Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/548

STEPNEY. 536 STERTHILL. of aparliametit summoned by Edward I. to meet at the mansion house of Henry Walleis, then lord mayor of London. In the 14th century the manor was held by the bishops of London, who had a palace called Bishop's Hall at Bethnal-Green, then a rural district, as de- scribed by Sir Thomas More in a letter to Dean Colet. It was subsequently alienated by Bishop Ridley to the crown, and given by Edward VI. to the Wentworths, from whom it camo to the Manners and Colebrooke families. In the first year of Charles I.'s reign it was ravaged by the plague, which carried off 2,978 persons ; and at the commencement of the parliamentary war was strongly fortified for the defence of the city. At this period the parish was a wide flat extending to Black- wall, as seen in the print of Hogarth's " Idle Appren- tice." In 1665 the plague again broke out, and with such violence that it swept off 6,583 persons in one year, besides 116 sextons and gravediggers, belonging to the parish. In 1794 more than half the hamlet of Ratcliffe was consumed by a fire, which spread to the shipping in the river. The parish, situated on the northern bank of the Thames, is chiefly inhabited by persons connected with shipping, and contains extensive warehouses, espe- cially in the Commercial-road, leading from Whitechapel to the East and West India Docks. It is well paved, lighted with gas, and supplied with water from the reser- voir at Old Ford. On the banks of tbe Regent's canal, which traverses the parish, are numerous coal and timber wharves, and at its junction with the Thames is a dock capable of containing 100 vessels. The surface is almost level, rising gently from the river. It is generally con- sidered healthy, resting on a gravel soil, but many cases of cholera occurred in 1849, and again in 1866. The greater part is now built over, but there are still eomo open spaces in the vicinity of Bow Common. The three hamlets are governed by different bodies : Rat- cliffe by trustees ; Mile-End, Old and New Town, by a vestry constituted under Sir Benjamin Hall's Act, the rector and churchwardens being en, offieio members. The custom of gavelkind prevails in the manor. There are several breweries, a large distillery, and numerous foun- dries and factories, chiefly in connection with the ship- ping interest. Here are situated the Whitechapel Union poor-house, the Commercial gas works, the East Lon- don cemetery, and the Baptist College, founded in 1810 on the site of the Marquis of Worcester's house, where Dr. Mead was born in 1673. In the Whitechapel-road are two theatres, the Effingham and Pavilion, the latter, built in 1858 from designs by Simmonds, is a spacious structure, with an entrance constructed of Portland stone, and containing the largest pit in London, capable of holding 2,000 persons. The living was once held by Archbishop Seagrave, Bishop Fox (the founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford), Pace, and Dean Colet. It is a rect.* in the dioc. of London, val. 850, in the patron, of tho Bishop of London. The parish church, dedicated to St. Dunstan, was built in the 14th century. It has a low broad tower, strengthened with buttresses and surmounted by a turret and dome. In the porch is a stone from " Carthage wall," and in the interior are many ancient monuments and tombs of eminent men, with several epitaphs, noticed in No. 518 of the Spec- tator. In addition to the parish church are the follow- ing district churches, viz. Holy Trinity, St. Thomas, St. Philip, All Saints', St. Peter's, and St. Paul's, Bow Common, the livings of which are all perpet. curs., varying in val. from 350 to 250. A new church is also about being built, the cost of which will be de- frayed out of the proceeds of the sale of St. Benet's, Gracechurch-street, which is doomed to be demolished. Of the district churches the moat noteworthy are St. Philip's, the first district Gothic church built in the E. of London, erected in 1829 at a cost of 7,000 ; and St. Paul's, Bow Common, built and endowed in 1858, at the expense of Mr. Cotton, of the Bank of England, from the designs of Mr. It. Hawkins. It is Decorated Gothic, with a spire of Bath stone and a painted E. window. There are 12 chapels belonging to the several dissenting denominations, also a synagogue and Jews' burial-ground. There are 40 National and other day schools, several of them endowed, as Bancroft's school in Mile End, Old Town, founded in 1729 for the education of 100 boys, who since 1803 have been boarded as well as clothed and instructed, with a library attached to the school ; the Mile End, Old Town, and Ratcliffe charity schools, each with an income from endowment of 190; Stepney Meeting school; Wycliffe's chapel school, partially endowed. The charities altogether pro- duce about 1,000 a year, including Coborn's bequest for seamen's widows ; Curtis's for behoof of small debtors in prison, &c., besides numerous hospitals, or almshouses, as Deacon's City paupers' house, the German and Portu- guese Jews' hospital, Drapers' hospital, Trinity alms- houses, Gibson's or Coopers' almshouses, Drapers' alms- houses ; also, in Bow, almshouses belonging to the Skin- ners' and Vintners' companies. The London Hospital, situated in Whitechapel, and founded in 1740, is one of the most useful and extensive charities of the kind in the metropolis ; the building was erected in 1752, from tho designs of Mr. B. Mainwaring, and contains 35 wards with 439 beds. The amount of fixed income is 12,000, derived from funded property, voluntary donations, lega- cies, &c., and in 1861 the number of in and out patients relieved was 32,080. The Stepney Poor-law Union com- prises the parishes of Limehouse, Ratcliffe, Shadwell, and Wapping, Mile-End Old Town having its own establishment. All children born at sea are supposed to belong to Stepney, according to the old rhyme " He who sails on the wide sea, Is a parishioner of Stepney." In consequence paupers born at sea have been sent here from all parts of the country, but the recent decisions of the superior courts refuse to establish this traditional law. See also articles LONDON, and the parishes enu- merated above as once included in Stepney. STEPNEY, a hmlt. in the Hunsley-Beacon div. of Harthill wap., East Riding co. York, 5 miles from Hull, of which it is a suburb. It is a station on the North- Eastern railway. STEPNEY MARSH. See ISLE or DOGS, co. Middlesex. STEPPINGLEY, a par. in the hund. of Redborne- stoke, co. Bedford, 2J miles S.W. of Ampthill, its post town, and 10 S. of Bedford. It is a small agricultural village, bounded on the N. by the Flitt stream, flowing into the river Ouse. Tho living is a rect. * in the dioc. of Ely, val. 266, in the patron, of the lord chancellor. The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, has a tower con- taining four bells. The parochial charities produce about 1 per annum. The Duke of Bedford is lord of the manor. STERNDALE, EARL. See EARL STERNDALE, co. Derby. STERNDALE, KING'S, a hmlt. in the par. of Bakewell, co. Derby, 3 miles S.E. of Buxton, on the river Wye. STERNFIELD, a par. in the hund. of Plomesgate, co. Suffolk, 1 mile S. of Saxmundham, its post town. The village, which is small and irregularly built, is wholly agricultural, and the soil loamy. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 297. The church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen, has a tower and four bells. The parochial charities produce about 61 per annum, realised from town estate. There is a school for both sexes. STERT, a hmlt. in the par. of Camel, co. Somerset, 5 miles S.W. of Castle Oary. STERT, or START, an islet in Bridgwater Bay, co. Somerset, 7J miles N. of Bridgwater, at the mouth of the river Parret. STERT, a chplry. in the par. of Urchfont, hund. of Swanborough, co. Wilts, 2 miles S.E. of Devizes, its post town. The village, which is wholly agricultural, is situated near the road from Salisbury to Devizes. The living is a cur. annexed to the vie. of Urchfont, in the dioc. of Sarum. The church, dedicated to St. James, was erected in 1846. There is a National school. STERTHILL, a hmlt. in the par. of West Camel, co. Somerset, 5 miles S.W. of Castle Cury.