The New Astrology of Towns & Cities

THE NEW ASTROLOGY OF TOWNS & CITIES England’s Civic Corporations

Revised & Extended Edition of the original work by HAROLD WIGGLESWORTH

Edited by LISA MENDES

Published in association with the Urania Trust

“The New Astrology of Towns & Cities” Updated & edited by Lisa Mendes. Based on the original research published in 1973 by Harold Wigglesworth and the Astrological Association

Published in association with the Urania Trust, London

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, be it mechanical or electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

CONTENTS

THE NEW ASTROLOGY OF TOWNS & CITIES

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION DEDICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION KEY TO TABLE OF PLACES ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PLACES CHART DRAWINGS FOR NOTABLE PLACES NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY ABOUT THE EDITOR

KEY TO TABLE OF PLACES

List of Abbreviations

Date of Incorporation = I Date of Borough Formation (modern or ancient) = BF Date of County Incorporation = CI Ascendant = AS

Other Things to Note:

1. In the lists below, places where the date is not known are indicated like this: - - - -. Where only the year is known, you will find the following: - - 1547, as in the case of Aldeburgh.

2. Dates falling between 1 January and 25 March prior to the year 1752, are somewhat ambiguous and should be checked against the regnal year wherever possible. As a result, a date range has been given, and the latest date used to generate chart information. E.g. Banbury, which is shown as 26 Jan 1553-4. i.e. 25 Jan 1554 O.S.

3. Places which are underlined e.g. BRISTOL are all considered to be counties, metropolitan or unitary authorities/districts in themselves.

4. BF indicates both ancient borough formation, or the establishment of a more modern municipal or county borough from the 1800’s onwards.

5. For the sake of simplicity, the counties listed are the CEREMONIAL counties, and not necessarily the current administrative authority, borough or district, which seem to change with rather alarming regularity. Further detail can be found in the Introduction and Notes sections.

6. County Towns are indicated with ‘(County Town)’.

7. An asterisk (*) placed after a place name denotes that it was mentioned in some capacity in the Domesday Books.

8. Midnight is the default time used to calculate all charts.

9. Due to variations in atlas and time zone data used in the many makes of astrology software, you may find that you get different results from those listed here. In the interests of accuracy, all charts calculated in this book have been done using Solar Fire Gold Version 8. If you would like to test your software for accuracy, consider subjecting it to a reliable online test recommended by your software manufacturer.

10. When Harold originally compiled the first edition of this book, all calculations had to be done manually, which led to more than a few errors. This may explain why there are large discrepancies between some of the chart data in the original book and the current publication.

11. Where a hyperlink has been added, you will find additional details about a particular town and its history in the Notes section at the back of the book. These include, where known, alternative dates related to charters, boundary changes or restructuring as a result of legislation. In the Chart Drawings Section, ‘See Notes’ has been added to indicate which entries also have notes about them in the back.

12. In the case of entries for well-known towns or major cities such as London and Bath, a page has been dedicated to each place, complete with chart illustration, as a special feature.

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF PLACES

ABINGDON-ON- C. Oxfordshire THAMES (formerly 51°N41’ 01°W17’ Abingdon) I 24 Nov 1556; CI 01 Apr 1974

AS 17° 49’ Virgo Sun 11° 54’ Sagittarius Moon 13° 00’ Virgo

ACCRINGTON C. Lancashire 53°N46’ 02°W21’ CI 15 Feb 1878

AS 05°46’ Scorpio Sun 26°13’ Aquarius Moon 21°53’ Capricorn

ALDEBURGH* C. Suffolk 52°N09’ 01°E35’ CI – – 1547

ALDERSHOT C. Hampshire 51°N15’ 00°W47’ CI 23 Mar 1922

AS 02° 49’ Sagittarius Sun 01° 35’ Aries Moon 01° 21’ Aquarius

ALTRINCHAM C. Cheshire 53°N24’ 02°W21’ CI 07 Jul 1937

AS 22° 32’ Pisces Sun 24° 14’ Cancer Moon 27° 35’ Gemini

ANDOVER* C. Hampshire 51°N13’ 01°W28’ BF 18 Feb 1200/1

AS 15° 29’ Scorpio Sun 06° 30’ Pisces Moon 07° 09’ Leo

APPLEBY-IN- C. Cumbria WESTMORLAND 54°N36’ 02°W29’ BF – – 1179; I 01 Apr 1974

AS 24° 50’ Scorpio Sun 10° 50’ Aries Moon 22° 29’ Cancer

ARUNDEL* C. West Sussex 50°N51’ 00°W34’ BF 1 January 1836

AS 06° 53’ Libra Sun 09° 40’ Capricorn Moon 06° 32’ Gemini

ASHTON- C. Lancashire UNDER-LYNE* 53°N29’ 02°W06’ CI 29 Sept 1847

AS 03° 17’ Leo Sun 05° 13’ Pisces Moon 06° 09’ Leo

AYLESBURY* C. Buckinghamshire (County Town) 51°N50’ 00°W50’ CI 14 Nov 1916

AS 03° 20’ Scorpio Sun 21° 17’ Scorpio Moon 08° 52’ Cancer

CHART DRAWINGS FOR NOTABLE PLACES

NOTES A

ABINGDON-ON-THAMES - Previously the county town of Berkshire, under a royal charter issued on the 24th of November 1556, Abingdon became part of Oxfordshire as a result of the boundary changes initiated by the Local Government Act (1972) which came into force on 1 April 1974. At this time, it became the seat of the new Vale of White Horse District Council, and was demoted to a civil parish with its own town council. The town was formerly renamed ‘Abingdon-on-Thames’ on 23 February 2012.1

ALDEBURGH - The first true charter was granted in 1547 and is referred to in an inspeximus charter dated 22 Nov 1554. (HW)

APPLEBY-IN-WESTMORLAND - Formerly the county town of dissolved in 1974 as a result of boundary changes initiated by the Local Government Act (1972). From medieval times, Appleby served as the head of a municipal borough, formed in 1179 when the county was divided into two baronies. It was at this time that the town’s first charter was created. A plaque with a copy of this charter is now displayed at Moot Hall, the seat of the first council, to commemorate the event. In 1889, Appleby was incorporated into Westmorland County Council, formed under the Local Government Act (1888), which was based in Kendal. In 1974 when the county of Westmorland was dissolved, Appleby was incorporated into the new county of Cumbria and its name changed to Appleby-in-Westmorland in a bid to acknowledge its historic roots.2

ARUNDEL - A prescriptive borough, designated as such in the 1086 version of the Domesday Book.3 A charter dated 22 June 1586, which was an exemplification, confirms this fact. However, it is unclear whether Arundel was completely self- governing and free from the lord of the manor until the 19th century, and it is only in the mid-13th century that the first mention of a mayor occurs, although this council may never have been formally incorporated in the traditional sense.4 Later in 1835 under the Municipal Corporations Act, the borough was reformed as part of government efforts to rid local councils and ‘rotten’ parliamentary boroughs of voting irregularities and corruption. Changes resulting from this act took effect on 1 January 1836. In 1974, when Sussex was divided into two counties - East and West Sussex5 - Arundel became a civil parish within the district of Arun but retained its own town council, which is still the case today.6

BARNSTAPLE - It has been claimed but not proved that Athelstan granted a charter in 925. According to HW, the town has many inspeximus charters. 7

BARROW - Part of the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, which was formerly a part of Lancashire until the boundary changes of 1974. Since then, Barrow has administratively fallen within the sphere of Cumbria, although it still remains part of the Duchy of Lancaster. Barrow, together with Walney Island, is unparished, making up the bulk of the borough's complete area. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Barrow, who are elected annually, currently hold the titles of Chairman and Vice Chairman of Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council.8

BATH - Richard I granted a charter on 7 Dec 1189. The 1590 charter converted the mayor and citizens into a corporate body. With regards to county, Bath was originally part of the ceremonial county of Somerset but was made a county borough in 1889 , giving it administrative independence from Somerset. However, in 1974, it became part of the county of Avon until the latter was abolished under the Avon

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Lisa Mendes trained as a journalist at Rhodes University before forging a successful career as a television researcher in South Africa, where she worked on several high profile current affairs and news-based programmes for SABC, as well as an award- winning documentary on the history of the South African education system. Her career took a more print-orientated path when she moved to the UK in 2001. After working as a media librarian for a large newspaper group, she went back to study for an MA in the Cultural Study of Cosmology and Divination at the University of Kent, graduating cum laude in 2009. Since then, she has had the opportunity of expanding her research, copywriting and editing skills through a number of publishing-related roles, particularly in the field of health and wellbeing. Astrology has always been her private passion, though, and in recent years, she has had the privilege of editing a number of astrology-related publications, including this one. An FAS certificate holder, she currently works as a freelance writer and editor.

For more information, visit www.lisamendes.co.uk