Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/392

Rh SACRISTON. 380 SAFFRON WALDEN. containing some oak-trees of great age. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 335 15., and the glehe comprises 12 acres. The living is a rect.* in the dioo. of Rochester, val. 266. The church, dedicated to St. Catherine, or to St. Mary, has a square tower, formerly embattled, containing three bells. It was thoroughly restored in 1856, the expense being defrayed by the late John Abel Smith, Esq., of Woodhall Park. The interior contains two stone stalls, a piscina under trefoil arches, and monu- ments of the Rolt family. The parochial charities pro- duce about 10 per annum. There is a village school. A. Smith, Esq., is lord of the manor and principal land- owner. SACRISTON, a hmlt. in the par. of Whitton-Gilbert, co. Durham, 3J miles N.W. of Durham. There is a large colliery. SADBERGE, a toshp. and chplry. in the par. of Haughton-le-Skerne, S.W. diy. of Stockton ward, co. Durham, 4 miles N.E. of Darlington, its post town, and 7 from Stockton-on-Tees. The village is situated on the great road betwixt Darlington and Stockton, and near the line of the Stockton and Darlington railway. It is now an inconsiderable village, but was once a place of great importance, and the capital of a district or county of the same name, having its sheriff, coroner, and other officers. It was purchased by Bishop Pudsey of Richard I. for 10,000, to be held during his life. The living is a perpet. cur. annexed to the rect. of Haughton-le-Skerne, in the dioc. of Durham. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, has a cemetery adjoin- ing. The parochial charities produce about 9 per annum. There is a National school, with a small en- dowment. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. SADDEL AND SKIPNESS, a par. in the district of Kintyre, co. Argyle, Scotland. The united parishes extend in length about 25 miles, with an extreme breadth of about 4J miles. The surface is hilly, but fertile, the greatest altitude being Ben Turk Hill, which rises 2,170 feet above sea-level, and from which there is an extensive prospect. The hills are of easy ascent, and are appropriated to pasturage and sheep walks. The prevailing rocks are mica slate. The soil consists of a fine alluvial earth in the bottom of the glens and near the sea coast, while that of the uplands is light and gravelly. The parish is traversed by a road from one end to the other along the coast. The herring fisheries are prosecuted with great success, and are considered the most productive in Scotland. The only harbours are Carradale, Sunnadale, and Skipness, on the coast, which are convenient for vessels of from 15 to 30 tons. In this parish are the ruins of a Cistercian abbey, founded by Somerled, Lord of Cantyre and the Isles, in 1163, and given to the see of Argyll by James IV. ; also the ancient castles of Skipness and Saddell. Upon almost every projecting headland along the coast are the remains of small Danish forts, the most con- siderable of which is the Aird of Carradale, upon a high, precipitous rock, 240 feet in length. The village of Saddell is about 14 miles N.E. of Campbelltown, and is situated on Kilbranuon Sound, near Glensaddle. It formed part of Killian till 1753. This par. is in the presb. of Kintyre and synod of Argyll. The stipend of the minister is 146. There are two parish churches, nearly 1 3 miles apart, also two parochial schools. Both the churp.hes have been built since 1763. SADDINGTON, a par. in the hund. of Gartree, co. Leicester, 6 miles N.W. of Harborough, its post town, and 5 N. of Theddingworth railway station. The vil- lage, which is of small extent, is situated on a bill near the Leicester and Northampton section of the Union canal, which here passes through a tunnel 880 yards in length. The canal has a reservoir covering an area of 80 acres, and situated near the S.E. end of the village. The soil is clay alternated with gravel, and the land is chiefly in pasture. A few of the inhabitants are en- gaged in framework knitting. Fossils exist, also a mineral spring. The tithes were commuted for 230 acres of land, under an Enclosure Act in 1770. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Peterborough, val. 280. The church, dedicated to St. Helen, has a square em- battled tower, containing a clock and five bells, and has recently been repaired. The parochial charities produce about 12 per annum. The Baptists have a place of worship. Mrs. Dorothy Evans is lady of the manor. SADDLEBACK FELL, a mountain of the co. of Cumberland, 6 miles N.E. of Keswick. It is situated near Scales Tarn, and has an elevation of 2,787 feet above sea-level. SADDLEWOOD, a tythg. in the par. of Hawkes- bury, upper div. of Grumbalds-Ash hund., co. Glou- cester, 5 miles S.W. of Tetbury. It is in connection with the hamlets of Killcott and Tresham to form a township. SADDLEWORTH, a tnshp. in the par. of Rochdale, upper div. of Agbrigg wap., West Riding co. York, 6 miles N.W. of Ashton-under-Lyne, and 12 N.E. of Manchester. It has two stations on the Manchester, Huddersfiold, and Leeds section of the London and North- Western railway. The township, which is very extensive, is intersected by the river Tame and the Huddersfield canal, and until recently formed part of the county of Lancaster. It is di vided into four parts, designated Friars' Mere to the N.E., Lord's Mere to the S.E., Quick Mere to the W., and Shaw Mere to the S.W., all comprising numerous villages and hamlets. At the time of the Conquest this place was constituted a manor, and belonged in the 1 2th century to the Staple- tons, from whom it was purchased by the Ramsden family, who granted that portion of it since called Friars' Mere to the monks of Roche Abbey, which after the Dissolution was given by Henry VIII. to Arthur Ashton, and ultimately was divided amongst various persons. A large portion of the land is in a barren state, though in the valleys and on the declivities of the hills the land is fertile, affording excellent pasture. The subsoil abounds in coal and freestone for building. The surface is mountainous, interspersed with rich valleys watered by the river Tame and numerous rivulets. The roads through the hills and valleys are excellent, and have been formed upon a graduating level at great ex- pense. The Huddersfield canal, which traverses the township from N. to S., is carried under Stanedge Hill through a tunnel 3 miles in length. The living is a perpet. cur.* in the dioc. of Manchester, val. 150, in the patron, of the Vicar of Rochdale. The original church was founded in 1200 by William de Stapleton, who made it subordinate to the mother church of St. Chad, at Rochdale. There are besides district churches at Dobcross, Friars' Mere, Lydgate, and other places. The charities produce about 17 per annum, which goes to the support of three schools. Throughout the whole district woollen, linen, and cotton manufactures aro extensively carried on, there being 100 mills turned by water power, besides steam-engines. The inhabitants, numbering, in 1861, 18,631, reside chiefly in large villages and hamlets, as Old Delph, Dobcross, New Delph, Upper Mill, Spring-head, Bagulay, Castleshaw, Deanshaw, Kil- green, and other places. Many Druidical remains occur in various parts of this district, and formerly a rocking- stone, also Roman and British earthworks at Castleshaw, where the former people had an intermediate post be- tween their stations at Manchester and Almondbury. SAFFRON HILL, a lib. in the par. of St. Andrew, Holboru div. of Ossulstone hund., co. Middlesex. & LONDON. SAFFRON WALDEN, a par., market town, and municipal borough in the hund. of Uttlesford, co. Essex, 3 miles N. of Newport, and 40 N.E. of London, or 45 by the new branch railroad from Audley End station on the Great Eastern line. This place, which is situated near th,e borders of Cambridgeshire on the right Lank of the river Cam, or Granta, is supposed to have derived its name from saffron having been formerly grown on the den or hill on which the town now stands, in the midst of a forest or wald. It is of considerable antiquity, having been held at the time of the Domesday Survey