Hindon
HINDON, a market-town and parochial chapelry, and formerly a representative borough, in the union of Tisbury, hundred of Downton, Hindon and S. divisions of Wilts, 15 miles (W. by N.) from Salisbury, and 96 (W. S. W.) from London; containing 772 inhabitants. This small town is situated on the slope of one of the Wiltshire downs, about two miles from the ruins of Fonthill Abbey, and consists principally of one street, extending along the great western road from London to Exeter: a considerable part was consumed by fire in 1754. The manufacture of silk twist, for which Hindon was formerly noted, is extinct, but that of linen, dowlas, and bed-ticking, is carried on in the vicinity; and at the head of the Fonthill river, about a mile and a half distant, is a large establishment for the manufacture of broad-cloth and kerseymere. The market, on Thursday, was considerable for corn; but it has declined since the great fire, and the establishment of a corn-market at Warminster. There are fairs on the 9th of May, for cattle and sheep, and on Oct. 29th, for horses, cattle, poultry, &c.; a fair is also held at Berwick Hill, about a mile from the town, on November 6th, for horses and sheep. In the 7th of Richard II., a precept was directed to this borough to send burgesses to parliament, but no return was made: it first sent representatives in the 27th of Henry VI., from which period the members were regularly chosen until the 2nd of William IV., when it was disfranchised. The petty-sessions for the Hindon division are held here on the first Wednesday in every month. The chapelry comprises by computation 196 acres: the soil is chalky, and that portion under cultivation is fertile and productive. The living is a donative, in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £75; appropriator, the Rector of Knoyle. The chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a plain oblong building, having a small south transept; it was originally erected in 1556, and much improved in 1836, at which time it was enlarged with 126 sittings. It is under the temporal jurisdiction of eight governors, incorporated by letters-patent of George III. There is a place of worship for Primitive Methodists. In the vicinity of the town, towards the north-west, and near the Roman road which leads to Old Sarum, are Stockton Works, occupying an area of 62 acres, and supposed to be the remains of an ancient British settlement.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.