Part 9 (2/2)
Sunbury 3
16
458
33
Ashford Bowdler pa
Leominster 9
137
99
33
Ashford Carbonel pa
... 9
137
289
23
Ashfordby pa
Leicester 13
108
467
29
Ash-holm ham
Aldstone 7
279
122
27
As.h.i.+ll pa
E. Dereham 10
94
700
34
As.h.i.+ll[C] pa
Chard 7
137
403
14
As.h.i.+ngdon[D] pa
Chelmsford 13
40
98
+--+--------------------+-----------------------+-----+-------+
[A] ASHFORD is situated about twelve miles from the sea, on an eminence rising from the northern bank of the small river Stour, and on the high road between Hythe and Maidstone. The town, which is a liberty of itself, originated from the ruins of Great Chart, an ancient market town, which gave name to the hundred, and was destroyed in the Danish wars. It was then called a.s.scheford, and, in some early doc.u.ments, Estefort and Enetesford, from the ford over the river Stour; the ancient name of which was Esshe or Eschet. It is pleasantly situated near the confluence of the upper branches of the river Stour, over one of which there is a bridge. The manor received the privilege of a market so early as Edward I. The town is governed by a mayor, and possesses a court of record for the recovery of debts, not exceeding twenty marks. The church is a s.p.a.cious and handsome fabric, consisting of a nave, aisles, and three chancels, with a lofty and well-proportioned tower. There are several ancient monuments, especially one of a Countess of Athol, who died in 1365, whose effigy exhibits the female costume of that age, in a very remarkable manner. The ancient college, founded by Sir John Fogge owner of the manor, in the reign of Edward IV., was dissolved in that of Henry VII., and the house given to the vicar for a residence. It still exists, although latterly much modernised. Here is a Free Grammar School, founded by Sir Norton Knatchbull, in the reign of Charles I., and various minor charities. The inhabitants of this town and its vicinity are much engaged in the rearing and fattening of cattle, for the sale of which its markets and fairs are much celebrated.
_Market_ Sat.u.r.day. A stock market held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday in every month.--_Fairs_ May 17, and August 2, for wool; September 9, October 12, and 24, for horses, cattle and pedlary.--_Inns_, George, Royal Oak, and Saracen's Head.--_Bankers_, G. and W. Jemmett, draw on Esdaile and Co.--_Mail_ arrives 8.0 morning; departs 5.15 afternoon.
[Sidenote: Origin of the town of Ashford.]
[Sidenote: The college made into a parsonage house:]
[B] ASHFORD. This place was originally called Exeford, from its ford over the river Exe; the village is now but of little importance. It lies in that level part of the county, formerly occupied by Hounslow Heath, the terror of the western traveller, from the numerous robberies committed on its highways. Ashford Common was selected for military reviews; it has however, for some years been inclosed, and the review ground is now near Hounslow. The chapel is a plain brick building, possessing no claims on the attention of the antiquary; it was erected in 1796 by voluntary contribution.
[Sidenote: Hounslow Heath.]
[C] As.h.i.+LL.--_Fairs_, April 9, and September 10.
[D] As.h.i.+NGDON. This place is memorable in the early periods of our history. ”Nothing is more surprising,” observes Gough, in his Additions to Camden, ”than the errors all antiquaries have hitherto lain under with respect to the scene of the battle between Edmund Ironside and the Danes.” Though they had the authority of Mr. Camden against them, they have caried it quite across the county to the northern extremity and as far from the sea as possible, in defiance of every circ.u.mstance that could fix it there. In a marsh in Woodham Mortimer parish, on the river Burnham or Crouch, are twenty-four barrows grouped in pairs, and most of them surrounded by a ditch, supposed to be the burial places of the Danes, who probably landed at Bradwell, a village near the mouth of the Blackwater River, fourteen miles distant.
[Sidenote: The site of an engagement between Edm. Ironside and the Danes.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From +--+-----------------------+--------+-------------+--------------+ 29
As.h.i.+ngton to
Northump
Morpeth 5
Blyth 6
34
As.h.i.+ngton pa
Somerset
Ilchester 3
Yeovil 4
38
As.h.i.+ngton pa
Suss.e.x
Steyning 4
Arundel 9
7
Ashley to
Chester
Knutsford 5
Altringham 3
28
Ashley pa
Northamp
Rockingham 6
Harborough 5
16
Ashley pa
Hants
Stockbridge 3
Winchester 8
35
Ashley pa
Stafford
Eccleshall 6
Drayton 6
41
Ashley[A] pa
Wilts
Malmesbury 5
Tetbury 3
5
Ashley-Green ham
Bucks
Chesham 3
Berkhamp 2
6
Ashley-c.u.m-Silvery, pa
Cambridge
Newmarket 5
Mildenhall 10
10
Ashley-Hay to
Derby
Wirksworth 2
Belper 6
27
Ashmanhaugh pa
Norfolk
Coltishall 3
Worsted 3
16
Ashmansworth chap
Hants
Whitchurch 8
Andover 10
12
Ashmore pa
Dorset
Shaftesbury 5
Cranborne 12
34
Asholt, or Aisholt pa
Somerset
Bridgewater 7
Stowey 3
10
Ashover[B] to & pa
Derby
Alfreton 7
Chesterfield 7
39
Ashow pa
Warwick
Warwick 5
Kenilworth 3
17
Ashperton chap
Hereford
Ledbury 5
Hereford 11
11
Ashprington pa
Devon
Totness 3
Brixham 6
34
Ash-Priors pa
Somerset
Taunton 6
Wellington 6
11
Ashreigney pa
Devon
Chumleigh 4
Torrington 11
5
Ashridge[C] ham
Bucks
Chesham 2
Berkhamp 4
+--+----------------------+---------+-------------+--------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+----------------------+-----------------------+-----+--------+ 29
As.h.i.+ngton to
Ulgham 4
290
57
34
As.h.i.+ngton pa
Sherborne 7
121
74
38
As.h.i.+ngton pa
Horsham 10
46
285
7
Ashley to
Cheadle 7
177
379
28
Ashley pa
Rothwell 8
86
304
16
Ashley pa
Romsey 8
67
93
35
Ashley pa
Newcastle 9
154
825
41
Ashley[A] pa
Kemble 5
96
99
5
Ashley-Green ham
Tring 5
27
...
6
Ashley-c.u.m-Silvery, pa
Bury 11
63
361
10
Ashley-Hay to
Turnditch 3
138
241
27
Ashmanhaugh pa
Norwich 10
118
154
16
Ashmansworth chap
Newbury 8
64
222
12
Ashmore pa
Blandford 8
101
191
34
Asholt, or Aisholt pa
Taunton 8
146
228
10
Ashover[B] to & pa
Matlock 3
147
3179
39
Ashow pa
Coventry 6
95
176
17
Ashperton chap
Bromyard 11
125
398
11
Ashprington pa
Dartmouth 6
198
549
34
Ash-Priors pa
Stowey 9
147
201 11
Ashreigney pa
Hatherleigh 9
198
1038
5
Ashridge[C] ham
Tring 5
29
...
+--+----------------------+-----------------------+-----+--------+
[A] ASHLEY, was formerly distinguished by a fair and market, it is now remarkable only for a large mansion, which was once the seat of the Georges. The church, an ancient building, with a square embattled tower, is princ.i.p.ally interesting for its arches; some of which are round, and others pointed, resting on slender cl.u.s.tered pillars, with ma.s.sy capitals of foliage. The font is large, round, and very rude in its workmans.h.i.+p.
[B] ASHOVER. This village is of great antiquity, being mentioned in the Doomsday Book, as having a church and a priest. In the church is an ancient font, supposed to be Saxon; the base is of stone; the lower part is of an hexagonal form; the upper part circular, surrounded with twenty figures, in devotional att.i.tudes, embossed in lead, in ornamental niches. There are also some ancient monuments of the Babington family, who were for a long time seated at Dithicke, a chapelry in this parish.
Anthony Babington was executed for high treason in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, having engaged in a conspiracy to destroy that princess. On the declivity of a hill on Ashover Common is a rocking stone, called Robin Hood's Mark, which measures about twenty-six feet in circ.u.mference. From its extraordinary position, it appears not only to have been the work of art, but to have been placed with great ingenuity.
About 200 yards to the north is a singularly shaped work, called the Turning-stone, nine feet high: it is supposed to have been a rock idol.
Overton Hall, in this vicinity, was once the seat of Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society.
[Sidenote: A singular rocking stone, formerly an idol.]
[C] ASHRIDGE was formerly called Escrug. In very early times this village is reported to have possessed a royal palace; which, when the estate became the property of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, son to Richard, King of the Romans, was converted into a college for Bonhommes (or monks who followed the rules of St. Augustine,) and endowed with the manors of Ashridge, Gaddesden, and Hemel Hempstead. A parliament was held here by Edward the First, in the year 1291; and, though of short continuance, it was distinguished by a spirited debate on the origin and necessary use of fines. After the dissolution, the monastery appears to have become the seat of royalty; and Norden describes it as the place ”wherein our most worthy and ever famous Queen Elizabeth lodged, as in her owne, being a more statelie house.” This queen, in the 17th year of her reign, granted it to John Dudley, and John Ayscough, who within the short period of a fortnight, conveyed it to Henry, Lord Cheny, whose lady sold it to Ralph Marshal, by whom it was again conveyed to Randolph Crew and others, and soon afterwards granted to Egerton, Lord Ellesmere, ancestor to the late Duke of Bridgewater; several of whose family are buried in the neighbouring church of Little Gaddesden. The old college, the greater part of which was standing in the year 1800, exhibited a fine specimen of the gothic architecture of the thirteenth century. The cloisters were particularly beautiful. The walls were painted in fresco with Scripture subjects. The late Duke of Bridgewater pulled down the whole of these buildings, the materials of which were disposed of in lots; the present earl, the dukedom being extinct, has erected a most magnificent mansion at a great expense. Ashridge Park, which contains some very fine oak and beech trees, is pleasingly varied with hill and dale. It is about five miles in circ.u.mference.
[Sidenote: A parliament held here by Edward I.]
[Sidenote: The manor house a favourite seat of Queen Elizabeth.]
<script>