CHILMARK, a parish in the hundred of DUNWORTH,
county of WILTS, 4 miles (E.) from Hindon,
containing, with the tything of Ridge, 524 inhabitants.
The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese
of Salisbury, rated in the king's books at £19. 13.4.,
and in the patronage of theEarlof Pembroke. The church,
dedicated to St. Margaret, is cruciform, having a tower
with a handsome spire rising from the intersection;
some parts of the building are in the early style of
English architecture, others of later date. The ancient
Iknield way proceeds through this parish, which is also
intersected by the river Nadder and several streams
tributary to it, and by the Wilts and Berks canal. Its
celebrated quarries of freestone, whence the materials
were drawn for the erection of Salisbury cathedral,
have almost fallen into disuse, the stone having been.
superseded by Bath-stone, which is wrought- at less expense.
A great fair for live stock is held on the 30th
of July. This is the birthplace of John de Chilmarke,
a celebrated mathematician and philosophical,
writer in the thirteenth century.