Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/589

Rh CINQUE POETS, THE. 579 CIRENCESTER. Dean Forest, in the co. of Gloucester, 3 miles W. of Newnham. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, val. 150, in the patron, of the crown. The church is dedicated to St. John. The Vesleyans and Baptists have each a place of worship. CINQUE POETS, THE, an association of the sea- port towns lying between Birchington, in the Isle of 1'hanct, iind Seaford, in Sussex. It is said to have been instituted by Edward the Confessor for the defence of the , and to have been confirmed by William the N'unnan. The original towns were Dover, Sandwich, Hominy, Hythe, and Hastings, to which Rye and Win- heist a, with several subordinate members, were after- .vards added. The supreme jurisdiction is vested in lie lord warden, who is Constable of Dover Castle by irtue of his office. The privileges of the inhabitants, icfore the passing of the Reform Act, were very eon- idcrable, and they still enjoy exemption from serving on ounty juries and in the militia. CIPPEN, a hmlt. in the par. of St. Dogmel's, in the o. of Pembroke, 6 miles S. of Fishguard. CIPPENHAM, a lib. in the par. of Burnham, in the I lucks, 3 miles N.W. of Windsor. i Ii; KN CKSTEK, a par., market town, and parliamen- iry borough, in the hund. of Crowthorne and Minty, in 10 co. of Gloucester, 9.5 miles distant from London by ic Great Western railway, 16 from Stroud, and 28 from er. It is connected by a cut with the Thames -a canal, and has communication with all parts id by means of a branch line connecting the ! and the Bristol and Birmingham rail- aj'S. Cirencestcr appears to have been a town of rportanco from a very remote antiquity. Previous to ic Koinan invasion it was, according to Henry ot untingdon, a British city, called Caer-Cori, a contrac- c in of Catr-Corin, "the Camp or Fort on the Corin." !he Romans made it a military station, and from its tuation at the intersection of the Fosse-way with the rmiiiL' and Icknield Streets it soon became a place of .nsidiTablo extent and importance. The site of the "esent is not identical with that of the Roman town, as lown by the vestiges of the vallum and rampart yet sible on the south-eastern side of the town, and which the last century could be traced from Chesterton Farm C'rMy Hill, where Roman inscriptions, tesselated .vemcnts, and various fragments of columns have been !ly turned up. Ptolemy calls it Corinium ; chard of Cirencester, Corinum; and Antoninus, in Itinerary, Duroconiovium. In all these names may bo iced the same root as in the name of the river which ersects the town the ancient Corin, now Churn. The xons added the name Censtcr, of which, and its Romano- itish name, the present is a corruption. When the m:uis withdrew from this portion of their possessions, rencester fell once more into the hands of the Britons, d became the capital of the Dobuni, who held it probably til the year 577, when tho West Saxons gaineda great ' -IT at Dyrham, near Chipping Sodbury. An unsuc- li-iiLjit to obtain possession of tho town was Penda, King of Mercia, in 626 ; but his son, named Pi-nda, succeeded in annexing it to the Mer- ai kingdom in 656. Two centuries later tho Danes .'I possession of it, and after their memorable defeat I, at the battle of Ethandune in 879, they d themselves hero for more than a year, 'ling tho negotiations which led to their conversion to
 * ty, and their settlement in the island. Canute

1 1 a great council here in 1020, when, according to the a Chronicle, "Alderman Ethelward was outlawed, '1 Edwy, King of the Churls." Cirencester was Jlaerly celebrated for its abbey, which was founded ^ 'Icnry I. in 1117. The seventh abbot was Alexander -uiam, or Neckam, a native of St. Alban's, who was r owned for his learning. The site of the church
 * i-hed to the abbey is not now known ; but on the site

'ihe abbey itself is a mansion which takes its name. Q'ncester Castle is mentioned as a fortress of some S'hgth during and after the reign of Stephen. In t' reign of Henry IV. a very formidable conspiracy was thwarted by the inhabitants of Cirencester, who fell suddenly upon the army headed by tho Duke of Surrey, the Earl of Salisbury, the Duke of Exeter, and the Earl of Gloucester. The troops fled in a panic, and tho Duke of Surrey and the Earl of Salisbury were taken prisoners. In the reign of Charles I. Ciren- cester took the side of the parliament. The town, being nearly surrounded by water and well fortified, was considered almost impregnable; but in tho year 1642 tho royalists, under Prince Rupert, succeeded in were as zealous in the cause of the Stuarts as they had previously been in tho cause of the parliament. An en- gagement took place near the town, in which Lord Love- lace, who was on his way to join tho Prince of Orange, was taken prisoner. Cirencester has, since tho reign of Elizabeth, returned two members to parliament. By the Reform Act the limits of the borough and of the parish, comprising 5,900 acres, are co-extensive, and include Wiggold, Spirringate, Oakley, Chesterton, and Barton. The town is unincorporated, but enjoys a charter granted to it by Henry IV. in consideration of its loyalty. The government was then placed in the hands of 2 high and 14 petty constables, and the town divided into 7 wards. In 1861 the population was 6,336, against 6,096 in 1851, showing an increase of 240 in the decen- nial period. There has also been a proportionate increase in the number of inhabited houses : in 1S61 there were 1,300, and in 1851, 1,211. The town, which is very healthy, is about 2 miles in circumference, and has eleven streets, four greater and seven lesser, besides several lanes. It has an excellent supply of water, is paved with stone, and lighted with gas. The most con- spicuous building is the savings-bank, which has been recently built, and is in the Italian style. The staple of the town was formerly wool, for which the Cotswold district was celebrated. The manufacture of curriers' knives was afterwards introduced and is still carried on, but is no longer peculiar to Cirencester. The prin- cipal trade is now in corn, but from the want of a market-building of adequate size, the sales are generally effected by sample. County Court sittings are hold monthly in tho townhall, which is a portion of a building attached to St. John's church. Petty sessions are also held, and tho North Gloucestershire militia have their headquarters here. Cirencester is the head of a Poor- law Union, which includes several parishes not only in Gloucestershire but also in Wiltshire. The Duke of Portland takes the title of baron from this town. Tho living of St. John the Evangelist is a vie.,* val. 443, in the gift of the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, within whose diocese Cirencester lies. The church dates from the 15th century, and is in the perpendicular style of architecture. At the W. end is a handsome embattled tower, 134 feet high, ornamented with pinnacles and statues. On the S. side is a richly decorated porch, 38 feet in length, and 50 feet in height. Under the para- pet of the N. side of tho nave, on the outside of tho church, is a series of carved figures, representing tho " Whitsun Ale" mummers, who hold musical instru- ments in their hands, and are in the costume of the 15th century. To correspond with these there is another series of figures on the S. side representing the actors in the old mysteries or scriptural plays ; among them may be noticed a monk, an abbot, a king, a gladiator (with sword and dagger), an angel, and a skeleton, intended to represent Death. The interior of the church is very hand- some. The roof is supported by two rows of clustered columns, five in each cluster. The E. and W. windows are of painted glass. St. Catherine's chapel, which ap- pears to have been built somewhat later than the body of the church, bears the date 1508 on the roof, the cen- tral compartments uf which are adorned with the arms of Henry VII. and of the Prince of Wales. Over a niche in the S. wall is a fresco-painting, which represents the martyrdom of St. Catherine. In an opposite niche is an effigy of Richard Osmund, the founder of the chapel.