Southernby-Bound

SOUTHERNBY-BOUND, a township, in the parish of Castle-Sowerby, union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland, 11½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Penrith; containing 136 inhabitants.

Southery (St. Mary)

SOUTHERY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Downham, hundred of Clackclose, W. division of Norfolk, 7 miles (S.) from Downham; containing 1023 inhabitants. It comprises 3695a. 1r. 14p., of which 2681 acres are arable, 711 pasture and meadow, and 23 wood. The road from London to Lynn runs through the village; the parish is intersected by the Ouse river, and bounded on the south by the Isle of Ely. A steam-engine of 60-horse power was erected in 1842, to drain the fen lands in the immediate vicinity. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 10., and in the gift of George Hall, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £629. 10.; there is a glebehouse, and the glebe comprises 106¾ acres. The church is a very ancient structure, with a wooden screen separating the nave and chancel.

South-Fields

SOUTH-FIELDS, a liberty, in the parish of St. Mary, borough of Leicester, locally in the hundred of Guthlaxton, S. division of the county of Leicester; containing 2566 inhabitants, many of whom are employed in frame-work knitting.

Southfleet (St. Nicholas)

SOUTHFLEET (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Dartford, hundred of Axton, Dartford, and Wilmington, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of Kent, 3½ miles (S. W.) from Gravesend; containing, with the hamlets of Betsome, Hook-Green, and Westwood, 667 inhabitants. This was a place of importance during the heptarchy, when it was called Sudfleta; and from its proximity to the old Watling-street, its distance from the station Durobrivis (Rochester), and the numerous Roman relics found on the spot, it is supposed to have been known long before the heptarchy, and to occupy the site of the Vagniacæ of Antoninus. The parish comprises 2541a. 2r. 30p., of which 229 acres are in wood. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £31. 15., and in the gift of the Bishop of Rochester: the tithes have been commuted for £872, and the glebe contains 6 acres. The church is principally in the decorated English style, and exhibits many marks of antiquity, including six stone stalls under pointed arches, a piscina, a window of stained glass, and a font much admired for its curious workmanship. A school is endowed with a rent-charge of £20.

Southgate

SOUTHGATE, a chapelry, in the parish, union, and hundred of Edmonton, county of Middlesex, 8 miles (N. by W.) from London; containing 2438 inhabitants. The name of this place is derived from its situation at the south gate or entrance of Enfield Chase, and it is still called South-street division; the Chase, however, has been entirely inclosed, and is now in a good state of cultivation. The village contains many handsome houses; the New River runs at its extremity, and the neighbourhood is well wooded: the Duke of Buckingham has a residence here, in the grounds of which is a very fine oak-tree whose shade covers nearly an acre of ground. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Edmonton; net income, £180. The chapel, built in 1615, at the expense of Sir John Weld, has been rebuilt. There is a place of worship for Independents; and a national school has been erected near the Green, in a very neat style. In an adjacent field called Camp Field, have been found several pieces of cannon, and a gorget belonging to Oliver Cromwell, having his initials handsomely inlaid with jewels. In 1829, several ancient coins were dug up in the neighbourhood.

South-Hamlet

SOUTH-HAMLET, an extra-parochial liberty, in the Middle division of the hundred of Dudstone and King's-Barton, union, and E. division of the county, of Gloucester; containing 1055 inhabitants, and comprising 741 acres. Here is a mineral spring.

South-Hill (St. Sampson)

SOUTH-HILL (St. Sampson), a parish, in the union of Liskeard, Middle division of the hundred of East, E. division of Cornwall, 3 miles (N. W.) from Callington; containing 640 inhabitants. The parish is separated from St. Ives by the romantic stream Lynher, and comprises 2953 acres, of which 402 are common or waste land. The lead-mine of Redmoor, here, was lately worked, but is not now in operation; common blue slate is quarried for the roofing of houses. A small cattle-fair is held on the first Tuesday in April. The living is a rectory, with the perpetual curacy of Callington annexed, valued in the king's books at £38; net income, £748; patrons, Lord Ashburton, and George Stroud, Esq., the former of whom has two presentations, and the latter one. The tithes have been commuted for £380; there is a glebe-house, and the glebe contains about 240 acres, of which 50 are situated in Callington. The church is an ancient structure with lancet windows. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Southill (All Saints)

SOUTHILL (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Biggleswade, hundred of Wixamtree, county of Bedford; containing, with the hamlets of Broom and Stanford, 1379 inhabitants, of whom 579 are in the township of Southill, 4 miles (S. W. by W.) from Biggleswade. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Old Warden annexed, valued in the king's books at £ 11. 15.; net income, £384; patron and impropriator, W. H. Whitbread, Esq. The tithes were commuted for land and annual money payments in 1797. The church contains monuments to several of the Byng family, among which are those of the celebrated naval officer, Sir George Byng, first Viscount Torrington, and of his son, ViceAdmiral the Hon. John Byng, who was executed for alleged professional misconduct. The Baptists have a place of worship.

Southminster.—See Minster, South.

SOUTHMINSTER.—See Minster, South.

Southoe (St. Leonard)

SOUTHOE (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of St. Neot's, hundred of Toseland, county of Huntingdon, 3¼ miles (N. by W.) from St. Neot's; containing 297 inhabitants. The living is a vicarage endowed with the rectorial tithes, with the living of Hail-Weston annexed, and valued in the king's books at £14. 2. 3½.; net income, £288; patron and incumbent, the Rev. J. Standly. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment, in 1797, under an inclosure act. There are some mineral springs in the parish. Bishop Chadderton was interred here.

Southolt (St. Margaret)

SOUTHOLT (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union and hundred of Hoxne, E. division of Suffolk, 5 miles (S. E. by S.) from Eye; containing 211 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with the great tithes, and annexed to the rectory of Worlingworth: the tithes have been commuted for £237. 10. The proceeds of certain town lands, amounting to about £100 per annum, are applied to the repairs of the church, and the general purposes of the parish.

Southorp

SOUTHORP, a hamlet, in the parish of Barnack, union of Stamford, soke of Peterborough, N. division of the county of Northampton, 4 miles (S. E.) from Stamford; containing 147 inhabitants. It comprises, with Walcot, an area of 1840 acres, of which 271 are common or waste.

Southorpe

SOUTHORPE, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Gainsborough, wapentake of Corringham, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 7 miles (N. E.) from Gainsborough; containing 41 inhabitants, and comprising 590 acres of land.

Southover, county of Sussex.—See Lewes.

SOUTHOVER, county of Sussex.—See Lewes.

Southport

SOUTHPORT, a sea-bathing place, in the parish of North Meols, union of Ormskirk, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 9 miles (N. W.) from Ormskirk, and 20 (N.) from Liverpool; containing, in 1841, 3346 inhabitants. It is situated at the mouth of the Ribble, on the shore of the Irish Sea, opposite to Lytham. Prior to 1792, the site of this improving village was a dreary sand-bank, at the lower end of a bay seventeen fathoms deep, which is now choked up with sand. The foundation of the prosperity of Southport, as a seabathing place, was laid by Mr. Sutton, of North Meols, who, appreciating its local advantages, built the first inn, called the Royal Hotel, in 1792; in a few years symptoms of prosperity began to appear, and some cottages were built in the vicinity of the hotel, on ground considerably elevated above the level of the sea. From this beginning the village gradually rose into importance, attaining its present celebrity from the influence of fashion, the easy communication with some of the principal towns of the county, and a salubrious air from which invalids derive essential benefit. It is now a favourite resort for sea-bathing, and possesses excellent accommodation for visiters. The houses are built of brick, a considerable number of them cemented, and many in the form of villas; there are several large hotels, and a number of good shops. Lords'-street, the principal street, is about a mile in length, very wide, and open, with gardens in front of the houses. The Victoria Baths, erected by subscription, form a handsome range of building with a colonnade in front, facing the sea; and attached is a fine terrace-walk of great extent. An assembly-room, newsroom, and libraries supply means of amusement and relaxation; and upwards of a hundred donkeys, and many convenient donkey-carriages, enable visiters to explore the neighbourhood, and enjoy the breezes on the shore.

An act was obtained in 1846, for paving, lighting, and otherwise improving the place, and for establishing a market; and under its provisions Improvement Commissioners have been appointed. In 1847 an act was passed for a railway to Liverpool, through Crosby, 16½ miles in length; the line, being nearly level, is free from engineering difficulties. In the same year, another act was passed for a railway to Manchester, through Wigan. There are two churches. Christ Church, an unostentatious brick building with a tower, was erected in 1820, and enlarged in 1830: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rev. Charles Hesketh; net income, £107. Trinity Church, in the early English style, was consecrated in November 1837, and enlarged in 1847: the living is a perpetual curacy, with a net income of £150, and a substantial parsonage-house; patrons, Trustees. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans; and a Roman Catholic chapel. The last, dedicated to Ste. Marie-on-the-Sands, was built in 1840 from a design by Pugin, is in the early English style, and cost £1500: a house for the priest and a school-house are adjacent. A strangers' charity provides medical aid and bathing for the sick poor coming from a distance, and a dispensary affords aid to the local poor.

Southport, Hampshire.—See Portsea.

SOUTHPORT, Hampshire.—See Portsea.

Southrop (St. Peter)

SOUTHROP (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Northleach, hundred of Brightwell's-Barrow, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 3 miles (N.) from Lechlade; containing 403 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1400 acres, and is watered by the river Lead: there are several quarries of stone for repairing roads. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 16. 8.; patrons, the Warden and Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford; impropriator, J. Tuckwell, Esq. The tithes have been commuted for £220, and the glebe contains about 50 acres.

Southrop

SOUTHROP, a tything, in the parish of Herriard, union of Basingstoke, hundred of Bermondspit, though locally in that of Odiham, Basingstoke and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 5 miles (N. W.) from Alton; containing 349 inhabitants.

Southrope

SOUTHROPE, a township, in the parish of HookNorton, union of Banbury, hundred of Chadlington, county of Oxford; containing 282 inhabitants.

Southrow

SOUTHROW, a hamlet, in the parish of Bardney, W. division of the wapentake of Wraggoe, parts of Lindsey, union and county of Lincoln; containing 198 inhabitants.

Southsea, Hampshire.—See Portsea.

SOUTHSEA, Hampshire.—See Portsea.

South-Shore

SOUTH-SHORE, a village, or hamlet, in the three townships of Layton with Warbrick, Bispham, and Great Marton, parishes of Bispham and Poulton, union of the Fylde, hundred of Amounderness, N. division of Lancashire, 1¼ mile (S.) from Blackpool; containing 531 inhabitants. The first house was erected in this now pretty hamlet in 1819, since which time many other houses have sprung up. The hamlet lies on the sea-shore, on a site a little elevated above it; and consists chiefly of a row of handsome cottages facing the sea, with baths and other accommodation for bathing. An ecclesiastical district was formed in 1836, of which the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Thomas Joseph Clifton, Esq., lord of the manor; income, £90, whereof £36 are derived from tithes, and the remainder from pew-rents. The church is in the early English style of architecture, with a tower, and cost £1700, raised by subscription. There are three schools in connexion with it.

Southtown

SOUTHTOWN, anciently a parish, but now commonly considered a hamlet in the parish of Gorleston, locally in the hundred of Mutfrod and Lothingland, E. division of Suffolk; containing 1428 inhabitants. This place was formerly called Little Yarmouth, and is a suburb to Great Yarmouth, with which it is connected by a bridge over the Yare. As regards franchise, and matters of trade and jurisdiction, it was united to that borough by an act passed in the 16th and 17th of Charles II. It consists of two separate parts, about a mile and a half distant from each other, of which the south-eastern, overlooking the sea, and adjoining Gorleston High-street, is called, by way of distinction, Southtown-on-the-Hill. The other part extends from Yarmouth bridge about half a mile southward, along the western bank of the Yare, one side of the road being occupied by handsome private houses, and the other by timber-wharfs, docks, and yards for ship-building. The living, a discharged rectory, was consolidated in 1520 with the vicarage of Gorleston; and the parochial church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, has fallen into decay. There is, however, a church dedicated to St. Mary, erected in 1831, by subscription, at an expense of £2300, the Earl of Lichfield, then Viscount Anson, giving the site and £500: the living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £200; patrons, Trustees. The tithes have been commuted for £110.

Southwark.—See London.

SOUTHWARK.—See London.

Southwell (St. Mary)

SOUTHWELL (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the Southwell division of the wapentake of Thurgarton, S. division of the county of Nottingham, 14 miles (N. E.) from Nottingham, and 132 (N. N. W.) from London; containing, with the hamlets of Hexgreave and Normanton, 3487 inhabitants. This place, which is of great antiquity, derived its name from one of many large springs, or wells, that existed in the neighbourhood, but few of which are now remaining. It was distinguished by the foundation of one of the first Christian churches in this part of the country by Paulinus, who at the request of Ethelburga, wife of Edwin, King of Northumbria, had been sent over to England by the papal see, to preach the doctrines of Christianity, and who, having converted Edwin to the Christian faith, was made Archbishop of York in the year 627. The history of the town relates chiefly to the progress of its religious establishment, which flourished under the archbishops till the Conquest, at which time the church had become collegiate, had ample revenues, and contained ten prebends, the number of which was subsequently augmented to sixteen. From that period till the Reformation, the possessions of the church continued to increase, and the establishment to prosper, especially during the reigns of Henry I., II., and III., Edward I., and other sovereigns, who contributed largely to its endowment. Popes Alexander III. and Urban III. were also munificent patrons; every archbishop was anxious to promote its independence, and the zeal and liberality of its own members were constantly devoted to its improvement. Soon after the dissolution of monasteries by Henry VIII., the archbishop, and the prebendaries of Southwell, surrendered the church to that monarch, by whom, at the request of Cranmer, the chapter was refounded in 1541, and Southwell subsequently erected into a see, of which Dr. Cox, afterwards translated to Ely, was appointed bishop in 1543. Edward VI., soon after his accession to the throne, dissolved the chapter, and granted the prebendal estates to John, Earl of Warwick, upon whose attainder in 1553, they reverted to the crown. Queen Mary, however, re-established the chapter; and the prebendal establishment was finally confirmed by Queen Elizabeth, in 1585, and a new code of laws instituted.

During the civil war, Charles I. was frequently at this town, holding his court generally at the archiepiscopal palace, and occasionally at the King's Arms inn, now the Saracen's Head; at which latter place, on the 6th of May, 1646, he privately surrendered himself to the Scottish commissioners. The parliamentary troops, during their stay in the town, would have converted the church into a stable, and broken the monuments and defaced the ornaments, as in other places, had not Cludd, a famous parliamentary justice, who had married a daughter of Cromwell's, interceded with them to save the venerable fabric, and procured a revocation of the warrant for its desecration. The palace (in which Cardinal Wolsey had resided the summer previous to his death) was, however, destroyed, and with it all the ancient records, except the Registrum Album, or white book, which is still in existence, and contains most of the grants to the church, from the year 1109 to 1525. The lands here belonging to the see were sold for £4061.

The town is pleasantly situated on a gentle eminence richly clothed with wood, and surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills of various elevation, near the small river Greet, which is noted for its red trout. It comprises the districts of Burgage, the High Town, Easthorpe, and Westhorpe, together forming a considerable though scattered town, well paved and supplied with water, and consisting of houses which in general wear a very neat and prepossessing appearance. From its central situation in the county, public meetings of the magistracy are frequently held in the town, at the assembly-room, a commodious building erected in 1806. A small theatre was opened in 1816. A pleasant promenade, called the Prebendal Walk, has long been formed on the north side of the churchyard, and the roads in the vicinity have been recently improved; the air is salubrious, and the environs afford some agreeable walks. The only branch of manufacture is that of silk, for which a mill has been erected on the Greet, by a firm at Nottingham. The Nottingham and Lincoln railway, opened in August 1846, runs near the town; and an act has been lately passed for a railway from Rolleston, through Southwell, to Clay Cross, Chesterfield. The market is on Saturday; and fairs take place on Whit-Monday, which is a pleasure-fair, and Oct. 21st, a statute-fair. The town was till recently under two separate jurisdictions, called the Burgage and the Prebendage. The former, denominated the Soke of Southwell cum Scrooby, included twenty townships, for which quarterly courts of session were held by a Custos Rotulorum, and justices of the peace, nominated by the Archbishop of York and the Chapter of Southwell, and appointed by a commission under the great seal for the trial of all but capital offenders. The prebendage included 28 parishes, over which the chapter, by their vicar-general, exercised ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and all episcopal functions, except confirmation and ordination. The house of correction for the county, after having been several times enlarged, was completed in 1829. The parish comprises 5613a. 1r. 19p., of which 2179 acres are arable, 752 meadow, 2161 pasture, 117 woodland, and 85 in hop-grounds.

The living was a discharged vicarage, in the patronage of the Prebendary of Normanton in the Collegiate Church, valued in the king's books at £7. 13. 4.; but in 1841 it was converted into a rectory by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and on the next vacancy it will be permanently annexed to the archdeaconry of Nottingham: net income, £450. The church is a magnificent cruciform structure, chiefly of Norman architecture, with portions in the early, decorated, and later English styles. It has a low central tower, and at the west end are two towers of the same height, richly ornamented, between which is the principal entrance, through a circular arch, with a large window above it of the later style, highly enriched with tracery. The nave and western transepts are of Norman character; the former has a flat roof of panelled oak finely carved, supported upon low massive circular columns and arches, and is lighted by clerestory windows of small dimensions, above a triforium of large and undivided arches. The roof of the aisles is groined in stone. The arches and piers sustaining the central tower are strikingly beautiful, from the simplicity of their style, and the stateliness of their elevation. The choir and small eastern transepts are admirable specimens of the early English style, perhaps unrivalled for their purity of design and fidelity of minute detail; the stalls and screen are in the later period of the decorated style. On the eastern side of the north transept was a chantry or singing school, which was eventually converted into a library for the college, containing a valuable collection of works, chiefly on divinity. On the north side of the church is the chapter-house, in the decorated English style: the entrance doorway, which is double, is elegantly enriched with foliage of a character not very prevalent in England; the tracery in the windows, and in the stalls under them, is also very beautiful. In the churchyard are some remains of the ancient college, the establishment of which was retained in its integrity until 1840, when it was enacted that no vacancy should in future be filled up, but that the funds should pass to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, as vacancies occurred. An additional church, dedicated to the Trinity, was consecrated in April, 1846; it cost about £3000, and contains 650 sittings. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists.

The collegiate grammar school is an ancient foundation, occupying the site of the college of chantry priests, and is under the superintendence of the chapter. Dr. John Keyton, canon of Salisbury, founded two fellowships and two scholarships at St. John's College, Cambridge, for boys educated at'this school and who have been choristers in the collegiate church. The master's house adjoins the school, and contains ample accommodation for pupils; it has been greatly enlarged by the present head master, the Rev. William Fletcher, D. D., late fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, who obtained the highest classical honours at that university, and under whom the school has flourished in an unprecedented manner. An annual examination is held, when prizes, provided by the liberality of the Archbishop of York and the chapter, are awarded to the most deserving scholars. Another school here, which has been in a thriving condition for many years, is under the superintendence of the Rev. Charles Fletcher, M.A., Vicar of Caunton. The poor-law union of Southwell comprises sixty parishes or places, and contains a population of 25,011. Of the ancient episcopal palace there are still considerable remains, overspread with ivy, and forming an interesting ornament to the town. They consist chiefly of the chapel and hall, which are almost entire, and fitted up as a modern residence; the quadrangle, once surrounded with offices, has been converted into a garden. Vestiges of a Roman fosse are perceptible on the Burgage hill. Of the springs which distinguished the vicinity, St. Catherine's well, at Westhorpe, celebrated for the cure of rheumatism, and South well, about half a mile to the south-east of the town, are still open.

Southwell-Park

SOUTHWELL-PARK, an extra-parochial district, in the union and hundred of Thingoe, W. division of Suffolk, 7 miles (W. S. W.) from Bury St. Edmund's; containing 16 inhabitants, and comprising 480 acres.