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Corsham in Wilts County England History and GeographyCORSHAM, a parish in the hundred of CHIPPENHAM, county of WILTS, 4 miles (S.W. by W.) from Chippenham, containing 2727 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the incumbent, rated in the king's books at £10. 16., and in the patronage of R. Methuen, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, is a large structure, consisting of a nave, three aisles, and a chancel, with a tower and spire in the centre, and a chapel separated from the north aisle by a richly carved screen. There are two places of worship for Independents, one for Baptists, and a disused meeting-house, formerly belonging to the Society of Friends. Corsham, or as it is sometimes named Corsham Regis, from King Ethelred's having had a villa here, is a considerable village, having a separate jurisdiction, the bailiff of the manor, who is chosen by the tenants from among themselves, being vested with the power of sheriff and coroner within the same. Before the Conquest, it was a lordship belonging to Tostig, Earl of Northumberland, and at the time of the Norman survey it was held by the Crown; but in the reign of Henry III., it was possessed by that sovereign's brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who, as well as his successors, granted and procured for it many important and peculiar privileges, which were confirmed in later times, some of them being still enjoyed by the inhabitants. Here was anciently an Alien priory, a cell to the monasterv of Marmonstier, in Touraine. During the last century, Corsham was noted for its manufacture of woollen cloths, which has been entirely discontinued; though, with a view to the revival of its disused market, Mr. Methuen built, in 1784, a market, or court-house, in the centre of the village, which consists principally of one long street of well built houses, the situation being flat, dry, and salubrious. At the south end is an hospital for six poor aged women, erected in 1688, to which a free school was formerly attached: it is under the government of a master, who occupies an adjoining lodge, and who is appointed by the Earl of Radnor, as descendant of the foundress, Lady Margaret Hungerford, relict of Sir E. Hungerford, Knt., who also bequeathed land producing £20 per annum for a school. Edward Hasted, Esq., the historian of the county of Kent, was master of this hospital, and died there in 1812: Sir Richard Blackmore, a physician and minor poet, was a native of this place. A neat free school-house, for poor children of both sexes, has recently been erected, at the expense of Paul Methuen, Esq., the present lord of the manor. Fairs for cattle are held, March 7th and September 4th. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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