W E Y 



WE VERS, a town of Wellphalia, in the bifliopric of 

 Fulda ; 8 miles E.S.E. of Fulda. 



WEYERSHEIM, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Lower Rhine ; 6 miles S. of Haguenau. 



WEYHER, atown of Auftria ; 6 miles W. of Bavarian 

 Waidhoven. - 



WEYHILL, a village of England, in the county ot 

 Hants, celebrated for the great annual fair held here for the 

 fale of (heep, hops, &c. ; 3 ™1" W. of Andover. 



WEYL, or Wyl, a town of Switzerland, belonging to 

 the abbey of St. Gal, and principal place of a baihwick ; 

 14 miles 'S.S.W. of Conftance. 



WEYLANOO, a town of Hindooitan, in Guzerat, on 

 the coaft ; to miles S.E. of Puttan Sumnaut. 



WEYMOUTH, or Waymouth, a borough and 

 market-town in the hundred of Uggefcombe, Dorchefter 

 divifion of the county of Dorfet, England, is fituated on 

 the fouthern coall of England, at the extremity of a beau- 

 tiful bay, which forms nearly a femicircle, making a fweep 

 of about two miles. The town is 8 miles S. by W. diftant 

 from Dorchefter, and 1 28 miles S.W. by W. from London. 

 It received its name from the mouth of the little river Wey, 

 near which it ftands, and communicates with Melcombe 

 Regis, to which it is united by a bridge erefted in 1770. 

 That the fcite of Weymouth was known to the Romans is 

 probable from feveral circumftances ; and Mr. Baxter fup- 

 pofes it to have been the Clavinio, which is mentioned in the 

 anonymous Ravennas. In the Saxon ages, however, it is 

 exprefsly named in a Saxon charter ftill extant, by which 

 king Ethelred gave a certain portion of land, called by the 

 inhabitants Weymouth (or Wick), near the ide of Port- 

 land, to his faithful minifter Atfere. In the reign of Ed- 

 ward III. the town had become of fome importance, the 

 inhabitants being ordered, together with thofe of Melcombe 

 and Lyme, to fend a certain quota of (hips for the king's 

 expedition to Gafcony. In the 21ft year of that reign, 

 Weymouth ( for Melcombe is not mentioned, though per- 

 haps included) furnirtied the king with 20 (hips, and 264 

 mariners, at the fiege of Calais, according to the roll of his 

 fleet preferved in a manufcript in the Cottonian Library. 

 In the year 147 1, Margaret of Anjou, with her fon, prince 

 Edward, landed here from France, in order to reftore her 

 hu(band to the throne. In 1507, king Phihp of Caftile, 

 with his queen, were driven on this coaft, and having run 

 into the port, were detained by fir Thomas Trenchard, till 

 an interview took place between the Enghfh and Spanifti 

 monarchs, from which the former derived fome advantages. 

 In 1588, Weymouth contributed fix ftiips to oppofe the 

 Armada, one of which was of 120 tons burthen. During 

 the civil war of Charles I., this town was alternately gar- 

 rifoned and befieged by the king, and by the parliament's 

 forces. In 1649 ^^ corporation petitioned parhament for 

 an indemnification for the loffes they had fuftained in the 

 war, and a relief from the burthen of maintaining the gar- 

 rifon ; but their requeft does not appear to have been 

 granted, as a letter was foon afterwards received concerning 

 the " refraftorinefs of the magiftrates." The manors of 

 Portland and Wike, with the ports of Waimuth and Mel- 

 combe, and the liberties attached to them, were granted by 

 charter of Henry I. to the monks of St. Swithun, AVinton ; 

 and Henry II. confirmed the port of Watmue and the whole 

 land of Melcombe to that eftabh(hment, with additional 

 privileges. Weymouth and Melcombe are (as has been 

 obferved under Melcombe Regis) fo frequently joined in 

 defcents and ancient grants, that fome difficulty occurs in 

 feparating them with precifion, Weymouth is the more 

 ancient borough ; though neither fent members to parlia- 



12 



WEY 



ment till the reign of Edward II., fince which time each 

 of them returned two. Melcombe, being part of the de- 

 mcfne of the crown, and poiTefling fome peculiar privileges, 

 is principally noticed in fucceeding charters. The rivallhip 

 which fubfifted for centuries between the two boroughs 

 arofe, in the reign of Elizabeth, to fuch a height, that it was 

 judged expedient to unite them ; and an aft was paffed in her 

 13th year (afterwards confirmed by James I.), by which 

 they were incorporated, and direfted hereafter to be called 

 " The united Town and Borough of Weymouth and 

 Melcombe Regis ;" the government being vefted in a mayor, 

 recorder, two bailiffs, an indefinite number of aldermen, 

 and twenty-four capital burgeffes : and they now pofTefs, as 

 one borough, the peculiar right, with the metropohs, of 

 fending four members to parliament. The reprefentatives 

 are elefted by the freeholders of Weymouth or Melcombe, 

 whether inhabitants or otherwife. The number of voters is 

 about two hundred. Thefe eleftors have alfo votes for the 

 county members. Leland fays, " The tounlet of Way. 

 mouth lyith ftrait agayn Milton (Melcombe) on the other 

 fide of the haven, and at this place the water of the haven is 

 but a fmaul brede, and the trajeftus is by a bote or a rope 

 bent over the haven ; fo that in the ferry-bote they ufe no 

 oars. Waighmouth has certain liberties and priviledges, 

 but there is no mair in it. Ther is a kay and wharf for 

 (hippes. By this town on a hill is a chapel of eafe. The 

 parochc church is a mil o(f." The chapel mentioned by 

 Leland was remarkable for its elevated fituation ; having, 

 according to Coker's furvey ot this county, an afcent of 

 eighty ftone fteps. It was of confiderable antiquity, as ap- 

 pears by a patent of Henry VI., granting a licence to found 

 a guild in the chapel of St. Nicholas, in the borough of 

 Weymouth, by the name of the mafter and wardens of the 

 fraternity or guild of St. George, in Weymouth. This 

 chapel was demohfhed in the civil war : the fcite is ftill called \ 

 Chapel Hays, and is now ufed as a bowling-green. Wey- 

 mouth, fince the time of Elizabeth, had, from a variety of 

 caufes, been gradually going to decay. The removal of 

 the wool-ftaple to Poole, the lofs of the Newfoundland 

 trade, the havoc made by the civil wars, damages by fire, 

 want of public fpirit, and other circumftances, had con- 

 curred to produce this e{Feft ; and till it began to acquire 

 celebrity as a watering place, it was httle more than an in- 

 confiderable fifhing-town. The late Ralph Allen, efq. of 

 Bath, about the year 1763, firft contributed to bring Wey- 

 mouth into repute. Having received great benefit from bath- 

 ing there, he proclaimed its falubrity to the extenfive circle 

 of his acquaintance ; and his encomium being exceeded by' 

 the real beauties of the fituation, it foon began to be the 

 refort of the firft company from all parts of the kingdom. 

 Tiie reputation thus acquired was extended by the late 

 duke of Gloucefter, who, having derived confiderable ad- 

 vantage himfelf, provided a refidence for the accommoda- 

 tion of the royal family ; and their majefties, accompanied 

 by the three elder princefTes, in the year 1789, made their 

 firft vifit to this place. His majefty experienced its benefi- 

 cial eflfefts, and became fo attached to the fpot, that he has 

 repeatedly honoured it with his prefence. The advantages 

 arifing from thefe vifits have proved of the greateft confe- 

 quence to the town, which has rapidly augmented in fize and 

 importance, from the vaft concourfe of people by which 

 it is now frequented. The chief objefts of curiofity to 

 ftrangers, are the Efplanade and the Bay. The Efplanade, 

 a fine level piece of fand, which, but a (hort time ago, was 

 nothing but a receptacle for all the rubbi(h of the town, is 

 now converted into one of the moft charming promenades 

 in England, and adorned by a range of handfome edifices. 



This 



