Wessex has many beautiful and peaceful country towns, and of these an
admirable example may be seen in Dorchester, the county town of
Dorsetshire, a place often called the capital of Wessex. This very
ancient town has seen the whole of the history of Wessex, the land of
the West Saxons. Before a Saxon settled in the country it was a
splendid city, the home of Roman nobles and the camp of Roman soldiery.
The Romans knew it as Durnovaria, and they filled it with houses and
adorned it with temples and theatres. To this day Roman remains are
being discovered. An old house is pulled down and the foundations
cleared away, and in the work the diggers come upon pavements which
were laid down by Roman hands and trodden by Roman feet. Very often
pottery and ornaments are discovered, and now and again a more striking
relic still--the pick strikes into a Roman grave and lays bare a manly
form which once marched with the legions, or the figure of a Roman
maiden, whose ornaments still lie among her mortal remains.
After the Romans came the Saxons, and Dorchester was still a place of
much importance. In 1003, Sweyn of Denmark plundered and burned the
place and overthrew the walls in revenge for the massacre of Danes on
St. Brice's Day in the previous year. But the town was soon rebuilt,
and its history runs on through the centuries with outbreaks of fire
and plague and records of martyrdoms, until war visited it again during
the great Civil War. Dorchester stood against Charles, and saw some
severe skirmishing in its neighbourhood, but no fighting of any great
importance. But the reign of Charles's second son, James II., saw
Dorchester leap into terrible prominence, for here, on September 3,
1685, was opened the "Bloody Assize." Sedgemoor had been fought, the
rebellion of Monmouth had been broken, and the infamous Judge Jeffreys
had come down to the West to strike terror into the hearts of all who
had wished well to Monmouth.
More than 300 people had been crammed into Dorchester Gaol, and nearly
all of them were condemned to death. Of these, some forty or fifty
were executed, and others condemned to be whipped in terribly severe
fashion, and to suffer long terms of imprisonment and heavy fines.
After the Monmouth Rebellion, Dorchester sank back into the peaceful
history of a quiet country town--a history unbroken, save for local
events of fire and storm, until to-day. The town still preserves much
of its ancient character, and is a most interesting and picturesque
place, and, on market-days, is thronged by people of typical Wessex
appearance--dealers, farmers, carters, labourers, and pedlars.
To the south of the town stands a great amphitheatre, which is said to
have been built by the Romans about the time of Agricola. It is called
Maumbury Rings, and is a series of raised mounds enclosing an open
space. It is calculated that some 12,000 spectators could have been
seated round the amphitheatre, each enjoying an excellent view of the
combats of gladiators or wild beasts in the arena below.
But a still more wonderful relic of former days is to be seen two miles
south of Dorchester--the huge British earthwork, now known as Maiden
Castle. It is an immense camp or hill-fort, built on the flat summit
of a natural hill, and it must have cost the Britons who built it an
immense amount of labour. It is the greatest British camp in
existence, stretching 1,000 yards from east to west, and 500 from north
to south, and enclosing an area of 45 acres. The whole is surrounded,
in some places with two, and in others with three, ramparts nearly 60
feet high, and very steep. When these ramparts were manned by the
warriors of the British tribe gathered within the fort, it was no easy
place to storm.
Wessex has not many rivers, and most of them are not of any great size,
but they are famous among fishermen for the splendid trout which they
breed. These streams, running through the chalk, are marvellously
clear; in many cases the stones may be counted at the bottom of a pool
10 or 12 feet deep, and this clearness makes the catching of the trout
and grayling which live in them no easy affair.
The largest Wessex river is the Avon, which flows past Salisbury Plain,
with its wonderful monument of Stonehenge; passes through Salisbury,
whose beautiful cathedral spire is a famous landmark, and runs into the
English Channel.
Stonehenge is the most ancient of all the ancient monuments of Wessex.
We say that this camp was the work of the Britons; that pavement was
laid by the Romans; but no one knows what manner of men raised the
mighty standing-stones at Stonehenge. Nor do we really know why they
were raised. We believe it was for the purpose of worship--that the
stones form an ancient temple--but of this we cannot be quite sure.
Stonehenge consists of two circles of great stones, set upright in the
ground. Across some of these stones others are placed to form arches,
and though many have been broken or thrown down, there are still enough
of them in position to show us the original shape of Stonehenge. The
outer circle is about 100 yards round, and was formed by huge monoliths
or single blocks of stone, each 15 feet high and 7 feet broad. The
inner circle is 8 feet from the outer, and is composed of smaller
stones about 6 feet high. There are two ovals, formed of large stones,
and the inner oval contains a huge slab of rock, which is thought to
have been an altar.
The question at once springs to our lips, Who raised these enormous
blocks of stone, and set them up in so exact a fashion? It is one
which learned men are unable to answer. The general opinion is that
Stonehenge was formed as a temple for the worship led by the Druids,
the priests of the ancient Britons, but of this one cannot be certain.
The men who built Stonehenge have left no other record of their mighty
labours save the vast stones they raised, and the secret of this most
ancient monument is lost in the darkness of prehistoric days.