Ashcombe - Ashill

Ashcombe

ASHCOMBE, a parish, in the union of St. Thomas, hundred of Exminster, Wonford and S. divisions of Devon, 2½ miles (E.) from Chudleigh; containing 297 inhabitants. This parish is situated near the sea-coast, and comprises 2000 acres, of which 500 acres of common and waste have recently been planted; the remainder is arable, pasture, and orchard: the soil is a red loam. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18, and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £242, and the glebe comprises 30 acres. The church, a cruciform structure in the early and decorated English styles, was dedicated 22nd Nov. 1259; it contains many ancient stalls of carved oak. During some recent repairs, part of an old breviary was found between the ceiling and the roof, written in the reign of Richard II.; it is now in the British Museum.

Ashcott (All Saints)

ASHCOTT (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Bridgwater, hundred of Whitley, W. division of Somerset, 5 miles (W. S. W.) from Glastonbury; containing, with the hamlet of Pedwell, 843 inhabitants. This parish, which is bounded on the south by the Polden hills, and intersected by the road from Glastonbury to Bridgwater, formerly belonged to the abbey of Glastonbury. A fair for cattle is held on January 9th. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Shapwick: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £158. 16., the vicarial for £155, and £9. 10. are paid to the rector of Walton-cum-Street; the glebe consists of 45 acres. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. In 1737 Richard Miles bequeathed a sum of money, since vested in land, now producing £70 per annum, which is distributed among the poor.

Ashdon (All Saints)

ASHDON (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Saffron-Walden, hundred of Freshwell, N. division of Essex, 3¾ miles (N. E. by E.) from Saffron-Walden; comprising by computation 3681 acres, and containing, with the hamlet of Little Bartlow, 1164 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £28. 3. 4.; net income, £691; patrons, the Master and Fellows of Caius College, Cambridge. The church, situated on an eminence, is a spacious and ancient structure, with a low square tower surmounted by a small spire covered with lead: the parsonage-house, a handsome residence, about a quarter of a mile to the north, stands pleasantly on rising ground.

Ashe

ASHE, a tything, in the parish of Stourpain, union of Blandford, hundred of Pimperne, Blandford division of Dorset; containing 64 inhabitants.

Ashe (Holy Trinity)

ASHE (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Whitchurch, hundred of Overton, Kingsclere and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 5¼ miles (E. N. E.) from Whitchurch; comprising by computation 1667 acres, and containing 160 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 11. 5½.; net income, £350; patron, W. H. Beach, Esq.: the glebe consists of about 32 acres.

Asheldham (St. Lawrence)

ASHELDHAM (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Dengie, S. division of Essex, 2 miles (N. E.) from Southminster; containing 219 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the sea-shore, comprises an area of about 3 square miles. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £16. 13. 4.; patron, the Bishop of London; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's. The tithes have been commuted for £408. 10., and there are 40 acres of glebe. The church is a plain building, consisting of a nave and chancel, with a low square tower.

Ashelworth (St. Andrew, or St. Bartholomew)

ASHELWORTH (St. Andrew, or St. Bartholomew), a parish, in the union of Gloucester, Upper division of the hundred of Berkeley, though locally in the hundred of Dudstone and King's Barton, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 5½ miles (N. by W.) from Gloucester; containing 594 inhabitants. It is skirted on the south-east by the navigable river Severn, and comprises about 1600 acres, of which two-thirds are pasture, and one-third arable. Several parts of the manor-house display considerable antiquity; and the parsonage, now a farmhouse, affords a peculiarly fine specimen of wood-work. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10. 2. 11.; net income, £187; patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The tithes were commuted for land and an annual money-payment, under an inclosure act, in 1797. The church consists of a nave, south aisle, and two chancels, with a tower and spire.

Ashen

ASHEN, a parish, in the union of Risbridge, hundred of Hinckford, N. division of Essex, 2½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Clare; comprising by measurement 1574 acres, and containing 321 inhabitants. The village is pleasantly situated on elevated ground, commanding fine prospects; and the parish is richly wooded. John Elwes, celebrated for his great wealth and penurious habits, was proprietor of the manor of Ashen, to which he succeeded on the decease of his uncle, Sir Harvey Elwes. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8, and in the patronage of the duchy of Lancaster: the tithes have been commuted for £390, and there are 16 acres of glebe. The church is an edifice of small dimensions, chiefly of stone, with a square embattled tower, and contains several monuments of great antiquity. According to Bishop Tanner, here was a priory of Augustine friars in the seventeenth of Edward II.

Ashendon (St. Mary)

ASHENDON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Aylesbury, hundred of Ashendon, county of Buckingham, 6½ miles (N.) from Thame; containing, with the hamlet of Pollicot, 312 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, with that of Dorton annexed; net income, £106; patrons, the Dean and Canons of ChristChurch, Oxford. The church formerly contained several lofty and elegant marble monuments to the ancient family of Falconer, of Ashendon: in a large recess of the south wall, under an ornamented arch, to the left of the communion-table, is the recumbent effigy of a crusader with chain mail.

Asheridge

ASHERIDGE, a hamlet, in the parish of Chesham, union of Amersham, hundred of Burnham, county of Buckingham; containing 129 inhabitants.

Ashfield, with Ruthall

ASHFIELD, with Ruthall, a township, in the parish of Prior's-Ditton, union of Bridgnorth, hundred of Munslow, S. division of Salop, 8¾ miles (W. S. W.) from Bridgnorth; containing 55 inhabitants.

Ashfield (St. Mary)

ASHFIELD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bosmere and Claydon, hundred of Thredling, E. division of Suffolk, 2½ miles (E.) from Debenham; comprising 1565a. 2r. 19p., and containing, with the hamlet of Thorpe, 343 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £53; patron and impropriator, Lord Henniker, who has commuted the tithes for £465. The glebe comprises three acres, with a small cottage. The church has long been dilapidated, though parts of the walls and of the steeple remain: the cemetery, however, is still used for interment. There is a chapel of ease at Thorpe, dedicated to St. Peter: it is in the English style, with a round tower, which is very old and must have belonged to a more ancient edifice; the chapel was repaired by George Pitt, Esq., in 1739. There is also a burial-ground at Thorpe.

Ashfield, Great (All Saints)

ASHFIELD, GREAT (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Stow, hundred of Blackburn, W. division of Suffolk, 5 miles (E. S. E.) from Ixworth; containing 396 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £54; patron and impropriator, Lord Thurlow, whose ancestor, the lord chancellor, was born here in 1732. The church is in the early and decorated styles, and consists of a nave, chancel, and north aisle, with a square tower surmounted by a small spire. Nicholas Firmage, by his will dated in 1620, gave some land for a minister to preach a sermon every Sunday forenoon; four-fifths of the rent are now paid to a lecturer.

Ashford

ASHFORD, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Bakewell, hundred of High Peak, N. division of the county of Derby, 2 miles (N. W. by W.) from Bakewell; containing 950 inhabitants, and comprising 2562a. 1r. 13p. The village is pleasantly situated in a vale watered by the river Wye, over which are three stone bridges. Mills for sawing and polishing marble, being the first established for that purpose in England, were erected on its banks in 1786, and are supplied from the celebrated quarries of black marble in the vicinity. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £102; patron, the Vicar of Bakewell; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. The chapel, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is in various styles, part being early English; the first erection was a chantry, established here by Godfrey, son of Wenun Wyn, in 1257. There is a place of worship for General Baptists; another, originally founded by the nonconformist divine, William Bagshaw, styled "the Apostle of the Peak," has been subsequently used by different sects. A school endowed with £8. 13. 4. per annum, is further supported by a donation of £20 from the Duke of Devonshire. Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Kent, resided in a mansion near the church, of which there are no vestiges except the moat that surrounded it.

Ashford (St. Peter)

ASHFORD (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Barnstaple, hundred of Braunton, Braunton and N. divisions of Devon, 2 miles (N. W.) from Barnstaple; containing 174 inhabitants. This parish is situated on the navigable river Taw, by which it is bounded on the south; and comprises by measurement 339 acres, twothirds of which are arable, and the remainder grazing, meadow, and orchard, with 38 acres of common. The living is a discharged vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £8. 13. 9.; it is in the patronage of the Crown, and the tithes have been commuted for £85, with a glebe of 7 acres.

Ashford (St. Mary)

ASHFORD (St. Mary), a market-town, parish, and the head of the union of West Ashford, in the hundred of Chart and Longbridge, lathe of Shepway, E. division of Kent, 20 miles (S. E. by E.) from Maidstone, and 54 (E. S. E.) from London; containing 3082 inhabitants. This place, originally Asscheford, rose from the ruins of Great Chart, an ancient market-town, which gave name to the hundred, and was destroyed during the Danish wars. The town is a liberty of itself: it is situated on an eminence rising from the northern bank of the small river Stour, over which is a bridge of one arch; the houses are modern and well built, and the principal street, which is nearly half a mile long, is lighted. A suite of assembly-rooms has been erected on the site of the ancient manor and market-house, and assemblies occasionally take place; there are two subscription libraries, and races are held annually for one day. The only branch of manufacture is that of linen, which is carried on to a small extent. The market is on Tuesday and Saturday; there is a cattle-market on the first and third Tuesday in every month; and fairs are held on May 17th, Sept. 9th, and Oct. 24th, for general merchandise, and in the first week in Aug. for wool. A new turnpike-road, in a more direct line than the old road, has lately been completed between the town and Canterbury; and the South-Eastern railway passes near it: an act was obtained in 1845 for a railway to Hastings, 29 miles long; a railway was opened to Canterbury in Feb. 1846, and extended to Ramsgate, April, same year. Great works have just been formed for the construction of steam-engines and the manufacture of carriages, for the South-Eastern Company's use; some of the piles of building are of extraordinary dimensions. A court leet is held annually, at which a constable, borough-holder, and other officers are appointed. The powers of the county debt-court of Ashford, established in 1847, extend over the registration-districts of East and West Ashford.

The parish comprises 2800a. 3r. 17p., of which about 290 acres are woodland, and 92 acres roads, waste land, and the town. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £18. 4. 2.; net income, £460; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Rochester: the glebe comprises about 14 acres. The church, formerly collegiate, is a spacious and handsome cruciform structure in the later English style, with a lofty and elegant tower rising from the centre, and at the southern entrance a fine Norman arch: it was rebuilt in the reign of Edward IV., by Sir John Fogge, Knt., who erected the beautiful tower, and founded the college for a master, two chaplains, and two secular clerks. In a small chapel adjoining the south-western transept are three sumptuous monuments of variegated marble, to the memory of the Smyths of Westenhanger, and one to the Duchess of Athol. There are places of worship for Particular Baptists, the Society of Friends, the Connexion of the Countess of Huntingdon, and Wesleyans. The free grammar school was founded in 1636, by Sir Norton Knatchbull, who endowed it with £30 per annum, and vested the appointment of a master in his own family; national schools are supported by subscription, and by a bequest in land, producing £35 a year, from Dr. Turner, in 1702. The poor-law union of West Ashford comprises 12 parishes and places, and contains a population of 11,329. A mineral spring was discovered a few years ago, in a field called Sparrows gardens. Robert Glover, an industrious antiquary of the sixteenth century; his nephew, Thomas Miller, eminent as a herald and genealogist; and Dr. John Wallis, the celebrated mathematician, were natives of the place. It confers the inferior title of Baron on the family of Keppel, earls of Albemarle.

Ashford (St. Michael)

ASHFORD (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Staines, hundred of Spelthorne, county of Middlesex, 4 miles (N. E. by N.) from Chertsey; containing 524 inhabitants. It comprises 1378a. 3r. 14p., of which the greater portion is arable, and about 100 acres meadow and pasture; the surface is generally flat, and the soil a gravel resting on blue clay. The surrounding scenery is pleasing, and enlivened by several handsome residences. The living is annexed to the vicarage of Staines; impropriator, J. Irviug, Esq. The great tithes were commuted in 1809 for land and a money payment, under an inclosure act; and the vicarial tithes have since been commuted for £100: there is a glebe of 26½ acres. The church is a small edifice, built in 1796, at the expense of the principal inhabitants. A Sunday school is endowed with the interest of £438, three and a half per cent. consols.

Ashford

ASHFORD, a hamlet, in the parish of Ilton, union of Chard, hundred of Abdick and Bulstone, W. division of Somerset; containing 13 inhabitants.

Ashford-Bowdler (St. Andrew)

ASHFORD-BOWDLER (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Ludlow, hundred of Munslow, S. division of Salop, 2 miles (S. by E.) from Ludlow; containing 96 inhabitants. This parish lies on the road to Worcester, and comprises 630 acres in equal portions of arable and pasture; the views are picturesque and beautiful, and bounded by the Clee hills on the east, and the High Vinealls on the west. On the east flows the Teme, dividing the parish from Ashford-Carbonell: a bridge connects the two places. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £55; patron, Charles Walker, Esq., of Ashford Court. The church is ancient, with a steeple.

Ashford-Carbonell (St. Mary)

ASHFORD-CARBONELL (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Ludlow, partly in the hundred of Munslow, but chiefly in that of Stottesden, S. division of Salop, 3¼ miles (S. S. E.) from Ludlow; containing 266 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Teme, and comprises about 1500 acres. There are stone-quarries. The road leading from Ashford-Bowdler north-eastward to Cainham intersects the parish; and the Leominster canal runs very near its southern extremity. On the bank of the Teme is the residence of Ashford Court. The living is a rectory, annexed to that of Little Hereford: the tithes have been commuted for £325. The church stands a little to the north of Ashford Court.

Ashfordby, or Asfordby (All Saints)

ASHFORDBY, or Asfordby (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Melton-Mowbray, hundred of East Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 3 miles (W.) from Melton-Mowbray; containing 482 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1800 acres, of which two-thirds are grazing, and one-third arable land; and is situated on the river Wreak, which communicates with the Leicester and Melton-Mowbray navigation, and over which is a bridge. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £15. 11. 8., and in the patronage of the Rev. A. Burnaby, the present incumbent, and his two sisters, with a net income of £455: the tithes were commuted for land in 1761, under an inclosure act.

Ash-Holm

ASH-HOLM, a township, in the parish of Lambley, union of Haltwhistle, W. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 19½ miles (W. by S.) from Hexham. This place, which is snugly seated under banks clothed with luxuriant woods, and where the course of the Tyne is suddenly intercepted by a high promontory called the Shafthill, was the seat of the ancient family of Wallace, whose honourable career and success in life have enabled them to extend their property in the county far beyond the limits of this their patrimonial estate. James Wallace was attorney-general in 1780, and his son Thomas also filled offices of state, for which he was in 1828 created Baron Wallace, of Knaresdale. The Romans had a signal station here, the area of which is rectangular, 35 yards by 24; it is defended on three sides by steep escarpments, and on the east, and partly on the south, is cut off from the main land by a ditch 60 feet wide and 25 deep. There is a good millstone quarry.

Ashill (St. Nicholas)

ASHILL (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Swaffham, hundred of Wayland, W. division of Norfolk, 3 miles (N. W.) from Watton; containing 637 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 2991 acres, of which 2367 are arable, and 584 meadow and pasture; the soil is in some parts light and gravelly, and in others strong and clayey. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £19. 13. 6½.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. B. Edwards. The incumbent's tithes have been commuted for £979; a rent-charge of £21 is paid to the rector of Great Cressingham; and there are 30 acres of glebe, with a good house. The church is chiefly in the later style of English architecture. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. At the time of the inclosure, 73 acres of land were allotted to the poor.

Ashill

ASHILL, a parish, in the union of Chard, hundred of Abdick and Bulstone, W. division of Somerset, 4 miles (N. W.) from Ilminster; containing 438 inhabitants. This place, which is situated on the road from Bridport to Taunton and Tiverton, belonged in the reign of Edward II. to Thomas de Multon, who obtained for the inhabitants the grant of a weekly market on Wednesday, and of fairs on the festivals of the Virgin Mary, St. Simon and St. Jude. A portion of ground which for many years has been contested by the parishes of Ashill and Broadway, was in 1685 the scene of a conflict between Monmouth, on his retreat from Sedgemoor, and a party of the king's forces. The parish comprises by admeasurement 1790 acres of profitable land, under good cultivation; the scenery is pleasantly diversified, and in some parts enriched with wood. A fair is still held in the village on the Wednesday in Easter-week. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 0. 10.; patron, the Prebendary of Ashill in the Cathedral of Wells. The great tithes have been commuted for £204. 10. 8., with a glebe of 60 acres; the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £118. 13. 4., and there are 24 acres of land attached, at Bewley Down, Dorset. Some remains exist of an ancient seat belonging to Nicholas Wadham, founder of Wadham College, Oxford. A chalybeate spring is carefully preserved.