THE EXPANSION OF THE CITY.
In the early
19th century Salisbury still lay largely within its
medieval limits, (fn. 1) within which there was little space
available for new building. One area, the Friar's
Orchard south of St. Ann Street, came into the
market c. 1807, and in succeeding years was covered
with terraces of small houses. (fn. 2) Expansion outwards,
however, was at first in the form of well-to-do villa
residences. Its direction was governed by the availability of land, for much property north, east, and
south of the city was held either by ecclesiastical
owners, who were unable to grant a freehold
interest, or by large landowners who were unwilling
or prevented by entails from selling. (fn. 3) The earliest
outward growth of the city was therefore largely to
the west beyond Fisherton Street. (fn. 4) By 1811 a few
houses had been built on the south side of Wilton
Road west of its junction with Devizes Road, (fn. 5) and
by 1833 there were some on the west side of
Devizes Road. (fn. 6) A number of houses of the early
and mid-19th century still stand on both sides of
Wilton Road; good examples are the Paragon,
built by 1842, (fn. 7) and Montague Villas. In 1851 it
was said that more villas would have been built in
Fisherton if drainage and paving there had been
better. (fn. 8) The improvement of these by the Local
Board, and the opening of the railway stations at
Fisherton in 1856 and 1857 (fn. 9) stimulated further
growth. By 1860 Windsor Road and Windsor Street,
both consisting of terraces of smaller houses, were
built, (fn. 10) and similar development south of Fisherton
Street (Dew's Road and adjoining roads) followed
the conveyance in 1861 of lands belonging to the
Hayter Trustees to Charles Dew, a Salisbury
solicitor. (fn. 11) Churchfields Road was partially built
by 1864. (fn. 12) Further development east of Wilton
Road followed the closing of the county gaol in
1870; (fn. 13) by 1879 part of its site, bounded by Gas
Lane, Meadow Road, and St. Paul's Road, had been
built with terraces of small houses, (fn. 14) and these were
extended east to Middleton Road by the 1890's. (fn. 15)
By 1879, too, building between the south side of
Wilton Road and the railway had extended as far
west as the Skew Bridge and on the north side as far
as Bemerton Lodge; it consisted both of villas and
terrace houses. (fn. 16)
On the north and east of the city, expansion was
intermittent, and at first only took place where land
happened to come into the market. Among the
earliest developments were two groups of villas
which were well isolated from the city at the time
they were built. Those in Glenmore Road adjoin
the London Road cemetery, and were probably
built soon after it was opened in 1857. Another
group in Park Lane, north of the present Victoria
Park, are of similar date. Near Milford station a
number of houses had been built on the former
Waterloo nursery by 1864. (fn. 17) After 1860, when the
Church Commissioners bought out the leasehold
interest in the manor of Milford, some parts of it
were let on 999 year building leases. (fn. 18) As a result,
the estate of large houses called Elm Grove was laid
out in 1864, (fn. 19) and some similar development took
place south of Milford Hill on what had been the
grounds of a large house built by Dr. Richard
Fowler (d. 1863). More important expansion to the
north occurred after the sale of the Wyndham
estate in 1871. (fn. 20) What had formerly been the park
was built over in the 1870's and 1880's with the
roads between College Street and Campbell Road. (fn. 21)
The last twenty years of the 19th century saw considerable further development, mainly of small
houses. To this period belong Highfield Road, part
of Ashley Road, and Clifton Road, all off the
Devizes road; (fn. 22) Hamilton Road and nearby roads
north of Wyndham Road; and Manor Road, Bourne
Avenue, and Fairview Road, the latter dated 1881,
to the east of the London road. (fn. 23) Rampart Road was
laid out in 1895 on the line of the old city ditch, (fn. 24)
and St. Mark's Avenue probably begun when the
church was built in 1892. (fn. 25) Scamell's Road, originally intended to link Fisherton and Milford, was
built to connect St. Paul's Road and Castle Road
by Thomas Scamell in 1894. (fn. 26)
Apart from the Alderbury Union workhouse (now
Meyrick Close) near the Odstock road built in
1878, (fn. 27) little building took place south of the Avon
before 1900. Early in the 20th century, however,
new housing spread to Harnham; Ayleswade Road
and the north side of Downton Road were apparently built at this time, and Bouverie Avenue and
adjoining roads (the Coombe Road estate) were
begun by 1905. (fn. 28) What had been the grounds of the
house called Belle Vue at the north of Endless Street
were built over, and a number of terraces were built
among older houses south of the Wilton road. (fn. 29)
Small houses spread up the Devizes road, and
Palmer Road and Bedford Road were probably built
before 1914. After 1918 the growth of the city was
accelerated by the building of estates of both council
and private houses. The earliest council houses at
Macklin Road south of the Devizes road were built
in 1920. (fn. 30) Further out, between the Devizes and
Wilton roads, the Pembroke Park estate, which had
been started before the war, was covered with both
private and council houses in the twenties and
thirties. Other council schemes north of the city
were the Waters Road estate of 1924 and the Butts
estate of 1929–30, both west of Castle Road. Private
houses were built at Kingsland Road and associated
roads north of the Devizes road, but more extensive
private development lay east of Castle Road. Here
most of the area bounded by Beatrice Road, Wyndham Road, and St. Mark's Avenue was built over
between the wars. East of the city the council scheme
at Wain-a-long Road was begun in 1924. To the
south-west the Netherhampton estate, of both
council and private houses, was begun in 1921.
During the Second World War two large factories
were built on the outskirts of the city, one south of
the Netherhampton road and one west of Castle
Road. In 1960 both were still in use. After the war
housing needs led to the development of large new
areas, especially north of the city. Between the
Devizes and Wilton roads the Bemerton Heath
council estate was begun in 1946, and its extension,
the Westwood estate in 1950. The Bemerton Heath
estate houses are centrally heated and supplied with
hot water from a communal system run by the city.
West of Castle Road the Butts Farm and Paul's
Dene estates of private houses were built, while
north of the London Road cemetery the large
council and private estate at Bishopdown was begun
in 1957. (fn. 31) To the south private houses were built at
the Netherhampton Road estate and south of Ayleswade Road. Apart from housing, development in the
newer parts of the city has included schools at
Bemerton Heath and Westwood, (fn. 32) the police headquarters in Wilton Road opened in 1956, (fn. 33) and the
crematorium at Bishopdown opened in 1960. (fn. 34) A
College of Further Education near St. Martin's
Church is being constructed at the time of writing
(1960).
RURAL MILFORD.
The part of the bishop's
manor of Milford outside the bounds of the medieval
city remained rural until the 19th century and was still
partly so in 1960. It had no separate parish church,
and it was doubtful whether it was extra-parochial
or belonged to the parish of Laverstock or that of
St. Martin's, Salisbury. (fn. 35) Its tithes were paid to St.
Martin's, and in 1829 that parish claimed church
rates as well. An assize jury gave the verdict that
part of Milford, the limits of which they did not
know, belonged to St. Martin's. The inhabitants of
Milford acquiesced in paying the rates from then
on, but went on maintaining their own poor. (fn. 36) In
1835 the part of Milford nearest to Salisbury was
included within the city boundary. (fn. 37) In 1894 that
part of the parish was constituted the parish of
Milford Within, and the remainder Milford Without. (fn. 38) In 1904 part of Milford Without was added to
Salisbury, and the remainder added to Laverstock. (fn. 39)
Since then successive boundary extensions have
brought most of the old district of Milford into the
city. (fn. 40)
The bishop's manor of Milford included all the
land between the city boundary and the Bourne
south of the Stratford boundary. (fn. 41) The name was
in use by the 13th century. (fn. 42) The first lease of the
manor as a whole was made in 1549 to Sir William
Herbert (later Earl of Pembroke, d. 1570), for 99
years absolute at an annual rent of £90 14s. (fn. 43) A
further lease, made in 1637 to Philip, Earl of
Pembroke (d. 1669), became void when the property
was alienated during the Civil War, and in 1661
began a series of leases on lives to members and
connexions of the Henchmans, the family of Bishop
Humphrey Henchman. (fn. 44) The last of these, made to
William Henchman in 1748, apparently became void
in 1764, when a new lease was made to William
Beckford of Fonthill (d. 1770). It was renewed to his
son William in 1782, (fn. 45) and to him again in 1832. (fn. 46)
In 1838 Beckford assigned his interest, apart from
his life estate, to his son-in-law Alexander, Duke of
Hamilton (d. 1852), who renewed the lease in 1846.
In 1860 the leasehold interest was bought from his
son William by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for
over £43,000. (fn. 47) and the manor was not again leased.
All the property of the Commissioners in Milford has
since been sold. The manor house stood at the southeast of the road junction in the village; it was used as
a farm in the 18th and 19th centuries, (fn. 48) and rebuilt
in an Elizabethan style for R. Gerrish in 1902. (fn. 49)
Little is known of the agrarian organization of
Milford in the Middle Ages. In the late 14th century
the homage of the manor acknowledged that there
were 25 virgates of land paying by ancient custom
2s. 6d. a virgate. (fn. 50) The pastures of the manor supported a demesne flock of 470 sheep by 1283–4. (fn. 51)
Meadows called Morewyne Mead, Long Mead and
Ham Mead lay adjoining the Avon in the 14th
century, (fn. 52) and in 1441 a meadow called New Mead
had been inclosed 'under Laverstock', no doubt
meaning in that part of Milford east of the Bourne. (fn. 53)
By 1330 126 a. of demesne land were held by 16
tenants at will, who included John le Nug and
Richard of Tidworth, both prominent citizens of
Salisbury. (fn. 54) The first known lease of a large part of
the demesne to one holder was made in 1523 to
Anthony Erneley, formerly of the bishop's household. He was granted a 40-year lease of 'all the
demesne lands, meadows and pastures of the new
ditch, with the grange and fold at the sheephouse
commonly called the farm of Bishopsdown'. With
this property went 16 a. of demesne arable, of which
7 a. lay at 'Sareslitellond', 4 a. by the ridgeway at
Paul's Dene, and 5 a. in 'Whyttenhyll'. (fn. 55) The significance of the reference to the ditch is not clear, but
it may refer to land in the Bugmore area. The lease
no doubt included all the bishop's pasture land at
Bishopsdown, but not all his demesne arable in the
fields, for the remainder was leased out in small
parcels to other tenants. Thus in 1542 a lease of 5½
yardlands included 3 a. of arable of the demesnes
alias overland or bordland, (fn. 56) and references to bordland annexed to copyholds and leaseholds continue
into the 18th century. (fn. 57)
When the manor was first leased as a whole in
1549 (see above), Bishopsdown Farm was reserved
from the lease, and continued to be separately dealt
with in the 16th and 17th centuries. (fn. 58) The first
lessee, Anthony Erneley, died in 1530, (fn. 59) and his
interest passed to Henry Uvedale, husband of his
daughter Isabel, who renewed the lease for 62 years
in 1540. (fn. 60) Before the end of the century the lease
was held by the Bailey family; John Bailey held it
in 1597, when it was said that the farm consisted of
398 a. of land which was inferior to that of the rest
of the tithing. (fn. 61) He died in 1600 and the farm
descended to his son John (d. c. 1611), whose widow
Mary and sons Thomas and Robert held it in 1630. (fn. 62)
In 1650 the farm consisted of 33 a. of meadow, 52 a.
of pasture, 239 a. of arable, and 152 a. of down, and
was held at a rent of £32 a year. (fn. 63) The lease was
renewed to Robert Bailey in 1661, (fn. 64) but in the early
18th century the lord farmer of the whole manor
succeeded in having it included in his lease, (fn. 65) and
it was let by subsequent lord farmers on rack leases
until the final surrender of the manor in 1860. (fn. 66)
In 1827 it was a compact farm of 480 a., mainly
arable land, consisting of all the northern part of
the tithing, held at a rent of £580 a year. (fn. 67)
In 1650, apart from Bishopsdown Farm and a
few cottages and orchards, the bishop's manor consisted of 5 leasehold and 14 copyhold tenements
varying in size between 100 and 10 acres, and totalling about 700 a. in all. The largest leasehold
included 'the mansion house of the farm' and 4
yardlands. (fn. 68) In the 18th century this holding,
farmed from the manor house, was called Milford
Farm (see above). (fn. 69) In 1735 it included 40 a. of
arable in the common fields, 2 closes, and 4 a. of
meadow. (fn. 70) This land was leased in 1798 with 45 a.
of land in addition. (fn. 71) The whole, still called Milford
Farm, was subsequently divided, and was held by
two or more occupiers in the 19th century. In 1827
one part consisted of 86 a. of arable and meadow
land on both sides of the London road north of
Weeping Cross, and another of the manor house and
32 a. south of Milford village. Both were held as
copyholds at rack rent; the occupier of the former,
J. G. Coombs, held 3 other copy and leaseholds,
farming about 200 a. in all from the house now called
Little Manor in Milford. (fn. 72)
Much of Milford remained uninclosed until the
end of the 18th century; the only older inclosures
were chiefly water-meadows along the Avon and the
Bourne and small closes round the fringes of the
city. In 1800 the open arable land of the manor was
inclosed under an Act of the previous year. (fn. 73) The
land affected lay on the higher ground between the
village and Bishopsdown Farm; it is not known
whether it had previously been divided into more
than one field. (fn. 74)