' George Herbert-Priest and Poet'
Edith Olivier
In 1630 Charles 1 presented Herbert with the living of Bemerton in Wilt-shire. Herbert was so well loved by his parishioners that it is said that some ' let their plough rest when Mr. Herbert's saints-bell rung to prayers, that they might also offer their devotions to God with him '.
He died at forty and was buried beneath the altar of his church. After his death, when his poems were published, he was revealed as one of the most distinguished poets of the seventeenth century.
Edith Olivier , novelist and biographer, has lived close to Bemerton all her life, and is this year the Mayor of the neighbouring borough of Wilton.