Tewksbury

.....

Trowbridge..

Westbury

.. Greyhound, Daily, except

Tuesday & Friday....Nicholls. Berkeley Arms, Wed....Applegate. . Crown, Wednesday & Sat. Hatch.

Wotton-under-Edge. Green Dragon, Saturday.Derrett.

Southan & Evans' Steam Packets, to Newport every other day, and to Swansea, Wednesday and Saturday, from the Docks.

Steam Packets, to Worcester three times a week, from Westgate Bridge; Agent, Richard Chandler; Office, Island.

Crowley & Co.'s Boats, to all parts of the North, daily, from the Docks; Agent, Joseph Corfield.

Devey's Vessels, to Bristol and Bewdley, from the Quay; Agent, Roger Oakden.

Kendall, Edward, Agent for the Cyrus, between Gloucester and Dublin, from each Port once a month; Agents at Dublin, Henry and William Scott.

Legge, Paul, General Carrier to all places on the Severn, Docks and 33, Worcester Street.

Oakley Sarah, Vessels to and from Bristol, twice a week, from the Quay Wharf; Agent at Bristol, J. Oakley. Partridge & Co., General Carriers to all parts of the kingdom. Pickford & Co.'s Boats and Vessels, to Worcester, Stourport, Kidderminster, and all parts of the North of England; Agent, W. W. Jones.

Rice & Co., General Carriers from the Docks.

Southan & Evans' Vessels, to Bristol and Cardiff, three times a week. Boats to Birmingham, Staffordshire Potteries and Iron Works, daily from the Docks.

Stuckey & Co., to Bridgewater and all parts of the West of England; Agent, Joseph Paull.

MARKET BOATS.

Daily from Lanthony Bridge to

Frampton, R. Fryer's, from the Talbot, Southgate Street; Pilkington & Son's, from the Albion, Southgate Street; & Wm. Williams, from the Green Dragon, Southgate Street.

DISTANCE TABLE FOR GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

The Italics shew the Market Days, and the square where the respective Towns meet, the distance from each other.

Newent.

CHELTENHAM

Is a market town, parliamentary borough, and parish in the hundred and union of its name, situate in the first or eastern division of the county of Gloucestershire, in 51° 51′ north latitude, and 2° 5' west longitude. Distant 95 miles W.N.W. of London, 44 N.N.E. of Bristol, 43 N.N.E. of Bath, 40 W.N.W. of Oxford, 48 S. of Birmingham, 25 S.S. E. of Worcester, 34 S.E. of Hereford, 44 S.S. W. of Leamington through Warwick, 9 E.N.E. of Gloucester, 9 S.S.E. of Tewkesbury, 14 N.E. of Stroud, 15 N.N.W. of Cirencester, and contained, by the census of 1841, 31,411 inhabitants, and 5664 houses.

The town is delightfully situated upon rising ground, near the centre of the county, in a lovely, fertile and extensive vale, watered by the winding stream of the diminutive Chelt, and sheltered from the northern and eastern winds by the Malvern hills, and by the immense amphitheatre of the Cotswold hills, which latter abruptly terminate about 2 miles east of the town. The site, although high, is open only to the south and west, which, combined with the peculiar salubrity of its air, and the medicinal efficacy of its springs, renders it a desirable winter residence, especially for those whose pulmonary organs are weak. It contains numerous handsome streets; of these High street is the principal, extending nearly east and west one mile and a half in length; on either side are fine ranges of buildings, principally built of brick cemented, while here and there a few ancient houses left standing, serve to chequer the scene; right and left of this noble thoroughfare, various streets branch off, displaying verandahs and areas, with elegant and tasteful varieties of architectural decorations, amidst trees and shrubs of luxuriant foliage.

Many opinions are given respecting the derivation of its name, some antiquarians deriving it from the Saxon words Chilt and Ham, the first denoting an elevated place, and the latter a farm or village, whilst other etymologists, and perhaps with more probability, believe it takes its name from

B

the Chelt, or Chilt, the rivulet before alluded to. In Domesday book it is called Chinteneham, and was claimed by William the Conqueror as a royal manor, being formerly held by Edward the Confessor; all the lands which had been in the possession of Edward were by the commissioners employed in compiling Domesday book, set down as crown property, and inserted under the title of "Terra Regis."

The manor of Cheltenham continued in the possession of the crown until the reign of King John, who in the year 1199 exchanged it for other lands with Henry De Bohun, Earl of Hereford; subsequently the manor passed through various hands, but again reverted to royalty, in the person of James I. Prince Charles in 1628 sold the manor and hundred to John Dutton, Esq. for £1200.: this gentleman died in 1656, and was succeeded by his nephew, William Dutton, Esq. who dying without issue, the property devolved to Sir Ralph Dutton, Bart. to whom succeeded his son, Sir John Dutton, Bart. who dying without issue in 1742, bequeathed his estates to his nephew, James Lennox, Esq. of Ireland, who assumed the name and arms of Dutton; he died in 1776, and was succeeded by James Dutton, Esq. who on May 11th, 1784, was created an English peer by the title of Lord Sherborne, Baron Sherborne of Sherborne in the county of Gloucester; in the year 1811 his Lordship conveyed the manor and hundred to his son, the Hon. John Dutton, now the Right Hon. Lord Sherborne; who in March 1843 sold the same with all its rights and privileges to James Agg Gardner, Esq. for the sum of £39,000. having been in the possession of the Sherborne family for 215 years.

At an early period Cheltenham possessed the privileges of holding markets and fairs, as Leland, who wrote in the time of Henry VIII., describes it thus:-"Chiltenham, a large towne, havynge a market. It belonged to the abbey of Cirencester, now to the kynge. There is a brook on the south side of the town." On the day before the desperate battle of Tewkesbury, Edward IV. halted and refreshed his whole army, as we learn from Holinshed. "On this Fridaie, king Edward, at length he came with all his armye into a village called Chiltenham, like a five miles' distance from Tewkesberie. King Edward therefore made no long delaie, but took a little refection himselfe and caused his people to doo the like; this done, he set forward towards his enimies, and

lodged that night in a field, not past three miles distant from them." In the civil war between Charles I. and his parliament, Cheltenham was occupied by a brigade of cavalry in the king's service, and commanded by Lords Grandistone and Chandos. On September 5th, 1643, the Earl of Essex, with forces amounting to 10,000 men, appeared on the hills above Prestbury, and soon afterwards encamped at Cheltenham, whence they marched to Gloucester, upon which the siege was abandoned by the royal army. In 1712 Cheltenham was described by Sir Robert Atkyns as a market town, deriving a considerable trade from making malt; containing 321 houses and a population of 1500, 200 of whom were freeholders.

Cheltenham, previous to the discovery of its spas, was an inconsiderable and straggling town,- -a stream of water pursued its rippling course through the centre of the High street, refreshing as it went, and cooling the air above it in the summer time, whilst it administered at once to the cleanliness of the town and the comfort and convenience of its inhabitants. At regular intervals, a passage, from one side of the street to the other, was effected by stepping stones, and such was the depth of the water, that many a careless or unwary foot has immersed the heedless passenger at least knee-deep in cold water.

Cheltenham was enfranchised by the Reform Act, which empowered it to send one member to the House of Commons.* Town Commissioners are appointed by Act of Parliament, 2nd George IV., for framing local laws, and the borough is included with the county police; a large force is kept here, it being the head quarters and the residence of the chief constable; county magistrates sit every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, for public business, at the public office in High street. The town is excellently paved, and brilliantly lighted with gas, and the inhabitants obtain a plentiful supply of water from the neighbouring hills, about two miles east of the town, which water is conveyed 1800 yards by an iron pipe, 5 inches in diameter, to a large stone reservoir 80 feet square, and 10 feet deep, and thence by mains through all the principal streets. Coals, both from Stafford and the

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Cheltenham returned two members to Parliament.