[1] The title prince-bishop, attached in Austria to the sees of Laibach, Seckau, Gurk, Brixen, Trent and Lavant, and in Prussia to that of Breslau, no longer implies any secular jurisdiction, but is merely a title of honour recognized by the state, owing either to the importance of the sees or for reasons purely historical.
BISHOP AUCKLAND, a market town in the Bishop Auckland parliamentary division of Durham, England, 11 m. S.S.W. of the city of Durham, the junction of several branches of the North Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 11,969. It is beautifully situated on an eminence near the confluence of the Wear and the Gaunless. The parish church is 1 m. distant, at Auckland St Andrews, a fine cruciform structure, formerly collegiate, in style mainly Early English, but with earlier portions. The palace of the bishops of Durham, which stands at the north-east end of the town, is a spacious and splendid, though irregular pile The site of the palace was first chosen by Bishop Anthony Beck, in the time of Edward I. The present building covers about 5 acres, and is surrounded by a park of 800 acres. On the Wear 1½ m. above Bishop Auckland there is a small and very ancient church at Escomb, massively built and tapering from the bottom upward. It is believed to date from the 7th century, and some of the stones are evidently from a Roman building, one bearing an inscription. These, no doubt, came from Binchester, a short distance up stream, where remains of a Roman fort (Vinovia) are traceable. It guarded the great Roman north road from York to Hadrian’s wall. The industrial population of Bishop Auckland is principally employed in the neighbouring collieries and iron works.
BISHOP’S CASTLE, a market town and municipal borough in the southern parliamentary division of Shropshire, England; the terminus of the Bishop’s Castle light railway from Craven Arms. Pop. (1901) 1378. It is pleasantly situated in a hilly district to the east of Clun Forest, climbing the flank and occupying the summit of an eminence. Of the castle of the bishops of Hereford, which gave the town its name, there are only the slightest fragments remaining. The town has some agricultural trade. It is governed by a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 1867 acres.
Bishop’s Castle was included in the manor of Lydbury, which belonged to the church of Hereford before the Conquest. The castle, at first called Lydbury Castle, was built by one of the bishops of Hereford between 1085 and 1154, to protect his manor from the Welsh, and the town which sprang up round the castle walls acquired the name of Bishop’s Castle in the 13th century. In 1292 the bishop claimed to have a market every Friday, a fair on the eve, day and morrow of the Decollation of St John, and assize of bread and ale in Bishop’s Castle, which his predecessors had held from time immemorial. Ten years later he received a grant from Richard II. of a market every Wednesday and a fair on the 2nd of November and two days following. Although the town was evidently a borough by the 13th century, since the burgesses are mentioned as early as 1292, it has no charter earlier than the incorporation charter granted by Queen Elizabeth in 1572. This was confirmed by James I. in 1617 and by James II. in 1688. In 1584 Bishop’s Castle returned two members to parliament, and was represented until 1832, when it was disfranchised.
BISHOP STORTFORD, a market town in the Hertford parliamentary division of Hertfordshire, England; 30½ m. N.N.E. from London by the Cambridge line of the Great Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 7143. It lies on the river Stort, close to the county boundary with Essex, and has water-communication with London through the Lea and Stort Navigation. The church of St Michael, standing high above the valley, is a fine embattled Perpendicular building with western tower and spire. The high school, formerly the grammar school, was founded in the time of Elizabeth. Here were educated Sir Henry Chauncy, an early historian of Hertfordshire (d. 1719), and Cecil Rhodes, who was born at Bishop Stortford in 1853. There are a Nonconformist grammar school, a diocesan training college for mistresses, and other educational establishments. The industries include brewing and malting, coach-building, lime-burning and founding, and there are important horse and cattle markets.
Before the Conquest the manor of Bishop Stortford is said to have belonged to Eddeva the Fair, wife of Harold, who sold it to the bishop of London, from whom it was taken by William the Conqueror. William restored it after a few years, and with it gave the bishop a small castle called Waytemore, of which there are scanty remains. The dungeon of this castle, called “Bishop’s Hole” or “Bishop’s Prison,” was used as an ecclesiastical prison until the 16th century. The town now possesses no early incorporation charters, and although both Chauncy and Salmon in their histories of Hertfordshire state that it was created a borough by charter of King John in 1206, the charter cannot now be found. The first mention of Bishop Stortford as a borough occurs in 1311, in which year the burgesses returned two members to parliament. The town was represented from that date until 1332, and again in 1335-1336, but the privilege was then allowed to lapse and has never been revived.