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

Part 23

Chapter 233,097 wordsPublic domain

[B] GREAT BARRINGTON is a parish containing about 1000 acres, including some portion of Oxfordshire within its limits, as well as a small tract belonging to Berkshire. Previous to the conquest, the manor was held by Earl Harold; the present owner is Lord Dynevor, Lord Lieut. and Cust. Rot. of Carmarthen. Barrington church appears to have been erected about the time of Henry VII. Beneath one of the windows of the aisle are the monument and effigies of Captain Edward Bray, grandfather of Sir Giles Bray, lord of the manor, who is represented in armour, with a ruff round his neck and a sword girt on the "right" side. This peculiarity originated from the captain having killed a man at Tilbury camp; and, in token of his sorrow, he determined never more to use his right hand. Lord Chancellor Talbot was buried in this church; he was the son of William Talbot, Bishop of Durham, and was born in the year 1684. After being elected a fellow of All Soul's College, Oxford, he married, and consequently was compelled to give up his fellowship. When he left the university, he was admitted a member of the society of Lincoln's Inn, and was speedily called to the bar. He was chosen to represent the now disfranchised borough of Tregony, in Cornwall, and afterwards was made member for the city of Durham. He died in the enjoyment of the highest character, after a short illness, on the 14th of February, 1737. Few Chancellors have been more lamented, both in public and private life. Lord Talbot acquired universal esteem. The Hall was built by him in the year 1734, soon after which it was destroyed by fire. The grounds furnish a good specimen of the "ferme ornee," (ornamental farm) and the park, about three miles in circumference, is well planted with a variety of beautiful trees.

[Sidenote: Capt. Edward Bray.]

Map| Names of Places. | County. | Number of Miles From | +--+-------------------------+---------+--------------+-------------+ 33|Barrow pa|Salop |M. Wenlock 4|Bridgenorth 6| 36|Barrow pa|Suffolk |Bury 6|Newmarket 9| 34|Barrow-Gourney pa|Somerset |Bristol 5|Axbridge 12| 7|Barrow, Great pa & to|Chester |Chester 6|Northwich 13| 24|Barrow-on-Humber pa|Lincoln |Barton 3|Grimsby 17| 34|Barrow, North pa|Somerset |Castle Carey 3|Ilchester 8| 34|Barrow, South pa|Somerset |... 4|... 7| 23|Barrow-on-Soar[A] pa & to|Leicester|Mount Sorrel 2|Loughboro' 3| 24|Barrowby pa|Lincoln |Grantham 2|Newark 12| 32|Barrowden pa|Rutland |Uppingham 6|Stamford 8| 22|Barrowford to|Lancaster|Colne 2|Clitheroe 5| 54|Barry pa|Glamorgan|Cardiff 9|Cowbridge 7| 54|Barry Isle[B] Isle|Glamorgan|... 9|... 8| +--+-------------------------+---------+--------------+-------------+ |Dist.| Map| Names of Places. | Number of Miles From |Lond.|Population. +--+-------------------------+------------------------+-----+-------+ 33|Barrow pa|Broseley 2| 146| 351| 36|Barrow pa|Mildenhall 9| 69| 856| 34|Barrow-Gourney pa|Pensford 7| 120| 279| 7|Barrow, Great pa & to|Tarporley 5| 183| 436| 24|Barrow-on-Humber pa|Brigg 11| 167| 1334| 34|Barrow, North pa|Wincanton 8| 116| 150| 34|Barrow, South pa| ... 9| 117| 139| 23|Barrow-on-Soar[A] pa & to|Leicester 9| 107| 6254| 24|Barrowby pa|Colterswor 10| 112| 687| 32|Barrowden pa|Oakham 8| 92| 485| 22|Barrowford to|Burnley 6| 216| 2633| 54|Barry pa|Llandaff 9| 169| 72| 54|Barry Isle[B] Isle| ... 9| 169| ...| +--+-------------------------+------------------------+-----+-------+

[A] BARROW. This large and pleasant village appears to have taken its name from an ancient tumulus. It is occupied principally by gentlemen farmers, many of whom, however, derive great profit from the quantities of lime which they get up and burn. This village having been for many centuries celebrated for a hard blue stone, similar to that in the vale of Belvoir, and when calcined, produces a very fine matter, from which is prepared a particularly hard, firm, and greatly esteemed cement. Various fossil remains are found amongst the limestone. One of the petrifactions, still preserved at Cambridge, with Dr. Woodward's fossils, is a plain and bold representation of a flat-fish, about twelve inches long. Mr. Jones, in his "Philosophical Disquisitions," notices it by saying, that "our country hath lately afforded what I apprehend to be the greatest curiosity of the sort that ever appeared. It is the entire figure of a bream, more than a foot in length, and of a proportionable depth, with the scales, fins, and gills, fairly projecting from the surface, like a sculpture in relievo, and with all the lineaments, even to the most minute fibres of the tail, so complete, that the like was never seen before." Dr. William Beveridge, one of the most learned prelates of the English church, was born here in the year 1638. At St. John's College, Cambridge, he applied himself with intense application to the study of oriental literature. He reviewed the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, and Samaritan tongues, and produced a Syriac grammar. He was raised to the see of St. Asaph, in the year 1704, but he enjoyed his new dignity for a short period,--his death took place in the year 1708. In his divinity he was Calvinistic; from the simplicity and piety of his character, he was beloved by all parties. He lies buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

[Sidenote: Superior lime quarries.]

[Sidenote: The pious Beveridge born here.]

[B] BARRY ISLAND, the name of which has been thought to have been derived from St. Baroche, a hermit, who, according to Cressy, died here in the year 700. This island, which lets for about £80. a year, is estimated to contain about 300 acres. In Leland's time there was, in the middle of it, a "fair little chapel used," but there was no dwelling. Since that period, however, a house has been erected for the residence of a farmer, which, in the summer, is converted into a boarding-house, for the reception of sea-bathers. The family of Giraldus de Barri, are said to have taken their title from this island, of which they were once lords. "It is remarkable," observes Giraldus, "that in a rock near the entrance of the island, there is a small cavity, to which, if the ear is applied, a noise is heard like that of smiths at work--the blowing of bellows, strokes of hammers, grinding of tools, and roaring of furnaces; and it might easily have been imagined, that such noises which are continued at the ebb and flow of the tides, were occasioned by the influx of the sea under the cavities of the rocks." Sir Richard Hoare, in his additions to Giraldus, observes as follows:--"Towards the southern part of the island, on a spot called Nell's Point, is a fine well, to which great numbers of women resort on Holy Thursday, and, having washed their eyes at the spring, each drops a pin into it. The landlord of the boarding-house told me, that on clearing out the well he took out a pint full of these votive offerings." On the main land, opposite the western extremity of the island, lies the village of Barry, near which are some remains of the castle. A few miles north-westward from Barry are the remains of Penmark castle, anciently the property of Sir Gilbert Humphreville, one of the followers of Fitzhamon. Llancarvan, in this vicinity, was once the seat of a religious house, said to have been founded by Cadoc the Wise, in the 6th century. Llancarvan is also distinguished as the birth-place of Caradoc, the Welsh annalist, who compiled a history of the Principality, from the abdication of Cadwaladyr, 686, to his own time. Tref Walter, or Walterston, in this parish, was the residence of Walter de Mapes, a writer of some note towards the middle of the 12th century. He was Archdeacon of Oxford, and Chaplain to Henry I. He built the church of Llancarvan, a large substantial edifice, and the village of Walterston, with a mansion for himself. His literary labours comprise a translation of the British Chronicle into Latin, and a Welsh version of Geoffrey of Monmouth's fabulous paraphrase of the same work. He wrote also a Treatise on Agriculture in the Welsh language.

[Sidenote: Remarkable noises heard here.]

[Sidenote: Curious custom.]

Map| Names of Places. | County. | Number of Miles From | +--+---------------------+---------+-------------+-------------+ 36|Barsham pa|Suffolk |Beccles 3|Bungay 5| 27|Barsham, (East) pa|Norfolk |Fakenham 3|Walsingham 3| 27|Barsham, (North) pa|Norfolk |Walsingham 2|Wells 6| 27|Barsham, (West) pa|Norfolk |Fakenham 3|Walsingham 3| 39|Barston pa|Warwick |Warwick 12|Coventry 9| 17|Bartestree chap|Hereford |Hereford 5|Bromyard 14| 7|Bartherton to|Chester |Nantwich 2|Whitchurch 10| 21|Bartholomew lib.|Kent |Canterbury 13|Deal 7| 7|Barthomley[A] pa & to|Chester |Sandbach 7|Newcastle 7| 7|Bartington to|Chester |Northwick 4|Warrington 8| 6|Bartlow[B] pa|Cambridge|Linton 2|Haverhill 6| 14|Bartlow End ham|Essex | 3| 6| 4|Barton ham|Berks |Oxford 6|E. Illsley 9| 6|Barton pa|Cambridge|Cambridge 4|Caxton 8| 7|Barton to|Chester |Chester 10|Malpas 7| +--+---------------------+---------+-------------+-------------+ |Dist.| Map| Names of Places. | Number of Miles From |Lond.|Population. +--+---------------------+-----------------------+-----+-------+ 36|Barsham pa|Halesworth 9| 109| 182| 27|Barsham, (East) pa|Burnham M. 10| 102| 219| 27|Barsham, (North) pa|Fakenham 4| 113| 84| 27|Barsham, (West) pa|Creek 4| 112| 101| 39|Barston pa|Birmingham 13| 100| 342| 17|Bartestree chap|Ledbury 12| 132| 50| 7|Bartherton to|Audlem 4| 163| 34| 21|Bartholomew lib.|Ramsgate 6| 68| 61| 7|Barthomley[A] pa & to|Nantwich 11| 157| 449| 7|Bartington to|Knutsford 7| 177| 76| 6|Bartlow[B] pa|Saff. Walden 6| 48| 106| 14|Bartlow End ham| 5| 47| 205| 4|Barton ham|Dorchester 7| 56| 14| 6|Barton pa|Royston 12| 49| 273| 7|Barton to|Tarporley 12| 175| 168| +--+---------------------+-----------------------+-----+-------+

[A] BARTHOMLEY contains several townships. The nave of the church has a richly carved wooden roof, dated 1589. On the 22d of December, 1643, a troop of Lord Byron's passing through the village, made an attack upon this venerable edifice, into which several of the inhabitants had gone for safety; they soon got possession of it, and having set fire to the forms, rushes, and mats, made such a smoke that the men who had retreated into the steeple were obliged to call for quarter, but their assailants having got them into their power, are said to have stripped them all, and most cruelly murdered twelve of them in cold blood, three only being suffered to escape. A free school was founded here, in the year 1676, by the Rev. Mr. Steele, in which ten children are educated. In the year 1787, Mrs. Mary, Mrs. Margaret, and Mrs. Judith Alsager, ladies of the manor, obtained an Act of Parliament to enable them to finish a new church, or chapel, to be called Christ's Church, or Chapel, in that township. The same ladies built a school-house, and founded a school there, for the education of children of both sexes.

[Sidenote: Cruel murder.]

[B] BARTLOW. Near this place, are four contiguous barrows, known by the name of Bartlow Hills, from their situation with respect to Bartlow Church. These are vulgarly, though erroneously, regarded as the tumuli raised over the slain in the battle fought between Edmund Ironside and the Danish King, Canute, in the year 1016. It is evident, indeed, from our account of Ashington, at page 50, that the place of action should be sought for, rather in the vicinity of the sea than at the northern extremity of the county. Camden states, that these stone coffins, with broken human bones in them, were found in one of these barrows; and Hollingshead affirms, that two bodies were found in one stone coffin. Mr. Gough remarks, that we do not find the use of stone coffins amongst the northern nations in their Pagan state; and the Danes were not converted until long after the time of Canute. The origin of these barrows, therefore, cannot now be traced.

[A] BARTON. Stockbridge Hall, an ancient edifice, was the seat of the Lancasters, whose arms are yet seen on the ceiling of the dining-room, and who continued here through twelve generations, when their estates fell to the Lowthers. The church, which is a low and extensive building, with a heavy tower between the chancel and the nave, contains the tomb of one of the Lancasters; some escutcheons of several families in the neighbourhood, and a brass plate, on which is this remarkable epitaph:--

"Under this stone, reader, interred doth lie, Beauty and virtue's true epitomy. At her appearance the noone sun Blushed and shrunk in, 'cause quite undone. In her concentered did all graces dwell; God plucked my rose that he might take a smell. I'll say no more, but weeping, wish I may, Soone with thy dear chaste ashes come to lay."

The lady thus extravagantly eulogised, was Frances, the wife of Launcelot Dawes; she died in 1673. Barton school was founded in 1641, by four priests, natives of this parish.

[Sidenote: Remarkable epitaph.]

[B] BARTON. Near this village is a large stone, called Four-shire stone, from its forming the point of junction of the four counties of Gloucester, Worcester, Warwick, and Oxford. Here once resided an attorney of so pacific a disposition that he usually acted as mediator when disputes arose. This anomalous person, named Dover, instituted the annual festivities termed Cotswold Games, and was for forty years their chief supporter. These diversions were celebrated upon the Cotswold Hills, in Gloucestershire, and prodigious multitudes are said to have resorted to them. They consisted of wrestling, cudgel-playing, leaping, pitching the bar, throwing the sledge, tossing the pike, with various other feats of strength and activity. A castle of boards was erected on this occasion, from which guns were frequently discharged. Dover received permission from James I. to hold these sports, and he appeared at their celebration in the very clothes which that monarch had formerly worn; but it is said there was much more dignity in his form and aspect. John Heywood, the epigramatist, speaking of these games, says--

"He fometh like a bore, the beaste should seem bold, For he is as fierce as a lyon of Cotsolde."

[Sidenote: Cotswold games.]

Map| Names of Places. | County. | Number of Miles From | +--+------------------------+-----------+---------------+-------------+ 24|Barton[A] m.t.|Lincoln |Hull 7|Brigg 11| 22|Barton on Irwell to|Lancaster |Manchester 6|Newton 14| 36|Barton, Little pa|Suffolk |Mildenhall 1|Newmarket 9| 44|Barton, St. Mary, chap|N.R. York |Darlington 5|Richmond 7| 35|Barton chap|Stafford |Burton on Tr. 5|Lichfield 9| 28|Barton Segrave pa|Northamp. |Kettering 2|Thrapston 8| 16|Barton Stacey pa|Hants. |Whitchurch 6|Andover 6| 31|Barton Steeple[B] pa|Oxford |Deddington 5|Woodstock 7| 15|Barton Street ham|Gloucester |Gloucester 1|Cheltenham 9| 43|Barton in Street pa|N.R. York |New Malton 5|Pickering 5| 27|Barton Turf pa|Norfolk |Coltishall 5|Worstead 4| 31|Barton Westcott pa|Oxford |Enstone 4|Woodstock 7| 43|Barton in the Willows, t|N.R. York |York 10|New Malton 8| 45|Barugh to|W.R. York |Barnsley 3|Wakefield 9| 43|Barugh, Gt. & Little pa|N.R. York |Pickering 3|New Malton 5| 23|Barwell pa|Leicester |Hinckley 2|M. Bosworth 7| 14|Barwick pa|Essex |Chipp. Ongar 6|Dunmow 8| 34|Barwick pa|Somerset |Yeovil 2|Sherborne 6| 41|Barwick Basset pa|Wilts |Calne 7|Swindon 8| +--+-----------------------+------------+---------------+-------------+ |Dist.|Popul Map| Names of Places. | Number of Miles From |Lond.|-ation. +--+------------------------+---------------------------+-----+-------+ 24|Barton[A] m.t.|Lincoln 34| 167| 3231| 22|Barton on Irwell to|Warrington 14| 185| 8976| 36|Barton, Little pa|Bury 12| 70| 591| 44|Barton, St. Mary, chap|Barnard Cas. 14| 238| ...| 35|Barton chap|Abbotts Brom 8| 130| 1344| 28|Barton Segrave pa|Wellingboro 8| 75| 203| 16|Barton Stacey pa|Winchester 9| 62| 626| 31|Barton Steeple[B] pa|Charlbury 9| 63| 606| 15|Barton Street ham||Ross 17| 103| 786| 43|Barton in Street pa|Helmsley 10| 222| 436| 27|Barton Turf pa|Norwich 13| 121| 391| 31|Barton Westcott pa|Deddington 5| 64| 258| 43|Barton in the Willows, t|Sutton 10| 206| 202| 45|Barugh to|Huddersfield 14| 175| 946| 43|Barugh, Gt. & Little pa|Scarborough 18| 223| 294| 23|Barwell pa|Leicester 11| 101| 1505| 14|Barwick pa|Chelmsford 10| 27| 97| 34|Barwick pa|Crewkherne 8| 123| 415| 41|Barwick Basset pa|Marlborough 8| 83| 164| +--+-----------------------+------------+---------------+-----+-------+

[A] BARTON. This ancient town is pleasantly situated about three-quarters of a mile from the southern bank of the Humber. It was formerly surrounded by a rampart and fossee, the remains of which are still discernable. It was doubtless a place of great strength before the conquest, and served as a barrier against the irruptions of the Saxons and Danes. At the period of the conquest it was a principal port of the Humber, and until the rise of Kingston-upon-Hull it enjoyed an extensive commerce. At present its derives its principal consequence from being the point whence the communication with the Lincoln road is continued across the Humber to Hull, a distance of about six miles and a half.

_Market_, Monday.--_Fair_, Trinity Thursday, for cattle.--_Mail_ arrives 3.0 afternoon; departs 11.15 morning--_Inn_, The Waterside Inn.

[Sidenote: Once a place of importance.]