Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/580

Rh STRANTON. 568 STRATFORD-LE-BOW. a provost, 2 bailies, a dean of guild, a treasurer, and 13 councillors, and has a revenue of 360. As a repre- sentative burgh it joins with Whithorn, Wigton, and New Galloway in returning one member to parliament. The municipal constituency in 1856 was 409, and the parliamentary 500. The population of the parish and royal burgh in 1861 was 3,980, but of the parlia- mentary burgh 6,273, including 1,009 in the parish of Inch and 1,284 in Leswalt. One weekly newspaper, the Galloway Advertiser, is published in the town every Thursday. A justice of the peace small-debt court is held on the first Monday of every month, a burgh court weekly on Saturday, and a sheriff circuit small-debt court ten 'times in the year. The par. is the seat of a presb. in the synod of Galloway and in the patron, of the crown. The minister has a stipend of about 160. There are two parish churches, two Free churches, three United Presbyterian churches, a Reformed Presbyte- rian church, a United Original Secession, and a Roman Catholic chapel. The principal school, called the Aca- demy, was founded in 1842, and occupies a largo build- ing, containing class and lecture rooms ; there are six other schools. Market day is Friday. Fairs are held on the Monday before the first Wednesday in January, the. third Friday in April, the first and third Fridays in May, the Thursday in June before Kcltonhill fair, the third Fridays in July, August, and September, the second Monday in October, and the third Friday in November. STRANTON, a par. and seaport town in the N.E. div. of Stockton ward, co. Durham, 10 miles from Stock- ton-upon-Tees, and 2 S.W. of Hartlepool. The town stands at a short distance to the S. of Hartlepool har- bour on the road from Stockton to Hartlepool. The par. includes the tnshps. of Erierton, Stranton, and Sea- ton Carew. There are some coal mines and quarries of limestone. Within the last quarter of a century the town has rapidly increased, and there are now several foundries, shipbuilding yards, docks, and other works connected with maritime stations. The Stockton and Hartlepool railway approaches close to the sea-coast at New Stranton in this parish, and is carried along the verge of the sea by an embankment of puddled clay. The living is a vie. in the dioc. of Durham, val. 280. The church is dedicated to All Saints. There is also a district church at Seaton Carew, the living of which is a perpet. cur., val. 150. The parochial charities con- sist of Fulthorpe's bequest for a school. STRATA-FLORIDA, or YSTRAD FFLUR, a tnshp. in the par. of Caron-ys-Clawdd, hund. of Penarth, co. Cardigan, 5 miles N.E. of Tregaron, its post town, and 16 from Aberystwith. It is a station on the Manchester and Milford railway. The village is near the Sarn Helen Way and the head of the river Teivi. In the neighbourhood is the Saxon gateway, &c., of a Cister- cian abbey, founded by Rhys-ab-Gruffydd in 1164, which was destroyed by fire, but rebuilt in 1 294. Its revenue at the Dissolution was valued at 118, and it had several hospitia attached to it. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of St. David's, val. 80. The church was built out of the ruins of the above-mentioned priory. STRATFIELD MORTIMER. See MOKTIMEB-STRAT- FIELD, co. Berks. STRATFIELDSAYE, a par. partly in the hund. of Reading, co. Berks, but chiefly in the lower half div. of Holdshott hund., co. Hants, 8 miles N.E. of Basing- Btoke, its post town, and 2 S.E. of Mortimer-Stratfield railway station. It is situated on the river Loddon, and contains the tithg. of Beechhill. Stratfieldsaye was the scat of the Sayes till Richard II. 's time, and afterwards of the D'Abridgecourts and Pitts, but was bought by par- liament of Lord Rivers in 1815, and presented by the go- vernment to tho Duke of Wellington. The Bramshill hounds meet in this parish. The living is a rect.* in the dioe. of Winchester, val. 669. The church is dedi- cated to St. Mary. The parochial charities produce about 43 per annum, of which 22 go to Pitt's school. There is also an infant school, supported by the Duke of Wellington. A Benedictine priory, in honour of St. Leonard, was founded here in 1170 by Nicholas do Stoteville, as a cell to the Abbey of Valemont in Nor- mandy, and at the suppression was granted to Eton College. STRATFIELD-TURGIS, a par. in the lower half of Holdshott hund., co. Hants, 8 miles N. of Winchfield, its post town, 5 N.W. from Hartford-Bridge, and 5 from the Mortimer railway station. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Winchester, val. 204. The church is dedi- cated to All Saints. The parochial charities produce about 3 per annum. There is a free school, and tho children of this parish have the privilege of frequenting the endowed National and infant schools belonging to the par. of Strathfieldsaye. The Duke of Wellington is lord of the manor. STRATFORD, a div. in the hund. of Barlichway, co. Warwick, contains the pars, of Aston Cantlow, Bid- ford, Billesley, Binton, Exhall, Hasselor, Salford Priors, Old Strafford, Temple Grafton, Wixford, and parts of Arrow and Welford, comprising an area of 29,230 acres. STRATFORD, or STRATFORD LANGTHORNE, a ward and post town in the par. of West Ham, hund. of Beacoutree, co. Essex, 4 miles N.E. of London. It is a junction station on the North London and Great Eastern railways, where the Cambridge and Woolwich lines branch off. The town is situated on the road to Harwich, and on the banks of the river Lea, which is navigable to the Thames. The Roman way to Colches- ter is said to havo here crossed the river by a ford, hence the name of the place, " Strat-ford." There are a brick gateway, arch, and other remains of a mitred Cistercian abbey, founded by William de Montfitchet in 1135, and which was moved to Burghsted, near Billericay, but was subsequently restored, and continued till the Dissolution, when its revenue was valued at 574, and the site given to Sir P. Meautis by Henry VIII., who confined in it the Countess of Salisbury. The moat enclosed an area of 10 acres. On the banks of the river are chemical and dye works, flour mills, a porter brewery, distilleries, and the Great Eastern railway locomotive works. This place is connected with Stratford-le-Bow by a bridge that crosses the river Lea, and which was originally built by Queen Maud, wife of Henry I., but was rebuilt in 1834. Stratford is divided for ecclesiastical purposes into the three perpetual curacies of St. John, population 7,000, val. 310, patron, of the Vicar of West Ham ; Christ Church, population 4,000, val. 200, patron, of trustees; and St. Paul's, population 9,000, val. 300, patron, of trustees. There are National and British schools for both sexes, and industrial schools in connec- tion with Whitechapel Union. The Wesleyans, Bap- tists, Independents, and Roman Catholics have chapels. STRATFORD, FENNY, a chplry., tnshp., and post town in the pars, of Bletchley and Simpson, hund. of Newport Pagnell, co. Bucks, 13 miles E. of Bucking- ham, and 45 N.W. of London by road, or 47 J by the London and North- Western railway, which has a station about three quarters of a mile from the town. It is near the site of the Roman station Magiovinium, on Watling Street, at the ford on the Ouzel or Lofield. The modern town comprises two streets, and stands on an eminence surrounded by fens, now partially drained. The Grand Junction canal crosses the high road at the bottom of the town. The market, which never flourished since the devastation caused by the plague in 1 665, is now obsolete. A considerable business is carried on in brick and tile making, and in coals, slate, and timber, also lace making. The population of the tnshp. in 1861 was 1,199. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 65. The church, dedicated to St. Martin, and situated in Bletchley, was rebuilt in 1724 through the exertions of Browne Willis, the antiquary, and was enlarged in 1823 by voluntary subscriptions. The Wesleyans and Baptists have chapels. There are Na- tional schools for both sexes. Philip D. P. Duncombe, Esq., is lord of the manor. Fairs are held on 19th April, 18th July, llth October, and 2Sth November for cattle, tsys, and earthen ware. STRATFORD-LE-BOW. See Bow, eo. Middlesex.