Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/30

Rh ABEBY8TWITH. 20 ABINGDON. district churches, on. it. which is a ] cur., val. i:J. oii.l aii..th. : --lo, also a p c-iir., val. 160, both in tho putron. of the. cruwn and bishop iiltenmtcly. Thin par. is sometimes named Klam Otcent, or "comer of Gwentland." Ai-.KUYSiwn ii. <a Ai:i.i;i;lii:inui.. u iMta and petty sessions town, port, and bathing place. It is a chplry! in the par. of Llanbadam Fawr, in the hund. ilynn, in the co. of Cardigan, South Wales,
 * i:. t Cardigan, and 208 miles from London.

It was originally called Llanbadam Oaerog, and was (rtified at an early period. The village at that time stood westward of the present site, on ground now covered by the sea. The town stands now at the junc- tion and the mouth of the rivers Ystwyth and Kheidol, which full into Cardigan Bay. Its origin is traced back to the erection of a castle in 1109 by Gilbert de Clare, in defence of his recently acquired possessions. In 1114, an unsuccessful attack was made on the castle by the Welsh. Owain Gwynedd and Cudwaladcr, with a large force, took and demolished it in 113d, slaying nearly all the Saxons and Normans who had settled there. It was rebuilt by Cadwalader, and in 1142 was besieged and burnt by his brother Owain. These changes of possession and fortune were frequent during the struggles between the Welsh and the English. In 1277 it was rebuilt by Edward I., and a strong garrison of English placed in it It was once captured by the Welsh when they wore roused by tho oppression of their Eng- lish. ut it was soon given up again. In the reign of Henry IV. it was assailed and taken by Owain Glyndwr, who held it for three years, and after having given it up to Prince Henry, recovered it by strat. : I']-. MI 1408 the English held the place unmolested. Wil- liam Herbert, Karl of Pembroke, was appointed captain of tho castle and the town of Aberystwith by Henry VIII., in the thirty-fifth year of his reign. In 1631, Charles I. gave permission to Mr. Bushel!, owner of the rural mines of Cardiganshire, to establish a mint in the castle, for the convenience of paying the miners. Some silver coins then struck, bearing the crest of the Prince of Wales, have been found. During the civil war tin- fortifications were strengthened and held for tho king till 1647, when tho place was besieged and taken by the parliament and soon dismantled. There are no remains ..ft lie town walls or gates. Aberystwith is pleasantly situated in the valley of tho Kheidol, here bounded by lofty hills, and overlooks the Bay of Cardigan. It con- sists chiefly of two long streets, crossed at right angles by others leading to tho shore. Tho houses are well built, tho modem ones being of stone. Tho streets are lighted with gas. Tho Kheidol is crossed by a stone bridge of five arches, forming the approach to the town from the south. Its detightnl situation on tho bay, its pure air, and some mineral springs in tho neighbour- hood, have made it a favourite resort for invalids, and one of tho most fashionable watering places on that coast. The beach is pebbly, and is bounded by steep rocks of dark slate, which are worn by the waves into caverns and fantastic forms. The harbour is small, with a bar at the entrance; but since the improvements planned by Mr. Bush and carried on by Mr. Page, craft of 400 tons burden are admitted to the pier. There were 300 vessels belonging toil,., pnrt in IM.II, principally engaged in tho coasting trade. The pm,, .p,l exports are lead ore and oak bark; tho imports, com, butt, r, coal, timber, hemp, tar, ic. 'liv ciiNtoni-hoimo, a small, neat building, was erected in 1828, at the expense of tho government. Aberdovey and Abcraeron are sub-ports. I on Monday and Saturday- tin I..I-H..T in, butter, chec-o, fee. : tin tag butcher*' meat, in th<- IH-- i. ,1 ;,, n I" Castle Hill. Th. |.M; itioni are flannel wea . .,n>l th.
 * a ]>oor-law

rough, which under the lM'..rm JliM of BOS* Bdwmid 1 tti. . .. ,, . i i.,. , ,,, ,,..,. ..,,,,. .,],(, ,._ men, and twelve councillors, under : f the " mayor, aldermen, and burgesses, of the town, boi and liberty of Aberystwith." The mayor is the return- The townhall wliii-h was built in 1770, and stood in the principal street, has boon taken down and a clock tow- -t' - A handsome new townhall has been built on thu marsh, in which tho magistrates hold their meetings. There is a small prison. The new assembly rooms were opened in 1820. There are several libraries in tho town. A theatre was com- menced some years since, but the funds failed, ami the building was converted into dwelling-houses. Kuces take place annually in August, in a field near tho town. Water was formerly supplied from the Ystwyth and tho Rheidul ; it was brought into the town in imrso sledges, and sold at a cheap rate. Waterworks have been established on the hills to the north-east of tin town, and the inhabitants are now supplied by pip. the houses. The living is a pcrpot. cur., united with Llanbadarn-Vawr, val. 170, in the dioc. of St. David'*. and in the patron, of tho bishop. The church, dedi- cated to St. Michael, was built by subscription in 1787, and rebuilt in 1833. It is neat and plain, and stands in the grounds of tho c p'Tlormed in Welsh on Sunday afternoon. Then' ]]> belonging to the Baptists, Independents, Calvinistic. ami Wesleyan Methodists, &c. The remains of the castle, on the summit of a rock standing out into the bay, con- sist of portions of the towers, still forty feet high, the principal gateway, and fragments of the walla. Th. was originally an irregular pentagon, and of considi extent, but it has boon greatly diminished by the a of the sea, which has undermined the rock. It is m.w kid out in walks and pleasure grounds, n tree- tions of Mr. Probart, of Shrewsbury. There are ti of encampments in the neighbourhood ; and a small rock- called Bryn Dyoddef, or Suffering Mount, wasfom a place of execution. A British celt, and a gold .u llenvy VII., have been found on Pendinas Hill, n ing the town. About the year 1779, a mineral spring was discovered near the east end of the town, on the road to Llanbadarn-Vawr, which is prized for its chaly- beate properties. Several other springs imprcti with iron exist in the parish, and at Penglais there are traces of sulphur. Fairs are held on the Monday before the 5th January, on Palm Monday and Whit Monday, and on tho first Monday after tin- 1-ith November for hiring servants. All IM.lM iN, a municipal and parliamentary borough and market town, having separate jurisdiction, lor in the- hund. of l|.,im, i, in i;<il;s, of whica it is tin chief town, li miles 8.W. of Oxford, and 56 miles N.V. of London. It is on a branch of tho Great Western railway, the Abingdon-road station being about 2). miles from the town. It consists of several largo stive t-, di- verging from tin market-place, and is pleasantly sin on the Tha: the small rm r lick fails in: In the time of the liritons it was a city of importance, and a royal residence, where tho council- of tin nation were In Id vaaSeoutrl * ntka- ham (C'hron. Abbend.). In the year 680, a Benedictine monastery, which had 1 uly found' Wood by Cissn, viceroy of the King of Wessex, was d to this place, which then took the descriptive name of Abbandune, or Attention, the "town of the abbey." King Ofla afterwards erected a palace here., in which In and his immediate sin i cssors occasionally resided. In 871, during the reign of Alfn d the I iivat, tho monastery was red by the Danes. A new house was coinm. by K'lrcd, the gland.Min ol Alli.-d, completed by the Abbots Kthclwold and I lidn.ir, and more largely eini. and privilcgid b K.L'ar and Canute, so that it attained the dignity of a mitred abb. y. William the Conqueror iiii'i:don dining Kastcr, 1084, by 1,'obeit d'Oilly, a jKiwerful baron, and he left his son Prime Henry, a! iimd Kiau I- i.. t.. b, edll- in the mona-teiy. Two other royal visits wore paid to this town, one in rj(J7, by Henry 111., and an. itb. i in l.ilS. by Henry VIM. In 14,'il an in tion of tho Levellers took place here, under Mandevill. .