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Wokingham in Wilts County England History and GeographyWOKINGHAM, a market town and parish, having separate jurisdiction, situated partly in, and forming a detached portion of, the hundred of AMESBURY, county of WILTS, but chiefly in the hundred of SONNING, county of BERKS, 7 miles (E.S.E.) from Reading, and 32 (W.S.W.) from London, comprising the Berkshire and Town divisions, and containing 2810 inhabitants. This town, situated within the prescribed limits of Windsor Forest, is of triangular form, and consists of several streets irregularly built, meeting in a central area; water is supplied from wells in abundance: the atmosphere is considered particularly salubrious, and the inhabitants are remarkable for longevity. The manufacture of silk, gauze, and shoes, and the malting and flour trades, are the only branches of business. The market, which is on Tuesday, is one of the most noted in the kingdom for its abundant supply of poultry: the fairs are, April 23rd, June 11th (both of little importance, and not regularly held), October 11th, and November 2nd, chiefly for cattle. The government of the town is vested in an alderman, seven capital burgesses, a high steward, recorder, and town clerk: the charter has been possessed from time immemorial. The alderman is elected from among the capital burgesses, annually on the Wednesday in Easter week, and becomes the chief magistrate for the year ensuing: the alderman, high steward, and recorder, are justices of the peace, with exclusive jurisdiction. The corporation holds half-yearly courts of session for minor offences, and is authorized by charter to hold a court of requests, for the recovery of small debts; but this power has not been exercised for some years. The gift of freedom is vested in the corporation, and may be acquired by birth, apprenticeship, and purchase. This being the only town in the forest, the forest courts were formerly held here; but they have been discontinued: manorial courts are held as occasion requires. Petty sessions take place, on the first and third Tuesdays in the month, for the Wokingham, or Forest, division of the county. The town hall, which is over the market-house, is an ancient building in the centre of the town; it was repaired about twelve years ago, at an expense of £1100, defrayed by subscription: balls are occasionally held here in the winter season. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the peculiar jurisdiction and patronage of the Dean of Salisbury, endowed with £400 royal bounty. The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient structure. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists. The free school, in Down-street, for children of both sexes, is supported by the proceeds of various bequests left for the instruction of children, particularly a rent-charge on certain lands in this parish, by Dr. Charles Palmer, in 1711, amounting to the sum of about £20 per annum, and by voluntary contribution: thirty-four boys and twelve girls receive instruction, and, with the master, are appointed by the corporation: there are likewise other scholars of both sexes in the establishment. The Sunday school in Rose-street, conducted on the National system, in which two hundred children of both sexes are taught, is supported partly by some small bequests, and partly by subscription, and is held in a substantial brick building, erected in 1825, at an expense of £700. Eight almshouses near the church, founded and endowed by Mr. John Westend, an inhabitant of this town, in 1451, are occupied by sixteen poor men and women, who receive a small allowance of fuel. At Luckley Green, in this parish, about a mile from the town, is an hospital, founded in 1665, by Henry Lucas, Esq., for sixteen poor pensioners and a master, under the superintendence of the Drapers' Company in London: the pensioners are chosen alternately from sixteen of the neighbouring parishes in the counties of Berks and Surrey, and receive £14 per annum in weekly payments. Attached to the hospital, which is a handsome brick building, erected at an expense of £2320, is a chapel, with a residence for the minister, who is the perpetual curate of the parish. Archbishop Laud bequeathed £60 per annum, for apprenticing boys two years successively, the third for poor maidens. Dr. Thomas Goodwin, who, after various promotions, was eventually raised to the see of Bath and Wells, was a native of this town, and received the elements of his education in the free school: in the chancel of the church is a monument to his memory, the inscription written by his son, who was Bishop of Hereford. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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