Blackauton (St. Michael)
BLACKAUTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the
union of Kingsbridge, hundred of Coleridge, Stanborough and Coleridge, and S. divisions of Devon,
5 miles (W. by N.) from Dartmouth; containing, with
the chapelry of Street, 1449 inhabitants, of whom 420
are in the village of Blackauton. It comprises 5217
acres, of which 105 are common or waste; the soil is
in general good, the surface hilly. The living is a
discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at
£15. 8. 9.; net income, £122; patron, Sir H. P.
Seale, Bart.; impropriator, A. Welland, Esq.: the glebe
consists of 9 acres, with a residence. The church contains a Norman font, and a wooden screen richly carved.
An additional church has been built at Street, containing 400 sittings, of which 200 are free, the Incorporated
Society having granted £250 towards the expense: the
Vicar is patron. There is a place of worship for a
congregation of Wesleyans.
Blackborough (All Saints)
BLACKBOROUGH (All Saints), a parish, in the
union of Tiverton, hundred of Hayridge, Cullompton
and N. divisions of Devon, 4 miles (E. S. E.) from
Cullompton; containing 112 inhabitants. The living is
a rectory, valued in the king's books at £4, and in the
patronage of the Wyndham family: the tithes have
been commuted for £80, and the glebe consists of 74
acres. The church having become dilapidated, a new
one of elegant design was erected at the expense of the
third earl of Egremont, of agate, of which an almost
inexhaustible quarry has been discovered in the Black
Down hills, a portion of which range is included within
the limits of the parish. Whetstones for sharpening
scythes; and the Sun Dew (Drosera rotundifolia), a plant
confined to particular localities; are found in great
abundance.
Blackbrook, or Blakebrook
BLACKBROOK, or Blakebrook, a hamlet, in that
part of the parish of Kidderminster which is called
the Foreign, union of Kidderminster, Lower division
of the hundred of Halfshire, Kidderminster and
W. divisions of the county of Worcester, ½ a mile
(W.) from Kidderminster. Several new houses have
been erected in this agreeable part of the environs of
Kidderminster.
Blackburn (St. Mary)
BLACKBURN (St. Mary), a parish, and the head
of a union, in the Lower division of the hundred of
Blackburn, N. division of the county of Lancaster;
comprising the market-town and newly-enfranchised
borough of Blackburn, the chapelries of Balderston,
Billington-Langho, Over Darwen, Salesbury, Samlesbury, and Tockholes, and the townships of Clayton-leDale, Cuerdale, Lower Darwen, Dinkley, Eccleshill,
Great and Little Harwood, Livesey, Mellor, Osbaldeston, Pleasington, Ramsgrave, Rishton, Walton-le-Dale,
Wilpshire, and Witton; and containing 71,711 inhabitants, of whom 36,629 are in the town, 31 miles (S. E.
by S.) from Lancaster, and 210 (N. N. W.) from London. This place takes its name from a small rivulet near
the town, which, from the turbid state of the water, was
anciently called Blakeburn, or "the yellow bourne." A
castle is said to have been built here, probably by the
Romans, which, after their departure from the island,
was occupied successively by the Britons and the Saxons;
but there are no vestiges of it, nor can even its site be
distinctly ascertained. Blackburn was formerly the
capital of a district called Blackburnshire, which for
many ages was a dreary and uncultivated waste. In
the reign of Elizabeth, it was distinguished as a good
market-town, and in the middle of the following century was celebrated for its supplies of corn, cattle, and
provisions. The town is pleasantly situated at the
distance of about half a mile from the river Derwent, in
a valley sheltered by a ridge of hills, extending from the
north-east to the north-west, and consists of several
streets, irregularly formed, but containing some wellbuilt and many respectable houses: it is only indifferently paved, is lighted with gas, and amply supplied
with water under an act passed in 1845. There are
assembly-rooms, a subscription library, a scientific institution, and a theatre, which was erected in 1818.
The manufacture of Blackburn checks, and subsequently that of Blackburn greys, a mixture of linen and
cotton, which formerly flourished here to a considerable
extent, have been superseded by the manufacture of
calico, muslin, and cotton goods: nearly 50,000 pieces
of the last are on an average made weekly, about
10,000 persons being employed; and the value of these
goods, exclusively of dyeing and printing, is estimated at
more than £2,000,000 sterling per annum. There are
large factories for the spinning of cotton; and throughout the entire parish are printing, dyeing, bleaching, and
other establishments connected with the manufacture.
Some of the earliest and most important improvements
in the spinning and manufacture of cotton originated
with James Hargreave, a carpenter in this town, who
was the inventor and patentee of the spinning-jenny,
since so generally adopted. The introduction of
machinery excited a powerful sensation among the
workmen of the neighbourhood, and created such
tumultuous proceedings on the part of the populace, who
destroyed several of the factories in which it was used,
that the inventor was driven from the town; while
many individuals who had invested large capitals in the
establishment of cotton-factories, were so intimidated,
that they embraced the earliest opportunity of withdrawing their investments, and of removing to places
where they might employ them with security. There
are at present about 100,000 spindles in operation in the
town and neighbourhood, which produce about 35,000lb.
of yarn weekly.
The Leeds and Liverpool canal passes the town, and
affords communication with the Mersey, the Dee, the
Ouse, the Trent, the Humber, the Severn, and the
Thames, forming a most extensive line of inland navigation. The Blackburn and Preston railway, running
hence to the Farington station of the North-Union line,
three miles south of Preston, was opened in June, 1846;
and the distance by railway between the two towns has
been since diminished, by avoiding the angle at Farington. The Blackburn, Darwen, and Bolton railway, 14½
miles in length, was opened in May 1847. The station
here is on a large scale, the length of the building being
252 feet and its mean breadth about 40 feet: the platform is 330 feet long, and the four lines of rails in front
of it are covered with an iron roof in one span: the
station is lighted by a plate-glass Louvre light, 16 feet
wide at the top of the roof, and extending along its
whole length. There is a railway to Accrington, Burnley, &c.; also a line to Clitheroe, &c. The market-days
are Wednesday and Saturday: the fairs are held on
Easter-Monday (which continues during the whole week),
May 12th and the two following days, and October
17th; a cattle-fair is also held every second Wednesday
throughout the year. An act was passed in 1841, for
improving the streets, and for the erection of a town-hall
and market-places. A spacious covered market was
erected in 1847, in King William-street; it is a rectangular building in the Italian style, 60 feet long and 36
wide, with an iron roof supported by two rows of iron
pillars dividing the market into three parallel walks, with
distinct entrances at both ends to each. Over the
middle entrance of the front elevation rises a lofty campanile tower, containing a public clock; and excellent
light and ventilation are afforded by a series of windows
at each side, where are also entrances. The fish-market
is held in Fleming's-square. One side of this square is
occupied by a spacious cloth-hall, built for the exhibition
and sale of Yorkshire woollen-cloths, a great quantity of
which is brought hither; but it is now seldom used for
that purpose, the stalls for the sale of these cloths being
erected in the streets. Blackburn is within the jurisdiction of the magistrates acting for the hundred to
which it gives name, and which is co-extensive with
the ancient Blackburnshire; and two high constables
are appointed, one for the upper, and one for the lower,
division, for which latter, together with Whalley, a
court of petty-session is held here: its local concerns
are under the superintendence of commissioners. An
act was passed in 1841, vesting in the overseers of the
poor the town moor for sale or other disposal. The
powers of the county debt-court of Blackburn, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of
Blackburn. By the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, the
place was constituted a borough, with the privilege of
sending two members to parliament, to be elected by the
£10 householders of the township, including about 4160
acres: the returning officer is appointed annually by
the sheriff.
This extensive parish, which is fourteen miles in
length, and ten in breadth, was formerly part of Whalley, on being separated from which it was, on account of
its sterility, endowed with a fourth part of the tithes of
that parish, in addition to its own. The living is
a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 1. 8.; net
income, £893; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop
of Canterbury. The church, formerly the conventual
church of the monastery of Whalley, was rebuilt in the
reign of Edward III., and again in that of Henry VIII.;
but in 1819 it was taken down, with the exception of
the tower and the Dunken chapel, and a new building
was completed in 1826, on the site of the old grammar
school, at an expense of upwards of £30,000, raised by
a rate. The Dunken chapel was used for the performance of parochial duties during the interval, but has
been since taken down, so that the tower is the only
part of the old church now remaining. The present
spacious and elegant edifice is in the later English style,
with a lofty square tower, highly enriched, and crowned
with a pierced parapet and crocketed pinnacles; the
roof of the nave was burned down in January, 1831.
The district church of St. Paul remained unconsecrated
from the time of its erection until a few years since,
when it was united to the Establishment: the living is
a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of
Blackburn, with a net income of £150. The district
churches of St. John and St. Peter are both neat
modern edifices: the livings are perpetual curacies; net
income of St. John's, £150, and of St. Peter's, £153.
They are in the patronage of the Vicar, in whom is also
vested the presentation of the perpetual curacies of St.
Michael and Trinity, both formed in 1839, and of All
Saints; net income of St. Michael's, £150, and of All
Saints', £100. A chapel dedicated to St. Clement has
been erected; and the Vicar likewise presents to the
incumbencies of Balderstone, Bamber-Bridge, Billington-Langho, Lower and Over Darwen, Feniscowles,
Great Harwood, Mellor, Mellor-Brook, Salesbury, Samlesbury, Tockholes, Walton, and Witton. In the town
are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends,
Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and
Warrenites, also a Scottish kirk and a Roman Catholic
chapel; and in the rural parts of the parish are various
other meeting-houses for different denominations.
The free grammar school was founded in the reign of
Elizabeth, who placed it under the superintendence of
fifty governors resident in the town, who are a corporate body, and appoint a master: it is endowed with
land in the neighbourhood, producing £120 per annum;
and there are 30 boys on the foundation. The Rev.
Robert Bolton, an eminent divine, and one of the compilers of the Liturgy, was a native of the town, and received the rudiments of his education in this school. In
1764, Mr. John Leyland bequeathed £250 for the instruction of girls, which sum has been augmented by
subsequent benefactions, and at present 90 girls are
taught and clothed. Several national schools have been
erected; a dispensary was established in the year 1823;
and there are a ladies' society for the relief of poor
women during child-birth at their own houses, a strangers' friend society, and several other charitable institutions. The union of Blackburn comprises the entire
parish, with the exception of the townships of Cuerdale,
Samlesbury, and Walton, which are in the union of
Preston; together with four townships of the parish of
Whalley: it contains a population of 75,091.
Black-Burton.—See Burton, Black.
BLACK-BURTON.—See Burton, Black.
Black-Carts
BLACK-CARTS, forming with Ryehill an extraparochial liberty, in the union of Hexham, N. W. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, and containing 17 inhabitants. It comprises 447
acres of land.
Black-Chapel
BLACK-CHAPEL, a chapelry, in the parish of
Great Waltham, union and hundred of Chelmsford,
S. division of Essex, 9 miles (N. by W.) from Chelmsford. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage
of certain Trustees; net income, £20.
Blackden
BLACKDEN, a township, in the parish of Sandbach, union of Congleton, hundred of Northwich,
S. division of the county of Chester, 6½ miles (S. S. E.)
from Knutsford; containing 266 inhabitants. The township comprises 581 acres; the prevailing soil is sand.
The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £70, and
the vicarial for £52. 18.
Blackford
BLACKFORD, a chapelry, in the parish of Wedmore, union of Axbridge, hundred of Bempstone, E.
division of Somerset, 5¼ miles (S. by W.) from Axbridge. It comprises by measurement 1600 acres; stone
of good quality for building is quarried. The living is a
perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Wedmore, with a net income of £105: the impropriate tithes
have been commuted for £150, and the impropriate glebe
comprises 20 acres. The chapel is a modern building,
towards defraying the expense of which the Incorporated
Society gave £200. The manor was given as part of the
endowment of Bruton Hospital, by Hugh Saxey, Esq.,
the founder; and two boys are annually sent from this
place to be educated at that institution. Here is a
mineral spring.
Blackford (St. Michael)
BLACKFORD (St. Michael), a parish, in the union
of Wincanton, hundred of Whitley, though locally
in the hundred of Horethorne, E. division of Somerset, 4½ miles (W. S. W.) from Wincanton; containing
178 inhabitants. It is situated in a fertile vale on the
road from London to Exeter, and comprises by measurement 566 acres of profitable land; the scenery is generally pleasing. There are quarries of stone for building
and other purposes. The living is a discharged rectory,
valued in the king's books at £6. 11. 0½.; and in the
patronage of the Trustees of the late J. H. Hunt, Esq.:
the tithes have been commuted for £160, and there are
nearly 25 acres of glebe, with a residence. The church
is in the early English style, with a Norman arch
over the entrance. The Wesleyans have a place of
worship.
Blackfordby
BLACKFORDBY, a chapelry, in the parishes of
Ashby-De-La-Zouch and Seal, union of Ashby, hundred of West Goscote, N. division of the county of
Leicester, 2¾ miles (W. N. W.) from Ashby; containing 478 inhabitants. It comprises 530 acres, principally
pasture land. The Ashby canal crosses the Wolds south
of this place. The chapel is dedicated to St. Margaret.
There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and a school
is supported by subscription.
Blackheath
BLACKHEATH, a village, in the parishes of
Greenwich, Lewisham, and Lee, hundred of Blackheath, lathe of Sutton-At-Hone, W. division of Kent,
5 miles (S. E.) from London, on the road to Dovor.
This place, which takes its name either from the colour
of the soil, or from the bleakness of its situation, was,
prior to the erection of the numerous villas with which
it now abounds, the scene of many important political
transactions. In 1011, the Danes, having landed at
Greenwich, encamped on the heath, and, among other
barbarities, put to death Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had refused to sanction their extortions, and
who was afterwards canonized. In the reign of Richard
II., the insurgents under Wat Tyler, amounting to
100,000 men, took up their station here, whence they
marched to London. In 1400, Henry IV. held an interview at the place with the Emperor of Constantinople,
who came to solicit aid against Bajazet, Emperor of the
Turks; and in 1415, the lord mayor and aldermen of
London, in their robes of state, attended by 400 of the
principal citizens, clothed in scarlet, came hither in procession to meet Henry V., on his triumphant return
after the battle of Agincourt. In 1451, Henry VI. met
many of the followers of Jack Cade, who submitted to
his authority, and on their knees implored and obtained
his pardon; and here, the following year, that monarch
assembled his forces to oppose Richard, Duke of York,
who aspired to the throne. In 1497, the Cornish rebels,
headed by Lord Audley, who had advanced into Kent,
encamped near Eltham, and awaited the approach of
Henry VII., on whose arrival a battle ensued, on the
22nd of July, in which the insurgents were defeated, and
their leader, together with two of his associates, taken
and executed. In 1519, Campejo, the pope's legate, was
received here in great state by the Duke of Norfolk, with
a numerous retinue of bishops, knights, and gentlemen,
who conducted him to a magnificent tent of cloth of
gold, whence, after having arrayed himself in his cardinal's robes, he proceeded to London; and at this place,
in 1540, Henry VIII. appointed an interview with Ann
of Cleves, previously to their marriage, which was celebrated with great pomp at Greenwich.
Blackheath is pleasantly situated on elevated ground,
commanding diversified and extensive views of the surrounding country, which is richly cultivated, and abounds
with fine scenery, in which Greenwich hospital and park,
and the river Thames, are prominent objects. There are
many elegant villas, among which the Paragon, a handsome range of building, is eminently conspicuous: on
the west, and within the park, is the residence occupied
by the late Princess Sophia of Gloucester. Wricklemarsh House, once the noblest ornament of the heath,
erected early in the last century by Sir Gregory Page,
was razed to the ground in 1787, by the different purchasers to whom it had been sold in lots by public auction; its site, now called Blackheath Park, is occupied
by handsome villas. There are two episcopal chapels on
that part of the heath in the parish of Lewisham.
Another at Kidbrooke, an extra-parochial district on the
north side of the heath, was built by the late Dr. Greenlaw; and on the declivity of the hill opposite Kentplace, is the church of the Holy Trinity, in the early
English style, with two towers surmounted by spires at
its east end. St. Peter's church, Blackheath Park, is an
elegant structure of stone, of decorated and later English architecture, with a slender pinnacled tower, above
which rises a beautiful spire; it forms a conspicuous
and interesting object in the surrounding landscape, and
was erected in 1829 by John Cator, Esq., at an expense
of £15,000.
The Blackheath proprietary school, in connexion with
King's College, London, is a neat building, situated on
the rise of the hill near Blackheath Park. In Lee Park,
also, is a handsome building after the model of the Propylæum at Athens, erected as a proprietary school for
classical and general literature. Morden College, a
noble institution for the support of decayed merchants,
was founded in 1695, by Sir John Morden, Bart., an
opulent Turkey merchant, who endowed it with the
manor of Old Court: the establishment consists of 40
brethren (each of whom receives £60 per annum, with
attendance), a chaplain, and a treasurer; and the
management is vested in seven trustees, who must
be either Turkey merchants, or directors of the East
India Company. The premises, which occupy a spacious
quadrangle, are handsomely built of brick, with quoins
and cornices of stone, and are surrounded with a piazza:
over the entrance are statues of the founder and his
lady, whose portraits are in the hall; and in the chapel
are the arms of Sir John, who was interred here in 1708.
The Watling-street, or Roman road from London to
Dovor, which passed over the heath, may still be traced:
in 1710, several Roman urns were dug up, two of which
were of fine red clay, one of a spherical, and the other of
a cylindrical, form; and in 1803, several urns were discovered in the gardens of the Earl of Dartmouth, about
a foot below the surface of the ground, which were presented by his lordship to the British Museum.—See
Lewisham.
Blackland (St. Peter)
BLACKLAND (St. Peter), a parish, in the union,
parliamentary borough, and hundred of Calne, Chippenham and Calne, and N. divisions of Wilts, 1¾ mile
(S. E.) from Calne; containing 81 inhabitants. The
living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's
books at £3. 10. 10.; net income, £160; patron, the
Rev. James Mayo. Allotments of land were assigned in
1813 in lieu of certain tithes.
Blackley
BLACKLEY, a chapelry, in the parish and union of
Manchester, hundred of Salford, S. division of the
county of Lancaster, 3½ miles (N. N. E.) from Manchester, on the road to Middleton and Rochdale; containing 3202 inhabitants. It comprises about 1000
acres; the surface is undulated, and the scenery picturesque and beautiful. The population is employed in
weaving, bleaching, and dyeing cotton and silk; the
silk-dye works of Messrs. Louis and Michael Delaunay are among the establishments that are carried on
here. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income,
£150, with a house built in 1838; patrons, the Dean and
Canons of the Cathedral of Manchester, to whom a
rent-charge of £203. 11. 4. per annum has been lately
assigned in lieu of tithes. The chapel, dedicated to St.
Peter, was previously to the Reformation a domestic
chapel belonging to Blackley Hall, and, after a period of
disuse, was purchased by the inhabitants, in 1610; it was
rebuilt in 1844, at a cost of £3300, raised by subscription
and public grants, and is in the early English style, with
a square tower. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Unitarians. A school has an endowment of
£5 per annum: in 1838, Miss Alsop, of Litchford Hall,
founded another, and endowed it with £60 per annum;
and a national school was built at Crab Lane in 1842.
Blackmanstone
BLACKMANSTONE, a parish, in the union and
liberty of Romney-Marsh, though locally in the hundred of Worth, lathe of Shepway, E. division of Kent,
3 miles (N. by E.) from Romney; containing 10 inhabitants. It comprises 276 acres of pasture, and 12 of
arable land, the latter being the glebe. The living is a
rectory, valued in the king's books at £4; net income,
£36; patron, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The
church is in ruins.
Blackmore (St. Lawrence)
BLACKMORE (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the
union of Ongar, hundred of Chelmsford, S. division
of Essex, 3½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Ingatestone;
containing 709 inhabitants. The parish comprises by
computation 2400 acres, of which about 100 are woodland, 800 pasture, and the rest arable; and derives its
name from the dark colour of the soil, which is generally
a rich wet loam. The living is a perpetual curacy,
valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 4.; net income,
£83; patrons and impropriators, the Representatives
of the late C. A. Crickett, Esq. The church belonged
to a priory of Black canons, founded here by Adam and
Jordan de Samford, and which was dissolved in the 17th
of Henry VIII.; the revenue, amounting to £85. 9. 7.,
was applied by Cardinal Wolsey towards the endowment
of his two colleges at Oxford and Ipswich, and on his
attainder, in 1529, was appropriated to the crown.
Blackmore was the frequent residence of Henry VIII.,
whose natural son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Somerset,
was born here.
Blackmore
BLACKMORE, a tything, in the parish, union, and
hundred of Melksham, Melksham and N. divisions of
Wilts; containing 279 inhabitants.
Blackpool
BLACKPOOL, a chapelry and bathing-place, in the
township of Layton with Warbrick, parish of Bispham, union of the Fylde, hundred of Amounderness,
N. division of the county of Lancaster, 4 miles (S. W.
by W.) from Poulton, 19 (W. by N.) from Preston, and
25 (S. W. by W.) from Lancaster; containing 1304
inhabitants. This place perhaps acquired its name
from a boggy pool at the southern end of the village:
until within the last 90 years it was an inconsiderable
hamlet; but owing to its eligibility for sea-bathing, it has
become a very favourite locality. No bathing-place can
be better situated; it opens out to the sea, is refreshed
by a pure and bracing air, presents a fine smooth sand,
new modelled by every tide, but always firm, safe, and
elastic, and is furnished with excellent accommodations.
The village at the height of the season commonly numbers a thousand visiters; many of them of rank and
fashion, mixed with good company from the manufacturing districts. The houses of public reception, and
the villas, are scattered along the coast, and in the rear
are the habitations of the villagers; when viewed from
the sea, the place has a large and imposing appearance.
The parade forms an agreeable promenade, from which
there is an extensive view of the fells in Westmorland
and Cumberland, and the mountains in North Wales.
Assemblies occasionally take place at the principal
hotels; a news-room has been established; and much
is otherwise done to conduce to the pleasure and comfort of the increasing number of families who sojourn
here. The sea has receded towards the south, but
appears to have encroached considerably on the shore
towards the north; a large rock called Penny-stone,
lying on the sands about half a mile from the shore,
is stated by tradition to mark the site on which a public-house formerly stood. An act was passed in 1845
for making a branch to this village of the Preston and
Wyre railway; the branch, 3¼ miles long, has been
completed, and the communication between Blackpool
and the important town of Preston is thus easy and
rapid. Fox Hall, once a sequestered residence of the
gallant family of Tildesley, is now a farmhouse. The
living is a perpetual curacy in the patronage of certain
Trustees; net income, £150, with a house. The chapel
was built in 1821, at a cost of £1150, and has been
twice enlarged. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and a free school, established in 1817, is conducted
on Dr. Bell's plan. In the peat bog here, numerous
antediluvian trees are found.—See South-Shore.
Blackrod
BLACKROD, a chapelry, in the parish of Bolton,
union of Wigan, hundred of Salford, S. division of
the county of Lancaster, 4½ miles (S. S. E.) from
Chorley; containing 2615 inhabitants. This is the site
of a Roman station, named Coccium by Antonine and
Rigodunum by Ptolemy, which was situated on the Watling-street; and from its central position, and its commanding every object between Rivington Pike and the
sea, it was most suitable for a military station. In the
reign of John, Hugh le Norries had possessions here;
and subsequently Hugh de Blakerode held a carucate of
land, of the fee of William Peverel. The manor came
at a later period to the Bradshaws and the Stanleys;
and in the 10th of Elizabeth was found in the possession
of Sir William Norreys' family, on his death: it afterwards passed to the Lindsays, and Lord Balcarres is the
present lord. The township is situated on the river
Douglas, and on the road from Bolton to Chorley: it
comprises 2344a. 2r. 22p., of which the surface is hilly,
and the soil good; 207 acres are common or waste land.
Coal is obtained: the spinning of cotton and the printing of calico are carried on; and the trade is facilitated
by a branch of the Lancaster canal, and the Manchester,
Bolton, and Preston railway, which pass through. A
fair for toys and pedlery is held on the first Thursday
after the 12th of July.
The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £100,
with a house; patron, the Vicar of Bolton. The tithes of
the Bishop of Chester have been commuted for £98. The
chapel, dedicated to St. Catherine, was principally built
in the reign of Elizabeth, and has a tower with a peal of
bells: it stands on elevated ground, and forms a most
conspicuous object for four miles in the line of road from
Chorley. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.
A free grammar school, under the superintendence of
trustees, is endowed with about £140 per annum, being
the produce of various benefactions. John Holmes, in
the year 1568, founded an exhibition at Pembroke College, Cambridge, for a scholar on this foundation: the
funds having accumulated, three exhibitioners are now
appointed, receiving respectively £60, £70, and £80 per
annum, for four years. In 1845, a handsome national
school-house, with a master's residence attached, was
built at an expense of £1000, for the accommodation of
500 children. In 1829, John Popplewell, Esq., M.D., a
native of Bolton, among other munificent bequests to
the parish, left by will sums altogether amounting to
£3500 to this township, to be applied as follows: the
interest of £1000 to augment the incumbent's salary;
the interest of £1900 to be given annually, after certain
deductions, in bread and clothing to the poor; of £400,
for clothing boys or girls of the free grammar school;
and of £200, for twelve pairs of blankets to old women.
Anne and Rebecca, the sisters of this benefactor, left
£2150 (part of a sum of £ 12,600, in the three per cents.,
bequeathed by them to the whole parish) to this township, for similar benevolent uses. Here stood an ancient
castle, the entrance to which, the fosse, &c., were discernible within the memory of persons now living; and
many relics have been found in a field which is still
called the "Castle field."
Blackthorn
BLACKTHORN, a chapelry, in the parish of Ambrosden, union of Bicester, hundred of Bullington,
county of Oxford, 3 miles (S. E. by E.) from Bicester;
containing 380 inhabitants. The chapel is in ruins. The
Roman Akeman-street enters the county here, and proceeds over Blackthorn Hill, in its course through the
parish. The custom of running at the quintal or quintain, the origin of which is attributed to the Romans,
was anciently observed on the occasion of a wedding in
the chapelry.
Blacktoft
BLACKTOFT, a parish, in the union of Howden,
wapentake of Howdenshire, E. riding of York; comprising the townships of Blacktoft and Scalby, in which
latter is included the extra-parochial place of Cheapsides; and containing 552 inhabitants, of whom 333 are
in the township of Blacktoft, 8 miles (E. S. E.) from
Howden. The parish consists by computation of 2241
acres: the surface is level; the soil has been latterly
much improved by warping, and is now well drained.
The views are very fine, and include the adjacent hills of
Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The village is situated on
the northern bank of the Ouse, one mile above its confluence with the Trent, and occasionally vessels ride
opposite to it, its roads affording the best anchorage
between Hull and Selby; the steam-packets of those
places pass daily. The river is very broad in this part,
and leaves at low water an extensive bed of sand, which
is used for the ballasting of small craft. The Hull
and Selby railway crosses the parish near Scalby. The
living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Dean and
Chapter of Durham, and has a net income of £198, by
augmentation from the patrons, with a new and convenient parsonage-house. The tithes of the township of
Blacktoft have been commuted for £568, payable to the
Dean and Chapter. The church is a neat substantial
edifice, built in 1841.
Black Torrington.—See Torrington, Black.
BLACK TORRINGTON.—See Torrington, Black.
Blackwall
BLACKWALL, a hamlet, in the parish of Stepney,
borough of Tower Hamlets, union of Poplar, Tower
division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of
Middlesex, 4 miles (E.) from Cornhill, London. This
place, which is situated near the influx of the river Lea
into the Thames, consists chiefly of a few irregularlyformed streets, which are paved, and lighted with gas:
the houses, many of which are of wood, and of mean
appearance, are inhabited chiefly by shipwrights, and
persons employed in the docks; they are supplied with
water by the East London Company. It has long been
noted for a very large private yard for ship-building,
and a wet-dock, once belonging to Mr. Perry: the former was purchased by Sir Robert Wigram, Bart., and
is still applied to the same use; and the latter by the
East India Dock Company, for the formation of their
docks, which were commenced in 1804, and completed
in 1806. These docks, situated at the eastern extremity of the hamlet, and surrounded by a lofty wall, consist of an outer and an inner dock, communicating by
locks and flood-gates; the entrance from the river is by
a basin, nearly three acres in extent, from which vessels
sail directly into the docks. At Blackwall reach, adjoining the hamlet, are the West India docks, similarly constructed, but upon a more extensive scale. In 1836, an
act was obtained for making a railway from Fenchurchstreet, London, to Blackwall, with branches to the East
and West India docks; and this work, which was begun
with a capital of £600,000, afterwards augmented, was
opened to the public 4th July, 1840: the station is on
an extensive scale, and the offices fronting the Brunswick
wharf have a very imposing effect from the river. An
act was passed in 1846, empowering the Eastern
Counties Railway Company to make a line from the
Pepper warehouses at the East India docks to the Thames
Junction railway in Essex: the line is about three furlongs in length.—See London.