Wiggenhall (St. Germans)

WIGGENHALL (St. Germans), a parish, in the union of Downham, hundred of Freebridge-Marshland, W. division of Norfolk, 4¼ miles (S. S. W.) from Lynn; containing 625 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the Great Ouse river, and comprises 1275a. 1r. 34p., of which 543 acres are arable, and 677 meadow and pasture. The surface is flat; a considerable portion lies below high-water mark, and some on a level with the bed of the river, which is confined by lofty banks. The course of the Ouse has been diverted into a new channel, called the Eau-Brink cut, and in several parts, where it greatly curved, has been straightened. The village, which is large, is divided by the river into two portions, connected with each other by a bridge of wood. Here is a station of the Lynn and Ely railway. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6, and in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Norwich: the great tithes have been commuted for £281. 5., and the vicarial for £133. 15.; the appropriate glebe comprises 29 acres, and the vicarial 3½ acres, with a house. The church, situated on the east bank of the Ouse, is chiefly in the later English style, with a square embattled tower. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists. In this parish was Fitton, the ancient seat of the Howards, afterwards dukes of Norfolk.

Wiggenhall (St. Mary the Virgin)

WIGGENHALL (St. Mary the Virgin), a parish, in the union of Downham, hundred of FreebridgeMarshland, W. division of Norfolk, 5¾ miles (S. W. by S.) from Lynn; containing 292 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the west by the river Ouse, and comprises 2807a. 1r. 22p., of which 1043 acres are arable, 1649 meadow and pasture, 5 woodland, and 107 in roads, drains, and waste. The village consists of scattered houses, and on the opposite bank of the Eau-Brink cut is the hamlet of Saddle-Bow. The gateway of the ancient Hall built by the Kerville family, is still remaining. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown: the great tithes have been commuted for £380, and the vicarial for £92. 14.; the glebe comprises 4 acres, with a house, built by the Rev. R. T. Powell. The Rev. Robert Eden, of Leigh, near Rochford, having bought two farms in Wiggenhall, of which he also purchased the impropriate tithes, amounting to £70 per annum, assigned the latter to the vicarage, in 1842. The church is a stately structure in the later English style, with a square erabattled tower; the nave is lighted by clerestory windows, and there are a fine brass eagle, and an altar-tomb bearing the arms of the Kervilles and the Plowdens, with the effigies of a knight in armour, his lady, and two children. Here is a place of worship for Primitive Methodists. Hatton Berners, who signed the warrant for the decapitation of Charles I., was buried here.

Wiggenhall (St. Mary Magdalene)

WIGGENHALL (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union of Downham, hundred of Free bridgeMarshland, W. division of Norfolk, 5 miles (N.) from Downham; containing 775 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the Great Ouse river, on the west bank of which was a hermitage dedicated to St. John the Evangelist. This foundation, in 1181, was appropriated by the prior and convent of Reynham, to nuns of the order of St. Augustine, and made subordinate to the monastery of Castle-Acre; it flourished till the Dissolution, when its revenue was valued at £31. 16. 7. The parish comprises 4248a. 1r. 23p., of which 3198 acres are arable, 738 meadow and pasture, and 128 in roads, drains, and water: an act was passed in 1813, for draining and improving the fen lands. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 15. 10., and in the gift of Mrs. Tompson: the great tithes have been commuted for £538. 8., and the vicarial for £253: the glebe comprises 4½ acres. The church is in the later English style, with a square embattled tower; the chancel is separated from the nave by a carved screen, and on the south side are three sedilia. There are places of worship for Baptists and Primitive Methodists.

Wiggenhall (St. Peter)

WIGGENHALL (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Downham, hundred of Freebridge-Marshland, W. division of Norfolk, 5 miles (S. by W.) from Lynn; containing 112 inhabitants. It is intersected by the Ouse, and comprises 958a. 8p., of which 466 acres are arable, 419 meadow and pasture, and 63 in roads, drains, and river. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6, and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriator, J. Hall, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £152. 10., and the vicarial for £130; the glebe contains 2 acres, with a cottage. The church, which is situated on the east bank of the river, is in the later English style, with a square embattled tower; the south aisle was taken down in 1841.

Wiggesley

WIGGESLEY, a hamlet, in the parish of Thorney, union, and N. division of the wapentake, of Newark, S. division of the county of Nottingham, 8½ miles (E. by S.) from Tuxford; containing 92 inhabitants. The tithes were commuted for land in 1813.

Wigginthorpe

WIGGINTHORPE, a hamlet, in the parish of Terrington, union of Malton, wapentake of Bulmer, N. riding of York, 9 miles (W.) from Malton; containing 28 inhabitants. It is situated about a mile north of Terrington.

Wigginton (St. Bartholomew)

WIGGINTON (St. Bartholomew), a parish, in the union of Berkhampstead, hundred of Dacorum, county of Hertford, 1¼ mile (S. E.) from Tring; containing 635 inhabitants. It comprises 1662 acres, of which 294 are waste. The London and Birmingham railway passes on the north-east of the church. Here is an extensive common, which, according to tradition, was the scene of military achievements, not only during the parliamentary war, but even in the time of the Romans; an almost perfect specimen of a Roman camp may still be seen. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford (the appropriators), with a net income of £69: the tithes have been commuted for £340.

Wigginton (St. Giles)

WIGGINTON (St. Giles), a parish, in the union of Banbury, hundred of Bloxham, county of Oxford, 5¼ miles (W. N. W.) from Deddington; containing 310 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £17. 2. 8½.; net income, £290; patrons, the Principal and Fellows of Jesus College, Oxford. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1795. The church is small, mostly of early English character, and adorned with a tower of the 15th century, of three stages, and embattled: there are some interesting features. To the south-east of the church are vestiges of a Roman villa, extending over a considerable space. On digging here, an octagonal apartment with a tessellated pavement was discovered, and to the south-east of it, another of square form, with tesserae of coarse and imperfect character. These apartments were heated by flues under the floor; and coins were also found.

Wigginton

WIGGINTON, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Tamworth, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 1¾ mile (N.) from Tamworth; containing, with the hamlets of Comberford, Coton, and Hopwas, 849 inhabitants. It is of level or gently-undulated surface, and the soil is a rich fine marl. In Coton is a paper manufactory. The Derby and Birmingham railway passes through the chapelry. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £92; patron, the Vicar of Tamworth. The chapel, dedicated to St. Leonard, a neat structure of brick, was enlarged in 1830 by the erection of a north aisle. At Coton is a small chapel for the convenience of its inhabitants and those of Hopwas, built about ten years since. Thomas Barnes, in 1717, gave property now worth about £5 per annum in support of a school at Hopwas. Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Beardsley bequeathed each £200, half the interest to be appropriated to the augmentation of the curate's stipend, and the other half to the poor.

Wigginton

WIGGINTON, a parish, in the wapentake of Bulmer, union and N. riding of York, 4¼ miles (N.) from York, on the road to Helmsley; containing 392 inhabitants. It comprises about 2040 acres, of which 1200 are arable, and 800 meadow and pasture; the surface is quite flat, and the soil composed in equal portions of a stiff clay and a fine sand. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown; the tithes have been commuted for £197. The church is a small and very ancient structure.

Wigglesworth

WIGGLESWORTH, a township, in the parish of Long Preston, union of Settle, wapentake of Staincliffe West, W. riding of York, 6½ miles (S. S. W.) from Settle; containing 421 inhabitants. The township comprises 4089a. 2r. 2p., divided among several proprietors, of whom the principal is Earl de Grey, lord of the manor: the soil, though of various quality, is every where such as to encourage improvement. A rent-charge of £53. 17. 3. has been awarded as a commutation for the vicarial tithes, and one of £49. 19. 6. for the impropriate, payable to the Dean and Chapter of Christ-Church, Oxford. The free school here was founded in 1789, by Lawrence Clark, who endowed it with £1136 three per cent, consols., for the instruction, in the classics and in English, of all the children of the township. There is a sulphureous spring, impregnated with iron.

Wiggonby

WIGGONBY, a township, in the parish of Aikton, union of Wigton, ward and E. division of Cumberland, 4¾ miles (N. E.) from Wigton; containing 190 inhabitants Margaret Hodgson, in 1792, left land now let for about £175 a year, in support of a school. Near Down Hall, within the township, is an encampment 60 yards square, planted with fir, and surrounded by a ditch.

Wiggonholt

WIGGONHOLT, a parish, in the hundred of West Easwrith, rape of Arundel, W. division of Sussex, 8 miles (N. N. E.) from Arundel; containing 36 inhabitants. It is bounded on the west by the river Arun, and comprises about 800 acres, the greater portion of which is meadow and pasture. The soil varies from a loamy sand to a retentive clay; the surface, though generally level, is enlivened with a pleasing diversity of scenery. The road from Petworth to Brighton passes through. The living is a rectory, with that of Greatham consolidated, valued in the king's books at £7. 4. 4½., and in the gift of the Hon. Robert Curzon: the tithes of Wiggonholt have been commuted for £102. 14., and the glebe comprises 9 acres. The church was repewed and repaired in 1839, at the expense of the Hon. R. Curzon; the rectory-house was enlarged and altered in 1838 by the incumbent, and is now a spacious residence, in the Elizabethan style. A great number of Roman urns was found in 1827, made of red pottery, and beautifully figured; but from the unprotected situation in which they had been deposited, few of them were in a perfect state. Coins of the emperors Nero, Vespasian, Claudius, Adrian, and Marcus Antoninus, were also discovered.

Wighill (All Saints)

WIGHILL (All Saints), a parish, in the W. division of Ainsty wapentake, W. riding of York, 2½ miles (N. by W.) from Tadcaster; containing 237 inhabitants. This parish is on the river Wharfe, and comprises about 1700 acres, of which 740 are arable, 920 meadow and pasture, and the remainder woodland, plantations, and roads. The surface is undulated, and the sceuery agreeably diversified; the soil is various, in some parts clay, and in others sandy loam. Wighill Park, the seat of Edward York, Esq., is a handsome mansion, beautifully situated. The living is a discharged vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £5. 3. 6½.; net income, £114; patrons, and impropriators of the other rectorial tithes, the Wilson family, who are lords of the manor. The church, situated on an eminence rising from the margin of the Wharfe, is an ancient structure in the Norman style. The eastern part of the chancel was fully repaired, and a convenient vestry built, a few years ago, at a cost of £333, by the vicar, the Rev. Thomas Jessop, D.D., to whose improvements the late Archbishop of York contributed an antique pulpit. The western portion of the chancel also, was completely repaired in 1842, at the cost of the late R. F. Wilson, Esq.

Wight, Isle Of.—See Southampton county.

WIGHT, ISLE OF.—See Southampton county.

Wightering, Sussex.—See Wittering.

WIGHTERING, Sussex.—See Wittering.

Wighton (All Saints)

WIGHTON (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Walsingham, hundred of North Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 2¼ miles (N. by E.) from Little Walsingham; containing 559 inhabitants. It comprises 2932a. 14p., of which 2558 acres are arable, 291 pasture, 44 wood, and 37 in roads and waste; the surface is varied, and the river Stiffkey flows through the lands. The village is pleasantly situated on the road from Fakenham to Wells, and on the banks of the river are a flour-mill, and a mill for crushing bones for manure. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11. 11. 8.; patron and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Norwich. The great tithes have been commuted for £575, and the vicarial for £230. 10.; the glebe comprises 22 acres. The church is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower; in the churchyard are several ancient tombs. There are some remains of an intrenchment called Crabb's Castle; and in digging the foundations for the parsonage-house, some skeletons and cannonballs were discovered.

Wigland

WIGLAND, a township, in the parish of Malpas, union of Wrexham, Higher division of the hundred of Broxton, S. division of the county of Chester, if mile (S. S. E.) from Malpas; containing 240 inhabitants. It comprises 488 acres of a loamy soil. At the Lower Wych, in the township, are brine-springs, from which salt is made: in 1643 the works were destroyed by a detachment of the parliamentary army, but they were soon restored. The tithes have been commuted for £60. At the Higher Wych is a large school, supported by the two rectors of the parish.

Wigley

WIGLEY, a tything, in the parish of Eling, union of New-Forest, hundred of Thorngate, Romsey and Southern divisions of the county of Southampton; containing 115 inhabitants.

Wigmore (St. James)

WIGMORE (St. James), a parish, in the union of Ludlow, hundred of Wigmore, county of Hereford, 8 miles (S. W.) from Ludlow; containing, with the township of Limebrook, 506 inhabitants, of whom 328 are in Wigmore township. This parish, which gives name to the hundred, contains 3450 acres, mostly arable and well-wooded; and is crossed nearly at right angles by the roads from Leominster to Knighton, and from Ludlow to Presteign. Thin beds of limestone occur here, in which various kinds of fossils are to be found. Petty-sessions are held monthly. There are fairs for cattle, sheep, &c, on May 6th and August 5th. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Hereford: the great tithes have been commuted for £172, the small tithes for £155, and the vicar has an acre and a half of glebe. On a commanding elevation, a little westward of the village, are the ivy-mantled ruins of Wigmore Castle, the outer works of which are the most perfect; the massive fragments of the keep occupy the summit of a lofty artificial mound, and present a grand appearance. The founder of this once stately edifice is unknown, but it is recorded that Edward the Elder caused it to be repaired. It was taken from Edric, Earl of Shrewsbury, by Ranulph de Mortimer, who came over with the Conqueror, and made it his principal seat. The same nobleman, in 1100, established in the parochial church a college of three prebendaries, which continued till 1179, when his son Hugh founded a noble abbey in honour of St. James, for monks of the order of St. Augustine, about one mile distant from the castle, and endowed it so amply that, at the Dissolution, its revenue was estimated at £302. 12. 3. An alien priory, a cell to that of Aveney, in Normandy, is said to have existed at an early period, at Limebrook; and a nunnery of the order of St. Augustine was founded there by the Mortimers, some time in the reign of Richard I.: at the suppression the latter was valued at £23. 17. 8. In the neighbourhood are traces of several British encampments, attributed to Caractacus; and some Roman encampments.

Wigsthorpe

WIGSTHORPE, a hamlet, in the parish of Lilford, union of Oundle, hundred of Huxloe, N. division of the county of Northampton, 4 miles (S. byE.) from Oundle; containing 97 inhabitants. Here was once a chapel.

Wigston Magna (All Saints)

WIGSTON MAGNA (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Blaby, hundred of Guthlaxton, S. division of the county of Leicester, 3½ miles (S. S. E.) from Leicester; containing 2189 inhabitants. This parish was formerly designated Wigston-Two-Steeples, from its having two churches, one of which, now in a very dilapidated state, is used as a schoolroom. At a place called the Gaol Close, during the war in the reign of Charles I., a temporary prison was erected, to which the prisoners were removed from the county gaol at Leicester: the royal army lay in the vicinity some few days. The village is pleasantly situated on the road between Welford and Leicester, and is chiefly inhabited by persons employed in the manufacture of stockings. The Leicester canal runs through the parish, and a station on the Midland railway has been established here. The parish comprises 2944a. 1r. 3p.; the soil is a strong marly loam, producing excellent wheat and beans, and there are large tracts of luxuriant meadow land. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 8. 9.; net income, £107; patrons, alternately, the Haberdashers' Company, and the Governors of Christ's Hospital, London. The tithes were commuted for land in 1764. There is a place of worship for Independents; also a lunatic asylum; and an hospital for six widows and as many widowers, endowed with £3000 by Miss Clarke.

Wigston Parva

WIGSTON PARVA, a chapelry, in the parish of Claybrooke, union of Lutterworth, hundred of Guthlaxton, S. division of the county of Leicester, 6¼ miles (N. W. by W.) from Lutterworth; containing 74 inhabitants. It lies near the intersection of the Roman Watling-street and Fosse-way, and comprises about 386 acres of land, of hilly surface and fertile soil, and mostly freehold. The Ullesthorpe station of the Midland railway is distant about three miles westward. Wigston Hall, a large square mansion in pleasant grounds ornamented with yew-trees, was built in the reign of George II. by Nicholas Grundy, Esq., high sheriff of the county, and is now the residence of Henry Goodrick Willet, Esq., chief owner of the township. The chapel, dedicated to St. Mary, is a small ancient building. The manor was formerly held by Reading Abbey, Berkshire.

Wigtoft (St. Peter and St. Paul)

WIGTOFT (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Boston, wapentake of Kirton, parts of Holland, county of Lincoln, 11 miles (N.) from Spalding; containing 713 inhabitants. It comprises 5698a. 3r. 16p., of which about one-half is arable, and the other pasture and meadow; the soil is a rich loam, and under good cultivation. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Quadring united, valued in the king's books at £11. 5.; net income, £412; patron, the Bishop of Lincoln; impropriator, G. Holland, Esq. The church is of various dates; the lower part of the tower is Norman, with a spire of later English, and the nave and chancel are in the decorated English style, with additions of a later period. A free school was endowed with land now producing £56 per annum, by William Blisbury, in 1714; and there are lands worth £24 a year, belonging to the poor.

Wigton (St. Mary)

WIGTON (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the ward, and E. division of the county, of Cumberland; containing, with the townships of Oulton, Waverton, and Woodside-Quarter, 6432 inhabitants, of whom 4738 are in the town, 305 miles (N. N. W.) from London. Of the early history of this place little is recorded: the barony was given by William de Meschines to Waldeof, Lord of Allerdale, and by him to Odoard, who lived about the period of the Norman Conquest, and assumed the name De Wigton. The town was burnt by the Scots when they plundered the abbey of Holme-Cultram, in 1322; and during the civil war, in 1648, the van of the Duke of Hamilton's army was quartered here. Wigton consists principally of one spacious street, with a narrower extending transversely at one end of it, and contains some handsome well-built houses; it is pitched with pebbles, and supplied with water from wells, the property of individuals, and from a public pump, erected near the centre of the town. There are a subscription and a circulating library: races formerly took place in the month of August. The principal articles of manufacture are checks, muslins, and ginghams, which are made to a considerable extent; and an establishment for calico-printing and dyeing affords employment to many of the inhabitants. Coal is obtained within three miles, and copper-ore within five miles, of the town. A branch of the Maryport and Carlisle railway was opened to Wigton on May 3rd, 1843: the station here is 16 miles from the former town, and 11½ from the latter. The market-days are Tuesday and Friday, the former for corn, of which a great quantity is pitched in the market-place. Fairs are held on Feb. 20th, a very large horse-fair; on April 5th, for hornedcattle; and Dec. 21st, called Wallet fair, for cattle, butchers' meat, apples, and honey: there are statutefairs at Whitsuntide and Martinmas. The powers of the county debt-court of Wigton, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Wigton. The county magistrates hold a petty-session every month; and constables are appointed at the court leet and baron of the manor, which takes place in September.

The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17. 19. 0½.; net income, £162; patron, the Bishop of Carlisle; impropriators, the landowners. The tithes were commuted for land in 1811. The church, which is said to have been originally erected by Odoard, with materials brought from a neighbouring Roman station called Old Carlisle, subsequently belonged to the abbey of Holme-Cultram. It was taken down in 1788, and the present edifice, a light and handsome building, erected on its site: attached is a library for the use of the clergy, presented by Dr. Bray. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics. The free grammar school, at Market Hill, near the entrance of the town, was founded in 1730, by certain of the inhabitants. In 1787, the sum of £1000 three per cent, stock was bequeathed by John Allison to the school; and in 1798, £355 by Thomas Tomlinson, Esq., who also left £100 for the establishment of a public library: the present income is about £68. The Rev. John Brown, D.D., author of the tragedy of Barbarossa, received his early education in the school. An hospital for six widows of beneficed clergymen or curates of two years' standing, was founded in 1725, by the Rev. John Tomlinson, who endowed it with a rent-charge of £45. 12., to which other benefactions have been added. The poor-law union embraces 31 parishes or places, which contain a population of 23,366. Ewan Clarke, the Cumberland poet; Joseph Rooke, a distinguished mathematician and philosopher; R. Smirke, R.A., the celebrated historical painter; and Mr. George Barnes, professor of mathematics, were natives of the town.

Wigton

WIGTON, a township, in the parish of Harewood, Upper division of the wapentake of Skyrack, W. riding of York, 5½ miles (N. by E.) from Leeds; containing 170 inhabitants. This township, including the hamlets of Brandon and Alwoodley-Gate, comprises about 1200 acres, of which the soil is fertile, and generally in good cultivation; the scenery is varied, and in some parts of romantic character. On Black Hill, near the village, urns and ancient coins have been found: in 1760, two stone coffins were discovered.