This blog has, in the past, included a number of items sent in by Volunteers who have enjoyed, and written about, places of historical interest visited on days out, or from further afield.
This one is from Research Volunteer Dr Megan Fyfe.
How to build a medieval castle from scratch: experimental archaeology in rural France.
Deep in the woods of northern Burgundy, Guedelon Castle is a large-scale long-term project in experimental archaeology which only uses techniques, tools and materials available in the 13th century – with the complication of modern health and safety rules and a particularly hard local ironstone rock.
The chosen site was beside a disused quarry in the Guedelon Forest, providing ready access to stone for the walls, sand to make mortar, clay for the roof and floors, oak, birch and hornbeam for timbers, battens, and wood for the fires and kilns. Local plants also provided colours for the dyes. As in the 13th century, a Master Mason is in daily charge of the site and its workforce, using plans drawn up by an architect. Professional workers and labourers have been recruited, covering all the skills need in castle-building – blacksmiths, stone-masons, mortar-makers, mason-layers, carpenters, quarrymen, woodcutters, tilers, potters, dyers, painters, basket-weavers, and rope-makers, to name a few. Medieval tool kits for the various trades had to be constructed, and then people had to learn to use them correctly. The lack of detailed instructions from the time meant mistakes were inevitable, and had to be undone, then redone. All workers on site wear medieval dress – and modern eye protection, where required.
All this trial-and-error experimental archaeology has, and is, open to the public. On what is, essentially, a medieval building site, visitors have been encouraged. The fact that techniques can be observed, and questions answered – if, in my case, in very halting French, with lots of gestures – makes it a fascinating place to visit; though be aware, it IS a building site and on a damp day in March I emerged covered in thick orange mud to the kneecaps!
For people wanting more information there are lots of You Tube videos, and I can recommend the following book written by the project’s co-founder and master mason: Martin, Maryline and Renucci, Florian, 2023 edition. ‘Guedelon: a castle in the making.’ Editions Ouest-France, Rennes.
Are you interested in doing research at home, at your own pace? Wiltshire OPC (Online Parish Clerks) needs your help.
No qualifications needed, just a passion for history and access to a computer to send in your research template. You ‘adopt’ a village/town – there are 213 that need work – just contact wiltshire-opc.org.uk.
To whet your appetite, I have found so much out from being involved and recently I added The Close to my list to research. I am going round every house in The Close and looking for the interesting people that lived or visited there, not just the ones we know about.
Just today I went “whoopee!” when I found that J M W Turner stayed at 19, The Close with his friend Henry Penruddocke Wyndham, and the painting we have in the museum is from a sketch he did when he stayed there . If research is not your thing, transcribers are always needed and halp with admin as well..
Our eldest grandson who now lives with us says living with us is like living in a museum, but I have now roped him in taking photos of the houses, and even he is getting interested!
What a great project, and what a wonderful place to research – The Close! Thank you Linda, for this.
It is great to have another contribution to the blog from one of the Salisbury Museum Research Volunteers….
Salisbury had been no stranger to conflict between the religious and secular authorities since its inception, but with Henry VIII’s Reformation, and the ongoing distrust of Roman Catholicism, in the early 17th century disputes about religious practices widened in the city as well as the country as a whole. These, and their consequences, eventually led to Civil War.
The Puritans were a religious reform movement within the newly formed Church of England, that arose in the late 16th century. These believers felt that the practices of the Church of England itself were too close to Catholicism, and that any ceremony or practice not mentioned in the Bible should be abolished: not only that, they felt they had a direct covenant with God to enact such reforms. In 1629 one Puritan in Salisbury was the city’s Recorder, Henry Sherfield, and it was his actions that led to a famous religious quarrel with national as well as local repercussions.
In 1567 Bishop Jewel had ordered all stained-glass in Salisbury’s churches to be removed and replaced by plain glass: coloured glass was, he felt, ‘idolatrous’. For some reason, a single window in St. Edmund’s church showing the Creation survived the purge. True to his Puritan beliefs, early in 1629 Henry Sherfield obtained the permission of the Vestry to remove the window at his own expense. The matter was, however, referred to the High Anglican Bishop of Salisbury, Dr John Davenant, who promptly vetoed it.
To say Sherfield was unhappy was probably an understatement. He had sat opposite the window and apparently been disturbed by it for 20 years, so he persuaded the sexton’s wife to let him into the church, and promptly attacked the window with a pikestaff – history does not record what the sexton’s wife made of the pikestaff, though the phrase ‘as plain as a pikestaff’ has been known since the mid-1500s.
At this point, things descended into farce. The staff broke, and Sherfield fell 4’ into a pew. He injured himself so badly it was a while before he could summon a horse and be taken home to his bed – where he remained for the next month. The window was left damaged but still in place. Sherfield’s literal interpretation of the Bible meant he objected to the fact that the window had got the days of creation in the wrong order, as well as showing Eve arising from Adam’s body instead of being made from a rib, and that there were seven figures representing God, instead of one.
The subsequent legal uproar reflected the religious divisions of the time. In 1632 Sherfield was summoned to the Star Chamber in London by the Attorney-General, and required to explain himself to 22 Privy Councillors, of whom 18 gave separate judgements. A whole range of suitable punishments were proposed, the severity of which seemed to reflect the religious sensitivities of the people concerned. The Chancellor of the Exchequer wanted Sherfield to be removed from office and fined £1000: others proposed a fine only whilst yet others wanted no fine at all. In the end a compromise fine of £500 was imposed. This, however, was never paid: Henry Sherfield died the next year. In a final act of irony, only 10 years later in 1653 the church tower itself collapsed – luckily not during a Sunday service – and took the window with it.
The Memorial, today, at St Edmunds, marking the collapse of the tower
Thank you Megan. It seems Henry Sherfield was a feisty character! You can read more about him here.
What was the name of The King’s House prior to about 1780? Sherborne Place
The King’s House was once home to Godolphin School. True or false? True – moved to present site 1848 when cholera threatened the city.
What was bought for £22.10s 0d in 1859, leading to the development of the original Salisbury Museum? The Drainage Collection
What was the full name of the famous General Pitt-Rivers? Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers
The General devised a ‘craniometer’. What was it for? Measuring skulls
Which earl and local landowner paid for the building of the Guildhall after the old Salisbury Council House had been destroyed by fire? The Earl of Radnor
What was found in the skull of William Longspee (died 1225; tomb in the Cathedral) and was once on display in The Salisbury Museum? A rat
Which monarch was entertained in The King’s House in 1610 and 1613? James I
What did local craftsman Benjamin Banks make? Violins (see blog on him from auctioneers Tarisio).
Who, in his “Notes from a Small Island” said “Salisbury Museum is outstanding. I urge you to go there at once.”? Bill Bryson
Volunteer Mary Crane is not short of good ideas when it comes to involving young visitors in museum-themed activities.
Open all through the holidays, in the rear garden marquee, has been the Colouring Wall. The outline of our Giant had been drawn in some time ago, waiting for its magnificent gown to be filled in with red. Instead…as Mary says, “Who knew the Giant is a Southampton supporter?”
Regular readers of the Volunteer Blog may recall the article and updates I wrote about the Netherhampton Plague Stone (4th December, 2018) (Fig. 1). This article eventually prompted a response from somebody who claimed to have this plague stone in his garden, which I went to look at. He does not want the location to be revealed in order not to attract unwelcome visitors. However, he did contact Netherhampton Parish Council with a view to getting it repatriated but, after showing initial interest, they subsequently never followed up.
Fig 1 Netherhampton Plague Stone
Publication of this article also caused a friend of mine from U3A to contact me and say that there is also a plague stone in Coombe Bissett, which I then went to inspect (Fig. 2). As can be seen, it has an indentation, (northern apex in this photograph), which looks as though it could be a receptacle for sterilising vinegar.
Fig 2 Coombe Bissett ‘Plague Stone’
Recently, during a U3A visit St Michael and All Angels Church, Coombe Bissett, I took the opportunity to raise the subject of the plague stone with our guide. Before I could complete my question he scoffed and proclaimed that any fool could tell that this is NOT a plague stone, as such an object would never be placed in the middle of a village. He considered that this object is a horse mounting stone. All this is despite the fact that two editions of the Parish Minutes describe it as being a plague stone, viz.
“29. Protection of the Plague Stone: C.Chelu stated that Coombe Bissett’s Plague Stone was recently disturbed and lifted off the ground by BT Openreach. It is not listed, so as a valued historic village asset, the Clerk will aim to have it listed. Minutes, 8th July 2014“
“87. Plague Stone Lighting: A villager has requested that a form of lighting the plague stone be considered… Minutes 14th January 2020“
In order to try and clarify this situation, I consulted a friend, Stephen Dunn, former Head Guide at Salisbury Cathedral, whose opinion on such matters I value. He responded with a third possibility,
‘I had a look at Coombe Bissett today. I think that the ‘plague stone” is the base for a market or preaching cross. There is an indentation but it looks weather-made rather than by human hand. Maybe it was fished out of the stream? Also there is a house opposite named ‘Cross Stone’, might that be a clue?’
What an intriguing idea!
Thank you for this Alan. Lovely local history, and it should have us all looking more carefully at lumps of stone on the outskirts of villages! I was brought up on the wonderful ‘I-Spy’ booklets for children which told the reader a little about all kinds of interesting things around us, and had boxes in which the reader could mark up matching items seen on journeys.
As we look around Salisbury and see more and more closed shops, how much do we remember of what used to be there, not just in the last three or four years, but, perhaps fifty years ago?
Bookshops come to mind; the amazing Beach’s in the High Street (now Prezzo), the SPCK bookshop right next to High Street Gate, Appleby and McGrath in Catherine Street. All long gone.
Crafters will remember Mace and Nairn, the embroidery specialists in Crane Street , run by the indubitable Mrs Mace and Miss Nairn, and seemingly archaic, even then. And how many solved the mystery as to why the Compleat Artist (near Crane Street Bridge and only recently gone) couldn’t spell ‘complete’?
While chainstores like Debenhams and Woolworth’s linger in the memory. who now remembers Style and Gerrish, or Blooms, both large department stores?
Woolworth’s, Salisbury 1950s
I was recently lent a 1970 guide to Salisbury. The advertisements speak of an age long past. Some boast “personal service”, “high class fruit” or even “frozen foods”. Others exhort the customer “be sure to visit’, or “you are invited to inspect”… or, my favourite, “quality clothes that are always befitting”!
Bloom’s described itself as “Salisbury’s better store” and the White Horse Hotel in Castle Street stated proudly that it was “part centrally heated”!
Truly another age.
Truly another world Mary. Thank you for this, which will bring mixed memories and conjure mixed thoughts, perhaps.
The museum was recently donated some ancient glass plate negatives. No information was with them, except “found in corner of loft of ancient building”.
However, some of them were quite easy to identify. For example, here is one of Crane Street: looking from the High Street end towards Queen Elizabeth Gardens:
We scan the images at high resolution as it is quite easy to downsize digitally. This image, I suspect, was taken by a professional with a tripod, the detail is amazing and one can now zoom in and look at these details.
The two ladies are aware of the photographer and standing still. Those who are fashion experts should be able to identify the outfits, including bonnets and a parasol.
It must be a hot day because many of the windows are open, as can be seen by these close ups here:
The sun is shining and quite high in the sky, as shown by the shadows of the roof outlines on the road:
One can tell it is summer by the leaf-covered trees:
That there is strong sunlight can also be gauged by the two first floor blinds, a most unusual sight nowadays. How were they put out? With a long pole from street level?
Alan makes seven more discoveries from the original photograph, recording more people, and commenting on street furniture. Can our readers do the same? Spend some more time with this, and we’ll find out later in the week what more Alan has noted.
We are also looking for a date for the photo. Let us know what you think.
One of the earliest Christmas presents I recall receiving from Santa Claus (aka my parents) as a pre-teen was Enid Blyton’s book, ‘Five Go To Billycock Hill’, published in 1957. This concerns an RAF pilot who has disappeared with top-secret equipment.
One vivid memory I’ve retained from this book is when ‘The Five’ spotted a man wielding a butterfly net…
‘It’s Mr Gringle’ said Toby. ‘One of the men from the butterfly farm. He’s often up here with his net because it’s a wonderful place for butterflies,”
A man came round the gorse-bush – a rather peculiar figure, untidy, with glasses slipping down his nose, and his hair much too long. He carried a big butterfly net and stopped when he saw the five children,
I was reminded of this some decades later when I sought help to identify some beautiful silver and grey bees which had suddenly began emerging from my lawn. Mr Stuart Roberts from the ‘Bees, Wasps and Ant Recording Society’, who lives in Salisbury, came around. I recall being very self-conscious of what the neighbours might be thinking of this sinister-looking character swishing a butterfly net around in my garden at dusk. The bees turned out to be the ashy mining bee, Andrena cineraria. Mr Roberts explained that these bees don’t sting and that if you capture one loosely in your cupped hands and blow on it, it emits a lovely flowery scent.
I was reminded once again of this scenario in reading Dr David Tyrrell’s book, ‘Cold Wars’ (2002), in preparation for taking part in an oral history project on behalf of the Museum on the former Common Cold Research Unit (CCRU) which used to be at Harvard Hospital, Harnham. Dr Tyrrell ran the research programme there from 1957 and was the Director of the WHO Reference Centre for Virus Infections at the CCRU from 1960 until its closure in 1990.
In ‘Cold Wars’ Tyrrell describes the pioneering work of Professor Sir Christopher Andrewes, one of the founders of the CCRU in 1946:
‘He had been a keen naturalist since early boyhood, an interest which had developed, as so often happens, during illness. Confined to his home for a period he had passed the time by studying the territorial habits of birds in his garden – clear evidence of his innate instinct for research. Eventually, he focussed his attention on … two-winged flies. And of course, his frequent visits to Harnham Hill provided him with an ideal opportunity to pursue these studies. Each morning, during his stay, there was the familiar sight of this figure in a well-worn sports jacket and carrying a net striding out into the countryside…’.
One can’t help wondering whether Enid Blyton was aware of Dr Andrewes’ seemingly eccentric forays, and based the image of Mr Gringle on him.
Many thanks, Alan, for this.We look forward to finding out more, perhaps, about the CCRU.
I, too, was an Enid Blyton fan and care not at all that she has become rather passe.
In November, we heard from Cliff Leach about the research he has been doing into the history of Salisbury in the seventeenth century. Inevitably, much of it has been about the background to the Civil War of the 1640s. The background to division (outwardly religious but involving power and financial interests, exacerbated by envy and poor diplomacy), the tensions, and ultimately the breakdown of relations between groups can be seen again and again throughout history.
Salisbury had its own problems which is possibly why, generally, it avoided the fighting. But people tended, of course, to support one side or the other, and the city sometimes found itself ‘drawn in’.
1641
The king is told by his legal advisor, Strafford, that “Sir, you have done your duty, and your subjects have failed in theirs; and therefore you are absolved from the rules of government, and may supply yourself by extraordinary ways; you have an army in Ireland, with which you may reduce the kingdom.” That is, he can rightfully take overall power by force. So Parliament launches a Bill of Attainder stating Strafford’s guilt and demanding that he be put to death. It requires the King’s signature.
Charles, however, guarantees to Strafford that he will not sign the attainder, without which it can not be passed but events roll-on and Charles, fearing for the safety of his family, signs and Strafford is beheaded.
Parliament demands to be be summoned at least once in three years, the King reluctantly agrees.
Throughout May, the House of Commons launches several bills attacking Episcopalianism (rule of church by Bishops) in general (effectively a Puritan move), each time defeated in the Lords.
Charles and his supporters resent Parliament’s demands, and Parliamentarians continue to suspect Charles of wanting to impose Episcopalianism and unfettered royal rule by military force.
Within months, the Irish Catholics, fearing a resurgence of Protestant power, strike first, and all Ireland soon descends into chaos. Rumours circulate that the King supports the Irish, and Puritan members of the Commons soon start murmuring that this is the fate that Charles has in store for them all.
1642 and the First Civil War
January 1642, Charles, accompanied by 400 soldiers, attempts to arrest five members of the House of Commons on a charge of treason (the result is that, even today, the monarch cannot enter the House of Commons without permission). This attempt fails and Charles, now fearing for the safety of his family, leaves the London area for the north.
Charles during the attempted arrest of the Five Members. Painting by Charles West Cope
Throughout the summer, tensions rise and there is brawling in several places, the first death from the conflict taking place in Manchester.
Parliamentary and Royalist forces move across the landscape, garrisons are established, lost and re-established and a host of sieges occur. At no point is the Wiltshire area ever wholly and continuously in the control (or in support ) of either side in this murderous conflict in which (proportionally) more people die than in both World Wars in the 20th century combined.
1642 In Salisbury:
July sees Robert Hyde, Recorder and MP for Salisbury, persuade the Mayor to raise trained bands and militia in support of the King. Hyde is then summoned back to the House of Commons and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Instead, Salisbury forms a company of volunteers under the command of Lord Pembroke in support of the Parliamentary cause.
Of 29 MPs for Wiltshire, 21 pledge support for the Parliamentary cause ad so on 3rd October 1642 a letter is sent to all leading gentry inviting them to a meeting at the Mermaid Inn Salisbury to support the raising of funds and men for the Parliamentary cause.
In general terms, it is the high sheep country of Wiltshire supported the King and the less traditional and industrialised sectors supported Parliament and were more Puritan in their beliefs and traditions. There are, however, numerous counter-examples of these general trends.
1643 In Salisbury:
On 9th March, William Waller (MP for Andover and Parliamentary commander) enters Salisbury on his westwards march and recruits soldiers from the city. He has captured Portsmouth and Winchester but will later be defeated.
On 2nd May Wardour Castle in Wiltshire is besieged by a Parliamentarian force of around 1,300 men led by Sir Edward Hungerford who attacked the castle, home of Thomas Arundell, 2nd Baron Arundell of Wardour, a prominent Catholic and Royalist. Arundell is absent, fighting for King Charles at the time of the attack, and the defence is led by his wife, Lady Blanche Arundell, in command of 25 soldiers. The siege lasts for a week before the Parliamentarians force Lady Arundell to surrender on 8th May. The Parliamentarians garrison the castle with 75 men, led by Colonel Edmund Ludlow.
In November 1643 Henry Arundell, 3rd Baron Arundell brings a Royalist force to reclaim the castle which is well-provisioned, and it is only when the Royalists explode mines under the walls, creating large holes in the defences, that they force the castle’s surrender. The damage to the castle leaves it uninhabitable.
Wardour Castle today. Photo from the English Heritage site
1644 In Salisbury:
The war-weary citizens of Salisbury receive a sudden demand from the King on his march through Wiltshire in October. He wants £500 to be paid the following morning. The penalties for non-payment would have been horrific. In December, Parliamentary forces under Colonel Ludlow dislodge the royalist garrison. He too is then routed by a counter-attack on the 31st December but with considerable casualties and loss of life.
The Royalist forces under Marmaduke Langdale take revenge on the ordinary people of the city in three days of sustained terror during which they destroy or steal anything they wish and leave already impoverished people in a state of terrified destitution. A tale told time and again, with atrocities on both sides, throughout the Civil Wars. One typical example is of old Myles the cobbler, not a wealthy man, who lost 5 shillings, three pieces of leather, six pairs of shoes and several items of clothing worth a total of £6 – a vast sum for a poor person at that time.
1645 In Salisbury:
One phenomenon during the First Civil War is the rise in this region of the Clubmen – essentially non-aligned, but very muscular, pacifists who want no part of the Civil Wars or the forces on either side and are prepared to use lethal force to ensure this if they can. Christopher Dale of Salisbury admitted that, although he had seen service in the Royalist forces, he was now a clubman in Salisbury “to defend themselves and their goods against all plunderers, but not to oppose either army”
1646
In May Charles seeks shelter with a Presbyterian Scottish, army at Southwell in Nottinghamshire.
In return for a payment of £200,000 (about £35.7 Million in 2022) Charles is handed over to the English Parliament by the Scots and imprisoned in Hampton Court but escapes, and is then taken to the Isle of Wight to be imprisoned at Carisbroke Castle.
Thank you Cliff. It is a fascinating period in national and local history.