836 



Hood Ashton , 8fO. 



Of Semington all I have now to mention is, that in the wall of 

 the porch of the church is an old stone with an inscription much 

 obliterated. It is in old French, and very difficult to decypher, but 

 after careful examination, and by the light of similar inscriptions of 

 the same period (especially one at Hungerford) the words seem to 

 be as follows : — 



" *gi KY PATER NOSTER E AVE MARIA PUR LE ALME PUR FELEPPUR 

 DE SALCEST [e] CRESTIENS DIRRA QUARANTE JURS DE PARDUN 



avera. amen/'' i.e., " Whoso shall say a Paternoster and an Ave 

 Maria for the souls of Philippa de Salcest and [all] Christians shall 

 have 40 days of pardon. Amen." We have here the family name of 

 Salcet, which (as just now mentioned) was corrupted into Saucere 

 at Ashton. 



There is in the British Museum (Addit. Charters 5691) a curious 

 Latin document, dated A.D. 1470, relating to the chapel of St. 

 George, at Semington : by which Robert Beauchamp, Bishop of 

 Sarum, makes arrangements for the proper serving thereof by the 

 Vicar of Steeple Ashton. 



I have now reached the end of the history of the original manor 

 of Ashton as it belonged before the Dissolution of monasteries, to 

 the Abbess of Romsey. 



The Abbey of Romsey, Abbesses, Nuns and all, have vanished 

 hundreds of years ago; and their property has passed through 

 various changes since that time. Part has gone one way, part 

 another, but I shall not be far wrong, in saying that a very con- 

 siderable share has been for many years held by the family, whose 

 name is so familiar here, the House of Long. 



Here you must all see the awkwardness of my position. If the 

 House of Long had also become extinct, and had vanished away, it 

 might, like the Abbess of Romsey, have been dealt with as a thing 

 of the past. But so far from having vanished away, it is, on the 

 contrary, in full vigour, still occupying an important place in the 

 county of Wilts : and what is more, sitting at this very moment 

 before me, face to face, in the person of one of its leading represent- 

 atives. Notwithstanding this, I am compelled to speak of it 

 historically : for though Rood Ashton and the other Ashtons are old 



