which being well replenished with numerous Shoals of Fish after it hath for a time parted this County from Northamptonshire passeth through the midst of it and divides it as it were into two equal Portions In fine Nature hath here so generously scatter'd all her Largesses either for Pleasure or Profit that she certainly at first designed it as a Glorious Seat for the Muses and a fruitful Colony for Apollo's Children and therefore we now find here one of the Eyes of this Nation which is the Renowned Oxford Oxford Oxford q. Bovis Vadum a Ford for Oxen to pass over as the Thracian Bosphorus is called by the Germans Ochenfurt It was anciently called Bellositum for its healthy Air and commodious Situation betwixt two Rivers and is so ancient a City as to fetch its Original from the time of the Britaine so large to contain 13 Parish Churches besides the Cathedral so well adorned with private goodly Structures as well as with divers magnificent Colleges and Halls that it must needs be allowed to be one of the most beautiful and stately Cities in England it is supposed by Antiquaries to have been a place for publick Studies before the Reign of that learned Saxon King Alfred who very much augmented it out of his Princely Favour and Love to Learning and Religion and it justly glories in the Ancient and Royal Foundation of Vniversity-College founded by the aforesaid King Alfred about the year 872. afterward re-edified by William Archdeacon of Durham or as others write by William Bishop of Durham in the Reign of William the Conquerour In the curious Fabrick of New-College built by William of Wickham Bishop of Winchester in Richard II's time In the Magnificence of Christ-Church erected by Cardinal Woolsey in the Reign of Henry VIII and in Twenty two stately Colleges and Halls besides To wave the curious Fabrick of the Schools the admirable Structure of the Theatre built at the sole Cost and Charges of the most Reverend Father in God Gilbert late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the famous Bodleian Library which for a Collection of choice Books and rare Manuscripts is not much inferiour to that of the Vatican at Rome The Musaeum erected at the Charge of the University for the Improvement of Experimental Knowledge The publick Physick Garden replenished with the choicest Plants and surrounded with a strong Stone-Wall at the Expence of his Grace the present Duke of Leeds 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 I shall only observe that the most Puissant King Henry VIII erected here first a Bishop's See and Endowed it as we are informed out of the Lands belonging to the dissolved Monasteries of Abington and Osney and for further Ornaments to the University and Encouragement of Learning through the Munificence of that Prince and divers other Benefactors there have been since added divers professors of several Arts and Sciences to instruct the younger Pupils in their Minority and to make them fit Instruments for the Service of Church and State From hence we moved forward to Burford Burford a Town in this County of good Note for its Antiquity situated very pleasantly on the side of a rising Hill It was formerly called Berghford or Bregforde saith my Learned Friend Mr. White Kennet in his Parochial Antiquities of Oxfordshire and as he further informs us A Synod was here Convened at which were present the two Kings Etheldred and Berthwald Theodore Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Sexwolph Bishop of Litchfield Bosel Bishop of Worcester and Aldhelm afterward Bishop of Sherborn then only Priest and Abbot of Malmsbury which said Aldhelm at the Command of this Synod wrote a Book against the Errour of the British Christians in the Observation of Easter and other different Rites wherein they disturbed the Peace of the Church the reading of which Book reclaim'd many of those Britains who were under the West Saxons After this 't is storied further That about the year 752. Cuthred King of the West Saxons when he was no longer able to bear the Severe Tributes and Exactions of Aethelbald King of the Mercians who did most cruelly oppress him and began 〈◊〉 suck the very Blood and Marrow of his Subjects came into the Field against him and in a pitâ—â—'d Battle at Beorgford saith the Saxon Chronicle published by the Learned Mr. Gibson routed him â—â—tally taking from him his Banners on which was painted a golden Dragon and so eased and freed himself and his Subjects from that Tributary Vassalage The Memory whereof has continued for several Ages in the Custom used here of making a Dragon and carrying it about the Town solemnly on Midsummer-Eve with the addition of a Giant to it the reason of which latter Practice is not so easily discovered saith the Ingenious Dr. Plot in his Natural History of Oxfordshire Having once passed from this place we soon arrived within the Limits of Glocestershire Glocestershire in the Eastern parts swelled up into Hills called Cotswold which Feed innumerable Flocks of Sheep the Wool whereof is much praised for its fineness the middle parts consist of a fertile Plain watered by the Severn and the Western part where lies the Forest of Dean is much covered with Woods 'T is a Country happy in the Enjoyment of all things that are necessary for the Use and Service of Man the very Lanes and Hedges being well-lined with Apple and Pear-Trees and the Vales which in William of Malmsbury's time were filled with Vineyards are now turn'd into Orchards which yield plenty of Sider The Towns and Villages stand mostly thick together and so it is populous the Houses numerous and so 't is sociable the Churches fair and magnificent and so 't is honourable But that which is one of the greatest Blessings of all is the Noble River Severn than which there is not any River in all this Island for its Channel broader for Stream swifter for variety of Fish better stored though sometimes it overflows its Banks and when it hath roved a great way upon the Land retires back again in Triumph as a victorious Conquerour This River Severn The River Severn or Sabrina was so called from Sabrine a fair Lady concerning whom there goes this Story Locrine the Eldest Son of Brutus who came first into Britain and from whom some Writers are of Opinion our Country received its Denomination took to Wife Guendoline Daughter to Corineus Duke of Cornwall the Companion of that Noble Trojan but notwithstanding this he kept a very beautiful Mistress whose Name was Estrilde and by her had a Daughter which he named Sabrine whereupon he grew so enamoured of her that after the Death of his Father-in-law Corineus he put away his Wife and Married this Lady at which Act his Wife was so extreamly netled that she immediately repairs into Cornwall makes her Complaint among her Friends and Relations and having gathered
it Populous and Rich the same is a Bishop's See joyn'd with Litchfield to which it was united by Hugo Novant about the latter end of the Twelfth Century Leofrick Earl of Mercia about the year 1050 built an Abby here for black Monks to the Honour of the Blessed Virgin Rob. de Limesie Bishop of Chester removed his Seat hither Temp. Hen. 1. one of whose Successors expell'd the Monks and placed Secular Canons in their Room A. D. 1191. but seven years after the Monks were restored The same 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 the City which she did indeed being covered only with her fair long Hair Also a Proclamation was Published Commanding all People to keep close within their Houses to shut their Doors and Windows and no Person on Pain of Death to appear in that Street where she Rode 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 more curious than ordinary ventures to peep out of a Garret Window and being immediately discover'd was apprehended and hang'd as by the Effigies of a Man doth appear that is continually kept up for a Memorandum in a full proportion looking out of a Garret Window and call'd by the Inhabitants Peeping Jack And thus did she free her Citizens of Coventry from any such further rigorous Payments Gatford-Gate One thing is still observable That at Gatford-Gate there hangeth up 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 some believe Guy of Warwick slew in Hunting when he had turn'd up with his Snout a great Pit or Pond which is now call'd Swanse-well but Swines-well in times past Coleshill and Litchfield i. e. Cadaverum Campus aut Campus irriguus à Saxon. leccian irrigare Mr. Gibson in his Explication of Saxon Places Passing through Coleshill a little Market Town after about Twelve Miles riding the Road brought us to Litchfield a City low seated of good largeness and fair withal divided into two parts with a shallow Pool of clear Water which parts notwithstanding joyn in one by the means of two Bridges or Causeys made over with Sluces in them for the passage of the Water That part which lies on the Southside of the Water is much the greater and divided into several Streets It hath been doubtless a place of very great Antiquity for we read That Oswy King of the Northumbers A. D. 656 built a Cathedral-Church and placed here a Bishop call'd Duima for the Kingdom of Mercia and the Saxon Chronicle tells us Angl. Sacr Pars prima p. 423. That in the year 716 Ceolred King of the Mercians died and was buried in this place King Ossa about A. D. 786 made it an Archbishops See which Honour it injoyed for ten years and then was again subjected to Canterbury It was Translated A. D. 1075. to Chester and from thence to Coventry A. D. 1102. but the Bishops not long after being setled here again Bishop Clinton built a new Cathedral Church Dedicating it to the Virgin Mary and St. Chadd and restored and augmented the Chapter and now this City and Coventry with it make up but one Diocess under a double Name which came to pass after the same manner and much about the same time as Bath and Wells were joyn'd together into one Bishoprick When this Town in the late unhappy Civil Wars fell into a state of Suffering the Cathedral at that time was a Fellow-sharer with it and through the insatiable Malice of some ill Wishers to it it became a Sacrifice to their merciless Fury but since the happy Restauration through the indefatigable Zeal and boundless Charity of Bishop Hacket and other noble and generous Benefactors it has began again to revive out of its own Ashes and to retrieve its Primitive Splendour and Beauty mounting up aloft with three Pyramids of Stone which make a lovely shew and for elegant and proportionable Buildings will in due time it is to be hoped equal some other Cathedrals The next County we visited was Leicestershire Leicestershire which though in very many parts is deep and Miry yet the richness of the Soil doth sufficiently compensate for the unpleasantness of the Roads which is generally fruitful with all sorts of Grain especially Pease and Beans of which there are so great Stacks that they cover the Fields with their infinite Numbers and what is wanting in Wood is supply'd by their Coal-Mines which they have in great abundance When we had passed through Bosworth Bosworth and Redmore a Market Town famous for the Battle fought upon Redmore near it betwixt Richard III. and Henry VII by the Issue whereof the Crown return'd from the House of York to the House of Lancaster Liecester was formerly call'd by the Britains Kaerlirion Rudborn and so an end was put to the bloody Wars that had so long continued between those two Houses We came to Leicester the Metropolis of the County which is more venerable for its Antiquity than its present Comeliness or Beauty I find this to have been a Bishop See about the year 680 and that Sexwulphus was first installed in the Episcopal Chair at the Command of Ethelred King of the Mercians which continued not long in 914. Ethelfleda a noble and discreet Lady Rebuilt it and surrounded it with Walls after which in the time of the Normans it flourished exceedingly and Temp. Henry I. Robert Earl of Leicester founded a College of a Dean and Twelve Prebendaries the Church of St. Marys the less in the Castle But Crouch-back Robert Earl hereof having raised a Rebellion against King Henry II. the Town was Besieged and taken and the Castle quite dismantled hard by which there is a fair though ancient Hospital in the Chapel whereof Henry Earl of Lancaster and Henry his Son the first Duke of Lancaster lie Interr'd which Duke being very Aged and willing to give some visible Testimony of his Charity built this Hospital for the use and Maintainance of divers poor aged decrepit Persons of both Sexes and on the other side amongst those flowry Meadows which the River Soar enricheth with its bubling Streams Robert Bossu Earl of Leicester built an Abby of Canons Regular of St. Austin's Order to the Honour of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of which Order by the consent of his Wife Amicia he became himself the chief Canon and lived in this place Fifteen years a Monk as hoping to atone for some of his former Crimes by taking upon him this Religious Habit. Here Richard III. was obscurely Interr'd after that fatal Battle at Bosworth before-mention'd
or Sand-ridge Portland Portland formerly an Island is now adjoined to the Continent which Name although some would derive from its lying against the Port of Weymouth yet seems rather to have received it from Port a Noble Saxon who about the Year 703 grievously infested this Coast This Place was formerly extremely exposed to the Danish Outrages and tho' by the Valour of Duke Aethelhelme they were here A. D. 537. routed and put to flight with the assistance of the Dorsetshire Men as the Saxon Chronicle informs us yet after this they got possession of it and killed Duke Aethelhelme on this spot After these Wars were over it fell into the Possession of the Church of Whinchester when Emma Mother to Edward the Confessor being accused by her Son of too great Familiarity with Aldwyn Bishop of VVinchester and having cleared her self from that unjust Imputation by suffering the Ordalium which in those Days was an usual Trial of Chastity in walking bare foot upon nine Coulters of red hot Iron which she did to a miracle without any harm or prejudice to her self she for a memorial hereof bestowed nine Lordships upon the See of VVinchester to which her Son added this Island with many other Revenues to expiate the Crime of his Defamatory Suspicion and unjust Accusation of his Mother's Honesty This Island or rather Peninsula is scarce seven Miles in compass rising up about the sides with high Rocks but lying low and flat in the midst inhabited scatteringly here and there plentiful enough with Corn and very good to feed Sheep but so great scarcity there is of Wood that for want of other Fuel they make use of Ox and Cow Dung dried for Fire The Portland Men like the ancient Inhabitants of the Baleares in the Mediterranean Sea were above all other English Men reputed the best Slingers and they do often find amongst the Sea-Weeds Isidis Ploramos growing without Leaves like Coral which when it is cut waxeth hard and black but is very brittle and if it falls soon breaks Here are likewise divers Quarries of excellent Stone which being accounted the most durable and handsom for all manner of Structure is conveyed away in Vessels to divers Parts but more especially to London for the rebuilding of Churches and other private Edifices On the East side there is only one Church and some few Houses standing close to it and on the North side is a Castle built by King Henry the Eighth which being well Fortified commands the entrance into the Haven of Weymouth Weymouth and Melcomb This Town is large and populous standing upon the mouth of a small River VVey over against which on the other side of the Bank is Melcomb sirnamed Regis both of them enjoying great Privileges apart did heretofore cause no small Animosities betwixt them but the Breaches being since made up they are now incorporated and conjoined by a Bridge and grown much greater and fairer in Buildings by Sea-Adventures than formerly Higher in the Country about seven Miles from the Sea lies Dorchester Dorchester which is the head Town of the whole Shire watered by the River Frome but neither large nor beautiful being much decay'd and long since dispoiled of its Walls by the Danes who raised as it is thought certain Trenches whereof one is called Maumbury being an Acre inditched another Poundbury something greater and the third a Mile off as a Camp with five Trenches containing near ten Acres called Maiden-Castle which in all probability was a Roman Station but that which argues its Antiquity is the Coin of the Romans both Copper and Silver found there and especially at Fordington hard by Fordington which the common People call King Dorne's Pence whom by some allusion to the Name they think him to be the Founder of the Town It had anciently a Castle in that place where the Grey Friars built their Convent out of the Ruins thereof it has three Parish Churches and several Alms-Houses for the support and maintenance of poor impotent People and it was formerly a noted Place for the Manufacture of Cloth as it is still for Sheep of which there are huge numbers to the great benefit and enriching of the Country Our next Stage was through Bere a little Market Town to Winburn which by the distance of sixteen Miles from Dorchester agrees right with the computation in Antonius's Itinerary which he reckons between Durnovaria and Vindogladia two Names by which those Places were formerly called Winburn is watered by the River Stowr Bere and Winburn in which is found as is reported great store of Tench and Eel from whence in Cambden's Opinion it might receive its Name Burn in the Saxon Language signifying a River 'T is seated upon part of a Hill and is a Town as well inhabited now as it was formerly by the Saxons before whom the Romans were Masters of it In the Year 718 according to the Saxon Chronicle St. Cuthburga Sister to Ina King of the West-Saxons Founded here a Nunnery for Benedictine Nuns which was afterward changed into a Collegiate Church consisting of a Dean four Prebendaries five Singing-Men three Vicars and four Deacons the famous Reginald Pool presided here as Dean who was afterward a Cardinal and Arch-Bishop of Canterbury In this Church A. D. 873. was interred King Aethelred a Virtuous Prince Brother to Alfred slain in a Battel against the Danes near the Hill Wilton saith the Saxon Chronicle and about the Year 961. the Body of King Sigefirth who killed himself was likewise buried in this Place Here is also interred Gertrude Blunt Marchioness of Exeter Daughter to William Lord Mountjoy and Mother to Edward Courtney the last Earl of Devonshire of that House and on the other side of the Quire John de Beaufort Duke of Somerset and Heir to Sir John Beauchamp of Bletneshor whose Daughter Countess of Richmond and Derby and Mother to King Henry the Seventh that most Heroick and Unparalled Princess of whom I have formerly spoken erected here a School for the Education of Youth Badbury That Aethelwald having broke the League that was made betwixt his Cousin King Edward the Senior and himself by the advice of the Danes came hither A. D. 901. and strongly Fortified this Place as is credibly related by Historians as that King Edward came against him with an Army which he encamped at Baddanbyrig since called Badbury upon which his perfidious Kinsman fled away to the Danes though he was afterward taken and brought before the King together with his Wife whom he had stoln out of a Nunnery and Married against the Leave of the King or Bishop This Badbury is a little Hill upon a fair Down about two Miles from Winburn environed with a triple Trench and Rampire and is reported formerly to have had a Castle which was a Seat of the West-Saxon Kings but of this there is not now the least Footsteps remaining From hence we travelled into Hampshire Hampshire a Country
most admirable Rarities and refreshed our selves a while after some few troublesom Fatigues we mounted again and made the best of our way thro' Ashbourn Ashbourn another Market-Town of a considerable Trade to Vtcester or Vtoxeter Utcester which being within the Limits of Staffordshire is situated upon the River Dove amongst verdant Meadows and consequently rich in Pasture and Castle Historians tell us that Vlferus King of Mercia residing at his Castle of Vlfercester contractly Vlcester and understanding that his Son Vlfade had carried his Brother Ruffus under a pretended colour of Hunting to St. Chad a famous Father of the Church in those days and that they were both instructed and baptized into the Christian Faith by the persuasion of Werebode a great Favourite of his goes immediately to the Oratory of this Holy Man where finding both his Sons in a devout Contemplation he kills them immediately with his own Hand whereupon Ermenhelde his Queen and their Mother entombed them in a Sepulchre of Stone and in process of time caused a Church of Stone to be erected over them which place was afterward called Stones by reason of the many Stones that were brought hither by devout People in order for this sacred Structure After this Vlfer being extreamly dissatisfied with this inhumane Action and repenting heartily for his barbarous Butchery did himself turn Christian and to shew his Zeal for the Christian Cause destroyed the Pagan Temples burnt their Idols and erected divers Churches and Religious Houses in their stead As we travelled along we found this County of a healthy Air and pleasant Soil Staffordshire though Northward it appears more hilly and barren in some parts it is full of Woods in others it abounds with Coal and Iron and so great was formerly the number of Parks and Warrens here that most Gentlemens Seats were accommodated with both It s principal Rivers are the Dove which so enricheth the Ground that the adjacent Meadows are noted for yielding as some will have it the sweetest Mutton in England and the famous Trent which runs along thro' the middle of the County being commonly reputed the third River in England receives its Denomination either say some because there are Thirty Rivolets which run into it or Thirty sorts of Fish that swim within its Streams nay others go so far as positively to assert what the Hungarians do of their River Tibiscus that two Parts are Water and the third Fish Stafford Stafford is about ten Miles from Vtcester of great Antiquity and hath gone under divers Names it was at first built by Edward the Senior under the name of Betheny where one Berteline that was afterward Canoniz'd for a Saint for his great Piety led an Hermites Life afterward Statford and now Stafford The noble Lady Elfleda Wife to Ethelred Duke of Mercia was very liberal in her Contributions in order to its Repairs as she was likewise to divers other eminent Cities who had suffered by the Danes 'T is situated in a fair Soil and a sweet Air on the Banks of the River Sowe with a Bridge over it 't is adorn'd with two Churches one whereof is very large and spacious and a Free-School beautified with a large and uniform Market-Place in which is a House where the Assizes are held for the County the Streets are clean and well paved the Buildings of Stone and Slate and some of the Structures are very modish and beautiful King John made it a Corporation and Edward the Sixth confirmed and enlarged the Charter Here was a Priory of Black Canons built by Rich. Peche Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield A. D. 1162. to the Memory of St. Thomas of Canterbury and a College of a Dean and Canons dedicated to St. Mary and not far from hence are to be seen the Ruins of an ancient Castle belonging heretofore to the Barons of Stafford but in our late unhappy Broils it underwent the same Fate which divers other Castles did then undergo Whilst we were resident in this place we had some notice that the great Asylum which preserved his Sacred Majesty King Charles Second was not far from this place whereupon being then a little impatient to behold that unparallell'd Sanctuary we went from hence to Long Birch Long-Birch a pleasant Seat situate about eight or nine Miles from Stafford and as then finding no convenient Opportunity to finish some particular Business which we had there to dispatch we rode on till we came at last to that noted Wood where that famous Oak stood in which his Majesty was preserved The Royal Oak we found it paled in with high Pales which were beset with Spikes of Iron to keep off all Sons of Violence from offering it any harm 'T is true a little before his Majesty's Restauration the whole Wood being felled the top of this with the upper Branches were all then lopt off but the Body of it did then remain very firm and entire and was ordered to be preserved to future Generations Not far from that Wood stands a House called the White Lady's The White Lady 's belonging to the Penderels who though but at first of a mean Extraction and Fortune yet could never be bribed to betray their Sovereign who for some time lay thereabouts concealed amongst them And indeed all things did so strangely concur to his Majesty's Protection that Providence seem'd to have laid a golden Link of Causes on purpose to be instrumental to his glorious Preservation thus tho the Oak stood by the common High-way which led through the Wood and the bloody Sons of Mars rode under the very Boughs of it whilst the King was there present though the Persons who at first had provided him that Sanctuary being poor and indigent might have been wrought upon to betray their Trust and rather balanced that way by the great Rewards that were then promised and Majesty being then at a very low Ebb a Royal Assurance of some future remembrance might have then passed for a very unsuitable and insignificant Obligation to Fidelity and though those grand Secrets being committed to some of the other Sex might have been in danger to have slipped thro' such chinky crannies yet all went well not the least discovery was made of any thing and impartial Justice and Loyal Piety did never more visibly appear in the Cottages of the Country than when Rural Swains became Protectors of their injured Sovereign and Majesty was shrouded safely under a Peasant's Weeds We retired from hence to a Village called Tonge Tonge about 3 Miles farther within the Limits of Shropshire which receives its Name from an old ruinated Castle belonging to the Family of the Pierpoints * Isabel the Wife of Fulk Penbridge Kt. Founded here a Collegiate Church and dedicated it to St. Bartholomew A. D 1131. where finding but little to divert us save what the Church afforded us with its Ring of tunable Bells one whereof is of very large size and near
in great Honour and Request and the Mayor and Aldermen are diligent and circumspect in the discharge of their Offices and for the more great and weighty Matters which are above their Sphere the Judges when they come their Circuit and keep the Assizes here for the County do ease them of that trouble by giving a final Determination of all When we had rode about five Miles further we came within the limits of Oxfordshire to a Town called Dorchester Dorchester built at first by Birinus Bishop of Caer-Dor which Bede calls Dorcinia and Leland Hydropolis taking its name of the Waters it stands upon sometimes Walled about and Castled but all now ruined and gone a round Hill there still appearing Here as we are told in the History of Allchester the Superstitious ensuing Ages built Birinus a Shrine teaching them that had any Cattel amiss to creep to that Shrine for help such Blindness possessed them then that they laid the Commandments of God aside to follow their own Traditions and yet so blind are their Posterity that they praise their Doings That this was a Colony of the Romans is very evident from their various Coins and Medals bearing their Stamp which have been found hereabouts and it is as certain that formerly it was a Bishop's See which Birinus the Grand Apostle of the West-Saxons placed here for in the Year 635 by the Preaching of this Holy Man King Kinegilsus and all his People received the Christian Faith to whom Oswald King of the Northumbers was God Father at the Font whereupon a Bishop's See was here fixed But besides Kinegilsus he Baptized after that Guicheline his Son too and after him Cuthred King of Kent about the Year 639. He is said to have instituted Secular Canons in his Cathedral Church who continued till in the Reign of King Stephen Alexander Bishop of Lincoln converted them to Canons Regular Upon the Death of Edward Aethelstan his eldest Son succeeded and during his whole Reign guarded these Parts from all disturbance of the Danes who in January 938 held here a Council as the Learned Mr. Kennet informs us In Civitate celeberrima quae Dornacestre appellatur and there gave a Charter subscribed by four Tributary Kings two Arch-Bishops and fourteen Bishops to the Covent of Malmsbury Upon the Death of Vlf or Wulfin Bishop of Dorchester Remigius was preferred to this See and at a Council held at London A. D. 1072. the Episcopal Seat was transferred from Dorchester as too obscure a place to the City of Lincoln from which time it began visibly to decline and is now only famous for its remains of Antiquity and for the happy conjunction of the two noted Rivers Tame and Isis The next Town of Note which was obvious in the Road was Henley Henley to which the River Thames after it hath fetch'd a great Compass doth at last approach 't is taken for a most ancient British Town from Hen old and Lhey a place and as Cambden and Dr. Plot suppose was the head Town of the People called Ancalites who submitted to Caesar The Inhabitants are generally Barge-Men and by carrying away much Corn and good store of Wood of which there is great plenty in the adjacent Villages in their Barges to London do enrich the Neighbourhood and pick out to themselves a very comfortable Subsistence After a little respite we proceeded on to Maiden-head Maiden-head which they say was thus denominated from the superstitious Adoration given to a British Maid being one of the Eleven Thousand which by the Conduct of St. Vrsula 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 for within this Hundred Years the Passage over the River was at a place called Babham's-End but after that a strong Bridge of Wood was once here erected it began to draw Strangers to it apace and to outshine and excel its Neighbour Bray which being now ancient gives its Name to the whole Hundred 't is not unlikely that the Bibroci were the former Inhabitants of these Parts who did willingly of their own accord come and submit themselves to Julius Caesar and the Relicts of their Name seem to make it out for Bibracte in France is easily contracted into Bray and it is not at all improbable that Caesar making an Inrode into this County did pass over the River not far from this place though Mr. Kennett I find is of Opinion that he brought his Forces over at Wallingford Windsor In this Hundred is Windsor where we arrived towards the declining of the Day This place was given away by Edward the Confessor from the Crown to the Church of Westminster but William the Conqueror taking a 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 here to which the King and Court do resort in Summer time is inferiour to none for Sight and Pleasantness for Beauty and Magnificence throughout his Majesty's Dominions and perhaps for curious Painting exceeds at this time all other Palaces in the Kingdom being the admired Workmanship of Unimitable Seignior Verrio in the Front lies a pleasant Vale garnished with Corn-fields flourishing with green Meadows deck'd with melodious Woods and water'd with the gentle Streams of the noble River Thames behind it is a pleasant Prospect of a delightful Forest design'd on purpose by Nature for Sport and Recreation while she so liberally stocks it with numerous Herds of Deer lurking amongst the shady Thickets In fine 't is such an Elysium for Pleasure and Delight that our Kings and Princes have always chose to retire hither for their Diversion and Charles the Second was so taken with it that he yearly kept his Court here in the Summer time The Royal Castle and Chapel adjoining was rebuilt by Edward the Third who was Born in this Town for Henry the First had before erected it fortifying the same with strong Walls and Trenches he founded also a Chantry for Eight Priests neither endowed nor incorporate but maintained by an Annual Pension out of the Exchequer but Edward the Third founded this College for a Custos Twelve Secular Canons Thirteen Priests or Vicars Four Clerks Six Choristers Twenty-six Alms-Knights besides other Officers to the Honour of St. Edward the Confessor and St. George In the Chapel lie interr'd two of our Kings Henry the Eighth and Charles the First and to this Castle was committed Prisoners John King of France and David King of Scots by King Edward the Third This Castle stands upon a Hill with a stately and spacious Terrace before it and it hath a very magnificent Church dedicated by Edward the Third to St. George but brought to that present Splendor and Beauty with which it is now illustrated by King Edward the Fourth and
Battle at that very Place where were slain on the King's Party as was computed 3800 Men before which Battel 't is said that the Sun appeared to the Earl of March like three Suns and suddenly joined altogether in one for which cause some imagine that he gave the Sun in its full Lustre for his Badge and Cognizance Having spent some short time again with our Friends and Acquaintance at Hereford and dispatched some Business which called us thither we passed on from thence to Dean Dean a Market Town in Gloucestershire which gives Name to a large Forest adjoining to it Dean Forest a Forest formerly so shaded with Trees and dangerous by reason of crooked winding ways that were generally infested with Robbers that King Henry the Sixth was fain to secure his Subjects by most strict Laws from the violence of their Assaults and daily Incursions but since the Woods have been thinned by the Iron Mines to whose uses they have been of late very subservient the Roads have not been annoyed with such troublesom Company After a short review of Bath and Wells we travelled to Glassenbury Glassenbury which place is famous in our old Historians for the ancientest Church in Great Britain being as they say Built by Joseph of Arimathea A. D. 41. But so far is the most Learned Bishop Stilling-fleet from giving any Credit to this Story that he looks upon it only as an Invention of the Monks of Glassenbury to serve their Interests by advancing the Reputation of their Monastery and instead of Joseph of Arimathea or Simon Zelotes or Mary Magdalen's coming hither he very rationally shews us how St. Paul is rather to be looked upon as the first Founder of a Christian Church in Britain and that there was Encouragement and Invitation enough for St. Paul to come hither not only from the infinite numbers of People which Caesar saith were here in his time but from the new Settlements that were daily making here by the Romans after the first Success which they had in the Time of Claudius when divers Colonies were drawn over hither Here was also the first Monastery in England Founded by St. Patrick A. D. 425. and afterwards liberally endowed by the Munificence of King Ina who caused his Subjects first to pay Peter-Pence to Rome whither he travelled himself and there at last ended his days St. Dunstan introduced Benedictine Monks and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin Mary after which time it thrived wonderfully and became a small City full of stately Buildings and encompassed with a strong Wall a Mile in Circumference and had a Vault under Ground through which there was a Passage to the high Tower upon the Hill without the Town which is called the Tor And which is very remarkable the Abbot's Kitchen being 20 Foot high was built in the form of a Pyramid of pure Stone and divided in four Angles or Corners to each of which was allotted a Window and a Chimney but all of them went to rack and were razed to the Ground and there is nothing now left but the Ruins to proclaim its former Glory and Magnificence It would be too tedious to reckon up all the Kings of the West-Saxons with divers other eminent Persons who were all buried here or how at last Abbot Thurstan's Cruelty to his Monks some of which he killed and others barbarously wounded A. D. 1083. was very justly met withal and he severely fined by King William Rufus according to his Deserts But this I must not omit that this Place was a shelter to the Britains in the latter Times of the British Churches when they were miserably harassed and persecuted by the then Pagan Saxons and it might be of far greater request amongst the Britains because it was the place where their King Arthur was buried for I see no reason saith the Learned Bishop of Worcester to question that which Giraldus Cambrensis relates concerning the finding of the Body of King Arthur there in the time of Henry the Second with an Inscription on a Leaden Cross which in Latin expressed that King Arthur lay there buried in the Island of Avalon for Giraldus saith he was present and saw the Body which is likewise attested by the Historians of that time as Leland proves at large And the account given that his Body was laid so deep in the Earth for fear of the Saxons farther confirms that this was a place of Retreat in the British times but nor without the apprehension of their Enemies Invasion The Wollnâ—â—-Tree and Holy Haw-thorn But to come nearer to our own Days here was something not many Years since very notable and strange the Walnut-Tree in the holy Church yard that did never put out any leaves before St. Barnabas Day and upon that very Day grew rank and full of leaves and the Hawthorn in Wiral Park that always on Christmas Day sprouted forth as if in May both deserve Credit as well as admiration of the truth of which we were credibly informed by diverse Persons inhabitants of this place who having then still some young Scions of each Tree remaining in their Gardens yet did not find them blossom like the other which through the malice and fury of some Person in the late Wars were cut down and destroyed From Glassenbury we rode to Taunton q. Thonton from the River Thone which runneth through it Taunton a large neat and Populous Town pleasantly situated beautified with fair Houses and goodly Churches and a spatious Market-place enriched with fertile Meadows and adorned with curious Gardens and Orchards 't is mostly inhabited by Clothiers driving a good Trade in Cloath and Serges made here and in the adjacent parts here was formerly an old Castle built by King Ina which Queen Aethelburga destroyed A. D. 722. and a Priory of Black Canons was also erected by William Gifford Bishop of Winton temp Hen. 1. to the Honour of St. Peter and St. Paul Passing through Wellington Wellington and Columpton in Devonshire another Market Town in this County the Road then led us to Columpton a small market Town in Devonshire which King Alfred by Will bequeathed to his younger Son In Devonshire the Air is sharp and wholesome the Land if not in some places so fruitful yet through the Husband-mans industry is made capable of good emprovement its chief Commodities are Wool and Kersies Sea Fish and Fowl and the Western parts are stored with Tin and Lead Mines and Load-stones have been found upon Dartmoor Rocks of good value and virtue The People of this Country are strong and well made and as they have a peculiar sort of Food which they call White-pots so the Women have a peculiar sort of Garment which they wear upon their Shoulders called Whittles they are like Mantles with fringes about the edges without which the common sort never ride to Market nor appear in publick In diverse places of this County the ways are so Rocky and narrow that 't is
which King John made to Pandulphus the Popes Legate wherein he yielded his Realm Tributary and himself an obedientiary and vassal to the Bishop of Rome The Cliffs beyond Dover being united are well stored with Samphire and reach almost as far as Walmer and Deal Castles which together with Sandown Castle were built by King Henry the Eighth Walmer Deal and Sandown Castle near to which upon a flat or even plain lying full against the Sea stands Deal which of a small and poor Village is now become a place of great note and eminency hereabouts it was where Julius Cesar Landed and though Mr. Somner would have Dover to be the place where he first attempted to arrive yet saith the Accurate Mr. Kennet in his Life of Mr. Somner it is otherwise Demonstrated from Astronomical computation by the very Ingenious Mr. E. Halley who proves the Year the Day the time of Day and place the Downs The Downs where he made his first descent Deal The Town is called lower Deal to distinguish it from the upper part which being the more ancient lies about a Mile farther distant from the Sea and that which hath been the sole cause of raising it was the commodious Riding for Ships in the Downs where Merchant Men making a stop both outward and homeward Bound and taking in here many times a great part of their Provision have by degrees enstated it in a very prosperous condition and indeed its buildings have of late Years been so considerably enlarged and its Trade promoted by great Fleets of Ships who here take in Pilots to carry them up the River Thames that it hath almost quite eclipsed the splendour of Sandwich which is three or four Miles distance from it Sandwich Sandwich being another of the Cinque Ports is on the North and West side fortified with Walls and on the other side fenced with a Rampire Bulwark and Ditch it was called formerly Lundenwick either from its being very populous which the British word Lawn imports or by reason of the great Trade to and from London or from some more peculiar interest the Londoners had in this Place above all other Ports but the name of Sandwich saith Mr. Somner occurs not in any coetaneous Writer or Writing until the Year 979 when King Egelred granted it by that Name to the Monks of Canterbury for their Cloathing which Canutus after his arrival restored again to the same Monks for their sustenance in Victuals with the Addition of his Golden Crown and what perhaps was of equal value in the estimation of those Times St. Bartholomew's Arm It is supposed to have been the Daughter of Rutapis or Richborough Richborough which was an eminent Fortress of the Romans hard by and the first Presidentiary Station that Antiquity represents them to have erected within Britain but like the Mother 't is now very much gone to decay for besides what it suffered from the French in the Reigns of King John and Henry the Sixth after it was recovered again from its Sufferings the Haven being choaked up by the Sand and a great Ship belonging to Pope Paul the Fourth in the Reign of Queen Mary sinking down at the very entrance into the Haven hath ever since reduced it to so great Extremities that the mischief it is to be feared now will prove utterly incurable however it is yet beautified with three Churches and a Free School which was Built and Endowed by Sir Roger Manwood Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and what at present chiefly makes for the Town is the Dutch Colony which is here setled Not far from hence lie those dangerous Sands so much dreaded by Sailors called Goodwyn Sands Goodwyn Sands which though it is the common Opinion that they were Lands of the Earl of Goodwyn swallowed up by the Sea about A. D. 1097. yet with so great strength of Reason is this vulgar Error confuted and the true Cause of Goodwyn Sands more plainly discovered by that indefatigable Searcher into Antiquity Mr. Somner that I shall at present refer the Reader to his ingenious Discourse about this Subject printed with his Treatise of the Roman Ports and Forts in Kent and published A. D. 1693. Over against Sandwich on the other side of the River Stour is Thanet Isle of Thanet a small but very fertile Island where the chiefest Scenes both of War and Peace have been formerly laid for as Mr. Philpott observes when Hengist arrived with his Saxons to support the harassed and afflicted Britains against the Eruption of the Picts he first landed in this Island and when his Forces were broke by Vortimer at the Battel of Alresford he made Thanet his retreat and shelter when Austen the Monk arrived in England to disseminate the Christian Religion amongst the Saxons he found his first Reception in this Island How often the Danes made Thanet a Winter Station for their Navies when they invaded the Maritime Coasts of this Nation our Chronicles do sufficiently inform us and lastly when Lewis the Dauphin was called in by the mutinous English Barons to assert their Quarrel with additional Supplies against King John he laid the first Scene of War in this Island which he afterward scattered on the Face of this unhappy Nation And now being got to the utmost Limits of the Land every Wave of the Ocean ecchoed forth uno plus ultra whereupon taking our leave of these Maritime Coasts we began to withdraw again farther upon the Continent and arrived at Canterbury Canterbury a City of great Antiquity and the Royal Seat of the ancient Kings of Kent watered by the River Stour the Buildings of it at present are but mean and the Wall which encompasseth it gone much to decay and of late Years it hath declined no less in Trade than in Beauty However it is the Metropolis of the County and the Archiepiscopal See of the Primate and Metropolitan of all England and one Ornament still survives 〈…〉 Cathedral in which lie interred divers Kings of Kent whose chief Palace was here till they afterward removed their Station from hence to Reculver Reculver a little Town now by the Sea side about seven or eight Miles distant from it by the Ancients called Regullium where the Roman Captain of the Premier Band of the Vetasians lay in those days in Garrison The Episcopal See was settled here A. D. 601. according to Birchington who tells us Ang. Sacr. Tom. 12 that after Austen the Monk had planted here the Christian Religion and Baptized on one Christmas day no less than Ten thousand Men in the River Swalve he was by the Order of Pope Gregory ordained the first Arch-Bishop of this See But because the Antiquity of this City with all its Liberties and Privileges the Beauty and number of its Churches and Religious Houses before their Dissolution the Magnificence of its Cathedral with all its renowned Tombs and Monuments are so excellently described by Mr. Somner