Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/258

POTTON. 246 POULTON-CUM-SPITTLE. recently declined. There is a steam corn and flour mill. The Cambridgeshire hounds meet at Potton- Wood. The road from St. Ives, which joins the great North road at Biggleswade, passes through the parish. The land, which is principally arable, is tolerably fertile. The soil of one half of the parish is clay, and of the other a light loam mixed with sand. Sandstone is quarried, chiefly for building fence walls. In the neighbourhood are several mansions. About 300 acres of land and a money payment were assigned in lieu of tithes under an Enclosure Act in 1814. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Ely, val. 516, in the patron, of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient structure, with a square embattled tower containing five bells. The church is situated on rising ground not far from the town. The parochial charities produce about 103 per annum. There are free schools for both sexes ; also Sunday-schools. The Independents, Wesleyans, and Baptists have each a place of worship. William H. "VVhitbread, Esq., is lord of the manor. Market day is on Saturday, chiefly for corn and straw-plait. Fairs for horses and cattle are held on the third Tuesday in January (old style), for sheep on the last Tuesday in April, for fruit on the first Tuesday in July, and for cattle on the Tuesday next prior to the 29th October (old style), also a statute fair for the hiring of servants on the Monday three weeks prior to Old Michaelmas. POTTON, GREAT and LITTLE, islands in the pars, of Great and Little Wakering, co. Essex, 5 miles E. of Rochford. They are situated near Wallasea Island. POTT-SHRIGLEY, a tnshp. and chplry. in the par. of Prestbury, hundt of Macelesfield, co. Chester, 4J miles N.E. of Macclesfield, its post town, and 1 mile from Bollington. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the Macclesfield and Congleton canal. A portion of the inhabitants are employed in the collieries. There are several brick kilns and tile works. The soil is of a clayey and sandy nature, with a rocky subsoil. Freestone is quarried. The living is a perpet. cur.* in the dioc. of Chester, val. 100. The church is an ancient stone structure, with an embattled tower con- taining a clock and three bells. The parochial charities produce about 10 per annum. There is an infant school, in which a Sunday-school is also held. Pott Hall and Shrigley Hall are the principal residences ; the latter is situated in a well- wooded park. POTWELL, a limit, in the pars, of Widley and Wymering, co. Hants, 4 miles N.E. of Portsmouth. POUGHILL, a par. in the hund. of Stratton, co. Cornwall, 1 mile N.W. of Stratton, its post town. The village, which is of small extent and wholly agricultural, is situated near Bude Bay on the eastern shore of the Bristol Channel. It is mentioned in Domesday Book as PocheJMe, and was held at that time by Robert Earl of Mortaigne. It afterwards came to Clifl' Abbey. This place is memorable as having been the scene of the battle of Stamford Hill, in which the parliamentarians under the Earl of Stamford were defeated by the royalists, headed by Sir Beville Granville, on the 16th May, 1643. The impropriation belongs to the landowners. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 125, and the glebe consists of 3 acres. The living is a vie. * in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 116. The church, dedicated to St. Olave, is an ancient stone structure, with a square pinnacled tower containing five bells. The church has some ancient tombs. The register dates from 1537. The parochial charities produce about 4 per annum, besides an almshouse founded by Henry VIII. There is a National school for girls. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. At Bushill House are preserved several articles of the costly furniture of the mansion of Stowe, among which is the bed in which Charles I. slept during his stay at that place. POUGHILL, a par. in the hund. of West Budleigh, co. Devon, 8 miles S.W. of Tiverton, its post town, and 6 N.E. of the Crediton railway station on the North Devon line. The village, which is of small extent, is chiefly agricultural. The surface is undulating and the land chiefly arable. The soil consists of loam and clay, with a subsoil of the latter, covering a red sandstone used for building. In some parts of the parish it is very fertile, but in others poor and thin. There was formerly a chantry chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The living is a rect. * in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 221. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, has a tower containing five bells. The parochial charities produce about 16 per annum. There is a school for both sexes endowed with a 5 annuity from Gertrude Pyncombe's charity, bequeathed in 1730. POULET. See PAWLETT, co. Somerset. POULSHOT, a par. in the hund. of Melksham, co. Wilts, 3J miles S.W. of Devizes, its post town, and 7 S.E. of Melksham. The village, which is small, is situated at the extremity of a green ; the high road intersecting the parish. The inhabitants are wholly engaged in agriculture. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 380, and the glebe comprises 80 acres. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Sarum, val. 463, in the patron, of the bishop. The church, dedi- cated to St. Peter, has a stone tower containing three bells. It has recently been restored at the expense of the rector, and stands about a mile S. of the village. There is a National school for both sexes. Walter Long, Esq., is lord of the manor. POULTNEY, a hmJt. in the par. of Misterton,hund. of Guthlaxton, co. Leicester, 2J miles N.E. of Lutter- worth. POULTON, a tnshp. in the par. of Piilford, lower div. of the hund. of Broxton, co. Chester, 5 miles S. by W. of Chester. It is situated on a branch of the river Dee. It had formerly a Cistercian Abbey founded by Robert Pincerna, who was butler to Ranulph Earl of Chester, but the monks, having suffered from the fre- quent incursions of the Welsh, removed to Dieulacres in Staffordshire in 1214 ; but Poulton contained a parcel of the possessions of the monastery till its dissolution. POULTON, a par. in the hund. of Bewsborough, lathe of St. Augustine, co. Kent, 3 miles W. of Dover. The parish, which is considerable, is situated among the hills. It contains the ruins of Bradsole Abbey, founded in 1191 by Richard I. for monks of the Praemonstraten- sian order, the abbots of which were afterwards sum- moned to parliament as peers. The ruins have of late years been converted into farmhouses. An inscription stone marks the site of the parish church, which has long since been demolished. There is no village, only a few farmhouses. POULTON, a par. and tnshp. in the hund. of High- worth, co. Gloucester, 5 miles S.E. of Cirencester, and 4 W. of Fairford. This parish, previous to 1844, formed part of the county of Wilts. It is inter- sected by the main road from Cirencester to Oxford, and is a meet for the Vale of White Horse hounds. The village is small, and some of the inhabitants are engaged in the neighbouring stone and slate quarries. Here are traces of a Gilbertine priory, founded by Sir Thomas de Sancto ilauro or Seymour about 1347, as a cell to Sem- pringham, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its re venues at the Dissolution were returned at 20 3s. Id. per annum. The impropriate tithes were commuted for land and an annual money payment under the Enclosure Act in 1795. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, val. 46, with 10 additional from dueen Anne's bounty, in the patron, of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient struc- ture with a tower, situated at a short distance from the village. There is a parochial school. The charities con- sist of a small allotment of land for the poor. POULTON, a hmlt. in the par. of Eastry, lathe of St. Augustine, co. Kent, 2 miles S.W. of Sandwich. POULTON, a tythg. in the par. of Mildenhall, co. Wilts, 1 mile N.E. of Marlborough. POULTON-CUM-SEACOMBE, a tnshp. in the par. of Wallasey, lower div. of Wirrall hund., co. Chester, 3 miles from Birkenhead. It is situated on the Wallasey Pool, near its confluence with the river Mersey. POULTON-CUM-SPITTLE, a tnshp. in the par. of