W I N 



W I N 



after which the fpun-yarn is wound round the body of the 

 winch. 



WINCHCOMBE, in Geography, a market-town in the 

 lower divifion of the hundred of Kiftfgate, Gloucefterfhire, 

 England, is fituated on the Cotfwold-hills, 15 miles N.E. 

 by E. from the city of Glouceller, and 9J miles W.N.W. 

 from London. It was anciently a town of confiderable im- 

 portance, was written Wincelcumbe in Domefday-Book, 

 and was there ftyled a borough when only Gloucefter and 

 Briftol, in the fame county, were dignified with that title. It 

 was the fcite of a caftle, and of a mitred abbey fufficiently 

 capacious for the reception of 300 monks ; but every veftige 

 of thefe buildings has long been levelled with the duft, and 

 the places where they ftood are only conjeftured. By whom 

 the caftle was eredled is unknown ; but the abbey was 

 founded in 798, by Kenulph, king of Mercia, and was con- 

 fecrated with great folemnity in the prefence of three kings, 

 and a great number of prelates and nobles. Being deftroyed 

 by the Danes, it was rebuilt in 98 1 by Ofwald, biftiop of 

 Worcefter, who converted it into a college of feculars, and 

 reftored it to great fplendour. It was largely endowed ; 

 and in the reign of the Conqueror nineteen manors in this 

 county were annexed to it, independently of Winchcombe 

 itfelf. In 1265 its abbot was fummoned to parliament, and 

 the privilege was continued to all the fucceeding abbots. 

 The twenty-eighth abbot, Richard Ancelme, furrendered 

 his abbey and its poITeiTions to Henry VIII. in 1539. The 

 edifice was foon after totally deftroyed. Tradition reports 

 it as very magnificent ; but no defcription of it is now ex- 

 tant. Winchcombe, with a fmall territory adjoining, is faid 

 to have been, in the Anglo-Saxon time, a fheriffdom or 

 county of itfelf; but in the reign of Canute, it was divefted 

 of its independence, and annexed to Gloucefterdiire. The 

 town now confifts chiefly of two ftreets, interfeCling each 

 other; the houfes are low, and principally of ftone. The dif- 

 ficulty of approaching it, through the badnefs of the roads, 

 has prevented it from being much vifited ; but the new turn- 

 pike-roads have now opened a ftiort and eafy communication. 

 The church is a fpacious ftrufture, with a nave, chancel, 

 two aifles, and an embattled tower : the body of the church 

 is alfo ornamented with battlements and pinnacles. The 

 old church ftood at the weft end of the town ; but having 

 fallen to decay, the prefent fabric was begun in the reign of 

 Henry VI. by the abbot, WiUiam Winchcombe, who com- 

 pleted the eaft part : the remainder was finiftied by the pa- 

 riftiioners, aflifted by the munificence of Ralph Boteler, lord 

 Sudeley. The government of the town, which is a borough 

 by prefcription, is vefted in two baihff's and ten alTiftants ; 

 from the latter, the bailiff^s are annually chofen. A weekly 

 market is held on Saturdays, and here are three annual 

 fairs, which are well attended ; but from the reclufe fitua- 

 tion of the town very little trade is carried on, a paper- 

 mill and a tan-yard being the chief fources of employ. The 

 workhoufe is an ancient irregular building, in which the 

 poor are employed in fpinning and weaving linen. Here are 

 alfo an alms-houfe for twelve poor women, and three charity- 

 fchools. The population of the town in the year 181 1, ac- 

 cording to the return to parliament, was 1256, occupying 

 299 houfes : the parifti extends twelve miles in circum- 

 ference, and includes nine hamlets ; tiie enumeration of the 

 whole was 461 houfes, and 1936 inhabitants. 



About a quarter of a mile to the fouth-eaft of the town 

 are the ruins of Sudeley -caille, erefted by Ralph, lord Bote- 

 ler, an eminent ftatefman in the reign of Henry VI., on the 

 fcite of a more ancient caftle which appears to have been the 

 refidence of Herald, fon to Radulf, earl of Hereford, in the 

 time of the Norman conqueror. In this family, which aiTuraed 



the name of Sudeley, the manor continued till the 41ft of 

 Edward III., when it was conveyed by marriage. Sudeley 

 was attached to the crown till the reign of Edward VI. 

 when it was granted to fir Thomas Seymour, who fettled 

 here with Catharine Parr, the queen-dowager, whom he 

 had married, and who died here in child-bed, not without 

 fufpicion of poifon. Seymour being afterwards attainted, 

 Sudeley was granted to Wilham Parr, marquis of Northamp- 

 ton, who forfeited it foon afterwards. It now belongs to 

 the marquis of Buckingham. Of this once-famed fortrefs, 

 very little remains : parts of towers, the hall, and the chapel, 

 ferve to fhew the ftyle of architefture and charafter of the 

 buildings. — See WiUiams's Hiftory, &;c. of Sudeley Caftle, 

 folio. Alfo Beauties of England and Wales, vol. v. by J. 

 Britton and E.W. Bray ley. 



WINCHELSEA, a borough and market-town on the 

 coaft of Suffex, England, fituated about 3 miles W. from 

 Rye, 8 E. from Haftings, and 67 from London. It is a 

 member of the Cinque Ports, and an incorporated town, 

 the officers of which confift, according to its charters, of 

 a mayor and twelve jurats ; but thefe are feldom compofed 

 of more than four or five perfons. Winchelfea is a place of 

 antiquity ; but by the ravages of the fea, the fcites of its 

 houfes, at different periods, have totally changed. The 

 epoch of the rapid though gradual overthrow of the ori- 

 ginal town is fixed by Leland between 1280 and 1287. 

 During that time the inhabitants petitioned Edward 1. for 

 ground to found another town, who accordingly granted 

 them the fcite of the prefent town, which he furrounded 

 with walls, and to it the inhabitants gradually removed. 

 The new town afterwards fell into decay, from a caufe juft 

 the reverfe of that which ruined the old ; for the fea deferted 

 its neighbourhood, and left in its place a dreary marfh. 

 This began to be fenfibly felt in the end of the reign of 

 queen Elizabeth. The channel leading to the harbour was 

 choaked, the coaft was deferted, and the town, abandoned 

 by the trader, foon declined. The houfes and churches fell 

 to ruin, fo that a town, once covering a furface two miles 

 in circuit, is now reduced to comparatively a few houfes in 

 a corner of its ancient fcite, now a mile and a half from the 

 fea. Of the ancient church, the lofty and fpacious chancel, 

 now ufed for divine fervice, and three aifles, alone remain en- 

 tire. In it are two monuments, with effigies of knights 

 templars. Some fragments of the walls and of three gates 

 of the town ftill exift. From the fituation of Winchelfea, 

 and the fpacious vaults frequently difcovered, it is probable 

 that the town was the principal mart for French wines, im- 

 ported into England before the wine-trade with Portugal 

 was eftablifhed. Winchelfea fends two members to parlia- 

 ment, who are elefted by about forty freemen. The houfes 

 in this parifti, in j8ii, were 126, containing 131 families, 

 and 652 perfons. — Beauties of England, vol. xiv. Svo. 1 81 3, 

 Suflex, by F. Shoberl. 



WiNCHELSEA IJland, an ifland in the Pacific ocean ; 30 

 miles S.E. of fir Charles Hardy's ifland. 



WINCHENDON, a town of the ftate of MalTachufetts, 

 in the county of Worcefter, with 1 173 inhabitants ; 56 miles 

 N.W. of Bofton. 



WINCHESTER, an ancient and eminent city in 

 Hampfliire, or the county of Southampton, in England, 

 II miles N.N.E. from Southampton, and 62| W.S.W. 

 from London. The buildings are difpofed on the eaftern 

 declivity of a low hill, which gently flopes to the valley of 

 the river Itchen, the chalky cliffs of which, and the chalky 

 foil of the furrounding heights, in the opinion of Camden, 

 occafioned the ancient name of the city, Caer-Gnvent, figni- 

 fying the • white city.' The latter portion of the name, 



under 



