Enford (All Saints)

ENFORD (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Pewsey, hundred of Elstub and Everley, Everley, Pewsey, and S. divisions of Wilts, 6 miles (N.) from Amesbury; comprising the tythings of Chisenbury, Compton, Coombe, Enford, Fifield, Littlecott, LongStreet, and Newtown; and containing 797 inhabitants, of whom 187 are in the tything of Enford. This place, called in the Domesday survey Enedford, of which its present name is a contraction, is supposed from its situation near a ford across the river Avon, which connects the line of road from Warminster to Everley, to have derived that appellation from Avon-ford. The parish is on the border of Salisbury Plain, and comprises 7050 acres of good arable and pasture land; the soil is generally a light loam mingled with flints, and resting upon a deep stratum of pure solid chalk, which is used for building and for burning into lime. The village is pleasantly seated on the Avon, which abounds with trout, and, receiving various streams in its course towards Salisbury, falls into the Channel at Christchurch. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £19. 4. 9½.; patrons and impropriators, the Governors of Christ's Hospital, London; income, £400, derived from allotments of land under successive inclosure acts, amounting to 360 acres. The church, a venerable structure in the early English style, with a lofty spire that was visible for 20 miles across the downs, and noticed by Addison in one of his poems, was nearly destroyed in 1817, by the fall of the spire, which was struck by lightning: with the exception of the spire, the building was restored in 1831, at an expense of £2300. There are several barrows, in which pieces of ancient armour, and earthen vessels, have been discovered.

Englefield

ENGLEFIELD, a parish, in the union of Bradfield, hundred of Theale, county of Berks, 6 miles (W.) from Reading; containing 373 inhabitants. This parish, which comprises 1379a. 3r. 16p., derives its name from the Saxon word Ingle, a fire or beacon light; and probably had its origin about the middle of the ninth century, when the Danes, having made themselves masters of Reading, sent out a detachment from their army to attack the Saxons, who were encamped here, and who drove them back with great loss. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 12. 8½.; patron, R. Benyon de Beauvoir, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £400, and the glebe consists of 33 acres. The church has some portions in the early English style, but has been much modernised; it contains several interesting monuments to the memory of the ancestors of the Marquess of Winchester. Elias Ashmole, the herald and antiquary, in 1647 retired to this place, where he pursued his researches.

English-Combe.—See Combe, English.

ENGLISH COMBE.—See Combe, English.

Enham, King's

ENHAM, KING'S, a hamlet, in the parish, union, and hundred of Andover, Andover and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 2 miles (N.) from Andover; containing 92 inhabitants.

Enham, Knights' (St. Michael)

ENHAM, KNIGHTS' (St. Michael), a parish, in the union and hundred of Andover, Andover and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 1¾ mile (N.) from Andover; containing 92 inhabitants, and comprising 778a. 3r. 8p. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10, and in the gift of Queen's College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £210, and the glebe comprises 27a. 2r. 5p. The church was enlarged and repewed in 1838. David Dewar, Esq., endowed a school with £25 per annum, to which the present Mr. Dewar adds an equal subscription; he also left £25 to be distributed yearly in bread and clothing.

Enmore (St. Michael)

ENMORE (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Bridgwater, hundred of Andersfield, W. division of Somerset, 4 miles (W. S. W.) from Bridgwater; containing 302 inhabitants. It comprises 1112 acres, of which 357 are arable, 572 pasture, 65 orchard and gardens, and 116 woodland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 4. 2., and in the gift of Sir E. Tierney, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for £220, and the glebe comprises 22 acres, with a house.

Ennerdale

ENNERDALE, a parochial chapelry, in the parish of St. Bees, union of Whitehaven, Allerdale ward above Derwent, W. division of Cumberland, 5 miles (N. E.) from Egremont; containing, with Ennerdale High End, 183 inhabitants. This place is remarkable for its lake, about two miles and a half in length and three-quarters of a mile in breadth; the scenery is wild and striking, and beyond the head of the lake is to be seen a confused assemblage of mountains, one of them named the Pillar, rising to an elevation of 2893 feet. On the second Tuesday in September a sheep-fair is held in the village; and the Earl of Lonsdale, as lord of the manor, holds a court at Michaelmas. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £84; patron, H. Curwen, Esq. The chapel is a small neat edifice, repaired in 1786.

Enoder, St.

ENODER, ST., a parish, in the union of St. Columb, partly in the hundred of Powder, and partly in that of Pyder, county of Cornwall, 2¾ miles (N. E.) from St. Michael's; containing 1127 inhabitants. The parish comprises 6000 acres, of which 777 are common land or waste; the substratum is rich in mineral wealth, and there are two quarries of slate-stone used for building, and a quarry of good granite. Fairs are held at Summer-Court on Holy-Thursday, the 28th of July, and 25th of September, and at St. Michael's on the 15th of October, chiefly for cattle and sheep. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £26. 13. 4.; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Exeter: the great tithes have been commuted for £463, and the vicarial for £320; the glebe comprises 17 acres. The church is a very handsome structure, of later English architecture, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles, erected in 1711 to replace the original tower, which had fallen in 1686. The Bryanites and Wesleyans have places of worship. There were formerly two chapels in the parish; the fields in which they respectively stood are called the Chapel Meadows, and pay great tithes to the vicar.

Ensham (St. Leonard)

ENSHAM (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of Witney, hundred of Wootton, county of Oxford, 5½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Oxford; containing 1893 inhabitants. This place, anciently a stronghold of the Britons, was, with several other garrisons, taken from them by Cuthwulf, and made a Saxon frontier town; upon which it obtained the appellation of Egonesham, whereof its present name is a contraction. It subsequently was often attacked by the Britons, and many sanguinary battles occurred in the immediate vicinity, when it is supposed the barrows at Stanton-Harcourt were raised, and the stones there, called the Devil's quoits, were erected. In 614, Cygenils, King of the West Saxons, and his son Cwichelm, routed the Britons near this place, after an obstinate engagement in which 2000 of the latter were killed. It was a royal vill in the reign of Ethelred, and is styled Locus Celebris in a charter of that monarch, who, by the advice of Alphege and Wulstan, Archbishops of Canterbury and York, held a grand council here, at which many ecclesiastical and civil decrees were enacted. In 1005, Aylmer, Earl of Cornwall, founded a Benedictine monastery here, which, soon after the Conquest, was removed to Lincoln by Remigius, bishop of that see, and made dependent on the abbey of Stowe; but in the reign of Henry I. it was again removed to Ensham, where it continued to flourish till the Dissolution, when its revenue was estimated at £441. 12. 2¼. The site of the conventual buildings may be traced; but the only remains are the slender shaft of an ancient cross, the figure of a bishop in his pontifical robes, and some fragments of sculpture. The parish comprises by computation 5300 acres, of which 3000 are arable, 1900 pasture, and about 400 woodland: the village is situated near the river Thames; and there is a mill at which paper of very superior quality is manufactured. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £15. 14.; net income, £176; patrons, the Bricknell family; impropriator, the Duke of Marlborough: the tithes were commuted for land and a corn-rent, under an inclosure act of the 39th and 40th of George III. The church is a handsome structure in the later English style, with some interesting details. There are places of worship for Independents.

Enson, with Salt.—See Salt.

ENSON, with Salt.—See Salt.

Enstone (St. Kenelm)

ENSTONE (St. Kenelm), a parish, in the union of Chipping-Norton, hundred of Chadlington, county of Oxford; containing, with the hamlets of Clevely, Gagingwell, Lidstone, and Radford, 1121 inhabitants, of whom 378 are in Neat-Enstone hamlet, and 237 in Church-Enstone, 15¾ miles (N. W. by W.) from Oxford. The parish comprises by measurement 6064 acres, of which nearly the whole is arable. Some ingenious water-works were constructed here by Thomas Bushel, servant to Lord Bacon, which were visited by Charles I. and his consort, who named the rock from which the spring issues "Henrietta." The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 14. 4.; net income, £357; patron, Lord Dillon; appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford. The church is a spacious and substantial structure, in the early English style, with some Norman portions; in a chamber above the south porch are several pieces of armour, which probably belonged to the troops raised here during the parliamentary war. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Entwistle

ENTWISTLE, a township, in the chapelry of Turton, parish and union of Bolton, hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 6½ miles (N. by E.) from Bolton; containing 555 inhabitants. The township was anciently common land, belonging to the families of Blackburn and Entwistle. The latter family was long settled here, and Camden speaks of Entwistle Hall, in his time, as being "a neat and elegant mansion, the residence of noble proprietors of its own name." Sir Bertine Entwistle, knight, viscount, and baron, of Bricqbec, in Normandy, a distinguished warrior in the reigns of Henry V. and VI., was among the heroes of Agincourt, and contributed by his zeal to the conquest of France. He was also engaged, on the side of the latter monarch, in the battle of St. Alban's, the first blow struck in the fatal quarrel between the houses of York and Lancaster, in 1455; and there unfortunately perished. The township lies on the north-eastern extremity of the hundred of Salford, and comprises 661 acres of land, chiefly pasture and moor, with a little arable; the surface is hilly, and picturesquely wooded, and the soil of pretty good quality in the vale. The inhabitants are principally employed in print-works and in hand-loom weaving.

Enville (St. Mary)

ENVILLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Seisdon, S. division of the hundred of Seisdon and of the county of Stafford, 5½ miles (W. N. W.) from Stourbridge; containing 814 inhabitants. The parish comprises 4949a. 1r. 38p., mostly arable, of which the soil is of various quality, but generally good; 150 acres are wood, and 520 common land or waste. The surface is beautifully undulated; and from the elevation of the ground, the air is extremely healthy and salubrious, drawing numerous parties of pleasure to the place. There is a red sandstone-quarry. Enville Hall, the seat of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington, has belonged to his lordship's family more than two centuries; it has been enlarged and modernised, but retains much of its original character: the lawn rises boldly to the left, and is adorned by a charming lake, from the side of which a path leads through a shrubbery to a fine cascade, formed by the celebrated Shenstone, who designed the whole of the scenery, which is now ornamented by a small chapel dedicated to his memory. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £27. 2. 11., and in the gift and incumbency of the Rev. C. Jesson: the tithes have been commuted for £912. 12. 6., and the glebe consists of 121 acres, with a house. The church is an ancient edifice with a square tower: it contains many ancient monuments; and in 1762 a stone coffin, inscribed Rogerus de Morf, was dug up under the west end. Funds have been left for the education of children, and there is a day and Sunday school.

Epperston (Holy Cross)

EPPERSTON (Holy Cross), a parish, in the union of Southwell, S. division of the wapentake of Thurgarton and of the county of Nottingham, 10 miles (N. N. E.) from Nottingham; containing 518 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2300 acres, of which two-thirds are arable, 250 acres wood, and the remainder pasture: a small stream, called the Dover beck, bounds it on the south. Stocking-weaving is carried on. The village, which lies in the vale of the rivulet, is pleasant and well built. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 1. 8., and in the gift of the Trustees of William Hulme, for scholarships in Brasenose College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for 221 acres of glebe, valued at £189, and a rent-charge of £20. 6. 6. for the woodland. The church is an ancient structure, with a tower surmounted by a handsome spire. There are a place of worship for Wesleyans, and a school in union with the National Society. A library was founded in 1839, by John Litchfield, Esq., who more recently built a neat edifice for its reception; it consists of upwards of 2000 volumes on philosophical and miscellaneous subjects.

Epping (All Saints)

EPPING (All Saints), a town and parish, and the head of a union, chiefly in the hundred of Waltham, but partly in that of Harlow, S. division of Essex, 17½ miles (W. by S.) from Chelmsford, and 16¾ (N. E. by N.) from London, on the road to Newmarket; containing 2424 inhabitants. This place, which is of some antiquity, was given by Henry II. to the monks of Waltham Abbey, but, reverting to the crown, became afterwards a part of the duchy of Lancaster. The town is pleasantly situated near the extensive forest to which it gives name, and consists of two parts, one near the church, called Epping-Upland, and the other almost a mile and a half to the south-east of it, called EppingStreet, in which the market is held: the latter is a spacious street, nearly a mile in length, having in the centre a building called the market-house, much decayed. The houses are irregularly built; but being a great thorough-fare and place of traffic, the town possesses some good inns. It is celebrated for its butter, of which large quantities are sent for the supply of the London market, where, from the excellence of its quality, it maintains a superiority in price; the pork and sausages of this place are also in high estimation. The market is on Friday: the fairs are, on the Tuesday in Whitsun-week, which is but thinly attended; November 13th, a very considerable fair for the sale of stock; and October 11th, a statute-fair for hiring servants. There are courts leet and baron annually, under the lord of the manor; and the petty-sessions for the division are held every Friday.

The parish is about 30 miles in circumference: the soil is generally a strong wet loam, and a large portion of the land is in pasture. Epping Forest is a royal chace, anciently called the Forest of Essex, subsequently Waltham Forest, and at present deriving its name from the town. Its original limits have been gradually contracted, many thousand acres having been thrown into cultivation, and numerous handsome villas erected, among which, Copped Hall, built on the site of a structure raised by the monks of Waltham Abbey when they had possession of the manor, is a noble edifice, in the centre of a fine park of nearly 4000 acres, planted with forest-trees, including a cedar of Libanus of extraordinary beauty. The forest is under the jurisdiction of a lord warden, whose office is hereditary in the family of the late Sir James Tylney Long, Bart., and four verderers, who are elected by the freeholders of the county, and retain their office for life: the forest rights vary according to the particular tenure prevailing in the different manors included in the district. The living of Epping is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17. 13. 4., and in the gift of Henry John Conyers, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £1216. 18. 6., of which £400 are payable to Mr. Conyers, and £816. 18. 6. to the vicar, who has 11 acres of glebe. The church is situated on elevated ground, commanding an extensive view of the surrounding district, and is an ancient edifice consisting of a nave and chancel. At Epping-Street is a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist, which has been enlarged by 370 sittings: the living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £120; patrons, certain Trustees. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends and Independents, the former of which, though bordering on the town, is in an adjoining parish. The poor law union comprises 18 parishes or places, and contains a population of 15,987.

Eppleby

EPPLEBY, a township, in the parochial chapelry of Forcett, union of Richmond, wapentake of GillingWest, N. riding of York, 8 miles (N. by E.) from Richmond; containing 205 inhabitants. It is on the south side of the river Tees, and comprises by computation 1490 acres of land: the village is situated a short distance north of the Hutton beck, and about a mile from the village of Forcett.

Eppleton, Great

EPPLETON, GREAT, a township, in the parish and union of Houghton-le-Spring, N. division of Easington ward and of the county of Durham, 7¼ miles (N. E. by E.) from Durham; containing 74 inhabitants. The township comprises 695a. 2r. 23p., of which 303 acres are arable, 362 grass, 22 wood, and 7 waste. The Durham and Sunderland railway passes through this township and that of Little Eppleton. The tithes have been commuted for £75.

Eppleton, Little

EPPLETON, LITTLE, a township, in the parish and union of Houghton-le-Spring, N. division of Easington ward and of the county of Durham, 6¼ miles (E. N. E.) from Durham; containing 38 inhabitants. It comprises 335a. 1r. 24p., of which 201 acres are arable, 96 meadow and pasture, and 37 woodland.

Epsom (St. Martin)

EPSOM (St. Martin), a parish and market-town, and the head of a union, in the First division of the hundred of Copthorne and Effingham, W. division of Surrey, 16 miles (E. N. E.) from Guildford, and 15 (S. W. by S.) from London, on the road to Worthing; containing 3533 inhabitants. This place, by the Saxons called Ebbisham, from which its present name is derived, is delightfully situated in a sheltered vale, on the western verge of Banstead Downs; and from the salubrity of the air, and the estimation in which its medicinal waters were formerly held, it became the resort of many families, and rapidly increased in the number of its buildings and the extent of its population. The parish comprises by estimation 4340 acres, of which 2500 are inclosed and under cultivation, and the remainder open common and down: the soil on one side is a strong clay, and on the other chalk and flint; the surface is gently undulated. The houses of the town are in general handsome and well built: gas was introduced in 1840. On the downs, which command an extensive and interesting view, is an excellent course where races are held annually, commencing on the Tuesday, and continuing till the end of the week, preceding Whitsuntide; the Derby stakes are run for on Wednesday, which is the principal day, and the Oaks on Friday. The grand stand, a commodious edifice, was completed in 1830, the expense being estimated at £13,890, raised on 1000 £20 shares: the interior comprises several rooms for refreshment, and a saloon 101 feet long and 38 feet wide; the whole building is 126 feet long, and arranged for the accommodation of 5000 persons, with seats on the roof for 2500. A second meeting takes place in October, and much of the support of the town arises from the great influx of strangers at the time of the races. A railway was opened from Croydon to this place in May, 1847; and an act has been passed, authorising a continuation of it to Godalming, Petersfield, and Portsmouth. The market is on Wednesday; and there is a fair on the 25th of July, for cattle and toys. The county magistrates hold a petty-session for the division on the first Monday in every month; and the town is within the jurisdiction of a court at Kingston, for the recovery of debts to any amount. The powers of the county debt-court of Epsom, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Epsom. A court baron is held in April, and a court leet in October.

The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 9. 9½.; net income, £304; patrons, the Family of Speer; impropriator, F. Parkhurst, Esq. The church was rebuilt in 1825, at an expense of £7000, the style of the ancient structure being in most instances carefully preserved; it contains several neat monuments, among which is one of the Rev. John Parkhurst, author of the Hebrew and Greek Lexicon. On Epsom common is a small church, erected in 1845, by subscription, on ground given by J. T. Briscoe, Esq., lord of the manor: the patronage is in the Vicar of Epsom. There are three places of worship for dissenters. In 1694, John Brayne bequeathed £500, to be invested in the purchase of land, three-fifths of the produce to be applied to the instruction of children. An almshouse for twelve aged widows was erected by the parishioners on land given for that purpose by John Livingstone, about the year 1703: Samuel Cane, Esq., in 1786 bequeathed £500 three per cent. consols.; and in 1814 Langley Blackenbury, Esq., left £300 in the same stock, to be distributed in bread and coal to the inmates. Mary Dundas left a copyhold now producing £30 per annum, to be laid out in coal for aged widows; and there are also charitable bequests for the relief of the poor generally. The union of Epsom comprises 15 parishes or places, and contains a population of 17,251; the union-house was erected in 1838, at an expense of £9000, and can accommodate 300 persons. On the south-east side of the parish is a purgative spring, discovered in 1618, and said to be the first of its kind met with in England.

Epwell

EPWELL, a chapelry, in the parish of Swalcliffe, union and hundred of Banbury, county of Oxford, 7 miles (W.) from Banbury; containing 316 inhabitants. The chapel is dedicated to St. Anne, and is a small edifice, consisting of a chancel and nave, a tower placed on the south side of the nave, and a small south aisle adjoining the tower and on the east of it, but opening only into the nave.

Epworth (St. Andrew)

EPWORTH (St. Andrew), a market-town and parish, in the union of Thorne, W. division of the wapentake of Manley, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 28¾ miles (N. W. by N.) from Lincoln, and 157¾ (N. by W.) from London; containing 1843 inhabitants. This place, which is the principal town in the Isle of Axholme, a district comprising the north-west portion of the county, was anciently the residence of the Howard family, who had a castellated mansion here, of which nothing now remains except the site, where within the last 70 years have been dug up some of the cannon belonging to the fortifications. The town is of considerable size, but irregularly built: the chief trade is the dressing of flax and hemp, of which great quantities are grown in the neighbourhood; and the manufacture of sacking and canvas is carried on to a large extent. The market is on Tuesday; the fairs are on the first Thursday after May 1st, and September 29th, for cattle, hemp, and flax. The parish consists of 5498a. 1r. 16p., of which nearly one-half was originally forest land, and, though now inclosed, is greatly inferior in its soil to the rest of the parish, comprising about 2000 acres of rich pasture, and nearly 1000 of good arable land. The surface is partly hilly and partly level; and previously to the introduction of a more efficient method of draining, the low lands were subject to frequent inundation.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £28. 16. 8., and in the patronage of the Crown, with a net income of £925: the tithes were commuted for land and a corn-rent at the inclosure. The church, an ancient structure, is situated on an eminence commanding an extensive view. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Primitive Methodists, and Methodists of the Old and New Connexion. The poor-lands, arising from various gifts, produce £37 per annum, which are distributed, chiefly in clothing, among the poor; and the church-lands consist of 43 acres, yielding £88. A Carthusian monastery was founded here in the reign of Richard II., by Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham, and earl marshal of England, the revenue of which at the Dissolution was £290. 11. 7.; the remains have been converted into a private mansion. John and Charles Wesley, the celebrated founders of the Arminian Methodists, and sons of the Rev. S. Wesley, who was for 59 years rector of the parish, were born here, the former in June 1703, and the latter in December 1708. Mrs. Mehetebel Wright, their sister, who was author of several poetical works; Mr. Alexander Kilham, founder of the Kilhamites; and William Peck, author of an Account of the Isle of Axholme, were also natives.

Ercall, Child's, or Ercall Parva (St. Michael)

ERCALL, CHILD'S, or Ercall Parva (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Drayton, Drayton division of the hundred of North Bradford, N. division of Salop, 6 miles (S.) from Drayton; containing 466 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3633a. 1r. 33p.: the village, situated on the old road from Wellington to Drayton, has a pleasingly rural aspect, and the surrounding scenery is agreeably diversified. The living is a perpetual curacy; the stipend of the curate is £30, and the patronage and impropriation belong to the Trustees of Sir C. Corbet, Bart., whose tithes have been commuted for £730. The church is a handsome structure of darkgrey freestone.

Ercall Magna (St. Michael)

ERCALL MAGNA (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Wellington, Wellington division of the hundred of South Bradford, N. division of Salop, 6 miles (N. W.) from Wellington; containing 1999 inhabitants. This place, which is of considerable antiquity, is noticed in the Norman survey as having a mill that yielded twelve weeks' provisions, and a fishery of 1500 great eels. In the reign of Henry III., John de Ercal or Ercalaw obtained the grant of a weekly market and an annual fair. During the civil war of the 17th century, Sir Richard Newport, of this place, supplied Charles I. with £6000, thus enabling his artillery to move against the parliamentarian forces immediately before the battle of Edge-Hill; in recompense for which service, Sir Richard was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Newport, of High Ercall. The parish comprises 11,799 acres, and the Shrewsbury canal passes through it. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17. 6. 8.; net income, £273; patron, the Duke of Cleveland. The church is a spacious and ancient structure. At Rowton, at the extremity of the parish, is a chapel endowed with about £100 per annum. A free grammar school was founded and endowed under the benefaction of Thomas Leeke, a baron of the exchequer, in 1663; the income is £93. An hospital for the maintenance of seven decayed householders was founded by the Earl of Bradford, in 1694.

Erdington

ERDINGTON, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Aston, Birmingham division of the hundred of Hemlingford, N. division of the county of Warwick, 4 miles (E.) from Birmingham; containing 2579 inhabitants. The manor originally belonged to the earls of Mercia, and was given at the time of the Conquest to William Fitz-Ausculf, from whose descendants it passed in the reign of John to Thomas de Erdington, that monarch's ambassador to the court of Spain, by whose family the ancient manor-house, now Erdington Hall, was built. The village is pleasantly situated on the road from Birmingham to Lichfield; in the neighbourhood are several villas, and on the road to Witton are some detached modern houses, called Erdington-Slade. The scenery is diversified by the small river Tame, whose course appears to have been diverted in order to turn a mill, built in the hamlet prior to the Conquest, and of which the site is occupied by Bromford Forge. The Tame-Valley canal, a noble work, ten miles in length, lately completed under the direction of Messrs. Walker and Burgess, the eminent engineers, at a cost of £200,000, joins the Birmingham canal at Erdington, and runs through Perry-Barr, West Bromwich, and Tipton. Birches Green, in the chapelry, lies on the road from the village to Curdworth, a short distance eastward of the former. The living is a perpetual curacy, with an income arising from pew-rents; patron, the Vicar of Aston. The church, a handsome edifice dedicated to St. Barnabas, in the decorated style, with a tower and pinnacles, was erected in 1823, at an expense of £5657, defrayed by the Parliamentary Commissioners and the inhabitants. There are national, infant, and Sunday schools attached to the church; and the Independents and Roman Catholics have each a place of worship.— See Oscott.

Ergham, county of York.—See Argam.

ERGHAM, county of York.—See Argam.

Eriswell (St. Peter)

ERISWELL (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Mildenhall, hundred of Lackford, W. division of Suffolk, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Mildenhall; containing 501 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 6. 8., and in the gift of T. B. Evans, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £633. 7., and the glebe comprises 51 acres. The church is a neat structure. A school is supported by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, who have a considerable estate in the parish.