Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/389

Rh EYDE. 377 EYE. of Carlisle, val. 100. The church, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, has a tower surmounted by an octagonal spire and containing one bell. The church was erected and endowed at the expense of Lady Le Fleming in 1825. The same lady founded a school here for children of both sexes. Bydal Hall, Heversham House, Leas Gill House, Plumtree Hall, and Summerlands are the principal residences. Wordsworth resided at Eydal Mount, and died here in 1850. - RYDE, a chplry., post and market town, in the par. of Newchurch, lib. of East Medina, Isle of Wight, co. Hants, 5 miles S.W. of Portsmouth, 7 N.E. of New- port, and 79 S.W. of London. It is situated on the declivity of a hill extending to the shores of the Solent Water, and opposite to Stokes Bay and Portsmouth Harbour. It is a sub-port to Cowes, and is a coastguard station. It was anciently called La Bye, or Ride, and was burnt by the French in 1377. Less than a century back Eyde was but a small fishing village, but within the last 50 years it has rapidly risen into a thriving and prosperous town, and' now ranks as one of the most pleasant bathing places on the S. coast. The town is well paved, lighted with gas, and amply provided with excellent water. The principal streets are well laid out and enlivened with numerous shops, especially in Union- street. From its advantageous situation it commands a sea prospect, taking in Spithead and the Motherbank, with a more distant view of Haslar Hospital and the town of Portsmouth. There are several hotels and numerous lodging-houses, also the Victoria arcade, freemasons' hall, literary institute, theatre, assembly rooms, two banks, a savings-bank, market-house, and townhall, which last has a Doric portico, erected in 1830 from designs by J. Sanderson, whose bust by Chantrey. is here. On the eastern, southern, and western sides the town is rapidly extending, and there is a newly constructed railway from Rydo to Shanklin. The pier, which is constructed of timber, was opened in 1814, but since that period has undergone considerable improvements. It extends in length about 2,000 feet across the flats, and is from 12 to 20 feet in width, serving as an excellent promenade. There is also an esplanade facing the sea, the carriage way being nearly 1 mile in extent, and the foot-path extending 3 miles to a place called Sea View. There are besides docks and a new iron pier, both of which have recently been erected by the Isle of Wight Steam Ferry and Stokes Bay Bailway Company. During the summer season steamboats run to and from Portsmouth every half-hour during the day, and in the winter months between eight and ten times per day. Steamboats also run to Cowes, Southampton, Portsea, and Southsea. On the W. side of the pier stands the Eoyal Victoria Yacht Club house, tho first stone of which was laid in 1846 by the late Prince Consort. The reservoirs for the supply of the town and the shipping with pure spring water, were formed by the pier company in 1840. Soles and lobsters are caught on the coast, and the herring fishery affords employment to many of the poorer residents. The living is a cur. annexed to the vie.* of Newchurch, in the dioc. of Winchester. The church, dedicated to St. Thomas, has a tower surmounted by a light spire. It was erected in 1827 at the ex- pense of Q. Player, Esq., of Eyde Hall, to whom the manor of Ashey came through the Dillingtons. There are also St. James's Episcopal chapel, a modern struc- ture, with a campanile turret over the western entrance, and a new church with a spire 146 feet high, dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The charities are numerous, in- cluding almshouses, Erected in 1854 at the expense of Mrs. F. Wilder. There are several National, British, and infant schools, also a naval school, and a Eoman Catholic school. The Independents, Wesleyans, Primi- tive Methodists, Baptists, and Eoman Catholics have each a place of worship. The neighbourhood is studded with residences mostly surrounded by pleasure gardens ; among the principal are West Mount, Appleby, St. John's, St. Clare, Fairy Hill, Quarr Abbey, Wootton Bridge, St. Helen's, and the mansions of the Duke of Buckingham and Earl Spencer. Market days. are Tuesday and Friday. A fair is held on tho 5th July. A regatta takes place at the latter end of August, or the beginning of September. EYE, a tythg. in the par. of Odiham, co. Hants, 3 miles E. of Odiham. It is joined with Stapeley to form a tnshp EYE, a par., cinque port, post and market town, parliamentary and municipal borough, locally in the hunds of Goldspur and Gostrow, rape of. Hastings, co. Sussex, but exercising separate jurisdiction, 9 miles N.E. of Hastings, and 63 S.E. of London by road, or 81 by tho South-Eastern line of railway. A branch line of railway called the Eye Harbour line has been opened to Hastings chiefly for goods traffic. It is situated near the Military canal and the navigable river Eother, which has been improved by cutting a. new channel so as to permit vessels not exceeding 200 tons burden to approach the quay. It is supposed to have been the Eoman Portus Novus, and was the place where the Danes landed in 893. At the Norman conquest it was given by Edward the Confessor to Fiscamp Abbey in France, and was first chartered by, Eichard I. Henry III. annexed it with Winchelsea to the Cinque Ports, and in the reign of Edward III. it was surrounded by a strong wall with several gates, of which that called the North or Land Gate, the only one remaining, now forms an entrance to the town from the London and Dover roads. There are also on tho S. side of the town remains of a strong castle or tower, erected in the 12th century by William de Ypres, Earl of Kent, and now forming partof the gaol. About the same period the course of the river Eother was diverted this way through an inundation of the sea, which greatly improved the natural harbour, so that the town soon became so considerable a port that it was able to furnish nine ships towards the royal fleet for the siege of Calais. The town was twice burnt by the French, in 1377 and again in 1447, from which it scarcely recovered till the reign of Elizabeth, who bestowed on it several additional privileges, and was entertained by the corporation in 1573. The trade done is chiefly in corn, coal, timber, hops, oak-bark, and wool, this last being largely ox- ported to France. Ship-building is also extensively carried on, and mackerel in immense quantities are caught here in kettle nets erected on the sea shore near Rye Harbour, during the summer season. The Eye Harbour line of railway, opened in 1851, does immense traffic in coal, which is landed here to be forwarded to Hastings. Extensive works have recently been estab- lished by Lee & Sons for the manufacture of concrete blocks, each weighing eight or ten tons, and formed out of shingle and cement, to be used in the construction of tho Admiralty pier at Dover. The town, which is ancient, and has many interesting historical reminis- cences, consists of several regular and well-formed streets. It is built upon a hill, the sides of which towards the S. and S.W. are rocky and precipitous, but slope down gradually on the land side, beyond which a range of hills rises sheltering tho town on the N. and N.W., while the river Eother skirts it on the E., and the. united streams of the Brede and Tillingham forming a branch of the Eother on the S.W. It is well paved, lighted with gas, and supplied with water from a reservoir under Playden heights. The townhall and market house is built on pillars in the centre of the town, the upper story being used for the borough sessions, and the area for the market, now fallen into disuse. The other public buildings include the customhouse, a theatre, union poorhouse, three bridges, a theatre, savings-bank, two commercial branch banks, a gaol, police station, gas works, mechanics' institute, and a literary and scientific institution established in 1839. Its government, anciently styled the " mayor, jurats, and commonalty, of the ancient town of Eye," is vested, under the new Municipal Eeform Act, in a mayor, four aldermen, and 12 councillors, and a commission of the peace has also been granted, con- sisting of six magistrates appointed by the crown. The