Churchwardens
Mrs Stephanie Lucas 01722 716463
Mrs Jane Middleton 01722 716231
Please see the Rota page for details of services.
Chilmark and its neighbouring hamlet of Ridge, have been inhabited since prehistoric times and tools have been found from the Stone and later Bronze
The Saxons came to the area after the departure of the Romans and probably gave Chilmark its name: it is thought to have come from either 'Cild' (a child) or, more probably, 'Cigel' (a pole or peg) and 'mearc' (a boundary). In the 11th century, the Saxon King, Athelstan, gave the village to Wilton Abbey (which, adding to an existing priory, had been founded by King Alfred) and the village remained in the ownership of the abbey until the Reformation when it passed into the hands of the abbey's successors, the Earls of Pembroke.
Chilmark's description in the Domesday Book, established after the Norman conquest in the 11th century, includes mention of the village's belonging to Wilton Abbey and adds that, in the time of King Edward [the Confessor] it 'paid geld for twenty hides [c.3000 acres]'. The mill at Chicksgrove is described as belonging to Chilmark and the entry goes on to describe the division of the land into meadow, thorn and pasture. It concludes 'it was worth 14; it is now worth 15' ie in annual dues to the Abbey.
In the 13th century, the stone quarried at Chilmark was used to build Salisbury Cathedral and, at the end of the same century, the stone was used to add to an existing small stone-built church in Chilmark itself. The main part of the cruciform church, with a graceful central crossing supporting the tower, dates from this time. The church is dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch (a maiden martyr who was swallowed by a dragon and subsequently beheaded - the dragon having 'burst assunder'). Later additions to the church include the porch in the 14th century, the spire in the 18th century (the Age of Elegance) and the north aisle and vestry in Victorian times. The Victorians also gave us the clock by the famous firm of Dent - makers of London's Big Ben. The church bells, six in number, include two 13th century 'Angelus' bells (their inscription reads 'Ave Gracia Plena Dominus Tecum').
In the 17th century, one of Chilmark's sons, Thomas Macey, took up the development rights of the island of Nantucket, off the shores of Massachusetts, purchased (for 40) by his cousin, Thomas Mayhew. Mayhew had also acquired the rights to develop Martha's Vineyard (see the Tisbury entry) and where he named two of the townships Tisbury and Chilmark. The Macey family (spelt Macy in the USA) are the owners of the famous Macy's stores in New York and other large cities.
From a letter to The Times, 17th February 2007: EDWARD MACY‑DARE, Lindfield, W Sussex.
Macy's was founded by Rowland Hussey Macy in 1858 and was acquired by Nathan and Isidor Straus in 1896. Incidentally, Rowland Hussey Macy originated from Nantucket and was directly descended from Thomas Macy, a Baptist‑turned‑Quaker from Chilmark, Wiltshire, who formed a syndicate to purchase the island from his friend and "honoured cousin" Thomas Mayhew (the Governor of Martha's Vineyard) in 1659 for "thirty shillings and two beaver hats".
The Macy and Mayhew families went on to make their fortunes in whaling (they both feature in Moby Dick) and thus epitomise the original, and successful, American dream.
A bit more Chilmark History
Edward Macy-Dare, in his letter to the Times of 17th February and reproduced in the March Church and Village Newsletter, corrects James Bones article of 15th February on the origins of Macys store in America. Quite rightly, he says that the store was founded by the descendant of Thomas Macy of Chilmark, England, and of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Macy bought the development rights of the island from his cousin, Thomas Mayhew of Tisbury, England, who became, subsequently, governor of Marthas Vineyard, Chief Justice and Lord of the Manor of (the Vineyard) Tisbury. Both the Vineyard and Nantucket were then in the colony of New York but are now part of Massachusetts.
As the colonies were governed according to the feudal system, all land belonged in theory to the Crown, and so could not be purchased outright. Lords proprietor held these rights from the King which could be sold to tenants and divided again to sub-tenants. Thus Thomas Mayhew bought the rights to both Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket from two men claiming to hold the title of Lord Proprietor (one was the Earl of Stirling and the other Sir Fernando Gorges). The King was to be paid the fifth part of any silver found in the colonies instead of knights service in time of war. (There was none).
As Mr Macy-Dare says, Thomas Mayhew was paid 30 in cash and two beaver hats (one for himself and one for his wife) for his Nantucket rights. He had, himself, paid 40 to each of those claiming to be Lords Proprietor, for both Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard (plus token annual tributes) and made trebly sure of his claim by paying the Wampanoag Indians for the land he named as the town of Chilmark a cow and a suit of clothes, from top to toe, and 17 in money.
This was all before the Civil War in England. Afterwards, Charles II made his brother James, Duke of York, Lord Proprietor (hence New York) to whose agent Thomas Mayhew had to pay rent of two barrels of good merchantable cod-fish, to be delivered at the bridge in this [New York] city. Sub tenants paid, for instance, two good sheep, a good cheese, a mink skin or a nutmeg.
Thomas Mayhew and his descendents held on to the title of Lord of the Manor of Tisbury until Independence, when it was said to cause great disturbance and the expenditure of much money and precious time and they were told to become tax-paying citizens and subject to a new, less colourful, way of doing things.
Iona Carnegie
ROCK OF AGES
The oldest rocks occurring near the surface within our parishes, are the Jurassic mudstones of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation (circa 154 million years old) named after Kimmeridge on the Dorset coast. The Kimmeridge Clay occurs over a wide area of England from Dorset to Yorkshire, and into the North Sea (where it has been buried sufficiently deep enough for oil maturation thereby providing the main source for North Sea oil).
According to a Geological Survey Memoir of 1895, a well near the stream at the Chilmark quarries was sunk through (Portlandian) clays and calcareous sandy beds to very black clay beds (presumed to be Kimmeridge Clay) at a depth of 39 feet from the surface. More recently, a borehole in Tisbury (south of Tuckingmill) encountered approximately 230m of Kimmeridge Clay at a depth of 36.7m. It is also thought to crop out in the valley downstream from the dam of Fonthill Lake near Ashley Wood Farm. Further to the west, Kimmeridge Clay accounts for the clayey soils of the Blackmore Vale - AJP.
CHILMARK STONE
Chilmark is well known for its building stones, and yet the exact meaning of the term `Chilmark Stone' is often surrounded by confusion. It was formed from marine deposits laid down during Late Jurassic (Pordandian) times. The Pordandian rocks of the Vale of Wardour belong to the Portland Group (`Portland Beds and to the lower part of the succeeding Purbeck Formation (Purbeck Beds.
The oldest Portlandian rocks comprise the Wardour Formation (`Lower Portland Beds. It has seldom been exposed but has been recorded as a succession of clays, silts and sands from boreholes driven down beneath both Chilmark Ravine and Chicksgrove Quarry. Above the Wardour Formation lies the Tisbury Member of the Portland Stone Formation (Upper Portland Beds. The lowermost part of the Tisbury Member (formerly known as the `Chicksgrove Member') is unrecorded at Chilmark Ravine but observed in relatively recent but now obscured exposures at Chicksgrove Quarry and near Tisbury Station. It consists of shelly limestone that to my knowledge have not been used as building stone but that must have been extracted at Chicksgrove Quarry for some purpose, possibly for use as roadstone.
The Tisbury Member is still quarried at Chicksgrove Quarry and mined in Chilmark Ravine, and formerly worked at locations around Tisbury, Tisbury Row, Tuckingmill, Fonthill and Waxdour. The lower Tisbury Member (`Lower Building StonesD yields high quality building stone of the type seen in most of Chilmark's old buildings and in Salisbury Cathedral, and is given its distinctive colour by the presence of the mineral glauconite. It is a freestone eminently suitable for architectural work and ornamental carving as well as for general building purposes. There is variation within the beds, with harder and more weather resistant greyer stone also occurring. These rocks were formerly known as the Lower, Chief or Main Building Stones, and the stone yielded has been called Tisbury, Chilmark, Chicksgrove or (rarely) Wardour Stone.
The upper part of the Tisbury Member was formerly known as `Ragstone' which indicates its unsuitability as a source of building stone. The overlying Wockley Member (`Chalky Series is also not suitable.
The top member of the Portland Stone Formation is the Chilmark Member (`Upper Building Stones. It is very localised and is absent to the west of Chilinark Ravine. It was formerly quarried on the east side of Chilmark Ravine and consists of a creamy coloured limestone that weathers to grey. It was used locally but quarried in far smaller quantities than the glauconitic limestone of the Tisbury Member.
The Purbeck Formation lies above the Portland Stone Formation, with the lowest beds exposed at the top of Chilmark Ravine and Cbicksgrove Quarry. They yield hard, grey, well‑bedded limestone (`Purbeck Stone, useless for carving or dressing but excellent for frost‑exposed walling and random paving. They were used in many buildings at Teffont and Ridge, where they were formerly quarried, and were also quarried at Ladydown for stone roofing tiles.
Most of the old houses in Chilmark are built of stone from the Tisbury Member quarried at Chilinark Ravine, but stone from the Chilmark Member and the Purbeck Formation was also quarried there and used in the village ‑ the barn at Village Farm in Frog Lane currently undergoing conversion is an example in which Purbeck Stone is a major component and in which stone of the Chilmark Member is found occasionally.
On this basis all of these stones could be called `Chilmark Stone'. The name, however, has historically only been applied to limestones from the beds now know as the Tisbury Member as quarried at Chilmark Ravine. The name can thus be given to stone of this type in the buildings of Chilmark village, which would have been supplied from the nearest available source, and in buildings where the stone source is documented as Chilmark Ravine. It is my view that where the source is unknown, any building stone from the Tisbury Member of the Vale of Wardour can accurately be described as Chilmark‑type stone or,.in a term used by T. Ayers (2000; Salisbury Cathedral: The West Front) as Tisbury/Chilmark stone ‑ John Needham.
CHANGES IN VILLAGE LIFE
In some cases the walls were built of chalk with chopped straw, or flints and lime between courses of bricks, and are still standing today. Most of the inhabitants then and later worked on the farms or at the local stone quarries, and there were only some seven or eight larger houses, including the farm houses and Rectory in Chilmark Park (now known as the Old Rectory).
In previous time the main street and water course used to run largely side by side without much diversion, without a well defined channel, so often flooding one another to the amusement of the children.
In the last century at harvest gangs of strappers, mainly Irish, used to come to cut the grain with their scythes, starting in the Downton area and working on to Salisbury, Chilmark and the Deverils, as the corn ripened, with the local women gathering it into sheaves, to be stacked into ricks on top of straddle stones to keep it from rats and mice, while making a good food store for little wild birds in winter. Later on more machines were used, like the self tying binder pulled b y horses, so the local village labour were largely able to cope; many barrels of real cider were made in the autumn on the farm and this was issued out at hay harvest and other times, and had a very enlivening effect on those not used to it. All the young boys used to help leading and driving the horses at an early age, and very efficient they were, and also at loading the wagons.
At tea time the women used to walk up from the village bringing food for the men, and often pushing tiny children in the prams, when some thirty persons would all gather and be seated around the rick, after the horses had been watered and given hay in their nosebags.
A large number of shire horses were kept and bred for farm work, being more than seventy and foals of varying ages, and including those for haulage of coal and the local Carrier Cart. The Carrier was the only means for folk to get goods to and from the town, so the Carrier went on Tuesdays and Saturdays and would bring anything from a reel of cotton or bloomer elastic to a pig from market for the cottagers sty. The Village Hall was more of a working mans club for darts and billiards etc. and provided a popular rendezvous for troops and RAF during the war when used as a canteen and run by the W.I.
The children could play with hoops and go-karts down the village street with no cars about, while we had our own village policeman, and a road man to keep the area tidy. The blacksmith and carpenter were most important people in keeping the village life turning over.
There being no piped water supplies to the fields Dew Ponds had to be constructed for the sheep to drink from, and these were dug and maintained by skilled men named Mitchell from Chitterne who were helped by local farm labour; these ponds had to be repaired every twenty-five or thirty years.
It was most important to have a good flock of sheep on the farms in order to maintain the fertility since artificial manures were not available at that time, and this was generally written into the farmers agreement when renting a farm: the Pembrokes owning all the land from Wilton to Fonthill. When the sheep were sold in the autumn they went by the old Ox Drove with the shepherd and dog to the locals fairs at Westbury Hill, Wylye, Weyhill, Britford and Wilton. At the latter fair there could be up to one hundred and twenty thousand sheep in a day gathering in at dawn; the auctioneer walked along on a plank above the hurdles to sell them.
In those days one had to make a good deal of ones own amusement; I remember one night at a neighbours farm where we had been rook shooting a rather strange thing occurred after a good supper about eleven oclock our host rang the bell for the groom to put Mr Chalkers horse in the trap so that he could drive home; after a little while the maid came in and said Mr. Mills is very sorry that he cant do anything about it as the horse has had a fit and got up in the loft. We all went to the yard to look and there was the horse looking out of the door about fifteen feet above the ground. Mr. Chalker had to wait until the next day to find the way to get his horse down!!
On another occasion we whitewashed the pony of one of our party and when we saw it, he swore it was not his horse, and refused to take it, so he too had to wait until the next day, when the horse was washed and he accepted it!!
Poaching was very popular by the gangs at this time when millions of rabbits infested the countryside and also gave sport to the shooting fraternity, the local professional poaching gang made quite a living from them. Two or three men used to get one of their women to drive them along the old Roman Road in the morning now the A303 and drop them off in the bushes with their nets, ferrets and tools, arranging where to pick them up in the evening with their rabbits.
Now, one day the keeper heard them down in Low Pen Wood, and he being rather nervous shouted out loudly Wot he got about in there? After a short time he went down to investigate, and found some purse nets over the rabbit holes: he picks these up as well as a ferret which came out, and puts them in his pocket: and being thus encouraged has a good look round and finds twelve rabbits hidden and covered with leaves, so he puts them on a stick on his back, and walks off down to tell maister how well he has done: when he gets down to the Ox Drove a man walks up to him and asks him the time, so he gets out his old watch and the man grabs the rabbits and runs off with them: a man thatching a rick nearby said He runned just like a bicycle! I knew both these men well.
On another occasion these poachers rode through Hindon on their bicycles with their rabbit snares all displayed on their arms, so the keeper watched and saw them all being set up at Greta Ridge: now he and his mate had a good chance to catch the poachers, so they waited and kept watch all night, for the men to come and collect their rabbits, but they knowing when the keeper were in wait, went off in the opposite direction to Tisbury woods and had a good nights sport shooting pheasants!
Mr Maurice Flower [taken from a Commemorative Booklet St Margarets Church Chilmark 1280 1980]
OPENING OF THE NEW SCHOOL AT CHILMARK (1860)
This village on Saturday last, Sept 7th, was the scene of a very interesting and important event, viz., the opening of the new school buildings, which have been erected by subscription from plans prepared by W. Robson Esq., and carried out very efficiently, by the builder, Mr. F. Harvey, of Teffont; the chief contributors being the Earl of Pembroke, the late Lord Herbert, A. Morrison, Esq., the Rector, and others of the parishioners, aided by a grant of 831. from the Committee of Councils on Education.
The Bishop of the Diocese having kindly consented to open the new buildings on the above date, the ceremony was commenced by Morning Prayer in the church, followed by the adminsitration of the Holy Communion ‑ the Preces being Tallis, Cathedral use; the rest of the service Gregorian, according to Helmore's notation, except the Introit and Kyrie, which were by Mr. J. E. Richardson, Assistant Organist of the Cathedral. The hymns were the 73rd and the 106th, Salisbury Hymn Book; tunes Perceval and St. Peter, Salisbury Hymn Tune Book. We never remember hearing a service rendered more devoutly earnest and effective, and were particularly struck by the soft and impressive manner in which the Nicene Creed and Gloria in Excelsis were sung. Mr. T. E. Spinney played with his usual ability and precision, and the parish choir was strengthened for the occasion by several members of the Shetborne choir, among whom we noticed Mr. E. Herbert, their talented organist, who took a tenor part. Mr. Lydford, the organist of Gillingham and the organist of Semley, also assisted.
At about 11 o'clock, the Bishop left the Rectory, preceded by the children of the school, carrying flags and banners bearing appropriate mottoes and ecclesiastical devices, and by the choir and clergy from the neighbourhood, and the Rector's churchwarden, W. Bennett, Esq. The 84th Psalm was sung in harmony to the 8th Tone, 2nd Ending, on reaching the church gate. The prayers were intoned and the service chanted by the Rev. C. Tower, the Rector; the First Lesson was read by the Rev. Wynter Blathwayt, Curate of Langridge, Bath; the Second Lesson by the Rev. E. Harston, Vicar of Sherborne; the Epistle was read by the Rev. C. Bridges, and the Gospel by the Rev. Chancellor Lear. The sermon, which was an impressive comment, by the Bishop, on one of our Lord's greatest miracles ‑ the cleansing of the leper ‑ was brought to bear on the occasion for which we were assembled together, and was taken from St. Matt. viii. 3, the second lesson for the day. The collection, which amounted to 121. 2s. 6d., was for the internal fittings of the school and renovation of the organ. After Holy Communion, the procession was reformed, the Bishop leading the way, with the clergy, through the file of school children, to the school‑room, which was duly opened with the Form of Service commended by the Bishop to the use of his diocese for that purpose. Both the church and the school‑room were tastefully decorated for the occasion.
The school children were afterwards regaled with cake and buns, and the choir with a good dinner, at which the Rector presided, and the afternoon was spent in various games, &c.
Among the company present who returned to the Rectory to luncheon, were the Lord Bishop, the Rev. Chancellor Lear, Revs. C. Bridges, E. Harston, R. B. Boume, J. C. Stafford, J. S. Stockwell, B. Bouchier, F. Bennett, W. C. Radcliffe, W. T. Blathwayt, S. B. Ward, J. H. Samler, H. Hall, E. Hill, J. W. Phelps, T. Carey, J. R. M'Dowell, F. E. Hutchinson, G. Glover, E. Reece, J. R. Wood, W. Dowding, C. F. Hyde; Mrs. And Miss Seymour, Mrs. Hony, Mrs. And Miss Locke, Mrs. Blathwayt, Mrs. Mair, Mrs. Edge, Mrs. W. Radcliffe, Mrs. And Miss Stockwell, Mrs. Ward, Henry Ward, Esq. and Mrs. H. Ward, W. Robson, Esq. and Miss Robson, Mrs. Hutchinson, Miss Glover, E. Bell, Esq. and Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Bennett, Mrs. W. Flower, Dr. and Miss Fussell, &c. &c.
We may not omit to mention, that the Bishop, in a short address which he gave in the school‑room to the parents and children, impressed on their minds the great obligation under which they are placed, especially to Lord Pembroke and the late Lord Herbert, for the excellent provision thus made for the instruction of the children of the parish, and while he alluded to the loss which the whole neighbourhood in particular had experienced by Lord Herbert's death, whose name has been associated with almost every good work for many miles round, he spoke in terms of high commendation of Mr. Robson, who had not only designed this school, but had materially aided the clergy of other parishes of which Lord Pembroke was patron, in the building and enlargement of churches and schools, as well as roomy and commodious cottages.
Chilmark Home Page, Table of Contents, Site Home Page & Map
CHILMARK HOUSE
Chilmark House was built in 1814 by Mr King, an ancestor of the Flower family. It was built on to the wall of the previous house which you can still see at the back, with its small mullion windows and old stonework. It was built in the Regency style, with large square windows and a pillared front door with a balcony above. They made a lantern in the roof to let light into the hall. There is a walkway round the lantern where you can get a good view round the village.
There are pretty mouldings round the ceilings of the big dining room and drawing room. The dining room moulding depicts a pattern of poppies and sheaves of corn. The drawing room one depicts various flowers. The moulding in the hall is coloured and has been described in a popular magazine some years back.
Mr King kept greyhounds in the old Elizabethan Granary, and loved to ride his horse up to the downs and course hares with his greyhounds.
The story goes that one day he noticed that his mare and his greyhounds seemed very tired. He then discovered that his groom would go out coursing hares by moonlight! We do not know what happened to the groom!
The old Elizabethan Granary is built of ancient bricks smaller than those used today. It stands on staddle stones shaped like mushrooms. This is to prevent the rats getting in and eating the corn. It is very dry inside, and I used to store hay in it for my pony.
Our family moved into Chilmark House in 1930 when my father retired from the Navy.
My brothers and I used the Old Granary as a museum for fossils from the old quarries, and animal skulls roe-deer, rabbit and badger that we found in the woods. The Old Granary is a listed building of interest to archaeologists and others.
Old Mrs Lucy Flower who died aged 103 lived in Chilmark House as a child with her grandparents. I was told by Minnie Stevens (an old inhabitant of Chilmark) that when Lucy was married, a red carpet was laid from the front door across the lawn to the village door. This was for her to walk on and I suppose a horse drawn carriage waited to take her up to the church.
My mother died in June 1977 and we then sold the house by auction, dividing the profits between my two brothers and myself. I was allowed to stay there until the following spring, and showed many interested buyers around the house, but it was finally bought by Robert Chalk who lived there for some years with his wife and two children who used to ride my ponies when I moved up to Cheriton on the hill above. Subsequently it has been sold twice, and various alterations and improvements have been made, but basically it remains the same.
Diana Forbes