Journal of Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Kemble, Friday August 27, 1773

From Salisbury to Deptford over the Downs by Stone Henge is 18 miles, after passing half way over the Down you come to a Stone Henge, which is so called from moving a monstrous Stone, which lying on another so equally poised that the weight of the Body puts it in motion. There are 25 upright stones about 10 or 20 feet high, and 10 or 12 feet square of great thickness, they seem to have been disposed in a Circular form, some of the upright Stones are joined by a large flat Stone Communicating from one to the other which Appears to have been done by Art, as the upright Stones are let into the Flat ones by a Mortise, and forms as it were a bridge, there are many more large and small lying about, some without, but most within the Circle, one at a good distance is said to have been thrown there by the Devil, who was enraged at a Monk and threw it at him, and hit him in the Heel, the impression of which is now seen in the Stone. No discovery has yet been made for what end these Stones could have been put there, or how such large Bodies could be moved, for they must have been brought a great distance as there is not the Appearance of a Stone within many miles. From Deptford to Warminster 11 miles, thro' a fine Corn Country, Warminster is a pretty large Country Town but not remarkable for anything. From Warminster to Bath, thro' Norton St. Philips, to which place the Country is rather close but after you pass thro' N. St. Philips it opens and is very Hilly, affords many rich and pleasing prospects, about a Mile and a half from Bath you gain the Ascent of a very high Hill, which looks into the City and Adjacent Country which is very delightful. Ancient Bath lay's very low, on the Banks of the Avon, and was only famous for the Baths hot and Cold, but is now admired for the Elegance of it's new Buildings, which exceed anything in England, the Streets are broad and Houses Magnificent situated on the side, and some near the summit of a very high Hill. The Circus is an Oval pile of Building uniformly Completed, and is pretty to the Eye, but the Crescent which is in form of an half Moon now near Compleated is very Grand, in it's design and Execution, and has a Noble view of the Country from every front in the whole pile. The Ball Room, Tea Room, Card Room, &c. are of the first order and far surpass anything of the kind in England. The Baths are very Curious, and deserve great Attention. From Oxford Road, are several Views of the low Country, one in particular very fine about four miles from Bath, at a Monument erected to the Memory of Sir Bevil Granville, by Lord Lansdowne, Sir Bevil Granville was Killed in an Action between him & Sir William Waller, who commanded a part of the Parliamentary Forces in Charles the First's time, from this Monument you have a View of the Bristol Channel, City of Bristol, part of Wales, and great part of Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Wiltshire, and from one point of View you see the Cities of Bath & Bristol at the same time. SOURCE: New York Historical Society, Publisher, Collections of the New York Historical Society for the Year 1883: The Kemble Papers, Vol. 1 1773-1789, pp. 16-8