Tisbury: Headline History   

Tisbury

In a quiet corner of South Wiltshire, nestled on the slopes of the valley of the River Nadder, the large village of Tisbury has a fascinating local history. Rich seams of the distinctive Chilmark stone used to build Salisbury Cathedral and many other local buildings, surround the area; and for centuries quarrying has underpinned the history and landscape of Tisbury.

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Early Beginnings

The first inhabitants of the area lived at Castle Ditches, a hilltop fortification east of the River Nadder, still visible from the village today. This was because the ground in the valley was too marshy for habitation.

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The Anglo-Saxons established groups of dwellings along the river between 500AD and 900AD. One settlement became the village of Tisbury, known as the time as 'Tysse's Burgh'.

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An Anglo-Saxon monastery developed in Tisbury and flourished until nearby Shaftesbury Abbey was founded in 880AD.

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Place Farm was originally built for the Abbess of Shaftesbury, in the late 1300s. The farm stands to this day and includes a large tithe barn, built of local stone and now with a thatched roof.

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Thomas Mayhew was born in Tisbury in 1593. He became a prosperous mercer, emigrated to America, eventually establishing the townships of Tisbury and Chilmark in Martha's Vinyard.

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St Johns Church

Tisbury became more prosperous and by the late 1100s the wooden Anglo-Saxon church was replaced by one of local stone, now the parish church of St John the Baptist.

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The church has seen many changes across the years. In the mid-1400s the roof was raised and clerestory, or high level, windows installed, which flooded the church with light. At one time, St Johns has a 60-foot spire, but repeated lightning strikes in the 1700s brought it tumbling down, not once but twice, and it was finally demolished in the 1760s.

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The graves of author Rudyard Kipling's parents, John Lockwood and Alice Kipling, are in the churchyard. The Kiplings retired to a house on Hindon Lane in Tisbury after time spent in India.

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Modern Age

The railway came to Tisbury in 1859, allowing the village to develop a larger commercial and light industrial base.

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Archibald Beckett was largely responsible for the shape of Tisbury today. A local speculator, Beckett built a new road, the current High Street, through the centre of the village. This replaced the narrow causeway, which can still be seen winding between houses to the east.

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Beckett also built the red brick shops and houses in the High Street, as well at the Benett Arms and the Tisbury Brewery.

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Beckett's initiative was complemented by other new roads crossing the growing village, which were constructed by local families, the Arundells of Wardour Castle and the Morrisons of Fonthill Park.

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