Amesbury

Amesbury dates back to at least 973; it is the nearest town to Stonehenge, and has a population of about 6,000. In 980, Amesbury Abbey was founded for Benedictine nuns. It became a priory of the Order of Fontevrault for men and women in 1177. Royal and noble ladies favoured the priory in the 13th and 14th centuries, when about 100 nuns and a few chaplains and clerks inhabited the priory. Strange to tell, the domestic parts of the priory were such a distance from the main building that it is questionable whether the church is for the parish or was the priory church.
An extract from from"Wiltshire Churches Photographic Memories".

St Mary and St Melore’s is basically Norman, large and built mainly of flint; its large squat Early English tower rests on triple chamfered arches and has three wide-spaced single bell openings. The east window is the work of Butterfield, who restored the church in 1853, ten years before he began work on Aldbourne. He put in the vivid coloured tiles on the east wall, and he is responsible for the Perpendicular south aisle and west end. The outline of a chapel remains in the east side walls. The jambs of an early 13th-century doorway west of the north-west corner of the truncated nave have been reset, but the door’s purpose remains a mystery. The south aisle is early Perpendicular, and has a two-bay arcade with a pier of four shafts and four hollows, decorated capitals and arches of two hollow chamfers. The font is 12th-century and of Purbeck marble with shallow blank arches; a wooden pulpit, by Butterfield, stands on a chunky stone base. The stained glass is worth studying, as are the 15th- and 16th-century carved roofs. The clock on the tower came from Amesbury Abbey nearby - it was given to the church in 1971. Its mechanism is 15th- century, but it was altered to take a pendulum.
An extract from from"Wiltshire Churches Photographic Memories".

The importance of Salisbury to the military establishment after the war can be seen in this picture of Fish Row, just behind the Guildhall. A Pickfords lorry is fighting its way along the narrow street, possibly heading for the Military Tailors in the left foreground, or to the Servicemen’s Hostel next door.
An extract from from"Salisbury Pocket Album".

The Cathedral viewed from the south has been a favourite subject for artists—including, of course, Constable. This particular view is from the Old Mill at Harnham, and shows the Mill itself, the river and the water meadows as well as the Cathedral. Harnham Mill is a very old building, dating from around 1500. Like the first photograph in this book, the timeless beauty of this scene has remained unchanged for more than half a millennium.
An extract from from"Salisbury Pocket Album".

On the Salisbury side of Harnham Bridge, De Vaux Place leads to The Close—the Harnham Gate is at the far end of the wall. Most of the old houses here were built in the 18th and 19th centuries using stone from the remains of the De Vaux College, which was established here by the Bishop to train clergy as early as 1262—probably the first university college in the century.
An extract from from"Salisbury Pocket Album".