It’s probably named after the Greyhound pub which is close by, in the Market Place.

In times gone by, when many people couldn’t read, pubs were often named after things that could be visually depicted in a distinctive way – for example ‘Cross Keys’, ‘Red . . . → Read More: Greyhound Lane, Wilton]]> Greyhound Lane is in the centre of Wilton.

It’s probably named after the Greyhound pub which is close by, in the Market Place.

In times gone by, when many people couldn’t read, pubs were often named after things that could be visually depicted in a distinctive way – for example ‘Cross Keys’, ‘Red Lion’ or ‘The Dolphin’. I think ‘The Greyhound’ perhaps fits into this category – it’s one of the most easily recognizable of dogs.

Origin of the word ‘Greyhound’

The etymology of ‘greyhound’ doesn’t seem to be entirely certain – but there is a consensus that it has nothing to do with the colour ‘grey’. Wikipedia, for example¹.

Its origin does not appear to have any common root with the modern word “grey” for color, and indeed the Greyhound is seen with a wide variety of coat colors.²

Wikipedia suggests that:

“Hund” is the antecedent of the modern “hound”, but the meaning of “grig” is undetermined, other than in reference to dogs in Old English and Old Norse. ³

The Online Etymology Dictionary gives ‘grig‘ as meaning bitch, specifically

O.E. grighund, from grig- “bitch” + hund “dog” (see hound). ⁴

I like one of the suggestions on the Greyhound Expressions website. The greyhound is a ‘sight hound’ – the dog has very well developed eyesight, and uses sight rather than smell for hunting. The suggestion is that:

Some believe it stems from the word “gazehound”, which is another word for sighthound. ⁵

Footnotes

1. The other sites mentioned on this page say something similar – see History of the greyhound and Online Etymology Dictionary – Greyhound
2. Greyhound – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
3. Greyhound – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
4. Online Etymology Dictionary
5. History of the greyhound

Grovely View is named after Grovely Wood which is nearby.

Grovely Woods cover an area of several square miles.

According to the ‘Historic Landscapes’ website:

The underlying geology is chalk but the woodlands are found on the clay with flints which lies above the . . . → Read More: Grovely View, Wilton]]> Grovely View is in Wilton, close to South Street.

Grovely Woods

Grovely View is named after Grovely Wood which is nearby.

Grovely Woods cover an area of several square miles.

According to the ‘Historic Landscapes’ website:

The underlying geology is chalk but the woodlands are found on the clay with flints which lies above the chalk and caps the ridgeline. Both Grovely Wood and Great Ridge are a mosaic of deciduous, coniferous and mixed woodland.¹

There is a Roman road running through it, and Iron Age and Anglo-Roman earthworks at the edge of the forest.

Etymology of Grovely

In ‘Wiltshire Place Names’, Richard Tomkins relates how the word Grovely has eveolved from the A.D. 986 ‘grafan lea’ to ‘foresta de Gravelinges’ in 1086 to ‘Graveninge’ in 1155 to ‘Grauelea’ in 1155 to ‘Gravelinch’ in 1255 to ‘Graveley in 1320 to ‘Grovelegh’ in 1402².

He says that the name derives either from ‘groefan-leah‘ meaning ‘brushwood clearing’ or ‘graf-leah‘ meaning ‘clearing by the grove’.

Martin Whittock in ‘Wiltshire Place Names’ gives an third alternative meaning. Mr Whittock notes that ‘grafan lea’ is found as far back as AD 940, and suggests that Grovely could be from the:

Saxon ‘grafa’ (ditch) and ‘leah’ (wood)³.

…so Grovely would mean ‘ditch wood’ – wood in the sense of ‘the woods’ rather than in the sense of timber. The word ‘grafa’ is the root of the word ‘grave’. Mr Whittock suggests that the ‘ditch’ could be a reference to the ditches either side of the Roman road that passes through the forest.

The word ‘grove’ itself comes from the Old English ‘graf‘⁴.

Grovely Wood and Oak Apple Day

Grovely Woods are known for ‘Oak Apple Day‘. Oak Apple Day is celebrated in Great Wishford on May 29th.

It’s an odd and interesting festival. The oak apple itself is:

a gall (an abnormal growth on a plant) caused by a wingless insect.⁵

According to a BBC website:

Early in the morning of 29th May, residents [at Great Wishford] are woken by an excited crowd making its way to forest, where an oak bough is removed, decorated and then hanged from the tower of St Giles’ Church.

In order to maintain their charter, the villagers must proclaim their right at a special ceremony in Salisbury Cathedral, where they repeat the ancient refrain: “Grovely, Grovely and all Grovely”⁶.

Ostensibly, the Grovely Oak Apple Day re-asserts the right of estover – the right of the villagers to gather wood in the forest. In 1604, a court in the forest noted that the villagers had had rights to collect fire wood and graze animals at certain times of the year⁷ since ‘time out of mind’⁸.

I’ve not found precise details, but it seems that the villagers rights within the woods have been threatened over the years by landowners – presumably the Earls of Pembroke. The village Oak Apple banner proclaims ‘Unity is Strength’ – the banner and the slogan seemingly influenced by the Trade Union movement.

A village website says that:

The acorn and oak tree motifs were part of the socialist and anarchist movements’ defence of liberties.⁹

But the Oak Apple Day celebrated in other parts of the country isn’t socialist, anarchist or a defence of people’s rights – it’s a celebration of the restoration of the monarchy. Oak Apple Day seems to have been widely celebrated as a monarchist festival in Dorset – there is a very good web page in on the ‘Dark Dorset’ site at: Oak Apple Day.

The 29th of May, Oak Apple Day, was the day when Charles II entered London to restore the monarchy and the date of his birthday. Samuel Pepys wrote at the time:

At night Mr. Cooke comes from London with letters, leaving all things there very gallant and joyful. And brought us word that the Parliament had ordered the 29th of May, the King’s birthday, to be for ever kept as a day of thanksgiving for our redemption from tyranny, and the King’s return to his Government, he entering London that day.¹⁰

The link between the monarch and the oak is that:

King Charles II hid in an oak tree to escape the Roundheads after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. ¹¹

It’s also celebrated in Castleton in Derbyshire. The picture below is the Castleton Oak Appple Day ‘Garlanded Man’¹². The Garlanded Man is dressed in Stuart clothes, but he clearly recalls various nature symbols – the Green Man and Jack in the Green ¹³

There is an element of ‘this sort of stuff’ in Great Wishford too. A ‘marriage bough’ is taken from the forest and hung over the church. The Wiltshire Council website says that this is ‘to bring good luck to couples marrying there in the coming year’¹⁴.

The Great Wishford website¹⁵ mentioned above goes so far as to use the phrase ‘Oak Apple day pagan celebrations’¹⁶.

Footnotes

1. Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB Historic Landscape Wesbite: HLCA 06
2. ‘Wiltshire Place Names’, Richard Tomkins, Red Brick Publishing 1983, p57
3. Wiltshire Place-names: Their Origins and Meanings (Amazon Link), Martyn J. Whittock, Countryside Books (23 Oct 1997) ISBN-10: 1853064866 ISBN-13: 978-1853064869
4. Online Etymology Dictionary
5. Oak Apple Day Celebrations in Barkby | Syston Town News
6. BBC – Wiltshire – Moonraking – Oak Apple Day
7. In the past, largely I think before the agricultural revolution of the 17th and 18th centuries, land was sometimes seen as private for some parts of the year and open to common usage at others – the local place name ‘Petersfinger‘ is derived from this custom as it applied in the area.
8. Wiltshire Council – Wiltshire Community History Get Community Information
9. great wishford, wiltshire, community website – history of the village, oak apple day, local events and activities, business directory
10. Friday 1 June 1660 (Pepys’ Diary)
11. Oak Apple Day Celebrations in Barkby | Syston Town News
12. The picture is a scan of a photo by Simon Garbutt. His Wikpedia name is ‘SiGarb’ and his Wikipedia contributor page is User:SiGarb – Wikipedia. I’m really grateful to people like Mr Garbutt who post great stuff on Wikipedia and allow people like me to re-use it.
13. The same photographer that captured the Garlanded Man has a picture of a Jack in the Green at File:Kingston Jack in the Green.jpg – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jack In the Green is not connected with Kingship or Oak Apples, as far as I’m aware.
14. Wiltshire Council – Wiltshire Community History Get Community Information
15. great wishford, wiltshire, community website – history of the village, oak apple day, local events and activities, business directory
16. While I understand what the author is getting at, I personally don’t think it’s quite right to use the word ‘pagan’ in this context. I think a reverence for nature and fertility is part of many religions

The ‘Ancient Yew Group’ website says that:

Hare Warren is a 300 acre wood in southern Wiltshire and grows along the north side of the chalk escarpment that separates the Nadder and Ebble rivers . . . → Read More: Hare Warren Close, Wilton]]> Hare Warren Close is in Wilton. Hare Warren itself is the name of a yew forest on the Race Plain.

The ‘Ancient Yew Group’ website says that:

Hare Warren is a 300 acre wood in southern Wiltshire and grows along the north side of the chalk escarpment that separates the Nadder and Ebble rivers before they converge with the Avon around the Cathedral City of Salisbury. During the 16th-century Hare Warren was fenced off from the rest of the Wilton House parkland in order to preserve it for the hunting of the hare. ¹

The Ancient Yew Group’s document goes on to quote Daniel Defoe:

The gardens are on the south of the house, and extend themselves beyond the river, a branch of which runs through one part of them, and still south of the gardens in the great park, which, extending beyond the vale, mounts the hill opening at the last to the great down, which is properly called, by way of distinction, Salisbury Plain, and leads from the city of Salisbury to Shaftesbury. Here also his lordship has a hare-warren, as it is called, though improperly. It has, indeed, been a sanctuary for the hares for many years; but the gentlemen complain that it mars their game, for that as soon as they put up a hare for their sport, if it be anywhere within two or three miles, away she runs for the warren, and there is an end of their pursuit. ²

The Hare

Hares are in the same biological family as rabbits (they are both Lagomorphs), but they are longer and faster. They can reach speeds of 45mph.

The hare is famous for being ‘the Mad March Hare’, when females fight off males in what looks a bit like a boxing match ³

The Hare Preservation Trust

The Hare Preservation Trust says that:

The brown hare has become increasingly rare, especially in western regions. It is second only to the water vole as the British mammal which has shown the greatest decline during the past century. ⁴

The Trust says that this is largely a result of changes in farming techniques – especially the increased use of pesticides and larger fields with a smaller proportion of hedgerow.

The Trust’s website is : Hare Preservation Trust

Etymology of ‘Hare Warren’

The word ‘hare’ is from the Old English ‘hara

which comes from a Germanic word ‘hasan‘. The word may be connected to a word for ‘grey’⁵.

‘Warren’ was used from the late 14th Century to mean an enclosed area for breeding game animals and birds. It may derive from the Old French word ‘warir‘ meaning ‘defend or keep’. It’s possibly connected to the words ‘wary’ and ‘warn’⁶.

Footnotes

1. This is from a document on the ‘Ancient Yew Group’ website. The document has some lovely pictures of old yew trees at Hare Warren – HareWarrenPNJuly6.pdf (application/pdf Object)
2. Defoes original is online at: From London to Land`s End by Daniel Defoe: Page 2, but as stated I found the quote in a document on Hare Warren on the ‘Ancient Yew Group’ website
3. BBC Nature – Hare videos, news and facts
4. Hare Preservation Trust
5. Online Etymology Dictionary
6. Online Etymology Dictionary

The trading estate is named after ‘the Kingsway’, which runs close to the southern edge of the estate.

[geolocation]

I believe the Kingsway is named after the route taken by King Charles II when he was trying to escape the Roundheads . . . → Read More: Kingsway Trading Estate, Wilton]]> Kingsway Trading Estate is on the outskirts of Wilton, just off the A36.

The trading estate is named after ‘the Kingsway’, which runs close to the southern edge of the estate.

[geolocation]

I believe the Kingsway is named after the route taken by King Charles II when he was trying to escape the Roundheads in 1651. On the 6th October he rode from Trent House in Yeovil to Heale House in the Avon Valley¹. The natural route would seem to me to be via what is now known as ‘the Kingsway’. Given the fame and importance of this particular journey, my guess is that the Kingsway, and by extension the Kingsway Trading Estate is named after Charles II.

Footnotes

1. The Escape of Charles Stuart After Worcester by Chris Modd, Orders of the day, Volume 33, Issue 4, 2001

Kings Gate is just off from King Street in Wilton.

Wilton’s King Street could be . . . → Read More: King Street, Wilton, Kings Road Salisbury, and Kings Gate, Wilton]]> King Street is on the north east edge of Wilton – it’s part of the A36. Kings Road, in contrast, is a fairly quiet ‘L’ shaped road which forms a square with Marlborough Road and Wyndham Road.

Kings Gate is just off from King Street in Wilton.

Wilton’s King Street

Wilton’s King Street could be a reference to Charles II’s route from Yeovil to Heale House in 1651, as I believe ‘The Kingsway‘ is.

I don’t know, but I would guess that it’s not.

My reason for this is that King Street adjoins Queen Street. At the time of King Charles’ putative trip along ‘The Kingsway’, he was unmarried¹.

Of course it’s still possible that King and Queen Street are named after King Charles and his Queen, Catherine of Braganza. But it’s perhaps unlikely to be a specific reference to his passing through Wilton, given that when he did so there was no Queen.

It could be that King Street is named in reference to Wilton’s having been ‘the ancient capital of Wessex’, as I think Kingsbury Square is, but I think it’s probably named either for patriotic reasons or because the land was owned by the state.

Salisbury’s Kings Road

The naming of Kings Road is something of a puzzle².

According to the Victoria County History³:

the last twenty years of the 19th century saw considerable further development, mainly of small houses. To this period belong Highfield Road, part of Ashley Road, and Clifton Road, all off the Devizes road; (fn. 22) Hamilton Road and nearby roads north of Wyndham Road;

If the Kings Road was one of the ‘roads north of Wyndham Road’ built in ‘the last twenty years’ of the 19th Century, then there was no ‘King’ at the time of the building of the road – Queen Victoria reigned from 1837 until 1901.

There are a couple of possibilities.

It could be that Kings Road has a religious connotation. Alternatively, it could be that it was named after somebody with the surname King.

It’s also possible that there’s some link with the odd cluster of road names in the area: Nelson Road, Hamilton Road, Marlborough Road and Woodstock Road. I didn’t see the connection between Marlborough Road and Woodstock Road for many months (it’s detailed in the post on Marlborough Road), so it’s more then likely I’ve missed something…

I would guess, though, that perhaps the VCH is slightly misleading. Perhaps Kings Road was completed, or named, just after Victoria died and it was named after King Edward VII.

Footnotes

1. UK Tea Council – Catherine of Braganza
2. As is the naming of the nearby Hamilton Road – see the entry on Nelson Road for detail on that
3. Salisbury: The expansion of the city; Milford’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 90-93. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41789 Date accessed: 25 August 2010.

This is appropriate because Sarah Lampard and William Seagrim both left money to Wilton Free School 1 There is also a reference to both “Sarah Lampard’s Charity” and “William Seagrim’s Charity” in the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives Catalogue

Other than that I don’t know anything . . . → Read More: Lampard Terrace, Wilton]]> Lampard Terrace is in Wilton, close to Seagrim Road.

This is appropriate because Sarah Lampard and William Seagrim both left money to Wilton Free School ¹ There is also a reference to both “Sarah Lampard’s Charity” and “William Seagrim’s Charity” in the Wiltshire and Swindon Archives Catalogue

Other than that I don’t know anything else about Sarah Lampard.

In researching this entry though I did find that some websites say that Frank Lampard was born in Salisbury. Others say he was born in Romford.

Footnotes

1. ‘Wilton: Schools and charities’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 33-36. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41772 Date accessed: 06 July 2010.

Both Lower Folly and Lower Street have corresponding ‘Upper’ versions of their names. The ‘Folly’ . . . → Read More: Lower Roads in Salisbury, Quidhampton and Britford and Lower Folly Wilton]]> There are four road names which begin with the word ‘Lower’, two of which are actually called ‘Lower Road’. The five are:

• Lower Folly in Wilton
• Lower Road in Britford
• Lower Road between Bemerton and Quidhampton
• Lower Street in Harnham.html

Both Lower Folly and Lower Street have corresponding ‘Upper’ versions of their names. The ‘Folly’ probably refers to the building in the grounds of Wilton House, which is nearby.

Lower Road in Britford is probably named in distinction to the main Bournemouth Road, which in Britford is called the ‘High Road’

As far as I’m aware, though there is no ‘Upper’ or ‘High’ equivalent to Lower Road in Bemerton. I would say it’s the Lower Road in distinction to the main Wilton Road.

Maples come in many different varieties. The sugar maple is tapped to make maple syrup.

The maple leaf is featured in the flag of Canada.

It has been a . . . → Read More: Maplecroft, Salisbury and Maple Crescent, Wilton]]> Maplecroft is on the ‘Ridings Mead’ estate, to the south of the city centre. Maple Crescent is in the Fugglestone area on the east of Wilton.

Maples come in many different varieties. The sugar maple is tapped to make maple syrup.

The maple leaf is featured in the flag of Canada.

It has been a symbol of Canada since the 1830s (¹), but the flag was not officially adopted until 1965, when it replaced the Union Jack (²)

(³)

Visiting Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Footnotes

1. Canadian heritage website
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Canada
3. Image from Wikipedia

The Market Place, in the centre of Wilton, could be said to date from ‘time immemorial’.

Edward I (king from 1272 until 1307) referred to a charter for a market in Wilton having been granted by his ‘ancestors’. (1)

The market was a significant part of the economy . . . → Read More: Market Place, Wilton]]>

Reproduced courtesy of Francis Frith.

The Market Place, in the centre of Wilton, could be said to date from ‘time immemorial’.

Edward I (king from 1272 until 1307) referred to a charter for a market in Wilton having been granted by his ‘ancestors’. (¹)

The market was a significant part of the economy of a town or city. Apart from being the place where a significant quantity of goods and services were traded, taxes on the market were a source of income for the local aristocracy.

The decline of Wilton’s market, and the decline of Wilton itself as a regional centre, was mirrored, if not caused, by the growth of Salisbury market, which was permitted by the city’s charter in 1227 (²)

The holding of the market in Salisbury was the subject of some controversy. In 1240, people in Wilton alleged that there was a market being held in Salisbury every day, when the charter only allowed for a Tuesday market. In 1274, people in Salisbury accused the bailiffs in Wilton of physically way-laying traders and forcing them to go to Wilton market rather than Salisbury (³)

In 1305, the king forbade merchants to trade in Salisbury on the days of Wilton markets.(⁴)

Wilton fair

The fair in Wilton dates back to at least 1212.

In 1288 it lasted from the 14th to the 21st of September. In 1300, it was said to last only from nine o’clock on St Matthew’s Eve (20th September) until nine o’clock on St Matthew’s Day (the 21st).

According to the Victoria County of History, there were various different fairs at various different times. There were fairs of Saint George and Saint Giles in 1751, and fairs in April, July, October and November in 1731.

By the 19th Century, the September sheep fair was the main fair in Wilton. At peak 100,000 sheep were brought to the Wilton Sheep fair.

Footnotes

1. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41767 Date accessed 30 November 2009.
2. ‘Salisbury: The market place’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 85-87. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41787 Date accessed: 30 November 2009.
3. ‘Wilton: Markets, fairs, agriculture and mills’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 17-21. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41767 Date accessed: 03 December 2009.
4. ‘Wilton: Markets, fairs, agriculture and mills’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 17-21. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41767 Date accessed: 04 December 2009.

It runs closely parallel with the Eastern edge of the grounds of the . . . → Read More: Minster Street, Salisbury and Minster Street, Wilton]]> Minster Street is in the centre of Salisbury. It runs from the Poultry Cross to the Cheesemarket, or to put it another way, from the junction of Blue Boar Row and Castle Street to the junction of Silver Street and Butcher Row.

It runs closely parallel with the Eastern edge of the grounds of the Church of Saint Thomas a Becket, with only the single row of buildings between Minster Street and the graveyard.

The Haunch of Venison in Minster Street, Salisbury

‘the most direct way from the cathedral to Old Salisbury and included the whole of the present High Street, Minster Street, and Castle Street ‘¹

The word ‘minster’ itself is ‘from Old English mynster, from Vulgar Latin monisterium, from Late Latin monasterium, monastery.’². It broadly seems to mean a monastic or collegiate church.

Given that at one time Minster Street ran all the way from Castle Gate to the Cathedral the word ‘minster’ could be referring to either Saint Thomas’ Church or to the Cathedral itself.

Visiting Salisbury?

For accommodation, see the Hotels in Salisbury page.

Footnotes

1. ‘Salisbury: St Thomas’s parish’, A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 6 (1962), pp. 81-83.
2. minster: Definition from Answers.com