to
One's Self." Charles Lamb, accompanied by his sister, visited him
here. We, however, do not propose to travel by the great London
highway, but to turn to the left just across St. Thomas' Bridge, and
soon after passing the railway we cross the old Roman road where it
appears as a narrow track making direct for the truncated cone of Old
Sarum away to the west across the valley. Figsbury Rings is the name
of the camp-crowned summit to the east of our road. The first three
villages are all "Winterbournes "--Earls, Dauntsey and Gunner. The
first two have rebuilt churches, but the third--Gunner--has a
Transitional building of some interest. The name is a corruption of
Gunnora, spouse of one of the Delameres who were lords hereabouts in
the early thirteenth century. Farther on, Porton will not detain us
very long, but Idmiston has a church that is a fine example of the
style so well called Decorated. The tower, indeed, is Norman, but the
clustered columns of the nave with their carved capitals and bases are
beautiful specimens of fourteenth-century architecture. The Early
English chancel has a triple east window and side lancets. The
two-storied porch is late Decorated or early Perpendicular. A tomb of
Giles Rowbach and tablets to the Bowie family are of interest. One of
the Bowles, a vicar of the church, was a notable Spanish scholar and
made a translation of _Don Quixote_. Boscombe Rectory was once
occupied by "the judicious" Hooker and the first part of the
_Ecclesiastical Polity_ was written here. Another theologian--Nicholas
Fuller--famous in his day, held the living of the next village--Allington.
At Newton Tony, over eight miles from Salisbury, the pleasant scenery
of the Bourne may be said to end. Beyond, we reach an outlying part of
the Plain that is seen to better advantage from other directions.
Newton Tony has a station on the branch line to Amesbury and Bulford
Camp. Wilbury House, on the road to Cholderton, was erected in the
Italian style in the early seventeenth century by the Bensons, a noted
family in those days, one of whose members is commemorated by a brass
in the church. The house was the home of the late Mr. T. Gibson Bowles,
formerly the member for King's Lynn.

[Illustration: LUDGERSHALL CHURCH.]

The valley goes on to Cholderton, Shipton Bellinger and Tidworth,
where are situated the head-quarters of the Southern Military Command.
The Collingbournes--Ducis and Kingston--are much farther on, right