Osleston, with Thurvaston
OSLESTON, with Thurvaston, a township, in the
parish of Sutton-on-the-Hill, union of Burtonupon-Trent, hundred of Appletree, S. division of the
county of Derby, 7½ miles (W. by N.) from Derby;
containing 405 inhabitants. The township comprises
1588 acres, of which 842 are in Orleston hamlet, and
746 in that of Thurvaston; in each is a small rural
village, and the township also includes the scattered village of Cropper, where the Primitive Methodists have a
place of worship. The impropriate tithes have been
commuted for £112. 11. 6., and the vicarial for £125.
Osmaston (St. Martin)
OSMASTON (St. Martin), a parish, in the hundred
of Appletree, S. division of the county of Derby,
3 miles (S. E. by S.) from Ashbourn; containing 271
inhabitants. This was long the chief residence of the
Pegges, branches of whose family resided in Shirley,
Yeldersley, and Ashbourn. Dr. Samuel Pegge, the
antiquary, was of Osmaston, where his ancestors had
been located in lineal succession for four generations;
he died possessed of the estate. The parish comprises
1254a. 15p. of land, mostly pasture: the soil is poor,
and chiefly upon gravel or sand; the general feature of
the scenery is picturesque. The village, which stands
high, is about half a mile from the Derby and Ashbourn
road. Osmaston Manor-house, the erection of which has
been recently commenced by Francis Wright, Esq., will,
when completed, be one of the most splendid mansions
in the county; it is in the pure Elizabethan style, 330
feet in length and 192 in breadth, and, with the terraces,
will cover two acres of ground: the estimated cost is
£50,000. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to
the rectory of Brailsford. In lieu of the very old and
dilapidated church, a new and beautiful structure in the
style of the 14th century was opened for divine service
in June 1845; it was erected by Mr. Wright, at a cost
exceeding £9000, including some schoolrooms. The
tithes have been commuted for £104, and the incumbent's glebe comprises about 27 acres. The Wesleyan
Methodists have a place of worship. The parish is
celebrated for its springs of clear water, and there is a
chalybeate spring.
Osmaston (All Saints)
OSMASTON (All Saints), a parish, in the union of
Shardlow, hundred of Repton and Gresley, S. division of the county of Derby, 1¼ mile (S. S. E.) from
Derby; containing 178 inhabitants. It lies on the
Loughborough and Ashby-de-la-Zouch roads from Derby,
and comprises 929a. 27p., consisting of arable, pasture,
and woodland, but chiefly occupied as milk-farms; the
soil is a sandy and loamy earth, resting upon a deep bed
of gravel. The river Derwent skirts the parish on the
north-east, the Derby and Birmingham railway on the
west, and the Derby canal runs through. The Hall, the
seat of Sir Robert Wilmot, Bart., the principal owner in
the parish, is a large stone mansion in the Italian style,
with wings, and an observatory at the top; it is situated
in park-like grounds, has been latterly very much
improved, and contains many splendid rooms, and
good pictures. The village is small and scattered.
The living is a perpetual curacy; income, £75, with a
house near the church; patron and impropriator, Sir
Robert Wilmot. The glebe comprises 25 acres within
the parish, with land at Hathern and Belton, in Leicestershire. The church is a small ancient structure, much
covered with ivy; in the chancel is a handsome painting
of Our Saviour in the Manger, and some tablets are
erected to the Wilmot and Horton families. The churchyard is retired and picturesque.
Osmington (St. Osmond)
OSMINGTON (St. Osmond), a parish, in the union
of Weymouth, hundred of Culliford-Tree, Dorchester division of Dorset, 4 miles (N. E.) from Weymouth;
containing, with the hamlets of Ringstead and Upton,
467 inhabitants. This parish, which is said to derive
its name from the patron saint, comprises 2135a. 3r. 37p.
Building-stone is plentiful, and a peculiar kind is found,
called "Horse-flesh," remarkable for its long fibres and
perpendicular grain. The parish is bounded on the
south by the English Channel, and intersected by the
Weymouth and Wareham road. The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, and
valued in the king's books at £11. 0. 2½.; patron the
Bishop of Salisbury; impropriators of the remainder of
the rectorial tithes, the landowners. The tithes have
been commuted for a rent-charge of £250, and the glebe
comprises 6½ acres.
Osmondiston, Norfolk.—See Scole.
OSMONDISTON, Norfolk.—See Scole.
Osmotherley
OSMOTHERLEY, a township, in the parish and
union of Ulverston, hundred of Lonsdale north of
the Sands, N. division of Lancashire, 3 miles (N. by
W.) from Ulverston; containing 298 inhabitants. This
place appears to be the Asmunderlaw of the 13th and
14th centuries. William de Asmunderlaw was a witness
to the charter of John de Lancaster to the burgesses of
Ulverston, in the reign of Edward I.; and by an escheat
of the 18th of Edward III., it seems that Laurence de
Asmondrelawe held a messuage here. This race has
long been extinct. The surface of the land is hilly, and
there is a considerable tract of peat-moss on the elevated
grounds. A school is endowed with about £16 per
annum.
Osmotherley (St. Peter)
OSMOTHERLEY (St. Peter), a parish, in the
union of Northallerton, wapentake of Allertonshire, N. riding of York, 7 miles (E. N. E.) from
Northallerton; containing, with the townships of Ellerbeck, West Harsley, and Thimbleby, 1354 inhabitants,
of whom 1029 are in Osmotherley township. The
parish comprises by admeasurement 7740 acres, and is
watered by the Wiske and Cod-beck. There are some
flax-mills and a manufactory of linen drills, &c., carried
on by Messrs. Yeoman and Company for thirty years,
and employing about three hundred hands; also some
quarries of freestone, extensive bleach-works, and cornmills. The village is romantically situated about half a
mile from the road between Stokesley and Thirsk; the
scenery of the neighbourhood presents a beautiful combination of hill and dale, and commands a fine view of
the vale of Mowbray. The living is a discharged
vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 10., and in
the patronage of the Bishop of Ripon, with a net income
of £120; impropriators, the mortgagees of Benjamin
John Wetherell, Esq.: a vicarage-house was built in
1841. The church is a small neat structure, built about
50 years since, and incorporating the porch and tower
of the original edifice. Here are places of worship for
Quakers, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics.
Ospringe-Liberty (St. Peter and St. Paul)
OSPRINGE-LIBERTY (St. Peter and St. Paul),
a parish, in the union and hundred of Faversham,
Upper division of the lathe of Scray, E. division of
Kent, ¾ of a mile (W. S. W.) from Faversham; containing 1015 inhabitants. This parish consists of 2798
acres, of which 465 are in wood. It is an independent
franchise, governed by its own constable; and has a fair
on May 25th. Here is a neat range of infantry barracks, erected during the late war; and the workhouse
for the union of Faversham is situated in the parish.
On a stream which flows through the village are extensive gunpowder-mills. The living is a vicarage, valued
in the king's books at £10; patrons and impropriators,
the Master and Fellows of St. John's College, Cambridge.
The great tithes have been commuted for £832, and the
vicarial for £305; the glebe comprises 32 acres. The
church is principally in the early English style. This
was doubtless the site of the ancient Durolevum, though
some have fixed that station at Newington; and a
Roman fortification and burial-place have been discovered, besides numerous minor Roman antiquities of
various kinds. Some remains exist of a Maison-Dieu,
founded by Henry III. about 1235, and dedicated to
the Blessed Virgin Mary: it was originally of great repute, and consisted of a master and three brethren of
the order of the Holy Cross, and two secular clerks;
but falling into decay, at the close of the reign of Edward IV., it escheated to the crown.
Ossett, with Gawthorpe
OSSETT, with Gawthorpe, a chapelry, in the parish
and union of Dewsbury, Lower division of the wapentake of Agbrigg, W. riding of York, 3½ miles (W.)
from Wakefield; containing 6078 inhabitants. This
chapelry, which comprises by admeasurement 2990
acres, is situated on the south side of the road between
Dewsbury and Wakefield, and intersected by the Manchester and Leeds railway. The village is large and
populous; the inhabitants are partly employed in the
manufacture of cloth, blankets, and worsteds, and in
some works for preparing the various ingredients for
dyeing. On Ossett Common are the Cheltenham Baths,
the water of which contains iron and hydrogen gas, and
is esteemed by invalids. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £162, with a glebe-house; patron,
the Vicar of Dewsbury, whose tithes here (those on mills
excepted) were commuted for land in 1807. The chapel,
dedicated to the Holy Trinity, and originally erected
about 200 years since, is an unsightly edifice, built in
1806, partly by a grant of £300 from the Incorporated
Society, and contains 1000 sittings, 300 of which are
free. A church district named South Ossett was endowed in 1846 by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners: the
living is in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of
Ripon, alternately. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. A free school, established
in 1745, and rebuilt in 1834, is endowed with cottages
and land producing about £12 per annum, to which sum
Joshua Haigh, Esq., of Long Lands Hall, added in 1836
£12 per annum.
Ossington (Holy Rood)
OSSINGTON (Holy Rood), a parish, in the union
of Southwell, N. division of the wapentake of Thurgarton, S. division of the county of Nottingham,
4 miles (S. S. E.) from Tuxford; containing 228 inhabitants. It comprises 2355a. 1r. 3p., about 500 acres of
which are woodland, and by far the larger part of the
rest arable; the soil is a productive clay. The Hall is a
handsome modern mansion, with an extensive park and
pleasure-grounds. The living is a donative, in the patronage of J. E. Denison, Esq. The church is a neat
structure, and has several beautiful monuments.
Ostenhanger.—See Westenhanger.
OSTENHANGER.—See Westenhanger.
Oswaldkirk (St. Oswald)
OSWALDKIRK (St. Oswald), a parish, in the
union of Helmsley, wapentake of Ryedale, N. riding
of York, 3½ miles (S.) from Helmsley; containing 449
inhabitants, of whom 290 are in the township of Oswaldkirk, and the remainder in the township of Oswaldkirk-Quarter. The surface of the parish is varied by
hill and dale; the road from Helmsley to York passes
through the village. The living is a rectory, valued in
the king's books at £10. 1. 8., and in the gift of the
Rev. H. G. W. Comber: the tithes have been commuted
for £409. 10., and the glebe comprises 300 acres (100
of which are not in cultivation), with a house attached,
the whole valued at £265 per annum. The church is
principally in the Norman style. Here are the remains
of a monastic edifice, commenced in the ninth century,
but never finished, the monks removing to Old Byland.
Roger Dodsworth, the antiquary, was born at NewtonGrange, in the parish, in 1585.—See Ampleforth.
Oswaldtwistle
OSWALDTWISTLE, a township, in the parochial
chapelry of Church, parish of Whalley, union, and
Lower division of the hundred, of Blackburn, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 3¾ miles (E. by S.)
from Blackburn; containing 6655 inhabitants. This
place was held by lords of the same name, before the
general use of dates in charters. The Radcliffes were
early proprietors, and of this family was Robert Radcliffe, Baron Fitzwalter, afterwards Earl of Sussex, who,
dying in 1542, was succeeded by Henry Radcliffe, by
whom the reversion of the manor was disposed of to
Andrew Barton, of Smithills. It passed from the Bartons by marriage to the son and heir of Thomas, Viscount
Falconberg, and was sold about 1722 to the Whalleys
and Barons. The Whalleys' moiety became afterwards
the property of the late Sir Robert Peel, who was born
at Peel-Fold, in Oswaldtwistle, in the old family residence; it is now vested in his son, the present baronet.
In the township are several ancient mansions. There
are print-works on a large scale, and other establishments connected with the cotton manufacture: coal,
also, is obtained. A church, dedicated to Emmanuel,
was built in 1837: the living is a perpetual curacy, in
the patronage of five Trustees. The dissenters have
several places of worship; and there are various schools.
Mr. William Sadler, the distinguished aeronaut, in his
aerial voyage from Bolton, was thrown from his balloon
at this place, and killed, 29th September, 1824.
Oswestry (St. Oswald)
OSWESTRY (St. Oswald), an incorporated market-town, a parish, and the
head of a union, in the hundred of Oswestry, N. division of Salop; containing
8843 inhabitants, of whom
4566 are in the town, 18
miles (N. W.) from Shrewsbury, and 172 (N. W.) from
London. This town is of
ancient British origin, and
was at one time called Maserfield. Its present appellation is a corruption of the
Saxon Oswaldstre, "Oswald's tree or town," and originated in a battle fought here, August 5th, 642, between
Oswald, the Christian King of Northumbria, and Penda,
the pagan King of Mercia, in which the former was
slain, and the members of his body were severally affixed
to three crosses, in token of conquest, and in derision
of his religious tenets: on this account, also, the Welsh
called the place Croes Oswald, which name they still
retain. The esteem in which Oswald had been held by
the monks led to his canonization; the scene of his
death became hallowed, miraculous virtues were attributed to his relics, and a monastery was soon afterwards
raised to his memory, from which institution the place
was termed Blanc minster, with other names of similar
import. Oswestry continued in the possession of the
Britons, and constituted a portion of the kingdom
termed Powysland, until the year 777, when it was annexed to Mercia, by conquest; and an earthen mound
called Clawdd Offa, Offa's dyke, and vulgarly the Devil's
ditch, was raised as a line of demarcation between that
kingdom and the principality of Wales. The dyke extends from the river Wye along the counties of Hereford,
Radnor, Montgomery, and Denbigh, and terminates near
the Clwydian hills; in the neighbourhood of this town
it crosses the race-course on Cyrn-y-bwch. Parallel
with it, but at unequal distances, is a similar rampart,
called Wat's Dyke, or perhaps originally Watch Dyke,
from the number of watch forts on its course. On the
line of Wat's Dyke, about a mile northward of the town,
is a work of the ancient Britons, denominated by their
descendants Llys Ogran or Ogyrvan, or Caer Ogran,
"Ogran's palace or stronghold;" and also Hên Dinas,
"old camp or city:" its present name is Old Fort, or, by
corruption, Old Port; and it is occasionally termed Old
Oswestry, there being a vulgar tradition that it was
anciently the site of the town. It was a famous military
post, being a lofty natural eminence, of an oblong shape,
and surrounded by a deep triple intrenchment on the
summit and sides; the area comprised nearly sixteen
acres, and the fortifications, which are covered with
timber and brushwood, upwards of 40 acres.
Corporation Seal.
Oswestry, according to Dugdale, was given by the
Conqueror to Alan, ancestor of the Fitz-Alans, earls of
Arundel, in which noble family the barony continued
upwards of 500 years. Another authority states that
the Fitz-Alans became owners of it by the marriage of
one of the lords of Clun with Maud, widow of Madog
ab Meredydd, who, on the partition of Powysland by
his father, succeeded to the division termed Powys
Vadog, of which Oswestry formed part. This was
Madog's chief residence, and according to the Welsh
records, he built the castle about 1149, though the
English historians mention it to have existed before the
Conquest: it stood on an artificial mound on the northwest side of the town, but there are scarcely any remains.
When Henry II. attempted to subjugate the principality,
in the year 1164, he assembled his army and encamped
here for a considerable time, prior to the sanguinary
conflict beneath Castell Crogen, now Chirk Castle, the
scene of which is yet marked by a heap of stones, called
Adwy'r Beddau, or the "Passage of the Graves." During
the contest between John and the barons, about 1216,
the castle was destroyed by fire; and in 1233, the
town experienced a similar fate from Llewelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of Wales. In 1277, Edward I., still
meditating the subjugation of Wales, began to surround
the place with walls, for the completion of which he
imposed a murage tax upon the county for six years:
they were about a mile in circumference, had four gates,
and were flanked by a fosse.
Soon after the dissolution of the parliament held at
Shrewsbury, in which the Duke of Hereford, afterwards
Henry IV., accused the Duke of Norfolk of treasonable
expressions, those illustrious persons were cited to appear at Oswestry before the king and the commissioners
appointed by that parliament. During an insurrection
of the Welsh, under Owain Glyndwr, in 1400, the town
was again nearly destroyed by fire; and in 1403, that
renowned leader, having caused himself to be proclaimed
Prince of Wales, assembled a force of 12,000 men here,
with a view to join Lord Percy against the king; but
this union was not effected; and on the issue of the
celebrated battle of Shrewsbury, Glyndwr retreated precipitately into Wales. At the commencement of the
parliamentary war, Oswestry was garrisoned in support
of the royal cause; but on June 22nd, 1644, the forces
were compelled to surrender to a detachment of the
parliamentary army, under the command of the Earl of
Denbigh and General Mytton: an ineffectual attempt
was made to retake the town, and a few years afterwards the castle was demolished. A great part of the
place was destroyed by casual fires, in 1542, 1544, and
1567; and the southern suburb is yet called Pentre
poeth, "the burnt town."
The town is situated on the road from London to
Holyhead. It occupies the declivity of a range of hills
which skirt it on the western side, and commands an
extensive view over the fertile plain of Salop. The
streets are paved and lighted, under the provisions of an
act obtained in 1810: the old buildings of timber and
brick have been replaced by respectable modern edifices,
and the town, which long since stretched beyond its
ancient boundaries, is still progressively increasing in
size, and improving in appearance. An act was passed
in 1845 for constructing a railway from Shrewsbury,
by Oswestry, to Chester. In Willow-street is a neat
theatre; and races are held in September. The chief
business is in malting, and there is some trade in flannel:
coal abounds in the neighbourhood. The markets are
on Wednesday and Saturday, the former being the principal. A fair on the eve, day, and morrow of St. Andrew, was granted by Henry III.; and fairs are also
held on the third Wednesday in January, March 15th,
May 12th, the Wednesday before Midsummer-day,
Aug. 15th, the Friday before Sept. 29th, and Dec. 10th.
The first charter was bestowed upon the inhabitants by
William Fitz-Alan, their feudal lord, in the reign of
Henry II., and the first royal charter by Richard II.:
that by which the borough was until lately regulated
was conferred in the 25th of Charles II. The government is now vested in a mayor, six aldermen, and
eighteen councillors, under the act of the 5th and 6th of
William IV., cap. 76; the borough is divided into two
wards, and the number of magistrates is five, the justices
of the hundred having concurrent jurisdiction. Pettysessions are held on the last Thursday in every month;
and one or two magistrates, as occasion requires, also
attend at the town-clerk's office, where the sessions take
place, once or twice every week, to dispose of offences as
they arise. The powers of the county debt-court of
Oswestry, established in 1847, extend over part of the
registration-districts of Oswestry and Ellesmere. The
guildhall is a plain stone edifice with a small turret; the
town-clerk's office is a lofty edifice built with the stone
which belonged to the town gates. A small prison was
erected in 1825, at a cost of about £500.
The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the
king's books at £23. 15. 7½.; net income, £477; patron,
the Earl of Powis. The great tithes of Oswestry township have been commuted for £211, and the small for
£70: the vicar has a glebe of an acre and a half. The
church, originally the church of the ancient monastery,
was greatly damaged during the commotions of 1616
and 1644, at which latter period the tower was taken
down by the royalists, lest, as it stood without the town
walls, their opponents should annoy them from its summit. A district church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity,
was erected in 1835: the living is a perpetual curacy,
in the gift of the Vicar of Oswestry, with a net income
of £150. At Trefonnen is a church for the accommodation of the Welsh inhabitants, and at Aston is another
incumbency: the Welsh church is in the gift of the
Earl of Powis. Here are places of worship for Baptists,
Independents, Welsh Calvinists, and Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. The free grammar school was founded
about the time of Henry IV., by David Holbeche, and
endowed with land then worth £10: the rental now
arising from the original endowment is about £260, and
the master's salary, including the value of the house,
&c., is about £300 per annum. In 1776, the sum of
£780 was raised by subscription, for the erection of a
new schoolroom. Thomas Bray, D.D., a learned divine,
the principal promoter of the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and the founder of parochial and lending libraries, received the early part of his
education at the school. In Willow-street are six almshouses for men and women, founded by the widow of
Sir Francis Eure, in 1626. The house of industry, a
spacious edifice of brick, about a mile from the town,
was erected for the poor of eleven parishes, with the
township of Llwyntedman, in Llanymynech, pursuant
to an act passed in 1791. A general fund of £55. 17.
arising from various bequests, is distributed in bread to
the poor. Sir Nathaniel Lloyd bequeathed property in
the South Sea stock and Old Annuities, the dividends
on which, amounting to £97. 10. 8., are paid to reduced
inhabitants of Oswestry and Whittington. A little westward from the town is Oswald's well, a small basin under
an arch in the recess of a stone wall, with a crowned
head of Oswald, near the spot where that monarch is
supposed to have fallen; a chapel formerly stood near
it. On the ancient wall which surrounded the town
were several towers, and the entrance was through four
gates called respectively New, Beatrice, Willow or Wallia,
and Black gates; the last was taken down in 1766, and
the others in 1782. Oswestry confers the inferior title
of Baron on the Duke of Norfolk.
Osyth, St., Chich
OSYTH, ST., CHICH, a parish, in the union and
hundred of Tendring, N. division of Essex, 11 miles
(S. E.) from Colchester; containing 1677 inhabitants.
This place, which is remarkable for the remains of its
noble monastery, derives its name from St. Osyth,
daughter of Redwald, King of East Anglia, who, having
made a vow of virginity, retired hither, and founded a
church and a nunnery, which were afterwards plundered
by the Danes, who beheaded the foundress near an adjacent fountain. Canute, the Danish king, gave St. Osyth
to Godwin, Earl of Kent, who granted it to ChristChurch, Canterbury. At the time of the Domesday
survey it belonged to the see of London, the bishop of
which, Richard de Belmeis, about 1118 established a
priory for Augustine canons on the supposed site of the
nunnery, which he dedicated to St. Osyth in conjunction
with St. Peter and St. Paul. At the Dissolution, a prior,
an abbot, and 18 canons were on the foundation, the
revenues of which were £758. 5. 8. per annum. The
parish extends along the sea-shore, and comprises by
admeasurement 8571 acres, of which 4402 are arable,
1949 pasture, and about 817 woodland. A creek or arm
of the river Colne, dividing into two branches, leads to
two wharfs in the parish, and is navigable for barges and
sloops. The living is a donative; net income, £80;
patron, W. F. Nassau, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £2503. The church is a large irregular
building, of which some parts are of considerable antiquity, and others of the time of Henry VI.: in the
chancel are two monuments in alabaster, to the memory
of the two first lords D'Arcy, and their wives. The
quadrangle of the monastery is entire, excepting part of
the north side, where are some modern apartments: the
entrance is by a beautiful gateway of hewn stone mixed
with flints, having two towers and posterns; to the east
are three towers, one larger and loftier than the rest.
These remains have been partly converted into a handsome residence.
Otby
OTBY, a hamlet, in the parish of Walesby, poorlaw union of Caistor, S. division of the wapentake of
Walshcroft, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln;
containing 44 inhabitants.
Otford (St. Bartholomew)
OTFORD (St. Bartholomew), a parish, in the
union of Seven-Oaks, hundred of Codsheath, lathe of
Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of Kent, 3 miles (N.) from
Seven-Oaks; containing 798 inhabitants. This place is
memorable as the scene of an important victory obtained
in 773, by Offa, King of Mercia, over Ealhmund, King
of Kent; and also of a sanguinary battle in which
Edmund Ironside, in 1016, defeated the Danes with
great slaughter. The parish is pleasantly situated on
the river Darent, and was formerly the residence of the
archbishops of Canterbury, who had a palace here, the
favourite abode of Thomas à Becket. In the reign of
Henry VII., Archbishop Wareham expended more than
£33,000 in repairing this stately structure, of which one
of the square towers yet remains, in a state of ruin.
Near it is a well, 30 feet deep and 15 in diameter, inclosed by a wall, and said to have been used by Becket
as a bath. The parish comprises 2852 acres, of which
180 are in wood. The living is a perpetual curacy; net
income, £129; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and
Chapter of Westminster. The church was burnt down
about two centuries since, and on its being rebuilt, wooden
pillars were used to separate the aisles; the eastern
window, of a very elegant design, has been renewed in
strict imitation of the original, at the expense of Lord
Willoughby de Broke, lessee of the great tithes. The
edifice contains some handsome monuments, one of
which, to the memory of Charles Polhill, Esq., by Sir
William Cheer, of seven different specimens of marble,
is well worthy of attention. There is a place of worship
for Wesleyans. An hospital for lepers was founded
here in the reign of Henry III.
Otham (St. Nicholas)
OTHAM (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of
Maidstone, hundred of Eyhorne, lathe of Aylesford,
W. division of Kent, 3 miles (S. E. by E.) from Maidstone; containing 365 inhabitants. An abbey of Præmonstratcnsian canons was founded here, and dedicated
to the Blessed Virgin and St. Lawrence, about the time
of Henry II.; but in the reign of John, they removed
to a more convenient situation at Beaulieu, in the parish
of Frant; on its site now stands Gore Court. The
parish is bounded on the north by the small river Len,
and situated about a mile from the London and Ashford
road: it comprises 947 acres, of which 198 are in wood.
There are quarries belonging to the Earl of Romney, the
material of which is used for building. The living is a
rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 17. 3½., and
in the patronage of Mrs. Horne: the tithes have been
commuted for £400, and the glebe comprises 38 acres,
with a house. Dr. Horne, Bishop of Norwich, and
author of the well-known Commentary on the Psalms, was
born in the parish in 1730.
Otherton
OTHERTON, a liberty, in the parish and union of
Penkridge, E. division of the hundred of Cuttlestone,
S. division of the county of Stafford, 1 mile (S. S. E.)
from Penkridge. It forms a constablewick, and consists
of several farms and a few cottages. The Staffordshire
and Worcestershire canal passes through.
Othery (St. Michael)
OTHERY (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of
Bridgwater, hundred of Whitley, W. division of
Somerset, 4½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Langport; containing, with part of the hamlet of Boroughbridge, 704
inhabitants. This place belonged to the abbey of Glastonbury, to which it was given by Alfred, who was much
in the neighbourhood. The navigable river Parret forms
the western and southern boundaries of the parish, and
it is traversed by the high road from Taunton to Bath,
Wells, and Glastonbury, and by that from Bridgwater
to Langport. It comprises 1828a. 1r. 32p., of which
568 acres are common or waste. Here is a quarry of good
building-stone. The living is a discharged vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £12; net income, £166;
patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
There is a glebe-house, with about 19 acres of land. The
church is a large cruciform structure, 106 feet in length,
and has a very handsome tower, 75 feet high, with an
excellent peal of five bells. Here is a place of worship
for Independents.
Otley (St. Mary)
OTLEY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Woodbridge, hundred of Carlford, E. division of Suffolk,
9 miles (N. E. by N.) from Ipswich; containing 647 inhabitants, and comprising 2157a. 2r. 8p. The living is
a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 6. 5½., and
in the gift of the Earl of Abergavenny: the tithes have
been commuted for £650: the glebe comprises 70 acres.
The church has been repewed. A rectory-house, and a
school with a residence for the master and mistress,
have been lately erected in the antique style; the school
is conducted on the national plan. There is a place of
worship for Baptists. The Hall, now a farmhouse, a
building of the reign of Elizabeth, was the seat of the
family of Gosnold.
Otley (All Saints)
OTLEY (All Saints), a market-town and parish,
partly in the Upper division of the wapentake of Skyrack, and partly in the Upper division of that of Claro,
W. riding of York, 28 miles (W. by S.) from York, 10
(N. W. by N.) from Leeds, 10 (N. by E.) from Bradford,
and 196 (N. N. W.) from London; containing 11,143
inhabitants, of whom 3445 are in the town. This place,
in the Domesday survey Othelia, is supposed to have
derived the name from Othe or Otho, its Saxon proprietor.
It formed the principal portion of an extensive manor or
liberty, which was granted by Athelstan to the see of
York. The archbishops had a residence here, and their
successors to this day are lords of the manor and liberty,
for which they held courts of quarter-session in the town
by magistrates nominated by themselves, though appointed by the royal commission, till, by the act 6th and
7th of William IV., cap. 87, the criminal jurisdiction
within the liberty was transferred from the archbishop
to the lord lieutenant of the West riding. The episcopal
palace was situated on the north side of the town, and
the site is now occupied by the Manor House, in the
erection of which the strong foundations of the ancient
structure were discovered.
The town is seated in the beautifully picturesque
vale of the Wharfe, and on the south bank of the river,
over which is a neat bridge of seven arches; it is small,
but well built, and partially lighted with gas, and, from
its situation between the precipitous heights of Otley
Chevin and Newall Carr, has a very romantic appearance. A new road from Leeds, avoiding the steep ascent
of the Chevin, was completed in 1841, which forms a
good line of approach in that direction; and the York
and Lancaster, and Manchester and Harrogate roads
pass through Otley. The river abounds with smelts,
eels, grayling, and trout; and occasionally salmon are
taken in it, near the town. In the immediate neighbourhood are several gentlemen's seats, which add much
to the beauty of the scenery; the principal are Farnley
Hall, Newall Hall, Denton Park, Middleton Lodge, Ashfield House, Westborn Lodge, and Weston Hall, the last
the property of a descendant of the ancient family of
Vavasour who came from Normandy with William I.
The woollen manufacture was anciently carried on to a
very considerable extent in the town; 500 of the inhabitants are now employed in two worsted-mills, one
paper-mill, and other mills. The market is on Friday,
and is well supplied with corn, fat calves, butter, and
eggs; a large market for cattle and sheep is held every
alternate Friday. A large fair for cattle takes place on
the first Monday after the 3rd of August, which is also
the feast fair; and there are fairs for spring cattle on
the Wednesday in Easter-week, and two alternate Wednesdays following, and on the Wednesday in Whitsunweek: statute-fairs are held on the Fridays before and
after Old Martinmas-day. Quarter-sessions for the
liberty, which comprises thirteen townships, are regularly held; petty-sessions are held on the first Friday in
every month. The powers of the county debt-court of
Otley, established in 1847, extend over the registrationdistrict of Otley.
The parish comprises the chapelries of Baildon, Bramhope, Burley, Denton, and Farnley, and the townships of
Esholt, Hawksworth, Lindley, Menstone, Newall with
Clifton, Otley, Poole, and Little Timble. It contains by
computation 23,060 acres, of which 3000 are moorland,
including part of Romald's Moor, and abounding with
stone. The township consists of about 2310 acres, and
is principally pasturage, with 150 acres of arable, and
150 of wood. The living is a discharged vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £13. 1. 8.; net income,
£160; patron, the Crown; impropriators, F. H. Fawkes,
Esq., Mrs. Oliver, and Mrs. Ray. The church is a spacious cruciform structure, erected in the Norman style,
but has undergone so many alterations and repairs, that
little of its original character remains, except the north
doorway, which has a fine arch; it contains monuments
to the families of Fairfax, Fawkes, Vavasour, and others.
At Baildon, Bramhope, Burley, Denton, Farnley, and
Poole, are separate incumbencies. There are places of
worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Methodists of the
New Connexion. The free grammar school was founded
by Thos. Cave, who in 1602 bequeathed £250 for its
endowment; it was established by James I., and styled
in honour of the then Prince of Wales, "The Grammar
School of Prince Henry." The property belonging to
the school consists of twelve acres of land, producing
£26. 13. per annum; the schoolroom was lately enlarged at an expense of £400, and is a neat building in
the Elizabethan style, also used as a court-house. There
was formerly an hospital for lepers. Lord Fairfax, the
parliamentary general, was born at Denton Park.