WOLSTANTON. 853 WOLVERHAMPTON. Sonth, and Park Quarters. The town, which is irregu- larly built, is situated on the Lobley-Hill road, between Durham and Stanhope, at the point where the Weserow, or Waskerley stream, joins the Wear, here crossed by a stone bridge of one arch. The streets are well paved and lighted, and some of the houses are superior. The townhaU, situated in the market-place, was built in 1824, but subsequently enlarged. There are also a police station, post-office, and railway station the last on the other side of the Wear bridge. The manufac- ture of woollen cloth, edge-tools, and agricultural im- plements is carried on, and many of the inhabitants are employed in the neighbouring coal, lead, iron, and lime- Itone works. The Sunnyside lead and ironstone mines are situated on the S. bank of the river Wear ; and since they were leased to Colonel Deering & Co., in 1856, have been greatly developed by the company, which is on the cost-book system, and is divided into 6,000 shares. At Holywell is a strong chalybeate spring, and at Bradley Hall a sulphur spring. The county magistrates hold petty sessions for the division every Tuesday, and a county court once a month. A court leet and baron is also held twice a-year under the Bishop of Durham, as lord of the manor. In the tTpper Town are remains of Pudsey Palace. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Durham, gross val. 1,200, net income 800, in the patron, of the Bishop of Chester. The church, dedicated to St. Matthew, was rebuilt in 1848, with the exception of the tower. The register commences in 1656. The Roman Catholics, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Particular Bap- tists have chapels. The grammar school, founded in 1613, was rebuilt in 1786. The endowments, bequests, and charities produce together about 175 per annum. Market day is on Tuesday for corn, &c. Fairs are held on the Tuesdays preceding the 1st and 31st March, loth September, 2nd and 29th October, 23rd November, and on the 1st October the last being for cattle, and statute fairs for pedlery and liring servants on the 12th May and 21st September. WOLSTANTON, a par. in the N. div. of Pirehill hund., co. Stafford, 1J mile N.E. of Newcastle-under- Lyme, and 1 mile from the Longport station of the North Staffordshire railway. It is situated in the heart of the potteries, adjoining Burslem, and is intersected by the Grand Trunk canal. It contains the tnshps. and vils. of Brieryhurst, Chatterley, Chell, where is situated the Union workhouse, Wolstanton and Burslem, Ches- terton, Knutton, Oldcott, Eanscliff, Stadmoreslow, Thursfield, Tunstall, and Wedgewood, with the chplries. or ecclesiastical districts of Chesterton, Kidsgrove, Golden Hill, Mow-Cop, and New Chapel, besides nume- rous small hmlts. The district abounds in clay, limo, coal, and ironstone. There are numerous factories of china, pottery, and earthenware, brick and tile yards, iron and steel works, engine works, cotton and silk mills. The population, which has nearly doubled in the last twenty years, was in 1861, for the whole parish 32,029, and for the township 1,842. The manor belongs to the duchy of Lancaster. The living, formerly a rect., is now a vie.* in the dioc. of Lichfielu, val. 450. The church, dedicated to St. Margaret, contains monuments to the Sneyd family, to whom the greal tithes were conveyed by Edward VI. The register commences in 1628. At Thursfield is a Latin and English free school, founded by Dr. R. Hulme, with an income of 90 per annum, and National and other schools in connection with the several places of worship. The North Staffordshire hounds are kennelled at the Beeches in this parish. It is the seat of a Superintendent Registry and of a Poor- law Union, embracing the pars, of Wolstanton and Burslem, but is divided between the Hanley and New- castle New County Court districts. WOLSTON, a par. and tnshp. partly in the Kirby, but chiefly in the Rugby, div. of Knightlow bund., co. Warwick, 5J miles S.E. of Coventry, 6 W. of Rugby, and 1 mile from the Brandon station of the London and North-Western railway, which here crosses the valley of the Avon. The Tillage is situated on the S. bank of the river Avon. The par. includes the hmlts. of Brandon, where are some silk mills, Bretford, and Mar- ston, and a farm called the Priory, formerly an alien cell to St. Peters-super-Dinan, in Normandy, but given to Coventry Priory by Richard II. The principal residences are Wolston Manorhouse, Heath Cottage, and Bran- don Lodge. On the S. bank of the Avon are vestiges of Brandon Castle, supposed to have been built shortly after the Norman Conquest by Geoffrey de Clinton. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Worcester, val. 500. The church, dedicated to St. Margaret, was repaired in 1860. The register dates from 1558. The Baptists have a chapel. At Wolston are National schools, built by subscription in 1858, and at Brandon is an infant school, supported by Mrs. Beech. The charities produce about 35 per annum. J. Beach, Esq., is lord of the manor of Brandon. WOLSTONE, a chplry. in the par. of Uffington, co. Berks, 5 miles S.E. of Great Fiirringdon. WOLTERTON, a par. in the S. div. of Erpingham hund., co. Norfolk, 4 miles N.W. of Aylsham, near the river Bure. The principal residence is the Hall, the seat of the Earl of Orford, which was rebuilt by Ripley, for Horace Walpole, and which contains a collection of paintings, including Rubens's rainbow landscape. The living is a rect. in the dice, of Norwich, val. with that of Wickmere, 500. The church, dedicated to St. Mar- garet, is in ruins. WOLVERDINGTON. See WOLVERTON, co. Warwick. WOLVERHAMPTON, a par., market, and union town, parliamentary and municipal borough in the hunds. of Seisdon, Cuttleston, and Offlow, co. Stafford, 16 miles S. of Stafford, and 12J N.W. of Birmingham. It is the largest town in Staffordshire, situated on an emi-' nence, and almost encompassed by canals, and provided with ample railway communication to all parts of the country. It has two direct lines to London 125J miles by the London and North-Western, and 141 J by the Great Western. The Birmingham and Liverpool canal passes through the town, and also the Staffordshire and Worcestershire, and the Wyrley and Easington canals. Wolverhampton is mainly indebted for its rapid rise and great prosperity to the mineral wealth in its imme- diate vicinity. The geological strata on which it stands are limestone, ironstone, and coal-beds of various thick- ss. To the S. and E. the iron and coal mines extend as far as Birmingham, and beyond Walsall and Dudley, over what is termed the " black country." It is esti- mated that ironstone to the amount of 1,000,000 tons is annually raised from the South Staffordshire mines, that about 600,000 tons are imported, and that 160 fur- naces are engaged in extracting the ore. The annual make of finished iron is about 850,000 tons, the produce of 2,100 puddling furnaces. The country on the N. and W. of the town affords many fine views the Wrekin and Stafford Castle forming conspicuous objects and is devoted to agriculture, the soil being rich and fertile. The par. of VVolverhampton comprises the tnshps. of Bilston, Bentley, Featherstone, Hatherton, Hilton, Kinvaston, Pelsall, Wednesfield, Willenhall, and Wol- verhampton. The area of the parish is 16,680 acres ; the population, according to the census of 1861, is 113,832. The area of the township is 3,008 acres, and
- he population 60,860, an increase of 10,875 since the
census of 1851. The number of inhabited houses in the township is 11,770, and uninhabited 1,069. The parliamentary borough includes Bilston, Sedgley, Wed- icsfield, and Willenhall. The borough was formed on the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832, and returns
- wo members. Wolverhampton received its charter of
incorporation in 1848, and is governed by a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 36 councillors. The borough consists of ! wards, and the council hold their meetings at the wnhall. The name of the town is a corruption of Wulfrunas Santune. Its original name was Hantune, or Hampton. Wulfrunas was added to it in the year 996, in honour of Wulfruna, sister of King Ethelred and wife of Aethelm, Duke of Northampton, who founded at Hampton a college for a dean and several prebendaries ; she also endowed the town with many privileges. Th
