380 
MARLBOROUGH. 
MARYBOROUGH, a market-town and borough, con¬ 
fiding of two parifhes, fituated in the hundred of Seikey, 
and county of Wilts. Its name is fuppofed to he defcrip- 
tive of its pofition ; being feated at the foot of a chalk 
hill, the term marl having been anciently ufed to denote 
that earth, as well as the peculiar fpecies of clay to which 
it is now diftinft.ively applied. The origin of this town is 
wholly involved in obfcurity ; for the opinion that it was 
the R.oman ftation, Cunetio, is certainly erroneous. Whe¬ 
ther it was known in the time of the Saxons is equally 
doubtful, as no vetliges of antiquity, calculated to induce 
fuch a belief, can atprefent be difcovered ; and Domefday- 
book mentions it in fo flight and curfory a manner, that 
it is impoflible to determine from that work any thing 
concerning its extent or condition. Probably, however, 
it was then merely a trifling village, and of courfe did not 
become of importance till forne time after the Norman 
conqueft; when a cattle was built, fome remains of which 
are (till vilible, near the inn originally erefted by lord 
Hertford, and from its fltuation denominated the Cattle. 
The great mount which appears in the gardens behind 
this houfe has been regarded by fome as an immenfe tu¬ 
mulus, or barrow; but that idea is fuccefsfully combated 
by Mr. King, who (hows it to have been the foundation 
of the principal keep of the cattle ; fuch works being 
found to conftitute part of the conftruftion of all fimilar 
edifices raifed by the early Normans. In the reign of 
Richard I. t his caltle was of great Itrength ; and was one 
cf thofe feized by his brother John, (who afterwards 
afcended the Englith throne,) with the view of obtaining 
pofieflion of the kingdom during that monarch’s unfortu¬ 
nate captivity in Aultria. Having failed, however, in his 
ambitious projeft, he was compelled to fly to the conti¬ 
nent, leaving Marlborough-caltle to be defended by one 
of his adherents ; but, after the return of Richard, it was 
quickly reduced by Hubert archbifliop of Canterbury. 
From this period to the year 1267, no tranfaftion of mo¬ 
ment feems to have taken place here. In that year, being 
the 52d of Henry III. a parliament was held in the caftle, 
when a number of laws were enacted for the fuppreflion 
of tumults, Sec. which afts are (till known under the ap¬ 
pellation of the Jlatutes of Marlbridge. 
Marlborough was firlt incorporated by charter in the 
reign of king John, about the year 1204 ; but it alfo claims 
the privilege of having been a borough by prefeription 
for a century previous to that era. Several other charters 
have been granted by fucceeding monarchs, confirming and 
extending the various rights and immunities of the cor¬ 
poration. The government of the town is confided to a 
mayor and two jultices, aflifted by a council, and an in¬ 
determinate number of burgefl'es; but the right of voting 
for members of parliament is in the corporation only, 
confifting of a mayor and two bailiff's, chofen out of twenty 
capital burgefl'es. Here, therefore, as at Gatton, two men, 
who are the majority of the electors, return two reprefen- 
tatives: now, according to the principles of the conflitu- 
tion of this country, and the common acceptation of the 
word reprefaitative, thofe perfons, who are thus elefted, 
are hound, not only to lilten to the inftruftions of their 
conftituents, but alfo to obey them : fuppofe, therefore, 
this poffible cafe ; that a fubjeft (hould he debated in par¬ 
liament, in which the interefts of this countty were deeply 
concerned, hut where, at the fame time, the good of the 
whole might be injurious to, and militate againtt, that of 
thofe two individuals; would not the members he, upon 
every account, bound to give their voices in the fenate 
agreeably to the will of thole who fent them thither, with¬ 
out confulting the benefit of thofe with whofe welfare 
they are not fo immediately concerned ? Camden mentions 
an ancient cuftom here, viz. that every freeman, at his 
admiflion, gave to the mayor a couple of greyhounds, two 
white capons, and a white bull. 
The mayor and jultices are empowered to hold quar¬ 
terly feflions of the peace ; an annual court for the county 
is likewife held in the court-room over the market-place. 
where are alfo a council-chamber and an afiembly-room. 
This edifice (lands at the eaft end of the principal flreet, 
which runs from eaft to weft, and constitutes the chief part 
of the town. The buildings are in general irregular, and 
prefent an appearance of great antiquity ; fonts of them 
being conftrufted of wood, and having their fronts very 
curioufly carved. Part of one fide of this lireet is adorned 
with piazzas, which projeft from the houfes, forming an 
agreeable promenade for the inhabitants, and afford them 
fhelter from the eff'efts of rain. At the fame end with the 
market-houfe, or town-hall, is the old church of St. Mary. 
The door-way to the belfry is decorated with zigzag or¬ 
naments in the Saxon ityle. The tower is built of free- 
flone. A plot of ground near this church is fuppofed, by 
Dr. Stukeley, to have a ftrong refembiance to the feite of 
an ancient temple. A fhort way to the fouth Hood an 
liofpital, or priory, dedicated to St.John the Baptift, and 
faid to have been founded by John Goodwin and William 
Ramtbeck. The meat-market is placed about the middle 
of this principal ftreet ; and on the fouth tide, at fome 
little diftance, is a private houfe, which formerly was part 
of a priory, belonging to fome regular canons of St. Au- 
guftine, and conjeftured by Gough to have been firft 
erefted in the reign of king John. St. Peter’s church 
forms the chief ornament of the weft divifion of the town. 
It has a lofty fquare tower furmour.ted with battlements 
and pinnacles: the roof is fupported by light columns. 
The manufaftures carried on in this town are compara¬ 
tively inconfiderable : indeed it may juftly be regarded as 
deriving its main fupport from its advantageous fituation 
on the high weftern road, and the confequent extent and 
fuperiority of its market, which is held on Saturday, and 
has been long celebrated for the excellence'of its corn, but¬ 
chers’ meat, and cheefe. The fairs are—June 29, July 20, 
Aug. 15, Sept. 21, and Nov. n. Hereisa charity-fchool, 
which was erefted in 1712, for forty-four children. The 
town gives the title of duke to the family of Spencer. 
Marlborough is fourteen miles from the Devizes, nineteen 
from Newbury, twenty from Trowbridge, thirty-three eaft 
from Bath, and feventy-four weft from London. Lat. 51. 
25. N. Ion. 1.45. XV. 
To the fouth of Marlborough, at the diftance of a mile, 
lies the extenfive forell of Savernake, the property of the 
earl of Ailefbury. This forelt contains a valt profufion of 
noble trees, fome of which are exceedingly large and ma- 
jeffic : one, called by way of pre-eminence the king-oak, 
overfpreads an area of at leaft lixty yards in diameter. A 
variety of charming walks is difpofed in different direc¬ 
tions, eight of which diverge like rays from a common 
centre, placed in a lpacious opening near the middle of 
the foreff. No natural feenery can be imagined more pic- 
turefque or beautiful than that difplayed in various parts 
of this umbrageous diltrift, where the diverfity of hill and 
dale, wood and lawn, frequently prefents to the eye of 
the painter various interefting views. In this foreft (lands 
a modern manfion, called Savernake-lodge, appropriated 
for the temporary refidence of lord Bruce, ion to the earl 
of Ailefbury; and immediately adjoining to its eaftern 
boundary is Tottenham-park, the feat of the noble owner 
himfelf. The houfe, a fquare building of brick, with two 
wings at each end, ttands on the feite of the anci'ent pa¬ 
lace of the duke of Somerfet, who fo much diltinguifhed 
himfelf in the caufe of the houfe of Stuart. In the ftate- 
rooms are feveral very excellent piftures; and the library 
contains a very “ curious horn, or elephant’s tufk in the 
fliape of a horn,” which is particularly deferibed in the 
the third volume of the Archaeologia. Oppofite to the 
north front of the houfe ftands a lofty column, one fide 
bearing an infeription in commemoration of the recovery 
of his majefty in 1789. 
About the fame diftance from hence, on the oppofite 
fide, are to be feen the remains of a large houfe, called 
Wolf-hall, the feat of fir John Seymour, father of the un¬ 
fortunate proteftor; of whi.ch no more is handing than 
fuffices for a farm-houfe. Here king Henry VIII. as tra¬ 
dition 
