“The church is raised on a terrace with a noble flight of steps 100 feet long, and a platform 20 feet in width. The centre entrance of the east front forms an open-recessed porch within a rich archway, which contains four columns on each side. Over this centre entrance is a series of small circular-headed arches, forming a sort of exterior gallery at the back of the one within, and producing a good deal of relief and richness. Immediately above it is a very large rose window, of elaborate design, set within a square, whose spandrils are sculptured with the emblems of the four evangelists. The lofty campanile tower is connected with the south-east angle of the building by a vestibule or cloister, whose elaborately carved open arches and columns present a pleasing contrast to the breadth and solidity of the other parts. On the same side of the church, at the west end, is a projecting porch (or vestry), which naturally increases the play and picturesqueness of the composition. Upon entering the rich door in the east front, already described, we pass between two screens of twisted columns, dividing the gallery staircase from the centre porch. Immediately opposite to this entrance is placed the font, a massive structure of black and variegated Italian marble. It is carved with lions’ heads at the corners, and the basin is richly foliated. The pedestal is of white marble in panels, inlaid with vine-leaves in black marble. The whole is raised on a black marble plinth.... The pulpit is of stone, inlaid with panels of marble, and glittering with rich mosaic-work, having also four twisted columns wholly composed of ancient mosaic, and supported by the black marble columns with alabaster capitals. The roofing of the nave and aisles is of open timber-work, stained to imitate dark chestnut.... The height of the campanile is 100 feet; and in it are hung a peal of six bells, brought from the old church. The remaining dimensions are as under: from the western porch to the chancel apse, 120 feet; width, 53 feet; width of nave between the columns, 24 feet; height, 57 feet; aisles, 13 feet wide, and 24 feet high.”
One of the most interesting places in Wilton is the famous “Royal Axminster and Wilton Carpet Factory” of Messrs. Yates and Co., and this, through the courtesy of the proprietors, may be seen by visitors to this district. This manufactory, which occupies nearly two acres of ground and gives employment to nearly four hundred people, was the first place in England where carpets were made. A charter was granted in 1701, and other charters of 1706 and 1725 (by which the weavers were made a corporate body, with stewards, &c.) were also granted. By these all persons who were not members of the body of weavers were prevented from carrying on the same business within three miles of the borough of Wilton, stamped certificates, after seven years’ apprenticeship, being given by the corporation to such men as were elected by them. The carpets then made were naturally of a coarse and very inferior character to those produced after on. To Henry, ninth Earl of Pembroke and sixth Earl of Montgomery, of whom we have spoken in a preceding page, and who died in 1751, England is indebted for the introduction of the manufacture of superior descriptions of carpets. Like many of his ancestors, he was a man of refined taste, and spent large sums of money in adorning his mansion at Wilton. Lord Orford says of him, “The soul of Inigo Jones, who had been patronised by his ancestors, seems still to hover over its favourite Wilton, and to have assisted the muses of Art in the education of this noble person. The towers, the chambers, the scenes which Holbein, Jones, and Vandyke decorated, and which Earl Thomas had enriched with the spoil of the best ages, received the last touches of beauty from Earl Henry’s hand.” The Earl during his travels in Flanders and France had taken great interest in the carpet works of those countries, and he noticed the much more general use of this article of furniture there than in England, where it was then regarded as an exotic luxury, and the idea occurred to him that the manufacture might be established in England, so as to form a new industry, and be a source of employment to the poor. He therefore entered into arrangements with artists, superintendents, and a body of workmen; brought them to England about the year 1745; and settled them in Wilton—thus laying the foundation of that branch of manufacture which now in England surpasses by far that of any other country.
The productions of this famous historical factory, to which, years ago, the looms and trade from Axminster were transferred, are entirely hand-made, and in this particular the manufactory is the only one in existence in this kingdom. Carpets of various degrees of quality and of different descriptions are here made, but whether “Brussels,” “Saxony,” “Velvet-pile,” “Axminster,” or what not, all are “real hand-made,” and all of extreme excellence, both in design and in superiority of make. “Royal carpets” for Windsor Castle, for Buckingham Palace, and other abodes of royalty, may now and then be seen by the visitor in course of weaving, and many of these better-class carpets, which are an inch or more in thickness, and of the softness of down to the tread, are of the most gorgeous character in design and in brilliancy and arrangement of colours. A “Wilton carpet” indicates a high degree of refinement in furnishing, and its enduring quality gives it a strong recommendation.
Wilton House is within three miles of venerable Salisbury, six miles or so from Stonehenge, and some three or four miles from “Old Sarum;” the visitor may, therefore, with but little sacrifice of time, examine three of the most interesting of all the relics of ancient England, while Wilton itself may well be ranked as a fourth.
Salisbury Cathedral.
If we have cathedrals grander, more extensive, and more magnificent than that of Salisbury, we have none more graceful: “the singular uniformity displayed in its design and style, the harmony which pervades its several parts and proportions, and the striking air of brightness, simplicity, and elegance, that reigns throughout the whole, all conspire to invest it with a charm peculiarly its own; whilst the great elevation of its graceful spire renders it without exception the most lofty building in the kingdom.” Grace is, indeed, its especial attribute, and beauty has not been here “a fatal gift;” for the sacred edifice seems as perfect to-day as it was many centuries ago.
Stonehenge is near at hand; that wonderful assemblage of stones which tell us—nothing, defying even the guess-work of the antiquary, concerning which tradition is dumb; yet there they stand as they stood thousands of years ago, solitary in their solemn grandeur upon the plain where the grouse and hares are even now their only neighbours.