I’m sure this will be available from my favourite bookshop – the Crosskeys Bookshop in the Crosskeys Shopping Centre in Salisbury. Otherwise you can buy it . . . → Read More: Salisbury News: Plain English, Salisbury ‘Oyster’, Ted Heath and Lost Railways of Wiltshire]]> The Closed Lines of Britain: Wiltshire

Jeffrey Grayer has a new book in the series ‘The Closed Lines of Britain’ – this one on the lost railways of Wilshire.

I’m sure this will be available from my favourite bookshop – the Crosskeys Bookshop in the Crosskeys Shopping Centre in Salisbury. Otherwise you can buy it from Amazon here:

• Impermanent Ways: Wiltshire Volume 3: The Closed Lines of Britain

Bishop of Salisbury support for gay marriage

• The Bishop of Salisbury first to make public his support for gay marriage : Changing Attitude

Photos from Design for Living at Salisbury Playhouse

Salisbury Playhouse is posting some great photos from its production on Flickr. Click through to one of them from the latest show.

• Marianne Oldham as Gilda and Rachel Atkins as Grace | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

‘Plain English’ Book Launch at Sarum College

• ‘Plain English: A Wealth of Words’ Book Launch on 16 February | Sarum College, Christian Education and Conference Venue in Salisbury, England

Salisbury Studio’s Winning Streak

Salisbury Studio Theatre won several awards at a regional competition:

• Studio’s Winning Streak

Edward Heath Lecture at Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum

This isn’t until the 30th April (I need to start saving some of this stuff for posting nearer the time), but it should be worth going to. Philip Ziegler is well-known in the field of political biography and he’s going to be lecturing on Ted Heath.

If you enjoyed ‘The Iron Lady’, you might enjoy the lecture!

• - Edward Heath | Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum

Kate Middleton meets recovering addicts

• Kate Middleton meets recovering addicts on secret visit to treatment centre – Telegraph

Salisbury St George’s Day

St George’s Day is being celebrated on Sunday 22 April in the Market Place

• Salisbury City Council – St George’s Day Date for Your Diary

Music in Salisbury’s Parks

‘Music in the Parks’ is returning in the summer. You can vote for what sort of music you want. There’s an email address on the webpage below

• Salisbury City Council – Chase away those winter blues!

Salisbury buses – ‘The Key’

Wilts and Dorset have launched a way of pre-purchasing tickets at a reduced price. This is similar to the ‘Oyster Card’ scheme in London, I think.

• Salisbury reds | the key

Traffic Regulation Order on A344 granted

In !927 Stanley Baldwin and Ramsay Macdonald argued that:

The solitude of Stonehenge should be restored, and precautions taken to ensure that our posterity will see it against the sky in the lonely majesty before which our ancestors have stood in awe throughout all our recorded history.

Closing the A344 gets us some of the way there.

• Traffic Regulation Order on A344 granted | English Heritage

Wilton Eco Park – public meeting

There was a public meeting about the propose Wilton Eco Park last month. Notes from the meeting are here:

• Wilton Eco Park – Notes on public meeting | Wilton Eco Park

Related posts

• Salisbury News: Museum grant, Race for Life, Coward at the Playhouse and Desert Island Salisbury
• Salisbury News: Medieval tents, Magna Carta, Shine 4 Wiltshire and Songs of Praise
• Salisbury News: Switchover, Civic Awards, the Moon and ‘Spoons
• Salisbury news: big beasts, Blades, and the art of Cranborne Chase
• Sheffield United vs. Salisbury City
• Salisbury, Wiltshire News: Falcons, bustards, salmon, sewers and the Druids Lodge Confederacy
• Salisbury News: Insulation, TV, Art in Wiltshire and the Jubilee
• Salisbury, UK news: Giant-killing, Hardy’s Wessex, Dads Army
• Salisbury news: Civic Society, the Boy Bishop and more on Stonehenge
• Stonehenge news: cursus pits, floodlights, and the Solstice procession
• Salisbury News: parking, panto, Mayors Prize Draw

Despite having had 200 years notice of the anniversary, I only just thought it might be worth cobbling together a piece on Dickens’ Salisbury connections.

The most significant thing to point out about Dickens and Salisbury is the long piece . . . → Read More: Dickens and Salisbury]]> A quick post to celebrate the anniversary of the writer’s birth.

Despite having had 200 years notice of the anniversary, I only just thought it might be worth cobbling together a piece on Dickens’ Salisbury connections.

Salisbury in Martin Chuzzlewit

The most significant thing to point out about Dickens and Salisbury is the long piece on the city in Martin Chuzzlewit.

I’m lucky enough to have read quite a lot of Dickens’ work. I don’t remember any other town, outside of Dickens ‘homeground’ of London and Kent, being favoured with such a vivid description as the passage on Salisbury in ‘Martin Chuzzlewit’

Mr Pinch had a shrewd notion that Salisbury was a very desperate sort of place; an exceeding wild and dissipated city; and when he had put up the horse, and given the hostler to understand that he would look in again in the course of an hour or two to see him take his corn, he set forth on a stroll about the streets with a vague and not unpleasant idea that they teemed with all kinds of mystery and bedevilment.

To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster’s wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character.

Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again.

Also there were farmers’ wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof.

Also a great many dogs, who were strongly interested in the state of the market and the bargains of their masters; and a great confusion of tongues, both brute and human.

There are another 4 or 5 paragraphs on the city – it’s well worth a read if you’re interested. The text is available on line at Project Gutenberg. The passage about Salisbury is Chapter Five.

Dickens Inns

The following have claimed some connection with the writer:

• White Hart Inn, Salisbury – Dickens wrote a letter to his wife from the White Hart¹ and it’s sometimes identified as the ‘famous old Inn’ in Martin Chuzzlewit
• Green Dragon, Alderbury – possibly the model for the ‘Blue Dragon’ in Chapter Two of Martin Chuzzlewit
• The George, Amesbury – also possibly the model for the Blue Dragon
• The New Inn, Salisbury – unsure. The New Inn used to have a sign saying that it was a ‘Dickens Inn’
• The Boston Tea Rooms, Salisbury – Dickens ‘made mention’ of what had been the Old George Inn²

Dickens’ Public Reading in Salisbury

I don’t know whether or not Dickens ever gave a public reading in Salisbury.

It would be surprizing if he didn’t read in Salisbury, but I’ve found no record of it. Dickens performed in many towns and cities through the country. His first tour included readings at both Clifton and Southampton.

whether they were given in great manufacturing towns, like Manchester or Birmingham; in fashionable watering-places, like Leamington or Scarborough; in busy outports, like Liverpool or Southampton; in ancient cathedral towns, like York or Durham, or in seaports as removed from each other, as Plymouth and Portsmouth. Localities as widely separated as Exeter from Harrogate, as Oxford from Halifax, or as Worcester from Sunderland, were visited, turn by turn, at the particular time appointed. In a comprehensive round, embracing within it Wakefield and Shrewsbury, Nottingham and Leicester, Derby and Ruddersfield, the principal great towns were taken one after another. At Hull and Leeds, no less than at Chester and Bradford, as large and enthusiastic audiences were gathered together as, in their appointed times also were attracted to the Readings, in places as entirely dissimilar as Newcastle and Darlington, or as Sheffield and Wolverhampton.
³

The Spire Chronicle

Finally, I just started reading a book called ‘Spire Chronicle’ which is somewhat in the style of Charles Dickens. It’s set in Salisbury during the Victorian era, and, so far I’m enjoying it very much.

The Spire Chronicle is available from Amazon here:

• The Spire Chronicle – paperback
• The Spire Chronicle – Kindle

Footnotes

1. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… – Mercure White Hart Salisbury, Salisbury Traveller Reviews – TripAdvisor
2. Salisbury | Boston Tea Party
3. reading_tour_1858_large.jpg (JPEG Image, 370×450 pixels)

One links Bishopdown to to the Portway, running through Ford. The Bishopdown Green Lane is covered in the previous post.

The other Green Lane is a track that on the hill between Odstock and Salisbury. To be honest, I’m . . . → Read More: Green Lane, Odstock]]> There have been two paths known as ‘Green Lane’ in the Salisbury area.

One links Bishopdown to to the Portway, running through Ford. The Bishopdown Green Lane is covered in the previous post.

The other Green Lane is a track that on the hill between Odstock and Salisbury. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure of the location – I thought it ran along the top of the hill, but that path seems to be called ‘The Avon Valley Path’.

Also, a webpage featuring a walk that starts from the hospital intructs walkers to:

Turn left to run parallel with the hospital before entering a tree lined path that curves downhill to join Green Lane and Drovers Road at the bottom of the hill. ¹

To add further confusion, I’m not entirely sure that the Odstock track is actually called ‘Green Lane’.

I first heard it referred to as Green Lane when it was occupied by about 70 ‘New Age Travellers’ in the early 1980s. I’m not sure whether ‘Green Lane’ was a name bestowed by the travellers or whether it was always called Green Lane²

Anyhow, there’s a nice page about the Travellers’ community with some really good photos at:

• Green Lane Photo Archive – By David Stooke

Footnotes

1. Door Step Walk 6
2. It’s not an easy thing to google, because of the use of ‘green lane’ as a verb to describe driving 4x4s along country tracks

I heard an interesting radio programme a few months ago about auditing war memorials. The gist was that . . . → Read More: Salisbury, England News: Museum grant, Race for Life, Coward at the Playhouse and Desert Island Salisbury]]> Salisbury Race For Life entry opened

Registration is now open for the 2012 Race for Life which is on July 1st.

• Spire FM – News – Salisbury Race For Life entries opened

Audit of Wiltshire’s War Memorials

I heard an interesting radio programme a few months ago about auditing war memorials. The gist was that although the main civic war memorials are relatively ‘safe’, smaller war memorials such as those in workplaces are often in danger from re-development or neglect. The purpose of the audit is to give these some level of protection.

• BBC News – Audit of Wiltshire’s war memorials to be carried out

South Wilts Sports Ground project completed

The Wiltshire Council website says that:

“A £1.3 million project to transform sporting facilities in south Wiltshire has been completed in time for 2012 – the Olympic year of celebration.

The five year project to bring state of the art sporting facilities at the South Wilts sports ground at Skew Bridge, Salisbury has now been completed.”

• Latest News | Wiltshire Council

I can confirm that the new Astroturf is very nice indeed, but it hasn’t actually improved the quality of my game at all.

Thieves take gas pipes from Salisbury homes

• BBC News – Thieves take gas pipes from Salisbury homes

Salisbury Oxfam Gallery – Future: Unknown

Sad to see the Oxfam Gallery is shutting down. The last exhibition is called ‘Future Unknown’.

• Salisbury Oxfam » News » Exhibition: Future: Unknown

Bus from Amesbury to Stonehenge?

I’ not entirely sure about this, although I fully support the aim of getting more people to visit Amesbury. I wouldn’t have thought many people would arrive at Amesbury by public transport en route to Stonehenge.

• Community bus could take tourists from Amesbury to Stonehenge | The Bluestones – a novel

Salisbury Playhouse ‘Design For Living’

I went to see Noel Coward’s ‘Design for Living’ at the Playhouse last week – it’s very good.

There’s a review in ‘The Stage:

• The Stage / Reviews / Design For Living

Salisbury Museum Secures £100k Grant

The Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum has got a £100,000 grant from the DCMS-Wolfson Fund – DCMS is Department of Media Culture and Sport. The money is to go towards a new ‘Archaeology of Wessex’ gallery.

• Museum Secures Grant from DCMS Wolfson Fund | News | About Us | Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum

Historic Salisbury photos

I love looking at old photos of Salisbury. I found some I hadn’t seen before on the BBC website:

• BBC – Wiltshire – History – Historic Salisbury photos

Desert Island Salisbury

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of my favourite non-sport-related radio programme, this is a list of all the castaways I can think of who have some Salisbury connection.

The links take you to the Desert Island Discs page – which will either be a list of what’s been chosen, or the show itself.

• Michael Crawford – actor, born in Salisbury
• Sir Cecil Beaton – photographer, lived at Broadchalke
• David Mitchell – grew up in Salisbury
• Virginia Wade – went to school in Salisbury
• Leslie Thomas – lives in the Close, and wrote an interesting looking book about the Cathedral
• Terry Pratchett – lives near Salisbury and wrote the foreward to ‘Salisbury in Detail’
• Vikram Seth – lives near Salisbury
• Edward Heath – lived in the Close
• Ralph Fiennes – went to school in Salisbury
• James Lovelock – worked at the Common Cold Research Unit, lived for a time I think in Broadchalke or Bowerchalke
• Joan Baez – no Salisbury connection I know of other than that she’s playing at the City Hall fairly soon

Nobody, as far as I can see, chose Salisbury writer William Golding’s desert island novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ for their book¹.

Image from Amazon

Footnotes

1. BBC – Desert Island Discs – Find a castaway : Search for “Golding”

Green Lane Close and Green Lane are to the north of Salisbury. Green Lane runs from Bishopdown, near the London Road . . . → Read More: Green Lane, Salisbury]]> There have been two paths known as ‘Green Lane’ in the Salisbury area. One is the track on the hill between Odstock and Salisbury, near the Hospital. I’ll cover that in the next post.

Green Lane Close and Green Lane are to the north of Salisbury. Green Lane runs from Bishopdown, near the London Road to the Portway.

At the Bishopdown end, Green Lane is a path, but it turns into a road after it crosses the road between Old Sarum and Ford.

I would guess Green Lane here is a reference to the old path being rural, or perhaps grassy, but I don’t know.

‘Green-laning‘ as a verb seems to mean driving over rough lanes in ‘Land Rover’ type vehicles.

I would guess that ‘Greens’ refers to a previous or current owner of the land. It should perhaps be spelt Green’s Court. However I’m afraid I don’t know who Mr or Mrs or Ms Green was. The name rings no bells at . . . → Read More: Greens Court, Salisbury]]> Greens Court is off from St Ann Street, in the centre of Salisbury.

I would guess that ‘Greens’ refers to a previous or current owner of the land. It should perhaps be spelt Green’s Court. However I’m afraid I don’t know who Mr or Mrs or Ms Green was. The name rings no bells at all for me in what little I know of Salisbury history, and because of the nature of the name it’s not easy to search for effectively.

For Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee Salisbury residents will be able to explore the fascinating history of their city – all under the roof of a medieval tent.

The Salisbury Area Board will be celebrating the city under the roof of a jousting tent . . . → Read More: Salisbury, UK News: Medieval tents, Magna Carta, Shine 4 Wiltshire and Songs of Praise]]> Salisbury Medieval Tent for Diamond Jubilee

The Wiltshire Council website says that

For Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee Salisbury residents will be able to explore the fascinating history of their city – all under the roof of a medieval tent.

The Salisbury Area Board will be celebrating the city under the roof of a jousting tent to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee event at the Cathedral Close in early May.

If you want to be involved.

Anyone wanting to contribute ideas to the Salisbury medieval tent project and/or attend meetings of the working group should contact Marianna Dodd on 01722 434696 or email marianna.dodd@wiltshire.gov.uk

• Latest News | Wiltshire Council

Update: According to Jane Scott’s post the theme for the event will be the Magna Carta and Democrary.

Wiltshire Council Leader on Salisbury Olympics Shindig

Couple of interesting bits from Jane Scott’s blog. Jane Scott is leader of Wiltshire Council:

“Shine 4 Wiltshire”; where local bands, orchestras, choirs, entertainers and dance groups who live in Wiltshire have been invited to link to a YouTube video displaying their talent. The performance must be suitable for a family audience.

Entries will be placed on the council’s 2012 Celebration Facebook page, following the deadline of 26 February, for people to view and vote for their favorites. The act with the most votes will perform alongside a national headline that the Olympics Committee (LOCOG) will stage on the 11 July in Hudson’s Field in Salisbury.

….and that:

The headline act will be announced on 14 February, so I will update you all as soon as we know!

• Jane Scott’s blog: Monday 16 January 2012

Sarum College – Poetry Evening and Songs of Praise

Sarum College (which I think is typically known as ‘the Theological College”) has a poetry and prose evening on the 22nd February. The poems are from the Write to Life group, which is part of the Freedom from Torture organization.

• Write to Life: An Evening of Poetry and Prose on 22 February | Sarum College, Christian Education and Conference Venue in Salisbury, England

Also, Sarum College features on Songs of Praise at the end of the month – it’s part of a feature on modern hymns.

• Sarum College features in Songs of Praise 29 January | Sarum College, Christian Education and Conference Venue in Salisbury, England

Old Sarum Primary School officially opened

The school had it’s official opening last Monday.

• Welcome :: Old Sarum Primary School, Pheasant Drive, Old Sarum

Trussell Trust Online Shop

The Salisbury-based charity has a new online shop

• URL Blocked By Policy

Review of Salisbury Museum’s “Hardy’s Wessex”

There’s a piece on the new exhibition at Salisbury Museum here:

• Artists view West through Thomas Hardy’s eyes | This is Dorset

…it makes the point that the King’s House, which now houses the Museum, features in Jude the Obscure.

Salisbury MP John Glen on executive pay

• John Glen MP: Executive pay must become a new component of corporate social responsibility Comment

Old Sarum Members Tour

On the 2nd March, Julian Richards is doing tours of ‘the Accursed Hill”. The tours are for English Heritage members only, and cost £30.

• Old Sarum | News by Chance | The Modern Antiquarian.com

Old Sarum Half Term Family Fun Trail

• BBC – Things To Do: Half Term Family Fun Trail

I grew up on the pebble-dashed estate, so it’s particularly frustrating that I don’t know why any of the roads have the names that they do.

‘Greenwood’ could be a surname. Alternatively it . . . → Read More: Greenwood Avenue, Laverstock]]> Greenwood Avenue is in Laverstock, on the ‘pebble-dashed’ estate. The estate is to the right as you come into Laverstock from Salisbury.

I grew up on the pebble-dashed estate, so it’s particularly frustrating that I don’t know why any of the roads have the names that they do.

‘Greenwood’ could be a surname. Alternatively it could follow a theme of trees – an adjacent road is called Linden Close, ‘Linden’ being a word meaning for ‘lime tree’, or ‘made from the wood of a lime-tree’ ¹.

The word ‘Avenue’ fits with ‘Greenwood’, in that ‘Avenue’ traditionally means a road lined with trees. However Greenwood Avenue doesn’t have trees, other than in peoples’ gardens.

Footnotes

1. Online Etymology Dictionary

The following buildings got commendations:

…and . . . → Read More: Salisbury News: Switchover, Civic Awards, the Moon and ‘Spoons]]> Salisbury Civic Society Awards

There’s a short account of the Civic Society’s Awards Ceremony on their website.

The following buildings got commendations:

• Sixth Form Centre, Bishop Wordsworth School
• Park and Ride Building at Petersfinger, Salisbury
• Workshop at Holt Cottage, Teffont Evias
• Junior Ranks Dining Centre at Bulford Camp
• Bridge at Gurston Manor, Broad Chalke

…and the following received awards

• “The Sleepers” and “The Sidings”, Tollgate Road, Salisbury
• Alabare Place, Salisbury
• “Treetops”, Stapleford
• Residential Development, Clements Lane, Mere

More details here:

• Salisbury Civic Society

Stonehenge and the Moon

I was interested to find out that there was a proposal to include Stonehenge on the insignia worn by astronauts on the last expedition to the moon:

• Stonehenge, Apollo and the Last Man on the Moon

The Sarsen Trail – May 6th

Registration is open for the Sarsen Trail, which is a sponsored walk/run/cycle/dog-walk which finishes at Stonehenge. There is the option to run from Avebury to Stonehenge. Routes include areas not normally open to the general public

• Wiltshire Wildlife Trust | Home | Sarsen Trail

Digital UK – Postcode checker

The re-tuning days for Salisbury seem to be on the 7th and 21st of March. It’s probably worth checking for your address, and possibly worth checking nearer the time too.

• Digital UK – Postcode checker

Welcome to Salisbury Cathedral DVD

There is a new ‘Welcome to Salisbury Cathedral’ film

• Recent Press Releases – Salisbury Cathedral

Wetherspoons to Open in Amesbury

The Salisbury Camra forum has a post which says that Wetherspoons may be opening a pub in Amesbury

• Wetherspoons to Open in Amesbury? – Salisbury CAMRA | Forums | General Chat

Wilton Eco Park – Public meeting on Saturday 14th January 2012

The Wilton Eco Park Project is holding ‘The Great Green Challenge’ public meeting on Saturday 14th January 2012, from 11am -1pm at the Michael Herbert Hall, South Street, Wilton.

• Wilton Eco Park – Public meeting on Saturday 14th January 2012 | WilCAP – Wilton Community Area Partnership

‘Fisherton Sarum’ in British Railway Modelling magazine

Local Railway Modeller Graham Muspratt is featured in the current issue of ‘British Railway Modelling’ magazine. As you might guess from the name, his ‘Fisherton Sarum’ layout takes ‘inspiration from an actual location [Salisbury station] rather than being an exact scale model’

• Article on Fisherton Sarum published in British Railway Modelling magazine – RMweb

How this works is perhaps illustrated by this blogpost, where Graham discusses how the actual water tower at Salisbury influenced his model.

• A view from the line #4 The water tower a presence and pressure… « grahammuz

Saisbury Museum – Landscapes of Thomas Hardy’s Wessex is now on

• What’s On – Landscapes of Thomas Hardy’s Wessex: Works by Dave Gunning, David Inshaw and Rob Pountney | Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum

Jethro Tull at Salisbury Cathedral

The Christmas concert by Jethro Tull raised £22,600 for the Cathedral. The money is earmarked for work on the Chapter House.

• Recent Press Releases – Salisbury Cathedral

Traveller sites set to expand

• Gypsy and Traveller News: Traveller sites set to expand – Salsibury

Salisbury City Football Club – February half-term coaching days

• Salisbury City Football Club » February half-term coaching days

Salisbury restaurant hygiene – scores on the doors

I saw this in the Salisbury Journal.

The link below should take you to a list of places in Salisbury which serve food, and how they’ve been rated for hygiene. If
the link doesn’t work, then go to the Wiltshire Council website and search for ‘Scores on Doors’

• Scores on Doors | Wiltshire Council

The Journal quite understandably listed the places which didn’t do so well, but in a spirit of New Year positivity – congratulations to all of these 5-star establishments: Amblescroft, APA, Ask, Avon House, Beechly Dene, British Legion, Britz, Bupa, Burger King, Byways, Cathedral School, Chick O Land, Coach and Horses, Co-Op, Costa, Dominic Pizza, Dunraven, Exeter House, FooDoo, Friends Provident, Gala bingo, godolphin, HPA, Il Ristorante Alpino, Inwood House, JC’s Catering, Kings Head, Leaden Hall, Little Manor, Marks and Spencer, Milford House, Nisa, Orders of St John Care Trust, Ox Row Inn, Parkwood, Pat and Anne Catering, Pemboke Park, the Police Station, Pumpkin, Rethink, Rose and Crown, Masonic Lodge, Salisbury Sandwich, Sarum Academy, Sarum Foods, Sgts Mess, Shakeaway, Snack Packers, Strade, Stratford-sub-Castle Primary School, Tesco, The Griffin, The Hub, King’s House Cafe, The Old Cottage, The Royal George, Toybox, Truly Scrumptious, Voyage Care, Websters, West Cornwall Pasty Company, Westacre Service Station, Wig and Quill Inn, WOs and Sgts Mess

It’s called Greyfriars Close in reference to the monks that lived in that area from 1229 until their land and property was seized by Henry VIII2

There are three roads named after specific groups of monks in this area of . . . → Read More: Greyfriars Close, Salisbury]]> Greyfriars Close is in the centre of Salisbury, between the Cathedral Close and Churchill Gardens¹.

It’s called Greyfriars Close in reference to the monks that lived in that area from 1229 until their land and property was seized by Henry VIII²

There are three roads named after specific groups of monks in this area of Salisbury:

• Whitefriars Road – the ‘White Friars’ were and are the Carmelites. The Carmelites were a group of monks that formed on Mont Carmel in Isreal in or before the 13th Century. They arrived in England in 1241-2. The monks were known as ‘White Friars’ because they wore white habits

• Blackfriars Road – the ‘Black Friars’ are the Dominicans. The order was founded by Saint Dominic of Caleruega, Spain and Saint Jordan of Saxony, in what is now Germany. I think it’s fair to say that the Dominicans emerged in opposition to the Cathar heresy – they are therefore sometimes known as ‘the friars preachers’.

• Greyfriars Close- the ‘Grey Friars’ are the Franciscans³. The order was founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. The Franciscans came to England in 1224⁴

The last of the four most significant orders of monks is the Augustinian, founded by Saint Augustine of Hippo. As far as I’m aware, the Augustinians never had a colour attached to their name, and nor is there any reference to the Augustinians in Salisbury’s road names⁵.

The Franciscans in Salisbury

As noted above the Franciscans came to England in 1224. They arrived in Salisbury in late 1229 or early 1230⁶.

They were aided by King Henry III. He may have given them the land for the Friary, and he certainly ordered that various people supply them with building materials – typically oak trees.

The initial phase of building seems to have been complete by 1252, because most of the donations thereafter were wood for fencing.

Edward I allowed them to take stones from Old Sarum in 1290 – presumably by then they were re-building or extending the Friary.

The Salisbury Franciscans were seen as relatively important within the English order – in the 1250s Salisbury was referred to as one of of the six English ‘Custodies’⁷, and the English Provincial Chapter met twice in the Salisbury Friary, in 1393 and in 1510.

There seem to have been good relations between the Friars and the mainstream Church – in 1475, nine of the twenty sermons preached in the Cathedral were given by friars⁸.

Thomas of Ecclston wrote:

‘In the Custody of Salisbury, over which Brother Stephen presided, the feeling of mutual affection was the distinguishing note. He himself was of such sweetness, such a geniality and such an exceeding charity and compassion that, in so far as he could he would allow no one to be made sad.’⁹

The Friary and its work came to an abrupt end with Henry VIII¹⁰. Despite the monks declaring their recognition of Henry as head of the English church in 1534, their friary was abolished.

The Friary and it’s contents were given up to the Crown on 2 October 1538.

The Salisbury Friary – Archaeology

The Friary building were on in the corner formed by the current Friary Lane and St Ann Street. A building is labelled as ‘Friers’ on the 18th Century ‘Naish Map’.

In 1966 an excavation by Salisbury Museum found a couple of walls which may have been part of the friary. One of them contained material dated to around 1300 – this could tie in with the use of stones from Old Sarum¹¹.

The Salisbury Friary and the Duke of Buckingham

While ‘researching’ the Friary, I found this from ‘The Chronicle of the Grey ‘Friars’, which is on the British History website:

Thys yere the duke of Buckyngham was be-heddyd at Salsbery, and is burryd at the Gray freres. (fn. 1) . And many lordes [and] knygttes with dyvers other flede into France at that tyme ¹²

It’s often said that the Duke was buried at the Chough in Blue Boar Row, but I don’t think anyone knows for sure.

Saint Ann Street Plaque

I found this plaque in Saint Ann Street, the text says:

Acquired by William Windover, Merchant, in 16th century.
Richard II and Queen Ann feasted the Franciscan Friars Minor here in 1393.

Plaque presented by Salisbury Chamber of Commerce

Footnotes

1. The area is usually known as ‘The Friary’
2. ‘Salisbury: St Martin’s parish’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 79-81. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41784 Date accessed: 24 November 2011.
3. Who were the Franciscans?
4. ‘Houses of Franciscan friars: Salisbury’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 3 (1956), pp. 329-330. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36549 Date accessed: 09 December 2011.
5. This is something of a pity – I wrote an essay about Saint Augustine once. It would be one of the few overlaps between Salisbury’s road names and something I’ve actually formally studied and had to write essays about and such. Whether I could remember any of it with any accuracy is another matter.
6. ‘Houses of Franciscan friars: Salisbury’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 3 (1956), pp. 329-330. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36549
7. A Custody, I presume, would be the equivalent of a diocese
8. The Friary
9. Quoted in ‘Houses of Franciscan friars: Salisbury’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 3 (1956), pp. 329-330. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36549
10. Coincidentally I read a tweet by a man called Philip Blond this morning. Philip Blond is the writer of a book called ‘Red Tory’, and is the originator of the ‘Big Society’ stuff. Anyway, he (re)tweeted the following question
    

    Dinner with @Phillip_Blond discussing worst criminals in English history. We agree. 1. Henry viii 2. Cromwell. Who is number 3?

11. Pastscape – Detailed Result: SALISBURY GREYFRIARS
12. ‘The Chronicle of the Grey Friars: Richard III’, Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London: Camden Society old series, volume 53 (1852), pp. 23-24. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51585 Date accessed: 09 December 2011.