National Gazetteer (1868) - Alderbury

"ALDERBURY, a parish in the hundred of Alderbury, in the county of Wilts, 3 miles to the S.E. of Salisbury. It contains the chapelries of Farley and Pitton, and is situated near a branch of the South-Eastern railway, and the river Avon. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury, van., with the two curacies, £162, in the patronage of the bishop. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. There is a Wesleyan Methodist chapel and a small endowed school. Alderbury House and Ivy Church, which occupies the site of a monastery, are the principal seats. Alderbury is the seat of a Poor-law Union, and of a County Court district."

"FARLEY, a chapelry in the parish and hundred of Alderbury, county Wilts, 5 miles E. of Salisbury, its post town. The Great Western railway and Salisbury canal pass in the vicinity of the village. The living is a curacy annexed to the vicarage of Alderbury, in the diocese of Salisbury. The chapel was rebuilt by Sir Stephen Fox in 1627. It is an elegant structure, containing several monuments to the Fox family, including Sir Stephen and his descendants Lords Ilchester and Holland. There is also a marble tablet erected by the widow of the statesman, Charles James Fox, bearing the following inscription: "A patriot's even course he steer'd, Mid factions wildest storms unmoved; By all who mark'd his mind, revered; By all who knew his heart, beloved". There is a school, with an income from endowment of £10 per annum, besides house and garden."

"IVY-CHURCH, a chapelry in the parish and hundred of Alderbury, county Wilts, 3 miles S.E. of Salisbury. Here was formerly an Austin canonry, founded by Henry II., the remains of which have been converted into a private residence. The site was given at the Dissolution to the Barwicks. Leland says that the skeleton of a man was discovered here 14 feet 10 inches in length."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]