Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/506

SOMERFORD. 494 SOMEfiSETBHIBE. ford, 1 mile E. of Brewood, and 10 miles S. of Stafford, betwixt the North-Western railway and the Grand Junction canal, on a branch of the river Trent. SOMERFORD, a tnshp. in the par. of Astbury, hund. of Northwich, co. Cheater, 3 miles S.W. of Congleton, its post town, and 3 W. of Astbury. It is situated on the river Dann, and is wholly agricultural. The soil is a mixture of sand and clay. The living is a don. cur. in the dioc. of Chester, val. 40. Somerford Park is the principal residence. Sir (J. P. Shakerley is lord of the manor. SOMERFORD-BOOTHS, a tnshp. in the par. of Astbury, hund. of Macclesfiold, co. Chester, 3 miles N.W. of Congleton, and 3 N. of Astbury. The village, which is of small extent, is chiefly agricultural. The Primitive Methodists have a place of worship, and a Sunday-school. Somerford-Booths Hall is the principal residence. SOMERFORD, GREAT, a par. in the hund. of Malmeshury, co. Wilts, 7 miles N. of Chippenham, its post town, and 4 S.E. of Malmesbury. The village, which ia of small extent, is situated on the river Avon, and is chiefly agricultural. The par. includes the hmlt. of Startley. The living is a rect. * in the dioc. of Glou- cester and Bristol, val. 447, in the patron, of Exeter College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, has a square embattled tower containing four bells. The interior contains several tablets. There is a school for both sexes. Mrs. Birtill is lady of the manor. SOMERFORD-KEYNES, a par. in the hund. of Highworth, co. Wilts, 5 miles N.W. of Cricklade, its post town, and 3 N. of the llinety railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the river Thames, and is wholly agricultural. The living is a vie.* in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, val. 261. The church, dedicated to All Saints, has a tower containing six bells. The parochial charities produce about 5 per annum. There is a school, which is partly free. The Rev. C. Faucett, M. A., is lord of the manor. SOMERFORD, LITTLE, a par. in the hund. of Malmesbury, co. Wilts, 3 miles S.E. of Malmesbury, its post town. The village, which is of small extent, is wholly agricultural. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, val. 241. The church, dedi- cated to St. John the Baptist, is an ancient structure with a square tower. The Rev. Charles Wightwick is lord of the manor. SOMERLEYTON, a par. in the hund. of Mutford, co. Suffolk, 5 miles N.W. of Lowestoft, its post town, and 8 S. of Yarmouth. It is a station on the Great Eastern railway. The village is situated on the river Waveney. In the vicinity are extensive brick, tile, and earthen- ware works. A portion of the inhabitants are engaged in the fisheries. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 386. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, has a square pinnacled tower containing five bells. It was rebuilt in 1854. The interior of the church con- tains an, effigy of a knight, on which is an inscription. The register dates from 1558. The parochial charities produce about 36 per annum, realised from poors' allotment. There is an endowed village school and a British school for both sexes. The Baptists have a place of worship, built by Sir S. M. Peto, Bart., as was also the British school. The principal residence is Somerleyton Hall, which has been entirely reconstructed by Sir S. Morton Peto, Bart., who is lord of the manor and sole landowner SOMERSALL-HERBERT, a par. in the hund. of Appletree, co. Derby, 3J miles N.E. of TJttoxeter, its post town, and 3 N. of the Sudbury railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on a branch of the river Dove, and is wholly agricultural. The par. includes Church Somersall and Somersall Hill. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Lichfield, val. 225. The church is dedicated to St. Peter. Lord Vernon is lord of the manor and principal landowner. SOMERSBY, a par. in the hund. of Hill, parts of Lindsey, co. Lincoln, 5 miles N.E. of Horncastle, ita post town, and 7 E. of the Alford railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on tho Wolds near the river Steeping. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The living is a rect. in the dioc. of Lincoln, val. 92. The church, which was restored in 1833, is dedicated to St. Margaret, and is an ancient structure with a square tower. In the interior is a brass bearing date 1612. In the churchyard is an old cross. The parochial charities produce about 2 per annum. Alfred Tennyson, the Poet- Laureate, is a native of this parish. The Rev. L. B. Burton, M.A., is lord of the manor. SOMERSETSHIRE, a maritime co. in the W. of England, is bounded on the N. by the Bristol Chan- nel, the estuary of the Severn, and Gloucestershire, E. by Wiltshire, S. by Dorset and Devon, and W. by Devon. It lies between 50 49' and 51 30' N. lat., and between 2 14' and 3 50' W. long. Its extreme length from E. to W. is 68 miles, and its greatest breadth from N. to S. 43 miles ; but its main breadth does not exceed 22 miles. Its area ia 1,636 square miles, or 1,047,220 statute acres, of which about 900,000 are cultivated. The population in 1801 was 273,577 ; in 1851, 443,916 ; and in 1861, 444,873. At the time of the Roman inva- sion, the eaatern districts, according to Richard of Cirencester, were held by the Hedui, a Belgic tribe, and the western by the Cambri. The Romans included the county in the province of Britannia Prima, and founded the town of Bath, known by the ancients as Aqute Solis, and also as TlwrmtB ; many evidences of the Roman occupation remain in the neighbourhood of Bath, Y eovil, Ilchester, Glastonbury, and other places. On the arrival of the Saxons, many important struggles with the Romanised Britons took place in this county, and it was not till 577 that Cealwin of Wessex succeeded in capturing the town of Bath. Seventy years later (658) the entire county became subject to the Saxons, who named it Sumersietas ; and Cenwalch, having gained a signal victory over the Britons at Penzelwood, near Wiucanton, incorporated it with Wessex. It suffered severely from the incursions of the Danes, who found a secure anchorage for their vessels in the broad estuary of the Severn ; but after a long-protracted struggle, they were defeated with great slaughter at the mouth of the Parret, in 845, and again, some thirty years later, at the battle of Edington, near Weatbury, when their leader, Guthrum, consented to be baptised at Alre, now Aller. In 1016, a great battle was fought between Canute and Edmund Ironsides at Penzelwood ; and in 1013 Sweyn received the submission of all the W. country at Bath. At the Norman conquest, Sir William Mohun obtained a grant of a large portion of this county with the title of Earl of Somerset, which descended to his posterity till the reign of Henry VI., when it was raised to a dukedom, but was confiscated by Edward IV. in 1472, who attainted the duke for his fidelity to the late king. After having been successively revived in favour of the third son of Henry VII., and of an illegitimate son of Henry VIII., the title was finally conferred in 1546 on Edward Seymour, the Lord Protector, whose descen- dants still enjoy it. In the civil war of Charles I., several engagements took place, as the fight of Aller Moor, tho battle of Lansdown Hill in 1643, and the siege of Taunton. In 1685, this county was the princi- pal scene of the iE-fated Duke of Monmouth's attempt to seize the crown, for participation in which 239 persons were afterwards executed by order of Judge Jeffreys. Few counties in England exhibit a greater variety of soil and surface than Somerset. The north- eastern district, in which the city of Bath is situated,' abounds in rocks, and is intersected by the Mendip hills, a lofty mineral tract, through which, on the N. side, the Avon makes its way sluggishly to the estuary of the Severn; while on the 8., numerous rivulets steal their way into the centre of the county, and there form marshes and fens. Towards the W. and N.W., from Taunton to Bridgwater Bay, is a low range called the Quantock hills. The Mendip and Quantock hills naturally divide the county into three parts, tha