Curiosities of Great Britain: England and Wales Delineated Vol.1-11 / Historical, Entertaining & Commercial; Alphabetically Arranged. 11 Volume set.

by Thomas Dugdale

[B] ASHENDEN. This manor has been from time immemorial in the Grenville family. John Bucktot, a priest, gave the manor of Little Pollicott, to Lincoln College, in Oxford, about 1479; and what renders it particularly remarkable, is the circumstance of the manor house being used A retiring place for collegians in the time of the plague. as a retiring place for the members of the college at the time of the plague. In Ashenden Church, is an ancient figure of a crusader, under an arch, rudely ornamented with foliage; which according to tradition, is the tomb of John Bucktot; this appears however to be erroneous, as it is evidently the tomb of a layman, and from the chevron on the shield, one of the Stafford family, anciently lords of Great Pollicott.

[C] ASHFIELD. This obscure village gave birth to the celebrated Lord Chancellor Thurlow, and his brother, the late Bishop of Durham; they The birth-place of Lord Chancellor Thurlow. were the sons of the vicar, under whose auspices they were educated. On leaving the university, the former entered himself of the Inner Temple, but did not distinguish himself at the bar, until his abilities were employed upon the Douglas case; after which he became successively Solicitor-General, Attorney-General, and Lord High Chancellor. He was elevated to the peerage by the title of Baron Thurlow, of Ashfield. In 1786, he was made Teller of the Exchequer, and created Baron Thurlow, of Thurlow: he retired in 1793, and died at Brighton in 1806. He was succeeded in the peerage by his nephew, the son of his brother, the Bishop of Durham. He was never married, but he left three illegitimate daughters, to two of whom he bequeathed large property; the other having offended him by an imprudent marriage, he left her only a small annuity.

[D] ASHFORD. This village is frequently called Ashford in the water, from the lowness of its situation. It is seated on the banks of the river Wye. The only remains of the residence of the Plantagenets of Woodstock (who had a castle here) is a moat, half filled with rubbish. Sir William Cavendish, the favourite of Cardinal Wolsey, purchased this estate of the Earl of Westmoreland; and the Duke of Devonshire, a descendant of that family, still continues the proprietor. The works in this Extensive works for sawing and polishing marble. village for sawing and polishing marble, were the first ever established in England. They were originally constructed by Mr. Henry Watson, of Bakewell, about 80 years since, but though he obtained a patent, to secure the gain arising from this invention, the advantages were unequal to his expectations. Mr. John Platt, architect, of Rotherham, in Yorkshire, rented the quarries of black and grey marble, the only ones of the kind now worked in Derbyshire. The sweeping mill, as it is called, from its circular motion, will level a floor of eighty superficial feet of marble slabs at one time.

Map	Names of Places		County	Number of Miles From						Dist. Lond.	Popul ation.
11	Ashford	pa	Devon	Barnstaple	2	Ilfracomb	8	Marwood	2	194	99
21	Ashford[A]	m.t. & pa	Kent	Canterbury	15	Folkestone	17	Maidstone	19	53	2809
25	Ashford[B]	chap	Middlesex	Staines	3	Bedfont	2	Sunbury	3	16	458
33	Ashford Bowdler	pa	Salop	Ludlow	3	Tenbury	6	Leominster	9	137	99
33	Ashford Carbonel	pa	Salop	...	3	...	6	...	9	137	289
23	Ashfordby	pa	Leicester	Melton Mow.	3	Loughbro'	11	Leicester	13	108	467
29	Ash-holm	ham	Northumb	Hexham	19	Haltwhistle	4	Aldstone	7	279	122
27	Ashill	pa	Norfolk	Watton	4	Swaffham	6	E. Dereham	10	94	700
34	Ashill[C]	pa	Somerset	Ilminster	4	Taunton	8	Chard	7	137	403
14	Ashingdon[D]	pa	Essex	Rochford	3	Maldon	9	Chelmsford	13	40	98

[A] ASHFORD is situated about twelve miles from the sea, on an eminence rising from the northern bank of the small river Stour, and on the high road between Hythe and Maidstone. The town, which is a liberty of itself, originated from the ruins of Great Chart, an ancient market town, Origin of the town of Ashford. which gave name to the hundred, and was destroyed in the Danish wars. It was then called Asscheford, and, in some early documents, Estefort and Enetesford, from the ford over the river Stour; the ancient name of which was Esshe or Eschet. It is pleasantly situated near the confluence of the upper branches of the river Stour, over one of which there is a bridge. The manor received the privilege of a market so early as Edward I. The town is governed by a mayor, and possesses a court of record for the recovery of debts, not exceeding twenty marks. The church is a spacious and handsome fabric, consisting of a nave, aisles, and three chancels, with a lofty and well-proportioned tower. There are several ancient monuments, especially one of a Countess of Athol, who died in 1365, whose effigy exhibits the female costume of that age, in a very remarkable manner. The college made into a parsonage house: The ancient college, founded by Sir John Fogge owner of the manor, in the reign of Edward IV., was dissolved in that of Henry VII., and the house given to the vicar for a residence. It still exists, although latterly much modernised. Here is a Free Grammar School, founded by Sir Norton Knatchbull, in the reign of Charles I., and various minor charities. The inhabitants of this town and its vicinity are much engaged in the rearing and fattening of cattle, for the sale of which its markets and fairs are much celebrated.

Market Saturday. A stock market held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday in every month.—Fairs May 17, and August 2, for wool; September 9, October 12, and 24, for horses, cattle and pedlary.—Inns, George, Royal Oak, and Saracen's Head.—Bankers, G. and W. Jemmett, draw on Esdaile and Co.—Mail arrives 8.0 morning; departs 5.15 afternoon.

[B] ASHFORD. This place was originally called Exeford, from its ford over the river Exe; the village is now but of little importance. It lies in that level part of the county, formerly occupied by Hounslow Heath, the Hounslow Heath. terror of the western traveller, from the numerous robberies committed on its highways. Ashford Common was selected for military reviews; it has however, for some years been inclosed, and the review ground is now near Hounslow. The chapel is a plain brick building, possessing no claims on the attention of the antiquary; it was erected in 1796 by voluntary contribution.

[C] ASHILL.—Fairs, April 9, and September 10.

[D] ASHINGDON. This place is memorable in the early periods of our history. "Nothing is more surprising," observes Gough, in his Additions to Camden, "than the errors all antiquaries have hitherto lain under with respect to the scene of the battle between Edmund Ironside and the The site of an engagement between Edm. Ironside and the Danes. Danes." Though they had the authority of Mr. Camden against them, they have caried it quite across the county to the northern extremity and as far from the sea as possible, in defiance of every circumstance that could fix it there. In a marsh in Woodham Mortimer parish, on the river Burnham or Crouch, are twenty-four barrows grouped in pairs, and most of them surrounded by a ditch, supposed to be the burial places of the Danes, who probably landed at Bradwell, a village near the mouth of the Blackwater River, fourteen miles distant.

Map	Names of Places		County	Number of Miles From						Dist. Lond.	Popul ation.
29	Ashington	to	Northump	Morpeth	5	Blyth	6	Ulgham	4	290	57
34	Ashington	pa	Somerset	Ilchester	3	Yeovil	4	Sherborne	7	121	74
38	Ashington	pa	Sussex	Steyning	4	Arundel	9	Horsham	10	46	285
7	Ashley	to	Chester	Knutsford	5	Altringham	3	Cheadle	7	177	379
28	Ashley	pa	Northamp	Rockingham	6	Harborough	5	Rothwell	8	86	304
16	Ashley	pa	Hants	Stockbridge	3	Winchester	8	Romsey	8	67	93
35	Ashley	pa	Stafford	Eccleshall	6	Drayton	6	Newcastle	9	154	825
41	Ashley[A]	pa	Wilts	Malmesbury	5	Tetbury	3	Kemble	5	96	99
5	Ashley-Green	ham	Bucks	Chesham	3	Berkhamp	2	Tring	5	27	...
6	Ashley-cum-Silvery,	pa	Cambridge	Newmarket	5	Mildenhall	10	Bury	11	63	361
10	Ashley-Hay	to	Derby	Wirksworth	2	Belper	6	Turnditch	3	138	241
27	Ashmanhaugh	pa	Norfolk	Coltishall	3	Worsted	3	Norwich	10	118	154
16	Ashmansworth	chap	Hants	Whitchurch	8	Andover	10	Newbury	8	64	222
12	Ashmore	pa	Dorset	Shaftesbury	5	Cranborne	12	Blandford	8	101	191
34	Asholt, or Aisholt	pa	Somerset	Bridgewater	7	Stowey	3	Taunton	8	146	228
10	Ashover[B]	to & pa	Derby	Alfreton	7	Chesterfield	7	Matlock	3	147	3179
39	Ashow	pa	Warwick	Warwick	5	Kenilworth	3	Coventry	6	95	176
17	Ashperton	chap	Hereford	Ledbury	5	Hereford	11	Bromyard	11	125	398
11	Ashprington	pa	Devon	Totness	3	Brixham	6	Dartmouth	6	198	549
34	Ash-Priors	pa	Somerset	Taunton	6	Wellington	6	Stowey	9	147	201
11	Ashreigney	pa	Devon	Chumleigh	4	Torrington	11	Hatherleigh	9	198	1038
5	Ashridge[C]	ham	Bucks	Chesham	2	Berkhamp	4	Tring	5	29	...