Witham

"WITHAM, a market-town and parish in the hundred of WITHAM, county of ESSEX, 8 miles (N. E. by E.) from Chelmsford, and 37 (N. E. by E.) from London, containing 2578 inhabitants. The original erection of this town, or at least that part of it which is situated on Cheping Hill, is attributed to Edward the Elder, about the commencement of his reign, and was subsequently in the possession of the Knights Templars, who had a preceptory at Crossing, about three miles distant. . . A mansion here, formerly the property of the Earl of Abercorn, has been repeatedly honoured by the presence of royalty; George II. rested at it in his progress to and from his Hanoverian dominions, and Queen Charlotte, consort of George III., was received here on her first arrival in England. The town, which is pleasantly situated near the confluence of a small stream, called the Braine, with the river Blackwater, on the main road from London to Colchester, is of respectable appearance, and consists principally of one long street; it is partly lighted and paved, and amply supplied w}th water from wells. There are no branches of manufacture the principal trade is what arises from its situation on a great public thoroughfare, and the requisite supply of the inhabitants. . . The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Colchester, and diocese of London, rated in the king's books at £22. 0. 7., and in the patronage of the Bishop of London. The church, which is situated at Cheping Hill, about half a mile north of the town, is dedicated to St. Nicholas: it is a neat edifice in the later style of English architecture, and contains many ancient monuments, and a large tomb, erected in the reign of Elizabeth, to the memory of Judge Southcote and his lady, by whose effigies it is surmounted. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Roman Catholics. A National school, for eighty-two boys and fifty-five girls, is supported partly by the rent of a house, conditionally bequeathed, in 1630, by Dame Catherine Barnardiston, and partly by voluntary contributions. . ." [From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of England (1831) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016]