Place:Wardour, Wiltshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Wardour from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"WARDOUR, a parish in Tisbury [registration] district, Wilts; 2¼ miles WSW of Tisbury [railway] station. Post town: Tisbury, under Salisbury. Acres and real property returned with Tisbury. Population: 710. Houses: 119. [Wardour] Castle is the seat of Lord Arundell of [Wardour]; was built in 1776-89; is in the Grecian style, with a centre and crescent wings; has a rotunda staircase, 144 feet round; contains a rich collection of paintings and other works of art; and stands in a finely wooded park, about 5 miles in circuit. An ancient castle here was built by the Martins, before the time of Edward III.; passed, through the Lovells, the Touchets, the Audleys, and others, to the Arundells; was the birthplace of Lord Chief Justice Hyde, of the 16th century; and was besieged, captured, and ruined, in the civil wars of Charles I. The living is annexed to Tisbury; and the parish contains the Tisbury workhouse."

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Wardour is a settlement in Wiltshire, England, about 13 miles (21 km) west of Salisbury and 4 miles (6 km) south of Hindon. Formerly a parish in its own right, in 1927 it merged with East Tisbury, its neighbour to the north, to become the civil parish of Tisbury.

Wardour's land was an estate of Wilton Abbey by the 11th century.

The old 15th century Wardour Castle was slighted during the English Civil War. The stronghold was replaced in 1776 by New Wardour Castle, built between 1769 and 1776. It was long the home of the Lords Arundell of Wardour. All Saints' Roman Catholic chapel, Wardour, originally belonged to the Arundells' household.

In the 18th century part of the estate was in Tisbury parish and part in Donhead St. Andrew. In 1835 Tisbury was divided into three parishes: East Tisbury, West Tisbury and Wardour.

Research Tips

• Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 13, pp195-248 - Parish: Tisbury. British History Online. University of London.
• From this Ancestry page you can browse the Wiltshire parishes which have parish register transcripts online, quite often from very early dates. However, reading the early ones requires skill and patience. Transcriptions should also be in FamilySearch.
• A further collection of online source references will be found on the county page for Wiltshire.