Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/253

Rh BERGHOLT, EAST. 243 BERKELEY. ERGHOLT, EAST, a par. in the hund. of Samford, in le co. of Suffolk, 6 miles to the S. of Hadleigh. Col- ch ter is its post town. It is pleasantly situated on the be .era of Essex, on the north hank of the navigable ri-p Stour, not far from the Great Eastern railway. TJ living is a rect. in the dioc. of Norwich, and in the gi of the Master and Fellows of Emmanuel College, Ci -bridge. The church, a beautiful specimen of per- pc licular architecture, is dedicated to St. Mary. The to ;r was unfortunately never completed, and is raised In. a little way above the magnificent arches upon which it is designed to rest. The five bells are consequently plied and rung in a low structure, called the " bell- rii ," standing in the churchyard. The Independents chapel in the village. Here is a church free !, founded about the close of the 16th century by L( ico Dykes, which has an income from endowment of bout 70 per annum. The parish enjoys the benefit of several other charitable bequests, which produce '. 1- a year, half of which is the income of the to:i land. The principal mansions are West Lodge, nience of 0. I). Halibrd, Esq., and Ackworth Uie seat of Sir T. Seaton, K.C.B. This village birthplace (1770) of the landscape-painter, J., table, who died in 1839 ; several of his best pictures
 * scenes in this neighbourhood.

ERGHOLT, WEST, a par. in the Colchester div. of 10 hund. and union of Lexden, in the co. of Essex, 3 ! los to the N.W. of Colchester, its post town. It is i on the north bank of the river Colne, near the Eastern railway. There are two manors, which we i held for 450 years by the Sackville family, who ired them in the reign of Henry I., and held them ', when Richard Sackville sold them to John Gfoway; from whom they passed to the celebrated po, Sir John Denham. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of ochester, of the val. of 600, in the patron, of W. H< bs, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an 'trueture, with a wooden turret and plain massive . nan pillars supporting the aisles. There are chapels
 * <g to the Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists.

i liial charities are of small amount. iRKELEY HUNDRED, one of the 16 hunds. or ions of the lathe of Scray, in the co. of Kent, in the southern part of the county, and sur- roided by the hunds. of Catehill, Chart and Long- bri e, Blackborne, Rolveuden, and Cranbrook. It com- pr 3 the par. of Biddenden only,
 * RKELEY HUNDRED, one of the 27 hunds.

ibdivisions of the co. of Gloucester, situated in the jrn div. of the co., and bounded on the N. by the . of Whitstone, ontheE. by the hund. of Longtree, on . by the hunds. of Grumbald's Ash and Thombury, >n the W. by the river Severn. Several portions is hund. lie detached. It is divided into two parts ijcr and lower. The lower div. contains the pars. In, t'n an of W ha up lei I,' -berton, Filton, Hill, and Horfield, with parts of of Almondsbury and Henbury, and extends over ea of about 10,000 acres. The upper div. contains th< >ars. of Arlingham, Ashleworth, Berkeley, Bever- Bto i, Cam, Coaley, Cromhall-Abbots, Dursley, Kings- cot Newington-Bagpath, North Nibley, Nymphstield, Ov )en, Ozleworth, Slimbridge, Stinchcombe, Uley, and " T ton-under-Edge, with part of the par. of Rock- >ton. This div. comprises an area of about 52,420 1RKEXEY, a par., market town, and borough in the . J f> IT. .1 .1 _ I> 11 1 1 > . ..,, - div. of the hund. of Berkeley, in the co. of Glouces- ') miles to the S. W. of Gloucester, and 1 1 4 miles from on by the Great Western and Bristol and Gloucester ays. The town is 3 miles from the Berkeley Road sta >n of the latter line. The par. is situated on the ba s of the Little Avon, a tributary of the Severn, and inc les the tythgs. of Alkington, Hinton, and Ham, thq mlts. of Breadstone and Hamfallow, and the chplry. lf one. Its Saxon name was Eeorlcenlan, or Beorclea, t was a place of importance at a very early period, t : jears to have been a royal demesne at the time of the orman survey, and the only market-town in Glou- cestershire, except Tewkesbury. It is a borough by prescription, nominally governed by a mayor and 12 aldermen. That part of the valley of the Severn in which Berkeley is situated is called the Vale of Berkeley. It is a fine tract of rich meadowand pasture laud, between the east bank of the Severn and the range of hills run- ning nearly parallel at a few miles distance. The vale is about 25 miles in length from Matsou Hill, near Gloucester, in the north, to Aust Cliff, opposite the old ferry passage, in the south, and includes an area of about 50,000 acres. This district has long been famed for its dairy farms and cheese. It is said that 1,200 tons of cheese, mostly of the kind known as "Double Berkeley," or " Double Gloucester," are made here in a year. Largo quantities of butter are also made, amounting to several thousand pounds weight weekly. The principal trade of tho town is in timber, com, and malt, carried on chiefly by means of the great ship canal called the Berkeley and Gloucester canal. It is about 16 miles in length, extending from the city of Gloucester to the Severn, which river it enters at Sharpness Point, rather more than 2 miles to the north of the town. The canal is 60 feet broad, IS feet deep, and is navigable by vessels of 500 tons burden. The trade in coals formerly carried on is now very inconsiderable. The town stands on rising ground, about a mile from the Severn, and consists chiefly of one street. There is a market-house of modern erection. Petty sessions are held here by the county magistrates, and polling for tho county election takes place in the town. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, and in the patron, of Lord Fitz- hardinge. Tho church is dedicated to St. Mary. It is a large and handsome edifice, partly in the early English style, with a modern tower, detached and standing at a distance. It contains the tombs of the Berkeley family. Here, too, is the burial-place of Dr. Jenner, the dis- coverer of vaccination, who was born at Berkeley in 1749, and died in 1823. The tomb is marked by a simple monument. Besides the parish church, there is a dis- trict church at the village of Stone, the living of which is a perpet. cur.,* val. 80, in the gift of the vicar. There are chapels belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists and Independents. Tho charitable endowments of the parish are very considerable. They include the income of the free school, 55, founded by Samuel Turner in 1696, and further endowed by John Smith ; the income of some almshouses, and various bequests for the benefit of tho poor. On a hill close to the town are the fine remains of Berkeley Castle. They are in re- markably good preservation, and form a nearly perfect example of a baronial fortress. It was probably founded about tho middle of the 12th century, or considerably enlarged and strengthened by Robert Fitzhardinge and his son Maurice. It is said to have been erected on the site of a very ancient nunnery. The area covered by the pile of buildings is of irregular form, but nearly circular, and is surrounded by a moat. The keep, the most ancient part, stands on a mount, rising much above the other buildings. It is nearly circular, and is flanked by one square and three semicircular towers. It has a massive Norman gateway enriched with sculpture, and is approached by a flight of steps, consisting of large stones. It contains a dungeon, nearly 30 feet in depth, unlimited, and entered by a trap-door. Near the stono staircase is the room supposed to have been tho scene of the atrocious murder of Edward II., in September, 1327, by Lord Maltraversand Thomas Gourney,to whom Lord Berkeley had been ordered to deliver the castle and the prisoner. The chapel stands next the fine old haD, which is nearly perfect. Noble trees now adorn the moat. In the apart- ments of the castle are some royal and family portraits, including one of George, Lord Berkeley, to whom the "Anatomy of Melancholy" was dedicated. Here is preserved, too, the cabin furniture of Sir Francis Drake. The castle was repaired in the reign of Henry VII. In the civil war of the 17th century it was garrisoned for Charles I., but was taken in 1645 by the parliamentary forces after a siege of nine days. It is now the seat of Lord Fitzhardinge. The market is on Wednesday.