Stage Coaches by Aesculapius (Dr Clay)
Starting in the days of Queen Elizabeth, stage coaches travelled along the old Turnpike Road which ran along the top of the downs. Although Turnpike Gates were first legally erected in 1663, yet, in a map of 1618, a gate is shown across the road opposite the south-western corner of Chiselbury Rings. On the south side of the road is a small rectangular excavation, now grass covered, which represents the site of the turnpike keepers house. From it a bank, with a ditch on each side, runs to the head of the combe; while a similar bank and two ditches can be traced on the opposite side of the road running to meet the ditch of Chiselbury. These structures were made to prevent travellers from making a detour and so evading payment of the tolls. At a date which is not known the Turnpike Gate was moved from the vicinity of Chiselbury to a site nearly opposite the old inn known as Fovant Hut. Perhaps the Turnpike-keeper may have disliked walking from his lodgings in the inn to the gate at Chiselbury and back again at night, for the structure near Chiselbury looks more like the remains of a shelter, than of a dwelling house. At the time of the turnpike gate at Fovant Hut Inn there were 5 cottage in the orchard behind the Inn, and 2 cottages at the foot of the downs below the Inn.
About the year 1702 the new Turnpike Road, which is now part of the main road from London to Exeter, superseded the old road on top of the downs. This new road was for the most part unfenced as late as 1787. The stretch of road running from Barford to White Sheet Hill, Donhead was supervised by the surveyor who lived at the Glove Inn, Donhead. A new turnpike gate with a house was erected on the Fovant-Compton Chamberlayne boundary near the Present Grass Mills. “Taylor” William Foyle was the last gate-keeper. James Mullins and henry Sims were gate-keepers before him. The original gate, much repaired, is now at the entrance to a field behind the buildings of West Farm. Other gates were at wilton with a bar across Burcombe Lane, at the spot where Skew Bridge now stands, and at the Glove Inn at Donhead. The charges for going through these gates was 4.5d per carriage, and 1.5d for every horseman.
In 1784 coaches began to carry mails from and to London, and they became known as Mail Coaches. There was one Mail Coach each way through Fovant every day. They were scheduled to travel at 13 miles per hour including stoppages. The Mail Coach from London left Wilton at 6.30 a.m. each morning for Fovant, while the coach to London arrived at Wilton at 7.0 p.m. each evening. The cost of a letter from Fovant to London by the Mail was 9d. his of course was long before the introduction of postage stamps. he Pembroke Arms at Fovant was a Posting Inn, where horses could be changed. The hire of post-horses was from 1/- to 1/6d per mile. There is still preserved a bell which was rung at the Pembroke arms to summon the ostlers when the coach appeared in sight. I have handled the long coach-horn which was blown on the coach as it reached the boundary of Fovant, The last post-boy was a Mr. Richard Oborn who lived to be nearly 100 years old. I saw him when I was a boy. He was alive in 1927. Horses could also be changed at The London Elms Inn, Swallowcliffe. The last coach-driver was Mr. Henry Coombs, who was noted for the redness of his nose, which he attributed to the action of the wind and rain, and not to any moisture which went down his throat. In 1850 three coaches a day went past the Pembroke Arms from the direction of Swallowcliffe, one of which, belonging to Mr. Foyle of The Cribbage Hut, had only 3 horses. The Shaftesbury coach had the usual 4 horses. All coaches ceased running soon after 1854, about which time the railway was built through Dinton.
There is no doubt that Cunning Dick used to wait in Gaston Wood for a chance to hold up the coaches when they used the old road on top of the downs. It is not known whether any highwaymen interfered with the coaches when they ran along the present main road. Compton Hut was another inn on the old road. It was said that better beer was brewed at Compton Hut than at Fovant Hut. Mr. James Wright of Swallowcliffe, who remembered seeing the coaches told me before he died that the wheel-tracks of the coaches were much narrower than those of modern carts, and that in spite of their top-heavy appearance the coaches were never known to capsize.
Highwaymen by Aesculapius
Although we have no account of any exploit by highwaymen in the parish of Fovant, we know that Cunning Dick and Jack Rattenbury worked in the district; and it is very probable that Boulter and Caldwell, the famous pair, worked here, for we know they ranged at Hindon, Warminster, Woodford and Downton. Mary Sandell, the highwoman, who lived at Baverstocke, and who held up a woman in Burcombe lane for which crime she was sentenced to death, but afterwards reprieved, may have robbed travellers in Fovant and not been recognized, for she dressed in man’s clothes.
When the stage-coaches travelled along the old road on top of the downs from Wilton to the Glove Inn at the foot of Whitesheet Hill, Cunning Dick used to lay in wait for them halfway between Chiselbury and Fovant Hut. He drove a large staple into the trunk of an oak-tree on the edge of Garston Wood about a hundred yards from the road, and to this staple he used to tie his horse’s bridle.
I have spoken to two men who have seen this staple. I think it is still there. A few miles westward along the same road and opposite the village of Alverdiston is a promontory of the downs called Gallow’s Hill. It has a small clump of Scotch Firs on its crest.
Some years ago I visited this hill and at once recognized the gallows tree. It had a long, thick branch stretching out at right angles towards the west. The branch was about eight feet from the ground. On this branch the groove cut into it by the chains of the gibbet, as it swing in the wind, could be clearly seen. There were also some steps cut into the trunk so that the hangman could climb the tree to carry out his job. It was the custom in those days to hang the Highwayman and the fix his body in a gibbet within sight of the scene of his crime. This gallows tree can be seen from the old coach road. I did some excavations round the tree and found several fragments of old bottles. These no doubt contained the lunch of some of the people who always flocked to these executions.
In January 1778 Boulter and Caldwell robbed a man named Fowle near Pewsey. Mr. Fowle sent a description of the men and their horses to the local paper. A few days later the customers in the Cross Keys at Fovant were talking about the two men. There, were two strangers in the bar, and one of them said to the other,” “We had better hurry off, or we shall be advertised too “. These two strangers answered to the descriptions of the wanted men. They were arrested and brought before Mr, Charles Penruddocke at Compton Park. Mr. Penruddocke sent for Mr. Fowle and two other persons from Pewsey who had been robbed. They arrived two days later and said the prisoners were not like highwaymen who had attacked them; but they remarked that they recognized the horses. Since the prisoners had no fire-arms on then when they were arrested, Mr. Penruddocke ordered their release.
updated by RW and M. Underwood