A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
SALISBURY PLAIN, an undulating tract of chalkcountry, in Wilts; extending from the E border west-ward to Westbury and Warminster, and from the vale of Pewsey 10 miles southward to the vicinity of Salisbury. It. has an average elevation of about 400 feet above sea-level; rises in the W, on Westbury down, to a height of775 feet; presents a rolling surface, somewhat similar to that of the ocean after a storm; is watered in the S E by the river Bourne, across the E portion, past Amesbury, by the river Avon, and along the S W border by the river Wiley; contains the stupendous old monument Stonehenge, and numerous ancient camps, barrows, and earth-works; was, till a comparatively recent period, all in a state of nature, bare of trees, and used only for sheep-pasture; and still includes tracts either waste or entirelypastoral; but has been extensively reclaimed for cultivation, even up to the very vicinity of Stonehenge. Extensions of it anciently went into Hants and Somerset; giving it a length of about 50 miles from E to W, and abreadth of 35 or more from N to S.
(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))
| Linked entities: | |
|---|---|
| Feature Description: | "an undulating tract of chalk country" (ADL Feature Type: "locations") |
| Administrative units: | Wiltshire AncC |
| Place: | Salisbury Plain |
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