Curiosities Of Great Britain: England And Wales Delineated Part 1

Curiousities of Great Britain: England and Wales Delineated.

Vol. 1.

by Thomas Dugdale.

[A] ABBERBURY, or Alberbury, a parish and township, partly in the hundreds of Cawrse and Deythur, in the county of Montgomery, and partly in that of Ford, in the county of Salop. Warine, sheriff of this county in the reign of Henry I., founded an abbey for black monks, a cell to Guardmont, in Limosin, which, at the suppression of alien priories was bestowed by Henry VI. upon the college founded by Archbishop Chiechley.

Benthall, Eyton, Rowton, Amaston, and Wollaston, are all townships of this parish. At Glyn, in this parish, is the celebrated Old Parr's cottage, which has undergone but little alteration since his time; it is timber-framed, rare, and picturesque, within view of Rodney's Pillar on Bredden Hill, in Montgomeryshire. In Wollaston Chapel is a bra.s.s plate, with his portrait thus inscribed: "The old, old, very old man, Thomas Parr, was born at the Glyn, in the township of Wennington, within the chapelry of Great Wollaston, and parish of Alberbury, in the county of Salop, in 1483. He lived in the reigns of ten kings and queens of England, viz. King Edward IV., King Edward V., King Richard III., King Henry VII., King Henry VIII., King Edward VI., Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, King James I., and Charles I.; he died in London, (sixteen years after his presentation to King Charles,) on the 13th of November, 1635, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, on the 15th of the same month, aged one hundred and fifty-two years and nine months. At the age of one hundred and five, he did penance in the church of Alberbury, for criminal connexion with Catherine Milton, by whom he had offspring."

[Sidenote: Old Parr's cottage and birth-place, who lived in the reigns of ten kings and queens.]

[Sidenote: Did penance at the age of 105.]

[B] ABBEY-HOLM is a small town in the ward of Allerdale. The original consequence of this little town was derived from an abbey of Cistercian monks, founded here, about the twelfth century, by Henry I. of England, as the crown rolls imply. Its benefactors were many in number, and by the magnificent grants and privileges with which it was endowed, it acquired so much importance, that during the reigns of Edward I. and II.

its abbots, though not mitred, were frequently summoned to sit in parliament. The abbey was pillaged and burnt during the incursion of Robert Bruce, but afterwards rebuilt with great magnificence; few vestiges, however, of its monastic buildings now remain. From the ruins the Parochial Chapel was formed, and there yet stands a part of the church in its original form. During the reign of Henry VIII. the abbey was chiefly dilapidated; the church continued in good condition till the year 1600, when the steeple, one hundred and fourteen feet high, suddenly fell down, and by its fall destroyed great part of the chancel.

Its total ruin was nearly accomplished by an accidental fire five years afterwards. This fire took place on April 18, 1604, and was occasioned by a servant carrying a live coal into the roof of the church, to search for an iron chisel; the boisterous wind blew the coal out of his hand into a daw's nest, by which the whole was ignited, and within less than three hours it consumed both the body of the chancel and the whole church, except the south side of the low church, which was saved by means of a stone vault. Almost due-west from Abbey-Holm, in a strong situation near the sea coast, are some remains of Wulstey Castle, a fortress, which was erected by the abbots to secure their treasures, books, and charters from the sudden depredations of the Scots. "In this castle," observes Camden, "tradition reports, that the magic works of Sir Michael Scot (or Scotus), were preserved, till they were mouldering into dust. He professed a religious life here about the year 1290, and became so versed in the mathematics, and other abstruse sciences, that he obtained the character of a magician, and was believed, in that credulous age, to have performed many miracles." The story of Michael Scot forms a beautiful episode in Scott's "Lay of the Last Minstrel,"

the notes to which furnish some curious information respecting that extraordinary personage. Sir Michael Scot, of Balwearie, we are told, flourished during the thirteenth century, and was one of the amba.s.sadors sent to bring the Maid of Norway to Scotland, upon the death of Alexander III. His memory survives in many a legend; and in the south of Scotland, any work of great labour and antiquity is ascribed either to the agency of auld Michael, of Sir William Wallace, or the devil. The following are amongst the current traditions concerning Michael Scot:--He was chosen, it is said, to go upon an emba.s.sy, to obtain from the King of France satisfaction for certain piracies committed by his subjects upon those of Scotland. Instead of preparing a new equipage and splendid retinue, he evoked a fiend in the shape of a huge black horse, mounted upon his back, and forced him to fly through the air towards France. When he arrived at Paris, he tied his horse to the gate of the palace, and boldly delivered his message. An amba.s.sador with so little of the pomp and circ.u.mstance of diplomacy was not received with much respect, and the king was about to return a contemptuous refusal to his demand, when Michael besought him to suspend his resolution till he had seen his horse stamp three times: the first stamp shook every steeple in Paris, and caused all the bells to ring; the second threw down three of the towers of the palace; and the infernal steed had lifted up his hoof to give the third stamp, when the king rather chose to dismiss Michael, with the most ample concessions, than to stand to the probable consequences. Another time, it is said that, while residing at the tower of Oakwood, upon the Ettrick, about three miles above Selkirk, having heard of the fame of a sorceress, called the Witch of Falsehope, who lived on the opposite side of the river, Michael went one morning to put her skill to the test, but was disappointed by her positively denying any knowledge of the necromantic art. In his discourse with her, he laid his wand inadvertently on the table which the hag observing, suddenly s.n.a.t.c.hed it up and struck him with it. Feeling the force of the charm, he rushed out of the house; but as it had conferred on him the external appearance of a hare, his servant, who waited without, hallooed upon the discomfited wizard his own greyhounds, and pursued him so close, that, in order to obtain a moment's breathing to reverse the charm, Michael, after a very fatiguing course, was fain to take refuge in his own common sewer.

_Fair_, October 29, for horses and horned cattle.

[Sidenote: The Abbey destroyed by the accidental firing of a daw's nest.]

[Sidenote: Michael Scot, the magician.]

[Sidenote: Scottish legends.]

[Sidenote: The fiend horse.]

[Sidenote: French King's concession.]

[Sidenote: The witch of Falsehope.]

Map Names of Places. County. Number of Miles From +--+--------------------+--------+-------------+-------------+ 16 Abbots Ann pa Hants Andover 2 Salisbury 16 11 Abbots Bickington pa Devon Holsworthy 6 Torrington 9 35 Abbots Bromley[A] pa Stafford Uttoxeter 7 Lichfield 10 12 Abbotsbury[B] pa Dorset Dorchester 10 Bridport 10 +--+--------------------+--------+-------------+-------------+ Dist. Map Names of Places. Number of Miles From Lond. Population.

+--+--------------------+--------+-------------+-----+-------+ 16 Abbots Ann pa Stockbridge 6 66 562 11 Abbots Bickington pa Hartland 13 220 77 35 Abbots Bromley[A] pa tafford 11 1129 1621 12 Abbotsbury[B] pa Weymouth 10 127 874 +--+--------------------+----------------------+-------------+

[A] ABBOTS BROMLEY. The hobby-horse dance, an ancient custom, was observed here till the civil war.--Ten or twelve of the dancers carried, on their shoulders, deers' heads, painted with the arms of Paget, Bagot, and Welles, to whom the chief property of the town belonged. The horns yet hang up in the church, but the custom is now discontinued. The parish includes Bromley, Bagot's liberty, and Bromley Hurst township.

Bagot's park is the deer-park of Lord Bagot, whose seat is at Blithefield.

_Market, Tuesday._--_Fairs_, Tuesday before Mid-lent Sunday, May 22, September 4, for horses and horned cattle.

[Sidenote: Hobby-horse dance]

[B] ABBOTSBURY consists of a single parish, divided into three streets, nearly in the form of the letter Y, lying in a valley surrounded and protected by bold hills near the sea. There is a tradition that this place was called Abodesbyry by St. Peter himself, in the infancy of Christianity, but it is more probably supposed to have derived its name from the magnificent abbey, originally founded here, in the early part of the eleventh century. The ruins of the abbey (which was once large and splendid, but is now nearly demolished), consist of a large barn, a stable, supposed to have been the dormitory, a porch which belonged to the conventual church, the princ.i.p.al entrance, a portion of the walls, and two buildings conjectured to have been used for domestic purposes.

The barn, which, when entire, was the largest in the county, is now so dilapidated, that only a part of it can be used. The church, in which Orcus and his wife, the founders, were buried, is, with the exception of the porch and a pile of ruins under some neighbouring elms, totally destroyed; but the numerous chantries and chapels which belonged to it sufficiently prove its ancient magnificence. On an eminence, at a short distance from the town, stands a small building called St. Catherine's Chapel, which is supposed to have been erected about the time of Edward IV., and which from its height and lofty situation, serves both for a sea and land mark. Abbotsbury Church appears to have been built a short time before the reformation; the pulpit is pierced by musket b.a.l.l.s, said to have been fired by Cromwell's soldiers, at the officiating minister, whom, however, they missed. But it is more likely to have occurred at the time of Sir Anthony Astley Cooper's attack on the royalists, at the siege of Sir John Strangeway's house, in 1651. About a mile to the south-west of Abbotsbury, is the "decoy," where great quant.i.ties of wild fowl are annually taken. But the object which most engages the attention of strangers, in the neighbourhood of this town, is the celebrated "swannery," which, not long since, was the property of the Earl of Ilchester. In the open or broad s.p.a.ce of the fleet are kept six or seven hundred swans, formerly one thousand five hundred, including hoppers--a small species of swans, who feed and range, and return home again.

_Fair_, July 10, for sheep and toys.

[Sidenote: Tradition of St. Peter]

[Sidenote: A ruined abbey.]

[Sidenote: St. Catherine's chapel, a sea mark.]

[Sidenote: Wild fowl decoy, and swannery.]

Map Names of Places. County. Number of Miles From +--+---------------------+----------+--------------+---------------+ 11 Abbotsham m.t.& pa Devon Bideford 2 Torrington 7 44 Abbotside, H.&Low pa N.R. York Askrigg 0 Middleham 7 34 Abbotts Isle pa Somerset Ilminster 4 Ilchester 11 11 Abbotts Kerswell pa Devon Newton Bush 2 Totness 7 18 Abbotts Langley[A] pa Herts St. Albans 4 Watford 4 34 Abbots Leigh pa Somerset Bristol 3 Bedminster 3 15 Abbotsley pa Hunts St. Neots 4 Huntingdon 12 42 Abbots Morton pa Worcester Evesham 4 Alcester 8 12 Abbots Stoke pa Dorset Beaminster 3 Crewkerne 10 16 Abbotston pa Hants Alresford 4 Basingstoke 12 33 Abdon pa Salop Ludlow 9 Bridgenorth 11 53 Abenbury Fecham to Flintshire Wrexham 4 Chester 10 52 Abenbury Vawr to Denbigh Wrexham 3 Llangollen 12 50 Aber[B] pa Caernavon Bangor 6 Aberconway 9 51 Aberaeron to Cardigan Aberystwith 17 Lampeter 14 51 Aberarth vil & pa Cardigan Lampeter 14 Aberystwith 14 56 Aber Bechan to Montgomery Newtown 2 Montgomery 7 52 Abercwhiler to Denbigh Denbigh 4 St. Asaph 3 54 Aberavon [C] bo. & pa Glamorgan Neath 6 Bridgend 14 48 Aberbaidon am Brecknock Abergavenny 5 Crickhowel 3 50 Aberconway [D] m.t. Caernarvon Bangor 15 Llanrwst 12 +--+---------------------+----------+--------------+---------------+ Dist. Map Names of Places. Number of Miles From Lond. Population.

+--+---------------------+-------------------------+-----+---------+ 11 Abbotsham m.t.& pa Barnstaple 10 204 386 44 Abbotside, H.&Low pa Richmond 12 208 762 34 Abbotts Isle pa Taunton 10 133 380 11 Abbotts Kerswell pa Torquay 6 189 442 18 Abbotts Langley[A] pa Hemel Hemp 6 17 1980 34 Abbots Leigh pa Keynsham 9 116 360 15 Abbotsley pa Potton 4 58 369 42 Abbots Morton pa Persh.o.r.e 6 99 236 12 Abbots Stoke pa Bridport 6 143 587 16 Abbotston pa Winchester 9 57 248 33 Abdon pa Ch. Stretton 9 153 170 53 Abenbury Fecham to Mold 7 187 111 52 Abenbury Vawr to Mold 8 187 214 50 Aber[B] pa Caernarvon 15 240 552 51 Aberaeron to Cardigan 23 208 ... 51 Aberarth vil & pa Tregaron 13 222 976 56 Aber Bechan to Welsh Pool 11 178 ... 52 Abercwhiler to Caerwys 4 208 487 54 Aberavon [C] bo. & pa Swansea 11 192 572 48 Aberbaidon am Brecon 14 148 1781 50 Aberconway [D] m.t. Caernarvon 24 236 1245 +--+---------------------+------------------------+------+---------+

[A] ABBOTTS LANGLEY. Before the Conquest, and till the dissolution of the monasteries, this place was in the possession of the abbots of St.

Albans. About the time of Henry I., Nicholas Breakspear, a native of this place, was advanced to the rank of cardinal, and at length became pope, by the t.i.tle of Adrian IV.; being the only Englishman that ever attained that dignity. He died, not without suspicion of poison, in 1158.

[Sidenote: Englishman made Pope.]

[B] ABER (which signifies the mouth of a river, port, or harbour) is situated on the river Gwyngregyr, which here discharges itself into the Irish Sea. The native Welsh princes had a palace at this place, some remains of which are shewn as the residence of Llewelyn ap Griffith. It is one of the ferries to Anglesea, and a convenient place from which to visit the formidable Penmaen Mawr mountain. The pa.s.sage from hence across the Laven Sands to Beaumaris is by no means safe, as the sands frequently shift; but the large bell of this village is constantly rung in foggy weather, in the hope that its sound may serve to direct those whom imperious necessity obliges to cross under all disadvantages. Two miles from this pleasing village, following the banks of the stream, which flows through highly picturesque scenery, there is a most romantic glen, and a very fine waterfall; the upper part of this cataract is sometimes broken into three or four divisions, by the rugged force of the impending cliff, but the lower one forms a broad sheet, and descends about sixty feet, in a very grand style.

_Mail_ arrives 3.15 A.M., departs 9.32 P.M.--_Inn_, Bull.

[Sidenote: Ferry to Anglesea.]

[Sidenote: Laven sands dangerous. The bell constantly tolled in foggy weather.]

[Sidenote: Romantic glen, and waterfall.]

[C] ABERAVON is situated at the mouth of the river Avon, on Swansea Bay, and has a harbour for small vessels. Although no charter exists for a market, one has been held here, more than a century past. There is a ridiculous belief, amongst the people of this place, that every Christmas Day, and that day alone, a large salmon presents himself in the river, and allows himself to be caught and handled by any one who chooses; but it would be considered an act of impiety to detain him.

_Fair_, April 30.

[Sidenote: Singular account of a Salmon.]

[D] ABERCONWAY is an ancient fortified town, beautifully situated upon the estuary of the river Conway. The town is nearly of a triangular shape, and is thought by some to have been the Conovium of the Romans.

The annals of this place commence no earlier than with the history of its castle, which was erected in 1284, by command of Edward I., as a security against the insurrections of the Welsh. Soon after its erection, the royal founder was besieged in it, and the garrison almost reduced by famine to surrender, when they were extricated by the arrival of a fleet with provision. At the commencement of the civil wars, it was garrisoned on behalf of the king, by Dr. John Williams, Archbishop of York. In 1645 he gave the government of the castle to his nephew, William Hookes. Two years after, Prince Rupert superseded the Archbishop in the command of North Wales. He endeavoured to obtain redress from the king, but failed. Enraged at this injury, he joined Mytton, and a.s.sisted in the reduction of the place. The town was taken by storm, August 15, 1646, but the castle did not surrender till November 10. This fortress remained in tranquillity till a grant was made of it, by King Charles, to the Earl of Conway and Kilulta; when he had scarcely obtained possession, before he ordered an agent to remove the timber, iron, lead, and other materials. It was held on lease, by Owen Holland, Esq. from the crown, at an annual rent of six shillings and eightpence, and a dish of fish to Lord Holland, as often as he pa.s.sed through the town. Thus, unprotected, it has suffered material injuries from wind and weather, and is reduced to a state of rapid decay. The ruins are remarkably picturesque, and very extensive. The town was surrounded by high ma.s.sive walls, twelve feet thick, strengthened at intervals by twenty-four circular and semi-circular towers; these, with the four princ.i.p.al gateways, remain in tolerable preservation. There are scarcely any remains of the Cistercian Abbey, founded by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, in 1185. The church contains a few modern monuments, belonging to the family of the Wynnes, formerly of this place. The font appears ancient; it is composed of black marble, curiously carved, and supported by a cl.u.s.ter of pilasters, standing upon a pedestal. In Castle Street is a very old house, called the college, which has a singular window, decorated with several coats of arms of the Stanley family. A day school is also kept in an ancient mansion, called Plas Mawr, situated near the market place, which was erected in 1585, by Robert Wynne, Esq. of Gwyder. The river Conway rises out of Llyn Conway, at the south extremity of the county, in the mountains of Penmachno. The ferry is of importance, as it lies upon one of the great roads from London to Ireland, but is justly considered a dangerous pa.s.sage, and many are the accidents which have occurred. On Christmas Day, 1806, the boat conveying the Irish mail coach, was lost, and all the pa.s.sengers, including the coachman and guard, were drowned, except two. At the Ferry-house a n.o.ble bay is formed where the tide enters the river. In this view, indeed, there are all the ingredients of a sublime and beautiful landscape. Few rivers, in England or Wales, in so short a course as twenty-nine miles, present so great a variety of beautiful scenery. Below Luna Hall, the falls of the Conway exhibit a n.o.ble cataract, about fifty feet; the stream of water, shooting directly from one aperture in the solid rock to a considerable distance, descends into a rocky basin, surrounded by hanging woods. One mile below this town, at Trefriw, the river becomes navigable, and contributes to the supply of the surrounding county. In Conway town there still exists a pearl fishery, and a chain suspension bridge has been recently erected in lieu of a dangerous ferry. The vale of Conway teems with interesting objects.

Upon the west side is the abrupt termination of the Snowdon chain, down the declivities of which, through innumerable chasms, fissures, and channels, rush the superfluous waters of the lakes above, to mingle with the parent ocean. The princ.i.p.al employment of the poor, in this neighbourhood, is gathering the different species of fuci, commonly called sea-wreck, thrown up by the tide, or growing upon the breakers.

This wreck they put into a kind of square fireplace, made upon the sand, and heat it till it becomes a liquid and forms a cake; when further baked or burnt it resembles cinders, and is called barilla or impure fossil alkali; in this state it is sold to manufacturers of soap and gla.s.s.

_Market_, Friday.--_Fairs_, March 26, April 30, June 20, August 19, September 16, October 20, and November 15.--Inns, Harp, Bull's Head, and White Lien.--_Mail_ arrives 2 A.M., departs 10-3/4 P.M.

[Sidenote: The Conovium of the Romans.]

[Sidenote: Town taken by storm, in 1646.]

[Sidenote: Curious tenure--6s. 8d. and a dish of fish.]