Shobdon - Shorwell

A Topographical Dictionary of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848.

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'Shobdon - Shorwell', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, (London, 1848) pp. 87-90. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp87-90 [accessed 25 April 2024]

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Shobdon (St. John the Evangelist)

SHOBDON (St. John the Evangelist), a parish, in-the union of Leominster, hundred of Stretford, county of Hereford, 5½ miles (E. S. E.) from Presteign; containing 491 inhabitants. The parish is intersected by the road between Ludlow and Kington, and comprises 3491 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 7. 11.; net income, £764; patron, Lord Bateman. The church, which is the burial-place of the Bateman family, was partially rebuilt in 1757, by John, Viscount Bateman. The rent of several acres of land, and the proceeds of some minor benefactions, are distributed among the poor. Near the church is a mount called Castle Hill, encompassed with a moat, supposed to be the remains of a Roman or Danish fortification.

Shobrooke

SHOBROOKE, a parish, in the union of Crediton, hundred of West Budleigh, Crediton and N. divisions of Devon, 2 miles (E. N. E.) from Crediton; containing 787 inhabitants. Some of the females are employed in hand-loom weaving at their own homes. The living is a rectory, annexed to the bishopric of Exeter, and valued in the king's books at £36. The church is an ancient structure, with a handsome tower. There is a place of worship for Independents.

Shoby

SHOBY, an extra-parochial place, in the union of Melton-Mowbray, hundred of East Goscote, N. division of the county of Leicester, 5 miles (W. by N.) from Melton-Mowbray; containing 35 inhabitants.

Shocklach (St. Edith)

SHOCKLACH (St. Edith), a parish, in the union of Wrexham, Higher division of the hundred of Broxton, S. division of the county of Chester; containing 427 inhabitants, of whom 178 are in the township of Church-Shocklach, 4½ miles (N. W. by W.), and 180 in that of Oviatt-Shocklach, 3½ (W. N. W.), from Malpas. The parish comprises 2870 acres, the soil of which is clay; and is bounded on the west by the river Dee. At Castletown, the residence of Leigh Weaver, Esq., is the moated site of Shocklach Castle. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of Sir R. Puleston, Bart.: the great tithes have been commuted for £240, and those of the incumbent for £100; the incumbent has a glebe of an acre and three-quarters. The church is a small building, with an enriched Norman door. Opposite to the south door is the shaft of an ancient cross.

Shoddesden, Lower and Upper

SHODDESDEN, LOWER and UPPER, hamlets, in the parish of Kimpton, union and hundred of Andover, Andover and N. divisions of Hampshire; containing 59 and 45 inhabitants, respectively.

Shoebury, North (St. Mary)

SHOEBURY, NORTH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Rochford, S. division of Essex, 3¼ miles (E. N. E.) from Southend; containing 202 inhabitants. It is bounded on the south by the parish of South Shoebury, and the two villages are nearly contiguous. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9, and in the patronage of the Crown: the impropriate tithes, belonging to Mrs. James, have been commuted for £347, and the vicarial for £163; the glebe comprises 10 acres. The church, a small ancient edifice with a tower and spire, contains a handsome monument to John Ibbotson, who was secretary to the admiralty.

Shoebury, South (St. Andrew)

SHOEBURY, SOUTH (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union and hundred of Rochford, S. division of Essex, 4 miles (E.) from Southend; containing 164 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the river Thames, nearly opposite to the Nore: at its southern extremity is a small promontory called Shoebury Ness, on which is a signal station. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £14. 13. 4., and in the gift of R. Bristow, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £410, and the glebe comprises 7 acres. The church has a tower of flint surmounted by a spire.

Sholing

SHOLING, a tything, in the parish of Hound, union of South Stoneham, hundred of Mainsbridge, Southampton and S. divisions of the county of Southampton; containing 60 inhabitants.

Shopland (St. Mary Magdalene)

SHOPLAND (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in the union and hundred of Rochford, S. division of Essex, 2 miles (S. E.) from Rochford; containing 43 inhabitants. It comprises 1039a. 3r. 9p., of which 760 acres are arable, and 127 pasture. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9, and in the gift of the family of Quarington: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £240. 10., and the vicarial for £85; the glebe comprises 13 acres. The church is a small edifice, consisting of a nave and chancel.

Shoreditch (St. Leonard)

SHOREDITCH (St. Leonard), a parish, in the Tower division of the hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex; forming a north-eastern portion of the metropolis, and, with Haggerston and Hoxton (which see), containing 83,432 inhabitants. This place, in ancient records called Sordig, Soresdich, and Shordych, appears to have been so designated from the great common sewer, or ditch, which passed through the district. It seems to have given name to the family of Sir John de Sordig, lord of the manor, and one of the ambassadors of Edward III. to Philip of France. The Roman military way leading from London-wall to the ford at Hackney intersected what is now the churchyard; and some vestiges still remain of the old artillery-ground (originally a Roman Campus Martis), which was celebrated for archery and other military exercises practised there by the citizens of London, but which is now covered with houses. The parish is very extensive, consisting of numerous streets adjoining the city, and of several ranges of building on the roads to Kingsland, Hackney, and Bethnal-Green; it is well paved, lighted with gas, and amply supplied with water. There are some remains of ancient houses. The branches of manufacture carried on are principally such as are connected with the silk factories of the neighbouring parish of Spitalfields; there are several breweries, and some foundries for church bells. The parish is under the new police act; and one of the county debt-courts established in 1847, is fixed at Shorcditch.

The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17; net income, £656; patron, the Archdeacon of London. The church, rebuilt in 1740, is a handsome edifice in the Grecian style, with a tower, from which rises an open turret surrounded with Corinthian pillars, supporting an elliptical dome surmounted by a small but well-proportioned spire. The western entrance is through a stately portico of four columns of the Doric order, above which is an enriched entablature and cornice, crowned by a pediment. The interior is well arranged; the east window is embellished with stained glass, and there are numerous ancient memorials, among which may be noticed an altar-tomb with recumbent effigies of Sir John Elrington and his lady, a monument of Sir Thomas Leigh in a kneeling posture, and one to four ladies of the Rutland family, whose figures are represented kneeling at an altar, two on each side, in a recess. The church at Haggerston was erected in 1827. The church in the Curtain-road, containing 1200 sittings, was consecrated, and dedicated to St. James, on the 4th of July, 1839: the living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of the Bishop of London, with a net income of £400. Churches, also, have been erected in that part of the parish called Hoxton; and in Old-street road is another, completed in 1848, and dedicated to St. Mark: the living is in the gift of the Bishop, with a net income of £150. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan and other Methodists. A charity school for boys was established in 1705, and a school-house erected in 1722; a similar institution for girls was founded in 1709, and a house built in 1723: the former has an annual income of £100, and the latter one of £160, arising from rents and persona! estates; and they are further supported by subscription.

On the north side of Old-street road are the Weavers' almshouses, containing rooms for twelve widows of freemen belonging to the Weavers' Company. Adjoining these are Walters' almshouses for eight widows of freemen of the Drapers' Company, who place in them two widows, the remaining six being appointed by the parish. Next to these are eight rooms built by Mr. Porter, and given to the parish for aged widows. On the south side of Old-street road are houses founded by Judge Fuller, in 1591, and endowed by him with £50 per annum for twelve widows. In Kingsland-road are the Drapers' almshouses, containing twelve rooms, of which six are occupied by freemen of that company or freemen's widows, and six by aged widows chosen by the parish. Further on are the Ironmongers' almshouses, founded in 1703, by Sir Robert Geffery, for freemen of that company or freemen's widows: the buildings form three sides of a quadrangle, the area of which is laid down in turf, and comprise fourteen houses of four rooms each. With a neat chapel in the centre of the principal range; the chaplain resides in one of the houses, and another is occupied by the matron. Beyond these, on the same road, are the almshouses of the company of FrameworkKnitters, consisting of twelve tenements for freemen of that company or freemen's widows. In Gloucesterstreet are houses founded by Mrs. Fuller, for sixteen aged widows. There are also some houses established by Egbert Guede, of Overyssel, for four men belonging to the Dutch church in Austin-friars. The Refuge for the Destitute, a spacious establishment in the parish, consists of two separate buildings; one for males, situated in Hoxton Old Town, and the other for females, in the Hackney-road.

Shoreham (St. Peter and St. Paul)

SHOREHAM (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Seven-Oaks, hundred of Codsheath, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, W. division of Kent, 4½ miles (N.) from Seven-Oaks; containing 1021 inhabitants. The parish comprises 5506 acres, of which 1199 are in wood. The soil is chalk, interspersed with small portions of clay; the surface on the east and west sides is hilly, and between them is a pleasing valley, through which flows the river Darent in its course to the Thames at Dartford. A very elegant Palladian villa was commenced about the beginning of the last century, but being left unfinished, became infected with the dry-rot, which induced the present Lord Asbburton to take it down and replace it by a mansion in the Elizabethan style. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14. 6. 8.; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The rectory of Shoreham, with the curacy of Otford, is valued in the king's books at £34. 9. 9½., and is an appropriation belonging to the Dean and Chapter, who allow a certain stipend to the curate of Otford. The great tithes of the parish have been commuted for £800, and the small for £450; the Dean and Chapter's glebe consists of 60 acres, and the vicar's of ten acres. The church is an ancient structure, containing several elegant monuments. Castle farmhouse was built with the remains, and upon the site, of Shoreham Castle.

Corporation Seal of New Shoreham.
Obverse.
Reverse.

Shoreham, New (St. Mary)

SHOREHAM, NEW (St. Mary), a borough, markettown, sea-port, and parish, in the union of Steyning, hundred of Fishergate, rape of Bramber, W. division of Sussex, 23 miles (E.) from Chichester, and 56 (S. by W.) from London; the parish containing 1998 inhabitants. This place is indebted for its origin to the decay of Old Shoreham, formerly a town of importance; and is remarkable for having been built on the spot where Ælla the Saxon landed with supplies from Germany, in aid of his countrymen Hengist and Horsa. It is situated on the road between Brighton and Worthing, and about one mile from the English Channel, on the river Adur. Across this river is a suspension-bridge, at the western entrance into the town, built at the expense of the Duke of Norfolk, and by which the distance between Shoreham and Worthing has been reduced two miles. About six acres of land have been laid out by Mr. Balley as a public promenade, which is much frequented by visiters from Brighton and Worthing; a Swiss cottage has been erected, containing an assembly and concert room and a theatre, and in the grounds is a sheet of water, on which is a small steamer. Shoreham is noted for its ship-building, in which above 100 men are generally employed; and several vessels of more than 500 tons, remarkable for swiftness of sailing, have been launched here. The trade of the port has of late rapidly increased, and its revenue, within the last 20 years, has been quintupled. The harbour, which is very commodious, in spring tides has about nineteen feet of water, and in common ones about fourteen, with not more than three feet at ebb; it was constructed in 1816, by subscription on shares, and has proved a profitable undertaking. The river runs by the side of the town, parallel to the sea, with which it communicates on the east, thus forming the harbour. The imports consist principally of timber, deals, merchandise from France, wine, spirits, coal, cheese and butter from Holland, &c.: much oak-timber is exported. Shoreham has been approved as a warehousing port for West India, Mediterranean, and other produce, for the reception of which large warehouses have been built. The custom-house, erected in 1830, under the direction of Mr. Sydney Smirke, is an elegant building in the Grecian style, situated in the centre of the town. A branch of the London and Brighton railway to this place was completed at an expense of £150,000, and opened to the public in May, 1840. An extension to Worthing, Arundel, and Chichester was opened in June 1846; it passes over the streets of the town by four bridges, and over the river Adur by a viaduct 550 yards long. Cement manufactories have been established. A market for corn is held every fortnight, and a fair on July 25th.

Shoreham is a borough by prescription, and is governed by a high constable appointed by the lord of the manor. It has sent two members to parliament since the first of Edward I.; the right of election is in the inhabitants paying scot and lot, and the freeholders of the rape of Bramber, and the high constable is returning officer. At the election in 1791, a majority of the voters having formed themselves into a society called the Christian Club, the real object of which was to sell their votes to the best bidder, an act of parliament was passed disfranchising every member of the association, and extending the votes to the whole rape of Bramber. The living is a discharged vicarage, annexed to that of Old Shoreham, and valued in the king's books at £6. 1. 8. The church is an extremely interesting specimen of Norman architecture, with a tower rising from the intersection of the transepts and nave, and contains numerous ancient monuments, among which are some to the Hooper family; it was new pewed in 1829, when 589 additional sittings were obtained, of which 465 are free. The Independents and Wesleyans have each a place of worship. There were anciently a priory for Carmelites, or White friars, founded by Sir John Mowbray, Knt.; and an hospital dedicated to St. James.

Shoreham, Old (St. Nicholas)

SHOREHAM, OLD (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Steyning, hundred of Fishergate, rape of Bramber, W. division of Sussex, ½ a mile (N. W. by N.) from New Shoreham; containing 224 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the west by the river Adur, over which is an old bridge of wood. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of New Shoreham annexed, valued in the king's books at £7. 18. 6.; net income, £185; patrons and impropriators, the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford. The church is a very ancient cruciform structure, chiefly in the Norman style, with a central tower supported on massive Norman arches; the whole has been lately restored. Here was an hospital dedicated to St. James, which was valued, in the reign of Elizabeth, at £1. 6. 8. per annum.

Shoreswood

SHORESWOOD, a township, in the parish of Norham, union of Berwick-upon-Tweed, N. division of Northumberland, 6½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Berwick; containing 315 inhabitants, chiefly employed in the adjacent coal-mines. The township has a straggling village situated on the road between West Allerton and Norham; and belongs to the Dean and Chapter of Durham, whose tithes here have been commuted for a rentcharge of £162.

Shorncott (All Saints)

SHORNCOTT (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Cirencester, hundred of Higbworth, Cricklade, and Staple, Cricklade and N. divisions of Wilts, 4 miles (S.) from Cirencester; containing 33 inhabitants. It comprises 485 acres, of which 52 are common or waste land. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 7. 6., and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £92, and the glebe comprises 38 acres.

Shorne (St. Peter and St. Paul)

SHORNE (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of North Aylesford, hundred of Shamwell, lathe of Aylesford, W. division of Kent, 3¾ miles (S. E.) from Gravesend; containing 878 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3051 acres, of which 744 are woodland, and 31 common or waste. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £13. 1. 8.; net income, £358; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Rochester. The church contains a fine monument to the memory of Sir Henry de Cobham. A national school is supported principally by the dividends on £1000 three per cent, consols., the bequest of the Rev. R. G. Ayerst in 1812.—See Merston.

Shortflatt

SHORTFLATT, a township, in the parish of Bolam, union of Castle ward, N. E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 10¾ miles (W. S. W.) from Morpeth; containing 33 inhabitants. The township comprises about 512 acres. The mansion-house of Shortflatt, the seat of Mr. Dent, is situated on flat ground, on the south side of a reedy brook called Howburn. It is in the style of Queen Elizabeth's time, is covered with grey freestone slate, and built against an old tower of strong masonry, which is mentioned in a list of border fortresses in the beginning of the 15th century, and was then the residence of the Rayme family. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £11. 5., and the vicarial for £10. 19. 6.

Shorthampton

SHORTHAMPTON, a chapelry, in the parish of Charlbury, union of Chipping-Norton, hundred of Chadlington, county of Oxford, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Chipping-Norton; containing 287 inhabitants. The chapel is dedicated to All Saints.

Shorwell (St. Peter)

SHORWELL (St. Peter), a parish, in the liberty of West Medina, Isle of Wight division of the county of Southampton, 5 miles (S. W. by S.) from Newport; containing 714 inhabitants. This place was anciently an appendage of the priory of Carisbrooke, from which it was separated in the reign of Edward III., and made a distinct parish. The land, though partly consisting of down, is rich; and the scenery truly picturesque. The village is pleasant: near it is the handsome mansion of Northcourt, erected in the reign of James I., and beautifully situated in a well-wooded demesne, in which is a spring of pure water, whence the parish takes its name. The living comprises a sinecure rectory, valued in the king's books at £20. 0. 2½., and in the patronage of Lady Mildmay; and a discharged vicarage, united to the rectory of Mottiston, and valued at £17. 16. 0½. The tithes of Shorwell have been commuted for £192 payable to the vicar, £468 payable to the sinecure rector, and £288 to certain impropriators; the vicar has a glebe of two acres, and the rector one of three acres. The church, erected in 1526, is a neat structure, and contains some monuments to the Leigh family and others.