Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/811

WHITCHURCH. 799 WHITCHURCH. I)ean and Chapter of Winchester, to whom the manor belongs. The county court is held at Andover, and the union poorhouse is situated in the parish of Overton. The population of the parish in 1851 was 1,911, and in 1861, 1,962. Whitchurch Lodge is a meet for the Vine hounds. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Winchester, val. 205, in the patron, of the bishop. The church is dedicated to All Saints. There are chapels for Wes- leyans, Primitive Methodists, Independents, and Bap- tists. There are National schools. The parochial charities produce about 100 per annum. Market day was on Friday, but is now disused. Fairs are held on the third Thursday in June, and on the 19th and 20th October. WH1TCHURCH, a par. in the hund. of Cottesloe, CO. Bucks, 5 miles N.W. of Aylesbury, and 12 from Buckingham. The village is situated in a vale, over which passes the line of the London and North-Western railway. It was given by the Conqueror to the Giffards, and had a castle belonging to Hugh do Bolebec, of which there are some traces. The manor subsequently came to the Veres, who obtained the grant of a weekly market on Monday, and a fair on the festival of St. John the Baptist, but both have long been disused. The par. includes the s.mall limit, of Creslow. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 120. The church is dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. The communion plate is of the 17th century, presented by Sir Edward Smythe, once Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have each a chapel, and there is a school for boys and girls partly supported by the Wesleyans. The charities consist of some poors' cottages and a bequest of 15 per annum, which is distributed in clothes and blankets. WH1TCHUEOH, a par. in the hund. of Roborough, co. Devon, 1J mile S.E. of Tavistock, and 12 miles N. of Plymouth. The parish comprises a considerable extent of unenclosed land on the borders of Dartmoor. Slate is quarried, and there are several tin, copper, and lead mines, which have been worked at different periods, but the Tavistock United Tin Mine is the only one at pre- sent in operation. The village is situated on the road from Plymouth to Tavistock. The principal residences are Grenofen, Holwell, Grimston, Sortridge, and Wal- rcddon House, the latter for many centuries a seat of the Courtenay family, descendants of the Earls of Devon. The Tavistock races are held on Whitchurch Down, in this parish. A chantry chapel was founded in 1300 by the Abbot of Tavistock. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 190. The church is dedi- cated to St. Andrew. The Independents have a chapel, and there is a village school. Colonel Harris is lord of the manor. WHITCHURCH, a. div. of the hund. of North Brad- ford, co. Salop, contains the pars, of Ightfield, Lee- Brockhurst, Frees, Stanton-upon-Hine-Heath, and part of Whitchurch, comprising 36,340 acres. WHITCHURCH, a par. and market town, chiefly in the Whitchurch div. of North Bradford hund., co. Salop, but partly in the hund. of Nantwich, co. Chester, 11 miles N.W. of Market-Drayton, 19 N.E. of Shrews- bury, and 20 S.W. of Chester. It has stations on the Cambrian and on the Crewe and Shrewsbury branch of the London and North-Western railways, and has water communication by means of a branch of the Ellesmcro canal. In ancient times it was called Album MOHIU- Uriwn, or Blaiicminater, probably from an hospital founded in the reign of Henry II., and had an ancient castle near the mill. The par. includes, besides the town of its own name, the parochial districts of Ash and Tilstock, the vil. of Wirswall, and 14 tnshpg. It is situated on the borders of Wales, from which it is sepa- rated by a stream called the Red Brook, and has three small lakes, called Osmere, Blackmere, and Brown Moss-water. The site of the town is on the old road from London to Chester. It contains the townhall, in the High-street, where a county court is held monthly ; a savings-bank, two commercial banks, the National Provincial, and Whitchurch and EUesmero; a police- station, inland revenue office, news-room, union work- house, enlarged in 1855 ; working men's club, young men's institution, several insurance agencies and gas- works. The town has recently been much improved by the completion of the sewerage works. There are several breweries and mailings, an iron foundry and machine factory. The boot and shoe trade, formerly the staple, has much declined, but considerable business is done in malt, hops, and agricultural produce. The popu- lation of the parish in 1861 was 6,093, and of the town 3,701. The local government is administered by a high steward, appointed by the Earl of Brownlow, who is lord of the manor and principal landowner. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Lichfield, val. 1,000. The church, dedicated to St. Alkmund, was rebuilt in 1713 on the site of an ancient Gothic edifiee, and contains several monuments of the Earls of Shrews- bury, including an effigy in stone of John Talbot, first Earl of Shrewsbury, and Marshal of France in the reign of Henry VI., surnamed the English Achilles, who was slain in France in 1453. At Dodington is a chapel-of-easo, dedicated to St. Catherine, and at Ash and Tilstock are district churches. The free grammar school, founded by Sir John Talbot in 1550, and rebuilt in 1849, has an income from endowment of 500. There are also several National, infant, and mixed schools in various parts of the parish. The parochial charities produce above 1,000 per annum, including the school endowment and Higginson's bequest of 220 for the support of G almshouses. Whitchurch is a polling place for the county elections and a petty sessions town ; it is also the seat of a new County Court and of a Poor-law Union. Courts leet and baron are held in October at the townhall by the lord of the manor. Market day is on Friday. Fairs are held on the second Friday in April, Monday in Whitsun week, Friday after 2nd August, and 28th October. WHITCHURCH, a par. in the hund. of Lower Wormolow, co. Hereford, 6 miles S.W. of Ross, and 4 N.E. of Hereford. It is situated on the right bank of the river Wye, and on the road from Ross to Here- ford. The scenery embraces Dowurd Hill, Symoud'sYat, and other spots on the Wye. There is a private asylum for lunatics, called Whitchurch Asylum. Limestone is quarried on the hill of Great Dowurd, and the sub- stratum contains ironstone, which was formerly worked. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Hereford, val. 280. The church is dedicated to St. Dubritiua. In the church- yard is the tomb of the Gwillams family. There are a chapel for Independents and a National school. The charities produce about 26 per annum. WHITCHURCH, a par. in the hund. of Langtree, co. Oxford, 6 miles N.W. of Reading, and 10 from Walling- ford. The village is situated on a declivity overlooking the Thames, and surrounded by hills. On the opposite bank of the river is the village of 1'angbourne in Berk- shire, connected with Whitchurch by a bridge rebuilt in 1853. The common was enclosed in the reign of George III. The par. includes the hmlt. of Whitchurch Tollhouse, Combe Lodge, the mansion of S.W. Gardiner, Esq., who is lord of the manor ; and Hurdwick House, the ancient scat of the Hardwick and 1'owys families, originally built prior to the reign of Richard II. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 450, in the patron, of the lord chancellor. The church, dedi- cated to St. Mary, contains three brasses, the earliest to Sir T. Walysch, bearing date 1430, and several tab- lets to the Lybbe, Powys, and Gardiner families. There is a free school for boys and girls, founded in 1817. WHITCHURCH, a par. in the hund. of Dewislaud co. Pembroke, 3 miles E. of St. David's. The par. in eludes the post-office village and small port of Solva, or Solfach, situated under- the cliffs at the mouth of tho Solfach river, which here falls into St. Bride's Bay. Tho living is a vie.* in the dioc. of St. David's, val. 110, in the patron, of the bishop. The church is dedi- cated to St. David's. WHITCHURCH. See STAN-MORE PAIIVA, co. Mid- dlesex.