Wiltshire Quarter Sessions. 



225 



Bradford . . . . be to be charged with the reparacons of the same bridge 

 or any part thereof Then the said S r Willm: Eire shall repaie unto the Treasurer 

 . . . . the foresaid some of xx H w th in one moneth next after suche proofe to 

 be made." 



At the Easter Sessions, 1605, the case of Kelwaies Bridge was 

 under consideration, and a question arose whether the hundred of 

 Chippenham was responsible for the maintenance of the whole or 

 any part of it ; meanwhile the court ordered this bridge to be 

 repaired to the extent of £20, out of the surplussage of the col- 

 lections for the King's Bench and Marshalsea. 



Hardly a sessions passes without some allusion to a bridge or a 

 highway needing repair. A table of these presentments, arranged 

 in orderly series, might have some topograpical interest, notwith- 

 standing the occasional obscurity of the descriptions. Such a table 

 may, perhaps, be hereafter attempted. A very favorable specimen 

 of the materials from which it might be compiled is afforded in 

 the following presentment from the Hundred of Malmesbury : — 



" That Staynes Bridge in the tethinge of Brokenborough is greatly in decaye 

 very dangerous to all passengers and travilers that useth that waye and ought 

 to be repayered by the said tethinge of Brokenborough. 



" . . . . That Turner againes Lane neare unto Staynes Bridge is in decaye 

 and ought to be repayered and amended by the said Tethinge of Brokenborough 



" . . . . That the Bridge neere unto Sondayes Elme adjoyninge unto a 

 ground of one John Speck of Brokenborough within the tithinge of Brokenborough 

 aforesaid is in decaye and ought to be repayered by the foresaid Tethinge of 

 Brokenborough 



" . . . . That there is a watter course in the mydle of the Tething of 

 Escote Runninge alonge downe Hay ditch w ch doth overflowe he Cassewaye to 

 the great decay of the said casway and ought to be ameneded by one Bennet w ch 

 useth the ground and dampneth up the watter to the hurt of the said way." 



Another inventory, not without interest, would be one of all the 

 articles specified in the indictments for larceny, notwithstanding 

 that the rough-and-ready appraisement which sufficed for a criminal 

 charge can hardly be accepted as a satisfactory estimate of their 

 true value. 



One of the earliest indictments on the roll of the Hilary Sessions, 

 1603-4, tells of quatuor vaccas quar 3 due color sparked 1 et una alia 



1 Pied or variegated. In another tedious case of cattle stealing a " pide 

 heifer " is mentioned. 



