Aldbourne in 1843

Aldbourne, colloquially pronounced Auburn) is in the hundred of Selkley, about six miles north-east of Marlborough. It is beautifully situated in a valley, and was anciently a place of importance. In modern times it has twice suffered severely from fire. In 1760 a conflagration destroyed more than seventy houses ; and in 1817 twenty were consumed. The earl of Essex was beaten here by the royalists in the great civil war A.D. 1643. Aldbourne Chace, an extensive waste, with a large rabbit-warren on the north and north-west of the village, was formerly well wooded and stocked with deer. The area of the parish is 8,060 acres ; the population, in 1831, was 1,418, from one-third to one-half agricultural. Aldbourne had formerly a market and fairs, but they have been discontinued : a small manufacture of fustians was carried on a few years since, but if it still exists it is much reduced.