Part 5 (1/2)
[Sidenote: Shardeloes park.]
[Sidenote: Entertainment of Queen Elizabeth.]
[Sidenote: Picturesque views.]
[B] AMESBURY, or Ambresbury, is situated on the river Avon, and is said to derive its name and origin from an abbey, founded by the British Prince Ambrosius; which abbey was subsequently changed into a convent of Benedictine monks, of which some remains are still to be seen. In the parish, and about two miles from the town, is the celebrated British monument, known by the name of Stone-henge. Antiquaries differ in their opinions as to the probable application of this structure; the majority, however, deem it to have been a druidical temple, or a grand tribunal of justice. Out of twenty-four enormous stones, of which the outer circular range appears to have been formed, seventeen are still standing, and seven on the ground; of the inner circle, eleven out of the nineteen of which it was formed are still upright, and the remainder prostrate. The distance of the inner circle from the outer one is about eight feet, forming a walk between the two of about three hundred feet in circ.u.mference; the stones are from eighteen to twenty feet high, from six to seven feet broad, and about three feet thick, and there is an appearance of the whole having been surrounded with a trench, over which were three pa.s.sages. There are numerous barrows and tumuli around it, where many skeletons and military weapons have been discovered.
Conjecture has been at a loss to ascertain the means by which such solid ma.s.ses could have been conveyed, and placed in so elevated a situation without the aid of machinery. It stands near the summit of a hill; even at the distance of half a mile the appearance is awful; but on a nearer approach, the eye is still more delighted with the greatness of its contour. On entering the building, either on foot or horseback, these ruins fill the mind with astonishment, which it is impossible for the pen adequately to describe. Other buildings have fallen by piece-meal--here a single stone is a ruin. As you advance farther, the greatness of every part, and the singular construction of the whole, causes additional surprise. Some authors suppose that this n.o.ble temple does not owe its defacement so much to the introduction of Christianity, as to the rude and barbarous hands of the neighbouring peasantry, who have carried away the stones for their own purposes. At a house which occupies part of the ancient nunnery, a society of nuns of St.
Augustine, from Flanders, have taken up their abode, probably attracted by the supposed sanct.i.ty of the situation. Near the town stands the once celebrated house of the Dukes of Queensbury, built by Inigo Jones, and subsequently improved by the Earl of Burlington. The neighbourhood abounds with clay used for making tobacco pipes, and the river Avon supplies a very much admired species of fish called loach. In the vicinity is a camp, called Vespasians. It consists of a triangular area of 39 acres, defended by a ditch and vallum, and bounded on two sides by the Avon. This may have been occupied by the Romans, but its construction and position indicate a British origin.
_Market_, Friday.--_Mail_ arrives 11 P.M., departs 4 A.M.--_Fair_, May 17, June 22, December 18, for horses, sheep, and horned cattle.--_Inn_, George.
[Sidenote: Founded by the British Prince Ambrosius.]
[Sidenote: Stone-henge.]
[Sidenote: Its awful appearance.]
[Sidenote: Nunnery of St. Augustine.]
[Sidenote: Camp of 39 acres.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From
+--+-----------------+----------+-------------+------------+ 47
Almwich[A] pa
Anglesey
Beaumaris 20
Llanerch 6
43
Amotherby to
N.R. York
New Malton 3
Pickering 7
15
Ampney Cruci pa
Gloucester
Cirencester 3
Northleach 9
+--+-----------------+----------+-------------+------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+-----------------+------------------------+-----+------+ 47
Almwich[A] pa
Holyhead 21
261
6285
43
Amotherby to
Helmsley 11
221
246
15
Ampney Cruci pa
Lechlade 9
87
599
+--+-----------------+------------------------+-----+------+
[A] ALMWICH, a seaport town in the parish of the same name, in the hundred of Twerclyn. It is situated on the north coast of the Island of Anglesey; and from a small village (in consequence of the discovery of a rich copper-mine in the Parys mountain) has been augmented into a considerable town: the appearance of this celebrated mountain is very rude; it is bare of vegetation, in consequence of the suffocating fumes which issue from it. The Romans are supposed to have obtained copper ore from this place, as many vestiges of what, it is imagined, were their operations, are still traceable. The great riches of the site were not, however, discovered until March 2, 1768, by the lessees of Sir Nicholas Bayley, afterwards Earl of Uxbridge; and equally successful was the Rev.
Edward Hughes, proprietor of another part of the same ridge. The substance of the mountain being ore, it has not been worked in the usual way, by shafts and levels, but by direct excavation. ”Nature,” Mr.
Pennant observes, ”hath been profuse in bestowing her mineral favours on this spot, for above the copper ore, and not more than three-quarters of a yard beneath the common soil, is a bed of yellowish greasy clay, from one to four yards thick, containing lead ore, and yielding from six hundred to a thousand pounds weight of lead from one ton; and one ton of the metal yields not less than fifty-seven ounces of silver. Mixed with the earth are frequently certain parts, of the colour of cinnabar; whether these are symptomatic of the sulphurous a.r.s.enical silver ores, or of quick-silver, I will not pretend to decide. Something interferes with the successful smelting of this earth in the great, insomuch that it has not yet been of that profit to the adventurers, which might reasonably be expected from the crucible a.s.says of it.” From this mountain arises a mineral water, which turns the syrup of violets red, without any signs of chalybeate. To enumerate the mineral substances found from time to time would prove a tedious employment, and perhaps an unimportant one. The following are the princ.i.p.al and most useful:--1.
Yellow sulphurated copper ore; 2. Native copper, in small quant.i.ties; 3.
Sulphate of copper, both chrystallized and in solution; 4. Sulphate of lead, containing a small portion of silver; 5. Black ore, containing copper with galenea, calamine, and some silver; 6. Native sulphur. Not far from Parys Mountain is the port whence the ore brought from the mines is transported to Liverpool and Swansea; it is a chasm between two rocks, large enough to receive thirty vessels, each 200 tons. The two companies employ fifteen brigs, from 100 to 150 tons burden, besides sloops and other craft. The articles exported from these copper mines are princ.i.p.ally a coa.r.s.e copper from the smelting-house, a richer copper ore, dried precipitate of copper from the vitriol pits, refined sulphur, ochre, alum, and green vitriol. Though much improved by the copper companies, this port is so exposed to the swell of the ocean, as to make it difficult and dangerous of access, during the prevalence of high northerly winds.
_Fair_, November 12.
[Sidenote: From this place the Romans obtained copper ore.]
[Sidenote: Lead ore which yields silver also.]
[Sidenote: Various minerals.]
[Sidenote: The port, a chasm between the rocks.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From
+--+---------------------+----------+-------------+-------------+ 15
Ampney Down[A] pa
Gloucester
Cirencester 6
Cricklade 3
15
Ampney, St. Mary,}
or Ashbrook } pa
Ditto
Cirencester 4
Fairford 5
15
Ampney, St. Peter
Ditto
Cirencester 4
Fairford 4
43
Ampleforth pa & to
N.R. York
Helmsley 4
New Malton 13
16
Amport pa
Hants
Andover 5
Ludgershall 5
3
Ampthill[B] m.t. & pa
Bedford
Bedford 8
Woburn 7
36
Ampton pa
Suffolk
Bury 5
Ixworth 5
+--+---------------------+----------+-------------+-------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+---------------------+------------------------+-----+-------+ 15
Ampney Down[A] pa
Fairford 4
85
463
15
Ampney, St. Mary,}
or Ashbrook } pa
Bibury 3
88
115
15
Ampney, St. Peter
Cricklade 5
86
180
43
Ampleforth pa & to
York 18
223
623
16
Amport pa
Salisbury 13
69
731
3
Ampthill[B] m.t. & pa
Toddington 7
46
1688
36
Ampton pa
Thetford 8
76
110
+--+---------------------+----------+-------------+-------------+
[A] AMPNEY DOWN. The church of this place is very curious, and is said to have been built by the Knights Templars, about the year 1260. Under the window at the south-end of the transept, is the tomb of Sir Nicholas de Villiers and his lady, with their effigies, represented under an arch. The knight is represented as a crusader, in mail and surtout, with his legs crossed, his feet resting on a lion, and his right hand on the hilt of his sword; on his left arm is a s.h.i.+eld bearing the Cross of St.
George, charged with five escalop-sh.e.l.ls. This figure is of hard blue stone; that of the lady is of free-stone, and much mutilated. Below the effigies of the knight is a mutilated inscription in the Saxon character. An ancient mansion, built by the family of the Hungerfords, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, was repaired and modernized, as to its exterior, a few years ago. It belongs, with the manor, to the family of Eliot, of Port Eliot, in Cornwall.
[Sidenote: The church built by the Knights Templars.]
[B] AMPTHILL is situated between two hills in the centre of the county.
Here is an obelisk of Portland stone, forming a receptacle for a pump; and also a Gothic cross, which was erected in 1744, to the memory of Catherine of Arragon, by the Earl of Upper Ossory, who was then proprietor of Ampthill Park, at a former period the residence of that ill-treated Queen. This park, which lies to the west of the town, is now the seat of Lord Holland; it was const.i.tuted a royal domain by Henry VIII., who conferred a name on the annexed estates, the ”Honour of Ampthill;” the old castle in which Queen Catherine resided, stood on a more elevated ground than the present mansion, which is a magnificent structure, with wings, and a flight of steps leading to a handsome hall; the park, which is now united with that of Houghton, is s.p.a.cious, and presents several most delightful prospects. At the entrance of Ampthill Park there is a pear tree, under which it is reported that Sir Philip Sydney wrote a part of his Arcadia.
_Mail_ arrives 6 A.M.. departs 8-1/2 P.M.--_Fairs_, May 4, and November 30, for cattle.--_Inn_, White Hart.
[Sidenote: Under a pear-tree in Ampthill park Sir Philip Sydney wrote part of his Arcadia.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From
+--+--------------------+---------+------------+-------------+ 57
Amroth[A] pa
Pembroke
Narbeth 6
Tenby 6
18
Amwell, Great[B] pa
Hertford
Ware 1
Hoddesdon 3
18
Amwell, Little chap
Hertford
Ware 1
Hoddesdon 3
24
Ancaster[C] pa
Lincoln
Grantham 6
Sleaford 8
13
Ancroft chap
Durham
Berwick 6
Coldstream 10
24
Anderby pa
Lincoln
Alford 6
Spilsby 10
32
Anderson, or
Anderstone pa