A visit to Marlborough

Merlin's Mound the origin of Marlborough

It is true that Marlborough has always held a fascination for me, and yet, before the other day, I had not spent time in the town specifically just to visit it alone. My few visits had been when passing through it on the way to or back from somewhere else, or cursing the bottleneck of traffic that I encountered on my journeys to the northwest. Yet the sensation that Marlborough was somewhere special has stayed with me since my earliest encounter and before I had learnt anything of its history.

On my first visit I was little more than a teenager. Living in Reading at the time, my then boyfriend, having bought a car, had proposed a trip to Avebury, a place I had long wanted to go to. We had had a lovely day visiting the prehistoric sites, and it was decided that a meal in Marlborough on the way home would round the day off wonderfully. Having arrived in the town, I had felt that it still held the same spiritual atmosphere as Avebury. No doubt the buzz from the earlier visits was still with me, but perhaps it was something more. We decided on a pub for our meal and went in. We were early, but as we dined, more and more people came into the hostelry, all seemingly as though they had stepped out of a fantasy novel. They wore cloaks and appeared larger than life in character. It was as though I was watching a scene where some great fellowship was gathering before an epic quest. Although I did half suspect that it was a group that was into Dungeons and Dragons who likely used the pub as a meeting place, no gameplay seemed to take place. So, it has remained a mystery to me to this day and most definitely added to the mystique and even strangeness of the place. Well, after all these years, I finally decided to go back to learn more about Marlborough. Not only did I find it to be lovely and interesting, but I also found it rather thought-provoking.

To be honest, a single walk around the town doesn't cover half of the location and its marvellous history, so for my first real visit I decided to concentrate mainly on the western part of the town, leaving lots more opportunities for future visits. I aimed to walk from the town centre to Preshute then up to the Wansdyke hoping to gain a view of the Marlborough mound, aka Merlin’s Mound, as I did so. Long thought to have been simply the mound of a Norman motte and bailey, recent carbon dating has shown the mound to have a much longer history. It is now understood that it was constructed at a similar time as the more famous Silbury Hill, and it is the origin for the town’s name. “Maerlic” meaning great and “beorg” meaning hill. Legend states that Merlin is buried under the mound, hence its nickname. This, of course, is impossible, as Merlin was an invention of the 12^th century. However, the Arthurian wizard does figure quite prominently in the local folklore, especially in the tale of the origin of Stonehenge. Perhaps some great man of stature and ability did have some influence here long ago, who would later be equated to Merlin (or the other way around), and maybe the more romantic of us can believe that his spirit still resides in this place. Perhaps it is this that gives Marlborough that special atmosphere I mentioned earlier. So I was definitely looking forward to a visit.

The plaque to Thomas Wolsey

On our walk from the town centre, we first came across St Peter’s church. This church has a blue plaque denoting that over 500 years ago Thomas Wolsey was ordained here. As I looked at the plaque, I wondered if on that day in March 1498 the man in question considered what his future would be. Did he sense that he would become a powerful cardinal and chancellor of England and then be martyred for his devotion to the Pope and Catholic Church? What made him stand firm in his belief in the certainty of death? Perhaps he felt the Pope would have ultimate power over a king and save him? Whether he believed the latter to be true or not, sadly, he was executed by his king and the Church of England came into being. For those who are members of that church, Wolsey is simply another player who rose to power and then lost all in those turbulent times.

The River Kennet

From the church we headed left across the river and then along the footpath that runs behind Marlborough College and along the River Kennet. The track soon became a narrow, slightly overgrown footpath. For the first time in a long time, our legs were made wet from the grass as it brushed across them and in parts we encountered mud, a delight after having such a long drought in 2025. We even noticed some of our first fungi of the season. Some fairy inkcaps were clustered in a great bundle on a tree root.

The white horse

It wasn’t long before we emerged onto a wider track and we continued on our way towards Preshute, noticing a standing stone in a field to the left, and farther along on the same side, the Marlborough white horse.

The Church of St George

At Preshute we stopped to gain our first peek of the mound and look around the church of St. George before heading up to Wansdyke and better views of the town and the mound. Although the settlement of Preshute is older than Marlborough, the church itself is mainly Victorian, but its stained glass windows allow the building to be tinged in a subtle red hue. Sadly, this was not reproduced well in my photos. However, in an attempt to take an artistic photo of a rather ornate memorial It was a more simple plaque that stood out to me. One commemorating a young airman who was posthumously awarded the George Cross for losing his life when saving a friend. A brave act, and again the fragility of life and our decisions in life was laid bare to me that day.

The simple memorial to the brave airman (the bottom of the three)

The interior of St Georges with the red hue from the stained glass

On from the church, as we walked up the hill and said hello to the sheep that were grazing in the fields, the views of the mound soon improved, and it was possible to see quite a lot of the top of the mound now that the trees have been cut down. Without doubt it is impressive, and although not in the best of locations, there is little wonder that the Normans used it as a ready-made hill for their fortification. Indeed, from Norman times Marlborough and its castle became quite important to the realm, with a mint being established here. Before becoming King, Prince John was married here to his first wife, Isabella of Gloucester. Isabella would not become queen, even though she was still technically married to John at the time of his coronation. John’s son Henry III would later have a statute passed at Marlborough, some of the chapters remaining in law today and so making them the oldest piece of statute law.

Some of our companions on our walk

As we climbed the hill, we eventually lost sight of the mound but instead marvelled at other views of the town and hills beyond and the last few cranesbill flowers that still lingered.

Cranesbill ...the last reminders of summer

Views of the countryside behind the Marlborough rooftops.

Towards the top of the hill we turned right onto Wansdyke, an ancient fortified path that I haven’t knowingly walked before. Here Wansdyke forms part of the White Horse Trail. However, it wasn’t long before we encountered a problem. A the point where the White Horse Trail deviates from the designated right of way but is marked as a recreational route, the footpath was blocked by a solid wooden barrier. A wooden post had been laid in front of it, so it was possible that you could perhaps scramble over it, but it did look dodgy, and as Mr P. was carrying an injury from a recent encounter with a less than convenient stile, we decided to use the actual right of way. Only to find that we were not able to locate the position where it turned from the edge of the field to cross another one. Believing we were yet again on a deviation from the right of way, something that we often encounter, we continued on until we came to a padlocked gate by the roadside that was our destination. Realising that we had unwittingly trespassed, we climbed the gate and escaped. We then walked along the road seeking to find the footpath on the other side. It was passable, but it too was roped off, and although it was likely acting as a deterrent to motorised vehicles, we were left wondering what other obstacles we would encounter if we continued on using the right of way. So we had to make a decision on whether to continue on the path or walk down what seemed to be a relatively quiet road. Fed up with always encountering difficulties, we chose the latter only again to be reminded of the fragile nature of life, but this time our own, for as we walked, we suddenly found ourselves having to quickly dive into the bracken lined verge as a skip lorry raced down the hill from behind us. The lorry did not slow down at all and really only narrowly missed Mr. P. Sadly, I was too taken aback by the incident to think of getting the number plate. I was grateful that neither of us was hurt and mindful that no matter where you are, walkers have the roughest deal. This was made evident to us again later when we were nearly bowled over by a cyclist as we were walking along a footpath that led us back into the main town.

A pretty cottage in Manton

Thankfully, the rest of the walk passed by without incident, and we soon found ourselves walking through the quiet village of Manton past pretty cottages and a pub before ending up outside Marlborough College and a short walk back to the High Street.

St Peter's church where Wolsey was ordained

That just left three more things to do; have lunch, visit the Merchant’s House and find the air quality detector on the town hall.

For lunch, although we wanted to look for something more local, we were tempted by the thought of fish and chips at Rick Stein’s, that is if they would accept as walk ins, a couple of waif and strays with the aroma of the sheep ridden countryside. To our surprise they did, and we had a pleasant meal.

The Merchant's House from the garden

I have to say I found my trip to the Merchant’s House fascinating. It is amazing to think that some of the decor from the 1600s is still visible on the walls. With some of the wall paintings unique in the country. I imagined the silk merchant who lived here with his family and what life might have been like then. What had been their desires, and what would they think of how we live today? They obviously enjoyed taking care of and lavishly decorating their property. It is a unique experience and well worth a visit. Speaking to one of the curators later, the history of the house is interesting. They have plans to extend the museum area and open up more rooms to reveal more interesting decor. So I won’t mention too much more, as it might give too much away, and even if you have been before, I would definitely recommend a visit there to experience going back in time and to see what is new.

The Town Hall

So for my first proper visit to Marlborough, all that was left to do was to find the air quality sensor on the Town Hall. The sensor is part of a rollout of one hundred supplied by Wiltshire Council. They have been located all over the county, so if you live in Wiltshire, you might see one near you, or perhaps you have volunteered to run one yourself? The aim is to learn more about the concentrations of the pollutant known as PM2.5 (small particles at or less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter). This pollutant is very damaging to health. So anything that can be done to understand the levels of this pollutant in the county has to be beneficial. Having found the sensor, we were pleased to see that the one on the town hall was green, so at the time of our visit the air was likely healthy.

So all in all, a thought-provoking but great day in Marlborough.

The route we almost took. I would advise those more able to continue on the White Horse Trail.

The link to the Merchant's House Website https://themerchantshouse.co.uk