Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Abingdon

For works with similar titles, see Abingdon.

​Abingdon, a parliamentary and municipal borough and market town of England, in Berkshire, on a branch of the Thames, 7 miles south of Oxford, and 51 miles W.N.W. of London. It is a place of great antiquity, and was an important town in the time of the Heptarchy. Its name is derived from an ancient abbey. The streets, which are well paved, converge to a spacious area, in which the market is held. In the centre of this area stands the market-house, supported on lofty pillars, with a large hall above, appropriated to the summer assizes for the county, and the transaction of other public business. The town contains two churches, which are said to have been erected by the abbots of Abingdon, one dedicated to St Nicholas and the other to St Helena; several charitable institutions, and a free grammar school, with scholarships at Pembroke College, Oxford. In 1864 a memorial of Prince Albert was erected at Abingdon, a richly ornamented structure, surmounted by a statue of the Prince. Abingdon was incorporated by Queen Mary. It sends one member to Parliament, and is governed by a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors. In the beginning of the century it manufactured much sail-cloth and sacking; but its chief trade now is in corn and malt, carpets, and coarse linen. It is a station on a branch of the Great Western Railway. Population (1871), 6571.

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.