Stonham, Aspal - Stouting

Stonham, Aspal (St. Lambert)

STONHAM, ASPAL (St. Lambert), a parish, in the union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of Suffolk, 5 miles (N. E.) from NeedhamMarket; containing 772 inhabitants, and comprising 2399a. 2r. 25p. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £19. 10. 2½., and in the gift of Sir W. F. F. Middleton, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for £666. 10.; there is a glebe-house, and the glebe comprises about 40 acres. The church is a handsome edifice, with a square tower containing a fine peal of ten bells. Here is a free school, endowed in 1612 by the Rev. John Metcalf, rector, with land now producing £100 per annum; the same benefactor left 2s. 6d. each per week to four persons, and about £50 a year for the general purposes of the parish.

Stonham, Earl (St. Mary)

STONHAM, EARL (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of Suffolk, 3 miles (N. N. E.) from NeedhamMarket; containing 878 inhabitants. This place, with Aspal Stonham and Stonham Parva, was the property of the earls of Norfolk, who had a seat here, from which circumstance the parish takes the prefix to its name. The road from London to Norwich, by way of Ipswich, runs through Earl-Stonham. The parish comprises by admeasurement 2520 acres; the soil in some parts rests upon clay, and in others on gravel. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £17. 2. 6., and in the gift of Pembroke College, Cambridge: the tithes have been commuted for £659; there is a glebe-house, erected in 1824, and the glebe comprises 33 acres. The church is a handsome cruciform structure, partly in the early and partly in the decorated English style, with an embattled tower; the roof is elaborately carved, and the font curiously sculptured. The Baptists have a place of worship. John Punchard, about 1475, gave a house for the use of a school, which George Reeve, in 1599, endowed with some land. Several benefactions have been made by other persons for general purposes.

Stonham Parva (St. Mary)

STONHAM PARVA (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of Suffolk, 12 miles (N. by W.) from Ipswich; containing 368 inhabitants. The parish comprises by admeasurement 1195 acres, and the road from London to Norwich, through Ipswich, intersects the village, in which is a general post-office. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 17. 8½., and in the patronage of William Hayden, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £330, and there is a glebehouse, with a glebe of about 40 acres. The church is chiefly in the later English style, with a south transept and a lofty embattled tower. A school is supported by the rector; and about £100 per annum, derived from houses and land, are applied to the repair of the church, and general parochial uses.

Stonton-Wyville (St. Denis)

STONTON-WYVILLE (St. Denis), a parish, in the union of Harborough, hundred of Gartree, S. division of the county of Leicester, 5½ miles (N. by E.) from Harborough; containing 102 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 18. 11½.; net income, £190 per annum; patron, the Earl of Cardigan.

Stony-Delph, with Amington.—See Amington.

STONY-DELPH, with Amington.—See Amington.

Stonyhurst, Lancashire.—See Aighton.

STONYHURST, Lancashire.—See Aighton.

Stoodleigh (St. Margaret)

STOODLEIGH (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Tiverton, hundred of Witheridge, Collumpton and N. divisions of Devon, 5 miles (S. W.) from Bampton; containing 513 inhabitants, and consisting of 5000 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £20. 0. 2½., and in the gift of Thomas Daniel, Esq.: there is a glebe-house; the glebe contains 30 acres, and the tithes have been commuted for £400. The church is an ancient structure. On Warbrightsleigh Hill, in the parish, are the remains of a beacon said to have been erected by Edward II.

Stopham (St. Mary)

STOPHAM (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Thakeham, hundred of Rotherbridge, rape of Arundel, W. division of Sussex, 4 miles (S. E. by E.) from Petworth; containing 135 inhabitants. The parish comprises 827a. 1r. 13p., of which about 406 acres are arable, 224 pasture, 159 wood, and 33 waste. It is watered by the river Arun, over which is a bridge of seven arches, built in the reign of Edward II. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 12. 8½., and in the gift of George Barttelot, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £146; there is a glebe-house, and the glebe comprises 28 acres. The church is partly in the early and partly in the decorated English style, with a square tower; the pavement is almost entirely composed of large slabs of Sussex marble, inlaid with brass figures and memorials of the Barttelot family, and in the windows are representations of some of the Barttelots and Stophams in stained glass, said to have been removed from the ball windows of the old manor-house.

Stopsley

STOPSLEY, a hamlet, in the parish and union of Luton, hundred of Flitt, county of Bedford, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Luton; containing 563 inhabitants.

Storeton

STORETON, a township, in the parish of Bebington, union, and Lower division of the hundred, of Wirrall, S. division of the county of Chester, 4¾ miles (N. by E.) from Great Neston; containing 214 inhabitants. A third part of the manor of Great Storeton came in the 14th century, by marriage with a co-heiress of Sir Thomas de Bamville, to Sir William Stanley (the first of the name of Stanley in Wirrall), by whom the remaining portions of the township were subsequently purchased. His great-grandson, Sir William, Lord de Stanley, who died 21st Richard II., appears from a post-mortem inquisition to have held all Storeton, at £40 per year, from the king as prince of Chester in capite by military service. He was the immediate ancestor of the many noble and distinguished Stanleys that occupy so conspicuous a position in the records of England during the last four centuries. The manors and villages of Great and Little Storeton are comprehended in the township, which contains 1127 acres, of a clayey soil. Here are very extensive freestone-quarries; the stone has acquired great celebrity, and many of the edifices of Birkenhead and the neighbouring country have been built of it. A plain of considerable extent, partty in this and partly in an adjacent township, has lately been used as a race-course, and the races have been attended by numerous visitors. A court leet and baron is held for the manor by Sir William Stanley, Bart., who is lord. The tithes have been commuted for £156.

Storiths county of York.—See Hazlewood.

STORITHS, county of York.—See Hazlewood.

Storkhill, with Sandholme

STORKHILL, with Sandholme, a township, in the parish of St. John, union, and liberties of the borough, of Beverley, E. riding of York, 1¾ mile (N. E.) from Beverley; containing 61 inhabitants. It is situated on the west side of the river Hull, on the road from Beverley to Tickton; and comprises about 300 acres. In the township is a meeting-house for Wesleyans.

Stormore, Leicestershire.—See Westrill.

STORMORE, Leicestershire.—See Westrill.

Storrington (St. Mary)

STORRINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Thakeham, hundred of West Easwrith, rape of Arundel, W. division of Sussex, 8½ miles (N. E.) from Arundel; containing 990 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from Petworth to Brighton, and comprises by computation 2956 acres, of which 1788 are arable and pasture, 707 down, 236 common, and 225 in Harston warren, which is partly cultivated. The village consists principally of a long street, crossed by another at right angles. A market formerly took place on Wednesdays; at present a corn-market is held on alternate Tuesdays, and fairs on May 13th and November 11th. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18, and in the gift of the Duke of Norfolk: the tithes have been commuted for £600; the glebe comprises 23 acres. The church was rebuilt, with the exception of the chancel and north aisle, in 1746, the former edifice having become a ruin in consequence of the fall of the tower, which had been left insecure on the repair of the church in 1731. There are some charitable bequests. In 1826, a fine British urn containing burnt bones, was discovered in a barrow on the downs; it was 21 inches in height, 13 inches across the top, and 6½ at the base.

Stortford, Bishop (St. Michael)

STORTFORD, BISHOP (St. Michael), a markettown and parish, the head of a union, and formerly a borough, in the hundred of Braughin, county of Hertford, 14 miles (E. N. E.) from Hertford, and 30 (N. N. E.) from London; containing 4681 inhabitants. This place derives its name from its situation on each side of a ford on the river Stort, now crossed by two bridges, and the prefix to its name from having been bestowed by William soon after the Conquest, upon Maurice, Bishop of London, and his successors. In the reign of Stephen, the Empress Matilda endeavoured to obtain by exchange, from the Bishop of London, the castle erected here by William the Conqueror; and not succeeding, threatened its demolition. It remained however till the eighth year of King John, who, exasperated at the bishop's promulgation of the pope's menace of laying the kingdom under an interdict, razed it to the ground, seized the town into his own hands, incorporated the inhabitants, and granted them the elective franchise, which they appear to have exercised in the reigns of Edward II. and Edward III. In the reign of Mary the place became the scene of religious persecution, and Bishop Bonner made use of a prison, formerly attached to the castle, for the confinement of convicted Protestants, one of whom was burnt on Goose Green adjoining.

The town is situated on two gentle acclivities, called respectively Windhill and Hockerhill, in a fertile valley upon the navigable river Stort, and consists principally of four streets in the form of a cross, of which Windhill is the western, and Hockerhill the eastern extremity. The inhabitants are well supplied with water from springs. A public library was instituted in 1827. The trade consists chiefly in malt and other grain, of which considerable quantities are sent to London by the river, and by a canal: here is also a station of the railway from London to Cambridge and Brandon, 32¼ miles from the London terminus, and 25 from Cambridge. The market is on Thursday: a very handsome market-house of the Ionic order was erected in 1828, containing an assembly and coffee rooms, and a magistrates' chamber, on the first floor, and underneath a spacious hall where the cornexchange is held. Fairs are held on Holy-Thursday, the Thursday after Trinity-Sunday, and on October 11th, for horses and cattle. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold a petty-session every fortnight. The powers of the county debt-court of Bishop-Stortford, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Bishop-Stortford.

The parish comprises 3241a. 3r. 11p. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £12, and in the gift of the Precentor of St. Paul's Cathedral, London; the great tithes have been commuted for £536; and the vicarial for £338, with a glebe of 208 acres. The church is an elegant structure, at the south-west angle of the town, with a fine tower surmounted by a lofty spire; it was erected in the reign of Henry VI., and partly rebuilt in 1820. In the building are many ancient and curious monuments, among which are those of Charles Denny, grandson to Sir Anthony Denny, Knt., privy councillor to Henry VIII.; and Sir George Duckett, who was the last surviving proprietor of the Stort navigation. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Methodists. A free grammar school formerly existed in High-street, to which an excellent library was presented by Thomas Leigh, Esq.; this library was increased by the Rev. Thomas Leigh, vicar, and other benefactors, and a valuable portion of it still remains, preserved in the tower of the church. Sir Henry Chauncey, a native of the town, author of the History and Antiquities of Hertfordshire, was educated in the school. Five almshouses have been established with the proceeds of the sale of two almshouses in Potterstreet, endowed by R. Pilston in 1572; and several estates, producing about £120 per annum, are appropriated to the apprenticing of children, the relief of the poor, and the repair of the church. To the last-named purpose about £75 per annum, arising from the revenue of a dissolved chantry and some ancient guilds formerly established here, are also applied. The union of BishopStortford comprises 20 parishes or places, half in the county of Essex, and half in Herts; and contains altogether a population of 19,380. There are some small remains of the castle, in the garden of which Roman coins have been found; and near the castle is an ancient well, dedicated to St. Osyth, which is esteemed beneficial in diseases of the eyes. Hoole, the translator of Tasso, was born here.

Storwood

STORWOOD, a township, in the parish of Thornton, union of Pocklington, Holme-Beacon division of the wapentake of Harthill, E. riding of York, 8¼ miles (S. W. by W.) from Pocklington; containing 98 inhabitants. It comprises about 1120 acres of land, belonging to various owners, some of whom have neat houses. The village is on the eastern acclivity of the vale of the Derwent. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1777.

Stotfold (St. Mary)

STOTFOLD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Biggleswade, hundred of Clifton, county of Bedford, 2½ miles (N. W.) from Baldock; containing 1026 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 17. 1.; income, £185; patrons and impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. A school is endowed with £20 per annum.

Stotfold

STOTFOLD, an extra-parochial district, in the union of Doncaster, S. division of the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill, W. riding of York, 7 miles (N. W.) from Doncaster; containing 9 inhabitants. A stot, in the language of the north, is a young ox, and this was a place in the Saxon times where stots were folded. Among the families once connected with the spot, occur those of Stotfold and Stanhope. The district comprises about 270 acres of land.

Stottesden (St. Mary)

STOTTESDEN (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Cleobury-Mortimer, hundred of Stottesden, S. division of Salop, 5¼ miles (N.) from Cleobury-Mortimer; containing, with the chapelry of Farlow, 1578 inhabitants, of whom 1217 are in Stottesden township. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £15. 10. 10.; net income, £670; patron and impropriator, the Duke of Cleveland. The church was rebuilt by Robert de Belesme, Earl of Shrewsbury, who gave it to the abbey of that place; it was repewed. in 1838. There is a chapel of ease at Farlow.

Stoughton

STOUGHTON, a chapelry, in the parish of Thurnby, union of Billesdon, hundred of Gartree, S. division of the county of Leicester, 3 miles (E. S. E.) from Leicester; containing 121 inhabitants. The chapelry comprises 1450 acres, whereof 358 are arable, 1054 meadow and pasture, 29 woodland, and 9 in homesteads and gardens; the soil varies considerably, a large portion consisting of clay, and other parts of a lighter kind. George Anthony Legh Keck, Esq., is lord of the manor, and has a beautiful seat here, called Stoughton-Grange, a spacious mansion in the Gothic style, with extensive gardens and pleasure-grounds, in which is a fine sheet of water extending nearly to Evington, and shaded on either side with lofty trees. The village is about a mile distant from that of Thurnby, and about a mile eastward of the road from Leicester to Market-Harborough. The chapel is dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of a nave, chancel, and aisles, with a south porch, and an embattled tower surmounted by a handsome crocketed spire. The north aisle is separated from the nave by two round and two pointed arches, and the greater part is railed off as a burial-chapel for the owners of the Grange. There are several monuments to the Beaumont family; and one, in excellent preservation, to the memory of Thomas Farnham, teller of the exchequer in the reign of Mary. In the chapel-yard is an ancient cross; the shaft is lofty, and formed of one entire stone. The tithes of the chapelry have been commuted for a rentcharge of £110. A farm of 316 acres of land here, belongs to the trustees of Henry Smith's charity. £36 per annum, arising from land left by John Zouch and Sir Thomas Beaumont, are applied to the uses of the Church.

Stoughton (St. Mary)

STOUGHTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of West Bourne, hundred of Westbourne and Singleton, rape of Chichester, W. division of Sussex, 8½ miles (N. W.) from Chichester; containing 578 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the west by the county of Southampton, and on the south by the range of lofty downs called Bowhill. Standsted, with its extensive forest chiefly in the parish, has been honoured by several royal visits: Queen Elizabeth was entertained here; as was the Prince of Wales, afterwards George II., on the 20th of September 1716, and his father, George I., on the 31st of August 1722. George III. and Queen Charlotte took refreshment here on their way from Portsmouth. The present mansion was erected about the close of the 17th century, by Richard, Earl of Scarborough, and is situated in a park of 900 acres, commanding fine views: besides carvings by Grinlin Gibbons, here is a suite of Arras tapestry representing the battle of Namur, the largest of six sets wrought at Arras for the Duke of Marlborough and five of his generals. The village is pleasantly seated in a valley, and formerly had a weekly market and three fairs, granted by charter of Henry IV. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Chichester. The great tithes have been commuted for £412. 14., and the vicarial for £257.10.; the appropriate and vicarial glebes contain respectively 64¼ and 4½ acres. The church is a cruciform structure in the early and later English styles, the chancel separated from the nave by a fine circular arch.

Stoulton (St. Edmund)

STOULTON (St. Edmund), a parish, in the union of Pershore, Lower division of the hundred of Oswaldslow, Worcester and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 3¾ miles (N. W.) from Pershore, on the road to Evesham; containing 346 inhabitants. It comprises 1900 acres, two-thirds of which are arable, and the remainder pasture; the surface is undulated, and the soil rich and fertile. Wolverton Hall is a handsome seat in the parish. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £100, with a house, built in 1830; patron, Earl Somers; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Worcester. The tithes have been commuted for £218; the glebe comprises 11 acres. The church is an ancient structure standing at the north-east end of the village; it has a brick tower, and contains a curious font.

Stourbridge

STOURBRIDGE, a chapelry, in the parish of St. Andrew the Less, or Barnwell, union of Cambridge, hundred of Flendish, county of Cambridge, 1½ mile (N. E. by N.) from Cambridge. This place is remarkable for its fair, one of the largest in the kingdom, which is held in a field to the east of Barnwell. It commences on September 18th, on which day it is proclaimed by the vice-chancellor, doctors, and proctors of the university of Cambridge, and the mayor and aldermen of that borough; the fair continues more than three weeks, and the staple commodities exposed for sale are, leather, timber, cheese, hops, wool, cattle, and, on the 25th, horses. The hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, here, for lepers, was anciently at the disposal of the burgesses of Cambridge; but about 1245, Hugh, Bishop of Ely, possessed the patronage of it, which was enjoyed by his successors till the suppression in 1497. Its chapel, called St. Mary's chapel, has been converted into a barn.

Stourbridge

STOURBRIDGE, a market-town and chapelry, and the head of a union, in the parish of Old Swinford, Lower division of the hundred of Halfshire, Stourbridge and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 21 miles (N. by E.) from Worcester, and 124 (N. W.) from London; containing 7481 inhabitants, and comprising 200 acres. This place was originally called Bedcote, a name which the manor still retains. It derives its present appellation from the erection of a bridge, about the time of Henry VI., across the small river Stour, which here separates the counties of Worcester and Stafford. The surrounding country abounds with coal and ironstone, and by a manuscript in the possession of the Lyttelton family, mines appear to have been worked in the district so early as the reign of Edward III.; the manufacture of glass was established here in 1557, about the period it was introduced into this country from Lorraine. The town consists chiefly of one long street, called the High-street, which is well flagged, macadamized, and lighted with gas; the lower part of the street is spacious, and contains some good houses. A subscription library was established in 1790, which has upwards of 3000 volumes, and of which Parkes, the self-taught and celebrated chymist, was the first president. Races are held on two days in the last week in August, during which, and for a short time previously, a theatre is open.

The principal branches of trade and manufacture are those of glass, iron, and fire-bricks. The first is carried on to a very great extent, there being twelve houses in the immediate neighbourhood, where the different varieties of flint, crown, bottle, and window glass are manufactured: there are also several cutting-mills. The flourishing state of this branch of manufacture is chiefly owing to the plentiful supply of fuel, and to the existence, near the town, of that superior species of clay used in making glass-house pots, crucibles, and firebricks, which is found here in large quantities, and furnishes a considerable article of export, by the name of "Stourbridge fire-clay:" the best lies at about 150 feet below the surface of the earth, in strata three or four feet thick, in the compass of about 200 acres near the town. Large quantities of fire-bricks are sent to London and other places. The manufacture of iron forms also a most important branch of the trade, and the manufactories are generally extensive, particularly that of Bradley and Co., which covers nearly four acres, and gives employment usually to more than 1000 hands, nearly every article in wrought or cast iron being manufactured. In the other factories are made the various articles of hammered iron, together with scythes, spades, anvils, and vices, plantation tools, chains, called gearing, &c. But the branch of the iron-trade which is carried on to the largest extent is nail-making, which, in the town and its vicinity, affords employment to many hundreds of men, women, and children.

The trading interests are greatly benefited by a canal which, running from the town to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal, connects it with the extensive line of inland navigation which spreads in various branches over the mining and manufacturing districts of the country, and also with the Severn; affording an opening for the transit of goods to all parts of the kingdom. An act was passed in 1845 for a railway from Oxford, by Stourbridge, to Wolverhampton. The market, granted in 1486 by Henry VII., is on Friday, and is well attended. The market-house was erected at an expense of about £15,000, and is a handsome brick building: the principal front, towards the High-street, is stuccoed, and of the Doric order of architecture; that portion of it not occupied by the entrance is disposed in shops. The fairs are on March 29th and September 8th, of which the former, continuing several days, is a celebrated horse-fair; the latter is for horses, hornedcattle, sheep, and pedlery. The powers of the county debt-court of Stourbridge, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Stourbridge: pettysessions take place on Wednesday and Friday.

St. Thomas's church here, erected in 1736, and enlarged and repaired at a cost of £2300 in 1837, is a neat brick edifice with a square tower, and has a very handsome interior, with a good organ: the incumbent is appointed by the inhabitant householders; net income, £134. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, Presbyterians, and Roman Catholics. The free grammar school was founded and endowed by letters-patent granted in 1553 by Edward VI., and has an endowment of about £460 per annum: Dr. Johnson received a part of his education in the establishment, but the report of his having been an unsuccessful candidate for the head mastership is void of truth. A national school was erected in 1815, and is maintained by subscription; a school was built in 1844, on a site given by James Foster, Esq., on the Enville road, and several other schools are supported. The poor-law union of Stourbridge comprises 14 parishes or places, containing a population of 47,948. In a sandy tract of ground westward of the town, numerous detached portions of jasper, porphyry, rock-salt, granite, chalcedony, agate, cornelian, and several varieties of marble, supposed to be diluvial remains, have been discovered.

Stourmouth (All Saints)

STOURMOUTH (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Eastry, hundred of Bleangate, lathe of St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 3 miles (N. N. E.) from Wingham; containing 253 inhabitants. It comprises 877a. 3r. 8p., nearly equally divided between arable and pasture land, with 15 acres of hop-grounds. The navigable river Stour passes through. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £19, and in the gift of the Bishop of Rochester: the tithes have been commuted for £416, and the glebe comprises 12¾ acres.

Stourpain (Holy Trinity)

STOURPAIN (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Blandford, hundred of Pimperne, Blandford division of Dorset, 3 miles (N. W. by N.) from Blandford; containing, with the tything of Ashe, 637 inhabitants. This parish comprises 2365a. 1r. 9p., of which 549 acres are common or waste land. It derives its name from its situation near the river Stour, which runs on the west and south, and from one of its earliest proprietors, named Paine. Lacerton, a tything in the northern part of the parish, united to Stourpain in 1431, was formerly distinct; and in a field called Chapel Close, adjoining a farmhouse, the foundations of its ancient parochial church, which was dedicated to St. Andrew in 1331, may still be traced. The living of Stourpain is a discharged vicarage, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Salisbury (the appropriators), valued in the king's books at £7. 18. 6½.: the great tithes have been commuted for £277, and the vicarial for £144.12.; the glebes contain respectively 45 and 9 acres. The church is in the decorated style. Here is a place of worship for Wesleyans. On an eminence called Hod Hill are the remains of a Danish camp, in the form of the letter D, defended by a double rampart and fosse, which, on the north and south sides, are almost inaccessible. There are five entrances, and within the area, which comprises several acres, are many circular trenches four and five yards in diameter; also some round pits, contiguous to each other, supposed to have been so deep and numerous, at one period, as to be capable of concealing a large army. British and Roman antiquities have within the last few years been discovered, consisting of British pottery, a Roman amphora, brass rings ornamented with stained glass, fibulæ or cloakclasps, brooches of iron washed with silver, spear-heads, and other articles.

Stourport

STOURPORT, a large market-town, in the district chapelry of Lower Mitton, parish and union of Kidderminster, borough of Bewdley, Lower division of the hundred of Halfshire, Kidderminster and W. divisions of the county of Worcester, 4 miles (S. S. W.) from Kidderminster, and 130 (W. N. W.) from London. This place, which is of modern origin, derives its name from its situation on the Stour, near the confluence of that river with the Severn, and from being a principal depôt for the manufactures and agricultural and mineral produce of the adjoining counties. Prior to the construction of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal in 1770, it consisted only of a few scattered cottages forming the hamlet of Lower Mitton; but since that period, from its situation affording a communication with most parts of the kingdom by means of the Grand Trunk canal, which connects the Severn with the Trent, it has risen into importance, and become an inland port of considerable trade. The town is neat and well built; the chief streets are paved, and lighted with gas. A handsome iron-bridge of one arch, 150 feet in span and 50 feet in height, with several land arches affording a free course for the water in case of floods, has been constructed over the Severn, connecting the town with Areley-King's, and replacing a bridge of three arches which had been swept away by a flood after a sudden thaw. A subscription library was established in 1821, and there are three reading societies.

The trade consists principally in the conveyance, by canal navigation, of the produce of the adjoining counties, for the reception of which commodious warehouses have been erected, and basins on a large scale have been formed, with wharfs for loading and unloading the craft employed in the trade. The building of boats and barges, for which several small docks have been constructed, is carried on extensively; and there are a tanyard, an iron-foundry, and a carpet-manufactory. A canal to Kington, in Herefordshire, was projected some time since, but it has been completed only as far as Mamble. The market is on Wednesday, and in 1833 was made a corn-market; a second market is held on Saturday, and both are well supplied with meat, poultry, vegetables, and fruit. The market-house, a convenient edifice, was erected upon a site purchased by a proprietary, who receive the tolls: a room has been built over it for the transaction of public business. Fairs are held on the first Tuesday in April and the second Tuesday in October, which are abundantly supplied with sheep and cattle. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists.

Stourton (St. Peter)

STOURTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Mere, partly in the hundred of Norton-Ferris, E. division of Somerset, but chiefly in the hundred of Mere, Hindon and S. divisions of Wilts, 2½ miles (W. N. W.) from Mere; containing, with the tything of Gaspar, 645 inhabitants, of whom 357 are in Stourton township. This place was the scene of some memorable events during the earlier periods of English history. In 656, Cenwalh, King of the West Saxons, here encountered an army of Britons, which he defeated with great slaughter, and compelled to retreat to Petherton, on the river Parret. In 879, Alfred the Great, issuing from his retreat in the Isle of Athelney, erected his standard on an eminence in this parish, since called Kingsettle Hill; and then proceeded towards Edington, where he obtained a signal victory over the Danes. In 1001, an obstinate and sanguinary battle was fought near Kingsettle Hill, between the Danes and Saxons under the command of Cola and Edsigus, in which the latter were defeated; and in 1016, another engagement took place between the Danes under Canute, and Edmund Ironside, when the latter was victorious. A castle was anciently built here by John de Stourton, on the site of which a spacious and elegant mansion has been erected, in the Italian style, by the Hoare family. The parish comprises 3545a. 34p., whereof 212 acres are common or waste land. At the south-western extremity, in the county of Somerset, is a wide boggy tract, containing many curious excavations called Pen Pits. Stone is quarried for building. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £17, and in the gift of Sir H. R. Hoare, Bart.: there is a glebe-house; the glebe contains 91 acres, and the tithes have been commuted for £500. The church is partly Grecian, and partly in the early English style, and contains monuments to the families of Stourton and Hoare. Some bequests have been made to the poor of the parish. Stourton gives the title of Baron to the family of that name.

Stouting (St. Mary)

STOUTING (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Elham, hundred of Stouting, lathe of Shepway, E. division of Kent, 8 miles (E. by S.) from Ashford; containing 276 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the east by the Roman Stane-street, and a branch of the river Stour rises here. It comprises 1624 acres, about half consisting of chalky hills; the soil on the north side is a poor sandy earth, but on the south of much better quality. There are 200 acres of woodland. In the neighbourhood is a mound overgrown with wood, around which was once a double moat. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 17. 11.; net income, £252; patrons, the Wrench family: there is a glebe-house, and the glebe contains about 10 acres. The church is principally in the early English style; it has been recently repaired, and enlarged by the erection of a gallery. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. Some urns and Roman coins have been discovered.