Compton-Dundon - Congresbury

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

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'Compton-Dundon - Congresbury', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, (London, 1848) pp. 675-678. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp675-678 [accessed 18 March 2024]

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Compton-Dundon (St. Andrew)

COMPTON-DUNDON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Langport, hundred of Whitley, W. division of Somerset, 2½ miles (N.) from Somerton; containing, with the tythings of Compton and Dundon, and the hamlet of Littleton, 679 inhabitants, of whom 355 are in Compton tything. It comprises 2568 acres, of which 1146 are arable, 1289 pasture, and 133 woodland. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 6. 10.; net income, £201; patron, the Bishop of Bath and Wells. The church stands in the village of Dundon. The ruins of a mansion that formerly belonged to the family of Beauchamp adjoin the churchyard. An adjacent hill is called Dundon Beacon, from a beacon having anciently stood on it.

Compton-Durville

COMPTON-DURVILLE, a tything, in the parish and hundred of South Petherton, union of Yeovil, W. division of Somerset, 1½ mile (W. N. W.) from South Petherton; containing 136 inhabitants.

Compton, Fenny (St. Peter)

COMPTON, FENNY (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Southam, Burton-Dassett division of the hundred of Kington, S. division of the county of Warwick, 8 miles (N. by W.) from Banbury; containing 615 inhabitants. By measurement made in 1836, this parish comprises 2077 acres, which are chiefly pasture: the Oxford canal passes through it, and there is a wharf for coal. Within the limits of the parish are some quarries of good building-stone. The village lies at the northern base of the Dassett hills, part of which range is included in the parish: to the east of the village were formerly two windmills; one was burnt down about eighteen years since, the other still remains. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £15. 8. 4., and in the patronage of the President and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who purchased the advowson in 1733. The tithes were commuted for land in 1778; the glebe comprises altogether 412 acres, and there is a glebe-house, built in 1842. The church is a very ancient structure, and is mentioned by Dugdale as having been given in the time of Henry I. to the canons of Kenilworth: in the chancel were formerly three inscriptions in brass to the memory of the family of Willis; one only of these now exists. The Wesleyans have a place of worship; and a national school is supported by subscription. On the summit of Gredenton Hill, in the parish, are vestiges of a British camp in the form of a horse-shoe, 228 yards in length, and defended with six lines of ramparts, between which were fosses round the steep declivity of the hill. Sir Henry Bate Dudley, a comic writer of some note, was born here in 1745.

Compton-Gifford

COMPTON-GIFFORD, a tything, in the parish of Charles the Martyr, Plymouth, union of Plympton St. Mary, hundred of Roborough, Roborough and S. divisions of Devon, 1½ mile (N. N. E.) from Plymouth; containing 271 inhabitants. Here is a chapel connected with the Establishment. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £225, of which £160 are payable to the vicar of St. Charles the Martyr's, and £65 to the vicar of St. Andrew's.

Compton-Greenfield

COMPTON-GREENFIELD, a parish, in the union of Clifton, Upper division of the hundred of Henbury, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 6¼ miles (N. by W.) from Bristol; containing 65 inhabitants. It comprises 650a. 2r. 37p., of which 39½ acres are arable, and 610 pasture: the navigable river Severn flows on the western side. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £7, and in the gift of Caius Lippencot, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £140, and the glebe contains 50 acres, with a glebe-house.

Compton, Little (St. Denis)

COMPTON, LITTLE (St. Denis), a parish, in the union of Chipping-Norton, hundred of Kington, S. division of Warwickshire, 4½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Chipping-Norton; containing 301 inhabitants. The parish adjoins that of Long Compton, and within its limits is a spot of land which marks the junction of the shires of Gloucester, Oxford, and Warwick. It comprises by computation 1600 acres; the soil is chiefly clay, and rocky. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £66; patrons, the Dean and Canons of ChristChurch, Oxford. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment, under an inclosure act, in 1794. Here is a mansion which was the residence of Bishop Juxon, chaplain to Charles I.

Compton, Long (St. Peter and St. Paul)

COMPTON, LONG (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Chipping-Norton, Brailes division of the hundred of Kington, S. division of the county of Warwick, 4¼ miles (N. N. W.) from Chipping-Norton; containing, with the hamlet of Weston, 829 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from London to Birmingham through Oxford, and comprises 3750a. 2r. 11p. It had a weekly market and an annual fair, granted by Henry III. in the 15th of his reign, both of which are now disused: the village is a polling-place for the southern division of the county. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12. 15. 7½.; net income, £191; patrons and impropriators, the Provost and Fellows of Eton College. The tithes were commuted for land in 1811; the glebe contains 125 acres, with a glebe-house. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Independents. About a mile southward is that remarkable monument of antiquity called Rollerich, or Rowlright, stones.

Compton-Martin (St. Michael)

COMPTON-MARTIN (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Clutton, hundred of Chewton, E. division of Somerset, 8 miles (N.) from Wells; containing 601 inhabitants. This parish, anciently Coomb-Martin, is situated on the north side of the Mendip hills, and comprises by computation 2200 acres. The scenery is remarkable for its richness, variety, and beauty; and at Highfield, near the entrance of the village, is a view commanding a romantic vale, extending to the Bristol Channel, with the mountains of Monmouthshire and Glamorganshire in the distance. The river Yeo has its source here, issuing from a pond in the centre of the village; and the road from Bristol to Wells passes through the parish. The living is a rectory, with that of Nempnett-Thrubwell annexed, valued in the king's books at £10. 6. 8.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. W. H. Cartwright: the tithes have been commuted for rent-charges of £265 each for Compton and Nempnett, and the glebe comprises 27 acres. The church is an ancient structure; the chancel is Norman, and the nave, aisles, and a private chapel, are of the later English style.

Compton, Nether (St. Nicholas)

COMPTON, NETHER (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union and hundred of Sherborne, Sherborne division of Dorset, 2¾ miles (W. N. W.) from Sherborne; containing 456 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, with that of Over Compton annexed, valued in the king's books at £7. 18., and in the gift of John Goodden, Esq.: the tithes of the parish produce £243. 16. 3., and the glebe comprises 22 acres.

Compton, Over (St. Michael)

COMPTON, OVER (St. Michael), a parish, in the union and hundred of Sherborne, Sherborne division of Dorset, 3½ miles (W. by N.) from Sherborne; containing 151 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, annexed to that of Nether Compton, and valued in the king's books at £11. 9. 4½.: the tithes have been commuted for £87. 3., and the glebe comprises 52¼ acres.

Compton-Pauncefoot (St. Mary)

COMPTON-PAUNCEFOOT (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Wincanton, hundred of Catsash, E. division of Somerset, 5 miles (W. S. W.) from Wincanton; containing 256 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the road to Exeter, comprises 670a. 1r. 32p.: stone of good quality is quarried for building and other purposes. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 10. 10., and in the gift of the Heirs of John H. Hunt, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £175, and the glebe comprises about 35 acres of land. The church is a neat small edifice, with a tower surmounted by a neat spire.

Compton-Vallence (St. Thomas à Becket)

COMPTON-VALLENCE (St. Thomas à Becket), a parish, in the union of Dorchester, liberty of Frampton, Dorchester division of Dorset, 7¼ miles (W. N. W.) from Dorchester; containing 116 inhabitants. The parish comprises by computation 1500 acres: the village, which is situated on the banks of a small stream, appears to have been formerly more extensive than it is at present. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12. 5. 2½., and in the gift of Robert Williams, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £237, and the glebe comprises 100 acres. The church, rebuilt in 1839, at the cost of the patron, is a handsome edifice in the later English style, with a square embattled tower; the windows are embellished with stained glass. The rectory-house has been rebuilt in a corresponding style.

Compton-Verney

COMPTON-VERNEY, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Stratford-on-Avon, Kington division of the hundred of Kington, S. division of the county of Warwick, 2 miles (N. W.) from Kington; containing 34 inhabitants, and comprising 1658 acres. It lies near the road from Kington to Stratford.

Compton-Wyniates

COMPTON-WYNIATES, a parish, in the union of Shipston-Upon-Stour, Brailes division of the hundred of Kington, S. division of the county of Warwick, 5¼ miles (E. by N.) from Shipston; containing 46 inhabitants, and comprising 988 acres. The parish is situated on the border of Oxfordshire, which bounds it on the east. The living is a rectory, united to the vicarage of Tysoe, and valued in the king's books at £10. Of the manor-house, built by Sir William Compton in the reign of Henry VIII., and visited by that monarch, there are still some curious remains. Spencer Compton, the second earl of Northampton, and one of the most zealous adherents to Charles I., resided in this house, which was garrisoned by some parliamentary troops in 1646, in which year the church was destroyed.

Conderton

CONDERTON, a hamlet, in the parish of Overbury, union of Tewkesbury, Middle division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester; containing 131 inhabitants, and comprising 878a. 30p. It is a short distance southeast of the village of Overbury, and is nearly surrounded by a portion of the county of Gloucester.

Condicote (St. Nicholas)

CONDICOTE (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Stow-on-the-Wold, partly in the Upper division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, and partly in the Upper division of the hundred of Slaughter, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 3½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Stow; containing 165 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 1237 acres: there are quarries of flagstone of good quality. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 1. 0½.; net income, £158; patrons, the Rev. W. Bishop, and others: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1777. The church is a very ancient structure.

Condover (St. Andrew)

CONDOVER (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Atcham, hundred of Condover, S. division of Salop, 4½ miles (S.) from Shrewsbury; containing 1550 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 7545 acres, about two-thirds of which are arable, and 790 acres are tithe-free; the soil is in some parts light and gravelly, in others a stiff clay, and in others good meadow-land. The surface is undulated, and rather hilly; the lands are watered by a copious stream called Condover brook, and there is a small lake named Bosmere, in and near which have been found several botanical plants not known elsewhere in England. Coal exists near the boundary of the parish, and a mine has been opened. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 14.; patron and impropriator, E. W. Smythe Owen, Esq., of Condover Hall. The great tithes have been commuted for £1092, and the vicarial for £210; the glebe contains nearly 7 acres.

Coneysthorpe

CONEYSTHORPE, a township, in the parish of Barton-in-the-Street, union of Malton, wapentake of Bulmer, N. riding of York, 4 miles (N. by W.) from Whitwell; containing 170 inhabitants. The township comprises about 1150 acres, the soil of which is chiefly light, and on a substratum of limestone; the surface is generally undulated, and the scenery in many situations very beautiful. A church built here in 1837, by the Earl of Carlisle, is a neat edifice with a campanile tower.

Coneythorpe

CONEYTHORPE, a township, in the parish of Goldsborough, Upper division of the wapentake of Claro, W. riding of York, 4¼ miles (E. N. E.) from Knaresborough; containing 118 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 800 acres of land, mostly the property of Lord Stourton. At this place is a large tumulus called Claro Hill, which either gives its name to, or receives it from, the wapentake of Claro, and on which, it is said, the councils of the wapentake were of old wont to be held.

Coney-Weston.—See Weston, Coney.

CONEY-WESTON.—See Weston, Coney.

Congerston (St. Mary)

CONGERSTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Market-Bosworth, hundred of Sparkenhoe, S. division of the county of Leicester, 3¾ miles (N. W. by W.) from Market-Bosworth; containing 267 inhabitants. The parish comprises 587a. 2r. 17p., and is rather more than half of the lordship of Congerston. The surface is varied, and the soil, which is generally good, is well adapted in some parts for corn; a considerable portion of land is meadow and pasture. The Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal flows through the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 3. 6½., and in the gift of Earl Howe, with a net income of £218: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1822. Charles Jennings, in 1773, left £333 for teaching children; the school is in union with the National Society, and is assisted by Earl and Countess Howe.

Congham (St. Andrew)

CONGHAM (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union and hundred of Freebridge-Lynn, W. division of Norfolk, 7 miles (E. N. E.) from Lynn; containing 326 inhabitants. It comprises 2850a. 2r. 22p., of which about 1887 acres are arable, 487 pasture, and 358 wood and plantations, the last chiefly in the vicinity of Congham Lodge; there is a sheep-walk of 97 acres: the common was inclosed in 1812. The living is a rectory, with that of Congham St. Mary consolidated in 1684, valued together in the king's books at £12. 10.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. J. Wright. The tithes have been commuted for £565, out of which £25 are payable to the rector of Roydon; the glebe comprises 35 acres, with a glebe-house. The living was endowed in 1718, by Ellen Spelman, with lands then worth £53. 18. per annum. The church of St. Mary has been demolished; that of St. Andrew is chiefly in the early style, and has a chapel on the north side. The learned antiquary and historian, Sir Henry Spelman, was born at this place, in 1561, and served as high sheriff of the county in the year 1604; he died in London in 1641, and was buried in the south transept of Westminster Abbey.

Congleton

CONGLETON, an incorporated market-town, a chapelry, and the head of a union, in the parish of Astbury, having separate jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Northwich, S. division of the county of Chester, 31 miles (E. by S.) from Chester, and 161 (N. W. by W.) from London; containing 9222 inhabitants. Some writers have considered this the site of Condate, an aboriginal settlement of the Cornavii; but Whitaker, in his History of Manchester, has convincingly refuted this opinion, and fixed that station at Kinderton. The place is noticed in the Domesday survey, under the designation of Cogletone; but its origin has not been satisfactorily ascertained. In the beginning of the fourteenth century, a free charter was bestowed upon it by Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who in 1282 had procured the grant of a weekly market. In the reign of Henry VI., an inundation having done considerable damage to the town, the inhabitants obtained permission to divert the course of the river; and subsequently they had a grant of the king's mills, which stood on its banks. The town is situated in a valley embosomed in richly-wooded hills, on the south bank of the river Daven or Dane, over which a bridge was built in 1782, and, notwithstanding some recent improvements, consists of narrow and irregularly formed streets. The houses in the eastern part are old, and chiefly of timber and brick-work; those in the western part are in general modern and of handsome appearance. The inhabitants are supplied with water from springs, and from the rivulet Howtey or Howey, which intersects the town; in 1833, an act was obtained for lighting the streets with gas. The environs abound with scenery beautifully diversified by the windings of the river, on the banks of which are numerous elegant mansions and villas.

Corporation Seal.

The manufacture of gloves, and of leather laces called Congleton Points, for which the town was celebrated, has given place to the throwing of silk, the spinning of waste silk and of cotton, and the manufacture of ribbons, handkerchiefs, and other silk goods. Forty mills for silk have been erected since 1753, when that branch of manufacture was introduced by Mr. Pattison, of London, who built the first mill here, an edifice now comprising five stories, 480 feet in length, and of proportionate width, and which is considered in point of extent the second in the kingdom. In this mill, ribbons and handkerchiefs are made to a great extent by the power-loom, a thousand hands being employed; it is the property of Samuel Pearson and Son, and is the second mill built in England, one having been built previously at Derby. A canal from Marple to join the Grand Trunk canal at Lawton, has been constructed, which, passing within a quarter of a mile of the town, materially facilitates its trade; and an act was passed in 1846 for a railway from Macclesfield, by Congleton, to the Potteries. The market is on Saturday; the fairs, chiefly for cattle, are on the Thursday before Shrovetide, May 12th, July 12th, and Nov. 22nd. The market-house, in High-street, a neat and commodious structure containing a handsome assembly-room, was built in 1822, at the expense of Sir Edmund Antrobus, Bart.; the market-place has recently been enlarged by the corporation, and is one of the best in the county.

The government, by charter of incorporation granted by James I., in 1625, was vested in a mayor, 8 aldermen, 16 capital burgesses, a high steward, town-clerk, and subordinate officers. By the act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, the corporation now consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors; the borough is divided into three wards, being co-extensive with the township of Congleton; and the number of magistrates is nine. The corporation formerly held quarterly courts of sessions for trying prisoners charged with misdemeanors and felonies not capital; and courts of record are still held for the recovery of debts to any amount, by the high steward, an officer appointed by the corporation. A court leet, also, is held in August, at which the high steward, or his deputy, presides. The county debt-court of Congleton, established in 1847, has jurisdiction over the registration-district of Congleton. The guildhall, a neat brick building, was built in 1805.

The township comprises 2380 acres, the soil of which is loam and sand. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £147; patrons and impropriators, the Mayor and Corporation. The chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, was rebuilt of brick, in 1740; a square tower of stone was added to it in 1786, and it was enlarged by the addition of two galleries in 1840, when the churchyard was also extended: the chapel stands on elevated ground, and commands a fine prospect. There was formerly another chapel at the end of the bridge, on the opposite side of the river Dane, which, having long since become desecrated, was appropriated to the reception of the poor; it was pulled down in 1810. At Congleton Moss, a church dedicated to the Holy Trinity was erected in 1845, at a cost of £1500, raised by public grants and by subscription, on a site given by the Rev. James Brierley, M.A.: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rector of Astbury; income, £100. Two districts or ecclesiastical parishes have been formed under Sir Robert Peel's act: in the one, St. Stephen's district, a chapel has been purchased from the dissenters, and licensed by the bishop; in the other, St. James', a church has been erected on a site given by Edward Lowndes Mallabar, Esq. The first stone of the church was laid on the 29th of May, 1847: the building is in the style which prevailed in the latter part of the 13th century, and cost about £3500, exclusively of the tower, which it is proposed to add hereafter at an expense of £2000. St. James' district was the first formed in the kingdom under the act. The livings of both the districts are perpetual curacies, in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of Chester, alternately. The tithes of the township have been commuted for £252. There are places of worship for Independents, Primitive Methodists, Wesleyans, Unitarians, and Roman Catholics. The grammar school is of uncertain foundation, but it existed prior to 1590, and was endowed with a house and garden and an acre and a half of land; a new schoolroom was erected in 1834. Five schools in connexion with the Church have been established within the last seven years: attached to the church of the Holy Trinity are excellent schools; and in St. James' district is also a large school. The poor law union of Congleton comprises 32 parishes or places, of which 31 are in the county of Chester, and one in that of Stafford; and contains a population, according to the census of 1841, of 29,040. John Bradshaw, chief justice of Chester, and president of the tribunal that passed sentence of death on Charles I., was articled to an attorney in this town, of which he became mayor in 1637, and was subsequently appointed high steward. John Whitehurst, a celebrated mechanic, and author of a treatise on the Theory of the Earth, was born here in 1713. The place conferred the title of Baron on Sir Henry Parnell, who was created Baron Congleton in 1841, and whose son is the present peer.

Congresbury (St. Andrew)

CONGRESBURY (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Axbridge, hundred of Winterstoke, E. division of Somerset, 12 miles (S. W. by W.) from Bristol; containing 1380 inhabitants. This place is supposed to have derived its name from St. Congar, son of an eastern monarch, who in 711 fled from his father's court, to avoid a marriage to which he was disinclined, and ultimately settled here, where he built an oratory, and, receiving a grant of land from Ina, King of the West Saxons, founded an establishment for twelve canons: he afterwards proceeded on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where he died, and his remains were brought for interment in the monastery that he had founded. The parish is situated on the road from Bristol to Weston-SuperMare, and bounded on the west by extensive marshes, connected with the river Yeo, and stretching to the Bristol Channel; it comprises an area of 4400 acres by measurement. Iron-ore of an excellent kind abounds in the higher parts adjoining Wrington Hill, and is extensively wrought by the trustees of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital at Bristol, to whom the land belongs. Limestone of good quality is also abundant. The village is a polling-place for the eastern division of the county; in the centre of it is an ancient lofty cross. A grant was obtained from Henry III., by Jocelyn, Bishop of Bath, for a market and a fair, of which the former has been long discontinued, but the latter is still held on the 14th of September. The living is a vicarage, with that of Wick St. Lawrence annexed, valued in the king's books at £42. 1. 8., and in the patronage of R. Hunt, Esq.; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Wells. The vicarial tithes of Congresbury have been commuted for £530, and those of Wick for £250; the rectorial tithes have been commuted for £190: the rectorial glebe comprises 10 acres, and the vicarial 10. The church is a handsome structure, with a tower and lofty spire, and contains details of various styles.