Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/322

Rh RESOLVEN. CIO RETFORD. are traces of lead ore. Old Bed sandstone is the predo- minant rock. The soil is generally of an unproductive nature, except on the tanks of the Eesolisburn. In the vicinity are many Danish earthworks and other ancient remains. This par. is in the presb. of Chanonry and synod of Ross. The stipend of the minister is 252. The church was rebuilt in 1830. There is a parochial school, also two other schools. The principal seats are Poyntsfield and Braelangwell. RESOLVEN, a hmlt. in the par. of Lower Lantwit, hund. of Neath, co. Glamorgan, 2 miles E. of Neath. It is situated in the vale of the river Neath. The inha- bitants are chiefly emploved in the collieries. RESORT LOCH, a sea loch on the W. side of Lewis and Harris Islands, Western Isles, coast of Scotland. It is about 9 miles in length by 4 broad. RESTAL, a loch in the par. of Lochgoilhead, co. Argyle, Scotland, 7 miles N.E. of Inverary. RESTALRIG, or LOCHSTERROCK, a vil. in the par. of South Leith, co. Edinburgh, Scotland. ^It is a small decayed village standing about equal distances from the town of Leith, the Carlton Hill of Edinburgh, and the Figgate Burn at Portobello. It is situated in the central part of the plain which extends from the beach to the hills of Leith. Restalrig was anciently called Zestalric, and formed a separate parish, belonging to the Logans and Balmerinos, previous to 1609. Here was formerly the ruins of a collegiate church, founded by James II. The cavalry barrack called Jock's Lodge and the St. Margaret's depot for the North British rail- way are situated at its eastern extremity. Near the village is St. Margaret's "Well, also ruins of the old seat of the lairds of Restalric. RESTENET, formerly a loch, but now drained, in the par. and co. of Forfar, Scotland, near Forfar, and 13 miles N. of Dundee. Here was once a monastery, founded in the 7th century by St. Boniface as a cell to Jedburgh Abbey. RESTON, a vil. in the par. of Coldingham, co. Ber- wick, Scotland, 4 miles W. of Ayton. It is situated on the North British railway, which has a station here. There is a parochial school for both sexes. RESTON, a hmlt. in the chplry. of Hugil, par. and ward of Kendal, co. Westmoreland, 6 miles N.W. of Kendal. RESTON, NORTH, a par. in the hund. of Louth- Eske, co. Lincoln, 4J miles S.E. of ;Louth, its post town, and 1 mile from Legbourn railway station. The parish is inconsiderable, and contains no village. It is intersected by the road from Louth to Alford. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 216 9s. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Lincoln, val. 211. The church, dedicated to St. Edith, has a turret containing one bell. The register dates from 1563. Howard Jack- son, Esq., is lord of the manor. RESTON, SOUTH, a par. in the hund. of Calce- worth, co. Lincoln, 6 miles S.E. of Louth, its post town, and 2 from the Authorpe railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the road from Louth to Alford, and is chiefly agricultural. The soil is of a clayey nature. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1771. The living is a rect. in the dioe. of Lincoln, val. 110, in the patron, of the Duchy of Lancaster. The church, dedicated to St. Edith, has a turret containing one bell. The parochial charities produce about 1 per annum. There is a parochial school. The Wesleyans and Free Methodists have each a place of worship. Thomas Alcock, Esq., is lord of the manor. RESTORMEL CASTLE, a demesne in the par. of Lostwithiel, hund. of East Powder, co. Cornwall, 1 mile N. of Lostwithiel, and 20 miles S.W. of Laun- ceston. The present mansion is situated on a hill over- looking the river Fowey, and near the ruins of the ancient court of the Earls of Cornwall, built by Robert, Earl of Mortaigne. RETFORD, or RETFORD, EAST, a par., market town, municipal and parliamentary borough, in the North Clay div. of Bassetlaw wap., co. Nottingham, 27 miles N.E. of Nottingham, and 138J from London, by the Great Northern railway. It is also a station on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire line. This place is supposed to have derived its name from the ancient ford over the river Idle, and from the circumstance of the clay on the banks being here of a reddish colour. It is written in Domesday Book Rede- ford, and early in the 13th century was spelt Esfe Redd furt he. The town, which is a place of considerable antiquity, being mentioned in the Saxon annals, is situated on the main N. road, and on the E. bank of the river Idle, which is here crossed by a stone bridge of five arches, connecting the town with the suburb of West Retford. The Chesterfield canal, which commu- nicates with the river Trent at West Stockwith, is con- veyed by an aqueduct over the river Idle, a little to the S.W. of the town, and is now the property of the Man- chester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire railway company. The ancient part of the town is situated in the parish of East Retford, but the modern portion extends into the adjoining parishes of Ordsall, Clarborough, and West Retford, on the opposite side of the river. The streets are paved and lighted with gas at the expense of the corporation. The houses are in general we'll built, and the shops well suoplied. Near the centre of the town is a market place, surmounted by five lamps, which has been erected on the site of the ancient market cross. A good general trade is carried on, and much business is done in corn, cheese, and hops. In the town and its immediate neighbourhood are several corn and paper mills. The principal public building is the townhall, erected" in 1755 on the site of the old Moot Hall : in the upper part are the hall of justice and the council-room, containing full-length portraits of James I., George II., and Queen Caroline, and on the ground-floor are the butchers' shambles ; adjoining the hall on the E. side is a new building, recently added at the cost of 500. A new townhall is in course of building, at the esti- mated expense of 9,000. The other public institu- tions are the literary and scientific institution, with a library attached, a spacious news-room, savings- bank, three commercial banks, gas-works, union poor- house, and agricultural society's rooms. Retford is a borough by prescription, and a royal demesne, having been first chartered by Edward I., who let the manor to the burgesses at a fee-farm rent of 10 per annum. In 1336 its privileges were confirmed by Edward III., and again in the reigns of Henry VI. and James I., who empowered the bailiff to hold courts of record, and to execute the duties of escheator and clerk of the market, with the style of " bailifl's and burgesses of East Retford." Under the new Municipal Reform Act the government is vested in a mayor, who is also returning officer, 4 aldermen, and 12 councillors, assisted by a high steward, recorder, and town-clerk ; the re- corder, mayor, and ex-mayor being justices of the peace. The corporation revenue produces about 1,500, chiefly from the manor rents. The municipal borough, which is conterminous with the parish of East Retford, comprises about 130 acres, and had in 1851 a population of 2,775, which in 1861 had increased to 2,982; but the popula- tion of the town properly so called is about 6,500. It first sent two members to parliament in the 9th year of Edward II., but in 1330 the burgesses petitioned for a suspension of the privilege, on account of their po vorl y, and it subsequently lay dormant until the year 1571, when it was again exercised, and two members were regularly returned till 1827, when, on the petition of Sir H. Wright Wilson, the return of W. B. Wrightson and Sir II. L. Dundas was declared void, and the com- mittee directed the attention of the House to the corrupt state of the borough. In 1830 it was settled by Act of Parliament that the franchise should be thrown open to the whole hundred of Bassetlaw, the 10 occupiers of which now exercise the right of voting for the parlia- mentary borough, which thus includes a population of 47,330. Retford is also a polling-place for the northern division of the county of Nottingham. The general quarter sessions for the northern division of the county,