Tag: Marlborough
Marlborough (English pronunciation: /ˈmɔːlbrə/ ( listen) MAWL-brə) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire on the Old Bath Road, the old main road from London to Bath. It is reputed to have one of the widest high streets in Britain, second only to Stockton-on-Tees. The town is on the river Kennet.
The earliest sign of human habitation is a 62 feet (19 m) high prehistoric tumulus in the grounds of Marlborough College. Recent radiocarbon dating has found it to date from about 2400 BC. It is of similar age to the larger Silbury Hill about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of the town. Legend has it that the Mound is the burial site of Merlin and that the name of the town, Marlborough comes from Merlin’s Barrow. On John Speed’s map of Wiltshire (1611), the town’s name is recorded as Marlinges boroe. The town’s motto is Ubi nunc sapientis ossa Merlini – Where now are the bones of wise Merlin.
Further evidence of human occupation comes from the discovery of the Marlborough…
