Alfrick
ALFRICK, a hamlet, in the parish of Suckley,
union of Martley, Upper division of the hundred of
Doddingtree, Worcester and W. divisions of the
county of Worcester, 7 miles (W. by S.) from Worcester; containing 434 inhabitants. This place is
bounded on the north by the river Teme, and comprises
1542a. 1r. 17p., whereof 83 acres are common or waste;
the surface is undulated, the land in good cultivation,
and the scenery, enriched with wood, is generally of
pleasing character, and in some parts picturesque. The
heights of Old Storage command fine views. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in agricultural pursuits, and
many of the females in making gloves for the manufacturers in Worcester. The road from Bromyard to Worcester passes through the hamlet. The tithes have been
commuted for £240. 10.: the glebe land here consists of
about four acres and a half. There is a chapel of ease,
dedicated to St. Mary, in which marriages, baptisms, and
burials are solemnized. A school for the instruction of
ten poor children has an endowment of £3 per annum,
arising from a bequest of £100 left by Richard Lloyd,
Esq., in 1729, and which has been vested in the schoolhouse and land.
Alfriston (St. Andrew)
ALFRISTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union
of Eastbourne, hundred of Alceston, rape of Pevensey, E. division of Sussex, 9 miles (S. E.) from
Lewes; containing 668 inhabitants. It is bounded on
the east by the Cuchmere river, and comprises about
2000 acres, of which 600 are common or waste; the soil
is rich and fertile, and the produce of the orchards and
gardens is remarkable for quality and exuberance. The
village, beautifully situated in a valley near the river,
was formerly of much greater extent than at present,
and in the centre is an ancient cross, where probably a
market was held. The living is a discharged vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £11. 16. 0½., and in the
patronage of the Crown; net income, £135; impropriators, the Trustees of "Smith's Charity." The church
is an ancient cruciform structure, in the decorated and
later English styles, with a central tower surmounted by
a spire. There is a place of worship for Independents.
On the neighbouring downs are several barrows, in some
of which urns, spear-heads, and other relics of antiquity
have been found.
Algarkirk (St. Peter and St. Paul)
ALGARKIRK (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish,
in the union of Boston, wapentake of Kirton, parts of
Holland, county of Lincoln, 6 miles (S.) from Boston;
containing 754 inhabitants. This place derives its name
from the Saxon Earl Algar, who in 870, aided by his
seneschals Wibert and Leofric, obtained a victory over
the Danes in this neighbourhood, but was defeated and
slain on the day following: a statue of stone in the
churchyard is said to have been erected to his memory.
The parish comprises by admeasurement 5041 acres.
The living is a rectory, with the living of Fosdyke annexed, valued in the king's books at £50. 18. 1½.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. Basil Beridge. The tithes
have been commuted for £990, and the glebe, including
that of Fosdyke, comprises 500 acres. The church,
which is partly in the Norman and partly in the early
English style, is rich in its details, and contains monuments to the Beridge family since the time of James I.
The parsonage-house has a very picturesque appearance.
About £38 per annum, the amount of various bequests,
are distributed among the poor, who are also eligible to
the benefit of Sir Thomas Middlecott's hospital at Fosdyke.
Alhampton
ALHAMPTON, a tything, in the parish of Ditcheat,
hundred of Whitstone, E. division of Somerset, 2¾
miles (N. W. by N.) from Castle-Cary; containing 386
inhabitants. There was formerly a chapel.
Alkerton
ALKERTON, a tything, in the parish of Eastington,
union of Wheatenhurst, Lower division of the hundred
of Whitstone, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 3 miles (W.) from Stroud; containing 1108 inhabitants.
Alkerton (St. Michael)
ALKERTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the union
of Banbury, hundred of Bloxham, county of Oxford,
6 miles (W. N. W.) from Banbury; comprising 691a.
24p., and containing 190 inhabitants. The living is a
rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 3. 9.; net income, £153; patron, J. Dent, Esq. The tithes were
commuted for land and a money payment, by an inclosure act, in 1776. The church is beautifully situated on
elevated ground; the tower rises from between the nave
and the chancel, and the building has some sculpture in
the mouldings of the outer walls. Thomas Lydiat, the
learned mathematician and chronologer, was born at
Alkerton in the year 1572; he became its rector, and
was interred here.
Alkham (St. Anthony)
ALKHAM (St. Anthony), a parish, in the union of
Dovor, hundred of Folkestone, lathe of Shepway,
E. division of Kent, 5 miles (W. by N.) from Dovor;
containing 595 inhabitants. It comprises 3145a. 2r.
28p., including 300 acres of woodland, and 100 of common; the surface is hilly, and the soil chalky, except at
the tops of the hills, where it is a stiff clay. The living
is a vicarage, with the living of Capel-le-Ferne annexed,
valued in the king's books at £11; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of Canterbury: the appropriate
tithes have been commuted for £500, and the vicarial
for £213. 10.; there are 9½ acres of appropriate glebe,
and about 3 of vicarial. The church is partly Norman,
and partly early English: the interior, which has been
much improved of late years, has a venerable and interesting aspect, and there are some ancient monumental
stones. According to Domesday book, a church existed
here in the time of Edward the Confessor.
Alkington
ALKINGTON, a tything, in the parish, and Upper
division of the hundred, of Berkeley, union of Thornbury, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 1¼
mile (S. E.) from Berkeley; containing 1175 inhabitants. The village of Newport, on the great road from
Gloucester to Bristol, is situated in this tything, and is
the central posting-place between those cities; it contains several inns. There is a place of worship for Independents.
Alkington
ALKINGTON, a township, in the parish of Whitchurch, Whitchurch division of the hundred of North
Bradford, N. division of Salop, 2 miles (S. by W.)
from Whitchurch.
Alkmonton
ALKMONTON, a township, in the parish of Longford, hundred of Appletree, S. division of the county
of Derby, 5¾ miles (S. by E.) from Ashbourn; containing 102 inhabitants. There was anciently an hospital
dedicated to St. Leonard, between this place and HungryBentley, in the same parish, to which Walter Blount,
Lord Mountjoy, was a benefactor, in 1474. The hospital shared the fate of most other similar establishments,
whose constitutions were mingled with religious observances, at the time of the Reformation, and was abolished
in 1547. The manor of Alkmonton afterwards belonged
successively to the Barnesley, Browne, Stanhope, and
Evans families. A chapel of ease has recently been
erected, containing 120 sittings. The tithes have been
commuted for £28. 15. payable to the rector, and £26 to
the vicar, of Longford.
Alkrington
ALKRINGTON, a township, in the parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham, union of Oldham, hundred of
Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 4½
miles (N. N. E.) from Manchester; containing 338 inhabitants. The Levers were seated here from the middle
of the seventeenth century; and in Alkrington Hall was
collected by Sir Ashton Lever the celebrated Leverian
museum of rare productions of nature and art, for the
sale of which, by lottery, Sir Ashton obtained an act of
parliament, in 1785. The holder of the successful ticket
was Mr. Parkinson, who exhibited the museum in London for some time, but eventually sold it by auction,
and it was thus dispersed. Alkrington comprises 788
acres, of which 74 are common or waste land: the population is chiefly agricultural. The Messrs. Lees are the
proprietors of nearly the whole township. It is included
in the ecclesiastical district of Tongue, which see. The
tithes have been commuted for £40.
Allcannings (St. Anne)
ALLCANNINGS (St. Anne), a parish, in the union
of Devizes, hundred of Swanborough, Devizes and
N. divisions of Wilts, 5¾ miles (E.) from Devizes;
comprising the chapelry of Etchilhampton and the
tythings of Allington and Fullaway, and containing 851
inhabitants. On the downs is St. Anne's hill, on which
a large fair for sheep and horses is held on the 6th of
August. The Kennet and Avon canal affords facility
for the conveyance of goods. The living is a rectory,
valued in the king's books at £31. 16. 10½., and in the
gift of Lord Ashburton: the tithes, including those of
Etchilhampton, have been commuted for £1204. 5., and
the glebe comprises 36 acres. The church is an ancient
structure in the Norman style. There is a chapel of ease
at Etchilhampton. Miss Anne Lavington, in 1828, bequeathed £500, the interest to be distributed among the
poor at Christmas.
Allen, St. (St. Alleyn)
ALLEN, ST. (St. Alleyn), a parish, in the union of
Truro, W. division of the hundred of Powder and of
Cornwall, 4 miles (N. by W.) from Truro; containing
652 inhabitants. It comprises 3061 acres, of which 216
are common or waste. The living is a vicarage, valued
in the king's books at £8. 13. 4.; patron, the Bishop of
Exeter; impropriator, the Earl of Falmouth. The great
tithes have been commuted for £265, and the vicarial
for £147; there are 95 acres of glebe. The parish contains a Danish encampment.
Allendale
ALLENDALE, a market-town and parish, in the
union of Hexham, S. division of Tindale ward and of
Northumberland, 7 miles (S.) from Haydon-Bridge,
9¾ miles (S. W. by W.) from Hexham, and 286 (N. N. W.)
from London; comprising the grieveships of Allendale
town, Broadside, Catton, High and Low Forest, Keenly
Park, and West Allen High and Low; and containing
5729 inhabitants. The Town, which includes 1217 persons, is irregularly built on an acclivity gradually rising
from the eastern bank of the river Allen, over which a
bridge was erected in 1825. The market is on Friday:
fairs are held on the Friday before the 11th of May, on
the 22nd of August, and the first Friday after the festival of St. Luke, for horses, cattle, and sheep; and a
cattle show, which has been established within the last
few years, is annually held. In the market-place are
the ruins of a cross. The Parish derives its name from
the river Allen, a small but rapid stream which rises in
the hamlet of Allenheads, in East Allen, and Coalcleugh,
in West Allen, and falls into the river Tyne about three
miles to the west of Haydon-Bridge, where is a station
of the Newcastle and Carlisle railway. The inhabitants
are chiefly employed in the lead-mines, which are on a
large scale, producing upwards of 3500 tons of lead
annually. There are several works for grinding and
washing the ore, and two extensive smelting-houses, one
having an horizontal chimney 2½ miles long, with a
terminus upwards of 780 feet above the ground-floor of
the mill, and the other a chimney 1½ mile in length, and
700 feet above the ground-floor; in one of these smelting-houses twenty-one tons pass through the furnace
weekly, and a considerable quantity of silver is separated. Limestone is extensively quarried, and there are
also numerous quarries of stone of good quality for
building.
The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £130;
patron, T. W. Beaumont, Esq. The church is of stone,
rebuilt in 1807. Within the parish also are four chapels,
in the gift of the incumbent of Allendale, viz. St. Peter's,
rebuilt in 1825, a perpetual curacy, of which the net income is £120; the chapel at Nine-Banks, partially rebuilt about 1816, a perpetual curacy, with an income of
£124; the chapel at the Carr Shield, or West Allen High
chapel, built in 1822, also a perpetual curacy, of which
the income is £109; and that of Allenheads, described
under its proper head. There are places of worship for
the Society of Friends and Wesleyans. A free school
for the children of parishioners is endowed with two
tenements, bequeathed by William Hutchinson in 1692,
producing a rental of £24; and with other premises and
thirty-two acres of land, in Broadside, purchased with a
legacy of Christopher Wilkinson in 1700, and yielding
£38 per annum. Various other schools are connected
with the different places of worship in the parish; and
some small sums, the principal of which is an annuity of
£10 from Shield's charity, are distributed annually
among the poor. There are several chalybeate springs;
and at a place called Old Town, about three miles to the
north-west, are vestiges of an ancient intrenchment, of a
square form, supposed to be Roman.
Allenheads
ALLENHEADS, a hamlet (formerly a distinct parish) in the parish of Allendale, S. division of Tindale ward and of Northumberland, 17 miles (S. S. W.)
from Hexham. The chapel here was built by Col. Beaumont, in 1826, on the site of one erected in 1701 by Sir
William Blackett, for the religious duties of the miners,
who at that time attended prayers every morning at six
o'clock; it is now considered a domestic chapel, and
near it is a good house for the minister, occupied by the
incumbent of St. Peter's, described in the preceding
article, who officiates in both chapels. There are several
veins of lead-ore in the neighbourhood, which are worked
to a considerable extent.
Allensford
ALLENSFORD, a hamlet, in the parish of Shotley,
union of Hexham, E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 13 miles (S. E.) from
Hexham. This place is on the north side of the river
Derwent, over which is a stone bridge.
Allensmore (St. Andrew)
ALLENSMORE (St. Andrew), a parish, in the
hundred of Webtree, union and county of Hereford,
4 miles (S. W.) from Hereford; containing 668 inhabitants. The parish is intersected by the road from Hereford to Monmouth, and consists of 1820 acres, the surface being generally level, with an ample proportion of
timber. The living is a discharged vicarage, rated in
the king's books at £5. 12. 6., and endowed with £400
royal bounty; patron, the Dean of Hereford. The appropriate tithes have been commuted for two rentcharges, each of £125, one payable to the Dean, and the
other to the Dean and Chapter; the vicarial tithes have
been commuted for £175, and a rent-charge of £7. 6. is
paid to impropriators. There are 30 acres of glebe.
Allenton, or Allwinton (St. Michael)
ALLENTON, or Allwinton (St. Michael), a
parish, in the union of Rothbury, W. division of
Coquetdale ward, N. division of Northumberland;
comprising the townships of Allenton, Biddleston, Borrowdon, Clennell, Fairhaugh, Farnham, Linbriggs, Netherton, North and South Sides, Peals, and Sharperton;
and containing 1255 inhabitants, of whom 78 are in the
township of Allenton, 19 miles (W. by S.) from Alnwick.
The parish is of great extent, stretching from the parish
of Rothbury to Scotland, and 20 miles from east to west;
and consists almost entirely of porphyritic mountains,
presenting very abrupt elevations, covered with short
thick grass, valuable for rearing sheep. The river
Coquet rises within its limits, and here pursues a
winding course through a very narrow valley, the mountains rising in many parts almost perpendicularly from
its bed; it is joined by the Alwine, which gives name to
the parish. The living is a vicarage not in charge, with
the curacy of Hallystone annexed; net income, £130,
with a glebe-house lately built; patron, the Duke of
Northumberland; impropriators, Thomas Clennell, Esq.,
and others. The church is an ancient edifice, greatly
disfigured by repairs. Here was formerly an hospital
belonging to the convent at Hallystone; and on the
south side of the Coquet are vestiges of an old structure,
called Barrow Peel, to the west of which is Ridlee-Cairn
Hill, supposed to have been a burial-place of the ancient
Britons. Throughout the district are numerous other
remains of the Britons, consisting of encampments,
cromlechs, &c.; and at Chew green, near the Scottish
border, are the remains of a very extensive Roman
station, the next to the north from Bremenium, High
Rochester.
Aller
ALLER, a hamlet, in the parish of Hilton, union
of Blandford, hundred of Whiteway, Blandford division of Dorset; containing 91 inhabitants.
Aller (St. Andrew)
ALLER (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of
Langford, hundred of Somerton, W. division of
Somerset, 6¼ miles (W.) from Somerton; containing
559 inhabitants. Guthrum, the Danish chief, received
baptism at this place, under the sponsorship of Alfred
the Great, after the victory obtained by that monarch
over the Danes at Ethandune. Aller Moor was the scene
of a battle between the royalists and the parliamentarians
in 1644. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's
books at £36. 15., and in the gift of Emanuel College,
Cambridge; the tithes have been commuted for £590,
and the glebe comprises 66 acres. Dr. Ralph Cudworth,
author of The Intellectual System of the Universe, was
born here in 1617.
Allerby, or Alwardby.—See Oughterside.
ALLERBY, or Alwardby.—See Oughterside.
Allerford
ALLERFORD, a tything, in the parish of Selworthy, union of Williton, hundred of Carhampton,
W. division of Somerset; containing 181 inhabitants.
Allerston (St. Mary)
ALLERSTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and
lythe of Pickering, N. riding of the county of York,
5 miles (E. by S.) from Pickering; containing 414 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 9110
acres, of which about 4800 are arable and pasture, 240
wood and plantations, and the remainder large tracts of
moor abounding with peat and turf: the surface is varied,
in some parts mountainous, and the lands on the south
side, which are low, are frequently overflowed by the
Derwent. Coal is supposed to exist, but has not been
wrought. The village is situated at the foot of the moors
of Pickering forest, and on the northern verge of the
fertile marshes of the vale of Derwent. The living has
been united to the vicarage of Ebberston since 1242:
the church is an ancient edifice, with a lofty square
tower.