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Whitchurch in Salop County England History and GeographyWHITCHURCH, a parish comprising the market town of Whitchurch, the townships of Alkington, Great Ash, Little Ash, Black Park, Broughall, Chimnell, Dodington, Edgeby, Hinton, and Hollyhurst, and the chapelry of Tilstock, in the Whitchurch division of the hundred of BRADFORD (North), county of SALOP, and the township of Wirswall, in the hundred of NANTWICH, county palatine of CHESTER, 20 miles (N. by E.) from Shrewsbury, and 160 (N. W. by N.) from London, and containing 5489 inhabitants. This place was anciently called Album Monasterium and Blancminster, which have the same signification as its present name, and appear to imply the existence of a monastery, of which there is no account; but an hospital was standing here in the reign of Henry III., and was endowed by the lord of the manor with the whole town of Wylnecot, for the relief of the poor at its gate. In 1211, King John assembled his forces here, prior to attacking the Welch, on which occasion he penetrated to the foot of Snowdon. At the commencement of the civil war between Charles I. and his parliament, the inhabitants appear to have taken an active part in favour of the unfortunate monarch, and to have raised a regiment in support of his cause. Of the foundation and history of the ancient castle, a portion of the ruined walls of which was standing in 1760, nothing is known. The town is situated on elevated ground, in a rich and picturesque country, and contains some neat streets and respectable houses: in its neighbourhood are three fine lakes, called Osmere, Blackmere, and Brown Mosswater, and several brooks, one of which, called Red Brook, is the boundary between England and Wales; another separates this county from that of Chester. The trade is principally in malt and hops: shoes are manufactured for the Manchester market: near the town is an establishment for making oak-acid, also several limekilns and brick-ovens. A branch of the Ellesmere canal extends to the town, by means of which boats ply to London and many intervening towns on Saturday, and to Manchester and Shrewsbury, from the canal wharf. The market is on Friday; and there are fairs on the second Friday in April, Whit-Monday, Friday after August 2nd, and October 28th. A high steward, who superintends the affairs of the town, is appointed by the lord of the manor, and presides at courts baron and leet held in October, at the town hall, which is the depository for the rolls and archives of the lordship. The living is a rectory, with that of Marbury annexed, in the archdeaconry of Salop, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, rated in the king's books at £44. 11. 8., and in the patronage of the Trustees of the late Earl of Bridgewater. The church, dedicated to St. Alkmund, and erected in 1722, on the site of an ancient edifice, is a noble structure of the Tuscan order, built with freestone, with a square embattled western tower: it contains several handsome monuments of the Shrewsbury family, and amongst them an effigy in alabaster of the renowned John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, who was killed in France in 1453, and who, for his remarkable prowess, was called the English Achilles. Baptists, Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians, have each a place of worship. The free grammar school, situated at Bargates, was founded and endowed by John Talbot, rector of the parish; the master is appointed by the trustees, and the usher by the master, both appointments being subject to the approbation of the rector; the Earl of Shrewsbury is hereditary visitor. A charity school for children of both sexes, and an almshouse for six decayed housekeepers, were endowed by Mrs. Jane Higginson. A National school, in which five hundred boys are instructed, was established in 1827, at Highgate. At the northern extremity of the town is an extensive house of industry: there are some vestiges of a foss in its vicinity. Whitchurch was the birthplace of Dr. Bernard, chaplain and biographer of Archbishop Usher, and of Abraham Wheelock, a celebrated linguist, who died in 1654. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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