii) ija (L. ea
G. is (L. ejus) 1s G. ize (L. eorum)
D. imma (L. ei) imma D. im (L. eis) im
A. ina (L. eum) ita A. ins (L. eos)

These same words with an initial / prefixed to them take on the
sense of this, as in ‘himma-daga’ this day, in our Lord’s prayer,
‘und hita’ wntil this time, Mark xii. 19., ‘fram himma’ from now
John xiv. 7., ‘und hina dag’ wntil this day, Mat. xi. 23. The same
power of an initial / prefixed to pronouns and pronominal adverbs,
that of giving them the sense of vicinity in place or time, we see
in the words here, hence, hither, and in the German her hither, heute
this day, hewer this year, and in the Old German /i-naht to-night.
We find it also in the Latin /ic this, which, short as it is, seems
also to be compounded of similar elements, A, is, and ce. An initial
th prefixed to these pronouns seems on the other hand to have given
them the sense of distance, as in there, hence, thither. But in the
course of time their proper meaning was neglected, and het and hit,
which meant ¢his, and det in Danish which meant that, came to be
used for simply it. How it is that since the Conquest we have
gradually replaced the Anglo-Saxon Jit with the older and purer
it, is uncertain, but as the so-called Anglo-Saxon was in fact merely
the dialect of Wessex, it is likely that 7¢ had been all along retained
in other parts of England, and eventually came into use, just as
the more correct thresh, run, and grass replaced the Wessex thersh,
yrn, and gers, words that are heard to this day in the West of
Somersetshire, but in none of the continental forms of German.
Horne Tooke’s ingenious conjecture that /it and it are contracted

206 Edington or Yatton the Ethandun of Alfred’s Victory ?

forms of hight, ‘named,’ is unfounded. It would exceed the limits of
a paper upon a local subject to explain other apparent anomalies in
the use and disuse of an initial h, but they are, I believe, all of
them as clearly resolvable as i¢ and Ait into a misuse of terms, and
not a mispronunciation of them.

As the identification of Iglea, upon which the direction of
Alfred’s march depends, turns upon the importance or unimpor-
tance of the initial letter being aspirated or not, I trust that these
remarks will not be considered out of place or superfluous.

There are two objections usually taken to etymological studies—
their uncertainty and their frivolous character. The first objection
applies with equal force to geology and politics, and almost all
branches of science, and undoubtedly did once apply most especially
to etymology, “when,” as Voltaire says, “the vowels were of no
consequence at all and the consonants of very little.” But since
philologists have ascertained the laws and limits of change in the
different dialects of the great Indo-European family, as well in
regard to vowels as consonants, what was chaotic confusion before,
is become a pleasing, satisfactory, and very instructive science. As
in statistics nearly every event, taken separately, is a chance, and
yet collectively such events afford data for safe inductions, so in
Philology the probability that some certain word is the same as
some other word in a different language, from a mere guess becomes
a certainty, as more and more cases in point are found; and at
length, what at first was only probable, is established as a general
law. Many again look upon enquiries of this kind as mere literary
curiosities, but conducted judiciously they throw the most unex-
pected and interesting light upon the history of a people’s civiliza-
tion, its ancient manners and modes of thought, and not unfre-
quently upon historical events, and in this point of view deserve
the full attention of the local antiquary. I greatly regret that I
cannot prove the latter assertion by more decisive testimony upon
this question of Aithandun, but imperfect as this paper is, it may
stimulate those who are better qualified than myself to investigate
this and other points of county history by the same method, and
follow them up to more satisfactory conclusions. I trust that I

a

On the finding of Carduus tuberosus at Avebury. 207

shall not have occupied these pages of the Magazine quite uselessly,
if I have only shown how little reliance is to be placed upon the
mere chiming of names with each other without analysis of the
intrinsic meaning of them. R. C2: A.

On the finding of Carduns tuberosus at Abebury.
By Proressor Buckman, F.L.S., F.G.S.. &e.

N reporting upon our Meeting at Avebury, Wilts, I took
=<§|%) occasion to remark upon some interesting plants which I
had obtained from the Druidical circle, and amongst notes upon
others will be found the following:

“ Carduus acaulis”’ (Linn.) Stemless Thistle, with (anomalous as
it appears,) stems several inches high. This is one of the forms
which has given rise to the many synonyms by which the true
species is surrounded.!

In July of the present year I found myself at the Avebury circles
in company with my friend Edward Lees, Esq., when this thistle
was by us more minutely examined, and upon carefully getting
some specimens up by the roots, we were pleased to find that it
agreed in this and other respects with the ‘‘Carduus tuberosus,”
(Linn.) tuberous Plume Thistle, a specimen of which appears to
have been sent by A. B. Lambert, Esq. to Sir J. E. Smith, and is
figured in English Botany, t. 2562, to the description of which is
appended the following habitat: “A copse wood called Great Ridge
on the Wiltshire Downs, between Boyton House and Fonthill,
abundantly, and Smith states that he there gathered it in 1819.”
English Flora, vol. iii. p. 898.

For many years, however, this form appears to have become ex-
tinct in this its original habitat, and it was thought to have been
entirely lost to our Flora, until within the last few months, when
Mr. T. B. Flower of Bath fortunately discovered that a nurseryman
in his neighbourhood had propagated the plant from its original
stock, presented to the nurseryman by Lambert himself, and the

Address to the Coteswold Natural History Club, October 6th, 1857.

208 On the finding of Carduus tuberosus at Avebury.

two or three specimens thus handed down are now in Mr. William
Cunnington’s possession, and upon paying him a visit at Devizes
on our way from Avebury to Stonehenge, I was gratified to see a
specimen in full flower in his garden, as well as two dried examples
in his Herbarium; and from an examination of these, I am enabled
to declare their complete identity with those I had so recently
gathered at Avebury.

Here then we have a curious example of a plant having been lost
for many years in one locality, yet subsequently occurring in
another: and though the collecting botanist may perhaps feli-
citate us upon restoring this to the British Flora, I have myself
great hesitation in receiving it as a true and undoubted species:
the grounds for which I would shortly sum up as follows. It occurs
sparingly at Avebury, surrounded by the true “ Carduus acaulis”
(Linn.), and “C. acanthoides” (Linn.), in great abundance. Its most
important distinctive character will be found in the radical tubers,
which in full grown examples are somewhat large and fleshy, and
unilaterally placed on the rhizome. In smaller specimens the
roots are long and flexile, but not expanded into tubers, which is
just the state in which they occur in the “ Carduus acaulis’’ (Linn.)

It is true that it cannot be described as acauline as the stem is
more than a foot in height, but this is also often the case with the
true “C. acaulis” (Linn.), as we have now before us examples of
this species several inches high.

From these circumstances in connection with the rarity of the
tuberous form in a plant that seeds so abundantly, each head of
flowers being capable of perfecting as many as one hundred and
fifty seeds; taking also in consideration the well known sporting
propensity of this genus, I cannot help thinking this to be a hybrid,
and from the fact of the abundance of the two forms before indi-
cated in its immediate vicinity, we may not unreasonably look
upon them as the origin of our tuberous type. There is perhaps
no genus of plants more perplexing to the botanist than that of
“ Qarduus,”’ which is now made to include Cnicus, and hence the
variation in the number of species in our different floras, and thus
Babington heads his descriptions of them with the following signi-

On the finding of Carduus tuberosus at Avebury. 209

ficant note, “Many hybrids occur in this genus.””—Manual of British
Botany, 4th edition. And my friend Lees has kindly furnished me
with the following note upon another disputed species which
directly bears upon this question.

“In August 1856, I found the “Cardwus Fosteri,’ (Smith) ina
field near Crowle, Woreestershire. In the same marshy field was
a considerable quantity of Carduus pratensis (Huds.), and a very
numerous growth of “C. palustris” (Linn.) so as to give rise to an
immediate suspicion of its hybridity, and upon examination the
characters shown by “‘C. Fosteri”’ (Smith), were exactly intermediate
also. The leaves were much like those of “C. palustris” (Linn.),
while the stem and flowers were in small clusters, instead of being
single as in the latter. Indeed the result of my examination con-
vinced me that C. Posteri (Smith) could be only a hybrid, and this
I stated in an account I sent to the “ Phytologist,” and which ap-
peared in the September number of that Journal for 1856.”

For the present then I must content myself with having offered
presumptive evidence of the non-specific character of what is after
all a decidedly distinctive form, and as I have brought home some
specimens and planted them in my botanical garden, where I shall
also introduce the “C. avaulis” (Linn.) and “‘C. acanthoides (Linn.),
I shall look forward to the result of experiments with these with
no little degree of interest, as in all probability like so many other
experiments which I have been enabled to perform in the same
direction, these may serve still more to perplex the question of,
What is a species ?

Cirencester, January, 1858.

210

Hradtord-upon-Abon.

(Continued from page 88.)
THE PARIGG. CHURCH.

kept in observance of the dedication of the Church is still preserved
in an annual fair “holden in the Borough on the morrow after
Trinitie Sunday.”

Although the building, taken as a whole, has no great preten-
sions to architectural excellence, being a strange, and, to many
eyes, discordant mixture of every variety of style, yet its very
antiquity makes it interesting. Nearly eight hundred years have
perhaps passed by since the original structure, much of which still
remains, was erected. The additions that from time to time have been
made to it seem to be a connecting link between the present and
the past, and to tell silently, yet not unimpressively, the tale of by
gone generations, who slumber now within its walls or beneath its
shade, each of whom has left a memorial behind them. Its very
irregularities, whilst they preserve the vestiges of the growth and
tell the history of the building, mark also the successive changes
in the parish itself, from times when wealth and devotion went
hand in hand, and men vied with one another in their costly offer-
ings to the Temple of God, to times when they measured all things
by the narrow standard of a selfish utilitarianism, and, though
they themselves ‘dwelt in cedar,’ suffered the House of God to be
altogether unadorned, and to a great extent uncared for and
* neglected.

“A mother Church,” says Bishop Kennett, “was the more
honorable for being branched out into one or more subordinate
chapels.”! In this respect our ‘old Church’ was more than usually
privileged, at least six, if not more, distinct chapels being dependent

1 Parochial Antiquities, ii, 272.

C Lee 3 Gi; eA ” t Yon

Wish Ohl, « i MfLOW

Fublished by 7. Rawhng

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 211

upon it. These chapels were built originally, as we have intimated
in a previous page (35), in the 14th or 15th century, to supply the
wants of those who lived at a distance from the town, and the duties
in them were performed by Chaplain Priests—(Capellani they are
commonly termed),—who were under the direction and control of
the Vicar.

The Parish Church, in its present state, consists of a Chancel,—
Nave,—North Aisle,—a Tower at the west end,—a small Chantry
Chapel at the south-east corner of the Nave,—and a South Porch.

The building seems originally to have consisted only of a Chancel,
about two-thirds as long as the present one, and a.Nave of the same
dimensions as now. Judging from the appearance of the masonry,
and tlie manner in which the present Tower is united at its south-
east angle with the body of the Church, there would seem to have
been also a Tower to the original building, a portion of what was
probably the angular turret to carry the staircase still remaining.
All this was no doubt the work of the twe/fth century. :

In the fourteenth century the Chancel appears to have been
lengthened and the east and north-east windows to have been in-

-serted, the characteristics of this portion of the Church enabling
us to attribute it to the middle-pointed, or decorated, period of archi-
tecture.

Towards the latter portion of the fifteenth century, judging from
the tracery of the window and other features of the structvve, we
should imagine that the present Tower was added to the C. urch.

No long time after, probably at the end of the fifteenth or the
commencement of the sixteenth century, the North Aisle was added.
We shall presently state our reasons for believing that this part of
the Church was built at ¢wo distinct periods, though at no long
interval probably between them.

A little later, possibly shortly before the Reformation, the small
Chantry Chapel, now called the Kingston Aisle, was built ; by whom,
it is not known,—though perhaps by some member of the ‘ Hall’
family, the proprietors at that time of the ‘Mansion House,’ by the
owner of which, for the time being, it has always been held.

pP2

212 Bradjord- upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

THE CHANCEL.

The Chancel is about 48 feet in length and 20 in width. Both exter-
nally and internally those features, which prove the original build-
ing to have been of Norman date, are distinctly traceable. The plain
flat buttress, which seems but little more than thickening of the
walls, ending in a gentle slope just below the parapet, is to be seen
here. Moreover, though now blocked up with large monuments
affixed to the wall, the traces of the long and narrow semi-circular
headed Norman windows are plainly discernible. There appear to
have been, as far as we can conjecture, two such windows in each
of the side walls of the Chancel. Internally they were splayed
very considerably. In carrying out some repairs about eighteen
months ago, traces were found of illuminations, &c., on the walls.
Over the head of the most eastern of the Norman windows, on the
south side, was a scroll on which was written the first article from
the Apostles’ creed,—‘ Credo in Deum Patrem Omnipotentem.”
[the remaining portion of the inscription was defaced.] Probably
the rest of the creed was inscribed on other parts of the Chancel
walls.

In the fourteenth century, to judge by the style of the archi- -
tecture, the Chancel was considerably lengthened. The windows,
both at the east end, and at the north-east side of the Chancel, to-
gether with the external buttresses of this portion of it, belong to
the middle-pointed or decorated style; as also does the battlemented
parapet, which was no doubt, at the same time, carried round both
sides of the Chancel, superseding the original, and simpler, Norman
work.

Both of the windows just alluded to, are remarkable for the
simplicity, yet chasteness, of their design. The altar window con-
sists of five lights, all terminating, with semi-continuous tracery, in
a circle at the head of the window, composed of six cusped triangles.
Till lately the window was for the most part blocked up with stone,
and the upper tracery cut away and filled with fragments of coloured
glass, most of it of a very inferior description. The lower part
within was, in accordance with the taste of the last century ‘orna-
mented’ with wooden panelling in a quasi-classical style, in the

ae

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 213

centre of the whole arrangement being a large oil painting of the
last supper by a native artist, that testified more to his devotedness
than his skill. The painting has been removed to the vestry of
the Church, and the window, after a complete restoration of the
stone-work, has been filled with stained glass, executed by Messrs.
O’Connor, of London. The subjects of the various paintings are
(1.) The Nativity,—(2.) The Baptism,—(3.) The Crucifixion, —(4.)
The Entombment,—(5.) The Resurrection; and underneath are in-
scribed the following words from the Litany :—“ By thy birth,—
By thy baptism,—By ‘thy precious death,—By thy burial,—By
thy glorious resurrection,—Good Lord, deliver us.” The tracery
at the head of the window contains emblems of the ‘Holy Trinity,’
in honour of whom the Church is dedicated.

The window on the north-east side of the Chancel consists of two
lights. The tracery is semi-continuous. At the head of the win-
dow is a trefoil with double cusping. Possibly a window of
similar design or character was at one time on the south-east side
of the Chancel. If so, it must have been removed, and its place
supplied by the larger one of four lights which is by no means a
bad example of the Perpendicular style.

Recessep Tomes.—There are in the Chancel a considerable number
of monumental memorials. For the present we will only speak of the
two oldest and most interesting of them,—the recessed tombs,—one
of which is on the north, and the other on the south side. They are
formed in the body of the wall of the Church, and extend to within
some eight or ten feet of what would seem to have been the original
eastern termination of the Chancel. Judging from the style of
architecture, the extension of the Chancel and the erection of these
two tombs would appear to have been the work of much the
same period.

Of the two recessed tombs, the one on the north side of the
Chancel is perhaps the more ancient, though there is no long in-
terval between them. Originally, like the one on the south side,
it was surmounted by a canopy; portions of the original label, and
of some of the crocketting of the pediment, having been discovered
amonf the débris, whilst clearing away a large monumental tablet,

214 Bradford-upon- Avon. [Parish Church.

which had been fixed on the face of the wall immediately in front
of it. The whole of the ornamental work had been previously
destroyed, and the recess filled up, to enable the marble-mason to
attach the slab in question to the wall. The effigy is a female
figure, the costume of which,—(one feature being the ewimple, or
handkerchief round the neck and chin,)—fixes the probable date of
it in the time of Edward I., or about 1280—1800. A small
figure of the head of a female,—habited in like manner with the
wimple,—was a short time ago discovered during the progress of
some repairs to the tomb, which was clearly a corbel of the label
that formerly went round the outer arch. As to whose tomb it
may be, we have no certain clue at all. From the ancient deeds,
to which reference has been made in a previous page (31), we
might, in the absence of any definite information, hazard a plau-
sible conjecture. Even at the middle of the 13th century the ‘ Hall’
family, as they were in course of time designated, were persons of
consequence and property in Bradford. Living, as we know they
did, in the Town, and in a ‘Mansion House,’ on the site probably of
the presext Kingston House, it is not a little remarkable that there
is no memorial in the Church, to which we can certainly point as
referring to members of this family;—and yet nothing should we
look for more naturally. As then we find, from a deed which bears
date,—(for reasons which we have specified (p.31)—from 1247-1252,
that at that time “Agnes’ is represented as the ‘relict’ of ‘Reginald de
Aula,’and seems, (we may also infer)to have been left a comparatively
young widow, her children being under age, there is no improba-
bility in the supposition that the tomb, of which we are speaking,
may be hers. Till her children became of full age, she appears to
have been the head of the family in Bradford. Though, of course,
all is conjecture, still, the probable date of the tomb,—the high
position she herself held,—the fact that she might well have been
living at the close of the 13th century,—all lend colour to the sup-
position, that this recessed tomb on the north side of the Chancel
may be that of ‘Agnes de Aula.’

Of the recessed tomb on the south side of the Chancel, with its
elegant and cusped canopy within, and its curious gable and small

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 215

lancet window without, we have already given a drawing (pl. iii.
p- 82), so that further description is unnecessary. The effigy itself
is sadly mutilated, but enough remains to enable us from its cos-
tume, as well as from the mouldings and other details of the
canopy, to assign its date to the beginning of the 14th century.
Whose tomb it may be none can tell: the crossed legs may denote
that the deceased was a person of authority, or office, under the
King; for it is generally understood now that this attitude does not
necessarily refer to the taking of the cross. It may be the tomb
of Sir John de Holte, whose name occurs very frequently in deeds
of the time of Edward I., and who, in the year 1314, was Sheriff
of Wiltshire ;—but this, of course, is mere conjecture.

' Within the last eighteen months the whole of the Chancel has
been fitted up with oak stalls and seats. A gallery erected in 1707
by Thomas Lewis, then Vicar, which stretched across the Chancel
arch, and entirely shut out the view of the eastern part of the
Church from the Nave, has also been removed. The Chancel Arch
itself would seem to have been rebuilt about the end of the 15th
century. There are evident traces of the rood-screen,—several
fragments of it, together with an original bench end with its finial,
were discovered during the progress of repairs. The rood-/ofé still
remains. The Chancel Arch seems to have been illuminated, much
of the colouring yet remaining where the thick coats of white-wash,
which have been mercilessly laid on here, as in other parts of the
Church, have been removed. The giving way of the south wall of
the Chancel at some time,—(though certainly not within the last
220 years,)!—has caused this arch to spread considerably. Further
damage has been prevented by the insertion of iron bars, one of
which of great strength, though concealed by plastering and white-
washing, stretches across the Church just above the Chancel Arch,
and ties the walls together.

‘The Chancel Roof was ceiled with plaster in the year 1636. At that time
the south wall had evidently-given way, as the plaster cornice is carried round,
and adapted to the curvature which the line of this wall had assumed. We
cannot perceive any mark of cracks in the plaster which seems much in the state

in which it was first put up, so that we may fairly conclude that for at least two
centuries there has been no further spreading of the Chancel wall.

216 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

In removing some panelling which covered the wall, two small
recesses, were discovered on the south side near the east end of the
Chancel; one of them would seem to have been an ‘Ambry,’ and
the other a ‘Piscina.’ The latter has been so mutilated, that it is
almost impossible to say what was its original design.

‘THe Nave.

The Nave is 88 feet in length and about 30 in width. The north
wall has been removed for the insertion of arches, by which it is
divided from an Aisle on that side. On the south we have still
the original wall, the external buttresses, &c. and traces within of
the long semi-circular headed windows which once existed, enabling:
us to pronounce it to have been of Norman date. The present
windows are all of them later insertions; some of them indeed have
been made in very modern times, and in the usual tasteless style of
the 18th century. Two large windows are of Perpendicular date,
and of these, the one at the west end, with a traceried transom,
is particularly good: the other is filled with stained glass, the gift
of Mr. John Ferret, collected, it is said, by him abroad, consisting
of a number of medallions in which are depicted various scenes
from the life of our Blessed Lord. The tracery is filled up with
divers fragments of glass, some of which is hardly in keeping with
that contained in the lower part of the window.

It may be mentioned that there appear, on either side of ‘ls
present Porch, to be traces of an older door-way leading into the
Nave. The Porch, asit now stands, it may be mentioned in passing,
is of late date. The Niches, of which there are two,—one over the
interior and another over the exterior door-way,—would seem to be
earlier than the remaining part of this structure. They possibly
formed part of an older Porch, and were inserted in the present one.

The Roof of the Nave is of the 16th or 17th centuries, and is of
Elizabethan or Jacobean style plastered and panelled within.

Tue AISLE.

The Aisle is 90 feet in length and about 15 feet in width. Though
ata first glance the whole of this portion of the Church may well be

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 217

considered to have been built at the same time, yet an attentive
examination of the fabric makes it very evident that such was not
the case. Not only are each of the two eastern bays of less width
than each of the remaining three, but there are differences, though
small, to be observed in the mullions and tracery of the windows,
that distinctly mark the present Aisle as of two periods. The
eastern portion was probably built first, and this extended as far as
the end of the second bay from the Chancel, in fact to a large block
of masonry! that is still left standing, (and which is part no doubt
of the original wall,) and forms a sort of division between the two
portions of the Aisle. It is by no means difficult for an experienced
eye to detect, at this point, evidences ofan Aisle having once termi-
nated here. Though the whole Aisle has had an oak-panelled
ceiling, yet the design of the two parts of it is different, and the
general character of the work, together with what our masons call
the angle corbelling at the point in question, prove clearly that we
are right in the opinion we have expressed as to the extent of the
original Aisle. Externally too, you may trace distinctly the toothing
of the masonry, the marks, that is, of the union of the older to the
newer work; and, not only so, but the portions of the battlemented
parapet to the east of the north door—({which is itself placed at the
point which we are indicating)—vary materially in size from those
on the western side of it, the former being smaller than the latter.
At the east end of the Aisle there was most probably an altar for-
merly, the sill of the window there being considerably higher than
those of the other windows. A long squint, or hagioscope, extends from
the south east angle of the Aisle, for many feet, and was originally
brought out at the west corner of the recessed tomb in the north
wall in the Chancel. There is also in the north wall,—in the part of
the Aisle we have described as an addition to the original one,—a
straight-headed panelled and ornamented recess which seems once
to have contained a crucifix and to have been decorated with colours.
It was prvably the Henaios of an altar situated here. The lower part

, Behind this tock of masonry are still to be seen the remains of an original
Norman buttress, which proves that we are right in the supposition that the
Church originally consisted only of a Chancel and Nave.

218 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

of it is at present shrouded with pews, but there appears to be some
handsome stone work beneath. It may be that these two aisles,
afterwards forming but one, were originally the two chantries, of
which we shall presently speak, that we find existing at the time of
the Reformation in connection with this Church.

Tue Kineston AIsLe.

By this term is now designated a small Chantry Chapel, twelve
and a half feet in width and sixteen in length, at the south-east angle
of the Nave, erected most probably by some member of the ‘ Hall’
family, the maternal ancestors of the Dukes of Kingston, from
whom the Aisle derives its present name. This part of the
Church has been much injured by the failure of the adjoining
wall. It has also been sadly mutilated in other respects,—by
the addition of a high roof with a gable instead of the original flat
roof,—the rebuilding of the parapets in wrong character,—and the
introduction of a window on the south side, very inferior, with-
out doubt, in design to the one for which it was substituted, and
which, most probably, was similar to the window which, though
blocked up, still remains in the east side. At the north-east cor-
ner there is a recess in the wall which has been recently opened,
and which would seem to have been an ‘Ambry.’ There was no
doubt, at one time, an altar at the east end. There are no traces
of its having been ever used asa Mortuary Chapel. The Aisle was
but a few years ago separated by some Jacobean screen work from
the body of the Church, and over the lintel of the door-way were
placed the arms of Hall. They were coloured—‘ Sabie, three battle
axes, or, —and the side ornaments were of an arabesque character.
The Aisle is kept in repair by the owner of Kingston House.

Tur Tower.

Judging from the upper windows of the Tower, this part of the
Church seems to be the work of the latter part of the 15th century.
It is a plain massive structure, square in form, with a turret stair-
case at its south-east angle. It is surmounted by a small steeple
which hardly looks in proportion to the rest of the structure, and

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 219

gives to the whole a dwarfed appearance; though this may perhaps
be owing to the low situation in which the Church stands, the
houses all rising above it, on the north side, in successive ranks to
the top of the hill. At one angle of the Tower there are evident
remains of some of the original Norman work; the door-way and
a small window, which is deeply splayed internally and formerly
gave light to the staircase, being evidently much older than other
parts of the present building. It has been already intimated that
this was probably the angular turret which carried the staircase
to a tower of earlier daté:—indeed you can distinctly trace the junc-
tion of the older with the more recent work.

The Tower is united to the Nave by means of a handsome
panelled arch of good proportions. The whole of this is excluded
from view in consequence of a large gallery, containing an organ
also of large size, extending across the west end of the Nave. The
interior of the lower story of the Tower has some simple, yet good,
groined stone vaulting in the roof, by which it is separated from
the ringing-loft.

Tue Bertrs.—These are eight in number, and have been pro-
nounced to be amongst the best and heaviest peals, of eight, in
Wiltshire. The inscriptions upon them are as follows:—

. Fear God; honour the King. A.@R. 1754.

. Love the brotherhood. A.@R. 1754.

. Thomas Yerbury and John Goldisbury, Churchwardens. 80 (sic for 1680.)
Thomas Yerbury and John Goldisbury, Churchwardens. R.&P. & &

. Honour the King. I. W. 1614.

. Prosperity to the Town of Bradford. Ab: Rudhall, Founder, 1754. 3
. Love thy neighbour as thyself. I. W.

. Recast by Thos. Mears. Noy. A.D. 1842.

The Rey. Henry Harvey, Canon of Bristol, and Chaplain to H.R.H. the
Duke of Cambridge, Vicar. Charles Timbrell, Esq., Churchwarden.

Sacred to God on high, and in this Temple rais’d,
May holy sounds from me be heard, and He be praised.

In the year 1553, according to the certificates of ‘Sir Anthony
Hungerford, William -Sherington, and William Wroughton,
Knights,’ there were five bells belonging to the Parish Church.
Unless we suppose any of them to have been broken and recast,

BABAK wWNH Re

' Date 1614 is chalked on the bell.

220 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

we possess none of them at present, as the dates on the bells now
in the Tower are all subsequent to the period of that enquiry. The
entry to which we allude is contained in a document relating to
‘Church Goods,’ is to be found in the Record Office in Carlton
Ride, and is as follows :—

‘‘BRADFFORDE. Delivered to Robert Browne and to Richard Rundell i cuppe
or challis by Indenture of xvi ounces and v belles.
In plate to the Kinges use v ounces.

It appears from the minute book of Vestry, that in 1735 there
were already siz bel/s in the Tower of the Parish Church. A reso-
lution was passed, Aug. 19th, in that year ‘That the Churchwardens
have full power to agree with some Bell-founder for two new
bells, (less than the present Treble) in order to make it a Ring of
Eight bells, the said two Bells to be brought forthwith and sett up
at the parish charge.’ These bells cost, as appears from the accounts
of the following year, the sum of £93 14s. 23d., exclusive of the
expense of hanging them in the Tower, and were supplied by a
founder of the name of ‘Cockey.’ Neither of these bells appears
to be in the Tower at the present time. The Vestry accounts of
1755-56 show that a considerable sum was then expended in alter-
ations, &c., with regard to the bells, a founder of the name of
‘Rudhall’ having been employed for the purpose.

Of the present peal, the fifth and seventh were cast in the year 1614
at the foundry of John Wallis in Salisbury. The third and fourth
were cast, in 1680, by Roger Purdue of Salisbury. In 1754 the
first, second, and sixth bells were cast at the foundry of Abel Rud-
hall of Gloucester. When the original tenor was placed in ‘the
Tower is not known; it was broken about seventeen years ago, and
was recast, in 1842, by Messrs. Mears of London.

Suspended in the Ringing-loft are the following lines, entitled
‘The Bells, an address to the Ringers,’ written by the late Vicar,
the Rev. H. Harvey.

Sacred to Gop the Lorp and in His Hotse high raised,
May holy sounds from us be heard, and He be praised;
Bradford, when joy abounds, ‘tis ours with gladdening voice
Thy Sons newborn in Crist to bid in Him rejoice:

And when by death assailed and sunk in whelming grief,
‘Tis ours to bid them mourn in Him, and find relief.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 221

Alike we call to prayer, and when the Table’s spread,

‘Tis ours the same to tell, that Souls may there be fed:

We too around proclaim the quickly fleeting time,

And songs of heavenly praise with tuneful notes we chime;

Come then, on Avon’s bank, a ransomed, pardoned, band,

And strike, as well beseems, with saintly, reverent, hand;

Come, Christian Ringers, come, and strike with godly fear,

That all who hear our sounds, our sounds may love to hear.
H. H. Dee. 10th 1842.

Tue CHANTRIES.

In the Valor Ecclesiasticus,! which was made about the 25th Henry
VIII. (ec. 1533), we have an account of Two Chantries connected with
the Parish Church. The one was held by ‘William Byrde,’ the Vicar,
and was,—(after deducting £3 6s. 8d. to be expended for ‘works of
charity ’ in accordance with the direction of the Founder,)—of the
value of £6 13s. 4d. The other was, according to the same au-
thority, held by ‘Thomas Horton,’ as Chantry Priest, and was of the
same gross value as the former, but liable to a deduction of £2. 14s.
4d. ‘for works of charity’—in accordance, it is added, ‘with his own
appointment’ (e« ordinacione sud,)—from which it would naturally be
inferred that the same person was the Founder and Chantry Priest.
In a previous page (p. 39, note) we have entered on some of the
difficulties connected with this statement, and have suggested
explanations. The ‘Thomas Horton,’ who I presume to have been
the founder of this Chantry, died at Westwood 14 August, 22

‘ ~The entries are as follows; pe, Valor Eccles. ii, 81. )

CanT’ra IN Eccr’1a P’ocurtaL DE BRADFORD.
Will’s Bryd est Cant’ista,

ey ee
Valet p. annu - - - - - x
Unde in operibus Charitatis ex die fundat - Ixvi viii
Et reman’ clare p. annu - - - = SAO 7. RO 5

CANT’RIA IBIDEM.
Thomas Horton est Cant’ista.

oe”
Valet p. annu - - - - . - - x
Unde in operibus Charitatis ex ordinac’ sua p. annu - liv iv

Et reman’ clare p. annu - - - - - vii vi viii

222 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

Henry VIII. (1530;) his wife ‘Mary’ was living in 1538, but died
in, or before, 1545.!

The statements contained in the ‘Valor Ecclesiastious” are by no
means confirmed by subsequent Records. Among the documents
contained in the late Court of Augmentations (Carlton Ride) we
have three returns to Commissions of enquiry on the subject of
colleges and Chantries, &c., and in none of these is there any men-
tion at all of the former Chantry in the Parish Church. Their
statements are at variance moreover with the first-named record as
to the value of Horton’s Chantry. Possibly the former Chantry,
which was in 1533 held by the Vicar, was but a temporary foundation,
or was endowed with lands held on lives or on lease, the tenure of
which was determined in due course and was not renewed. Of this
character may have been the one we alluded to in a previous page
(38), which was founded by Reginald Halle, as early as 7 Henry
V. (a..v 1420.)

Of ‘Horton’s Chantry’ we have full and detailed accounts. Of
the Commission of Enquiry conducted in 37 Henry VIII. by ‘John,
Bishop of Sarum, Sir Thomas Seymour, Knight, Robert Chydley,
Esquire, and Thomas Leigh and William Grene, Gentlemen,’ we
have two reports; the one being a complete account of all the
lands and tenements belonging to the said Chantry together with
the rents issuing therefrom, the names of the various tenants, the
precise nature of the several tenures, &c. ; and the other a summary of
the principal matters relating to it, in the form of answers to certain
articles of enquiry, to which the attention of the Commissioners
was especially directed. Of a subsequent, and third enquiry, con-
ducted by ‘John Thynne and William Wroughton, Knights, Charles
Bulkeley, John Barwycke and Thomas Chafynne, Esquires, William

1 This last fact we learn from the leasing out of certain of the lands, which
formed the endowment of this Chantry, situated at Kebyll (Keevil) in Wilts,
to ‘William Lucas’ for the term of forty years, ‘such term commencing from
the decease of Mary widow of Thomas Horton,’ who (the record goes on to say)
is now (1545) dead ;—(‘termino predicto incipiente post mortem Marie Horton
vidue que quidem e vita decessit.’) ‘Certificates of Colleges and Chantries, No.
59, Wilts,’ among the Records of the late Court of Augmentations, bela
the Court of Exchequer.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 223

Thornhyll and Lawrence Hyde, Gentlemen,’ in the second year of
Edw. VI. (1548), we have an account in a Document entitled “The
Booke of Survey of the Colleges and Chantries et cetera” [Com.
Wiltes. ]

From these various Records we glean the following information
respecting the Chantry in question.

The gross revenue of the Chantry is said to have amounted to
£11 18s. 4d. The lands and tenements from which it arose were
situated at Allington, Chippenham, Winfield, Hullavington, Keevil,
and Box, in the county of Wilts; at Whitcome, and Farleigh
Hungerford, in the county of Somerset; and at Weston in the
parish of Marshfield, in the county of Gloucester. There was also
a house at Bradford, with a garden adjoining, known as ‘the
Mantyon house,’ of ‘the sayd Chauntre’ which the Chantry Priest,
for the time being, occupied, at a yearly rent of 3s. 4d.

The first named Commissioners reported concerning this Chantry,—

“There appears to have been no abuse in this instance inasmuch as the re-
venues and profits of the said Chantry are expended and consumed in accordance
with the original foundation of the same.’”!

From the report of the second Commission we learn that ‘ Wil-
liam Furbner’ then (1548) ‘of the age of lvi yeres’ was Incumbent.
They add the following particulars, which, as interesting, we print

in full:—

“The plate belongynge unto the sayd Chauntre xvii ouz.

“The Goodis and Ornamentis belongynge unto the said Chauntre prised at
xxiii® iv’,

“ em". The sayd Incumbent is a very honeste man well learned and ryght
able to serve a Cure albeit a very poore man and hathe none other lyvynge but
the sayd Chauntre, and Futhermore he is bounde by the fundatyon to kepe a
Free Scole at erent and to eyve to the Clerke* ther yerdly xx* to teache

1« Abusus Paliie Bait eo a Rayieecues et proficua FEET Gbitars ex-
penduntur et consumuntur secundum primam fundaconem ejusdem.”—-‘Certiti-
cates of Colleges and Chantries, Wilts,’ No. 56. (Carlton Ride Office.)

® By the ‘ Clerke’ is here meant the ‘Parish Priest.’ In the ‘Particulars for
the Sale of Colleges, Chautries, &e.,’ after reciting that ‘the Incumbent for the
tyme beinge is bound by the foundacion to kepe a Gramer Scoole at Bradforde,’
—the record goes on to say,—‘and to geve the Priest ther yearlie xx* to teche
children to sing for the maintenance of Divine Service within the Parishe
Churche ther.’

224 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

children to synge for the mayntenance of Divine Service, and also to distribute
to the Poore yerely xiiis iv‘ all which things he hathe done accordinglye.

‘Also the sayd Parisshe of Bradforde is a greate Parisshe within whiche
be the number of plxxvj people which receyve the Blessed Communion and no
Preste to helpe the Vicar there in administracon of the Sacramentis savinge the
sayd Chauntre Preste. Wherefore the Parishoners desire the Kinges mooste
honorable Councill to consider them accordingly.”

In a Record, bearing date a few months after the one just referred
to, entitled—‘ Particulars for the Sale of Colleges, Chantries &c.,’!
—we have the above circumstances again recited with the fol-
lowing additions:—

“fAemorantum: to wright to the Receavor of Wilshere for payment of these
folk as heretofore hathe ben used:

“ Menwranvdurt: ther is no Scole of Gramer ther.”

From the same document it appears that the property belonging
to this Chantry, which here is valued at a sum slightly differing
from that named in previous estimate, viz., at £11 18s. 3d.—(from
which however was to be deducted the sum of 12s. 4. payable to
the Lord Arundel out of the lands at Keevil,)—was sold (for twenty-
two years’ purchase) at £248 10s. 2d. The purchasers seem to
have been ‘Thomas Horton, Esquire,’ and ‘Richard Byllett,’—
though’ the record is not specific as to the portion of the lands and
tenements purchased by each of them.

Tue VICARAGE.

It has been already stated that the Rectory of Bradford together
with the advowson of the living belonged in olden time to the
Abbess of Shaftesbury, and, since the Reformation, to the Dean
and Chapter of Bristol. The great Tithes of the whole parish,
including in this the several chapelries, were commuted, in the
year 1840, at the sum of £1507 2s.

The Vicarage now comprises only a portion of what formerly be-
longed to it. The tithes of the several chapelries have been annexed
to the Incumbencies of their respective ecclesiastical districts, with
the exception of Christ Church, Bradford, which is in part endowed

1 Vol. 68, of the Series of books remaining with the Augmentation Records.
(Carlton Ride Office.)

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 225

by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and has a portion of income
also arising from pew-rents. About sixteen years ago the old
Vicarage House, having fallen into decay, was taken down and a new
house erected, the expense being defrayed by money borrowed, on
the security of the revenues of the living, from the Governors of
Queen Anne’s Bounty.

There are two Terriers in the Registry of the Bishop of Salisbury
relating to the Vicarage, which, as they are very short, we print
verbatim. They would seem to show that the land formerly be-
longing tothe Vicar was of somewhat larger extent than at present.
The former of these Terriers is as follows :—

“BraprorD. A Terrier of the Lands of the Mother Church of Bradford made
the 19 of Oct®. A°. 1608.

“Tmp. One Mansion or Dwellinghouse with gardens, orchards and other
grounde belonging to the same to the quantity of two acres, or thereabouts, in-
vironed by the Churchyard on the easte, and a grounde called Barton Orchard
on the weste.

“‘Ttem. One littell Close in the Church [yard*] reaching from the Church
geate to the very ground of the Garden, by estimation one halfe acre or more.

(signed) “‘THomas Reap, Vicar.
“JoHN BLANCHARD.
‘PETER GODLEE.

The latter Terrier, made about a century later than the former,
runs thus :—

‘A True and perfect Terrier of the Gleab Lands, Houses and other Edifices
in the Borough of Bradford, in the Deanery of Potterne and Diocesse of Sarum,
belonging to the Mother Church and Vicaridge thereof.

“Dec. 20, 1704.

“Tmp'. One Mantion Houge, where the Vicar is resident, with one Stable or
Outhouse.

‘One other House where the Clark of the Parish Church now dweleth.

“One other House where the Sexton of the Parish Church now dweleth.

“One other House where one Cooper now dweleth, all erected and built upon
the Church Yard or Gleabe thereunto belonging.

“Ttem. One Parcel of Meadow ground or pasture containing Zwo acres, or
thereabouts, now converted into a public Garden with a House thereon built,
and Three other gardens ;—and all other Dues usually belonging to any Vica-
ridge. (signed) “To, Lewis, Vicar.

“Joun SHEWELL, ) Ch.
“Tro, CATOR, wee

* MS. illegible: I can however have no doubt as to the original word being as supplied in the text
e.

Q

226 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

The following list of Vicars has been compiled, for the most
part, from Sir Thomas Phillips’ edition of the ‘ Wilts Institutions.’
In a few instances omissions have been supplied from other sources.
Of most of the Vicars we know little more than their names.

A.D.

1312, RicHarp DE Ketyvesron; presented by Gilbert de Middleton, who is
called ‘Firmarius Ecclesia de Bradeford.’ [For the meaning
of this term see above p. 64. ]

1348. RicHarp DE Merscuron; presented by Robert de Worth, who in 1320
became the Lessee of the Rectorial Tithes under the Abbess of
Shaftesbury, and, as such, presented to the living.

. . . Roperr ALIsANDER; presented by the same patron.

1349. Jonn GitE; presented by the same patron.

- . . Wu11Am Borzter. This name isnot included in the list of Vicars, but
in the following entry the fact of his Incumbency is implied.

1413. Joun Havyte alias Kine; presented by the Abbess of Shaftesbury on
the resignation of William Boteler. [All the other Vicars,
up to the time of the Reformation, were presented by the
saine Patron. ]

1418. Tuomas SwarramM. He was Rector of Patney, in the patronage of the
Bishop of Winchester, and exchanged with John Havyle.

1429. Henry GAVELER.

. . . Roperr Carpenter ;* thisname is not in the Wiltshire Institutions, but
the following entry presumes the fact of his Incumbency.

1438. JoHn Pater; presented on the resignation of Robert Carpenter.

1463. JoHN FRANKELEYN; on death of J. Paler.

1464. Tuomas SHORTBRYGGE; on the resignation of John Frankeleyn.

1474, Smron Ervyneron; by exchange with Thomas Shortbrygge.

1481. Jon Bosroxrs.

1491, Wu1am BryppE or Brrpe; attainted of high treason, and deprived of
the living. (See above p. 40.)

1540, THomas Mortey; presented by the King (Henry VIII.). He was Suf-
fragan Bishop of Marlborough, and, in accordance with the
provisions of 26 Henry VIII.+ c. xiv. held also the living of
East Fittleton. He was consecrated in 1537. In Dr. Pegge’st

* Sir Thomas Phillips gives this ‘ Institution’ thus,—‘‘ 1429. Ropert Lokyneton by exchange with
H. Gayeler ;’’—probably referring to the same person, e.g.—‘‘R. Carpenter of Lokyngton,”—as
he came from a place so called.

+ The act was entitled ‘‘ An Act for nominating and consecration of Suffragans within the Realm.”
They were to exercise such jurisdiction as the Bishop of the Diocese should entrust to them, the
term of their commission depending on his will. The object of this Institution,—(which, by the way,
was not new in England, such Bishops having been appointed in this country as early as A.D. 1325,)—
was for ‘the more speedy administration of the Sacraments and other good, wholesome, and devout
things and laudable ceremonies, to the increase of God’s honor and the commodity of good and de-
yout people.’ Each Suffragan Bishop was permitted to hold two benefices. Marlborough was the —
only Suffragan See in Wilts.

+ This list is given in an Article on ‘Suffragan Bishops’ in vol. vi. of Nichols’s ‘ Bibliotheca Topo-
graph. Britan.’? A reference is there made to the ‘Wharton MSS,’ in Lambeth Palace; No. 577, p.
358 and No, 589, p. 172.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 227

list of Suffragan Bishops he is called Thomas Bickley alias
Morley. He was instituted to the livings of Bradford and
East Fittleton on the same day, (28 Sept. 1540).

1553 (?), THomas Toackuam. Appointed by the Dean and Chapter of Bristol.

This Institution is not entered in the Sarum Registers, but
the probable date of it is supplied by the decease of Bishop
Morley, which took place in 1553. In 1572 Thomas Thack-
ham held St. Mary’s, Wilton; and in 1573 became also Rector
of Hilperton. This Vicar died at Bristol—(of which he
became a Prebendary in 1590)—Sept. 23, 1592, and was, a
few days afterwards, buried there. (Reg. Bur.)

1592. Tomas Reaper. Presented by ‘John Lacy’ who obtained the patronage

by grant from ‘Robert Costlyn,’ executor to Matthew Morrant,
Gentleman, the grantee from the Dean and Chapter of Bris-
tol.* This Vicar died at Bradford and was buried there
March 22, 1634, (Reg. Bur.)

1634. NarHanaEL WILKINSON. Presented by William Porrett, Clerk, of Swell,

Co. Somerset, and Edward Cradock, of Fordington, Co. So-
merset, by virtue of a deed of assignment made by Edith,
relict of John Wilkinson, Prebendary of Bristol. [In a deed,
alluded to in a previous page (88), in the possession of the
Dean and Chapter of Bristol, it is said,—‘‘There is no Incum-
bent at Bradford att present.” (1649.)—The name, however,
of ‘Nathanael Wilkinson’ appears as ‘Vicar’ on a Subsidy
Roll for 1642. In the ‘Sarum Registers’ the following Vicar,
‘Thomas Lewis,’ is said to have succeeded to the living by
the decease (per mortem) of ‘Nathanael Wilkinson.’ It
would seem, therefore, either that this Vicar had been dis-
placed, or that, dying before 1649, his place had not been at
once filled up. The ‘Bishop’s Registers’ would not acknow-
ledge of course the right of an intruder to the living, and there-
fore, even if Nathanael Wilkinson had been dead some years,
would nevertheless,on the next legal institution tothe Vicarage,
speak of it as void through his decease. I have searched in
vain to ascertain the facts of the case, and especially whether,
in the event of the ejection of this Vicar by ‘The Tryers,’—
(who were in our neighbourhood in 1648-49, )—another was
appointed to supply his place. We can glean nothing from
our Parochial Registers, which are sadly defective between
1645 and 1660;—indeed, for the greater portion of that time
there are none at all. Moreover, the Lansdowne MS. No.
459, which gives an account of Church Livings in Wiltshire
(1654) does not allude at all to Bradford. ]

1660. Tnomas Lewis; presented by the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. De-

*In earlier times the Lessee of the Great Tithes, under the Dean and Chapter, seems also to have
had the privilege of presenting to the living; at all events, the Patrons seem to have disposed of this,
as well as of other parts of the emoluments and privileges, from time to time, to vayious persons.

_ Since the Restoration, in 1660, the Dean and Chapter have always retained in their own hands the

ight of presenting to the living.

228

Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

ceased December 1710; buried at Bradford. (Reg.Bur.) [From
this time the presentations were uniformly made by the Patrons
themselves. ]

1710, Jon Rogers, M.A.; through the efforts of this Vicar, a School was, in

January 1712, opened for his poorer Parishioners. Three years
afterwards, by means of contributions from himself and others,
and a grant of an old building, then called the ‘ Shull House,’
(of which we shall presently give a more particular account)
the school was placed on a permanent footing, For many
years before this time (1715) there seems to have been no such
provision for the education of the children of the poor. See
above p. 44.

1754. WatrEer Cuapman, D.D. Prebendary of Bristol, (1740) and Master of St.

791s

1793.

1799.

1804.
1808.
1835.

John’s Hospital, Bath. His father, Walter Chapman, was Mayor
of Bath in 1726. His brother John was subsequently elected
Mayor of Bath seven times; another brother was in 1716
Rector of Walcot. He was not only a cotemporary and fellow
collegian, but on terms of close intimacy with Dr. Samuel
Johnson, Shenstone, and other literary characters. He was
distinguished for his attainments as a scholar and for his
eloquence as a preacher. He died at Shirehampton April 25,
1791, at the age of 80 years.

Joun AyimeEr, M.A.; second son of the second Baron Aylmer, appointed

Prebendary of Bristol September, 1750; died at Lower College
Green, Bristol, 16 November, 1793.

Frepreric Witt1am Brompere, D.D.; a member of a family long at-

tached to the Court, and educated in intimate association with
the children of George III. Early in life he was appointed Chap-
lain and Secretary to the Prince of Wales (afterwards George
IV.) and was instituted to the Rectory of Shepton Mallet in
1787. In 1790 he became a Prebendary of Bristol, and re-
ceived the living of Bradford from the Dean and Chapter in
1793. In the year 1808 he was appointed Clerk of the Closet
to the Prince of Wales, and shortly afterwards was nominated
a Prebendary of Westminster. He subsequently received the
Vicarage of Banwell from the Dean and Chapter of Bristol.
On the death of the Rev. E. Bowles, he was appointed to
Bradford a second time. He became in 1822 a Canon of St.
Paul’s, and in 1835 received from that Cathedral the valuable
living of St. Giles’, Cripplegate, in the Vicarage House of
which he died March 23, 1847. He was celebrated asa
musician, and especially as a violincello player.

Francis RanporrH, D.D. Prebendary of Bristol;—afterwards Vicar

of Banwell.

Epwarp Bow.ns, M.A.; previously, Minor Canon of Bristol.
FrepreriIc WILLIAM BromBere, D.D.; appointed a second time.
Henry Harvey, M.A. Tutor to H.R.H. the present Duke of Cambridge,

Canon of Bristol. In 1850 he was appointed Vicar of Olyeston
in Gloucestershire, where he died Noyember 20, 1854,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones 229

1851. Wurr1am Henry Jonzs, M.A.

Cxuurcu Prate. The Communion Plate belonging to the Church
of the Holy Trinity, Bradford-on-Avon, is as follows :—

1 Silver Flagon,—marked underneath the foot 1723.

1 Silver Flagon,—marked 58.16. J.F. 1764.

1 Chalice. Silver-gilt.

1 Chalice and Coyer,—engraved ‘‘Ex dono Richardi Reade” and ‘The Com-
munion Cup and Couer of the Parish of Bradford neare Bathe.’

2 Silver Chalices,—both marked J.F. 1764, one weighing 16.8, the other 15.12,

1 Silver Patine,—engraved ‘Donum Francisci Smith nuper de Bradford. An.
Dom. 1705.

1 Patine, Silver-gilt,—small,—without inscription or date.

2 Silver Patines,—both marked J.F. 1764, one weighing 6.10, the other 9.11.

1 Perforated Ladle, Silver,—marked 1764.

1 Silver Alms Dish,—marked 34.15, and bearing the following Inscription:

“From an humble and grateful sense of the many and exceeding great bless-
ings, it hath pleased the God and Father of all mercies to bestow on his unworthy
servant, John Ferret; this Salver, with a Flagon, two Cups and Patines; a
yearly supply of Bibles, Common Prayers, and other religious books for ever;-—
the Painted Glass in the East and South Windows of this Church and other
benefactions were given to the Town and Parish of Bradford, Wiltshire, by him
who was born there, in the year of our Lord 170%”

CuurcHw anpD ParisH Recisters. The Church Registers com-
mence in the year 1579. Those of Baptisms are perfect up to the
year 1648,—from that time till 1661 they are wanting ;—from
1661 to the present date they have been regularly kept.—Those of
Marriages extend from 1579 to 1653, though for the last three
years they are very defective;—from 1653 to 1661 there are none;
—from that date they are in good preservation.—Those of Burials
are imperfect from 1642 to 1647, and from that date to 1661 they
are missing; in other respects they are well kept. The entries for
the most part seem to have been made by the Vicar, or Minister,
for the time being. In some parts they have been however evi-
dently kept by a less educated person, possibly by the Sexton or
Parish Clerk.

The Parish Chest contains little either of antiquity or of interest.
I have met with no documents in it of an earlier date than the
middle of the 17th century. They consist chiefly of apprentice
indentures,—orders for removal,—certificates brought by ‘stran-

230 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

gers’ who wished to settle in Bradford from the authorities of the
Parish to which they belonged,—bonds of indemnity given by
employers to save the inhabitants harmless in the event of any of
the non-parochial artizans becoming chargeable to Bradford. The
earliest Vestry Book in the Parish Chest dates only from 1725, and
a volume containing the proceedings for some years previously to
1836 is missing. I am in possession of some extracts made from
this Vestry Book not many years ago, so that I am in hopes it may
yet be found and restored to the Parish Chest.

The Vestry Book (1725) to which I have alluded as the oldest
known for a certainty to be in existence, has the following inscrip-
tion on the first page, which, it is possible, may imply, that previous
Churchwardens had not guarded, or handed down the Parish Re-
cords, with sufficient care.

‘‘Edward Burkham and Edward Young, Churchwardens of Bradford in the
County of Wiltes. A°. Dom, 1725,

‘‘May this Book be transmitted with care, successively, from one Church-
warden to another, under the rewards of such blessings as are promised to good
men,”

There are very few entries in this or any other Vestry Minute
Book that are worth transcribing. They contain, for the most
part, simply a statement of the Income and Expenditure for the re-
pairs of the Church, &c., from year to year. Amongst the last are
commonly included the money paid for ‘foxes, —‘ martin catts,’-—
hedgehogs,—weasels,—and sparrows;—as lately as 40 years ago
one halfpenny was allowed for every sparrow destroyed, and the
amount so expended duly entered in the ‘Church Book.’ From
the same record we learn that in 1729 the Organ was erected at
the expense of the Parish,—that in the following year, the Nave
was ceiled, and a new window inserted on the south side of the
Church; that in 1731 a ‘ Dial’ was placed on the Porch, and an
‘Hour-glass’ purchased. In 1732 there is an entry which proves
that the position in which the pulpit stood till quite recently, viz.,
against the centre of the south wall of the Nave, was itself but one
of modern adoption:—‘ Ordered that the Churchwardens do set
back the old Gallery and put some ornament on the pillar that
supports the pulpit.” —Three years afterwards, in 1735, we have the

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 231

present peal of eight bells completed, and, in 1737, the Tower
Chimes erected at a cost of £27.

There is also contained in this same record an account of pews
and sittings occupied from time to time by divers persons in the
Church. In former days each parishioner, on having a sitting as-
signed to him, seems to have paid the Churchwardens one shilling,
and his name was forthwith entered in the Church Book as the
person entitled to that particular place in the Church. There is,
according to the records of the Registrar’s Office at Salisbury, but
one ‘ Fuculty Pew’ in the Parish Church. This is the one at the
east end of the North Gallery, which was built by John Thresher,
Esq. about the year 1730. By faculty granted to Benjamin Hob-
house, Esq. of Hartham House in the parish of Corsham, March
26, 1797, the seat in question was secured for ever ‘to the present
owner, and to the future owner of the Mansion House called
the Chantry House, and the occupiers thereof for the time being.’

Ancient Parntines anp Inscriptions. Many traces of these
have been found on the walls of the Church, on removing the
whitewash accumulated over them. We have already alluded to
some of them ‘Traces of colour are very discernible in various parts
of the Aisle; the Reredos of the Altar, already described, was
evidently at one time beautifully illuminated. On the same wall,
more towards the east, are still to be seen two Inscriptions in Black
Letter, the one relating to the Sacrament of ‘Baptism,’ the other to
that of the ‘Lord’s Supper.’ The former is so imperfect, that it is
only by conjecture that we could attempt to give it in its original .
form. The latter is tolerably perfect, and is as follows :—

Works of Works of Gor
Gouvs Ministers. Himself

To Bless The Lovp |Co send Christ

Co Break Co make Him a Sacrifice
Co Gibe Co offer unto us Believers

232 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

These two inscriptions, judging from the form of the letters and
the general style of ornament, can hardly be of an earlier date than
that of James I. In the vacant space above there is, in the origi-
nal, some ornamental scroll-work; and, in the second of the lower
compartments, the representation of a ‘loaf of bread.’

MonvumMentat Memoriats.

Erricies. We have already spoken of two recumbent stone
figures within the recessed tombs in the Chancel. About twenty-
five years ago in carrying out some alterations in the North Aisle
another effigy was discovered, which had been, at some previous
time, removed from its original place and used for part of the paving
of the Aisle, the face of the figure having been placed down-
wards. It is now placed in the Chancel. It is a female figure, in
a sort of bas-relief, with the hands joined together on the breast, as
though in the act of prayer. The hair seems to be braided in a
plait on each side the forehead; though from age, and rough usage,
the stone is so worn as to prevent a very accurate description of
those details from which its date might be ascertained. It belongs
probably to the latter part of the 14th century, but in memory of
whom it was at the first placed in the Church we are altogether
ignorant.

Brassgs. There are two Monumental Brasses,—one to the memory
of ‘Thomas Horton and Mary his wife,—and another to the
memory of ‘Ann, wife of Gifford Long.’

The former is near the east end of the North Aisle. It consists of
of a large black slab of stone inlaid in several places with brass. In
the centre are two figures, about 13 inches in length, one male, and
the other female ;—the husband is habited in the Merchant’s costume
the beginning of the sixteenth century, the wife has the kennel, or
triangular forehead dress, of the same period. There is a scroll above
each of them,—the one inscribed ‘ Sancta Trinitas Anus Beus,’
—the other ‘ ftliserere Pobis,’ Underneath is the following
inscription :—

“Of vot charite pray for the soules of Thomas orton and Mary
hns wyffe whych Thoms was smtyme funder of thys chauntry and Veressit
the van of An® wm PA eceee” any py say Mary Vecessid
y® Vay of An® pA% cece" On Whois soules Phu habe mercy.”

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 233

There is also remaining the ‘Merchant’s Mark,’ of which we
gave an engraving (p. 39), and which does not look unlike the
outline of a cross bow, which formed part of the armorial bearings
of the Horton family. One piece of brass which is said to have
contained a figure of our Blessed Lord on the cross, together with
another figure traditionally deemed to have been that of St. Peter,
—(from the circumstance of ‘a cock’ having been engraved close to
it,)—measuring about 4 inches by 6, was wrenched off and taken
away, shortly after the stone was placed in its present position.
At each of the four corners of the slab there would seem to have
been small inlaid pieces of brass; two of them are at present con-
cealed from view by the pewing,—another has been removed,—the
fourth has the inscription ‘Lavy Helpe.”

The second Brass is interesting as rather a late example of this

'T have already spoken of the difficulties of reconciling the various statements
concerning the Founder and Chantry Priest of this Chantry. My remarks in
the note (p. 39), will be better understood from the annexed copy of the principal
portions of the ‘Horton Pedigree’ from the Visitation of 1623 (Harl. MS. No.
1443. fol. 189). The initials ‘T.H.’ over the Tower door at Westwood Church,
and till a few years ago on a part of the panelled roof in the North Aisle, are
possibly those of the ‘Thomas Horton, of Iford,’ who, as the pedigree shews,
died 1549.

John Horton of Lullington,—
in Co. Somerset, Gent. |

| | |
Thonias*_[Mary} William Horton_Rachel Jamest ... Antony Rogers

d, 1530. of Lullington. a priest. of Bradford.
s. and h.
Thomas Horton_Margery d. of Thomas |
of Iford, Wilts, | Barkesdale of Keevil. Maud=
d, 1549. (1) Christopher
Bayley of
| | | | Stoford.
Edward of Mary= Agnes= William Horton_Jane d. of Thos. (2) Walter
Westwood Hen. Long Hen. Winchcomb of Iford. Bayley of Bush, of
Aliced.to of Whaddon. of Newbury. *s. and h. | Trowbridge. Stoford.

Robt. May

of | ; iat Fy ss Perr
Broughton {owas William Horton_Margt.d.of John Jeremy—Aliced.and daughters

(1) d.s.p. 2sonand heir | Jacob Daecom Edward 6 son, | coh. of John
of Co. Dorset. Isaac May of
Broughton,

/ | | | | |
Toby_Barbara Roger ofst. Johnof —Maryd.of Edward= wiulam. Robert—Eliza d,

of d.of JohnStreet, Wolverton John . . d of Sir John of of John
Tford| John London= Co.Somset | Coplestone Anthony Broughton James,
6. & | Farwell Anna d. of Hopton, Jane d. of
h. Nicholas Kant. Serjeant |
Mann. a d.s.p. Hannayn. | _ ral
5 ch. 5 ch. 1 ch, 2 ch.
* The Founder of the Chantry (?) + The Chantry Priest in 1535 (1)

R

234 Bradford-upon- Avon. [Parish Church.

kind of monumental memorial. It contains a female figure a little
more than three feet in length, habited in the well known costume
of the time of Elizabeth, with the large ruff, and high head-dress.
Underneath is the following inscription :—

‘HERE LYETH BURYED THE BODY OF ANNE LATELY SOLE DAVYGHTER AND
HEIRE oF JOHN YEWE oF BRADFORDE IN THE Covnty or WILTES, GENT,
AND WIFE oF Gyrrorp Loner, GENT, WHO HAD ISSUE BY HER ANNE AND
CATHERYN THEIR DAVGHTERS. SHE DYED THE Xxvi'* or MARcH 1601.
WHOSE KNOWNE GOOD LYFE SHEWETH THAT GOD HATH TAKEN HER SOWLE
TO HIS MERCYE.”

At each of the four corners of the slab are shields containing the
arms of ‘Long of Monkton,’—‘ Sable, a lion passant argent, on a
chief of the second, three cross crossilets of the first.’

Of their two daughters Anne and Catherine, the one was bap-
tised in the Parish Church in 1598, and the other in 1601. The
former became, in 1630, the wife of William Bromwich.

Gyfford Long served the office of Sheriff of Wilts in the year
1624. By asecond wife, Amy, relict of Robert Wingatt of Biscott,
Co. Beds. and daughter of John Warre of Hestercombe, Co. Somer-
set, he left several children.!

Murat Tasrets, &c.?

The walls of the Church exhibit a considerable number of
memorials, some of them being good specimens of modern sculp-

1 The following extract from a pedigree of ‘Long of Semington, Trowbridge,
and Whaddon,’ kindly furnished to me by C. E, Long, Esq., will shew that,
through a female branch, there was a connection between the two families, to
some members of which the two brasses in question were placed as memorials.

Henry Long_Mary d. of Thomas Horton of Iford.
of Whaddon. [See preceding pedigree 1. 4.]

Edward Longe of Monkton,_Anne d. of Henry Brounker of
ob. 1622. Melksham, M.P. for Devizes,
[Grantee of the arms above ob. 1607.
described, May 5, 1589,]

1 wife, Anne d. and = Girrorp Loner =2 wife, Amy d. of John Warre
h. of John Yewe of of Rood Ashton, of Hestercombe, Co.
Bradford. (and four others.) Somerset, and relict of Robert
Wingatt of Biscott, Co. Beds.

2My special obligations are due to my friend, the Rey. Edward Wilton, for
valuable help,—as readily offered, as it is thankfully acknowledged,—in en-
abling me to give a complete account of the ‘heraldry’ in the Church. W. H. J.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 235

ture. The principal persons and families commemorated on them,
as well as on several flat stones within the Church, are as follows.
For convenience of reference the names are placed in alphabetical
order.

Barty, Wiitram; (d. 25 March, 1712.) A large panelled tomb in the North
Aisle inseribed ‘This buryal place and tombe was erected by William Baily
of this Towne, Mercer, An. 1695.’

In front of it the crest of Baily,—(A horse’s head sable)—is
placed over the arms of the Guild of Mercers, viz.,—‘ Gules, a demi-
virgin proper, full faced, crowned with an eastern crown, or.’

Bartey, Epwarp, of Ashley; (d. 18 Oct. 1760),—and Ann, his wife, (d. Dee.
29, 1759) daughter of William Harding of Broughton Gifford:—also, their
daughters,—Anw, (d. Noy. 8, 1758) wife of the Rev. John Lewis of Whaddon,
and Marcaret, (d. May 30, 1796) wife of William Fisher,—also Epwarp,
son of the last-named William and Margaret Fisher, (d. April 5, 1761.)

The present representative of this family is the Rev. R. B.
Fisher, of Basildon, Berks, to whom the estate at Ashley still
belongs.

Bartwarp, Mrs. Any, (d. July 25, 1788). Samuxz, her son, of Horsington,
Co, Somerset, (d. April 9, 1800) and his wife, Anna Manta, only child of
William Stevens, of Frankley House (d. May 21, 1837). Hznry Mrernusn,
son of the two last-named, of the Royal Navy (d. July 1, 1812), and Mary
Ann, their eldest daughter (d. Aug. 18, 1825).

Arms on the monument.—Or, a chevron between three bees volant
in chief, and three torteaux in base, gules—for BarLwarpD;—on an
escutcheon of pretence, Or, on a chevron between three demi-lions
rampant gules, three cross crosslets argent ;—Strvens.' Crest. A
bull’s head erased. The same arms, in the Widow’s Lozenge, are
on a hatchment near this monument.

BASKERVILLE JouN; Magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant for Wilts (d. March
15, 1800); and Hesrer, his wife (d. Dec. 6, 1819); also Josnpu, their second
son (d. Oct. 7, 1812).

Arms. Argent, a chevron gules, between three hurts ;—Baskrr-
VILLE; impaling,—Or, a cross quarterly counterchanged gules and
sable, in the dexter chief quarter an eagle displayed, of the third;—
Wess. Crest. A wolf’s head erased or, holding in its mouth a broken
spear, staff or, head argent, imbrued gules.

” Basxrnvitie Jon, eldest son of the above ‘John’ and ‘Hester,’ of Woolley,
(d. Dee. 20, 1837.)
k 2

.“~

236 Bradford-upon- Avon. [Parish Church.

Arms and crest of ‘Baskerville,’ as before. Motto, ‘Spero ut
Jidelis.’

BETHELL GEoRGE; a Magistrate for the County of Wilts, (d. March 26, 1795):
and Saran, his wife (d. Jan. 7, 1777); also Exizaberu, their daughter (died
in-infancy).

Burnett James; of Lady Down (d. April 24, 1831), and Exizaneru, his wife
(d. Feb. 7, 1820);—also Samvet, their second son (d. Feb. 7, 1831).

It is with this latter family that Sir Richard Bethell, late
Attorney-General, is connected ; he being the son of Dr. Bethell—
(a brother of the above-named ‘James Bethell’)—formerly of
Bradford and afterwards of Bristol.

Bowtts, The Rey. Epwarp; Vicar of Bradford from 1804-1808 (d. Feb, 1,
1808). This Tablet is close to the western extremity of the North Aisle.

Browne, WatLrteER (d. Aug. 1, 1796). An oval Tablet at the south-eastern
angle of the Nave.

Busu, Tomas; a Magistrate for Wilts and High Sheriff in the year 1801; (d.
Nov. 20, 1809,) and Many, his wife, (d. Jan. 16, 1824).

Arms. Azure, a wolf salient argent, collared and chained or, in chief
three crosses patteé fitchée of the second. Crest. A goat’s head argent,
attired sable.

Cam, Samvet, of Chantry House; a Magistrate for the County of Wilts, (d.
Noy. 7, 1792). His first wife, ErizaBeru, together with ten children, and a
daughter, ExizAsrruH, by his second wife, Mary, are buried in the same
graye.

One of his co-heirs, Maria Theresa, a daughter by his first wife,
married Isaac Hillier, and, by him, had several children. The other
co-heir, Charlotte, a daughter by his second wife, married Benjamin
Hobhouse, Barrister-at-Law, afterwards created a Baronet, and her
son, succeeding to the title as Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Bart., was,
in the year 1851, created Baron Broughton, of Broughton de Gyf-
ford, Co. Wilts.

Crurrersuck, Danren (d. April 16, 1769).
Arms. Asure, a lion rampant, and in chief, three escallops argent.

CLuTTERBUCK, DANIEL; son of the above, of Bradford Leigh, (d. 17 June,
1821), and ExizareTH, his wife, (d. 28 April, 1826),

Arms. CLurrersuck as before, quartering,—‘ Or a cross quarterly
counterchanged gules and sable, in the dexter chief quarter an eagle dis-
played of the third, —Wess; and impaling, ‘ Per bend sinister ermine
and ermines, a lion rampant or.—Epwarps. Orest on monument,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 237

apparently, a dog, but it has been defaced. The usual crest of Clut-
terbuck is,—a buck statant argent, [or séjeant| between two laurel

branches, proper.

Compton, Dennis. On a black marble slab in the Chancel floor, on the south
side of the altar, is the following inscription: ‘‘Here lyeth y* body of Dennis
Compton Jun’., son of Walter Compton Eq’ of Hartpury, who departed this
life y° 16 May, 1714. He was Dame Mary Steward brother.” [See ‘StEwaRD’
below. |
Arms. Sable, a lion passant gardant or, between three esquires hel-

mets argent, garnished of the second, with a crescent for a difference.
This is the coat of the ennobled family of Compton. The Comp-
tons of Hartpury bear different arms, in fact, those of Compton
of Wilts and Gloucestershire, viz.,— Argent, a fess nebulée gules, on
a chief of the last, (sometimes in chief) a helmet between two lions’

heads erased or.

CorrLe, Epwarp; of Bradford Leigh, (d. Feb. 14, 1718), and Awn, his wife,
(d. March 13, 1728), and two of their sons, &o.

Arms. Or, a bend gules.

This is the same coat which Aubrey gives to ‘Corztz,’ who, he
says, ‘had large possessions at Atford.’ The name is preserved
in ‘Cottles,’ or, as it was formerly called,—‘Cotels Atteward’—or

‘ Coteles Atteworth.’

CURLL, QU@RINA, (sic), wife of John Curll, (d. 28 April, 1678), and Watrer,
son of the same, (d. 30 April, 1677).

This is on a plain slab of black marble in the floor of the Chan-
cel. John Curll was the founder of one of the most extensive of the

parochial charities, and served the office of High Sheriff in 1699.

Davis, Rozert, Surgeon, of Woolley Hill, (d. May 3, 1790), and Susanna, his
wife, (d. Jan. 14, 1826), and several of their children.

Deverext, Joun, of Frankley, (d. July 5, 1785), and Mary, his wife, (d. Jan.
25, 1802). Also Jonny, their son, (d. May 21, 1829), together with his wife
and two of their children. [A large marble tablet against the north wall in
the Nave.]

Ferrerr, Jown; a benefactor, in many ways, to the Parish, as will hereafter
appear in the account of ‘Charities.’ The inscription on the Tablet contains
the invocation; —‘‘ On whose soul O blessed Lord God have mercy,”’—an unusual
one towards the close of the last century. (d. May 12, 1770, aged 68 years.)

GaisrorD, Caroxrye, wife of William Gaisford of Seend, (d. July 1, 1813).

Jones. A small brass with the following inscription, ‘Hic sepultus est Johannes
Jones de Bradford, nuper Pharmacopola, qui obiit sexto die Februarii a.p.
1709.”

On a hatchment close by are the following arms,—‘ Argent, a lion

238 Bradford-upon- Avon. - [Parish Church.

passant sable, on a chief of the second, a ducal coronet or ;—JONES;
impaling, Sable, a lion rampant within an orle of cross crosslets argent;
—Lone. Crest. Out of a ducal coronet or, a demi-lion sable.

This hatchment is placed over the grave-stone of Daniel Jones,
Esq., of Frankley House, who married Ellen, daughter of Richard
Long, Esq., of Rood Ashton, great grandfather of the present’
Walter Long, Esq., M.P. for North Wilts. Mr. Jones died in
1772, leaving an only son, Daniel Jones, who, by the will of the
late Walter Long, Esq., of Bath, took the name of Long in addi-
tion to Jones, and the arms of Long, of Monkton, only. Mr. Jones
Long died without issue in 1827.

Metaven, Antony, second son of Paul Methuen of Bradford, descended from
the very ancient family of Methuen in the kingdom of Scotland,—(antiquis-
simo stemmate de Methuen in regno Scotiw. )—(d. May 10, 1717), and Ger-
TRUDE, his wife, daughter and coheir of Thomas Moore of Spargrove, in
Somerset, by Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Sir John Bampfylde, Bart., of
Poltimore, in Devon, (d. July 20, 1699).—Txomas, only son of the above
Anthony and Gertrude, (d. Jan. 2, 1737), and Awnz, his wife, only daughter
of Isaac Selfe of Beanacre, Wilts, by Penelope, daughter and coheir of Charles,
Baron Lucas, of Shenfield, Co, Essex, (d. May 15, 1733).

The monument, which is a large and handsome one in marble,

executed by Rysbrack, on the south side of the Chancel, was erected
by Paul, only son and heir of Thomas and Anne Methuen. There
are two shields, each bearing coats of arms, the one referring to the
former, the other to the latter, members of the Methuen family,
above commemorated.

SuretpI. Arms. Argent, three wolves’ heads erased, proper,—
Meruven, and on an escutcheon of pretence, Argent, two bars en-
grailed azure, between nine martlets gules,—Moore.

Suietp IT. Meruuen, as before, quartering Moorr;—impaling,
First and fourth, ermine three chevrons gules,—SE.rx, quartering,
Argent, a fess between six annulets gules,—Lucas.

Renison, Joun. (d. 18 Nov. 1793.)

Rocers, Rev. Jonn; Vicar of Bradford for 43 years. [See above p. 227.] On
the monument is inscribed, ‘‘Obey them that have the rule over you,” &e.
Heb. xiii. 17. (d. April 20, 1754).

Arms. Azure, a mullet argent, on a chief or, a fleur de lis gules.

Crest. A flewr de lis gules.

Rocers, SusaAnwau. (d. May 1, 1755, aged 22 years): inscribed, —‘‘a truly pious,
virtuous and affectionate good wife.”

Arms; on a Lozenge,—Rocers,—as before.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones 239

SHRAPNEL, Henry, Lieutenant-General, Colonel Commandant of the sixth
battalion of Artillery, (d. 13 March, 1842).

The inventor of the ‘Shrapnel Shell,’ the most destructive im-
plement of modern warfare. A large slab in the floor of the
Chancel near the south door.

Surry, Frawcts, Lieutenant-General; Colonel of the eleventh Regiment of
. Foot. (d. Nov. 7, 1791).

Arms. Azure, two bars between three pheons, or. Crest. Two arms
embowed vested azure, cuff or, holding in the hands proper a pheon or.
SrEewarD, Cuartes. (d. 11 July, 1698.)

This is a large and striking marble monument on the north side
of the Chancel, near the east end. It contains a full length figure,
habited in the well known costume of the time of James II. Who
‘Charles Steward’ may have been is not known, but tradition says
that he was of the royal line of ‘Steward,’ (or ‘Stuart,’) though
this may have arisen from the fact of his crest being a ‘ regal crown.’
The arms borne by him (as described below) are those of Steward of
Patteshull, Co. Northampton, though ¢heir crest is different ;—indeed
the ‘ regal crown’ is not given in the books of reference as the crest
of any family of this name. He lived at Cumberwell, though whe-
ther as owner or simply occupier is uncertain. He married ‘ Mary
Compton,’ of the ancient family of that name at Hartpury in Glou-
cester; the arms he impales on his shield being the same as those
borne by the Marquis of Northampton: though, as it appears
from the note made after describing the arms on her brother’s
monument, the coat of ‘Compton of Hartpury’ is quite different from
the one here impaled with ‘Steward.’ A Latin inscription on his
monument tells us that his death was in consequence of injuries
received, in the first instance, by a fall from a horse. This costly
monument was erected to his memory by his widow, a few years
after his decease.

Arms. Or, a fesse checky argent and azure, within a border ermine,
for Srewarp,—impaling, Sabie a lion passant gardant or between three
esquires’ helmets argent, garnished of the second, for Compron. Crest.
On a wreath or and azure, a regal crown proper.

Taunton, Rosert, L.L.D. (d. 17 July, 1797), and Frances, his wife, (d. 25
Noy., 1819), daughter and co-heiress of Leonard Cropp, of Co. Hants.

240 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

Taunton, Frances, second danghter of the above,-(d. 24 May, 1803); Ex1za-
BETH WEEKS, their eldest daughter, (d. 11 May, 1815); Ricuarp Hops,
their son, Lieutenant in H.M. 22 Light Dragoons, (d. 19 May, 1819).

Taunton, Joun HeARnNe, another son, (d. 15 April, 1852).

THREsSHER, Epwakrp, (d. 18 Feb., 1725); Jom, his son, (d. 17 Aug. 1741).

Arms. Argent, a chevron gules, between three boars’ heads erect and
couped; Sable issuing from the mouth of each a cross crosslet fitchée
of the second; THRESHER;—impaling, Sable, a lion rampant within
an orle of cross crosslets argent; between two flaunches, ermine;—
Lone. Crest. A demi buck salient, or.

The ‘Thresher monument’ is a very large one of marble, and
covers the whole of a Norman window on the north side of the
Chancel. It was erected by Ellen, relict of John Thresher. From
a long Latin inscription we learn, that Epwarp THRrEsHER was a
successful clothier in Bradford, and that he took peculiar interest
in the well-being of the town and neighbourhood! We are fur-
ther informed that on his decease, his son, Joun THRESHER, who
had been previously educated for the Bar, in which, it is intimated,
he had earned some distinction for himself, came to reside in Brad-
ford, and giving up his own professional pursuits, carried on in
this town those commenced by his father, in which the well-
being of others no less than of himself were concerned. He resided
at Chantry House. He was the ancestor, on the female side, as
the subjoined extracts from the family pedigrees will shew,’ of two
gentlemen whose names are familiar to us, the one as the member
for our County, the other as a resident for many years in our parish.

10n the monument it is said,—‘‘Commercium ad Parochiam de Bradford et
villas cireumjacentes peculiariter respiciens, (heu; priscam Anglice Gentis
gloriam, vellus aureum), prosperis et honestis artibus excoluit, et sibi et patria.”
2 Edward Thresher_Dionysia (d. of Richard Long
of Collingbourne Kingston,
Wilts.)

John Thresher__Ellen d. of Henry Long of Melksham,
(only son and by Ellen, sister and coh. of John
heir.) Trenchard, of Cutteridge, Co. Wilts,

Ellen_Sir Bourehier Wrey, Bart.
|

SD |
ons. Florentina__Richard Godolphin

| |
* Rev. Edward Henry Whinfield_Ellen. 25
a 2 daughters. Long, (of Rood Ash-
ton, M.P. for Wilts.)
Rey. Edward Turner Whinfield, Walter Long, M.P.

(of Woodleigh, Bradford-on-Avon.) (of Rood Ashton.)

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 241

Trpcomsr, Micuart. This is the oldest of the monuments now on the walls of
the Church. It is inscribed,—‘“‘ Neare this place lyeth the body of M’. Michaell
Tideombe who deceased y* 26 day of July An®. Dom. 1662.

‘«<Tidcombys tymvlo jacet hoc Michaelis in alto,
Sospes dvm clangit bvecina, ‘Syrge,’ manet.’”

It also records the decease of a daughter, ‘Saran,’ (d. 11 July, 1661).

In a previous page (47) some mention has been made of ‘Michael
Tidcombe.’ We may here add a few supplementary particulars.
He was one of the King’s (Charles I.) Commissioners for raising
money in Devizes, of which town he was elected Mayor in 1648, and
in consequence of his acting in this capacity, and of other deeds
clearly shewing his Royalist sympathies, he was, when the Parlia-
ment triumphed, apprehended by the Serjeant-at-Arms ‘as an
offender of a very high nature.’ For some time he was detained
as a prisoner in Ely House. His petition to Parliament for pardon
sets forth as pleas, inter alia, the fact of ‘his estates being seques-
teréd, himself and wife and seven children unprovided for, and his
being in debt at least £400.’ He passed the latter part of his life
in retirement in this Parish, surviving ‘the Restoration’ by about
two years. He married, 1626, Susanna, sister and one of the co-
heirs of John Blanchard, of Great Ashley. [See above pp. 48 and 69. |
TimBeett, THomas, (d. 23 April, 1815), and Exizaseru, his wife, (d. 8 March,

1805).

Arms. Quarterly gules and argent, in the first and fourth quarters
an escallop of the second. Crest. A lion’s head erased quarterly gules
and argent.

TreRELL,, Cuartes, (d. 20 Aug., 1821), and Ann, his wife, (d. 29 Jan.,
1831).

Arms. Trmprett, as before;—impaling, Sable a chevron ermine,
between three church bells: argent ;—Bx.t.

Tueweit, Hompurey, (d. 22 Aug., 1775), and Exizanern, his wife, (d. 7 June,
1801). He ‘carried on an extensive manufactory in Bradford for fifty years.’
This monument also records the decease of several of their children ;—Frrz-
Dantet (d. 3 Dec., 1747);—-T'omas (d. 24 May, 1769);—Wrxram (d. 25
Dec., 1774).

Arms. Azure, three garbs or, on a chief argent, a boar’s head
erased in fess sable,—Tucwe.; impaling, Argent, a lion passant

sable, on a chief of the second a ducal coronet or,—Jonxs.

242 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

TuGWELt, Mawsey, youngest son of William Tugwell, (d. 13 May, 1815). He
was married to PenELore, fourth daughter of Daniel Clutterbuck, of Bradford
Leigh.

Arms. TuGweELt, as before, impaling, CLurrersuck, as before,

(p. 236). Crest. A buck’s head erased proper. .

TuewELL, Groner Haywarp, of Crowe Hall, near Bath, (d. 19 Jan., 1839),
and Saran, his wife, daughter of Daniel Clutterbuck, of Bradford Leigh,
(d. 31 May, 1853).

Arms. TuGWELL, as before; quartering, Argent, on a pale sable,
three crescents of the field,—Haywarp ;—impaling, CLurrerBucK
quartering Wess, as before. [See Clutterbuck.| Crest, as before.

TucwELL, THomas, of Woolley House, Bradford, a Magistrate and Deputy
Lieutenant for Wilts, (d. 18 April, 1833), buried in South Wraxall Church.

Arms. TuGweELt as before; impaling, Sable, a stag statant argent,
attired or, within a bordure quarterly ermine and erminois,—JONES.
Crest, as before.

TUGWELL, ExizaBEerH, second daughter of Mawbey Tugwell, (d. Nov. 9, 1822),
Tuomas, only son of Mawbey Tugwell, (d. 25 Dec., 1840), buried at St.
John’s, Westminster.

Wat ey, Ricwarp, (d. 4 Nov., 1782), and Exzanor, his wife, (d. 10 Dec.,
1786), and several of their children.

YerBury, Francis, of Beleomb Brook, (d. 28 April, 1778), and Mary, his
wife, (d. 18 Sept., 1775); also their children, FrRancrts, (eldest son) drowned
(8 Oct., 1752);—Ricuarp (d. Feb. 12, 1772);—Joun Wuit1AM, youngest
son, (d. 8 Oct., 1824) ;—also Husrmr, wife of the last named ‘John William,’
(d. 18 Nov., 1842).

Arms. Party per fess or and argent, a lion rampant azure,—YER-
BURY; impaling, Or, on a fesse engrailed between three nags’ heads
erased azure, three fleur de lis of the field;—Battzy. Crest. A lion’s
head erased, per fesse, or and argent.

On sundry flat stones within the Church, are the following
names, not yet mentioned:—Burcoms,—Gatn,—Lxa,—Woop.

Dorz-Srone.—In the Churchyard, opposite the south door of
the chancel is an erection, which, at first sight, looks very much
like an altar tomb. It is about two feet and a half high, and
the ledger stone measures about seven feet in length and three
and a half feet in width. Its sides are ornamented with panel-
work; at the east and west ends there is a quatrefoil, in the
middle of which is a Latin cross executed in rather bold relief.
The ornaments and general character of the work, between which

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 243

and those on the sides and shaft of the font there is a striking
similarity, would indicate them both as the work of the latter part
of the 15th century, and possibly the productions of the same
hand. An inscription in the Church on the monument of Vicar
Rogers, which is fixed just above the Chancel door, would seem to
point out this stone as being over the burying place of that Incumbent;
and there were, till within arecent period, two white marble slabs let
into the north side of it, in the place of two of the ornamental panels,
on which this fact was recorded. These slabs fell out and are now
tissing, and the panels, as they appear on the north side of the
stone, are quite plain, The tomb, however, if such it be, is certainly
older than the middle of the last century, and by no means such
an one as would have been probably erected at the period of
Vicar Rogers’s decease (1754). We venture therefore to suggest,
from its being close to a door, and from its resemblance to many
others of the same kind in Wilts, (as in the Church-yards of St. Mary
Devizes, Potterne, Bishops Cannings, Poulshot, Edington, &c.) that
it may have been originally a ‘ Dole- Stone,’ that is, a stone used for
the distribution of alms, or doles, to the poor. When it was no
longer employed for this purpose, the plot of ground under it, or
it may be rather that on the north side of it, was used as a burial
place for the family of the Vicar already alluded to, the ornamental
panels on that side having been removed and the flat marble panels,
with an inscription upon them, inserted in their place. The inscrip-
tion is said to have been little more than a recital of the names
of those who were buried at that spot, together with the dates of
their decease.

About ten years ago so many of the tombs &c., in the Church-
yard were in a state of decay, that, on the representatives of those
who were buried beneath them, neglecting, after due notice given,
to repair them, a considerable number were removed. On those that
remain many of the inscriptions are illegible ;—from others the metal
plates, on which they were formerly engraven, have been removed.
The principal names still remaining, exclusive of such as have been
already mentioned, are,—Bassett, Baines, Beverstock, Budgett,
Cayford, Collar, Coombs, Day, Earle, Gregory, Harris, Helps, Hendy,

244 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

Harvey, Merrick, Milsom, Notton, Palmer, Pearce, Porch, Spender,
Stevens, Strawbridge, Tayler, Townsend, Webb, Wilkins, Wiltshere.

Of the inscriptions there are very few worth recording. One, in
Latin, from the pen of the Rey. Dr. Knight, on the tomb of his
daughter, is said to have been both correct and elegant, but it is
now s0 defaced as to be illegible. The two following are the best
of those that remain :—the former is frbm a mural slab on the east
side of the Porch to the memory of a youth named ‘Edward Gib-
bons,’ who died at the age of 17 years;—the Jatter is on a flat
stone in the western part of the Church-yard, beneath which are

the remains of ‘Thomas Mills.’

‘‘Short was my life, yet live I ever;
Death hath his due, yet dye I never.”

‘«Stay, sinner, stay ;— pause ere thou passest on,
Thou too must mingle with thy parent dust:
Forget my sins,—repent thee of thine own,—
And for forgiveness in thy Saviour trust.”

Oxp Custom IN THE CHURCH-YARD ON SHROVE-TUESDAY.

This would seem to be an appropriate place in which to mention
an old custom which has hardly yet quite passed away, and which,
until the Church-yard was enclosed, was strictly observed. On the
morning of Shrove-Tuesday, from time immemorial, a bell has been
tolled; the original purpose of such tolling has long of course been
forgotten, though no doubt in olden times the people were thus
summoned to confess their sins to the priest, or to ‘shrive’ themselves,
as it was termed, the especial work of Shrove-Tuesday ;—whence it
derives its name. Shortly after the bell ceased, all the boys and
youths of the town, both those from the Schools and those
apprenticed to divers crafts,—(custom indeed had given the latter
a sort of prescriptive claim to a holiday on the occasion)—clustered
in great numbers in the Church-yard, and sought, by joining hands,
entirely to encircle the Church. There was, of course, on the circle
being completed, the usual quantity ofjumping and shouting. They
called this ceremony, ‘clipping the Church’ ;—the term, I cannot
doubt, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘ clyp-pan,’ which
means, to ‘embrace,’ or ‘c/asp.’

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 245

What was the origin, or first intention, of this custom, it is
impossible now to say. Were it observed at the time of the Festival
kept in commemoration of the Dedication of the Church, namely
on Trinity Monday, we should judge it to be the relic of the old
sports and pastimes usual on such occasions. Fairs were commonly,
in times gone by, held in Church-yards,—indeed, within these very
few years, such have been held in that of St. James, Bristol,—when
the people thought little of dancing about the Church.’ In Malkin’s
‘Scenery and Antiquities of South Wales’ (1804 p. 26.) we are
told—“The custom of dancing in the Church-yard at their feasts and
revels is universal in Radnorshire, and very common in other parts
of the Principality. Indeed this solemn abode is rendered a kind
of circus for every sport and exercise. They play at Fives and
Tennis against the wall of the Church. They do not dance on the
graves, but on the North side where there are no graves.” —In the
case of Bradford Church-yard the booths at the time of the annual
fair were in olden times brought close to its limits, and the South
wall of the Church Tower shews, unmistakeable evidences of having
been used for the balls of the Tennis players. The ‘boys dance’
round the Church however formed no part of the ceremonies of the
‘Trinity Festival.’

It is possible that the custom we have been describing is the relic
of some very ancient observances. Though we do not profess to rely
on the facts we are about to mention as an explanation of this
‘Bradford custom,’ yet still they lend some colour to a conjecture
that its origin may perhaps be sought in extreme antiquity.

In days when Baal (the sun) was the chief object of worship, as
in ancient Britain, and many other countries, a circular dance, in
“allusion to the sun’s supposed motion round the earth, formed part
of the ceremony. The Hindoos also used the Raas Jattra, or ‘dance
of the circle,’ in honor of Vishnu, (the sun). Many British
monuments, moreover, are in circular form, as Stonehenge,—
Abury, &c. Stonehenge was called the ‘Giants’ dance’; anda

'Medii Avi Kalendarium i. 355. Brand’s Popular Antiquities, ii. 459,
{Bohn’s edition.] This custom led to much scandal, and was, in due time,
stopped.

246 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Parish Church.

circle in Cornwall is termed ‘Dance Maine;’—dance stones. The
Rev. W. Bathurst Deane! relates that at Carnac in Brittany,
where there are remains of an immense stone avenue and cir-
cle, the villagers are accustomed, at an annual festival held on
the day of the Carnival, to unite in a general dance. The dancers
commence in a circle, and, having performed a few revolutions,
wheel off to the right and left. They call this, par excellence,—‘ Le
Bal.’ This, he suggests, may mean nothing more than the ordinary
French word ‘bal,’—or public dancing, Mr. Scarth,? however,
intimates an opinion, that perhaps it may be after all the vestige of
the sacred dance of Baal, though its original meaning may be
forgotten. A tradition of this circular dancing appears in many
fables respecting Druidical temples in England. The stones are
said to have been human beings petrified in the midst of a dance,
and all the temples to which such superstitions are attached are
circular. At Stanton Drew the stones are called ‘The Wedding,’
and one of them is specially designated ‘The Bride;’ and here,
tradition says, that they were all men and women turned into stone
at their wedding-dance. At the St. John’s Eve fires, moreover,—
called in Ireland to this day, ‘Bel-tan’ fires,—they danced by night
round them, carrying torches in their hands. A similar custom
was observed in Cornwall.’

Though, as we have already intimated, such facts, as we have
detailed, cannot be taken as any positive explanation of the ‘Boys
Dance’ round the Church on Shrove-Tuesday, yet thus much we
may,perhaps infer from them; viz.—that our Bradford custom no
doubt is very old, and that it may have arisen from some ancient
usage of the kind. :

It will be no inappropriate addition to the foregoing section on
our ‘Parish Church,’ to give an account of two old buildings
erected originally for the purpose of religious worship, one of
which has long altogether ceased, and the other almost entirely,

1 Archeologia, xxv. 217.
2 Journal of British Archeological Association, June 1857, p. 110.
5 Brand’s Popular Antiquities, i. 337,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 247

to be used for the object for which they were built. The former
is most probably an ‘Ancrent Saxon Cuurcu,’—the other is called
the ‘Grove Mzrtine-Hovss,’ and has some interest as being the
first non-conformist chapel erected in Bradford. 5

Tuer Saxon Cuurcu.!

By this term we designate a very ancient building, standing
near the north-east end of the Parish Church, which is now used
for the purposes of a Free-School. The surrounding site is still
called the ‘Abbey-yard,’ from which we may form a plausible
conjecture, as intimated in a previous page (12), that the monastery
founded in this place by St. Aldhelm, at the commencement of the
eighth century, was erected on that site. Moreover, in opening
the ground, a few years ago, immediately adjoining the present
building, for drainage and other purposes, stone coffins were discover-
ed,—thus identifying the surrounding site as a place of sepulture.
There are no records believed to be in existence which could throw
light upon the object and purpose of the building in ancient times.
When a portion of it was conveyed to Trustees in 1715, as a School-
house, it was described as—‘a building adjoining to the church-
yard of Bradford, commonly called the Skull-House,—from the
fact, most probably, of its having been used as a charnel-house.

Hemmed in on every side by buildings of one kind or another,—
on the south-side by a sort of wing added to the original building
(in which the schoolmaster’s residence now is), and also by another
building used as a coach-house;—on the north by a large shed, em-
ployed for the purposes of the neighbouring woollen manufactory ;
—the design and nature of the building escaped, till a very recent
date, the notice of Archeologists. The fact, too, of the west front
being entirely modern work, deceived them as to the nature of the
whole, and every one considered it, at the first glance, to be a
production of the eighteenth century.

Subsequent investigation, however, has convinced us, that, not-

' For valuable assistance, in drawing up the architectural details of this very
interesting building, I have been indebted to my friend, Mr. C. E. Davies,
F.8.A., of Bath.

248 Bradford-upon- Avon. [ Saxon Church.

withstanding the numerous alterations the building has undergone
during succeeding ages, it bears unmistakable evidences of a very
early foundation ;—probably as early as the eleventh century. Seen
from a distance, and from an elevated spot, it exhibits the usual
form of a Church,—standing east and west,—and consisting of a
Nave,—a Chancel,— and a Porch on the north side.

The building, as at first existing, was of three distinct roofs, mark-
ing the position of the three several portions, of which we have just
spoken. That over the Porch, though not of the original elevated
pitch, as is indicated on the side wall of the Nave, yet retains the
same line of drip, but the others have been entirely altered. All
the elevations, excepting that of the Porch which was only of two,
were divided into three stages. The lowest was quite plain, with
the exception, only, of a series of slight projections, which are so
slight, indeed, that they can, only be called pilasters, and not but-
tresses. These occur at regular intervals, and support a string-
course, which runs all round the building, except where it has been
recently destroyed. Upon this string-course runs an Arcade, con-
sisting of a series of flat pilasters, partially moulded on the east,
and formed by upright stones which however do not tail into the
wall; and on these are square blocks of stone, slightly bevelled,
which support, or rather appear to support, plain arches. The
arches themselves are only surface decorations, and not at all con-
structive arches, as they are cut out of the stone, which runs,
irrespectively of them, in regular courses. Around the Porch
the pilasters do not support arches, but merely a tabling, which,
on one side, is certainly original, and is built to receive the
eaves. In the eastern gable of the Nave are the remains of an
Arcade above the one already described, which was built to take
the form of the pitch of the roof, being stilted in increasing height
to the centre. A considerable portion, however, has been destroyed
in the course of alterations made in the roof, and for the purpose
of inserting flues. Above the tabling on the north side of the
Porch, there would seem to have been a similar Arcade to that on
the east end of the Nave, the central pilaster, which is moulded,

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By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 249

The Cuancet is about thirteen feet in length, and ten feet in width.
It was entered through an archway which could not have been
wider than about four feet siz inches, if indeed so much. There is
still remaining the fragment of the arch, which springs from an
impost and has the usual characteristics of ante-Norman. work.
Its vast disproportion, in size, to the height of the wall is very
striking, and may be perceived by comparing it with the elevation,
as shewn in Plate iv., both being drawn to the same scale. Above
this arch, were found imbedded in the wall, two stone figures of
angels, which are now placed over a modern porch, which has been
erected as an entrance to the building on the west side. These
figures are executed in a kind of low-relief;—the angels have their
wings expanded, and around their heads is the ‘nimbus.’ They
seem to be in the act of devotion, and, as they were found, one on
either side, in the wall above the Chancel arch, it is conjectured
that originally there was some central figure which was removed in
order to make way for the large stack of chimneys now carried
up through the centre of the building.

It may be observed that the pilasters on the east elevation of the
Chancel are moulded into three depressed roundels, a very simple
form of decoration,—in fact, the earliest form met with in this
country. This work is therefore especially valuable as it seems to
denote, first of all, the superiority of the eastern over the other
elevations, where this ornament is not to be found, and so to increase
the probability that the building is a Church;—and, in the next
place, when considered together with the peculiar way in which the
lesser pilasters, which support the arcade, are built, marks out
distinctly the great antiquity of the structure.

There is still remaining a window, though blocked up’ with
masonry, in the south wall of the Chancel. It is circular-headed,
is splayed considerably externally,—and no doubt would be found to
be splayed also internally if we were able to examine it,—and gives
every evidence of being one of the original windows.

The Nave is twenty-five feet six inches in length, and thirteen
Jeet four inches in width. It was entered by an archway which
still exists. The archway, which is not recessed, is two feet ten

s

250 Bradford-upon-Avon. [Saxon Church.

inches wide and springs from an impost, which is itself simply a
plain string-course stopping a slightly moulded pilaster formed by
a series of segmental roundels. Above the impost, this is continued
over the arch, as a hood moulding. This arch is certainly one of
the earliest enriched or ornamented yet known. It may be remarked
that the opening of this door-way is wider at the floor than at the
springing,—one of those minor peculiarities which tend to confirm
our opinion as to the antiquity of the work.!

The western wall of the Nave is to a great extent the production
of modern times, the larger portion of the original wall having been
removed. It is very easy, however, to detect the remains of the
original Arcade, which seems to have run round the entire building.
A careful examination might perhaps shew how the west end was
finished. It has been suggested, that possibly there may have been
a small circular window somewhat high in the building:

In the south wall of the Nave traces of an old window are
distinctly to be seen, a portion of the semicircular head still remain-
ing. From the windows which still exist, or of which we have the
trace, we should conceive that there was one window on either side
of the Chancel, and two on the south side of the Nave, of similar
form to those that remain.

The Porcu, on the north side of the building, is about ten feet
square. Its front seems to have been decorated, there still remaining
a moulded pilaster above the plain arcade already described. A
window in the Porch on the west side is still used, and a glance at
this shows it to have been the work of a very early date. It
has all the characteristics of those we have already described. The
Porch was entered by a door way, which, though closed up, still
remains, and is almost immediately opposite the archway already
described as the entrance to the Nave.

1 There is a door-way, at Somerford Keynes Church, very similar to this one
which we are describing. There is a drawing of it amongst the ‘Mullings
Papers’ now in the Library of the Wilts Archzological Society at Devizes. It
is drawn, by Mr. J. St. Aubyn, to the scale of half an inch to the foot. It is
thus described;—‘‘On the north side of the Nave is a curious and singular
Saxon Door-way, now walled up, which appears to be of a date earlier than the
Norman Conquest.” In Rickman’s work, (appendix on ‘Saxon Architecture,’
p. 35) Somerford Keynes is reckoned among the Saxon remains in Wiltshire.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 251

So early an example of a Porch,—especially on the north side,—is,
we believe, not only most rare, but unique. A conjecture has been
thrown out, that possibly the original Church was cruciform, a
corresponding portion of the building—(in this case it would be a
sort of transept)—having perhaps existed on the south side. A minute
examination of the wall, however, reveals not the slightest trace of
anything of the kind. Indeed, the approach to the building on the
south side could only have been managed at any time by means of
a flight of at least 12 or 14 steps, the ground sloping down towards
the river. When we recollect, too, that the population of Bradford,
in early times, lived probably all on the north side of the town,
the older houses all being built in successive terraces on the slope
of the hill which shuts in the town on that side, it would render it
not unlikely that, for their convenience of access to the Church,
there might be a deviation from what is acknowledged to be the
general custom.

Without any existing records of the erection of this building we
might perhaps hesitate to assign so early a date as the work seems

to justify, but it certainly has as great a claim to be considered

SS oe Pe i

eleventh or even tenth century work, as any which assumes that
honor, without any documentary evidence to support its pretensions.
All the indications we have already mentioned, together with the
great height of the side walls and the comparatively low pitch of
the roof, point it out as belonging to what has been called the
‘Saxon Romanesque’ style, which is considered to have prevailed
from the ninth to the middle of the eleventh century. No one indeed
ean thoroughly examine this little Church, without coming to the
conclusion,—from the rough style of its masonry, and other indica-
tions,—that it never could have been built by the skilled workmen of
Bristol Chapter House, Malmesbury Abbey, or St. John’s, Devizes,
but that is was certainly an earlier erection. The only other sup-
position, consistent with a later date, would be,—that it was erected
by provincial workmen, uninfluenced by foreign refinements, or
who rejected the improvements of the dominant race.

There can be no doubt that we have in this building one of the
most interesting specimens yet remaining of Ante-Norman work.

252 Bradford-upon-Avon. | Grove Meeting-House.

Wiltshire is already rich in relics of our British forefathers. For-
tified by the opinions of many well qualified to speak authoritatively
on the matter, we can have little hesitation in pronouncing this
building to have been a Saxon Church, of which indeed, as far as
we know, it is, in its completeness, a unique specimen; and thus
our County is also able to boast of remains, which, though some-
what less ancient than British, will hardly be deemed less precious.

Tue Grove Meerrrinc-Hovst.!

This is the oldest Non-conformist place of worship in the town
of Bradford. It is situated at the east end of what is called Middle
Rank, and on the slope of the hill behind the house formerly occupied
by the Methuen family. We have quoted in a previous page (52),
Aubrey’s description of ‘the side of the high hill, facing the south,
above Mr. Paul Methwin’s house,’ which, in his time, was covered
with elder-trees. Hence the name of,—the ‘ Grove’ Meeting-House
or Chapel.

There is something singularly picturesque in the present appear-
ance of this structure. From long disuse it is fast hastening to
decay. Its mullioned casement windows are now nearly hidden
by luxuriant ivy-tresses, which enshroud the greater part of the
building. It bears on its front an air of antique respectability,
and is a fair type of the places of worship that sprung up quickly
after the passing of the Toleration Act at the close of the seven-
teenth century, for the use of the Presbyterian and Independent
Non-conformists.

The date of the erection of this Chapel, which was built for the
use of those who inclined to Presbyterianism,—amongst whom, at
one time, were numbered some of the principal inhabitants of the
town and neighbourhood,—was about a.p. 1698.? It is believed
that it owed its origin to the efforts of some of the Clergy, who,

1T have to thank Mr. J. Jeffery, of Bath, for much of the information con-
cerning the ‘Grove Meeting-House.’ W. 4H. J.

2 By a deed dated January 2, 1698, Anthony Methuen conveyed the ground,
on which the ‘Grove Meeting’ was shortly afterwards erected, to Francis Yer-
bury, the elder, of Ashley, Francis Yerbury, the younger, of Bradford, William
Chandler, of Bradford, and Thomas Bush, of Bradford.

ee ee

i eS ee _

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 258

when the Act of Uniformity was passed, retired from the Estab-
lished Church. Indeed, the Rev. T. Jones, who was ejected from
Calne, is supposed to have assisted to found the Society which met
at the Grove Meeting.

At the close of the 17th century a Mr. Dangerfield was the
stated minister of this place of worship. In 1715 Mr. Thomas
Barker filled that office, and continued to do so till 1729. He
was succeeded by Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Joshua Read, who seems to
have been associated in his office with a Mr. Wereat. The views
of this last-named gentleman were in sympathy with what is com-
monly termed Arianism, and, in consequence of this, a secession
took place of several who had been accustomed to attend the ‘Grove
Chapel.’ Walter Grant, of Monkton Farleigh, and John Pitman, of
Bradford, were the chief persons who retired, and through their
instrumentality it was, that, in 1740, an Independent Chapel was
built at Morgan’s Hill, the first minister being the above-mentioned
Dr. Joshua Read. This last-named chapel was subsequently en-
dowed by Walter Grant and John Pitman, by will, with property
amounting, when invested in the public funds, to £2144 138s. 2d.,
three per cent Reduced Annuities.

Immediately after this secession from the ‘Grove Chapel,’ we find
Dr. Roger Flexman appointed as its minister. He remained there
about eight vears, when (in 1747) he removed to Rotherhithe, and
was succeeded by Mr. Samuel Billingsley, a member of an old
Presbyterian family of Ashwick in Somerset, the founders of the
Meeting-House at that place. Mr. Billingsley resigned the office
at the end of ten years.

In 1763 Mr. James Foot of Chard, a pupil of Dr. Doddridge,
was minister of this chapel, and continued to be so till his death,
(about 1777,) when he was succeeded by Mr. Williams of Calne, who
died in 1810. This last-named gentleman was engaged in some
kind of secular appointment, which was exceedingly distasteful to
many of the old Presbyterian attendants at the chapel. Before his
decease many of the more influential and wealthy of them had
either conformed to the Established Church, or left the district,
and the places of those who were removed by death were not sup-

254 Bradford-upon-Avon. [ Grove Meeting-House.

plied by others. Those who remained were but few in number,
and openly professed themselves,—Unitarians. In 1793 a Liturgy,
similar to that used at the principal Unitarian Chapel at Manchester,
was in use at the Grove Meeting-House.

On the decease of Mr. Williams, Mr. John Byatid of Bristol
for a short time acted as minister, after which the Meeting-House
was let to a body of Trinitarian Dissenters for several years. This
last-named body subsequently built a chapel for themselves, a Mr.
Coombs being their minister.

In the year 1822, Mr. Richard Wright, who was the minister of
a Dissenting congregation meeting at the Conigre, Trowbridge,
re-opened the Grove Chapel, and for five years preached in it
every Sunday morning. In 1827, Mr. Samuel Martin succeeded to.
Mr. Wright at Trowbridge, and for some time followed his practice
with regard to a weekly service in the Grove Meeting. For many
years past, however, the service has been very irregular. Latterly
it has been held only once or twice in the year, for the purpose of
securing a small endowment, hardly more than sufficient to keep
the building wind and water tight. The endowment arises from
the rents of two houses in the immediate neighbourhood of the
chapel, and produces from £10 to £12 a year.

Few memorials remain either of former ministers or of attendants
of this chapel. Of Dr. Roger Flexman, who was a man of some
literary attainments, we are able to give a few particulars.

He was born at Great Torrington in Devonshire, in the year
1708, and educated for the ministry, among the Presbyterian de-
nomination, by the Rev. John Moore. He was set apart for this
work at Modbury by some of his Presbyterian brethren. After
officiating at Chard and Crediton, he came to Bradford at the close
of 1739. In 1747 he married Catharine the daughter of Mr. John
Yerbury, one of the principal members of the congregation attend-
ing the Grove Meeting, and in the same year removed to another
chapel at Jamaica Row, Rotherhithe. In 1783 he resigned his
office from ill-health, but continued to fulfil the duties of Lecturer at
St. Helen’s, (to which he was elected in 1754) and preached there
occasionally until his decease, at the age of 88, in the year 1795.

The Battle of Ethandun. 255

Of Dr. Flexman’s sentiments we are told, by Mr. Walter Wilson,
that “they coincided very much with those of Dr. Amory,”
whose opinions “with regard to both natural and revealed
religion, nearly agreed with those of Dr. Samuel Clarke, and of
the eminent divines who were coadjutors with that great man.
He did not therefore fall in with the Socinian principles; neither
did he reject the natural evidences of the life to come, or the notion
of a separate state.” Dr. Flexman, he adds, “was a strenuous ad-
vocate for the pre-existent dignity of Jesus Christ, and the person-
ality of the Holy Spirit. He maintained the essential distinction
between the soul and the body, and the liberty of the human will
in opposition to materialists and necessitarians.”

Dr. Flexman was well known in the literary circles of his day,
and was especially noted for his accurate knowledge of English
History. He was employed by the Government as one of the com-
pilers of the General Index to the ‘Journals of the House of Com-
mons;’ the eighth and three following volumes, containing the
Parliamentary proceedings from 1660 to 1697, having been as-
signed to him. This elaborate work was commenced in 1776 and
completed in 1780. He also published several Sermons and Tracts:
amongst the most important of his productions were ‘An account
of the writings of Bishop Burnet,’ and ‘Critical, Historical, and
Political Miscellanies,’ containing remarks on various authors,
amongst whom were Archbishops Potter and Secker, and Bishops
Sherlock, Warburton, and Lowth. His abilities and attainments
acquired for him the honorary degree of D.D. from the Marischal
College of Aberdeen in 1770.

(To be concluded in our nezt.

A REPLY TO THE STRICTURES OF G. P. SCROPE, ESQ.,! ON

A paper relating to the Battle of Ethandun.’

By G. Marcnam, Esa,
TO THE EDITOR OF THE “‘ WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE.”
A ins have too great a regard for the interests of your

Magazine and too much respect for the time of your

1 See Vol. iv. p. 298. ? Vol. iv. p. 175,

256 The Battle of Ethandun.

readers, to enter so fully as I should otherwise desire, on the
strictures made by Mr. Scrope on my pape?* relative to Dr. Thur-
nam’s views of the site of the Battle of Ethandun. You may per-
haps in justice, allow me to offer briefly a few remarks in answer
to the charges with which I have been assailed.

With regard to the suggestions that I have (vol. iv. p. 177, 1. 22)
translated the Ethandun of Asser into “Edington;” and thereby
seemed to beg the whole question, you are yourself aware, that I
corrected the error of the press before the appearance of Mr.
Scrope’s objection; and your readers by substituting the page
attached to your subsequent number, will be relieved from that
and one or two more mistakes. With reference to the identity
between the names Ethandun and Edington, to which Dr. Thurnam
himself “on the ground of orthography” admits that “little diffi-
culty exists,” I am accused of rashness in making “the sweeping
assertion” that the words dun and ton in Anglo-Saxon terminology
are usually convertible terms. A reference, however, to my commu-
nication will shew that although I as fully admit the original
distinction, as my opponent himself, I consider that frequently a
change was effected in popular discourse which was afterwards
embodied in written documents. But Mr. Scrope informs us, that
he cannot find a single instance of the kind in the works he has
consulted: and he fortifies his position by a list of places, all now
preserving their original terminations. Advancing no further than
his second example, we finda refutation of the writer’s own theory,
for according to Lysons, the town of “ Abbundune now Abingdon,”
is “sometimes called Abington,”! and the list quoted is closed by
the singular illustration of Huntendwne now Huntington. My
attention on this point has been called by a member of our Society,”
to the collection of Saxon charters published by the late Mr.
Kemble, from the index of which work, a sufficient number of
instances has been extracted and given in the note below, which
will not only “favour,” but substantiate the idea of such converti-
bility. As the original Saxon terminations often remained invio-

1 Lysons’s Magna Britannia, vol. i. p. 216. 2H. J. Swayne, Esq.
8 Alsedun Ascesdun Ashton Wilts.

>
’

By Geo. Matcham, Esq. 257

late when the document called Domesday was compiled, the syllable
dun being frequently written don, I subjoin further examples from
that work where the same conversions have since occurred in
modern orthography:! and upon these grounds I venture to
disclaim the charge of rashness of which I have been accused.
As the result of his proposition, Mr. Scrope concludes that if Ed-
ington had been mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle it would be as
Edentun not as Ethandune; but as Edington is identified by Wynd-
ham, Dr. Thurnam, and the writer himself as the Edendone of
Domesday, and moreover as the same orthography is found to have
prevailed in the reign of Edward III.,? and continued in the year

Ealdenedun Aldington Warwickshire.
Hwactedun Wheaton Gloucestershire.
Hwactedun Wotton Surrey.
Hwitandun Whittington Warwickshire.
Ossunaldesdun Ossulston Worcestershire.
Rigandun Rigton Suffolk.
Wassandun Washton Hants.
Unideandun Withington Gloucestershire.
So also, Loppendyn Lopton Suffolk.

and the dens, or deans of Kent and other counties have been transmuted into
the same termination of ton, as

Scarenden Sherrington Kent.
Snittingden Snellington Kent.
Deningden Thorington Kent.
Drislanden Thurston Hants.
Dristlingaden Tristlington Worcestershire.
1 Examples from Domesday :—
Edendone Edington Wilts.
Nichendune, supposed Nackington Wilts.
Snendone _ Sherington Wilts.
Hanendon Hanington Wilts.
Cadendone Caddington Berks.
Herlingdone Harlington Berks.
Rochesdone or
Rochestone (sic) Roxton Bucks.
Cottendone Cheddington Bucks.
Hortedun Hartington Derbyshire.
Hollendone Hollington Bucks.
Sithlingdone Shellington Beds,
Cadendon Caddington Beds,

* Carta regis Edwardi Tertii, qui concedit plurimas libertates monasterio

--fratrum (ordinis St. Augustini) de Edyndone in Co. Wiltsia. Dat. 20 die
Septembris Anno regni sui 33. Cat. Lib, MSS. Bibl. Harl. y. i.

258 The Battle of Ethandun.

1449, Mr. Scrope’s touchstone, as far as terminology is concerned,
may be successfully applied to the identity of this place with the
site of Alfred’s victory. I could not therefore, (as has been stated
vol. iv. p. 3800) ridicule the notion that the terminating syllable of
Ethandun can be used for a down, since it is proved so applicable
both by natural feature and by ancient orthography to Edington;
but to say that the Ethandun of Asser is represented by the Ettone
of Domesday, is in my humble opinion to pass the usual boundary
of even antiquarian metamorphoses.

To overcome this difficulty, Mr. Scrope following Dr. Thurnam
arbitrarily attaches a duplicate termination, and presents us with
the word Ettan-dun, Ethandun, quoting as an example the case
of Ashdown. But here the two syllables respond to the Assedune
of Domesday, and here also in accordance to ordinary custom, is
the single and distinctive termination. If the battle of Ethandun had
been fought at Yatton, the final syllable would as I conceive have
been retained in subsequent documents, and we should have seen
Yattendun’ (not Yattondun as is suggested) marked on the map of
Wilts, as it has been noted in that of the county of Berks.

Mr. Scrope conceives that he has answered my question “whether
the compound Etton-dun has ever appeared in writing or (perhaps)
in common parlance ;” because there was once a down included in
the parish of Yatton, and the country-people (of course) referred
to Yatton down, to distinguish it from that of the next village; but
if we were to take this liberty with distinctive local appellations,
the nomenclature of half the Wiltshire villages would be changed.
And as I do not find Ettune-dun is a word which has even occur-
red in writing, or has even been so identified with “common, that
is general, parlance,” as to be handed down in the shape of a dis-

1 Dr. Thurnam.

2 Yattendon appears to be ‘‘the town composed of more than one street, on or
under adown,” the word Yatten being I presume employed for the plural of
yate or Ett, as in the case of housen, still used by the peasantry for houses.
Yattondon, would bear a duplicate termination, and in fact the word does not
appear in the nomenclature of Berkshire topography. The distinction to which
I have alluded, is preserved in the Etingdon of Domesday, and in the name of
Peter de Etyndon, who seems to have held Yattendon in the reign of Henry III.
Lysons’s Berkshire, p. 445.

By Geo. Matcham, Esq. 259

tinctive appellation (like Ashdown) for any vill, hamlet, village,
town, or estate; “the reply” seems to me so far from being
“decisive,” that I submit it is not applicable to the question. But
Mr. Scrope believes his readers will agree with him that both in
orthography and sound the word Ettun-dun bears a closer resem-
blance to Ethandun, than does Edenton or Edendune. Admitting
for a moment, that he has really found his word, and leaving the
delicate question of sound to more accurate ears, I will answer him
-on the point of orthography by a better authority than mine.’ “If
you write Ethandune in Saxon letters you will see immediately
how the, ¢h, in that word became the d of Edynton, the omission
of one stroke (8 for 8-th) forming the only distinction.’

Passing on to fresh delinquencies, it seems I am not justified
in throwing any doubt on the statement of Dr. Thurnam, that the
Danes had their head quarters at Chippenham immediately before
and after the battle. Without repeating my argument, I am wil-
ling to be judged by the words of Asser, quoted to disprove it.
Neither can my proposition be considered as singular, for whilst I
am assailed with the rival claims of other places produced by dif-
ferent writers as opposed to that of Edington near Westbury, Mr.
Scrope will be pleased to remember, that almost every one of these
authors assumes the fact, that Chippenham and its neighbourhood,
were not the head quarters of the Danish army on the eve of the
contest at Ethandun.

As I am upbraided with omitting all mention of Milner, Carte,
and Beke, permit me to observe, that the first places the site at
Heddington, six or seven miles from Chippenham, the two last fix

1 Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., a name deserving all respect and gratitude
from the Wiltshire antiquary.

* The etymology of Ethandun appears to me sufficiently obvious if we derive it
from the two Saxon words Ethan to flow, to swell up as a wave, and dun a
down. From Bratton camp, says Turner, ‘‘ two branches for the sake of water
spread to the foot of the mountain.” See Wilts Mag. vol. iv. p. 187. See also
Bosworth’s Anglo-Saxon and English Dict. sub. voce. There are two never-
failing springs at Luccombe (Low-combe) bottom, in Edington parish on the
way from Bratton to Southdown farm. They are snfficient, within a short dis-
tance, to drive a factory. There is also a stream which runs down from just
above Bratton Church, which is situated at the foot of Bratton hill, called
“Stokes water,” (? Stocken-truncus-wood).

260 The Battle of Ethandun.

it respectively, at Yattendon and Eddington in Berkshire, perhaps
fifty miles from that place, and being thus reminded of them, your
readers may accept their additional testimony, to prove that, “I
am justified in throwing a doubt on the statement of Dr. Thurnam
that the Danes had their head quarters! at Chippenham both before
and after the battle.” It will be for them also to determine whe-
ther Mr. Scrope is himself justified in his decided and peremptory
contradiction. It would be too great an infliction on your readers
to lead them again minutely through Mr. Scrope’s repetition of Dr.
Thurnam’s hypothesis of the march of Alfred, “from Brentford to
Ealing, from Ealing to Acton, from Acton to Uxbridge,” and so
forth.? I will, therefore, only add to my former statement—First,
that if the shorter distances between the stations, there mentioned,
are held subversive of their identification with the ancient nomen-
clature of places in the line of march; we are not to measure the
time occupied by the progress of an army from one to the other,
by the ordinary facility of passage through an open country, but
by the obstacles presented by a continuous forest and the rugged
ground, which then characterised that neighbourhood: Secondly,
with reference to the identity of Highley Common, and the Aiglea
of Asser, I am informed on the very competent authority of a near
resident,’ “that there is no such place as Highley Common, although
there is a grazing meadow a little above the level of the river Avon,
called Iley,t than which no spot is more deep and miry or less

1 It is worthy of remark, that whilst modern writers opposed to the site of
Edington, for the most part differ among themselves as to the locality of the
battle; Camden, Spelman, Gibson, Gough, Turner, Sir Richard Hoare, and Dr.
Giles, (cum multis aliis) all concur in referring it to the same spot.

2 Foote’s ‘Mayor of Garrett.’
3 The Rey. J. Wilkinson, Rector of Broughton Gifford.

4The name Iley, has been deduced from Isley, Insula, an island, and hence
perhaps an argument in its favour may be drawn from the compound Aiglea of
Asser, which may be described as the pasture on this island, but, independently
of the apparent inconvertibility of the first syllable, into I, the word Ag
means also an egg or oval form, and may have reference to the shape of the
land: moreover, lea, is not necessarily a pasture or meadow, as Dr. Johnson
derives our English word lea, from ‘ley’ Saxon, a fallow. May I be allowed
to suggest that Iley and Highley may have been indifferently used, in modern
times, and that the two Saxon words hih, high and lea or ley, explain Mr.

By Geo. Matcham, Esq. 261

adapted for an encampment; in Alfred’s time it must have been a

- swamp.”! Iley does not appear to have ever held a village, or in-
habitant. Nor will I make any further observation on the poetical
auxiliary, Geoffrey Gaimar, except that his statement is at issue
with that of Asser, both in the nocturnal conduct and composition?
of the Saxon army; since it is the observation of Mr. Scrope him-
self, that “neither Dr. Thurnam nor any one else would seriously
or otherwise venture to differ from Asser.”

But the catalogue of my offences is not yet complete, for you are
told that “Mr. Matcham is incorrect in his assertion that the White
Horse”’ is the ensign of the West Saxons, who it seems, as to their
standard rejoiced in the sign of the Dragon. Permit me to remind
you, that I wrote not a word on the Saxons, as divided into east,
west, north, or south, but on Savony the common country of that
people. To dwell on so trite a theme, is all but useless, for every
one sees and knows the “horse current argent for ancient Saxony ”
engraved on the coins of the realm, the old Indo Germanic emblem
of, and sacrifice to the sun. Allow me also to observe that the
word ensign is used not only for a standard, but for a badge, trophy
and distinction, and in this sense refers no more to the dragon,

Wilkinson’s present description of the spot ‘‘a rich grazing meadow a little
above the level of the river.”

1 In comparison with this claim for Highley or Iley, may I be permitted to
quote the following passage from Bishop Gibson’s notes on Camden’s Britannia.
“Near Westbury is a village called Leigh or Ley, which is most probably the
place where King Alfred encamped the night before he set upon the Danes at
Edington. For the name comes very near it; it being an easy mistake for the
Saxon scribe to write Avglea, for aec (oak), lea; here is also a field called court

field, and a garden adjoining encompassed with a moat, and a tradition goes
that here was a palace of one of the Saxon Kings.”’ If the aec lea of the

_ Bishop should fail to convince, the Auglea of Asser, would still be represented
by a moated enclosure, or one of an oval form,

* Gaimar converts the whole army of Alfred after its assembly at Egbert’s
stone into a body of cavalry; for he says, “they rede thro’ the night,” but all the

_ remaining inhabitants, ‘‘omnes accole,” of Wilts, Hants, &c., were not likely to
_ be mounted. Neither would it be said of an onslaught of horsemen that they
attacked the enemy ‘‘densa testudine,” an expression I apprehend limited to
_ infantry, ‘‘ Antecedebat testudo pedum sexaginta, &c.,” Cas. ‘Sublatis supra
capita scutis continuatisque inter se, testudine facta ante se subibant.” Livius.
Nor would a mere body of cavalry be in a condition to secure itself by castrame-

_ tation.

262 The Battle of Ethandun.

blue, red, yellow, or green, than to the raven of the vanquished
Danes. Had Alfred and his friends had recourse to the standard
of the West Saxons! to commemorate this victory; would not his
auxiliaries composed of other tribes have held it as an invidious
and unjust negation of their assistance P Mr. Scrope observes that
a team of eight such steeds may be seen on the Wiltshire Downs.
It is unlucky that not one should be found at Yatton. As a ter-
mination to the criticisms on this subject, I am charged with stating
as a fact, (that the White Horse of Berkshire is, in the opinion of all
antiquaries, the memorial of the victory of Aiscesdun,) what I
merely expressed as a belief—a belief, if not founded on universal,
yet still on general opinion. I cannot object to the contrary in-
stance unearthed from the ‘Archzologia’ by Mr. Scrope, but must
still disclaim the charge of a positive statement, which was never
in fact made. I have neither the means or the inclination to de-
preciate the description of Bury Wood camp, even if its distinction
can be sustained as “one of the very strongest earthworks in
Britain,” but as Mr. Scrope informs us that my remarks on the
retreat of the Danes to that fortress, are founded on a complete
misconception of the topography round Etton-down, and that Bury
Wood is not to the S.W. of this position; I beg to repeat that
Bury Wood camp is laid down in Dr. Thurnam’s map (vol. iii. p.
75.) S.W. of Yatton (or Etton), and of the point of junction of the
two armies; and that my inferences are fairly and plainly deduced
from the very document produced to enforce and exemplify Mr.
Scrope’s own position.

As Whitaker seems in this place to be commended for contro-
verting what is called “a loose assumption of Camden,” in fixing
the victory of Alfred at Edington, I beg leave to submit that
Camden may at least as probably have repeated and enforced the
statement of immemorial tradition: and that when that great
author has a doubt on a subject, he usually rejects a direct affrma-
tion and substitutes his belief, conjecture or opinion. Mr. Scrope

1Tf the West Saxons did bear a dragon on their standards, what confusion
must have happened in their battles with the Cornish Britons, for King Arthur
is stated to have fought under a dragon, which descended to him from his re-
puted father, Uther Pendragon. See notes to Drayton’s Polyolbion.

By Geo. Matcham, Esq. 263

| objects to my charge of dogmatism on Dr. Whitaker, and has had

recourse to another work of Sir Richard Hoare, from which he
extracts a passage, which he considers equally reprehensible in
this respect.

That work was written at an advanced period of life by a person
of perhaps the greatest experience in such subjects of his day, and
his conclusion, (to which objection has been taken) was grounded
on an elaborate previous examination of the ground, and of the
points in dispute: it was in fact but a form of expression, merely
intimating the probable effect of a successful argument on the
mind of the reader. But if Sir Richard is considered as too posi-
tive, the dogmatism of the other is not diminished, and the charge
is founded not merely on an isolated passage, but on the general
tenor of his works. Your readers also will remember that in fact
the comparison was not made between them, but between Whitaker

and Dr. Thurnam, whose mode of conducting a controversy, is as

excellent in itself, as its tone and manner appear to be difficult to

follow. In conclusion, I cannot but express my regret that Mr.

_Serope should have thought it necessary to represent me as exhibit-

ing “the pride of superior information,” (p. 300) or any token of

“emblematic triumph” (p. 306).. “My White Horse,” which
mounting his West Saxon Dragon, he thinks it worth while so

strenuously to assail, is an unpretending hobby which ambles or
stumbles as the case may be, and the verdict of your readers may

determine; and as the deprecatory expressions at the close of my

previous paper, have not exonerated me from the charge of pre-

sumption, I may add that the enviable sensations of fancied triumph,
if they even existed, have long since passed from me with the years

and the friends that are gone, and cannot now be recalled.

“Frigidus obstiterit circum praecordia sanguis.”’

I am not however indifferent to the inference which may be
drawn that I have lightly or wilfully trifled with the time or
eredulity of your readers,! and on this account, if on no other, some
vindication of my former communication is required.

BI beg however to acknowledge the proper correction of my unintentional
error in assigning the date of the death of Simeon of Durham to the year 1357,
instead of 1129, arising from imperfect information, and the want of better
‘books of reference.

264 The Battle of Ethandun. '

It appears that Mr. Scrope has erected a tower on his domain at
Yatton in honour of the great Alfred, and, as is presumed, com-
memorative of his victory on that spot. A fact unknown to me,
when my observations on Dr. Thurnam’s paper were written. It is
natural that the views of the founder should gain strength from
such an effort, and hence perhaps has arisen the “empressement”’
and vivacity with which the ground of my respected adversary,
Dr. Thurnam, has been occupied. Erections however founded on
hypotheses, from the Monument of London! to those of our own
times, as they court observation, must bear the brunt of various
opinions. But as an example of the architectural taste and patrio-
tism of our accomplished associate, there will be probably but one
opinion; and in this sense, let me say in all sincerity, “hic murus

aheneus esto;

may he long live to survey it, and enjoy, with as
many converts as he can make, the historical associations he con-
nects with it. How far those associations, are, or are intended to
be embodied in the inscription, “Alfredo Victori super paganos,
A.D. pocctxxvi, dicatum,” which appears on the tower, it is not
for me minutely to enquire. A passenger more familiar with the
classic or even the recognized language of Rome, than with that of
Asser, would scarcely be assisted in his interpretation by the con-
trast drawn by Juvenal® between the ‘pagan’ and the ‘soldier,’

“‘citius falsum producere testem
Contra paganum possis, quam vera fore eas
Contra fortunam armati, contraque pudorem.”

He might also perhaps be led beyond the mark. But I presume
not to wander further,

‘super et Garamantas et Indos ,’’

into another field, lest it should be said on this point, as it may
have been already thought on the whole subject, “sed super hac

re nimis.””

1 «Instead of a glorious monument of their past history this nation wished to
hallow the remembrance of a fatal accident, in attributing it by an absurd pre-
judice to the Catholics.”"—England, by the Duc de Lévis. Quoted in ‘Beauties
of England and Wales,’ vol. x. part 3, p. 648.

2 ee xvi. 32.

iH. Burs, Printer, Saint ‘John Street, Devizes. ;

PROPOSAL FOR THE COLLECTION

OF

AUTHENTIC COPIES OF MONUMENTAL
INSCRIPTIONS.

Tue value of monumental inscriptions, as containing evidence
applicable to the purposes of the historian, the genealogist, the
biographer, and in fact of all historical inquirers, is too obvious
to need enforcement. Although generally inscribed on the most
durable materials, they are in no degree exempt from the action
of the ordinary agents of destruction. There are even some perils
to which they are peculiarly exposed. Valuable memorials,
which have defied time, fire, and damp, the ravages of civil war-
fare and the recklessness of the restorer, have yielded at last to
the carelessness or the ignorance of parochial authorities. Of the
_ inscriptions published by Weever, Le Neve, and other collectors
of this class of historical monuments, it is astonishing how many
of the originals cannot now be found. In the present day the
work of destruction is proceeding at an accelerated pace. The
recent alterations in the law of interments operate most fatally
against this class of historical evidences, and in a few years the
loss of historical and genealogical materials from this source alone
will be found to be not only most extensive, but of an irreparable
character.

The Society of Antiquaries of London, not having been suc-
cessful in inducing the government to take measures for arresting
this serious and growing evil, desire to provide a partial remedy
by establishing a registry of all properly-authenticated copies of
inscriptions; and with this view propose to collect such copies in
the following manner: viz.

To receive all copies of monumental inscriptions, authenticated
to the satisfaction of the Committee appointed by the Society for
this purpose, which may be sent to them free of expense.

Rubbings, photographs, engravings, etchings, and lithographs
will be received as copies. Written copies anid be in a clear
and legible handwriting, and upon foolscap of the ordinary size.

2

The paper should be written on one side only, and with a clear
space between each inscription. It is indispensable that it
should appear on the copy whether it be derived from the
original monument, or from any transcript or other source.

Such copies, and all rubbings, photographs, &c. of monuments
and monumental inscriptions, will be kept in the apartments
of the Society in Somerset House, London, or some other suit-
able place of deposit, and will be arranged and indexed.

It is hoped that eventually arrangements may be made for
rendering the index and inscriptions accessible to the public
generally.

The Society of Antiquaries invite the co-operation, not only
of all their Members, but of all possessors of rubbings, photo-
graphs, or other copies of monumental inscriptions, or drawings,
&c. of monuments. It is obvious that the value ‘of such a collec-
tion will mainly depend upon its extent and accuracy.

Copies and communications upon this subject should be ad-
dressed to “THE Society oF ANTIQUARIES, SOMERSET
Houser, Lonpon,” and it will be convenient if the subject of
the communication be indicated by the word ‘‘ INSCRIPTIONS”
written on the envelope. Information respecting curious or valu-
able inscriptions, especially if in any state of decay or danger, will
be thankfully received.

The Society desire to receive in like manner copies of in-
scriptions, &c. in churchyards as well as in churches: and will be
particularly gratified to receive copies of epitaphs wherever they
may exist, whether on the Continent or in any of our Colonies,
relating to British families.

Copies of inscriptions will be the more valuable when accom-
panied by sketches, rubbings, or descriptions of any armorial
bearings on the monument, and also by particulars as to the
precise part of the church or churchyard in which they may be
found.

Communications respecting existing collections of inscriptions,
of annotated copies of Weever’s Funeral Monuments, Le Neve’s
Monumenta Anglicana, or other works of similar character, or of
any county histories in which manuscript copies of such records
are preserved, are also invited by the Society, who desire to
form a General Index of Monumental Inscriptions.

Society of Antiquaries,
Somerset House,
June, 1858.

WIL TSH IRE
Areheolagral ant Hatural Wrstory
| MAGAZINE.

No. XV. MARCH, 1859. Vor. V.
Contents.
Pace.
Broveuton GirrorD, History of the Parish: By the Rev. John
yal Lcmnanns AMC AC ici ecetee sar die ises Seine eele'ae eo wethesinas Snel: ZODEOeL

Cryin History. Name, 267. Boundaries and Acreage, 269. Domesday notice and
antiquities, 270. Broveuron MAnoriAu History: Dunstanyille, 282. Badlesmere,
282. Sub-feudatories, 283. Gifford, 287. Audley, 297. Hillary, 303. Hulse, 303.
Troutbeck, 303. Talbot, 303. Le Strange, 305. Shrewsbury, 308. Palmes, 311.
Brydges, 313. May, 313. Horton, 317. Roberts, 327. Hobhouse, 327. MonxrTon
Manorrat History: Ibert de Chat, 328. Monkton Farley Priory, 330, Seymour,
333. Long, 335. Thynne, 338. Kingston, 339. Shering, and Keddle, 341.
Pepicrers. Descent of the Manor, 267. The Horton Famiiy, 317.

BrapDrorD-on-Avon, History of, No.3: By the Rev. W. H. Jones, M.A. 342-390

Tus Parocutat Cuarities.—The Old Almshouse, 346, The OldMen’s Almshouse,
349. Curll’s Charity, 348. The Charity School, 349. Ferrett’s Charities, 352-3.
Thresher’s Charity, 353. Cam’s Charity, 355. Tugwell’s Charity, 355. Straw-
bridge’s Charity, 355. Lost Charities, 356.

“OLD Famities anD Worrates, 357. Family of ** Hall,” 360. Of ‘* Rogers,’’ 366.
Of “‘Yerbury,” 369. Of “‘ Methuen,” 378. Of ‘*Cam,” 384. General Shrapnel,
886. General Bush, 386. Rey. Henry Harvey, 389.

Pepicrees. I. Table shewing intermarriages of Bradford Families, 357. II.
‘Hatt,’ 360. III. ‘Rocers,’ 366. IV. ‘ Yersury,’ 369. V. ‘METHUEN,’ 378.

Brrrron’s Monument at Norwood CEMETERY: By Mr. W. Cunnington 390
ALEXANDER, R. C. Ese, Note in correction of a statement at p. 199. .... 392
BEGET OF THE SOCIETY FOR I858 ..cce cece seve cecsecascsesdavewens OOo

ILLUSTRATIONS.
Arms borne by the Lords of the Manor of Broughton Gifford, ( Two plates ) 267.
Monument to John Britton at Norwood Cemetery, 390.

DEVIZES:
Henry Bortz, 4, Sarnt Jonn Srreer.
LONDON:
Bert, & Daupy, 186, Fiver Street; J. R. Suira, 26, Sono Sauarr,

WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE,

‘““MULTORUM MANIBUS GRANDE LEVATUR ONUS.’”’—Ovid.

NOTICE.

Tuts History of the Parish of Broughton Gifford is arranged in accordance with
the Heads of Parochial Information contained in the 12th Number of the Wilts
Archeological and Natural History Magazine. My first duty and pleasure must
be the offer of my best acknowledgments to those who have helped me; specially
to Mr. Wm. Phelps, Mr. P. Cox, and Mr. C. E. Ward for their communications
of the deeds relating to the properties which they respectively administer,
Lord Broughton’s, Dr. Keddle’s, and E. D. Talbot Jones, Esq’s. But above all
am I indebted to my friend T. Herbert Noyes, jun., Esq., of the Home Office.
If there be anything noteworthy in this history, it is this, that the present Lord
of our Manor can here trace his title to the property from the time of the Con-
queror to the present day.

Such a result, however remarkable, offers to the eye no perceptible proportion
to the knowledge and skill employed. A name and a date show little, but
signify much; and nobody who has not himself gone record hunting can appre-
ciate the patience, labour, critical accuracy, and special attainments required to
produce this mu/tum in parvo. I may the more pardonably glory, since the
eredit is Mr. Noyes’ and not mine. I was able to furnish him with little more
than references to the meagre abstracts of the public records; and the faultiness
of these, published at a great cost by Parliament, has again and again come to
light in the course of this inquiry.

Such a history as this, extending through eight centuries, being a narrative
of events of no public importance, compiled at a distance from public libraries,
must be full of imperfections, I look to my successors to supply deficiencies
and correct mistakes. The account, such as it is, proves, however, what
materials do exist for histories of this kind, even in respect of petty parishes
which pretend to no importance social or political.

Still, notwithstanding the insignificance of our village, we can point with
pride to great names among our lords, to gentlemen and gentlewomen, of high
blood and higher aims, whose true feelings and brave deeds have made England
what she is. ‘‘Down those slopes of old renown,” we trace a Neville, from
whose house sprang nine Earls, one Marquis, Barons many, one Queen, and
VOL. V.—NO. XV. t

266 Broughton Gifford.

five Duchesses: we see the great houses of Gifford, Audley, Le Strange, and
Talbot, ever foremost in place and honour, the flower of English chivalry. We
ean do more. We can say that, with one lamentable exception as lamentably
avenged, all our, lords were on the side of constitutional freedom and national
progress. They forwarded the good cause, each according to the manner of his
day. The Giffords, the Audleys, and the Talbots, by union with their peers,
like-minded members with them of the great council; and by armed resistance
to greedy foreigners, ministerial favourites, and royal exactions in violation of
the Great Charter. To stigmatise all feudal lords as oppressors of the people,
is a mistake. The people, as a political body did not exist, till evoked from
their low estate, and encouraged to take their stand by the side of the barons
in the common contest with the Crown. Our feudal lords were the originators
of popular rights, the founders and sustainers of their country’s reputation at
home and abroad, the promoters of national interests, the natural leaders of a
free people, from which they sprang, and among whom all the lower branches
of their families still remained. Our later untitled lords represent another
phase of English society. The parish is but the kingdom in miniature. Strange
names appear in palace and hall. The great feudal houses vanished in the
wars of the Roses. The policy on both sides, followed by none more merci-
lessly than by Edward IV., was that of Tarquinius: swmma papaverum capita
decutere. The lords perished in the field or on the scaffold: their families were
impoverished: their estates changed hands. ‘New men’ arose out of those very
classes, which had been politically created by the nobles for their own purposes,
and, as it now turned out, for their own supplanting. Wool merchants, clothiers,
traders, and farmers, bought up the baronial halls and acres, Such were our
more recent lords, the Mays, the Longes, and the Hortons. ‘They found the
country in an anomalous condition. The ruler was despotic, the ruled were
free, The Tudors understood the position: like skillful mariners they put the
ship before the wind, and rode on the top wave of popular opinion. The Stuarts
attempted to put the ship about; a most delicate operation with a high sea run-
ning, and not within their seamanship. The conflict between prerogative and
privilege began. Our new lords embarked heartily in ‘‘the good old cause,”
older than they thought, for it was the cause of the barons before them. They
prosecuted it after much the same fashion, by petitions in Parliament, by in-
sisting on the postponement of supplies to grievances, by sufferings in purse and
person, and, when their ancient rights and liberties were no otherwise to be
vindicated, by an appeal to the sword, which alone could then decide the right.

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MANOR

The names of the Lords are in Italics. The Fractions show the portion held by a Lord, on the di

DESCENT OF THE

OF BROUGHTON GIFFORD FROM THE CONQUEST TO THE PRESENT DAY.

ion of the Manor. The figures before the name of a Baron mark his place in
the descent of the Barony.

Osbern Gifford. First Baron Gifford=
of Brimsfield, ob. ante 1086.

jj
2. Ellas Gifford, viv. 1121.=Ala

3. Elias Gifford, ob. ante 1167=Berts
1

]
Walter Gifford 4. Elias Gifford
ob. ante patrem, «.p. ob. 1190.

|
5. Thomas Gifford, wt. 21, 1194=

|
Henry d'Aldithley. First Baron Audley=Wertred d. of Ralph © ae Neen persia Musard.

Humphrey de PTsle, viv. 1086.=

‘Reginald de Dunstanville, s. of Robert Fitzhugh
de Dunstanyille, First Baron of Castle Combe,
jure uroris

i
Adeliza de PIs)

|
2, Reginald de Dunstanville, viv. 1163:

T King Henry I. .,.Rosamond Clifford
3. Walter de Dunstancitle, ob. ante 1196=Ursula d. nnd coh. of Re- ob-1189. fob. 177.
Zl ginald C. of Cornwail {

es
William Longespeo I.=Ela of Salisbury.
(226.

j
4. Walter de Dunstancitle, ob. 1240=
T ob. 1

5, Wale de Dunstaneille, ob. 1269

Probably sold manor to John Gifford.

John lo Strange. First Baron le Strango=,........
idonea. ‘of Knockyn, ob, 1217,

I
William Longespee IL
slain at Massoura 1250,

of Heleigh, viv, 1236, de Meisnilwarin,

ob. 1271. =
J

| |
4, Jomen Audiey=Maud

2. Jobn le Strango=

. Matilda d. and h. of Walter

de Clifford and widow of=

ob, 1282, |

. Alice Maltravers, ob. §.
Margaret Neville,

|
7. John Giffor

ob. 1299, et, 67. Williaa Longespee IIT. ob, 1256.

| “ 4. John to Strango=Amicia,
1, Margarct=Henry Lacy E.=2. Joan Martin. : 4
wet. 80, 1290, of Lincoln. pn |

|

8. ven Gifford, \e Rych,=Avelina d, of Hugh
ob. &.p. 1922, mt. 36. de Courtenay.

|
—Jone de ‘Robert le Strango=Alinnora sister and
‘ob. 1276, coh, of

4, Jou lo Strange,
ob, 1276, Someri. Oh. 0}
Wm. do Blanomin-

Wales, «,p, 1281 = = =

6, Nicholas Audley=Catherine
ob, 1300, [wt 2

l
John le Strange of
Blackmere, ob. s.p.
1310, wt. 56,

1 ster (Whitchurch),
|

Margaret Gifford=William Genevill. Alianora Gigord, Fuh le soone heir of brother. First Baron

wt, 22, 1299, ob. s.p. mt. 4, 1299. | le Strange of aici ob. 1924, mt. 57.

Eve d. and h. of=7 Thomas Audley, ob, 8.p.1307. 8. Wichotas Audley,
John de Clavering wt. 15 ob. ay, wt, 28,

Joan d. of Koger Mortimer
Earl of March.

I
2, Isabel =9. James Audley, K.0.
Malbank. “ob. 1 April 1886, mt. 74
4

joan Martin coh. of brother, and widow of
Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln.

7. wiliam Baron Martin
of Kemeys, ob, s.p.
1826, it. 31.

Baron Stafford. =Fulk le Strange, 3. schn Je Strange=Mary d. of Richard
ers. 3, Reginald ob. s.p. 22 Aug. ob, 12 ee | Esrl of Arundel,

2 John To Strange, ob. 20 July=Ankaret Boteler sister and
1H9, wt. 43,

Eleinor Martin, coh. of=6. Phillip de Columbers, ob. ante
| coh. of Edw. of Wemmo.

brother, ob. 4 Deo, 1342, wxorem, We wet, 60.
4

Elizabeth d. of Ralp!
Mor. 2, Johnide Fer

!
10, Nicholas Audley,==Etisabeth d. of Alice de Beaumont
ob. ».p. 22 July, of Broghan in Scotland,
1891, mt, 65, ‘ab. 37 Oct, 1400,

coh. of brother | Rochelle 22 June 1370.
John Duchet ob. 1408=

|
11. John Tuehet, ob, 19 Deo,=Tsabel ...
1408, wt. 87.
t

|
2. Eleanor nat, d.—12. James Tuohet slain at=1, Margaret d. of Wm.
of Thomas Holland Dloreheath 23 Sep, Baron Itoos of
E, of Kent, half 1459, at. 60, Haralake
brother to Rich. 11

13, John Tuchet ob. 26=Ann d. of Thos.
Sept. 140. Itchingham, Kt
‘ob. 7 May 1499.

14, James Twchet=1. Margaret d. of

2. Joan d. of Fulk
| beheaded 25 June [= Darrell, Kt.

Bourchicr Baron Fite:
warren, ob, 3 March
var

1497, mt 33,

hs Audley=John Tuchet, Kt. slain at

Baron Cobham. ob. 1375. 4 1H9, & 19. wt, 30.
i i
Margaret Audley coh. of brother=Roger Hillary, Kt. William de Holes or=......d, and h. t
ob. 24 April 1411. ob. s:p. 103: Hulse. Kt, of Norbury. 4 John le Strange=Imbel d. of _Ankaret le=Richard Talbot, Kt.
Sold } to Sir Hugh de Holes ob. 3 Aug. 1875, | ‘Thomas Strange | son and heir of
wt. 20, Beauchamp ob. 1413, Gilbert Baron
Hugh Holes ob,=Ellen Bruce Earl of wt. 52. Talbot, ob. 1396,
1383. 2nd son. i Piemere. Warwick, 4 4
j a 1, Joan =aitbert=9, Beatriz nat. d.of Matilda =Jahn =
Hugh de Holes of= Margaret d. ond h. of Sohn Eliz old to Strange= Thomas of Thos. Baron | John I. K, of Fortu- d. of (eet Be of ecrtaet
Ruby, Kt, ob. | Dombelle or Doraville of Oxton, ob. s,p. 23 Aug. 1383, Mowbray of ‘Talbot, | gal, and widow of ‘Thomas | Shrewsbury of Richard
3 July 1 Brunstaple, and Modberley, wt. 9. Karl of Wood ob,1419| Thos.E.of Arundel. Neville | Slain at Earl of
1 4 Nottingham stockD. wt, 30, Mar. 3, Wm. Fety- Baron | Chatillon, Warwick.
of Glous. ob. Li? Furnival. | 20 July 1453 4 of $=}
t wnt, 62.

William Troutbeck of Stoney—Joanna d, of
Dunham, Kt. Wm. Rixton

|
Thomas Holes o}
Brunstaple,

ob. 28 Nov, 1420. ob, ante Sept. 1446, ob, 1453, i) i}
t | Ankaret Talbot, 2, John Talbot slnin at=Blizabeth d. of James
I i ob. 1421, infans, Northampton 11 July | Boteler Earl of Ormond.
Margery Holes,=John3Troutheck, Kt of 4=4 1460, aot AT. ob. LL Sept, 1473,
ob. 16 Nov. 1456, Joft=4 4

ob. 20 Aug. 1455,
mt, 37. wt. 46.

3. John Irutbor

itherine d. of

15. John Tuchet ob, —Mory d. of Rich a < ob. 26 June Henry Duke of
CSOT ot CA. Gaia o William Droutheck, Kt.=Margaret d. of Thomas ¥ ao)
Sold } tn 1533 to Braybrook alain at Bloreheat Stanley. M. TORTS 1473, wt. 20, | Buckingham.
Sir Rich, Bryges 2 Sept, “eh wt. 26. | of Bewaey, Kty 3, Lord Grey - j
é f ol i ie d, of==4. Cerne eter KG, =, Bizabeth
Glles Bruges, Kt.=Tsabol Baynbam, Richard Bryges of Shofford, Berks, and—Jane William routheck, Ke raret Adam Troutbeck,=3 izabet sliberen eee eM A eb dof Rich,
lal Ludgershal, Wilts, Kt ob; 1888, “7 Spencer. ob. ip. 10 Sept. 1310," mar 2, Wm ‘ob, ante frateom’) arene oe iat, of-cu tato etn cotton ot Se CO AEE © NOR
[ — Sold ¢ in 1544 to Robert May. mt, 60, f Poole of Poole. Bewavy. Grastook aa 1) Cambria ‘almon. Kt,
TMba ee piles N : irastocke. ‘ob. Sept, 1517. Cambridge-
y Kt shire.
firat Baron d, of Edw, Robert May, T William Palmes of = sister of
CRRaR ON oat Rater GEsy Saas 1, Margaret Troutbeck—John Talbot of Gralton=2, Eliabeth Wrottesley, ob. 10 May 1650, Naborne, Co. York, | Rooliff Haron
aR E h. of penal) wt. 20, | and Albrighton, Kt. ob. | a gua the Lacock'Talbots, and Youn ttenry of the Exch.
¥, Dorothy a: of—Iubert May, ob, 7 Nov.=2, Joan dof Thomas ae POBeD EAD ea} ree ana TM AONE IBES: ys Sfana ie Gey Ta oajesut A yeas
Vm, Sidrington wt. 62, Sachefield or Sars- aT pee =
Sidringt , John Talbot, Kt.=Frances d. of andeoh.of| nt-Law, 2nd son, Moore.
of Homington. + Held of Bath. ‘ob. 6 June 1555, | John Gifford Diow of | ob. I Nov. 1916. §
i sols j wt. 36. $ | ofChilling- Bristol,
Eleanor d. of=Menry May, ‘diard Horton afi = = ton, Kt. . 1
Thos, Hinton | ob. 4 Deer at Westmoods AMM acuity na tre, Mi Brian Pater, ob, 19=Tabel d. and coh,
wd te * 3 ef Francis Talbot, — John Talbot ob. 1611, set, 6$.—=Catherine d. of Oct, 1528, mt. 20. | of Thos. Lindloy
Wilts, . ‘ob. ante 1571 Sold { im 1584 to Edward | Rt. Hon, Wm. 4 | of Lindley.
Horton of Westwood, Petar, Kt,
Ann May=John Fyre son of Wm. Eyre Henry Longe ob. 1612,=Rebecea Bailey. Mar.
of Great Chalfleld, Kt mt. 48. yy 2, Henry Sherfield of ] = ae Francis Palies of=Mary d. of Roger
‘Sarum. viv. 1641. Williden 11 T 1 Lindley, ob. 1965, | Cabéll of Norton,
fe Le Sages a a Re ee Horten—Alice d. of eae Longe: ad Horton, we Hed Salop.
1. Mas of=Walter Longe, Bt. Elizabeth = 6. of ey, o! of Westwood, Robt. May, f Whaddon, ). 1558.
Jos. Gocks. ob, ep. 1673, d. of ABEB, Trowbridge. ob. 8p. 1604. iv. 1095. "Kt: ob 1558 || iF I Sr
Sold 1627 to John Cotes. 7 Francis Palmes, Kt,— d. and coh. of
Barden Horton, tiny oon 7 Thenen sf Sa ter a : oh ae Tf Tone iin f°
1897. yy viv. 16157 viv. 1620. Thomas Hanbam of Dean's Court, Wim-=Penolope d. of Sir John Sold 4 in 1970 to Sir ly. Hants,
Bin iv. 1614. borne, Serj.-at-Law, ob, 1504. Popham, Lord Chief William Hrounker, 4
Justice.
i ————
Edward Horton, h. of Breat uncle John Horton, Kt. natus 8 Nov. !
a » Kt. 1595, William Browiker of Melk= =Mary d. of Rt.
Edvard of Westwood, natus 20 Sheriffof Wilts 1617, Bur. at B.G. | %° Banham. sham, Ke, ob. 47 Murch 1507. | Hon. Walter
. 1589, ob, 28 Sept. 1605. 4 27 Murch 1667. Sheriff of Wilts 1980. 4 | Mildmay, Ke.
i on 12 inheritance plus $} purchase=|
od i
Thomas Horton of Elston,=Elizabeth a. of Wm, Guise Henry Hrounker of Yrlestoko,=Gertrude d. of
bur, there 1 May 1693, of Brockworth, city of ‘ob, between 23 Oot. and 11 | Henry Sadi, er
mt. 80, Gloucester, viv, 1686, ob Nov. 1598, wt. 28. 4 of Everley, Kt.
_— ante maritum. lor-2. Ambrose
1 1675 muntesy.
John Horton=Catherine d. of Thomas i} om
of Combend, | Child of Northwick, Willlam Hrounker.= nn d. of John
ob, 1688. rorcester. Sold hin 1022 to — Dauntesy, of
Sir John Horton. West Lay
Kt
‘Mary
Blanche,
viv. 1737.
f 1732 1725 1730
Thomas Horton of=Jane a. of Archdeacon Elizabeth Horton=William Blanche 1. Thomas Bennetadleante Horton=2. Rich. Roberts
‘Wootton, bur. at Lewis, bur. at Elston ob. ante, 1763, ob. ante 1763. of Steeple Ashton. ob, ante 1763. of Bath,
Elston 20 Deo. 19 Noy. 1735, ob. 1763.
1753, mp.
William Blanche 1
it 21, 1763. John Boberts, Richart Roberts, William Hoywartt Roberts, D:D., Provost—Charlotte
‘Took Gloucester- ob. aD ob. Mh i
s shire ty. Sold the manor in 1749 to Sir Benjamin
Lass Tobhouse, Bt, father of the Wt. Hon. John

Cam Hobhouse, Baron Broughton, G.CH.

267

History of Broughton Gittord.

By the Rev. Joun WILKINSON.

Crvit History.

y ~ESROUGHTON, variously written, Broctune in Domesday

JS book, latinised Brotona, Broghtone, and Brogton, is a word
__ of unquestionable Saxon origin, and derives its name from. its
_ position. Brook-ton is the dwelling by the brook. The transition
from Brook to Brough is easy, and has actually taken place in
Brough, a town in Westmoreland, which is divided into two parts
by the Helbeck, a small feeder of the Eden. Nothing was more
usual, because nothing more natural and reasonable, than for places

to receive their original denominations from their situations. The
names of every Parish and Tithing around confirm the remark.
Melksham on the east and south is the milk-village; Shaw, ad-
joining Melksham, is the shady wood; Whitley, adjoining Shaw,
is wheat-leigh; Holt! on the south-west is the hill-wood; Chalfield
on the west (c4ld feld) the chilly spot, where the trees have been
felled (there are still indications of the ancient forest); Atworth
on the north is Atte-worth? (at the farm); Bradford is the broad-
_ ford, the river Avon being there fordable for a considerable
_ distance, with deep water above and below; Whaddon, the other
side of the river, is wheat-down.

1 “Ye that frequent the hilles,
And highest holtes of all,
Assist me with your skilful quilles,
And listen when I call.”— Perey, Ant. Rel.
? This is the old and correct orthography. Worth has many meanings; it is
_ either possession, court, farm, place, fort, or island. Such compounds are very
- common in surnames derived from localities, Attehull (on the hill), Atmoor (on
the moor), Atbridge, Atte-church, Atte-house, Atte-mylne, &e. When it pre-
eeded a yowel, the preposition had n, which sometimes passed into the next
word. Thus, John Atten-oke, John at Noke, John Noke; John Atten-ash, John
‘Nash; Thomas Atten-eye (island), Thomas Noye.
: T2

268 Broughton Gifford.

Water being a prime necessary of life, dwellings by brooks, or
Broughtons, are plentiful enough in England. In the time of the
Conqueror there were thirty-four manors so called. There are now
twenty distinct Parishes, besides hamlets and different localities,
which bear the name, eleven with, nine without any distinguishing
affix: three in Lancashire; Lincolnshire, Leicester, and Oxford
have two each; the West Riding, Derby, Notts, Salop, Worcester,
Stafford, Northampton, Huntingdon, Berks, Wilts, and Hants
have one a-piece. I cannot say, for I have never seen, whether
they are all by brooks. My etymology does not require that they
should be. If we trace to its root the word brook, we shall see the
propriety of the application even where there is no water. Brook
(the old orthography of which, as Horne Tooke! has shown, was
broke) is broken water, being those lesser streams which break out
of the ground, and are the broken parts, or brooks, of the main
river. Horne Tooke has aptly quoted from Beaumont and
Fletcher’s ‘Faithful Shepherdess,’—

‘‘Underneath the ground,
In a long hollow, the clear spring is bound;
Till on yon side, where the morn’s sun doth look,
The struggling water breaks out in a brook.”

IT will add from 2 Samuel v. 20. ‘The Lord hath broken forth upon
my enemies before me, as the break of waters.” But brook may
be broken land, as well as broken waters, indeed broken any-
thing. The same Saxon word dbroe (from which comes our past
participle, broke) means brook (broken water), newly broken up
land (ager novalis), broke (our past tense, originally written,
brack), broken or tangled wood, brock or badger (an animal
which breaks the ground for its habitation and in search of food),
a draught horse of an inferior description (an animal broken into
harness or a broken down horse), and lastly trouble, or that by
which the heart of man is broken. So that Broc-ton, or Brog-ton
(the change of ¢ is strictly euphonic) may mean either the dwel-
ling by the brook, or by newly broken ground, or by the thicket
or where badgers, draught horses, or troubles are. Nor is the
series thus exhausted. Broughton may be brocket-ton, the haunt of

1 Diversions of Purley. Abstraction.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 269

the young stags. It will be hard if one or another of these ety-
mologies cannot be made to fit the circumstances of each of the
many Broughtons in England. Meanwhile, “our village” is un-
deniably by the brook. The Church is there, the oldest houses are
there, the original population was doubtless there, the primitive
parecia was there.

The subsequent addition of the agnomen Gifford evidently comes
from that family, of which I will speak under the Manorial history.

The Parishes which surround us have already been mentioned.
The river Avon is our natural, and almost our actual boundary on
the south. There are, however, seventeen Broughton acres the
other side of it. We are in the Hundred of Bradford. There are
five houses at Challymead in the west, and a few more at Norring-
ton in the north, which are not connected with the other habita-
tions, but which cannot properly be called hamlets or distinct
sub-divisions of the Parish. Except where the tithing of Holt
makes an inroad on the south-western corner, the land is a tole-
rably symmetrical block, the average length and breadth of which
is 1 mile 6 furlongs. The acreage, according to the Tithe com-
mutation survey of 1841, is 1677a. 2r. 15p., which are thus
distributed in 1856.

A. in, Bo
Arable - - - - 254 0 30

Pasture - - - . 1207 0 17}
Houses and Gardens - VO OS ET
Commons - - - 390 2 9
Plantation - ihe fais fi aa

Railway - - - 20 2 48
Half river, roads, and waste 838 2 35
Church and yard’ - - 0 1 838
LOT i216

The earliest mention which I have seen of Broughton and of any
proprietor here is contained in the description of the grant of the
“ Vill of Bradeford” by King Ethelred, 1001, to the monastery of

270 Broughion Gifford.

Shaftesbury, in order that the nuns might have a safe retreat
from the ravages of the Danes. In King Ethelred’s charter the
boundaries of his grant are thus laid: ‘Off those boundaries to
the boundaries of the Alderman at Witley [to the north of
Broughton], forth by those boundaries so as to come to Elfwig’s
boundaries at Broctun, to that wood that runs into Broctun, after
at the seven pear trees, forth by Alnoth’s boundaries within the
boundaries of Athelwin at Chaldfelde, off his boundaries within
the boundaries of Alfwin the borderer, forth by his boundaries
within the boundaries of Alphwin at Broctune, after into the pear
trees.”! This is clearly the northern boundary of the Parish; for,
though the pear trees are gone, Whitley and Chalfield remain. It
will be seen, in the account of the Church, that the Abbess of
Shaftesbury obtained a lodgement within the Parish through the
gift, to the monastery, of the Chapel of Broctune with its lands
and tithes, by Gundreda with her kinswoman Albreda de Bosco
Roaldee.
Domespay Notice, AND ANTIQUITIES.

The following are the notices given of this Parish in Domesday
book, that most remarkable cadastre, whether considered in relation
to its date, or the historical, local, and personal information which
it contains.

“ Hunrripus DE Insuta tenet de rege Broctone. Tres taini in
paragio tenuerunt T. R. E. et geldabat pro xii hidis. Terra est
viii carucate. De e& sunt in dominio iii hide et dimidium,
et ibi iii carucate et ii servi, et xvii. villani, et iii bordarii cum
vii carucatis. Ibi ii molini reddunt ix solidos, et xii acre prati
et villi acre pasture. Silva i leucam longa, et ii quarantinas
lata. Valuit xiii libras, modo x libras.”

(Amongst lands held by Royal Thanes under the King). ““Sawarp

1 Dugdale’s Monasticon (Shaftesbury): where, however, the original Anglo-
Saxon form is not given, but a copy by some scribe in the Semi-Saxon period
about the beginning of the 13th century. In Kemble’s Codex there is also a
copy, which I have compared. I cannot but think that ‘‘ pear trees” ought to
be ‘‘ Withy trees.” The Saxon forms of the letters would be’not dissimilar. Of
the latter there are, and always were, plenty: of the former there are few now,
and were fewer still in Ethelred’s time.

a

’

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 271

tenet iii hidas in Broctune. Aluuold tenuit T. R. E. Terra est
ii carucate, que ibi sunt. Valet xl solidos.

“RarnBurGis tenet unum Manerium quod Godric tenuit T. R. E.
et geldabat pro v hidis. Terra est iii carucatee, que ibi sunt, et
v servi, et vi villani, et i bordarius, et iiii acre prati. Pastura
Vv quarentinas longa, et ii quarantinas lata. Valuit iii libras,
modo ¢ solidos.”

“Humphrey de L’Isle holds of the King Broctone. Three thanes
held it as coparceners in the reign of Edward the Confessor. It was
assessed at 12 hides. The arable land is 8 carucates (ploughlands).
Four hides and a half of it are in demesne (in the Lord’s own occu-
pation), where are 3 ploughlands, and 2 serfs, and 17 villains, and 4
bordsmen with 7 ploughlands. There are two mills which pay 9
shillings, and 12 acres of meadow, and 8 acres of pasture. The
wood is one mile and a half long,! and 2 furlongs broad. It was
valued at 13 pounds, now at 10. .

“Saward holds 3 hides in Broctune. Alwold held them in the
reign of Edward the Confessor. The arable land is 2 ploughlands.
It is valued at 40 shillings.

“Rainburgis holds a manor which Godric held in the reign of Ed-
ward the Confessor, and which was assessed at 5 hides. The arable
land is 3 ploughlands, and there are 5 serfs, and 6 villains, and 1
bordsman, and 4 acres of meadow. The pasture is 5 furlongs long,
and 2 broad. It was valued at 4 pounds, now at 100 shillings.”

Let us endeavour to translate the barbarous latinity of the Con-
queror’s commissioners, not only into English words, but into some
such intelligible ideas, as the bare facts here before us doubtless
presented to our ancestors.

When we open Domesday book, we have feudalism full in view.
Here are Humphrey de I’Isle holding the manor of Broughton of
the King in chief, Thanes holding certain other lands within the

_ Parish by military service also directly under the King, villains,
bordsmen, serfs. All these belong essentially to feudalism, that

'T make the leuca to be 12 furlongs (quarantine) or 480 perches. It has been
put at 1500 Roman paces, or one and a half Roman mile, equal to 440 perches
(about) or 11 furlongs.

272 Broughton Gifford.

much blamed or much lauded state of society, of which you hear
on the one hand that it has been the detestation and unmitigated
abhorrence of the people in all ages, as being their ruthless op-
pressor and the barrier to their advancement; and on the other,
that, being itself the daughter of barbarism, it was the parent of
order and religion, the hearth of domestic virtues, honor, and de-
votion to engagements, and that from it issued chivalry, the ideal of
elevated, generous, and loyal sentiments. The perfect elementary
feudal society consisted of the lord in his castle, the people on his
domains, and the priest in his church. But things have never
been exactly perfect at Broughton, any more than elsewhere.
Humphrey de I’Isle was an absentee. Though Broughton stands
first on the list of his twenty-seven Wiltshire manors, and though
he had 44 hides of land, or about 540 acres, in his own occupation
here, yet he had no castle or residence. Probably at that time the
barony had no head, for the Castle at Combe was not then built.
When it is said that Humphrey was one of the Norman followers
of the Conqueror, that he is probably the same person as Lisle
mentioned in the Battle Abbey Roll,! and that he had a daughter
and heir Adeliza (Alicia), I have given all that is, or probably will
ever be known about him. His name sounds to us aristocratic
enough. To his own generation he was a mere adventurer of no
distinguished birth. The roll of the Norman Conquerors contains
“names singularly low. Men were knights and gentlemen in
England, who in Normandy were cattlemen or like cattle, carters,
tailors, drummers, and farriers. Thus we find Mil de beuf,
Front de beuf, Guillaume le charretier, Hugh le tailleur, Guil-
laume le tambour, and Henry de ferrariis. Others were designated
simply by the places from which they came, St. Quentin, St. Maur,
&e. So our Humphrey from some island on the Norman Coast.
As to Saward and Rainburgis, the names look Saxon rather
than Norman. Nor is this improbable. William at first affected

1 There are different lists of the Norman Conquerors. In the Battle Abbey
Charter there is De Liele, Lisley or Liele. In Brompton’s chronicle there is Yle,
which may be our Humphrey, In one of the two lists published by Leland
De V’Isle occurs,

Broughton Gritord.

Fidw. Kite, del. etanastat. _
ARMS OF THE SUCCESSIVE LORDS OF THE MANOR.

Roberés. LTobhouwse.

Monkton -

Lterrepotnt, Shering.

dw. Kite delet anastat

ARMS OF THE SUCCESSIVE LORDS OF THE MANOR,

ny

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 273

to rule his new subjects with moderation, large properties and
offices of trust were left in the hands of Englishmen; and, though
after a period of twenty years (the interval between the battle of
Hastings and Domesday), he had been induced, by the risings of
the English, to increase the weight of his yoke and the amount of
his territorial spoliations, yet he frequently contented himself with
putting his own men into the best things and the most influential
position (as here Humphrey de Il’Isle), while he continued the
smaller fiefs and manors to the original Saxon proprietors (as here
to Saward and Rainburgis). They all held of the King directly,
and not any of them through a mesne lord, but Humphrey had
said to the three nameless thanes: ‘“‘ Hwe mea sunt; veteres migrate
coloni,”’ whereas Saward and Rainburgis were themselves these
ceteres colon. And yet these last did not occupy their precise
former position under the Saxon rule. I am not going to enter
into the vexed question of feudal tenures before the conquest. The
name probably did not then exist, though to a certain less metho-
dised and less oppressive degree the thing did. There were not
(under Edward the Confessor) the forms of feudalism, the peculiar
ceremonies and incidents of a regular fief, such as homage and oath
of fealty; but there were that dependance of one class on another,
and that territorial jurisdiction,! which may be held to constitute
the essential character of the feudal relation. William extended
and enlarged the rights of a suzerain over his vassals, he did not
invent them. He moulded Saxon institutions into a Norman
shape. The most notable instance of usurpation was his assuming
to himself the direct ownership of all the lands in the country: on
his acquisition of the crown, he made himself the one proprietor,
as well as the one King. He was actually for a certain time, and
not by any fiction as in succeeding ages, the fountain of all pro-
perty. Allodial lands, or lands held under no superior, ceased with
Harold; these were converted into feudal tenures, involving many
and oppressive burdens, such as personal service, relief or fine
(which a new heir paid on entering into possession) ; premier seisin

‘This is implied in what I take to be the true derivation (it is Lord Coke’s) of
the word manor, namely from mesner to manage.

274 Broughton Gifford.

(first fruits, a year’s or half a year’s rent); fines for license to
alienate the property; aids, to ransom the King when a prisoner,
to furnish a marriage portion for his eldest daughter, or to make
his eldest son a knight. Of these conditions under which he was to
hold his property Humphrey had no shadow of right to complain;
but such holders as Saward and Rainburgis naturally felt them-
selves much aggrieved, for they were in a worse position than
before. Under the Saxon Kings they were allodial proprietors,
proud of their independence, and of patrimonial rights in their
lands, which contrasted favourably with the temporary grants of
the crown. But under the Normans independence was isolation,
and isolation was perilous. The conquering strangers insulted and
injured, knowing that the King was with them, and that the law
was powerless. The only hope of security for the ancient free-
holder was to make a compromise with oppression. He must
himself enter the feudal military system, and sacrifice his indepen-
dence to his safety. If he did service to a lord, he could in return
claim that lord’s protection. However disposed he might be to
acquiesce in the revolution, he was compelled to change his allodial
into a feudal tenure, his paternal acres for a royal grant. Still,
Saward and Rainburgis were the King’s thanes, (a continuation
of their Saxon title), they acknowledged no superior but the King,
they held their lands by the honourable tenure of military
service, their lives were valued, in the money compensation for
their murder (the standard measure of rank in those days), at just
double what the lesser thanes (those holding under a mesne lord)
were worth.

There are other classes of men here mentioned, villains, bords-
men, and serfs. I am not going to puzzle the reader with any
fruitless endeavours accurately to determine the gradations of
society given in Domesday. After the lapse of so many cen-
turies, after changes of social condition so obliterating, and
with such confusion of nomenclature in the original record, any
attempt of the kind must be vain. Still, it is safe to say that there
was then a grand distinction between freemen and non-freemen (I
will not call them slaves), and to the latter class villains, bordsmen,

.
:
;
:
‘

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 275

and serfs belonged. Nor are we likely to fall into any grievous error
by entertaining such general notions, as the etymology of these
several names may give us; for though etymology (as Mr. Hallam!
says) is an uncertain guide in almost all investigations, yet this
warning applies to a word which has been long in use, and has
passed through many secondary significations, rather than to the
immediate source from which the sign has passed into the speech .
of the people, and its primary application in their language. For
instance. The word villain now denotes one destitute of every
moral and religious principle, a thorough unmitigated rascal.
From its derivation it would appear to mean nothing worse than a
harmless cottager, one attached to the vil/a or farm, which he could
not leave, and on which he was bound to perform a certain amount
of work. He had not, and he was not ambitious of having politi-
cal power: indeed, according to the legal language of the time he
could be bought and sold. And yet, though such expressions seem
to exclude all notion of personal liberty, he was no slave. The
sale was of the land to which he was appurtenant: its disposition
whether by gift, bequest, or sale, was the disposition of the villain
and his agricultural services. This transaction, however open to
abuse, widely differs from the transfer of a slave, whose body is
the subject of purchase and who may be taken anywhere. He
might be a territorial, but not a personal bondsman. He could
not indeed leave the lord’s land, but neither could the land leave
him, he must be maintained. If he was obliged to do a certain
quantity of work, it was as rent, payment for the few roods of land
which he occupied for his own benefit. He had a certain tenant
right, a certain qualified interest in the soil, which he gradually
improved till he came to be called a customary tenant and defied
ejection. He was taxable at the will of the lord (though it is not
easy to see what beyond his services could be got out of him), nei-
ther could he marry his daughter or put his son into Holy Orders,
without the express leave and license of the lord.

I take the bordarii to be also cottage tenants, deriving their name
either from bord (the Anglo-Saxon word for a cottage), or (which

' Burope during the Middle Ages. "Chap. viii. p. i,

276 Broughton Gifford.

is less probable) from the tenure under which they held their land,
viz. on condition of supplying the board or table of the lord with
meat, corn, fowls, fish, and whatever might be required, and they
were able to procure. The distinction which one would like on
etymological reasons to make between the villani and the bordarii
would be, that the former were so attached to the vil/a or farm as
to lodge and board with the farmer, according to a practise com-
mon with unmarried men till a recent period in England and now
existing in Cumberland, while the latter had a bord or cottage of
their own, where they and their families resided. Domesday book
says nothing of houses, and therefore does not prove or disprove
this conjecture. I should offer it with the more confidence, if land
were generally restricted to the bordarii (as in the account of this
Parish), because the occupation of land seems to imply a dwelling;
but there are many instances of villani holding land.

I venture to give to both these classes the name of cottyer, a
word similarly derived, and whose condition is in Ireland, in some
of the more happy incidents, not unlike.

The lot of the servi was more hard, yet neither must they be
confounded with personal bondsmen or slaves in our sense of the
word. They could not be removed from the soil; but probably
they could from their small tenements, in respect of which and of
labour, they might have been at the arbitrary disposal of the lord,
who had also over them in some manors a power of life and death,
which he did not possess over the villains and bordsmen. They
were as the native Russian serfs, and not as the African slaves of
the American continent. Their case may seem to us lamentable,
but happiness is so much a relative term, that the poet might sing

of them, as of our independent ploughmen,
‘‘ Jocund they drove the team afield.”

Indeed some good natured lords are recorded as providing not only
food, but even music to solace the toils of their labourers.1 Of

1 Blackstone, B. 2. Chap. 6., says the usage is the same in the Highlands
of Scotland. The new Statistical account of Scotland, 1835, vol. xix. p.
384, shows that the practise is recent, and that the motive may have been to
rouse emulation as well as give pleasure. ‘‘A family on the Cupar Grange
estate, which has been there more than a century, used to keep a piper, to play

EE ee se eS

ee = eee

By the Rev. J. Wiikinson. bk -

these non-free classes some (as the serfs) had been so under the
Saxons, and they were doubtless the native British: but of the vil-
lains and bordsmen many were Saxons. Their condition was
considerably improved by the Normans, who introduced no new
forms of slavery, and who mitigated the old. Indeed they were
gradually admitted within the pale of the feudal system, which,
while it involved the vassal in services and taxation, yet entitled
him to protection from the lord and relieved him from personal
degradation. The rigour of the Anglo-Saxon tenures was miti-
gated, servitude was commuted for fixed labour or money fines,
and the hereditary descent of holdings was more allowed.!

Here then we have in Broughton at the time of Domesday,
Humfridus the Norman lord, Saward and Rainburgis Royal thanes
and Saxons, twenty-three villains, five bordsmen, and seven serfs, of
whom some were Saxons and some Britons. How many of these
were heads of families, it is impossible to say, and therefore any
computation of the population must be fallacious. What did the
community do? When not occupied in their military duties, Sa-
ward and Rainburgis probably spent their time in hunting, the
only occupation fit for gentlemen and knights, a state of physical,
and I will add mental activity, for which they lived, the best nurse
of arms, most able to call forth powers of observation and en-
durance. They could at least plead the example of William, who
loved the “great game,” the Saxon chronicle tells us, as if he had
been their father,? and the then wood of Broughton afforded them
an excellent locality. The employment of the rest was purely
agricultural: they cultivated their own lands and their lord’s.

to the shearers all the time of harvest. The slowest shearer always had the
drone behind him.’ And in the Kingdom of Whidah, on the African Slave
Coast, the people are bound to cut and carry the King’s corn, but are attended
by music during all the time of their labour.

* Acts of enfranchisement of the 14th century have this preamble. ‘‘As God
in the beginning made all men free by nature, and afterwards human laws
placed certain men under the yoke of servitude, we hold it to be a pious and
meritorious thing in the eyes of God to deliver such persons as are subject to us
in villenage, and to enfranchise them entirely from such services. Know there-
fore that we have emancipated so and so our natives of such a manor, themselves,
their children, born or to be born.”

2 So also Matthew Paris, ‘‘ erus feras amabat, quasi Pater ferarum.”

278 Broughton Gifford.

I cannot pretend to reconcile the figures in Domesday with
the actual acreage of the parish. A few points are, however,
pretty clear. Humphrey’s manor or, as we should say, pa-
rish, using an ecclesiastical division in a civil sense, was Brough-
ton: Rainburgis’ manor was what is now called Monkton.
Where Saward’s land was situate is uncertain. Humphrey’s
measured 12 hides, Saward’s 3, and Rainburgis’ 5. But a hide
has been held to be any number of acres between 120 and 60: in
fact it can have been an indication of space only in connection with
value. For instance, Rainburgis’ manor here is to the rest of the
Parish as one to three, whereas Monkton in measurement is not
one to seven: but then the Monkton land is the more valuable by
far. Again, there was a considerable quantity of arable,! far more
than now; and to this fact the present appearance of many fields
bears witness, being ridged up high, though now in grass. Of this
arable, a good deal was in the hands of non-freemen. There was
a large amount of pasture (chiefly as now at Monkton), by which
I understand grazing ground, for which the Parish is now famous.
There are only 16 acres of meadow (pasture) which may have been
reserved for the oxen employed on the arable. There was an ex-
tensive wood, 1} miles long, and 2 furlongs broad. There is now
none whatever: but there are abundant proofs of its former locality
in open fields, called to this day, Broughton Wood, Wood lagger
(Jeng, Anglo-Saxon, long piece, very descriptive here), 14 acre
wood, 10 acre wood, 8 acre wood, middle 12 acre wood, 12 acre
wood, Green light woods, first and second light woods, and 2 Bow
or bough woods. They number about 127 acres, and are the
western portion of the Parish. Here the swine fattened on Oak
mast (there is and probably never was any Beech), which was
of as much worth then as the timber. It will be remarked
that there was no wood at Rainburgis’ farm. The land there
was too good, to remain long uncleared. There were two mills.

1How much I cannot say; for a Carucate, or ploughland, has been esti-
mated at any number of acres from 60 to 180, In fact it must have been an ad
valorem estimate. The land here being good, the former figure would be nearer
the mark; and this is actually the extent of a carucate here, according to an
inquisition in 1849, quoted further on.

—

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 279

So there are now to the east and west, though one is no longer
at work. But Mill Farm sufficiently indicates its position on the
brook. They were the lord’s mills, and he did not allow his
tenants to take their corn elsewhere. This protectionist policy
will partly account for the multiplication of mills (apparently
beyond the wants of the community), and their value; though it
will hardly explain the curious fact that there are enumerated in
the Domesday survey of Wilts (not a superabundantly watered
county) 404 mills, a number greater than in any other English
county except Lincolnshire. Some must from their situation have
been driven by the wind. Here these two mills for a few people
were assessed at nine shillings, while five hides of the best land in
the Parish only paid one hundred.

Spiritual government our Parish had none. Submission to
‘spiritual pastors and masters’ was not taught to the little Brotonians
of the 11th century. Nothing is said of a church or of a priest
here. Indeed out of 324 parishes in Wilts, only 29 with churches
are enumerated, and of these two were in ruins. For spiritual
ministrations our people were dependent on any itinerant priest,
who might gather some listeners together round the village cross,
of which the name still marks the position. Justice has hardly
been done the Normans in the matter of providing the means of
grace throughout their properties. The invasion had a religious
aspect; the Pope blessed it and gave a Bull; the Pope’s banner was
at the mast head of William’s ship, and a cross on his flag; there
were the appeal to Harold’s oath, and the devotional practise of the
night before the battle; the Bishop of Bayeux (William’s brother)
celebrated mass, and blessed the troops early, wearing his episcopal
robes over his armour; William himself wore suspended round his
neck the relics on which Harold had sworn; the standard blessed
by the Pope was carried before him; the Normans attacked amidst
cries of Notre Dame, Dieu aide; Battle Abbey, vowed during the
fight, was built on the very ground, the high altar raised on the

‘The probability is that these were the only churches with glebe attached.
The assessors, having taxation in view, would not make returns of churches
which had no fixed sources of income.

280 Broughton Gifford.

very spot where the standard of Harold had been planted. Wil-
liam’s vassals followed his example on their several properties all
over the country; so that within a century and a half no population,
however small, was without the consolations of religion and the
ministrations of a resident priest.

These details may be of little interest, but I must say with Thierry,!
they are useful in forming our ideas of the varied scenes of the con-
quest, and invest with their original colours facts of greater import-
ance. The transactions which took place in Broughton were being
repeated at the same time all over England. When elsewhere we
hear of tenants in capite, villains and bordsmen, we may perhaps,
if we think of Humphrey and his people, perceive some reality in
these titles and names, which considered abstractedly have only a
vague and uncertain meaning. Through the distance of ages we
make our way to the then living men; we realize them dwelling and
acting on the land, where not even the dust of their bones is now
to be found. Many merely local facts and names will be introduced
into this memoir; but, if they help to reproduce the various situ-
ations, interests, and habits of men, during the past, they will not
have been mentioned in vain.

Of antiquities we have not much to show. Ina field called Brad-
leys, belonging to Monkton and adjoining the railway, there are,
in a dry season, traces of foundations. Different coins have been
found in working the ground for agricultural purposes. Five
within my time: two of Valentinian Giorta Romanorum, the
Emperor dragging a captive: one of Trajan, Cos. V., in his fifth
consulship: two of Constantine the Great, one, SoLr INvIcTo CoMITI,
the sun standing; another, two legionary soldiers standing with
the Labarum between them, and the inscription GLORIA EXERCITUS.
I believe none of these are very rare.

From the state of the Parish at the Domesday survey, I pass to
the history of the manors of Broughton and Monkton from that
time to the present.

Manoriau History.

First of Broughton and its feudal lords, whom I will divide into

1 Thierry’s Normans, vol. i. p. 237.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 281

those who held of the King in capite and their sub-feudatories, the
vassals and under vassals of the crown.

The practise frequently was, for the tenant in capite to divide his
estate into two parts, one of which he himself occupied and culti-
vated by the services of his villains, or farmed by tenants on other
than military tenure; while another part of his estate he parcelled
into knights’ fees, which he granted to those who in return bound
themselves to serve on horseback the usual time, in other words,
took on themselves the military obligations which their lord owed
to the Crown. The custom of the manor (which may have de-
pended on the quality of the land, and the ancient feoffments under
the King) determined what number of carucates, from five to near
fifty, should go to a knight’s fee, and be considered a sufficient re-
turn for the military services required. But in Broughton it would
appear that this division was not made by the descendants of the
ancient feoffees. They held the estate, till they sold it to the Gif-
fords, entire; and on the sale it went entire, they simply retaining
the rights which belonged to them as lords superior. These rights
became gradually weaker. As the authority of the Crown over
the first tenants decreased, so their authority over their sub-tenants
decreased. The fief was originally granted as a personal beneficium,
but it was very soon (so soon that the first step in the process has
been doubted) improved into, first a hereditary, and then a trans-
ferable, possession. It was originally granted with duties to be
performed, and heavy burdens to be borne. The services were
commuted in Henry II.’s time into escuwage, or a fixed pecuniary
assessment, to be made, according to Magna Charta, in Parliament,
which, however adequate at the time, did not rise with the increase
of the precious metals; whilst all the feudal incidents of aids, re-
liefs, fines on alienation, escheats, wardship, and marriage, after
being continually resisted as unreasonable exactions, whenever a
favourable opportunity occurred, were at last swept away, practi-
HF cally in the Great Rebellion, legally in the 12 of Charles II. Of
_ course, all the improvements which the tenants in capite effected in
_ their condition at the expense of the Crown, were so much gain to
their sub-tenants. The authority of the suzerain was weakened

Uv

282 ; Broughton Gifford.

generally, whether the suzerain were a King or a mesne lord;
which last was a vassal to the Crown, but a lord to vassals of his own.

Several early documents! show that a certain Adeliza de Insula,
daughter and heir of Hunfridus, conveyed the string of manors,
belonging to the barony of Castle Combe, by marriage, to her hus-
band, Reginald de Dunstanville, in the reign of Henry I. He, or
one of his immediate successors, built a castle at Combe, which
henceforth became Caput honoris sive baronic, the head seat of
the barony.? Two knights’ fees were the Broughton allotment.
In 1201 Broctone is taxed as late the land of Walter de Dun-
stanville.? This Walter died 1240, and must have been the third
in descent* from Adeliza. He attended King John in his inglorious
campaign in Poitou; but returning he joined the Barons’ confe-
deracy against the King, and terminated this glorious campaign in
England at Runnymede. Another Walter de Dunstanville, his
son, held in “ Brokton” two knights’ fees and two hides of the
King in chief.° He joined the popular party under Leicester
against Henry III., reduced that good man and bad King to in-
significance by the “mise of Lewes,” and was rewarded by the
governorship of Sarum castle. He died 1269.

Castle Combe barony was sold, 1309, to Bartholomew Lord
Badlesmere, and we find Broughton among the fees of his son
Giles in Wilts;° and this, notwithstanding the richly deserved at-
tainder of the father. Bartholomew Badlesmere had been the
servant of the Crown, whose secrets he had betrayed to Thomas
Earl of Lancaster and the confederate barons. That party had
procured him the King’s pardon for his offences, and the custody
of the royal castle of Ledes in Kent. His want of loyalty in that

1 These belong rather to the History of Castle Combe by Mr. Poulett Scrope,
where they may be seen.

2 History of Wilts Manors subordinate to Castle Combe, by Mr, Poulett
Scrope. Wilts Arch. Mag. ii, 263. See also Madox on tenures in capite.

5 Rot. Cart. 3 John, quoted in History of Wilts Manors.

4 J say the third on the authority of Courthope’s edition of Sir Harris Nicolas’
‘Historic Peerage.’ Dugdale makes the son of Adeliza to be Robert, and her
grandson to be Reginald. Harris Nicolas omits Robert.

5 Testa de Nevill, p. 137.
6 Inguisitiones post mortem.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 283

trust proved his own ruin and Lancaster’s. The Queen Isabella,
purposing to lodge at Ledes on her way to Canterbury, was refused
admittance by Lady Badlesmere in the absence of her husband.
In the altercation which followed, some of the royal attendants
were killed. Badlesmere approved of his wife’s act. But the
chivalrous feelings of the nation were roused at this insult to the
Queen, and Edward soon found himself in a condition not only
to take Ledes castle, but, also from the evidences which were
found there of Lancaster’s traitorous dealings with the Scots, to
collect such forces as enabled him ultimately to crush Lancaster
and his party at Boroughbridge. Giles Lord Badlesmere died,
1338, without issue, and there was a partition of his estates
among his four sisters 1340. The knights’ fees here fell to the
share of Maud, wife of John de Vere Earl of Oxford, and
are valued in the partition roll of the Badlesmere property at
£13 6s. 8d. yearly.’ There were only two of greater value in
the whole barony. The several fragments of the barony seem,
however, to have held together so far as this, that the tenants
of the different fiefs were summoned to Castle Combe court, and
rendered there homage and service, either actually or by pecuniary
composition.

Mr. Poulett Scrope gives, from the rolls of the Knights’ Court
at Castle Combe, various instances of suit and service rendered
there to the lords superior by their sub-feudatories, down to the
middle of the 16th century. But those rolls do not show a dis-
tinction, which, as appears from an investigation of the inquisitions
held on these sub-feudatories, soon obtained between the two moie-
ties into which the fief was divided. As we shall see by and by, the
manor about 1300 came into the families of Audley and le Strange.
_ The Audley share is in the inquisitions, continuously up to the 16th
. century, represented, under one form of expression or another, as
appertaining to Castle Combe. In 1342 Eleanor de Columbariis
} is said to hold of James de Audeleigh, 1421 Thomas Hulse holds
of Sir John Fastolf as of his manor of Castle Combe, 1459 Wil-

uv 2

oan

284 Broughton Gifford.

liam Troutbeck holds of Castle Combe.! But when we come to the
le Strange moiety, we find it once only represented as belonging
to Castle Combe.? In 1349 John le Strange held “} Broughton
manor of the heirs of Walter Dunstanville of Castle Combe by
military service of 3 bowmen for all services.” But in 1418 An-
caret Talbot held of John Arundel Lord Maltravers; in 1421
another Ancaret Talbot held of “Humphrey Duke of Gloucester as
of his castle of Vyse;” in 1473 John Earl of Shrewsbury held of
the King; in 1516 Guido Palmes held “of the King as of his castle
of Devizes by the } part of a knight’s fee.” These two last were
not minors.

The inquisitions are unexceptionable evidence. They were taken
on the oaths of twelve Jurymen of the neighbourhood, who were
assisted in their inquiry by the experience and professional know-
ledge of the King’s escheator. And from these it would appear,
that the le Strange moiety was, soon after the division, alienated

* William Troutbeck is said in 1510 to hold under the Bishop of Sarum.
But this must be a mistake of the Jurors, who confess that they were in some
respects imperfectly informed. The words of the inquisition, are, ‘‘the Jurors
say that Sir Wm. Troutbeck, Kt., was siezed of } part of the manors of Ashton
Giff! and Broughton Gifford on the day of his d‘*, and the s* } part of s4 manors
is held of y* Bp. of Sarum, but by what services they know not.”

* If this moiety, which was the Talbots’, had continued subject to Castle Combe,
we should have had the anomaly of such an improper speech as this, from the
sub-vassal (Sir John Talbot) to his liege lord (Sir John Fastolfe):

Tatzot, ‘‘Shame to thee.
I vowed, base knight, when I did meet thee next,
To tear the garter from thy craven leg.
Which I have done, because unworthily
Thou wast installed in that high degree.
Pardon me, Prince Henry and the rest,
This dastard, at the battle of Pataie,
When but in all I was six thousand strong,
And that the French were almost ten to one,.
Before we met, or that a stroke was given,
Like to a trusty squire, did run away :
In which assault we lost twelve hundred men;
Myself, and divers gentlemen besides,
Were there surprised and taken prisoners.
Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss,
Or whether that such cowards ought to wear
This ornament of knighthood, yea or no.”

aie

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 285

from Castle Combe. As to how this came about there is no certain
information. I will, however, hazard a presumed explanation.

Of all the adherents of Thomas Ear] of Lancaster, in his armed
assertion of the rights of the English nobility against foreigners
in the time of Edward II., there was no one who suffered more
(short of the extreme penalties), on Lancaster’s reverse of fortune,
than Sir John de Maltravers. To him therefore, as to a partisan
tried in the fire, much favour was shown, when’ another turn of
the wheel brought his party again into power. The custody of
the unhappy monarch was committed to him, and the manner in
which he fulfilled that trust is too notorious.! He had large grants
from Isabella and Mortimer; and his son John Maltravers, jun.,
was in 1329 rewarded, amongst the other Gifford estates, with the
reversion of the manor of Broughton which the widowed Margaret
Neville then had in dower. He afterwards for some, I know not
what, offence incurred the King’s displeasure. Possibly he was
implicated, or suspected of being implicated, in his father’s murder
of the Earl of Kent, the King’s uncle. However this may be, he
appears to have fallen with Mortimer’s party, as one of them, in
1230. There exists a grant? 19 Oct., 1337, to John de Wylyngton,
Ralph his brother, and Alianora, Ralph’s wife, of the reversion of
the manor of Broughton, after Margaret’s death. This grant
never took effect. Before the Lady’s decease, the Johns Maltravers,
senior and junior, had both recovered the royal favour. The father
and son had been hiding on the continent. The latter, as the less
flagrant offender, made his peace in 1342, served in the French wars,
obtained good employments, and died before his father, 13th Oct.,
1360. The former threw himself at Edward’s feet on his landing
at Sluys in Flanders, and was restored by Parliament 1351. He
died 16th Feb. 1364, and was succeeded in his rights by his grand-
daughter, Eleanor, who had married first Sir John Fitz-alan, and
secondly Reginald Lord Cobham. She died 1405. Sir John Fitz-

alan is styled Baron Maltravers jure uxoris, but was not so sum-

1 The corpse of the King was privately interred in that Abbey Church of
Gloucester, which the Giffords had endowed.
* Sloane MSS. quoted by Hoare. ‘Modern Wilts,’ Heyts. p. 180.

286 Broughton Gifford.

moned to Parliament, where his title is “John de Arundel.”
He and his son John must not, however, be confounded with
the Earls of Arundel,! who took so leading a part against
Richard II. and in the establishing Henry IV. on the throne. °
The husband of Eleanor Maltravers, being sent in aid of the
Duke of Brittany, perished at sea when returning home 6th Dec.,
1379. His son is the John Arundel Lord Maltravers mentioned
as superior here 1413. He died 29th April, 1421, and then we
find the fee in the hands of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester. I am
not aware of Lord Maltravers having ever been declared a traitor:
but the fee would seem by some means to have been placed at the
King’s disposal, and to have been granted by him to his brother,
the Duke, whom he had also named Protector of England. From
his castle of Devizes (mentioned in the inquisition) the Duke went
to attend that Parliament, in which his ruin had been pre-deter-
mined, and which, in order to effect this purpose the better, was
summoned to meet, not at Westminster where the accused was
popular, but at Bury St. Edmunds where he was at the mercy of
the Court. Arrested on a charge of high treason and committed
to close custody, he was, seventeen days afterwards, found dead in
his bed, without external marks, but not without most reasonable
suspicions, of violence. Thus perished the good Duke of Gloucester,
son, brother, and uncle to Kings, and the actual ruler of the realm
for 25 years, “not only noble and valiant in all his doings, but
sage, politique, and notably well skilled in the civil lawe.”? He
was followed to the grave, within six weeks, by his rival and uncle
the Cardinal Beaufort ; and thus the two main props of the house
of Lancaster were removed, and an opening made for the ambition
of York. Gloucester was declared a traitor, and, though his
friends laboured to clear his memory by introducing a bill decla-

1 This confusion is caused by the circumstances, first, that Sir John and his
son were both styled ‘‘of Arundel;” and secondly, that the grandson (the third
Sir John) really was Earl of Arundel, the eleventh Earl, on failure of male issue
in the elder branch,

2 This is Sir Thomas More’s praise of him in the Dialogue concerning religion,
where is also told the story of the Duke’s detection, of a pretended blind man as
an impostor, by his knowledge of colours.

ELLA ALE AA

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 287

ratory of his loyalty in each Parliament, yet it was always defeated
by the Queen’s influence. Gloucester’s attainder was at last re-
versed by the Duke of York, when he had forcibly invested himself
with the forms of Government as Regent of the Kingdom. Glou-
cester left no issue, and this may account for the superiority of the ©
fee remaining, as the inquisitions show, in the King.

Next of the sub-feudatories, the actual holders of the land, which
became more and more valuable, as the incidents of feudal tenure
became less and less burdensome.

How Broughton came into the family of Gifford has not been
ascertained. Mr. Poulett Scrope supposes that it was enfeoffed to
John Gifford or his father Elias by one of the Walters de Dun-
stanville in the first half of the 13th century. Elias Gifford cer-
tainly so held Ashton Gifford, and the two manors continued to
have, from time to time, the same owners down to the middle of the
16th century, when one moiety of Ashton was sold (1533) by the
then Lord Audley to Sir John Brydges of the Chandos family
(who bought also Brimsfield, the caput baroniw), and the other
moiety settled by George Earl of Shrewsbury, almost at the same
time, on the marriage of his daughter Mary with Sir George
Saville, which family after a time had the whole of Ashton manor.
Broughton, as we shall see, changed hands about the same date,
and the Brydges family were here also the purchasers. It may be
that as the two manors went together, so they came together. But
this does not follow; and inasmuch as his inquisition shows that
John Gifford certainly died seized of our manor, whereas no men-
tion is made of it in the inquisition held on Elias, I am inclined to
fix on John as the first Gifford of Broughton. There is this further
evidence in John’s favour. One Sir Henry Percy (son of Sir Wil-
liam, who owned the adjoining manor of Great Chalfield, temp.
Richard I.) is said to have married ‘Eve daughter of John Gifford,
Lord of Broughton Gifford in Wiltshire.”! The date of this mar-

riage would correspond with the time when Mr. Poulett Scrope
—_——-. —_-—. —— — _ ——4+-- ———_- —_.-—__
‘MS. said to be in the possession of Mr. Wm. Waldron, containing extracts
from the Vellum book, quoted in Mr, Walker’s historical account of Great
Chalfield. Vain attempts have been made to trace the book.

288 Broughton Gifford.

supposes the manor of Broughton to have been enfeoffed to the
Giffords; and, though the pedigrees do not show that John Gifford
had a daughter Eve at that time, yet the authority from the mar-
riage is not despicable; nor, supposing the bridegroom elderly and
- the bride in her teens, are the dates irreconcileable.

Three Giffords are named in Domesday, and all connected with
Wilts.

1. Walter, a great man and a favourite with William the Con-
queror, his cousin in the 3rd degree, who acknowledged his great
services by the Earldom of Longueville in Normandy, that of
Buckingham in England, and large grants in ten! counties (Maiden
Bradley, &c., in Wilts) to support these dignities. He is repeat-
edly mentioned by Robert Wace (Roman de Rou et des ducs de
Normandie) in his poetical narrative of the Battle of Hastings.
He was one of the Conqueror’s commissioners for the compilation
of Domesday book, and also one of the witnesses to Henry I.’s
confirmation of the laws and customs of England, 1101; which
charter, after lying long dormant, Stephen Langton, 1218, pro-
duced to the nobles who confederated with him to maintain its
several articles against King John.?

2. Berenger Gifford, who obtained the grant of Fonthill, and
gave his name to it.

8. Osbern Gifford, who was the chief Wilts proprietor of the
name, having twelve manors there, and from whom are descended
the Barons Gifford of Brimsfield,? in the county of Gloucester,

1This is an instance of William’s policy. He rewarded his followers with
large territorial grants, but the lands did not lie together; a manor here and a
manor there, no two adjacent manors. He thus guarded against the formation
of compact principalities independent of the Crown, as in France.

2 There was, however, this difference, arising from the circumstances of the
time, between Henry’s charter and John’s. Henry promised to give Saxon laws
to Saxons, whose aid he wanted, leaving Normans as before. John undertook
to give equal justice and protection to all. The two races were distinct in
Henry’s time, and his charter kept up the distinction. The lapse of a century
had brought them together, and Magna Charta tended to make them one.

37 have made a pilgrimage to Brimsfield (bryme famous, field open spot).
It is situated seven and a half miles S. of Cheltenham, on the Cotswolds, very
high in itself, but not so high as the neighbouring hills (Smith’s Cross to the
§,E, is said to be the highest in Gloucestershire), which confine the view within

eT ae

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 289

where they had a large and well fortified castle. Sherrington was
their chief seat in Wilts.

These are the elder branch of the family, and our Giffords.
The immediate successor of Osbern was Elias, who, 1086 and
1121, gave, jointly with Ala his wife, certain woods and lands
to the Abbey of St. Peter in Gloucester. To him succeeded
another Elias, who granted to the monks of Gloucester, for the
good of his own soul and of that of Berta his wife, the lordship
of Cronham, the churches of Boyton and Orcheston St. George,
and the chapel of St. Andrew Winterborne. He himself became a
monk in the Abbey, and died before 1167. His eldest son Walter
confirmed the grant; but, did not succeed his father. Another
Elias (the third of the name and a younger brother of Walter)
succeeded; and be, being not well disposed to the monks, and no
party to the grants, reclaimed them. He exchanged certain lands
in Willingwike for Cronham. The Abbot (Thomas Carbonel) gave
up Orcheston and Winterbourne, but struggled hard to retain
Boyton (the best endowed). Elias, however, was too strong for the
Abbot, and compelled him to resign Boyton also, on a pension of

a mile or two on every side. The moat very deep (no water here now) encloses
about an acre, ovalin shape. A deep valley bounds it on the east, elsewhere the
ground is on a level with the area of the enclosure, even a trifle higher on the
west, which from its irregular surface has evidently been some time covered
with buildings, possibly outworks. The barbican fronted the 8.W., where you
now enter: the ballium occupied the opposite extremity at the N.E. Judging
by the heaps of now grass-grown ruins, I suppose the wall of the ballium to
have been massive, flanked with four towers, and possibly to have had a mount
within it for the purpose of commanding the ground outside. Altogether a
very sufficiently strong place against the weapons of its time. The entrance to
the ballium, and the circumference of the outer wall, are plain. The surface is
covered with small wall stones. The heaps contain good square larger stones.
The whole place is a village quarry. . Every house near is more or less built
from the ruins, and, I take it, the Church also (which is close by on the north);

_ certainly its chancel, where I measured one fine quoin stone 5 feet by 16 inches.

The Goodrich family are the present possessors of the castle remains, and nine
acres adjoining. ‘There is another moat, enclosing about a quarter of an acre,
distant in the valley a quarter of a mile from the castle to the E.N.E. The
purpose of this I do not quite understand. ‘There is a fine spring of water to the
8.W. of the barbican, which doubtless was tapped by a well inside. I was ac-
companied by Mr. Winning, a resident yeoman, of much kindness and intelli-
gence, whose ancestors migrated from Highworth a century since.

290 Broughton Gifford.

40s. a year being reserved to the monks of Gloucester from it. On
assessing the aid for marrying Maud, Henry II.’s daughter, to the
Duke of Saxony, Elias certified that. he held nine knights’ fees.
He died 1190, leaving a son and heir Thomas under age, who suc-
ceeded, 1194. He paid scutage £9, for the nine fees which his
family held, towards the King’s redemption from captivity. An-
other Elias (the fourth) succeeded. He joined the Barons against
King John, who deprived him of his estates, which were, however,
restored under Henry III. He died 1248, leaving John Gifford
his son and heir 17 years of age.

This John was the first Baron Gifford by writ. His six predeces-
sors were barons by tenure. He was continually summoned to Par-
liament from 24th June, 23 Edward I. (1295) to 10th April 27 Ed-
ward I. (1299),!in which year he died in possession of the manor of
Broughton.? He was an able man and led an active life. He was
frequently employed by Henry III., 1257-62, in the wars against the
Welsh: but, taking part with Leicester and the rebellious barons,
he was one of those excommunicated by the Archbishop of Canter-
bury for their depredations in 1264. In the same year he fought
against the King at the battle of Lewes: but in the following year
obtained the King’s pardon, on account, as the patent expresses it,
of his “good services in the battle of Evesham ;” and in the next
year, as a further mark of royal favour, he had license to hunt in
all the King’s forests this side of Trent. In 1281 he obtained a
charter of free warren for Broughton and his other manors in
Wilts. He, together with Edmund Mortimer, commanded the
English forces which were collected on the left bank of the Wye
in 1282, to chastise the insolence of Llewellyn, who was posted on
the other side at Blnit in Radnorshire, elated at the victory which
the Welsh had obtained over the invaders at the Menai bridge a
few months before. Gifford, observing Llewellyn leave the main
body of his army with a small party, crossed by a ford, and sur-
prised him. The Prince was slain by Sir Adam Frankton, who at
the time was ignorant of the rank of his antagonist. John Gifford
is said to have sent Llewellyn’s head to Edward at Rhuddlan,

'Courthope’s edition of Sir Harris Nicolas’ Historic Peerage. *Ing. p.m. ~

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 291

whence it was forwarded to London, and, crowned with ivy, fixed

onthe Tower. Matilda, John Gifford’s wife, wrote to Archbishop

Peckham, then with the army, begging him to absolve the fallen
enemy, and suffer the body to receive Christian burial. The Arch-
bishop had before visited Llewellyn, and given him good advice,
which, if followed, would have saved him his life and his kingdom.

. Now he was dead, the Archbishop does not seem to have been in-

vine

7

clined to comply with the lady’s request, without the King’s per-
mission. Matilda was after a manner connected with Llewellyn,
who was the son of Griffith an illegitimate son of Llewellyn, who
married Jane natural daughter of King John by Agatha Ferrers.
Matilda’s first husband was the great nephew of John. She died
shortly after her intercession in behalf of the Welsh Prince. For
in 1283 we find John Gifford, now a widower, making his peace
with her memory by founding a cell in Oxford (afterwards Glou-
cester Hall) for thirteen monks from the Abbey of Gloucester, who
were to pray for the souls of himself and Matilda his late wife.
Her story, from its connection with the future descent of the manor,
deserves a few more words. The daughter and heir of Walter de
Clifford, she was the great niece of Fair Rosamund Clifford, and

‘married William Longespée the great grandson of Fair Rosamund

by King Henry II. The two cousins were both very young.
Three years afterwards William Longespée met with an untimely
death in consequence of injuries received at a tournament held at
Blyth, 1257, leaving an only daughter Margaret (who will again
come into the narrative) the heir of his great name and vast pos-
sessions. The seal used by Matilda Longespée during her widow-
hood has been engraved in Bowles’ Lacock, Pl. 11. It represents her

_ standing between two shields, the first checky with a bend for

Clifford, the second Longespée. We next hear of her, 1271,’ four-
teen years after her husband’s death, making complaint to the
King that John Lord Gifford had taken her by force from her

- Manor House at Canford in Dorset, carried her to his castle at
i Brimsfield in Gloucester, and there married her against her will.

1 This probably was shortly after her marriage with John Gifford, for in 1292
her eldest child was of age, but not her second.

292 Broughton Gifford.

Being summoned to the King, he denied the charge, alleging that
the lady was a consenting party to the whole affair, but he tendered
to the King a fine of 300 marks for her marriage without the royal
license. This was accepted on the easy condition that the lady
made no further complaint. These proceedings would seem to be
a friendly suit, instituted for the purpose of preventing in a pro-
pitiatory way the penalties incurred by a second marriage without
the King’s permission. Matilda left by her second marriage three
daughters,’ Catherine, Matilda, and Alianora, coheirs, of - their
mother’s immense property, and, as we shall see by and by, of a
portion of their father’s. His legal troubles on account of this
marriage were not yet at an end, for in 1292 he was summoned by
the Clifford family, who contested his claim to some lands in that
barony which he held in right of his deceased wife. He answered
that he could not plead without the children he had by her, and that
two of them, Matilda and Alianora, were under age. The Sheriff
therefore was ordered to produce the bodies of the said Matilda and
Alianora, at Salop, fifteen days after Michaelmas next, that they
might be viewed in Court. Matilda the eldest of the two came,
and being found under age, as alleged, the trial was postponed.
He served again in Wales, and in Guienne, but the last of John
Gifford’s services may be said to be the greatest, both for his own
fame and his country’s good. He was a principal agent in one of
the most important victories ever won in the cause of constitutional
government. Edward I., in the prosecution of his insular and conti-
nental wars, had been guilty of many violations of the Great
Charter. The Baronage of England, headed by Bohun Earl of
Hereford, the Constable, and Bigod Earl of Norfolk, the Marshal
of England, protested in the Exchequer chamber, before the Trea-
surer and Judges, against the King’s extortions, his illegal seizures
of private property, his enormous duties (“‘the evil toll’) on wool,
amounting to one fifth of the whole income of the land, and parti-
cularly against the collection of an eighth, which had been granted
by a portion only of the great council. The King, who was in

1 Sir Harris Nicolas, usually so accurate, makes Margaret Neville the mother
of the three daughters.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. ; 293

Flanders, desired his officers to proceed, disregarding the remon-
stances of the barons. But the irruption of the Scots, after their
Stirling victory, and Edward’s own weakness at Ghent before the
French King, were strong arguments in favour of concession. In
this conjuncture, the lords who were of the council of the young
Prince Regent, and who ruled during the King’s absence, requested
the two Earls, the Archbishop Winchelsea, and others, to deli-
berate with them on the state of the realm. John Gifford was a
member of this council. The two parties, identified in interests
and differing in temporary relations only, soon came to an agree-
ment at the King’s expense. The result of their conferences was
a demand for the confirmation of the Great and Forest Charters,
together with new securities embodied in the celebrated statute “de
tallagio non concedendo,” subscribed first by the Prince Regent,
then by the King in Flanders; and lastly, to guard against a possible
equivocation that concessions made in a foreign kingdom, where he
had no authority, were null and void, every demand was granted
by the King in Parliament. The Earls Constable and Marshal
with their followers did not effect this reform without much per-
sonal danger. The Prince’s council therefore, and John Gifford as

one of the members, engaged on oath to protect the protesting

barons against the consequences of the royal displeasure. John
Gifford ended a life in which he played many and important
parts, 28th May, 1299, at Boyton, and was buried at Malmesbury,
leaving by Margaret Neville, his third wife, to marry whom he had
a dispensation from the Pope, which seems to imply some affinity,
an only son and heir John 13 years of age.

This was John Gifford, /e rych, so called from his great posses-
sions. We find him, 1319, loyally serving in Scotland, but shortly
afterwards he joined the discontented barons, and intrigued with
the King of that country. He seems to have been a very active
member of the confederacy, for he not only in his place in Parlia-
ment assisted in banishing the De Spencers, but plundered the
royal carriages on the King’s marching into Wales. This so in-
censed Edward that he sent some of his troops to demolish Brimsfield
castle. The leader of the rebellious barons was Thomas Earl of

294 Broughton Gifford.

Lancaster, the eldest son of Edmund Crookback (the only brother
of Edward I.), and so the first cousin of Edward II., and the first
subject of the Crown. Whether he ever aspired to be something
more, and to place that Crown on his own head, as Henry IV., the
son of his great niece, actually did, on the ground that Edmund
Crookback was the eldest son of Henry III., is unknown from the
imperfect development of his schemes; but he was at least, from
his power and position, the natural head of the barons, who felt
themselves aggrieved by what they deemed an usurpation, by fo-
reigners, of their proper place as the advisers of the Crown. He at
their head had pursued to the death, with utter disregard for laws
and capitulations, and under circumstances of gross indignity, Piers
de Gaveston. When that favourite minister was replaced by the
two De Spencers, the Earl of Lancaster and his party passed by
violence through Parliament a bill of attainder and perpetual exile
against them; and, resting in security on the royal indemnity for
their illegal measures, departed to their several strongholds. The
King, however, taking advantage of the indignity offered to his
Queen at Ledes castle, recalled the De Spencers, and anticipated
the barons in raising and arming a force, with which he proceeded
to put down his enemies in detail. Among Lancaster’s chief ad-
herents was his kinsman John Gifford. Their connection was on
this wise. Matilda Longespée (first wife of John Gifford, senior)
had by her first husband (William Longespée) an only daughter
Margaret. She married Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who had
by her an only daughter Alice, sole heiress to the estates and titles
of the two great houses of Salisbury and Lincoln. These were
conveyed, by her marriage at 9 years of age, to Thomas, already
Earl of Lancaster, Leicester, and Derby.!. With John Gifford’s
help (especially serviceable in his own neighbourhood) the barons
took Gloucester. They afterwards encountered the King’s forces
at Burton-on-Trent, where they were repulsed; and, while retreat-
ing towards the north, with the view of effecting a junction with
the King of Scotland, who in communication with the traitorous

1 John Gifford was further pledged to this cause by his feudal relation to the
Badlesmereé as Lords of Castle Combe, under whom he held Broughton.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 295

confederates had taken the opportunity, afforded by these intestine
troubles, of invading Northumberland, they were intercepted by
the royal army under Sir Andrew Harclay at Boroughbridge, and
defeated in the attempt to cross the river, 16th March, 1822. Lan-
caster was condemned without trial by his peers, and led to execution
with the same circumstances of indignity as he had inflicted on Gave-
ston. All the bannerets (with Gifford among them), and fourteen of
the knights, did receive a legal trial ; being taken with arms in their
hands, they were condemned as traitors to death, and to the loss
of all their estates. John Gifford himself was beheaded at
Gloucester, 1322, the scene of his family’s power and devotion;
and, there is reason to believe, was buried in the north chapel of
Boyton Church. The Rev. A. Fane, the present proprietor of the
ancient estates of the Giffords in Boyton, thus describes the sup-
posed tomb.! “T scarcely doubt that the last male Gifford was in-
terred im the Church of Boyton, in the North Chapel. A very
large slab of Purbeck marble was placed in the centre of this
Chapel, which was evidently built for mortuary purposes: a very
magnificent brass had once adorned the stone, and described no
doubt who slept below. I had occasion to move this stone from its
being wholly concealed by pews, and also from a sinking of the
floor. Beneath the marble slab wasa stone grave (not a coffin), and
in this lay a skeleton with the skull placed on the left side of the
skeleton, as if on the interment this position had been originally
established. The remains had apparently never been moved. The
skeleton lay in perfect order, except the strange position of the
head. Now, seeing that the widowed Margaret Gifford retained
the Manor and Church of Boyton—that all Gifford’s other estates
were confiscated—seeing that this Chapel was built in the middle
period of decorated architecture—i.e., tempore Edward II.—seeing
the magnificent slab—the signs of a fine brass—and no other
family having been of distinction sufficient to justify such marks
of pre-eminence except the Giffords—can I doubt that the head-
less skeleton was the form of John Gifford le Rych? whose body

had probably been conveyed from Gloucester after execution, and
SE

if

fi

y

' Wilts Arch. Magazine, vol. ii. p. 107.

296 Broughton Gifford.

interred in the church where his gallant ancestor Sir Alexander
already slept, and where his widowed and bereaved mother the
Lady Margaret slept at last.” The only question as to this, is the
doubt, whether the head, if ever cut off, would be with the body,
and whether the body itself would be entire. If John Gifford
suffered the penalties of treason in all their horrid completeness, he
would have been first hanged, but cut down down before death,
then disembowelled, then beheaded, and quartered. His head would
have been exhibited on the Tower or London bridge, the quarters
of the body distributed among the chief localities of the offence.
But the indignities before and after death were frequently remitted,
and the traitor simply beheaded. From the mother’s influence at
Court it is highly probable, that some such favour was shown John
Gifford. Grafton, distinguishing the modes of punishment, which
the various offenders suffered, says of Gifford, that he was “drawn
and headed.”’ Dugdale says he was “drawn and hanged.” He
had married Avelina, daughter of Hugh de Courtenay, but died
without issue, and his widow did not long survive him.

His widowed and childless mother, Margaret Neville, did survive
him, and seems to have met with consideration at the hands of the
Crown, for the manors of Broughton, Elston, Orcheston,! and
Boyton were granted her in dower. The favourite De Spencers
had most of the other Gifford estates.? Their triumph was short;
and, on their summary execution, 1326, all their ill-gotten possessions
were again at the disposal of the Crown, i.e. of Queen Isabella and
Mortimer. Many of the Gifford lands, including the reversion of
those which Margaret Neville had in dower, were granted to Sir
John Maltravers. The alternations of fortune which befell this un-
principled man have already been detailed. He appears to have
kept a firm hold over the chief lordship of half Broughton, and to
have transmitted it to his heirs. But the possession of the fief it-

+ We shall find these three, Broughton, Elston, and Orcheston, all keeping
together, and, though sub-divided, in the hands of the May family in the 17th
century.

* Scrope’s Castle Combe, p. 62. The grant conferring on Hugh le Despencer the
elder, part of the Gifford estates exists. Broughton is not in the list. (Rot. Cart.
15 Edward II.)

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 297

self they never seem to have enjoyed. This, on the widowed Mar-
garet’s death, was divided between James de Audley and John le
Strange. Who were they?

It will be remembered that John Gifford, senior, (the father
of Je rych), had by his first wife (Matilda Longespée) three
daughters, Catherine, Matilda, and Alianora, who married re-
spectively, Nicholas de Audley! of Helegh, County of Stafford,
William Genevill, and Fulco le Strange of Blackmere. Their
father appears to have made some disposition of his property, by
which Broughton, Ashton, the advowson of Codford St. Peter,
and Beggeworth? in Gloucestershire, should pass to them and their
heirs. This may have been the result of his law suit with their
mother’s family, the Cliffords. Matilda Genevill died without
issue, so that the families of Audley and le Strange succeeded.

I. The Avptry moiety. This descended through Nicholas,
8th Lord Audley, to his son James, who has been immortalised
by Froissart for his gallantry at Poictiers. He charged “in
the front of the battle,” by the special permission of the Black
Prince; was severely wounded, and only saved by the attentions of
his four squires, who “brought him out of the field, laid him under
a hedge to refresh him, unarmed him and bound up his wounds.”
Edward inquired for him; said the Prince should go to the knight,
if the knight could not come to the Prince; embraced him on his
appearance in his litter, acknowledged his distinguished bearing
‘in the bloody business of this day, wherefore I retain you for my
knight, with 500 marks of yearly revenue.” This pension Lord
Audley transferred to his faithful squires, saying that they de-
served it as much as himself, and needed it more. The Prince,
determined not to be outdone in generosity, thanked Lord Audley

! This was not the first connection between the families of Gifford and Audley,
_ which were both allied to that of Longespée. James Audley, father of Nicholas,
had married for his second wife Ela, the sister of William Longespée, who was
the first husband of Matilda Clifford, who was the mother, by her second mar-
riage, of Catherine Gifford. Again, Matilda’s only daughter by her first husband
was Margaret Longespée, who married Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, Henry’s
second wife was Joan Martin of the Kemeys family, who on her widowhood
married Nicholas Audley, the son of Nicholas Audley and Catherine Gifford,

* Beggeworth or Badgeworth is about 7 miles N, W, of Elston.

x

298 Broughton Gifford.

for doing what he ought to have himself done to the squires, and
gave another pension of 600 marks to their lord. Lord Audley
was one of those twenty-seven English barons who swore to “the
great peace” of Bretigni. He was afterwards employed in various
important commands by Edward III., was one of the original
knights of the Garter, and died 1886, maximus et clarissimus miles,
et perinde felicissimus: annum tertium et septuagesimum eacessit,
altissima tranquillitate, pari veneratione.

He had leased the half manor for her life to his aunt, his mo-
ther’s sister, Eleanor de Columbers, on payment of the nominal
rent of one rose yearly at the feast of St. John the Baptist, in lieu
of all services.1_ The Audleys were Lancastrians, so that we may
suppose, though it is so stated by the escheator, that the rose was
red. She died Wednesday next before the feast of St. Nicholas,
4th Dec. 1342.2? Nicholas 10th Lord Audley succeeded his father.
He is summoned in the Castle Combe roils as a tenant under the
barony in 1889, his widow (Elizabeth of Beaumoxt of Scotland)
in 1896. He was the last of the name of Audley who -held
Broughton. Having no children, the half manoz was sub-divided
between his two sisters, as his coheirs, Joan aud Margaret Audley.
The elder sister, Joan, married Sir John Tuchsi, of an old Lancas-
trian race,’ and thus conveyed the barony of Audley‘ and one quarter
of our manor into that family.

1 This elegant rent was not unusual in those times. In 34 Henry VI. 1455-6,
John Heryng died, having conveyed his interest in the manor of Draycot to
William Ryngebourne on payment oi a rose on St. John the Baptisi’s day
yearly. OC. E. Long’s descent of manor of Draycot Cerne. Wilis Aven. Mag,
vol, iii.

21 find, by calculation, the feast of St. Nicholes, 6th Dec., fell that year on a
Friday: the Wednesday noxt defore musi therefore bo 4th Dec, I have simi-
larly calculated in other cases the days of the month, where the ing. p. m. have
furnished the data.

3 Sir Roger Tuchet hac suffered with the Earl of Lancaster after Borough-
bridge.

4The manor and the barony (being an ancient barony in fee) were both equally
hereditary. One as well as the other foliowed the law of corporeal heredita-
ments. On feudal principles there was no distinction between daughters, no
eldest daughter and heiress, all coheiresses, share and share alike. There was
no difficulty in applying this system to the land. That was capable of division;
but what was to be done with the barony, which, from its very nature as a

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 299

He also was employed in the French wars, and lost his life, 22nd
June 1370, in the disastrous action in the roads of Rochelle, where
the Earl of Pembroke for two whole days maintained an unequal
contest with the superior number, force, and metal of the Spanish
fleet, the valour of the English but serving to complete their loss.

John, the grandson of John Tuchet and Joan Audley, was em-
ployed in Owen Glendower’s rebellion, holding the castle of Brecon.
He appears to have remained true to the Lancastrian principles of
the family, and to have been on the Royal and winning side in the
hard fought fight at Shrewsbury against the Percies. He also
took part in the Parliamentary proceedings for the settlement of
the Crown. Henry IV. did not, in the earlier part of his reign,
moot this delicate question, but contented himself with receiving
the oaths of the lords for himself and his eldest son, as heir ap-
parent. But, after the Shrewsbury victory, which disclosed the
treachery of some of his ancient friends, he ventured to introduce
into Parliament an Act vesting the succession to the Crown in his
four sons and their heirs, passing over his two daughters, purposely,
in all probability, that he might not seem to countenance the
rightful heir, the Earl of March, who claimed by the female line.
But, by this settlement, the female, as well as male, heirs of his sons
could inherit. To obviate this inconsistency, two years later an-
other Act was passed, limiting the succession to the heirs male of
his sons. Then another question arose. If females could not in-
herit, on what ground did Henry claim the throne of France? His
only right was through a female, Isabella, the wife of his great-

dignity, was indivisible? It was in abeyance; not extinct, not dead, only
dormant, in a state of suspended animation between the sisters and their des-
cendants. But, if all the sisters but one were without issue, or if the descen-
dants of all but one became extinct, and if that one had a son or a male descen-
dant, the suspension terminated, that son or his male descendant was the
resuscitated baron. Thus Margaret Audley died without issue. Her sister
Joan had a son, whose son was the 11th Baron Audley. Thesame thing has
twice happened in this barony, In 1777 George Thicknesse, the son of Eliza~
beth Thicknesse, who was the sister of John Talbot Tuchet, who was Baron
Audley and Earl of Castlehaven, sueceeded to the barony; but not to the
Earldom, the latter not being an ancient dignity in fee, and not capable of
inheritance by the descendants of a female,
x 2

300 Broughton Gifford.

grandfather, Edward II. This objection induced him to revert to
his former settlement in the general issue, whether male or female,
of his sons, still passing over his daughters. Lord Audley is said
to have been one of the advisers of this last change in 1406. He
died three years afterwards.

We next come to James Tuchet, 12th Lord Audley. He saw
much service in the foreign wars of Henry V. and Henry VL., but
was no match in a civil contest for the equal bravery and superior
tactics of Richard Neville Earl of Salisbury, at Bloreheath. As
two, out of the three lords then holding the manor of Broughton,
fell in that engagement, I may perhaps be allowed a few words in
illustration of it.

An appeal to the sword was at that time inevitable. The first
blood had already been shed at St. Albans. The contest had
already begun. Ere its end, 80 years had passed, eight battles
been fought, eighty Princes of the blood slain, every male of two
generations of the houses of Somerset and Warwick fallen in
the field or on the scaffold, the ancient nobility of England well
nigh exterminated! As Kent was the county of the Yorkists, so
Cheshire was the stronghold of the house of Lancaster. Queen
Margaret had been visiting Lord Audley at Heleigh, and was still
in the neighbourhood, animating her followers by distributing
among them the badge of the young Prince, the device of the
white swan,? and inviting them to assemble in arms at Leicester.
Nor were the Yorkists idle. The Duke was on the borders of
Wales, and the Earl of Salisbury, his father-in-law, was mustering
his forces in the North, while his brother-in-law, Warwick, was at
Calais, collecting under his banner the veterans who had served in
Normandy and Guienne. The old Earl of Salisbury was the first

The nobility, not the people. Philip de Comines says of these wars, that in
them ‘‘the English desolated their own country, as cruelly as a former genera-
tion had wasted France.” But he must be considered a better authority for
Continental than English events. The policy of both parties seems to have been to
destroy the leaders, but simply disperse the people. No one carried this policy
against the aristocracy, to a more merciless extent than Edward IV. The lands
were not wasted by either party; not by the victors, because they had them,
not by the conquered, because they hoped to have them.

2 Still the crest of the Audley arms.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 301

to move, with a small but choice body of men, from his castle of
Middleham, to join the Duke at Ludlow. The Queen interposed
Lord Audley with a far larger force, on the Drayton side of the
rivulet (now called Hemp Mill brook) which divides Cheshire from
Staffordshire, on the eve of St. Tecla’s day 1459. Each of the two
generals occupied a strong defensive position. To receive the at-
tack was the true policy of either. The Earl of Salisbury, who
knew his art better than his adversary, determined not to forsake
the vantage ground. He resolved on an operation in war, very
delicate to conduct in the face of an intelligent enemy. During
the night he despatched to his rear, and placed in ambush, some
of his best men. Early on the following morning, St. Tecla’s day,
September 23rd, which that year fell on a Sunday, he sent a flight
of arrows into Audley’s camp, and retreated with his main body,
taking care to be seen. Fugit in salices, et se cupit ante videri. The
bait took with the gallant Royalists. They saw and followed.
Audley rushed headlong into the snare. When he and his men had
forded the brook, struggled up the opposite bank, and breasted the
hill in haste and disorder, Salisbury, who had now got all he
wanted, who had added the advantage of discipline to that of posi-
tion, turned on his foe, sent volley after volley of arrows from his
own compact lines into the confused mass of the Lancastrians, and
obtained with ease a complete victory. Audley fell. The spot,
marked by a stone cross,! is distant (the coincidence is curious)
three miles from Broughton in Staffordshire.

I approach the next Lord Audley with regret. He was a turn-
coat. He forsook the political principles of his family. He forgot
his gallant father’s death and Bloreheath. Among all our lords I
believe him to have been the only apostate from the cause of con-
stitutional liberty through the increase of Parliamentary power,
which cause was then represented by the House of Lancaster. I wish
_ we could disown him. He was a double traitor. As he deserted the

1 The monument consists of a rude stone cross, standing on a pedestal,
seemingly of great age, much battered and injured. It was repaired (as an
inscription states) 1765. It is mentioned as an ancient monument 1686. The
heath is now enclosed.

802 Broughton Gifford.

good King Henry VI. for the Duke of York, so he deserted the
helpless children of Edward IV. for Richard III. I deplore the
success, though it was but for a time, of his faithlessness. Edward
IV. rewarded him with many manors forfeited by his former honest
associates, with a pension of £100 a year, with the stewardship
of all the King’s manors in Dorset, and with the wardenship of
Wardour Castle. Richard III. made him Lord Treasurer of Eng-
land. His due came at last. Raro antecedentem scelestum Deserwit
pede pena claudo. Deprived of his dignities by Henry VII. he
lived the rest of his life in obscurity, and died the Sunday
before Michaelmas, 26th September, 1490. His son, the 14th
Lord Audley, was made a knight of the Bath at the creation
of Edward Prince of Wales in 1475. He was not summoned
to Parliament till 1496, six years after his father’s death, pro-
bably from suspicions entertained against the son from the part
the father had played. Nor were these unreasonable. They
were justified by the event. The Parliament did what was
wanted, voted a grant of two-tenths and two-fifteenths to restrain
the Scots, who, under pretence of supporting Perkin Warbeck and
putting down “that usurper Henry Tydder,” had severely ravaged
the Northern counties. When these taxes were being collected in
the West, the people of Cornwall objected to a contribution for a
purpose, which did not, as they deemed, concern them, and which
had been heretofore attained by the forces of the northern barons,
who held their estates, so one of their leaders, Thomas Flammack,
an attorney, informed them, under an obligation to defend the king-
dom against the Scots. They marched, to the number of 16,000 men,
to present a petition to the King. At Wells they found a leader
in Lord Audley who had property in the neighbourhood. He is re-
presented as a man of popular manners, but vain and restless. The
insurgents, after uselessly attempting to raise the men of Kent,
encamped on Blackheath, where they were entirely defeated on the
22nd June. Henry wisely contented himself with the execution of
their leaders, Audley, Flammock, and Michael Joseph (a farrier).
The misguided multitude were simply dispersed. Lord Audley

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 303

suffered on the 25th of June 1497.1 He was drawn from Newgate
to Tower hill, dressed in his own coat of arms, painted on paper, but
reversed and torn. His widow held the quarter manor till her
death, 36 years afterwards. This long interval she passed in help-
less lunacy. A domestic tragedy is connected with her name.
There exists an inquisition taken at Warminster 17th June 1516,
in which, after reciting that the quarter manors of Broughton and
Ashton were settled on James and Joan Audley, the Jurors say
that “Joan, widow of James Audley, is a lunatic and non compos,
and that she has so been since the 27 June, 1497 (which they also
make the day of her husband’s execution) up to the holding of this
inquisition, and is unable to manage her own affairs, and that the
said manors (quarter of Broughton and quarter of Ashton) are
worth yearly beyond reprises £12 18s. and half a groat, and that
the said Joan has received all the rents and profits for the use of
her family and the maintenance of her boys.” She died 3rd March
1532. Their place knows the Audleys no more. Their estates in
Staffordshire and Wiltshire have ail been a:iensted, and the ore-
sent representative of the family, the 23rd baron, is an exile in
Australia.

A quarter manor still remains to be accounted for: viz., the
second half of the Audley moiety, arising on the failuro of male
issue in Nicholas the 10th Lord.

This second quarter belonged, after the death of the widowed
Lady Audiey (Hlizabeth of Beaumont) to Margaret the younger
sister of Joan Audley. She married Sir Roger Hillary, end solid
her right to the reversion of the quarter manor to Sir Hugh
de Holes or Hulse, 14 Richard iI. (June 1890-1). He, how-
ever, leased the property to her for her life. She died “on the
morrow of the feast of St. George,” April 24,1411. The pur-
chaser was of an old Cheshire family, originally settled at Nor-
bury, and doubtless a good Lancastrian. He himself was of
Raby and a person of distinction; Chief Justice of Chester in
1395, Judge of the King’s Bench 1388. He died “the Wednesday

1 Two inquisitions, one on him, the other on his wife, give different dates, I
have adopted the one on him, as nearer the event.

304 Broughton Gifford.

after the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul,” 3rd July, 1415. He
was succeeded by his son Thomas, who died “the Thursday next
after the feast of St. Edmund the Martyr,” 28 Nov., 1420, leaving
an only daughter, Margery, as his heir. She married Sir John
Troutbeck, and thus brought our quarter manor into that family.

The Troutbecks were also a Cheshire family and connected with
Chester, of which city both John and his father William were
successively Chamberlains. The son and heir of Sir John and
Lady Margaret was William Troutbeck, who fell at Bloreheath,
on the Lancastrian side, being the second out of our then three
lords who so perished in that engagement. His son Sir William
Troutbeck lived to 10th Sept., 1510, and dying without issue, his
niece Margaret Troutbeck, daughter of his brother Adam, was his
heir.

She married Sir John Talbot of Grafton, Co. Worcester, and
thus brought our quarter manor into the Shrewsbury family, within
about three years of the time (as we shall see by and by), that
George 4th Earl of Shrewsbury had sold away from the Talbot
family a moiety of the manor inherited by him. Her husband Sir
John Talbot was the son of the Honourable Gilbert Talbot, second
son of the 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, and (the elder branch of the
family dying out) the great grandfather of the 9th Earl. This is the
same Sir John Talbot whose tomb at Bromsgrove has lately (6 and
7 May) excited so much interest in the “Shrewsbury case” before
the House of Lords.

Sir John is represented in a recumbent position, with his two
wives (Margaret Troutbeck and Elizabeth Wrocheley or Wrot-
tesley), one on each side of him. The monument is now at the
eastern end of the North Aisle, an altar tomb, with the figures and
top slab of alabaster, and having compartments, containing coats of
arms, once blazoned, all round. ‘There are two inscriptions, run-
ning round the top, one above the other, the higher in Latin, the
lower in English, but both in precisely the same character and of
the same date. The Latin is, “Hie jacent corpora Johannis Talbot
militis, et domine Margarete prime uxoris, atque domine Elizabethe
uxoris secunde, filie Waiteri Wrochelei armig. qui quidem Johannes

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 305

obiit decimo die Septembris A.D. 1550, quorum animabus propicietur
Deus. Amen. The English is, “ The Ladye Margaret hys fyrst wyfe
bure to hym tii sonnes and v daughters and Ladye Elsabeth hys secunde
wyfe bare foure sonnes and foure daught—.” The importance of
this English inscription in the late Shrewsbury claim of peerage
cannot be exaggerated. Every thing turns on it. Lady Margaret
was the first wife and had three sons. If any male issue of any
one of those sons be now alive, Henry John Chetwynd, the descen-
dant of Lady Elizabeth the second wife, is not rightly Earl of
Shrewsbury. The late Earls of Shrewsbury were the descendants
of the e/dest son of the Lady Margaret, and it is clear that there is
no existing male issue from this son. Can the same be said in re-
spect of the two other sons of the Lady Margaret ? Did the House
of Lords exhaust this portion of the subject? It is true, that Sir
John of Albrighton and Grafton (the father) mentioned in his will
the eldest son only of the three he had by the Lady Margaret.
But this proves nothing. Sir John does not pretend to mention
all his sons. He names two only out of four by the second mar-
riage. And to the eldest by the first he simply alludes as leaving
him “the Kyne at Brymschaf and two of my marys with theire
fooles that I had of my lorde of Warwyke” (he seems to have been
an adyanced agriculturist and stock breeder). Probably the sons
were already otherwise provided for. The English inscription
has been designedly defaced, rubbed down apparently, and then
painted over with thick coats of paint to imitate alabaster. This
must have been done a hundred years since. The paint was
‘removed by an application of American potash and quick lime.
The relief had been rubbed down almost to the level of the rest
_of the stone, but the inscription on the removal of the paint could
be decyphered, because an engraver, while forming the outline
of his letters, inevitably presses the sharp point of his instrument
below the surface, which he forms by merely scraping away the
intervals. So that, even if the whole of the relief be rubbed down
level with the surface, the thin outline, being below the surface,
will still be visible, especially if a little dirt collect in it.

Sir John Talbot, his son and heir, next held our quarter manor.

Ln

306 Broughton Gifford.

He was succeeded by his eldest son Francis, whom I do not see in
the case presented to the House of Lords, but who was unquestion-
ably the heir of his father, being mentioned in our court rolls, as a
minor holding the quarter manor, 19th March, 1560. He died
sometime before 1570, for then his brother John Talbot, Esq. ap-
pears in the court rolls as one of our lords. This John Talbot and
Catherine his wife, sold the quarter manor on the octave of St.
Martin (Nov. 18th) 1584 to Edward Horton of Westwood, Wilts,
for £1000. The description of the estate is, quarter manor of
Broughton Gifford, 14 messuages, 12 cottages, 30 gardens, 30
orchards, 200 acres of arable, 100 of meadow, 200 of pasture, 12
of wood, 60 furze and heath, and 10s. rents. These rents doubtless
were “rents of assize,” as they are sometimes called, i.e. fixed
money payments by free or socage tenants to the lord. Who the
purchaser was, we shall see by and by.

II. The Le Srrance moiety. This went into the family
of le Strange, in consequence of the marriage of Alianora Gif-
ford with Fulk le Strange. This family is said to have its rise
in Guy, a younger son of the Duke of Brittany, who coming to
this country, in the reign of Henry I., for the purpose of attending
a tournament held at Castle Peverill, eventually settled here. The
stranger found a home. The elder branch is styled of Knockyn;
our lords were of Whitchurch or of Blackmere. Whitchurch (some-
times Blancminster) Co. Salop, was the inheritance of the mother
of Fulk. The manor house there stood near a dark coloured lake:
hence the designation of “Blackmere.” Our Fulk was engaged in
the home and foreign wars of Edward I. Like John Gifford, /e rych,
he was an adherent to the Earl of Lancaster; but, unlike him,
managed to make his peace with the King. He is said to have
given to the Canons of Wombrugge a half yard land and a certain
meadow ground (beyond identification now) in Brocton. He died
1324. His son and successor, John, was present in all the Welsh,
Scotch, and French wars of his time, apparently never absent from
duty “‘on urgent family affairs.” These were not, however, neg-
lected in the short intervals of peace. He madea bon parti for his
son Fulk, engaging that he should marry Elizabeth daughter of

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 307
Ralph Lord Stafford before Whitsuntide 1348, giving to the young

couple, on his part, 200 marks per annum, secured on lands in Salop
and Cheshire, on condition of the lady’s portion amounting to
£1000. The bridegroom and his father! died within a month of
each other in 1349. The wife was a widow within eighteen months.

Soon afterwards the bride of John de Ferrers.? Again a widow.

(

Again the bride of Reginald Lord Cobham. In all her changes of
condition, she held our half manor, and died seized of it 1375. On
her death, without issue by her husband Fulk, the half manor
came to Elizabeth his great niece. This young lady was born on

1The inquisition on this John le Strange was taken at Broughton, before
Jurors, whose names, still existing here, shew that they belonged to the locality.
The description of the property is full, and ought to be altogether honest, for
it was given on oath. The Jurors, however, certainly seem to depreciate the
value as much as possible, and probably also the extent, under the same amiable
partiality for the minor, as Ingulphus ascribes to William the Conqueror’s
commissioners in behalf of his Abbey. ‘‘ Taxatores penes nostrum monasterium
benevoli et amantes non ad verum pretium nec ad verum spatium nostrum
monasterium librabant, misericorditer precaventes in futurum regiis exac-
tionibus, et aliis oneribus piissima nobis benevolentia providentes.”’ However,
the description, the only one taken on the spot, is worth quoting. The Jurors
say ‘‘ there is on the 3 manor 3 one messuage worth nothing beyond reprises,
and 2 carucates of demesne and bondage lands, containing 6 score acres, of
which there can be sown yearly 4 score, and they are worth yearly when sown
20s. and per acre 3d., and 40 acres lying fallow: the pasture, because it is
commonable, and also 8 acres of meadow, which this year are under water (sub-
mers sunt per magnum flumen), and are worth nothing, but when they (8 acres)
are cut and carried well (falcantur et bene levantur), they are worth 16s., per
acre 2s., and there are also 6 acres of pasture which are worth yearly 18d., per
acre 3d., and there are also 18 acres of wood of oaks in which there is no
pasture nor underwood of any value by reason of the multitude of oaks. And
there are rents of Assize issuing out of lands formerly John Arundel’s 7s. payable
quarterly, and no more in this year because all the other tenants, as well free-
men as villains (nativi), are dead, and their land is fallen into (supra extendita)
the demesne lands. They further say that the heir is 19 years of age.”

“Of the noble family founded by William the Conqueror’s shoeing smith,

_ who was nowise ashamed of his calling, for he took six horseshoes for his arms,

The name of Agnes Ferrar, de Ferar, or de la Ferrer, occurs as Abbess of
Shaftesbury 1252-1269. She presented to the Rectory of Broughton. John

and Elizabeth Ferrers had a son Robert, but he did not succeed to Broughton,

S

“

which was his mother’s for life only, with remainder to the right heirs of Fulk
le Strange. John le Strange (Fulk’s nephew) died in the same year as Lady

} Cobham, but a little before her; so that his daughter, afterwards Countess of

_ Nottingham, succeeded.

ede,

¢

308 Broughton Gifford.

the feast of St. Nicholas, 6th Dec., 1878. She died the wife of
Thomas Mowbray Earl of Nottingham, in her tenth year. Nor is
this the only instance in our parochial annals of the youthfulness
of brides who are great heiresses. Alice Lacy, it will be remem-
bered, conveyed at her marriage, when nine years old, the vast
estates of the two great houses of Salisbury and Lincoln to her
husband Thomas Earl of Lancaster.1 There were now no more
males of the le Strange family. It is a singular coincidence that
the male descendants of the two sisters, Catherine and Alianora
Gifford, should have ceased in both the families of Audley and
le Strange within a few years of each other.

Ancaret, the daughter of Fulk le Strange and aunt of the
Countess of Nottingham, had married Richard Baron Talbot.
She thus brought our half manor into the Shrewsbury family.
Her husband attended John of Gaunt into Spain 13886. He died
in possession of the half manor 1396. She herself held it till
her death in her 53rd year, on Ascension day 1413. Her eldest
son, Gilbert, had it after her, till his death in his 31st year,
1419. He married twice, first Joan, daughter of Thomas of
Woodstock Duke of Gloucester, and grand daughter of Edward
III., and secondly, Beatrix, natural daughter of John I. King of
Portugal. This lady was thrice married, first to Thomas Earl of
Arundel, next to Gilbert Lord Talbot, and lastly to William
Fityplace, Esq.2 She died on Christmas day 1447. She had in
dower one-third of half of the manor. Her daughter, Ancaret,

1In English history no match maker was more unscrupulous, and in his
infantine alliances more unsuccessful than Edward IV. He married for love
himself, but took care that nobody belonging to him should imitate his example,
possibly because he got into trouble thereby. The Queen’s five sisters (daugh-
ters of a simple Knight) he married to great noblemen, her younger brother in
his 20th year to the rich Dowager Duchess of Norfolk in her 80th (maritagium
diabolicum the Chronicler calls it), his second son Richard to Anne daughter
and heiress of the Duke of Norfolk, and his four daughters, Elizabeth, Cecily,
Anne, and Catharine, to the Dauphin of France, the eldest son of King James
of Scotland, Philip of Burgundy, and the infant of Spain, respectively, all in
their infancy, some in their cradles (the Chronicler does not find any fault).
None of these last matches were consummated.

2 Their descendant, John Fettiplace, was M.P. for Berks in the Long Parlia-
ment.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 309

had the other two-thirds. The reversion of the entire half be-
longed to her husband’s younger brother, John Talbot, the first
_ Earl of Shrewsbury; and, on Ancaret’s death (on the festival of St.
Lucia, 13th Dec., 1421),! he surrendered to Beatrix the two-thirds
which thus came to him; so that she died possessed of the whole
moiety.”
Our next lord was the second son of Ancaret le Strange, the
illustrious Sir John Talbot—

‘The great Alcides of the field,
Valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury,
Created for his rare success in arms,
Great Earl of Washford, Waterford, and Valence,
Lord Talbot of Goodrig and Urchinfield,
Lord Strange of Blackmere, Lord Verdun of Alton,
Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, Lord Furnival of Sheffield,
The thrice victorious Lord of Falconbridge ;
Knight of the noble order of St. George,
Worthy St. Michael, and the Golden fleece ;
Great Marshal to Henry the sixth
Of all his wars within the realm ‘of France.”

The popular sympathies went entirely with our medizval French
wars, and Talbot was the popular hero of those wars. Every in-
cident in Shakespeare (who doubtless only followed the general

opinion) is made to turn to Talbot’s glory. Nor was this feeling
unreasonable, either in respect of the wars in general, or of Talbot
the idol of them. Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi, a
general maxim in war, does not seem to have applied here. The
slaughter fell chiefly on the knights (reges); the common men at
arms were highly paid under the feudal system, and better cared

_ for in war than in peace. Though our great French victories left

* Butler makes the feast of St. Lucia 3 Dec. But the inquisition on Ancaret
Talbot says that in 1421 the feast fell on a Sunday. The usual calculations
_ show that the 3rd was on a Wednesday, the 13th on a Sunday.

__ * This is another error in the printed extracts of the inquisitiones post mortem,
They make Beatrix to die seized of her dower only (tertia pars medietatis), A
reference to the original explains minutely the whole transaction. ‘ Inquisitio
post mortem taken at Wilton 22 April 26 Henry VI. ‘The Jurors find that
| the said Beatrix on 4 March 9 Henry V. (after her daughter Ancaret’s death)
Teleased her 4 of of Manor of Broughton to John Earl of Shrewsbury, who
rwards restored to her the whole } to hold at his will, and Beatrix being so
seized of the } manor died on Christmas day last past.”

310 Broughton Gifford.

us no permanent territorial acquisitions, yet they surrounded
England with a halo of renown which is the best defence of na-
tions; they elevated the heart and roused the understanding of
every one left at home, in the country villages from which those
renowned archers went forth. Talbot was happy in his death,
in the occasion and in the time. It was worthy of one who
had fought at Agincourt, the fitting termination of that contest
which had been waged for more than a century, and which,
though it had during its course witnessed many gallant deeds
of arms, exhibited no more simple devotion and self sacrifice,
than that of John Talbot and his two sons (Lord Lisle and
Henry Talbot) at Chatillon 13th July, 1453. After this vain at-
tempt to reconquer Guienne, the English took no principal part
in continental campaigns for nearly two centuries and a half.
Tu vero felix, Agricola, non vite tantum claritate, sed etiam opportu-
nitate mortis; ut perhibent, qui interfuerunt novissimis sermonibus
tuis, constans et libens fatwm excepisti.! He, like his predecessors,
was a Lancastrian, but all his wars were foreign. ‘With muche
fame, more glorie, and most victorie, he had, for his Prince and
Countrie, by the space of 24 years and more, valyantly made warre
and served the King in the partes beyonde the sea.”? He was
spared the misery of being a witness and a partaker, on his native
soil, of those domestic contests which more than decimated his
order, and in which his son and successor laid down his life. He
was ‘‘a very scourge and daily terror to the French,” but not to
his own countrymen. He was removed nearly three years before
the first battle of St. Albans. His widow had one third of the
half manor as her dower.

=

1 “Come, Come, and lay him in his father’s arms,
My spirit can no longer bear these harms.
Soldiers, adieu! I have what I would have,
Now my old arms are young John Talbot’s grave.”
Those novissimi sermones, which Shakespeare puts into Talbot’s mouth, are to
be found in the Chroniclers, who, in their turn, copied them verbatim from
cotemporary annalists.
* Grafton.
3 What was his age at his death? The popular historians, Hume, Lingard,
and Mackintosh, make him 80. But the inquisition held on Ancaret Talbot

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 311

His son, John, the 2nd Earl, fell at Northampton, true to the
politics of his family, on the side of the red rose, 11 July 1460, in
possession of two-thirds of half, ‘“‘a valyant person and not degene-
rating from his noble parent.’! Queen Margaret used to call him
more.familiarly, “Talbot, my good dogge.” His widow, Eliza-
beth, died seized of the same two-thirds, on Sept. 11th, 1473.

Their son, John, 3rd Earl, had died in the preceding 27th June,
(Sunday after the nativity of St. John the Baptist), in possession
of the one-third of half, which had been the dower of the widow of
the first Earl.

The entire moiety became reunited in George the 4th Earl, who

by indenture made 3rd June, 1507, enrolled in Common Pleas, sold it
to Guy Palmes, Serjeant-at-law. The deed recites that the Earl,
Lord Steward of the King’s household, “for dyvers great pur-
chases which he hath lately made, whereof he is indebted to dyvers
persons in great soms of money, in consideration and for the dis-
charge thereof, the said Karl hath bargained and sold, &c, by these
presents, &c., to Guy Palmes his heirs and assigns for ever his
manor of Broughton with the appurtenances in Co. Wilts, and all
-other lands and tenements, rents, reversions, services, and heredi-
taments.” He covenants that the net yearly value is at least
£18 15s. 2d., that the estate is free of all charges, except a rent of
13s. 4d. to Edmond Tame, Esq. for the stewardship of the manor,
and if Guy should be disturbed, &c. he shall be indemnified by as-

1421 makes him then 30, So that in 1453 he would be 62 only. Which are
right? The Jurors made their presentment on oath, and ought to have ascer-
tained the fact precisely. But then the fact was not material to the purpose of
the enquiry. Provided the heir were more than 21, it was a matter of indiffer-
_ ence to the Royal Escheator, whether he were 30 or 50, Grafton says that
‘because of his age, he rode on a little hackeny” at the battle, and calls him
“that auncient fox.” Butin the Chronicler’s pages he is also ‘‘a politique
captyne, who lost not one hour, nor spared one minut,” going through much
personal fatigue, slaying many with his own hand, and at last ‘“‘killyed lyeing
on the ground, for they never durst looke him in the face, while he stoode on
his feet.” His eldest son at his death was only 40 (ing. p.m. on the first Earl),
But this son was by the first marriage, which assuredly took place when the
Earl was a young man. ‘This circumstance points strongly to 62 as the true

age,

1 Grafton.

312 Broughton Gifford.

signment of the profits of the manor of Oxsand in Salop. The
purchase money was £280. And thus we part with the first
branch of the Shrewsbury family.

The pedigree of Palmes shows who the purchaser was. His
descendants still live at Naburn, four miles from York. It further
appears from his inquisition and will, that he died 11th Nov., 1516,
at St. Dunstan’s in the West, Faringdon Ward Without, that he left
his Broughton property to his wife for her life, and then entailed
it on his sons in succession. The value of the half manor is given
at £18. His eldest son Brian (for whom his father provided that he
should not come of age till he was 22) died in possession 19th Oct.,
1528, zt. 29. His son Francis died shortly before Feb., 1568, seized
of our half manor: the exact date cannot be ascertained, as the latter
part of the inquisition containing it has been destroyed. Another
Francis succeeded. In the summer of 1579 he sold our half manor
and other property in the neighbourhood to William Brunker.

This family was settled at Melksham, and had been previously
connected with Broughton. The grandfather of the purchaser had
married a daughter of Golding, a name of long standing and much
respectability among the yeomen of the parish. Robert Brounker
(whom I suppose to be of the same race) was admitted copyholder
here by grant of Robert May 1565. His name often occurs afterwards
in the court rolls. In 1624 there is a presentment that “Robert
Bronker is deceased since the last court, and his wife to be taken
tenant according to the custome, and the house is in great decay.”
The purchaser was succeeded in the half manor by his son Henry.
He in his turn by his son William, who sold the property in 1622
to Sir John Horton, of whom we shall hear again.

1 Such particulars as I have been enabled to collect of the Brounker family
from Coles’ Escheats, Harl. MSS., Wilts Visitations, old deeds, and the
Melksham Parish Registers, I have incorporated in my pedigree of the family.
From the Wilts fines they appear to have begun their purchases in the county
1535, and to have settled at Melksham nine years afterwards. There were
family connections and pecuniary dealings between them and the Smythes of
Corsham. John Smythe (who died 1538) married Joan daughter of Robert
Brounker. The second son of this marriage was Thomas Smythe, farmer
of the customs to Queens Mary and Elizabeth. He died 1591. His eldest
surviving son was the ancestor of the Viscounts Strangford, The Smythes

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 313

We go back to the Audleys, to take our leave of them and their
fortunes, for John Tuchet, the restored Lord Audley, took his leave
of us. He was in want of money. Though restored in blood and hon-
ours 1512, he did not enter into full possession of his father’s estates
till1532. Meanwhile he had got into the hands of the Jews, and must
sell out to pay them off. Immediately therefore on his mother’s
death, he parted with the twin quarter manors of Broughton Gif-
ford and Ashton Gifford to Sir John Brigges, Brygges, or Brydges,
afterwards the first Lord Chandos, and others, trustees or feoffees,
apparently, in the purchase, for Richard Brigges to whose heirs
there is a warranty. Richard was uncle to Sir John. A fine
between Richard Brigges and Robert May, in the beginning of
1544, passed the property to the latter. A further fine passed six
years later, in which Jane the wife of Richard Brigges joined,
doubtless to bar her dower and further secure Robert May’s title.
The purchaser is described in both fines as May alas Hayston.
The origin of the alias I know not;! but I find it again in a will of
“William May alias Hewestone de Mylksham” (probably the proper
orthography) in 1562. The family were settled at Melksham. In
the Diocesan Registry at Sarum are four wills by them between
1554 to 1562. They were substantial yeomen, making bequests of

were again connected by marriage with the Fanshawes of Ware Park, Herts.
And all three families had money transactions with one another. The disen-
tanglement of their Broughton mortgages gave me much trouble. I willingly
spare my readers the detail, as the mortgages were all ultimately redeemed by
the Brounkers (probably to enable them to sell), and in the result the unra-
velled skein came out straight. Here is an incident which may apply to this
family. The names of 59 members who voted against the Strafford bill of at-
tainder were taken down by William Wheeler M.P. for Westbury, Wilts, and
posted ‘‘at the corner of the wall of Sir William Brunkard’s house in Old Palace
Yard,” with this title, ‘These are the Straffordians, the betrayers of their
country.” The name Brunker was frequently written Brunkard. One William
Brounker contributed £25 to the defence of the country 1588.

‘The alias may indicate illegitimacy, or a good marriage. The family of
Cromwell, and Oliver himself when young, used the names of Cromwell and
Williams interchangeably. The name of Cromwell was coveted as implying
some connection with the Earl of Essex: but, on the Restoration, the name of
Williams was preferred, in order to avoid the obloquy attendant on Cromwell’s
name. ‘This alias arose from a marriage. The Earl of Essex’s wife was Jane
Prior, whose first husband was one Thomas Williams.

4

314 Broughton Gifford.

“shepe, ewes, and lambs, kyne, and calves.” The name frequently
occurs in the Melksham parochial registers, among the Selfes, the
Marshmans, and the Flowers—all very respectable people. They
were allied to the Brounkers and the Longs. I do not gather that
they made money, as usual then about here, by weaving. But one
inference I do draw from their wills. I take it they were strong
Protestants, and firm supporters of the new royal order of things
in matters of faith. Other wills of the same date pay more or less
respect to the old religion. A very usual phrase is, “I bequeath
my sowle to Almighty God, our blessed Lady, with all the whole
company of heaven.”! Others are still more pronounced, “TJ be-
queath my sowle to Almighty God, with his blessed mother Mary
[sic], and all the holy company of heaven.”? ‘This confession of
faith would surely be deemed too strong by Roman Catholics of the
present day, assertors of the immaculate conception though they
be. That made by the Mays is decidedly Lutheran, “I bequeath
my sowle to the Lord Jesus Christ, by the merits of whose passion
I do hope to be saved.” This is the language of gratitude to
King Henry VIII. To Robert May, the founder of the family, in
the same year that he bought our quarter manor, a grant® was
made of the manor of Hydon, part of the possessions of Witham
Monastery, with 1700 acres there. The fines show his further pur-
chases of lands here, in Beanacre, Whitley, East Lavington, Marlbo-
rough, and of the manor of Elston, Co. Gloucester. He died 17 Sept.,
1549. His son and successor of the same name resided at Brough-
ton. He is styled in one of the May wills, 1558, “my well beloved
uncle Robert May of Broughton Gifford, Gent.,” clearly a man made
much of, named as executor, and invited to witness the signatures
of many Broughton testators, in his own family and out of it.
Henry Prior of Broughton even puts him (1558) before the Rector!
“T name overseers of y* will Robert May, my ghostly father y° par-
son, and Thomas Carter my wyfe’s uncle.” Yet Henry Prior was,
as his language implies, and as his bequest of “ xi‘ unto y* Churche

1 The will of Edward Auste of Broughton 1541,
? John Lucas of Broughton 1559, _
3 Preserved in the Originalia.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 315

of Broughton” proves, no contemner of persons or things spiritual.
Indeed, from internal evidence, I am strongly inclined to believe
that the Rector himself drew this will, and put his own name after
Robert May’s. Such was the new lord’s parochial position. I
have been the more anxious to ascertain it, because, as I believe,
he was the first lord of Broughton who ever honoured the place by
residing in it. Of him we possess more information, thanks to
domestic troubles, and the consequent intervention of the law. By
his first wife, Dorothy Sidrington, he had two sons and three
daughters. The eldest son John dying young, there remained
Henry, Alice, Mary, and Anne. The decree in the Court of Chan-
cery (13 Feb. 1598) now takes up the story. ‘About 1565, 6,
‘Robert May being then a widower and well stricken in years did
purpose to marry one Joan Sachefield (or Sarsfield) then a young
maiden and daughter to one Thomas 8. of Bath, with whom he
should receive no fortune: therefore to the intent the said Joan
after her marriage should not have any greater interest or benefit
in her husband’s manors, than he intended to assure to her, he
(Robert May) did before his marriage make a lease for 99 years of
his manors to Robert May of Whitley in Melksham for a nominal
' rent in trust for benefit of lessor. Afterwards Robert May married
Joan, but continued well affected towards his son Henry till his
marriage with Eleanor [Hinton], who by her misconduct offended
her husband’s father, for which cause he (Robert May) declared
that neither she nor her children should ever enjoy a foot of his
lands after his son’s death, but that his lands should go to his three
daughters. He settled his manors and lands accordingly by deed,
20 Oct. 1583, and died 1588, when Henry entered into possession.
Then Henry and his wife Eleanor, with their daughter Anne and
her husband John Eyre, and two others allied to Eleanor, got the
settlement into their hands, and combined to defeat and destroy the
reversion to the three sisters. They promulgated and proved an
old cancelled will of Robert May’s in their favour. Therefore the
three sisters and their husbands instituted proceedings against
them. Finally compromise was arranged. The lands and manors
went as Robert May had settled them, but an annuity of 100 marks
Y2

316 Broughton Gifford.

was to be paid to Eleanor after her husband’s decease, and 50
marks to Anne Eyre, their daughter, with benefit of survivorship
to either of them in the annuity of the other.’ The husbands of
the three daughters, Alice, Mary, and Anne May, were respectively,
Edward Horton of Westwood (already the purchaser of a quarter
of the manor from John Talbot in 1584), Henry Longe (son of Sir
Henry Longe of Whaddon), and Jeremy Horton nephew of Ed-
ward: each of them had, in right of their wives, one twelfth (one
third of a quarter). Omitting various interchanges, the property
was at last thus: Edward Horton had, by purchase and by mar-
riage, one quarter plus one twelfth, equal to one third. In 1603,
19 January, Henry Longe settled half of his share, 7c. half of one
twelfth, equal to one twenty-fourth, on his own heirs (we shall hear of
this one twenty-fourth again) ; the other half of his share he sold
to Jeremy Horton, who thus became possessed, by marriage and
purchase, of one twelfth plus one twenty-fourth, equal to one eighth.
Jeremy Horton had by his first wife, Anne May, two sons, Edward
and John. Edward was the heir of his great uncle, and so the
owner of one third: he died under age leaving John to inherit the
shares of his father and brother, i.e. one eighth plus one third, equal
to eleven twenty-fourths. John Horton, 15th May 1622, purchased of
William Brounker one half (originally Alianora Gifford’s). 23rd
Nov. 1627 he purchased of Walter Long! (grandson of Henry

1T cannot forbear quoting Mr. C. E. Long’s account of this Lord. ‘Sir
Walter Long was one of the celebrated members sent to the Tower; he was
prosecuted in the Star Chamber and fined 2000 marks 1628. In 1646 the
Parliament voted him £5000 as an indemnity. In 1647 the army brought a
series of charges against him, which he refuted. In August of the same year,
he and others fled to France, ‘‘ because” as Holles says (who was his companion
in exile) ‘‘ the princes of the Philistines loved them not.” Having ‘fled from
petty tyrants to the throne,” he returned at the Restoration, and was made a
baronet. Clarendon calls him one of the chiefs of the Presbyterian party. He
commenced his career of patriotism on the Tonnage and Poundage question,
continued it by charging at the head of a troop of horse (raised by himself) at
Edgehill where his horse was shot under him; and was equally the opponent of
the despotic power of the King and the Protector.” The precise occasion for the
enmity of the “‘ princes of the Philistines” was this. In the Spring of 1647
the Parliament were debating how to disband the army, twenty, or thirty thou-
sand strong. The expense of it great; the need of it, now the Royalists were

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Roger de Horton of Catton Coole, Co. Derby, Kt.=Alice d. of John
Justice of Chester, 1428. | Peter, Cattor

Se
William Horton of Catton.=...... Roger Horto

ob. 1424. | ob. 1428.

fin

Roger Horton—Joan d. of Robert John Horton=Anne d.
of Catton. | Hill of Houndhill. of Cowley. of Ng
John Hortor

Lullington,

Somerset.

| | ;
William Horton=Rachel ...... Thomas, of Iford, Co. Wilts,=Mary ......
of Lullington. clothier. ob. s.p. 14 Aug. 1530. viv. 1541.

Thomas Horton of Iford.=Margaret d. of Thomas Barkesdale
Heir of uncle Thomas. of Keevil, Co. Wilts.
ob. 4 June, 1549. cet. 48. ob. 1564.

| | ] ,
Willism Horton=Joan d. of Thos. Edward of West-=Alice d. of Robert Mary=Henry Longe Agnes=Hen

of Iford. Bailey of wood, ob. s.p. May of Broughton of Whaddon.
eet. 43. 1566. Trowbridge. 1603. at Bath. Gifford. viv. 1595.
__ )
| | | | | 1586 |
Thomas Horton William of Wol-=Margaret d.of John. Edward. Isaac. (1) Ann d. of Robert=Jere
ob. s.p. viv. yerton, Co. Som. | JacobDaccom, May of Broughton
1562. viv. 1604, Co. Dorset. Gifford. ob. 17
Nov. 1597.
| | | |

Toby =Barbarad. Roger of=Annd.of John of =Maryd.of Robert—Elizabeth Edward=... d. of

Horton | of JohnFar- St.John’s Nicholas Wolver- John d.ofJohn Horton Arthur
of well of Hot- street, Mann, _ ton, Co. | Coplestone James of ob.s.p. Hopton
Iford. | brook, Co. London. Co.Kent. Som. | Co.Dorset. ' Cocker, 28Sept. Co.Som.
Som. | Co.Dorset. 1605. Kt.
er wear. fhe 7). ol | (TTT [I eet. 16.

Toby =Margaret d. Edward, ext. 20. 1623. John et. 8. 1623. Toby wet. 2. 1623, | 1641 §
Horton of Richard Henry. 16. — Henry 4, — John 1. — Thomas Horton=E
wt. 22. Catehmay of John, 14. — Coplestone 3. — of Elston, Co. Glo. | Wi

1623. Bixmeare, Dorothy. 6. — Thomas 2 — Bur. there 1 May, ; wi

Co.Glou. kt. George lL — 1693. at. 80.

| 1675 ] aay
John Horton of=Catherine d. of | Thomas of Middle Jane=De la Hay.
Combend in Thos. Child of Temple. ob. s.p. Elizabeth=Rev. W.

Elston. ob. 1688 | Northwick, 21 May 1687, xt.24. Clement.
| Co. Wore. Eleanor=Jas.Morgan.
| | | |_|
Shinnas Horton=Mary William. Edward, bap. John Ann Mary bap. at Chal-
of Combend. | Blanche. at Chalfield ob. 1707. field 1681. Bur. at B.G.
ob. 24 Oct. 1727. | viv. 1737. 1681. Bur. at infans, infans.
et. 51. B.G. 1682. Mary ob. 1708. infans.
| 1732 | 1725 | 1780
Thomas Horton=Jane d.of Elizabeth=William (1) Thomas=Eleanor =(2) Richard
of Wootton, Arehdeac. ob. 1763. | Blanche Bennett of Roberts of
bur. at Elston Lewis. bur. ob. ante Steeple Bath. ob.
20 Dec. 1755. at Elston 1763. Ashton, ante 1763,
S.p. 19 Nov. jun. ob.
1735, 1728.
] mist 4 |
William Blanche Mary =Stephen John Roberts. Richara Roberts William Aa
xt. 21. 1763. Elizabeth. Rea. ob. s.p. ob. 8.p. Roberts,

Eleanor. Provost of,
Jane.

Ann=Anthony Rogers
of Bradford.

Meua——(1) Christ. Bailey of Stoford.
ob. ante 1562.
(2) Walter Bush of Stoford.

1620. | Mary.

eles I]
viv. at Margery. Agnes Alice.
Mary Susanna.

The authorities for this pedigree are, Ing. p. m.,
Wilts Visitation of 1623, Harl. MS. 1443, 5529, the
Parochial Registers of Broughton Gifford and
Elston, monuments there, and Broughton deeds.

The arms of Horton of Catton Co. Derby were
Sable, a buck’s Head cabossed argent, attired or.
The following coat was, however, granted to John
Horton of Lullington, co. Somerset. Argent on a
Fesse azure between two wolves passant in chief and
a cross-how in base gules 3 martlets or. The latter
was borne by the Hortons of Lford and Westwood;
but those of Broughton Gifford and Elston retained
the arms of the original Derbyshire family, from
which Sir John Horton of Broughton Gifford pro-
ved his descent.

|
Alice.
|

Jeremy Alice=... Bowell.
| act Colonel xt.18.
ough-—Janed.ofSerj. William. in Parl. 1612.
is, and Hanham of Robert= Army
; viv. 1642. | ob. 1647
i
Penelope d. of Thomas.
L.C.J. Popham
| | | ;
Edward of=Margaretd.of Robert William=Elizabeth Penelope Amy=—......
Great Chal- Wm. Dodington exec.of bur. at d. of bur.at bur. Maux.
field. ob. of Breamore,Co. brother B.G. Henry B.G. at B.G,
1675. She- Southampton,Kt. Thos. 1705, Bassett. 1669. 1694.
riffof Wilts Bur. at Chalfield 1693.

1660.

1670.

| viv. 1702.

] | | Ay
award alas Henry of Mid- william Thomas Robert Jeremy of =Jane Katherine bur.

: y bur.at bur.at dle Temple. bap.at _bur.at bur.at B.G.cloth- | ...... at B.G. 1718.
bur.B.G. B.G. 1689 B.G.1673. ob. pay B.G. 1672. B.G.1737, B.G. ier. bur.there eet. 51.
1724. et. 23. wet. 5. 1724. et.55. viv. 1705. st. 63. infans. wt. 66. 1743. = go at
eats wale
beth Horton= Llewellyn Williams | | ial at
p. 1708. of St. Neots, Glam. Witiam J ote Edward Wenry Elizabeth J ate
bap. at bur.atB.G. bur. bap. bap. 1700. On *
Horton Williams B.G. 1727. B.G. 1720, Winifred
bap. 1728. 1702. wt. 10. infans. bap, 1715.

Charles
Hanbury
Roberts.

of Bristol.
Henr

Father of
Hallam the
istorian.

Elizabeth. Te Hallam, D.D. Dean

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 317

Longe and Mary May) all his right in Broughton 7c. one twenty-
fourth of the manor and divers lands. John Horton’s figures then
come out thus,eleven twenty-fourths, plus one half, plus one twenty-
fourth, equal to one. He reunited under one head the scattered frag-
ments of the manor, severed for 328 years. So remarkable a result
in our manorial history deserves a few words concerning its author,
and the estate thus reunited.

The Hortons, originally a Cheshire family, settled at Catton in
Derbyshire; but that branch of them with which we have to do,
seems to have been attracted to the West of England by the rise of
manufactures. They can be traced at the principal seats of the
clothing trade in this neighbourhood. They had property in the
earlier part of the 16th century at Trowbridge, North Bradley,
Southwick, Westbury, Rode, Frome-Selwood, Wolvertone, Brad-
ford, Westwood, Iford, Farleigh, Hinton, Chippenham, Foxham,
Sevington, Tilshead, Cheverill Magna, Cricklade, Corsley, Tellis-
ford, and Freshford. They came in for some of the Monastic spoils
from Henry VIII., but their real property was for the most part
acquired in the old way—money made in trade was invested in
land. John Horton in 1500 resided at Lullington near Frome.
His second son Thomas seems to have been a successful manufac-
turer. He is styled “of Iford, clothier,” but his inquisition expressly
says he died at Westwood. To his memory and to that of his wife
there is a curious brass in the floor of the North Aisle of Bradford
Church—curious from the omission of the dates.

subdued, small. The army demanded the payment of their arrears, and a
* settlement of the peace of the kingdom and of the liberties of the subject” ac-
cording to their interpretation. They accused, 16 June, eleven members of treason,
z.e. of opposing their desires, and required they should be put on their trial and
prevented from voting in the interim. These are the famous eleven members—
Denzil Holles, Sir Philip Stapleton, Sir William Waller, Sir William Lewis,
Sir John Clotworthy, Recorder Glyn, Mr. Anthony Nichols, (all o/d members,)
Major-General Massey, Colonel Walter Long (Ludgershall), Colonel Edward
Harley, Sir John Maynard, (these four recruiters, elected since 1645). They
asked leave of the house ‘‘ to retire for six months.” Retired to France. Walter
Long sat in room of William Ashburnham, expelled for being concerned in the
army plots of 1641, when the King vainly endeavoured to tamper with the
officers of the army.

318 Broughton Gifford.

‘‘Of your charity pray for the souls of Thomas Horton and Mary his wife,
which Thomas was sometime founder of this Chantry and deceased the

day of . . . . An°’dom.15 . . , and the said Mary deceased the .
dayof . . . . An®°dom.15 . . . On whose souls Jesu have
mercy.”

The brass was probably executed during the life time of those
whom it commemorates, like Nelson’s coffin. Why his nephew
and heir (who, as I shall show, ought to have been specially mindful
and grateful) did not insert the dates, is a puzzle.! The conjecture
that connects the omission with doctrinal changes, is an anachron-
ism: for, in the Dirige, or service for the dead, all our reformed
primers contained prayers for departed souls, up to the second
Prayer Book of Edward VI., 1552. I believe it was a mere piece
of negligence on the heir’s part. I am, however, in a position to
fill up the blanks in the husband’s case. By reference to his in-
quisitio post mortem taken at ‘‘Heytesbury” 23rd Oct., 23 Henry
VIII. (1531) it appears that he died 14th August 1530. His widow
Mary was alive in 1538, being then a tenant of a dovecot and fish-
pond in the Friarye at Hinton, which was granted to the nephew
Thomas. She was also alive when John Leland visited Bradford,
whenever that might be, about three years later probably. He
says,” “There is a very fair house of the building of one Horton,
a riche clothier, at the north-est part by the chirch. This Horton’s
wife yet lyvith. This Horton buildid a goodly large chirch house
ex lapide quadrato at the est end of the chirch yard, without it.
This Horton made divers fair houses of stone in Through-bridge
toun. Horton left no children.” His architectural tastes point
him out as the author of the beautiful tower of Westwood Church,
which bears his initials. He conveyed his estates to John Skel-
lyng, Rev. James Horton (his brother), John Horton, Henry

1Mindus Zosimus tells us plainly on his tomb why he did not leave to his
heir the construction of it: he was afraid of his doing it in a shabby way:
*« Vivus mi fect, ne post me lentius heres
Conderet exiguo busta suprema rogo.”
Thomas Horton did not trust any more to his heir than he could help, but this
little was too much.
? Leland’s journey through Wilts, edited by Canon Jackson. Wilts Arch.
Mag. vol. i. p. 148.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 319

Longe, and others, in trust for himself and wife, and after their
deaths for his nephew Thomas Horton, the son of his elder brother
William.

This Thomas Horton married Margaret Barkesdale, who survived
him 15 years. He lived at Westwood, but happened to die in
London 4th of June 1549. Both husband and widow, most
obligingly for my pedigree, made wills, the widow in 1562
distributing small legacies and plate (‘gilt saults and goblets”’),
all she had to leave, among her children and grandchildren. The
husband left to his eldest son William, after the widow’s death,
his property at Iford and Westwood and “all the lands which the
said Thomas acquired from King Henry VIII. and was seized in
fee.” Edward, the second son, had all his other lands, among which
are particularised Horton’s chantry at Bradford, lands at Cricklade,
Rode, Tilshead, and Corsley. This is the Edward Horton, who
purchased our quarter manor of John Talbot in 1584, and at that
time he is expressly styled “of Westwood.” By his marriage with
Alice May, he had. one twelfth of the manor. A grandson of
Thomas and Margaret, Henry Longe, who was the son of Sir Henry
Longe and Mary Horton, by marriage with Mary May, owned an-
other one twelfth. Another grandson, Edward Longe, brother of
the preceding was the purchaser of Monkton. Another grandson,
Jeremy Horton, son of William, by marriage with Anne May, owned
another one twelfth. So that the immediate descendants of this
worthy couple had between them half Broughton (originally
Catharine Gifford’s) and all Monkton. Their great grand-sons,
John Horton and Edward Longe, owned all Broughton and all
Monkton.

How John Horton reunited the manor has already been
seen. His parents, Jeremy Horton and Anne May, were married
6th June 1586. She died on the anniversary of the accession of
Queen Elizabeth, ten years afterwards. The widower married
again, and died between 1614 and 1620, when we find his second
wife a widow living at Broughton. By his first wife he had two
sons, Edward, born 20th Feb. 1589, who died in his 17th year the
heir of his great uncle, Edward of Westwood; and John, born 8th

320 Broughton Gifford.

Noy. 1593. In the summer of 1610, a young bridegroom but al-
ready a knight, Sir John Horton married Jane daughter of Serjeant
Hanham of Wimbourne Minster, Dorset, and settled on her a join-
ture of £300ayear. At this time he resided at Elston, Co. Gloucester.
In the autumn of the same year, he and “the Lady Jane” sold to
Benedict Winchcombe of Noke, Co. Oxford, Esq., the manor of
Ginge, or West Ginge, Co. Berks, for £1400. In 1614 he conveyed to
Sir Francis Popham of Littlecot, and Sir John Hanham of Wimborne,
certain lands at Westbury, in trust for himself and “Dame Jane”’ his
wife and their heirs. In 1614 he hada Chancery suit with his father
Jeremy, in consequence of “a certain estate or life interest which
Joan May, widow of Robert May, (“the young maiden Joan Sache-
field”’), pretended to have in certain lands parcel of Broughton
manor, which estate Jeremy affirmeth he now hath by grant and
gift of Joan for her life, and hath enjoyed the same these 30 years
past.”” The matter was referred, and compromise made that Jeremy
should release the pretended estate to Sir John, who on his part
should grant him an annuity of £80 for his life, provided Jeremy
paid Joan May an annuity of £20 and kept Sir John free from all
claims of the said Joan. He received 14th Oct., 1616, a general
livery of seizen of his estates by the Royal escheators, who, the
manor of Broughton being held by knight’s service, received his
homage and “the fine of a half mare paid into the hanaper.”

In 1617 he was Sheriff of Wilts. 15th May 1622 he bought of
William Brounker, then of Erle Stoke, the half manor which
once was Alianora Gifford’s, for £350. This was a purchase of
but little more than the manor with its “court of viewe of frank-
pledge, franchises, privileges, profits, commodities, and heredita-
meuts,”’ some chief rents and services, a capital messuage, and a
few acres in the common fields, and 28 acres of wood. 10th Feb.
1626 there exist letters patent from Charles I. granting a general
pardon to Sir John Horton of Elston for all treasons and offences
whatsoever. I cannot discover what he had been doing to render
this needful. Were not the interval so long, I should suppose
he had made some mistakes during his Shrievalty. 23rd Nov.
1627 he gathered up the last fragment of the manor, by purchase

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 321

of Walter Long of Whaddon for £1400. The portion of the
manorial rights was small, only one twenty-fourth, but five mes-
suages, a mill, a dovecot, 30 acres of arable, 10 acres of pasture,
and 20 of wood, went with it.

Being now sole lord of the manor, Sir John very properly built
a manor house. He previously seems to have resided at Elston.
But from this time to his death he seems to have lived at Brough-
ton, in a house built by him at the Cross. The last of our resident
lords. A scrap of paper, torn and almost illegible, shows that a“ diff-
erence arose between Sir John Horton Kt. and one Peter Chapman
clothier, about a sertayne small parcell of land, whereon the walls
of the kitchinge of Sir John Horton’s house by the Cross Pathe is
proposed to be builded.” This was in 1620, and in 1629 he came
here. From that time to his death he administered his own affairs,
and was his own steward. His note and rent books remain. Here
his politics do not appear. But the family were all Roundheads.
They belonged to the class, then more numerous than now, of
“middling sized gentry,” of good blood, of fair but not large for-
tune, in their habits simple, in their callings gentlemen farmers,
in their manners uncourtly but kind, in their faith Protestant
Christians, in their politics what we should call constitutional
Royalists, in the pursuit of all their ends, whether spiritual or
temporal, earnest, brave, and self-reliant. From such came Vane,
Hampden, Cromwell, Ludlow, Blake, and the bulk of the “ country
party.” Nothing but narrow minded mismanagement in Church
and State made these men Puritans and Republicans. Let no
modern revolutionist claim them as kinsmen. They were essen-
tially aristocrats, had grandfathers, and knew who they were, could
point to long pedigrees without a flaw, fought under their family
banners, recruited among their retainers and friends, freeholders
and county neighbours all, gentlemen to the back bone, held to
truth, honour, and “the spirit of a gentleman,” derived their chief
pleasures from the country side, their chief hopes from futurity.
Among these the Hortons threw in their lot. I do not find any
of them sitting in the Long Parliament. But Sir John was him-
self a Commissioner for the Parliament in Gloucestershire, his son

322 Broughton Gifford.

was Sheriff of Wilts under the Commonwealth, his brother was a
Colonel in that army, one Horton! was an acceptable preacher before
the House, another Horton? was the victor at St. Fagan’s in Wales,
and, I grieve to add, a King’s Judge and a Regicide. Sir John’s
note books meddle not with such questions, contain no allusion to
Crown or Commonwealth, beyond payment of “‘royall aydes,”
“rates for the Kinge’s provision,” and subsidies, which followed
each other with alarming rapidity on the Restoration. His atten-
tion was given, (stewards were. then unknown on such properties)
to his ‘“‘chiefe and other rentes,”’ (the names of his tenants and the
grounds they occupied being given,) the cultivation of his land, the
cattle he kept in “ Hundells, Longeston, and Plumbgestone,”’* the
small sums he lent to his “‘brother Robert to go to London,” what
“my cosen Thomas [ Longe | at Bath paid for ten younge beasts,” what
his “servant at the moore paid for keep of 2 kowes for xx" weekes
at 2s. 8d. per weeke, price £2 13s. 8d.” [Sir John charged a groat
too much]; what “my cousen Sherfield” owed for rents [Henry

1 September 29th 1647, Mr. Horton thanked for his sermon preached this day
before the House at St. Margaret’s, and desired to print it. Commons’ Journals.

? This was Colonel Thomas Horton, whose place in the family pedigree I am
am as yet unable to determine. He might have been either Robert Horton’s
son and so Sir John’s nephew, or the son of John Horton of Wolverton. I will
put together, with a view to his identification, such scraps as I have collected
about him, from the Commons’ Journals and other sources. He was clearly
connected with Wiltshire. Sir Edward Baynton was a friend; Goddard, Foster,
Bethel, Orpen, Read, Bruges, were in his Brigade. I presume him to have
unsuccessfully assaulted Donnington Castle, 1644. He is most known from his
victory over the Welsh under Major Langborne at St. Fagans near Cardiff, 8th
May 1648. As one of the King’s Judges, his signature to the death warrant,
in a bold free hand, may be seen in the fac-simile at the Bodleian. Cromwell,
writing to the Speaker from Ireland 25th October 1649, says in a P.S. ‘‘ Colonel
Horton is lately dead of the country disease [an Irish pestilence], leaving a son
behind him. His former services, especially that of the last summer, I hope,
will be had in remembrance.” The memory of Parliament was not so good as
it ought to have been. Not till 25th March 1651 was the sum of £900 given
to trustees for the young son ‘‘in full satisfaction and discharge of all arrears
due to Colonel Horton deceased, and all demands in respect of his services.”

3 These names still exist. Hund, hundle, or hundred was a division of a
county ; thence applied to a division of land in a parish. Longaston was the
long grass enclosure. Plumbgaston the grass enclosure which is full of clumps

or lumps, the Homeric ertbélaz.

—

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 323

Sherfield of Sarum who married Rebecca, widow of Henry Longe];
what “John Champion of Lullington paid for my woole.” He
looked after his rights; was victorious in “two generall trialls for
a wayne way over a common meadowe called broade meade lying
in Broughton and Melksham;”
carryadges of their corn and hay growinge in houl brookes fields
these severale sommes of money.” He has left some notes, and a
plan, @ Ja Chinoise, without much regard to distances, of the river
boundary between Broughton and Melksham, and the right of
“fyshing,” and adds, “There was a threescore and tenn yeares sith-

made some farmers “agree for the

ence a stranger drowned and taken up on my land on broadmea-
dows over Melkesham syde, and the parish of Melksham, in chal-
lenging the ded to get the somme, buryed it at Melkesham, but the
Jury being there boath of Broughton and Melkesham, with the
crowner, found it toe be in the parish of Broughton and the hundred
of Bradford: and that they of Broughton and Melkesham gave [as]
theyre verdict at the Assizes at Sarum.”

- Heee est
Vita solutorum prava ambitione gravique.”

Such was a country gentleman’s life in the good old time.

A license exists 1661 from the Archbishop of Canterbury (Juxon)
to Sir John, “in consideration of his own health and that of his
daughter Penelope and six others invited to his table at his choice”
to eat any meats he pleases, except such as are prohibited by Act of
Parliament, (5 Eliz. cap. v.'). Sir John must have been a good
Churchman, notwithstanding his Parliamentary connection; or he
would have eaten meat, without waiting for the Archbishop’s
leave. He died six years afterwards, and was buried at Broughton.

Sir John had two brothers. One named Jeremy, of whom the
only memorial is a nuncupative will April 1647, from which it ap-

! The statute expressly disclaims all spiritual motives for fasting as Popish,
and is enacted “‘ only to maintain the mariners and navy of this land by setting
men a fishing.” Such reasons of State also appear in the second part of the Homily
for fasting, in the injunctions of Bishops, and which is more in character, in
the successive Royal proclamations of Edward, Elizabeth, James, and Charles.
Such edicts were renewed on the Restoration, but were little heeded after the
laxity of the civil wars. Sir John was more scrupulous.

324 Broughton Gifford.

pears that he was a Colonel in the Parliamentary army, and
that he left his goods and his claims on the Parliament, amount-
ing to £4000 and upwards, to his three nephews, Edward, Robert,
and William, Sir John’s younger sons. The eldest son was other-
wise provided for. Of Sir John’s other brother, Robert, our only
knowledge is derived from Sir John’s mention, in his memoranda,
of him, and “his boy Tom,” whom I am willing to suppose may
be the Colonel Thomas Horton of some fame in those days.

Of Sir John’s sons, Thomas, the eldest, lived to an advanced age.
He seems to have resided at Elston, judging by the description of
him in deeds. He, however, came here occasionally to attend to
his affairs. His rent books 1675-84 remain. Sir John’s second
son, Edward, lived at Great Chalfield, on which place the Hortons
had some hold, possibly because they were Parliamentarians and
the Eyres Royalists. Chalfield is known to have been garrisoned
by the Commonwealth 1645-8, and Edward Horton may have been
so placed there: at least he was made Sheriff of Wilts, 1660, just
in time to inaugurate the Restoration. Edward Horton’s wife,
Margaret Dodington, was buried in Chalfield Church, where
her monumental stone remains with its inscription in incised
lead letters on the floor of the church. Edward himself was
buried either at Broughton or Chalfield. Both parish registers
contain his name among the burials, Broughton on September 5th,
Chalfield on September 8th, 1675. Iam inclined to think his
remains lie here, for these reasons. His family had a vault here,!
where his father and brother William are known to have been
buried. On his wife’s stone in Chalfield Church there is space
purposely left for his name, which, however, is not there. His
place of residence was Chalfield, and this may account for the ap-

This was within the Church, where this generation of Hortons were buried.
Of the next, Mr. Hickes has this notice. ‘‘ The enclosed ground on the North
side of the chancell was made by Mr. John Horton (for which he gave me 10
shillings) : when his wife was buryed October 10th, 1724.” There are now some
flat stones without any inscription, but no enclosure, in the situation indicated.
One of these has been appropriated 1800 to the memory of another person, with-
out any such excuse as those had, who, Thucydides tells us, did like things in
the plague at Athens.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 325

pearance of his name in that register, which is rather a genealogical
record of the people belonging to the great house, than an Ecclesias-
tical memorial. There is no such reason to be given for the appear-
ance of thename here. Of Sir John’s sons, William was the one, who
constantly was with us, in all except his latter end, which was at
Corsham. Here were born to him eight sons and four daughters,
and here he was brought to be buried.

John Horton, grandson of Sir John and heir presumptive to our
manor, died before his father. He lived at Little Chalfield, and at
Combend, a house of the Hortons at Elston, on the hill at the val-
ley head. He left a son, Thomas, who succeeded to our manor
1693. The Lords’ Journals 7th Dec., 1722, show that he was then
a lunatic. A petition was presented by his wife Mary and his
two daughters, was referred to two Judges, and ended in a Bill,
the chief provision of which was, the raising £3000 for the daugh-
ters.

His son Thomas visited us on a memorable occasion: he was
married here to Jane Lewis, of a family connected with Broughton,
and the adjoining parishes of Chalfield, Whaddon and Hilperton.
She died within 3 years. This lord resided at Wotton, another
house of the Hortons near the city of Gloucester. By his will,
dated 13th January 1735, one Richard Brereton and his two sisters,
Bridget and Elizabeth, no relations, described as “ Mrs. Brereton’s
children,” were the devisees of all he possessed, with the exception
of petty legacies to his mother, to some of his nephews and nieces,
and to Gloucester charities; one annuity to “ Black Susan,” and
another to “old Farmer Ebsworth.” Richard Brereton was to
reside “on the hills at Combend, either repairing the old house
and making it tenantable, or renting or purchasing a new one
within a mile of the place, and selling the house at Wotton, on
penalty of forfeiting the estate to the poor of Elstone and the se-
veral parishes of Gloucester.” This in law was no forfeiture at
all. The statute of Mortmain would have prevented it.

Whether this will came to the knowledge of the relations my
information of the affairs of the family does not permit me to say.

* However, it is certain that by indenture 24th March 1789 Thomas

326 Broughton Gifford.

Horton, utterly ignoring the Breretons and the will, positively
conveyed all his estates to Elizabeth Blanche and Eleanor Roberts
(his two sisters) and their descendants. On 1st October 1746, by
virtue of a writ de lunatico inquirendo, Thomas Horton was found
a lunatic, and the custody of his person given to Eleanor Roberts,
of his estates to Richard Roberts and William Blanche (the husbands
of the two sisters). Thomas Horton died December 1755. Ad-
ministration of his goods and personal estate was granted to the
Blanches and Roberts.

Thereupon Richard Brereton and his two sisters, Michaelmas term,
1756, filed a bill in chancery against them, served ejectments for
the recovery of the real estates, and instituted a suit for the recall
of the letters of administration, and to prove the will of 1735. To
prevent expensive litigation, all the parties interested entered into
an agreement, Michaelmas 1758, to divide the real estates into
three parts, one for John Roberts son and heir of Eleanor, another
for William Blanche son and heir of Elizabeth, another for
Richard Brereton. No doubt this was a prudent measure on all
sides; for, though unquestionably the indenture of 1739 cancelled
the will of 1735, a question would have arisen as to the mental capa-
city of Thomas Horton to execute the deed (he seems to have been
hardly sane four years before). This question would have been
submitted to a jury, the evidence might have been very embarrassing,
and the verdict very doubtful: it was good policy then for the blood
relatives to sacrifice one third, rather than risk all.

An Act of Parliament, 1763, gave the compromise the security
of law, “freeing, discharging, exonerating the estates of the said
Thomas Horton from and against the uses, trusts, debts, annuities,
legacies, devises, limitations, and incumbrances,” contained in the
unhappy owner’s inconsistent and irreconcileable provisions. Com-
missioners were appointed to divide the property into three lots.
Lot 1, comprehending the manor of Broughton Gifford, the chief
rents, the royalties and appurtenances, what we now call Church
farm, the farm on the Common, with various smaller pieces, and
tenements, and 24 acres of wood, was selected by John Roberts,
and is now the property of Lord Broughton. Lot 2, comprehend-

a

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 327

ing what we call Mill Farm, Broadmead, and various smaller
pieces, with the house at Wotton, and 25 acres of wood, was selected
by Richard Brereton. Mill Farm is now the property of Walter
Long, Esq. Lot 3, the Gloucestershire property, was selected by
William Blanche. The value of the whole was £24,405 6s. 5d.
This was the property owned by Sir John Horton, but he had
more: he had conveyed to his son William a house and some lands
which afterwards came into the hands of Sir Benjamin Hobhouse
by purchase from the Williamses of Neath. Nor was it the whole
property originally attached to the manor. The freeholders were
up to the middle of the 17th century, very few, four or five, and
those owning little: but the Longs then sold off considerable por-
tions to the Hardings.
By Indenture 29th and 80th Dec. 1789, the Rev. William Hay-
ward Roberts, D.D., Provost of Eton, (nephew of the last Thomas
. Horton), the Rev. John Hallam, D.D., Dean of Bristol and Eleanor
his wife (sister to the Provost), and Elizabeth Roberts, spinster
(another sister), conveyed Lot 1 to Benjamin Hobhouse, Esq., a
Baronet in 1812, for £11500. 1792, Mr. Hobhouse made another
small purchase from the Williamses of Neath (descendants of Sir
John Horton through his son William), and this completed the
property held by Sir Benjamin in this parish. Sir Benjamin after-
“wards resided at Cottles House near Broughton. His name is even

_ -now held in grateful remembrance by some of the aged poor here,

for his personal attention to their tales of distress, for his alms
and good deeds among them, and, what was more valued, for his
kind word of sympathy, in those times of difficulty and scarcity.
His son, the Rt. Hon. Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Bart., took his
title of Baron Broughton from his manor here in 1851.

Monkton Manor.

At the time of the Domesday survey, we have already seen that
this Manor, then known by no distinctive name, was in the hands
(as I conjecture) of the ancient Saxon proprietor, Rainburgis.

We soon find it owned by Mbertus de Chat. Who was he?

The second Humphrey de Bohun, surnamed the great, the son

328 Broughton Gifford.

of Humphrey cum barbd, who was a kinsman of the Conqueror,
founded 1125 the priory of Farleigh, on the eastern slope of Kings-
down, within easy distance and sight of Broughton, whose brook
flows down the hill side from its source in the Monks well at Far-
leigh.

In modern times a rabbit warren came to be formed over the
site of the ancient priory of Farleigh. In 1744 Lord Webb Sey-
mour, the then lessee of the property, under the Bishop of Salis-
bury, making some excavations for building purposes, laid open
the pavement of the Chancel of the priory Church, where several
grave stones and skeletons were disclosed. Of the former, the
most remarkable was an altar tomb which was transferred to the
refectory of Lacock Abbey, where it may now be seen and the
following inscription read: ‘“ Hic jacet Iibertus de Chat bonitate re-
Jertus, qui cum Brotond dedit hic perplurima dona.” ‘“ Here lies
Ilbert de Chat, a man of great goodness, who bestowed on us
Broughton and very many other gifts.” The form of the inscrip-
tion is so singular, that it has been represented in fac-simile. A
practice prevalent in the decline of the Roman empire is here
rudely and clumsily imitated. Within such letters as afford com-
partments fitted for the purpose, other letters immediately following
are inclosed in small. Thus, in the top and bottom compartments of
the capital H, are small i and c, making up the word hic. The en-
graver does not seem to have pre-calculated his distances well, or to
have worked after a pattern. The five first words having been given
pretty fully, he seems to have become aware that his space was con-
tracting alarmingly faster than his words. He had arrived at nearly
the middle of his stone, having disposed of no more than 22 letters
out of 73. Accordingly the four following words, bonitate refertus, qué
eum, are marvels of cramming. Brotond is fuller, as well it might
be, seeing it was the seat of the benefaction and the origin of the
monument. What follows to the end is very concise. The length
of the inscription is 4ft. 9in. The heights of the letters gradually
decrease from left to right, running parallel to the coffin like the
shape of the stone ; so that the firstestroke of the H is six inches
high, but the last D is only three and a half inches. In time this

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 329

puzzling involution of the letters seems to have rendered the
inscription no longer legible. The Monks therefore repeated it
round the head! and right side margins of the stone, almost in full,
in Lombardic characters. The interval of time between the original
and the copy would seem to be 200 years. Mr. Bowles in his
History of Lacock (or rather Mr. Nichols, who did all the real
work in the book) is of opinion, that the name of the person com-
memorated is different in the two inscriptions. He supposes it Z
in the original, and T in the copy. Careful examination leads me
to the conclusion that it is T in both, and that the apparent differ-
ence in the original inscription solely arises from a slip of the tool
{probably owing to the grain of the stone and the unskilfulness of
the artist) in forming the lower part of the letter.

Humphrey and Margaret de Bohun’s confirmation charter to
Farleigh, to which Ilbertus de Chat is himself the first witness,
set forth his “perplurima dona,” so justly commemorated in the
epitaph. This charter also makes Ilbertus a contemporary with,
and feudatory of Humfrey de Bohun, the second founder of Monk-
ton Farleigh, and shows the date of this very ancient and curious
monument to be about the latter half of the 12th century. His
description de Chat he derived from a town in Normandy, near
Carentan.

The next notice we have of this property is in the Testa de Ne-
vill or Liber feodorum,® about the middle of the 13th century. ‘The
Prior of Ferley holds in Little Brocton a knight’s fee of the Earl
of Sarum: and the Earl, of the King, of the honour? of Trowbridge.”
Little Broughton is clearly the very appropriate name of Ilbertus’

1 The letters, Hic Jacet Ilbe, are now in the same straight line with the rest
_ of the inscription, but their original position was clearly at the head; where
they could, from the deep shade in which that part of the tomb lies at Lacock,
have hardly been decyphered. ‘There does not seem to have been any other
displacement. The left side of the tomb is against the wall, as, from the absence
of any inscription there, it probably was at Farleigh.

2p, 138.

*« The seignory [of a lord superior, or lord paramount, who granted smaller
manors to be holden of them] is frequently termed a honour, not a manor,
especially if it hath belonged to an ancient feodal baron, or hath been at any
_ time in the hands of the Crown.” Blackstone’s Commentaries. Vol ii. p. 90.

330 Broughton Gifford.

gift, which he does not appear to have held, as Rainburgis before
him, under the King in chief, but under Humphrey de Bohbun,
whose feudatory by some means he became. But whence the
connection with the Earl of Sarum and the honour of Trowbridge?
Edward of Salisbury, Vice Comes of Wilts and the owner of 38
manors there at the time of Domesday, had a daughter Matilda,
who conveyed to her husband, Humfrey de Bohun, the founder
together with herself of Farleigh, several manors, and Trowbridge
among them.! When therefore Ilbertus de Chat gave to the same
establishment his Little Broughton property, the military obliga-
tions under which he held it of Matilda’s son were transferred to
the Prior, and were discharged by the latter under the Earl of
Sarum as mesne lord.

The long and peaceful rule of the Farleigh monks at Little
Broughton affords few topics for our narrative. Though they were
decidedly not poor, their annals are short and simple. “Happy are
the people whose history is a vacancy.” They soon so identified
themselves with the spot, that it came to be called after them
Monkton (the Monks’ residence), which name they also gave to
their principal seat at Farleigh, and to another good estate they
had higher up on the banks of the Avon near Chippenham. Still,
in this uneventful halcyon period, we have notices of them in the
two following valuations, the first of the land, the second of the
live and dead stock. ‘Full survey of the Manor of the Prior of
Farley of Brotton, taken the Friday next after the Feast of the
Nativity of the B. V. Mary, 22 Edward I. [10th September 1294]
by a Jury of 12: viz., William Atteworth, Stephen Atte Slade’?
and others, who say that the profits of the court [meaning probably
the farm premises, the court-yard], with garden and dovehouse, are
worth 1 mark per annum. Item, rents of assize 14s. Pleas, fees,
and fines of land half a mark per annum. Item, in customary
labour of villains [hawling, haymaking, &c., in lieu of money pay-

1 Ex chronicis Abb. de Lanthoni, Dugdale’s Monasticon. Vol, ii. p. 67.

2 These, like so many other sirnames, are derived from residence, William
Atteworth (Wm. at the Worth or farm), Stephen Atte Slade (Stephen at the
Slade, or valley). Similarly we have Wm. and John Attegrene (at the Green),
Thos. Atte Halle, John Atte Brigge, Wm. de la Mareys (of the Marsh).

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 331

ments], not reckoning festivals 36s. per annum. ° Item, there are
1624 acres of Arable, worth 6d. per acre. Sum £4 ls. 3d. Item,
30 acres of meadow, worth 2s. per acre per annum. Sum £3.
Item, the pasture [quantity not given] is worth 18s. per annum.
Sum total £11 9s. 3d.” “Inventory of goods in the Manor of the
Prior aforesaid at Brouton, as valued by a Jury of 12 men: viz.,
by William of Atteworth, John Atte Slade, Roger de Berlaye,
John de Mortelaye, John de Wolock, Simon le Jonge, John de
Grenhull, Hugh Cook, Henry le Frie, Walter Gore, Walter Seli-
man, and Robert le Jonge,! viz., 1 plough-horse (or bullock) worth
6s.; 17 oxen 6s. 8d. each, sum £5 13s. 4d., 1 bull worth 6s. 8d.; 7
cows ds. each, sum £1 15s.; 6 young oxen 2s. 6d. each, sum lds. ; 7
calves 10d. each, sum 5s. 10d.; 17 hoggets [ weaned lambs | 7d. each,
sum 9s. 11d.; 2 waggons 8s.; 2 carts 2s.; 30 quarters of wheat at ds.
sum £7 10s.; 17 quarters of barley at 3s., sum £2 11s.; 6 quarters
of beans at 3s. 4d., sum 20s.; 40 quarters of oats at 1s. 4d., sum £2
13s. 4d.; hay £3. Sum total £26 16s. 1d.’

In the valuation of Pope Nicholas 1292, which determined the
taxation of all benefices till the survey made the 26th of Henry
VIII., Monkton is assessed at £5 14s. 10d. The gross value at
that time was, as appears by the first of the above two valuations,
£11 9s. 3d.

In the 17 Henry VIII. 1525, when John Stone was Prior, a

computation was made of the Priory of Farleigh, wherein are the
entries :

Els HL
“Monketon in Broughton. Site of the Manor ..10 0 0
Ditto at, Tenements there 2 4 0

Ditto ae Meadow called Chaldmede .. 1 6 8”

1 Of these sirnames there are derived, from residence, Roger de Berleye (bere-
ley, the barley ground), John de Mortleye (magwort-ley, the thyme ground),
John de Wolock (wold-loc, the enclosure in the plain), John de Grenhull (Green
hill, from hilan, Sax: to cover); from occupation, Walter Gore (Walter who
lived on the strip of land), Walter Seliman (the seller or vender, from syllan,
Sax: fo sell), Hugh Cook and Henry le Frie (the artist, and the savoury result
_ of his skill) are certainly well assorted; from personal characteristics, Robert
le Yonge (younger).

? Dugdale’s Monasticon,

332 Broughton Gifford.

If tenements mean dwelling houses other than the farm house,
there are now none on the Manor. Chaldmede is Challymead, as
we now call it. I do not imagine it was ever part of the Monkton
estate, but merely held by the Prior at this time. It does not occur
in the next survey. In the Valor Ecclesiasticus, or great survey
26 of Henry VIII. 1535, we have:

“The Manor of Monketon juxta Broughton worth per annum

Se ey jd
In rents and farm <s 4 ae ss, ROME HD
In perquisites of court on an average .. oink SO ane Te

Total mg £12, 7, arB

These figures are not without interest, in a comparison of the
past with the present. Out of the 220 acres which the estate is
now, and then too most probably was, there were then 1623 arable,
now there are only 15. The meadow was worth four times as much
as the arable; a proportion, to which the excellence of the grass
there, and the general excess of arable over pasture, together with
the difficulty of transporting grain and want of markets, contributed.
There were many oxen for team work, now there are none. The
values at that time, of different descriptions of corn, compared with
each other, do not vary much from what they are now. But, while
the value of corn generally has increased about ten times, that of
the land has increased, the meadow twenty times, the arable eighty.
The cattle and implements (which cannot be all given, for there
are none to work the ground) can hardly be compared with present
values, as so much depends on their condition. But supposing
the average to be taken, the price of cattle has increased sixty
fold.

But the chief interest attaching to these extracts, arises from the
proof they give of the holding of a court here, and of the active
exercise of his authority by the Prior, as Lord of the manor, of
Monkton. In modern times the occupiers of the estate have done —
suit and service at the court of the Lord of the manor of Broughton, —
and the exercise of separate manorial rights by the proprietor of

1Tbid. Here the rents of the tenements are added to that of the land.

{
!

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 333

Monkton (he is never called a lord) is obsolete. The monks, how-
ever, acknowledged no such superiority on the part of their larger
neighbour. They asserted their independent rights by holding a
court of their own, in which their steward no doubt adjudicated on
such cases as fell within their jurisdiction (which was bounded by
their territory), the penalty being generally a fine; and where the
smaller occupiers paid their rent. This manor formerly had many
who held under it. The value of their holdings appears by the sur-
veys of 1525 and 1535 to have been more than one fifth of that of the
land, £2 4s. to £10. Now there are no small tenants (there are no
messuages other than the manor house), whereas Broughton manor
hasmany. This circumstance (the payment of these rents being the
chief business transacted, since these local jurisdictions were swept
away in the civil wars of the 17th century) sufficiently accounts
for the decay of the Monkton, and the activity of the Broughton
court. Blackstone even goes so far as to say, that “a court for
redressing misdemeanors and nuisances within the manor, and for
settling disputes of property among the tenants, is an inseparable
ingredient of every manor; and if the number of suitors should so
fail as not to leave sufficient to make a jury or homage, that is, two
tenants at least, the manor itself is lost.’”!

“Monketon Farley,’ says Leland in his itinerary, “among other
thynges was a late gyven to the Earl of Hertford.” The “a late”
was 1537, when our Monkton, as part of the Abbey lands, was
granted to him, who was afterwards Lord Protector, Duke of
Somerset. There is a patent, 1582, confirming to Edward Earl of
Hertford, amongst other lands, the manor of “Monketon juxta
Broughton.” The confirmation was very necessary. The Protector
Somerset had sons by both his wives, Catherine Filiol and Anne
Stanhope. But after his attainder and execution, his widow, the

1 Blackstone’s Commentaries vol. ii. p. 90.
*In a note to the pedigree of Long by Charles Edward Long, Esq., it is said,
that ‘‘ Monkton was held by Michael Quinton under Sir Henry Long of Draycot -
who purchased the lease of William Millin who held under the Prior of Monkton

Parley. Sold by Sir Henry Long to Sir John Thynne, and by him to Henry
Long of Whaddon, Father of Edward. Temp. Philip and Mary.” ‘This is not

reconcilable with my authorities, which are the title deeds of the property.

334 Broughton Gifford.

haughty and handsome Anne Stanhope, by her misrepresentations
that her predecessor Catherine Filiol was unfaithful to the Duke,
and by interest, procured the transfer of the Protector’s lands and
titles, from the rightful heirs by the first marriage, to her own issue ;
with whose descendants they continued for nearly two centuries,
before they reverted to the heirs by Catherine Filiol. The Edward
mentioned in the patent was the eldest son of Anne Stanhope.
His life had some curious incidents. He was thrice married ; first
to Catherine Grey (sister of Lady Jane) without the Queen’s
license. For this rash act of his youth he languished in the Tower
eight or nine years, paid a fine of £15,000 to secure his titles,
estates, and liberty, and was excluded from the court during a long
and loyal life. His two other wives were both Howards, and by
them he had no issue. As his mother lived to be ninety, so he to be
eighty three, and, dying 1621, lies buried under a gorgeous monu-
ment at the east end of the South Aisle in Salisbury Cathedral,
after witnessing the deaths of three generations of his descendants,
and the committal of his grandson William to the Tower for the
same amiable imprudence as he himself had been guilty of, and for
which he had been similarly punished. This Earl Hertford leased
Monkton to Edward Long, 2nd July, 1600, for the lives of the
lessee (who seems to have occupied it previously), and his two sons
Edward and John. In 15th May, 1615, Earl Hertford and “ EKd-
ward Seymour, Esq., commonly called Lord Beauchamp” conveyed
the fee simple of Monkton to Edward Long and his heirs. This
Edward Seymour, Esq., was the grandson, and at the time the heir
apparent (which explains his joining in the conveyance), though,
as after events proved, not the actual successor of the old Earl.
The latter’s two eldest sons (both named Edward) died before him,
the first unmarried, but the second left three sons, Edward, Wil-
liam, and Francis. This Edward is the one mentioned in the
conveyance. He too married and had a son, but both father and
son died before the old Earl, who thus witnessed the deaths of his
‘son, grandson, and great-grandson, and was succeeded by William
the grandson of Catherine Grey, committed in early youth, for his
marriage with Arabella Stuart, to the Tower by James I., but

ee ae

aio?

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 335

afterwards the loyal General and trusty counsellor of the two
Charleses, Father and Son, who made him successively Marquis of
Hertford in 1640, and Duke of Somerset in 1660. Thus terminated
the connection of the House of Seymour with our parish.

The sum paid by Edward Long for the “manor of Monkton alias
Monketon juxta Broughton and all messuages, &c., thereto belonging
within the villages, parishes, hamlets, or fields of Monkton,
Broughton Gifford, and Melksham,” was £2100. The sum was
small, but Edward Long bought the reversion only, and there was
a jointure carved out of the property for ‘“‘Lady Jane wife of Edward
Beauchamp.” Attached to the deed (which exists in duplicate, one
copy among the Monkton, the other among the Hinton House
documents) is a handsome seal with the Seymour arms, and Lord
Hertford’s signature in most formal characters, an inch long. The
estimated extent of the lands is 228 acres, nearly corresponding to
the existing measurement, 220, the difference being probably a
mere inaccuracy of early times. This estate seems to have held
together, whereas Broughton was much cut up. The purchaser,
Edward Long, was the second son of Sir Henry Long and Mary
Horton, and together with his wife Anne Brounker was buried
here.

A decree in Chancery, 7 May 1599, gives an insight into Edward
Long’s character. Henry Brounker, son of Sir William, agreed to
sell Edward Long (his aunt’s husband) 60 acres of Broughton
wood, but. made no legal conveyance of the same, not being at that
time ina position to do so. Edward Long offered to sell, and did sell
the wood to Sir William Eyre of Chalfield, whose property it joined,
for £700. £100 was to be paid immediately, £200 placed in Sir
Walter Hungerford’s hands, and £400 to be forthcoming by the
following Christmas. Sir William without delay tendered Edward
Long the £100. But “ Edward Long willed Sir William Eyre to
make stay thereof, till Friday, because he was at that time to ryde
to Wayhyll fayer, and therefore had no convenient time to receive
the same. Sir William also paid £200 to Sir Walter Hungerford,
and borrowed £400 for the final payment. But, though he was so
ready to complete his share of the contract, Edward Long, thinking

336 Broughton Gifford.

to make a greater benefit thereof, refused and denyed the bargain
and to that end confederating with Henry Brounker wylled him
to give out in speech that there was no contract for the wood
between himself and Edward Long, or, if there were, it was
conditional and upon trust to be realised to Henry Brounker,
whereas it was in truth absolute, as Henry Brounker hath since
confessed; and upon this confederacy Henry Brounker and Edward
Long went about to cause conveyance to be made of this wood to
some persons on trust for their use and for the children of Edward
Long, and so to defraud Sir William Eyre as well of his bargain
as of the sum he had already paid. Whereupon, certain proceedings
were taken in Chancery, when reference was agreed on to Sir John
Popham, Knight, Lord Chief Justice ;! who suggested one of two
alternatives, either a trial at common law as to the agreement,
which course the defendant (Edward Long) disliked; or secondly,
that half the wood in question, next adjoining Sir William Eyre’s
ground (wherein value and not quantity should be respected),
might be assured to Sir William Eyre for half the price agreed on
for the whole: for that Sir William Eyre took some hurt by the
bankes of this wood near his warren, and that he wanted wood
also; and that the other half should be conveyed to Brounker, in
respect that he too wanted wood to his house. To which motion
Sir William Eyre agreed, but Edward Long referred to Brounker,
who refused to assent, and desired that the same might be referred
to the court. Then it was ordered, that if defendants should not
accept one of these suggestions, then this court intended not that
the Chief Justice’s trouble should be spent in vain, through defen-
dants’ obstinacy; but that order should be given for the end of
the cause according to one of the suggestions. Then it appeared
that Edward Long elected a trial at common law upon the said
agreement: in which trial, verdict was given for the plaintiff, and

1 He was probably induced to exercise his good offices from his connection
with Lady Jane Horton. His name frequently occurs in the Broughton deeds,
where the Hortons are concerned. He seems never to have declined trouble,
where he could be of use. He was a great agricultural improver. He procured
an Act for draining the fens of the Isle of Ely and the lands in adjacent coun-
ties, During his life he carried on the work with great spirit.

ee ee ee

ea

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 337

it was then ordered that a decree should issue accordingly for
plaintiff, unless good cause were shown to the contrary.” The
result was that Edward Long was compelled, nolens volens, to
divide the wood according to the Chief Justice’s second suggestion,
and condemned to pay £30 towards the costs of the suit.

We next find Edward Long, in a public capacity, as one of the
Justices, corresponding with Lord Hertford, the Lord Lieutenant,
respecting the salary of Nicholas Stanter, the muster-master of
the trained bands. The Justices had in 1607 settled the salary of
that officer, at a contribution of four pence by every “armour”
(armed man). This was ‘“‘essayed to be effected, but much of it
was not only neglected and not at all paid, but it is also found to
be, by reason of such slow collection, a stop and hindrance to the
execution and advancement of the said service.”” The Lord Lieute-
nant therefore entreats, that some course may be adopted to make
the muster-master “more assured of his means henceforth.” Ed-
ward Long and his fellows accordingly at the Marlborough Sessions
2nd October, 1611, profess themselves ‘very inclinable to satisfy
his Lordship’s desire for the payment of £40 yearly.” But as to
“certainty of payment thereof,” they ask for time “to treat with
the county on that behalf,” offering their ‘“ best endeavours with
all convenient speed.” With this ‘Promise to pay,” endorsed,
“We wish you may get it,” poor Nicholas was, as far as appears,
obliged to be content. Edward Long was one of those that lent
money to the King, James I., on privy seals. He was one of six,
each of whom gave 100 nobles, £33 6s. 8d. There were only five
families in the county who gave more, and their contribution was
double.!

Edward Long had two sons, who were connected with Monkton.
Edward who lived there, and dying without issue was succeeded
by his brother John. This last made an addition to the manor
house on the eastern side, and has fixed the date, 1647, in the north
gable. At the same time also the whole house was, as appears, re-
roofed and extensively repaired, within and without. The stair-
cease and a chimney piece in the west bedroom may be of this date.

Wilts Archeological Magazine vol, ii, p. 181 &e.

338 Broughton Gifford.

A chimney piece in the east bedroom is much older, the design
being very different and more deeply cut. It looks like a portion
of an old altar tomb, and may have come from Monkton Farleigh
Priory in the Seymours’ time. It is too old for any house, of
which there is any record here. It is to be hoped that John Long
completed and paid for his improvements before 1649 and 1650.
In those years he was a “delinquent” and his estate sequestered.
He is styled “late of Haw,”’ in allusion to an estate which he oe-
cupied in the parish of Bradford.

John Long was succeeded by ‘his son Thomas, who married
Margery Hungerford. An alliance with this distinguished house
involved a handsome jointure. Accordingly, the bridegroom elect
settled on the lady lands both in Monkton and Broughton. The
names, given in the deed to many of the Monkton fields, still re-
main—Amble croft, Goosehams or Cookshams, the Home piece and
mead, Michel? mead (now correctly rendered, Great mead). The
Butt (archery ground) is no longer to be traced. Name and thing
have passed away.

The estate continued in the Long family till 10th May, 1669,
when it was sold by Thomas Long to Sir James Thynne of Long-
leat. Margery, the wife of Thomas, joined in the conveyance of
the property. Thomas Long appears to have rented the property
till Lady-day 1671, at a rent of £260. By adeed of September,
1671, Thomas Thynne of Longleat mortgages the property to
John Hall of Bradford, and William Thynne of Longleat appears
as the occupier. The Thynnes have left their mark on the house.
The outer south door still bears their arms and motto. Thomas
Thynne’s tastes and habits were expensive. “Tom of ten thou-

1T state this on the authority of Mr. C. E. Long’s Pedigree of Long. But I
must add, that searches in the State Paper Office (Mr. Long’s authority) show
no other John Long, as a delinquent, but him of Kelloways.

2 Michel or Mitchell, Anglo-Saxon Muchel (big), Scottice Muckle.

3 Among the Harding deeds there exists a conveyance, dated 21st January
1674, by Thomas Long of Rowden (where he afterwards resided) and Margery
his wife, to John Harding of Charterhouse Hinton, of the Manor of Monkton
near Broughton, with all its rights, members, and appurtenances, for £1221.
What can this mean? How can it be reconciled with the previous sale to the
Thynnes in 1669 ?

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 339

sand” he was called from the annual value of his estates. But his
plantations and roads, his additions to Longleat, his preparations
for the bride who never came, his hospitable treats, which Dryden
has immortalised in Absalom and Achitophcl,! his political ex-
penses, his partisanship of the Duke of Monmouth’s popular but
most costly pretensions; induced early application to money lenders.
A year only after coming into his fine estate, we find him, not yet
indeed in the hands of the Jews, but of a good Christian, his kins-
man John Hall of Bradford, who had married his sister Elizabeth.
In 1670, when Tom became “‘of ten thousand,” John Hall became
Sheriff of Wilts; and, though that office is calculated to diminish
the holder’s means, we find him purchasing large additions to his
ancestral acres, and lending his ready cash on the excellent security
of the broad meadows of Monkton.

Thomas Thynne was murdered in Piccadilly, at the instigation
of Count Koningsmark, in February 1682, and John Hall was
named executor of his will, by which the equity of redemption of
the Monkton property passed to John Hall and John Keen of Lin-
coln’s Inn, who subsequently released his interest to John Hall.
This last at his death, in 1711, left one daughter Elizabeth, the
wife of Thomas Baynton, Esq., of Chalfield. The only child of
Mr. and Mrs. Baynton was Rachel Baynton, 16 years old, and ap-
parently unmarried, at the date of her grandfather’s death. By

1 “The crowd that still believe their kings oppress,
With lifted hands their young Messiah bless ;
Who now begins his progress to ordain
With chariots, horsemen, and a num’rous train ;
From East to West his glories he displays,

And, like the sun, the promised land surveys.
Fame runs before him as the morning star,
And shouts of joy salute him from afar :

Each house receives him as a guardian god,
And consecrates the place of his abode.

But hospitable treats did most commend
Wise Issachar, his wealthy western friend.”

Tom was ‘‘ Issachar” because he was ‘‘a strong ass couching down between
two burdens, and bowed his shoulder to bear and became a servant unto tribute.”
But why ‘“‘wise”? It can hardly be for mere alliteration’s sake, And yet, as far
as we know of Tom, he was rather wealthy than wise.

340 Broughton Gifford.

his will, 20th September, 1708, he devised all his lands to trustees,
on trust for Rachel Baynton during her life, and then to her heirs
male successively. The grand-daughter and sole heiress of John
Hall married the Hon. William Pierrepoint, only son and heir of
Evelyn Pierrepoint then Marquis of Dorchester, and afterwards
first Duke of Kingston. The young husband died 1718 at the age
of 21, the young widow followed him 1722 at the age of 27. They
left one boy, Evelyn the second and last Duke of Kingston.’ The
tastes and fortunes of this nobleman were in some respects not un-
like those of his great granduncle, Thomas Thynne. Both were
spendthrifts, both diminished their paternal inheritances, both
drew blanks, and worse than blanks, in the marriage lottery, both
had wives who were no wives, the Lady Ogle never saw Thomas
Thynne after the marriage ceremony, the Countess of Bristol was
guilty of bigamy in marrying the Duke of Kingston: both died
shortly after marriage, Thomas Thynne within two years, Evelyn
Pierrepoint within four: the tongues of men were busy with the
reputations of the wives of both, Swift called Lady Ogle an “assas-
sin” in some unscrupulous verses,” and it is probably no scandal that
the imprudent eccentricities of the Duchess of Kingston did not
tend to prolong the declining years of the last of that house. They
were unlike in this: Thomas Thynne married a fine lady from mo-
tives of self interest, the Duke of Kingston married for love one,
who hardly, from her indelicate adventures, could be called a lady;
the difference continued to the end, the widow of the one had no-
thing, the widow of the other, under one or other of the aliases by

1 My account of Thomas Thynne and the Hall family is derived from Canon
Jackson’s admirable papers on Longleat and Kingston House, published in the
Wilts Archeological Magazine.
2 The lady was originally a Percy, she happened to have red hair, she ulti-
mately became Duchess of Somerset.
‘And, dear England, if ought I understand,
Beware of carrots from Northumberland.
Carrots sown Thynn a deep root may get,
If so they be in Somer-set:
Their Cunnings-mark thou: for I have been told,
They assassin when young, and poison when old.”
Dean Swift’s Windsor Prophecy. Quoted by Canon Jackson.

By the Rev. J. Wilkinson. 341

which she took care to be described in the Duke’s will, inherited
all his land for her life, and every shilling absolutely.

The Duke of Kingston wanting money to buy a wedding dress
for his bride, was advised by his steward, local report says, to sell
his outlying Monkton estate; which accordingly passed by a deed,
March 1768, into the hands of the said steward, Samuel Shering of
Whitemore, in the county of Nottingham, gent. There is a tradi-
tion that the Duke, afterwards hunting in the neighbourhood, ad-
mired the rich meadows, and the picturesque old house by the
broad river bank; and, learning on enquiry that it had been very
lately his own, observed that he never would again sell what he
had never seen. On the death of the new purchaser, in 1780,
Monkton passed to his brother and heir-at-law, John Shering of
Nottingham, Esq., who devised the same in January 1800 to John
Keddle, then of Fordington, afterwards of Hatchlands in Nether-
bury, Dorset, Esq. On the death of John Keddle, in 1844, it
passed to his eldest surviving brother and heir-at-law, Samuel
Shering Keddle of the Elms, Beaminster, Dorset, M.D., the pre-
sent owner.!

(To be continued.)

1 Hanging here, time out of mind, are portraits of Mary Queen of Scots and
Earl Darnley. They seem to be copies, and as works of art are insignificant.
But, considering the connection of the Seymours and Thynnes with Queen
Elizabeth, it is not improbable that the originals were once here, and that these
copies were substituted for them in the Duke of Kingston’s time. Both are in
their ordinary attire, not in state costume. The expression of Mary’s face is
very pensive, as well it might be during her life with Darnley. The beauty is
touching, rather than striking.

842

abradtord-on-Abon.

(Continued from p. 255.)
THE PAROCHIAL CHARITIES.

THe OLtp ALMSHOUSE.

amer<HIS is the oldest of the Charitable Institutions connected
4 2 i with Bradford-on-Avon. No exact account can be given, it
is believed, either of its foundation or its endowment. According
to the ‘ Valor Ecclesiasticus’ (vol i. p. 276) the Rectory of Brad-
ford was chargeable with £3 6s. 8d. per annum for the support of
“twelve poor persons at Bradford, there praying for the Founder
of the Monastery”! at Shaftesbury. This sum would be equal to
at least ¢en times as much in the present day. It is not unlikely that
at the Reformation out of the proceeds of the Manor of Bradford,
which, as being the property of the dissolved Monastery at Shaftes-
bury, then lapsed to the Crown, some provision was made for the
maintenance of a few of those poor persons who had before, from a
similar source, derived their support.

These almshouses are now occupied exclusively by poor women.
This was by no means the case originally. Many entries may be
seen in the Burial Register which prove that poor men also shared
originally in their benefits.2 Moreover there are now but three
recipients of this charity. Originally without doubt, there must
have been more ;—indeed as lately as 1786, as appears from a re-

1 The entry is as follows,—‘‘In elimosina per sustentacionem xii pauperum
apud Bradeford ibidem orantium pro fundatore monasterii.”

* The following extracts from the Register prove the truth of this statement.
It will be observed that the first is of a very early date, no Jong time after the
Reformation :—

1587 Septemb. John Brencke, of the almshouse, buried the 3 day.

1611 Octob. George Blecke of the almshouse, buried the 12 day.

1613 Novemb. John Hurle of the almshouse, Porter, buried the 26 day.
1693 Decemb. Robert Gear of the almshouse, buried the 10 day.

ig EP RD atte centres Sar

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 343

turn made to the House of Commons in that year, there would
seem to have been four alms-women.

When the Charity Commissioners visited Bradford, in 1834,
they enquired into the truth of some traditions that then prevailed,
(as they do to the present day) not only as to the much larger
number who formerly received relief from this source, but as to
there being a chapel, and a chaplain attached to it, who received
£10 as a yearly stipend. They state, as the result of their en-
quiries, that though they could obtain no satisfactory oral or docu-
mentary evidence in proof of the truth of such traditions, yet that
there was every reason to believe ‘that a bell had been taken from
what is described as the chapel, and carried to Winsley Church,
where it is supposed yet to remain.” They also give it as their
opinion that some loads of stone were taken from the Alms-house
premises, about the year 1794, for the purpose of mending the
roads, such a statement having been expressly made to them by
“one George Price, who drove the team on the occasion.”

Though there might be the absence of clear evidence on the sub-
ject, there is every probability that there is more truth in the
traditions of the old people of Bradford than the Charity Commis-
sioners seemed willing to allow. The fact of there being at the
time of the Reformation two Chantry Priests attached to the parish
church, each with a stipend of £10 yearly, may give some little
explanation of part of the tradition, though a mistake may have
been made as to the precise ‘chaplain,’ who received it. Moreover
that there was a chapel is quite clear. Aubrey who wrote two hun-
dred years ago expressly mentions it. It is spoken of also in the
Terrier, which contains an account of the property of the Alms-
house at the beginning of the last century. In a map moreover
of Wiltshire, published in 1773 by Messrs. Andrews and Dury, a
spot is distinctly marked as,—“ The Chapel.”

The only document relating to the original property of the
Alms-house is an ancient parchment writing or terrier, which was
produced, by the then Steward of the Lord of the Manor, before
the Charity Commissioners, in 1834. They give in their report a
complete copy of this document. It is entitled,—“ An account

344 Bradford-on-Avon. [ Charities.

taken the 2nd day of June, 1702, of all the lands belonging to the
old Alms-house, situate in the Parish of Bradford, in the county
of Wilts.” The land belonging to the Alms-house is described as
twelve acres and a half, lying dispersedly in different parts of the
Parish. The rent arising therefrom, together with an annual pay-
ment of 38s. due from the Lord of the Manor, constituted the in-
come of the Charity. :

The Charity Commissioners were further informed that there
was in existence a lease, by which, about the year 1760, Mr. Pow-
lett Wright, as Lord of the Manor of Bradford, demised the lands
above described for the benefit of the Alms-house. The lands were
also said to be let at rack-rent, producing either £8, or (as was
thought more probable) £12 a year.

With reference to the buildings the Charity Commissioners say,—

‘“‘The almshouses occupy a triangle, standing between two roads and the canal
from Bradford to Bath. They consist of three tenements, of one floor each, and

are all under one roof; they are low in the walls, and altogether in bad condi-
tion. Each of the three almswomen occupy one tenement.”

The road, in fact, which was made at the time of the formation
of the Kennet and Avon Canal at a considerable higher level than
the former one, reaches on the east side of the buildings, above the
level of the original window-sills. This necessarily makes all the
tenements extremely damp. It is to be regretted that as the
Kennet and Avon Canal Company, in making their approaches, so
seriously impaired the Alms-houses as places of residence, the more
so, as a wall is built within a few yards of their entrances, they
were not required by the erection of other cottages to secure to
the poor alms-women the comforts they had previously enjoyed.

With regard to the portion of Alms-house property occupied by
the Kennet and Avon Canal Company, to which we have just made
a passing reference, the Commissioners say ;—

o

“The Canal Company by a clause in their Act of Parliament (84 Geo. III.)
were together with the parties interested, authorized to sell and fix the rent of
the land acquired by the Act. In this case an annual rent was fixed for so
much of the almshouse property as was required, and a deed was prepared sta-
ting the nature of the agreements between the Canal Company and the Charity.
This deed, Mr. Clutterbuck, then Steward of the Lord of the Manor, never

-

ni i lille ie etre,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 348

executed. It sets forth, that in consideration of the annual rent of £11, the
alms-house conveyed to the Canal Company land (therein described) to the
extent of nearly three acres. This agreement is executed by the Commissioners
under the Act, and the rent has ever since been regularly paid.”

In the year 1834, P. Methuen, Esq. (soon afterwards created
Lord Methuen) then Lord of the Manor, is stated to have agreed
to grant a lease of the garden opposite to them, and hitherto form-
ing part of their property, to a Gas Company, at the yearly rent
of £10. This lease, however, the Charity Commissioners tell us,
was never executed. They say,—writing at the time of the ne-
gotiation,—

“‘The Company purposes, instead of paying the rent of £10, to erect houses
of a superior order for the alms-women on that part of the premises let to them,
which is not occupied by their own buildings. This proposal it is intended to
accept, as the site of the present alms-houses, from its nearness to the canal,
will let well for stables, and the arrangement will prove very beneficial to the
Charity.”

Like many other good intentions, this one was never carried into
effect. The annual rent of £10 has been paid regularly by the
Gas Company.

In comparing the present possessions of the Alms-house with
those recorded as belonging to it in 1702, it appears that a large
proportion of the land has since then been lost. In a pamphlet re-
cently published, on “The Charities of Bradford-on-Avon,” an
attempt has been made, and not, it is hoped, unsuccessfully, to
identify the various portions of land which belonged to the Alms-
house at the commencement of the last century, but which have
since that time passed into other hands.

The present income of this Charity is rather more than £45 per
annum. ‘Till recently, in consequence of reduction of rent for

premises held under the Alms-house, the income was about £10

more.

In 1786, according to a return furnished pursuant to Act of

Parliament (26 Grorer III. c. 51) by the then Churchwardens,

Messrs. Thomas Bush and Richard Taylor, the property is said to

have been vested in the Lord of the Manor, and to consist of a net

sum of £16 1s. 4d., issuing from rent of land. This return con-
AA

346 Bradford-on- Avon. [ Charities.

firms the truth of an opinion expressed by the Charity Commis-
sioners, in 1834, with regard to the comparatively recent loss of
land once belonging to the Alms-house.
For some years past there have been but ¢hree poor women in
the Alms-house. Their allowance is four shillings weekly. __
With regard to the management of the Alms-house the Com-
missioners state, as the result of information given them in 1834,—

‘‘The nomination of the Almshouse has invariably been made by the Steward
of the Lord of the Manor, (who is at present Paul Methuen, Esq., of Corsham
House,) in behalf of the Lord. The Lord considers that no limitation is imposed
on his choice of the Almswomen; but in practice it has always been confined to
women of the parish not receiving parish relief. In all other respects it is en-
tirely in the discretion of the Lord of the Manor, or his Steward.”

There seems to be some reason to question the correctness of
this last statement. For many years past, at all events since 1821,
when Mr. Clutterbuck died, there appear to have been no legal
Trustees of the property belonging to this Charity. In a deed
dated 1789, to which allusion has been already made, Mr. Clutter-
buck is described as ‘the sole surviving Trustee appointed for the
management of the estate belonging to the Aims-house.’ We have
failed to discover any subsequent appointment of Trustees by com-
petent authority.

Tur Onp Men’s ALMS-HOUSEs.

These Alms-houses were founded by John Hall Esq., at the
commencement of the last century. The date in front of the
buildings is a.p. 1700. During his life-time he seems to have
himself provided for the inmates, and by his will, dated 10th Sept.
1708, he charged a portion of his estates with the annual payment
of £40, for the support of the fowr persons who from time to time,
might be appointed to the Alms-houses.

The Charity Commissioners give the following account of the
steps taken by the Duke of Kingston, the descendant of the Founder
of this Charity, and the inheritor of his estates, to carry into effect
his wishes respecting it.

“By a deed, dated 25th July, 1735, in which it is first of all recited that John

Hall of Bradford, by his will dated as above, desired certain Trustees therein
named, to settle £40 clear of all taxes, to be yearly, for ever, charged upon his

the £40 is paid to the Alms-people.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 347

farm called Paxcroft, for the maintenance of four poor men in the Alms-house,
which he had then lately founded at Bradford, for whom such gowns should be
provided as, and as often, as his Trustees should appoint, out of the said yearly
sum; and after such gowns provided, and the said Alms-house from time to
time repaired, the residue of the said £40 should be equally divided between the
four Almsmen, and paid unto them monthly;—it is witnessed, that, Evelyn,
Duke of Kingston, conveyed to certain Trustees the capital messuage or mansion
house of Paxcroft, and the. closes or parcels of land therein particularly de-
scribed, lying in the parish of Steeple Ashton, to the use, intent, and purpose,
that the said Trustees therein named, and their heirs, should for ever pay the
annual sum of £40, according to the will of the said John Hall, free of all de-
ductions, to be paid equally at Lady-day and Michaelmas, with power to
distrain, in case the rent charge should be in arrear 21 days, and in case of
need, of re-entry. The deed further provides that the government, regulation
and management of the Alms-house should at all times hereafter be vested in,
and the poor men be placed in the Alms-house, from time to time, as any
vacancy should happen, by the owner of the capital Messuage or Mansion
House, late of the said John Hall, in or near Bradford aforesaid, for the time
being, for ever. It is provided further, that when the trustees are by death
reduced to five, the survivors or majority of them should choose other persons of
good repute, residing in the county of Wilts, whereof the Vicar of Bradford to
be always one, to act along with them in the trusts.

‘The property, subject to the rent charge of £40, now belongs to Earl Man-
vers, and consists of a farm of about 100 acres, a small part of which is in the
parish of Steeple Ashton, and the remainder in the parishes of Semington and
Hilperton, in the county of Wilts. The £40 has been regularly paid out of the

_ rent for the benefit of the Charity.”

The Alms-houses are in good repair. They consist of four tene-
ments, each containing a room below, and a room above, with a small
garden at the back, divided into four plots. There are four poor
men in the Alms-houses: each of them receives a weekly allow-
ance: each man also receives a coat every two years, and a pair of
shoes yearly.

The right of patronage and nomination of and to the Alms-
house, was specially reserved to Lord Manvers when he disposed
of the Mansion House, (in 1802,) in the owner whereof, for the
time being, the government and management of the Alms-house
had been previously vested, in strict accordance with the Founder’s
will. Since that time, the Alms-men have been usually nomi-
nated by the agent of Lord Manvers.

After providing for the repairs of the Alms-house, and clothing,
as directed in the deed above stated, the whole of the surplus of

Kase

348 Bradford-on- Avon. [ Charities.

Curti’s ‘CHariry.

This Charity was founded by the will of John Curll, Esq., of
Turley, who served the office of High Sheriff of Wiltshire, in the
year A.p. 1699.

By the will above alluded to, which bears date Dec. 28th, 1703,
he desires certain Trustees therein named, to whom he bequeaths
for the purpose an estate at Chirton, near Devizes, to permit and suf-
fer the Vicar of the Parish Church of Bradford, for the time being,
and the Rector of the Parish Church of Freshford, in the county of
Somerset, for the time being, to receive and take the rents, issues,
and profits of the said farm, and out of the same yearly and every
year, in the Parish Church of Bradford aforesaid, and at the feast
of St. Thomas the Apostle, to pay unto the Minister of Chirton,
and his successors for the time being, the yearly sum of forty shil-
lings of lawful money of England ;—and to pay and distribute the
sum of thirty pounds to and between one hundred and twenty of
such poor persons of the Borough of Bradford, and Tithing of
Winsley, Leigh and Woolley, in the Parish of Bradford aforesaid
who have, or shall have lived by their honest labour, as the Vicar of
Bradford aforesaid, for the time being, shall nominate and appoint,
that is to say, five shillings apiece to every of the said one hundred
and twenty poor persons; and also to pay and distribute the far-
ther sum of fifteen pounds to and between thirty of such poor per-
sons of the Parish of Freshford, who have, or shall have, lived by
their honest labour, as the Rector of the same Parish shall from
time to time nominate and appoint, that is to say, ten shillings
apiece to every of the said thirty poor persons.

The will farther directs that the Churchwardens and Overseers
of Bradford, Winsley, Leigh, Woolley, and Freshford, for the time
being, from time to time, take an account thereof, and see the
same paid and distributed, and that the said Churchwardens and
Overseers be assistants to the said Vicar and Rector.

The overplus of the rents of the farm at Chirton are, according to
the will, “‘ from time to time to be and remain to the Vicar of the
Parish of Bradford, and the Rector of the Parish of Freshford, for
the time being, and their successors, to be equally divided between

oe~ Oe

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 349

them, for the proper use and behoof of the said Vicar and Rector
respectively, as an encouragement of their care and pains in their
sacred function.”

This Charity is regularly distributed every Christmas, in strict
conformity with the will of the donor.

Tue Cuarity ScHoot or Free ScuHoot.

In a previous page, when giving an account of the Chautries
connected with the Parish Church, notice was taken of one which
was held on the condition of keeping a Free School at Bradford.
It was possibly on account of this provision, that, at the time of
the Reformation, there was reserved out of the proceeds of the
estates at Bradford, which had formed part of the property of the
Monastery of Shaftesbury, a sum of £10 12s. 7d. per annum, {equal
to at least £100 now,) for the establishment of a School for the
education of our youth. This endowment was afterwards trans-
ferred to Salisbury, the Burgesses of that City pleading with
Queen Elizabeth that Salisbury was a more convenient situation
for such a School, than ‘the upland Town’ of Bradford, with its
scanty population, and limited resort of gentlemen and merchants.
Of the subsequent fate of this endowment we have already given
an account (p. 43). For many years after its withdrawal (a.p.
1559,) we had not, as far as our present information extends, any
provision for the education of the young of any class in Bradford.

Early in the eighteenth century, a.p. 1710, the Rev. John
Rogers was appointed Vicar of this Parish, and he at once set to
work to provide a School for his poorer parishioners. Cox in his
‘Magna Britannia,’ a work written in the early part of the
eighteenth century, says,—‘‘A Charity School was opened at Brad-
ford, Jan. 1712, for sixty-five children, which is much encouraged
by the Minister of the town. There isa benefaction given since of
ten pounds, which is applied to the benefit of the School. There
is another School kept at a Chapel of Ease in this Parish, for ten
children, and supported by a gift of ten pounds per annum, and
twenty shillings for books, which last was intended to provide for
the instruction of all the children within that Tithing; but how it
was changed we know not.”

350 Bradford-on-Avon. [ Charities.

The gifts alluded to in the above extract, are, no doubt, those of
Mr. Francis Smith, and Mrs. Jane Brown, the former of whom pro-
vided for the children of the Borough of Bradford, and the latter
for those of the Tithing of Atworth.

In the year 1715, a building was assigned over to Trustees for
the purposes of a School-house. Of this building we have already
given a full and complete account, it having proved to be an
ancient Church of Pre-Norman date, and, as such, most interesting
to Archeologists. It was conveyed to nine Trustees “ for the term
of 1000 years, without impeachment of waste, paying a pepper-
corn rent, upon trust, that the said Trustees, and the survivors
and survivor of them, their executors, administrators, and assigns,
should keep and use the aforesaid edifice or building, with the
appurtenances, as a Charity School-house, during the term afore-
said, and upon trust, that when the major part of the Trustees
thereby appointed, or of any other Trustees from time to time to be
appointed, should die, the survivors should from time to time assign
over the premises to nine other sufficient persons inhabiting within, or
belonging to the Parish of Bradford, upon the like trusts.”

It would appear that the Premises thus conveyed were put into
repair, and fitted up as a School-house, by means of subscriptions.
On a panel in front of the organ gallery in the Church, the fact is
thus stated ;—

“The Charity-school, with the Schoolmaster’s-house, were given by Mr.
Anthony Methuen, and the fee thereof by the Hon. Lady Paulet, and the Rev.
Mr. Wright. To put them in repair, the Rev. Mr. Rogers applied £35, part of
£50 given by Edward Dike, Clerk, and about £50 more subscribed by different
persons.”

The income of this Charity is derived from the following
sources ;—

I. Smrrn’s Girr.—The account of this gift is recorded on a
board formerly in front of the Chancel Gallery, and now removed
to the Vestry of the Parish Church. The inscription has been
painted over, but is still to be deciphered; it ran as follows ;—

“Mr. Francis Suir gave £250, the interest to be paid the Schoolmaster
for teaching ten Charity children.”

This gift was left by the donor in his will, about the year 1720.

=e ee om,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 351

It defined the objects to be—‘poor children, not receiving alms, and
living within the Borough of Bradford,’ and they were to be taught
‘reading, writing, and arithmetic.’

In the year 1727, it was thought desirable, by the then Trustees
of the School, to invest this portion of their funds in the purchase
of land. They accordingly bought a small estate at Holt, consist-
ing of three closes, containing altogether 94. 3r. 22x. This
estate is still in the possession of the Trustees of this Charity.

The purchase money required for this estate was £288,—£38
more, that is, than the sum bequeathed by Mr. Francis Smith. To
make up this sum the Trustees borrowed the amount required, from
another Charity founded in the year 1698 by William Yerbury,
of Trowbridge, on condition that they should carry out the inten-
tions of the last-named benefactor, “by paying yearly to the Church-
wardens and Overseers of the poor of the Parish of Bradford, the
sum of thirty-eight shillings yearly, to be distributed by them in
Bread, pursuant to the will of the said William Yerbury.”

II. £100 stock. This sum was originally part of the produce
of timber in the Holt estate which was cut down about twenty-five
years ago.

III. Wapman’s Girr. From a board relating to bequests to
the Charity School, now painted over, may be easily deciphered
the following inscription :—

“Mr. Edward Wadman, of Wingfield, gave Two Hundred Pounds.”

With respect to this gift, the Charity Commissioners say :—

‘“‘From two statements relating to the Charity, both of them in the hand-
writing of the Rey. John Rogers, then Vicar of Bradford, one of them bearing
date 1743-4, it appears that Mr. Wadman, of Wingfield, intended to make a
gift of £200 to the School, but having omitted to mention the same in his will,
his executors were so satisfied of such being the testator’s intention, that though
they would not pay the £200, they offered, on being paid £100, to give the
testator’s living at Trowle, and valued at £300, as an equivalent.

“Several of the circumstances mentioned with regard to the gifts to the
School, in Mr. Rogers’s memoranda, do not correspond with the facts set forth
in the deeds hereinbefore mentioned, but enough appears in them to show that
the living at Trowle did actually come into possession of the Charity, and that
the rents and profits of it were for a number of years disposed of by Mr. Rogers
himself, as Vicar of Bradford,—partly for the benefit of the Schoolmaster,—
partly to the Overseers of the Poor,—and partly distributed to the poor them-
selves in bread.

302 _ Bradford-on- Avon. [ Charities.

“‘The Charity, many years ago, lost the living or estate of Trowle, but whe-
ther the lives were suffered to die out, or the owner of the fee refused to renew
them, are points on which we could procure no information; all we could learn
was, that it had ceased to belong to the Charity prior to 1786.”

IV. £226 8s. 1d. Stock. No one is able to explain how this
principal sum arose. The supposition is, that in some way or other
it was the consideration paid for the interest of the Trustees in the
Trowle estate.

V. Srrawsriper’s Girr.—John Strawbridge, of Bradford, by his
will dated 12 March 1805, gave to the Trustees of this School the
sum of £400 Three per Cent Consols, to be transferred to them
immediately after his decease, in trust that they, and the survivors
of them, and the Trustees or Feoffees for the time being, should
receive the interest and dividends arising therefrom, and pay the
same for ever for the benefit of the same School, in such manner
as the rents and profits of the estates belonging to the same School
are applied.

There are thirty-two free Scholars, each of whom is nominated
by one or other of the Trustees, as vacancies occur. The School-
master is permitted to take eighteen other scholars who pay him for
their tuition.

Ferrett’s Book Cuariry.

In the year, 1747, John Ferrett, Esq. of London, a native of this
Town, gave to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, of
which he was a member, £50, on condition that bibles, common
prayer books, and other religious books and tracts, to the value
of 50s. should be annually supplied by the Society to the resident
minister of the Church at Bradford, to be by him distributed on
or about the festival of the Nativity, and on condition that the
Society supplied such books on the same terms they supplied their
own members, free of all expense whatsoever to the Parish.

About 1821, the Society being found in arrear to the Parish, it
was agreed that the value of such arrear should go in augmentation
of the original fund given by Mr. Ferrett. Since that period,
books to the value of £4 10s. have been annually sent by the So-
ciety to the Minister of Bradford for distribution amongst the poor,
in accordance with the wishes of the Donor.

mii =

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 303

Ferret?’s Bread CHARITY.

John Ferrett, Esq., by will, gave to his nephew, Richard Wilt-
shire, and the Minister and Churchwardens of the Parish of Brad-
ford, £250, Three per cent. Old South Sea Annuities, in trust, to
apply the dividends for purchasing for twenty poor men and women
of the town of Bradford only, who do not receive alms of the
Parish, of sober and religious lives and conversation, and who
constantly attend Divine Service in the Parish Church, when able,
one sixpenny loaf each, to be delivered to them the first Sunday in
the month, and at Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide, each year,
immediately after Morning Service.

THRESHER’S CHARITY.

This Charity was founded by the will of Edward Thresher,
bearing date 23rd May, 1721. The following extract explains the
intentions of the donor :—

“‘T give and bequeath the sum of £100 to be distributed amongst the poor
and impotent people of the Borough of Bradford, and Tithing of Winsley, which
said sum I do hereby order, direct, and appoint to be paid by my executor here-
inafter named, to the Vicar of Bradford for the time being, within one month
after my decease, to be by him, with the direction of my executor, disposed of
to such and such number of poor and impotent people within the Borough and
Tything aforesaid, and in such manner as to them shall seem most meet and
convenient; provided, nevertheless, and so as the same, or any part thereof, be
not disposed of to such person or persons as usually and commonly receive the
public alms of the Parish.”

Edward Thresher died on the 17th August, 1725. The Vicar
for the time being, the Rev. John Rogers, received the above sum
of £100, and during his life-time gave away the interest thereof
in Bread yearly: at his decease, his son, the Rev. J. Rogers, did
the same until his own decease, when the Charity was for a time
discontinued. In the year 1778, his executors paid over £100 to
Mr. Daniel Clutterbuck, adding £9 for three years’ Interest. In
the year 1779, Mr. Clutterbuck purchased £200 Three per cent.
Consols, in the names of Messrs. Richard Attwood and Thomas
Bush. From an inscription on a Board in front of the Organ

354 Bradford-on- Avon. [ Charities.

Gallery, it appears that these gentlemen were accustomed “to
divide the dividends yearly at Christmas in crowns and ha/f-crowns
among the poor of the Parish.”

After the decease of the two last mentioned Trustees it seems to
have been distributed for a time by their respective widows. For
a few years, a part only of the funds was given away. Successive
investments of undistributed dividends raised the whole amount,
in 1837, belonging to this Charity, to £300 Stock.

There does not appear to have been any regular distribution of
the dividends after this time, inasmuch as there was, in September
1841, in the hands of Messrs. Hobhouse and Co., at the time of
their bankruptcy, a sum of no less than £48 11s. 1d. standing to
the credit of this Charity.

In the year 1847, a petition was filed in Chancery, for the pur-
pose of obtaining an order to appoint new Trustees, and of provi-
ding for the future distribution of the Funds. By the decree of the
Court of Chancery four Trustees were nominated, and the Vicar
and Churchwardens of Bradford, together with the Incumbent of
Winsley, for the time being, were appointed Co-distributors of the
Fund.

For more than nine years no steps, beyond transferring the
Funds of this Charity into the names of the newly-appointed
Trustees, were taken in respect of this order of the Court of Chan-
cery. This delay rendered it expedient to lay the matter before the
Charity Commissioners, who, ultimately, judged it necessary again
to bring the matter before the Court of Chancery. They obtained,
from the Master of the Rolls, a decree appointing the Vicar and
Churchwardens of Bradford and the Incumbent of Winsley, for
the time being, Trustees of the Charity, in addition to and con-
junction with those of the Trustees, appointed in 1847, who sur-
vived; and ordering the funds of the Charity to be transferred to
the “Official Trustee of Charitable Funds.” The dividends from
time to time were directed to be distributed “in clothing or blan-
kets, and in bread and coals, or in any one or more of such modes,
amongst such of the most deserving poor of Bradford and Winsley,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 355

as shall not, for twelve months previously to such distribution,
have been in the receipt of Parochial Relief.”

Cam’s CHarIrTy.

This Charity was founded by the will of Samuel Cam, Esq.,
bearing date June 29th, 1792. He left £100, the interest of which
he directed to be distributed annually in Bread, amongst the poor
persons of the Parish of Bradford who are not in the receipt of
Parochial Relief.

As there was but one surviving Trustee of this Charity, an ap-
plication was made, under the direction of the Charity Commis-
sioners, in March 1858, to the County Court of Wiltshire, held at
Bradford, for the appointment of new Trustees, and the general
arrangement of matters relating to it; the practice, for many years
previously, having been to distribute it in money and not in bread.
The result of this application was the appointment of the Vicar
and Churchwardens of Bradford, for the time being, as Trustees of
the Fund jointly with the surviving Trustee, and the transfer of
the principal sum belonging to this Charity to the “Official Trus-
tee of Charitable Funds.”

TUGWELL’s CHARITY.

By a codicil to her will, dated July 12th, 1799, Mrs. Elizabeth
Tugwell left £100 the interest of which she directed to be divided
among Forty old and infirm persons, of the Parish of Bradford, on
the fifteenth day of January in each and every year.

In the year 1833, the Stock, in compliance with the directions of
the Donor, was transferred into the names of the then Church-
wardens of the Parish of Bradford, by whom, and their successors
in office, the dividends have always been regularly distributed.

STRAWBRIDGE’s CHARITY.
The subjoined extract, from the will of Mr. John Strawbridge,
(dated March 12, 1805,) explains the purposes of this Charity :—

**T give to Mawbey Tugwell, and John Renison, the present Churchwardens
of the Parish of Bradford, or their successors for the time being, the sum of
£A00 capital Stock, in the three per cent Consolidated Bank Annuities, part of

356 Bradford-on-Avon. [ Charities.

my Stock in the same Fund, and to be transferred to them immediately after
my decease, in trust, that they and their successors for the time being, do and
shall receive the interest, dividends, or produce arising therefrom, and pay the
same yearly for ever, to such poor persons of the said Parish of Bradford, as do
not receive alms of the Parish, and to be paid and distributed by them either
in Crowns or half crowns, as they shall think proper, and to be paid at the
same time as the crowns given by the late Mr. Curll are paid and distributed.”

In the year 1847, an application was made, on the part of the
Churchwardens of Bradford, to the Court of Chancery, for the
purpose of obtaining an order requiring the surviving Trustee of
this Charity,—(to whom the funds had been transferred, as one of
the Churchwardens for the time being),—to transfer the same to
those who had become his successors in that office, in accordance,
as they deemed, with the intentions of the Donor, as expressed in
his will. The petitioners further prayed, that, in the event of the
Court not being willing to order such a transfer of the Funds
to the Churchwardens for the. time being, the whole Fund
might be transferred to the Accountant-General of the Court of
Chancery. '

The Court of Chancery, by order, dated May 7, 1847, accepted
the latter alternative of the petition: the surviving Trustee was
ordered to pay over the fund to the Accountant-General of the
Court of Chancery, and the said Accountant-General was directed
to pay the dividends from time to time to the Churchwardens of
Bradford. ,

The dividends are regularly distributed by the Churchwardens,
as directed by the will of the Donor.

.

Lost CHARITIES.

Of some of these we have already spoken. The following
inscriptions from boards, now painted over, but which can be read
without any great difficulty, refer to others of which we can now
give no satisfactory account :—

“Mr. Richard Bissy gave £50, to bind out a poor child apprentice yearly.”

‘Mr. Nathaniel Wilkinson gave £10, (?) the interest for Bread yearly to the
poor of Lye and Woolley.”

“‘Mr. Nathaniel Houlton, of London, gave £50.”

‘-Mr. William Yerbury gave £100, for the distributing of Five Pounds in
Bread, on five Fridays in Lent.”

4

i aenye!

LAURENCE YERBURY
Of Bateomb, Co.

Som.

A Table shetwing the intermarriages between the familtes of

HALL,—BESILL,—ROGERS,—-HORTON,-LONG,-YERBURY,

AND OTHERS MORE OR LESS CONNECTED WITH

[

Thomas W—Alice d. of Thos.

Yerbury of
Trowbridge. |
|

REGINALD DE AvLA_Agnes ......

John of =...

Bradford
willl614.

John Warre
of Hester-
combe,
Co. Som. /

|

George.

William_Katharine ......

Tuomas at Forpe_Edith
T

Thomas —Edith..
BRADFORD-ON-AVON. fe
THoMAS DE LA SALE_Alice Atford, bates
= (or * Haxt.’) | d. &h., d. 1426.
Sm bates Horton, of Catton, Co. Derby. Reginlald-—[Matilda “Al haa pare srk
John Horton of Lullington,—_ Tuomas Rocers,_CecrtraABEsiut Bidtard
in Co. Somerset, Gent. Serjeant-at-law. | of Bradford. Isabel
| I Nicholas i
Thontas_[Mary] William Horton_Rachel James Tone Anthony William ?] d. Vita parse ce
Txomas Lonce__Johane d, 1530, of Lullington. | a priest. | Rogers of Bradford.
(will 1509) s. and h. 2 Thomas Hall_Alice Bower
Of Semington. | | of Wilton.
i Thomas Horton_Margery d. of Thomas | Anthony_Dorothy Brinley sey 4
Henry Longe —Johane .. of Iford, Wilts, | Barkesdale of Keevil. Maud= Rogers | of Canynges. William Hall_Elizabeth Tropnell
of Trowbridge, d. 1549. (1) Christopher | of Chaldfield.
(will 1535.) Bayley of Anthony_Ann Wroughton |
1 i | i 1 ] j | Stoford. Rogers of Broughton, Thomas Hall_Elizabeth Mervyn
Johanna—Thomas Long Henry Long— Mary. Edward of Alice= Agnes= William Horton_Jane d. of Thos. (2) Walter Co, Hants. I of Fonthill.
Horton of West- of Trowbridge of Whaddon Westwood= Thos. Yer- Hen. Winchcomb of Iford. Bayley of Bush, of |
wood. (will 1554). Alice d. to bury of of Newbury. s. and h. | Trowbridge. Stoford. Dorothy Rogers — John Hall.
Robt.May Trowbridge. |
1 i ] all se | wal ee Tia | |
William—Ann Henry=Mary d. of Robt. Edward —Ann Brounker Broughton Tyomas William Horton_Margt.d.of John Jeremy—Anned.and Margery Thomas Hall John Hall_Elizabeth Brune
of Trow- | of May of of Melksham. (1)d.s.p. 2son and heir | Jacob Daccom Edward 6 son, | coh,ofJohn Mary of Athelhampton
bridge. A. Whaddon. Broughton. Monkton. of Co. Dorset. Isaac May of Agnes Co. Dorset.
Broughton. Alice
| | | —_ Susanna. Sir Thomas Hall_Catharine Seymour.
2 Amy d. of_Gifford of Rood_1 Ann Yewe John =1 Catharine Edward | | 1 ] I TI 1 (1601-1663. )
Ashton, of Bradford, of Haugh, Nicholas. of Robert_Eliza d. Toby—Barbara Roger of St. John of _Mary d.of Edward= William. Robert if "
Sheriff 1624, (d. 1601.) Bradford.=2 Anne Monkton. | of John of d.of JohnStreet, Wolverton John . +. of Sir John of John Hall—Elizabeth Thynne.
(will 1635.) | James. Iford | John London= Co.Somset | Coplestone Arthur Broughton | a. 7.
(at Tan s. & | Farwell Anna d. of Hopton, Jane d. of - =
j 1 | h. | Nicholas Kn Serjeant “S
Ann=William Bromwich Catharine = Mann. d.s.p. _Hanham. s
d, 1601. im | TART a I
John Toby =Margaret Edward Henry Thomas.
Toby, s.&h. d. of Sir Henry John
Richard John Coplestone
Catchmay Dorothy. ‘Thomas

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 357

There is also mention in the Parliamentary Returns, of 1786, of
a Charity, which however, even then, was lost, said to have been
given by an unknown person, “for clothing one, two, or more poor
persons, not receiving alms.”

OLD FAMILIES AND WORTHIES.

The history of our Town, which has been set before our readers,
will have prepared them not to look, as a matter of course, for a
long calendar of eminent men, amongst its natives or inhabitants.
Such characters are only called forth by great and stirring events,
and of these Bradford-on-Avon has seldom been the scene. Shut
in by its hills and woods, its townsmen have lived, secluded, as it
were, and apart from their neighbours, pursuing their peaceful
occupations of industry, and caring little for the din and tumult
that now and then might have been heard close to their borders.
That spirit of calm peacefulness which brooded over the Abbess and
her household at Shaftesbury, seems to have extended its influence,
in a measure, to the Manor over which she ruled as Lady Para-
mount, and we seldom hear in Bradford-on-Avon of any contests
or commotions, save such as testify at the same time to the earnest-
ness with which its denizens applied themselves to those mercantile
pursuits, on which especially the wealth of our country has been
founded.

And yet we are able to commence our list of Worthies resident
at one time or other in our Town or its immediate neighbourhood,
for to such only does this notice refer, from a very early period.
Of most of those who lived in remote times, we know, of course,
little more than their names, or have perchance a general idea of
the lands that belonged to them. It is something however to
commence an authentic history,—our acquaintance with somewhat
of the private life of men who lived and died in Bradford-on-Avon,
—from a period when William de Longespée, Earl of Sarum, the
Fair Rosamond’s son, was yet living, and when Richard Poore,
the founder of our glorious Cathedral, held the see of Sarum. Re-
ginald de Auld, the head at that time of a family that for more than

358 Bradford-on-Avon. [Old Families & Worthies.

five centuries were persons of property and station in this town,
may well have been living at the time of King John’s visit in 1216;
and facts already alluded to (p. 31) certainly imply, that for some
years previously to a.p. 1251, about which time he seems to have
died, his family were people of consequence here. Indeed his son,
William de Aula,—a minor at the time of his father’s decease,—
held in 1295 (23 Edward I.) the high office of Coroner,—he is
termed in a deed of that date ‘Coronator Domini Regis,\—a post
which implied in the holder not only wealth but worldly station.
It will be understood that our notice of ‘Worthies’ extends only
to those who have been actually resident here, or have been inti-
mately connected with our town. Neither does our plan include
those who may still remain to us; our business, as Archzologists,
is not with the living, but with the dead; otherwise we might
dwell proudly on the successful course of that distinguished native
of Bradford-on-Avon, Her Majesty’s late Attorney-General, Sir
Richard Bethel, in whose high position his fellow-townsmen re-
cognize, no less the acknowledgment of eminent talents, than the
reward of untiring perseverance. Were we, indeed, to diverge
into such an extensive plan and give an account of all those of note
or importance who have held possessions here, or of those who, from
the marriage of some Bradford heiress, have gained no insignificant
addition to the wealth, perhaps the dignity, of their family, we
might give as long and proud a list as any of otr neighbours. No
doubt, in early times, the Crown itself retained in its own hands
some of the property here, as the names of ‘ King’s field,’ and ‘Reve-
land,’ (both so often met with in old deeds, and the former still re-
maining,) seem to imply: in fact ‘Reve-land’ was a common term
for land held in virtue of the office of ‘ Reeve’? or Bailiff, under the

1 On the dignity and authority of the ‘Coroner’ in ancient times, see ‘ Coke
upon Littleton’ ii. 31. By the old law he was required to be ‘‘a knight, honest,
loyall, and sage.” The fact of William de Aula having held this high office
was not known to me at the time when the section of this paper on the Parish
Church was passing through the press, or I should certainly have inclined to the
conjecture that the recessed tomb on the South side of the Chancel was his. (See
above p. 215.) ;

? From an examination of old deeds, a tolerable conjecture may be formed
that the building described as ‘ The Catch’ (p. 49 n.) was adjoining the land

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 859

King. To the royal possessions here we may have owed the honor
of King John’s visit in 1216, for, with few exceptions, that King,
in his progresses, always stopped at places where he had an inter-
est, as either a castle, a royal manor, or some religious house, in
order that he might consume the provisions due to him, in lieu of
rent.! And many noble families have been connected, directly or
indirectly, with Bradford-on-Avon. Amongst our Lords of the
Manor, we can reckon an “Earl of Wiltshire,’’ whose devotion to
the cause of his King and master, Charles I., in his gallant defence
of Basing House against the Parliamentarian forces, is matter of
history, and forms “one of the most eventful episodes of the Civil
War.” The noble families of ‘Shaftesbury ”* and ‘Leicester’! have
both of them in times gone by been associated with our town;
the former, as a descendant of a daughter of John Basset, a name
most frequent in deeds of the latter part of the thirteenth century ;
the latter, as a landowner by special grant from Queen Elizabeth.
The second Duke of Kingston filled, for some little time, a very
prominent position in our town, and was the representative,
through a female branch, as his descendant Lord Manvers is, at
the present time, of the ‘Hall’ family. The titles of Methuen
and Broughton, successively connected with the Lordship of the

called ‘ Reve-land.’ If so, it lends colour to an ingenious supposition kindly for-
warded to me by a “‘ Reader of the Magazine in Yorkshire,” that ‘‘the premises
called ‘the Catch’ may have been so designated from having been used as the
‘ Cagia,’ i.e. the cage, or lock-up; or as the residence of the ‘ Cachepolus,’
Bailiff, or ‘ Catchpole’ of the place.”
1 Archeologia xxii. 125.
? Wiltshire Magazihe iy. 22.

*JIn Hutchins’ Dorset ii. 216, we have the following, as the beginning of Lord

Shaftesbury’s pedigree.
Benedict Ashley of Ashley Place, Co. Wilts,=
lived temp. Hen. II., I1I., and Edw. I.
Henry Ashley s. and h. Edw. I. and II.

John Ashley of New=.........daughter of John Basset
Sarum. Edw. III. of Bradford.

John Ashley=Edith d. and h. of John
s.andh. Talbot of Trowbridge.
Rich. II.

‘Queen Elizabeth (19 July 1574) granted by Letters Patent to Robert Dud-
ley, Earl of Leicester, certain messuages and lands at Lye, part of the Manor of
Bradford :—on these lands stands Mr. Bradney’s house,

360 Bradford-on- Avon. { Old Families & Worthies.

Manor, are those which seem more especially to belong to us.
Regarding the latter as the representative of the ‘Cam’ family,
one of the co-heiresses of which married the late Sir Benjamin
Hobhouse, Bart., we have, in the two noble lords who bear these
titles, the memorial, to us at least, of that untiring energy and brave
spirit of commercial enterprise which raised our town to such a
height of prosperity during the eighteenth century.

We proceed to give a few details of some of the principal fami-
lies that from time to time have lived in Bradford-on-Avon. With
reference to one of them, viz., the ‘Horton family,’ we have in
previous pages already more than once given information, and this
it is not worth while to repeat. They belonged to other parishes
no less than to our own, and a full account of them is furnished in
the paper on Broughton Gifford, in the present number of this
Magazine (pp. 312-324). We propose to add to our sketch of
Bradford families, an account of one or two ‘Worthies,’ whose
names would not otherwise occur.

Tue “ Hatt” Famiry.

This is the oldest family connected with Bradford-on-Avon of
which we have anything like a detailed account. Allusion has
been already frequently made to various members of it, and, in an
early number of this Magazine, in a paper by Canon Jackson, on
‘Kingston House,’ a mansion built most probably by John Hall,
the head of the family at the commencement of the eighteenth
century, much information is supplied on this subject. All that
we need attempt, therefore, is a brief summary of their history,
adding what supplemental matter we have been able to glean
from subsequent research.

The earliest deed that has yet been met with, relating to the
‘Hall’ family, is one which bears date in the reign of Henry III.
(see p. 81). Its contents imply, that, for some time previously to
that period, the family had belonged to the class of wealthy gentry.

The Herald’s Visitations carry back the pedigree only to
Thomas “Halle”or De la Sale” who lived at the close of the
fourteenth century. More than a hundred years, however, before

;
:

es Se a — tere ik a

a
—s

PEDIGREE OF HALL.

Anms.—Sable, Cs See argent,
Crest.—An Arm jowed in armour proper, garnished or, holding a poleare argent

REGINALD DE AULA=AGNES ......

ete | D. 31 Peter Littleton, ‘next Blandford.’
(ae Thomas Littleton,
(er “ll a=Cathari
Thomas (Rector William de Aula=Catharine .., Joane Littleton=Roger ......
of Portishead.) ‘ Coronator Re-
gis,’ c. 1295. Roger ...... =Alice d. of Nicholas Langridge,
5
al | of Bradford.
I ‘ = =Edi :
A ald de la Sale=Isabella Thomas de la Sale=Edith ...... Thomas Atte-Forde=Edith,
year Regin' See W.A.M. i. 286. Nl
Reginald. j I T
Thomas Atte-Hall=Alice Atford Peter Atf
b. 1352. d. c. 1430 d. 1426. S.p. on
Relinnla. A.D.1420. He=Matilda ...... ‘Thomas Halle=..,... ae weil hedty lied Rae ce ed
endowed a Chantry in of Bradford, eee wane ofhis Edith, 1
the Earn C ae 5 d. c, 1440. ‘Gore of Aldringtons vise
P. 88, 1623, Harl. MS. 1443.)
William d. inft. Nicholas Hall=Margaret d. and coh, of William Besill

d. 1479. (I.p.m.) s. andh. of William Besill of Bradford.

| !
Henry Thomas Hall (Outlawed a.p. 1502.)=Alice d. of William Norton,

(see p. 45.) W.AM. i. 289, | alias Bowyer of Wilton,
] | I { ‘ iene
‘Thomas. Arthur. Osmond. William Hall—Elizabeth d. of Christopher Edith=Edmond alk =,
NEE | Tropnell of Chaldfield. Chatterton, oe at rare
. 296. Co, Som.

\ | ie | 1
George. Paul. William. Thomas Hall (Probably=Elizabeth d. of John © Margaret=Freeman Jane=John Gui iter
the builder of the Mervyn of Fonthill, ‘arvi > ea

Kingston Aisle.] | Le Jarvis. of Hullavington.

| | | | i |
Thomas. Robert. John Hall ‘of Porde’=Dorothy d. andh. of Anthony Rogers Dorothy. i
d. 1597. | of Bradford. (See WAM 200.) Mt an Jane:

| !
Thomas, John Hall d. 1631. =Elizabeth d. of Henry

a eldest son, [Probably the builder | Brune of Athelhampton,
coe mee of Kingston House. Co. Dorset. ‘
of Banquan- _ ——— — ee = —
Longleat, | quill, [7 ] Al eal Pe 5 ; M mt
d. 1670. | Dean of ohn. Jane Elizabeth=John Sir Thomas Hall, Kt. 1601—1663.—Catharine d. of Sir Edw. Seymour Mary=Christopher Bailey Dorothy.
Durham. William. b,.1603. Cottrell. Royalist, Commissioner for of Berry Pomeroy, great-grandson s. &h. of Robert Ann.
King Charles I. of the Protector. Bailey of Winfield.
] ! | |
Sir Edward Baynton=Stuart Elizabeth=John Hall. Sheriff of Wilts 1670. Bridget Hall=William Coward,
of Bromham, K.B. | Thynne. Thynne. 1630—1711. [Builder of the Old Recorder of
d. 1679, b. 1644, 1651—1683. Men’s Almshouses. } Wells, d. 1705.
Son aa Ie ea)
Isabella (2.)=Evelyn Pierrepont, =(1.) Mary Thomas Baynton of Chaldfield,=Elizabeth ...... Col. William Coward, dr. =...... Pearce.
Bentinck. Marquis of Dorchester, | Fielding second son. M.P. for Wells.

afterwards first Duke of

Kingston. d. 1726. | | 1
William Pierrepont, Lord Kingston,=Rachel Baynton. Baptized at Great Henry Baynton. Died at Chaldfield William Pearoe,
only s. and h. d. et. 21, July 1, 1713. | Chaldfield, April 1695. Died 1722. Dee. 14. Buried at Bromham

Dee. 19, 1696,

‘ |
Evelyn Pierrepont, second and last=Elizabeth Frances Pierrepont,=Philip, eldest son of Sir Philip Medows,

Duke of Kingston. d. 1773. Chudleigh. only sister and h. Deputy Ranger of Richmond Park.
d. 1788.

Charles Medows, Esq. Created EAnn=Anne Orton d. of John Mills, Esq.
Manvers 1806, d. 1816. of Richmond.

Charles Herbert Pierrepont, 2nd Fart, MANYERa,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 361

that time, the Abbess of Shaftesbury, as Lady of the Manor, had
exacted her rights of wardship and marriage from the representa-
tives of Reginald de Aula. ‘Thomas,’ the first-named in the ordinary
pedigrees, was the great-grandson of ‘Reginald,’ and married,
about the year 1390, Alice, daughter and, by the death of her
brother Peter, sole heir of ‘Thomas Atte-Forde,’ (afterwards written
‘ Atford’) from whom, no doubt, he obtained the property which is
still called Ford Farm, and which evidently furnished a surname
to its previous owner. The same Alice was also, through her
mother, the ultimate heiress of Nicholas Langridge, described as
of ‘Bradford.’ Ifa conjecture may be formed from the pedigree,
especially the account given of it in one of the Harleian manu-
scripts,! in which we have the various family connexions related
narratively, it would seem that some share of the property originally
belonging to Peter Lyttleton (described as living “next Blandford,”
and whose date must be certainly before the commencement of the
thirteenth century,) must have come to Alice At-ford, and aug-
mented the goodly portion which she brought to the ‘Hall’ family.

There is still to be seen, carved in oak, over the chimney piece of
a panelled room at Kingston House, a shield bearing several quar-
terings which seem to record the various early alliances made by
members of the Hall family. An engraving of this shield has been
given in our Magazine (i. 268.) Amongst the quarterings to which
without difficulty a name can be assigned are those of ‘Atford’ and
‘Besil.’ Of two, however,—the one, ‘A bend between three leo-
pards’ (or lions’) heads erased,’ the other, ‘ An eagle sable, preying ona
fish azure,’—it is not easy to give an accurate account. Much of
very early heraldry is traditional, and though, in books of authority,
we find no such coats given to the names of ‘ Langridge’ or ‘Littleton,’
it is not impossible that these may have originally belonged to

1TIn the Harl. MS. N 0. 888 we have this achount of the earliest tities of the
Hall family.—‘‘ Thomas Halle, of Bradeford in the County of Wiltes, Esquire,
married Alice, sister and heire of Peter Atford, and heire to Thomas at —
next Bradeford, and of Edith his wyfe, daughter and heire of Roger .
and Ales his wyfe, daughter of Nicholas Langridge, of Blandford, which Roge ‘,
was son to Roger. . . . and Joan his wyfe, daughter to Thomas Lyttleton,
next Blandford, sonne and heire of Peter Lyttleton.”

BB

362 Bradford-on-Avon. [ Oid Families & Worthies.

them. This however is simple conjecture, for as the shield con-
tains the coat of Besill, it may also include that of the mother of
Nicholas Hall who married Margaret Besill, of whose name and
family as yet we are ignorant.

Alice Hall survived her husband and died in the year 1426.
By the failure of issue to her eldest son Reginald, who, as we have
seen (p. 38), endowed a “chaplain to serve at the altar at St. Ni-
cholas” in the Parish Church, the representation of the family
devolved on her second son Thomas, who was thirty years old at
the time of his mother’s decease. Nicholas, the son of the last-
named Thomas Hall, further increased the wealth of the family
by marrying Margaret one of the daughters and co-heiresses of
William Besill of Bradford ; the other co-heiress, Cecilia, marrying
Anthony Rogers, the founder of another family in this town, of
which we shall presently give an account. Three generations pass
away, during which alliances were made with the families of Bower
of Wilton,—Tropnell of Chaldfield,—and Mervyn of Fonthill,—
and we find the representative of the family, John Hall, described
as ‘of Forde,’ marrying, about the middle of the sixteenth century,
Dorothy only daughter and heiress of Anthony Rogers, the last
male representative of the elder branch of that family in Bradford-
on-Avon, and thus acquiring the other moiety of the Besill estate,
together with her own patrimony,. part of which seems to have
lain at Holt.

One of the members of this family, to which a passing reference has
just been made, Thomas Hall, who married Alice Bower, seems to
have got himself into trouble on one occasion, by something like
what is now called “contempt of Court.”” Summoned before the
King’s Justices with reference to a debt of £100 owing to Sir John
Turberville, Kt. he did not make his appearance: the penalty of
‘outlawry’ soon followed. He subsequently surrendered himself
to justice, and for a time was an inmate of the Fleet prison.
Amongst the deeds and other documents found at Kingston House
a few years ago, during the progress of repairs, was one, dated 18
Henry VII., which contains a “ Royal Pardon and Revocation of
Outlawry for Thomas Hall, lately of Bradford, Co. Wilts, Gentle-

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 363

man, now in the Fleet Prison.” It does not appear from the docu-
ment that the debt was paid at the time of his release from durance
vile; the condition of his liberation being that he should appear
in Court “if the said John [Turberville] should desire to speak with
him touching the debt above mentioned.”

Of the others just alluded to, either ‘William Hall,’ who married
Elizabeth Tropnell, of Chaldfield, or ‘Thomas Hall,’ who married
Eliza Mervyn, of Fonthill, was probably the builder of the Chantry
Chapel, of which, in our account of the Parish Church, we have
already taken notice, and which, now for many years, has been
usually termed,—“ The Kingston Aisle.”

The second son of the John Hall that married Dorothy Rogers,
bore the same christian name as his father, and succeeded, by the
decease , itis presumed, of his elder brother Thomas, at the close
of the sixteenth century to the representation of the family. He
married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Brune of Athelhampton, Co.
Dorset, and was probably the builder of the large and beautiful
mansion,—described, by Aubrey, as “the best built house for the
quality of a gentleman in Wilts,”—which, since the days of Evelyn
Pierrepont, has commonly been termed the “ Duke’s House” or
“ Kingston House.” An older house probably stood previously on
much the same site, which Leland mentions as having seen when
he visited Bradford (c. 1540) and describes as “a pratie stone
house at the este ende of the toune on the right bank of Avon.”
A full account of the present house has been given in the pages of
this Magazine (vol. i. pp. 265, &c.) and many of its details have
been described and illustrated by Mr. C. J. Richardson in his “ Ob-
servations on the Architecture of England during the reigns of
Queen Elizabeth and King James I.” and by Mr. G. Vivian in a
volume of “ Illustrations of Olavertonand the Duke’s House.” With-
in the last few years the house, having fallen into a sadly dilapidated
condition, has been, to a great extent, rebuilt by the present pro-
prietor, Mr. Moulton, with so faithful an adherence to its original
plan, as enables us, whilst we acknowledge the sound judgment
and correct taste of its restorer, to appreciate fully the intentions
of its first designer.

BB 2

364 Bradford-on-Avon. | Old Families & W orthies.

Str Tuomas Hatt, Knt. son of the last-named John Hall, married
Catharine daughter of Sir Edward Seymour, Bart., great-grandson
of the Protector Somerset. Faithful to the cause of his King
and master Charles I., Sir Thomas was, with many other
Wiltshire gentlemen, compelled when the Parliament triumphed
to compound for his estates, and was, in 1649, fined £660.! (See
p- 47). He lived to see the ultimate success of the cause for which
he suffered. The old Royalist died in 1663, at the advanced age
of eighty-one years.

His son,—Joun Hatt,—the last male representative of his family,
was an active magistrate in this town and neighbourhood. His
name, together with that of his brother-in-law Thomas Thynne,—
called, from his presumed wealth, ‘‘ Tom of Ten Thousand,”—oc-
curs very frequently in legal and other documents of his period.
His wife was Elizabeth, second daughter of Sir Thomas Thynne,
of Longleat, the ancestor of the noble family of ‘ Bath.’ He seems
to have added largely to his patrimony by the purchase of other
estates. From Sir Edward Hungerford, of Farleigh Castle, he
bought, in 1665, the Storridge Pastures, part of the Brooke House
estate, near Westbury; and from Sir John Hanham (who had
become possessed of it in right of his wife, a daughter of Sir
William Eyre) he purchased the Manor and Advowson of Great
Chaldfield. He seems to have exercised the right of presentation
to the last named living in 1678,—1689,—and 1707.

Towards the close of his life, John Hall built the Alms-houses
for four old men, of which we have spoken in an account of the
‘ Charities of Bradford-on-Avon.’ ‘In front of them, cut in stone,
are still to be seen the arms and crest of ‘ Hall.’ Underneath the
shield is the date ‘a.p. 1700’ and the inscription ‘Deo et pauperibus.’

He was the last of his family, and died in 1711. According to
some authorities, he left one daughter, Elizabeth, who became the
wife of Thomas Baynton, Esq., of Chaldfield. The issue of that
marriage, Rachel, was the inheritor of John Hall’s large estates.
Walker, in his history of Great Chaldfield, gives, on the authority

' Wilts Archeological Magazine, iv. 150.

By the Rev. W. HB. Jones. 365

of an old manuscript, a somewhat different account, and represents
‘Rachel Baynton’ as having a yet stronger claim to be the inheritor
of the ‘ Hall’ property.!. A very careful search amongst all docu-
ments, to which access could be gained, likely to throw any light
on the matter, has discovered no entry that accounts for a daugh-
ter, Elizabeth, born to John Hall, or for the marriage of Thomas
Baynton with such daughter. Even on the presumption that John
Hall died without issue at all, Rachel, baptized at Chaldfield in
April 1695 as “the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Baynton,”
would have some claims upon him, no less than ‘ William Pearce,’
whom, in default of her having male issue, he appointed to be the
next inheritor. ‘Rachel Baynton’ was, in fact, through his wife,
his great-niece ;—‘ William Pearce’ was, through his sister, his
great-nephew. Supposing there were no nearer relationship, there
was nothing improbable, or, we may add, unjust, in John Hall’s
thus leaving his large estates to Rachel Baynton.

The young and rich heiress married William Pierrepont,
Esq.,2 wuo bore the courtesy title of Lord Kingston, only son

' The following extract is said to be taken from a MS, in the possession (in
1837) of Mr. Waldron of Lipiat, and which was itself extracted from an old
vellum MS. which is now lost, but was at Monks in the year 1744.—‘‘ Sir
William Eyre of Chaldfield . . . . had two sons, Robert and
Henry. To Robert he gave Little Chaldfield, lately sold to Mr. Baynton, who
left it to his youngest son, Thomas Baynton; and Mr, Thomas Baynton’s wife
had a daughter by Mr. Hall: he gave her all his estate; and this lady married
the Marquis of Dorchester, and was mother to the last Duke of Kingston.”—
References contirmatory of the same fact are given, in a note to Walker’s Chald-
field (p. 8.), to Duapatn’s English Peerage Vol. ii. p.p. 18, 19, and Burkn’s
Extinct and Dormant Peerage, p. 420.

*A special Act of Parliament was obtained for the purpose of settling John
Hall’s estates on William Pierrepont and Rachel Baynton on their marriage.
In the Act, to the original of which, in its engrossed form, in the Library of the
House of Lords reference has been made, there is no mention of any relationship
between John Hall and Rachel Baynton, The Act was obtained with difficulty
in consequence of much opposition to it; and matters were the more complicated
by the death of John Hall during its progress through the Commons. A petition
was presented by William Coward, Esq., who, in default of legitimate issue was
the next of kin to John Hall, setting forth that ‘‘the Bill, in case it should pass,
would greatly prejudice the Petitioner and praying to be heard by counsel
against it.’”’ ‘The Bill however passed with several amendments, and received
the Royal assent 16th May, 1711. A rider was added to the Bill to the follow-

866 Bradford-on- Avon. [ Old Families & Worthies.

and heir of Evelyn Pierrepont, then Marquis of Dorchester,
afterwards first Duke of Kingston. A brief space only of mar-
ried happiness was granted to her; for before she had completed
her nineteenth year she was a widow. Two children, a boy and
a girl, were the issue of the marriage. Evelyn, whilst yet in early
youth, succeeded his grand-father as second and last Duke of
Kingston; his mother died four years before her son came to the
proud title. His union, in later life, with ‘Elizabeth Chudleigh,’
better known as the Duchess of Kingston,—(though she had no
real claim to this designation),—the strange life of this eccentric,
yet gifted, woman,—her subsequent trial and conviction for bigamy,
—her closing career at St. Petersburgh,—all these have been rela-
ted by an abler pen in the pages of this Magazine, and therefore on
these it is needless to dwell. And ‘Elizabeth Chudleigh’ is, after all,
hardly to be reckoned among the ‘ Worthies’ of Bradford-on-Avon.
Under the will of the last Duke of Kingston, however, she inherited
all his personal property, and had secured to her a life interest
in all his real estate. On her death, the latter passed to Frances,
the other child of Rachel Pierrepont, who had married Philip,
eldest son of Sir Philip Meadows, Deputy Ranger of Richmond
Park. Their son, Charles Meadows, who assumed by sign-manual
the surname and arms of Pierrepont, was created Earl Manvers in
1806. On his decease in 1816, his son, who succeeded to the title
as second Earl Manvers, inherited the property, and is now the
representative of the ‘Halls’ of Bradford-on-Avon.

Tue ‘Rocers’ FAMIty.

The ‘ancient aud knightly house’ of Rogers, from which sprung
many well-esteemed though untitled families, were seated from an
early period at Brianstone, Dorset, now the residence of Lord Port-
man. In the early part of the fifteenth century they settled in Glou-

ing effect:—‘ Provided that nothing in this Act shall be deemed, taken, or
construed, to be any allowance of, or any ways to approve or confirm any
articles, or supposed articles of agreement made, or pretended to be made, or
agreed upon, by or between the said Lord Marquis of Dorchester, and the said
John Hall, deceased, concerning the marriage of the said Mrs. Baynton with
the said William Pierrepont, Esq., commonly called Lord Kingston, &c.”

PEDIGREE OF ROGERS. -

—o—

Arms.—Argent, a chevron between three stags sable, attired or.
Crest.—A stag trippant sable, bezantee, ducally gorged and attired or.

Cecilia d. and coh, of William Besill (1)=THomas RocErs (Serjeant-at-Law)=(2) Catharine, d. of Philip Courtenay
(of Bradford-on-Avon.)

William Rogers=Joan d. of John

of Bradford-on-Ayon. c. 1478. | of Powderham, Co. Devon, relict of

Sir Thomas Pomeroy, Kt.

\
George Rogers of Luppit, Co. Devon.=Elizabeth ......

(See Harl. MS. 1141, p. 141 and 1559,

|
John Rogers of Sutton Valence, Co. Kent, called=...,..

* Thomas of Kent,’ Harl. MS. 1111, p. 28. /

Horton of Iford.
| p. 98b.)
| | | 7 : !
Henry Rogers=.,.... Anthony Rogers=Dorothy Ernely. Awdry=......Hawkins Cicely=Robert Sir Edward Rogers s. and h. of=Maria d.and coh. John Rogers=....
Harl. MS. of Bristol. Marten. Cannington, Co. Som. Comp-' ofJohn Lisleof of Sutton |
1542, p. 102. troller of the Household to | the Isleof Wight. Valence.
Queen Elizabeth. d. 1582. )
| | | | | | I |
Henry Rogers=Sarah d. of Richara. Ambrose. Anthony Rogers=Ann Elizabeth= Sir George=Jane d.&h. Elizabeth Catharine= aie Jabu—.....2 sister
of Heddington | Thos. Hall of Bradford-on- | Wrough- William Rogers of | of Edward = Thomas Edward Rogers | ee
of Bradford Avon. d. 1583. | ton. Sewell of Canning- | [or Thos.] Sir Thos. Harman Rogers, of Coppinger
Bath. ton. Winter. Throck- Gent.Ush- Kt. Sutton | Mayor of
Robert Rogers=Ann d. of John | i morton. ertoQ. Valence London.
| Seager of Dorothy Rogers=John Hall of = a l Elizabeth
Bromham. only d. and h. | Bradford-on- | | i
| Avon. d. 1597. Edward Rogers=Catharine d. of William Ralph Rogers=Margaret d. of _.
Henry Rogers=Sarah d. of Francis of Cannington, | Sir John Popham Ss. Dp. of Sutton Gouldwell of
Eagles of South- { | (living 1623.) | Ld. Ch. Justice. Valence. Great Charte,
broom. Thomas Hall. John Hall. i in Kent.
| | |
Henry Rogers=Ellen d. of Henry Sir Francis Rogers=Helena d. of Sir Christopher Rogers=Alice d. of Sir
of Heddington Pyke of of Cannington. Hugh Smith of Henry Isley, of
and Rainscomb. Long Ashton. Sundridge, Co.
Rainscomb. Kent.

Robert Rogers=>= Eliza d. of

of Rainscomb. Thomas
Smith of
/» Potterne.

(Rogers of

Rinscomb. )

Hugh Rogers=Anne d. of Sir
| Edw. Baynton

Helena=Sir Francis
Popham,K.B.

|
Christopher Rogers=Eliza a. of Thomas
Willoughby, of
Bore Place in Kent.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 367

cestershire, where they still have their representative in the Rogers
family at Dowdeswell. Towards the close of the same century we
find a ‘Tuomas Rocers’ at Bradford-on-Avon, designated a Ser-
jeant-at-Law (serviens ad legem) a dignity of much greater relative
importance, and much more rarely conferred, in olden times than
now.! A marriage with Cecilia, daughter and co-heiress of William
Besill—(the other daughter and co-heiress, Margaret, we have
already spoken of, as the wife of Nicholas Hall)—brought the
learned ‘counsellor’ to our town, and here, or in the neighbourhood,
his descendants remained for many years afterwards, as residents
and landed proprietors.

We find the son of our ‘Serjeant-at-Law,’ ‘William’ by name,
adding to his patrimony by a marriage with ‘Joan’ daughter of
John Horton, styled in one pedigree ‘Johannes de Ifford,’”? but
more commonly designated as ‘of Lullington, Co. Somerset.’ We
may perhaps draw an inference from this fact, that the Horton
family came as residents into our neighbourhood at a somewhat
earlier period than is generally thought.*

From Anthony, the e/dest son of the last-named William Rogers,
descended only two generations when Dorothy his grand-daughter
and the ultimate heiress of the eldest branch of the family, by a
marriage with John Hall, of Bradford-on-Avon, took into that
family, the whole, not only of the Rogers, but also of the Besill

‘There were very few advanced in olden times to the dignity of the cotf, as
the degree of ‘Serjeant-at-Law’ was designated. Even as late as the time of
Edward VI., Serjeant Benloe wrote himself ‘solus serviens ad legem, there
being for some time none but himself. See ‘Jacob’s Law Dictionary,’ under
‘Serjeant.’

2 Harl. MS., 1141. p. 141.

* The first of the ‘Horton’ family that is described in their own pedigree as
of ‘ Westwood,’ or ‘Iford,’ (the latter is a small hamlet in the former parish)
is the grandson of ‘ John’ of Lullington. In the will however of ‘Thomas,’
the son of John of Lullington, he is described as ‘ of Iford’ where, or at West-
wood, he died, 1530. The direction, in his will, that he should ‘‘be buried
with his father in the aisle of our Lady on the north side of Bradford Church”
seems to imply that the family may have been residents for some time previously
in our town or neighbourhood. See above pp. 221. 233.. By the way, in
the Horton pedigree, the husband of ‘ Joan Horton’ is called ‘Anthony Rogers.’
His name, most authorities tell us, was ‘ William.’

368 Bradford-on-Avon. {Old Families & Worthies.

estate, a moiety of the latter having come to the ‘ Halls’ about 150
years before, in the way we have already indicated. The property
thus acquired seems to have lain at Bradford, Comberwell, and at
Holt, many of the deeds, still preserved at Kingston House,! having
reference to lands and houses at these several places. From these
documents we also infer that the Lordship of the Manor of Holt
belonged to some members of the Rogers family.

From Henry, a second son of William Rogers by Joan Horton
(whose son, by the way, married a daughter of Thomas Hall, of
Bradford) descends a family that settled at Heddington, and after-
wards at Rainscombe. Of this branch of the ‘Rogers’ family,
F. J. Newman Rogers, Esq. of Rainscombe, near Marlborough, is
now the representative.

Tomas RocErs, the ‘Serjeant-at-Law,’ the founder of the Brad-
ford-on-Avon branch of his family, married, on the death of Cecilia
Besill his first wife, Catharine, daughter of Philip Courtenay of
Powderham, Devon, and relict of Sir Thomas Pomeroy, knight.
By this second wife he had two sons, each of whom left descen-
dants, several of whom rose to distinction and kept up the
‘knightly’ character of their house. The younger son, ‘John,’ of
Sutton Valence,—called in one manuscript ‘ Thomas’ of Kent,—had,
as the pedigree shews, representatives in that county for many ge-
nerations, and, amongst them, one at least attained the honor of
knighthood. The edder, George Rogers of Luppit, Devon, had a
son, Sir Edward, of Cannington, who rose to be a member of the
Privy Council, and Comptroller of the Household to Queen Eliza-
beth. Possibly it may have been he who built the large house in
Pippet street, of which mention has been made (p. 52) described
by Aubrey as “a faire old built house of the family of Rogers, of
Cannington,” and the older parts of which (for it has been very
much altered in the course of successive years) seem to be of the
date of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. I have seen a deed, how-
ever, in which it is recited that, in the year 1557, Henry Rogers,
of Cannington, whose place in the pedigree we are not able to give

1 Wilts Archeological Magazine, i, 290,

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PEDIGREE

0.

OF YERBURY.

Anws.—Party per fess or and argent, ation rampant azure.

Cnesr.—A lion's head erased, per fesse, or

Lavnexce Yensrnte, of Batcombe, Co. Som. d. 1509.
{

‘and argent.

‘Tomas Horton (of Westwood) d. 1549=Margery Barkesdale.
|

I
Maury

i |
Tomas YRRBERTE (of ‘Trowbridge).=Alice Horton. Will proved 1573. Buried in

|
Mary Horton=Henry Long

=Thomas Long of Trowbridge.
Buried in the church of Trowbridge. | Trowbridge church, near her husband. I of Whaddon.
i [ec eS | I
Joun Yenvury (of Bradford), = Mary, will=... Burgess. Thomas Yerbury Witviam Yersory (of Trowbridge),—Anne Long.
eldest son, Will 1614. 1586? (of Frome ?) will proved 1609.
| | ‘ Lape all “att 5 1 T
Thomas Yerbury of Bradford, —Edith Walter Yerbury=Elizabeth John=Alice Horne. William William (of Trowbridge). Edward Yerbury=Annad. Margery Ann=Francis
clothier, Will 1612. |] | Edwards. 1 I Will proved 1611. (of Trowbridge). | ofRich, = Lovell,
i 1 I | | 1585—1648, | Southby .., Ger- of
[ John Samuel John Nathanael Thomas William=.. Commissioner for | of Cars- _rish. Trow-
Thomas=Jean Gifford=Frances 1591. 154. 1691. 1595. 1595. 1596. | Chas. I, Buried | well, bridge.
1599. | aetan TI at Plymouth. Berks,
; al Tg it ; i | é ‘Thomas
mn =e Nicholas= Walter 1594. Ann ...(1.)=Francis =(2,) Alice Norris, Margaret 1592= 108i:
dona! Gifford. Frances. 1005. | Edward 1608, d. 1698, | Yerbury —— m. 1639. Wm. Gibbons, Join Milry — Waiter salithcn.
Thomas. Robecen, al Miles 1610. | m. 1615. 1685. Secs Margery.
Robert. | be | | | cf Neow bel gs
William, Elizabeth. Francis Yerbury=Jean.. John ‘Thomas
Ann. 1638—1720, | 1626. 1631, T 1 Tl 1 7
Martha. Edward. 1616— John=(1) Jane Mere- Robert=Catharine William Richard ( Alice (2) Elizabeth(S) Elizabeth Elizabeth Ann ae ee lee
j ] i r . to Ld. wether. 1623— | Alletof 1620—1698, lower Farr of Walcot Rich.Bailey 1618. Davis of Thos. Dr.Alworth
John Yerbury=Erances Davieson of Nathanael Francis—Foanna Raldwin, my sr. Be yinour, Im~ (2)... Pawlet of 1646. | Twood. Henry M.D. ofImber | London. | of London. of Etchil- Bristol, Harris of Chan.toth
16 cag m. 1703. b. 1683, | (Well-close settled.) plicated in the ___ Cottles. 1627-1685. = Sone Merchant. London, Bp.of Oxia.
ee = Re one ae Seca are living in 1687. —_Catharine= Fel. of Mag. Edward. if | | 2 on pat Me
j T homas, eldes ‘ary d. o! i 5D. 5D. ~. Shamber Col. Oxford. Abe =
ee Francis Yerbury=Mary Clark ey DRONE ron, b. 1690. | Yerbury, widow { | | ofsomerset. eee ap Jone=Dr. Merewether:
John. 1706—1778, of Mere. Flexman, m, 1719. Edward. 1661—1692. Jane=Thos. Mary, stead. (The family of
j Fellow of Mag. Coll. Bennetof living : Serj. Merewetier,)
| Tr j ; Thomus Yerbury=Ann Tatlow of Oxford. Steeple Ashton, 1687. J ee
Francis Richard=Elizabeth Jolin William=Hester Bailey Frances Bluet=Isaac onlys.andh. | Derby. (She
17381752. 1740—1772. Snunders, Yerbury. | of Culne. 1757. Hillier. Clothier. m.1757. | m. 2nd... Pit-
1 man of Derby.

ae Mogeridgo
l of Gabalva,

|
‘Thomas Yerbury (of Derby),
only 8. &h. Will proved 1786
at Litchfield. He left Well-
close to his mother ‘ Ann
Pitman,’ of Derby.

e. 1
John William Yerbury—=Emma Webb
Lieut.-Colonel. of Ledbury.
1804—1858, \

|
Francis,

a -

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 369

with accuracy, leased a house,! in what is now called the Shambles,
to ‘John Horton’ of ‘The Devizes.’

This line of the ‘Rogers’ family, which continued for six or
seven generations, during which it numbered several knights
amongst its members, terminated in Helena, daughter of Hugh
Rogers, who was married to Sir Francis Popham of Littlecote,
created a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Charles II. The
issue of this marriage was an only son, Alexander, who, on the
decease of his father in 1674, became the representative of the Pop-
hams of Littlecote and also of the family of ‘Rogers,’ of Cannington.”

Tue ‘YerRBurY’ Fmity.

This is the only family, with a pedigree recorded in the Herald’s
Visitation of 1623, whose direct male descendants still continue
resident in Bradford-on-Avon. The sudden decease of its gallant
and worthy representative almost whilst these sheets are passing
through the press, gives an additional interest to the account we are
about to lay before our readers, a portion of the materials having
been kindly furnished by himself to the writer of this sketch.

The earliest member of the Yerbury family mentioned in the
Visitations is ‘LAURENCE YERBERIE,’ described as of Batcombe, So-
merset, who was settled there, about the middle of the fifteenth
century. Connexions by marriage with some of the leading fami-
lies of Wiltshire brought them soon afterwards into this county,

' The house is the one now occupied by Mr. W. Taylor, Jun.

*There is some difficulty in reconciling the various authorities in their
statements concerning the pedigree of Rogers. Aubrey gives, under ‘ Head-
ington’, a pedigree, in which is included a memorandum, said to be from the
Herald’s college, from which it would appear that ‘George Rogers, of Luppit’
was a brother instead of a son of Thomas, the Serjeant-at-Law. I have tried
to reconcile the various statements, but have been unable. The pedigree I have
compiled is that which certainly has the greater weight of authorities in its
fayour, and I have added the sources of information, in doubtful cases, on which
I have relied. Canon Jackson tells me, that the pedigree in Aubrey’s MS.,
is on a separate leaf and not in Aubrey’s own hand-writing. He says, more-
over,—‘‘ Three of the Rogers family were successively Rectors of Headington
(Wilts Inst. 1605,—1670—and 1724) and it is most likely that Aubrey received
the pedigree from ‘ Henry Rogers,’ Rector from 1670—1724, who also held the
livings of Leigh Delamere, and Yatesbury.”

370 Bradford-on-Avon. [Old Families & Wor thies.

where they applied their energies to the wool-trade, from which at
that time the greater part of the wealth of the country was derived.
Either as ‘Wool Staplers’ or ‘Clothiers,’ (dealers, that is, in wool,
either in the raw or the manufactured state,) they traded and pros-
pered in our neighbourhood from the commencement of the six-
teenth century.

The first member of the family known to have settled in our
vicinity was ‘THomAs YERBERIE’ described as of Trowbridge, who
married Alice, daughter of Thomas Horton, of Westwood. The
last is a name frequently mentioned in our pages, and one which
our readers will almost have learnt to regard as a synonyme
for worldly wealth. Connexions also, as the pedigree shews, were
formed about the same time with the ‘Longs’ of Trowbridge, and
of Whaddon, a family that every year was increasing in property
and station. With such advantages, it is not wonderful that
‘Thomas Yerberie’ of Trowbridge prospered, and was able, at his
decease, to bequeath a goodly portion to each of his children.

He left behind him three sons,—Joun, according to the best
authorities, the eldest, and the first that settled at Bradford-on-
Avon ;—WItLi1aM, who remained at Trowbridge ;—and Tuomas,
described as of Frome, and several of whose descendants are bu-
ried in Laverton Church, near Frome, where there are monumental
tablets to their memory.

The two first-named—John and William, belong more immedi-
ately to this memoir. The family spread itself in course of years
into other parts of Wilts,—to Conock,! to Lavington, to Coulston,
&c., but our present enquiry extends only to those who came here
or into our immediate neighbourhood. And as we are able to bring
down a direct descent in the Bradford-on-Avon line to the present
time, it will be more convenient to dispose first, of the second or
Trowbridge branch.

Wuu1am Yersury of Trowbridge married his first cousin

' The estate of ‘ Gifford Yerbury’ at Conock came to the ‘ Warriner’ family.
At a sale of the effects of the last owner no very long time ago Mr. Ellen, of
Devizes, bought an oak chair having the cypher G. Y. and a Merchant’s mark
carved on the back, with the date 1624.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 371

Anne, daughter of Henry Long of Whaddon. They became the
ancestors of several men of mark. The characteristic of this
family seems to have been, a steady and unswerving fidelity to
their King. Amidst all the troubles of his troubled reign they
were true to the fortunes of Charles I. They were staunch, un-
compromising Royalists; no peril deterred them from avowing,
no hope of gain induced them to renounce their principles.

Amongst those who ‘lent money to the King’s Majesty’ (James
I.) in the year 1611, is the name of Epwarp Yrrsury,! (the son of
William and Anne,) though the Commissioners appointed to ‘note
the names of such persons as were thought fit to lend such money ’
had not included his in their lists. The same Edward acted after-
wards as Commissioner for King Charles I. For this, when the
Parliament triumphed, he had to compound for his estates and to
pay a fine of £160. (See p. 47).2. From an inscription on a monu-
ment in Trowbridge Church,’ erected to his memory by Edward
Yerbury, his grandson, we learn that he was obliged afterwards to
flee from Trowbridge. The reason of his compulsory retirement may
be understood from the following extract ;—‘“4 May 1647. “An
order arises from Goldsmiths’ Hall directing the renewed seques-
tration of Edward Yerbury, Esq., by the Wilts Committee, unless
within ten days he produced a certificate from London explanatory
of his conduct : his offence being, that, after the settlement of his
fine, he neglected to sue out his pardon under the Great Seal.” He
retired to Plymouth as a hiding-place, and there, as an exile, he
died, and found his last earthly home, a few months only before
his royal master suffered at Whitehall.

Eleven children, five daughters and six sons, were born to him,
most of whom survived him. From one of the former, Eleanor,
married to Dr. Alworth, Chancellor to the Bishop of Oxford,
descends, materially, the family, of Merewether, well known

1 Wilts Archeological Magazine, iv. 150.
2 Wilts Archeological Magazine, ii, 188.

* The words on the Monument, which is now fixed on the south side of the
tower in Trowbridge Church, are as follows ;—‘‘ M. S., venerabilis viri Edvardi
Yerbury, Armig. qui, flagrante nuper civili bello, pro fide Caralo Martyri pres-
tita, Lare profugus, Plimuthi obiit; ibique dormitorium invenit.”

372 Bradford-on-Avon. {| Old Families § Worthies.

and highly esteemed in Wiltshire. Several of the former, loyal
sons of a loyal father, shewed like him their devotion to their King.
More than one of them rose to positions of influence and dignity.
Epwarp Yersury, the eldest son, was Secretary to Lord Seymour,
brother of the Marquis of Hertford, and acted in this capacity, it is
believed, during the sittings at the treaty at Uxbridge. A few years
afterwards, together with his brother William, and others, whose
names,— Wallis,— Lovell,— Long,— Sydenham, —indicate a fa-
mily connection, he joined in the attempt commonly known
as the ‘Penruddock rising’ the object of which was the over-
throw of Cromwell’s government. Its result, as is well known,
was most disastrous to many concerned in it, though the Yerburys,
some how or other, contrived to escape. The ring-leaders were
taken prisoners; Penruddock and Grove were beheaded at Exeter ;
several others suffered at Salisbury; some were sold for slaves in
Barbadoes. ’

We find another of the sons of Edward Yerbury the elder, Joun,
by name, in the list of Royalists, on whom, in 1648, the Commis-
sioners appointed by the Parliament, levied fines for the privilege
of holding their estates. It was his son Epwsrp, a Fellow of
Magdalen College, Oxford, (successor in that position to an uncle
of whom we must speak more fully,) that erected the monument
in Trowbridge Church to which we have alluded. No doubt to his
pen we owe the correct and elegant Latin Inscription, which
records the decease of his grandfather,—his father,—and his uncle
Edward Yerbury.

The most distinguished, however, of the sons of Edward Yerbury
the elder, (at least for his attainments,) was Hunry, who was for
many years a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford! Like his
father and brothers, he too was a staunch Royalist, and, in due
time, reaped the consequences of his principles. When the Parlia-
mentary Commissioners visited Oxford, he was ejected by them
from his Fellowship. After his expulsion he travelled to the
South of Europe, and settling at Padua took the degree of Doctor
of Physic at the University there established. Whilst there he —

Wood's “Athen: "Oxon: iii! lexxit, Wastiui2rgesees,

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 3738

seems to have acted as tutor to Thomas and Henry Howard, suc-
cessively Dukes of Norfolk,! the former of whom died unmarried
at Padua in 1677. On the Restoration in 1660, Dr. Henry Yer-
bury recovered his Fellowship, and followed up at Oxford those
tastes for natural science which he had cultivated in Italy. He be-
came a pupil of the noted Peter Sthael, a chemist and Rosicrusian of
Strasburg, who had settled in Oxford in the year 1659, brought thi-
ther by the Hon. Robert Boyle. Amongst those, besides Dr. Henry
Yerbury, who attended the classes of this foreign, and, at the time,
highly-esteemed lecturer, were several whose names are very fami-
liar to us. They were,—Sir Christopher Wren,—Nathaniel Crew,
afterwards Bishop of Durham,—Dr. Ralph Bathurst, afterwards
President of Trinity, and Dean of Wells,—and Sir Thomas Milling-
ton, of All-Souls’ College.’

Shortly after this time, Dr. Henry Yerbury became involved in
disputes with the President of his College, in consequence of which
he seems once more to have been removed from his Fellowship.
Dr. Pierce, (a son of John Pierce,* a wealthy alderman and draper
of Devizes,) who, with Henry Yerbury, had been ejected from a
Fellowship at Magdalen College by the Parliamentary Commis-
sioners, was, on the Restoration, raised to the high and coveted
post of President. His domineering spirit caused much dissatis-
faction in the College, and this at last led to an open rupture
between himself and the other members of the Society. The Pre-
sident resolved at length on the extreme step of declaring Dr.

'Guillim’s Display of Heraldry, p. 180. It may be observed, that Guillim,
in describing the armorial bearings of Dr. Henry Yerbury, makes them differ
somewhat (so far, that is, as tinctwres are concerned,) from those assigned by
the authorities to Yerbury of Trowbridge, which we have printed at the
head of the pedigree. He gives them thus,—‘‘Party per fess Or and sable a lion
rampant counterchanged.”

2 Wood’s Athen: Oxon: iv. 304.

’ John Pearce, or Piers, the ‘ wealthy alderman and draper of Devizes’ was a
great Royalist, and was in 1649 fined to the extent of £426 by the Parliamen-
tary Commissioners. In a poem called ‘Caroloiades’ by Edward Howard, son
of the Earl of Berkshire, he is described as ‘‘ the trusty townsman,” who dis-
covered to the Lord Hopton a magazine of powder concealed on his own premi-

ses, and thus recruited, at a moment of jeopardy, the exhausted ammunition

of the Royalists.

374 Bradford-on-Avon [Old Families & Worthies.

Henry Yerbury expelled from his Fellowship, The circumstances
were singularly unlike those under which he was before ejected;
for now a determined Royalist was expelled by one who was as
stout and uncompromising a Royalist as himself. A paper war
speedily followed this act of the President. One pamphlet, especi-
ally caustic in its tone, entitled, “Dr. Pierce, his preaching confuted
by his practice,” led to the expulsion of its author, ‘John Dobson,’
from the University. Peace was not restored till the resignation,
in 1672, of the litigious President. Three years after his retirement
from Magdalen, Dr. Pierce was appointed Dean of Sarum, where
his contentious temper again displayed itself in a smart controversy
with the Bishop, Dr. Seth Ward, on the right of bestowing the
Prebends of the Cathedral; a controversy, which, though it was
determined in the Bishop’s favour, is said nevertheless to have
embittered the closing days of his life.

Dr. Henry Yerbury, we presume, regained his Fellowship on the
retirement of Dr. Pierce, for he died at Oxford in the year 1686,
and was buried in the chapel of Magdalen College. He must
have been highly esteemed in the University, for in the year 1679
he was one of the candidates proposed for its representation in
Parliament. He voluntarily retired, before the contest began, in
favor of Heneage Finch, then Solicitor General, afterwards created
Earl of Aylesford, who was especially recommended by the then
Chancellor of the University.

Before we leave the Trowbridge branch of the Yerbury family,
we must make a passing mention of their generous benefactions to
the poor of that, as well as of several of the neighbouring parishes.
The new Alms-house at Trowbridge was erected by the three bro-
thers, William, John, and Richard Yerbury. It was subsequently
endowed by bequests under the wills of two of them. Dr. Henry
Yerbury, and his nephew Edward, of both of whom mention has
been already made, augmented its income with their respective
donations. William Yerbury, of Hempstead, who was, we pre-
sume, a son of Richard Yerbury, towards the middle of the last
century, conveyed to Trustees a certain portion of land for its en-
dowment. At the time of the visit of the Charity Commissioners!
iin Charity Commissioners’ Printed Reports No. 28. (Wilts). p. 349.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 3875

to Trowbridge, about twenty-five years ago, they reported the income
of this Charity as amounting to £129 18s. per annum,—(repre-
senting a principal sum of at least £4000,)—the whole of it the pro-
duce of successive offerings from members of the Yerbury family.

William Yerbury, one of the builders of the new Alms-house, at
Trowbridge, also made provision for the poor of Bradford-on-Avon, of
Road, and of Beckington. In a previous page we have spoken of the
first of these gifts; it is now unhappily a thing of the past, many
years having gone by since it was diverted from its original purpose,
or distributed in bread, in accordance with the founder’s will,
amongst the poor of Bradford-on-Avon.

The branch of the Yerbury family that settled in our town, if not
so famous, were perhaps as useful in their generation as their kins-
men of Trowbridge. ‘Joun YERBury,’ the first who seems to have
lived in Bradford-on-Avon, had four sons, all of whom were engaged
in commercial or agricultural pursuits. ‘THomas,’ one of these sons,
is the first that is described as a ‘Clothier.’ The family which
still remains to us and resides at Belcomb, an estate that now for
some generations has belonged to them, descends from ‘ Watrer,’
another of the sons of ‘John Yerbury.’ Each of the brothers
married and left several children. Few namesare more frequently
met with in early Parochial Registers or Rate-Books. From the
beginning of the seventeenth century they began to spread them-
selves in our immediate neighbourhood, and are known not only
as occupiers, but as owners of land.

As might naturally be supposed, with respect to such members
of the family as devoted themselves to the quiet pursuits of agri-
cultural, or some kindred, occupation, we know but little. Gene-
ration by generation they seem to have increased their store of
worldly means and extended their possessions. Family tradition
speaks of one as the ‘golden Farmer,’ in consequence of his reputed
wealth. The great grandson of Walter, by name Joun YERBURY,
seems to have added to his means and position by a marriage, in
1703, with Frances, daughter of Joseph Davisson of Freshford,
whose mother was Joanna Bluet, of Holcombe Court, in Devon.
Of the same family was Colonel Francis Bluet, the Royalist

376 Bradford-on- Avon. { Old Families & Worthies.

commander, killed at the siege of Lyme in 1644, whilst serving
under Prince Maurice.

It was, however, the son of the last named John Yerbury, who
bore the name,—so frequent in this branch of their family,—of
Franorts, that struck out a new path for himself, and reaped fully
the reward of his ingenuity. He was educated at first for the bar.
Having a taste for all kinds of mechanical contrivances, he was
accustomed, whilst a resident in London, to visit the silk manu-
factories of Spital Fields. The ‘mystery’ of cloth-making was
not unknown to him, from his connection with Bradford-on-Avon.
He conceived the idea, that, by introducing into its manufacture
some of the plans and contrivances adopted in the weaving of silk,
cloth might be materially improved in quality. What was made
here, before his time, was thick and coarse in its texture, and had,
technically speaking, little or no ‘face’ on it. He matured his plans,
and, when ready to carry them into effect, obtained for his invention,
or, at least, improvement, the protection of a Patent." The document
is still in the possession of the family. His enterprise and talent
met with an ample reward in a large accession to his fortune. The
improvements introduced by Francis Yerbury, were, in due time,
adopted by other manufacturers, and led ultimately to results, so
far as the cloth-trade was concerned, at the first but little ex-
pected.

Of his son, Jonn Wit11AmM YERBURY, who, on the death of the
father in 1778, became the representative of the family here, we
have a circumstance recorded that shews he had inherited no
little portion of the brave spirit of his kinsmen. In a Journal
published at the time, (1787,) we have the following account.
“Some 1500 or more weavers from Bradford and Trowbridge hay-
ing compelled their masters to acquiesce in certain new regulations
[not stated] were so flushed with success that they marched in

1 In the Patent, which is dated 26th Aug., 6 George III., it is recited that
‘‘Francis Yerbury, after much application and many trials, attended with much
expense, about four years ago invented and brought to perfection a new method
of making thin superfine cloth for the summer season at home, and warmer —

climates abroad, and yet notwithstanding the thinness of its texture, it is more
. durable than cloth of a greater substance made in the common way.”

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 377

triumph from Trowbridge to Bradford, but were repelled at the en-
trance of the latter place by the principal inhabitants. At Bel-
comb Brook they also ‘met with a stout resistance, for Mr. Yerbury
had planted two patereros at his windows, which swept the lawn.
Supported by many armed friends, he addressed the rioters in so
able a manner as to induce them to retire without causing any
disturbance. The military arrived the next day and the combina-
tion was at an end.”

The son of the last-named John William Yerbury,—who bore
the same name as his father,—wil] be very well remembered by
many who read these pages. A few short months only have passed
since he was busy amongst us, discharging diligently his duties as
a magistrate and enjoying the well-earned respect of all his fellow
townsmen. He too, like his grandfather, Francis Yerbury, was,
in early life, destined for the Bar. He entered Trinity College,
Cambridge, and in due time took his degree, in preparation for
what was then his destined profession. His inclination, however,
lay towards a military life; and, after a time, he obtained a com-
mission in the 66th Regiment of Foot. Very shortly afterwards
he joined the 3rd Light Dragoons, and in that regiment he
remained until his retirement from the army, with the rank of
Lieutenant-Colonel, a little more than four years ago.

His period of active service extended over no less than thirty
years. Some friend, evidently well acquainted with his military
career, thus summed up his services in a well known periodical pub-
lished shortly after his decease.-—‘Colonel Yerbury had seen much
active service in India: he was throughout the campaign of 1842 in
Affghanistan; was present at the forcing of the Khyber Pass, at
the storming of the heights, Jugduluck, the actions of Tezeen,
and Hafkostul, (where his horse was wounded) the occupation of
Cabul, and the capture of Istaliff. He commanded his regiment
in the Punjaub campaign of 1848 and 1849; was present at Rum-
nugger, at the action of Sadoclapore, and the battles of Chillian-
wallah and Goojerat. He received a medal at Affghanistan, and
a medal and two clasps for the latter campaign. At Chillianwallah
the fate of the battle hung upon the charge of the 3rd Light

oc

378 Bradford-on-Avon. [ Old Families & Worthies.

Dragoons, and the honor of his country and the safety of the army
were ably sustained by as brave and gallant a soldier as ever drew
the sword. General Gough watched them ‘with intense anxiety,
and at last seeing them emerge on the other side of the enemy,—
having ridden right through that wing of the Sikh army,—he
declared that the day was his own.”!

After he quitted the army Colonel Yerbury settled at Beleomb
Brook, and looked forward to the probable enjoyment of some years
of quiet retirement. And few, judging from outward appearances,
had a greater right to indulge such hopes. But it was not so to
be ;—‘ ’homme propose, Dieu dispose. When in the midst of
extensive alterations in his house, with but one room in which,
whilst watching day by day the progress of the work, he had been
living, he was seized with that illness which within a week proved
fatal to him. It was almost a soldier’s death: he breathed his last
rather in a tent, than in a fixed abode; he fell in the full vigour
of his strength, before man discerned a single trace of the decre-
pitude of advancing years.

He left behind him several children. May those who inherit
his name, exhibit also his acknowledged excellencies! They will
find, that, for their father’s sake, as well as for their own, they
will readily secure no scanty measure of respect and attachment
from their fellow-townsmen and neighbours in Bradford-on-Avyon.

Tue ‘Meruvuen’ Famiry.

For more than two centuries this family was closely connected
with our town, and, to the public spirit of one of its members, Brad-
ford-on-Avon owed much of its prosperity during the 17th and
18th centuries. They demand therefore more than a passing
notice.

Originally of German extraction, this family may nevertheless
be traced back as settlers in Scotland for no less than 700 years.
On the first settler from Germany, Malcolm III. (called Caen Mohr,)
King of Scotland from 1056—1098, is said to have bestowed the

1 Gentleman’s Magazine, October 1858, p. 416.

| |
if Upway, m. 1697. d. 1735.=/b) Paul John
e wife of (a), or of (b), Methuen 1675.
j afta the former.) 1674,

| | | |
Pe. ney, J. Elizabeth=Rev. Thos. Sarah Ann Mary=Wnm. Stevens
Rogers. b. 1712. Leir of d.unm. d.unm.
m.1737 Ditcheat. 1787, 1773.

of Frankley.
m. 1757.

Rev. Thos.— Mary d. of John

Leir of Shore, by Mary,

Ditcheat. A.d.of John King-
ton, of Jaggards.

Anna Maria Samuel
Stevens, d. Bailward
and h. of Hors-
ington
om Som. :

PEDIGREE OF METHUEN.

Anns.—Argent, three wolves’ heads erased, , borne on the breast of an imperial eagle.
Cnest.—A 1olf’s head, couped, proper. hd pion a

Patrick pe Meraver, c. 1260=.....

j
Sir Roger de Methven Malise, Countess of Strathern, d.s.p.

1
Poul William de Methven=.....
ep. |
William de Methven= nota d. of...
e. 1397, i
John de Meth .. d. of Sir John Haldane,
of Gleneagles, Co, Perth,

olan de Methven= .....

4. of Sir John

i
John de Methven: aa
d. 1502, Blackader.

Andrew de Methven=Isabel d. of Robert Bruce
1 of Airth,

i
Joho de Methyen= Andrew de Methven.

Paul Methwen, Prebendary=Ann Rogers of
of Wells. Cannington, Som.

Anthony Methwin, Vicar of Frome=Jean Taylor of

1009-1640, | 1874—1640, | Bristol. 1579-1640.
f fe 6 a, of Johi ecnowe Menicwr parts
PauL MeTawin race d. of John NTH a vr fo
of Bradford, d. tetas ach ‘2nd son. d. 1684. B.D
1667. a. 1676.
I T 1 | J |
John Methuen, of Bishops Cannings.=Mary d. of Anthony=Gertrude d. of | William. Turner. Paul. Paul Methuen= Grace John Methuen=Mary ...
M.P. for Devizes, 1600-1702, Chan: | Seicole, Methuen | ThomasMoore (‘These three died without 1637—1725. (ce 1706. 1636—1609. ]
cellor of Ireland and Ambassador to | Chivers. 1650-1717. | of Spargrove, succession.) F *
Portugal. d. 1706. Buried in West- Som. d. 1699. { | | | {
minster Abbey. Elizabeth Gratiana Paul Methuen /a/=Sarah Gould of Upway, m. 1097. d. 1735.=/b) Paul John
| b. 1662. 1671—1673. 1670. (Qy. whether the wife of (a) aM (tJ, Mothuon 1675.
Sait ead | Thomas =Ann d. of Isaac Selfe of Beanacre by most probably of the former, 1674.
Sir Paul Methuen, 1672-1757. Mary=1. only s. &h.| Penelope d. and coh. of Charles, |
Secretary of State, Ambassa- Sir Richard d. 1787. Lord Lucas of Shenfield, Essex. 7 T T T T - | |
dor to Madrid, &c. Knightof Anderson. d. 1783. James. Henry=Elizabeth Anthony. Barbara=Edw. Poore Gratiana=Rev. J. Elizahoth= Rey. Thos, Sa Ann Mary=Wm. Stevens,
the Bath, Comptroller of the =2. Sir | John. d.1746 | Farmer m. 1727. | of Rushall, Rogers. b, 1712. Lely of daunm, d.unm, of Frankloy.
Household. Died unmarried. Brownlow Paul Methuen (of Corsham) M.P. for=Christian d.and coh. of " s,p, of Broms- a.1745, | Wilts, m.1737 | Ditohoat. 1787, 1778. m. 1757.
Buried in Westminster Abbey. Sherard. | Warwick, and G. Bedwyn 1774. Pur- | Sir Geo. Cobb, Bart,, of grove. Sheriff 173.
chaser of Corsham House 1747. Suc-| Adderbury. (d. 1779.) d. 1788, ince
ceeded to the property of Sir Paul j I i T ay uae ae ern Anna Maria== Samuel
AMethwen: ‘1723-1705. Paul Methuen, Edward=AnnaMaria John John, Elizabeth=Captain Diane, Adlordohu king, Stevens d. / Ballward
l ] q of Holt, ‘The Montague Methuen ‘Thomas. | Wilson. DN ore and hy of Horn=
Paul Cobb Methuen,=Matilda d. of SirT. Thomas —Christiana=Frederick ‘Counsellor.’ of (Bart. es 2 pai! bl ington,
M.P. for Great Bed-| Gooch, Bart. a. 1774. 2nd Lord 1739-1792. Lackham. 1795)8.p. E\izabeth=Rev. E. om,
wyn 1781. d. 1816. | m, 1776. d. 1826, Boston. d, unm, Wilson | iaret
I Edward Poore=Martha Wolff,
j 1 [ T T | (first wife.)
Paul Methuen,=Jane Dorothea, Thomas =Eliza Charles Rey. =Lonisad. Matilda=George | aa
Esq. M.P. for |d.ofSirHenry Anthony, Maria Lucas John ofJohn d.. 1831. De Grey Sir Edward Poore—Agnes
Wilts. Created | PauletSt.John Rectorof Plump- .N. Andrew. Fuller of (Lord (second Baronet). | Marjori-
Baron 1838. | Mildmay, Bart. Al-Can- tre. Neston, Walsing- d. 1838. banks,
d. 1849. nings, Esq. ham.)
Wilts.
: I ] ! Ge Ue ere inoerm pam eclee
Paul Mildmay, Frederick Henry—=Anna Horatia St. John—=Annad.of Jane =. Lewis, bees FS SE eS eee ee
7 2 R Fi xf Grace, Edward Plumptre Pene- F. J. Noel, d.
d. unm. 1837, Paul, 2nd Baron | Caroline, only George | Rev. Matilds Esq. a. isi7. O'Bryen Esq. M.P. lope young.

Methuen. 7-4, and h. Rev. Paul. Sergison.
J, Sanford.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 379

Barony of Methven! in Perthshire as an acknowledgment of ser-
vices rendered to the Princess Margaret, afterwards his Queen. She
together with her brother Edgar, ‘‘the Atheling,” were accompa-
nied by him from Hungary, where they had both been born during
the exile of their father Edward, the son of Edmund Ironside, and
nephew of Edward the Confessor. To keep in remembrance their
German origin, the Methuen family carry their arms blazoned on
the breast of an imperial eagle.

We soon find members of the Methuen family occupying high
and honorable offices in Scotland. In the reign of Alexander II.
(1214—1248) we find Galfred, William, and Robert, mentioned in
such a way, and in conjunction with others of such exalted station,
as implies the rank to which they had themselves attained.

The immediate ancestor, however, of the family of which we, are
speaking, was Parrick pe Meruven, who was the proprietor of the
lands and barony of Methven, and lived in the reign of Alexander
III. (c. 1260). His son, Sir Roger, is mentioned as a man of
distinction in the reign of Robert Bruce. He was Lord of the
same barony as his father, and, with many other Scotchmen of the
first rank, was compelled to submit to Edward I. in 1296.

Sir Roger was succeeded by his eldest son Paul, whom we meet
with as one of the ambassadors extraordinary appointed to treat
concerning a peace with England in 1363. A similar appointment
was no long time afterwards filled by the grandson of this Paul,
by name John de Methven, who was, in 1397, one of the ambassa-
dors to the Court of England for negotiating affairs of state with
that kingdom. It appears that the castle of Methven and part of
the lands belonging to the Barony were acquired from this John,
by the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland during the imprison-
ment of King James I. They afterwards fell to the Crown, where
they remained for some years. In 1425 King James V. gave them

’ Mevvin Castle, as it is now called, still stands at Huntingtower a village
between Perth and Crieff. The name of this family is found written in various
ways, Methven, Methwin, Methuen, &c. Paul, the first settler in Bradford,
wrote his name in the second form; John, his son, preferred the first ; Sir Paul,

his grandson, the well-known ambassador, adopted the third, which is now the
usual mode of spelling the name.

cc 2

380 Bradford-on-Avon. { Old Families & Worthies.

to his mother Queen Margaret, (sister of Henry VIII. of England,)
and Henry Steward, son of Lord Evandale, her ¢hird husband,
created, in 1523, Lord Methven.

The son of the last-mentioned John de Methven, bearing him-
self the same name as his father, was a man of great accomplish-
ments, and was constantly employed in the service of his King and
country. No Scotsman in the reign of James II. enjoyed more
of his Prince’s favour. He was one of the principal Secretaries of
State and Lord Register of Scotland in the year 1440, and a few
years afterwards was appointed ambassador extraordinary to the
Court of England. He was concerned in all the important public
transactions of his time, and always acquitted himself with in-
tegrity and honour.

A few generations pass away, and towards the middle of the 16th
century we meet with two brothers, John and Andrew,—(the sons
of an Andrew de Methven),—who come before us in the character
of zealous promoters of the Reformation. We meet also about the
same time with a Paul de Methven (probably the son of John, and
of whom we shall speak presently) as a stern opposer of the Church
of Rome. At the old Kirk of Stirling one of the earliest nurseries
of the Reformation, this Paul defended Protestantism long before
the appearance of others with whose names we are more familiar.
In fact in that town he set at defiance the edicts of the Queen Re-
gent, Mary of Guise,—the widow of James V.—and thus occupied,
in his aspect to her Court, the same position which John Knox
sustained in that of her daughter, Mary Queen of Scots.

Of Andrew, the younger of the two brothers just alluded to, we
know but little. Of John, we are told, that, dreading the persecu-
tion of the times, George Wishart having just before suffered
death at St. Andrews, under Cardinal Beaton, for his Protestantism,
he fled to England and was kindly received by Queen Elizabeth who
took his son Paul! under her special protection. The latter was

1 My authority for these statements is to be found in Playfair’s ‘Family An-
tiquity’ in a note under ‘‘GoocH”’, Baronet. vol. vii. p. 10. Ihave, however,
seen a document, and had communications concerning others, which seem to
represent these two members of this family, viz. ‘Paul,’ who married Ann
Rogers, and ‘Anthony,’ the Vicar of Frome, as brothers rather than as father and

— = - ~- =

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 381

presented to a stall in Wells Cathedral, and to other preferments in
the County of Somerset, and was, it is believed, Chaplain to John
Still,| Bishop of Bath and Wells. He married Anne Rogers, of an
ancient family of that name seated at Cannington in Somerset.
Possibly through this marriage the Methuen family first became
possessed of property in Bradford. The house in which for many
years they lived, and which till a comparatively short time ago
belonged to them and is still called ‘Methuen’s’ by the older in-
habitants, is that to which we have alluded, in a previous page, as
having probably been built by one of the family of Rogers of Can-
nington, to whom, in the sixteenth century, the property belonged.

The son of the last-named Paul, by name Anthony, was also in
Holy Orders. He was Prebendary of Wells and Litchfield, and held
the Vicarage of Frome, in Somerset, from 1609—1640. He married
Jean daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Taylor, Esq. of the city
of Bristol, and with her obtained a large accession to his fortune,
which even before was not inconsiderable. They both died in the
same year, 1640, and were interred under a costly monument,” now
in the Vestry of the Parish Church of Frome, which has recently
been completely restored to its original condition by the present
Vicar.

It is with the sons of this ANrHony, the Vicar of Frome, that
we are especially concerned, as they were the first of the family

son,—both apparently the sons of ‘John de Methven,’ who fled from Scotland.
I am not able, at present, to decide concerning the relative value of the various
authorities, and therefore content myself with indicating the source from which
the information above given has been derived.
' See Sir R. C. Hoare’s ‘Hundred of Mere,’ p. 192. °
2 On the tomb of ‘“‘Anthony Methwin,” (so the name is there spelt,) Vicar of
Frome, is the following inscription, of which we attempt an English version,
though it is not easy to reach the force and elegance of the original.
‘‘Hoe tegitur cippo, decus wvi, gloria cleri,
Dum vixit, nune fit lucida stella poli.
Viti, voce, manu, populum pascebat Tesu:
Qui nune cxlesti pasecitur ipse cibo.”
Here lies,—his Age’s boast,—his Church’s pride,—
Now, a bright star, midst angels, glorified;
In life, by word and deed, his flock in Christ he fed,
And now, with Christ Himself, he feeds on heavenly bread.

382 Bradford-on-Avon. [ Old Families & Worthies.

who settled in Bradford. Three of his children seem to have
survived him, Paul,—Anthony,—and Francis. The last named
son left no succession, neither do we know anything of his history.
The eldest was the “Paul Methwin” of Bradford, of whom men-
tion has already been made, and from whom descends the present
noble family of “Methuen.” The second, Anthony, was for several
generations represented in Bradford by direct male descendants,
the last of whom died in 1792. Through female branches he is
still represented by several families of station and affluence both in
Wiltshire and Somersetshire. It will be convenient to trace in
order, down to the present day, the descendants of those two bro-
thers respectively.

Pavt,—the elder of the two,—described as of Bradford and Bishops
Cannings, has been already spoken of in the course of our narrative.
(p. 48). It was he that introduced some weavers from Holland
into Bradford, and materially improved the manufactures and con-
sequently the trade of the Town. He settled here about the year
1620-1630. He married Grace daughter of Mr. John Ashe, of
Freshford, of an ancient family in Somerset, and a member
of several Parliaments during the reign of Charles I. Aubrey
ealls this Paul Methwin, “the greatest cloathier of his time
(Charles II.)” and says that “he succeeded his father-in-law
in the trade.”” By prudent economy, and successful enterprise, he
greatly improved his property, and amassed a large fortune. He
died in the year 1667.

1In the Harleian MS, No. 1559, fol. 42: is a pedigree of this family, from
which the following is an extract:—

John Ashe (of Westcombe, Co. Somerset, )__Ann d. of Thomas Strode of
living 1634. Huxton Mallet.

|
James Ashe (of Fresh-_Grace d. of Richard Pitt Alice=John Pitt. Margaret=John Mansel

ford) | of Melcombe Regis. of Weymouth
Ln eee
John (of _Elizad.of |Edward==Ann d. of Joseph=... Jonathan=... Samuel (of=..,
Freshford) Henry M.P.for | Alexander (a Ba- Langle,
M.P. in se- | Davissonof Heytes- | Popham ronet) Burrell.
veral Par- | Freshford bury. of 1660.
liaments of , Littlecote.
Chas. I. “~~ “
Lt | |. Ait | |
James (of Fifield) Ann=Sir John Grace=Paul Mary=Jacob Self 2 drs.
John (of Beckington) Shaw. Methuen. of Beanacre.

Benjamin (of Westcombe)
(3 other sons.)

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 383

He left behind him several sons. The eldest,—Joun,—described
as of Bishops Cannings, was a man of great abilities and was much
employed in affairs of State. He was one of the Privy Council and
Lord Chancellor of Ireland in the reigns of King William III. and
Queen Anne. He was frequently employed in embassies to Portu-
gal, and, in 1703, concluded, with the Court of Lisbon, a treaty
which regulated the trade in wine and was ever afterwards called
by his name, and considered as a great evidence of his skill in
negotiation. He represented the Borough of Devizes in five Parlia-
ments. A monument in Westminster Abbey records that ‘he died
abroad in the service of his country a.p. 1706.”

The son of this last named John was a diplomatist even more
highly distinguished than himself. Srr Pavt Meruven, for some
years, was ambassador at Madrid. He also acted as envoy at various
times to the Emperor of Morocco, and the Duke of Savoy. In 1706
he was appointed one of the Lords of the Admiralty: in 1714 he
became a Lord of the Treasury and a Privy Counsellor. He rose
at last in 1716 to the high office of a principal Secretary of State,
and in 1720 was comptroller of the King’s Household. He was
installed in 1725 as a Knight of the Bath, and the same year be-
came Treasurer of the Household, an office which he resigned in a
few years and passed the remainder of his life in a private station."

Sir Paul Methuen died unmarried, in the 85th year of his age,
and was interred near the remains of his father in Westminster
Abbey. In him ended the male line of John the eldest son of
‘Paul Methwin of Bradford.’ He bequeathed his valuable col-
lection of pictures, and considerable estates, to Paul, (the son of
his first cousin, Thomas Methuen) the purchaser of Corsham House.

Antuony, the second son of Paul, of Bradford, succeeded to his

1Tt must be Sir Paul Methuen, who did not die till 1757 (30 Geo. IT.), to
whom Dr. Doran alludes in the following anecdote ;—‘‘ In the reign of George
II. there lived a Wiltshire Gentleman named Paul Methuen who had a passion
for reading the weary dreary novels of his time. Queen Caroline loved to rally
him on his weakness, and one day asked him what he had last been reading,
‘May it please your Majesty” said Paul, ‘‘I have been reading a poor book on
a poor subject, the Kingsand Queens of England.” Lives of the Brunswick
Queens of England,

384 Bradford-on-Avon. [ Old Families & Worthies.

father as a Clothier, and his name very often occurs in the inden-
tures of various apprentices from time to time. He inherited his
father’s estate at Bradford, and also his manors of Cheddar, Withy,
Beckington and Freshford in Somerset. He married Gertrude
daughter and co-heir of Thomas Moore of Spargrove, Co. Somerset,
and their son Thomas Methuen (who married Ann daughter of
Isaac Selfe, of Beanacre, Co. Wilts) was the father of the Paul, to
whom we have just alluded as the inheritor of the pictures and
other property of Sir Paul Methuen. Paul, of Corsham House,
was for some years M.P. for Warwick. It was he that purchased
the Lordship of the Manor of Bradford from Mr. Poulett Wright
in 1774. His grandson, also Paul Methuen, was for some years
M.P. for Wilts, and was elevated to the peerage, in 1838, as Baron
Methuen of Corsham, Co. Wilts. The present peer succeeded to
the title, as second Baron Methuen, on the demise of his father in
1849. .

We must return now to AnrHony,—the second son of Anthony
the Vicar of Frome. Together with his brother Paul he seems to
have settled in Bradford where he died in 1684. His descendants
remained in the town, and, in the beginning of the eighteenth
century, were represented by Pau, Mrruugn, who, in the year 1697,
married Sarah daughter of William Gould, of Upway and Fleet,
Co. Dorset. They had three sons (one only of whom grew to
man’s estate) and eight daughters. Henry, their son, married
Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Farmer, Esq. of Bromsgrove, and
had issue Paul, afterwards called to the Bar, and a member of the
Society at Lincoln’s Inn. Pavur—‘“ the Counsellor,” as he is com-
monly termed,—is described as “ of Holt,” and died unmarried in
1792. On his decease, the daughters of Paul and Sarah Methuen,
(the aunts of Paul ‘the Counsellor,’) became the representatives of
this branch of the Methuen family, and co-heiresses of their Father.
Of these,—Barzara, married, in 1727, Edward Poore, Esq. of Rushall,
and their second son, ‘John Methuen’ was created a Baronet in
1795 ;—EtizaBerH, married, in 1737, the Rev. Thomas Leir, of
Ditcheat ;—Grattana, married, in 1747, the Rev. J. Rogers, Vicar
of Warminster ;—and Mary, the youngest, married, in 1754, W.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 885

Stevens, Esq. of Frankleigh, and their only daughter and heiress
became, in 1779, the wife of Samuel Bailward, Esq. of Horsington,
a name still well known and as well respected in the parish of
Bradford-on-Avon.

Tue ‘Cam’ Famity.

The earliest member of the ‘Cam’ family of whom we have found
any account was ‘John Cam,’ of Camsgill in the barony of Kendal,
in Westmoreland. His name is very conspicuous in the early
history of the Society of Friends." He travelled in the west of
England and was greatly persecuted at Bristol in 1654.

Early in the following century we meet with the name in Brad-
ford-on Avon. A little later we have Samuret Cam, a leading
clothier and active Magistrate, residing at Chantry House, of which
by purchase from the representatives of Edward Thresher (who
died 1741), he had become the proprietor... For many years he
oceupied a very prominent position in our town, and together with
several whose names have been already mentioned, and others whose
names are not yet forgotten,—such as Bethel,—Clutterbuck,—
Tugwell,—Hillier,—Attwood,—Shrapnell,—and Bush,—helped to
raise Bradford-on-Avon to a high pitch of commercial prosperity.
One of his daughters married Benjamin Hobhouse, Barrister-at-
Law, who was afterwards created a Baronet, and resided for some
years at Cottles. Their eldest son ‘John Cam,’ who was born in
the year 1786, succeeded his father in the Baronetcy in the year
1831. He distinguished himself in early life at the University of

‘The Quakers were at one time a numerous and influential body in Bradford,
Their first meeting-house seems to have been at Cumberwell (or rather, Frank-
ley) now converted into a School. They afterwards (1710) built one in the
court leading out of St. Margaret Street, and this, long disused by them, has
been oceupied for some years past as a British School. Many notices of inter-
ment in the ‘‘ Cumberwell burial-ground” (especially in the year 1701) are to
be seen in the Parish Register. In the year 1660 an attack was made upon
them at Cumberwell, and one Robert Storr sent, for being concerned in it, as a
prisoner to Sarum. John Clark, a Bradford Quaker, held, in 1695, a public
disputation with a member of another section of non-conformists at Melksham,
on the premises of Thomas Bevan. William Penn was in the chair as moderator,
and, after the trial of skill had gone on for some time, closed the proceedings,
Amongst the Quakers of Bradford-on-Avon too is to be reckoned ‘Joseph Yer-
bury,’ who lived at Well-close.

386 Bradford-on-Avon. [ Old Families §& Worthies.

Cambridge, where he graduated in 1808, having the same year
carried off the Hulsean Prize. He was afterwards known as the
friend and companion of the poet Byron, and became an author of
several works of acknowledged merit. He filled several high offices
of state, holding for some years the position of President of the
Board of Control. In the year 1851 he was raised to the peerage
under the title of Baron Broughton de Gifford. Some fourteen
years ago he obtained, by purchase from the Methuen family, the
Lordship of the Manor of Bradford-on-Avon.

A brief notice of one or two ‘ Worthies,’ of whom we have not as
yet spoken, or to whom we have made hardly more than a passing
reference, will conclude our paper.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHRAPNEL.

He was the son of Zechariah Shrapnel, a manufacturer of this
town, who amassed a considerable fortune as the reward of his
successful industry, and, together with other property in Bradford-
on-Avon, was the owner of the Midway estate, which still belongs
to the same family. He entered the army in early life, having
obtained his commission as second Lieutenant in the Royal Artil-
lery in the year 1779. Two years afterwards he was advanced to
a first Lieutenancy. He rose through the various ranks, till, in
1827, he was gazetted as Lieutenant-General. He was ultimately
Colonel Commandant of the sixth battalion of Artillery.

During a term of active service, extending over a considerable
period of his life, he was always distinguished as an intelligent and
pains-taking officer, in that branch especially of the service to
which he had devoted himself. He served with the Duke of York’s
army in Flanders, and, shortly after the siege of Dunkirk, invented
the case shot, a destructive engine of war used by the Royal Artil-
lery, and known by the name of ‘Shrapnel Shells.’ The discovery
was considered of such importance, that, on its adoption by the
service, its inventor, our fellow-townsman, ‘Henry Shrapnel,’ re-
ceived a pension of £1200 per annum, in addition to the pay to
which his rank in the army entitled him.

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 387

General Shrapnel died in 1842. He did not retire from active
service, till well nigh ha/f a century had elapsed since he obtained
his first commission. His remains were interred in a vault in the

Chancel of the Parish Church.

Masor-Generat Busy, K.H.

He was the youngest son of Thomas Bush, Esq. of this town,
who for many years was an active magistrate of Wiltshire, and
served the office of High Sheriff of the county in the year 1804.
He entered the army in 1808, as Cornet in the 2nd Dragoon
Guards, in which regiment he rose to the rank of Captain, and
served with his corps in the Walcheren Expedition in 1809. At
a later period he exchanged into the 21st Light Dragoons. He
went with this regiment to the Cape of Good Hope, and was
detached with his troop several months on the Caffir frontier.
Having terminated this service, which was one of constant peril
from the treacherous and stealthy incursions of the natives, he
sailed with the 21st for India, and, after attaining the rank of
Major unattached, he exchanged to the 99th, and took the com-
mand of the Depét in Ireland. In course of time he was appointed
Lieut.-Colonel of the 1st West India Regiment, and remained
several years in the unhealthy stations of St. Lucia, Demerara,
and Trinidad.

At the time Colonel Bush took the command of his regiment in
the West Indies, every effort was being made by the British Go-
vernment to suppress the slave trade. Several vessels laden with
native Africans were captured by the British cruisers, and the
men, after having been declared free, were permitted to enlist
voluntarily in West India regiments and the African corps. Up-
wards of 200 of these native Africans enlisted in Colonel Bush’s
regiment, at that time (1837) stationed at St. Joseph’s, Demerara.
The old soldiers were soon afterwards withdrawn to other islands,
and these recruits were the only disposable force to take the requi-
site guard. Led on by one of their number, a man of gigantic
stature, who had been a chief in Africa and had great influence
over them, these recruits unexpectedly broke out into open revolt,

388 Bradford-on-Avon. { Old Families & Worthies.

and, in the night of June 18th, 1837, advanced against their officers
with the intention of murdering all the white people, setting fire
to the barracks, and then returning to Guinea. Colonel Bush, to-
gether with his Adjutant, Lieutenant Bentley, advanced towards
the mutineers, and, when within some 25 yards of them, they were
fired at, but providentially escaped injury. The two officers retired
to the stables, through which (being built of wood) several shots
were fired. Lieutenant Bentley mounted his horse and galloped
through the barrack-yard to St. James’s, a distance of nine miles,
to procure assistance, the recruits attempting in vain to stop him.
Colonel Bush, aided by the darkness of the night, fled to the
special magistrate’s house, and, through him, obtained from the
police station, which was but a short distance from his residence, a
musket and some ammunition. Together with a police officer, an
old soldier, and Lieutenant Doran, whom they met in their way,
Colonel Bush, returned at once to the barracks and found the mu-
tineers just about to set the hospital on fire, the patients escaping
in all directions. Arraying his little party of four on the rising-
ground, within forty yards of the main body of the recruits, he
kept up an independent fire on them for some minutes, which was
duly returned, until at length three of the revolters were lying dead
and several wounded. Not knowing what numbers might be op-
posed to them, from the darkness of the early hour of the morning,
and appalled by the dead and wounded, the mutineers fled and
took refuge in the woods. Many of them were killed, and several »
of the ringleaders were afterwards brought to a court-martial and
sentenced to death. The suppression of this fearful outbreak was
entirely attributed to the intrepidity of our townsman. His firm-
ness and decision gave him ever afterwards the complete ascendancy
over these untutored Africans, and he brought into order and first
rate discipline no less than 1200 uncivilized recruits.

As a reward for these meritorious services the Duke of Welling-
ton removed him from the West Indies to home service, and ap-
pointed him Inspecting Field Officer of the Leeds district. A
vacancy afterwards occurring in the London district he was re-
moved to it, and he held this appointment to the time of his

By the Rev. W. H. Jones. 389

decease in August 1854. But a few months before he died, he was
promoted to the rank of Major-General.

General Bush’s character as an officer is thus summed up in a
periodical,' published shortly after his death, from which we gleaned
the particulars thus laid before our readers:—“ Although a strict
disciplinarian and rigid in the enforcement of his orders, yet his
zeal for the best interests of those under his command, and his en-
gaging manners, gained their respect and affection. Devoted to
the service of his country, and having spent nearly his whole life
in active duty in the four quarters of the globe, being also (in ad-
dition to his great experience) endowed with a vigorous and culti-
vated mind, his opinion was sought by the highest military
authorities, to whom the strict and conscientious discharge of all
his several duties was well known.”

Tue Rey. Henry Harvey.

We close our list of Bradford Worthies with a name which is still
well known, and which will be long remembered in this Parish.

He was the second son of George Harvey, Esq. of Hendon, by
Mary daughter of Thomas Donne, Esq., a descendant of the cele-
brated Dean of St. Pauls, and a connexion of the poet Cowper.
Born at Hampstead in the year 1792, in the eighteenth year of his
age he entered Christ Church, Oxford, where in due time he took
his degree. At an early period of life he resided for a considerable
time on the continent, and by this means became familiar with
European languages, and general history. He was ordained, in
1818, to the curacy of East Horsley, in Surrey, and, after holding
two similar appointments in Suffolk, was in the course of a few
years removed to Ealing. There he was brought under the notice
of Bishop Howley, (afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury), and by
him was recommended, in 1825, as Tutor to Prince George of
Cambridge.- This office he held for six years, residing first at
Hanover and afterwards at the English court. The Duke of Cam-
bridge appointed him one of his Chaplains, an office continued to
him by the present Duke, when, in 1850, he succeeded to the title.

‘Gentleman’s Magazine, November 1854.

390 Bradford-on-Avon. [Old Families & Worthies.

In 1833 he became a Canon of Bristol and, no long time after-
wards, succeeded Dr. Blomberg in the Vicarage of this Parish.
For seventeen years he held this living, and in 1850, on the de-
cease of Dean Lamb, left it for Olveston, near Bristol, where he
died November 1854. He had married, in 1823, Johnanna Maria,
daughter of the Rev. John Auber, Rector of Blaisdon in Glouces-
tershire.

During the time he held the Incumbency of Bradford-on-Avon, a
charge then embracing the care of no less than seven Churches,
Mr. Harvey accomplished a great work for the parish at large,—a
work more lasting in its benefits than had before been completed
since the Reformation. The new Church of Christ Church built and
endowed,—those at Winsley and Atworth rebuilt and enlarged,—
that at Holt enlarged and rendered more commodious,—the one at
Westwood made good by rebuilding the chancel,—that of Limpley
Stoke restored,—these were good works in which he always took
some, generally the leading part. Add to these, fowr new school-
houses, two of them double,—(and these exclusive of those at Christ
Church the noble gift of Captain Palairet),—the Vicarage house
rebuilt, and a new parsonage house provided for the District
Church,—all more or less the results of his exertions, and you have
ample grounds for believing that his name will be long remembered
with affection in Bradford-on-Avon. He must always hold a pro-
minent place among our ‘ Worthies.’ Take him all in all, and
there are few to whom the words of Chaucer, with which we may
not unfitly conclude this paper, are more strictly applicable, or of
whose character they are more truly descriptive.

“To drawen folk to heven with fairénesse,
By good ensample, was his besinesse :

But it were any persone obstinat,

What so he were of highe or low estat,

Him wolde he snibben sharply for the nones.
A better preest I trowe that nowher non is:
He waited after no pompe, ne reverence,

Ne maked him no spicéd conscience.

But Cristes lore, and his apostles twelve,
He taught, but first he folwed it himselve.””!

1 Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, 1. 52,—530.

format 0 lhe Uemory of
1OHN BRITTON.

Author iff the Cathedral tinteyuutees Uh Khe

L yw écté Lt

yi

ty os zs Teeurood lemcttity — eet Chee

Yr

. 4
va humg ¢ iy . MO

fier entemdlante of Y
suggested faving a Coffey a Of tone fart of Mone

VA
be nye Liebe whch VSS hs Y ses M We rtto 2A RAME

td Jo Asnti*nati ly COMMECAE a

391

Britten's atlonument,

ae=5HE accompanying illustration of the Grave Stone of the late
ys John Britton at Norwood Cemetery, is presented to the
Society by his widow.

The Royal Institute of British Architects have placed a brass
in memory of Mr. Britton in Salisbury Cathedral; and shortly after
his death, a subscription was commenced by the members of the
Wilts Archeological and Natural History Society to erect a memo-
rial window in the Church of his native parish, Kington St. Mi-
chael, and to present a purse to his widow. The window has been
completed, the sum raised by the Society having been increased by
the subscriptions of several gentlemen in the neighbourhood.

Beneath the window, has been placed at the expense of the Rev.
Canon Jackson, Rector of Leigh Delamere, a Brass plate on which
is the following inscription :—

“At the Restoration of this Church A.D. 1857, this. Window was erected by
public Subscription to commemorate two Natives of this parish, alike distin-
guished by their writings on the Antiquities of Wiltshire. Jonn Aubrey, F.R.S,
born at Easton Piers, March 12th 1625; died at Oxford, June 1697; and Jonn
Britton, F.A.S., born at Kington St. Michael, July 7th 1771; died in London,

January 1st 1857.
““TAUS DEO.”

Mrs. Britton was anxious that the place of her husband’s inter-
ment should be appropriately marked out, and at the suggestion of
Professor Hosking a large monolith of Bramley-fall stone, similar
in form to those at Stonehenge, has been erected as represented in the
engraving. A suitable foundation having been prepared, upon this
was laid at the ground level, a 6 inch “York ledger” 5 feet square,
and upon that a plinth of Bramley-fall stone of the same superficies,
and 8 or 10 inches thick. This is wrought all round and weathered
from the base of the monumental block, which stands on the plinth
and is tenonjoggled 4 inches into it. The monumental block is
3 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 4 inches at the base, and 11 feet high;
diminishing slightly on all sides, and is about 5 tons in weight.
It is not wrought, but is as it was rent from the quarry, except-

392 The Report.

ing where some rougher irregularities have been removed. There
is no other inscription than the name and dates of birth and death
cut into the wrought plinth; there is nothing whatever on the
upright block itself.

The subscription raised by the Society for Mrs. Britton amounted
to about £70, and this sum she has appropriated to defray the
expenses of the monument at Norwood. W.C.

To THE EDITOR OF THE WILTSHIRE MAGAZINE,

Siz,

I beg to be allowed to rectify an assertion that I made too broadly at p.
199 of this volume: viz., that an initial ” is never dropped in our Germanic
languages. I had in my mind those words in which it precedes a vowel, and ought
to have so limited the expression. There are numerous cases in all these lan-
guages where an / once preceded J, n, r or w, but is now no longer heard. Indeed
it has been dropped in all of them, and in all cases before J, n, and 7, as for
instance in hlihan, hlaf, hleapan, hlud, hnut, hrefen, hreod, which have be-
come laugh, loaf, leap, loud, nut, raven, and reed. Similar changes have taken
place in the Germanic languages of the Continent where an / has formerly pre-
ceded aw. It is in English only that it has been retained: and here by some
strange caprice the A is now written after the w, as for instance in whale, whom,
wheat, while, which were formerly spelt hwel, hwem, hwet, hwil, dnd in
German are wall-fisch, wem, weitzen, weil.

This / before the consonants /, n, 7, and perhaps before vowels also, must
have formerly had the sound of ch, for in proper names, when these were used in
Latin or French, it was replaced by ch, as in Chlodovyicus or Clovis fur Hludvig,
Childeric and Childebert for Hilderic and Hildebert, Chlodomere and Chlodo-
valde. Ina few cases this 2 before a consonant has in modern English been
replaced by a ¢ or &, as in Cleeve from hlew, and knoll from hnoll. In Scotch
it is become gu as in quhair, quhen, where, when, quhene, a bit, from Anglo-

Saxon hwene, quhig, whey, from Anglo-Saxon hweg, quhit, wheat, from Anglo-
Saxon hwet.
Iam, Sir, Yours,
R. C. ALEXANDER.
Hammersmith, Dec. 13th, 1858.

REPORT. 1858.

The Committee of the Wiltshire Archeological and Natural History Society
will not occupy the attention of its Members with any longer Report than will
be sufficient concisely to set before them its present condition and the results of
the year 1858.

As the Society has now been in existence some years, during which it has ha
the honour of enrolling among its Members a great number of the most intelli-
gent gentlemen of the county, it will be readily understood that there is no

The Report. 3938

longer the same expectation of a considerable annual increase in the number
of Members, as when the Society was in its infancy.

Owing to a particular circumstance, such increase was still less to be expected
during the year 1858.. The principal addition of new Members has always
hitherto been made at the General Annual Meeting. But, it will be recollected
that in consequence of the Two great National Archeological Societies having
each held its Congress this summer, within or close upon our own peculiar
district, (The Institute, at Bath, and the Association, at Salisbury), it was con-
sidered desirable that the General Meeting of our own Society should be for this
once, abandoned. The usual opportunity of recruiting our strength has accord-
ingly not occurred.

We have also to regret the loss, by death, withdrawal, or removal from the
county, of no less than Ten of our former Members.

Notwithstanding thesé drawbacks, our Society has continued to increase; the
number of the names on our books now amounting to 380, being a slight addi-
tion since last year. .

The next point to which your Committee would call particular attention is a
very important one: the Financial position of the Society.

The funds would be in a very prosperous condition, if the Members would
only have the goodness to pay up their subscription regularly. But your Com-
mittee regrets to say that the amount of subscriptions in arrear and unpaid, is
at this present moment, no less than the sum of £130.

Your Committee, in discharge of its duty, ventures very respectfully to
point out to the observation of those who have neglected payment, not only the
great inconvenience occasioned by such irregularity, but (with all deference they
add,) its unfairness. For it should be recollected that every registered Member,
whether he had paid his subscription or not, has been duly supplied, from the
date of his enrolment to the present time, with the Numbers of the Magazine as
they have issued from the Press. In the next place; whatever expense has
been and continues to be incurred, either in the publication of the Magazine or
in any other of the Society’s proceedings, is incurred entirely upon the faith of
the subscriptions promised. If the payment is neglected, not only are the
accounts deranged and the expenditure crippled; but the necessity must very
soon arise, of encroaching upon the Capital of the Society, now invested in
Exchequer Bills and bearing interest. Your Committee has referred to this
subject with very great reluctance.

The next point is more agreeable: the opening of a Museum and Library in
Devizes. This has been happily carried into effect since-last year. A complete
and accurate catalogue of the contents, prepared by the Assistant Secretary,
together with such Rules for the circulation of Books as may be settled by
the Library sub-committee, will shortly be distributed among the Members.
Whilst returning their best thanks to those gentlemen who have already depo-
sited many valuable and interesting objects, your Committee again solicit
continued Donations of Books and specimens in illustration of the Archmology
and Natural History of Wiltshire.

With regard to the Wiltshire Magazine, your Committee ventures to express
a hope that the Volume for this year has not been found inferior to those that
have preceded it. They rejoice to sce that the number of Topographical essay-

394 The Report.

ists is gradually increasing, and feel that they may safely refer to some of the
later articles as a proof that it is fairly fulfilling its task of elucidating the
Natural History as well as the Archeology of the county. Your Committee
cannot mention the Magazine without renewing their best thanks to one of
their Secretaries, the Rey. Canon Jackson, for his continued attention as Editor;
and they desire also to express the acknowledgments of the Society to Mr.
Poulett Scrope for his great liberality in providing at his own expense the Map
which accompanies his interesting paper on the Geology of Wiltshire.

One other subject only remains to be noticed: the importance of increasing
the number of Members. It is the decided belief of your Committee that there
are still many gentlemen in the county who would be very willing to join the
Society, if its character and object were brought more immediately under their
notice. With this view the Secretaries have prepared, and put in circulation,
a Prospectus, containing a summary of the Society’s plan and proceedings past
and present. They respectfully ask the co-operation of the existing Members, in
the endeavour to obtain as far as possible, the sympathy, encouragement and
help, of every educated person in the County of Wilts.

Erratum,
p-. 94, 1.9. For ‘and stone’ read ‘ sandstone.’

», 1, 23. For ‘thought’ read ‘through.’

p- 95, 1. 30. Dele comma after ‘ employed in it.’

», last line. For ‘represent’ read ‘ representing.’
p- 96, first line. For ‘are an accurate copy’ read ‘ are as an accurate copy.
p- 109, 1. 3. For ‘spot’ read ‘ spots.’

p- 193, 1. 12. For ‘bere,’ read ‘pere.’

55 1 14. For ‘por,’ read ‘ peere.’

» 1.15. For ‘Wylscete,’ read ‘Wylsete.’

ss » For ‘deel,’ read ‘deel.’

»5 1. 18. For ‘poet,’ read ‘ pet.’
p. 197, 1, 13, For ‘speaking,’ read ‘spelling.’
», 1, 29. For, the 2nd, ‘ey,’ read ‘eye.’
», 1.2 from bottom. For ‘ Aigean,’ read ‘g-ean.’

199, 1. 7 from bottom. For ‘forbid,’ read ‘forbids.’
202, 1. 12. For ‘ féder,’ read ‘fader.’

203, 1. 20. After ‘Saxon,’ insert ‘origin.’

205, 1. 25. For ‘henee,’ read ‘thence.’

PEX\\SFLivie
Oa by SRS

Susy

END OF VOL. V.

H. BULL, Printer, Saint John Street, Devizes.

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