Neasham

NEASHAM, or Nysam, a township, in the parish of Hurworth, union of Darlington, S. W. division of Stockton ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 4½ miles (S. E.) from Darlington; containing 364 inhabitants. The manor of Neasham was held by the Greystocks, by subinfeudation, under the old lords of Hurworth; it descended lineally through the heiress of Greystock to the Dacres, and thence passed to the Howards, who occur as proprietors in the seventeenth century. A large portion of the lands, however, had been given by the Greystocks to a Benedictine nunnery here, founded by one of the old barons of that family, and the foundation was confirmed by Henry II.; at the Dissolution, the house and site were granted to the Lawson family. The township comprises about 1250 acres of land. The village consists of one street, extending along the northern bank of the Tees, over which, at this point, are a ferry and two fords. The tithes have been commuted for £155.

Neateshead (St. Peter)

NEATESHEAD (St. Peter), a parish, in the Tunstead and Happing incorporation, hundred of Tunstead, E. division of Norfolk, 5¼ miles (E. by S.) from Coltishall; containing 697 inhabitants. This place, in the Domesday survey Snatesherd, was given by Canute the Dane to the abbey of St. Bennet at Holm, and the manor is now the property of the see of Norwich: the parish comprises about 1600 acres. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £3. 13. 1½.; patron and appropriator, the Bishop; the great tithes have been commuted for £291; and the vicarial for £170, with a glebe of 46 acres. The church has long been without a steeple. There are places of worship for Baptists and Primitive Methodists.

Neatham

NEATHAM, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union and hundred of Alton, Alton and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 2 miles (E.) from Alton; containing 104 persons, and comprising 1170 acres.

Necton, or Neighton (All Saints)

NECTON, or Neighton (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Swaffham, hundred of South Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 3¾ miles (E.) from Swaffham; containing 991 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3718 acres, of which 2108 are arable, 1360 pasture, and 250 woodland. Necton Hall is a handsome mansion, finely situated in a park abounding with stately timber. The living consists of a rectory and a vicarage consolidated, with the living of Holme-Hale annexed, the rectory valued in the king's books at £8. 6. 8., and the vicarage at £8. 1. 8.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. J. P. Reynolds. The tithes have been commuted for £900, and the glebe comprises 28 acres. The church is in the later English style, with a square embattled tower; the east window is embellished with stained glass, inserted by Col. Mason. In the churchyard is a tomb bearing the recumbent effigy of a female, supposed to represent the Countess of Warwick, who died here on a pilgrimage to the shrine of our Lady of Walsingham. A free chapel formerly stood at Sparham Hall. There is a place of worship for Baptists; also a national school, erected in 1840, at the expense of Col. Mason. A farm of 128 acres, situated in Great Fransham, was bequeathed by the Countess of Warwick, for repairing the church; and there are 14 acres for the same purpose, left by an unknown benefactor.

Nedging (St. Mary)

NEDGING (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Cosford, W. division of Suffolk, 1 mile (S. E.) from Bildeston; containing 195 inhabitants. It comprises 825a. 3r. 33p., of which the soil is a rich loam; the surface is gently undulated, and the lower grounds are watered by the river Brent. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 12. 11.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. William Edge; the tithes have been commuted for £190, and the glebe comprises 27 acres. The church is Norman.

Needham (St. Peter)

NEEDHAM (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Depwade, hundred of Earsham, E. division of Norfolk, 1¼ mile (S. W.) from Harleston; containing 310 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the south by the river Waveney, which separates it from the county of Suffolk; it is on the road from Bury to Yarmouth, and comprises about 1100 acres. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £72; patron and impropriator, W. Adair, Esq.: the great tithes have been commuted for £310, and those of the perpetual curate for £25. 17. The church, originally a chapel to Mendham, has a circular tower of greater antiquity than the nave and choir, which are in the later English style.

Needham-Market

NEEDHAM-MARKET, a chapelry, and formerly a market-town, in the parish of Barking, union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of Suffolk, 8½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Ipswich, and 74 (N. E.) from London; containing 1353 inhabitants. The town is situated on low ground, on the road between Ipswich and Bury; it is tolerably well built, and the inhabitants are supplied with water from springs. The surrounding country is pleasant, and abounds with agreeable walks; a lake of about 9 acres, called Bosmere, gives name to the hundred. The manufacture of glue is carried on, and there are several flock-mills. The Stow-Market and Ipswich navigation passes along the north-east boundary of the chapelry, and is crossed by a bridge leading towards Stonham; near the town is also a station of the Ipswich and Bury railway, three miles from the Stow-Market station. A fair for toys is held on October 28th. Constables are appointed at the court leet and baron of the lord of the manor, and pettysessions are held monthly. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £91; patron, the Rector of Barking. The chapel, built about 1450, and dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is in the later English style, with a belfry of wood. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, and Independents. Dr. Priestley first settled at Needham-Market, with a small congregation, on a salary of £30 a year. The free school for the parish of Barking was founded here in 1652, by Francis Theobald, Esq., who endowed it with property now producing £65 per annum. In the town is also an almshouse, endowed with land now producing about £18 per annum; eight women reside in it, four of whom receive the above endowment, and four have the dividends of £500 three and a half per cent. consols., bequeathed in 1824 by Samuel Alexander, Esq.: the house was neatly rebuilt in 1836. A house of recovery was erected in 1744, by Ambrose Crowley, Esq., for persons attacked with small-pox; and there is land yielding about £50 per annum, for distribution among the poor.

Needingworth

NEEDINGWORTH, a chapelry, in the parish of Holywell, union of St. Ives, hundred of Hurstingstone, county of Huntingdon, 2¼ miles (E. by N.) from St. Ives. A great part of the village was accidentally destroyed by fire, in September, 1847. The chapel, dedicated to St. James, has been long demolished. There is a place of worship for Baptists.

Needwood-Forest

NEEDWOOD-FOREST, a district, in the N. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, formerly extra-parochial, but now included in the parishes of Hanbury, Tatenhill, Tutbury, and Yoxhall, to which it was allotted for inclosure. The forest, in its ancient state, was divided into five wards, called Barton, Marchington, Tutbury, Yoxhall, and Uttoxeter; and included thirteen parks, which were given to the earls of Mercia. The kings of England often enjoyed the diversion of hunting here, down to the time of Charles I., whose sales and gifts of various parts of the tract caused a great portion to be disafforested. In 1797 the forest consisted of the four first-named wards only, each having its separate lodge and keeper, and then comprised nearly 10,000 acres; it was wholly inclosed by act of parliament in 1801, up to which period no fewer than twenty-two neighbouring townships had right of pasturage upon it, independently of a numerous herd of deer belonging to the king. The district is still under the superintendence of a lieutenant, chief ranger, surveyor or axe-bearer, four keepers, &c.; and the queen's steward of the honour of Tutbury holds an annual court for the forest, called the Woodmote. It now contains many elegant mansions, with extensive parks. A church, called Christ-Church in Needwood, was erected from funds left by Isaac Hawkins, Esq., and consecrated in 1809: it is a handsome structure, situated at an equal distance from each of the parochial churches, and the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £150. Certain portions of the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment under the act of inclosure.

Neen-Savage

NEEN-SAVAGE, a parish, in the union of Cleobury-Mortimer, hundred of Stottesden, S. division of Salop, 1¼ mile (N. by E.) from Cleobury-Mortimer; containing 490 inhabitants. It comprises 2700 acres of land. Coal-mines and limekilns are in operation; and a paper-mill employs about 40 hands. The living is a vicarage, endowed with two-thirds of the rectorial tithes, valued in the king's books at £6, and in the patronage of the Crown; impropriators of the remainder of the rectorial tithes, the Duke of Cleveland, and W. Childe, Esq. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £76, and the vicarial for £424; the glebe comprises 9 acres, with a good glebe-house. The church is in the early English style. A school is endowed with about £40 per annum arising from a bequest by Richard Edwards, subsequently augmented by a bequest from John Hinkesman.

Neen-Sollars (All Saints)

NEEN-SOLLARS (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Cleobury-Mortimer, hundred of Overs, S. division of Salop, 3¼ miles (S. by W.) from CleoburyMortimer; containing 190 inhabitants. The small river Rea and the Kingston canal run through the parish. The living is a rectory, with that of Milson annexed, valued in the king's books at £13. 9. 9½., and in the gift of Worcester College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £273, and the glebe comprises 52 acres. The church contains a monument to the memory of Humphrey Conyngsby, an accomplished scholar and great traveller, born about 1567.

Neenton (All Saints)

NEENTON (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Bridgnorth, hundred of Stottesden, S. division of Salop, 6½ miles (S. W. by W.) from Bridgnorth; containing 114 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Bridgnorth to Ludlow, and comprises by computation 1300 acres: there are beds of coal and ironstone, and quarries of building-stone. The river Rea flows through the parish, and is remarkable for fine trout. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 3. 6½.; net income, £196; patron, H. Lyster, Esq.: the glebe comprises 30 acres. A school is supported by the incumbent.

Neithrop

NEITHROP, a township, in the parish, parliamentary borough, union, and hundred of Banbury, county of Oxford; containing, with the hamlets of Calthorpe, Easington, Hardwick, and Wickham, 3007 inhabitants. It is contiguous to Banbury on the north-west side, and the workhouse of Banbury union stands in the township. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1759.

Nempnett-Thrubwell (St. Mary)

NEMPNETT-THRUBWELL (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Clutton, hundred of Keynsham, E. division of Somerset, 9 miles (N. E. by E.) from Axbridge; containing 289 inhabitants. The living is annexed to the rectory of Compton-Martin. Within the parish is a large tumulus of an oval form, the finest in the kingdom, on opening which, in 1789, it was found to contain two rows of cells, running from south to north, formed by immense stones set edgeways, and covered with others of still larger dimensions. Skulls, a vast heap of bones, and other relics, having been discovered, it is conjectured to have been the work of the Druids, and to have been the cemetery belonging to their great temple at Stanton-Drew, three miles distant. An old mansion in the parish, called Reghillbury, where Sir William Wyndham spent the period of his retirement, is supposed to have been once a royal palace.

Nent-Head

NENT-HEAD, a hamlet, in the parish and union of Alston, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland, 4¼ miles (E. S. E.) from Alston. It takes its name from its situation near the source of the river Nent, and is principally inhabited by persons employed in the leadworks and smelting-houses of the London Lead Company, whose mines are in the immediate neighbourhood. A market is held on Thursday, chiefly for provisions; and commodious shambles have been erected, with a market-house surmounted by a neat turret. Here is a church dedicated to St. John, with a chapelry district attached: the living is in the gift of the Vicar. The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have places of worship.

Neot, St.

NEOT, ST., a parish, in the union of Liskeard, hundred of West, E. division of Cornwall, 5 miles (N. W. by W.) from Liskeard; containing 1515 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 14,540 acres, of which about 5000 are arable and pasture, 400 woodland, and the remainder common and waste. The village is situated at the head of a pleasant valley, watered by a branch of the Fowey called the river of St. Neot's, and is encircled with hills abounding with picturesque and beautiful scenery. The substratum produces a great quantity of granite, greywacke, and slate, wrought as occasion requires. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 1. 0½.; net income, £367; patron, the Rev. R. G. Grylls, who, with Mr. Bowes and others, is impropriator. The church is an elegant structure, ornamented with ancient stained glass, there being not less than sixteen windows enriched with representations of various subjects from Scripture history; the glass was restored by the Rev. R. G. Grylls, in 1824, at an expense of £2000, and the church was repewed in 1832, at a cost of £500. Here are the ruins of a chapel dedicated to St. Luke; also the site of a monastery or college founded in honour of St. Neotus, brother to King Alfred. John Austis, a distinguished herald and antiquary, born in 1699, was a native of the parish.

Neot's, St. (St. Mary)

NEOT'S, ST. (St. Mary), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Toseland, county of Huntingdon, 9 miles (S. S. W.) from Huntingdon, and 56 (N. N. W.) from London; containing 3123 inhabitants. The name of this place is derived from St. Neot, a learned Christian missionary, whose body was transferred hither from Neotstock, in Cornwall, and in honour of whom a monastery was founded here, which was subsequently endowed by Earl Leofric, as a priory of monks subordinate to Ely. About 1113, it became a cell to the abbey of Bec, in Normandy, but being afterwards made independent, it existed till the time of Henry VIII., when its revenue was £256. 1. 3¼. The town is on the east bank of the navigable river Ouse, across which is a stone bridge of one central arch, with two smaller arches over the stream, and six others forming a causeway above the low lands adjoining; it consists principally of three streets, and from its low situation is exposed to occasional inundations, which have sometimes rendered it necessary to navigate the streets. The manufacture of paper is carried on to a considerable extent, in a mill upon the river. The great railway from London to York will pass by. The market, held under a grant from Henry I., is on Thursday, for corn; and there are fairs on Holy-Thursday, on that day three weeks, and on December 17th, with a statutefair for hiring servants on August 1st: the market-place is very spacious and convenient. The powers of the county debt-court of St. Neot's, established in 1847, extend over the greater part of the registration-district of St. Neot's. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10, and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £163; impropriator, Sir R. H. Bromley, Bart. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1770. The church is a remarkably good specimen of the later English style, with an elegant tower; it has a fine timber roof, also some ancient screen-work. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans. A free school was founded in 1760, by Gabriel Newton, alderman of Leicester, who endowed it with a rent-charge of £26, subsequently augmented by Loftus Hatley with a rent-charge of £5, and by Elizabeth Bailey with £500 vested in the three per cent. consols.; the income is about £60. The union of St. Neot's comprises 30 parishes or places, of which 22 are in the county of Huntingdon, 7 in that of Bedford, and one in that of Cambridge; the whole containing a population of 18,035.

Nesbit

NESBIT, a township, in the parish of Hart, union of Easington, S. division of Easington ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 12 miles (N.) from Stockton-upon-Tees; containing 12 inhabitants. Among the families whose names occur as landed proprietors here, have been those of Aske, Wilbefosse, Welbury, Spearman, and Wilkinson. The township lies between the sea on the east, and the road from Stockton to Sunderland on the west, and comprises 130 acres. It pays a prescript rent of 20s. for great tithes.

Nesbit

NESBIT, a township, in the parish of Stamfordham, union of Castle ward, N. E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 11 miles (W. N. W.) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; containing 35 inhabitants. The township is situated on the river Pont, and comprises 843a. 3r. 18p., of high flat tableland, with a substratum of blue mountain limestone. It is the property of the Riddell family, of CheeseburnGrange. The tithes have been commuted for £8. 2. 7. payable to the vicar of Stamfordham, and £87. 8. 4. to the Bishop of Durham.

Nesbit

NESBIT, a township, in the parish of Doddington, union of Glendale, E. division of Glendale ward, N. division of Northumberland, 3½ miles (N.) from Wooler; containing 59 inhabitants. It lies a short distance north-west of the village of Doddington, and not far from the road between Wooler and Berwick.

Nesfield, with Langbar.—See Langbar.

NESFIELD, with Langbar.—See Langbar.

Ness

NESS, a township, in the parish of Neston, union, and Higher division of the hundred, of Wirrall, S. division of the county of Chester, 1¼ mile (S. S. E.) from the town of Great Neston; containing 485 inhabitants. This place is mentioned in Domesday survey as being part of the possessions of Walter de Vernon; in the time of Richard II., it was held by the Duttons under the king as Earl of Chester, in capite, by military service. On the marriage of the heiress of that family, 7th James I., to the heir of Thomas, Lord Gerard, Ness became the property of the Gerards, of Gerard's Bromley; and in 1668 it was purchased from them by the Masseys. By the will of the late Sir Thomas S. Massey Stanley, the manor was bequeathed to his second son, Rowland Errington, Esq. Here are very extensive collieries, situated on the margin of the Dee, under which the veins of coal run for a considerable distance towards the opposite coast of Flintshire: they have yielded an immense supply since they were first opened. The greater part of the township, which altogether comprises 852 acres of a sandy clay soil, is of very inferior quality, and much of it absolutely worthless. The village consists of hovels inhabited by the colliers. Denhall House stands on the bank of the river, and, with the grounds attached to it, forms a pleasing exception to the bleak and dreary prospect; it is the seat of Charles Stanley, Esq. (uncle of Sir William Stanley), who, and Mr. Errington, the Earl of Shrewsbury, and others, are proprietors of the collieries and the township.

Ness, East

NESS, EAST, a township, in the parish of Hovingham, union of Malton, wapentake of Ryedale, N. riding of York, 10 miles (N. by W.) from Whitwell; containing 46 inhabitants. The township is situated on the river Rye, and comprises about 500 acres, of which two-thirds are pasture, and the remainder arable; the soil is fertile, the surface undulated, and the scenery picturesque. The substratum abounds with limestone, which is quarried for building and also for burning into lime. Near the site of the ancient Hall is a handsome modern mansion.

Ness, Great (St. Andrew)

NESS, GREAT (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Ellesmere, hundred of Pimhill, N. division of Salop, 7½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Shrewsbury; containing 622 inhabitants. It comprises 3866a. 1r. 12p., of which about two-thirds are arable, 150 acres woodland and plantations, and the remainder meadow and pasture; the soil is partly light and sandy, and partly a strong clay. The surface is undulated; and nearly in the centre is a rocky cliff called Ness Cliff, which forms a prominent feature in the landscape. There is a remarkable cave, divided into two apartments by a massive pillar of rock, upon which is carved the date 1564, with the initials of the name of the noted outlaw, Humphrey Kynaston. The parish contains quarries of fine redsandstone, from which it is said the stone was raised for building the castle, abbey, and walls of Shrewsbury. The living is a discharged vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, valued in the king's books at £9, and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £305; impropriators of the remainder of the rectorial tithes, T. J. Bather, Esq., and others. The church, which is ancient, appears to have been built at various periods, and in different styles. At Ness Cliff was a chapel dedicated to St. Mary, the site of which is now occupied by a parochial school, founded by John Edwards, who in 1753 bequeathed £100 for it.

Ness, Little

NESS, LITTLE, a chapelry, in the parish of Baschurch, union of Ellesmere, hundred of Pimhill, N. division of Salop, 8 miles (N. W.) from the town of Shrewsbury; containing 238 inhabitants.

Ness, West

NESS, WEST, a township, in the parish of Stonegrave, union of Malton, wapentake of Ryedale, N. riding of York, 10 miles (N. by W.) from Whitwell; containing 75 inhabitants. The township is beautifully situated on the river Rye, which abounds with trout; the surface is undulated, and the scenery in some parts beautifully picturesque. The substratum contains excellent limestone, which is quarried for building and for burning into lime. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1776.

Neston (St. Mary and St. Helen)

NESTON (St. Mary and St. Helen), a parish, in the union, and Higher division of the hundred, of Wirrall, S. division of the county of Chester; containing with the townships of Ledsham, Leighton, Ness, Little Neston, Raby, Thornton-Hough, and Willaston, 3809 inhabitants, of whom 1701 are in the town of Great Neston, 11 miles (N. W.) from Chester, and 191¼ (N. W.) from London. At the Domesday survey the manor of Great Neston was held in three parts, one by the monks of St. Werburgh, one by William Fitz-Nigel, baron of Halton, and the third by Robert the Cook. Early in the reign of Stephen, the second baron of Halton obtained that portion which belonged to the monastery, in exchange for Raby; and a subsequent arrangement put him in possession of the entire manor. It shortly afterwards passed to Robert de Montalt, and in the reign of Edward III. the last baron of that name, having no heir, presented the manor to Queen Isabella, from whom it came to William de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury. The heiress of the Salisburys was married in 1454 to Sir Thomas Stanley, afterwards Lord Stanley, whose descendants held the property for several generations. About the middle of the 16th century it was alienated by William, Earl of Derby, to the Whitmores, whose heiress conveyed it in marriage to the second son of Viscount Savage; and their grand-daughter marrying Sir Thomas Mostyn, Bart., of Mostyn, the manor became vested in that family. The manor of Little Neston is mentioned in Domesday book as held by Robert the Cook. After the various alienations, a large portion of it became the property of the Earl of Shrewsbury, as the descendant of the Troutbecks.

The town is pleasantly situated on an eminence about a mile from the Dee, and is much frequented during the summer months for the benefit of bathing at Parkgate, a hamlet partly in Great Neston township, and which is separately described. The air is very salubrious, and the views beautiful and extensive. Courts leet and baron are annually held; and petty-sessions monthly. The parish comprises upwards of 9000 acres, whereof 1303 are in Great, and 1307 in Little, Neston; the flatness of the country, and the prevalence of sea breezes, which prevent the growth of timber, have given the surface a rather naked appearance, and may in some measure account for the parish having been for centuries deserted by nearly all its principal landowners. Several coal-mines have long been in operation; and coal of most excellent quality has been very recently discovered on the lands of the Hon. E. M. Lloyd Mostyn, which, it is supposed, is a continuation of the Flint and Bagilt coal-field: if this should prove to be the case, Birkenhead may derive from this new source the supplies of coal required for its use, and for exportation, on far easier terms than from any other quarter. A colliery in Little Neston township is leased by the Earl of Shrewsbury to Thomas Cottingham, Esq.

The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £11. 5.; net income, £535; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Chester; impropriators of the remainder of the rectorial tithes, the Hon. Mr. Mostyn, and Sir W. Stanley, Bart. The church is a handsome and spacious edifice of considerable antiquity, having a nave, chancel, and aisles formerly terminating in small chapels, and also a tower, supposed to have been rebuilt in 1697; the edifice was restored in 1792: the font is an extremely elegant piece of workmanship, and was erected rather more than 400 years since. There are places of worship for Calvinists, Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans. A Roman Catholic chapel, dedicated to St. Winifred, was built by Pugin in 1843, on a site leased from the Earl of Shrewsbury; the style is early English; there is a residence adjacent for the priest, who has an endowment for his support. In Great Neston is a national school supported by subscription, aided by an endowment of £10 per annum.

Neswick

NESWICK, a township, in the parish of Bainton, union of Driffield, Bainton-Beacon division of the wapentake of Harthill, E. riding of York, 5½ miles (S. W.) from Driffield; containing 60 inhabitants. The township comprises about 960 acres. Neswick Hall is a neat mansion standing in a well-wooded lawn, on the north side of a picturesque valley. The hamlet is a mile east of the village of Bainton. The tithes were commuted for land in 1774.