LATER HISTORY
The arrangements for keeping the site were at first
not radically altered by the removal of the castle
fabric. In 1531 Sir Edward Baynton secured a
forty-year grant of the keepership of the town and
borough (5 a.) and the two 'King's Islands' (2 a.). (fn. 1)
When in 1543 the property was recommitted to him
for the same term and at an enhanced rent, the
herbage of the castle, Jorden's Mead (4 a.) and the
King's Ham (1 a.), the latter belonging to the castle,
were added. (fn. 2) The King's Ham was said to belong
to the castle, and it may perhaps be conjectured that
this parcel, with the King's Islands and some other
parts of the property as well, may represent the
constable's estate of earlier days. (fn. 3) In 1594 the same
property was leased to William Webb for 40 years. (fn. 4)
Robert Cecil was created Earl of Salisbury in
1605, and in 1606 was granted the freehold of the
castle, the site of the 'river of Avon' in Hampshire
and Wiltshire with its soil and fisheries, the premises
leased to Webb and another meadow (1 a.). (fn. 5) The
castle itself was used as a rabbit warren. In 1610
Lord Hertford wrote to Salisbury that Lady
Hertford proposed to hunt in his lordship's new
warren in his castle of Old Sarum. (fn. 6) The lady was
hunting there again in 1611. (fn. 7) In 1613 the 2nd earl
leased the castle site and the sporting rights to John
Wayte, of Alderbury, and John and Ellen Lymminge
for life in succession. (fn. 8) Later he bought in the
leasehold interest, and finding it encumbered,
instituted proceedings in Chancery in 1624. (fn. 9) An
enquiry made in 1633 showed that the castle, walls
and 'lodge' were decayed and that £160 would be
needed to put them in order, that the castle area had
been sown with corn, the rabbits destroyed and the
burrows spoilt. (fn. 10) In 1650 the site of the castle and
borough was leased in moieties to Andrew Bowerman, and later leased to Bridget Earle, (fn. 11) who was
tenant in 1683. (fn. 12) Sir William Webb of Motcombe
(Dors.) seems also at some time to have been a
tenant. (fn. 13) The other property granted to the 1st earl
was successively leased to Sir William Webb, (fn. 14) to
Sir John Lambe of Coulston in 1641, to his son of
the same name in 1656, (fn. 15) and to Anne Bowerman
in 1660, and was by her assigned to Sir Thomas
Mompesson. (fn. 16)
Old Sarum Showing Burgages, redrawn from a Plan of c. 1700
In 1692 the whole estate — castle and appurtenant meadows alike — was sold by the trustees
under the will of James, Earl of Salisbury (d. 1683),
to Thomas Pitt of Stratford for £1,000. (fn. 17) In the
18th century the property was thrice mortgaged,
first to Lord Lyttelton and the Earl of Egmont in
1760, (fn. 18) secondly to the Earl of Kinnoull in 1762, (fn. 19)
and thirdly to Abraham Winterbottom in 1798. (fn. 20)
It passed with the other estates of the 2nd Lord
Camelford (d. 1804) to the Wyndhams, and thenceforth descended with the manor of Stratford Dean
in Stratford with which it was sold to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1851. (fn. 21) Thereafter it passed
to the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury, who returned
it to the commissioners in 1936. (fn. 22)
In the earlier 17th century the power to secure
the return of burgesses to Parliament seems to have
depended upon securing the support of the freeholders who occupied the burgages of the old city.
There was consequently a traffic in burgages
attributable to this cause. Thus in 1624 Lord
Pembroke made a deal with Thomas Elliott, (fn. 23) who
(or whose namesake) had held land in or near in
the borough in 1596–8. (fn. 24) This traffic had the effect
of multiplying burgages and therefore votes in the
Pembroke interest. Later on the risk of contests
seems to have been eliminated. Thomas Pitt (d.
1761) was in a position to 'pawn' the constituency
to the Treasury, who nominated the members in
1761, (fn. 25) and in 1816 Lord Caledon was described as
the borough-monger. (fn. 26) Perhaps possession of the
castle and borough came to bestow upon their owner
the right to exercise or nominate to the office of
borough bailiff, who as returning officer, may have
wielded a decisive influence upon elections. Thomas
Pitt seems to have occupied the office in 1708,
though his son feared that his father's right to it
might be contested at the next election. (fn. 27)
The nominal electorate declined from ten or
eleven 'voices' of 1625 (fn. 28) to three voters in 1831. (fn. 29)
In between the numbers varied. Thus seven persons
are named in the returns of 1689, (fn. 30) ten in 1705, (fn. 31)
and five in 1734 (fn. 32) and 1761, (fn. 33) and there were said
to be seven voters in 1816. (fn. 34)
The position of the burgages as they were about
1700 may be determined from a map then drawn
for electoral purposes and reproduced above. (fn. 35) The
electing acre indicates the place where the borough
elections were held. In the last days of the franchise
a marquee or 'temporary house' was erected for the
returning officer. It stood under the Parliamentary
Tree, which was not cut down until 1905; (fn. 36) to
commemorate its site the city of New Salisbury has
subsequently affixed a bronze plaque to a neighbouring sarsen.
The castle complex received many visits from
travellers, whose curiosity was perhaps aroused
latterly as much by the constituency as by the
antiquities. Their reflections are now mainly
interesting because they help to determine the
stages by which the medieval city disintegrated.
When Leland visited Old Salisbury he found 'no
token' either of the cathedral or bishop's palace,
though the chapel of Our Lady still stood. There
was also 'much notable ruinous building' of the
castle. (fn. 37) The town walls are said to have been
demolished in 1608, but there was still enough of
them left in 1624 to enable St. Thomas's church to
be repaired with their spoil. (fn. 38) Lieutenant Hammond
in 1635 observed 'some thick, old and mighty strong
walls about the castle yard'. (fn. 39) In 1668 Pepys found
the 'great fortification' 'prodigious' so as to 'afright'
him to be in it alone at night, but, perhaps owing to
darkness, made no comment on the ruins. (fn. 40) Much
of the walls could still be seen in 1695, (fn. 41) and to
Stukeley the foundations of the cathedral and palace
were conspicuous. (fn. 42) The ashlar facing of the outer
curtain still survived in a portion of the north wall
in 1801, and there were distinct vestiges of the
castle. (fn. 43) By the end of the 19th century the castle
had begun to be treasured by antiquaries, and in
1892 was placed under the guardianship of the
Office of Works. (fn. 44) Between 1909 and 1914 the
Society of Antiquaries of London partially excavated
the site, (fn. 45) and, as W. H. Hudson put it, they tore
off 'like a pack of hungry hyenas' 'the old hide of
green turf', 'jewelled with the bright little flowers
of the chalk'. (fn. 46)