Holcombe - Holleth

Holcombe

HOLCOMBE, a chapelry, in the township of Tottington Lower-End, parish and union of Bury, hundred of Salford, S. division of the county of Lancaster, 4 miles (N. N. W.) from Bury; containing 3000 inhabitants. The chapelry comprises a considerable area, of which the surface is mountainous, the scenery most extensive, and the soil various. The village is pleasantly situated on the road from Bury to Blackburn, and on the declivity of a hill from the summit of which are good views of Manchester and the adjacent country. At the foot of the hill, the cotton-trade is carried on to a very great extent; there are numerous mills, factories, and printing establishments on a large scale, with every requisite for the prosecution of the works, the oldest of which were begun and carried on for many years by the late Sir Robert Peel, Bart. Coal is produced in abundance from the neighbouring mines, and is also wrought on Holcombe Hill, where are quarries supplying good stone for building, and flagstones. The river Irwell flows along the eastern side of the village; and there is railway communication with Bury and Manchester. On Castle Hill is the ancient court-house wherein the courts of the royal manor of Tottington were formerly held, and where courts leet and baron are still held twice in the year; manorial courts, also, are held by the Duke of Buccleuch as lord of the manor, in April and October. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rector of Bury, with a net income of £150, and a house. The chapel, situated on Castle Hill, is remarkable for the thickness of its walls, and is supposed to be a remaining portion of the ancient castle from which the hill derived its name. The Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, Presbyterians, and Swedenborgians have places of worship. In 1827, Miss Bently bequeathed to the minister and wardens £200 for the instruction of children, and for distribution among the poor.—See Tottington.

Holcombe (St. Andrew)

HOLCOMBE (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Shepton-Mallet, hundred of Kilmersdon, E. division of Somerset, 6¼ miles (N. E. by N.) from Shepton-Mallet; containing 468 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road to Bath, viâ Charlton, and by measurement comprises 792 acres. Ironstone and coal are abundant, though neither is at present worked; and stone of good quality for building, and for the roads, is quarried. An extensive ale brewery here is in great repute. A canal from the southern part of the parish to Frome was commenced some years since, but it is not completed. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 7. 8½., and in the gift of John Twyford Jolliffe, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £60, and the glebe comprises 12 acres. The church is a small ancient structure, with a fine Norman south porch. A handsome parsonage-house was erected in 1834, by the incumbent, aided by a grant from Queen Anne's Bounty. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Holcombe-Burnell (St. John the Baptist)

HOLCOMBE-BURNELL (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of St. Thomas, hundred of Wonford, Wonford and S. divisions of Devon, 4½ miles (W. by S.) from Exeter; containing 306 inhabitants. It comprises 1433 acres, of which 159 are common or waste land. The living is a vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £8. 9. 2.; net income, £195; patron, the Prebendary of Holcombe-Burnell in the Cathedral of Salisbury. The church has an ornamented doorway in the Norman style. Near the old manorial mansion, built in the reign of Henry VIII., and since converted into a farmhouse, was anciently a chapel.

Holcombe-Rogus (All Saints)

HOLCOMBE-ROGUS (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Wellington, hundred of Bampton, Cullompton and N. divisions of Devon, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Wellington; containing 843 inhabitants. It comprises 3000 acres, of which 490 are common or waste land. A weekly market and an annual fair were formerly held here. A branch of the Western canal passes through the parish. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10. 10. 2½., and in the gift of the Wills family: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £320, and the vicarial for £204; the glebe contains 1½ acre. A school is supported by an endowment of £1000.

Holcot (St. Mary and All Saints)

HOLCOT (St. Mary and All Saints), a parish, in the union of Brixworth, hundred of Hamfordshoe, N. division of the county of Northampton, 7 miles (N. N. E.) from Northampton; containing 456 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 1336 acres, of which about three-fourths are arable land, and the remainder pasture; the surface is undulated, and the soil, generally, of good quality. Excellent stone is obtained for burning into lime, and for building. The village, in which are the remains of a cross, lies between two roads leading from Northampton to Market-Harborough and Kettering respectively. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8.; net income, £345, with a good glebe-house, built in 1826; patron and incumbent, the Rev. Robert Montgomery. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1777. The church is an ancient edifice with a tower, in good repair: the interior was beautified and repewed, and an organ added, in 1841, at a cost of £500. There are a Wesleyan, and a Baptist place of worship. Sixty persons died of the plague, in this parish, in 1638.

Holcutt, or Hulcott (St. Nicholas)

HOLCUTT, or Hulcott (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Woburn, hundred of Manshead, county of Bedford, 4½ miles (N.) from Woburn; containing 62 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, with the vicarage of Salford united in 1750, valued in the king's books at £7. 15.; net income, £245; patron, and impropriator of Salford, the Rev. E. O. Smith.

Holdenby (All Saints)

HOLDENBY (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Brixworth, hundred of Newbottle-Grove, S. division of the county of Northampton, 6½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Northampton; containing 187 inhabitants. The parish consists of 1795 acres. It is the birthplace of Sir Christopher Hatton, lord high chancellor in the reign of Elizabeth, who built the once magnificent mansion of Holdenby House, part of which is still remaining; Charles I. was confined here, after he had been delivered up by the Scottish army to the parliamentary commissioners. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £20. 2. 11., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £565.

Holdenhurst

HOLDENHURST, a parochial chapelry, annexed to the parish, and in the union, of Christchurch, liberty of Westover, Ringwood and S. divisions of the county of Southampton, 3 miles (N. W. by W.) from Christchurch; containing, with the tythings of Muccleshell, Muscliffe, and Throop, 905 inhabitants. It is bounded on the east and north by the river Stour, which abounds with excellent salmon. The living is annexed to the vicarage of Christchurch. The chapel, the first stone of which was laid by the Earl of Malmesbury, on Aug. 8th, 1833, cost £1200, of which £300 were granted by the Incorporated Society; it is in the later English style, with a campanile turret, and contains 400 sittings, of which 315 are free. There is a place of worship for Independents.

Holdfast

HOLDFAST, a hamlet, in the parish of Ripple, union of Upton-upon-Severn, Lower division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Upton and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 1¾ mile (S. by E.) from Upton; containing 97 inhabitants, and comprising 647 acres of a highly productive soil. It is situated on the right bank of the Severn, being divided from the rest of Ripple by that river. Here was anciently a chapel.

Holdgate (Holy Trinity)

HOLDGATE (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Ludlow, hundred of Munslow, S. division of Salop; containing 224 inhabitants, of whom 79 are in the township, 8¾ miles (S. S. W.) from Much Wenlock. It is bounded on the north-west by the river Corve. The living is a discharged rectory, with that of Tugford united, valued in the king's books at £13. 9. 9½.; net income, £474; patron, the Bishop of Hereford. The tithes of Holdgate have been commuted for £210, and the glebe consists of 81 acres.

Holdingham

HOLDINGHAM, a hamlet, in the parish of New Sleaford, union of Sleaford, hundred of Flaxwell, parts of Kesteven, county of Lincoln, 1 mile (N. N. W.) from Sleaford; containing 198 inhabitants.

Holford

HOLFORD, a parish, in the union of Williton, and forming one of the five unconnected portions of the hundred of Whitley, W. division of Somerset, 10½ miles (W. N. W.) from Bridgwater; containing 185 inhabitants. The parish comprises 709 acres, whereof 84 are common or waste land; it is situated on the road from Bridgwater to Minehead, and includes a portion of the Quantock hills. The substratum abounds with stone, which is extensively quarried for building. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 1. 5½., and in the gift of Eton College: the tithes have been commuted for £148, and the glebe comprises 70 acres. The church is ancient.

Holgate

HOLGATE, a township, in the parish of St. MaryBishopshill-Junior, union of York, E. division of the Ainsty wapentake, W. riding of York, 1¼ mile (W. by S.) from York; containing 143 inhabitants. It comprises 274 acres, nearly equally divided between arable and pasture. Lindley Murray, author of the English grammar and other school books, and who was born in Pennsylvania, North America, in 1745, died in 1826 at this place, where he had long resided.

Holker, Lower

HOLKER, LOWER, a township, in the parish of Cartmel, union of Ulverston, hundred of Lonsdale north of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 1¾ mile (S. W.) from Cartmel; containing 1070 inhabitants. This township is chiefly distinguished for the Hall to which it gives name. In the time of Elizabeth the house was the family mansion of the Prestons, from whom it passed to the Lowthers, and from them to the Cavendish family, the present owners. Many picturesque objects are seen hence; the woody hills of Conishead Priory, the shipping in the port of Ulverston, the capacious bay of Morecambe to the south, and Cartmel Fell towering to the north, enrich and dignify the scene. Flookborough, in the township, now a small village, was formerly a market-town: a large part of the marshes below this village has been embanked, but ineffectually, for, in the course of a few years more than 200 acres have been washed away by the heavy surfs of Morecambe bay. At Flookborough is a chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, which has been enlarged with 170 sittings: the living is a perpetual curacy, with a net income of £121, and in the patronage of the Earl of Burlington.

Holker Upper

HOLKER UPPER, a township, in the parish of Cartmel, union of Ulverston, hundred of Lonsdale north of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 1¾ mile (N. by W.) from Cartmel; containing 1114 inhabitants. Walton, now named Upper Holker, and Barnegath, are ranked as a bailiwick in the grant of a manor of Cartmel, in fee farm, in 1641. The seat here of the Bigland family stands near the summit of a hill whose sides are hung with spring wood, and in front is a fine tarn abounding with wild-fowl: the views embrace the Fells of Furness, the sands of Leven, and the Pile of Fouldrey, with the extensive bay of Morecambe, which at the height of the tide appears little short of an ocean. The old mansion called Walton Hall is said to have been the residence of William de Walton, prior of Cartmel. A school is endowed with about £130 per annum, almost entirely derived from land; and there is another, endowed with £44. 10. per annum.

Holkham (St. Withiburga)

HOLKHAM (St. Withiburga), a parish, in the union of Walsingham, hundred of North Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 2½ miles (W.) from Wells; containing 731 inhabitants. This place is said to have been formerly of considerable importance. Anna, King of the East Angles, chose it for one of his country seats; and Edward II., in the 4th year of his reign, charged the port of Holkham, and that of Burnham-Deepdale, with the expense of finding one ship to assist in conveying his troops from Dublin to Scotland. A market, held on Mondays, and a fair on the day of St. John the Baptist, were granted by Henry III., but both have fallen into disuse. The parish comprises about 4300 acres, whereof 300 are salt-marsh, and 1500 wood and plantations inclosed, with 1700 acres of lawn, meadows, &c., in the park of Holkham House, the magnificent seat of the Earl of Leicester, whose father was raised to the peerage in 1837, and as Thomas William Coke, Esq., had been long celebrated as one of the first agriculturists in the kingdom. In September, 1835, the late earl was honoured with a visit by the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria, on their return from their northern tour. The living is a discharged vicarage, annexed to the rectory of Egmere, and valued in the king's books at £8. 13. 4.; impropriator, the Earl of Leicester: the great tithes have been commuted for £400, and the vicarial for £199. 12. The church is situated on an eminence north of the town, and is serviceable to mariners as a landmark; it was thoroughly repaired in 1767, at a cost of £1000, by the Countess Dowager of Leicester, and consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a lofty massive tower containing four bells. A school for 33 boys, and another for 30 girls, were erected in 1821, by the late Earl; and an infants' school was built in 1837, by the Countess, at a cost of £1200. The Countess Dowager of Leicester, in 1755, founded almshouses for six men and women, the building and furnishing of which cost about £2300; the endowment consists of two rentcharges, amounting to £150.

Hollacombe (St. Petrock)

HOLLACOMBE (St. Petrock), a parish, in the union of Holsworthy, hundred of Black Torrington, Holsworthy and N. divisions of Devon, 2½ miles (E. by S.) from Holsworthy; containing 132 inhabitants. The parish comprises 923 acres, of which 648 are common or waste land. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 6. 3., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £73.

Holland, Down

HOLLAND, DOWN, a township, in the parish of Halsall, union of Ormskirk, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 5¼ miles (W.) from Ormskirk; containing 740 inhabitants. Roger de Don Holland held the manor of "Don Holland" of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster; and his descendant Peter Holland was in possession of it in the 5th of Henry VIII. About the 10th of Elizabeth, Henry Halsall died seised of the manor, which was held by Sir Charles Gerard in the reign of Charles I., and subsequently passed by sale to the family of Scarisbrick. Down-Holland Hall, anciently a "a post and patrel" dwelling, contained much massive timber; it is now a farmhouse. The township comprises 3474a. 1r. 24p. of land: there is a kind of freestone, used for building. The Leeds and Liverpool canal flows close to the village. Here are two hamlets, Haskayne, which gave name to a reputable family who resided on the spot; and Barton, where is a remarkable salt-water spring, of which the old geographer, Bowers, says: "this fountain of salt water must proceed from some rock of salt, and not from the sea, because it has been demonstrated that a quart of salt-water will yield but an ounce and a half of salt, whereas the same quantity of this spring produces near half a pound of good white granulated salt."

Holland-Fen

HOLLAND-FEN, a district, comprising portions of eleven different parishes, in the wapentake of Elloe, parts of Holland, county of Lincoln, 8¼ miles (N. W. by W.) from Boston. A chapel was consecrated in 1812, the living of which is a perpetual curacy; net income, £80; patron, B. Berridge, Esq.

Holland, Great (All Saints)

HOLLAND, GREAT (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Tendring, N. division of Essex, 12½ miles (S. E. by S.) from Manningtree; containing 481 inhabitants. It is situated on the coast, and comprises 2063a. 3r. 25p., of which 1654 acres are arable, 341 pasture, and 58 woodland; the soil is various, in some parts wet and heavy, in others dry and light, and in others a rich pale loam producing abundant crops. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 13. 9., and in the gift of Corpus Christi College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £750, and the glebe comprises 72 acres. The church is an ancient edifice with a tower.

Holland, Little

HOLLAND, LITTLE, a parish in the union and hundred of Tendring, N. division of Essex, 16 miles (S. E. by E.) from Colchester; containing 75 inhabitants. This parish, which is about four miles in circumference, is bounded on the south-east by the sea, and separated from Great Holland by Holland creek, over which is a bridge; the soil is generally light and fertile, producing fair average crops. The living is a donative, united to the vicarage of Great Clacton, to the church at which place the parishioners resort, that at Little Holland having been demolished. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £164; and the vicarial for £57. 10., with a glebe of one acre and a quarter.

Holland, Up

HOLLAND, UP, a township, and formerly a markettown, in the parish and union of Wigan, hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 4 miles (W. by S.) from Wigan, on the road to Ormskirk; containing 3113 inhabitants. This ancient and celebrated township has its prefix to distinguish it from Down-Holland, in the parish of Halsall. In the division of territory between de Busli and de Greslet, Up-Holland fell to the latter, by whose descendant, in the reign of Edward I., it was held of Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, the king's brother. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, among other donations to his favourite secretary, Sir Robert de Holland, conferred upon him vast estates in Lancashire, among which were several manors in West Derby hundred; and in the 1st of Edward II., Sir Robert had a licence to fortify his manor of Holland. The family were in possession of the manor in the 46th of Edward III.; it subsequently passed from them to the Lovells, and was among the lands forfeited by Viscount Lovell, and granted to Thomas, Earl of Derby, in the reign of Henry VII. In 1717 the manor was sold to the Ashhurst family by Maria, Lady Ashburnham, the surviving daughter and heiress of the ninth earl of Derby; and Henry Ashhurst, Esq., sold it, at the same time with the Dalton estate, to Sir Thomas Bootle, from whom it descended to the present Lord Skelmersdale.

The township comprises 4654 acres, of which about 2000 are arable, 2200 pasture, 250 woodland, and 204 common or waste; the surface is beautifully undulated, the soil generally good, and the scenery from the higher parts panoramic. The Dean river separates the township from Orrell, and flows into the river Douglas through a picturesque ravine called Dean Wood; on the north side are the river Douglas, separating the township from Standish, and the Leeds and Liverpool canal. The population is employed in agriculture, in the collieries and quarries here, in making nails, and in hand-loom weaving. Up-Holland is the head of a chapelry including the townships of Dalton and Billinge Higher-End, with parts of Orrell and Winstanley: the living is a perpetual curacy, net income, £165, with a house rebuilt in 1822; patron, the Rector of Wigan, who receives a tithe rent-charge from the township of £275, and certain impropriators one of £642. The chapel, dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket, is an ancient edifice with a fine tower, the nave and aisles being in the early or decorated English style; it has six noble arches, and a handsome east window. This chapel belonged to a priory of Benedictine monks, founded here in the beginning of the fourteenth century, and the revenue of which at the Dissolution was valued at £78. 12.: part of the walls of the priory remain. A grammar school is endowed with £65 per annum left by Peter Wallthew, in 1668.

Hollanden

HOLLANDEN, a hamlet, in the parish of Leigh, union of Seven-Oaks, hundred of Codsheath, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of the county of Kent; containing 165 inhabitants.

Hollesley (All Saints)

HOLLESLEY (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Woodbridge, hundred of Witford, E. division of Suffolk, 7¼ miles (S. E. by E.) from the town of Woodbridge; containing 590 inhabitants. It is situated on the coast, and bounded on the east by the river Ore, which here falls into Hollesley bay. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12. 16. 8.; net income, £830; patrons, the family of Bolton.

Holleth

HOLLETH, a township, partly in the parish of Cockerham, hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands, and partly in the parish of Garstang, hundred of Amounderness, union of Garstang, N. division of Lancashire, 5 miles (N. by W.) from Garstang; containing 35 inhabitants. A place called Halcath was given by William de Lancastre to Bernard Fitz-Rufus, ancestor of the Catteralls of Catterall and Little Mitton; but whether the gift refer to this place, or to another village that has ceased to exist, there is no evidence. Holleth is the smallest township in the county, containing only 358 acres. It is frequently named a hamlet, the designation which it anciently bore as a member of the constablewick of Garstang; the lands are the property of the Duke of Hamilton, and owe suit and service to the court of the constablewick at Cabus. The Preston and Lancaster canal passes through the township.