Raby - Radley

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Raby

RABY, a township, in the parish of Neston, union and Higher division of the hundred of Wirrall, S. division of the county of Chester, 2 miles (N. E.) from Great Neston; containing 190 inhabitants. At the time of the Domesday survey, Raby was divided into two parts, severally held by the monastery of St. Werburgh, and William, the Norman baron of Halton, who afterwards exchanged his portion for other lands, with the monks, who thereby became possessed of the whole. They did not, however, long retain the manor; although they still held some lands here in the 31st of Edward III. In the reign of Henry V. the manor was in the family of Hulse or Hole, who were succeeded by the Troutbecks; their heiress married John Talbot, of Albrighton, Salop, through whom Raby has descended to the present Earl of Shrewsbury. The township comprises 1106 acres, of which the prevailing soil is clay. A court leet and court baron are held. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Raby, with Keverstone

RABY, with Keverstone, a township, in the parish of Staindrop, union of Teesdale, S. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 1 mile (N. by W.) from Staindrop; containing 284 inhabitants. The township comprises 2736 acres; the surface is finely undulated, and the scenery beautiful, especially in the park attached to Raby Castle. The castle, the seat of his grace the Duke of Cleveland, is situated on an eminence commanding a wide prospect, and is a noble pile, surrounded with ramparts and a deep fosse inclosing an area of two acres. From its stately exterior, which retains much of its original appearance, a good idea may be formed of the grandeur of a baronial mansion in early times; the style of the south front, with the elegant symmetry of the windows, has a pleasing effect, and the interior comprises numerous convenient apartments furnished with great taste. A carriage-road now passes through the hall, or ancient place of rendezvous, which is a truly magnificent apartment, having two rows of octagonal piers, and a beautiful groined roof. Keverstone Grange, about half a mile from Raby Castle, a modernised house where the Duke of Cleveland's auditor resides, was the residence of Sir George Freville, Knt., the commissioner sent to take possession of the Raby estates, when they were forfeited by the Nevills, earls of Westmorland, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is finely situated, and commands extensive prospects. There are some good ashlar-stone quarries in the township. Raby confers the title of Baron on the Duke of Cleveland.

Rackenford (All Saints)

RACKENFORD (All Saints), a parish, in the union of South Molton, hundred of Witheridge, S. Molton and N. divisions of Devon, 8¼ miles (N. W. by W.) from Tiverton; containing 562 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3170 acres, of which 1167 are common or waste; and is intersected by the road from South Molton to Tiverton. Stone is quarried for building purposes, and for roads. A weekly market and an annual fair were granted in 1235: the former has been long disused, but fairs are held on July 8th and the Wednesday before September 19th. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £19. 17. 3½.; net income, £311; patrons, Thomas Comins, Esq., and the Rev. W. Comins, incumbent: the glebe comprises 48 acres, and there is a glebe-house. The church is an ancient edifice.

Rackham

RACKHAM, a hamlet, in the parish of Amberley, hundred of West Easrith, rape of Arundel, W. division of Sussex; containing 188 inhabitants. The chapel of Rackham is demolished.

Rackheath (All Saints)

RACKHEATH (All Saints), a parish, in the union of St. Faith, hundred of Taverham, E. division of Norfolk, 5 miles (N. E. by N.) from Norwich; containing 276 inhabitants. Here was a small priory, the revenue of which was valued in 1428 at £2. 1. 3. The road from Norwich to North Walsham intersects the parish. The Hall, the residence of Sir E. H. J. Stracey, Bart., who is owner of the soil, is a modern building of white brick, situated in a fine park. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4., and in the gift of Sir E. Stracey: the tithes have been commuted for £416, and the glebe comprises 26 acres. The church is chiefly in the early English style, with a square tower, and contains some handsome monuments to the Potter and Stracey families. Rackheath formerly comprised two villages and parishes, Magna and Parva; but the church of the latter, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and situated in the park, no longer exists, and the livings have been consolidated. A Roman urn was discovered in a marlpit, a few years since; it is now placed in the museum at Norwich.

Racton

RACTON, a parish, in the union of West Bourne, hundred of Westbourne and Singleton, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex, 6½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Chichester; containing 101 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 19. 2.; the Dean and Chapter of Chichester are patrons, and the tithes have been commuted for £220. The church is principally in the early English style, and contains several interesting monuments to the Gocenter family. Near it are the ruins of a lofty castellated building, erected by Lord Halifax as a pleasure-house, and from which there are extensive sea and land views. Sir Richard Pole, and Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, his wife, resided at Lordington; where, also, Cardinal Pole was born. The living of Lordington was united to that of Racton in 1440.

Radbourn, Upper and Lower

RADBOURN, UPPER and LOWER, an extraparochial district, in the union of Southam, Southam division of the hundred of Knightlow, S. division of the county of Warwick, 3½ miles (S. S. E.) from Southam; containing 26 inhabitants. The district comprises 1143 acres, of which 513 are in Lower, and 630 in Upper, Radbourn. It is situated on the borders of Northamptonshire; and the Oxford canal passes in the immediate vicinity.

Radbourn (St. Andrew)

RADBOURN (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Burton-upon-Trent, hundred of Appletree, S. division of the county of Derby, 4½ miles (W.) from Derby; containing 239 inhabitants. At the Domesday survey this was one of the manors of Henry de Ferrers. It was subsequently held by Robert Fitz-Walkelyn, whose co-heiresses married into the families of Chandos and Stafford; and the whole manor, probably by the purchase of the Staffords' portion, became vested in the Chandos family. On the death of Sir John Chandos, the celebrated warrior, in 1370, the estate passed to his representatives in the female line, and eventually to Sir Peter de la Pole, from whom the manor has descended to its present owner, Edward Sacheverel Chandos Pole, Esq. The parish comprises 2200 acres, of which the soil is a strong marl and clay, affording excellent pasture, and the surface is varied with hill and dale: the village is small and scattered. Radbourn Hall, a large brick mansion of modern date, the seat of the Pole family, stands on an eminence in a well-wooded park, commanding extensive views in all directions. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 3. 4.; net income, £372; patron, Mr. Pole: there is a neat rectoryhouse, with 150 acres of ancient glebe, and an allotment in lieu of tithe. The church, which was enlarged in 1844, consists of a nave, chancel, north aisle, and low embattled tower. German Pole, who died in 1683, founded and endowed a grammar school, agreeably to the will of his mother, Ann Pole; the present income is £26. Various other charities are sustained by bequests made by the family.

Radcliffe (St. Mary)

RADCLIFFE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bury, hundred of Salford, S. division of Lancashire, 8 miles (N. N. W.) from Manchester; containing 6000 inhabitants. The name of this place is Saxon, and is derived from a cliff of red rock on the south-east side of the river Irwell, below the confluence of the Roche, and opposite to the village of Radcliffe. The Norman Conquest introduced much of the French language, and hence the appellation "Rugemont" was often given to the village, and was used also as the surname of several members of the Radcliffe family in the early periods of English history. The parish is one of the smallest in the county, and has no dependent townships; it comprises about 2435 acres, the greater portion meadow and pasture land, and situated in a rich vale, of undulated surface. The population, which has latterly greatly increased, is employed in agriculture, in collieries, and in extensive cotton-mills and bleach-grounds; the manufactures comprehending spinning and calico-printing, and nankeen, fustian, and check weaving. The village is large, and consists of two collections of houses, called Radcliffe and RadcliffeBridge; the latter is about half a mile distant from the former, and is separated from the township of Pilkington, in the parish of Prestwich-cum Oldham, by the river Irwell, over which is a bridge of two arches. A gas company was established in 1846, by act of parliament, but no powers were given in the act for lighting the place with gas. The Roman Watling-street, the Bolton and Bury canal, and the East Lancashire railway, all pass through the parish.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £21. 0. 5., and in the patronage of the Earl of Wilton: the tithes have been commuted for £156. 10., and there are 55 acres of glebe, with a house. The church, built at different periods, is in various styles of architecture, with a low tower, and has a curious window, called "the east window in the Sun chapel:" the chancel was restored in 1845, by the rector, the Rev. Nathaniel Milne, and a north transept was added in 1846, by subscription. St. Thomas's district, Radcliffe-Bridge, was formed in 1839, and has a population of 3000. The living is a perpetual curacy, also in the patronage of the Earl of Wilton, with a net income of £150, and a residence: the church was erected in 1819 by the Dowager Marchioness of Westminster, at a cost of £5000, and is a substantial stone building, fitted up with solid oak. There are a place of worship for Wesleyans, an excellent national school, and a large Sunday school adjacent to the church of Radcliffe-Bridge.

Radcliffe Tower, now in ruins, was one of the most considerable manorial seats in the county. Of its date there is no precise information, but it appears that Richard Radcliffe, high sheriff of Lancashire, 32 Edward III., was of "Radcliffe Tower;" as was his predecessor, William de Radeclive, one of the knights of the Grand Inquest, 13th of John. The tower was rebuilt in the reign of Henry IV. It was of stone strongly grouted, and beneath the castellated rampart was a covering of lead; this last has long since disappeared, and its place is now occupied by a sycamore-tree growing out of the ruins. Generally, these strongholds were inclosed by a moat; but there are no traces of such an external protection to this pile, and it is probable that none existed. The park attached to it stretched for some distance along the vale of the Irwell.

Radcliffe-on-Trent, Notts.—See Ratcliffe.

RADCLIFFE-on-Trent, Notts.—See Ratcliffe.

Radcliffe-on-Soar, Notts.—See Ratcliffe.

RADCLIFFE-on-Soar, Notts.—See Ratcliffe.

Radclive-cum-Chackmore (St. John the Evangelist)

RADCLIVE-cum-Chackmore (St. John the Evangelist), a parish, in the union, hundred, and county of Buckingham, 1½ mile (W.) from Buckingham; containing 364 inhabitants, of whom 126 are in Radclive. The parish is intersected by the river Ouse, and comprises upwards of 1000 acres, of which one-half is arable, and the other pasture. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 1. 3.; net income, £434; patrons, the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford. The tithes were partially commuted for land in 1773, and under the recent act a rent-charge of £168 has been awarded; the glebe consists of 13 acres. Here was formerly a chantry. The old manor-house has been converted into a farmhouse.

Radcutt

RADCUTT, a hamlet, in the parish of Langford, union of Farringdon, hundred of Bampton, county of Oxford, 4½ miles (E. by N.) from the town of Lechlade; containing 54 inhabitants.

Raddington (St. Michael)

RADDINGTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Wellington, hundred of Williton and Freemanners, W. division of Somerset, 4¾ miles (W. S. W.) from Wiveliscombe; containing 126 inhabitants. It comprises 1345 acres, of which 155 are common or waste land. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 7. 8½.; net income, £191; patron, the Rev. E. Otto Trevelyan.

Radford

RADFORD, a hamlet, in the parish of Holy Trinity, Coventry, N. division of the county of Warwick, 1¾ mile (N. N. W.) from the city of Coventry; containing 251 inhabitants.

Radford (St. Peter)

RADFORD (St. Peter), a parish, and the head of a union, in the S. division of the wapentake of Broxton, N. division of the county of Nottingham, 1 mile (W. by N.) from Nottingham; containing 10,817 inhabitants. This parish, which was part of the ancient forest of Sherwood, comprises by measurement 600 acres. Various branches of manufacture, similar to those at Nottingham, are carried on to a considerable extent. There are three large bobbin-net manufactories and several smaller ones, the machinery of which is impelled by steam, two bleach-works, three corn-mills, two extensive cotton-mills, and a thread-mill. The Nottingham Gas Company erected works here, on a very large scale, in 1845. The old village is situated on the river Leen; the new one forms a modern suburb stretching from the western limits of Nottingham, on the Derby and Alfreton roads, and containing some spacious streets. A branch of the Grantham canal runs through part of the parish. The Peverel court is held in Radford, to try pleas, and recover debts as high as £50; its jurisdiction extends over the whole of the honour of Peverel, comprising 170 towns and villages in Nottinghamshire, 120 in Derbyshire, and several in the counties of Leicester and York. Broxton Hall and Aspley House, two ancient mansions in the parish, are the property of Lord Middleton. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £3. 9. 4½.; it has a net income of £293, and the patronage and impropriation belong to the Crown: the glebe consists of 57 acres. The present church, a neat structure in the later English style, with a tower at the west end, was built in 1812. New Radford was constituted an ecclesiastical parish in April 1845, under the act 6th and 7th Victoria cap. 37: the district comprises about 30 acres, with a population of 5045. The living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of the Crown and the Bishop of Lincoln, alternately; income, £150, with a parsonagehouse: the church is in the florid pointed style, contains 1000 sittings, and was completed at a cost of £4400. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans; and a large national school, built in 1841, is supported by subscription. The poor-law union of Radford comprises four parishes or places, with a population of 22,470. A priory of Black canons was founded here about 1102 by William de Luvitot, which at the Dissolution, had a revenue of £302. 6. 10.

Radford

RADFORD, a township, in the parish and union of Worksop, Hatfield division of the wapentake of Bassetlaw, N. division of the county of Nottingham; containing 1664 inhabitants. It forms the eastern suburb of the town of Worksop.

Radford

RADFORD, a hamlet, in the parish of ChurchEnstone, poor-law union of Chipping-Norton, hundred of Chadlington, county of Oxford; containing 90 inhabitants.

Radford

RADFORD, a hamlet, in the parish of RouseLench, union of Evesham, Middle division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester; with 80 inhabitants.

Radford-Semele (St. Nicholas)

RADFORD-SEMELE (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Warwick, Kenilworth division of the hundred of Knightlow, S. division of the county of Warwick, 2 miles (E. by S.) from Leamington; containing 487 inhabitants. The parish consists of 2090 acres, partly a light and gravelly, and partly a stiff, soil; it is pleasantly situated on the left bank of the river Leam, and is intersected by the Warwick and Napton canal, and by the road from Leamington to Southam. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 16. 0½.; net income, £200, with a house; patron and impropriator, Henry Greswolde, Esq., of Malvern Hall, near Solihull: there are 41 acres of glebe. The church has a square tower, and is in good repair. A parochial school is supported by subscription.

Radipole (St. Mary)

RADIPOLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Weymouth, hundred of Culliford-Tree, Dorchester division of Dorset, 2 miles (N. N. W.) from Weymouth; containing 487 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the river Wey, near its influx into the sea; and comprises by measurement 1245 acres, of which the portions of arable and pasture are nearly equal. Prior to the dissolution of monasteries, the manor belonged to the convent of Cerne-Abbas. The living was formerly a separate discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 5. 5., but the church at Melcombe-Regis was made parochial in the 1st of James I., and the living of this parish was then annexed to it: the tithes have been commuted for £280, and the glebe comprises 3½ acres. The church was rebuilt in 1817, and is a large and handsome edifice. A mineral spring was discovered in 1830. Several skeletons, numerous pieces of pottery, and other relics of antiquity, were found in the parish in 1844.

Radley (St. James)

RADLEY (St. James), a parish, in the union of Abingdon, hundred of Hormer, county of Berks, 2½ miles (N. E. by N.) from Abingdon; containing, with part of the chapelry of Kennington, and with the liberty of Thrupp and Wick, 475 inhabitants, of whom 377 are in the township of Radley. The parish comprises 2699a. 1r. 10p., and is bounded by the navigable river Isis. The living is a donative, in the patronage of Sir George Bowyer, Bart.