Bilton

BILTON, a township, in the parish of Lesbury, union of Alnwick, E. division of Coquetdale ward, N. division of Northumberland, 3 miles (S. E. by E.) from Alnwick; containing 121 inhabitants. This place lies on the south side of the river Aln. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £188. 8.

Bilton (St. Mark)

BILTON (St. Mark), a parish, in the union of Rugby, Rugby division of the hundred of Knightlow, N. division of the county of Warwick, 1½ mile (W. S. W.) from Rugby; containing 623 inhabitants. It comprises 2225 acres, of which 42 are common or waste; of the whole, two-thirds are arable, and the remainder pasture. The soil is clay, loam, and gravel; and the surface gently undulated. Bilton Hall, with the estate belonging to it, was purchased of Mr. Boughton, in the early part of the last century, by Addison the poet, who spent a considerable portion of the latter part of his life here, where he wrote his Evidences of the Christian Religion; and Miss Addison, his only child, retired towards the close of her life to this place, where she died in 1797. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 10. 7½.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. J. T. Parker: the tithes have been commuted for £517, and the glebe consists of 105 acres, with a house. The church is principally Norman, of which style it exhibits some good specimens; the tower and spire are of latter date. A school is endowed with £400, producing £16 interest per annum, the bequest of the Rev. Langton Freeman, a former rector, in 1783.

Bilton

BILTON, a chapelry, in the parish of Swine, union of Skirlaugh, Middle division of the wapentake of Holderness, E. riding of York, 4½ miles (N. E.) from Hull; containing 84 inhabitants. This place, called in Domesday book Biletone, at an early period gave name to a family resident here; and among subsequent owners of land occur the families of Knowles and Stanhope: the present chief proprietor is Viscount Downe. The township comprises 1180a. 29p. of land, tithe-free: the village is on the old turnpike-road, equidistant from Hull and Hedon. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Viscount Downe, the impropriator, and has a net income of £45; there is a glebe of 4½ acres. The chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, is a small building of early English character, with a bell-turret; the interior is neat and appropriate, and contains a very old circular font.

Bilton (St. Helen)

BILTON (St. Helen), a parish, in the Ainsty wapentake, W. riding of York; containing 881 inhabitants, of whom 214 are in the township of Bilton, 9 miles (W. by S.) from York. The parish includes the townships of Bickerton and Tockwith, and comprises by computation 4939 acres, of which 2167a. 1r. 38p. are in Bilton township; the soil is fertile, and well cultivated. The road from York to Wetherby runs through the parish. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the patronage of the Prebendary of Bilton in the Cathedral of York, valued in the king's books at £3. 16. 0½., and with a net income of £131: allotments of land were assigned in lieu of tithes for the township in 1776. At Syningthwaite, in the parish, Bertram Haget in 1160 founded a Cistercian nunnery for a prioress and twelve nuns, in honour of the Blessed Virgin. Upon its dissolution it had a revenue of £62. 6., and was granted to Sir Thomas Tempest; the estate is at present the property of the trustees of Lord Wharton's Bible charity, and the remains of the nunnery, now a farmhouse, are surrounded by a moat inclosing 8 acres.

Bilton, with Harrogate.—See Harrogate.

BILTON, with Harrogate.—See Harrogate.

Binacre, hundred of Blything, county of Suffolk.—See Benacre.

BINACRE, hundred of Blything, county of Suffolk.—See Benacre.

Binbrooke

BINBROOKE, a district (formerly a markettown) comprising the parishes of St. Gabriel and St. Mary, in the union of Louth, S. division of the wapentake of Walshcroft, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 8 miles (E. N. E.) from Market-Rasen. There are extensive rabbit-warrens in the neighbourhood, and considerable business is done in the dressing of skins for furriers. A fair is held on EasterTuesday, on which day are also horse-races. St. Gabriel's, containing, with the extra-parochial liberty of Orforth, 708 inhabitants, is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8; present income, £75; patron, the Bishop of Lincoln. The church is in ruins. St. Mary's, containing 501 inhabitants, is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 4. 2., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £291. The church is a small plain edifice. The Wesleyans have a place of worship.

Binchester

BINCHESTER, a township, in the parish of St. Andrew Auckland, union of Auckland, N. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 2 miles (N. by E.) from Bishop-Auckland; containing 43 inhabitants. Binchester appears to have been a Roman station, called Vinovia by Antoninus, and Binovium by Ptolemy, and situated on the Fosse-way. Mr. Cade considers it to have been sacred to Bacchus, and to have derived its name, Vinovium, from the festivals held here in honour of that deity. The fortress occupied an elevated site rising from the bank of the river Wear, and the whole station comprised about twenty-nine acres of ground, within which, and in the vicinity, the remains of a hypocaust, some altars, urns, and other relics, were found at different times. These remains were preserved in the court-yard of the mansion-house till the year 1828, when they were destroyed by the owner of the estate, to assist in forming the walls of a coal-pit; one altar only was saved, which has been deposited in the library of the Dean and Chapter of Durham.

Bincombe (Holy Trinity)

BINCOMBE (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Weymouth, liberty of Frampton, Dorchester division of Dorset, 5 miles (S. by W.) from Dorchester; containing 170 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1000 acres, of which the soil is strong, the surface hilly, and the pasture land in general excellent. There are some quarries of a very fine durable stone, easily worked, a great quantity of which has been used in the public buildings at Dorchester. The living is a rectory, with that of Broadway annexed, valued in the king's books at £9. 1. 5½.; patrons, the Master and Fellows of Caius College, Cambridge. The tithes of Bincombe have been commuted for £180, and those of Broadway for £290. 10. 6.; the glebe in Bincombe comprises about 30 acres, and in Broadway 20. The church is a small structure with a square tower. Numerous barrows are visible on the neighbouring downs.

Binderton

BINDERTON, a parish, in the union of West Hampnett, hundred of Westbourn and Singleton, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex, 4 miles (N.) from Chichester; containing 75 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1345 acres of land, of which the soil is chalky, and the surface hilly. The living is endowed with a portion of the tithes, and is annexed to the living of West Dean and Singleton. The old church was taken down, and the present one erected a short distance from it about the year 1680, by Thomas Smyth, Esq.; it has not been consecrated, and is private property.

Binegar (Holy Trinity)

BINEGAR (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Shepton-Mallet, hundred of Wells-Forum, E. division of Somerset, 4 miles (N.) from SheptonMallet; containing 338 inhabitants. It comprises 1100 acres; and lies on the great road from Bristol to Exeter, through Shepton-Mallet. A large fair noted for the sale of horses, formerly held at Wells, was removed hither in the seventeenth century, in consequence of the plague, and is held during the whole of Whitsun-week. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 12. 8½., and in the patronage of the Prebendary of Whitchurch in the Cathedral of Wells: the tithes have been commuted for £250; and the glebe consists of 44 acres, with a good residence. The church contains a monument to the Rev. Mr. Tuson, a former rector, and his wife, Lady Frances Tuson, one of the Somerset family. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans at Gurney Slade.

Binfield (All Saints)

BINFIELD (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Easthampstead, hundred of Cookham, county of Berks, 3 miles (N. W.) from Bracknell; containing 1242 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3218a. 30p., of which 1660 acres are arable, 1275 meadow, and 282 woodland; and is situated in the midst of the tract called the Royal Hunt, in Windsor Forest. It is distinguished as the residence of Pope, who lived with his father in the village, where, at the age of sixteen, he composed his earliest poems; and in a retired part of the forest, consisting entirely of beech-trees, on the edge of a common within half a mile of the house, is a large tree on the trunk of which, about twelve feet from the ground, was inscribed by George, Lord Lyttelton, in capital letters, "here pope svng,"—which inscription is annually renewed. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18. 17. 1., and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £800, and there are 20 acres of glebe. The church has portions in different styles: the north entrance is Norman; a few windows are early English, but most of them, with the tower and south doorway, are of the decorated English style; one large window is of a later character. Mrs. Macaulay, the historian, is buried here. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and a national school has an endowment of £37. 15. per annum, arising from land. On the summit of a hill, near Binfield Place, are the remains of a very large encampment defended by a double ditch, named "Cæsar's Camp," and supposed to have been occupied by Julius Cæsar in his invasion of Britain. About half a mile to the south of this camp is a raised road ninety feet wide, with a trench on each side, pointing in a direction from east to west, and called the "Devil's Highway."

Bingfield

BINGFIELD, a chapelry, in the parish of St. John Lee, union of Hexham, S. division of Tindale ward and of Northumberland, 6½ miles (N. N. E.) from Hexham; containing 111 inhabitants. It occupies an eminence above five miles north-north-east from St. John Lee, and the road from Corbridge to Cowden passes on the west. The chapel is dedicated to St. Mary. The tithes have been commuted for £150. 10. payable to the Mercers' Company, London, and £27. 14. 6. to an impropriator. A school is endowed with £10 per annum. Near the Ering burn, a little northward from the village, is a mineral spring, the water of which is so powerful that neither fish nor any kind of insect can live in it, and which was said by the celebrated Dr. Werge to be in no respect inferior to Gisland spa.

Bingham (All Saints)

BINGHAM (All Saints), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the N. division of the wapentake of Bingham, S. division of the county of Nottingham, 10 miles (E.) from Nottingham, and 123 (N. W. by N.) from London; containing, with part of the township of Newton, 1998 inhabitants. This place was possessed previously to the Conquest by two Saxon chieftains, and appears to have been anciently more extensive than at present: it had a college, or guild, in honour of St. Mary. The parish, which comprises by computation 2985a. 1r. 37p., is bounded on the east by the river Smite or Snite, and intersected by the road from Nottingham to Grantham; the road from Nottingham to Newark passes within a mile of the town, the canal from Nottingham to Grantham within three miles, and the Trent within three and a half. The soil is various, but generally very good, and the surface level, except to the north and south, where it is more elevated. The town is pleasantly situated in the vale of Belvoir, and consists chiefly of two parallel streets, one of which leads directly into a spacious market-place; some smaller streets have been formed within the last thirty years. The houses, though irregularly built, are neat, and several of them of handsome appearance; the town is well paved and amply supplied with water. The market is on Thursday; and fairs are held on Feb. 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th, the first Thursday in May, WhitThursday, May 31st, and Nov. 8th and 9th, for horses principally, and also cattle, sheep, hogs, &c. The powers of the county debt-court of Bingham, established in 1847, extend over the greater part of the registrationdistrict of Bingham.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £44. 7. 11., and in the patronage of the Earl of Chesterfield: the tithes have been commuted for £1400, and there are about 34 acres of glebe, with a good residence. The church is an ancient and spacious cruciform structure, partaking of the early and decorated English styles, with a square embattled and highly enriched tower, crowned with the remains of statues, which have been substituted for pinnacles, and surmounted by a lofty spire, which, with the upper stage of the tower, is of later erection: within the church are some beautiful specimens of foliage and sculpture, of elegant design and elaborate execution. There are places of worship for Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. The poor law union comprises 40 parishes and places, of which 38 are in the county of Nottingham, and two in the county of Leicester; and contains a population of 16,196. The Roman Fosse-way, in its course through the parish, passes by a large mound called Castle Hill, the site of an ancient fortress. Mr. Robert White the astronomer, and editor of the Ephemeris which bears his name, was a native of Bingham, and is interred here; a mural tablet in the church is inscribed to his memory. Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury; Wren, Bishop of Ely; and Hanmer, Bishop of Bangor, were successively rectors of the parish, from which they were promoted to their respective sees, in the seventeenth century.

Bingley (All Saints)

BINGLEY (All Saints), a parish and market-town, in the union of Keighley, Upper division of the wapentake of Skyrack, W. riding of York; containing 11,850 inhabitants, of whom 10,157 are in the town (including Micklethwaite), 37 miles (W. S. W.) from York, and 202 (N. N. W.) from London. This place is one of the thirtytwo lordships granted by the Conqueror to Erneis de Berun, from whose descendants it was conveyed to the Paganells and the Gants, and afterwards to the Cantilupe family, from whom it was purchased by Robert Benson, Baron Bingley, and ambassador to the court of Vienna, in the reign of Anne. The manor subsequently passed, by marriage with the heiress of Baron Bingley, to George Fox, Esq., who assumed the surname of Lane, and was created Baron Bingley in 1762; and on the death of the second baron in 1773, it came to the ancestor of George Lane Fox, Esq., the present lord. The town is situated on the sides and summit of a gentle eminence: it is bounded on the west by the river Aire, and on the east by the Leeds and Liverpool canal; and consists chiefly of one long street, on the road from Keighley to Bradford, in the manufactures of which latter place it largely participates. The houses are built of stone, with which the neighbourhood abounds; the streets are lighted with gas, from works erected in 1837, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water. The air is salubrious; and the environs, which are richly wooded, abound with pleasingly varied scenery. The worsted and cotton manufactures, for which there are several large establishments, are carried on in the town, which has been gradually increasing for the last twenty years in population and extent: the manufacture of paper is carried on at Morton, where are also a cottonmill and four worsted-mills; and there is likewise a considerable trade in malt. The Leeds and Bradford Extension railway passes under part of the town by a tunnel of masonry, about 150 yards long. The market, originally granted to the Gant family in the reign of John, is on Tuesday; and fairs for horned-cattle are held on the 25th of January and of August, and for horses on the two following days in August. Pettysessions are held every month.

The parish, including the townships of East and West Morton, comprises 13,000 acres, of which number nearly 10,000 are in Bingley with Micklethwaite; the soil is generally fertile, and in good cultivation. A considerable portion of the township of Bingley belongs to the Ferrand family, whose ancestor came over to England with William the Conqueror, and whose descendants have ever since continued at this place. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriator, the Rev. W. Penny: the great tithes have been commuted for £410, and the small for £300. The church is a spacious and venerable structure with a square embattled tower, in the later English style, and, having suffered much dilapidation, was restored in the reign of Henry VIII.; it contains several monuments to the Ferrand and Busfield families. Two church districts, named respectively. Morton and Cullingworth, have been endowed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners: each of the livings is in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of Ripon, alternately. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans. The free grammar school was founded in the reign of Henry VIII., and endowed with land and tenements producing at present £260 per annum, subject to certain payments to the poor: the premises comprise a large schoolroom, and a house and garden for the master. Mrs. Sarah Rhodes, in 1784, gave five cottages, which she endowed as almshouses for five aged widows, who receive £3 per annum each. Thomas Busfeild, Esq., in 1767, bequeathed the interest on £800; and there are also several bequests for distribution in bread and clothes among the poor, and for other charitable uses. John Nicholson, the Airedale poet, was buried here in May, 1843.

Bing-Weston

BING-WESTON, a quarter, in the parish of Worthen, hundred of Chirbury, S. division of Salop; containing 91 inhabitants.

Binham (Holy Cross)

BINHAM (Holy Cross), a parish, in the union of Walsingham, hundred of North Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 5 miles (S. W.) from Wells; containing 502 inhabitants. This place was the site of a Benedictine priory, founded in the reign of Henry I. by Peter de Valoines, nephew of William the Conqueror, as a cell to the abbey of St. Alban's, and which flourished till the Dissolution, when its revenue was returned at £140. 5. 4. The parish comprises 2241a. 1r. 3p., of which 1825 acres are arable, and 386 pasture and meadow. In the village is the shaft of an ancient marketcross; a fair is still held there on the 26th of July and three following days, chiefly for cattle and for pleasure. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4.; patron and impropriator, T. T. Clarke, Esq.: the great tithes have been commuted for £200, and the vicarial for £100; the glebe comprises about an acre. The church is the nave of the priory church, of which there are other remains, consisting of portions of the transepts; and is chiefly in the Norman style, with some later details. The poor have some lands and a house called the Guildhall, producing £41. 5. per annum.

Binley

BINLEY, a tything, in the parish of Bourne, union of Whitchurch, hundred of Evingar, Kingsclere and N. divisions of the county of Southampton; containing 138 inhabitants.

Binley (St. Bartholomew)

BINLEY (St. Bartholomew), a parish, in the union of Foleshill, Kirby division of the hundred of Knightlow, N. division of the county of Warwick, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Coventry; containing, with the liberty of Earnsford, 233 inhabitants. This parish, consisting of 1469 acres, is situated on the road from Coventry to Lutterworth, and intersected by the London and Birmingham railway, the portion of which passing through the parish is of the rateable annual value of £270. The living is a donative curacy; net income, £52; patron and impropriator, Earl Craven. The present church was built by the sixth lord Craven, and consecrated in 1772. The Rev. Thomas Wagstaffe, who wrote a defence of Charles I., was born here; he died at Rouen in 1770.

Binnington

BINNINGTON, a township, in the parish of Willerby, wapentake of Dickering, E. riding of York, 7 miles (W. by N.) from Hunmanby; containing 61 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Hunmanby to Sherburn, and comprises by computation 910 acres of land. The river Hartford flows at a short distance north of the village. The great tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents under an inclosure act obtained in 1801, and the vicarial by a similar act passed in 1803.

Binsey (St. Margaret)

BINSEY (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Abingdon, and liberty of the city of Oxford, locally in the hundred of Wootton, county of Oxford, 2 miles (N. W.) from Oxford; containing 61 inhabitants. The soil is good meadow and grazing land, but the surface is in general low, and subject to inundation from the river Isis, on the banks of which the parish is mostly situated. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £90; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Christ-Church, Oxford. The church is of great antiquity, having belonged to the monastery of St. Friedeswide at Osney.

Binstead (Holy Cross)

BINSTEAD (Holy Cross), a parish, in the Isle of Wight incorporation, liberty of East Medina, Isle of Wight and S. divisions of the county of Southampton, 1 mile (W.) from Ryde; containing 278 inhabitants. In the vicinity are the ancient quarries from which was taken part of the stone for the erection of Winchester cathedral. The soil is a rich marl, and the lands are in profitable cultivation. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £1. 7. 1.; net income, £80; patron, the Bishop of Winchester. The church is said to have been built by one of the early bishops of Winchester. At Quarr are the remains of an abbey of Cistercian monks, which was founded in 1132, by Baldwin de Redveriis, then lord of the island; its revenue at the Dissolution was estimated at £184. 1. 10.

Binsted (St. Nicholas)

BINSTED (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union and hundred of Alton, Alton and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 3¾ miles (E. by N.) from Alton; containing 1055 inhabitants. It is extremely fertile, and the surrounding country is pleasantly varied; about 120 acres are planted with hops. The parish includes the forest of Alice-Holt, comprising 1800 acres, inclosed by act of parliament in 1816. The living is a vicarage not in charge, annexed, with the livings of Holybourne and Kingsley, to the vicarage of Alton.

Binsted (St. Mary)

BINSTED (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of West Hampnett, hundred of Avisford, rape of Arundel, W. division of Sussex, 2 miles (W. by S.) from Arundel; containing 111 inhabitants. It comprises 1086 acres, of which 424 are arable, 244 pasture, and 418 woodland; and is crossed by the road from Arundel to Bognor. The living is a vicarage, endowed with the great tithes, valued in the king's books at £5. 17. 8½., and in the patronage of the Dowager Countess of Newburgh: the tithes have been commuted for £175. The church is a small plain building.

Binton (St. Peter)

BINTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Stratford-Upon-Avon, Stratford division of the hundred of Barlichway, S. division of the county of Warwick, 3¾ miles (W. by S.) from Stratford; containing 269 inhabitants. This place is written Benintone in Domesday book, and a family of the same name were lords of the manor during several reigns. The manor afterwards came to the Wyncotes, Throckmortons, and Walters; from which last it was purchased by the family of the Marquess of Hertford. The parish is bounded on the south by the river Avon, over which is a bridge continuing the road leading to Chipping-Campden: it comprises 1228 acres. There are quarries of excellent limestone, producing also marble. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 10.; net income, £140; patron, the Marquess. An allotment of land, and a money payment, were assigned in lieu of moduses and certain tithes for this parish and Old Stratford, in 1779.