Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/858

Rh WITCHLING. 346 VTTHAM, SOUTH. Eynsford, co. Norfolk, 2 miles S.E. of Reepham. The parish comprises two estates, one belonging to Norman's charity school at Norwich, and the other to H. Postle, Esq., who farms the whole. The road from Norwich to Eeepham runs through the parish, which forms part of a high table-land, and is chiefly arable. The living is a rect. consolidated with Great Witching- ham. TLe church is dedicated to St. Faith. The register commences in 1565. WITCHLING, a par. in the hund. of Eyhorne, lathe of Aylesford, co. Kent, 2 miles N.E. of Lenham, 7 S. of Sittingbourne, and 5 from Teynham railway station. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Canterbury, val. 270. The church is dedicated to St. Margaret. Sir E. Filmer is lord of the manor and principal landowner. WITCOMBE, a hmlt. in the par. of Martock, BO. Somerset, 3 miles S.W. of Ilehester. WITCOMB MAGNA, a par. in the upper div. of Dudstone hund., co. Gloucester, 3 miles N.E. of Pains- wick, and 5 S.W. of Cheltenham. The village is situated on the line of the ancient Ermine Street, under Cooper's Hill, near the foot of which remains of a Roman villa, with a sacrarium, baths, &c., were discovered in 1818. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, val. 100. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. WITCOMB PARVA, a hmlt. in the par. of Badge- worth, co. Gloucester, adjoining Witcomb Magna. WITHAM, a div. of the hund. of Lexden, co. Essex, contains the pars, of Aldham, Chapel, Great Coggeshall, Earl's Colne,Eugain Colne, Wake's Colne, White Colne, Copford, Feering, Inworth, Markshall, Messing, Pattis- Tvick, Tey Great and Little, and Mark's Tey, uom- prising 29,820 acres. WITHAM, a hund. in co. Essex, contains the pars, of Bradwell, Great and Little Braxted, Little Coggeshall, Creasing, Fairsted, Faulkbourn, Hatfield-Peverell, Kelvcdon, Black Notlcy, White Notley, Rivenhall, Tolling, Ulting, Witham, and part of Great Loighs, comprising 37,830 acres. WITHAM, a par. and market town in the hund. of the same name, co. Essex, G miles N. of Maiden, 8 N.E. ofChelmsford, and 7 S.W. of Coggeshall. Itisajunotion station on the Great Eastern railway, where the branch line turns off for Braintree. Witham is situated near the confluence of the small stream called the Braine, or Podsbrook, with the Blackwater, and is the chief place of the hundred, to which it gives name. It is supposed to occupy the site of the Roman station Canonium, men- tioned by Antonine, on the road from London to Col- chester, and was rebuilt by Edward the Elder in 913, who fortified it against the Danes. The lordship of Witham was subsequently held by Earl Harold and, after the Conquest, by Eustace Earl of Boulogne, as part of the Honour of Bonanda. It received the grant of a market and fairs from Richard I., which were originally kept on Chipping Hill. The manor was given by Stephen to the Knights Templars, who had a preceptory at Crossing, about three miles distant, and on their suppression passed with their other possessions to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Tho assizes were hold here in 1568 : potty sessions are still held every alternate Tuesday at the police station, and manorial courts occur as occasion requires for the four manors. The population of the parish in 1861 was 3,455. The town is paved and lighted with gas, and is under the charge of a board of health, established in 1852. It is the head of a Poor-law Union, comprising 17 parishes, and contains the union workhouse, built in 1838 at a cost of near 7,000. The other public build- ings are a branch bank, savings-bank, lunatic asylum, police-station, and literary institution, with library of 800 volumes. The living ia a vie.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 473, and 103 acres of glebe, in the patr6n. of the bishop of Rochester. The original parish church of St. Nicholas, situated on Chipping Hill, near the double-ditched Roman camp, is a spacious structure of great antiquity, in the walls of which are many Roman bricks. It has been recently re-roofed. In the interior are many old monuments, with effigies of Judge Heathcote, and several painted windows. There ia also a new church, dedicated to All Saints, erected in 1842 at a cost of 5,000. Roman Catholics, Indepen- dents, Wesleyans, Baptists, and Society of Friends have chapels. There are National, British, and infant schools. The charities produce about 300 per annum, including the endowment of several almshouses, known as Ar- mond's, Bridge's, Harvey's, and Greene's. Market day is Tuesday, in the evening. Fairs are held or the Friday and Saturday in Whitsun, week, 4th June, and 14th September. WITHAM. See WYTHAM, co. Berks. WITHAM, FRIARY, a par. in the E. div. of the hund. of Frome, co. Somerset, 5J miles S.W. of Frome, its post town, 4 E. of Axbridge, and 14 from Wells. It is a station on the Wilts and Somerset section of the Great Western railway, where the East Somerset line turns off. The par. is situated on the river Frome, and contains the hmlts. of Gaer Hill, Bellerica, Holt, Rouse, Stubbs, and Drewley, besides the ext.-par. lib. of Charterhouse-on-Mendip, which last is in the bund, of Wintersoke. The soil is clayey, upon a substratum of soft limestone, which is burnt' into limej and in some places are found layers of hard stone with shells imbedded in it. There are remains of the mansion built about the middle of the 18th century by the Earl of Egremont, but destroyed by Mr. Beckford ; and traces of a monastery founded by Henry II. in 1181, and said to be the first establishment of Carthu- sians in England. Its revenue at the time of the Re- formation was returned at 227 Is. 8d., and the ruins were taken down in 1764. There is a kiln for brick and tile burning. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Bath and Wells, val. 105. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, St. John the Baptist, and All Saints, once formed part of the Carthusian priory. It has a groined roof, a nave with circular apse, and a tower, which was added in 1828, and is in ill-keeping with the original structure. Being in a dilapidated state, the church was repaired in 1828, and a new organ erected by subscrip- tion in 1859. The register commences in 1615. There are National and Sunday schools. The charities produce about 30 per annum. The Duke of Somerset is lord of the manor, which was a peculiar prior to 1826. WITHAM, NORTH, a par. in the wap. of Beltisloe, parts of Kesteven, co. Lincoln, 2 miles S.W. of Colster- worth, 8 S. of Grantham, and 4J S.W. of Corby railway station. The par., which includes the hmlt. of Lob- thorpe, is situated in a valley watered by the river Witham, and a little W. of the Great North road. The surface is hilly, and the soil clayey. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Lincoln, val. 520. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, contains three modern painted windows, several monuments, and a brass of Roland Sherard, dated 1592, and bearing an inscription in Latin verse. The Earl of Dysart is lord of the manor. WITHAM-ON-THE-HILL, a par. in the wap. of Beltisloe, parts of Kesteven, co. Lincoln, 4 miles S.W. of Bourn, 7 N. of Stamford, and 5 N. of Essendine rail- way station. The village is situated on an eminence near the river Glen. The par. contains the hmlts. of Lound, Manthorpe, and Toft. The soil is of various descriptions, upon a substratum of oolite and freestone. The living is a vie. * in the dioc. of Lincoln, val. 107. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew. The Wesleyans have a chapel. There is a free school, founded and endowed by James Thompson in 1719, for which a school-house has recently been built. The charities produce about 300 per annum, arising chiefly from the estate bequeathed for the support of the school and church. General W. A. Johnson is lord of the manor and principal landowner. WITHAM, SOUTH, a par. in the Wap. of Beltisloe, parts of Kesteven, co. Lincoln, 3 miles S. of Colster- worth, 10 S. of Grantham, and 6 S.W. of Corby rail- way station. The village is situated on the south- western border of the county at the river Witham's head. There are traces of a preceptory of Knights