Owermoigne (St. Michael)

OWERMOIGNE (St. Michael), a parish and liberty, in the union of Weymouth, Dorchester division of Dorset, 7¼ miles (S. E.) from Dorchester; containing, with the hamlets of Galton and Southdown, 416 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the south by the English Channel. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £23. 4. 7., and in the gift of John Cree, Esq.: the tithes were commuted for £358, and the glebe consists of 25 acres.

Owersby (St. Martin)

OWERSBY (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Caistor, N. division of the wapentake of Walshcroft, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 6 miles (N. W. by N.) from Market-Rasen; containing 480 inhabitants, of whom 356 are in North, and 124 in South, Owersby. The navigable river Ancholme passes through the parish on the west; and the road from Boston to Hull, through Market-Rasen and Caistor, traverses its eastern extremity. It comprises by admeasurement 4700 acres, of which the portions of arable and pasture are nearly equal, and contains much hedge-row timber, consisting of ash, oak, and elm; the surface is flat at the foot of the Wolds here, and the soil is chiefly clay. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Kirkby united, valued in the king's books at £8. 18. 4.; net income, £373; patron and impropriator, John Julius Angerstein, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £21. 8., and the vicarial for £244. 14.; the glebe consists of about 33 acres. The church is a plain stone edifice, built about 1764.

Owlpen

OWLPEN, a parish, in the union of Dursley, Upper division of the hundred of Berkeley, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 3¾ miles (E.) from Dursley; containing 94 inhabitants. The living is annexed to the rectory of Newington-Bagpath: the tithes have been commuted for £149. 16., and the glebe comprises two acres. The church was erected in 1830, principally at the cost of the Rev. Alan Gardner Cornwall; in the interior are some memorials of the very ancient family of Danet, who formerly resided here, and were of considerable eminence.

Owmby (St. Peter and St. Paul)

OWMBY (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the E. division of the wapentake of Aslacoe, parts of Lindsey, union and county of Lincoln, 7½ miles (W. by S.) from Market-Rasen; containing 256 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 3. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown, in right of the duchy of Lancaster; net income, £233.

Owmby, with Searby.—See Searby.

OWMBY, with Searby.—See Searby.

Owram, North

OWRAM, NORTH, a township, in the parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York; containing 13,352 inhabitants. This township, which includes numerous villages and hamlets, forming a north-eastern suburb to the town of Halifax, comprises by computation 4887 acres; the surface is extremely irregular, rising in some parts into mountainous elevations, and in others presenting open vales, and deep and narrow glens. The district abounds with coal of the best quality for making gas, and great quantities of it are sent to Manchester, Liverpool, and London. Freestone is also abundant, and the Black Clough quarry produces a remarkably handsome and compact species, which is in great estimation. The village of North Owram is situated on an eminence, amid romantic scenery, and is irregularly built, consisting chiefly of detached houses; the inhabitants are partly employed in extensive worsted-mills, and in the woollen manufacture. In the vale of Shibden is the Horley-Green spa. A church has been erected at Queenshead, at an expense of £2700, on a site given by George Barrow, Esq.; it is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles, and contains 800 sittings, of which 250 are free. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of Ripon, alternately; income, £150. There are places of worship for dissenters. The free school was founded in 1711, by Joseph Crowther, Esq., who endowed it with land producing £21 per annum. The school and almshouses at Boothtown were founded in 1687, by Jeremiah Hall, M. D., who endowed them with £100 for the erection of the buildings, and £330 for the maintenance of the master and four aged almspeople; the premises have been lately rebuilt, and the income is £114.

Owram, South

OWRAM, SOUTH, a township, in the parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York; containing 6478 inhabitants. This township, which forms part of the south-eastern suburbs of Halifax, comprises by computation 2280. acres; the surface is varied, and in many parts very picturesque. The Beacon Hill, a lofty eminence in the township, rises precipitously from the river Hebble, overlooking the town of Halifax; and in former times a beacon was fixed here, to give notice of the approach of an enemy. The population is partly employed in stone and slate quarries; the flagstones raised are of superior quality, and large quantities are sent to the metropolis and other parts of the kingdom: there are also two beds of coal. The Salter and Hebble canal affords every facility of conveyance, and the Manchester and Leeds railway skirts the township. The village of South Owram, which is very irregularly built, is situated on elevated ground, 2 miles from Halifax, and embraces fine views. The chapel dedicated to St. Anne, distinguished by the appellations of "St. Anne's in the Grove" and "the Chapel in the Briers," was erected prior to the year 1530, but in 1817, being in a dilapidated condition, was taken down, and a church retaining the same dedication was erected on a more convenient site, at a cost of £2800. It is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles; a gallery was built in it in 1839, containing 117 sittings, all of which are free. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £150, with an excellent parsonage-house; patron, the Vicar of Halifax. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Owre, in the county of Kent.—See Oare.

OWRE, in the county of Kent.—See Oare.

Owslebury (St. Andrew)

OWSLEBURY (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Winchester, hundred of Fawley, Winchester and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 4½ miles (S. S. E.) from Winchester; containing 806 inhabitants. It comprises by admeasurement 5341 acres, of which 3023 are arable, 1037 meadow and pasture, and the rest common, waste, and coppice. The old road from Winchester to Bishop's-Waltham, by Morestead and Stephen's-Castle down, traverses the eastern part of the parish; and the new Botley road, with a branch to Bishop's-Waltham over Stroud Wood Common, runs along the west and south-west. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Twyford, and has a net income of £175; the impropriation belongs to the Hospital of St. Cross. The parish formed one living with Twyford previously to 1832, when Owslebury was endowed by the late Mrs. Alice Long, of Marwell Hall, as a perpetual curacy. The great tithes have been commuted for £590. 7., and the vicarial for £171. 10. The church was enlarged in 1835, by subscription; and an additional church, with a parsonage-house, has been built on Colden Common, to which a district is assigned: the living is in the gift of the incumbents of Twyford and Owslebury, alternately.

Owsthorpe

OWSTHORPE, a township, in the parish and union of Pocklington, Wilton-Beacon division of the wapentake of Harthill, E. riding of York, 1¾ mile (N. by E.) from Pocklington; containing 17 inhabitants. It comprises 329a. 3r. 27p., the property of the Osbaldeston family. There are traces of a moated mansion.

Owston (St. Martin)

OWSTON (St. Martin), a parish, in the union of Gainsborough, W. division of the wapentake of Manley, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 3½ miles (S. E.) from Epworth; containing, with the chapelry of West Butterwick with Kelfield, the hamlets of West Ferry and Gunthorpe, and part of the hamlets of East Ferry and Heckdyke, 2445 inhabitants, of whom 1553 are in Owston township. The parish is bounded on the east by the river Trent, and comprises by computation 7000 acres, held by a number of freeholders and copyholders, many of whom occupy their own lands. Sacking, and other coarse hempen goods, are manufactured. Steam-packets pass here daily to Hull and Gainsborough. A hiring for servants takes place on the 24th of November, and a feast on the Sunday after August 21st. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £19. 10.; net income, £155; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of York. The glebe comprises about 60 acres. The church is beautifully situated at the western extremity of the village: the aisles appear to have been rebuilt about the time of Henry VII.; the whole edifice has lately been restored. A handsome chapel has been erected at West Butterwick. Near Millwood Park a Carthusian monastery was founded about 1395, by Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham, afterwards Duke of Norfolk; it was dedicated to St. Mary, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Edward the Confessor, and at the Dissolution had a revenue of £290. 11. 7.

Owston (All Saints)

OWSTON (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Doncaster, Upper division of the wapentake of Osgoldcross, W. riding of York, 5¼ miles (N. by W.) from Doncaster; containing, with the township of Skellow, 420 inhabitants, of whom 283 are in the township of Owston. This parish comprises about 2900 acres, of which 1600 are arable, 900 meadow and pasture, and 350 woodland and plantations; the surface in the eastern portion is usually flat, and in the western gently undulated. A nameless rivulet skirts the parish on the south, and another called the Skel intersects it from north to south. The soil in the west is rich and fertile, resting on a stratum of magnesian limestone, but in the east is of an inferior kind, chiefly clay on a sandstone bed. There are some quarries of limestone for building, and also for repairing the roads, and clay of good quality for making bricks and tiles. The plantations are mostly of elm, ash, and walnut trees in the limestone, and of oak and ash in the sandstone, district. Owston House, the seat of Phillip Davies Cooke, Esq., and for many generations the residence of his ancestors, is a handsome mansion in a park of 200 acres. The village is on the road from Doncaster to Selby; and the turnpike-road from London to Edinburgh bounds the parish on the west. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 0. 2½.; net income, £160; patron and impropriator, Mr. Cooke. The glebe contains 45 acres, with a house. The church, which is on the north side of the park, contains several monuments to the Cooke family, two of which are by Chantrey; one to Mrs. Cooke, who died in 1818, consists of a figure in an attitude of devotion, and the other, to Bryan Cooke, Esq., who died in 1821, has a figure in alto-relievo, in a sitting posture: a handsome window of stained glass was inserted by Lady Helena Cooke, in 1838. Roman coins have been found at Robin Hood's Well, at the north-western extremity of the parish.

Owstwick

OWSTWICK, a township, partly in the parish of Garton, and partly in that of Roos, union of Patrington, Middle division of the wapentake of Holderness, E. riding of York, 12½ miles (E. by N.) from Hull; containing 124 inhabitants. This place, in the Domesday survey called Hostewic, partly belonged at different periods to the abbeys of Meaux, Thornton, and Melsa, and the priory of Nunkeeling. The township comprises 1330a. 2r. 8p., of which 452 acres are in the parish of Garton. There is an old meeting-house belonging to the Quakers, of whom the earliest notice in Owstwick occurs in the year 1654.

Owthorne (St. Peter)

OWTHORNE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Patrington, partly in the Middle division, and partly in the S. division, of the wapentake of Holderness, E. riding of York; containing, with the townships of South Frodingham, Rimswell, and Waxholme, 464 inhabitants, of whom 154 are in Owthorne township, 16 miles (E.) from Hull. This parish, which is situated on the sea-shore, comprises about 3800 acres of land, chiefly arable. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £11. 6. 3., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £282. The church fell into the sea on February 16th, 1816, and in consequence of continual encroachments, the village has sustained considerable damage.

Owthorpe (St. Margaret)

OWTHORPE (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union, and S. division of the wapentake, of Bingham, S. division of the county of Nottingham, 8½ miles (S. E. by E.) from Nottingham; containing 143 inhabitants. This parish is situated to the north-east of the road between Nottingham and Melton-Mowbray, upon the Grantham canal, and on the eastern side of the lofty range of hills called the Wolds. It comprises about 1600 acres of cold clay land, and is principally the property of Sir Robert Howe Bromley, Bart., who is lord of the manor, which his father, Sir George Smith Bromley, purchased in 1773, with 1300 acres of land, from the Hutchinson family, who had owned it for many generations. For some time after the Conquest, the place was held by a family of its own name, and was of the fee of Roger de Busli. The Hall, a large square mansion, has been pulled down by the present proprietor of the estate. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £65; patron and impropriator, Sir R. H. Bromley. The church was built by Colonel Hutchinson, an active parliamentary officer during the civil war, and for some time governor of Nottingham Castle, who died in 1664, and was interred in the family vault here.

Oxborough (St. John the Evangelist)

OXBOROUGH (St. John the Evangelist), a parish, in the union of Swaffham, hundred of South Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 3 miles (E. N. E.) from Stoke-Ferry; containing 316 inhabitants. The parish comprises about 2000 acres of land, the property of Sir H. P. Bedingfeld, Bart. Oxborough Hall was erected during the reign of Edward IV., by Sir Edmund Bedingfeld, who had licence from that monarch to embattle his manor-house; it is a quadrangular castellated mansion of brick, and is surrounded by a deep and broad moat, over which is a bridge leading to the entrance gateway. A weekly market and some annual fairs, with several other privileges, were granted by Edward I.; but the market has long been discontinued, and only one fair is held, on Easter-Tuesday, chiefly for cattle. The living is a discharged rectory, with the vicarage of Foulden united, valued in the king's books at £18. 6. 8.; net income, £516; patrons, the Master and Fellows of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. The church is a spacious structure of flint and stone, in the later English style, with a square embattled tower surmounted by a lofty spire; it has several monuments to former rectors, including one to the Rev. Charles Parkin, author of a continuation of Blomefield's History of Norfolk. Within the grounds of the Hall is a Roman Catholic chapel, erected in 1838. Thomas Hewer, Esq., bequeathed 117 acres of land for the relief of the poor, and for repairing the church. There are many tumuli, and some pits called Danes' graves, in the parish; Roman and Saxon coins, also, have been found, from which, and from the remains of a considerable vallum to the north-west of the village, Oxborough seems to have been anciently a place of importance. Of the family of Bedingfeld of Oxborough, was Sir Henry Bedingfeld, Knt., who was one of the first persons of distinction who declared for Mary, on the death of Edward VI.; he was made governor of the Tower, and sworn of the privy council. During the civil war, the family spent large sums in support of the royal cause; and as an acknowledgment of their services, the dignity of baronet was conferred on Henry Bedingfeld, in January 1660-1.

Oxcliffe, with Heaton.—See Heaton.

OXCLIFFE, with Heaton.—See Heaton.

Oxcomb (All Saints)

OXCOMB (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Louth, hundred of Hill, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 7 miles (N. E. by N.) from Horncastle; containing 24 inhabitants. The parish comprises about 1060 acres, and is in one farm, the property of Benjamin Grant, Esq., lord of the manor. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 15. 7½., and in the patronage of Mr. Grant: the tithes have been commuted for £204. 3. The church, rebuilt in 1842 at Mr. Grant's expense, is a very attractive edifice, in the early English style, with an octagonal tower surmounted by a light lantern; the interior is fitted up with stalls.

Oxenbourne

OXENBOURNE, a tything, in the parish and hundred of East Meon, union of Petersfield, Petersfield and N. divisions of the county of Southampton; containing 175 inhabitants.

Oxenden, Great, or Oxendon Magna (St. Helen)

OXENDEN, GREAT, or Oxendon Magna (St. Helen), a parish, in the union of Harborough, hundred of Rothwell, N. division of the county of Northampton, 2½ miles (S. by E.) from Harborough; containing 234 inhabitants. The parish is on the Northampton and Harborough road, and comprises 1303a. 2r. 10p., of a rich soil with a subsoil of clay, the whole good grazing-land, with the exception of 52 acres, which are arable. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 8. 4.; net income, £410; patron, J. Parker, Esq. The tithes were commuted for land in 1767; on the land is a glebe-house. The church stands about a quarter of a mile from the village, on an eminence from which is an extensive panoramic view, and has a square tower; the chancel is in the decorated style of architecture. At a short distance westward from the church is a remarkable echo, which, however, has been in some degree injured by an alteration in the roof of the south aisle. There is a chapel, used by dissenters of various denominations.

Oxenden, Little

OXENDEN, LITTLE, a hamlet, in the parish of Little Bowden, union of Harborough, hundred of Rothwell, N. division of the county of Northampton, 2 miles (S. S. W.) from Harborough; containing 4 inhabitants. It is on the road from Harborough to Northampton, and consists of 507½ acres of good land.

Oxenhall, or Oxneyfield

OXENHALL, or Oxneyfield, a hamlet, in the parish and union of Darlington, S. E. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 2¾ miles (S.) from Darlington; containing 25 inhabitants. In the neighbourhood are three remarkable pools, termed Hell Kettles.

Oxenhall

OXENHALL, a parish, in the union of Newent, hundred of Botloe, W. division of the county of Gloucester, 1 mile (N. N. W.) from Newent; containing 306 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 1886 acres, of which 42 are common or waste land: the soil is partly red-sandstone and partly stiff wet clay; the surface a constant undulation, and the scenery pleasing. The Gloucestershire and Herefordshire canal has a tunnel here more than a mile in length. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 12. 6.; net income, £80; patron, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol; impropriator, S. Beale, Esq., whose tithes have been commuted for £440, and who pays the vicar yearly £13. 6. 8. and the rent of an acre of land, decreed by the court of exchequer in 1639. The church has been recently repaired at the expense of the vicar. It has a very remarkable and handsome font, of much greater antiquity than the church: the bowl is of lead, bearing a representation, in low relief, of the Redeemer, the right hand raised in the act of benediction, the left resting on a book; the bowl is Norman, the base in the decorated style. The mutilated shaft and base of a preaching-cross, standing in the churchyard, have lately been converted into a sun-dial. In 1841 the vicar built a Sunday school, and in 1845 established an agricultural and commercial school for the instruction of the sons of farmers and shopkeepers, under the conduct of a master from St. Mark's College, Chelsea. He also established, in the same year, a provident club for assuring medicine and medical attendance, with 8s. weekly, during sickness, to day labourers within the parish. In a wood here, is an artificial mound covered with trees, in the form of a horse-shoe, called "the Danes' Mound," and supposed to be of great antiquity. The whole line of country contains mineral springs, which vary in strength, and bear some resemblance to those of Cheltenham.

Oxenhope

OXENHOPE, an ecclesiastical district, in the parish and union of Bradford, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 8 miles (W. by N.) from Bradford. This district, which is three miles and a half in length by two miles and a half in breadth, was constituted in November 1845, under the provisions of the act 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37: it consists of hill and dale. The hamlet of Oxenhope lies on the Keighley and HebdenBridge road, and about half a mile south of the village of Haworth. The population are rough and poor, but very hospitable. The worsted manufacture is carried on. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Crown and the Bishop of Ripon, alternately. A national school, in the early English style, was erected in 1847, at the cost of £640; and there are two Anabaptist and two Methodist places of worship.

Oxenton (St. John the Baptist)

OXENTON (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Tewkesbury, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 5 miles (E. by S.) from Tewkesbury; containing 139 inhabitants. It is on the road between Evesham and Cheltenham, and comprises about 1000 acres. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £68; patron, the Rev. E. Beaven; impropriator, E. Shepherd, Esq. The impropriate tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1774; the incumbent's glebe comprises about 23 acres of land in distant parishes.

Oxenwood

OXENWOOD, a tything, in the parish of Shalbourn, union of Hungerford, hundred of Kinwardstone, Marlborough and Ramsbury, and S. divisions of Wilts; containing 178 inhabitants.