ALCESTER, a market-town and parish in the Alcester
division of the hundred of BARLICHWAY, county
of WARWICK, 15 miles (W. S. W.) from Warwick,
and 103 (N.W. by W.) from London, containing 2229 inhabitants.
This place, from its name, from the numerous
Roman relics that have been discovered, and,
from being situated on the
line of the Iknield-street, vestiges of which are still
discernible in the immediate vicinity, is supposed to
have been a Roman station. In the time of the Saxons
it was a place of great importance, and of much greater
extent than at present. At the Conquest it was a royal
residence, and was made a free borough in the reign of
Henry I. In 1141, a monastery was founded here
y Ralph de Boteler, the revenue of which, at the dis-
solution, was £101. 14. The town is pleasantly situated
in a fertile valley, surrounded with richly wooded
eminences, on the eastern bank of the river Aln, near
its junction with the Arrow, over both which rivers are
neat stone bridges. It consists of one principal street,
from which, near the market-place, several smaller ones
diverge. Some of the houses are ancient, with projecting
upper stories, though in general they are modern,
and of handsome appearance: the inhabitants
are well supplied with water from springs. The principal
branch of manufacture is that of needles, in
which about six hundred persons are employed. The
market is on Tuesday: fairs are held on January 27th,
March 24th, May 18th, July 28th, October 17th,
and December 1st. A court leet is held annually
in November, at which a bailiff and deputy bailiff are
appointed; but the town is within the jurisdiction of
the county magistrates. The living is a discharged
rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Worcester,
rated in the king's books at £14. 18. 10., and in the
patronage of the Marquis of Hertford. The church,
formerly dedicated to St. Andrew, was, with the exception
of the tower, rebuilt in 1732, and dedicated to
St. Nicholas: it is partly in the early, and partly in the
decorated, style of English architecture, with a fine
embattled tower crowned with pinnacles; the roof is
supported by pillars of the Tuscan order. There are
places of worship for Particular Baptists, the Society
of Friends, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians. The
free grammar school was founded by Mr. Walter Newport,
in 1592, and endowed with £400, now producing
£20 per annum. In 1780, Mr. Brook Bridges founded
a school for twelve boys and twelve girls, which he endowed
with £20 per annum. There is an almshouse
for eight poor men. Among the Roman antiquities that
have been found in the town and its environs are various
urns, coins, tesselated pavements, and other relics;
and in that part called the Black Fields, to which the
buildings formerly extended, old foundations have been
discovered. Beauchamp's Court, the ancient manorial
residence, now a farm, about a mile and a half distant,
gives the inferior title of baron to the Earl of Warwick.