Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/759

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751

MALBOROUGH. 751 AIALHAM. requiring only temporary protection in very severe weather. The Duke of Devon, as vice-admiral, holds an admiralty court here, the jurisdiction of which em- 3 an extensive line of coast. The living is a cur. annexed to the vie. of West Alvington, in the dioc. of ur. The church is an ancient edifice with a lofty tower surmounted by a spire, and containing six bells. Jt stands on a commanding eminence near Bolt Head. The interior of the church contains a monumen* to the late Lord Kinsale ; besides which there are several relics of ancient date. The parochial charities produce about 30 per annum, the bequests of Mrs. Alice Bay- und Kichard Dyer for church repairs and for the poor. There are National, industrial, and infant schools ; also a small chapel for the Baptists. MALBOROUGH, an ext. par. plae in the borough of Proitwich, co. Worcester. MALDEN, a par. in the second div. of the hund. of Kingston, co. Surrey, 2 miles S.E. of Kingston, its post town, and 2 N.W. of Ewell. It is a station on the Epsom and Leatherhead branch of the South-Western railway. The village, which is small, is situated on a rapid stream called the Hogg's Mill. It is wholly agri- cultural, but. extensive powder mills have been estab- lished in the parish. Merton College was founded here in 1264 by Walter de Merton, Bishop of Rochester, but afterwards removed to Oxford. Maiden is mentioned in Domesday Survey as Maeldane. The land is chiefly arable, with some woodland and common. The appro- priate tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of 240, and the vicarial for 75. The living is a vie.* with the cur. of Chessington annexed, in the dioe. of Winchester, val. 417, in the patron, of Merton College, Oxford. The church, dedicated to St. John, has a square tewer containing two bells. The interior of the church contains an old hour-glass stand near the pulpit. The church was restored and repewed in 1848. The register dates from 1676. There is a National school. At Chessington is a powerful chalybeate spring called Jessop's Well. MALDON, a market town, bonding port, municipal and parliamentary borough, in the hund. of Dengie, co. r Essex, 10 miles K. of Chehnsford, 16 S.W. of Colchester, and 37 N.K. by E. of London by road, or 44 by tho i Eastern railway, on which it is a principal station, Ring branch lines to William and Braintree. It is Bit .Kited on a hill on the right bank of the Chelmer, about a mile above its junction with the river Black- water, and 12 miles from the sea. The haven is con- venient, and vessels of 200 tons can come up to the biiJge during spring tides; but a canal, 2i miles long, cut from above the town to Collier's Reach quay, passing Heybridge, has transferred part of the trade thither. Its subports are, Burnham, Bradwell, Leigh, and liochford. The town of Maldon is of ancient date, having been fortified in the Saxon times by Edward tliu Klder against the Danes, who attacked it in 921 without success, and again in 993 under Unlaff, when they were victors. It was first incorporated by charter of Henry II., and has returned two members to parlia- ment since the reign of Edward III. The bounds of the old borough, which contained the three parishes of Bt. Mary, St. Peter, and All Saints, were extended under the Reform Act so as to include the adjoining parishes of Beleigh, Heybridge, Spital, and Northoy '"I. The population of the parliamentary borough in 1861 was 6,261, against 5,888 in 1851, and of the .ipal 4,785 against 4,558, showing a considerable increase in the decennial period. It is also a polling for tho southern division of the county. The municipal corporation consists of a mayor, who is also returning officer, 4 aldermen, and 1 2 councillors, with a recorder, treasurer, coroner, and other officers. It has a revenue of 660. The corporation bears the style of "mayor, aldermen, and capital burgesses and com- ity <>f Maldon," and lias jurisdiction not only over the borough, but at eea, for 25 miles eastward of Knowlo Sam 1 U quarter and petty sessions are held mty court sits every alternate month. The town, which is well paved and lighted with gas, is situated on an acclivity rising abruptly from tho 8. bank of the river Blackwater, here crossed by a bridge. It consists mainly of two streets crossing at right angles, with several smaller streets. The houses are in general well built, and there are many excellent shops. The principal buildings are the townhall, a lofty and ancient structure of brick, sometimes called tho D'Arcey Tower, from Robert D'Arcoy, its founder, who in tho reign of Henry V. was the king's escheator for this county; the public hall, a modern structure in the High-street, containing tho corn exchange and the mechanics' institute ; the county court-house, a building recently erected in the London-road ; the railway sta- tion, a building in the Elizabethan style ; the custom- house, an old brick building situated in Fullbridge, where is also the union poorhouse. There are also assembly rooms, a police and fire-engine station, museum, two banks, savings-bank, gas-works, &c. In the town and its immediate neighbourhood are malt-houses, flour-mills, a brewery, boat-building yards, sail-lofts, rope-walks, wharves, iron-foundries, agricultural imple- ment and machine manufactory, saw-mills, cooperages, lime-kilns, brick and tile yard., and on the Blackwater extensive salt-works and fisheries. The principal busi- ness is in the oyster fisheries, coal, timber, and general trade. Maldon is the hea'd of a Poor-law Union, em- bracing 34 parishes, with which the superintendent registry and new County Court districts also correspond. The custom of borough-English prevails in the manor, which gives title of viscount to the Earl of Essex. The town consists of three parishes, All Saints', St. Peter's, and St. Mary's, but the first two were united in 1306 for ecclesiastical purposes. The living of All Saints is a vie. * with that of St. Peter annexed, in the dioc. of Rochester, joint val. 319. The church of All Saints, standing in the upper part of the town, is an ancient and spacious edifice, in the decorated style. It has a triangular tower at the W. end, surmounted by a hexagonal spire, and containing six bells. It con- tains an old font of Purbeck marble, and several windows enriched with stained glass, and one a copy of one in Melrose Abbey ; also tombs of the D'Arcies, and of Veruon, the Levant merchant, who imported his own tombstone from Smyrna. There were formerly three chantries attached. The register dates from 1656. The church of St. Peter, having fallen into ruins, except the tower, Dr. Plume, then Archdeacon of Rochester, erected on its site, in 1704, a brick building, adjoining the tower, to contain his rich theological library, which he presented to the town. The living of St. Mary's is a perpet. cur., val. 165, in the patron, of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. The church, situated in the lower part of the town, on the river bank, is a spacious structure, rebuilt in the reign of Charles I. on the site of a more ancient one founded in 1056 by Ingelric the Saxon. The tower, which appears to be older than the rest of the building, is a massive pile, supported by immense buttresses, and containing six bells. The Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Society of Friends, have each a largo and well-built chapel. The grammar school, founded by Alderman Breeder in 1608, was further endowed by Dr. Plume, who was born in this town in 1630, and subsequently founded the Plumian professorship of astronomy in Cambridge University. There are National, British, and infant schools for boys and girls. About 1 mile W. of the town are the interesting ruins of Beleigh Abbey, founded in 1180 by Robert do Mantell, and now converted into a farmhouse. There was also a Carmelite friary at Maldon founded about 1291 by Bishop do Gravesande. Dr. Baker, of Maldon Hall, is lord of the manor. Tuesday in market day. Fairs are held on tho first Thursday in May, and 13th and 14th September, for horses and cattle. 5IALEW. See KIBK MALBW, Isle of Man. MALHAM, a tnshp. in the par. of Kirkby-in-Malham, W. div. of the wap. of Staincliff, West Riding co. York, 5 miles S.E. of Settle. It is a small village situated