Downton (St. Lawrence)
The parish comprises by admeasurement 12,023 acres, of which 3230 are common or waste land. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £20; patrons and impropriators, the Warden and Fellows of Winchester College. The great tithes have been commuted for £1612, and the vicarial for £929. 5.; there are 126½ acres of glebe belonging to the impropriators, and 5¾ to the vicar. The church is a spacious edifice, consisting of a nave, aisle, transept, and chancel, with a central tower, which in 1791 was raised 30 feet higher, at the expense of the Earl of Radnor, who also largely contributed to the cost of some subsequent repairs in the body of the church; more recently, a neat organ and gallery have been erected by subscription. At Nunton is a chapel of ease; and a district church has been erected at Redlynch, by subscription, aided by a grant of £275 from the Incorporated Society; it is a neat edifice, containing 400 sittings, of which 350 are free, and was consecrated on July 24th, 1837. The living is in the gift of the Vicar. There are places of worship for General and Particular Baptists, and Wesleyans. A free school was founded in 1679, by Sir Joseph Ashe, Bart., and endowed with rents, &c., producing £40 per annum. In 1784, Mrs. Emma Noyes left by will £200, to be placed in the funds, and the interest applied in teaching children. In 1627, William Stockman gave Chadwell farm, in Whiteparish, now producing between £40 and £50 per annum, for the benefit of poor persons of Downton "surcharged with children." Here is an ancient cross, called the borough cross, on account of its having been the place for elections, except when a poll was demanded: in 1797, it was repaired at the expense of the burgesses. About two miles from Downton is Standlinch or Trafalgar House, bestowed by the nation, as a token of gratitude for distinguished services, on Admiral Lord Nelson.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.