Ashmore, Co. Dorset. A history of the parish. With index to the Registers 1651 to 1820

Preface

It is with a full knowledge of its shortcomings that I am issuing this book. A Diocesan Missioner has little access to the printed materials for local history and genealogy, and is dependent on the kindness of other workers for most of his information from unpublished sources. And though haste is no excuse for imperfect work, yet I may plead that had I not undertaken this task, and undertaken it within narrow limits of time, no history of Ashmore would have appeared, at least within this generation. The two chief sources of information which have not been used for this work, the Fines in the Record Office and the Cranborne Hundred Rolls at Hatfield, are the concern of the whole county of Dorset rather than of the historian of a single parish. Till they are made accessible no satisfactory local histories can be written, and it is not too much to hope that the Fines, at any rate, may soon be in print.

And, though the task would be a heavy one, it cannot be beyond the resources of the county to print the noble series of Cranborne Hundred Rolls, reaching back to the time of Edward I, which belong to the Marquis of Salisbury. No district in England can have more ample or less known records than these ; and their constitutional interest, illustrating, as they must, the relations of the Honour, the Hundred and the Manor, will be very great. This book could never have been written without the kind and courteous help of many, especially among the clergy, in Dorsetshire and elsewhere, of whom I have made enquiries. But most of all my thanks are due to the Right Hon. Sir John Lambert, K.C.B., who has gener ously put at my disposal the fruit of very wide research, to the Rev. C. H. Mayo, Vicar of Long Burton with Holnest, Mr E. A. M. Fry of King's Norton and Mr G. S. Fry of Walthamstow, from all of whom I have received valuable information.

I must also acknowledge my debt to Mr G. C. Hall of Ashmore, by whose recent death the traditions of three generations are lost to the parish ; to Mr Eliot Howard for his constant interest and for many useful suggestions; and to other members of the Howard family for help in several ways. And had not my friend, Mr C. W. Holgate of the Palace, Salisbury, and my brother, Mr M. W. Watson, most patiently helped me in the verification of references and other tedious tasks, this work could hardly have been accomplished. Finally, if I have been able to supplement and, in some measure, to correct the statements of Hutchins and his editors concerning Ashmore and other parishes, I must acknowledge without reserve my debt to him and my admiration, which has increased as I have grown more familiar with the work, of the general accuracy of that great accumulation of facts and dates.

I regret that the further information on pp. 133 if. had not come into my hands in time to be embodied in the book itself, and that I must ask the reader of Chapters II, IV and VI to read the Appendix in connection with them. E. W. W. Palace, Salisbury, 17th November, 1890. Chapter I. General History CONTENTS ,, II. The Manor and Land System „ III. The Yardlands and Yeomanry „ IV. Field Names V. The Rectory ,, VI. Rectors and Curates VII. The Church ,, VIII. Churchwardens' and Overseers' Accounts „ IX.

The Barber pedigree, with notes X. The Registers, with Index, 1651—1820 „ XL Other Lists of Residents INDEX Acres, extent of, 32 Barber family, 16 ft, 11, 76, 84 f , 94 ff. 131 „ names, 61 Adams, Rev. John Exley, 80, 87 Advowson, 6, 8, 16, 63 ff, 135 Agar, Jacob, 21 Agriculture, 26 ff, 34, 40 Aisley, Thomas, 14 Alderney, 82 Aleyn, John, 11, 38. 46 Aimer, 96 Alner family, 14, 46, 47, 52, 55. 56, 61, 130, 131 ii yardland, 32, 33, 35, 52 Alvediston (Wilts) 46 Alye, Henry, 45 Andrew, John, 69 Andrews family, 56, 57 ii tenement, 56 Antiquities, prehistoric, 1 ff Arms, Barber, 56, 84 „ Cary of Clovelly, 84 ii Chisholm, 87 ii Harbin, 85 it arms, 56, 84 ii legend, 19 ■i Rev. Charles, 19, 21, 79, 100 ii George, (the purchaser) 15, 16, 54, 63, 85, 94 ii George, (of Stratton) 51, 95 ii Northover, 19, 41, 45, 61, 97 ii Robert, (f 1687) 17, 18, 49, 76 n Robert, (of Ashcombe) 18, 96 98 ii Robert, (vendor) 18 f, 47, 48 53,55 n Robert, (of London) 19, 97 ii William, (of Curry Rivell) 17 Barber's Folly, 19 Barrows, 2, 4, 20 Barter family, 98, 131, 132 Bartley, Charles, 89 Basing, (Hants) 12 Baskett, Rev. John, 88 Bastard, William, 53, 61 „ yardlands, 33, 40, 52 Beale family, 46, 55, 61, 131 „ yardland, 38, 40, 46 Beauchamp family, 9, 10, 63, 129 Bech, William, 97 Beconsawe, Richard, 13 Belchalwell, 81, 96 Bele, Robert, 69 Berwick St. John, (Wilts) 18, 49, 81 Beyrlye, William, 53, 130 Bingham, Richard, 73 Birmingham, Queen's College, 82 Bishop, Richard, 135 Bisse family, 94 f Blandford, 53, 73, 80, 96 ii Riley, 86 ii Rogers, 45 Arnold family, 16 Arundell of Wardour, Lords, 17, 18, 46, 77, 95 Ashcombe, 18, 97, 98 Ashgrove, 18, 78 Ashmore, name, 3 n situation, 1 ii enclosure, 26 n state in Domesday, 26 ff Aubrey, Wiltshire Collections, quoted, 77 Bagbere, 16 Balles, Thomas, 'i Cary, family and arms, 84, 97 Castleford, (Yorks) 69 Certum donum, 133 Chadwell, John, 72 Chaffyn, George, 101 Chalbury, 94 Chamberlayne, John, 97 Chapel, Wesleyan, 58, 88 Chapman, Anthony, 21 Chester, See of, 25, 69 Chettle, 5, 81, 85, 101 Chilthorne Domer, (Somerset) 68 Chiselborough, (Somerset) 69 Chisholm family and arms, 79 f , 87 „ Rev.

Charles, 80, 81 ii George, D.D., senior, 52, 58, 64, 87 ii George, D.D., junior, 20, 52, 80, 87 Christian Rememl)rancer, 82 Christie, Rev. John, 81, 87 Church, 15, 19, 70, 83 ff ii furniture, 92 n plate, 90 ii rates, 91 ii repairs, 91 n services, 92 ii wardens, 91 Church-plate Return, 130 Churchill, General, 58 Clark alias Keylway family, 16, 63, 70 ff, 130, 131, 135 Clovelly, (Devon) 84, 97 Cloyne, Archdeaconry, 96 Clutterbuck, John, 96 Cocks, Thomas, 67 Codford St. Peter, (Wilts) 69 Coghill, Sir Thomas, 98 Coker, Robert, 72 Collingbourne Ducis, (Wilts) 68 Collins' Peerage, quoted, 10, 85 Collinson, History qf Somersetshire, quoted, 17, 98 Combe family, 15, 130, 133, 135 Combe Bissett, (Wilts) 79 Combe Keynes, 48 Combe St. Nicholas, (Somerset) 45 Common, 30, 35 ff, 62 „ cottagers' use of, 35 „ trespasses on, 36 Common fields, 29, 32, 60 Blandford, Rev. — , 80 Blatchingdon, East, (Sussex) 81 Blechingdon, (Oxon) 98 Bletshoe, (Beds) 10 ff Bloxworth, 74 Boket, John, 68 Bond, Rev. J. E. Gordon, 80 Bossington, (Wilts) 57 Bosworth, Market, 82 Bovate, 31 (and see Half -yardland) Bowles, Hundred of Chalke, quoted, 18,46 Bowly, Devereux, 22 Bradford, (Somerset) 69 Bramble, James, 53 Brasted, (Kent) 81 Breamore, (Hants) 101 Bridmore, (Wilts) 40 Briefs, 91 Bright, see Lucas Rrihtric, 5, 26 Brinton family, 70 Britton Ferry, (Glamorgan) 84, 97 Brockway, James, 40 „ William, 57 Browne, Walter, 72 Bryanston, 67 Buckhorn Weston, 50, 76, 135 Budden family, 46, 54, 130, 133 „ yardlands, 32, 54 Burden family, 14, 45, 57, 70, 86, 130, 131, 134 Burlingham, Richard de, 67 Burlton, Roger, 70, 129, 130 Burnett, (Somerset) 67 Burt, John, 46 Burton, (Somerset) 19 ii Long, 72 Butler, Christian, 50 Cake Money, 39 Calabre, John, 129 Calaway, John, 52 Candy, Thomas, 48 Cann, 76, 81, 82 Canterbury, 87 Capuller, Robert, 134 Carie, William le, 129 Carucate, 26 ff Carver, John, 85 Carver family, 85, Compton Abbas, 48, 49, 76 Compton, Nether, 71 Constable and Hayward, 134 CooteB, George, 25, 69 Copses, 14, 15, 28, 30, 33 f, 46, 61, 62 Copyhold system, 27 ff, (and see Yardland) Cottagers' use of common, 35, 36 Cowlease, 61 Cox, Margaret, 55 Cranborne, 6, 67 „ Chase, 9, 14, 24, 34, 39, 94 ii Hundred (see Hundred) ii Priory, 5, 6 Crawley, (Southants) 14 Culpeper, Edmund, 101 Curry Rivell, (Somerset) 16, 98 Custom Venison, 39 Cutcombe, (Somerset) 76 Eastbury House, 21 Echebelt, John, 129 Edington, (Wilts) 13, 14 Eliot, John, 20, 21 ff, 54, 63 Englyshe, Thomas, 68 Entrenchment, Ancient, 2 Brie, Bishop, of Salisbury, 96 Emley, William, 94 Estmonde, Thomas, 130 Ettrick, Andrew, 64, 96 n family, 95 Eyton, Dorset Domesday, quoted, 4 Falkland, 6th Viscount, 21 Farnham, 5, 15, 46, 81, 96 Furre Alic6 72 Field Names, 17, 19, 29, 30, 42 ff, 60 ff Fisher, John, 68 „ William, 129 Fisherton Anger, (Wilts) 95 Fitzhamon, Robert, 5, 6 Fivehead, (Dorset) 95 „ (Somerset) 16 Fleetwood, Sir Gerard, 14 Flewell, Stephen and Thomas, 47 Flippen, James, 53 Folke, 68 Folly Hanging Gate, legend, 20 Fontmel

Magna, 48, 80 Fordingbridge, 53 Forster, Nicholas le, 129 Fothergill, John, 22 Fowle family, 52, 87, 88 Frampton Family, 49, 92 Free Suit Money, 37 Free Suitors, 11, 38 Freeman, Professor, quoted, 5, 7 Freeman family, 14, 46, 50, 129—131, 134 Dackham, Frances, 70 Darby, Rev. William, 3, 82 Davidson, Rev. Thomas, 80 Davie, Rev. George John, 81 Day, John, 53 Deaken, John, 92 Deer, 24 De la Mare, John, 8, 63, 67 Den, Richard, 65, 129 Dennis, Rev. Robert Nath., 81 Deptford, (Kent) 57 Despenser, Hugh, father and son, 9 Devizes, 78 Dewey, — , 74 Dialect, 25, 91 Dibben family, 14, 46, 56, 130—132 Dinton, (Wilts) 18 Ditch, ancient, 1, 4 Dobree, Rev. de L. de B., 82 Freeman yardland, 12, 34, 50 ■ "Frelande, John, freetenant," 12, 14 Frencheman, Luke, 134 Frome Billet, 68 Fry family, 17, 18, 70, 78, 101, 130, 131 Domesday, 4, 26 ff Donhead St. Mary, (Wilts) 4, 49, 50, III Dorchester, 81 Dorset Field Club Reports, quoted, 4 Dorsetshire, High Sheriffs of, 18, 21 Driving the Common, 36 Duffelt, Elizabeth, 54 Dupre, Rev. W. O. A. 81 Durweston, 48 Furlongs, 60 Gappergennies, 3 Gardner, Thomas, 68 Garshan, William, 129 Gatehouse family, 57, 61 East Living, see South's Farm X Gauntlett, John, 97 Gerneys, William, 65, 129 Gibson, William, 70 Gifford, Sands, 89 Gille, John, 67 Glebe, 31—33, 37, 42, 64 Gloucester, Honour of, 7 f Earls of, 7 f Glyn, Sir Richard, Bart., 52, 64, 80 Goad, 43 Goddard family, 15, 70, 130 Godefax, Robert, 65 Goodhind, Mary, 41 Gordon, John, 77 Gouteby, John de, 67 Gray, Abraham, 22 Green, Jacob, 92 ii Roger, 135 Grimstead, West, (Wilts) 68 Grode, Richard, 129 Grove, family of, Feme, 18, 48, 53, 98 Harvey, John, 4 7 Haryng, Raymond, 9 Haselbury Bryan, 71 Haskett, Robert. 131 Hatch, West, (Wilts) 63 Hatts, 2, 62 Haukesby, John, 68 Hawker, John, 14 Hayward, 134 Hayward family, 70 Heaven House, 36 Heavitree, (Devon) 19 Hemel Hampstead, 81 Henry I, King, 6 Heriots, 41 Hermitage, 58 Hide, 26 ff Hill, Archdeacon, 75 Hillisthing, 11, 46 Hindon, (Wilts) 50 Hinton Blewett, (Somerset) 68 Hinton Martell, 70 Growt, Pancras, 71 Gryffyn, Luke, 134 Guernsey, 82 Guiting, Lower, (Glouc.) 68 Gumbleton, William, 129 Gussage St.

Andrew, 45 Gybon, Robert, 68 Hiscocks, WiUiam, 46 Hive, Peter, 68 Hoare, Modern Wiltshire, quoted, 70, 73, 77, 79 Hoare, Wiltshire Institutions, quoted, 67 Holmes, John, 69 Holnest, 21, 58 Hookley, 34, 61 Hookswood, 96 Hoper, Philip, 129 Richard, 65, 129 Hopton family, 73, 74 Horder, Henry, 92 Howard, Luke, 20 Hulse family, 101 Hundred of Cranborne, 6, 8, 12, 37, 38, 133 Hundred of Longbarrow, 4, 5, 6, 27 Hunting Rights, 39 Huntly, Anne, 16 Hussey, William, 100 Hyde, Lawrence, 63, 69 Hache, Nicholas de, 67 Hacklestone, (Wilts) 87 Hacksmore, 11 Haine, Thomas, 53 Halebre, Nicholas, 129 Half-yardland, 32, 33, 35, 47, 56 Hall family, 3, 23, 58, 88, 89, 92 Hamilton, Rev. Joseph, 81 Hammersmith, 80, 87 Hancock, John, 74 ,, Benjamin, 75 Handley, 39, 45, 50, 94 Hanford, 77, 96 Harbin family and arms, 17, 85, 95 Hare family, 58, 83, 89, 92 Harnham, East, (Wilts) 18 „ West, (Wilts) 18, 79, 97 Harris, John, 131 Idmiston, (Wilts) 68 Ilsington, 16 Imber, (Wilts) 78 Ingram, Nicholas, 64 Inns, 56 Hartgrove, 48 Hartwell, (Bucks) 81 Harvest work in leases, Inquisitio Gheldi, 4 ii Nonarum, 65, 129 Ireland, 96 Iryssh, Richard, 11, 38, 46 Isleworth, 58 Ivie family, 76 ff, 80, 83 f, 86, 95 Ivinghoe, (Bucks) 81 Iwerne Minster, 17, 62 Linnington, Thomas, 131 f Liscombe, (Dorset) 47 Littleton, (Dorset) 50 Living, 11 Lockyer family, 53 London : Crown gift of venison to City, 39 London, Mary, 96 Long family, 78, 86 Longbridge Deverill, (Wilts) 97 Lovet, Anne, 72 Lucas alias Bright family, 40, 47, 55, 131 f Jarvis, Richard, 131, 132 Joan of Acre, 7 John, King, 7 Joliffe family, 70 JoneB, Fasti Eccl.

Sarisb, quoted, 67 69 Lydiard Tregoz, 10 f Lyndhurst, 57 Lytchett Matravers, 14, 47, 67 Lytyll, John, 68 Jones, William, 14 n Counsellor, 22 Maiden Bradley, (Wilts) 70 Mannings ord Abbots, (Wilts) 73 Manor, 5, 6, 8, 13, 35, 133 ii partial enfranchisement, 12 ii extinction, 14 dues of, 12, 35, 51 Manor Farm, extent, 28 ff ,i ii field names, 61 Keene, John, 77 Kensington College, 82 Kerley family, 53 f , 55, 57, 100, 129— 132 Keylway, see Clark Kington Magna, 17, 51 Kirby, Thomas, 13 Knoles, Francis, 70 Knowlton Roger, 129 Knoyle, (Wilts) 132 Kymp, Robert, 69 leases of, 40 stock of, 27, 31, 40 villein service on, 27, 31 Manor House, 17, 20, 21, 25 Mansell family, 84, 97 Mantell and Papworth Armoury, quoted, 86 Mappowder, 71 March family, 50 Margaret, the Lady, 10 Marklie, Richard, 14 Marlborough, lst Duke, 58 Marnhull, 74 Marston, (Somerset) 94 Martin, John, 131 f William Clifton, 98 Marwell, (Southants) 16 Lambert family, (of Winchester) 13 ff n ii (of Ashmore) 14, 46, 49 f, 61, 130 f, 134 Lambert yardland, 31, 49 Lamp, mediæval, 36 Land, value of, 13, 15, 16, 40, 50 Lane, William in la, 65 Langford, William, 131 Langton, (Dorset) 50 Langton Long Blandford, 5 Lanyn, John, 17 Lawday Silver, 12, 38, 133 Lawdon, Richard, 70 Mathew, John, 101 Matilda, Queen, 5 Mautravers, John, 9 May, Roger le, 129 Meade, Joan, 70 Melbury Abbas, 70, 80 n Camp, 1 Melcombe Bingham, 73 Leere, Humphrey, 53 Legends, 3, 19, 20 Le Neve Fasti, quoted, 67 Library of the Fathers 82 Lichfield, 81 Lilly, John, 131 f Line, Flower, i Oxton, (Devon) 98 Mer, John le, 129 Mer, Walter, 65 Mere, 45 Parham, John, 18 Parish hunt, 39 Parley, West, 53 Parsons, Ancrete, 72 Partington, Anne, 57 Pashen, George. 96 Patterson, Rev.

W. St. George, 81 Paulet, Sir William, 11, 38 Paupers with pass, 91 Pearson, Anthony, 22 Penruddock's Rising, 74, 75 Penselwood, (Somerset) 68, 75 Pentecostal Oblations, 91 Merpoc, John, 129 Methodism, 58 Michelane, William, 129 Miles, Henry, 73 Milton Abbas, 16, 17 Minterne, 58 Modeford, William, 68 Molenoux, Henry, 69 Monlas, John, 76 Moreton, (Somerset) 16, 18 Morgan family, 14, 46, 51, 70, 129 ff, 134 Morris Close, 61 Mortgages in 17th century, 34 Mory, Martin, 129 ii Robert, 134 Motcombe, 50, 53, 101 Mowlon, George, 52, 130 Muchelney, (Somerset) 78 Mullens family, 14, 40, 46, 48—53, 61, 88, 130 f Pilsdon, 68 Pimperne, 49 Plecy, Edmund de, 9 Pleydell, Mr J. C. Mansell, quoted, Plowman, Mary Ann, 89 Poaching, 24 Pole, William, 89 Poole, 54 Poole, Richard, 98 Poor Law, old, 92 Poore, Robert, 14 Portland, 69 Potticary family, 95, 96 Poulden, Robert, 130 Poultry Compter, 23 Pound, 35 Poundstock, (Cornwall) 96 Powlett family, 13 ff, 46, 63 Preshaw, (Hants) 78 Prices, Agricultural in 1766, 40 Prince, Richard, 131 Prinel, Rebecca, 48 Privett, Thomas, 70 Procurations and Synodals, 66 Protestation Return, 131 Proverbs, 25 Prowse, Prudence, 96 Prowte, Joyce, 55 Puddletown, 16, 48 Pulham, East, 18 Puncknowle, 96 Pynsent, Ann, 19 „ legend, 19, 52 „ yardland, 33, 51 Munche, John, 129 Napier, Rev. J. T. L., 81 Nele, Edith, 72 Netherhampton.

(Wilts) 97 New Close, 34, 61 Newhook, Dinah, 25 Newland, Thomas South, 57 Newton, (Wilts) 98 Newton Sermonville, (Somerset) 17 Nicholas, Pope, taxation of. 65 Nightingale, Dorset Church Plate, quoted, 90, 130 Niland, (Dorset) 17 Nisbecke, Nicholas, 131 f North Farm, 33, 56, 57 Northege, Stephen de, 67 Northover, George, 96 Okeford Fitzpaine, 50 Oram, John, 89 Osborn, John, 129 Osgodby, William, 25, 68 Overseers, 35, 92 Oxford family, 36, 42, 57 f, 61, 93 Quakers, 21 ff Rabbets family, 57, 83, 88 f, 92, 100 Radipole, Randell, William, 46, 57, 92 „ farm, see North Farm Ranston, 95 Rawlyn, — , 134 Rayer, Joan, 76 Read, Thomas, 101 Rectory, 6, 63 ff, 135 „ charge on, 6, 65 Redishe, John, 51, 69 f, 130 Registers, 100 Registrar, Parish, 100 Rents, 17th century, 40, 55 Reve, Thomas le, 129 Rideout, Rev. Philip, 81 n family, (of Ashmore) 89, 92 Ridgeway, The, 62 Riley, family and arms, 18, 86, 97 Ringwood, 72 Rivers, General Pitt, quoted, 62 Rochford, Andrew, 69 Rockboume, (Hants) 71 Rogers family and arms, 45, 86 Rogers' Ancient Sepulchral Effigies of Devon, quoted, 97 Rogs, William, 129 Roman Road, 4 Rood Ashton, (Wilts) 78 Runnington, (Somerset) 68 Russel, Robert, 70 Ryves family, 95 Sharde, Francis, 131 f Sharp family, 48, 61 „ yardland, 33 f, 38, 40, 48 Shergall, John, 46, 130 ii Thomas, 131 Sheriffs of Dorsetshire, 18, 21 Sherston, Great, (Wilts) 68 Sherwood, Joseph, 22 Shipley, Thomas, 23 Short, Nicholas, 129 „ Robert, 54 Shottesbrook, Sir Robert, 10 Shrimpton, Francis, 12 Six Yardlands, The, 11, 45, 61 Slade, Christian, 72 Small, Joan, 70 Smart, Dr.

Wake, Cranborne Chase quoted, 24, 38, 39 Smith, Rev. Peter. 80 Smythe, Judge, 21 Son, William, 129 South family, 48 ii Thomas, 47, 50, 51, 55 South's Farm, 32, 56 Southchurch, (Essex) 81 Spinney, (Spinnick) 20, 61 Sprot, John, 68 Stag's Head, 47 Stainer, Samuel, 24 Staple, Ann, 50 Sta well, (Somerset) 74 Steare, Humphrey, 97 Stepleton Iwerne, 5, 8, 70 Stile, Cuthbert, 70 Stockton, John de, 67 Stoke Wake, 96 Stourpaine, 96 Straight, John, 49, 94 ff Strode water, (Glouc.) 96 Strong, Mary, 54 Strowde, Joan 70 Stubhampton, 47 Sturminster Marshall, 69 „ Newton, 73 f Subsidy Rolls, 129 Superstitions, 24 Sutton family, 89 Sutton Bingham, (Somerset) 69, 71 ii Waldron, 55 Swallowcliffe, (Wilts) 17, 81 Swanage, 53 St. John family, 10 ff, 41 Salisbury, 50, 76, 78 f, 95 ff „ lst Earl, 8 n Godolphin Charity, 79 ■i St. Edmund's College, 68 ii Cathedral, Prebendaries of, 69, 73, 74 „ Cathedral, Precentors, 78 Samler, Rev. John Harman, 81 Saylway, Basil, 71, 129 School, 25 Seebohm, English Village Community, quoted, 30 Semley, 17, 101 Servi, 26 f , 30 Seymer family, 77, 85, 96 Seymour, Sir John, 16 Shachlands, 28 Shaftesbury, 50, 67 79, 96, 101 Shapwick, 51, 53, Villeins, 26 ff Virgate, see Yardland Vivian, Devonshire Visitations.quotedi, Swayne family, 15 Synodals, 66 Tarrant Gunville, 5, 8, 15, 47, 52 f. 76, 89, 101, 133 n Hinton, 5, 50 „ Keynston, 5, 54 „ Launceston, 5, 14, 47 97 Walker, Sufferings of the Clergy, quoted, 73 ff War Expenses, 93 Wardner family, 46. 92 Wareham, 69 Warner family, 85 Warvile family, 14, 130 ff, 134 Washers' Pit, legend, 19 Wastfield family, 95 Waterman, William, 50 Waters, Thomas, 79 Watts, Richard, 96 Weaver, Somerset Incumbents, quoted, „ Rawston, 5 „ Rushton, 5 Taunton, 81 Taxation of Pope Nicholas, 65 Tayler, Eleanor, 72 Taylor, George, 89 Templeeombe, (Somerset) 76 Tewkesbury Abbey, 5 f, 63, 65 Three field System, 34 Three Horse Shoes, 56 Tichborne, Sir Benjamin, 12 Timsbury (Somerset) 69 Tisbury, (Wilts) 17 Tithe Suit : Barber v.

Eliot, 21 ff 67,71 Somerset Visitations, quoted, 95 Weekes family, 50, 56 Well Bottom, 36 Wells family, 14, 129 f Welsh, William, 73 Wentwood, John, 70 Were, William, 129 f Werwood, John, 70 Wesleyan Chapel, 58, 88 West Living, see North Farm West family, 46, 48 f, 58, 70, 129 ff ii yardland, 40, 48 Westbury, (Wilts) 77 f Wheeler family, 89, 93 Whitaker, Geoffrey, 15 n Henry, 101 Whitby, Daniel, D.D., 78 Whitefield, William de, 9 Whitwell, (Yorks) 81 William I, King, 5 „ II, King, 6 Willoughby, Christopher, 131 Wills : Richard Alner, (1700) 47 ii WiUiam Clark, (1621), 135 ,i John Combe, (1608) 15 Sir William Powlett, (1629) 15 n Ivie v. Barber, 64, 78 Commutation. 37 ii of milk, 64 Tithingman, 134 Todbere, 73, 135 Tollard Farnham, 5 „ Royal (Wilts) 17 f, 39, 46. 77 ff, 95 ff „ Royal Hunt, 39 Toomer, William, 57 Townsend, Geoffrey, 129 Tregonwell, John, 16 Tresour, John le, 129 „ William, 129 Trespasses on Common, 36 Trotman, Edward, 96 Turke, Thomas, 73 Turner's Puddle, 48 Turnworth, 49, 96 Tyneham, 48 TJpshall, Thomas, 131 f Uvedale, William, 41 Valor Ecclesiasticus, 66 Valoynes, Onnora de, 9 Vanderplank family, 101 Vestry, 35 f, 134 Vicarage House. 43, 64 John Redishe, (1586) 69 Oliver St. John, (1497) 11 Thomas South, (1740) i ■> ■, Wilts Archæological Journal, quoted, 13 f Yardlands, copses, 33, 61 ii common rights, 31, 34 M meadows, 33, 61 stock, 31, 34 f ii enfranchisement, 11, 14 46 Winchester, 3rd Marquis, 13 f Winklebury Camp, 1 Winterbourne Houghton, 9 Withyham, (Sussex) 76 Wood, Edward, 46 „ Rev. George, 81 Woodwater, 70 Wool, 46 Woollen, burial in, 101 Worth Matravers, 82 Wroxhale, (WUts) 68 Wyberd, Nicholas, 129 Wyche, Benjamin, 97 Wycher, Roger, 129 Wyndham family, 18 Lawday SUver, 38 dues to Ashmore Manor, 12 ii value, 40, 50 ii rents and leases, 40, 55 n rating by, 37, 91 f n custom venison, 38 Yate, John, 69 Yderick, John, 68 Yeatman, William, 96 Yonge, John, 68 ii Nicholas (and family) 40. 75 f , 86 Yardlands, 27 ff, 42 ff h arable land, 29, 32, 42 ff, I. GENERAL HISTORY The Parish of Ashmore is situated on Cranborne Chase, on the edge of Wiltshire, but within the County of Dorset.

It lies on high ground, the village being about 720 feet above the sea; it is said indeed to be the highest village in the county. The range of down which has its highest point at Win Green, some three miles from Ashmore, slopes gently southward. At Win Green it is almost 1000 feet high • at the northern most point of Ashmore parish it is 863 feet; and it falls steadily till at Broadridge Pond it is 604 feet. But it is not an even slope. The ground is interrupted by deep winding bottoms with extremely steep sides, two of which, running up from Stubhampton gate, 325 feet above the sea, the lowest point of the parish, almost surround the village and cultivated lands of Ashmore. In fact it is only over a narrow neck of land, between Melbury and Ashgrove Bottoms on the north, and over another, between Melbury and Shepherd's Bottoms on the north-west, that level roads can be made into the village ; and these roads have to mount the down at very steep angles at no great distance.

The position, therefore, of Ashmore is a commanding one. The whole length of the Isle of Wight is visible from it ; and the trees which surround the Church and Manor Farm are one of the most con spicuous landmarks in East Dorsetshire. But there was one fatal objection to its being chosen for the site of a fortified settlement, such as those of Melbury and Winklebury. An enemy might creep round the deep ravine of Stubhampton Bottom and Shepherd's Bottom to within a few yards of the village, without being discovered. And perhaps, with the two great fortified settlements, already named, so near, there would not have been sustenance on the downs for the flocks of another tribe. At any rate, there is no trace of early habitation on the site of Ashmore. But within the parish are two military works of some importance.

One of them is a ditch and bank running across the B southern part of the parish from north-east to south-west, which can still be traced at several points. The ditch has been made with its bank to the south, for protection from an enemy advancing from the north. Though still perfectly distinct, it has been so ploughed over that its original dimensions cannot be discovered ; but it was never, probably, of very great strength. The other work is an entrenchment at Hatts Barn. This lies on the neck of land, already mentioned, which runs between the steep Melbury and Shepherd's Bottoms. There is a deep ditch, with a bank and a shallower ditch behind it, running almost due north and south, and facing eastward, for about a hundred yards. It crossed the modern road, as may be seen by the undulations, but appears not to have continued into the field beyond it on the north.

In the middle of the plantation the work makes a curve, and is continued, at a very obtuse angle, to the S.S.W., in a much weaker form. There is only a single bank and ditch, and neither is so formidable as those on the front of the work. The bank has been used in forming a modern dew-pond ; and in front of it at this point are three low parallel banks, perhaps the bases of stockades which formed an entrance, running at right angles to the embankment. They are not marked on the ordnance map. Beyond this, to the S.W., is a circular mound, on the line of the bank, and projecting beyond it ; and at this point a trackway seems to have run up into the work from Shepherd's Bottom. The bank and trench are continued beyond this again for several yards, no doubt as a flank defence to the approach. There is no sign of any defences on the west or rear of the main work ; which suggests the thought that it was perhaps an outwork of the settlement on Melbury Beacon.

The natural line of attack from the east, if made openly, upon this camp, would be along the level line of down between the bottoms ; and if the flocks of the Melbury people were grazing on what is now the Ashmore Manor Farm's down, they could be hurried behind this earthwork while its defenders were resisting an attack, perhaps from Winklebury, in front. But as the stronger face of the work is not continued across the whole level ground, but leaves two or three hundred yards on the north, towards Melbury Bottom, unprotected, it is hard to see how the defenders could escape being out-flanked and attacked in the rear, which was unprotected. The old track along the height is some yards to the south of the present road, and the work goes well across it ; and perhaps it was considered sufficient to bar a passage by that.

There are, as in all the down parishes, several barrows in Ashmore. There is one at Gore, one at Mudoak copse, and two large ones on what was Broadridge Common. When the common was broken up, the plough was taken over these, and a number of brass buttons, or what passed for such, were found under the surface of one of them. Concerning another barrow, which has now disappeared, there appears this entry in the parish register : — " Part of a human skeleton— whether that of a man or of a woman is uncertain — having been found on Broadridge Common in this parish, was buried according to the rites of the Church of England, 14th Nov., 1864. William Darby, Curate." There was another barrow, over which the road to Fontmel now runs, by Folly Hanging Gate, near Washer's Pit. In this lonely place, till within living memory, strange sounds were made by creatures in the air called Gappergennies, or however else the name may be spelt.* Of the nature of these sounds I have not been able to learn anything, except that they could be successfully imitated by human lips.

When, perhaps fifty years ago, a metalled road was made to Fontmel instead of the old cart-track, this barrow, which lay close to the old road and on the line of the new one, was dug up, and the bones it contained buried in the churchyard. As there is no entry of the fact in the register, this was no doubt done without the burial service. On the down, by the roadside, a cross had always been kept cut, opposite the barrow. This has been neglected since the reinterment; and since then, also, the strange sounds have not been heard. The low mound and the cross on the turf are well remembered. On the common below Sandpits Field is a line of small barrows, which seem to have been opened at some remote date. No exploration of any of these Ashmore remains has in recent times been attempted ; and I cannot be sure that the list here given is complete, even of those which an inexperienced observer would notice.

But if the occupants of the barrows did not live on the site of the present village, and there is no evidence that they did, population must early have been drawn there by the one advantage which the place possesses. The great pond, from which the village takes its name, (for Ashmore is a corruption of Ashmere, little more than three hundred years old ; Ashmeer occurs in a will of 1 698) sixteen feet deep opposite the Rectory, has nothing to equal it among the chalk downs of the neighbourhood, nor indeed in all the down country of Wiltshire and Dorsetshire. In all probability, however it may have been enlarged, its beginnings are natural ; it must be a swallow-hole, like those in the Yorkshire limestone. It rarely fails, though it is only fed by rain * Otherwise called Gabbygammies. The late Mr Stephen Hall, of the Manor Farm, who had often heard the sounds, thought they were made by badgers.

(E. H.) B2 water. Perhaps, on an average, it is dry once in twenty years ; and then the villagers, by ancient custom, hold a feast. Cakes are baked, and eaten round the margin and in the bed of the pond ; and the farmers haul out the hundreds of cart-loads of mud which have accumulated on the bottom, and lay them on their land. By a curious coincidence, the pond happened to dry, and the feast was held, in 1887, the Jubilee Year. Whether or no there was a village on the site of Ashmore in Roman times, at any rate a Roman road ran near the place, through the south eastern part of the parish and over Oatley Down in Tollard Royal, not more than a quarter of a mile from the village. Ashmore lies close to a straight line drawn from Bath, through the camp at Castle Rings near Donhead St. Mary, to Badbury Rings and so to the Roman port on Poole harbour ; and if the pond were then in existence, this, the only unfailing supply of water between the Ludwell springs, at the northern foot of the downs, and the waters of the Stour, below Badbury, must have been of service to the teams employed on the road, carrying, probably, for the most part, lead from the Mendip mines down to the sea.