Reigate - Rettendon

Reigate (St. Mary Magdalene)

REIGATE (St. Mary Magdalene), a borough, market-town, and parish, and the head of a union, in the First division of the hundred of Reigate, E. division of Surrey, 18 miles (E.) from Guildford, and 21 (S. by W.) from London; containing 4584 inhabitants. This place, which is of considerable antiquity, was called in Domesday book Cherche felle, and afterwards Churchfield in Reigate, under which name the church was given by Hamelin, Earl of Surrey, to the priory of St. Mary Overy, Southwark, in the reign of King John. The origin of the name Reigate is uncertain: Camden says that, if borrowed from the ancient language, it signifies the course of the stream; while Mr. Bray and others consider it, with great probability, to be derived from the Saxon words rige or ridge, and gate; from a gate, or bar, placed across the road which runs by the high ridge of hill now called Reigate Hill. He is also inclined to think that the gate existed so early as the formation of the Saxon Stane-street; and there are many other places in the vicinity, the names of which terminate in a similar way, all apparently derived from a like circumstance. The inhabitants are recorded to have routed the Danes when they were ravaging the kingdom, on more than one occasion; and Camden has preserved a distich commemorating their courageous conduct in these engagements. The castle was taken by assault by Louis the Dauphin, in the reign of John, in revenge for the adherence of its then owner, William de Warren, to the cause of that monarch in his quarrel with the barons. The manor of Reigate, originally of great extent, belonged in the Confessor's time to his queen, Edith.

The town is beautifully situated on a branch of the river Mole, in the valley of Holmesdale, on the road from London to Brighton; and stands upon a rock of white sand, which, for purity and colour, is said to be unequalled by any in the kingdom, and has been of late extensively used in the manufacture of glass. It consists of two principal and several smaller streets, partially paved, and well lighted with gas; water of very good quality is procured from the rock. A mechanics' institution has been established, with a library and readingroom. A considerable quantity of oatmeal was formerly made here, nearly twenty mills being employed, but the number is now reduced to one; some pits of fullers'earth have been opened of late years at Redstone. The London and Brighton railway, after quitting the Merstham tunnel, passes on the east of the town, and the South-Eastern railway quits the line near Redstone or Red Hill, taking a direction eastward towards Dovor. In 1846 an act was passed for a railway from Reigate to Dorking, Guildford, and Reading: the first sod of this line was cut, at Betchworth, near Reigate, on Aug. 20th, 1847. A market on Tuesday was granted by Edward III., and in 1679 Charles bestowed a second, on the first Tuesday in every month, which is for cattle, the other being for corn and provisions: the market-house, built by Sir Joseph Jekyll, is convenient. The fairs are on Whit-Tuesday, September 14th, and December 9th; the last is a large cattle-fair. A court leet and baron is regularly held, at which a bailiff and subordinate officers are elected, by whom the local affairs of the town are managed. The borough sent two members to parliament so early as the reign of Edward I., and continued to do so until the 2nd of William IV., when it was deprived of one, and when the boundaries were made co-extensive with the parish, comprising an area of 5415 acres: the bailiff is returning officer. The town-hall is in the market-place, and was built as a prison for felons brought to be tried at the sessions; the Easter sessions are still regularly held here. The powers of the county debt-court of Reigate, established in 1847, extend over the registration-districts of Reigate and Godstone.

The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £20. 5. 5.; net income, £418; patrons, the family of Snelson. The church, a substantial stone building, with an embattled tower of hewn stone at the west end, and with double buttresses, contains some handsome monuments: here are interred the remains of Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham, lord high admiral in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and commander of the naval equipment against the Armada. A church, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, has been built at Red Hill, near the town; the cost, towards which £1000 were given by Lord Somers, amounted to £5000, and £1300 more were raised for an endowment. This church was consecrated in September, 1843; it is after a design by Mr. Knowles, and the congregation is accommodated in open seats, and without galleries. The Society of Friends and the Independents have each a place of worship. The free school was founded in 1675, by the inhabitants, and is partly supported from endowments by Robert Bishop and John Parker. There is also a school on the national plan, maintained by subscription; and the parish receives £70 per annum from Henry Smith's charity. The poor-law union of Reigate comprises 16 parishes or places, and contains a population of 14,329.

The origin of Reigate Castle, which stood on the north side of the town, within the precincts of the borough, is generally ascribed to the ancient earls of Warren and Surrey, although some writers consider it to have been of Saxon foundation, with subsequent erections. It is spoken of by Lambarde, in the reign of Elizabeth, as a ruin, but enough of it remained at the time of the parliamentary war to induce a committee sitting at Derby House to take notice of it. The buildings appear to have been soon afterwards demolished, and little now remains except the site, considerably elevated above the town, and surrounded by a broad and deep moat; the area is laid out as a lawn with gravel walks, and without the moat is an antique gateway. In the castle court is an entrance to a cave 123 feet long, called the Barons' Hall, with a stone seat at the extremity. In the castle butts, a spur of extraordinary size was discovered in 1802. The priory of Reigate was founded by William, Earl Warren, for Canons regular of the order of St. Augustine, about the same period as the presumed erection of the castle; it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the Holy Cross, and at the period of its dissolution by Henry VIII., was valued at £78. 16. 8. The noble mansion erected on its site retains the name of Reigate Priory. An ancient chapel, dedicated to St. Lawrence, has been converted into a dwelling-house; and two other chapels, respectively in honour of the Holy Cross and St. Thomas the Apostle, have been demolished.

Reighton

REIGHTON, a parish, in the union of Bridlington, wapentake of Dickering, E. riding of York, 3 miles (E. S. E.) from Hunmanby; containing 224 inhabitants. The parish comprises by admeasurement 2700 acres, and is situated on the road from Hull to Scarborough, and bounded on the east by Filey bay. There are several good limestone-quarries. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £9. 10., net income, £177; patron, and impropriator, Sir George Strickland, Bart. The tithes were commuted for land and corn-rents in 1811; the glebe consists of 70 acres. The church is extremely ancient.

Remenham (St. Nicholas)

REMENHAM (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Henley-upon-Thames, hundred of Beynhurst, county of Berks, 1½ mile (N. by E.) from Henley; containing 485 inhabitants. The parish comprises 1586a. 3r. 25p., of which 1173 acres are arable and pasture, 311 wood and plantations, 70 water, and 30 in roads and waste: the soil is a loam, resting upon gravel; the surface is hilly, and towards the Thames, which flows by the parish, is subject to flood. Park Place, here, was the residence of General Lord Conway, and subsequently of the Prince of Wales, father to George III.; the former of whom established the growth and distillation of lavender in the neighbourhood. The grounds contain a curious relic of antiquity called The Druids' Temple, brought from Jersey, and consisting of 45 large unhewn stones forming a circle, whose circumference is 66 feet; it was presented by the inhabitants of Jersey to General Conway, in token of their respect and gratitude for his vigilance whilst governor of that island. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £20. 1. 0½., and in the gift of Jesus College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £494, and the glebe consists of 17 acres.

Rempstone (All Saints)

REMPSTONE (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Loughborough, S. division of the wapentake of Rushcliffe and of the county of Nottingham, 4¼ miles (N. E. by N.) from Loughborough; containing 409 inhabitants. The parish is pleasantly situated on the road from Nottingham to Loughborough, and is separated from Leicestershire by a brook. It comprises between 1300 and 1400 acres, of which the portion of arable land is somewhat greater than of pasture; the soil is chiefly composed of gravel and chalk, the surface is hilly, and the scenery in many parts very pleasing. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 2. 6.; present net income, £478; patron, the Master of Sidney-Sussex College, Cambridge, who appoints a member of that college. The tithes were commuted for land in 1768. The church, a very plain structure, consecrated in 1773, is situated about half a mile from the site of the former edifice of St. Peter-in-the-Rushes.

Rendcombe (St. Peter)

RENDCOMBE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Cirencester, hundred of Rapsgate, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 5½ miles (N.) from Cirencester; containing 248 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £13. 6. 8., and in the gift of the incumbent, the Rev. Joseph Pitt: the tithes have been commuted for £440, and the glebe comprises 24 acres. Sir J. Wright Guise, Bart., has an elegant mansion and extensive park in the parish.

Rendham (St. Michael)

RENDHAM (St. Michael), a parish, in the union and hundred of Plomesgate, E. division of Suffolk, 2½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Saxmundham; containing 412 inhabitants, and comprising 1685 acres by measurement. The living is a vicarage; patrons, W. Marsh, Esq., and others; impropriators, the different proprietors. The great tithes have been commuted for £411, and the vicarial for £100; the glebe consists of 15 acres, with a house. The church is chiefly in the later English style, with an embattled tower. There is a place of worship for Independents; also a national school, erected in the churchyard in 1841.

Rendlesham (St. Gregory)

RENDLESHAM (St. Gregory), a parish, in the union of Plomesgate, hundred of Loes, E. division of Suffolk, 4 miles (N. E. by E.) from Woodbridge; containing 325 inhabitants. This place is supposed to have derived its name from Rendilus, King of the East Angles, who is said to have kept his court here; and Camden states that an ancient crown was dug up in the parish weighing about 60 ounces, which was thought to have belonged to some of the kings of the East Angles: it was sold and melted down. Suidhelm, another monarch of the East Angles, was baptized here by Cedda. The parish comprises by measurement about 2000 acres. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £24. 13. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £480, and there are 53 acres of glebe. Rendlesham gives the title of Baron, in the Irish peerage, to the Thellussons, whose family seat is here. Dr. Leonard Maws, Bishop of Bath and Wells, was a native of the parish.

Renhold (All Saints)

RENHOLD (All Saints), a parish, in the hundred of Barford, union and county of Bedford, 3¾ miles (N. E.) from Bedford; containing 468 inhabitants. It is intersected by a tributary of the river Ouse, and comprises 2174 acres, of which 84 are common or waste land; the soil is in some parts gravel, but in the greater portion a strong clay, and the surface is rather hilly. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 3. 4., and in the gift of J. T. Dawson, Esq.: the great tithes have been commuted for £428. 10., and the vicarial for £125; the impropriate glebe comprises 16 acres, and the vicarial one acre. William Belcher, in 1723, gave £600 for the support of a school; the annual income is about £20. In the neighbourhood are several ancient mounds called the Amphitheatre.

Renishaw

RENISHAW, a township, in the parish of Eckington, union of Chesterfield, hundred of Scarsdale, N. division of the county of Derby, 7½ miles (N. E.) from Chesterfield; containing 721 inhabitants. The population is chiefly employed in an extensive ironfoundry established on the Chesterfield canal, which passes through the township. Thomas Camm, in 1702, bequeathed some land now yielding about £46 per annum, which, with subsequent bequests amounting to £10 a year, are applied to instruction.

Rennington

RENNINGTON, a chapelry, in the parish of Embleton, union of Alnwick, S. division of Bambrough ward, N. division of Northumberland, 3¾ miles (N. E. by N.) from Alnwick; containing 245 inhabitants. The township comprises about 1663 acres, mostly arable land of a clayey soil, and, with the exception of 200 acres, the property of the Duke of Northumberland. The village lies in a low and sheltered situation, near a stream which shortly falls into the North Sea; and the road between Alnwick and Belford runs at some distance on the east: the place was much improved a few years since. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Embleton. The chapel, dedicated to All Saints, was rebuilt by the late duke, in 1830, at a cost of £700, and is in the early English style, with a square tower.

Renwick (All Saints)

RENWICK (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Penrith, Leath ward, E. division of Cumberland, 11 miles (N. E. by E.) from Penrith; containing 319 inhabitants. It comprises by measurement 4231 acres, of which 1619 are arable, and 2528 stunted meadow and mountain land. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £92; patrons, the Trustees of the late W. Lawson, Esq. The tithes were commuted for land in 1814. The church was rebuilt in 1733, and again, on a larger scale, in 1846. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

Repps, with Bastwick (St. Peter)

REPPS, with Bastwick (St. Peter), a parish, in the East and West Flegg incorporation, hundred of West Flegg, E. division of Norfolk, 5 miles (N. N. E.) from Acle; containing 314 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north-west by the river Thirne, and comprises by measurement 1226 acres, of which 850 are arable, 346 marsh, and 30 plantation. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £156; patrons and impropriators, the Trustees of the Great Hospital, Norwich. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £390, and certain tithes payable to the Dean and Chapter for £18; there are 33 acres of glebe belonging to the hospital. The church is chiefly in the decorated style, with a tower circular in the lower part, and octagonal above. There was anciently a chapel at Bastwick. Under an inclosure act, 20 acres of land were allotted to the poor.

Repps, North (St. Mary)

REPPS, NORTH (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Erpingham, hundred of North Erpingham, E. division of Norfolk, 3 miles (S. S. E.) from Cromer; containing 603 inhabitants. The scenery is exceedingly picturesque; and the views from Tolls Hill, where is a remarkably distinct echo, are very fine, embracing both the ocean and the surrounding country. The road from Norwich to Cromer intersects the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18, and in the patronage of the Crown, in right of the duchy of Lancaster; the tithes have been commuted for £580, and there are 10 acres of glebe, with a house, erected by the late Rev. Thomas Hay, D.D. The church is in the decorated and later English styles, with an embattled tower. A school is supported by the dividends on £1000 three per cent. consols., bequeathed by Dr. Hay in 1830; a neat school-house was erected in 1837. William Rugge or Repps, Bishop of Norwich in the 16th century, was a native of the parish. The late Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Bart., died here in 1845.

Repps, South (St. James)

REPPS, SOUTH (St. James), a parish, in the union of Erpingham, hundred of North Erpingham, E. division of Norfolk, 4¾ miles (N. N. W.) from North Walsham; containing 813 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2059a. 1r. 17p., of which 82 acres are woodland, 35 common, and the remainder chiefly arable: the village is divided into the Upper and Lower streets, a mile apart from each other. A cattle-fair is held on the second Tuesday after Whit-Tuesday. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16, and in the patronage of the Crown, in right of the duchy of Lancaster: the tithes have been commuted for £666. The glebe-house has been considerably improved by the present rector, the Ven. Archdeacon Glover, who in 1832 had the honour of entertaining the Duke of Sussex for several days; the glebe contains 12 acres. The church is chiefly in the decorated style, and has a handsome embattled tower. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. On a lofty eminence about a mile from the village, are the remains of an ancient beacon, whence the towns of Norwich and Yarmouth are discernible on a clear day.

Repton (St. Wyston)

REPTON (St. Wyston), a parish, in the union of Burton-upon-Trent, hundred of Repton and Gresley, S. division of the county of Derby, 4 miles (N. E. by E.) from Burton; containing, with Bretby chapelry, 2241 inhabitants, of whom 1943 are in the township of Repton. This place, anciently called Repington, is supposed to have been the Roman station Repandunum; under the Saxon dominion it was styled Repandum, and was a chief town of the kingdom of Mercia. Before 660, here was a nunnery under the government of an abbess, in which Ethelbald and others of the Mercian kings were interred. The Danes, having expelled Burhred, viceroy of Mercia, from his throne, wintered at Repandum in 874, at which period it is supposed that the convent was destroyed. The manor being possessed soon after the Conquest by the earls of Chester, a priory of Black canons was removed hither in 1172, from Calke, in this county, by Matilda, widow of Ranulph de Blundeville, Earl of Chester; its revenue at the Dissolution was estimated at £118.

The parish is bounded on the north by the navigable river Trent, and comprises 4917a. 2r. 14p., of which 2649 acres are in Repton township; the soil is strong, and the subsoil gravel and clay. The village is considerable, and contains some very neat houses. There are fairs on the 3rd Monday in April and 3rd Monday in November; and an annual court leet is held by the lord of the manor. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £123; patron and impropriator, Sir John Crewe, Bart.: there are a glebe-house, and a glebe containing 46 acres. The tithes were commuted for land, under an inclosure act, about eighty years since. The church is principally Norman, but exhibits portions in the several later English styles; it is a venerable structure consisting of a nave, chancel, aisles, and a tower surmounted by a handsome spire 210 feet high: under it is a curious crypt, believed to have been part of the conventual church destroyed by the Danes. At Bretby is a chapel, in the gift of the Earl of Chesterfield. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists.

In 1556, Sir John Port devised all his estates in Lancashire and Derbyshire, in trust, for the foundation and endowment of a grammar school here, and an hospital at Etwall; and in 1621, the master of the hospital, the schoolmasters of Repton, and the three senior poor men, were made a body corporate. The remains of the conventual buildings, which were principally in the Norman style, have been converted into the schoolroom and offices belonging to the grammar school; and a mansion, to which is attached a brick tower in the later English style, is rented by the governors from the Burdett family, and occupied by the head master. The improved rental of the estates, now about £3000 per annum, long since enabled the governors to increase the number of pensioners in the hospital, and to augment the establishment of the school. The learned divine and Hebraist, John Lightfoot, was appointed first usher, on the original foundation of the school; and amongst the eminent persons educated here, may be noticed, Samuel Shaw, a learned nonconformist divine; Stebbing Shaw, the historian of Staffordshire; Jonathan Scott, translator of the Arabian Tales; and W. L. Lewis, translator of Statius.—See Etwall.

Reston, North (St. Edith)

RESTON, NORTH (St. Edith), a parish, in the union of Louth, Marsh division of the hundred of Louth-Eske, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 4½ miles (S. E.) from Louth; containing 32 inhabitants. The parish comprises 700 acres, and is intersected by the road between Louth and Alford. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £4. 11. 10½.; patrons and impropriators, the Trustees of the late G. Jackson, Esq. The incumbent's tithes have been commuted for £216. 9., and the glebe contains 20 acres. The church is small, and of modern erection.

Reston, South (St. Edith)

RESTON, SOUTH (St. Edith), a parish, in the union of Louth, Marsh division of the hundred of Calceworth, parts of Lindsey, county of Lincoln, 6¼ miles (N. W. by N.) from Alford, on the road to Louth; containing 182 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 10. 2½., and in the patronage of the Crown, in right of the duchy of Lancaster; net income, £110. The tithes were commuted for about 100 acres of land in 1771. The church is a small modern structure. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans, built in 1837. The poor have an allotment of three acres, awarded at the inclosure of the parish in 1771, and now let for £3. 10. per annum: the church land consists of three acres and a half.

Retford, East (St. Swithin)

RETFORD, EAST (St. Swithin), a borough and market-town, and the head of a union, in the NorthClay division of the wapentake of Bassetlaw, N. division of the county of Nottingham, 32 miles (E. N. E.) from Nottingham, and 144 (N. by W.) from London; containing 2680 inhabitants. This place is supposed to have derived its name from an ancient ford over the river Idle, at a spot where the soil was a reddish clay; in Domesday book the name is written Redeford, and early in the thirteenth century Este Reddfurthe. The town is pleasantly situated, and is connected with West Retford by a bridge across the Idle; it is well built and paved, and the open square, or market-place, is surrounded by good houses. Its position on the great road to York and Edinburgh, gives it some advantages as a place of residence. A newsroom was erected by the corporation a few years since. The Chesterfield canal, which was opened in 1777, is conveyed by an aqueduct over the river, on the south-west of the town; and the company have a warehouse here for the reception of corn, &c. An act was passed in 1846 for a railway from Sheffield, by East Retford, to Gainsborough: the railway from London to York will also pass by the town. The market is on Saturday, and is well supplied with all kinds of provisions; there is also a large market for cheese and hops on the first Saturday in November. The fairs are on March 23rd, for horses, cattle, and sheep; the first Thursday after the 11th of June; the last Thursday in July; October 2nd, for horses, cattle, cheese, and hops, which are brought in great quantities; and the second Thursday in December.

East Retford is an ancient borough by prescription, and a royal demesne. It was granted to the burgesses by Edward I., in 1279, at a fee-farm rent of £10 per annum, with the privilege of choosing a bailiff from among themselves: in 1336, Edward III. confirmed their liberties; and in 1424, Henry VI. bestowed a charter empowering the bailiff to hold courts of record, and to execute the duties of escheator and clerk of the market. These immunities were ratified, and others added, by James I. The government is now vested in a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, under the act 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, and the mayor and late mayor are justices of the peace, concurrently with the magistrates for the county; the income is about £1000 a year. Retford first sent members to parliament in the 9th of Edward II.; in 1330 the burgesses petitioned for a suspension of the privilege, on account of their poverty, and it consequently lay dormant until the year 1571, when it was again exercised. Since that period the town has frequently been the scene of electioneering dissension; and in consequence of the corrupt state of the borough, it was settled by act of parliament in 1830, that the franchise should be thrown open to the hundred of Bassetlaw, the £10 occupiers of which now exercise the right of voting: the mayor is returning officer. General quarter-sessions of the peace, for the northern division of the county, are held in the town-hall, which was erected in 1755. The powers of the county debtcourt of East Retford, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of East Retford. The pettysessions for the division take place on alternate Saturdays, and those for the borough weekly.

The parish comprises by measurement 171 acres, about one-third of which is laid out in pasture or in gardens, and the remaining two-thirds are occupied by buildings, streets, &c. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 5.; net income, £200; patron and impropriator, Sir Richard Sutton, Bart. The church, a large and handsome structure with a lofty tower, is composed of several styles, and a portion of it is very old. In 1258, it was presented by Roger, Archbishop of York, to his chapel of St. Mary and the Holy Angels, near York Minster. In 1392, it contained two altars (in a chapel at the back), dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St. Mary, and endowed by the bailiffs of East Retford, who appointed two cantuarists to minister daily: in 1528, the chapel was pulled down to repair the church, both being in a ruinous condition. In October, 1651, the church was greatly injured by the fall of the steeple and tower: a brief was granted by Richard Cromwell, for rebuilding it, which was done by the corporation, in 1658, at an expense of £1500. There are places of worship for General Baptists, Independents, Ranters, and Wesleyans. The free grammar school was established by Edward VI., who endowed it with the possessions of the dissolved chantries of Suttonin-Loundale, Tuxford, and Annesley; the present schoolhouse was built in 1779, and the income is about £500 per annum. Sloswicke's hospital was founded in 1657, by Richard Sloswicke, who gave his dwelling-house to be converted into a Maison de Dieu, and endowed it with property from which six men were to receive £3. 6. 8. each annually. It was rebuilt by the corporation in 1806, and is inhabited by aged burgesses and others; the estate now lets for £85 a year. There are nine other almshouses. The poor-law union of East Retford comprises fifty parishes or places, and contains a population of 21,376. In the square of the town was formerly a relic of antiquity called the Broad-stone, supposed to have been part of a cross that once stood in the vicinity of East Retford.

Retford, West (St. Michael)

RETFORD, WEST (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of East Retford, Hatfield division of the wapentake of Bassetlaw, N. division of the county of Nottingham, ¼ of a mile (W.) from East Retford; containing 618 inhabitants. The parish is separated from East Retford by the river Idle, and intersected by the Chesterfield canal. It comprises 953 acres. The old Hall was the residence of the family of Denman, from which, by intermarriage, descended Anne, consort of James II. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 13. 4.; net income, £364; patron, J. Hood, Esq.: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1774. The church is a small edifice, with a tower and elegant crocketed spire. An hospital dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was founded in 1664, by Dr. John Darrell, and endowed for a master and sixteen brethren; part of the original building stood, with some modern additions, until 1832, when the whole was taken down, and the first stone of a new edifice laid on July 5th. The income of the hospital is upwards of £1000 a year.

Rettendon (All Saints)

RETTENDON (All Saints), a parish, in the union and hundred of Chelmsford, S. division of Essex, 3 miles (N. E. by N.) from Wickford; containing 807 inhabitants. It is situated on the navigable river Crouch, and comprises by computation 3363 acres of titheable land, of which 464 are pasture, and 26 wood; the soil is a highly productive loam, and the surface partly hilly, and partly level. Rettendon formerly belonged to the bishops of Ely, who had a palace here, which is at present a farmhouse. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £32. 6. 3., and in the gift of the Bishop of Ely: the tithes have been commuted for £830, and the glebe comprises 84 acres. The church is a small ancient edifice with a square embattled tower, and contains several interesting monuments. A school is endowed with £20 per annum.