BRENZETT. 361 BKESeUNGHAJl. on the reat Eastern railway. Brentwood is an ancient place, 1 1 was formerly a market town. In the Saxon period ! manor was one of the possessions of Waltham Abbey. The town is situated on high ground, in a plea- sant ai healthy district, and consists chiefly of one th many ancient houses irregularly built. The remain, if the old townhall and prison have been pulled eparatory to the erection of a new building. The a.-<es were once held hero. There is a County Court, d petty sessions are held weekly by the county es. Near the town is the new County Lunatic a handsome building in the Tudor style of ire, and there are many good residences of modern ruction in the vicinity. The living is a pcrpet. IT dioc. of Rochester, of the val. of 124, in n. of C. T. Tower, Esq. The church, a neat vith a square tower, was erected in 1835. The i. viiieh i.s still standing, was built about 1221, md w;. ledicated to St. Thomas-a-Beckot ; it was cu- 1856 by the addition of a chancel and chancel lisles. 'lie building is partly in the early English now used as the National school-house. eli.tpels belonging to the Independents, Wes- 1 i; iinan Catholics, and a school connected "until tli:, of the latter. The endowed grammar school, -" bunded! i 1537 by Sir Anthony Browne, and the alms- 10 persons in South Weald, also endowed by ! a revenue amounting to above 1,500 per MI'I -iiiing the application of which an appeal been made to Chancery. The school is free living within 3 miles. An Industrial school he*, n established here for the pauper children (rish of Shoroditch. Adjoining the town on 11 .side, at the foot of the hill, is the hamlet Strei't, and on tho N. side is the village of which form, as it were, one continuous town twood. To the N. of the town is South Weald seat of tho Tower family, near which are iges of an ancient circular camp. About 2 S.E. of Brentwood is Thorndon Hall, the id 1'etre. Cattle fairs are held on the 18th i .lie 1 .)th October. T, a par. partly in tho lib. of Romney illy in the hund. of Aloesbridge, lathe of the co. of Kent, 4 miles to the N.W. ot -st town. The living is a vie. in the dioc. . val. 93, in the patron, of the Rev. W. The ehui-ch is dedicated to St. Eans- Ve.sleyan Methodists have a chapel in the iiECK, ST., a par. in the hund. of Pyder, in the 11, 7 miles to the N.W. of Bodmin. Wade- a post town. It lies on the S.W. side of the .'iid contains part of tho town of Wade- 'he estuary of the Camel forms the harbour of > ilxiiit 5 miles to the W., and is navigable as .1 idge, where it is crossed by a fine bridge . riveted in the latter part of the 15th cen- his parish is the manor of Pawton, which was by the bishops of Exeter, who had a palace park there. The parish itself is called Pawton nan Survey. Tho manor of Pawton belonged priory of Bodmin, and after the Dissolution
the erown till 1606, since which time it has
Bed tc uveral families in succession. Clay and slate ) ol>tai d in tho parish. The living is a rect.* in the
- ter, of the annual val. of 859, in the patron.
II- J. in ith, Esq. The church contains some old .nd two brasses. The Bridge Estate is the
- , t
to I BREH mnd. : harity. The Independents, Wesleyans, and -tiuns have chapels here, and there is a free ccock Beacon is a cromlech on the top of a anding a good view of the sea and coast, i are held on the 5th March, the 13th May, ne, and the 10th October. IURST, a tnshp. in the par. of Wolstanton, rehill, in the co. of Stafford, 2 miles to the astle-undcr-Lyme. It lies near the North taffordsl'e railway. TOL. I. The inhabitants are principally employed in the coal and iron works of the neighbour- hood. BRERETON, a vil. partly in the pars, of Longdon and Armitage, in the hund. of Offlow, and partly in the par. of Rugeloy, hund. of Cuttlestone, in the co. of Staf- ford, 1 mile to the S.E. of Rugeley, its post town, and 6j miles N.W. of Lichfield. It is situated close to the London and North- Western railway, which has a station near Rugeley, 1 mile to the N. of the village. The neighbouring coal-mines, belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury, and the Marquis of Anglesea, furnish employment to the inhabitants. Brereton is now a separate parish for ecclesiastical purposes. The living is a perpet. cur.* in the dioc. of Lichfield, val. 166, with 9 acres of glebe, in the patron, of tin- Vicar of Rugeley. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is in the early English style, with an ornamental spire. The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel, and there is a free school, besides National and infant schools. The Earl of Shrewsbury is lord of the manor and chief owner of the soil, which is rich in coal and minerals. A branch line of railway, to connect these collieries with the Lon- don and North- Western railway is left incomplete, but there is a tramway to the Trent and Mersey canal. BRERETON- CUM -SMETHWICK, a par. in the hund. of Northwich, in the co. palatine of Chester, 2 miles to the N.E. of Sandbach. Its post town is Congleton. It is situated on the river Crock, and is crossed by the London and North-Western railway. The manor was formerly held by the Brereton family. The living is a rcct.* in the dioc. of Chester, of the val. of 681, in the patron, of Mrs. E. Royds. The church, an ancient and handsome edifice, is dedicated to St. Oswald. It is in the perpendicular style of architecture, with a carved roof, and contains monuments of the Breretons and Sinethwicks. Brereton was a chapelry to the parish of Astbury till the reign of Henry VIII., when it was con- stituted a separate parish. There are three chapels be- longing to the Dissenters. The charitable endowments, consisting of bequests by Mr. Jepson and the Brere- tons, for the relief of the poor, amount to about 28 per annum. Brereton Hall is an ancient mansion, formerly the seat of the Brereton family, by one of whom, Sir William Brereton, afterwards Lord Brereton of Leighlin, it was erected about 1586. It has been partly taken down. Near the hall is a sheet of water, called Bagmere Pool, with which is connected the romantic tradition that the death of an heir of the Brere- ton family was foreshadowed by the appearance of trunks of trees floating on its surface. BRESSAY ISLAND, a par. in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, situated E. of the mainland, and opposite to Lerwick, its post town. It comprises the islands of Bressay, Burra, Quarff, and Noss. The island of Bressay, about 5 miles long by 3 broad, is separated from the main- land by Bressay Sound, a spacious sheltered bay and har- bour, with excellent anchorage, the resort of many vessels engaged in the whale and herring fisheries. In 1653 a fleet of 94 sail, under the command of Deans and Monk, and in 1665, another fleet of 92 men-of-war, un- der the Earl of Sandwich, found shelter in this bay, which is nearly landlocked. It has two entrances, one from the north, the other from the south. Outside the north entrance there is a sunken rock, called the Uni- corn. The surface of the island is irregular and rocky, yielding, however, some good pasturage. Fishing is the principal occupation of the inhabitants, and some are employed in quarrying slate, which is abundant. The small and fertile island of Noss lies on the E. side of Bressay, with which it is connected by a rope bridge. The living, worth 153, is in the presb. of Lerwiek, and in the gift of the Earl of Zetland. There are esta- blished churches in (Juarff and Burra, served by a min- ister with a stipend of 120. The parish contains also a Wesleyan, an Independent, and a Baptist chapel. BRESSINGHAM, a par. in the hund. of Diss, in the co. of Norfolk, 3 miles to the N.W. of Diss, which is a station on the Great Eastern railway. The manor of Bressingham was formerly held by the Pilkingtons, who 3 A
