1. Way; road; path.
2. A certain measure of weight.
Word of the Day: Catachrestical
Weymouth
Encyclopedia Britannica
WEYMOUTH and Melcombe Regis, a seaport, watering-place, market-town, and municipal borough of Dorset, England, is situated at the mouth of the small river Wey, on Weymouth Bay, opposite the Isle of Portland, and on the London and South-Western Railway and a branch of the Great Western, 7∣ miles south of Dorchester, 27∣ west-south-west of Poole Junction, and 145⅜ from London. It is formed of Weymouth, a fishing town and seaport on the south-west of the Wey, and Melcombe Regis on the north-east of the river, the two towns being connected by a bridge reconstructed in 1881. An esplanade about a mile in length fronts the sea. To the south of the esplanade is a pier of stone on wooden piles 1050 feet in length, erected in 1859 at a cost of <£12,000. The harbour lies between the pier on the north and the spur of land called the Nothe on the south, and is protected by a concrete wall extending 500 feet northward from the Nothe. The principal buildings are the old town-hall, the markethouse, the guild-hall, the masonic hall, the royal Dorset yacht clubhouse, the theatre, the Royal Victoria Jubilee Hall, the Weymouth and Dorset eye infirmary, the Weymouth royal hospital and dispensary, the Weymouth sanatorium for women and children, and the infantry barracks. Opposite the Royal Terrace is an equestrian statue of George HL, erected in 1809 in commemoration of his jubilee. A marble statue was also erected to Sir H. Edwards in 1885. A mile south-west of Weymouth is Sandsfoot Castle, a fort erected by Henry VIII. for the protection of the shipping. There are a number of almshouses and other charities. Weymouth has steam connexion with the Channel Islands, France, and various ports on the English coast. In 1886 903 vessels of 105,824 tons entered the port, and 905 of 98,964 ...tons cleared. The principal exports are Portland stone, bricks and tiles, and provisions, and the imports are coal, timber, garden and dairy produce, and wine. Ship and boat building, rope and sail making, and brewing are carried on. The population of the municipal borough of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (area 763 acres) in 1871 was 13,259, and in 1881 it was 13,715.
Both Weymouth and Melcombe Regis are very ancient. The port is supposed to have traded with Tyrian merchants before the arrival of the Romans. Various Roman remains, including pavements and coins, have been found. Weymouth was the scene of Athelstan’s vengeance on his half-brother Prince Edwin. It received a charter from Ethelred, which is preserved in Winchester cathedral. In the time of Edward the Confessor Weymouth and Melcombe were the property of the abbey of Cerne. In 1280 they formed a royal demesne and part of the dowry of Eleanor of Castile. Both Weymouth and Melcombe first returned members to parliament in the reign of Edward II. In 1347 they sent 20 ships and 264 men for the siege of Calais. Queen Margaret of Anjou landed at Weymouth 17th April 1471, and in 1506 Philip of Castile and his queen were driven into the port by stress of weather. In 1571 Weymouth and Melcombe Regis were united in one borough, under the title of“mayor, aidermen, bailiffs, burgesses, and commonalty of the borough and town of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.” The town was the scene of repeated conflicts during the Civil War, having been taken by the Royalists 9th August 1641, and retaken in 1644 by the Parliamentary forces, who stoutly defended it against an attack of nine days’ duration in February of the following year. Originally the united borough sent four members to parliament (the only other place returning the same number being the city of London), but in 1832 these were reduced to two, and in 1885 it ceased to be separately represented. Its importance as a watering-place dates from the time that George III. selected it as his favourite resort in the summer season. On 6th December 1881 Weymouth was constituted a port, the limits to commence at St Alban’s Head, the limit of the port of Poole, and to extend in a western direction along the coast to the western bank of the river Char, being the eastern limit of the port of Exeter, and to include the island of Portland. Among the representatives of the boroughs in parliament are Sir William Penn, father of the founder of Pennsylvania, and Sir Christopher Wren.
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 24, p. 522
[753 words — estimated reading time: 5 minutes]
[753 words — estimated reading time: 5 minutes]
No thesaurus entries found for "wey".
No Bible verses found for "wey".