Coates (St. Matthew)
COATES (St. Matthew), a parish, in the union of
Cirencester, hundred of Crowthorne and Minety,
E. division of the county of Gloucester, 3½ miles
(W. by S.) from Cirencester; containing 373 inhabitants.
It is bounded on the north by the high road from
Stroudwater to London, and on the east by that from
Cirencester to Bath. Stone of excellent quality is quarried for buildings, and for general purposes. The
Thames and Severn canal passes through the parish.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£9. 6. 8.; net income, £369; patron, Earl Bathurst.
The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment, in 1792: the glebe contains 509 acres, chiefly
arable, with an excellent glebe-house. At Trewsbury, in
the parish, near the place where a castle formerly stood,
the remains of which, with the intrenchments, may yet
be seen, is a well, supposed to be the source of the
Thames, and called the Thames Head.
Coates (St. Edith)
COATES (St. Edith), a parish, in the union of
Gainsborough, W. division of the wapentake of Aslacoe, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 9½ miles
(N. W. by N.) from Lincoln; containing 47 inhabitants.
The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's
books at £3. 16. 8.; net income, £50; patron and
impropriator, Sir J. Ramsden, Bart.
Coates
COATES, a parish, in the union of Sutton (under
Gilbert's act), hundred of Bury, rape of Arundel, W.
division of Sussex, 4 miles (S. E. by S.) from Petworth;
containing 67 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north
by the Rother navigation, and comprises by measurement 346 acres; the surface is diversified, and from
the higher grounds, especially from Coates Castle, the
views are extensive. The living is consolidated with
the rectory of Burton: the tithes have been commuted
for £69. 12., and the glebe contains nearly 5 acres. The
church is in the early English style.
Coates
COATES, a township, in the parish of Barnoldswick, union of Skipton, E. division of the wapentake
of Staincliffe and Ewcross, W. riding of York,
8 miles (W. S. W.) from Skipton; containing 101 inhabitants. The township is situated in a district abounding with limestone of good quality, and comprises by
measurement 385 acres. The village, which is near the
parochial church, is neatly built. Coates Hall, a large
Elizabethan mansion, now neglected, was the residence
of the Bagshaw family.
Coates, Great (St. Nicholas)
COATES, GREAT (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the
union of Caistor, wapentake of Bradley-Haverstoe,
parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 4 miles (W.)
from Great Grimsby; containing 245 inhabitants. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£11. 10. 10., and in the gift of Sir R. Sutton, Bart.:
the tithes have been commuted for £654. 5., and the
glebe contains 76¼ acres, with a glebe-house.
Coates, Little (St. Michael)
COATES, LITTLE (St. Michael), a parish, in the
union of Caistor, wapentake of Bradley-Haverstoe,
parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 3¼ miles (W. by
S.) from Great Grimsby; containing 40 inhabitants.
The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's
books at £4. 18. 4., and in the gift of Trinity College,
Cambridge: the college receives a tithe rent-charge of
£140, and the vicar one of £112.
Coates, North (St. Nicholas)
COATES, NORTH (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the
union of Louth, wapentake of Bradley-Haverstoe,
parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 11 miles (N. N. E.)
from Louth; containing 225 inhabitants. The parish
comprises 2061 acres, of which 507 are common or
waste: the Louth and Humber canal runs through.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£12. 10. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown, in
right of the duchy of Lancaster: the tithes have been
commuted for £470. 18.; and the glebe contains half an
acre. The church, which has a tower, consists of a nave,
chancel, and aisles, with a chapel. There are some of
those wells, usually called "Blow wells."
Coatham, East
COATHAM, EAST, a hamlet, in the parish of KirkLeatham, union of Guisborough, E. division of the
liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York, 6¾ miles
(N. by W.) from Guisborough; containing, with West
Coatham, 371 inhabitants. This is a small fishing village near the mouth of the Tees, formerly much resorted
to for sea-bathing, but now eclipsed by the neighbouring
town of Redcar: the sands in the neighbourhood are
well adapted for the promenade or the carriage, and the
prospect is often rendered pleasing from the number of
trading-vessels sailing in the offing. A school is supported by an income of £47, arising principally from the
revenues of Kirk-Leatham school.
Coatham-Mundeville
COATHAM-MUNDEVILLE, a township, in the
parish of Haughton-le-Skerne, union of Darlington, S. W. division of Stockton ward, S. division of
the county of Durham, 4 miles (N.) from Darlington,
on the road to Durham; containing 138 inhabitants.
The place takes its distinguishing name from the family
of Amundeville, to whom it belonged in the first or
second century after the Conquest. A chapel dedicated
to St. Mary Magdalene existed here at a very early
period, and it is probable that it continued for several
centuries, being mentioned so late as the year 1680,
when, however, it seems to have been in ruins. The
township comprises 1466 acres, of which 771 are arable,
668 grass land, 12 wood, and 15 road and waste. On
the river Skerne is a manufactory for spinning flax and
shoe-thread. The Stockton and Darlington railway
passes through the township, on its way to the collieries
and the Aucklands. The tithes have been commuted for
a yearly rent-charge of £95. 17., and there is a glebe of
16 acres.
Coathill
COATHILL, a township, in the parish of Wetheral,
union of Carlisle, Cumberland ward, E. division of
Cumberland, 5½ miles (S. E.) from Carlisle; containing 253 inhabitants, and comprising, with Cumwhinton,
2372 acres, of which 61 are common or waste. Here is
a quarry of gypsum.
Coaton
COATON, a hamlet, in the parish of Ravensthorpe,
union of Brixworth, hundred of Guilsborough, S.
division of the county of Northampton, 9½ miles (N.
W. by N.) from Northampton; containing 128 inhabitants, and comprising 703 acres. The surface is undulated, partially wooded, and well watered by a branch of
the river Nene.
Coaton, Clay (St. Andrew)
COATON, CLAY (St. Andrew), a parish, in the
union of Rugby, hundred of Guilsborough, S. division
of the county of Northampton, 6¼ miles (E. by N.)
from Rugby; containing 107 inhabitants. It comprises
by measurement 974 acres; the lands are chiefly a rich
pasture, and the substratum is a blue clay. The village
is situated on each side of a rivulet, which not unfrequently overflows its banks; and the parish is intersected by the Derby and Leicester canal. The living is a
rectory, valued in the king's books at £10; patron and
incumbent, the Rev. Thomas Smith, whose tithes have
been commuted for £275, and whose glebe comprises
74 acres. The church is an ancient structure, in the
early English style.
Coatsamoor, or Coatsay-Moor
COATSAMOOR, or Coatsay-Moor, a township, in
the parish of Heighington, union of Darlington,
S. E. division of Darlington ward, S. division of
the county of Durham, 5½ miles (N. N. W.) from Darlington; containing 19 inhabitants. It comprises by
computation 510 acres: the road from Darlington to
Auckland passes on the west, and on the east is the
Stockton and Darlington railway.
Coat-Yards
COAT-YARDS, a township, in the chapelry of Nether Witton, union of Rothbury, W. division of
Morpeth ward, and N. division of Northumberland,
6 miles (S. by E.) from Rothbury; containing 20 inhabitants. The families of Fenwick, Robinson, and Turner,
have held lands here; the first-named appears to have
possessed the place shortly after the Dissolution, when
the crown obtained it from the abbey of Newminster.
The township comprises by computation 235 acres, and
is a bleak unsheltered plain, destitute of wood.
Cobham (St. Mary Magdalene)
COBHAM (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the
union of North Aylesford, hundred of Shamwell,
lathe of Aylesford, W. division of Kent, 5 miles (S.
by E.) from Gravesend; containing 758 inhabitants.
The parish comprises about 3000 acres, of which 1400
are arable, and 180 woodland; the surface is hilly, the
soil in the greater portion a sandy loam, and in the remainder a light chalk and sand. The village stands
upon an eminence, and is supplied with water from
works constructed by the family of Cobham. It had
formerly a weekly market on Monday, and a fair on St.
Mary Magdalene's day, granted to John, Lord Cobham,
in the 41st of Edward III.; the fair is held on the 2nd
of August, but the market has been long disused. The
living is a vicarage not in charge; net income, £94;
patron, the Earl of Darnley; impropriator, T. Wells,
Esq. The church is a handsome structure in the early
and later English styles, with an embattled tower, and a
north porch of elegant design: it contains a piscina in
a richly canopied niche, and some very ancient monuments and brasses to the noble families of Cobham and
Brooke. In 1362, John, Lord Cobham, made it collegiate, and, contiguous to the churchyard, erected a
college, which he amply endowed for five chaplains,
afterwards increased to eleven: at the suppression the
college was valued at £128. 1. 2., and was confirmed by
the crown to George, Lord Cobham, whose executors, in
1598, built upon the site the present college, and endowed it with the former possessions, for the maintenance of 20 persons. It is a neat quadrangular building
of stone, comprising part of the ancient structure. The
course of the Roman Watling-street is visible in the
parish; and on a hill in Cobham Park is a splendid
mausoleum, of the Doric order, erected by the late Earl
of Darnley, at an expense of £15,000. The place confers
the title of Baron on the Duke of Buckingham.
Cobham (St. Andrew)
COBHAM (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of
Epsom, Second division of the hundred of Elmbridge,
W. division of Surrey, 10 miles (N. E.) from Guildford,
and 20 (S. W.) from London; containing 1617 inhabitants. It comprises 5193a. 1r. 37p., of which about
2460 acres are arable, 1217 meadow, and nearly 800
wood; and is bounded by the river Mole, which is
crossed by a bridge on the road from Portsmouth to
London. This river was anciently called the Emley, and
gave name to the hundred, properly Emley-Bridge; it
abounds with pike, trout, perch, and other fish, and its
banks are adorned with several elegant villas. The village near the church is called Church-Cobham, and about
half a mile from it, on the Portsmouth road, is StreetCobham, where is a post-office. A fair is held on the
11th of December. The living is a discharged vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £9. 17. 11.; net income,
£162; patrons, the family of Simpkinson: there are
three acres of glebe. The church has a handsome Norman arch at the principal south entrance; its walls are
built with gravel cemented into a hard mass, at least a
yard in thickness, and cased with plaster: on taking
down the north wall for the enlargement of the church,
in 1826, its foundation was discovered to be scarcely, if
at all, lower than the level of the floor inside. There is
a saline chalybeate spring near the brook which separates
the parish on the north from Esher; and a little to the
west of Cobham is a barrow, near which a considerable
number of Roman coins of the Lower Empire was
ploughed up in 1772.
Coble-Dean
COBLE-DEAN, a hamlet, in the township of Chirton, parish, borough, and union of Tynemouth, E. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland, 1 mile (W.) from North Shields. It is situated
on the north bank of the Tyne, and contains a steam
flour-mill, a manufactory for whiting, and a raft-yard;
steam tug-boats, also, are built here. An act was passed
in 1846, for constructing docks and other works, to be
called the Northumberland Docks.
Cobley, with Tutnal.—See Tutnal.
COBLEY, with Tutnal.—See Tutnal.
Cobridge
COBRIDGE, a village, partly in the parish of Burslem, and partly in that of Stoke-upon-Trent, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill and of the county of
Stafford, 2¾ miles (N. N. E.) from Newcastle; the
Burslem portion containing 1584 inhabitants. The ville
of Rushton, which has been superseded by Cobridge, is
described in Domesday book under the name of Risetone; it was given by Henry de Audley to Hulton
Abbey, to which it became the grange, and since the
Dissolution has been in the possession of the ancient
family of Biddulph. Cobridge is in the Staffordshire
Potteries, situated on an eminence, midway between
Burslem and Hanley, and contains several manufactories
and collieries. A neat district church, dedicated to
Christ, has been erected by the rector of Burslem, aided
by the Church Commissioners and the Diocesan Society;
it is in the English style, with a tower, and affords
accommodation to about 560 persons. The living is in
the gift of the Rector. There are a chapel belonging to
Roman Catholics, and a meeting-house for the New
Connexion of Methodists. Schoolrooms were erected by
subscription in 1766.
Cocken
COCKEN, a township, in the parish of Houghtonle-Spring, union of Chester-le-Street, N. division
of Easington ward and of the county of Durham, 4
miles (N. N. E.) from Durham; containing 65 inhabitants. Cocken was separated from the constablery of
West Rainton, and made distinct in 1726. It is situated
on the river Wear, and comprises by measurement 380
acres, of which 250 are arable, 120 meadow and pasture,
and 10 waste: coal is obtained in the neighbourhood.
The whole township is the property of William Standish
Standish, Esq., of Duxbury Park, Lancashire. The
manor-house, which is surrounded by beautiful scenery,
became, at the commencement of the present century,
the residence of a convent of nuns of the order of St.
Theresa, who were driven by the revolutionists from
their former settlement at Lier, in Flanders. After
residing here for upwards of twenty years, they removed
to Field House, near Darlington. Mrs. Standish has
established a dame's school, at her own expense, within
the grounds.
Cockerham (St. Michael)
COCKERHAM (St. Michael), a parish, in the
unions of Garstang and Lancaster, partly in the
hundred of Amounderness, but chiefly in the hundred
of Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of the
county of Lancaster; comprising the chapelry of Ellel,
and part of the townships of Cleveley, Forton, and
Holleth; the whole containing about 3500 inhabitants,
of whom 847 are in the township of Cockerham, 7 miles
(S.) from Lancaster. The name is compounded of
coker, a quiver, and ham, a village. Soon after the Conquest the place was in the possession of the Lancasters,
barons of Kendal; the abbot of St. Mary de Pratis
established a cell or priory here, which existed in the
20th of Edward I., but it merged in the superior house
long before the Dissolution. The manor afterwards
passed into the family of Charteris, and was sold by
Lord Wemyss, about 1798, to Messrs. Green, Atkinson,
Dent, and Addison. The parish is bounded on the
west by Morecambe bay, and comprises above 10,000
acres, mostly arable land, with an undulated surface.
The river Cocker, the principal water in the district,
issues from the hills above Ellel Chapel; runs by Galgate, Holleth, and Forton; and after verging first to the
west, and then to the north, washes the township of
Cockerham on the south. To the west of the village, the
river passes under a well-built bridge, and widens into a
spacious estuary, terminating near the mouth of the
Lune, from which it is separated by a long and narrow
neck of land, the site of the ruins, and of the extraparochial precincts, of Cockersand Abbey. The Wyre
flows near the eastern borders of the parish, where it
receives a small rill from Cleveley; and the Lancaster
and Preston railway passes through. A market is
mentioned among the customs of the manor in the
reign of Edward III.: a fair is yet held; as are courts
leet and baron. The living is a discharged vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £10. 16. 8.; patrons, the
Lords of the Manor: the tithes were commuted under a
private act in 1827, for £600; the vicarage-house was
rebuilt in 1843, in the Elizabethan style. The church
was probably founded by the first William de Lancaster:
the present edifice is a re-erection, in 1814, on the site
of a building of the reign of James I. or Charles I.; it
consists of a body, aisles, chancel, and tower, the last
more ancient than the other parts, and castellated. There
are chapels at Ellel, Dolphinholme, and Shirehead,
forming separate incumbencies. A school is supported
by subscription, aided by £12 per annum from lands.
Cockerington (St. Leonard)
COCKERINGTON (St. Leonard), a parish, in the
union of Louth, Wold division of the hundred of
Louth-Eske, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln,
4¼ miles (E. N. E.) from Louth; containing 246 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 2000 acres, and
contains Cockerington Hall, the seat of William Scrope,
Esq., a neat mansion in grounds tastefully laid out.
The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the
king's books at £5. 1. 5½.; net income, £163; patron,
the Bishop of Lincoln; appropriators, the Dean and
Chapter of Lincoln. The greater portion of the tithes
were commuted for land in 1765, and by the recent
act a commutation has been made of the remainder
for a rent-charge of £17; the glebe consists of 160
acres. The church is a plain edifice with a tower, and
contains the mausoleum of Sir Adrian Scrope, ancestor
of the present family of that name. There is a place of
worship for Wesleyans. An almshouse for six widows
was founded and endowed with £20 per annum, by Sir
A. Scrope.
Cockerington (St. Mary)
COCKERINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the
union of Louth, Wold division of the hundred of
Louth-Eske, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln,
4 miles (N. E.) from Louth; containing 227 inhabitants,
and comprising by computation 1000 acres. The living
is a perpetual curacy, annexed to that of Alvingham:
the Bishop of Lincoln holds about 300 acres of land in
the parish, allotted in lieu of tithes in 1765. The church,
rebuilt in 1841, is situated in the same churchyard as
that of Alvingham, and was formerly the chapel to the
abbey of that place.
Cockermouth (All Saints)
COCKERMOUTH (All Saints), an unincorporated
borough, market-town, and parochial chapelry, and the
head of a union, in the parish of Brigham, Allerdale
ward above Derwent, W. division of Cumberland, 25
miles (S. W.) from Carlisle, and 305 (N. W. by N.) from
London; containing 4940 inhabitants. The name is
derived from the situation of the place at the mouth of
the river Cocker, which here unites with the Derwent.
The town was taken by surprise, in 1387, by an army
of Scottish borderers, who remained here three days.
Mary, Queen of Scots, after her escape from the castle
of Dunbar, rested some time at Cockermouth, on her
way from Workington to Carlisle, and was also hospitably entertained at Hutton Hall, then belonging to the
Fletchers. During the civil war of the 17th century,
the castle was besieged in August, 1648, by a body of
500 Cumberland royalists, but was relieved on September 29th by Lieut.-Col. Ashton, whom Cromwell had
despatched from Lancashire for the purpose. The castle, formerly the baronial seat of the lords of Allerdale,
stands on the edge of a precipitous eminence, on the
northern side of the town, opposite the confluence of the
two rivers. It was originally of great strength and
extent, and is supposed to have been erected by Waldeof,
soon after the Conquest, although the remains are not
apparently of earlier date than the fourteenth century,
and to have been constructed with the materials of an
older castle, named Papcastle, a Roman fortress, about
a mile and a half distant, on the other side of the
Derwent, and the former residence of Waldeof. The
only perfect and habitable parts are, the gate-house,
with two rooms adjoining, and the court-house at the
eastern angle of the area. Underneath the ruins of the
great tower is a spacious vault, thirty feet square, the
roof of which is groined, and supported by an octagonal
central pillar, with pilasters at the angles and sides;
this vault, from being called Mary Kirk, is supposed
to have been the chapel, dedicated to St. Mary. On
each side of the gateway is a dungeon, capable of containing 50 prisoners, the entrance to which was probably through a small aperture, visible in the corner of the
arch.
The town is situated in a narrow valley, amid scenery
richly diversified with hill and dale, wood and water.
The Derwent flows on the northern side of it, and is
crossed by a handsome stone bridge of two arches, connecting the town with the hamlet of Goat, measuring
270 feet in length, and completed in 1822 at an expense
to the county of £3000. On the margin of this river is
an agreeable promenade, about a mile long, terminated
at one extremity by lofty well-wooded cliffs, and at the
other by the ruins of the castle, and the elevated bowling-green. The river Cocker divides the town into two
parts, and is crossed by a bridge of one arch, formerly
very narrow, but rebuilt on a wider and improved plan
in 1828, at a cost of £2600. The streets have been
lighted, but, with the exception of the High-street,
which is broad and handsome, are only indifferently
paved: there is an ample supply of water from the
Derwent and Cocker, from some other streams that flow
through the town, and from pumps attached to most
of the dwellings. The houses are in general built of
stone, roofed with blue slate, and of respectable appearance. Considerable improvement has lately been effected,
particularly in the market-place, above the bridge over
the Cocker. There is a small subscription library; also
a parochial library over the grammar school, founded by
Dr. Bray and his associates, and containing upwards of
500 volumes, to which Dr. Keene, Bishop of Chester,
was a great benefactor.
Cockermouth is a place of considerable trading importance, enjoying, within a very limited distance, the
advantage of three sea-ports. A great trade is carried
on in cotton, linen, and woollen articles, for which there
are some extensive manufactories; also in the tanning
and dressing of leather, and the manufacture of hats,
stockings, paper, &c.; and in the vicinity are coal-mines.
The moor, containing about 1200 acres, was inclosed
and divided under an act obtained in 1813. A railway
was lately completed from this place to Workington,
8¾ miles in length; and an act was passed in 1846 for a
railway hence to Keswick. The market is on Monday,
when a considerable quantity of grain is pitched in
the market-place, and on Saturday is a market for
provisions, &c. Fairs for cattle are held on every
alternate Wednesday from the beginning of May till
the end of September; and there is a great fair for horses
and horned-cattle on the 10th of October; also two great
fairs, or statutes, for hiring servants, on the Mondays
at Whitsuntide and Martinmas. The town has no
separate jurisdiction: the chief officer is a bailiff, who is
chosen at Michaelmas, at the court leet for the manor,
from among the burghers, by a jury of burghers appointed for regulating the affairs of the town; he acts
as clerk of the market, but exercises no magisterial
functions, and has no local authority. In the 23rd of
Edward I. the borough returned members to parliament,
but from that date till the 16th of Charles I. the elective
franchise was suspended; it was then restored by a
resolution of the house of commons, and from that
period has been exercised without intermission. The
right of voting for the two members was formerly vested
in the burgage tenants, about 300 in number; but, by
the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, was extended
to the £10 householders of an enlarged district, which
for elective purposes was substituted for the ancient
borough: the old borough comprised 3000 acres, and
the boundaries of the new contain 9500: the bailiff is
returning officer. The county magistrates exercise jurisdiction within the borough, and hold a petty-session
every Monday. The steward of the manor holds a court
every three weeks, for the recovery of debts under 40s.,
and a court leet at Michaelmas and Easter; and aided
by commissioners appointed for the government of the
several manors within the honour, he also holds, at
Christmas, a court of dimissions in the castle. The
powers of the county debt-court of Cockermouth, established in 1847, extend over the greater part of the
registration-district of Cockermouth. The Epiphany
quarter-session for the county is held here in January;
and this is the principal place of election for the eastern
division of the county. The Moot-hall, an old dilapidated
structure inconveniently situated in the market-place, has
been rebuilt in a commodious manner, and on a more
eligible site. There is a small house of correction in
St. Helen's street.
The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £132;
patron, the Earl of Lonsdale. The tithes of the chapelry
were commuted for land in 1813, and under the recent
act for a rent-charge of £150; the glebe contains
5 acres. The old church or chapel, erected in the
reign of Edward III., was taken down, with the exception of the tower, and the present edifice of freestone
built by means of a brief, in 1711, and dedicated to All
Saints; it was enlarged in 1825. There are places of
worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, and
Wesleyans. A free grammar school was founded in
1676, by Lord Wharton, Sir Richard Graham, and
others, the income being £24 per annum. Other schools
are supported by subscription, and the poor have the
produce of several benefactions. The union of Cockermouth comprises forty-seven parishes or places, and
contains a population of 35,676. The hills on each side
of the Derwent are interesting to the naturalist, consisting of calcareous stone, almost entirely composed of
shells of the genus ammoniæ. On the north side of the
town is a tumulus, called Toot-hill; and one mile westward are the rampart and ditch of a fort or encampment, triangular in form, and nearly 750 feet in circumference. William Wordsworth, the eminent poet and
laureate, was born here in 1770.
Cockersand-Abbey
COCKERSAND-ABBEY, an extra-parochial liberty,
in the union of Lancaster, hundred of Lonsdale
south of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 7 miles (S. W. by S.) from Lancaster. The
earliest notice connected with the celebrated abbey of
Cockersand, appears to be in the charter of William de
Lancaster, who granted to Hugh, a hermit, certain
lands and his fishery upon the Lune, to maintain an
hospital. This was followed by other grants; and
Theobald Walter, among other donors, gave to the hospital the moss of Pilling. A grant was subsequently
obtained from the abbey at Leicester, and in 1190 Pope
Clement III. elevated the house into a monastery, as
the abbey of St. Mary, of the Præmonstratensian order,
of Cockersand. The numerous grants which followed
extended its possessions very widely, and in point of
revenue it ranked the third among the religious houses
of Lancashire; yet in a petition, 2nd Richard II., for a
confirmation of their charters, the monks style themselves "the king's poor chaplains," and "pray for a
consideration of their poverty, and that they are daily
exposed to the perils of drowning and destruction by
the sea." On the Dissolution the site was leased by the
crown, and afterwards became possessed by various
families, among whom, in the reign of Philip and Mary,
were the Daltons, to which family it continues to belong.
The ruins of the abbey stand on a neck of land which
projects into the sea on the sands of Cocker. Originally the buildings covered nearly an acre of land, but
the octagonal chapter-house, 30 feet in diameter, used
for the burial-place of the Daltons, alone remains; and
the windows of even this small portion no longer retain
their glass: a finely clustered column in the centre of
the interior supports moulded arches resting upon
smaller columns of the angles. The area of the ruins
is strewed with parts of walls, massive stones, and obliterated ornaments. The site is a rock of red friable
freestone, which might once have fortified it against the
encroachments of the sea, but which is now often beaten
against by the fury of the tides, and the bones of the
cemetery washed away.
Cockerton
COCKERTON, a township, in the parish and union
of Darlington, S. E. division of Darlington ward,
S. division of the county of Durham, 1¼ mile (N. W.
by N.) from Darlington; containing 482 inhabitants.
The soil, which is loamy, is in general good. The village is neatly built; its inhabitants were formerly
employed in the linen manufacture, but the trade has
been removed to Barnsley. Divine service is performed
every Wednesday, by permission of the bishop, in the
national schoolroom, built in 1825; and there is a place
of worship for Wesleyans. A gold coin, and several
copper coins, were found in a large stone jar, in the
beck, in 1836.
Cockey-Moor.—See Ainsworth.
COCKEY-MOOR.—See Ainsworth.
Cockfield
COCKFIELD, a parish in the union of Teesdale,
S. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the
county of Durham, 12 miles (N. W. by W.) from Darlington; containing, with the township of Woodland,
944 inhabitants. This parish comprises 4416a. 20p.,
whereof 400 acres form a common of uninclosed land;
the soil is clay, with a substratum of freestone of a most
excellent and durable quality, the ancient church of
Darlington, which was built with it, being still in high
preservation. The great basaltic dyke, bisecting a dyke
of earlier formation, runs through the parish; and there
is coal, the mines of which, though they have been
wrought for nearly five centuries, are even now slightly
productive. An extension of the Stockton and Darlington railway, from St. Helen's station to Cockfield, is of
great convenience for the transport of produce. The
living is a discharged rectory, with the vicarage of
Staindrop, lately annexed, valued in the king's books at
£9. 18., and in the gift of the Duke of Cleveland: the
tithes of the parish have been commuted for £220, and
the glebe consists of 16 acres, with a house. There is
a place of worship for Wesleyans. On Cockfield Fell
are traces of ancient intrenchments. This was the
birthplace of the ingenious Jeremiah and George Dixon,
of whom the former, more particularly, was employed in
scientific investigations of importance.
Cockfield (St. Peter)
COCKFIELD (St. Peter), a parish, in the union
of Cosford, hundred of Babergh, W. division of Suffolk, 4¼ miles (N. by W.) from Lavenham; containing
951 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the
king's books at £30, and in the patronage of St. John's
College, Cambridge; net income, £635. The church
has a large and handsome tower.
Cockhill, Somerset.—See Castle-Cary.
COCKHILL, Somerset.—See Castle-Cary.
Cocking
COCKING, a parish, in the union of Midhurst,
hundred of Easebourne, rape of Chichester, W.
division of Sussex, 2½ miles (S.) from Midhurst; containing 464 inhabitants. It is situated on the road
from London through Midhurst, to Chichester, and
comprises 2267 acres, including a portion of the Downs.
The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at
£13. 6. 8., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Chichester. The church is in the early English style, with
some later additions.