Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/783

Rh WELLS-NEXT-THE- SEA. 771 WELSTONE. the city of Wells, and the pars, of Binegar, Cranmore AVest, Cinder, Evercreech, Litton, Priddy, Westbury, and Wookey ; comprising 30,000 acres. WELLS-NEXT-THE-SEA, a par. and seaport town in the hund. of North Greenhoe, co. Norfolk, 4J miles X.W. of Walsingham, and 10 N. of Fakenham. It is a station on the Wells and Fakenham branch of the Great Eastern railway. This place is called in Domesday Book Guella. It is situated on a creek of the North Sea, which winds in a circuitous course for nearly 2 miles to the harbour, where the tide rises 21 feet. It was until re- cently much choked with sand, but has been improved. The quay, which was greatly dilapidated, has been re- built of Yorkshire freestone. There is good anchorage outside the harbour, in Wells Road, or Holkham Bay, in 3 fathoms water. A considerable coasting trade is carried on, and there are above 70 registered vessels of 3,100 tons, besides 20 fishing-boats, chiefly employed in the oyster and mussel fisheries. Ship -building is carried on, and there are breweries, malting -houses, rope-walks, machine-works, and several corn-mills. The population in 1851 was 3,651, and in 18C1, 3,464, but of the town, 3,098. It is not incorporated, but is governed >y commissioners appointed under a local Act. The streets are paved and lighted with gas, and many im- provements have recently been effected. It contains a custom-house, gas-works, two branch hanks, a public library, and theatre, and is a coastguard station. Petty sessions are held on the third Monday in the month, and courts lefjt and baron annually by the lord of the manor. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 870. The church is variously said to bo dedicated to St. Nicholas, St. Peter, and All Saints. The Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, Independents, and Society of Friends have each a chapel. There are National and infant schools, built by the Countess of Leicester in 1838. The local charities produce about 200 per annum. The market, formerly on Saturday, has fallen into disuse. A fair is held on Shrove-Tuesday oa the Butt Lands. WELLWOOD ROW, a vil. in the par. of Muirkirk, co. Ayr, Scotland. WELNETHAM. See WHELXETHAM, co. Suffolk. WELNEY, a chplry. in the par. of TJpwell, partly in the hund. of Clackclose, co. Norfolk, and partly in that of Wisbeach, Isle of Ely, co. Cambridge, 10 miles S.W. of Downham-Market. It is situated in the Bedford Level, on the river Welney. WELSH BICKNOR. See BICKNOR, WELSH, co. Hereford, and the like for WELSH HAMPTON, WELSH NEWTON, &c. WELSH BICKNOR. See BICKNOK, WELSH, co. Monmouth. WELSHPOOL, a par., market town, municipal and parliamentary borough, having exclusive jurisdiction, but locally situated in the hunds. of Pool and Cawrse, co. Montgomery, "J miles N. of Montgomery, 15 from Oswestry, and 18 from Shrewsbury. It is a junction station of the Cambrian, Shrewsbury, and Welshpool railway where the Shrewsbury branch turns off. It is in reality, though not in name, the capital of Mont- gomeryshire, containing the assize and sessions courts for the county and the militia head-quarters. Its original appellation was Trallum, and it was called by the English Welshpool, to distinguish it from Poolo in Dorsetshire. The par. is divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower, and includes Welsh Town, Pool, Llanerchy- dol, and 7 other tnshps. The limits of the municipal borough extend beyond those of the parish and parlia- mentary borough, to the distance of from 4 to 6 miles all around the town, the population in 1861 being respec- tively 7,304, 6,004, 4,844, having more than doubled since the commencement of the present century, when that of the parish was 2,295. It returned members to parliament from the reign of Henry VIII. to 1728, when it was disfranchised, but the privilege was partially restored by the Reform Act of 1832, which made it a con- tributory borough to Montgomery. It was first chartered by James II., and under the Municipal Reform Act is now governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 coun- TOL. III. cillors, with the style of " burgesses and bailiffs of the borough of Poole." Hero is Castell Coch, or Powis Castle, founded in 1109 by Cadwgan ap Bleddyr, and completed by subsequent princes of Powis-land. Having been dismantled by Llywelyn ap Jorwerth, it was again restored by Hawys, daughter of Owain ap Grufydd, under English protection, who> married Sir John do Charlton, created Baron Powis and Valectus Domini Regis. In their posterity the barony and estates con- tinued for several generations, but being conveyed by marriage to the family of Grey, of Hetton, were sold in the 29th year of Elizabeth to Sir Edward Herbert, second son of William, Earl of Pembroke, in the possession of whose descendants it still remains. The castle has been much altered and inodernised, but part of the walls are said to be of the 13th century. It occupies a situation on the summit of a rock which has been scarped so as to form a wall, the top serving as a terrace. From this point a view is obtained of the vales of Montgomery and Shrewsbury, with the Severn below, and from Powis Park are visible the summits of Plin- limmon, Cader Idris, Arenig, Aranmowddy, and Moel-y- golfa. In a detached building more recent than the castle are 60 or 70 paintings and portraits by the first masters, also an ancient painting in fresco brought from Pompeii, and a portrait of Lord Clive by Dance. The grounds, laid out by Capability Brown, still retain the parallel terraces and squared slopes, but the ancient waterworks and clipped shrubs are removed. The park extends to the town, and by the generosity of the noble owner is free to everybody to enter by a gateway which opens into the main street. The houses of the town are well built and uniform. The streets are well paved and lighted with I gas. There are the county hall, with a colonnade and pilasters of stone in front, and the market-house beneath, where the Eisteddfod was held in 1825 ; a savings-bank, dispensary, two branch banks, and gasworks. There are also malthouses, tanneries, breweries, and factories for W^elsh flannel, which is manufactured here. The Severn is navigable for small barges as far as Pool Quay, three miles from the town, and upwards of 200 miles from its confluence with the Bristol Channel. A canal joins that of Ellcsmere near Hordley, and ex- tends in the opposite direction to Newtown. A little to the N.E. of the town rises abruptly from the vale the rock of Moel-y-golfa, about 1,300 feet in height, and the Breidden, with an obelisk to Admiral Rodney on the sum- mit. Two miles to the N.E. on the opposite bank of the Severn is Buttington, where the Danes under Hesten were defeated by King Alfred in 894, and at Pool Quay was Strata Marcella Abbey. Welshpool is the seat of a new County Court, but belongs to the Montgomery superin- tendent registry district. Bishop Morgan, who trans- lated the Bible into Welsh, was once vicar. Tho living is a vie. in the dioc. of St. Asuph, val. 300, in the patron, of the bishop. The parish church, originally dedicated to St. Cynfelyn, but afterwards to St. Mary, was nearly rebuilt in 1774. It is placed at the bottom of a hill, the cemetery being nearly equal in height to that of the building, and the roof of the chancel is said to have been brought from the abbey of Strata Mar- cella. Christ Church, erected to commemorate the coming of age of Lord Clive, is on an eminence at the W. of the town, and is a donative in the gift of the Earl of Powis, with an endowment of 100. One of the most interesting objects is the sacramental chalice of pure gold, val. 170, presented in 1662 to St. Mary's church by Thomas Davies, Governor of the English settlements on the Guinea coast. There are 5 Dissenting chapels, a Middle school, and National, infant, and free schools with a small endowment, also a British school. The local charities produce about 180 per annum, chiefly from the rents of the burgesses' lands. Market day for provisions is on Monday. Fairs are held on the second Monday every month for horses, cattle, and sheep, &c. ; first Monday after 20th September for cheese and butter, and Monday before Christmas for cattle. WELSTONE, a tnshp. in the par. of Holywell, co. Flint, 2 miles from Holywell, and 10 E. of Si Asaph. 5 o