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Oadby (St. Peter)
OADBY (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of
Blaby, hundred of Guthlaxton, S. division of the
county of Leicester, 3 miles (S. E.) from Leicester;
containing 1085 inhabitants. It comprises by admeasurement 1896 acres of land. Many of the population are
frame-work knitters. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8; net income, £210;
patrons and impropriators, the Windham family: the
old glebe consists of 18 acres. The church, which is
supposed to have been erected about the year 1100,
contains some fine specimens of ancient sculpture.
There is a place of worship for Baptists. A sum of £42
per annum, arising from an allotment of 15 acres under
an inclosure act, is applied to the reduction of the poor
rates.
Oakamoor.—See Oakmoor, county Stafford.
OAKAMOOR.—See Oakmoor, county Stafford.
Oake (St. Bartholomew)
OAKE (St. Bartholomew), a parish, in the union
of Wellington, hundred of Taunton and TauntonDean, W. division of Somerset, 5¾ miles (W.) from
Taunton; containing 174 inhabitants. It comprises by
admeasurement 860 acres; the soil is generally a heavy
loam, and in some parts stony earth. The living is a
rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 0. 5., and in
the gift of the Trustees of the late Rev. Francis Prowde:
the tithes have been commuted for £190, and the glebe
consists of 46½ acres.
Oaken
OAKEN, a township, in the parish of Codsall,
union of Seisdon, S. division of the hundred of Seisdon and of the county of Stafford, 4¾ miles (N. W. by
W.) from Wolverhampton; containing 324 inhabitants.
It comprises 1298 acres, of which two-thirds are arable,
and the remainder grass with 40 acres of common or
waste. At a short distance from the Shrewsbury road,
on an elevated site commanding beautiful and extensive
views, stands Oaken Terrace, a mansion surrounded
with 200 acres, the seat and property of Christopher
Wood, Esq. About 60 acres of land belong to William
Wenman, Esq., of Codsall. The tithes have been commuted for £212.
Oakford (St. Peter)
OAKFORD (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of
Tiverton, hundred of Witheridge, Cullompton and
N. divisions of Devon, 3½ miles (W. by S.) from Bampton; containing 641 inhabitants. This parish, which is
situated on the road from Bampton to South Molton,
and bounded on the east by the river Eske, comprises
4221 acres, of which 1790 are common or waste land.
Stone is quarried for building, and for the repair of roads.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at
£24, and in the patronage of Mrs. Parkyn: the tithes
have been commuted for a yearly rent-charge of £425,
and the glebe consists of about 90 acres. The church
was rebuilt in 1838-9; the tower contains a beautiful
peal of ten bells.
Oakham, or Okeham (All Saints)
OAKHAM, or Okeham (All Saints), a markettown and parish, and the head of a union, in the soke of
Oakham, county of Rutland, of which it is the chief
town, 95 miles (N. N. W.) from London; containing
2726 inhabitants, of whom 1902 are in the Lordshold,
with Leigh-Fields extra-parochial, and 824 in the Deanshold, with Barleythorpe chapelry and Gunthorpe township. This place is situated in the luxuriant vale
of Catmose, so called from the woods with which it
abounded (Coed-maes) signifying in the British language
a woody plain); and is supposed to have derived its
name from the oaks that formerly grew in the vicinity.
A castle was erected here soon after the Norman Conquest by Walkelin de Ferrers; in relation to which the
following singular custom still prevails: every peer of
the realm, on first passing through the town, is compelled to give a shoe from the foot of one of his horses,
or, in commutation, a sum of money for the purchase of
a horse-shoe, to be nailed upon the castle-gate or placed
in some part of the building. Affixed to the castle are
many ancient horse-shoes, of which the oldest with a
date is of the time of Elizabeth, and is very large and
curiously worked and gilt; there are one of bronze and
or molu, of George IV. when Prince Regent, one of the
late Duke of York, and one of Her present Majesty
when princess. Richard II. having advanced Edward,
son of the Duke of York, to the earldom of Rutland,
assigned to him this castle, which in the reign of
Henry VIII. was the baronial seat of Thomas, Lord
Cromwell. The hall of the ancient building yet remains,
and the assizes are held and public business is transacted
in it; the other parts are in ruins.
The houses of the town are amply provided with
water, and the air is remarkably salubrious. The inhabitants formerly enjoyed the staple of wool, and many
French merchants settled in Oakham, of whose descendants several may still be traced here. A manufactory was established some years since, chiefly for
weaving silk shag for covering hats. The town possesses the advantage of a canal to Melton-Mowbray, in
Leicestershire, by which coal is brought from Derbyshire, and corn sent to Manchester and Liverpool: the
Syston and Peterborough railway, also, completed in
1847, passes by Oakham. The market, which is well
supplied with corn, is on Monday; and a market for
butchers' meat is held on Saturday. The fairs are on
March 15th, May 6th, Sept. 9th, under the original
charters, and on Feb. 4th, April 9th, June 2nd, July
16th, August 13th, Oct. 15th, Nov. 19th, and Dec. 15th,
as established within the last half century; they are
principally for the sale of cattle. Courts leet are held
annually by the lord of the castle for the manor of
Lordshold, and triennially by the Dean of Westminster
for the Deanshold, for the election of parochial and other
officers. The assizes and quarter-sessions for the county,
and the election of knights of the shire, take place in the
town. The powers of the county debt-court of Oakham,
established in 1847, extend over the registration-district
of Oakham, and part of that of Billesden. The common
gaol and house of correction for the county is a commodious edifice.
The parish comprises 2902a. 2r. 11p. The Living is
a vicarage, with the livings of Brooke and Langham
annexed, valued in the king's books at £28. 3. 1½.; net
income, £918; patron, George Finch, Esq.; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The tithes,
with some exceptions, were commuted for land and a
money payment in 1820. The church is a spacious and
elegant structure of various dates, but chiefly in the
later English style, with a fine tower surmounted by
a lofty spire. At Egleton is a chapel of ease; and
there are places of worship in the town for Baptists, the
Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans. The
free grammar school was founded about 1584, by Robert
Johnson, Archdeacon of Leicester, who established a
similar school at Uppingham. These schools, to each
of which an hospital is annexed, were incorporated
by Queen Elizabeth, who endowed them with certain
alienated ecclesiastical property now producing an
income of more than £3000 per annum, and placed them
under the control of 24 governors, including the Bishops
of London and Peterborough, the Deans of Westminster
and Peterborough, the Archdeacon of Northampton, and
the Masters of Trinity and St. John's Colleges, Cambridge. Belonging to them are, 20 exhibitions of £40
per annum each, tenable for seven years, to any of the
colleges of Oxford or Cambridge; four scholarships of
£24 per annum each, in Emmanuel College, Cambridge;
four of £20 per annum each, in Sidney-Sussex College;
four of £20 per annum each, in Clare Hall; and four of
£16 each, in St. John's College; all founded by Archdeacon Johnson. Two exhibitions, likewise, of £40 per
annum each, were founded by the family of Lovett, for
the sons of graduated clergymen, who have been for
three years in the school of Grantham, or, these failing,
of Oakham. In the hospitals were originally 28 aged
men; there are now 100 hospital poor, who receive each
£10 per annum at their own dwellings, the buildings of
both hospitals being occupied by the schoolmasters for
the accommodation of boarders.
The hospital of St. John and St. Anne, originally
instituted about the 22nd of Richard II., by Walter
Dalby, for two chaplains and twelve aged men, and of
which the revenue at the Dissolution was £12. 12. 11.,
was refounded by Archdeacon Johnson, who increased
the endowment. Twenty aged men now receive each
£6 per annum at their own dwellings; the warden has
£15, and the subwarden £10. The buildings of the
hospital have fallen to decay, with the exception of a
house for the warden, in which the subwarden at present resides, a chapel, and four separate tenements
under one roof. A national school, established in 1816,
is supported by subscription; and there are several
bequests for distribution among the indigent generally.
The poor-law union of Oakham comprises 30 parishes
or places, 28 of which are in the county of Rutland,
and two in that of Leicester, the whole containing a
population of 11,218. Geoffrey Hudson, the dwarf,
only three feet nine inches in height, was a native of
Oakham.
Oakhampton, or Okehampton (All Saints)
OAKHAMPTON, or Okehampton (All Saints), a
market-town and parish, the
head of a union, and formerly
a representative borough,
partly in the hundred of
Black Torrington, N. division, but chiefly in the
hundred of Lifton, Lifton
and S. divisions, of Devon,
22 miles (W. by N.) from
Exeter, and 198 (W. by S.)
from London; containing,
with the hamlets of Kigbear, Cheesacott, Brightley,
Lower Fartherford, Meldon, Southacott, and Maddaford,
2194 inhabitants. This place is interesting as having
been the head of the earldom of Devon, and the seat of
the hereditary county sheriffs, keepers of the castle of
Exeter. The barony was given by the Conqueror to
Baldwin de Brioniis, one of his most faithful followers,
who distinguished himself at the battle of Hastings.
The castle, erected by that nobleman, was remarkable
for its grandeur, of which there is abundant evidence in
the venerable remains. The barons exercised the right
of capital punishment over eight manors, besides which
they held a great number in demesne, no less than 164
being at one time occupied by inferior tenants: they
acted as stewards at the installation of the bishops of
the diocese, claiming on the occasion perquisites to a
great amount; possessed also numerous advowsons,
and were the patrons of several priories; holding three
fees of the see of Exeter, and 92 by knight's service. The
above-mentioned grant is noticed in Domesday book, in
which it is recorded that Baldwin the Viscount held
Okehampton of the king, that he had his castle, and
that there were four burgesses, and a market. The
town was afterwards for several generations in the possession of the Courtenays, one of whom, named Robert,
granted to the inhabitants a charter without date, but
probably in the 28th of Edward I., conferring various
immunities. James I., in 1623, on petition of the burgesses, bestowed a charter of incorporation with many
new privileges, yet still preserving the rights and liberties of the old constitution, as set forth in Courtenay's
charter; and this grant remained in force until the 36th
of Charles II., when it was surrendered and a new one
obtained, by which the powers and jurisdiction of the
corporation were enlarged. During the great civil war,
the place was twice visited by King Charles, and as often
by his opponent, Sir Thomas Fairfax.
Seal and Arms.
The Town is situated in the lowest part of a valley
watered by two rapid streams, called the East and West
Ockments, and is a great thoroughfare between Exeter
and Cornwall: there is a plentiful supply of water from
pumps. The two rivers issue out of Crawmere or Cranmere Pool, on Dartmoor, and after flowing respectively
eastward and westward round a succession of hills on
Dartmoor and in Oakhampton Park, run through, and
unite about a quarter of a mile below, the town. The
forest of Dartmoor affords pasturage to sheep, of which
great numbers are sent to the London market, the
sweetness of the herbage rendering the mutton of superior flavour. A limestone-quarry is in constant operation. The market, which is held on Saturday, by
prescription, has an excellent supply of every necessary
commodity, including fish and corn: fairs are held by
charter on the second Tuesday after March 11th, on May
14th, the first Wednesday after July 6th, on August 5th,
the first Tuesday after September 11th, and first Wednesday after October 11th; and there are great markets
on the Saturday before, and the Saturday after, Christmas. Under the charter of the 36th of Charles II.,
Oakhampton is governed by a mayor, recorder, justice,
eight principal burgesses, and eight assistants, aided by
a town-clerk and other officers: the lordship of the
borough is vested in the mayor and burgesses. The
freedom may be acquired by servitude; and the eldest
surviving son of a freeman becomes free at his father's
death, if born within the borough. The first return of
members to parliament was in the reign of Edward I.,
and the next in the 7th of Edward II., after which there
was an intermission till 1640, but from that period the
representation was regular until the 2nd of William IV.,
when the borough was disfranchised. The mayor, the
late mayor, and the recorder, are justices of the peace;
the county magistrates having concurrent jurisdiction.
Quarter-sessions are held for the borough, but there are
seldom any prisoners. The powers of the county debtcourt of Oakhampton, established in 1847, extend over
the registration-district of Oakhampton.
The parish comprises 8145 acres, of which 2807 are
common or waste land. The living is a vicarage, valued
in the king's books at £20; patrons, the family of
Savile; impropriator, A. Holdsworth, Esq.: the tithes
have been commuted for £350, and the glebe consists of
200 acres. The church, an ancient structure with a
square embattled tower, was almost totally destroyed by
an accidental fire in February 1842. St. James' chapel,
a small building, originally founded as a chantry, belongs to the corporation, and divine service is performed
in it on Sunday and Wednesday evenings. There are
places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans.
The poor-law union comprises 28 parishes or places,
containing a population of 22,001. The castle, situated
about half a mile from the town, is a most interesting
ruin, and particularly striking when observed on approaching from the west; it occupies the summit and
declivity of a conoidal mount, so thickly clothed with
trees that, although the remains are of considerable
magnitude, the keep and a smaller fragment northward
are alone visible from the road.
Oakhampton, Monk
OAKHAMPTON, MONK, a parish, in the union of
Oakhampton, hundred of Black Torrington, Black
Torrington and Shebbear, and N. divisions of the county
of Devon, 2¾ miles (E. N. E.) from Hatherleigh; containing 259 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued
in the king's books at £6. 14. 7.; net income, £131;
patron, Sir S. Northcote, Bart.
Oakhill
OAKHILL, a village, partly in the parish of Ashwick, hundred of Kilmersdon, and partly in that of
Shepton-Mallet, hundred of Whitestone, union of
Shepton-Mallet, E. division of the county of Somerset, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Shepton-Mallet. This place
has been long noted for its brewery.
Oakhill
OAKHILL, a tything, in the parish of Froxfield,
union of Hungerford, hundred of Kinwardstone,
Marlborough and Ramsbury, and S. divisions of the
county of Wilts; containing 131 inhabitants.
Oakingham, Berks.—See Wokingham.
OAKINGHAM, Berks.—See Wokingham.
Oakington (St. Andrew)
OAKINGTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union
of Chesterton, partly in the hundred of Chesterton,
but chiefly in that of Northstow, county of Cambridge, 5 miles (N. N. W.) from Cambridge; containing,
with the hamlet of Westwick, 619 inhabitants. The
living is a vicarage, endowed with the rectorial tithes,
and valued in the king's books at £4. 13. 1½. net income, £199; patrons, the President and Fellows of
Queen's College, Cambridge. There is a place of worship for Baptists.
Oakley, or Oakley-Reynes (St. Mary)
OAKLEY, or Oakley-Reynes (St. Mary), a parish,
forming, with Clapham and Milton-Earnest, a detached
portion of the hundred of Stodden, in the union and
county of Bedford, 4 miles (N. W.) from Bedford;
containing 492 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north,
west, and south by the river Ouse; the surface is boldly
undulated, and about half a mile from the village is
Oakley Hill, an eminence commanding an extensive
prospect, and through which is a cutting of the high
road from London to Leeds. The substratum of the
parish contains good building-stone and gravel. On the
south side of the hill has lately been constructed a large
manufactory for draining-tiles, one of the numerous
establishments of the kind erected by the Marquess of
Tweeddale and others: here, as in all the north-east of
the parish, the subsoil is clay. Part of the population is
employed in the making of lace; the rest is chiefly agricultural. The living is a discharged vicarage, annexed
to that of Bromham, and valued in the king's books at
£8. 14. 9.: the tithes were commuted for 64 acres of
land, and Easter offerings, in 1803. The church is in
the early English style, with later additions, and contains an altar-tomb with the recumbent effigy of the
foundress, one of the family of Reynes, habited as a nun.
£25, the rent of twenty acres of land, are applied to a
school.
Oakley (St. Mary)
OAKLEY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Thame, hundred of Ashendon, county of Buckingham, 6 miles (N. W. by N.) from Thame; containing
391 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage,
endowed with the rectorial tithes, and valued in the
king's books at £5. 17. 1.; net income, £264; patron,
Sir T. D. Aubrey, Bart. The tithes were commuted for
land and a corn-rent in 1819. The church was formerly the mother church of Brill and Borstall. A rentcharge of £25 is applied to education.
Oakley
OAKLEY, a township, in the parish of Croxall,
union of Tamworth, N. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 6½ miles (N. by
W.) from Tamworth; containing 31 inhabitants. It is
bounded on the west by the river Tame, and comprises
about 600 acres of land. The Trent, which flows on
the east of the township, separates it from the remainder
of Croxall parish, in the county of Derby. The vicarial
tithes have been commuted for £218.
Oakley
OAKLEY, a township, in the parish of Muckleston,
union of Drayton, N. division of the hundred of
Pirehill and of the county of Stafford, 3¼ miles
(N. E. by N.) from Drayton; containing 64 inhabitants.
The township lies on the immediate border of Shropshire, and at the south end of the parish, two miles
south-west of the village of Muckleston. Oakley Hall,
the handsome seat of Sir John N. L. Chetwode, Bart.,
stands in a beautiful park of 300 acres, on the east bank
of the Terne, which here separates Staffordshire and
Shropshire.
Oakley (St. Nicholas)
OAKLEY (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union
and hundred of Hartismere, W. division of Suffolk,
2 miles (S. by E.) from Scole; containing 355 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1288a. 1r. 13p., and is
bounded on the north by the river Waveney, which
separates it from the county of Norfolk. The living is
a rectory, annexed to that of Brome, and valued in the
king's books at £9. 4. 9½.: the tithes have been commuted for £343, and there are 25 acres of glebe. The
church is chiefly in the later English style, and has a
handsome south porch. Oakley Parva was formerly a
separate parish, and had a church dedicated to St. Peter;
but it was annexed to Oakley in 1449, and the church
is now in ruins. Dr. William Broome, the poet, was
rector of the parish.
Oakley, Church (St. Leonard)
OAKLEY, CHURCH (St. Leonard), a parish, in
the union of Basingstoke, hundred of Chutely, Kingsclere and N. divisions of the county of Southampton,
5 miles (W. by S.) from Basingstoke; containing 335
inhabitants. It is intersected by the London and SouthWestern railway, and comprises 1605a. 1r. 24p., of
which 1119 acres are arable, 226 pasture, and 168
woodland. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's
books at £11. 13. 11½.; net income, £311; patrons,
the Provost and Fellows of Queen's College, Oxford.
William Warham, successively Bishop of London and
Archbishop of Canterbury, and an eminent statesman,
who died in 1532, was born here.
Oakley, Great (All Saints)
OAKLEY, GREAT (All Saints), a parish, in the
union and hundred of Tendring, N. division of Essex,
6 miles (S.) from Ipswich; containing 1145 inhabitants.
The parish is situated near an inlet of the sea, opposite
Pewit Island, and comprises by computation 2800 acres,
of which 2483 are arable, and about 100 nearly equally
divided between woodland and pasture. It is celebrated
as the scene of a sanguinary conflict between Ethelwolf
and the Danes, and had once a castle, of which a small
portion of the keep, and traces of the moat, are still discernible. A fair is held on the 25th of April. The living
is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £23, and in
the patronage of St. John's College, Cambridge: the
tithes have been commuted for £900, and there is a
glebe of 57 acres. The church, a small edifice, had a
steeple of flint, which, becoming ruinous, was rebuilt.
Here are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans.
Oakley, Great (St. Michael)
OAKLEY, GREAT (St. Michael), a parish, in the
union of Kettering, hundred of Corby, N. division of
the county of Northampton, 5 miles (N.) from Kettering; containing 225 inhabitants. This parish, which
comprises 2172 acres, is on the road from Kettering to
Rockingham and Uppingham. A large portion of it
was included in the bounds of the royal forest of Rockingham, lately disafforested, where the sovereigns of
England, particularly in early periods, took the diversion
of hunting while resident at the ancient castle of Rockingham, on the confines of the forest. Great Oakley is
distinguished by its fine springs: one of them is called
Monks' Well, from the monks of the neighbouring monastery of Pipewell having resorted to it for its pure
water. Harpurs or Harpisk brook, the chief source of
which is near the village, formed one of the forest
boundaries; it flows from west to east, and falls into
the Nene at Thrapston. Oakley Hall, the seat of Sir
Arthur de Capell Broke, Bart., is a picturesque specimen
of an old English manor-house; it is deeply embosomed
in woods, and approached by an avenue of aged elms,
presenting a scene of solitude and repose: the front of
the Hall bears the date 1575, but part of it is supposed
to be much older. Sir Arthur is lord of the manor, and
possesses a right of free warren, granted shortly after
the Conquest. The collection of family deeds is one of
the finest and most curious in the kingdom, and in
beautiful preservation; the dates of some of them are
not much later than William I.'s reign.
The living is a donative; net income, £50; patron,
Sir Arthur de Capell Broke, who is owner of the tithes.
The church, situated close to the manor-house, is an
interesting fabric of early English architecture, and remarkable for its depth of roof; the tower is more
modern. In the church is a very beautiful stone arch,
dug up some years ago at Pipewell, and which formed
part of one of the windows of the abbey chapel; there
is also a considerable number of flooring-tiles of red
brick, obtained from the same spot, some of them having
the armorial bearings of William de Boutevylein, founder
of Pipewell Abbey. The churchyard is picturesque in
the extreme, deeply shaded by fine old trees, and planted
with shrubs and wild flowers. There are four tumuli
in the lordship; on one of them is a windmill, more
than 200 years old.
Oakley, Little (St. Mary)
OAKLEY, LITTLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the
union and hundred of Tendring, N. division of
Essex, 4 miles (S. W. by W.) from Harwich; containing 254 inhabitants. It extends along the sea-shore,
and comprises 1028 acres, of which 821 are arable, 162
meadow, 15 wood, and 29 common or waste. The living
is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 11. 0½.;
patron and incumbent, the Rev. George Burmester: the
tithes have been commuted for £415, and there is a
glebe-house, with upwards of 30 acres of land. The
church is a small ancient edifice in the English style,
with a tower of stone. Here is a small place of worship
for Wesleyans. Some gold coins were found whilst
digging under the floor of the church, in 1802.
Oakley, Little (St. Peter)
OAKLEY, LITTLE (St. Peter), a parish, in the
union of Kettering, hundred of Corby, N. division of
the county of Northampton, 5½ miles (N. N. E.) from
the town of Kettering; containing 139 inhabitants.
The parish is situated in a vale on the road from Kettering to Stamford, and comprises 724a. 33p., of which 604
acres are arable and pasture, and 119 woodland: good
stone for building is quarried. The living is a rectory,
valued in the king's books at £7. 7. 6.; net income, £81;
patron, the Duke of Buccleuch. The tithes have been
commuted for land, under an act of inclosure; the glebe
altogether comprises 106 acres, and there is a glebehouse. The church is an ancient structure in the later
English style, with a square embattled tower, and from
the spacious dimensions of the building, the parish is
supposed to have been formerly much larger than it is at
present.
Oakmere
OAKMERE, a township, in the parish of Delamere,
poor-law union of Northwich, First division of the
hundred of Eddisbury, S. division of the county of
Chester; containing 195 inhabitants, and comprising
2880 acres of a light soil.