Obrazy na stronie
PDF
ePub

and are distinguished by the chasteness of their conception, the ingenuity of their construction, and the truth of their expression. He was also the author of two or three literary works, which were well received; and excelled in landscape painting. He died in 1804.

APPLEDORE, a small sea-port, two miles from Bideford, is situated on the margin of Barnstaple Bay, near the junction of the rivers Taw and Torridge. It forms a part of the parish of Northam, which has 2550 inhabitants, and at a short distance is a ridge of pebbles, three miles long, called Northam Burrows, which appears to have been thrown up by the sea. Appledore has recently attracted some notice as a bathing-place, and the beauty of the surrounding scenery is an additional inducement to visitors. Near this village is a point called Hubblestone, said to be the burying-place of Hubba, the Danish invader, who was slain here, in the reign of Alfred.

ASHBURTON.

This town stands in a valley, at a short distance from the river Dart, and consists principally of one long street, through which passes the road from London to Plymouth; it is distant 192 miles from the former, and 23 from the latter place. In Domesday Book the manor is stated to belong to the King, but it has since that period been granted to various persons, and is at present in private hands. The town is governed by a Portreeve, is a Borough by prescription, and sent two Members to Parliament in 1298, again in 1408, and uninterruptedly from 1640 to the present time; the right of election is nominally in about 200 burgage-holders, but really in two persons, the owners of the freeholds.

The Church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a handsome structure, in the form of a cross, with a tower and low spire; the interior is neat, and contains several stalls. Adjoining to the Church is an ancient building, used as a Grammar School, and for all purposes of public business. The inhabitants, in 1821, were 3403, many of whom are employed in the serge manufactory; a Market is held on Tuesday,

[blocks in formation]

principally for wool and yarn; a second, on Saturday, is for provisions, &c. Here are also four annual Fairs. In the vicinity several productive tin and copper mines are worked.

William Gifford was born at Ashburton in 1756. At a very early age he was left an orphan, and after receiving little more than the rudiments of education, was apprenticed to a shoemaker, in whose service he continued until he had nearly completed his twentieth year. During this season of drudgery he contrived, under the most painful discouragements *, to make himself acquainted with algebra and mathematics in no common degree; he also made some poetical attempts, which procured him the notice of Mr. Cookesley, a benevolent surgeon, by whose exertions a subscription was raised in the neighbourhood, his master was compensated for the remaining term of his apprenticeship, and he was placed at school during two years, at the end of which period the same kind friend interested himself so warmly as to procure him the place of Bible Reader at Exeter College, Oxford, as a means of assisting in his maintenance at that University, to which he now removed, and where he distinguished himself by his application to classical learning, and issued proposals for publishing by subscription that translation of Juvenal on which his fame as a poet principally rests. The sudden death of his patron, however, prevented the execution of this plan; and the work did not appear until 20 years afterwards, when it was dedicated to Earl Grosvenor, to whom the author accidentally became known, and who liberally patronised him until his death, which took place shortly after the publication of Juvenal. Beside this work his only original production is the “ Baviad and Mæviad," two most pungent satires on the contemptible trash which passed for poetry towards

*

He was compelled to pursue his studies in the night, to avoid the indignation of his master, and, for want of pen, ink, and paper, wrought his problems with an awl, on pieces of leather which he had beaten out smooth for that purpose.

To this work, as explanatory of the delay in its appearance, he prefixed a short Memoir of his own Life, which is written with unaffected and graceful simplicity, and presents one of the most touching pictures of native genius, making its way through every obstacle to its proper sphere, that has ever been laid before the world.

the close of the eighteenth century. He was editor of the Quarterly Review, from its commencement until the end of 1825; and the severity of criticism, and strong party bias which that work displayed, under his superintendence, will be deemed a merit or a defect, according to the political opinions of the reader. Mr. Gifford died in December, 1826; he had for many years enjoyed the comforts of opulence, having, in addition to the profits of his writings, which were very considerable, two sinecures worth about £900 per annum. Beside the original productions enumerated above, he edited the dramatic works of Ben Jonson, Massinger, Ford, and Shirley, with notes and observations.

Near Ashburton is Buckfastleigh, a considerable village, with 2240 inhabitants: it has an ancient Church, placed on an eminence, and was formerly remarkable for its extensive Abbey, founded in the reign of Henry I, of which a few fragments still exist.

AXMINSTER, (which derives its name from the river Axe, on which it is seated, and a Minster, founded by King Athelstan, whose possessions were granted at the Dissolution to the Duke of Norfolk,) is a large town, with 2742 inhabitants; it is near the eastern extremity of the county, 147 miles from London. The Church, dedicated to St. Mary, is spacious and venerable; it is reputed to have been erected by Athelstan; but, although some few relics of Saxon architecture are still discernible, the greater part of the building is evidently of more recent origin. It has a heavy central tower; its interior is plain, and it does not contain any monuments deserving of particular notice. Adjoining to the Church is an ancient building, used as a School House. Here is a Roman Catholic Chapel, and Meeting Houses for Independents, and Methodists.

Axminster is a flourishing town, and is celebrated for its carpet manufactory, which was introduced about 1750, and employs a great number of per

* Persian and Turkey carpets are here imitated with great success, and some of them fetch very high prices; George IV ordered a great part of those with which the floors of Windsor Castle are covered, from the manufacturers of this place.

sons; broad and narrow cloths, druggets, gloves, and some other articles, are also produced. The Market-day is Saturday, and four annual Fairs are held here.

At a short distance from Axminster, in a detached part of the county, surrounded by Dorsetshire, is Ford Abbey, founded in 1140. The venerable remains of this building, according to Gilpin," have been patched up into an awkward dwelling; old parts and new are blended together, to the disgrace of both. The elegant cloister has been whitewashed, and converted into a green-house; and in every other part sash windows are mingled with pointed arches, and Gothic walls are adorned with Indian paper." In the front of the building is a projecting colonnade of Grecian architecture, said to have been erected, together with some apartments in the centre of the mansion, by Inigo Jones, whose known habit of thus barbarously intermingling classical and English architecture, gives countenance to the report.

66

BAMPTON is situated in a valley, on the borders of Somersetshire, 161 miles from the metropolis. It is believed to have been a Roman station; and here, probably," says Mr. Polwhele, " they had artificial hot-baths, supplied with water from the little river Bathern, which is, perhaps, a compound of bath and therma, hot-baths*." Here is still a chalybeate spring of considerable reputation. This town is very irregularly built, and the houses, which are of stone, are scattered over a space of about half a mile. The Church is a spacious and venerable building, pleasantly situated, and is dedicated to St. Michael. Bampton appears to have been anciently of more importance than at present, as it sent Members to Parliament, and had two weekly Markets; the former privilege has been long lost, and the only Market-day now is on Saturday; it is still, however, a place of some business, and has manufactories of serge and pottery, which give employment to the

*Such are the sage conjectures of antiquarians! Why it is "probable" that the Romans had hot baths here, we are not informed; nor can we perceive how that probability is increased by the supposed signification of the name of a river, which was most probably known to them by another appellation.

greater part of the inhabitants, whose number, in 1821, was 1633. It is governed by two Portreeves, and some inferior officers, who are chosen by the inhabitants.

BARNSTAPLE,

One of the most pleasant and considerable towns in the county, is seated on the eastern bank of the river Taw, over which it has a stone Bridge of 16 arches; it is surrounded by an extensive and fertile valley, bounded by a semicircular range of hills, and is 195 miles from London. The streets are spacious, and the houses, for the most part, regularly built with stone; a fine Quay extends for a considerable distance along the river side, and at one end is a handsome piazza, above the centre of which is a statue of Queen Anne, placed there in 1708. The river in front of the town is wide, but the great increase of sand in its channel prevents vessels of more than 200 tons burthen from entering. Notwithstanding this circumstance, considerable trade is carried on from hence with Ireland, North America, the Mediterranean, and the towns on the Welsh coast. Shipbuilding is conducted on an extensive scale; the minor branches of the woollen manufacture employ many persons, and others are occupied in silk-weaving, as well as in the potteries, and the making of fishing-nets. The population, according to the last census, was 5079 persons.

Barnstaple has some pretensions to antiquity: a Castle is said to have been constructed here by King Athelstan, but its site is now denoted merely by a high artificial mount; previously to the Conquest, this town was a royal manor, and it was bestowed by William on Judhael, one of his followers, who founded a small Priory here, which existed until the Dissolution, when its revenues amounted to about £125 per annum. Henry I granted a Charter of incorporation to the town, which was ratified by several succeeding monarchs, particularly by Mary and James I; it is governed by a Mayor, two Aldermen, 22 capital Burgesses, a Recorder, &c.; two Members of Parliament have been sent from hence since 1295, who are elected by the Corporation and the common Burgesses, about 300 in number; the latter

« PoprzedniaDalej »