Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/902

Rh YARLEY. S90 YARMOUTH. YARLEY, a tythg. in the par. of AVookey, co. Somer- set, 4 miles S.W. of Wells. It contains the hmlt. of Hen ton. Y'ARLINGTON, a par. in the hund. of Bruton, co. Somerset, 3 miles S. of Castle Carey, 3 W. of Wincan- ton, and 4 S.E. of Bruton railway station. It contains the tythg. of Lower Woolston, and an eminence called Godshill, on the south-western declivity of which is a douhle - intrenched camp. Near the church are re- mains of a seat of the Berkeley family. The soil is a light sandy loam on a suhstratum of sandstone rock. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Bath and Wells, val. 350. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. The regis- ter commences in 1656. 'There is a Sunday-school. A fair is held on the 26th August for cattle, horses, and sheep. F. Rogers, Esq., of AVestbury, is lord of the manor and principal landowner. YARLINGTON, a hmlt. in the par. of North Cadhury, hund. of Catsash, co. Somerset, 5 miles S.W. of Win- canton. YARMOUTH, a par., seaport, and market town in the lib. of West Medina, Isle of Wight, co. Hants, 10 miles AV. of Newport, 12 S.W. of Cowes, and 6 hy steamer across the Solent to Lymington. This place, anciently called Eremuth, and now occasionally South Yarmouth, to distinguish it from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, de- rives its name from its situation at the mouth of the river Yar, which falls into the Solent, and is here crossed hyahridge, just constructed, connecting thetown with the neighbouring parish of Freshwater. It is a coast-guard station and sub-port to Cowes, being the first port within the Needles passage. In ancient times it appears to have been of much greater extent and importance than it is at present, as proved by the " town field," which, though now destitute of buildings, is laid out regularly at right angles, marking the lines of the ancient streets. Its decadence is attributed to the French, by whom it was, in the reign of Richard II., pillaged and entirely burned, and on two subsequent occasions it was nearly destroyed by them. It is a corporate town, having been incorporated by Baldwin de Rivers, or Redvers, Earl of Devon, and is nominally governed by a mayor and 12 capital burgesses. The borough first sent members to parliament in the 23rd of Edward I., but made no other return until the 27th of Elizabeth, from which period it exercised the privilege continuously till disfranchised by the Reform Act of 1832. The town consists of several streets, for the most part running E. and W., the houses are chiefly of brick. It contains a townhall and market-house, and a castle or fort at the western extremity of the town, built by Henry VIII. on the site of a former church, and in 1855 repaired and much strengthened by government. The George Hotel was originally built by Sir Robert Holmes, the admiral, for the reception of Charles II., and has in front of the house a small platform or balcony, which belonged to an old mansion, from which Charles I. addressed the people of the place when in the hands of the parliament and on his way from Carisbrooke to Hurst Castle. The population of the parish is 1861 was 690. The trade is now limited, consisting of the import of coal from Sun- derland, timber from the New Forest, and of the ex- port of iron ore to the smelting furnaces of Wales, which latter is dredged up off the coast, also fine white sand, used in the manufacture of flint-glass and the finer sorts of British china, obtained chiefly from pits on the shore of Alum Bay near the Needles. The living is a rcct. in the dioc. of Winchester, val. 100. The church, dedicated to St. James, was built in 1543, and repaired in 1831, when the tower was raised 30 feet higher at the expense of T. Alexander, Esq. On the S. side is a sepulchral chapel containing a statue of life size, in parian marble, of Sir R. Holmes, formerly Governor of the Isle of Wight. The Wesleyans and Baptists have chapels. There are National schools opened in 1855, and at which the present (1868) average daily attendance is 160. The charities produce about 45 per annum, the bequest of Thomas Lord Holmes and others. Vestiges of a Roman station formerly existed on a spot now built upon. Friday is mark day. A fair is held on 25th July. YARMOUTH, or GREAT YARMOUTH, a pnr market town, bonding port, and bathing-place, exet cising separate jurisdiction, but locally situated in the hund. of East Flegg, co. Norfolk, 23 miles S.E. of Nor- wich by road, or 20 by rail, 120 N.E. of London by rail vid Ipswich, and 145 vid Cambridge, both routes being by the Great Eastern line, which has branch lines communicating with the London and North- Western, the Midland and Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railways. There are two railway stations, one over tt railway bridge, the line from which runs to Norwich, and thence to London, vid Cambridge ; the other in South Town, the line from which passes through East Suffolk, and reaches London by Colchester. There is likewise water communication with North Walsliam, Aylsham, Norwich, Beecles, and Bungay. The Roman station ffariaaonum was on the Yare, 3 miles from the present town. At the time of the Domesday survey, it was a royal demesne, and is described as a fishing town, con- taining 60 burgesses and a church. After the Norman conquest it rapidly increased in importance, and was fortified by the inhabitants in the reign of Henry III. with a wall which still exists perfect from end to end. It received a charter of incorporation from John, who granted to the burgesses the rights of the crown in consideration of a fee-farm rent of 50, which is still paid. In 1346 it supplied Edward III. with 43 ships, tally manned, for the siege of Calais, being more than any other place in England, and two years afterwards no fewer than 7,000 persons died of the plague, showing how populous it must then have become. In the 15th century, Caistor Castle, of which there are some ruins, was built by Sir John Fastolf, and about the same time frequent disputes arose with the Cinque Ports relative to the right of sending bailiffs to Yarmouth to assist in governing the place during the herring season, from Michaelmas to Martinmas. In Kett's or the "Norfolk Rebellion," in the reign of Edward VI., Yarmouth was attacked by the insurgents, who were, however, repulsed by the townsmen. In 1588 a beacon was placed on the castle to give warning of the approach of the Armada. During the civil war of Charles I. the town declared for the parliament. After the Restoration it was visited by Charles II. in 1671, and by William III., who landed here in 1692 on his return from the Continent. In the ' last French war it was selected as a naval station, where Admiral Duncan brought in his prizes after the victory of Camperdown in 1797, and was the port at which Nelson landed after the victory of the Nile. Next after Norwich, it is the chief town of the eastern counties, being the port for the supply of East Nor- folk, Suffolk, and part of Essex. Its prosperity mainly depends on its foreign commerce, its inland trade, its fisheries, and its advantages as a bathing-place. It is a polling-place for East Norfolk, and until recently returned two members to parliament, but was disfran- chised for bribery by the Reform Act of 1867. Yar- mouth takes its name from its situation at the river Yare's mouth, known to the Romans as the Oariensis, being built on the neck of land between Braydon Water and the German Ocean opposite Yarmouth Roads, where floating lights are placed to guide the mariner, on account of the dangerous character of the coast. Tho original town was built on the river side of the denes, but of late years it has extended so rapidly towards the shore, that it has now a sea-frontage of nearly a mile in length. The denes or sandbanks on which the town is built are peculiar, having been gradu- ally formed within historic periods at the entrance of the estuary of the Yare, which once flowed up to Norwich. These accumulations of sand eventually became dry land, being assisted in the transformation by the light sand drifted from the beach by the prevailing E. winds, which sweep the coast in the spring. These denes now present the appearance of a narrow, level peninsula, washed on the E. by the German Ocean, and on the AV. by the rivers Bure, Yare, and Braydon AVater, which