Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/907

Rh YELFORD. 895 YEOVIL. 80 feet high, and 29 feet in girth at 4 foot from the ground. The principal seats are Spaynes Hall and Spencer Grange the former the residence of John Way, Esq., who is lord of the manor. The soil is strong and rather wet, hut the lands are generally well cultivated, and in the gravelly strata many fossils are found. Hops are largely cultivated in the neighbour- hood, and there is much timber. Both livings are rects.* in the dioc. of Rochester that of Great Yeldham, val. 510, and that of Little Yeldham, 225. The church of Great Yeldham is dedicated to St. Andrew. There are mixed National schools, and Ford's endowed school, with an income of 40, also six almshouses, besides several small charities for the poor. YELFORD, a par. in the hund. of Bampton, co. Oxford, 3J miles S.W. of Witney. It is situated on a branch of the river Thames, and sometimes called Yelford-Hastings, from having once belonged to the family of Hastings, but was afterwards purchased by Mr. Speaker Lenthall, in whose family the manor still continues. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 110. The church ia dedicated to St. S within. YELLING, a par. in the hund. of Yoseland, co. Hunts, 4 miles S. of Caxton, 6 N.E. of St. Neot's, and 8 S. of Huntingdon. In the reign of Charles I. it was the property of Sir Julius Caesar. The rectory was once held by Venn. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Ely, val. 400, in the patron, of the lord chancellor. The church is dedicated to the Holy Cross. The Baptists have a chapel. There are National and Sunday schools. The charities consist of a poors' allotment of 14 acres of land. YELL, MIDDLE AND SOUTH, an united par. in the island of Yell, Shetland Isles, coast of Scotland. It comprises the post-office stations of East Yell and Burra-voe, the isles of Hascussay, Samphrey, and the middle and southern portions of the island of Yell. The parish extends 13J miles N. and S. in length, with an extreme breadth of 7 miles, including a largo extent of water, which is intimately mingled with the land. The chief portion of the land is in pasture and unenclosed moorland. On the W. side of the island of Yell the shores are rocky, but on the E. low and sandy. Traces of copper ore have been found in the serpentine rocks. Most of the inhabitants unite the occupations of farmers and fishermen, and within the last quarter of a century sheep-farming has been successfully introduced. The living of the united pars, of Middle and South Yell is in the presb. of Burra-voe. YELL, NORTH, a par. in the Shetland Isles, coast of Scotland. It comprises the northern portion of the island of Yell, with the island of Feltar, besides nume- rous small islets in Colgrave and Yell sounds. It is a mountainous district, chiefly sheep-walks, with remains of Picts' houses and Danish forts along the coasts. The cliffs on the W., with the islets adjoining, are frequented by swarms of sea-fowl, terns, eider-ducks, and other Arctic species, while the narrow seas or sounds, called Blumel, Colgrave, and Yell sounds, abound in herrings, sillocks, and ca'ing whales. The par. is in the presb. of Burra-voe. The minister's stipend is 160, with manse. YELLOWFURZE, a hmlt. in the bar. of Lower Duleek, co. Meath, 3 miles S.W. of Slane. YELSTEAD, a hmlt. in the par. of Stockbnry, co. Kent, 7 miles N.E. of Maidstone. YELVERTOFT, a par. in the hund. of Guilsborough, co. Northampton, 9 miles N.E. of Daventry, 8 E. of Rugby, and 4 J S.W. of Welford. The village is situated on the Warwickshire border, near the Grand Junction canal, and is watered by a brook which falls into the !Avon. The land is chiefly in pasture, and the soil a mixture of clay and rich loam. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Peterborough, val. 500. The church is dedicated to All Saints. The Independents have a I, and there is a school endowed by Mrs. Ashby in 1719, with land now producing 40 per annum, also poors' land let for 15 per annum, which is distributed to tho poor nt Christmas. YELVERTON, a par. in the hund. of Henstead, co. Norfolk, 51 miles S.E. of Norwich. The village is situated on the road from Norwich to Beccles, and gives name to the Avonmore family. The living is a rect. in tho dioc. of Norwich, consolidated with Alpington. The church is dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. The register commenced in 1559. There is a National school. Tho charities produce about 57 per annum, apportioned between the rector and the poor. The Earl of Rosebery is lord of the manor. YEO. There are two rivers of this name ; one rises at Seven Sisters' Springs, near Milborne Port, co. Dorset, and joins the Parret at Langport ; and the other rises near Parkham, co. Devon, and joins the Torridge below Littleham. YEOVIL, a par., market town, and municipal borough in the hund. of Stone, co. Somerset, 21 miles S.E. of Bridgwater, 40 S.W. of Bristol, and 48 N.E. of Exeter. It has a joint station of the London and South- Western and Bristol and Exeter railways, and a station of tho Wilts, Somerset, and Weymouth railway, also a branch line to Durston. It is supposed to be tho Roman station Vclox, from the number of coins and tesselated pavements which have been found, and was called Gevele by tho Saxons, and in Domesday survey is mentioned as Givele, and Ivle, which names may be identified with that of the river Yeo or Ivel, on the left bank of which it is situated, and which here separates the counties of Somerset and Dorset. The par. consists of the borough of Yeovil, the chplry. of Hendford, and tho tythgs. of Huntley, Lyde Marsh, and Wigden, and the manor of Newton. The present town, which stands on the direct road from London to Exeter, consists of a number of streets and lanes irregularly laid out, but the Improve- ment Commissioners have recently improved tho ap- pearance of the town by the removal of the unsightly buildings in the market-place and tho shambles. The streets are paved and lighted with gas, and some are spacious, containing many good houses built of stone, and most of tho shops have been modernised. Tho drainage has been recently improved, but the inhabi- tants still suffer from the absence of a good supply of water. The principal public buildings are the townhall and market-house, a Grecian structure of stone, erected in 1849 ; tho lower part consisting of a basement of six pillars, in which the corn exchange and markets are held, and above the facade of the townhall, a chamber 58J feet in length, by 35 in breadth, and 22 high ; the police-station, situated in Wine-street, is a substantial building, with a residence for a superintendent of police, and cells for the prisoners; the Union workhouse is situated in tho Preston-road, and has accommodation for 300 inmates. The savings-bank, in Princes-street, was erected in 1839; there are, besides, two branch commercial banks, a penny bank, literary institute and reading-rooms, with library, three breweries, and an old market cross. The population of tho parish in 1861 was 8,486, and of the borough 7,957, inhabiting 1,420 houses. The woollen trade, for which Yeovil was once famous, has entirely disappeared, as also the linen manufacture, which succeeded it, but is now one of the principal centres of the kid glove manufacture, which gives em- ployment to the greater portion of the inhabitants of the town, as well as furnishing employment to thousands of females in the surrounding district. In the immediate vicinity of the town are Newton House, of the Harbin family, who have been settled here from the reign of James I. ; Hendford House, Penn House, Yew Tree Close ; Hendford Manor-house, Kingston Manor, and Hollands'. The manor was anciently held under the crown by its rectors, by the abbots of Sion, by Queen Katherine in thereignof Henry VIII., and subsequently by the Philipses of Montacute, with whom it remained until recently purchased by G. Harbin, Esq., for tho corporation. In 1853 an Act of Incorporation was ob- tained, under which the borough is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen, and 12 common councilmen. Both the borough and county magistrates hold petty sessions in the townhall weekly, and a county court is held monthly. The board of guardians meet weekly, on Tuesday, at the