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being bludgeoned over the head, and buried a little way apart from each other so that they could not conspire against their murderers. There are four gnarled beech trees associated with the sisters; because either the trees were planted to mark their graves or they mysteriously grew on top of the unmarked graves to remind the locals of their dreadful deed. Sightings of the sisters have been reported over the years. There is a hollow at the back of the largest tree where people leave offerings. The trees are located approximately 50 meters away from the Roman road some ten minutes walk from the Wilton end of the wood.
294:, and no other, stood good in law. In the middle of this wood is a house still retaining the appellation of Grovely-Lodge. In traversing the boundaries of Grovely-Wood, the antiquary perceives several ancient works to arrest his attention, besides the entrenchments above noticed. These are denominated East-Castle, Grovely-Castle, Grovely-Works, and Hamshill ditches, of which the first three are situated on the southern side of the wood, and the last on its northern side opposite the village of
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215:
area. Coincidentally, an outbreak of smallpox in 1737 killed 132 people. The local people became convinced that the sisters were responsible for the deaths and accused them of witchcraft and an alliance with the devil. Without an official hearing the sisters were taken to
Grovely Wood, murdered by
228:
is thought to be a poacher who was hanged from a tree for his 'crimes', or possibly an artist who painted in watercolour and was accidentally shot in the woods during a deer cull. It is said that he lodged in
Burcombe thus earning him the title of the Burcombe Woodsman. Sightings of him have been
155:
declared that the forest then consisted of fourteen coppices. Seven lay north of 'Grim's Dyke' in Great
Wishford, while the others lay south of the dyke in Barford St Martin. The combined areas of these fourteen coppices correspond to what was formerly the
274:...the Great Ridge Wood... was anciently conjoined with Grovely-Wood, but is now separated from it by an extent of nearly four miles of open down. The whole was then designated by the appellation of
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694:
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290:, concerning the bounds of the forest of Grovely in the county of Wilts, in which it was decided that the last perambulation of 28
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167:. On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished and merged with Barford St Martin. In 1931 the parish had a population of 31.
71:
52:
616:
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area of
Grovely Wood. By 1839, the boundary of Barford parish had moved north to include almost all of the woodland.
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183:. On this day, villagers claim their ancient rights to collect wood from Grovely, said to date back to the
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runs east to west through the centre of the wood, and at the western end are the Iron Age/
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572:'Proceedings at the Meetings of the Archaeological Institute, November 6, 1857' in
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55:. It is recognised for its nature conservation importance through designation as a
326:; the area was also used for the same purpose by the United States Air Force, via
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and Church End Ring. Just to the north of the woods lie the sites of two Iron Age
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To the west of
Grovely, on the same ridge, lies another large block of woodland,
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632:
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Baggs, A.P.; Freeman, Jane; Stevenson, Janet H (1995). Crowley, D.A. (ed.).
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The four
Handsel sisters were of Danish origin but they had moved to the
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402:"Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 15 pp284-294 – Great Wishford"
278:, and such it appears to have been so late as the thirty-third year of
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Grovely Wood was an extra-parochial tract until 1858, when it became a
375:"Victoria County History: Wiltshire: Vol 4 pp391-433 – Royal forests"
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144:
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315:, and parts of the wood provided cover for munitions storage. Until
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and to have been confirmed by the Forest Court in 1603, thanks to a
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In the 13th century, Grovely Forest extended north and east to the
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116:; as well as an Iron Age farm enclosure, known as East Castle.
453:"Relationships and changes Groveley Wood ExP/CP through time"
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hanging from his left shoulder, may be of Alan de
Langford,
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179:
have a right to gather firewood in
Grovely Wood on 29 May,
475:"Population statistics Groveley Wood ExP/CP through time"
240:
in 1857, a portrait of a man wearing a long robe, with a
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reported, usually after hearing the cracking of a twig.
70:. Adjacent to Grovely, to the north, lies the grassland
428:"History of Groveley Wood, in Salisbury and Wiltshire"
399:
611:. Wimbourne: The Dovecote Press. pp. 154–155.
322:, use was made of sidings at the nearest station,
203:Grovely Wood has two stories associated with it.
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248:of Grovely Wood at the end of the 13th century.
36:, England. It stands on a chalk ridge above the
132:; on its western boundary were the villages of
175:According to a mediaeval custom, villagers of
307:The Royal Air Force had an ordnance depot at
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92:archaeology in the vicinity of the woods. A
44:parish, to the south-west of the village of
32:is one of the largest woodlands in southern
593:The beauties of England and Wales, Vol 22
311:, west of the wood, during and after the
25:Beech trees lining a road through Grovely
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342:long-distance footpath enters the wood.
286:, and the Queen's Majesty, in behalf of
219:
50:Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs
20:
687:
606:
596:. Verner & Hood. pp. 323–324.
559:The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 204,
206:
147:held in March 1603, a jury drawn from
59:. Among the species found here is the
536:"The Witches' Trees of Grovely Woods"
533:
368:
366:
302:
282:, when a law-suit occurred between
72:Site of Special Scientific Interest
13:
705:Former civil parishes in Wiltshire
695:Forests and woodlands of Wiltshire
590:John Britton; et al. (1814).
477:. A Vision of Britain through Time
455:. A Vision of Britain through Time
363:
191:for the collection of wood in the
53:Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
14:
716:
373:Crittall, Elizabeth, ed. (1959).
268:The Beauties of England and Wales
253:The Beauties of England and Wales
170:
700:County wildlife sites in England
432:A Vision of Britain through Time
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600:
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16:Woodlands in Wiltshire, England
637:American Air Museum in Britain
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119:
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513:Wiltshire Community History
266:reports in a volume of his
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10:
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609:Wiltshire Railway Stations
574:The Archaeological Journal
534:Sarah (1 October 2020).
496:Moonraking: The Folklore
284:Edward, Earl of Hertford
288:Henry, Earl of Pembroke
79:Baverstock Juniper Bank
408:. University of London
406:British History Online
381:. University of London
379:British History Online
360:at ukbutterflies.co.uk
300:
26:
607:Oakley, Mike (2004).
272:
220:The Burcombe Woodsman
102:Hanging Langford Camp
24:
576:, Volume 15 (1858),
57:County Wildlife Site
667: /
515:. Wiltshire Council
207:The Handsel sisters
128:, and south to the
81:, is also nearby.
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226:Burcombe Woodsman
153:Barford St Martin
42:Barford St Martin
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671:51.107°N 1.932°W
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303:Second World War
238:Steeple Langford
77:. Another SSSI,
68:Great Ridge Wood
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276:Grovely-Forest
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177:Great Wishford
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171:Ancient custom
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149:Great Wishford
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114:Grovely castle
98:Romano-British
84:There is much
61:Purple Emperor
46:Great Wishford
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181:Oak Apple Day
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143:At a Grovely
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640:. Retrieved
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543:. Retrieved
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517:. Retrieved
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498:at bbc.co.uk
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479:. Retrieved
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457:. Retrieved
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435:. Retrieved
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410:. Retrieved
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383:. Retrieved
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270:(1814) that
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264:John Britton
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232:An image on
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193:Royal Forest
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165:civil parish
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75:Ebsbury Down
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30:Grovely Wood
29:
28:
18:
674: /
540:Slow Travel
519:28 December
412:28 December
385:28 December
334:Present day
320: 1951
185:Middle Ages
126:River Wylye
63:butterfly.
38:River Wylye
689:Categories
659:51°06′25″N
346:References
120:Boundaries
94:Roman road
662:1°55′55″W
545:17 August
481:20 August
459:20 August
437:20 August
261:antiquary
236:found at
145:swainmote
106:hillforts
34:Wiltshire
642:18 March
509:"Wilton"
309:Chilmark
292:Edward I
246:Verderer
199:Folklore
86:Iron Age
296:Barford
189:charter
110:Ebsbury
615:
580:online
563:online
255:(1814)
213:Wilton
130:Nadder
112:, and
578:p. 75
561:p. 72
324:Wylye
134:Wylye
90:Roman
644:2021
613:ISBN
547:2022
521:2016
483:2024
461:2024
439:2024
414:2016
387:2016
338:The
259:The
242:horn
224:The
151:and
136:and
88:and
40:in
691::
635:.
538:.
511:.
430:.
404:.
377:.
365:^
330:.
317:c.
298:."
140:.
108:,
646:.
621:.
549:.
523:.
485:.
463:.
441:.
416:.
389:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
