TEWKESBURY is generally considered a very handsome and improving town. The three principal streets are spacious and well-paved: the most extensive of these is the High-street, (formerly called Oldbury-street), which is wide and elegant, leading from the centre of the town towards Worcester; Church-street, in the direction of Gloucester and Cheltenham, is nearly as long, but the curvature near its centre renders its length less perceptible; and Barton-street, which is the third considerable street, connects the town with the Evesham and Stow roads.

There is also a new street, lately opened, by means of which a more ready communication betwixt the High-street and the Oldbury is obtained; besides which, there are a number of lanes, alleys and passages, branching from all the principal streets.

A considerable part of the Oldbury,^[288] all of which, until the year 1808, was commonable land, has very recently been covered with buildings: there are now nearly two hundred houses in that portion of the town, the first of which was built in 1810.

The houses in Tewkesbury are chiefly built with brick, the manufacture of which is carried on to a large extent on the banks of the Severn, both above and below the town. There are still existing, in various parts of the borough, some excellent specimens of the domestic architecture of the time of Queen Elizabeth: the whole building is strongly framed with timber, and the upper stories project so much over the lower, that were these houses to be regularly placed on each side of a narrow street, their tops would meet, and completely shade the way beneath. One of the most perfect examples of this description of dwellings, is the general coach-office, adjoining the Swan Hotel, in the High-street.

A large stone cross formerly stood in the open space in the centre of the town; the bailiffs, in 1650, ordered it to be pulled down, and caused the materials to be used in the reparation of the long bridge, leading to the Mythe. There is no memorial to shew us when or for what purpose this cross was erected: Leland terms it the "market cross", and the spot is to this day frequently called "the cross".^[289]

Near the middle of the Church-street, there is a broad space, which, from being called the Bull-Ring, is supposed to have been the spot anciently appropriated to the barbarous and almost obsolete diversion of bull-baiting.

In the year 1786, an act of parliament^[290] was obtained, for paving, improving, lighting and watching the streets;^[291] and to the strenuous and laudable exertions of the commissioners may be attributed their present cleanliness and excellent condition. A deep and muddy gutter formerly ran down the centre of each street, and lesser ones, from the several lanes and alleys, united with it; these were considered so dangerous, that poor persons regularly stationed themselves at the several entrances into the town, and obtained a livelihood by leading the horses of travellers from one end to the other.

Nearly adjoining to the town is a large tract of fine meadow land, called the Severn Ham, containing nearly two hundred acres, the property of John Edmund Dowdeswell, esq. the Hon. Henry Augustus Berkeley Craven, and others. This meadow was formerly commonable to the resident freemen, and the occupiers of dwelling-houses fronting the three principal streets, from the 12th of August to the 13th of February; but an act of parliament was procured, in the year 1808, for vesting the aftermath in trustees, who now annually divide the produce of it among such persons as would have been entitled to a right of common if the act had not been obtained.

The same act also empowered the trustees to inclose the Oldbury Field, the Oldbnry Meadows, Lilly Croft and Lilly Croft Meadow, which before were commonable, from the 4th of September to the 2d of February, to the same persons who were entitled to pasturage in the Severn Ham.

According to the returns made in 1821, under the directions of the population act, the parish of Tewkesbury contained 1172

families, 122 of which were employed in agriculture, 865 in trade and manufactures, and 125 which were not comprised in either of those classes. The number of inhabitants was stated to be 4962, viz. 2368 males and 2594 females; and there were 1044 inhabited and 88 uninhabited houses.

When the population returns were made in 1811, Tewkesbury contained 1007 families, 71 of which were employed chiefly in agriculture, 873 in trade and manufacture, and 63 were not comprised in either of those classes. The number of inhabitants was calculated to be 4820, viz. 2201 males and 2619 females; there were then 959 inhabited and 33 uninhabited houses, and 11 houses being built. - When the census was taken in 1801, there were 1146 families, occupying 859 houses; and the population amounted to 4199 persons, viz. 1932 males and 2267 females.- In 1792, there were 3768 inhabitants, viz. 1793 males and 1975 females. - The population of the town, in 1723, amounted to 2866 persons, viz. 1234 males and 1632 females.

It is evident that the population lists, in 1821, were very incorrectly taken: the inhabitants must have been then considerably more numerous than they were stated to be, and since that period also they have much increased. The population would now probably approach nearly to 6000 souls.

The earliest trade of the town seems to have been confined chiefly to the commerce in grain, flour and malt, which the inhabitants were enabled to carry on to great advantage by means of their fine navigable rivers.

The traffic on the Severn and the Avon, from Tewkesbury, is now very considerable, and might be increased to almost any extent, if individuals of an enterprising spirit would embark their capital in mercantile speculation; since few places in the inland part of the kingdom are more advantageously situated for trade. Should the projected union of the Birmingham and Worcester canal with that of Gloucester and Berkeley, ever be carried into effect, which has been for some years a favourite scheme with many persons both in Birmingham and Bristol, the commercial prosperity of this town would in all probability be greatly augmented.

A double lock might be erected, at a trifling expense, across the mouth of the river Avon, at the bottom of the quay; a floating dock could thus be formed, capacious enough for a more extended trade than the most sanguine can ever hope to witness in our rivers. If this were effected, the present confined quay might readily be made a very commodious one, with every convenience for loading and unloading vessels.

A rail-road from Bristol to Birmingham has often been contemplated; should this project also ever be realized, it has been anticipated that the most beneficial effects would be felt by the trading interests of the town, through or near to which the road must necessarily pass.

The corporation, by their early charters, were empowered to grant privileges to companies of traders; all persons who were not free of the borough, were prevented from settling here in business, and journeymen were not allowed to work at their trades, unless they were members of one of the incorporated companies. In the infancy of commerce, these combinations might possibly have had their advantages, but they would be very ill suited to the present times. There has always been, since the year 1581, a company of "cordwainers and shoe-makers", which is the only company now existing. There was a company of "drapers and dyers", and another of "tailors", which, being afterwards united into one fellowship, was dissolved only a few years since.^[292] There

were also companies of "weavers", - "coopers and joiners", "haberdashers or mercers", - "butchers", - "bakers", - "smiths", - "tuckers", and one of "whittawers, glovers, point-makers, pursers, and pouch-makers".

This town was formerly celebrated for its manufacture of mustard balls, which were sent to the most remote parts of the country, and being remarkably pungent, gave rise to the proverb, "He looks as if he lived on Tewkesbury mustard";^[293] which continues to this day to be applied to those prigs who exhibit a more than ordinary degree of pertness.^[294]

Shakspeare, in his play of King Henry the Fourth, puts into the mouth of the merry Falstaff, in his reply to a person who had extolled Poins for a wit: "he a good wit? hang him, baboon ! his wit is as thick as Tewkesbury mustard".^[295] The manufactory has long ceased to be carried on in the town, though nothing could be more easy than to restore it; as the mustard, which grows spontaneously in the corn-fields, and other places, in the neighbourhood, and which is in fact here a common weed, is of the same species as that which is cultivated with so much care, in the north of England, for the sake of its flour.^[296]

There were numerous manufacturers of gloves in Tewkesbury about the time of the commonwealth, but the trade has long since been lost to the town.

Worsted combing was carried on here to some extent in the reign of Queen Anne; and in that of her successor, Tewkesbury enjoyed a portion of the clothing business,^[297] but how long it had flourished is uncertain.

The malting business was one of the principal sources of wealth to the inhabitants for some centuries: the trade is still very considerable, though it is now of much less importance than formerly.

The manufactory of nails was for a long time one of the staple trades of the borough: it was originally conducted with much spirit, and it again bids fair to be a flourishing business.

The principal manufactory now carried on in the town is that of stocking frame-work knitting.^[298] This important branch of our domestic trade is supposed to have been introduced at Tewkesbury about the beginning of the eighteenth century, though it was conducted only on a small scale until within the last seventy years. In 1810, the number of stocking frames employed in the town was reckoned to be eight hundred; they were accurately counted in 1819, at a time when the trade was in a very depressed state, and they were then only five hundred and fifty-nine. At present, there are between seven and eight hundred frames at work, and it is calculated that these afford employment to about fifteen hundred individuals, or more than one fourth of the entire population.

A manufactory of cotton thread lace was established in the Oldbury, in 1825. The buildings are very commodious, and the machinery is of the most costly and perfect kind. We sincerely hope that the large capital which is embarked in

the speculation may be productive of wealth to the projectors, and of advantage to the town.

A distillery and rectifying-house, on an extensive scale, were established at Tewkesbury, about the year 1770. The distillery was built in the meadows, on the Bushley side of the Severn, but the foundations of it cannot now be discovered. The rectifying business was carried on in the town; and from that period to the present it has continued to prosper, under the superintendance of highly respectable proprietors.

There are two opulent banking establishments in Tewkesbury; one under the firm of "Lechmere, Wall, Isaac and Lechmere", and the other under that of "Nathaniel Hartland, John Allis Hartland, and Nathaniel Hartland, jun".

A provident bank, for the savings of the industrious, in the town and neighbourhood of Tewkesbury, was established in the year 1818.

There are two excellent posting-houses in the town; the Swan, in High-street, and the Hop-Pole, in Church-street; these, and several other respectable inns, afford all those comforts and accommodations which travellers in the present day expect to find in houses of public entertainment.

As Tewkesbury is situated in the direct line of communication between the northern and western parts of the kingdom, as well as nearly equi-distant from the fashionable watering places, Cheltenham and Malvern, and is also in the high road from London to Hereford and South Wales, there is consequently much travelling through the place.

More than thirty stage coaches, including the mails, pass through the town daily; besides a number of waggons, vans, &c. to and from London, Birmingham, Bristol, and the neighbouring towns. Twenty years ago, there was not a single coach from this place to Cheltenham, and now there are ten which daily travel through it to that resort of fashion, and the same number pass again on their return from thence to Malvern, Worcester, Hereford, &c.

The letters from London, Oxford, &c. are brought by the Gloucester mail to Cheltenham, and are from thence

immediately forwarded by a four-horse mail-coach, which arrives in Tewkesbury at a quarter before nine in the morning, and continues its route to Ledbury and Hereford, at which place it arrives at half-past twelve. It returns at half-past two, bringing the letters from Herefordshire and South Wales, and starts from Tewkesbury to Cheltenham at a quarter before six, in time to meet the Gloucester mail on its return to London. The mail from Bristol to Birmingham passes through the town a little after twelve at night; and that from Birmingham to Bristol a little after one in the morning; by these conveyances, letters from all parts of the north and west are received, which are delivered at an early hour in the morning, along with the London letters.

Old copper and brass tokens, which were issued for the convenience of trade, and inscribed with the names and sometimes with the devices of tradesmen, are often picked up in the gardens about the town. They are of various dates, principally between the years 1570 and 1690. From the extensive circulation of tradesmen's silver and copper tokens, a few years since, the more ancient local coins have lost much of that artificial value which was previously attached to them.

The public amusements at Tewkesbury are of a similar description to those of most other inland trading towns.

Regular subscription dancing and card assemblies are held, during the winter, at the Town-hall, and are numerously and respectably attended.

A public library and news-room was established in 1828, and we trust that it will meet with sufficient encouragement to insure its continuance.^[299]

An elegant little theatre has recently been fitted up; and during the Cheltenham season, the dramatic company from thence frequently perform here. As the managers occasionally

bring with them some of the first-rate London performers, the admirers of the drama at Tewkesbury have more frequent opportunities of witnessing superior theatrical talent, than the inhabitants of most other places.^[300]

The Severn Ham presents an excellent level course for horse-racing. We have no account of races at Tewkesbury before 1721; in that and the following year His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales gave a gold cup, of fifty guineas value, to be run for in the Ham. The first was won by John Brydges, esq.

of the Mythe; and the other by the Right Hon. Lord Tracy, Prior to 1825, there had been no races for twelve years; since that time they have regularly taken place, excepting in 1829, when, from the race-course being so frequently flooded during the autumn, the amusement was necessarily abandoned.

There is a convenient and delightful bowling-green, nearly opposite the church, which affords to the subscribers an agreeable summer evening's retreat.

At the Upper-Lode, about half a mile from the town, on the banks of the Severn, there is a spacious coit-yard;^[301] it is shaded with large elms, and no spot could be better chosen for the fine exercise which that game affords. For almost thirty years, prior to 1828, it was perhaps more respectably attended than any other coit-yard in the kingdom.

It is said, by Leland, that there was, at Tewkesbury, "a great stable of the kinges, a late occupied for great horses". All vestiges of it are now lost.

Several noble personages have derived their titles from this town: there was a William, Earl of Tewkesbury, as early as the reign of King Henry the first: Sir Henry Capel, eldest brother to the first Earl of Essex, was created Baron of

Tewkesbury, by King William the third; and George Augustus, Electoral Prince of Hanover, afterwards King George the first, was created Baron of Tewkesbury, by Queen Anne, in 1706.

The town was first incorporated in 1574,^[302] in the seventeenth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by the name of the "bailiffs, burgesses and commonalty" of the borough of Tewkesbury.^[303] A writ soon afterwards passed the great seal, for exonerating the corporation from various sums which had been imposed upon them by the queen's clerk of the market, on plea of her majesty's letters patent.^[304]

The previous incorporation was confirmed, and a new charter granted, by King James the first, in the third year of his reign.^[305]

The same monarch, in 1609, in the seventh year of his reign, when he sold the manor of Tewkesbury to the

corporation,^[306] granted them another new charter, which extended their privileges very considerably.^[307]

During the early part of the civil wars, in the reign of Charles the first, the charter was lost, and was supposed to have been purloined and destroyed by some individuals of an influential party who at that period were inimical to all rule and government. The bailiffs and common council petitioned Oliver Cromwell, in 1657, for an authenticated transcript of it; and they also endeavoured to procure a renewal of their charter during the protectorate of Richard Cromwell;^[308] but both applications were unavailing. They subsequently, in

1669, petitioned King Charles the second for an attested copy of the old charter; and, being unsuccessful, the common council resolved to apply for a new one. At length, through the indefatigable exertions of Richard Dowdeswell, esq. an exemplification of the charter, which had been granted in the seventh year of King James the first, was obtained; it passed the great seal in 1672, though not without a considerable expense to the inhabitants of the town.

In 1684, Charles the second directed the lord lieutenant of the county of Gloucester to advise the body corporate to surrender their charter, threatening them with a quo warranto if they refused.^[309] No surrender however took place during his

reign; but on the 24th of March, 1685, the Tewkesbury charter, like that of many other corporations, was surrendered, under the common seal of the body, to King James the second; who, in the following year, re-incorporated the town, by styling the municipal body "the mayor, aldermen and common council", and the borough had a mayor for its chief magistrate from 1686 to 1692.^[310] There was no corporation or local government in Tewkesbury, from 1692 until 1698, when King William the third, in the tenth year of his reign, at the earnest intercession of the burgesses and principal inhabitants, granted the present charter.^[311]

Tewkesbury has been a borough from time immemorial,^[312] and is consequently a borough by prescription, as well as by

grant; and few corporate towns can boast of a charter which affords such extensive privileges.^[313] The borough is co-extensive with the parish, and the local jurisdiction extends over the whole, which is about fifteen miles in circumference.

If the "bailiffs, burgesses and commonalty" have not lost, through disuse, some of their "ancient liberties, franchises, privileges and pre-eminences", it is evident, from the charter

of King William, as well as from some of the preceding ones, that they have at present not only jurisdiction throughout the entire parish, but that the "free borough corporate" extends also over "the whole hundred and liberty of Tewkesbury, in the counties of Gloucester and Worcester". The corporation records state, that, in Sept. 1700, an action of trespass at Bourton-on-the-Hill was tried in the Tewkesbury Borough Court of Record, that judgment was given, and an execution issued and executed by the bailiff of the hundred. Similar actions, from other remote parts of the hundred,^[314] have also been tried in the same court; there appears however to be no instance of the corporation having exercised this right recently.

The corporation consists of twenty-four principal burgesses, who are styled common-councilmen;^[315] from this body are chosen a high-steward,^[316] recorder, town-clerk (who is also clerk of the peace and clerk of the recognizances), a coroner

and chamberlain. From among the principal burgesses are also elected annually, on the second Thursday in October, two bailiffs,^[317] and four justices of the peace, who, with the recorder, form the magistracy of the borough.

The corporation, at one time, comprised twenty-four assistants, in addition to the twenty-four principal burgesses; this supernumerary body was found to be entirely useless, and therefore, for many years past, the principal burgesses themselves have been sworn into the office of assistants, previously to their being admitted common-councilmen.

Tewkesbury, amongst other privileges belonging to its corporate capacity, has the most valuable and important one of holding certain courts of a civil and criminal nature. It is not indeed styled the county of the town of Tewkesbury; though in almost every practical and substantial respect it is a county within itself. Its inhabitants are exempt from the inconvenient task of service on the county juries; and now that the term of the assizes is so much lengthened, this may truly be considered a most beneficial exemption. It is also exempt from payment of county rates, and collects and expends its own borough stock. The ne intromittat clauses in the charter are strong and unequivocal, not only as against the sheriff of the county, but also the justices of the county. The sheriff, in the execution of his process within the borough, must issue his precept to the bailiffs, who thereupon authorise their serjeants-at-mace to execute the process.

Its civil jurisdiction, in the institution of a court of record, for the recovery of debts not exceeding fifty pounds, is productive of extensive advantages. In the transactions between persons to whom such a court is chiefly of importance, namely, the tradesmen of the town, their debts are generally under the sum limited: and the expense of prosecuting a suit in this court may be taken on an average as not exceeding four or five pounds.^[318]

The recorder, or his deputy, in concert with the bailiffs and justices, holds a general quarter sessions of the peace. The power of inflicting punishment extends to transportation; but in very serious cases, the magistrates commit to the assizes instead of the borough sessions.^[319]

Its constablewick consists of a high constable, six other constables, two serjeants-at-mace, two beadles, and the gaoler, to whose office that of constable is generally added.

The corporation regularly hold courts-leet, at which the inhabitants of all the parishes in the hundred of Tewkesbury perform suit and service. The body corporate have also the power of admitting such persons as they deem proper to be burgesses, or honorary freemen; and of perambulating the boundaries of the parish, &c. whenever they judge it necessary. A perambulation generally takes place once in seven years; the last was on May 20, 1829.

The bailiffs of the borough are clerks of the market, and annually appoint a suitable number of persons as assistant clerks. There are two weekly markets: one on Wednesdays, for corn, cattle, pigs, sheep, butchers' meat, poultry, butter, vegetables, &c.; and one on Saturdays, for provisions of every description.

There are five^[320] annual fairs in Tewkesbury,^[321] viz. on the second Monday in March, - second Wednesday in April, May 14th, - first Wednesday after the 4th of September, for cheese, wool, &c. as well as for live stock, - and October 10th. - There are likewise statute fairs, provincially termed mops, for hiring servants, on the Wednesday before and the Wednesday after October 10th. - Besides which, there are great markets, on the second Wednesdays in the months of June, August and December.

The income of the corporation is at present little more than sufficient to enable them to remunerate the serjeants-at-mace and their other officers: they are even obliged individually to bear the expenses of their annual civic feast. Their chief income is now derivable from a toll upon horses, cattle, sheep and pigs, sold in the fairs and markets. When the lease of the market-house, and the leases of the twelve houses in Gloucester-Place, shall have expired, the former in 1888 and the latter in 1905, their income will again be considerable.

The corporation formerly claimed a toll on all grain which was sold in the market, and this produced a yearly income of little less than £.200. In attempting to enforce their claims to this antiquated impost, all their convertible property has been alienated. That they had a legal right to toll, by virtue of their successive charters, was unquestionable; and that they had uninterruptedly enjoyed that right for many ages, was never attempted to be denied. At the time that their charters, were obtained, corn was invariably brought in bulk, and pitched in the market, and what was unsold on one market-day, remained there until the next; it was therefore only reasonable, that the corporation, who were expected to find warehouse-room for such corn, should be entitled to remuneration. Corn has lately been sold by sample; and the farmers and corn-dealers contended that it was not equitable that the corporation, when no accommodation was required of them, should continue to demand the same toll as they formerly received.

The claim to toll appears to have been first openly resisted in the year 1757: on that occasion, the corporation filed a bill in chancery against Mr. John Embury, Mr. John Jenkins, and others, for an account of the corn toll which had been by them unjustly withheld; and although the defendants severally put in answers, they submitted and made compensation before the suit came to a hearing.

Another serious infraction of the corporate claims took place in 1805; and the corporation resolved to enforce their demand, which they stated to be "one peck for every forty-eight bushels of wheat, beans, barley, oats, rye and pulse". A tedious and expensive law-suit ensued, which was determined, in the year 1809, by a decision completely in favour of the corporation.

The tolls were afterwards continued to be taken, until June, 1812; the claim was then again resisted, and the corporation for a time ceased to demand tolls, in consequence of a decision which had been recently given against the corporation of Worcester, in the same court and by the same judge who,

in 1800, pronounced judgment in favour of the Tewkesbury corporation.^[322]

In Oct. 1813, the body corporate publicly announced their determination to re-assert their ancient right to toll; and at a chamber meeting, they resolved rather to surrender their charter altogether, than yield up so essential a prerogative. The corn-dealers and farmers, at a public meeting, immediately entered into a subscription, for defraying any expenses which might arise in consequence of proceedings being commenced against them by the corporation. The latter then gave notice to the committee, appointed to watch over the interests of the farmers, that they would forthwith institute proceedings "for recovery of all toll withheld from them". The want of pecuniary means perhaps prevented this threat being carried into execution, and since that period, corn toll has never been attempted to be collected in Tewkesbury.

The justices of the peace for the counties of Gloucester and Worcester hold a petty sessions at the office of Mr. T.P. White, in Tewkesbury, every other Wednesday; and to the "unpaid magistracy" of this district - the Rev. John Timbrill, D.D. archdeacon of Gloucester and vicar of Beckford; the Rev. John Keysall, domestic chaplain to his majesty and rector of Bredon; and the Rev. Charles White, vicar of Tewkesbury - the inhabitants of the neighbourhood are highly indebted, for the great zeal and inflexible integrity with which they regularly fulfil the arduous duties of the magisterial office.