Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/822

Rh MELTON PAEVA. 8H MENDHAM. and Tuesday following 17th January, on the 13th March, 4th May, Tuesday and Wednesday in Whitsun week, 21st August, and 7th September, for horses, cattle, and sheep ; but that in Whitsun week is also a great plea- sure fair. MELTON PABVA, or LITTLE, a par. in the hund. of Humbleyard, co. Norfolk, 6 miles S.W. of Norwich, its post town. It is a small agriculturaljvillage, situated S. of the river Yare. The land is chiefly arable. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 110, in the patron, of Emanuel College, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to St. James, is a small thatched structure, with a square tower containing three bells. The parochial charities produce about 18 per annum. There is a school for both sexes, supported by voluntary contributions. Charlea Lombe, Esq., is lord of the manor and principal landowner. MELTON-BOSS, a par in the S. div. of the hund. of Yarborough, parts of Lindsey, co. Lincoln, 5 miles E. of Brigg, its post town, and 2 from the Barnetby-le- "Wold station on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lin- colnshire railway. The parish, which is small, is situated on the Wolds, and is chiefly agricultural. There are extensive lime-works. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Lincoln, with the cur. of New Barnetby annexed, val. 200, in the patron, of the bishop. The church, which is small, was erected in 1773, and has but one bell. Lord Yarborough is lord of the manor and principal landowner. MELTON, WEST, a hmlt. in the tnflip. of Bramp- ton Bierlow, West Hiding co. York, 5 miles N. of Bother- ham. MELVERLEY, a par. in the lower div. of the hund. of Oswestry, co. Salop, 10 miles from Oswestry, its post town, and 8 S.W. of Baschurch railway station. The village, which is small, is situated at the confluence of the rivers Vyrnwy and Severn, and is wholly agricul- tural. A tithe rent-charge of 176 17s. is paid to the Bishop of St. Asaph, who also has a glebe of six acres. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of St. Asaph. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient wood and plaster structure, with a turret containing one bell. The parochial charities produce about 5 per annum. The Independents have a chapel at Melverley Green. Major Edwards is lord of the manor. MELVICH, a vil. in the pa. of Eeay, co. Suther- land, Scotland, 3 miles E. of Strathy, and 24 S.W. of Thurso. MELVILLE, an ancient par. in co. Edinburgh, Scot- land, now joined to Lasswade. MELVILLE CASTLE, a seat of the Earl of Leven, co. Fife, Scotland, near Monimail. It has an old tower, built by Cardinal Beaton in the middle of the 16th cen- tury, and carved with the arms of the Bethunes. It gives the titles of earl and baron to the Earl of Leven. MELVILLE CASTLE, the seat of Viscount Melville, in the par. of Lasswade, co. Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated in a well-wooded park, and came to Viscount Melville, to whom it gives title, through the Bennies. MELVILLEDEAEG, a vil. in the par. of Gairloch, co. Eoss, Scotland, 7 miles S.W. of Gairloch. MELVIN, a lough between the cos. Fermanagh and Leitrim, Ireland. It extends about 8 miles in length by 2 broad, and discharges itself by a stream past Eon- lough to the sea. MELWOOD, a hmlt. in the par. of Owston, co. Lin- coln, 2 miles S.E. of Epworth. MEMBTJEY, a par. in the hund. of Axminster, co. Devon, 3 miles N.W. of Axmitster, and 9 E. of Honiton. Chard is its post town. It is a small irregularly built village, on the river Yarty, and on the borders of Dorset- shire. The par. is divided into two tythgs. N. and S. In the neighbourhood is Castle Camp, two acres in ex- tent, and situated on a hill. Stone is quarried here. The soil is various. The tithes have been commuted for rent-charges of 132 each, payable to the prebenda- ries of Grindall and Warthill, and the vicarial for 336. The living is a cur. * annexed to the vie. * of Axminster, in the dioc. of Exeter. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is an ancient stone structure with a towe: containing five bells. In the interior of the church is i monument to Sir S. Calmady, who was mortally wounde at the siege of Ford House. The parochial charitie produce about 5 per annum. There is a National school for both sexes, in which a Sunday-school is also held. Goodmans is the principal residence. The Eev. Lor<~ John Thynne, D.D., is lord of the manor. MENAI, a hund. in cp. Anglesea, contains the pars, of Llanedwin with Llanfair-yn-y-Cwmmwd, Llanerchy- medd, Llanfnnan, Llanfihangel-Esceiflog, Llangciin, Llangeinwen, Uangaffo, Llangwyllog, Llanidan, Llan- ddaniel-Fab, Newborough, Ehodogeidio, Ehoscolyn, etr.d Tregayan. It gives name to a deanery in the arch- deac. and dioc. of Bangor. MENAI STRAITS, THE, between Carnarvon and Anglesea, on the coast of Wales, were anciently called Maenige,OTHannie, by the Saxons. They extend in length about 17miles,and vary in width from one-third of a mile to 4 miles, being subject to two tides, which run from 5 to 9 miles per hour, and have a rise of 20 feet. The shore is lined on either side by slatey rocks, and in the centre of the channel were two large masses of rock, known as the Cow and Calf Bocks, which much impeded the navigation ; but these were removed in 1863. At the point called Trwyn-Du is a lighthouse, and there are several ferries, but these are of small importance since the construction of the Great Suspension Bridge in 1818 by Telford, at a cost of 211,791. This bridge, one of the wonders of engineering skill, is suspended from piers 653 feet apart, and 163 feet high, over which 16 chains pass, each 1,715 feet in length, with a fall between the piers of 44 feet, so that the roadway is 100 feet above the level of the sea below, and is 28 feet in width. The total weight of the bridge is 644 tons, and its length about one-third of a mile, including the four arches on one side, and the three on the other, which carry the road out to the suspending piers. To the S. of this bridge is another engineering work of still vaster design, the Bri- tannia Bridge, begun by Robert Stephensou in 1846, to carry the Holyhead railway over the Straits at this point, 1,100 feet broad between the cliffs on either shore, but the total length of the bridge is 1,833 feet, including 230 feet from the land on the Carnarvon side to the first pier, and the same to the land on the Anglesea shore, j The space between is spanned by two enormous tubulad ways, or troughs, 1,513 feet long, made of wrought-iron plates, about three quarters of an inch in thickness, tightly riveted together, and weighing 5,000 tons each. The tubes, which lie side by side, are supported at the height of 104 feet above the sea at high water, by throe vast piers built in the water, each pier measuring at thM base 62 feet by 63 feet. It is said to have cost somewhat over 600,000, and to have absorbed, in its construction, 11,400 tons of iron, 14,000,000 cubic feet of Anglesea limestone, and 450,000 cubic feet of timber. The iirst train went through it on the 5th March, 1850, and ever since it has been in constant use. MENDHAM, a par. chiefly in the hund. of Hoxne, co. Suffolk, but partly also in the hund. of Earsham, co. - Norfolk, 2 miles S.E. of Harleston railway station, its post town. The par. of Needham, in Norfolk, was ori- ginally a hmlt. or chplry. to this par., but is now entirely distinct both for civil and ecclesiastical purposes. The village, which is wholly agricultural, is situated on the river Waveney. At Bruninghurst Farm are the ruins of a Cluniac priory cell to Castle- Acre, founded by Wil- liam de Huntingfield, in the reign of Stephen. It sub- sisted till the Dissolution, when the site was granted to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. The impropriatx tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 440, an the vicarial for 50. The living is a vie. in the dioc. i Norwich, val. 122. The church, dedicated to All Saint has a square embattled tower, crowned with pinnacle; containing six bells. The parochial charities produc about 1 per annum. The tithes were commuted in 1841. The Independents and Wesleyans have each a place < worship. The par. consist of three manors, viz. Wal- sham Hall, Mendham King's Hall, and the Priory. '