Celia Fiennes, Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary

Picture of Celia Fiennes

Celia Fiennes lived at roughly the same time as Daniel Defoe. She was born in 1662 at Newton Toney, Salisbury, the daughter of a colonel in Cromwell's army. She is remarkable for the journeys she made, and the account she wrote of them: she rode side-saddle through every county in England, accompanied only by two servants. Although she always lived in the south, in 1697 and 1698 she made two long journeys through northern England and Scotland. She travelled to improve her health, visiting many spa towns, but also for personal adventure. Her account of her travels seems to have been written after her travels had largely ended, in 1702. She described both the great houses she visited and the developing new industries. She died in 1741. The original text of Fiennes is not divided into chapters but we have tried to separate out her different 'journeys'.

The following sections are available:
INTRODUCTION BY THE HON. MRS GRIFFITHS
Preface: TO THE READER
Wiltshire and Dorset
Bath via Warminster
Berkshire and Oxfordshire
Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey
Moving to London
Buckinghamshire, Oxford and Chichester
To Herefordshire
Hampshire and the Isle of Wight
Hampton Court
1697 Tour: London to Yorkshire
1697 Tour: York and Scarborough
1697 Tour: Hull to Chatsworth
1697 Tour: The Peak District
1697 Tour: Coventry to London
1697: Through Kent to Canterbury and Dover
Tunbridge Wells and Rye
1698 Tour: London to Bury St Edmunds
1698 Tour: Cambridge to Lichfield
1698 Tour: Staffordshire
1698 Tour: Cheshire and Lancashire
1698 Tour: Lancaster to Carlisle
1698 Tour: Carlisle to Newcastle
1698 Tour: Durham to Shropshire
1698 Tour: Shrewsbury to Bristol
1698 Tour: Bristol to Plymouth
1698 Tour: Plymouth to Penzance
1698 Tour: Lands End to Winchester
1698 Tour: Exeter to London
London, part 1
London, part 2
London, part 3
London, part 4
London, part 5
Marlborough
Another tour of the Midlands
Epsom, Surrey
Bedfordshire
Epsom
Hampton Court and Windsor