Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/67

ALTCAR. ALTON. 4 miles to the N.W. of Ross railway station. The soil is red loam. ALTCAR, a par. in the hund. of West Derby, in the co. palatine of Lancaster, C miles to the S.W. of Orms- kirk. It is a station on the Liverpool and Southport branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway. The river Alt passes through it. The harolet of Little Altcar is included in this parish. The living is a eur.* in the dioc. of Chester, val. 150, in the patron, of the Earl of Sefton. The church is dedicated to St. Michael. There is a school, with a small endowment. ALTCONLACHAN, or ALTACHOGLACHAN, a small river in the pars, of Mortlach and Invcraven, in the co. of Banff, Scotland. On its banks a famous battle, commonly named from Glenlivct, was fought in 1594. ALTHAM, a chplry. in the par. of Whalley, and in the higher div. of tho hund. of Blackburn, iu the co. palatine of Lancaster, 4 miles to the W. of Burnley. It is on the river Heiiburn, and not far from the Leeds and Liverpool canal. Tho living is a perpet. cur.* in the dioc. of Manchester, val. 150, in the patron, of R. T. R. Walton, Esq. Tho church is dedicated to St. James. There are some coal mines in the neighbour- hood. ALTHORNE, a par. in the hund. of Dengie, or Denzie, in the co. of Essex, 6 miles to the S.E. of Maldon. It is situated in the marahes, at the estuary of the river Crouch, and is protected from inundation by strong dykes, 9 feet high, constructed by workmen from Hol- land, whose descendants still reside here. The living is a vie. united, since 1811, with the rectory of Cricksea, in the dioc. of Rochester. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew. ALTHORPE, a par. in the western div. of the wap. of Manley, parts of Lindsey, in the co. of Lincoln, 6 miles to the N.E. of Epworth. Bawtiy is the post town. It is situated on tho Trent, at the junction of the Keadby canal, and the rivers New Idle and New Thornc, with that river. It contains the chplry. of Amcotts, the tnshp. of Keadby, and the hmlt. of Dcrry- thorpe. The living is a rect. * in the dioc. of Lincoln, val. 400, in tho patron, of the crown. The church is dedicated to St. Oswald. In addition to the parish church, there is a new district church at Amcotts, the living of which is a perpet. cur., val. 260, in the patron, of the crown. There are parochial charities of small amount, ami a poor's house. ALTHORPE, or ALTHORPE PARK, an ext. par. district, in the hund. of Nobottle Grove, in the co. of Northampton, 7 miles N.W. of Northampton. It now contains only the noble mansion of Earl Spencer, situated on the road to Ruby. ALTIMARLACH, a burn in the par. of Wick, in the co. of Caithness, Scotland. Its banks were the scene of a famous encounter on the 13th of July, 1680, in which Campbell of ( Uenorchy, afterwards Earl of Breadalbanc, defeated 400 of the Sinclairs, and slew so many that the victors passed the river dry-shod on their bodies. It was in commemoration of this feud that the names were given to the well-known airs, "The Campbells are coming," and " The Braes of Glenorehy." AL'i'OFTS, a tnshp. in the par. of Normanton, and lower div. of the wap. of Agbrigg, in the West Riding of the co. of York, 3 miles to the N.E. of Wakefield. It lies on the river Calder and the North Midland railway, which is hero carried across that river, and across the Aire and ('aider canal. ALTON, a par. and market town in the hund., div., and union of the same name, in the co. of Hants, 1" miles to the N.E. of Winchester, and 47 miles from London, or 49 miles by the London and South Western railway. It is a place of great antiquity, as its name, signifying Old Town, indicates. A Roman cemetery probably existed here, as urns and other funeral relics have been lately dug up in the town. It was called by the Saxons Awel- tuna, and was a royal demesne in the reign of Alfred. It is supposed by some to be the -SSthelingadene, where a battle with the Danes was fought, in the year 1001. It returned a representative to one parliament of Edward I. and to one of Edward II. It was in the wood, a few miles from Alton, that Edward I., when prince, van- ?uished and made prisoner tho outlaw, Adam de Gordon, n December, 1643, the town was taken by Sir William Waller, who defeated the royalist forces, under Colonel Bowles. Alton, which consists of three principal streets, is pleasantly situated on the river Wey, in the neigh- bourhood of extensive hop plantations, in a hilly and wooded country. The market-house has lately been en- larged, and additional facilities given to the fanners and dealers frequenting the market. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Winchester, val., with the curacies of Holybourno and Thedden attached to it, 728, in tho patron, of the Dean and Chapter of Winchester. The church, which is dedicated to St. Lawrence, is a large structure, in tho perpendicular style, and has a square embattled tower, with a spire. It contains a fresco painting of Henry VI., and two bishops, and two inter- esting brasses. Tho Society of Friends, the Independents, Presbyterians, and Wesleyan Methodists have chapels here. There is a free grammar school, which was founded in 1642, by John Eggar, for the education of twenty-five boys. Its present revenue is 81. Part of the townhall, which stands in the market-place, was used as a national school-house, in which about 200 children were taught. There is now a national school, partly endowed, and a British school-house for both sexes. There is also a mechanics' institute, with a library of 1,000 volumes, an extensive lunatic asylum, an almshouse, a savings-bank, and a literary society. Petty sessions are held here by the county magistrates for the Alton division ; a county court is also estab- lished ; and polling for the county takes place here. The paper and silk mills, and the serge, drugget, and woollen manufactures, give employment to many hands. The bombazine manufacture, once earned on to a largo extent, has declined. There are some large breweries in the town, for the ale for which it is famed. Alton was the birthplace of William of Alton, a Dominican friar, who lived in tho reign of Edward II. ; of John Pitts, the biographer, author of the book " De Ilhistrilms Anglite Scriptoribus" who was bom in 1660 ; of William Curtis, the botanist, born in 1746 ; and J. Curtis, the physician. Thedden Grange is the principal seat near Alton. The market is held on Tuesday for corn, and every alternate Tuesday for cattle and sheep ; and fairs on the last Saturday of April, the 5th July, and the 29th September. ALTON, a vil. in the par. of Loudoun, in the co. of Ayr, Scotland. ALTON, or ALVETON, a par. in the southern div. of the hund. of Totmonslow, in the co. of Stafford, 4 miles to the E. of Cheadle. It is a station on the Chur- net Valley branch of the North Staffordshire railway, 4 miles to the E. of Cheadle, and 24 miles from Maccles- field. The town is situated on the river Churnet, in the midst of fine scenery, the course of the river here lying in a beautiful valley. The Caldon or Uttoxeter canal, after running in a parallel course with the river for a few miles, is hero carried across it on an aqueduct. The parish contains the chplry. of Cotton, and the tnshps. of Denston and Farley. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Lichfield, val. 151, in the gift of the Earl of Shrewsbury, who is lord of the manor. The church is dedicated to St. Peter, and is a stone building, partly rebuilt in 1830. Tho original church, dedicated to St. James, was a Norman building, erected in the 12th century by Bertram de Verdun, lord of Alton, and given by him to the abbey of Croxden ; some ruins of it are still remaining. There is also a chapel of ease in the township of Cotton, built in 1795 by T. Gilbert, Esq. Tho Roman Catholics, Independents, Primitive and Wes- leyan Methodists have chapels here. There is a free school, which was established and endowed iu 1721, by Anthony Wall, now open to all children of tho parish ; its present revenue being 11. National schools were erected in 1845. There are also Roman Catholic schools, institutedby the late Earl of Shrewsbury. Alvetou Castle, the seat of the De Verdons, in the reign