THE river Avon, on its course to the sea, passes through a beautiful, thickly wooded valley in Wiltshire, in which lies Amesbury, or, to follow the old spelling, Ambresbury, signifying the land of Ambrosius. This fascinating place, and the wild country surrounding it, possess a charm and beauty all their own, and those born and bred there ever pine for the breezy downs, as the Swiss for their mountains or north-country people for the moorland; and no one who has walked or ridden on some glorious summer morning over the fine, close grass clothing these Wiltshire downs can ever forget its delicious “springy” quality underfoot. A talented modern artist once happily christened Amesbury “The Golden Valley;” he saw it in the spring, at which season of the year the whole country-side seems ablaze with brilliant yellow flowers. [Picture: The Palladian Bridge] Amesbury lies eight miles north of Salisbury, and we may consider that it occupies a space in the midst of that vast tract of undulating country that (somewhat erroneously to my mind) is given the name of “Salisbury Plain.” I now propose to trace, as briefly as I can, some of the history of this interesting and beautiful place. Its antiquity is so great as to take us back to pre-historic times. In its near neighbourhood many desperate battles were fought between Briton, Saxon, and Roman with varying success. Lewis, in his ancient _History of Britain_, says: “In the reign of Vortigern, 461 A.D., a Conference was appointed to take place near the Abbey of Ambri, with Hengist the Saxon, and it was agreed that both parties should come without armour. But Hengist, under colour of peace, devised the subversion of all the nobility of Britain, and chose out to come to this assembly his faithfullest and hardiest men, commanding every one of them to hide under their garment a long knife, with which, when he should give the watchword, every one should kill the Briton next him. Both sides met upon the day appointed, and, treating earnestly upon the matter, Hengist suddenly gave the watchword and caught Vortigern by the collar, upon which the Saxons, with their long knives, violently murdered the innocent and unarmed Britons. Thus were 460 earls and noblemen of the Britons treacherously murdered. They were buried in the convent at Amesbury. This massacre took place near Stonehenge, where repeated battles were fought between Ambrosius and Hengist.” {10}