Stratford sub Castle village website
Salisbury, Wiltshire UK
A Timeline of Local History
Significant local events are listed below in date order. Click the link to view the relevant webpage.
The history pages are also listed by subject on the Local History Contents page.
Pre-history
An introduction to the early settlement of the area
Old Sarum - Neolithic evidence
Polished Axe From Antrim made 3800 – 2500 BCE
Old Sarum - a Defensive Site
Old Sarum in the Iron Age - Part I of The Long History of Old Sarum by Alix Smith
Wilsford Shaft/Flax in Wiltshire
The Icknield Way is believed to be pre Roman
500 - 1000 CE
Fortified burh at Old Sarum (Searobyrg in the late Anglo-Saxon period Dr Alex Langlands reviews the evidence.
Alfred orders Old Sarum to be reinforced in 871
Grants by King Edgar of lands at Avon (Farm) or Afene
Parliament held by King Edgar in 960 at Old Sarum
Eduuard Saresberiensis, or (D’) Evreux, or Edward the Rich, pre conquest Earl of Sarum and Sheriff of Wiltshire
Old Sarum in the Early Medieval Period Part III of The Long History of Old Sarum by Alix Smith
11th Century
Sweyn Forkbeard - future King of England came to Old Sarum 1003 CE
King of England was at Old Sarum in 1070 and 1086
Second Bishop of the original Sarum cathedral
Walter D’Evreux, the first post conquest Earl of Sarum
Stratford. First documented use of the name
Old Sarum in the Medieval Period - Part IV of The Long History of Old Sarum by Alix Smith
12th Century
Archbishop / visitor to Old Sarum
Secretary to Thomas Becket
A Queen of England, imprisoned at Old Sarum
Leper Hospital and cemetery. (Henry II coin in ditch)
Stones carved for Old Sarum later reused in St Lawrence Church
Font made, now in St Lawrence Church
13th Century
St Lawrence Church has (at least)13th origins
Henry of Avranches and his poem "On the translation of the old church of Salisbury and the construction of the new."
14th Century
Newtown at Salterton established
Hangings at Old Sarum in the 14th century
Taxes paid by Stratford Residents
The Mawardens held and sold land in Stratford
15th Century
16th Century
Antiquarian & Travel Writer visited around 1540
Dissolution of the Monasteries. Wilton Abbey Lands granted to Earl of Pembroke
Taxes paid by Stratford Residents
Maps of Wiltshire and Britain by Saxton and Lilly respectively
(on pages 2 & 3 of document on Local History Drive, external site)
17th Century
Establishment of the Stratford Water Meadows
Antiquarian & Travel Writer visited Old Sarum in 1660
Travel writer visited Old Sarum late 17th C
Diary & Travel Writer visited 1668
Living in Stratford 17 C
A Civil War Tale
William Dollery & The Parliamentary Dragoons 1644
(on Local History drive, an external site)
William of Orange, King of England
marched through Stratford with his troops when still a Prince in 1688
King of England, fled from Cromwell’s Troops after the Battle of Worcester in 1651.
Pulpit in St Lawrence Church made
Maps of Wiltshire published by Speed and Blaue
(on pages 4 & 5 of document on Local History drive, an external site)
Marriages - some 17th century ceremonies in Stratford
The 1649 Parliament Survey of Lands and Tenements in Stratford sub Castle
for the Act of the Abolition of Deans and Chapters
18th Century
Travel Writer, visited in 1776
Author & Travel Writer, visited early 18th C
Camp Hill and the Dragoons Regiments 1757 Encampment
Captain William Mudge in June 1794 began the first definitive mapping survey of Great Britain for Ordnance Survey, at Old Sarum
Nicholas Elliot Esq. An Account of Land held by him at Stratford 1748
Frances Nisbet The future Viscountess Nelson marked the death of her first husband Josiah Nisbet with a memorial plaque inside St Lawrence Church.
A Map of Wiltshire, taken from an Actual Survey. 1773 Andrews and Dury
(page 7 of a document held on Local History drive, external site)
Church benefactors & family of a Prime Minister, living at Mawarden Court
The Old Sarum Tunnel Excavation late 18th C
1762 The Marlborough to Salisbury Turnpike ran along the line of the A345 past Old Sarum Turnpikes & Milestones
19th Century
1800 Common land in Stratford taken into ownership following the Inclosure Act of 1799
Earl of Pembroke’s mid-19th century programme of farmstead construction on the Wilton Estate included Avon Farm - a 19C 'Model Farm' (see page 3 of doc)
Ordnance Survey Map First Edition published by William Mudge 1817
William Cobbett Travel Writer, wrote about his visit in 1826
John Constable Artist & painter here in (at least) 1821, 1829, 1834
1832 Reform Act ends Old Sarum's Rotten Borough Status
Village School built 1840
Edward Caswall Stratford Clergyman & hymn writer, lived at Mawarden Court 1840-47
Agricultural workers' strike spreads to Stratford 1853
Magic Lantern Slides Mill Lane and Old Sarum
Benchmarks Cut By Ordnance Survey
Old Sarum - the first major earthwork to come under guardianship of the Office of Works 1892.
20th Century
Stratford Mill destroyed by fire 1900
Consequences of driving a pony & trap without lights 1903
Old Sarum Isolation Hospital built 1911, in use for troops during WW1
WW1 The Stratford sub Castle Nine
WW1 Lake Airfield and the Druids' Lodge Water Tower
Land Sale 1920 on behalf of the Church Commissioners
Reginald Coggan bought Parsonage Farm in 1921, the start of 100 years of a family living and working in Stratford sub Castle. Coggan Family
Life at Mawarden Court in the 1920's & 1930's
An account by John Henry Cook, son of the Rev William Henry Cook.
Hudson's Field purchased for public use and as 'An open space for ever'
Closure of the last Stratford blacksmiths
Air crash. Fatal Auto Giro Crash 1935
Public Water supply provided by Salisbury City Council 1940 (see page 3 of document).
WW2 Millers Close air-raid shelter
WW2 Old Sarum Airfield - fake hedges
WW2 - Waterproofing & Rocket Projector Battery
The Go Between by L P Hartley published 1957
Air crash 1957, an Avro Anson C2, on the Stratford Road at the gate to Hudson’s Field.
Mitchell's Later Allen's Cottages - demolished 1961
The Durnford estate sold to the Earl of Chichester 1966
Domesday revisited - 1986 BBC Project
Contributions by pupils of Stratford sub Castle Primary School
1992 closure of the last remaining village shop and post office
Old Sarum View reverts to being a private house
21st Century
Set up in 2014 by University of Southampton to study the archaeology of Old Sarum and its surroundings including Stratford sub Castle.
Many of the articles that appear in the History section of this website were written by members of the
Stratford sub Castle Local History Group.