Hexhamshire - Hickleton

A Topographical Dictionary of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848.

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'Hexhamshire - Hickleton', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, (London, 1848) pp. 501-505. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp501-505 [accessed 26 April 2024]

In this section

Hexhamshire High-Quarter

HEXHAMSHIRE HIGH-QUARTER, in the parish and union of Hexham, S. division of Tindale ward and of Northumberland, 6 miles (S. by W.) from Hexham; containing 206 inhabitants. This is a large, wild, and mountainous district, extending to the borders of the county of Durham, and including the hamlet of Lillswood, &c. The tithes have been commuted for £54.

Hexhamshire Low-Quarter

HEXHAMSHIRE LOW-QUARTER, in the parish and union of Hexham, S. division of Tindale ward and of Northumberland, 2 miles (S.) from Hexham; containing 479 inhabitants. It comprises the hamlets of Dotland, Lee, Linnel-Mill, Ordley, and Steel. The tithes have been commuted for £90. There is a small place of worship for Methodists.

Hexhamshire Middle-Quarter

HEXHAMSHIRE MIDDLE-QUARTER, in the parish and union of Hexham, S. division of Tindale ward and of Northumberland, 3 miles (S. by W.) from Hexham; containing 251 inhabitants. This quarter comprises the hamlets of Dalton, Mollersteads, Raw Green, &c. The tithes have been commuted for £76. Whitley chapel, here, was built about the period of the Restoration, upon the site of a small edifice that had fallen into decay; and was repaired in 1763. The living is a curacy, endowed with upwards of £600 Queen Anne's Bounty and subscriptions.

Hexhamshire West-Quarter

HEXHAMSHIRE WEST-QUARTER, in the parish and union of Hexham, S. division of Tindale ward and of Northumberland, 1 mile (W.) from Hexham; containing 311 inhabitants, and comprising the hamlets of Greenshaw-Plain, Nubbock, West Boat, and Summer Rods. The tithes have been commuted for £177.

Hexthorpe, with Balby.—See Balby.

HEXTHORPE, with Balby.—See Balby.

Hexton (St. Faith)

HEXTON (St. Faith), a parish, in the union of Hitchin, hundred of Cashio, or liberty of St. Alban's, county of Hertford, 5¼ miles (W. by N.) from Hitchin; containing 295 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1453 acres, chiefly arable land; about 35 acres are common or waste. The surface is hilly, and the scenery pleasingly diversified; the soil of the lower grounds is principally clay, and on the hills, gravel, with a substratum of chalk. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 13. 4.; patron and impropriator, J. Lautour, Esq.: the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £90, and the glebe comprises one acre. The church has been almost entirely rebuilt, at the cost of £3000, by Mr. Lautour, and is a beautiful structure in the later English style; the chancel has a richly-groined roof. A complete intrenchment, called Ravensburgh Castle, occupies a site of about twelve acres. The Ikeneld-street passes through the parish. Quantities of gold and silver coins, mostly Roman and Saxon, have been found; and in 1832, a curious vessel, containing coins of various kings of Northumbria and of several of the archbishops of York, was discovered in the churchyard in digging a grave, near the north transept of the church. Springs of water, slightly chalybeate, constantly descend from a hill here, and form a river in Hexton Park.

Hey, county of Lancaster.—See Lees.

HEY, county of Lancaster.—See Lees.

Heybridge (St. Andrew)

HEYBRIDGE (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Thurstable, N. division of Essex, 1 mile (N. N. E.) from Maldon; containing 1177 inhabitants. This parish, which is about six miles in circumference, and is situated on the north bank of the river Blackwater, appears to have derived its present name from the construction of a bridge of five arches in the time of Henry VI. The old name was Tedwaldinton. The village, between which and Maldon is a raised causeway made prior to the reign of Edward II., stands pleasantly near the junction of the Blackwater and the Chelmer, and has greatly increased in trade, extent, and population, since the formation of the Chelmer navigation, by means of a canal to Chelmsford, which passes through the parish. Vessels of 250 tons' burthen are enabled to come up, drawing 14 feet of water; and at spring tides there are 16 feet of water at the lock. Extensive salt-works have been established by a company who laid out £20,000 in furtherance of that object; and there are also an iron-foundry and a plough manufactory. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10; net income, £159; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, London. The church is a small ancient edifice, situated on the strand opposite Maldon, and in high tides is washed by the sea. There are places of worship for Baptists and Independents.

Heydon, county of Essex.—See Haydon.

HEYDON, county of Essex.—See Haydon.

Heydon (St. Peter)

HEYDON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Aylsham, hundred of South Erpingham, E. division of Norfolk, 3½ miles (N. N. E.) from Reepham; containing 321 inhabitants. It is on the Holt and Norwich road and comprises 1922a. 3r. 13p., the larger part arable: a superior kind of marl is obtained, which, when burnt into lime, is equal to Roman cement. Heydon Hall, a handsome mansion in the Elizabethan style, erected in 1584, is the residence of W. E. L. Bulwer, Esq., who is lord of the manor, and possesses nearly the whole of the parish; the park, occupying about 400 acres, contains some oaks of very fine growth. The living is a rectory, with that of Irmingland united, valued in the king's books at £9. 16. 10½., and in the gift of Mr. Bulwer: the tithes have been commuted for £303. 10., and the glebe contains nearly 25 acres. The church is chiefly in the later English style, with a lofty embattled tower surmounted by pinnacles at the angles; a gallery at the west end was erected in 1839, by the Rev. E. Nepean, and a small organ by subscription. In the north aisle is an altar-tomb of black marble, to the memory of Erasmus Earle, an eminent lawyer, and serjeant-at-law to Oliver Cromwell. On the exterior of the south wall of the church, a peculiar kind of fern grows, supposed to be the only specimen in the kingdom.

Heyford, Lower (St. Mary)

HEYFORD, LOWER (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bicester, hundred of Ploughley, county of Oxford, 6 miles (N. E. by N.) from Woodstock; containing, with the hamlet of Calcutt, 562 inhabitants. The church of Heyford belonged to the abbots of Ensham, by whom, it is believed, the ancient bridge with pointed arches was erected over the Cherwell, whence the parish was at one period designated Heyford ad Pontem. The parish comprises 1654a. 3r. 7p., of which about 1350 acres are arable, 285 pasture, and 19 woodland. On the Cherwell, which bounds the parish on the west, is a large corn-mill; and on the Oxford canal, which passes through it, are four wharfs: the Oxford and Rugby railway, also, runs near the village. A market for corn, held weekly on Monday, was established in October, 1845, at which time fairs, also, were appointed to be held on the last Mondays in January, March, April, May, July, and October. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 13. 1½.; net income, £496; patrons, the President and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford: the tithes were commuted for land and money payments in 1801; and there is a good glebe-house. Parts of the church are very ancient; it was consecrated by Wulfwin, Bishop of Dorchester, about the year 1060, and contains portions of the progressive styles of architecture down to the Tudor window: there are three piscinæ, and the staircase of the rood-loft. The Wesleyans have a place of worship in the village, and another in the hamlet of Calcutt. A small school is supported by the Countess of Jersey, and a second has a trifling endowment; there is also a labourers' benefit society, whose fund is about £200.

Heyford, Nether (St. Peter and St. Paul)

HEYFORD, NETHER (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the hundred of Newbottle-Grove, union, and S. division of the county, of Northampton, 7 miles (W. by S.) from Northampton; containing 599 inhabitants. The Grand Junction canal and the London and Birmingham railway pass through the parish, and on its southern boundary runs the Watling-street. It is seated on the right bank of the southern branch of the Nene, that river separating it from Upper Heyford; and consists of 1192 acres, whereof 12 are occupied by the railway, the rateable annual value of which property in the parish is £1015. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 10. 5.; net income, £152; patron and impropriator, the Rev. J. L. Crawley. A school was endowed by W. Bliss, in 1763, with a bequest of £400, with which land was purchased; and on the in closure other lands were assigned in lieu, yielding £100 per annum, and also a share and a half in the Grand Junction canal. Dr. John Preston, surnamed the Patriarch of the Puritans, was born here in 1587.

Heyford, Upper

HEYFORD, UPPER, a parish, in the hundred of Newbottle-Grove, union, and S. division of the county, of Northampton, 6¼ miles (W.) from Northampton; containing 111 inhabitants. The parish is intersected by the road from Northampton to Daventry, and contains 882 acres, in equal portions of arable and pasture.

Heyford, Warren, or Upper (St. Mary)

HEYFORD, WARREN, or UPPER (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bicester, hundred of Ploughley, county of Oxford, 7 miles (N. E. by N.) from Woodstock; containing 337 inhabitants. Warine Fitzgerald was owner of the parish about the year 1200, whence the name Warren-Heyford. His descendant, Sir Robert L'Isle, sold the manor and the patronage of the living, in 1380, to William of Wykeham, who settled them as part of the endowment of New College, Oxford, by which establishment they are still retained. The parish is situated east of the river Cherwell, and comprises 1608a. 3r. 39p., including 35 acres of small occupations, roads, water, and waste: the soil is chiefly a productive loam, under which lies a good vein of limestone; and there are some rich meadows in the valley of the Cherwell, which river turns a corn-mill. An inclosure act was passed in 1841. The Oxford and Birmingham canal intersects the parish, and the Oxford and Rugby railway crosses the north-eastern part. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 16. 0½.; net income, £537; patron, the Warden and Fellows of New College. The church has a tower strengthened by buttresses, on which are the arms of William of Wykeham, and consists of a modern nave and a chancel, with part of a south aisle to the latter, forming the sepulchral chapel of the family of Myrry, who occupied the ancient manorhouse near the church. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. About twenty acres of ground are allotted to trustees for the benefit of the poor, and are under spade husbandry; about four acres are recreation ground. In the eastern part of the parish are the remains of an encampment.

Heyhouses

HEYHOUSES, 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, 3¼ miles (S. E.) from Clitheroe; containing 156 inhabitants. The origin of Heyhouses, the first village that arose in Pendle Forest, is owing to an encroachment upon a right of common in the forest, claimed by the customary tenants and freeholders of Merlay, Padiham, Downham, Worston, and other places, who held a meeting at Pendle Cross under the abbot of Whalley, in the 29th of Henry VI., and passed a number of resolutions for the abatement of encroachments. A bill was afterwards preferred before the commissioners of Edward VI. for inquiry into encroachments and abuses, against "Ric. Radclyffe, squyer, for makeyng a towne upon a tenement called ye Hayhouses, where he had no right without the kyng's staff." The township comprises 320 acres. Here is a church, built and endowed by Le Gendre Nicholas Starkie, Esq., who is patron of the living.

Heysham (St. Peter)

HEYSHAM (St. Peter), a parish, in the hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of Lancashire, 6 miles (W.) from Lancaster; containing 698 inhabitants. Under the Normans, the manor of Heysham, anciently Hessam, was held by the service of cornage, the lord being bound by his tenure to meet the king on the borders of the county, with his horn and a white wand, introducing him into the county, and attending him on his departure. From this tenure, it is probable that a branch of the family, de Hessam, assumed the name of Cornet, subsequently changed to Gernet. The Lucys appear to have held the manor under the Gernets: it passed in the 12th century to the Dacres; was afterwards possessed by other families successively; and in the year 1767 was sold to the ancestors of the present owners.

The parish is beautifully situated on Morecambe bay, and comprises by estimation 1575 acres, whereof 774 are arable, 631 meadow and pasture, and 170 moss: the views, which are very fine, embrace the opposite shore of Furness, and the Lake mountains. An act was passed in 1846 for the construction of a harbour and docks in the parish, on Morecambe bay, between the village and Poulton: the great object of the undertaking is the establishment of a harbour of refuge for ships navigating the west coast of England, and a low-water harbour for the town and port of Lancaster. Powers were obtained, under the same act, for a railway from the harbour to Lancaster, with a branch extending by Poulton and Bare to Williamlands, in the township of Slyne with Hest. The harbour and railway company formed under the act has since been amalgamated with the North-Western, or Lancaster and Skipton, Railway Company. Morecambe Cottage, here, is the residence of Thomas Yates Ridley, Esq., son of the late incumbent of the parish, and a considerable landowner. The village of Heysham is divided into High or Upper, and Lower, Heysham; the houses are irregularly constructed of ordinary rough stone: the inhabitants for the most part are farmers or fishermen.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 9. 2., and in the patronage of Clement Royds, Esq., of Rochdale: the tithes have been commuted for £470, and the glebe comprises 90 acres, with a house. The church is an ancient edifice in the low Norman style, with a tower, and stands upon the sea-shore, at Lower Heysham. A national school is partly supported by an endowment consisting of land, and £105 in the funds, producing £8. 9. per annum, given by Robert Thompson in 1817. On the summit of a rock above the church are the remains of an oratory dedicated to St. Patrick: several places for interment have been cut out of this rock. In High Heysham are situated the ruins of a chapel which belonged to the Stanleys, earls of Monteagle of Hornby Castle.

Heyshot

HEYSHOT, a parish, in the union of Sutton, hundred of Easebourne, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex, 2½ miles (S. by E.) from Midhurst; containing 408 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2171 acres, of which 352 are common or waste land; it is within the parliamentary borough of Midhurst. The living is a rectory, united to that of Stedham: the tithes have been commuted for £308, and the glebe comprises 16 acres. The church has portions in the decorated and later English styles. On the Downs are some remains of a fortified camp, commanding a magnificent prospect which embraces the grand sweep from these heights to the sea, and terminates with the Isle of Wight.

Heytesbury (St. Peter and St. Paul)

HEYTESBURY (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, and formerly a representative borough and a market-town, in the union of Warminster, hundred of Heytesbury, Warminster and S. divisions of Wilts, 3½ miles (E. S. E.) from Warminster, and 93 (W. S. W.) from London; containing 1311 inhabitants. The ancient appellations of this place were Hegtredesbyrig and Heightsbury, whence is obviously derived its present name. During the contest between Stephen and Matilda, the empress is said to have occasionally resided here. The town is situated in a pleasaut valley, on the south-west verge of Salisbury Plain, and on the northern bank of the small river Wily, on the road from London to Bridgwater; it consists principally of one long and irregular street, and is supplied with good water. The manufacture of cloth was formerly carried on to a considerable extent, the vicinity of the river affording a facility for the erection of mills; two manufactories were in operation, one for broadcloth, the other both for cloth and kerseymere, but the trade has of late very much declined. There is a small fair on May 14th, for cattle, sheep, &c. An act was passed in 1845 for a railway from near Chippenham, by Heytesbury, to Salisbury. Heytesbury was a borough by prescription, but not incorporated: it first sent members to parliament in the 28th of Henry VI., from which time two were regularly returned, until the 2nd of William IV., when it was disfranchised. The manor belongs to Lord Heytesbury, who appoints a bailiff; also a bailiff for the hundred, which is co-extensive with the manor. A court leet is held at Michaelmas, when two constables and two tythingmen for the town, and similar officers for the hundred, are chosen.

Seal and Arms.

The living is a perpetual curacy, generally held with that of Knook, and in the patronage of the Bishop of Sarum; net income of Heytesbury, £75. The church, situated in the centre of the town, is a massive cruciform structure, with a square tower rising from the intersection; in the choir are fourteen very ancient oak stalls. The church was made collegiate about the year 1165, by Joceline, Bishop of Salisbury, and was rebuilt by Thomas, Lord Hungerford, in 1404: there were formerly two chantries, which have been suppressed; but the prebends of Tytherington, Horningsham, Hill Deverill, and Swallowcliff, which were attached to them, still remain. The Incorporated Society, in 1841, granted £100 towards repairing the church. There is a place of worship for Independents. An hospital, begun by Robert, Lord Hungerford, was completed and endowed, pursuant to his will, by his widow Margaret, Lady Hungerford and Botscaux, who, about 1472, amortized the manor of Cheverell-Burnell or Cheverell-Hales for its support. The design of the institution was to maintain a custos (who was to be a priest in full orders), and twelve poor men and one woman, nominated by the lord of the manor; the custos receives £150 per annum. On the summit of Cotley Hill, north-westward from the town, is a large tumulus, surrounded by a circular ditch and low vallum; and on another hill in the vicinity is the encampment called Scratchbury. Camp, so named from the British word Crech, signifying a hill; the circuit of its rampart is one mile and eighty-six yards, and its greatest height sixty-six feet, including an area of forty acres. There are other encampments on several bold eminences in the vicinity. Mr. William Cunnington, an industrious antiquary, was long a resident at this place, where he died and was interred in 1810. It confers the title of Baron on the family of A Court, whose ancient family seat is on the north-east of the town.

Heythorp (St. Nicholas)

HEYTHORP (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Chipping-Norton, hundred of Wootton, county of Oxford, 3¼ miles (E. by N.) from Chipping-Norton; containing, with the hamlet of Dunthrop, 198 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 11. 10½., and in the gift of the Earl of Shrewsbury: the tithes have been commuted for £150. The church is a small ancient edifice, with several fragments of sculpture on the outside walls, and contains memorials of the family of Ashfield. Here is a Roman Catholic chapel. A Carthusian monastery was founded at this place in 1222, by William Long Espee, Earl of Salisbury; but on the representation of its low and unfavourable situation by the monks, it was removed by the earl's widow to Hinton, in Somersetshire.

Heywood

HEYWOOD, a town and chapelry, in the township of Heap, parish and union of Bury, hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 3 miles (E. S. E.) from Bury, on the road to Rochdale. Heywood, in the Saxon, denotes the site of a wood in a field, or a wood surrounded by fields; a family of the same name resided here for many generations. In the 15th century the place consisted of a few cottages, and at the period when the cotton manufacture began to prevail, it still formed a group of rural dwellings: the first spinning-mill commenced in its precincts was at Wrigley Brook, in the latter part of the last century, but the extraordinary growth of the cotton-trade at Heywood is of recent date. In 1845 there were thirtysix cotton-mills in the town, all, with one exception, for heavy fustian goods, and in which 129,936 throstles, 203,066 mule-spindles, and 5320 looms were in operation; the whole manufacturing annually 8506 tons of cotton, and consuming 71,101 tons of coal: in these mills and in two paper-mills, 7510 persons were employed. There are five shops for supplying machinery. The Heywood Coal Company, of recent establishment, has two collieries producing abundance of coal; and a stone-quarry is also wrought. The river Roche separates this vicinity from Birtle and Bury, the surface rising on both sides of the river; and the benefit of inland navigation is derived from a branch canal, which meets the Rochdale canal at Blue Pits. The Manchester and Leeds railway passes on the east, and has a branch leading, through Heywood, to Bury. In 1846 an act was passed for better supplying the town with water: it is supplied with gas by a local company. Petty-sessions are held every second Wednesday; and fairs take place on the first Friday in April, on the Friday before the first Sunday in August, and on the Friday after the 1st of October. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rector of Bury, with a net income of £196. The chapel, dedicated to St. Luke, was built in 1611, and enlarged in 1806. There are places of worship for dissenters; and good national schools.

Hibaldstow (St. Hibald)

HIBALDSTOW (St. Hibald), a parish, in the union of Glandford-Brigg, E. division of the wapentake of Manley, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 3¾ miles (S. W. by S.) from Glandford-Brigg; containing 688 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 10.; net income, £328; patrons, alternately, the Bishop of Lincoln, and M.D. Dalison, Esq.: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1796. The chancel, and lower part of the tower, of the church, are in the early English style; the other parts are of more modern architecture. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. The Roman road from Lincoln to the Humber passes through the parish; and about a mile eastward from the church, foundations of buildings, tiles, coins, and other Roman relics have been discovered.

Hickleton (St. Denis)

HICKLETON (St. Denis), a parish, in the union of Doncaster, N. division of the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill, W. riding of York, 6 miles (W. by N.) from Doncaster; containing 157 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the road from Doncaster to Beverley, and within four miles of the Midland railway, comprises 1045 acres, whereof by far the greater part is arable, about 50 acres woodland, and the remainder meadow and pasture. The surface is elevated, rising to a height of 365 feet above the level of the sea: the soil partly rests on magnesian limestone, and is partly loam on various subsoils; the hills are composed of magnesian limestone, and the substratum in the lower parts is principally a sandy freestone. Hickleton Hall, the seat of the Rt. Hon. Sir Charles Wood, Bart., is a spacious modern mansion, finely situated. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £53; patron, Sir C. Wood. The church is an ancient structure, chiefly in the Norman style, with a tower and aisle added within the last 150 years. A hill called the Castle Hill, is supposed to have been a small station on a vicinal road connecting the Roman road from Lincoln to Boroughbridge with that which extends from the Ford across the Strafforth sands to Castleford.