Site-Search
Coming Soon
|
Site-Search |
|
Page and site |
|
Trowbridge in Wilts County England History and GeographyTROWBRIDGE, a market town and parish in the hundred of MELKSHAM, county of WILTS, 30 miles (N.W.) from Salisbury, and 99 (W. by S.) from London, containing 9545 inhabitants. The origin of this place, and the etymology of its name, are involved in much obscurity: Camden says, it was called by the Saxons Truthabrig, a strong and faithful town. It is not mentioned in Domesday-book; but a place called Little Trowle, now a hamlet in the parish, is therein recorded, and hence the present name is, by many, supposed to be a corruption of Trowlebridge, by which it is described by Geoffrey of Monmouth; Leland writes it Throughbridge, or Thorough-bridge. Trowbridge was formerly a royal manor, forming part of the duchy of Lancaster, having been granted by the crown to John of Gaunt: it afterwards reverted to the crown, and was given by Henry VIII., in the 28th year of his reign, to Edward Seymour, Knt., Viscount Beauchamp. Having again lapsed to the crown, Queen Elizabeth, in the 24th of her reign, assigned it, with the profits of the fairs and markets, &c., to Edward, Earl of Hertford: it afterwards became the property of the Duke of Rutland, who alienated it to Thomas Timbrell, Esq., father of the present proprietor. The earliest historical circunstance relating to the town is its defence against King Stephen, by Humphrey de Bohun, who held it for the Empress Matilda, at which period its castle is supposed to have existed, though some writers ascribe its erection to John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster: it was demolished previously to the time of Henry VIII., as, when Leland wrote, it was in ruins, only two of its seven towers remaining; not a vestige of it now exists, its site being occupied by other buildings. The town is situated upon a rocky hill, near the river Were, across which is a stone bridge, and is very irregularly built, the houses being mostly of stone: the principal street is spacious and contains some excellent houses, but the others are generally narrow, and the houses old, and of rather a mean appearance: it is paved, lighted with gas, and tolerably well supplied with water. The manufacture of woollen cloth was introduced here at an early period, and must have very soon become a thriving branch of trade, as Camden mentions that Trowbridge was then famous for the clothing trade: the articles made are chiefly kerseymeres, with some superfine broad cloth. The Kennet and Avon canal passes about a mile north of the town, by which a communication is opened with London and Bristol. The markets are on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, the last being the principal market day, and are well supplied with provisions: there is a fair on the 5th of August, which lasts two days, for cattle, cheese, woollen goods, &c. The town is under the government of the county magistrates, and a petty session is held, by those resident in it, on the first Tuesday in the month, for the transaction of business connected with the parish. A court of requests, for the recovery of debts not exceeding £5, is holden here every Tuesday three weeks, before certain commissioners, under the authority of a local act of parliament, comprehending within its jurisdiction the hundreds of Melksham, Bradford, and Whorwelsdown. A court leet and a court baron are also held by the lord of the manor at Easter, at the former of which, constables, tythingmen, a crier, and cornets of the market, are appointed and sworn. The living is a rectory, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Bishop of Salisbury, rated in the king's books at £20. 12. 8½., and in the patronage of the Duke of Rutland. The present incumbent is the Rev. George Crabbe, the poet. The church, dedicated to St. James, is called the new church, in consequence of a more ancient one having existed about seventy yards southeast of the former; it is a large building, with a tower at the west end, surmounted by a lofty spire: the nave and aisles are crowned with battlements and crocketed pinnacles, the former having a flat ceiled roof, ornamented with flowers, &c., and is separated from the aisles by five pointed arches on each side, springing from clustered columns, with rich capitals; there are fragments of painted glass in some of the windows; the font is lofty, and is covered with a profusion of tracery and panelling. Attached to the eastern extremities of the two aisles are two chapels, that on the south belonging to the lord of the manor, and that on the north to the family of Bythesea. At Staverton, in this parish, there is a chapel of ease. There are four places of worship for Particular Baptists, one for General Baptists, one for Independents, two for Wesleyan Methodists, and one for Presbyterians. A free school, in which fifty boys are instructed, is supported by property left for charitable purposes: it stands in the churchyard, and the master is provided with a house, and receives a salary of £70 per annum. There are also seven Sunday schools, in which about one thousand five hundred children are taught to read. In an almshouse, in Hilperton-lane, founded by a person named Yerbury, six poor widows are lodged, and receive a weekly allowance. There was also an almshouse formerly in the churchyard, endowed with considerable funds by John Terumbere, an opulent clothier in the town, the proceeds of which were paid to the inmates, until about the commencement of the present century. The same benefactor devised extensive property in the adjoining parishes for charitable purposes, which was confiscated by Henry VIII., at the time of the Reformation: the poor enjoy the benefit of the moiety of a small estate at Hoddesdon, in Hertfordshire, the rental of which, with the produce of other funds, is distributed in bread, annually at Christmas, among such as do not receive parochial relief. George Keate, a poetical and miscellaneous writer of some celebrity in the last century, was born here, in 1730. Trowbridge formerly gave the title of baron to the family of Seymour, Dukes of Somerset, one of whom is buried here, which title is extinct. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
Readers of this page were also interested in: Sarum (Old) in Wilts County England History and Geography SARUM (OLD), an ancient borough in the parish of STRATFORD under the CASTLE, hundred of UNDERDITCH, county of WILTS, 1½ mile (N.) from Salisbury. The population is returned with the parish Berwick upon Tweed in Northumberland County England History and Geography BERWICK upon TWEED, a port, borough, and county of itself, situated between the boundary line of the county of Northumberland, and that of Scotland, 64 miles (N. by W.) from Newcastle upon Tyne, and 334 miles (N. by W.) from London, containing 8723 inhabitants Ellesmere in Salop County England History and Geography ELLESMERE, a market town and parish in the hundred of PIMHILL, county of SALOP, 16¼ miles (N.N.W.) from Shrewsbury, and 178½ (N.W.) from London, containing, with the chapelries of Cockshut, Dudlaston, and Penley (the last of which, is in the county of Flint), 6056 inhabitants Hanley in Stafford County England History and Geography HANLEY, a market town and chapelry in the parish of STOKE upon TRENT, northern division of the hundred of PIREHILL, county of STAFFORD, 2½ miles (N.E. by E.) from Newcastle, and 152 (N.W. by N.) from London, containing 5622 inhabitants Salisbury in Wilts County England History and Geography SALISBURY, a city having separate civil jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Underditch, county of WILTS, 82 miles (S.W. by W.) from London, containing 8763 inhabitants Wye in Kent County England History and Geography WYE, a parish (formerly a market town) in the hundred of WYE, lathe of SCRAY, county of KENT, 4 miles (N.E.) from Ashford, and 56 (E.S.E.) from London, containing 1508 inhabitants |
