Walmer - Walsoken

Walmer (St. Mary)

WALMER (St. Mary), a parish, and a member of the cinque-port liberty of Sandwich, in the union of Eastry, locally in the hundred of Cornilo, lathe of St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 2 miles (S.) from Deal; containing 2170 inhabitants. The parish comprises about 885 acres, of which 372 are arable, 272 meadow and pasture, 114 in homesteads and gardens, and 100 sea-beach. Walmer-street, which is situated on the road from Deal to Dovor, is interspersed with genteel houses and marine villas; and, partly on account of its convenient position as regards those two towns, is much frequented during the season for sea-bathing. It is noted for the salubrity of its air, and for the fine prospects in its vicinity, over the Downs and the straits of Dovor to the French coast; but chiefly for the celebrated fortress Walmer Castle, erected by Henry VIII. at the same period with those of Deal and Sandown, for the defence of the coast, and now appropriated to the lord warden of the cinque-ports, for whose residence the principal apartments were fitted up some years since, and the fosse was converted into a garden. Since this appropriation, many handsome marine villas have been erected in the vicinity, and an esplanade has been formed; bathing-machines are kept, and a complete establishment has been opened of hot, vapour, and shower baths, with reading-rooms and every accommodation for visiters. From the esplanade is a delightful promenade to Deal Castle (the principal part of which is in this parish), commanding a splendid view of the sea, with the shipping in the Downs. In the village is a large brewery and malting establishment.

The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with the vicarial tithes; net income, £154; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church, which has been repaired, and the nave considerably enlarged, is entered on the west under a highly-enriched Norman arch; and there is a similar arch between the nave and chancel: in the burial ground are two remarkably fine yew-trees. Near the church is a deep fosse, with other vestiges of ancient intrenchments; and in the churchyard several stone coffins were discovered about 50 years since, supposed to have belonged to the Crowl family, of whom Sir Nicholas, in the reign of Edward I., erected a mansion in the village, of which there are still some remains. His late Majesty and the Queen Dowager, when Duke and Duchess of Clarence, resided at Walmer Castle in the summer of 1822; the Princess Amelia occupied for many years an old mansion in the village, and Her Majesty, Prince Albert, and the court, have resided at the castle for a short period.

Walmersley

WALMERSLEY, a township, in the parish and union of Bury, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 2¼ miles (N. by E.) from Bury, on the road to Haslingden and Burnley; containing, with the ecclesiastical parish of Shuttleworth, 4880 inhabitants. This township is situated on the east side of the river Irwell, and comprises, with Shuttleworth, 5056 acres, of which 582 are uninclosed; the surface is hilly and undulated, and the soil chiefly clay. Whittle Pike is in the township, and from its elevated summit may be seen, on a clear day, the estuary of the Mersey, near Runcorn. The population is for the most part employed in six cotton-mills, in some calico-printing works, and in grinding dye-woods. The Burrs cotton-works here, are the property of Messrs. Thomas Calrow and Sons, and are turned by two water-wheels of 40-horse power: these works were formerly in the possession of the Peels, and were carried on by them. There are also a colliery, and four stone-quarries. A district church dedicated to Christ, in the early English style, with a tower, was built in 1837, at a cost of £2300. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Trustees; net income, £110, with a house. The tithes of Walmersley have been commuted for £66, and the glebe here consists of 51 acres. In the township are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. William Grant, in 1842, left the interest of £400 towards the support of a national school.—See Shuttleworth.

Walmsgate

WALMSGATE, a parish, in the union of Louth, hundred of Hill, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 6½ miles (S. S. E.) from Louth; containing 84 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Louth to London, and comprises nearly 900 acres, tithe-free: the surrounding scenery is pleasing, and the seat of J. Whiting Yorke, Esq., here, commands some finely-varied prospects. The living is annexed to the vicarage of Burwell; and the church having fallen into ruins, the inhabitants attend that of Burwell.

Walmsley, Lancashire.—See Turton.

WALMSLEY, Lancashire.—See Turton.

Walney, Isle Of

WALNEY, ISLE OF, a chapelry, in the parish of Dalton-in-Furness, union of Ulverston, hundred of Lonsdale north of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 5 miles (S. W.) from Dalton; containing 921 inhabitants. This district, which is insular only at high water, is ten miles in length, and about one in breadth; and has a lighthouse on its southern extremity, a short distance from which is a rocky islet termed the Pile of Fouldrey, i. e. the island of fowls, where are the venerable ruins of a strong castle. There are several other small isles adjacent, the principal of which is Old Barrow, lying between this and the main land, opposite the small village and port of Barrow. Walney, which is stated to have been once covered with wood, is described by West, in his Antiquities of Furness, as lying on a bed of moss, which is found by digging through a layer of sand and clay, and in which trees have been met with. On the western side of the island were lately discovered a number of guns of various calibre, stone balls of from eight to twelve pounds' weight, balls of hammered iron, old swords, and other articles, supposed to have belonged to a wrecked vessel, of which a tradition has existed for several centuries. One of the guns measured ten feet in length; all were of wrought or hammered iron, and were provided with rings to allow them to be slung with ropes when fired, which shows that gun-carriages were not in use when they were made. The relics all lay imbedded in the sand and clay, at a place only accessible at low water. There are some remarkable intermitting springs of fresh water in the island. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £94; patron, the Vicar of Dalton.

Walpole (St. Andrew)

WALPOLE (St. Andrew), a parish in the union of Wisbech, hundred of Freebridge-Marshland, W. division of Norfolk, 8¾ miles (W. by S.) from Lynn; containing 565 inhabitants. This place derives its name from a great wall or embankment raised by the Romans to prevent the encroachments of the sea, and from an extensive pool of water formerly in the immediate vicinity: in a garden at the foot of the embankment, many Roman bricks have been discovered, and also the remains of an aqueduct formed of earthen pipes. The estuary in the neighbourhood, called Cross Keys Wash, has been rendered passable to Long Sutton, in the county of Lincoln, by a high embankment and a bridge, completed at a great expense, within the last few years. The parish comprises 2364a. 31p., of which 1500 are arable, 783 meadow and pasture, and the remainder roads and waste. Walpole St. Andrew and St. Peter together form one township, though for all ecclesiastical purposes they are perfectly distinct. The living is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's books at £26. 13. 4., and endowed by Lord Coleraine, in 1736, with the tithes of certain manors in this and the adjoining parish of St. Peter; it is in the gift of the Rev. C. H. Townshend. The tithes of the parish have been commuted for £657. 19., of which £399 are payable to the incumbent of St. Peter's. The church is an ancient brick structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower. Several chapels formerly existed in the township, dedicated respectively to St. Catherine, St. Edmund, St. Helen, St. James, St. Mary, and St. Thomas; but no vestiges of any of them are now remaining. There is a place of worship for Primitive Methodists. The poor have ten houses, and 85 acres of land, of which 43 are let in single acres to labourers, at a nominal rent.

Walpole (St. Peter)

WALPOLE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Wisbech, hundred of Freebridge-Marshland, W. division of Norfolk, 6 miles (N. E. by N.) from Wisbech; containing 1335 inhabitants. It comprises 6981a. 3r. 16p., of which 4154 acres are arable, 2785 meadow and pasture, and about 60 salt-marsh; the soil is various, and the scenery in some parts interesting. The living is a rectory, endowed with the tithes of certain manors in this and the adjoining parish of Walpole St. Andrew, by Lord Coleraine; valued in the king's books at £21; and in the patronage of the Crown. The tithes of the parish have been commuted for £2187. 16. 10., of which £1303. 16. 10. are payable to the incumbent of St. Andrew's; the glebe comprises 15 acres, with a good house. The church, which was erected in the reign of Henry VI., is an extremely elegant structure in the later English style, with a lofty square embattled tower, and a south porch of beautiful design; the nave is lighted by a noble range of thirteen clerestory windows on each side, and the whole edifice, both externally and internally, presents highly interesting details. A chapel of ease has been erected; and there are places of worship for Primitive Methodists and Wesleyans, Anthony Curton, in 1705, bequeathed a house and 60 acres of land, now producing a rental of £100, for the instruction of children of this parish, and of St. Andrew's. Almshouses for four widows were founded in 1630, by Robert Butler, who endowed them with 36 acres of land, now worth £83. 16. per annum; and W. Wake, in 1697, bequeathed to the poor a house and 39 acres of land, yielding a rent of £60.

Walpole (St. Mary)

WALPOLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Blything, E. division of Suffolk, 2 miles (S. W.) from Halesworth; containing 615 inhabitants, and comprising 1652 acres. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Church Patronage Society; net income, £82. The church is an ancient edifice, chiefly in the early English style, with a tower surmounted by a spire; on the south is a fine Norman doorway. There is a place of worship for Independents.

Walridge

WALRIDGE, a township, in the parish of Stamfordham, union of Castle ward, N. E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 4½ miles (N. N. W.) from Slamfordham; containing 4 inhabitants, and comprising 147a. 3r. 30p. The tithes have been commuted for £2. 17.

Walsall (St. Matthew)

WALSALL (St. Matthew), a parish, and the head of a union, in the S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford; comprising the market-town and newly-enfranchised borough of Walsall, 18 miles (S. E. by S.) from Stafford, and 118 (N. W.) from London; and containing 20,852 inhabitants, of whom 7395 are in the township of the old borough, and 13,457 in that of Walsall-Foreign, into which numerous streets of the town extend. This place is supposed to have derived its name, in various ancient records written Whaleshall and Walshule, from its situation in or near an extensive forest, resorted to by the Druids for the celebration of their religious rites, and in which the Saxons subsequently erected a temple to their god Woden, from which the appellation of the town of Wednesbury, in the vicinity, is deduced. In the early part of the 10th century, Walsall was fortified by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great, and Countess of Mercia, probably about the same time that she built a castle at Stafford. At the Conquest, it was retained by William, and continued to be a royal demesne for nearly 20 years, till given by that king to Robert, son of Asculfus, who had accompanied him to Britain. In the time of Henry III. it was held in fee-farm by William Rufus, and subsequently was owned by the Earl of Warwick, the "Kingmaker." Henry VII. and Henry VIII. afterwards possessed it, and the latter granted it to John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, on whose execution the manor was conferred by Mary upon the Wilbrahams, from whom it descended to the family of the present owner the Earl of Bradford. Walsall is not connected with any events of historical interest: Queen Elizabeth, in one of her tours through the country, visited it, and affixed the royal seal and signature at Walshale, on the 13th of July, in the 28th year of her reign, to a deed now preserved in the corporation archives, containing a grant of certain lands to the town. In 1643, Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I., remained here for a short time previously to joining the king at Edge-Hill; and Charles II., on his road from Boscobel to the coast, found an asylum at Bently Hall, about a mile distant.

The town is situated on the summit and acclivities of a limestone rock, and is watered by a small brook called by Erdeswick "Walsal water," which falls into the river Tame a little below the town. It contains several regular and spacious streets, in some of which are handsome houses of modern erection, many of them of a superior description. The environs are interesting, and contain some pleasant villas, and much beautiful and varied scenery. The town is well paved, and lighted with gas under the superintendence of the corporation, and is amply supplied with water. A subscription library was established in 1800; and a handsome edifice containing reading and news rooms, ornamented with a Doric colonnade 30 feet high, has been erected. The principal hotel, a very spacious building, has been beautified at a considerable expense, and is adorned with a fine portico formed of pillars that once belonged to Fisherwick, the noble mansion of Lord Donegal.

The chief articles of trade and manufacture are bridlebits, stirrups, spurs, saddle-trees, and every kind of saddlers' ironmongery; buckles, snuffers, spoons, and various other sorts of hardware; coach harness and furniture, plated ware, locks, chain-curbs, dog-chains, and other articles, some of which are brought into the town and sold by factors. Many mercantile houses have been established here, having an extensive business with America and other countries; and a considerable hometrade is of course carried on. A manufactory for Herbert's patent progressive corn-mills has been erected within four miles of the town, where one of these mills is in operation. There are several brass and iron foundries, of which the iron-foundry at Goscote is the most important, as well as the oldest, in the district; steamengines of every power, cylinders, and cannon, besides the various smaller articles of cast-iron, are founded here upon the most improved principles. A good trade is carried on in malt: in the vicinity are large limestonequarries; and some extensive mines of coal and ironstone, with both which the neighbourhood abounds, have lately been opened at the Birchills and near Bloxwich, causing the population to increase rapidly. The situation of the town, in the north-eastern part of a large mining and manufacturing district, gives it many advantages. A branch of the Old Birmingham canal, which comes up to the west end of the town, and the Wyrley and Essington canal, which passes within a mile north of it, now united, afford every facility of inland navigation; and about a mile distant, is the Walsall station of the Liverpool and Birmingham railway. In 1846 an act was passed for a railway from this station to Lichfield and Wichnor, 16¾ miles long. The market is on Tuesday and Saturday. Fairs are held on February 24th; Whit-Tuesday, a pleasure-fair; and the Tuesday before Michaelmas-day, chiefly for horses, cattle, and cheese.

The inhabitants enjoy several immunities by prescription. Henry I. bestowed upon them exemption from toll throughout England, and from serving upon juries out of the limits of the "borough and foreign;" and the guilds of St. John the Baptist, and of Our Lady, appear to have been ancient establishments, exercising various rights and privileges. The earliest existing charter of incorporation was granted in the 3rd of Charles I., and confirmed by Charles II. in the 13th of his reign. The government is now vested in a mayor, six aldermen, and 18 councillors, under the act 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76; the borough is divided into three wards, and the number of magistrates is nine. By the act 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, Walsall was constituted a parliamentary borough, with the privilege of returning one member: the right of election is in the £ 10 householders of the whole parish, with the exception of a small detached part: the mayor is returning officer. The recorder holds quarterly courts of session for all offences not capital; and the lord of the manor has an annual court leet, at which constables and other officers are appointed: the powers of the county debtcourt of Walsall, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Walsall. The town-hall is a handsome and rather ancient edifice, well adapted to its purpose. The common gaol, until lately a very small building, has been enlarged. The parish comprises about 7800 acres, of which about two-fifths are arable, and the remainder meadow and pasture.

The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10. 19. 7.; patron, the Earl of Bradford, who, with Col. Walhouse, is impropriator. The great tithes have been commuted for £445, and the small for £299: the vicar has a glebe of 33 acres. The church, an ancient and spacious cruciform structure, with several chapels in the aisles, was, with the exception of the tower and chancel, which latter has undergone several alterations, taken down and rebuilt in the later English style, in 1821, at an expense of £20,000. It occupies a commanding situation on the summit of the rock on which the town is built; and the tower, which is in fine proportion, and surmounted by a lofty spire, forms a conspicuous object in the distant view of Walsall. St. Paul's chapel, a handsome edifice in the Grecian style, was erected by the governors of the grammar school, who, having sold some mines under part of the land belonging to that establishment, in 1797, obtained an act of parliament for applying part of the purchase money to the erection of the chapel, which was completed in 1826. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the governors, who appoint the head master of the school to the office of minister; net income, £50. St. Peter's district church, erected in 1840, at the end of Stafford-street, on a site given by Lord Hatherton, is in the early English style, and contains 1141 sittings, of which 700 are free; of the cost, £3500, the Earl of Bradford contributed £1000. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Walsall, and is endowed with the interest of £2000, with a glebe-house. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, and Unitarians, and two Roman Catholic chapels, one of which is a handsome Grecian building.

The free grammar school, in Park-street, was established in 1557, by Queen Mary, who endowed it with land belonging to the guilds and chantries that had existed here previously to the Dissolution, and placed it under the control of certain governors, whom she incorporated. The income is about £780 per annum; and the premises, built a few years since, are substantial and commodious. Bishop Hough received the rudiments of his education in the establishment. An English school is maintained from the same funds, in the old school buildings in the churchyard. The Blue-coat charity school, which was endowed with £14 a year, has been incorporated with a national school: a national school attached to St. Peter's Church, erected at a cost of £600, was opened in 1840; and there is another at Walsall-Wood, partly supported by an annual grant of £35 from the governors of the grammar school. Some almshouses, founded by John Harper in the reign of James I., and endowed with land producing £40 per annum, were rebuilt in 1790 by the Rev. Mr. Rutter, then vicar, for the reception of six aged widows, among whom £10 per quarter are divided. Almshouses were erected and endowed in 1825, for eleven aged widows; to which purpose a dole of one penny, paid by the corporation to every person in the parishes of Walsall and Rushall, on the eve of the Epiphany, was appropriated. In the reign of Henry VI., Thomas Mollesley gave the corporation a manor and estates in the county of Warwick, which now constitute part of their extensive possessions. There are also numerous charitable bequests for apprenticing children, and for distribution among the indigent. The poor-law union of Walsall comprises 8 parishes or places, and contains a population of 34,274. Near the town is a powerful chalybeate spring called Alum Well, on the site of the ancient manor-house, of which the moat still remains.

Walsall-Foreign

WALSALL-FOREIGN, a township, in the parish and union of Walsall, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 3½ miles (N.) from Walsall, on the road to Lichfield; containing 13,457 inhabitants. It comprises the hamlets of Great and Little Bloxwich, Birchills, Coldmore, Horden, WalsallWood, and the Windmill-Streets, in the manor of Walsall; and Goscote, which is a manor of itself. The living of Walsall-Wood is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Walsall, and has a net income of £50, with a glebe-house. The church, dedicated to St. John, was built in 1837, at a cost of £1000, on a site given by the Earl of Bradford, who also contributed £300; the remaining £700 were obtained by grants from societies. It contains 430 sittings, all of which, with the exception of 88, are free. At Bloxwich is another incumbency.

Walsden

WALSDEN, an ecclesiastical parish, in the parochial chapelry and poor-law union of Todmorden, parish of Rochdale, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 5 miles (N. E.) from Rochdale; containing 3383 inhabitants. It lies on the road from Todmorden to Rochdale, and comprises 3398 acres, of which the soil is various, a large part moorland and pasture. The population is chiefly employed in factories, and there are also coal-mines and stone-quarries. The Rochdale canal and the Manchester and Leeds railway pass through. Todmorden and Littleborough are about equidistant from the village, in which it is contemplated to establish a post-office, owing to the increasing importance of the place. The district of Walsden was constituted in July 1845, under the act 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37; and in 1848, on the consecration of the church, became a parish conformably with the provisions of that act. The edifice is dedicated to St. Peter, and is in the early English style, having a nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower and spire 150 feet in height. A parochial schoolhouse, with a steep pitched roof, was completed in June 1848. Both buildings stand on the Henshaw estate, the property of John Crossley, of Scaitcliffe, Esq., M.A., who kindly presented the sites. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Crown and the Bishop of Manchester, alternately; income, £150.

Walsham-Le-Willows (St. Mary)

WALSHAM-LE-WILLOWS (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Stow, hundred of Blackbourn, W. division of Suffolk, 4½ miles (E. by N.) from Ixworth; containing 1265 inhabitants. The village is situated in a picturesque valley, and in the immediate vicinity are several handsome villas with grounds tastefully laid out. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £93; patron and impropriator, S. Golding, Esq. The church is a spacious structure in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower; the nave is lighted by clerestory windows, and the roof is richly groined. Here are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans; and a national school. At the inclosure, 100 acres of land were awarded to the poor, of which about 80 are let in small lots to them, with 30 more by Messrs. Wilkinson and Golding; there are also 50 acres for the repair of the church, and for distributing fuel and clothing among the poor. Near the church is an old mansion, formerly a priory subordinate to Ixworth Abbey, and in which, while under repair, several relics of antiquity have been found.

Walsham, North (St. Mary)

WALSHAM, NORTH (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, in the union of Erpingham, hundred of Tunstead, E. division of Norfolk, 15 miles (N. N. E.) from Norwich, and 124 (N. E. by N.) from London; containing 2655 inhabitants. In the year 1600, nearly the whole of this town was destroyed by a fire, which, although it continued but three hours, consumed property of the value of £20,000. It is situated on an eminence, on the road from Cromer to Norwich, and consists of three streets diverging from a central area, in which stands the church; the town is paved, and lighted with gas, and the inhabitants are well supplied with water. A canal passes through the parish, a short distance north-east of the town, in its course from Antingham; and the river Ant, not far distant, is navigable to the sea at Yarmouth. The market, which is chiefly for corn, is on Thursday: a fair is held on the day before and on Holy-Thursday, for cattle and horses; and statute-fairs for hiring servants take place on the two Thursdays before Old Michaelmas-day. The market-cross, erected by Bishop Thirlby in the reign of Edward VI., was repaired after the great fire in 1600, by Bishop Redman. Two courts baron occur annually, one of the Bishop of Norwich, and the other of Lord Suffield; and the magistrates hold petty-sessions every Thursday. The powers of the county debt-court of North Walsbam, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Tunstead and Happing, and part of that of Erpingham. The parish comprises 4172a. 37p., of which about 400 acres are pasture and gardenground, 150 woodland and plantations, and the remainder arable, with the exception of 200 acres not yet brought into cultivation.

The living is a vicarage, with the rectory of Antingham St. Margaret annexed, valued in the king's books at £8; net income, £336; patron and appropriator, the Bishop: the glebe comprises 2 acres, with a house. The church is a spacious and elegant structure, chiefly in the later English style; on the south side of the chancel are three sedilia of stone, and a piscina of elegant design. The tower, which was 147 feet high, fell down in the year 1724, and is in ruins. In the chancel is a monument to Sir William Paston, Knt., a native of the town, and founder of the free grammar school; it was erected during his life, and is surmounted by a recumbent figure in armour. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Primitive Methodists. The grammar school was instituted in 1606, for the education of 40 sons of residents in any of the hundreds of North and South Erpingham, Happing, Tunstead, and Flegg; and was endowed by the fotinder with the rents of certain estates at Horsey and Walcot, to the amount of £250 per annum. The school contains a good library, bequeathed by the Rev. Richard Berney, in 1787; and a monthly lecturer receives £12. 12. per annum out of the school funds. Archbishop Tenison, Bishop Hoadly, and Admiral Lord Nelson received the rudiments of their education in the establishment. A national school is supported; and £30 per annum, the rent of an allotment of waste land, is expended among the poor. About a mile south of the town is a stone cross, erected to commemorate a victory obtained in 1382, by Spencer, Bishop of Norwich, over some rebels headed by a dyer named Litester.

Walsham, South

WALSHAM, SOUTH, in the union of Blofield, hundred of Walsham, E. division of Norfolk, 3 miles (N. W. by W.) from Acle; comprising the parishes of St. Lawrence and St. Mary, and containing 613 inhabitants, of whom 388 are in St. Mary's. This district is bounded on the north by the river Bure. It was anciently of more importance than at present, and during the prosperity of St. Benedict's Abbey on the opposite side of the river, the town was of tolerable extent; after the dissolution of that establishment it fell into decay, and subsequently degenerated into a mere village. The parish of St. Lawrence comprises 1805a. 29p., and that of St. Mary 1250a. 32p. The living of St. Lawrence's parish is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8., and in the gift of Queen's College, Cambridge. The tithes have been commuted for £22. 6. payable to the Bishop of Ely, and £486. 10. to the rector; the glebe comprises 57½ acres, and the parsonage-house has been greatly improved by the present rector, the Rev. J. Toplis, B.D. St. Mary's is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5, and in the patronage of the Trustees of the Old Men's hospital at Norwich, who are impropriators. The great tithes have been commuted for £270, and the vicarial for £159. 16.; the glebe comprises 36 acres, with a small house. The church of St. Lawrence, in the same churchyard as that of St. Mary, and which had been repaired at an expense of £850 in 1811, was destroyed by an accidental fire in 1827; the chancel was repaired and enlarged in 1832, and opened for divine service, but the tower and nave are still in ruins. St. Mary's church is a handsome structure in the decorated and later English styles, with a square embattled tower. Richard Harrold, in 1718, bequeathed property now let for about £20 per annum, for apprenticing children; and £34 a year, the rental of some waste land awarded under an inclosure act in the 41st of George III., are expended among the poor.

Walshford.—See Ribston, Great.

WALSHFORD.—See Ribston, Great.

Walsingham, Durham.—See Wolsingham.

WALSINGHAM, Durham.—See Wolsingham.

Walsingham, Great

WALSINGHAM, GREAT, a parish, in the union of Walsingham, hundred of North Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 1 mile (N. by E.) from Little Walsingham; comprising the ancient parishes of All Saints and St. Peter, and containing 426 inhabitants. This place, which is also called Old Walsingham, was formerly of considerable importance. The parish is situated in the valley of the Stiffkey river, on the road from Fakenham to Wells; and comprises 2407a. 2r. 24p., of which about 2250 acres are arable, 100 meadow and pasture, and 50 woodland: the scenery is pleasing. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £100; patron and impropriator, the Rev. D. H. Lee Warner: the tithes were commuted for land in 1808. The church is in the later English style of architecture, with a square embattled tower at the west end, and is remarkable for its fine proportions. In the year 1658, from 40 to 50 Roman urns were dug up in a field near the village; and coins of the same people have been frequently discovered.

Walsingham, Little (St. Mary)

WALSINGHAM, LITTLE (St. Mary), a parish, the head of a union, and formerly a market-town, in the hundred of North Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 28 miles (N. W.) from Norwich, and 114 (N. N. E.) from London; containing 1155 inhabitants. This place, sometimes denominated New Walsingham, was of great celebrity, for many centuries, as possessing a shrine of the Virgin, or Our Lady of Walsingham, founded in 1061 by the widow of Ricoldie Faverches, whose son, Sir Galfridus, confirmed her endowment, and established a monastery for Augustine canons. The institution became immensely rich, and at the Dissolution its revenue was £446. 14. 4., exclusively of the valuable offerings made by the numerous devotees of all nations who had visited the shrine, and which are said to have equalled those presented at the shrine of Our Lady of Loretto, in Italy, and that of St. Thomas à Becket at Canterbury. Among the illustrious visitants were several of the kings and queens of England, including Henry VIII., who, in the second year of his reign, walked hither barefoot from Barsham, to present a necklace to the image. The venerable remains of this once noble pile are situated in the midst of a grove of stately trees, in the pleasure-grounds of the Rev. D. H. Lee Warner, and contiguous to a fine stream of water, over which is a handsome bridge. They chiefly consist of the great western portal, a lofty and magnificent arch, 75 feet high, which formed part of the conventual church; the spacious refectory, 78 feet by 27, with walls 26½ feet in height; a portion of the cloisters; and a stone bath with two wells called St. Mary's, or the Wishing Wells, near which is a Norman arch with zigzag mouldings, removed hither from the adjacent mansion as an ornamental object. At Walsingham was also a house of Grey friars, founded in 1346 by Elizabeth de Burgo, Countess of Clare. The buildings occupied an area of about seven acres, and there are considerable remains of the refectory, cloisters, and other portions of the conventual edifice, some of the windows being nearly perfect.

The town is situated in a vale, surrounded by bold heights; the inhabitants are supplied with water from wells. A fair is held on the second Friday after WhitMonday, and statute-fairs on the Friday before, and the Friday after, Michaelmas-day. The general quarter-sessions for the county take place here by adjournment, and petty-sessions on the first Monday in the month: the powers of the county debt-court of Little Walsingham, established in 1847, extend over the registrationdistrict of Walsingham, and part of that of Docking. The Bridewell, or house of correction, which was anciently an hospital for lepers, founded in 1486, has been considerably enlarged. The parish comprises by measurement 976 acres, and the lands are watered by a small stream that flows near the town, and falls into the sea within a few miles. The neighbourhood was formerly noted for the growth of saffron. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £100, with a glebe of 9 acres, and a handsome house; patron, the Rev. Mr. Warner: the tithes were commuted for land in 1808. The church is a spacious structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower surmounted by a lofty spire: it contains a very ancient and beautiful font, of octagonal form, resting on a plinth of four ornamented steps, and representing, in compartments, the Seven Sacraments of the Church of Rome, and the Crucifixion. There are places of worship for Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans. The free grammar school was founded in 1639, by Richard Bond, who endowed it with £1040, which were vested in the purchase of an estate at Great Snoring, producing £110 per annum for the maintenance of a master and usher to teach 30 boys. Richard Brown in 1630 bequeathed £400 to purchase land, and William Cleave in 1665 gave the rent of 20 acres, together worth £ 100 per annum, for distribution among the poor. Lady Townshend left 6 acres, valued at £20 a year, for apprenticing children. The union of Walsingham comprises 50 parishes or places, and contains a population of 20,960. The place confers the title of Baron on the family of De Grey.

Walsoken (All Saints)

WALSOKEN (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Wisbech, hundred of Freebridge-Marshland, W. division of Norfolk; containing 2562 inhabitants. It comprises about 4500 acres. The village, which joins the town of Wisbech by a bridge over a canal, is about a mile in length; the surrounding scenery is pleasingly varied, and the walks are much frequented. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £30. 13. 4., and in the gift of the Rev. W. Crockford: the tithes have been commuted for £1234, and the glebe comprises 30 acres, with a house. The church is chiefly in the Norman style, with an embattled tower surmounted by a lofty spire of early English character. The nave is embellished with well-sculptured figures of David and Solomon, and an interesting painting representing the Judgment of the latter; the chancel is divided from the nave by a finely-pointed arch, and at the extremity of each aisle is a chapel. The Primitive Methodists have a place of worship. Land producing £70 per annum has been bequeathed to the poor. Archbishop Herring was born here.