LOCAL HISTORY - HEYTESBURY
The village of Heytesbury is a very ancient one. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Hestrebe, but Sir Richard Colt Hoare of Stourhead, wrote in 1824 in his “History of Modern Wiltshire and the Hundred of Heytesbury” employed in the compiling of the Domesday Book softened the rough Saxon Hestredesbirig into Haseberie. The late Lord Heytesbury wrote “John Britton” writing in 1814, gives Haresbury as a variation in use. In the last century Heytesbury was often pronounced ‘Hettsbury’.
Houses of historical interest are Heytesbury House which stands on the medieval mansion of east court. This was the house that Walter, Lord Hungerford was repairing and enlarging when arrested on a charge of treason, he was beheaded by King Henry VIII. The house was seized by the King, and the commissioners reported that the mansion surrounded by a moat would have been suitable for the King to occupy if the alterations had been completed. The house continued in semi-derelict condition until the 17th century when the Ashe family purchased it. [see http://holmesacourt.org/hachistory/hac_history.html] The Ashe à Court family partly transformed the house in 1820 by the addition of a south facing facade. The house remained in the Ashe à Court family until 1926. It was then purchased by Siegfried Sassoon just after 1926, Siegfried occupied Heytesbury House until 1967, Siegfried's son the late George Sassoon lived in it until 1994 when it was sold and divided into several apartments.
The Prebend House, known as Parsonage Farm at one time constituted a manor belonging to the Dean of Sarum in his capacity as Dean of Heytesbury.
The almshouses better known as the Hospital of St. John were founded by Sir Walter Hungerford but he died before their completion, and this was accomplished by the widow of Sir Walter’s second son Robert, who married Margaret, the daughter and heiress of William, Lord Botreaux. This building was Margaret’s greatest memorial.
In the middle of the High Street there stands one of the curious little “blind houses”, an octagonal building with stone-tiled roof containing a dome, in which many years ago, offenders were locked up by the village constable. This was restored in 2007. The following article was written by Sarah Buttenshaw who also kindly supplied the photographs. The article is also available in pdf format - click here to open
The Heytesbury Blind House
Written by Sarah Buttenshaw
Photographer Sarah Buttenshaw
The children of Heytesbury have been anxiously watching as the village Blind House recently underwent repairs. It has been swathed in scaffolding and plastic sheeting for some weeks and everyone wondered if it would be ready in time for the annual incarceration of Guy Fawkes before he was dragged to the bonfire at the Red Lion.
Eventually the repairs were completed and all was well on the night. This episode will have made the residents of Heytesbury even more aware of our heritage. Dotted around Wiltshire, in a variety of locations, there are more of these little stone buildings in various states of repair. None of them have windows; all have tiny grills in their stone walls and heavy, nail-studded wooden doors. These are Blind Houses and were built as simple village gaols, or lock-ups. Most of them date to the 18th century.
Blind Houses were cold and damp with the only light and ventilation coming from the small grills, usually above head height. There would be a simple, smelly earth closet in one corner and a wooden bench strewn with straw acting as a bed. There was usually an iron ring embedded in the wall so that violent prisoners could be chained during their imprisonment. They were places of dread and often used to restrain drunks; tramps; felons or “women of the night”. Some housed criminals awaiting transportation to larger, county gaols and some, like Shrewton, were sometimes their last resting place before being hung on the nearby gibbet.
Wiltshire’s best known Blind House is part of Town Bridge in Bradford on Avon, where it sits above the river. This prison probably dates from the 17th century and may, originally, have been a chapel for the nearby leper hospital of St Margaret’s. It was divided into two cells when demand increased. There was then a brief period when it became a toll house for farmers taking their livestock to market.
The Blind House in Steeple Ashton was sometimes called the Guard House. It was built in 1773 at a cost of £19.18s and is 9 feet in diameter and 12 feet high with a stout oak door. Into this door an iron grill is set and the gaoler could cover this grill with a small iron flap. Thus plunging the inmate into total darkness.
Shrewton’s Blind House is in a prominent position on the A360 and was carefully moved, stone by stone, when the road was widened in the 1970s. In Lacock the Blind House is built in East Street at the end of the Tithe Barn. It is a solid structure with its original iron staples still attached to the inner walls. A cold, cheerless place with an aura of hopelessness.
Unusually the Blind House in Bromham was made of wood on brick foundations. It is built into the wall of the churchyard and cost £16 when built in 1809. Other Blind Houses can still be found on the A4 at Box; inside the Yelde Hall in Chippenham; on the A361 at Hilperton and on the Bristol road at Luckington. Malmesbury has a fine example by the Market Cross and Trowbridge has a large one on the bridge. In the last few months the one in Warminster has become visible as surrounding buildings have been demolished, not far from the Obelisk.
Our Blind House in Heytesbury is a more modest affair than some and is set into a garden wall. Inside there is the traditional wooden bench with a rusty chain hanging from one end. The door is made of strong English oak and the small grill above the door is the only source of light and air. It is now looking as good as new with it’s clean roof slates and large stone ball above…..although a little askew I feel! The two restorers discovered an interesting collection of rubble acting as insulation between the old roof and the stone walls. They even found a small canon ball of uncertain vintage which they have carefully replaced underneath the new roof. It is now a gaol fit for such a notorious, and dangerous, man as Guy Fawkes and will surely stand in our village for many years to come.
Sarah Buttenshaw
November 2007
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IMBER KNOOK and TYTHERINGTON