Clearwell
CLEARWELL, a chapelry, in the parish of Newland, union of Monmouth, hundred of St. Briavell's,
W. division of the county of Gloucester, 7 miles (W.
by N.) from Blakeney; containing 674 inhabitants. A
considerable number of persons belonging to Clearwell
are employed in the coal and iron mines in the parish
and in the adjacent Forest of Dean. A church has
been built and endowed, containing 460 sittings, 380 of
which are free. There is a curious stone cross.
Cleasby
CLEASBY, a parish, in the union of Darlington,
wapentake of Gilling-East, N. riding of York, 3½
miles (W. by S.) from Darlington; containing 164 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the north by the
river Tees, and comprises by computation 839 acres,
mostly arable land; the surface is generally flat, but
with a singular and very high embankment, which runs
through the parish on the south side. The living is a
perpetual curacy; net income, £188; patrons, the Dean
and Chapter of Ripon. The old church, a small and
inferior structure, built, with the parsonage-house, by Dr.
John Robinson, a native of the parish, a distinguished
plenipotentiary, and Bishop of London, was replaced in
1828 by an edifice in a superior style of architecture,
containing a curious monument to the prelate. Dr.
Robinson also founded a school in 1723, and endowed it
with 16 acres of grass land, of the annual value of £22,
free for six boys. Mrs. Cornwallis, a step-daughter of
the bishop, left in 1785 funds now producing £10. 15.
for the relief of poor housekeepers.
Cleatham
CLEATHAM, a township, in the parish of Manton,
union of Glandford-Brigg, wapentake of Corringham, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 6 miles
(S. W.) from Glandford-Brigg; containing 99 inhabitants. It comprises about 1087 acres, of which the soil
is light and sandy. The tithes have been commuted for
£206.
Cleatlam
CLEATLAM, a township, partly in the parish of
Staindrop, partly in that of Gainford, and partly in
that of Winstone, union of Teesdale, S. W. division of
Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham,
2 miles (S. S. W.) from Staindrop; containing 95 inhabitants. The township comprises 1098a. 1r. 28p., of
which 612 acres are arable, 451 meadow and pasture,
and 34 woodland. The soil is mostly a strong clay,
and the surface chiefly elevated ground, commanding
extensive views of the surrounding country, including
the castles and parks of Raby and Streatlam, and in the
distance the Cleveland hills: freestone is quarried for
building purposes. In the centre of the village is an
ancient cross. The tithes have been commuted for
£131. 12. payable to the rector of Winstone, and £21
to the vicar of Gainford: the Duke of Cleveland is
impropriator of the lands situate in the parish of
Staindrop.
Cleator (St. Leonard)
CLEATOR (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of
Whitehaven, Allerdale ward above Derwent, W.
division of Cumberland, 5 miles (S. E. by S.) from
Whitehaven; containing 763 inhabitants. The manorhouse was burnt about 1315, by a party of Scots under
James Douglas. The parish comprises 2693a. 1r. 38p.
of which about 1162 acres are arable, 32 wood, and
1500 inclosed common. Coal, limestone, and iron-ore
are wrought, and a great quantity of lime is burnt and
sent to Scotland: here are also forges for the manufacture of spades and other edge-tools, and an extensive
establishment for spinning hemp and tow, making sewingthread, &c. The living is a perpetual curacy; net
income, £77; patron and impropriator, T. R. G. Braddyll,
Esq. The church was rebuilt in 1841, when 272 sittings
were added. A Roman causeway passed through the
parish, from Egremont to Papcastle, near Cockermouth;
but few traces of it are apparent.
Cleckheaton
CLECKHEATON, a township, in the parish of
Birstal, union of Bradford, wapentake of Morley,
W. riding of York, 9 miles (W.) from Leeds; containing 4299 inhabitants. This township, which is situated
in a rich and fertile vale, includes the hamlets of Oakenshaw and Scholes, and comprises by admeasurement
1686 acres; Miss Currer is lady of the manor. Several
coal-mines of excellent quality are in operation, and a
quarry of freestone of inferior kind is worked. From its
favourable situation on the Leeds and Elland, Leeds and
Halifax, and Bradford and Dewsbury roads, the place
is well adapted for the woollen and worsted manufactures, which, together with the making of cards and
machinery used in the woollen-trade, are carried on to
a great extent; there are also two iron-foundries. Vast
quantities of cloth for the army are made. The village
is situated on the slope of a hill commanding a fine
view of the vale, whose acclivities are richly wooded,
and of the surrounding country, which abounds with
picturesque scenery. It is neatly built and well lighted
with gas from works established in 1837, at an expense
of £4000, by a proprietary of £10 shareholders; a newsroom is supported by subscription, and there is a
mechanics' institution, established in 1838. Considerable improvements have recently taken place in the
village, and numerous villas have been erected in the
immediate vicinity. Fairs for cattle, which are well
attended, are held on the first Thursday in April, and
on the last Thursday in August.
The chapel called the White chapel, about a mile
from the village, was rebuilt about a century since, by
Dr. Richardson, of Bierley, and again, on a larger scale,
in 1821; it is a neat edifice in the early English style,
and contains 800 sittings, of which 186 are free. The
living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Miss
Currer; net income, £150. A district church dedicated
to St. John was erected on a site given by the late Mrs.
Beaumont, of Bretton Hall, by a grant from the Parliamentary Commissioners, at an expense of £2700, and
consecrated in 1832; it is in the early English style,
with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles, and
contains 500 sittings, of which 60 are free. The living
is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of
Birstal; net income, £150, with a glebe-house. The
Independents and Wesleyans have places of worship.
There were some remains of a Roman camp, which
have long been obliterated by the plough; and many
coins, chiefly of the Lower Empire, have been found on
the site. Several coins, also, were discovered in earthen
jars near Scot Lane, in 1818 and 1830.
Clee (Holy Trinity)
CLEE (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the parliamentary
borough of Grimsby, union of Caistor, wapentake of
Bradley-Haverstoe, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 2 miles (S. E. by E.) from Grimsby; containing,
with the township of Cleethorpe, and the hamlets of
Thrunscoe and Weelsby, 1002 inhabitants. The parish
is bounded by the river Humber on the north and east,
and comprises by computation 3400 acres, the surface
of which is rather flat, excepting towards the sea, where
there is a considerable elevation commanding a fine view
of the Yorkshire coast and German Ocean. An act for
inclosing land was passed in 1840. In the parish are
many of the fountains called Blow Wells, which are
deep circular pits, supplying a continual flow of water.
The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's
books at £8; net income, £93; patron and appropriator,
the Bishop of Lincoln: there is about an acre of glebe.
The church has some fine Norman piers and arches, and
an ancient circular font: an inscription on one of the
pillars in the south aisle contains a memorial of the dedication of the church to the Holy Trinity in the reign of
Richard the First, 1192. There is a place of worship
for Wesleyans.
Clee (St. Margaret's)
CLEE (St. Margaret's), a parish, in the union of
Ludlow, hundred of Munslow, S. division of Salop,
8¼ miles (N. E. by N.) from Ludlow; containing 269
inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, valued in
the king's books at £2. 8. 4.; net income, £172; patron,
Mrs. F. Thursby. There is a place of worship for
Roman Catholics at Clee Hills.
Cleer, St.
CLEER, ST., a parish, in the union of Liskeard,
hundred of West, E. division of Cornwall, 2½ miles
(N. by W.) from Liskeard; containing 1412 inhabitants.
It comprises 7370 acres, of which 2673 are uninclosed
common and coppice, with some oak woods; the soil in
general is light, with the exception of some boggy peat
soil: there is a great quantity of granite, locally termed
moor-stone, and of porphyry; and a copper-mine has
been opened. The river Fowey runs through the parish,
and several rivulets empty themselves near Looe. The
living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at
£19. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriator, E. P. Bastard, Esq.: the great tithes have been
commuted for £330, and the vicarial for £330; the
impropriate glebe contains 2 acres. The church is a
handsome and spacious structure, in the early English
style. There are a few chalybeate springs; also an
ancient Druidical monument, called the Hurlers, consisting of rude upright stones arranged in three circles,
their centres in a right line, and the middle circle the
largest.
Cleethorpe
CLEETHORPE, a township, in the parish of Clee,
union of Caistor, wapentake of Bradley-Haverstoe,
parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 3 miles (E. S. E.)
from Grimsby; containing 803 inhabitants. This township, which comprises the hamlets of Far and Near
Cleethorpe, contains about 700 acres of land, and is
pleasantly situated on the south shore of the Humber,
near the confluence of that river with the German Ocean.
It is much resorted to as a bathing-place, for which it is
highly eligible; the air is pure, the scenery good, and
besides a few lodging-houses and smaller inns, there is a
large hotel, built some years since, on an eminence
embracing extensive views of the sea, the Humber, and
the Yorkshire coast. Many of the population are employed in the oyster-fisheries. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.
Cleeve, Bishop's (St. Michael)
CLEEVE, BISHOP'S (St. Michael), a parish, forming the hundred of Cleeve or Bishop's-Cleeve, in the
union of Winchcomb, E. division of the county of
Gloucester; comprising the township of Bishop'sCleeve, and the hamlets of Gotherington, Stoke-Orchard,
Southam with Brockhampton, and Woodmancote; and
containing 1944 inhabitants, of whom 682 are in the
township, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Cheltenham. This
parish derives its name Clive or Cleeve from the Saxon
Cliv, "a steep ascent;" and its adjunct, distinguishing it
from Prior-Cleeve, from its having been the property of
the bishops of Worcester, whose ancient palace is now
the rectory-house. It comprises 8746a. 1r. 2p., of which
more than 1000 acres are common. The village is
seated on an eminence, on the road from Cheltenham to
Evesham; and the Birmingham and Gloucester railway
crosses the common. The living is a rectory, valued in
the king's books at £84. 6. 8.: patron and incumbent,
the Rev. W. L. Townsend, D.D.: the rectorial tithes
have been commuted for £1278, and the impropriate
for £107. 6., and there are 181 acres of rectorial glebe.
The church is a curious and spacious structure, principally of Norman architecture, with a noble arch of exquisite workmanship in that style over the western
entrance: the spire fell down in 1696, and caused
considerable dilapidation, but in 1700 it was replaced by
the tower that now rises from the centre of the building.
There is a chapel of ease at Stoke-Orchard. On the
ridge of Cleeve-Cloud Hill is a large double intrenchment called the Camps, in the form of a crescent, 350
yards in length, but accessible only in front. Within the
parish are some springs, the water of which is strongly
saline.
Cleeve, Old (St. Andrew)
CLEEVE, OLD (St. Andrew), a parish, in the
union of Williton, hundred of Williton and Freemanners, W. division of Somerset, 18 miles (N. W.)
from Taunton; containing, with the chapelry of Leighland, 1351 inhabitants. The parish adjoins the Bristol
Channel, and is remarkable for its craggy rocks, which
abound with alabaster; it comprises by measurement
4700 acres, whereof about 2900 are arable, 1500 meadow,
pasture, and orchard, 200 woodland, and 100 uninclosed.
On the beach a great quantity of kelp is gathered and
burnt for the market at Bristol. Lodging-houses have
been erected for the accommodation of persons resorting
hither for the benefit of sea-bathing. The living is a
discharged vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes,
and valued in the king's books at £7; patron and
incumbent, the Rev. W. Newton, whose tithes have been
commuted for £600, and whose glebe comprises 3¼ acres,
with a glebe-house. At Leighland is a distinct incumbency. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A
Cistercian abbey, in honour of the Virgin Mary, was
founded here in 1188, by William de Romara, the revenue
of which, in 1534, was valued at £155. 9. 4½.: there are
still some remains, part having been converted into a
private mansion, called Cleeve Abbey. At the hamlet
of Chapel-Cleeve was a chapel, also dedicated to the
Virgin; it stood on a rock, and was the resort of numerous pilgrims.
Cleeve, Prior (St. Andrew)
CLEEVE, PRIOR (St. Andrew), a parish, in the
union of Evesham, Upper division of the hundred of
Oswaldslow, locally in the Upper division of that of
Blackenhurst, Pershore and E. divisions of the county
of Worcester, 5½ miles (N. E.) from Evesham; containing 366 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the
navigable river Avon, which here receives the waters of
the Arrow, on its entering the county. It comprises
1454a. 3r. 17p., whereof 900 acres are arable, and 500
meadow and pasture; the soil is a clayey loam, resting
upon blue limestone, and the scenery is rich and pleasing,
and abounding with fine orchards. There are quarries
of lias and blue limestone, which are wrought for
building, slabs for hearthstones, and various other purposes; and also a species of marble susceptible of a high
polish, and resembling that of Derbyshire. The village
is beautifully situated on an eminence rising from the
southern bank of the Avon; the grounds immediately
around it are flat, and the meadows occasionally subject
to floods. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's
books at £8; net income, £156, derived from 110 acres
of land; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and
Chapter of Worcester. The church is in the early
English style, with a handsome embattled tower. On
a bank or terrace above the Avon, is a mount having the
appearance of an ancient barrow; near it, in lowering a
portion of the bank, in 1824, above thirty skeletons were
found scarcely two feet below the surface. In working
the quarries, in 1811, two earthen jars were discovered
at three feet from the surface, having Roman coins in a
state of good preservation; one jar contained gold and
the other silver coins, of the reigns of Gratian, Valentinian, and Theodosius.
Clehonger (All Saints)
CLEHONGER (All Saints), a parish, in the hundred of Webtree, union and county of Hereford,
3½ miles (W. S. W.) from Hereford; containing 396
inhabitants. The parish is situated on the right bank of
the river Wye, which bounds it on the north; it is intersected by the road from Hereford to Hay, and consists
of 1888 acres. The living is a discharged vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £4. 4. 2., and in the gift of
the Dean of Hereford: the appropriate tithes have been
commuted for £180, and the vicarial for £164. 15., and
the glebe consists of half an acre.
Clement's (St.)
CLEMENT'S (ST.), a parish, in the union of Truro,
W. division of the hundred of Powder and of the
county of Cornwall; containing 3436 inhabitants.
This parish, of which a very considerable, and by far the
most populous, portion adjoins the town of Truro, comprises by computation 3200 acres. The surface is hilly,
but of moderate elevation, and the soil is generally
fertile, more especially in those parts bordering on the
town, where some of the meadow land is let at £12 per
acre. The grounds are watered by two small rivulets;
the one, the Tresilian river, which falls into an arm of
the sea at the north-east extremity of the parish; and
the other the Alleyn, which flows by Truro, and bounds
the parish on the south-west. Polwhele, anciently a
castle of some strength, and subsequently the family seat
of the ancestors of the historian of the county of Cornwall, was the temporary residence of Charles I., who,
for a short time, took refuge here after his defeat in
1646; it has been much improved, and is now occupied
by Major Polwhele. The living is a vicarage, valued in
the king's books at £9, and in the patronage of the
Crown, in right of the duchy of Cornwall; net income,
£243: impropriators, H. P. Andrew, Esq., and the
heirs of Mr. Vivian. The church, a plain neat structure
with a tower, contains a handsome monument to Samuel
Thomas, Esq., one of the last and best works of the artist
Bacon, and a monument of white marble, executed
in Italy, and inscribed by Admiral Lord Exmouth to the
memory of Rear-Admiral Reynolds, who was shipwrecked
on board the St. George of 98 guns, off the coast of
Jutland, on the 24th of December, 1811. There are some
mineral springs in the parish.
Clement's (St.)
CLEMENT'S (ST.), a parish, in the union of Headington, hundred of Bullingdon, county of Oxford;
containing 1769 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on
the west by the Cherwell, over which is a neat stone
bridge leading into the city of Oxford. Near the bridge,
baths on an extensive scale have been constructed. The
living is a rectory not in charge, in the patronage of the
Crown, with a net income of £120. From the inadequate accommodation which the old church afforded, a
new building, in the Norman style, has been erected by
subscription, on ground given by Sir Joseph Lock; it
is situated near the margin of the Cherwell, and, as seen
from Magdalene bridge, forms an interesting feature in
the vale. Stone's hospital, here, for poor persons, was
founded pursuant to the will of William Stone, principal
of New Inn Hall, dated May 12th, 1685, for eight
women; Boulter's almshouses were established agreeably to the will of Cutler Boulter, dated March 21st,
1736, for eight single men. Various lands and tenements, producing at present about £14 per annum,
but capable, on the expiration of the present leases, of
increase to the amount of £300 per annum, have been
left, in moieties, for the benefit of the poor, and for
repairing the church. Adjoining the parish, but on
extra-parochial ground, is the hospital of St. Bartholomew, founded by Henry I., in 1126, for infirm lepers,
and which, having suffered considerable impoverishment,
was granted by Edward III. to Oriel College, on condition that the society should maintain a chaplain and
eight almsmen in perpetuity. About the time of the
siege of Oxford, the house was demolished, and rebuilt
by the society; the remains are now appropriated to
stabling and cow-houses. Here were preserved relics of
various saints, the supposed efficacy of which, in performing miraculous cures, attracted numerous pilgrims.
On the demesne lands of Mr. Morrell, a skeleton of a
gigantic horse was discovered in 1821, completely caparisoned in the Roman costume.
Clenchwarton (St. Margaret)
CLENCHWARTON (St. Margaret), a parish,
in the union of Wisbech, hundred of FreebridgeMarshland, W. division of Norfolk, 3 miles (W.)
from Lynn; containing 597 inhabitants. At the time
of the Norman survey this place was called Ecleuuartuana,
signifying a watery situation by a river. The parish comprises by admeasurement about 2880 acres, two-thirds of
which are arable; 160 acres consist of the old bed of the
river Ouse, formed into pasture ground: salt-marshes
extend to the Wash between Terrington and North Lynn.
About 1100 acres are titheable only to the livings of
West and North Lynn. The living is a rectory, valued
in the king's books at £14. 6. 8., and in the patronage
of Mrs. Goldfrap; net income, £337: the glebe contains
32 acres. The church is in the later English style, with
a square embattled tower. There is a place of worship
for Wesleyans.
Clennell
CLENNELL, a township, in the parish of Allenton,
union of Rothbury, W. division of Coquetdale ward,
N. division of Northumberland, 10¼ miles (W. N. W.)
from Rothbury; containing 18 inhabitants. This place
was the seat and manor of the family of Clennell, and in
the 18th of Edward I. was possessed by Thomas Clennell,
who in that year obtained a grant of free warren. Luke
Clennell, Esq., who resided here, was high sheriff of the
county in 1727; and William Wilkinson, Esq., who
came to the property by marriage, filled the same office
in 1758. The township consists entirely of steep porphyritic hills, covered with short grass, and occupied as
sheep-walks, and is situated on the east side of the
Alwine, one mile north from Allenton.
Clent (St. Leonard)
CLENT (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of
Bromsgrove, Lower division of the hundred of Halfshire, Stourbridge and E. divisions of the county of
Worcester, 4 miles (S. S. E.) from Stourbridge; containing 918 inhabitants. It contains the two manors of
Upper or Church Clent, and Nether Clent; is composed principally of a group of lofty hills; and comprises
2365a. 2r. 33p., of which about 1414 acres are arable,
565 pasture, 57 woodland, and 255 common. The living
is a vicarage, with that of Rowley Regis annexed,
valued in the king's books at £8. 16. 5½., and in the
patronage of the Crown; impropriator, J. Amphlett,
Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £340,
and the vicarial for £315. The church is an ancient
structure, with a tower. There are places of worship
for Baptists and Wesleyans. A free school was founded
by John Amphlett, Esq., in 1704; and a Sunday school
by Thomas Waldron, Esq., who, at his death in 1800,
bequeathed £500 for its support. The infant king of
Mercia, St. Kenelm, is supposed by some to have
been murdered here, in 819, by order of his sister Quendrida; others think that he was slain accidentally.—See
Rowley Regis.
Cleobury-Mortimer (St. Mary)
CLEOBURY-MORTIMER (St. Mary), a markettown and parish, and the head of a union, in the
hundred of Stottesden, S. division of Salop, 32 miles
(S. S. E.) from Shrewsbury, and 137 (N. W.) from London, on the road to Ludlow; containing 1730 inhabitants.
The name of this place is derived from its situation in a
district abounding with clay, and from the Saxon word
byrig, a town; the adjunct, by which it is distinguished
from North Cleobury, in the same county, is taken from
its ancient possessor, Ralph de Mortimer, who held it at
the time of the general survey. Hugh de Mortimer, his
son, built a castle here, which, when he revolted in favour
of the heir of Stephen, he fortified against Henry II.,
who, with a powerful army, besieged and entirely demolished it. During the war between Henry III. and
the barons, Cleobury suffered greatly from the incursions
of the Welsh, who at that time made frequent irruptions
into this part of the country. The town is situated on
an eminence rising gradually from the western bank of
the river Rea, over which is a neat stone bridge, and
consists principally of one long street, containing many
good houses, and the mutilated remains of an old cross;
the inhabitants are plentifully supplied with excellent
water from a spring that has its source in the Brown
Clee hills, and falls into a spacious basin in the lower
part of the town. From its retired situation, in a district almost inaccessible in consequence of the badness
of the roads, the trade is rapidly declining; formerly
there were some important iron-works, but there are
now only two forges. A few of the inhabitants are employed in the manufacture of paper, for which there are
two mills. On the Clee hills, about three miles west of
the town, are large collieries, producing excellent coal;
and on the higher part of them is a remarkably fine,
though not extensive, vein of cannel coal, of which many
beautiful specimens have been worked into snuff-boxes
and ornaments of various kinds, Common stone is also
quarried. The market, granted to Sir Francis Lacon in
1614, is held on Wednesday; the fairs are on April 21st,
Trinity-Monday, and October 27th. The powers of the
county-debt court of Cleobury, established in 1847,
extend over the registration-district of Cleobury.
The parish comprises about 6000 or 7000 acres. The
living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £13;
net income, £448; patron, William Lacon Childe, Esq.;
impropriators, the Earl of Craven, Mr. Childe, and
others, with the exception of the corn-tithes of a small
part of the parish, which belong to the lay deacon. The
church is an ancient structure, with a plain tower, surmounted by an octagonal spire of wood, considerably
curved from the perpendicular. There are two places of
worship for Wesleyans; and a Roman Catholic chapel
attached to Mawley Hall, the mansion of Sir Edward
Blount, Bart., within a mile of the town. A free school
was founded pursuant to the will of Sir Lacon William
Childe, Knt., dated in 1714, whereby he bequeathed the
residue of his personal estate, after the death of his
lady, for its endowment: the income is about £500, including the interest of £1000 given by Mr. John Winwood, in 1810. An infants' school is endowed with £15
per annum. The poor law union of which the town is
the head, comprises 17 parishes or places, namely, 13 in
the county of Salop, 3 in that of Worcester, and one in
that of Hereford; and contains a population of 8708.
To the east of the free school are the remains of a
Danish encampment; and within the distance of a mile
and a half were the three castles of Cleobury, Toot, and
Walltown, of which there is not a single vestige. An
old farmhouse here is said to have been the first settlement of the Augustine friars. Robert Langford, author
of the Visions of Pierce Plowman, a satirical poem on the
clergy of the fourteenth century, was a native of the
town.
Cleobury, North (St. Peter)
CLEOBURY, NORTH (St. Peter), a parish, in
the union of Bridgnorth, hundred of Stottesden,
S. division of Salop, 1 mile (N. by E.) from Burwarton;
containing 176 inhabitants. It comprises by admeasurement 1145 acres, exclusive of about 430 of uninclosed
land forming part of the Brown Clee hill, once a forest,
and which is the highest hill in the county, rising to an
elevation of 1805 feet. Coal-mines are worked, but they
are supposed to be nearly exhausted; and good stone is
quarried for buildings. The living is a rectory, valued
in the king's books at £5. 12. 3½., and in the gift of
Henry George Mytton, Esq.: the glebe comprises 75
acres, with a glebe-house. The church was enlarged and
thoroughly repaired in 1834. Upon the summit of the
Brown Clee hill are the remains of an encampment,
partly in the parish of North Cleobury, supposed to be
a work of the Britons when besieged by the Roman
army; and on the Burfs, which is the highest peak of
the hill, and between a mile and a mile and a half distant from the village, is a poetical inscription, celebrating
the independence, valour, and love of liberty of the
ancient Britons, written by the Rev. Thomas Warter, a
man of great literary attainments, and many years rector
of the parish.
Clerkenwell
CLERKENWELL, an extensive parish, in the Finsbury division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of
Middlesex; separated from the city of London on the
south by the intervening parish of St. Sepulchre, and on
the west by the liberties of Saffron-Hill and Ely-Rents;
and containing, with the chapelry of Pentonville, 56,756
inhabitants. This place derives its name from an ancient
well, round which the clerks, or inferior clergy, of London, were in the habit of assembling at certain periods,
for the performance of sacred dramas, as noticed in the
reign of Henry II. by Fitz-Stephen, who calls the well
Fons Clericorum. The site appears to have been well
adapted for the purpose, being in the centre of gently
rising grounds, that formed an extensive natural amphitheatre, for the accommodation of the numerous spectators who attended. The most celebrated of these festivals occurred in 1391, in the reign of Richard II., and
continued for three days, during which several sacred
dramas were performed by the clerks, in presence of the
king and queen, attended by the whole court. Soon
after the year 1100, Jordan Briset and Muriel his wife
founded a priory here for nuns of the Benedictine order,
dedicated to St. Mary, and the site of which is now occupied by St. James's church: the revenue, at the Dissolution, was £282. 16. 5. The same Jordan and his
wife founded an hospital for the Knights Hospitallers of
the order of St. John of Jerusalem, which was munificently endowed with lands, and invested with many
privileges by several successive monarchs; the lord prior
had precedence of all lay barons in parliament, and
power over all commanderies and smaller establishments
of that order in the kingdom; the revenue, at the Dissolution, was £2385. 12. 8. The institution was partly
restored in the reign of Philip and Mary, but was again
suppressed in that of Elizabeth. The remains are, the
gate, in the later English style, restored in 1846, and the
greater part of which is now occupied as a tavern; and
the vaults of the old church, which were cleared out
some years since, when a beautiful crypt in the Norman
style was discovered. St. John's church occupies part
of the site. The establishment of these monasteries
naturally drew around them some dependent dwellings,
but the parish made little progress in the number of
its inhabitants prior to the time of Elizabeth, in whose
reign, besides several "banqueting and summer houses,"
it contained a few straggling cottages, and some good
residences in the immediate neighbourhood of the religious houses: its increase was afterwards more rapid,
and in 1619 noblemen and gentlemen were among its
inhabitants. Since that time, the formation of numerous
streets, and the recent laying out of Spafields and the
New River Company's estate in a variety of streets and
squares, have rendered this one of the most populous
districts in the vicinity of the metropolis.
The parish is lighted with gas, and the pathways are
well flagged and kept in repair, under the superintendence of two separate Boards of Commissioners, one for
each division of the parish, appointed under special acts:
it is within the limits of the metropolitan police establishment. The inhabitants are supplied with water by
the New River Company, whose works are situated in
the parish, where the river terminates. This stupendous
undertaking was projected in the reign of Elizabeth,
and in the following reign an act of parliament was obtained, enabling the mayor and commonalty of London
to carry it into effect; but the commissioners, dreading
the difficulty and expense, made no advances for some
years. In 1609, Hugh Myddelton, a citizen and goldsmith of London, made proposals to the commoncouncil of the city to undertake the work at his own
risk, and to complete it in four years, for which purpose
the commissioners transferred to him the powers with
which they had been invested by the act. After having
persevered in the enterprise till the water was brought
to Enfield, the city refusing to grant him any pecuniary
assistance, Myddelton applied to the king, who advanced
sums of money, amounting in the whole to £6347, with
which assistance the work was completed on the 29th of
September, 1613. The river, from its source at Amwell
in Hertfordshire to Spafields, is 38¾ miles and 16 poles
in length; there are nearly 300 bridges over it, and its
course is continued through the varying levels of the
districts through which it passes, by means of 40
sluices. The Regent's canal passes on the north side
of the parish.
Of the numerous Wells with which the parish abounded,
several were in great repute for their medicinal properties, and houses of public entertainment were erected
near their site. Of these houses, which generally had
tea-gardens, and were rendered more attractive by
musical performances, the chief were Bagnigge Wells,
White Conduit House, and New Tunbridge Wells, or
Islington Spa, all still remaining. Of those which have
for many years been discontinued were, the Pantheon,
in Spafields, now a chapel belonging to the Countess of
Huntingdon's Connexion; the Cold Bath, in ColdbathFields, of which the bath alone is still frequented; the
Mulberry and Vineyard gardens, now covered with buildings, and the names of which probably denote the purpose to which the ground was anciently appropriated;
the celebrated bear-garden at Hockley in the Hole;
and Sadler's Wells, near the New River Head, which has
for many years been converted into a theatre for dramatic representations. Fons Clericorum, or the Clerks'
Well, is thought by some to have been situated in Raystreet, where the spot is marked by a pump with an inscription; but it is more probable that the original well,
upon which a pump was afterwards erected, was in the
centre of Clerkenwell-Green, between the two religious
houses; a supposition partly confirmed by the tenor of
a deed of grant of the ground by the ancestor of the
Marquess of Northampton, wherein the right is reserved
to the inhabitants of drawing water from this pump, the
site of which is distinctly laid down in Stowe's Survey
of London.
The manufacture of clocks and watches, of which the
several parts form distinct and separate departments of
the trade, has for more than a century been carried on
here to a considerable extent: when the duty on clocks
and watches was imposed in 1791, not less than 7000
of the inhabitants were deprived of employment, and
obliged to have recourse to parochial aid. There is a
large manufactory for tin goods, which during the late
war supplied the chief of the government contracts;
also some extensive distilleries and soap manufactories.
The parish, with the exception of a detached portion of
about 100 acres locally situated in the parish of Hornsey, was, by the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45,
constituted part of the newly-enfranchised borough of
Finsbury, the elections for which take place on Clerkenwell-Green. The sessions for the county, and the
meetings of the magistrates for the assessment of the
county rates, and for other affairs, are held at the Sessions-house on the Green, which was erected at an expense of £13,000, and was repaired and beautified a few
years since: it is a spacious and handsome edifice, with
a stone front, having in the centre four pillars of the
Ionic order, rising from a rustic basement and support
ing a pediment. A new police-court for the district of
Clerkenwell, the business of which was formerly carried
on at Hatton-Garden, was built in Bagnigge Wells road,
under the 2nd and 3rd of Victoria, cap. 71, and opened
December 16th, 1841: the building is a neat structure,
with a frontage of 260 feet, and consists of two distinct
parts almost perfectly square, united by a bold archway.
The Clerkenwell prison was erected near the site of the
old Bridewell, which was incorporated with the new
building; it was enlarged and partly rebuilt in 1818,
and considerably extended in 1830 by the removal of
several adjoining houses. The buildings were, however,
pulled down in 1845; and in the spring of 1847 a model
prison was completed, for the detention of persons
remanded from police courts, and committed for trial:
there are 1000 cells. The house of correction for the
county, in Coldbath-Fields, was erected in 1794, at a
cost of £70,000, including the purchase of the site, and
has lately been much enlarged; it is a spacious brick
building inclosed with high walls, and the average number of prisoners is about 1000.
The churches of St. James and St. John, formerly
the only churches, have each a distinct parochial district attached, and the parish of St. James is subdivided
into three parts, viz., the district of St. James', of St.
Mark's, and of St. Philip's. The living of St. James' is a
perpetual curacy, with Pentonville chapel; net income,
£712; patrons, the Inhabitants of Clerkenwell generally,
paying church and poor's rates. The church is a substantial structure of brick with a handsome stone steeple,
erected between the years 1788 and 1792, on the site of
the ancient church of the priory of St. Mary, which had
been previously modernised, and which, at the time
of its being taken down for the erection of the present
edifice, retained many vestiges of its Norman character,
and contained the ashes of the last prioress of the nunnery; the last prior of St. John's; Weever, the antiquary; Bishop Burnet; and many other distinguished
characters. This conventual church, on being made
parochial, at the time of the dissolution of the priory,
was dedicated anew to St. James the Less. The living
of St. John's is a rectory not in charge, in the patronage
of the Crown; net income, £260. The church, with
large curtailments and alterations, is the choir of that
belonging to the priory of the Knights Hospitallers. The
ancient edifice was purchased of the Aylesbury family,
in 1721, by Mr. Simon Michell, who, having repaired
the choir, built the present west front, and covered the
whole with a new roof, disposed of the church and adjoining grounds, in 1723, for £2950, to the commissioners for building fifty new churches in Queen Anne's
reign, who constituted it a parish church, and caused it
to be consecrated on St. John's day, December 27th.
The interior of the building was much improved in 1845.
Notwithstanding that it enjoys the privilege of religious
rites, the incumbent of St. James' is entitled to the surplice fees, which he has received since the year 1771,
when a lawsuit was successfully prosecuted for their
recovery: there are separate churchwardens for St.
John's church, but the inhabitants of both districts contribute to the repairs of the two churches, and the same
overseers of the poor act for the whole.
St. Mark's, in Myddelton-square, containing 1622
sittings, of which 847 are free, was erected in 1826, by a
grant from the Parliamentary Commissioners, at an expense of £16,000, and is a neat edifice in the later English
style, with a handsome western front containing a square
tower having pierced parapet and pinnacles: the cost of
furnishing it, which amounted to £2000, was defrayed
by a rate voted by the vestry. The living is a district
incumbency; net income, £480; patron, the Bishop of
London. St. Philip's, in the later English style, with a
campanile turret, built in Granville-square, at an expense of £4418, and to which an ecclesiastical district
has been assigned out of the district of St. Mark, was
consecrated on January 1st, 1834, and was furnished by
subscription: net income, £420; patron, the Bishop.
The chapel at Pentonville, a neat edifice of brick, ornamented with stone, and having a small cupola, was
opened in 1788, under the provisions of the Toleration
act, and continued as a private chapel till 1791, when it
was purchased by the parish for £5000, and consecrated
as a chapel of ease to St. James'. Spafields chapel, formerly the Pantheon, as before noticed, was appropriated
for a place of worship by the Countess of Huntingdon,
who for many years occasionally resided at the chapelhouse adjoining; and at her decease here in 1791, it
was, agreeably to her will, vested in trustees, with other
chapels in various parts of the kingdom. There are
likewise meeting-houses for Baptists, the Society of
Friends, Independents, and Wesleyan and other Methodists, besides a chapel in which the service is performed
in Welsh. The parochial school, founded about the year
1700, has been removed from the school-house in Aylesbury-street, to more convenient premises in Amwellstreet, erected in 1829, at an expense exceeding £3000,
and forming a spacious and handsome range in the
Elizabethan style, capable of accommodating 1000 children. The London Female Penitentiary at Pentonville,
established in 1807, is a large building, comprising an
infirmary, and apartments for 100 females. In addition
to the two religious establishments previously noticed,
a convent of Benedictines was founded in St. John'ssquare, in the reign of James II., by one "Father
Corker," which was destroyed in the Revolution of 1688.
A portion of the Roman Watling-street, and the river
of Wells (the Fleta of the Romans), form part of the
boundaries of the parish. Among the distinguished
natives and residents of Clerkenwell may be enumerated
Sir Thomas Chaloner, Bishop Burnet, Sir John Oldcastle, and Baron Cobham; and Edward Cave, who established the Gentleman's Magazine, had his printingoffice in St. John's Gate, an engraving of which has,
since the commencement of that publication, adorned
the first page of its numbers.