Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/461

Rh SHERNBORNE. 419 SHETLAND. SHERNBORNE, a par. in the bund, of Smithdon, co. Korfolk, 2 miles S.E. of Snettisham, and 11 J miles N.E. of Lynn, its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is chiefly agricultural. The soil is of a light character with a subsoil of chalk. The land is chiefly arable, with a small proportion of meadow and woodland. The tithes were commuted for laud under an Enclosure Act in 1767, and the glebe comprises 65 acres. The living is a vie. in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 120, in the patron, of the bishop. The church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, is an ancient structure in a ruinous condition. It is said to be the second church founded in this part of England by St. Felix, Bishop of the East Angles. The font is of great antiquity. The parochial charities consist of an allotment of 14 acres. There is a school for both sexes ; a Sunday-school is held at the church. The Hall, the seat of the Shernborne family for upwards of seven centuries, is now a farm-house. The Masters and Fellows of Emmanuel College are lords of the manor. 8HEBRIDGE, a hmlt. in the par. of Leigh, co. Wor- cester, 5 miles S.W. of Worcester. SHERRIFFHALL ENGINE, a hmlt. in the par. of Newton, co. Edinburgh, Scotland, 5 miles S.E. of Edin- burgh. It is situated near the river North Esk, and is chiefly inhabited by colliers. SHEKRIFFMUIR, a barren spot in the par. of Dun- blane, co. Perth, Scotland, 5 miles N.E. of Stirling, famous as the scene of a battle fought in 1715 between the Earl of Marr and the Duke of Argyll, and is the subject of one of Buras's songs. Fairs are held on the first Tuesday in May, and on the Saturday before Falkirk Tryst. SHERRINGHAM. See SHERINGHAM, co. Norfolk. SHERRINGTON, a par. in the hund. of Newport, co. Bucks, 1J mile N.E. of Newport-Paguell. The village, which is considerable, is situated near the river Ouse. The Oakley hounds meet in this parish. The tithes were commuted for land and corn rents under an Enclosure Act in 1796. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 631, in the patron, of the Bishop of Lincoln. The church, an ancient structure, dedi- cated to St. Laud, contains several stone stalls and an antique font. SHERRINGTON, a par. in the hund. of Branch and Dole, co. Wilts, 4 miles S.E. of Heytesbury, its post town, 3 N.W. of Wiley, and 7 S.E. of Warminster. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the river Wiley, and is wholly agricultural. The South Wilts hounds meet at Sherrington Pond. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 259, and the glebe comprises 21 acres. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Sarum, val. 238. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a small structure containing a bell turret. The parochial charities produce about 3 per annum. On the downs are several barrows. The Rev. P. A. Fane is lord of the manor. 8HERSTON MAGNA, a par. in a detached portion of the hund. of Chippeuham, co. Wilts, 5J miles S.W. of Malmesbury, its post town, and about the same distance from Tetbury. The village, which is extensive, is situated on an eminence near the river Avon, formed by the junction of two small streams. The inhabitants are chiefly agricultural. It was anciently a Roman station on the Consular Way, and was called by the Saxons Sceorstan. A battle was fought here in 1016, in which Edmund Ironside defeated Canute the Great. In the vicinity are a camp and fragments of three boundary crosses. Roman coins have been discovered, and at the rear of the village is a deep well, supposed to be of Ionian origin. The surface is generally level, and the soil of various qualities. There is a considerable extent of waste land. The great tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 250, besides a glebe of 288 acres, and the vicarial tithes for a rent-charge of 100. The living is a vie. * with the rect. of Sherston Parva and the cur. of Alderton united, in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, val. loO,iu the patron, of the Dean and Chapter of Glou- cester. The church, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, is a cruciform structure, with a square tower rising from the centre and containing five bells. The parochial charities produce about 13 per annum. There are National, British, and infant schools. The Independents, Primi- tive Methodists, and Baptists have each places of worship. W. H. Cresswell, Esq., is lord of the manor. SHERSTON PARVA, or SHERSTON-PINKEY, a par. in a detached portion of the hund. of Chippenham, co. Wilts, 4J miles W. of Malmesbury, its post town, and 9 N.W. of Chippenham. The village, which is of small extent, is wholly agricultural. W. H. Cresswell, Esq., is lord of the manor. The living is a discharged rect. united with the vie. of Sherston Magna. SHERWILL, a hund. in the co. of Devon, contains the pars, of Arlington, Brendon, Challacoinbe, Charles, Highbray, Linton, Loxhore, Martinhoe, Parracombe, Sherwill, and Stoke Rivers, comprising an area of 45,790 acres. SHERWILL, a par. in the above hund., co. Devon, 4 miles N.E. of Barnstaple, its post town. The village is situated on a branch of the river Taw, and is chiefly agricultural. The soil is of a loamy nature upon a sub- soil of rock. Stone is quarried for building purposes. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 545, and the glebe comprises 91 acres. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 387. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient stone structure, with a square tower containing six bells. The parochial charities produce about 2 per annum. Youlston Park is the principal residence. Sir A. Chichester is lord of the manor. SHERWOOD, a hmlt. in the par. of Basford, co. Nottingham, 2 miles N. of Nottingham. SHERWOOD FOREST, an extensive hilly district in the W. part of Nottinghamshire, about 2o miles in length by 8 in breadth, formerly covered with wood, but now mostly disafforested and brought under cultiva- tion. It is celebrated as the haunt of Robin Hood. The Sherwood harriers hunt here. SHETLAND or ZETLAND ISLES, Scotland, a group of islands situated in the North Sea, between 59 48' 30" and 60 52' N. lat., and between 52' and 1 57' W. long., from Greenwich, exclusive of the two detached islands of Foula and Fair Isle, the former being about 20 miles farther W. from the mainland of Shetland, and the latter 25 miles S. from the nearest headland. They form a joint county with the Orkneys, from which they are separated by a channel about 15 leagues broad, and are only 44 leagues W. ot Bergen in Norway, the nearest point of continental Europe. There are three principal islands in the group, namely, Main- land, Yell on the N., and Unst on the N.K., besides Fetlar, which is the largest of the inferior islands and about 90 islets, holms, and skerries, of which only 32 are inhabited. Weekly communication is maintained by the Queen steamboat, which starts from Lerwick in Mainland every Monday evening for Aberdeen and Edinburgh, vid Kirkwall and Wick. The history of Shetland is so closely involved in that ci Orkney, as to render an extended notice superfluous. These islands are said to have been first inhabited by the Norwegians, who called them Sialtlandia, or Hetland, signifying " the highland," from whence arose their subsequent appella- tions Yeatland, or Zetland. In 875 Harold llailagr claimed the sovereignty of these islands as vested in the Norwegian crown, and having subjugated them, com- mitted the government to Count Sigurd, who was the first earl of Orkney, and from whom sprang the earls of Orkney and Shetland. About 1380 the line of the Norwegian earls ceased to retain their authority, and a Scottish nobleman, Henry Sinclair, obtained the earldom of Orkney, which included Shetland in the grant, though not in the title, from the king of Denmark and Norway. In his family they continued till U68, when a marriage being concerted between tho Scottish monarch, James III., and the Princess Margaret of Denmark, they were pledged as security for her dowry, which never having been paid, tho islands continued part of Sentlnnd, and nt tho TTnion passed to the crown