up within the last thirty years. The late Dr. De Valangen's mansion was almost the first built on the spot, and he had the happiness of seeing a town rising around him!

PETERSHAM, a village of Surry, 94 miles from London, situate on the Thames, in the midst of beautiful scenery. The church was a chapel of ease to Kingston, till 1769, when, by act of parliament, this parish and Kew are now one vicarage. Here stood a seat, built by Lawrence Earl of Rochester, Lord Treasurer in the reign of James II. It was burnt down in 1720; and the noble furniture, curious paintings, and inestimable library and MSS. of the great Earl of Clarendon, were destroyed. On the site of this house, William first Earl of Harrington, erected another, after one of the Earl of Burlington's designs. On the death of the late Earl, it was sold to Lord Camelford, of whom the Duke of Clarence bought it, in 1790. It was sold, in 1794, to Colonel Cameron; and is now the residence of Sir William Manners, Bart. The front, next the court, is plain; but the other, next the garden, is bold and regular, and the state apartments on that side are elegant. The pleasure grounds are spacious and beautiful, extending to Richmond Park, a small part of which has been added to them by a grant from his Majesty, including the Mount; where, according to tradition, Henry Vill. stood to see the signal for Anne Boleyn's execution!

PINNER, a hamlet to Harrow on the Hill, from which town it is distant about three miles. Though not parochial, it had once a weekly market, long ago disused. Pinner Hill is the residence of Major Bracey.

PISHIOBURY, near Harlow, the seat of Mrs. Milles, said to have been built by Inigo Jones, for Sir Walter Mildmay. Mrs. Milles made great improvements in the grounds, which are watered by the Stort; a river, navigable from Stortford to the Lea.

PLAISTOW, a village, in the parish of West Ham. It gives the name of Plaistow Levels to the low land between the mouth of the river Lea and Ham Creek.

PLAISTOW, a village near Bromley, in Kent. Here is the seat of Peter Thellusson, Esq. fitted up in a style of elegance, scarcely to be equalled in the kingdom.

PLUMSTED, a village in Kent, between Woolwich and Erith, on an eminence rising from the Thames, has a neat church, and had formerly a market.

POLESDEN, in the parish of Great Bookham, the

noble seat of Sir William Geary, Bart. on an eminence, which commands a beautiful prospect. Behind the house are the finest beech woods imaginable.

POPLAR, a hamlet of Stepney, on the Thames, to the -east of Limehouse, obtained its name from the number of poplars that anciently grew there. The chapel was erected in 1654, by subscription, the ground being given by the East India Company; since which time that Company have not only allowed the Minister a house, with a garden and field containing three acres, but 201. a year during pleasure. It was nearly rebuilt by the Company in 1776. The chaplain's salary is now 100%. with the pew rents and burial fees. Here is an hospital belonging to the Company, in which are 22 pensioners (some men, but more widows) who have a quarterly allowance, according to the rank which they, or the widows' husbands, had on board; and a chaldron of coals annually. There are also many out-pensioners belonging to the Company.

Poplar Marsh, called also Stepney Marsh, or the Isle of Dogs, is reckoned one of the richest spots in England; for it not only raises the largest cattle, but the grass is esteemed a restorative of all distempered cattle; and cattle turned into it soon fatten, and grow to a large size. In this marsh was an ancient chapel, called the Chapel of St. Mary; perhaps an hermitage, founded by some devout persons, for the purpose of saying masses for the souls of mariners. On its foundation, still visible, is a neat farmhouse. But the improvements recently introduced into this spot have greatly altered the appearance of the situation.

PORTER'S LODGE, the seat of the late Earl Howe, 144 miles from London, situate between Radler and Colney Street, on the right hand of the road from Edgware to St. Alban's.

PRIMROSE HILL, between Tottenham Court and Hampstead, has been also called Green-Berry-Hill, from the names of the three persons who were executed for the supposed assassination of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, and who were said to have brought him hither after he had been murdered near Somerset House. But Mr. Hume, while he considers this tragical affair as not to be accounted for, chooses to suspect, however unreasonable, considering Sir Edmund's character, that that magistrate had

murdered himself. Hume, Vol. VIII. p. 77. The circumstance is certainly involved in much obscurity.

PROSPECT PLACE, the villa of James Meyrick, Esq. on an eminence, in the road from Wimbledon to Kingston. The grounds are well laid out, and command a rich view.

PURFLEET, in Essex, 19 miles from London, on the Thames, has a public magazine for gunpowder, which is deposited in detached buildings, that are all bombproof; so that, in case an accident should happen to one, it would not affect the others. Each of these buildings has a conductor. This place has also some extensive lime-works.

PURLEY, in the parish of Sandersted, two miles beyond Croydon, lately the delightful residence of John Horne Tooke, Esq.; whence an ingenious philological work, by that gentleman, derived the singular title of "The Diversions of Purley." This house was the seat of Bradshaw, president of the court at the trial of King Charles I., a circumstance to which Mr. Tooke humorously alludes in his introduction to the above mentioned work. The second part of this interesting work has lately appeared, and though two large Quarto Volumes have been published, yet the plan is not finished.

PUTNEY, a village in Surry, on the Thames, five miles from London, the birth place of the unfortunate Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, whose father was a blacksmith here. It gave birth also to Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely, an eminent statesman of the same reign, whose father was a baker. In 1647, the head quarters of the army of the Parliament were at Putney. General Fairfax was then quartered at the ancient house of Mrs. D'Aranda. Ireton was quartered in a house which is now a school belonging to the Rev. Mr. Adams. An obelisk was erected, in 1786, on Putney Common, on the side of which, toward the road, is an inscription, importing, that it was erected 110 years after the fire of London, on the anniversary of that dreadful event, in memory of an invention, for securing buildings against fire; an inscription toward Putney records a resolution of the House of Commons, in 1774, granting 2,500l. to David Hartley, Esq.for this invention; on the side toward London, is a resolution of a Court of Common Council, granting the freedom of

the city to Mr. Hartley, in consideration of the advantages likely to accrue to the public, from this invention; and, on the side toward Kensington, is their resolution, ordering this obelisk to be erected. Near it, is a house three stories high, and two rooms on a floor, built by Mr. Hartley, with fire plates between the ceilings and floors, in order to try his experiments, of which no less than six were made in this house, in 1776; one, in particular, when their Majesties, and some of the Royal Family, were in a room over the ground floor, while the room under them was furiously burning.

On Putney Common, in the road to Roehampton, are the agreeable villas of Lady Annabella Polwarth, Lady Grantham, the Right Hon. Thomas Steele, Andrew Berkley Drummond, Esq. Beilby Thomson, Esq. and Mr. Church. On the side of the Thames, is Copt Hill, the late residence of the Countess Dowager of Lincoln, and a house the property of Simeon Warner, Esq. Between the roads which lead to Wandsworth and Wimbledon, is the late villa of Mrs. Wood, widow of the late Robert Wood, Esq. so well known to the public as a scientific and a classical traveller. The farm and pleasure grounds, which adjoin the house, are spacious, and command a beautiful prospect of London and the adjacent country. Mr. Wood purchased it of the executors of Edward Gibbon, Esq. whose son, the celebrated historian, was born there. In Putney Lane (leading to Putney Common) are the villas of Godschall Johnson, Esq. Lady Barker, Walter Boyd, Esq. and Sir John Eamer. At Putney, in January last, died the Right Hon. William Pitt, who for many years had the leading direction and management of the affairs of the nation.-Peace be to his memory!

The parish church of Putney, which is a perpetual curacy, is situated by the water side, and is similar to the opposite one at Fulham. In the road from Wandsworth to Richmond, is a new cemetery, the ground for which was given to the parish, in 1763, by the Rev. Roger Pettiward, D.D.

R.

RAGMAN'S CASTLE, a pretty box on the banks of

the Thames, at Twickenham, so named from a cottage that once stood there, built by a dealer in rags. It is

so hid by trees as hardly to be seen, and is the property of George Hardinge, Esq.

RAINHAM, a village in Essex, 15 miles from London, and one from the Thames, where there is a ferry to Erith. The road hence to Purfleet commands an extensive view of the Thames and the Marshes, which are here uncommonly fine, and are covered with prodigious numbers of cattle.

RANELAGH, a celebrated rotunda, lately situate on the Thames, on the south side of Chelsea Hospital. It was in high esteem, as well for beauty and elegance, as for being the fashionable place of resort, in the spring and part of the summer evenings, for the most polite company. It was opened on Easter Monday, and continued open every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evening, till about the beginning of July, when it was opened on Friday only; and the season closed after the Prince of Wales's birth-day.

Parties that chose to go by water found a convenient landing-place at the bottom of the garden. There were two ways for carriages; namely, from Hyde Park Corner, and Buckingham Gate. For those who chose to walk, the best way was through St. James's Park to Buckingham Gate, from which Ranelagh was about three quarters of a mile distant. The road was lighted all the way.

The admission money, 2s. 6d. was paid to a person attending at the front of Ranelagh House. Then, proceeding forward, you passed through the dwelling-house, and, descending a flight of steps, entered the garden; but, in bad weather, the company turned on the left hand, went through the house, and descending a flight of steps, entered a matted avenue, which led to the rotunda.

Ranelagh was once the seat of an Irish Earl of that title, in whose time the gardens were extensive. On his death the estate was sold, and the principal part of the gardens was converted into fields; but the house remained unaltered. Part of the gardens was likewise permitted to remain. Some gentlemen and builders having become purchasers of these, a resolution was taken to convert them into a place of entertainment. Accordingly, Mr. William Jones, architect to the East India Company, drew the plan of the rotundo, which was an illustrious monument of his genius and fancy.

It being considered that the building of such a structure with stone would amount to an immense expence, the pro