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Bradford (Great) in Wilts County England History and GeographyBRADFORD (GREAT), a parish in the hundred of BRADFORD, county of WILTS, comprising the market town of Bradford, the chapelries of Atworth, Holt, Winsley with Limpley-Stoke, and South Wraxhall, and the tything of Leigh-Wooley, and containing 10,231 inhabitants, of which number, 3760 are in the town of Bradford, 8 miles (S.E.) from Bath, 31½ (N.W.), from Salisbury, and 102 (W. by S.) from London. This place, from a ford over the river Avon, was called by the Saxons Bradenford, of which its present name is a contraction. During the Heptarchy, a battle took place here, between Cenwalh, King of the West Saxons, and a formidable party of his own subjects, who had rebelled against him, under the command of his kinsman Cuthred, when the latter were defeated with great slaughter. In 706, Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherbourn, founded an abbey at this place, which he dedicated to St. Lawrence, and which, after its destruction by the Danes, was rebuilt, and converted into a nunnery by Ethelred, who annexed it to a larger establishment of the same kind at Shaftesbury, in 1001. The town is beautifully situated on the declivity of a steep hill, forming part of a line of eminences on the northern side of the river Avon, over which are an ancient bridge of four, and a modern bridge of nine, arches, both affording a most agreeable prospect. The view of the town, which consists of three regular streets ranged above each other at different elevations on the side of the hill, is strikingly picturesque: the houses, built of stone, are in general handsome, and many of them elegant; and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water from springs. Various designs have recently been carried into effect for the improvement of the town; some of the streets have been widened, and considerable alterations have been made for the furtherance of business. A book society and a news-room have been recently established, and are well supported. The principal branch of manufacture is that of woollen cloth, which is said by Leland to have flourished in the reign of Henry VIII., particularly that composed of the finer kind of Spanish and Saxony wool, for the dyeing of which, the water of the river is peculiarly favourable. There are numerous factories affording employment to many men, women, and children, in the town and neighbourhood. Ladies' cloth, kerseymere, and fancy pieces are also manufactured to a considerable extent. Scribbling mills and spinning jennies were introduced about forty years since, and their adoption in the several factories excited considerable discontent among the workmen, several lives having been lost in the disturbances that ensued. The Kennet and Avon canal, which affords a facility of conveyance to various parts of the kingdom, passes close to the town, and a commodious wharf has been constructed on its bank. The market is on Saturday: the fairs are on Trinity Monday, and on the day after St. Bartholomew's day; the latter is held at Bradford-Leigh, a hamlet in the parish. Bradford sent members to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., but since that time it has made no return. The petty sessions are held here alternately with Trowbridge; and a court of requests for the recovery of debts under £5, the jurisdiction of which extends over the hundreds of Bradford, Melksham and Whorwelsdown, is held under an act passed in the 47th of George III., every third Tuesday, alternately with Trowbridge and Melksham. A small oratory on the south-western side of the bridge, formerly belonging to the monastery of St. Lawrence, has been converted into a place of confinement for offenders, previously to their committal to the county gaol. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Salisbury, rated in the king's books at £10. 1. 3., and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a spacious, handsome structure; it suffered greatly from fire in 1742, and has undergone extensive repair; the windows contain some modern stained glass, and the altar is embellished with a good painting of the last supper; within are several stately monuments of marble. There are two places of worship each for Baptists and Independents, and one each for the Society of Friends, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians, besides a chapel belonging to the Trustees of the late Countess of Huntingdon. A free school for sixty boys is endowed with an estate at Holt, purchased with £250 given by Mr. Francis Smith; and with the dividends on £240 three per cents, given in 1805, by Mr. John Shawbridge, who also bequeathed £400 in the same stock, directing the interest to be distributed annually, in crowns and half-crowns, among the poor. There are two almshouses, one founded by Mr. John Hall, for aged men; the other for aged women, supposed to have been an appendage to the monastery, of which, and also of other religious establishments formerly existing here, there are still some slight remains. Many curious fossils have been found in the quarries adjoining the town. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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