SEVEN CHURCHES. 426 SEVERN, THE. The par. includes the tnshp. of Scagglethorpe. The village is mostly modern, having been rebuilt by the late Lady Sykes, and is a polling-place for the county elections. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agri- culture. Sir T. Syke's hounds meet at Settrington Beacon. The Duke of Richmond takes the title of baron from this place. The tithes were commuted for land and money payments under an Enclosure Act in 1797. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of York, val. 1,045. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient edifice with a square embattled tower. It con- tains an E. window of stained glass. The parochial charities produce about 15 per annum. There are a National and a Sunday school for both sexes. The hall, which is the principal residence, is situated in a well- timbered park. Lord Middleton is lord of the manor and principal landowner. SEVEN CHURCHES, King's Co. See CLONMACNOISE. SEVEN CHURCHES, co. Wicklow. See GLENDA- LOUGH. SEVENHAMPTON, or SENNINGTON, a par. in the hund. of Bradley, co. Gloucester, 7 miles N.W. of Northleach, its post town, and 4J S. of Winchcomb. The village, which is of small extent, is chiefly agricul- tural. The river Colne flows through the parish, and one of the head streams of the Thames issues from seven different springs. The surface is hilly and the scenery varied. The land is almost wholly arable, with a little meadow and pasture. The soil is light, resting on a substratum of stone, which is quarried for building pur- poses. The tithes were commuted for land and money payments under an Enclosure Act in 1814. The living is a perpet. cur. in the dioc. of Gloucester and Bristol, val. 19. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a venerable cruciform structure with a square embattled tower containing three bells. The interior of the church contains several mural tablets. The parochial charities produce about 1 per annum. The Baptists have a place of worship at Brockhampton Quarries. SEVENHAMPTON, a tythg. and chplry. in the par. andhund. ofHighworth, co. Wilts, IJmileS.E. of High- worth, its post town, and 4 miles N.W. of Shrivenham railway station. The village, which is of small extent, is wholly agricultural. The living ia a cur. annexed to the vie.* of Highworth, in the dioe. of Gloucester and Bristol. The churoh, dedicated to St. Andrew, has a square tower containing five bells. Lady V. Warneford is lady of the manor. SEVEN-HEADS, a cape on the coast of Cork, Ireland, between Courtmacsherry and Clonakilty Bays. SEVENOAKS, a par., post and market town in the hund. of Codsheath, lathe of Sutton-at-Home, co. Kent, 17 miles W. from Maidstone, and 24 S.E. from London. The London, Chatham, and Dover railway opened a branch line to Sevenoaks in 1862, the station of which is about a mile from the town. The town of Seven- oaks is situated on an eminence. Knole Park, in the neighbourhood, is upwards of 1,000 acres in extent, and 6 miles in circumference. The mansion, which is in the old English style of architecture, covers 3 acres of ground, and has a collection of pictures and other works of art. It was close to Sevenoaks that Jack Cade defeated Sir Humphrey Stafford in 1450. Originally Sevenoaks formed part of the property belonging to the Archbishops of Canterbury, but it came into the possession of the Crown in the reign of Henry VIII., who received it in exchange for other land from Archbishop Cranmer. It afterwards came to the Sackvilles of Knole. The town is well built, and is sur- rounded by seats ; it is lighted with gas. The popula- tion in 1861 was 3,201, with 978 inhabited houses. The inhabitants are partly engaged in the hop grounds, which are numerous. The London and County Bank has a branch here. There is also a savings-bank. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Canterbury, val. i'1,117. The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, has a large square tower containing a peal of eight bells. It contains monuments to the Lambards, Amherst, Fermoy, Bos- ville, and Sackville families. The parochial register dates from 1559. There are two places of worship for the Baptists, and one for the Wesleyans. Tho free grammar school was founded in 1432 by Sir Wil- liam Sennocke or Sevenoake, a foundling who, having been apprenticed to a grocer by some charitable per- son, subsequently rose to be Lord Mayor of London and a member of parliament ; the school has four scholar- ships at Oxford and Cambridge. The almshouses at- tached were founded by Sir "Willis m at the same time. Lady Boswell, wife of Sir William Boswell, Charles I.'s Ambassador at the Hague, likewise founded a school here, in which 200 children are at present taught on the National system ; its income is nearly 450 per annum. The Sevenoaks Vine, an open space a short way out of the town, to the northwards, is noted for the cricket matches which are played there. In Whitby Scrubs boars were hunted as late as Elizabeth's reign. Seven- oaks Poor-law Union contains 16 parishes and town- ships, and comprises an area of 59,572 acres. Market day is on Saturday. Fairs are held on 12th and 13th July, and 12th and 13th October. SEVENOAKS, a tnshp. in the par. of Great Bud- worth, hund. of Bucklow, co. Chester, 5 miles N.W. of Northwich, and the same distance S. of Warrington. The village, which is of small extent, is situated in the vale of the Dune, and is wholly agricultural. The soil is of a clayey nature, with a subsoil of clay and sand. There is a meeting-house for the Society of Friends. SEVEN-STONES, a reef off the Land's End, co. Cornwall. It lies out at sea about 7 miles from the shore, and is marked by a floating light. SEVENTON. See SEVINOTON, co. Wilts. SEVEN-WELLS, the source of one of the head streams of the river Thames, co. Gloucester, 3 miles S. of Cheltenham. SEVERN-STOKE, a par. in the lower div. of Per- shore hund., co. Worcester, 7 miles S. of Worcester, its post town, and 3 N.E. of Upton. The village is situated on the Severa, and has a prospect of the Malvern hills, &c. A market and fair were granted by Edward II., but have been long since disused. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The living is a rect. * in the dioc of Worcester, val. 746. The church, dedi- cated to St. Denis, or All Saints, has a tower containing five bells. The interior of the church contains tombs of the Somers family. The parochial charities produce about 13 per annum. There is a National school for both sexes. Severn Bank is the principal residence. The Earl of Coventry is lord of the manor. SEVERN, THE," the largest and most important river in England, after the Thames, formed by the union of two small streams, the Hafren and Cly wedog, which rise under Plinlimmon, in the south-western part of Montgomeryshire, near the head of the Wye, and unite at Llanidloes, forming the main stream of the Severn. It was called by the Romans Safa'ina, and by the Welsh Hafren, or " queen of rivers," which the Saxons con- verted into Siefeme, and the moderns into Severn. Its course through Montgomeryshire is in a north-easterly direction, past the towns of Newtown and Welshpool, from which latter place it becomes navigable, and entering Shropshire, pursues an easterly course to Shrewsbury, which it nearly encircles. A little below Shrewsbury it receives the Tern on the left bank, whence taking a circuitous course, it flows through Coalbrookdale, past the towns of Ironbridge and Bridgnorth to the N.W. borders of Worcestershire, entering which county it passes Bewdley and Stourport, whence to Gloucester it is 150 feet wide and more than 6 feet deep for trows and barges. After passing Worcester it receives the Teme on the right bank, and continues its course in a southerly direction past Upton to Tewkesbury on the Gloucestershire.border, where it is joined by the Upper Avon on the left bank, and turning to the S.W. passes Gloucester. It then makes several windings, and be_comes a tidal river a little above Newnham, where it widens out into an estuary, and passing Chepstow receives the waters of the Wye on the right, and those of the lower Avon on the left, about 8 miles below
