Peckforton - Pembury

Peckforton

PECKFORTON, a township, in the parish of Bunbury, union of Nantwich, First division of the hundred of Eddisbury, S. division of the county of Chester, 4½ miles (S. S. W.) from Tarporley; containing 309 inhabitants. It comprises 1741 acres, of which the soil is half clay, half sand. Horseley Bath, a mineral spring formerly in considerable esteem, is in the township.

Peckham

PECKHAM, a hamlet, in the parish and union of Camberwell, E. division of the hundred of Brixton and of the county of Surrey, 4 miles (S. E. by S.) from London; containing 12,563 inhabitants. This pleasant and populous village consists chiefly of one long continuous line of handsome buildings, extending eastward from the village of Camberwell nearly to Forest-Hill; on the north is the Kent-road, and East Dulwich is on the south. It is well lighted with gas, and includes numerous detached mansions and elegant villas inhabited by opulent families. The surrounding scenery is beautifully diversified, and enriched with thriving plantations and tastefully-disposed grounds attached to the principal houses; the hills in the immediate vicinity command extensive and varied prospects. A branch of the Surrey canal passes within a short distance; and a large silk-factory is established in the neighbourhood: a fair was formerly held on the Rye, a spacious green, but has for many years been suppressed.

In Hill-street is a proprietary episcopal chapel, in the later English style, with a low tower surmounted by a spire; the interior has been embellished by the insertion of stained glass in the windows. There is also an episcopal chapel on Rye Green, a neat structure with a campanile turret, erected for the use of his tenants by the late Thomas Bayly, Esq. Christ Church, to the north of the Kent-road, near the Surrey canal, was consecrated in Sept. 1838, and is a plain brick edifice in the early English style, with pinnacles of stone at the angles; the interior is neatly arranged, and lighted by lancet-shaped windows. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of Hyndman's Trustees. The church of St. Mary Magdalene, on the south of Deptford-lane, and on the road to the Nunhead cemetery, was consecrated in May, 1841, and is a handsome structure of brick, with a square tower crowned by pinnacles of stone and surmounted by an octagonal spire: it is partly in the Norman style, of which the entrance into the tower is a neat specimen, and partly in the early English style; the altar-piece is a handsome screen of stone in the early English style, richly carved. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Rev. J. G. Storie. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents. The Nunhead cemetery, belonging to the London Cemetery Company, and comprising fifty acres, was consecrated, with the exception of eight acres left for the dissenters, in 1840: the principal chapel cost £4000.

Peckham House, opened in 1823 for the reception of 50 private insane patients, and now also adapted for the admission of 250 pauper lunatics under the direction of the Metropolitan Commissioners, is a spacious and wellarranged building, surrounded by nearly 5 acres of garden and pleasure ground. Attached to the institution is a farm of 80 acres, at Forest-Hill, in which the pauper lunatics are employed in husbandry and other pursuits. In Peckham New-Town, is the Licensed Victuallers' Asylum, instituted in 1827, for the support of decayed members, under the patronage of the late Duke of Sussex, who laid the first stone of the building. It is a handsome structure of brick, occupying three sides of a quadrangular area, which is laid out in lawns and parterres; the central range has a portico of six lofty Ionic columns, sustaining a pediment, and surmounted with a cupola. The buildings contain 101 tenements, and the grounds around comprise about six acres. A house at Peckham which was occupied by Dr. Milner as an academy, is still regarded with peculiar interest, and has obtained the appellation of Goldsmith House, having been the residence of Oliver Goldsmith, who was usher under Dr. Milner for some time: a pane of glass on which are some lines written by the poet with the point of a diamond, was taken out of one of the windows by the late occupier, and is still carefully preserved.

Peckham, East (St. Michael)

PECKHAM, EAST (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Malling, hundred of Twyford, lathe of Aylesford, W. division of Kent, 5½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Tonbridge; containing 2166 inhabitants. The parish is well wooded, and comprises 3365a. 36p., of which 2746 acres are arable, meadow, and pasture land. It is situated on the river Medway, which has a wharf here. There are four distinct hamlets, and the inhabitants of two of them are nearly all employed in a large oil-mill and a tanyard. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14; net income, £900, of which £40 are received out of the rectorial tithes; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury: the rectory is valued in the king's books at £23. The church is an ancient plain building, with a tower and small spire. A district church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, has lately been erected in the centre of the parish, affording accommodation for 600 persons: the living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of the Vicar, with a net income of £150. There is also a meeting-house for Wesleyans.

Peckham, West (St. Dunstan)

PECKHAM, WEST (St. Dunstan), a parish, in the union of Malling, hundred of Littlefield, lathe of Aylesford, W. division of Kent, 6 miles (N. E.) from Tonbridge; containing, with Oxenoath, 535 inhabitants. A commandery of Knights Hospitallers was founded here in 1408, by John Colepepper, one of the judges of the common pleas. The parish comprises 1583 acres, of which 1100 are in cultivation, producing hops, fruit, and corn, and the remainder is for the most part woodland. A fair is held on Whitsun-Thursday. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 5. 10.; income, £177; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. There are 14 acres of glebe in this parish, and a glebe farm of 20 acres in that of Tudeley. The church is a small building with a tower surmounted by a spire, situated on an eminence.

Peckleton (St. Mary)

PECKLETON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Market-Bosworth, hundred of Sparkenhoe, S. division of the county of Leicester, 6 miles (N. E.) from Hinckley; containing, with Tooley-Park hamlet, 347 inhabitants. This parish, called in ancient writings Pecklington, Peculden, and Peycelton, contains about 1500 acres, including 109 acres of the disafforested chase of Leicester, which, by an act of inclosure in 1771, were allotted to Peckleton, tithe-free. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8; net income, £474; patron and incumbent, the Rev. J. M. Cooper. The church is an ancient structure, with a low embattled tower, crowned with pinnacles, and surmounted by a crocketed spire: in the chancel are three stone stalls in the decorated style, and the east window has some fragments of stained glass, with figures of a male and female saint: there are also numerous armorial bearings and other memorials of ancient families. Here is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Pedmore (St. Peter)

PEDMORE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Bromsgrove, Lower division of the hundred of Halfshire, Stourbridge and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 1½ mile (S. by E.) from Stourbridge; containing 291 inhabitants. This parish, which is intersected by the road from Stourbridge to Bromsgrove, comprises 1465a. 1r. 23p. of land, interspersed with coppice wood. The soil is generally light, with some stiff clay on the hills; it is well cultivated, and chiefly adapted to the growth of turnips and barley. There is a stone-quarry, from which Old Swinford church was built. The village is of respectable appearance. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 10.; net income, £407; patrons, the Feoffees of Old Swinford Hospital. The church is a very ancient structure, with some remains of Norman architecture.

Pedwardine, Hereford.—See Boresford.

PEDWARDINE, Hereford.—See Boresford.

Peele, county Chester.—See Horton.

PEELE, county Chester.—See Horton.

Peerston-Jaglin, or Purston

PEERSTON-JAGLIN, or Purston, a township, in the parish of Featherstone, Upper division of the wapentake of Osgoldcross, W. riding of York, 2 miles (S. W.) from Pontefract; containing 254 inhabitants. The township comprises about 1000 acres, and is pleasantly situated on the road to Wakefield. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Pegsworth

PEGSWORTH, a township, in the parish of Bothal, union of Morpeth, E. division of Morpeth ward, N. division of Northumberland, 1½ mile (E. N. E.) from the town of Morpeth; containing 207 inhabitants. It comprises 1266a. 3r. 1p., of which 1001 acres are in tillage, 224 grass, and 41 woodland; the whole the property of the Duke of Portland. Collieries have long been wrought here. The village, which is well built, stands on a rock, on a bare and exposed, but dry and fertile, eminence. The tithes have been commuted for £209. 9. Pegsworth is remarkable as the birthplace, in 1580, of Matthias Wilson, who, under the name of Edward Knott, was the champion on the Roman Catholic side, in opposition to Chillingworth.

Peldon (St. Mary)

PELDON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Lexden and Winstree, hundred of Winstree, N. division of Essex, 7 miles (S. by W.) from Colchester, on the road to Maldon; containing 493 inhabitants. This parish, which is bounded on the south-east by Mersea Channel, comprises 2188 acres, whereof 33 are common or waste. It is pleasantly situated on rising ground; the soil, a strong loam, is very fertile, and the lands are in good cultivation. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 15. 10., and in the gift of Earl Waldegrave: the tithes have been commuted for £575, and the glebe consists of 24½ acres. The church is a small ancient edifice, with a tower of stone.

Pelham, Brent (Virgin Mary)

PELHAM, BRENT (Virgin Mary), a parish, in the union of Bishop-Stortford, hundred of Edwinstree, county of Hertford, 5¾ miles (E. by N.) from Buntingford; containing 285 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Furneux-Pelham consolidated in 1771, valued in the king's books at £7. 6. 8.; patron, the Treasurer of St. Paul's. The great tithes have been commuted for £245, and the vicarial for £120; the glebe comprises 44 acres. The church has a square embattled tower; the chancel is less than it formerly was, the south side having fallen down some years since.

Pelham, Furneux (St. Mary)

PELHAM, FURNEUX (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bishop-Stortford, hundred of Edwinstree, county of Hertford, 5½ miles (E. by S.) from Buntingford; containing 682 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, consolidated with that of Brent-Pelham, and valued in the king's books at £9: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £545. 10., and the vicarial for £151; the impropriate glebe comprises 144 acres, and the vicarial 6. The sum of £19 is also payable out of the tithes to the rector of StockingPelham. The church has a chapel, the burial-place of the Calvert family, on the south side of the chancel; at the west end is a square tower, embattled, and surmounted by a short spire.

Pelham, Stocking (St. Mary)

PELHAM, STOCKING (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bishop-Stortford, hundred of Edwinstree, county of Hertford, 6½ miles (E.) from Buntingford; containing 160 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the borders of Essex, and consists of 628 acres, of which 549 are arable, 66 pasture, and 13 woodland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 10. 7½., and in the gift of N. Calvert, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £140, and the glebe comprises 30 acres of land. The church has a wooden tower with a low spire.

Pelham's-Lands

PELHAM'S-LANDS, near the parish of Fosdyke, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Boston, wapentake of Kirton, parts of Holland, county of Lincoln; containing 42 inhabitants.

Pelsall

PELSALL, a township, in the parish of Wolverhampton, union of Walsall, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 3¼ miles (N.) from Walsall; containing 1100 inhabitants. Pelsall was the seat of Robert de Corbeuil, one of William the Conqueror's barons, and his descendants; and part of the township still retains the name of The Moat. The township comprises 1194 acres, of which 215 are common or waste; and contains several extensive coalbeds, of which two mines are in operation, one in the centre of the township, and the other at Pelsall-Wood, where are large iron-works with two blast-furnaces. The greater part of the population are employed as colliers or furnace-men, about thirteen families are nailers, and the rest farmers and labourers. The Wyrley and Essington canal runs through the township. Here is a living, which is a perpetual curacy; net income, £86; patron, the Bishop of Lichfield. The church erected in 1798, in which part of an older structure had been incorporated, was lately taken down, and a new church erected at a cost of £1600, capable of accommodating 632 persons; the sittings are chiefly free. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and a small school is endowed with two-thirds of the rent of a small piece of ground left by Mrs. Dorothy Bridgeman, the remaining third being paid to the perpetual curate.

Pelton

PELTON, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish and union of Chester-le-Street, Middle division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 2 miles (W. by N.) from Chester-le-Street; containing 2500 inhabitants. The township of Pelton is intersected by the Pontop and South Shields railway, and comprises 998 acres of land, of which two-thirds are pasture, and the remainder arable: the soil is principally a dry gravel, and the western part of the township is very hilly, and beautifully wooded. Two public quarries are worked for the use of the freeholders. The village is straggling, and situated on high ground. A little to the east of it is the Flatts, a large house of brick, once the seat of the Allans, of whom Thomas Allan, Esq., who died in 1741, was one of the principal coal-owners on the river Wear; it subsequently passed to the Lambton family, by purchase. South Pelawe colliery, partly in the township, was opened in 1839, and is of 70 fathoms' depth. The district comprises Urpeth, Ouston, Pelton, and half of Edmondsley: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Incumbent of Chester-le-Street; net income, £160, with a house. The church, a neat edifice in the early English style, was erected in 1842, at a cost of £1500, and is dedicated to the Trinity. There are several schools within the district, in connexion with the Church; and the Independents and Methodists have each a place of worship.

Pelynt (St. Nunn)

PELYNT (St. Nunn), a parish, in the union of Liskeard, hundred of West, E. division of Cornwall, 4 miles (W. N. W.) from West Looe; containing 834 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17. 18. 6½.; patron and impropriator, J. W. Buller, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £400, and those of the vicar for £235: there are 50 acres of glebe. The church contains a curious monument to the memory of Francis Buller, who died in 1615. At Trelawny, in the parish, yet remains a portion of a castellated mansion erected by Lord Bonville in the fifteenth century.

Pembers-Oak, Hereford.—See Lilwall.

PEMBERS-OAK, Hereford.—See Lilwall.

Pemberton

PEMBERTON, a township, in the parish and union of Wigan, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 2¼ miles (W. S. W.) from Wigan; containing 4394 inhabitants. Adam de Pemberton, who held lands here, was living in the reign of Richard I. In the 34th of Edward I., another Adam de Pemberton brought an action of trespass against Thurstan de Northlegh and Matilda his wife, for cutting down his woods at Pemberton under pretext of taking estovers. Sir Robert de Holland obtained a licence to convey to the priory of Up-Holland a mill and sixty acres of land here, with their appurtenances. Pemberton is subject to the fee of Newton-in-Makerfield, of which the Legh family are lords; and the reputed manor is claimed by them in right of their ancestors. The township is bounded on the north-east by the river Douglas, and intersected by the road from Newton-in-Makerfield to Wigan, and by the Liverpool and Bury railway. It comprises 2500 acres, of which 1657 are arable, 807 pasture, 23 woodland, and 13 waste. The population is chiefly employed in agriculture, and in the coal-mines here, which are worked to a great extent: on the west side of the township is the manufacturing village of Lamberhead-Green. A district church, dedicated to St. John, was built in 1832, at a cost of £4766: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rector of Wigan; net income, £150. The tithes have been commuted for £370. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and among the schools is one endowed with £8 per annum.

Pembridge (St. Peter)

PEMBRIDGE (St. Peter), a parish, and formerly a borough, in the union of Kington, hundred of Stretford, county of Hereford, 15½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Hereford; containing 1306 inhabitants. The parish is intersected by the river Arrow and the road from Leominster to Kington, and comprises 6257 acres, of which 70 are common or waste land. Courts leet and baron are held annually; and fairs take place on May 13th for hiring servants, &c., and Nov. 22nd for the sale of cattle; but the market, granted by Henry I., has long been disused. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £36. 10. 2½.; net income, £845; patrons, the President and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. The church is a large and lofty structure, with a detached steeple of curious construction. The Wesleyans have places of worship; and there is another belonging to the Home Missionary Society. Two schools are supported by an endowment from William Carpenter in 1650, augmented by a bequest by Henry Bengough in 1818; they are conducted on the national system. Some almshouses were erected and endowed in 1661, by Jeffrey and Bishop Duppa, for six persons, each to receive £5 per annum. Alice Trafford, also, widow of Thomas Trafford, D.D., in conformity with the desire of her husband, in 1686 erected and endowed an almshouse for six persons, each of whom likewise receives £5.

Pembury (St. Peter)

PEMBURY (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Tonbridge, hundred of Washlingstone, lathe of Aylesford, W. division of Kent, 3½ miles (S. E.) from Tonbridge; containing 1093 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3627 acres, of which 630 are in wood. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 8. 8.; net income, £353; patron, impropriator, and incumbent, the Rev. G. S. Woodgate. The first stone of a new parish church was laid by the Marquess Camden in May 1846; the edifice, which is in the later English style, and beautifully situated, cost £1900, and was consecrated in September 1847. Here is a national school; also an almshouse for six blind persons, erected in 1716, by Charles Selby, in pursuance of the will of Charles Amherst, who in 1702 had bequeathed a rent-charge of £213 for its maintenance.