Chedgrave - Cheltenham

Chedgrave (All Saints)

CHEDGRAVE (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Loddon and Clavering, hundred of Loddon, E. division of Norfolk, 1 mile (N. by W.) from Loddon; containing 348 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 1432 acres, of which 492 are arable, 822 pasture, and 92 woodland. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 8., and in the gift of Sir W. B. Proctor, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for £220, and the glebe comprises 6 acres. The church is chiefly in the decorated style, and has a low tower at the north-east end; it was repewed in 1819, and ornamented with a handsome east window of stained glass, by the Rev. T. H. W. Beauchamp. The entrances on the north and south are through richly-decorated Norman doorways.

Chedington (St. James)

CHEDINGTON (St. James), a parish, in the union and hundred of Beaminster, Bridport division of Dorset, 4 miles (N. by E.) from Beaminster; containing 186 inhabitants. The parish comprises 773a. 2r. 25p., and is separated from that of Beaminster by the river Axe, which rises within its limits. The surface is extremely irregular, rising into numerous hills, with scarcely a level field; the hills are composed of a hard durable fossil rock, and afford rich and extensive views. The river Parret rises in the parish, and, with the Axe, adds greatly to the fertility and beauty of the district. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 8. 4., and in the gift of William Trevelyan Cox, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £128. 10., and the glebe comprises 46¾ acres, with a glebe-house. The church is a handsome edifice, erected on a new site, in 1840, chiefly at the expense of Mr. Cox. On one of the hills are the remains of a Roman encampment, and in the fields below it, is the site of a Roman villa. The Rev. Thomas Hare, translator of Horace, was rector.

Chediston (St. Mary)

CHEDISTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Blything, E. division of Suffolk, 2 miles (W.) from Halesworth; containing 433 inhabitants, and comprising 2378a. 34p. The living is a discharged vicarage, united to the rectory of Halesworth, and valued in the king's books at £6. 7. 6.: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £230, and the vicarial for £13. 14. 6.; the glebe comprises 61½ acres. The church is chiefly in the perpendicular style, consisting of a nave and chancel, with a Lady chapel on the north; it has an embattled tower, and contains a font of Caen stone, curiously sculptured. An almshouse was in 1575 vested in trustees, by Henry Claxton, for three poor families.

Chedworth (St. Andrew)

CHEDWORTH (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Northleach, hundred of Rapsgate, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 4½ miles (W. S. W.) from Northleach; containing 983 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 5000 acres, the soil of which is chiefly light, and good barley land. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 8. 4., and in the patronage of Queen's College, Oxford. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £278. 7., with a glebe of 110 acres; and the impropriate for £371. 2. payable to the master, and £185. 11. to the usher, of Northleach grammar school: the masters also have 118¼ acres of glebe. The church contains a handsome stone pulpit, and is supposed to have been built in the reign of Henry VI. In 1760, a Roman hypocaust was discovered at Lestercomb Bottom, in the parish, with a brick floor and pillars, a spring, and a cistern, the bricks of which bore the inscription "a'rviri." On a hill a little above is a large tumulus, in which, on the removal of a stone set upright at its mouth, a great quantity of human bones was exposed. Chedworth gave the title of Baron to the family of Howe, which became extinct on the death of John, Lord Chedworth, in 1804.

Chedzoy (St. Mary)

CHEDZOY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bridgwater, hundred of North Petherton, W. division of Somerset, 2¾ miles (E. by N.) from Bridgwater; containing 507 inhabitants. It is situated about a mile and a quarter from the Bath and Exeter road, and comprises 1655a. 2r. 36p.: the soil is rather of a sandy nature, but tolerably fertile. The river Parret, which runs through Bridgwater, affords facility for the conveyance of coal; and the Bristol and Exeter railway is within three miles of the village. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £38. 7. 11., and in the gift of the Rev. Richard James Luscombe: the tithes have been commuted for £380, and the glebe comprises 30 acres, with a glebe-house. The church is a spacious cruciform structure in the Norman style, with a lofty embattled tower, and a north and south porch, over the latter of which is the date 1579. Roman coins have frequently been discovered; and in 1701, some earthen urns and a fibula were dug up near the church.

Cheeseburn-Grange

CHEESEBURN-GRANGE, a township, in the parish of Stamfordham, union of Castle ward, N. E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 12 miles (N. W. by W.) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; containing 56 inhabitants. This township, anciently called Chyseburgh, is situated on the river Pont, and comprises 795a. 2r. 39p. of high table land, upon a substratum of blue mountain limestone: it is the property of Edward Riddell, Esq., high sheriff for the county in 1841, to whose ancestor the estate passed, in the female line, from Sir Thomas Widdrington. Mr. Riddell has a beautiful seat here, which has been much improved, and attached to the mansion is a Roman Catholic chapel. The township having been annexed to the abbey at Hexham, it is free from large tithes: the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £8. 13., and 10s. are payable to the Bishop of Durham.

Cheetham

CHEETHAM, a township, in the parish and union of Manchester, hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 2 miles (N. by W.) from Manchester; containing 6082 inhabitants. The township lies on the new and old roads to Bury; is beautifully situated on rising ground; and comprises 954 acres, all pasture land. It abounds with the private residences of Manchester merchants and others, among which is Green Hill, the seat of Edward Loyd, Esq., banker of that town. The views of the surrounding country are very extensive. The river Irwell separates the township from Salford. St. Mark's church here was built in 1794, at the expense of the Rev. Charles Ethelston: the living is a perpetual curacy, patron and incumbent, the Rev. Hart Ethelston, M.A., grandson of the founder; net income, £350. An ecclesiastical district is assigned to the church, including portions of Crumpsall and Broughton. St. Luke's church, built on land given by the Earl of Derby, was consecrated in October, 1839; it cost £15,000, and is an elegant structure in the decorated English style, with a tower surmounted by a graceful spire, forming a conspicuous object in the scenery: the interior is particularly neat. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Mr. Loyd and four other Trustees; net income, £300, with a good glebe-house. St. Thomas's church, at the corner of Derby-street, Redbank, was commenced in 1843, by the Manchester and Eccles Church Building Society. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Bishop of Chester. There are two meeting-houses for Wesleyans, with a burial-ground and a school attached to one of them; also a place of worship for Associated Methodists. St. Chad's Roman Catholic chapel, in York-street, was commenced in the spring of 1846, and completed in August 1847, at a cost of £8500: it is an elegant edifice of the 14th century, 134 feet long, and has a fine tower. Connected with St. Mark's church are good schools, towards the enlargement of which a government grant was made in 1844; they contain a useful village library. Excellent schools are also attached to St. Luke's.—See Crumpsall.

Chelborough, East, or Luccombe

CHELBOROUGH, EAST, or Luccombe, a parish, in the union of Beaminster, hundred of Tollerford, Sherborne division of Dorset, 16 miles (N. W.) from Dorchester; containing 96 inhabitants. The parish was anciently called Luccombe, and East Chelborough was a hamlet within its limits. It comprises 948a. 1r., of which about 258 acres are arable, 594 pasture, 62 wood and plantation, and 23 orchard and garden-ground. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8, and in the gift of the Rev. Blakeley Cooper; the tithes have been commuted for £160, and the glebe comprises 110 acres, with a glebe-house.

Chelborough, West

CHELBOROUGH, WEST, a parish, in the union of Beaminster, hundred of Tollerford, Sherborne division of Dorset, 2½ miles (W. N. W.) from Evershot; containing 58 inhabitants, and consisting of 578a. 3r. 28p. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 15. 7½., and in the gift of the family of Rolle, and John Bragge, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £82, and the glebe comprises 29¼ acres.

Cheldon (St. Mary)

CHELDON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of South Molton, hundred of Witheridge, South Molton and N. divisions of Devon, 4 miles (E. by S.) from Chulmleigh; containing 90 inhabitants, and consisting by estimation of 1012 acres, of which 332 are common or waste. There are quarries of stone, which is chiefly used for the roads. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 18. 6½., and in the patronage of the Hon. N. Fellowes: the tithes have been commuted for a yearly rent-charge of £77, and the glebe comprises 35 acres of land. The church is a small neat edifice.

Chelford

CHELFORD, a chapelry, in the parish of Prestbury, union and hundred of Macclesfield, N. division of the county of Chester, 5 miles (S. E. by E.) from Knutsford; containing, with the township of Old Withington, 392 inhabitants, of whom 201 are in Chelford township. This township comprises 1161a. 34p., of which about a fourth is arable land, of a level surface, and a sandy soil. It lies on the Knutsford and Macclesfield road, and five roads meet in the village. The Birtles and Henbury brooks unite immediately below the chapel, forming in Astle Park a fine sheet of water, which empties itself into a brook called Peover-leve. Here is a station on the Manchester and Birmingham railway. Astle Park is the seat of J. Dixon, Esq. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £128; patron and impropriator, Mr. Dixon: there is a glebe-house, with 11½ acres of glebe; and in Newton, near Middlewich, are also 30 acres. The chapel, rebuilt in 1776, is a plain edifice. In 1754, John Parker, Esq., erected a school, and endowed it with £50, to which Thomas Moss and Samuel Brook added each £100.

Chell

CHELL, a township, in the parish of Wolstanton, union of Wolstanton and Burslem, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill and of the county of Stafford, 2 miles (N.) from Burslem; containing 737 inhabitants. It is divided into two townsteads, called Great and Little Chell, containing 740 acres: coal-mines are wrought on the confines. The village, which is seated on an eminence, and on the road from Newcastle to Congleton, is chiefly occupied by potters. There is a place of worship for Primitive Methodists. The workhouse for the parishes of Wolstanton and Burslem, lately erected here, is a fine capacious structure of gabled architecture. At Turnhurst, in the township, James Brindley, the eminent engineer, died in 1772.

Chellaston (St. Peter)

CHELLASTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Shardlow, hundred of Repton and Gresley, S. division of the county of Derby, 4½ miles (S. E. by S.) from Derby; containing 461 inhabitants. This place belonged to the earls of Huntingdon, whose manorhouse has long been destroyed. The parish, which was formerly part of the rectory of Melbourne, comprises by computation 800 acres: some very productive mines of gypsum or alabaster, of fine quality, are in operation. The Derby canal passes to the north, and the Trent and Mersey canal to the south, of the village. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £80; patron, the Bishop of Carlisle; impropriator, Lord Melbourne: the tithes were commuted for land at the inclosure of the parish. The church is in the later English style; the tower has been rebuilt. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Chellesworth, or Chelsworth (All Saints)

CHELLESWORTH, or Chelsworth (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Cosford, W. division of Suffolk, 5 miles (N. W. by N.) from Hadleigh; containing 284 inhabitants, and consisting of 861a. 2r. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 8. 9., and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £264. 7., and the glebe comprises 30 acres, with a house.

Chellington (St. Nicholas)

CHELLINGTON (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the hundred of Willey, union and county of Bedford, 7 miles (N. E. by E.) from Olney; containing 125 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, united in 1769 to that of Carlton, and valued in the king's books at £10: the tithes were commuted for land in 1805.

Chelmarsh (St. Peter)

CHELMARSH (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Bridgnorth, hundred of Stottesden, S. division of Salop, 4 miles (S. by E.) from Bridgnorth; containing 495 inhabitants. It comprises 3126 acres, whereof 110 are common or waste; and is situated on the river Severn, which flows a little to the east of the village, and is here navigable. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 5. 8.; patron and impropriator, Sir J. Sebright, Bart.: the great tithes have been commuted for £369. 8., and the vicarial for £235; the glebe contains 20 acres, with a house.

Chelmerton

CHELMERTON, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Bakewell, hundred of High Peak, N. division of the county of Derby, 4¼ miles (S. W. by S.) from Tideswell; containing 238 inhabitants. The manufacture of ribbons is carried on. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £86; patron, the Vicar of Bakewell; impropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield, and the Duke of Devonshire. The chapel has some remains of a rood-loft and screen-work. There are meeting-houses for Wesleyans and Presbyterians; also a school, to which Mr. Brocklehurst, who died in 1792, gave £200. On the summit of an eminence above the village are two barrows, the circumference of the larger being about 240 feet: in this, when opened in the year 1782, several human skeletons were discovered, in rude stone coffins, with bones and teeth perfect.

Chelmondiston (St. Andrew)

CHELMONDISTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the hundred of Samford, E. division of Suffolk, 6¼ miles (S. S. E.) from Ipswich; containing 566 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the river Orwell, by which it is bounded on the north; and comprises the hamlet of Penemill, pleasantly seated on the south bank of that river, which is here navigable. The hamlet is chiefly inhabited by persons engaged in dredging for stone, which is found on a ledge of rocks six or seven miles out at sea, east of Harwich, and is made into Roman cement; nearly thirty boats are employed in the trade. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £346. 10. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans. The noted John Henley, familiarly termed "Orator Henley," was for a short time rector.

Chelmsford (St. Mary)

CHELMSFORD (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Chelmsford, S. division of Essex, of which it is the chief town, 29 miles (N. E. by E.) from London, on the road to Yarmouth; containing, with the hamlet of Moulsham, 6789 inhabitants. This place, which is within a short distance of the Cæsaromagus of the Romans, derives its name from an ancient ford on the Chelmer, near the natural confluence of that river with the Cann, into which its stream is previously diverted by an artificial channel near the bridge. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, and at the time of the Norman survey, it was in the possession of the bishops of London; and two buildings, still called Bishop's Hall and Bishop's Mill, seem to indicate its having been either permanently or occasionally their residence. In other respects it was an inconsiderable place till the reign of Henry I., when Maurice, Bishop of London, built a stone bridge of three arches over the river Cann; and, diverting the road, which previously passed through Writtle, made Chelmsford the great thoroughfare to the eastern parts of the county, and to Suffolk and Norfolk. From this period the town increased in importance; and its trade so much improved, that, in the reign of Edward III., it sent four representatives to a grand council at Westminster. A convent for Black, or Dominican, friars existed at an early date, the foundation of which has been erroneously attributed to Malcolm, King of Scotland: its revenue, at the Dissolution, was £9. 6. 5. In this convent, of which only the site is visible, Thomas Langford, a friar, compiled a Universal Chronicle, from the creation to his own time. During the late war with France, two extensive ranges of barracks, for 4000 men, were erected near the town, both of which have been taken down; and at a short distance from it, a line of embankments, defended by star batteries, of which some traces are still remaining, was raised to protect the approaches to the metropolis from the eastern coast.

The town is surrounded by interesting scenery. It is well paved, and lighted with gas: the houses, several of which, on both sides of the town, have gardens extending to the river, are in general modern and well built; and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water. Considerable improvements have been made of late years in the appearance of the neighbourhood: a handsome iron bridge has been erected over the Chelmer; and more recently a road has been formed, which, commencing at the twenty-eighth milestone on the London road, and crossing the river Cann by an elegant iron bridge (about one hundred yards from the stone bridge, erected in 1787, and connecting Chelmsford with the hamlet of Moulsham), enters the town about the centre of the High-street. A building called the Institute has been erected for the delivery of lectures, for concerts, and public meetings; and near the Eastern Counties railway, which passes a little to the west, numerous villas have been erected: this railway has a station here, 21 miles from the Colchester station, and 30 from the London terminus. Races, which continue for two days, are held in August, on Galleywood Common, about two miles distant, where is an excellent two-mile course.

The trade consists principally in corn, which is sent to London, and in the traffic arising from the situation of the town as a great public thoroughfare: there are several large corn-mills on the banks of the Chelmer. A navigable canal to the river Blackwater, twelve miles distant, was constructed in 1796. The market is on Friday, for corn, cattle, and provisions; and fairs are held on May 12th and November 12th. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold petty-sessions for the division every Tuesday and Friday; and constables and other officers are appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor, who also holds a court baron occasionally. The powers of the county debt-court of Chelmsford, established in 1847, extend over the registration-districts of Chelmsford and Witham. The assizes and sessions for the county, and the election of knights for the southern division of the shire, take place here. The shire-hall is an elegant and commodious structure, fronted with Portland stone, and having a rustic basement, from which rise four handsome pillars of the Ionic order, supporting a triangular pediment; the front is ornamented with appropriate figures, in basso-relievo, of Wisdom, Justice, and Mercy: in the lower part is an area for the corn-market. The old county gaol, a spacious stone building, in Moulsham, was completed in 1777, at an expense of upwards of £18,000; it is appropriated exclusively to the reception of persons confined for debt, and of prisoners committed for trial. Adjoining the gaol, and incorporated with it, is the house of correction, for convicted female prisoners; it was built in 1806, at a cost of about £7500. The new convict gaol at Springfield Hill, on the road to Colchester, is a very extensive and well-arranged edifice of brick ornamented with stone, completed in 1825, at an expense of £55,739; and since enlarged. A building has been erected within the last few years for the reception of vagrants.

The parish comprises 2348 acres, the soil of which is generally a deep rich loam, occasionally intermixed with gravel, and producing fair average crops. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £31. 2. 6., and in the patronage of Lady St. John Mildmay: the tithes have been commuted for £500, and the glebe contains 15¾ acres, with a glebe-house. The body of the church has been rebuilt, at an expense of £15,000, the former having fallen down in 1800, from the unskilfulness of some workmen who, in digging a vault, undermined two of the principal pillars: it is a stately structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower, crowned with pinnacles, and surmounted by a lofty spire. A chapel in a modern style has been erected at Moulsham, on a site given by Lady Mildmay. There are places of worship for Independents, Baptists, Irvingites, the Society of Friends, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics. The free grammar school was founded and endowed, in 1551, by Edward VI.: the income is about £488; and, in common with the schools at Maldon and Brentwood, it has an exhibition of £6 per annum to Caius College, Cambridge. The school-house was built by R. Benyon, Esq., in 1782, on the site of a more ancient one erected by Sir John Tyrrell, Bart. Philemon Holland, translator of Camden's Britannia, and a native of Chelmsford; John Dee, the celebrated mathematician; Sir Walter Mildmay, Bart., founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge; and Dr. Plume, Archdeacon of Rochester, received the rudiments of their education in the establishment. The union of Chelmsford comprises 31 parishes or places, and contains a population of 30,603. The inhabitants of an island in the river have from time immemorial practised the form of electing a representative, on a dissolution of parliament or the vacation of a member for the county: the ceremony concludes with the chairing of the successful candidate, who is dipped in the river, and the chair broken to pieces.

Chelsea

CHELSEA, a suburb of the metropolis, comprising the parishes of St. Luke and Upper Chelsea, in the Kensington division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex; containing, with part of the chapelry of Knightsbridge, 40,179 inhabitants. This place was anciently called Chelcheth or Chelchith, probably from the Saxon Ceosl, or Cesol, sand, and Hythe, a harbour; from which its present name is derived. In 785, a synod for the reformation of religion in England was assembled here by the legates of Pope Adrian. The beauty of its situation on the Thames, which is wider here than in any other part above London bridge, made it, at an early period, the residence of illustrious persons, whose superb mansions procured for it the appellation of the "village of palaces." Among these was the residence of the chancellor, Sir Thomas More, at the north end of Beaufort-row; which, after being successively in the occupation of several distinguished characters, was taken down by Sir Hans Sloane, in the year 1740. The bishops of Winchester had a palace at the upper end of Cheyne-walk, which, under an act of parliament passed in 1823, enabling the bishop to alienate it from the see, was taken down in 1824. Queen Elizabeth had also a palace here; and Sir Robert Walpole resided for some time in a mansion previously belonging to the crown, on the site of which a fine edifice was erected in 1810, by Gen. Gordon. The mansion and gardens of the Earl of Ranelagh were converted into a place of public amusement, which after having been fashionably attended for a considerable time, was closed in 1805, and the buildings taken down; the site is now occupied by dwelling-houses. Just above Battersea bridge, near the western extremity of Chelsea, are Cremorne Gardens, occupying the grounds of a villa that stood here belonging to Viscountess Cremorne, which was built by Theophilus, Earl of Huntingdon, in the reign of George II.

Chelsea comprehends the old town on the bank of the Thames, over which is a bridge of wood leading to Battersea, in Surrey; the new buildings, erected since 1777, and called Hans Town, in honour of Sir Hans Sloane, a former lord of the manor; and several ranges of building of recent erection in various directions. In the old town is Cheyne-walk, which contains many handsome houses, commanding an interesting view of the river and the scenery on its opposite bank; in the new town are, Sloane-street, a regular range of respectable houses, nearly a mile in length, Sloane-square, and Upper and Lower Cadogan places. The streets are partially paved, and well lighted with gas, under the superintendence of 40 commissioners, including the rector and the churchwardens, appointed annually by act of parliament obtained about the year 1820: an act for more effectually paving, lighting, and otherwise improving the parish of St. Luke, exclusively of the district of Hans Town, was passed in 1845. The inhabitants are supplied with water by the Chelsea Water-Works Company, incorporated in 1724. There are a soap-manufactory, two breweries, a manufactory for papier-maché, and an extensive floorcloth manufactory: a considerable trade is carried on in coal; and in the neighbourhood are large tracts of ground cultivated by market-gardeners. The county magistrates hold a petty-session here for the hundred every Tuesday; and four headboroughs, nine constables, and other officers are appointed at the court for the manor. The Botanic Gardens were established in 1673, by the Company of Apothecaries, to whom Sir Hans Sloane granted, at a quit-rent of £5 per annum, four acres on the bank of the river; they contain a great variety of medicinal plants systematically arranged, a hot-house, green-houses, and a library, in which are many volumes of natural history. Lectures are delivered periodically to the students, by a demonstrator appointed for that purpose. In the centre of the gardens is a fine statue of Sir Hans Sloane, by Rysbrach; and in the front opposite to the river are two remarkably fine cedars of Libanus. A second botanic garden, occupying more than six acres, and well stocked with plants arranged after the Linnæan system, in seventeen compartments, was established in 1807, near Sloanestreet, where lectures are delivered in May and June.

The Royal Hospital for veteran soldiers, a handsome structure of brick ornamented with columns, quoins, and cornices of stone, erected after a design by Sir Christophen Wren, at an expense of £150,000, towards defraying which the projector, Sir Stephen Fox, grandfather of Charles James Fox, contributed £13,000, was begun in the reign of Charles II., and completed in that of William III. The buildings occupy a spacious quadrangle, in the centre of which is a statue in bronze of Charles II.; the east and west sides, which are 360 feet in length, comprise wards for the pensioners, and the governor's house. In the centre of the north side is a large vestibule lighted by a handsome dome, with the great hall on one side, in which the pensioners dine, and on the other, the chapel, a neat and lofty edifice, containing a handsome altar-piece with a good painting of the Resurrection. The south side of the quadrangle is open to the river, affording a fine view of the extensive gardens, which reach to its margin. There are smaller quadrangles, in which are the infirmaries and various offices, formed by the addition of wings to the extremities of the north side of the large quadrangle. On the north side of the hospital is an inclosure of thirteen acres, planted with avenues of trees. The number of inpensioners is about 500, and of out-pensioners indefinite; the annual expenditure is from £700,000 to £800,000. York Hospital, also in the parish, is a receptacle for wounded soldiers arriving from foreign stations, who are waiting for a vacancy in the royal hospital. The Royal Military Asylum was founded in 1801, by the Duke of York, for the support and education of the orphan children of soldiers, and of those whose fathers are serving on foreign stations: at present the number of boys is 350. There were formerly nearly 1000 boys in the institution, and 300 girls; but the latter, in 1823, were removed to Southampton, where a cavalry barrack, which had been previously converted into an asylum for 400 boys, was appropriated to their use. The premises, which are of brick ornamented with stone, form three sides of a quadrangle: the west front consists of a centre, with a stone portico of the Doric order, connected with two wings by an arcade; and within the grounds is a handsome chapel.

The ancient parish of Chelsea has lately been divided into two distinct and separate parishes. The living of St. Luke's is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8.; net income, £1003; patron, Earl Cadogan. The church, erected in 1824, at an expense of £40,000, of which the Parliamentary Commissioners granted £8785, is a magnificent structure in the decorated and later styles of English architecture, with a tower crowned by dome turrets at the angles; the west front is strikingly beautiful. The interior has an impressive grandeur of effect, arising from the loftiness of the nave, which has a triforium and a fine range of clerestory windows of three lights, and is separated from the aisles by clustered columns and pointed arches: the altar-piece is ornamented with shrine-work of elegant design, and with a painting of the Descent from the Cross; the east window is lofty and of graceful character, and the roof of the building is groined. The living of Upper Chelsea is a rectory not in charge; net income, £840; patron, Earl Cadogan. The church, situated in Sloanestreet, and dedicated to the Trinity, is a handsome edifice in the later English style, with two minaret turrets at the west end, erected in 1830, at an expense of £5849, by grant from the Commissioners.

The old church, now used as a Chapel, is a small edifice, partly in the early and partly in the decorated English style, with a low tower surmounted by a campanile turret: it is chiefly of brick, and was built in the early part of the sixteenth century; it was enlarged, and the tower added, about 1670. At the end of the north aisle is a chapel in the decorated style, and at the extremity of the south aisle is one erected by Sir Thomas More, in 1520. Among the many interesting monuments are those of Sir Thomas More; Dr. Edward Chamberlayne, author of The Present State of England; Thomas Shadwell, poet-laureate in the reign of William and Mary; Sir Hans Sloane; and others. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £300; patron, the Rector of St. Luke's. An episcopal chapel, called Park chapel, was built by Sir Richard Manningham, in 1718, and is in the gift of J. D. Paul, Esq. Christ Church, situated in Queen-street, and consecrated in June, 1839, is a neat edifice of brick, in the early English style, with a campanile turret surmounted by a dwarf spire; it was erected by the Trustees of Miss Hyndman, at a cost of nearly £4000, and will accommodate 1200 persons. The living is in the gift of the Trustees. St. Saviour's district church, behind Hans-place, in Upper Chelsea, was also built for a congregation of 1200 persons, at an estimated expense of £5000, of which one-half was granted by the Metropolitan Church Building Society, and the remainder raised by voluntary contributions; it was consecrated in May, 1840. A district church dedicated to St. Jude has been since erected in Turk'srow, in the parish of Upper Chelsea. The two livings are in the gift of the Rector. St. Mark's College, Stanley Grove, is a training institution for masters of national schools, with a chapel annexed, and nearly 60 young men have been prepared here since the foundation. At Whitelands is an institution for training schoolmistresses; the building will accommodate 75 young women, and in connexion with it is a large school taught by the pupils in training. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics. John King, A.M., editor of some of the tragedies of Euripides; and Dr. Thomas Martyn, F.R.S., an eminent antiquary and natural philosopher, and regius professor of botany at Cambridge for sixty-four years, were natives of the parish.

Chelsfield (St. Mary)

CHELSFIELD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bromley, hundred of Ruxley, lathe of Sutton-AtHone, W. division of Kent, 6¼ miles (S. E.) from Bromley; containing 1541 inhabitants. It comprises 4692 acres, of which 578 are woodland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £24. 14. 2., and in the patronage of All Souls' College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £820, and the glebe comprises 53 acres, with a glebe-house. The church is in the early English style, with a tower and spire at the north-east angle of the nave. At Farnborough, in the parish, is a chapel of ease.

Chelsham (St. Leonard)

CHELSHAM (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of Godstone, Second division of the hundred of Tandridge, E. division of Surrey, 6 miles (S. E.) from Croydon; containing 347 inhabitants. It is ecclesiastically consolidated with Warlingham (which see), under the title of Warlingham with Chelsham. The church is in the early English style, and capable of accommodating about 200 persons; the chancel is separated from the body of the building by an oak screen of great beauty and elaborate carving. At Ledgers, in the parish, at a short distance from the dwelling-house of the proprietor, is a moat, in which, on its being partially cleared out a few years ago, several mutilated remains of ancient vases were discovered.

Chelsworth.—See Chellesworth.

CHELSWORTH.—See Chellesworth.

Cheltenham (St. Mary)

CHELTENHAM (St. Mary), a borough, markettown, and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Cheltenham, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 9 miles (E. N. E.) from Gloucester, and 95 (W. N. W.) from London; containing, according to the census of 1841, 31,411 inhabitants; and now considerably more. This place takes its name from the small river Chelt, which rises at Dowdeswell, in the vicinity, and runs through the town in its course to the Severn. The manor belonged to Edward the Confessor, and was afterwards held by the Conqueror; in 1199 it was granted to Henry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, who exchanged it with King John for other lands: it was next given to the abbey of Feschamp, in Normandy, and subsequently to the nunnery of Sion, in Middlesex, on the dissolution of which it reverted to the crown. Cheltenham derives its importance from its mineral springs. The oldest of these was noticed in 1716, and since that time various others have been discovered, possessing different proportions of chalybeate, aperient salts, chiefly sulphate of soda, sulphate of magnesia, and oxyde of iron held in solution by carbonic acid; the last was discovered in 1803, by Dr. Thomas Jameson, according to whose analysis it contains a greater proportion of sulphureous gas than the others, and, in many instances, bears a strong affinity to the Harrogate water. They are efficacious in the cure of jaundice and other diseases of the liver, in dyspepsia, and in the complaints arising from the debilitating influence of hot climates. In 1721, the old well, or spa, to the south of the town, was inclosed; and in 1738 Captain Henry Skillicorn erected over it a brick pavilion supported on four arches, built a pump-room, and laid out walks for the accommodation of visiters. In 1780, the number of lodging-houses amounted only to thirty; but since the visit of George III., with the queen and princesses, in 1788, Cheltenham has been rapidly rising into celebrity as a place of fashionable resort; and at present it is eminent for the elegance of its buildings, the extent and variety of its accommodations, and the rank and number of its visiters, of whom, in the course of the season, there are generally not less than 15,000. It now assumes, also, more the character of a permanent residence of the gentry than formerly.

The town is pleasantly situated on an extensive plain, sheltered on the north and east by the Cotswold Hills, and consists of numerous fine streets, the principal of which is more than a mile and a half in length, containing many excellent ranges of building, interspersed occasionally with houses of more ancient date and less pretending character. To the south of this street are a crescent and colonnade, and the upper and the lower promenade, lately built; and on each side are dwellings displaying much beauty and variety of architectural decoration. The masonic hall, in Portland-street, is a handsome edifice in the style of a Roman mausoleum, completed in 1823, and decorated in front and on one side with the insignia of the order of freemasonry. The streets are well paved, and lighted with gas, under an act procured in the 59th of George III. and amended in the 2nd of George IV.: the Gas-light and Coke Company was formed pursuant to an act passed in 1819; and in 1824 an act was obtained for the establishment of water-works, under the direction of a company. An act was also passed, in 1833, for the better sewerage, draining, and cleansing of the town. About half a mile towards the south is the Montpelier spa: the pumproom, a spacious rotunda, has a noble colonnade in front, above the centre of which is the figure of a lion couchant. Nearer the town stood the Imperial spa, an elegant building in the Grecian style of architecture, opened in 1818; this, however, has disappeared, and on its site has been erected the Queen's Hotel, one of the largest hotels in Europe. The Old well, or original spa, was enlarged by the erection of a new pump-room in 1803. There are also the chalybeate spa, opened in 1802; the Cambray chalybeate spa, discovered in 1807; and Alstone spa, opened in 1809. On the north side of Cheltenham is Pittville, where a new town has been planned on a magnificent scale, by Joseph Pitt, Esq.: the pump-room, of which the first stone was laid on the 4th of May, 1825, is a grand edifice, erected at an expense of more than £20,000. A fine assemblage of houses, also, has been formed to the south of the Montpelier pump-room, on the Lansdowne and Suffolk estates; it consists of a crescent of 48 handsome houses, and of elegant terraces, and parades, constituting by far the most splendid part of the town. Cheltenham contains warm, cold, medicated, and vapour baths, furnished with all the requisite appendages; hotels, affording every accommodation; and several hundred lodging-houses, many of which are beautifully fitted up. The various libraries, reading-rooms, and musical repositories, are well conducted; and concerts and assemblies take place regularly during the season, under the superintendence of a master of the ceremonies, in a suite of rooms completed in 1816. The theatre, built in 1805, by Mr. J. Watson, a coadjutor of John Kemble and Mrs. Siddons, was destroyed by fire on the 3rd of May, 1839. Races took place annually, on the adjoining eminence, but they have been for some years past wholly discontinued.

The trade, exclusively of the ordinary business necessary for the supply of the inhabitants and the numerous visiters, consists principally in malt and in various kinds of medicinal salts, for the preparation of which latter there is an extensive manufactory on the road to Bath. The Birmingham and Bristol railway has one of its principal stations here, a spacious building of the Doric order, with a colonnade extending along the whole of the front, which is on the Queen's road. The market is on Thursday and Saturday: fairs are held on the second Thursday in April, Aug. 5th, the second Thursday in September, and the third Thursday in December, for cattle and cheese: also statute-fairs on the first and second Thursday after Michaelmas-day. The markethouse, a handsome and commodious building, was erected in 1823, at the expense of Lord Sherborne. By the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, Cheltenham was constituted a borough, with the privilege of returning a member to parliament, to be elected by the £10 householders: the limits of the borough are co-extensive with those of the parish, comprising about 3650 acres; the returning officer is appointed by the sheriff for the county. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold a petty-session for the division every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday: a high bailiff and constables are appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor; and the local affairs are under the control of commissioners appointed by an act passed in the 2nd of George IV. The powers of the county debtcourt of Cheltenham, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Cheltenham. By an ancient manorial custom, confirmed by act of parliament, land descends as by common law, but the eldest female inherits solely. The new gaol, near St. George's square, is a convenient edifice, erected in 1814.

The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, about £1000; patrons, certain Trustees; impropriator, J. Pitt, Esq. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment, for the hamlet of Cheltenham, in 1801; and for the tythings of Arle and Arlestone, in 1830. The parochial church is an ancient cruciform structure, in the early, decorated, and later English styles, with a tower rising from the intersection, and surmounted by a lofty octagonal spire. On the east side of the north transept is a grand circular window, 15 feet in diameter, divided into 33 compartments, and filled with tracery of the decorated and later styles intermixed; the east window of the chancel, and others, are also fine compositions: there is a curious, ornamented piscina in the chancel. In the churchyard is an ancient stone cross, of a single shaft, with an ascent of several steps. The church of the Holy Trinity, in Portland-street, a handsome structure in the later English style, was erected by subscription, but finished by Lord Sherborne, and was consecrated in 1823. This is a chapel of ease to the mother church, and is served by stipendiary curates. St. Paul's church, an edifice of the Grecian-Ionic order, with a portico and tower, was completed in 1831, at a cost of £6500, half of which was defrayed by a grant from the Parliamentary Commissioners. This, also, is a chapel of ease to the parent church. St. James' church, Suffolksquare, St. John's, Berkeley-street, and Christ-Church, Lansdowne, were erected under what is called the Forty Years' act, 5 George IV., cap. 5, by which the patronage is in Trustees for forty years, after which period it will lapse to the incumbent of Cheltenham. The livings are perpetual curacies, but without districts assigned; and the income of each is derived from pew-rents, having no other endowment. Another church, St. Peter's, on the Tewkesbury road, was commenced in 1847, in the Norman style; a district has been assigned to it under the act 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37, and on the consecration of the church the district will be constituted an ecclesiastical parish. A spacious burial-ground has been purchased by the parishioners. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, the Connexion of the Countess of Huntingdon, Independents, Wesleyan and other Methodists, and Roman Catholics. The Baptist meeting-house has a burial-ground attached to it; and there is a fund of £25 per annum, for distribution among the poor of that congregation.

The Free Grammar school was established and endowed in 1574, by Richard Pates; the endowment, augmented by Queen Elizabeth, produces a salary of £30 per annum to the master, who is appointed by Corpus Christi College, Oxford. There are eight scholarships in Pembroke College, Oxford, founded in 1682, by George Townsend, for boys from Gloucester, Cheltenham, Chipping-Campden, and Northleach, with preference in presentation to his donatives of Uxbridge and Colnbrook: the same benefactor instituted and endowed a school here, for poor boys, and similar schools in the parishes of Winchcomb, Chipping-Campden, Northleach, and Nether Guyting, or Blockley, and for apprenticing them he appropriated part of the income, which amounts to £207. The Rev. William Stanley, in 1704, gave land producing £25 per annum, subject to a rent-charge of £8, the residue being applied to the same purpose. A portion of an endowment by Lady Capel, amounting to £37. 10. per annum, is paid for the instruction of poor children. There are also national, Lancasterian, and infants' schools, maintained by subscription. A proprietary college, the object of which is to supply a good general education, founded on sound religious principles, was opened on the 22nd of June, 1843: the building is entirely of stone raised from Dodswell-hill, near the town, and has a facade 240 feet in length; the cost of its erection exceeded £8000. It contains 300 boys, "the sons of noblemen and gentlemen," who are prepared for the universities in the classical department, and for the professions in the civil and military departments. Almshouses for six persons were founded and endowed by Richard Pates, in 1574. A "dispensary and casualty ward," established in 1813, and lately enlarged, is supported by subscription; and there are many other charitable institutions, among which may be noticed the female orphan asylum, the Coburg Society for the relief of indigent married women in child-birth, and the Dorcas Society. The poor law union of Cheltenham comprises 13 parishes or places, and contains a population of 40,221.