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
which Nature notwithstanding hath liberally apportioned so many Blessings that she compensates the Defects of one thing by the Collation of another not suffering any peculiar Place to monopolize all her Favours at once but thus if the Weald be very eminent for Wooll the same of East Kent shall be as great for Corn and Tenham Goddington and Otham shall be no less cried up for Orchards and Sheppey for the best Wheat and Thanet shall bring forth as good Crops of Barley but if Dover and Cranbrooke hath the Name for Beer Tunbridge shall for Water and if either the fertility of the Soil or safe Roads or sure Harbours for Ships or the broad Streams of great Navigable Rivers or the vicinity of a vast and large City can be any ways to advance it Prosperity it must needs be one if not the most flourishing County in the Kingdom of England As touching the Customes and Privileges of Kent they have been already so fully discoursed of by Mr. Lambert in his Kentish Perambulation and what was by him omitted have been supplied by the ingenious Pen of Mr. Philipot so that I shall wave them and only give a very small account of it although I have been in most Towns and Parishes in this County Canterbury because the Antiquity of this City with all its Liberties and Privileges the Beauty and number of all its Churches and Religious Houses before their Dissolution the Magnificence of its Cathedral with all its renowned Tombs and Monuments are very exquisitely Surveyed and Discribed by other Pens I shall not go about to pourtray that in any contracted Landskip which hath been before represented in so large a Scheme but referr all such as desire a particular Account of this City to those Writters who have pencelled out every Part and Limb thereof with great Exactness and Accuracy Rochester A City which in ancient Times was eminent for its Strength and Granduer and had not those violent Impressions which the rough hands of War formerly defaced and deminish'd its Bulk and bereaved it of its Beauty it might have been registered at this day in the Inventory of the principal Cities of this Nation In the Year 1225 by the indulgent Bounty of King Henry the Third it was invested with a Wall and that this Fortification might be of more concernment it was secured or fenced with a Ditch It was governed by a Port Reeve until King Edward the Fourth in the Second Year of his Reign raised it to a higher Dignitâ— and decreed by his Royal Grant that it should henceforth be under the Jurisdiction of a Mayor and Twelve Aldermen and to this Monarch doth the City owe much of its present Felicity indeed formerly many and dismal Calamities did attend it and that so frequently that the fury of the Elements seemed to enter into a Corrivalship or Competition with the fury of the Enemies for its ruin and the Fire and Sword seem'd to be join'd Confederates to destroy it Nevertheless it maugres all these Casualties by the Favour of the Princes and their Royal Munificence it still recruits its Losses and survives in Splender The goodly Skeleton of the Castle which yet courts the eyes of the Beholders to an admiration of its former Strength and built many hundred Years since The Cathedral with the Bishoprick of Rochester united to it were formerly Established by that pious Monarch Ethelbert King of Kent and the first Bishop to whom was entrusted the Pastoral Staff or Crosier was Bishop Augustine the Apostle to the Saxons Here is likewise a very fine stone Bridge built by Sir Robert Knowles over the River Medway which is fixed and built upon one and twenty Arches and coped about with Iron-spikes by Archbishop Warham and leads into Stroud And because according to the Orator every one is obliged to be serviceable to his Country proportionable to his Abilities and every one hath an inrate Propensity to love the Native Soil which first gave him a Being I cannot but in Duty pay some Acknowledgments of the Benefits I have received herein both for my Nativity and first Education and indeed I may justly say without any partially That it is a Province not much inferior to any in England being divided into three several Parts of which I have made some mention before It is in all parts so sufficiently fruitful of all things necessary for the use of Man and if we will take the pains to course over the Vallies we shall find the Earth groaning under the burdens of bountiful Ceres and the Fields and Meadows in contest which should shine most gay and glorious if we range the Woods and Hills we shall hear such charming Melodies by the mutual reciprecation of Birds and Trees that we should fancy all had got the knack of Speaking and Pratling Groves being now become visible to us if we be so curious as to dig into the Entrails of the Earth and take a view of the recondite Treasures we shall find plenty of Iron-Ore in the South parts of this County and great Queries of Stone in several places also towards the North side they dig out of the Earth plenty of excellent fat Chalk which they use to lay upon their Land for the enriching of it and causeth it to bring forth great Crops of Corn If we be taken with the harmonious Murmurs of Brooks and gentle Rivers there are several the Banks of the Noble River of Thames on the North side and the River Medway which comes out of Surrey glides along for many Miles together on the South side of this County and takes its course through almost the middle of the County and doth not run swift in many places but glides softly admiring as it were the pleasantness of its Soil there is also at Newel in the Parish of Orpington the finest Spings undoubtedly in the Kingdom both for the clearness of its Water and the rising up of it in such abundance that within two Furlongs of the Head it drives a Mill and afterwards is called by the Name of Cray River Most of the Rivers in this County do afford several sorts of Fish to gratifie the Pallate and all the Towns and Villages are well inhabited having a great many very fine Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in which respect 't is honourable the Churches fair and uniform and so 't is glorious the Air in many parts is clear which renders it wholsome One word or two I must I say in relation to Maidstone 'T is the principal Town in the County as in respect of its having the Assizes and Sessions kept in it and its being situated near the middle of the County upon the River Medway which renders it so pleasant and delightful that even that alone might be sufficient to set forth all the other Parts of it Leaving this place we soon after arrived in London where we only tarried a reasonable space of time to give our Selves and Horses some Rest and Refreshment as
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
some of them being faln down to the ground 't is very difficult to reckon how many there are likewise it seems very strange how such immense Bulks should happen here where there is no Stones of any small demension within the Neighbourhood Whereupon some are of an Opinion That they are not purely natural or had their growth in this place 'T is now generally credited and believed that they were a Monument set up by Aurelius Ambrose in Remembrance of the Brittains that were Slain and Buried there in the Reign of Vortiger at a Banquet and Communication of Hengist which the Saxons and Brittish Chronicles testifie That whereas the Saxons about the Year of our Lord 450. had slain Four hundred and eighty of the Brittish Nobility by Treachery under a Colour of a Parley and Treaty this Aurelius Ambrose being then King of the Brittains desirous to continue their Memory as well as the Infamy of his base and treacherous Enemies caused these Stones to be set up in the very place of their Death and Burial the which Stones had been first brought out of Africk into Ireland and there placed on Mount Killare and from thence by the Art and Magick of Merlina a renowned Magician in that Age were at length conveyed to this place upon this very Occasion Others think that the Brittains did Erect this as a Monument for Ambrosius himself to perpetuate his glorious Name to Posterity who died afterwards upon this place by the Sword in the Answer of their Quarrel and Vindication of their Liberties however certain it is that there are thereabouts certain little Hills or Banks under which there are sometimes found Bones of tall gigantick Men and pieces of Armour and not far from hence remains still some of the Ruins of an old kind of Fortress which the Romans as it is probable did raise for themselves during their Possession of these our Territories c. From hence we went to Wilton-House belonging to the Earl of Pembrook It is situated in a pleasant Valley and hath the Town of Wilton on the one side of it and a spacious Park on the other side with delightful Gardens and Meadows on the other sides and a fine River running through the Gardens In this House are excellent Rooms and great variety of Pictures and in the Gardens are undoubtedly the most curious Water-works that are in all England We did not tarry long here but went away to Salisbury of which I shall inform you as briefly as I can Leaving Wilton-House we rode to Salisbury and in our way beheld the place where formerly old Wilton the Metropolis of this County stood called Willey 'T is situated saith Cambden where the two Rivers Willeybrook and Alderbourne meet and here it was that Egbert King of the West Saxons in the Year of our Lord 821 fought the second Battle against the Mercians so bloody on both sides that the River Avon was all over dyed red with the Blood of the slain and in the Year 871 Alfred having maintained a long Fight against the Danes and upon the first Onset had success but was at last quite routed his Forces defeated and himself forced to flee away to preserve his life In the Saxons reign it flourished mightily and Edgar built there a Nunnery and made his Daughter Editha Lady Governess thereof afterwards being long exposed to the fury of the Danes who were its Mortal Enemies and deserted the Bishops of Salisbury who were at first its Supporters it went to decay and almost returned again on a sudden into its first Principle of Nothing and so old Salisbury then and since new Salisbury which hath sprang from that have quite extinguished its Primitive Lustre and Glory Old Salisbury was situated upon a Hill exposed much to Winds and Storms very dry barren and uncomfortable by reason of the great Defect of Water throughout the whole City it was well fortified as appears by some ancient pieces oâ— Walls which are there still to be seen The Saxons in the Year 553 first Sacked it and took it and in the Reign of Edward the Second Osmund Bishop of Sherbourne Translated the See hither and built a Cathedral Church though the Danes not long after having took and burnt the City that likewise underwent the same fatal Calamity and was levelled with the ground till both of them were raised again in Conqueror's time for after that he had made his Progress throughout all his Kingdom of England he at last Summoned all the Three Orders of the Nation to come hither and here to take their Oaths of Allegiance to him But afterwards in the Reign of Richard the First the Citizens being oppressed by the Insolence of the Soldiers which then kept Garrison and was in great want for Water resolved to free themselves from these Burdens by Transplanting themselves into another Soil which they unanimously agreed upon and seated themselves about a Mile from this place in a more pleasant Valley where the flowry Meads and Chrystial-stream'd Rivers gave them a more hearty Welcome and far better Entertainment than before they were acquainted withal After a new Colony was Transplanted hither Richard Pore first Bishop of Chichester then of Salisbury afterwards of Durham did likewise Transplant the Cathedral from the barren dry place in which it was erected near to the old Castle of the Earls of Salisbury and built it in a more plentiful Soil this most pious Prelate for he did not only Transplant it but by the Advice and Contrivance of the most excellent and ingenious Artificers not only Natives but Foreigners whom he drew hither by his large Rewards he raised it to that Splender and Magnificence that now it matches with the staliest of Structures for the rare Workmanship thereof throughout the Nation The Steeple is built in the form of a Pyramid very high and as the Pole Star directs the Pilot at Sea so doth this Spire direct the wandring Traveller over the Plain discovering its lofty head at the distance of 20 Miles as we were credibly inform'd but the admirableness of the Structure consists in this That it hath as many Pillars as there are Hours in the Year and these not close but you may see the Entertices betwixt them and shake those that are of the lesser size and there is as many Windows as there are Days in the Year and these very artificially Adorned and curiously Painted to admiration and there is likewise as many Doors as there is Weeks in the Year and as many Chappels as Months Thus did this great Prelate which by augmenting it augment his own Fame and even Cannoniz himself And as the Church was then re-edified so was the City much enlarged too by the Citizens and for the more sweetness as well as cleanliness of their Habitations they made several Channels and Rivolets in the midst of their Streets very commodious and beneficial to them Thus by degrees Old Salisbury is vanished away and very little to be seen in
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
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
Treasures and Mints of Money atchieved more magnificent Acts than ever any Prelate did before him for he erected the Royal Palace of Hampton-Court besides two famous Colleges the one at this Native Town and the other a most glorious Structure called Christ-Church College in Oxford and for the height of his Living and Attendance it is very elegantly set forth by the writer of his Life But notwithstanding he was the Favourite of his Prince and the Darling of Fortune and sued to by Foreigners and his own Country-men too as to be the only Person to apply to in all accounts yet true it is that Fortune very oft sets great Persons upon the Hill of Honour thereby to precipitate them with the greater Violence we find this lofty Cardinal could no way secure himself from the reach of fretting Envy and learn'd by the mutability of his own Condition for being retired into the Country after he seeing his Fortunes began to ebb at Court having the Great Seal took from him by the King's Order and was afterwards sent for by the Lieutenant of the Tower to appear before his Majesty and as returning out of the North to the City of London in his Journy he fell sick of a Flux at the Earl of Shrewsbury's house in Sheffeild-Park which being accompanied with a Fever did so weaken his Body that when he came to Leicester Abby which way he took he told the Abbot after the Solemnities of receiving him were past That indeed he was come to lay his Bones amongst them which accordingly came to pass for their he died and after his death his Corps being invested by the Monks with all such Ornaments as he was Professed in when he was made Bishop and Archbishop as Mitre Cross-King and Pall with all other things due to his Order and Dignity and having lain some few days in State to be visited by those who had a mind to pay their last Respects to his Person he was buried in their Chappel dedicated to the Virgin Mary with great Solemnity though all perished in the ruin of the Monastery Subverted not long after when Popery was banished from the Confines of England This Town had its share of Calamities in the unhappy Civil Wars It is well furnished with all kind of Grain it is governed by a Mayor Alderman and Recorder with other inferiour Officers to attend them The Town is strengthened with several Gates in one whereof is kept the Magazine it is also adorned with divers eminent Fabricks both Sacred and Civil the Cross in high Street is a very excellent Structure there are likewise five Churches by that which is called St. Martins stands the new Hospital being a stately Edifice built and endowed by several Benefactors for the use of divers aged Men and Women with a Chappel and a Chaplain to read Divine Service and to be assistful to those poor People therein and to this joins their publick Library which was given for the use of Ministers and Schollars who inhabit here hard by St. Mary's Church stands the Castle where the Assizes are kept for the County and by St. Nicholas there is a Wall which by the Ruins of it seems to be of very great Antiquity having several hollow places in it of an oval form of which the Inhabitants have strange Conjectures concerning them as if there had been some place in which the Pagans did offer up their Children to their blood-thirsty Idols or that they made them here pass through the fire as the Israelites did to Moloch but of this there is no probability at all and these only being conjectural Guesses I shall leave them and observe one thing more concerning this Town After the fatal Battel betwixt King Richard the Third and Henry Earl of Richmond afterwards Henry the Seventh King of England in Bosworth-field about the Year of our Lord 1485 in which King Richard with four Thousand Men more were slain and not above ten Persons on the other side The Corps of the deceased King was brought to be buried there in great disgrace as the day before he went out in pomp for his Body being rifled by the Souldiers was carried naked behind a Pursivant at Arms and being all over daub'd with Mire and Blood was conveyed to the Grey Friar's Church that then was within the Town and there buried very obscurely and meanly whilst Richmond with joyful Acclamations was proclaimed King in the very midst of slaughtered Bodies round about CARLETON all that are born there whether it be by a peculiar Property of the Soil or of the Water or else by some other secret Operation of Nature have an ill favoured untunable and harsh manner of Speech fetching their Words with very much ado deep from out of the Throat with a certain kind of wharling the Letter R being very irksome to them to pronounce Rutlandshire It is the least County of all England Lying in form almost round like a circle it is in compass so far about as a Light-horsman will ride in one day It was called Rutland as one would say Red-land the Earth in this Shire is every where red and so red that even the Sheeps fleeces are thereby coloured red The English-Saxons called Red in their Tongue Roet and Rud. UPPINGHAM a place upon an high ascent whence that name was imposed a well frequented Market Town The Vale of Catmose a field full of Woods Okeham is in the middle of it so called from Oaks This small Shire hath Parish Churches fourty eight Lincolnshire A very large County reaching almost three Score Miles in length and carrying in some places above thirty Miles in breadth passing good for yielding of Corn and feeding of Cattel well furnished and set out with great number of Towns and watered with many Rivers having great store of Fish and Fowl BOSTON is a famous Town standing on both sides the River Witham which hath over it a wooden Bridge of great height well frequented by means of a commodious Haven unto it The Market-place is fair and large and the Buildings are very beautiful also a most stately Church with a very high Tower-steeple and hath as many steps in its steeple from the bottome to the top as there are Days in the Year which Steeple salutes Passengers and Travellers a great way off and giveth Direction also to Sailers In the Coat of Boston for the Corporation there are three Crowns relating to the three Kingdoms the Crest a Ram lying upon a Wool-sack the Ram signifying the great Sheep-walks in the Fens round about and the Wool-sack that it was a Staple-Town the Supporters of the Coat are two Maremaids signifying that it was a Port-Town LINCOLN The chief City of the County and is large well inhabited and frequented it is situated upon the side of an Hill and thence hath its Name from its Situation or because it hath been a Colony Certain it is a Place of great Antiquity and of a very long standing there are fourteen
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
AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF Mr. Rogers's Three Years TRAVELS OVER England and Wales GIVING A True and Exact Description of all the chiefest Cities Towns and Corporations in England Dominion of Wales and Town of Berwick upon Twede TOGETHER With the Antiquities and Places of Admiration Cathedrals Churches of Note in any City Town or Place in each County The Gentleman above-mentioned having made it his whole Business during the aforesaid time to Compleat the same in his Travelling To which is Annexed a New Map of England and Wales with the Adjacent parts containing all the Cities and Market-Towns bound in just before the Title LONDON Printed and Sold by J. Moxon and B. Beardwell at the Sign of Atlas in Warwick-Lane and in Westminster-hall right against the Parliament-Stairs 1694. TO THE READER Courteous Reader IT were a needless Undertaking to offer any Apology for the ensuing Treatise it s own intrinsick Value being sufficient to raise it both above the reach of all aspersing Cavillers and at the same time to recommend it to every judicious Peruser but yet it will not be impertinent to give some few Hints wherein both its Usefulness and Excellency doth consist It s Bulk is but small yet the Matter contain'd large and extensive as comprehending concisely but yet very conspicuously an Account of the most Remarkable Places in this our Native Country intermixt with many other very useful and diverting Occurrences There are indeed voluminous Treatises of this Nature already extant which claim a just Praise in their kind and some of a smaller Size that have their Usefulness also but none in my Judgment so well handled so compleat and truly recommendable as this for what they in larger Volumes have done you have here contracted into a small compass but yet so as that there is nothing Material or worthy to be known omitted and what the lesser Tracts have passed over is here fully inserted Our Author hath spared no pains to oblige thee kind Reader having spent Three whole Years of his Life in this his Peregrination now exposed to thy view To say nothing of his Person and Character his Language is Elegant and Pithy his Descriptions lively and airy his Historical Relations pertinent and seasonable and such a pleasing Variety and engaging Divertisement throughout the whole Series of the Story as can do no less than excite in thee a kind of a Longing-wish that thou hadst been present with him and actually perticipated of the same But what signifies what we have now premised if Truth be not the Standard of all and in this regard we must not pretermit in Silence what so eminently distinguishes our Ingenious Author from most if not all that have gone before him upon this Subject in that he presents you here with nothing but his own Ocular Observations whereas others confining themselves to their Studies have obtruded upon the World what they have taken upon the bare Credit of those who were perhaps more slothful than themselves In fine Gentle Reader Peruse and Judge maturely and when thou hast so done I make no doubt of thy Approbation and plenary Satisfaction which will not be a little grateful to Thy Compatriot D. J. A NEW MAPP OF ENGLAND WALES With the Adjacent parts Containing all the Citties And Marcket Towns As also the Roads Acording to J. Oglebey Esq c. LONDON Printed and sold by J. Moxon At the Atlas in Warwick Lane and at his Shop in Westminster Hall Right against â— Parliament Staires An ACCOUNT OF Mr. Rogers's Three Years Travels OVER England and Wales FROM London the Epitome of England it self we took our Journy thro' Middlesex a County famous for its goodly Edifices as well wisely Compacted together upon the Banks of Thames as likewise for divers stately Palaces dispersed in several Parts thereof The first Town of Note we came to was Colebrook which takes its Name from the River Cole a Town of great Antiquity and of a considerable length and well stored with Inns We stayed here a small time and so set forward to Maidenhead MAIDENHEAD is Eight Miles distance from Colebrook and so we came into the Confines of Barkshire It is a County of near equal Length and Breadth it was thus Denominated from the Superstitious Adoration that was given to the Brittish Maid being one of the Eleven Thousand which by the Conduct of St. Ursla returning home from Rome were all Martyr'd at Cologne in Germany by the Tyrant Attila that most cruel Scourge to the Christians 'T is of no long Date or standing and it is certain as I was credibly informed That Julius Caesar making an Inrode into this County did pass over the River not far from this Place and by the voluntary Submission of these People here did soon compleat his Conquest amongst them Windsor In this County is Windsor This Place was given away by Edward the Confessor from the Crown to the Church of Westminster but William the Conqueror taking a very great Affection to it by reason of its pleasant Situation made an Exchange with the Abbot of Westminster for some other Lands in the room of this and so it returned to the Crown again The Palace in which the King resides when he comes down hither is inferior to none for Sight and Pleasure throughout all His Majesty's Dominions In the front of it lies a pleasant Valley checquered with the various colors of Green and Red Verdant Meadows and fertile Tillage melodious Woods and the murmuring of the Noble River Thames Behind it is a pleasant Prospect of a delightful Forrest designed on purpose by Nature for Sport and Recreation whilst she so liberally stocks it with numerous Herds of Deer lurking amongst the shady Thickets and our Kings and Nobles did very usually resort hither from the City of London it being so fine a Place of pleasure and delight K. Edward the Third being born at this Town did much augment and strengthen the Castle there upon the Hill which Henry the First had before erected fortifying the same with strong Walls and Trenches which are now to be seen After K. Edward the Third had subdued both the French and Scots and took their Kings Captive he Committed John King of France and David King of the Scots for some time Prisoners to this Castle which is divided into two Partitions in the first which looks towards the East is the King's Palace splendid and glorious in the other which is the outward Partition stands a stately Church Dedicated by Edward the Third to the Virgin Mary and St. George but beautified and illustrated with most rare and curious Work K. Edward the Fourth lies enterred therein But that which makes it still more Holy and Venerable is the Body of our Sacred Martyr K. Charles the First thaâ— Royal Saint of ever Blessed Memory From hence we wâ—nt to Reading READING in this County is a Town of very good Note and not inferior to any in all that County It is situated as
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
Riding of Ships and the annoyance to Enemies One the one side is Mount Batton in which is a strong Garrison having twelve Guns mounted upon its Platforms and on the other side the Cittadel which may for Strength compare with most Places in the Nation commanding both the Sea and Town at Pleasure without the Walls of the Cittadel runs a Trench out of which was digged a certain kind of Marble with which they were built being Eleven Foot thick at the bottom and Seven at the top and three quarters of a Mile in compass upon the Walls are placed divers Watch-Towers and each of them are adorned with a round Ball upon the top so curiously gilded and painted with the King's Arms that they make a very great glistering shew at a distance and round about are placed between two and three hundred Pieces of Ordnance There are two Gates and as many Draw-Bridges which gives entrance into the Castle and upon the Front are admirably carved the Arms of his Majesty by which is placed his Royal Statue with the Arms of the Earl of Bath who is Governor hereof within the Walls is the Governor's house and divers Appartments for Soldiers a Magazine for Ammunition and a Store-house for Provisions For the Strength and Conveniencies of this Fortress which is almost impregnable the Town is much obliged to the excellent Ingenuity of Monsieur Bernard de Gum his Majesty's Engineer The Commodiousness of the Harbour oftentimes causeth a Fleet of Ships to ride here 't is now so replenished with Marriners frequented by Merchants enriched by Traffick that it seems to outvey some great Cities of this Kingdom It is Governed by a Mayor Aldermen and Common-Councel who have a stately Guild-hall for their more solemn Conventions and is adorned with two handsome Churches Cornwall This place is hilly one cause of a very temperate heat of the Summer and the lateness of Harvest as its Situation is the cause of the gentleness of the Winter Its Hills are parted with short and narrow Valleys the Earth is but shallow underneath is Rocks and Shelves so that it is hard to be Tilled and apt to be parched by a dry Summer The middle of the Shire lies open the Earth being of a blackish colour and bears Heath and Spirry-grass there is but little Meadow-ground but store of Pasture for Cattle and Sheep and plenty of Corn-ground They have a Stone called here a Moor-stone found upon Moores and waste Ground which serves them instead of Free-stone for Windows Doors and Chimnies it is white with certain glimmering Sparkles they have likewise a Stone digged out of the Sea-cliffs of the colour of a grey Marble and another as black as Jet and out of the Inland Queries they dig Free-stone nor must we omit what is here observed of some Stones That the Sea works the Pebbles upon the shoar by the frequent rolling of the Waves into a kind of roundness They have a Slate of three sorts Blew Sage-leaf coloured and Grey which last is the worst and all these Slates are commonly found under another kind of Slate that they Wall with when the depth hath brought the Workmen to the Water They also make Lime of a kind of Marble-stone by burning it There are Copper Mines in sundry places of this County and the Ore is sometimes shipped off to be refined in Wales and tho' Cicero will have none in Brittain yet Silver hath been found in this County in the time of Edward the First and Third who reaped good profit by it Nay Tinners do find little quantities of Gold and sometimes Silver amongst the Tin Ore as I was informed but for the generality the Mettal that the Earth abounds with in this County is Tin Richard Earl of Cornwall Brother to King Henry the Third was the first that began to make Ordinances for these Tin works and afterwards Edmund his Son granted a Charter and certain Liberties and prescribed withal certain Laws concerning the same which he ratified or strengthened under his Seal and imposed a Rent or Tribute upon Tin to be paid unto the Earls these Liberties Privileges and Laws King Edward the Third afterwards confirm'd and augmented In some places on the Sea Coasts there are Pearls found that breed in big Oisters and Musles yet though they are great they are not good here are also Aget and white Coral as they say c. In the West Parts of Cornwall there are Bents growing on Sandy Fields which are knit from over the head in narrow breadths after a strange fashion of which they make Mats Many other things here are very observable in this County but I shall forbear mentioning any more because it will seem tedious Dorsetshire 'T is a County of very fertil Soil well shaded with Woods enriched with Pasture and covered with great Flocks of Sheep PORTLAND although some would have deriv'd its Name for its lying over against the Port of Weymouth yet it seems rather to have receiv'd it from one Port a Noble Saxon who about the Year 703 grievously infested and annoyed these Coasts This same Portland was very much exposed to the Danish outrage but after their Wars were over it fell into the Possession of the Church of Winchester when Emma Mother to Edward the Confessor being Accused by her Son with too great familiarity with Aldwin Bishop of Winchester and having cleared herself of that unjust Imputation by suffering which in those Days was a usual Trial of Chastity in walking bear-foot upon Nine Culters of red hot Iron which she did to a Miracle without any harm or prejudice to her self she for a Memorial hereof bestowed Nine Lordships upon the See of Winchester to which her Son added this Island with many other Revenues to expiate the Crime of this defamitory Suspicion and unjust Accusation of his Mother's Honesty The Island is about seven Miles in compass rising up about the sides with high Rocks but lying low and flat in the midst inhabited scatteringly here and there plentiful enough of Corn and very good to feed Sheep but great scarcity of Wood. The ancientest of their Inhabitants do find amongst the Weeds of the Sea a thing growing without Leaves like Coral which when it is cut waxeth hard and black but 't is very brittle and if it fall it soon breaketh it grows amongst that Sea-Weed called Alga here is likewise divers Querries of excellent Stone which is conveyed into divers Parts of this Nation and especially to London for the rebuilding of Churches on the East side there is only one Church and some few Houses standing close thereto and on the North side is a Castle built by King Henry the Eighth which being well Fortified commands the Entrance into the Haven of Weymouth From hence we went to Dorchester DORCHESTER is about 7 Miles from the Sea and is the Head Town of the whole Shire watered by a small River but neither very large nor beautiful being much decayed and long since dispoiled
of its Walls by the Danes who raised as it thought certain Trenches whereof one is called Maumbury being an Acre inditched another Poundbury somewhat greater and the third a Mile off as a Camp with fine Trenches containing near ten Acres called Maiden-Castle which in all probability was a Roman Station but that which argues its Antiquity is the Coin of the Romans both Copper and Silver found there and especially at Fordington hard by which the common People call King Dorne's Pence whom by some Allusion to the Name they think him to be the Founder of the Town It had anciently a Castle in that place where the Grey-Friars built their Convent out of the Ruins thereof It has three Parish Churches and several Alms-houses for the support and maintenance of poor impotent People and it was formerly a noted Place for the Manufacture of Cloth and is now for Sheep of which there are huge Numbers to the great benefit and enriching of the County The next Shire we design'd to pursue our Progress in was Hampshire of which it follows Hampshire We went out of Dorsetshire through some part of Wiltshire which I have already mentioned and so came into the Confines of Hampshire and past through part of New Forrest where along the East is the Banks of the River Avon William the Conqueror demolished all the Towns Villages both Houses and Churches far and near and likewise rejected the Inhabitants after having done so he made all the ground within the compass of 20 Miles into a Forrest or Harbour for Wild Beasts and so it was called New Forrest and this he did either that the Normans might arrive more securely in this place Normandy lying just over against it in case new Broils should arise after his Conquests or for the Pleasure he took in Hunting or else to encrease his Treasure for being better affected and more favourable to Beasts than Men he imposed very heavy Fines and Penalties yea and most grievous Punishments upon all such Persons as did meddle with the Game but it seems the Children suffered for the Cruelty of their Father for Richard his second Son and William Rufus who Succeeded him both perished in this Forrest the one with a Blast of pestilent Air the other with an Arrow shot by chance by Sir Walter Tirrel Henry likewise his Grandchild by his eldest Son Robert whilst he was here in the hot pursute after his Game was caught up by a Bough where in a very short time he underwent the miserable Fate of poor Absolom The first Town of Note we came to in this County was Southampton which is situated betwixt two Rivers the one running forth at the West side called Test and the other on the East The Town is fair and hath stately Buildings with two commodious Keys which do highly adorn it and the great concourse of Merchants which Trade to Foreign Parts do mightily enrich it There are five Parish-Churches with one for the French likewise it hath a strong Wall and seven Gates with a Castle upon a Mount cast up to a great height built by Richard the Second and it was made a Corporation by Henry the Sixth who Constituted it both Town and County which doth abundantly dignifie it It hath three Markets a week and that for Fish is five Days in a Week 't is likewise of great Note for building of Merchant's Ships After some small stay here we went to Winchester of which take this following Account Winchester I find it to have been a Place of great Antiquity and that it was in great Request amongst the Romans In this City was Constance who was become a Monk saluted Caesar by the Order of his Father Constantine though afterwards he paid dearly for his Honour by the loss of his Life This was the chief Seat in which the Saxons placed themselves and made it famous by their erecting Magnificent Temples in the Time of the Normans too it flourished exceedingly until it was almost once or twice quite destroyed by the Sword but now again 't is very fair and populous large and stately and is computed to be within the Walls above a Mile in length it hath six Gates which give entrance into the City though all of them have been very much defaced in our Civil Wars as likewise the Castle which formerly hath been very formidable for its Strength and Impregnableness This is that Castle that Maud the Empress having took held it out some considerable time against King Stephen and being at last strictly besieged by the Bishop of Winchester then in being who was Brother to the King fearing to be took Prisoner and delivered up into her Enemies hands she secured her self by this cunning Way she commanded it should be given out for a most certain truth that she was Dead and was carried out upon a Beir as if she had been so indeed and by this means she deceived her Enemies and secured her own Person Upon the Wall hereof hangs the Round Table so much talked of and called by the Name of King Arthur's Round Table whether this can gain to it self so great Antiquity as is attributed to it I shall not undertake to determine yet certain it is that those kind of Tables are of a very long standing for formerly when there hath been great Entertainments amongst the valiant Champions of this Nation it was usual for all such to sit round them lest any Difference should arise amongst the Noblemen about Superiority of Place About the middle of the City stands the Cathedral built by Kenelwalchius King of the West Saxons who Constituted Ina the first Bishop there and it was always had in great Veneration by the Saxons because divers of their Kings was Enterred in it and was called by them The Old Monastery there is a Dean and 12 Prenbendaries belonging to it the Church is curiously adorned with Monuments of ancient Hero's and Bishops of that See William Wainfleet Founder of Magdelen College in Oxford lies here Entombed with his Hart in his Hand and Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Gardner that bloody Scourge to the poor Protestants in Queen Mary's days who did so insatiably thirst for the Blood of Queen Elizabeth but was always crossed in his most wicked Inclinations there lies also the Lord Weston Earl of Portland whose Monument is of Brass and by him his Father who lies in Marble here is likewise preserved the Chair of State in which Queen Mary was Married to King Philip the Countess of Exeter is also Enterr'd here also the Chappel of Bishop Fox is worth ones observation which he built for his own use together with his Study and Press for his Books all in one place In the Quire under a plain flat Marble Stone lies the Body of William Rufus King of England who received his Mortal Wound as he was Hunting in the New Forrest by Sir Walter Tyrrel Sir Walter shooting at a Deer unawares hit him on the Brest on which he died immediately and
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
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