Site-Search
Coming Soon
|
Site-Search |
|
Page and site |
|
Edgware in Middlesex County England History and GeographyEDGWARE, a parish (formerly a market town) in the hundred of GORE, county of MIDDLESEX, 8 miles (N.W. by W.) from London, containing 551 inhabitants. This place, from its situation within a pleasant distance of the metropolis, and the excellence of the road leading to it through an almost uninterrupted succession of elegant villas and agreeable scenery, has become the residence of numerous opulent and respectable families. The Roman Watling-street, leading to the ancient city of Verulam, passes over a bridge near the entrance to the village, which consists of one principal street, of which the western side is in the parish of Little Stanmore, or Whitchurch, where, in the early part of the eighteenth century, James, Duke of Chandos, at an expense of £250,000, erected the magnificent palace of Canons, the walls of which were twelve feet in thickness at the hase, and nine feet thick in the upper part; the pillars of the hall and the steps of the grand staircase were of the most beautiful marble, and the locks and hinges of the doors were of silver; the internal decorations were of the most splendid description, and the grounds were adorned with a profusion of statuary; the household establishment was in every respect equal to the splendour of this sumptuous mansion; the chapel was of like elegance, and richly embellished with paintings of the Italian school: the most eminent composers were employed in the arrangement, and the most eminent masters in the vocal and instrumental performance of the musical services. After the death of the duke, this noble mansion was taken down and sold piecemeal: the columns formed part of the portico of Wanstead-house; the marble staircase was put up in the Earl of Chesterfield's residence in Mayfair, London; and the celebrated equestrian statue of George I. at present decorates the area of Leicestersquare. The village contains several respectable houses, and is supplied with water from a well dug in 1822, by public subscription. The market, formerly on Thursday, has been discontinued, but an annual fair is still held on the first Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, in August, for cattle and toys: on the two last days races are held, which are in general well attended. Edgware is within the jurisdiction of a court of requests held at Brentford and Uxbridge, for the recovery of debts under 40s. There are courts baron and leet annually on the 1st of May; and the petty sessions for the division are held in that part of the village which is in the parish of Little Stanmore. Sir William Blackstone mentions a singular ancient custom as existing here, for the lord of the manor to provide a minstrel or piper to play for the amusement of the tenants, and there is in the parish a small field still called Piper's Green. The living is a perpetual curacy, but having been from time immemorial endowed with the vicarial tithes, it may be considered a vicarage not in charge; it has been further endowed with the rent of three houses in Hosier-lane, London, by Mr. John Jones; it is in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, and diocese of London, and in the patronage of John Lee, L.L.D. The church, dedicated to St. Margaret, with the exception of its square embattled tower, which is of flint and stone, was rebuilt of brick in 1763, and the interior was thoroughly repaired in 1822. An almshouse, containing four tenements, with a garden to each, was founded for four aged women, in 1680, by Samuel Atkinson, Esq., who endowed it with lands at Oakley, in the county of Buckingham, to which has been added a small bequest of land at Kenton, in Middlesex, by Thomas Napier, Esq., producing together, exclusively of the rents of Harrod's Green, given by Mr. Watts to the parish, and appropriated to this charity, an annual income of £32. 10. Charles Day, Esq., in 1828, founded almshouses for eight aged persons, five of Edgware, and three of Little Stanmore, and endowed them with £100 per annum: the premises, situated at the northern extremity of the village, are handsomely built, at an expense of £2000, in the later style of English architecture, fronted with stone brought from Eadley in Yorkshire, and have a clock in the centre. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
Readers of this page were also interested in: Alton in Southampton County England History and Geography ALTON, a market town and parish in the northern division of the hundred of ALTON, county of SOUTHAMPTON, 30 miles (N.E.) from Southampton, and 47 (S.W. by W.) from London, containing 2499 inhabitants. The name, a contraction of Old Town, is descriptive of its great antiquity, having been a royal demesne in the reign of Alfred: It sent one member to parliament in the 23d of Edward I Camborne in Cornwall County England History and Geography CAMBORNE, a market town and parish in the hundred of PENWITH, county of CORNWALL, 4 miles (W.S.W.) from Redruth, and 267 (S.W.) from London, on the road from Truro to Penzance, containing 6219 inhabitants Dawlish in Devon County England History and Geography DAWLISH, a parish in the hundred of EXMINSTER, county of DEVON, 2¾ miles (N.N.E.) from East Teignmouth, containing 2700 inhabitants Newbury in Berks County England History and Geography NEWBURY, a market town and parish, having separate jurisdiction, though locally in the hundred of Faircross, county of BERKS, 17 miles (W. by S.) from Reading, and 56 (W. by S.) from London, on the road to Bath, containing, with Sandleford Priory, 5364 inhabitants Northfleet in Kent County England History and Geography NORTHFLEET, a parish in the hundred of TOLTINGTROUGH, lathe of AYLESFORD, county of KENT, 1½ mile (W.) from Gravesend, and 20 miles (E.) from London, containing 1964 inhabitants. This place is mentioned in Domesday-book, and is supposed to have been more anciently a Roman and a Danish station. The river Thames bounds the parish on the north Walton le Dale in Lancaster County England History and Geography WALTON le DALE, a chapelry in the parish and lower division of the hundred of BLACKBURN, county palatine of LANCASTER, 2 miles (S.E.) from Preston, containing, according to the last census, 5740 inhabitants, since which period the number has increased to about 7000 |
