Toseland - Toynton, Low

Toseland (St. Mary)

TOSELAND (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of St. Neot's, hundred of Toseland, county of Huntingdon, 4¾ miles (E. N. E.) from St. Neot's; containing 204 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1353 acres. The soil is chiefly a strong clay, producing good wheat; the surface, though flat, is elevated, and the surrounding scenery is pleasing. The living is annexed, with that of Little Paxton, to the vicarage of Great Paxton: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1811.

Tosside, or Tosset

TOSSIDE, or Tosset, an extra-parochial township and chapelry, in the union of Settle, wapentake of Staincliffe West, W. riding of York, 7½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Settle; containing 120 inhabitants. The chapel, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, is a neat edifice: the living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £50; patron, the Vicar of Gisburn.

Tosson, Great, with Rye-Hill

TOSSON, GREAT, with Rye-Hill, a township, in the parish and union of Rothbury, W. division of Coquetdale ward, N. division of Northumberland, 2 miles (W. S. W.) from Rothbury; containing 178 inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in the manufacture of woollen-cloth, and at limestone-quarries in the neighbourhood. It comprises 2760 acres, of which 1829 are common or waste land. The village, formerly, a considerable place, is situated at the foot of the lofty Simonside hills, on the northern extremity of which is a British encampment. A rent-charge of £204 has been awarded as a commutation for the tithes.

Tosson, Little

TOSSON, LITTLE, a township, in the parish and union of Rothbury, W. division of Coquetdale ward, N. division of Northumberland, 2½ miles (W. S. W.) from Rothbury; containing 31 inhabitants. It stands pleasantly on rising ground, about a mile south-west from Rye-Hill. The Coquet river runs on the north, and is shortly joined by the Lorbottle burn: the Simonside hills stretch out in the southern direction. The tithes have been commuted for £38. 18.

Tostock (St. Andrew)

TOSTOCK (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Stow, hundred of Thedwastry, W. division of Suffolk, 7 miles (E.) from Bury St. Edmund's; containing 367 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Bury to Ipswich, and comprises about 1000 acres of land. The soil is of a mixed quality, but mostly fertile; gravel abounds. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 8. 6½.; income, £250; patron, the Rev. W. Gilbert Tuck. The church contains some richly-carved benches for free seats, which have been much defaced, probably by Cromwell's agents during the interregnum. Here was an ancient mansion, the residence of Lords North and Grey.

Totham, Great (St. Peter)

TOTHAM, GREAT (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Thurstable, N. division of Essex, 3 miles (N. N. E.) from Maldon; containing 786 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2679 acres, of which 150 are common or waste; the surface is generally much elevated, and some parts are supposed to be the highest land in the county. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10; patrons and impropriators, the Trustees of the late W. P. Honey wood, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £700, and the small for £178: the vicar has a glebe of two acres. The church contains several ancient monuments.

Totham, Little (All Saints)

TOTHAM, LITTLE (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Thurstable, N. division of Essex, 3½ miles (N. E.) from Maldon; containing 384 inhabitants. This parish is on the shore of Blackwater bay, and comprises 1200 acres, of which 200 are common or waste; the situation is low and uninviting, and the soil light and gravelly. Some salt-works are carried on in a creek of the Blackwater. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the Rev. Thomas Leigh: the tithes have been commuted for £366, and the glebe comprises 6 acres. The church is a small ancient edifice, with a tower of flint and stone, surmounted by a spire.

Tothill (St. Mary)

TOTHILL (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Louth, Marsh division of the hundred of Calceworth, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 5¼ miles (N. W. by N.) from Alford; containing 73 inhabitants. This place is said to take its name from a very high round hill in the parish, called Toote Hill. It comprises by admeasurement 845 acres, 160 of which are woodland; the road from Louth to Alford runs along the eastern part, and a fine trout stream on the west. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 17.; net income, £173; patron, Lord Willoughby de Broke: the glebe contains 64 acres. The church was erected about 60 years since.

Totley

TOTLEY, a hamlet, in the parish of Dronfield, union of Ecclesall-Bierlow, hundred of Scarsdale, N. division of the county of Derby, 3 miles (S. S. W.) from Sheffield; containing 408 inhabitants. The hamlet comprises 1884 acres, of which 1276 are or were common land; the old inclosures are diversified with wood, and the pasture is of fine quality. Stone is largely quarried for the repair of roads and for common fences; a thin coal is wrought, and there are two brick-kilns, clay suitable for bricks abounding in the neighbourhood. In the hamlet are two or three grinding-wheels for scythes, and a few persons are employed in making sawhandles and in file-cutting. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £22, and the vicarial for £3. 3. A school built in 1827 by D'Ewes Coke, Esq., is endowed with about £15 per annum.

Totnes (St. Mary)

TOTNES (St. Mary), a borough, market-town, and parish, having separate jurisdiction, and the head of a union, locally in the hundred of Coleridge, Stanborough and Coleridge, and S. divisions of Devon, 24 miles (S. S. W.) from Exeter, and 196 (W. S. W.) from London; the parish containing 3849 inhabitants. It is variously denominated in ancient records. In Domesday book it is called Totneis; Camden speaks of it as having once been Totonese; and Risdon refers to it under the name of Toutaness, by contraction Totnes or Totness. The latter author accedes to the opinion of Leland, who imagines the name to be a modernisation of Dodonesse, signifying a rocky town, its situation rendering this supposition probable. The antiquity of the place is attested by Venerable Bede, who describes it as the station where the British troops assembled under Ambrosius and Pendragon, prior to their successful attack upon the tyrant Vortigern. The manor of Great Totnes, having been a royal demesne in the time of the Confessor, was bestowed by William I. upon Judhel, one of his nobles, who took the title "de Totneis," and erected a castle at the north-western extremity of the town. It is probable that Totnes was fortified at a very early period, having, according to Risdon, received alteration under the Romans, Saxons, and Danes. Of the present town, which is divided into the Higher, Middle, and Lower quarters, the Middle quarter was included within the ancient boundary wall, in which were three gateways, viz., the East, West, and North. According to the Norman survey, Totnes was rated whenever Exeter was, and if there was any expedition by land or water, Totnes, Barnstaple, and Lidford, paid as much as Exeter: in that record it is described as containing ninety-five burgesses within the borough, and fifteen without. During the civil war of the 17th century, the place became the temporary station of General Goring; and Fairfax subsequently halted here, on his way to and from Dartmouth.

The town is neatly built, and of highly respectable appearance, containing many good shops and substantial residences, and occupying a situation of much beauty and salubrity, on the river Dart, over which is a handsome bridge of three arches, completed in 1828 at an expense of about £12,000. It consists chiefly of one long street descending from Bridgetown, in the parish of Berry-Pomeroy, on the east, to the bridge, from which the street rises gradually in a western direction till it reaches a considerable elevation near the site of the castle. This street is crossed midway by the East gateway belonging to the old fortifications, and many of the fronts of the houses beyond are supported by pillars, affording a spacious covered way for foot passengers. The inhabitants are well supplied with water. The general aspect of the place, from the bridge, is picturesque, the church tower appearing on the right of the ascent, and the ivied ruins of the castle crowning the hill. The surrounding country, particularly as viewed from the castle and the hills, is extremely fine; the course of the Dart between Totnes and its influx into the Channel is through diversified and interesting scenery. There are two libraries, a small theatre, and an assembly-room; and races are held in the month of July or August, on a good course.

Totnes has been noted for its serge manufacture, and some weaving is still carried on, but the trade is upon the decline. Vessels of 100 tons' burthen could formerly come up to the quay during spring tides only, but the river has lately been deepened at an expense of £8000, by which means they can approach at all times of the tide, a convenience that much facilitates the commercial intercourse with London and Plymouth. Salmon are caught in great quantities in the Dart, and the town is also plentifully supplied with other kinds of fish. Cider is the chief article of exportation: coal, groin, and culm (the last mostly used for the burning of lime, which abounds in the neighbourhood), are the principal imports. A steam-packet and several other boats proceed daily to Dartmouth. In 1844 an act was passed for a railway from Exeter, by Totnes, to Plymouth. A cus tomary market is held on Saturday: there is a great cattle-market, which is one of the best in the west of England, on the first Tuesday in every month; and fairs for cattle take place on May 12th and October 28th. An act was passed in 1845 for improving the markets, and for better supplying the town with water.

The burgesses obtained a charter of privileges from King John, which was confirmed by Edward I., in whose time, it is understood, Totnes first sent members to parliament; and Queen Elizabeth granted a charter in the 30th year of her reign. The corporation at present consists of a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, under the act 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76; the municipal boundaries have been made co-extensive with those for parliamentary purposes; the mayor and late mayor are justices of the peace, and the total number of magistrates is seven. The town sends two representatives to parliament, elected by the £10 householders of the parish of Totnes and the manor of Bridgetown, which, by the act 2nd and 3rd of William IV., cap. 64, were constituted the new borough, comprising 1162 acres and a population of about 4500: the mayor is returning officer. There are a guildhall and chamber, and a town prison. The corporation claim many privileges, such as freedom from quayage and wharfage throughout the whole kingdom except the port of London, and exemption from serving on juries except in the borough, for all inhabitants of the parish, whether members of the corporation or not. The powers of the county debt-court of Totnes, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Totnes.

The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12. 8. 9., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £150; impropriator, the Duke of Somerset. The church, which has been enlarged, is in the later English style, with an embattled tower surmounted by octagonal pinnacles. It is composed of a red stone strongly resembling brick, and contains an elegant stone screen, with the remains of an ancient rood-loft and steps; a curious stone pulpit, enriched with tracery; a handsome altar-piece; and a library, in which are many old and valuable books. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans, and a Roman Catholic chapel at Follaton. A grammar school was founded in 1554, and endowed in 1658 with lands now worth £70 a year by Sir John Maynard, trustee of Elizeus Hele, who left considerable property for charitable purposes. A charity school is endowed with about £40 per annum, and a diocesan commercial school has been formed. There was formerly a lazarhouse, the remains of which were incorporated in an edifice fitted up in 1832 for the reception of cholera patients, and now inhabited by some poor people. The union of Totnes comprises 28 parishes or places, containing a population of 34,126. Of Totnes Castle little remains except the embattled walls of a circular keep, occupying the summit of a lofty mound at the western extremity of the town, and commanding a delightful prospect, in which the windings of the Dart are prominently conspicuous: near them is the ruin of a gateway, through which the ancient town was entered on the north. Several religious foundations are mentioned as formerly existing at or near Totnes, the principal of which, endowed by Judhel de Totneis, was of the Benedictine order, dedicated to St. Mary, and formed an appendage to an abbey at Angiers; the site is occupied by a dwelling-house called the Priory. There are some remains of an ancient chapel; and Leland mentions a Roman fosse-way, commencing in the vicinity. Crystallised rhomboidal carbonate of lime has been found on grey limestone in the Peto quarry, about three miles west of the town, north of the Plymouth road. Dr. Philip Furneaux, a nonconformist divine; Benjamin Kennicott, a learned biblical critic, who was in early life master of the charity school; and Edward Lye, a celebrated lexicographer, were natives of Totnes.

Toton

TOTON, a hamlet, in the parish of Attenborough, union of Shardlow, S. division of the wapentake of Broxtow, N. division of the county of Nottingham, 5¾ miles (S. W. by W.) from Nottingham; containing 140 inhabitants.

Tottenham (All Saints)

TOTTENHAM (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Edmonton, county of Middlesex, 4 miles (N. by E.) from London; containing 8584 inhabitants. This place, written in Domesday book Toteham, and now sometimes called Tottenham High Cross, is a genteel village, consisting chiefly of one long street formed by houses irregularly arranged, on the road from London to Cambridge. It is lighted with gas, and well supplied with water from several fountains produced by boring. The immediate vicinity is adorned with numerous villas. Near Tottenham Green, a cross has stood for a long period: the present structure, superseding the original one of wood, is an octagonal brick column, erected in 1600 by Dean Wood, and repaired and decorated with various new architectural features, in 1809, by subscription. At the entrance of Page Green, on the east side of the high road, is a remarkable circular clump of elm-trees called the Seven Sisters, in the centre of which was formerly a walnut-tree, that, according to tradition, never increased in size, though it continued annually to bear leaves: these trees appear to have been at their full growth in 1631, but no authentic account of their being planted is extant. Within a short distance from the road is Bruce Castle, a mansion built in the seventeenth century, on the site of a castellated edifice erected in the reign of Henry VIII., and honoured in the year 1516 with the presence of that monarch, who came hither to meet his sister, Margaret, Queen of Scots. In 1578, Elizabeth also visited it. A still more ancient structure on the same site was the residence and property of Robert de Bruce, father of Robert, King of Scotland. The present building has been converted into a school, and a detached brick tower, which covers a deep well, is the only vestige of the castle built in the reign of Henry. In the parish is a well of water similar in its properties to that at Cheltenham; also a spring called Lady's Well, of reputed efficacy for disorders in the eyes, and of which the water, it is said, never freezes. There are extensive flour and oil mills, the former established time immemorially, a pottery for coarse brown ware, and a brewery; and near the entrance of the village, on an ancient stream now called the Moselle, are the works of the London Caoutchouc Company, for the manufacture of India-rubber solution, and for making tie-bands, ropes, cables, webs, and various other articles to which the use of India-rubber has been appropriated. The navigable river Lea passes by the parish, and the Eastern Counties railway has a station here. The parish comprises 4402 acres, of which 90 are common or waste.

The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, London: the great tithes have been commuted for £863, and the small for £800; the appropriate glebe consists of 90 acres, and the vicarial of nine. The church stands about a quarter of a mile west of the high road, and is in the later English style, with a square embattled and ivy-mantled tower: on the summit was a lofty wooden cross (whence, according to some, the adjunct to the name of the village), which was destroyed during the civil war. On the south side of the church is a large brick porch, erected prior to 1500. At the east end of the north aisle is a vestry of circular form surmounted by a dome, erected in 1696 by Lord Henry Coleraine, and repaired in 1790, underneath which is the family vault. The east window, divided into eight compartments, and containing representations of the Evangelists and some of the Prophets in fine old painted glass, was given to the parish in 1807, by J. Eardley Wilmot, Esq.; the font is of great antiquity, and many old monuments adorn the interior, of which one in white marble, to the family of Sir Robert Barkham, is worthy of especial notice. The building was repaired in 1816, at an expense of £3000. A district church dedicated to the Holy Trinity, in the later English style, with turrets at each angle, and pinnacles over the aisles, was erected in 1829 on Tottenham Green, by aid of the Parliamentary Commissioners and by subscription: the living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £309; patron, the Vicar. A church was consecrated at Wood-Green in October 1844; it is in the early English style, and has accommodation for 200 persons. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics.

The grammar school, founded by means of a bequest from Nicholas Reynardson, alderman of London, in 1685, was endowed in the following year by Sarah, Duchess Dowager of Somerset, with £250 for enlarging the buildings, and £1100 for extending the benefits of the institution. Almshouses for four men and four women were endowed about 1600, with a small rentcharge, by Balthasar Sanches, pastry-cook to Philip of Spain (with whom he came over to this country), and the first who exercised that trade in London. An almshouse for six men and six women, with a chapel in the centre, was endowed with £2000 by Nicholas Reynardson. The Fishmongers' and Poulterers' almshouses, Wood-Green, were commenced in June 1847, Lord Morpeth laying the first stone. Some almshouses on the high road are occupied by four women, chosen by the parishioners; and there is a savings' bank in the parish, one of the first established in England.

Tottenhill (St. Botolph)

TOTTENHILL (St. Botolph), a parish, in the union of Downham, hundred of Clackclose, W. division of Norfolk, 6 miles (N. N. E.) from Downham; containing 426 inhabitants. It comprises 1463 acres, tithe-free; about 10 of which are woodland. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £62; patron, the Bishop of Ely. The church is chiefly in the early English style, with a square embattled tower, and a richly-decorated Norman doorway on the south. The poor have 16 acres of land, let for £50 per annum; and two small commons.

Totteridge (St. Andrew)

TOTTERIDGE (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Barnet, hundred of Broadwater, though locally in the hundred of Cashio, or liberty of St. Alban's, county of Hertford, 2 miles (S. by W.) from Barnet; containing 469 inhabitants. The parish is on the border of Middlesex, and comprises 1591a. 3r. 33p., most of which is grass-land; 39 acres are common or waste. The living is annexed to the rectory of Bishop's-Hatfield: the tithes have been commuted for £345, and the glebe contains 7 acres. The church, which was rebuilt in 1798, has a latticed square tower, with a spire. There is a place of worship for Independents.

Totternhoe (St. Giles)

TOTTERNHOE (St. Giles), a parish, in the union of Luton, hundred of Manshead, county of Bedford, 2 miles (W. S. W.) from Dunstable; containing 656 inhabitants. It comprises 1775 acres, of which 321 are common or waste. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10, and in the patronage of the Trustees of the Earl of Bridgewater, to whom, with Trinity College, Cambridge, the impropriation belongs. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £133, those of the college for £135, those of the trustees for £300, and those of the incumbent of Eaton-Bray for £15; the vicar has a glebe of 6 acres, and the minister of Eaton-Bray one of 4 acres. On the north side of the church passes the Roman Ikeneld-street, skirting the downs, upon which are the remains of Totternhoe Castle, overhanging the village of Stanbridge; the keep-mount is lofty, and encompassed by a circular fosse within another that is square, the latter inclosing the entire breadth of the ridge. Near this fortification is an ancient quadrangular camp; and eastward are extensive quarries of freestone and limestone, below which, at a great depth, is a bed of clay.

Tottington (St. Andrew)

TOTTINGTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union and hundred of Wayland, W. division of Norfolk, 3¾ miles (S. S. W.) from Watton; containing 340 inhabitants. It comprises 2206 acres, including 150 of plantations; the soil is light and sandy, and liable to be drifted by the wind. The river Wissey rises here. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 14. 9½.; net income, £89; patrons and impropriators, the Trustees of Chigwell free schools. The church is chiefly in the decorated and later English styles, with a square embattled tower; the nave is separated from the chancel by a beautifully carved screen, and the seats, which are open, are elaborately worked. At the inclosure in the year 1774, 60 acres were allotted to the poor.

Tottington Higher-End

TOTTINGTON HIGHER-END, a township, in the parish of Bury, union of Haslingden, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 5 miles (N.) from Bury, on the road to Haslingden and Burnley; containing 3446 inhabitants. The township is bounded on the west by the river Irwell, which separates it from the township of Tottington Lower-End. It comprises 3686 acres, of which 794 are uninclosed; and includes the chapelry of Edenfield, which see.

Tottington Lower-End

TOTTINGTON LOWER-END, a township, in the parish and union of Bury, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 3 miles (N. W. by W.) from Bury; containing 9929 inhabitants, of whom 5445 are in the Upper division. The royal manor of Tottington was the successive possession of the houses of Lincoln and Lancaster. It was given to General Monk, Duke of Albemarle, for his services in restoring the Stuarts to the throne; and afterwards passed to the family of the Duke of Buccleuch, in which the Albemarle estates vested. The lords of the manor had anciently the power of imprisoning and executing criminals; and near the court-house is an eminence still called Gallows-hill. The township comprises 5038 acres, whereof 749 are moorland; and extends seven miles from north to south: the surface in the higher parts is mountainous and wild; the soil in the valleys is good, and the air pure and salubrious. Several small mines of coal suitable for steamengines are in operation, and some stone-quarries are also wrought. There are several extensive establishments connected with the cotton manufacture: among them are, the Calico Print Works, built in 1812, on the site of an ancient royal corn-mill, employing 400 hands, the property of Joshua Knowles, Esq., of Stormer-Hill House, a magistrate of the county; the Kirk-Lees printworks, belonging to Messrs. Hall and Gorton; the printworks of Mr. William Sudron; and the Leemans-Hill works. A fair is held on October 12th, for hornedcattle, horses, and pigs. The East-Lancashire railway runs on the east side of the township, passing through a large tunnel to Nuttall Mill, belonging to Messrs. Grant. The Roman Watling-street forms the boundary on the west side.

A part of the township has been formed into an ecclesiastical district, of which the boundary on the north is Holcombe Brook, on the south the township of Elton, and on the west Bradshaw and Quarlton: the population included within it is about 4000. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rector of Bury; net income, £150, with a house. The church, dedicated to St. Ann, was built in 1799, and is a neat stone structure, with a bell-tower, and having a gallery and organ. The tithes of the township have been commuted for £62. 5., divided between the rectors of Bury and Prestwich. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. Thomas Nuttall in 1715 built a school and endowed it with £3 per annum, which endowment was increased with £9 per annum by Peter Barron in 1773. The Rev. Dr. Wood, Dean of Ely, and principal of St. John's College, Cambridge, a distinguished mathematician, was a native of Lower Tottington.—See Holcombe and Ramsbottom.

Toulston

TOULSTON, a township, in the parish of NewtonKyme, Upper division of the wapentake of BarkstoneAsh, W. riding of York, 2¾ miles (W. by N.) from Tadcaster; containing 74 inhabitants.

Towcester (St. Lawrence)

TOWCESTER (St. Lawrence), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Towcester, S. division of the county of Northampton, 8½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Northampton, and 60 (N. W.) from London; containing 2749 inhabitants. This place, which in Domesday book is written Tovecestre, "a city, or fortified spot, on the river Tove," is considered to have been a Roman station, from the discovery of numerous coins on an artificial mount north-eastward of the town, called Berrymont Hill, and in many of the gardens and homesteads. On the north-west side are some remains of a fosse, and the ruins of a tower supposed to be Saxon. The Watling-street passed along the site of the town, and some antiquaries have thought that the station of Lactodorum should be placed here, in preference to Stony-Stratford. During the Saxon era, the town appears to have been well defended, and to have offered a protracted and effectual resistance to the Danes: about the year 921, a mandate was issued by Edward for rebuilding and fortifying it, and it was surrounded by a stone wall, of which some vestiges are yet discernible. In the reign of Henry VI., a college and chantry were founded here by William Sponne, Archdeacon of Norfolk, the revenue of which at the Dissolution was valued at £19. 6. 8. per annum.

The town stands on the river Tove, and consists principally of one. long street, composed of well-built houses, and paved under the direction of the trustees of Archdeacon Sponne, who devised the Tabart inn, and certain lands producing about £150 per annum, for that purpose. The inhabitants are well supplied with water. The manufactures comprise bobbin-lace, boots, and shoes; and some advantages were formerly derived from the situation of the town on the great Holyhead road, which was traversed daily by as many as forty public coaches previously to the establishment of railways: this road is now, however, nearly deserted, and not more than one or two stages pass through. The Blisworth station of the London and Birmingham railway is distant about four miles. The market is on Tuesday: fairs are held on Shrove-Tuesday, May 12th, and October 29th, for cattle; and on October 10th is a statute-fair for hiring servants. The powers of the county debtcourt of Towcester, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Towcester, and part of that of Potters-Pury. A manorial court takes place at Michaelmas, at which constables are chosen. The parish, including the hamlets of Caldicott, Handley, and WoodBurcott, comprises 3368a. 1r. 13p. The surface of the country is gently undulated; the soil for the most part a heavy loam, resting, near the town, on gravel: oolite is found in beds of considerable size. The scenery is pleasing, and enriched with stately trees and -fertile meadows on the banks of the Tove, the view being bounded on the south-west by Whittlebury Forest, a few miles distant.

The living is a discharged vicarage; net income, £250, with a glebe-house; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Lichfield: the tithes were commuted for land and money payments in 1762. The church is a very handsome structure, consisting of a nave, chancel, north and south aisles, and south porch, with a tower; the chancel is in the decorated style, the nave in the early English. To one of the pillars are attached two small Norman columns. The outer walls and the windows are of the later English style: the present tower, which is very massive, and contains six bells, was built in the time of Edward IV. In the church is a monument of Archdeacon Sponne, who held the living. Among the earlier incumbents was Pope Boniface VIII., at the time of his promotion to the pontificate, in 1294. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans. The grammar school was founded in 1552, by the trustees of Sponne's charity, who, on the dissolution of the college and chantry, purchased and converted them to this use; the income is £57. Three almshouses were founded and endowed in 1695, by Thomas Bickerstaff and others; and there are a few other bequests. The poor-law union of Towcester comprises 23 parishes or places, containing a population of 12,537. In the vicinity is a petrifying spring. Sir Richard Empson, proprietor of the manor, and a celebrated lawyer, who was promoted to the chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster in the time of Henry VII., and beheaded on Tower-hill in the succeeding reign, in the year 1509, was the son of a sieve-maker in this town. Near the Tove, north of the town, anciently stood an hospital for lepers.

Towednack (St. Twinnock)

TOWEDNACK (St. Twinnock), a parish, in the union of Penzance, W. division of the hundred of Penwith and of the county of Cornwall, 3 miles (S. W. by W.) from St. Ives; containing 967 inhabitants. It comprises 2800 acres, of which 1060 are common or waste land. The mine called Wheal Durla is situated here; and in various parts are vast rocks of fine granite. The living is a vicarage, annexed to that of Uny-Lelant: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £118, and the vicarial for £150. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists.

Tower-Hamlets

TOWER-HAMLETS, one of the newly-enfranchised metropolitan boroughs; comprising the Liberty of the Tower, and the Tower division of the hundred of Ossulstone; and forming the eastern part of the suburbs. The borough includes an area of 3954 acres, and is bounded on the east by the river Lea. It returns two members to parliament; the number of voters is 13,551, and the chief bailiffs of the liberty are the returning officers.—See London, Bethnal-Green, Hackney, Shoreditch, &c.

Towersey (St. Catherine)

TOWERSEY (St. Catherine), a parish, in the union of Thame, hundred of Ashendon, county of Buckingham, 2¼ miles (E. S. E.) from Thame; containing 413 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, in the gift of the Slater family, lately separated from the living of Thame. The tithes were commuted for land, cornrents, and money payments in 1822.

Towngreen

TOWNGREEN, a township, in the parish of Wymondham, incorporation and hundred of Forehoe, E. division of Norfolk; containing 808 inhabitants.

Townstall, Devon.—See Dartmouth.

TOWNSTALL, Devon.—See Dartmouth.

Towthorpe

TOWTHORPE, a township, in the parish of Wharram-Percy, union of Driffield, wapentake of Buckrose, E. riding of York, 9 miles (W. N. W.) from Driffield; containing 50 inhabitants. This place is said to have formerly had a village that was destroyed by fire, and to have been the seat of the ancient family of Ughtred. It comprises by computation about 1790 acres of land, set out in two farms.

Towthorpe

TOWTHORPE, a township, in the union of York, partly in the parish of Strensall, and partly in that of Huntington, wapentake of Bulmer, N. riding of York, 5 miles (N. by E.) from York; containing, in the latter portion, 67 inhabitants. It is situated on the Foss, and comprises 1050 acres; the village is on the east side of the river, a short distance from its bank.

Towton

TOWTON, a township, in the parish of Saxton, Upper division of the wapentake of Barkstone-Ash, W. riding of York, 3 miles (S.) from Tadcaster; containing 146 inhabitants. This is memorable as the scene of the celebrated engagement between the forces of the Yorkists and Lancastrians, which took place on Towton field, on Palm-Sunday, 1461, and is one of the most important battles in the annals of that calamitous period of intestine war. It lasted from nine in the morning till seven in the evening, and ended in the defeat of the latter. In this sanguinary conflict, it is recorded, 110,000 Englishmen were engaged, of whom 36,776 were slain. The township comprises nearly 1400 acres, chiefly the property of Lord Hawke, who is lord of the manor; the lands are fertile, and in good cultivation. Towton Hall, an ancient mansion, was repaired and beautified about the year 1790.

Toxteth-Park

TOXTETH-PARK, an extra-parochial district, in the union and hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire; forming the south or south-eastern suburb of the town of Liverpool; and containing in 1841, 41,295 inhabitants, and in 1846, an estimated population of 59,185. Toxteth is called in Domesday book Stochestede, which orthography preserves the obvious etymology Tochtath, "the woody place." It was successively occupied by Saxon proprietors named Bernulf and Stainulf, and was among the territories granted by Roger de Poictou to his castellan at Liverpool, the ancestor of the Molyneux family. In the reign of Edward I. Toxteth was held by the crown, and soon afterwards by the earls of Lancaster. In the 22nd of Edward III., Sir Thomas Stanley, who became chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, was appointed keeper of the Park; and in the 20th of Henry VIII., Sir Thomas Butler was invested with the office of chief forester, for life. The Park, as parcel of the duchy, was granted in 1593 to Henry, Earl of Derby, on whose death it reverted to the crown, which had not yet parted with the full possession. In the 2nd of James I.'s reign, Toxteth, then well wooded, was disforested, and about the same time was granted to Ralph Willey and Thomas Dodd, citizens of London, who immediately afterwards conveyed it to Richard Molyneux. This personage was created a baronet in 1611, and his family was subsequently raised to the peerage, obtaining the title of Viscount Molyneux in the year 1628, and that of Earl of Sefton in 1771.

No place in the suburbs of Liverpool has advanced so rapidly within the last few years, as this township. So recently as 1770 it was entirely composed of farms: about one-third is now covered with buildings and formed into streets, while another third is occupied with ornamental grounds, and studded with the villas and mansions of Liverpool merchants; the remaining third is chiefly pasture land, and the whole is remarkable for the purity of its air. The township comprises 2400 acres, and includes that part of Liverpool called Harrington: this portion of the estate was sold for building by the Molyueux family, by whom other portions also have been disposed of. The extreme southern part of the Dock accommodation of Liverpool; some large sawmills; and other works, are included in Toxteth, but will be found described under the head of Liverpool.

The Prince's Park, in Toxteth (the public park of Liverpool), is a great ornament to the district, for which the inhabitants are indebted to the philanthropy of Richard Vaughan Yates, Esq. That gentleman, desirous of forming a park that should be adapted both as a site for mansions for the wealthier inhabitants, and as a place of recreation for the public, purchased a tract of land for the purpose from the Earl of Sefton. About one-half of the hundred acres so obtained was set apart for ornament, and the remainder, around it, was laid out in building lots for villas and terraces, in such a way as that one house should not intercept the view of another; the sites commanding beautiful prospects of the Mersey, with the Cheshire shore and the hills beyond, and having the park with its rising plantations as a foreground. The terraces and villas, also, according to the plan, are to have gardens, adding to the beauty of the whole. A large piece of water has been formed in the centre, with two ornamental islands in it. On one side of this is a spacious garden, reserved, for the most part, for the inhabitants of the houses in the park, who have thus the advantage of retired walks. It is elegantly arranged, containing a choice collection of shrubs, pines, and scarce plants, each labelled with its name, so as to assist visiters in the study of botany; and the garden is on a sufficiently large scale to allow of considerable beds being occupied with the same flower. Privileged persons may also sail upon the lake, boats being provided on the spot. The ground on the other side of the water, which, with the drives, is open to the public, commands a view of the garden, and is disposed with equal taste.

The Park was laid out under the directions of Mr. Paxton, of Chatsworth; Mr. Pennethorne, surveyor of Her Majesty's Woods and Forests; and Mr. John Stewart and Messrs. A. and G. Williams, architects, of Liverpool. It was completed in about three years, and the total cost was about £73,000, the price of the land being about two-thirds of the amount: the Earl of Sefton, when he sold the land, contributed £1000 towards the formation of the park. As one means of diminishing the expense to the proprietor, many of his friends and of the Liverpool public formed a tontine club, who bought from him land to the amount of five thousand guineas, on which they have erected a terrace of excellent houses. This terrace commands a remarkably fine view, and enjoys the advantages of both town and country, in a manner similar to the terraces in the Regent's Park, in London. Other individuals have taken lots of land; and when the additional buildings are completed, all appearance of the town will be shut out. The remaining ground, it is likely, will ere long attract purchasers.

Toxteth is supposed to have formerly been included in the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill. The following churches are in the extra-parochial district. St. James's church, in Parliament-street, and nearly adjoining St. James' cemetery in Liverpool, was erected in 1774, and has a neat painted window, inserted in 1847. Attached to it is a district containing a population of 20,000: the living is in the patronage of the Rector of Walton; net income, about £200. St. Michael's church, built in 1816, at a cost of £8000, is a handsome structure in the early English style, with a tower and pinnacles; the pinnacles, together with the pillars, the tracery, and the arch ribs of the roof, are of cast iron: the interior is very chaste. In this church was erected in 1826, by Holden, the astronomer, a marble tablet to the memory of the illustrious Jeremiah Horrox, who was the first to predict and observe the transit of Venus over the sun's disc, Nov. 24th, 1639. Horrox was born in Toxteth-Park, and died in 1641, aged only 22 years. The living is in the patronage of Trustees; net income, £200. St. John the Baptist's church, Park Place, was built in 1832, at a cost of £6000, and is a cruciform structure with a square tower surmounted by a spire. A defined district is assigned to it, having a population of 10,000: the living is in the gift of John Shaw Leigh, Esq. St. Clement's, Windsor, was built in 1841, at a cost of £3400, and is in the early English style; with a population of 5000 in its district: the living is in the patronage of Trustees. St. Thomas'-in-the-Fields, erected in 1840 by Sir John Gladstone, Bart., the present patron, at a cost of £7000, is also in the early English style, with a square tower surmounted by a tower of octangular shape, with pinnacles: net income of the living, £250. St. Paul's, Prince's Park, was built in 1847-8, at a cost of £8000, and is a noble structure, from the designs of Arthur Hill Holme, Esq.; it is in the later English style, with a tower surmounted by a spire rising 150 feet: the living is in the gift of Trustees. St. Matthew's, in Hill-street, of which the first stone was laid by the Earl of Sefton March 21st, 1848, was erected from designs by John Hay, Esq.; it is in the middle-pointed style, with a tower and spire 147 feet high, and is intended to accommodate 1300 persons. The livings of these churches are all perpetual curacies.

Dingle Chapel, originally episcopal, was rebuilt in 1774 as a Presbyterian place of worship, and was enlarged in 1842: there is a small endowment for the minister. The Independents, Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, Methodists of the New Connexion, Welsh Methodists and Baptists, and other dissenters, have also places of worship, chiefly at Harrington. St. Patrick's Roman Catholic chapel, a handsome building, was erected in 1797, at a cost of £10,000: over the altar is a painting of the Crucifixion, by De Keyser, valued at five hundred guineas. To all the churches are attached excellent schools: the schools at the end of Grafton-street, which are in the early English style, cost more than £2300, and were completed in 1846.

Toynton (All Saints)

TOYNTON (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Spilsby, E. division of the soke of Bolingbroke, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 1½ mile (S.) from Spilsby; containing 483 inhabitants, and comprising 3120 acres. The living is a discharged perpetual curacy, valued in the king's books at £5. 11. 3.; net income, £243; patron and impropriator, Lord Willoughby de Eresby. The tithes of Toynton All Saints and St. Peter were commuted for land and a money payment in 1773. Here is a small Wesleyan place of worship.

Toynton (St. Peter)

TOYNTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Spilsby, E. division of the soke of Bolingbroke, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 2¼ miles (S. by E.) from Spilsby; containing 439 inhabitants. It comprises 1762 acres. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £12. 0. 2.; net income, £199; patron, Lord Willoughby de Eresby. The Wesleyans have a small place of worship here.

Toynton, High (St. John the Baptist)

TOYNTON, HIGH (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union and soke of Horncastle, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 1 mile (E.) from Horncastle; containing 199 inhabitants. It comprises 1037a. lr. 38p., about two-thirds of which are arable, and the rest pasture; the soil is loamy, and the subsoil a white clay. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £80; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Carlisle: the tithes were commuted for land in 1768. The church, which is a very plain structure, was built in 1772. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Toynton, Low (St. Peter)

TOYNTON, LOW (St. Peter), a parish, in the union and soke of Horncastle, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 1½ mile (N. E.) from Horncastle; containing 129 inhabitants. It comprises 1100 acres, two-thirds of which are arable, and the rest pasture; the soil is light, and the subsoil a white clay. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 1. 8.; income, £332; patron, Lord Willoughby de Eresby: the tithes were commuted for land in 1772. The church, rebuilt in 1811, contains about 50 sittings: the font is curiously sculptured.