Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/863

Rh WIVELSFIELD. 851 WOKING. Roman camp, and at Castle Hill of a Saxon one, near which Roman coins have been found. The market day is on Tuesday. Faira are held on the 12th May and 25th September for cattle and sheep, and on the last Tuesdays of February and July. Lord Ashburton is lord of the manor. WIVELSFIELD, a par. partly in the hund. of Street, rape of Lewes, and partly in that of Burley Arches, rape of Pevensey, co. Sussex, 4 miles S.E. of Cuckfield, and 2 N. of Burgess Hill station on the London and Brighton railway. The village is situated on an elevated spot nearly in the centre of the county, and contains the Sussex county Lunatic Asylum, erected in 1859 at a cost of 50,000. The asylum, which has a chapel annexed, is situated on Hayward's Heath, a short dis- tance from the vDlage, and about a mile S. of the Hay- ward's Heath railway station. It contains about 450 patients. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Chichester, val. 95. The church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The register commences in 1633. The Independents and Baptists have chapels. WIVENHOE, a par. and small town in the hund. of Lcxden, co. Essex, 4 miles S.E. of Colchester, of which it is the port. It is a station on theTendring branch of the Great Eastern railway. The town is built at the confluence of the rivers Roman and C'olne, and forms, with Brightlingsea and liowhedge, a part of the port . of Sandwich. There is a spacious quay where the larger vessels discharge their cargoes for Colchester. The greater portion of the male population are employed in the oyster and other fisheries, and as pilots. At the time of the Domesday survey the manor was held by Robert Gernon, as part of the manor of Stanstead Mountfitchet, and came through the De Batailes, Sutlons, and others, to the De Veres, Earls of Oxford, and subsequently to Roger Townsend. The manor now belongs to the Corsellis family, of Benson, in Oxfordshire. The principal seats are Wivenhoe Park and the Hall. Boat-building and ship-building are carried on. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 400. The church is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. The register commences in 1566. An extramural cemetery was opened in 1858. A fair is held on the 4th of September. WIVERTON HALL, an ext. par. place in the hund. of Bingham, co. Notts, 2 miles S. of Bingham, and 12 S.E. of Nottingham, on the river Smite, near the borders of Leicestershire. WIVETON, a par. in the hund. of Holt, co. Norfolk, 4 miles N.W. of Holt, and half a mile S.W. of Cley. The village is situated near the coast of the North Sea. The land is chiefly arable, with some woodland and heath. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Norwich, Tal. 207. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The register commences in 1717. There are National and Sunday schools. The charities produce about 250 per annum, principally the bequest of Ralph Greenaway in 1529. WIX. See WEEKS, co. Essex. WIXAMTREE, a hund. in co. Beds, contains the pars, of Blunham, Cardington, Cople, Northill, Southill, Warden, Willington, and part of Sandy, comprising 26,100 acres. Y1XFORD, a par. in the hund. of Barlichway, co. Warwick, 2 miles S. of Alcester, near the river Alne. The living is a cur. annexed to that of Exhall. The church, dedicated to St. Milburgh, contains a brass, date 1411, to Thomas de Crewe, and one of a priest. IXHILL, a limit, in the chplry. of Weston- under- lie, co. Salop, 3 miles E. of Wem. WOBURN, a par. and market town in the hund. of Manshead, co. Beds, 15 miles S.W. of Bedford, and 7 N. of Leighton-Buzzard. At Woburn sands is a station on the Bletchley branch of the London and Norlh- Western railway. The town occupies an eminence on the London and Leeds road. It has twice been nearly destroyed by fire, once in the 16th and again in the 18lh centuries, and consists of four broad streets nearly a quarter of a mile long, well paved and lighted. Near VOL. III. the centre of the town, at the intersection of Leighton and Park Streets, stand the townhall and market house, erected by the late Duke of Bedford in 1830, and adjoining is a fountain, or reservoir, for sup- plying water in case of fire, constructed at the ex- pense of the Duke of Bedford. The ducal seat, Woburn Abbey, was originally founded in 1145 by Hugh de Bolebec for monks, of the Cistercian order, but was given by Edward VI. in 1549, with a great part of the lands, to John, first Earl of Bedford. In the middle of the last century it was almost entirely rebuilt by Flitcroft, and has since undergone considerable altera- tions and enlargements. The principal state-rooms are in the W. front, which is of the Ionic order, 'and is approached from London by a faijade with Ionic three- quarter columns, surmounted by the ducal arms and crest. The library is 56 feet by 23 ; and the sculpture gallery, formed by the late Duke, 138 feet by 25, con- tains the group of the Graces by Canova, the Lanti, or Bedford vase, 13 Etruscan vases, and some of the finest works of Chantrcy, Westmacott, and Tliorwalsden, besides many specimens of ancient sculpturp, a collec- tion of paintings by the great masters, and upwards of 300 portraits. The park-farm, belonging to the abbey, is a school of scientific agriculture. There is a lite- rary and scientific institution, which holds its meetings at the townhall. Petty sessions for the hundred of llanshead are held weekly. The Poor-law Union of Woburn comprises 16 parishes, which form a separate superintendent registry, but are included in the Leigh- ton-Buzzard new county-court district. The living is a don. cur., val. 250. The parish church, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, and built by Abbot Hobbs, whom Henry VIII. hanged on a low pollard, still standing in the park, and known as Abbot's oak, was pulled down three years ago, and a cemetery chapel erected on the site. A new church, now (1868) nearly completed, has been built, at the cost of the present Duke, on a site nearer the abbey. There are chapels for Independ- ents and Wesleyans, and a free school for boys, founded in 1582 by Francis, second Earl of Bedford ; a similar school i'or girls, founded by the late Duke in 1825, and 12 almshouses for 24 widows, founded and endowed by John, fourth Duke of Bedford in 1672. Market day is on Friday. Fairs are held on 1st January, 23rd March, 13th July, and 6th October. WODEN-CROFT, a hmlt. in the tnshp. of Under- thwaite, par. of Ronald-kirk, North Riding co. York, 6 miles N.W. of Barnard Castle, near the river Tees. WOKEFIELD, or OKEFIELD, a tythg. in the par. of Stratfield Mortimer, co. Berks, 5 miles S.W. of Reading. WOKING, a hund. in co. Surrey, in two divs. : the first contains the pars, of Pirbright, Stoke-next-Guild- ford, Wanborough, Windleshiim, Woking, Worplesdon, and part of Ash ; and tho second, the pars, of East and West Clandon, East and West Horsley, Narrow, Ock- ham, Send, and Wisley; together comprising 52.560 acres. WOKING, a par. and market town in tho first d'iv. of Woking hund., co. Surrey, 3 miles N.W. of Ripley, and 5 N.E. ofGuildford. It is a station on the London and South-Westeru railway, which hero sends off a branch to Guildford and Portsmouth. The par., containing the market town of Woking, with Goldsworth, Kingfield, Heathside, Sutton, and 5 other tythgs. In tho Saxon times it formed part of the royal demesne, but was afforested in 1154 by Henry II., whose successor gave it to Alan, Lord Bussett, from whom it came to the Despencers, and on their attainder was given by Edward III. to Edmund of Woodstock. The munor was given by James I. to Sir E. Zouch, who pulled down the old palace to build Hoe Bridge Place with, the materials. About two miles down the river Woy are the ruins of Newark Abbey. The town stands on an acclivity near the London road, and on the western bank of the river Wey. There are a brewery, malt-house, and paper mills, and at Knap Hill is a convict prison recently built, and a retreat for decayed actors. In 5 p.