Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/786

Rh WENDROK 774 WENN, ST. to Aylesbury in returning two members to parlia- ment. The population in 1861 was 1,932. The soil is principally clay and chalk, and the greater part of the land arable. In the immediate vicinity are the hills of Boddington, Backham, and Coombe, command- ing views, which embrace St. Paul's cathedral, London, 35 miles distant. It gives name to a deanery in the archdeaconry of Berks and dioc. of Oxford. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 270, with 80 acres of glebe, in the patron, of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, contains a font pre- sented by Robert Fox, and several tablets to the Stace family. The old chapel of St. John was taken down about a quarter of a century ago to afford a site for the infant school. There are chapels for Independents and general Baptists, and National schools partially en- dowed by "VVilliam Hill in 1723, and two infant schools. The parochial charities, including Hill's bequest, pro- duce about 250 per annum. Chequers, Sir R. G. Russell, Bishop of Wendover, and Roger de Wendovcr, the historian, were born here. Market day is on Tues- day. Fairs are held on the 13th May and 2nd October. WENDRON, a par. in the W. div. of Kerrier hund., co. Cornwall. It is situated in a rich mineral district, and comprises the borough and market town of Ilelston. WENDY, a par. in the hund. of Armingford, co. Camhridge, C miles N.W. of Royston, its post town and railway station, and 11 S.W. of Cambridge. The village is situated near the river Rhea. It is supplied with water by artesian wells. The soil is loamy. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Ely, val. with Shingay annexed, 200. The school, founded and endowed by Thomas Windsor in 1828, was rebuilt in 1858. The parochial charities produce about 35 per annum. WENHAM, GREAT and LITTLE, two pars, in the incorporation and hund. of Samford, co. Suffolk, 4J miles S.E. of Hadleigh, and 8 S.W. of Ipswich. At Little Wenham the old seat of the Brewes family, which affords the earliest example of the use of Flemish brick extant, is now converted into a granary. The living of Great Wenham is a rect.,* val. '250, in the patron, of the Bishop of Norwich, and that of Little Wenham, also a rect., consolidated with that of Capel St. Mary. The church of the former parish, dedicated to St. John, has a brass, double canopied, and the latter, an ancient struc- ture of the 13th century, contains memorials of the Brewes family. The registers date respectively from 1G43 and 1558. WENHASTON, a par. in the hund. of Blything, co. Suffolk, 1J mile S.E. of Halesworth. It comprises the limit, of Mells, and is bounded on the N.E. by the navi- gable river Blythe. The living is a vie. in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 150. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, contains monuments to the Leman family, who formerly had a seat here. There is a Wesleyan chapel, and a school partially endowed. The charities produce about 75 per annum, including 55 from town estate, now applied to the church. WENLOCK BOROUGH, a lib. in co. Salop, contains the pars, of Barrow, Benthall, Broseley, Prior's Ditton, Monk Hopton, Hughley, Linley, Madeley, Posenhall, Little Wenlock, Much Wenlock, and Wiiley, compris- ing 30,540 acres. The other liberties, comprising Badger, Beckbery, Deuxhill, Eaton, and Stoke St. Milborough, are now parts of Brimstree, Munslow, and Stottesden hunds., but are included in the parliamentary borough of Wenlock. WENLOCK, LITTLE, a par. in the Wenlock Borough, co. Salop, 5 miles N.E. of Much Wenlock, and 3 S. of Wellington railway station. The village is situated under the Wrekin. There are collieries, iron- mines, and extensive limestone quarries. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Hereford, val. 550. The church is dedicated to St. Lawrence. WENLOCK, MUCH, a par., market town, municipal and parliamentary borough, locally in the franchise of Wenlock Borough, co. Salop, 12 miles S.E. of Shrews- hury, and 5 from Ironbridge. It has a station on the Severn Valley branch of the Great Western railway. It is supposed to have been the site of the British station Lltm Meilein. In 680 the Saxon princess Milburga, daughter of King Merwald, built a monastery here, which, having been several times destroyed by the Danes, was refounded in 1080 by Roger Earl Warine as a Cluniac abbey. The extensive ruins include parts of the nave, S. transept and choir of the church, and remains of the lady-chapel, cloisters, Norman chapter-house, and the prior's lodge. At the Dissolution its revenues were valued at 401, and the site given to theLawleys, from whom it came through the Berties and Gages to the Wynns, from whom it was purchased by J. Milnes Gaskell, Esq., M.P. and lord of the manor for the tnshp. of Wenlock. The town is situated on the road from Shrewsbury to Bridgnorth, under an extensive moun- tainous ridge of limestone rock, called Wenlock Edge. It contains the guildhall, an antique structure supported on oak pillars, and fitted with carved oak furniture, re- stored in 1848 at a cost of 1,000 ; the corn exchange, with the agricultural library and reading-room, erected in 1852 at a cost of 1,400 ; a savings-bank, commercial bank open for-business on Mondays and Thursdays, ex- cise office, a museum, farmers' club, police station, and timbered market house. The trade of the town is chiefly in agricultural produce, and business is done in malt- ing, tanning, lime-burning, &e. The population of the town is about 1,500. It was incorporated by Ed- ward IV., and under the Municipal Act is the head of an incorporation union composed of Broseley, Dawley, Madeley, and Much Wenlock, which are divided into three wards and governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors, with the style of "burgesses of the borough of Wenlock." The municipal revenue is about 600. The borough has returned two members to par- liament from the reign of Edward IV. The borough' quarter sessions are held at the guildhall before the recorder, and petty sessions fortnightly at Wenlock, Mjidelcy, and Broseley alternately. There is also a court of record for the borough, and a court-leet for the manor. Races take place in the last week of July, on an oval course of a mile, near the town. Wenlock gives name to a deanery in the archdeaconry of Salop and dioc. of Hereford. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Hereford, val. 380. Tho church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was restored in 1853. There is a chapel-of- ease at Burton. The Wesleyans and Primitive Me- thodists have chapels. The parochial charities produce about 40 per annum, including 15, the endowment of Southern's school. There are National and infant schools, erected in 1848. The Lawleys of Escrick Park, Yorkshire, have estates in the parish, and take the title of baron from this place. Marlcet day is on Monday. Fairs are held on the second Monday in March, 12th May. 5th July for sheep, 17th October, and 4tlr Decem- ber for cattle, sheep, pigs, &c. WENNINGTON, a par. in the hund. of Chafford, co. Essex, 6 miles S.E. of Romford, and 2 from the Rainham station of the Tilbury and Southend branch of the Great Eastern railway. It is situated near the river Thames, along the banks of which extends a considerable tract of marsh land. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 400, in the patron, of the bishop. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. WENNINGTON, a tnshp. in the par. of Melling, co. Lancaster, 6 miles S.E. of Kirkby-Lonsdale. It is a station on the Leeds, Settlej and Lancaster branch of the Midland railway. It is situated -on the Wenning Brook which joins the river Lune at Tarleton. WENNINGTON, a hmlt. in the pur. of Ripton Abbots co. Hunts, 5 miles N. of Huntingdon. WENN, ST. a par. in the E. div. of Pyder hund., co Cornwall, 4 miles N.E. of St. Columb-Major. It if mentioned in Domesday survey as San Wemt. The par., which is intersected in the northern part by the river Camel, includes the vil. of Treganetha. Tho living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 130. The church, dedicated to St. Wenn, was rebuilt in 1830, with the ex- ception of the tower, which has been damaged by light- ning. The Wesleyans have a chapel, and there are