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Alton in Southampton County England History and GeographyALTON, a market town and parish in the northern division of the hundred of ALTON, county of SOUTHAMPTON, 30 miles (N.E.) from Southampton, and 47 (S.W. by W.) from London, containing 2499 inhabitants. The name, a contraction of Old Town, is descriptive of its great antiquity, having been a royal demesne in the reign of Alfred: It sent one member to parliament in the 23d of Edward I. In 1643, the town was occupied by a detachment of the royal army, commanded by Sir Ralph Hopton, who was soon after defeated by Sir William Waller. It is pleasantly situated on the river Wey, and consists of three principal streets, partially paved by subscription, and lighted. The manufacture of bombazines, once of considerable extent, has decayed: the hop-plantations are extensive, and there are two large breweries in the town. The market day, principally for corn, is Saturday; and the fairs are held on the Saturday before May 1st, and September 29th, for horses and cattle. Alton is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold a petty sessions here for the division of Alton North. Constables and other officers are chosen at the court leet of the Lord of the Manor. The town hall, part of which is used as a National school-house, stands in the marketplace, and a court for the recovery of debts under 40s. is held in it every third week. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Winchester, rated in the king's books at £15, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Winchester. The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, is a spacious structure, principally in the later style of English architecture, but with some earlier portions; it has a square embattled tower surmounted by a spire. There are plaees of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, and Presbyterians. A grammar school was founded by John Egger for twenty-five boys, who are now instructed at a private school. There are about two hundred children of both sexes in the National school: at Halliborne there is a charity school for forty boys and twenty girls. John Pitts, the biographer, and William Curtis, the botanist, were natives of this town. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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