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Wilton (St. Mary)

WILTON (St. Mary), a borough and parish, the head of a union, and formerly a market-town, locally in the hundred of Branch and Dole, Salisbury and Amesbury, and S. divisions of Wilts, 3 miles (W. by N.) from Salisbury, and 85 (W. S. W.) from London; containing, with the tything of Bulbridge, and part of the hamlet of Ditchampton, 1698 inhabitants. This town, which derives its name from the river Wily, is of great antiquity, and is supposed by Baxter to have been the Caer-Guilo, or capital of the British prince, Caroilius, and subsequently a seat of the West Saxon kings. It was a place of importance for several centuries preceding the Norman Conquest, possessing an eminent religious establishment, and giving name to the county; the town had also a mint. Wilton is stated by Camden and other writers to have been originally called Ellandune, and to have been the scene of a sanguinary battle fought between Egbert, king of the West Saxons, and Beorwolf, the Mercian king, in which the latter was defeated; but later writers have controverted this opinion, and the engagement is now thought to have occurred at a place named Ellendune, in another part of the county. A battle occurred here in 871, between King Alfred and the Danes, when the latter, though ultimately successful, were obliged to sue for peace.

The celebrated monastery was commenced in the year 800, by Wulstan, Earl of Wiltshire, who, having defeated Ethelmund, the Mercian king, established a chantry or oratory here; repaired the old church of St. Mary at Wilton, which had been destroyed by the Danes; and placed in it a college of secular priests. About thirty years after Earl Wulstan's death, his widow Alburga, sister to King Egbert, induced that monarch to convert the oratory into a priory of thirteen sisters, of which she became the first prioress: hence Egbert has been commonly reputed its founder. Immediately on granting peace to the Danes, King Alfred, at the solicitation of his queen, Ealswitha, built a nunnery on the site of the palace, and transferred to it the thirteen sisters of the priory, adding to them an abbess and twelve nuns; his successors were great benefactors to the establishment, particularly Edgar, who enlarged its buildings and augmented its revenue. Edgar's natural daughter, Editha, was abbess, and, after her death, being canonized, became its patron saint. Editha, daughter of Earl Godwin, and queen of Edward the Confessor, who was educated in the nunnery, rebuilt it in a magnificent manner with stone, it having been originally constructed of wood; and Matilda, queen of Henry I., was also brought up in it, under her aunt, the abbess Christina. Early in the tenth century, Wilton became the seat of the diocese of Wiltshire, and continued so during the lives of eleven successive bishops, the last of whom, Hermannus, having been also appointed to the see of Sherborne, united the two bishoprics, and removed to Old Sarum. In the year 1143, King Stephen took possession of the town, intending to convert the nunnery into a place of defence; but being surprised by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, with the troops of the Empress Matilda, who set fire to the town on all sides, the king was obliged to flee, leaving behind his troops and baggage. The monastic institution continued of importance until the Dissolution, when it was granted to Sir William Herbert, afterwards Earl of Pembroke, its revenue being at that time estimated at upwards of £600. A house of Black friars, and two hospitals dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and St. John, also existed here at the period of the Dissolution. Wilton was visited by Queen Elizabeth in Sept. 1579, and it became the residence of the court, for a short time, in October, 1603.

The town, consisting principally of two streets which cross at nearly right angles, is situated in a broad and fertile valley, near the confluence of the rivers Nadder and Wily. It is partially paved, and well supplied with water. The manufacture of carpets, for which Wilton has been so much celebrated, was introduced by a former earl of Pembroke, who brought over workmen from France for that purpose, this being the first place in England where the manufacture was commenced; and the making of carpets at Axminster having been recently discontinued, the splendid articles called after that town are now produced at Wilton. Fancy cloth waistcoatings also formed, at one time, a considerable branch of trade. Fairs are held on May 4th and Sept. 12th; the former is for cattle and sheep, and the latter constitutes one of the largest sheep-fairs in the west of England, the number sold often exceeding 100,000. Wilton is a borough by prescription, and its ancient rights and franchises have been confirmed by charters of various monarchs, from the time of Henry I. It is governed by a mayor, recorder, high steward, five aldermen, and an unlimited number of burgesses, with a townclerk, two serjeants-at-mace, and four constables. On Oct. 13th, a manorial court leet is held at the town-hall, an ancient brick building, which was repaired and improved a few years since, by the corporation. The mayor and recorder are justices of the peace, with exclusive jurisdiction. The borough first sent members to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., and continued to do so without interruption, till the passing of the act 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, since which it has returned only one, elected by the £10 householders of an enlarged district comprising an area of 32,150 acres: the mayor is returning officer.

The living is a rectory, with that of Bulbridge and the vicarage of Ditchampton united, valued in the king's books at £12. 16. 3.; net income, £450; patron, the Earl of Pembroke. The incumbent's tithes in Wilton, exclusive of Nether Hampton, have been commuted for £300, and the glebe consists of 22 acres. The present church is a handsome structure in the modern Norman style of architecture, consisting of a nave, aisles, and chancel, with a square tower 120 feet in height; the central entrance forms an open recessed porch, within a rich archway, and the interior is remarkable for its chasteness and beauty. The whole was completed in 1845, at the expense of the Hon. Sidney Herbert. At Nether Hampton, in the parish, is a chapel of ease; and the Independents and Methodists have each a place of worship in the town. The free school, situated in Northstreet, was founded in 1714, under the will of Walter Dyer, who in the year 1706 had bequeathed £600 for the purpose. Part of this sum was expended in the erection of premises, to which additions have been made at different times by the trustees; and the residue, with a legacy of £1000 Bank stock, producing by accumulation £2090, from Richard Uphill in 1716, was laid out in an estate at East Knoyle. The rental amounts to £120 per annum, and the school is also entitled to the interest of £1000, part of a sum of £4200 three per cent, consols, bequeathed in 1775, by Robert Sumption, for various purposes. Of the remainder of Mr. Sumption's bequest, the interest of £1000 is given in marriage-portions to young women, and that of £2000 appropriated to the benefit of five men and as many women. In 1816, Thomas Mease gave to the high steward and corporation, on the death of his wife, £4000 Navy five per cents., to be applied to charitable uses. The union of Wilton comprises 22 parishes or places, and contains a population of 10,327.

The hospital of St. John, supposed to have been founded by Hubert, bishop of Salisbury in 1189, and archbishop of Canterbury in 1193, is endowed for a master, or prior, who is a clergyman, nominated by the Dean of Salisbury, and two poor men and two women, chosen by the prior. The tenements are falling into decay, and the pensioners are lodged in an adjoining cottage; but the chapel has been repaired and enlarged, at the expense of the prior, and divine service is now performed every Sunday evening and every alternate Friday evening, by a chaplain appointed by the prior, who receives a stipend of £44. On the site of the celebrated nunnery, Sir William Herbert, to whom it was granted, commenced the erection of that princely pile now the residence of his descendants, the earls of Pembroke, designed by Holbein and Inigo Jones, and containing a collection of paintings, statues, and various antiquities, not excelled by any in the kingdom. In this mansion the distinguished Sir Philip Sidney, whose sister Mary was the celebrated Countess of Pembroke, composed his heroic romance of Arcadia.


Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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