Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/403

Rh BROMPTON. 393 BROMSGROVE. and Troutsdale. This place is said to have been a seat of the kings of Northumbria ; and at Castle Hill, near the village, are still traces of an old fortress. The living is a vie. in the dioc. of York, val. 103, in the patron. of Sir George Cayley, Bart. The church is of large size, and is dedicated to All Saints. The Wesleyans have a chapel here. The parochial charities produce 7 a year. High Hall, or Bromptou House, has been the seat of the Cayley family, to whom the manor belongs, for above two centuries. John of Brompton, a monkish chronicler, is conjectured to have been a native of this place. BROMPTON, a chplry. in the par. of Northallerton, and wap. of Allertonshhe, in the North Riding of the co. of York, 2 miles to the N. of Northallerton. It is a station on the North-Eastern railway. Westward of the village is Standard Hill, where the famous battle of the Standard was fought between the Scots and English in 1138, and in which the former, under their king, David I., were defeated. The inhabitants of the village are chiefly employed in the linen manufacture. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of York, worth 120, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The Wesleyans Primitive Methodists have chapels here. There some charities of trifling value. IROMPTON PATRICK, a par. in the waps. of ,st and West Hang, in the North Riding of the co. of York, 6 miles to the E. of Leyburn. Arrathorne, Newtou-le- Willows, and Hunton are tnshps. of this par. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Ripon, of the val. of 100, in the gift of the Bishop of Chester. The church is dedicated to St. Patrick. Here is a small free school, endowed in 1707, by Samuel Atkinson, with an income of about 20. The other parochial charities produce 7 a year. BROMPTON RALPH, a par. in the hund. of Willi- ton and Freemanners, in the co. of Somerset, 3 miles to the N. of Wiveliscomhe. It is situated in a pleasant wooded district at the eastern extremity of Brendon Hill. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Bath and Wells, of the val. of 347, in the gift of J. Blommart, Esq., and Hiss Escott. The church, partly rebuilt about 1740, is dedicated to St. Mary. Near the village are vestiges of a Roman camp. The West Somerset hounds meet here. BK< iMPTOX REGIS, a par. in the hund. of Williton and J'Yoemanners, in the co. of Somerset, 3 miles to the N.E. of Dulverton. It lies at the south foot of Brendon Hill, on the banks of the river Exe, and contains the site of a Dominican priory, founded in the reign of Henry II., and valued at the Dissolution at about 99. Brompton was anciently a hundred and a market town. Good building stone is abundant in the neighbourhood. The living is a vie. * in the dioc. of Bath and Wells, of tile val. of 400, in the gift of the Master and Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, contains a carved screen. Cattle fairs are held in May and October, each lasting four days. BROMPTON-UPON-SWALE, a tnshp. in the par. of Easby, wap. of East Gilling, in the North Riding of the co. of York, 3 miles to the E. of Richmond. Citadilla is a limit, of this tnshp. BEOMSBERROW, a par. in the hund. of Botloe, in the co. of Gloucester, 4 miles to the S.E. of Ledbury, and 11 miles to the N.W. of Gloucester. It lies on the bor- der of Worcestershire, near the river Leden. The living is a rect. * in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, of the val. of 339, in the patron, of Earl Beauchamp. The church is dedicated to St. Mary, and contains several monu- ments and the tombs of the Yateses, who had their seat at Bromsbcrrow Place. The charitable endowments are worth about 5 a year. BROMSGROVE, a par. and market town in the upper div. of the hund. of Halfshire, in the co. of Worcester, 11 miles to the N.E. of Worcester, and 116 miles from London byroad, or 127 miles by the London and North- Western railway. It has a station on the Bristol and Birmingham section of the Midland railway, the station itself being situated in the adjoining parish of Stoke Prior. This place was a royal demesne for some time after the Norman Conquest, and was anciently called VOL. I. Brcmcsgrave. In the reign of Edward I. the town sent two members to parliament. Burcot, the Rock, and Sidemoor, are hmlts. of this par. Bromsgrove is situated in a rich and beautiful valley at the southern foot of the Lickey hills, on the banks ot the river Salwarp, which, with several small streams, has its source in the neigh- bourhood. Among these are the Rea, which runs through Birmingham, and the Arrow. The Lickey range, which is of considerable elevation, and commands extensive and diversified prospects, consists chiefly of quartzoso sand- stone. The great gravel-beds of Oxfordshire are believed to have been derived from these hills. One of the springs on the Lickey supplies two streams, one of which, joining the Rea, falls with the Trent into the North Sea, and the other, joining the Stour, falls with the Severn into the Irish Sea. On the hills are found the cranberry and the purple cinquefoil. The town consists chiefly of one long street, with others branching off right and left. The High-street is spacious, containing many well-built houses and shops, interspersed with a few ancient wood-framed houses of divers colours, giving a pic- turesque appearance to the place. The town has been much improved since 184G, under an Act passed for that purpose, and is now well paved, lighted with gas, and supplied with abundance of water by means of pumps. Near the middle of the town is the townhall, erected in 1832, beneath which is a market-house, principally used for butter and poultry. The principal trade of the town is the manufacture of nails, needles, and buttons. In the neighbourhood are extensive beds of salt and a brine spring, the discovery of which led to the establish- ment of the great works in the adjoining parish of Stoke- Prior. The linen manufacture is no longer carried on at Bromsgrove, nor is the clothing trade mentioned by Leland ; but there are coach factories for building railway carriages, and some malting establishments. Broms- grove is the seat of a Poor-law Union, the head of a County Court district, and one of the polling places for the eastern division of the county. The town contains a police station, a branch bank of the Stourbridgo and Kidderminster Banking Company, and a savings-bank. The Union poorhouse, a large brick building, is about a mile to the north of the town. Petty sessions are held by the county magistrates every Tuesday in the town- hall, and the county court meets once a month. The living is a vie. * in the dioc. of Worcester, of the yearly val. of 1,005, in the gift of the dean and chapter, to whom belong the rectorial tithes, compounded at 1,227 per annum, and about 40 acres of glebe land, let to the Baroness Windsor. They are also lords of the manor. The church, which stands on high ground, is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It is very old, having been built in the reign of Henry I., and is partly in the Nor- man and partly in the perpendicular styles of archi- tecture. It has a very fine tower and spire, rising to the height of 189 feet, and contains some good stained windows and monuments of the Talbots, Lytteltons, and others. It underwent an entire restoration in 1858, under the direction of the eminent architect, G. G. Scott, at the cost of 5,600. There are two district churches, endowed from the vicarage one called Christ Church, at Catshill, the living of which is a cur. worth 90, in the gift of the vicar of the parish ; the other, "the Lickey," likewise a perpet. cur.,* val. 80, also in the gift of the vicar. In the town are chapels belonging to the Independents, Baptists, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics. Here is a free grammar school founded by Edward VI., and subsequently further endowed by Sir Thomas Cookes, who also established, in connection with it, six scholarships and six fellowships in Worcester College, Oxford. There are a literary and scientific in- stitution, a mechanics' institute, a school of design, National, British, and infant schools, and some endowed almshouses. The parochial charities amount altogether to about 350 a year. At Dadford, a hmlt. of Broms- grove, are some remains of a small priory, founded in the 12th century, on the site of which the vicar intends build- ing a chapel. Tliree miles from the town, on the N. side of the Lickey hills, is Hawkesley House, which was gar- 3 E