Heytesbury, Wiltshire

Description
Heytesbury, a small town, a hundred, and a parish in Wilts. The town stands on the river Wiley, near Salisbury Plains, and has a station on the G.W.R., 109 miles from London, with a post, money order, and telegraph office. It was known to the Saxons as Hegtredesbiryg, took afterwards the names of Haresbury, Haseberie, and Heightsbury; was in the time of Stephen the residence of the Empress Maud; was in 1766 nearly all destroyed by fire, and afterwards rebuilt; consists now chiefly of a single street, and possesses interest to tourists as the central point of a region abounding in British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish remains. It sent two members to Parliament from the time of Henry VI. till disfranchised by the Act of 1832, was a borough by prescription, and is now a seat of courts-leet. It has two chief inns, a church, a Congregational chapel, and an endowed hospital. The church dates from the 13th century, was partly rebuilt in 1470, underwent a thorough restoration in 1866 at an expense of about £5500, is cruciform, has a massive tower, and contains the burial-place of the A'Courts, and a tablet to Cunningham the antiquary. It was formerly a collegiate church, with a dean and four prebendaries. At Tytherington, a hamlet in the S of this parish, stands the ancient chapel of St James, founded by the Empress Maud. It has been restored. The hospital was founded in 1470, by Lady Hungerford, for a chaplain, twelve poor men, and one poor woman; was rebuilt in 1769, and forms three sides of a square, two storeys high. A weekly market was formerly held, and a fair is still held on 14 May. Acreage of the civil parish, 5203; population, 826; of the ecclesiastical, 935. The manor belonged to the Burghershes, and passed to the Badlesmeres, the Hungerfords, the Hastingses, and others. Heytesbury House, the seat of Lord Heytesbury, is on the E side of the town; was partially rebuilt about 1784, contains a fine collection of pictures, and stands in a well-wooded park. Cotley Hill rises from the woods of the park, commands a very fine panoramic view, is crowned by a tumulus, and was anciently fortified. Knock Castle, Scratchbury Camp, Golden Barrow, and many other antiquities are in the neighbourhood. The living is a vicarage, united with the vicarage of Knook, in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £400. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury.