Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/82

Rh NORRIS-CASTLE. NORTHAMPTON. Thornhill. The village is situated on an eminence adjoining the road from Stirling to Aberfoil. This par. is in the presb. of Dunblane and in the patron, of the heads of families and male communicants. The minister has a stipend of 95. The church is an ancient edifice, formerly a chapel-of-ease to Kincardine. There is also a Free church. NORRIS CASTLE, a seat in the Isle of Wight, co. Hants, near Cowes. It was built by "Wyatt, and com- mands an extensive view of the Solent. NORTH, two pars, of this name in the Orkney Islands, coast of Scotland. See LADVKIRK, WESTIIAY ISLAND, and ST. PETER'S, SOUTH RONALDSIIAY. NORTHALL, a hmlt. in the par. of Eddlesborough, hund. of Cottesloe, co. Bucks, 3 miles N. by E. of Ivinghoe. The hamlet, which is considerable, is situated inithe border of Northall Common. NORTHALLERTON, a par., post and market town, municipal and parliamentary borough, in the wap. of Allertonshire, North Riding co. York, 3 miles from Old Herington, 8 from Bedale, and 221 from London. It is a station on the North-Eastern railway. It is situated in a valley to the E. of the old Roman road, Ermine Street, and is crossed from E. to W. by the small stream Sun Beek, a feeder of the river Wiske, which bounds the parish on the W. It includes the tnshps. of Brompton, Deighton, High-Worsall, Romanby, and Northallerton, besides the ext. par. lib. of Lazenby. This place was a Roman station and subsequently a Saxon borough, and is mentioned as Alreton and Alvcrtune in Domesday Book, the prefix having been added to distinguish it from Allerton Maule- verer. It was given by William Rufus to the bishops of Durham, whose castle, in 1318, was burnt by Robert Bruce. The celebrated battle of the Standard was fought at Cowton Moor, in this parish, in 1138, between the English and the Scotch, under their king, David, commanded by Ralph, Bishop of the Orkney Islands, Walter 1'Espec, and W. d'Albemarle, in which the latter suffered a total defeat, with the loss of 11,000 men. The spot on which the Standard was erected is still called Standard Hill, and the holes into which the dead were thrown, Scots' Pits. In 1318 the town was surprised and burnt by the Scots. In 1745 the English army, under the command of the Duke of Cumberland, encamped on the Castle hills previously to their march- ing against the Pretender. The town, which is a borough by prescription, is governed by the bishop's bailiff, who is returning officer. It returned two mem- bers to parliament, once in the reign of Edward I., but not again till 1640, and since the passing of the Reform Bill it has returned but one. The new borough includes the tnshps. of Northallerton and Romanby, and the chplry. of Brompton. The town principally consists of one long and wide street, which is well paved and lighted with gas. It includes the butchers' shambles, a market-cross, toll-booth, and several good shops. The petty sessions are held every Wednesday at the sessions house, in which the general quarter sessions for the North Riding and the county court are also held. To the W. of the sessions house is the registrar's office for the North Riding, where the Bishop of Durham, as high bailiff of the whole liberty and lord of the manor of Northallerton, was wont to hold his courts. There are three commercial banks, a savings-bank, and a mechanics' institution. The chief trade of the town is in agricultural produce, but brick -making, malting, and tanning are also carried on to a large extent. In the vicinity of the town are vestiges of the fortified palace of the bishops of Durham ; also ruins of Bishop Hatfield'e priory for White Canons or Carmelites, founded in 1354, and dedicated to St. Mary ; traces of an Austin friary, founded about 1341, by William deAlverton or Allerton, and the site of St. James's Hospital, about a mile from the town, the revenue of which at the Dissolution was returned at 58 10s. lOrf. It has long given name to a district called Allertonshire, now constituting the wapen- take and liberty, and is the head of a Poor-law Union comprising 44 parishes and places. The population district contained 12,174 inhabitants in 1861, but the parish only 4,980. It is the seat of superintendent registry and new County Court districts, which nearly coincide with the Poor-law Union. It is also a polling place for the election of knights of the shire for the North Riding. It gave title of viscount to George I. before his accession to the English throne. The tithes were commuted for land under an Enclosure Act in 1772, except for the manors of Allerton and Flaxby, Clareton, and Coneystrop. The glebe attached to the Hiring com- prises about 200 acres. The living is a vie.* with the cur. of Deighton annexed, in the dioc. of York, val. .697, in the patron, of the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient cruci- form stone structure in the Norman and later English styles of architecture, with a square tower rising from the centre, crowned with pinnacles at the angles, and containing a clock and six bells. In addition to the parish church there are two district churches at Brompton and High Worsall, the livings of which are perpet. curs., val. 120 and 80 respectively, and a chapel-of-ease at Deighton. The parochial charities produce about 165 per annum, including the bequest of the Rev. John Kettlewell, which now realises 60, appropriated to the support of the National schools, and to various other purposes. There is also a hospital, or Maison de Dieu, for 13 poor persons of either sex, founded by Richard de Moore in 1476. The free gram- mar school is of royal foundation, and has a small endowment. At this school, Mr. Rymer, editor of the " Foedera," Rev. J. Kettlewell, a divine, Archbishop Palliser, Dr. George Hickes, Dean of Worcester, and author of the " Thesaurus Septentrionalium Lingua- rum," Dr. Thomas Burnet, master of the Charter House, London, and Dr. Radcliffe, were pupils. There ajre besides National and Sunday schools. The Wesleyans, Independents, and Baptists have each a place of worship. The tolls of this parish belong to the Bishop of Ripon. Vestiges of a military road leading from Dcrventio, now Alby, through this town, to Catterick, may still be traced. Races take place annually. Market day is Wednesday. Fairs are held on the "th and 14th February, 5th and 6th May, and 3rd and 4th October, for the sale of horses, cattle, and sheep, and for cheese on the second Wednesday in October. NORTHAM, a par. in the hund. of Shebbear, co. Devon, 1J mile N.W. of Bideford, its post town, and 1 from the Instow railway station. The par., which is large, is bounded on the W. by the Bristol Channel, and on the E. by the navigable river Torridge. It includes the small seaport of Appledore and the hmlt. of Northam Ridge, which is situated on Northam Burrows, an extensive ridge of pebbles 3 miles in extent. At Kenwith Castle, in this parish, are traces of an en- trenched camp in which the Danes were defeated by the Saxons, and their standard captured. The inhabi- tants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The soil is of a sandy and loamy nature, on a substratum of stone, which is quarried. The appropriate tithes, belong- ing to the Dean and Chapter of Windsor, have been commuted for a rent-charge of 525. The glebe com- prises 60 acres, valued at 130 per annum. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 125, in the patron, of the Dean and Chapter of Windsor. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a stone structure, restored in 1853, with a tower containing six bells. Theparoehial charities produce about 60 per annum, besides alms- houses for four aged single females. There are National and infant schools. The Independents, Baptists, Wes- leyans, and Plymouth Brethren have each a place of worship. The principal residences are Halls-annery House, Orchard Hill, Port Hill, and Rawleigh House. The manor is held under lease by T. B. Chanter, Esq., from the Cleveland family. Annual sports of various kinds are held on Whit Monday. NORTHAM, a hmlt. in the borough of Southampton, co. Hants. It is built on the site of the ancient Clausen- turn, near the river Itchin, and opposite Bittern Grove. NORTHAMPTON, a market town, parliamentary