732 WOOL 
publishing his peculiar opinions. But death gave him that 
release, which his friends could not obtain from him; as he 
was carried off by an epidemic disease, within four days after 
his seizure, in January, 1732-3. Not long before he expired, 
he said, “ This is a struggle which all men must go through, 
and which I bear, not only patiently, but willingly.” His 
moral character is said to have been unimpeachable, and his 
head was thought to have been more disordered than his 
heart.— Biop. Brit. 
WOOLSTON, a parish of England, in Gloucestershire; 
4 miles west-north-west of Winchcombe.^2. A township 
in Lancashire; 3 miles east-north-east of Warrington.—3. A 
hamlet in Sussex. 
WOOLSTON, Great and Little, two parishes of Eng¬ 
land in Buckinghamshire, half a mile distant from each 
other. 
WOOLSTONE, a township of England, in Berkshire; 5 
miles from Great Faringdon. 
WOOLSTONHOLME, a township of England, in Lan¬ 
cashire ; 3 miles from Rochdale. 
WOOLSTON-WOOD, a township of England, in Che¬ 
shire, near Nantwich. 
WOOLSTROP, a hamlet of England, in Gloucestershire, 
parish of Quedgeley. 
WOOLTON, Little and Much, adjoining townships 
of England, in Lancashire; 5 miles south-west of Prescot. 
Population of the former, 528 ; of the latter, 601. 
WOOLVERCOTT, a township of England, in Oxford¬ 
shire; 2| miles from Oxford. 
WOOLVERDINGTON, a parish of England, in War¬ 
wickshire ; 5 miles from Warwick. 
WOOLVERSTONE, a parish of England, in Suffolk, si¬ 
tuated on the river Orwell; 4 miles south-by-east of Ipswich. 
WOOLVERTON, a parish of England, in Southamptou- 
sliire; 7^ miles north-west of Basingstoke.—2. Of Nor¬ 
folk; 5 miles from Lynn.—3. Of Somersetshire; 5 miles 
from Frome. 
WOOLVISTON, a township of England, in Durham; 
4| miles from Stockton. Population 390. 
WOO'LWARD, adv. In wool. Obsolete. —I have no 
shirt: I go woolward for penance. Shakspeare. 
WOOLWICH, a market town of England, in the county 
of Kent, on the banks of the Thames; 8 miles below Lon¬ 
don. This place, like Deptford, was originally only a small 
village, inhabited by fishermen ; and like that also owes its 
consequence to the establishment of a royal dock, in the 
reign of Henry VIII. Since that era, it has gradually attain¬ 
ed to its present size; but its progress has been more particu¬ 
larly rapid during the past century, in consequence of the 
establishment of the arsenal, and the augmentation of the 
royal artillery, who have their head-quarters here; owing to 
which causes, the increase of population within the last hun¬ 
dred years, has been in the proportion of six to one. 
The dock-yard is supposed to have been originally esta¬ 
blished in the reign of Henry VIII.; and has been progres¬ 
sively increasing from that period. In its present state it 
includes about live furlongs in length, by one in breadth; 
within which space there are two dry-docks, five ships, three 
mast-ponds, a mould-loft, store-houses of various descrip¬ 
tions, mast-houses, sheds for timber, dwellings for the various 
officers, and a very complete smithery, newly erected, and 
furnished, with extensive machinery, worked by steam, for 
the manufactory of anchors, &c. This dock-yard is under 
the immediate direction of a commissioner, who has also the 
controul of that at Deptford; and during the late war, the 
number of artificers and labourers that were employed here, 
amounted to nearly 2000; but since the peace, they have 
been reduced to about two-thirds of that number. Several 
first rate ships have been built here. The church, dedicated 
to St. Mary Magdalen, is a spacious building of brick, with 
stone copings, window frames, &c. standing on an eminence 
immediately overlooking the dock-yard. It consists of a 
nave, chancel, and aisles, with a plain square tower at the 
west end. This edifice was rebuilt between the years 1726 
and 1740, at an expense of about 6500/., 3000/. of 
W I C H. 
which were granted under the act of queen Anne, for 
building fifty new churches ; the rest was defrayed by col¬ 
lections made by brief, voluntary contributions, and lega¬ 
cies. The interior is fitted up in the Grecian style; and on 
the north, south, and west sides are galleries, supported 
on Ionic columns. The sepulchral memorials are but few. 
The principal charitable establishments are an almshouse and 
two schools. The alms house was founded for five poor wi¬ 
dows, previous to the year 1562, by sir Martin Bowes. They 
now receive 25/. yearly, besides coals and other articles. 
The girls’ school was built and endowed, from a bequest 
made by Mrs. Ann Withers, in 1753, of 100/. in money, and 
1100/. old South sea annuities; for the purpose of teaching 
30 poor girls to read, and to work with the needle. The 
other school was founded under the will of Mrs. Mary Wise¬ 
man, who, in 1758, left 1000/. old South sea annuities, for 
the educating, clothing, and apprenticing of six poor or¬ 
phan boys, sons of shipwrights, who have served their ap¬ 
prenticeships in the dock-yard. The original endowment has 
been augmented to 1750/. by vesting some part of the inter¬ 
est in the funds; and eight boys are now educated, &c. on 
this establishment. Between the dock-yard and the royal 
arsenal is an extensive building, about 400 yards in length* 
including a rope-walk, where several hundred workmen are 
constantly employed, under the direction of a clerk of the 
rope-yard, and master ropemaker, in the manufactory of ca¬ 
bles of all dimensions, for the service of the navy. 
The military and civil branches of the office of ordnance, 
that have been established at Woolwich since the accession 
of George I., have occasioned a very rapid increase, both in 
its population and extent, particularly during the last wan 
The original foundry which government possessed for brass 
ordnance, was in Upper Moorfields, London ; but its remo¬ 
val thence was occasioned by the following accident: a large 
recast being intended, of the guns which Marlborough had 
taken from the French, the duke of Richmond, the then 
master-general of the ordnance, together with several friends, 
and a large concourse of spectators, attended to witness the 
operation : previously, however, to its commencement, a fo¬ 
reigner of the name of Schalck, convinced, by the moisture 
which he observed in the moulds, that an explosion was to 
be apprehended, warned his Grace, and the surrounding 
spectators, of their danger. The event was such as he had 
anticipated; for no sooner had the burning metal been 
poured into the first mould, than it exploded with great vio¬ 
lence, and severely injured several of the byestanders. Mr. 
Schalck having given so striking a proof of his skill, was 
offered a commission to make choice of any spot within 12 
miles of London, for the erection of a new foundry, and also 
to be made superintendent of the whole concern. This ad¬ 
vantageous proposal he readily accepted, and immediately 
began his search for a proper place for the new establish¬ 
ment ; and having inspected various spots, he at length fixed 
on the Warren at Woolwich, as the most eligible situation. 
This arsenal is the grand national depot for every species of 
ordnance, both military and naval; and the immense quan¬ 
tity of guns which it contains, presents a curious spectacle to 
persons unaccustomed to sights of this nature: they are arran¬ 
ged in the open air, in tiers of great length, where are to be 
found complete field and battering train, mortars, howitzers, 
carronades, &c. together with the guns belonging to such of 
our ships of war as are not in commission. In other parts 
of this vast depot are extensive stores of gun carriages, mili¬ 
tary waggons, and every thing which appertains to the de¬ 
partment of the ordnance. The arsenal includes nearly 60 
acres, and contains various piles of brick building, among 
the oldest of which are the foundry, and the late military aca¬ 
demy. These were erected by sir John Vanbrugh, and 
have the date 1719, on the upper part of the leaden pipes 
that convey the water from the roofs, in the foundry are 
three furnaces, and a machine for boring cannon : the largest 
furnace will melt about 17 tons of metal at one time. From 
the improvements that have been made in the operation of 
casting, all danger of explosion is avoided, the moulds being 
made red-hot, before the metal is suffered to run into them. 
The 
