Menwith - Merryn, St.

A Topographical Dictionary of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848.

This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved.

Citation:

'Menwith - Merryn, St.', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, ed. Samuel Lewis( London, 1848), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp291-295 [accessed 22 December 2024].

'Menwith - Merryn, St.', in A Topographical Dictionary of England. Edited by Samuel Lewis( London, 1848), British History Online, accessed December 22, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp291-295.

"Menwith - Merryn, St.". A Topographical Dictionary of England. Ed. Samuel Lewis(London, 1848), , British History Online. Web. 22 December 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp291-295.

In this section

Menwith, with Darley

MENWITH, with Darley, a township, in the parish of Hampsthwaite, union of Pateley-Bridge, Lower division of the wapentake of Claro, W. riding of York, 11½ miles (W. by N.) from Knaresborough; containing 725 inhabitants. It comprises about 2730 acres, forming a district of scattered houses southward of the river Nidd. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and the Society of Friends. In 1748, William Day gave land for education, now producing £36 per annum.

Meole, Brace, Salop.—See Brace-Meole.

MEOLE, BRACE, Salop.—See Brace-Meole.

Meols, North (St. Cuthbert)

MEOLS, NORTH (St. Cuthbert), a parish, in the union of Ormskirk, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 9½ miles (N. N. W.) from Ormskirk; containing, with the township of Birkdale, 8348 inhabitants, of whom 7791 are in North Meols township. At the time of the Domesday survey, three thanes held this place in three manors. The district now called North Meols afterwards fell to the barons of Penwortham; and in the reign of Richard I., Hugh Bussell assigned to Richard Fitz-Hutred the whole of "Normoles" with its appurtenances, which grant was confirmed by John, Earl of Morton, afterwards king, in whose reign the place gave name to the proprietor, Robert de Meolis. The ancient Feodary of the duchy of Lancaster states, that Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, held the manor of "Northmeales" in right of Alicia his wife: the Aghtons, Bolds, Heskeths, and Hoghtons became subsequently proprietors here. The parish lies at the mouth of the Ribble, and is bounded on the north and west by that river and the Irish Sea. It comprises 10,797 acres, of which about 2376 are sandhills or waste; the remainder of the land varies much in quality, consisting of reclaimed peat-moss, light sand, and good loam or strong soil, chiefly arable, the potato being much cultivated: the surface is level. The workingclasses are mainly employed in agriculture, in fishing, and in hand-loom weaving. A court baron is held twice a year; a court leet appertains to Birkdale, and a fair is held in the parish on the Monday and Tuesday nearest the 20th of August, for cattle, pigs, &c. The township of North Meols contains the modern and rising bathing-place of Southport, and the villages or hamlets of Churchtown, Marshside, Crossens, Banks, and others. Meols Hall, now a farmhouse, the property of the Rev. Charles Hesketh, was the ancient seat of the Heskeths, afterwards of Rossall; and Bold House, several centuries ago, was the occasional seat of the family whose name it bears: both these mansions display marks of their former consequence.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 3. 4.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. Charles Hesketh: the tithes of North Meols township have been commuted for £800, and the tithes of Birkdale for £87. 10.; the glebe comprises 16 acres, with a good rectory-house. The church, which stands in Churchtown, is a small edifice consisting of a body, chancel, north transept, and tower; the interior is plain, and is lighted by five windows, of which three are on the south, and the others, of semicircular shape, in the chancel. There are three additional churches within the parish; two at Southport, and one at Crossens. The Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists have places of worship at Churchtown. An ancient grammar school, endowed with £370, is now consolidated with a national school, erected in 1827.—See Birkdale, Crossens, and Southport.

Meolse, Great

MEOLSE, GREAT, a township, in the parish of West Kirby, union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Wirrall, S. division of the county of Chester; containing 172 inhabitants. This place was granted to Robert de Rodelent, and was held by him at the Domesday survey. A family which settled here at a subsequent period assumed the local name, and continued to hold the manor as capital lords until nearly the close of the 17th century: it then passed by the bequest of Anne, their last heiress, to Charles Hough, a minor; and afterwards, through his issue, to Mr. John Ramsbottom, of Liverpool. The Stanleys of Alderley, and the Stanleys of Hooton, are now sole owners of the township. It comprises 750 acres. A part of it, which fronts the Irish Sea for upwards of two miles, consists of a narrow slip of sandhills, protected in some instances by embankments from the inundations of the sea: as it approaches Hoose, the slip widens, and becomes connected with that township.—See Hoose.

Meolse, Little

MEOLSE, LITTLE, a township, in the parish of West Kirby, union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Wirrall, S. division of the county of Chester, 9 miles (W.) from Birkenhead; containing 134 inhabitants. This township, like the preceding, was held by Robert de Rodelent; and after him, the Grosvenors and the Meolses became the capital lords of the soil. The mesne manor was held by the Lancelyns, of Poulton, and passed with their other manors and estates to Randal Greene in right of his wife Elizabeth, sole heiress of the Lancelyns. Little Meolse was afterwards sold to the Stanleys of Weaver; and is now, like Great Meolse, the property of the Stanleys of Alderley, and the Stanleys of Hooton. The township comprises 550 acres. The greater part was a waste, until Lord Stanley of Alderley granted a building-lease for a term of eighty years, which has led to the erection of several pleasing villas. These, for summer residences and the convenience of excellent sea-bathing, notwithstanding the apparent want of attraction from their being seated amid sandhills on the desolate extremity of a mere promontory, are in great request, and a considerable increase may be anticipated in their number. In this township and Hoose is Hoylake, where his lordship's father erected, on the margin of the sea, one of the most spacious hotels in the county, now much frequented during the bathing season. A little to the north is a smaller hotel. A commodious church, also, has been erected by the lady of Mr. Swainson, which affords great accommodation to the inhabitants and the numerous visiters attracted hither, who before had no place of worship nearer than the parish church; it is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and is a neat edifice in the Norman style, from designs by Mr. Picton, of Liverpool. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Bishop of Chester, with an income of £100. In 1690, the Duke of Schomberg encamped with his army near Hoylake, previously to his embarkation for Ireland.

Meon, East (All Saints)

MEON, EAST (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Petersfield, partly in the hundred of Meon-Stoke, but chiefly in that of East Meon, Petersfield and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 4½ miles (W. by S.) from Petersfield; containing, with the tythings of Bordean, Coombe, Langrish, Oxenbourne, Peak, Ramsdean, Riplington, and Westbury, 1499 inhabitants, of whom 651 are in East Meon tything. The parish comprises 10,825a. 3r. 11p., of which 7306 acres are arable, 676 meadow and pasture, 1350 woodland, 1277 down, and the remainder common and waste: the scenery is beautifully diversified. An act for inclosing certain lands was passed in 1839. A pleasure-fair is held on the 19th of September. The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, with the livings of Froxfield and Steep annexed, in the patronage of the Bishop of Winchester (the appropriator of the remainder of the rectorial tithes), and valued in the king's books at £35. 1. 8.; net income, £903. The church is a handsome cruciform structure, with a Norman tower surmounted by a spire, and a highly-enriched western doorway; and contains a very ancient font, similar to that in Winchester cathedral, sculptured with symbolical figures representing the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, and their subsequent instruction in the arts of husbandry and spinning. There is a school with a small endowment.

Meon-Stoke (St. Mary)

MEON-STOKE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Droxford, hundred of Meon-Stoke, Droxford and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 4 miles (N. E. by E.) from Bishop's Waltham; containing 459 inhabitants. This place is supposed by Camden to derive its name from the ancient district of Meanwari, which, together with the Isle of Wight, was given to Ethelwald, King of the West Saxons, at his baptism, by Wulphere, King of the Mercians, who was his godfather. The parish comprises by measurement 2256 acres; 1329 are inclosed and cultivated, and the remainder open downs. The village, of which a considerable portion was destroyed by fire about the year 1740, is neatly built. The living is a rectory, with that of Soberton annexed, valued in the king's books at £46. 2. 11., and in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester: the tithes of the parish have been commuted for £280; there is a glebehouse, and the glebe comprises 28 acres. The church is in the decorated English style, and contains many interesting details; the east window is enriched with delicate tracery, in which is the rose of William of Wykeham, by whom this part of the building is said to have been erected. On the north-eastern boundary of the parish is a Roman camp called Old Winchester, within which a beautiful Roman lamp was discovered in 1834; and at the western entrance of the fortification are several barrows, which have been opened and found to contain calcined bones, fragments of Roman pottery, and other relics.

Meon, West (St. John the Evangelist)

MEON, WEST (St. John the Evangelist), a parish, in the union of Droxford, hundred of Fawley, Droxford and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 7½ miles (N. E.) from Bishop's-Waltham; containing, with the hamlet of Woodlands, 814 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, with that of Privett annexed, valued in the king's books at £30. 17. 11., and in the gift of the Bishop of Winchester: the tithes have been commuted for £729, and the glebe comprises 36 acres. The present church, consecrated in May, 1846, stands on an eminence at the entrance to the village; it was built chiefly at the cost of the late Archdeacon Bayley, and is in the style of the latter part of the 13th century. There is a place of worship for Independents.

Meopham (St. John the Baptist)

MEOPHAM (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of North Aylesford, hundred of ToltingTrough, lathe of Aylesford, W. division of Kent, 5½ miles (S.) from the town of Gravesend; containing 937 inhabitants. It comprises 4694a. 2r. 22p., of which 3026 acres are arable, 508 meadow and pasture, 877 woodland, and 147 hop plantations. The living is a vicarage, in the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury, valued in the king's books at £16. 3. 4.; net income, £435; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. The church, in the decorated English style, was built in 1396 by Archbishop Courtenay, who founded four almshouses near it.

Mepal (St. Mary)

MEPAL (St. Mary), a parish, in the hundred of South Witchford, union and Isle of Ely, county of Cambridge, 4 miles (S. E.) from Chatteris; containing 539 inhabitants. The parish comprises by admeasurement 1524 acres, principally in pasture; about 263 acres are common or waste land. The living is a rectory, with the vicarage of Sutton united, valued in the king's books at £3. 6. 8., and in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Ely, the appropriators of Sutton: the tithes of Mepal have been commuted for £270, and the glebe comprises 42 acres.

Meppershall (St. Mary)

MEPPERSHALL (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Biggleswade, hundred of Clifton, county of Bedford, 6 miles (S. W. by S.) from Biggleswade; containing 487 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 1900 acres. The platting of straw is carried on to some extent. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £22; net income, £500; patrons, the Master and Fellows of St. John's College, Cambridge: the glebe comprises 90 acres, with a house. The church, a neat structure in the early English style, has some Norman details, of which the north entrance is a handsome specimen. A school is endowed with £15 per annum. Attached to the principal farm, and now used as a barn, are the remains of an ancient chapel with an enriched Norman doorway, and some good windows of later date.

Mercaston

MERCASTON, a township, in the parish of Mugginton, hundred of Appletree, S. division of the county of Derby, 7½ miles (N. W.) from Derby; containing 138 inhabitants. The manor of "Merchenestune" was for many generations the property and seat of a younger branch of the Knivetons, of Bradley, who were seated here as early as the reign of Edward III. William Kniveton was one of the baronets created by James I. on the institution of the order in 1611. Sir Andrew, the third baronet, was a zealous royalist, and governor of Tutbury Castle for the king; he suffered much in his property, and was obliged to sell most of his estates. This manor was purchased by an ancestor of E. S. C. Pole, Esq. The township comprises 1100 acres of fertile land, whereof about one-third is arable. There are several good farmhouses, of which the ancient Hall, the seat of the Knivetons, is now one. At the Norman survey here was a church, but no remains of it exist. The poor are entitled to one-sixth part of German Pole's charity.

Mere

MERE, a township, in the parish of Rosthern, union of Altrincham, hundred of Bucklow, N. division of the county of Chester, 2½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Knutsford; containing 552 inhabitants. It comprises 1890 acres, of which the soil is half clay, half sand; the cultivation is with a view to dairy-farming: upwards of 100 acres are wood. T. L. Brooke, Esq., is owner of the township, and has his seat here. A school is supported by this gentleman.

Mere (St. Michael)

MERE (St. Michael), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Mere, Hindon and S. divisions of Wilts; containing, with the tythings of Chaddenwick, Woodlands, and Zeals, 3139 inhabitants, of whom 1719 are in the town of Mere, 21½ miles (W. by N.) from Salisbury, and 102 (W. S. W.) from London. The name of this place is derived from the Saxon word Mæra, signifying bounds or limits, and indicates its situation on the borders of the counties of Wilts, Somerset, and Dorset. In 1253, permission was given by Henry III. to Richard, Earl of Cornwall, to build and fortify a castle on his manor of Mere, and the manor has ever since been attached to the duchy of Cornwall. In the 9th of Henry IV., a grant was made to Henry, Prince of Wales, as Duke of Cornwall, of a market and two annual fairs. The town, which is on the road from Salisbury to Wincanton, is small, and the buildings are irregular; the inhabitants are well supplied with water. The principal branch of manufacture is that of English dowlas and bed-ticking; and there is a silk-throwing mill. The market is on Tuesday; and fairs are held for corn and cattle on May 17th and October 10th. The town anciently sent two members to parliament, but was disfranchised on the plea of poverty. Courts leet and baron are held in October, for the duchy of Cornwall, and constables and tythingmen are annually chosen for the town and hundred.

The parish is situated at the south-west extremity of the Downs, and comprises by computation 8000 acres; the soil is chalk, alternated with clay. The living is a vicarage, in the patronage of the Bishop of Salisbury, valued in the king's books at £28. 4. 2.; net income, £200. The church is a spacious and handsome structure, partly Norman, and partly in the early English style, with an embattled tower crowned by lofty pinnacles; on each side of the chancel is a sepulchral chapel, and in the belfry is a beautifully carved oak ceiling. At Zeals is a separate incumbency. There is a place of worship for Independents; also a Roman Catholic chapel at Bonham House. A school is partly supported by a bequest of £10 per annum. The union of Mere comprises 12 parishes or places, of which 7 are in Wilts, 3 in Somerset, and 2 in Dorset, with a population altogether of 8498. To the north-west of the town are vestiges of a Danish encampment, called "White-street camp," from the hill on which it is situated. Francis, Lord Cottington, a celebrated statesman in the reign of Charles I.; and the Rev. Francis Potter, an ingenious mechanist, born about 1594; were natives of the place.

Merevale (St. Mary)

MEREVALE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Atherstone, partly in the hundred of Sparkenhoe, S. division of the county of Leicester, and partly in the Atherstone division of the hundred of Hemlingford, N. division of the county of Warwick, 1½ mile (W. by S.) from Atherstone; containing 314 inhabitants, of whom 106 are in the Leicester portion. The river Anker bounds that part of the parish which is situated in Leicestershire; the part in the county of Warwick comprises about 870 acres. The surface is hilly, the soil a strong clay, and the scenery richly diversified: coal is obtained, and one mine is now in operation. The Roman Watling-street passes by the parish; and the Coventry canal runs in a north-eastern direction. The village, which is in Warwickshire, is small and scattered. The living is a peculiar with exempt jurisdiction, in the patronage of W. S. Dugdale, Esq. The church is partly in the decorated, and partly in the later English style. An abbey for Cistercian monks was founded by Robert, Earl of Ferrers and Nottingham, about 1148, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary; the remains consist of what is supposed to have been the refectory, and of part of the foundations of the buildings.

Mereworth (St. Lawrence)

MEREWORTH (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Malling, hundred of Littlefield, lathe of Aylesford, W. division of Kent, 7 miles (W. S. W.) from Maidstone; containing 862 inhabitants. This parish is bounded on the north by the Hurst woods, and comprises 2374 acres, of which 905 are in wood. The soil is generally a light hazel-coloured mould, resting on Kentish ragstone; the surface is boldly undulated, and there are some fine tracts of grazing-land. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £14. 2. 6., and in the patronage of the Baroness Le Despencer: the tithes have been commuted for £822. 10., and the glebe comprises 33 acres. The church, rebuilt by John, Earl of Westmorland, in 1744, is a very handsome edifice constructed of stone, with a fine Corinthian portico, and a lofty spire.

Meriden, or Mereden (St. Lawrence)

MERIDEN, or Mereden (St. Lawrence), a parish, and the head of a union, in the Solihull division of the hundred of Hemlingford, N. division of Warwick, 5½ miles (W. N. W.) from Coventry; containing 1071 inhabitants. This place, anciently Alspath, formed part of the possessions of the Countess Godiva in 1043, and in the 12th of Edward II. was the property of John de Segrave, who obtained for the inhabitants the grant of a weekly market and an annual fair. The parish comprises about 2782 acres, of which three-fourths are arable, 377 acres woodland, and the remainder meadow and pasture; the surface is pleasingly diversified with rising grounds, and hills of various elevation, commanding extensive and richly-varied prospects. The view from the churchyard, and from two houses to the north of it (both the property of James Kittermaster, Esq., M.D., and of which one is called Ryleye House), embraces an amphitheatre eight miles in circuit, sloping gradually towards the village, embellished with plantations interspersed with stately oaks and lofty elms, beech, pine, and poplar of luxuriant growth, and gradually expanding from the south-east to the north-west into a circuit of nearly 30 miles. In the middle distance are seen more than twenty towers and spires of churches, beyond which appear, in bold relief, Bromsgrove Lickey, Birmingham, Bar Beacon, and other objects; and in the extreme distance, the hills of Worcestershire, Staffordshire, and Shropshire. The soil of the lands is various, in some parts a rich deep sandy loam, in some a sandy gravel, and in others marl, clay, and gravel. On Meriden Hill is an extensive quarry of red sandstone, and near the village was once a quarry of fine hard white freestone, which is now filled up, though a large bed extending eastward is still unwrought.

Meriden Hall, the seat of Charles Digby, Esq., is a handsome mansion, built of white freestone, and beautifully situated in a richly-planted demesne, embellished with a fine sheet of water. The ancient hall of the Walshes, who were lords of the manor in 1400, and Alspath Hall, north-east of the church, are now occupied by farmers; and an ancient moated mansion, once a seat of the earls of Derby, is also a farmhouse. The village is situated on the road from Birmingham to Coventry, and contains several well-built houses, one of which, formerly the Bull's-head inn, a celebrated posting-house and hotel, is a spacious building of ancient date, originally the seat of Sir Clement Fisher, of Packington, and now the private residence of its proprietor, Charles Blakesley, Esq. On the green, at the western extremity of the village, is an old cross of red sandstone, the shaft of which and the steps forming the ascent to it, are in good preservation; and near it is the Swan inn, an ancient house built in 1506, which is now the principal inn.

The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 12.; net income, £268; patron and impropriator, the Earl of Aylesford. The tithes were commuted for corn-rents in 1785. The Hon. and Rev. Charles Finch, rector of Great and Little Packington, is vicar of Meriden, and the duties of the benefice are performed by a curate, who resides in the vicaragehouse, beautifully situated to the south of the church, and to which are attached 42 acres of glebe. The church, seated on an eminence south-east of the village, is an ancient structure, in the early and later English styles, with some Norman details, and an elegant embattled tower. The outer walls were taken down and rebuilt, and two galleries erected, in 1827, at an expense of £1898, of which £242 were raised by a rate, £150 were a grant from the Church Building Society, and the remainder was subscribed; the burial-ground, also, was enlarged. In the aisles are two ancient monuments, one of alabaster, and the other of red sandstone; the one to John Wyard, who founded a chantry in the church, in the reign of Henry IV., and the other supposed by Dugdale to be erected to the memory of the Walshes. A national school for boys, and another for girls, with a residence for the master and mistress in the centre, connecting them, was built at a cost of £522, raised by subscription, on a site given by the Earl of Aylesford, in 1843; they are supported by an endowment arising from canal shares bequeathed by the Digby family, and the interest of £500 by Henry Barnett, Esq., of Hollybury End. The poor-law union comprises 18 parishes or places, containing a population of 11,602. In the clay lands to the east of the church, specimens of fossil wood are met with; and in the gravel-pits at Hollybury End; are found bivalved shells, corallines, and enchrinites. On Meriden common are traces of an encampment formed during the Scottish rebellion, in 1745.

Mering

MERING, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Newark, N. division of the wapentake of Thurgarton, S. division of the county of Nottingham, 8 miles (N. by E.) from Newark; containing 5 inhabitants. It comprises 700 acres of low marshy grazing land, near the river Trent, and is situated between the parishes of Girton and Sutton: the occupier now contributes to the repairs of Sutton church.

Merkshall, or Mattishall-Heath (St. Edmund)

MERKSHALL, or Mattishall-Heath (St. Edmund), a parish, in the union of Henstead, hundred of Humbleyard, E. division of Norfolk, 3½ miles (S.) from Norwich; containing 24 inhabitants. It comprises 540 acres, of which 417 are arable, 87 meadow, and 12 woodland. The living is a sinecure rectory, united to the rectory of Caistor St. Edmund's; the church is in ruins. In opening a barrow, in 1821, opposite the site of the Roman camp at Caistor, the remains of two skeletons with the teeth perfect, and four Roman urns containing calcined bones, were found.

Merridge

MERRIDGE, a hamlet, in the parish of Spaxton, union of Bridgwater, hundred of Cannington, W. division of Somerset; containing 102 inhabitants.

Merrington (St. John the Evangelist)

MERRINGTON (St. John the Evangelist), a parish, in the unions of Auckland, Durham, and Sedgefield, S. E. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham; containing, with the chapelry of Ferry-Hill, and the townships of Chilton and Hett, 1704 inhabitants, of whom 431 are in the township of Merrington, 3¾ miles (E. by N.) from Bishop-Auckland. The soil is in general light and gravelly, resting upon limestone, but in some parts clay on hard blue whinstone; the surface is hilly, and the scenery much diversified. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14. 4. 9½., and in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Durham: the tithes of the vicar have been commuted for £376. The church is principally in the Norman style, and stands on elevated ground. There is a district church at Ferry-Hill. On the usurpation of the see of Durham by Comyn, about 1143, this place was seized by his nephew, who partly encompassed the church with a ditch and vallum, and occupied it with armed men.

Merrington

MERRINGTON, a township, in the parish of Preston-Gubbals, liberties of Shrewsbury, union of Atcham, N. division of Salop, 5¾ miles (N. by W.) from Shrewsbury; containing 188 inhabitants.

Merriott (All Saints)

MERRIOTT (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Chard, hundred of Crewkerne, W. division of Somerset, 2 miles (N.) from Crewkerne; containing 1467 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11. 11. 5½.; net income, £312; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. A gallery has been erected in the church.

Merrow (St. John the Evangelist)

MERROW (St. John the Evangelist), a parish, in the union of Guildford, Second division of the hundred of Wokeing, W. division of Surrey, 2 miles (E. N. E.) from Guildford; containing 252 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Leatherhead to Guildford, and comprises 1608 acres, of which 783 are arable, 335 pasture, 92 woodland and plantations, and the remainder common and waste. From many parts of the downs here, the prospects are exceedingly beautiful, particularly from the well-known spot called Newlands Corner, which commands a landscape of vast extent, richly cultivated, and adorned with mansions, parks, and villages. The Guildford race-course is in the parish. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 0. 2½., and in the gift of the Earl of Onslow: the tithes have been commuted for £250. The church exhibits strong characteristics of Norman architecture, both in the northern entrance, and in the nave: having been restored and enlarged, it was re-opened in April, 1843, and now presents a very neat appearance.

Merryn, St.

MERRYN, ST., a parish, in the union of St. Columb Major, hundred of Pyder, E. division of Cornwall, 2¼ miles (W. S. W.) from Padstow; containing 593 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the west and north by the Bristol Channel, and comprises 3608 acres, of which 1159 are common or waste land; the surface is strikingly varied, and the coast is lined with cliffs of singularly wild and rugged aspect. A small quay was constructed under the Catacleuse Cliff in 1794, by Henry Peter, Esq., for the accommodation of coasting-vessels, and the seine boats belonging to the pilchard-fishery. Lead-ore is found; there are also some quarries of inferior slate, which is used for roofing houses, and fine dark-coloured trap rock is obtained in the cliff Catacleuse. A fair is held on the Monday preceding the 22nd of June. The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, valued in the king's books at £15. 6. 8., and in the gift of the Bishop of Exeter: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £410, and the incumbent's for £250; the glebe comprises 36 acres. The church is an ancient structure, the pillars of which are of trapstone; the font is curiously carved with figures of the Apostles, and originally belonged to the ruined church of St. Constantine, an ancient village of which some remains still exist, near Harlyn. There are places of worship for Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists.