At his death the property
passed to Earl Temple who was unable to afford the upkeep and
eventually the greater portion of this "folly" was demolished. The
lane that turns south from the Salisbury high-road goes through
Tarrants Launceston--Monckton--Rawston--Rushton and Keynston and
finishes at Tarrant Crawford that we have just seen is in the valley
of the Stour.
Two roads run northwards to Shaftesbury from Blandford. One, the hill
way, leaves the Salisbury road half a mile from the town and, passing
another earthwork on Pimperne Down, makes for the lonely and beautiful
wooded highlands of Cranborne Chase, with but one village--Melbury
Abbas--in the long ten miles of rough and hilly road. The other, and
main, highway keeps to the river valley as far as Stourpaine, and then
bears round the base of Hod Hill, where there is a genuine Roman camp
inside an older trench. Large quantities of pottery and coins
belonging to the Roman period have been found here and are stored in
various collections. The way is now picturesquely beautiful as it goes
by Steepleton Iwerne, that has a little church lost behind the only
house in the hamlet, and Iwerne Courtenay.
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