Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/569

Rh CHICHESTER. 559 CHICHESTER, [o t:il,c in the greater part of tho two outlying Ins, wilh parts oi' St. Bartholomew and Rumbolds- . -Chichester possesses no manufactures, though iapling, tanning, and browing are earned on to extent; there are also several large malting lishmcnts, and great quantities of corn are sent thence to London and the West of England. Somo is also carried on in timber and coals. The port liichester is at Dell Quay, about 1 J mile from the 5 to the south of the city, connects it with the sea tit Chichestcr harbour. This canal is chiefly used to y cnals, but since the opening of the South Coast i y it lias been of much less importance. The eity asantly situated on a gentle eminence, a few miles 3. i.f tin Great Downs, and is nearly surrounded by all rivuli-t, railed the Lavant, which is occa-
 * a short canal, which joins the Arundel canal as it
 * lly dry in summer. AVithin the walls it is divided

y two principal streets, which diverge E., W., N., 3. from the market-place, whore is a fine octagonal lie cross, built by Bishop Storey in 1500. The -1)9 extend beyond tho walls, in the direction of the ipal streets. Tho city walls, which are of stone, are sed to have been built by tho Romans ; they are a mile and a half in circuit, and are lined with 1 1m in is, which have a singularly picturesque a-ance, the cathedral and spires being tho only ,s visible above them. Tho gates of the city wero [y removed in 1773. Chiehester is well built,
 * <.'d, and supplied with water. Most of the houses,

which are in general handsome, are built of brick and roofed with tiles. Tho streets are paved and lighted with L r as. There is a local police, consisting of an in- >r, sergeant, and 6 men, and a recently-built station ! ie Chiehester division of the county police. The 'uti'ni, iu 1831, was 8,662, inhabiting 1,653 houses, which in 1861 had decreased to 8,059, with 1,601 in- i'lus building, with council chamber and spacious nbly-rooins ; a guildhall, an ancient structure, once the chapel of the monastery founded in 1233, by William of Arundel; a gaol, built in 1783, now used as >lice station; a corn exchange, with extensive arii.-s and warehouses attached; a custom-house,
 * <(! houses. Tho city contains a townhall, a com-
 * i.t-house, theatre, barracks, assembly-rooms, two
 * , a savings-bank, a literary and scientific institu-

. possessing a library of 3,000 volumes ; a dis- pensary ; and tho Union poorhouso. Townshend's iron- foundry is an establishment of considerable importance, and there are extensive gas-works. Chichester Poor- law Union comprises nine parishes, with an area "f 1,GSO acres. Chiehester is tho polling-place for West ' x, and the head of a new County Court district, rising the registries of Westbournc, West Hamp- . and Chichestcr. Tho government of the city is lated by a charter granted by James II., and vested in 6 aldermen and 18 councillors, one of whom i mayor. The cathedral, tho great ornament of the city, is a noble Gothic structure, built originally of wood in the form of a cross. It was founded in 1108, by Bishop Ralph, on tho site of a monastery, of which a Xorman doorway remains; it was burnt in 1114, re- built in 1123, and being again partly burnt with the, was restored in 1 187, by Bishop Seffrid. The spire, which was reckoned one of the most graceful in England, was built in 12.50, about the lime of Salisbury Cathedral. It was struck by lightning in 1721, but repaired, so that it lasted till February, 1861, when it fell down. Mr. lieanland, of Halifax, has contracted to re-erect pire for 37,846 ; out of which tho foundations, which are already completed, have cost 6,000. The !| feet, from N. to S. 150 feet ; tho transept is 129 feet i long by 34 feet wide ; and tho nave and> aisles are 97 feet wide. Tho building is remarkable for having double side aisles, and exhibits almost every variety of 3 Gothic architecture. Tho restoration commenced in I 1830, and is continued at intervals. In the S. tran- I aept are some curious old paintings, formerly attributed to Holbein, though now generally supposed to bo by Bernard!. There are also portraits of kings from William tho Conqueror to George I., and of bishops to tho Reformation. There is a Saxon chest in the sacristy, where are some fine oak stalls, and a beautiful Gothic chantry to St. Richard. Tho cloisters, which are about 120 feet by 100 feet, contain, among other monuments, one to Chillingworth, the controversialist, who died in 1643, after having been taken prisoner at Wardour Castle; he lies buried in the transept of the church. The tran- sept windows, of the date of the early part of the 14th century, were put up by Bishop Langton, who built tho chapter-house and tho bell tower, which is 120 feet high. The stalls and screen were built between 1508 and 1536, by Bishop Sherburno, who also erected the episcopal palace and its chapel. This last is supposed to stand on tho site of a IJomaii villa. The palace was repaired in 1800, and contains some fine pictures and specimens of stained glass. There are many very interesting monuments, besides several brasses, in Chichester Cathe- dral, including a brass of W. Bradlyngc and wife, dato 1546 ; monuments to bishops Langton and Sherburno, tmd to the poet Collins, a native of this city, who died in 1759 ; this last monument is the work of Flaxman; Huskisson has also a monument, by Crewe. Thero still remain broken effigies of celebrated characters, which wero injured by the soldiers of Sir William Waller's army, who also destroyed the E. window of the cathedral. The deanery was built by Sherlock, tho then Dean of Chichester. Besides the cathedral, there are ten parish churches. Tho livings vary in val. from 110 to 45, six of them being in the gift of the dean and chapter : All Saints, called also the Pallant or Pala- tinate ; St. Andrew's ; St. Bartholomew's ; St. Martin's ; St. Olave's ; St. Paul's ; St. Peter the Less ; St. John's, New Town, formerly called the Blackfriars ; St. Pan- eras; and St. Peter's the Great, otherwise tho Sub- deanery. This last is the most modern of all tho churches in tho city ; it was erected in 1852, and is a large, handsome stone building, in tho style of tho 14th century, capable of accommodating 700 persons. Up to the consecration of this (new) church tho parochial services were conducted within the N. transept of tho cathedral. This important parish of St. Peter's the Great, otherwise the Subdeanery, embraces about one-half of the entire population of tho city of Chichester, and its registers date so far back as 1558. The history of tho connection between the subdeanery and the parish is thus traced by Dr. Lushington, in thejudgment delivered by him in the Arches Court, August 5th, 1862, in the case of Braithwaite v. Hook : " There certainly seems to have been a time when the vicar was not subdean, and the parish not called the subdeanery. In the taxation of Pope Nicholas in 1291, the parish is called 'St. Peter's the Great' only, not 'otherwise the Subdeanery.' Again, in 1397, at the visitation of Bishop Rede, there presented themselves ' parochiani ' of ' St. Peter's the Great,' without tho addition of ' otherwise the Subdeanery,' and this, though that visitation was held at the altar of the subdean. But in 1481 it is recorded that at the visita- tion of Bishop Storey there appeared, amongst others, two persons, one Simon Moleyns, tho Subdean, tho other John Willoughby, called tho Rector of St. Peter's tho Great. So then the vicarage and the subdeanery were originally distinct. When they wero first filled by tho same person is not known; but as far back as 1481 it appears that the N. transept, being used as the parish church, was styled ' Ecclcsia Subdecanatus ; ' the parish was called the parish of St. Peter's the Great, otherwise the Subdeanery, and the vicar after his institution went by the title of subdean." Prior to the fall of tho tower and spiro the subdean (as such) had his stall in the choir of tho cathedral, bearing this inscription upon it " Subdecani ; " and his seal, with the impres- sion on it, "S. Subdecani Ciccstrie," is, at the present time, in tho British Museum. There are chapels for Roman Catholics, Calvinists, Unitarians, Wesleyans, Independents, Baptists, and tho Society of Friends. There are numerous schools, including a grammar school
 * extreme length of the cathedral from E. to W. is 407