Everdon - Ewen

Everdon (St. Mary)

EVERDON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Daventry, hundred of Fawsley, S. division of the county of Northampton, 4¼ miles (S. S. E.) from Daventry; containing 777 inhabitants. This parish, which consists of 2377a. 1r. 27p. of a highly rich soil, is pleasantly situated in a finely-diversified portion of the county. The village is situated in a fertile vale, sheltered on the north-west and on the south by a range of hills: in 1786 it suffered material injury from a fire. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £24. 2. 11.; net income, £465; patrons, the Provost and Fellows of Eton College. Certain tithes were commuted for land and a money payment, under an inclosure act, in 1764; those of the hamlet of Snorscombe, in the parish, have under the recent act been commuted for a rent-charge of £150. The church is a large and handsome edifice, with some ancient details, among which is a beautiful entrance on the south side, in the decorated English style. There is a place of worship for Independents. The town lands, comprising 16a. 2r. 17p., produce a rental of £30. 8., appropriated partly to the repair of the church.

Everingham (Blessed Virgin Mary)

EVERINGHAM (Blessed Virgin Mary), a parish, in the union of Pocklington, Holme-Beacon division of the wapentake of Harthill, E. riding of the county of York, 5 miles (S. by W.) from Pocklington; containing 318 inhabitants. The parish is situated to the west of the Hull and York road, and comprises by measurement 3080 acres, of which about 140 are woodland and plantations. The surface is level; the soil of a light sandy nature, with, in many parts, a substratum of clay; and the neighbourhood exhibits much beautiful scenery, especially around Everingham Park, the seat of W. Constable Maxwell, Esq., which is highly picturesque. The village is situated near one of the sources of the river Foulness. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £8. 6. 8., and in the gift of the Marsden family, with a net income of £237: the tithes were commuted for land and a yearly modus of £80, at the inclosure in 1765; there are now 125 acres of glebe. The church is a neat edifice, nearly rebuilt about fifty years since, with a tower. Mr. Maxwell has erected a splendid Roman Catholic chapel near the mansion, dedicated to St. Everilda, and opened on July 10th, 1839: the interior is ornamented with Corinthian columns, and the altar is of the richest Italian marbles; sixteen statues, executed by Bozzoni, represent the Twelve Apostles and four of the Martyrs, and eighteen basso-relievos, by the same eminent artist, the principal incidents in the life of Christ.

Everley, or Everleigh (St. Peter)

EVERLEY, or Everleigh (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Pewsey, hundred of Elstub and Everley, Everley and Pewsey, and S. divisions of Wilts, 4¾ miles (W. N. W.) from Ludgershall; containing 354 inhabitants. This place, at the time of the heptarchy, was the residence of Ina, King of the West Saxons; it subsequently belonged for many generations to the Plantagenets, dukes of Lancaster, and eventually became vested in the crown, as the property of Henry of Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV. The manor was granted by Edward VI., in the first year of his reign, to Edward, Duke of Somerset, Protector, after whose attainder, reverting to the crown, it was given by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Ralph Sadlier, Knt., the royal falconer, whose son and successor had the honour of entertaining James I. at the manor-house, on the 31st of August, 1603. The parish comprises about 4000 acres; the surface is hilly, and the soil, though generally chalky, is in some parts alternated with a strong clay. The village was anciently a market-town of considerable note. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 4. 4½., and in the gift of Sir J. D. Astley, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for £700, and the glebe comprises 18 acres. The church, erected in 1813, at the expense of Francis Dugdale Astley, Esq., is a chaste and elegant structure in the later English style. About two miles to the south is the fortified camp of Chidbury, to which there appears to have been a covered way from Everley.

Everley, with Suffield.—See Suffield.

EVERLEY, with Suffield.—See Suffield.

Eversden, Great (St. Mary)

EVERSDEN, GREAT (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Caxton and Arrington, hundred of Longstow, county of Cambridge, 7¼ miles (S. E. by E.) from Caxton; containing 300 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £6. 14. 2., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £69; impropriator, the Earl of Hardwicke. The tithes of this parish and of Little Eversden were commuted for land in 1811.

Eversden, Little (St. Helen)

EVERSDEN, LITTLE (St. Helen), a parish, in the union of Caxton and Arrington, hundred of Longstow, county of Cambridge, 7 miles (S. E. by E.) from Caxton; containing 225 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £5. 2. 6.; net income, £188; patrons, the President and Fellows of Queen's College, Cambridge.

Eversholt (St. John the Baptist)

EVERSHOLT (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Woburn, hundred of Manshead, county of Bedford, 2 miles (E. by S.) from Woburn; containing 899 inhabitants. It comprises 2119a. 2r. 30p., of which 1181 acres are meadow and pasture, 722 arable, 49 in homesteads and gardens, 132 woodland, and 32 road. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £16. 11. 8., and in the patronage of the Duke of Bedford: the tithes have been commuted for £480, and the glebe comprises 65½ acres. A school is endowed with £10 per annum.

Evershot

EVERSHOT, a chapelry, in the parish of Frome St. Quintin, union of Beaminster, hundred of Tolleford, Dorchester division of Dorset, 7¼ miles (E. by N.) from Beaminster; containing 566 inhabitants, and comprising 1409a. 2r. 33p. A fair for fat-cattle is held on the 12th of May; and there was formerly a weekly market on Saturday. The tithes have been commuted for £173. 10. 6., and the glebe comprises about 1¼ acre. The chapel is dedicated to St. Osmond. Here is a free grammar school, with an endowment in land, bequeathed in 1628 by Christopher Strickland, the rent of which is about £100 per annum.

Eversley (St. Mary)

EVERSLEY (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Hartley-Wintney, hundred of Holdshott, Odiham and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 3 miles (N.) from Hartford-Bridge; containing 770 inhabitants. This parish comprises, with the tythings of Great and Little Bramshill, 4939a. 2r. 28p., of which 1370 acres are arable, 1101 pasture, 300 woodland, and 2167 common and waste. The surface is pleasingly undulated; the soil is in some parts a good loam mixed with a small portion of sand, and in others sandy with small gravel. Bramshill Park, the seat of Sir John Cope, Bart., is a spacious and handsome mansion, erected in the reign of James I., and situated on an eminence commanding some fine views; the park comprises about 400 acres. Fairs are held for cattle on May 16th and Oct. 18th. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 8. 9., and in the gift of Sir John Cope: the tithes have been commuted for £570, and the glebe comprises 60 acres. In the church are monuments to Judge Nares, and several members of the Wyndham family. There was formerly a chapel at Bramshill.

Everthorp, with Drewton.—See Drewton.

EVERTHORP, with Drewton.—See Drewton.

Everton (St. Mary)

EVERTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Biggleswade, and chiefly in the hundred of Biggleswade, county of Bedford, 4¾ miles (N. by E.) from Biggleswade; containing 233 inhabitants, and comprising 3470 acres. The living is a vicarage, with that of Tetworth united, valued in the king's books at £6. 13. 9., and in the gift of Clare Hall, Cambridge, with a net income of £200. The church, which is in the county of Huntingdon, has been repewed.

Everton

EVERTON, a township, in the parish of Waltonon-the-Hill, union and hundred of West Derby, S. division of Lancashire, 1 mile (N. N. E.) from Liverpool; containing, in 1841, 9221 inhabitants, and in 1846, 15,726. This place, styled Hireton in Domesday book, claims a more remote history than Liverpool, to which it now forms an elegant suburb. We find it exempt from the imposition of Danegelt instituted by Ethelred, and it is mentioned in 1066 as having been then given by the Conqueror to his cousin, Roger de Poictiers. An ancient fire-beacon, coeval with the Tower at Liverpool, stood here for many centuries; but it has now disappeared, and the site is occupied by St. George's church. During the siege of Liverpool, Prince Rupert occupied a cottage here, which was held in great veneration, until it was at length pulled down in 1845: a representation of the building, as it appeared just before its demolition, is given in Herdman's "Ancient Liverpool." The agreeable village or suburb of Everton, denominated, from the salubrity of its air and the pleasantness of its situation, the Montpelier of Lancashire, is seated on a bold eminence opposite to the bay of Bootle; it is about a mile and a half from the Mersey, and three miles from the mouth of that river. The prospects are very beautiful; and from the western parts of Everton Hill may be seen the fertile lands of Cheshire, the mountains of Wales, the river Mersey, and the expanding Irish Sea with its numberless vessels. From its proximity to Liverpool, it has become the residence of many respectable and wealthy families; numerous streets and crescents have been formed, and the township is studded with handsome detached mansions and villas. Among these may be mentioned Bronte House, called after Lord Nelson, built of red stone, and belonging to John George Woodhouse, Esq.

The district church of St. George was erected in 1813, at an expense of £11,500, on a site given by James Atherton, Esq.; it is an elegant structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles. The framework and tracery of the windows and doors, the groinings of the roof, the pulpit, and all the ornamental parts, are of cast-iron; and the east window, of which the iron tracery is exceedingly rich, is embellished with stained glass. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £300; patron, the Rector of Walton. St. Augustine's church, Shaw-street, was erected in 1830, at an expense of £7500; it is in the Egyptian style, having an octagonal tower with pinnacles at the angles, surmounted by a cross. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of five Trustees; net income, £250. Christchurch, in Boundary-lane, was built in 1848, as a memorial of the late Charles Horsfall, Esq., mayor of Liverpool in 1832, at the united cost of his surviving children: the site, and the erection of the building, amounted to £13,000. It is a beautiful structure in the later English style, with a tower and spire; the interior is of chaste design, and the east window of rich painted glass. The living is in the gift of Trustees, and is endowed with £1000. Another church has been erected, by subscription.

In Salisbury-street is the Roman Catholic church of St. Francis Xavier; it is in the pointed style, and is 150 feet in length and 60 in breadth. St. Edward's Roman Catholic College was established by the Right Rev. Dr. Brown, R. C. Bishop, in 1843; youths intended for secular pursuits or the learned professions, distinct from the priesthood, here receive instruction from the ablest professors in the Greek, Latin, and modern languages, and the more elegant accomplishments, at a moderate charge. The Rev. John Henry Fisher is president, and the Rev. Alexander Goss vice-president. The college is a large stone mansion, formerly known as St. Domingo House, built by Hugh Sparling, Esq., with princely splendour, and seated on the highest point of Everton, commanding a fine view of the Mersey and the adjacent country. It is admirably adapted for the purpose of education, and has been fitted up in a manner conducive to the health and comfort of the students: a chapel is attached to the establishment. The Crescent Chapel, belonging to the Independents, was built in 1846, in the Grecian style, at a cost of £9000; near it is a fine range of school-buildings, erected at an expense of £5000, and opened the following year. Among the other schools are two sets of day and Sunday schools, for boys, girls, and infants, attached to St. George's, and supported by subscription. Within the limits of the township, bordering upon Low Hill, in West Derby, is the Necropolis, a burial-place formed in 1825, at a cost of about £8000; the entrance is in the Grecian style, and the area of the inclosure five acres.

Everton (Holy Trinity)

EVERTON (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of East Retford, North Clay division of the wapentake of Bassetlaw, N. division of the county of Nottingham, 3 miles (S. E. by E.) from Bawtry; containing, with part of the hamlet of Drakeholes, the hamlet of Harwell, and the township of Scaftworth, 1094 inhabitants. The parish comprises 4550 acres, of which 1050 are in Scaftworth; it is on the road between Bawtry and Gainsborough, and is nearly circumscribed by the river Idle. The soil in the eastern portion is clayey, and has a bed of excellent clay for bricks and tiles, the manufacture of which is carried on to a considerable extent; in the western portion the soil inclines to sand, but near the river is an extensive tract of rich and fertile land. The Chesterfield canal passes through the parish on the south-east. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 2. 2.; net income, £209; patron, the Rev. S. W. Hall: the glebe comprises about 120 acres. The church, which is in the early Norman style, has been enlarged. There are a place of worship for Wesleyans, and national schools for boys and girls. At the time of the inclosure of the parish, in 1760, some antiquities were found; and more recently, some Roman coins: it has been thought, that the vestiges of some fortifications in the parish are the remains of a Roman fort or station, by which passed a Roman road.

Evesbatch (St. Andrew)

EVESBATCH (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Bromyard, hundred of Radlow, county of Hereford, 5 miles (S. E. by S.) from Bromyard; containing 98 inhabitants. It is bounded on the north by a portion of Worcestershire, and comprises 972 acres, whereof 456 are arable, 362 meadow and pasture, 101 wood, 36 in hops, 6 common land, and 11 in buildings and homesteads. The surface is varied and undulated, the soil a fine clay, and the scenery well wooded and beautiful; the parish is very retired, and its high situation renders it extremely healthy. There are quarries, chiefly of sandstone. The road from Hereford to Worcester, by Froome Hill, passes on the south. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £1. 16. 10½., and in the patronage of Earl Fitzhardinge: the tithes have been commuted for £163. 6., and there are ten acres of glebe, of the value of £20 per annum, and a new and commodious glebe-house. The church is a very old edifice, built probably about the 12th century. A small sum is annually appropriated to the clothing and apprenticing of poor boys.

Evesham

EVESHAM, a borough and market-town, and the head of a union, locally in the Lower division of the hundred of Blackenhurst, E. division of the county of Worcester, 15 miles (S. E.) from Worcester, on the road to London, 13 miles (N. E.) from Tewkesbury, and 93¾ (N. W. by W.) from London; containing 4245 inhabitants. This place was originally called Homme or Haum, from the Saxon holm, a word particularly appropriate to the peninsular form of its site. The appellation Eovesholme, or Eovesham, is said to be derived from Eoves, a swineherd in the service of Egwin, third bishop of Wessex, a Saxon province and bishopric, part of which now forms the diocese of Worcester. Eoves is said to have had an interview with the Virgin Mary on the spot, and to this circumstance is attributed the erection of an abbey for Benedictine monks, the foundation of which was laid in 701, and the building completed in 709, when the charter was confirmed: it was consecrated in 714, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary, by Bishop Wilfrid, the successor of Egwin, who had retired hither after resigning the bishopric of Worcester to the pope. The convent received large grants of land from the Anglo-Saxon kings and nobility, as well as from other benefactors both before and after the Conquest; its possessions were ample, and its privileges numerous: the abbots sat in parliament as spiritual barons. It shared the fate of similar institutions, being suppressed on the 17th of November, 1539, at which time the revenue, as appears from a corrected return to the Augmentation Office, given in May's History of Evesham, amounted to £1829. 10. 0½. The buildings and site of the monastery were then alienated by the king, and the former, with the church, were ultimately demolished, and the materials sold: the clock tower, a sculptured arch which led into the chapter-house, some out-buildings, including part of the almonry, and a portion of the boundary walls, are the only remains of the edifices. The handsome isolated tower, so great an ornament to the town, was erected by Clement Lichfield, the last abbot but one, and is a beautiful specimen of the later English style, strengthened with panelled buttresses, and crowned by open battlements and pinnacles; it was originally a gate of entrance to the monastic cemetery, and a clock tower to the monastery. At the general demolition, the tower, according to Nash, was purchased by the inhabitants. It is 110 feet high, and about 28 feet square at the base; the sides are adorned with tracery. In 1745, a clock with chimes was put up in this tower, by Edward Rudge, Esq. The adjacent church of St. Lawrence, formerly a parochial chapel subordinate to the monastery, after being suffered to remain in ruins for nearly a century, has at length been restored in all its pristine beauty, at an expense of more than £2500, raised by subscription, aided by a grant from a London Society; great attention has been paid to the preservation of a strict uniformity of style, and the whole now forms an interesting specimen of ecclesiastical architecture.

The most memorable occurrence in the history of the town is the decisive battle which was fought here, on the 4th of August, 1265, between Prince Edward and Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, by whom Henry III. was detained a prisoner. The combat was characterised by savage ferocity; and of those who fell victims were the earl and his son, about 160 knights, and 4000 of their followers. The bodies of the earl and his son, with those of Henry and Hugh le Despenser, are said to have been interred in the abbey church, before the high altar. The issue of the contest, by releasing the captive monarch, turned the tide of his fortunes, and led to that success by which he was subsequently reinstated on the throne. This celebrated battle was fought about three-quarters of a mile from the town, at a place near the old London road, which crosses a small stream subsequently denominated Battle Well.

The town is pleasantly situated on a sloping eminence rising from the bank of the Avon, by which river it is watered on three sides, and over which is a stone bridge of seven arches, uniting it with the parish of Bengeworth, which is within the borough. It has been greatly improved, under an act passed for paving and lighting in 1824; and consists of two principal and some inferior streets, of which the High-street is particularly spacious. A public subscription library was founded in 1819, an horticultural society in 1827, a literary institution in 1838, and an agricultural association in 1841. The country adjacent is remarkable for its interesting scenery, and for the extreme richness of its soil, which produces earlier and more abundant crops than that of any other part of the county. Near the town, large portions of ground have been converted into gardens, horticulture constituting the chief occupation of the labouring class; asparagus attains great perfection, and is extensively cultivated, and vegetables are conveyed hence to towns in the surrounding district. There are two corn-mills, a mill for extracting oil from linseed, and two ribbon manufactories. In 1845 an act was passed for a railway from Oxford, by Evesham, to Wolverhampton. The market is on Monday; and fairs are held on February 2nd, the Monday next after Easter week, Whit-Monday, the second Monday in August, September 21st, and the second Monday in December. The inhabitants were incorporated by a charter granted by James I. in the first year of his reign, which confirmed their respective privileges, and conferred others. By the act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, the corporate body now consists of a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors; the municipal and parliamentary boundaries are co-extensive. The borough sent members to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., but after that king's reign it discontinued till the commencement of that of James I., since which period it has uninterruptedly returned two representatives. The right of election, prior to the year 1818, was vested in freemen and paymasters, or persons resident paying scot and lot; it was then restricted to the freemen, resident and nonresident. By the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, the non-resident electors beyond seven miles have been disfranchised, and the privilege has been extended to the £10 householders: the mayor is returning officer. The number of borough magistrates is eight, who, with certain of the county justices, hold petty-sessions weekly, all commitments being made to the county gaol. The powers of the county debt-court of Evesham, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Evesham. The town-hall is a plain building in the market-place, lately much improved.

The borough includes the parishes of All Saints, containing 1647; St. Lawrence, 1516; and St. Peter Bengeworth, 1082 inhabitants; formerly, together with most of the surrounding villages, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Abbot of Evesham. All Saints' comprises 365 acres, and St. Lawrence's 428; Bengeworth, lying on the eastern bank of the river, and consisting of 1281 acres, was added to the borough by the second charter of James I., and is described under its proper head. The living of All Saints' is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £10. 16. 0½., and has a net income, including the curacy of St. Lawrence, of £208; the patronage and impropriation belong to the Crown. The church of All Saints', formerly a chapel to the abbey, appears to have been built prior to 1223, and is an irregular structure, with a tower and spire; the porch at the western entrance is embattled, with pinnacles at the angles: on the south side is a small chapel built by Abbot Lichfield, the roof of which is finely groined, and adorned with fan-tracery; in this chapel the remains of its founder are interred. The church of St. Lawrence, already referred to, exhibits a rich specimen of the later English style, and has attached to it on the south a chapel of exquisite beauty; the tower and spire are of earlier date: it contains 848 sittings, 716 of which are free. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, the Society of Friends, Wesleyans, and Unitarians. The free grammar school, which was connected with the monastery, was, after the dissolution of that establishment, refounded by Henry VIII., who, in lieu of its former revenue, endowed it with £10 yearly from the exchequer, which sum is still paid; and by the charter of James I., it was incorporated, and placed under the government of the mayor and council. A national school is supported, a British school has just been established, and there are several small benefactions. The poor law union of Evesham comprises 30 parishes or places, of which 20 are in the county of Worcester, and 10 in that of Gloucester; containing in the whole a population of 13,892. Walter of Evesham, a writer of celebrity, and John Feckenham, Dean of St. Paul's in the reign of Mary, were both monks of Evesham Abbey. Sir Charles Cocks, Bart., on his elevation to the peerage on the 17th of May, 1784, assumed the title of Lord Somers, Baron of Evesham, which is held by the present Earl Somers.

Evington

EVINGTON, a hamlet, in the parish of Leigh, union of Tewkesbury, Lower division of the hundred of Westminster, E. division of the county of Gloucester; containing 266 inhabitants.

Evington (St. Denis)

EVINGTON (St. Denis), a parish, in the union of Billesdon, hundred of Gartree, S. division of the county of Leicester, 2½ miles (E. S. E.) from Leicester; containing 285 inhabitants. It is situated at a short distance from the road between Leicester and Uppingham, and comprises 2400 acres, arable and pasture, the latter of which preponderates; the surface is gently undulated. The Midland railway passes through the parish. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 16. 8.; net income, £80; patron, the Bishop of Lincoln. The church, which is very ancient, is in the early English style. There are a place of worship for dissenters, and a parochial school.

Ewanrigg.—See Ellenborough.

EWANRIGG.—See Ellenborough.

Ewart

EWART, a township, in the parish of Doddington, union and E. division of Glendale ward, N. division of Northumberland, 3 miles (N. N. W.) from Wooler; containing 176 inhabitants.. This place is pleasantly situated on the rivers Glen and Till, where, it is supposed, were a church and burial-ground: the former river runs through the township, and the latter is its eastern limit; both abound in trout. It comprises 1512 acres, of which one-fifth is pasture, about 100 acres wood, and the remainder arable; the surface is level, the soil various, and there are fine views of the Humbleton hills. The woodland surrounds the Hall, the seat of Major St. Paul, who is proprietor of the township. In 1814, two ancient sword-blades were found in the park.

Ewe, St.

EWE, ST., a parish, in the union of St. Austell, E. division of the hundred of Powder and of the county of Cornwall, 4 miles (E. N. E.) from Tregoney; containing 1468 inhabitants. The parish comprises 5935a. 1r. 2p., of which 150 acres are waste land or common; the surface is hilly, but the hills are not of very great elevation, and the soil is generally a loam. The principal mine now in operation is that of Polgooth, producing tin of great fineness. The road from London to Falmouth passes through the parish. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £21, and in the gift of Sir Joseph Sawle, Bart., and the family of Carlyon: the tithes have been commuted for £640, and the glebe comprises about 88 acres, with a house, built in 1837. The church is a very ancient structure, and contains a handsome monument to the last of the Mohun family, who died in 1732. There are places of worship for Bryanites, Calvinists, and Wesleyans.

Ewell (St. Mary and St. Peter)

EWELL (St. Mary and St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Dovor, hundred of Bewsborough, lathe of St. Augustine, E. division of Kent, 3 miles (N. W.) from Dovor; containing 392 inhabitants. This place was anciently styled Temple-Ewell, from its being the property of the Knights Templars, who had a preceptory here prior to the year 1185, the remains of which were destroyed about the middle of the last century: some land near the site is still called Temple Farm. King John, after the resignation of his kingdom to the Pope's legate, on his retiring from Dovor, spent some time at this monastery, and one of the documents relating to that transaction is dated from the Temple, at Ewell. The parish is beautifully situated in a valley between Barham Downs and the coast, and comprises 1590 acres: the surface is varied with hills, and the soil is fertile; on the hills the soil is clayey. About 240 acres are woodland. The river Idle, one of the chief tributaries of the Stour, has its rise within the parish. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £16. 13. 4.; patrons and impropriators, the Heirs of the late John Angel, Esq.; net income, £70. The church is a small ancient edifice; the chancel is parted from the nave, and appropriated as a school for girls. On some of the hills are supposed to have been Roman intrenchments, from the discovery of arms, spurs, and helmets there.

Ewell (St. Mary)

EWELL (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Epsom, partly in the First division of the hundred of Reigate, E. division, but chiefly in the First division of the hundred of Copthorne and Effingham, W. division, of Surrey, 5½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Kingston; containing, with the liberty of Kingswood, 1867 inhabitants. This place, in Domesday book written Et-well, signifying "at the spring," was anciently of more importance than it is at present; and about half-way between it and Cheam, within the parish of Cuddington, was the splendid palace of Nonsuch, erected by Henry VIII., and taken down in the reign of Charles II. There are still some remains of that celebrated edifice, which, for costly magnificence and splendid decoration, was, as its name implied, unequalled by any building of the kind. On elevated ground formerly within the park, is an artificial mound about half an acre in extent, surrounded by a wall having circular bastions at the four angles, with intervening curtains, and in the centre of which stood the banqueting-house, a building about 25 feet square, and three stories high: the approach to the mound was by three double flights of steps, some of which are still visible. These remains of the wall and bastions are now within the pleasure-grounds of Mr. Monro, whose grand-uncle, T. Calverley, Esq., erected a mansion in the ancient style of English architecture near their site, named Ewell Castle.

The parish comprises 2391a. 1r. 19p. of arable and pasture, in nearly equal portions: the soil is chalk, gravel, and clay, alternated with sand; and the surface, though generally level, is diversified with hills of moderate elevation. Brick earth of excellent quality is found in abundance. The village is situated on the high road to Dorking and Worthing, and is well paved, and amply supplied with water. There are some gunpowder and flour mills, employing about 50 men, and set in motion by the Kingsmill, a stream which has its source in the parish, and falls into the Thames at a place called Hog's mill, Kingston. The market, held on Thursday, has long been discontinued; the fairs are on May 12th, for cattle, and October 29th, a very large mart for sheep, at which from 30,000 to 40,000 are frequently sold. The parish is within the jurisdiction of a court at Kingston, for the recovery of debts to any amount; and courts leet and baron are held at Michaelmas. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8; net income, £277; patron and impropriator, the Rev. Sir George Glyn, Bart.: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1801. The church is an ancient structure, and contains several brasses and handsome monuments, particularly an altar-tomb in the south side of the chancel, of veined marble, on which is a beautifully sculptured figure in white marble, of Sir William Lewen, Knt., in his robes as lord mayor of London. The first stone of a new parish church was laid in June, 1847. A district church was built in the liberty of Kingswood, in 1835. In the grounds of the rectory-house, several fossils and coins have been found within the last few years. There is a place of worship for Independents. A national school, established in 1816, is partly supported by an endowment of £22 per annum; and Mrs. Fendall bequeathed £1000, which purchased £1758. 19. 6. stock, whereof the interest is applied to the benefit of the poor. Richard Corbet, D.D., Bishop of Norwich, an eminent divine and poet, was born in the parish.

Ewelme (St. Mary)

EWELME (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Wallingford, hundred of Ewelme, county of Oxford, 2 miles (E.) from Benson; containing 663 inhabitants. This place, from a very clear and copious spring that rises in the village, obtained the Saxon appellation of Æwhelme, signifying "a spring of water;" of which its present name is a modification. William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, who obtained the manor by marriage with Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Chaucer, son of Geoffrey Chaucer, the poet, in whose family it had been for many years, erected the present church and a noble mansion, of which latter only some of the outoffices now remain. The parish comprises 2346 acres, whereof 53 are common land or waste. The living is a rectory, annexed to the regius professorship of divinity in the university of Oxford, and valued in the king's books at £21. 10. 5.: the tithes have been commuted for £704. 18. The church, which is beautifully situated on rising ground, and backed by a row of fine elms, is a spacious and interesting edifice, in the early and decorated English styles, with a low embattled tower. There are some handsome monuments, one of which, to the memory of the Duchess of Suffolk, who died in 1475, is elaborately embellished; the Chaucer monument, an altar-tomb, is ornamented with numerous shields of armorial bearings, and inlaid with brasses on which are the effigies of a knight and his lady, in the costume of the fifteenth century: on the south wall of the chancel are monuments to two sons of Charles Howard, second Earl of Berkshire. In the churchyard are memorials to the descendants of Sir Matthew Hale. An hospital, called God's House, was founded by William de la Pole, and Alice his wife, about the year 1446, and endowed with 200 marks per annum, for thirteen poor men and a master. It was valued, in the 26th of Henry VIII., at £20 per annum, but was not dissolved, and the mastership was annexed in 1617 to the regius professorship of medicine in the university of Oxford, under which it still exists, for a reader and twelve poor men. It possesses a rent-charge of £200, issuing out of the estates in this county belonging to Hampton Court. An urn containing Roman coins was found on the common, near the line of the Ikeneld-street, which may be traced in the parish; and another urn was discovered on Harcourt Hill, nearly two miles from the village.

Ewen

EWEN, a tything, in the parish of Kemble, union of Cirencester, hundred of Malmesbury, Malmesbury and Kingswood divisions of Wilts, 7 miles (N. E. by N.) from Malmesbury; with 182 inhabitants.