A geographical dictionary providing reference information about places and place names in Warminster and other civil parishes in the surrounding area.
Information gleaned from a Warminster Town Guide, 1971:
There is an active Arts Club and musical recitals are presented in the Great Hall at Longleat and at Kingdown School. A new Arts and Civic Society has been formed to encourage cultural and other worthwhile activities and has taken over the lease of the former Palace Cinema, which has been extensively modernised and re-named the Athenaeum Arts Centre.
Information gleaned from a Warminster Town Guide, 1971:
Area – The urban district [of Warminster] covers 5,651 acres.
In the book The Place Names Of Wiltshire by J.E.B. Gover, Allen Mawer and F.M. Stenton (the English Place-Name Society Volume XVI) published by Cambridge University Press in 1970:
Beggar’s Bush (so named/found only on the 6″ Ordnance Survey map) was previously known as ‘Beggers bushe’ (1581) according to documents in the possession of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.
According to The Place Names Of Wiltshire (English Place-Name Society Volume XVI) by J.E.B. Gover, Allen Mawer and F.M. Stenton, published by Cambridge University Press, 1970:
Stockton. Roakham Bottom (Rokecombe c.1570 Documents in the possession of the Earl of Pembroke at Wilton House, Rochum Bottom 1808 Ordnance Survey) (6″) was the home of William de Roucombe (1341 Nonarum Inquisitiones, 1807). It is probably referred to in the bounds of Stockton in 901 (Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum, 3 vols., 1885-93) in the phrase ofer radune sweoram ofer nacum (sic). Probably ‘roe valley,’ v. cumb.
A letter written by S.N. Colman-Holland, of 43 St. John’s Road, Warminster, for publication in local newspapers, expressing concern about the proposed route of the Warminster Inner Relief Road, asking councillors to reject it in favour of a plan more acceptable to the citizens of the town. The letter is dated 4th April 1969:
Dear Sir,
I had applied to speak at the second public meeting on the proposed new inner relief road held in Kingdown School but my form appeared to have been mislaid. I had the following points to raise:-
That having attended a six week course at our local education centre covering the “History of Warminster’ I, like most citizens, am aware that the proposed road will plough through the one part of this town where the largest part of its history lies. In these days far too much history is being disposed of.
There is much valuable property along the proposed route which, during the period between publication of the proposal, its execution or final rejection, becomes “frozen.’ Owners of such property do not know what they are likely to be offered in compensation for their losses. One thing is certain. It is the subject of very expensive negotiation which reduces dramatically the present day value of any affected land or property. Those with buildings to be demolished know only too well that such buildings cannot be replaced at present day prices. All land and property including that bordering the area suffers the Planning Blight which sterilizes any development for a considerable time – thus creating hardship to the individual.
I trust Mr. Harraway will not object to my mentioning here that his nurseries is a fair example of individual hardship. That area would be split into three uneconomic units making it impossible to trade as a nursery and garden centre – this being a pity since we are favored with such a centre close to town as opposed to several miles away as in most towns and cities. This, the park, the football ground, cricket ground, schools’ grounds, etc., are all places that will be affected if our Councillor friends support the proposal – not to mention splitting the town in half.
We boast a Fire Brigade of nineteen most efficient men and ten of them live in the West End of our town. At the moment they are collected and sent to a fire in four minutes flat. I estimate it would take nine to ten minutes to perform today’s routine if the new road is approved and I shudder to think of the possible loss of life and property should there be fires in the roads that will become cul-de-sacs; unless the “second Warminster’ is to have its own Fire Brigade.
I could not agree with the speaker who referred to “a few people always get hurt in cases like this’ because it is not a “few’ it’s an awful lot of people, an awful lot of property, and a lot of historical and beautiful buildings and areas that will be affected. Mr. Chadwick referred to other ideas that had been looked into and rejected – but the people of Warminster have not seen such plans and rejected them!
In conclusion. The members of our council know how the majority of the citizens of Warminster feel and I feel confident they will not vote for it. By rejecting this they will certainly have the vote of every citizen at any future election.
Rumour has it that Mr. Chadwick will retire soon. I don’t think he is old enough and I trust he will be around long enough to help Warminster with a plan acceptable to the majority making sure that it is only a few or none at all that get hurt.
Yours sincerely,
S.N Colman-Holland.
1968
Danny Howell writes:
As a child, growing up at The Dene, Warminster, there were lots of places around my home in which to play and explore. One of them was the old chalk quarry, known simply to us as ‘The Quarry’ which was situated between the southern end of Woodcock Road and Grange Lane, where some of the houses of St. George’s Close now stand. St. George’s Close was built between 1971 and 1972 and what I am going to write about now dates back to about 1968 when the quarry was already long disused and overgrown in places.
One of my great childhood friends was Simon Peck. He lived at No.69 The Dene and I lived at No.57. We spent a lot of our play time in the evenings, weekends and school holidays together and the Quarry was one of the places we often frequented. In the north-east part of the quarry was a large dip where chalk had long ago been extracted. Part of the steep slopes either side of the dip had well worn paths you could go up or down. One day, Simon and I were wandering about in the quarry and rather than go up one of the steep slopes using the pathway we started clambering up the slope, not where the path was, but to the side of it where there was some undergrowth and the terrain was rather rough under foot. It was all part of the fun of what boys did.
As we got near the top of the slope we suddenly saw a tiny cave-like opening among the brambles and nettles. It wasn’t really a cave, not one you could walk into, not even one you could crawl into. It was more a hole about two feet square, going into the bank of the slope, with the back of it in semi-darkness. It was all very earthy. To our absolute amazement we saw a very large toad sat in the middle of the hollow. It was the biggest toad I have ever seen. It would be an exaggeration to say it was the size of a football but it was very big, far bigger than any other toads I had seen in my childhood. I would say, if memory serves me right, it was about six inches from its mouth to its rump. One got the idea that it was probably very old but there’s no way of knowing. I think I’m right in saying that toads can live up to 12 years in the wild. A toad could have survived undisturbed many years in the quarry because the quarry had been left out of use a long time and was for the most part a forgotten wilderness.
Simon and I were so in awe of this toad because of its size we immediately decided we would capture it, so that we could study it more closely and show it to others. The question was how would we take it. A large box or a cage was needed. I knew that in my father’s garden shed at home, in which my family kept all sorts of discarded things, was an old birdcage. It had once housed my parents’ pet budgerigar. Simon and I sped off to my father’s garden shed and pulled out the birdcage. It was obvious that the toad was so large we wouldn’t be able to place it through the door of the cage. An alteration was needed. We decided that we would need to take the base off the cage and put the base back on once we had the wire cage over the toad. We hastily, using some of father’s tools, removed the base and rushed off back to the quarry, Simon carrying the base and myself carrying the wire cage part.
When we got back to the spot, which was no more than 400 yards from my home, the hollow was empty and there was no sign of the toad. We looked everywhere in the vicinity but it had gone, never to be seen by us again. Simon and I were very disappointed. This particular piece of fun was over for us but there was nothing we could do. It had been very exciting when we first spied it. It was probably just as well we had failed to capture the toad. It would have been unfair to it and who knows what the consequences might have been. Our encounter with the big toad was just a brief observation, but it was so awesome to see, even fleetingly, that it has remained a vivid memory in my mind ever since.
Ladies’ Hairdressers in Warminster, 1968:
Annette, 8 East Street, Warminster. Telephone 2209.
Aylward, Melrose, High Street, Warminster. Telephone 3373.
Mrs. C.J. Ball, 16 High Street, Warminster. Telephone 3367.
P. Hobson, 4 Boreham Road, Warminster. Telephone 3253.
Jose, 6c High Street, Warminster. Telephone 3331.
Phyllis Kick, 9d Weymouth Street, Warminster. Telephone 2254.
Lady Manhatten, 4 Station Road, Warminster. Telephone 3015.
J. Lemarche, 2a Weymouth Street, Warminster. Telephone 2136.
Louise, 4 Station Road, Warminster. Telephone 3015.
Merles, 3 Regency Arcade, Warminster. Telephone 3354.
Michelle, 35 George Street, Warminster. Telephone 2638.
House Furnishers in Warminster, 1968:
Burgess of Warminster, 41 High Street, Warminster. Telephone 2105.
G. Bush & Co., 7/9 East Street, Warminster. Telephone 2103.
Coward & Son, Station Road, Warminster. Telephone 2267.
H. & G. Furniture, 17 George Street, Warminster. Telephone 3014.
Welch & Arnoldi, 48 Market Place, Warminster. Telephone 2467.
Insurance Brokers in Warminster, 1968:
Squadron-Leader I.W. Harris, Little Court, 14 Silver Street, Warminster. Telephone 3212.
Douglas King & Co. Ltd., 3 George Street, Warminster. Telephone 2204.
E.J. Parrott & son, 63 Market Place, Warminster. Telephone 3085.
Correspondence by Warminster Urban District Council with regard the purchase of Boreham Farm Lane, Warminster, can be found in the archives at the Wiltshire And Swindon History Centre at Cocklebury Road, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 2QN. The correspondence is dated 1964-1968. The reference number is G16/132/40.
