Sigglesthorne (St. Lawrence)

SIGGLESTHORNE (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Skirlaugh, N. division of the wapentake of Holderness, E. riding of York; containing, with the townships of Catfoss, Little Hatfield, Seaton with Wassand, and part of Great Hatfield, 639 inhabitants, of whom 220 are in the township of Sigglesthorne, 13 miles (N. by E.) from Hull. This place, in the Domesday survey Siglestorne, was bestowed by the Conqueror, together with its church, upon the collegiate church of Beverley, the provosts of which thus became lords of the manor. In 1314, Provost Melton obtained the grant of a fair from the crown, to be held on the eve, day, and morrow of St. Lawrence; but this is now discontinued. The parish comprises 5513a. 1r. 2p. of arable, pasture, and meadow land under profitable cultivation, and the village, which is well built, is pleasantly situated on the road from Hornsea to Hull. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £31. 1. 3., and in the patronage of the Crown, with a net income of £685: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1772. The church is an ancient structure in the early English style, with a square embattled tower; an east window of stained glass was inserted in 1831 by the rector, the Hon. and Rev. W. H. E. Bentinck, who also in 1838 presented a service of communionplate. The churchyard is spacious, and appropriately ornamented; the rectory-house, built in 1767, is a handsome residence, situated near it, in grounds tastefully embellished.

Sighill

SIGHILL, an ecclesiastical district or parish, in the parish of Earsdon, union of Tynemouth, E. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland, 3 miles (W. N. W.) from the village of Earsdon; containing about 4000 inhabitants, of whom 1672 are in the township of Sighill. The township is on the roads from Newcastle to Bedlington, and from North Shields to Morpeth; and comprises 1403a. 17p., whereof 1124 acres are arable, 276 grass-land, and 3 plantation. The soil is in general a strong red and yellow clay, and in some places of a light gravelly quality; it has been much improved by furrow-draining, and now grows good wheat, turnips, &c. At Sighill, East Cramlington, and Seaton-Delaval are extensive collieries, from which the coal is conveyed by tramways. There is also a railway, belonging to the Messrs. Carr, for the conveyance of passengers, extending from the river Tyne, through Sighill, to the town of Blyth. The ecclesiastical district was constituted in May 1846, under the act 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37. The erection of a church, in the early English style, was commenced in 1847; it will accommodate 530 persons, and the cost has been estimated at £1500. The tithes of the township of Sighill have been commuted for £263. 4. 6. There are places of worship for Methodists and Presbyterians.

Signet, with Upton.—See Upton, Oxford.

SIGNET, with Upton.—See Upton, Oxford.

Sigston, Kirby (St. Lawrence)

SIGSTON, KIRBY (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the union of Northallerton, wapentake of Allertonshire, N. riding of York; containing with the townships of Sowerby-under-Cottliffe and Winton, 296 inhabitants, of whom 121 are in the township of KirbySigston, 3½ miles (E. by N.) from Northallerton. The parish comprises by computation 3510 acres, of which about 1560 are in Kirby-Sigston township. The village is situated a little to the west of the road between Borrowby and Ellerbeck. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12. 13. 4.

Silchester (St. Mary)

SILCHESTER (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Basingstoke, hundred of Holdshott, Basingstoke and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 7½ miles (N.) from Basingstoke; containing 403 inhabitants. This place, which is situated near the border of Berkshire, was the Caer Seiont or Segont of the Britons, and the Vinconum of the Romans, being one of the principal stations of the latter in the south of England, and the spot where the usurper Constantine was invested with the purple, in the year 407. About 493, it was destroyed by the Saxon chief, Ælla, on his march to Bath from the coast of Sussex, where he had made his landing. The inclosed area is an irregular octagon, nearly a mile and a half in circumference; the walls are most perfect on the south side, being in some places nearly twenty feet high. About 150 yards from the northeast-angle is a Roman amphitheatre, now covered with trees; and about a mile and a half to the north-west of the station, near a village called the Soak, are some remains of a camp. In 1833, the walls of the Thermæ, or Roman hot-baths, were discovered, while sinking a drain about 200 yards from the church; the foundations of a building eighty feet in length were fully exposed to view, and about 200 coins were found. The parish comprises 1881 acres, of which 174 are common or waste: the soil is partly gravel, and partly clay; the surface is elevated, and enriched with wood, of which oak and elm are the kinds most prevalent. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 6. 0½., and in the gift of the Duke of Wellington: the tithes have been commuted for £410, and the glebe comprises 56 acres. The church is an ancient structure in the Norman style, with later additions. There is a place of worship for Primitive Methodists. Silchester confers the title of Baron upon the family of Pakenham, earls of Longford.

Sileby (St. Mary)

SILEBY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Barrow-upon-Soar, hundred of East Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 1½ mile (E.) from Mountsorrel; containing 1473 inhabitants. This parish, which is bounded on the west by the river Soar, comprises about 2300 acres: the soil is fertile, producing grain of all kinds, and the meadow and pasture lands are rich; the surface is elevated. A station on the Midland railway is fixed here. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 15. 5.; net income, £158; patron and impropriator, W. Pochin, Esq.: the tithes were commuted for land in 1759. The church has a highly-enriched tower. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans. William Lane, in 1639, bequeathed property now producing £34. 10. per annum, of which one-seventh part is paid to the vicar, and the remainder distributed among the poor. The Rev. William Staveley, in 1702, founded a small free school.

Silfield

SILFIELD, a township, in the parish of Wymondham, incorporation and hundred of Forehoe, E. division of Norfolk, 1½ mile (S. E.) from Wymondham; containing 592 inhabitants. Stanfield Hall, in this township, the seat of the Rev. George Preston, is a spacious Elizabethan mansion, surrounded with a moat: a chapel adjoining it, a handsome structure in the later English style, was destroyed by fire in 1826.

Silkstone (All Saints)

SILKSTONE (All Saints), a parish, in the wapentake of Staincross, W. riding of York; containing, with the town of Barnsley, the chapelry of Cawthorne, the townships of Dodworth, Hoyland-Swaine, Stainbrough, and Thurgoland, and parts of West Brettonand Cumberworth, 19,820 inhabitants, of whom 1076 are in Silkstone township, 4 miles (S. W.) from Barnsley. This parish comprises 14,530 acres; the soil is generally fertile, and a considerable part of the population is agricultural. The coal here is of the best kind, and extensively wrought; there are also quarries of good buildingstone. For conveying the produce of the mines and bringing up lime, which is much used in tillage, a railroad two miles in length has been constructed from the collieries to the basin of the Barnsley canal. The village is on the western boundary of a picturesque valley watered by a small rivulet; some of the inhabitants are employed in hand-loom weaving, and in the making of nails. The neighbourhood abounds with pleasing scenery, richly embellished with wood, and the surface is boldly undulated. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17. 13. 4.; net income £340, with an excellent parsonage-house and fine gardens; patron, the Archbishop of York. The tithes of the commons were commuted for land, under an act of inclosure, in 1799. The church is an ancient structure, partly Norman, and partly in the later English style, with an embattled tower strengthened by panelled buttresses and crowned with pinnacles: it contains a splendid monument to Gen. Sir William Wentworth, Bart., of Bretton Park, commander of the forces in Ireland in the reign of Charles I.; and several other monuments to the Wentworths, of Wentworth Castle and Bretton. At Barnsley, West Bretton, Cawthorne, Cumberworth, Dodworth, Stainbrough, and Thurgoland, are other incumbencies.

Silksworth

SILKSWORTH, a township, in the parish of BishopWearmouth, union of Houghton-le-Spring, N. division of Easington ward and of the county of Durham, 3 miles (S. W. by S.) from Sunderland; containing 267 inhabitants. Here was a chapel dedicated to St. Leonard, which probably went to decay upon the general dissolution of chantries. The monks of Durham had lands in Silksworth; and Farnton-Hall, a hamlet and estate within its limits, was parcel of the possessions of the monastery of Hexham, to which institution Thorney Close, a farm also situated here, perhaps belonged in addition. The township comprises 2099 acres, of which 1384 are arable, 599 pasture and meadow, 90 woodland, and 25 in roads and waste. The surface is undulated, and interspersed with plantations: the soil is chiefly loam, with a substratum of limestone, of which some quarries are wrought; magnesian limestone shows itself in various places, and coal exists. A manufactory for bricks and tiles is carried on. The village lies near the south-western boundary of the parish. The tithes and Easter dues have been commuted for £299. 12.

Silpho, with Harwood-Dale

SILPHO, with Harwood-Dale, a chapelry, in the parish of Hackness, union of Scarborough, liberty of Whitby-Strand, N. riding of York, 6¼ miles (N. W. by W.) from Scarborough; containing 335 inhabitants, of whom 93 are in the hamlet of Silpho. The hamlet comprises 2351 acres, of which 521 are arable, 607 pasture, 683 wood, and 540 waste or moor.

Silsden

SILSDEN, a chapelry, in the parish of Kildwick, union of Keighley, E. division of the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, W. riding of York, 4 miles (N. by W.) from Keighley; containing 2346 inhabitants. This chapelry, anciently Sighelden, is situated oh the road from Addingham to Burnley, and bounded on the south by the river Aire. It comprises by admeasurement 6908 acres, of which 700 are arable, 242 wood, and 5966 pasture, moorland, &c.: the whole the property, with the exception of 800 acres, of the Earl of Thanet, who is lord of the manor. The soil is various; a portion of the moor has been inclosed, and brought into cultivation: coal of inferior quality is found, and there are some quarries of excellent building-stone. The population is partly employed in the woollen and cotton manufactures, which are carried on in the several hamlets; and about 100 persons are engaged in making nails. The village is romantically situated, and the surrounding scenery is beautifully diversified. The Leeds and Liverpool canal passes through the district. The chapel dedicated to St. James, and originally erected in 1711, was rebuilt in 1816 by the Earl of Thanet and his tenants, and is a neat structure, with a square tower: the living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £100; patron, the Earl. There are places of worship for Primitive Methodists and Wesleyans.

Silsoe

SILSOE, a chapelry district, in the parish of Flitton, union of Ampthill, hundred of Flitt, county of Bedford, 10 miles (S. by E.) from Bedford; containing 788 inhabitants. The chapelry comprises 2090a. 1r. 37p., of which 662 acres are arable, 1260 pasture and meadow, and 133 woodland. A market and an annual fair were granted to the inhabitants in 1319; the former has been long discontinued, but the fair is still held on the festival of St. Peter and St. James, and an additional fair takes place on the 21st of September. The tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents in 1809. The chapel, dedicated to St. James, was rebuilt in 1830, chiefly at the expense of Earl de Grey, and is a handsome structure in the later English style: the living is in his Lordship's gift; income, £150.

Silton (St. Nicholas)

SILTON (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Mere, hundred of Redlane, Shaston division of Dorset, 5 miles (E.) from Wincanton; containing 385 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1257 acres, of which 85 are common or waste. The substratum contains stone of good quality for building, of which there are several quarries; and the linen manufacture affords employment to about 100 persons. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 9. 7.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. H. Martin: the tithes have been commuted for £330, and the glebe comprises 61 acres. The church is a neat structure, with a low square tower and a south porch, and contains an elegant monument to Sir Hugh Wyndham, Knt., chief justice of the court of common pleas in the seventeenth century, who, and his wife and son, are interred in the chancel. Two schools are supported by subscription.

Silton, Nether

SILTON, NETHER, a chapelry, in the parish of Leake, union of Northallerton, wapentake of Birdforth, N. riding of York, 8 miles (N. by E.) from Thirsk; containing 188 inhabitants. This chapelry, which includes Gueldable, comprises by computation an area of 2610 acres. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Silton, Over (All Saints)

SILTON, OVER (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Northallerton, wapentake of Birdforth, N. riding of York; containing, with the township of Kepwick, 271 inhabitants, of whom 98 are in Over Silton township, 8½ miles (N. by E.) from Thirsk. The parish comprises by measurement 1137 acres, of which 178 are arable, 480 meadow and pasture, 99 wood and plantations, and 380 moorland. Excellent stone is quarried for building. From a mountain at the north end of the village is one of the most extensive views perhaps in England, embracing the whole extent of the vale of Mowbray, and the more prominent Westmorland mountains, which latter, though at some distance, add greatly to the beauty of the prospect. The living is a perpetual curacy, with a net income of £69; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, whose tithes have been commuted for £161. 8.: there is an impropriate glebe of 13¾ acres. The church, before the Dissolution, was under the priory of Newburgh, and one of the priests came thence once a month, to officiate here.

Silverdale

SILVERDALE, a chapelry, in the parish of Warton, union of Lancaster, hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of Lancashire, 3¾ miles (N. W.) from Yealand-Conyers; containing 252 inhabitants. This chapelry, which is beautifully situated on Morecambe bay, comprises 1087 acres, of a good soil, with a limestone substratum. It commands views of the Lake mountains, of the district of Furness, of Fleetwood, and the coast towards Liverpool. There are evident indications of copper, and mines have been wrought in the immediate neighbourhood, though not with much success. Challan Hall, with 150 acres of land around it, is the property of Thomas Rodick, Esq.; and Hill House and the adjacent land belong to Thomas Inman, Esq. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Warton; net income, £80. The chapel, erected in 1679, was rebuilt in 1829, and contains 320 sittings, of which 140 are free. On the common was formerly a large rocking-stone, 37 feet in circumference and 10 feet in height; "but," observes Mr. King, "this has been thrown off its equipoise, and moves no longer."

Silverley (All Saints)

SILVERLEY (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Newmarket, hundred of Cheveley, county of Cambridge, 3¾ miles (E.) from Newmarket; containing 20 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage, united to the rectory of Ashley, and valued in the king's books at £7. 17. 3½.; impropriator, the Marquess of Bute.

Silverstone (St. Michael)

SILVERSTONE (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Towcester, hundred of Greens-Norton, S. division of the county of Northampton, 3 miles (S. by W.) from Towcester; containing 985 inhabitants. Here was anciently a lodge or mansion-house, the residence of our kings when they came into this part of the country. Richard I. stayed for a time at the place in 1194. The parish is intersected by the road from Brackley to Towcester, and comprises 1654 acres. The living is annexed, with that of Whittlebury, to the rectory of Greens-Norton. The church is comparatively modern. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Silverton (St. Mary)

SILVERTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Tiverton, hundred of Hayridge, Cullompton and N. divisions of Devon, 7 miles (N. N. E.) from Exeter; containing 1384 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Tiverton to Exeter, near the Great Western railway. The substratum is partly red-sandstone, and partly of the clay-slate formation. The manor is the joint property of the Countess of Egremont, whose seat is in the parish, and the Earl of Ilchester; the former has seventwelfths, and the latter five-twelfths. The village is on a commanding eminence: fairs are held in it on February 13th and July 2nd. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £51. 8. 4., and in the patronage of the Countess of Egremont and the Earl of Ilchester, the former having seven turns and the latter five: the tithes have been commuted for £925, and the glebe contains 89½ acres. The church is a handsome specimen of the later English style: adjoining it are some slight remains of an ancient chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A free school was founded in 1724, by John Richards, who gave £1200 for its erection and support; the annual income is £90. On a hill on the eastern side of the parish are the remains of a British encampment. The Rev. William Bolton, rector of the parish in the time of the parliamentary war, was ejected from the living, and deprived of his patrimonial inheritance, for his loyalty.

Silvington (St. Michael)

SILVINGTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Cleobury-Mortimer, hundred of Overs, S. division of Salop, 6 miles (N. W.) from Cleobury-Mortimer; containing 46 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £3. 6. 8., and in the patronage of Richard Betton, Esq.; net income, £100 per annum.

Simmondley

SIMMONDLEY, a township, in the parish and union of Glossop, hundred of High Peak, N. division of the county of Derby, 8 miles (N. by W.) from Chapel-enle-Frith; containing 592 inhabitants.

Simonburn (St. Simon)

SIMONBURN (St. Simon), a parish, in the union of Hexham, N. W. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland; containing, with the township of Haughton and the chapelry of Humshaugh, 1029 inhabitants, of whom 500 are in the township of Simonburn, 9 miles (N. W. by N.) from Hexham. This parish was formerly the largest in the county, about 33 miles in length and 14 in breadth, diversified with picturesque valleys, and bounded by the Roman wall on the south. In 1814 it was divided, pursuant to an act procured in 1811, into six parishes and rectories, the livings of all which are in the gift of the Governors of Greenwich Hospital, to whom the manor of the ancient parish belongs, and from whose funds the new churches were erected. The present parish comprises 13,372 acres, of which 2967 are arable, 9827 pasture, and 459 wood: the farms are principally for the dairy; the scenery is pleasing, the timber chiefly beech and ash, and the plantations fir. The substratum abounds with coal, and iron-ore was formerly obtained. The North Tyne river separates the parish from Chollerton. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £34. 6. 3. for the ancient parish, and in the gift of the Governors: the tithes have been commuted for £542, and there is a good rectory-house, with about 80 acres of glebe. The church, repaired and beautified in 1821, contains monuments to the families of Allgood and Ridley. At Humshaugh is a separate incumbency. Giles Heron left an estate, now let for £180 per annum, for teaching and apprenticing children, and affording relief to the poor. The castle here was entirely destroyed in expectation of finding some hidden treasure, but part of the west end was rebuilt in 1766. In 1735, a stone inscribed to Ulpius and Sabinus, Roman lieutenants in Britain, was found in taking down part of the rectory-house.

Simonstone

SIMONSTONE, a township, in the parochial chapelry of Padiham, parish of Whalley, union of Burnley, Higher division of the hundred of Blackburn, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 4¾ miles (W. by N.) from Burnley; containing 416 inhabitants. By a deed without date, John de Lacy, who died in Henry III.'s reign, granted one-fifth of the vill of Simonstone to John de Thelwall. The manor was afterwards conveyed to Nicholas de Holden, in whose posterity it remained till the 34th of Edward III. The Boswells, Shuttleworths, Braddylls, and Starkies were subsequent proprietors here, as was a family of the local name, though it never possessed the manor. More recently the Whitakers held a considerable portion of the lands. The township comprises 503 acres. The road from Burnley to Blackburn passes through.

Simonswood

SIMONSWOOD, a township, in the parish of Walton-on-the-Hill, union of Ormskirk, hundred of West Derby, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Ormskirk; containing 493 inhabitants. The forest of "Symmondeswode," an appurtenance of Kirkby, was inclosed soon after the coronation of Henry II. In Henry III.'s reign, it belonged to the heirs of Richard Fitz-Roger, and passed by marriage to the family of Gernet, through whom it came to the Molyneuxs. The township comprises 1693 acres, of which 915 are arable, 228 pasture, 50 wood, and 500 waste. The tithes have been commuted for £122.

Simonward.—See Breward, St.

SIMONWARD.—See Breward, St.

Simpson (St. Nicholas)

SIMPSON (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Newport-Pagnell, hundred of Newport, county of Buckingham, 1½ mile (N. by E.) from Fenny-Stratford; containing 585 inhabitants. It is bounded on the southeast by a branch of the river Ouse, and intersected by the Grand Junction canal. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £17. 6. 8., and in the gift of Sir John Hanmer, Bart.: the tithes were commuted for land in 1770. The church is a handsome structure in the Norman style, and contains a fine monument to Sir T. Salden Hanmer and his lady. Thomas Pigot, in 1573, bequeathed property now producing a rental of about £50, for the poor.