317 



ynbgetsjall Castle an& its Pistorg/' 



By the Rev. W. H. Awbry, 



Rector of Ludgershall. 

 (Read before the Society at the Meeting at Andover, August 15th, 1883.) 



HEN, in reply to your Secretary's request, a few weeks ago, 

 I consented to read a paper at the forthcoming Meeting of 

 Wiltshire archaeologists, I really did not expect to be called upon to 

 address this honourable company at the Town Hall of Andover. I 

 supposed that at some stage of the proceedings a visit would be 

 paid to Ludgershall, and that then and there some one, and that 

 some one a resident of the place, would be expected to furnish an 

 account of its probable history. " Ludgershall Castle and its 

 History " seems a somewhat pretentious title to a paper emanating 

 from one so utterly un- given to archaeological research as myself. 

 However, here I am, and here you are, and it only remains for me 

 to acquit myself as best I may, craving your forbearance if I am 

 dull and inconsequent ; and, above all, asking you to believe that I 

 only profess to be " a gatherer and collector of other men's stuff." 



Of local information respecting the old ruins there is almost nil. 

 Indeed, the very existence of such a place as Ludgershall Castle 

 was till very recently unknown to some of my neighbours. Perhaps 

 I ought to mention that, although standing on high ground, it is 

 almost hidden from view by the trees which have grown up round 

 it in recent years. I remember, when I first came to Ludgershall, 

 some years ago, I naturally wanted to find out what I could about 

 the place, and I betook me to an aged crone, who, I was told, had 

 lived all her life in the same cottage, and certainly not 200 yards 

 from the ruins of the castle. I asked her a question or two with 

 little success, and at last discovered that in all her life — and she was 

 fourscore years old — she had never been at the pains to examine the 

 old pile herself, but was contented with the glimpse she got of it 



VOL. XXI. — NO. LXIII. Y 



