!: I 



WEYRE. 



WHITE SEA. 



mo 



commercial importance in the 14tii century. It has now the appear- 

 ance of an old fishing-town. Melcombe ia situated on a tongue of land 

 between Weymouth Bay and the Backwater, very narrow on the north- 

 east, bat becoming wider towards the harbour, where the width is 

 about a third of a mile. The ground on which it stands is low, a 

 considerable part of it having been reclaimed from the Backwater by 

 embankment. In front of Weymouth Bay a broad terrace, called the 

 Esplanade, extends nearly a mile, with a gradual slope towards the 

 ihore ; the ranges of houses which face this Esplanade are handsome, 

 and many of them large. 



Wcymouth was brought into repute as a bathing-place about 1763 

 by Ralph Allen of Bath. The Duke of Gloucester went there in 1780, 

 and had a house built for his residence. George III. paid his first 

 visit in 1789 ; he had a royal lodge erected, and went there frequently. 

 The climate is very mild, Weymouth Bay being sheltered to the north 

 by surrounding hills, which have a gradual slope to the south towards 

 the beach. There are two churches, one of which ia in Weymouth ; 

 places of worship for Wesleyau Methodists, Independents, Baptists, 

 Quakers, and Roman Catholics ; National, British, and Infant schools ; 

 and a savings bank. Ship-building and rope-making are carried on. 

 The construction of the Portland breakwater, which will afford shelter 

 to Teasels entering Weymouth Bay, is being proceeded with, and the 

 works already afford much of the required protection. 



The number and tonnage of vessels registered as belonging to the 

 port of Weymouth on December Slit 1854 were: Sailing-vessels under 

 50 tons 23, tonnage 705; above 60 tons 57, tonnage 6834; with 2 

 team-vessels of 63 tons, and 1 of 61 tons. The number and tonnage 

 of vessels which entered and cleared at the port during 1854 were 

 inwards, 441 sailing-vessels, tonnage 31,680; outwards, 113 sailiug- 

 TBsssls, tonnage 6644. 



WKVRE. [BncBWOM.] 



WHAl'i.olJE. [LINCOLNSHIRE.] 



WmUTEHHU&ST, or WU1TMINSTER, Gloucestershire, a village 

 and the seat of a Poor- Law Union, in the parUh of Wheatenhurst, is 

 situated new the left bank of the river Severn, in 51 47' N. lat, 2 20' 

 W. long., distant 9 miles &S.W. from Gloucester, and 110 miles W. 

 by 8. from London. The population of the pariah in 1851 was 380. 

 The living is a perpetual curacy in the archdeaconry of Gloucester and 

 diocese of Gloucester and Bristol Wheatenhurst Poor-Law Union 

 contains 14 parishes and townships, with an area of 24,471 acres, and 

 population in l>il of 7987. Besides the parish church there is a 

 school supported by subscription. 



WHKATHAMSTKAD. [HtBTl-ORMHIM.] 



\\1IH.KIIAM. [DURHAM.] 



wiiis.sKNOi.VE. [ROTL 



[DCRHAJC] 



\V 11 1 1 I , V, North Riding of Yorkshire, a market-town, parliamentary 

 borough and sea-port, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the parish 

 of Whitby, is situated on both sides of the river Eak, where it falls 

 into the German Ocean, in 54 29' N. lat, 0* 35' W. long., distant 45 

 miles N.E. from York, 230 miles N.N.W. from London by road, and 

 246J miles by the Great Northern and York and North Midland rail- 

 ways. The population of the parliamentary borough in 1951 was 

 10,989. The borough returns one member to the Imperial Parliament. 

 The living is a perpetual curacy in the archdeaconry of Cleveland and 

 diocese of York. Whitby Poor-Law Union contains 22 parishes and 

 townships, with sn area of 90,371 acres, and a population in 1851 of 

 21,502. 



The larger and better part of the town of Whitby stands on the left 

 bank of the Esk. The two parts of the town are connected by a stone 

 bridge of 3 arches, 172 feet long, with a swivel bridge to admit the 



^of vessels to the inner harbour. The inner harbour is formed 

 river, and is capacioo* and secure, with dry docks for building 

 and repairing vessels. The harbour has 10 feet of water in ordinary 

 neap-tides, and 15 feet and upwards in spring-tides. The piers which 

 protect the harbour run out into the German Ocean, the western pier 

 tor about 1000 feet, forming a fine promenade ; and two inner piers 

 break the force of the waves in stormy weather. At the end of the 

 west pier is a lighthouse. The ground on each side of the river rises 

 rapiiliy, especially on the right or east side, where the town is con- 

 tinued southward in a narrow column of houses along the bank of the 

 river. On the west side the streets have been carried over the crown 

 of the hill. The streets an well paved, and are lighted with gas. 



Whitby possesses a town-hall and a custom-house. The bath-house, 

 spacious and elegant structure on the quay, contains baths, a sub- 

 scription library, and the museum of the Whitby Literary and Philo- 

 sophical Society. The parish church stands on the summit of a cliff 

 about 350 feet high, and a flight of 194 steps leads to it from the town 

 below. The original structure, which is of Norman date, has been 

 much altered and repaired at various periods. The other episcopal 

 places of worship are a chapel of ease, erected in 1788; and the 

 churchs* of St. Michael and 8t John the Evangelist, both of modern 

 erection, and in the early English style. Thero are chapels for ' 

 Wesleyan, Primitive, and Asociation Methodists, Independents, 

 Unite.! Prrsbyterians, Quakers, Roman Catholic*, and Unitarians, 

 are in the town National, British, and Infant schools ; a sub- 

 n library ; a literary and philosophical society, with a museum ; 

 the Whitby Institute, with a reading room; a mechanics institute; 



a news-room ; a temperance-hall ; a savings bank ; a dispensary ; and a 

 seamen's hospital The market ia held on Saturday. Fairs arc held 

 on August 25th and on Martinmas day. A cheese fair is held in 

 October, and a cattle show in August. A county court ia held in 

 the town. 



Whitby seems to have arisen originally from the foundation of an 

 abbey by Oswy, king of Northumberland, in A.D. 658 ; but both abbey 

 and town were utterly destroyed by the Dimes about 867, and lay 

 in ruins after the Norman conquest, when the abbey was rebuilt, and 

 the town became a considerable fishing town. The ruins of the abbey 

 are near the church, overlooking the sea at the height of 300 feet. 

 The beautiful central tower fell in 1830; the existing remains consist 

 of the choir, the north transept (nearly entire), and part of the west 

 front. The town rose into commercial importance towards the eml uf 

 the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when the working of the alum-minus iu 

 the neighbourhood was greatly extended, the harbour was improved, 

 and ship-building was carried on. The alum formerly exported to the 

 continent is now sent chiefly to London and other British ports. Tho 

 foreign exports are inconsiderable : the chief imports are timber, and 

 hemp and flax from the Baltic. The manufacture of ornaments from 

 jet found in the cliffs in the neighbourhood of the town affords some 

 employment. 



Whitby is still a very considerable sea-port. The number and ton- 

 nage of vessels registered as belonging to the port on December 31st, 

 1854, were : Sailing-vessels under 50 tons 51, tonnage 1720 ; above 60 

 tons 339, tonnage 60,336 : steam-vessels under 50 tons 4, tonnage 879. 

 The number and tonnage of sailing-vessels which entered and cleared 

 at the port during 1854 were inwards, 725, tonnage 35,375; out- 

 wards, 131, tonnage 7862. 



Numerous interesting fossil remains have been found in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Whitby, many of which are in the Whitby Museum. In 

 1841 an entire specimen of the Plctiosaurut tirandipinnis, 15 feet 6 

 inches long, was found in the lias near Whitby. 



W11ITCHURCH, Hampshire, a decayed market-town, municipal 

 borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Whit- 

 church, is situated about 5 miles from the head of the river Anton or 

 Test, in 51 18' N. lat, 1 19' W. long., distant 12 mik-s S. by W. from 

 Winchester, and 57 miles W.S.W. from London. The population of 

 the parish in 1851 was 1911. The living is a vicarage hi the arch- 

 deaconry and diocese of Winchester. Whitchurch Poor-Law Union 

 contains 8 parishes and townships, with an area of 29,513 acre*, and a 

 population in 1851 of 6619. Friday is the market-day ; fairs are held 

 on the third Thursday in June and October 19th. Paper- and silk- 

 mills are worked by water-power. The church was enlarged in 1846. 

 Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, Independents, and Baptists have 

 places of worship. There are National and Infant schools, and a 

 school on the Glasgow system. 



WHITCHURCH, Shropshire, a market-town and the seat of a Poor- 

 Law Union, in the parish of Whitchurch, is situated in 52 68' N. lat, 

 2 40' W. long., distant 20 miles N. by E. from Shrewsbury, and 163 

 miles N.W. by W. from London. The population of the town in 1851 

 was 8619. The living is a rectory in the archdeaconry of Salop and 

 diocese of Lichfield. Whitchurch Poor-Law Union contains 25 

 parishes and townships, with an area of 41,008 acres, and a population 

 in 1861 of 11,370. 



The town of Whitchuroh is situated on an acclivity, on the summit 

 of which is the parish church, a handsome Grecian edifice, erected in 

 1722. There are also a district church of the Grecian order, erected 

 in 1 840 ; chapels for Wesleyan Methodists, Independents, and Baptists; 

 a Free Grammar school ; National, British, and Infant schools ; a savings 

 bank ; and a reading-room. Friday is the market-day ; four fairs are 

 held in the course of the year. 



WHITCHURCH. [OXFORDSHIRE.] 



WHITE SKA, a large gulf of the Arctic Ocean, which enters deeply 

 into the northern parts of European Russia, between 61 30' and 

 68 80* N. hit It has nearly the shape of a semicircle, opening 

 towards the north-west, and separated from the open sea by a large 

 peninsula, which takes its ordinary name from the town of Kola, built 

 not far from its northern shore. The entrance to the White Sea is 

 between Kanin Noss, on the peninsula, or rather island, of Kaniuskaia 

 Zemlia, which lies to the east, and Swatoi Noss, a projecting cape of 

 the peninsula of Kola. These two places are about 100 miles distant 

 from each other. The gulf gradually grows narrower, and where it 

 turns to the south-west it ia hardly more than 40 miles wide. That 

 portion of it which lies east and west is nearly twice as wide, and 

 expands towards the south into two large gulfs the Dwinskaia Guba, 

 or Gulf of the Dwina, on the east ; and the Onezkaia Quba, or Gulf 

 of the Onega : both bays have received their names from the rivers 

 which fall into their most south-eastern recesses. West of the Onez- 

 kaia Quba the White Sea terminates with an inlet, which ia about 100 

 miles long, but has only a mean width of 25 miles, and rnna to the 

 north-west. It is called Kandalaskaia Guba, or the Gulf of Kaudalask, 

 from a small place of that name which lies near its iunermost recess. 

 The area of this sea is said to be about 44,000 square miles. 



The White Sea is so far favourable to navigation that it has a 

 considerable depth of water, with the exception of a sandbank which 

 lies before the mouth of the Dwina, and occupies the greater part of 

 the Dwinskaia Guba. This sandbank approaches the eastern shoro 



