Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/141

Rh AUSTERFIELD. 131 AVEBURY. of the stannary courts, held in it recently. Polling for the county takes place here, and potty sessions for the Austell division of East Powder are held by the comity magistrates. There are also courts held periodically fur the manors of Tewington, Penrice, and Treverbyn Cour- tfiiny. The magistrates sit in the townhall on the first Tuesday in every month, and the Board of Guardians for the poor every alternate Friday. Tho Jiving is a vie.* in the dioc. of Exeter, of tho val. of 576, in tho patron, of the crown. Tho church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. It is a large and ancient edifice, in tho perpendicular style of architecture, -with a tower above 96 feet in height, decorated with curious sculpture. The chancel is early English, and the church in the Norman and Saracenic styles. The font is very old, and covered with fanciful ornament. On the walls of the building the forms of the ladder, hammer, nails, and spear fre- quently occur. These the unlearned not unnaturally itako for representations of the implements of the miner, while the learned see in them objects of a most sacred meter. There is a perplexing inscription over tho
 * h porch, which some read as a Cornish sentence,

L nifying " Given to God." This church was at one time a cell to the priory of Tywardraeth. At Charles- ,wiihall in the beginning of August. There is an II tilmshouse, founded in 1809, for six persons. At Higher .lure in good preservation. It contains a holy well. A ~imilar building stands at Towan. The Mcngu stone stone near the market-house venerated for its anti- To the north of the town are two large barrows, called l;'s Barrow and Hen's Barrow. St. Austell is the f a county court district and of a Poor-law Union. i.iy is the market-day, but a market is also held on re Easter, Whit-Tuesday, the 26th July, the 19th or, and the 30th November. ATSTERFIELD, a chplry. in the par. of Blyth, wap. rth and Tickhill, in the West Riding of the co.
 * ] Blowing-house, formerly part of Menacuddle Wood, is
 * l tin ancient chapel or baptistry, a beautiful early English
 * ,- and for some traditions and customs associated with
 * Saturday afternoon. Fairs are hold on tho Thursday
 * York, 8 miles to the S.E. of Doncaster. It is situ-

i on the North Watling Street, and had a Roman en- . uf Blyth. ATJSTERTON, a tnshp. in the par. of Acton, in the aind. of Nantwich, co. palatine of Chester, 2 miles to -lie N.W. of- Nantwich. It is watered by the river VYeavcr. AUSTHOKPE, a tnshp. in the pars, of Whitkirk and I CJarforth, lower div. of the wap. of Skyrack, in tho West Killing of the co. of York, 4 miles to the E. of Leeds. Jreat and Little Mansion are hmlts. of this tnshp. The Hull, Selby, and Milford Junction railway passes through The engineer, Smeaton, who erected the famous vstone lighthouse, wag a native of Austhorpe (1721). thorpe Hall is the principal residence. AUSTHWAIDE, a tnsliip. in the par. of Millom, nl of Allcrdalc-aljove-Derwent, in the co. of Cum- rland, 5 miles to the E. of Ravenglass. It is united Ivith the tnshp. of Birker. I AUSTINDYKE, a lunlt. in the par. of iloulton, and I L of Elloe, parts of Holland, in the co. of Lincoln, 6 i liles from Crowland.
 * unent. The living is a pcrpet. cur. annexed to tho
 * AUSTONLEY, a tiishp. in the par. of Almondbnry,

per div. of the wap. of Agbrigg, in the West Riding f the co. of York, C miles to the S.AV. of Hudderslielfl. II ;t is on the banks of the river Colne, not far from the order of Derbyshire. The population are chiefly en- aged in the woollen manufacture. L- AUSTREY, a par. in the liund. of Hemlingford, in the co. of Warwick, 6 miles to the E. of Tamworth, its post town. It lies on tho borders of Leicestershire. The living is a vie. in the dioc. of Worcester, of tho val. of 162, in the patron, of the lord chancellor. Tho church is dedicated to St. Nicholas, and was repaired in 1845. The Baptists have a chapel here. There is an endowed school, with an income of 20 per annum, and some other charities of the yearly value of 27. AUSTWICK, a tnshp. in the par. of Clapham, western div. of the wap. of Staincliffe and Ewcross, iu tho West Riding of the co. of York, 4 miles to the N. of Settle, its post tosvn. It is situated in a moorland district, not far from Ingleborough H ill. The living is a perpet. cur. attached to tho vie. of Clapham. The principal residence is Austwick Hall, seated on tho bank of the river Wen- ning. An annual fair for tho sale of cattle is held hero on the Thursday before Whitsuntide. AUTHORPE, a par. in the Wo_ld div. of the hund. of Louth Eske, parts of Lindsey, in the co. of Lincoln, 6 miles to the S.E. of Louth. Alford is its post town. It is a station on tho East Lincolnshire section of the Great Northern railway. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Lincoln, of the val. of 166, in tho patron, of R. Vyner, Esq. The church is dedicated to St. Margaret. The charitable endowments, including a bequest for a sermon, amount to 6. The par. has an area of 1,390 acres, arfd a population of only 126. AVEBURY, or ABURY, a par. in tho hund. of Selk- ley, in the co. of Wilts, 6 miles to the W. of Marlborough. Cahie and Chippenham are its post towns. It lies on the small river Kennet, not far from its source, and con- tains the tythings of West Kennet and Beckhampton. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Salisbury, val. with, that of Winterbourn Monkton, 245, in the patron, of the lord chancellor. The church is dedicated to St. James. There is a free school, endowed by Holford and Martin with an income of 10 a year. Avebury, in itself a mere ordinary English village, with pleasant rural environ- ment, stands on ground which was once the site of one of the vastest and most extraordinary structures of a primitive age and race existing not alone in England but in Europe. In its attractive interest for the histo- rical inquirer and archaeologist, and in its power to stir the imagination, it stands on a level with the mounds of Nimroud and Koyunjik, the sepulchres of Etruria, and the temples of Carnac and Luxor. That here a stupendous structure did once exist is certain, though the gentle touch of nature and the ruder hand of man have long been, and are still destroying, covering, or taking away its visible remains, and the stony testimonies of its existence. What it was is all uncertain, and must probably continue so. The belief most readily takes hold of us that it was one of those "greatest works of mind or hand," which the poet sees are in every ago ' ' done unto God," and we call it a temple. That it has existed from a period remoter than our faltering history has run back to is certain ; and we conclude that it was tho work of the primitive inhabitants of this island. From the investigations of various inquirers, among whom tho principal arc Aubrey, who visited the scene in 1648; Stukeley, who examined it in 1720; and Hoare, who followed them in 1812, we are fur- nished with a tolerably distinct and full conception of the vast monument as it was. On an extensive tract of level ground, bounded on all sides but the north by gentle hills, stood a circle, probably a double circle, of huge stones, varying in height from 5 to 20 feet, the ciix-lc having a diameter of 1,400 feet. Within it stood twoTlesser double circles, not concentric with it, nor with each other, nor in contact, one of them having a single tall stone near its centre, and the other enclosing three similar stones. A deep ditch surrounded tho whole, and outside the ditch was a lofty rampart of earth. The area within the rampart was equal to nearly 29 acres. On the southern half of tho work were two spaces left open for entrance. Tho approach was by two avenues formed of double rows of upright stones, sweeping in long graceful curves, one towards tho south-cast, the other