Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/630

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618

TATTEBSHALL THORPE. 618 TAUNTON. machicolated tower 100 feet in height, with octangular corner turrets and a double ditch, but the earlier portion has been entirely demolished. The living is a don. in the dioc. of Lincoln, val. 110. The church, dedicated to Holy Trinity, ia a venerable cruciform structure, and was made collegiate in the reign of Henry VI. It con- tains three brasses bearing date from 1486. The col- legiate buildings have been taken down, and the church ia in a half'ruined condition. The register dates from 1569. The parochial charities produce about 89 per annum. There is a National school, partly supported by 20 per annum from the Gibson charity. The Wes- leyans, Baptists, and Primitive Methodists have chapels. The Earl of Fortescue is lord of the manor. Market day is on Thursday. Fairs for cattle and sheep are held on the loth May and 25th September. TATTERSHALL THORPE, a tnshp. in the par. of Tattershall, S. div. of G'artree hund., co. Lincoln, 2 miles N.E. from Tattershall. The Wesleyans have a chapel. TATTINGSTONE, a par. in the hund. of Samford, co. Suffolk, 5 J miles S.W. of Ipswich, its post town, and 1 mile E. from Bentley railway station. The village is situated on a branch of the river Stour. The Samford union poorhouse is in this parish. On the estate called the Place is a thick deposit of marine shells. The living is a rect.* in the dioc. of Norwich, val. 460. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, has a tower and five bells. The parochial charities consist in two poor- houses. There is a National school for both sexes. The Wesleyans have a chapel. The principal residence is Tattingstone Place, situated in a well-wooded park watered by large fish ponds. It was formerly the seat of the Beaumont family. In the vicinity is a crag in which many fossils have been discovered. T. B. Western, Esq., is lord of the manor and principal landowner. T'ATTNALL. See TOTTANHOE, co. Bedford. TATTON, a tnshp. in the par. of Rostherne, hund. of Bucklow, co. Chester, 2 miles N. of Knutsford. Tatton Hall is the principal residence. The park occupieo upwards of 2,000 acres, and above 50 of water. TATWORTH, a tythg. in the par. of Chard, co. Somerset, 1J mile S. of Chard. It is joined with Forton. TAUD, a stream of co. Lancaster, rises near Lathom Park, and joins the Douglas at Rufford. TAUGHBOYNE, a par. in the bar. of Raphoe, co. Donegal, prov. of Ulster, Ireland, containing the vils. of St. Johnstown and Creaghdoos. Hogay is its post town. The parish includes a considerable portion of bog, but the arable soil is good. The river Foyle traces part of its eastern boundary. The living is a rect. and vie. in the dioc. of Raphoe, val. 1,436. The church was built in 1626. There are a dispensary, a Roman Catholic chapel, a parochial and several other day and Sunday schools. Mongavlin Castlo is the principal seat. The ancient borough of St. Johnstown, in this parish, was founded by St. Baithen in the 6th century. TATJNTON, or TAUNTON DEAN, a hund. of co. Somerset, contains the town of Taunton and the pars, of Angersleigh, West Bagborough, Bradford, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Combe-Florey, Corfe, Cothelstone, Heathfield, Hillfarrance, Hull-Bishop's, Kingston, Lydeard St. Law- rence, Norton-Fitzwarren, Nynehead, Oake, Orchard- Portman, Otterford, Pitminster, Rimpton, Ruishton, Staplegrove, Stoke St. Mary, Tolland, Trull, Wilton, and Withiel-Florey, comprising an area of about 41,000 acres. TAUNTON, a market and assize town and parlia- mentary borough in the hund. of the same name, co. Somerset, of which it is the county town, 51 miles S.W. of Bath, and 30 N.E. of Exeter. It is a station on the Bristol and Exeter section of the Great Western railway. The town, which is of great antiquity, is situ- ated in a vale called Taunton Dean, on the southern bank of the small river Tone, here crossed by a stone bridge of three arches, and which is now only partially navigable, the locks having been neglected by the con- servators since the construction of the Bridgwater canal, which affords readier water communication, and has also a branch to Chard. Numerous early remains are found in the vicinity, including an ancient bridge of one arch, somewhat pointed, called the Ram's Horn, and another bridge on the line of the Roman way to Bridgwater. In the 7th century it was occupied by the West Saxons, and in 680 was fortified by Ini of Wessex, who built a castle here, in which the Witenagemote, or Great Coun- cil, framed the code of laws known as those of King Ini. This castle was, about 722, razed to the ground by Ethelburga, his queen, after having expelled Eadbricht, king of the South Saxons, who had seized it. Subse- quently the manor and town were granted to the sec of Winchester. It was a mint town, and some of the coins of the reign of William the Conqueror, struck here, are still in existence. In this reign the Bishop of Win- chester rebuilt the castle, and fitted it for an episcopal residence. In the reign of Henry I. it was again re- built by Bishop William Giffard, and enlarged in 1190 by Bishop Thomas Langton, who added the gateway fronting the Castle-green, which is still standing, and bears the escutcheon of the bishop, with the date 1496. In 1497 the town and castle were seized by Perkin Warbeck, but were abandoned on the approach of the royal troops. In 1642, it was occupied for the parlia- ment ; in 1643, by the royalists ; and in 1645 by Colonel, afterwards Admiral, Blake, who sustained in it a siege of several months against 10,000 royalist troops, under Lord Goring, till relieved by Sir Thomas Fairfax. At the Restoration, the inhabitants, having incurred the displeasure of Charles II. for their zeal in the cause of the commonwealth, were deprived of their charter, first granted in 1627, but which was shortly after restored, and finally forfeited in 1792, through _the neglect of the corporate body in filling up vacancies. In 1685 the town was occupied by the Duke of Monmouth, who pro- claimed himself king. Although now entirely dismantled, the castle still forms an interesting object, with a circular tower at the S.W. angle, and a hall, 119J feet by 30 J, built by Bishop Home in 1577, in which, until very recently, the assizes were held, and where Judge Jeffreys held his " bloody assize," after Monmouth's capture. The moat was filled up in 1785, and the drawbridge removed. Among the constables of this once important fortress occurs the name of Thomas Chaucer, eldest son of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. The civil government is now under the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, who hold petty sessions twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday, at the Guildhall. The sanitary arrangements of the town are under a local board of health, and the police arrangements under the county constabulary force. The borough, which has returned two members to parliament since the reign of Edward I., was en- larged by the Reform Act, so as to include Ashleigh, Hay don, Holway, North Town, Sherford, and Shore- ditch, in the town parishes of St. Mary Magdalene and St. James, and parts of the suburban parishes of Bishops- hull and Wilton, and one house in West Monkton. The court leet is held under the lord of the manor of Taun- ton Dean, at which two bailiffs, two portreeves, and two constables are chosen annually the first are the return- ing officers. The population in 1851 was 14,176, and in 1861, 14,660, of which the parliamentary borough con- tains 14,600, with about 810 electors. The town, which consists of three main streets, diverging from a spacious open area called the Parade, and numerous smaller streets, is near a mile in length. The streets are well paved and lighted with gas, and have numerous good shops. The principal public buildings are the shire hall, an Eliza- bethan structure, erected in 1858 at a cost of 28,000, from the designs of W. B. Moffat, Esq., architect, and containing marble busts of Admiral Blake and John Locke ; the Somerset county gaol, situated opposite the shire hall, with which it is connected by an under- ground passage, and covering an area of 4 acres ; the old market house, situated on the S. side of the Parade, is a brick building of considerable size, containing the guildhall, and surrounded on either side by arcades, used on market days for corn, and surmounted by a clock ;