r solemn days, the faithful being willing to visit
the said church, entrance is denied them by the keepers of the castle,
alleging that the fortress is in danger, besides you have not there
houses sufficient for you, wherefore you are forced to rent several
houses of the laity; and that on account of these and other
inconveniences many absent themselves from the service of the said
church."

This mandate, dated at "the Lateran, 4th of the calend of April, in
the second year of our Pontificat," concludes by giving formal power
for the translation of the church to another convenient place.

After the cathedral was removed the prosperity of the place quickly
waned. The new roads and bridges made access to the new city more
convenient. Wilton suffered from the growth of its new rival, but
Sarum ceased to be even a ruin, as the very stones of its cathedral
were ultimately taken to build a wall around the precincts of the new
church, and oblivion soon overtook the ancient city, which to-day is
not even a hamlet, but at most a geographical expression. As a
specimen of an early "burgh," or hill fortress, its form well deserves
study. Its circular walls, and various ditches and ramparts, are shown
in plans in the County History, in Francis Price's book, and
elsewhere.

[Illustration: TOMB OF "THE BOY BISHOP" (P. 49).
_From a Photograph by Catherine Weed Ward._]

THE DIOCESE OF SARUM.

So far as its history concerns us here, it suffices to note that the
greater part of Wiltshire, and those portions of Dorset and Somerset
which had been comprised in the see of Winchester, were, about the
year 705, during the reign of Ina, King of the West Saxons, included
in the new diocese of Sherbourne, which in its turn, about two hundred
years after, _circa_ 905-9, was sub-divided into those of Wells, for
Somerset, and Crediton, for Devon. About 920, a new see was allotted
to Wiltshire, whose bishop took his title from Ramsbury, near
Marlborough, on the borders of the county; and with this was soon
after re-united the smaller diocese of Sherbourne, and in 1075, the
episcopal seat was removed to the fortress of Old Sarum, whence in
1218 it was again removed to the present city. In 1542, part of the
see was devoted to the new diocese of Bristol. The see of Sherbourne,
ruled over by St. Aldhelm from 705 to 709, was a much larger one than
the second diocese of the same name which in 1058 was united to
Ramsbury, under Herman, w