Three holes on each side of the monument represented the
sources of the Stour at Stourhead, and these figured in the armorial
bearings of the family. Lord Charles was hanged with a silk cord instead
of the usual one made of hemp, the execution taking place in Salisbury
Market-place in 1556; his crime was the murder of two of the family
agents, father and son. His own four agents were hanged at the same time
along with him, and a piece of twisted wire resembling the halter was
suspended over his tomb for many years, to remind people of his
punishment and crime.
We took the precaution of getting our tea before leaving Shaftesbury, as
there was some uncertainty about the road to Sturminster, where,
attracted by the name, we expected to find a minster or cathedral, and
had therefore decided to make that town our next stage. We could see a
kind of mist rising at several points in the valley as we descended the
steep hill leading out of the town in the direction of the Stour valley.
No highway led that way except one following a circuitous route, so we
walked at a quick pace along the narrow by-road, as we had been
directed. Darkness soon came over us, and we had to moderate our speed.
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