Woodhall - Woodley

A Topographical Dictionary of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848.

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'Woodhall - Woodley', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, (London, 1848) pp. 654-657. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp654-657 [accessed 18 March 2024]

In this section

Woodhall (St. Margaret)

WOODHALL (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Horncastle, S. division of the wapentake of Gartree, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 3 miles (W. S. W.) from Horncastle; containing, in 1841, 307 inhabitants. This parish, along the western extremity of which the river Witham takes its course, comprises 1880 acres. Here is a mineral spring, with baths, an hotel, and other accommodations for visiters. The water resembles that of Cheltenham, but has a larger portion of iodine than any other spring in England. It contains, in an imperial gallon, of chloride of magnesium, gr. 11. 3; chloride of calcium, 26. 7; of sodium, 1517; sulphate of soda, 2. 1; bicarbonate of soda, 6; iodine, 0. 55; bromine, 8. 35; and of potash, a trace: its specific gravity is 1016. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £13; net income, £70; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Lincoln. The tithes were commuted for land in 1767. The church is a modern structure, with an old tower surmounted by a spire. A church was consecrated at Woodhall Spa, in September, 1847. The Presbyterians have a place of worship in the parish.

Woodhall, York.—See Brackenholme.

WOODHALL, York.—See Brackenholme.

Woodhall

WOODHALL, a hamlet, in the parish of Harthill, union of Worksop, S. division of the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill, W. riding of York, 9½ miles (S. S. E.) from Rotherham; containing 183 inhabitants. It lies a mile west of Harthill; and at a short distance from it is the farmstead of Pennyholme, which stands in the three parishes of Harthill, Treeton, and Wales, though the boundaries are undefined.

Woodham

WOODHAM, a hamlet, in the parish of Waddesdon, union of Aylesbury, hundred of Ashendon, county of Buckingham, 8½ miles (W. N. W.) from Aylesbury; containing 39 inhabitants.

Woodham

WOODHAM, a township, in the parish of Aycliffe, union of Sedgefield, S. E. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 7 miles (E. S. E.) from Bishop-Auckland; containing 207 inhabitants. This place was honoured by a visit from James VI. of Scotland, on his route to take possession of the crown of England; he halted here for a short time, and was present at the celebration of a horse-race. The township comprises 3705 acres, chiefly arable land, and the soil generally of very poor quality. The Clarence railway passes through. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £86. 11. 8.; and the appropriate for £27. 11. 8., payable to the Chapter of Durham.

Woodham-Ferris (St. Mary)

WOODHAM-FERRIS (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Chelmsford, S. division of Essex, 4½ miles (S. S. E.) from Danbury; containing, with part of the hamlet of Bicknacre, 895 inhabitants. This parish, which is bounded on the south by the river Crouch, derived its name from its situation in a thicklywooded district, and the adjunct to its name from the noble family of Ferrers, to whom the lands chiefly belonged at the time of the Norman survey. It comprises 3725 acres, of which 40 are common or waste. About a mile from the church is Edwin Hall, a handsome mansion erected by Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £28. 13. 4., and in the gift of Sir B. W. Bridges, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for £950: the glebe consists of 3½ acres. The church is an ancient edifice, with a brick tower, and contains an elegant monument to the memory of Cecilia, wife of the archbishop. At Bicknacre was a hermitage, which was superseded by a priory of Black canons founded and endowed by Maurice FitzJeffrey, in consideration of certain sums of money due from him to Henry II.; it was dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and being almost deserted in the time of Henry VII., was then annexed to St. Mary's Spital, London.

Woodham-Mortimer (St. Margaret)

WOODHAM-MORTIMER (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Dengie, S. division of Essex, 2½ miles (S. W. by W.) from Maldon; containing 308 inhabitants. This parish, called in some documents Little Woodham, derives its present adjunct from the family of Mortimer, to whom it anciently belonged. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4., and in the patronage of G. Round, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £340, and the glebe comprises 45 acres. The church has a richlycarved altar-piece. In the marshes near the Crouch river are several barrows.

Woodham-Walter (St. Michael)

WOODHAM-WALTER (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Dengie, S. division of Essex, 2½ miles (E. N. E.) from Danbury; containing 537 inhabitants. It is separated from the hundred of Witham by the river Chelmer, and is amply supplied with water from springs; the lands are well cultivated, and the scenery beautifully diversified. An ancient mansion here, called the Fort, is said to have been for some time the residence of the Princess (afterwards Queen) Elizabeth, during the reign of Mary. The village, called Brook-street from a stream which flows through the parish, contains a few good houses. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12. 13. 1½.; net income, £437; patron, the Rev. L. Way. The church is a neat edifice in good repair, with some remains of ancient stained glass in the chancel.

Woodhay, East (St. Martin)

WOODHAY, EAST (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Kingsclere, hundred of Evingar, Kingsclere and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 5 miles (S. W. by W.) from Newbury; containing 1408 inhabitants. This parish is situated at the north-western extremity of the county, immediately under a range of hills, and comprises 4966a. 29p.: the surface is ornamented with numerous clumps of trees, and the soil is rich, resting in some places on clay, and in others on chalk. In addition to a small village adjacent to the church, the parish contains the two large villages of East End and North-End. It is traversed by the road from Newbury to Andover. The living is a rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Ashmansworth annexed, valued in the king's books at £21. 6. 0½., and in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester: the tithes have been commuted for £1021. 14.; there is a glebe-house, and the glebe comprises 43¾ acres. The church, rebuilt at the expense of the parishioners, in 1823, contains a handsome monument to the Goddard family, who were long settled here. Bishops Hooper, Ken, and Louth, were formerly rectors. The Independents and Primitive Methodists have each a place of worship. In the parish was anciently a palace belonging to the bishops of Winchester.

Woodhay, West (St. Lawrence)

WOODHAY, WEST (St. Lawrence), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the union of Hungerford, hundred of Kintbury-Eagle, county of Berks, 6 miles (S. E.) from Hungerford; containing 131 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1407 acres, of which 788 are arable, 384 meadow, pasture, and down, 169 wood, and 65 furze, waste, &c. Here is a mansion, built in 1636 by Inigo Jones, from the drawing-room of which is a view of Windsor Castle, 36 miles distant. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 4. 3.; net income, £230; patron, the Rev. John Sloper. The church, which is in the Norman style, and remarkable for its beautiful brick-work, was rebuilt at the expense of William Sloper, Esq., great grandfather to the present patron, to whom the parish belongs.

Woodhead

WOODHEAD, a chapelry, and a division of the township of Tintwistle, in the parish of Mottram-inLongdendale, union of Ashton-under-Lyne, hundred of Macclesfield, N. division of the county of Chester, 6 miles (E. N. E.) from the village or town of Mottram. This district lies on the border of Derbyshire, the river Etherow here separating the counties of Derby and Chester. It has a station of the Manchester and Sheffield railway; and not far distant is the commencement of the great tunnel which passes from Cheshire into Yorkshire: this tunnel was about six years in its formation, was opened in Dec. 1845, and is nearly three miles in length. The chapel was founded by Sir Edmund Shaa, lord mayor of London at the time of Richard III.'s usurpation. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of John Tollemache, Esq., M. P. for South Cheshire, who is owner of the entire division: the incumbent has an endowment of £100 per annum, with a house purchased in 1844 for £400, partly granted from Queen Anne's Bounty, and partly raised by subscription. There is a place of worship for Calvinistic Methodists.

Woodhorn (St. Mary)

WOODHORN (St. Mary), a parish, in the union, and E. division of the ward, of Morpeth, N. division of Northumberland, 8 miles (E. N. E.) from Morpeth; containing, with the chapelry of Newbiggin, and the townships of Cresswell, Ellington, Hurst, Linmouth, North Seaton, and Woodhorn-Demesne, 1618 inhabitants, of whom 168 are in the township of Woodhorn. This place formed part of the barony of Hugh de Balliol, and subsequently belonged to the families of Valence, Denton, Widdrington, and others. The parish is nearly five miles in length from north to south, and about two miles and a half in breadth, and is bounded on the east partly by the sea; the soil is generally fertile, and the grounds about Woodhorn and Woodhorn-Demesne are esteemed the finest grazing land in the county. In the township are 1294 acres. The village, situated on a fertile plain within a mile of the sea, consists of some well-built houses and numerous cottages; the road to Morpeth branches off from it in one direction by Bothal and Pegsworth, and in another by Longhirst, forming two lines of streets, of which the latter is much the longer. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £21. 15. 7½.; net income, £650; patron, the Bishop of Durham. The rectory was granted to the priory of Tynemouth, and is now the property of the Mercers' Company, London, and the incumbent of Hampstead. The church is a very ancient structure in the Norman style, consisting of a nave, aisles, and chancel, and a tower, on the outside wall of which are the armorial-bearings of the Widdringtons and Ogles, with a male figure in the attitude of prayer. There is a chapel of ease at Newbiggin, and at Cresswell is a separate incumbency. Viscountess Bulkeley in 1826 bequeathed £500, afterwards invested in the purchase of £642 three per cent, consols., of which the dividends are distributed among the poor at Christmas.

Woodhorn-Demesne

WOODHORN-DEMESNE, a hamlet, in the parish ot Woodhorn, union, and E. division of the ward of Morpeth, N. division of Northumberland 8 miles (E. N. E.) from Morpeth; containing 15 inhabitants. It was part of the estates of Lord Widdrington, and was subsequently purchased by a London company, on whose failure to complete the contract, it was sold under a decree of chancery, in 1750, to the Cresswell family. The hamlet comprises 303 acres, of meadow and pasture land of luxuriant fertility; its mansion-house is finely situated in grounds tastefully laid out, and commands an extensive sea view. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £5. 11. 8., and the impropriate for 5s.

Woodhouse

WOODHOUSE, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Barrow-upon-Soar, hundred of West Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 3 miles (S. W.) from Loughborough; containing, with Alderman-Haw, 1309 inhabitants. A rent-charge of £65 has been awarded as a commutation for the tithes. The chapel is dedicated to St. Mary. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £120; patron, the Vicar of Barrow. A district church has been erected at Woodhouse-Eaves, in Charnwood Forest; it was consecrated on the 5th of Sept. 1837, and contains 400 free sittings, the Incorporated Society having granted £350 in aid of the expense. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £106; patrons, the Lords of certain manors. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. Thomas Rawlins in 1691 granted several pieces of land, for the support of a school, for distribution among the poor of this chapelry and that of Quorndon, and for apprenticing children of both places; the estate, at the inclosure of Charnwood Forest, in 1829, was enlarged to 72 acres, and now produces about £230 per annum. There is also a bequest of £13 per annum for apprenticing a boy in London, and another of £5. 10. for the poor.

Woodhouse

WOODHOUSE, a township, in the parish of Shilbottle, union of Alnwick, E. division of Coquetdale ward, N. division of Northumberland, 5¼ miles (S. E. by S.) from Alnwick; containing 23 inhabitants. The tithes have been commuted for £75. 7. 3., of which £75. 4. are payable to the vicar of the parish.

Woodhouse

WOODHOUSE, a hamlet, in the parish, union, and hundred of Andover, Andover and N. divisions of the countv of Southampton; containing 73 inhabitants.

Woodhouse, Stafford.—See Burntwood.

WOODHOUSE, Stafford.—See Burntwood.

Woodhouse

WOODHOUSE, a hamlet, in the parish of Suttonupon-Derwent, union of Pocklington, Wilton-Beacon division of the wapentake of Harthill, E. riding of York, 1½ mile (E.) from Sutton; containing 46 inhabitants. It comprises 1069 acres of fertile land, and is the property of the crown.

Woodhouse-Hall

WOODHOUSE-HALL, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Worksop, Hatfield division of the wapentake of Bassetlaw, N. division of the county of Nottingham, 6½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Worksop; containing 12 inhabitants, and comprising 321 acres.

Woodhouses

WOODHOUSES, a township, in the parish of Mayfield, S. division of the hundred of Totmonslow, N. division of the county of Stafford, 4 miles (N. W. by W.) from Ashbourn; containing 25 inhabitants.

Woodhurst (All Saints)

WOODHURST (All Saints), a parish, in the poorlaw union of St. Ives, hundred of Hurstingstone, county of Huntingdon, 4 miles (N.) from St. Ives; containing 449 inhabitants. The living is united, with that of Old Hurst, to the vicarage of St. Ives: the tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents in 1796. A fund of £10. 5. per annum, the rent of five acres of land, is distributed among the poor.

Woodkirk, York.—See Ardsley, West.

WOODKIRK, York.—See Ardsley, West.

Woodland

WOODLAND, a tything, in the parish, union, and hundred of Crediton, Crediton and Northern divisions of Devon; containing 301 inhabitants.

Woodland

WOODLAND, a chapelry, in the parish of Ipplepen, union of Newton-Abbott, hundred of Haytor, Teignbridge and S. divisions of Devon, 1 mile (E. by S.) from Ashburton; containing 206 inhabitants. It comprises 1600 acres, of which 50 are pasture, 100 woodland, and the remainder arable and water-meadow; the soil is very light. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Parishioners, with a net income of £56; appropriators, the Dean and Canous of Windsor, whose tithes have been commuted for £200. The church, in the later English style, was built in the reign of Henry VIII., and contains 250 sittings.

Woodland

WOODLAND, a township, in the parish of Cockfield, union of Teesdale, S. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 6 miles (N. W.) from Staindrop; containing 243 inhabitants. It comprises 2658a. 1r. 27p., of which the soil is generally poor. Coal is obtained in the neighbourhood, and a basaltic dyke runs through the township, affording a material admirably adapted to the repair of roads. The tithes have been commuted for £83. 14. per annum. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists.

Woodland

WOODLAND, a chapelry, in the parish of KirkbyIreleth, union of Ulverston, hundred of Lonsdale north of the Sands, N. division of Lancashire, 8¼ miles (N. N. W.) from Ulverston; containing, with Heathwaite, 331 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £68; patrons, the Landowners. The chapel was built in 1689, and repaired in 1822.

Woodland

WOODLAND, a hamlet, in the parish of IsleAbbot's, union of Langport, hundred of Abdick and Bulstone, Western division of Somerset; containing 56 inhabitants.

Woodland-Eyam

WOODLAND-EYAM, a township, in the parish of Eyam, union of Bakewell, hundred of High Peak, N. division of the county of Derby; containing 226 inhabitants. The tithes have been commuted for £70.

Woodland-Hope

WOODLAND-HOPE, a hamlet, in the parish of Hope, union of Chapel-en-le-Frith, hundred of High Peak, Northern division of the county of Derby; containing 252 inhabitants.

Woodlands

WOODLANDS, a tything, in the parish of Horton, union of Wimborne and Cranborne, hundred of Knowlton, Wimborne division of Dorset, 4¼ miles (S. S. W.) from Cranborne; containing 454 inhabitants. The unfortunate Duke of Monmouth, after his flight from the battle of Sedgemoor, in Somerset, is stated to have been found here by his enemies, in a ditch under an ash-tree, which is inscribed with the various names of those who have since visited the spot. This is a wellwooded district, with a clayey soil. A fair is held on July 5th. There is an old episcopal chapel in ruins; also a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists.

Woodlands

WOODLANDS, a hamlet, in the parish of West Meon, union of Droxford, hundred of Fawley, Droxford and Northern divisions of the county of Southampton; containing 85 inhabitants.

Woodlands

WOODLANDS, a tything, in the parish, union, and hundred of Mere, Hindon and Southern divisions of Wilts; containing 816 inhabitants.

Woodleigh (St. Mary)

WOODLEIGH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Kingsbridge, hundred of Staneorough, Stanborough and Coleridge, and S. divisions of Devon, 3 miles (N.) from Kingsbridge; containing 269 inhabitants. It comprises 1975 acres, of which 240 are common or waste. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £22. 8. 4.; net income, £392; patrons, Exeter College, Oxford. The church contains an altar-tomb representing the Resurrection of Our Saviour.

Woodlesford

WOODLESFORD, with Oulton, a township, in the parish of Rothwell, union of Wakefield, Lower division of the wapentake of Agbrigg, W. riding of York, 4½ miles (S. E. by E.) from Leeds; containing 1789 inhabitants. The village is pleasantly situated on the south bank of the river Aire, and near the Midland railway, which has a station here. A great part of the labouring population is employed in the extensive and valuable stone-quarries of the township; there are manufactories of paper and earthenware, and about 40 hands are employed at a brewery established in 1840. The dissenters have a place of worship.—See Oulton.

Woodley, with Sandford

WOODLEY, with Sandford, a township, in the parish and hundred of Sonning, union of Wokingham, county of Berks, 3½ miles (E. by N.) from Reading; containing 823 inhabitants. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £767. There is a Roman Catholic chapel; and a school is supported.