Pop. 5,834; An. As. Val. £5,508. It is said this place derives its name from the Saxon Winchala, a word signifying victory; this being the spot on which Edward the Elder defeated the Danes in a great battle. This place bas been celebrated for the manufacture of iron ever since the time of Elizabeth, and it is still so for the making of locks, files, currycombs, gridirons, and every description of hardware for exportation. It has the advantage of inland carriage, by means of the Wyrley and Essington canal, which passes near it. The Church is dedicated to St. Giles; the living is a curacy, in the archdeaconry of Stafford, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry; patron, the lord of the manor. The neighbourhood contains immense collieries and ironstone mines.
Bilston. A township and chapelry, in the parish of Wolverhampton, north division of the hundred of Seisdon, county of Stafford, one of the most extensive villages in England, situated a short distance from the north bank of the Birmingham Canal. Pop. 14,492; An. Aş. Val. $15,634. The town is situated on a rising ground, in the centre of a district abounding with rich mines of coal, firestone, clay; with numerous steam-engines, forges, furnaces, &c., which give it the appearance of a vast forge by day, and a perfect pandemonium by night. With such a basis for its trade, the reader will not wonder at the population. Its extensive water carriage affords every facility of transport, which advantage the enterprising proprietors of
