Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/365

Rh ROTHERHAM. 353 ROTHERHITHE, ST. MARY. with the limits, of Masbrough and Holmes, which belong to the tnshp. of Kimberworth, but form part of the town of Rotherham. Rotherham is a nourishing manu- facturing town, situated on rising ground near the right bank of the river Don, some little distance below its junction with the Rother. It is a place of great antiquity, and, possessing many advantages, has risen considerably of late years in importance both as a manufacturing and commercial town. There are traces of Roman remains, consisting of earthworks and a rectangular encamp- ment called Temple Brough, supposed to have been the station Ad Fines, and Roman coins and other anti- quities have been found thereabouts. In the reign of Edward the Confessor it was held by Acune, and after the Norman conquest, the Earl of Slortaigne granted it to Nigel de Lovetot. It then came into the possession of the Vescis, one of whom subsequently gave it to the monks of Rufford Abbey. Henry III. granted many privileges to the town, including a market and a fair. Edward I. further extended its privileges, and granted an additional fair, which was of great advantage to the town, as it lasted many days, and brought a large con- course of merchants from various parts of the country. Thomas Scott, who afterwards became Archbishop of York in the reign of Edward IV., and was born at Rotherham, conferred many benefits on his native town ; he founded a college of ecclesiastics, and rebuilt the church ; the college was suppressed by Edward VI., but a grammar school was soon afterwards founded in its stead. Henry VIII., on the dissolution of Rufford monas- tery, granted Rotherham to the Earl of Shrewsbury. It afterwards descended to the Howards, and is still held by one of the younger branches of that family, the Earl ot Effingham, who is hereditary lord of the manor, and holds a court-leet by his bailiff for the manors of Rotherham and Kimberworth. Mary Queen of Scots stayed a night at Rotherham after being taken prisoner ; and Charles I., when in a similarly unfortunate position, was kept here a night by the Scotch army during the Civil War. Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Newcastle successively held possession of the town for the par- liament and the king, but after the battle of Marston Moor the royalists were compelled to yield up the gar- risoned town. The population of the town of Rother- ham in 1851 was 6,325 with 1,269 inhabited houses, which in 1861 had increased to 7,598, with 1,484 in- habited houses. The substratum abounds in coal, iron ore, and sandstone, the latter supplying the cutlers of Sheffield. More than a century ago the Walkers estab- lished a manufactory for cast-iron goods, and from this and other large establishments at Rotherham large quantities of cannon were supplied to the English navy during the American and French wars. In the town and its immediate vicinity are extensive collieries, pot- teries, and glass works, also breweries, flax mills, rope walks, and works for pyroligneous acid and gum. In the ship-yards are occasionally built vessels of 50 tons. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the carrying trade, and there are several wharves on the river Don, which is navigable as far as Sheffield, and affords com- munication with all the great manufacturing towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire by means of the Don naviga- tion and Tinsley canal. The old bridge over the Don, connecting the suburb of Masbrough, has an ancient chapel standing over the central pier, and until recently i as the town gaol. There is also a viaduct half a mile long, with thirty arches, belonging to the Midland Hallway, over the valley of the Don. The town is chiefly governed by 12 feoffees and a body of commis- sioners appointed under an Act of Parliament obtained in 1810. The houses are for the most part built of stone, which gives the town a substantial appearance. Several new streets were laid out in 1850. The town is well d, lighted with gas, and has a good supply of water. The townhall or court-house was erected in 1825, at a uf 5,000. There are a market-house, shambles, two Ijank.i, a savings-bank, a literary and mechanics' insti- tution, newsrooms, subscription library, a dispensary, and a nice stand. The midsummer quarter sessions for a division of the West Riding and petty sessions for the town are held in the townhall, the latter twice a month on Mondays. The county court likewise sits here. The police force is under the direction of the town commis- sioners. The great tithes belong to the Earl of Effing- ham. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of York, val. 158. The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, or to St. Mary, is in the early English style, with a tower and crocketed spire of the time of Edward IV. The old font is supposed to be of the Saxon period. The church has lately been put in thorough repair. There are several brasses, and a monument of marble to tho memory of fifty persons who were drowned in 1841 in the Don at the launch of a vessel. In addition to the parish church, are the following district churches, viz. at Dalton, Greaseborough, Masbrough, and Kimberworth, the livings of which are perpct. curs.* varying in val. from 200 to 150. The parish register dates from the early part of the 16th century. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, Independents, Baptists, Primitive Methodists, Unita- rians, and Koman Catholics. Rotherham cemetery was opened in 1843, and is about 2 acres in extent. The free grammar school was founded in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. There are several other schools, which include the feoffees' school, builtin 1775, and en- dowed with i'100 a year, the British and Foreign school for 400 boys and girls ; the Parkgate school for 150, built by Earl Fitzwilliam in 1844 ; Scott's charity school, endowed with 77 per annum ; Hollis' Dissenting school for twenty-four poor children ; two infant, and a Sunday school. The Independent College for twenty- five students, though founded in 1755, was not opened until forty years subsequently ; it is in connection with the University of London. Jesus College, now an inn, was founded in the time of Richard III. The chari- ties are numerous, and include Bellamy's almshouses, endowed with 68 per annum ; the Bentley charity, and the Great Dole. The union poorhouse, with grounds, occupies upwards of five acres. Rotherham Poor-law Union comprises 27 parishes and townships. The Eo- therham and Masbrough Advertiser, established in 1858, is published in the town. Market days are Mon- day and Friday. Fairs are held every other Monday, and on Whit-Monday and 1st December, being tho largest for cattle in the N. of England, and a statute fair for hiring servants on the first Monday in November. ROTHERHITHE, ST. MARY, orREDRIFF, a par. in the div. of Brixton hund., co. Surrey, 2 miles S.E. of St. Paul's, and 1 mile S.E. of Southwark, within which borough it is situated. This place, colloquially called Redritf, was anciently a village and marsh on the S. side of the river Thames, between the Pool and Lime- house reaches, but is now an extensive suburb of Lon- don, containing about 25,000 inhabitants. In the latter part of the 1 8th century a destructive fire occurred, which consumed upwards of 200 houses. The Thames Tunnel, one of the termini of which is at Rotherhithe, is noticed under the article LONDON ; the Grand Surrey canal also terminates here, and has inner and outer docks, adjoining which are the Greenland and Commercial Docks, covering 40 acres, the East Country Dock, and the Grand Surrey New Dock. Along the bank of the Thames are numerous ship-building yards, boat and lighter- builders' wharves, timber wharves, ordnance wharves, anchor wharves, a mast yard, iron works, and nume- rous warehouses for rigging and victualling vessels. The houses are chiefly inhabited by masters of ships, seafar- ing men, and persons connected with the shipping trade, docks, factories, whitelead and saltpetre works, and other establishments dependent on navigation and commerce. The space between the Grand Surrey canal and tho Deptford road is occupied by marsh and fields, and a large extent of market gardens separatus this parish from Peckham New Town. The living is a rect.* with the cur. of St. Paul's, Globe-street, annexed, in the dioc. of Winchester, val. 772, in the patron, of Clare Hall, Cambridge. The parochial church, dedicated to St. Mary, is situated nearly opposite the entrance to the