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Mere in Wilts County England History and GeographyMERE, a parish in the hundred of MERE, county of WILTS, comprising the market town of Mere, and the tythings of Woodlands with Chaddenwicke, and Zeals, and containing 2422 inhabitants, of which number, 1220 are in the town of Mere, 21½ miles (W. by N.) from Salisbury, and 102 (W.S.W.) from London. The name of this place is derived from the Saxon word M'ra, signifying bounds, or limits, and indicates its situation on the borders of the counties of Wilts, Somerset, and Dorset. In 1253, permission was granted by Henry III. to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, to build and fortify a castle on his manor of Mere, which manor has ever since been attached to the duchy of Cornwall. In the 9th of Henry IV., a grant was made to Henry, Prince of Wales, as Duke of Cornwall, of a market and two annual fairs at this place. The town, situated on the high road from Salisbury to Wincanton, is small, and the buildings are irregular: the inhabitants are well supplied with water. The principal branch of manufacture is that of English dowlas and bed-ticking; there is likewise a silk-throwing mill. The market is on Tuesday; and fairs are held for corn and cattle on May 17th and October 10th. This town formerly sent members to parliament, but was disfranchised on the plea of poverty. Courts leet and baron are held, annually in October, for the duchy of Cornwall, and by the Dean of Salisbury, at which constables and tythingmen are chosen for the town and hundred. The living is a vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction and patronage of the Dean of Salisbury, rated in the king's books at £28. 4. 2. The church, which is dedicated to St. Michael, is spacious and handsome, consisting of a nave, choir, and chancel, with a tower at the west end, surmounted by spires at the angles: on each side of the nave are five pointed arches, springing from light pillars, with clustered shafts; the cornice is enriched with sculpture in wood; a screen of open work separates the nave from the choir: on each side of the chancel is a sepulchral chapel, and in the belfry is a beautiful carved oak ceiling. There is a place of worship for Independents. A bequest of £10 per annum was made, about 1755, by Thomas Tatam, for the instruction of poor children. To the north-west of the town are vestiges of a Danish encampment, called 'White-street camp,' from the hill on which it was situated: the circumference of the outer ditch is four furlongs and one hundred and fifty-two yards. Francis, Lord Cottington, a celebrated statesman in the reign of Charles I.; and the Rev. Francis Potter, an ingenious mechanist, born about 1594, were natives of this place. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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