ever born When e're thy lofty towers thy stately wall And all thy glories my glad thoughts recall My ravish'd soul still swells with full delight And still my absent eyes admire the grateful sight Fame that 's all tongue and would if silent dye Of thee her greatest theme nor dares nor needs to lye And another in a Poëtical vein penn'd this Haec Urbs illa potens cui tres tria dona ministrant Bacchus Apollo Ceres pocula carmen ador Haec Urbs illa potens quam Juno Minerva Diana Mercibus arce feris ditat adornat alit A place where Ceres Phoebus Bacchus joyn Their three great gifts Corn Poetry and Wine Which Pallas Juno and chast hunting Maid With buildings goods and beasts adorn enrich and feed But my friend the famous John Jonston of Aberdeen Professor of Divinity in the Royal University of St. Andrew's has manag'd the subject more soberly Urbs Augusta cui coelúmque solúmque salúmque Cuique favent cunctis cuncta elementa bonis Mitius haud usquà m coelum est uberrima Tellus Fundit inexhausti germina laeta soli Et pater Oceanus Tamisino gurgite mistus Convehit immensas totius orbis opes Regali cultu sedes clarissima Regum Gentis praesidium cor anima atque oculus Gens antiqua potens virtute robore belli Artium omnigenûm nobilitata opibus Singula contemplare animo attentúsque tuere Aut Orbem aut Orbis dixeris esse caput Renown'd Augusta that sea earth and sky And all the various elements supply No peaceful climate breaths a softer air No fertile grounds with happier plenty bear Old Ocean with great Thames his eldest son Makes all the riches of the world her own The ever famous seat of Britain's Prince The nation's eye heart spirit and defence The men for ancient valour ever known Nor arts and riches gain them less renown In short when all her glories are survey'd It must with wonder still at last be said She makes a world her self or is the world 's great head But these matters with others of this kind are handl'd more at large and with more accuracy by John Stow a Citizen of London and a famous Chronicler in his Survey of London but lately publisht And so I will take leave of my dear native place after I have observ'd that the Latitude of it is 51 Degrees 34 Minutes b Our modern Mathematicians will only allow it 32 minutes and the Longitude 23 Degrees and 25 Minutes that * Orpheus's â—arp Fidicula of the nature of Venus and Mercury is the Topick Star which glances upon the Horizon but never sets and that the Dragon's-head is lookt upon by Astrologers as the Vertical Radcliff The Thames leaving London waters Redcliff a neat little Town inhabited by Sea-men and so call'd from the red cliff Next after it has took a great winding it receives the river Lea the Eastern bound of this County 69 When it hath collected his divided stream and cherished fruitful Marish-meadows which yet has nothing situate upon it belonging to this shire that 's worth our notice For Aedelmton Edmonton Waltham-Cross has nothing remarkable but the name deriv'd from nobility nor Waltham but a Cross built by King Edward the first for the funeral pomp of Queen Eleanor from which it has part of the name Only there is Enfield Enfield-chase a Royal seat built by Thomas Lovel Knight of the Garter and Privy-Councellor to King Henry the seventh 70 And Durance neighbour thereto a house of the Wrothes of ancient name in this County as one may infer from the Arms. Near which is a place cloath'd with green trees and famous for Deeâ—-hunting Enfield-chace formerly the possession of the Magnavils Earls of Essex then of the Bohuns their Successors but now belongs to the Dutchy of Lancaster ever since Henry the fourth King of England marry'd a Daughter and Co-heir of the last Humfrey Bohun And almost in the middle of this Chace there are still the ruins and rubbish of an ancient house which the common people from tradition affirm to have belong'd to the Magnavils Earls of Essex 71 As for the the title of Middlesex the Kings of England have vouchsafed it to none neither Duke Marquess Earl or Baron Towards the north bounds of Middlesex a Military way of the Romans commonly call'd Watlingstreet enters this County coming straight along from the old Verulam through Hamsted-heath from which one has a curious prospect of a most beautiful City and a most pleasant Country Then not where the Road lies now through Highgate for that as is before observ'd was open'd only obout 300 years ago by permission of the Bishop of London but that more ancient one as appears by the old Charters of Edward the Confessor pass'd along near Edgeworth Edgeworth a place of no great antiquity so on to Hendon Hendon which Archbishop Dunstan a man born for promoting the interest of Monkery purchas'd for a few Bizantine pieces of gold and gave to the Monks of St. Peter's in Westminster These Bizantini aurei were Imperial money coyn'd at Bizantium or Constantinople by the Grecian Emperors but what the value of it was I know not There was also a sort of silver-silver-money call'd simply Bizantii and Bizantini Bizantine Coins which as I have observ'd here and there in ancient Records were valu'd at two shillings But leaving those matters to the search of others I will go forward on the Journey I have begun In this County without the City there are about 73 Parishes within the City Liberties and Suburbs c This must needs be a mistake of the Printer for 121. as we find it in some other Copies But neither will that account be true For excluding the seven Parishes in the Cities and Liberties of Westminster which I suppose are thrown into the County and the our parishes of Middlesex and Surrey which can none of them reasonably be accounted in London there will remain in the City Liberties and Suburbs but 113 Parishes as plainly appears by the Bills of Mortality And in the whole County and City together but 186. 221. ADDITIONS to MIDDLESEX THE Extent of this County being very small and our Author a native of it having already been very nice and copious in its description the Reader must not expect any great advance either in the corrections or additions to it a The first place that admits of further remarks is Uxbridge Uxbridge made more famous since our Author's days by a treaty there held Jan. 30. 1644. temp Car. 1. between the King and Parliament then sitting at Westminster Of which we have a full relation given us by Sir William Dugdale in his View of the late Troubles printed at Oxon 1681. to which I refer the Reader for a more particular account b After Uxbridge Stanes Sâ—â—nes is the next Market-Town that offers it self to our consideration which though
raised Edmund Crouchback his younger son to whom he had given the estate and honours of Simon Montfort Earl of Leicester of Robert Ferrars Earl of Derby and of John of Monmouth for rebelling against him to the Earldom of Lancaster Eaâ—â—â—â— Lancastâ—â— giving it in these words The Honour Earldom Castle and the Town of Lancaster with the Cow-pastures and Forests of Wiresdale Lownsdale Newcastle under Lime with the Manour Forest and a Castle of Pickering the Manour of Scaleby the Village of Gomecestre and the Rents of the Town of Huntendon c. after he had lost the Kingdom of Sicily with which the Pope by a ring invested him to no purpose and what expos'd the English to the publick scoff and laughter of the world he caus'd pieces of gold to be coyn'd with this Inscription AIMUNDUS REX SICILIAE 〈…〉 having first chous'd and cully'd the credulous King out of much money upon that account The said Edmund his first wife dying without issue who was the daughter and heir of the Earl of Albemarle 10 Of William de Fortibus Earl c. yet by her last Will made him her heir had by his second wife Blanch of Artois of the 〈…〉 Royal Family of France Thomas and Henry and John who dy'd very young Thomas was the second Earl of Lancaster who married Alice the only daughter and heir of Henry Lacy Earl of Lincoln she convey'd this and her mother's estate who was of the family of the Long Espee's Earls of Salisbury as likewise her father Henry Lacy had done before with his own Lands in case Alice should dye without issue as indeed it afterwards hapen'd over to the family of Lancaster But this Thomas for his Insolence and disrespect to his Prince Edward the second and for imbroiling the State was at last taken prisoner in the field and beheaded having no issue However his Sentence was afterwards revers'd by Act of Parliament because he was not try'd by his Peers and so his brother Henry succeeded him in his estate and honours He was also enrich'd by his wife Maud daughter and sole heir of Patrick Chaworth and that not only with her own but with great estates in Wales namely of Maurice of London and of Siward from whom she was descended He dying left a son Henry 〈…〉 whom Edward the third rais'd from Earl to a Duke and he was the second of our Nobility that bore the title of Duke But he dy'd without issue-male leaving two daughters Mawd and Blanch between whom the Inheritance was divided Mawd was married to William of Bavaria Earl of Holland Zeland Friseland Hanault and of Leicester too in right of his wife But she dying without issue John of Gaunt so call'd because he was born at Gaunt in Flanders fourth son of Edward the third by marriage with Blanch the other daughter of Henry came to the whole estate And now being equal to many Kings in wealth and created Duke of Lancaster by his father he also obtain'd the Royalties of him The King too advanc'd the County of Lancaster into a Palatinate by this Rescript wherein after he has declar'd the great service he had done his Country both at home and abroad he adds We have granted for us and our heirs to our son aforesaid that he during the term of life shall have within the County of Lancaster his Chancery and his Writs to be issued out under his own Seal belonging to the Office of Chancellor his Justices likewise as well for Pleas of the Crown as for other Pleas relating to Common Law to have cognisance of them and to have power of making all Executions whatsoever by his Writs and Officers And to have all other Liberties and Royalties of what kind soever appertaining to a County Palatine as freely and as fully as the Earl of Chester within the said County is known to have c. Nor was he only Duke of Lancaster but also by marriage with Constantia daughter of Peter King of Castile John of Gaunt K. of Castile for some time bore the title of King of Leon and Castile But by contract he parted with this title and in the 13th of King Richard the second was created by consent of Parliament Duke of Aquitain 11 To have and to hold the same title for term of life of the King of England and Monarch of France but to the general disgust of the inhabitants of the Province of Aquitain who gave it out that their Seigniory was inseparably annext to the Crown of England to the great dissatisfaction of that Country At that time his titles were John son to the King of England Duke of Aquitain and Lancaster Earl of Derby Lincoln and Leicester and high Steward of England After this John Henry de Bullingbroke his son succeeded in the Dutchy of Lancaster 12 Who when he had dispossess'd Richard the second and obtain'd the Kingdom of England he considering that being now King he could not bear the title of Duke of Lancaster and unwilling that the said title should be discontinu'd ordain'd by assent of Parliament that Henry his present son should enjoy the same and be stil'd Prince of Wales Duke of Aquitain Lancaster and Cornwall and Earl of Chester and also that the Liberties and Franchises of the Dutchy of Lancaster should remain to his said son sever'd from the Crown of England who having deposed Richard the second obtain'd the Crown and conferr'd this honour upon Heny his son K. Henr. 4. afterwards King of England And that he might entail it upon him and his heirs for ever he had an Act of Parliament made in these words We being unwilling that our said inheritance or its liberties by reason of our now assuming the Royal state and dignity should be any ways chang'd transferr'd diminish'd or impair'd but that our said inheritance with its rights and liberties aforesaid should in the same manner and form condition and state wherein they descended and fell to us and also with all and singular liberties franchises and other privileges commodities and profits whatsoever which our Lord and Father in his life time had and held it withal for term of his life by the grant of the late King Richard be wholly and fully preserv'd continu'd and enjoy'd by us and our heirs specified in the said Charters And by the tenure of these presents we do upon our certain knowledge and with the consent of this our present Parliament grant declare decree and ordain for us and our heirs that as well our Dutchy of Lancaster as all and singular Counties Honours Castles Manours Fees Advowsons Possessions Annuities and Seigniories whatsoever descended to us before the Royal Dignity was obtain'd by us how or in what place soever by right of inheritance in possession or in reversion or other way remain to us and our said heirs specified in the Charters abovesaid after the said manner for ever Afterwards King Henry the fifth by Act
first infested our seas the band of Exploratores under the Roman Emperors had their Station but it is now choaked up with heaps of sand driven together For both the name as it were still remaining entire as also some near adjacent cottages call'd Portslade that is the Way to the Port do in a manner persuade that this was Ederington a little village which the said Aelfred granted to his younger son to say nothing how easily they might land here the shore being so open and plain And for that very reason our men in the reign of Hen. 8. waited chiefly here for the French gallies while they hover'd upon our Coasts and suddenly set one or two cottages on fire at Brighthelmsted which our ancestors term'd BrigHtealmes-tun the very next Station to it Some few miles from hence a certain anonymous river discharges it self into the sea which arises out of St. Leonard's Forest near Slaugham the habitation of the Coverts who in K. Hen. 3.'s time flourish'd in this quarter with the honour of Knighthood 11 Thence by Cuckfeild to Linfeld where in former ages was a small Nunnery and so by Malling sometime a mannour appertaining to the Archbishops of Canterbury Farther along the Coast but somewhat remote from the sea stands Lewes Lâ—wes upon a rising ground taking its name perhaps from Pastures call'd by the Saxons LesÆ¿a for largeness and populousness one of the chief Towns of this County 12 Seated it is upon a rising almost on every side That it hath been walled there are no apparent tokens Southward it hath under it as it were a great suburb called South-over another westward and beyond the river a third eastward called Cliffe because it is under a chalky Cliff In the time of the English Saxon Government when K. Athelstan made a Law that money should not be coin'd but in good towns he appointed two Minters or Coiners for this place In the reign of Edw. the Confessor It paid six pounds and four shillings * D. Gâ—blo 〈◊〉 Tâ—hâ—â—o D mesdayâ—â—k for Tax and Toll The King had there 127 Burgesses It was their custom if the King had a mind to send his soldiers to sea without them that of all of them whosesoever the lands were there should be collected 20 shillings and those had it that kept the armour in the ships Whoso sells an horse within the Borough gives the Provost one penny and the buyer gives another for an ox or cow a half penny for a man four pence wheresoever within the Rape he buys He that sheds blood Eâ—endat 〈◊〉 c. pays 7 shillings He that commits Adultery or a Rape 8 shillings and four pence and the woman as much The King hath the Adulterer and the Archbishop the woman When the money is new made every Mint-master gives 20 shillings Of all these payments two parts went to the King and a third to the Earl William de Warren first Earl of Surrey built a Castle here at the foot whereof he dedicated a Priory to St. Pancrase and fill'd it with Cluniack Monks in regard of the holiness religion and charity which he found in the Monastery of Clugny in Burgundy I cite this out of the original Instrument of the Foundation whilst going in pilgrimage together with his wife he turn'd in and lodg'd there But this is now converted to a house of the Earl of Dorset's Yet there are 6 Churches still remaining in the town amongst which not far from the Castle there stands beneath it a little one quite desolate and overgrown with bramble in the walls whereof are engraven in arched work certain rude verses in an obsolete Character which imply that one Magnus descended of the Blood Royal of the Danes embracing a solitary life was there buried But here take the verses themselves tho' imperfect and gaping if I may so say with the yawning joynts of the stones Which perhaps are to be read thus Clauditur hic miles Danorum regia proles Magnus nomen ei magnae nota progeniei Deponens Magnum prudentior induit agnum Praepete pro vita fit parvulus Anachorita Here lies a Knight of Denmark's royal blood Magnus his name whence his great race is show'd Resigning all his grandeur he became Hermit from soldier and from wolf a lamb During the reign of the Saxons upon Aethelstan's making a law that no money should be coin'd but in towns only he order'd there should be two Minters here But afterwards in the reign of the Normans it became famous for a bloody battel between King Henry 3. and the Barons 1263. The Battel of Lewes in which the prosperous beginning of the fight on the King's side was the overthrow of his party For whilst Prince Edward the King's son breaking thro' some of the Barons troops carelesly pursu'd the enemy too far as making sure of the victory the i Vid. Matth. Paris pag. 1350. Barons rallying their forces gave a fresh charge and so routed the King's army that they compell'd the King to offer conditions of peace dishonourable and unreasonable and to deliver his son Prince Edward with others into their hands 13 From Lewis the river as it descendeth so swelleth that the bottom cannot contain it and therefore maketh a large mere and is fed more full with a Brooket falling from Laughton a seat of Pelhams a family of especial respect by Gline that is in the British tongue the Vale the habitation of Morleys whose antiquity the name doth testifie And afterward albeit it gathereth it self into a chanel yet oftentimes it overfloweth the low lands about it to no small detriment f Thence we pass by a large lake very full of fish hard by Furle the seat of the Gages who advancing their estate by marriage with one of the heirs of the house of St. Clare have since been famous to Cuckmer 14 Which yet affordeth no commodious haven tho' it be fed with a Fresh which insulateth Michelham where Gilbert de Aquila founded a Priory for Black Canons And then at East-bourn the shore ariseth into so high a promontory called of the Beach Beachy Points and Beau Cliff for the fair shew being interchangeably compounded with rows of Chalk and Flint that it is esteemed the highest Cliff of all the south-coast of England As hitherto from Arundel and beyond the country along the coast for a great breadth mounteth up into high hills called the Downes which for rich fertility giveth place to few Valleys and Plains so now it falleth into such a low level and marsh that the people think it hath been overflowed by the sea They call it Pevensey Marsh of Pevensey a pretty good haven Then having pass'd the promontory call'd from the Beach Beachy the next that comes in our way is Pâ—veâ—sey Pevensey anciently Peâ—sensea by the Normans call'd Pevensel Forentius Wigorn p. 452. Rob. de Monte. 1158. but commonly Pemsey a castle in former times belonging to
put it in their hands but about two years after Falco de Breaut laid siege to it presently had it surrender'd to him by the Barons and bestow'd upon him by the King But this ungrateful man afterwards renew'd the war against Henry 3. pull'd down the Religious-houses to fortifie his Castle and very much damnify'd the Country all round till at last the King lay siege to it and after 60 days having tam'd the insolence of the Rebels possess'd himself of that Nursery of sedition d I hope it may not be unacceptable to the Reader if I give you the methods by which this Castle was taken out of an old cotemporary Writer who was an eye-witness to let us understand how that age was nothing inferiour to ours in their contrivances of Works and Instruments for the destruction of mankind Warlike engines On the east-side says he was one Petrary and two a Vid. Leo. Tachi Constit 5. sect 7. de Mangonis Mangonels daily playing upon the tower and on the west two Mangonels battering the old tower as also one upon the south and anotheâ— on the north part which beat down two passages thro' the walls that were next them Besides these there were two machines contriv'd of wood so as to be higher than the castle and tower erected on purpose for the * Bâ—listaril Gunners and Watchmen They had also several machines wherein the Gunners and Slingers lay in wait There was moreover another machine call'd Cattus under which the diggers who were employ'd to undermine the walls of the tower and castle came in and out The Castle was taken by four assaults In the first was taken the Barbican in the second the outer Ballia at the third attack the wall by the old tower was thrown down by the Miners where by a dangerous attempt they possess'd themselves of the inner Ballia through a chink At the fourth assault the miners set fire to the tower so that the smoak burst out and the tower it self was cloven to that degree as to shew visibly some broad chinks whereupon the enemy surrender'd Concerning those Mangonells Petraries Trabucces Bricoles Espringolds and what our Ancestors call'd the Warrwolf out of which before the invention of Bombs they threw great stones with so much force as to break open the strongest gates concerning those I say I would be much more large if they were not foreign to my purpose But my Author goes on Falco continu'd excommunicate till he restor'd to the King the castles of Plumton and Stoke-Curcy as also the gold and silver vessel with what money he had and then was carry'd to London Orders were given in the mean time to the Sheriff to demolish the Tower and the outer Ballia But the inner Ballia after the Works were thrown down and the ditches fill'd up was granted to William de Beauchamp to live in The stones were given to the Canons of Newenham and Chadwell and to the Church of S. Paul's in Bedford But nothing is now to be seen of it beside the bare tracks as they hang over the river upon the east-side of the town e Below Bedford on both sides of it were very neat little Religious-houses to the south Helenstow now Elstow a Nunnery built by Juditha wife to Waltheof Earl of Huntingdon and dedicated to Helena mother of Constantine the Great to the east Newenham which Roisia wife to Pagan de Beauchamp translated thither from the Church of St. Paul in Bedford The Ouse does not go far from hence till it comes to the footsteps of a b The ruins of Eyton-Castle says Leland belong to my Lord Vaulx ruinous Castle at Eaton Eaton which was another seat of the Beauchamps and so bids farewel to Bedfordshire not far from Bissemed where Hugh de Beauchamp and Roger his brother built a small Monastery for Canons of St. Augustine as appears by one of the Pope's Bulls These lye beyond the Ouse which before it comes so far is encreas'd by a little anonymous river from the south Call'd by some Ivâ—d and at the conflux stands Temesford noted for a Camp of the Danes with a Castle built at the time when they infested those parts with their winter quarters and demolish'd as 't is thought that British Fort the place whereof is now call'd Chesterfield and Salndy which often gives fresh proofs of it's antiquity by throwing up Roman money f And I am pretty well convinc'd from the situation that this is the very Salenae Salenae which Ptolemy settles among the Cattieuchlani especially if Salndy be the true name as some have affirm'd to me Potton Potton a little market-town I pass by having met with nothing about it but only that J. Kinaston bestow'd it upon Thomas Earl of Lancaster along with the lands belonging it Nor is there much to be said about those towns that lye upon this little river namely Chicksand Chicksand where Pagan de Beauchamp built a little Religious-house Shelford a market-town 7 Wardon more inward where was a house of Cistercian Monks and was mother to the Abbeys of Saultry Sibton and Tilthey Bigleswade famous for it's horse-fair and stone-bridge At a little distance from whence is Stratton Strattâ—n which was formerly the seat â—f the Barons Latimer afterward of the Enderbies and so came hereditarily to the Pigotts Five miles from the head of this river almost in the heart of the County stands Ampthill Ampthâ—l seated upon a hill 8 A parcel of the Barony of Kainho a stately royal seat that may vie even with a Castle and is set round with Parks It was built in the reign of K. Hen. 6. by 9 Sir John John Cornwale Baron of Fanhop out of the French spoils whose goods as I have read when Edw. 4. made confiscate for his siding with the House of Lancaster and had attainted him or rather as Fanhop himself witnesses the house he forthwith gave it to Edmund Grey Lord of Ruthin afterwards Earl of Kent 10 Whose grandchild Ruthin pass'd both it and Ruthin over to K. Henry 7. from whose * Nepâ—â— Nephew Richard it came to King Hen 8. and he as the Civilians term it added it to the †Sacrâ—â—â—â—trâ—â—â—â—â— Sacred patrimony or as our Lawyers to the Crown calling the large estate belonging to it the Honour of Ampthill More to the north lies Haughton-Conquest Haughâ—â—n Conâ—â—eâ—t so call'd from a famous and ancient family that was long possest of it g To the west is Woburn Wobuâ—â— where there is now a little School built by Francis Earl of Bedford as there was formerly a famous Monastery built by 11 Henry H. de Bolebec h Below which at Aspely Gowiz they say there is a sort of ground that turns wood into stone Earth â—â—â—ing wâ—od into stone for an evidence whereof I have heard that a wooden * Sâ—aâ—â— gestaâ—â—â—â— Ladder was to be seen in that Monastery