Site-Search
Coming Soon
|
Site-Search |
|
Page and site |
|
Dewsbury in York County England History and GeographyDEWSBURY, a parish comprising the market town of Dewsbury, the chapelry of Ossett, and the townships of Soothill, in the lower division of the wapentake of AGBRIGG, and the chapelry of Clifton, and the township of Hartshead, in the wapentake of MORLEY, West riding of the county of YORK, and containing 16,261 inhabitants, of which number, 6380 are in the town of Dewsbury, 34 miles (S.W.) from York, and 188 (N.N.W.) from London. This place is supposed to have derived its name from Dui, the tutelar deity of the Brigantes, to whom a votive altar, dedicated by Aurelianus, is still preserved at Bradley, said to have been called Duis burgh, or Duisborough, from which its present appellation is derived. It was a place of importance during the infancy of the Christian Church in Britain, and was the mother church in this part of the county. Edwine, King of Northumbria, had a royal mansion here, in which his queen Ethelburga, who had subscribed to the Christian faith, was attended by Paulinus, first Archbishop of York, by whom Edwine himself, and subsequently his whole court, were converted to Christianity, in the year 627; in memory of which a cross was erected, with the inscription Paulinus Hic Pr'dicavit et celebravit, which was many years since found buried in the ground about a foot from the surface; a fac-simile within the last twenty years was made by order of the Rev. J Buckworth, and placed in the gardens of the vicarage, together with several Saxon and Norman antiquities, which that gentleman had collected. The town is pleasantly situated at the base of a hill rising from the river Calder, and consists of several good streets and well built houses; it is lighted with gas, and well supplied with water. There is a public subscription library; and a mechanics' institution has been established within the last five years. For some years Dewsbury has been rising into importance for its manufacture of blankets, carpets, and woollen cloths, for which there are numerous factories (one of which is the largest in the kingdom), giving employment to more than five thousand persons in the town and neighbourhood: the water of the Calder is peculiarly favourable for the fulling of woollen goods. Abundance of coal of very superior quality is found in the neighbourhood. The river Calder and the canals afford a direct communication between the eastern and western seas, and with Liverpool, Manchester, Rochdale, Halifax, and Wakefield, to the Humber. The market is on Wednesday: the fairs are on the Wednesdays before Old May-day, and New Michaelmas-day, and October 6th. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of York, rated in the king's books at £22. 13. 9., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated to All Saints, a very ancient structure, having given way in 1767, was rebuilt, with a due regard to the preservation of its ancient character: during the progress of the work, part of a Saxon tomb was found and removed to the parsonage-house. The church, at Dewsbury Moor, dedicated to St. John, and containing six hundred sittings, of which two hundred and forty-eight are free, was erected in 1827, at an expense of £5502. 16. 8., by grant from the parliamentary commissioners, who have built similar churches at Earl's-Heaton and Hanging-Heaton. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyan and other Methodists. The charity school has an endowment of £108 per annum, arising from an estate purchased with donations of Mrs. Bedford, Mr. Thomas Bedford, and Mr. William Walker: a separate house for the master, with a large school-room, was built in 1810, at an expense of £1300, defrayed from the sale of coal on the estate; there are one hundred boys instructed in this school by a master, whose salary is £80 per annum. A school-house has been recently built by a decree of Chancery, relating to the Wheelwright charity, at an expense of £600, in which one hundred boys and one hundred girls are instructed on the National system; and an infant school has recently been established. Among the remains of antiquity discovered here were a spear-head of an unknown metal resembling gold, one hundred yards from the river Calder, on the premises of Mr. Halliley; a Roman urn, and other relics. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
Readers of this page were also interested in: Sherburn in York County England History and Geography SHERBURN, a parish partly in the liberty of ST Clovelly in Devon County England History and Geography CLOVELLY, a parish in the hundred of HARTLAND, county of DEVON, 12 miles (W. by S.) from Bideford, and 4¾ (E. by N.) from Hartland, containing 941 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Barnstaple, and diocese of Exeter, rated in the king's books at £19. 11. 5½., and in the patronage of Sir. J.H. Williams, Bart Dunmow (Great) in Essex County England History and Geography DUNMOW (GREAT), a parish (formerly a market town) in the hundred of DUNMOW, county of ESSEX, 12½ miles (N.N.W.) from Chelmsford, and 37½ (N.E. by N.) from London, containing 2409 inhabitants Linton in Devon County England History and Geography LINTON, a parish including the sea-port of Linmouth, in the hundred of SHERWILL, county of DEVON, 14 miles (E. by N.) from Ilfracombe, containing 632 inhabitants. This parish, which is situated on the most northerly point of the Devonshire coast, comprises two manors, the lords of which had the power of inflicting capital punishment in the time of Edward I Maldon in Essex County England History and Geography MALDON, a borough, port, and market town, having separate jurisdiction, though locally in the hundred of Dengie, county of ESSEX, 10 miles (E.) from Chelmsford, and 38 (E.N.E.) from London, containing 1398 inhabitants Tipton in Stafford County England History and Geography TIPTON, a parish in the southern division of the hundred of OFFLOW, county of STAFFORD, 1½ mile (N.E.) from Dudley, containing, according to the last census, 11,546 inhabitants, which number has since greatly increased |
