Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/214

Rh PETERCHURCH. 202 PETERHEAD. century ; Bishop Chambers, the last Abbot ; Gunton, the historian of the Cathedral ; Sir John Hill, a popular writer of the 18th century ; and Paley, the cele- brated divine and moralist. The title of Earl of Peter- borough, now extinct, was bestowed on the family of Mordaunt by Charles I., and was held by Charles the great Earl of Peterborough and Monmouth, in the reigns of Anne and George I. The market days are Wednes- day for live stock, and Saturday for live and dead stock and general produce. Fairs are held on the 10th July and 2nd October, the former, which is held in the town, is chiefly for timber, horses, and cattle, and the latter, which is held on the Huntingdonshire side of the river, is for horses, beasts, sheep, timber, and general purposes. PETEKCHURCH, a par. in the hund. of Wcbtree, co. Hereford, 12 miles W. of Hereford, its post town, and 9 N.W. of Pontrilas railway station. The village, which is chiefly agricultural, is situated on the river Dore, in the Golden Vale, and is surrounded by hills and woods. The parish is traversed by the Ross and Hay road. The surface is hilly, but fertile, producing heavy crops of wheat. The soil consists of a rich loam, with a subsoil of clay and sandstone. The land is divided between arable and pasture, with about 100 acres of woodland. There are several stone quarries, and a mineral spring called St. Peter's Well. The impropria- tion belongs to the Governor of Guy's Hospital, London. The living is a vie. in the dice, of Hereford, val. 327. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient stone structure with a spired tower containing six bells. The interior of the church contains a piece of stone on which is sculptured a trout with a gold chain round its throat. The parochial charities produce about 5 per annum. There is a National school for both sexes, also an alms- house for six aged females. The Wesleyans and Baptists have each a plaje of worship. Urishay Castle is the principal residence. T. Dclahay, Esq., is lord of the manor. PETERCULTEE, a par. in the district and co. of Aberdeen, Scotland. It comprises, besides the vil. of its own name, the post-office station of Countesswells. It extends in length about 7 miles from E. to W., with an average breadth of 5. It is bounded by the co. of Kincardine, and by the pars, of Drumoak, Echt, Skenc, Newhills, and Banchory-Devenick. The surface is generally hilly and marshy, but the eastern district is more level, and is studded with mansions and wooded grounds. Granite is quarried to a considerable extent. The village of Peterculter is about 7 miles S.W. of Aber- deen, and is within easy access of the Murtle, Milltimber, and Cultor stations of the Deeside railway. It is situ- ated at the confluence of the rivers Leuchar and Dee. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the paper, woollen, and snuff-mills. There is also a corn-mill. On the summit of the hill of Oldtowu are traces of Norman Dykes camp, the ancient Devana. This par. is in the presb. and synod of Aberdeen. The minister has a stipend of 196. The parish church was erected in 1779. There are a Free church, a parochial school, and other schools. Culture, Binghill, Bieldside, Countess- wells and Murtle, or Murthill, are the principal resi- dences. The last named is the old scat of the Irvines, near to which is a tumulus, and several Druid stones.. PETER-DU-BOIS, ST., or ST. PETER-OF-THE- W001), a par. in the Isle of Guernsey, Channel Islands, 5 miles S.W. of St. Peter's Port. The parish, which is of small extent, is situated in a valley celebrated for its elm-trees, which are of a kind peculiar to the island. About two-thirds of the land are arable, and the remainder pasture. The soil produces heavy crops of wheat, barley, and parsnips. The living is a rect. * in the dioe. of Win- chester, val. 200, in the patron, of the governor. The church of St. Peter was erected in 1167, There is a place of worship for the Wesleyans ; also endowed schools for boys and girls, of which the former was founded by Queen Elizabeth. PETEKIIEAD, a par., post and market town, sea- port, burgh of barony and parliamentary burgh, in the district of Bucr.an, co. Aberdeen, Scotland, 30 miles N. by E. of Aberdeen, and 40 S. by E. of Banff. It is a station on the Formartine and Buchan section of the Great North of Scotland railway. The par., which is about 5 miles in length from N. to S., with an extreme breadth of 4 miles, includes the quoad sacra par. of East, the burgh of its own name, the post-office vil. of Bod- dan, and the fishing vils. of Buchan-havcn, Bum- haven, and Ronheads. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea, under Buchan-Ncss promontory, the most easterly land in Scotland, and the spot where the Chevalier landed in 1715. Its northern boundary is traced by the river Ugie, from which the parish was anciently called Peter Ugie, and on the other sides it adjoins the paribhes of Cruden, St. Fergus, and Long- side, part of which last was formerly included in this parish till 1620. The surface is an undulating plain, with a low range of hills on the western and southern border, rising at Stirling Hill to the height of 280 feet above sea-level. To the W. of the town arc several hollows or deep glens, known as the How of Buchan, and on the estate of Invernettie is a conical hill, near 200 feet high, called Meethill. Off Buchan-N ess pro- montory lie two small islands, one covered with ver- dure, on which was formerly a salt pan, and the other rocky, now the site of Buchan-Ness lighthouse. The sur- face is in general fertile and well cultivated, with the exception of a tract of moorland. The coast is defended against the violence of the North Sea by a lofty ridge of precipitous cliffs of igneous rock, and is indented by Sandford and Peterhead bays, on which latter stands the town of Peterhead, occupying a small, flat, rocky peninsula, called Keith-Inch, on the N. side of the bay. The site of the town is still called Keith-Inch, from its having become the property of the Keith family in 1560, on the suppression of Deer Abbey, to which the parish anciently belonged, but is now the property of the Mer- chant Maiden Hospital in Edinburgh, having been for- feited by the Keiths. On the extremity of the penin- sula stands the suburb called Keith-Inch, connected with tho rest of the town by an isthmus of only 250 feet broad, having on cither side the two harbours, both furnished with quays and protected by piers. Tho new N. harbour, formed in 1818 by Smeaton, covers about 11 acres, and the S. harbour, formed in 1773 by Tclford, about 6j acres, and cost upward of 85,000. On the S. pier is a lighthouse, put up in 1834, 21 feet high, with a fixed light visible for three miles. The outline of the town is nearly triangular in form, having its principal thoroughfares, called Broad and Marischal streets, running on a line with the isthmus, between the harbours, joined at its lower end, near the bay, by two other lines of street forming acute angles, and diverging like boulevard along both sides of the town. These principal lines of streets are connected by several smaller streets, and terminate in the suburbs of Ronheads and Kirktown. The whole place has a substantial appear- ance, most of the houses being built of granite, and the streets well paved and kept. An ample supply of pure water is furnished by pipes from a copious spring about 3 miles distant, and the streets are lit with gas from works situated in Long-gate-street. The principal public building is the townhall, erected in 1788, surmounted by a spire of granite 125 feet high, the public offices occupying the third story, the second floor being appro- priated for schoolrooms and the ground floor let out in shops ; there are besides two public halls, occupied as reading and billiard rooms, hot and cold baths, a custom-house, six branch banks, scientific and other societies, and a market cross, put up in 1832, on occa- sion of the town being created a parliamentary burgh at the passing of the Reform Act. The cross is a pillar of granite of the Tuscan order, crowned with the armo- rial bearings of the Earls Marischal, under whom tho town was founded in 1593. Peterhead is a coastguard station, and was formerly a bonding sub-port to Aberdeen, but was made independent in 1838, with the creeks of Bod- dan, Fraserburgh, Pittallie, or Sand-haven, and Rose- hearty as subports. It has long been frequented as a sea bathing and watering place, being frequently termed