To our surprise, there are no rooms or campsites available in Bath or Portsmouth this weekend,. For this reason, we found another B & B in Salisbury and plan to take walking trips. Today we hiked a circuit from Salisbury to Wilton and back—about 10 miles. We started out about 4:00 in the afternoon (to avoid the noon heat) and returned to the city about 8:30 P.M. After a quick meal, we walked the remaining 1.5 miles to the B & B. It was a great day!
Leaving Salisbury, we passed St. Paul’s Church, supposedly the site of the last public hanging in Salisbury. On the eve of the execution, the prisoner tried to commit suicide by slashing his throat. The doctor stitched him up and he was hung the next day. Unfortunately, the doctor had done a poor job of suturing and the people closest to the dying man were sprayed with arterial blood.
We walked around the Wilton House and property that belongs to the Earl of Pembroke. There is a high stone wall surrounding the estate that we guessed to be 1.5 miles on the width and over a mile on the length. Now only a third of its original size, it encompasses 14,000 acres—about 7/8 the size of the city of Sarasota. At times, we could see forest and hills with horses grazing, but for the most part the place was hidden.
In Wilton, we walked by the Italianate Church of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, consecrated in 1845. The entrance way is ornate marble. Look at all the details.
Wilton has many centuries-old buildings with short doorways indicating the stature of people in the past. Dennis would have to be careful not to bump his head entering these portals slightly taller than I am.
As we walked, we laughed at many humorous signs. Below are a few of them.
