Ross - Rothwell

Ross (St. Mary)

ROSS (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Greytree, county of Hereford, 14 miles (S. E.) from Hereford, and 120 (W. N. W.) from London; containing 3773 inhabitants, of whom 2523 are in Ross-Borough, and 1250 in Ross-Foreign. Tradition reports this place to have been founded from the ruins of the Roman town Ariconium, which stood at a short distance. It was made a free borough by Henry III., and in the 33rd of the reign of Edward I. sent members to parliament; but this privilege was relinquished, on the petition of the inhabitants, the following year, and has never been resumed. The Duke of Hereford, afterwards Henry IV., passed a night here on his way to Monmouth, to see his wife, at the time his son and successor was born; and the unfortunate Charles I. slept here in 1645, on his way from Raglan Castle. The bishops of Hereford, who were lords of the manor, had a palace at Ross, but it has been long demolished, and the prison belonging to them was pulled down about a century since. An old stone cross here, called Cob's Cross, a corruption of Corpus Christi Cross, is supposed to be commemorative of the ravages of the plague in 1635 and the two subsequent years.

The town is situated on an eminence, at the foot of which runs the river Wye in a meandering course, through a richly cultivated and beautiful country. It consists chiefly of two narrow streets, crossing each other, and the houses generally are old and ill-constructed, though the town has of late years been much improved, and some good buildings have been erected. The inhabitants are well supplied with water, raised by an engine from the Wye. Pleasure-boats are kept for the accommodation of parties making excursions down the river to Monmouth and Chepstow. An horticultural society has been established, by which 300 prizes and 30 silver medals are annually distributed; there is an annual display of the works of artists, and a mechanics' institute and four reading societies have been formed. Ross had once a considerable trade in iron, which has long since declined; at present, cider and wool are the principal articles of produce. An act was passed in 1845 for a railway from Monmouth, by way of Ross, to Hereford. A market was granted by King Stephen to Bishop Betun, to be held on Thursday; it is well supplied with cattle and provisions: there are fairs on the Thursday after March 10th, on Ascension-day, June 21st, July 20th, the Thursday after October 10th, and on December 11th. A sergeant-at-mace, four constables, and subordinate officers, are chosen at a court leet and baron, held about Michaelmas; and the petty-sessions for the hundred are holden here. The powers of the county debt-court of Ross, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Ross.

The parish comprises by measurement 3012 acres. The living is a rectory and vicarage united, valued in the king's books at £38. 16. 3.; net income, £1284; patron, the Bishop of Hereford. The incumbent's tithes have been commuted for £790, and the glebe consists of 98 acres; £63 are paid to the bishop, and £27. 10. each to the dean and the precentor of Hereford. The church is an irregularly built though handsome edifice, with a lofty and well-proportioned spire, in an extremely beautiful situation; the east window is ornamented with stained glass, and contains a figure of Thomas de Cantelupe, Bishop of Hereford, in the act of giving benediction. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Independents; also a Roman Catholic chapel at Courtfield. In the churchyard was formerly a free school called St. Mary's, founded, and endowed with £10 per annum, by Lord Weymouth, in 1709; having fallen into decay, two large rooms were built on the site in 1806, for a national school. The Blue-coat school was established in 1709, by Dr. Whiting, Lord Scudamore, and others, and was endowed in 1786 with £220 per annum, by Mr. Walter Scott, who had been educated in it. An hospital for seven parishioners was founded by Mr. Webbe, a native of the town. The poor-law union of Ross comprises 30 parishes or places, of which 27 are in the county of Hereford, and 3 in that of Gloucester, altogether containing a population of 16,763. This is the birthplace of John de Ross, a celebrated doctor of law, who was established by the pope in the bishopric of Carlisle, without any election, in 1318. The benevolent John Kyrle, Pope's "Man of Ross," died here in 1724, aged 88, and lies buried in the church, where a rich monument, with a medallion, was erected to his memory in 1776.

Ross

ROSS, a township, in the parish and union of Belford, in Islandshire, N. division of Northumberland, 3 miles (N. E.) from Belford; containing 56 inhabitants. It is situated in the southern part of Islandshire, and comprises an extensive rabbit-warren, stretching along the coast, in a kind of promontory, to Holy-Island harbour.

Rossendale, Forest of.—See Lancashire.

ROSSENDALE, Forest of.—See Lancashire.

Rossington (St. Michael)

ROSSINGTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the union and soke of Doncaster, W. riding of York, 4½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Bawtry; containing 344 inhabitants. This place was for many generations the seat of the Fossard and Mauley families, and in the reign of Henry VII. was granted by that monarch to the corporation of Doncaster, from whom the manor was purchased in 1838, by James Brown, Esq., of Harehills Grove, Leeds. The parish comprises by computation nearly 3000 acres, of which about 280 are woodland and plantations; the soil is fertile, the surface undulated, rising into hills of considerable elevation, and the scenery is pleasingly diversified. The village is situated on the south side of the vale of the river Torne, over which are several bridges; one of them, on the great north road, called Rossington Bridge. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 1. 5½., and in the gift of Mr. Brown: the tithes have been commuted for £600, and the glebe comprises 65 acres. The church was rebuilt by Mr. Brown, in 1843-4; in the churchyard are several handsome monuments.

Rostherne (St. Mary)

ROSTHERNE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Altrincham, chiefly in the hundred of Bucklow, but partly in that of Macclesfield, N. division of the county of Chester; containing 3953 inhabitants, of whom 386 are in the township of Rostherne, 3½ miles (N. by W.) from Knutsford. The parish comprises the chapelries of High Legh and Peover-Superior; the townships of Marthall with Little Warford, Mere, Millington, Rostherne, Snelson, Tabley-Superior, and Tatton; and part of the townships of Agden and Bollington. In Rostherne township are 1377 acres, of which the soil is sand and clay; about one-fourth is under the plough, the remainder being cultivated for dairy purposes. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10; net income, £131; patron, W. Egerton, Esq.; appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford. The church is much admired for its beautiful situation on the margin of an extensive lake or mere; it contains several ancient monuments, and in the chapel of the Egerton family is a sumptuous one by Bacon to Samuel Egerton, Esq., who died in 1780. There are two incumbencies at High Legh, one at Marthall, and one at Peover-Superior.

Roston, in the hundred of Appletree, S. division of the county of Derby.—See Norbury.

ROSTON, in the hundred of Appletree, S. division of the county of Derby.—See Norbury.

Rothbury (All Saints)

ROTHBURY (All Saints), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the W. division of Coquetdale ward, N. division of Northumberland; containing 2555 inhabitants, of whom 881 are in the town, 30 miles (N. W. by N.) from Newcastle, and 300 (N. N. W.) from London. The name of this place, anciently Roberie, Rathbury, and Routhbyrig, may be derived from the British Rhuthr, an attack; or from the Saxon Ruth, red, expressive of the colour of the river and its bed. The situation of the town, though low, is very beautiful, in a sequestered and romantic glen watered by the Coquet. This river abounds in trout, and is celebrated as a fishing stream; it is crossed on the south side of the town by an old stone bridge of four ribbed arches. Upon the west the vale opens gradually to the view, almost encircled by hills, and ridges of broken rocks, interspersed with trees; a few goats feed among the crags, and their milk and whey are in considerable request by the valetudinarians who resort hither during the summer season. The town, which is wide and airy, consists of three streets irregularly built, diverging from the market-place; the inhabitants are supplied with water from several springs. The market is on Friday, but has almost fallen into disuse: fairs for horses, cattle, and sheep, are held on Whit-Monday, October 2nd, and November 1st; and a statute-fair for hiring servants on the Friday in Easter-week. The powers of the county debt-court of Rothbury, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Rothbury.

The parish consists of 33,770 acres, and comprises the townships of Bickerton, Caistron, Cartington, Debdon, Fallowlees, Flotterton, Hollinghill, Hepple, HeppleDemesne, Hesley-Hurst, Lee-Ward, Mount-Healey, Newtown, Paperhaugh, Raw, Rothbury, Snitter, Thropton, Great Tosson with Ryehill, Little Tosson, Trewhitt, Warton, Whitton, and Wreighill. The Duke of Northumberland is lord of the manor, and proprietor of a large portion of the parish. The haughs by the river side are good alluvial soil, but the rest of the land is generally covered with stones or heath. The parish contains an abundance of limestone, sandstone, and ironstone, and though there are no mines at present worked, yet, from the large accumulations of scoria, it is evident that the ironstone must have been extensively wrought at a very ancient period, and most probably by the Romans: in many parts, the water is so strongly impregnated with iron, as to be used medicinally. The ancient Forest of Rothbury, occupying a tract seven miles long and five broad, has been divided under the authority of an act of parliament passed in the year 1831.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £58. 6. 8.; net income, £1106; patron, the Bishop of Carlisle. The church is a ruinous cruciform structure in the early English style, with a square tower: against a pillar near the south door is the effigy in stone of a man in armour; and the font, which is very antique, bears a rudely-sculptured representation of the Redeemer sitting in Judgment. The Independents have a place of worship. Near the church is a free school, with a dwelling-house and garden for the master, to the erection of which the Rev. Mr. Thomlinson, rector, in 1720 gave £100, with £20 per annum as an endowment, to which have been added some other benefactions, producing £252. 18. per annum. The poor-law union of Rothbury comprises 71 parishes and townships, containing a population of 7297. There are numerous British stations in the neighbourhood. About a mile to the west of Rothbury is a circular intrenchment, with a triple ditch and earthen rampart: at the distance of a quarter of a mile to the north-east of this, is another; on Tosson hills, two miles to the south-west, a third; and about the same distance to the south-east, on Whitton hills, a fourth. The last is still very perfect, and of great extent: the plan of one of the serpent temples of the Druids may be clearly traced; the stones, placed side by side, yet remain, and the visiter may pass into the inclosure by the original entrance. These stations were doubtless connected; they all stand upon abrupt and lofty elevations, commanding extensive views of the surrounding country and of each other. Dr. John Brown, vicar of St. Nicholas' in Newcastle, and author of some essays, poetical pieces, and dramatic writings, was a native of the parish. Bernard Romney, an ancient Norman bard and musician, lived and died here.

Rotherby (All Saints)

ROTHERBY (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Melton-Mowbray, hundred of East Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 5½ miles (W. S. W.) from Melton-Mowbray; with 142 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, consolidated in 1823 with that of Hoby, and valued in the king's books at £8. 8. 4.

Rotherfield

ROTHERFIELD, a tything, in the parish of East Tisted, union of Alton, hundred of Selborne, Alton and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 4½ miles (S. S. W.) from Alton; containing 21 inhabitants. It is situated on the road between Alton and Gosport, and contains the hamlets of Heards and Holtham. Rotherfield House, rebuilt some years since, is a fine seat.

Rotherfield (St. Denis)

ROTHERFIELD (St. Denis), a parish, in the union of Uckfield, hundred of Rotherfield, rape of Pevensey, E. division of Sussex, 8 miles (N. E.) from Uckfield; containing 3036 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the road from Tonbridge-Wells to Lewes, comprises nearly 16,000 acres; the soil is generally clay, and the surface diversified with hills, of which Crowborough Beacon is one of the highest in the county. There are about 500 acres of hop plantations. On the south side of the hill on which the village is built, the river Rother has its source. A market for corn is held every Monday, and there are fairs for cattle. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £27. 12. 6., and in the gift of the Earl of Abergavenny: the tithes have been commuted for £1514. 10., and the glebe comprises 110 acres. The church is in the early English style, with later additions, and has a square embattled tower surmounted by a spire; the roof is of chesnut wood, and the ancient font is elaborately carved. A chapel was founded at Crowborough in 1732, by Sir Henry Fermor, who endowed it with £3000 for the maintenance of a chaplain; the income is £260 per annum. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans. Berthwald, Duke of the South Saxons, about the year 800 founded a monastery here, subordinate to the abbey of St. Denis, in France.

Rotherfield-Grays

ROTHERFIELD-GRAYS, a parish, in the union of Henley, hundred of Binfield, county of Oxford, 2¼ miles (W.) from Henley; containing 1535 inhabitants. This place derives the suffix to its name from the family of De Grey, of whose baronial residence there are still two towers at Greys Court, a venerable and interesting mansion surrounded with richly varied scenery. The parish comprises 2600 acres, of which about 400 are woodland: the soil is gravel, alternated with flint and chalk; the prevailing trees are beech. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 12. 8½.; net income, £714; patrons, the President and Fellows of Trinity College, Oxford. The church contains a font of singular shape. In the chancel is a brass effigy of a warrior, in good preservation, under a tabernacle, with a Latin inscription in old letter, to the memory of Robert de Grey, Lord of Rotherfield, who died in 1387; and in one of the aisles is a splendid monument of the period of James I., to Sir Francis Knollys, his lady, and their numerous progeny. Two schools are supported by subscription.

Rotherfield-Peppard (All Saints)

ROTHERFIELD-PEPPARD (All Saints), a pa rish, in the union of Henley, hundred of Binfield county of Oxford, 4½ miles (W. by S.) from Henley; containing 439 inhabitants. The parish takes the suffix to its name from the family of Pipard, to whom it belonged in the time of Henry II. It is bounded on the east by the river Thames, and intersected by the road from Henley to Reading, also by the road from Nettlebed to Reading; and comprises by measurement 2293 acres, of which 1390 are arable, 265 meadow and pasture, 177 woodland and plantation, and 180 beech-wood. The soil is fertile, producing excellent wheat and other grain; the surface is pleasingly undulated, and the substrata are chiefly chalk and flint. In the village are a large flour-mill, and a paper-manufactory. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 9. 4½., and in the gift of Jesus College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £522, and the glebe comprises 57 acres. The church is supposed to have been built in the time of Edward I. or II. There is a place of worship for Independents. About 500 yards from the church is a remarkably fine spring, which supplies the neighbourhood during the driest seasons.

Rotherham (All Saints)

ROTHERHAM (All Saints), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the N. division of the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill, W. riding of York; comprising the chapelries of Greasbrough and Tinsley, and the townships of Brinsworth, Catcliffe, Kimberworth, Orgreave, Rotherham, and part of Dalton; and containing 13,385 inhabitants, of whom 5505 are in the town, 49 miles (S. S. W.) from York, and 159 (N. N. W.) from London. This place, which derives its name from the Rother, is bounded by that river on the west, and on the north-west by the river Don: it is situated partly on the acclivities of an eminence, and partly in a vale near the confluence of these streams. The houses are in general of stone, and many of them are low and of mean appearance, but great improvements have been made within the last twenty years; in the immediate neighbourhood, several substantial and respectable dwellings have been recently built, and at the east end of the town are two elegant mansions called Clifton and Eastwood. The streets are mostly narrow and irregularly formed; the place is paved, lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water. It is connected with the suburb or town of Masbrough, which is of nearly equal extent, by an ancient bridge over the Don, of five pointed arches, on the central pier of which is an old chapel of elegant design, now used as the town prison. The environs abound with varied scenery; and within a short distance, on the road to Barnsley, is Wentworth House, the magnificent seat of Earl Fitzwilliam. A public subscription library, containing several thousand volumes, is liberally supported.

The district abounds in mineral wealth; coal and iron ore are found in great profusion, and have been wrought from a very remote period. The town was formerly celebrated for its manufacture of edge tools; and in 1160, there were mines of ironstone, smelting-furnaces, and forges in the neighbourhood. But the most extraordinary establishments of this kind, of late years, were the iron-foundries belonging to Messrs. Walker, in which immense quantities of cannon of the largest calibre were wrought for government during the war, till the works were given up by the original proprietors, and let out to small capitalists. The spinning of flax affords employment to about 200 persons; there are manufactories for rope and for starch, a large malting establishment, two large ale and porter breweries, several oil and chemical works, and a glass-house. Some other manufactories and works are noticed in the article on Masbrough. The Don, which is navigable to Sheffield, communicates with the river Aire on the north-east, with the Stainforth and Keadby canal on the east, with the Dearne and Dove canal and the Barnsley canal on the north-west, and consequently with the river Calder; by which means Rotherham enjoys a facility of communication with all the principal towns in the great manufacturing districts of Yorkshire and Lancashire. In 1836 an act was passed for making a railway to Sheffield, with a branch to the Greasbrough canal and coal-field; it was opened on the 31st of October, 1838, and the distance is about six miles. The Rotherham terminal station is situated in Westgate, and occupies about an acre and a half. There is also a station at the Holmes, whence a branch diverges to join the Midland railway at Masbrough. The market is on Monday, for corn, cattle, and provisions: on alternate Mondays is a celebrated market for fat-cattle, sheep, and hogs, numerously attended by graziers from distant parts of the country; and fairs take place on Whit-Monday and December 1st, for cattle. A court leet is held annually, at which constables and other officers for the internal regulation of the town are appointed. The powers of the county debt-court of Rotherham, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Rotherham. The adjourned Midsummer-sessions for the West riding are held in the court-house, a handsome stone building in the Italian style, erected at an expense of £4000.

The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £16. 8. 6.; net income, £170; patron and impropriator, the Earl of Effingham. The church is situated on an elevated knoll near the heart of the town, and is a capacious and venerable cruciform structure in the later English style, with a central tower and spire enriched with panels, canopies, and crockets. The exterior is profusely but correctly ornamented with sculptures of beautiful design, the doorways are richly moulded, and the sides of the building strengthened with panelled and crocketed buttresses; the south porch, of appropriate character, is highly enriched. The interior is lofty, and finely arranged; the roof of the nave, which is of oak elaborately carved, is supported on piers of graceful elevation, and the windows, with a very few exceptions, contain tracery of elegant design. The chancel is separated from the nave by a screen of excellent workmanship. In the transepts are some good monuments; and near the altar is a beautiful one of marble to the memory of Samuel Buck, Esq., a native of the town, and recorder of Leeds, who died in 1806. At Greasbrough, Kimberworth, and Tinsley are other incumbencies. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Unitarians. The free grammar school was founded in 1584, by Lawrence Woodnett and Anthony Collins, of London, who endowed it with a small portion of land; the endowment was subsequently augmented by a grant of £10. 15. 4. per annum, from the revenue of the crown lands. The school, in conjunction with those of Pontefract, Leeds, and Wakefield, is entitled, in failure of candidates from Normanton school, to two scholarships founded in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, by John Frieston, of Altofts. A charity school was founded by Mr. Scott, and the funds for its support are now under the superintendence of the feoffees of the common lands; the income, increased by subsequent benefactions, is about £97 per annum. Rotherham College, for the education of young men intended for Independent ministers, was removed hither from Heckmondwike, where it had subsisted for nearly 40 years, in 1795: the premises are handsomely built, and occupy a healthy and pleasant eminence. The dispensary, a stone building erected by subscription at an expense of £2000, contains on the ground-floor, in addition to the offices requisite for the institution, a spacious room for the grammar school, and on the upper story an apartment for the library, and a newsroom. The union of Rotherham comprises 27 parishes or places, 26 of which are in the West riding of York, and one in the county of Derby; the whole containing a population of 28,783. In 1480, Thomas Scott, Archbishop of York, usually called Thomas of Rotherham, who was then Bishop of Lincoln, founded a college in the town for a provost, five priests, six choristers, and three schoolmasters, and dedicated it to the Holy Jesus: of this structure, which subsisted for nearly a century, there remain the inn in Jesus' gate, and the opposite buildings now used as stables. Dr. Sanderson, Bishop of Lincoln, an eloquent preacher in the time of Charles II., was a native of the town.

Rotherhithe (St. Mary)

ROTHERHITHE (St. Mary), a parish, in the E. division of the hundred of Brixton and of the county of Surrey, 1 mile (S. E.) from London; containing 13,917 inhabitants. This place, corruptly called Redriff, was anciently a village and marsh south-eastward of London, to which it now forms an extensive suburb, on the south side of the river Thames. The trench cut by Canute, in order to besiege the metropolis, reached from Vauxhall to this parish; and the channel through which the river was turned in 1173, for the rebuilding of London bridge, is supposed to have taken a similar course. In the reign of Edward III., a large naval armament was fitted out here preparatory to an invasion of France by Edward the Black Prince and the Duke of Lancaster. During the commotions in the reign of Richard II., respecting the poll-tax, that monarch came hither in his barge, to pacify the malcontents; but his refusal to land so enraged the rioters, that, with their leader John Tyler, alias Jack Straw, and Wat his brother, they broke open the Marshalsea and King's Bench prisons, liberated the inmates, and proceeding to the house of the Duke of Lancaster in the Savoy, destroyed it, and all the valuable furniture and jewels, by fire. In 1785, a dreadful fire broke out, which in a few hours consumed 206 houses, and did other extensive damage.

The situation of Rotherhithe, on the river, has induced numbers of seafaring men, watermen and others, to reside here; and its inhabitants are now almost exclusively engaged in pursuits connected with shipping. In that part of the parish which forms the bank of the Thames are eleven dockyards, for building East India ships and small merchant-vessels; also some boat and lighter builders' wharfs; seven timber-wharfs, three deal-yards, and a mast-yard; besides anchor-wharfs, ship-breakers' wharfs, and numerous warehouses for rigging and victualling the navy. The rest of the parish is occupied by the residences of masters of ships, seafaring people, and the tradesmen whose interests are dependent on navigation. The principal docks are the Commercial docks, the several basins of which are capable of containing upwards of 200 ships of burthen. The Grand Surrey canal terminates here, and is formed into two docks, called the outer and inner. In 1837 an act was passed for making wet-docks and other works, to be called the Grand Collier docks. The business connected with the place in general has been much circumscribed since the opening of the London, the East and West India, and St. Katherine's docks, on the opposite side of the river. The manufactures comprise the works carried on in the ordnance department at the three government wharfs employed in making gun-carriages, &c.; extensive iron-works, chiefly for the construction of bolts out of old iron hoops and other materials; and the king's mills for grinding corn, some years ago occupied by the London Flour Company. The Croydon railway diverges from the London and Greenwich line at Corbett's-lane, in the parish; and a lighthouse has been erected near the spot, with a powerful gas lantern for security against accidents by collision. The Thames Tunnel, one of the termini of which is at Rotherhithe, is noticed under the head of London.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18; net income, £772; patrons, the Master and Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge. The present parochial church was erected in 1715, and is a neat edifice of brick with stone quoins, having a square tower, upon which is a stone spire supported by Corinthian columns. In the churchyard is the tombstone of Prince Lee Boo, son of Abba Thule, king of one of the Pelew islands; who died of the small-pox in 1784. Three district churches have been built under the auspices of the rector, the Rev. Edward Blick. The church of the Holy Trinity, situated in Trinity-street, and consecrated on the 6th of November, 1838, is a spacious structure of white brick, erected at an expense of £4698. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Rector, with a net income of £150. Christ-Church, erected at an expense of £4373, on a site in Paradise-row given by Sir William Gomm, who also presented the communionplate, is a neat structure in the early English style, with a low embattled tower, strengthened by buttresses and crowned with pinnacles; the roof is supported by open frame-work of oak. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Trustees of Hyndman's Bounty, with a net income of £167. The church dedicated to All Saints, situated on the lower Deptford road, and for which the site was also given by Sir W. Gomm, was consecrated on the 29th of June, 1840; it is a neat structure of white brick, with a tower surmounted by an octagonal spire. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150; patron, the Rector. An episcopal floating chapel is maintained for the use of seamen; and there are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans. The parish, under the PoorLaw Amendment act, is separately assessed for the support of its own poor, who are under the care of fifteen guardians.

Rothersthorpe (St. Peter and St. Paul)

ROTHERSTHORPE (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Hardingstone, hundred of Wymmersley, S. division of the county of Northampton, 4 miles (S. W.) from Northampton; containing 274 inhabitants. It comprises about 1219 acres, and is intersected by the Grand Junction canal and the London and Birmingham railway. The living is a discharged vicarage; valued in the king's books at £5. 9. 4½.; net income, £112; patrons and impropriators, the Misses Drought. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1809.

Rotherwick

ROTHERWICK, a parish, in the union of Hartley-Wintney, hundred of Odiham, Odiham and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 4 miles (W. by S.) from Hartford-Bridge; containing 416 inhabitants. The parish comprises about 1702 acres, of which 947 are arable, 334 meadow and pasture, 260 woodland, and 160 common land. Tylney Hall, here, the ancient seat of the Tylney family, has been taken down some years, but the park is still preserved. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £50; patron, the Earl of Mornington: the tithes have been commuted for £396. 15. 6., of which £11. 15. 6. are payable to the incumbent. The church contains some monuments to the Tylney family. A school-house was erected in the year 1713, by Frederick Tylney, who in 1716 endowed it with a rent-charge of £10.

Rothley (St. Mary)

ROTHLEY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Barrow-upon-Soar, chiefly in the hundred of East Goscote, but partly in that of West Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 1½ mile (S. by E.) from Mountsorrel; containing, with the chapelries of Keyham, Wartnaby, Chadwell, and part of Mountsorrel, 2179 inhabitants, of whom 1055 are in Rothley township. This place formed part of the possessions of the Knights Templars, to whom it was granted by Henry III., and who had a preceptory near the village, afterwards given to the Hospitallers, and of which, at the Dissolution, the revenue was returned at £87. 13. 4. The present mansion of Rothley Temple was erected on the site of the monastery, of which some portions are still remaining. The manor and soke are the property of Thomas Babington, Esq., who is invested with a peculiar jurisdiction, both civil and ecclesiastical, and whose commissary holds visitations and a spiritual court twice a year, the jurisdiction of which not only extends over the parish, but to several other parts of the county, in which this is the most extensive manor, enjoying the privileges of court leet, court baron, and oyer, terminer, and gaol delivery, independent of the rest of the county. The living is a vicarage, with the living of Gaddesby annexed, valued in the king's books at £11. 0. 5.; net income, £466; patrons, the family of Babington: the tithes of the parish were commuted for land in 1771. The church, a spacious and ancient structure, contains some interesting monuments; and in the churchyard is the shaft of a stone cross. There are chapels of ease at Chadwell, Keyham, and Wartnaby; and a chapel at Mountsorrel. The Wesleyans and General Baptists have places of worship. A Roman pavement, with foundations of walls, was discovered in 1722.

Rothley

ROTHLEY, a township, in the parish of Hartburn, union of Rothbury, W. division of Morpeth ward, N. division of Northumberland, 11 miles (W. by N.) from Morpeth; containing 143 inhabitants. So early as the 13th century this place was in the possession of the convent of Newminster; and John Butler, abbot of that establishment, built a tower here, which in 1542 is styled a "lytle towre in measurable good reparations," but which was demolished by the Blackett family, into whose possession it came in 1691. Rothley Crags are a range of precipitous rocks fronting the west, and on the western verge of Rothley Park; they are of granitic sandstone, rising in fine and various forms, and richly coloured. Near their brink, on ground about 800 feet above the level of the sea, stands Rothley Castle, which, though erected by the late Sir W. C. Blackett, has all the appearance of an ancient residence. The township comprises about 2728 acres. In the park are two large lakes, in one of which the river Font has its source. A fold for cattle formerly situated here was attacked during the border warfare, by the Scots, who were defeated with great loss, and the slain buried at a place called Scots' Gap.

Rothley-Temple

ROTHLEY-TEMPLE, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Barrow-upon-Soar, hundred of West Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 1½ mile (S.) from Mountsorrel; containing 42 inhabitants, and comprising 459 acres.—See Rothley.

Rothwell (St. Mary Magdalene)

ROTHWELL (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union of Caistor, wapentake of Bradley-Haverstoe, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 2¾ miles (E. S. E.) from Caistor; containing 290 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 10. 10.; net income, £250; patron, the Earl of Yarborough. The tithes were commuted for land, under an act of inclosure, in 1765.

Rothwell (Holy Trinity)

ROTHWELL (Holy Trinity), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the union of Kettering, hundred of Rothwell, N. division of the county of Northampton, 4 miles (N. W. by W.) from Kettering; containing, with the chapelry of Orton, and hamlet of Thorpe-Underwood, 2939 inhabitants, of whom 2808 are in the town. This place, which is situated on the southern side of a rocky hill, is supposed to have been much more extensive in former days than it is at present, and to have been surrounded with a strong wall. According to tradition it was a favourite residence of William the Conqueror; and a small priory of nuns of the order of St. Augustine was founded here, probably by some of the Clare family, which at the Dissolution had a revenue estimated at £10. 10. 4. The market has fallen into disuse, except for earthenware, which is still exposed for sale on Monday: the ancient market-house, begun by Sir Thomas Tresham, but left in an unfinished state, is a curious ruin. One of the largest cattle-fairs in the county is held on Trinity-Monday and several following days. Considerable employment is afforded to the population by silk, velvet, and plush spinning and weaving, and the manufacture of shoes. The township is on the road from London to Leicester, through Bedford; and comprises by measurement 3460 acres, of which 1480 are meadow and pasture, 25 woodland, and the remainder arable.

The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 18. 11.; net income, £145; patrons, W. T. Smyth, Esq., and two others; impropriators, the family of Turville. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1812. The church, which appears to have been built about the reign of the Conqueror, has an embattled tower at the west end, and is enriched with a fine door in the early English style; underneath is a crypt, containing the bones of several thousand men. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. The free school was founded prior to the time of Edward VI., and was further endowed in the 36th of Charles II., when some commissioners of charitable uses applied St. Mary's chapel in Rothwell to that purpose, and directed that Queen Elizabeth's endowment to the chapel, of £3. 4. 11., received out of the crown rents, should be paid to the master. Jesus' Hospital was established, and endowed with the manor of Olde, its mansion-house and lands, and the tithes of Overton and Thorpe, by Owen Ragsdale, in the 33rd of Elizabeth; it affords accommodation to twentyfour almsmen and a principal, and the income is about £430 per annum. Six small tenements for widows were founded and endowed by T. Ponder, in 1714; and funds to the amount of £64 are yearly distributed among widows, arising from bequests by Agnes Hill, in 1728, and Edward Hunt. Here are two springs, one of which is of a strong petrifying quality.

Rothwell (Holy Trinity)

ROTHWELL (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the Lower division of the wapentake of Agbrigg, W. riding of York; containing, with the townships of Lofthouse with Carlton, Middleton, Oulton with Woodlesford, and Thorpe, 7462 inhabitants, of whom 2988 are in Rothwell township, 4½ miles (S. E.) from Leeds. This place was originally part of the parish of Morley, from which it was separated before the Conquest. Soon after that period it was granted as a dependency of the castle of Pontefract to the Lacys, who had a baronial residence here, of which evident vestiges may still be traced, and by whom its church was appropriated to the priory of Nostal. The parish comprises by computation 8612 acres, of which 3186 are in the township of Rothwell with Rothwell-Haigh and Royd's Green; the surface is varied, and the district abounds with coal of excellent quality, of which several mines are in operation, large supplies being sent to Leeds and other places. Some quarries of good stone are likewise worked here. The manor of Rothwell-Haigh, including Thwaite, comprises about 1000 acres of land, the property of Lord Stourton. The Midland railway passes through the parish. The village is pleasantly situated in a fertile vale watered by a small rivulet, and is very ancient, and irregularly built: the inhabitants are employed chiefly in the collieries and in agriculture; there are establishments for the manufacture of rope and twine, and a woollen-mill. The debtors' prison, for the honour of Pontefract, is a spacious building. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £19.12. 11.; net income, £843; patron, the Rev. R. H. Brandling, who, with others, is impropriator. The great tithes of the township of Rothwell and Rothwell-Haigh have been commuted for £436, and the small for £351: there is a vicarial glebe of 5 acres. The church is a neat structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower: it was repaired and enlarged in 1826, and has lately undergone extensive improvements; three modern galleries have been removed, and a beautiful oaken roof, of the 14th century, has been uncovered. At Oulton, Lofthouse, and Middleton, are other incumbencies. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists.