Mickleover (All Saints)
MICKLEOVER (All Saints), a parish, in the union
of Burton-upon-Trent, hundred of Morleston and
Litchurch, S. division of the county of Derby, 3 miles
(W. S. W.) from Derby, on the road to Uttoxeter; containing, with the chapelries of Findern and Littleover,
1673 inhabitants, of whom 760 are in the township of
Mickleover. The manor was given, with Findern, Littleover, and Potlac, by William the Conqueror, to Burton
Abbey; Henry VIII. granted these manors to Sir William
Paget, and in 1648 Edward Wilmot purchased two
shares of the property. In 1801 Edward Sacheverel
Chandos Pole, Esq., purchased the portion held by Sir
Robert Wilmot, Bart. The other part of the manor was
sold in 1648 by the heiress of Sir William Withepol to
Sir John Curzon, from whose family it passed to the
Newtons. The manor of Mickleover, Littleover, and
Findern, now belongs jointly to E. S. C. Pole, and
William Leaper Newton, Esqrs. The parish, called also
Great Over, comprises about 5000 acres, whereof 2296a.
3r. are in Mickleover township; of the latter area, 1671
acres are grass, 602 arable, 16 plantation, and 7 gardenground. The soil is rather strong, with strata of marl
and clay beneath. The scenery is beautiful, and very
extensive, embracing, to the south, the town of Burtonupon-Trent, the village of Repton, Breedon Hill, and
Charnwood Forest; to the west, Etwall, and the Weaver
hills in Staffordshire; and from various points are seen
many seats of the nobility and gentry. Among the
more distinguished of these may be mentioned, Foremark, the seat of Sir Robert Burdett, Bart.; Calke
Abbey, that of Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart.; Bretby
Hall, of the Earl of Chesterfield; Sudbury Park, of
Lord Vernon; and Radbourn, of Mr. Pole.
Within the parish are some good residences, the principal of which are Mickleover House, The Cedars, The
Limes, and The Pastures. On the border of the parish,
but within the parish of Etwall, is the estate of Bearward-cote or Barrocote, consisting of 427 acres, the
property of Mr. Newton; it formerly had a manor-house
in the Elizabethan style, surrounded by a moat, but the
mansion was taken down about 1796. The old manorhouse of Mickleover, once the seat of the Newtons, and
now the property of Mr. Newton, having become much
dilapidated, has been recently restored and embellished
by the present owner. The village, which is large and
well built, is situated on an eminence commanding a
fine view of the valley of the Trent and the mansions
and grounds already named. The living is a vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £9. 11. 5½.; net income,
£550, with a neat modern house; patrons, Lord Scarsdale, and Sir Henry Sacheverel Wilmot, Bart., the former
of whom has two presentations, and the latter one. The
glebe of the vicar comprises 187 acres. The impropriation belongs to Mrs. Chapman, and the impropriate tithes
of the township of Mickleover have been commuted for
£158. 15. The church is a plain substantial building,
consisting of a nave, chancel, aisles, and a low embattled
tower with pinnacles: the date is not known. The
Wesleyan Methodists have a place of worship; and a
school is supported by subscription.
Micklethwaite, Yorkshire.—See Bingley.
MICKLETHWAITE, Yorkshire.—See Bingley.
Micklethwaite-Grange
MICKLETHWAITE-GRANGE, an extra-parochial
liberty, in the Upper division of the wapentake of Barkstone-Ash, W. riding of York, ½ a mile (S. by W.) from
Wetherby; containing 43 inhabitants. It comprises
600a. 2r. 2p.: the hamlet is on the south side of the
river Wharfe, opposite to Wetherby.
Mickleton (St. Lawrence)
MICKLETON (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the
union of Shipston-upon-Stour, Upper division of the
hundred of Kiftsgate, E. division of the county of
Gloucester, 2½ miles (N. by E.) from Chipping-Campden; containing, with the hamlets of Clopton and Hidcote-Bartrim, 698 inhabitants. It comprises nearly
4000 acres: the soil is chiefly a deep clay, producing
excellent crops of grain; the surface is irregular, and
includes a portion of the Cotswold hills. The living is
a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 14. 4½., and
in the patronage of the Crown; impropriator, J. Roberts,
Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £144,
and the vicarial for £105; there is a glebe-house, and
the glebe comprises 30 acres. The church is a handsome structure, partly Norman, and partly of later date.
Several members of the family of Graves, eminent for
their literary talents, were born or resided here; and
Sir Anthony Keck, an eminent lawyer, and one of the
commissioners of the great seal in 1688, was a native of
the parish.
Mickleton
MICKLETON, a township, in the parish of RomaldKirk, union of Teesdale, wapentake of GillingWest, N. riding of York, 8 miles (N. W.) from Barnard-Castle; containing 513 inhabitants. It comprises
about 4890 acres, of which the greater portion is a high
moorland tract, extending along the south side of Lunedale to the borders of Westmorland. The tithes were
commuted for land in 1803. There is a place of worship
for Wesleyans.
Mickley
MICKLEY, a chapelry, in the parish of Ovingham,
union of Hexham, E. division of Tindale ward, S.
division of Northumberland, 11 miles (E. by S.) from
Hexham; containing 297 inhabitants. It is situated a
little south of the road from Gateshead to Hexham: the
village is distant about a mile eastward of Bywell St.
Andrew's. A colliery here is entered by a level from
the side of a hill. The living is a perpetual curacy; net
income, £155; patron, J. B. Wrightson, Esq. A rentcharge of £197. 14. has been awarded as a commutation
for the impropriate tithes. The chapel was erected in
1824, in that part of the chapelry called Hallyards, near
the village, by W. B. Wrightson, Esq., who had previously built a schoolroom.
Middle (St. Peter)
MIDDLE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of
Ellesmere, partly in the liberties of Shrewsbury,
but chiefly in the hundred of Pimhill, N. division of
the county of Salop, 8 miles (N. by W.) from Shrewsbury; containing 1330 inhabitants, of whom 456 are in
the township. The parish comprises 4500a. 2r. 18p.
The soil is chiefly red sand, but partly a rich loam,
alternated with stiff clay, producing good wheat; the
surface is undulated, and there is a lake of about 10
acres, called Marton Pool. The living is a rectory,
valued in the king's books at £12. 7. 3½., and in the
patronage of the Trustees of the Earl of Bridgewater:
the tithes have been commuted for £1100, and the glebe
comprises 3 acres. At Hadnall-Ease is a separate
incumbency. In the parish are the remains of a castle
built by Lord L'Estrange.
Middle Quarter
MIDDLE QUARTER, a township, in the parish of
Kirk-Linton, union of Longtown, Eskdale ward, E.
division of Cumberland; with 536 inhabitants.
Middle Quarter
MIDDLE QUARTER, a district, in the parish of
Kirkby-Ireleth, union of Ulverston, hundred of
Lonsdale north of the Sands, N. division of the county
of Lancaster, 6 miles (N. W.) from Ulverston; containing 834 inhabitants.
Middlebere
MIDDLEBERE, a hamlet, in the out-parish of
Holy Trinity, Wareham, union of Wareham and
Purbeck, hundred of Winfrith, Wareham division of
the county of Dorset; containing 8 inhabitants.
Middleham (St. Mary and St. Alkeld)
MIDDLEHAM (St. Mary and St. Alkeld), a
market-town and parish, in the union of Leyburn,
wapentake of Hang-West, N. riding of York, 10 miles
(W.) from Bedale, and 10 (S.) from Richmond; containing 930 inhabitants. The name of this town is said to
be derived from its situation in the centre of a number
of hamlets. About the year 1190, a splendid castle was
built here by Robert Fitz-Ranulph, in which, according
to Stowe, Falconbridge, a partisan of Henry VI., was
beheaded in 1471; though Speed says he was executed
at Southampton. Edward IV. was confined in the fortress by the Earl of Warwick, but having escaped, he
levied an army, and obtained a decisive victory over his
opponent at the battle of Barnet. This king, whose son
Edward, afterwards Prince of Wales, was born here,
subsequently gave the castle to his brother Richard,
Duke of Gloucester. The remains of the fabric stand
upon a rocky eminence near the town; the ancient
Norman keep is surrounded by a quadrangular building,
measuring 210 feet by 175, and flanked by a square
tower at each angle.
The town is situated in Wensleydale, on a gentle eminence rising from the river Ure; the houses are well
built, and adequately supplied with water from springs.
About half a mile from it is Middleham Moor, a noted
place for training horses. The inhabitants find employment in the various training establishments, or are engaged in agriculture. Fairs are held on Easter-Monday
and Whit-Monday, and Nov. 5th and 6th, for live-stock,
&c.; and the petty-sessions for the wapentake of HangWest are held here. The parish comprises 2108a. 2r.
34p., of which 1482 acres are meadow and pasture, 163
arable, 44 woodland, and 44 common. The living forms
a deanery of itself, and is a royal peculiar, valued in the
king's books at £15. 9. 4½., and in the patronage of the
Crown; the dean's tithes have been commuted for £205,
and his glebe consists of 66 acres. The church, a venerable edifice, was made collegiate by Richard III., when
Duke of Gloucester, for a dean, six chaplains, now styled
canons, four clerks, and six choristers. By various
charters and deeds from the crown, from the Archbishop
of York, the Archdeacon of Richmond, and other ecclesiastics, the members of the collegiate church are exempt
from all spiritual jurisdiction except that of the dean,
who holds his own visitations, issues marriage licences,
and grants probate of wills and letters of administration; the college is governed by statutes drawn up at
the time of its foundation in 1478, and the crown, by the
lord chancellor, is sole visiter. The deanery will, however, be suppressed on the next vacancy. There are
places of worship for Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists.
Middleham, Bishop's (St. Michael)
MIDDLEHAM, BISHOP'S (St. Michael), a parish,
in the union of Sedgefield, N. E. division of Stockton ward, S. division of the county of Durham; containing, with the townships of Cornforth, GarmondswayMoor, Mainsforth, and Thrislington, 1434 inhabitants,
of whom 511 are in the township of Bishop's-Middleham, 4 miles (N. E.) from Rushyford. This place is of
considerable antiquity: its church was given in 1146 to
the convent of Durham, by Osbert, nephew of Bishop
Ralph Flambard; and soon afterwards, the manor appears to have been conveyed to the see of Durham, the
bishops of which resided here, up to the end of the 14th
century. Their castle was situated on a lofty brow of
limestone, overlooking the marshy level of the Skerne;
and the last remaining portion of it, a low oblong arched
room, was removed some years since. The parish is in
several parts marshy, and there is little wood, except
the plantations around the principal houses. The produce of a colliery here is shipped on the Tees; limestone
is abundant, and is quarried for building and for manure.
The village is on the sides of two hills ascending from a
deep vale, through which the road runs. At Cornforth
are paper-mills and tile-kilns. A halmote court for the
manor is held once in six months, at Middleham, Cornforth, and Sedgefield, in rotation, for the recovery of
debts under 40s. The living is a vicarage, valued in the
king's books at £4. 19. 2., and in the patronage of the
Crown; net income £152; impropriators, W. Russell,
R. Surtees, and H. Williamson, Esqrs. The great tithes
of the township of Bishop's-Middleham have been commuted for £219, and the small tithes for £76. The
church, originally a handsome structure in the early
English style, and said to have been erected by Bishop
Anthony Beck, has been much disfigured by injudicious
alterations and repairs; it contains a fine old font of
Stanhope marble.
Middlehope
MIDDLEHOPE, a township, in the parish of Diddlebury, union of Ludlow, hundred of Munslow, N.
division of Salop; containing 100 inhabitants. The
tithes have been commuted for £44 payable to the Dean
and Chapter of Hereford, and £20 to the vicar.
Middlemarsh
MIDDLEMARSH, a tything, in the parish of Mintern-Magna, union of Cerne, hundred of Cerne,
Totcombe, and Modbury, Cerne division of Dorset,
12 miles (N. by W.) from the town of Dorchester. It
was the place of retirement of the abbots of Cerne, and
afterwards the principal seat of the Napiers, who had a
fine mansion here.
Middle-Mead
MIDDLE-MEAD, a hamlet, in the parish of Little
Baddow, union and hundred of Chelmsford, though
locally in the hundred of Dengie, S. division of the
county of Essex, 5 miles (E. N. E.) from Chelmsford;
containing 175 inhabitants.
Middleney
MIDDLENEY, a tything, in the parish of Drayton,
union of Langport, hundred of Abdick and Bulstone, W. division of Somerset, 2¾ miles (S. by W.)
from Langport; containing 31 inhabitants.
Middlesbrough
MIDDLESBROUGH, a town and parish, on the
river Tees, in the union, and within the limits of the
port, of Stockton-upon-Tees, W. division of the liberty
of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York; containing, with
the township of Linthorpe, 5709 inhabitants, of whom
5463 are in the township of Middlesbrough, 4 miles
(E. N. E.) from Stockton. This place, at a very early
period, had a chapel dedicated to St. Hilda, which, in
the reign of Henry I., was granted by Robert de Brus
to the monks of Whitby Abbey, on condition of their
founding here a cell to that monastery; this condition
was fulfilled, and the institution that was established
continued to flourish till the Dissolution, when its
revenue was returned at £21. 3. 8. The town was a
small and inconsiderable hamlet, prior to the year 1829;
but about that time it began to rise into notice from its
selection for the construction of a commodious shipping
place, accessible to vessels of large burthen, and from
the projected extension from Stockton of the Stockton
and Darlington railway, for the purpose of conveying
directly to this, as a principal place of shipment, the
produce of the collieries in the Weardale district of the
county of Durham, without the delay and expense of
lighterage down the Tees from Stockton. Immediately
on the completion of that undertaking in 1830, the
population of the hamlet increased very considerably;
and in the following year, on the formation of the Clarence railway, which is a passage from the Auckland
and other mineral districts in the county of Durham
to Samphire Batts, on the banks of the Tees, directly
opposite Middlesbrough, the importance of the town
was permanently established.
In 1829, six gentlemen, now usually termed "the
Middlesbrough owners," purchased about 600 acres of
land, and laid out the plan of the present town, consisting of several regular streets diverging at right angles
from a square in the centre, and now containing more
than 600 well-built houses. The principal founders were
Thomas Richardson, Esq., of Stamford Hill, London,
and of Ayton House, in Cleveland; Joseph Pease, jun.,
Esq., of Darlington; and Henry Birkbeck, Esq., of Norwich; to whose enterprise and public spirit may be
attributed the projection and rise of the place. A dock,
exceeding nine acres in extent, has been constructed;
capacious warehouses have been erected, and also convenient staiths both in the dock and on the Tees, affording facility of dropping the coal from the railway-carriages into vessels. The terminus of the Stockton and
Darlington railway is admirably adapted to its use, and
consists of several lines of way to the docks and shipping-staiths, for numerous trains, each usually conveying about forty wagons laden with coal. Two yards for
building and repairing ships have been constructed, and
every arrangement has been made which can contribute
to the improvement and increasing prosperity of the
town. The streets are lighted with gas; and a handsome structure in the Grecian style of architecture,
called the Exchange, has been erected at an expense of
upwards of £5000, by a body of shareholders. There
are numerous good shops for various articles of merchandise; four public breweries; three iron-foundries,
one of which employs regularly about 400 men; a sailcloth manufactory in which the cloth is woven by patent
machinery; and an extensive manufactory of pottery
and earthenware, and for bricks and tiles, for which clay
of excellent quality is found in the neighbourhood. A
branch bank has been opened in the town, and a market
is held under an act of parliament obtained in 1841 for
the general improvement of the place; a branch of the
Stockton custom-house has also been established. A
railway to Redcar was opened in June, 1846, within less
than a year from the passing of the act authorising its
construction; it is 7½ miles in length, and runs along
the coast. The number of vessels that cleared outwards
in 1841, was 7579, and the aggregate quantity of coal
shipped in that year was 1,014,918 tons.
The parish is in the district of Cleveland, and bounded
on the north by the Tees, which separates it from the
county of Durham. It comprises, with the township of
Linthorp, about 2300 acres, of which 600 are meadow
and pasture, and the remainder, with the exception of a
few acres of plantations, arable land in good cultivation.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of
Thomas Hustler, Esq., of Acklam Hall. The church
was erected in 1840, on the site of the ancient chapel of
St. Hilda, at an expense of £2500, of which £500 were a
grant from Her Majesty's Commissioners, £1200 the
proceeds of a bazaar, and the remainder raised by subscription; it is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower surmounted by
a lofty and well-proportioned spire, and contains 600
sittings, of which one-half are free. There are places
of worship for Independents, Primitive Methodists, and
Wesleyans. Of the ancient cell to Whitby Abbey no
remains exist, but the cemetery is still used.
Middlesceugh
MIDDLESCEUGH, a hamlet, in the parish of St.
Mary, Carlisle, union of Penrith, Leath ward,
E. division of the county of Cumberland, 6½ miles
(E. N. E.) from Hesket-Newmarket; containing, with
the hamlet of Braithwaite, 181 inhabitants.
Middlesex
MIDDLESEX, an inland county, bounded on the
south by Surrey and a very small part of Kent, from
both which it is separated by the river Thames; on the
east by Essex, from which it is divided by the river Lea;
on the north by Hertfordshire; and on the west by
Buckinghamshire, from which it is separated by the river
Colne. It extends from 51° 23' to 51° 42' (N. Lat.),
and from 2' (E. Lon.) to 32' (W. Lon.); and comprises
282 square miles, or 180,480 acres. There are 207,629
inhabited houses, 9779 uninhabited, and 3185 in course
of erection; and the population, including that part of
the metropolis which is locally within its limits, amounts
to 1,576,636, of whom 738,904 are males.
At the time of Cæsar's invasion, this part of the
British territory, together with the district now forming
the county of Essex, was inhabited by the Trinobantes,
the first British tribe that submitted to the Romans;
and on the final reduction of Britain to the condition of
a Roman province, it was included in the division called
Flavia Cæsariensis. The name is a slight corruption of
the Anglo-Saxon Middel-Seaxe, signifying "the country
of the Middle Saxons," from the situation of this portion of the English territory in the centre of the early
Saxon sovereignties in South Britain. Middel-Seaxe did
not, however, form a distinct kingdom, but was included
in that of the East Saxons, established in Essex about
the year 530. The county is in the diocese of London,
and province of Canterbury, and forms a deanery and
archdeaconry, comprising, with the exception of those
metropolitan parishes which are given in a tabular form
under the head of London, 70 parishes. Its civil divisions are, the hundreds of Edmonton, Elthorne, Gore,
Isleworth, Ossulstone (including the divisions of Finsbury, Holborn, and the Tower), and Spelthorne; and the
liberties of the cities of London and Westminster. It
comprises the city of London (locally); the borough,
commonly called the city, of Westminster; the newlyenfranchised boroughs of Mary-le-bone, Finsbury, and
the Tower Hamlets; and the market-towns of Brentford,
Staines, and Uxbridge. Two knights are returned to
parliament for the shire, four citizens for London, and
two burgesses for each of the four boroughs. The
shrievalty of Middlesex is united to that of London,
under the head of which place it is described. The
county is within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal
Court, in the Old Bailey, London, where all cases usually
tried at courts of assize are determined. The quartersessions are held at the sessions-house on Clerkenwell
Green.
The surface of the greater part of this small county
is gently undulated, and diversified with plantations
and winding streams, together with almost innumerable
villas and ornamented grounds and lawns. The northern
border, being high ground, adds, by the shelter which
it affords, much to the fertility of the other parts. All
the land to the south of the road passing from Brentford, through Hounslow, to Longford, is very nearly
an entire flat, the greater part of which is less than ten
feet above the level of the Thames, which runs along the
whole southern side of it; whilst the summits of the
principal elevations in the northern part of the county
rise to the height of about 400 feet above the level of
high-water mark in that river. From Staines, by Ashford and Hanworth commons, to Twickenham, a distance of 7½ miles, extends another flat, lying from ten
to twenty feet above the surface of the Thames. In the
western part of the county, stretching chiefly to the
north of Hounslow heath, is a considerable corn tract,
and there is another in the north-eastern part of it; but
by far the greater portion of the land is meadow or
pasture. On several of the hills, where the soil is naturally thin and unproductive, particularly on the hills
of Hampstead and Highgate, and at Hadley, the ground
is nevertheless of great value, on account of the fine
situations for building. With good cultivation, and the
manure procured from London, the soil has every where
been ameliorated, so that in most places it assumes the
appearance of loam, though varying in quality. The
total amount of arable land is about 14,000 acres, or
one-thirteenth of the whole county; the corn is almost
wholly wheat and barley, rye and oats being sown only
in very small quantities. Beans, peas, turnips, and cabbages, are commonly grown. About seven eighteenths
of the county, or 70,000 acres, consist of upland meadows and pastures, which, from careful cultivation, and
the abundant supply of manure obtained from London,
are of the best quality. In different parts of this large
tract of land, and more especially in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis, the grass is mown constantly
every year, and sometimes twice, or even thrice, a year.
Besides the above, the banks of the river Lea contain
some excellent grass lands, comprising altogether about
2000 acres, of which 1200, lying in the parishes of Enfield and Edmonton, are inclosed, the rest being divided
by landmarks among a great number of proprietors.
This tract is frequently flooded in winter, and sometimes in summer; the water, in consequence of the interruptions it meets with in the lower part of its course
towards the Thames, remains long on the ground, and
does much damage to the herbage. The Isle of Dogs,
containing 500 acres, is situated at the south-eastern
corner of the county, and would be overflowed by every
tide, were it not for the security of its banks: this is
reputed to be the richest grazing land in the county,
and is divided and drained by ditches, which communicate with the Thames, at low water, by means of sluices.
Bordering on the river Colne, also, are about 2500 acres
of meadow and pasture, stretching from Staines to Harefield, and, being little elevated above the level of the
river, much subject to floods.
The number of cows kept in the county for supplying
the metropolis with milk is between 7000 and 8000,
usually of the Holderness breed. Many early house
lambs are fed, the stock from which they are bred being
sought with great diligence from all parts of Dorsetshire,
and the fairs where such stock is usually sold; grass
lambs are also reared for the Smithfield market. A
vast extent of land in the vicinities of Kensington,
Hammersmith, Chiswick, Brentford, Isleworth, and
Twickenham, is occupied by fruit gardens, for the supply
of the metropolis; and a very great quantity of the
richest ground in its vicinity is applied to the raising of
vegetables. At Chelsea, Brompton, Kensington, Hackney, Dalston, Bow, and Mile-End, much land is occupied by nurserymen, who spare no expense in collecting
the choicest sorts and greatest variety of fruit-trees, ornamental shrubs, and flowers, from every quarter of the
globe, which they cultivate to a high degree of perfection. The grounds occupy about 1500 acres; and many
plants are exported from them to Spain, Portugal, Italy,
France, and Russia. In the Thames are some islands
planted with osiers for the use of basket-makers. The
common lands yet remaining uninclosed are of small
extent; the principal are Ashford, Littleton, and Laleham commons, Staines and Cowley moors, Hallingdon
heath, Uxbridge and Harefield commons, Clapton
marshes, and Hadley, an allotment from Enfield Chase.
The manufactures are too numerous and extensive for
detail; the two most important are, that of silk, in the
parishes of Spitalfields, Shoreditch, and Bethnal-Green,
and that of watches, in the parish of Clerkenwell. With
regard to the consumption of agricultural produce, the
distilleries are of vast importance, and they yield a
revenue equal to that of all the other distilleries in
Great Britain; the breweries, too, are of great extent.
Besides the prodigious amount of the imports and exports of the port of London, innumerable small cargoes
of merchandise of various descriptions, including grain,
malt, and flour, are conveyed away or received by means
of the inland barges on the Thames and the Lea.
The principal rivers are the Thames, the Lea, and the
Colne, besides which are the smaller streams of the Brent
and the Cran. The Thames, so celebrated throughout
the world, as connected with the port of London, constitutes the southern boundary of the county for a distance of 43 miles. The largest ships in the service of
the East India Company come up this river with safety
to the corner of the county at Blackwall; it is navigable for West India ships to London bridge, and for
large barges in the whole of its course on the border of
Middlesex, along which the tide flows up it, for the distance of about 25 miles, to Teddington. The Lea forms
the entire eastern boundary of the county, and is divided
in the greater part of its course, into several natural
channels, uniting into one shortly before its influx into
the Thames near Blackwall. The river has been made
navigable, from its mouth upwards, to the distance of
about eight miles; a canal navigation then branches
from it on the western side, and runs nearly parallel
with it through the meadows of Tottenham, Edmonton,
and Enfield, whence it is continued to Hertford. The
Grand Junction canal commences at the Thames at
Brentford, and quits the county for Hertfordshire near
Ricksmanworth, in the latter county. From it, at Bull
bridge, commences an important branch, called the Paddington canal, which passes on one level, through the
central part of the county to Paddington, whence it has
been continued by the Regent's canal, round the whole
northern side of London, to the Thames at Limehouse.
The Regent's canal is nearly nine miles long. Besides
the Lea navigation already mentioned, there is an important side cut from that river at Bromley to a basin
at Limehouse, communicating with the Thames. A
creek from the Thames to Kensington is also navigable.
The New River, projected by Sir Hugh Myddelton, for
supplying the metropolis with water, is described under
the head of Clerkenwell. The London and Birmingham
railway commences at Euston-square, and, after passing
through a tunnel at Primrose Hill, and by the town of
Harrow, quits the county near Pinner Hill: the Great
Western railway, commencing at Paddington, and pursuing a westward course, quits it a little beyond West
Drayton; and parts of the county are intersected by the
Eastern-Counties railway, in the east. There are also the
two short lines called the London and Blackwall, and
the West London, the former about 3¼ miles long, and
the latter, which runs from Kensington to the Great
Western and Birmingham railways, near Holsden-Green,
about 3 miles long. The principal turnpike roads bear
conspicuous marks of their vicinity to a great city; and
scattered villas, and genteel houses, frequently in handsome rows and terraces, are erected on one or both
sides of them to the distance of five or six miles out of
London.
The only Roman station within the limits of the
county, besides Londinium, the seat of the Roman government of Britain, appears to have been Sulloniacæ, the
supposed site of which was on Brockley Hill, near Elstree, where various Roman remains have been discovered.
The ancient Watling-street is thought to have run from
Dowgate, on the north bank of the Thames, along the
line of the modern Watling-street in the city of London,
to Aldersgate, and to have been continued in a northwestern direction, and fallen into the line of the present
road to St. Alban's by Paddington and Edgware. The
Ermin-street led northwards, through Islington, by StokeNewington and Hornsey Wood, to Enfield, and, diverging near the latter place, passed Clay Hill, and entered Hertfordshire. A third Roman road led from the
metropolis westward into Surrey and Berkshire, in the
line of the present great western road through Brentford, Hounslow, and Staines: a fourth is believed to
have led eastward, along Old-street and over Bethnal
Green to Old Ford, where it crossed the Lea into Essex;
and it is probable that another left the city at Aldgate,
and pursued the course of the present high road through
Whitechapel and Stratford-le-Bow, into Essex. Roman
antiquities have been found in different parts; the most
important are described in the article on London. The
number of religious houses in the county prior to the
Reformation, exclusively of those in the metropolis and
its suburbs, was few. Among the most perfect specimens of ancient domestic architecture are Holland
House, Harefield Place, and Wyer Hall at Tottenham;
and of the mansious most distinguished for grandeur or
elegance may be enumerated (in addition to the vast
number of magnificent residences in the metropolis) the
royal palaces of Hampton Court and Kensington; Sion
House, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland; Chiswick House, of the Duke of Devonshire; Osterley Park,
of the Earl of Jersey; Bentley Priory, of the Marquess
of Abercorn; Caen Wood, of the Earl of Mansfield;
Fulham Palace, of the Bishop of London; and Wrotham
Park, that of the late George Byng, Esq. In various
parts of the county are springs of mineral water, some
of which have been in great repute for their medicinal
properties, but none of them are now much frequented.