Warmfield - Warsop

Warmfield, or Kirkthorpe (St. Peter)

WARMFIELD, or Kirkthorpe (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Wakefield, Lower division of the wapentake of Agbrigg, W. riding, of York; containing, with Sharleston township, 1050 inhabitants, of whom 829 are in the township of Warmfield with Heath, 3½ miles (E.) from Wakefield. The parish comprises 2592a. 3r. 17p., of which 1318 acres are arable, 967 pasture and meadow, 33 woodland, and 203 common or waste. Heath is remarkable for the salubrity of its air and the beauty of its situation on an acclivity rising gently from the borders of an extended and verdant plain; the higher grounds command a fine view of the course of the Calder river, flowing through a rich and well-cultivated district. In the parish are some mines belonging to the Earl of Westmoreland, producing inferior coal; at Heath is a valuable stone-quarry. The Leeds and Manchester railway skirts the parish, and the Midland railway runs through it: the village is situated a short distance east of the Calder. The living is a vicarage, endowed with a moiety of the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £5. 4. 2.; net income, £148; patrons, the Master and Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge who are impropriators of the other half of the rectorial tithes. The impropriate tithes in Warmfield with Heath have been commuted for £250, and the incumbent's for £125: the incumbent has a glebe of 15 acres. The church is a neat substantial fabric, with a square tower, and contains handsome monuments to the Smyth family, of Heath Hall. Lady Mary Bowles, in 1660, conveyed to trustees a building to be used as a school-house for 10 boys, and a rent-charge of £20; and John Smyth, Esq., in 1729 left three houses and an annuity of £3, for educating six children. Othoneus Sagarin 1558 founded, and endowed with a rent-charge of £12, an almshouse for four women, at Kirkthorpe; and there is another house at the same place, containing a common hall, with seven apartments, for aged unmarried men, and an adjoining cottage for a matron, founded, and endowed with about £30 per annum, by John Freeston in 1592.

Warmingham (St. Leonard)

WARMINGHAM (St. Leonard), a parish, partly in the union of Nantwich, but chiefly in that of Congleton, hundred of Northwich, S. division of the county of Chester; containing, with the townships of Elton, Moston, and Tetton, 1396 inhabitants, of whom 420 are in Warmingham township, 3½ miles (W.) from Sandbach. The parish comprises 4732a. 1r. 18p., of which 1970 acres are in the township of Warmingham; of the latter portion, the soil is partly clay and partly moss. The Trent and Mersey canal, and the Liverpool and Birmingham railway, pass through the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £ 12. 4. 7., and in the gift of Lord Crewe: the tithes have been commuted for £556. 12.; there is a parsonage-house, and the glebe contains 116 acres. A free school, founded by Thomas Minshull, has endowments in land of the annual value of £23.

Warminghurst

WARMINGHURST, a parish, in the union of Thakeham, hundred of East Easwrith, rape of Bramber, W. division of Sussex, 12 miles (N. W. by N.) from Shoreham; containing 117 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 1120 acres, of which 700 are arable, 300 pasture, and 120 woodland. The incumbent receives a voluntary stipend from the Duke of Norfolk: the church is in the later English style, and contains neat monuments to the families of Shelley and Butler. Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, resided for several years in the parish.

Warmington (St. Mary)

WARMINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Oundle, chiefly in the hundred of Polebrook, but partly in that of Willybrook, N. division of the county of Northampton, 3¼ miles (N. E.) from Oundle; containing 640 inhabitants. The parish extends from the right bank of the river Nene to the borders of Huntingdonshire, and consists of 3732 acres; it is intersected by the road from Oundle to Stamford and Peterborough. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8.; net income, £107; patron, the Earl of Westmoreland; impropriator, T. Gardner, Esq. The church is a beautiful structure, principally in the early English style, with an enriched tower and spire. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. The water of Chadwell Spring, in the neighbourhood, possesses some mineral properties.

Warmington (St. Michael)

WARMINGTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Banbury, Burton-Dassett division of the hundred of Kington, S. division of the county of Warwick, 6 miles (N. W. by N.) from Banbury; containing, with the hamlet of Arlescote, 496 inhabitants. It is intersected by the road from Warwick to Banbury, and comprises 1779 acres, chiefly pasture. Here is a fine old manor-house of the 16th century, now occupied by a farmer. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 3. 11¾.; net income, £450; patrons, the Trustees of Hulme's exhibitions to Brasenose College, Oxford. The tithes were exchanged for land and a money payment in 1776, except those of Arlescote, which have been commuted for a rent-charge of £187. The church, which is in the style of the 14th century, is situated on the edge of a hill, and commands a rich and extensive prospect. Captain Alexander Gordon, who was killed in the battle of Edge-Hill, was buried in Warmington churchyard. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A school, in connexion with the Church, is supported by subscription. The Benedictine priory here, subordinate to the abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul de Pratellis, or Preaux, in Normandy, was founded in the time of Henry I., and, after the suppression of alien houses, was granted by Henry VI. to the Carthusian priory at Witham, in Somersetshire. Nadbury camp, in the vicinity, where some fix the ancient Tripontium, is of a square form, rounded at the angles, and comprises about twelve acres.

Warminster (St. Denis)

WARMINSTER (St. Denis), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Warminster, Warminster and S. divisions of Wilts, 21 miles (W. N. W.) from Salisbury, and 97 (W. S. W.) from London; containing 6211 inhabitants. According to Camden, this place was the Verlucio of the Romans, and the first syllable of its name is considered by him to be a corruption of that of its ancient appellation. Others deduce the name from the little stream Were that runs through the town, and from a minster, or monastery, stated to have been situated in its vicinity; a spot is still called The Nunnery, and a walk upon the neighbouring hill, Nuns' Path. At the Conquest, the place was denominated Guerminstre, and, having been held in demesne by Edward the Confessor, paid neither danegeld nor hidage: at a later period it became celebrated for its corn-market, which, in the time of Henry VIII., appears to have been of considerable note.

The town is situated on the river Willey, near the south-western extremity of Salisbury Plain, and consists principally of one street, nearly a mile long, well paved, and of clean appearance. It is one of the most healthy towns in England, and has been remarkable for the longevity of its inhabitants. The malt-trade was formerly carried on to a greater extent here than at any other town in the west of England, and it is still a considerable branch of trade. The manufacture of broadcloths and kerseymeres was also extensive until of late years, but these branches are at present entirely discontinued: the silk business has been introduced, and affords employment to many females and children. An act was passed in 1845 for making a railway from near Chippenham, by Warminster, to Salisbury. The market is on Saturday, and is very considerable for the sale of corn, of which the whole is previously warehoused in the town, and a sack from every load pitched in the market-place. Fairs are held on April 22nd, August 10th, and October 26th, the last being pre-eminently called "The Great Fair." A high constable, deputy constables, and tythingmen, are chosen annually at the manorial court of the Marquess of Bath. The countysessions of the peace for the summer quarter take place here in July; petty-sessions occur monthly. The powers of the county debt-court of Warminster, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Warminster. The town-hall was pulled down a few years since, and the Marquess of Bath erected, at his own expense, an elegant building in the centre of the market-place, comprising every accommodation for holding the sessions, and a handsome suite of apartments for assemblies, public meetings, &c.

The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £18. 0. 2½.; net income, £324; patron, the Bishop of Salisbury; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter. The tithes were commuted in 1780, for land and annual money payments. The parochial church, situated on the Bath road, near the north-western extremity of the town, is a spacious and handsome structure of various styles, with a low tower rising from the centre; the body and aisles were rebuilt on the old foundation, in 1724. A chapel, founded in the reign of Edward I., and dedicated to St. Lawrence, stands near the marketplace: it was endowed by two maiden sisters named Hewett, and after the general surrender was granted by Edward VI. to Richard Robertes in free socage; at present it is vested in feoffees. The original tower remains, but the body of the chapel was rebuilt in 1725, and has lately been repaired and beautified. Christ Church, to which a district has been assigned, was built in 1831, at an expense of £4708, defrayed by subscription, aided by a grant from the Parliamentary Commissioners; it occupies an elevated site, and forms an interesting object in the view of the town. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patron, the Vicar. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Unitarians; also a free grammar school, built and endowed by the first Viscount Weymouth, in 1707. The poor-law union of Warminster comprises 21 parishes or places, and contains a population of 17,109. Dr. Samuel Squire, Bishop of St. David's, an able and learned writer, was a native of the town.

In the vicinity are many British tumuli, and several remains of Roman encampments, including Battlesbury, a strong earthwork with double sides, where spearheads and other weapons have been ploughed up. Near this intrenchment, on the edge of the river Willey, a beautiful tessellated pavement, and the foundations of a Roman villa, with its hypocaust, sudatory, &c, were discovered in 1786; among other paintings was a figure of Diana, with a hare, the former of which was too much injured to be removed, but the latter is carefully preserved at Longleat House. On the west side of the town is Clay or Cly Hill, a steep conical eminence surmounted by a tumulus, 900 feet above low-water mark at Bristol. The environs are rich in fossil remains, many of which have been deposited in the British Museum; in the year 1816, a toad and a newt, both living, were found imbedded in a thick stratum of rock, which had not the smallest crack or orifice.

Warmley

WARMLEY, a hamlet and district, in the parish of Sutton-Coldfield, union of Aston, Birmingham division of the hundred of Hemlingford, N. division of the county of Warwick, 2½ miles (S. S. E.) from the town of Sutton-Coldfield; containing 600 inhabitants. This hamlet, though only consisting of two farmhouses and some cottages, gives name to a district which is daily becoming more important and populous, from its contiguity to Penns and the works in that vicinity. The road from Birmingham to Tamworth, and the Birmingham and Fazeley canal, pass near the hamlet, on the south. Nearer to Penns than to Warmley, but in what is denominated the Warmley district, a church has been erected on rising ground, forming a great ornament to the neighbourhood, and, from its position, being visible at a considerable distance. It is in the Norman style, of which it presents a very chaste specimen; and is built of blue brick, excepting the pillars, facings of the buttresses and windows, and the base, which are of stone: the flooring is of small square tiles, red and blue; the seats are open, and will accommodate 300 persons. Adjoining is a neat parsonage-house, which, with the church, was built at the expense of the neighbouring gentry, at a cost of £2500. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed by Miss Riland with £1000, and in the patronage of the Riland family.

Warmsworth (St. Peter)

WARMSWORTH (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Doncaster, S. division of the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill, W. riding of York, 2¾ miles (S. W.) from Doncaster; containing 358 inhabitants. It comprises 1032a. 3r. 33p., of which 652 acres are arable, 325 in grass, and 55 woodland, &c.; the soil is fertile, and there are extensive limestone-quarries on the banks of the navigable river Don, which separates the parish from that of Sprotbrough. The village is situated on the road from Sheffield to Doncaster, and in the vicinity is a flint-mill. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 10. 10., and in the gift of W. B. Wrightson, Esq., who resides at Warmsworth Hall: the tithes have been commuted for £59. 17. to the Archbishop of York, £2. 5. to the vicar of Conisbrough, and £49. 16. to an impropriator; the glebe contains 44¾ acres. The present church, erected at the expense of the late Mr. Wrightson, on the site of the old edifice, which was pulled down in 1810, is a neat structure about half a mile from the village, overlooking the river. At an angle of the garden wall belonging to the parsonage is a tower containing the church bell. Here was formerly a place of worship for the Society of Friends, founded in the time of George Fox, and one of the first meeting-houses belonging to that sect.

Warmwell

WARMWELL, a parish, in the union of Dorchester, hundred of Winfrith, Dorchester division of Dorset, 5½ miles (S. E.) from Dorchester; containing 94 inhabitants. It is situated half a mile north of the road from Wareham to Dorchester and Weymouth, and comprises 1200 acres, of which 800 are cultivated, 250 heath, and 150 rough land. The living is a rectory, with that of Poxwell united in 1749, valued in the king's books at £15, and in the gift of John T. Trenchard, Esq.: the tithes of Warm well have been commuted for £120, and the glebe comprises 34 acres.

Warnborough, North

WARNBOROUGH, NORTH, a tything, in the parish and hundred of Odiham, poor-law union of Hartley-Wintney, Odiham and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 1 mile (N. W.) from Odiham; containing 704 inhabitants.

Warnborough, South (St. Andrew)

WARNBOROUGH, SOUTH (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Hartley-Wintney, hundred of Bermondspit, Odiham and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 2½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Odiham; containing 371 inhabitants. It is on the road from Odiham to Alton, and comprises 2569a. 2p., of which 100 acres are meadow, 200 woodland, and the remainder arable. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £14. 12. 3½., and in the gift of St. John's College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £720; there is a parsonage-house, and the glebe contains 38½ acres. The church is very ancient, with a fine Norman arch at the entrance; in the chancel is a curious monument to Sir Thomas White and his family. Tradition says that Queen Elizabeth, when residing at Odiham, rode over to the manor-house here, and after partaking of breakfast with the above-mentioned Thomas White, knighted him in his own saloon. There is a singular mound in the churchyard, apparently covering the remains of combatants. The Rev. John Daman, D.D., rector, in 1785 gave £200 in the three per cents., the interest to be applied in support of a school. Peter Mews, afterwards Bishop of Winchester, and Peter Heylin, the cosmographer, were rectors of the parish.

Warndon (St. Nicholas)

WARNDON (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Droitwich, Lower division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Worcester and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 2½ miles (E. N. E.) from Worcester; containing 187 inhabitants, and comprising 850a. 2r. 12p. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 0. 2½.; net income, £151; patron, R. Berkeley, Esq. The Birmingham and Worcester canal passes through the parish.

Warnford

WARNFORD, a parish, in the union of Droxford, hundred of Meon-Stoke, Droxford and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 13 miles (S. W. by S.) from Alton; containing, with the hamlet of Riversdown, 381 inhabitants. The manor, in the reign of William I., belonged to Hugh de Port, whose descendant, William, assumed the name of his maternal grandmother, St. John: the old manor-house, near the church, is now a ruin called King John's, by corruption of the family name. The parish comprises 3010 acres, of which 396 are common or waste land. Warnford Park is a spacious mansion. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £21. 9. 4½., and in the gift of the Rev. J. Wynne; the tithes have been commuted for £615; there is a parsonage-house, and the glebe contains 22 acres. The church, which is in the early English style, with a Norman tower, was founded by Wilfrid, and rebuilt in the reign of the Conqueror; the font is large and of Norman character, and among the numerous ancient details are a confessional, and a recessed niche in which the sacred vessels were deposited. The building also contains a marble monument, in the Italian style, to the family of Neale, with recumbent effigies of the parents, and effigies of their children in kneeling attitude.

Warnham (St. Margaret)

WARNHAM (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Horsham, hundred of Singlecross, rape of Bramber, W. division of Sussex, 2 miles (N. N. W.) from Horsham; containing 1007 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north by the county of Surrey, and comprises by computation 4100a. 3r., of which 495 acres are coppice; the surface is diversified with hill and dale, and enriched with wood. Near Warnham Mill is a sheet of water covering about 100 acres. Warnham Court is a spacious mansion in the Elizabethan style, on an elevated site commanding extensive views. On Oldhouse farm is a large quarry of stone much used for paving. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10. 1. 0½.; net income, £191; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. The church is an ancient structure, containing in the north chancel the effigies of Sir John Caryll and his lady, with their children. Percy Bysshe Shelley, the poet, was born at Field Place here, the residence of Sir Timothy Shelley, Bart.

Warningcamp

WARNINGCAMP, an ancient chapelry, annexed to the parish of Leominster, in the hundred of Poling, rape of Arundel, W. division of Sussex, 1¾ mile (E.) from Arundel; containing 119 inhabitants. The tithes belong to Eton College, and have been commuted for £191. 10.: there is a glebe of 4 acres. The chapel has long since disappeared.

Warpsgrove (St. James)

WARPSGROVE (St. James), a parish, in the union of Thame, hundred of Ewelme, county of Oxford; containing 23 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £2. 11. 10½., and in the patronage of the Crown. There being no church here, the parishioners attend that of Chalgrove.

Warrenton

WARRENTON, a township, in the parish, and N. division of the ward, of Bambrough, union of Belford, N. division of Northumberland, 2 miles (S.) from Belford, on the road to Alnwick; containing 163 inhabitants. It comprises about 1380 acres, mostly arable; the remainder is pasture, with 90 acres of plantation. The surface is undulated, the soil light and gravelly, and coal and freestone are wrought.

Warrington

WARRINGTON, a hamlet, in the parish of Olney, union of Newport Pagnell, hundred of Newport, county of Buckingham, 1¾ mile (N. by E.) from Olney; containing 75 inhabitants.

Warrington (St. Helen)

WARRINGTON (St. Helen), a borough, markettown, and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of West Derby, S. division of the county of Lancaster; the parish containing, with the chapelry of Burtonwood, and the townships of Poulton with Fearnhead, Rixton with Glazebrook, and Woolston with Martinscroft, 21,901 inhabitants, of whom 18,981 are in the town, 18 miles (E.) from Liverpool, 19½ (W. S. W.) from Manchester, 52 (S. by E.) from Lancaster, and 188 (N. W. by N.) from London. Warrington is supposed by Mr. Whitaker, in his History of Manchester, to have been originally a British town, and on the invasion of the Romans under Agricola in the year 79, to have been converted into a Roman station. This opinion rests chiefly on the circumstance of three Roman roads leading respectively from the stations of Condate, Coccium, and Mancunium, to a ford here over the Mersey: the vestiges of a castrum and fosse are still discernible; and the discovery of some coins on both sides of the river, near the ancient ford, and other antiquities which have been subsequently dug up, strengthen the result of Mr. Whitaker's investigations. On its occupation by the Saxons, the place obtained the appellation of Weringtun, from the Saxon Wæring, a fortification, and tun, a town, and became of sufficient importance to give name to a wapentake, which afterwards merged into the hundred of West Derby, and formed part of the demesne of Edward the Confessor. It was also made the head of a deanery, of which the jurisdiction still remains. In Domesday book it is noticed under the name of Wallintun; and in the reign of Edward I. was in the possession of William le Boteler, who obtained for it the grant of a market, and other privileges. From the earliest period, the Mersey at this place was passed only by the ancient ford, till the close of the 15th century, when Thomas, first earl of Derby, in compliment to Henry VII., on his visit to Lathom and Knowsley, erected a bridge of stone, soon after which the passage of the river by the ford ceased. In the reign of Henry VIII., Leland, speaking of Warrington, says, "it is a pavid towne of a prety bignes: the paroche chirch is at the tayle of the towne; it is a better market than Manchestre."

Nothing of importance is recorded of it from this period till the commencement of the civil war, when the inhabitants openly declared in favour of the royal cause, and the town was garrisoned for Charles. In 1643, a detachment of the parliamentary forces, stationed at Manchester, laid siege to it, on which occasion the royalists under Colonel Norris, the governor, took refuge in the church, and, fortifying that edifice against the assailants, obstinately resisted their attack for five days; but the enemy having erected a battery, which they brought to bear upon it, the king's party was compelled to surrender. Their number was 1600, of whom 300 were taken prisoners; and ten pieces of ordnance, with a large quantity of arms and ammunition, fell into the hands of the enemy. The royalists seem, however, to have soon regained possession of the town, for in less than three months it was again attacked by the parliamentarians, who carried it by storm, when the former lost 600 men and eight pieces of cannon. In 1648, a numerous body of Scottish troops, under the command of the Duke of Hamilton, on their retreat from Ribbledale, rallied at Warrington; and after an obstinate but unsuccessful encounter with the parliamentarian troops under General Lambert, in which 1000 men were slain, the remainder, in number about 2000, surrendered themselves prisoners of war. In 1651, Lambert encountered and repulsed the Scottish army under the command of the young king, near the town. Towards the close of the interregnum, in 1658, Sir George Booth, who had been a strenuous opponent of Charles, being dissatisfied with the conduct of public affairs, and anxious for the re-establishment of a free parliament under a legitimate head, raised a considerable force; but after a severe engagement with the troops under General Lambert, at Winnington Bridge, near Delamere Forest, he was defeated, and part of his army retreating to Warrington, the men were arrested in their flight by the parliamentary garrison stationed in the town.

From the erection of the bridge over the Mersey, Warrington, as a military station, was regarded as commanding the entrance into Cheshire from the north; and in 1745, on the approach of the army under Prince Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, who was advancing from Wigan, the central arches of the bridge were demolished by the Liverpool Blues, who, having thus intercepted their progress, captured part of the rebel army, whom they sent prisoners to Chester Castle. The bridge was repaired in 1747, but afterwards becoming much dilapidated, it was taken down, and a wooden one on stone piers was constructed in 1912, at the joint expense of the counties of Chester and Lancaster. This in 1837 was replaced by the present stone structure.

The town, which is pleasantly situated on the river Mersey, consists of four principal streets diverging from the centre, and intersected by several smaller ones. They are in general narrow, but have undergone considerable improvement, under the superintendence of commissioners appointed by an act of parliament obtained in 1813; the shops are, for the greater part, of handsome appearance, and the town is interspersed with numerous respectable public edifices. Prior to the construction of the railroad from Liverpool to Manchester, it was the great thoroughfare between these two places, and seventy stage coaches passed through it daily. The town is well paved, under the provisions of the act just mentioned, and is lighted with gas by a company incorporated in 1822 and 1847, whose extensive works in Mersey-street were originally erected at an expense of £15,000, advanced on shares of £20 each. In 1846 an act was obtained for its better supply with water. A public subscription library was established in 1760, now forming part of a public museum established by the corporation; there is a floral and horticultural society, and a mechanics' institute has been formed several years. A neat and well-arranged theatre is opened occasionally for public lectures and other objects, and there is a spacious assembly-room or concert-hall.

Warrington has been long celebrated as a place of trade. Until the early part of the 18th century, the principal branches of manufacture were coarse linen and checks, to which succeeded sailcloth, which was manufactured so extensively, that one-half of that used by the British navy is computed to have been made here. On the decline of this branch of business after the peace, cotton-spinning was introduced, with the manufacture of muslin, calico, velveteen, and other cotton goods, which, with that of sailcloth on a less extensive scale, constitute a very great portion of the trade of the town, and for which three cloth-halls have been erected. There are several pin-factories, pins being a staple article of trade here; and the making of files, for which the artificers have obtained a high degree of reputation, and other articles of hardware, employs a great number of men. The manufacture of glass and glass bottles is also largely carried on, there being several establishments, of which the Bank-Quay Glass Company's is the chief. Considerable business is done in malt, and there are several tanneries, soap-factories, and breweries: the ale of the place is in high repute. The soil in the neighbourhood is extremely fertile, and productive of early vegetables for the supply of the neighbouring markets.

The Mersey and Irwell navigation affords a direct communication with Manchester, and the districts with which that town is connected by various canals. The Sankey canal, commencing at the river Mersey, about one mile westward of Warrington, and approaching very near its northern extremity, was the first canal formed in the county, the act for its construction having been obtained in 1755; it extends about twelve miles to the collieries near St. Helen's. In 1830, a railway, with two collateral branches, was constructed from Warrington to join the line between Manchester and Liverpool, at Newton-in-Mackerfield; subsequently this railway was purchased by the Grand Junction Company, and converted into a part of their line from Birmingham to Liverpool, which has a principal station here. In 1846 an act was passed for completing a railway communication between Birkenhead and Manchester, by way of Warrington; and in the same year acts were obtained for making railways from the town to Parkside, 4½ miles in length, to Kenyon, 5 miles, and to Huyton, 12 miles. On the Mersey was formerly a valuable fishery, which, about 1763, was let for £400 per annum; it abounded with salmon and smelts of a very superior kind, but has now greatly declined, not only in the quantity, but also in the size and flavour, of the fish. At spring tides, the water in the river rises to a height varying from about ten to twelve feet at Warrington bridge, at which time vessels of 120 tons' burthen can sail up to the quay, at the town, where convenient warehouses and other accommodations have been erected. The market-days are Wednesday and Saturday, of which the former, being the principal, is abundantly supplied with corn; there is a large cattle-market every alternate Wednesday, and fairs are held on July 18th and November 30th, each continuing ten days, for the sale of woollen-cloth and other goods, and for horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. The market-hall is a neat and convenient building, over which is a good suite of rooms forming the concert-hall already mentioned, where the winter assemblies were formerly held. Adjoining it is the principal cloth-hall, occupying three sides of a quadrangle; and there are others on a smaller scale, in Buttermarket and Bank-street.

A charter of incorporation was granted to the town in 1847, by Her Majesty in council. The new municipal borough comprises part of the township of Warrington, and part of the townships of Latchford and Thelwall in Cheshire; it is divided into five wards, and has a mayor, nine aldermen, and 27 councillors. The county magistrates hold a petty-session for the division on Monday in each week, and the first and third Wednesdays in every month; and constables and other officers are appointed in October, at the court leet of the manor. The powers of the county debt-court of Warrington, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Warrington, and part of the districts of Runcorn and Altrincham. By the act 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, Warrington was constituted a borough with the privilege of returning a member to parliament; the boundaries comprise by estimation 5657 acres, and include the township of Latchford, and part of Thelwall.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £40; patron, Lord Lilford. The tithes of Warrington township have been commuted for £452. The ancient church, dedicated to St. Elfin, was of Saxon origin, and existed at the time of the Conquest: of this there are no remains. The site is occupied by the present church, dedicated to St. Helen, a spacious cruciform structure, of various styles, with a central tower, which, with the piers and arches supporting it, and the chancel, are the oldest parts, and a fine specimen of the decorated English style. The windows of the chancel, particularly the east one, are enriched with tracery of beautiful design, and contain some handsome stained glass; the north transept is later English, of an inferior character, and the nave and south transept are modern additions. Two ancient sepulchral chapels are remaining, in one of which is the magnificent tomb of Sir Thomas Boteler and his lady, with their effigies, the former in armour, and both surrounded by various sculptured figures; in the other chapel, that belonged to the family of Massey, are several monuments to the Pattens, one of which, an elegant specimen of Italian sculpture, is to the memory of T. Wilson Patten, Esq., who died in 1819. The church crypt was restored by Mr. Abraham Middleton, architect, in 1838. Trinity chapel, in Sankey-street, is a commodious edifice: the living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patrons, the Legh family. A district church, dedicated to St. Paul, was erected in Bewseystreet in 1830, at an expense of £5347: the living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patron, the Rector of Warrington. At Burtonwood, Hollinfare, and Padgate are other incumbencies. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, Independents, Wesleyans, Independent Methodists, Unitarians, and Roman Catholics.

The free grammar school was founded and amply endowed in 1526, by a member of the Boteler family; the trustees pay the master a salary of £300, with the use of the school-house, garden, and land adjoining, and there are an usher and writing-master. The late Right Hon. George Tierney was educated here. The Blue-coat school, in Winwick-street, instituted in 1677, has an income of £500 per annum; also the reversion of an estate at Sankey, worth £6000, granted by John Watkins, Esq., in 1797. A society for the relief of widows and orphans of clergymen in the archdeaconry of Chester, was established at Warrington in 1697, under the patronage of the bishop of the diocese, and is liberally supported. As a branch of this, is an institution founded in August, 1843, in connexion with the Chester Diocesan Board of Education, for the instruction of daughters of clergymen in the archdeaconry, and for the training of young persons as school mistresses and teachers. The establishment is under the presidency of the bishop, and direction of boards of trustees and management, and a sub-committee of ladies. The buildings occupy an elevated and healthy site, and are so arranged as separately to accommodate the two classes of pupils, who are lodged, boarded, and educated. A collegiate institution was formed here about the middle of the last century, to afford the sons of Protestant dissenters the advantages of an university education: it was dissolved, however, in 1783. The celebrated Dr. Priestley was for some time its head, and had for his coadjutors Dr. Aikin, Dr. Enfield, Dr. Reinhold Forster, the naturalist, and the Rev. Gilbert Wakefield. The press of Warrington, during the existence of this academy, and for several years subsequently, stood in high repute. The well-known work of Howard the philanthropist, On Prisons, and other works of that honoured man, emanated from it; as did also Dr. Enfield's, Dr. Aikin's, Dr. Percival's, and Mrs. Barbauld's works; and the highlygifted Roscoe made his literary debut from this press. It is worthy of notice also, that the first public journal of Lancashire, called Eyres' Weekly Journal, or the Warrington Advertiser, issued from the town. A dispensary was formed in 1810, and an appropriate building erected for its use in 1818, at an expense of £1030; and there are various other institutions, and some provident societies, for promoting the instruction and the comfort of the poor. The union of Warrington comprises parts of several parishes, containing a population of 31,732. Orford Hall, about a mile from the town, was the residence of John Blackburne, Esq., a celebrated botanist, who died in 1786; and Litherland, the inventor of the patent-lever watch, was a native of the town. Warrington gives the title of Earl to the family of Grey, who are earls of Stamford and Warrington.

Warsill

WARSILL, a township, in the parish and liberty of Ripon, W. riding of York, 5 miles (E.) from PateleyBridge; containing 81 inhabitants. There is a place of worship for Independents.

Warslow

WARSLOW, a chapelry, in the parish of Alstonfield, union of Leek, N. division of the hundred of Totmonslow and of the county of Stafford, 10 miles (E. N. E.) from Leek; containing 519 inhabitants. It lies on the road from Cheadle to Buxton. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £100; patron, the Vicar of Alstonfield; impropriator, Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart. The chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is a neat structure with a tower. The glebe-house was built by the present incumbent. A school, erected in 1728, is endowed with about £17 per annum.

Warsop (St. Peter and St. Paul)

WARSOP (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Mansfield, Hatfield division of the wapentake of Bassetlaw, N. division of the county of Nottingham, 5¼ miles (N. N. E.) from Mansfield; containing with the chapelry of Sokeholme, 1384 inhabitants, of whom 1318 are in Warsop township. The parish comprises 6953a. 3r. 10p., of which about 200 acres are in woods and plantations; the soil is of a sandy nature, and incumbent on limestone, which is quarried for roads and building, and for burning into lime. The forest land was partly inclosed in 1775, and the remainder by an act of 1818. The small river Meden, and the road from Nottingham, through Mansfield, to Worksop and Doncaster, intersect the parish. The village is considerable, and fairs for cattle and horses are held in it on the Monday before Whitsuntide, on September 29th, and November 17th. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £22. 15. 2½.; net income, £1020; patrons, the Knight family. The tithes were commuted for land in 1818; there is a parsonage-house, and the glebe altogether contains 713¾ acres. The church is a neat edifice, thoroughly repaired in 1831, at a cost of £600. In Sokeholme is a chapel of ease. Thomas Whiteman, in 1811, bequeathed £400 for instruction, now producing £15. 15. per annum. Dr. Samuel Hallifax, Bishop of St. Asaph, a prelate of deep erudition, died also rector of this parish, in 1790.