The elections were held at the foot of the hill on Election Acre, where a tent was pitched beneath the branches of an elm-tree, which is still pointed out as occupying the site of the last remaining house. [Picture: Saint Mary’s, Amesbury. (Photo Miss Weed Ward.)] STRATFORD-SUB-CASTLE. LIES close under the hill of Old Sarum, and derives its name from the Roman “street” or road which here “forded” the river on its course to Bradbury Rings and Dorchester. The manor house was the residence of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, who was first returned to Parliament (1735) as member for those vacant mounds on the hill above. Governor Pitt purchased the manor in 1690 for 1500_l._, and Lord Grenville, who had married the sister of Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford, afterwards sold it for 65,000_l._ to Lord Caledon. In 1801 John Horne Tooke was returned by Lord Camelford, and in his case the question of the disability of clergymen to sit as Members of Parliament was tried and settled. The doorhead of the quaint gabled parsonage bears the inscription, “Parva sed lapsa domino 1675.” A charming lime avenue leads from the parsonage to the church, which contains an hour glass stand for the pulpit. THE CHURCH, AMESBURY. DEDICATED TO THE MEMORIES OF ST. MARY AND ST. MELORUS. ONE of the finest in Wiltshire. A fourteenth century nave roof covers a Norman nave, and a thirteenth century chapel possesses a beautiful window, with two lights, and slender delicate column and sculptured leafy cap. Archæologists dispute as to whether this is the abbey church (a Benedictine order founded by Queen Elfrida to expiate the murder of her step-son at Corfe) or merely the parish church. I consider that there can be _no_ doubt that it is the abbey church, and in my next edition I hope this fact will be proved from excavations to be made under the superintendence of Mr. Detmar Blow, the architect for the structural repairs that are, unfortunately, necessary, the four angles of the church tower and the voussoirs of the arch having become separated, &c. Only 1400_l._ is needed, and subscriptions will be gratefully acknowledged by the Manager of the Wilts and Dorset Bank, Amesbury, Wilts; or Lady Antrobus, Amesbury Abbey. An unfortunate “restoration” was made in 1853, which swept away the furnishings of the Early Romantic period. FLORENCE C. M. ANTROBUS. [Picture: Amesbury Abbey, seat of the Duke of Queensbury. (From an Old Engraving.)] AMESBURY ABBEY. SALISBURY.