[C] ACTON BURNELL is celebrated for the remains of an ancien_Curiosities of Great Britain: England and Wales Delineated Vol.1-11 Historical, Entertaining & Commercial; Alphabetically Arranged. 11 Volume set.

founded by Robert Burnell, bishop of Bath and Wells, a man of eminent

abilities, first treasurer, and afterwards chancellor of England, who

was much employed by King Edward I. in Welsh affairs. He died at

Berwick, in 1292, and was buried in the cathedral at Wells. The castle

is a quadrangular building, with a square tower at each corner. The hall

in which King Edward I. held his parliament, in 1283, was 183 feet long,

by 41 broad, but the gable ends only remain. The Statutum de

Mercatoribus enacted here, is from that circumstance better known as the

Statute of Acton Burnell. The successor of the bishop, at the castle,

was Sir Edward Burnell, son of Philip Burnell and Maud, daughter of

Richard Arundel. He served in many actions in Scotland, under Edward I.,

and always appeared in great splendour, attended by a chariot decked

with banners of his arms. He was summoned to parliament from the fifth

to the eighth year of Edward the second's reign, and died in 1315. In

1346, the castle came into the possession of Nicholas Lord Burnell, who

died in 1382, and is buried in the church under an altar tomb, inlaid

with his effigy in brass. In the reign of Henry VI. the Lovell family

were in possession of this estate, which was forfeited by Lord Lovell,

in consequence of his adherence to King Richard III. Henry VII. being

seated on the throne, granted Acton Burnell, together with other estates

in this county, to Jasper Tudor, Earl of Bedford; after whose death it

reverted to the crown, and Henry VIII. granted it to Thomas Howard, Earl

of Surrey, distinguished for his valour at the battle of Flodden. Sir

Humphrey Lee, of Langley, in this parish, was created a baronet, May 3,

1620. Acton Burnell Park is now the residence of Sir Edward Joseph

Smythe, Bart. whose family have been seated here from the time of

Charles II., when Sir Edward Smythe, of Esh, in Durham, created a

baronet, Feb. 23, 1660, married the daughter and heiress of Sir Richard

Lee, Bart. of Langley. The mansion, on a verdant lawn, bordered by a

shrubbery, presents a handsome elevation of fine white stone, having a

noble Ionic portico, under which is the carriage entrance. Behind the

house is the deer park, on a finely wooded eminence, affording one of

the most beautiful prospects in the county. The chapelry of Ruckley and

Langley is in this parish.

[Sidenote: Edward I. held his parliament here in 1283.]

[Sidenote: Lord Burnell's effigy in brass on the altar tomb.]

[Sidenote: The seat of Sir E.J. Smythe.]

Map| Names of Places. | County | Number of Miles From |

+--+-----------------------+----------+--------------+---------------+

28|Addington, Lit to & pa|Northamp | ... 5| ... 8|

46|Addle-cum-Eccup to|W.R. York | 5| ... 6|

+--+-----------------------+----------+--------------+---------------+

|Dist.

Map| Names of Places. |Number of Miles From |Lond.|Population

+--+-----------------------+-------------------------+-----+---------+

7|Acton Grange to|Runcorn 5| 183| 148|

15|Acton Iron pa|Bristol 9| 112| 1372|

33|Acton Pigott chap|Ch. Stretton 9| 154| ... |

33|Acton Reynold to|Drayton 12| 152| 173|

33|Acton Round chap|Ludlow 17| 145| 203|

33|Acton Scott pa|Ludlow 10| 155| 204|

35|Acton Trussell to & pa|Lichfield 15| 131| 551|

31|Acton Turville chap|Sodbury 5| 102| 236|

35|Adbaston pa|Hodnet 7| 152| 601|

31|Adderbury East to & pa|Aynhoe 4| 70| 2471|

33|Adderley pa|Wem 12| 157| 468|

29|Adderston to|Wooler 10| 319| 322|

17|Adforton to|Knighton 8| 150| 218|

9|Addingham pa|Aldstn Moor 12| 291| 719|

45|Addingham pa|Keighley 5| 213| 2251|

37|Addington[A] pa|Bromley 5| 12| 463|

5|Addington pa|Bicester 11| 50| 74|

21|Addington pa|Wrotham 3| 27| 206|

28|Addington, Gt to & pa|Higam Ferrers 5| 70| 282|

28|Addington, Lit to & pa| ... 5| 70| 264|

21|Addisham pa|Sandwich 6| 62| 390|

45|Addle[B] to & pa|Bradford 8| 205| 1063|

46|Addle-cum-Eccup to| ... 8| 291| 703|

45|Addlingfleet[C] pa||Howden 6| 170| 478|

+--+-----------------------+-------------------------+-----+---------+

[A] ADDINGTON is on the borders of Kent. Addington Place, a seat erected

by Alderman Trecothick, in 1772, was purchased in 1807, for the

residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The manor of Addington is

held by the feudal service of finding a man to make a mess, called

Gerout, in the king's kitchen, at the coronation, and serving it up in

his own person at Westminster Hall. In the reign of William the

Conqueror, Addington appears to have been held by Tezelin, cook to the

king, which accounts for the origin of the required culinary service.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is now the claimant of the service alluded

to. Near the village is a curious cluster of tumuli, or mounds of earth

raised over the bodies of the slain, about twenty-five in number, of

inconsiderable height. One of them is nearly forty feet in diameter, two

are about half that size, and the rest very small.

[Sidenote: Coronation custom.]

[Sidenote: Cluster of tumuli.]

[B] ADDLE. The church in this town is considered to be one of the most

perfect specimens of Roman architecture remaining in England. In 1702,

the traces of an ancient Roman town, with fragments of urns, and of an

aqueduct of stone were found in the adjacent moor.

[Sidenote: Roman architecture.]

[C] ADDLINGFLEET. A parish and township in the lower division of Osgold

Cross, including the townships of Fockerby, Haldenby, and Eastoft. The

village is situated very near the junction of the Trent with the Humber,

the latter river being one of the largest in the kingdom, formed by the

united waters of the Trent, Ouse, Derwent, Aire, and other minor

streams. At this part it is about a mile broad, it is the Abus of

Ptolemy. It runs towards the east, washing the port of Hull, where it

receives the river called by the same name; from thence, taking a

south-easterly direction, it expands itself into an estuary nearly seven

miles across, and mingles with the German ocean. This river, which, with

very few exceptions, receives all the waters of Yorkshire from the Ouse,

and the greater part of those from the midland counties from the Trent,

commands the inland navigation of very extensive and commercial parts of

England; namely, those of the Mersey, Dee, Ribble, Severn, Thames, and

Avon; it also forms the boundary between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

[Sidenote: Boundary between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.]

Map| Names of Places. | County | Number of Miles From |

+--+-------------------+----------+--------------+-------------+

+--+-------------------+----------+--------------+-------------+

|Dist. |

Map| Names of Places. |Number of Miles From |Lond. |Population

+--+-------------------+-------------------------+------+------+

7|Adlington to|Altringham 10| 2| 1066|

22|Adlington[A] to|Bolton 9| 264| 1082|

24|Addlethorpe to & pa|Wainfleet 9| 134| 176|

15|Adlestrop pa|Moreton 6| 86| 196|

22|Admarsh chap|Garstang 12| 240| ... |

5|Adstock pa|Bicester 11| 52| 445|

28|Adstone ham|Brackley 10| 67| 166|

8|Advent chap|Launceston 15| 230| 246|

45|Adwalton[B] ham|Huddersfield 8| 192| ... |

31|Adwell pa|Watlington 4| 41| 48|

45|Adwick-on-Dearne ch|Doncaster 7| 167| 145|

45|Adwick pa & to|Pontefract 9| 166| 918|

12|Aff-Piddle pa|Blandford 12| 111| 442|

7|Agden to|Nantwich 11| 177| 104|

7|Agden to|Altringham 1| 179| 99|

43|Agelthorpe to|Masham 4| 226| 188|

8|Agnes, St[C] cha|Falmouth 14| 256| 6642|

+--+-------------------+-------------------------+------+------+

[A] ADLINGTON. Through this township runs the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

It contains several coal mines. Adlington Hall, the seat of Sir Robert

Clayton, Bart., was rebuilt about 1780; it stands in a low situation, on

the borders of an extensive park, and contains some very good pictures,

amongst which is a head of Charles I., taken after death. Ellerbeck Hall

is the seat of John Hodson, Esq. In this neighbourhood is Park Hall, the

seat of R.P. German, Esq. The inhabitants of Adlington are chiefly

employed in the cotton manufactories of the vicinity.

[Sidenote: Seat of Sir. Robert Clayton, Bart.]

[B] ADWALTON formerly possessed a market which is now disused. On

Adwalton Moor, a battle was fought, in 1642, between the Earl of

Newcastle, commanding for the king, and the parliamentary general, Lord

Fairfax, in which the latter was defeated.

_Fairs_, February 6, March 9, Easter Thursday, Thursday fortnight

after Easter, Whit-Thursday; and every second Thursday thence to

Michaelmas, for lean cattle; November 5, and December 23.

[Sidenote: Battle fought here in 1642.]

[C] St. AGNES is situated on the Bristol Channel. The town and parish,

including a considerable mining district, is thickly strewed with the

cottages of the miners. It is more frequently called Lighthouse Island,

from a very high and strong light-house erected here, to warn the

mariner from the rocks, which are more numerous about this than any

other of the Scilly Islands. This building is upwards of sixty feet

high, and stands on the most elevated ground. The light is produced by

twenty-one parabolic reflectors of copper, plated with silver, and

having each an argand lamp in its focus. The reflectors are disposed of

in three clusters, of seven in each cluster, and the frame in which they

are fixed stands perpendicularly to the horizon, on a shaft united to a

machine below, which makes the whole revolve every two minutes. By this

motion the light progressively sweeps the whole horizon; and by its

gradual intermission and increase, it is readily distinguished from any

other. Its brilliancy is also extraordinary; and by these combined

efforts its benefits are greatly increased, as the seaman is at once

rendered completely sensible of his situation. This light was designed

by the ingenious Mr. Adam Walker, (lecturer on natural and experimental

philosophy,) under whose inspection it was constructed. The light-house

itself is of stone, and was erected, as appears from an inscription over

the door, by Captain Hugh Till, and Captain Simon Bayley, in the year

1680. The charges attending the light are defrayed by the Trinity House.

At St. Agnes is a pilchard fishery. St. Agnes' Beacon, six hundred and

sixty-four feet above the level of the sea, is formed out of an ancient

cairn, or tumulus of stones; near which, a summer-house has been built,

from whence is a fine view of St. Ives, and an extensive sea prospect.

Near the same spot is St. Agnes' Well, of which many miraculous stories

are in circulation, from its presumed holy and sanative properties.

This place gave birth to John Opie, whose persevering genius advanced

him to the highest rank in his profession. He was born at Harmony Cot,

in May 1761. The opening years of his existence indicated that he must

plod through life in the dull occupation of a carpenter, as successor to

his father and grandfather. He distinguished himself at a very early

period, for originality and strength of mind, and at twelve years of age

commenced an evening school in St. Agnes, teaching arithmetic and

writing, and reckoning amongst his scholars some who had nearly doubled

his years. His first humble attempts at portrait painting were with a

smutty stick, against the white-washed wall of his paternal cottage,

where he exhibited, in _dark colours_, very striking likenesses of the

whole family. His next step was to draw with ochre on cartridge paper.

He was apprenticed to his father, but from some unascertainable cause

was turned over to a sawyer; and it was literally in the bottom of a

saw-pit that Dr. Walcot, better known by the appellation of Peter

Pindar, (who had previously seen and admired some of Opie's rude

drawings,) first beheld this untutored child of genius, under whose

patronage he was protected, and his fame promoted. After visiting

Exeter, (where he was persuaded to change his surname, which originally

was Hoppy, to that of Opie,) finding his success was commensurate with

his abilities, it was soon determined they should be brought to act in a

wider sphere; and, in 1780, the Doctor and his pupil repaired to London,

where not agreeing as to the mode of living together, they separated,

and although their attachment had been cemented by long-continued

kindness, subsequently to this period, yet they were never after

cordially united. The opinion Opie entertained of the services which he

had received from the Doctor, may be gathered from the following curious

_note of hand_, which was said to be in the possession of the latter: "I

promise to paint, for Dr. Walcot, any picture or pictures, he may

demand, as long as I live; otherwise, I desire the world will consider

me as a ... ungrateful son of a ..., John Opie." It is not certain that

he ever deviated from this voluntary obligation, but it is matter of

pleasant remark, that he always made his friend pay eighteen-pence for

the canvass! Opie was as fortunate in London as he had been at Exeter.

To Pindar, however, he was indebted for his introduction to public

notice. Through him his pictures were shown to Mrs. Boscawen, by whom

Opie was introduced to the late Mrs. Delaney, who procured for him the

notice of King George III. An opportunity was contrived for the royal

family to see his picture of the _The Old Beggar Man_; soon after which,

Opie was honoured with a command to repair to Buckingham House. The

artist's account of this interview was given in the following

characteristical manner to Walcot, who has often been heard to relate it

with great humour. "There was Mr. West," said Opie, "in the room, and

another gentleman. First, her majesty came in; and I made a sad mistake

in respect to her, till I saw her face, and discovered by her features

that she was the queen. In a few minutes his majesty came hopping in. I

suppose," said Opie, "because he did not wish to frighten me. He looked

at the pictures and liked them; but he whispered to Mr. West--'tell the

young man I can only pay a gentleman's price for them.'" The picture

which his majesty bought was that of _A Man Struck by Lightning_. The

price given was L10, with which Opie returned to the Doctor full of

spirits. His friend, when he heard the story, said, "Why, John, thou

hast only got L8. for thy picture." "Indeed, but I have though," cried

Opie, "for I have got the L10. safe in my pocket." On this he showed him

the money. "Aye," rejoined the Doctor, "but dost thou know his majesty

has got the frame for nothing, and that is worth L2." "D--- it, so he

has," cried Opie--"I'll go back and knock at the door, and ask for the

frame; D--- it, I will." He was actually about to put his resolve into

execution, till dissuaded by the Doctor. Popularity naturally followed

this notice of royalty. The ladies, however, soon deserted him, as his

likenesses were not flattering; for where Nature had been niggardly,

Opie refused to be liberal. He afterwards became better acquainted with

the art of pleasing them; a change which has been attributed to Mrs.

Opie, who used to stand over him, and endeavour to make him sensible of

the graces of the female form. It was in the year 1786, that Mr. Opie

became known as an exhibitor at Somerset House; soon after which he

aspired to academical honours, and ultimately attained the rank of Royal

Academician, and afterwards succeeded Fuseli, in the professorship of

painting. He was twice married, but at what period his first hymeneal

union occurred we are not informed--it was inauspicious. His second

marriage, which took place on May 8, 1798, was more fortunate; and in

the society of the late Mrs. Opie, the amiable author of many beautiful

and interesting literary compositions, he enjoyed a delightful relief

from the toilsome duties of his profession. Mr. Opie was in the daily

acquisition of wealth and fame, and rapidly advancing to the very zenith

of popularity, when his mortal career was suddenly closed by death, on

Thursday, April 9, 1807, in the forty-sixth year of his age. "As a

portrait painter he has great claims to praise, particularly in his men,

which are firm, bold, and freely delineated, and occasionally well

coloured. His women are heavy, inelegant, and chiefly accompanied with a

hardness that destroys all beauty."

[Sidenote: Very high and strong light-house.]

[Sidenote: St. Agnes' beacon.]

[Sidenote: Birth-place of John Opie, the painter.]

[Sidenote: First attempts at portrait painting.]

[Sidenote: Genius fostered by Dr. Walcot.]

[Sidenote: Anecdotes of Opie.]

[Sidenote: Introduction to the King.]

[Sidenote: Opie's relation of his interview with royalty.]

[Sidenote: Royal economy.]

[Sidenote: First known as an exhibitor at Somerset House, 1786.]

[Sidenote: Died in 1807.]

Map| Names of Places. | County. | Number of Miles From |

+--+------------------------+------------+-------------+---------------+

+--+------------------------+------------+-------------+---------------+

|Dist.|

Map| Names of Places. |Number of Miles From |Lond.|Population

+--+-----------------------+---------------------------+-----+---------+

9|Aglionby to|Penrith 18| 302| 107|

22|Aighton to|Preston 12| 210| 1980|

43|Aikber to|Bedale 4| 234| 43|

46|Aike to|Gt. Driffield 7| 190| 86|

9|Aikton to & pa|Abbey-holm 7| 309| 753|

24|Ailsby pa|Barton 15| 165| |

28|Ailsworth ham|Stamford 9| 83| 289|

43|Ainderby Myers to|Middleham 7| 222| |

43|Ainderby Quernhow to|Ripon 7| 217| 107|

43|Ainderby Steeple to & pa|Darlington 12| 223| 802|

9|Ainstable pa|Kirk Oswald 5| 295| |

46|Ainstie dis| ... | 199| 8740|

43|Aiskew to|Richmond 9| 223| 586|

44|Aismondersly |Masham 7| 212| |

22|Ainsworth to|Bolton 8| 189| 1584|

9|Ainthorn to|Gretna Green 8| 315| 203|

22|Aintree to|Prescott 10| 212| 247|

44|Airton to|Arnecliff 7| 230| 179|

43|Airyholme to|Helmsley 6| 223| |

43|Aiseny to|Thirsk 5| 211| |

43|Aislaby to & pa|Pickering 15| 237| 402|

43|Aislaby to|Yarm 1| 244| 143|

24|Aisthorpe to & pa|Kirton 12| 140| 89|

29|Akeld to|Kirk Newton 3| 322| 171|

5|Akeley to & pa|Sto. Stratford 6| 59| 291|

36|Akenham pa|Needham 7| 73| 119|

18|Albans, St[A] bo & to|Hatfield 6| 21| 4772|

+--+------------------------+--------------------------+-----+---------+

Curiosities of Great Britain: England and Wales Delineated Vol.1-11 Historical, Entertaining & Commercial; Alphabetically Arranged. 11 Volume set. · 第 2 / 31 段

[C] ACTON BURNELL is celebrated for the remains of an ancient castle,