Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/840

Rh WIMBISH. 828 WIMBORNE. ford, and Trowbridge to Westbury, Warminster, and Frome ; and a third branch, from Warminster to Salisbury ; a short line also goes from Reading to Hunge'rford. About 7 miles of the London and South- Western railway enters the county from London by Dean to Salisbury, where branch lines from Bishop- stoke and Basingstoke join. There is a new line from Salisbury to Yeovil, which is to be continued to Exeter. The main lines of road radiating from Devizes are that by Avebury and Silbury Hill to Swindon and Highworth, with a fork to Marlborough and Hunger- ford ; that by Calne and Bowood to Cirencester, with forks to Walmesbury and Cricklade ; that by Spy Park to Chippenham and Corsham ; that by Melksham and Bradford to Bath and Bristol, with a fork to Trow- bridge ; that by Earlstoke and Westbury to Warminster or Frome ; that by Market Lavington, over Salisbury Plain, to Heytesbury and Shaftesbury, with a fork to Wilton, Salisbury, and Southampton ; that by Rushall and Ludgershall to Andover, or by Amesbury to Stone- henge, Salisbury, and Winchester. The county forms two divisions, South and Norlh : of the former, the cathedral city of Salisbury is the capital, where the winter assizes and the parliamentary elections for the South Division are held ; and of the latter Devizes, where the summer assizes and the elections for the North Division are held ; these towns are also parliamentary boroughs, each returning two members, as do likewise Chippenham, Cricklade, and Marlborough ; while Calue, Malmesbury, Westbury, and Wilton each return one member to parliament; the whole of the above- named towns, except Wilton, are market towns, and most of them have public buildings and churches ; the other market towns, not being boroughs, are Amesbury, Great Bradford, Hindon, Market Lavington, Melksham, Mere, Swindon, Trowbridge, Warminster, and Wootton- Bassett. The Epiphany and Easter sessions are held at Salisbury, the Midsummer sessions at Warminster, and the Michaelmas at Devizes. The county is included in the Western Circuit, and in the South- Western Military District. Its government is entrusted to a lord-lieute- nant and eustos rotulorum, a vice-lieutenant, sheriff, and about 55 deputy-lieutenants, assisted by 250 magistrates. For ecclesiastical purposes it is included in the dioceses of Salisbury and Gloucester and Bristol, both in the province* of Canterbury. By far the larger part belongs to that of Salisbury, forming the archdeaconries of Salisbury and Wilts ; the former comprises the deane- ries of A-mesbury, Chalk, Salisbury, Wilton, and Wily ; and the fetter those of Avebury, Marlborough, and Pot- terne, aad until recently Cricklade and Malmesbury, but the two last were taken away by the Act 6 and 7 William. IV., cap. 77, by which they were annexed to the diot- of Gloucester and Bristol. It is divided into 28 hundreds, 17 Poor-law Unions, and 12 new County Court districts, comprising 336 parishes, besides 20 ecclesiatical districts. This county is distinguished for its xiumerous remains of antiquity ; of these the most conspicuous are Stonehenge, 2 miles west- ward of Amesbury ; Avebury, 5 miles W. of Marl- borough.; the vast earthwork of the Wansdyke, con- jectured to have been the northern boundary of the Belgse, rtretching across the county for nearly 20 miles from Bath to Marlborough ; the Eidgeway, another earthwork, or perhaps a Roman road, extending along the high chalk ridge north-eastward from Avebury into the adjoining county of Berks ; Grimsdyke and Bokerley dyke, about 12 miles in length, lying to the S. of Salis- bury ; Old Ditch, running from Knooke to Durnford ; the Julia Strata, Fosse Way, and other Roman roads ; numerous ancient encampments, tho largest and most noted of which are the fortifications of Old Sarum, in- cluding an area of nearly 30 acres ; Chidbuiy Camp, to theN.W. of Tidworth, covering 17 acres; Winklebury, or Vespasian's Camp, enclosing 39 acres ; numerous sites of British villages and consecrated places, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Salisbury Plain and the Marl- borough downs ; remains of the abbeys of Kingswood, Laycock, and Malmesbury, &c. WIMBISH, a par in the hund. of Uttlesford, co. Essex, 4 miles S.E. of Saffron- Walden, and 46 from London. The village is situated on the river Pant, and was a -place of some note in the time of Edward the Confessor. The par., about 16 miles in circumference, includes the hmlt. of Thunderly, which was annexed to it in 1425, having previously been a separate parish. The soil is principally clay, alternated with gravel. The living is a vie.* in the dioo. of Rochester, val. with tho cur. of Thunderly annexed, 300. The church, dedi- cated to All Saints, was injured by lightning in 1756, and then partly rebuilt. There are parochial and Sun- day schools. WIMBLEDON, a par. and suburb of the metropolis, in the W. div. of Brixtou hund., co. Surrey, 3 miles S.W. of Wandsworth, 4 N.E. of Kingston, and 7i from London by the London and South- Western railway, which intersects the parish, or 16J by the Wimbledon branch of the London, Brighton, and South Coast rail- way, both of which have stations here ; there is also a branch line to Epsom and Leatherhead. It is situated on the Wandle, a small brook which here joins the Thames, and includes the Common, a level tract of uninclosed ground, surrounded by seats of the nobility and gentry, and which is at present used for the annual contests of the Rifle Association. At the S.W. corner of the common is a circular encampment of 7 acres, called Caesar's Camp, surrounded by a single ditch, .which is still very deep and perfect. It is said to mark the site of an encampment of the Romans under Julius Cassar in 54 B.C., and to be the spot where Ethelbert, King of Kent, was defeated in 568 by Ceaulin, King of Wessex. The village, which is mentioned in Domesday survey as Wibbandun or Wymbandune, lies to the N.E. of the common, and consists chiefly of one street of good houses, with numerous seats and villas, including Wim- bledon Park, belonging to Earl Spencer, and Cotten- harn Park, formerly a seat of the Duke of Wellington, but now cut up into villa residences. The English Copper Company erected mills here, and there are calico print works. It is said that Queen Catherine Parr, after the death of Henry VIII., occupied a house in the village, now a school ; and Lord Burghley also resided here, and planted the avenue of elms on the common, near which is tho seat where Wilberforce was visited by Pitt, and the house in which Home Tooke died in 1812. The custom of Borough English prevails in the manor, of which Earl Spencer is the present lord. The living is a perpet. cur.* in the dice, of London, val. 500, from voluntary contributions, and in the patron, of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester, who are im- propriators. The church of St. Mary is a Gothic structure, rebuilt in 1843. There are besides two chapels-of-ease, viz., Christ Church, erected in 1859, and the Holy Trinity, in 1862. The parochial re- gister commences in 1513. The Wesleyans, Indepen- dents, and Baptists have chapels. There are National, industrial, and infant schools, also 6 almshouses, built in 1839 by subscription, and endowed with the interest of 1,000, the profits of a fancy fair held in the grounds of Wimbledon House. On digging in the grounds of Belvidere House in 1838, two figures of white marble, life size, were discovered several feet below the surface, one representing Summer and the other Winter. AVIMBLINGTON, a hmlt. in the par. of Dodding- ton, co. Cambridge, 3J miles S. of March. It is a station on the Cambridge, March, and Wisbeach branch of the Great Eastern railway. WIMBOLDSLEY, a tnshp. in the' par. of Middle- wich and hund. of Northwich, co. Chester, 2 miles S.W. of Middlewich. It is situated near the river Weaver, on the line of the London and North- Western railway. WIMBOLDS TRAFFORD, a tnshp. in the par. of Thornton-le-Moors, co. Chester, 4 miles N.E. of Chester. WIMBORNE, a hund. in the Shaston div. of co. Dorset, contains the pars, of Wimborne St. Giles and West Woodyates, comprising 3,090 acres. WIMBORNE, a par. in the hund. of Wimbome and