Wilton, Bisbop. See Bishop Wilton.

Wilton Castle, Herefordshire. See Wilton.

Wiiton (or Southern) Division, parl. div. of AYilts,
pop. 45,116.

WUton Park, seat, near Beaconsfield, Bucks.

Wilton Place, seat, Gloucestershire; post-town,
Dymock.

Wilts Canal, North, Wilts, in NE. of co.; extends
from vicinity of Swindon 8 miles NW. to the Thames
near Cricklade.

Wilts and Berks Canal, commencing at Senning-
ton, Wilts, and flowing NE., past Melksham, Chippen-
ham, Wootton-Bassett, Swindon, Shrivenham, and
AV antage, to the Thames at Abingdon; is 52 miles long,
with 41 locks, rise of 170 ft. and fall of 205 ft.

Wiltshire (or Wilts), co. in SW. of England,
bounded NW. and N. by Gloucestershire, E. by Berks
and Hants, S. by Hants and Dorset, andW. by Somer-
set; greatest length, N. and S., 53 miles; greatest
breadth, E. and W., 37 miles; area, 866,677 ac., pop.
258,965. The county is divided into 2 divisions by the
Yale of Pewsey extending E. and W., the northern
principally a fertile flat rising near the N. border in
the direction of the Cotswold Hills, the southern a
varied district broken by downs and intersected by
fertile and well-watered valleys. To the northern
division belong the Marlborough Downs, and in the
southern division is Salisbury Plain. The principal
rivers are the Upper Avon, flowing SW. to the Bristol
Channel; the Lower Avon (with its tributaries the
AViley, Nadder, and Bourne), flowing S. to the English
Channel; and the Kennet, flowing E. to the Thames.
The greater part of the surface is kept in pasture,
devoted in the northern division to grazing and dairy
farming, and in the southern division to the rearing of
sheep. Wiltshire is famous for its bacon and cheese.
(For agricultural statistics, see Appendix.) The geolo-
gical strata are principally cretaceous, forming part of
the central chalk district of England. Ironstone is
abundant. The principal mfrs. are woollens and
carpets at Bradford, Trowbridge, Westbury, and Wilton;
cutlery and steel goods at Salisbury; ironfounding at
Devizes ; and ropes and sacking at Marlborough. The
locomotive and carriage works of the Great AYestern
Railway are at Swindon, and near Downton is the
College of Agriculture. AYiltshire is especially remark-
able for the number and variety of the memorials of
antiquity left by Britons, Romans, Saxons, and Danes,
the chief of these being the megalithic remains of
Stonehenge and Avebury. The county contains 29
hundreds, 340 pars, and parts of 7 others, the parl.
and mun. bor. of Salisbury (1 member), and the mun.
bors. of Caine, Chippenham, Devizes, and Marlborough.
It is mostly in the diocese of Salisbury. For parl.
purposes it is divided into 5 divisions—viz., Northern
or Cricklade, North-Western or Chippenham, Western
or Westbury, Eastern or Devizes, and Southern or
Wilton, 1 member for each division ; its representation
was increased from 4 to 5 members in 1885.

Wilverley House, seat, New Forest, Hants, 5 miles
NW. of Lymington.

Wily, Wilts. See Wylye.

W’imbish, par. and vil., Essex—par., 4920 ac., pop,
846; vil., 4 miles SE. of Saffron Walden; P.O.

Wimbledon, town and par., Surrey, at the NE
extremity of AYimbledon Common, 74 miles SW. o
Waterloo Station, London, by rail, 3220 ac. (47 water)
pop. 15,950. Good residences, chiefly modern villas
are numerous, many families having been attracted to
Wimbledon by the salubrity of the climate, Wimbledon
Common being the most breezy bit of open country ad
joining London. There is a golfing course on the Com
mon, where also the annual competition of the Nationa
Rifle Association is held in July. At the S. of the Com
mon there was formerly an entrenched camp.

Wimbledon (or North Eastern) Division, parl
div. of Surrey, pop. 50,416.

Wimbledon Fark (Wandsworth), eccl. dist
AYandsworth par. and bor., Surrey, adjacent to Wim
bledon Common, pop. 1287.

Wimblington, par. and vil. with ry. sta., Cam
bridgeshire, in N. of co.—par., 7589 ac., pop. 1089
vil., 44 miles S. of March Junction; P.O.

Gazetteer of the British Isles, Statistical and Topographical, by John Bartholomew, F.R.G.S.

Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1887. Public domain image from Gedcomindex.com