Curiosities of Great Britain: England and Wales Delineated Vol.1-11 / Historical, Entertaining & Commercial; Alphabetically Arranged. 11 Volume set.

CURIOSITIES of GREAT BRITAIN.

ENGLAND & WALES

Delineated.

Historical, Entertaining & Commercial.

Alphabetically arranged

By Thomas Dugdale. Antiquarian.

assisted by WILLIAM BURNETT.civil engineer.
—1835—

Drawn by J. Satmon     Engraved by E. Mansill
KNARESBOROUGH CASTLE.
Drawn & Engraved for Dugdales England & Wales Delineated.

Drawn by J. Marchant.    Engraved by D. Buckle.
THEBERTON HOUSE THE SEAT of THO.^S GIBSON ESQ.
Drawn & Engraved for Dugdales England & Wales Delineated.

CITY OF DURHAM,
DURHAM.
Drawn & Engraved for Dugdales England & Wales Delineated.

THE QUEEN'S PALACE, PIMLICO.
MIDDLESEX.
The birth place of The Prince of Wales, born, Nov.^r 9. 1841, also of the Princess Royal, born. Nov.^r 21, 1840.
Drawn & Engraved for Dugdales England & Wales Delineated.

WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
Drawn & Engraved for Dugdales England & Wales Delineated.

YORK.
OLD BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER FOSS.

PENRICE CASTLE.
GLAMORGANSHIRE
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

TRETWR.
BRECKNOCKSHIRE.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

NEW POST OFFICE.
S^t. Martins le-Grand
LONDON.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

NEW ROYAL EXCHANGE.
LONDON.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

DUNSTABLE PRIORY CHURCH,
(WEST FRONT.)
BEDFORDSHIRE.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

PLYMOUTH SOUND.
FROM MOUNT EDGCOMBE.

MANERBEER CASTLE,
PEMBROKESHIRE.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

West Tower of
GOODRICH CASTLE,
HEREFORDSHIRE.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

Drawn & Engraved by J. Grey
CARLISLE CASTLE,
CUMBERLAND.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

BANK OF ENGLAND.
LONDON.

CITY OF BRISTOL,
GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND SOMERSETSHIRE.
Among the numerous distinguished individuals to whom Bristol has had the honour of giving birth, are Lilly, Chatterton, M^rs. Mary Robinson, M^rs. Hannah More, Southey, Sebastian Cabot, the first discoverer of the continent of America, & many others.

KNARESBOROUGH CASTLE,
YORKSHIRE.
About a mile down the river from this Castle, is S^t. Robert's Cave, the scene of the murder committed by Eugene Aram, which was discovered thirteen years afterwards.

BATTERSEA BRIDGE.
SURREY.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

BATTLE ABBEY.
SUSSEX.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

LLANTHONEY ABBEY.
MONMOUTHSHIRE.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

COWBRIDGE,
GLAMORGANSHIRE.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

VALE OF TAFF.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

LAUGHARNE CASTLE,
CAERMARTHENSHIRE.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

RUNNEY MEAD, OR MAGNA CHARTA ISLAND.
NEAR EGHAM, SURREY.
This place is celebrated in history as the spot where the assembled barons in 1215, obtained from King John, the grant of Magna Charta.

KIRKSTALL ABBEY, NEAR LEEDS.
YORKSHIRE.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

GOLDSMITH'S HALL.
FOSTER LANE, CHEAPSIDE, LONDON.
Drawn & Engraved for DUGDALES ENGLAND & WALES Delineated.

MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL.
Charles Street Mary-le-bone.
This Hospital was instituted for sick & lame patients in 1745. The present substantial building was completed in 1835.

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ENGLAND & WALES

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ENGLAND & WALES
With its Railroads & Canals.

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BEDFORDSHIRE.

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BERKSHIRE.

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BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

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CAMBRIDGESHIRE

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CHESHIRE

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CORNWALL.

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CUMBERLAND.

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DERBYSHIRE.

CURIOSITIES OF GREAT BRITAIN.

ENGLAND AND WALES DELINEATED:

HISTORICAL, ENTERTAINING, AND COMMERCIAL.

[A] ABBERBURY, or Alberbury, a parish and township, partly in the hundreds of Cawrse and Deythur, in the county of Montgomery, and partly in that of Ford, in the county of Salop. Warine, sheriff of this county in the reign of Henry I., founded an abbey for black monks, a cell to Guardmont, in Limosin, which, at the suppression of alien priories was bestowed by Henry VI. upon the college founded by Archbishop Chiechley. Benthall, Eyton, Rowton, Amaston, and Wollaston, are all townships of this parish. At Glyn, in this parish, is the celebrated Old Parr's cottage and birth-place, who lived in the reigns of ten kings and queens. Old Parr's cottage, which has undergone but little alteration since his time; it is timber-framed, rare, and picturesque, within view of Rodney's Pillar on Bredden Hill, in Montgomeryshire. In Wollaston Chapel is a brass plate, with his portrait thus inscribed: "The old, old, very old man, Thomas Parr, was born at the Glyn, in the township of Wennington, within the chapelry of Great Wollaston, and parish of Alberbury, in the county of Salop, in 1483. He lived in the reigns of ten kings and queens of England, viz. King Edward IV., King Edward V., King Richard III., King Henry VII., King Henry VIII., King Edward VI., Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, King James I., and Charles I.; he died in London, (sixteen years after his presentation to Did penance at the age of 105. King Charles,) on the 13th of November, 1635, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, on the 15th of the same month, aged one hundred and fifty-two years and nine months. At the age of one hundred and five, he did penance in the church of Alberbury, for criminal connexion with Catherine Milton, by whom he had offspring."

[B] ABBEY-HOLM is a small town in the ward of Allerdale. The original consequence of this little town was derived from an abbey of Cistercian monks, founded here, about the twelfth century, by Henry I. of England, as the crown rolls imply. Its benefactors were many in number, and by the magnificent grants and privileges with which it was endowed, it acquired so much importance, that during the reigns of Edward I. and II. its abbots, though not mitred, were frequently summoned to sit in parliament. The abbey was pillaged and burnt during the incursion of Robert Bruce, but afterwards rebuilt with great magnificence; few vestiges, however, of its monastic buildings now remain. From the ruins the Parochial Chapel was formed, and there yet stands a part of the church in its original form. During the reign of Henry VIII. the abbey was chiefly dilapidated; the church continued in good condition till the year 1600, when the steeple, one hundred and fourteen feet high, suddenly fell down, and by its fall destroyed great part of the chancel. Its total ruin was nearly accomplished by an accidental fire five years afterwards. This fire took place on April 18, The Abbey destroyed by the accidental firing of a daw's nest. 1604, and was occasioned by a servant carrying a live coal into the roof of the church, to search for an iron chisel; the boisterous wind blew the coal out of his hand into a daw's nest, by which the whole was ignited, and within less than three hours it consumed both the body of the chancel and the whole church, except the south side of the low church, which was saved by means of a stone vault. Almost due-west from Abbey-Holm, in a strong situation near the sea coast, are some remains of Wulstey Castle, a fortress, which was erected by the abbots to secure their treasures, books, and charters from the sudden depredations of the Scots. "In this castle," observes Camden, "tradition reports, that the magic works of Sir Michael Scot (or Scotus), Michael Scot, the magician. were preserved, till they were mouldering into dust. He professed a religious life here about the year 1290, and became so versed in the mathematics, and other abstruse sciences, that he obtained the character of a magician, and was believed, in that credulous age, to have performed many miracles." The story of Michael Scot forms a beautiful episode in Scott's "Lay of the Last Minstrel," the notes to which furnish some curious information respecting that extraordinary personage. Sir Michael Scot, of Balwearie, we are told, flourished during the thirteenth century, and was one of the ambassadors sent to bring the Maid of Norway to Scotland, upon the death of Alexander III. Scottish legends. His memory survives in many a legend; and in the south of Scotland, any work of great labour and antiquity is ascribed either to the agency of auld Michael, of Sir William Wallace, or the devil. The following are amongst the current traditions concerning Michael Scot:—He was chosen, it is said, to go upon an embassy, to obtain from the King of France satisfaction for certain piracies committed by his subjects upon those of Scotland. Instead of preparing a new equipage and splendid retinue, he evoked a fiend in the shape of a huge black horse, mounted The fiend horse. upon his back, and forced him to fly through the air towards France. When he arrived at Paris, he tied his horse to the gate of the palace, and boldly delivered his message. An ambassador with so little of the pomp and circumstance of diplomacy was not received with much respect, and the king was about to return a contemptuous refusal to his demand, when Michael besought him to suspend his resolution till he had seen his horse stamp three times: the first stamp shook every steeple in Paris, and caused all the bells to ring; the second threw down three of the towers of the palace; and the infernal steed had French King's concession. lifted up his hoof to give the third stamp, when the king rather chose to dismiss Michael, with the most ample concessions, than to stand to the probable consequences. Another time, it is said that, while residing at the tower of Oakwood, upon the Ettrick, about three miles above Selkirk, having heard of the fame of a sorceress, called the Witch of The witch of Falsehope. Falsehope, who lived on the opposite side of the river, Michael went one morning to put her skill to the test, but was disappointed by her positively denying any knowledge of the necromantic art. In his discourse with her, he laid his wand inadvertently on the table which the hag observing, suddenly snatched it up and struck him with it. Feeling the force of the charm, he rushed out of the house; but as it had conferred on him the external appearance of a hare, his servant, who waited without, hallooed upon the discomfited wizard his own greyhounds, and pursued him so close, that, in order to obtain a moment's breathing to reverse the charm, Michael, after a very fatiguing course, was fain to take refuge in his own common sewer.

[A] ABBOTS BROMLEY. The hobby-horse dance, an ancient custom, was observed here till the civil war.—Ten or twelve of the dancers carried, on their shoulders, deers' heads, painted with the arms of Paget, Hobby-horse dance Bagot, and Welles, to whom the chief property of the town belonged. The horns yet hang up in the church, but the custom is now discontinued. The parish includes Bromley, Bagot's liberty, and Bromley Hurst township. Bagot's park is the deer-park of Lord Bagot, whose seat is at Blithefield.

[B] ABBOTSBURY consists of a single parish, divided into three streets, nearly in the form of the letter Y, lying in a valley surrounded and protected by bold hills near the sea. There is a tradition that this Tradition of St. Peter place was called Abodesbyry by St. Peter himself, in the infancy of Christianity, but it is more probably supposed to have derived its name from the magnificent abbey, originally founded here, in the early part of the eleventh century. The ruins of the abbey (which was once large and splendid, but is now nearly demolished), consist of a large barn, a A ruined abbey. stable, supposed to have been the dormitory, a porch which belonged to the conventual church, the principal entrance, a portion of the walls, and two buildings conjectured to have been used for domestic purposes. The barn, which, when entire, was the largest in the county, is now so dilapidated, that only a part of it can be used. The church, in which Orcus and his wife, the founders, were buried, is, with the exception of the porch and a pile of ruins under some neighbouring elms, totally destroyed; but the numerous chantries and chapels which belonged to it sufficiently prove its ancient magnificence. On an eminence, at a short distance from the town, stands a small building called St. Catherine's St. Catherine's chapel, a sea mark. Chapel, which is supposed to have been erected about the time of Edward IV., and which from its height and lofty situation, serves both for a sea and land mark. Abbotsbury Church appears to have been built a short time before the reformation; the pulpit is pierced by musket balls, said to have been fired by Cromwell's soldiers, at the officiating minister, whom, however, they missed. But it is more likely to have occurred at the time of Sir Anthony Astley Cooper's attack on the royalists, at the siege of Sir John Strangeway's house, in 1651. About Wild fowl decoy, and swannery. a mile to the south-west of Abbotsbury, is the "decoy," where great quantities of wild fowl are annually taken. But the object which most engages the attention of strangers, in the neighbourhood of this town, is the celebrated "swannery," which, not long since, was the property of the Earl of Ilchester. In the open or broad space of the fleet are kept six or seven hundred swans, formerly one thousand five hundred, including hoppers—a small species of swans, who feed and range, and return home again.

[A] ABBOTTS LANGLEY. Before the Conquest, and till the dissolution of the monasteries, this place was in the possession of the abbots of St. Albans. About the time of Henry I., Nicholas Breakspear, Englishman made Pope. a native of this place, was advanced to the rank of cardinal, and at length became pope, by the title of Adrian IV.; being the only Englishman that ever attained that dignity. He died, not without suspicion of poison, in 1158.

[B] ABER (which signifies the mouth of a river, port, or harbour) is situated on the river Gwyngregyr, which here discharges itself into the Irish Sea. The native Welsh princes had a palace at this place, some remains of which are shewn as the residence of Llewelyn ap Ferry to Anglesea. Griffith. It is one of the ferries to Anglesea, and a convenient place from which to visit the formidable Penmaen Mawr mountain. The passage from hence across the Laven Sands to Beaumaris is by no means safe, as the sands frequently shift; but the large bell of this Laven sands dangerous. The bell constantly tolled in foggy weather. village is constantly rung in foggy weather, in the hope that its sound may serve to direct those whom imperious necessity obliges to cross under all disadvantages. Two miles from this pleasing village, following the banks of the stream, which flows through highly picturesque scenery, there is a most romantic glen, and a very fine waterfall; the upper part Romantic glen, and waterfall. of this cataract is sometimes broken into three or four divisions, by the rugged force of the impending cliff, but the lower one forms a broad sheet, and descends about sixty feet, in a very grand style.

[C] ABERAVON is situated at the mouth of the river Avon, on Swansea Bay, and has a harbour for small vessels. Although no charter exists for a market, one has been held here, more than a century past. There is a ridiculous belief, amongst the people of this place, that every Christmas Day, and that day alone, a large salmon presents himself Singular account of a Salmon. in the river, and allows himself to be caught and handled by any one who chooses; but it would be considered an act of impiety to detain him.

[D] ABERCONWAY is an ancient fortified town, beautifully situated upon the estuary of the river Conway. The town is nearly of a triangular shape, and is thought by some to have been the Conovium of The Conovium of the Romans. the Romans. The annals of this place commence no earlier than with the history of its castle, which was erected in 1284, by command of Edward I., as a security against the insurrections of the Welsh. Soon after its erection, the royal founder was besieged in it, and the garrison almost reduced by famine to surrender, when they were extricated by the arrival of a fleet with provision. At the commencement of the civil wars, it was garrisoned on behalf of the king, by Dr. John Williams, Archbishop of York. In 1645 he gave the government of the castle to his nephew, William Hookes. Two years after, Prince Rupert superseded the Archbishop in the command of North Wales. He endeavoured to obtain redress from the king, but failed. Enraged at this injury, he joined Mytton, and assisted in the reduction of the place. The town was taken by storm, August 15, 1646, but the castle did not Town taken by storm, in 1646. surrender till November 10. This fortress remained in tranquillity till a grant was made of it, by King Charles, to the Earl of Conway and Kilulta; when he had scarcely obtained possession, before he ordered an agent to remove the timber, iron, lead, and other materials. It was held on lease, by Owen Holland, Esq. from the crown, at an annual rent of six shillings and eightpence, and a dish of fish to Lord Holland, as Curious tenure—6s. 8d. and a dish of fish. often as he passed through the town. Thus, unprotected, it has suffered material injuries from wind and weather, and is reduced to a state of rapid decay. The ruins are remarkably picturesque, and very extensive. The town was surrounded by high massive walls, twelve feet thick, strengthened at intervals by twenty-four circular and semi-circular towers; these, with the four principal gateways, remain in tolerable preservation. There are scarcely any remains of the Cistercian Cistercian Abbey, founded by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth in 1185. Abbey, founded by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, in 1185. The church contains a few modern monuments, belonging to the family of the Wynnes, formerly of this place. The font appears ancient; it is composed of black marble, curiously carved, and supported by a cluster of pilasters, standing upon a pedestal. In Castle Street is a very old house, called the college, which has a singular window, decorated with several coats of arms of the Stanley family. A day school is also kept in an ancient mansion, called Plas Mawr, situated near the market place, which was erected in 1585, by Robert Wynne, Esq. of Gwyder. The river Conway rises out of Llyn Conway, at the south extremity of the county, in the mountains of Penmachno. The ferry is of importance, as it lies upon one of the great roads from London to Ireland, but is justly considered a dangerous The ferry considered dangerous; loss of the Irish mail and 14 passengers, in 1806. passage, and many are the accidents which have occurred. On Christmas Day, 1806, the boat conveying the Irish mail coach, was lost, and all the passengers, including the coachman and guard, were drowned, except two. At the Ferry-house a noble bay is formed where the tide enters the river. In this view, indeed, there are all the ingredients of a sublime and beautiful landscape. Few rivers, in England or Wales, in so short a course as twenty-nine miles, present so great a variety of beautiful scenery. Below Luna Hall, the falls of the Conway exhibit Falls of the Conway present a noble cataract, shooting from a solid rock. a noble cataract, about fifty feet; the stream of water, shooting directly from one aperture in the solid rock to a considerable distance, descends into a rocky basin, surrounded by hanging woods. One mile below this town, at Trefriw, the river becomes navigable, and contributes to the supply of the surrounding county. In Conway town there still exists Pearl fishery and suspension bridge. a pearl fishery, and a chain suspension bridge has been recently erected in lieu of a dangerous ferry. The vale of Conway teems with interesting objects. Upon the west side is the abrupt termination of the Snowdon chain, down the declivities of which, through innumerable chasms, fissures, and channels, rush the superfluous waters of the lakes above, to mingle with the parent ocean. The principal employment of the poor, in this neighbourhood, is gathering the different species of fuci, commonly Manufactory of barilla. called sea-wreck, thrown up by the tide, or growing upon the breakers. This wreck they put into a kind of square fireplace, made upon the sand, and heat it till it becomes a liquid and forms a cake; when further baked or burnt it resembles cinders, and is called barilla or impure fossil alkali; in this state it is sold to manufacturers of soap and glass.