Woothorpe - Wootton-Wawen

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

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'Woothorpe - Wootton-Wawen', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, (London, 1848) pp. 670-673. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp670-673 [accessed 18 March 2024]

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Woothorpe

WOOTHORPE, a hamlet, in the parish of St. Martin, Stamford-Baron, union of Stamford, soke of Peterborough, N. division of the county of Northampton, 6 miles (N. W. by N.) from Wansford; containing 68 inhabitants. A small Benedictine nunnery dedicated to St. Mary, existed here in the time of Henry I., and was united in the reign of Edward III. to the convent of Our Lady St. Mary and St. Michael, at Stamford-Baron.

Wootton (St. Mary)

WOOTTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the hundred of Redbornestoke, union and county of Bedford, 4½ miles (S. W.) from Bedford; containing 1122 inhabitants. It comprises 3400 acres. The soil is chiefly a strong clay, well adapted for wheat; the surface is varied, but in no part attains to any considerable elevation. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8., and has a net income of £236; the patronage and impropriation belong to Lady Payne. The church contains numerous monuments to the Monoux family. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists.

Wootton (St. Peter)

WOOTTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Abingdon, hundred of Hormer, county of Berks, 3½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Abingdon; containing 344 inhabitants. The parish comprises about 1400 acres, of which 700 are arable, 640 meadow and pasture, and 60 woodland. It was formerly a chapelry in the parish of Cumner, but was separated early in the last century. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to that of South Hinksey. Jane Mayo, in 1747, bequeathed to the incumbent and wardens, in trust for the poor, a close called the Farm, or Church-close, the proceeds to be distributed yearly at Christmas.

Wootton

WOOTTON, a hamlet, in the parish of St. Mary-deLode, Gloucester, Upper division of the hundred of Dudstone and King's-Barton, union, and E. division of the county, of Gloucester, ¾ of a mile (E. by S.) from Gloucester; containing, with Wootton-Ville, extraparochial, 1001 inhabitants. The tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents in 1796.

Wootton (St. Martin)

WOOTTON (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Dovor, hundred of Kinghamford, lathe of St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 9½ miles (S. E. by S.) from Canterbury; containing 157 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from London to Dovor, and comprises by measurement 1019 acres; the surface is finely varied, and the scenery embellished with 98 acres of wood. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 10. 2½., and in the gift of the Representatives of Sir J. W. H. Brydges, Knt.: the tithes have been commuted for £260, and the glebe comprises 16 acres, with a house. The church is in the early English style. Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges, Bart., who died in 1837, was a native of Wootton.

Wootton (St. Andrew)

WOOTTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Glandford-Brigg, N. division of the wapentake of Yarborough, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 5¾ miles (S. E.) from Barton-upon-Humber; containing 529 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 2766 acres of fertile land, situated between two ranges of the Wolds; two-thirds of the surface are arable, and the rest almost entirely grass. Stone is quarried, chiefly for the roads. Wootton House is a neat mansion, built in 1800, with well-wooded grounds; the village occupies a pleasant site, and is embellished with a pool of water covering about an acre. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 18. 4., and in the gift of the Giffard family; net income, £203; impropriator, Lord Yarborough. The tithes were commuted for land in 1767, when 135 acres were awarded to the incumbent. The church is a plain ancient edifice, with a square tower. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists.

Wootton (St. George the Martyr)

WOOTTON (St. George the Martyr), a parish, in the union of Hardingstone, hundred of Wymmersley, S. division of the county of Northampton, 2½ miles (S. by E.) from Northampton; containing 793 inhabitants, and comprising 1915 acres, of which twothirds are arable and the remainder pasture. Wootton Hall, the seat of W. Harris, Esq., stands elevated, and commands extensive prospects: the grounds are surrounded with thriving plantations. The workhouse of the Hardingstone union is situated in this parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £21. 15.; net income, £500, with a house; patrons, the Rector and Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford. The tithes were commuted for land in 1778. A national school is maintained by the rector. The rent of three acres, awarded under an inclosure act, and now let for about £6 per annum, is appropriated to the support of a medical club; and there are some trifling bequests for the poor. Several hundreds of Roman coins were discovered in 1843.

Wootton (St. Mary)

WOOTTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Woodstock, hundred of Wootton, county of Oxford, 2¼ miles (N. by W.) from Woodstock; containing 1129 inhabitants. The parish lies on the banks of the river Glym, and comprises about 4000 acres, chiefly arable land, with a small portion of meadow and pasture. At Old Woodstock, and in other parts of the parish, glovemaking is carried on. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £15. 2. 8½., and in the patronage of New College, Oxford, with a net income of £783: certain tithes were commuted for land in 1769, and others under the recent act for a rent-charge of £259. 10. 6.; there are 56 acres of glebe. The church is partly in the Norman style, but principally of later date. Charles Parrott, in 1785, bequeathed £2300 India annuities, now producing about £90 per annum, for the maintenance, education, and apprenticing of twelve boys; in 1835 a school-house was built. Another school was endowed by the Rev. Lancelot C. Lee, for clothing and teaching six girls. Numerous vestiges of Roman occupation have been discovered at various times; and on Chaldon Hill are the remains of an exploratory camp, near which passes the Roman Akemanstreet.

Wootton (St. Lawrence)

WOOTTON (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Basingstoke, hundred of Chutely, Basingstoke and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 4¼ miles (W. by N.) from Basingstoke; containing 845 inhabitants. It is intersected by the London and South-Western railway, and comprises 1133a. lr. 13p., of which 20 acres are pasture, 53 woodland, 14 road and waste, and the remainder arable. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10. 2. 3½.; net income, £211; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Winchester. The church, which is very ancient, has a Norman doorway, with pillars and arches of the same character, and several windows in the early English style; it contains a handsome marble monument in memory of Sir Thomas Hooke, Bart., and several memorials to the family of Wither.

Wootton (St. Edmund)

WOOTTON (St. Edmund), a parish, in the liberty of East Medina, Isle of Wight division of the county of Southampton, 4 miles (N. E.) from Newport, and equidistant (W.) from Ryde; containing 51 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1023 acres, of which 688 are arable, 180 pasture, and 154 woodland. It is bounded on the north by the Motherbank, and on the east by an inlet of the sea, across which is a narrow causeway called Wootton bridge, upwards of 900 feet in length, on the road from Ryde to Newport. On an eminence south of the bridge is Fern Hill, the seat of Samuel Sanders, Esq., a curious edifice with a lofty handsome tower, having somewhat the appearance of a church; it was erected by Thomas Orde Powlett, Lord Bolton, when governor of the island, and commands a noble prospect of Spithead, and the adjacent parts of Hampshire. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 16. 0½.; net income, £240; patron and incumbent, the Rev. R. W. White. The church is in the Norman style; there is a grave-stone to the memory of Sir William Lisle, master in chancery, and father of John Lisle, the regicide. At Wootton farm was formerly an oak of remarkably large dimensions, being 47 feet in girth.

Wootton

WOOTTON, a township, in the parish of Eccleshall, union of Stone, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill and of the county of Stafford; containing 144 inhabitants. The township lies about a mile south of Eccleshall, and is included within the Horsley quarter of the parish. It is on the road from Eccleshall to Newport, in Shropshire; and near it is a high paved road which Dr. Plot considers to be a Roman via vicinalis. The tithes have been commuted for annual rent-charges of 11s. 11d. payable to the vicar, and £81. 4. to the Bishop of Lichfield.

Wootton

WOOTTON, a township, in the parish of Ellastone, S. division of the hundred of Totmonslow, N. division of the county of Stafford, 4½ miles (W. by S.) from Ashbourn; containing 223 inhabitants. The township comprises about 1500 acres of land. The village is small, situated a mile and a half from the village of Ellastone, on the road from that place to Cotton, and under the limestone mountain called Weaver Hill, one of the loftiest hills in the neighbourhood, and abounding in a variety of minerals. Wootton Lodge, the property of the Rev. E. Unwin, is a handsome mansion, said to have been designed by Inigo Jones. The building extends from a level lawn to the very edge of a precipitous rock on which its foundations are laid: the park grounds are uncommonly beautiful. Wootton Hall, the seat of the Rev. Walter Davenport Bromley, who is owner of the village, is built on a spot than which, in the entire range of the vale of Dove, there is scarcely one more adapted for a noble mansion: its situation is a lofty sloping bank rising from a forest-like seclusion; and the landscape of mountain, meadow, and sylvan scenery is almost unbounded. Rousseau spent about eighteen months at Wootton.

Wootton-Bassett (All Saints)

WOOTTON - BASSETT (All Saints), a market-town and parish, and formerly a representative borough, in the union of Cricklade and Wootton-Bassett, hundred of Kingsbridge, Swindon and N. divisions of Wilts, 36 miles (N. by W.) from Salisbury, and 87 (W.) from London; containing 2990 inhabitants. This place, which appears to have been originally of greater importance than it is at present, was, at the time of the Norman Conquest, called Wodeton, from wode, a wood, and tun, a town. About a century after that period, it became the property of the noble family of Bassett, from whom it derived the adjunct to its name. The town is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, commanding extensive and pleasingly diversified prospects of the surrounding country, which is extremely fertile and in a high state of cultivation. It consists principally of one street, nearly half a mile in length; the houses are in general indifferently built and of mean appearance. The manufacture of broad-cloth, which was formerly carried on, has entirely ceased, and there is now no trade beyond what is requisite for the supply of the inhabitants. The Wilts and Berks canal passes within half a mile to the south of the town, and the Great Western railway has a station here. The market is on Tuesday; and fairs, formerly six in number, but now reduced to two, are held on the Mondays next after the feasts of Pentecost and St. Bartholomew.

Seal and Arms.

The town received its earliest charter of incorporation in the reign of Henry VI., and under this grant, renewed by Charles II. in the 31st year of his reign, the government is vested in a mayor, two aldermen, and twelve capital burgesses, assisted by a town-clerk and subordinate officers. The borough first exercised the elective franchise in the 25th of Henry VI., from which time it regularly returned two members to parliament till it was disfranchised by the act 2nd of William IV., cap. 45. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12, and in the gift of the Earl of Clarendon: the great tithes have been commuted for £585. 10., and the vicarial for £485, with a glebe of 92 acres. The church is an ancient structure: in cleaning the south wall, some years since, a curious painting was discovered of the Murder of Thomas à Becket, executed in a rude style. There is a place of worship for Independents; also a free school founded in 1688, by Richard Jones, and endowed with lands now producing about £25 per annum. An hospital dedicated to St. John, which formerly existed here, was, during the reign of Henry IV., granted and united to the priory of Bradenstoke, in this county. The old manor-house has been converted into a farm-house. At a short distance below the town is a mineral spring, possessing the same properties as that of Cheltenham, and much used by those residing in the neighbourhood, though not generally known.

Wootton-Courtney (All Saints)

WOOTTON-COURTNEY (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Williton, hundred of Carhampton, W. division of Somerset, 4 miles (S. W.) from Minehead; containing 418 inhabitants. This parish takes the adjunct to its name from the Courtney family, who formerly held the manor. It is situated in a valley between the heights of Grabhurst and Dunkery, and comprises 3119 acres, of which 1436 are common or waste. At the base of Dunkery, which is 1668 feet above the level of the sea, is a mine of iron-ore in active operation; there are also quarries in the parish of red-sandstone for building and for the roads, and of limestone, in which crystals are found. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 8. 9., and in the patronage of Eton College: the tithes have been commuted for £270, and the glebe comprises 113 acres, with a house. The church is a handsome structure in the later English style. Richard Montague, afterwards Bishop of Chester and of Norwich, was rector here.

Wootton-Fitzpain

WOOTTON-FITZPAIN, a parish, in the union of Bridport, hundred of Whitchurch-Canonicorum, Bridport division of Dorset, 4 miles (N. E. by N.) from Lyme-Regis; containing 432 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1679 acres, of which 64 are common or waste; the soil is chalky, and the substratum abounds with flints and gravel, the former being used for building and draining, and the latter for the roads. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 15., and in the patronage of Mrs. Drew: the tithes have been commuted for £250, and there is a glebe-house, with about half an acre of land.

Wootton-Glanville (St. Mary)

WOOTTON-GLANVILLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Cerne, hundred of Buckland-Newton, Sherborne division of Dorset, 7½ miles (S. S. E.) from Sherborne; containing, with the tything of WoottonNewland, 342 inhabitants. This parish comprises 1665a. 2r. 26p., whereof about 153 acres are arable, 258 waste (of which more than half is being brought into cultivation), 76 woodland, and the remainder meadow and pasture. The soil is generally a deep clay, interspersed occasionally with chalk, and gravel; and sandstone, in which fossils are imbedded, is found. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12, and in the gift of the Rev. J. Wickens: the tithes have been commuted for £315, and the glebe comprises 22 acres. The church is principally in the decorated style, with a low embattled tower of later date: it was repaired and newly-pewed in 1741, and contains an altar-tomb with a recumbent figure; also several monuments and inscriptions, and some fragments of ancient stained glass. John Churchill, grandfather of the great Duke of Marlborough, resided in the parish.

Wootton, Leek (All Saints)

WOOTTON, LEEK (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Warwick, Kenilworth division of the hundred of Knightlow, S. division of the county of Warwick, 3 miles (N.) from Warwick, on the road to Coventry; containing 360 inhabitants. This parish comprises 2033 acres of good land, the larger part in grass; and is picturesquely situated, and well wooded. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 12. 1.; net income, £300, with a glebe-house; patron and impropriator, Lord Leigh. The tithes have been commuted for land under an act of inclosure. The church was erected in 1792, at the sole expense of the Hon. Mary Leigh, and was enlarged and beautified in 1843, at a cost of £400; the chancel is in the decorated style, and the windows are ornamented with painted glass, the central window representing Our Saviour. A communion service of silver-gilt was presented in the reign of James I. by the Duchess of Dudley, who also gave 50 acres of land in augmentation of the benefice. There is a parochial school endowed with £16 per annum.

Wootton, North

WOOTTON, NORTH, a parish, in the union and hundred of Sherborne, Sherborne division of Dorset, 2 miles (S. E. by S.) from the town of Sherborne j containing 84 inhabitants. It comprises 619a. 2r. Stone of inferior quality is quarried for the roads. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £51 per annum; patron, Earl Digby; impropriator, Robert Gordon, Esq. The church was anciently a chapel of ease to the vicarage of Sherborne.

Wootton, North (All Saints)

WOOTTON, NORTH (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Freebridge-Lynn, W. division of Norfolk, 3½ miles (N. by E.) from Lynn; containing 210 inhabitants. This parish is bounded on the west by the Lynn channel, and comprises 1843a. 2r. 6p., whereof 297 acres are arable, 1167 meadow and pasture, 37 woodland, and 302 common. The soil is gravel, interspersed with clay and marl; the surface is undulated. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10, and in the gift of the Howard family: the great tithes have been commuted for £62, and the vicarial for £200; the glebe contains 1½ acre. The church is a small structure in the early English style of architecture, repaired in 1834.

Wootton, North

WOOTTON, NORTH, a parish, in the poor-law union of Wells, hundred of Glaston-Twelve-Hides, E. division of Somerset, 4 miles (W. S. W.) from Shepton-Mallet; containing 375 inhabitants. The parish comprises about 2000 acres; the soil is chiefly a clayey loam, and the lower lands are watered by two small rivulets. The living is annexed to the vicarage of Pilton: the tithes have been commuted for £99 to the impropriator, and £50 to the vicar. The church is a neat plain building.

Wootton-Rivers (St. Andrew)

WOOTTON-RIVERS (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Pewsey, hundred of Kinwardstone, Everley and Pewsey, and S. divisions of Wilts, 3 miles (N. E.) from Pewsey; containing 470 inhabitants. It comprises 1179a. 2r. 34p., of which 1036 acres are arable, 75 meadow and pasture, and 32 woodland; the soil is principally sand, alternated with clay, the surface in some parts hilly, and the scenery diversified. The Kennet and Avon canal passes through the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 10. 5., and in the alternate patronage of St. John's College, Cambridge, and Brasenose College, Oxford; but it must be given to one who has been a scholar at either from Lancashire. The tithes have been commuted for £390, and the glebe comprises 49½ acres. The church is a small structure in the decorated English style, with an east window of three lights, beautifully enriched with tracery.

Wootton, South (St. Mary)

WOOTTON, SOUTH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Freebridge-Lynn, W. division of Norfolk, 2¼ miles (S. W. by W.) from Castle-Rising; containing 151 inhabitants. It comprises 1258 acres, of which 320 are arable, 537 meadow and pasture, 5 woodland, and 290 common and waste; the soil is in some parts gravelly, and in others clay. The village stands on the road from Lynn to Wells, and the parish is bounded on the west by the Lynn channel. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £226. The church is a cruciform structure in the early and decorated English styles, with a square embattled tower. On the south side of the chancel are three sedilia of stone, a piscina, and an altar-tomb to Sir James Thomas Winde; and on the north side, the mausoleum of the Hamonds, of Swaffham: the font is Norman, and there is a piscina also in the south transept.

Wootton-Under-Wood (All Saints)

WOOTTON-UNDER-WOOD (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Aylesbury, hundred of Ashendon, county of Buckingham, 7 miles (N. by W.) from Thame; containing 265 inhabitants. It comprises about 2000 acres, of which the soil is a strong clay, and the surface flat: the village is pleasantly situated within a mile of Dorton Spa. Wootton House, an elegant mansion belonging to the Duke of Buckingham, built after the model of the old Buckingham Palace at Pimlico, stands in a park richly embellished with wood, and diversified with a lake studded with picturesque islands. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £69; patron, the Duke; appropriator, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church was repaired a few years since, when a spire of wood, covered with copper, was added to the tower: in the Grenville chapel, or south aisle, which was built in 1343, a columbarium has been constructed by his grace for the interment of his family.

Wootton-Wawen (St. Peter)

WOOTTON-WAWEN (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Stratford, Henley division of the hundred of Barlichway, S. division of the county of Warwick; containing, with the chapelries of Henley-in-Arden and Ullenhall, 2303 inhabitants, of whom 619 are in WoottonWawen township. The parish is situated on the river Alne, and comprises 8518a. 3r. 15p., of which 4100 acres are meadow and pasture, 3655 arable, 546 woodland, and about 216 road and waste. The surface is varied. Wootton Hall was early the seat of the Smythe family, of whom was Lord Carrington, who, at the battle of Edge-Hill, bravely redeemed the royal standard, as is recorded on his monument in Christ-Church, Oxford. The Dowager Lady Smythe, the lineal descendant and heiress of the family, resided in the mansion till her decease in 1831, when the estate descended to her only son, Sir Edward J. Smythe, Bart., of Acton-Burnell, Salop, the present proprietor. Over the front entrance of the Hall are the arms, finely executed in relief, of Lord Carrington. Adjoining is an elegant Roman Catholic chapel, of the Grecian-Doric order, erected by the Dowager Lady Smythe, in the year 1814. The Stratford canal passes through the parish. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11. 9. 7.; net income, £379; patrons, the Provost and Fellows of King's College, Cambridge; impropriators, Charles Mills and John Phillips, Esqrs. The tithes were partly exchanged in 1775 for 91 acres of land, now valued at £136. 10. per annum; and the residue have been commuted for rentcharges of £198 payable to the college, £383 to the impropriators, and £106. 11. to the vicar. The glebe comprises 20 acres. The church is principally in the later English style, with a handsome tower between the nave and chancel, of which the lower part was built in the Anglo-Saxon era; the south door is early English, and part of the south aisle in the decorated style. At the east end of the north aisle is a desk, in which are chained some expositions by various authors, on the four gospels, presented to the church at an early period after the Reformation. At Ullenhall is a chapel of ease, and there are endowed chapels at Henley and Bearley; also a place of worship for Baptists at Henley. A Benedictine priory was founded here as a cell to the abbey of Conches, in Normandy, to which abbey the parish church and some neighbouring lands had been given by Robert de Tonei, otherwise Stafford, son of Robert de Tonei, standard-bearer of Normandy: at the Dissolution of alien priories, the revenue was first granted by Richard II. to the priory of St. Anne, near Coventry, and afterwards by Henry VI. to King's College.