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Alcester in Warwick County England History and GeographyALCESTER, a market town and parish in the Alcester division of the hundred of BARLICHWAY, county of WARWICK, 15 miles (W.S.W.) from Warwick, and 103 (N.W. by W.) from London, containing 2229 inhabitants. This place, from its name, and from the numerous Roman relics that have been discovered, is supposed to have been a Roman station, and the Iknield street, which passed through it, may still be traced in the immediate vicinity. In the time of the Saxons it was a place of great importance, and of much greater extent than at present. At the conquest it was a royal residence: it was made a free borough in the reign of Henry I.; and, in 1141, a monastery was founded here by Ralph le Boteler, the revenue of which, at the dissolution, was £101. 14. The town is pleasantly situated in a fertile valley, surrounded with richly wooded cminences, on the eastern bank of the river Aln, near its junction with the Arrow, over both which rivers are neat stone bridges. It consists of one principal street, from which, near the market place, several smaller ones diverge; most of the houses are ancient, with projecting upper stories, though there are several of modern structure and of handsome appearance; the inhabitants are well supplied with water from springs. The principal manufacture is that of needles, in which about six hundred persons are employed. The market day is Tuesday, principally for corn; the fairs are held on January 27th, March 24th, May 18th, July 28th, October 17th, and December 1st. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates; and a court leet is held annually in November, at which a bailiff, steward, and deputy steward, are appointed. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester, rated in the king's books at £14. 18. 10. The Marquis of Hertford was patron in 1807. The church, formerly dedicated to St. Andrew, was, with the exception of the tower, rebuilt in 1732, and dedicated to St. Nicholas: it is partly in the early, and partly in the decorated, style of English architecture, having a fine embattled tower crowned with pinnacles; the roof is supported by pillars of the Tuscan order. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Methodists, and Unitarians. The free grammar school was founded by Mr. Walter Newport in 1592, and endowed with £400, now producing £20 per annum. In 1780 Mr. Brook Bridges founded a school for twelve boys and twelve girls, which he endowed with £20 per annum. There is an alms house for eight poor men. Various urns, coins, tesselated pavemcnts, and other Roman antiquities, have been found in the town and environs; and in that part called the black fields, to which the buildings formerly extended, ancient foundations have been discovered. Beauchamp's Court, the ancient manorial residence, now a farm about a mile and a half distant, gives the title of baron to the Earl of Warwick. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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