Old Sarum, Wiltshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Old Sarum. You may be able to find further references to Old Sarum in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
SARUM (Old) a quondam city and an extra-parochial tract Imperial
Sarum, Old (or Old Castle) parish Bartholomew

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Old Sarum within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Stratford Sub Castle 2 2
Laverstock 4 2
Fisherton Anger 1 2
Bemerton 0 2
Salisbury 115 4
Milford 0 2
Quidhampton 0 1
Winterbourne Earls 0 2
East Harnham 0 2
Winterbourne Dauntsey 0 2
West Harnham 0 2
Winterbourne 0 1
Fugglestone St Peter 0 2
Netherhampton 0 3
Durnford 0 2
Ditchampton 0 2
Woodford 0 2
Winterbourne Gunner 0 2
South Newton 0 3
Britford 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Old Sarum. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
OLD CASTLE John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
OLD SALISBURY William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
OLD SARBIODUNUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
OLD SARUM John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SARISBYRIG John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SARUM John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SARUM OLD John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SARUM OLD OR OLD CASTLE John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
SEAREBYRIG John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
SOLD SARUM John Wesley The Journal of John Wesley (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2000).
SORBIODUNUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.