CORSHAM, a parish in the hundred of CHIPPENHAM,
county of WILTS, 4 miles (S.W. by W.) from
Chippenham, containing 2727 inhabitants. The living
is a discharged vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction of
the incumbent, rated in the king's books at £10, 16,,
and in the patronage of P. Methuen, Esq. The church,
dedicated to St. Bartholomew, is a large structure, consisting
of a nave, three aisles, and a chancel, with a
tower and spire in the centre, and a chapel separated
from the north aisle by a richly .carved screen. There
are two places of worship for Independents, one for Baptists,
and a disused meeting-house, formerly belonging
to the Society of Friends. Corsham, or, as it is sometimes
named, Corsham Regis, from King Ethelred's
having had a villa here, is a considerable village, having
a separate jurisdiction, the bailiff of the manor, who
is chosen by the tenants from among themselves, being
vested with the power of sheriff and coroner within
the same. Before the Conquest, it was a lordship belonging
to Tostig, Earl of Northumberland, and at the.
time of the Norman survey it was held by the Crown $
but in the reign of Henry III. it was possessed by that
sovereign's brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who, as
well as his successors, granted and procured for it many
important and peculiar privileges, which were confirmed
in later times, some of them being still enjoyed
by the inhabitants. Here was anciently an Alien priory,
a cell to the monastery of Marmonstier, in Touraine.
During the last century, Corsham was noted for its
manufacture of woollen cloths, which has been entirely
discontinued; though, with a view to the revival of its
disused market, Mr. Methuen built, in 1784, a market
or court-house, in the centre of the village, which consists
principally of one long street of well-built houses,
the situation being flat, dry, and salubrious. At the
south end is an hospital for six poor aged women,
erected in 1688, to which a free school was formerly
attached: it is under the government of a master, who
occupies an adjoining lodge, and who is appointed by
the Earl, of Radnor, as descendant of the foundress,
Lady Margaret Hungerford, relict of Sir E. Hungerford,
Knt., who also bequeathed land producing £20 per
autumn for a school. Edward Hasted, Esq., the historian
of the county of Kent, was master of this hospital,
and died there in 1812. Sir Richard Blackmore, a
physician and minor poet, was a native of this place.
A neat free school-house, for poor children of both
Sexes, has recently been erected, at the expense of Paul
Methuen, Esq., the present lord of the manor. Fairs
for cattle are held on March 7th and September 4th.