Winslow (St. Lawrence)

WINSLOW (St. Lawrence), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Cottesloe, county of Buckingham, 6½ miles (S. E.) from Buckingham, and 50 (N. W.) from London; containing, with Shipton hamlet, 1434 inhabitants. This town, which is of considerable antiquity, having been given by King Offa to the abbey of St. Alban's so early as 794, is situated on the brow of a hill, and consists principally of three streets regularly built and of neat appearance; the houses are chiefly of brick: water is amply supplied from wells. The land in the vicinity is extremely fertile, and in a high state of cultivation. The white poppy was so successfully grown here, in 1821, as to produce 60lb. of opium, worth at least £75, from four acres, and 143lb. in the next year from eleven acres; for which, on both occasions, the prize of 30 guineas was awarded by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce. The market, granted by charter of Henry III., is on Thursday; a small quantity of corn is pitched in the market-house. Fairs are held on February 18th, March 20th, Holy-Thursday, August 21st, September 22nd, and November 26th, for cattle; and on the Thursday before Old Michaelmas-day, and the first and second Thursdays following, are statute-fairs. The parish comprises 1900 acres, of which 310 are arable, 1570 pasture, including homesteads, and 20 woodland. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11. 5. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £185; impropriator, W. S. Lowndes, Esq. The church is a spacious and venerable structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower at the west end; it has been repewed. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans. A school was endowed by Joseph Rogers, in 1724, with property now producing an income of £30; and coal and bread are annually distributed among the poor to the amount of about £35, from bequests. The union comprises 17 parishes or places, containing a population of 8376.