Settlement Association

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Henstridge in Somerset is another settlement chosen in which to build a Benedictine Priory.

 

[Calthrop]

Henstridge's name comes from the Old English for "ridge where stallions are kept". It would be nice if Maresfield, East Sussex -- near Uckfield -- had a complementary significance; but we learn that the name is probably nothing to do with the equine distaff side: first syllable probably from O.E. mere = pool, second definitely from feld = open land.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Ashburnham in East Sussex was also historically one of the towns connected with the Wealden iron industry.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

The Church of St Nicholas in Henstridge was built in the 12th century, and is a Grade II* listed building. It underwent significant Victorian restoration between 1872 and 1873 by James Mountford Allen. St. Mary's Church, Drimpton, West Dorset is another church where J M Allen was involved, this time in it's construction. He drew up the plans for the church, and Mr. Holt of Broadwindsor was hired as the builder. Construction began in 1863 but its completion was delayed when the builder began working to his own plans in favour of Allen's and without the knowledge or consent of the vicar, Rev. Solomon Caesar Malan. The contract was handed over to Mr. John Chick of Beaminster and the existing work that did not match Allen's original design was removed and redone.

 

[Calthrop]

The Church of St Nicholas in Henstridge was built in the 12th century, and is a Grade II* listed building. It underwent significant Victorian restoration between 1872 and 1873 by James Mountford Allen. St. Mary's Church, Drimpton, West Dorset is another church where J M Allen was involved, this time in it's construction. He drew up the plans for the church, and Mr. Holt of Broadwindsor was hired as the builder. Construction began in 1863 but its completion was delayed when the builder began working to his own plans in favour of Allen's and without the knowledge or consent of the vicar, Rev. Solomon Caesar Malan. The contract was handed over to Mr. John Chick of Beaminster and the existing work that did not match Allen's original design was removed and redone.

@EbbwJunction1: haven't you followed here from Henstridge (last post but two); not from Ashburnham (post previous to yours)?

 

[EbbwJunction1]

@EbbwJunction1: haven't you followed here from Henstridge (last post but two); not from Ashburnham (post previous to yours)?

You're quite right, I did, my apologies .. how did that happen? Anyway, let's move on from here:

Ashburnham and Penhurst are civil parishes in the Rother district of East Sussex. The two parishes share a joint parish council which also covers the settlements of Brownbread Street, Ponts Green and Ashburnham Forge.

(I wanted to use Brownbread Street (what a great name!), but I couldn't find anything about it!)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Whalley in Lancashire also has an Anglican Retreat Centre.

 

[Calthrop]

Whalley holds an annual "Pickwick Night" in December, with folk in Victorian costumes, to raise funds for charity. The idea inspired of course, by Dickens's Pickwick Papers; though I have the impression (I may be wrong) that Mr. Pickwick & Co. did all their stuff a lot further south. Dickens did, however, spend some time in the north of England: whence his portrayal in Nicholas Nickleby (which led to some real-life righting of wrongs) of an example of the awful boarding schools -- with dreadful conditions, and brutal treatment of the pupils -- which proliferated as a money-making scam, in England's "mid-north-east" in the early 19th Century. The school in the novel, Dotheboys Hall, is considered to be a fictional portrayal of the real Bowes Academy, in Bowes, County Durham.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Cropwell Bishop in Nottinghamshire also has a church that is dedicated to St Giles.

 

[D6130]

Colston Basset - also in Nottinghamshire - is also famed for the production of Stilton cheese.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Thoroton in Nottinghamshire also lies on the line of the River Smite.

 

[Calthrop]

Willoughby, Lincolnshire, also has a church dedicated to St. Helena.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Chapel St Leonards in Lincolnshire was also once under the jurisdiction of the Spilsby Poor Law Union.

 

[Calthrop]

Bolton is also twinned with a settlement in the French departement of Sarthe. Chapel St. Leonards's "twin" is Cerans-Foulletourte; Bolton's is Le Mans.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Thornham in Greater Manchester was also once administered by the Hundred of Salford.

 

[Calthrop]

Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire, also has a church dedicated to St. John the Evangelist.

 

[Springs Branch]

Waterbeach Abbey was an abbey established in 1294 by nuns from the Second Order of St. Francis, colloquially known as the Poor Clares.

The first Poor Clare monastery in England was founded in 1286 in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Elswick in Tyne and Wear was also once under the jurisdiction of the Newcastle upon Tyne Poor Law Union.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Elswick is on National Route 72 of the National Cycle Network, which is also called "Hadrian's Cycleway", because much of its route is very close to Hadrian's Wall. The Route starts at Kendal and makes its way around the Cumbrian Coast and then across the country through Carlisle (through Elswick) to Tynemouth on the northern shore or to South Shields on the Tyne's south shore.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Bray in County Wicklow also has an aquarium.

 

[Calthrop]

This is not the Bray referred to in the song about the ethically-not-very-admirable vicar (with all due respect to the Church Of Ireland, vicars are of limited significance on that island). It is considered certain that the song's Vicar of Bray is to be thought of, as doing his thing at Bray, Berkshire (near Maidenhead).

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Cartmel in Cumbria also has a Michelin 3-star restaurant.

 

[Calthrop]

Cartmel in Cumbria also has a Michelin 3-star restaurant.

(If I'm right, that at Bray is run by the eccentric chef Heston Blumenthal: specialist in serving up weird things -- bacon ice cream, being the least of it...)

Cartmel has one of Great Britain's lesser-known racecourses. Another such is at Redcar, North Yorkshire.

 

[D6130]

Workington in Cumbria also had a large steelworks, now closed.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent. The river rises at Sprinkling Tarn in the Lake District and flows northwards through two of its principal lakes, before turning sharply westward to enter the Irish Sea at Workington. The nearest settlement to Sprinkling Tarn is Seathwaite, a small hamlet in the Borrowdale Valley, approximately two miles away.

 

[Calthrop]

Seathwaite is, statistically, the wettest place in the UK. In contrast, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, is listed as one of the country's driest and sunniest locations.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Llandudno in Conwy County Borough also has a church that is dedicated to the Holy Trinity.

 

[Calthrop]

I learn that the Japanese transliteration / pronunciation of Llandudno, is Ranotutuno. Similarly, Manchester "Japanesed", is Manekesuta.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Chadderton in Greater Manchester also lies on the line of the River Irk.

 

[Calthrop]

The ventriloquist Terry Hall was born in Chadderton in 1926. He was one of the first ventriloquists to perform with a dummy from the brute creation (his was the "cowardly and bashful" Lenny the Lion), rather than a "human" one. Following in his footsteps a little later, was Rod Hull, with a more "feisty" creature in the shape of his Emu. Hull was born on the Isle of Sheppey, and attended school in Sheerness.