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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A29627	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.	Brome, James, d. 1719.; D. J.	1694 (1694)	Wing B4857; ESTC R39940	65,229	160

few Cathedral Churches but is now demolished There are accounted an Hundred and Thirty Parishes in this Shire We went next into Warwickshire It is bounded on the East-side with Northamptonshire Leicestershire and the Watling-street-way on the South with Oxfordshire and Glocestershire on the West for the greatest part with Worcestorshire and on the Northside with Staffordshire It is divided into a plain Champion and a woody Country which parts the River Avon running crookedly from North-East to South-West doth after a sort sever one from the other WARWICK is the principal Town of the whole Shire It standeth over the River Avon upon a steep and high Rock and all the Passages into it are wrought out of the very Stone It stands in a dry and fertile Soil having the benefit of rich and pleasant Medows on the South part with the lofty Groves and spacious Thickets of the Woodland on the North. It hath a very strong Castle the seat in times past of the Earls of Warwick the Town it self is adorned with fair Houses COVENTRY It is a City very commodiously Seated large sweet and neat was fortified with a strong Wall and is set out with right goodly Houses among which there rise up on high two Churches of rare Workmanship standing one hard by the other and matched as it were as concurrents the one consecrated to the Holy Trinity the other to Saint Michael One and the self same Bishop carried the name both of Coventry and Lichfield Leofrick the first Lord of this City being much offended and angry with the Citizens oppressed them with most heavy Tributes which he would remit upon no other condition at the earnest suit of his Wife Godina unless she would her self ride on Horseback Naked through the Greatest and most inhabited Street of this City which she did indeed and was covered with her fair long Hair and also a Proclamation was publish'd commanding all People to keep close within their Houses as also their Doors and Windows shut no Person on pain of Death to appear in that Street nor so much as to look into it whether out of a Window or otherwise upon which as she was riding along Naked one Man curious than Ordinary ventures to peep out of a Garret Window and being immediately discovered was Apprehended and Hang'd as by the Effigies of a Man that is continually kept up as a Memorandum in a full proportion looking out of a Garret Window and called by the Inhabitants Peeping Jack And thus she did set free her Citizens of Coventry from many Payments for ever At Gosford-Gate there hangeth to be seen a mighty great Shield-bone of a wild Bore or rather of an Elephant being not so little as a yard in length which Guy of Warwick slew in Hunting when he had turned up with his Snout a great Pit or Pond which is now called Swansewell but Swineswell in times past In this County there are an Hundred and Fifty Eight Parish Churches Worcestershire At the first entring on the Confines of this Shire we found it a very Healthfull and plentiful County One part is of Note for its excellent Cheese but mostly for its great number of Pear-trees growing all along the very Hedges of which the Inhabitants make a very pleasant Drink called Perry 't is likewise very full of Salt Pits and hath formerly been admir'd for the abundance of Salt-Springs which have very oft been discovered in this County but that which makes it most renowned is the River Severn which streams along the County This as also the River Avon which comes out of Warwickshire are well replenished with all sorts of Fish but more particularly seem to have been designed on purpose as Stews and Ponds for the preservation of Lampreys a Fish of great Esteem in that Country and sent far and near as a very great present throughout divers parts of England They are called Lampreys from the Latin word Lampretra as if they had their Denomination from licking of Rocks they are like Eels slippery and blackish however on their Bellies they are of a blewish Collour in the Spring they are most wholesome and sweet for in the Summer the part which is to them instead of a Back-bone waxeth very hard Naturalist observe that these Fish receive and let in Water at seven Holes for that they have no Gills visible at all the Romans allways thought this a very Noble Dish and when any Person of Quality desired a Sumptuous Feast he would be sure to be provided with these and the Italians at this day are very much delighted with them and upon that Account are very exquisite in their Dressing of them and consequently by their Cookery make them exceeding delicate to the taste The first Town of Note we came to in this County was the City of WORCESTER It is the chief City of this County and gives its Name to it the River Severn which in other parts of the County runs along in a swift Currant here glides more softly with a more gentle Stream admiring as it were this City as it passeth by It is famous both for its Antiquity and Beauty 't is supposed that the Romans built it at that time when they first planted Cities on the Eastern-side of the Severn to hinder the Incursion of the Britains who were on the other side even as they did on the South-side of the Rhine in Germany to repress the Germans and keep them within their own Boundaries 'T is situated partly upon the brow of a Hill rising with a gentle Ascent and hath a very fair Bridge over the River and is of great Repute by Reason that the Citizens are generally great Clothiers The Houses are Neat and well Built the Streets clean and well Paved the Churches in Number many in Order and Beauty excellent but especially the Cathedral built many Hundred Years since in this Church are divers small Pillars all of pure Marble which stand in Rows and do uphold that vast Bulk and Fabrick somewhat strange to see the Body larger then the Supporters that so small props should be able to bear up so great a Weight This City hath suffered great Calamities by Fire having almost been quite Burnt up by the Danes three times and in the Year 1113. by an unknown Casualty and once again in the Reign of King Stephen And sure I am 't is not long since it fell into the Hands of some Barbarous and merciless Rebells who were as raging as the Flames and whose Fury was as unquenchable as the Fire Witness the grevious Pressures it groaned under for its Loyalty Love and Obedience to the King in the Year 1651. For here it was That after His Majesties long Exile he arived with an Army of Scots and some English the 22 d. of August and by the Assistance of the Citizens beat out the Soldiers who kept it for the Common-wealth and being Proclaim'd by the Mayor that then was and one of the Sheriffs King of England Scotland France

Merchant of this City about 108 years since who in the erecting this famous piece of Architecture employ'd at his own Expence 800 Labourers and Artificers besides Masons and Carpenters to the number 300 in all 1100 for 2 years together until the Work was totally compleated and in it his Monument doth stand in Marble May his Memory be more lasting than that Marble which is set to preserve it and his Name more durable than any Monument and remain to succeeding Generations S. Vincent's Rocks On the Northern side of this City are several high and craggy Rocks by which the River Avon gently glides along till it returns back again into the Severn one of the chief whereof is called S. Vincent's Rock which hath great plenty of pellucid Stones commonly called Bristol-stones the learned Mr. Cambden hath observed that their Pellucidness is beyond that of the Diamond we receive from the Indies only the Hardness of the latter gives them the pre-eminence and yet certainly Nature never made greater demonstrations of her Art having made some of these Stones as smooth as the most expert Jeweller could have done as round and sharp as broad above and small beneath as the greatest Artist could have effected shaping some of them with four some of them with six Angles apiece like the Stones which we usually set in Rings To make us still the more admire her Perfections she hath not given them all one colour but some of them are like Chrystal clear and some of a more ruddy colour and sanguine complexion according to the nature of the Soil she causeth her Productions not to be unlike their great Parent The Hot Well There is one thing still here very remarkable and that is the Hot Well which is just at the bottom of this Rock and at the very brink of the River Avon yet it still retains its natural Head and by its constant Ebullitions purgeth away all the Scum and saltish froth it might have contracted by the Sea the Water is exceeding wholesome and very good to purge away ill Humors and purifie the Blood and I was there credibly informed that it hath wrought great Cures and is much frequented and resorted to by several sorts of People Devonshire The next County we went to in these Parts was Devonshire where we made but little Stay The Air is sharp and wholesome the Soil hilly and woody and they use here as they do likewise in Cornwall Sea-Sand to mend and inrich their Land The chief Commodities of this County are Wooll Kerseys Sea-Fish and Sea-Fowl and the West of it is well stored with Tin Mines and Loadstones have been found upon Dartmore Rocks of good value and vertue so at other places in this County are found Mines of Lead and some Veins of Silver Upon Exmore Forest are such huge Stones and placed confusedly as they are upon Salisbury Plain and one of them hath Danish Letters upon it directing Passengers that way At Hubblestow in this County was a Battle fought by the Danes where their Banner called Reafan in which they reposed all their confidence of Victory and Success was notwithstanding taken and Hubba their General slain The People of this County are strong and well made and as they have a peculiar sort of quaking Pudding which they call Whitepots so the Women have a peculiar kind of Garment which they wear upon their Shoulders called Whittles they are of divers Colours made like Mantles with Fringes about the Edges without which the common sort of People never ride to Market nor appear in publick In divers places of this County the ways are so rocky and narrow that it is not possible for Waggons to pass so that the Country People are forced in Harvest time to carry home their Corn upon Horses in certain Crooks made for that purpose which creates no small Toil and Labour to them EXETER is the principal City in this Province situated upon the Eastward by the Banks of the River Ex or Ise upon a little Hill gently arising with an easie Ascent to a pretty height the Pendant whereof lies East and West environed about with Ditches and very strong Walls having many Turrets orderly interposed and six Gates which gives entrance into the City and contains about a Mile and half in circumference the Suburbs branch forth a great way on each side the Streets are broad kept clean and well paved the Houses are as gay within as trim without there are Seventeen Parish-Churches and in the very highest part of the City near the East Gate is a Castle formerly the Seat of the West Saxon Kings and afterwards the Earls of Cornwal which Baldwin de Redures the Governor holding out against King Stephen was by scarcity of Provisions forced to Surrender and after the surrendry he with his whole Family was banished that Kingdom Just without the East Gate are two pleasant Walks call Southney and Northney beset on both sides with Rowes of high Trees which being mounted up aloft afford a curious Prospect to Topesham the place where all the Ships and Vessels of the Citizens lie at Anchor from whence since the River was stopt up by certain Dams or Wears that Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire for some Distaste that he had took from the City caused here to be made all their Goods and Commodities are brought home by Land In the same quarter of the City stands the Cathedral founded by King Athelstan in honour to St. Peter and Edward the Confessor made it the Bishop's See of Cornwall and Kirton and Constituted the first Bishop thereof who Successors augmented it greatly both in Edifices and Revenues and William the Ninth Bishop after him when the Monks were displanted brought in a Dean and Four and Twenty Prebendaries to which has been added in our times four Arch-Deacons In the Church are Six private Chappels and a Library very handsomly built and finished by a Physician of this City the Quire is curiously beautified and adorned especially with Organs whose Pipes though they are of a larger size than any which ever we beheld in any Cathedral besides yet the Musick is extreamly pleasing and melodious to the Ear. All which Additions hath been erected since the Return of K. Charles II. On the West side of this City runs the River over which is built a strong Stone-bridge with four Arches and about the middle of the City is the Town-Hall where the Assizes and Sessions are held for the City it being both City and County of it self 'T is governed by a Mayor two Sheriffs four and twenty Aldermen a Recorder and Town-Clerk with other Officers befitting the Grandeur of so honourable a Place Plimouth So called from the River Plime which runs along by it where is one of the largest and most securest Haven in England for before the very Mouth of it lies St. Nicholas Island strongly fortified both by Art and Nature and in the Haven are Fortifications laid on both sides for the safe

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

Showers or otherwise besides it is observed this Spring never riseth up to the top brink or over-floweth ABERBARRY Cave There is in this Shire a Cave so called under the bottom of a Hill and on the top of it a gaping Chinck where many times is heard as it were a Musical-noise and sometimes other very strange Noises which is very observable for all Travellers to take notice of LANDAFF a small Town but of good Repute in that it is a Bishop's See and adorned with a Catheral-Church Carmardenshire A most hilly Country yet it hath a wholsome Air and though the Soil be not very fruitful in Corn 't is well stored with Cattel and in some places yeilds very 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 The Cave and Well near Carreg-Castle Near Carreg-Castle are many Undermines or Caves of very great wideness within the ground now covered all over with Green-sword and Turf wherein it is probable the Multitude unable to bear Arms when the Normans made their first Incursion into these Parts hid themselves during the heat of the War There is also a Well that like the Sea Ebbs and Flows twice in 24 hours Pembrokeshire Hath a good temperate Air considering it lies so near to Ireland the Inhabitants are many of them Dutchmen but by their Manners and Language they are much like the English that upon this Account this County is called Little England beyond Wales In the Rocks of this Shire there breeds a rare kind of Falcon which is thus described The Head is flat and low the Feathers laid in rows the Legs pale and wan the Claws slender and wide spread hooked round About 300 Years a-go it was reported That for five Generations the Father of the Family in the Earldom of Pembroke their Name was Hastings never saw his Son At the time when Henry the Second made his Abode in Ireland there were extraordinary violent and lasting Storms of Wind and Weather so that the Sandy-shoar on the Coasts of this Shire were laid bare to the very hard ground which had lain hid for many Ages and by farther search the People found great Truncks of Trees which when they were digged up were apparently lopped so that they might see the Stroaks of the Ax upon them as if they had been given not long before the Earth looked very black and the Wood of these Truncks altogether like Ebony as the Inhabitants informed us At the first discovery made of these Storms the Trees we spake of lay so thick that the whole Shoar seemed nothing but a lopped Grove from whence may be gathered That the Sea hath over-flowed much Land on this Coast as it had upon the Shoar of many Countries bordering upon the Sea The Salmon's-Leap at Kilgarran About Kilgarran are abundance of Salmons taken and there is a place called The Salmon's-Leap as there is also in other Rivers for this reason The Salmon coveteth to get into fresh-water Rivers to Spawn and when he comes from places where the Water falls down-right almost perpendicular as some such like Places there be he useth this Policy He bends himself backwards and takes his Tail in his Mouth and with all his force unloosing his Circle on a sudden with a smart Let-go he mounteth up before the Fall of the Stream and therefore these down-right Falls are called The Salmon's Leaps St. DAVIDS is in this County formerly an Arch-Bishop's See There is a Cathedral erected in the Time of King John and near unto it stands the Bishop's Palace and several other Houses belonging the Bishop's See all enclosed round with a Wall whereupon they call it The Close Cardiganshire Being a hilly Mountainous County like the rest of Wales was not formerly planted or garnished with Towns but little Cottages as may be gathered by that Speech of their Prince who being taken Prisoner and carried to Rome after he had throughly viewed the Magnificence of that City What mean you said he when you have such stately Buildings of your own to covet our poor small Cottages Many other things here might be mentioned in relation to this County but I must omit them by reason I have not room enough Montgomeryshire In this Shire there is nothing more observable than its excellent Breed of Horses which as I have been informed are of most excellent Shapes and strong Limbs and incomparable for Stoutness The Hill Plim-limmon It raiseth it self up to a wonderful height and on that part where it boundeth on part of this Shire it poureth forth the Severn the greatest River in Britain next the Thames as likewise in the other parts of it riseth the River Wye and the River Rideal The Hill Cerdon Upon Cerdon Hill are placed certain Stones in a round Circle like a Coronet in all probability to commemorate some notable Victory In this County are several old Castles and other things very observable Merionethshire The Air may be wholsome but the Soil is very barren for 't is exceeding full of spired Hills being the most mountainous place in Wales except Caernarvonshire upon which account it is subject to many and extraordinary great Winds The Pool near Bala Near Bala is a great Pool of Water that drowns at least 200 Acres of ground whose Nature is such as they say That the Highland Floods cannot make this Pool swell bigger though never so great but if the Air be troubled with violent Tempests of Wind it riseth above the Banks The River Dee runs into with a swift Stream and glides through it without mixture of Water for in this Pool is bred a sort of Fish which are never seen in Dee and in Dee River Salmons are taken which are never found in this Pool Upon the Sea-Coasts of this County great store of Herrings are taken at time of Year and upon the West side of it the Sea beats so sore and hard that it is thought it has carried away part of it Caernarvonshire In this County the Air is sharp and piercing and in it are the highest Hills in Wales on some of which the Snow lies long and on others all the Year long hard crushed together 'T is affirmed likewise That on the high Hills of this Shire are two Meres one of which produceth Fish that have but one Eye and the other a floating Island I do not verifie the truth of this because I think it meer Fables SNOWDEN-HILLS altho' 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 yeild sufficient Pasture for all the Cattle in Wales if they were put upon them together 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