Marwood - Matlock

Marwood (St. Michael)

MARWOOD (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Barnstaple, hundred of Braunton, Braunton and N. divisions of Devon, 4 miles (N. W.) from Barnstaple; containing 1012 inhabitants. The parish comprises 5403a. 31p., of which 400 acres are woodland, 700 common, and the remainder arable and pasture; the soil is a light loam, resting on schist rock. The surface is pleasingly undulated, and the lower grounds are watered by two small brooks. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £24. 8. 6½.; net income, £328; patrons, the Master and Fellows of St. John's College, Cambridge. The church, a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower, has an ancient wooden screen inscribed with the name of Sir John Beapul. There were formerly two chapels in the parish, one at Patsford, and the other at Whitefield. Judge Littleton is said to have been born at Middle Marwood.

Marwood

MARWOOD, a township, in the parish of Gainford, union of Teesdale, S. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of Durham; containing 224 inhabitants. The township comprises 3679a. 2r. 4p., and is bounded on the south by the river Tees, which separates it from Yorkshire; it is a suburb of the town of Barnard-Castle, a small part of which, together with the ruins of the ancient castle, is within its limits. The soil is fertile in those parts adjoining the river; in other places it is various: there are some slate-quarries in the township. Marwood Park and the liberty of Marwood Chase, with the castle and demesne lands of BarnardCastle, were purchased in the seventeenth century by Sir Henry Vane, who disparked the district in 1626, and whose descendant, the Duke of Cleveland, is the present proprietor. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £155, payable to Trinity College, Cambridge; and the vicarial for £74, payable to the incumbent of Gainford. On an eminence close to BarnardCastle, some vestiges of the ancient town of Marwood, once a considerable place, have been discovered; and near the same place is an old chapel, which has been converted into a farmhouse, but is still called Bede Kirk.

Mary, St., Church

MARY, ST., CHURCH, a parish, in the union of Newton-Abbott, hundred of Haytor, Paignton and S. divisions of Devon, 2 miles (N. W.) from Torbay; containing 1668 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2465 acres, of which 568 are common or waste; it is situated on Babbicombe bay, and is singularly picturesque. There are marble rocks, and some quarries of limestone, the strata of which terminate here. The living is a discharged vicarage, with the perpetual curacy of Coffinswell annexed, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter (the appropriators), and valued in the king's books at £31. 11. The great tithes have been commuted for £305, and the vicarial for £205; the vicar's glebe contains 1¾ acre.

Mary, St., Extra.—See Southampton.

MARY, ST., EXTRA.—See Southampton.

Mary, St., in Arden

MARY, ST., in Arden, a parish, in the union of Harborough, partly in the hundred of Gartree, S. division of the county of Leicester, and partly in the hundred of Rothwell, N. division of the county of Northampton, 1 mile (E.) from Harborough. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford.

Mary, St., in-the-Castle.—See Hastings.

MARY, ST., in-the-Castle.—See Hastings.

Mary-Le-Bone, St.

MARY-LE-BONE, ST., a metropolitan parish, in the Holborn division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex; containing 138, 164 inhabitants. This district, now covered with buildings of the first order, and inhabited by families of the highest rank, was formerly an obscure village, difficult of access, and containing only a few solitary houses, with a small church, approached by two irregular and inconvenient paths leading from Vere-street and Tottenham-Courtroad. The adjoining fields were the lurking-place of robbers; and the church, in Bishop Braybrook's licence for its removal, is described as being exposed to continual depredation on account of its lonely site. From its vicinity to a bourne, called Aye or Eye brook, and from its dedication to the Virgin, the parish was called St. Mary at Bourne. Mary-le-bone Park, now occupied by buildings, was an extensive tract well stocked with deer, in which Queen Elizabeth entertained the Russian ambassador with the diversion of hunting. The ancient manor-house, in which the Harleian library was deposited previously to its removal to the British Museum, has been taken down, with the exception only of that part of the building containing the library, which is now a boarding-school. Behind the manor-house were Maryle-bone Gardens, much frequented as a place of public entertainment in the reign of Anne, but the site of which is now occupied by Beaumont and Devonshire streets. On Conduit mead, the modern Stratford-place, was the banquet-hall used by the mayor and aldermen of the city of London, when they visited the conduits in this part of the parish, which supplied the city with water.

Among the earlier of the numerous and magnificent ranges of building that have been erected in the parish, are, Cavendish, Manchester, and Portman squares; Portland-place, a pile of lofty and commodious mansions, opening at the northern extremity into Park-crescent, and commanding a beautiful view of the Regent's Park, bounded by the Hampstead and Highgate hills; Stratford-place; Cumberland-place; and various other noble ranges; with numerous spacious streets leading from Oxford-street and the Edgware-road. Of more recent additions are, the buildings in Lisson Grove and St. John's Wood, on the west; Osnaburgh street and terrace, and Albany-street, on the east; and on the south, the continuation of Regent-street, the whole of Langham-place, and Park-crescent. Opposite this crescent, on the other side of the New-road, which is bordered by ranges of good houses, are two avenues leading into the Regent's Park, and forming fine lines of building, the eastern of which, including the Diorama, is the only range on that side of the park which is within the parish. To the west are, Ulster, York, Cornwall, Clarence, and Hanover terraces, and Sussex-place; all elegant ranges, mostly of the Corinthian order, and in the Grecian style, with porticoes and columns of handsome design, and having in some instances gracefully formed colonnades.

The park, now open to the public, is tastefully laid out in plantations, lawns, and pleasure-grounds, interspersed with elegant villas embosomed in trees, and varied with beautiful sheets of water, in which are islands of picturesque appearance. The western side commands a fine view of the Colosseum, which has an imposing grandeur of effect; of the terraces on that side of the park which is without the parish; and of the Chapel of St. Katherine's Hospital, and other interesting objects. On the north side are the Zoological Gardens, an extensive tract of ground, arranged for the reception, classification, and exhibition of animals of every description. The Royal Botanic Society have a garden in the inner part of the park, appropriated to plants of different countries, and ornamented with a variety of characteristic buildings; a conservatory within the garden, constructed of iron, in 1846, at a cost of £6000, is called the Winter Garden. A charter of incorporation was lately granted to the society, "for the promotion of botany in all its branches, and its application to medicine, arts, and manufactures."

The streets are well paved, lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water by the West Middlesex and other companies. The Portman barracks, for the guards, in Portman-street, afford accommodation for 500 men, with sufficient ground for drilling them. Portmanmarket, opened as a market for hay in December 1830, and for vegetables and general produce in the following year, occupies a square area of about three acres, and affords accommodation for more than 100 loads of hay: the market-days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. By the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, Mary-lebone, and the parishes of Paddington and St. Pancras, were constituted a borough, with the privilege of sending two members to parliament: the returning officer is annually appointed by the sheriff. The whole parish is within the jurisdiction of the magistrates at the policeoffice, High-street; and one of the county debt-courts established in 1847, is fixed in Mary-le-bone.

The parish is divided into five separate ecclesiastical districts, the livings of which are all rectories not in charge, in the patronage of the Crown: net income of the district attached to the parochial church, £1898; of St. Mary's, Bryanston-square, £915; of All Souls', Langham-place, £1186; of Christ-Church, Staffordstreet, £780; and of Trinity Church, Portland-road, £943. The present Parochial church, built from a design by Mr. Hardwicke, situated on the south side of the New-road, near Nottingham-place, and of which the foundation was laid on July 5th, 1813, is a spacious and handsome structure in the Grecian style, with a noble portico of the Corinthian order supporting a pediment. At the angles of the building are groups of Corinthian pillars, surmounted by a cornice and balustrade; and from the lower part of the tower, which is square, rises a circular turret, surrounded by pillars of the Corinthian order, and surmounted by a dome sustained by caryatides. The expense of building and furnishing the church was nearly £80,000. St. Mary's is a spacious edifice of brick, with a circular portico of the Ionic order, supporting a cornice and close balustrade, from which rises a circular tower, surrounded by pillars of the composite order, and surmounted by a campanile turret and dome; it was erected in 1823, by the Parliamentary Commissioners, from a design by Sir Robert Smirke, at an expense of £18,746. All Souls' was completed in 1824, by grant from the same commissioners, at a cost of £17,633, and is a handsome structure, with a circular range of twelve columns, of the Roman-Ionic order, surrounding the base of the tower. These columns support a cornice and balustrade, and are surmounted by a circular range of Corinthian pillars, from within which rises a spire of graceful form and beautiful proportions, but the effect of which is destroyed by the concealment of the base and a considerable portion of its elevation. The altar-piece is adorned with a fine painting, by Westall, of Christ crowned with Thorns. Christ-Church, Stafford-street, was erected in 1824, by the commissioners, at an expense of £17,872, and is a handsome edifice of brick, ornamented with stone, with a portico of four Ionic columns sustaining a pediment; above is a square tower, the sides of which are decorated with Corinthian pillars supporting an entablature and cornice, the whole surmounted by an open campanile turret and dome. Holy Trinity church, in Portlandroad, was erected in 1827, also by grant from the commissioners, at an expense of £21,525. It is a neat edifice of brick, ornamented with stone, having on each side a range of Ionic pillars supporting a cornice and balustrade, and at the west end an Ionic portico of four columns, above which is a square tower with duplicated Ionic pillars at the angles, surmounted by a small campanile turret surrounded by pillars of the composite order sustaining a conical dome.

The old parochial church, in High-street, is now used as a chapel, forming a separate incumbency in the gift of the Rector; net income, £150. St. John's church, in St. John's Wood, is a handsome structure of brick, with a stone portico of four Ionic columns, supporting a pediment, and surmounted by an open campanile turret: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £312. The Crown also presents to the following chapels: St. Peter's or Oxford chapel, Vere-street, built about the year 1724, the income of which is £450; St. Paul's, Portland-street, built in 1766, the income of which is £350; St. James' or Welbeck chapel, in Westmorland-street, built in 1774, and with a similar income; and Brunswick chapel, in Upper Berkeley-street, built in 1795. St. Paul's or Bentinck chapel, in Chapel-street, Lisson Grove, was built in 1772: the minister is appointed by Trustees. Christ chapel, Maida-hill, in the district of Christ-Church, is a neat and substantial edifice of brick, ornamented with stone, with a campanile turret and dome: the living is a district incumbency, also in the gift of Trustees. All Saints' church, St. John's Wood, consecrated in July 1846, is a handsome edifice in the style which prevailed in the 15th century, built of Kentish ragstone, with Bath-stone dressings, and ornamented with a tower and spire rising 120 feet from the ground: the cost was about £7000. The living is in the gift of Colonel Eyre. St. Andrew's church, Wells-street, erected partly by the Church Commissioners, was begun in January 1846, and consecrated in January 1847, the cost being £8000; it is in the later English style, with a tower and spire 155 feet above the base of the edifice, and contains 1200 sittings. This church is in All Souls' district parish, and has a district annexed to it under the act 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37: the living is in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of London, alternately; income, £150. The church on Hamilton-terrace, situated in Christ-Church district parish, was consecrated in June 1847, and is a spacious edifice in the decorated style, containing 1454 sittings, erected at a cost, including the lower part of the tower, of about £9830; the spire, and the remaining part of the tower, not yet built, will cost about £1800. The interior consists merely of a body and chancel, the former not divided in its plan by columns and arches; it is spanned by an open timber roof, stained in imitation of oak. Mary-le-bone also contains three chapels in the gift of their respective proprietors, namely, Portman chapel, in Baker-street, built in 1779: Quebec-street chapel, built in 1788; and Margaret-street chapel, converted to its present use in 1789. Attached to St. John's church is an extensive cemetery; the old parochial school has a burying-ground, and belonging to the parish are two other capacious cemeteries, one on the south side of Paddington-street, consecrated in 1733, and the other on the north side, consecrated in 1772. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, Calvinistic Methodists, and Seceders from the Scottish Church; a chapel belonging to the Greek Church; a French, and a Spanish, Roman Catholic chapel; and a Roman Catholic chapel in St. John's Wood.

The charitable institutions of this important parish are numerous and well supported, but for the most part do not require any particular description. The Middlesex Hospital, in Charles-street, is noticed under the head of London. The Philological Society's school was established for the gratuitous instruction of children of clergymen, and of naval and military officers, in 1792, and was removed in 1827 to its present situation in Gloucester-place, New-road. The schools of the Incorporated Society for maintaining and educating Orphans of Clergymen of the Established Church, in which are about 120 children, were originally founded at Acton and at Lisson Grove, and continued there until 1812, when a spacious brick building was erected at St. John's Wood. The schools of the Society for teaching the Blind to read, in the Avenue-road, Regent's Park, were erected in 1847, at a cost of £3250, and form a handsome structure in the Elizabethan style. Queen Charlotte's lyingin hospital, in Harcourt-street, Bryanston-square, is adapted to the reception of from twenty to thirty patients.

Mary's, St.

MARY'S, ST., a parish, in the union and liberty of Romney-Marsh, though locally in the hundreds of Newchurch and Martin-Pountney, lathe of Shepway, E. division of Kent, 2¼ miles (N.) from New Romney; containing 129 inhabitants. It comprises 1936 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £23. 3. 9.; net income, £252; patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church is an ancient and commodious building.

Maryport

MARYPORT, a chapelry, market-town, and seaport, in the parish of Cross-Cannonby, union of Cockermouth, Allerdale ward below Derwent, W. division of Cumberland, 30 miles (S. W. by W.) from Carlisle, and 310 (N. W. by N.) from London; containing 5311 inhabitants. This place, which is situated at the mouth of the river Ellen, was a very inconsiderable fishing-village, called Ellen-foot, previously to 1750, when the foundations of the present town and harbour were laid by Humphrey Senhouse, Esq., the proprietor of the land, who bestowed upon it the name of Maryport, in compliment to his lady. It is irregularly built, partly on the sea-shore, and partly on the cliff; the streets are spacious, and the atmosphere is healthy. In 1833, an act was obtained for the improvement of the harbour, and for lighting and otherwise improving the town. Coal, limestone, and red freestone are procured in the vicinity, and exported; timber is imported from America and the West Indies, and iron and flax from the Baltic. The port is a member of the port of Whitehaven, and of late years has been rapidly rising into importance: the number of vessels of above 50 tons registered here is 56, and their aggregate burthen 7074 tons. There are three yards for ship-building, with a patent-slip; and many vessels have been built for the coasting and foreign trade. A tramroad has been constructed for the more ready conveyance of the coal to the harbour; and a railway for locomotive steam-engines leads to Carlisle, where it joins the Newcastle line: there is a railway also to Whitehaven, completed in 1847. The manufactures consist chiefly of cotton and linen checks, sailcloth, cables, coarse earthenware, leather, nails, and anchors. The herring-fishery here is productive, and considerable quantities of salmon trout are caught in the river. The principal market is on Friday; there is an inferior one on Tuesday. The chapelry comprises by computation 2415 acres, of which about 400 acres are meadow and pasture, and the remainder arable; the surface is varied, and the higher grounds command fine marine views. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £102; patron, J. P. Senhouse, Esq. The chapel, erected in 1760, and consecrated in 1763, is a neat structure with a tower, in the later English style, dedicated to St. Mary. There are places of worship for Baptists, Burghers, the Society of Friends, Presbyterians, and Wesleyans. The remains of an important Roman station, with military roads leading to Moresby, Old Carlisle, and Ambleside, are visible on an eminence northward of the town, at the village of Ellenborough; and numerous relics of antiquity have been discovered. From this station a wall is said to have been constructed by the Romans to Workington, as a protection against the invasions of the Picts and Scots. In the southern part of the town is Mote Hill, on which is an artificial moated mound, 160 yards in circumference.

Mary-Stow (St. Mary)

MARY-STOW (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Tavistock, hundred of Lifton, Lifton and S. divisions of Devon, 8 miles (E. by S.) from Launceston; containing 574 inhabitants. It comprises about 2500 acres, of which 300 are wood, 440 common or waste, and the remainder chiefly arable; the whole surface is hilly, and the valleys deep. The river Lyd passes through the parish, and it is also intersected by the road from Exeter to Falmouth. On the manor of Sydenham is a mansion erected early in the seventeenth century, by Sir Thomas Wise, and garrisoned by the adherents of Charles I., from whom it was taken by Col. Holbourn, in 1645. There are two mines, from which manganese is procured; and a large limestone-quarry. The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, with the living of Thrushelton annexed, and valued in the king's books at £12. 16. 0½.; net income, £276; patron, and impropriator of the remainder of the rectorial tithes, J. Hearle Tremayne, Esq. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £87, and the vicarial for £148; the glebe comprises 110 acres. The church has evidences in its porch of Norman origin, and a fine Norman arch still remains; it contains an ancient font and two stone stalls, also a curious monument to Sir Thomas Wise.

Masbrough

MASBROUGH, in the township of Kimberworth, parish and union of Rotherham, N. division of the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill, W. riding of York, ½ a mile (N. W.) from Rotherham; containing nearly 5000 inhabitants. This place forms part of the suburbs of the town of Rotherham, with which it is connected by an ancient bridge of five pointed arches over the river Don, on the central pier of which is an ancient chapel of elegant design, now used as a prison. It is nearly of equal extent with the town, and has long been distinguished as the seat of numerous works connected with the manufactures of the district; of these, a few years since, the principal were the extensive foundry and iron-works of the late Samuel Walker, Esq., in which, during the war, immense quantities of cannon and ordnance of the largest calibre were cast, and subsequently, various iron bridges, including that of Southwark in London. Since the establishment here of a station of the Midland railway, by which vast quantities of sheep and cattle are sent to Manchester, Liverpool, and other towns, a wonderful increase has taken place in the value of landed property; and the facility of intercourse with distant parts afforded by that line of conveyance, promises to render this a principal seat of manufacture. It also derives benefit from the Sheffield and Rotherham branch railway. A large tract of land, forming the estate of Benjamin Badger, Esq., has been surveyed and laid out in lots for building; and several streets, intersecting each other at right angles, and forming direct approaches from Rotherham and the neighbourhood to the railway station, have been marked out. A spacious hotel for the accommodation of passengers by the railway, and some handsome dwelling-houses, have been built; and a great increase has been made in the number of manufacturing establishments: there are potteries, glass-works, chemical works, a timber-yard, and several forges and foundries. The Independent College, noticed under the head of Rotherham, is situated here; and a Roman Catholic chapel has been built.

Masham (St. Mary)

MASHAM (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, in the union of Bedale, wapentake of Hang-East, N. riding of York; containing, with the townships of Burton-upon-Ure, Ellingstring, Nether and Over Ellington, Fearby, Healey with Sutton, Ilton with Pott, Masham, and Swinton with Warthermask, 2974 inhabitants, of whom 1318 are in the town, 34 miles (N. W. by W.) from York, and 223 (N. N. W.) from London. This place was anciently the residence of the baronial family of Scroop, of whom Henry, Lord le Scroop, lord treasurer, and Archbishop Scroop, were both beheaded for high treason in the reign of Henry IV. The town is very pleasantly situated upon a gentle eminence, in a fertile district, on the western bank of the river Ure; the houses are well built, and the air is remarkably pure. The trade consists principally in the spinning of yarn, for which an extensive factory has been established, affording employment to about 100 persons. There is a small market on Wednesday; a fair is held on Sept. 17th and 18th, for live-stock, and during the spring a fair for cattle and sheep takes place on alternate Mondays. A court leet is held annually, at which a constable is chosen, its jurisdiction also extending to the recovery of debts under 40s. The living is a vicarage, united to that of Kirkby-Malzeard, and valued in the king's books at £30: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £941, and the vicarial for £236. Masham prebend, the richest in the cathedral of York, being rated in the king's books at £136, was dissolved, and made a lay-fee, by Archbishop Holgate in 1546. The church is a small but handsome edifice, with a tower surmounted by a lofty and elegant spire. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Wesleyans. The grammar school, founded by William Danby, Esq., in 1760, is maintained from property producing about £80 per annum, of which about £25 are paid to the master of a charity school, otherwise supported by subscription.

Mashbury

MASHBURY, a parish, in the union of Chelmsford, hundred of Dunmow, N. division of Essex, 6 miles (N. W.) from the town of Chelmsford; containing 85 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, united to that of Chignal St. James, and valued in the king's books at £9. 14. 7. The church is a plain edifice.

Mason

MASON, a township, in the parish of Dinnington, union and W. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland, 6¾ miles (N. N. W.) from Newcastleupon-Tyne; containing 144 inhabitants. It comprises 1063 acres. The village is situated on the east of Prestwick Carr, and adjoins that of Dinnington.

Massingham, Great (All Saints)

MASSINGHAM, GREAT (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Freebridge-Lynn, W. division of Norfolk, 2½ miles (N. W.) from Rougham; containing 905 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 4112 acres, of which 3042 are arable, 170 pasture, 10 woodland, and the remainder common and sheep-walks. The village had a market on Friday, which has been discontinued; fairs, chiefly for pleasure, are held on Maundy-Thursday and the 8th of November. The living consists of two consolidated rectories, valued jointly in the king's books at £33. 6. 8., and in the gift of the Marquess of Cholmondeley: the tithes have been commuted for £875, and the glebe comprises 93 acres. The church of St. Mary has been demolished: that of All Saints is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a lofty square embattled tower; on the south side of the chancel are three sedilia of stone, and a piscina of elegant design. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A priory of the order of St. Augustine, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Nicholas, was founded here before 1260, by Nicholas le Syre; but the buildings having fallen to decay, and the estate become wasted, in 1475 it was united to the priory of Castle-Acre, and became a cell to that house.

Massingham, Little (St. Andrew)

MASSINGHAM, LITTLE (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union and hundred of Freebridge-Lynn, W. division of Norfolk, 4 miles (N. W.) from Rougham; containing 152 inhabitants. It comprises 2278a. 1r. 38p., of which 2080 acres are arable, 97 pasture, and 80 woodland; the soil is fertile. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 13. 4., and in the gift of J. Wilson, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £570, and the glebe comprises 33 acres. The church is an ancient structure in the decorated English style, with a square embattled tower. A parochial school is supported by the rector, the Rev. C. D. Brereton, author of a well-known pamphlet on the administration of the poor laws in agricultural districts, and other writings on that subject.

Master's Close

MASTER'S CLOSE, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Hexham, S. division of the county of Northumberland; containing 11 inhabitants.

Matching (St. Mary)

MATCHING (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Epping, hundred of Harlow, S. division of Essex, 3¼ miles (E. by N.) from Harlow; containing 687 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 2000 acres; the soil is chiefly clay, alternated with gravel, and the surface is gently undulated. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12. 10. 5., and in the patronage of the Governors of Felsted School (the impropriators), on the nomination of the Bishop of London. The great tithes have been commuted for £440, and the vicarial for £246. 10.; the impropriate glebe comprises 56 acres, and the vicarial 10 acres. The church is an ancient edifice, with a tower. Here is a national school.

Matfen, East

MATFEN, EAST, a township, in the parish of Stamfordham, union of Castle ward, N. E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 8¾ miles (N. E. by E.) from Hexham; containing 110 inhabitants. It lies on the south side of the river Pont, above a mile west from Stamfordham, and comprises 1834a. 1r. 6p. of land: the village consists of a few straggling cottages only, although it seems to have been once a place of some importance. The Roman wall is not very far distant on the south. The tithes have been commuted for £19 payable to the vicar, and £221 to the Bishop of Durham.

Matfen, West

MATFEN, WEST, a township, in the parish of Stamfordham, union of Castle ward, N. E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 9½ miles (N. E.) from Hexham; containing 429 inhabitants. The township comprises 2067a. 32p. of land, and has a well-built village, about two miles north of the site of the Roman wall. Matfen Hall, the beautiful seat of Sir Edward Blackett, Bart., is situated here, on a fine eminence sheltered by extensive woods. The tithes have been commuted for £28. 17. payable to the vicar, and £196. 10. to the lessees of the Bishop of Durham. A district church in the early English style was lately built by the munificence of Sir Edward Blackett: the patron of Stamfordham (the Lord Chancellor) allowed £80 per annum to be charged upon the vicarage towards the maintenance of the minister, and Sir Edward gave a parsonage for his residence. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. On opening a tumulus supposed to have been a Druidical mausoleum, coffins of four stones set edgewise, with stone bottoms and covers, were found, containing human ashes: near it was an upright stone pillar called the Stob-stone. A little to the south of the village, is a Druidical stone 3 feet high, named the Standing-stone; and there was probably a Druidical temple here. A chapel, also, seems to have existed at the place.

Mathern (St. Theodoric)

MATHERN (St. Theodoric), a parish, in the division and union of Chepstow, hundred of Caldicot, county of Monmouth, 2½ miles (S. S. W.) from Chepstow; containing 434 inhabitants. This place derives its name from Merthyr Tewdric, a prince of Glamorganshire in the fifth century, who on several occasions defeated parties of invading Saxons, in a conflict with whom, at Tintern, he was at length mortally wounded; a church was built by his son, on the spot where he expired, and called after his name, since corrupted into Mathern. The parish is bounded on the south by the Severn, and intersected by the road from Chepstow to Newport: it comprises, with Runston, 2673a. 3r. 17p., whereof 942 acres are arable, 1154 meadow and pasture, and 577 woodland. The surface is undulated; the soil of various qualities, resting on limestone; and the views are very fine, especially from the handsome seat of Wyelands. Moynes Court is supposed to have been a monastery; the present house was erected about 1609, by Dr. Godwin, Bishop of Llandaff, and in 1624 was the property of Col. Hughes, the parliamentary governor of Chepstow Castle. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 3. 6½., and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Llandaff. The church is chiefly in the early and decorated styles, and consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a lofty embattled tower; in the interior are several neat monuments. Adjoining the churchyard is the ancient palace of the bishops of Llandaff, last occupied by Bishop Beau, who died in 1706, and the chapel and remains of which are memorials of its former grandeur. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. Drs. Anthony Kitchen ab Dunstan, Hugh Jones, William Blethyn, and Matthew Murray, bishops of Llandaff, are said to have been buried here.

Mathon (St. John the Baptist)

MATHON (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Ledbury, Lower division of the hundred of Pershore, Upton and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 4 miles (W. by S.) from Malvern, and 7 (N. by E.) from Ledbury; containing 716 inhabitants. The parish is surrounded by the county of Hereford on all sides except one, where it is bounded by the parish of Malvern. It comprises by measurement 3140 acres, exclusively of 230 acres of common or waste; 1404 acres are arable, 1278 good pasture, and 108 hop-ground: the numerous gentle hills are well clothed at their tops with wood, and command extensive prospects. The principal produce is wheat, beans, hops, and fruit. There are some quarries of limestone, which is used for the roads, and also burnt into lime. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8; net income, £150; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster, whose tithes have been commuted for £528. The church is an ancient structure in the later English style, with an embattled tower. A district church dedicated to St. James, a handsome edifice in the early English style, containing 330 sittings, was built at North-Hill, by subscription, in 1842; the Dean and Chapter of Westminster gave the site and £300 towards the erection, and the Dean of St. Asaph contributed £200. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter, with a net income of £100.

Matlask (St. Peter)

MATLASK (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Erpingham, hundred of North Erpingham, E. division of Norfolk, 7 miles (N. by W.) from Aylsham; containing 198 inhabitants. It comprises 472a. 37p., of which 351 acres are arable, 91 pasture, and 10 wood and plantations. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £5, and in the patronage of the Crown, in right of the duchy of Lancaster: the tithes have been commuted for £130, and the glebe comprises 42 acres. The church is in the later English style, with a circular tower of more ancient date.

Matley

MATLEY, a township, in the parish of Mottramin-Longdendale, union of Ashton, hundred of Macclesfield, N. division of the county of Chester, 10 miles (E. by S.) from Manchester; containing 251 inhabitants. The manor passed, with Dunham-Massey, to the earls of Stamford and Warrington; and the township, which comprises 770 acres, is chiefly the property of the present earl. The tithes have been commuted for £55, payable to the Bishop of Chester.

Matlock (St. Giles)

MATLOCK (St. Giles), a parish, in the union of Bakewell, hundred of Wirksworth, S. division of the county of Derby, 17½ miles (N. by W.) from Derby; containing 3782 inhabitants. This place, which was formerly called Mesterford or Metesford, is equally celebrated for the beauty of its scenery, and the purity of its medicinal springs, and consists at present of the village and the baths, nearly a mile and a half distant from each other. The waters were first applied to medicinal uses about the end of the seventeenth century, prior to which period the neighbourhood comprised only a few rude dwellings inhabited by miners. The original bath of wood was rebuilt of stone by the Rev. Mr. Fern, of Matlock, and Mr. Hayward, of Cromford, who erected some small rooms adjoining it, for the accommodation of invalids; and the lease of the buildings was afterwards purchased by Messrs. Smith and Pennell, of Nottingham, who erected two large houses with stabling, constructed a carriage-road by the side of the river from Cromford, and improved the horse-road from Matlock bridge. A second spring was subsequently discovered, at the distance of a quarter of a mile from the former; a new bath was formed, and additional lodging-houses were built for the reception of visiters. A third spring was opened, at a still later period, within 400 yards of the first, and this, also, after some difficulties in levelling the hill, in order to obtain the water previously to its mixing with a cold spring, was rendered available to medicinal uses; a third bath was constructed, and another hotel erected. The three principal hotels, which are all handsome stone buildings, and the lodging-houses, afford accommodation for about 400 or 500 visiters. There is a museum replete with the natural curiosities of the district, and with urns and vases formed of spar, marble, and alabaster, obtained in the county. Guides constantly attend to conduct visiters through the several caverns in the vicinity.

Matlock Dale, in which the baths are situated, presents, in varying combination, the richest features of majestic grandeur and romantic beauty. The river Derwent, for nearly three miles, pursues its course along the windings of the vale, in some places expanding into a broad lake reflecting from its surface the luxuriant foliage of the woods, and the towering precipices which overhang its banks, and in others rushing with impetuosity through the rugged masses of projecting rocks which contract its channel, forming a variety of beautiful cascades. The High Tor, rising perpendicularly from the river to the height of 400 feet, is a prominent feature in the scenery of the dale; and on the opposite bank is Masson Hill, from the summit of which, called the Heights of Abraham, is an extensive and most interesting view.

The village is romantically situated on the bank of the Derwent, over which is a neat stone bridge forming the principal entrance; the houses, which are of stone, are irregularly built on the steep acclivity of a mountain, rising one above another in gradual succession from the base nearly to the summit. Lead-mines were formerly worked to a great extent in the parish, but at present only a few are in operation: the cotton manufacture was established here by Sir Richard Arkwright, who built a factory near the upper end of the dale. An act was passed in 1846 for a railway from the Ambergate station of the Midland line, to Buxton and Stockport, by way of Matlock. The market, chiefly for provisions, is well supplied; and fairs are held on Feb. 25th, April 2nd, May 9th, and Oct. 24th, for cattle, sheep, and swine. The parish is in the honour of Tutbury, duchy of Lancaster, and within the jurisdiction of a court of pleas held at Tutbury every third Tuesday, for the recovery of debts under 40s. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 2. 6.; net income, £320; patron, the Bishop of Lichfield. The church, situated on the summit of a rock, is a small edifice, chiefly in the later English style. A district church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was erected at Matlock-Bath in 1842; it is in the pointed style, and cost about £2600: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of five Trustees. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. A free school, which has an income of about £40 a year, was founded in 1647 by George Spateman; and some bequests have been left for distribution among the poor. On Riber Hill, near the church, are the Hirst Stones, probably the remains of a cromlech.