Cradock House, in the Friary, takes its name from its 18th century association with the Cradock family – Mrs Cradock and her two beautiful daughters having moved there in 1733.

Around that time, Henry Fielding, the novelist and dramatist, was staying at the Grey Friars Hall over the way, in order to be near his grandmother, Lady Gould, who lived in St Martin’s Church Street.

There he wrote part of his greatest novel Tom Jones. Fielding had a very strong connection with Salisbury. His paternal grandfather was an archdeacon of Salisbury and his father’s third wife Eleanor Hill was a wealthy widow of Salisbury.

It was probably from Cradock House that Fielding married Miss Charlotte Cradock in 1734.

The house was originally built in the form of the letter Z, but it lost its southern-most gable end when a large addition was made to the building in the late 18th century.

It then became a private school, continuing under four successive headmasters.

Bishop Wordsworth purchased the house as a temporary residence for the headmaster of the Bishop’s School, and Alderman Bracher lived there for a time. Later, Mrs Wordsworth became an occupier.

When she left, the building was formed into two houses – Cradock House and Friary Court. The former has been occupied successively by four officers of Southern Command HQ, and the latter became the home of Miss Pye-Smith.

The deeds show that the house was built in 1618 by Matthew Bee (Salisbury Mayor 1600) and his wife Margaret, on the Friar’s Orchard, below the Friar’s bridge.

At that time one of the principal streams ran under this bridge, and Mr Bee hired the right of fishing in it from the city authorities on payment of 4d a year and one bushel of apples for the Mayor.