Wednesday 18th December 1991
Bishopstrow was the subject of a slide show for staff at the regional headquarters of the National Trust at Eastleigh Court in Bishopstrow.
Warminster historian Danny Howell told them in particular about the early days of Eastleigh Court. An 1830 map of Bishopstrow shows no house on the site, but in 1837 mention was made of a house called Eastleigh Lodge, then recently built by a man named F.B. Martin.
Martin sold Eastleigh Lodge in 1849 to the Astley family, who took up residence there after moving from Bury Cottage (now known as Barrow House), also in Bishopstrow. The Astleys farmed the Oldfields Estate, which now forms part of Eastleigh Farm.
Eastleigh Farm, with its fields in two parishes: Bishopstrow and Sutton Veny; is marked on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey map as Who Will Farm, a derisory name which probably stems from the time it was untenanted for a considerable period.
The Astleys sold Eastleigh Lodge to Captain Arthur Howard Southey in 1884. Most of the present house, now called Eastleigh Court, in the plain Tudor-style red brick, dates from after the 1884 sale.
The Southeys had a military background. Arthur Howard Southey was a captain in the 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was the son of Thomas Southey of Balmore, Caversham. Arthur died in 1915 and is buried at Rowner.
His eldest son, Arthur Melville Southey, served as a lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards. He was killed at the Battle of Tiger’s Kloof, Bethlehem, South Africa, in 1900.
Arthur Southey’s second son, Charles Elliot Southey, was, also like his father, a captain in the 87th Royal Irish Fusiliers. He served in Egypt and South Africa, was wounded at Dundee and imprisoned at Pretoria. He died at Eastleigh Court in 1910.
The fourth son, Lieutenant-Colonel John Arthur Southey, served during the First World War with the 52nd Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry. He died at Eastleigh Court in 1956.
Like their predecessors, the Astleys, the Southeys also farmed at Eastleigh.
Shepherd’s Cottage (not in Bishopstrow but in the parish of Sutton Veny), at Henford Marsh, at the western end of the old estate, takes its name from the time when it was the residence of the Southey’s shepherd, Samuel Snelgrove. Samuel was a familiar figure, always followed by his sheepdog. Adept at pitching hurdles, Samuel Snelgrove offered his servicesv over a wide area. He used to pitch the hurdles that kept the large crowd back at football tournaments in Warminster. Despite the huge number of spectators, the hurdles always stood the pressure. Samuel Snelgrove lived at St. John’s Hospital, Heytesbury, during his final years. He died, aged 86, at Warminster Hospital, on Saturday 1st February 1953. His funeral was held at Christ Church, Warminster.
A vote of thanks for an interesting and enjoyable slide show was given by Rodger Stock, who said he hoped that Mr. Howell would return to Eastleigh Court for another slide show and possibly a guided walk about Bishopstow.