Thorn - Thorngrafton

Thorn (St. Margaret)

THORN (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Wellington, hundred of Milverton, W. division of Somerset, 3½ miles (W.) from Wellington; containing 136 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 900 acres, of which the soil in some places rests upon limestone. The Western Canal, from Taunton to Tiverton, passes through. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £113; patron, the Archdeacon of Taunton: the great tithes have been commuted for £108, and the incumbent's for £54. The church was built about the year 1570.

Thorn-Coffin (St. Andrew)

THORN-COFFIN (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Yeovil, hundred of Tintinhull, W. division of Somerset, 2½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Yeovil; containing 87 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 5. 2½.; net income, £200; patron, the Rev. W. Sabine.

Thorn-Gumbald

THORN-GUMBALD, a chapelry, in the parish of Paul, union of Patrington, S. division of the wapentake of Holderness, E. riding of York, 2 miles (S. E.) from Hedon; containing 271 inhabitants. It comprises about 1450 acres, and is partly the property of Sir T. A. C. Constable, Bart., who is lord of the manor: the village, which is of neat appearance, lies on the road from Hedon to Patrington. The Independents have a place of worship.

Thornaby

THORNABY, a district, in the parish of Stainton, union of Stockton, W. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York, 1¾ mile (S. S. E.) from Stockton; containing 1485 inhabitants. This district, which forms part of Cleveland, is bounded on the north and west by the river Tees, and comprises about 1800 acres; the soil is generally a rich loam resting on clay, and the substratum is intersected by a dyke of whinstone which is continued across the river. Since the extension of the Darlington railway, which now passes through the township to Middlesbrough and Redcar, Thornaby has much improved: its population in 1831 was only 301 persons. In connexion with some potteries and a glass-bottle manufactory established here, a new village called Stockton-south-of-the-Tees has arisen, which promises to become of more importance; on the river are wharfs belonging to these works, and some large shipbuilding yards. The living, till 1844 a perpetual curacy united to the living of Stainton, is now distinct; it is in the gift of the Archbishop, and has a net income of £120. The church is ancient.

Thornage

THORNAGE, a parish, in the union of Erpingham, hundred of Holt, W. division of Norfolk, 2½ miles (S. W. by W.) from Holt; containing 325 inhabitants. It comprises 1266a. 1r. 39p., of which 1035 acres are arable, 98 pasture and meadow, and 17 woodland and common. The living is a rectory, with that of Brinton annexed, valued in the king's books at £6. 18. 4., and in the gift of Lord Hastings: the tithes of the parish have been commuted for £321, and the glebe comprises nearly 37 acres, with a house. The church is chiefly in the early style, with a square tower; the chancel contains an altar-tomb to Sir William Butt, who died in 1583. There is a place of worship for Baptists.

Thornborough (St. Mary)

THORNBOROUGH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union, hundred, and county of Buckingham, 3½ miles (E.) from Buckingham; containing 762 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 17.; net income, £187; patron, Sir H. Verney, Bart.; impropriator of a portion of the great tithes, the Duke of Buckingham, the remainder having been given to the different proprietors on the inclosure of the waste lands in 1804. The chancel of the church belongs to W. F. Lowndes Stone, and John Clark, Esqrs., who keep it in repair. On opening a barrow about twenty-five feet high, at Thornborough field, in November 1839, various bronze ornaments were discovered near the base, on a layer of rough limestone.

Thornborough

THORNBOROUGH, a township, in the parish of Corbridge, union of Hexham, E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 5¾ miles (E.) from Hexham; containing 60 inhabitants. It is the property of Greenwich Hospital. Considerable quantities of limestone are quarried and burned: a lead-mine which had been anciently wrought was re-opened in 1801, but the speculation proving unsuccessful, was soon after abandoned. A little to the north-west of the village is an eminence called Camp Hill, where was formerly a fortified station; and to the south of the hill was Sheldon lough, which was completely drained on the inclosure of the common.

Thornbrough

THORNBROUGH, a township, in the parish of South Kilvington, poor-law union of Thirsk, wapentake of Birdforth, N. riding of York, 2¾ miles (E. N. E.) from Thirsk; containing 27 inhabitants. It comprises about 550 acres.

Thornbury (St. Peter)

THORNBURY (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Holsworthy, hundred of Black Torrington, Holsworthy and N. divisions of Devon, 4 miles (N. E. by E.) from Holsworthy; containing 524 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 2500 acres, of which 240 are common or waste. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 3. 11½., and in the patronage of Mrs. Edgecombe: the tithes have been commuted for £225, and the glebe consists of 90 acres. The church has a Norman door, and contains a memorial of an armed knight and his lady. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Thornbury (St. Mary)

THORNBURY (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the Lower division of the hundred of Thornbury, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 24 miles (S. W.) from Gloucester, and 124 (W. by N.) from London; containing, with the tything of Kington, and the chapelries of Falfield, Moorton, Oldbury, and Rangeworthy, 4706 inhabitants, of whom 1862 are in the town. This place, which is of considerable antiquity, is situated on the banks of a small rivulet, two miles distant from the Severn, in the vale of Berkeley, and consists principally of three streets. The chief object worthy of notice is the remains of an old castle at the end of the town, begun by Edward, Duke of Buckingham, in 1511, but left in an unfinished state; the outer wall is still in good preservation, and over the arched gateway, which formed the main entrance, and is greatly admired, is an inscription in raised letters, recording the date of its erection. These ruins command a fine view of the river Severn, which flows on the western side of the parish. Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn were sumptuously entertained here for ten days, in 1539. The clothing business formerly flourished in the town, but has been long discontinued, and there is at present no particular branch of trade. The market is on Saturday; and fairs are held on Easter-Monday, August 15th, and the Monday before December 21st, for cattle and pigs. The corporation, now merely nominal, consists of a mayor and twelve aldermen, with a sergeant-at-mace and two constables. The powers of the county debt-court of Thornbury, established in 1847, extend over part of the registration-district of Thornbury. A hundred court for the recovery of debts under 40s. occurs once in three weeks, on Thursday; and a court of record for pleas to any amount, for the honour of Gloucester, takes place every three weeks, on Tuesday. The parish comprises 10,508 acres, of which 179 are common or waste land.

The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £25. 15. 10., and in the gift of the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford: the great tithes have been commuted for £450, and the vicarial for £621; the impropriate glebe contains 1½ acre, and the vicarial 3 acres. The church is a spacious and handsome cruciform structure, principally in the later English style, with a lofty tower ornamented by open-worked battlements and eight pinnacles; the north and south doors are of much earlier date. At Falfield and Oldbury are chapels of ease, and at Rangeworthy a separate incumbency. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans. A free grammar school was established and endowed in 1648 by William Edwards, and its funds having been augmented, the income is now £57. Another free school, instituted in 1729 by means of a bequest of £500 from John Atwells, and endowed with certain lands in 1789, possesses a revenue of £70 per annum. The poor-law union of Thornbury comprises 21 parishes or places, and contains a population of 16,466.

Thornbury

THORNBURY, a parish, in the union of Bromyard, hundred of Broxash, county of Hereford, 4¼ miles (N. N. W.) from Bromyard; containing, with the hamlet of Netherwood, 227 inhabitants; and consisting of 1437 acres, but with an extra-parochial place of a similar name, of 2029 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 8.; net income, £183; patron, W. L. Childe, Esq. Wall Hill camp, in the parish, has a triple intrenchment, almost perfect, and is supposed to be a work of the ancient Britons under Caractacus. At Netherwood, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, who was beheaded in 1601, and Roger Mortimer, the last earl of March, were born.

Thornby (St. Helen)

THORNBY (St. Helen), a parish, in the union of Brixworth, hundred of Guilsborough, S. division of the county of Northampton, 3½ miles (S. E. by S.) from Welford; containing 229 inhabitants. This place is named in Domesday book Torneberie. At the Dissolution, the monasteries of Sulby and Pipewell appear to have had lands here; and in the reign of Elizabeth, a part of the property which had belonged to the former institution was granted to Sir Christopher Hatton. The parish comprises about 1200 acres, and is intersected by the road from Northampton to Leicester. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13, and in the gift of the Rev. J. Couchman: the tithes have been commuted for £329, and the glebe contains 48 acres. The poor have 24 acres of common land.

Thorncombe (St. Mary)

THORNCOMBE (St. Mary), a parish, and formerly a market-town, in the union of Axminster, county of Dorset, 6½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Axminster; containing 1425 inhabitants. At Ford, in this parish, an abbey was founded about the year 1141 for monks of the Cistercian order, by Adelicia, daughter of Baldwin de Brioniis, of Normandy. The remains of the foundress were interred here. The institution soon became highly celebrated, and some of the greatest men of the time were connected with it: Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, who flourished in 1184, was at one time a monk here; Devonius, or John of Devonshire, chaplain and confessor to King John, was abbot, and, about 1217, was buried in the conventual church. Dr. Thomas Chard, abbot, surrendered the establishment to Henry VIII. in 1539, when its annual income was estimated at £381. 10. 8½. The remains are considerable, including the entrance tower, the old abbey walls, and various other portions now occupied as a private mansion; the chapel has a groined roof in the early English style, and some arches of late Norman character. Ford Abbey, the seat and estate of the Gwyn family, was sold in Sept. 1846, for £52,650. Jeremy Bentham resided here a few years. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £15. 18. 9., and in the gift of John Bragge, Esq.: the vicarial tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £491. 13., and the glebe contains 48 acres. At Holditch, in the parish, was formerly a church, of which scarcely any remnant exists. A free school was founded by the Rev. Thomas Cooke, in 1734, with a small endowment. A fair is held on Easter-Tuesday.

Thorncote

THORNCOTE, with Brookend and Hatch, a hamlet, in the parish of Northill, poor-law union of Biggleswade, hundred of Wixamtree, county of Bedford, 3¼ miles (N. W.) from Biggleswade; containing 214 inhabitants. Brookend lies on the road from Hitchin to St. Neot's.

Thorndon (All Saints)

THORNDON (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Hartismere, W. division of Suffolk, 3 miles (S. by W.) from Eye; containing 732 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 2651a. 3r. 3p., of which 51 acres are common or waste land. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £24. 11. 10½., and in the gift of the Rev. Thomas Howes: the tithes have been commuted for £705, and the glebe contains 79¾ acres. The church, said to have been built by Robert de Ufford, Earl of Suffolk, in 1358, is chiefly in the later English style, with an embattled tower on the south side. John Bale, Bishop of Ossory, was rector of the parish.

Thorne (St. Nicholas)

THORNE (St. Nicholas), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill, W. riding of York, 29 miles (S. by E.) from York, and 165 (N. by W.) from London; containing 3507 inhabitants. This place is situated on the Bawtry and Selby turnpike-road, upon the verge of the moors, and in Hatfield Chase: the inclosure of the latter tract, comprehending 180,000 acres, was commenced in 1811, and completed in 1824. Henry, Prince of Wales, on his visit to Yorkshire in 1609, was entertained by Roger Portington, Esq., of Tudworth, in the parish, with an aquatic stag-hunt of a novel and extraordinary kind: the party, numbering about 100 persons, embarked in boats; and 500 stags driven out of the woods and grounds where they had been collected on the previous evening, taking to the water, were pursued by the royal party to the lower part of the levels called Thorne Mere. King Charles I., during the civil war, is said to have twice passed the level of Hatfield Chase. On the latter occasion, when travelling from York to Nottingham, he crossed the ferry at Whitgift, proceeded to Goole, and thence advanced along the great bank to Hatfield, where he refreshed himself at an alehouse. The fenny parts of Hatfield Chase, which is supposed to have been formerly a forest, from the number of fossil-trees discovered in it, were drained in the reign of this king with great perseverance and skill, at an expense of £400,000, by Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, who had purchased the estate in order to convert it into good arable and pasture land.

Thorne, which in Leland's time was only a small village with a fort near it, has become a neat and flourishing town; it is lighted with gas, and many of the houses are well built. The scenery throughout the neighbourhood, from the flatness of the ground and its numerous wide drains, resembles that of Flanders and the other Low Countries. The inhabitants carry on a considerable trade in grain, coal, and timber; and a small number of hands are employed in making sacking and ropes, and in weaving. On the east bank of the river Don, about a mile distant, is a quay, where the merchandise is shipped and landed; vessels for the coasting-trade are built, and on being launched at spring tides, are sent down the river to Hull, to be rigged and otherwise completed. A canal from this river to the Trent, called the Stainforth and Keadby canal, by which the trade of the town is greatly promoted, was constructed in 1793; it is 13 miles in length, and joins the Don at Stainforth, about three miles south-west of Thorne. Large quantities of peat are obtained on the moor, and conveyed to the town and other places. The market, originally granted by Richard Cromwell, and renewed by Charles II., is on Wednesday; and fairs, chiefly for horses, cattle, and pedlery, are held on the Monday and Tuesday next after June 11th and October 11th. The powers of the county debt-court of Thorne, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Thorne. The parish comprises 11,900a. 2r. 1p., of which 5300 acres are arable, 2474 pasture, and 3976 barren peatlands; the Waste contains about 7000 acres, and is bounded on the south by the canal, from which it extends northward five miles. A portion of the peat moors in the district has been converted into productive land by the process of "warping." Among the various botanical specimens growing on the moors is the Scheuzeria palustris, a plant of the rush tribe so exceedingly rare as to be found elsewhere in England only upon Lakeby Carr, near Boroughbridge; it was first discovered by Linnæus in Lapland, and on Thorne Waste by Harrison, the Canadian botanist.

The living is a perpetual curacy, with a net income of £100; the patronage and impropriation belong to Lady Coventry, whose tithes have been commuted for £1640. 15. The church, which was erected in the reign of Edward III., is principally in the later English style, with a square tower surmounted by pinnacles. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Unitarians. Two charity schools are established, one of which was endowed with land by William Brook, in 1705, for the instruction of ten boys, and has an annual income of about £118. The other was founded in 1706, by Henry Travis, who bequeathed estates now producing £338 per annum, for the endowment of schools at this place, Hatfield, and Wroot in Lincolnshire: the master of the school here has an income of £80. The poor-law union comprises thirteen places, the greater number of which are in Lincolnshire, and contains a population of 15,316: the workhouse cost £3000. The Rev. Abraham de la Pryme, F. R. S., the antiquary and historian, was for some time minister of Thorne; he died in 1704, at the early age of 34.

Thorne-Falcon (Holy Cross)

THORNE-FALCON (Holy Cross), a parish, in the union of Taunton, hundred of North Curry, W. division of Somerset, 3½ miles (E. by S.) from Taunton; containing 266 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £14. 10., and in the gift of J. Batten, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £140, and the glebe comprises 73 acres.

Thorner (St. Peter)

THORNER (St. Peter), a parish, in the Lower division of the wapentake of Skyrack, W. riding of York; containing, with the townships of Scarcroft and Shadwell, 1426 inhabitants, of whom 930 are in Thorner township, 7 miles (N. E.) from Leeds. The parish comprises 4400 acres of land, mostly the property of Edward Jowitt, Esq., and the Earl of Mexborough, who is lord of the manor. The soil is various; the substratum abounds with limestone, of which great quantities are burnt into lime, and with flagstone and slates, which are also extensively quarried. The surface is boldly varied, and the scenery in some parts picturesque: Eltofts, the seat of Mr. Jowitt, is a handsome residence. The village, situated on the Tadcaster road, consists of one long street; some few of its inhabitants are employed in weaving bed-ticking, for the Knaresborough trade. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 3. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £143; impropriator, the Earl of Mexborough. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1777; the glebe comprises 60 acres. The church is in the later English style, with a square embattled tower: in the churchyard is the grave of John Philips, who lived to the advanced age of 118 years. At Shadwell is a separate incumbency. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; also a school erected by subscription in 1787, and endowed with 14 acres of land, the income from which is £15. 10. In the neighbourhood is a fine spring of water called Sykes's Well.

Thornes

THORNES, an ecclesiastical district, in the township of Alverthorpe, parish and union of Wakefield, Lower division of the wapentake of Agbrigg, W. riding of York, 1 mile (S. by W.) from Wakefield. The surface is boldly undulated, rising into hills of considerable eminence. Low Hill, or Law Hill, appears to have been of some importance; its height is equal to that of Sandall Castle in the neighbourhood, and most probably it was crowned with a battery for protecting the pass here of the river Calder. Several cannon-balls have been found at different times near this mound, which in ancient times might have been raised for a signal station communicating on the east with Castleford, and on the west with Almondbury. The village is pleasantly situated and neatly built. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in spinning worsted; in the woollen manufacture, connected with which are several large dyeing establishments; and in malting. The church, dedicated to St. James, was erected in 1830, at an expense of £2038; it is a neat structure of the Doric order, with a cupola, and contains 570 sittings, of which 250 are free. The living is a perpetual curacy; patron, the Vicar of Wakefield; net income, £150. The glebe-house was erected in 1841, at an expense of £1500, the proceeds of Royal Bounty and private donations.

Thorney (St. Helen)

THORNEY (St. Helen), a parish, in the union, and N. division of the wapentake, of Newark, S. division of the county of Nottingham, 14 miles (N. N. E.) from Newark; containing 342 inhabitants, This is the extreme parish in the tongue of land in Nottinghamshire which runs into Lincolnshire. It comprises, with the hamlets of Wiggesley and Broadholme, 3931a. 8p.; the soil of the higher grounds is clayey, but in the lower parts sandy and poor. The Fosse-Dyke canal, running from the Trent to the Witham, passes for a short distance along the northern boundary of the parish. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 7. 6., and in the gift of C. Neville, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £70, and the glebe contains about 112 acres. The church is ancient, and has a piscina in the southern wall of the chancel; the southern door is Norman, and the nave is separated from the aisle by Norman arches.

Thorney

THORNEY, a hamlet, in the parish of KingsburyEpiscopi, union of Langport, E. division of the hundred of Kingsbury, W. division of Somerset; containing 83 inhabitants.

Thorney-Abbey, (St. Botolph)

THORNEY-ABBEY, (St. Botolph), a market-town and parish, in the hundred of Wisbech, Isle of Ely, county of Cambridge, 7 miles (N. E. by E.) from Peterborough, and 86 (N.) from London; containing 2159 inhabitants. This place derived its original name of Ankeridge from a monastery for hermits, or anchorites, founded here in 662 by Saxulphus, abbot of Peterborough, who became its first prior. The buildings were destroyed by the Danes, and the site lay waste until 972, when Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester, established upon it a Benedictine abbey in honour of the Virgin, which became so opulent that, at the Dissolution, its revenue was valued at £508. 12. 5. Of this abbey, which was a mitred one, the only remains are, portions of the parochial church, a gateway, and some fragments of the old walls. The town is situated on the road from Wisbech to Peterborough, and possesses a canal navigation to the river Nene. The market, granted in 1638, is on Thursday; fairs are held on July 1st and September 21st, for horses and cattle, and on Whit-Monday is a pleasure-fair. Upwards of 3000 sheep are sent annually from the district to the London market. The petty-sessions are held here. A literary society was established in 1823. The living is a donative, in the patronage of the Duke of Bedford, the impropriator; net income, £220. The church, originally the nave of the conventual church, was built about 1128, and is in the Norman style, with portions in the later English: in the churchyard are several tombs of French refugees, of whom a colony settled here about the middle of the 16th century, being employed by the Earl of Bedford in draining the fens.

Thorney, West

THORNEY, WEST, a parish, in the union of West Bourne, hundred of Bosham, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex, 7½ miles (W. by S.) from Chichester; containing 128 inhabitants. This place, called also Thorney Island, is situated nearly in the centre of the great estuary termed Chichester harbour, and communicates with the small port of Emsworth, on the main land, by a causeway passable at low water for horses and carriages. It comprises about 1500 acres of arable, meadow, and pasture land; the soil is rich, and highly favourable for the production of wheat. About a furlong to the south is Pilsey Island, comprising 18 acres, within the parish, and which has for many years been the resort of almost every species of wild-fowl that frequents the English Channel. By an act in 1812, about 960 acres of open land were inclosed, of which one-fifth part of arable and one-eighth of pasture were allotted to the rector in lieu of tithes, besides the old glebe, which amounts to about 48 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 8. 4.; net income, £330; patron, P. Lyne, Esq. The church is an ancient edifice, chiefly in the early English style, with a fine Norman tower at the west end; the chancel is separated from the nave by a screen and rood-loft. The interior was wholly restored in 1839, chiefly at the expense of the Rev. C. P. Lyne, rector. On the exterior of the north wall are three large circular arches, now stopped up, evidently part of an aisle or chantry chapel, supposed to have belonged to a religious house near the church, the remains of which are now incorporated in a farmhouse. Cædmon, a celebrated Saxon poet, was born here in 660.

Thorneyburn

THORNEYBURN, a parish, in the union of Bellingham, N. W. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland; containing, with the township of West Tarset, 359 inhabitants, of whom 186 are in Thorneyburn township, 24 miles (N. W. by N.) from Hexham. This place, which is one of the five new parishes until lately forming part of the extensive parish of Simonburn, is a wild and mountainous district, extending from the North Tyne river to Redesdale, and bounded on the east by the Tarset burn. If comprises 20,133a. 13p., of which about 518 acres are arable, 68 woodland, and the remainder meadow and pasture: the surface is hilly, the soil on the low grounds sandy; and coal is obtained. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 5., and in the gift of the Governors of Greenwich Hospital, who in 1818, at the expense of £4000, erected the church, a neat structure situated in a field formerly called Draper Croft: a good rectory-house has also been built. The tithes have been commuted for £200, and the glebe contains 20 acres.

Thornford (St. Mary Magdalene)

THORNFORD (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union and hundred of Sherborne, Sherborne division of Dorset, 3 miles (S. W.) from Sherborne; containing 394 inhabitants, and comprising 1300 acres. The road from Sherborne to Evershot runs through the parish. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 17. 3.; net income, £200; patron, Earl Digby: the glebe contains about 28 acres, with a house. The church was anciently a chapel dependent on Sherborne Abbey. The Wesleyans have a place of worship.

Thorngrafton

THORNGRAFTON, a township, in the parish and union of Haltwhistle, W. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 5 miles (E. by N.) from Haltwhistle; containing 272 inhabitants. The township is bounded on the south by the river Tyne, on the west by Bardon burn, to Craig lough, and on the north by the Roman Wall. It comprises 2891 acres, of which 1710 are common or waste. The surface rises gradually from the Tyne; and the highlands, with five fine lakes in the vicinity, render the prospects in many places varied and beautiful: the soil is rather gravelly, and produces good barley and turnip crops. The common, which contained about 1500 acres, was inclosed pursuant to an act passed in 1793. A small land-sale colliery is in operation; and there are excellent limestone and freestone quarries, from which latter large blocks were taken for the Newcastle and Carlisle railway, in the immediate vicinity. Chesters-Holme, a beautiful cottage-ornee, situated at the western verge of the township, in a lovely and sequestered spot, on the Chinely burn, was built in 1832 by the late Rev. Anthony Hedley, a friend of Sir Walter Scott's, and well known in the county as an antiquary and a scholar. It stands on the margin of a stream dashing over a rocky bed, and at the foot of Barkham, a high and steep hill covered with black heath, and which ranges west to east behind the long and straggling hamlet of Thorngrafton. On the top of this hill is a lofty pillar, commanding extensive views of the Tyne vale, Ridley, and the Roman Wall. In the township is House Steads, the site of the remarkable Roman station Borcovicus, near which the Wall passed. It occupies the brow of a rocky eminence, on whose western declivity are several terraces, one above another; the area of the fort, on the north side, is level, but on the south exhibits vast and confused heaps of ruins. In the neighbourhood are foundations of houses, and traces of streets, squares, baths, &c., extending over several acres, and to the distance of two miles and a half. On Chapel Hill, a little to the south, are the remains of a temple of the Doric order, among which have been discovered altars, sepulchral inscriptions, and curiously-carved figures in relief. Near House Steads is a place of worship for Independents.