Southwick - Soyland

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

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'Southwick - Soyland', in A Topographical Dictionary of England, (London, 1848) pp. 152-156. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/england/pp152-156 [accessed 19 April 2024]

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Southwick (Holy Trinity)

SOUTHWICK (Holy Trinity), a district parish, in the union of Sunderland; E. division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 1¾ mile (N. W. by W.) from Sunderland; containing 1912 inhabitants. This place, hitherto only a township of MonkWearmouth, has just been separated from it, and made a distinct parish. The estate was once the property of a family named Suthwyk, and afterwards formed part of the possessions of the Hedworths; it was also the residence of the Greys, of which family was Dr. Zachary Grey, the editor of Hudibras, whose brother George lived here. The parish comprises 1018a. 1r. 7p., and occupies the north bank of the Wear, upon which are several limekilns, ship-yards, and earthenware and glass manufactories; the village is neatly built, and pleasantly situated, stretching along the heights above the Wear. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, by whom it has been endowed. The church was erected in 1842, at a cost of £1800, defrayed by the Dean and Chapter, who also gave the site (from which is a beautiful view of the vale of Wear), and who have expended altogether many thousand pounds in the district: it is in the early English style, with a square tower. There are places of worship for Primitive Methodists and Wesleyans; and a national school built in 1836. Human bones, and sometimes entire skeletons, have been found when removing the soil above the limestone-quarries on Southwick hills.

Southwick, with Park

SOUTHWICK, with Park, a township, in the parish and union of Tewkesbury, Lower division of the hundred of Tewkesbury, E. division of the county of Gloucester; containing 123 inhabitants.

Southwick (St. Mary)

SOUTHWICK (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Oundle, hundred of Willybrook, N. division of the county of Northampton, 3 miles (N. N. W.) from Oundle; containing 171 inhabitants. The parish is almost entirely surrounded with woods belonging to Rockingham Forest, and comprises 1354a. 30p. of land, nearly equally divided between arable and pasture; the soil is a strong clay mixed with marl. The village is situated in a valley, in the midst of beautiful scenery, about two miles from the river Nene. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the kings books at £8. 7. 6.; net income, £100; patrons, the family of Capron; incumbent, the Rev. T. R. Brown, M.A. There is a glebe-house, with a glebe containing about 40 acres. The church is a plain neat building; in the chancel is a piece of sculpture by Roubilliac, to the memory of G. Lynn, Esq., whose family held the estate for many centuries, till 1841.

Southwick (St. James)

SOUTHWICK (St. James), a parish, in the union of Fareham, hundred of Portsdown, Fareham and S. divisions of the county of Southampton, 4 miles (N. E. by E.) from Fareham; containing 749 inhabitants. A priory of Black canons founded by Henry I. at Porchester, in 1133, was soon after removed to Southwick, where it flourished till the Dissolution, when its revenue was valued at £314. 17. 10. per annum. It acquired some celebrity as the scene of the marriage of Henry VI. with Margaret of Anjou; and a few remains of the buildings are still visible in Southwick Park. The parish comprises 4100 acres, of which 1727 are arable, 1167 meadow, 1016 wood, and 190 waste, &c.: good buildingstone is quarried, and there are kilns for burning chalk into lime. The manor-house, which was destroyed by fire in 1840, was a large building of some antiquity, with two wings terminating in gables. Charles I. was on a visit to the owner of the mansion at the time when the Duke of Buckingham, whom he had accompanied thus far from London, was assassinated by Felton, at Portsmouth; George I. was also entertained here. The publicans at Southwick enjoy the privilege, under a charter of Queen Elizabeth, of having no soldiers billeted upon them, or quartered in their houses. A fair for horses is held on April 5th; and here was formerly a market, granted to the priory in 1235. The living is a donative, with that of Boarhunt united, in the patronage of T. Thistlethwayte, Esq.; income, £156, with a house and garden: the tithes of the parish have been commuted for £147. The church contains a peal of bells valued at £1000.

Southwick (St. Michael)

SOUTHWICK (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Steyning, hundred of Fishergate, rape of Bramber, W. division of Sussex, 1 mile (E.) from Shoreham; containing 957 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1175a. 6p. of a loamy soil, producing abundant crops. It is bounded on the east by Aldrington and Portslade, on the west by Kingston, on the north by Poynings and Edburton, and on the south by the sea. The river Adur intersects its southern portion, and the Portsmouth branch of the London and Brighton railway also passes through it. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 13. 9½., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £207. The church is principally in the Norman style; the upper part of the tower, and some smaller portions, arc of later date. In 1834 it was enlarged. Dr. John Pell, F.R.S., a celebrated mathematician, was born in the parish, of which his father was incumbent, March 1st, 1611; he died in 1685. Remains of Roman foundations have occasionally been dug up on the north-east side of the village; and Roman pottery has also been discovered in the parish, when ploughing.

Southwick

SOUTHWICK, a chapelry, in the parish of North Bradley, union of Westbury and Whorwelsdown, hundred of Whorwelsdown, Whorwelsdown and N. divisions of Wilts, 2½ miles (S. W. by S.) from Trowbridge; containing 1384 inhabitants. The manufacture of broad-cloth and kerseymeres is carried on. The living is a perpetual curacy; patron, the Vicar of North Bradley; net income, £159. The chapel, dedicated to Christ, was erected under the auspices of the late Archdeacon Daubeny, at a cost of more than £10,000, of which £3000 were contributed by himself; it is in the later English style, and forms a deeply interesting feature in the landscape. In an extensive garden and shrubbery, adjoining the churchyard, is the incumbent's house. There are places of worship for Baptists and Wesleyans.

Southwold (St. Edmund)

SOUTHWOLD (St. Edmund), a sea-port, incorporated market-town, and parish, having separate jurisdiction, in the union and hundred of Blything, E. division of Suffolk, 36 miles (N. E.) from Ipswich, and 104 (N. E.) from London; containing 2186 inhabitants. The ancient names of this place were Suwald, Suwalda, Sudholda, and Southwood, probably derived from an adjacent wood, the western confines of the town still retaining the appellations of Wood's-end Marshes and Wood's-end Creek. It is supposed that the Danes, about 1010, had a fortified post here; but authentic information carries us no further back than to 1202, when a chapel was built by the monks of Thetford, in right of their cell at Wangford. The town appears to have enjoyed considerable prosperity for about a century and a half previously to the year 1659, when a dreadful conflagration took place, which in a few hours consumed the town-hall, and almost every other public building except the church, with 238 dwelling-houses, numerous granaries and warehouses, and an immense quantity of merchandise, the value of all which was estimated at more than £40,000. The population at the time is supposed to have amounted to about 2000; most of the inhabitants abandoned the ruins, and sought refuge in the neighbouring places. Another remarkable event was the sea-fight between the English under the command of the Duke of York, and the Dutch under Admiral de Ruyter, which took place in Sole Bay, to the east of the town, on the 26th of May, 1672, when, though the former proved victorious, many brave and distinguished officers were slain, among whom was the Earl of Sandwich, second in command. The haven is formed by the mouth of the river Blyth. The river originally joined the sea at Dunwich, but the incursions of the tide on that ancient city having in the early part of the fourteenth century rendered the haven no longer navigable, a new one was cut in the year 1590 near the present. In the year 1747 the harbour had become choked up with sand, and was cleared out by act of parliament. In 1749, a pier was erected on the north side; and the Society of the "Free British Fishery," who were incorporated in 1750, having established a branch of their undertaking at this port, a south pier was added in 1752 to complete the works: by the same act of parliament, duties were imposed on imports and exports.

Arms.

The town is pleasantly situated on a hill overlooking the North Sea, and is rendered peninsular by a creek called the Buss Creek, which runs into the river Blyth, over which is a bridge, formerly a drawbridge, leading into the town. It consists principally of one paved street; the houses are mostly well built and of modern appearance, and the inhabitants are supplied with water from numerous excellent springs. The chief residences, however, are on elevated sites, commanding fine sea views, and on the cliffs, which are covered with lodginghouses for the accommodation of visiters, Southwold, from the nature of its situation and the convenience of the beach, being admirably adapted for bathing. There are hot and cold baths, and a good promenade; also a reading-room on Gun Hill: races are held annually. On Gun Hill are six eighteen-pounders, presented by the Duke of Cumberland, who landed here from the Netherlands, October 17th, 1745; and to counteract the encroachments of the sea, a breakwater has been made under Gun Hill cliff, extending upwards of 300 yards.

The trade consists mainly in the home fishery, which is principally for soles, and employs several small boats; in the curing and reddening of herrings and sprats; in malting; and in the preparation and exportation of salt, for which there is a manufactory. The chief imports are coal, rock-salt, firs and deals, culm, iron, stone, slate, glass, earthenware, chalk, oats, &c.; and the exports, wheat, barley, malt, oak-timber, bark, wool, refined salt, and fish. The number of vessels registered at the port is thirty-six, of between 40 and 100 tons' burthen; and of various kinds of boats there are about 250. The last harbour act received the royal assent 29th May, 1830, since which the scale of duties has been somewhat reduced. The haven is on the south side of the town: the superintendence of it is vested in commissioners, who, though they have considerably improved the navigation within the harbour, find great difficulty in keeping it open, on account of the accumulation of sand about the bar. The river was made navigable to Halesworth, nine miles distant, under an act passed in 1757; and besides the bridge crossing it at Blythburgh, there is a ferry to Walberswick. The market is on Thursday: a fair is held on Trinity-Monday.

The first charter of in- corporation was granted by Henry VII. in 1490, and confirmed, with extended privileges, by Henry VIII. and subsequent sovereigns. The corporation now consists of a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, under the act 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76; the mayor and late mayor are justices of the peace, and by a commission obtained in 1841, the number of other magistrates is four. The guildhall was erected by the corporation, at an expense of £800: the old gaol having been taken down, a new one was built in 1819, which is now a national school. The parish comprises 646a. 3r. 7p. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Earl of Stradbroke; it is endowed with the great and small tithes, lately commuted for £68, and its value, including a good residence, is estimated at £136 per annum. The church, which was completed about 1460, is a very elegant structure in the later English style, with a large and lofty tower, surmounted by a spire. At each angle of the chancel end is a low hexagonal embattled tower, decorated with crosses; the south porch is of beautiful design, and above the clerestory roof is a light open lantern. The ceiling was in former times handsomely painted, and the interior in general very richly ornamented, as appears by the remaining carved work of the rood-loft, and the seats of the magistrates; the gallery was enlarged in 1836. On the south side of the churchyard are three gravestones in memory of Thomas Gardner, the historian of Dunwich and Southwold, and his two wives and daughters, on which are some singular inscriptions. The Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans, each possess a place of worship. The corporation have estates under their control for the maintenance of bridges, sea-walls, &c., and of the town-hall; for the payment of the salaries of the corporation officers; and for general purposes of improvement. On a hill called Eye cliff, at a small distance from the town, are vestiges of ancient encampments. Numerous coins of Roman emperors and British kings have been found in the immediate vicinity; and fossil remains of the elephant and mammoth have been discovered in the cliffs, which are rich in agates, cornelians, and other valuable stones.

Corporation Seal.

Southwood (St. Edmund)

SOUTHWOOD (St. Edmund), a parish, in the union and hundred of Blofield, E. division of Norfolk, 4¼ miles (S. by W.) from Acle; containing 52 inhabitants. The parish is crossed by the Norwich and Yarmouth railway, and comprises about 450 acres of land, chiefly arable: the village has fallen into decay. The living is a discharged rectory, with the vicarage of Limpenhoe annexed; net income, £163; patron, J. F. Leathes, Esq. The glebe contains 7 acres.

Southwood

SOUTHWOOD, a hamlet, in the parish of Evercreech, union of Shepton-Mallet, hundred of Wells-Forum, E. division of the county of Somerset; containing 54 inhabitants.

Southworth, Lancashire.—See Croft.

SOUTHWORTH, Lancashire.—See Croft.

Sow (St. Mary)

SOW (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Foleshill, Kirby division of the hundred of Knightlow, N. division of the county of Warwick, 3 miles (E. N. E.) from Coventry; containing 1388 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2477 acres, and is intersected by the river Sow, the Oxford canal, and the road from Coventry to Hinckley: the rateable annual value of the canal property here is £1400. Considerable coal-works are in operation; and many of the inhabitants are engaged in the ribbon manufacture, in connexion with the trade of Coventry. The living is a vicarage, annexed to that of Stoke; impropriator, the Earl of Craven: the great tithes of the parish have been commuted for £115, and the small for £80; the vicar has a glebe of 42 acres. The church has been enlarged.

Sowerby, with Inskip.—See Inskip.

SOWERBY, with Inskip.—See Inskip.

Sowerby

SOWERBY, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Thirsk, wapentake of Birdforth, N. riding of York, 1 mile (S.) from Thirsk; containing 957 inhabitants. This place, at an early period, was the property of the Lascelles family, who in the reign of Elizabeth granted it to the Meynells, whose descendant Thomas Meynell, Esq., is now lord of the manor. The township comprises 2528 acres, of which two-thirds are arable, and one-third meadow and pasture: the surface is varied, and the scenery pleasingly enriched with wood; the soil is fertile. The village is large and well built, and leading from it is a fine broad gravel-walk across the fields, commanding some interesting prospects: the manufacture of varnish is carried on. The York and Newcastle railway passes within a mile. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £310; patron, the Archbishop of York: the tithes have been commuted for £300. The chapel was rebuilt on an enlarged scale, in 1842, at an expense of £ 1100, defrayed by subscription, aided by a grant from the Incorporated Society.

Sowerby

SOWERBY, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 4 miles (W. S. W.) from Halifax; containing 8163 inhabitants. The chapelry is situated on the south side of the vale of Todmorden, and comprises by computation 3670 acres; one-half is inclosed, and an act of parliament has lately been obtained for inclosing the remainder. The lands under cultivation produce abundant crops, and the surface generally is diversified with hill and dale. The river Calder and the Manchester and Leeds railway pass on the north. Good building-stone is extensively quarried, and the Millstone group contains a seam of platecoal. The village of Sowerby, which is on an eminence, is spacious and well built; and within the chapelry are parts of the villages of Sowerby-Bridge and Mytholmroyd, with numerous scattered hamlets. The manufacture of woollen, silk, worsted, and cotton goods, is largely carried on. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £190; patron, the Vicar of Halifax: there is a glebe-house, with about 35 acres of land. The chapel, dedicated to St. Peter, was erected in 1765, on the site of an ancient chapel of ease, some portions of which are preserved in the grounds of Field House, where they have been formed into an artificial ruin. It is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower, and contains a monument with a wellexecuted statue to the memory of Dr. John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was born at HaughEnd, in the chapelry. In 1840 a district church dedicated to St. George was erected, in the Norman style, at a cost, including a neat parsonage-house in the vicinity, of £2600, of which £300 were a grant from the Ripon Diocesan Society: patron of the living, the Vicar; income, £150. There are eight places of worship for dissenters; also a grammar school for boys, with an endowment of £16 per annum for teaching twelve scholars, who are chosen by the minister and churchwardens of St. Peter's. In 1711, the Rev. Paul Bairstow bequeathed property now producing £103 per annum, of which £85 are distributed among the poor; to whom, also, Mrs. Mary Wadsworth bequeathed property producing £21 per annum. A large Druidical stone here was some years since split up, and used in building a cottage.

Sowerby-Bridge

SOWERBY-BRIDGE, a chapelry, in the parish of Halifax, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 1¾ mile (S. W. by W.) from Halifax; containing 5000 inhabitants. This place, at the commencement of the present century, comprised only a few scattered houses called the Old Causeway. The village or town consists of a spacious street of well-built houses, about a mile in length, and of numerous pleasant villas; the surrounding scenery is varied, and the whole has an aspect of cheerfulness and prosperity. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the manufacture of woollen, worsted, wastesilk, and cotton goods; and in the making of cards for flax, cotton, and worsted mills, under a patent obtained by Mr. James Walton. The weaving of tarpaulings is also carried on; there are three iron-foundries, several chemical-works, and a brewery: on the banks of the Calder are some large corn-mills; and stone of excellent quality for building is quarried for the supply of the neighbouring districts. The Calder and Hebble navigation, and the Rochdale canal, pass through the chapelry; and here is a station on the Manchester and Leeds railway, which near this place runs through a tunnel 640 yards in length. The old chapel, built in the reign of Henry VIII., having become totally inadequate to the population, was taken down in 1819, and a more spacious edifice erected in the centre of the village, by subscription, aided by a grant of £800 from the Incorporated Society. The structure is in the later English style, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles; it has a finely-groined roof, and contains 1200 sittings, of which 300 are free. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £230; patron, the Vicar of Halifax. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; also a national school, built in 1837 by a grant from government, and likewise used for the meetings of a mechanics' institution. Numerous fossil trees were dug up while making the excavations for the railway.

Sowerby, Castle (St. Kentigern)

SOWERBY, CASTLE (St. Kentigern), a parish, in the union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland, 3¼ miles (S. E. by E.) from HesketNewmarket; containing, with the chapelry of RaughtonHead, and the townships of Bustabeck-Bound, HowBound, Row-Bound, Southernby-Bound, and Stockdalewath-Bound, 1007 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17. 10. 5.; net income, £98, with a glebe-house; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle. The tithes, with certain exceptions, were commuted for land in 1767. A school is endowed with £10 per annum. At Raughton-Head is a separate incumbency; and at Birksceugh are the remains of a chapel called Lady Chapel.

Sowerby, Temple

SOWERBY, TEMPLE, a chapelry, in the parish of Kirkby-Thore, East ward and union, county of Westmorland, 7 miles (N. W.) from Appleby; containing 381 inhabitants. The village is situated on the river Eden, which is here crossed by a bridge considered to be the finest in the county, erected in 1823, at an expense of £3700, on the site of a structure destroyed by a flood in 1822. There are two spacious streets of wellbuilt houses, with several inns; and the vicinity contains many villas inhabited by genteel families. Fairs for sheep and cattle are held on the last Thursdays in Jan., Feb., March, June, July, August, and October, and on the second Thursday in May. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £96; patron, the Earl of Thanet. A rent-charge of £155 has been awarded as a commutation for the tithes. The chapel, dedicated to St. James, is a handsome structure of red freestone, with a tower and portico; it was built on the site of the old chapel, in 1770, at the expense of Sir William Dalston. There is a place of worship for Independents. The Knights Templars had a preceptory here, which, when suppressed in 1312, was given to the Hospitallers.

Sowerby-Under-Cotcliffe

SOWERBY-UNDER-COTCLIFFE, a township, in the parish of Kirby-Sigston, union of Northallerton, wapentake of Allertonshire, N. riding of York, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Northallerton; containing 63 inhabitants. This place is on the west side of the Codbeck, opposite the lofty acclivity of Cotcliffe wood, and comprises about 610 acres.

Sowton (St. Michael)

SOWTON (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of St. Thomas, partly in the hundred of East Budleigh, but chiefly in that of Wonford, Wonford and S. divisions of Devon, 3½ miles (E.) from Exeter; containing, with part of the tything of Clist-Satchfield, 382 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the road from London to Exeter, and on the small stream Clyst or Clist: it comprises by admeasurement 1094 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 16. 3., and in the gift of the Bishop of Exeter: the tithes have been commuted for £264, and there is a glebe-house, with a glebe of 15 acres. The church, rebuilt by J. Garratt, Esq., was consecrated in September 1845: it is in the later English style; the windows contain some beautiful stained glass, and the fittings-up generally are elaborate.

Soyland

SOYLAND, a township, in the chapelry of Ripponden, parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 5½ miles (S. W. by W.) from Halifax; containing 3603 inhabitants. It comprises an area of about 4960 acres, of which a considerable portion forms part of the bleak mountainous ridge of BlackstoneEdge, on the borders of Lancashire. The manufacture of cotton and woollen goods is carried on. The township includes a portion of the village of Ripponden, several scattered hamlets, and a number of detached dwellings, with some neatly-built houses in the dells and on the acclivities of the hills with which the surface is diversified. There are places of worship for Wesleyans both of the Old and New Connexion. A mineral spring here, called the Swift Cross Spa, is slightly impregnated with iron, and holds in solution sulphuretted hydrogen and a free alkali.