Swaby (St. Nicholas)

SWABY (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Louth, Marsh division of the hundred of Calceworth, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 7½ miles (S. E. by S.) from Louth, on the road to Spilsby; containing, with the hamlet of White-Pit, 391 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1518 acres of land, chiefly arable; the soil is clayey, much mixed with flint and stone, with occasional veins of sand, and resting upon limestone. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £12. 1. 10.; net income, £330; patrons, the President and Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford. The church is a neat brick edifice, erected in 1828, and contains 150 sittings. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. At the inclosure in 1791, 13 acres of land, now producing £10 per annum, were allotted for church purposes.

Swadlincote

SWADLINCOTE, an ecclesiastical district and a township, in the parish of Church-Gresley, union of Burton-upon-Trent, hundred of Refton and Gresley, S. division of the county of Derby, 4¾ miles (S. E. by E.) from Burton; containing 858 inhabitants. The township comprises 606a. 2r. 13p., of which about 13 acres are plantations, chiefly of fir, and the remainder arable and pasture. The soil is a strong clay, and the substratum abounds with coal, which is wrought to a considerable extent, and with various kinds of clay for pottery and earthenware, of which extensive works have been established; there is also an excellent clay for firebricks, great quantities of which are made. Tramroads have been formed from the coal-mines and potteries to the Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal. The church was erected by subscription, at a cost of £1500, and was consecrated in Oct. 1846; it is dedicated to Emmanuel, and is of stone, with narrow lancet-windows. The building consists of a nave, north and south transepts, an apse at the cast end, with a neat bell-turret at the western entrance, and contains 400 sittings, all free. The site, with ground for a churchyard, was presented by W. Eaton Mousley, Esq., of Derby. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Bishop of Lichfield. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Swaffham (St. Peter and St. Paul)

SWAFFHAM (St. Peter and St. Paul), a markettown, a parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of South Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 28 miles (W. by N.) from Norwich, and 95 (N. N. E.) from London; containing 3358 inhabitants. This ancient town is situated on an eminence commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country, and is remarkable for the salubrity of its air, and the longevity of its inhabitants. It consists of four principal and several inferior streets, lighted with gas; the houses are in general well built, and are supplied with water from numerous wells. A book club is supported by the clergy and gentry in the town and neighbourhood, and a neat theatre has been erected; an elegant assembly-room, on the market-hill, has been repaired and modernised, at a considerable expense, and subscription assemblies are held occasionally. On the north-west side of the town is a fine heath, of some thousand acres, admirably adapted for the diversions of racing and coursing; a meeting for coursing, which is the parent society of others in the county, takes place on the Monday after the 3rd of November. A railway was completed in 1847 from Lynn, by Swaffham, to Dereham.

A charter for a market and two annual fairs was granted by King John to one of the earls of Richmond, who were anciently lords of the manor, and who had a prison in the town; the market is on Saturday, and fairs are held on May 12th, for sheep, and July 21st and November 3rd, for sheep and cattle. The market-place, a fine area surrounded by handsome buildings, contains a beautiful cross, erected in 1783 by Lord Oxford, and consisting of a circular dome, supported on eight pillars, and crowned with a figure of Ceres. The county magistrates hold petty-sessions on the first and last Saturdays in the month; the general quarter-sessions take place here, by adjournment from Norwich, and manorial courts leet and baron occur in April or May. The powers of the county debt-court of Swaffham, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Swaffham. This is the most central town in the western division of the county, and the election of the members for the division is held here. A shire-hall has been recently erected; and there is a house of correction for the several adjoining hundreds, built in the reign of Elizabeth. The New Bridewell was erected in 1787, and is adapted for more than fifty prisoners; attached is a chapel, of which the chaplain, who is elected by the magistrates, has a stipend of £200 per annum. A treadmill was erected in 1822, and a residence for the governor in 1825. The parish comprises 7563a. 3r. 28p., of which 4524 are arable, 2853 pasture, meadow, and heath, 55 woodland, and 131 in roads, buildings, &c.

The living is a vicarage, with the rectory of Threxton annexed, valued in the king's books at £14. 5. 10.; patron, the Bishop of Norwich; appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The great tithes of the parish have been commuted for £1125, and the vicarial for £533. 10.; the appropriate glebe contains 110 acres, and the vicarial 53. The church, which is approached by a fine avenue of lime-trees, is a splendid cruciform structure in the later English style, with a stately embattled tower crowned by turrets, and surmounted by a well-proportioned spire. The nave is separated from the aisles by lofty ranges of slender clustered columns sustaining the roof, which is richly ornamented with figures of angels, carved in chesnut-wood; there are several neat monuments, and in the north transept is an altar-tomb, with the recumbent effigy of John Botewright, D.D. In a library attached to the church, and which was principally the gift of the Spelman family, is a curious missal. The north aisle is commonly reported to have been built by John Chapman, a tinker of the town, concerning whom a curious monkish legend prevails; and various devices in different parts of the church seem to be rebuses on the name of Chapman. Here was anciently a free chapel, dedicated to St. Mary; and about half a mile distant, in a hamlet once called Guthlac's Stow, now Goodluck's Close, stood another, dedicated to St. Guthlac. In the town are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans; also a free school founded in 1724, by Nicholas Hamond, Esq., who bequeathed £500 for erecting a school-house, and £500 for the instruction of 20 boys. Aspal's manor, comprising 100 acres, with a right of common of 300 acres, was granted to the town by Edward VI., for the repair of the church, high roads, &c., and for the relief of the poor: the income is £160 per annum. Adjoining the churchyard is a large green croft, bequeathed by Dr. Botewright, as a place of exercise for the inhabitants, and on which were formerly butts for the practice of archery. The union of Swaffham comprises 33 parishes or places, and contains a population of 13,084. At a place called Priors Thornes, about a mile distant, was a cell or hermitage, for pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Walsingham. John de Swaffham, a man of great learning, raised to the see of Bangor by Pope Gregory II., was a native of the town.

Swaffham-Bulbeck (St. Mary)

SWAFFHAM-BULBECK (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Newmarket, hundred of Staine, county of Cambridge, 6 miles (W. by S.) from Newmarket; containing 806 inhabitants. The parish is partly bounded by the Cam, from which river is a cut called Swaffham Lode, navigable to the village. It is situated about two miles from the Cambridge and Newmarket road, and comprises 4000 acres; the soil is chiefly chalk and marl, and a quarry of chalk-marl is extensively worked for building purposes. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £16. 10.; net income, £219; patron and appropriator, the Bishop of Ely: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1798. The church, supposed to have been built in the reign of Edward III., contains 400 sittings. A charity school, established in 1721, is endowed with £20 per annum, and now conducted on the national plan. Here are the remains of a Benedictine nunnery founded before the reign of John, by one of the Bolebecs, and dedicated to St. Mary: at the Dissolution, its revenue was estimated at £46. 18. 10.

Swaffham-Prior (St. Cyriac)

SWAFFHAM-PRIOR (St. Cyriac), a parish, in the union of Newmarket, hundred of Staine, county of Cambridge, 5½ miles (W. by N.) from Newmarket; containing, with part of Reach hamlet, 1226 inhabitants. This parish, which includes a portion of Newmarket heath, is bounded on the north by the Cam; and several navigable drains, or lodes, communicating with that river, pass through it. A market and fair, anciently granted to the priory of Ely, have been long disused. The living consists of the consolidated vicarages of St. Cyriac and St. Mary, the former valued in the king's books at £16. 18. 11½., and the latter at £14. 12. 11.; net income, £301; patrons, alternately, the Bishop and the Dean and Chapter of Ely, the latter of whom are the appropriators. The tithes were commmuted for land and a money payment in 1805. There were formerly two churches in the same cemetery: that of St. Mary has fallen to ruin, except the tower, which, from the peculiarity of its situation, forms an interesting object; that of St. Cyriac has been lately rebuilt. In the parish are an endowed school and a national school.

Swafield (St. Nicholas)

SWAFIELD (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the Tunstead and Happing incorporation, hundred of Tunstead, E. division of Norfolk, 1½ mile (N. by E.) from North Walsham; containing 167 inhabitants. It comprises 826a. 3r. 25p., of which about 617 acres are arable, and 126 pasture. The river Ant, on which is a flourmill, bounds the parish on the south; and the Dilham and North Walsham canal passes through it. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £6, and in the patronage of the Duchy of Lancaster: the tithes have been commuted for £220. The church is in the later English style, and has a square embattled tower; the chancel was formerly separated from the nave by a screen, the lower part of which still remains, distinguished by compartments, containing beautifully painted representations of the Apostles.

Swainby, with Allerthorpe

SWAINBY, with Allerthorpe, a township, in the parish of Pickhill, union of Bedale, wapentake of Hallikeld, N. riding of York, 6 miles (E. S. E.) from Bedale; containing 31 inhabitants, and comprising 868a. 2r. 37p. The village is said to have been once considerable, and a Præmonstratensian abbey was founded here by Hellewise, daughter of Ranulph de Glanville, in the time of Henry II., but it was afterwards removed to Coverham. Some articles of cutlery are manufactured. The vicarial tithes have been commuted for £22; and the impropriate for £153. 8., payable to Trinity College, Cambridge. There are places of worship for Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. Allerthorpe Hall was for some time the residence of Mrs. Elizabeth Montague.

Swainby

SWAINBY, a village, in the township and parish of Whorlton, union of Stokesley, W. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York, 5½ miles (S. S. W.) from the town of Stokesley. It is situated on the road between that town and Thirsk, and is moderately populous: some quarries are worked in the vicinity. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. The tithes have been commuted for £226. 16. payable to the impropriators, and £14. 14. to the perpetual curate of Whorlton.

Swainscoe, with Blore.—See Blore.

SWAINSCOE, with Blore.—See Blore.

Swainsthorpe

SWAINSTHORPE, a parish, in the union of Henstead, hundred of Humbleyard, E. division of Norfolk, 5 miles (S. by W.) from Norwich; containing 293 inhabitants. It is on the road from London to Norwich, by way of Long Stratton; and comprises 819a. 9p., of which about 656 acres are arable, 140 pasture, and 21 wood. The living consists of the united rectories of St. Mary and St. Peter, with that of Newton-Flotman, valued in the king's books at £12. 13. 4.; net income, £422; patrons, the Long family. The tithes of the parish have been commuted for £245. The church dedicated to St. Peter is a small ancient structure: that of St. Mary was taken down at the Reformation. The Henstead union workhouse is situated here.

Swainswick (St. Mary)

SWAINSWICK (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Bath, hundred of Bath-Forum, E. division of Somerset, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Bath; containing 572 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 17. 8., and in the gift of Oriel College, Oxford: certain impropriate tithes have been commuted for £56, and the incumbent's for £190; the glebe comprises 15 acres. The church contains the remains of William Prynne, the active statesman and public writer during the reign of Charles I., and who was born at this place in 1600.

Swalcliffe (St. Peter and St. Paul)

SWALCLIFFE (St. Peter and St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Banbury, hundreds of Banbury, Bloxham, and Dorchester, county of Oxford, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Banbury; containing, with the chapelries of Epwell and East Shutford, and the townships of West Shutford, Sibford-Ferris, and Sibford-Gower, 1924 inhabitants, of whom 338 are in Swalcliffe township. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 9. 4½.; net income, £209; patrons and impropriators, the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford. The tithes were commuted for land and annual money payments in 1789. The church is a fine edifice, partly of the 14th century, with some portions of earlier date, and a tower of the 15th century; it has a good screen, presenting the remains of old painting and gilding. There are chapels of ease at Epwell and East Shutford; and a district church at Sibford-Gower, consecrated on the 17th of June 1840. One-third of £72. 15. per annum, arising from certain land bequeathed by an unknown individual, is paid in support of a school, and the residue for other charitable purposes.

Swalecliffe (St. John the Baptist)

SWALECLIFFE (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Blean, hundred of Bleangate, lathe of St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 6½ miles (N.) from Canterbury; containing 165 inhabitants. It consists of 962 acres, of which 28 are in wood. The village, delightfully situated on rising ground, was the occasional residence of William of Wykeham, and in the old parsonage-house is a mantel-piece said to have been designed by him. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 9. 4½., and in the gift of Earl Cowper: the tithes have been commuted for £315, and the glebe comprises 9½ acres, with a parsonage-house, erected by the late incumbent. The church contains some costly monuments to the families of Wykeham, Loggin, and Duncombe.

Swallow (Holy Trinity)

SWALLOW (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Caistor, wapentake of Bradley-Havekstoe, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 4 miles (E. N. E.) from Caistor; containing 221 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £7. 10. 10.; net income, £408; patron, the Earl of Yarborough. The tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents in the year 1805.

Swallowcliffe (St. Peter)

SWALLOWCLIFFE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Tisbury, hundred of Dunworth, Hindon and S. divisions of Wilts, 8 miles (E. N. E.) from Shaftesbury; containing 282 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from Salisbury to Shaftesbury, and comprises about 1250 acres. Quarries are in operation, producing an excellent stone which is applied to the purposes of building and of sculpture. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Bishop of Salisbury, and has a net income of £80: there is a glebe-house, recently built, with two or three acres of land. The church, which was very ancient, having become much dilapidated, divine service was discontinued for a time; but a new edifice has lately been erected, in the Norman style, chiefly at the expense of the Earl of Pembroke and his family. The poor have an allotment of about 20 acres, let for £20 per annum.

Swallowfield (All Saints)

SWALLOWFIELD (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Wokingham, hundreds of Charlton and Reading, county of Berks, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Reading; containing 1134 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2197a. 2r. 33p., of which about 1564 acres are arable, 199 meadow and pasture, 200 wood, and 200 waste, &c. A fair is held on June 9th. The living is annexed to the vicarage of Shinfield: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £293. 12., and the vicarial for £100. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. The celebrated Lord Clarendon, after his retirement from public life, resided at the manor-house here, then the property of his son, where he wrote The History of the Rebellion.

Swalwell

SWALWELL, a township, in the parish of Whickham, union of Gateshead, W. division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 4¾ miles (W. by S.) from Gateshead; containing 1611 inhabitants. Here are the extensive iron-works of Messrs. Edward Robson and Co., and of Crowley Millington, Esq., and Partners, where anchors of the largest size, chain-cables, pumps, ship-windlasses, cabin-stoves, cylinders for steam-engines, cranes, and every other description of cast and wrought iron and steel articles are produced, affording employment to the greater number of the population. The latter factory was founded about the year 1690, by Sir Ambrose Crowley, who was originally a blacksmith. The village lies close to the Derwent, near its junction with the Tyne, and over the former stream is a bridge at this place, which forms a handsome object from the grounds of Axwell Park. There are places of worship for Primitive Methodists, Wesleyans, and Scottish Seceders. William Shield, the musical composer, was a native of the township.