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Yarmouth in Southampton County England History and GeographyYARMOUTH, a borough, market town, and parish, in the liberty of WEST MEDINA, Isle of Wight division of the county of SOUTHAMPTON, 10 miles (W.) from Newport, and 94 (S.W.) from London, by Portsmouth, and 105 by Southampton, containing 564 inhabitants. This place, which derived its name from its situation on the river Yar, was formerly of much greater extent and importance than it is at present; but it had suffered severely from attacks of the French, by whom it was, in the reign of Richard II., pillaged and entirely burned, and on two subsequent occasions it was nearly destroyed by them. The Town field, laid out regularly in right angles, though now destitute of buildings, clearly appears to have been originally the site of a part of the town. Yarmouth is situated on a bank sloping to the sea, on the eastern point of land at the mouth of the Yar, and consists of several neat streets, for the most part running east and west: the houses, which are of freestone, are in general well-built and of neat appearance, and public baths have been recently established. At its western extremity are a castle and small fort, erected by Henry VIII.: the latter, which occupies the site of a church, or ancient religious house, and consists of a platform with eight guns, and houses for the garrison, has recently been granted by the Board of Ordnance to the corporation, who contemplate demolishing it, for the purpose of improving the quay and the landing-places. A large house near the former, which has been converted into an inn, was erected by Sir Robert Holmes, for the reception of Charles II., a portrait of whom, during his stay here, was painted by Sir P. Lely, and is in the possession of the Holmes family. The trade is now very limited: a considerable quantity of fine white sand, used in the manufacture of flint glass and the finer sorts of British china, is obtained here. The principal imports are, coal from Sunderland, and timber from the New Forest: a constant intercourse by boats is kept up with the opposite town of Lymington, and, before the general use of steamboats, this was considered the safest and most expeditious passage to the island. The market is on Friday; and a fair is held on the 25th of July. The market-house is a neat building, with a hall over it, in which the several courts are held, and the public business of the corporation is transacted. The original charter of incorporation was granted by Baldwyn de Kedvers, Earl of Devon, and confirmed by Edward I.; but that under which the corporation now acts was granted in the 7th of James I., which ordains the appointment of a mayor and twelve capital burgesses, with power to choose a steward, a town clerk, and a serjeant at mace, and to create an unlimited number of freemen, but this last privilege is not now exercised. The borough courts are held by the mayor and steward, and the corporation is entitled to all the fines, forfeitures, and profits of the courts, with many other privileges. The borough first sent members to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., but made no other return until the 27th of Elizabeth, since which period it has exercised the privilege without interruption: the right of election is vested in the mayor and burgesses; the mayor is the returning officer, and the patronage is possessed by the Trustees of the late Sir L. Worsley Holmes. The living is a discharged rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Winchester, endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated to St. James, and situated in the centre of the town, is a neat structure, consisting of a nave and chancel, on the south side of which is a sepulchral chapel, containing a handsome statue of the full size, in Parian marble, of Sir Robert Holmes, formerly Governor of the Isle of Wight. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists. A National and a Lancasterian school are supported by voluntary subscriptions. The sum of £30, bequeathed by Thomas, Lord Holmes, is distributed annually, in the chapel adjoining the church, to the poor not receiving parochial relief, towards apprenticing a boy out of the parish, and to the minister. Many Saxon customs, not generally observed, are still retained at Yarmouth, such as decorating the coffins of the dead with flowers and evergreens, the mourners carrying bunches of rosemary, &c. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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