Malmesbury

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Geo: 51.5848, -2.0996

A drive to Great Somerford, a beautiful village Wiltshire village at the southern end of the Cotswolds, to stay with my cousin Meriel and her family.

A short drive away is Malmesbury, supposedly the oldest continually inhabited town in England. Modern excavations have revealed the remains of an Iron Age fort which would date it back to around 500BC, but official records can trace Malmesbury back to the 5th century.

The imposing 7th century Abbey sits atop the hill and became a site of pilgrimage and learning and later in the 10th century, Athelstan, first king of (all) England and grandson of Alfred the Great made Malmesbury his capital.

The medieval streets are lined with honey colored stone buildings and the marketplace in the centre of town has a magnificently preserved 15th century market cross.

But what would a township be without its pubs or olden almshouses. Happily the Old Bell has been offering a place to wine and dine since 1220.

Fun Fact: In a corner of the Abbey grounds a gravestone marks the resting place of Hannah Twynnoy (died 1703) who was reportedly the first person in England to be killed by a Tiger!

Her epitaph reads:

"In bloom of life / She's snatched from hence / She had no room / To make defence / For tyger fierce / Took life away / And here she lies in a bed of clay / Until the Resurrection Day."

It said that Hannah Twynnoy was a barmaid working at a pub called the White Lion in Malmesbury when a travelling circus arrived to set up in the pub's large rear yard. The circus contained a menagerie of animals including a tiger, which Hannah was warned against upsetting.

She liked bothering the animal until one day it got tired of it and mauled her. Hannah did not survive!!

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Photos

Malmsbury Market Cross
Superbly preserved 15th Century Market Cross

Gravestone
Killed by a tiger!