Part 11 (1/2)
[C] a.s.sENDON. At this towns.h.i.+p is a land spring, reputed the most eminent of its kind in England. The water only appears after a continuance of wet weather, but then issues forth in such abundance, that mills might be turned by the current, and the adjacent lowlands are inundated. This spring has been supposed by some to act on the principle of a natural syphon, and to be supplied from subterranean sources; but this is evidently erroneous, as the seasons of its flowing are uniformly after heavy rains.
[Sidenote: Wonderful spring.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From +--+----------------+---------+------------+-------------+ 36
a.s.sington pa
Suffolk
Neyland 4
Sudbury 5
45
a.s.son-Thorpe ham
W.R. York
Thorne 4
Snaith 5
7
Astbury[A] pa
Chester
Congleton 2
Sandbach 6
24
Asterby pa
Lincoln
Horncastle 7
Louth 7
31
Asthall[B] pa
Oxford
Burford 2
Witney 6
22
Astley chap
Lancaster
Newton 6
Manchester 11
33
Astley chap
Salop
Shrewsbury 0
Wellington 11
39
Astley[C] pa
Warwick
Nuneaton 4
Coles.h.i.+ll 7
42
Astley[D] pa
Worcester
Bewdley 5
Worcester 9
+--+----------------+---------+------------+-------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+----------------+----------------------+-----+-------+ 36
a.s.sington pa
Hadleigh 7
57
641
45
a.s.son-Thorpe ham
Doncaster 9
170
7
Astbury[A] pa
Leek 10
160
14637
24
Asterby pa
M. Raisin. 13
143
231
31
Asthall[B] pa
Charlbury 8
70
352
22
Astley chap
Bolton 7
195
1832
33
Astley chap
Oswestry 18
153
239
39
Astley[C] pa
Coventry 7
98
340
42
Astley[D] pa
Kiddermins 5
121
849
+--+----------------+----------------------+-----+-------+
[A] ASTBURY, or AUSTBURY, is an extensive village and contains several gentlemen's seats. The church is a handsome gothic structure, with a lofty steeple. In the church yard are two ancient monuments, ornamented with the insignia of knighthood, but the names of the families whose memories they were intended to record are now lost. The parish of Astbury contains no less than twelve towns.h.i.+ps, of which the market town of Congleton is one. Each of these towns.h.i.+ps has its overseer and other officers, but the whole parish is under the government of one church-warden, the office of which is served in rotation by eight persons, vulgarly denominated the ”Posts of the Parish;” though they should properly be called Provosts.
[Sidenote: Contains 12 towns.h.i.+ps.]
[B] ASTHALL. At this village is an old manorial mansion, now used as a farm-house, which was formerly the residence of Sir Richard Jones, one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas in the reign of Charles the First. In the north aisle of the church stands a large stone coffin, said to contain the remains of Alice Corbett, concubine to Henry I.
_Mail_ arrives 5 morning; departs 9.35 evening.
[Sidenote: Alice Corbett.]
[C] ASTLEY. This manor was held, in the reign of Henry II., by Philip de Estley, of the Earl of Warwick, by the service of holding the Earl's stirrup when he mounted or alighted from his horse. From this person are descended two families, seated at Hill Morton, in this county, and at Patshull, in Staffords.h.i.+re. In the reign of Henry V. the estate pa.s.sed by marriage to the Greys of Ruthin, from whom it descended to Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset, and Duke of Suffolk, beheaded in the reign of Queen Mary, for an attempt to make Lady Jane Grey queen. The manor belongs at present to F.P. Newdigate, Esq. Astley Castle is surrounded by a moat, along the inner edge of which lie the remains of ma.s.sive walls. The habitable part of the mansion is probably not older than the time of Mary; but it is clad in a garb of ivy, and other evergreens, which renders it singularly picturesque. In one room is preserved a portrait of the factious Suffolk, respecting whose capture the following particulars are related:--”Finding that he was forsaken, he put himself under the trust of one Underwood, as it is said, a keeper of his park here at Astley, who hid him for some few days in a large hollow tree, standing about two bow-shots from the church; but, being promised a reward, he betrayed him.” The church of Astley having been made collegiate, by Lord Thomas de Astley, was by him rebuilt, and adorned with a spire, so lofty that it served as a land-mark in the deep wood-lands of the district, and was popularly termed ”The lanthorn of Arden.”--The interior is curious and interesting, although many monuments and decorations have been removed or destroyed at various times. On an altar-tomb at the west-end are the effigies, in alabaster, of a warrior and a lady; and on another, is the mutilated figure of a female in a rec.u.mbent posture: both are without inscription.
[Sidenote: Singular tenure.]
[Sidenote: Lord Suffolk betrayed by his keeper.]
[D] ASTLEY. This village is situated on the Severn, it was noted before the dissolution, for its priory of Benedictines, and is now remarkable chiefly for a hermitage formed in the living rock, and recently converted into an ale-house. The church, built in the Saxon style of architecture, contains some monuments and a few fragments of stained gla.s.s. Here is the ancient seat called Gla.s.shampton.
[Sidenote: Hermitage.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From +--+-----------------+----------+---------------+-------------+ 33
Astley Abbots pa
Salop
Bridgenorth 2
M. Wenlock 7
5
Aston ham
Bucks
Ivinghoe 1
Dunstable 7
7
Aston to
Chester
Northwich 3
Warrington 8
7
Aston to & chap
Chester
Frodsham 3
Northwich 8
10
Aston ham
Derby
Tideswell 6
Castleton 2
53
Aston to
Flint
Hawarden 2
Flint 6
17
Aston pa
Hereford
Ludlow 4
Leominster 10
18
Aston[A] pa
Herts
Stevenage 3
Watton 4
56
Aston to
Montgomery
Ch. Stretton 10
Montgomery 7
31
Aston ham
Oxford
Witney 5
Bampton 2
35
Aston to
Stafford
Drayton 6
Newcastle 6
39
Aston[B] pa
Warwick
Birmingham 2
Tamworth 13
46
Aston[C] to & pa
N.R. York
Rotherham 6
Sheffield 8
+--+-----------------+----------+---------------+-------------+
Dist.
Map
Names of Places.
Number of Miles From
Lond.
Population.
+--+-----------------+--------------------------+-----+-------+ 33
Astley Abbots pa
Madeley 6
142
666
5
Aston ham
Leighton 5
34
406
7
Aston to
Frodsham 9
176
409
7
Aston to & chap
Warrington 8
181
197
10
Aston ham
Derwent 3
164
104
53
Aston to
Chester 6
197
237
17
Aston pa
Wigmore 4
143
56
18
Aston[A] pa
Welwyn 6
30
494
56
Aston to
Bishop's Cas. 2
161
84
31
Aston ham
Ensham 7
69
699
35
Aston to
Eccleshall 8
154
277
39
Aston[B] pa
Coles.h.i.+ll 9
111
32118
46
Aston[C] to & pa
Maltby 6
156
564
+--+-----------------+--------------------------+-----+-------+
[A] ASTON. The village and manor of Aston was an ancient demesne of the Saxon kings. Henry VIII. granted the manor to Sir John Boteler, of Walton Wood Hall; but the house now standing at Aston Place, indicates earlier antiquity than the time of that sovereign. Westward of the village, on the eastern side of the great North road, are six large barrows, thought to be of Danish origin; from their immediate proximity to the road-side they excite the curiosity and attention of most persons travelling northward: two of them have been opened, but were not found to contain any thing of sufficient interest to be here recorded.
[Sidenote: The six hills.]
[B] ASTON is in the Birmingham division of the Hundred of Hemlingford.
It may be deemed a part of Birmingham, being inhabited chiefly by artisans in the various branches of manufacture for which that town is distinguished. Aston Hall, the seat of Heneage Legge, Esq., was first erected by Sir Thomas Holt, Bart. in the reign of James I. It was several times plundered during the troubles of his successor, who was entertained here for two nights a short time before the battle of Edgehill, which occurred on October 23, 1642, between the Royalists and the Parliamentary forces. Sir T. Holt endowed an alms-house for five poor men and women in this parish.
[Sidenote: Part of Birmingham.]
[C] ASTON, is a parish and towns.h.i.+p with Aughton, in the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill. In the church, which is dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient monument, under which lie buried Lord D'Arcy and his three wives. There is also a marble slab to the memory of the poet Mason, who was rector of this parish. This distinguished poet was the son of a clergyman in Yorks.h.i.+re, in which county he was born in the year 1725. He became a student of St. John's College, Cambridge, and subsequently a fellow of Pembroke Hall, in the same university. His debut in the literary world was made by the publication of ”Isis,” a poem, in which he satirized the Jacobitish and High Church principles of the University of Oxford. A reply was written by Thomas Warton, ent.i.tled ”The Triumph of Isis.” In 1752 he published a tragedy with choral odes on the ancient Greek model, called ”Elfrida.” Having taken orders in the church, he was presented with the living of Aston, and appointed one of the royal chaplains. In 1759 appeared his ”Caractacus,” a drama on a kindred plan with the former. Both of these pieces were afterwards introduced on the stage, they however met with very little success. In 1762, Mr. Mason was made precentor of York, to which preferment a canonry was annexed. One of his princ.i.p.al works, ent.i.tled ”The English Garden,” a poem, in four books, appeared in the years 1772, 1777, 1779, and 1781. 4to.; this was translated into French and German. In 1775 he published the exquisite poems of his friend Gray, with a Memoir of his Life. At the beginning of the American War, Mr. Mason became so active an advocate for freedom, as to give offence at court, and he was in consequence dismissed from his chaplains.h.i.+p. It is said he felt alarmed at the frightful consequences of the French Revolution, and his zeal cooled towards the latter end of his life. He died April 7, 1797.
[Sidenote: The poet Mason's monument.]
[Sidenote: An advocate for freedom dismissed from his chaplains.h.i.+p.]
Map
Names of Places.
County.
Number of Miles From +--+---------------------------+----------+-------------+-------------+ 5
Aston-Abbots pa
Bucks
Aylesbury 5
Winslow 7
15
Aston-Blank pa
Gloucester
Northleach 4
Stow 5
33
Aston-Botterill pa
Salop
Bridgenorth 9
Cleobury 7
39
Aston-Cantlow pa
Warwick
Alcester 4
Henley 4
5
Aston-Clinton[A] to & pa
Bucks
Tring 4
Ivinghoe 5
33
Aston-Eyre to
Salop
Bridgenorth 3
M. Wenlock 5
23
Aston-Flamville to & p
Leicester
Hinckley 3
Lutterworth 8
7
Aston-Grange to
Chester
Frodsham 4
Northwich 7
17
Aston-Ingham pa
Hereford
Ross 6
Ledbury 10
28
Aston on the Walls, to & pa
Northamp
Banbury 8
Daventry 9
42
Aston-Magna ham
Worcester
Moreton 3
s.h.i.+pston 6
31
Aston-Middle to & pa
Oxford
Deddington 3
Woodstock 8
7
Aston-Mondrum to
Chester
Nantwich 4
Tarporley 8
31
Aston-North pa
Oxford
Deddington 2
Bicester 9
31
Aston-Rowant pa
Oxford
Tetsworth 4
Thame 4
5
Aston-Sandford pa
Bucks
Thame 4
Aylesbury 6
15
Aston-Somerville pa
Gloucester
Evesham 4
Broadway 4
31
Aston-Steeple[B] to & pa
Oxford
Deddington 4
Woodstock 7
15
Aston-Subege pa
Gloucester
Campden 2
Evesham 6
4
Aston-Tirrold pa
Berks
Wallingford 6
E. Illsley 6
15