Merchant of this City about 108 years since who in the erecting this famous piece of Architecture employ'd at his own Expence 800 Labourers and Artificers besides Masons and Carpenters to the number 300 in all 1100 for 2 years together until the Work was totally compleated and in it his Monument doth stand in Marble May his Memory be more lasting than that Marble which is set to preserve it and his Name more durable than any Monument and remain to succeeding Generations S. Vincent's Rocks On the Northern side of this City are several high and craggy Rocks by which the River Avon gently glides along till it returns back again into the Severn one of the chief whereof is called S. Vincent's Rock which hath great plenty of pellucid Stones commonly called Bristol-stones the learned Mr. Cambden hath observed that their Pellucidness is beyond that of the Diamond we receive from the Indies only the Hardness of the latter gives them the pre-eminence and yet certainly Nature never made greater demonstrations of her Art having made some of these Stones as smooth as the most expert Jeweller could have done as round and sharp as broad above and small beneath as the greatest Artist could have effected shaping some of them with four some of them with six Angles apiece like the Stones which we usually set in Rings To make us still the more admire her Perfections she hath not given them all one colour but some of them are like Chrystal clear and some of a more ruddy colour and sanguine complexion according to the nature of the Soil she causeth her Productions not to be unlike their great Parent The Hot Well There is one thing still here very remarkable and that is the Hot Well which is just at the bottom of this Rock and at the very brink of the River Avon yet it still retains its natural Head and by its constant Ebullitions purgeth away all the Scum and saltish froth it might have contracted by the Sea the Water is exceeding wholesome and very good to purge away ill Humors and purifie the Blood and I was there credibly informed that it hath wrought great Cures and is much frequented and resorted to by several sorts of People Devonshire The next County we went to in these Parts was Devonshire where we made but little Stay The Air is sharp and wholesome the Soil hilly and woody and they use here as they do likewise in Cornwall Sea-Sand to mend and inrich their Land The chief Commodities of this County are Wooll Kerseys Sea-Fish and Sea-Fowl and the West of it is well stored with Tin Mines and Loadstones have been found upon Dartmore Rocks of good value and vertue so at other places in this County are found Mines of Lead and some Veins of Silver Upon Exmore Forest are such huge Stones and placed confusedly as they are upon Salisbury Plain and one of them hath Danish Letters upon it directing Passengers that way At Hubblestow in this County was a Battle fought by the Danes where their Banner called Reafan in which they reposed all their confidence of Victory and Success was notwithstanding taken and Hubba their General slain The People of this County are strong and well made and as they have a peculiar sort of quaking Pudding which they call Whitepots so the Women have a peculiar kind of Garment which they wear upon their Shoulders called Whittles they are of divers Colours made like Mantles with Fringes about the Edges without which the common sort of People never ride to Market nor appear in publick In divers places of this County the ways are so rocky and narrow that it is not possible for Waggons to pass so that the Country People are forced in Harvest time to carry home their Corn upon Horses in certain Crooks made for that purpose which creates no small Toil and Labour to them EXETER is the principal City in this Province situated upon the Eastward by the Banks of the River Ex or Ise upon a little Hill gently arising with an easie Ascent to a pretty height the Pendant whereof lies East and West environed about with Ditches and very strong Walls having many Turrets orderly interposed and six Gates which gives entrance into the City and contains about a Mile and half in circumference the Suburbs branch forth a great way on each side the Streets are broad kept clean and well paved the Houses are as gay within as trim without there are Seventeen Parish-Churches and in the very highest part of the City near the East Gate is a Castle formerly the Seat of the West Saxon Kings and afterwards the Earls of Cornwal which Baldwin de Redures the Governor holding out against King Stephen was by scarcity of Provisions forced to Surrender and after the surrendry he with his whole Family was banished that Kingdom Just without the East Gate are two pleasant Walks call Southney and Northney beset on both sides with Rowes of high Trees which being mounted up aloft afford a curious Prospect to Topesham the place where all the Ships and Vessels of the Citizens lie at Anchor from whence since the River was stopt up by certain Dams or Wears that Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire for some Distaste that he had took from the City caused here to be made all their Goods and Commodities are brought home by Land In the same quarter of the City stands the Cathedral founded by King Athelstan in honour to St. Peter and Edward the Confessor made it the Bishop's See of Cornwall and Kirton and Constituted the first Bishop thereof who Successors augmented it greatly both in Edifices and Revenues and William the Ninth Bishop after him when the Monks were displanted brought in a Dean and Four and Twenty Prebendaries to which has been added in our times four Arch-Deacons In the Church are Six private Chappels and a Library very handsomly built and finished by a Physician of this City the Quire is curiously beautified and adorned especially with Organs whose Pipes though they are of a larger size than any which ever we beheld in any Cathedral besides yet the Musick is extreamly pleasing and melodious to the Ear. All which Additions hath been erected since the Return of K. Charles II. On the West side of this City runs the River over which is built a strong Stone-bridge with four Arches and about the middle of the City is the Town-Hall where the Assizes and Sessions are held for the City it being both City and County of it self 'T is governed by a Mayor two Sheriffs four and twenty Aldermen a Recorder and Town-Clerk with other Officers befitting the Grandeur of so honourable a Place Plimouth So called from the River Plime which runs along by it where is one of the largest and most securest Haven in England for before the very Mouth of it lies St. Nicholas Island strongly fortified both by Art and Nature and in the Haven are Fortifications laid on both sides for the safe
Eire of all her Forrests Chases and Parks Recorder of Coventry and High Steward of Cambridge of which he was a Member in Trinity College He died in the Eighty third Year of his Age his last Words being these Thy Kingdom come thy Will be done The next place of Note we came to in this County was Lynne Regis of which it follows LYNNE this Town though its standing be but of latter Years as receiving its Original from old Lynne which is seated in the Marsh-Land and is opposite against it yet it is grown of far greater request for the commodiousness of its Haven and safe Harbour causeth a great resort of Mariners to frequent it and the Vessels which come loaded with Coals from New-Castle do here for the most part lighten their Burdens and is conveyed into the adjacent parts in the Counties The Town is environed with a strong Wall the Streets are well paved and kept very clean it is for the most part thereof divided by two small Rivers that have fifteen Bridges or thereabout over them it is called Old Linne and Linnum Regis that is King's Linne there are five Churches to adorn it the chief of which is a curious Fabrick dedicated to St. Margaret upon the top of which stands a large and stately Lanthorn very admirable for its rare Workmanship The Town is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen which have received great Kindnesses from their Sovereigns and especially from K. John who for the good Service they had done him in defence of his Quarrel not only presented them with his own Sword from his side which is continually carried before the Mayor when ever he pleaseth to appear in publick but likewise gave them a great Silver Cup gilt for the use of the Town which because they shew it most to Strangers and Foreigners who are of any Note or Repute they generally have it filled with Wine to drink his Majesty's and Mr. Mayor's healths for which there is a particular Allowance proportioned by the Town Most of their little Churches over the County are Thatch'd Here are many other things very observable which I have not room to set down We went from hence to Cambridge of which it follows Cambridgeshire Is an extream pleasant open County and a place of such Variety and Plenty throughout that fruitful Ceres with a smiling countenance invites the industrious Peasant to behold with joy the Fruits of his Labour whilst she crowns his Industry with a plentiful Harvest and this County doth in divers places make some annual Additions of another Crop by adorning its Fields with large Productions of Saffron thro' which great Profits continually arise unto them here it is that the green Banks of murmuring Rivers and sunny Hills bedeckt with diversity of Plants and Simples call forth the Students from their musing Cells and teach them Theory by diving into their Natures contemplating their Signatures and considering their Qualities and various Effects In a word here is nothing wanting for Pleasure Profit or Delight and though the Northern parts of the County towards the Isle of Ely lying somewhat low is moist and fenny yet the gentle Gales which are frequently stirring drive away all Mists and Fogs which may seem to annoy it and by their means makes it a fit Seat for the Muses to inhabit and we have no reason to complain of the Soil since our wise Ancestors thought good and convenient to plant a Colony here and place one of the Eyes of our Nation in this Spot of ground the famous and most glorious University of Cambridge which we could not in honour pass by without a Visit CAMBRIDGE was formerly called Grantbridge from a fair large Bridge made over the River Grant which is now called Cam from whence the Town it self receives its Name It is increased much by the Ruins of Grancester sometime a famous City situtuate a little above a Mile from this place and the Castle that is beyond the River the Ruins of which are still to be seen was built as ancient Records testifie in the first Year of William the Conqueror or in the first Year of William Rufus in the Year of our Lord 1092 A Nobleman of the Norman Blood named Picot a Vice Comes or Sheriff at the Request of his Wife founded a Church to the honour of God and Dedicated it to St. Giles near unto this Castle but afterwards in 1102 the Canons were removed from hence and there is only one College beyond the Bridge sacred to St. Mary Magdalen on this side of it are very spacious Streets adorned with fifteen several magnificent Colleges and Halls each of which are liberally endowed with large Revenues more or less in the practice of Religion and the dilligent pursuit of all kind of Learning here are fifteen Churches besides private Chappels in every College the chief of which is called St. Mary's Church set a part particularly for the use of the University and the Commencement is kept yearly the first Sunday in July that the Name and famous Memory of our most pious Benefactors may still flourish and be renowned for their great Munificence and most memoral Acts. The Town is a Corporation and is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and the Assizes for the most part are kept here for the County which is very profitable to the Town and 't is observable that one High Sheriff serves for both the Counties of Cambridge and Huntingdon which borders upon it but one thing more is very noteable about it and that is the great Fair annually kept within a Mile of it in September called by the Name of Sturbridge-Fair from whence it received its Denomination is uncertain but this is most sure that of all Fairs in England 't is the greatest and best stored with all kind of Wares and Commodities which the Londoners take special care to import hither when you are within the limits you would rather be ready to imagine your self in some great Town by the variety of Shops and multiplicity of Booths than in a wide open Feild those Booths are always built for the time in which it lasts which is well nigh a Fortnight neither are you presented only with Booths upon the Land but Booths on the Water too there being particular Contrivances in the Boats for Rooms and secret retirements all covered above for the conveniency of Strangers which resort thither and indeed here is always a great Resorting of People from most Parts of this Nation Near unto Cambridge on the South East side there appears aloft certain high Hills called Gogmagog On top of them is a very large Fort entrenched strengthened with a three-fold Rampire There are contained in the Shire eight Market-Towns and one hundred and sixty three Parishes Having paid our Devotions and taken a Review of that which affords so great variety we at last took our farewel and biding it a-dieu we betook our selves into its neighbouring County of Huntingdonshire Is joined to Bedfordshire
the Diabolical Regions The Second Wonder Is Mamtar 't is a high steep Cliff and from the top of which Cliff or Rock the Sand tho' the Air be never so Calm doth continually trickle to the bottom Night and Day and now and then great Stones fall down with a very great Noise and do much affright the poor Neighbouring Inhabitants On the top of it bubbles up a Fountain which in some places streams down the Cliff The Third Wonder Is a Fountain which Ebbs and Flows like the Sea receiving an influence from the Moon and observing the same regular Motions by which the Ocean it self continually is regulated The Fourth Wonder Is called the Marble Stones by their orderly Dispositions into several rows one row higher than another it seems rather to be the contrivance of Art than of Nature but that we ought not to Derogate from that great Parent whose production are continually Rare and Unimitable The Fifth Wonder Is Elden Hole near unto the Fourth Wonder 't is reputed a bottomless Abyss and could never as yet by any Art be Fathomed The Mouth of it is wide and craggy but the inward recesses contracted and intrecate There is a Story that they let a Man down by Ropes and Candles to light him to give an Account of this infernal Pit but paid dearly for his Presumption with the loss of his life for his Boldness The Sixth Wonder Is Buxtons-Well about two Miles from the fifth Wonder it glories in a hot Well 't is inclosed in a very fair Stone Building erected formerly by the Earl of Shrewsbury the Operation is very near to that of the Cross Bath having two Springs of Water the one within a hand breadth of the other and one is Hot the other cold as Ice The Seventh and last Wonder Is Pool Hole 't is a Hollow Cave under a very high Rock bearing some resemblance with that by the City of Wells called Ochy Hole but not containing in it self half so great Varieties From hence we went into Cheshire It is a County Palatine and of great Note for plenty of several Commodities as also for most excellent Cheese and the Men and Women are generally Acounted very Handsome here There is in this County great store of Salt-Springs Mettals and Mines and in the River Dee is plenty of Salmons on the South part of Cheshire Trees are very frequently found by Diging under the Ground which is believed have been here ever since Noah's Flood The chief Town of this County is West Chester a City famous for its Antiquity and Situation and no less for its Renown 't is Built in the form of a Quadrant with very spacious Houses neat and uniform and environed with a very strong Wall and hath a Castle stands upon a high Hill near the River Dee strongly Fortified Here are several Churches which are very Antient and goodly Fabricks but especially for the Cathedrals The Houses are very fairly Built and along the chief Streets are Galleries or Walking-places they call them Rows haing Shops on both sides through which a Man may walk dry from one end to another NANTWICH which the River Wever first visiteth is reputed the greatest and fairest built Town of all this Shire after Chester It is called the White-wich or Salt-pich because the whitest Salt is there boiled This Shire containeth 13 Market Towns and 68 Parishes We went next into Shropshire Or the County of Salop is for the most part Rich in Corn and Cattle and glories in in its most famous City of Shrewsbury which is compassed almost round by the River Severn having two fair Bridges upon it and is Fortified both by Art and Nature It is like a Horse-shew in the opening place and doubtless deserves the Observation of all Travellers more than any Town or City in this Nation and is built upon the Riseing of a Hill the Churches are very fair and Spacious it is inhabited with both Welsh and English speaking both Languages One of their Rarities there is their Cakes such as cannot be made so well in any other place of England and many things here is very observable which I shall not mention because they have been allready so well set fourth by other Pens From hence we went into LUDLOW is one of the chiefest Towns in this County and is of greater Antiquity than Beauty 't is Situated by a pleasant River and is famous for its Castle built by Roger Earl of Mountgomery who environed it with a Wall a Mile in compass afterwards when Robert Earl of Shrewsbury and Eldest Son to Mountgomery was taken in his Rebellion against Henry the First and was banished out of the Land the King took this Castle into his own Hands after this it was given away from the Crown by King Henry the Second and came into the Family of the Lacys and Mortimors at last to be the inheritance of the Princes of Wales And by this means beginning to be in great request the Inhabitants erected a very large Church to make it more Famous and in a little time it excelled all its Neighbourhood and out-shin'd them in Lustre and Dignity for King Henry the Eighth instituted here the Counsel of the Marches of Wales in which he Ordered there should be a President Secretary Attorney and Solicitor four Justices of some of the Neighbouring Counties of Wales and as many other Privy Counsellours as the Prince of Wales should Elect to be Assistant to himself in this Court being erected for his own particular Use and Service We staid in this Town but two Nights and went from hence into Staffordshire Is very Rich in Pasture and Cattle and enriched by the River Trent Trigenta as some will have it because there are Thirty several Streams or Rivolets which run into it or Thirty several sorts of Fish which Swims within its Streams However 't is very Advantageous to the whole County the first Town of Note we came to in this County was STAFFORD is situated on a pleasant Soil sweet Air Environed with a Wall and Fortified with Gates and adorned with two Churches and a Spacious Free-School and a large Market-place and the Houses very Handsome and Beautiful it is Governed by a Mayor and Aldermen not far from the Town are to be seen the Ruins of an old Castle Situated upon a Hill heretofore belonging to the Barons of Stafford LICHFIELD This City is low Seated of good Largeness and Fair withall divided into two parts with a shallow pool of clear Water which Parts notwithstanding join in one by the means of two Bridges or Causeys made over that have their Sluces made to let out the Water It was beautified with a very goodly Cathedral Church which being round about compassed with a fair Wall-Castle-like and garnished besides with fair Houses of Prebendaries and with the Bishop's Palace also mounting up on high with three Pyramids or Spires of Stone making a lovely shew and for elegant and proportional Building it did yield to
and Ireland nevertheless was attended with the same ill Fortune and Success which had been too long his Attendance And having but a small Army in comparison of the numberless Number of Rebells that were poured in upon him was totally Defeated in this City several of his Nobles slain and took Prisoners the rest forced to fly for their Lives and himself constrained to make his Escape as privately as he could and to betake himself into a Wood in Staffordshire where he hiding himself in the Shady Bows of a well spread Oak he found more pitty and security from the Trees and Woods than from his own unnatural and Bloody Subjects who for the fear of God by whom Kings Reign as well as their Allegiance which they have sworn to him ought to have been his continual Protection and Safe-good However 't is restor'd again to its Lustre and like the Phenix is raised again out of the Ashes to its native Splender and Magnificence being still Governed by a Mayor two Sheriffs and a Court of Aldermen with other Officers fit to preserve it in that Bravery to which it hath now attained From hence we went next into Herefordshire Having sufficiently satisfied our selves with the Varieties of that City we came into the Confines of the Eastern part of Herefordshire which is very Rocky and Mountainous at the first but having passed those Rocky parts we began to find the County more pleasant to the Eye We discovered it to be a fertile Soil the Vallies thick with Corn and the Meadows abounding with Grass and well watered with Rivers the Hills covered with Sheep and the Hedges full of Apple-trees which bear a sort of Fruit called Red Streaks of which they make the best Cyder in England in a word we found it according to the usual report which is made of it to yield to no County in this Nation for three W. W. W. Wheat Wool and Waters to which formerly might have been added Wood but the Iron Works have destroyed it very much and made it now become less plentiful The first Town of Note we came to in this County was LEOMSTER Is a Town of great Request in this County and is of great Antiquity Some are of an Opinion that it received its Denomination from Linen Hemp or Flax because that grows thereabouts in plenty but it may be so called from Lana because it is reported to have the best Wool known by the Name of Leomster Ore and is said to make the finest Cloth in England and as its Wool makes the finest Cloth so doth its Wheat the purest Bread and they say hereabouts that for Leomster Bread and Weobly Beer none can Compare Concerning the Town it is Situated in a pleasant Valley and is Governed by a Bayliff and Aldermen and is Adorned with a very handsome Hall for the dispatching of publick Affairs We went from hence to HEREFORD The chief City hereof is Situated almost in the Middle of the County and Watered by two pleasant Rivers Wye and Lugg which by their happy Union not far from this City advance her Felicity and enrich her Soil Antiquaries are of an Opinion that this City had its Rise from Ariconium which at this Day hath no form at all of a Town as having been over-turned by an Earthquake as some do imagine it to have been in this Place which they now call Lenchester some three Miles distant from this City which they conceive to be so from the Ruines of old Walls that are here to be seen as likewise from four square Pareing Stones and thick Bricks as well as several Roman Coins digged up in the Earth though now all grown over with Trees Bushes and Brambles We observed when we went to Visit this place we saw several peices of an old Wall which do Argue the place to continue in it very great remains of Antiquity however her Sister Hereford which now is Beautiful by the pains of others claims rightly the Pre-eminence before all other places in this County wanting nothing for Pleasure and Profit to make her Renowned She is thought first to have shewn her Head in the time of the Saxon and it is supposed to have received great Helps and Increase by Religion and the Martyrdom of Ethelbert King of the East Angels who when he courted the Daughter of Offa King of the Mercians was treacherously put to death by Offa's Wife hereupon being Registered for a Martyr he had a Church built and dedicated to him by Milsred a petty King of this County which after the Establishment of a Bishop's See it grew to great Wealth and Honour and is thought never to have suffered any Misfortune until Confesser's time when Griffith Prince of South Wales and Algarus had raised a Rebellion against King Edward and led away Captive the Bishop Sacked the City and burnt the Cathedral afterwards the Normans at the East end of the Church by the River Wye built a strong Castle and fortified the City with a Wall and by the Trench near the Castle is a very fine Spring called St. Ethelbert's Well Within this City are four Parish-Churches and Bishop Reinelin in the Reign of King Henry the First founded the Cathedral which now is being a beautiful and magnificent Structure adorned with divers ancient Monuments of Bishops and Abbors The City is governed by a Mayor who is annually Sworn upon Michaelmas-Day 12 Aldermen a Recorder and divers Common-Councel-Men and by their Charter have Privileges for particular Companies and Societies amongst themselves who have several distinct Halls and Petty-laws Enacted for Regulating and Ordering their Affairs in Trade It hath three Markets a-Week in which there are plenty of Corn and all sorts of Provisions About two Miles from this County stands Rotheram as formerly belonging to the Family of Boddenham now in the Possession of the Family of Van Arker and is one of the delightfullest and sweetest Seats in all the County having a spacious Park before it the River Nye behind it pleasant Meadows on the one side and fruitful Tillage on the other and having had such great plenty of Apple-trees belonging to it as I have been credibly informed by those that then knew it That take but one Apple from each Tree it would make a Hogshead of Cyder Concerning some remarkable Things in this County c. BONE-well near Richard's Castle we went to visit to take some notice of Nature who is never more curious than in her Water-works presented us with another new Rarity a Well called Bone-well in the Water whereof are always bubling up several little Bones like Bones of Fishes and altho' they which be upon the Surface are with as great care as can be taken off yet others will immediately succeed in their room HOPTON's-well is not far from this the Water whereof is found very effectual for the Curing of several Maladies which have seized upon Poor Languishing Decriped Mortals it hath likewise been observed to by very good for the
brief relation of it tho' not in its proper place Surrey From the West it boundeth partly upon Barkshire and Hantshire from the South upon Sussex and from the East on Kent towards the North it is watered with the River Thames and by it divided from Middlesex It is a County not very large yet wealthy enough where it beareth upon Thames and lieth as a plain and champion Country FERNHAM so named of much Fern growing in that place GUILFORD a Market Town well frequented and full of fair Innes KINGSTONE a very good Market Town for the bigness and well frequented It had begining from a little Town more ancient than it of the same name in which when England was almost ruinated by the Danish Wars Aethelstan Edwin and Ethelstred were crowned Kings upon an open stage in the Market place whence it was called Kingstone SHENE so called of its shining brightness now Richmond wherein the most mighty Prince King Edward the Third when he had lived sufficiently both to glory and nature died King Henry the Seventh built it and gave it that name of Richmond of the Title he bore being Earl of Richmond before he obtain'd the Crown of England He had scarce finished this new work when in this place he yeilded unto Nature and ended his Life Here Queen Elizabeth also died CROIDON there was the Archbishop's House of Canterbury There are Charcoles LAMBETH Canutus the Hardy King of England there amidst his Cups yeilded up his vital Breath It is the Palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury This County hath in it an hundred and forty Parish Churches I have been both in North and South Wales of which other Pens have already set forth so that I do not intend to deliver any thing to the Publick that hath been already set forth by others but only give a short Account of several things very observable not yet set forth by any WALES Flintshire THe Air is healthful without any Fogs or Fenny-Vapours and the People generally are very Aged and hearty The Snow lies here very long upon the Hills the County affords great plenty of Cattel but they are small Millstones are also digged up in these Parts as well as in Anglesey Towards the River Dee the Fields bears in some places Barley in others Wheat but generally throughout Rye with very great encrease and especially the first Year of their breaking up their Land and afterward two or three Crops together of Oats Holy-Well or St. Winifrid's-Well This County is most remarkable for a little Village called Holy-Well where is the Well of St. Winifrid so famous for the strange Cures which have been wrought by the Vertue of it as it is supposed the Water hereof is extream cold and hath likewise a very great Stream that flows from it which is presently able to drive a Mill the Stones which are at bottom being of a sanguine colour are believed to receive that colour from the Drops of Blood which trickled down from her Body when she was here beheaded by the bloody Tyrant that would have ravished her and the Moss which grows upon the sides and bears a very fragrant Smell is averred to have been the product of her Hair though I find by some we brought away with us that in process of time it loseth all its sweetness Over the Well stands a Chappel dedicated to her built of Stone after a curious manner to which formerly was much resorting by Pilgrims who came hither out of blind Devotion and the generality of the Commonalty hereabouts do believe That this Martyred-Virgin and the great Miracle that was wrought by St. Benno who restored her to life again as they say by claping on her head immediately after it was cut off upon her Shoulders which Relation those Inhabitants thereabouts do verily believe to be true So having made some small stay here in which time we conversed with the Welshmen and gathered up a true Account of this County which was as follows Radnorshire In the East and South parts thereof 't is more fruitful than the rest but is uneven and rough with Mountains yet it is well stored with Woods watered with running Rivers and in some places with standing Pools the Air is very cold and sharp because the Snow lying long unmelted under the shady Hills and hanging Rocks whereof there are many and upon the Borders of it which lies next to Herefordshire runs a-long a famous Ditch which Offa King of the Mercians with great toil and labour caused to be cast up from Dee mouth to Wye mouth for the space of 90 Miles to separate the Britains from the English Several other things there are very observable which are too tedious to relate Brecknockshire Lies beneath Radnorshire It is thick with Hills and fruitful in the Valleys MOUNTH-DENNY three Miles from Brecknock is a Hill so called that hath its top above the Clouds and if a Cloak or Hat or the like be thrown from the top of it it will never fall but be blown up again nor will any thing descend but Stones or Mettals or things as heavy LYNSARATHAN-MERE two Miles East from the same place is a Mere called Lynsarathan which as the People dwelling there say was once a City but the whole City was swallowed up by an Earthquake and this Water or Lake succeeded in the place they say likewise That at the end of Winter when aftr a long Frost and the Ice of this Lake breaks it makes a fearful noise like Thunder possibly because the Lake is encompassed with high steep Hills which pen in the sound and multiply it or else the ground may be hollow underneath or near the Lake livenny-LIVENNY-River Through this Lake runs a River called Livenny without mixture of its Waters as may be perceived both by the Colour of the Water and also by the Quantity of it because it is no greater afterwards than when it entered the Lake CADIER-ARTHUR or Arthur's Chair a Hill so called on the South side of this County from the Tops resembling the form of a Chair proportionate to the Demensions of that great and mighty Person upon the top whereof riseth a Spring as deep as a Well four square having no Streams issuing from it and yet there are plenty of Trouts to be found therein Glamorganshire Hath a temperate Air and is generally the most pleasant part of all South Wales MINYD-MORGAN Hill On the top of a certain Hill so called is a Monument with a strange Character which the Inhabitants thereabouts say if any Man read the same he shall die shortly after The Springs by Newton Upon the River Ogmore and near to Newton in a sandy Plain is a Well the Water whereof is not very clear in which at full Sea in Summer-time can hardly any Water be took up but at the Ebb it bubbleth up amain in Summer-time I say for in the Winter the Ebbing and Flowing is nothing near so evident because of the Veins of Water coming in by
it but the Ruins and old Walls of the Earl's Castle and one small Dwelling-house and New Salisbury is become glorious and aimable resorted to and frequented and admired by Persons of all Qualities and Degrees for its Houses are stately its Churches magnificent its Streets clean its Rivers pleasant and well stored with Fish its Gardens delightful and very fragrant and nothing wanting in it to please either the Eye or the Pallate it is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen Thus have I given you a brief Account of Wiltshire I could have wrote much more for there are many other things very observable in this County especially for Travellers to take notice of which is too tedious here to relate Summersetshire The first Place of Note we came to in this County was Wells the chief City of the Shire and receives its Denomination from the variety of fresh and wholsome Springs which bubble up about it in great abundance The Houses therein are well contrived and built of Stone the Government safe and regular but the chief Ornament hereof is the Cathedral built by King Ina in honour to St. Andrew the Church hath been enriched with large Revenues by religious Benefactors it was made a Bishop's See in the Reign of King Edward the Second and Eadulphus was Constituted the first Bishop here in the Reign of William Rufus and in the Year 1092 John a Turon born being elected Bishop united that of Bath with this and hence it comes to pass that he that is Bishop of this See is called Bishop of Bath and Wells This Church underwent the same Calamities that other religious Places did in this Kingdom and took away the Revenues annexed to it 't is a magnificent Structure and the Quire of it yeilds to none for stateliness if we consider the artificial Bosses very delicately gilded which adorn it above or the curious Columns which uphold it below or the Bishop's Seat of Marble set out with most glorious Embellishments supported with rich Pillars and with its towring Piramids being the Head and Ornament in a more especial manner of the Quire as he is of the Church to this I may add the variety of carved Images which almost environ the Church on the out side containing the History of the Old Testament and the curious Architecture of the Chapter-house supported only by one large Column which stands in the middle of it Near unto the Church is the Bishop's Palace of great Grandeur which becomes a Reverend Father of the Church to be seated ed in But the remarkablest and which cannot but have the respect of all Travellers to be the most admirable piece of Nature's Workmanship in our Kingdom is a Place called Ochy-hole two Miles from this City 'T is a Cave under a very high Rock situated amongst the Mendippe-hills of which I shall endeavour to give a Description as briefly as I can OCHY-HOLE After that we had with some difficulty climbed up to the top of a Rock we went along the Brow of a Hill till we came to the Mouth of the Cave where opening a Door that gave entrance and lighting 24 Candles of 6 in the Pound which we provided for that purpose we ventured in being got within it we found the Cave very hollow and so dark that the Candles there scarce burning so bright though there were 24 as two doth ordinary in the Night in one of our largest Rooms we thought certainly we had been come into the Confines of the Infernal Regions or some such dismal Place and began to be affraid to visit it viz. That although we entered in frolicksome and merry yet we might return out of it Sad and Pensive and never more be seen to Laugh whilst we lived in the World such dreadful Apprehensions seized upon some of us and indeed we had cause to fear some such Operations might have proceeded from this as well as the other since both were equally uncomfortable by reason of our deprivation from the least glimmerings of light and consequently had the same Circumstances to beget both Horror and Amazement however we plucked up our Spirits and crept in one after another as fast as we could conveniently The Cave as we went a long was parted into several kinds of Rooms the Names whereof our Guides informed us The first was the Kitchin and at the Door sticks out a large Mass of the Rock which they tell us was the Porter's head formerly the Keeper of this Cave it bears the resemblance of a Head and by that lies a Stone which they call The Tombstone under which the Report is That his Body lies Enterred and his Dogherd by him in the same substance yet their Transformations are not so strange and wonderful being something too fabulous to be given Credit to as the variety which the Rock affords into which they are incorporated part of it glistering like Silver and part like Diamonds and both appear very pleasant to the Eye A little further on the right hand is another piece of the Rock that bears the resemblance of a Bell and on the left hand a Vessel which they term a But in which the Beer of an old Sorceress Cousin to the famous Circe Lady Governess of this dismal Cave used to be work'd in 't is a hollow Cestern of a considerable depth always filled with Water and now and then flowing over to which the drops of Water which continually trickle down from the top of the Rock add every moment fresh supplies hard by this stands another Vessel of hers in which they say she made her Mault they call it the East Hurdle 't is likewise hollow and of a pretty depth Now appears unto your view the old Witch her self heating of her Furnace which seems black and sooty it seems to be Alablaster by reason of its whiteness though 't is most probable to be the product of Nature and not of Art because the place is very unfit and very unsuitable for any Artist to exercise his Skill in it being very oft so low that it is impossible here and there for any one to stand upright in it and therefore it was that we were forced frequently to stoop and buckle almost double for fear of hiting our Heads against the Rock until we came to some Steps which we were to descend and the Defect thereto was very tedious and affrightful for on the right hand the Rock hung down over us extream low and sloping and on the left hand a great Rivolet which runs along through the Cave being pretty deep and making a loud noise in its gliding yet at length we came sweating into another Room which is called The Hall and here at first sight we were entertained with as great a Rarity as Nature hath in all her Store-houses 't is a Cestern almost square about six Foot each way and of a considerable depth always brimful of Water supplied by the Drops which falls from above but that which is to be admired in
on the South Northamptonshire on the North and West and Cambridgeshire on the East 'T is a very fruitful County both for Corn and Grass and is watered by two pleasant Rivers Avon and Ouse The first Village we arrived at in this County was Fenny-Stanton but found nothing observable we went from hence to GODMANCHESTER a very great Country-Town and of as great a Name for Tillage situate in an open Ground of a light Mould and bending for the Sun There is not a Town in all England that hath more stout and lusty Husbandmen or more Plows a going For they make their boast That they have in former time received the Kings of England as they passed in their Progress this way with Nine-score Plows brought forth in a rustical kind of pomp for a gallant shew Soon after King James the First came into England here the Bailiffs of the Town presented him with seventy Teem of Horses all traced to fair new Plows in shew of their Husbandry of which when his Majesty demanded the Reason he was answered That it was their ancient Custom whensoever any King of England passed through their Town so to present him Besides they added That they held their Lands by that Tenure being the King's Tenants His Majesty took it well and Bad them use well their Plows being glad he was Landlord of so many good Husbandmen in one Town It is mention'd in History to have been a flourishing City and the old Roman Coins which have been digged up there do attest its Antiquity and that a Bishop did formerly reside in this place when it was in that condition HUNTINGDON is about half a Mile distant from this place and is the chief Town of the County situated upon the River Ouse over which stands a Bridge made of Stone which gives entrance into it the Houses are fair and the Streets large 't is adorned with four Churches and had formely an ancient Monastery belonging to it some of the Ruins are still to be seen Near the River upon a high Hill stands the remains of a Castle which was built about the Year of Christ 917 afterwards David King of Scots waging War against King Stephen upon the account of Maud the Empress who was his Niece this then was given upon some certain Terms to the Scotch King who did exceedingly beautifie and strengthen it by making strong Rampers and Fortifications round about it but Henry the Second finding it in process of time a Cage for Rebels and Ring-leaders to Sedition at last quite demolished it from the top of the Hill is a very pleasant Prospect for some Miles The Town is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and the Assizes are held here twice a Year for the Shire and wants no kind of Provision to entertain Travellers who resort hether out of the Northern parts the great Road to the City of London lying through this Town In this Town in the Year 1599 was that Usurper and Religious Cheat Oliver Cromwel Born and Educated whom though we have reason to curse his very Name and detest his Memory as odious and execrable yet since prosperous Successes of the most cruel Tirants makes others inquisitive after those Persons which they did so fortunately attend It will not be amiss to tell the World that this place gave him his first Being who Nero like destroyed his Father and his Mother too the Father of his Country and his Country too being a Murderer of the one and a Plague to the other who was of so unparallel'd and base a Temper of Mind from his Cradle to his Grave that nothing could stay with him or be pleasing to him long but what carried even the World before it Confusion and Ruin In this little Shire are numbred seventy eight Parishes four Hundreds and six Market-Towns We stayed here one Night and the next day we went into Northamptonshire This County is situate in the very middle and heart as it were of England On the East lie Bedford and Hunting donshires On the South Buckingham and Oxfordshires Westward Warwickshire Northward Rutlandshire and Lincolnshire separated from it by Avon the less and Welland two Rivers It is a champion County exceeding populous and passing well furnished with Noblemens and Gentlemens Houses replenished also with Towns and Churches insomuch as in some places there are twenty and in others thirty Steeples with Spires or square Towers within view at once The soil very fertile both for Tillage and Pasture yet nothing so well stored with Woods unless it be in the further and hither sides But in every place as elswhere also in England it is over-spread and as it were beset with Sheep THARPSTONE is twelve Miles distant from Huntingdon has a great Market for all sorts of Grain and well stored with Inns from hence we went to another Town called KETTERING which is of much more Note than it Neighbours by reason of a handsome Cross beautified with divers Images curiously carved the next place was HIGHAM-FERRERS The excellent Ornament of this place was Henry Chichley Archbishop of Canterbury who built All-Souls College in Oxford and another here where he placed secular Clerks and Prebendaries and withal an Hospital for the Poor FOTHERING-HAY-Castle environed on every side with most pleasant Medows Here Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded There belongs unto this Shire three hundred twenty six Parishes Leicestershire The next place of Note we went to was Leicester the Metropolis of Leicestershire 'T is more venerable for its Antiquity than its comeliness or present beauty I find that about the Year 680 it was a Bishop's Seat though in few Years after the Sea was Translated and the Dignity being taken away from the Town it began to go much to decay but in the time of the Normans it flourished exceedingly and encreased mightily in Inhabitants yet afterwards in the Reign of King Henry the Second it was again involved in great Calamities and Disasters Here is to be seen an ancient Hospital in the Chappel whereof Henry Earl of Lancaster and Henry his Son the first Duke of Lancaster lie Interred for that Duke being very Aged and being willing to give some visible Testimony of his Charity built this Hospital for the Use and Maintenance of divers poor aged decreped Persons of both Sexes and on the other side amongst those flowry Meadows which the River Sore enricheth with its bubling Stream Robert the crook-backt Earl of Leicester built a Monastery very spacious and magnificent and Dedicated it to the Virgin Mary and endowed it with large Revenues In the Chappel of this Monastery lay interr'd the great and puissant Cardinal Woolsey who being at first a poor Man's Son of Ipswich in Suffolk was raised by King Henry the Eighth for his great Parts and Learning to the greatest Degree of Honour in this Nation being advanced to be Lord Chancellor of England and presented with a Cardinal's Cap from the Pope and the unknown Incomes and Revenues and by his great
the Charters by which the Scotch King stood obliged to do Homage to the King of England and thereupon ensued a great War betwixt them for King David being spurred on by the French King Invaded England and having made a great Road into the Northern Counties and spoiling and burning every where as they went along at length at Durham his Army was routed and himself taken Prisoner being first sent to the Tower afterward committed to this Castle where during his consinement he engraved upon the Walls of his Deportment the History of our Saviour's Death and Passion the Relicts of which are still to be seen After eleven Years Imprisonment he was restored against to his Kingdom by paying a good Ransom for his Liberty but before he returned he was one of the four Kings that was nobly Treated by Henry Picard a Vintner then Lord Mayor of London These were the four Kings Edward the Third King of England John King of France David King of the Scots and the King of Cyprus together with Edward The Black Prince all bearing him company at the same Table this was about the Year 1358. But before I leave this Town I cannot but take notice of one thing more memorable in our Age this being the first place where King Charles the First set up his Royal Standard against the Rebels in the late unhappy Wars and when the King's Forces were forced to leave it the Castle was quite demolished We went from hence to view the Chair of Robin-Hood of which it follows Having pleasured our selves with the Antiquities of this Town we took Horse and went to visit the Well and ancient Chair of Robin-Hood which is about a Mile within the Forest of Shirwood Being placed in that Chair we had a Cap which they say was his very formally put upon our Heads and having performed the usual Ceremonies befitting so great a Solemnity we received the Freedom of the Chair and were incorporated into the Society of that renowned Brotherhood but that we may not receive such Privileges without an honourable mentioning of the Persons that left them to Posterity know we must that the Patent was bequeathed to the inferior Rangers of this Forest by Robin Hood and Little John honourable Personages indeed being the chief Lords of some most renowned Robbers in the Reign of King Richard the First This same Robin Hood entertained one Hundred tall Men all good Archers with the Spoil he daily made himself Master of whom four Hundred tho' every way well Accoutred to give Battel durst scarce make an Onset He suffered no Woman to be violated oppress'd oa any ways molested poor Men's Goods he spared and did relieve them very liberally with what he got from the rich Carles He killed none and by this means he did for a long time keep up the Order of Knight Errants Having for some time pleased our selves with our new Brothers that very curteously entertained us we went from hence into Yorkshire The County of York is the greatest Shire by far of all England and is thought to be in a temperate measure fruitful If in one place there be stony and sandy barren ground in another place there are for it Corn-fields as rich and fruitful if it be void and destitute of Woods here you shall find it shadowed in another place with most thick Forests The Length extendeth from Hart-hill in the South to the Mouth of Tees in the North which is near seventy Miles the breadth from Flambrough-head to Horn-Castle upon the River Lun is Eighty the whole circumference three hundred and eight Miles HELMSLEY a Mannor in Yorkshire hath two Parks and a Chase in it said to be about 146 Miles in compass and had 40000 Timber-Trees and 200 Acres of Wood. There are many Free-holders there The whole Shire is divided into 3 parts which according to the 3 Quarters of the World are called The West-Riding The East-Riding The North-Riding West-Riding for a good while is compassed in with the River Ouse with the bound of Lancashire and with the South limits of the Shire and beareth toward the West and South East-Riding looketh to the Sun-rising and the Ocean which together with the River Derwent encloseth it North-Riding reacheth Northward hemmed in as it were with the River Tees with Derwent and a long race of the River Ouse YORK is the fairst City in all this County and deservedly reputed the Second of England for its Greatness and Munificence the pleasantness of its Situation the Buildings are stately and beautiful The whole City is rich glorious and honourable both in respect of its being governed by a Lord Mayor who moderates in all Cases of Temporal Affairs as also by an Archbishop who is Judge in all Spiritual Matters The River Ouse flowing with a gentle Stream from the North part cutteth it in twain and divided as it were into two Cities which are conjoined with a stone Bridge having one mighty Arch. There is a Cathedral Church dedicated to Saint Peter an excellent fair and stately Fabrick near unto which there is the Prince's House commonly called The Mannour York was a Colony of the Romans Ptolomey and Antonine and also by a piece of Money coined by the Emperour Severus in the reverse whereof we read COL EBORACUMLEG VI. VICTRIX Severus had his Palace in this City and here at the hour of death gave up his last breath with these words I entered upon a State every way troublesome and I leave it peaceable even to the Britains There are many fine Seats of Persons of Quality by reason of the Pleasantness of its Soil which abounds in Plenty of all things and for Pleasure and Recreation it affords the most of any County in England In the North-Riding of this County is Ounsbery-Hill or Rosebery-Topping which mount-up a mighty height and maketh a goodly shew a farre off so often as the Head thereof hath his cloudy Cap on lightly there followeth rain whence they have a proverbial Rhime When Rosebery-Topping wears a Cap Let Cliveland then beware a clap I could have particuliz'd several other Towns and Villages in this Shire but what has been related is most material and again the Volume is but small and would not bear it In this County there are 459 Parishes under which are very many Chappels for number of Inhabitants equal unto great Parishes We went from hence into the Bishoprick of Durham of which it follows Durham The chief Town in Latin Dunelmum a County Palatine and a Bishop's See 't is situated upon a Hill and encompassed almost round by the River Were is also shaped in form of an Egg and strongly fortified both by Art and Nature There is a stately Cathedral which makes a fine and lofty shew with an high Tower in the midst and two Spires at the West end The County in general is very pleasant and rich in its Mountains with Iron and Coals and its Vallies with Corn and Grass But before I leave this County
of this Place and that these Trees through the Malice and Fury of some Person in the late Warrs were cut down and destroy'd But many things here are very observable which I have not room to insert BATH It lying low and all sides surrounded with Hills the Town is well watered with Springs though some of them are sulphureous and bad to the Tast environ'd with a Wall very commodious for its Market-place and handsomly adorn'd with three Churches one whereof is very large and spatious built in the form of a Cathedral the Steeple is four-square and hath a Ring of very tunable Bells and a Quire with very sweet Organs and in it are erected several antient and stately Monuments of Persons of Quality and Bishops of this See who have been noble Benefactors to it 't is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and the Assizes are generally kept there in the Summer time But that which is most remarkable here and causeth a Concourse in the Summer not only of the Nobility and Gentry but of the Commonalty too from all parts of the Nation hither are the Baths which are not inferiour to any that ever Italy or France could glory in they have without question cured many weak and feeble Limbs and do cure divers Diseases which are incident and destructive to Humane Nature by causing Men to sweat either more or less proportionably to their Distempers Who they were that first found them out is very uncertain whether Bleyden alias Bladud the Son of Rudhudibras the Magician or Julius Coesar I shall not undertake to determine the Controversie However they are of very great Antiquity and 't is many hundred years since their powerful Vertues were first discovered though they are all different in their Nature as well as their Operation as the learned Dr. Stubbs by divers Experiments assures us The Baths are in number six the King and Queens Baths the Cross Bath the Hot Bath the Leper's Bath and the Horse That which is the Chief is the Cross Bath the Water whereof being more mild than the other the Orders are very strict and regular And Persons of the greatest Quality of the Nation chuse to bath themselves here and to drink the Water thereof hard by this stands the Hot Bath not much frequented save by those who having quite lost the Use of their Limbs come hither to seek remedy Not far from this is that they call the Leper's Bath which is believed to be very efficacious against that spreading Disease And an Hospital or Spittle built by Reginald Bishop of Bath for the Use and Benefit of poor aged decrepid People About the middle of the Town near to the great Church are the King and Queens Baths the Water of the one flowing into the other and the difference is that the King's Bath is large and the Queens lesser in circumference and I was credibly informed that there hath been found here an antient Statue of Hercules amongst other great Monuments of Antiquity holding a Serpent in his hand which was found in the Ruins of a famous Temple that once stood here near this place And it might be thought very convenient as well as reasonable that Hercules who exposed himself to such difficulties and manifold dangers and underwent such hard and unsupportable Labours should now and then ease and refresh his weary Limbs by such Purgations as the Baths could afford him In this and other Baths hang divers Crutches of lame and decrepit Persons which they left behind them as Trophies of their Recovery being perfectly cured of their Lameness and Infirmity and restored again to their former Health and Strength Last of all that which is called the Horse Bath is very effectual for the Cure of lame and foundred Horses and the removal of some other Distempers Thus have I given a short account of the Bath c. Many things there are more in this County very observable for all Travellers to take notice of which I think too tedious to relate Bristol The next Place we went to in these Parts was Bristol which is undoubtedly the Second City of England which if we consider the Stateliness of the Buildings or its Natural or Artificial Fortifications the Commodiousness of its Harbours and its most pleasant Situation betwixt the two Rivers of Avon and Frome its lofty Churches and its stately Palaces the great Concourse of Foreigners as well as the great Number of Natives Citizens Upon which account no Wonder if both the Counties of Somerset and Gloucester do contend which of them may be most glorious and happy in its Superiority over them and yet neither of them can attain to that Honour it being both City and County of itself and having particular Privileges Immunities and Laws of its own 'T is governed by a Mayor and two Sheriffs twelve Aldermen with other Ministers and Officers befitting its dignity 't is environ'd with a double Wall and adorn'd with two navigable Rivers Avon at Spring-Tides is 11 or 12 Fathom deep and Frome over which stands a Bridge beautified with curious Edifices consisting of four large Arches It is very convenient for the Ships and great Vessels to anchor in and hath a Key in it very commodious for the exporting and importing of Goods out or into the Merchants Houses This returns back into the River Avon and so both by their mutual Union enrich this City and augment its Happiness At what time it was first built is very hard to determine but it seems to have been of latter years because we find it no where spoken of by Historians in the times of the Danes when they made their Invade into this Nation And it is supposed to take its rise in the Declination of the Saxon Empire at the time when Harold is said to have sailed from Bristol with a great Navy into Wales which was about 213 years before our Saviour's Incarnation Robert Bishop of Constance made choice of this place first to begin his War in which he designed against William Rufus and did encompass it with the inner Wall as some conjecture part of which in some places is still to be seen and from that time it hath received great Enlargment and by degrees is risen to that we now behold it in As its Houses are fair and its Streets clear so are its Gates strong and its Churches glorious consisting of nineteen Parish-Churches whereof that which is the Cathedral and Mother-Church dedicated to S. Austin and endowed by King Henry the 8th with Revenues for a Bishop's See yet notwithstanding this the Church of Ratcliff in the Suburbs of this City is a more noble Structure being curiously Arched and made a stately Fabrick all of pure Stone without any Addition of Beams or Rafters of Timber no not one Stick to be found throughout the whole Building the Steeple is four square and of a great height but most artificially carved with divers Sculptures all at the cost and charges of one Mr. Cannius a
was brought to Winchester and buried in this place though afterwards his Bones were Translated into a Coffer At the West end of the Quire stands in Brass two Statues very curiously wrought the one of King James the First and the other of King Charles the First of ever blessed Memory there is another thing also very remarkable in the Cathedral and that is the rich and famous Monument of William of Wickham who was Constituted Bishop of Winchester in the Reign of Edward the Third But to return again into our Discourse relating to the City We find it not only to have attained a great Eminency for its Religious Houses for its pleasant Gardens for its Silver-stream'd Brooks and flowry Meadows for its publick and private Edifices for its great Hall wherein the Assizes are usually held for the County of Southampton not to be parallel'd for Length and Breadth by any throughout this Nation except Westminster for the Antiquity of its Corporation with the true and exact Rules of Equity and Justice prescribed by its Governors and Magistrates 't is likewise reported to have been very famous and renowned by its Sufferings and Ruins of its Palaces and in the time of Adelstane King of the West Saxons that invinceable Hero Guy Earl of Warwick in a single Combat slew Colbrand the Danish Giant in Hide-Mead near to this City After some time spent here we travelled to Portsmouth of which I come next to discourse of PORTSMOUTH is about 16 Miles distant from Winchester and situated in a little Island called Portsey 'T is a place of great Strength and of no less importance by reason of the Dock where many of the King 's greatest Men of War are built those impregnable Wooden-Walls of our Brittish Island 'T is fortified with a Wall made of Timber and the same well covered over with thick Banks of Earth 't is likewise environed with a double Trench over which are placed two Drawbridges from which about a Mile distance is another and at all of them stands Centuries of Soldiers who are kept in Garrison with a little Fortress adjoining to it which leads up the Continent to the Seaward is a Castle and Block-houses which being first begun by King Edward the Fourth King Henry the Seventh as it is reported did afterwards compleat which Fortifications have of late Years received exceeding great Augmentations by the succeeding Monarchs especially in the late King Jame's Reign Here is only one Church and an Hospital called God's House built by Peter Roch Bishop of Winchester hereabouts are divers Saltpanhouses which make exceeding white Salt Much more might have been wrote concerning this County but this may suffice for these two Reasons the first is The smallness of the Volume will not allow it and the second is That what has been related is the notablest and most requisite to be mention'd Sussex The next place of Note we went to was Chichester in Sussex 'T is a good large City well Wall'd re-built by the second Saxon King of this Province it was before the Conquest of a small Repute Bishop Raulf built a Cathedral here which before he had fully finished was consumed by Fire yet by his Endeavours and the bounteous Liberality of King Henry the First it was raised up again and is now a Bishop's See The Church is not very large but was formerly a curious beautiful Fabrick having a Spire-steeple of Stone of a very great height and an high Tower standing near the West Door which was built by King Rinon as they say In the South Cross-Isle of the Church was formerly on the one side artificially pourtrayed and painted the History of the Churches Foundation with the Images of the Kings of England on the other there was likewise the Images of the Bishops at the charge of Bishop Sherborne who greatly Adorned and Illustrated this sacred Structure The City is walled about in a circular round Form the Lavant a pretty River running hard by it on the South and West sides It hath four Gates opening to the four Quarters of the World from whence the Streets leads directly and cross themselves in the midst where the Market is kept and where Bishop Read Erected a fair stone Market-house supported with Pillars round about We went from hence to Amberly Castle which is about 12 Miles from Chichester higher into the County it was built by William Read Bishop of Chichester in the Reign of Edward the Third for the use of his Successors and Leased out now to the worthy Family of the Butlers who are the present Inhabitants We stayed here the space of a Week where we were generously Entertained with great courtesie and civility We went from hence to Arundel and from thence to Lewes of which take this brief Account ARUNDEL is about four Miles from Amberly situated upon the Brow of an Hill but finding nothing to detain us here but the Ruins of an old Castle which for many Generations hath successively appertained to the Earls of Arundel we travell'd on to LEWES which was the next Town we came to 'T is situated upon a Rising almost on every side and hath been Wall'd but now there is no great sign of the Walls there is several Streets near it as Suburbs and in the times of the Saxons when King Athelston made a Law for the coining of Money he appointed two Coiners in this place There are five Churches belonging to it and this place was very memorable for that Mortal and bloody Battel between King Henry the Third and the Barons in which prosperous beginning of the Fight on the King's side proved the overthrow of his whole Army for whilst Prince Edward his Son breaking by force through certain of the Baron's Troops carelesly pursued the Enemy over-far as making sure account of the Victory the Barons having reinforced themselves and giving a fresh Charge so discomforted and put to flight the King's Forces that they constrained the King to accept of unequal Conditions of Peace and to deliver his Son and others into their hands From hence we went to Pevensey or Pemsey of which it follows PEVENSEY or PEMSEY There is a very low Level which some are of Opinion hath been over-flowed by the Sea and the Town of Pevensey is the noted place for the first Landing of William the Conqueror and formerly there was a Haven and Castle Hastings is not far from hence where was fought that bloody Battel betwixt King Harold and the Norman Duke which proved so fatal to the English and successful to the Normans which Ground where the Fight was hath been thought ever since to have worn the Conqueror's Livery because always after Rain it looks of a reddish colour I could haved cited other Remarks in this County but what is related is most material Kent 'T is a County divided into three several Portions the first of which is called Health without Wealth the second is Health and Wealth and the third Wealth without Health to all
as if he were then very hot upon the Chase and next to him Acteon transformed into a Stag with his Pack of Hounds worrying and devouring him the next is Diana with an Half-Moon upon her head and the Planets under her feet her Quiver in her hand and her Horn by her side and before her is a Greyhound as it were in a close pursuit after the Hare next to this stands old Time with an Hour-glass on his head a Sythe in his left hand and a prodigal Youth in his right and Death under his Feet with this Inscription Tempus edax rerum in the middle hangs the sign of the White Heart ingeniously contrived into an Oval figure with two Angels and two Lions on each corner under one of which are placed four naked Boys treading of Grapes and under the other a Mountebank shewing of Feats of Activity on both sides are the Arms of the chief Families both in Suffolk and Norfolk and also a Shepherd playing merrily upon his Pipes and last of all on each side of the Post which supports the whole Fabrick stands three-headed Cerberus the Great of the Infernal Court and old grisle-bearded Charon with his Boat and Oars wafling a Wench over the Stigion Lake the splendedness of this curious and costly piece of Workmanship is worthy of any Traveller's observation The next Town of Note we came to in this County was YARMOUTH which entertained us with a pleasant Prospect the Haven being as commodious as the Town is beautiful and is fortified both by Art and Nature for although it be environed almost round with Water on the West side by the River Yare from whence it borrows its Name which hath a Drawbridge over it and from other parts with the Ocean unless it be Northward where there is firm Land yet it is likewise enclosed with a very strong Wall upon which besides Towers is cast up a Mount towards the East and there are likewise planted several pieces of Ordnance to defend the Town and command the Seas there is but one Church but that is fair and lofty adorned with a high Spire-steeple built at first by Herbert Bishop of Norwich there are also divers clean and spacious Streets on each side of which are several Rows of very uniform Buildings inhabited by wealthy and gentle Persons This Town is of no long date or standing as appears by Antiquaries for it received its beginning from the Ruins of old Garianum which was near this place after which in a short time as we were informed built this new Town which grew potent and populous and they strengthened it with a Wall and grew very numerous in Inhabitants and there happened a fearful and sudden Pestilence which in the space of a Year brought above seven Thousand Men and Women to their Graves all which was faithfully recorded in an ancient Table which formerly used to hang up in their Church but since restored to its primitive Lustre and their Wealth hath increased and 't is now a place of great Merchandize and Traffick but especially renowned for its Fishery of Herrings of which at the Season here is very great plenty and by their care and industry are salted and dried in particular Houses designed and appointed for that very purpose and do supply our own and foreign Nations too The next place of Note we went to was NORWICH is one of the most renowned Cities in our Brittish Island for whether we consider the Wealth of the Citizens the Number of Inhabitants the great Conference of Foreigners the stately Structures and beautiful Churches the obliging Carriage of the Gentry and the Industry of the Commons do all concur to illustrate and dignifie it 'T is situated on the brow of a Hill and environed with a Wall in which are placed divers Turrets and twelve Gates to give entrance into the City unless it be on the East side where the River Yare after it hath with many windings watered the most part of the City having four Draw-bridges for People to pass over and is a farther defence by reason of its deep Channel and high Banks 't is reported to be a Mile and a half in length and half as much in breadth It hath had great Misfortunes and suffered very much by the Danes when they took their range in these parts and after William the Conqueror had settled the Brittish Crown upon his head it suffered much more which is too tedious to relate but in succeeding Ages it began to recruit its Strength and hath flourished exceedingly King Henry the First permitted the Citizens to Wall their City and King Richard the Second gave them a Grant for the Transportation of Worsted and to advance their Trade which was extreamly eclipsed King Henry the Fourth renewed their Charter and conferred on them the Honour to chuse every Year a Mayor for their Magistrate whereas by a former Order from King Stephen they were only governed by Coroners and Baliffs It containeth thirty two Parishes forty two Chappels and Churches of which the Cathedral is the fairest and chiefest the first Stone of which was laid by Bishop Herbert in the Reign of King William Rufus who Translated the Episcopal See from Thetford to this place and procured a Grant to have it confirmed the Mother-Church of Norfolk and Suffolk endowing it with great Revenues and it is a very stately and magnificent Structure but most famous for its Roof which runs aloft over the very body of it on which is drawn to the life the whole History of the Bible in divers little Images curiously carved and adorned from the Creation of the World to the Ascention of our blessed Saviour or the Descent of the Holy Ghost with the perfect resemblance of our Lord's Crucifiction and Resurrection and divers other things The Market Cross and Cloister of the Cathedral are the fairest in England There is a great House that was the Duke of Norfolk's now the Earl of Arundel's where there are very fine Granaries and the best Bowling-Alley in the Kingdom There is also an Hospital where an hundred Men and Women are maintained The Arms of the City are the Castle and Lion After some time of abode in this City we Travelled to a little Village called TETTLESHALL in the Parish-Church whereof is erected a stately Monument of Marble in honour to Sir Edward Cooke that most famous Lawyer of his time on the top are placed his Coat of Arms with the four Cardinal Vertues to support them at each corner his Effigies is of Marble laid out at full length above which this Motto is engraven'd Prudens qui Patiens and underneath in golden Characters this following Inscription The Monument of Sir Edward Cooke Knight born at Mileham in Norfolk Recorder of Norwich and London Solliciter to Queen Elizabeth and Speaker to the Parliament afterwards Attorney General to her and King James Chief Justice of both Benches a Privy Councillor as also of Council to Queen Anne and Chief Justice in
few Cathedral Churches but is now demolished There are accounted an Hundred and Thirty Parishes in this Shire We went next into Warwickshire It is bounded on the East-side with Northamptonshire Leicestershire and the Watling-street-way on the South with Oxfordshire and Glocestershire on the West for the greatest part with Worcestorshire and on the Northside with Staffordshire It is divided into a plain Champion and a woody Country which parts the River Avon running crookedly from North-East to South-West doth after a sort sever one from the other WARWICK is the principal Town of the whole Shire It standeth over the River Avon upon a steep and high Rock and all the Passages into it are wrought out of the very Stone It stands in a dry and fertile Soil having the benefit of rich and pleasant Medows on the South part with the lofty Groves and spacious Thickets of the Woodland on the North. It hath a very strong Castle the seat in times past of the Earls of Warwick the Town it self is adorned with fair Houses COVENTRY It is a City very commodiously Seated large sweet and neat was fortified with a strong Wall and is set out with right goodly Houses among which there rise up on high two Churches of rare Workmanship standing one hard by the other and matched as it were as concurrents the one consecrated to the Holy Trinity the other to Saint Michael One and the self same Bishop carried the name both of Coventry and Lichfield Leofrick the first Lord of this City being much offended and angry with the Citizens oppressed them with most heavy Tributes which he would remit upon no other condition at the earnest suit of his Wife Godina unless she would her self ride on Horseback Naked through the Greatest and most inhabited Street of this City which she did indeed and was covered with her fair long Hair and also a Proclamation was publish'd commanding all People to keep close within their Houses as also their Doors and Windows shut no Person on pain of Death to appear in that Street nor so much as to look into it whether out of a Window or otherwise upon which as she was riding along Naked one Man curious than Ordinary ventures to peep out of a Garret Window and being immediately discovered was Apprehended and Hang'd as by the Effigies of a Man that is continually kept up as a Memorandum in a full proportion looking out of a Garret Window and called by the Inhabitants Peeping Jack And thus she did set free her Citizens of Coventry from many Payments for ever At Gosford-Gate there hangeth to be seen a mighty great Shield-bone of a wild Bore or rather of an Elephant being not so little as a yard in length which Guy of Warwick slew in Hunting when he had turned up with his Snout a great Pit or Pond which is now called Swansewell but Swineswell in times past In this County there are an Hundred and Fifty Eight Parish Churches Worcestershire At the first entring on the Confines of this Shire we found it a very Healthfull and plentiful County One part is of Note for its excellent Cheese but mostly for its great number of Pear-trees growing all along the very Hedges of which the Inhabitants make a very pleasant Drink called Perry 't is likewise very full of Salt Pits and hath formerly been admir'd for the abundance of Salt-Springs which have very oft been discovered in this County but that which makes it most renowned is the River Severn which streams along the County This as also the River Avon which comes out of Warwickshire are well replenished with all sorts of Fish but more particularly seem to have been designed on purpose as Stews and Ponds for the preservation of Lampreys a Fish of great Esteem in that Country and sent far and near as a very great present throughout divers parts of England They are called Lampreys from the Latin word Lampretra as if they had their Denomination from licking of Rocks they are like Eels slippery and blackish however on their Bellies they are of a blewish Collour in the Spring they are most wholesome and sweet for in the Summer the part which is to them instead of a Back-bone waxeth very hard Naturalist observe that these Fish receive and let in Water at seven Holes for that they have no Gills visible at all the Romans allways thought this a very Noble Dish and when any Person of Quality desired a Sumptuous Feast he would be sure to be provided with these and the Italians at this day are very much delighted with them and upon that Account are very exquisite in their Dressing of them and consequently by their Cookery make them exceeding delicate to the taste The first Town of Note we came to in this County was the City of WORCESTER It is the chief City of this County and gives its Name to it the River Severn which in other parts of the County runs along in a swift Currant here glides more softly with a more gentle Stream admiring as it were this City as it passeth by It is famous both for its Antiquity and Beauty 't is supposed that the Romans built it at that time when they first planted Cities on the Eastern-side of the Severn to hinder the Incursion of the Britains who were on the other side even as they did on the South-side of the Rhine in Germany to repress the Germans and keep them within their own Boundaries 'T is situated partly upon the brow of a Hill rising with a gentle Ascent and hath a very fair Bridge over the River and is of great Repute by Reason that the Citizens are generally great Clothiers The Houses are Neat and well Built the Streets clean and well Paved the Churches in Number many in Order and Beauty excellent but especially the Cathedral built many Hundred Years since in this Church are divers small Pillars all of pure Marble which stand in Rows and do uphold that vast Bulk and Fabrick somewhat strange to see the Body larger then the Supporters that so small props should be able to bear up so great a Weight This City hath suffered great Calamities by Fire having almost been quite Burnt up by the Danes three times and in the Year 1113. by an unknown Casualty and once again in the Reign of King Stephen And sure I am 't is not long since it fell into the Hands of some Barbarous and merciless Rebells who were as raging as the Flames and whose Fury was as unquenchable as the Fire Witness the grevious Pressures it groaned under for its Loyalty Love and Obedience to the King in the Year 1651. For here it was That after His Majesties long Exile he arived with an Army of Scots and some English the 22 d. of August and by the Assistance of the Citizens beat out the Soldiers who kept it for the Common-wealth and being Proclaim'd by the Mayor that then was and one of the Sheriffs King of England Scotland France
sufficiently enough admire the pleasantness of the Soil There it is that Cerces bestowes her Gifts most Liberally upon the Labours of Husband-men There it is that the Meadowes are garnished with variety of Plants allure and intice the industrious and studious Herbalists into a more strict Inquiry of Names Natures and Properties there 't is where the Hills are adorned with shady Woods and afford most delightful Bows to the waried Students whilst the Silver-stream'd-Rivers with their Murmures nimbly coursing along do whet their fancies and screw up their Intellectuals to the highest pitch The first Town of Note we came to in this County was Burford Is a Town of good Note situated as it were on the side of a Hill very pleasantly and if we will give Credit to ancient Records 't is storied That Cuthred King of the West Saxons when he was no longer able to bear the severe Tributes and Exactions of Ethelbeld King of the Mercians who did most cruelly oppress him and began to suck the very Blood and Marrow of his Subjects came into the Field against him and in a pitcht Battle routed him totally taking from him his Banners on which was painted a golden Dragon and so raised his Subjects from their Tributary-Vassalage The next place we came to was OXFORD a Ford for Oxen to pass over as is called by the Germans Oxhenfurt It hath a most healthy Air and commodious situation and is well adorned with private Structures as also with goodly and magnificent Colleges and Halls and is thought by Antiquaries to have been a place of publick Study before the learned Saxon King Alfred's time who very much angmented it out of his Princely Favour and Love to Learning and Religion It boasts in Univesity-College founded at first by King Alfred afterwards re-edified by William Arch-Deacon of Durham or as others write by William Bishop of Durham in the Twelfth Year of William the Conqueror and of New-College built by William of Wickham Bishop of Winchester and the Magnificence Christ Church erected by Cardinal Woolsey in the Reign of Henry the Eighth This City is adorned with 22 Colleges besides the curious Fabrick of the Schools and the admirable Sructure of the Theatre built at the sole Cost and Charges of the most Reverend Father in God Gilbert late Lord-Archbishop of Canterbury the famous Library not much inferiour to the Vatican at Rome the delightful Physick-Garden replenished with divers both of Foreign and Domestick Plants surrounded with a strong stone Wall at the sole Expence of the Right Honourable Henry Earl of Danby together with all the Customs Privileges Offices and Dignities which are already elegantly set forth by the ingenious Author of the Present State of England And as concerning the South side of this County What can be more pleasant than Thamiss branching it self forth into several Veins gives refreshment to several parts of this County at last by several Turnings and Windings lodgeth it self again in its natural Couse We went from hence to DORCHESTER It seems to be a Town of great Antiquity and is credibly reported that this was formerly a Bishop's see which was Transplanted from this place to Lincoln by Conqueror's dislike that the Bishop's Seat stood in so small a City from which time it began to decline into a low and mean Condition and is now only famous for its venerable Relicts and Ruins and for the mutable Union of the two noted Rivers Tama aud Isis which here unanimously embrace each other From hence we went to Hendly in this County of which it follows HENDLY which the Thames after it hath fetch'd a handsome compass enricheth with its silver streams the Inhabitants herein being most of them Bargemen and get good Livelihoods by carrying of Corn and Wood out of the neighbouring Counties to London there is now a very large and strong Timber-bridge over the River which they say was formerly arched and of Stone but whether this be the Bridge that the Romans went over when Casar pursued the Britains who fled into these Parts is hard to determine however it is very probable that this was the place We went from hence into Buckinghamshire or Bucks Which might possibly be so called from Beech-trees there being such great plenty in that County or likely from a Country in Germany called Buchonia from its great plenty of those kind of Trees The County generally is of a plentiful Soil and passing full of Inhabitants who chiefly employ themselves in grazing of Cattle There is store of Mutton and Beef WICKHAM or Weicombe situated above a pleasent Valley by which runs a-long the Currant of a small Rivolet and possibly from this situation it might take its Name for Combe in the Saxon Language signifies a Valley and Wick any Turning or Winding of a River or Sea 'T is a Town for Largeness and Buildings not much inferiour to any throughout the Shire and hath a Mayor and Aldermen It is a place well known for the abundance of Bone-lace that is made here which brings good Advantage and Profit to the Inhabitants The next Town we arrived at was BEACONSFIELD a Town better known for that it was formerly the Inhabitants by Succession to the Lord Scudamore than for any thing it contains in it self We tarried not long here but went to UXBRIDGE formerly called WOXBRIDGE a Town built of latter times and well stored with Inns. We past from hence to see some part of Harfordshire and Bedfordshire which Counties we found very rich in Corn and Cattle but in relation to these Counties and their renowned Towns of Bedford Dunstable and St. Albans and divers other Towns they having been so well set forth by others I shall forbear mentioning them We went to WARE in Hartfordshire where we tarried two Nights This Town according to Writers was built by Edward the Second King of the West Saxons in the Year 914. 'T is wartered by the River Ley and hath a great Market for all sorts of Grain it is populous and well Inhabited by Persons of very good Quality and lying in the great Road to London is frequented constantly by Persons of all Degrees and altho' Hartford be the Eye of the County 't is now inferiour to this place but the most remarkable thing in Ware is the New-River or Aqueduct conveyed above 20 Miles together in a continued Channel from this Place to Islington from whence the Water thereof is dispersed in Pipes laid a-lond in the ground for that purpose into abundance of Streets Lanes Courts and Alleys of this City and Suburbs of London the great Contrivance whereof all the Citizens have daily Experience and ought to immortalize the Name of their Inventor Sir Hugh Middleton who bestowed this most excellent Gift upon them and Consummated this good Work so useful and beneficial to the City at his own proper Cost and Charges I have not mention'd the County of Surrey distinctly as yet and indeed had almost forgot it but I will give some
them That if a Man does but lightly set his foot any where upon the top of them he shall perceive the Earth to stir for several Foot from him which probably might occasion the Story of the floating Island before mentioned PEN-NEANMOUR The great stony Head a Hill so called in this County It is an exceeding high and steep Rock which hanging over the Sea when it is Flood afordeth a very narrow Way for Passengers having on the one side huge Stones over your heads as if they were ready to fall upon you and on the other side the raging Ocean lying off a wonderful steep depth under it but after a Man hath passed over this together with Pen-mean-Lythan The less story Head he shall come to an open broad Plain that reacheth as far as the Conway in which are bred a sort of Shell-fish which being Conceived of an Heavenly-dew as is conjectured bring forth Pearl BANGOR-PENCHOR so called is also in is this County a Bishop's See the Church was Consecrated to Daniel Bishop hereof but that which is now standing is but a mean Structure for Owen Glender that notorious Rebel who designed to destroy all the Cities in Wales set it on fire because the Inhabitants of this Place chose rather to side with the King of England than with him Hereupon the ancient Church being defaced Henry Denry Bishop hereof did afterwards repair it about the Reign of Henry the Seventh as we were credibly inform'd by the Inhabitants Anglesey In this Island which is computed to be in compass 85 Miles or thereabout are frequently found and digged up in the lower Grounds Bodies of huge Trees with their Roots and Firr-tres of a wonderful bigness and length which Trees some believe were cut down by the Romans as the Inhabitants do say That when the Romans had Conquered this Island they caused all the Woods to be cut down and destroyed This Island was in time past full of Woods and Timber but instead thereof now it yeildeth plenty of Corn Sheep and Cattle The Air is indifferently healthful in most parts of it here are likewise great store of Mill-stones and Grind-stones and in some places a sort of Earth of which they make Allum and Copperas also it yeilds such plenty of Wheat that it seems to be deserving of the Title of The Mother of Wales Denbighshire The Air is cold but very wholsome the Snow lies long on the Hills being a hilly Country the high Hills resembling the Battlements of Walls MOILENLLY-hill is the highest Hill in this Shire having a Spring of very clear Water upon the top of it WREXHAM in this County is about 16 Miles from Holy-well and is much admired for its Church-steeple being a very curious Fabrick contrived according to the most exact Draught and Models of Architecture no where to be parallel'd in those parts for Workmanship of which taking some small view we passed into Shropshire of which I have already made mention I having already given a Relation of most of the Shires in Wales and omitted Monmouthshire of which I could not in honour to the County pass by without a Visit so staying at Hereford some days we set a-part some time to go see Monmouth of which it follows Monmouth We found the Ways near Monmouth hard and rugged and that Town to be environed with Hills on all Sides the Ruins of its Walls and Castle argue its Antiquity It hath a fair Church and Market-place with a Hall for the Assizes and Sessions 'T is governed by a Mayor Recorder and Aldermen and the Inhabitants do generally speak both the Welsh and English Tongue They told us there of great Immunities and Privileges granted to them by the House of Lancaster but for no other thing is it so much renowned as that it was first the Native place and gave Breath to Henry the Fifth that Scourge of the French and glorious Pillar of the English Nation who Conquered Charles the Sixth King of France and all his Army and made him surrender up his Crown unto him and Acknowledge him the triumphant Conqueror Here we were entertained with no other Objects but what the stony Rocks the dangerous Clifts the towring Mountains and craggy Precipices did afford us being now and then covered with Flocks of Sheep and Herds of Goats the Inhabitants told us That upon the Black Mountain there as they call it or thereabouts are some Hills so high whose Tops are so sharp that two Persons may stand upon two different Points thereof and discourse with one another and understand each other very well although they must be forced to go some Miles before they can embrace each other but the truth of this I will not averr certain I am there are many of them of so unconceivable a height and so steep an Ascent that they seem as it were Nature's Stair-cases by which we may climb up to some higher Region and have Entercourse with the Inhabitants of the Moon Thus have I given a true and faithful Relation of my Travels over England and Wales but cannot much commend the latter for their Cookery yet for their Linen it was indifferent sweet and clean I could have mentioned several other things but what has been spoke of is most material FINIS