Market, Thursday.—Fairs, Thursday after Jan. 18, for cattle, horses, and sheep: first Thursday in Lent; second Thursday before Easter, cattle and sheep; Ascension Day; Thursday and Friday in Trinity week; August 13, horses, cows, and sheep; Thursday after Old Michaelmas, hogs and cheese; October 30; and second Thursday before Christmas. Cheese, hops, and cattle.—Mailarrives 4.15 morning; departs 10.34 night.—Bankers, (Old Bank) Cobb and Co., draw on Jones, Lloyd, and Co.; Gibbons and Co., draw on Robarts and Co.; Gillett and Co., draw on Esdaile and Co.—Inns, Red Lion, and White Lion.
Market, Thursday.—Fairs, Thursday after Jan. 18, for cattle, horses, and sheep: first Thursday in Lent; second Thursday before Easter, cattle and sheep; Ascension Day; Thursday and Friday in Trinity week; August 13, horses, cows, and sheep; Thursday after Old Michaelmas, hogs and cheese; October 30; and second Thursday before Christmas. Cheese, hops, and cattle.—Mailarrives 4.15 morning; departs 10.34 night.—Bankers, (Old Bank) Cobb and Co., draw on Jones, Lloyd, and Co.; Gibbons and Co., draw on Robarts and Co.; Gillett and Co., draw on Esdaile and Co.—Inns, Red Lion, and White Lion.
[A] BANGOR, which signifies the beautiful choir, is a Bishop's See; compared to its former size, it is now but an inconsiderable place. It is seated at the mouth of the Menai, near its opening to the Lavan sands, in a narrow valley, between two low ridges of slate rock, opening to the south, towards the majestic mountain, Snowdon, which rises 3571 feet above the level of the sea. Mr. Warner, the intelligent Welsh tourist, and his companion, spoke in raptures of this place. The beauty, repose, and retirement of the whole pleased them wonderfully. The latter observed, "If he were Bishop of Bangor, the only translation he would covet would be, thence to heaven." The former agreed with him, that "Were fate to throw him also into such a spot, very few attractions would have sufficient force to elicit him from it." They had "Never seen a place which united so many beauties in so narrow a circle." From this city the new road finds its way through a low pass in the adjacent ridge, and descends gently along the face of the sloping bank to the great bridge: this road is very smooth and well protected, and worthy of theThe suspension bridge.magnificent scenery by which it is surrounded. Menai suspension bridge is distant about two miles and a half from Bangor. This noble bridge is substituted for the inconvenient ferry; it is 100 feet above the level of high water, even at spring tides. The cathedral is a low plain building, dedicated to St. Deiniol, to whom it owed its origin about the year 525, and he was elected the first bishop in 550. He was the son of Dinothus, Abbot of Bangor-iscoed, and reared under the auspices of a Welsh prince, patron of the bard Talliesin, and perhaps the most liberal prince of his time. In 1402 it was burnt down, during the rebellion of Owen Glendower; and what is rather singular, it was suffered to remain in ruins during the space of 90 years, when the choir was rebuilt by the Bishop in the reign of Henry VII. But that cruel ravager of ecclesiastical property, BishopCathedral.Bulkeley, not only alienated the lands belonging to the cathedral, but even had the audacity to sell the bells of the church. The choir is fitted up in a style of neat and simple elegance, and ornamented with an excellent organ, the gift of Dr. Thomas Lloyd, in 1779. The chapter consists of a dean, three archdeacons, two precentors, two vicars choral, six minor canons, six lay clerks, and eight choristers, with an income of £2,000. per annum. The windows of the cathedral were formerly very handsomely ornamented with stained glass, but in the civil wars of Charles I. the soldiers destroyed these, amongst other things. The most conspicuous monument in this building is that erected to the memory of Owen Gwynedd, one of the ancient princes of Wales. Here are several Dissenting meeting-houses, and the town is the resort of many visitors during the summer season; upwards of 50,000 annually are said to remain for longer or shorter periods. Steam-packets ply between this place and Liverpool.
Market, Friday.—Fairs, April 5; June 25; September 16; and October 28.—Mailarrives at Menai Bridge 4.15 morning; departs 8.32 afternoon.
Market, Friday.—Fairs, April 5; June 25; September 16; and October 28.—Mailarrives at Menai Bridge 4.15 morning; departs 8.32 afternoon.
[A] BANGOR ISCOED is situated on the banks of the river Dee, which here passes under a bridge of five arches. This place, at present very inconsiderable, is famed on account of having been the site of the most ancient monastery in the kingdom, founded by Lucius, the son of Coel, the first Christian King of Britain, sometime previous to the year 180. This abbeyThe first abbey established in Britain.was remarkable for its valuable library, and the number of learned men trained within its venerable walls. Gildas Ninnius, who lived in the 7th century, was one of its abbots. He wrote in Latin an incorrect history of England, which is still extant. According to Speed, this monastery, in the year 596, contained no less than 2,400 monks, 100 of which passed in their turns one hour of devotion; there are no remains of the monastery existing.
[B] BANSTEAD is celebrated for the excellent herbage which the neighbouring downs afford the sheep, which are highly prized for the delicate flavour of the mutton. There are many elegant seats in the vicinity, amongst which are Banstead House, Miss Motteux; Cold Blow Cottage, General Sir Edward Howorth; and the Oaks, the seat of the Earl ofSeat of the Earl of Derby.Derby. This celebrated villa was erected by a society of gentlemen, called the "Hunter's Club," and the present noble proprietor can accommodate his guests with more than 50 bed chambers; and a pack of hounds are kept on the establishment, which has been long noted for its hospitality. On the 26th of February, 1834, Mr. John Richardson, a farmer, returning from Epsom to Banstead, was robbed and murdered on these downs.
[C] BANWELL is an agreeable village, situated under the northern declivity of the Mendip hills, and is supposed to derive its name from a spring strongly impregnated with mineral properties, which expands into a fine sheet of water, and after turning two mills, empties itself into the channel near the ruins of Woodspring Priory. The church, which is a fine specimen of the florid gothic of the Tudor age, contains a richly carved screen and rood loft, a beautiful sculptured stone pulpit, and several windows of the richest stained glass. This manor has beenFormerly a Bishop's Palace.in the possession of the Bishops of Bath and Wells, from the reign of Edward the Confessor, with little exception, till the present time. They had for many centuries a palace here, but nothing of it remains except a private residence called Banwell Court, still interesting for its antiquity. The park has been divided into enclosures, which afford at every point a most pleasing variety of landscapes. The Bishop of Bath and Wells has also a cottage ornee, for the accommodation of his family and of the numerous visitors which are driven hither to view the two singular caverns which have been discovered of late years in this neighbourhood. The monastery of Banwell was founded by the early Saxon monarchs. Asserius, or Asser, the scholar and biographer of King Alfred, was made Abbot by that monarch. This Abbey was destroyed by the Danes; it was afterwards restored, but never recovered its pristine importance; for instead of arriving at the point of prosperity usual in Royal foundations, it sunk into obscurity long prior to the dissolution of religious houses. Banwell is remarkable for two extraordinary caverns discovered in theExtraordinary caverns.year 1824, which occasioned no inconsiderable number of the curious to resort to the village. They were first discovered by some workmen digging a shaft in search of Calamine, which intersected a steep narrow fissure; after they had descended about 80 feet it opened into a spacious cavern, 150 feet long and 30 broad, and about 30 feet high. This is called the stalactite cavern, from the beautiful specimens of crystalized stalactite, which lay covering huge fragments of rock about the floor. In this place were found two pieces of candle, encrusted with lime, supposed to have been left by the miners after working for ochre, calamine, &c. A rich vein of iron ore, with some cobalt and manganese, was also discovered, the working of which has long since commenced, and the produce is conveyed to the smelting works on the southern coast of Wales. The workmen, in order to facilitate an easier method of entrance, opened another fissure lower in the rock, when suddenly another cavern presented itself, the floor of which was covered with a mass of sand, limestone, teeth, bones, &c. Professor Buckland, who surveyed this place, states, that a shaft being driven into this mass, proved it to have been nearly 40 feet deep. The bones consisted of various specimens of the ox tribe, includingAntediluvian bones.the elk. Skeletons of the wolf, and a gigantic bear, in point of preservation, like what are to be found in ordinary churchyards—supposed to be of antediluvian origin, where found here. In the roof of the cave is a large chimney-like shaft, formerly rising to the surface, but now blocked up by fragments of limestone, mud, and sand, adhering together by incrustation, and through which dreadful pitfall, it is presumed, this immense number of beasts were precipitated at the great inundation. The rubbish has been partially cleared, and the bones are used to decorate the sides of the walls. A British earthwork crowns the summit of the neighbouring eminence, enclosing, within its irregular rampart, an area of about 20 acres; and, about a quarter of a mile further, is an entrenchment nearly square, the ground in the centre of which is elevated in the form of a cross.
Fairs, Jan. 18, and July 18, for cattle, sheep, and cheese.
Fairs, Jan. 18, and July 18, for cattle, sheep, and cheese.
[A] BARDFIELD, (Great.)Market, formerly Tuesday (now disused.)—Fair, June 22, for cattle and toys.
[A] BARDFIELD, (Great.)Market, formerly Tuesday (now disused.)—Fair, June 22, for cattle and toys.
[B] BARDNEY, anciently Beardanam, is situated in a marsh on the north bank of the river Witham. An abbey was founded in the time of the Saxons, prior to the year 641. Here Ethelred, divesting himself of the splendour of royalty, retired to devote his days to religion, and became superior of the monastery. King Oswald is said to have been buried here, but the bodyKing Oswald buried here.was afterwards removed to the church of Gloucester. The hand was retained by the monks as a relique, to which they ascribed the power of working miracles, and for a long period imposed upon the credulity of superstitious pilgrims. In the year 870 the monastery was burned by the Danes, but was afterwards rebuilt by Gilbert De Gaunt, Earl of Lincoln, who annexed to it several extensive estates. At the dissolution its annual revenues were estimated at £429. 7s.
[A] BARDSEY ISLE, is near the south-east point of the promontory of Llyn, in Caernarvonshire: it is of a moderate elevation; in length two miles, and in breadth one. The third part of its contents of 370 acres, occupied by a high mountain, affords sustenance to a few sheep and rabbits. It is about a league distant from the main land, and only accessible to the mariner on its south-east side, where there is a small well-shelteredNo reptiles on this island.harbour. There is no reptile ever seen on this island, except the common water-lizard. The soil is clayey, but produces excellent barley and wheat. The inhabitants are employed in cultivating the land, and in fishing. The abbot's house is a large stone building, occupied by several families, and near it is a singular chapel, or oratory, being a long arched edifice, with a insolated stone altar near the east end. Dubricius, archbishop of Caerleon, almost worn out with age, resigned his see to St. David, retired here, and died in 522. He was interred upon the spot, but such was the veneration paid to his memory in after ages, that about the year 1107, his remains were removed, by the procurement of Urban, then Bishop of Llandaff, and re-interred in the cathedral of that see, of which he had been the first bishop. St. Dubricius was a man of singular eminenceSt. Dubricius.for learning and piety. He was Archbishop of Caerleon, and Metropolitan of all Wales, in the time of Aurelius Ambrosius; and prior to this elevation, he taught a school on the banks of his native river, which was much resorted to from all Christian countries.
[B] BARDSEY, comprises the township of Bardsey, with Rigton and Wathersome. Near the church is a mound called Castle Hill, supposed to have been the site of a Roman fortress. At Bardsey Grange, in this parish, resided occasionally, and died, Francis Thorpe, the tyrannical Baron of the Exchequer; but the same house is rendered memorable as the birth place of the poet Congreve, in 1670. This clever and celebratedBirth-place of Congreve, the poet.poet, was baptised in the church of this village in the month of February of the same year. When an infant he was carried to Kilkenny, by his father, who had the command of the army there. He received his education in the school of Kilkenny, and from these circumstances it is probable that persons had fallen into the erroneous impression that Congreve was a native of Ireland. In 1685 he was admitted into the university of Dublin. In 1691 he became a member of the society of the Middle Temple, but soon relinquished the dry study of the Law. At the age of twenty-one, he published his novel called "Incognita,"His works.or, "Love and Duty Reconciled." Soon afterwards, he brought out the Comedy, called "The Old Bachelor," of which Dryden says, "he never saw such a first play in his life;" it was performed in 1793, with the most unbounded applause. Lord Falkland wrote the prologue. The singular success and merits of this production, recommended him to the patronage and notice of the Earl of Halifax, who settled him in an office of six hundred a year, and during his life patronised him in every way he could. His next piece was "The Double Dealer." On the death of Queen Mary, in 1693, he wrote a Pastoral on the occasion, entitled "The Mourning Muse of Alexis," upon the appearance of which King William, her husband, granted him an annuity of £100. per annum. In 1695, he produced his Comedy, called "Love for Love;" and in 1697, the beautiful Tragedy of "The Mourning Bride." Having lived a high and honorableDied in Surrey-st., London.life amongst the most celebrated wits and classical men of the age, he died at his house in Surrey-street, in the Strand, January 19, 1729. On the 26th his corpse lay in state in the Jerusalem Chamber, at Westminster, and the same evening was carried into Henry the Seventh's Chapel, and afterwards buried in the Abbey. His pall was supported by the Duke of Bridgewater, Earl Godolphin, Lord Cobham, Lord Wilmington, Hon. George Berkeley, Esq., and Brigadier-General Churchill. Dr. Johnson says, "He has merit of the highest kind; he is an original writer, who borrowed neither the models of his plot, nor the manner of his dialogue." And Voltaire remarks, "That he raised the glory of comedy to a greater height than any English writer before or since his time."
[A] BARFORD, (Great). At this place is a piece of land, called White Bread Close, left, as is generally believed, by one of the Shepherd family, formerly residents of considerable opulence in the parish, for the purpose of purchasing loaves of white bread, to be thrown among the populace fromCurious custom.the church porch. This whimsical custom at last became such a scene of scrambling, fighting, and disorder, that it was prohibited by the curate, and the money applied towards the purchase of coals for the poor, at Christmas. The boys, and even men, seemed to have participated in this sport, the same as at a game at foot-ball, or other play; and an old gentleman in the adjoining village fully remembers taking an active part in the scramble, and bearing off the wheaten loaf in triumph.
[B] BARFORD, (Little), is situated in the hundred of Biggleswade, and is chiefly celebrated as the birth-place of Rowe, the dramatic poet, who was born here in the year 1673. His father having designed him for the studyRowe, the Dramatist.of the law, took him from school at the age of sixteen, and entered him a student in the Middle Temple. He made considerable progress, and was called to the bar, but Homer and Virgil had more charms for him than either Coke or Littleton. He was strongly solicited by his friends to practice, but nothing could overcome his affection for the muses; and his play, the "Ambitious Step-mother," having been received with great applause, he resolved to make poetry his profession. He had imbibed in his youth the most noble sentiments of liberty, of which he gave a specimen in his Tragedy of "Tamerlane." This was the second play that he wrote, and until of late years it was usual to perform it on the 4th and 5th of November, in commemoration of the gunpowder treason, and the landing of King William. Mr. Rowe being out of all employment, went one day to wait on the Earl of Oxford, Lord High Treasurer of England, when, among other things his Lordship asked him, whether he understood Spanish. He replied in the negative, and his Lordship said he would advise him to learn it as soon as possible. Rowe took his leave, applied himself to the study of that language, and expecting some lucrative employment, again waited upon him. How great was his disappointment, when his Lordship, on being informed of his acquisition, merely exclaimed,Anecdote."How happy are you, Mr. Rowe, that you can now enjoy the pleasure of reading "Don Quixote" in the original!" His death took place on the 6th of December, 1718, in the 45th year of his age, and he was buried with great funeral pomp, in Westminster Abbey, where a handsome monument is erected to his memory.
[A] BARKING, in the hundred of Beacontree. The name is derived, accordingOrigin of its name.to some writers, from the Saxon words Beorce—a birch tree, and Ing—a meadow; but the most natural presumption is, that it takes its name from Berging, signifying a fortification in a meadow, and which seems to be borne out, as there is an encampment still to be traced, of the most extensive dimensions, being more than forty-eight acres in the area; near to which is a spring of fine water, which no doubt supplied the inmates. In 870, Barking was burnt by the Danes, and the abbey destroyed, andBurnt by the Danes.the nuns either murdered or dispersed. Soon after the conquest, King William retired to this place, while the Tower of London was being erected, not deeming it safe to continue in that city; and here he was visited during the preparation for his coronation, by Earl Edwin, of Mercia; Morcar, Earl of Northumberland; and many others of the nobility, who swore fealty to him, on the restoration of their estates. It is situated on the river Roding, which branches off in two different streams, and unites with the Thames about two miles distant. Barking Creek is navigable for ships of 80 tons burden, and the coal and timber, together with the fishing trade, is carried on to a considerable extent. About a hundred fishing smacks sail from this town. Near the creek is a large flour mill, formerly belonging to the abbey; and in the vicinity of the town are extensive potatoe grounds for the supply of the London market. Barking is rather a dull town, from the want of a main thoroughfare; it has the appearance of antiquity stamped upon it, particularly the market-house, which is an extensive and ancient building of timber and plaster, of the age of Elizabeth. Here is a town-hall and work-house. A free quay for landing goods, subject to a table of regulations, and a spacious new road from the Commercial-road, through Eastham and Wallend to Barking. The church is dedicated to St. Margaret, and is a spacious ancient structure, with a lofty embattled tower at the west end, having a beacon turret at one corner. A free-school, which now occupies part of the work-house, was founded by Sir James Campbell, in 1641, who bequeathed a sum of £666. 13s. 4d. for that purpose. John Fowke, Esq., bequeathed certain lands for the maintenance of eight boys in Christ's Hospital, two of whom are chosen from this parish. The importance formerlyOnce a town of importance.attached to the town of Barking was almost entirely to be attributed to the magnificent abbey that was established here in the year 670, by Erkenwald, Bishop of London, for nuns of the Benedictine order: it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This abbey was governed by a succession of Abbesses, of noble, and even royal descent After the destruction of the establishment by the Danes, in the year 870, it was again rebuilt in a style of greater splendour than before, and on the death of King Edgar, in 970, his queen became Abbess. From the earliest period to the time of its dissolution, it may be said to have been a seminary for the principal gentry of England. Its revenues amounted, at the suppression of the religious houses, to £1084. 6s. 2-3/4d. Destruction has done its worst to this beautiful abbey, for at present little or nothing remains but the gateway, an interesting object, and in good preservation; over which is a room, called the Chapel of the Holy Ghost. This gateway was denominated the fire-bell gate, from its having anciently contained the curfew; it is a square embattled structure, with an octagonal turret at one of the angles. The arch of the entrance is finely pointed, and enriched with deeply receding mouldings; above is a canopied niche, under a fine gothic window of three lights. Among the ruins of the abbey were discovered a fibula, and a gold ring, on which were engraved, the Salutation of the Virgin Mary, and the initials I.M. The tyranny exercised over the tenants of this manor by the fraternity, would almost create a feeling of surprise in our present liberal and enlightened age, were they not perfectly well known in a thousand other instances. The manor of Clayhall was held under the Abbess and convent of Barking, by the following services: viz. that every tenant should come in person to the Abbey Church, on the vigil of St. Ethelburg the Virgin, and there attend and guard the high altar, from the first hours of Vespers till nine the next morning; and that he should be ready at all times, with a horse and a man, to attend the Abbess and her steward, when going upon the business of the convent,Singular services by which the manor of Clayhall was held.any where within the four seas. And, lastly, that the Abbess should have by way of herriot, upon the death of every tenant, his best horse and accoutrements: these services, however, did not exempt them from the quit rents. Besides the above tenure, there were other vexatious contingencies; viz. one (Robert Gerard) was among other services, to gather a full measure of nuts, called a pybot, four of which should make a bushel; to go a long journey on foot once a year to Colchester, Chelmsford, Ely, or the like distances, on the business of the convent, carrying a pack; and other shorter distances, such as Brentford, &c., and maintaining himself upon the road. He was to pay a fine upon the marriage of his daughter, if she married beyond the limits of the manor. If his daughter had an illegitimate child, he was to make the best terms he could with the Abbess, for the fine called Kyldwyte. It appears also, that he could not even sell his ox fed by himself, without the Abbess's permission. Some of the tenants, according to Blount, were obliged to watch and guard thieves in the Abbess's prison. A few miles distant, in a glade in Hainhault Forest, formerly stood an oak, famed through many centuries, and known by theFairlop oak.name of Fairlop Oak. Its age is traced by the traditions of the country half way through the Christian era. Part of this noble tree has been converted into the pulpit of St. Pancras new church. Its rough fluted stem was 36 feet in circumference, and about a yard from the ground, divided into eleven immense arms; yet not in the horizontal manner of an oak, but rather that of a beech. Beneath its shade, which formerly overspread an area of three hundred feet in circuit, an annual fair was held on the 2nd of July, and no booth was suffered to be raised beyond the extent of its boughs. The fair is still continued on the same spot the first Friday in July.
Marketdisused.—Fair, October 22, for toys. It lies within the three-penny post delivery.
Marketdisused.—Fair, October 22, for toys. It lies within the three-penny post delivery.
[A] BARMING. Of this village the learned antiquarian, Mark Noble, was rector. His principal works were a history of the College of Arms, aMark Noble.Genealogical History of the Royal Families of Europe, Memoirs of the Protectorate House of Cromwell; and, also, of the illustrious house of Medici. On St. Thomas's Day there is an annual solicitation for charity, and with the money raised loaves of bread are purchased, and distributed to the resident poor. Great quantities of hops, cherries, and filberts, are grown in this parish.
[B] BARMOUTH, near the conflux of the river Maw, or Mawddach, is a village singularly situated; the houses are disposed, either among the sand, in a low situation, or at different heights on the side of a hugeA very curiously built town.rock, like a part of the city of Edinburgh, and are said to resemble the town of Gibraltar. These houses form eight tiers, to which there is no approach, but by steps cut in the rock. The floors of one row are about level with the tops of the chimnies immediately in front; so that a person standing at his door may look down the chimnies of the neighbourhood below. The first range regales the second with its smoke, the second the third, &c. till we arrive at the uppermost, which, in a westerly wind, takes the mixed perfume of all. Barmouth is the port of Merionethshire, not far from which the river Mawddach has its commencement. "Proceeding along the banks of this river towards Dolgelly," says Mr. Bingley, "when it was high water, the whole bed of the river being filled, made the different landscapes in the scene appear truly picturesque. The first two miles which lay along, what the inhabitants of Barmouth call, the Beach, formed the most interesting part of the journey. In the composition of the views, scarcely any thing appeared wanting; there was every requisite of mountain and vale, wood, water, meadows, and rocks, arranged in beautiful order. Beyond the beach, the road winds at a little distance from the river, among the low mountains; and from different stations, I had views of the most elegant and picturesque landscapes, the river partly hidden by intervening mountains. This stream is much diminished in width and depth: at present it will not admit so much as a pleasure-boat to reach Dolgelly, which obliges company to walk three-quarters of a mile to the town."
[C] BARNARD CASTLE. The castle from which the town appears to have derived its name, was founded by Barnard, son of Guy Baliol, whoGuy Baliol.accompanied William the Conqueror to England, and to whom William Rufus granted the noble forests of Teesdale and Marwood. Edward the First, determined to mortify the Bishop of Durham and to abridge his power; he, therefore, gave this castle to Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in whose family it continued for five generations. It afterwards came to the crown, and the tyrant Richard III. who took very great delight in this place, contributed much to its beauty by the most tasteful embellishments; his armorial bearings still appear, not only on the castle but over many parts of the town, and it has been a crown domain ever since. Hutchinson in his history of the county of Durham, describes the remains of the castle as covering about six acres and three quarters of ground. The parts which were of chief strength, stand on the very brink of a steep rock, about eighty feet above the level of the river Tees, commanding a most beautiful prospect up the river. The area on the side of the market-place, appears not to have had any communication with the chief strongholds and bulwarks of the fortress, and is separated from the interior buildings by a deep fosse which surrounds the rest of the castle. In an adjoining ground called the Flatts, is a large reservoir cut in swampy ground; water was collected and conveyed to the castle in pipes, to supply the garrison and cattle enclosed within the walls of the outer areas in times of public danger. This area is now a pasture for sheep, and other parts enclosed by the walls have been converted into orchards.