Editing Amesbury (section)

===Modern history===
On [[John Speed]]'s map of [[Wiltshire]] (1611), the town's name is spelt both ''Amesbury'' (for the [[hundred (county subdivision)|hundred]]) and ''Ambersbury'' (for the town itself).

After the Dissolution, Amesbury became a secular estate and was given to [[Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford]] by [[the Crown]];{{sfn|Chandler|Goodhugh|1979|p=24}} the Seymour family held the estate until 1675. A new mansion which took the name [[Amesbury Abbey (house)|Amesbury Abbey]] was completed in 1661, designed for [[William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset]] (d. 1660) by [[John Webb (architect)|John Webb]] in neo-classical style.<ref name=":1" />

The estate subsequently passed to the [[Bruce]] family, and then to [[Henry Boyle, 1st Baron Carleton|Lord Carleton]], who bequeathed it to his nephew [[Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry]].  The grounds feature a Chinese summerhouse commissioned by the Duke from [[Sir William Chambers]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1131080|desc=Chinese Temple|access-date=30 May 2021|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> The estate remained in the Queensberry family until 1824.  It is believed that at some point in the early 19th century, [[William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry]] planted the [[Nile Clumps]] to commemorate [[Admiral Nelson]], and had the hillfort landscaped as part of the grounds around the mansion.

In 1824 [[Antrobus baronets|Sir Edmund Antrobus]] acquired the estate and, finding the mansion in poor repair, had it rebuilt in 1834–1840 to designs of [[Thomas Hopper (architect)|Thomas Hopper]].<ref name=":1" /> In 1915 Lord Antrobus sold the grounds – including Stonehenge – to private bidders, although the mansion remained in Antrobus family hands until 1979.<ref name="wch">{{cite web|title=Amesbury|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/7|access-date=9 June 2021|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council}}</ref> The house is now operated as a nursing home.<ref>{{cite web |title=Our heritage |url=https://www.amesburyabbey.com/about/our-heritage |website=Amesbury Abbey Group |access-date=16 June 2020 |archive-date=16 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616144840/https://www.amesburyabbey.com/about/our-heritage |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1677, John Rose, gentleman, founded two schools at Amesbury, a [[grammar school]] for teaching grammar, writing, and ciphering to twenty children born in the parish, and an "English school" to prepare twenty children of poor parents for the grammar school. By a decree in [[Court of Chancery|Chancery]] of 1831, the freedom of the grammar school was extended to children of "mechanics, artisans, and small tradesmen".<ref>"Amesbury – Rose's Schools" in ''Public Charities: Analytical digest of the Reports made by the Commissioners of inquiry into charities. Digest of schools and charities for education'' (W. Clowes & Son, 1842), p. 127</ref> The grammar school was closed in 1899, and the children were transferred to a National School.<ref>[https://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/gettimelinedate.php?dateline_in=1899&ad_bc=1 Wiltshire Community History Timeline for Date 1899] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817190542/https://history.wiltshire.gov.uk/community/gettimelinedate.php?dateline_in=1899&ad_bc=1 |date=17 August 2016 }} at wiltshire.gov.uk, Retrieved 14 July 2016</ref>