|containing nine parishes, 821 houses, and 4744 inhabitants. It is |situated in a pleasant vale on the little river Lavant, which |washes it on all sides, except the north, and is said to have been |built by _Cissa_, the second king of the South Saxons, and named |_Cissan Caester_. It consists of four principal streets, in the |form of a cross, is surrounded with a stone wall, and had formerly |four gates: the streets are broad, handsome, and well paved, and |there are six parish churches within the walls. This city sends |two members to parliament, and is governed by a mayor, recorder, |and 38 common councilmen, 4 justices of the peace being chosen out |of the aldermen. An ancient nunnery founded here, is now converted |into an hospital which has a very neat chapel. The Guildhall, |situated in an obscure part of the city, is a spacious ancient |building, and the council chamber, which is over the market house, |supported by pillars, is both neat and elegant, adjoining to which |is a subscription assembly room, and there is a small theatre, |situated at the bottom of South-street. | |The bishop’s palace, erected in 1727, has very commodious and well |laid-out grounds. The cathedral, which is built in the form of a |cross, on the site of St. Peter’s the Great, and dedicated to the |Holy Trinity, is an elegant Gothic structure; the spire nearly 300 |feet high. The choir of late has been neatly repaired, and has a |well-furnished library. In the south aisle is painted the history |of its foundation, and under it are the portraits of our kings, |from William the Conqueror to Edward the Sixth, continued in the |chapter house and library, to George the Second: on the east side |are the bishops. The see was translated here from Selsea, in the |reign of William the Conqueror. In a nich, near the east door of |St. Peter’s the Great, which stands within the cathedral, is a |statue of bishop Seiffrid, who built the church in 1199, together |with the palace, cloisters, &c. | |In the centre of the town stands a neat cross, of an octagonal |form, supported on 8 arches. Adjoining the fish shambles, in the |South-street, is a large reservoir and conduit of excellent water, |with the figure of an ancient Druid above. | |In 1727, a Roman pavement was discovered here, and on the _brill_, |near the city, is a Roman camp of an oblong square, supposed to |have been raised by Vespasian; and from the soil being a hard |gravel, must have been a work of great labour. There are vestiges |of another about a mile and a half west, called Gonshill. | |The inconvenient distance of the town from the sea, has been |partly remedied by a canal to Brocklesham bay. The haven affords |excellent lobsters, and every other Wednesday there is here one of