Creacombe - Cretingham

Creacombe (St. Michael)

CREACOMBE (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of South Molton, hundred of Witheridge, South Molton and N. divisions of Devon, 8¼ miles (S. E. by E.) from South Molton; containing 58 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 18. 9., and in the gift of the Rev. W. Karslake: the tithes have been commuted for £44. 11. 6., and the glebe consists of 100 acres.

Creake, North (St. Mary)

CREAKE, NORTH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Docking, hundred of Brothercross, W. division of Norfolk, 3 miles (S. E. by S.) from BurnhamWestgate; containing 648 inhabitants. It comprises 3601a. 1r. 17p., of which 3179 acres are arable, 126 pasture and meadow, and 69 woodland: the road from Fakenham to Burnham runs through the village. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £33. 6. 8., and in the gift of Earl Spencer and the Bishop of Norwich, alternately: the tithes have been commuted for £1025, and the glebe consists of 187 acres, with a glebe-house. The church, which is in the decorated and later English styles, consists of a nave, chancel, north aisle, and embattled tower: on the south side of the chancel are three stone stalls, with a piscina of elegant workmanship, and opposite is an altar-tomb, under a decorated canopy: the font is very ancient, and on the floor of the nave is a fine brass of a priest. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists; also a national school, endowed with £10 per annum by the late Mr. Herod. At Lingerscroft, between Creake and Burnham, Sir Robert de Narford in 1206 founded a church, and subsequently a chapel and hospital dedicated to St. Bartholomew, in which he placed a master, four chaplains, and thirteen poor lay brethren. The foundation soon afterwards acquired the distinction of a priory of Augustine canons, and, in the 15th of Henry III., was elevated into an abbey: that monarch also confirmed the grant of a fair previously made, changing the period to the eve and festival of St. Thomas the Martyr; and in the 14th of Edward I., the abbot claimed the right of holding four fairs annually at Creake. In consequence of the death of the abbot, and there being no convent to elect another, the abbey was dissolved; and its possessions were granted, in the 22nd of Henry VII., to the Countess of Richmond, by whom they were given to Christ's College, Cambridge. Remains of the choir and other parts of the abbey still exist, and exhibit some very fine arches.

Creake, South (St. Mary)

CREAKE, SOUTH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Docking, hundred of Brothercross, W. division of Norfolk, 4 miles (S. S. E.) from BurnhamWestgate; containing 940 inhabitants. It comprises 4090a. 30p., of which nearly 3078 acres are arable, 273 pasture and meadow, 39 woodland, and 700 common used as a sheep-walk: the Fakenham road runs through the village. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £22, and in the gift of the family of Townshend, the impropriators: the great tithes have been commuted for £675, and the vicarial for £440; the vicarial glebe contains 3 roods, with a glebe-house. The church contains portions of the early, decorated, and later English styles, with a tower. There is a place of worship for Independents. The sum of £100 per annum, derived from land, is partly applied to the relief of the poor, and partly in support of a national school. In the neighbourhood is a Saxon fortification, the way leading from which is called Blood-gate, from the dreadful slaughter there in a battle between the Saxons and the Danes.

Creaton, Great (St. Michael)

CREATON, GREAT (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Brixworth, hundred of Guilsborough, S. division of the county of Northampton, 7¼ miles (N. N. W.) from Northampton; containing 505 inhabitants. The parish is intersected by the road from Northampton to Welford, and comprises 938 acres; the soil is partly red sand, and partly loam, alternated with clay. The population is entirely agricultural, with the exception of a few persons employed in the making of lace. The village is built on the north side of a hill, at a short distance from the public road; in the centre of it is a pleasant green, formerly covered with wormwood. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 1. 8., and in the gift of the Rev. E. T. Beynon: the tithes were commuted in 1782, for 148a. 3r. 37p. of land, now valued at £260 per annum. The church is situated on an eminence. There is a place of worship for Independents. Near the church is a national school for boys and girls, with a master's house, built in 1845, on a rood of the rectory ground; it is supported by subscription. In 1825, six cottages for the accommodation of aged people were built on the green by the Rev. Thomas Jones, fifty years minister of the parish.

Creaton, Little

CREATON, LITTLE, a hamlet, in the parish of Spratton, union of Brixworth, hundred of Spelhoe, S. division of the county of Northampton, 7¾ miles (N. N. W.) from Northampton; containing 77 inhabitants, and comprising 333 acres of rich land. It is situated in the northern part of the parish, and close to the village of Great Creaton.

Credenhill (St. Mary)

CREDENHILL (St. Mary), a parish, in the hundred of Grimsworth, union and county of Hereford, 5 miles (N. W. by W.) from Hereford; containing 192 inhabitants. The road from Hereford to Kington runs through the parish, which comprises by measurement 1215 acres; about 517 are arable, 500 meadow and pasture, and 170 woodland. The scenery is picturesque; the soil is a rich sandy loam, and the prevailing kinds of timber are elm and oak. There is a quarry of excellent stone on Creden Hill, not now in operation, but the material of which was formerly used for building castles and churches. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £17. 19. 4., and in the gift and incumbency of the Rev. John Eckley, whose tithes have been commuted for £354, and who has a glebe of 27 acres, with a house. The church is a strong ancient structure, in the later English style. On the summit of the hill, the declivity of which is well wooded, are the remains of an almost inaccessible camp, having an outer and an inner trench, inclosing an area of about 50 acres, and supposed to have been constructed by the Romans for the defence of their adjacent station at Kenchester, the Magna Castra of Antoninus: the view from it is one of the most extensive and beautiful in the county.

Crediton (Holy Cross)

CREDITON (Holy Cross), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Crediton, and extending also into that of West Budleigh, Crediton and N. divisions of Devon; comprising the tythings of Cannon-Fee, Crediton, Knowle, Rudge, Town, Uford, Uton, and Woodland; and containing 5947 inhabitants, of whom 2245 are in the borough and tything of Crediton, 8 miles (N. W.) from Exeter, and 180 (W. by S.) from London. This place, which takes its name from its situation near the river Creedy, was for many years the seat of a diocese, of which a collegiate church founded here in 905, and dedicated to the Holy Cross, became the cathedral. In the reign of Canute, Levinus, Bishop of Crediton, prevailed upon that monarch, with whom he had great influence, to annex the see of St. Germans to that of Crediton; and the united see was removed to Exeter by Edward the Confessor, in 1049. A chapter, consisting of a dean and twelve prebendaries, continued to be maintained in the old collegiate church under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Exeter, the revenue of which, at the Dissolution, was £332. 17. 5.: the church, with some lands belonging to it, was granted to twelve of the inhabitants, who were incorporated as governors in the reign of Edward VI. In the reign of Edward I. this borough sent members to a parliament held at Carlisle; and in 1310, Bishop Stapleton obtained for it a grant of a weekly market and three annual fairs. Towards the middle of the sixteenth century, the opponents of the Reformation assembled their troops at Crediton, but were compelled to withdraw by Sir Peter Carew, who was sent against them with a superior force. In 1644, Charles I. reviewed his soldiery at this town, which was subsequently held by the army under Sir Thomas Fairfax. In 1743, a fire destroyed a considerable part of it; a similar calamity occurred in 1769, and in 1840 a fire broke out in the eastern portion of the town, by which 22 houses were consumed.

Crediton

CREDITION is pleasantly situated in a vale near the Creedy, which unites with the river Exe between this place and Exeter. It is divided into two parts, east and west, of which the former, containing the church, is the more ancient, and the latter the more extensive; these have been connected by a line of road lately constructed, and the town now consists chiefly of one main street, nearly a mile in length, containing low cottages at each extremity, with a few well-built houses in the centre. A new market-place has been erected in Northstreet, by J. W. Buller, Esq., lord of the manor, and many other improvements have been made within the last few years, under an act obtained in 1836. Assemblies and concerts take place occasionally, during the winter, in a good assembly-room, conveniently fitted up. The town has long been celebrated for the manufacture of serge, chiefly for exportation, but the business has much declined, and the principal trade is now in making coarse linen-cloth, called brin. An act was passed in 1845 for making a railway to Exeter, and another act in 1846 for a railway to Barnstaple. The market, which is well attended, is on Saturday; and on the Saturday preceding the last Wednesday in April is a large market for cattle, at which more than 1000 head are frequently sold. Fairs for cattle are held in the eastern division of the town, on May 11th and Sept. 21st; and on St. Lawrence's Green, in the western division, on the 21st of August, if it happen on Tuesday or Wednesday, if not, the fair is postponed till the following Tuesday: this fair continues for three days. The town is within the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold a petty-session every month; and its local affairs are under the superintendence of a portreeve, bailiff, and constables, chosen annually by a jury at the court leet of the lord of the manor. The powers of the county debt-court of Crediton, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Crediton.

The parish is ten miles in length from east to west, and about four miles in extreme breadth, and comprises 10,469 acres, of which 569 are common or waste. The soil in the northern and central portions is a rich red loam, well adapted for grain, with some excellent pasture, and in the southern portion of a clayey nature, coarse, and alternated with copse and brake. The surface is hilly, and richly wooded; the elm grows profusely in the hedge-rows, and the scenery, enlivened with the streams of the Creedy and Exe, is finely varied. At Posberry is a quarry of trapstone, of excellent quality for building and road-making. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £30, with a net income of £425, and in the patronage of the twelve Governors, by whom the church is kept in repair, to whom the impropriation belongs, and who elect a chaplain to assist the vicar: the great tithes have been commuted for £1770. The church, rebuilt in the reign of Henry VII., is a spacious and magnificent cruciform structure, in the later English style, with a square embattled tower rising from the centre. The nave is separated from the aisles by massive columns with ornamented capitals, supporting arches of the decorated English style, and is lighted by an elegant range of clerestory windows with flowing tracery; the original roof of oak, richly carved, and ornamented with transverse ribs and bosses at the intersection, is now concealed by a flat plain ceiling. On the south side of the choir are three stone sedilia; a piscina of a highly interesting character is still remaining, and the church has many ancient monuments, altartombs, and brasses. At Posberry is a church dedicated to St. Luke, forming a separate incumbency. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Wesleyans, and Unitarians.

The grammar school was founded and endowed by Edward VI., and further endowed by Queen Elizabeth, who by her charter vested the patronage in the twelve governors of the church, directing them to elect four boys, under the name of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar Scholars, to each of whom 40s. are annually given: there are three exhibitions, of £6. 13. 4. each, to either of the universities, tenable for five years. The Bluecoat school, founded about the year 1730, by subscription, and since endowed with various benefactions, was united with an English school in 1814, and placed under one master, in a house erected in 1806 by the trustees of Sir John Hayward's charity: the annual income is £116. A mathematical school was established in 1794, by Mr. Samuel Dunn, who endowed it with £600 stock, now in the four per cents. The poor law union of Crediton comprises 29 parishes or places, and contains a population of 22,076. Near the church are some slight remains of the episcopal palace; and part of a chapel dedicated to St. Lawrence, connected with one of the prebends of the collegiate church, has been formed into cottages: in the Dean's street is an ancient building said to have formed part of the dean's house, in a portion of which, supposed to have been the refectory, the old ceiling is still preserved. At Yeo is the gable of a barn, formerly a chapel, the east window of which is in good preservation; and on the hill above Posberry is a triple intrenchment of great antiquity. Winifred, Archbishop of Mentz, and legate under several of the popes, who was eminently successful in promulgating Christianity among the Mercians, and suffered martyrdom in the year 354, was a native of this place.

Creech, or Creke (St. Michael)

CREECH, or CREKE (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Taunton, hundred of Andersfield, W. division of Somerset, 3½ miles (E. N. E.) from Taunton; containing 1296 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the river Tone, and intersected by the road from Plymouth to Bath, comprises by measurement 2218a. 2r. 13p.: there are quarries of stone of a reddish hue, of good quality for building and other purposes. The tide flows up to the Half-Locks, on the Coal-Harbour estate, where a very extensive traffic in salt, &c., was formerly carried on. The village has much improved since the formation of the Bridgwater and Taunton canal, which is here crossed by a well-built bridge of brick. A new cut from this canal has been formed under an act obtained in 1834, terminating at Chard, and communicating with the old canal wharfs near the bridge: it is carried over the river Tone by a handsome and extensive aqueduct, which crosses the lower road and moor, near the parish of Ruishton. The line of the Bristol and Exeter railway passes under the aqueduct. Here, also, commences the railway projected in 1846, to Ilminster, and which will run in the line of a portion of the Chard canal. The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, and valued in the king's books at £16. 18. 9.: patron, the Rev. H. Cresswell; impropriators of the remainder of the rectorial tithes, Mrs. Dyer and the Rev. Miles Formby. The tithes have been commuted for £383, and the glebe comprises 72 acres. The church, a spacious and handsome edifice with a tower, is pleasantly situated on an eminence above the Tone. There is a place of worship for Baptists. Here was a monastery of the Cluniac order, part of which is still perfect.

Creech, East

CREECH, EAST, a tything, in the parish of ChurchKnowle, union of Wareham and Purbeck, hundred of Hasilor, Wareham division of Dorset, 3¼ miles (S.) from Wareham; containing 183 inhabitants. It is about a mile north-west of the parochial church.

Creed (St. Creed)

CREED (St. Creed), a parish, in the union of St. Austell, W. division of the hundred of Powder and of the county of Cornwall; including nearly the whole of the town of Grampound, and containing 758 inhabitants, of whom 265 are in that portion exclusive of Grampound. The parish is situated on the river Fal, by which it is bounded on the west, and comprises 2450 acres, of which 23 are common or waste. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8.; net income, £351; patron, C. H. T. Hawkins, Esq. Besides the parochial church, there is a small chapel of ease at Grampound, in a ruinous condition. On the estate of Nantellon are vestiges of two intrenchments, each inclosing about one acre.

Creed

CREED, a tything, in the parish of Bosham, union of West Bourne, hundred of Bosham, rape of Chichester, W. division of the county of Sussex; containing 64 inhabitants.

Creeksea, or Crixeth (All Saints)

CREEKSEA, or Crixeth (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Maldon, hundred of Dengie, S. division of Essex, 2 miles (N. W. by W.) from Burnham; containing 199 inhabitants. This parish is bounded by the river Crouch, over which is a ferry to Wallasea Island, from the south side of the parish, where the marshes are protected from inundation by strong embankments nine feet in height. Near the mouth of the river is a creek flowing from the sea, from which the place is supposed to have derived its name. The living is a discharged rectory, with the vicarage of Althorne united in 1811, valued in the king's books at £9. 8. 10.; patron, J. Robinson, Esq. The tithes of Creeksea have been commuted for £241, and the glebe consists of 21 acres. The church is a neat plain edifice.

Creeting (All Saints)

CREETING (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of Suffolk, 1½ mile (N.) from Needham-Market; containing 286 inhabitants. The road from Ipswich to Norwich runs through the parish on the north-east, and the Stow-Market and Ipswich navigation passes along the south-western boundary. The living is a discharged rectory, annexed to the rectories of Creeting St. Mary and St. Olave, and valued in the king's books at £10. 0. 5. The church, which stood within thirty yards of that of St. Mary, and in the same churchyard, was pulled down by faculty upon condition of two full services being performed in the latter, the only church now standing in the three consolidated parishes.

Creeting (St. Mary)

CREETING (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of Suffolk, 1½ mile (N. N. E.) from Needham-Market; containing 196 inhabitants. The road from Ipswich to Norwich, and the Stow-Market and Ipswich navigation, run through the parish. The living is a discharged rectory, with those of Creeting St. Olave and All Saints consolidated, valued in the king's books at £7. 14. 2., and in the patronage of Eton College: the tithes have been commuted for £750, and the glebe comprises 62 acres, with a glebe-house. The church was enlarged when that of All Saints was taken down; the entrance on the south is by a Norman doorway, and the font is of Caen stone, curiously sculptured. About 42 acres of town-land are applied to the use of the poor, to whom Mrs. Uvedale, the lady of Rear-Admiral Uvedale, left in 1814 £300. Here was a cell to the abbey of Bernay, in Normandy, the revenue of which, at the suppression of alien establishments, was applied towards the endowment of Eton College.

Creeting (St. Olave)

CREETING (St. Olave), a parish, in the union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, E. division of Suffolk, 2½ miles (N. N. E.) from Needham-Market; containing 30 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, annexed to those of Creeting St. Mary and All Saints, and valued in the king's books at £4. 17. 8½.: the church has been long demolished. Robert, Earl of Morton, gave the manor to the abbey of Grestein, in Normandy, and it was under the care of some monks of that abbey.

Creeting (St. Peter), or West Creeting

CREETING (St. Peter), or West Creeting, a parish, in the union and hundred of Stow, W. division of Suffolk, 2 miles (N. by W.) from Needham-Market; containing 213 inhabitants. It is bounded on the south by the Stow-Market and Ipswich navigation, and comprises 1335a. 3r. 31p. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 2. 6.; patron and incumbent, the Rev. Edward Paske, whose tithes have been commuted for £400, and whose glebe comprises 6 acres, with a glebe-house. The church is in the early English style, and has an embattled tower.

Creeton (St. Peter)

CREETON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Bourne, wapentake of Beltisloe, parts of Kesteven, county of Lincoln, 3¾ miles (S. by E.) from Corby; containing 64 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 15. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown. The incumbent's tithes have been commuted for £138, and the glebe contains 31 acres, with a glebe-house; a rent-charge of £26 is paid to the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln.

Crendon, Long (St. Mary)

CRENDON, LONG (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Thame, hundred of Ashenden, county of Buckingham, 2¼ miles (N. by W.) from Thame; containing 1656 inhabitants, a few of whom are employed in the manufacture of needles. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £134; patron, Lord Churchill. The tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1824. The church is a spacious edifice, with a tower rising from the centre. There is a place of worship for Particular Baptists. Sir John Dormer, Knt., who was buried in the church, bequeathed a rent-charge of £26, which is distributed among the poor. Walter Giffard, Earl of Buckingham, and his countess, in 1162 built and endowed the abbey of Nutley here for Regular canons of the order of St. Augustine; it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist, and at the Dissolution possessed a revenue valued at £495. 18. 5.: the remains have been converted into a farmhouse.

Creslow (Holy Trinity)

CRESLOW (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Aylesbury, hundred of Cottesloe, county of Buckingham, 5¾ miles (N.) from Aylesbury; containing 7 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £3: the church is dilapidated, and the inhabitants attend divine service at Whitchurch. There are remains, chiefly consisting of an embattled tower, of the ancient mansion of Creslow House, in which is a crypt; it was long in the possession of the lords De Clifford. Silver and copper Roman coins have been found.

Cressage

CRESSAGE, a chapelry, in the parish of Cound, union of Atcham, hundred of Condover, S. division of Salop, 3½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Much Wenlock; containing 297 inhabitants, and comprising by computation 1543 acres. The tithes have been commuted for £208. 15. 10., and there are 23 acres of glebe. The chapel has been taken down, and another built, in a more convenient situation, of white freestone obtained in the neighbourhood. Near Cressage are the remains of an ancient oak, supposed to have sheltered Christian missionaries previously to the building of churches; it was then called Chrest ach (Christ's oak), from which the name of Cressage is said to be derived.

Cressing (All Saints)

CRESSING (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Braintree, hundred of Witham, N. division of Essex, 3 miles (S. E.) from Braintree; containing 560 inhabitants. This parish, which was anciently included within that of Witham, comprises by measurement 2365a. 31p.; the soil is generally heavy, but fertile, and in some parts are indications of iron-ore. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 15. 5.; patron, the Vicar of Witham; appropriator, the Bishop of London. The great tithes have been commuted for £343, the vicarial for £287; and the glebe comprises 2½ acres. The church contains an alabaster monument to the memory of several members of the Neville family. Cressing Temple, a preceptory of the Knights Templars, was given by King Stephen, with the advowson of the church, in perpetual alms to that order: the possessions subsequently passed to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, and reverted to the crown at the general suppression.

Cressingham, Great (St. Michael)

CRESSINGHAM, GREAT (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Swaffham, hundred of South Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 12 miles (N. N. E.) from Brandon; containing 476 inhabitants. This parish derives its name from a small river or creek, called by the Saxons Grecca: it comprises 2426a. 2r. 27p. The living is a discharged rectory, with the rectory of Bodney united, valued in the king's books at £17. 18. 1., and in the patronage of the Crown. The tithes of Great Cressingham have been commuted for £502. 10., and the glebe consists of 52½ acres, with a glebe-house. The church is a handsome structure in the early and later English styles, with a well-proportioned tower at the west end: the chancel contains a piscina of elegant design, and some sepulchral brasses. At the inclosure in 1801, 35 acres were allotted to the poor, for fuel. About a mile from the village, in a field called Stone Close, is the site of an ancient parochial chapel dedicated to St. George, where the rector has a fair for horses and toys on the first Wednesday and Thursday in August. William Barlow, Bishop of Chichester, and George Mountaine, Archbishop of York, were rectors of the parish in 1525 and 1602, respectively.

Cressingham, Little (St. Andrew)

CRESSINGHAM, LITTLE (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Swaffham, hundred of South Greenhoe, W. division of Norfolk, 3 miles (W.) from Watton; containing 244 inhabitants. It is situated on the declivities of a rich valley, and comprises by computation 1810 acres, of which 1350 are arable, 200 pasture, and about 230 woodland. Clermont Lodge, a neat mansion, stands on an eminence encompassed by a beautiful park. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 12. 6.; net income, £284; patrons, the family of Baker: the glebe contains 27 acres. The church was formerly a handsome structure, in the early and decorated English styles, with a lofty tower; of which only the chancel and part of the nave are remaining: on the south side of the chancel is a piscina of elegant design, and there are several monuments to the Clermont family, who were lords of the manor.

Cresswell

CRESSWELL, a township, in the parish of Elmton, union of Worksop, hundred of Scarsdale, N. division of the county of Derby; containing 222 inhabitants.

Cresswell

CRESSWELL, a township and ecclesiastical district in the union of Morpeth, E. division of Morpeth ward, N. division of Northumberland; the township containing 253 inabitants. This place has its name from a spring of fresh water at the east end of the village, the strand of which affords growth to watercresses. The district comprises the townships of Cresswell and Ellington, the former of which was a possession of the Cresswell family previous to the reign of King John: the surface is generally level; and there is a good freestone-quarry. The old tower and mansionhouse of the Cresswells front the sea, and have in view the fine beach and sands of Druridge bay; the tower is 21½ feet long, and 16½ feet wide, within, and consists of a strong room vaulted with stone, on the groundfloor, and two rooms above, approached by a circular stone staircase. The new mansion, Cresswell Hall, the seat of A. J. Baker Cresswell, Esq., is a magnificent structure, erected in 1822, at great cost, from a design by Shaw; the rooms are spacious, and the arrangements and fittings-up within as appropriate as the appearance of the mansion without is handsome: it is surrounded with fine plantations. The village lies east and west, upon a slope fronting the sea; it has been rebuilt and greatly beautified, and is chiefly tenanted by fishermen. The district was separated from the parish of Woodhorn in 1836: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of Mr. Cresswell, with a net income of £100, a parsonage-house, and an acre of glebe. The church, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, and consecrated Oct. 22nd, 1836, is in the Norman style, with windows of richly painted glass, and contains 240 sittings, of which 84 are free: the site of the edifice was presented by Mr. Cresswell, by whom the expense of its erection, and of the erection of the parsonage-house, amounting to more than £5000, was wholly defrayed.

Cresswell

CRESSWELL, an extra-parochial liberty, in the S. division of the hundred of Pirehill, N. division of the county of Stafford, 2 miles (N. N. W.) from Stafford, on the road to Eccleshall; containing 16 inhabitants. It comprises 800 acres, whereof two-thirds are arable, 14 acres wood, and the remainder pasture and park. The Hall is a large mansion on an eminence above the river Sow. The living is a rectory, a sinecure, in the patronage of the Rev. Edward Whitby; income, £20. The church is in ruins.

Creswell

CRESWELL, a hamlet, in the parish of Draycotin-the-Moors, union of Cheadle, S. division of the hundred of Totmonslow, N. division of the county of Stafford, 8 miles (N. E.) from Stone, and on the road from Sandon to Draycot. The hamlet lies about half a mile south of Draycot village, and the river Blyth flows through. Here is a copious spring. The Roman Catholic chapel of Creswell was enlarged in 1816, at a cost of £1200, with a house for the priest, by the late Dowager Lady Stourton. Sir Edward Vavasour, Bart., the proprietor of the soil, supports a school. A Roman Catholic establishment has existed at this place ever since the period of the Reformation.

Cretingham (St. Andrew)

CRETINGHAM (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Plomesgate, hundred of Looes, E. division of Suffolk, 8 miles (N. N. W.) from Woodbridge; containing 411 inhabitants, and comprising by admeasurement 1600 acres. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 10. 10., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £142; impropriator, T. Chenery, Esq.: there is a glebe-house, with about 23 acres of land. The church contains portions in the early and later English styles, and has in the chancel some memorials of the Cornwallis family. Here was formerly a chapel, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene.