woo 



ment fince the 25th of the reign of Henry VI. They are 

 elefted by the inhabitant houfeholders legally fettled 

 there, and paying feet and lot. The corporation is com- 

 pofed of a mayor, two aldermen, and twelve burgefl'es. 

 The market-day is Tuefday, weekly ; and there are alfo 

 fix fairs annually. In the centre of the town are a market- 

 houfe and fliambles ; and near this is the town-hall, in 

 which a machine, called a " cue king or ducking-ftool," 

 formerly ufed for the punifhment of female fcolds, was 

 lately preferved. The church is an old building dedicated 

 to St. Bartholomew, but it is not remarkable for beauty of 

 architecture, nor does it contain any monument or infcrip- 

 tion worthy of notice. 



Accordmg to the population returns of 181 1, the 

 borough and parifh contained 321 houfes, and 1390 inha- 

 bitants, who formerly carried on a confiderable trade in 

 broad-cloths ; but there is now no ftaple manufaftory of 

 any fort, though fome attempts have been lately made to 

 introduce the bufinefs of rcpe-making and fack-making. 

 In this parifli are two free-fchools and a Sunday fchool. 

 The former were founded and endowed by the earl of 

 Clarendon, one of them for twelve boys, and the other for 

 twelve girls. 



At the time of the Conquefl, this place was called fimply 

 'Wodeton.' It was then the property of Milo Crifpin ; 

 but in lefs than a century afterwards it was poflefied by the 

 Baflets of Wycomb, a branch of the noble family of the 

 Baffets of Drayton. The prefent proprietor is the earl of 

 Clarendon. The ancient manor-houfe, which ftands on the 

 fummit of a confiderable eminence, is now converted into a 

 farm-houfe, whence the eye furveys a very extenfive pro- 

 fpeft into Somerfetfliire, Gloucefterfhire, &c. A variety 

 of curious conical ftones, refembling fmall fir-apples, have 

 been dug up in different fpots around the town, imbedded 

 in a fort of blue marly ftone. 



Liddiard-Tregooze, or Lydiard-Tregofe, is a village and 

 parifh, fituated at the diftance of three miles north-eaft from 

 Wootton-Baffet. According to the population returns of 

 181 1, the parifh contains 95 houfes, and 613 inhabitants. 



The church, an ancient llrufture, is divided into a nave, 

 two fide aides, and a chancel, with a fquare tower at the 

 weft end, furmounted by an open baluftrade and angular 

 pinnacles. The church contains feveral interefting monu- 

 inents of the St. John family ; alfo a very curious genea- 

 logical table with arms, &c. 



Adjoining to the church is Liddiard-park, the feat of 

 lord Bolingbroke. The attached grounds are extenfive, 

 and contain many large clumps of trees, among which are 

 a great number of old oaks — Beauties of England and 

 Wales, Wilt(hire, by J. Britton, 1815. 



WOOTZ, in Metallurgy, a metal extrafted from an 

 ore of iron in the Eaft Indies, the nature of which is not 

 known at prefent in Europe. Wootz is highly efteemed 

 by the natives of India, and applied to various purpofes in 

 ■the arts. 



Dr. Scott gave the following account of its properties, 

 in a letter to the prefident of Bombay : — " Wootz admits of 

 a harder temper than any thing known in that part of 

 India. It is employed for covering that part of gun-locks 

 againft which the flint ftrikes. It is ufed for cutting iron 

 on a lathe, for cutting ftones, and for chifels ; alio for 

 making files and faws, and for every purpofe where excef- 

 five hardnefs is neceflary : it cannot, however, bear any 

 thing beyond a flight red heat, wjiich makes it work very 

 tedioufly in the hands of the fmith. It has a ftill greater 

 inconvenience or defeft, that of not being welded with iron 

 jOt fteel, to which, therefore, it it only joined by fcrewt and 



WOP 



other contrivances." Dr. Scott obferves farther, that 

 when wootz is heated above a light red heat, part of the 

 mafs feems to run, and the whole is loft, as if it confifted of 

 metals of different degrees of fufibility. The working with 

 wootz is fo difficult, that it is a feparate art from that of 

 forging iron. The magnetical power can only be imper- 

 feftly communicated to it. Specimens of wootz fent from 

 India were examined by Dr. George Pearfon, who ftates 

 in the Phil. Tranf. vol. xcv., that they were in the form of 

 round cakes, about five inches in diameter and one thick, 

 each of which weighed more than two pounds. The eakc 

 had almoft been cut through, fo as to divide it into two 

 nearly equal parts. It was externally of a dull black 

 colour, the furface was fmooth, the cut part was alfo 

 fmooth, and, excepting a few fmall holes, the texture ap- 

 peared to be uniform. No indentation could be made in it 

 by blows with a heavy hammer, nor was it broken by blows 

 that might have broken a like piece of fteel. Fire wa» I 

 elicited on coUifion with flint. It pofteffed the hardnefg j 

 of fome kinds of crude iron, but did not efFeftually refift 1 

 the file, like highly tempered fteel, and many kinds of crude ; 

 iron. It admitted a polifti equal to the beft fteel. The | 

 wootz-filings were attrafted by the magnet like common I 

 iron-filings. When broken, it exhibited the frafture and 

 colour of a rather open-grained fteel. It was taftelefs and 

 inodorous. Its fpecific gravity in different ftates, as given 

 by Dr. Pearfon, ranges from 7.2 to about 7.7, which is 

 nearly the fame as fteel. From the properties of this fub- 

 ftance, Dr. Pearfon concludes, that wootz approaches j 

 nearer to the ftate of fteel than raw iron, although it pof- ( 

 fefles fome of the properties of this laft fubftance. It is 

 not to be referred to that kind of fteel in which there it 

 either an excels or deficiency of carbon, but it contaiot 

 foraething befides carbon and iron, otherwife it would be ' 

 common fteel. The folution in nitrous and dilute ful- 

 phuric acid contained only oxyd of iron, and the refidue 

 of carbonaceous matter, as in common fteel. Hence, fays 1 

 Dr. Pearfon, it is obvious to fufpeft, that wootz contains 1 

 oxygen, either equally united with every part of the mafs^ | 

 or united with a portion of iron to compofe oxyd, which is ' 

 difFufed through the mafs. To this circumftance. Dr. Pear- 

 fon feems inclined to attribute the fmaller quantity of 

 hydrogen gas given out during folution, than is afforded bj 

 common fteel, and to account for its partial fufibility and diffi- 

 cult malleability, and may be the reafon of its taki ng a fine edge 

 or polifti. The oxyd is not perhaps equally difFufed ; hence 

 the wootz is not quite uniform in its texture and hardnefs 

 until it has been remelted. The proportion of oxygen in 

 wootz, fays Dr. Pearfon, muft, however, be very fmall, 

 otherwife it would not poffefs fo much ftrength, and break 

 with fo much difficulty. The oozing out of matter when 

 fufed is analogous to what appears on refining raw iron. 

 Although no account is given by Dr. Scott of the procef* 

 for making wootz, we may without much rifk conclude, 

 that it is made direftly from the ore, and confequently that 

 it has never been in the ftate of wrought iron, for the cake 

 is evidently a mafs which has been fufed, and appears to 

 have been cut almoft quite through while white hot at the 

 place where wootz is manufafturgd. The particular ufes to 

 which wootz may be applied are to be inferred from the 

 preceding account of its properties and compofition ; and 

 may be proved by an extenfive trial of it in all the arts which 

 require iron. See Phil. Tranf. vol. xcv. 



WOPANKEN, in Geography, a town of Pruffia, in 

 the province of Bartenland ; 2 miles E. of Bartenftein. 



WOPELBACH, a river of Ofnabruck, which nms into 

 the Dalckc, a miles N. of Weidenbruck. 



WORADA, 



