Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/748

Rh WALSDEN. 736 WALSHAM, NORTH. municipal borough in the hund. of South Offlow, co. Stafford, 8 miles N.W. of Birmingham, 6 E. of Wolver- hampton, and 119 N.W. of London. The town was for- merly confined to an eminence, but has of late years extended over the plain or marsh beneath. It is built on a email rivulet which runs into the Tame, is a place of considerable antiquity, and ranks as the second market and manufacturing town in the county. Queen Eliza- beth is said to have visited it in 1586, and signed a deed conveying a grant of land to the town. Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I., stayed here in 1643, on her way to join the king at Edgehill. Charles I. granted it a charter, which was confirmed by Charles II. The area of the parish is 8,182 acres, and the population in 1861 was 39,690, being an increase of 12,868 since 1851. The parish is divided into two parts Walsall Borough and Walsall Foreign. The population of the former in 1861 was 8,166 ; of the latter 31,524. There are numerous canals running through and by the town, and the South Staffordshire branch of the London and North- Western railway has a station there. A new direct line to Wol- verhampton is projected. The recent extension of Walsall is due to its proximity to a district abounding in coal, iron, and limestone. The manufactures here comprise saddlery, hardware, and coach ironwork, locks, bolts, and keys. There are also brass and iron foundries, chandelier and gas-fittinga manufactories, tanneries, and extensive corn mills. The town is throughout lighted with gas supplied from the corporation works in Wolverhampton-street, and draws a plentiful supply of pure water from the neighbourhood of Lichfield. There are large reservoirs connected with the waterworks near the Fleck. The corporation, which consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 17 town councillors, partly derives its revenues from lands and buildings within the parish, and from an estate at Bascote, in Warwickshire, which produces nearly J300 per annum. The Reform Bill of 1832 constituted Walsall a borough, and it returns one member. The townhall is in High-street : the old edifice, erected in 1734, has been demolished, and the foundation-stone of a new townhall and gaol was laid on the 24th of July, 1865, on the old site. The assembly-rooms are at the "George Hotel." The county court offices are in Lichfield-street, the public free library in Goodall-street, and the work- house at the Reck. In Littleton -street are swim- ming and private baths, erected in 1861, supplied with water from the limestone springs. There is a small hospital, called the Cottage Hospital, in Bridge-street. Opposite the grammar-school is a sheet of water sur- rounded by gardens, formed by the excavations for lime- stone. In the centre of the town is a square called the Bridge, the chief building in which is the "George Hotel : " in the centre is a clock and two cannons from Sebastopol. Walsall, which is in the dioc. of Lich- field and archdeac. of Stafford, has four churches. The parish church, dedicated to St. Matthew, stands at the top of High-street, and is approached by a steep ascent and a flight of steps. The church was rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, spire, and chancel, in 1821, and ia capable of seating 2,500 ; the annual value is 500. St. Peter's is in Stafford-street, val. 300, in the gift of the vicar. St. Paul's, the Bridge, is connected with the gram- mar-school and in the patron, of the governors, and the val. is 50. St. John's, at the Pleck, val. 112, is in the gift of the vicar. There are also within the parish churches at Walsall Wood and Bloxwich. There are numerous dissenting chapels in both the Foreign and Borough about seventeen in number, belonging to the Independents, Baptists, Wesleyans, Methodist Free Church, and Primitive Methodists. The Roman Catho- lics have two chapels at Walsall and one at Blox- wich. The free grammar school, in Lichfield-street, was rebuilt in, 1849. The school was founded by Queen Mary, and has one exhibition to Oxford or Cambridge. It is endowed with 298 acres of land, producing about 500 per annum. The old blue-eoat school has merged into a National school. The new pile of buildings in red and blue brick with stone facings in St. Paul-street was completed in 1850, and has accom- modation for 500 children, 40 of whom, according to the terms of the original institution, arc clothed and educated gratis. There are other schools, and nu- merous Sunday-schools connected with the different places of worship, and numerous small charities be- long to the poor of Walsall, consisting of doles of bread, clothing, &e. There are also the Harper and Mollesley almshouses, in Bath-street, for six and eleven poor women or widows respectively. The annual pro- ceeds of the Fiskley charity, about 50, is devoted to apprenticing the children of the poor. In Bath-street is an old burial-ground belonging to the parish church. The new cemetery is at the Pleck. A medicinal well, called Alum Well, a short distance from the town, was formerly noted, its waters being impregnated with iron. Quarter, county court, and petty sessions are held here. The borough magistrates sit every Tuesday and Thurs- day. There are quarterly meetings of the ironmasters. Walsall has a coroner, town clerk, recorder, and trea- surer, and there is an annual court-leet. There are two large branch banks in Walsall the Birmingham Bank- ing Company having an establishment in. High-street, and the Staffordshire Joint-Stock Bank one at the Bridge. The savings-bank has transferred its business to the post-office savings-bank. The principal land- owners are Lord Hatherton, Earl of Bradford, and Captain Mellish. There are three papers published here the Walsall Free Press, Saturday ; the Walsall News, Saturday ; and the Walsall Advertiser, Saturday and Tuesday ; the latter is for free circulation. The union county of Walsall contains the sub-districts of Walsall, Darlaston, Aldridge, and Bloxwich, being an area of 21,603 acres, and containing a population of 59,908. The county court jurisdiction comprises Aldridge, Barr, Bentley, Darlaston, Moxley, Norton, Pelshall, Rushall, Walsall, and Wednesbury. Tuesday is the market- day. There are three annual fairs on the 24th of February, Whit-Monday, and the Tuesday preceding Old Michaelmas Day ; and the races are held on tho Wednesday and Thursday following. The racecourse is near the railway station. WALSDEN, a hmlt. in the par. of Rochdale, hund. of Salford, co Lancaster, 5 miles N.E. of Rochdale, its post town, and 10 from Burnley. It is a station on the Leeds section of the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway. It is joined with Todmorden. There are cotton-mills, collieries, stone-quarries, and chemical works, which afford employment to the chief portion of the inhabi- tants. The soil is clayey, with a rocky subsoil. A portion, of the Roman road from Manchester to York passes through this parish. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Manchester, val. 150, in the patron, of the crown and bishop alternately. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. There is a parochial school for both sexes. J. Dearden, Esq., is lord of the manor. WALSHAM, a hund., co. Norfolk. It is mentioned in Domesday as Walesha, and contains the pars, of Acle, Beighton, Fishley, Halvergate, Hemblington, Moulton, Panxworth, Ranworth, Reedham, Tunstall, Upton, South Walsham, Wickhampton, and Wood- bastwick; comprising an area of 26,700 acres. WALSHAM-LE- WILLOWS, a par. in the hund. of Blackbourn, co. Suffolk, 5 miles N.E. from Ixworth, its post town, and 4 from Finningham railway station. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Ely, val. 93. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The parochial charities produce about 89 per annum, realised chiefly from town estate. There are schools for both sexes, and the Inde- pendents, Wesleyans, and Baptists have chapels. The Rev. T. B. Powell is lord of the manor. Near the church is an old mansion, formerly a cell subordinate to the Abbey of Ixworth. WALSHAM, NORTH, a par. and market-to ivn in the hund. of Tunstead, co. Norfolk, 14 miles N.E. of Nor- wich, and 25 N.W. of Yarmouth. It is situated on an eminence between the rivers Ant and Bure. It was once of more importance than at present, but was much damaged by a fire in 1600, when the market cross, built