Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/842

WINOEBT. 830 V1NCHELSEA. the parish is bounded on the W. During the parlia- mentary war in the reign of Charles I., some of the earliest, skirmishes are said to have taken place in the immediate vicinity of the town, and Burnet in his " History of his Own Times " states that the first hlood uhed in the revolution of 1G88 by the Prince of Orange was spilt here, though others refer this to Cirenccster. The town, which stands on the western slope of a hill, rising gently from the river Gale, was destroyed by fire in 17i7- It is regularly laid out in four main streets, containing many well-built houses, and is a polling place for the eastern division of the county. Near the centre of the town, on the western side of the market- place, stands the townhall, in which petty sessions and the county court are held monthly. There are, besides, a police station recently erected, a branch of Stuckey's bank, a branch of the Wilts and Dorset bank, the East Somerset savings-bank, reading-rooms, a brewery, stone bridge, and union workhouse. The streets are paved and lighted with gas, and the houses supplied with water by conduits. The population of the parish in 1801 was 2,450. The manufacture of linen and bed-ticking, formerly carried on to a large extent, is now obsolete, but a considerable business is done in the corn and cheese trade. About a mile to the S.E. of the town are mineral springs, resembling in their pro- perties the waters of Cheltenham. Wincanton, though called a borough, has no chartered corporation, but is under the jurisdiction of the county magistrates. It is divided into the borough and the tything ; two constables for the former being annually appointed at the manorial court, and a tything-man for the. latter at the court leet for the hundred, which is also held annually under G. D. Vingfield Digby, Esq., of Sherborne Castle, who is lord of the manor. The estate of Stavordale, in this parish, where are the remains of an ancient priory, con- fers the inferior title of Viscount Stavordale on the Earl of Hchester. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Bath and Wells, val. 125. The church is dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul. The Independents and Baptists have chapels. There are National, Sunday, and deno- minational schools. The charities produce about 6 per annum. Many Koman coins have been found here, and in a wood near the ruins of Stavordale Priory are the remains of a British fort called Kennewilkins Castle. Market day is on Wednesday, for corn, cattle, and cheese. Fairs are held on Easter-Tuesday and 29th September. WINCEBY, a par. in the hund. of Hill, parts of Lindsey, co. Lincoln, 2J miles N.W. of Bolingbroke, and 4 S.E. of Horncastle, on the Wolds. A battle was fought here during the parliamentary war, in which the king's troops were defeated. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Lincoln, val. 300, in the patron, of the lord chan- cellor. The church is dedicated to St. Margaret. There is a village school. WINCH, or EAST WINCH, a par. in the hund. of Freebridge-Lynn, co. Norfolk, 5 S.E. of Lynn, on the road from Lynn to Norwich. The land is chiefly arable. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 190. The church is dedicated to All Saints, and on the N. side is the mortuary chapel of theVere and Howard families, whose arms are emblazoned in the E. window of the chancel. The charities produce about 50 per annum, the rent of town lands bequeathed for the repair of the church and the relief of the poor. WINCH, or WEST WINCH, a par. in the hund. of Freebridge-Lynn, co. Norfolk, 3 miles S.E. of Lynn. It is bounded on the W. by the navigable river Nar, and adjoins East Winch. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 360, in the patron, of the lord chan- cellor. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. There is a National school. WIN CHAM, a tnshp. in the par. of Great Budworth, co. Cheshire, 2 miles N.E. of Northwich. W1NCHBURGH, a vil. in the par. of Kirkliston, co. Linlithgow, Scotland, 2 miles N. of Broxburn, and 4 S.W. of Queensferry. It has stations on the Edinburgh nnd Glasgow imd Scottisli Central railways. It is situated on the Union canal, and on the road from Edinburgh to Falkirk. Hero Edward II. halted after the defeat of Bannockburn. WINCHCOMBE, a par., market town, and borough by prescription, locally situated in the lower div. of Kiftsgate hund., co. Gloucester, 7 miles from Chelten- ham, 14 N.E. of Gloucester, and 94 from London. It is situated in a valley at the northern base of tho Cotswold hills, and on the banks of the mnall rivnr Isborne, which joins the Avon at Evesham. In tho Saxon times it had a royal palace, and a mitred Bene- dictine abbey, founded by Kenulph, king of Mercia in 798, who was buried here. The abbey having been destroyed by the Danes, was rebuilt in 985 by Bishop Oswald, but was partially spoiled by William the Con- queror. At the Dissolution it was valued at 769 11s. 9rf., and the site granted by Edward VI. to Sir Thomas Sey- mour. In tho Domesday survey it is mentioned as Winchelcombe, at which time the town was incorporated by a charter of Edward the Confessor, and had 2 bailiffs, who were appointed annually by the lord of the manor, and 12 burgesses. The bailiffs continue to be chosen, but have long ceased to exercise jurisdiction. The courts leet and baron are held at Easter by John Dent, Esq., who is lord of the manors of Winchcombe and Sudeley. Petty sessions are held on the last Fri- day, and the county court on the first Monday in each month. The Poor-law Union of Winchcombe comprises 29 parishes, and the guardians meet weekly on Satur- day. The town consists mainly of three streets running from E. to W., and crossed by a few smaller streets. The houses are substantial, being built of stone, but generally old-fashioned. The principal buildings are the townhall, which has just been rebuilt, the union poorhousc, savings-bank, public reading-rooms, a me- chanics' institute, agricultural institution, and a branch of the Gloucestershire Banking Company. Great im- provements have recently been effected by the lighting and new sewering of the town. There are a silk factory, paper mills, flour mills, a tan-yard and skin-yard. Prior to the statute of Charles I., tobacco was largely cultivated in this district. The par. includes, besides the town, the chplries. of Greet and Gretton, and the hmlts. of Abbey Demesnes, Coates, Cockbury, Corndean, Langley, Naunton-with-Frampton, Postlip, and Sudeley-Tenements. There are several mineral springs. The principal seats are Toddington Abbey, the modern mansion of Lord Sudeley, about 3 miles from the town, and Sudeley Castle, erected by Ralph le Boteler, treasurer and lord high admiral in the reign of Henry VI. ; it was reduced to a mere wreck by the parliamentarians during the civil war, but the first quadrangle has been recently restored by William and John Dent, Esqs. Winchcombe gives name to a deanery in the archdeaconry and diocese of Gloucester. The living is a vie. in tho dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, val. with the cur. of Gretton annexed, 150. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. The Wesleyans and Baptists have chapels. There are two grammar schools, one founded by Henry VIII., called the King's School, for 10 boys, now united with the Townshend Charity school, founded in 1683, and the other founded by the Lady Frances Chandos, of Sudeley Castle, in the reign of James I., for 14 boys, natives of the town which number has recently been increased by the trustees to 24 boys. There are besides National and infant schools, the silk factory school, and Sunday-schools in connection with the Church, Wesleyan and Baptist chapels. The local charities, including the school endowments, pro- duce about 130 per annum. In the vicinity are the ruins of the Cistercian mitred abbey of Hailes, founded by Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans in the reign of John. Market day is on Saturday. Fairs are held on the '6th May for cattle, last Saturday in March and 28th July for cattle, and two statute fairs at Michaelmas. WINCHELSEA, a par., seaport, corporate town, and one of tho cinque ports, locally in the hund. of Guest- ling, rnpe of Hastings, co. Susses, but having separate