Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/602

SUSTEAD. 590 SUTHERLAND. the quarter sessions and elections are held for East Sussex. Chichester is the place of election for West Sussex, and where the quarter sessions are held alter- nately with Petworth and Horsham. The county belongs to the Home circuit and military district, and is governed hy a lord-lieutenant, cttstos rotulorum, sheriff, and about 90 deputy-lieutenants, assisted by about 380 magistrates. Among the principal seats are Arundel Castle, of the Duke of Norfolk ; Goodwood, of the Duke of Richmond ; Bayham Abbey, of the Marquis of Cam- den ; Ashburnham House, of the Earl of Ashburnham ; Arran Lodge, of the Earl of Arran ; Buckhurst, of the Earl Delawarr ; Buxted, of the Earl of Liverpool ; Bridge, of the Earl of Abergavenny ; Lavington, of the Earl of Strafford ; Sheffield Park, of the Earl of Sheffield ; Slinden, of the Earl of Newburgh ; Stanmer, of the Earl of Chichester ; Firlo, of Viscount Gage ; Chichester Palace, of the Bishop of Chichester ; Woollavington, of Bishop Wilherforce ; Kidbrook, of Lord Colchester ; Parham Park, of the Baroness de la Zouch, besides numerous mansions belonging to the resident gentry and merchants. There are numerous remains of ancient forts, camps, barrows, castles, and religious houses, in- cluding Chichester Cathedral, the ruins of Amberley, Bramher, Pevensey, Bridge, Mayfleld, Hastings, Epres, Winchelsea, Bodiham, and Hurstmonceaux castles, the priory ruins of Battle, Bayham, Lewes, Michelham, Robertsbridgc, Shelbred, and others, which are more fully described under the places and parishes in which they are situated. SUSTEAD, a par. in the hund. of North Erpingham, CO. Norfolk, 4 miles S.W. of Cromer. Norwich is its post town. The village is situated on a branch of the river Bure. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Norwich, val. ,34. The church is dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul. The register dates from 1689. SUSWORTH, a hmlt. in the par. of Scotter, co. Lin- coln, 8 miles N.E. of Gainsborough. SUTCOMBE, a par. in the hund. of Black Torrington, CO. Devon, 6 miles N. of Holsworthy, its post town. The village is situated on the river Waldon. The living is a rect* in the dioc. of Exeter, val. 300. The church is dedicated to St. Andrew. The parochial charities pro- duce about 38 per annum, being the endowment of Sir W. Morice's almshouse. SUTGROVE, a hmlt. in the par. of Miserden, oo. Gloucester, 7 miles N.W. of Cirencester. SUTHERLAND, a seaside co. of Scotland, and one of the most northerly sections of the Highlands. It includes the districts of Assynt, Durness, Sutherland, Eddrachillis, and Strathnaver, formerly a county of itself. Its form presents five sides, three of which are described by the Dornoch Frith on the S.E., the North Sea on the N., and the Atlantic on the W., while on the E. it is sepa- rated by a range of mountains from Caithnesshire, and on the remaining side to the S.W. it adjoins the cos. of Ross and Cromarty. In the early times it appears to have been inhabited by the Pictish tribes, Carnonaca, Logi, and Mert<e, and was included in the Roman province of Ves- pasiana. It was subsequently overrun by the Northmen, who gave it its present name, meaning " the Southern Land" of the Orkney Northmen. In the. 12th century it was made a thanedom or earldom by David I., who gave it, with other possessions, to Hugh Freskin and his sons, who had crossed over from Flanders. It is now a dukedom in the family of Gower, Marquis of Stafford, who are heri- tors of the greater portion of this territory. The county lies between 67 48' and 58 38' N. lat., and between 3 40' and 6" 20' W. long. Its length from Cape Wrath in the S.E. to Brora is 56 miles, and its greatest breadth from N. to S. 51 miles, but the average does pot exceed 32 miles. Its area is 1,886 square miles, or 1,207,183 statute acres, deducting about 32,000 for salt-water lochs, but not above 70,000 acres are under cultivation. Its circuit is a little above 220 miles, of which 152 are sea-coast, exclusive of bays and indentations. The northern and western coasts are bold and rocky, deeply indented by inlets of the sea and bays, alternated with headlands, promontories, and cliffs. Among the prin- cipal points on the coast are Port Skerry, Strathy Bay (known to the Romans as Strata Flumina), Armidale Head, Farr and Torrisdale bays, Comb and Rona islands, lying off Kyle or Tongue Bay, Whiten Head, near Loch Eribol, Farout Head, near Kyle-of-Durness, and the Stack rocks, one of which forms a peak 230 feet high; at the north-western corner of the county, where the Atlantic and North Sea join, rises Cape Wrath, composed of cliffs 600 feet high, and worn into numerous caverns by the action of the waves. Beyond this point, on the coast of the Atlantic, are Sandwood Bay, Chonnie and Handa islands, with lochs Inchard and Laxford ; Eddrachyllis, in Badwell Bay ; Kyle ; Skee, containing numerous islets ; Clashnessie Bay ; and Loch Inver, in Assynt. On the E. side of the county, where the coasts are low and sandy, skirting the Frith of Dornoch, the principal points are Meikle Ferry, at the mouth of the river Oikel; Little Ferry, over Loch Fleet; the port of Golspie, near Dunrobin Castle ; Brora, Portgower, and Helmsdale, where the cliffs rise towards the Ord of Caithness. Along the W. and N. coasts are several small islands belonging to the county, the largest being Oldany, Calva, and Handa, which are inhabited ; also the Stack and Skerries islands, and several islets, as Hoan, Roan, Rabbit, and Holy Island, close to the coast. The interior of the county consists almost entirely of mountains, moors, glens, lakes, and morasses, except a narrow strip of land on the E. coast, which is level, and sheltered from the N. by a ridge of mountains from 300 to 800 feet high. Among these mountain ranges, one of great altitude runs nearly parallel with the shores of the North Sea and Atlantic, separating the hills and valleys of the 8. from the wild regions of the W. and N. The highest peaks of this range are, Ben More, which attains an elevation of 3,231 feet above the sea-level ; Ben Hee, 2,859 feet ; and Ben Spenue or Spinnue, 2,566 feet. The great barrier which for centuries had retarded the pro- gress of material improvement was the difficulty of com* munication, owing to the dangerous narrow firths to be crossed, and the total want of roads. These difficulties were at length overcome towards the close of the last century through the exertions of the dukes of Suther- land, assisted by Parliament, which advanced a moiety of the expense to be incurred for certain roads and bridges in the Highlands. Under these auspices vast improvements have been carried out, and there are now about 400 miles of road well laid out, connected by numerous bridges spanning the mountain streams, which flow through narrow straths, to which they give name, as the Cassley and Tyvie, tributaries of the Oikel, tho Evlix, Fleet, Brora, and Helmsdale, felling into the Dornoch Frith, and the Halladale, Strathy, Naver, Borgie, More, and Gradie into the North Sea, all of which are salmon and trout streams. The lakes, which are numerous, are mostly situated' in the middle and western parts of the county. The more im- portant are, the Shin, which is 18 miles long, being the largest in extent ; the Naver, the Hope, the More, the Assynt, the Laoghal or Loyal, the Brora, the Merkland, the Maddie, the Nacarr or Nacnan, the Borley, and the Sandwood, besides numerous others, all abounding in fish, including the red-bellied trout, found in Loch Borley. The fisheries on the coast are chiefly of cod, ling, mackerel, lobsters, and herrings, of which last from 30,000 to 40,000 barrels are annually exported. The interior uplands and some of the valleys are divided into exten- sive sheepwalks, which are well stocked. The arable farms are mostly confined to the E. coast. The soil is generally sandy, and turnips and potatoes are produced in abundance, with good crops of barley and oats, but little wheat and rye are grown. In the mountainous districts, especially in the neighbourhood of Eddrachyllis, game is abundant. The prevailing rocks of the interior of the county, and a considerable portion of the W. coast, are gneiss and mica slate, with Old Red sandstone, conglo- merate, and quartz at Cape Wrath, Ben Stomie, and Ru Storr, and limestone in Durness and Assynt, and nuar Brora, at which last place it occurs in juxtaposition with