Curiosities of Great Britain: England and Wales Delineated Vol.1-11 Historical, Entertaining & Commercial; Alphabetically Arranged. 11 Volume set.

Part 21

Chapter 213,096 wordsPublic domain

[A] BARKING, in the hundred of Beacontree. The name is derived, according to some writers, from the Saxon words Beorce--a birch tree, and Ing--a meadow; but the most natural presumption is, that it takes its name from Berging, signifying a fortification in a meadow, and which seems to be borne out, as there is an encampment still to be traced, of the most extensive dimensions, being more than forty-eight acres in the area; near to which is a spring of fine water, which no doubt supplied the inmates. In 870, Barking was burnt by the Danes, and the abbey destroyed, and the nuns either murdered or dispersed. Soon after the conquest, King William retired to this place, while the Tower of London was being erected, not deeming it safe to continue in that city; and here he was visited during the preparation for his coronation, by Earl Edwin, of Mercia; Morcar, Earl of Northumberland; and many others of the nobility, who swore fealty to him, on the restoration of their estates. It is situated on the river Roding, which branches off in two different streams, and unites with the Thames about two miles distant. Barking Creek is navigable for ships of 80 tons burden, and the coal and timber, together with the fishing trade, is carried on to a considerable extent. About a hundred fishing smacks sail from this town. Near the creek is a large flour mill, formerly belonging to the abbey; and in the vicinity of the town are extensive potatoe grounds for the supply of the London market. Barking is rather a dull town, from the want of a main thoroughfare; it has the appearance of antiquity stamped upon it, particularly the market-house, which is an extensive and ancient building of timber and plaster, of the age of Elizabeth. Here is a town-hall and work-house. A free quay for landing goods, subject to a table of regulations, and a spacious new road from the Commercial-road, through Eastham and Wallend to Barking. The church is dedicated to St. Margaret, and is a spacious ancient structure, with a lofty embattled tower at the west end, having a beacon turret at one corner. A free-school, which now occupies part of the work-house, was founded by Sir James Campbell, in 1641, who bequeathed a sum of £666. 13s. 4d. for that purpose. John Fowke, Esq., bequeathed certain lands for the maintenance of eight boys in Christ's Hospital, two of whom are chosen from this parish. The importance formerly attached to the town of Barking was almost entirely to be attributed to the magnificent abbey that was established here in the year 670, by Erkenwald, Bishop of London, for nuns of the Benedictine order: it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This abbey was governed by a succession of Abbesses, of noble, and even royal descent After the destruction of the establishment by the Danes, in the year 870, it was again rebuilt in a style of greater splendour than before, and on the death of King Edgar, in 970, his queen became Abbess. From the earliest period to the time of its dissolution, it may be said to have been a seminary for the principal gentry of England. Its revenues amounted, at the suppression of the religious houses, to £1084. 6s. 2-3/4d. Destruction has done its worst to this beautiful abbey, for at present little or nothing remains but the gateway, an interesting object, and in good preservation; over which is a room, called the Chapel of the Holy Ghost. This gateway was denominated the fire-bell gate, from its having anciently contained the curfew; it is a square embattled structure, with an octagonal turret at one of the angles. The arch of the entrance is finely pointed, and enriched with deeply receding mouldings; above is a canopied niche, under a fine gothic window of three lights. Among the ruins of the abbey were discovered a fibula, and a gold ring, on which were engraved, the Salutation of the Virgin Mary, and the initials I.M. The tyranny exercised over the tenants of this manor by the fraternity, would almost create a feeling of surprise in our present liberal and enlightened age, were they not perfectly well known in a thousand other instances. The manor of Clayhall was held under the Abbess and convent of Barking, by the following services: viz. that every tenant should come in person to the Abbey Church, on the vigil of St. Ethelburg the Virgin, and there attend and guard the high altar, from the first hours of Vespers till nine the next morning; and that he should be ready at all times, with a horse and a man, to attend the Abbess and her steward, when going upon the business of the convent, any where within the four seas. And, lastly, that the Abbess should have by way of herriot, upon the death of every tenant, his best horse and accoutrements: these services, however, did not exempt them from the quit rents. Besides the above tenure, there were other vexatious contingencies; viz. one (Robert Gerard) was among other services, to gather a full measure of nuts, called a pybot, four of which should make a bushel; to go a long journey on foot once a year to Colchester, Chelmsford, Ely, or the like distances, on the business of the convent, carrying a pack; and other shorter distances, such as Brentford, &c., and maintaining himself upon the road. He was to pay a fine upon the marriage of his daughter, if she married beyond the limits of the manor. If his daughter had an illegitimate child, he was to make the best terms he could with the Abbess, for the fine called Kyldwyte. It appears also, that he could not even sell his ox fed by himself, without the Abbess's permission. Some of the tenants, according to Blount, were obliged to watch and guard thieves in the Abbess's prison. A few miles distant, in a glade in Hainhault Forest, formerly stood an oak, famed through many centuries, and known by the name of Fairlop Oak. Its age is traced by the traditions of the country half way through the Christian era. Part of this noble tree has been converted into the pulpit of St. Pancras new church. Its rough fluted stem was 36 feet in circumference, and about a yard from the ground, divided into eleven immense arms; yet not in the horizontal manner of an oak, but rather that of a beech. Beneath its shade, which formerly overspread an area of three hundred feet in circuit, an annual fair was held on the 2nd of July, and no booth was suffered to be raised beyond the extent of its boughs. The fair is still continued on the same spot the first Friday in July.

_Market_ disused.--_Fair_, October 22, for toys. It lies within the three-penny post delivery.

[Sidenote: Origin of its name.]

[Sidenote: Burnt by the Danes.]

[Sidenote: Once a town of importance.]

[Sidenote: Singular services by which the manor of Clayhall was held.]

[Sidenote: Fairlop oak.]

Map| Names of Places. | County. | Number of Miles From | +--+-------------------+---------+--------------+--------------+ 45|Barkisland to|W.R. York|Halifax 4|Huddersfield 8| 23|Barkston pa|Leicester|Melton 12|Belvoir Cas. 4| 24|Barkstone pa|Lincoln |Grantham 4|Sleaford 9| 46|Barkstone Ash to|W.R. York|Tadcaster 6|Abberford 5| 18|Barkway to & pa|Herts |Hertford 15|Puckeridge 8| 24|Barkwith, East pa|Lincoln |Wragby 3|M. Raisin 8| 24|Barkwith, West pa|Lincoln | 3| 8| 35|Barlaston pa|Stafford |Stone 4|Newcastle 6| 38|Barlavington pa|Sussex |Petworth 5|Chichester 12| 10|Barlborough pa|Derby |Chesterfield 8|Worksop 7| 46|Barlby chap|E.R. York|Selby 2|York 13| 23|Barleston chap|Leicester|Bosworth 3|Leicester 12| 18|Barley pa|Herts |Barkway 3|Cambridge 14| 22|Barley to|Lancaster|Colne 5|Clitheroe 5| 32|Barleythorpe chap|Rutland |Oakham 2|Melton 9| 14|Barling pa|Essex |Prittlewell 5|Rochford 5| 24|Barlings pa|Lincoln |Lincoln 7|Wragby 4| 46|Barlow to|W.R. York|Selby 3|Snaith 6| 10|Barlow, Great chap|Derby |Chesterfield 4|Dronfield 3| 10|Barlow, Little to|Derby | 5| 3| +--+-------------------+---------+--------------+--------------+ |Dist.| Map| Names of Places. | Number of Miles From |Lond.|Population. +--+-------------------+------------------------+-----+--------+ 45|Barkisland to|Rochdale 13| 196| 2292| 23|Barkston pa|Bingham 7| 115| 297| 24|Barkstone pa|Folkingham 11| 114| 430| 46|Barkstone Ash to|York 15| 185| 265| 18|Barkway to & pa|Cambridge 17| 35| 1108| 24|Barkwith, East pa|Louth 12| 147| 187| 24|Barkwith, West pa| 11| 146| 113| 35|Barlaston pa|Cheadle 8| 145| 514| 38|Barlavington pa|Arundel 8| 54| 111| 10|Barlborough pa|Sheffield 17| 150| 713| 46|Barlby chap|Howden 12| 183| 348| 23|Barleston chap|Ashby 9| 109| 582| 18|Barley pa|Ware 16| 37| 704| 22|Barley to|Burnley 5| 217| 707| 32|Barleythorpe chap|Stamford 13| 96| ...| 14|Barling pa|Southend 6| 45| 317| 24|Barlings pa|Bardney 8| 140| 280| 46|Barlow to|Howden 8| 179| 225| 10|Barlow, Great chap|Sheffield 10| 154| 581| 10|Barlow, Little to| 10| 155| 58| +--+-------------------+------------------------+-----+--------+

[A] BARMING. Of this village the learned antiquarian, Mark Noble, was rector. His principal works were a history of the College of Arms, a Genealogical History of the Royal Families of Europe, Memoirs of the Protectorate House of Cromwell; and, also, of the illustrious house of Medici. On St. Thomas's Day there is an annual solicitation for charity, and with the money raised loaves of bread are purchased, and distributed to the resident poor. Great quantities of hops, cherries, and filberts, are grown in this parish.

[Sidenote: Mark Noble.]

[B] BARMOUTH, near the conflux of the river Maw, or Mawddach, is a village singularly situated; the houses are disposed, either among the sand, in a low situation, or at different heights on the side of a huge rock, like a part of the city of Edinburgh, and are said to resemble the town of Gibraltar. These houses form eight tiers, to which there is no approach, but by steps cut in the rock. The floors of one row are about level with the tops of the chimnies immediately in front; so that a person standing at his door may look down the chimnies of the neighbourhood below. The first range regales the second with its smoke, the second the third, &c. till we arrive at the uppermost, which, in a westerly wind, takes the mixed perfume of all. Barmouth is the port of Merionethshire, not far from which the river Mawddach has its commencement. "Proceeding along the banks of this river towards Dolgelly," says Mr. Bingley, "when it was high water, the whole bed of the river being filled, made the different landscapes in the scene appear truly picturesque. The first two miles which lay along, what the inhabitants of Barmouth call, the Beach, formed the most interesting part of the journey. In the composition of the views, scarcely any thing appeared wanting; there was every requisite of mountain and vale, wood, water, meadows, and rocks, arranged in beautiful order. Beyond the beach, the road winds at a little distance from the river, among the low mountains; and from different stations, I had views of the most elegant and picturesque landscapes, the river partly hidden by intervening mountains. This stream is much diminished in width and depth: at present it will not admit so much as a pleasure-boat to reach Dolgelly, which obliges company to walk three-quarters of a mile to the town."

[Sidenote: A very curiously built town.]

[C] BARNARD CASTLE. The castle from which the town appears to have derived its name, was founded by Barnard, son of Guy Baliol, who accompanied William the Conqueror to England, and to whom William Rufus granted the noble forests of Teesdale and Marwood. Edward the First, determined to mortify the Bishop of Durham and to abridge his power; he, therefore, gave this castle to Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, in whose family it continued for five generations. It afterwards came to the crown, and the tyrant Richard III. who took very great delight in this place, contributed much to its beauty by the most tasteful embellishments; his armorial bearings still appear, not only on the castle but over many parts of the town, and it has been a crown domain ever since. Hutchinson in his history of the county of Durham, describes the remains of the castle as covering about six acres and three quarters of ground. The parts which were of chief strength, stand on the very brink of a steep rock, about eighty feet above the level of the river Tees, commanding a most beautiful prospect up the river. The area on the side of the market-place, appears not to have had any communication with the chief strongholds and bulwarks of the fortress, and is separated from the interior buildings by a deep fosse which surrounds the rest of the castle. In an adjoining ground called the Flatts, is a large reservoir cut in swampy ground; water was collected and conveyed to the castle in pipes, to supply the garrison and cattle enclosed within the walls of the outer areas in times of public danger. This area is now a pasture for sheep, and other parts enclosed by the walls have been converted into orchards.

_Market_, Wednesday.--_Fairs_, Wednesday in Easter and Whitsun Week, St. James's Day, and July 25, for horses, cattle, and sheep.--_Bankers_, W. Skinner and Co. draw on Barclay and Co.--_Inns_, King's Head, and Rose and Crown.--_Mail_ arrives 6.40 morning; departs 2.40 afternoon.

[Sidenote: Guy Baliol.]

[A] BARNBROUGH. The church is dedicated to Saint Peter, and contains a rude painting commemorative of "a serious contest that took place between a man and a wild cat." This conflict, which every body in Barnbrough firmly believes, is said to have occurred about the middle of the fifteenth century, between Percival Cresacre, lord of the manor, and a wild cat o' mountain. He is reported to have been attacked in one of the little woods in the neighbourhood, by this furious animal, and a running fight was kept up till they reached the church porch, where the mortal combat ended in the death of both. That some such circumstance did occur, is conjectured from the crest which the family afterwards adopted, viz. a cat o' mountain, which is still to be seen on the tower of the church; and the tradition is said to be further confirmed by the figure of an animal at the foot of the oak statue of this Cresacre, and also a rubiginous stone in the pavement of the porch of the church. We have many evidences in history that cats were beasts of chase, particularly in the charter of Ranulph Piperking, granted by Edward the Confessor:--

Hart and hind, doe and bock, Fox and cat, hare and brock.

and again,

Four greyhounds and six raches, For hare and fox and wild cates.

In the church is an ancient monument of Alicia Cresacre, wife of the above gentleman, who died in 1450, on which is carved in old text:--

Our bodys in stonys lye full still, Our saulys in wandyr at Godys will.

In the north chancel is the monument of Percival Cresacre, a richly decorated altar-tomb under a flat arch, at the crown of which is the family arms, viz. three lions rampant, purple, on a gold shield. The effigies of Cresacre is in fine preservation, composed of carved oak, and representing a knight in a suite of plate armour, with his arms painted on a shield, and an animal (supposed to be a lion) at his feet. His sword which hung from his belt has been taken away, and both monuments are decorated with the favorite device of the family, a rosary of beads.

[Sidenote: Contest between the lord of the manor and a wild cat.]

Map| Names of Places. | County. |Number of Miles From | +--+--------------------+----------+----------+----------+ 30|Barnby-in-Willows pa|Nottingham|Newark 4|Lincoln 16| 37|Barnes pa|Surrey |Kingston 6|Chiswick 2| 37|Barn-Elms[A] ham|Surrey | ... 6| ... 2| +--+--------------------+----------+----------+----------+ |Dist.| Map| Names of Places. |Number of Miles From |Lond.|Population. +--+--------------------+---------------------+-----+----+ 30|Barnby-in-Willows pa|Grantham 14| 124| 237| 37|Barnes pa|Wandsworth 3| 5|1417| 37|Barn-Elms[A] ham| ... 3| 5| | +--+--------------------+---------------------+-----+----+