Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/237

Rh PLYMPTON ST. MARY. 225 POCKLEY. It returned two members to parliament till dis- franchised by the Reform Act, and was constituted one of the stannary towns in the reign of Edward III. The land is in an excellent state of cultivation, the soil being rich and fertile, on a subsoil of clay. A portion of the inhabitants are employed in mining and others in agri- culture. The place, though small, consists of well-built houses, and is surrounded by orchards and gardens. It was incorporated under a charter granted by Bald wyn de Rivers, Earl of Devon, in 1241, the government being invested in a mayor, recorder, bailiff', and eight aldermen, who had the privilege of holding courts of quarter sessions for determining offences not capital. The jurisdiction extends over part of the adjoining parish of Plympton St. Mary. The guildhall was built in 1696, has a piazza in front, with granite pillars and circular arches. The post office is situated in the hamlet of Ridgeway, about a quarter of a mile from the town. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 100, in the patron, of the Dean and Canons of Wind- sor. The church, dedicated to St. Maurice, is an ancient structure with a tower containing six bolls. The church was erected on the site of a chantry chapel appendant to Plympton St. Mary Priory, 1457. The parochial charities produce about 189 per annum. There is a grammar school, founded and ctidowed by Elizeus llele, with an estate now producing about 200 per annum. The Independents have a place of worship. Sir Joshua Reynolds was a native of this parish, and was educated at the grammar school, of which his father was then master. On the N. side of the town are the ruins of the ancient castle once held by Rich, de Rivers or Redvers, afterwards Earl of Devon, to whom Henry I. gave the barony. The ruins occupy a quadrangular area surrounded with a fosse, and skirted on the E. by a steep conical mount, on the summit of which is a small fragment of the keep. Plympton House is now a lunatic asylum, with accommodation for 100 inmates. The principal residence is Whitehall, the seat of C. H. Buller, Esq. Paul Orry Trebey, Esq., is lord of the manor. A cattle market is held on the first Monday in every month, and fairs on 27th February, 5th April, 14th August, and 31st October. PLYMPTON ST. MARY, a par. and post town in the hund. of Plympton, co. Devon, 5 miles from Plymouth, half a mile N.W. of Plympton Earls, and 1 N.W. of the South Devon railway. The par. , which is exten- sive, includes the limits, of Underwood, Ridgewa/, Colebrook, Hemerdon, Sparkwill, and Lee Mill Bridge. The village is situated on the river Plym, from which it derives its name, and is chiefly agricultural. The soil is rich and productive, with a subsoil of clay. Copper, lead, and tin mines exist, but are not at present worked. Good slates and ravine stone are extensively quarried at Cann quarry, on the river Plym, and transported by means of a canal and railroad, communicating with the Ply- mouth and Dartmoor railway to London and Brighton. .The parish is intersected by the London road through Exeter to Plymouth, and the river Plym flows at one extremity, the Erm at the other, and the Tory through its centre. The impropriate tithes, which now yield about 2,000 per annum, were given by Edward VI. to the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The living is a per- pet. cur. in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 160, in the patron, of the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, and which stands within the cemetery of the priory, is an ancient struc- ture with a tower containing six bells. In the chancel are three sedilia and a piscina of early date, and in the N. and 8. aisles are ancient effigies and tombs of the Strodes of Newnham, the Courtenays, and others, also several tablets. The parochial charities produce about 39 per annum, of which 36 was left for a lepers' hospital, founded in Edward III.'s time, but now appro- priated to the relief of the lunatics. There is a National school for both sexes. There are places of worship for Dissenters. In the neighbourhood of the churchyard f a college for Black canons, founded by the Kaxon kings, but refounded in 1121 for canons regular of the order of St. Augustine, by Bishop Warlewast. The priory continued to flourish till the Dissolution, when its revenues were estimated at 912 12s. 8d., and the site afterwards given to the Champernownes. There are numerous gentlemen's seats in this parish, as Saltram House, Newnham Park, Chaddlewood House, Hemerdon House, Goodemoor House, and Blackland House. The Poor-law Union of Plympton St. Mary comprises 19 parishes or places. The union pool-house until re- cently occupied the site of the ancient hospital for lepers, now called the Maudlyn lands. Lord Morloy is lord of the manor. PLYMSTOCK, a par. in the hund. of Plympton, co. Devon, 3 miles S.E. of Plymouth, its post town. The par., which is extensive, is situated on the river Plym, near the edge of the Catwater and Plymouth Sound, and includes the flourishing village of Oreston, and the hmlts. of Turnchapel and Elburton. It is intersected by the Totnes and Exeter road. The surface is hilly, and the soil a light loam resting on limestone. The land is well cultivated, about two-thirds being arable and the remainder pasture and woodland. It was a post of considerable importance during the civil war between Charles I. and his parliament, and was onco the head- quarters of the Royalists in 1642. The manor passed from Childe the Hunter to the monks of Tavistock, who outwitted the Plymstock men at Guile-bridge, on the river Tamar. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in shipbuilding, and many are employed in the lime- stone quarries tor which this neighbourhood is celebrated. At Oreston is the great marble quarry from which the material was obtained for the construction of the Ply- mouth Breakwater. There are wet docks at Turnchapel sufficiently capacious for the reception of frigates, and extensive building yards adjoining. The living is a perpet. cur.* in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 188, in the patron, of the Dean and Canons of Windsor, to whom the impropriation belongs. The church is dedicated to St. Mary and All Saints. In the interior is part of a screen and several monuments to the Harris family. There is also a district church at Hooe, the living of which is a perpet. cur., val. 79. The church stands on the site of an ancient chapel dedicated to St. Catherine. The parochial charities produce about 81 per annum, 10 of which goes to Harris's almshouse, founded in 1617. There is a National school. The Independents have a chapel at Plymstock, and at Oreston, Tumchapel, and Elburton, in this parish are places of worship for the Calvinistic Methodists and Wcsleyans. Plymouth Breakwater is a little over 2 miles from the Hoe. There is a coastguard station at Bovisland, also waterworks and a watchtower called " Mount Batten." The ships outward bound take in water at this place. Radford, the old seat of the Harris family, is believed to have been the residence of Sir Walter Raleigh after his arrival at Plymouth in 1618, and Stoddescombe was the birth- place of Dr. Forster a writer on divinity. The Duke of Bedford is lord of the manor. PLYMTREE, a par. in the hund. of Hayridge, co. Devon, 4 miles S.E. of Collumpton, its railway station and post town, and 8 S.E. of Honiton. The village, which is small, and chiefly agricultural, is situated on the river Clyst, which rises in this parish. The soil is of a loamy nature. The roads between Cnllompton and Exeter, and Cullompton and Honiton, skirt the parish on either side. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 285, in the patron, of Oriel College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. Mary tho Virgin, is an ancient stone edifice with a tower containing five bells. The interior of the church contains an ancient gilt wooden screen, and an octagonal stone font. On the W. front of the tower is a stone statue of the Virgin and Child under a canopy. Tho parochial charities produce about '29 per annum. The Independents have a place of worship. Hayne House is the principal residence. The Rev. William Blake is lord of the manor. POBBLEBRIEN, a bar. in the co. of Limerick. Set PUBBLEBKIEN. POCKLEY, a tnshp. and chplry. in the par. of Helms-