Doddington (St. Mary)
DODDINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union
and hundred of North Witchford, Isle of Ely,
county of Cambridge, 4½ miles (S. by W.) from
March, on the road to Chatteris; containing, with the
chapelries of Benwick and March, and the hamlet of
Wimblington, 8648 inhabitants. The manor was one
of the ancient estates of the church of Ely, and was
alienated by Bishop Heton to the crown in 1600; it
soon afterwards became the property of the Peytons,
who appear to have been settled here nearly a century
before, as lessees of the bishop. John Peyton was
created a baronet in 1660, and dying without issue, his
next brother, Algernon, was advanced to the same dignity in 1666. The title again becoming extinct in 1771,
on the death of Sir Thomas Peyton, who was the last
male heir of the family, Henry Dashwood, Esq., whose
father had married a daughter of Sir Sewster Peyton,
succeeded to the estate, took the name of Peyton by act
of parliament, and was created a baronet in 1776. The
parish is the most extensive in the county, and one of
the most extensive in the kingdom, containing 38,000
acres of rich land. The living is a rectory, in the
patronage of Sir H. Peyton: the tithes have been commuted for £9956. There are chapels of ease at Benwick
and March. In 1847 an act was passed for dividing
the parish and rectory into three parishes and rectories.
The sum of £500 given in 1719 by Lionel Walden,
Esq., a native of the parish, for the erection and endowment of a free school, having for many years remained unappropriated, had accumulated in 1837 to
£1817. 17. 8. three per cent. consols., producing a dividend of £54. 10. 8., in support of the school. In this
parish is situated the union workhouse.
Doddington
DODDINGTON, an ecclesiastical district, in the
parish of Wybunbury, union and hundred of Nantwich, S. division of the county of Chester, 5½ miles
(S. E.) from Nantwich; containing 41 inhabitants. In
a mutilated tower which formed part of Doddington
Castle, erected by Sir John Delves in 1364, are preserved
statues of Lord Audley and his four squires, who fought
under the Black Prince at Poitiers: near it stood the
old Hall, which was made a parliamentary garrison in
the civil war, taken for the king by Lord Byron in Jan.
1644, and retaken shortly after. The district comprises
549a. 12p., of a clayey soil. The living is a perpetual
curacy, in the patronage of the family of DelvesBroughton: the church is in the early English style,
with a campanile turret. The tithes have been commuted for £55, of which £36 are paid to an impropriator.
Doddington (St. John the Baptist)
DODDINGTON (St. John the Baptist), a parish,
in the union of Faversham, hundred of Teynham,
Upper division of the lathe of Scray, E. division of
Kent, 4¾ miles (S. by E.) from Sittingbourne; containing 473 inhabitants. It comprises 1918 acres, of which
452 are in wood. The living is a discharged vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4.; net income,
£138; patron, the Archdeacon of Canterbury. The
church, principally in the early English style, is 600
years old, and when it was in course of repair, a fulllength portrait of Henry III., in fresco, was discovered in
good preservation; on the glass of the eastern window
is an ancient painting representing the Flight into Egypt.
There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.
Doddington (St. Peter)
DODDINGTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the Lower
division of the wapentake of Boothby-Graffo, parts
of Kesteven, union and county of Lincoln, 7 miles
(W. by S.) from Lincoln; containing 220 inhabitants.
The parish comprises about 2000 acres, and the hamlet
of Whisby, which is attached to it, about 1635. The
living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's
books at £7. 9. 6.; net income, £180; patron, Col.
Jarvis, who has endowed a school. The glebe contains
nearly 100 acres, and there is a glebe-house attached to
the benefice.
Doddington
DODDINGTON, a parish, in the union and E. division of Glendale ward, N. division of Northumberland; containing 941 inhabitants, of whom 441 are in
the township of Doddington, 3 miles (N. by E.) from
Wooler. This place was formerly a chapelry in the
parish of Chatton, from which it was separated in 1725,
and constituted a distinct parish. It includes the townships of Earl or Yeard-Hill, Ewart, Humbleton, and
Nesbit, and comprises about 9110 acres of fertile land,
chiefly of a light sandy soil; the surface is generally
level, but diversified with hills at Humbleton and Earl,
and to the east and north of Doddington and Nesbit.
Coal is wrought, and excellent freestone obtained
in abundance. The township of Doddington is the
property of the Earl of Tankerville, and part of the
haugh lands within it, and in the township of Ewart,
are equal to any tillage land in England in point of
fertility. The village is pleasantly situated between
two branches of a small rivulet which falls into the Till
about a mile south-south-west of the church, and near
it is a considerable spring, which turns a corn-mill.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the
Duke of Northumberland, and has a net income of
£180; impropriators, the landowners of the several
townships. The church was enlarged by the rebuilding
of the chancel in 1838, at a cost of £456; it is a neat
structure with a campanile turret, and contains 210
sittings, of which 150 are free: there are some handsome monuments to the St. Paul family.
Doddington, Dry (St. James)
DODDINGTON, DRY (St. James), formerly a parish, now a township in the parish of Westborough,
in the union of Newark, wapentake of Loveden, parts
of Kesteven, county of Lincoln, 8 miles (N. N. W.)
from Grantham; containing 215 inhabitants. The living
was a vicarage, which has long been united to the first
mediety of the rectory of Westborough: the tithes were
commuted for land in 1770.
Doddington, Great (St. Luke)
DODDINGTON, GREAT (St. Luke), a parish, in
the union of Wellingborough, hundred of Hamfordshoe, N. division of the county of Northampton, 2 miles (S. by W.) from Wellingborough; containing 474 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Nene,
and comprises 1515a. 3r. 16p., of a highly productive
soil: there are quarries of stone, which is used for building and for the roads. The Blisworth and Peterborough
railway traverses the meadows below the village. The
living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books
at £8. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown; net
income, £155, arising from 102 acres of land assigned in
lieu of tithes in 1766: there is a small glebe-house, but
in a ruinous state. The church is a spacious edifice, with
a tower. There is a place of worship for Independents;
and a national school has been erected. £5 per annum,
arising from a piece of meadow-land, are appropriated to
the poor.
Doddiscombsleigh (St. Michael)
DODDISCOMBSLEIGH (St. Michael), a parish,
in the union of St. Thomas, hundred of Exminster,
Teignbridge and S. divisions of Devon, 6 miles (S. W.)
from Exeter; containing 378 inhabitants. The parish
is bounded on the west by the river Teign, and comprises by admeasurement 2500 acres; it is rich in
mineral wealth, and three mines of manganese have been
opened, and are in full operation, affording employment
to 150 persons. It is also celebrated for its cider,
which is esteemed the finest in the county. The living
is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 6. 5½.,
and in the gift of the Rev. J. Buckingham: the tithes
have been commuted for £300, and the glebe comprises
112 acres, with a glebe-house. Some of the windows of
the church are embellished with very handsome stained
glass, representing scriptural subjects.
Doddleston (St. Mary)
DODDLESTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union
of Great Boughton, partly in the county of Flint
(North Wales), but chiefly in the Lower division of the
hundred of Broxton, S. division of the county of
Chester; the English part containing, with the township of Lower Kinnerton and the hamlet of Gorstella,
371 inhabitants, of whom 298 are in the township of
Doddleston, 5 miles (S. W.) from Chester. At Balderton bridge, in the parish, Hugh Cyvelioc, Earl of
Chester, defeated the Welsh with great slaughter, and
raised a rampart of the heads of the slain. During the
siege of Chester, in 1645, the old mansion-house was
fortified and garrisoned by the parliamentary general, Sir
William Brereton, who here fixed his head-quarters. The
parish comprises about 4000 acres, of which 1677 are in
the township of Doddleston; of the whole area onethird is arable, and the rest pasture: the soil is chiefly
marl or stiff clay; and the surface is varied. The
Shrewsbury and Chester railway passes through. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£7. 0. 2½., and in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of
Chester: the tithes have been commuted for £625, and
the glebe contains 36¾ acres, with a glebe-house. The
church contains the remains of Thomas Egerton, Baron
Ellesmere, Viscount Brackley, lord keeper of the great
seal to James I., who occasionally resided here; he died
in London in 1617. A school was erected at the expense
of the late Marquess of Westminster.
Dodford (St. Mary)
DODFORD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Daventry, hundred of Fawsley, S. division of the
county of Northampton, 1½ mile (W. by N.) from
Weedon; containing 228 inhabitants. The parish is
situated on the London and Birmingham road, and
comprises by admeasurement 1350 acres of a highly
productive soil; the village lies in a narrow and wellwatered valley. About 30 females are employed in making
pillow-lace. The Grand Junction canal passes along the
east side of the parish, and the London and Birmingham railway runs through it. The living is a vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £10; net income, £233;
patron and impropriator, T. R. Thornton, Esq.: the
glebe contains 143 acres, with a glebe-house. The
church is in the early English style, and has a circular
carved font, of very ancient construction; among some
interesting monuments of marble and brass, is one of a
Knight Templar. A school was established here in
1804, and endowed in 1809 with £500 by Mr. Joseph
Cooke.
Dodington (St. Mary)
DODINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union
of Chipping-Sodbury, Lower division of the hundred
of Grumbald's-Ash, W. division of the county of
Gloucester, 2½ miles (S. E. by E.) from Chipping-Sodbury; containing 143 inhabitants, and consisting of
1450 acres. Stone of good quality for building and for
the roads is quarried. The river Frome has its source in
the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's
books at £5. 6. 5½., and lately in the gift of Sir C. B.
Codrington: the tithes have been commuted for £240,
and the glebe comprises 26 acres. The church is a small
edifice in the Grecian style, with a tower. Urns, bones,
and Roman coins have been discovered in Dodington
Field.
Dodington
DODINGTON, a township, in the parish and union
of Whitchurch, Whitchurch division of the hundred
of Bradford (North), N. division of Salop, ¼ of a mile
(S.) from Whitchurch; containing 1010 inhabitants, and
comprising 2866 acres, of which 626 are common or
waste.
Dodington
DODINGTON, a parish, in the union of Williton,
hundred of Williton and Freemanners, W. division
of Somerset, 9½ miles (W. N. W.) from Bridgwater;
containing 114 inhabitants. This parish takes its name
from the ancient family of Dodington, to whom it belonged for several centuries; it is situated on the road
from Bridgwater to Minehead, at the foot of the Quantock hills, and comprises 555a. 1r. 32½p. Copper-ore
is to be found, and there is a mine in the parish, but not
in operation; limestone is quarried, chiefly for burning
into lime, and the stone is replete with very beautiful
red and white madrepore. The living is a discharged
rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 6. 8., and in
the gift of Sir P. P. F. P. Acland, Bart.: the tithes
have been commuted for £90, and the glebe comprises
20 acres, with a glebe-house. The church is a handsome
edifice in the later English style.
Dodworth
DODWORTH, a township, in the parish of Silkstone, wapentake of Staincross, W. riding of York,
2 miles (W. S. W.) from Barnsley; containing 1474 inhabitants. In the earlier part of the reign of Henry
VIII., two brothers of this place, Richard and William,
sons of Ulf de Doddewr-da, gave to the convent of Pontefract, "for the love of God, and the salvation of their
own souls, all the men they had on the land, with their
houses and chattels for ever." The township is on the
road between Doncaster and Saltersbrook, and comprises 1909 acres, of which about 1100 are arable, 560
pasture, 216 wood, and 33 road; the soil is fertile, the
substratum chiefly coal, and the surrounding scenery
pleasingly varied. The weaving of linen by hand-looms
affords employment to about 500 persons. A church of
a modernised Norman style of architecture, with a fine
tower at the west end 70 feet in height, was erected in the
village in 1844, at a cost of £1400, raised by subscription, aided by grants from the Incorporated and Pastoral
Aid Societies, and towards which Mr. Thornely contributed £250: the living is in the Vicar's gift. There
is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A school is endowed with £11 per annum, and a house and garden for
the master.
Dogdyke
DOGDYKE, a township, in the parish of Billinghay, union of Boston, First division of the wapentake
of Langoe, parts of Kesteven, county of Lincoln, 11
miles (E. N. E.) from Sleaford; containing 217 inhabitants, and comprising 1241a. 3r. 7p.
Dogmersfield (All Saints)
DOGMERSFIELD (All Saints), a parish, in the
union of Hartley-Wintney, hundred of Odiham, Odiham and N. divisions of the county of Southampton,
2 miles (E. by N.) from Odiham; containing 305 inhabitants. It comprises 1606a. 36p.: the soil varies from
a loose sand to a stiff clay; the surface is pleasingly
undulated, and ornamented by Dogmersfield Park, a
handsome residence. The South-Western railway passes
at the distance of about a mile and a half; and the Basingstoke canal runs through the parish, in which also is a
lake covering 36 acres. The living is a rectory, valued
in the king's books at £9. 6. 8., and in the patronage of
Lady St. John Mildmay: the tithes have been commuted for £329. 3., and the glebe comprises 6 acres,
with a glebe-house. The church was erected about
forty years since. Foundations, supposed to be the remains of a palace of the archbishops of Canterbury
which stood here so early as the twelfth century, were
discovered a few years ago.
Dogs, Isle of, or Stepney-Marsh
DOGS, ISLE of, or Stepney-Marsh, in the parish
of Stepney, union of Poplar, Tower division of the
hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex, 5 miles
(E. S. E.) from St. Paul's Cathedral, London. This
isle, which is situated in the river Thames, between
Limehouse and Blackwall, is supposed to have obtained
its present appellation from its having been the place
where the king's hounds were anciently kept. It comprises an area of about 836 acres, and at the southeastern point is a ferry over the Thames to Greenwich.
A ship canal was constructed across the isle from Limehouse to Blackwall, with a view to shorten the passage
of vessels, by avoiding the circuitous curve of the river
between those places; but the project was not attended
with success, and the canal now forms an appendage
to the West India docks. There are mills for extracting oil from linseed, and for making oil-cake for
fattening cattle; a manufactory for iron steam-boats
and chain-cables, and another for the making of smelling salts. The site of an ancient chapel dedicated to St.
Mary, is now occupied by a farmhouse, called the
chapel-house. There is a place of worship for Independents. St. Edward's Roman Catholic chapel, at
Millwall, was consecrated, with much pomp, in Sept.
1846; it accommodates 4000 persons.
Dogsthorpe
DOGSTHORPE, a chapelry, in the parish of St.
John the Baptist, soke and union of Peterborough,
N. division of Northamptonshire, 1¾ mile (N.) from
Peterborough; containing 514 inhabitants. The chapel
is dedicated to St. Botolph.
Dolton (St. Edmund)
DOLTON (St. Edmund), a parish, in the union of
Torrington, hundred of North Tawton, South
Molton and N. divisions of Devon, 7 miles (N. N. E.)
from Hatherleigh, and on the new road from Exeter to
Bideford; containing 922 inhabitants. The parish is
much frequented by various species of rare birds, among
which are the heron, the bittern, and the quail; it contains by computation 2914 acres, of which 2023 are
arable, 304 meadow, 225 coarse pasture, 74 orchard,
and 256 woodland. Fairs were formerly held on the
Wednesday before March 25th, and on October 1st.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£20. 16. 8.; net income, £305; patrons, the family of
Johnson.
Dominick, St.
DOMINICK, ST., a parish, in the union of Liskeard, Middle division of the hundred of East, E.
division of Cornwall, 2¾ miles (E. S. E.) from Callington; containing 825 inhabitants. It is bounded on the
east by the river Tamar, and comprises 2668 acres, of
which 120 are common or waste; the surface is pleasingly
diversified with hills. The living is a rectory, valued in
the king's books at £23. 11. 0½., and in the patronage
of the Rev. F. L. Bazeley; net income, £318. On the
glebe estate are vestiges of a Roman intrenchment
called Berry, and at Baber the remains of a monastery.
At Halton was born, in 1579, Francis Rous, a distinguished politician in the time of Cromwell, and provost
of Eton College.
Doncaster (St. George)
DONCASTER (St.
George), a parish, and the
head of a union, in the N.
division of the wapentake of
Strafforth and Tickhill,
W. riding of York; containing, with the townships
of Langthwaite with Tilts,
Balby with Hexthorpe, and
Long Sandall with Wheatley, 11,245 inhabitants, of
whom 10,455 are in the
borough of Doncaster, 33
miles (S. by W.) from York, and 162 (N. N. W.) from
London. This place was the Danum of Antoninus, a
Roman station on the river Don, and was by the Saxons
called Dona Ceastre, from which its present name is
obviously derived. The great Roman road, the Erminstreet, which crossed the river here, may still be traced
in several parts of the vicinity; and numerous coins,
fragments of urns, and other relics of Roman antiquity,
have been discovered on the south side of the town,
among which was a votive altar, dug up in 1781. In
the time of the Saxons, the place was a royal vill, and
the occasional residence of the kings of Northumbria, of
whom Edwin, on his conversion to Christianity by
Paulinus, after founding a church at York, erected
another at this town. In 633, Penda, the pagan king of
Mercia, with Cadwaladr, King of Wales, having slain
Edwin in a sanguinary battle at Hatfield, turned his victorious arms against Doncaster, which he so completely laid
waste that the kings of Northumbria never attempted
its restoration. In 750, according to Camden, the town
was destroyed by lightning; and the castle, of which the
founder and the period of its erection are equally unknown, is supposed to have shared the same fate. At
the Conquest, the manor was granted by William, with
numerous other lands, to his brother, the Earl of Morton,
by whose son and successor they were forfeited in the
reign of Henry I. After passing through various owners,
the manor and soke were sold to Henry Percy, second
earl of Northumberland, on the death of whose son, at
the battle of Towton, they again became forfeited to the
crown; but the estates were subsequently restored, with
the exception of the lordship of Doncaster, which was
bestowed by charter of Henry VII. upon the corporation of the borough, to be held at a fee-farm rent of
£74. 13. 11½. During the insurrection in the reign of
Henry VIII., called the "Pilgrimage of Grace," Aske,
the leader, at the head of 30,000 men, marched to this
place; but a party of the royal army, consisting of 5000
men, defended the bridge, and successfully opposed their
entrance into the town. The insurgents encamped on
Scawsby Lees, where they held a parley with the Duke
of Norfolk, which terminated in a petition to the crown;
and on the 6th of Dec. 1536, a conference was held
here, when the king granted a general pardon, and the
insurgents dispersed their forces and abandoned the
enterprize. In 1642, Charles I. visited the town on his
route to Nottingham, and attended divine service in the
church; and after the battle of Marston-Moor, the Earl
of Manchester established his head-quarters here, while
besieging the royal garrison of Pontefract.

Arms.
The town is pleasantly situated, chiefly on the south
bank of the river Don, and consists of several streets,
of which the High-street, about a mile in length, is
spacious and handsomely built; it is generally considered to be one of the finest streets on the whole line
of the road from London to Edinburgh. The streets are
well paved, and lighted with gas, at the expense of the
corporation, under whose direction also the inhabitants
are amply supplied with water from works near Friar'sbridge, High-street, the expense being defrayed by
a rate. On an eminence called Hall-Cross Hill, is an
elegant cross, which superseded a more ancient structure of the kind, removed in order to widen and improve the carriage-road into the town. A public library
and a newsroom, for which an appropriate building
was erected in 1821, are supported by subscription;
in the former is an excellent portrait of the late Henry
Bower, Esq., F.S.A., president of the institution.
The theatre is a handsome building, erected at the expense of the corporation, in 1774, and is generally
opened for six weeks, the season commencing at the
time of the races. The races, which have long been
celebrated for their superior attraction, and are attended
by a large portion of the families of rank in the north
of England, are held in September, and continue for
five days. The course, which has been adapted to the
purpose at a great outlay, is about a mile from the
town; and a very elegant and commodious stand has
been erected at the expense of the corporation, who for
many years gave an annual plate of £50, and a subscription of £42 towards the stakes, subsequently increased to about £400, and in 1841 to £1000, per
annum, apportioned to various stakes by the stewards:
there is also Her Majesty's plate of £105. A bettingroom was erected in 1826; it is of the Ionic order, 90
feet in length, and 22 feet broad, lighted in the day-time
by spacious domes, and at night with gas introduced
into three brilliant chandeliers of richly cut glass. A
new club-room connected with the races, an elegant
building in the Italian style, was erected in 1841.
But little either of trade or manufacture is carried
on here: there are two or three iron-foundries, a sacking
and twist factory, but not on a very extensive scale, and
a flax-spinning factory. The traffic arises chiefly from
the situation of the town, in the midst of a fine rural
plain, on the line of the great thoroughfare from London
to Edinburgh; and though the Midland railway, which
passes within five miles of the place, has much impaired
the latter source of gain, Doncaster has compensating
advantages, namely, the almost total absence of manufactures, and its position in a district abounding with
pleasing and richly diversified scenery, which combine
to render it the favourite residence of numerous opulent
and highly respectable families. Over the Don are,
Friar's-bridge, erected by the corporation in 1614, and
since widened, and ornamented with handsome iron
balustrades; and the Mill-bridge, which was rebuilt in
1782. From both of these a long causeway has been
constructed, to obviate the inconvenience arising from
the occasional overflow of the waters. The river is
navigable to Sheffield, and affords facilities of conveyance
for articles of commerce in vessels of from 50 to 60 tons'
burthen, to Hull, London, and other towns, from which
timber, grocery, and other supplies are received in return.
A canal from Isabel-Wath to Docken-Hill, with an iron
bridge in French-gate, was formed in 1843. The great
railway from London to York will pass by the town.
The market is on Saturday, and is abundantly supplied
with corn and with provisions of all kinds; there is also
a market for wool, which commences on the second
Saturday in June, and is continued every succeeding
Saturday till the 6th of August. Fairs are held on Feb.
2nd, April 5th, Aug. 5th, and Nov. 16th, for cattle,
horses, sheep, and woollen-cloths. The market-place
occupies a spacious area, nearly in the centre of the town;
and the market for poultry, eggs, butter, and also for
vegetables and fruit, is held in an octagonal building,
erected also by the corporation: new market-buildings
were commenced in 1846. A covered corn-market was
built in 1843.
The borough was first
incorporated by charter of
Richard I., which was confirmed and enlarged by several subsequent monarchs,
of whom Charles II., in the
16th of his reign, granted a
charter vesting the government in a mayor, twelve
aldermen, and twenty-four
capital burgesses, assisted
by a recorder, town-clerk,
and other officers. By the
act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., the governing
body now consists of a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen
councillors: the borough is divided into three wards;
the number of magistrates is eight. The freedom is inherited by birth, with restriction to the eldest son; or
obtained by seven years' apprenticeship within the
borough. The total value of the corporate property was
estimated, in 1730, at £26,823, and in 1830 at £312,428.
The recorder, who is appointed by the crown, holds
quarterly courts of session for the trial of all offences
not capital, and a court of record for the recovery of
debts to any amount. The sessions for the wapentake
of Strafforth and Tickhill are held here at Christmas;
and there is a court of petty-sessions for the borough
every Monday by the borough magistrates, and every
Saturday by the county magistrates for the lower division of the wapentake. The powers of the county debtcourt of Doncaster, established in 1847, extend over the
registration-district of Doncaster. The mansion-house,
erected in 1748 at an expense of £8000, enlarged in
1800 at an additional cost of £4000, and further improved afterwards, is an elegant structure of the composite order; the front is embellished with duplicated
columns rising from a rustic basement, and supporting
an entablature and cornice, above which is an attic surmounted by the municipal arms in the centre, and urns
on each side. The principal room is decorated with a
full-length portrait of George III. in his coronation
robes, and with portraits of the third Earl Fitzwilliam
and the Marquess of Rockingham, in their parliamentary
robes, presented by the earl to the corporation; in the
dining-room is a well-painted portrait of Edward Chorley, M.D., in his robes of office as mayor. The old
town-hall, lately pulled down, occupied the site of the
ancient church of St. Mary Magdalene, of which the
nave and chancel were in 1575 converted into rooms for
holding the courts. The first stone of a new town-hall
was laid in February 1847; the edifice is of the Corinthian order, is built of stone, and is 63 feet wide in
front, with a depth of 152 feet. The borough gaol built
in 1778 has been also removed, and a new one erected
on the radiating principle.

Corporation Seal
The parish comprises 8351 acres, whereof 328 are
common or waste. The living is a vicarage, valued in
the king's books at £32. 19. 9.; net income, £150, with
a good glebe-house; patron, the Archbishop of York,
whose tithes, as appropriator, have been commuted for
£1805. 2., and who has a glebe of 40 acres. The church
is a spacious cruciform structure, and, with the exception of the chancel, which is of great antiquity, is in the
later English style, with a lofty embattled tower rising
from the intersection of the nave and transepts to the
height of 151 feet, crowned with pinnacles, and strengthened by buttresses enriched with canopies of elegant
design. The whole of the exterior is highly enriched:
the west window, of large dimensions, is filled with
beautiful tracery; and the south porch is of peculiar
elegance, and richly sculptured. The interior is less
elaborately embellished: the nave is lighted by a range
of nine clerestory windows, and the roof supported on
octangular columns; the window of the chancel is ornamented with figures of the prophets and apostles in
stained glass, inserted at a cost of £1000, by T. J. L.
Baker, Esq. In the transepts were several chantries,
and there are numerous altar-tombs and monuments in
various parts of the church, several of which were mutilated during the time of Cromwell, when the ancient
stained glass was broken, and many of the sculptures
destroyed: in the area under the tower are the monuments of Robin of Doncaster, and Thomas Ellis, five
times mayor of the borough, and founder of the hospital
of St. Thomas. Christ-church was erected in 1829, at
the expense of the late J. Jarratt, Esq., who gave £10,000
for its erection, and £3000 towards its endowment; it
is a handsome structure in the later English style, with
a square embattled tower, surmounted by a slender and
graceful spire, which, being injured by lightning in
1836, was partially taken down and rebuilt by subscription. The edifice contains 1000 sittings, of which 300
are free; and is situated in an area of about two acres.
The living is a district perpetual curacy; net income,
£198; patrons, the Trustees of Mr. Jarratt. At Balby
is a third incumbency. There are places of worship for
the Society of Friends, Independents, Primitive Methodists, Wesleyans, and Unitarians, and a Roman Catholic
chapel.
The free grammar school was founded soon after the
dissolution of monasteries, and the endowment considerably augmented by Aldermen Ellis and Symkinson
with property vested in the corporation, who pay the
master a salary of £120: there is a scholarship of £10
per annum in Jesus College, Cambridge, belonging to
the school, the master of which is appointed by trustees.
St. Thomas's Hospital was erected in 1588, for the support of six poor housekeepers, by Thomas Ellis, who
endowed it with an estate then yielding £10, but now
£400, per annum. The savings' bank, built in 1843, is
a chaste structure of rotunda form. The poor law union
comprises 54 parishes or places, with a population of
32,400: a commodious workhouse, a plain brick building with pointed gables, was erected in 1840, near the
site of the ancient hospital of St. James. Mr. Quintin
Kay, of Ludgate-hill, London, in 1804 bequeathed £2000
three per cent., and £6000 four per cent., Bank annuities, producing £300 per annum, which are chiefly applied to the relief of reduced housekeepers above 50
years of age, and in apprenticing children. Among the
religious establishments of this place were the hospitals
of St. James and St. Nicholas, founded in the reign of
Henry III. for lepers; a house of Grey friars, established in 1315, the foundations of which have been recently discovered in excavating for a canal; and a house
of Black friars, of which the founder is unknown.
Donhead (St. Andrew)
DONHEAD (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union
of Tisbury, hundred of Dunworth, Hindon and S.
divisions of Wilts, 4 miles (E. N. E.) from Shaftesbury;
containing 900 inhabitants. The parish is situated on
the river Don, from which it takes its name; and comprises 3540a. 3r. 13p., whereof about 1400 acres are
arable, 1000 meadow, 300 woodland, and the remainder
down and common. There are quarries of grey sandstone, of good quality for building, and from which was
raised the stone for the erection of the church. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8.;
patron and incumbent, the Rev. William Dansey. The
tithes have been commuted for £725, of which the rector
of Donhead St. Mary receives £33; the rector of this
parish receives also £52 for land in the parish of St.
Mary. The glebe comprises 167 acres. The church, a
handsome structure in the decorated English style, has
been partly rebuilt. There is a school in union with
the National Society, endowed with £11 per annum by
the Rev. William Bowles, a former rector. On the
western side of the village, on the summit of Tittle-path
hill, is an old earthwork called Castle Ring, inclosing
an area of 15½ acres.
Donhead (St. Mary)
DONHEAD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Tisbury, hundred of Dunworth, Hindon and S. divisions of Wilts, 3½ miles (E. N. E.) from Shaftesbury;
containing 1596 inhabitants. It is situated on the river
Don, and on the road from London to Exeter; and
comprises 5538a. 3r. 3p., whereof 101 acres are common or waste: there are quarries of sandstone, of which
most of the houses in the parish are built. The living is
a rectory, valued in the king's books at £30. 14. 4½.,
and in the gift of New College, Oxford, with the exception of the next presentation, retained for his son by the
incumbent, the Rev. Richard Blackmore, to whom the
whole patronage previously belonged: the tithes have
been commuted for £1050, and the glebe is 70 acres.
The church is a handsome structure in the later English
style. A chapel of ease, dedicated to St. John, has been
built by subscription, aided by grants from the Incorporated Society, to replace a chapel supposed to have been
built during the heptarchy. There are places of worship
for Presbyterians and Primitive Methodists. Donhead
Hall was the residence of Sir Godfrey Kneller, the celebrated portrait-painter, who was born and buried here;
and also of Judge Jeffries.
Donington (St. Mary and the Holy Rood)
DONINGTON (St. Mary and the Holy Rood), a
market-town and parish, in the union of Spalding,
wapentake of Kirton, parts of Holland, county of
Lincoln, 32 miles (S. E. by S.) from Lincoln, and 108
(N.) from London; containing, with the hamlet of
Northorpe, 2026 inhabitants. This was the scene of a
memorable battle between the royalists commanded by
Col. Cavendish, and the parliamentarians, in 1643, when
the former obtained a signal victory. Donington is
situated in the Fen district, through which passes a road
from Bridge-End, in the parish of Horbling, to this
town, between which places the low lands were usually
inundated; it was originally raised by the Romans, and
is now the turnpike-road to Bourn and Grantham. The
town has a clean and cheerful appearance, and consists
principally of three streets, meeting in a spacious
market-place. Two canals, navigable for barges, and
called respectively Blacksluice and Hammond-Beck, intersect the parish, and in their course drain more than
63,000 acres of land. The market is on Saturday: fairs
are held on the 26th of May and 17th of October, for
horses, horned-cattle, pigs, and toys; and there is another fair, for cattle only, on the 4th of September. The
parish comprises 5469a. 1r. 22p.; the soil is in some
parts a very rich loam, in others inclining to clay, and
the surface is generally level.
The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books
at £13. 17. 3½.; net income, £126; patron, the Rev. J.
Wilson: the tithes were commuted for land and a money
payment in 1785. The church is in the later English
style, with a highly enriched tower, crowned with embattled pinnacles, and surmounted by a lofty and elegant
octagonal spire; the whole forming an interesting and
conspicuous object. There are places of worship for
Particular Baptists and Wesleyans. In 1721, Mr.
Thomas Cowley bequeathed 734 acres of land and the
manor of Wyke, now producing more than £1300 per
annum, for the endowment of a school, to be under the
management of eleven trustees, and for other charitable
uses. There are at present schools for children of five
years of age, and others for boys and girls of more advanced age; they are open to all the children of the
parish, 60 of the boys and girls are clothed, and on
leaving school some boys are placed out as apprentices:
the schoolrooms are handsome buildings. On the same
foundation are seventeen old pensioners, who receive
each a weekly allowance of six shillings, and a suit of
clothes and a chaldron of coal annually; and 52 threepenny loaves are distributed every Sunday after divine
service to the poor. There are some smaller charitable
bequests.