Part 9 (1/2)
[Sidenote: One of the four stannary towns of the county.]
[C] ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH is situated in a fertile valley on the borders of Derbys.h.i.+re, through which runs the small river Gilwiskaw. Its distinctive appellation is derived from the ancient family of the Zouches, who came into possession of the manor in the reign of Henry III. It afterwards devolved to the crown, by which it was granted to the n.o.ble family of Hastings, in right of whom the Marquis of that t.i.tle still possesses it. The town is chiefly comprised in one street, from which branches several smaller ones. The church is a handsome ancient edifice, built of stone, consisting of a nave and two aisles, separated by four lofty arches, springing from fluted pillars. Here are also places of wors.h.i.+p for the Calvinistic and Wesleyan Methodists, Presbyterians, and others. A free grammar school was founded in this town by Henry Earl of Huntingdon, in 1567; and another free school for 26 boys, by Isaac Dawson, in 1669. The manufactures established here are chiefly those of cotton and woollen stockings, and hats. There is also a good trade in malt, and the fairs are celebrated for the sale of fine horses and cattle. The mansion at Ashby was remarkable for its magnitude and strength, and continued for 200 years the residence of the family of Sir William Hastings, knt., a particular favourite of Edward IV., who was elevated by that monarch to several offices of high trust and dignity. It stood on a rising ground, at the south end of the town, and was composed of brick and stone from the ruins of Ashby Castle.
_Market_, Sat.u.r.day.--_Fairs_, Shrove-Monday, Easter Tuesday, Whit-Tuesday, last Monday in September, November 10, for horses, cows, and sheep.--_Bankers_, Fishers and Co.; draw upon h.o.a.re, Barnet, and Co.--_Mail_ arrives 10.30 morning; departs 4.0 afternoon.--_Inns_, Queen's Head, and White Hart.
[Sidenote: An ancient family gave their name to the town.]
[Sidenote: A n.o.ble mansion constructed out of the ruins of Ashby Castle.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From
+--+----------------------+---------+-------------+------------+ 23
Ashby Folville to & pa
Leicester
Melton Mow. 6
Leicester 10
23
Ashby Magna pa
Leicester
Lutterworth 4
Hinckley 11
23
Ashby Parva pa
Leicester
... 3
... 8
24
Ashby Puerorum[A] pa
Lincoln
Spilsby 5
Alford 7
28
Ashby St. Ledger[B] pa
Northamp
Daventry 4
Northamp 14
+--+----------------------+---------+-------------+------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+----------------------+-----------------------+-----+-------+ 23
Ashby Folville to & pa
Houghton 6
104
391
23
Ashby Magna pa
Leicester 11
93
330
23
Ashby Parva pa
... 13
92
169
24
Ashby Puerorum[A] pa
Louth 10
137
101
28
Ashby St. Ledger[B] pa
Welford 9
76
257
+--+----------------------+-----------------------+-----+-------+
[A] ASHBY PUERORUM. In the year 1804, a Roman sepulchre was discovered near this place, by a labourer who was cutting a ditch. It consisted of a stone chest, which laid 3 feet below the surface of the earth; the lid fitted nearly to the sides, hanging a little over the edge, so that when it was removed; no dirt of any kind was found to have gained admittance during a period of nearly two thousand years. The chest was formed of free stone, of a kind found in abundance on Lincoln Heath. The urn was of strong gla.s.s well manufactured, and of a greenish colour. The gla.s.s was as perfect and the surface as smooth as if just taken out of the fire. This receptacle of the ashes was nearly filled with small pieces of bone, many of which, from the effect of ignition, were white throughout the whole substance. Among the fragments was discovered a small lacrymatory, which had been broken, from the curiosity of the person who discovered it, to ascertain whether it contained any thing of value.
[Sidenote: A very ancient urn of green gla.s.s found here.]
[B] ASHBY ST. LEDGER is situated near a rivulet that flows into the river Nen. The additional name of St. Ledger is borrowed from the patron saint to whom the church is dedicated. This structure consists of a nave and aisles, with a tower and spire. At the upper end of the north aisle are still remaining the steps which led to the rude loft between the chancel and the nave. Here are three piscinas for holy water. Several ancient monumental inscriptions may be seen in the chancel. On an altar tomb within the communion rails, are the rec.u.mbent figures of a man and woman, with an inscription in black letter, commemorative of William Catesby and Margaret his wife, bearing date 1493. Catesby was one of the three families who ruled the nation under Richard's usurpation, and const.i.tuted the triumvirate which is alluded to in the old distich:--
The rat, and the cat, and Lovel the dog, Do govern all England under the hog.
The rat was Richard Ratcliff, the cat William Catesby, the dog Lord Lovel, and the hog for Richard, it being then the regal crest. William Catesby became a distinguished character; he was made esquire of the King's body; Chancellor of the Marshes for life; and one of the Chamberlains of the Exchequer. Being taken prisoner at the battle of Bosworth field, while fighting by his patron's side, he was conducted to Leicester, and beheaded as a traitor. At the eastern end of both aisles, are two places, formerly appropriated as places of sepulture for the two great Lords of Ashby. One of these belonged to the Catesby family; but most of the inscriptions are effaced. The manorial house of Ashby is a good old family mansion, occupied by the widow of the late John Ashby, Esq. A small room in the detached offices belonging to the house is still shown as having been the council-chamber, where the gunpowder-plot conspirators held their deliberations. Robert Catesby, one of the descendants of the family, was at the head of this conspiracy, for which he was tried, condemned, and executed; and his head, together with that of his father-in-law, Thomas Percie, who was involved in his guilt, were fixed on the top of the Parliament-house.
[Sidenote: An ancient monument of the Catesby family.]
[Sidenote: Catesby taken prisoner at Bosworth field.]
[Sidenote: The gunpowder plot conspirators met here.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From +--+---------------------+----------+--------------+--------------+ 24
Ashby West pa
Lincoln
Horncastle 2
Louth 12
15
Ashchurch pa
Gloucester
Tewkesbury 1
Winchcombe 9
11
Ashcombe[A] pa
Devon
Chudleigh 3
Exeter 9
34
Ashcott chap
Somerset
Glas...o...b..ry 6
Bridgewater 10
14
Ashdon or As.h.i.+ngdon }
to & pa}
Ess.e.x
Saff. Walden 4
Haverhill 6
14
Asheldam pa
Ess.e.x
Bradwell 4
Burnham 4
15
Ashelworth pa
Gloucester
Gloucester 5
Tewkesbury 8
14
Ashen pa
Ess.e.x
Clare 2
Halstead 9
5
Ashenden[B] pa
Bucks
Thame 6
Bicester 11
36
Ashfield Great[C] pa
Suffolk
Stowmarket 7
Ixworth 5
36
Ashfield-c.u.m-Thorpe p
Suffolk
Framlingham 6
Debenham 2
10
Ashford[D] chap
Derby
Bakewell 2
Tideswell 6
+--+---------------------+----------+--------------+--------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+---------------------+----------+--------------+--------------+ 24
Ashby West pa
Wragby 13
138
391
15
Ashchurch pa
Cheltenham 8
103
649
11
Ashcombe[A] pa
Teignmouth 6
177
320
34
Ashcott chap
Somerton 7
129
834
14
Ashdon or As.h.i.+ngdon }
to & pa}
Linton 4
45
1103
14
Asheldam pa
Maldon 9
46
144
15
Ashelworth pa
Newent 7
105
540
14
Ashen pa
Haverhill 5
54
373
5
Ashenden[B] pa
Aylesbury 8
46
368
36
Ashfield Great[C] pa
Botesdale 8
76
408
36
Ashfield-c.u.m-Thorpe p
Eye 9
83
375
10
Ashford[D] chap
Buxton 10
155
782
+--+---------------------+-------------------------+-----+--------+
[A] ASHCOMBE is a parish in the hundred of Exminster. Here is a mansion of Lord Arundel's, situated in a large amphitheatre of hills, richly wooded at their base, and at their summit often studded with herds of sheep or deer. The only entrance to this romantic dale is from the north, by a road, which though perfectly safe, falls precipitately down a narrow ridge of one of the hills.
[B] ASHENDEN. This manor has been from time immemorial in the Grenville family. John Bucktot, a priest, gave the manor of Little Pollicott, to Lincoln College, in Oxford, about 1479; and what renders it particularly remarkable, is the circ.u.mstance of the manor house being used as a retiring place for the members of the college at the time of the plague.
In Ashenden Church, is an ancient figure of a crusader, under an arch, rudely ornamented with foliage; which according to tradition, is the tomb of John Bucktot; this appears however to be erroneous, as it is evidently the tomb of a layman, and from the chevron on the s.h.i.+eld, one of the Stafford family, anciently lords of Great Pollicott.
[Sidenote: A retiring place for collegians in the time of the plague.]
[C] ASHFIELD. This obscure village gave birth to the celebrated Lord Chancellor Thurlow, and his brother, the late Bishop of Durham; they were the sons of the vicar, under whose auspices they were educated. On leaving the university, the former entered himself of the Inner Temple, but did not distinguish himself at the bar, until his abilities were employed upon the Douglas case; after which he became successively Solicitor-General, Attorney-General, and Lord High Chancellor. He was elevated to the peerage by the t.i.tle of Baron Thurlow, of Ashfield. In 1786, he was made Teller of the Exchequer, and created Baron Thurlow, of Thurlow: he retired in 1793, and died at Brighton in 1806. He was succeeded in the peerage by his nephew, the son of his brother, the Bishop of Durham. He was never married, but he left three illegitimate daughters, to two of whom he bequeathed large property; the other having offended him by an imprudent marriage, he left her only a small annuity.
[Sidenote: The birth-place of Lord Chancellor Thurlow.]
[D] ASHFORD. This village is frequently called Ashford in the water, from the lowness of its situation. It is seated on the banks of the river Wye. The only remains of the residence of the Plantagenets of Woodstock (who had a castle here) is a moat, half filled with rubbish.
Sir William Cavendish, the favourite of Cardinal Wolsey, purchased this estate of the Earl of Westmoreland; and the Duke of Devons.h.i.+re, a descendant of that family, still continues the proprietor. The works in this village for sawing and polis.h.i.+ng marble, were the first ever established in England. They were originally constructed by Mr. Henry Watson, of Bakewell, about 80 years since, but though he obtained a patent, to secure the gain arising from this invention, the advantages were unequal to his expectations. Mr. John Platt, architect, of Rotherham, in Yorks.h.i.+re, rented the quarries of black and grey marble, the only ones of the kind now worked in Derbys.h.i.+re. The sweeping mill, as it is called, from its circular motion, will level a floor of eighty superficial feet of marble slabs at one time.
[Sidenote: Extensive works for sawing and polis.h.i.+ng marble.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From +--+--------------------+---------+-------------+-------------+ 11
Ashford pa
Devon
Barnstaple 2
Ilfracomb 8
21
Ashford[A] m.t. & pa
Kent
Canterbury 15
Folkestone 17
25
Ashford[B] chap
Middles.e.x
Staines 3
Bedfont 2
33
Ashford Bowdler pa
Salop
Ludlow 3
Tenbury 6
33
Ashford Carbonel pa
Salop
... 3
... 6
23
Ashfordby pa
Leicester
Melton Mow. 3
Loughbro' 11
29
Ash-holm ham
Northumb
Hexham 19
Haltwhistle 4
27
As.h.i.+ll pa
Norfolk
Watton 4
Swaffham 6
34
As.h.i.+ll[C] pa
Somerset
Ilminster 4
Taunton 8
14
As.h.i.+ngdon[D] pa
Ess.e.x
Rochford 3
Maldon 9
+--+--------------------+---------+-------------+-------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+--------------------+-----------------------+-----+-------+ 11
Ashford pa
Marwood 2
194
99
21
Ashford[A] m.t. & pa
Maidstone 19
53
2809
25
Ashford[B] chap