310 
cube, esq. conveyed the manor of the 
borough of Totnes to the corporation, on 
a reserved rent of twenty-one pounds per 
annum, payable to the owner of the cas- 
tle, reserving with this alienation, the 
‘right of a burgess-ship to his heirs for 
ever. The castle now belongs to the 
Duke of Somerset, of whom it is rented 
by a private gentleman at a very small 
sum annually, on the condition of his 
opening it to any person who may wish 
‘to see it. 
The town is'situated on the declivity 
of a steep hill, at the foot of which runs 
the river Dart. The castle stands at the 
top of the hill, and is built on a high 
‘mound, evidently an artificial one; the 
-keep of the castle rises to a commanding 
height above the surrounding buildings, 
‘and from its embrasures the views are 
‘uncommonly beautiful and extensive. A 
‘Jittle below the castle stands the church, 
erected A, 1). 14132, by Bishop Lacy; it is 
a fine Gothic building, but the interior of 
it has been sadly disfigured by modern 
‘Improvements. A few years ago one of 
the pinnacles of the tower was thrown 
down by lightning, and falling on the 
church destroyed a considerable part of 
‘the roof and the organ-loft. In repairing 
‘jt, a light elegant gallery was erected, 
which ill accords with the venerable an- 
tiquity of the rest of the building ; but 
‘perhaps this handsome gallery was placed 
there to countenance the altar which 
stands opposite to it; for over the altar 
there is thrown a light semi-dome, sup- 
‘ported by fourCorinthian columns,decked 
with all the tinsel of Corinthian architec- 
‘ture! The church-yard is very small, 
and only a part of it is used as a burial- 
‘ground: already the soil formed almost 
-wholly of human bodies, rises at some 
“places, nearly to a level with the win- 
‘dows of the church: that such a mass of 
“putrefaction, collected in so small a 
place, and in the midst of a populous 
town, must be injurious to health, ap- 
pears to be wholly discredited, else, wh 
not havea burial-ground at some distance 
‘fromsthe town? ‘The tythes of the pa- 
‘vish, which are very-productive, are, both 
great and small, Jay impropriations ; one 
-year’s’ produce of them would be quite 
\sufficient to purchase an excellent piece 
of groand for the purpose; the vicar’s 
“twenty marks woyld be bit a mite to be 
“taken from the whole sum. | einek 
-©\ Tn the charch-yard stands a large mo- 
“nument, erected by the celébrated” bib- 
-lieal éritic Dr. Kennicott, to the memory 
-of-his-parents, the inscription on it+s, 
Account of the Town of Totnes, in Devonshire. [Nov. 1, 
‘¢ As virtue should be of good report, * 
sacred 
be this humble monument } 
to the memory of . 
Benjamin Kennicorr, parish-clerk of 
ToTNeEs: 
and Er1zazetu his wife: 
The latter, 
an example of every christian duty ! 
The former, 
animated with the warmest zeal, 
regulated by the best good sense ; 
and both constantly exerted 
for the salvation of himself and other 
Reader! 
soon shalt thou die also 5 
and as a candidate for eternity, 
strike thy breast and say, 
Let me live the life of the righteous, 
that my last end may be like bis. 
Trifling are the dates of time, 
Where the subject is eternity. 
Erected 
By their son BENyamin KeNnNICcOTT, DD. 
Canon of Christ-church, OxForD. 
There is a beautiful simplicity in the 
former part of this inscription, but the 
latter part betrays a considerable degree 
of vanity; the dates of time are too tri- 
fling to be recorded, yet the more trifling 
honours bestowed by an university, are 
all carefully detailed. Dr. K. was a na- 
tive of Totnes, and received the rudi- 
ments of his education at the charity- 
school, of which, at a very early age, he 
‘became the master; from this situation 
he was taken by the inhabitants of the 
town and sent to Oxford ; his attainments 
there are well known to every one who is 
acquainted with the history of the Bible. 
On the northern side of the church- 
yard is the Guild-hall, and adjoining to it 
the Free-school. The school was endowed 
early in the 17th century, by Sir Jobn 
Mainard, with the fee-simple of a tene- 
‘ment valued then at. the yearly rent of 
‘near forty pounds. Behind. where the 
school now stands, there once was «@ 
priory, founded’ by Roger Newman, who 
dedicated it to the Virgin Mary, and 
‘placed init Cluniack monks. 
“ There are now three places of worship 
in the town, a church and two meeting- 
houses; one of the meetings professes 
high Calvinism ; the other, Unitarianism. 
Totnes was once'strrounded by walls, 
“as appears by the gate-ways ver mali BS 
it was mate a corporatioi by King ti 
‘and ennobled wit many ifhinunities ‘by 
King Henry HT. Ir'is represented ih 
‘parliament by’ two members, one of 
whom is chosen! by the free“will of ‘the, 
electors, tite other is*recymimended by 
~ the 
! 
\ 
