Welnetham, Great - Wembworthy

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

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'Welnetham, Great - Wembworthy', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, (London, 1848) pp. 506-509. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp506-509 [accessed 19 March 2024]

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Welnetham, Great

WELNETHAM, GREAT, a parish, in the union of Thingoe, hundred of Thedwastry, W. division of Suffolk, 3½miles (S. E. by S.) from Bury St. Edmund's; containing, with part of the hamlet of Sicklesmere, 514 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 15. 7½.; net income, £314; patron, F. Wing, Esq. Mrs. Mary Green in 1814 bequeathed a legacy of £200, which was invested in the funds, for the poor. At Welnetham was a priory of Crouched, or Crossed, friars, subordinate to the principal house of that order, near the Tower of London. Numerous remains of Roman antiquities have been dug up. Sir Richard Gipp, Knt., a great collector of Suffolk antiquities, resided and was buried here.

Welnetham, Little (St. Mary)

WELNETHAM, LITTLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Thingoe, hundred of Thedwastry, W. division of Suffolk, 2 miles (S. E.) from Bury St. Edmund's; containing, with part of the hamlet of Sicklesmere, 206 inhabitants, and an area of about 750 acres. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 13. 4., and in the gift of the Marquess of Bristol: the tithes have been commuted for £155, and the glebe comprises 25 acres.

Welney

WELNEY, a chapelry, in the parish of Upwell, union of Downham, partly in the hundred of Wisbech, Isle of Ely, county of Cambridge, and partly in the hundred of Clackclose, W. division of Norfolk, 10 miles (S. W.) from Downham; containing 996 inhabitants, of whom 405 are in the Cambridge portion. The chapel is situated in Cambridgeshire. William Marshall, in 1661, conveyed to 12 feoffees 479 acres of land, onethird part of the rent of which is applied to relieving widows, and in apprenticing children, who are also provided with clothing if necessary. As much of the remaining two-thirds as is requisite is appropriated to the repairs of the chapel, and to keeping in order the highways and a bridge; the residue goes to the endowment of a free school. The revenue is about £1000 per annum. Many Roman coins were dug up here in 1718.

Welton (St. Mary)

WELTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the wapentake of Lawress, parts of Lindsey, union and county of Lincoln, 6 miles (N. N. E.) from Lincoln; containing, with the hamlet of Ryland, 566 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3610 acres; and the road from Lincoln to Market-Rasen passes through it. Good building-stone is abundant. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 6. 8.; net income, £150; patrons, the Prebendaries of Welton, &c.; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln. The church is a neat structure, built in 1825: it was struck by lightning in the autumn of 1847, and one person killed, and many others injured. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. The sum of £20 per annum, derived from a bequest by John Camm in 1824, and about £11. 10. a year, chiefly the gift of Earl Brownlow, are appropriated to the poor. The Countess of Warwick gave £10 per annum for the establishment of a Sunday-evening lecture.

Welton (St. Andrew)

WELTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Daventry, hundred of Fawsley, S. division of the county of Northampton, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Daventry; containing 635 inhabitants, and comprising 1900 acres. The Crick and Welton station on the London and Birmingham railway is distant two miles: the Grand Junction and the Union canals meet at the south-eastern extremity of the parish, and the Watling-street skirts the eastern boundary. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7, and has a net income of £193; it is in the patronage of the Crown. The glebe contains 100 acres. The church was repaired in 1845, and an organ put up, the whole at a cost of £250. Some lands for the indigent poor produce about £120 per annum, of which a small sum is applied to education.

Welton

WELTON, a township, in the parish of Ovingham, union of Hexham, E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 9¼ miles (E. N. E.) from Hexham; containing 59 inhabitants. This was anciently the seat of King Oswy; and it was here that the Saxon kings Penda and Segebert received the rite of baptism from Finan, Bishop of Lindisfarne. The township comprises 1165 acres, the property of Thomas Wentworth Beaumont, Esq. About two-thirds of the land are arable, and the remainder meadow and pasture; the surface is elevated, the soil generally strong, and moderately fertile. The Tower, the manorial seat of the ancient family of Welton, is fast going to decay; there are still remaining in tolerable preservation, two handsome rooms with oriel windows. The Hall, an ancient mansion which, according to an inscription on the walls, was repaired in 1614, is still occupied. In the village is a flour-mill, driven by water. The tithes have been commuted for £120. The Roman wall passes in the immediate vicinity of the township.

Welton (St. Helen)

WELTON (St. Helen), a parish, in the union of Sculcoates, wapentake of Howdenshire, E. riding of York; containing, with the chapelry of Melton, 987 inhabitants, of whom 792 are in Welton township, 4 miles (S. E.) from South Cave, and 10 (W. by S.) from Hull, which is the post-town. This parish is situated on the southern declivity of the Wolds, and within one mile and a half of the river Humber, of whose course it commands many beautiful views. It contains 2632 acres, of which 1732 constitute the township; the surface for the most part is richly wooded, and the soil presents great variety, being composed of chalk, clay, sand, and gravel. The Hull and Selby railway passes within a mile of the village. The living is a vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes, valued in the king's books at £25, and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £383. The tithes of the township were commuted for land and a money payment in 1792; the Bishop of Ripon is lord of the rectorial manor, and there is also a small vicarial manor. The church, supposed to have been founded in the reign of William Rufus, consists of a nave, chancel, north aisle, and south transept, with a large embattled tower, rising from the centre, and terminated at the angles by pinnacles and vanes. It has several handsome mural monuments, and the effigy of a Knight Templar placed upright, now much mutilated. The east window has beautiful tracery; the nave is separated from the north aisle by two pointed arches resting on octagonal pillars, and the arches between the nave and the transept and chancel are similar, the two pillars in the latter having Norman capitals. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Welton-In-The-Marsh (St. Martin)

WELTON-IN-THE-MARSH (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Spilsby, Wold division of the wapentake of Candleshoe, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 6 miles (E. N. E.) from Spilsby; containing 396 inhabitants. It comprises by admeasurement 2420 acres, about one-fourth of which is wood, and the rest arable and pasture; the soil on the hills rests on chalk, and that in the remainder of the parish on clay. A small pleasure-fair is held on Old Lady-day. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued in the king's books at £14. 8. 9.; net income, £122; patrons and impropriators, P. and M. A. Massingberd, Esqrs. The tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents in 1792. The church having fallen down, a new edifice of brick was raised in 1792, partly by subscription and partly by rate. Here is a large tumulus called Castle Hill.

Welton-Le-Wold (St. Martin)

WELTON-LE-WOLD (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Louth, Wold division of the hundred of Louth-Eske, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 3¾ miles (W.) from Louth; containing 356 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 12. 1., and in the gift of the Crown; income, £448. The tithes were commuted for land in 1770.

Welwick (St. Mary)

WELW1CK (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Patrington, S. division of the wapentake of Holderness, E. riding of York, 2 miles (S. E. by E.) from Patrington; containing 403 inhabitants. The parish includes the hamlets of Weeton, Welwick-Thorpe, and Ploughland; and comprises 3276 acres. The village is distant about a mile from the north bank of the Humber, and stands on the road from Patrington to Skeffling. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £93; impropriator, T. Fewson, Esq. The tithes were commuted for land and money payments in 1768. The church is principally in the decorated English style, and contains the remains of a once splendid monument, said to have been removed from Burstall Abbey, and bearing marks of high antiquity. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Welwyn (St. Mary)

WELWYN (St. Mary), a parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Broadwater, county of Hertford, 8 miles (W. N. W.) from Hertford; containing 1395 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the great north road, and comprises 2987a. 2r. 7p., of which 1815 acres are arable, 540 pasture, and 405 woodland. The surface is hilly, and the soil chiefly loam, resting on gravel and chalk; the river Mimram runs through the grounds, and falls into the Lea at Hertford. The village consists of one street, with a smaller leading to Stevenage, and contains several genteel residences. In Mill-lane is a fine chalybeate spring, formerly in considerable repute. There is also an assembly-room in the village. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £21, and in the gift of All Souls' College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £620; the glebe comprises 85 acres. The church was enlarged in 1834: over the altar is a piece of embroidery, with a suitable inscription, by Lady Betty Young, wife of Dr. Edward Young, author of the Night Thoughts, who was for many years rector, and who was buried by the side of his lady, under the communion-table, in 1765. There are places of worship for Huntingtonians and Wesleyans. Dr. Young in 1760 founded a school, and endowed it with £1500 old South Sea annuities, augmented in 1810 by a bequest of £200 from Daniel Spurgeon; in 1830, the schoolroom was rebuilt upon an enlarged plan, chiefly from the funds of the charity. John Bexfield in 1570 left some land, the rent of which, £13. 10., is distributed with other benefactions among the poor. The union embraces the parishes of Welwyn, Digswell, and Ayott St. Lawrence and St. Peter, containing a population of 1955.

Wem (St. Peter and St. Paul)

WEM (St. Peter and St. Paul), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, partly in the hundred of Pimhill, but chiefly in the Whitchurch division of the hundred of North Bradford, N. division of Salop, 11 miles (N. by E.) from Shrewsbury, and 172 (N. W.) from London; containing 4119 inhabitants, of whom 1932 are in the township. It has been conjectured by Horsley, that this place occupies the site of the ancient Rutunium. There is no authentic account of it prior to the Conquest, at which period William Paudulph, who held 28 manors of Earl Roger de Montgomery, made it the head of a barony, and fixed his residence here. On the forfeiture of the estates of Robert de Belesme, son of Earl Roger, for rebellion in the reign of Henry I., Pandulph held it immediately of the crown, and thence became a baron of the realm. After continuing for several generations in this family, and passing through the hands of other proprietors, the barony was purchased in 1665 by Daniel Wycherley, father of the poet, and by him sold to the unprincipled Judge Jeffreys, who was created Baron of Wem in 1685, being the first who enjoyed that dignity by patent. At the death of Jeffreys' son the title became extinct. Wem was the first town in the county which declared for the parliament, in 1643, in which year a party of the king's troops, under Lord Capel, attempted to capture it by storm, but were repulsed by the small garrison, aided, it is said, by the active exertions of the women. In the following year it was reconnoitred by Prince Rupert, who deemed it unworthy of any effort to capture. Under the government of Major-General Mytton, the garrison plundered the possessions of the neighbouring royalists, and the booty brought by them into the town caused it to flourish at that time more than at any antecedent or subsequent period. In 1677, it suffered from a dreadful fire, which consumed the church, market-house, and whole ranges of building, destroying property valued at upwards of £23,000.

The town is situated in a level district, on the northern bank of the river Roden, and on the road from Shrewsbury to Chester and Liverpool. It consists principally of one spacious thoroughfare, called Highstreet, from which several smaller streets and lanes diverge; and is supplied with good water. Tanning and malting are carried on to a very considerable extent. The Ellesmere and Chester canal skirts the north-western boundary of the parish; and an act was passed in 1846, for making a branch to Wem of the Shrewsbury and Chester railway, 6½ miles long. The market, granted by King John, in 1205, to be held on Sunday, has since the 24th of Edward III. been held on Thursday: two minor markets for meat take place on Tuesday and Saturday. The market-house, on the south side of High-street, is a small neat edifice of brick, with stone quoins, commenced in 1702, but not completed until 1728. The fairs are on March 4th and May 6th, for linen-cloth; May 20th and June 29th, for cattle; and September 30th and November 22nd, chiefly for swine. Wem appears to have been incorporated, though when the charter was granted is not known: from a copy of court roll dated in the reign of Edward VI., it must have had a charter prior to that period. The principal officers are two bailiffs, appointed at the court leet held after Michaelmas, one by the lord's steward, and the other by the borough jury; the burgesses are the holders of burgage tenements, about 80 in number. The powers of the county debt-court of Wem, established in 1847, extend over part of the registration district of Wem and Whitchurch. The parish comprises 13,455a. 33p., of which 8423 acres are arable, 4656 meadow and pasture, 97 woodland, and 277 common recently inclosed; the soil varies considerably, but is generally a stiff marl.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £26. 4. 4½., and in the patronage of the Duke of Cleveland: the tithes have been commuted for £2095, and there are nearly 39 acres of glebe. The church, a spacious edifice with a lofty tower, appears to have been built at an early period, but the alterations and repairs it has undergone, which were completed in 1812, have left little of the original style. An elevated spot at the north-west corner of the churchyard, now converted into gardens, is supposed to have been the site of the old castle. There is a chapel of ease at Edstaston, a very ancient structure in the early English style, with a highly-enriched Norman arch. A chapel forming a separate incumbency was erected in 1836, at Newton, on the site of one consecrated in 1665; it is a handsome edifice of brick, with dressings of stone. There are places of worship for Baptists and Presbyterians. A free grammar school was established and endowed in 1650, by Thomas Adams, who was born here in 1586, and who, becoming a wealthy trader and active magistrate of the city of London, was created a baronet in 1660. The present school premises were erected in 1670; and with subsequent bequests, the gross income is £331. The school enjoys the benefit of two exhibitions founded by Mr. Careswell, and noticed in the article on Bridgnorth. The union of Wem comprises 12 parishes or places, with a population of 12,518. Mr. John Ireland, author of Hogarth Illustrated, was born here.

Wembdon (St. George)

WEMBDON (St. George), a parish, in the union of Bridgwater, hundred of North Petherton, W. division of the county of Somerset, 1½ mile (N. W.) from Bridgwater; containing 370 inhabitants. The parish is bounded by the navigable river Parret on the east, and by the road from Bridgwater to Dunster on the south. It comprises 2198 acres, of which 590 are arable, and 92 in orchards. The upper part is hilly land, adapted for growing corn; the soil of the lower grounds is alluvial, and very rich pasture, particularly near the river. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 16. 10.; income, £612; patron, the Rev. C. W. H. Alston; impropriator, J. Credland, Esq. The church is a small structure.

Wembley

WEMBLEY, a hamlet, in the parish of Harrowon-the-Hill, union of Hendon, hundred of Gore, county of Middlesex; containing 232 inhabitants.

Wembury (St. Werburgh)

WEMBURY (St. Werburgh), a parish, in the union of Plympton St. Mary, hundred of Plympton, Ermington and Plympton, and S. divisions of Devon, 5¼ miles (S. by W.) from Plympton-Earls; containing 616 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the south and west by the English Channel, and on the east by the river Yealm. It comprises 2565 acres, of which 137 are common or waste; the surface is boldly undulated, and the views over the Channel and the adjacent country are interesting and extensive. Nearly opposite to the church, from which it is about two miles distant, bearing west-south-west, and at the entrance of Plymouth Sound, is the small island called by mariners the Mew Stone. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £83; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Windsor, whose tithes have been commuted for £380. The church occupies the brow of a bold eminence on the shore, and is in the later English style, with the exception of the north aisle, which is of an earlier period, and substantially built of granite. In the chancel is a curious monument to Sir John Hele, serjeant at-law in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I.; and in the south aisle is a massive tomb inscribed to the memory of Lady Narborough, dated 1678. An almshouse for ten people was founded and endowed in 1625, by Sir Warwick Hele.

Wembworthy (St. Michael)

WEMBWORTHY (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Crediton, hundred of North Tawton, South Molton and N. divisions of Devon, 3½ miles (S. S. W.) from Chulmleigh; containing 418 inhabitants. The parish is situated nearly in the centre of the county; the scenery is agreeably diversified, and enlivened with the handsome residence of Eggesford, the seat of the Hon. Newton Fellowes, near which is a circular encampment surrounded by a fosse. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 13. 4., and in the gift of the Rev. P. Johnson and others: the tithes have been commuted for £165. 12., and the glebe comprises 40 acres. The church has been almost entirely rebuilt, at the expense of the Hon. N. Fellowes. Dr. Burton, author of the Pentalogia and other learned works, was a native of Wembworthy.