KELLY’S DIRECTORY 1875:
FONTHILL BISHOP (or BISHOP’S FONTHILL) is a village and parish, in the Southern division of the county, Downton hundred, Tisbury union, Shaftesbury county court district, Salisbury diocese and archdeaconry, and Chalke rural deanery, 14 miles west from Salisbury, and 2 east from Hindon, and 3 from the Tisbury Railway station. The church of All Saints is a cruciform structure, about 600 years old; its tower, which is very low, rises from the centre of the building, and contains 1 bell; the church is in a very dilapidated state; the chancel has been rebuilt. The register dates from 1754. The living is a rectory, yearly value £250, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester, and held by the Rev. Robert William Sheldon, M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge. The Free school, for 16 poor children, was endowed with £10 annually, left by Abijah Clark; the cost of erecting the school-house was defrayed by voluntary contributions. There is a small charity, dispensed by the rector and churchwardens. The Bishop of Winchester is lord of the manor. The chief landowners are Alfred Morrison and Frederick King, Esqrs. The soil is chalky loam; subsoil, chalk and stone. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats and pasturage. There are 1,735 acres of land; gross estimated rental is £1,835; rateable value, £1,675; the population in 1871 was 173.
Parish Clerk, William Ingram.
Wall Letter Box cleared at 6.30 p.m.
Letters from Salisbury by mail cart. The nearest money order office is Hindon.
National School, Mrs. Sophia Tart, mistress.
Carrier to Salisbury – George Snook, Tuesday and Thursday, returning same days.
Carrier to Shaftesbury – George Snook, Saturday, returning same day.
PRIVATE RESIDENTS
Henry Adney.
Rev. Robert William Sheldon, M.A., Rectory,.
COMMERCIAL
Thomas Coombs, farmer.
Richard Gattrell, New Inn, and farmer, Chicklade Bottom.
George Gray, King’s Arms.
Frederick Ingram, farmer.
Richard Perrett, shopkeeper and baker.
George Snook, carrier.