Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/610

Rh SWANCOTT. 598 SWANSEA. Oxford, val. 158. The church, dedicated to St. Swithin, is an ancient structure, with a square tower containing six bells. The parochial charities produce about 43 per annum, of which 15 go to Godwin's school. There are National and infant schools. The Baptists have a chapel. SWANCOTT, a tnshp. in the par. of Worfield, co. Salop, 1 mile N.E. of Bridgnorth. SWANLAND, a tnshp. in the par. of North Ferriby, lib. of Kingaton-upon-Hull, East Riding co. York, 63 miles S.W. of Hull. It is situated near the Selby rail- way and the river Humber, and includes the hmlt. of Braffords. SWANLEY, a hmlt. in the par. of Sutton-at-Hone, hund. of Axton, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, co. Kent, 2 miles S.W. of Sutton-at-Hone, and 3 S.W. of Dartford, its post town. It is a small village, situated in the midst of orchards and hop-gardens. The living is a perpet. eur. in the dioc. of Canterbury. The church is dedicated to St. Paul's. SWANLINBAK, a post town in the par. of Kinaw- ley, bar. of Tullyhaw, co. Cavan, prov. of Ulster, Ireland, 8 miles N.W. of Ballyconnell. It is situated among the mountains, on the old road from Ballycon- nell to Enniskillen, and is celebrated for its medicinal waters. It ia a chief police station, and petty sessions are held occasionally. There were formerly extensive iron works here. SWANMOOE, a hmlt. in the tnshp. of Great Hay- wood, co. Stafford, 4 miles N.W. of Rugeley. SWANMORE, a tythg. in the par. of Droxford, co. Hants, 1 mile S.E. of Bishop's Waltham, its post town. SWANNAY, or SWONA, an island in the par. of St. Mary, Orkney and Shetland Isles, coast of Scotland, 1| mile W. of Earth Head, in South Ronaldshay, and 6 miles N. of Camsbay. It is situated on the N. side of the Pentland Frith, near the Wells of Swannay whirlpools, and extends 1 mile in length by half a mile in breadth. The inhabitants are chiefly fishermen and pilots. SWANNINGTON, a chplry. in the par. of Whit- wick, hund. of West Goscote, co. Leicester, 4 miles S.E. of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and 16i from Leicester. It is a station on the Leicester and Burton section of the Midland counties railway. The village is situated in a hilly district. The inhabitants are principally employed in the coal mines, 4,000 tons being sent weekly to Lei- cester by rail. The living is a perpet. cur. * in the dioc. of Peterborough, val. 120, in the patron, of the vicar. The church, dedicated to St. George, was rebuilt in 1825, and stands at the northern extremity of the dis- trict. The Marquis of Hastings is lord of the manor. SWANNINGTON, a par. in the hund. of Eynsford, co. Norfolk, 3J miles S.E. of Reepham, its post town. The living is a rect.* with the vie. of Wood-Calling, in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 531, in the patron, of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to St. Mar- garet, has a low square tower containing three bells. The register dates from 1538. The parochial charities produce about 13 per annum. The Lawn is the prin- cipal residence. Major Randall is lord of the manor. SWAN, OLD, a chplry. in the par. of Walton-on- the-Hill, hund. of West Derby, co. Lancaster, 3 miles E. of Liverpool. The village, which may be considered a suburb of Liverpool, contains the cattle market, and is the site of extensive glass works and roperies. SWANSCOMBE, a par. in the hund. of Axton, lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, co. Kent, 4 miles E. of Dartford, its post town, and 3 W. of Gravesend. The village is bituated near the river Thames, in a hollow sur- rounded by woods, and is the place where Sweyn formed a camp to protect his fleet. It is mentioned in Domesday survey as Swene's Camp, and belonged to William de Valence, from whom it came to the Morti- mers, and was subsequently presented by Queen Eliza- beth to the Weldons. In the vicinity is a cavern de- signated Clappernappers Hole. The land is chalky, and from Greenhithe large quantities of chalk and lime are sent to the neighbouring ports. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 612, in the patron, of Sydney Sussex College. The church, dedicated to St. Hildeforth or to SS. Peter and Paul, is an ancient edifice, with tower and spire. The interior contains several monuments to the Weldon family. The parochial charities produce about 23 per annum, besides Beare's almshouses. The manor-house is a building of great antiquity, and was formerly the seat of the Weldons. SWANSEA, a hund. in co. Glamorgan, contains the pars, of Bishopston, Cheriton, listen, St. John, Knelston, Llandewy, Llandilo-talybont, Llangennith, Llanmadock, Llanrhidian, Loughor, Nicholaston, Ox- wich, Oystermouth, Penmaen, Pennard, Penrice, Port Eynon, Reynoldston, Rhoscilly, and Swansea. SWANSEA, or ABERTAWY of the Welsh, a par., market town, bonding port, municipal and parlia- mentary borough in the hund. of the same name, co. Glamorgan, of which it is the county town, 36 miles N.W. of Cardiff, 60 from Bristol by water, and 260 from London by road, or 216J by the Great Western and South Wales railways, on which it is a principal station ; it is also the terminus of the Vale of Neath, Swansea Vale, Swansea and Mumbles, branch of the Oyster- mouth, besides various local mineral lines from the ex- tensive collieries and copper and iron works. Steamers ply to Bristol, llfracombe, Gloucester, Liverpool, Mil- ford, Singleton, Tenby, and other ports on the coast. It is situated on the right bank of the river Tawe, at its confluence with the Bristol Channel in the centre of a bay, to which it gives name. The harbour, which is left dry at low water, is formed by means of piers of masonry projecting from either side of the mouth of the river 1,800 feet, and 900 feet long, and 215 feet apart at the mouth, with a cross pier within the harbour. It has recently undergone many improvements at a cost of above 100,000, and in 1859 a spacious new dock was opened by the side of the harbour in the Burrows, con- taining an area of 13 acres ; the half tide basin is 430 feet long by 370 broad, and communicates with the docks by a lock 300 feet in length, having three pairs of gates. On the western pier are a watch-tower and a lighthouse with a fixed light 28 feet high, and visible for 9 miles. The bay outside the harbour is about 9 miles across from Scar to the Mumbles point light, and has from 1 to 5 fathoms of water, but in the harbour at high-water it is from 10 to 24 feet. Along the bay are the ports of Aberavon, Neath, Swansea, Oystermouth, and the Mixon Rock, with the Skarweather Shoal in front. On the N.E. and N.W. the bay is backed by lofty hills, and the beach in front of Swansea consists of an extensive level of firm sand. The town itself occu- pies an acclivity formed by an angular piece of ground between two lofty hills, and consists chiefly of a main street running N. and S. for nearly a mile parallel to the river, which is crossed by a ferry. The other streets either diverge from the High-street, or proceed W. and S.W. nearly in the line of the bay. The houses for the most part are modern and well-built, and the outskirts of the town are studded with villas and marine terraces, formerly the resort of numerous visitors who were in the habit of coming to Swansea for the purpose of sea-bathing, but the promenades have been swallowed up by the docks, and the bathers have been forced to retreat to the Mumbles ; added to which the fumes of the copper works, whenever a N.E. wind blows, render it anything but pleasant as a residence. The effect, however, of these changes, which have taken place in the last thirty years, have been eminently bene- ficial so far as the wealth, population, and size of the town are concerned, which now contests with Cardiff the metropolitan supremacy of South Wales. The port is a bonding-port, having for its sub-ports Aberavon, Loughor, Neath, Newton, Oxwick, and Pennard. It is also a sessions and assize town, and the seat of a Poor-law Union. The principal public buildings are the townhall, a Grecian structure with Corinthian, columns, in front of which is the statue of the late J. H. Vivian, Esq., M.P. for the borough ; the post-office in Castle Bailey-street ; the new market-house, 320 feet