ILETSK, formerly Fort Iletskaya Zashchita, a town of Russia, in the government of Orenburg, 48 m. S. of the town of Orenburg by the railway to Tashkent, near the Ilek river, a tributary of the Ural. Pop. 11,802 in 1897. A thick bed of excellent rock-salt is worked here to the extent of about 100,000 tons annually. The place is resorted to for its salt, mud and brine baths, and its koumiss cures.
ILFELD, a town in Germany, in the Prussian province of Hanover, situated at the south foot of the Harz, at the entrance to the Bährethal, 8 m. N. from Nordhausen by the railway to Wernigerode. Pop. 1600. It contains an Evangelical church, a celebrated gymnasium, once a monasterial school, with a fine library, and manufactures of parquet-flooring, paper and plaster of Paris, while another industry in the town is brewing. It is also of some repute as a health resort.
Ilfeld, as a town, dates from the 14th century, when it sprang up round a Benedictine monastery. Founded about 1190 this latter was reformed in 1545, and a year later converted into the school mentioned above, which under the rectorship of Michael Neander (1525-1595) enjoyed a reputation for scholarship which it has maintained until to-day.
See Förstemann, Monumenta rerum Ilfeldensium (Nordhausen, 1843); M. Neander, Bericht vom Kloster Ilfeld, edited by Bouterwek (Göttingen, 1873); and K. Meyer, Geschichte des Klosters Ilfeld (Leipzig, 1897).
ILFORD [Great Ilford], an urban district in the Romford parliamentary division of Essex, England, on the Roding, 7 m. E.N.E. of London by the Great Eastern railway. Pop. (1891) 10,913, (1901) 41,234. A portion of Hainault Forest lies within the parish. The hospital of St Mary and St Thomas, founded in the 12th century as a leper hospital, now contains almshouses and a chapel, and belongs to the marquess of Salisbury, who as “Master” is required to maintain a chaplain and six aged inmates. The chapel appears to be of the date of this foundation. Claybury Hall is a lunatic asylum (1893) of the London County Council. There are large photographic material works and paper mills. Little Ilford is a parish on the opposite (west) side of the Roding. The church of St Mary retains Norman portions, and has a curious monumental brass commemorating a boy in school-going clothes (1517). Pop. (1901) 17,915.
ILFRACOMBE, a seaport and watering-place in the Barnstaple parliamentary division of Devonshire, England, on the Bristol Channel, 225 m. W. by S. of London by the London & South-Western railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 8557. The picturesque old town, built on the cliffs above its harbour, consists of one street stretching for about a mile through a network of lanes. Behind it rise the terraces of a more modern town, commanding a fine view across the Channel. With its beautiful scenery and temperate climate, Ilfracombe is frequented by visitors both in summer and winter. Grand rugged cliffs line the coast; while, inland, the country is celebrated for the rich colouring of its woods and glens. Wooded heights form a semicircle round the town, which is protected from sea winds by Capstone Hill. Along the inner face of this rock has been cut the Victoria Promenade, a long walk roofed with glass and used for concerts. The restored church of Holy Trinity dates originally from the 12th century. Sea-bathing is insecure, and is confined to a few small coves, approached by tunnels hewn through the rock. The harbour, a natural recess among the cliffs, is sheltered on the east by Hilsborough Head, where there are some alleged Celtic remains; on the west by Lantern Hill, where the ancient chapel of St Nicholas has been transformed into a lighthouse. In summer, passenger steamers run to and from Ilfracombe pier; but the shipping trade generally has declined, though herring fisheries are carried on with success. In the latter part of the 13th century Ilfracombe obtained a grant for holding a fair and market, and in the reign of Edward III. it was a place of such importance as to supply him with six ships and ninety-six men for his armament against Calais. During the Civil War, being garrisoned for the Roundheads, it was in 1644 captured by the Royalists, but in 1646 it fell into the hands of Fairfax.