Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/432

SEISDON, SOUTH. 420 SELBY'S FOREST. contains the towns of Dudley and Bilston, and the pars, of Himley, Kingswinford, Penn, Rowley-Regis, Sedgley, with parts of Bushbury, Tettenhall, and Wolverhamp- ton, comprising an area of 42,050 acres, exclusive of Dudley. SEISDON, SOUTH, a hund. in the co. of Stafibrd, contains the pars, of Upper Arley, Broom, Clent, Cod- sail, Enville, Kinfare, Patshull, Trysull, Wombourne, and parts of Bobbington, Pattingham, Old Swinford, and Tettenhall, comprising an area of 39,330 acres. SELAB Y PARK, a seat of the Duke of Clereland, co. Durham, 5 miles E. of Barnard Castle, on the river Tees. SELATTYN, a par. in the upper div. of Oswes- try hund., co. Salop, 3 miles N.W. of Oswestry, its post town. The village, which is considerable, is situ- ated near Ofi'a's Dyke, which bounds the parish on the W. The inhabitants are chiefly agricultural. The par. includes the tnshps. of Upper and Lower Porkington, also the chplry. of Hengoed. The surface is undulating and well timbered. The soil is of various qualities, and the substratum abounds with limestone, which is burnt for manure. There are quarries of good building-stone. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of i'800, and the glebe comprises 83 acres. The living was once held by Dr. Henry Sacheverell, and during the Protectorate by James Wylding, one of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of St. Asaph, 771. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, or St. Mary, has a square tower containing three bells. It has recently been enlarged. There is also a district church at Hengoed, built in 1825, the living of which is a perpet. cur., val. 61. The paro- chial charities produce about 72 per annum. There are National schools, also a free school for both sexes, which have a small endowment. Among the many residences in this neighbourhood is Porkington Hall, situated in a well- wooded park, from which there is an extensive pros- pect. Mrs. Lloyd, of Aston Hall, is lady of the manor. There are some traces of the ancient Castle Brogyntyn. SELBORNE, a hund. in two divs., upper and lower, in the Alton div. of co. Hants, contains the pars, of Farringdon, Newton- Valence, Selborne, Empshott, Hawkley, and East Tisted, comprising an area of 15,970 acres. SELBORNE, a par. in the above hund., co. Hants, 4J miles S.E. of Alton, its post town, and 52 S.W. of London. The village is situated on a stream which flows from Nore Hill to the river Wey, and is chiefly agricultural. Prior to the Norman conquest the manor belonged to Queen Editha, and was held in royal de- mesne. In 1232 an Austin priory was founded here by Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, but was sub- sequently suppressed, and the site given by William of Waynflete to Magdalen College, Oxford. It was formerly a market town, and a place of considerable importance. The par. contains the hmlts. of Norton, Oakhanger, and Temple, at which latter place resided the freebooter Sir Adam Gordon in the reign of Henry III., and who was taken by Edward I. when prince, in 1266. There is a large military encampment, which has been formed out of a portion of Woolmer Forest in this parish. A por- tion of the land is in hop grounds, and the remainder arable and sheep walks. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Winchester, and in the patron, of Magdalen College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is an ancient structure. The interior contains an altar piece by Albert Durer, representing the offerings of the Magi, and presented by B. White in 1793, also a tablet to the Rev. G. White, author of " The Natural History of Selborne," and similar works, who was born here in 1720. The parochial charities produce about 8 per annum. There is a National school, also a place of worship for the Independents. At Frinsham Pond, in this parish, the very rare long-legged plover was shot in 1779. The president and fellows of Magdalen Col- lege, Oxford, are lords of the manor. SELBRITTENDEN, a hund. in the lathe of Scray, co. Kent, contains the pars, of Newenden lib. and Sand- hurst, comprising an area of 5,720 acres. SELBY, a par., post and market town, in the lower div. of Barkstone-Ash wap., West Riding, and within the lib. of St. Peter's, East Riding, co. York, 15 miles S.E. of York, and 178 N.W. of London. It is a junction station on the Hull, Selby, and Milford section of the North-Eastern railway, where the Selby and Market Weightou branch turns off. It is situated on the river Ouse and a branch of the Aire and Calder canal, and has daily communication, by steam- boat, with Hull, London, and other ports. The town is built close to the Great North rond from London to Edinburgh, and is a petty sessions town and sub-port to Goole. It is supposed to have been a Roman station, and was formerly designated Salebeia, In the early part of the great civil war it was captureil by the royalists, but recovered in 1644 by Sir T. Fair- fax, when many of the king's party were taken pri- soners, with several pieces of ordnance and a large quantity of ammunition. The town, which is well built, paved, and lighted with gas, contains a town- hall, erected in 1824, two commercial banks, sav- ings-banks, and other institutions. It has been much improved of late years, and a new street has been formed, called the Crescent. The magistrates hold their meet- ings for the wap. of Barkstone-Ash at the court-house on every alternate Thursday, and the county court sits on a fixed Thursday in each month. Courts leet and baron are held twice a year. Boat and barge building is extensively carried on in a yard where many steam- packets and sailing vessels have been built, also rope making, sail making, tanning, ironfounding, and brewing are carried on to some extent. The pre- paration of flax, once the staple industry, had greatly declined, but is now fast reviving. The land is chiefly in meadow, but considerable tracts are cul- tivated in wood for dying, and as flax grounds. The fertility of the surrounding district has been greatly increased by a process of irrigation, by which the water of the rivers Ouse and Aire is detained upon the land until a sediment has been deposited, forming excellent manure. The Ouse is here crossed by a timber bridge huilt in 1795, which, though weighing 70 tons, can be opened and closed with the greatest facility for the pas- sage of ships ; also by a swivel bridge on the line of the Hull and Selby railway, which opens to admit vessels to the quay at this place. The living is a perpet. cur. * in the dioc. of York, val. 97. The church, dedicated to St. German, is an ancient cruciform structure with a tower containing six bells. The church, formerly con- ventual, and belonging to the abbey, was made paro- chial by letters patent of James I. in 1618. It is an interesting and venerable pile, 300 feet long, having been originally founded by William the Conqueror in 1069, who built the abbey of which it formed part. The S. transept was destroyed by the falling of the tower in 1690. The present tower was rebuilt in 1702, but in a style not corresponding with the original. The parochial charities produce about 283 per annum, of which 168 goes to the feoffee's estate for repair of the church, and relief of the poor. There are National schools for both sexes and infants, also a blue-coat and several subscription schools. The Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Me- thodists, Unitarians, Friends, and Roman Catholics have each a place of worship. On the Doncaster road is a cemetery, and an armoury for the Volunteer corps. The union poorhouse was finished in 1841, at an outlay of upwards of 5,000. The Selby Poor- law Union comprises 8 parishes in the East Riding and 7 in the West Riding. It is also the seat of a new County Court and superintendent registry district. Lord Londesborough is lord of the manor. Market day is on Monday. Fairs for sale of cattle, &c., are held on Easter Tuesday, on the Monday following 22nd June, and on 8th October. SELBY'S FOREST, a tnshp. in the par. of Kirk- Newton, W. div. of Glendale ward, co. Northum- berland, 7 miles S.W. of Wooller. It is situated under the Cheviot, and is chiefly bare moorland On the sum- mit of the Cheviot, from which the celebrated range of