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Ludgershall in Wilts County England History and GeographyLUDGERSHALL, a borough and parish (formerly a market town) in the hundred of AMESBURY, county of WILTS, 16½ miles (N.N.E.) from Salisbury, and 71 (W.S.W.) from London, containing 477 inhabitants. This place, formerly called Lurgeshall and Lutgashall, was anciently of considerable extent, and is supposed to have been the residence of some of the Anglo-Saxon kings. A castle existed here soon after the Norman Conquest, wherein, about 1141, the Empress Matilda took refuge, in her flight from Winchester towards the castle of Devizes: no mention of this fortress occurring subsequently to the reign of Henry III., it is believed to have been dismantled soon after that period, for the purpose of curtailing the power of the barons: there are still some slight vestiges of it in a farm-yard in the vicinity. The town, which occupies a delightful situation on the verge of the county, is of inconsiderable size; the streets are neither paved nor lighted. The market was formerly held on Wednesday, but it has long been disused. There is a small pleasure fair on the 25th of July. Ludgershall is a borough by prescription, and sent representatives to all the parliaments of Edward I., to three of Edward II., and to three of Edward III.; between the 9th of Richard II. and the 9th of Henry V. no return was made, but since the latter period the returns have been regular. The right of election was declared, by a committee of the House of Commons, to be vested in 'the freeholders and copyholders of the borough houses, and in leaseholders for any term not under three years;' the number of voters is about seventy, and the bailiff is the returning officer; the bailiff is appointed at the court leet held annually by the steward of the manor on Michaelmas-day, when two constables are also chosen. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Salisbury, rated in the king's books at £11. 6. 8., and in the patronage of Sir Sandford Graham, Bart. The church, dedicated to St. James, is in the early style of English architecture, and contains some very ancient monuments. There is a place of worship for Baptists. A charity school for educating twenty boys and twenty girls, a certain number of them being also clothed, was founded about three years since, and is supported by the members for the borough. Another school, for ten girls, is supported by subscription. There is a small estate at Longstock, near Stockbridge, producing £20 per annum, which is applied for the relief of the poor during winter, and for occasionally apprenticing poor children; it was bequeathed by an individual commonly called 'Beggar Smith,' who, when in need, had been relieved by the inhabitants of Ludgershall. A few years since, the great seal of England in the reign of Stephen was found in the vicinity. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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