Beyond Teffont Magna, where there is a very
small and ancient church, are the famous quarries which supplied some
of the stone for Salisbury Cathedral and were almost certainly worked
by the Romans. They are now roomy caverns, that, like Tilly Whim at
Swanage, have every appearance of being natural.
Continuing towards Salisbury, the first village passed through is
Dinton, the birthplace of Clarendon, historian of the Civil War. Then
comes Baverstock, with a restored Decorated church, and lastly, before
reaching Wilton, Barford St. Martin. Here is an Early English
cruciform church with one or two interesting features, including an
ancient effigy near the altar, in what appears to be a winding sheet.
The road through these villages, or rather tapping them--the first two
are slightly off the main route to the left--keeps to the north side
of the Nadder valley, at first under the wooded escarpment of the
Middle Hills where are the prehistoric remains of Hanging Langford
Camp, Churchend Ring and Bilbury Ring: and then under the great
expanse of Grovely Wood, which clothes the lonely hills dividing the
valleys of Wylye and Nadder, covered with evidences of an age so far
away that the Roman road from Old Sarum, traversing the summit of the
hills, is a work of yesterday by comparison.
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