A History of Firsdown

FIRSDOWN

A New Parish

If you look at old maps of the area just east of Salisbury, you will not find the name Firsdown. In fact, the name first came into use in 1986 with the creation of the new civil parish of Firsdown. Previously the area had been part of the civil parish of Winterbourne to the north of the A30 but had virtually no houses on it before the 1920’s. It was referred to as Winterbourne Down, an area of old neglected downland of little agricultural use.

The village of Winterslow some seven miles from Salisbury grew steadily in the 20th Century and the road from the village to the city was through winterbourne Down and on via the A30, the Salisbury to London road. Traffic increased in the motorcar age and more people passed through the area of Winterbourne Down, which was known as the Firs.

From the 1920’s into the 1930’s a few small houses were built along the road and these early settlers has the postal address The Firs, Winterslow. By 1939 about a dozen scattered properties were established in very open landscape, with very few services: water supply in particular was very difficult.

Post war development in th 1950’s and 1960’s brought many new dwellings, mostly bungalows to what became known as Firs Road, Winterslow. The residents looked to Winterslow for school and for church and for their recreational life including clubs and societies. However the Firs Road residents were still firmly within Winterbourne for administrative purposes.

Eventually dissatisfaction with this arrangement led to the decision to create a new civil parish incorporating the names Firs Road and Winterbourne Down, as Firsdown. The new parish Council came into operation in April 1986 and deals with all the usual aspects of roads, footpaths, recreational areas and planning. However, the area is still part of the ecclesiastical parish of Winterslow.

Location

The modern parish of Firsdown includes land to the north of the A30 but much of this in on the Porton Down ranges and not accessible. However, the hamlet of Figsbury, close to Figbury Rings, is an important part of the parish, The main centre of population remains Firs Road, just south of the A30, and its side roads Maple Drive, Juniper Road, Great Croft, Ilynton Avenue and Firs Close. Much of the southern boundary of the parish is on the line of the Roman Road from Old Sarum to Winchester.

Outline History

Although largely unoccupied for centuries, Firsdown has had settlements over several millennia. The whole area, on the edge of Salisbury Plain is rich in Stone Age and Bronze Age sites. Within the boundaries of the modern parish, but on the Porton side of the A30 lies Thorny Down, an important settlement from the late Bronze Age; artefacts from this site are on display in Salisbury Museum.

The most important site is the Iron Age fort of Figsbury Rings, an unusual example of its type with an outer bank and a quite separate inner ditch. The site is now managed by the National Trust and can be reached from the A30 via a narrow track.

The Roman Road was the main road into Salisbury for centuries but fell into disuse as the Salisbury to London main road (A30) grew in importance. However the Roman Road can still be followed for most of the way.

In the mediaeval period, the area was part of Clarendon Forest, the royal hunting ground around Clarendon Palace situated about two miles east of Salisbury Cathedral. Some of the land within the parish is still part of the modern Clarendon estate, with several footpaths categorised as permissive paths, courtesy of the current owner of Clarendon

Our thanks go to Norman Thorne for this editorial