Everdon (St. Mary)
EVERDON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Daventry, hundred of Fawsley, S. division of the
county of Northampton, 4¼ miles (S. S. E.) from
Daventry; containing 777 inhabitants. This parish,
which consists of 2377a. 1r. 27p. of a highly rich soil, is
pleasantly situated in a finely-diversified portion of the
county. The village is situated in a fertile vale, sheltered
on the north-west and on the south by a range of hills:
in 1786 it suffered material injury from a fire. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£24. 2. 11.; net income, £465; patrons, the Provost
and Fellows of Eton College. Certain tithes were commuted for land and a money payment, under an inclosure act, in 1764; those of the hamlet of Snorscombe,
in the parish, have under the recent act been commuted
for a rent-charge of £150. The church is a large and
handsome edifice, with some ancient details, among
which is a beautiful entrance on the south side, in the
decorated English style. There is a place of worship
for Independents. The town lands, comprising 16a. 2r.
17p., produce a rental of £30. 8., appropriated partly to
the repair of the church.
Everingham (Blessed Virgin Mary)
EVERINGHAM (Blessed Virgin Mary), a parish,
in the union of Pocklington, Holme-Beacon division
of the wapentake of Harthill, E. riding of the county
of York, 5 miles (S. by W.) from Pocklington; containing 318 inhabitants. The parish is situated to the
west of the Hull and York road, and comprises by measurement 3080 acres, of which about 140 are woodland
and plantations. The surface is level; the soil of a light
sandy nature, with, in many parts, a substratum of clay;
and the neighbourhood exhibits much beautiful scenery,
especially around Everingham Park, the seat of W. Constable Maxwell, Esq., which is highly picturesque. The
village is situated near one of the sources of the river
Foulness. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in
the king's books at £8. 6. 8., and in the gift of the
Marsden family, with a net income of £237: the tithes
were commuted for land and a yearly modus of £80, at
the inclosure in 1765; there are now 125 acres of
glebe. The church is a neat edifice, nearly rebuilt about
fifty years since, with a tower. Mr. Maxwell has erected
a splendid Roman Catholic chapel near the mansion,
dedicated to St. Everilda, and opened on July 10th,
1839: the interior is ornamented with Corinthian
columns, and the altar is of the richest Italian marbles;
sixteen statues, executed by Bozzoni, represent the
Twelve Apostles and four of the Martyrs, and eighteen
basso-relievos, by the same eminent artist, the principal
incidents in the life of Christ.
Everley, or Everleigh (St. Peter)
EVERLEY, or Everleigh (St. Peter), a parish,
in the union of Pewsey, hundred of Elstub and Everley, Everley and Pewsey, and S. divisions of Wilts, 4¾
miles (W. N. W.) from Ludgershall; containing 354
inhabitants. This place, at the time of the heptarchy,
was the residence of Ina, King of the West Saxons; it
subsequently belonged for many generations to the Plantagenets, dukes of Lancaster, and eventually became
vested in the crown, as the property of Henry of Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV. The manor was granted
by Edward VI., in the first year of his reign, to Edward,
Duke of Somerset, Protector, after whose attainder,
reverting to the crown, it was given by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Ralph Sadlier, Knt., the royal falconer,
whose son and successor had the honour of entertaining
James I. at the manor-house, on the 31st of August,
1603. The parish comprises about 4000 acres; the
surface is hilly, and the soil, though generally chalky, is
in some parts alternated with a strong clay. The village
was anciently a market-town of considerable note. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£16. 4. 4½., and in the gift of Sir J. D. Astley, Bart.:
the tithes have been commuted for £700, and the glebe
comprises 18 acres. The church, erected in 1813, at
the expense of Francis Dugdale Astley, Esq., is a chaste
and elegant structure in the later English style. About
two miles to the south is the fortified camp of Chidbury,
to which there appears to have been a covered way from
Everley.
Everley, with Suffield.—See Suffield.
EVERLEY, with Suffield.—See Suffield.
Eversden, Great (St. Mary)
EVERSDEN, GREAT (St. Mary), a parish, in the
union of Caxton and Arrington, hundred of Longstow, county of Cambridge, 7¼ miles (S. E. by E.)
from Caxton; containing 300 inhabitants. The living
is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at
£6. 14. 2., and in the patronage of the Crown; net
income, £69; impropriator, the Earl of Hardwicke. The
tithes of this parish and of Little Eversden were commuted for land in 1811.
Eversden, Little (St. Helen)
EVERSDEN, LITTLE (St. Helen), a parish, in the
union of Caxton and Arrington, hundred of Longstow, county of Cambridge, 7 miles (S. E. by E.) from
Caxton; containing 225 inhabitants. The living is a
rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 2. 6.; net
income, £188; patrons, the President and Fellows of
Queen's College, Cambridge.
Eversholt (St. John the Baptist)
EVERSHOLT (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in
the union of Woburn, hundred of Manshead, county
of Bedford, 2 miles (E. by S.) from Woburn; containing 899 inhabitants. It comprises 2119a. 2r. 30p.,
of which 1181 acres are meadow and pasture, 722
arable, 49 in homesteads and gardens, 132 woodland,
and 32 road. The living is a rectory, valued in the
king's books at £16. 11. 8., and in the patronage of the
Duke of Bedford: the tithes have been commuted for
£480, and the glebe comprises 65½ acres. A school is
endowed with £10 per annum.
Evershot
EVERSHOT, a chapelry, in the parish of Frome
St. Quintin, union of Beaminster, hundred of Tolleford, Dorchester division of Dorset, 7¼ miles (E. by
N.) from Beaminster; containing 566 inhabitants, and
comprising 1409a. 2r. 33p. A fair for fat-cattle is held
on the 12th of May; and there was formerly a weekly
market on Saturday. The tithes have been commuted
for £173. 10. 6., and the glebe comprises about 1¼ acre.
The chapel is dedicated to St. Osmond. Here is a free
grammar school, with an endowment in land, bequeathed
in 1628 by Christopher Strickland, the rent of which is
about £100 per annum.
Eversley (St. Mary)
EVERSLEY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Hartley-Wintney, hundred of Holdshott, Odiham
and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 3 miles
(N.) from Hartford-Bridge; containing 770 inhabitants.
This parish comprises, with the tythings of Great and
Little Bramshill, 4939a. 2r. 28p., of which 1370 acres
are arable, 1101 pasture, 300 woodland, and 2167 common
and waste. The surface is pleasingly undulated; the
soil is in some parts a good loam mixed with a small
portion of sand, and in others sandy with small gravel.
Bramshill Park, the seat of Sir John Cope, Bart., is a
spacious and handsome mansion, erected in the reign of
James I., and situated on an eminence commanding some
fine views; the park comprises about 400 acres. Fairs
are held for cattle on May 16th and Oct. 18th. The
living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£11. 8. 9., and in the gift of Sir John Cope: the tithes
have been commuted for £570, and the glebe comprises
60 acres. In the church are monuments to Judge
Nares, and several members of the Wyndham family.
There was formerly a chapel at Bramshill.
Everthorp, with Drewton.—See Drewton.
EVERTHORP, with Drewton.—See Drewton.
Everton (St. Mary)
EVERTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Biggleswade, and chiefly in the hundred of Biggleswade, county of Bedford, 4¾ miles (N. by E.) from
Biggleswade; containing 233 inhabitants, and comprising 3470 acres. The living is a vicarage, with that
of Tetworth united, valued in the king's books at
£6. 13. 9., and in the gift of Clare Hall, Cambridge,
with a net income of £200. The church, which is in the
county of Huntingdon, has been repewed.
Everton
EVERTON, a township, in the parish of Waltonon-the-Hill, union and hundred of West Derby, S.
division of Lancashire, 1 mile (N. N. E.) from Liverpool; containing, in 1841, 9221 inhabitants, and in
1846, 15,726. This place, styled Hireton in Domesday
book, claims a more remote history than Liverpool, to
which it now forms an elegant suburb. We find it exempt
from the imposition of Danegelt instituted by Ethelred,
and it is mentioned in 1066 as having been then given
by the Conqueror to his cousin, Roger de Poictiers. An
ancient fire-beacon, coeval with the Tower at Liverpool,
stood here for many centuries; but it has now disappeared, and the site is occupied by St. George's church.
During the siege of Liverpool, Prince Rupert occupied a
cottage here, which was held in great veneration, until it
was at length pulled down in 1845: a representation of
the building, as it appeared just before its demolition,
is given in Herdman's "Ancient Liverpool." The
agreeable village or suburb of Everton, denominated,
from the salubrity of its air and the pleasantness of its
situation, the Montpelier of Lancashire, is seated on a
bold eminence opposite to the bay of Bootle; it is about
a mile and a half from the Mersey, and three miles from
the mouth of that river. The prospects are very beautiful; and from the western parts of Everton Hill may
be seen the fertile lands of Cheshire, the mountains of
Wales, the river Mersey, and the expanding Irish Sea
with its numberless vessels. From its proximity to
Liverpool, it has become the residence of many respectable and wealthy families; numerous streets and crescents have been formed, and the township is studded
with handsome detached mansions and villas. Among
these may be mentioned Bronte House, called after Lord
Nelson, built of red stone, and belonging to John George
Woodhouse, Esq.
The district church of St. George was erected in 1813,
at an expense of £11,500, on a site given by James
Atherton, Esq.; it is an elegant structure in the later
English style, with a square embattled tower crowned
by pinnacles. The framework and tracery of the windows
and doors, the groinings of the roof, the pulpit, and all
the ornamental parts, are of cast-iron; and the east
window, of which the iron tracery is exceedingly rich, is
embellished with stained glass. The living is a perpetual
curacy; net income, £300; patron, the Rector of Walton.
St. Augustine's church, Shaw-street, was erected in 1830,
at an expense of £7500; it is in the Egyptian style,
having an octagonal tower with pinnacles at the angles,
surmounted by a cross. The living is a perpetual
curacy, in the patronage of five Trustees; net income,
£250. Christchurch, in Boundary-lane, was built in
1848, as a memorial of the late Charles Horsfall, Esq.,
mayor of Liverpool in 1832, at the united cost of his
surviving children: the site, and the erection of the
building, amounted to £13,000. It is a beautiful structure in the later English style, with a tower and spire;
the interior is of chaste design, and the east window of
rich painted glass. The living is in the gift of Trustees,
and is endowed with £1000. Another church has been
erected, by subscription.
In Salisbury-street is the Roman Catholic church of
St. Francis Xavier; it is in the pointed style, and is 150
feet in length and 60 in breadth. St. Edward's Roman
Catholic College was established by the Right Rev. Dr.
Brown, R. C. Bishop, in 1843; youths intended for
secular pursuits or the learned professions, distinct from
the priesthood, here receive instruction from the ablest
professors in the Greek, Latin, and modern languages,
and the more elegant accomplishments, at a moderate
charge. The Rev. John Henry Fisher is president, and
the Rev. Alexander Goss vice-president. The college is
a large stone mansion, formerly known as St. Domingo
House, built by Hugh Sparling, Esq., with princely
splendour, and seated on the highest point of Everton,
commanding a fine view of the Mersey and the adjacent
country. It is admirably adapted for the purpose of
education, and has been fitted up in a manner conducive
to the health and comfort of the students: a chapel is
attached to the establishment. The Crescent Chapel,
belonging to the Independents, was built in 1846, in the
Grecian style, at a cost of £9000; near it is a fine range
of school-buildings, erected at an expense of £5000, and
opened the following year. Among the other schools
are two sets of day and Sunday schools, for boys, girls,
and infants, attached to St. George's, and supported by
subscription. Within the limits of the township, bordering upon Low Hill, in West Derby, is the Necropolis, a
burial-place formed in 1825, at a cost of about £8000;
the entrance is in the Grecian style, and the area of the
inclosure five acres.
Everton (Holy Trinity)
EVERTON (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of
East Retford, North Clay division of the wapentake of
Bassetlaw, N. division of the county of Nottingham,
3 miles (S. E. by E.) from Bawtry; containing, with part
of the hamlet of Drakeholes, the hamlet of Harwell, and
the township of Scaftworth, 1094 inhabitants. The
parish comprises 4550 acres, of which 1050 are in
Scaftworth; it is on the road between Bawtry and
Gainsborough, and is nearly circumscribed by the river
Idle. The soil in the eastern portion is clayey, and has
a bed of excellent clay for bricks and tiles, the manufacture of which is carried on to a considerable extent;
in the western portion the soil inclines to sand, but near
the river is an extensive tract of rich and fertile land.
The Chesterfield canal passes through the parish on the
south-east. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued
in the king's books at £7. 2. 2.; net income, £209;
patron, the Rev. S. W. Hall: the glebe comprises about
120 acres. The church, which is in the early Norman
style, has been enlarged. There are a place of worship
for Wesleyans, and national schools for boys and girls.
At the time of the inclosure of the parish, in 1760, some
antiquities were found; and more recently, some Roman
coins: it has been thought, that the vestiges of some
fortifications in the parish are the remains of a Roman
fort or station, by which passed a Roman road.
Evesbatch (St. Andrew)
EVESBATCH (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union
of Bromyard, hundred of Radlow, county of Hereford, 5 miles (S. E. by S.) from Bromyard; containing
98 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north by a portion
of Worcestershire, and comprises 972 acres, whereof 456
are arable, 362 meadow and pasture, 101 wood, 36 in
hops, 6 common land, and 11 in buildings and homesteads. The surface is varied and undulated, the soil a
fine clay, and the scenery well wooded and beautiful;
the parish is very retired, and its high situation renders
it extremely healthy. There are quarries, chiefly of
sandstone. The road from Hereford to Worcester, by
Froome Hill, passes on the south. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £1. 16. 10½.,
and in the patronage of Earl Fitzhardinge: the tithes
have been commuted for £163. 6., and there are ten
acres of glebe, of the value of £20 per annum, and a
new and commodious glebe-house. The church is a
very old edifice, built probably about the 12th century.
A small sum is annually appropriated to the clothing
and apprenticing of poor boys.
Evesham
EVESHAM, a borough and market-town, and the
head of a union, locally in the Lower division of the
hundred of Blackenhurst, E. division of the county of
Worcester, 15 miles (S. E.) from Worcester, on the
road to London, 13 miles (N. E.) from Tewkesbury, and
93¾ (N. W. by W.) from London; containing 4245 inhabitants. This place was originally called Homme or
Haum, from the Saxon holm, a word particularly appropriate to the peninsular form of its site. The appellation Eovesholme, or Eovesham, is said to be derived from
Eoves, a swineherd in the service of Egwin, third bishop
of Wessex, a Saxon province and bishopric, part of
which now forms the diocese of Worcester. Eoves is
said to have had an interview with the Virgin Mary on
the spot, and to this circumstance is attributed the
erection of an abbey for Benedictine monks, the foundation of which was laid in 701, and the building completed in 709, when the charter was confirmed: it was
consecrated in 714, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary,
by Bishop Wilfrid, the successor of Egwin, who had
retired hither after resigning the bishopric of Worcester
to the pope. The convent received large grants of land
from the Anglo-Saxon kings and nobility, as well as
from other benefactors both before and after the Conquest; its possessions were ample, and its privileges
numerous: the abbots sat in parliament as spiritual
barons. It shared the fate of similar institutions, being
suppressed on the 17th of November, 1539, at which
time the revenue, as appears from a corrected return to
the Augmentation Office, given in May's History of
Evesham, amounted to £1829. 10. 0½. The buildings
and site of the monastery were then alienated by the
king, and the former, with the church, were ultimately
demolished, and the materials sold: the clock tower, a
sculptured arch which led into the chapter-house, some
out-buildings, including part of the almonry, and a portion of the boundary walls, are the only remains of the
edifices. The handsome isolated tower, so great an
ornament to the town, was erected by Clement Lichfield,
the last abbot but one, and is a beautiful specimen of the
later English style, strengthened with panelled buttresses, and crowned by open battlements and pinnacles;
it was originally a gate of entrance to the monastic
cemetery, and a clock tower to the monastery. At the
general demolition, the tower, according to Nash, was
purchased by the inhabitants. It is 110 feet high, and
about 28 feet square at the base; the sides are adorned
with tracery. In 1745, a clock with chimes was put up
in this tower, by Edward Rudge, Esq. The adjacent
church of St. Lawrence, formerly a parochial chapel
subordinate to the monastery, after being suffered to remain in ruins for nearly a century, has at length been
restored in all its pristine beauty, at an expense of more
than £2500, raised by subscription, aided by a grant
from a London Society; great attention has been paid
to the preservation of a strict uniformity of style, and
the whole now forms an interesting specimen of ecclesiastical architecture.
Arms and Seal of Evesham.
Obverse.
Reverse.
The most memorable occurrence in the history of the
town is the decisive battle which was fought here, on
the 4th of August, 1265, between Prince Edward and
Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, by whom Henry III.
was detained a prisoner. The combat was characterised
by savage ferocity; and of those who fell victims were
the earl and his son, about 160 knights, and 4000 of
their followers. The bodies of the earl and his son, with
those of Henry and Hugh le Despenser, are said to
have been interred in the abbey church, before the high
altar. The issue of the contest, by releasing the captive
monarch, turned the tide of his fortunes, and led to
that success by which he was subsequently reinstated on
the throne. This celebrated battle was fought about
three-quarters of a mile from the town, at a place near
the old London road, which crosses a small stream subsequently denominated Battle Well.
The town is pleasantly situated on a sloping eminence
rising from the bank of the Avon, by which river it is
watered on three sides, and over which is a stone bridge
of seven arches, uniting it with the parish of Bengeworth,
which is within the borough. It has been greatly improved, under an act passed for paving and lighting
in 1824; and consists of two principal and some inferior
streets, of which the High-street is particularly spacious.
A public subscription library was founded in 1819, an
horticultural society in 1827, a literary institution in
1838, and an agricultural association in 1841. The
country adjacent is remarkable for its interesting
scenery, and for the extreme richness of its soil, which
produces earlier and more abundant crops than that of
any other part of the county. Near the town, large
portions of ground have been converted into gardens,
horticulture constituting the chief occupation of the
labouring class; asparagus attains great perfection, and
is extensively cultivated, and vegetables are conveyed
hence to towns in the surrounding district. There are
two corn-mills, a mill for extracting oil from linseed, and
two ribbon manufactories. In 1845 an act was passed
for a railway from Oxford, by Evesham, to Wolverhampton. The market is on Monday; and fairs are held on
February 2nd, the Monday next after Easter week,
Whit-Monday, the second Monday in August, September 21st, and the second Monday in December. The inhabitants were incorporated by a charter granted by
James I. in the first year of his reign, which confirmed
their respective privileges, and conferred others. By the
act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, the corporate body now consists of a mayor, four aldermen, and
twelve councillors; the municipal and parliamentary
boundaries are co-extensive. The borough sent members to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., but after
that king's reign it discontinued till the commencement
of that of James I., since which period it has uninterruptedly returned two representatives. The right of
election, prior to the year 1818, was vested in freemen
and paymasters, or persons resident paying scot and lot;
it was then restricted to the freemen, resident and nonresident. By the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45,
the non-resident electors beyond seven miles have been
disfranchised, and the privilege has been extended to
the £10 householders: the mayor is returning officer.
The number of borough magistrates is eight, who, with
certain of the county justices, hold petty-sessions weekly,
all commitments being made to the county gaol. The
powers of the county debt-court of Evesham, established
in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Evesham.
The town-hall is a plain building in the market-place,
lately much improved.
The borough includes the parishes of All Saints, containing 1647; St. Lawrence, 1516; and St. Peter Bengeworth, 1082 inhabitants; formerly, together with most
of the surrounding villages, in the peculiar jurisdiction
of the Abbot of Evesham. All Saints' comprises 365
acres, and St. Lawrence's 428; Bengeworth, lying on the
eastern bank of the river, and consisting of 1281 acres,
was added to the borough by the second charter of
James I., and is described under its proper head. The
living of All Saints' is a discharged vicarage, valued in
the king's books at £10. 16. 0½., and has a net income,
including the curacy of St. Lawrence, of £208; the patronage and impropriation belong to the Crown. The
church of All Saints', formerly a chapel to the abbey,
appears to have been built prior to 1223, and is an irregular structure, with a tower and spire; the porch at
the western entrance is embattled, with pinnacles at the
angles: on the south side is a small chapel built by
Abbot Lichfield, the roof of which is finely groined, and
adorned with fan-tracery; in this chapel the remains
of its founder are interred. The church of St. Lawrence,
already referred to, exhibits a rich specimen of the later
English style, and has attached to it on the south a
chapel of exquisite beauty; the tower and spire are of
earlier date: it contains 848 sittings, 716 of which are
free. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, the Society of Friends, Wesleyans, and Unitarians. The free grammar school, which was connected
with the monastery, was, after the dissolution of that
establishment, refounded by Henry VIII., who, in lieu
of its former revenue, endowed it with £10 yearly from
the exchequer, which sum is still paid; and by the charter of James I., it was incorporated, and placed under
the government of the mayor and council. A national
school is supported, a British school has just been established, and there are several small benefactions. The
poor law union of Evesham comprises 30 parishes or
places, of which 20 are in the county of Worcester, and
10 in that of Gloucester; containing in the whole a population of 13,892. Walter of Evesham, a writer of celebrity, and John Feckenham, Dean of St. Paul's in the
reign of Mary, were both monks of Evesham Abbey.
Sir Charles Cocks, Bart., on his elevation to the peerage
on the 17th of May, 1784, assumed the title of Lord
Somers, Baron of Evesham, which is held by the present
Earl Somers.
Evington
EVINGTON, a hamlet, in the parish of Leigh, union
of Tewkesbury, Lower division of the hundred of
Westminster, E. division of the county of Gloucester; containing 266 inhabitants.
Evington (St. Denis)
EVINGTON (St. Denis), a parish, in the union of
Billesdon, hundred of Gartree, S. division of the
county of Leicester, 2½ miles (E. S. E.) from Leicester; containing 285 inhabitants. It is situated at a
short distance from the road between Leicester and
Uppingham, and comprises 2400 acres, arable and pasture, the latter of which preponderates; the surface is
gently undulated. The Midland railway passes through
the parish. The living is a vicarage, valued in the
king's books at £7. 16. 8.; net income, £80; patron,
the Bishop of Lincoln. The church, which is very
ancient, is in the early English style. There are a place
of worship for dissenters, and a parochial school.
Ewanrigg.—See Ellenborough.
EWANRIGG.—See Ellenborough.
Ewart
EWART, a township, in the parish of Doddington,
union and E. division of Glendale ward, N. division
of Northumberland, 3 miles (N. N. W.) from Wooler;
containing 176 inhabitants.. This place is pleasantly
situated on the rivers Glen and Till, where, it is supposed, were a church and burial-ground: the former
river runs through the township, and the latter is its
eastern limit; both abound in trout. It comprises 1512
acres, of which one-fifth is pasture, about 100 acres
wood, and the remainder arable; the surface is level, the
soil various, and there are fine views of the Humbleton
hills. The woodland surrounds the Hall, the seat of
Major St. Paul, who is proprietor of the township. In
1814, two ancient sword-blades were found in the park.
Ewe, St.
EWE, ST., a parish, in the union of St. Austell,
E. division of the hundred of Powder and of the county
of Cornwall, 4 miles (E. N. E.) from Tregoney; containing 1468 inhabitants. The parish comprises 5935a.
1r. 2p., of which 150 acres are waste land or common;
the surface is hilly, but the hills are not of very great
elevation, and the soil is generally a loam. The principal mine now in operation is that of Polgooth, producing tin of great fineness. The road from London to
Falmouth passes through the parish. The living is a
rectory, valued in the king's books at £21, and in the
gift of Sir Joseph Sawle, Bart., and the family of Carlyon: the tithes have been commuted for £640, and the
glebe comprises about 88 acres, with a house, built in
1837. The church is a very ancient structure, and contains a handsome monument to the last of the Mohun
family, who died in 1732. There are places of worship
for Bryanites, Calvinists, and Wesleyans.
Ewell (St. Mary and St. Peter)
EWELL (St. Mary and St. Peter), a parish, in the
union of Dovor, hundred of Bewsborough, lathe of
St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 3 miles (N. W.)
from Dovor; containing 392 inhabitants. This place
was anciently styled Temple-Ewell, from its being the
property of the Knights Templars, who had a preceptory
here prior to the year 1185, the remains of which were
destroyed about the middle of the last century: some
land near the site is still called Temple Farm. King
John, after the resignation of his kingdom to the Pope's
legate, on his retiring from Dovor, spent some time at
this monastery, and one of the documents relating to
that transaction is dated from the Temple, at Ewell.
The parish is beautifully situated in a valley between
Barham Downs and the coast, and comprises 1590 acres:
the surface is varied with hills, and the soil is fertile; on
the hills the soil is clayey. About 240 acres are woodland. The river Idle, one of the chief tributaries of the
Stour, has its rise within the parish. The living is a
vicarage, valued in the king's books at £16. 13. 4.; patrons and impropriators, the Heirs of the late John
Angel, Esq.; net income, £70. The church is a small
ancient edifice; the chancel is parted from the nave, and
appropriated as a school for girls. On some of the
hills are supposed to have been Roman intrenchments,
from the discovery of arms, spurs, and helmets there.
Ewell (St. Mary)
EWELL (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Epsom, partly in the First division of the hundred of
Reigate, E. division, but chiefly in the First division of
the hundred of Copthorne and Effingham, W. division, of Surrey, 5½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Kingston;
containing, with the liberty of Kingswood, 1867 inhabitants. This place, in Domesday book written Et-well,
signifying "at the spring," was anciently of more importance than it is at present; and about half-way between it and Cheam, within the parish of Cuddington,
was the splendid palace of Nonsuch, erected by Henry
VIII., and taken down in the reign of Charles II. There
are still some remains of that celebrated edifice, which,
for costly magnificence and splendid decoration, was, as
its name implied, unequalled by any building of the
kind. On elevated ground formerly within the park, is
an artificial mound about half an acre in extent, surrounded by a wall having circular bastions at the four
angles, with intervening curtains, and in the centre of
which stood the banqueting-house, a building about 25
feet square, and three stories high: the approach to the
mound was by three double flights of steps, some of
which are still visible. These remains of the wall and
bastions are now within the pleasure-grounds of Mr.
Monro, whose grand-uncle, T. Calverley, Esq., erected a
mansion in the ancient style of English architecture near
their site, named Ewell Castle.
The parish comprises 2391a. 1r. 19p. of arable and
pasture, in nearly equal portions: the soil is chalk,
gravel, and clay, alternated with sand; and the surface,
though generally level, is diversified with hills of moderate elevation. Brick earth of excellent quality is found
in abundance. The village is situated on the high road
to Dorking and Worthing, and is well paved, and amply
supplied with water. There are some gunpowder and
flour mills, employing about 50 men, and set in motion
by the Kingsmill, a stream which has its source in the
parish, and falls into the Thames at a place called Hog's
mill, Kingston. The market, held on Thursday, has
long been discontinued; the fairs are on May 12th, for
cattle, and October 29th, a very large mart for sheep, at
which from 30,000 to 40,000 are frequently sold. The
parish is within the jurisdiction of a court at Kingston,
for the recovery of debts to any amount; and courts
leet and baron are held at Michaelmas. The living is
a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8; net income,
£277; patron and impropriator, the Rev. Sir George
Glyn, Bart.: the tithes were commuted for land and
a money payment in 1801. The church is an ancient
structure, and contains several brasses and handsome
monuments, particularly an altar-tomb in the south side
of the chancel, of veined marble, on which is a beautifully
sculptured figure in white marble, of Sir William Lewen,
Knt., in his robes as lord mayor of London. The first
stone of a new parish church was laid in June, 1847. A
district church was built in the liberty of Kingswood, in
1835. In the grounds of the rectory-house, several
fossils and coins have been found within the last few
years. There is a place of worship for Independents. A
national school, established in 1816, is partly supported
by an endowment of £22 per annum; and Mrs. Fendall
bequeathed £1000, which purchased £1758. 19. 6. stock,
whereof the interest is applied to the benefit of the poor.
Richard Corbet, D.D., Bishop of Norwich, an eminent
divine and poet, was born in the parish.
Ewelme (St. Mary)
EWELME (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Wallingford, hundred of Ewelme, county of Oxford,
2 miles (E.) from Benson; containing 663 inhabitants.
This place, from a very clear and copious spring that
rises in the village, obtained the Saxon appellation of
Æwhelme, signifying "a spring of water;" of which its
present name is a modification. William de la Pole,
Duke of Suffolk, who obtained the manor by marriage
with Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Chaucer,
son of Geoffrey Chaucer, the poet, in whose family it had
been for many years, erected the present church and a
noble mansion, of which latter only some of the outoffices now remain. The parish comprises 2346 acres,
whereof 53 are common land or waste. The living is a
rectory, annexed to the regius professorship of divinity
in the university of Oxford, and valued in the king's
books at £21. 10. 5.: the tithes have been commuted
for £704. 18. The church, which is beautifully situated
on rising ground, and backed by a row of fine elms, is
a spacious and interesting edifice, in the early and decorated English styles, with a low embattled tower. There
are some handsome monuments, one of which, to the
memory of the Duchess of Suffolk, who died in 1475, is
elaborately embellished; the Chaucer monument, an
altar-tomb, is ornamented with numerous shields of
armorial bearings, and inlaid with brasses on which are
the effigies of a knight and his lady, in the costume of
the fifteenth century: on the south wall of the chancel
are monuments to two sons of Charles Howard, second
Earl of Berkshire. In the churchyard are memorials to
the descendants of Sir Matthew Hale. An hospital,
called God's House, was founded by William de la Pole,
and Alice his wife, about the year 1446, and endowed
with 200 marks per annum, for thirteen poor men
and a master. It was valued, in the 26th of Henry VIII.,
at £20 per annum, but was not dissolved, and the mastership was annexed in 1617 to the regius professorship
of medicine in the university of Oxford, under which it
still exists, for a reader and twelve poor men. It possesses a rent-charge of £200, issuing out of the estates
in this county belonging to Hampton Court. An urn
containing Roman coins was found on the common, near
the line of the Ikeneld-street, which may be traced in
the parish; and another urn was discovered on Harcourt Hill, nearly two miles from the village.
Ewen
EWEN, a tything, in the parish of Kemble, union
of Cirencester, hundred of Malmesbury, Malmesbury and Kingswood divisions of Wilts, 7 miles (N. E.
by N.) from Malmesbury; with 182 inhabitants.