Salisbury, Wiltshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Salisbury. You may be able to find further references to Salisbury in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
SALISBURY a city, three parishes, and a district Imperial
SALISBURY and DORSET railway a railway Imperial
SALISBURY and YEOVIL railway a railway Imperial
Salisbury (or New Sarum) par. and mun. bor. Bartholomew

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Salisbury.

Place Type of entry Source
FORD a tything Imperial
MILFORD a tything Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Salisbury within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Daniel Defoe Letter 3, Part 2: Salisbury and Dorset 19
William Camden Wiltshire and Hampshire 12
William Cobbett Oct. 7th Oct to Nov. 30th, 1822: Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex 7
William Cobbett Aug. 31st Aug to Sept. 4th, 1826: Salisbury to Highworth 7
William Cobbett Aug. 28th to 30th, 1826: Down the valley of the Avon in Wiltshire 6
William Cobbett Oct. 18th to 26th, 1826: Weston to Kensington 5
Celia Fiennes Wiltshire and Dorset 5
Celia Fiennes Hampshire and the Isle of Wight 4
William Cobbett Oct. 30th to Nov. 8th, 1821: London to Berghcleere 3
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Exeter to London 3
William Camden Berkshire, Surrey and Sussex 2
William Camden Ireland (1) 2
William Cobbett Jan. 2nd, 1822: Sussex Journal 2
William Cobbett Aug. 24th to 28th, 1826: Burghclere to Petersfield 2
William Cobbett Sept. 6th to 11th, 1826: Highworth to Malmsbury 2
Charles Wesley Sept. 9 - Dec. 31, 1737: Oxfordshire, and down to Devon 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 2, Part 3: Hampshire and Surrey 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 2: Somerset and Wiltshire 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 3: Berkshire and Buckinghamshire 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 7, Part 2: East Midlands 2
Robert Gammage On tramp in 1840, from London to the south coast 2
John Wesley 1771-3: Windsor Park; Wesley as Art Critic; Glasgow and Perth; Preaches to 30,000 People 2
James Boswell October 27th to November 7th, 1773: Through Glasgow to Ayrshire 1
William Camden The Division of Britaine 1
William Camden Cornwall and Devon 1
William Camden Dorset and Somerset 1
William Cobbett Jan. 21st to 22nd, 1822: Huntingdon Journal 1
Charles Wesley May 17 - Aug. 28, 1743: Bristol to Newcastle, then Cornwall 1
Charles Wesley 1745: London, Bristol and South Wales 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 3: Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 2, Part 2: Canterbury and Sussex 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 3: Worcester, Hereford and Wales 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 9: Eastern Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 10: Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland 1
Celia Fiennes 1697 Tour: London to Yorkshire 1
Celia Fiennes 1697 Tour: Hull to Chatsworth 1
Celia Fiennes 1697: Through Kent to Canterbury and Dover 1
John Wesley 1737-8: Troubles in Georgia; Return to England 1
John Wesley 1749-50: Wesley and the Soldiers; In Ireland and Wales Again; Wesley Burned in Effigy 1
John Wesley 1765-8: Justice for Methodists; Methodist Character; Instructions to Parents 1
John Wesley 1774-6: Wesley Arrested; A Terrible Ride; A Methodist Isaac Newton; the American War 1
Thomas Pennant Northampton to Gothurst 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
East Harnham 0 2
Fisherton Anger 1 2
Milford 0 2
Britford 0 2
West Harnham 0 2
Laverstock 4 2
Old Sarum 15 2
Netherhampton 0 3
Bemerton 0 2
Stratford Sub Castle 2 2
Quidhampton 0 1
Nunton 0 2
Clarendon Park 7 2
Longford 0 2
Bodenham 0 2
Odstock 0 2
Cawden and Cadworth 0 2
Fugglestone St Peter 0 2
Winterbourne Earls 0 2
Homington 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Salisbury. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
MERIFIELD William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
NEW SARUM John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SALISBURIALIA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
SALISBURIE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
SALISBURY John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SALISBURY AND DORSET RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SALISBURY AND YEOVIL RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SALISBURY OR NEW SARUM John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
SALSEBURY Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
SARISBURIA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
SARISBURY William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
SARUM Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
SARYSBURIG William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.