Aldingham (St. Cuthbert)
ALDINGHAM (St. Cuthbert), a parish, in the
union of Ulverston, hundred of Lonsdale north of
the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 5¾
miles (S.) from Ulverston; containing 907 inhabitants.
Immediately after the Conquest, Aldingham was granted
to Michael Flandrensis or le Fleming, sometimes called
de Furness, who is supposed to have accompanied
William I. to England. The parish is situated on the
western shore of Morecambe bay, which has encroached
so much upon the lands that the church, said to have
been formerly in the centre of the parish, is now within
the reach of a high tide. The soil is a friable loam and
marl, constantly melting down; and the sea threatens
greater ravages: the present area is about 7500 acres,
whereof two-thirds are arable. The population is principally engaged in the cultivation of the land, and several
neat farm-houses have recently been erected by the Earl
of Burlington. Limestone is quarried, and there are
numerous limekilns. The Tarn beck flows from Urswick beck, southward, to Gleaston, in the parish, where
it receives the name of the Gleaston beck; it falls into
the bay near the small hamlet of Roosebeck.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£39. 19. 2., and in the patronage of the Crown; net
income, £1093. The church is supposed to have been
founded by Michael le Fleming: the present edifice is a
low, long, and narrow structure, with whitened walls,
and chipstones of red stone; the tower, supported by
buttresses and surmounted by pinnacles, is strong and
bulky. The churchyard is protected from the sea by an
artificial rampart of stone, which appears to be of some
antiquity. In the village of Gleaston are the mouldering
ruins of a castle which, according to tradition, was
built by the lords of Aldingham immediately after
the sea had swept away the lower part of the parish; the
date is uncertain. The ruins consist of two towers,
nearly perfect, on the west side, and there are traces of
towers on the east; the interior is now a browsy pasture, of uneven surface, covered in many places with
masses of fallen stone. From a promontory on the
coast, which was once surrounded by a moat, and is
supposed to have been an exploratory station during the
incursions of the Picts and Scots, is an extensive prospect over the counties of Westmorland and York.
Aldington (St. Martin)
ALDINGTON (St. Martin), a parish, in the union
of East Ashford, partly in the liberty of RomneyMarsh, but chiefly in the franchise and barony of
Bircholt, lathe of Shepway, E. division of Kent, 5½
miles (W. by N.) from Hythe; containing 733 inhabitants. It is crossed by the South-Eastern railway; and
comprises 3576 acres, of which 320 are in wood.
The living is a rectory, with the chapel of Smeeth annexed, valued in the king's books at £38. 6. 8.; net income, £1014; patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The church displays the early English style in its
general structure; the tower presents a specimen of
very good masonry. Erasmus, the celebrated divine,
was rector of the parish.
Aldington
ALDINGTON, a hamlet, in the parish of Badsey,
union of Evesham, Upper division of the hundred of
Blackenhurst, Pershore and E. divisions of the county
of Worcester, 2 miles (E.) from Evesham; containing
102 inhabitants. At the time of the Domesday survey,
this was a berewic, or corn-farm, annexed to the manor
of Offenham, and held by the abbey of Evesham: in
the reign of Henry III. the abbot built a grange
here. The hamlet comprises 642 acres, forming the
northern part of the parish; on the west it is bounded
by the Avon, and on the north by a stream which falls
into that river. The soil is of the most fertile quality.
There is a small, but very respectable village; and the
manor-house is well designed, and pleasantly situated.
Aldridge (St. Mary)
ALDRIDGE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Walsall, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of
the county of Stafford, 4 miles (N. E. by E.) from
Walsall; containing, with the chapelry of Great Barr,
2083 inhabitants, of whom 1005 are in the township of
Aldridge. This parish, anciently Alrewich, comprises
7752 acres, whereof 480 are common or waste land: in
the township of Aldridge are about 2500 acres, all arable,
with the exception of 100 of grass and 20 woodland.
The soil is principally sandy and gravelly, producing
good crops if well manured; much of the surface is
elevated, the celebrated Barr Beacon being the highest
hill in the inland counties. The neighbourhood affords
a kind of red clay, well adapted for the finer sort of
flower-pots, tiles, &c.; it is thirty feet deep, and makes,
also, superior blue bricks for building, The Blue-tile
works of Messrs. G. and J. Brawn were established here
in 1825; the excellence of the tiles consists in their
lightness, durability, and colour, being similar to slate:
about 100 hands are employed in this species of manufacture. The trade is greatly facilitated by the Wyrley
and Essington Extension canal, now incorporated with
the Birmingham canal, and which passes a short distance
west of the village. There is not a running stream
in the parish; the Bourne rivulet separates it from
Shenstone, and the old London and Chester road passes
at the east end. The village is pretty, and contains
some good houses: about a mile southward of it is
Aldridge Lodge, occupying elevated ground, surrounded
with 200 acres, and commanding a panoramic view of
the circumjacent country; it is the property of the Rev.
Thomas Burrowes Adams, M.A. Druids' Heath and
Mill Green, two hamlets in the manor of Aldridge, are
also within a mile of the village. The Living is a
rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Great Barr annexed,
valued in the king's books at £8. 1. 3.; patron, Sir E.
D. Scott, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for
£1300 per annum; and there are 70 acres of glebe,
with a good glebe-house situated near the church, near
which, also, is the residence of Edward Tongue, Esq.
The church was partly rebuilt in 1842, at a cost of £728;
it has a monument of a Knight Templar, and its square
tower is very ancient. There are two free schools, one
of them with an endowment of £126 per annum, founded
in 1718 by the Rev. John Jordan; and the other for girls,
of whom six are instructed in consideration of an endowment of £12 per annum arising from land left by
Mrs. Wheeley. A national and Sunday school is supported by subscription. At the back of the church is a
small tumulus.
Aldringham (St. Andrew)
ALDRINGHAM (St. Andrew), a parish, in the
union and hundred of Blything. E. division of Suffolk, 2½ miles (N. by W.) from Aldborough; containing, with the hamlet of Thorpe, 401 inhabitants. The
parish derives its name from the river Alde (by some
improperly called the Hundred brook), which separates
it from Aldborough; it comprises 1736 acres, whereof
323 are common or waste. A market was formerly held,
which has fallen into disuse: there is a small fair on St.
Andrew's day, called Cold Fair. The living is a perpetual
curacy; net income, £59; patron and impropriator,
Lord Huntingfield, whose tithes have been commuted
for £205. There is a place of worship for Particular
Baptists.
Aldrington, East
ALDRINGTON, EAST, a parish, in the union of
Steyning, hundred of Fishergate, rape of Lewes, E.
division of Sussex, 3 miles (W. by N.) from Brighton;
containing about 650 acres. This place is by Camden,
Stillingfleet, and others, identified with the Portus Adriani
of the Romans; and urns, skeletons, pottery, and other
relics of Roman antiquity have been frequently discovered in this and the adjoining parishes; which appear
to have been the first points of attack when the Saxons
began to infest the coasts. It is bounded on the south
by the English Channel, which has made such encroachments on the land as to have completely destroyed the
village; and the parish is now without any population,
except one individual returned in the last census. The
road and railway from Brighton to Shoreham both pass
through it. The living is a discharged rectory, valued
in the king's books at £7. 10. 2½.; net income, £294;
patrons, the Masters and Fellows of Magdalene College,
Cambridge. The church is in ruins.
Aldstone.—See Alston.
ALDSTONE.—See Alston.
Aldsworth (St. Peter)
ALDSWORTH (St. Peter), a parish, in the union
of Northleach, hundred of Brightwell's Barrow,
E. division of the county of Gloucester, 3½ miles (S.
E.) from Northleach; containing 365 inhabitants. The
living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Vicar of
Turkdean; net income, £66. The tithes were commuted for land and an annual money payment, by an
inclosure act, in 1793. The peculiar of Aldsworth is regularly inhibited during the bishop's visitation, although
his right has been and still continues to be resisted by
the patron and ordinary of the peculiar, notwithstanding
an award of the Dean of Arches, in 1741, in the bishop's
favour.
Aldsworth
ALDSWORTH, a tything, in the parish and union
of West Bourne, hundred of West Bourne and Singleton, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex;
containing 118 inhabitants. It is situated in the northern extremity of the parish.
Aldwark
ALDWARK, a township, in the parish of Alne,
union of Easingwould, wapentake of Bulmer, N.
riding of York, 6½ miles (E. S. E.) from Boroughbridge;
containing 224 inhabitants. This place comprises 2217
acres, of which 57 are common or waste. The village is
seated in the vale of the Ouse, and nearly a mile to the
south is Aldwark bridge, a substantial wooden structure,
which crosses the river and its banks by twenty-seven
arches and culverts. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £75, and the impropriate for £3. 11.
Aldwark
ALDWARK, a township, in the parish of Ecclesfield, union of Wortley, N. division of the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill, W. riding of
York, 2½ miles (N. E.) from Rotherham. Aldwark, or
"the old work," the ancient seat of the Clarelles, Fitzwilliams, and Foljambes, lies remote from the rest of
the parish, and has consequently never been considered
a part of Hallamshire: its long line of resident proprietors presents a fine subject for the genealogist and
antiquary. A few years since, the extensive corn and
oil mills on the opposite side of the river Don were
burnt down.
Aldwark
ALDWARK, a township, in the parish of Bradborne, union of Bakewell, hundred of Wirksworth,
S. division of the county of Derby, 5¾ miles (N. W. by
W.) from Wirksworth; containing 82 inhabitants. The
manor was given to the monks of Darley by Sewall,
ancestor to the Shirley family: Queen Elizabeth granted
it to the Hardwickes, whose heiress brought it to Sir
William Cavendish, ancestor of the Duke of Devonshire.
Aldwick
ALDWICK, a tything, in the parish of Pagham,
union of West Hampnett, hundred of Aldwick, rape
of Chichester, W. division of Sussex; containing 203
inhabitants.
Aldwinkle (All Saints)
ALDWINKLE (All Saints), a parish, in the union
of Thrapston, hundred of Huxloe, N. division of the
county of Northampton, 4 miles (N.) from Thrapston;
containing 272 inhabitants. It is situated on the navigable river Nene, and contains about 1000 acres. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12.
4. 2.; net income, £311; patron, the Rev. R. Roberts,
D.D. The tithes were commuted for land and a moneypayment, by an inclosure act, in 1792; the land comprises 205 acres. The church is remarkable for its
beautiful tower; there are some windows in the decorated English style, and a small ornamented chapel adjoining the southern side of the chancel. The sum of
£30 per annum, the rental of a plantation of twelve acres,
is divided between the poor of the two parishes of Aldwinkle All Saints and St. Peter. There is a chalybeate
spring. The poet Dryden was born in the parsonagehouse, in 1631.
Aldwinkle (St. Peter)
ALDWINKLE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union
of Thrapston, hundred of Huxloe, N. division of the
county of Northampton, 3¾ miles (N. by E.) from
Thrapston; containing 183 inhabitants. The river
Nene, which is navigable to the North Sea, and communicates with the Northampton canal, flows through
the parish. Here are the remains of a singular cruciform building, called Liveden, erected by the Tresham
family, and richly decorated with sculpture, especially
round the cornice, which exhibits a Roman Catholic
legend and a variety of religious symbols. The living
is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 6. 3.;
net income, £230; patron, Lord Lilford: the glebe
consists of 183 acres. There is a place of worship for
Particular Baptists. Fuller, author of The Worthies of
England and other learned works, was born in the
parish.
Aldworth (St. Mary)
ALDWORTH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Wantage, hundred of Compton, county of Berks, 4½
miles (E. by S.) from East Ilsley; containing 314 inhabitants. This place, which is supposed by Hearne to
have been a Roman station, comprises 1785a. 3r. 32p.,
and nearly the whole is cultivated land; the village
is situated on an eminence commanding extensive and
interesting views. The living is a vicarage, valued in
the king's books at £8. 16. 0½.; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of St. John's College, Cambridge. The great tithes have been commuted
for £400, and the vicarial for £100; the impropriate
glebe consists of 27, and the vicarial of 16, acres. The
church is an ancient structure of simple character,
containing eight altar-tombs, on which are nine recumbent figures, under highly enriched arches, elegantly
sculptured, supposed to represent different members of
the De la Beche family, and to have been executed in
the fourteenth century.
Alemouth.—See Alnmouth.
ALEMOUTH.—See Alnmouth.
Alethorpe
ALETHORPE, an extra-parochial liberty, locally in
the parish of Fakenham, union of Walsingham,
hundred of Gallow, W. division of Norfolk, 2 miles
(N. E. by E.) from Fakenham; containing 8 inhabitants.
It comprises 237 acres of land.
Alexton (St. Peter)
ALEXTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of
Billesdon, hundred of East Goscote, N. division of
the county of Leicester, 3½ miles (W. by N.) from
Uppingham; containing 81 inhabitants. This parish,
which is separated from Rutland by the river Eye, and
is situated near the road from Leicester to Cambridge,
comprises 997a. 28p., nearly the whole of it good grazing
land, and, with the exception of 200 acres, tithe-free;
the soil is a stiff clay, and the surface undulated and
pleasingly wooded. The ancient Hall, built in the reign
of Elizabeth, is adorned with avenues of Scotch and
Balm of Gilead firs, which are considered the finest in
this part of the country. The living is a rectory, valued
in the king's books at £6. 18. 4.; net income, £140;
patron, Lord Berners. Attached are 24 acres of glebe
within the parish, and two in Belton Field. The church
was built in 1594, by Edward Andrewes.
Alfold (St. Nicholas)
ALFOLD (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of
Hambledon, First division of the hundred of Blackheath, W. division of Surrey, 8½ miles (S. E. by S.)
from Godalming; containing 519 inhabitants. The
parish comprises 2726a. 1r. 33p., whereof 72 acres are
common or waste, and abounds with oak, ash, and elm:
in parts there is a bed of stone, which is used for repairing roads, but is not hard enough for building. The
Arun and Wey Junction canal passes through. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 11. 2.,
and in the gift of the Sparkes family: the tithes have
been commuted for £355, and the glebe comprises 14
acres. The church consists of a nave, chancel, and south
aisle, with a tower surmounted by a small spire: the
parsonage-house is situated on the south side of the
churchyard.
Alford (St. Wilfred)
ALFORD (St. Wilfred), a market-town and
parish, in the union of Spilsby, Wold division of the
hundred of Calceworth, parts of Lindsey, county of
Lincoln, 34 miles (E.) from Lincoln, and 137 (N. by
E.) from London; containing 1945 inhabitants. This
place, which derives its name from an old ford
over a stream that twice runs through it, is a small,
though ancient, town; and is described by Leland
as consisting of one street of mean buildings, covered
with thatch. Since that writer's time, however, it
has been considerably improved, particularly during the
last 20 years: it is pleasantly situated, and is one of
the polling-stations for the parts of Lindsey. The
market is held on Tuesday, and fairs occur on WhitTuesday and the 8th of November: a court leet takes
place annually, and petty-sessions once in every three
weeks. The parish comprises about 1000 acres of land.
The living is a discharged vicarage, with the living of
Rigsby annexed, valued in the king's books at £10, and
in the patronage of the Bishop of Lincoln, the appropriator, with a net income of £122: the church is a
large structure of stone, repaired with brick, and is embellished by a tower commanding very extensive views
of the adjacent districts; it has many ancient monuments.
There are places of worship for Primitive Methodists,
Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans.
The free grammar school was founded and endowed
by Francis Spanning, in 1565; and its revenue has been
considerably augmented by subsequent benefactions of
land at Farlesthorpe, Thoresthorpe, Woodthorpe, Strubby,
and Cumberworth, containing in the whole 260 acres,
and yielding an annual rent of £268. 18.; together with
the living of Saleby, the patronage being vested in the
governors. By a charter obtained in 1576, it was made
a royal foundation, to be called "The Free Grammar
School of Queen Elizabeth," and the management vested
in eleven governors, who are a body corporate, and have
a common seal. It has two quinquennial fellowships at
Magdalene College, Cambridge; and there is a scholarship of £6. 8. 6. per annum at Jesus' College, Cambridge, for students from Alford, Caistor, or Louth
schools. The premises consist of a substantial brick
house for the master, with two commodious rooms adjoining, and a large garden in the town. Another school,
in which 130 children of both sexes are instructed, was
founded by John Spendluffe, who endowed it with an
estate now producing £70 per annum. Almshouses for
six poor people were erected and endowed by Sir Robert
Christopher, Knt., in 1668; the endowment was subsequently augmented by Lord Harborough, in 1716. A
salt spring, efficacious in scurvy, jaundice, &c., was discovered in 1670. Alford confers the title of Viscount
on the family of Brownlow.
Alford (All Saints)
ALFORD (All Saints), a parish, in the union of
Wincanton, hundred of Catsash, E. division of Somerset, 1¾ mile (W. by N.) from Castle-Cary; containing 90 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, consolidated
with that of Hornblotton by act of parliament in 1836,
and valued in the king's books at £9. 9. 9.; patron and
incumbent, the Rev. J. G. D. Thring. The tithes have
been commuted for £140, and there are 40 acres of
glebe. At a farmhouse, called Alford Well, about threequarters of a mile from the church, is a saline chalybeate
spring, now disused.
Alfreton (St. Mary)
ALFRETON (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, in the union of Belper, hundred of Scarsdale,
N. division of the county of Derby, 14 miles (N. N. E.)
from Derby, and 140 (N. N. W.) from London; comprising the township of Alfreton, the manor of Riddings
(in which is Ironville), and the townships or hamlets
of Swanwick, Greenhill-Lane, Newlands, Summercotes, and Birchwood; and containing 7577 inhabitants, of whom 1774 are in Alfreton township. This
place, called in King Ethelred's charter to Burton
Abbey "Alfredingtune," and in Domesday book "Elfretune," is supposed to have derived its name from
Alfred the Great. At the time of the Norman survey it
was the property of Roger de Busli, and in the PipeRolls of the reign of Henry II. it is recorded that Randulph was then enfeoffed of the barony of Alfreton; he
served the office of sheriff of the counties of Derby and
Nottingham, in the 9th year of that reign. Fitz-Randulph, his son, the founder of Beauchief Abbey, in this
county, and said to have been one of the murderers of
Thomas à Becket, was also sheriff of the same counties,
in the 12th and subsequent years of the same king; and
the like honour descended to his son William, whose
heir, Robert, in the 13th of John, was certified to hold
half a knight's fee in the adjoining manor of "Ryddinges,"
and in "Watnow" in Nottinghamshire. On the death
of Thomas Fitz-Randulph the manor of Alfreton was
transferred, in moieties, to William de Chaworth and
Robert de Latham, who married his sisters, co-heiresses.
The first charter for a market here was granted to
Thomas de Chaworth, son of William, and to Robert de
Latham, in the 36th of Henry III., and was renewed to
one of their successors in the 5th of Edward VI. Thomas
de Chaworth had free warren granted him in the 41st
Henry III.; and in the 4th of Edward III. he claimed a
park at Alfreton, with the privilege of having a gallows,
tumbrell, and pillory, for the use of the manor. He
purchased Robert de Latham's moiety. The last of the
race was William de Chaworth, whose only daughter
married John Ormond in the time of Henry VII.; and
by the heiress of the latter, the manor passed to Sir
Anthony Babington, of Dethick, in this county, by whose
grandson it was sold, about 1565, to John Zouch, of
Codnor. After a sale by a son of Zouch, in 1618, to
Robert Sutton, it finally passed, by purchase in 1629, to
Anthony Morewood and his son Rowland, in whose
descendants it still continues, the present possessor being
William Palmer Morewood, Esq.
The parish comprises 4550 acres of land. The town
is pleasantly situated on the brow of a hill, sloping towards the south, and consists of four streets in the form
of a cross, with a market-place at the point of intersection; the houses are irregularly built, but some of them
are good specimens of the ancient style of domestic
architecture. The manufacture of stockings is carried
on to a considerable extent in the parish; and there are
large iron-works at Riddings; and extensive collieries
there, as well as in Alfreton, Greenhill-Lane, and the
other townships. The produce is conveyed by the
Cromford canal, a branch of which passes through Riddings and Summercotes: the Midland railway runs
within about a mile and a half of the town; and roads
to Chesterfield, Mansfield, Nottingham, Derby, and Matlock pass through it. An act was passed in 1845 for
making a railway from the parish of Alfreton to Sawley,
on the Midland railway; the line is called the Erewash
Valley railway, and communicates with the Mansfield
and Pinxton line. The market-day is Friday; and fairs
are held on January 26th, Easter-Tuesday, Whit-Tuesday,
July 31st, October 7th, and November 24th, the last
being the day for the annual hiring of servants in husbandry. The town is a polling-place for the Northern
division of the county; and petty-sessions are held here:
the powers of the county debt-court of Alfreton, established in 1847, extend over part of the registrationdistricts of Belper, Chesterfield, Mansfield, and Basford.
The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's
books at £7. 18. 9.; net income, £150; patron, Mr.
Morewood: the great tithes have been purchased by the
Landowners. The church is an ancient structure, with
an embattled tower crowned by pinnacles. At Riddings
is a second church. There are places of worship within
the township of Alfreton for Wesleyans, General Baptists, and Independents.