WARMINSTER. 



bury, and 98 miles W.t5.W. from London. At the time 

 of the Conqueft, Warminfter appears to have been exempted 

 from the payment of taxes, which circumftance, together 

 with the evident derivation of its name, feems to point it 

 out as the fcite of an ancient moiiaftery. At a later period 

 it was celebrated for its corn-market. Leland, in his Itine- 

 rary, fays, " Werminller, a principall market for corne, is 

 4 myles from Brookehaulle, a myle to Wellbury, and fo 3 

 myles forthe." At the prefent day, the market of this 

 town continues to be abundantly fupplied with wheat, 

 barley, oats, &c. and here are three annua! fairs. War- 

 minfter poffeffes no corporation within itfelf, and is tliere- 

 fore under the government of the neighbouring county ma- 

 giftrates, with the aid of conftables chofen every year, at the 

 court -leet of the marquis of Bath, who is lord of the manor. 

 The chief trade carried on here is that of malting, and a 

 confiderable manufafture of woollens : the latter has been 

 rapidly on the increafe within the laft century. Accord- 

 ing to the parliamentary returns of the year 181 1, the town 

 and parirti of Warminfter contained 1073 houfes, and a po- 

 pulation of 4866 perfons. The houfes in the town are 

 principally ranged in one very long ftreet, ftretching along 

 the fides of the turnpike-road. At the weftern extremity 

 ftands the parifli-chureh, which is a fpacious edifice of ftone, 

 ■with a fquare toiver ; and near the centre of the town is a 

 chapel of eafe, eretted fome years ago for the convenience 

 of the pariftiioners. There are befides two places of worlhip 

 belonging to the Difienters ; alfo a good market-houle, an 

 aftembly-room, and a free grammar-fchool for the education 

 of twenty poor boys. This inftitution is endowed with a 

 falary of thirty pounds per annum, and is in the gift of the 

 marquis of Bath. The lordftiip of Warminfter in ancient 

 times formed part of the eftate of the family of Mauduit, 

 whence it pafled to the Hungerfords. Mary, an heirefs of 

 that family, conveyed it by marriage to Edward, lord 

 Haftings, who was beheaded by order of the duke of Glou- 

 cefter, afterwards Richard III. That monarch fubfc- 

 quently beftowed it on John Howard, whom he created 

 duke of Norfolk. It is now the property of the marquis 

 of Bath. Dr. Samuel Squire, a learned writer, and biftiop 

 of St. David's, was born at Warminfter in 1714, and died 

 in 1766. 



Southley Wood, fo called from its lying to the fouth of 

 Warminfter, is diftinguiftied by a fmall intrenchment, deno- 

 minated Robin Hood's Bower, which is nearly of a fquare 

 form, and comprifes afcout three-quarters of an acre. Clofe 

 to the eaftern boundary of this wood is another fimilar 

 earthen-work ; and on its eaftern fide is a third intrench- 

 ment, refembling an amphitheatre in miniature. This laft 

 is a very curious work, and confifts of a ditch and two vallas. 

 The outer vallum is about eighteen feet in height, and is 

 very neatly formed ; the breadth of the ditch is feven feet ; 

 the height of the inner work from fifteen to fixteen feet ; 

 and the length of the area of the inner work on its longeft 

 fide (for it is of an oval ftiape) is one hundred and eleven 

 feet. 



Clee or Clay Hills, in this vicinity, are two very fingular 

 knolls ; one of which is much larger than the other, and is 

 furrounded by a ditch and rampart, bearing the marks of 

 very high antiquity ; and on its fummit are placed two bar- 

 rows, and the pedeftal of a ftone crofs. Both thefe tumuli 

 were opened by fir Richard Hoare, who afcertained one of 

 them to be decidedly fepulchral ; but no remains of any in- 

 terment appearing in the other, it is fuppofed to be defigned 

 for 3 beacon. 



At the diftance of a quarter of a mile N.E. from War- 

 minfter, is a conicaUftiaped eminence, called Cop-Head Hill, 



which is crowned by a large barrow, encircled by a ditch and 

 vallum. This tumulus was opened in 1809 by fir Richard 

 Hoare, and found to contain the flceletons of feveral males, 

 one female, and a child ; befides an interment of burnt 

 bones. 



About three-quarters of a mile further to the eaftward, 

 on the fummit of an irregular hill, is Battleftiury Camp : on 

 the weft and north-eaft fides ;t is nearly inacceftible, from 

 the fteep and difficult nature of the ground ; and on thofe 

 fides where it is more eafily approached, additional ramparts 

 have been conftrufted exterior to the double ditch and val- 

 lum which furround the whole. The circuit of the outer 

 vallum is feven furlongs and fixty-fix yards, and the greatelt 

 height of the ramparts is fixty feet : the area, within the in- 

 terior vallum, meafures twenty -three acres and a quarter, 

 and is wholly under tillage. At the fouth-weft angle of the 

 camp are three barrows : one of them fills the entire fpace 

 of the inner ditch ; and the other two are placed in the 

 line of the inner rampart. Thefe laft, on opening, proved to 

 be fepulchral ; but no interment could be difcovered in the 

 other. 



Between this fortrefs and the village of Boreham, is one 

 of the largeft barrows in Wiltdiire, from which circumftance 

 it has been dignified with the appellation of King Barrow. 

 It extends two hundred and fix feet in length, fifty-fix in 

 breadth, and from fifteen to fixteen in height. When firft 

 opened in 1800 by Mr. Cunnington, the ftceleton of a horfe, 

 and three of human beings, were difcovered-, together with 

 fome pieces of ftags' horns, boars' tuflis, and rude pottery ; 

 alfo a fingle -edged iron fword, about eighteen inches in 

 length, and two m breadth, which lay on the thigh of one 

 of the fi<Lletons. 



Weftward from Warminfter four miles and a half, on the 

 immediate confines of this county with Somerfetftiire, is 

 Longleat, the magnificent feat of the marquis of Bath. 

 The old houfe was originally part of a priory, founded by 

 fir John Vernory, lord of Horningftiam. On its furrender 

 to Henry VIII. the fcite and lands attached were granted 

 to fir John Horfey, and Edmund, earl of Hertford, from 

 whom the whole was afterwards purchafed bv fir John 

 Thynne, an ancellor of the prefent proprietor. Towards 

 the clofe of his life he laid the foundation of the fuperb 

 manfion, which ftill continues the proudeft architeftural or- 

 nament of this part of Wiltftiire ; but he only lived to finifti 

 the ftiell and a fmall portion of the interior. The remainder 

 was completed by his fon and by his grandfon ; the latter of 

 whom was created lord Weymouth by king Charles II. 

 This nobleman hkewife furniftied the houfe in a moft fplen- 

 did manner. His lordftiip died in 17 14; the third lord, 

 who was afterwards raifed to the dignity of marquis of 

 Bath, new-modelled the gardens and grounds by the advice 

 of the celebrated Brown, whofe plan his lordftiip unremit- 

 tingly purfued till his death, which happened in 1796. 

 The fituation of Longleat is peculiarly fine and pifturefque. 

 An extenfive park furrounds the manfion ; and both nature 

 and art have co-operated to render this place highly im- 

 portant and interefting. The whole domain, within the 

 plantations, is about fifteen miles in circumference. Long- 

 leat-houfe is built on a fcale of magnificence proportionate 

 to the extent and grandeur of the park in which it is feated. 

 The architefture is the mixed ftyle which prevailed at the 

 end of the fixteenth century ; but it partakes far more of 

 the Roman than of the pointed or Englifti charafter. The 

 form of the edifice is a parallelogram two hundred and 

 twenty feet in length, by one hundred and eighty feet in 

 depth ; it is built entirely of free-ftone, and is adorned with 

 pilafters of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders, with 



enriched 



