WALSOKEX. 



WAUEHAM. 



1062 



There is a yearly fair. Quarter sessions for the county are held in 

 the town bv adjournment twice in the year. 

 WALSOKE OLE.] 



AVALTHAM. [ESSEX.] 



WALTHAM ABBEY, or WALTHAM HOLY CROSS, Essex, a 

 market-town, in the parish of Waltham Abbey, is situated on the 

 river Lea, which is here separated into several channels, some of which 

 flow through the town, in 51" 41' N. lat., 1' W. long., distant 13 

 miles N. by E. from London by road, and 15 miles by the Eastern 

 Counties railway. The population of the town in 1851 was 2329. 



The first notice of AA'altharn occurs in the reign of Canute, whose 

 standard-bearer, Tori, founded here a religious house with two priests. 

 Harold, afterwards king of England, enlarged the foundation of Tovi 

 in 1082, rebuilt the church, and established a school of learning. 

 AA'h.-n ll-irnld fell in the battle of Hastings in 1066, his body was 

 lit to Waltham for interment, and a tomb erected over his 

 burial-place. In the reign of Henry II., iu 1177, the dignity of abbot 

 was conferred upon the head of the establishment. Henry III. fre- 

 quently resided here, and granted to the inhabitants the privilege of a 

 market and a fair. The town is lighted with gas. The nave of the 

 conventual church, with its side-aisles, forms the body of the present 

 church. The extent of the original fabric may be estimated by the 

 ;it Harold's tomb, which wa In the choir or in a chapel beyond 

 it, stood about 120 feet eastward from the termination of the , 

 building. The church is about 90 feet In length, and, including the 

 i feet in breadth. It is iu the Norman style, with round 

 massive piers dividing the nave from the side-aisles, semicircular arches, 

 :.zag enrichments. The roof is modern. At the west end of 

 is a heavy square embattled stone tow r, 80 f.vt high, 

 ^ the date 1358. From the south side of the church projects a 

 r which ig a fine crypt. The building was repaired and 

 vr years back ; it is of great architectural and antiquarian 

 gateway which remains is in a much later style 

 of architecture thin the chun-h. There are chapels for Baptists and 



' thodists ; National and British schools ; a school, f 

 1 y V r . ! ucatiou and clothing of 20 boys and 20 



a literary and scientific institute; and a working-men'* 

 moral Improvement society. The powder-mills belonging to 

 government employ many hands ; there are also breweries, flour- 

 malt-kilns, and a manufactory of percuwion-caps. A couuty 

 court is h.-ld. The market it on Tuesday. Fairs are held on May 

 Hth, and on Scpto:nb"r li.'th and 2 

 AVAI.TIIAM CROSa [HEBTI .'. -,IIRE, Ch&ttunt.} 



lilt] 



> W, Suez, a u.l i of Walthamstow, 



ited n.-ar the left bank of tho river Lea, in 51 35' X. lat., 0* 2' 



W. lonir., di-'ant -J-: miles S.W. from Chelmsford, and 7 mile* N.E. 



'pulation of in 1 35 1 was 4959. The 



U a vicarage in the archdeaconry and diocese of London. 



with a square 



there are chapel* for Independent*; ' ::tish, and Infant 



schools; Sir G. Honour's Grammar school ; the Purest school, in con- 

 nection with King's College, London ; and a school for the education 

 daughters of uiiuionaries, in connection with the London 

 iary Society. In the neighbourhood are copper-mills and 



AVAI.T i.V.I.E DALE. [LANCASHIRE.] 

 . [bus.] 



f Sl'!UlRT.l 



.IK-MILL. [LA.M \-:IIKE.] 



AVA 11 au d CLAI'HAM, Surrey, adjoining villages and 



parishes, which jointly give name to a Poor-Law Union. Th. 

 contains 6 parishes and townships, with an area of 11,695 acre . 

 population in 1851 of 60,784. I !i villages of AVaiioUworth and 

 Clauhani are described under StJnttKT. 



HA., a count ,-rn Africa, mentioned only by tho 



Arabian geographers EdrUi, Abulfeda, and Leo AfricaniH. These 



< agree in stating that in \\'.IJ;K .r.i the N./.T terminate*, and 



Leo Africaniu adds that it terminates in the sea. Thus AVangara 



i to be the d.-lta nf the Quorra, and this supposition is sup- 



: by the deacriptiou which it given of the country. The authors 



above mentioned describe it as an alluvial tract environed and inter- 



y the branches of t!. 1 annually overflowed in July, 



'unb-.'r; tli several fresh-water lakes are 



TOmA in it. Leo Afric.tmiM sajs that ict is called Genni 



by the inhabitants, and that It is contiguous * . which thin 



M tract about the confluence of the 

 i and the ToL.ulda. T 1 Geiiui or Giuni appears even 



i b used in Northern Africa fur the delta of the '; 

 nn I froi:i tl.ii name appear) to bo derived that of Guinea, which 

 i . . /.n-aiis have applied to that portion of the coast of Africa which 

 extends from Cape l'alm>s to the Bight of Biafra. The Arabs arrived 

 in Sudm by way of Nubia and Abyssinia, and at soon as they had 

 advanced as far as 10' E. long, of Greenwich, they found that all the 

 ran westward ; and they rnu-t toon have been informed that 

 tkey unit d in a large river, which farther down in Wangara reached 

 the tea. They were therefore right in stating that the Niger runs 

 westward. 



AA'ANGFOMD, a hundred in the county of Suffolk, which gives 

 name to a Poor-Law Union. AVangford hundred comprises 28 parishes 

 and one hamlet, with an ar.'a of 33,187 acres, and a population iu 1851 

 of 9616. Wangford Poor-Law Union contains 27 parishes, with an 

 area of 35,079 acres, and a population in 1851 of 14,014. 



AVANLOCKHEAD. [SANQUHAB.] 



WANSDIKK. [SOMERSETSHIRE.] 



AVAXSTEAD. [ESSEX.] 



WANTAGE, Berkshire, a market-town and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 Union, in the parish of Wantage, is situated iu 51 35' N. lat., 1 26' 

 W. long., distant 10 miles S.AV. from Abingdon, and 60 miles W. by N. 

 from London by road. The population of the town in 1851 was 2951. 

 The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Berks and diocese of 

 Oxford. AA r antage Poor-Law Union contains 34 parishes and town- 

 ships, with an area of 75,700 acres, and a population in 1851 of 

 17,433. 



Wantage was a place of importance in the time of the Saxons, when 

 it formed, with the neighbouring lands, part of the patrimony of tha 

 AVet Saxon kings, who had a residence ln-re. iu which Alfred the 

 Great was born in 849. A public festival in commemoration of the 

 birth of Alfred was held at AA'autage on October 25th 1849. 



AA'antage had formerly a manufacture of woollen-cloth and sacking, 

 but this having declined, the town was gradually decaying, when, ou 

 the opening of the Great AA'estern railway, the leading inhabitants 

 established a new pitched market, on AA T edncsdays, for the sale of 

 agricultural produce, and the town has in consequence been greatly 

 benefited. Among other improvements may be named the erection of 

 a town-hall, a National school of a superior character, a Grammar or 

 Middle school (the revival of an old and nearly obsolete foundation), 

 a new cemetery and chapel, and two district chapels. The parish 

 church is an ancient cruciform edifice of mixed styles, with a square 

 embattled tower rising from the intersection. In the interior are some 



c'ntal brasses of the 14th and 15th centuries. The AAV 

 M< thodists and Baptists have chapels ; and there are the Alfred 

 literary and scientific institute, the church library, and a savings 

 A county court is held. There is a market-cross, erected in 

 A branch of the Wilts and Berks Canal comes up to the town. 

 There are a monthly cheese-fair, two yearly fairs for cattle and cheese, 

 one for cherries, and a statute fair. 



WAITING. [LoSDox.] 



WARASDIJf. [CROATIA.] 



AVAKBOYS. [Hrvrix.jnoxSHiRE.] 



AVAltliulU. UIVKK. [BADAKSHAX.] 



AVA HE, Hertfordshire, a market-town and the seat of a Poor-Law 



Union, iu the parish of ' iated on the left bank of the river 



51 49' N. lat., 2' AV. lo;:g., distant about '3 miles E.N.E. 



frmu Hertford, 20 miles N. from London by road, and 24 miles by 



>ern Counties railway. Tho population of the town in 1851 



was 4832. The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of St. Albam 



ceae of Rochester. AVare Poor-Law Union contains 15 parishes 



and townships, with on area of 35,747 acres, and a population in 1S51 



of 18,482. 



AVare consists of one long street and several smaller streets. The 

 Lea is crossed by a fine iron bridge, constructed in 1845. The parish 

 church, a beautiful cruciform Structure, was lately restored. The 

 AVesleyan Methodists, Independents, aud Quakers have places of wor- 

 ship. The Free Grammar school, founded in 1563, has been revived 

 a.i a Middle school. St. Edmund's College, Old Hall Green, is an 

 y for the education of Roman Catholic clergymen. There are 

 National schools, a British school, and a literary institute. The market 

 on Tuesday is one of the greatest in the county for corn, and there 

 Is a yearly fair. AVare is one of the principal towns iu England for 

 the manufacture of malt. Brewing, rope-making, brick-making, and 

 sack-making employ some of the inhabitants. The Danes, iu tho 

 reign of Alfred, brought their vessels up the Lea to AVare, and 

 protected them by a dam or weir across the river. 



AVAIIEHAM, Dorsetshire, a market-town, municipal and parlia- 

 mentary borough, and, conjointly with Purbeck, the seat of a Poor- 

 I. i'.v (,'uion, is situated ou an eminence between the rivers Frome 

 and Piddle, In 50 41' N. lat., 1* <>' AA'. long., distant 19 miles E. by 3. 

 from Dorchester, 115 miles S.W. from London by road, aud 126 miles 

 by the London and South- AA'estern railway. The population of the 

 parliamentary borough in 1851 was 7^18. The municipal borough is 

 governed by 7 aldermen and 21 councillors, one of whom is mayor, 

 who acts as coroner for the whole Isle of Purbeck. The living ia a 

 rectory iu the archdeaconry of Dorset and diocese of Salisbury. 

 Wareh.iin and Purbeck Poor-Law Union contains 27 parishes and 

 townships, with an area of 96,309 acres, and a population in 1851 of 

 17,117. 



The town of AVan ha:a H within three miles of an arm of the sea, 

 which forms a part of the bay called Poole Harbour. A town existed 

 here iu the time of the Britons, and it was subsequently occupied by 

 the Romans. The town is nearly surrounded by au earthwork formed 

 by the Danes in the time of Alfred. A priory was founded at Ware- 

 ham in the 9th century, and there are some traces of an ancient castle. 

 Much of the original area of the town ia now covered with market- 

 gardens. Three parishes, Lady St. Mary'.-, Ti inity, aud St. Martin's, 

 now form one parish for ecclesiastical purposes. Tho church of 



