WEALD (South), a parish in Billericay district, Essex; containing Brentwood, with post-office and r. station. Acres, 5,037. Real property, £14,889; of which £200 are in gasworks. Pop. in 1851, 3,588; in 1861, 5,209. Houses, 840. Pop., exclusive of Brentwood, in 1851, 1,383; in 1861, 2,116. Houses, 307. Weald Hall was the birthplace of Queen Mary; was also the residence of Sir Anthony Brown; and is now the residence ofJ. Tower, Esq. Boyles Court, Oakhurst, Pilgrims Hall, Great Ropers, Rochetts, Mascalls, Ditchleys, and How-Hatch also are chief residences. The Essex lunatic asylum, an edifice in the Tudor style with accommodation for about 700 patients, a school-house and ten alms houses in the Tudor style, built in 1856, a Belvedere tower near the church, and a new cemetery opened in 1860, are prominent objects. There are a chalybeate spring and traces of an ancient camp. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £656.* Patron, the Bishop of R. The church was recently restored, at a cost of about £10,000; and has a fine tower. The p. curacy of Brentwood is a separate benefice. See Brentwood.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))