Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/267

Rh BEVERSBROOK. 257 BEWDLEY. K ledrals. The west front, all panelled, is a singularly pcject and harmonious example of the perpendicular sue. The great east window, of stained glass, copied, its said, from that of York Minster, is adorned with -cits from the lives of Christ and his apostles, and some saints of the Church. There is a porch of great Ixuty, with a panelled front, on the north side of the Irch. The choir, which is in the decorated style, nains above 40 stalls, a fine altar, and a screen of ut rich and elaborate workmanship. Near the altar is hjfine monument known as the Percy Shrine. It is a apied tomb, an exquisite work in the decorated style, mwas erected in memory of Henry Percy, fourth Earl iiumbeiiand, who died in 1489. There is a fine
 * . If tomb, with the effigy of a priest (also a Percy), in the
 * i Ji transept. Not far off stands the ancient " fridstool,"

,'i'h is formed of one block of stone. This fine church jit in repair by means of funds specially granted or n -loathed for that purpose. St. Mary's church is also line embattled tower rising from the centre. It is in styles, chiefly Norman and early English, and i oiiins an octagonal fontadornedwith elegant sculpture, tnpearing an inscription with the date 1530. Thechan- i as a groined ceiling, the panels of which contain por- < 'ii pillar in the nave are sculptured the figures of five
 * ijidsonie and interesting structure, cruciform, with a
 * i- is of the kings of England, mythical and historical.
 * i:fitrels, in memory of a company of minstrels of

ill y. There are many monuments in this church. . : M des the two parish churches, there is a chapel dedi- cafl to St. John, the living of which, val. 120, is in thrift of the trustees. The Independents, Wesleyans, 1 a ists, Primitive Methodists, and the Society of Friends i. .places of worship here. The charitable institutions wments of Beverley are important and consi- d-.jlile, producing, exclusive of the minster lands, about - in per annum. The value of the minster lands is a ; nt 1,900 a year. Here is a grammar school, founded i TV remote period, with an endowment of 10 a and eight scholarships at Cambridge University, n u.lcd by various persons. A good library is connected MI the school. A free school for 160 children of both was founded in 1810, and endowed by the Rev. rat-s. There are also a large National school, r-cnat school, founded in 1709 for the maintenance instruction of poor children, and several other Is. Among the numerous charitable institutions - -'ox's almshouscs for four widows, established in i i:.; Routh's almshouses for 32 widows, founded in - and having a revenue of 682 ; Warton's, for 14 i- .vs, founded in 1712, with a revenue of 404 ; and . tl others. The town has a mechanics' institution,
 * : -. ings-bank, and a dispensary. Beverley is the seat

o: Poor-law Union and of a County Court district. 1' i polling-place for the East Riding, and the head- cju;, crs of the East Riding militia. Quarter sessions
 * ' Ki ding are held here. This town is the birth-

nt' s< vcral distinguished men: amongst whom are i : c lonkish historian, Alfred, or Alured, of Beverley ; Fislr, Bishop of Rochester, in the reign of Henry VIII. , whTvas executed in 1535; Alcock, Bishop of Ely,' v h-.founded Jesuo College, Cambridge, and died in l-'O; and Green, Bishop of Lincoln, one of the writers of t "Athenian Letters," who died in 1779. Mary W< .stonecraft, the friend of William Godwin, was a! -i norn here. Beverley Park was anciently the occa- at of the Archbishop of York ; subsequently ot -b Warton family, whose tombs arc in St. Mary's chujh. It is well wooded, and has some pleasant f''iry. Beverley gives the title of earl to the Percys. > 1 'day is the market day, but a special market for ciit and sheep is held on Wednesday in alternate w -IB. Fairs for the sale of horses, cattle, &c., take place 01 le Tuesday before the 25th February, on Holy iday, the 5th July, the Wednesday before the 25th ferr mber, and the 6th November. Annual races take , pile near the town in June. B TERSBROOK, UPPER and MIDDLE, a tythg. pi rj- in the par. and hund. of Calne, partly in the par. of Hillmarton, in the hund. of Kingsbridgc, in the co. of Wilts, not far from Calne. BEVERSTONE, a par. in the upper div. of the hund. of Berkeley, in the co. of Gloucester, 2 miles to the W. of Tetbury. Stroud is its post town. It is an ancient place, and was called by the Saxons Hyfercstan. A castle ex- isted here before the Norman Conquest. It was a square structure, with towers at the angles, and was defended by a moat. In the reign of Edward III. it belonged to the Berkeley family, by one of whom, Thomas, Lord Berkeley, it was enlarged and strengthened. It stood several sieges during the civil war of the 17thcentury, and was at last taken and destroyed by the parliamen- tary army. The remains, now covered with ivy, consist of a tower, part of the walls, and the chapel ; the latter still entire, and converted into a residence. The parish contains some quarries of roofing-stone. The living is a rect. * in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, val., with the cur. * of Kingscote, which is annexed to it, 590, in the patron, of the crown. The church, which has a stone pulpit, is dedicated to St. Mary. BEVINGTON, a chplry in the par. of SS. Peter and Nicholas, within the borough of Liverpool, and co. of Lancashire ; the living of which is a perpet. cur., val. 150, in the patron, of the crown and bishop alter- nately. BEWALDETH, a tnshp. joined with Snittlcgarth, in the par. of Torpenhow, ward of Allerdale-below-Der- went, in the co. of Cumberland, 6 miles to the N.E. of Cockermouth. BEWCASTLE, a par. in Eskdale ward, in the co. of Cumberland, 11 miles to the N. of Brampton, its post town. It is situated in a wild, mountainous country on the borders of Northumberland, and includes the tnshps. of Bewcastle, Bailie, Bellbank, and Nixons. The name of the par. is derived from a castle founded here by a Norso baron named Bueth, shortly before the Conquest. The rivers Irthing- and Leven take their rise here. Limestone and coal are found in this district, and some lead ore. Bewcastle was formerly a market town. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Carlisle, of the val. of 120, in the patron, of the dean and chapter. The church, situated near the castle, is dedicated to St. Mary. In the churchyard is an ancient stone cross, or obelisk, with inscriptions, the origin and interpretation of which remained undiscovered until very recently. The stone is about 14 feet high, and when deciphered was found to commemorate -Sllcfrid, king of Deira, the son of Oswy, king of Northumbria, who died about A.D. 665. The Presbyterians have a chapel here. Of the castle little now remains but the walls of the keep. It stood on the site of a Roman station on the Maiden Way to Scotland, which passed through this parish. Many coins, stones with inscriptions, and other Roman relics, have been found. The castle was a post of importance in the border wars, and was finally demolished in the reign of Charles I. The site belongs to Sir Frederick Graham, the lord of the manor. In the neighbourhood of Bewcastlo there is much striking scenery, and several mineral springs. The par. is very large, extending over an area of about 30,000 acres. BEWDLEY, a market town, parliamentary and municipal borough, and chplry. in the par. of Ribbes- i'ord, in the hund. of Doddingtree, and co. of Worcester, 14 miles to the N.W. of Worcester, and 129 miles from London by road, or 137j by the Great Western railway, which has a station at Kidderminster, 3 miles to the S.W. of the town ; it may also be approached r/ the North-Western and West Midland railways. There are besides two branch lines in course of formation the Severn Valley line, from Hartlebury to Shrewsbury, which passes through the hamlet of Wribbenhall ; and the Tenbury line, which is to pass through Bewdley, and so on to Kidderminster, connecting Bewdley with the trunk lines of communication to the metropolis, and all parts of the kingdom. Its name is a corruption of Heaulieii, and refers to the singular pleasantness of ita situation. It is seated on the west bank of the river Severn, not far from the border of Shropshire. It was L L