Stella
STELLA, a township, in the parish of Ryton, union
of Gateshead, W. division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 5 miles (W. by N.) from
Newcastle-upon-Tyne; containing 563 inhabitants. This
place, anciently Stellinglei, was granted in the 12th century by Bishop William de St. Barbara to the nuns of
Newcastle, in whose possession it remained till the Dissolution. It subsequently became the property of the
Tempest family, who erected the magnificent mansion
of Stella Hall, near the river Tyne; and afterwards belonged to Lord Widdrington, on whose joining in the
rebellion of 1715, it was forfeited to the crown. The
estate is now the property of Peregrine Edward Towneley,
Esq. The township is bounded on the north by the
river; it comprises 281 acres, and abounds with coal,
of which a pit is worked, for household use. Stella Hall,
the property of Mr. Towneley, is beautifully situated,
and has lately, with the park and grounds attached to
it, been much improved. The village is on the bank of
the river, which is here navigable for keels: there is a
manufactory for coal-wagons, railway-trucks, and similar carriages; and fire-bricks are made in the neighbourhood. The tithes have been commuted for £27.
3. 8. A church district named St. Cuthbert's was
endowed in 1845 by the Ecclesiastical Commission; it
comprises the township of Stella, and part of the parish
of Winlaton, in which latter the church is situated: see
Blaydon. A Roman Catholic chapel was erected in 1831,
with apartments for the residence of the priest, who has
a stipend of £20 charged upon the estate, to which Mr.
Towneley adds £30 per annum.
Stelling (St. Mary)
STELLING (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Elham, partly in the hundred of Loningborough, but
chiefly in that of Stouting, lathe of Shepway E.
division of Kent, 6 miles (S. by W.) from Canterbury;
containing 341 inhabitants. The parish comprises by
admeasurement 1250 acres, of which 762 are arable,
250 pasture, 100 woodland, 30 appropriated to hops,
and 100 common. The ancient Stane-street runs along
the western boundary. The living is annexed to the
rectory of Upper Hardres: the tithes have been commuted for £257. 10., and the glebe contains 8 acres.
Stelling
STELLING, a township, in the parish of Bywell
St. Peter, union of Hexham, E. division of Tindale
ward, S. division of Northumberland, 13 miles (W. by
N.) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; containing 53 inhabitants. It is situated on the road between Newcastle and
Hexham, and comprises 300 acres, chiefly arable land.
The surface rises gradually from the south for half the
extent of the township, and then slopes towards the
north j the soil is various. Freestone is abundant, and
there are several seams of coal, but none at present
worked. The Tyne passes on the south, and the Stocksfield station of the Newcastle and Carlisle railway is
distant about 3½ miles. The place is tithe-free, having
been part of the possessions of Hexham priory.
Stelling Minnis
STELLING MINNIS, an extra-parochial district, in
the union of Elham, hundred of Stouting, lathe of
Shepway, E. division of Kent; with 62 inhabitants.
Stembridge
STEMBRIDGE, a tything, in the parish of Kingsbury-Episcopi, union of Langport, hundred of Kingsbury, W. division of Somerset; containing 168 inhabitants. The river Parret flows on the east.
Stenigot (St. Nicholas)
STENIGOT (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union
of Louth, N. division of the wapentake of Gartree,
parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 5¾ miles (S. W.
by W.) from Louth; containing 97 inhabitants. The
living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books
at £7. 12. 3½., and in the gift of the Rev. M. Alington:
the tithes have been commuted for £274. 14., and the
glebe contains 38¼ acres.
Stenson, county of Derby.—See Twyford.
STENSON, county of Derby.—See Twyford.
Stephens, St.
STEPHENS, ST., a parish, in the union of Launceston, N. division of the hundred of East, E. division
of Cornwall, ¾ of a mile (N. N. W.) from Launceston;
containing 1068 inhabitants. The parish comprises 3642
acres, of which 260 are common or waste land: the
village is pleasantly situated on the brow of a lofty hill
immediately above Newport, and commands some extensive views. Fairs, chiefly for cattle, are held on May 12th,
July 31st, and September 25th. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of certain Feoffees and
the Inhabitants, with a net income of £80: the tithes
have been commuted for £356. The church is an ancient structure, and contains some interesting details.
John Horwell, in 1717, bequeathed some property for
maintaining and instructing boys, which in 1821 produced £6444 -. the income is £193 per annum.—See
Launceston and Newport.
Stephens, St.
STEPHENS, ST., a parish, in the union of St. Alban's, hundred of Cashio, or liberty of St. Alban's,
county of Hertford, 1 mile (S. W.) from St. Alban's;
containing 1826 inhabitants. It comprises 8140a. 2r. 3p.,
of which 6238 acres are arable, 1399 meadow, and about
503 wood. The rivers Ver and Colne run through the
parish. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in
the king's books at £15; patron and incumbent, the Rev.
M. R. Southwell; impropriator, the Rev. C. Lomax.
The great tithes have been commuted for £1420. 9., and
the vicarial for £500. The church, situated on the
Roman Watling-street, occupies the site of one built in
the reign of King Eldred, by Ulsinus, sixth abbot of St.
Alban's: a fine brass eagle with expanded wings, on an
ornamented pedestal of the same metal, was dug up
some years since in the churchyard, and is now used as
a stand in the chancel for Fox's Martyrology. A chapel
of ease was lately erected at the village of Park-street, in
the Norman style, by subscription, conjointly with £1000
raised by a rate; it was consecrated on October 14th,
1842, and is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Many
Roman coins have been found.
Stephens, St., Kent.—See Hackington.
STEPHENS, ST., Kent.—See Hackington.
Stephens, St.
STEPHENS, ST., by Saltash, a parish, in the union
of St. Germans, S. division of the hundred of East,
E. division of Cornwall; containing, with Saltash,
2963 inhabitants, of whom 1422 are exclusively of that
town. The parish comprises 5400 acres, of which 293
are common or waste land. The living is a vicarage,
valued in the king's books at £26; net income, £139;
patron, T. Edwards, Esq. The great tithes have been
commuted for £1298; and the vicarial for £29, with a
glebe of 7 acres. At Saltash is a separate incumbency.
Here are considerable remains of the castle of Trematon,
erected before the Conquest, in a beautiful situation on
the bank of the Lyner. The area comprised more than
an acre of ground, and was inclosed by embattled
walls. The keep is on the summit of a conical elevation,
and is approached by a circular arched doorway; the
principal gateway consists of three arches, supporting a
square embattled tower containing a museum of natural
curiosities.
Stephens, St.
STEPHENS, ST., in Brannel, a parish, in the
union of St. Austell, E. division of the hundred of
Powder and of the county of Cornwall, 4½ miles (W.
by N.) from St. Austell; containing 2643 inhabitants.
This parish, which takes its name from the dedication
of its church, is situated in a district abounding with
mineral treasure; moorstone of excellent quality for
building is found, and a fine white clay is procured in
great quantities for the Potteries. The living is a rectory, annexed, with the rectory of St. Dennis, to that of
St. Michael Caerhays: the tithes have been commuted
for £780. The church is an ancient structure, principally in the Norman style, with some later details, and
a square detached tower. There is a place of worship
for Independents. In 1711, Ellen Mabbott bequeathed
a rent-charge of £35. 10. for poor widows; and in 1726,
James Buller endowed four almshouses. Here are vestiges of a circular intrenchment comprising an area of
about one acre, surrounded with a fosse.
Stepney (St. Dunstan and All Saints)
STEPNEY (St. Dunstan and All Saints), a parish,
and the head of a union, in the Tower division of the
hundred of Ossulstone, county of Middlesex, 2½ miles
(E.) from St. Paul's; containing 63,723 inhabitants, of
whom 8325 are in the hamlet of Mile-End New Town,
45,308 in Mile-End Old Town, and 10,090 in Ratcliffe.
This parish, called in various old records Stebunhithe and
Stebenhythe occurs in Domesday book under the name
of Stibenhede, from which its present appellation is obviously deduced. It anciently included a widely-extended
district, comprising, in addition to its present parochial
limits, the hamlets of Stratford-le-Bow, Limehouse, Poplar and Blackwall, Shadwell, St. George's-in-the-East,
Wapping, Spitalfields, Whitechapel, and Bethnal-Green,
These, from their increased importance, have been successively separated from it, and at present constitute
some of the most populous districts in the metropolis.
According to Stowe, Edward I. held a parliament at
Stepney, in the mansion of Henry Walleis, mayor of
London, when he conferred several valuable privileges
on the citizens. The manor was in 1380 annexed to the
see of London, and the bishops had a palace called
Bishop Hall, now included in the parish of BethnalGreen, in which they continued to reside till 1550, when
it was alienated from the see by Bishop Ridley, who
gave it to Edward VI. In the rebellion under Jack
Cade, in the reign of Henry VI., the insurgents who
attacked the metropolis encamped for some time at the
hamlet of Mile-End; and in 1642, at the commencement
of the parliamentary war, fortifications were constructed
in the parish for the defence of the city.
From the then pleasantness of its situation, and the
beauty of its scenery, which are noticed in a letter from
Sir Thomas More to Dean Colet, Stepney was formerly
the favourite residence of many persons of distinction.
Isabel, Countess of Rutland, had a seat here in the latter
part of the sixteenth century, and Sir Thomas Lake,
secretary of state in the reign of James I., was also a
resident; but there are no vestiges of the houses which
they occupied. Henry, the first Marquess of Worcester,
had a mansion near the parsonage-house; its gateway,
handsomely built of brick, with a turret at one of the
angles, is still remaining, and forms part of a house in
which Dr. Richard Mead was born, and resided for many
years. Sir Henry Colet, father of the dean who founded
St. Paul's school, lived in a spacious residence to the
west of the church, styled the Great Place, whose site is
now partly occupied by a place of public entertainment,
called Spring Gardens.
During part of the seventeenth century, Stepney suffered severely from the ravages of the plague, of which
2978 persons died in the year 1625; and in 1665, not
less than 6583. In the course of the latter year, 116
sextons and grave-diggers belonging to the parish died
of the plague; and so greatly was the place, then principally inhabited by seafaring men, depopulated, that it is
recorded in the Life of Lord Clarendon, that "there
seemed an impossibility to procure seamen to fit out the
fleet." In July 1794, a calamitous fire, occasioned by the
boiling over of a pitch-kettle in a barge-builder's yard,
destroyed more than half the hamlet of Ratcliffe, communicated to the shipping in the river, and burnt several
ranges of warehouses, among which was one belonging
to the East India Company, containing more than 200
tons of saltpetre. Of 1200 houses in the hamlet, only
570 escaped the conflagration; and 36 warehouses,
chiefly stored with articles of combustion, were totally
consumed. By this dreadful calamity several hundred
families were reduced to the utmost distress, deprived of
shelter, and made dependent for subsistence on the
public benevolence; a subscription was therefore opened
at Lloyd's Coffee-house, by which, together with the contributions of thousands who came to visit the extensive
ruins, more than £16,000 were collected for the relief of
the sufferers.
The parish is situated on the northern bank of the
Thames, and chiefly inhabited by persons connected with
shipping. It extends for a considerable distance from
the river to the principal road leading into Essex, and
comprises many handsome ranges of building. The
Commercial-road, from Whitechapel to the East and
West India docks, passes through it; and the basin, or
dock, at the junction of the Regent's canal with the
Thames, capable of containing 100 ships, occupies a
portion of the east side of the hamlet of Ratcliffe. The
parish is paved, lighted with gas, and supplied with
water by the East London Company from their works
at Old Ford, the reservoir of which, excavated in 1827,
and covering ten acres of ground, is situated north of
the high road. On the banks of the Regent's canal,
which runs under the Mile-End road, are several coal
and timber wharfs; and in the hamlets of Mile-End Old
and New Towns are some extensive breweries, a large
distillery, a floor-cloth manufactory, a factory for tobacco-pipes, and a very spacious nursery-ground. In
Ratcliffe are important manufactories for sail-cloth, sails,
chain-cables and mooring-chains, steam-engines, and
machinery connected with the docks and shipping; also
large establishments belonging to coopers for the West
India trade, timber and hoop merchants, ship-chandlers,
sugar-bakers, rope-makers, and various other trades, for
which its situation renders it peculiarly favourable. An
act was passed in 1845, enabling the Blackwall Railway
Company to make a branch from their line, at Stepney,
to Stratford, two miles in length. The market, granted
to the inhabitants by Charles II., in 1664, is now held
at Whitechapel; the fair bestowed at the same time,
originally held on Mile-End green, was removed to
Stratford-le-Bow, and subsequently suppressed. Stepney
is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates,
who sit at the police-office in Lambeth-street, Whitechapel, for the despatch of business relating to Mile-End;
and at the Thames-office, Arbour-square, for the hamlet
of Ratcliffe. It is under the control of the metropolitan
police establishment.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books
at £73. 6. 8.; net income, £1190; patrons, the Principal and Fellows of Brasenose College, Oxford. The
church is a spacious structure of flint and stone, principally in the later English style, with a low broad tower,
strengthened by buttresses, and surmounted by a turret
crowned with a small dome. Near the western entrance
is a bas-relief, indifferently executed and much decayed,
representing the Virgin and Child, with a female figure
in the attitude of supplication; and over the south door
is a rude sculpture of the Crucifixion, in tolerable preservation. There are many monuments in the building:
on the north side of the chancel is the altar-tomb of Sir
Henry Colet, under an arched canopy finely groined;
and near it a memorial to Benjamin Kenton, Esq., who
died in 1800, at the age of 83, bequeathing to different
charitable institutions the sum of £63,550. On the east
wall is a monument to Lady Dethic; and on the south
a tablet to Sir Thomas Spert, Knt., founder and first
master of the corporation of the Trinity. The edifice
was repaired and beautified in 1828. The churchyard is
spacious, and has monuments to numerous distinguished
persons, including the Rev. Matthew Mead, who was
ejected from the living of Shadwell for nonconformity,
and Admiral Sir John Leake, Knt., a brave officer in the
reign of Queen Anne. St. Thomas's district church, in
Arbour-square, a neat edifice of Suffolk brick, in the early
English style, with two octangular turrets, was erected in
1837 by a grant from the Metropolis Church-Buildine
Fund, and contains 1100 sittings, of which 500 are free:
the living is in the gift of Brasenose College. Other
churches are noticed under the heads of Mile-End and
Ratcliffe. There are places of worship for Baptists, the
Society of Friends, the Connexion of the Countess of
Huntingdon, Calvinistic Methodists, and Roman Catholics, and three meeting-houses for Independents, of one
of which, near the church, founded by the lecturer, the
Rev. William Greenhill, in 1674, the Rev. M. Mead
became the first minister.
Stepney College, in Mile-End Old Town, was established in 1810, for the education of ministers of the
Baptist denomination. The premises, which have been
greatly enlarged, include part of an ancient building
called King John's Tower, and contain private studies
and sleeping-rooms for twenty-four students, with apartments for the masters, and a chapel. In School-house
lane, Ratcliffe, are some almshouses of the Coopers'
Company, founded in 1538 by Toby Wood, Esq., and
Mr. Cloker, members of that society, for fourteen aged
persons of both sexes. Adjoining them is a free grammar school, largely endowed by Nicholas Gibson, master
of the company, and sheriff of London, in the reign of
Henry VIII., for the instruction of 35 boys; in this
school Bishop Andrews, and several other distinguished
persons, received the rudiments of their education. The
almshouses, more liberally endowed by the company, now
afford an asylum to six men and eighteen women. The
premises were destroyed by the fire of 1794, and were
rebuilt in 1796; they occupy three sides of a quadrangle,
with a chapel in the central range. Near the churchyard are the Mercers' almshouses, established in 1691 by
Jane Mico, relict of Sir Samuel Mico, and endowed for
ten aged widows, who receive each £30 per annum.
Mrs. Bowry, in 1715, bequeathed a leasehold estate, and
a sum of money in the South Sea annuities, for the erection and endowment of eight almshouses between MileEnd and Stratford-le-Bow, for decayed seamen and their
widows. There are other almshouses in the parish,
noticed in the article on Mile-End. The poor-law union
of Stepney comprises Limehouse, Shadwell, Mile-End
Old Town, Ratcliffe, and Wapping; and contains a popu
lation of 90,657.
Stepney Marsh.—See Dogs, Isle of.
STEPNEY MARSH.—See Dogs, Isle of.
Steppingley (St. Lawrence)
STEPPINGLEY (St. Lawrence), a parish, in the
union of Ampthill, hundred of Redbornestoke,
county of Bedford, 2½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Ampthill; containing 377 inhabitants. It comprises by computation 1300 acres. The women and children are principally employed in making lace. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6.16. 3.,
and in the gift of the Crown: the tithes were commuted for a corn-rent of £225, under a late inclosure
act; there is a glebe-house, and the glebe contains 36
acres of land.
Sterndale, Earl
STERNDALE, EARL, a chapelry, in the parish of
Hartington, union of Bakewell, hundred of Wirksworth, N. division of the county of Derby, 5½ miles
(S. E. by S.) from Buxton; containing 362 inhabitants.
The Peak-Forest and Cromford railroad passes through
the chapelry. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £96; patron, the Vicar of Hartington; impropriator, the Duke of Devonshire. The chapel was erected
in the year 1829, and is a neat building with a square
embattled tower.
Sternfield (St. Mary Magdalene)
STERNFIELD (St. Mary Magdalene), a parish, in
the union and hundred of Plomesgate, E. division of
Suffolk, 1¼ mile (S. S. E.) from Saxmundham; containing 193 inhabitants, and comprising by admeasurement 1086½ acres. The living is a rectory, valued in
the king's books at £8. 14. 4½.; net income, £297;
patron, W. Long, Esq.
Sterscote, Staffordshire.—See Syerscote.
STERSCOTE, Staffordshire.—See Syerscote.
Stert (St. James)
STERT (St. James), a parish, in the union of Devizes, hundred of Swanborough, Devizes and N. divisions of the county of Wilts, 2½ miles (S. E.) from
Devizes; containing 181 inhabitants. It is situated near
the road from Salisbury to Devizes. The living is annexed to the vicarage of Urchfont.
Stetchworth (St. Peter)
STETCHWORTH (St. Peter), a parish, in the union
of Newmarket, hundred of Radfield, county of Cambridge, 3 miles (S. by W.) from Newmarket; containing
673 inhabitants, and comprising 2858a. 3r. 24p. The
living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books
at £10. 12. 1.; net income, £174; patrons and impropriators, the family of Eaton. The tithes were commuted
for land and corn-rents in 1814. The church contains
a handsome monument in white marble to the Hon.
Henry Gorges. An almshouse for two persons of each
sex was founded in 1700, by Lord and Lady Gorges, who
endowed it with £30 per annum.
Stevenage (St. Nicholas)
STEVENAGE (St. Nicholas), a town and parish, in
the union of Hitchin, hundred of Broadwater, county
of Hertford, 12 miles (N. W. by N.) from Hertford,
and 31 (N. N. W.) from London; containing 1725 inhabitants. The ancient name was Stigenhaght, signifying the hills by the highway, and evidently derived
from six barrows, or hills near the road-side, half a mile
south of the town: about the time of the heptarchy the
place was called Stigenhace, and in Domesday book
Stavenach or Stevenadge. It formed a part of the demesne of the Saxon kings, and was given by Edward the
Confessor to the abbey of Westminster, on the suppression of which it was granted by Edward VI. to the
see of London, to which the manor still belongs. The
town is pleasantly situated on the great road from London to Edinburgh, and consists of one long and spacious
street, with two or three smaller ones, comprising some
well-built brick residences: it is amply supplied with
water. The trade is chiefly that of carcase-butchers,
who dispose of the slaughtered cattle principally at Hertford, and in the London market; the platting of straw
furnishes employment to many of the females in the town
and its vicinity. In the reign of James I., Monteine,
Bishop of London, procured the grant of a weekly
market, and three fairs annually, which was confirmed
by a charter of William and Mary; but from the contiguity of other towns in which large markets take place,
the market of Stevenage has fallen into disuse; and the
fairs, except one on Sept. 22nd, have also been nearly
discontinued. Petty sessions for the division are held
here, and a manorial court annually by the Bishop of
London. The parish comprises by admeasurement 4434
acres, of which 2887 are arable, 900 pasture, 524 wood,
and 123 waste.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books
at £33. 6. 8., and in the gift of William Baker, Esq.:
the tithes have been commuted for £1023. 7.; there is
a glebe-house, and the glebe comprises 26½ acres. The
church is situated on a chalky eminence about half a
mile from the town, approached by a fine avenue of trees,
and is a neat well-built edifice, with a square tower surmounted by a spire covered with lead; attached to the
chancel are two small chapels. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyans. The Rev. Thomas
Alleyn, in 1558, devised all his estates to Trinity College,
Cambridge, in trust for charitable uses, among which
was the founding of a grammar school at Stevenage,
with an annual income of £13. 6. 8. Shortly after the
testator's demise, a free English school was established
by the inhabitants of Stevenage, which was endowed with
some land by Robert Gynne in 1614, and a rent-charge
of £12 by Edmond Woodward in 1659; and this school
was eventually placed under the master of the grammar
school: the total income is £37. 6. 8. A national
school has been founded; and there are various bequests,
amounting to about £50 per annum, distributed among
the poor. The six barrows supposed to give name to
the town have been generally referred to the Danes,
several battles having been fought between them aud the
Saxons in this county, and some fields at the distance of
about three-quarters of a mile still retaining the name of
Danes' Blood. In a wood half a mile eastward from
the barrows, called Humbley Wood, are the apparent
remains of an intrenched camp, or fortification, consisting of a large and perfectly square area, surrounded
by a deep moat containing water, with only one entrance
on the north side. Richard de Stevenage, abbot of St.
Alban's at the Dissolution, was a native of this place.
Steventon (St. Michael)
STEVENTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the union
of Abingdon, hundred of Ock, county of Berks, 5
miles (S. W. by S.) from Abingdon; containing 948
inhabitants. A castle was erected here by Baldwin
Wake in 1281, of which there are no vestiges. A
priory of Black monks, a cell to the abbey of Beck, in
Normandy, was founded in the time of Henry I., and
at the suppression of alien houses, was bestowed upon
the convent of Westminster. The parish comprises
2382a. 2r. 11p., of which 1250 acres are arable, 970 pasture, 106 common, and 14 woodland. The Berks and
Wilts canal, and the Great Western railway, which has
a station here, both pass through the parish. In the
village is an ancient cross, a tall shaft rising from abase
of several steps. The living is a vicarage, valued in the
king's books at £9. 5. 2½.; net income, £192; patrons
and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. There is a place of worship for Baptists; also a
school partly supported by endowments amounting to
about £12 per annum.
Steventon (St. Nicholas)
STEVENTON (St. Nicholas), parish, in the union
and hundred of Basingstoke, Kingsclere and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 3 miles (S. E. by
E.) from Overton; containing 193 inhabitants. The
parish comprises 2100a. 3r. 6p. The South-Western
railroad passes through it. The living is a rectory,
valued in the king's books at £11. 4. 7., and in the gift
of Edward Knight, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £522. 10.; there is a glebe-house, and the
glebe contains 53¼ acres. Miss Austen, the novelist,
was born here in December, 1775: her father was for
upwards of forty vears incumbent of the parish.
Stevington (St. Mary)
STEVINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the hundred
of Willey, union and county of Bedford, 5½ miles
(N. W. by W.) from Bedford; containing 602 inhabitants. Here are some remains of an ancient monastic
institution; and in the neighbourhood of the church,
extensive foundations may be traced indicative of large
buildings, one of which was a castle overlooking the
moors, inhabited by a part of the Plantagenet family.
The parish is situated on the river Ouse, and west of
the high road from Bedford to Higham-Ferrers. The
living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books
at £12. 13. 4.; net income, £108: patron and impropriator, the Duke of Bedford. The tithes were commuted for land in 1805. William Barringer, by will
dated 18th March 1631, left property in trust for building almshouses for five poor men and women, the residue
being laid out in the purchase of 24a. 3r. of land, now
producing £38 per annum. This charity was for many
years in abeyance, but was recovered at the relation of
the present vicar and some of the parishioners; and
under a decree of the court of Chancery in 1836, trustees for its management were appointed.
Stewkley (St. Mary)
STEWKLEY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of
Winslow, hundred of Cottesloe, county of Buckingham, 5 miles (W. N. W.) from Leighton-Buzzard; containing, with the hamlet of Littlecote, 1262 inhabitants.
The lace manufacture, formerly carried on, is nearly extinct, and many of the females are now employed in the
manufacture of straw-plat. Here is a lime quarry, in
which are occasionally found curious antediluvian remains, including some specimens of very large spiral
fossil-shells. The living is a vicarage, valued in the
king's books at £9. 9. 7.; net income, £194; patron
and appropriator, the Bishop of Oxford. The tithes
were commuted for land and a money payment in 1811.
The church is one of the most enriched and complete
specimens of the Norman style now remaining. There
is a place of worship for Wesleyans. A fund of about
£25 per annum, arising from bequests, is distributed
among the poor.
Stewley
STEWLEY, atything, in the parish of Isle-Abbot's,
uuion of Langport, hundred of Abdick and Bulstone, W. division of the county of Somerset; containing 110 inhabitants.
Stewton (St. Andrew)
STEWTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union
of Louth, Wold division of the hundred of LouthEske, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 2½ miles
(E.) from Louth; containing 55 inhabitants. It comprises 959 acres of land, chiefly arable; the soil is a
heavy clay. The living is a discharged rectory, valued
in the king's books at £7, and in the gift of T. Heneage,
Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £200, and the
glebe comprises 11 acres.
Steyning (St. Andrew)
STEYNING (St. Andrew), a market -town and
parish, the head of a union, and formerly a representative borough, in the hundred of Steyning, rape of
Bramber, W. division of Sussex, 24 miles (E. by N.)
from Chichester, and 49½ (S. by W.) from London; containing 1495 inhabitants. The name is supposed to be
derived from the Steyne-street, an ancient road which
passed through this part of the country from Arundel to
Dorking. Camden considers the town to be the Steyningham mentioned in Alfred's will. It appears in the
Saxon age to have been of considerable note, a church
or monastery having been built here, in which St. Cadman was buried; and in the "Catalogue of Religious
Houses," ascribed to Gervase of Canterbury, in the time
of Richard I., mention is made of a dean and secular
canons. It is certain that King Edward the Confessor
gave lands to the monastery of Feschamp, in Normandy,
which included this place; aud these being taken away
by Earl Godwin, were restored by William the Conqueror.
Some Benedictine monks from that house erected a
priory here, which was eventually given to the monastery
of Sion by Edward IV., and continued part of its possessions till the Dissolution. Speed says, the conventual
church was dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, and contained the sacred relics of St. Cuthman (Cadman), and
Ethelwulph, father of Alfred the Great: here was also a
parochial church in honour of St. Cuthman. Camden
speaks of the market as well frequented in his time;
but the town afterwards became reduced, and in the
Magna Britannia, a century later, is mentioned as "a
mean contemptible place, with hardly a building fit to
put a horse in," and being said then to contain not more
than 150 families. Since that period it has been considerably enlarged.
It stands at the foot of a lofty hill, near the river
Adur, over which is a bridge; and consists of one long
street, and two smaller ones brauching therefrom: it is
supplied with water by a spring. The land in the vicinity is fertile, and the adjoining downs afford good pasturage for sheep. An extensive cattle-market is held
on alternate Mondays; there is also a corn-market, and
fairs take place on June 9th, September 19th, and October 11th: at the Michaelmas fair, a great number of
Welsh and Devonshire cattle are disposed of, with cattle
of other kinds, sheep, horses, hogs, wheat, seeds, &c.
Here are two breweries, also a small parchment manufactory. An act was passed in 1846 for making a branch
from the Brighton and Chichester railway to this place,
four and a half miles in length. Steyning is a borough
by prescription, under the authority of a constable appointed at the court leet of the manor; and petty-sessions are held on the market-days. It sent two representatives to parliament until disfranchised by the act
2nd of William IV., cap. 45; the members were at one
time elected in conjunction with Bramber, but subsequently each town returned two. The parish comprises 3381 acres, of which 474 are common or waste
land.
The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books
at £15, and in the gift of the Duke of Norfolk. The
great tithes have been commuted for £260. 16., and the
vicarial for £410; £15 also are paid to Magdalen College, Oxford: there is a glebe-house, and the vicarial
glebe is valued at £80 per annum. The church consists
of the nave of a large cruciform structure, and presents
beautiful specimens of the Norman style. The interior
was restored in 1831, and is magnificently enriched: at
the east end, where the transept intersected, are clusters of columns and arches for supporting the former
central tower. The present tower on the west, of more
modern date, is of chequered flint and rubble stone,
with buttresses at the angles. There is a place of
worship for Lady Huntingdon's Connexion. The free
grammar school was founded and endowed in 1614, by
William Holland, a native of this place, and alderman of
Chichester, who bequeathed for that purpose a garden
and messuage called Brotherhood Hall, together with
his manor of Festoes, &c, to pay from the proceeds of
the latter £20 yearly to a master; the income is about
£90 per annum. Brotherhood Hall most likely received
its name from having been the hall of some guild, or
fraternity, prior to the Dissolution; it consists of a
centre with an arched entrance, and two wings. Steyning is the head of a poor-law union, which comprises
23 parishes or places, and contains a population of
14,353. In 1826, upon the removal of a barrow on
the downs overlooking Steyning, in order to procure
the flints, numerous skeletons were discovered, an urn
containing burnt bones, and several brass coins of
Roman emperors. John Pell, the mathematician, was
educated here.