Kelvedon - Kenilworth

Kelvedon (St. Mary)

KELVEDON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Witham, N. division of Essex, 12¾ miles (N. E.) from Chelmsford; containing 1483 inhabitants. The parish comprises by admeasurement 3100 acres, of which 2500 are arable, 300 pasture, and 150 woodland; the surface is alternated with hills and vales, and the soil is a good sandy loam, with some portions of richer loam in the lower grounds. Felix Hall, the seat of Lord Western, a handsome modern mansion with an elegant portico, is situated on an eminence surrounded by a park. The village, which is skirted on the east and south by the river Pant, or Blackwater, consists chiefly of one street, nearly a mile in length, and contains some well-built houses. A station here of the Eastern Counties railway is 9 miles from the Colchester station. A fair is held on Easter-Monday. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 4. 2.; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of London: the great tithes have been commuted for £615, and the vicarial for £376; the glebe comprises 54 acres, with a house. The church is a spacious edifice, consisting of a nave, north and south aisles, and a chancel, with a tower of brick. The Independents have a place of worship.

Kelvedon-Hatch (St. Nicholas)

KELVEDON-HATCH (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union and hundred of Ongar, S. division of Essex, 2 miles (S. by E.) from Ongar; containing 430 inhabitants. It comprises by estimation 1649a. 2r. 32p., of which 709a. 20p. are arable, 641 meadow, 193a. 3p. woodland, and the remainder common and waste. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12, and in the gift of W. H. Ashpitel, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £430, and the glebe comprises 28 acres. The church is an ancient edifice of brick, consisting of a nave, south aisle, and chancel, and contains numerous monuments.

Kemberton (St. Andrew)

KEMBERTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Shiffnall, Shiffnall division of the hundred of Brimstree, S. division of Salop, 3 miles (S. S. W.) from Shiffnall; containing 256 inhabitants. The parish occupies an elevated situation, commanding an extensive prospect over the surrounding country, and comprises by measurement 1387 acres, well adapted for corn. The surface is undulated; and the lower grounds are watered by numerous springs, and by a copious stream abounding with trout, which flows into the Severn near Bridgnorth. The living is a rectory, with the vicarage of Sutton-Maddock annexed, valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 5½., and in the gift of W. H. Slaney, Esq.: the tithes of the parish have been commuted for £320, and the glebe comprises 38¾ acres. The church is a small but very neat edifice of brick, erected about the end of the last century.

Kemble (All Saints)

KEMBLE (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Cirencester, hundred of Malmesbury, Malmesbury and Kingswood, and N. divisions of Wilts, 4 miles (S. W.) from Cirencester; containing, with the tything of Ewen and part of Wick, 597 inhabitants. The Cheltenham and Great Western Union railway passes by this place, where it is joined by a branch from Cirencester. One of the sources of the Thames is in the parish, and water is raised from it by a steamengine for the supply of the Thames and Severn canal. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11. 4. 7.; net income, £249; patron and impropriator, R. Gordon, Esq.: the tithes were commuted for land in 1772. The church contains monuments to the families of Cox and Timbrell; in July, 1834, the steeple was struck by lightning, which forced the top of it into an adjoining field, and tore out a great part of two of its sides.

Kemerton

KEMERTON, a parish, in the union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Tewkesbury, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 4½ miles (N. E.) from Tewkesbury; containing 561 inhabitants. The parish contains an excellent quarry of freestone; and several petrifying springs. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £17. 13. 1¾.; net income, £503; patrons, the Corporation of Gloucester: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1772. The church was rebuilt in the year 1847. There are places of worship for Wesleyans.

Kemeys-Commander (All Saints)

KEMEYS-COMMANDER (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Pont-y-Pool, division and hundred of Usk, county of Monmouth, 3 miles (N. W. by N.) from Usk; containing 81 inhabitants. It is intersected by the river Usk, and comprises 500a. 3r. 39p. The living is a perpetual curacy; patrons and impropriators, the family of Gore: the tithes have been commuted for £84, and there are about 30 acres of glebe. The church is a small plain edifice.

Kemeys-Inferior (All Saints)

KEMEYS-INFERIOR (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Newport, division of Christchurch, hundred of Usk, county of Monmouth, 3 miles (E. N. E.) from Caerleon; containing 132 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north by the river Usk, and comprises by computation 1700 acres, of which 700 are woodland; a high wooded ridge intersects the parish from west to east. The soil is partly clay and partly sand, the latter prevailing in the hills; and on the banks of the Usk are some tracts of rich grazing-land. The scenery is picturesque, and the views from the higher grounds interesting and extensive. There are some quarries of stone, which is used for paving, and also for roofing. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 10. 5., and in the patronage of the Rev. W. C. Risley; net income, £130.

Kempley

KEMPLEY, a parish, in the union of Newent, hundred of Botloe, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 5½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Newent; containing 324 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 1423 acres: the soil is rich and deep; the surface is generally level, but the scenery is pleasing, and enriched with wood. The living is a vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 5½.; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Hereford, as masters of Ledbury Hospital. The tithes have been commuted for £240. The church is in the Norman style.

Kempsey (St. Mary)

KEMPSEY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Upton-upon-Severn, Lower division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Worcester and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 4¼ miles (S.) from Worcester; containing 1367 inhabitants. This place is supposed to have derived its name, originally Camp's Eye, from an ancient military intrenchment, occupying an area of about fifteen acres, and skirted from north to south by the river Severn, which forms the western boundary of the parish. Several fragments of sepulchral urns, cups, and pans of various shapes and sizes, evidently belonging to the time of the Romans and the Romanized or later Britons, were dug out of a gravel bed in the year 1835, and four following years. A monastery was founded in 799, which, after it had flourished for nearly a century, was united to the see of Worcester, whose bishops had a palace here. In this palace Henry II. held his court; and in 1265, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, with his prisoner Henry III., took up his residence in it, a short time previously to the battle of Evesham, in which he was defeated and slain. The parish comprises 3105 acres, of which 292 are common or waste; the soil, which is fertile, varies from a marly kind of clay to a rich loamy earth, and the meadows along the bank of the Severn are luxuriant. The surface is generally level, with gentle undulations, and the neighbourhood, which is well wooded, abounds with interesting objects. The village is situated near the eastern bank of the river, on the road to Gloucester, and consists principally of respectable houses, with some handsome mansions and villas. Of the episcopal palace nothing remains but the site, on which the bishop's steward annually observes the ceremony of opening a court leet and baron. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 18. 9.; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The great tithes have been commuted for £553, and the vicarial for £230; the appropriate glebe comprises 187 acres. The church is a spacious cruciform structure of stone, erected on part of the site of the ancient encampment, and retaining, amidst numerous alterations and repairs, some vestiges of its original character. Here is an old school-house in which ten boys are taught from an endowment in 1652 by Christopher Meredith, one of the individuals to whom the parliament, in the time of Cromwell, delegated the profits of the see of Worcester.

Kempsford (St. Mary)

KEMPSFORD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Cirencester, hundred of Brightwells-Barrow, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 3 miles (S.) from Fairford; containing, with the hamlets of Dunfield, Horcutt and Whelford, 998 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 4000 acres; the soil of more than half the land is gravel, and of the remainder a strong clay. The surface is generally level, though gently undulated in some parts; and the lower grounds are watered by the rivers Colne and Thames, which latter forms a boundary between the counties of Gloucester and Wilts. The Thames and Severn canal passes through the parish. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £19; net income, £604; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol: the tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents in 1801. The church, which was built by Henry, Duke of Lancaster, about 1350, is in the early English style, with Norman details, and a rich and handsome square tower. A school was built in 1750, upon a site given by Thomas, Viscount Weymouth, who endowed it with £10 per annum.

Kempshot

KEMPSHOT, a tything, in the parish of Winslade, union and hundred of Basingstoke, Basingstoke and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 3¾ miles (S. W. by W.) from Basingstoke; containing 69 inhabitants. This place abounds with interesting scenery; and the splendid mansion of Mr. Blunt, beautifully embosomed in thriving plantations, and commanding extensive views, forms a striking feature in the landscape.

Kempston (All Saints)

KEMPSTON (All Saints), a parish, in the hundred of Redbornkstoke, union and county of Bedford, 2¾ miles (S. W. by W.) from Bedford; containing 1699 inhabitants. This parish, in the Domesday survey Camestone, comprises about 5000 acres; the soil in the valley of the Ouse is gravelly, and in other parts clay. Some good limestone is found, suitable for building, as well as farming purposes. Pillow-lace making is extensively carried on, affording employment to most of the women and girls. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12; patron, the Rev. Henry Clutterbuck; impropriators, Sir W. Long and others. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1802; the glebe consists of about 200 acres, valued at £300 per annum, and there is a glebe-house in good repair. The church is an ancient structure, in the early Norman and later English styles; a gallery has been built. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. Some moated houses exist in the parish, and coins of an early date have been frequently found.

Kempston (St. Paul)

KEMPSTON (St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Mitford and Launditch, hundred of Launditch, W. division of Norfolk, 6¾ miles (N. E.) from Swaffham; containing 52 inhabitants. It comprises 809a. 2r. 37p., chiefly arable, and in good cultivation. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 18. 4.; patron and impropriator, the Earl of Leicester. The great tithes have been commuted for £170, and the vicarial for £106. 5.; the glebe comprises 30 acres. The church, beautifully situated within the demesne of the Lodge, is an ancient structure in the early and later English styles, with a square embattled tower, and contains some monuments to the Fitzroy family; in the chancel is a piscina, and the font is handsomely sculptured.

Kemsing (St. Mary)

KEMSING (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Seven-Oaks, hundred of Codsheath, lathe of Suttonat-Hone, W. division of Kent, 3 miles (N. E. by N.) from Seven-Oaks; containing 433 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the river Darent, and consists of 1867 acres, of which 120 are in wood; the soil is a strong loam, very productive, and hops are chiefly cultivated. To the north is a chain of chalk hills. In the village, at the junction of three roads, is St. Edith's Well, formerly esteemed for its miraculous efficacy. There was anciently a market, and a fair is still held in July. The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, with the living of Seal annexed, and valued in the king's books at £19. 3. 4.; the net income is £396, and the patronage belongs to Earl Amherst. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £180, and the incumbent's for £140.

Kenardington (St. Mary)

KENARDINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Tenterden, partly in the liberty of RomneyMarsh, but chiefly in the hundred of Blackbourne, E. and Lower divisions of the lathe of Scray, W. division of Kent, 8 miles (S. S. W.) from Ashford; containing 163 inhabitants. The neighbourhood is supposed to have been the scene of some encounters between Alfred and the Danes; and extensive military earthworks, including a high breastwork and a small circular mount, still remain, which are said to have been thrown up by that monarch in 893, when a division of the Danes sailed up the Rother, and entrenched themselves in the adjoining parish of Appledore. The manor of Kenardington formed a portion of the lands assigned by William the Conqueror for the defence of Dovor Castle, and came by marriage in the reign of George I. to the Breton family, with whom it has since remained. The parish comprises 2160 acres, about one-third of which is arable, and the rest pasture and wood, the wood covering 300 acres. The village, together with the larger part of the parish, is situated on high ground; but the southern part is low, and within the level of Romney Marsh, which is divided by the church from the upland, or Weald of Kent. The parish is intersected by the Royal Military canal. The living is a rectory and vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12. 1. 0½., and in the gift of the family of Breton: the tithes have been commuted for £200, and the glebe comprises 10 acres. The present church is a small structure, built out of the ruins of a former one, which was much larger, and was destroyed by lightning in 1559; at the west end is a brick tower, built about 70 or 80 years ago in the place of the old one, which fell down.

Kenchester (St. Michael)

KENCHESTER (St. Michael), a parish, in the hundred of Grimsworth, union and county of Hereford, 5 miles (W. N. W.) from Hereford; containing 99 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the left bank of the river Wye, and intersected by the road from Hereford to Kington; and consists of 509 acres. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 5. 7., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £182. According to Camden, this place was the Ariconium, but Dr. Horsley considers it as the Magna, of the Romans. The form of the station is an irregular hexagon: the remains principally consist of fragments of a temple at the eastern end, with a niche of Roman brick and mortar, called the Chair; around this are foundations and holes, similar to vaults. At different periods large vaults, tessellated pavements, a fine Mosaic floor, relics of pottery, urns, and large bones, have been discovered. An hypocaust, about seven feet square, with the leaden pipes entire, and those of brick measuring a foot in length and three inches square, was found in 1670; and at the close of the last century, a stone altar was dug up from the foundation of the northern wall of the station, bearing an inscription implying its dedication to the Emperor Cæsar Marcus Aurelius.

Kencott (St. George)

KENCOTT (St. George), a parish, in the union of Witney, hundred of Bampton, county of Oxford, 5 miles (S.) from Burford; containing 196 inhabitants. The parish is situated near the road between the towns of Burford and Lechlade, and in the south-western part of the county. It comprises by admeasurement 1070 acres, of which 159 are pasture, 8 wood, and the remainder fertile arable land. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 19. 4½.; net income, £246; patrons, the family of Hammersley: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1767. The church is an ancient structure, with a Norman doorway on the south side, above which is a sculptured figure of Sagittarius shooting an arrow into the jaws of a dragon.

Kendal (Holy Trinity)

KENDAL (Holy Trinity), a newly-enfranchised borough, a market-town, and parish, and the head of a union, chiefly in Kendal ward, but partly in Lonsdale ward, county of Westmorland; the whole containing, exclusively of the chapelry of Winster, 18,027 inhabitants, of whom 10,225 are in the town, 23 miles (S. W. by S.) from Appleby, and 262 (N. W. by N.) from London, on the great north road. This place, which, from the various relics of antiquity discovered, was evidently a Roman station, is supposed by Dr. Gale to have been the Brovonacis of Antoninus; but the correctness of this opinion has been doubted by other antiquaries. The town is the largest in the county, and is very pleasantly situated in a valley, on the western bank of the Kent, over which river are three stone bridges, of three arches each. From one of the bridges a spacious street, named Stramongate, leads up a gentle acclivity to the centre of the town, where it meets another principal street, a mile in length, called Stricklandgate and Highgate, extending from north to south; from this a third main street leads down to the water side. These streets, which contain good houses of hewn limestone, roofed with blue slate, are intersected at right angles by several narrower ones, in which the houses are chiefly of rough stone, plastered, and in the ancient style. The town is lighted with gas, the footpaths are paved with pebbles, and the streets macadamized; the inhabitants are supplied with good water: for their better supply both of water and gas, an act was passed in 1846. On the west side the view is enriched by a long tier of gardens, terraces, and orchards. On the east bank of the river are the ruins of a castle, the baronial seat of the lords of Kendal, and the birthplace of Catherine Parr, the last queen of Henry VIII.; the remains consist of the outer walls, with two square towers and one round tower. Opposite the castle, and overlooking the town, is Castle-how Hill, an artificial circular mount, 30 feet in height, surrounded at its base by a deep fosse and a high rampart, strengthened by two bastions on the east; the summit, which is flat, is crossed by a ditch, and defended by a breastwork of earth. On this eminence an obelisk, commemorative of the Revolution of 1688, was erected by the inhabitants in 1788.

A mechanics' institute with a library was established in April, 1824; and there are also two newsrooms, a subscription library, a book club, and a natural history society, with a splendid museum, containing a collection of antiquities and natural curiosities. The assemblyrooms, erected by Mr. Webster, architect, and opened in 1827, have two fronts, one in Lowther-street, the other in Highgate, the latter is ornamented with a receding balcony, fronted with columns and pilasters of the Ionic order, supporting a pediment, and surmounted by a handsome cupola. The interior contains several public rooms, and on the principal floor is an elegant ballroom. The building was erected by shares of £100 each, and the total expenditure amounted to £6000.

The manufacture of woollen-cloth was introduced in the reign of Edward III., by emigrants from the Low Countries; and it appears to have flourished, as, in the reigns of Richard II. and Henry IV., several provisions were made by parliament for the regulation of the "Kendal cloths." Previously to the establishment of the manufactories here, all the wool of the country was exported to the Netherlands, and there manufactured, affording such a source of gain as to induce the Duke of Burgundy to institute the order of the "Golden Fleece." The green druggets made at this and other places were the common clothing of the poor in London and elsewhere for several centuries, so that "Kendal Green" became proverbial. The chief articles of manufacture at present are, coarse woollen-cloth, linsey, knit worsted stockings, and Guernsey jackets for the navy. There are also considerable manufactories for common, Brussels, and Kidderminster carpets; an extensive establishment for the manufacture of Valentia, and fancy articles of very superior quality for waistcoats; large tanneries; a manufactory for fish-hooks and wool-cards; and mills for scouring, fulling, and friezing cloth, and for rasping dye-wood, together with corn and paper mills. Combs of all descriptions are made; and several persons are employed in working and polishing marble, which is remarkable for the beauty and variety of its colours, and is in part obtained from the adjacent mountainous district, some also being imported from Italy. The neighbourhood abounds with limestone, of which the houses in general are built, and which was first polished here in 1788; the stone presents a hard surface, variegated with petrified shells, and has a very beautiful appearance. At some mills below the town, gunpowder is manufactured. A canal, opened in 1819, extends from the river Kent to Lancaster, and thence to West Houghton, Wigan, &c., from which Kendal is supplied with coal. The Windermere branch of the Lancaster and Carlisle railway, 10¼ miles long, commences at Oxenholme station, about two miles from Kendal, and passes near the lowest part of the town; it was opened in the spring of 1847. The views on every side from Oxenholme are magnificent: Kendal Castle is on the left, Benson Knot to the right, Whinfell and Potter Fell to the north, and, north-westward, the mountains of the Lake district, Furness Fells, Hill Bell, and the Kentmere High-Street, the highest road in England, and one of the highest ever constructed by the legions of old Rome. The market, established by charter of Richard I., and confirmed by subsequent sovereigns, is held on Saturday, and is principally for corn, which is pitched in large quantities. Fairs are held at a place called Beast banks, on the 22nd of March, the 29th of April, and the 8th of November, and the following day, for horses, cattle, and sheep; and a statute-fair for hiring servants is held on the Saturday in Whitsun-week. The market-place, now used almost exclusively for corn, is near the centre of the town; very convenient shambles were opened in 1804, on its southern side: the fish-market is at the head of Finklestreet, and vegetables are sold in Stramongate.

This town received its first charter in the 18th of Elizabeth, and the borough was again incorporated in the 12th of Charles I. and 36th of Charles II.; under the last charter the corporation consisted of a mayor, recorder, 12 aldermen, and 20 capital burgesses, assisted by a town-clerk, two chamberlains, and other officers. By the act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, the government is now vested in a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors; the borough is divided into three wards, the municipal and parliamentary boundaries being the same, and the number of magistrates is four. By the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, the town was made a representative borough, comprising 3678 acres: it returns one member to parliament, the right of election being vested in the £10 householders; and the mayor is returning officer. The adjourned sessions from Appleby, for the Kendal and Lonsdale wards, are held here three times a year, there being at present one general sessions at Appleby. The powers of the county debt-court of Kendal, established in 1847, extend over the greater part of the registration-district of Kendal. Petty-sessions are held twice a week. The town-hall is a handsome and spacious building, originally erected in 1591, and rebuilt on the same site in 1758. Near the poor-house, at the east end of the town, is the house of correction, built in 1786, and which has of late years undergone considerable alterations. Kendal is the head of a barony, which, prior to the Conquest, was included in the principality of Cumberland, and was in the possession of the Scottish crown; it comprises the whole of the Kendal and Lonsdale wards, and several other places within the county, and was given by the Conqueror to Ivo de Talbois, who thus became its first baron.

The parish comprises the chapelries of Burneside, Crook, Helsington, Hugil, Old Hutton with Holmescales, Kentmere, Natland, Long Sleddale, Nether and Over Stavely, Underbarrow with Bradley-Field, and Winster, also the townships of Dilliker, Docker, Grayrigg, New Hutton, Kirkland, Lambrigg, Patton, Scalthwaiterigg with Hay and Hutton-i'-th'-Hay, Selside with Whitwell, Skelsmergh, Strickland-Kettle, Strickland-Roger, and Whinfell; and part of the townships of Fawcett-Forest, Nether Graveship, and Undermilbeck, The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £92. 5.; net income, £285; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. The church, which stands in the hamlet of Kirkland, is principally in the later English style, with a low tower: the roof is supported by four rows of pillars, which divide the interior into five aisles; there are many ancient monuments, and some screen-work. A district church, dedicated to St. Thomas, and consecrated in June, 1818, was built under the provisions of the act of parliament of the 1st and 2nd of George IV.; the patronage is vested in five Trustees, and the living is endowed with £1500, of which £500 were the legacy of a lady. The chapel dedicated to St. George, erected in 1754, in the centre of the town, has been converted into a schoolroom, and a very handsome church, in the later English style, erected in its stead, on the bank of the Kent, immediately opposite the Stramongate bridge, at a cost of about £4000, towards which Her Majesty's Commissioners granted £1000, and the Incorporated Society £400; it contains 1250 sittings, 870 of which are free. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £123; patron, the Vicar of Kendal. In the rural parts of the parish are fourteen other incumbencies, eleven of which are in the gift of the Vicar. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Glassites, Independents, Inghamites, Primitive Methodists, Wesleyans, Scottish Seceders, Unitarians, and Roman Catholics. Near the parochial church is the site of an ancient house called Abbot-hall, which belonged to the abbey of St. Mary's, York: it was rebuilt by the late George Wilson, Esq.

The Free Grammar school was founded and endowed by Adam Pennington, of Boston, in Lincolnshire, in 1525; the site was given in 1588, by Miles Phillipson, and the schoolroom was rebuilt in 1592: the endowment produces about £40 per annum. The school has three exhibitions of £5 each to Queen's College, Oxford; and another of £8 for four years to the same college, paid by the Chamber of Kendal; also 20s. and 40s. per annum for two exhibitions to Queen's College. There is, besides, an exhibition of £5 per annum for four years, to any college in Oxford, the candidate to be of the parishes of Kendal, Millom, or Heversham. Ephraim Chambers, the writer of the Cyclopædia; Dr. Edmund Law, Bishop of Carlisle; and Dr. Shaw, the celebrated traveller, were educated here. A school and hospital were endowed with estates by Thomas Sandes, an inhabitant, in 1670; the former for educating children, and the latter for the residence of eight widows: the annual income is £315. A school of industry, established in 1799, is supported partly from the interest of two bequests. A national school for boys was built by subscription in 1818, and endowed with £2000 in the five per cent. annuities, by Matthew Piper, Esq., of Whitehaven, a member of the Society of Friends, who, dying in 1821, at the advanced age of 93, was interred by his own request in the interior of the building. The poor-law union of Kendal comprises 57 parishes or places, and contains a population of 34,694.

The following persons were natives of the town: Dr. Thomas Shaw, the oriental traveller, son of an alderman of Kendal, born in 1692; Dr. Anthony Askew, a learned physician and classical scholar, born in 1722; John Wilson, a journeyman shoemaker, who distinguished himself as a botanist, and published a Synopsis of British Plants; William Hudson, the author of Flora Anglica, who was an apothecary in London, where he died in 1797; and John Gough, a member of the Society of Friends, who, though blind, attained considerable eminence by his researches in natural philosophy. Kendal has conferred the title of Earl on John, Duke of Bedford, brother of Henry V.; Prince George of Denmark; Prince Charles, third son of James II.; and other illustrious persons. The present Earl of Pembroke has the title of Baron Ross and Parr, of Kendal.

Kendalshire

KENDALSHIRE, a hamlet, in the parish of Westerleigh, union of Chipping-Sodbury, hundred of Puckle-Church, W. division of the county of Gloucester; containing 410 inhabitants.

Kender-Church (St. Mary)

KENDER-CHURCH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Dore, hundred of Webtree, county of Hereford, 11 miles (S. W.) from Hereford; containing 102 inhabitants. The parish is intersected by the road from Hereford to Abergavenny, and also by a tramway which runs parallel with the road; and comprises by computation 800 acres, of which 427 are meadow and pasture, 345 arable, and 10 woodland. It is bounded on the north by the river Worm. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued in the king's books at £2. 5. 2½.; net income, £58; patron, the Earl of Oxford: the tithes were sold to the landowners about the commencement of the present century. The church is beautifully situated on an eminence, and commands extensive views of picturesque scenery.

Kenelm, St.

KENELM, ST., a chapelry, in the parish of Hales-Owen, union of Stourbridge, Upper division of the hundred of Halfshire, Hales-Owen and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 2½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Hales-Owen; comprising the townships of Hunnington and Romsley, and containing 571 inhabitants. This place derives its name from the dedication of its chapel to St. Kenelm, fifteenth king of Mercia, who, after a reign of only five months, and while still a child, is by some historians said to have been accidentally killed, and by others to have been murdered by his sister Quendreda; he was buried in Clent wood, from which his remains were afterwards removed, and interred with great solemnity in Winchcomb church, by the side of his father Cynewulph. The living is in the patronage of the Vicar of Hales-Owen. The chapel, consisting only of a nave, is in the early English style, with a very beautiful tower: over the south entrance is some ancient sculpture; and on the outside is the sculptured figure of a child with a crown over its head, representing St. Kenelm.

Kenilworth (St. Nicholas)

KENILWORTH (St. Nicholas), a market-town and parish, in the union of Warwick, Kenilworth division of the hundred of Knightlow, S. division of the county of Warwick, 5 miles (N.) from Warwick, and 101 (N. W. by N.) from London; containing 3149 inhabitants. This place, anciently called Kenelworda, is supposed to have derived its name from Kenelm, or Kenulph, one of its Saxon possessors, who had on the bank of the Avon a strong hold or fortress, which was demolished in the war between Edmund Ironside and Canute. After the Conquest, Henry I. bestowed the manor upon Geoffrey de Clinton, his treasurer and chamberlain, who built the church, and founded a priory for Canons regular of the order of St. Augustine, which he dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and the revenue of which, at the Dissolution, was £643. 14. 9¼. The same Geoffrey, soon after the establishment of his monastery, erected the earlier portion of that stately Castle for the remains of which the town is principally distinguished. This castle, which was sold by his grandson to Henry III., was greatly enlarged and strongly fortified by Simon de Montfort, to whom that monarch gave it as a marriage portion with his sister Eleanor. Simon de Montfort, afterwards joining the discontented barons who had taken up arms against the king, made Henry prisoner at the battle of Lewes, but was eventually defeated and slain by Prince Edward at the battle of Evesham. After the defeat of the baron, his younger son Simon shut himself up with a party of his adherents in the castle, which sustained a siege for six months against the royal forces, commanded by the king in person; but the garrison being reduced by famine, the castle was surrendered to the king, by whom it was bestowed upon his younger son Edmund, afterwards created Earl of Leicester. Upon this occasion was issued the Dictum de Kenilworth, enacting that all who took up arms against the king should pay him the value of their lands for five years. In the 7th of Edward I. the Earl of Leicester held a splendid tournament here, at which 100 knights and as many ladies assisted. Edward II., having been made prisoner by the Earl of Lancaster, was confined in the castle of Kenilworth.

In the reign of Edward III. the castle was considerably enlarged, and in that of Richard II. many additional buildings were erected by John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, whose son becoming king, the castle reverted to the crown. Queen Elizabeth gave it to her favourite, Dudley, Earl of Leicester, by whom the magnificent gatehouse was built, and who also erected the Gallery tower and Mortimer's tower, at each extremity of the tilt-yard. This nobleman, after having completed and embellished the castle at a prodigious expense, entertained Queen Elizabeth and her whole court for seventeen days, with the most splendid pageants: the expense of the entertainments, including every variety of luxurious gratification, was not less than £1000 each day. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., Cromwell took possession of the castle, which he gave up to his soldiers, who, after plundering it of every thing valuable, destroyed it. The ruins occupy three sides of a spacious quadrangle forming the inner ward, and consist chiefly of Cæsar's tower, built by Geoffrey de Clinton, a lofty and massive square structure, having walls sixteen feet in thickness, beyond which are the keep, or strong tower, and part of the kitchens: the banquet-hall, 86 feet long, and 44 feet wide, with a range of windows of excellent symmetry, ornamented with rich tracery, and a recess of three very beautiful windows, almost entire; and the Water tower and Lion's tower, which are in good preservation. Opposite to Cæsar's tower, and once connected with it by a range of buildings forming the fourth side of the quadrangle, but of which only the vestiges of the arched entrance are discernible, is Mortimer's tower; extending from which was the tilt-yard, 240 feet in length, and terminated by the Gallery tower. The prevailing character of the architecture is Norman, intermixed with the decorated and later English styles; the walls included an area of more than seven acres, and the venerable ruins, in many parts overspread with ivy, form one of the most interesting memorials of baronial magnificence. Of the monastery, situated to the east of the castle, only some fragments of the walls and part of the gateway entrance are remaining.

The town consists principally of one street, extending for more than a mile along the turnpike-road, and divided into two parts by a small valley, in which are situated the church and the remains of the monastery; on the higher grounds are some handsome well-built houses, and crowning the summit is the castle. A stream tributary to the Avon, and abounding with excellent trout, after passing under an ancient stone bridge, divides into two branches, inclosing the castle and the town. Here is a station of the Leamington branch of the London and Birmingham railway. A book society is supported, and assemblies are held occasionally at the principal inn. The chief articles of manufacture are horn combs, Prussian blue, Glauber salts, and sal-ammoniac. The market is on Wednesday, and a fair for cattle is held on the last day in April. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates; and two constables and two headboroughs are appointed at the court leet of the lord of the manor. The parish comprises 5742 acres. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £280; impropriator, the Earl of Clarendon. The church is a venerable structure, exhibiting portions in the Norman, and the early and decorated English styles, with a square embattled tower, strengthened with angular buttresses, and surmounted by a lofty spire: the western entrance is by a very fine Norman archway, and the north porch has two finely-pointed and richly-moulded doorways, above which is a small window with elegant tracery. The interior contains an ancient circular font supported on a single Norman column; and some interesting monuments. A handsome painted window was placed in the chancel by Dr. Samuel Butler, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry; it consists of several armorial bearings emblazoned on elegant shields, among which are those of Alicia, Countess of Dudley. Here are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Presbyterians. The free school was founded in 1724, by Dr. Edwards, who endowed it with 20 acres of land, producing about £70 per annum: there are several other schools supported by charity, with some almshouses; and benefactions have been made for other purposes.