48 On Edington Church, and Memorials of its History. 
Without further delay—except to entreat the most favourable 
consideration for a paper roughly sketched amidst the engrossing 
cares, the ceaseless anxieties of a large parish, and the usual share 
of social and domestic occupations which I believe entangle anti- 
quarian quite as much as more modern students—lI will proceed 
to the details of the church and parish of Edington. 
The table-land which, dispersed in several groups, is called by 
the common appellation of Salisbury Plain, terminates from Westbury 
to the high road hanging over Earlstoke in a series of ramparts of 
turf, which seem to stand out against the Vale of Pewsey with the 
sheer massiveness of a fortified town. At no point does the upper 
plain rise more abruptly than where the down lands, forming a 
bason in which the little hamlet of Bratton is placed, sweep round 
to the northwestward and rise up almost perpendicularly from the 
Vale of Pewsey below. Close under this natural rampart, about 
four miles from Westbury, a rich fringing of gigantic elms and 
walnuts surrounds the village of Edington, whilst on a sort of open 
space where cross roads meet, the magnificent old church startles 
the passer by with its almost cathedral proportions and rich outline 
of pinnacle, and battlement, and tower. The village is mentioned 
by Camden—“At Edindon, heretofore called Eathendone, King 
Alfred won the most glorious victory that ever was obtained over 
the ravaging Danes, and drove them to that extremity that they 
took a solemn oath immediately to depart the land.” It would 
appear, on the authority of Tanner and Leland, that as early as 
the reign of John, the Church and Manor of Edington were held 
under the Abbey of Romsey, and that the church was held as a 
prebendal benefice under that Abbey. William of Edington, 
Bishop of Winchester, and so well known by the commencement 
of that work of restoration in Winchester Cathedral which was so 
gloriously carried forward by his successor, William of Wykeham, 
determined to acknowledge God’s goodness in raising him to so 
high a post in His Church, and built the present church; and 
furthermore, moved by the same pious gratitude and zeal, founded 
subsequently a college for a dean and twelve ministers, to the 
honour of the Blessed Virgin, St. Katharine, and All Saints. The 
