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
the Charters by which the Scotch King stood obliged to do Homage to the King of England and thereupon ensued a great War betwixt them for King David being spurred on by the French King Invaded England and having made a great Road into the Northern Counties and spoiling and burning every where as they went along at length at Durham his Army was routed and himself taken Prisoner being first sent to the Tower afterward committed to this Castle where during his consinement he engraved upon the Walls of his Deportment the History of our Saviour's Death and Passion the Relicts of which are still to be seen After eleven Years Imprisonment he was restored against to his Kingdom by paying a good Ransom for his Liberty but before he returned he was one of the four Kings that was nobly Treated by Henry Picard a Vintner then Lord Mayor of London These were the four Kings Edward the Third King of England John King of France David King of the Scots and the King of Cyprus together with Edward The Black Prince all bearing him company at the same Table this was about the Year 1358. But before I leave this Town I cannot but take notice of one thing more memorable in our Age this being the first place where King Charles the First set up his Royal Standard against the Rebels in the late unhappy Wars and when the King's Forces were forced to leave it the Castle was quite demolished We went from hence to view the Chair of Robin-Hood of which it follows Having pleasured our selves with the Antiquities of this Town we took Horse and went to visit the Well and ancient Chair of Robin-Hood which is about a Mile within the Forest of Shirwood Being placed in that Chair we had a Cap which they say was his very formally put upon our Heads and having performed the usual Ceremonies befitting so great a Solemnity we received the Freedom of the Chair and were incorporated into the Society of that renowned Brotherhood but that we may not receive such Privileges without an honourable mentioning of the Persons that left them to Posterity know we must that the Patent was bequeathed to the inferior Rangers of this Forest by Robin Hood and Little John honourable Personages indeed being the chief Lords of some most renowned Robbers in the Reign of King Richard the First This same Robin Hood entertained one Hundred tall Men all good Archers with the Spoil he daily made himself Master of whom four Hundred tho' every way well Accoutred to give Battel durst scarce make an Onset He suffered no Woman to be violated oppress'd oa any ways molested poor Men's Goods he spared and did relieve them very liberally with what he got from the rich Carles He killed none and by this means he did for a long time keep up the Order of Knight Errants Having for some time pleased our selves with our new Brothers that very curteously entertained us we went from hence into Yorkshire The County of York is the greatest Shire by far of all England and is thought to be in a temperate measure fruitful If in one place there be stony and sandy barren ground in another place there are for it Corn-fields as rich and fruitful if it be void and destitute of Woods here you shall find it shadowed in another place with most thick Forests The Length extendeth from Hart-hill in the South to the Mouth of Tees in the North which is near seventy Miles the breadth from Flambrough-head to Horn-Castle upon the River Lun is Eighty the whole circumference three hundred and eight Miles HELMSLEY a Mannor in Yorkshire hath two Parks and a Chase in it said to be about 146 Miles in compass and had 40000 Timber-Trees and 200 Acres of Wood. There are many Free-holders there The whole Shire is divided into 3 parts which according to the 3 Quarters of the World are called The West-Riding The East-Riding The North-Riding West-Riding for a good while is compassed in with the River Ouse with the bound of Lancashire and with the South limits of the Shire and beareth toward the West and South East-Riding looketh to the Sun-rising and the Ocean which together with the River Derwent encloseth it North-Riding reacheth Northward hemmed in as it were with the River Tees with Derwent and a long race of the River Ouse YORK is the fairst City in all this County and deservedly reputed the Second of England for its Greatness and Munificence the pleasantness of its Situation the Buildings are stately and beautiful The whole City is rich glorious and honourable both in respect of its being governed by a Lord Mayor who moderates in all Cases of Temporal Affairs as also by an Archbishop who is Judge in all Spiritual Matters The River Ouse flowing with a gentle Stream from the North part cutteth it in twain and divided as it were into two Cities which are conjoined with a stone Bridge having one mighty Arch. There is a Cathedral Church dedicated to Saint Peter an excellent fair and stately Fabrick near unto which there is the Prince's House commonly called The Mannour York was a Colony of the Romans Ptolomey and Antonine and also by a piece of Money coined by the Emperour Severus in the reverse whereof we read COL EBORACUMLEG VI. VICTRIX Severus had his Palace in this City and here at the hour of death gave up his last breath with these words I entered upon a State every way troublesome and I leave it peaceable even to the Britains There are many fine Seats of Persons of Quality by reason of the Pleasantness of its Soil which abounds in Plenty of all things and for Pleasure and Recreation it affords the most of any County in England In the North-Riding of this County is Ounsbery-Hill or Rosebery-Topping which mount-up a mighty height and maketh a goodly shew a farre off so often as the Head thereof hath his cloudy Cap on lightly there followeth rain whence they have a proverbial Rhime When Rosebery-Topping wears a Cap Let Cliveland then beware a clap I could have particuliz'd several other Towns and Villages in this Shire but what has been related is most material and again the Volume is but small and would not bear it In this County there are 459 Parishes under which are very many Chappels for number of Inhabitants equal unto great Parishes We went from hence into the Bishoprick of Durham of which it follows Durham The chief Town in Latin Dunelmum a County Palatine and a Bishop's See 't is situated upon a Hill and encompassed almost round by the River Were is also shaped in form of an Egg and strongly fortified both by Art and Nature There is a stately Cathedral which makes a fine and lofty shew with an high Tower in the midst and two Spires at the West end The County in general is very pleasant and rich in its Mountains with Iron and Coals and its Vallies with Corn and Grass But before I leave this County
I cannot omit the mentioning of a certain place near Derlington which is 3 Pits full of Water of a wonderful depth called by the common People Hell Kettles concerning which Sir Richard Baker in his English Chronicles gives this Account That in the 24th Year of King Henry the Second the Earth in this place lifted up it self in the manner of an high Tower and so remained from Morning till Evening unmoveable and presently after that time fell with so horrible a noise that it affrighted all the Inhabitants thereabouts and the Earth swallowing it up made those 3 deep Pits which are still to be seen The next place we took notice of was Northumberland The Ground appears to be very barren and rough and is Mountainous and Rocky in many parts of it Towards the Sea and Tine by diligence and good Husbandry it becometh fruitful but elswhere 't is hard and rugged By reason of the sharpness of the Air and coursness of the Soil the Inhabitants are lookt upon and esteem'd to be a War-like People and excellent Light-horsemen The Nobility and Gentry of the North are of great Antiquity and can produce more ancient Families than any other Part of England many of their Gentry taking date before the Conquest the rest came in with William the Conqueror NEW-CASTLE upon TINE so called because Robert de Curtois Son of William the Conqueror built there a New Castle out of the ground against the neighbouring Scots the very Eye of all the Towns in these Parts enabled by a notable Haven which Time maketh being of that depth that it beareth very tall Ships and so defendeth them that they can neither be easily tossed with Tempests nor driven upon Shallows and Shelves The Town is situated on the rising of an Hill adorned with four Churches and fortified with strong Walls which have 7 Gates in them with many Towers It is wealthy partly by entercourse of Traffick with the Germans and partly by carrying out Sea-coals wherewith this Place aboundeth both into foreign Countries and also into other parts of England BERWICK is the utmost Town in England and the strongest hold in all Britain It is well near compassed about with the Sea and Twede together Upon the West of Northumberland the Picct's Wall is to be seen of great height and almost whole There are about 46 Parishes in Northumberland Cumberland This County is like the rest of the Northern Counties and hath a sharp piercing Air the Soil is fertile for the most part both with Corn and Cattel and in some parts hereof with Fish and Fowl Here are likewise several Minerals which have of late been discovered not only Mines of Copper but Veins of Gold and Silver too have been found here as I was credibly inform'd and of all the Shires we have it is accounted the best furnished with the Roman Antiquities Nor it is no less renowned for its high Mountains than for its Mines of which there are three Skiddow Lanvellin and Casticand and these Words goes much concerning the height of them Skiddow Lanvellin and Casticand Are the highest Hills in all England CARLISLE is commodiously Situated and is fortified with a strong Wall Castle and Cittadel the Cathedral Church there being formerly a very stately and magnificence Structure adorned with rare Ornaments Not far from this City is a Trophy of Victory as is supposed called by the Country People Long-Megg and her Daughters being Seventy and seven Stones each of them Ten Foot high above-ground and one of them is fifteen foot There are in Cumberland 9 Market-Towns and 58 Parishes Westmorland It is so called because it lieth amongst Moors and high Hills and was for the most part unmanured such barren places the Northern Englishmen call Moors and Westmoreland is a Western Moorish-county The Air is sharp and cold KENDALE-KIRKE by Kendale a very great Town of Trade and Resort with two broad and long Streets crossing the one over the other a place excellent for Cloathing and for Industry so surpassing that in regard thereof it carrieth a great Name For the Inhabitants have great Traffick and vent of their Woollen-cloaths throughout all parts of England APELBY memorable for its Antiquity and Situation only It standeth in a pleasant Site encompassed for the most part with the River Eden for its Antiquity it deserves to be counted the chief Town of the Shire The Castle is the common Goal for Malefactors and the Sessions and Assizes are there kept In this Shire are contained 26 Parishes Lancashire It is a large populous and well wooded County The County Palatine of Lancaster famous for the four Henries the Fourth Fifth Sixth and Seventh Kings of England derived from John Gaunt Duke of Lancaster is upon the South-confined and parted by the River Mersey from the County Palatine of Chester the County of Darbyshire bordering upon the East the large County of Yorkshire together with Westmorland and Cumberland being her kind Neighbours upon the North and the Sea called Mare Hibernicum imbracing her upon the West Their Kine and Oxen have goodly Heads and fair spread Horns and are in body well proportionate withal but the Ground for the generality is Hilly and Mountainous MANCHESTER a Town of great antiquity from Main a British Word which signifieth a Stone It is seated upon a stony Hill and beneath the Town there are most famous Quarries of Stone It far excelleth the Towns lying round about it for the Beautiful shew it carrieth for resort unto it and for Cloathing In regard also of the Mercate place the fair Church and Colledge LANCASTER or Loncaster from the River Lone the chief Town of this Region I shall now give a short Account of the Seven Wonders which are as follows The First Wonder Is at the Divel's Arse near a Village called Castleton sufficiently Noted for that wide Subterraneons Cavarn known by the Name of the Devil's Arse which runs under the Hill upon which the Castle stands and at its Entrance it is Large and Capatious tho' the further you go in the more narrower it is Contracted within the Mouth of it are several poor Cottages Erected the top of this Cave is an exceeding great Height and appears to the Eye as if it were Arched above and Chequer'd with diversity of culloured Stones At the Entrance the poor People are very ready to attend with Candles and Lanthorns to conduct Strangers in tho' it belonged to Satan's Territories and it is very Dark and Slippery by reason of several Currants of Water which runs along the Cave which puts a stop to your Journey there is a Story of a Shepherd that past over all these Currents and at last came into a very fair and delightful Meadow which savours too much of a Romance to be credited however 't is supposed could all these Waters once be gone over there might be made some new Discoveries but it is a dismal place both for its Name and Nature and hath so near a Relation to
brief relation of it tho' not in its proper place Surrey From the West it boundeth partly upon Barkshire and Hantshire from the South upon Sussex and from the East on Kent towards the North it is watered with the River Thames and by it divided from Middlesex It is a County not very large yet wealthy enough where it beareth upon Thames and lieth as a plain and champion Country FERNHAM so named of much Fern growing in that place GUILFORD a Market Town well frequented and full of fair Innes KINGSTONE a very good Market Town for the bigness and well frequented It had begining from a little Town more ancient than it of the same name in which when England was almost ruinated by the Danish Wars Aethelstan Edwin and Ethelstred were crowned Kings upon an open stage in the Market place whence it was called Kingstone SHENE so called of its shining brightness now Richmond wherein the most mighty Prince King Edward the Third when he had lived sufficiently both to glory and nature died King Henry the Seventh built it and gave it that name of Richmond of the Title he bore being Earl of Richmond before he obtain'd the Crown of England He had scarce finished this new work when in this place he yeilded unto Nature and ended his Life Here Queen Elizabeth also died CROIDON there was the Archbishop's House of Canterbury There are Charcoles LAMBETH Canutus the Hardy King of England there amidst his Cups yeilded up his vital Breath It is the Palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury This County hath in it an hundred and forty Parish Churches I have been both in North and South Wales of which other Pens have already set forth so that I do not intend to deliver any thing to the Publick that hath been already set forth by others but only give a short Account of several things very observable not yet set forth by any WALES Flintshire THe Air is healthful without any Fogs or Fenny-Vapours and the People generally are very Aged and hearty The Snow lies here very long upon the Hills the County affords great plenty of Cattel but they are small Millstones are also digged up in these Parts as well as in Anglesey Towards the River Dee the Fields bears in some places Barley in others Wheat but generally throughout Rye with very great encrease and especially the first Year of their breaking up their Land and afterward two or three Crops together of Oats Holy-Well or St. Winifrid's-Well This County is most remarkable for a little Village called Holy-Well where is the Well of St. Winifrid so famous for the strange Cures which have been wrought by the Vertue of it as it is supposed the Water hereof is extream cold and hath likewise a very great Stream that flows from it which is presently able to drive a Mill the Stones which are at bottom being of a sanguine colour are believed to receive that colour from the Drops of Blood which trickled down from her Body when she was here beheaded by the bloody Tyrant that would have ravished her and the Moss which grows upon the sides and bears a very fragrant Smell is averred to have been the product of her Hair though I find by some we brought away with us that in process of time it loseth all its sweetness Over the Well stands a Chappel dedicated to her built of Stone after a curious manner to which formerly was much resorting by Pilgrims who came hither out of blind Devotion and the generality of the Commonalty hereabouts do believe That this Martyred-Virgin and the great Miracle that was wrought by St. Benno who restored her to life again as they say by claping on her head immediately after it was cut off upon her Shoulders which Relation those Inhabitants thereabouts do verily believe to be true So having made some small stay here in which time we conversed with the Welshmen and gathered up a true Account of this County which was as follows Radnorshire In the East and South parts thereof 't is more fruitful than the rest but is uneven and rough with Mountains yet it is well stored with Woods watered with running Rivers and in some places with standing Pools the Air is very cold and sharp because the Snow lying long unmelted under the shady Hills and hanging Rocks whereof there are many and upon the Borders of it which lies next to Herefordshire runs a-long a famous Ditch which Offa King of the Mercians with great toil and labour caused to be cast up from Dee mouth to Wye mouth for the space of 90 Miles to separate the Britains from the English Several other things there are very observable which are too tedious to relate Brecknockshire Lies beneath Radnorshire It is thick with Hills and fruitful in the Valleys MOUNTH-DENNY three Miles from Brecknock is a Hill so called that hath its top above the Clouds and if a Cloak or Hat or the like be thrown from the top of it it will never fall but be blown up again nor will any thing descend but Stones or Mettals or things as heavy LYNSARATHAN-MERE two Miles East from the same place is a Mere called Lynsarathan which as the People dwelling there say was once a City but the whole City was swallowed up by an Earthquake and this Water or Lake succeeded in the place they say likewise That at the end of Winter when aftr a long Frost and the Ice of this Lake breaks it makes a fearful noise like Thunder possibly because the Lake is encompassed with high steep Hills which pen in the sound and multiply it or else the ground may be hollow underneath or near the Lake LIVENNY-River Through this Lake runs a River called Livenny without mixture of its Waters as may be perceived both by the Colour of the Water and also by the Quantity of it because it is no greater afterwards than when it entered the Lake CADIER-ARTHUR or Arthur's Chair a Hill so called on the South side of this County from the Tops resembling the form of a Chair proportionate to the Demensions of that great and mighty Person upon the top whereof riseth a Spring as deep as a Well four square having no Streams issuing from it and yet there are plenty of Trouts to be found therein Glamorganshire Hath a temperate Air and is generally the most pleasant part of all South Wales MINYD-MORGAN Hill On the top of a certain Hill so called is a Monument with a strange Character which the Inhabitants thereabouts say if any Man read the same he shall die shortly after The Springs by Newton Upon the River Ogmore and near to Newton in a sandy Plain is a Well the Water whereof is not very clear in which at full Sea in Summer-time can hardly any Water be took up but at the Ebb it bubbleth up amain in Summer-time I say for in the Winter the Ebbing and Flowing is nothing near so evident because of the Veins of Water coming in by
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
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