EARLY HISTORY
Wilton situated at a strategic point on the river
systems of southern Wiltshire (fn. 1) was an obvious
choice as a place of settlement by the migrants from
the south, who about the middle of the 6th century
founded the kingdom of Wessex. How early Wilton
became the royal seat of the kingdom is unknown,
but evidence of the 9th century shows it clearly
established as such. There, under the traditional
style of Kingsbury, the king had a palace where, it
has been said, the royal archives were kept and from
whence royal charters were issued. Thus the concordat of 838 between the King of Wessex and the
Archbishop of Canterbury made at Kingston on
Thames was confirmed at Wilton, and while the
great council of 854, at which King Ethelwulf tithed
his lands, was held at Winchester, the charter which
gave effect to its decisions was dated at Wilton. (fn. 2)
After the Danish wars of Alfred the primacy of
Winchester in Wessex was unquestioned, (fn. 3) but
Wilton remained the administrative centre of the
smaller region, later known as Wiltshire, which undoubtedly existed as a distinct unit before the end
of the 8th century. (fn. 4) Indeed it is true to say that
Wiltshire grew out of Wilton.
The importance of Wilton in the early ecclesiastical history of Wiltshire is of necessity obscure,
since the very word Wiltonienses might apply either
to Wilton or to Wiltshire. When about 909 a new
West Saxon bishopric covering at first Wiltshire
alone, and later Wiltshire and Berkshire, was created,
Wilton appears at any rate occasionally to have been
the seat of the bishop. The fact that Oswulf, sometimes described as Bishop of Sonning, sometimes of
Wiltshire (Wiltuniensis), was buried at Wilton in
970 is evidence for this, although Ramsbury was the
more usual place of residence for the bishop in
Wiltshire until at the end of the 11th century he
transferred his seat to Old Salisbury. (fn. 5) In all other
respects, however, Anglo-Saxon Wilton was of
supreme importance. The late 9th century witnessed
a concerted series of attacks by the Danes in a
determined attempt to conquer the surviving kingdom of Wessex, and this struggle revealed the
importance of Wilton in the whole defensive scheme
of the kingdom. A great loop of fortresses was flung
round Wessex and the Wiltshire fortifications on the
southern part of this line appear to have been at
Wilton and Tisbury. (fn. 6) Any stand made at Wilton
would serve to cover the great ridgeways through
Grovely Forest and between the Nadder and the
Ebble, together with the Roman road to Dorchester.
The importance of this particular part of the
defensive scheme was proved in 871, the vital year
of battles, for after a succession of victories which
carried them well within the outer line of defence,
the Danes sought to penetrate deeply into the south
and south-west of Wessex precisely at this point.
The last battle of the campaign of 871 was fought
'in monte qui dicitur Wiltun, qui est in meridiana ripa
Guilon (Wylye), de quo flumine tota paga illa
nominatur'. (fn. 7)
References to Anglo-Saxon Wilton, scanty though
they are, reveal all the more important attributes of
an early borough in government and trade. It was a
minting place of more than passing importance; of
the six mints of Wiltshire, the earliest known coins
were minted at Wilton and Malmesbury; these were
the small cross coins of Edgar; moreover the Wilton
mint remained in operation with only short periods
of inactivity, longer than any other mint in Wiltshire, and it was not finally closed until 1250. (fn. 8) The
continued existence of this provincial mint indicates
something of the nature of the borough itself, for a
law of Athelstan stated that 'there shall be no
minting except in a port' (town) and this shows that
at least by the reign of Edgar, Wilton must have
been a recognized trading centre with some kind of
fortifications. Indeed, reference to these fortifications
may occur in a charter of c. 1045 where the limits
of a royal grant of land were traced from the 'Pool
of the Brittons' to the 'old wall', and then along this
to the Nadder. (fn. 9) The presence of the mint, with its
facilities for exchange, and the many routes which
converged on the town, made Wilton an ideal
market centre, and trade would flourish behind the
safe walls of the royal town. Moreover, the foundation or revival of the nunnery of Wilton in the 9th
century was to establish Wilton as the seat of one
of the great religious foundations of England, and
the long association of the house of Wessex with
this foundation was to be continued by the postConquest monarchy. (fn. 10) For this reason alone, the
medieval importance of Wilton would have been
assured.
The 11th century opened with disaster for Wilton,
for the fresh Danish invasion of 1003 penetrated
into Wiltshire, and Sweyn's army plundered and
burnt Wilton before going on to Old Salisbury. The
fortunes of the town were thus seriously affected,
and it appears that the moneyers of Wilton took
refuge within the more defensible area of Old
Salisbury where, for the time being, they carried on
their occupation. (fn. 11) Little beyond this is known of
the 11th-century history of Wilton until the time of
the Domesday Survey. (fn. 12) Then its place in the
Survey suggests that it retained a position of some
importance among the Wiltshire boroughs. It had
been for a time in the custody of a keeper, (fn. 13) who
accounted directly to the Crown for all royal rents
and dues. It was, moreover, one of the four Wiltshire boroughs to have a number of houses annexed
to rural manors, and a number of tenants of rural
manors as burgesses, (fn. 14) facts consistent with a view
of Wilton as a centre continuing to attract trade and
business.