Whaddon - Whatton, Long

Whaddon (St. Mary)

WHADDON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Winslow, hundred of Cottesloe, county of Buckingham, 4¼ miles (S. by E.) from Stony- Stratford; containing, with the hamlet of Nash, 910 inhabitants, of whom 544 are in Whaddon township. A small priory of Benedictine monks, in honour of St. Leonard, was founded in this parish, at Snelleshall, prior to the time of Henry III., by Ralph Martel, and at the Dissolution had a revenue of £24. The prior, in 1227, obtained the grant of a market on Thursday, long since disused. Whaddon Hall was the seat of Arthur, Lord Grey, who was honoured in 1568 by a visit from Queen Elizabeth, then on her Buckinghamshire progress: Spenser the poet, his lordship's secretary, was frequently here. It was purchased and occupied about a century ago by Browne Willis, the antiquary. An act was passed in 1841, for allotting certain portions of land in the county, in lieu of the common right on Whaddon Chace. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10; net income, £152; patrons and impropriators, the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford. A charity school was founded by Mr. Coare, who endowed it with £10 per annum. Dr. Richard Cox, Bishop of Ely, an eminent champion of the Reformation, and one of the principal composers of the Liturgy, was born in the parish in 1499. It gave the title of Baron, the first conferred upon him, to Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the favourite of James I. and Charles I.

Whaddon (St. Mary)

WHADDON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Royston, hundred of Armingford, county of Cambridge, 4¼ miles (N.) from Royston; containing 345 inhabitants. It comprises about 1200 acres. The soil is a productive loam, favourable to the growth of wheat; the surface is generally level, and the river Cam flows through part of the lands. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 2. 3½., and in the patronage of the Dean and Canons of Windsor (the appropriators), with a net income of £166. The great tithes have been commuted for £355, and the vicarial for £100; there are 102 acres of appropriate glebe, and one acre belonging to the vicar.

Whaddon (St. Margaret)

WHADDON (St. Margaret), a parish, in the Middle division of the hundred of Dudstone and King'sBarton, union and E. division of the county of Gloucester, 3¼ miles (S. by W.) from Gloucester; containing 132 inhabitants, and consisting of 692 acres. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Brockthrop.

Whaddon

WHADDON, a parish, in the union and hundred of Melksham, Melksham and N. divisions of Wilts, 2¾ miles (N. E. by N.) from Trowbridge; containing 50 inhabitants. This parish, which is intersected by the river Avon and the Kennet and Avon canal, comprises 420 acres. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 4. 4½., and in the patronage of W. J. Long, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £92, and the glebe comprises 21 acres.

Whale

WHALE, a township, in the parish of Lowther, West ward and union, county of Westmorland; containing 53 inhabitants.

Whaley, with Yeardsley.—See Yeardsley.

WHALEY, with Yeardsley.—See Yeardsley.

Whalley (St. Mary)

WHALLEY (St. Mary), a parish, chiefly in the Higher and Lower divisions of the hundred of Blackburn, N. division of Lancashire, but partly in the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, W. riding of York; containing 11,741 inhabitants, of whom 1010 are in the township of Whalley, 4 miles (S. by W.) from Clitheroe. The name of this great parochial division is Saxon, signifying the "Field of Wells," expressed by the word Walalæh; and "no term," observes Dr. Whitaker, "more strikingly descriptive could have been chosen. Situated as Whalley is, upon a skirt of Pendle, and upon the face of those vast inverted mineral beds popularly denominated 'Rearing Mine,' the earth, if drained, bleeds almost at every pore; and there are no less than six considerable springs within the immediate precincts of the village." Whalley originally comprehended an area of 400 square miles, and included the parishes of Blackburn, Chipping, Mitton, Ribchester, Rochdale, and Slaidburn, with part of Saddleworth. The boundary at this early period consisted of the Ribble and the Hodder to the north, and of the Tarn and the Chaw to the south. Rochdale appears as an independent parish in Pope Nicholas' valuation in 1288; the other parishes were separated at different times.

In its present state, the breadth of the parish, from the northern boundary of the parliamentary borough of Clitheroe to the southern boundary of the hundred in the Forest of Rossendale, within its limits, is fifteen miles 3 and its length, from the western boundary in the township of Oswaldtwistle to the eastern boundary, where the counties of Lancaster and York are separated by the division line at Wolfstones in Trawden Forest, is eighteen miles. It now comprehends an area of 180 square miles, or nearly a ninth part of Lancashire. The Yorkshire portion consists of the township of Low Bowland-Forest, and is three miles in length from north to south, and in breadth from west to east two and a half miles. The parish comprises the parliamentary borough of Clitheroe, which includes the townships of Chatburn, Downham, Mearley, Little Mitton, Pendleton, Twiston, Whalley, Wiswell, and Worston; the parochial chapelry of Altham, including Clayton-le-Moors, and New and Old Accrington; the parochial chapelry of Burnley, which includes the market-town of Burnley, and the townships of Briercliffe cum Extwistle, Cliviger, Habergham-Eaves, Ightenhill-Park, New Laund Booth with Filley-Close and Reedley-Hallows, and Worsthorn with Hurstwood 3 the parochial chapelry of Church, including Huncoat, Oswaldtwistle, and Yate cum Pickup-Bank3 the parochial chapelry of Colne, including the markettown of Colne, and the townships of Barrowfield, Foulridge, Great and Little Marsden, and Trawden; the parochial chapelry of Haslingden, including Henheads, and Higher and Lower Booth 3 the parochial chapelry of Newchurch-in-Pendle-Forest, including Barley-cumWheatley, Goldshaw-Booth, Old Laund Booth, RoughLee Booth, and Wheatley-Carr 3 the parochial chapelry of Neivchurch-in-Rossendale- Forest, including part of the consolidated chapelry of Bacup, and the hamlets of Deadwin-CIough and Wolfenden; and the parochial chapelry of Padiham, which includes the townships of Dunnockshaw, Hapton, Higham Booth with Hey-Houses, Read, and Simonstone. In the parish is also the township of Little Bowland with Leagram, separated by the Hodder from Yorkshire, to which county part of it was anciently considered to belong. Three-fourths of the land in the parish are in pasture. The rivers Calder and Ribble form a junction at its western extremity.

The village is chiefly celebrated for the venerable ruins of its abbey. In 1296 Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, having given the advowson of Whalley to the White monks of Stanlow, in Cheshire, they removed hither, and founded an abbey of the Cistercian order, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin3 it was consecrated in 1306, and additions were made to the buildings for more than 140 years after that time. The remains are still considerable, and possess much interest, exhibiting portions in the early, decorated, and later English styles: the conventual church, however, which exceeded many cathedrals in extent, has been levelled nearly to its foundation. The parish church was originally called the " White Church under the Leigh," and is of high antiquity, as appears from the Status de Blagborneshire, and from the crosses of Paulinus in the churchyard, erected about the year 596 to commemorate the introduction (or reintroduction) of Christianity into this country. The present structure was built in 1283, is of large proportions, and principally in the early English style, of which the chancel is a very fine specimen 5 it contains eighteen ancient stalls, and some considerable remains of good screen-work brought from the abbey.

The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 3. 9. The patronage of it, and of thirteen perpetual curacies in the vicar's gift, has been recently transferred to Hulme's Trustees by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the vicar 3 in consideration of which, the living has been augmented with the annual interest of £5000, and each of the curacies with that of £100. The total net income of the vicarage is now £340. The early clergymen were styled deans, and the succession was hereditary. When the lordship of Clitheroe fell into the hands of the Lacys, soon after the Conquest, letters commendatory were given by that family upon every vacancy; and the deanery subsisted down to the Lateran council in 1215, when the marriage of ecclesiastics was finally prohibited. There are nearly 40 churches and chapels in different parts of the parish, erected by private individuals, by subscription, and various grants from Royal Bounty and Her Majesty's Commissioners. The dissenters' places of worship are also numerous. Whalley free grammar school, founded by Queen Elizabeth, was rebuilt by subscription in 1725, with a dwelling-house for the master, who receives an annuity of £12. 8. from bequests; it has an interest in thirteen scholarships founded in Brasenose College, Oxford, by Dr. Nowell, in 1572. In the township is also a national school, lately rebuilt.

Whalton

WHALTON, a parish, in the union and W. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland, containing, with the townships of Newham, Ogle, and Riplington, 531 inhabitants, of whom 315 are in Whalton township, 6 miles (S. W. by W.) from Morpeth. This barony was conferred by the Conqueror upon Walter Fitz-William, to be held by the service of three knights' fees. It was afterwards possessed by the Fitz-Rogers, Fitz-Roberts, and others 3 in the reign of James I. was held by the crown 3 and was subsequently granted to the Meggison family. A market and fair were formerly held, agreeably with the right which Robert Fitz-Roger claimed and established in 1294. The parish comprises by measurement 5815 acres, of which 2053 are in the township of Whalton 5 of the latter, 1291 acres are arable, 583 pasture, and 16 woodland. The whole is well inclosed, its surface undulated, and the soil, which is mostly loam, with a subsoil partly gravel, and in some places clay, is adapted to the growth of wheat and oats 5 limestone is abundant, and there are quarries of good freestone worked for private use. The village is one of the neatest in the county, hanging beautifully on the edge of a southern slope; it consists of one long street, containing some well-built houses with ornamental gardens in front, inclosed with palisades, and at intervals are clusters of trees, that much enliven its appearance. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 8. 1½., and in the patronage of Ralph Bates, Esq., with an income of about £800: the tithes of Whalton township have been commuted for £328, and the glebe comprises 141 acres. The church is a venerable edifice of freestone, and forms a pleasing object as approached from the village; it was repaired in 1783, when parapets and pinnacles were added to the tower. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A little eastward of the village are the remains of considerable earthworks, supposed to have formed part of a Danish encampment.

Whaplode (St. Mary)

WHAPLODE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Holbeach, wapentake of Elloe, parts of Holland, county of Lincoln, 2 miles (W.) from Holbeach; containing, with the chapelry of Whaplode-Drove, 2357 inhabitants. This parish, which is intersected in the northern part by the river Welland, comprises about 13,440 acres. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £16. 14. 9½., and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriators, the trustees of Uppingham school. The great tithes have been commuted for £ 1600, and the small for £553; the vicar has a glebe of 5 acres. The church is an ancient structure, with a square tower; the nave is separated from the aisles by circular and clustered columns alternately: here is the vault of the Irby family, lords Boston. Elisha and Frances Wilson, in 1708, gave land producing £10 per annum for a school; and there are almshouses for six widows.

Whaplode-Drove

WHAPLODE-DROVE, a chapelry, in the parish of Whaplode, union of Holbeach, wapentake of Elloe, parts of Holland, county of Lincoln, 5¾ miles (E. N. E.) from Crowland; containing 743 inhabitants. It comprises 1952 acres, chiefly fenny land. A pleasurefair is held in June. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £380; patrons and impropriators, certain Trustees; the glebe comprises 170 acres, with a house. The chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a plain neat structure of brick, built in 1821.

Wharles, Lancaster.—See Treales

WHARLES, Lancaster.—See Treales.

Wharram-Le-Street (St. Mary)

WHARRAM-LE-STREET (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Malton, wapentake of Buckrose, E. riding of York, 6¾ miles (S. E. by E.) from Malton; containing 135 inhabitants. The parish is on the road between Malton and Beverley, and comprises about 1600 acres. The village, which is small, is pleasantly situated on the acclivities of a valley, near several springs that give rise to two rivulets, one running east, and the other west. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6, and in the gift of Lord Middleton: the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £157. 10., and the glebe comprises 3½ acres. The church is a neat edifice, with a tower at the west end.

Wharram-Percy

WHARRAM-PERCY, a parish, in the union of Malton, wapentake of Buckrose, E. riding of York; containing, with the three townships of Raisthorpe with Birdall, Thixendale, and Towthorpe, 372 inhabitants, of whom 35 are in Wharram-Percy township, 7¼ miles (S. E.) from Malton. The parish comprises about 8480 acres, of which 1400, divided into two farms, are in Wharram-Percy: the village is situated about a mile west of the road between North Grimstone and Wetwang. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11. 13. 4.; net income, £60; patron and impropriator, Lord Middleton. The church stands in a deep and narrow dale between the two farmhouses, and is a neat structure, partly of Norman architecture, and thoroughly repaired in 1829.

Wharton

WHARTON, a township, in the parish of Davenham, union and hundred of Northwich, S. division of the county of Chester, 2½ miles (W. N. W.) from Middlewich; containing 1400 inhabitants. It comprises 1157 acres; the prevailing soil is clay. The Liverpool and Birmingham railway passes through the township. Here is a church, the living of which is a perpetual curacy in the Rector's gift, with a net income of £120. A rent-charge of £75. 1. has been awarded as a commutation for the tithes.

Wharton

WHARTON, a township, in the parish and union of Leominster, hundred of Wolphy, county of Hereford; containing 93 inhabitants.

Wharton

WHARTON, a township, in the parish of Blyton, union of Gainsborough, wapentake of Corringham, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 3¾ miles (N. E.) from Gainsborough; containing 39 inhabitants.

Wharton

WHARTON, a township, in the parish of KirkbyStephen, East ward and union, county of Westmorland, 2¼ miles (S. by W.) from Kirkby-Stephen; containing 55 inhabitants. It comprises 1472 acres, of which 700 are common or waste land. The Hall, once a large quadrangular building with a tower at each angle, was the princely residence of Philip, the celebrated Duke of Wharton, and his ancestors, but is now occupied as a farmhouse. The ancient village was demolished many years since for the enlargement of the park, when the inhabitants settled at Wharton-Dikes. The estates and manorial rights of the Whartons are now possessed by the Earl of Lonsdale.

Whashton, or Washton

WHASHTON, or Washton, a township, in the parish of Kirkby-Ravensworth, union of Richmond, wapentake of Gilling-West, N. riding of York, 4 miles (N. by W.) from Richmond; containing 133 inhabitants. It comprises about 1200 acres, partly the property of the Craddock family. The village is seated on an acclivity, under the eastern verge of the high moors of Arkengarth forest, and about half a mile south-east from Kirkby-Ravensworth.

Whatborough

WHATBOROUGH, a liberty, in the parish of Tilton, union of Billesdon, hundred of East Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 12 miles (E. by N.) from Leicester; containing 11 inhabitants.

Whatcombe

WHATCOMBE, a tything, in the parish of Fawley, union of Wantage, hundred of Kintbury-Eagle, county of Berks, 6 miles (S.) from Wantage; containing 26 inhabitants.

Whatcott (St. Peter)

WHATCOTT (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Shipston-upon-Stour, Brailes division of the hundred of Kington, S. division of the county of Warwick, 4¼ miles (N. E.) from Shipston; containing 182 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north by a small tributary of the river Stour, and comprises 863 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12. 17. 3½.; net income, £213; patron, Sir A. Dalrymple. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1802.

Whatcroft

WHATCROFT, a township, in the parish of Davenham, union and hundred of Northwich, S. division of the county of Chester, 3 miles (N. W. by N.) from Middlewich; containing 49 inhabitants. It comprises 637 acres, the soil of which is partly clay and partly saud. The tithes have been commuted for £58. 8.

Whatfield (St. Margaret)

WHATFIELD (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union and hundred of Cosford, W. division of Suffolk, 3 miles (N.) from Hadleigh; containing 394 inhabitants, and comprising 1571a. 22p. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £15. 0. 5.; net income, £393; patrons, the Master and Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge. The Rev. John Clubb, rector of the parish, published in 1753 the History and Antiquities of the Ancient Villa of Wheatfield, intended as a satire on antiquaries and conjectural etymologists.

Whatley (St. George)

WHATLEY (St. George), a parish, in the union and hundred of Frome, E. division of Somerset, 2¾ miles (W. by S.) from Frome; containing, with part of the hamlet, of Little Elm, 421 inhabitants. This parish is on the road from Salisbury, through Wells, to Exeter; and comprises by measurement 1168 acres, of which 257 are arable, 864 meadow and pasture, and 47 woodland. The soil is a light calcareous loam, the surface is beautifully diversified with hills and valleys, and there are quarries of good mountain limestone, rough whetstone, and inferior freestone. Some fine specimens of encrinite and other fossils are found. The village is situated on elevated land: here is a manufactory of spades, scythes, and reaping-hooks 5 and the manufacture of woollen-cloth is carried on to a moderate extent. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12.17.1., and in the gilt of the Rev. J. Horner: the tithes have been commuted for £226, and the glebe comprises 13 acres. The church occupies an eminence, separated from the parish of Mells by a deep ravine, the sides of which are clothed with thick woods; it is an ancient structure, chiefly in the later English style, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles. At Chantry is an incumbency in the gift of the Rev. J. G. C. Fussell. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Independents. On a bold height at the western extremity of the parish are vestiges of a Roman encampment; and in 1838 was discovered what, from the figures of dolphins, is supposed to have been a Roman bath, consisting chiefly of an apartment 30 feet long and 15 feet wide, the floor of which is a tessellated pavement in excellent preservation. There is a smaller apartment, in the centre of which is the head of a female, supposed to represent Cybele.

Whatlington

WHATLINGTON, a parish, in the union and hundred of Battle, rape of Hastings, E. division of Sussex, 2 miles (N. by E.) from Battle; containing 279 inhabitants. The surface is beautifully diversified with hill and dale, and the higher grounds command some fine views. The village is situated on the old road to Battle, and the new road from Sedlescomb to St. Leonard's also passes through it. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 4. 6., and in the gift of the Countess of Plymouth: the tithes have been commuted for £227. 10., and the glebe comprises 9 acres. The church is in the early English style of architecture.

Whatton (St. John of Beverley)

WHATTON (St. John of Beverley), a parish, in the union, and N. division of the wapentake, of Bingham, S. division of the county of Nottingham, 2¾ miles (E.) from Bingham 3 containing, with the township of Aslacton, 956 inhabitants, of whom 532 are in Whatton township. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 8.; net income, £212; patron, G. S. Foljambe, Esq.; impropriators, T. Hall, Esq., and others. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1789. The church is an ancient structure, with a handsome tower surmounted by a spire, and contains the effigy of a Knight Templar in armour, and a tablet in memory of Thomas Cranmer, father of the archbishop, who was born at Aslacton in 1489. There is a place of worship for Weslevans.

Whatton, Long (All Saints)

WHATTON, LONG (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Loughborough, hundred of West Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 4¼ miles (N. W. by W.) from Loughborough; containing 842 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1800 acres. The soil is chiefly a strong clay; the surface is partly flat and partly undulated, and the lower grounds are watered by a small rivulet: the scenery is enriched with wood. About 300 frames are at work in the manufacture of stockings. The living is a rectory, valued in the kings books at £13. 6. 8.. and in the gift of the Crown; net income, £275. The tithes were commuted on the inclosure for 300 acres of land. The church is an ancient structure, with a tower at the eastern extremity of the south aisle; the roof is of oak, beautifully carved. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans.