Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/282

Rh BIKKDALE. 272 UIKKWITH. l:ll;Kl>AU:, a limit, in the par. of Dufton, East War.l, in tin i- i. m' Ve-tmor. land, 8 miles t" tin- N.K. l.'by. i;li;KI>AI.K, ,-i limit, in the chplry. of Muki r, and iuton, wap. of Gilling, in the North Hiding ni 1 tin- co. i.f York, imt far i'rmn Milker. l;l HKKNIIKAD, a parliamentary borough, seaport, and market town, in tin: lower div. of the hund. of Win-ill, in the OO. palatine of < In -ter, 13 miles to the N . V. of Chester, and 203 miles from London by road, or 193 miles by railway. It is situati d mi tli . and near the mouth uf the rivci |>osito to Liverpool, of which port it isa*i Although a i-lijilry., in the par. of Bidston, for civil purposes, it forms a separate *! ; irish. It in com with Chester and Manchester by the Liverpool, l!iik< -n- hcad, and Chester, and the Manchester, Warrii, and Chester railways. The former passes under the town through a tunnel 600 yards long to the passenger terminus at Monk's Ferry, on the edge of the Mersey. There is also a branch from the old station in Grange- lane to the new goods depots in Cathcart-street and Morpeth Dock. The town took its origin from the Benedictine order founded hero by lliunon de Massey, in the reign of Henry II., -which was, according to some authorities, a cell to the abbey of St. Werburgh, Chester, according to others an indepcnd It was valued at the Dissolution at 91. The building was held by the royalists during the Civil War, till 1644, when it was taken by tin 1 parliament. Birken- head remained a very small and unimportant place till a very recent period. Its growth has been rapid and extraordinary. In 1818 it was a village, con- taining a population of about 60 souls; in 1841, the number of inhabitants had risen to above 8,000 ; and in the next 10 years it had increased nearly threefold, amounting in 1861 to above 21,286, and has since gone on increasing in the like ratio. While the origin of the town was ecclesiastical, its modern importance is wholly commercial, and is due chiefly to the great docks which have been formed. Birkenhead is now a par- liamentary borough, having received the elective fran- chise in 1802, although the seat remains vacant till next general elections. It is under the govern- ment of commissioners, appointed according to an Act "i Parliament passed in 1833 for paving, lighting, and improving the township. Several Acts have been subsequently obtained, autlnn i-iuu' further improvements and arranging various conflicting local claims and in- terests. The streets are regularly planned, wide, clean, paved, and lighted with gas ; there are many handsome residences, but much of the ground is not yet built upon. There is a handsome market-house, 430 feet in length by 130 feet in breadth, with a roof of iron and glass, and six entrances. The post-office is 11 oi edifice in the Corinthian style ol 1 architecture; ]virt of the building being appropriated to the free library. The town also contains a townhall, a gaol, gas and water-works, baths and wash-houses, a savings-bank, and a dispensary. The docks have been formed by closing the entrance to Wallaady Pool, a natural inlet. The, floating dock coven an area of about 160 There are also a tidal and graving docks, with < sivo and convenient wharfs, and aft needful accor dations. The construction of these docks was first mggestid !} Mr. Laird; tin i.i (tone m hid in October, 1844, and they were o|>ened in April, 1860. They have since been purchased by the LiverjKi. ', ion, who at tbe s:une time secured by Act the Cheshire tidal shore of the Mersey, for about 20 i from its nmutli . > ntini; future dock-making it. Adjoining the docks i go vi Tinin 'lit emigration depot lor Australia. I'. liin-s uf railway run to all the quays, and there ia con- ininicatioH with Liverpool by steamboats. g the prin. the Sub-Marine i.iph Works, the iron ship-building yard of Mr. John Laird, and the Canada Works of Peto and Co. A public park has been formed, which extends over about 180 acres, and is tastefully laid out. It hag six that in Con way-street being a handsom< iiie park- is a large cemetery. '1 pcrpet. cur. in the dioc. of < patron, of trustees. The church Mar}*, and is in the decor : There ai i reoa irs. The living of Ho.lv Triniu 260, and in the pati church, erected in 1837, is a larg> man style, with a richly dccorati. The other churches ore dedicated t' St. Janns, and St. I'anl. St. John'swas and is in the early Mnglish style, with a inies's was founded in i ill" 1; and Primitive Methodists, < ,' Besides numerous schools conin churches and the dif- ' founded in 1846 by the Rev. Dr. l dation stone was laid by the Marquis of Duke of Marlborough. His grace has <t in the institution, which now than the 18th part of the clergy of the i land ; and, from the progress it has hit! the high character of its students, it bid of the foremost of thn theological institu' Church of England. The present buildings pi' 'ted in 1856. They are a beautiful i Elizabethan architecture, and the internal a: are highly creditable to the architect at BIUKEXSHAW, a limit, in ti of Morley, in the West Riding of t to the S. W. of Leeds. It is a stat branch of the Leeds, Bradford, and Halifax railway. Coal and ironstone arc o abundance here, and many hand cotton and woollen manufactures. The pcrpet. cur.* in the dioc. of Kipon, vol. patron, of the Vicar of Birstall. lUKKKNSHAW BOTTOM, a limit, in the Birstall, wap. of Morley, in tin West Hiding of of York, close to I'.irkenshaw. r.lKKKK, a tnshp. joined with par. of Millom, ward of Alien! co. of Cumberland, 6 miles to the !! is situa! i a di>tri' ' . In the vicinity arc liirkei I iill, the former having a full of between 60*^^1 and being on.- of the most beautiful Ml I; K II ILL, a vil. in the par co. of Fife, Scotland, not far from Jt if x on the coast of the Frith of Tay. 1UKKIN, a par. in the lower div. of the Barkstone-Ash, in thn West Hiding uf the co. of 6 miles to the K. of 1'onteln ridgeiii town. It is situated on the north bai Aire, and contains the chplry. of ( 1 V' -t Haddn '. The living is a i. York, val. with the porp't. cur. ot 1,008, in th I Hill, is dedicated to St. Marv. JSIKK l.K. a chplry.' in the jar. (,l hund. of Salford, in the co. palatine of InnrMt miles from Middleton. Bury is its post town. living is a jx -rpct. i ur. in the di i'lll, in the patron, of the Hector i.t l'.ll:lv-l;l;<;s, a limit, in the chplr Lunds, and par. of Aysgarth, in the wap. l.'iding of (lie co' of Yolk, near Hnwes. I'.IIiKS. a hmlt. in the par. of East ' . in the Xorth Riding of the co. of Yoil ' 'ddlcham. 1 ; 1 1 ; K S( 1 : 1 i, 1 1 & BRISCO, Cumberland. Ill UK WITH, a hmlt. in the par. of Horton-in-I