dismal Calamity in the Reign of King Richard the First Seffrid the Second Bishop of that name restored it once more to its primitive Lustre and Grandeur since which the City began mightily to flourish and had been much more considerable than it now is had but the Haven proved more commodious which lies a little too far distant from it it is walled about in a circular Form the Lavant a pretty River running hard by it on the South and West sides It consists of five or six Parishes and the Buildings are indifferently neat and uniform four Gates it hath opening to the four Quarters of the World from whence the Streets lead directly and cross themselves in the midst where the Market is kept and where Bishop Read erected a fair Stone Market-House supported with Pillars round about as for the Castle that stood not far from North-Gate it was in times past the ancient habitation of the Earls of Arundel who hereupon Stiled themselves Earls of Chichester but afterward it was converted into a House of Franciscan Fryars The Cathedral is not large but very curious and beautiful having a spire Steeple of Stone which riseth up a great height and an high Tower standing near to the West Door which was built by R. Rinan as they say when he was forbidden to erect a Castle at Aplederham his Habitation hard by of those Stones which he had provided before for that Castle In the South cross Isle of the Church was formerly on the one side artificially pourtrayed and depainted the History of the Church's Foundation with the Images of the Kings of England on the other the Images of the Bishops as well of Selsey as Chichester at the Charge of Bishop Shirborne who greatly adorned and beautified the Church and every where for his Impress set these Motto's Credite Operibus i. e. Trust Men according to their Deeds and again Dilexi decorem domus tuae Domine i. e. I have loved O Lord the Beauty of thy House But all these in the late Confusions were unhappily defac'd and there is little now remaining but the memory of them We went from hence to Amberley-Castle Amberly Castle which is about twelve Miles from Chichester higher into the Countrey it was built by VVilliam Read Bishop of Chichester in the Reign of Edward the Third for the use of his Successors but then leased out to the worthy Family of the Butlers who were the Inhabitants at that time We staid here for the space of a Week where we were generously entertained with great Courtesy and Civility and there we had a full account given us of the nature of the Country which by a more particular survey we found afterward very true Sussex for the Soil is for the most part rich and the Ways deep the Downs by the Sea side standing upon a fat Chalk or Marle are abundantly fertile in Corn the middle tract garnished with Meadows Pastures Corn-fields Groves and Iron Mines the North side shaded with Wood and here ran along part of that great Wood which was called by the ancients Andedsleage by which without question saith the Learned Bishop Stillingfleet is meant that vast Wood which beginning in Kent ran through Sussex into Hampshire called by the Britains Coid Andred by the Saxons Andred and Andreswald from whence as Mr. Somner observes Andreswald Wood. that part of Kent where the Wood stood is called the VVeald and Lambert averrs that no Monuments of Antiquity are to be met with in the VVeald either of Kent or Sussex Historians farther tell us that this Wood was formerly reputed 120 Miles long and 30 Miles broad where Sigebert King of the VVest-Saxons being deposed from his Royal Throne was Stabbed by a Swineherd But though the Company was most obliging and the Place no less divertive yet having not compleated our designed Journey we took a solemn leave of our Courteous Friends and retreated towards the Sea-coast to Arundel Arundel a Town situate on the brow of a Hill of special Note for its Castle once of great fame and strength but far more famous for the Lords or Earls hereof to which Castle by an ancient Privilege the Title of an Earldom is annexed so that whosoever is possessed of the Castle and Mannor is ipso facto Earl of Arundel without any Creation wherein it is singular from the rest of England Lewes We proceeded on to Lewes which for frequency of People and its goodly Structure is reputed the principal Town of the County and therefore here generally the Assizes are held for this Countrey if not at East-Greenstead the remoteness of Chichester from the City of London being probably one reason why they are not kept there This Town is seated upon a rising almost of every side but that it hath been Walled there are apparent Symptoms Southward it hath under it a great Suburb called Southover and beyond the River another Eastward called Cliff because 't is under a chalky Hill and hath six Parishes well inhabited In the time of the Saxons when King Athelstan made a law for Coining of Money he appointed two Coiners for this Place VVilliam VVarren the first Earl of Surrey built a large Castle in the highest ground for the most part with Flint and Chalk and in the bottom of Southover A. D. 1078. he founded to the Memory of St. Pancrace an Abbey which he replenished with Cluniack Monks which since the dissolution fell into the possession of the Earls of Dorset But most memorable is this place for a mortal and bloody Battel fought here between King Henry the Third and the Barons in which the prosperous beginning of the Battel on the Kings side was the overthrow of his Forces for whilst Prince Edward his Son breaking by force through certain of the Barons Troops carelesly persued the Enemy over far as making sure account of the Victory the Barons having reinforced themselves and giving a fresh charge so discomfited and put to Flight the Kings Army that they constrained the King to accept of unequal conditions of peace and to deliver up his Son with others whom they Demanded into their Hands A. D. 1264. See the Ingenious Mr. Kennet's Paroch Antiq p. 262. We passed away from thence by Seaford which is in the liberty of the Cinque-Ports a small Fishing Town built of Stone and Slate and defended with a convenient Fort to Bourn a place very Famous for its Wheat-ears which are a sort of Birds in Summer very palatable and delicious and so Fat that they dissolve in the Mouth like Jelly and this lead us through Pevensey Marsh which hath formerly most undoubtedly been overflowed by the Sea to the Town of * Pevensey called by the Britains Cair-Pensavelcott and by others Penvessel c. Mr. Somner's Roman Ports and Forts c. p 104. Pevensey Famous for the Ruines of an old large Castle but more for the landing of William Duke of Normandy with 900 Sail of Ships for the
They Report likewise that after a long Frost when the Ice of this Lake breaks it makes a fearful Noise like Thunder possibly because the Lake is encompass'd with high steep Hills which pen in the Sound and multiply it or else the Ground may be hollow underneath or near the Lake Levenny River Through this Lake runs a River called Levenny without mixtures of its Waters as may be perceived both by the Colour of the Water and also by the quantity of it because it is no greater afterward than when it entred the Lake Cadier Arthur Cadier Arthur or Arthur's Chair is a Hill so called on the Southside of this County from the Tops resembling the form of a Chair proportionate to the Dimensions of that great and mighty Person upon the Top whereof riseth a Spring as deep as a Well four-square having no Streams issuing from it and yet there are plenty of Trouts to be found therein Radnorshire in the East and South parts thereof is more fruitful than the rest Radnorshire but is uneven and rough with Mountains yet it is well stored with Woods watered with running Rivers and in some places with standing Pools the Air is cold and sharp because the Snow continues long unmelted under the shady Hills and hanging Rocks whereof there are many and upon the Borders of it which lies next to Herefordshire runs a long famous Ditch which Offa King of the Mercians with great Toil and Labour caused to be cast up from Deermouth to Wymouth for the space of 90 Miles to separate the Britains from the English There are in it four Market-Towns amongst which Radnor is the Principal Radnor being seated in a pleasant Valley near the River Somergil which runs at the foot of a Hill on the Top whereof stands the Ruines of an ancient Castle demolished by that notorious Rebel Owen Glendore Glamorganshire hath a temperate Air Glamorganshire and is generally the most pleasant part of all South Wales it is replenished with divers convenient Towns amongst which Cardiff Cardiff which stands near the Sea where Robert the Eldest Son of William the Conqueror died after a long Imprisonment is reputed the most Eminent a Mile above which stands also on the River Taff Landaff Landaff one of the four Episcopal Sees of Wales 'T is one of the most ancient Sees either in England or Wales claiming a direct Succession from the arch-Arch-Bishops of Caer-leon upon Vske it is adorned with a Cathedral consecrated to St. Telran who was Bishop here which Church Germanus and Lupus French Bishops then Erected when they had suppressed the Pelagian Heresie preferring Dubritius a very devout Person to this Bishoprick unto whom Meurick a British Lord gave all the Lands which lie betwixt the two Rivers Taff and Elri * Mr. Wharton's Angl. Sacr. Pars Secunda p. 667. Minyd-Morgan Hill On the top of a certain Hill called Minyd-Morgan in this County is a Monument with a strange Character which the Dwellers thereabouts say if any Man read the same he will die shortly after The Springs by Newton Upon the River Ogmore and near unto Newton in a Sandy Plain about a hundred Paces from the Severn Springs a Well in which at full Sea in Summer-time can hardly any Water be took up but at the Ebb it bubleth up amain 't is most observable in Summer for in Winter the Ebbing and Flowing is nothing so evident because of the Veins of Water coming in by Showers or otherwise besides it is observed that this Spring never riseth up to the Spring or overfloweth and Polybius relates the same of a certain Well at Cadiz Clemens Alexandrinus saith That in Britain is a Cave under the bottom of a Hill and on the top of it a gaping Chink where when the Wind is gathered into that Hole and toss'd to fro in the Womb of it there is heard as it were a Musical sound like that of Cymbals It is not unlikely that he might point at the Cave at Aberbarry in this Shire Aberbarry Cave the Story agreeing very near with the Quality of this Cave It is mention'd by my Lord Bacon in his History of Winds to this effect That in a certain Rocky Cliff in which there are Holes if a Man lay his Ears to them he shall hear divers Noises and rumbling of Winds now these Noises Cambden saith are as well to be heard at the lowest Ebb as the highest Flood Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire though a most Hilly Country yet it hath a wholsom Air and though the Soil be not very fruitful in Corn 't is well stored with Cattle and in some places yields good Pit-Coal for Fuel On the South side the Ocean hath with so great Violence encroached upon the Land that the Country seems to have shrunk back in a fright and withdrawn it self more inwardly for Security Carmarthen Carmarthen the chief place of it being a pretty distance from the Sea is situated between pleasant Meadows and Woods The Residence kept here by the Princes of South Wales made it anciently very Eminent and it became a Prey to the Normans in the Reign of William the Conqueror Near Carreg-Castle are many Caves of great wideness within the Ground now covered all over with green Swerd and Turf The Caves and VVell near Carreg-Castle wherein 't is probable the Multitude when unable to bear Arms when the Normans made their first Incursions into these parts hid themselves during the heat of the War where also is a Well that like the Sea Ebbs and Flows twice in 24 hours That Cardiganshire being a Hilly Maritime Country was not formerly planted Cardiganshire or garnished with Cities may be gathered from that Speech of their Prince Caratacus who being taken Prisoner by the Romans and carried to Rome when he had throughly viewed the Magnificence of that City What mean you saith he when you have such stately Buildings of your own to covet such poor and mean Cottages as ours are It s chief Town is Cardigan Cardigan pleasantly seated upon the Tivy near its fall into the Sea which River parts this County from Pembrokeshire and over it here is a Stone-Bridge supported by several Arches Pembrokeshire hath a good temperate Air Pembrokeshire considering it lies so near to Ireland the Inhabitants are now many of them Dutch Men and formerly as it appears from Giraldus Cambrensis they were like the Romans of old very skilful in Soothsaying by looking narrowly into the Entrails of Beasts and by their Manners and Language are so near akin to the English that upon this Account this Country is call'd Little England beyond Wales About Three hundred years ago it was reported That for five Generations the Father of the Family in the Earldom of Pembroke whose Names then were Hastings never saw his Son the Father dying always before the Son was Born At the time when Henry II. made his Abode in
the Structure consists in this That it hath as many Pillars as there are Hours in the Year and these not so closed but you may see the Interstices betwixt them and shake some that are of a lesser size as many Windows as there are Days in the Year and these very Artificially adorn'd and curiously painted to Admiration and as many Gates as there are Months all which are thus comprised in an ingenious Copy of Verses Mira canam Soles quot continet Annus in unà Tam numerosa ferunt aede fenestra micat Marmoreasque tenet fusas tot ab arte Columnas Comprensas horas quot vagus Annus habet Totque patent portae quot mensibus Annus abundat Res mira at verâ res celebrata fide In English thus How many Days in one whole Year there be So many Windows in one Church we see So many Marble Pillars there appear As there are Hours throughout the Fleeting Year So many Gates as Moons one Year doth view Strange Tale to tell yet not so strange as true And as the Church was then Re-edify'd so was the City much enlarg'd by which means since its Houses are grown stately its Guild-Hall for the use of the Mayor and Aldermen is beautiful its Churches are many and glorious its Streets by reason of divers Rivolets convey'd in Channels through the midst of them sweet and cleanly its Gardens delightful and fragrant and nothing wanting to please and gratifie either the Eye or Palate From hence we coursed over the Plains directly to Winchester Winchester which by Antiquaries has been call'd Venta Belgarum as Bristol was Venta Simenorum and amongst the Britains it had the Name likewise of Caer-Guent It was of great Repute amongst the Romans and no less famous in the time of the Saxons and flourished as greatly under the Power of the Normans till once or twice both Fire and Sword in an envious Emulation strove together to deface it but it is grown again since very fair and populous large and stately is computed within the Walls to be about a Mile in length is pleasantly seated in a Vale betwixt two Hills and hath six Gates which give Entrance into the City tho' it was much defaced in the late Civil Wars as likewise the Castle which formerly hath been accounted altogether impregnable This is the Castle that Mawd the Empress having held out after she had taken it a considerable time against King Stephen and after by a close Siege being in great danger to be Re-taken fearing by that means to fall into her Enemies Hand she secured her self by this cunning Stratagem she commanded it should be given out for a Truth that she was certainly dead and upon this order'd her self to be carried out upon a Bier as if she had been so indeed and by this means provided for her own safety Upon the Wall hereof hangs the Round Table so much talked of by the Vulgar and call'd King Arthur's Round Table whether this can justly claim so great Antiquity as is attributed to it I shall not undertake to determine yet certain it is that these very Tables are of a long standing for formerly after Justs and Turnaments when there happen'd to be any great Entertainments amongst the valiant Champions of the Nation it was usual for all such to sit round them Mr. Whartons Angl. Sacr pars prima p. 191. least any difference should arise amongst the Noblemen about Superiority of place About the middle of the City stands the Cathedral built by Kenelwalch King of the West Saxons who after the expulsion of Agilbert constituted Wine a Saxon born and ordain'd in France the first Bishop there and it hath been Dedicated to divers Patrons accordingly as it has been re-edified by different Benefactors viz. to Amphibalus St. Peter St. Swithin and now to the holy and undivided Trinity Here it was that Queen Emma upon the suspicion of Adultery by the trial of Fire Ordeal walking barefoot over nine hot Plough-shares without hurt ascribed this miraculous Proof of her Innocence to St. Swithin Patron of this Church and afterward in a grateful acknowledgment bestow'd great Donatives upon it It was always held in great Veneration by the Saxons because divers of their Kings were Interr'd in it and was call'd by them the old Monastery to distinguish it from the new one founded by Alured in which he placed a Fraternity of Presbyters who it seems by a great Miracle of the Cross speaking and disapproving their Order were all expell'd from thence by Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury who substituted Monks in their Room These Monasteries were joyn'd so near to one another that it did often create a Disturbance at their Devotions and hence arose great Feuds and Contentions amongst the Brethren besides a great Current of Water running from the Western Gate of the City in divers Channels to this new Monastery did stagnate and so caus'd the Air to be foggy and unwholsom Hereupon the Church about two hundred years after it was built was Translated to the Northern part of the City which they call the Hide where by the Permission of King Henry I. the Monks built another fair and stately Monastery which in the space of a few years by the Treachery as some suppose of Henry Bishop of Winchester was reduc'd to Ashes In the Conflagration whereof 't is Storied That the rich Crucifix given by King Canutus who was buried here in the old Monastery saith the Saxon Chronicle in the year 1036 in the making of which was expended the Revenues of one whole year throughout this Kingdom was burnt likewise after which another Monastery was erected which continued till the Expulsion of Monks out of England in the Room of whom there have since been placed here a Dean and twelve Prebendaries The Church is now curiously adorn'd with Monuments of ancient Hero's and Bishops of this See William Wainfleet Founder of Magdalen-College in Oxford lies here Entomb'd with his Heart in his Hand and Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Gardiner that bloody Scourge to the poor Protestants in Q. Mary's days who did so insatiably thirst for the Blood of Queen Elizabeth but was always cross'd 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 and near to it lies Entomb'd the Countess of Exeter who was Godmother to King Charles II. and very remarkable is the Chappel of Bp. Fox where he now lies Founder of Corpus Christi-College in Oxford 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 Will. Rufus This King receiv'd his mortal Wound as he was Hunting in the new Forest by Sir Walter Tyrrel who shooting at a Deer hit this
times past full of Woods and Timber but instead thereof it yieldeth now plenty of Corn Sheep and Cattel the Air is reasonably Healthful save only a little Aguish at some time and in some places by reason of the Fogs that do arise from the Sea It yieldeth also great store of Millstones and Grindstones and in some places a sort of Earth of which they make Alum and Copperas but more especially it affords such plenty of Wheat it is deservedly entitled the Mother of Wales In Caernarvanshire the Air is sharp and piercing and in it are the highest Hills in Wales Caernarvanshire for which reason 't is justly called the English Alps on some of which the Snow lies long and on others all the Year long hard crusted together In the Pool called Lin-paris there is The Pool Lin-paris as 't is reported a kind of Fish called Torroch having a red Belly which is no were else to be seen but here 'T is affirmed likewise that on some of the high Hills of this Shire are too Meres one of which produceth Fish which have but one Eye and in the other is a movable and floating Island which as soon as any Person treads on it presently falls into a moving posture Snowdown-Hills Snowdown Hills although they have always Snow lying upon them yet they are exceeding Rank with Grass insomuch that they are become a Proverb amongst the Welshmen That those Mountains will yield sufficient Pasture for all the Cattel in VVales And 't is certain that there are Pools and standing Waters upon the top of these Mountains and they are so coated with a snowy Crust that lies on them that if a Man doth but lightly set his Foot upon the top of them he shall perceive the Earth to stir for several Foot from him which probably might occasion the story of the floating Island before mentioned Penmaen-Mour i. e. The great stony Head Penmaen-Mour is an exceeding high and steep Rock which hangeth over the Sea when it is Flood affordeth a very narrow way for Passengers having on the one side huge Stones over their Heads as if they were ready to fall upon them and on the other side the raging Ocean lying of a wonderful depth under it but after a Man hath passed over this together with Penmean-Lythan the less stony Head he shall come to an open broad Plain that reacheth as far as the River Conway in which are bred a sort of Shell-Fish which being conceived of an Heavenly Dew as is conjectured bring forth Pearl Bangor Within this County is Banchor q. Penchor so called a Choro pulchro being a Bishop's See the Church was dedicated to Daniel Bishop hereof but that which is now standing is but a mean Structure for Owen Glendover who designed to have utterly destroyed all the Cities in Wales set it on Fire because the Inhabitants of this Place chose rather to side with the King of England than with him hereupon the ancient Church being defaced Henry Dean Bishop hereof did afterward repair it about the Reign of Henry the VIIth But that which is most observable was the famous British Monastery of this place where as the learned Bishop Stillingfleet hath observed Men were bred up to Learning and Devotion together and so more resembling our Colleges than the Aegyptian Monasteries where Men were brought up to Ignorance and Labour as much as to Devotion The Right Reverend Bishop Floyd in his Historical Account of Church Government in Great Britain tells us farther out of Bede that here were above Two thousand Persons together in seven Colleges of which none had fewer than Three hundred Monks in it This we may believe by what we see saith another Historian that writ Four hundred Years after Bede's time we see saith he so many half ruined Walls of Churches so many windings of Porticos so great a heap of Ruins as you shall scarce meet with elsewhere by which Account it seems in its flourishing State to have been not much less than one of our Universities at this Day How Twelve hundred innocent Monks of this Place though the Saxon Chronicle mentions but Two hundred who came along with their Army by Fasting and Prayer to intercede with Heaven for its prosperous Success were all cruelly put to Death by Ethelfrid King of Northumberland A. D. 607. at the Instigation of Ethelbert King of Kent is too Tragical a Story to insist long upon but that Austen the Monk was the first Spring of this fatal Tragedy moving Ethelbert to it as he did Ethelfrid there are not only strong Suspicions saith the Learned Dr. Cade in his Discourse concerning Ancient Church-Government but the thing is expresly affirmed by several Historians of no inconsiderable Credit and Antiquity In Denbighshire the Air is cold Denbighshire but very wholesom and the Snow lies long upon the Hills which resemble the Battlements of Walls and upon the top of Moilenny-Hill Moilenny-Hill which is one of the largest in this Shire is a Spring of clear Water In this County is VVrexham Wrexham a Market Town distant about Fifteen Miles from Holy-VVell and much admired for the Steeple of its Collegiate Church being a curious Fabrick contrived according to the most exact Draught and Model of Architecture and no where to be parallelled in those Parts for Workmanship of which taking a transient view we passed on again through Shrewsbury and the Strettons to Wigmore Strettons Wigmore which lies within the Confines of Herefordshire where are the Ruins of a Castle built by Edward the Senior and fortified by VVilliam Earl of Hereford from whom the Mortimers who were afterwards Earls of March did lineally descend That this Castle was formerly an Asylum or Sanctuary is generally reported by such as live near it who will tell you that whatsoever Malefactors fled hither for Refuge and could but get his Hand within the Ringle of the Gate secured himself from the Hands of Justice which indentical wreathed Ring of Iron they shewed us upon a Door of one of the Inns in the Town A. D. 1100. Ralph de Mortimer founded here a little College for Secular Canons which was 1197 changed into a Priory and endowed with more Lands by his Son Hugh Mortimer who removed hither the Black Canons from Scobbedon there placed by Oliver de Merlymond his Steward it was commended to the Patronage of St. James A. D. 921. a great Pagan Host of the East-Angles and Mercians came against this Place which the Saxon Chronicle calls Wigingamere but were beaten off from it by the Valour of its Inhabitants only with the loss of some Cattel which they took away with them Three Miles from Wigmore in the Road to Hereford is Mortimer's-Cross Mortimer's-Cross being a Way where four Roads meet so called from Mortimer Earl of March Son to Richard Duke of York betwixt whom and King Henry the Sixth's Friends and Allies was fought a bloody and terrible
akin to the famous Bell called Great Tom of Lincoln we went to view the Slitting Mills which slit Iron in sunder being but a small distance from this place but the noise was so terrible before we came at them that one would have thought the Clouds had been running Re-encounters and Jove with his Thunder-Claps had utterly prohibited us any further access and when we came near there was such flashes of Lightning such hot Vapours and Steams that we might justly conclude we were got within the Territories of Vulcan and that these were some of the Cyclopean Race who were here employed to hammer out their Livings with Fire and Smoke the Wheels of the Mill are put in motion by a current of Water that streams along by it the Hammers which are continually redoubling their strokes are ponderous and massy and the Men which are at work seem to be in no happier a Condition than they who dig at the Mines or tug at the Galleys for they work Night and Day after so indefatigable a manner that the very Heat preys upon their Bodies and shortens their Days the place was soon too hot for us and the noise too troublesom and therefore we journeyed on to visit more of the County The Country appear'd to us no less pleasant than its Neighbours Shropshire and is of a wholesom and temperate Air affording Health to the Inhabitants at all Seasons of the Year this was sufficiently verified in old Thomas Parr of Alderbury who lived 152 Years and saw no less than ten Reigns he was born here in 1483 in the Reign of Edward the Fourth and died in 1635 and lies buried at Westminster The Soil is generally fertile standing most upon a reddish Clay and yields plenty of Pit-Coals and Iron and has ever been in great repute for its populous Towns and Castles for bordering upon Wales the Noblemen here and Persons of Quality were very sollicitous to preserve themselves secure against any Incursions of the Welsh and hereupon they fortified their Houses to prevent all Dangers and this dividing England from Wales was call'd the Marches for the defence of which the Lords here and Gentlemen have enjoy'd formerly very great Privileges and Immunities but since the Union of these two Kingdoms as all Hostilities have ceased so their ancient Rights and Privileges are not now so much insisted on Here are found in divers parts of this County several large Elms and other Trees under Ground which have been supposed to lie there ever since the General Deluge they are so dry that being slit into small shivers they burn like Candles and are made use of sometimes by the poorer sort instead of the other Shrewsbury In the midst of the County upon the Banks of the Severne is seated upon a Hill the famous City of Shrewsbury by the Britains named Caerpengren by the Saxons called Scrobbesbirig and by the Normans Sloppesbury and Salop 't is almost surrounded with the River and strengthened with a large and broad Wall where in some places two or three may walk abreast and upon that part of it which looks towards Wales stands the Water-House in which is a Well many fathoms deep from which the Water drawn up there by Horses in great Buckets is conveyed by Pipes into all parts of the City there being convenient steps contrived from the bottom of the Ground to the top of the Well for the Beasts to go forward and backward from their accustom'd Labours Roger Montgomery in the Reign of William the Conqueror built on the North-side of it a strong Castle and founded here A. D. 1083. a Benedictine Abbey to the Honour of St. Peter and St. Paul Besides which here were likewise two Colleges of St. Mary and St. Chad. The School was Founded by the most Heroick Queen Elizabeth which being a fair and uniform Structure built of Free-stone is govern'd by a Master and two Ushers and well furnished with a useful Library As to the neatness of its Streets and Buildings it yields to few other Cities in England and for publick Devotion it has five Parish Churches two of which are beautified with lofty Spires the City is governed by a Mayor Recorder and two Sheriffs who live generally in great Repute and Grandeur and the three Market-Days which are here every Week cause a very great Concourse both of the Welsh and other Persons and occasions a considerable Trade in this place Near to which a sharp Battel was fought A. D. 1673. between Henry IV. and Henry Piercy Earl of Northumberland which place was called Battle-Field where the King erected a College of Secular Canons to the Honour of St. Mary Magdalen for the Honour of that Victory But I must not omit to speak of one thing more that in the Year 1551 the Sweating-Sickness which destroyed so many breaking forth first here dispersed it self at length over the whole Nation Passing from hence we rode through Stretton Stretton ten Miles distant from this City and there being three of them which join close to one another Little-Stretton Church-Stretton and All-Stretton the middlemost being a Market Town is of greatest Note But finding here nothing to detain us we made no stop till we arrived at Ludlow Ludlow the chief Town in this County 't is of greater Antiquity than Beauty situated by the River Corve defended by a Wall and Castle both built by Roger Earl of Montgomery When Robert de Belasme Earl of Shrewsbury and Son to Montgomery was taken Prisoner in his Rebellion against Henry the First the King then seised it after this it was given away from the Crown by Henry the Second and came into the Possession of the Lacys from thence to the Mortimers and at last it became the Inheritance of the Princes of Wales and by this means beginning to come into great Repute the Inhabitants erected here a very stately Church so that in a little time it excelled all its Neighbourhood Kenry Henry the Eighth instituting here the Council of the Marches Here was Young Edward the Fifth at the Death of his Father and here died Prince Arthur eldest Son of Henry the Seventh both being sent hither by their Fathers for the same end viz. by their Presence to satisfie and keep in order the unruly Welsh But before I leave this County I must not forget Pitchford Pitchford a Village very eminent for its Well of Pitch which though it be scumm'd off returns again and swims aloft upon the Surface of the Water Cambden is of Opinion that it is rather a Bituminous kind of Matter such as is in the Lake Asphaltites in Palestine or in a Fountain by the Hill Agragas in Sicily however the Inhabitants are said to make the same use of it which they do of Pitch but whether like that in Jewry it hath the same Balsamick Virtues of drawing out Corruption or healing Wounds or is of any efficacy against the Falling-Sickness I have yet met with none
Sir Reginald Bray Who this St. George was we have now mentioned Mr. Sands in his Travels gives us the best account That he was a Cappadocian advanced in the Wars to the Dignity of a Tribune who afterward became a Soldier of Christ and is said in Lydda to have suffered Martyrdom under Dioclesian where stands a Temple built to his Honour as they say by a King of England which Church the Greeks have the Custody of and do shew a Skull therein which they affirm to be St. George's On this St. George's Day which is April 23. King Edward the Third that he might give to true Chivalry that Honour and ample Reward it deserves constituted first the most noble Order of the Garter appointing a select number of Twenty-six Persons of Honour to wear a blue Garter on their left Leg with this Motto in French * Evil be to him that evil thinks Hony soit qui maly pense and these he call'd Knights of the Garter Of this Order are and have been the most Puissant and Renown'd Princes in Christendom this Honour being deriv'd to them from the King of England who is the first and chief thereof but because the Occasion of the constitution of this most Noble Order as well as a List of the Persons that are Honoured therewith are given us already by Elias Ashmole Esq and others I shall not actum agere but rather declare who were the Principuli and had the Honour to stand Rank'd in the first Front of this Order and they are these who follow who being very Renowned in their Generation it is pity they should be Buried in the Grave of Oblivion 1. Edward the Third King of England 2. Edward the Prince of Wales 3. Henry Duke of Lancaster 4. Thomas Earl of Warwick 5. Captain de Bouch. 6. Ralph Earl of Stafford 7. William Mountague Earl of Salisbury 8. Roger Mortimer Earl of March 10. Sir John Lisle 11. Sir Bartholomew Burwash 12. Sir John Beauchamp 13. Sir Hugh Courtney 14. Sir Thomas Holland 15. Sir John Grey 16. Sir Richard Fitz-Simon 17. Sir Miles Stapleton 18. Sir Thomas Walle 19. Sir Hugh Wrothesley 20. Sir Neel Loring 21. Sir John Chandos 22. Sir James Audley 23. Sir Otho Holland 24. Sir Henry Eme. 25. Sir Zanchet D'Brigecoure 26. Sir Walter Paveley All these as likewise all other Knights of the Garter have their several Stalls allotted them in St. George's Chapel over which hang their Escutcheons and their Arms and when they are present they are all arrayed with Robes and Mantles peculiar to their Order and upon their day of admission to this Dignity which is usually on St. George's Day they are generally Installed either by themselves or their Proxies by the Prelate of the Garter which Office is setled upon the Bishop of Winchester and the Chancellour belonging to it is the Bishop of Salisbury On one side of the Church stand the Houses of the Dean and Prebendaries who are Twelve in number and on the other side an House not unlike the Graecian Prytaneum for the comfortable Maintenance of Twenty-six poor Knights who being all clad in long purple Gowns bearing the Badge of the Cross upon them are daily to be present Morning and Night at Divine Service Betwixt the two Courts ariseth up a high Mount on which is set a round Tower and hard by it riseth another lofty Pinnacle called Winchester Tower of William Wickam Bishop of Winchester whom King Edward the Third made Overseer of this Work when he Built the Castle There is a Rumour of a certain Inscription that was engraven by this Wickam upon the inner part of the Wall after the finishing of the Tower in these Words This made Wickam which bearing a dubious meaning some of the Courtiers that were his Enemies represented them in such a sense to the King as if he had arrogated to himself all the Glory and Magnificence of the Structure and so had eclipsed the King's Honour at which the King being incensed and rebuking him for the Fact he replied That he did not mean that he had made the Castle but that the Castle had made him having raised him from a mean and low Condition to the King's Favour and thereby to great Wealth and Dignity But before I leave this Bishop I cannot omit one very remarkable Story which I find Recorded of him by John de Pontoys in his History of the Bishops of Winchester how this Renowned Prelate discovered a notorious Cheat to Edward the Third put upon him by his own Queen Philippa for that John Duke of Lancaster who then went for his Son was never Born of that Queen but was really Supposititious which she still concealed for fear of the King's Anger but afterward a little before her Death she declared the whole Truth to this Bishop and commanded him to tell the King the whole Matter when he should find the most convenient Opportunity Mr. Wharton's Anglia Sacra pars prima p. 318. New-Windsor That which the Inhabitants call now New-Windsor standing South-West from the Castle began to flourish in the Reign of King Henry the Third and the Daughter hath now quite eclipsed the Glory and Honour of the Mother for 't is grown very Beautiful and Populous adorned with handsom Buildings and a regular Corporation and sends from thence constantly two Burgesses to the Parliament Aeton College There is one thing still more here which is remarkable opposite to Windsor on the other side of the River Thames a fair Bridge of Wood leads you on to Aeton where stands a famous College erected by that most Charitable Prince King Henry the Sixth in which besides a very honourable Allowance for the Provost there is a handsom Pension for Eight Fellows and a creditable Subsistence for Sixty Scholars who having received here the first Rudiments of Grammar and Rhetorick are afterwards translated to King's-College in Cambridge where they are certainly preferred according to their civil and studious Deportment Having satisfied our Curiosities with these pleasant Prospects we took our Farewell of the Muses Athenaeum as well as Mars his Cittadel and crossing again the River arrived at Colebrook Colebrook three or four Miles distant from this place so called from the River Cole which gently glides along through Bucks and Middlesex 't is parted into several Channels over which stand as many Bridges and by the several partitions of its Streams it encompasseth several little pretty Islands into which the Danes fled about the Year 894. whither King Alfred pursued them and endeavoured what he could to annoy them till at last for want of Provision he was enforced to quit that most advantageous Post We passed on from hence to Brentford Brentford which receives its name from the Rivolet Brent running by it Here in the Year 1016 Edmund Ironside did so overpower the Danes that they fled away very ingloriously being quite routed by him and leaving a great many Men slain behind them This
Ruines of Churches and other Edifices declare it to have been of a very long standing its Condition was always mutable according to the mutability of Affairs betwixt the Britains and the Saxons and if it was the burying place of that great Man of Valour and prowess the Noble Britain Vortimer as is credibly reported then this hapned contrary to his own Command for he was desirous to be interred near the Sea Shore where he thought his very Ghost would be sufficient to Protect the Britains from all Saxon Invasions But however after his Death the Saxons got possession of it and fortified themselves on the South-side of the Hill about which time Paulinus having preached the Gospel in Lindsey was the first that converted Blecca the Governour hereof to the Christian Faith and erected a Church all of Stone-work some of the Ruines whereof remain to this Day Afterwards it was much impaired and depopulated by the Danes but in the Norman time it flourished so exceedingly that it became one of the most populous Cities of England King William the Conquerour strengthned it with a Castle and Remigius having translated hither the Bishops See from Dorchester a small Town which stood in the remotest corner of this Diocess erected upon the top of the Hill a large and sumptuous * His successor Robert Bloet â—ounded with him the Cathedral and endow'd the Dean and Chapter â—anner's Not. Monast Cathedral mounting up aloft with high Turrets and stately pyramids and dedicated to the Virgin Mary which afterward being defaced by Fire Alexander his Successor re-edified and beautified after a more glorious manner than before Nor indeed did the Bishops that succeeded him add less to its Beauty and Lustre and raised it to so great Magnificence and unconceivable Height that its starely Towers discover themselves at many Miles distance the Workmanship of the whole Fabrick is very curious and admirable and the carved Images on the Front of the West-end were such unimitable pieces of Art till some of them in our late unhappy broils were sacrificed to the fury of the Insolent Soldiery who committed a new Martyrdom upon the Saints in Effigie that they did even allure and ravish the Eyes of all Spectatour Nor was it less glorious without than beautified within for besides the Bell called Great Tom for which this Church is so famous being cast in the Year 1610 and of a larger Size than any Bell in the Kingdom 't is adorn'd with divers Monuments of very ancient Families for the Bowels of Queen Eleanor Wife to King Edward the First lie here interr'd in Copper and the Body of the Lady Catharine Swinford third Wife to John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and Mother to the House of Somerset and of the Lady Joan her Daughter Second Wife to Ralph Nevil Earl of Westmorland besides many other Persons of great Note and Quality In the former Ages of the Church the Precincts of this Diocess were of so large an extent that the greatness hereof became even burdensom to it hereupon they were contracted into a narrower compass by some Princes of this Nation and though King Henry the Second took out of this the Diocess of Ely and King Henry the Eighth the Bishopricks of Peterborough and Oxford yet still it is reputed the greatest Diocess of England both for Jurisdiction and number of Shires there being no less than six Counties and One thousand two hundred forty seven Parish Churches as is generally computed belonging to it As for the Town though it flourished mightily for some Years together after the Norman Conquest by reason of a Staple for wooll and other Commodities setled here by King Edward the Third yet it met still with some Calamities or other which hindred its Growth and eclipsed its Grandeur for it had its share of Sufferings both by Fire and War in King Stephen's days about which time it seems though the King had at first been conquered and taken Prisoner yet he afterward entred into the City in Triumph with his Crown upon his Head to break the Citizens of a superstitious Opinion they held that no King could possibly enter into that City after such a manner but some great disaster or other would befal him but neither did it then or by the Barons wars afterwards sustain half the damages which of late Years it hath received from the devouring Hands of Time who hath wrought its downfal and from a rich and populous City hath reduced it almost to the lowest ebb of Fortune and of Fifty Churches which were all standing within one or two Centuries hath scarce left Fifteen so that the old Proverbial Rhymes which go currant amongst them seem so far to have something of verity in them Lincoln was and London is And York shall be The fairest City of the three Sure I am that this doth abundantly verifie the verses of the old Tragedian Sophocles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Only the Gods cannot Times sickle feel Nothing can else withstand his Powerful Steel But though the City be gone to decay the Magistrates preserve their Authority and their ancient Charters and Privileges are not as yet involv'd in the same Fate with the Town which is governed by a Mayor and Aldermen and hath the Assizes held here where the Judges twice a Year determine all Suits and Controversies depending either in the City or the County and for provision it affords great Plenty for 't is replenished every Friday which is their chief Market Day with such variety of Fish and Fowl to be bought up at easy and cheap Rates that there is hardly the like to be met withal in any other City of England From this City we set forward for Barton Barton a small Town Situate upon the River Humber famous for the abundance of Puits Godwits Knots which are a sort of Bird so called say some from Canute the Dane who perhaps brought them hither first from Denmark and likewise for Dottrels a simple kind of Bird much given to imitation these Dottrels are caught by candle-light after this manner The Fowler stands before the Bird and if he puts out an Arm the Bird stretcheth out a Wing if he hold out his Head or set forward his Leg the Bird doth the like and imitates the Fowlers gesture so long till coming nearer and nearer by degrees at length throws his Net over him and so takes him Here we met with a convenient Passage to Ferry over into York-shire York-shire whereupon we took the first opportunity of Wind and Tide and sailed away for Hull which is about a League from the place on the other side of the River This County is the greatest in extent being parted into three Divisions which are called the West-Riding the East-Riding and North-Riding amongst which Providence hath so wisely distributed her Blessings that what one wants the other enjoys and makes a compensation for the Barrenness of one
on the West side serveth the River Levin on the South Clyde and on the East a boggy Flat which on every side is wholly covered over with Water and on the North side the very upright steepness of the place is a sufficient Defence to it Directly under the Castle at the Mouth of the River Clyde as it enters into the Sea there are a number of Clayk Geese so called black of colour which in the night time do gather great quantity of the crops of Grass growing upon the Land and carry the same to the Sea then assembling in a round with a great curiosity do offer every one his Portion to the Sea Flood and there attend upon the flowing of the Tide till the Grass be purified from the fresh tast and turned to the salt and lest any part of it should escape they hold it in with their Bills after this they orderly every Fowl eat their own Portion and this Custom they observe perpetually Universities The Universities are four in number St. Andrews Aberdeen Glasgow and Edinburgh from which every Year there is a fresh supply of learned Persons fit for publick Employments and Dignities in Church and State St. Andrews St. Andrews was Founded by Bishop Henry Wardlaw A. D. 1412. and is endowed with very ample Privileges the Arch-Bishops of St. Andrews were perpetual Chancellors thereof The Rector is chosen Yearly and by the Statutes of the University he ought to be one of the three Principals his power is the same with that of the Vice-Chancellor of Cambrige or Oxford There are in this University three Colleges St. Salvator's St. Leonard's and New-College St. Salvator's College was founded by James Kennedy Bishop of St. Andrews he built the Edifice furnished it with costly Ornaments and provided sufficient Revenues for the Maintenance of the Masters Persons endowed at the Foundation were a Doctor a Batchellor a Licentiate of Divinity four Professors of Philosophy who are called Regents and eight poor Scholars called Bursars St. Leonard's College was Founded by John Hepburne Prior of St. Andrew's 1520 Persons endowed are a Principal or Warden four Professors of Philosophy eight poor Scholars New-College was Founded by James Beaton Arch-Bishop A. D. 1530 The Professors and Scholars endowed are of Divinity for no Philosophy is taught in this College Aberdeen In the Reign of King Alexander the Second A. D. 121. there was a Studium Generale in Collegio Canonicorum where there were Professors and Doctors of Divinity and of the Canon and Civil Laws and many Learned Men have flourished therein King James the Fourth and William Elphinstown Bishop of Aberdeen procured from Pope Alexander the Sixth the Privileges of an University in Aberdeen 1494. It is endowed with as ample Privileges as any University in Christendom and particularly the Foundation relates to the Privileges of Paris and Bononia but hath no reference to Oxford or Cambrige because of the Wars between England and Scotland at that time the Privileges were afterward confirmed by Pope Julius the Second Clement the Seventh Leo the Tenth and Paul the Second and by the Successors of King James the Fourth The Bishop of Aberdeen is perpetual Chancellor of the University and hath power to visit in his own Person and to reform Abuses and tho' he be not a Doctor of Divinity yet the Foundation gives him a power to confer that Degree The Office of Vice-Chancellor resides in the Official or Commissary of Aberdeen The Rector who is chosen Yearly with the assistance of his four Assessors is to take notice of Abuses in the University and to make a return thereof to the Chancellor if one of the Masters happen to be Rector then is his Power devolved upon the Vice-Chancellor The College was Founded by Bishop William Elphinstone Anno 1â—00 and was called the King's College because King James the Fourth took upon him and his Successors the special Protection of it Persons endowed were a Doctor of Theology who was Principal a Doctor of the Canon-Law Civil-Law and Physick a Professor of Humanity to teach Grammer a Sub-Principal to teach Philosophy a Canton a Sacrist three Students of the Laws three Students of Philosophy six Students of Divinity an Organist five Singing Boys who were Students of Humanity The Marischal-College of Aberdeen was Founded by George Keith Earl of Marischal A. D. 1593. Persons endowed were a Principal three Professors of Philosophy Since that there hath been added a Professor of Divinity and Mathematicks a fourth Professor of Philosophy twenty-four poor Scholars Of the other two Universities I shall treat afterward Mountains and Rivers The chief Mountains are Cheriot-Hill and Mount Grampius spoken of by Tacitus the safest shelter of the Picts or North-Britains against the Romans and of the Scots against the English now called the Hill of Albany or the Region of Braid-Albin Out of these ariseth Tay or Tau the fairest River in Scotland falling into the Sea about Dundee on the East-side Clayd falling into Dunbritton-Frith on the West-side of the Kingdom besides which there are other small Rivers as Bannock Spay d ee well replenished with Fish which furnish the Country with great Store of that Provision The Nature of the Air Soil and Commodities The Air of this Kingdom hath its variety according to the situation of several places and parts of it but generally it is healthful because cold the Soil in the High-landers is poor and Barren but in the Low-landers 't is much better bearing all sorts of Grains especially Oats which are much ranker than ours in England Their chief Commodities are Cloth Skins Hides Coal and Salt their Cattle are but small and their best Horses are commonly bred about Galloway where Inhabitants follow Fishing as well within the Sea which lies round about them as in lesser Rivers and in the Loches or Meers standing full of Water at the foot of the Hills out of which in September they take in Weels and Weer-nets an incredible number of most sweet and toothsom Eels For Bernacles or Soland Geese they have such an infinite number of them that they seem even to darken the very Sun with their flight these Geese are the most rife about the Bass an Island at the mouth of the Frith going up to Edinburgh and hither they bring an incredible number of Fish and withal such an abundance of Sticks and little twiggs to build their Nests that the People are thereby plentifully provided of Fuel who also make a great gain of their Feathers and Oil There hath been a dispute amongst the learned about the generation of these Geese some holding that they were bred of the leaves of the Bernacle-Tree falling into the Water others that they were bred of moist rotten Wood lying in the Water but 't is of late more generally believed that they come of an Egg and are certainly hatched as other Geese are In the West and North West Parts the People are very curious and diligent in
in a Book Printed for that purpose A. D. 1640. I shall not undertake to pourtray that in a contracted Landskip which hath been before represented to the Publick with so great applause but refer those who are so curious as to desire a more particular Account of this City to that most ingenious Person who hath pencilled out every part and Limb thereof with great exactness and accuracy only one thing I must not omit that of late a Marble Monument hath been erected in St. Margaret's Church Canterbury in Honour of Mr. Somner who lies there interred by his own Widow who afterward Married to Mr. Hannington Vicar of Elam in Kent upon which is engraven this ingenious Epitaph H. S. E. Gulielmus Somnerus Cantuariensis Saxonicam Literaturam Civitatis Cantuariae Historiam Tenebris utramque involutam Illustravit Cantii Antiquitates meditantem Fatum intercepit Officium Erga Deum pietate severa Erga Homines probitate simplici Erga Principem fide periculosa Erga Patriam scriptis immortalibus Indicavit Ita Mores Antiquos Studium Antiquitatis efformat Cantuariae Natus est Martii 30. 1606. Cantuariae Omnem aetatem egit Cantuariae Obiit Martii 30. 1669. Feversham Passing from hence through Feversham a Town pretty large and well inhabited famous formerly for its Abby erected here by King Stephen wherein himself his Queen and Eustace his Son were buried the next place of consequence that was obvious in the Road was Sedingbourn Sedingbourn which being a great thorough-fare is well furnished with Inns a Town of which there are two things more principally Recorded the one is that in the Year 1232 Henry Bishop of Rochester as Mr. Philpott hath collected it out of some old Monkish Writers came with much exultation out of Sedingbourn Church and desired the People to express their joy because on that day by the efficacious Prayers of the Church Richard the First formerly King of England and many others were most certainly ransomed from the Flames of Purgatory The other that in the same Church was a Monument of Sir Richard Lovelace inlayed richly with Brass who was an eminent Soldier in his time and Marshal of Calice under Henry the Eighth with his Portraiture affixed in Brass which the Injuries of Time and the Impiety of Sacrilegious Mechanicks have utterly defaced In the Neighbourhood of Sedingbourn is Newington Newington which though but a small Village hath afforded some worthy Remarks of Antiquity for not many Years ago there were digged up Roman Urns not far distant from the High-way or Common Road it being agreeable to Roman Practice to inter in those Places where their Monuments might be obvious almost to every Eye Memorials of themselves and Memento's of Mortality to living Passengers whom the Epitaphs of great Ones did beg to stay and look upon them From hence the Road brought us directly to Chatham Chatham where the repair of the Parish Church and new Buildings of the Steeple commend the Religious Care and Cost of King Charles the First 's Commissioners and Officers of the Royal Navy in the Year 1635 but the Arsenals Store-Houses and Ship-Docks erected by the same most incomparable Prince are so magnificent and universally useful that they are become a principal Pillar of the Nations support and afford variety of Employment by the Manufacture of Cordage as also the Careening and Building of Ships Contiguous to Capham is Rochester Rochester a City which in Elder times was as eminent for its Antiquity as it was for its Strength and Grandeur and had not those violent impressions which the rough Hand of War made upon it Demolished its bulk and bereaved it of its Beauty it peradventure might have been registred at this Day in the Inventory of the principal Cities of this Nation but so great and dismal Calamities did frequently attend it that the Fury of the Elements seemed to enter into a Corrivalship or Competition with the Fury of Enemies for its Ruine and the Fire and Sword were joint Confederates to destroy it nevertheless maugre all these Casualties by the Favour of Princes and their Royal Munificence it recovered all its Losses and survives in Splendor 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 the greater importance 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 Dignity 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 The goodly Skeleton of the Castle which yet courts the Eye of the Beholder to the admiration of its former strength acknowledgeth for its most eminent Benefactor if not Founder Odo Bishop of Baicux and Earl of Kent half Brother to William the Conqueror which Fortress he afterward breaking forth into open Rebellion against his Nephew Rufus did seize but was quickly dispossessed by the vigorous Expedition of his Prince and enforced immediately to depart the Kingdom After this when the Dauphin was invited into England by the Seditious Barons to wrest the Kingdom from K. John their native Sovereign the Dauphin uniting their strength with his made such a furious Onset on the Castle that like a Tempest which beats down all before it he carried it by Assault the like had been atchieved by Simon Montford Earl of Leicester when he raised an Insurrection against King Henry the Third had not that Prince arrived most opportunely and by a successful Encounter wrested both Earl Warren who had so resolutely maintained it and that likewise from the Impressions of his Fury since which time there hath been little of moment acted in this Place tho it is worth taking notice of what Mr. Philpott hath observed farther concerning it that there being much Land in this County held thereof whose Tenure is perfectly Castle-guard upon the day prefixed for the discharging the quit Rents relating to it there is a Banner displayed and hung out antiently it was on the Castle Wall and all those who are Tenants to this Mannor and are in default by their Non-appearance and do not discharge their accustomary Duties and Services the penalty imposed upon their neglect is that the return of every Tide of the adjacent River Medway which finds them absent doubles their Service or Quit-Rents The Cathedral which the Bishoprick of Rochester united to it was founded and established by that pious Monarch Ethelbert King of Kent and the first Bishop to whom was entrusted the Pastoral Staff or Crosier by Austen the Apostle of the Saxons was Justus who being sent over hither as an Adjutant to Austen in the Propagation of Christianity about the Year 601 Angl. Sacr. Tom. 1. p. 329. was afterward ordained Bishop of this See A. D. 604. much about that time
that Mellitus was consecrated Bishop of London The above-mentioned Prince not only assenting to his Consecration by his Presence but likewise largely contributing to the support of the Person chosen and his Successors by enriching them with great Possessions This Cathedral was dedicated by Ethelbert to St. Andrew as that which he built likewise at London was to St. Paul but whatever the Piety of that Prince and other Religious Persons after him did in former Ages contribute to its enlargement and beautifying the late prevailing Faction of some injurious Incendiaries did in a few Months dispoil and almost abolish and the Scars which still remain in its Sacred Body are too pregnant Symptoms to convince the World what usage it received from those Sacrilegious Boutefeus whose great Triumphs would have been over its Ruins and chiefest Glory to have laid its Honour in the Dust had not he who sets bounds to the tempestuous Ocean limited their Fury and rescued it from their Malice From Rochester the curious Stone-Bridge built over the River Medway by Sir Robert Knolles which is one of the largest Bridges in England being fixed upon 21 Arches and coped above with Iron Bars by Arch-Bishop Warham leads us to Stroud Stroud a Place where the Knights Templars had formerly an eminent Mansion and the Chappel of St. Nicholas was improved to a Mother Church and endowed being divided by too great a distance from the Church of Frendsbury to which it had been annexed and which was supposed uncapable for so great a conflux of People as began every day to multiply within the Liberties of Stroud Medway The River Medway is carried into the Aestuary of Thames by two Mouths the one whereof Westward is called West-Swale as the Eastern one which seems to have cut the Isle of Shepey from the Continent East-Swale but by Bede Genlad and Yenlett Now it is rather probable that this was the Swalve mentioned by Birchington P. 216. wherein Austen the Monk baptized Ten thousand Men and not the Swale in Richmondshire P. 163. that being the River where Paulinus his great Friend and Coadjutor baptized the like number Island of Shepey And now having made mention of the Isle of Shepey I cannot but observe that it was formerly very famous for two Religious Princesses Sexburga and Hermenilda Sexburga the Daughter of Anna the Seventh King of the East-Angles and his Wife Hereswyda Sister to the Holy Abbess St. Hylda was married to Erconbertus King of Kent in the Fifth Year of her Father's Reign by whom she had two Sons Egbert and Lotharius and two Daughters Ermenilda and Erkengota Sexburga after her Husband's Death governed the Kingdom of Kent twenty-four Years until her Son Egbert was grown up to be fit to undertake the Government which having once committed to him she laid aside her Royal Robes and betaking her self to this Island built here a Nunnery A. D. 710. and endowed it liberally for Seventy-seven Nuns Afterwards committing it to the care of her Daughter Ermenilda she went into the Isle of Ely to her Sister Ethelreda where after her Death she was Abbess of the same Nunnery all this while living a very severe mortified Life and giving up her self wholly to Prayer and Devotion Afterward the Nunnery being burnt by the Danes it was re-ediffed by William Arch-Bishop of Canterbury A. D. 1130. to the Honour of St. Mary and St. Sexburg But on the 21th of September the Festival of St. Matthew our Journey began to draw near to an end Gravesend for our last Stage being by Gravesend a Town notorious as well for its Block-Houses opposite to each other as the great conveniency of a Passage in Wherries every Tide up and down the River Thames to Dartford Dartford a Market Town of no small account for all sort of Grain by reason of its Vicinity to the Grand Emporium of this Nation we departed from thence to the City and arrived again at London in great Health and Safety after some months Circuit about the Maritime Coasts of Great Britain FINIS An Alphabetical Table containing the Names of all the Cities Towns Islands Hills Rivers Meers Wells and other Curiosities mentioned in this Book A ABerbarry Cave in Wales Page 24 Abington Berkshire 104 Allfretton Derbys 86 Alnwick Northumb. 135 Anglesey Island 226 Appleby Westmorl 210 Are a River in Yorks 216 Arundel Sussex 258 Ashbourn Derbys 95 Aukland Bishoprick of Durham 166 Avon a River in Glocester Worcester nad Hampshire 10 St. Asaph in Wales 223 Astroites 12 Ariconium 17 Acamannum or Akemancester 37 Adderbourn 42 Aeton College 112 Allum Mines 162 Alne a River 135 St. Andrews 188 Aberdeen 188 Albany a Hill in Scotland 181 Argyle 193 Anandale 204 Anan a River ibid. Ashburton 243 Axminster 244 Axi a River ibid. Aven a River 249 Amberly Castle 257 Andreswald Wood. 257 Anderida 260 Aberdeen Well 188 B Beray 108 Bakewel 89 Bangor 228 Berkshire 104 Barkway 57 Berwick upon Tweed 178 Bath in Somersets 37 Battel Suss 261 Bay of Robinhood 123 Beaconsfield 3 Beverly Yorks 152 Bosworth Leicest 75 Bourn in Sussex 259 Bramyard Herefords 16 Brecknock-shire and Brecnock 22 Brentford 113 Bristol 27 Brent a River 131 Burgh in Westmorl 210 Buckinghamshire 2 Buddesdale Suff. 127 Bungay 132 Burford in Oxfords 5 Burntwood in Essex 115 Burlip Hill 9 Black Mountain 20 Barnewel 58 Bennet College 61 Bodleian Library 5 Buxton VVell 93 Betheny 96 Battlefield 100 Bone VVell 102 Blith a River 133 Boston Lincolns 144 Barton 149 Binchester 167 Bamborough Castle 176 Borders of Scotland 180 Bannock a Scotch River ibid. Bass a Scotch Island 147 Buqhan ibid. Burning Stone 183 Brovonacum 210 Bows Westmorl 211 Bremetonacum 219 Bala Pool 174 Bridport 244 Bere 247 Badbury 248 Bitchborow 272 C Caerlegion 221 Caermardenshire and Caermarden 24 25 Cambridgeshire 57 Cambridge 58 Christs College 62 Calshot Castle Hamps 252 Canterbury 216 Cardiganshire and Cardigan 25 Carlile 206 Caernavenshire 227 Chatham 218 Clemsford 115 Chepstow 21 Cheshire 219 Chester 221 Chichester 255 Christ-Church Hamps 249 Church-Stretton Shrops 101 Ciciter Glocest 8 Cleveland Yorks 164 Colchester 116 Colebrook and Cole a River 113 Columpton 233 Cornwal 240 Coventry 72 Cows in Isle of Wight 252 Cumberland 205 Coleshil 74 Colne a River 2 Cherwel a River 3 Cotswold Hills 6 Churne a River 8 Corinium Dobunorum ibid. Caer-Gloyn 9 Caergorangon 14 Cadier Arthur 22 Cardiff Town 23 Caves near Carreg Castle 25 Chorea Gigantum 40 Caer-Gwent 45 Cam a River 58 Camboricum 59 Christ-Church Oxford 5 Carleton 77 Castle in the Peak and Castleton 90 Chatsworth 94 Caerpengren 100 Corve a River 101 Chelmer a River 115 Can a River ibid. Cerdick Sand. 134 Castor 135 Caerludecote 146 Caer Ebrank 154 Coal Mines 127 Chester on the Street Alias Cunacester 170 Capreae Caput 171 Coquet a River 175 Cheriot Hills 180 Clayd a River in Scotl. ibid. Carrick 181 Cumbernauld Park ibid. Camelon a City 202 Carron a River ibid. Copper Mines 205