Rotten and pocket boroughs
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A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom that had very few
Old Sarum in Wiltshire, abandoned since the 13th century, continued to elect two Members of Parliament until 1832.
William Pitt the Younger in 1783, by George Romney
Old Sarum
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Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about two miles north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, t
Rotten and pocket boroughs
…were places that had once been larger or more significant but later declined, sometimes dramatically, while still retaining the right to return MPs. Old Sarum is a well-known example. English Heritage describes it as a major centre of secular and ecclesiastical government for about 150 years, but notes that…
A reconstruction of Old Sarum as in the 12th century, housed at Salisbury Cathedral
An 1829 sketch of Old Sarum by John Constable, displaying the site of the abandoned hillfort
The exposed foundations of the cathedral