This interesting story surrounds the building which stands in Salisbury Market Place next to the Ox Row Inn.

As you can see in the photo, the name Hart takes centre stage on the decorative building’s façade named after Walter Hart, the shop’s owner at the end of the 19^th Century.

Walter William Hart was a Salisbury butcher and he had learnt his trade as an apprentice to WJ Snook in the Butchers Row. Once he had completed his apprenticeship, Walter set up his own business in the Market Place where he also lived. He later married Priscilla and they had seven children together. As the shop became successful, Walter employed several staff including a young woman named Alice. She became pregnant in 1896 and gave birth to a son she named William – Walter Hart was the father.

Walter died under mysterious circumstances when he was only 52. The coroners report into his death shows that in 1903, Walter went to visit his sister at her home near Andover. He spent the day playing board games and shooting small birds, which he bought into the house to count how many he had shot. He played with his nephews in the garden and later went to the local pub where a witness said he had “never seen him so cheerful in all his life”. His sister reported that it had been a “happy day”. The next morning Walter was found dead on the garden steps, with the hunting gun lying next to him.

At the inquest the foreman said the jury was unanimous in believing it to be a case of accidental death and the coroner duly entered the verdict. However, he then added, “I do not agree that it was accidental – I don’t think it is proved, and unless it is proved, you ought not to find it.”