Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/855

Rh MILTON, GREAT. 847 MILTON-NEXT-SITTINGBOURNE. church, dedicated to All Saints, is a stone structure with a tower containing a clock and six bells. Th interior of the church contains monuments to the Rolt family. The charities consist of Tumor's almshouses with an endowment of 65 per annum realised fron land. There are day and Sunday schools for both sexes. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. The Countess of Bridgewater and Philip Booth, Esq., are lord and lady of the manor. MILTON, GREAT, a par. in the hunds. of Thame and Bullingdon, co. Oxford, 6 miles S.W. of Thame, and 8 from Oxford. Tetsworth is its post town. The par., which is of considerable extent, is situated near the river Thame, and includes the hmlts. of Little Milton, Chilworth, and Ascot. It is mentioned in Domesday as Midellon, and had a priory cell to Abingdon, which was given to Rich, de Louches. At Milton Field is a meet for the Wormsley harriers. In 1840 an Act was obtained for enclosing 1,300 acres. The prebendal tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 850, and the vicarial for 185. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 248, in the patron, of the bishop. The parish church, dedicated to St. Matthew, is an ancient and noble structure, with a square pinnacled and embattled tower. The interior of the church has a monument to the Dormer family. There is also a district church at Little Milton, the living of which is a perpet. cur.,* val. 100, in the patron, of the bishop. The charities include Kent's annuity of 50 towards the support of a school. There is a place of worship for the Wesleyans. MILTON-KEYNES, or MIDDLETON KEYNES, a par. in the hand, of Newport, co. Bucks, 3J miles S. of Newport Pagnell, its post town. The village, which is small, is situated on the river Ouzel, and is wholly agricultural. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 480. The living is a rect. * in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 500. The church, dedicated to All Saints, was formerly held by Dr. William Wotton, author of " Reflections on Ancient and Modern Learn- ing." The southern porch has an ancient open-work screen on each side. The parochial charities produce about 2 per annum. Bishop Atterbury was born in this parish in 1662, during the incumbency of his father, as was also Dr. Babingdon. George Finch, Esq., is lord of the manor. MILTON LILBORNE, a par. in the hund. of Kin- wardstone, co. Wilts, 2 miles N.E. of Pewsey, its post town, and 7 S. of Marlborough. The village, which is small, is chiefly agricultural. The par. includes the tythgs. of Milton, Fyfield, and Clinch. The Kennet and Avon canal- flows through the northern part of the parish. The living is a vie. in the dioc. of Sarum, val. 111. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient structure, with a square tower containing six bells. There is a National school. The Marquis of Ailesbury isjord of the manor and chief landowner. TlILTON, LITTLE, a par. in the hund. of Thame, co. Oxford, 5 miles W. of Tetsworth, and 1 mile 8. of Great Milton. The village, which is small, is generally considered a hamlet of Great Milton. The living is a perpet. cur.* in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 100, in the patron, of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. James, was erected in 1844 near the site of the ancient one, which had long ago fallen to ruins. There is a National school recently built. M. P. Watts Bolton, Esq., is lord of the manor. JI ILTON-MAZOR, or MIDDLETON MALSOR, a par. in the hund. of Wymersley, co. Northampton, 3J miles S.W. of Northampton, its post town, and half a mile from the Blisworth station of the Birmingham and London railway. The parish, which is of small extent, is situated on the Northampton and Oxford road, and on thr; Northampton section of the Grand Junction canal. It is wholly agricultural, except a few persons employed in the shoe trade. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1780. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Peterborough, val. 340. The church, dedicated to the Holy Cross, has a spired tower contain- ing five bells. The parochial charities produce about 52 per annum. There is an infant school and a chapel for the Baptists. Blake, Esq., is lord of the manor. MILTON -NEXT-GRAVESEND, a par. in the hund. of Toltingtrough, lathe of Aylesford, co. Kent, adjoining Gravesend, within which borough it is included. It was incorporated by charter with Gravesend in the tenth year of the reign of Elizabeth, and is more im- portant both in extent and population than the parish of Gravesend itself, comprising an area of 703 acres, with a population in 1861 of 10,887, the whole population of the borough being 18,0^9. It is a watering-place on the Thames, and has increased very much of late years, having direct communication with London by the North Kent and London and Southend railways, which latter has a station at New Tilbury, on tire Essex shore, where the steamboats meet the trains. It contains many of the best houses in Gravesend, the custom house, fort, literary institution, and Royal Terrace pier, opened in 1845 at a cost of 9,200. The extreme length of the pier is 250 feet and its width 30, supported by 22 cast- iron columns. The upper town commands an extensive view over the northern shore of the Thames' mouth for nearly 40 miles, and to the S. over a richly cul- tivated country dotted with villages and mansions. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 270, in the patron, of the lord chancellor and the bishop alternately. The parish church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, is an ancient structure of the 15th century, situated about a mile from the town on the Dover road, and shaded by a clump of trees on the W. In addition to the parish church are the following district churches, viz. Holy Trinity and Christ Church, the livings of which are perpet. curs., val. 150 and 100 respectively. Holy Trinity church was erected in 1845 at a cost of 4,539, and has a district assigned to it as a separate parish for ecclesiastical purposes under Sir Robert Peel's Act. Christ Church is a modern edifice built in 1852 on land presented by the Earl of Darnley, adjoining the London Road. There is besides, the Pro- prietary chapel of St. John the Evangelist, in the Milton Road, erected in 1834 at a cost of 7,000. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, Baptists, and Roman Catholics. The free grammar school, founded in 1580 and re-endowed by David Varchell, was united with the National schools in 1834. The almshouses, situated in King-street, accommodate about 30 aged persons, but are unendowed. The parochial charities include several bequests for education and relief of the poor. The West Kent hounds are kennelled here. The river, besides being the constant resort of merchantmen and a chief pilot station, is a great yacht station. Watercress is extensively cultivated along the marshy banks of the river for supply of the London market, and extensive market gardens and hop-grounds occupy the higher lands. In the immediate vicinity are orchards of cherries, apples, and damsons. MILTON-NEXT-SITTINGBOURNE, a par. and market town in the hund. of Milton, lathe of Scray, co. Kent, 9 miles E.S.E. of Chatham, and 7 W. of Faver- sham, to which it is a subport. The Strood, Chatham, and Faversham section of the London, Chatham, and Dover railway has an intermediate station between this wn and Sittingbourne, from which place there is a jranch line to Sheerness, in the Isle of Sheppey. The own, which is of great antiquity, is built on the de- clivity of a hill sloping down abruptly to a navigable creek of the river Swale, which separates it from Sitting- >ourne, and leads up to Crown Quay. In ancient times t was a royal demesne, and had a palace of the Saxon (ings. In the reign of Alfred the Great it was attacked >y the Danish pirate, Hastings, who arrived with a fleet of 80 sail, and encamped at Kemsley Down, where he hrew up the fortifications still called Castle Rough, now p-own over with trees and underwood. The town and >alace were burnt in 1052 by Earl Godwin, in a dispute vith Edward the Confessor. In Domesday Survey the town appears to have been rebuilt, and at that time had six mills and 27 salt pans. -It was subsequently, till the