Stonehenge and Avebury: Victoria at Erlestoke in 1830

Postcards to friends of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site

In October 1830 the Princess Victoria visited Stonehenge after attending a service at Erlestoke church, the service being conducted by the rector of nearby Poulshot, the Revd. William Fisher, a domestic chaplain of Victoria’s mother the Duchess of Kent. Seven years on from the visit to Stonehenge Victoria acceded to the throne, and when it was suggested that William Wordsworth pen a national anthem for the coronation he passed the task on to his second cousin Emmeline Fisher, aged twelve, eldest child of the same William Fisher and his wife Elizabeth. Emmeline’s five verses were never adopted, but Queen Victoria sent her a writing set in appreciation. Emmeline would later publish poetry and would write ‘Lines on the Opening of Silbury Hill’, the original of which was buried inside the mound in 1849 and recovered in 1968.

Hampshire Advertiser 30 October 1830 p.3; Anon, Anecdotes, Personal Traits and Characteristic Sketches of Victoria the First (London, William Bennett, 1840) pp. 153-4. N. Hinxman, ‘Emmeline Fisher, a forgotten Wiltshire poet: her links with William Wordsworth and the national anthem,’ Hatcher Review 37 (1994) pp. 16-30.

B.E.

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This is part of a series of short “postcards” that anyone with something to share is welcome to submit, whether that is a digital snap and a “wish you were here” or something more involved. Please do join in by sending your postcards to theheritagejournal@gmail.com

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