Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/207

Rh PERRY-HILL. 195 PEllTIT. PERRY-HILL, a tythg. in the par. ofWorplesdon, 8rst. div. of Woking, co. Surrey, 3 miles N.W. of Guil- ford. The parisli church is situated in this tything. PERRYS LOUGH, a hmlt. in the hund. of Blackheath, co. Kent, 3 miles S.W. of Greenwich, and 4 S.E. of London. PERRY STREET, a hmlt. in the par. of Chard, hund. of East Kingsbury, co. Somerset, 2 miles from Chard, and 18 S. of Bridgwater. It is situated on Blackdown. PERRY STREET, a hmlt. in the par. of Gravesend, hund. of Toltingtrough, co. Kent, 2 miles from Graves- end, and 23 from London. It is situated on the line of the ancient "Watling Street, near the ferry over the Thames to Tilburv. PERRY STREET, a hmlt. in the hund. of Axton, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, co. Kent, 2 miles N.W. of Dart- ford, and 15 S.E. of London. It is situated near the line of the ancient Watling Street, on the river Darent. PERSHALL, a tnshp. in the par. of Eccleshall, N. div. of the hund. of Pirehill, co. Stafford 1 mile N.W. of Eccleshall. PERSHORE, a hund. in two divs., lower and upper, co. Worcester. The former contains the pars, of Birts Morton, Bushley, Castle Morton, Chaceley, Eldersfield, Hanley Castle, Leigh, Longdon, Madresfield, Great llalvern, Mattron, Powick, Sevcnstoke, Staunton, Up- ton-on-Severn, and part of Ripple ; the latter contains the pars, of Abberton, Alderminster, Beoley, Birling- ham, Broadway, Hackett Broughton, Great and Little Comberton, Dormston, Eckington, Flyford-Flavel, Graf- ton Flyford, Marton Hussingtrce, Naunton Beauchamp, Peopleton, St. Andrew's Pershore, North Piddle, Pirton, Strensham, and Upton Snodsbury, together comprising about 97,210 acres. It gives name to a deanery in the archdeac. and dioc. of Worcester. PERSHORE, a post and market town, partly in the par. of St. Andrew's, and partly in that of Holy Cross, upper div. of the hund. of Pershore, co. Worcester, 9 miles S.E. of Worcester, and 102 W. by N. of London. It is a station on the West Midland railway. It is situated under Ay lesborough and Bredon hills, and on the western bank of the Avon, which is here navigable, and is crossed by a bridge on the S. In the Saxon times its name was spelt Perscora, and subsequently Pearshore and Persore, in allusion to the numerous pear trees which grew in the vicinity. The town appears to have grown up under shelter of a monastery for secular priests founded by Oswald, nephew of Ethelred, King of Mercia, about 689, and remodelled in 984 by King Edgar as a monastery for Benedictine monks. The village and monastery were burnt in 1287, but it was rebuilt, and continued to flourish till the Reformation, when its revenues were estimated at 666 13s. The town returned two mem- bers to parliament in the 23rd year of Edward I., but the privilege has since been discontinued. It is a poll- ing-place for the eastern division of the county, and is under the government of the county magistrates. The town contained in 1861 a population of 2,905, and con- sists of one long street about three-quarters of a mile in length. It is well paved and lighted. The surrounding country is fertile and well cultivated. The Poor-law Union of Pershore comprises 40 parishes or townships, and the union poorhouse is situated in the town. It is also the head of a superintendent registry, and of a new County Court district. Land was assigned in lieu of certain tithes in 1762 and 1802, and the impropriation lii'lnngg to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Worcester, val. with the of Holy Cross, Pinvin, Broughton, and Brickle- hampton annexed, 600, in the patron, of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The church consists of a choir and S. transept, the remains of a noble cruciform church. The church of the Holy Cross was formerly the conventual church of the abbey, and measured 250 1 : liy 120, but has long since been dilapidated, with tin: exception of the tower, which was restored in 1774. The Baptists have a chapel. There are National and other schools. The principal seats are Pershore Abbey and Avon Bank. Until recently there were remains of I'OL. III. the abbey, and of an ancient gate, near which was St. Edburga'ii chapel. Market day is Tuesday. PERSIE, a quoad sacra par. in the par. of Bendochy, co. Perth, Scotland. It is situated near Cupar-Ajjgus. The par. is in the presb. of Meigle, and in the synod of Angus and Mearns, and in the patron, of the commu- nicants. The minister has a stipend of 70. The chapel was erected about ninety years ago. PERT, an ancient par. in the co. of Forfar, Scotland, now joined to Logie. PERTENHALL (formerly PETER'S HALL), a par. in the hund. of Stodden, co. Bedford, 2J miles S.W. of Kimbolton, its post town, and 8 N.E. of St. Neot's. The village, which is of small extent, is situated near Per- tenhall Hoo, and is wholly agricultural. The surface is hilly, and the soil a stiff clay alternating with gravel. There is a chalybeate spring called Chadwell. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 30 7s. 6<l. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Ely, val. 510. The church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, has a spired tower. The parochial charities produce about 13 per annum. Wood End Cottage is the principal residence. Tismey, Esq., is lord of the manor. Hero was formerly a preceptory of the Knights Templars, of which only the site, surrounded by a moat, ia now remaining. PERTH, a post and market town, bonding port, a royal and parliamentary burgh, and the county town of co. Perth, Scotland, 22 miles W.S.W. of Dundee, 39 N.N.W. of Edinburgh, or 45 by railway, and 61 N.E. of Glasgow. It is the junction station or termini of the Dundee and Perth, the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee, the Scottish Central, and the Scottish Midland Junction, or North-Eastern railways. This ancient city, once the capital of Scotland, is supposed to have been in existence at the time when the Romans extended their arms to the banks of the Tay ; who at the first sight of this river, with its grassy lawns and wooded banks, are related by tradition to have exclaimed "Ecce Tiber! Ecco Cam pus Martins!" From the "Itinerary" of Richard of Cirencester there appears to have been three Roman towns in the neigh- bourhood, called Alauna, Lindum, and Victoria, the last of which was built by Agricola on the river Tay, 28 miles from the exit of that river into the German Ocean, and was probably the same as the Bertha of the Romans, which was swept away by a flood in 1210. The Picts, after their conversion to Christianity, consecrated the church which they built here to St. John the Baptist, from which circumstance it was frequently called St. John's Town, and subsequently Port, when it becamo the capital of the kingdom of Scotland, for which its central locality made it admirably adapted, and so con- tinued till the murder of James I. in 1437. In early times it was a place of great trade, and carried on a con- siderable foreign commerce with the Flemings and Germans, many of whom settled here towards the closo of tho 13th century, and introduced the woollen and linen manufactures. Its earliest known charter is dated 1 106, hut it was first erected into a royal burgh in 1210 by William tho Lion, and was the usual residence of the Scottish monarchs prior to the accession of tho Stuart family. In it 14 parliaments and 16 church councils were held, and as tho capital of the kingdom it necessarily became tho scene of some of tho most re- markable .events in Scottish history. Among others may be mentioned its capture by Edward I. of England immediately after tho defeat of Wallace at Falkirk in 1298, when the English king carried off its records; its fortification and adoption as the residence of the English king's deputies till 1311, when it was surprised by Robert Bruce and tho fortifications levelled ; its capture by Baliol after the battle of Duplin in 1332 ; its recap- ture by David Bruce, and recovery by tho party of Baliol in 1335, at which last date it was re-fortified by Edward III. of England ; its storming by tho Scots under Robert, High Steward of Scotland, afterwards Robert II., assisted by the French and tho Earl of Liddesdale, in 1339, when the party of Baliol was crushed ; its being the scene of tho assassination of