CREDITON. 683 CEEECH ST. MICHAEL. post town, and 12 "W. of Leoruinster. It is situated 1 mile from the river Wye. The living is a rect. * in the dioc. of Hereford, vol. 297, in the patron, of the Rev. J. Eekley, who is lord of the manor. The church, dedi- cated to St. Mary, is an ancient Gothic structure. It con- tains u font, and some handsome marble monuments to the Eckleys. There is a school for both sexes. In the vicinity arc remains of the Roman camp called Mjuu Of.sY/v/, or Keiichester of Antoninus, near which coins, urns, and other antiquities have been found. It is situ- on the summit of a lofty lull, enclosing an area of nearly 40 acres. The principal residence is Credenhill, the scat of the Eekley family. CREDITON, a hund. in the middle div. of the co. of Devon, contains the pars, of Ciediton, Kennerleigh, Bishop's Morchard, Colebrook, Sandford, and Newton 'a, comprising 34,160 acres. DITON, sometimes called KIETON, a par., narket town, and extinct borough, in the hund. and uni'iii of the same name, in the co. of Devon, 8 miles X.W. <>f Exeter, and 180 from London by road, or 201 by the London and South-Western railway. It is a station on the North Devon line, and is situated in the northern division of the county, on the W. branch of the river Greedy, and upon the road from Exeter to Barnstaple and South Molton. The par. is divided into 8 tythgs. Posbury, Cannon-Fee, Eudge, Knowle, Borough-Town, Uford-Town, Woodland, and Uton, besides the market town of Crediton, which was a place of importance in the Saxon times, and was designated CrediruttiiH, or the town on the river Greedy. Upon the division of the diocese of Sherborne it became the seat nf a diocese, of which a collegiate church founded hi/ix' in 905 was the cathedral. In the reign of Canute
- "f St. German's was annexed to that of Credi-
ton, and the prelates assumed the title of bishops of Devonshire. In 1050 the united see was removed to Exeter by Edward the Confessor, but the old collegiate church continued to be a chapter, the revenue of which, at the Reformation, was 332 17*. 5d. In the Edward I. it returned two members to a par- held at Carlisle, and in the 16th century it opposed the Reformation, but the forces assembled here
- >ersed by Sir Peter Carew. Crediton was occu-
jiii 1 by Prince Maurice for Charles I., and taken by in 1G45. In the year 1743 a largo part of the V. si TI i wn, comprising 450 houses, was consumed by fire ; and half a century later another conflagration took place kich destroyed many of the houses which had been rebuilt. The present town consists principally of one main street, nearly a mile in length, but partially paved, with low cottages at each extremity, and some good houses near the centre. It is divided into two parts, called the East and West Towns, and stands in a hollow between two hills ; that on the S. overlooking the town. The East Town contains the church and railway station, but the public-rooms and principal shops are in the West Town. There is no municipal corporation, the town being under the jurisdiction of the county magis- trates, but the local affairs are managed by a portreeve, bailiff and constables, annually chosen at the two courts- leet (one for the West Town and the other for the East), whirh are hold by James Wentworth Buller, Esq., lord of the manor. A County Court is held monthly at the public-rooms, and petty sessions at the new police station, which is a handsome building. Crediton is also tlio brad of a Poor-law Union, and of a super- it registry, and a polling-place for the N. parliamentary division of Devonshire. In the High-
- situated the public-rooms, a large and hand-
some building, erected in 1852 by a public company; it contains a set of rooms for public meetings, balls, and concerts, for the latter of which it is considered par- ticularly well adapted. There is a literary society, num- bering about 160 members, the library of which is kept at. thi'Mj rooms, and has of late been greatly increased. The market-house, erected in 1836, is a spacious and well-constructed edifice. In the town are flour-mills, woollen and coarse linen manufactories, and a tannery. Much cider is made here for the London market, and shoe-making employs many hundreds of the inhabitants. The manufacture of serges, for which this town was for many centuries celebrated, is entirely discontinued. Being the centre of a very rich agricultural district, a monthly cattle market has been lately established, which is largely supplied with oxen and sheep ; and on the Saturday preceding the last Wednesday in April is held the largest fair for cattle in the West of England. The locality of Crediton is proved by returns made to the registrar-general to be one of the most healthy places in the kingdom, and many of its inhabitants have attained the age of 100 years. The living is a vie. in the dice, of Exeter, val. 500, with residence and an acre of glebe, in the patron, of the twelve governors of the church of Crediton, who hold the tithes of the largo parish of Crediton, as also those of Sandford and Exminster, which together produce about 4,000 per annum. There is also an assistant minister or chaplain, who has an income of 200, in the same patron. The church, dedi- cated to the Holy Cross, was rebuilt in the reigns of Henry VII. and VIII., and was partially restored in 1856. It is a fine cruciform building in the perpen- dicular and decorated English styles of architecture, consisting of a nave, aisles, chancel, chancel aisles, and transepts ; in the centre is a massive -square tower, containing a peal of eight bells. It contains a fine old organ, and an ancient font, but the unsightly high pews sadly disfigure the interior of this noble building. There is a chapel-of-ease at Posbury, which is dedi- cated to St. Luke ; and there are remains of a very ancient chapel, which was dedicated to St. Lawrence. The Baptists, Wesleyans, Independents, Unitarians, and Plymouth Brethren have chapels. The charities of Crediton are very numerous, amounting to above 3,760. The largest charity is known by the name of Hayward's Charity, the funds of which for several centuries have been in the Court of Chancery ; at length the approval of the Court has been obtained by Mr. Ward for a method of applying the accumulated fund, amounting to above 20,000, which method provides principally for the clothing and educating of poor children, and the apprenticing of the most worthy scholars to useful trades. Amongst the remaining charities much money is given away at Christmas, including several hundred pounds arising from the borough lands and the interest of various sums of money left by benevolent persons and invested in the Funds. The governors of the church also grant 13 a year each to eight poor men. There is a large free school, supported out of the fund in the hands of the twelve governors of the church of Crediton, the masters of which are elected by the governors. The grammar school, founded and endowed by Edward VI., and fur- ther endowed by Queen Elizabeth, has three exhibitions at either University, tenable for five years. There are besides Hayward's blue-coat school, and Dunn's mathe- matical school. The principal residences are Greedy Park, the residence of Sir H. R. F. Davie, Bart., M.P. ; Downes, that of J. Wentworth Buller, Esq., M.P., the lord of the manor ; Shobrooke Park, Newcoinbes, and Okefield. Saturday is market day, and fairs are held on the llth May, the 21st to 23rd August, and the 21st September. CREEBRIDGE, a vil. in the par. of Minuigaff, in the co. of Kirkcudbright, Scotland, 7 miles N. of Newton Stewart. It is situated near the river Cree. CREECH, a tylhg. in the par. of Church Knowle, iund. of Hasilor, in the co. of Dorset, 1{ mile N.W. of 'hurch Knowle, and 2 miles S. of Wareham. Here are xtensive quarries. CREECH PLACE, an ext. par. place, in the limit, of Denmead, Droxford div. of the hund. of Hambledon, in the co. of Hants, 3.', miles X.E. of Farcham. CREECH ST. MICHAEL, a par. in the hund. of Andersfield, in the co. of Somerset, 8 miles S. of Bridg- water, and 2 J miles E. of Taunton, its post town. It is situated on the river Tone, at the Bridge. The Great Western railway passes through the parish, and has a station at Taunton. The village is large. The living
