114 PAPER«, ETC. 



/nrleiglj-IßimgErfnri Castle, Innifrart. 



BY THE REV. J. E. JACKSON. 



THE ruined Castle at this place was, for about 300 

 years, viz : from A.D. 1369 to a.d 1686, the principal 

 residence, in Somersetshire, of the Hungerford family. In 

 that county their possesslons were very considerable ; but 

 in Wilts, from which the Castle is only divided by the river 

 below its walls, there would seem to be few districts with 

 which they were not, at some time or other, connected as 

 landowners. Some have said that the Castle Stands on the 

 actual slte of a Roman villa. Of this there is no evidence, 

 from direct discovery. There are, however, Roman remains 

 close by. In Temple Field, half a mile ofF towards the 

 north, the remains of a villa were opened in 1822. A tol- 

 erably perfect bath, with several coins, and some tessellated 

 pavement, were found. There was another villa, at the 

 distance of a mUe towards the S.E.; and on a hill, rising 

 N.W. above the castle, are traces of an earthwork, and camp. 

 Before Farleigh belonged to the Hungerfords, it was the 

 property of the Montfort family, and bore their name. Sir 

 Henry de Montfort, (temp. King John,) had a house on 

 this spot. From the Montforts, it passed to the family of 

 Burghersh, by whom it was sold, in A.D. 1369, to Sir 

 Thomas Hungerford, of Heytesbury. He was one of the 



