LIES close under the hill of Old Sarum, and derives its name from the
Roman “street” or road which here “forded” the river on its course to
Bradbury Rings and Dorchester. The manor house was the residence of
William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who was first returned to Parliament
(1735) as member for those vacant mounds on the hill above. Governor
Pitt purchased the manor in 1690 for 1500_l._, and Lord Grenville, who
had married the sister of Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford, afterwards sold it
for 65,000_l._ to Lord Caledon. In 1801 John Horne Tooke was returned by
Lord Camelford, and in his case the question of the disability of
clergymen to sit as Members of Parliament was tried and settled. The
doorhead of the quaint gabled parsonage bears the inscription, “Parva sed
lapsa domino 1675.” A charming lime avenue leads from the parsonage to
the church, which contains an hour glass stand for the pulpit.