A Topographical Dictionary of England: Volume
1Y.Preface page xl
Hopkins, Rev. A., Clent, Staffordshire
Hopkins, James, Esq., Arundel, Sussex
Hopkins, Mr. James, Dover-road, London
Hopkins, Thomas, Esq., Boston, Lincolnshire
Hopkins, W., Esq., Dymock, Gloucestershire
Hopkins and Arlett, Messrs., Essex-st., London
page 97
BASSILDON, a parish in the hundred of MORETON, county of BERKS, 7� miles (N.W. by W.)
from Reading, containing 686 inhabitants. The living is a discharged vicarage, with the
chapel of Ashamstead, in the archdeaconry of Berks, and diocese of Salisbury, rated in the
king's books at �7. 14. 4�., and in the alternate patronage of the Rev. R. B. Fisher and
J. Hopkins, Esq. Thechurch is dedicated to St. Bartholomew. In
Domesday-book mention is made of two churcheshere. In the reign of Edward II., a weekly
market, and a fair on St. Barnabas' Day, were granted. A school was endowed with �4 per
annum, by William Allen, in 1720, for the instruction of ten poor children.
page 168
BLAENAVON, a parochial chapelry in the hundred of ABERGAVENNY, county of
MONMOUTH, 5 miles (S. W.) from Abergavenny, containing about 2500 inhabitants. The living
is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Llandaff, endowed with �400
royalbounty, and �2000 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of Thomas Hill, Esq. The
village,which has [p.168] of late assumed the appearance of a thriving town, lies in a
mountainousdistrict, near the source of the Avon Lwyd, whence it derives its name; many of
the houses are excavated in the solid rock. The neighbourhood abounds with iron-ore, coal,
and limestone; and ironworks, on an extensive scale, were completed here in 1789, since
which they have beenprogressively increasing: the major portion of the pig-iron is
conveyed, by means of a canal and a rail-road, to Newport, whence it is exported. A
customary market is held on Saturday. Near theiron-works stands a spacious English free
school, endowed, in 1816, by Mrs. Sarah Hopkins, for
the instruction of the children of the miners: the present number, including both sexes,
is about two hundred and forty.
eface
page 496
COVENTRY, an ancient city, and a county of itself, locally in the county of Warwick, 10
miles (N. E.) from Warwick, 18 (S.E.) from Birmingham, and 91 (N.N.W.) from London, on the
roadto Holyhead, containing 21,242 inhabitants. In ancient records this place, is called
Coventre and also Conventrey, from the foundation of a convent by Canute, of which St.
Osburg was abbess in1016; when it was burnt by Edric, the traitor, who having invaded
Mercia, destroyed many townsin Warwickshire. On the site of this convent, Leofric, Earl of
Mercia, and his countess Godiva, inthe reign of Edward the Confessor, erected a monastery,
which they munificently endowed, and decorated with such a profusion of costly ornaments,
that, according to William of Malmesbury,
the walls were covered with gold and silver. About this time Leofric, at the intercession
of his countess, granted the citizens a charter conferring various privileges and
immunities, the same being commemorated in the south window of Trinity church, by
portraits of the Earl and Countess, with a poetical legend. Leofric died in 1057, and was
interred in the monastery whichhe had founded. Shortly after the Norman Conquest, the
lordship of Coventry became vested in the earls of Chester, by marriage with the
grand-daughter of Leofric. In the contest between Stephen and the Empress Matilda, the
Earl of Chester taking part with the latter, his castle of Coventry was occupied by the
king's forces: the earl besieged it, but the king came in person to its relief, and
repulsed the earl after an obstinate conflict. In 1141, Robert Marmion, the inveterate
enemy of the Earl of Chester, took possession of this monastery, from which he expelled
the monks, fortified the church, and cut deep trenches in the adjoining fields, concealing
them only with a slight covering: on the earl's approach to dislodge him, Marmion drew out
his forces, but forgetting the exact situation of the trenches, his horse fell with him to
the ground, and in this situation his head was severed from his body by a private soldier.
In 1355, the city wassurrounded with walls three miles in circuit, three yards in
thickness, and six yards in height, strengthened with thirty-two towers, and containing
twelve principal gates, each defended by a portcullis. In 1397, Richard II. appointed this
town for the decision, by single combat, of the quarrel between the Dukes of Hereford and
Norfolk; and magnificent preparations were made on Gosford Green for this encounter,
which, however; was prevented by the banishment of thecombatants, a measure which
ultimately produced the deposition of the king. In 1404, the Duke
of Hereford, who had become Duke of Lancaster, by the death of his father, John of Gaunt,
on his return from exile, having succeded to the crown by the title of Henry IV., held a
parliament here in the great chamber of the priory, which, from the exclusion of all
lawyers, was called Parliamentum Indoctorum. In 1411, the Prince of Wales, afterwards
Henry V., was arrested at the priory by John Horneby, mayor of the city, probably for some
tumultuous excess, the particulars of which have not been recorded. The city, with a
district of four miles around it, was severed from Warwickshire, and erected into a county
of itself, under the designation of the City and County of the City of Coventry, by
charter of Henry VI., in 1451; and in 1459 the same monarch held a parliament in the
chapter-house of the priory, which, from the number of attainders passed against the Duke
of York and others, was, by the Yorkists, called Parliamentum Diabolicum. In 1465, Edward
IV. and his queen kept the festival of Christmas at Coventry; and
three years after, the Earl of Rivers and his son, who had been seized by a party of the
northern rebels at Grafton, were beheaded on Gosford Green. In the war between the houses
of York and Lancaster, Richard, Earl of Warwick, marched with all his ordnance and warlike
stores into this city, where he remained for a short time, during which Edward IV., on his
route from Leicester, attempted to force an entrance; but being repulsed, he passed on to
Warwick, and thence to London; where having gained a battle in which the Earl of Warwick
was slain, he returned to Coventry, and deprived the citizens of their charter, for the
restoration of which they werecompelled to pay a fine of five hundred marks. In 1472,
severe enactments were passed by themagistrates against women of immoral character, who
were publicly exhibited in carts on the
market days. Henry VII., on his route from Bosworth Field in 1475, was received here with
every demonstration of congratulation and respect. In the early part of the sixteenth
century, Coventry became the theatre of religious persecution: the Bishop of Chester
coming to examine persons accused of heresy, condemned seven to the stake, which sentence
was executed in the little park : in 1554, Mr. Hopkins, sheriff for the city, was
confined in the Fleet prison, on a charge of heresy, but was
liberated after great intercession, and fled the kingdom; and in the following year Mr.
Lawrence Saunders, Robert Glover, A.M., and Cornelius Bongey, were burnt for
theirreligious tenets during the reign of Mary. In 1565, Queen Elizabeth visited the city;
and in 1566,
Mary, Queen of Scots, was conducted to this place, where she was detained a prisoner; and
in 1569, on her removal from Tutbury castle, she was for some time at the Bull Inn, in the
custody of the Earls of Shrewsbury and Huntingdon. In 1607 the city suffered considerable
damage from aninundation which entered two hundred and fifty-seven houses, washing away
furniture and utensils of various kinds: the flood rose to the height of three yards, and,
after remaining for three or four hours, suddenly subsided; clusters of white snails were
afterwards found in the houses and in thetrees, supposed to have collected prior to the
influx of the water, which, though observed at thedistance of nearly a mile from the town,
was so instantaneous in its approach, as to preclude all means of precaution. King James,
attended by a large retinue of the nobility, visited the city in
1617, on which occasion a cup of pure gold, weighing forty-five ounces, and containing
�100, was presented to him by the corporation, which his majesty ordered to be
preserved with the royal plate for the heirs of the crown. During the parliamentary war,
Charles I. having erected hisstandard at Nottingham in 1641, sent orders to the mayor and
sheriffs of Coventry to attend himat that place; but the majority [p.496] of the citizens
embraced the cause of the parliament, and a party having obtained possession of the
magazine in Spon tower, which the Earl of Northampton had directed the aldermen to secure
for the royalists, kept it for Lord Brooke, who removed it to Warwick castle. The
parliamentarian party in the city having been reinforced with four hundred
men from Birmingham, held it against the king, who sent a herald to demand entrance, which
being refused, some cannon were planted in the great park, and on Stivichall hill, which
played upon the town, but without effect. Finding the citizens resolved to defend their
gates, and learning that Lord Brooke was approaching with his army from London, the king
drew off his forces, and the city was now regularly garrisoned by the parliament, and
farther preparations made for itsdefence. The women were employed to fill up the quarries
in the park, that they might not afford any shelter to the royal troops; and for this
purpose they assembled in companies, by beat of drum, and marched in military array, with
mattocks and spades, headed by an amazon who carried an Herculean club on her shoulder,
and conducted from their work by another, who
discharged a pistol as a signal of dismissal. On the Restoration of Charles II., that
monarch was proclaimed by the mayor and aldermen, attended by a vast concourse of the
inhabitants, with themost triumphant acclamation: the greatest rejoicings took place, and
the public conduits of the city were made to flow with wine; a deputation was sent to
present to him a basin and ewer, and fiftypieces of gold, and to surrender all the king's
lands. In 1662, the Earl of Northampton, with alarge retinue of the neighbouring gentry,
and a detachment of the county troops, was sent with acommission from the king to make a
breach in the walls, as a punishment to the inhabitants for shutting their gates against
his father; but the earl so far exceeded the limits of his commission as to
leave only a few fragments of them remaining: of the gates, which were only dismantled,
there are some yet standing; the Bastille, Swanswell, and Cook-street gates, are the most
entire.
A Topographical Dictionary of England: Volume 2
H. Preface page 332
The borough comprises the parishes of Dover-court and St. Nicholas, in the archdeaconry of
Colchester, and diocese of London. The living of Dover-court is a vicarage, with the
perpetual curacy of St. Nicholas, rated in the king's books at �5. 0. 10., endowed with
�200 private benefaction, and �200 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the
Crown. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is an old building: it contains several
ancient monuments, and was celebrated for a rood, or crucifix, held in high veneration,
for the destruction of which three men from Dedham, who had stolen it from the church and
burnt it, were hanged for sacrilege in 1532. The church of St. Nicholas was rebuilt in
1820, at an expense of �18,000: it is a handsome edifice in
the later style of English architecture, with a lofty square embattled tower, and contains
one thousand free sittings; in the chancel are three finely-painted windows, presented
by John Hopkins, Esq., and containing severally the arms of that gentleman, those
of the town, and of Dr. Howley, then Bishop of London: among the monuments is a
well-sculptured bust of Sir WilliamClarke, Secretary at War to Charles I. and Charles II.
There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyan Methodists. A
school-room, with an adjoining house for the master,was built in 1724, by Sir Humphrey
Parsons, and given to the corporation, in which thirty-two
boys of their nomination are instructed: there is also a National school supported by
subscription, in which nearly two hundred children of both sexes are taught. Two
almshouses for aged widows were built by the corporation in 1785. A fine spring of clear
water formerly issued from the cliff between the beacon and the town; it was much esteemed
for its medicinal properties, and possessed a petrifying quality, turning the blue clay
which falls from the cliff into stone, sufficiently hard for paving the streets and for
building: it is noticed in the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1669. Quan tities
of amber, and, according to some, ambergris, are occasionally found onthe shore; and in
the vicinity of Landguard fort transparent pebbles are found, which were
formerly set in rings by the inhabitants.
A Topographical Dictionary of England: Volume 3N.
Preface page 438
NUFFIELD, a parish in the hundred of EWELME, county of OXFORD, 4� miles (E. by S.) from
Wallingford, containing 198 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry and
diocese of Oxford, rated in the king's books at �7. 16. 10�. The Rev. B. R. Fisher, and
the Rev. W. Hopkins, were patrons in 1826. The church is dedicated to the
Holy Trinity. A house of friars, of the order of the Holy Trinity, existed here before the
33rd of Edward III.
A Topographical Dictionary of England: Volume 4
T. Prefacepage 308
TIDMARSH, a parish in the hundred of THEALE, county of BERKS, 6 miles (W.N.W.) from
Reading, containing 139 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of
Berks, and diocese of Salisbury, rated in the king's books at �5. 2. 6., and in the
patronage of Robert Hopkins, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, is partly Norman
and partly in the early style of English architecture, the doorway being a particularly
fine specimen of the former; the ceiling of the chancel is of panelled oak, and adjoining
it are two slabs of blue marble, with ancientbrasses.
