Kelly’s Directory 1848, Fonthill Gifford:
Fonthill Gifford, 1 and a half miles east of Hindon, and 16 west of Salisbury, derives its name from the number of springs which gush from the sides of the hills. The name of Gifford seems to have come from the name of a family that held this manor, with 14 other manors in Wilts, soon after the Conquest. This parish contains only a few scattered houses; it is in the Hundred of Dunworth, in the Tisbury Union. The acreage is 1,977; population 416. The Marquis of Westminster is the lord of the manor. There is a stream called Fonthill River, which rises in the parish and flows onward to Tisbury, thence to Salisbury; on its banks a cloth factory was established, in 1824, by George Mortimore, Esq.; the factory is still standing, but the works have ceased for several years. The living is a rectory, in the gift of the Marquis of Westminster, value £320. The Rev. William Coxe Radcliffe, M.A., is the incumbent. The church, built by the late William Beckford, Esq., alderman of London, is in the form of a Grecian temple, with a pediment supported by four pillars; it has a tower with a dome, and 1 bell. There is some arable land, but the greater part is down. There is a national school for boys and girls.
In the neighbourhood, where once stood the Abbey of Fonthill, are the downs, now much covered with woods and pastures. It was on the side of one of these natural elevations that the late Mr. Beckford erected that modern display of architectural grandeur – Fonthill Abbey, which had a lofty and magnificent octangular tower, full 300 feet high, and could be seen from an eminence at 20 miles distance on the London road, 4 miles before entering the city of Salisbury. The scene of magnificence which was displayed when this building was standing, excited great curiosity; but that extraordinary object had more beauty than solidity, for soon after it passed into the hands of John Farquhar, Esq., of London, it came to the ground on St. Thomas’s day, 1825, with a crash which was heard as far off as Hindon (2 miles distant), levelling in its course the whole of the western part of the abbey. Fonthill Abbey was never repaired, but soon after sold and the ruins removed; the estate is now divided, James Morrison, Esq., possessing the old park, on which stands the Pavillion [sic], which is being altered, and intended by the present proprietor as his future seat; the Marquis of Westminster possesses the remaining portion of these beautiful grounds, including the site on which stood the abbey; it is his intention speedily to rebuild it.
GENTRY:
Mr. Ambrose Garrett.
Marmaduke Donald Jeffrey, Esq.
James Morrison, Esq. Pavillion.
Rev. William Coxe Radcliffe, M.A.
Joseph Frowd Spencer, Esq.
Richard Spencer, Esq.
TRADERS:
William Burton, farmer.
Job Cole, gardener.
James Combes, surveyor.
Thomas Jay, bailiff to Lord Grosvenor.
Mrs. E. Nesbick, mistress of National School.
John Newbery, parish clerk.
Aaron Tabor, Beckford Arms inn.
John Vincent, blacksmith.
Jonathan Vincent, farmer.
William Whittle, farmer.
Letters received through Hindon.