PETWORTH, a market-town and parish, in the hundred of ROTHERBRIDGE, rape of ARUNDEL, county of SUSSEX, 14 miles (N.E. by N.) from Chichester, and 49 (S.W. byS.) from London, containing 2781 inhabitants. This ancient town, called in Domesday-book Peteordc, is situated on a small branch of the Arun, near the navigable river Rother, and on the high road from London to Arundel and Chichester. It is in general well built, and consists of several irregular streets: the inhabitants are supplied with water from a spring in the Earl of Egremont's park, and from wells, but principally from the Rother, by means of an engine at Coultershallmjll, whence it is conveyed through pipes; the Rother is navigable about a mile and a half south of the town, and joins the river Arun at Stopham, about five miles south-east, being crossed by a bridge at Coultershall in this parish. The market is on Saturday, for corn; and fairs are on Holy Thursday and November 20th, for cattle and corn. In the centre of the town is the market-house, a handsome edifice adorned at one end with a bust of William III. j the lower part consists of piazzas, with an open space for holding the market, and above is the court-room for transacting public business. A capital court baron for the honour and manor is holden annually, under the Eai-1 of Egremont: formerly there was a court baron for pleas under 406'., but it has long since fallen into disuse. A court leet under the Duke of Norfolk, for the hundred of Rotherbridge, is held annually; the Epiphany and Easter quarter sessions for the western division of the county are held in the court-room; as is also a petty session of magistrates, every alternate Saturday. The bridewell, or house of correction, a brick building, was erected in 1787, on Howard's plan; it stands in' a healthy situation, and contains a tread-mill: the prisoners are employed in manufacturing rugs, horsecloths, arid other coarse woollen articles. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chichester, rated in the king's books at £41. 10. 5., and in the patronage of the Earl of Egremont. The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, and was erected apparently about the time of Henry VII., is in the decorated style, and has rece.ntly undergone reparation, having also received two hundred additional sittings, of which one hundred and twenty-six are free, and towards defraying the expense, the Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches contributed £70: the greater part of the tower has been rebuilt, with the addition of a beautiful spire, one hundred and eighty feet high, the whole having been executed, in a superior manner, under the direction of Mr. C. Barry, architect, and at the sole expense of the Earl of Egremont. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists. The free school, called Taylor's charity, which was founded in 1753, by the Rev. John Taylor, who bequeathed the sum of £2400, for instructing and apprenticing twenty poor children, and for other purposes, and a further sum of £ 800 for clothing them, has merged into a large school on the National system, for children of both sexes, which is supported by voluntary contribution. Thompson's hos-: pital, for twelve poor men and women, was founded in 1618, by Thomas Thompson, Gent., and originally endowed with land for the payment of £ 5 a year to each of the inmates 5 which sum, from the accumulation of the funds, has been increased to £20. Almshouses were founded, in 1746, by Charles, Duke of Somerset, for twenty-two widows, each of whom receives £20 per annum: in addition to which, several widows, as out-pensioners, receive annual sums varying from £ 5 to £20. Donations of £12 each per annum to two clergymen's widows of the neighbourhood, and of £6 each to two poor tradesmen, to assist them in business, were included in the bequests of the above-mentioned Rev. John Taylor, founder of the free school.