41|Alton Barnes pa|Pewsey 4| 82| 138| 12|Alton Pancras pa|Sherborne 10| 120| 210| 41|Alton Priors chap|Pewsey 4| 82| 205| 7|Altringham[B] m.t.|Manchester 9| 179| 2708| +--+--------------------+----------------------+-----+--------+ [A] ALTON is seated on the river Wye; it is a pleasant open town, consisting of three streets, of which the principal contains some handsome houses. It is governed by a constable appointed by the magistracy, and a petty sessions are held in the town. The district around is celebrated for the superiority of its hop plantations, and possesses manufactures of druggets, serges, and other worsted fabrics, which are dyed in the wool. It was at Alton that Sir William Waller, in December 1643, obtained some advantages over the forces of Lord Hopton, who had taken his post in the town, the regiment commanded by Colonel Bowles retreated to the church, but not having time to barricade the doors, threw down their arms, and surrendered; but the Colonel himself, refusing quarter, was slain on the spot. Amongst the celebrated men to whom this town has given birth, may be mentioned William de Alton, a Dominican Friar, who lived in the time of Edward II., and wrote on the universality of the pollution of mankind by original sin. John Pitts, the Roman Catholic Biographer, who was born in 1560, and died in 1616; and William Curtis the Botanist, who was born about 1746, and died in 1799. _Market_, Saturday.--_Mail_ arrives 2 A.M. departs 12-3/4 A.M.--_Fairs_, Saturday before May, sheep and lambs, September 29, cattle and toys.--Commercial Banking Company, draw on Williams, and Co.--_Inn_, Swan. [Sidenote: Celebrated for hops, and manufactures in serges and other worsted fabrics.] [Sidenote: Church converted to a fortress.] [B] ALTRINGHAM is a very neat market-town in the parish of Bowden, and hundred of Bucklow, near which the Duke of Bridgewater's canal passes from the Mersey at Runcorn, to Manchester; it possesses several factories of yarn, cotton, and worsted, and the vicinity supplies the markets of Manchester well with fruit and vegetables. This town was anciently a fee for the barons of Dunham Massey, one of whom granted to it a guild mercatory in the thirteenth century. _Market_, Tuesday.--_Mail_ arrives 4-1/2 A.M., departs 9-1/2 P.M.--_Fairs_, April 29, August 5, November 22, for cattle and drapery.--_Inns_, Bowling Green and Unicorn. [Sidenote: Yarn, cotton, and worsted manufactories]