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Southam in Warwick County England History and GeographySOUTHAM, a market town and parish in the Southam division of the hundred of KNIGHTLOW, county of WARWICK, 10 miles (E.S.E.) from Warwick, and 84 (N.W.) from London, containing 1161 inhabitants. This town, anciently called Suthau, is a place of great antiquity, and had formerly a mint. In an old mansion near the centre of the town, which appears to have been built prior to the reign of Elizabeth, King Charles and his two sons are said to have slept, on the night before the battle of Edge Hill, in which a son of the Earl of Pembroke, whose monument is in the church, was slain. The parochial register for the year 1641 contains an entry of money paid to the king's footman for opening the church doors, which had been locked up and sealed by the king's order, as a punishment to the inhabitants for not ringing the bells on his entering the town. The monks of Coventry had a religious establishment here, and in Bury orchard, near the churchyard, foundations have been discovered, and many skeletons dug up: in 1741, a considerable part of the town was destroyed by fire. At Haliwell, in this parish, was a cell of Black canons, subordinate to the abbey of Rowcester in Staffordshire, whither it was removed in the 19th of Edward II. The town is pleasantly situated on an eminence rising from the eastern bank of the river Sowe, and consists of two streets: the houses in general are modern and well built, the inhabitants are well supplied with water from springs, and the surrounding scenery is pleasingly diversified. The river Stowe is crossed by a neat stone bridge of two arches, at the lower extremity of the town, and on the rising ground on the opposite side an antique mansion forms a striking contrast with the other buildings. The market, formerly on Wednesday, is now held on Monday, and is well supplied with corn: fairs are held on Easter-Monday, the Monday after Holy Thursday, and July 10th, for cattle and horses; the last of these is a show fair, at which, in imitation of that at Coventry, the procession of Lady Godiva is celebrated. A constable and headborough are appointed annually at the court leet of the lord of the manor. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Coventry, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, rated in the king's books at £22. 17., 6., and in the patronage of the Crown. The church, which is dedicated to St. James, is a stately structure, principally in the decorated style of English architecture, with a fine tower, surmounted by a lofty spire; in the roof of the nave, which is lighted by eight clerestory windows, adorned with tracery, is some tabernacle-work, well carved in oak. There is a place of worship for Baptists. A free school was founded in 1762, and endowed with lands, previously given for the relief of the poor, the proceeds of which amount to about £30 per annum, and the funds have been further augmented with £30 per annum from the rents of the town lands. There is also an endowment of £200 per annum for the relief of the poor and the repairs of the bridge. A self-supporting dispensary, for the relief of the sick poor, was established here, on a peculiar plan, by Mr. Smith, a resident surgeon, who has been the means of founding similar institutions in different parts of the country. An infirmary for curing diseases of the eye and ear, established by the same indefatigable gentleman, in 1818, under the patronage of the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood, is supported by annual subscriptions and donations: it is under the management of a president, vice-president, treasurer, and a committee, and is attended by the professional gentlemen in the town and neighbourhood: the building is in the later English style, and is highly ornamental to the town. Here is a mineral spring, of similar properties to the waters at Leamington, and another called Holywell, of considerable antiquity, remarkable for the intense coldness of the water. The Rev. Mr. Holyoake, author of the first collection of English words ever published in the form of a dictionary, was at one time rector of this parish. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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