The Bread stones of Great Wishford

The history behind the stones is an interesting one, going back to the turn of the 19th century, when England was blockaded by the French. With no imported wheat readily available, prices rocketed.
The parish of Wishford was particularly hard hit, the villagers were being asked 8d more for their bread than Newbury folk, and 4d more than the population of Winchester. In a bid to reassure villagers that the asking price of his bread was genuine, the local baker posted his price, in stone, in the churchyard.
The practice was fairly widespread, by all accounts, but this is the only example where the tablets have been grouped together and persisted for such a long period.  The present stones are 20th century replacements for worn and barely legible originals.

In 1812 Englands wheat crises was resolved as Napoleons empire collapsed, the blockade crumbled and corn started arriving at our ports again

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• Giles
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• Great
• Wishford
• Wylye
• Wiltshire
• Bread