EDITORIAL NOTE

Like the fifteen earlier volumes of the Victoria History of Wiltshire, this volume has been prepared under the supervision of the Wiltshire Victoria County History Committee. The origin and early constitution of that Committee are described in the Editorial Note to Volume VII, the first to be published. New arrangements introduced in 1975 are outlined in the Editorial Note to Volume XI, and a further modification in 1990 is described in the Editorial Note to Volume XIV. In 1991 Thamesdown Borough Council, which with its predeces- sor Swindon Borough Council had met more than a fifth of the cumulative costs of the research for, and writing of, the Wiltshire History, gave notice of withdrawal from the Committee, and it made its last contribution in 1993. The Local Authorities retaining representation on the Committee were thus Wiltshire County Council and the District Councils of Kennet, Salisbury, North Wiltshire, and West Wiltshire. To them the University of London again offers its profound thanks for their continued support of the Wiltshire V.C.H. Committee, whose collaboration in the enterprise is once more warmly acknowledged.

In 1992 Mr. D. M. Kent resigned as Honorary Secretary of the Committee, and was succeeded by Mr. M. O. Holder. At the same time Mr. E. J. P. Thornton resigned as Honorary Treasurer and was succeeded by Mr. F. R. Marshall. Grateful thanks are owed to Mr. Kent and Mr. Thornton for their eighteen years' helpful service to the Committee. The origins of that service are recorded in the Editorial Note to Volume X.

Thanks are also offered to the many people who have helped in the compilation of this volume by granting access to documents and buildings in their ownership or care, by providing information, or by giving advice. Most of them are named in the footnotes to the articles with which they helped. Special mention must be made of the assistance given by the County Archivist (Mr. S. D. Hobbs) and his staff and by the Local Studies Librarian of Wiltshire County Council (Mr. M. J. Marshman) and his assistants, of the access provided by the Government Property Lawyers and the Treasury Solicitor to records in their keeping, and of information provided by the Defence Land Agent.

The General Introduction to the Victoria County History, published in 1970, and its Supplement published in 1990 give an outline of the structure and aims of the series as a whole, with an account of its progress.