A. D. 1842 of which number 10,000 are in Bingley-with-Micklethwaite. The soil is generally fertile, and the land in good cultivation; the surface is finely varied, and the scenery abounds with interesting features. A considerable portion of the township of Bingley belongs to the Ferrand family, whose ancestors came over to England with William the Conqueror, and whose descendants have ever since continued at this place. St. Ives, the seat of Mrs. Ferrand; Harden Grange, the seat of W. B. Ferrand, Esq.; Myrtle Grove, the property of Mrs. Walker Ferrand; Ryshworth Hall, the residence of Frederick Greenwood, Esq.; Cottingley House, and several other seats, all possess attractions for the tourist. The church, a venerable structure, was restored in the reign of Henry VIII.; it contains several monuments to the Ferrand and Busfeild families. We may here state that William Busfeild, Esq., of Upwood, who, for several years, represented the borough of Bradford in Parliament, died in the month of October, 1851, at the advanced age of 82. There is a free grammar school, an infants' school, and a national school, capable of admitting 800 scholars. Alms-houses exist for aged widows, and there are also several bequests for distribution in bread and clothes among the poor, and for other charitable purposes. That well known character, John Nicholson, the Airedale poet, was buried here in May, 1843. Bingley is in the union of Keighley, and the population is now Population. upwards of 13,000, of which number more than 11,000 are in the market town of Bingley, including Micklethwaite. Battle fought in 1322. BOROUGHBRIDGE. This place derives its name from a bridge erected here over the river Ure, soon after the Conquest, when the road was diverted from Aldborough. In 1318, it was burnt by Earl Douglas, at the head of a band of Scots, who ranged the northern parts of England; and in 1322, a battle was fought near the bridge, between the forces of Edward II. and those of the celebrated Earl of Lancaster, in which the latter were defeated, and the earl, being taken prisoner in the town on the following day, was conveyed to Pontefract, where he was soon afterwards beheaded. Of this battle, a memorial was exhibited in the number of human bones, swords, fragments of armour, and other military relics, which, in raising the bank of the Ure in 1792, were found near the spot. The town is pleasantly situated on the southern bank of the river, over which a handsome stone bridge has been constructed; the streets are partially paved, and there is an ample supply of water from springs and the river. In the market-place is a beautiful fluted column of the Doric order, twelve feet high. To the west of the town are three large pyramidal stones, ranged in a straight line, in a direction from north to south; the central one is 30 feet in height; they are vulgarly called the Devil's Arrows, and were originally four in number. Camden considers them to have been Roman trophies; but Stukeley refers them to the earliest times of the Britons, and is of opinion that here was the Great Panegyre of the Druids, where the inhabitants of the neighbouring district assembled to offer their sacrifices. From its proximity to Aldborough, a celebrated Roman station, it has become the depository of numerous relics, consisting of tessellated pavements and coins, several of which have been found in the immediate vicinity; the remains of a Roman wall are still discernible. The usual places of worship exist; and a national school is supported by subscription. Both Boroughbridge and Aldborough formerly returned members to parliament, but they were disfranchised by the Reform Act. Prior to the existence of railways, Boroughbridge, as the principal high-road to the north, was a flourishing place, owing to the continuous traffic that prevailed, but its importance is much diminished now that the advantages once possessed have ceased to exist. BRIDLINGTON. A. D. 1388 Bridlington, or Burlington, as it is now generally called, is supposed to be of great antiquity. In the middle of the eleventh century, a magnificent priory for Augustine canons was founded, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Its commanding situation exposed it to the attacks of the enemy's ships, which frequently entered the Ancient harbour, and in 1388, by permission of Richard II., it was defended Fortificawith fortifications, the only remains of which are an arched gate- tion. way, with a room over it, occasionally used as the town-hall, and some cells underneath, serving as a temporary prison. This priory flourished till the dissolution of monastic institutions, when William Wode, the last prior, was executed for high treason in 1537. In 1643, during the civil war, the queen of Charles I., bringing a supply of arms and ammunition from Holland, purchased with the crown jewels, narrowly escaped the squadron under Batten, the parliamentary admiral, who, after the queen's debarkation, bombarded the town. According to a letter written by herself to the king, the balls sung merrily over her head, and a serjeant was killed at a distance of twenty paces from her." This devoted and courageous woman brought with her thirty pieces of brass, and two pieces of iron cannon, and small arms for 10,000 men, all of which she safely conveyed to York, under an escort of eight troops of horse and fifteen companies of foot. In 1779 a desperate naval Paul Jones fight took place off the coast by moonlight, between the noted pirate, the Pirate. Paul Jones, and two British ships of war. Having been expelled from the service of the Earl of Selkirk with disgrace, Jones repaired to America, where he procured the command of a small squadron, consisting of two ships of 40 guns each, another of 32 guns, and an armed brig. With this force he made many valuable captures, insulted the coast of Ireland, and even threatened the city of Edin 66 A. D. 1779 Quay. Strange non. burgh. On the night of Monday, the 20th of September, 1779, the hostile squadron was descried off Flamborough Head, and it soon became known that Paul Jones was the commander. On the following Thursday a valuable fleet of British merchantinen, under the convoy of Captain Pearson and Captain Piercy, hove in sight, and were chased by the enemy. By a skilful manoeuvre the whole of the merchantmen escaped in safety to the port of Scarborough, and at half-past seven, the moon shining with unusual brightness, an engagement commenced between the two parties. The combined force of the British only amounted to 66 guns, while the blood-thirsty pirate had 112 guns, in addition to an armed brig. The battle raged with unabated fury for two hours, but the odds were so unequal, that Captains Pearson and Piercy, after a most gallant defence, were obliged to surrender. The enemy purchased his victory at a prodigious price, not less than 300 men being killed on one vessel alone, which in addition received so much injury, that she sunk the next day with many of the wounded on board. The town is pleasantly situated on a gentle acclivity, in the recess of a beautiful bay, about a mile from the sea, and consists principally of one long street; the houses are in general of good appearance, and the supply of water is ample. About a mile to Bridlington the south-east is Bridlingtou Quay, a small, handsome, and well built town; both are lighted with gas, from works erected midway, in 1833, at a cost of £4,000. This part of the town is much frequented for sea bathing, and contains hot and cold baths fitted up for the accommodation of visitors. At a distance of half a mile, there is a chalybeate spring, the medicinal properties of which, according to Nicholson's Dictionary of Chemistry, resemble the springs of Scarborough and Cheltenham. A striking phenomenon Phenome is presented by the harbour, namely, an ebbing and flowing spring of fine fresh water. This important discovery was made in July, 1811, by the late Benjamin Milne, Esq., collector of the customs, who was born at Sowerby, near Halifax, in 1751, and died in 1819, to the general regret of all who had witnessed his career of active usefulness. The supply of water derived from this spring is unlimited, and of such extraordinary purity and softness, that it is used in the washing of the finest linen. A reservoir was constructed many years ago into which the water is conducted for the use of the town and shipping. The quay, which has been re-built, affords an agreeable promenade, and the two piers forming the harbour, stretching out a considerable distance into the sea, command extensive prospects, especially the northern pier, from which are fine views of Flamborough Head and Bridlington Bay. The harbour affords a retreat to numerous coasting vessels during contrary winds, and the bay, protected by the coast and the noble promontory of Flamborough Head, offers safe anchorage for ships during the prevalence of gales. In 1837 an act was obtained for rendering the harbour more safe and commodious; the port is a member A. D. 1837 of the port of Hull. Little can be said as to the trade of the place. There is a small manufactory for hats the trade in corn, malt, and ale, formerly flourishing, declined after the opening of the Driffield canal to Hull, but subsequently the trade in corn improved, and in 1826 an exchange was built in the market-place, which is well Exchange. attended; there are several wind-mills for corn, and a steam-mill for grinding bones for manure. Numerous fossil remains have been found, and in the vicinity, the head of an enormous elk was discovered, the extremities of the horns being more than eleven feet apart. The church is a part of the ancient edifice belonging to the priory, once a magnificent structure of unrivalled beauty, but now lamentably mutilated. A handsome district church, erected at Bridlington Quay, was opened in May 1841, having been completed at a cost of £2,300, raised partly by subscription, and partly by grants. There are places of worship for dissenters. The means of instruction consist of a free grammar school, national schools, and two infants' schools, supported by subscription, and provision is made for the poor by several considerable bequests. Bridlington Eminent has produced some eminent men; among them may be enumer- Men. ated Sir George Ripley, a celebrated alchymist of the fifteenth century, author of a treatise on the Philosopher's Stone," (which he vainly endeavoured to find out after twenty years spent in the attempt,) and part of his life, a canon of Bridlington; William de Newburgh, an eminent historian in the reign of John; John de Bridlington, prior of the monastery, and author of Carmina Vaticinalia, who died in 1379; and Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, a great patron of the fine arts, and who, for his courage and constancy to the cause of Charles I., was, by that monarch, raised to the dignity of an English earldom, under the title of the Earl of Burlington; the title became extinct in 1753, but it was revived in 1831 in the person of Lord George A. H. Cavendish. The union of Bridlington comprises 32 parishes or places, and the population, according to Population. the census of 1851, was 14,322, of which 7,234 were males, and 7,088 females. The number of houses, by the same returns, was 3,147. FLAMBOROUGH HEAD, four miles from Bridlington, is a lofty promontory, forming one of the most magnificent objects, and greatest natural curiosities in the kingdom. The cliffs, which are of lime-stone rock, white as snow, extend in a range from five to six miles, and rise in many places to an elevation of 300 feet perpendicular from the sea. At the base of this mass of mouldering mountains, are several extensive caverns, formed by some mighty convulsions of nature, or worn by the everlasting action of the ocean. The large masses of insulated rocks formed into columns and pyramids, add to the sublimity of the scene, and when viewed from the sea, seem to form the porticos to a range of temples, which set at defiance all human erections. In the summer season the ridges of these cliffs for the rendezvous of myriads of aquatic A. D. 1806 Light fowls, which resort to the north side of the promontory, from various regions, to build their nests and rear their young. Hung in the air, as the nests seem to be, they are still not inaccessible to the depredation of man; boys are let down the rocks by ropes fastened to stakes, and bring away bushels of eggs, without seeming to diminish their countless number. For many years the want House at of a light-house at Flamborough had been painfully felt by mariFlambo- ners and merchants, the lives of one class, and the property of the rough Head. other, being exposed to continual danger for want of so essential a monitor. At length, on the first of December, 1806, through the instrumentality of that public benefactor, the late Mr. Milne, whose name is mentioned above, the revolving light which has ever since flamed by night from the Head, burst forth for the first time. The utility of this erection has been strikingly illustrated by the trifling number of casualties that have since occurred, as compared with the previous period, when no such safeguard existed. Extraordi At Wold Cottage, eight miles from Bridlington, a very extraornary Stone. dinary phenomenon was observed on the 13th of December, 1795, to commemorate which Mr. Topham, the gentleman who resided there, erected an obelisk, with this inscription :-" Here on this spot, December 13th, 1795, fell from the atmosphere an extraordinary stone, in breadth 28 inches, in length 36 inches, and whose weight was 56 pounds: this column, in memory of it, was erected by Edward Topham, 1799." The stone resembled in composition those which have fallen in various parts of the world, but it had no resemblance to the natural stones of the country. In its fall, which was witnessed by two persons, it excavated a place to the depth of 12 inches in the earth, and 7 inches into the chalk rock, making a depth of 19 inches from the surface. It was subsequently deposited in the museum of Mr. Sowerby. Great Antiquity. DEWSBURY. In the infancy of Christianity, Dewsbury was a place of great importance, and the earliest in this part of Britain in which the Christian religion was received, and from which it spread into other portions of the kingdom. In the former part of the seventh century, Edwin, King of Northumbria, who had a palace here, together with his queen and the whole court, were converted to the Christian faith, by Paulinus, first Archbishop of York, in memory of which event, a cross, with a suitable inscription, was erected on the spot. Several Saxon and Norman antiquities found near the church have been collected, and are preserved in the gardens of the vicarage-house. The town, which is lighted with gas, is pleasantly situated at the base of a hill rising from the banks of the Manufac river Calder, and has of late years been greatly improved by opening new lines of approach, on which houses of a superior character are erected. The inhabitants are chiefly occupied in the tures. |