Bampton - Bardsea

Bampton (St. Michael)

BAMPTON (St. Michael), a market-town and parish, in the union of Tiverton, hundred of Bampton, Collumpton and N. divisions of Devon, 21 miles (N. by E.) from Exeter, and 162 (W. by S.) from London; containing 2049 inhabitants. Bampton is supposed by Bishop Gibson to have been the Beamdune of the Saxon Chronicle, where, in 614, the Britons were defeated with great slaughter by Cynegils, King of the West Saxons. Other antiquaries, referring this event to Bindon in Dorset, derive its ancient names Bathermtown and Bathrumpton from the river Batherm, which flows into the Exe, about one mile and a quarter below the town; and thence, by contraction, deduce the present name. The parish contains between 7000 and 8000 acres: the surface is marked by numerous hills formed of limestone; the soil runs through several varieties, and is liable, especially in the valleys, to inundations from the rivers Exe and Batherm. The town is pleasantly situated in a vale; the houses are irregularly built of stone, and amply supplied with water. The principal branch of manufacture is that of serge: limestone is obtained in large quantities, and of excellent quality. The market is on Wednesday: fairs are held on Whit-Tuesday and the last Thursday in October; and on the Wednesday before Lady-day and the last Thursday in November are two large markets, both of which are well attended. At the fairs and great markets a large number of sheep are sold, which, from the excellence of the pastures, are remarkable for size and flavour. A portreeve, two constables, and other officers, are appointed annually by the lord of the manor. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £20; net income, £118; patron, E. Rendell, Esq.; impropriator, Charles Chichester, Esq., whose tithes have been commuted for £720: the vicar has a glebe of two acres. The church is a spacious structure in the early English style, containing several monuments to the earls of Bath. At Petton, four miles distant from the church, is a chapel, in which divine service is performed every Sunday; at Shillingford are the ruins of an old chapel. There is a place of worship for Particular Baptists. In the town is a spring strongly impregnated with iron. The site of an ancient castle erected in 1336, by a member of the family of Cogan, is still discernible on a mount. John de Bampton, a Carmelite monk, and the first who read Aristotle publicly at Cambridge, was a native of the town.

Bampton (St. Mary)

BAMPTON (St. Mary), a town and parish, in the union of Witney, hundred of Bampton, county of Oxford, 16 miles (W. by S.) from Oxford, and 70 (W. N. W.) from London; comprising the hamlets of Aston, Brighthampton, Chimney, Lew, and Weald, the chapelry of Shifford, and the township of Bampton; and containing 2734 inhabitants, of whom 778 are in the township. This place, called by the Saxons Bemtune, was a town of some importance during the heptarchy, and for a considerable period afterwards: in the reign of Edward the Confessor it was annexed to the diocese of Exeter, by Leofric, chaplain to that monarch, and first bishop of the see. It is bounded on the south by the river Isis, on which are some convenient wharfs: the houses are neatly built, and the inhabitants are plentifully supplied with water, which springs through a gravelly soil. There are a subscription library and a newsroom. A considerable trade was formerly carried on in leather, but it has greatly declined. A fair is held on the 26th and 27th of August, the former day being for the sale of horses. Bampton has two divisions for the transaction of its civil affairs, the one called the eastern and the other the western; the justices in petty-sessions for the former division meet at Witney, and for the latter at Burford, and courts leet of the joint proprietors of the manor are held, at which constables and other officers are appointed. A town-hall has been erected in the market-place by subscription.

The living is a vicarage, in three portions, each valued in the king's books at £10. 0. 10., and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter: net income of the first portion, £544; of the second, £492; and of the third, £510. The tithes, with certain exceptions, were commuted in 1812, for land and cornrents. The church is a spacious cruciform structure, partly Norman, and partly in the early English style, with a massive square embattled tower surmounted by an octagonal spire; the Norman doorway leading into the south transept, and the semi-porch and western entrance, in the early English style, are fine specimens, and the interior of the belfry, which is in its original state and perfectly entire, is a beautiful specimen of Norman decoration. There are chapels of ease at Shifford, Lew, and Aston. The free school was founded in 1635, by Robert Vesey, of Chimney, who endowed it with £200, which, with subsequent benefactions, was laid out in the purchase of eight acres of land, now let for £28 per annum: in 1784, £400 stock was given for the instruction of ten additional scholars. There are slight remains of a castle supposed to have been erected in the reign of John, and of a quadrangular form, with towers at the angles, and bastions at the entrance on the east and west sides. A field called Kinsey is supposed to have been originally the "King's Way." Phillips, the author of the "Splendid Shilling," a poem on Cider, &c., was born here in 1676.

Bampton (St. Patrick)

BAMPTON (St. Patrick), a parish, in West ward and union, county of Westmorland, 9 miles (S.) from Penrith; containing, with part of Mardale chapelry, 579 inhabitants. This parish comprises by measurement 3720 acres, and is intersected by the river Lowther. Here is a beautiful lake, called Hawsewater, about three miles long, and half a mile broad, its head being environed by an assemblage of lofty mountains, its eastern side sheltered by well-planted rocky eminences, and its western bordered by cultivated fields. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 5., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £101. The impropriate tithes belong to the Earl of Lonsdale and the trustees of the free grammar school, of whom the former has £164, and the latter £54. 8.; the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £19. 16. The church was rebuilt on the site of the former, in 1726: the vicarage-house was rebuilt also, about the same period, by Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London. The free school was founded in 1627, by Thomas Sutton, D.D., who vested in trustees the sum of £500, collected in the parish of St. Saviour, Southwark, and other places, with which a portion of the rectorial tithes of Bampton was purchased. A school at Roughill was established by Edmund Noble, and endowed with £9. 15. 10. per annum; and in 1723 Richard Wright founded a school at Measand, which is endowed with property producing £50 per annum. Here are also three parochial libraries, established respectively in 1710, 1750, and 1757, and comprising in the aggregate upwards of 800 volumes. Thomas Gibson, M.D., (who married the daughter of Richard Cromwell, son of the Protector,) physician-general to the army, and author of a System of Anatomy, was a native of High Knipe, in the parish; where also was born, in 1669, his nephew, Edmund Gibson, D.D., Bishop of London, and editor of two improved editions of Camden's Britannia, and other learned works.

Bampton, Kirk (St. Peter)

BAMPTON, KIRK (St. Peter), a parish, in Cumberland ward, E. division of Cumberland, 6½ miles (W.) from Carlisle; comprising the townships of KirkBampton, Little Bampton, and Oughterby; and containing 536 inhabitants, of whom 193 are in the township of Kirk-Bampton. This parish is of oblong form, much greater in extent from east to west than from north to south. In the east is the village of KirkBampton, a little to the south-west of which lies Oughterby, and in the west is Little Bampton township. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £14. 17. 10.; net income, £100; patrons, alternately, the Earl of Lonsdale and Sir Wastell Brisco, Bart. There are two chalybeate springs, one of them discovered in 1826, near Fingland Rigg; the other, called Toddel Well, has been long known.

Bampton, Little

BAMPTON, LITTLE, a township, in the parish of Kirk-Bampton, Cumberland ward, E. division of Cumberland, 5 miles (N. by E.) from Wigton; containing 212 inhabitants. The tithes have been commuted for £58. 6. 6. payable to the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle, and £66. 13. 6. to the rector. The river Wampool flows at a short distance from the western boundary of the township.

Banbury (St. Mary)

BANBURY (St. Mary), a borough, market-town, and parish, and the head of a union, chiefly in the hundred of Banbury, county of Oxford, but partly in that of King's-Sutton, S. division of the county of Northampton, 22 miles (N.) from Oxford, and 69 (N. W.) from London; containing, with the township of Neithrop and the hamlets of Grimsbury and Nethercote, 7366 inhabitants. This place, called by the Saxons Banesbyrig, is supposed to have been occupied by the Romans, which opinion is corroborated by the discovery of Roman coins and an altar, the latter relic having been preserved under an archway in front of an inn, until about the year 1775: there is also, in a field near the south entrance to the town, a sort of amphitheatre, now called "the Bear Garden," presenting two rows of seats cut in the side of a hill, and of very ancient date. About the year 1135, a castle was built here by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, who, when taken prisoner by King Stephen, was compelled to resign this, with Newark and other fortresses which he had erected. It was afterwards restored to the see, and long continued to be one of the residences of the bishops, but in the first of Edward VI. was resigned to the crown: it is described by Leland, in the reign of Henry VIII., as "a castle having two wards, and each ward a ditch; in the outer is a terrible prison for convict men; in the north part of the inner ward is a fair piece of new building of stone." During the war between the houses of York and Lancaster, the neighbourhood was the scene of a sanguinary conflict, in 1469. between a vast body of insurgents from the north (said to have been privately encouraged by the Earl of Warwick) and the army of Edward IV., commanded by the Earl of Pembroke, who had been joined by Lord Stafford with about 5000 men. The armies met on a plain called Danesmoor, near Edgcot, five miles from Banbury; and a conflict ensued, somewhat advantageous to the insurgents. In the evening, the king's forces having retired to Banbury, a quarrel took place between Pembroke and Stafford respecting quarters at the inn; in consequence of which, Lord Stafford quitted the town with his followers, and left Pembroke alone to meet the enemy (who had encamped on a hill near the town) on the following day. In the battle which ensued the royal army was defeated, with the loss of 4000 men; and the gallant Pembroke and his brother, Sir Richard Herbert, being taken prisoners, were on the next day beheaded at this place, together with ten other gentlemen of the king's party.

At the commencement of the civil war of the seventeenth century, the inhabitants espoused the cause of the parliament with so much zeal as to give occasion to the mirth and raillery of some writers of that and subsequent periods. The castle was at first garrisoned for the parliament, but was surrendered to the king in the week following the battle of Edge Hill, Oct. 1642; it withstood a slight siege from the parliamentarians in 1643, and a very severe one in 1644. After the affair at Cropredy-Bridge, three miles to the north, on the 29th of June in that year, the siege was pressed with the utmost vigour; Col. John Fiennes, a son of Lord Saye, having brought to the assistance of the besieging party all the disposable forces from Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. A breach being effected, an assault was made on Sept. 23rd, but without success. At length, on Oct. 25th, the Earl of Northampton, having defeated the parliamentary cavalry on the south side of the town, was enabled to relieve the garrison, after the siege had continued thirteen weeks, and when the defenders had eaten all their horses except two: the defence was conducted by Sir William Compton. In 1646 the castle was again besieged, by Col. Whalley, who encamped before it ten weeks; and the king having now joined the Scottish army, and further resistance being useless, the garrison capitulated on honourable terms. Of this once massive fortress the only vestige is a part of one of the walls, on which a cottage has been erected, and the site is now occupied by fruitful gardens.

The town is pleasantly situated in a fertile valley, on the banks of the small river Cherwell, which separates this county from Northamptonshire; it formerly consisted of old streets irregularly built, but has been greatly improved under an act passed in the 6th of George IV. for paving, lighting, and watching the borough. The shops are excellent, the streets for the most part wide and airy, and the footpaths well paved: the carriage ways are macadamized with a durable kind of ironstone brought from the border of Leicestershire; the streets are lighted with gas, and the supply of water is generally abundant. A subscription library and mechanics' institute have been established. The manufacture of plush, shag, and girth-webbing was formerly carried on to a considerable extent, but has of late somewhat declined. Banbury was noted for a peculiar kind of cheese, but has long since lost this distinction; its cakes, however, still enjoy great and deserved celebrity. The Oxford canal passes close to the town, communicating with all parts of the kingdom, and affording facility for every kind of trade; and the Oxford and Rugby railway, commenced in 1846, runs close to Banbury, on the east side. The market is on Thursday, and, from the situation of the town in a fertile and populous agricultural district, is much frequented. Fairs are held on the first Thursday after Old Twelfth-day and the three preceding days (which fair is celebrated for the trade in horses), the third Thursdays in Feb., March, and April, Holy-Thursday, the third Thursdays in June, July (for cattle and wool), August, and Sept., the Thursday after Old Michaelmas (which is also a statute-fair for the hiring of servants), the third Thursday after Old Michaelmas, the third Thursday in Nov., and the second Thursday before Christmas.

The inhabitants were originally incorporated in 1554, by Queen Mary, who granted them a charter, in consideration of services rendered in the suppression of the Duke of Northumberland's rebellion upon her accession to the throne. A second was bestowed by James I. in 1609; and in 1718, George I. conferred the charter by which, until the passing of the Municipal Reform act, the borough was governed. The corporation, since the passing of the act, has consisted of a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors, and the number of burgesses is about 350: a commission of the peace has been issued to four justices, who hold a court of petty-session every Monday; and a court of general sessions and gaol delivery is held by the recorder, four times in the year. A court of record, which had fallen into disuse, was revived in 1833, and is regularly held for determining all kinds of civil causes to the amount of £40. The powers of the county debt-court of Banbury, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Banbury. The elective franchise was granted in the reign of Mary, from which period the borough has continued to return one member to parliament; the mayor is the returning officer. The borough for municipal purposes comprises 300 acres, but for the election of the member is co-extensive with the parish, and contains 4182 acres. The town-hall is a modern brick building, and there is a gaol for the borough, in which a tread-mill has been erected.

The parish comprises a considerable tract of land under tillage, and some portions of grazing and meadow; the surface is partly hilly, and the soil a rich loam, well cultivated. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £22. 0. 2., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Oxford: it is endowed with 43 acres of land in the parish of Shutford, and 4 acres in Warkworth, Northamptonshire, together with a modus in lieu of small tithes; the value of the whole being about £90 a year, which amount has been nearly doubled by the aid of Queen Anne's Bounty, and partial help from private sources. The church was erected pursuant to an act obtained in 1790, under which the old church, a noble cruciform edifice, and a beautiful specimen of the pointed style, was taken down: it is a spacious building, with galleries all round; and the view of the interior, with its numerous columns, and its lofty ceiling in the form of a dome, is very imposing, but externally the edifice has a heavy and inelegant appearance. A district called South Banbury was formed under the act 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37, of a portion of the parish, in 1846: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Crown and the Bishop alternately. There are places of worship for Calvinists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, Presbyterians, and others; and a handsome and commodious Roman Catholic chapel recently erected. A Blue-coat school, established by subscription in 1705, and endowed with property to the amount of £80 per annum, was amalgamated in 1817, with a national school formed in that year. The poor law union of Banbury comprises 51 parishes and places, of which one is in the county of Gloucester, 7 are in Northampton and Warwick respectively, and 36 in Oxford, the whole containing a population of 28,482. An hospital dedicated to St. John stood near the entrance to the town from Oxford, the remains of which, consisting of the outer walls, have been incorporated in a private residence; and in the township of Grimsbury, near the foot of Banbury bridge, another charitable foundation, for leprous brethren, was anciently situated, the site of which is still called "the Spital farm." Among the natural curiosities are many species of petrifactions; and the surrounding district is rich in native botany.

Banham (St. Mary)

BANHAM (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Guilt-Cross, W. division of Norfolk, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Attleborough; containing 1165 inhabitants. It comprises about 4000 acres of rich loamy land, belonging to various proprietors: the village is situated on a gentle eminence. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 3. 6½., and in the patronage of the Crown, with a net income of £800: the glebe comprises 34 acres. The church, a large handsome building with a square tower surmounted by a wooden spire, was founded by Sir Hugh Bardolp, Knt., whose effigy is in a chapel belonging to the church, and some trifling remains of whose family seat are still visible in the parish. There are places of worship for Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. About 150 acres of fen land were awarded for the benefit of the poor, at the inclosure.

Bank Newton

BANK NEWTON, a township, in the parish of Gargrave, union of Skipton, E. division of the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, W. riding of York, 6 miles (W.) from Skipton; containing 129 inhabitants. This township, which is situated in the western portion of the parish, comprises by computation 2280 acres, all in meadow and pasture; some of the inclosures are among the largest in the district of Craven.

Banks, Lancashire.—See Crossens.

BANKS, Lancashire.—See Crossens.

Banks-Fee, or South-Field

BANKS-FEE, or South-Field, a hamlet, in the parish of Longborough, union of Stow-on-the-Wold, Upper division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 1½ mile (N. by W.) from Stow. The small tithes have been commuted for £125.

Banningham (St. Botolph)

BANNINGHAM (St. Botolph), a parish, in the union of Aylsham, hundred of South Erpingham, E. division of Norfolk, 2 miles (N. E.) from Aylsham; containing 329 inhabitants. The parish comprises about 1000 acres of land, of which the surface is flat, and the soil a strong loam on brick earth. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 15. 10., and in the gift of S. Bignold, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £375, and the glebe consists of 18 acres. The church is in the decorated and later English styles, with a lofty embattled tower. There is a place of worship for Primitive Methodists.

Bannister-Hall

BANNISTER-HALL, a hamlet, in the chapelry of Walton-le-Dale, parish, and Lower division of the hundred, of Blackburn, union of Preston, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 4 miles (S. E.) from Preston. It is situated on the river Darwen. The soil is various, but very good, the surface level, and the scenery picturesque and beautiful. Here are the extensive printworks of Messrs. Charles Swainson and Co., remarkable for producing the finest chintz work, wrought by blocks; this establishment was commenced about 1770, and employs 300 hands. Iron, salt, and magnesia are obtained in the hamlet. Frenchwood, near Preston, close to which is the confluence of the Darwen and the Ribble, is the residence of Mr. Swainson. There is a mineral spring.

Banstead (All Saints)

BANSTEAD (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Epsom, First division of the hundred of Copthorne, W. division of Surrey, 3½ miles (E. S. E.) from Epsom; containing 1168 inhabitants. It is situated on high ground, on the chalk hill which stretches into Kent; and comprises 5463 acres, chiefly in pasture: 1375 acres are common or waste. Banstead Downs are remarkable for their verdure; and the fine pasturage they afford to numerous flocks of sheep has long rendered the excellence of Banstead mutton proverbial: a considerable portion of them has, however, been brought under tillage of late years. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued in the king's books at £13. 8. 7½.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. W. L. Buckle. The great tithes, belonging to the Rev. Mr. Buckle and R. Hudson, Esq., have been commuted for £393, the vicarial for £300, and a rent-charge of £201. 5. 9. is payable to the trustees of Newport grammar school; the glebe consists of 6½ acres. The church is built of flints, and consists of a nave, aisles, and chancel, with a tower surmounted by a lofty spire. There is a place of worship for dissenters in the hamlet of Tadworth.

Banwell (St. Andrew)

BANWELL (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Axbridge, hundred of Winterstoke, E. division of Somerset, 5 miles (N. N. W.) from Axbridge; containing 1819 inhabitants. The manor has been in the possession of the bishops of Bath and Wells since the time of Edward the Confessor, with the exception of the short reign of Edward VI.; one of them built an episcopal palace here, the remains of which, in the early part of the last century, were converted into a private residence, called Banwell Court. The park was subsequently divided into inclosures, which were assigned on lease for lives. Some of the leases, however, were lately bought up, and the ground disposed in a tasteful manner, by forming plantations, with drives conducting to pleasing and richly variegated prospects. The late Bishop Law, also, in 1827, erected a cottage ornée for his own accommodation, and that of the numerous visiters which the discovery of two caverns in the rock, one denominated the Bone, and the other the Stalactite cavern, has attracted hither. The parish comprises by measurement 5000 acres of land, of which the soil is fertile, and the substrata abound in mineral varieties; limestone and blue lias are quarried, and lead, iron, and copper ore were formerly worked to a very great extent. The manufacture of paper is carried on, affording employment to about 80 persons. The village is pleasantly situated under the Mendip Hills, in a vale watered by a copious stream issuing from a spring formerly in repute for medicinal properties, and from which the place is supposed to have taken its name. A fair for fat-cattle is held on the 18th of January. The Bristol and Exeter railway passes through the parish, in which a station has been established. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £26. 6. 0½.; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Bristol: their tithes have been commuted for £225, and the vicarial for £702. The church is a fine specimen of the later English style, and contains a richly carved screen and rood-loft, a finely sculptured stone pulpit, and windows of stained glass. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A monastery was founded at Banwell by one of the early Saxon kings, to the abbacy of which Alfred the Great appointed Asser, his subsequent biographer: it was entirely demolished in the Danish irruptions; and although restored, it never recovered its former splendour, and fell to decay several years before the general suppression of religious houses. The summit of a neighbouring eminence is crowned by a British earthwork, inclosing within its irregular rampart an area of about twenty acres; and about a quarter of a mile from this is an intrenchment nearly square, in the centre of which the ground is elevated in the form of a cross.

Bapchild (St Lawrence)

BAPCHILD (St Lawrence), a parish, in the union and hundred of Milton, Upper division of the lathe of Scray, E. division of Kent, 1¼ mile (E. S. E.) from Sittingbourne; containing 338 inhabitants. Ecclesiastical councils were held here during the heptarchy, in commemoration of one of which, convened under Archbishop Brightwald in 794, an oratory or chapel was erected, of which there are still some remains. The parish comprises 1058 acres, whereof 94 are in wood. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Chichester. The great tithes have been commuted for £435. 5., and the vicarial for £165. 5. 6.; the appropriate glebe consists of 5 acres, and the vicarial of 1½ acre. The church is principally in the early English style, with modern insertions, and has a shingled tower.

Bapton

BAPTON, a tything, in the parish of Fishertonde-la-Mere, union of Wilton, hundred of Warminster, though locally in the hundred of Dunworth, Warminster and S. divisions of Wilts, 6 miles (N. by E.) from Hindon; containing 143 inhabitants.

Barbon

BARBON, a chapelry, in the parish of KirkbyLonsdale, union of Kendal, Lonsdale ward, county of Westmorland, 4 miles (N. N. E.) from KirkbyLonsdale; containing 315 inhabitants. The township comprises 4204 acres, of which 1960 are common or waste; the soil is light and gravelly, and its surface undulated, rising to the summit of Barbon Fell. Peat is in abundance, and there is a small vein of coal. The North-Western railway runs through the chapelry. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £90; patron, the Vicar of Kirkby-Lonsdale. The chapel, and a schoolroom adjoining it, were built by subscription, in 1815; the school has a small endowment, bequeathed by John Garnett, in the year 1721.

Barby (St. Mary)

BARBY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Rugby, hundred of Fawsley, S. division of the county of Northampton, 6 miles (N. N. W.) from Daventry; containing, with Onely, 640 inhabitants. This parish, which is bounded by Warwickshire on the north-west and partly on the south, comprises by measurement 3353 acres, nearly all pasture; it is intersected by the Oxford canal, and situated near the London and Birmingham railway. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £30. 2. 11.; net income, £894; patrons, the Trustees of the Rev. C. Williams. "Barby Town Lands" consist of property left for charitable uses, and vested in feoffees; part of it comprises eight cottages and an acre and a half of garden-ground, valued together at £37 per annum, which is applied in aid of a school.

Barcheston (St. Martin)

BARCHESTON (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Shipston-on-Stour, Brails division of the hundred of Kington, S. division of the county of Warwick, ½ a mile (E. S. E.) from Shipston; containing, with the hamlet of Willington, 193 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8.; net income, £193; patron and incumbent, the Rev. G. D. Wheeler.

Barcombe (St. Mary)

BARCOMBE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Chailey, hundred of Barcombe, rape of Lewes, E. division of Sussex, 4 miles (N. by E.) from Lewes; containing 1028 inhabitants. It comprises 3106 acres, whereof 305 are common or waste; and is bounded on the east by the river Ouse, on which is a flour-mill that has existed since the Conquest, and has been for more than a century in the possession of the family of Mr. Russell Gray, who has also established an extensive oilmill at an expense of £10,000. Sandstone of good quality is quarried for building purposes. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18. 10. 10.; net income, £719; patron, the Crown. The church is an ancient edifice in the early English style, with later additions. A chapel was built at Spithurst in 1841, by subscription.

Barden

BARDEN, a township, in the parish of Haukswell, union of Leyburn, wapentake of Hang-West, N. riding of York, 5½ miles (S. by W.) from Richmond; containing 111 inhabitants. It is a high moorland township, comprising by computation 1330 acres, and includes the small hamlet of Barden Dykes. The village is situated on an acclivity; and the road from Richmond to Leyburn passes on the west of it, at a distance of about two miles.

Barden

BARDEN, a township, in the chapelry of BoltonAbbey, parish and union of Skipton, E. division of the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, W. riding of York, 6 miles (N. E. by N.) from Skipton; containing 212 inhabitants. This township, which is situated in the vale of the river Wharfe, comprises by computation 7000 acres, and includes the high moorland district of Barden Park, which rises in lofty acclivities from the western side of the valley. Near the river are the remains of Barden Tower, formerly one of the six lodges of the forest-keepers, and subsequently enlarged and converted into an occasional residence of the Clifford family. Not far from these remains is a chapel in which the incumbent of Bolton-Abbey officiates.

Bardfield, Great (St. Mary)

BARDFIELD, GREAT (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Dunmow, hundred of Freshwell, N. division of Essex, 4½ miles (E. by S.) from Thaxted; containing 1120 inhabitants. This parish, which comprises 3670 acres, is separated on the north from the hundred of Hinckford by the river Pant, or Blackwater. The manor was granted by Henry VIII. to his queen, Anne of Cleves, and after her decease became the property of the family of Lumley, from whom it passed to others; it was finally sold to the governors of Guy's Hospital, London. The village, which was formerly a markettown, and is still of considerable extent, is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, rising from the bank of a stream tributary to the Blackwater. A fair is held on the 22nd of June; and the petty-sessions for the hundred are held here on alternate Mondays. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11, and in the gift of devisees in trust of the late W. C. Key, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for rent-charges of £262. 11. and £445, the former payable to the incumbent, and the latter to the governors of Guy's Hospital. The church is an ancient structure of stone, with a square tower surmounted by a lofty spire of wood covered with lead, and consists of a nave, north and south aisles, and a chancel. A chantry was founded in it by William Bendlow, serjeant-at-law, in 1556.

Bardfield, Little (St. Catherine)

BARDFIELD, LITTLE (St. Catherine), a parish, in the union of Dunmow, hundred of Freshwell, N. division of Essex, 3 miles (E.) from Thaxted; containing 375 inhabitants. This parish, which comprises 1654a. 2r. 33p., and is finely situated in a fertile and well-cultivated district, was granted in the reign of Edward III. to the abbey of St. John in Colchester. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11, and in the patronage of the Rev. Mordaunt Barnard: the tithes have been commuted for £465, and there are 63 acres of glebe, with a handsome parsonagehouse. The church is a small ancient edifice, with a low tower, and contains some monuments to the Walford family. A school, now conducted on the national plan, was endowed in 1774, with £18 per annum, by Sarah Barnard, who also endowed an almshouse for five widows.

Bardfield-Saling (St. Margaret)

BARDFIELD-SALING (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Dunmow, hundred of Freshwell, N. division of Essex, 5¾ miles (N. E.) from Dunmow; containing 381 inhabitants, and comprising about 1100 acres. The living is a donative; net income, £75; patron, W. Sandel, Esq.; impropriator, J. M. Raikes, Esq. It was returned in the reign of Henry VIII. as a chantry, and granted to Henry Needham, by whom it was conveyed to George Maxey, but it was recovered by suit in chancery, on condition of his being allowed to appoint the chaplain.

Bardney (St. Lawrence)

BARDNEY (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the W. division of the wapentake of Wraggoe, parts of Lindsey, union and county of Lincoln, 10 miles (W.) from Horncastle; containing, with the hamlet of Southrow, 1192 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 5019 acres, of which 1711 are arable, 2500 pasture, and 808 woodland. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7; net income, £60; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Lincoln, whose tithes have been commuted for £280, exclusively of Southrow. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A free grammar school was founded in 1711 by Thomas Kitchen, who endowed it for the benefit of the children of Bardney, Bucknall, and Tupholm, with a salary of £35 per annum for the master, together with a house and garden. There is also an almshouse for fourteen widowers and widows. A monastery here, in which Ethelred, King of Mercia, became a monk in 704, was destroyed by the Danes in 870; and, about the period of the Conquest, was restored for a society of Benedictine monks, by Gilbert de Gaunt, Earl of Lincoln: the revenue, at the Dissolution, amounted to £429. 7.

Bardon-Park

BARDON-PARK, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Market-Bosworth, hundred of Sparkenhoe, S. division of the county of Leicester, 9½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Leicester; containing 63 inhabitants. This place comprises about 1200 acres of land. Bardon hill is the highest and most conspicuous elevation in the county, and is 853 feet above the level of the sea: a greater extent of surface is visible from its summit than from any equal altitude in the kingdom, chiefly owing to its central situation and the absence of any contiguous hills by which the range of view might be obstructed. Upwards of 5000 square miles, or 3,000,000 of acres, may be seen, it is said, from this summit.

Bardsea

BARDSEA, a township, in the parish of Urswick, union of Ulverston, hundred of Lonsdale north of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 3 miles (S. by E.) from Ulverston; containing 263 inhabitants. Here are several malt-kilns, and in the neighbourhood is a copper-mine. A school is endowed with a rent-charge of £8.