Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/647

THAMES. 636 THAXTED. Baptists, and Independents have chapels. There is a free grammar school, built and endowed by Lord Williams, at which many distinguished men have been educated, as Dr. Fell, Anthony a Wood, John Hampden, Lord Chief Justice Holt, Sir George Crook, Pocock, the traveller and orientalist, George Hetheridge, and others. There are, besides, National schools, partially endowed by funds left by the Earl of Abingdon, British and Foreign, and infant schools. The charities produce about 200 per annum, besides an almshonso for five poor men and one woman. Tuesday is market day. Fairs are held on Easter Tuesday, the Tuesday previous to Whit-Sunday, and the first Tuesday in August, for cattle, horses, and. pigs, and a statute fair on the 1 1th October. THAMES, the largest and most important river of Great Britain, rises in two heads, one at Ullen Farm, and the other at Coates near Cirencestcr, on the Glou- cestershire border. It drains a basin of about 7,000 square miles, including parts of the counties of Glou- cester, Oxford, Buckingham, Middlesex, and Essex, on the northern bank, and Wilts, Berks, Surrey, and Kent on the southern. Its source is 376 feet above the sea at the Nore, and the level descends by stages to London Bridge, where it is only 4J feet above the sea, with 12 feet water at low tide, and 17 or 18 feet rise at high tide, with a width of about 290 feet. From this point the fall in the bed is about 1 foot per mile, and the force of the current from 3 to 3 J miles per hour. Depth of low-water from London to Gravesend 2 to 5 fathoms, gradually deepening to the mouth, where it is obstructed by numerous sand-banks and shallows, with deeps or channels between them. Mean tides at full and change 2J hours at London Bridge and the Docks, 2 hours at Blackwall, 1 J at Gravesend, and 12J at the Noro, where it rises 14 feet. The principal of the tributary streams commencing from its source are the Swill, Churn, Ray, Cole, Colne, Leach, Windrush, Evenlode, Cherwell, Ock, Thame, Kennet, Loddon, Colne, Wey, Bourn, Mole, Cran, Brent, and Wandlc ; besides the Severn canal, to which barges come up, the Wilts canal, Kennet and Avon canal, and Grand Junc- tion canal. THAMES-DITTON, a par. in the second div. of Kingston hund., co. Surrey, 2 miles W. of Kingston, its post town, and 5 E. of Walton-on-Thames. It is a sta- tion on the South- Western railway. The village is situated on the S. bank of the river Thames, and is much resorted to by anglers. The par. includes the hmlts. of Weston Green, Gigg's Hill, and Ditton-Marsh. In the vicinity are numerous market gardens and a brewery. The village of Long Ditton adjoins this parish, The living is a perpet. cur.* in the dioc. of Winchester, val. 290, in the patron, of King's College, Cambridge. The church was formerly a chapel-of-ease to Kingston, but was made parochial in 1769. It is dedicated to St. Nicholas, and the interior contains several brasses and tablets. The register dates from 1663. The parochial charities produce about 90 per annum, of which 35 go to Bridge's and Hill's almshouses. There are Na- tional and infant schools. The Independents have a chapel. W. D. Spcer, Esq., is lord of the manor of Weston, and the Earl of Lovelace of Claygate manor. THANET, ISLE OF. See KINOSLOW hund., lathe of St. Augustine, co. Kent. THANINGTON, a par. chiefly in the hund. of West- gate, lathe of St. Augustine, but partly also within the city of Canterbury, co. Kent, 1 mile S.W. of Canter- bury, its post town, and 9 miles from Faversham. The village is situated on the South-Eastern branch railway, and near the river Stour. In the vicinity are the ruins of the hospital of St. James, for female lepers, founded in the reign of John by Archbishop Walter, and of which the revenue at the Dissolution was 46 6s. 3d. The par. includes Winchcapstreet, a suburb of Canterbury, and is intersected by the Uoman Stane Street. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Canterbury, val. 62, in the patron, of the archbishop. The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, contains a brass of T. Halls, bearing date 1480. THANKERTON, a par. in the upper ward of co. Lanark, Scotland, 5 miles W. of Biggar, and 4 S.E. of Carstairs. It is a station on the Caledonian railway. It is joined with the parish of Covington. THARSTON, a par. in the hund. of Depwade, co. Norfolk, 1J mile N.W. from Long Stratton, its post town, and the same distance from the Fcrneett railway station. The village is situated on the East Union rail- way. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 118, in the patron, of the bishop. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The register dates from 1558. The parochial charities produce about 30 per annum. There is a National school for both sexes. TIIATCHAM, a par. in the hunds. of Faircross and Reading, co. Berks, 3 miles E. of Newbury, its post town, and 14 W. of Reading. It is a station on the Reading and Bath section of the Great Western rail- way, near the navigable river Kennet and the Kennet and Avon canal, and includes the chplrics. of Greenham and Midgham. It was a place of importance at the time of the Norman survey, and was formerly a market town, under charter of Henry II. to the Abbot of Reading, to whom the manor then belonged. Many of the inhabitants are employed in the silk trade, and sume in a paper-mill at Colthrop. Tho living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Oxford, val. 460. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, or to St. Luke, contains several monuments, including one to Lord Chief Justice Danvers. There are also the district churches of Greenham and Midg- ham, the livings of which are both perpet. curs. The parochial charities produce about 441 per annum, of which i'208 go to Lady Winchcomb's school, and 95 to Loundy's almshouses. A National school was erected in 1845, on the site called Clapper's Green, which was presented by W. Mount, Esq., of Wasing, who is lord of the manor. The Independents, Wesleyans, and Pri- mitive Methodists have chapels, and the first has a school adjoining. Fairs for cattle are held on the second Tuesday after Easter week, and on the first Tuesday after the 29th September. THAVIES-INN, an ext. par. place in the City of London-Without, co. Middlesex. THAXTKD, a par. in the hund. of Dunmow, co. Essex, 6 miles N. of Dunmow, its post town, and 7 N.E. of Elsenham railway station. The village is situated on the river Chelmer, near its source, and on the road from Chelmsford to Saffron Walden. The manor was formerly held by the Clares, Audleys, Badlesmeres, and Mortimers, and was given by Queen Catherine to the Cults family in 1514. It was anciently a place of importance, and was incorporated by Queen Mary, the government being vested in a mayor, recorder, two bailiffs, and 20 burgesses, but on a writ of quo warranto issued by James II. the corporation resigned their functions, and the market, which was on Friday, was discontinued. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. A brisk trade was formerly done in cutlery. Some Roman coins and an amphora were discovered here some years since. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 500. The church, dedicated to St. John the Bap- tist, or to St. Mary, is strengthened by buttresses ter- minating in canopied niches, and having a tower np- waids of 180 feet in height. It contains a brass of a priest bearing date 1470, also a pinnacled font, arms, and some stained glass windows. The church was built between the years 1260 and 1465; its interior measures 183 feet in length by 87 feet in breadth. Its spire was destroyed by lightning in 1814, but was replaced in 1821. The parochial charities produce about 822 per annum, of which 503 are derived from Lord Maynard's bequest for augmentation of the living, &e., and 155 from the town estate. There are National and British schools ; the former was erected at the ex- pense of Viscount Maynard in 1844. Edward IV. built the chancel, and a free school endowed from Yard- ley's town estate. The chantry in connection with the church is now an almshouse. The Independents, Baptists, and Society of Friends have chapels. Samuel Purchas was born here in 1577. Horham Hall, built