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Fovant Hut has also been known as the White Hart Inn or the Hut on Salisbury Plain. It was
one of a series of posting houses along the turnpike road, which ran along the ridge of the
downs above the village. Although we do not know when the inn was established, the Salisbury
and Winchester Journal referred to it as ‘new built’ in 1757. William Kennell, the first landlord,
advertised that he had: ‘a stock of neat Wines, rich Cordials, and all sorts of Spirituous Liquors to be sold Wholesale and Retail.’ The inn did a thriving trade until 1787 when the Lower Road (now the A30) was turnpiked. It is not known when the inn ceased to trade, but it has long since been a private house. In 1785 Parliament sent it's surveyors to establish the Enclosure details. The first meeting took place at Fovant Hut on 19th Sept 1785. |
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The will of Richard Mills dated 25th February 1820. Proved at Sarum "Effects under £200" Of
Fovant, who kept The White Hart on Salisbury Plain for 60 years. Born 1733, Died Wednesday
1st March 1820, aged 87. "…to my son Charles George Mills all my Freehold Copyhold and Leasehold property that I am possessed of to hold and enjoy the same during his natural life subject to the conditions and the reservations hereafter named. Also…to my grandson Frederick William Mills all my Freehold and Leasehold property to him and his heirs forever but if my grandson should die without issue and my son …should have not other child born in wedlock then the Freehold estate shall devolve to the heir at law of my late brother John Mills of Whatcombe in the county of Dorset. Also…the sum of one hundred pounds…to Charlotte, George, Anna Maria and Harriet Garrett natural children of Charles George Mills to be equally divided between them to be paid by my grandson…or the heir at law within six months after the decease of my son Charles George Mills…Also…the sum of two shillings and sixpence per week to be paid to Ann Mills the wife of Charles George Mills weekly and also to have and to hold for her life to reside in that tenement near the street in the parish of Fovant now in the occupation of Stephen Read. Also to have the use of the household goods during her life mentioned in the annexed inventory and and also the sum of two guineas and half for ? to be paid by my executors and one hundred of wood faggots a year while she resides in the aforementioned tenement then to devolve to the heir at law subject to the following conditions. That is to say that she shall consent to resign the residue of the annuity left her by the late Mary Hibberd into the hands of Trustees to be appointed and to take it weekly the same as this annuity and not to sell nor dispose of either. Also that the aforesaid Ann Mills shall neither let admit nor bring into the aforementioned tenement any incumbrance whatever but to have it solely for her own use and she shall neither wase(?) embezell or dispose of any part of the goods and if any part should be disposed of it shall be lawful to withhold the value thereof from this annuity but if [she] will not comply with the above conditions then this bequest shall be null and void and as for and concerning all the rest residue and remainder of my Goods Chattles ready Money and securities for money and all my other Effects Goods and Chattels whatsoever of what nature kind or quality the same may consist after all just debts are paid I give to .. my son…. Inventory of Goods for the use of Ann Mills during her life very(?) one Bedstead one Bed one Pillow one pair of Blankets one sheet two Quilts three Tables six small Chairs a Tea Kettle one Pot a pair of Bellows a pair of Dogs two pair of Dishes a Daz(?) plates of earthen ware Tin Articles and Brown Ware in the house two small Barrels" Source Notes 1. Richard Mills will is page 115 of The Clay Papers 'Some Notes on the History of Fovant' amassed by the late Doctor Richard Clay. In 1967 he used some of this material to produce a small booklet that gave a short history of the village, but in general the papers remained just a collection of loose pieces of paper. Although the original papers are held by Mr Robert Snow, Doctor Clay's grandson, copies of the documents were deposited with Salisbury Museum. Over the years interested parties made further copies, until there were several such 'collections'. In 2002, Mike Harden of Fovant History Interest Group collated, edited and indexed these different versions and had, what might be called, the definitive version of Doctor Clay's original papers bound into a single volume. Copies of this volume are now held in museums, libraries and record offices in Salisbury, Devizes and Trowbridge. 2. Salisbury & Winchester Journal photocopied 29/6/95 Photocopy Dr Clay's notes p 115 Photocopy of will at Trowbridge 21/4/98 3. The White Hart is also known as Fovant Hut wase - ?waste Daz - ?doz 4. In ' An Actual Survey of the Great Post Roads between London and Falmouth' , by Cary in 1784, Fovant Hut or The White Hart is shown. (White Hart, a name familiar all over England for inns, is possibly a scribe's error for 'White's Hut'. White was probably a former occupier of the Hut; for the hedge running south from the turnpike almost opposite the Hut is called 'White's Hedge'. It is the boundary between Fifield Bavant and Ebbesbourne Wake.) Fovant Hut did a brisk trade in the old days, and was the recognised meeting place where champions from rival villages engaged at fisticuffs. It was also to Fovant Hut that Parson Chaffin was wont to saunter, fiddle in hand. There he met other pretended fiddlers, whose object in coming there was not to scrape their instruments but to watch for deer which, pestered by flies, might stray from the woods of Cranborne Chase and seek sanctuary in the valley. |