Midloe - Milfield

Midloe

MIDLOE, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of St. Neot's, hundred of Toseland, county of Huntingdon; containing 53 inhabitants, and comprising 850 acres of land.

Midridge

MIDRIDGE, a township, in the parish of St. Andrew Auckland, union of Auckland, S. E. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 4¾ miles (S. E. by S.) from Bishop-Auckland; containing 345 inhabitants. It is situated westward of the road between Darlington and Durham, and comprises by computation 1020 acres of land. The Witton, Darlington, and Stockton railway passes on the south, a short distance from the village. A schoolroom built in 1817, was enlarged in 1821, and is used as a chapel, a curacy having been endowed with £27. 6. a year by the late Bishop of Durham, who also endowed the school with £10 per annum.

Midridge-Grange

MIDRIDGE-GRANGE, a township, in the union of Auckland, S. E. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 7 miles (N.) from Darlington; containing 40 inhabitants. The township comprises by computation 860 acres, and is pleasantly situated on an eminence, at the base of which passes the Witton, Darlington, and Stockton railroad; it is wholly the property of the Earl of Eldon. The seat once occupied by Colonel Byerley, M.P. for the county of Durham, and anciently the residence of Catesby, one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder plot, is in the township. A dispute is now pending as to whether the township belongs to the parish of St. Andrew Auckland, or to Heighington.

Midsomer-Norton.—See Norton, Midsomer.

MIDSOMER-NORTON.—See Norton, Midsomer.

Mid-Ville

MID-VILLE, a township, in the union of Spilsby, E. division of the soke of Bolingbroke, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln; containing 161 inhabitants. The township was rendered independent of any parish, by act of parliament, in 1812, on the occasion of an extensive drainage of fen lands. It comprises 3450 acres, and is situated between the Hob-hole and Catch-water drains, which are navigable. A church was erected in 1820: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of Trustees; net income, £81.

Milborne-Port (St. John the Evangelist)

MILBORNE-PORT (St. John the Evangelist), a parish, and formerly a representative borough and a market-town, in the union of Wincanton, hundred of Horethorne, E. division of Somerset, 2¾ miles (N. E. by E.) from Sherborne, and 115 (W.) from London; containing 1740 inhabitants. This town, which is irregularly built, and consists chiefly of detached houses, is situated at the bottom of a hill, adjoining the river Ivel, on the road from Yeovil to Shaftesbury. The manufacture of sailcloth, dowlas, linsey-woolsey, and stockings, has been superseded by glove-making and leather-dressing: some quarries of stone are worked for rough buildings and for the roads. Fairs are held on June 5th and October 28th, for cattle and pedlery. There are nine capital bailiffs, two of whom in rotation preside annually, and, at a court leet held in October, appoint two deputies. Milborne-Port is a borough by prescription, and returned members to parliament from the 26th to the 35th of Edward I., from which time, until the early part of the reign of Charles I., it ceased to exercise the power; the privilege was restored in 1628, and continued in force till the passing of the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45. The townhall is an old building with a handsome Norman doorway, and there are some remains of an ancient marketcross. The parish comprises by computation 3277 acres. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14. 1. 3., and in the gift of Sir W. Medlycott, Bart.; the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £585, and the vicarial for £210; there is a glebe-house, with a small garden. The church is a cruciform structure in the Norman style, with later insertions, and has a large quadrangular tower. Here are places of worship for Independents.

Milbourn

MILBOURN, a tything, in the parish, union, and hundred of Malmesbury, Malmesbury and Kingswood, and N. divisions of Wilts, 1 mile (E. N. E.) from Malmesbury; containing 151 inhabitants.

Milbourne (St. Andrew)

MILBOURNE (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Blandford, hundred of Piddletown, Blandford division of Dorset, 8 miles (S. W.) from Blandford; containing 287 inhabitants, of whom 125 are in the tything of Milbourne St. Andrew, and 162 in that of Milbourne-Churchstone. This parish, which is situated on the road to Exeter, comprises by admeasurement 1717 acres. Some of the females are employed in making wire shirt-buttons. A fair is held on the last day of November, for cattle and sheep. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Dewlish annexed, valued together in the king's books at £13. 6. 8.; patron, Lieut.-General J. Michel; impropriator, E. M. Pleydell, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £150, and the vicarial for £235. The church is an ancient structure, and has an enriched Norman doorway, lately restored. There is an oblong double-intrenched camp, the area of which is about seven acres. Cardinal Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Henry VII., was born here.

Milbourne-Styleham

MILBOURNE-STYLEHAM, a hamlet, in the parish and hundred of Bere-Regis, union of Blandford, Blandford division of Dorset; adjacent to Milbourne St. Andrew, and containing 290 inhabitants.

Milbrook

MILBROOK, a chapelry, and formerly a markettown, in the parish of Maker, union of St. Germans, S. division of the hundred of East, E. division of the county of Cornwall, 7½ miles (S.) from Saltash. The inhabitants are chiefly occupied in an extensive fishery: fairs are held on May 1st and September 29th. Milbrook is said to have anciently sent members to parliament. Courts leet and baron are held about Michaelmas, for what is called the borough of Milbrook and the manor of Inswork, at which officers are chosen. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £50; patron and impropriator, the Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe. The chapel contains 600 sittings, of which 357 are free. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Milburn

MILBURN, a township, in the parish of Ponteland, union and W. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland, 11 miles (N. W.) from Newcastle; containing 79 inhabitants. The manor was anciently held by knights' service of the Morpeth barony, by Robert de Meneville; the Bates family possessed it in 1567. The township is situated on a rivulet which runs eastward to the river Pont; and comprises about 1190 acres. Coal and limestone are obtained. Milburn Hall, a handsome villa, was built in 1809. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £116. 10. 6., payable to Merton College, Oxford, and the vicarial for £18. 5. 9.; there is a glebe of 27¼ acres.

Milburn

MILBURN, a chapelry, in the parish of KirkbyThore, East ward and union, county of Westmorland, 6 miles (N. by W.) from Appleby; containing 348 inhabitants, of whom 33 are in Milburn-Grange. It comprises 5282 acres, of which 2500 are common or waste. The neighbourhood abounds with limestone and red freestone; and many productive veins of lead-ore are worked. Near the Silvera Band lead-mine is a bed of the singular fossil called "fairy beads," and not far distant a long subterraneous passage formed by an opening in the limestone. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £85; patron, the Earl of Thanet. A rentcharge of £100 has been awarded as a commutation for the tithes. The chapel, dedicated to St. Cuthbert, was founded by William de Lancaster, about 1355. Many vestiges of encampments are visible. Howgill Castle, formerly the seat of the knightly families of Lancaster and Sandford, and which, with Grange Hall and Lownthwaite, belongs to the Earl of Thanet, lord of the manor, occupies a commanding situation, half a mile east of the village; some of its walls are 10½ feet thick. On the southern end of Dunfell are vestiges of a circular fort deeply moated, called Green Castle, near which was found some years since an altar inscribed Deo Silvano.

Milburn-Grange

MILBURN-GRANGE, a township, in the parish of Ponteland, union and W. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland, 11¼ miles (N. W.) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; containing 37 inhabitants. This township, called also North Milbourne, comprises about 610 acres, separated from Milburn by a deep and narrow glen, through which runs the burn from which both townships derive their name; it is situated west of the road from Newcastle to Belsay. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £9; and the impropriate for £72. 16., payable to Merton College, Oxford.

Milby, with Humberton.—See Humberton.

MILBY, with Humberton.—See Humberton.

Milcombe

MILCOMBE, a chapelry, in the parish and hundred of Bloxham, union of Banbury, county of Oxford, 6 miles (N. W. by W.) from Deddington; containing 224 inhabitants. The chapel, dedicated to St. Lawrence, is a small edifice, mostly of the 13th century, and consists of a nave, chancel, north aisle, and tower; the aisle was rebuilt in the last century.

Milcott

MILCOTT, a hamlet, in the parish of Weston, union of Stratford, Alcester division of the hundred of Barlichway, S. division of the county of Warwick, 2¾ miles (S. W.) from Stratford; containing 13 inhabitants, and comprising 552 acres of rich land on the banks of the river Avon.

Milden, or Milding (St. Peter)

MILDEN, or Milding (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Cosford, hundred of Babergh, W. division of Suffolk, 3 miles (S. W. by W.) from Bildeston; containing 186 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 13. 4., and in the gift of John Gurdon, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £340, and the glebe comprises 22 acres. In the chancel of the church is a curious monument to the Alington family, dated 1627. A valuable library of works of early writers on divinity was left to the rector for the time being by the Rev. W. Burkitt, author of a Commentary on the Old Testament.

Mildenhall (St. John the Baptist)

MILDENHALL (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Marlborough, hundred of Selkley, Marlborough and Ramsbury, and N. divisions of Wilts, 1½ mile (E. N. E.) from Marlborough; containing 437 inhabitants. It comprises 4004 acres. The soil is partly chalk, with a proportion of flint, and in some places is clay; the surface is hilly, and there is a considerable quantity of down. The river Kennet flows through the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £17. 8. 9., and in the gift of G. B. Buxton, Esq., and others: the tithes have been commuted for £740, and the glebe comprises 144 acres. The church is an ancient structure in the early English style, and contains many elegant details; it was repaired by the Rev. Charles Francis, late rector, who also laid out £4000 in building and endowing a free school. On the right of the London road, are slight traces of the Roman station Cunetio, where coins, tessellated pavements, &c., have been discovered.

Mildenhall (St. Mary)

MILDENHALL (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Lackford, W. division of Suffolk, 38½ miles (N. W.) from Ipswich, and 70 (N. N. E.) from London; containing, with the hamlets of Beck-Row, Holywell-Row, HighTown, and West-Row, 3731 inhabitants. This place is situated on a tributary of the river Ouse, called the Lark, which is navigable along the south and west borders of the parish; and the road from London to Norwich, through Newmarket, runs on the east. The railway from London to Brandon and Norwich passes a few miles to the north. The town includes, besides one principal and several smaller streets, others of considerable extent forming detached portions, reaching towards the fens on the north-west; the inhabitants are plentifully supplied with water from wells and springs. In 1567 a great part of the town was consumed by fire. There is a small spinning-mill for raw silk, which affords employment chiefly for children; the main branch of business is the exportation of grain and other commodities. A market is held on Friday, which is well supplied with fish, wild-fowl, and provisions in general; and there is a fair on Oct. 10th, for toys, pedlery, &c. The powers of the county debt-court of Mildenhall, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Mildenhall. The parish comprises by computation 16,000 acres. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £22. 8. 1½.; net income, £369; patron and impropriator, Sir H. E. Bunbury, Bart.: the tithes were commuted for land and money payments in 1807. The church is a large handsome structure, with a lofty tower; the entrance is through a highly-finished porch: the ceiling is of wood-work, richly carved, and there are several ancient monuments, particularly of the family of North. Here are places of worship for Baptists, the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, and Wesleyans. Some British and Roman antiquities were discovered in 1833.

Mile-End, or Mylande (St. Michael)

MILE-END, or Mylande (St. Michael), a parish, in the union, and liberty of the borough, of Colchester, N. division of Essex, 1 mile (N.) from Colchester; containing 596 inhabitants. It comprises 2342a. 21p., of which about 2000 acres are arable, 160 pasture, and 180 woodland; the greater portion is the property of the corporation of Colchester. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 10., and in the patronage of the Earl de Grey: the tithes have been commuted for £560, and there are 36 acres of glebe.

Mile-End

MILE-END, a district, in the parish of Stepney, unions of Stepney and Whitechapel, Tower division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex, 1 mile (E.) from London; comprising the Old Town, with 45,308 inhabitants, and the New Town, with 8325. In the rebellion under Jack Cade, in the reign of Henry VI., the insurgents who attacked the metropolis encamped for some time at Mile-End; and in 1642, at the commencement of the civil war, fortifications were raised here by order of the parliament, for the defence of the city. The Old and the New Town form one of the most extensive suburbs of London, stretching in a line from west to east along the principal road to Essex, and comprising many handsome ranges of buildings. The streets are partially paved, and lighted with gas, and the inhabitants are supplied with water chiefly from the West Ham water-works, the reservoir belonging to which is situated to the north of the high road. There are some extensive breweries, a large distillery, floorcloth manufactories, and a tobacco-pipe manufactory; also a considerable nursery-ground. The Regent's canal passes under the turnpike-road here, and on its banks are several coal and timber wharfs.

Behind the London Hospital is an elegant church dedicated to St. Philip, erected in 1822, by grant of the Parliamentary Commissioners; it is in the later English style, with minarets at the angles: net income, £330. Trinity church, near Tredegar-square, in the early and decorated English styles, was completed some years since, but was only consecrated in November, 1839. St. Peter's, in the Old Town, a handsome building of brick, in the early Norman style, with a campanile turret on the south side, was erected in 1838 from the Metropolis Church-Building Fund, and is adapted for a congregation of 1450 persons: net income, £400. The livings of these three churches are in the gift of Brasenose College, Oxford. The church dedicated to All Saints, in the New Town, is adapted for 1200 persons, and contains about 500 free sittings: net income, £180; patron, the Bishop of London. The principal dissenters' places of worship are those for Wesleyans, Independents, and the Connexion of the Countess of Huntingdon. The Protestant dissenters' charity school at the New Town was founded in 1785: in 1822, Mr. Michael Pantin bequeathed £1000 three per cent. consols. for the support of this school; and a new meeting-house, two schoolrooms, and six almshouses were erected from funds left by him.

There are almshouses supported by a bequest of £2250 from Benjamin Kenton, and consisting of apartments for twelve widows of freemen of the Vintners' Company, who receive about £36 per annum each; a chaplain has a salary of £52. 10. per annum. The houses erected by the Brethren of the Trinity-house comprise twelve sets of apartments, with a handsome chapel in the centre. Francis Bancroft gave by will in 1727, in trust to the Drapers' Company, property then valued at £28,000, to found and endow twenty-four almshouses, and a school for 100 boys: the buildings, which were completed in 1736, consist of two parallel rows of houses, with a central range containing a chapel, a schoolroom, and other apartments; and the income is more than £4000 per annum. Twelve houses were established in 1592, by John Fuller, with an endowment of £50 per annum, for single men; and there are also houses for four women, founded in 1698, by John Pemel; and eight houses founded by Thomas Baker, Esq., for widows. At Mile-End Old Town is the Jews' hospital for aged poor, and the education and employment of youth, established in 1806, and enlarged in 1818; and nearly opposite to it is the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' hospital, instituted in 1747, for sick poor, lying-in women, and as an asylum for the aged. On the north side of the high road are two large cemeteries belonging to the Portuguese Jews, and a third belonging to the German or Dutch Jews, in which are interred several of the Rabbins and other distinguished Jews.

Mileham (St. John the Baptist)

MILEHAM (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Mitford and Launditch, hundred of Launditch, W. division of Norfolk, 11 miles (N. N. E.) from Swaffham; containing 532 inhabitants. This place, at the time of the Conquest, was given to Alan, son of Flaald, and ancestor of the Fitz-Alans, earls of Arundel, who erected a strong castle here, of which some vestiges may still be traced, within the area of an intrenchment of twelve acres; the site of the keep is pointed out by an inner intrenchment by which it was surrounded. The parish comprises 2851a. 20p., of which 1967 acres are arable, 706 meadow and pasture, and 153 woodland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 1. 10½., and in the gift and incumbency of the Rev. C. Barnwell, of Mileham Hall: the tithes have been commuted for £645. 15., and the glebe comprises 19 acres, with a small house. The church is a handsome structure in the decorated and later English styles, with a square embattled tower, and a Norman arch at the southern entrance; in the churchyard is a lofty cross. There is a place of worship for Primitive Methodists. Twenty-six acres of common were allotted to the poor for fuel, on the inclosure of the parish in 1812. Sir Edward Coke, lord chief justice of the king's bench, was born here.

Milfield

MILFIELD, a township, in the parish of KirkNewton, union of Glendale, W. division of Glendale ward, N. division of Northumberland, 5¾ miles (N. W.) from Wooler; containing 225 inhabitants. This was the residence of the Saxon kings of Bernicia, after the death of Edwin. The township is bounded on the north-east by the river Till, and comprises about 1630 acres, of which 1350 are arable, 250 pasture, and 30 woodland: the soil is light, with a whinstone substratum; the surface is undulated, and the scenery embraces fine prospects of the Cheviot hills and the sea. The Newcastle and Edinburgh road passes through the village. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £265. 12., and the vicarial for £46. 4. Under an immense heap of stones, supposed by some to have been raised by the Britons, a Roman urn, containing ashes and burnt bones, was discovered in the year 1823.