Oakmoor, or Oakamoor

OAKMOOR, or Oakamoor an ecclesiastical district, in the parishes of Alveton, Cheadle, and Kingsley, union of Cheadle, S. division of the hundred of Totmonslow, N. division of the county of Stafford, 3 miles (E. by N.) from Cheadle; containing about 700 inhabitants. This place is situated in a vale through which the river Churnet flows; the Churnet-Valley portion of the North Staffordshire railway also passes through. The vicinity is well wooded. The works of the Cheadle Copper and Brass Company, which have been established here for a century and a half, employ the greater part of the population: ingots of copper and brass are smelted at these works, and manufactured into bars, sheets, rollers, wire, &c. The church was erected in 1832, at a cost of £1600, raised by subscription, aided by a grant from the Church-Building Society; it is in the early English style, with a tower and pinnacles, and contains 770 sittings, of which 304 are free. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rector of Cheadle; net income, £56 per annum. There is a good national school.

Oakover, Staffordshire.—See Okeover.

OAKOVER, Staffordshire.—See Okeover.

Oaksey (All Saints)

OAKSEY (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Malmesbury, Malmesbury and Kingswood, and N. divisions of the county of Wilts, 5½ miles (N. E.) from Malmesbury; containing, with the hamlet of Flintham, and part of Wick tything, 614 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 8. 4.; net income, £400; patron, Thomas Ryder, Esq.

Oakthorpe

OAKTHORPE, a hamlet, in the union of Ashby, partly in the parishes of Measham and Stretton-enle-Fields, but chiefly in that of Church-Gresley, hundred of Repton and Gresley, S. division of the county of Derby, 2¾ miles (S. W. by S.) from Ashby; containing 607 inhabitants. A tithe rent-charge of £50 is paid to the rector of Stretton, and one of £153 to certain impropriators. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans.

Oakwood

OAKWOOD, a chapelry, in the parish, and First division of the hundred, of Wotton, union of Dorking, W. division of Surrey, 9 miles (S. S. W.) from Dorking; containing 202 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £322; patron, the family of Evelyn. The chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was founded at a remote period, for the convenience of the parishioners of Wotton residing in the country below Leith Hill, at a great distance from the church: in 1290, Sir Walter de Fancourt presented a priest to the chantry here. The building is small, constructed of stone and rubble-work, with a pointed roof, and contains an old marble slab with the brass of an esquire in armour.

Oare

OARE, a chapelry, in the parish of Chieveley, union of Newbury, hundred of Faircross, county of Berks, 5½ miles (N. N. E.) from Speenhamland; containing 163 inhabitants. It comprises 1428 acres, of which 27 are waste. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £275, and there is a glebe of 2¼ acres.

Oare (St. Peter)

OARE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union and hundred of Faversham, Upper division of the lathe of Scray, E. division of Kent, 1½ mile (N. W. by N.) from Faversham; containing 186 inhabitants. It comprises 686 acres, and is bounded on the north-east by the Swale, over which is a ferry to Harty Island. The living is a discharged perpetual curacy; net income, £103; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose tithes have been commuted for £219, and who has 2 acres of glebe.

Oare (St. Mary)

OARE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Williton, hundred of Carhampton, W. division of the county of Somerset, 12 miles (W.) from Minehead; containing 59 inhabitants. The parish comprises about 4000 acres, of which 3043 are common or waste. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 17. 6., and in the patronage of the Rev. W. S. Halliday: the tithes have been commuted for £80, and the glebe consists of 11 acres.

Oath

OATH, a tything, in the parish of Aller, union of Langport, hundred of Somerton, W. division of the county of Somerset; containing 57 inhabitants.

Oathill

OATHILL, a tything, in the parish of Wayford, union of Chard, hundred of Crewkerne, W. division of the county of Somerset, 3 miles (S. W.) from Crewkerne; containing 24 inhabitants.

Obley

OBLEY, a township, in the parish of Clunbury, union of Clun, hundred of Purslow, S. division of Salop, 9 miles (S.) from Bishop's-Castle; containing 164 inhabitants. It comprises 1726 acres, of which 700 are common or waste land. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £110.

Oborne (St. Cuthbert)

OBORNE (St. Cuthbert), a parish, in the union and hundred of Sherborne, Sherborne division of Dorset, 1 mile (N. E. by E.) from Sherborne; containing 131 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road to London, and comprises 593a. 1r. 18p. of land, chiefly arable, and producing all kinds of grain, and turnips of good quality. On the north-western boundary is Sherborne Park, the seat of Earl Digby. The living is a discharged vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes, valued in the king's books at £6. 5. 10., and in the gift of the Earl: the tithes have been commuted for £165, and the glebe comprises 7 acres.

Obthorpe

OBTHORPE, a hamlet, in the parish of Thurlby, union of Bourne, wapentake of Ness, parts of Kesteven, county of Lincoln; containing 18 inhabitants. It is a mile south-west of Thurlby village.

Oby

OBY, a parish, in the East and West Flegg incorporation, hundred of West Flegg, E. division of the county of Norfolk, 4 miles (N. by E.) from Acle; containing 69 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, united to the livings of Ashby and Thirne: the glebe-house is situated in this parish.

Occaney.—See Walkingham-Hill.

OCCANEY.—See Walkingham-Hill.

Occlestone

OCCLESTONE, a township, in the parish of Middlewich, union and hundred of Northwich, S. division of the county of Chester, 3½ miles (S. S. W.) from Middlewich; containing 93 inhabitants. It comprises 720 acres, of which clay is the prevailing soil.

Occold (St. Nicholas)

OCCOLD (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the parliamentary borough of Eye, union and hundred of Hartismere, W. division of Suffolk, 2 miles (S. by E.) from Eye; containing 578 inhabitants. It comprises 1479a. 2r. 11p.; the soil is suited to all kinds of grain and to turnips. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £19. 1. 5½., and in the gift of the Todd family: the tithes have been commuted for £405, and there is a glebe-house, with about 43 acres of land. The church is partly in the early and partly in the later English style, and has an embattled tower: the rents of two farms, comprising about 55 acres, are applied to its repair, and the relief of the poor.

Ockbrook (All Saints)

OCKBROOK (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Shardlow, hundred of Morleston and Litchurch, S. division of the county of Derby, 5½ miles (E. by S.) from Derby; containing 1765 inhabitants. The manor belonged at the Domesday survey to Geoffrey Alselin: the Bardolfs had a park here in ancient times, and the abbot of Dale possessed another, which had been made by the Grendons in the 13th century. In 1583, Frederick, Lord Windsor, conveyed the manor to the principal freeholders. The parish comprises 1678 acres of land, having a soil partly light, but chiefly strong clay, on a gravelly bottom: it is bounded on the south by the river Derwent, and situated on the road from Derby to Nottingham, on the Midland railway, and the Derby canal. On the banks of the Derwent are extensive cottonmills, affording occupation to several hundred persons in the manufacture of bobbin and lace-thread for the Buckingham, Nottingham, and Loughborough markets. The village is large and well built. The living is a vicarage; net income, £154; patron and impropriator, Thomas Pares, Esq.: the tithes were commuted for land in 1772. The church has portions in the Norman style: it has been twice enlarged, the last time in 1835, by the erection of a south aisle, at a cost of about £700. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and adjoining the village is a settlement of the United Brethren, commonly called Moravians, founded in 1750. The principal buildings of the establishment stand in a regular line, and consist of the single sisters' house, containing thirty or forty females, who are employed in fine muslin work and embroidery; a smaller house for single men, two boarding-schools for boys and girls, a commodious chapel of brick, with galleries at each end; and a range of private houses, of which some are for the ministers: these, with an inn and a shop, constitute the settlement. There are four Church of England schools, one of them supported by the patron of the living, and the others by subscription. In excavating for the canal, and afterwards for the railway, great numbers of skeletons were found; also arrow-heads; and a beautiful small altar, probably Saxon.

Ockendon, North (St. Mary Magdalene)

OCKENDON, NORTH (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union of Orsett, hundred of Chafford, S. division of Essex, 6 miles (S. E.) from Romford; containing 306 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1703 acres, of which 1450 are arable, and 253 pasture with a very small portion of woodland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 13. 4., and in the gift of Richard Benyon de Beauvoir, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £490; the glebe comprises 30 acres. The church is a picturesque building, partly covered with ivy, and containing in its two chancel windows some stained glass of considerable antiquity: in the south aisle, the oldest part of the edifice, is a Norman arch, one pillar of which has been cut away to form a receptacle for holy water; the pulpit is of oak richly carved; and in the north chancel are several tombs belonging to the family of Pointz or Littleton, commencing in Edward the Third's time, and continuing in regular succession to that of Queen Anne. Richard Pointz, in 1640, bequeathed £200 to be laid out in land for the benefit of the poor. In the churchyard is a fine spring of soft water.

Ockendon, South (St. Nicholas)

OCKENDON, SOUTH (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Orsett, hundred of Chafford, S. division of Essex, 8 miles (S. E.) from Romford; containing 968 inhabitants. The parish comprises by admeasurement 2874 acres, of which 2025 are arable, 790 pasture, and about 40 wood: the village is pleasantly situated, and contains several well-built houses and some neat cottages. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £33. 6. 8.; net income, £750, with a glebe-house; patrons, the Executors of John Cliffe, Esq. The church is an ancient edifice in the Norman style, with a round embattled tower originally surmounted by a wooden spire; the entrance doorway is a semicircular arch, elaborately ornamented. There is a place of worship for Independents. Some Saxon coins have been found, and vestiges of a Roman road may be traced. In a building here, called Furnace House, iron was formerly smelted.

Ocker-Hill

OCKER-HILL, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish of Tipton, union of Dudley, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 3 miles (N. N. E.) from Dudley; containing about 4000 inhabitants. The district was constituted in August 1845, under the provisions of the act 6th and 7th of Victoria, cap. 37. It forms the north-east end of the parish, comprises rather more than a square mile, and is one of the busy scenes of industry in the great mining region of South Staffordshire, the entire district being occupied with coal and iron mines, iron manufactures, &c. The road from Bilston to Oldbury and Birmingham passes through. The village of Ocker-Hill is about a mile southwest of Wednesbury. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of Lichfield, alternately: a church is about to be erected. There is a place of worship for Methodists.

Ockham (All Saints)

OCKHAM (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Guildford, Second division of the hundred of Wokeing, W. division of Surrey, 1 mile (E.) from Ripley; containing 640 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2340 acres, of which 431 are common or waste. The mansion of Ockham Park is a large irregular pile, situated in grounds of considerable extent and beauty: the interior is splendidly fitted up; the library consists of more than 10,000 volumes, and includes the books and papers bequeathed by the distinguished philosopher Locke, to his nephew, Lord Chancellor King. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 2. 1., and in the gift of the Earl of Lovelace: the tithes have been commuted for £292, and the glebe comprises 139 acres. The church is beautifully situated in the park: it has portions in the decorated and later English styles, and contains several monuments to the ancestors of the Earl of Lovelace; the principal one is to the memory of Lord Chancellor King, and there is a bust of the late Lord King. The earl has erected numerous buildings in the Swiss style, at a great expense, for industrial and scholastic education: the establishment is supported by his lordship. The parish gives the title of Viscount to the Earl of Lovelace.

Ockley (St. Margaret)

OCKLEY (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Dorking, First division of the hundred of Wotton, W. division of Surrey, 7½ miles (S. by W.) from Dorking; containing 748 inhabitants. The parish is pleasantly situated on the road from Dorking to Bognor, and comprises 4132 acres, of which 30 are common or waste. A pleasure-fair is held on Ockley Green. The south side of Leith Hill is in the parish; it commands extensive views, to the south and west, of the Weald of Surrey and Sussex. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 5. 2½., and in the gift of Clare Hall, Cambridge: the tithes have been commuted for £539, and the glebe comprises 130 acres, with a house. The church is chiefly in the early English style. Elizabeth Evershed in 1721 bequeathed £100, which were laid out in land now producing £10. 10. per annum to a parochial school; and Miss Elizabeth Scott in 1838 left about £700 for the purpose of sinking a well, and of erecting schoolrooms. On Holmbury Hill are vestiges of a Roman encampment; and a battle is stated to have taken place on Ockley Green, in 851, between the Saxons and the Danes, which terminated in the defeat of the former, with great slaughter.