Information and pictures about Warminster History Society and the Dewey Museum.
September 1993
Danny Howell writes:
Warminster Dewey Museum has received its copy of the Wiltshire Museums Education Pack for Schools.
This has been financially supported by grants from the Museums & Galleries Commission, the Historical Association Young Historian Scheme, the Nuffield Foundation, and the Area Museum Council For The South West.
Copies will be sent to all primary schools in Wiltshire to help them use the county museums more effectively.
Wednesday 27th May 1992
Danny Howell writes:
Twenty members of Warminster History Society made an evening visit on Wednesday 27th May 1992 to the ancient town of Bruton, escorted by Society member Chris Bubb.
Chris showed them the church, the packhorse bridge, and Sexey’s Hospital with its chapel and boardroom.
St. Mary’s Church has two towers: the one next to the north aisle is a century older than the west tower, which dates from 1449-1456, stands 102½ feet high (a typical height for a Somerset tower) and houses a peal of six bells.
The north aisle contains the Royal Arms of Charles II, appropriately a restoration, as they were put back up after being discovered in someone’s shed.
The parish registers, which date from 1554, record both Charles I and Charles II staying and worshipping at Bruton.
The chancel was entirely rebuilt by Sir Charles Berkeley in 1743. The architect was Nathaniel Ireson of Wincanton. The plaster reredos covers the east wall and is an example of the sacramental piety of the period.
A fine tomb chest on the north side of the chancel features the recumbent effigies of Sir Maurice Berkeley, who died in 1581, and his first and second wives who died in 1559 and 1585. The tomb is one of the few in the country to feature three effigies.
The crypt below the church, which may sometimes be seen by arrangement, measures nearly 40 feet square and contains many lead coffins, some of which have burst exposing the bones of those who rest there.
Bruton was once the home of a mediaeval Augustinian Priory and Abbey. The field south of the church is still called Abbey Field. After the dissolution of the monastery in 1539, the family home of the Berkeleys stood there for 250 years.
The 15th century dove-cote on top of the hill and a long buttressed wall in the street called Plox below are visible reminders of the former abbey. A Georgian rectory now stands behind the old buttressed wall.
Bruton features many narrow walkways known as bartons. Members of the History Society made their way over the river Brue via a 15th century packhorse bridge, passing by the Victorian fire-engine house, and into Nathaniel’s Barton, which took them under the houses and into the High Street.
The river looked very shallow. Bruton used to frequently flood, but is now protected by an interesting flood relief scheme. Several signs showing the height of the flood in various years can be seen about the town.
Near the west end of the High Street stands Sexey’s Hospital. The western range dates from 1638. Hugh Sexey, auditor to Queen Elizabeth I, founded the charity which administered these almshouses, and was a vital benefactor to three schools.
The chapel and the boardroom at the Hospital contain fine woodwork. The pews and the pulpit feature some early graffiti. An Armada chest in the hall next to the boardroom has a lid with 24 locks operated by the turn of a single key.
The architecture of Bruton shows a rare continuity, through six centuries, of styles and techniques used where stone meets timber in Wessex.
Many houses survived the fire of 1647. Priory House is a late 15th century half-timbered jettied town house. The pharmacy was a gentleman’s house, and its 18th century façade hides a building dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.
Last port of call for the History Society was opposite Patwell Pump, a communal parish pump in use after 1900.
A vote of thanks was given to Mr. Bubb for a most interesting evening.
Described by the Council for British Archaeology as “of special importance as regards historic quality” Bruton was the first conservation area of East Somerset. Today, Bruton has much to offer the inquisitive visitor, retaining its special historic atmosphere and charm.
Monday 6th April 1992
Danny Howell writes:
The guest speaker at the April 1992 meeting of the Warminster History Society, held at Warminster Library, was Mr Michael Stratton, who lives at Stockton. He farms at Manor Farm, Stockton, and East Farm, Codford, in the Wylye Valley.
His lecture, on Monday 6th April 1992, was on how English farming changed from centuries of the three-field system to the enclosed farming of the last century.
People in the Middle Ages had used a three-field system. Each parish had three large fields which were divided up into plots, 2 to 3 yards wide but quite long. Each plot was worked by one man and he had to grow the same crop as the others in each third. One large field was wheat, the next was barley, and the last third was left fallow. The crops were rotated each year.
The rotation system worked successfully for hundreds of years. What ended the system was poor fertility, new methods, and the evolution of science to improve the land. And during the 18th and 19th centuries the population increased, which meant much more food was required.
The system was changed by Act of Parliament in the 18th century. The peasantry were dispossessed, common land was enclosed, and large units were formed and these were farmed by one man. New methods came in and these were more economic. There was an eight-year rotation sytem: wheat, barley, turnips, swedes, wheat, barley, and then two years down to grass. This was to help control pests and diseases.
Sheep were used for fertility. The sheep would eat the grass on the downlands during the daytime, and then be brought into the farm fields at night; when their droppings would help to fertilise the land. As a result the downland became very poor in fertility, but this helped the wild flowers grow well.
Up to Christmas the sheep fed on turnips, and then on swedes (which were frost hardy) later in the new year. After the swedes had been eaten the land would be ploughed and sown with spring barley. In May the turnips were sown. June to July was haymaking time. August was corn harvest time. And then the wheat was sown in October to November.
In Victorian times you would expect a yield of one tonne of wheat per acre, but now with modern technology you would expect a yield of 3 tonnes of wheat to the acre.
Michael Stratton concluded by saying that Victorian farming had been very successful.
July 1990
Danny Howell writes:
Seventeen members of the Warminster History Society, accompanied by three dogs, took an enjoyable evening walk over Whitesheet Hill, near Kilmington.
Their guides were Society member Mr. Chris Bubb, who is a gardener for the National Trust at Stourhead, and Simon Evans who looks after Whitesheet Hill for the Trust. Mr. Bubb gave the walkers an insight into the archaeological remains on the hill, and Mr. Evans enlightened everyone with facts about the flowers and plants.
The hill is certainly rich in flowers and grasses, and can boast 95 different species including orchids, chalk milkwort and salad burnett. This is the result of controlled grazing by sheep and rabbits.
Britain’s uncultivated downland acreage has decreased dramatically since 1940, but 70% of what is left is in Wiltshire, thanks to the National Trust and the Ministry of Defence.
Whitesheet’s Iron Age hill fort is an impressive almost triangular feature. It is surrounded for half its circumference with a triple bank and ditch on its flatter north-east side. A single rampart complements the remaining steep slope. The fort appears to have seen three phases of construction during its lifetime. The National Trust own about half of it. The double fence of the Mere/Stourton parish boundary crosses the fort.
Just outside the camp overlapping a ditch, is a large bell barrow, opened by Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington in 1807. They found that it had been excavated before, but a skeleton was still in situ.
A further 14 burial mounds lay scattered over the fort, including bowl barrows. Some of the mounds, dating from Bronze Age times, have been damaged by quarrying. Chalk was extracted during the 1800s and before.
Next to the clearing (now used as a car park) below the hill, a cottage stood until about 1900. A limeburner called Gatehouse once lived and worked there. It is just possible to see the remaining foundations of the cottage.
An unusual circular earthwork within the hill fort, and measuring some 20 paces across, still baffles archaeologists. Colt Hoare suggested that it might have been a “tree ring”, although the tree was not in existence during his time.
Another explanation for the feature is that it was once used as the site of a beacon. Whitesheet Hill was recorded as Beacon Hill on Saxton’s Map of England and Wales in 1576.
Just as interesting at Whitesheet are several pillow mounds. These are near to the western foot of the hill and are of later date than the nearby strip-lynchets.
The majority of the pillow mounds are low rectangular mounds and two are constructed up a steep slope. They date from the Middle Ages and just after, and served as places where rabbits were kept and reared for food.
Also nearby is a Celtic field system.
Recent excavations by Wessex Water for laying a pipeline between Ilminster and Codford, have come close to Whitesheet and revealed more archaeological finds, shedding new light on how Iron Age man used to live. The discovery of snail shells dating from Neolithic times suggests that the area was once wooded.
Whitesheet Hill, at just over 800 feet high, gives fine views in all directions, particularly to the south and south-west. The Black Mountains of Wales can be seen on some evenings, particularly after stormy weather.
Clearly visible was a clearing through a clump of trees on an adjacent hillock. This is the result of an aeroplane crash in 1945. A Dakota taking off from the now disused airfield at Zeals failed to gain sufficient height and hit the trees, killing 21 people.
All that remains of the aerodrome at Zeals today is the former control tower, now converted into a private residence.
The whole of the parish of Kilmington could be seen from Whitesheet, including the straight alignment of the Hardway and Long Lane, which form part of the former London to Barnstaple drove road. This is shown as a stagecoach route on Ogilvy’s Map, and is one of the oldest trackways in England.
Members descended the hill by way of the old coach route, passing an ancient milestone. Some took the opportunity to call in at the Red Lion, at Kilmington, which is a former drovers’ pub.
Kilmington is traversed by old drove roads, and once featured many small paddocks where cattle were kept overnight while the drovers rested. A house near the present Home Guard Club in Kilmington was once a pub called The Jolly Drover. It closed about 1900.
A pint and a natter brought the evening to a close, and a vote of thanks for an interesting stroll was given by Mrs. Margaret Durham.
“Visual Environmental Changes Of Wiltshire Villages” was the subject of Bryan Woodruffe’s lecture given at the January 1990 meeting of Warminster History Society.
Strictly speaking, this was not an historical subject, as it relates to the present. However, members found Mr. Woodruffe’s lecture absorbing, with its clear and unbiased presentation of the facts and statistics. His slides showed a county-wide pattern of change in the making.
“The primary cause of change is greater affluence,” explained Mr. Woodruffe. “People can choose where they live because they can afford to commute to work.”
The accepted term for the movement of population to the villages from the towns is ‘counter-urbanisation’. It is happening all over Europe and also in America and Australia.
“Not all villages grow at the same rate,” said Mr. Woodruffe, “and the planners tend to go with the trend, rather than to try to reverse it. They feel that if a parish is declining, it must be with good reason.”
“In most cases, Wiltshire villages have grown without spoiling the overall visual effect,” he added. His thinking was that the undulating countryside can accommodate development, if some care has gone into its conception. Often the inappropriate planting of non-idiferous trees (noteably Cypress Leyandii) stands out as eye-sores more than any new building.
Out of the 300 villages in the county, perhaps 15 to 20 have an unfortunate rash of modern houses, the Ministry of Defence and local councils being the worst culprits, was Mr. Woodruffe’s opinion.
“Listed buildings benefit from current prosperity,” said Mr. Woodruffe, “with newcomers wanting to buy and refurbish old buildings.” In most cases the results were satisfactory and enhanced the overall look of the village.
He thought that the church and the school were still focal points for village life, and when these were closed the community suffered. Very few chapels remained outside the towns, and while some had been converted to private residences, others had been demolished, including what had been the oldest Baptist chapel in Wiltshire.
Mr. Woodruffe’s slides were a wonderful reminder of the beauty of this county, and he left his audience with a feeling of optimism for the future.
At next month’s meeting of the Warminster History Society, Danny Howell will present another of his slide shows.
Monday 4th September 1989
At a meeting of the Warminster History Society on Monday 4th September 1989, Mr. Norman Rogers was the guest speaker.
Mr. Norman Rogers’ lecture on Wessex Dialects was a delight. His dry sense of humour, combined with a thorough and scholarly knowledge of the subject, made for an entertaining evening, and stirred the memories of members who, like Mr. Rogers, had been brought up with the sounds of broad dialect.
Some phrases were incomprehensive to an unpractised ear but this is not surprising as vowel sounds are changed, consonants sometimes added and sometimes omitted, and many words are outside the vocabulary of those who know only Received Standard English.
The origin of dialect probably goes back to Anglo-Saxon times. Language changes continuously but now it is changing more slowly than ever before. It is an illogical muddle which makes it a fascinating subject.
Mr. Rogers showed maps illustrating the areas in which certain sounds and words are commonly used. From these one could see that there is not necessarily a “Wessex Dialect” but a “West Country Dialect” as the language spoken has many similarities from Hampshire to Cornwall. The extreme west of Cornwall is excluded. Here English was a replacement language when Cornish ceased to be spoken 200 years ago, and people are more likely to speak Received Standard English.
Sadly, the West Country Dialect does not carry prestige. To prove his point Mr. Rogers said that one of the local commercial radio stations has advertisements in London, Liverpool and other far-flung accents but none in its own local dialect areas.
Report written by Danny Howell.
A report by Danny Howell. First published in Warminster And District Archive magazine, number four, May 1990:
An Evening Stroll About The Stourhead Estate
About 30 members of the Warminster History Society took an evening stroll about the Stourhead Estate on Wednesday 7th June 1989. History Society member Chris Bubb, who is a gardener on the Estate, acted as guide and escorted the party on a four mile walk to parts that the general public do not usually see. On route he explained many of the architectural and landscape features which make Stourhead the unique gem that it is in the English countryside. It is probably the only 18th century garden created by an amateur that remains as it was originally conceived.
Leaving the car park the walkers passed under the Archway which was built in the castellated Gothic style in 1799. The adjacent Lodge was built in 1830. Nearby is a group of Spanish chestnut trees, believed to be 350 years old, and these pre-date the famous Hoare family. Mr Bubb suggested that the site of the old manor house of the Stourtons was probably close to the present Lodge.
The wonderful view from Stourhead House looks east towards Whitesheet Hill and Salisbury Plain. The house is 620 feet above sea level and its position makes it a cold place in winter. The main part was built between 1721 and 1724 (20 years before the construction of the Pleasure Grounds) for the Hoare family, who were bankers. The architect was Colen Campbell. Two wings were added in 1795, providing a library and a picture gallery for Sir Richard Colt Hoare, the famous Wiltshire archaeologist. The main body of the house was damaged by a fire in April 1902, but Sir Henry Hoare had the Palladian mansion restored. Sir Henry and Lady Hoare bequeathed Stourhead House and its contents, the gardens and over 2,000 acres of land to the National Trust in 1946.
After seeing the exterior of the house, the walkers continued, ignoring a shower of rain, along a track before crossing a field to see the Obelisk. It was originally erected in 1740 but was rebuilt in 1839. It commemorates Henry Hoare who laid out the Pleasure Grounds. It was struck by lightning in 1853.
Members were next shown the Fir Walk, which was made in the 1720s as an outer boundary of the old house grounds. Its perfectly straight alignment went out of fashion 20 years later when the informal style of landscaping came in. The Fir Walk was restored to its original glory about 10 years ago.
Members continued along a path overlooking some small lakes which pre-date the gardens. These lakes were probably mediaeval fish ponds.
The path led into Six Wells Bottom, a long valley flanked by the appropriately named Shady Hanging and Sunny Hanging. Noisy ewes and lambs “serenaded” the party as it made its way to St. Peter’s Pump. The latter is built over the spring head of the River Stour which makes a 68 mile journey before joining the sea at Christchurch in Dorset.
The pump takes the form of a cross on top of a grotto. The cross was originally built in 1474 and was situated near to St. Peter’s Church in Bristol. It was removed by Act of Parliament in 1766 and re-erected in 1768 (hence the date upon it) in its current position. Sadly, there was no water visible in the well; the headwaters of the Stour now rise a little further down Six Wells Bottom. The carved figures around the cross are badly weathered but Mr Bubb explained that they are due for restoration next year.
The party then headed out of Six Wells Bottom into woodland, climbing up a path to a spot about 700 feet above sea level. From here glorious views of the Dorset Downs were afforded, and among the visible landmarks were the spire of Zeals Parish Church, Duncliffe Wood (now owned by the Woodland Trust) near Shaftesbury, Shillingstone Chalk Pits, and 900 feet high Bulbarrow Hill (the second highest point in Dorset).
The woods at Stourhead hide a little-known Iron Age hill fort, sometimes referred to as Stourton Castle. A break in the walk was taken to admire the single rampart and ditch which encloses four to five acres.
From here the top of Alfred’s Tower with its recently restored spirelet could be seen. The tower has just been re-opened to the public (Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons) and the top is 1,000 feet above sea level. Those who take the trouble to climb the steps can, according to weather conditions, see Minehead, the Welsh mountains and the Purbeck Hills.
Descending a precarious path out of the woods, the walkers emerged near the recently renovated Beech Cottage. To the south is an area of pasture featuring a group of magnificent oak trees. An almost deserted area today, this was once the village of Luckington. Following the unsurfaced road back to the Pleasure Grounds, with the scent of wild flowers high on the air, was a pleasant experience.
Before rejoining the main road members inspected an old water wheel. Cast in 1921, it was one of the last products made by Hindley & Maggs at the Bourton Ironworks which closed in 1930. The wheel carried water from the lake to farms and cottages on the estate but was disconnected in 1971 in favour of the mains supply. Opposite the water wheel is an ornamental drinking trough with fittings supplied by the Warminster ironfounders and waterworks engineers John Wallis Titt & Co.
Turning left, the party passed under the strange looking Rock Arch, an 18th century structure which carries a footpath across to the Temple of Apollo. On the return to the starting point, nearly everyone took the opportunity to have a pint and a natter in the Spreadeagle Inn.
Adrian Phillips, in the book The Warminster Trail, compiled for the Warminster Festival 1989, and published by Aris & Phillips Ltd., wrote:
Behind [the Three Horse Shoes Mall] in the extensive car parks which the Council has very sensibly kept free, is the new Library and Museum building designed by the County Architect and opened in 1982.
. . . . it is well worth a visit because it houses both the town Tourist Information [Centre] (Open Mon-Sat except Wed, 10 am – 5 pm.), The Library and the Dewey Museum (Open Mon-Sat 10 am – 5 pm except Wed closed all day, Thurs & Fri 8 pm, Sat 4 pm.
The Museum houses a permanent and rotating display of Warminster history. During June 1989 a special display of “Celebrations of the Past” will be put on by the Warminster History Society which administers the Museum, to celebrate the Warminster Festival 1989.
Monday 22nd May 1989
Danny Howell writes ~
Some of the members of the Warminster History Society were shown around the Pound Street Maltings, Warminster, by Hugh Turner and Chris Garrett.
The Maltings were built in 1879, on the site of Dr. Bleeck’s former house, and were originally in the hands of the Morgan family, who were brewers in the town. Dr. Edwin Sloper Beaven married William Frank Morgan’s sister, and Dr. Beaven went on to take over all the malthouses in Warminster including the one in the Market Place (at Chinn’s Yard). He also had a malthouse at Montpelier in Bristol. He worked in close connection with the head brewer at Guinness’ in Dublin. Dr. Beaven, who found world-wide fame as a barley breeder, died in 1941, and the Trustees of his estate ran the Pound Street Maltings until 1947, when they sold to Guinness, who still run the operation today [1989].
The key to good malt is the quality of the barley used. That at the Pound Street Maltings comes from local farmers, although in seasons when good barley is in short supply it is also acquired from outside Wiltshire, from Devon, Cornwall and Hampshire. The further away it is makes it more expensive. The barley is brought via grain merchants, between July and September, and all is delivered in by bulk lorries. Barley in the field has a moisture content of about 16 per cent but it is dried to a figure nearer 12 per cent, making it safe to store. A large store at Pound Street holds 1,200 tons of barley for the year, and the Maltings has additional storage space at Codford on a site south of the A36.
The first part of the malting process is to steep the grain in water, which raises the moisture level to 44 per cent and prompts the grain to start germination. The barley is dropped into the steep tank from the store, in batches of 10 tons each day. The amount is measured by the rise in the water level. Two-thirds of the water required for steeping is taken from a well, the remainder coming from the local supply. The amount of well water alleviates any problems with regards chlorine or other additives. Although the Maltings find it cheaper to use their own water, they are charged for all the water they dispose of via the local sewer.
It is not possible to leave the grain submerged in the water for more than 12 hours, otherwise it becomes smothered and dies. The problem is resolved by wetting the grain for three separate periods over 72 hours. Air can be blown through the water, and the use of spray bars also helps to ensure even germination. The optimum water temperature is 54 to 55 degrees fahrenheit.
After steeping, the grain is emptied from the tank via an auger but 80 per cent of the removal has to be assisted manually – by a man with a shovel. Ten tons of barley with a 44 per cent moisture content makes for 14 tons weight, and a fit worker is required to aid the transfer. The germinating barley is then spread, about six inches deep on the first two of the germination floors (five tons on each floor), where it continues to germinate. The optimum temperature for the floors is again 54 to 55 degrees fahrenheit and this is regulated by heating in the winter and by opening or closing the windows in the summer. Hot summer days, similar to the one chosen for our visit, make conditions too hot and difficult. That’s why the old traditional maltsters stopped production at the end of May. The colder months of November to February, when the temperature can be controlled with additional heating, are more suited for malting.
The barley spends four days on the four germination floors, and because it is hot there is a tendency for the sprouting roots to become tangled. To prevent this, the grain is raked by a man pulling a kind of three-pronged hoe with a flat blade. This is known at the Warminster Maltings as “dragging” but at malthouses in other districts, particularly Norfolk, it is referred to as “ploughing.” It turns the grain over and gets air into it and if done sufficiently stops the material matting together. This can be done up to four times a day and varies according to the temperature conditions. The men often have to come back after normal working hours, in the evening, on overtime, to repeat this process. The method is traditional, and in the early days the grain was moved about by men using wooden forks and shovels. Today’s shovels are made of aluminium, which makes them lighter to handle. Dust can be a problem, particularly with the original barley, but face-masks are worn by the men.
Another device used for moving the grain on the germination floor, preventing matting and getting the air in, is an electric machine called a Robinson Turner. It resembles a lawnmower and is towed backwards by a man through the material, the rotating blades throwing the grain up in the air before it falls back on to the floor. This is an additional job done each day and the number of times again depends on the temperature. During the last stage, on the fourth and final floor, the barley becomes red hot (too hot at the time of our visit).
The germination process tricks the grain into thinking it has started life in the field, and the germination converts the starch in the grains into simple sugars – exactly what the brewer wants. The maltster likes to see five curly rootlets on each germinated grain. This really depends on the barley brought in, and it is tested on arrival for quality. Unsuitable barley is rejected.
After the allotted time on the floors, the germination has to be terminated by kilning the grain to get the water out. Heating in the kiln reduces the moisture content to four per cent. The buildings at Pound Street contain four old brick kilns but only two are used at the present time for drying the barley. These were once coal-fired but an oil burner, cast by Carson & Toone at Carson’s Yard in Warminster, and patented by Dr. Beaven, is still in use today. The names of Carson and Toone could be plainly seen on the iron doors of the kiln. Alternatively to oil, gas can be used. The kiln is in use 20 hours out of every 24, which leaves only a few hours to load and unload it, which is done manually (a hot and uncomfortable job). Because of the constant process it is important the kiln does not break down. It reaches an incredible 175 degrees fahrenheit and costs £3,000 a month to run.
After kilning, the rootlets (known as malt culns) are removed from the grains. The rootlets and very tiny grains are extracted through a screen which came from Bailey’s Maltings in Frome and was installed in 1890 at the Pound Street Maltings, where it has been used daily ever since. The rootlets are used to make cattle feed; some are sold direct to Corsley farmer Bob Jones, and the rest are sold to a commercial feed manufacturer. The Guinness maltings in Norfolk have their own machinery for converting the rootlets into cattle feed pellets.
The malt grain which is left looks remarkably similar to the original barley. The only difference is the fact that the starch within has changed to sugars, which make the grain very dry and brittle. If you bite the grain it tastes of Horlicks. The final stage is the transfer of the malt grain into a bin where it is discharged into a bulk lorry outside for the journey to the brewer. All the malt from the Pound Street Maltings goes to Guinness’ Park Royal Brewery in London. Park Royal do not take deliveries of malt after 10 a.m., so if a lorry of malt leaves Warminster in the afternoon, it has to wait on the outskirts of London overnight before going into the Brewery first thing in the morning.
Six men are employed on a permanent basis at the Pound Street Maltings, taking care of the seven day process, but they do get time off. Before the War the labour was seasonal, with the men finding casual work during harvest time. The Pound Street Maltings are one of only two traditional floor malthouses still operating in the South West; the other being Tucker’s at Crediton in Devon. Most of today’s malthouses are in East Anglia.
Guinness own two malthouses in Norfolk, at Diss and Great Yarmouth, but both are bigger than the Pound Street Maltings. The Norfolk ones produce 13,000 tons of malt per year, compared to 2,500 tons at Warminster. All three malthouses use the same haulage firm, from Diss; the drivers constantly draying malt from Norfolk and Warminster to the Park Royal Brewery. Warminster is used as the administrative base for the three malthouses with offices at East Street.
Dr. Beaven’s malthouse at Chinn’s Yard was a one-man seven-days-a-week operation. It closed in 1968 when the man retired and no one was fool enough to take it on single-handed every day of the week. Within a year of the Chinn’s Yard malthouse closing, production at Pound Street was ironically increased and the extra output easily outstripped that of the Market Place operation.
As well as brewing, malt is also used in the production of beverages and breakfast cereals.
Danny Howell writes –
Twenty members of Warminster History Society visited Manor Farm, Codford, on the afternoon of Sunday 7 May 1989, at the kind invitation of Mr. John Collins, to see his private museum of farming and rural bygones.
A large room at the western end of the farmhouse contains more than 650 artefacts gathered by Mr. Collins over the years. The room, which is the oldest part of Manor Farmhouse, was formerly used by shooting parties for beer and lunch after a day’s sport, and the collection began when one or two old objects were hung on the walls for decoration.
Further bygones were added after Mr. Collins restored and cleaned up items from the surrounding farm buildings for a two-day show called “Vanishing Wiltshire”. He then realised how the everyday objects of his youth were fast disappearing and has been rescuing and making additions ever since.
His collection includes horseshoes from Roman and Celtic times to the present day, packhorse and sheep bells by Wiltshire makers, horse brasses, bottles and earthenware jars from local breweries, copper powder flasks and farriery aids. A good variety of lethal traps was also on display. These included two enormous gins, a fox trap, a pole trap made illegal in 1906, a spiked mole trap, and two rare traps for catching kingfishers.
The unusual items included an early form of fire extinguisher – a blue bottle containing a fire repellent powder, a nutcracker-like squeezer for altering the sizes of corks to fit various bottles, two different door keys hinged together, a hot cross bun marker, some children’s ice-skates, and a policeman’s rattle from the days before whistles were issued to constables. Another law enforcement item was a set of handcuffs from Northumberland dating from the early 1800s.
A huge fireplace in the room featured roasting equipment, a revolving trivet, and a griddle for scones. A device, made of iron, standing in the hearth, was once used for cleaning the long churchwarden pipes. Pub landlords, years ago, owned pipes which were loaned to customers for smoking, and the pipes were cleaned by baking them in the embers of the inn’s dying fire after closing time.
Among the local items was a First World War saddle bag, later used for collecting the fares on Couchman’s bus, which took passengers to and from Codford and Salisbury. A good variety of branding irons included some from the late Henry Wales’ Quebec Farm, near Chitterne. These particular ones were last used with paint, not tar, for numbering sheep. Others were used to brand rams for Wilton Fair. A wooden shovel and a fork had seen many years of hard use at the maltings in Warminster.
When asked about a ditching knife, Mr. Collins explained that it was used by William Whatley, the last “drowner’ on Manor Farm. Water-drowning was the practice of shallow flooding the meadows, by using a system of hand-dug ditches and dykes, to ensure an early bite of grass in the spring for cattle and sheep.
The men responsible for this now defunct craft were known as drowners, and Mr. Whatley worked on Manor Farm for about 50 years. Other ditching tools and scythes included examples from the Fussell’s iron foundry at Mells.
Every object had a story associated with it, and Mr. Collins’ anecdotes of times past and some of the characters who had worked in the Wylye Valley, made the afternoon pass all too quickly.
A vote of thanks was given by Danny Howell and the visit concluded with tea and delicious cake made by Mrs. Collins. A collection for St. Mary’s Church, Codford, raised £20.
