The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1918-02-01
BOUT six miles southeast of
the ancient town of Cirences-
n ter, with its Roman memories
and nDrhnnS the finest church

~ the ancient town of CirenceS-
~ ter, with its Roman memories
and, perhaps, the finest church
porch that England can show, and
some three miles north of the quaint
glo-Saxon history, and Boosting cen
trail lantern tower to its church I'M
matched In all Wiltshire, lies the
charming village of Down Ampney-
one of four Ampney villages that clus-
ter to the east Of Cirencester. The vii
lage is right away from the church and
the manor house. The trusting strang-
er visiting it from either of the above
mentioned towns should be warned
that he is coming to an inn-less Eden,
where the good entertainment for
man and beast" that used to be the
boast of our village hostelries Is not
to be had nor will he find 1t in the
neighboring village Of Latton, just
across the Wiltshire border. 1t is fair
to say that both villages seem to get
along very comfortably without inns !;
only the stranger within their gates
suffers for the austere virtue of the ma
tives, writes Henry Martin Gibbs in
Country Lifes
The beauty of the surrounding coun-
try, the limestone SOLVE are here on
the border of the Cotswolds-and the
keenly bracing air must be taken as
compensating natural advantages. 1t
is country of rich pasturelands, trout
streams and water meadows, where
"lhe willows by the brooks are ia.
milar feature; and far away stretch
out blue distances. ranges of hills
copses and church spires a strangely
peaceful country, In which hardly
sound seems to break the stiffness, ant
In this wartime, bereft of its male
population, it seems doubly deserted
Yet the broad high roads are there, The
roads that were made near two thou
sand years ago by the Roman con
querors. They stretch out across tn
flat foreground into the dim perspec
tive of the horizon-the Ermine Wa.
and the Fosse Way crossing each 9th
err at Cirencester like the arms of
st. Andrews cross.
Where the Romans Camped.
Naturally, such g. country Is rich Il
legends Of titanic conflicts between Re
man and Briton, Briton and Saxor
Saxon and Dane. Cirencester, as 1t
name tells us, was Roman castrur
of some Importance, and the tow
abounds in relics Of the Roman occr
| NH
year so A. d. At Chedworth, close I
the Fosse Way, some II miles north 9
Down Ampney, the remains of a RI
man villa-one of the four first-rat
ones found in this country-were di'
covered in 1864. The fact that fou
crosses were found here-one Of tn
few positive evidences of Komano-Brl
ish Christianity in Worcestershire
lends additional interest to this disco
cry.
Cirencester, with the other r.
mano-British cities of Bath and Glol
cester, fell to the Saxon conquerors
577, but it was the best part of a ce
fury later before Christianity, crusht
out by this Hun invasion of old tim
was reintroduced under the auspices
Wulphere, king of Mercia. A late
wave of invason--this time by I'll
Danes-took place in 905, when Cricl
lnde was pillaged, and the same tow
was taken and plundered by the fo
lowers of Cnut a century later. III
Norman invasion seems to have bee
a more gradual affair-more like II
peaceful penetration" OF our oW
times. No doubt the Saxon thane III
eorl gave place to intruding Norman
but the bulk of the population, ser
and freemen, were probably but lit
. disturbed by the new order.
One other event of more than loo
Importance occurred in those faro
, times, which must not be left unr
; corded, At the northern end of Il
! bridge or ford Of the River Thame
which takes Its rise not far from he
at a place called Aust, In 6O3 st. A
|. xustine Of Canterbury held his Gel
. brated conference with the bishol
, and doctors Of the British church.
The House and Church.
Down Ampney is near enough to tn
famous spot to be permitted to sha
its fame. Enough has been said to
: dictate the historical interest as WI
! as the natural charms OF the settir
. Let us turn to the house and church.
Doubtless both occupy the sites
Tar older buildings. We may take
! that there was a settlement here und
the Saxon sway, and probably duril
| the Roman occupation how far EARL
1t is useless to speculate, And thou
. the church has nothing to show OF ct
lier date than the charming la1
twelfth century arcades OF Its nay
we may assume that these were pierc
through older Norman or Saxon wal