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166 



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pleasantly situated within a quarter of a mile of the 

 Thames. The bridge over the Thames was built by Mr 

 Pivne in 1785, and consists of seven arches. It is built 

 of Portlat d (tone, and cost L. 13,000. A commodious 

 workhouse, and a good charity school, are the only pub- 

 lic mititutions. In the porch houtr, at Chertwy, (lie 

 port Cowley ended his days. Th's is supposed to be 

 the spot where the Roman*, under Julius Czsar, cross- 

 ed the Thames, The river was defended by stakes ; 

 and Beda informs us that great stakes, as big as a man's 

 thigh, were to be seen in the 8th century. There was 

 for ir -rly 411 abbey here, in which was depooitrd the corpse 

 of Henry VI. ; an elegant mansion was built out of the 

 ruins of this abbey, by Sir Henry Carew, in the reign 

 of Charlc* II. In this town are considerable manufac- 

 ture* of malt, thread, iron hoops, and bricks, which arc 

 lent down the Thames to London. The parish contains 

 65'J inhabited hous s; 697 families, of which 239 ore em- 

 ployrd in agriculture, 191 trades and manufacture, and 

 267 which are not included under any of these heads. 

 The population in 181 1 was 3629. See Manning's His- 

 tory and Antiquities of the County of Surrey, continued 

 by William Bray, Esq. (*) 



CHESAPEAK. BAY. Stc MARYLAND and UNITED 

 STATES. 



CHESHIRE, one of the western counties of Eng- 

 land, is bounded on the north by the rivers Mersey and 

 Tame, which separate it from Lancashire ; on the east 

 liy the counties of Derby and Stafford, in which direc- 

 tion the division is marked chiefly by a chain of hills, 

 and by the rivers Goyt and Daner ; the southern side 

 unites with Shropshire and Flintshire ; and the western 

 border is skirted by Denbighshire, Flintshire, and the 

 estuary of the Dee. The dimensions of the county are 

 estimated by Mr Wedge at about 22* miles on a medium 

 in breadth ; and in length, from W. S- W. to E. S. E. 

 nearly 40 miles. This statement, however, is plainly in- 

 accurate, the extent of the county, from Bretland Edge, 

 on the Yorkshire side, to Kiddington Green, bordering 

 on Flintshire, being upwards of 50 miles. Its form is 

 rather inclined to an oval, with two projecting necks of 

 land ; one about 20 miles in length and 6 in breadth, 

 running out into the Irish Sea, between the estuaries of 

 the Dee and Mersey, and called the Wirral : the other 

 is included in the Macclesfield hundred, and extends 

 from Stockport, between the counties of Derby and 

 York, about 15 miles in length, rarely exceeding 4 miles 

 in breadth. This county is in general flat ; but some 

 considerable hills rise near its eastern borders, which are 

 connected with those of Derbyshire and Staffordshire, 

 and extend about 25 mile* in length, from Conglcton to 

 the N.E. corner of the county. An interrupted ridge 

 of high ground, composed entirely of sandstone, also 

 crosses it from N. to S. on the western side, extending 

 from Frodsham to Malpas, and including the high 

 grounds of Delamere Purest, the hill of Beest m, and 

 Ue Peckforton hills. There are a few other hills about 

 Maccleffh Id, and some on the Shropshire side. A chain 

 runs north and south through the peninsula of Wirral. 

 The rest of the county is nearly level ; and the princi- 

 pal part of it consttts of arable, rr.oadow, and pasture 

 land. The soil is various; but clay, sand, black moor 

 or peat, seem to predominate, the subsoil being com- 

 monly clay or marl. The most prevalent stone of the 

 county is the red grit rock, of which most of the towns 

 and villages are built. Large woods are rare ; but as 

 k-fdge rows abound in the generality of farms, the quan- 

 tity of timhcr that is produced is considerable, particu- 

 larly of oak-trees, from which the Unncrs obtain a va- 

 luabk supply of bark. 



The tenure by which land is held in Cheshire is almost Cheshir* 

 universally freehold ; yrt, in form- manors, there are a < 'V^' 

 few copyholds, or what may be denominated custotrary 

 freeholds, paying fines and rents certain. Leasing for 

 lives, which was formerly a very coniUnt and general 

 practice, is yet continued by a few landholders ; but the 

 most coirmon term of lease* is 11 years, with a restric- 

 tion on the tenant to a cetuin quantity of tillage, (usu- 

 ally about J of his farm,) and a particular rotation of 

 crops. The extent of farms is on the average from 150 

 to SOO acres : some few contain upward^ of 500. 



The principal object of attention with the Cheshire 

 husbandman i* the dairy. In former periods, the 

 county was much celebrated for itr. produce in wheat ; 

 b:it in later times it has been noted chit-fly for its 

 cheese. Strabo and I'liny affirm, that the art of cheese- 

 making was introduced into it by the Romans, but 

 this is improbable from various circumstances ; and 

 we are certain that the Roman armies on the continent 

 revived a great supply of cheese from this county soon 

 after they had secured the possession of it. The quality 

 and flavour of the Cheshire cheese are well known : the 

 following arc some of the principal particulars as t the 

 mode of its manufacture. In a dairy farm of lOOacresj 

 from 10 to 14 acres are under oats j from G to 8 are oc- 

 cupied with fallow. wheat, and the like quantity is laid 

 out in summer-fallow ; the remainder is appropriated 

 to pasture and hay, the amount of the latter being 

 about 12 acres. The judicious dairy farmer is very 

 scrupulous in the breeding and rearing of calves, and 

 in the management of his cows, both during the sumJ 

 mer and the winter. The quantity of cheese made an- 

 nually from each cow varies from 50 to 500 or more 

 pounds ; the produce depending in a considerable de- 

 gree on the nature of the land, the quality of the pas- 

 ture, and the mode of wintering : in general, the ave- 

 rage may be stated at about 300 Ibs. The quantity oF 

 milk, according to this estimation, yielded daily by each 

 cow is about 8 quarts, which is commonly supposed to 

 produce one pound (16 oz.) of cheese. The Cheshire 

 cheese is generally made with two meals' milk ; but of- 

 ten towards the latter end of the season, (which conti- 

 nues nearly 22 weeks,) wkh 4, 5, and 6, the cheeseg 

 being usually made very large. The most common size 

 is 60 Ibs. ; a weight susceptible of every excellence to 

 be found in the cheese of this county. Of tho*e large 

 cheeses, two are made in some of the dairies daily. The 

 evening's milk being preserved till next morning, it is 

 skimmed, heated, and incorporated with the new milk, 

 when the whole, together with the cream, being mixed in a 

 large tub, and the proper quantity of rennet and colour- 

 ing being added, it is left for about 1| hours to coagulate. 

 When the cheese is come, or the milk is properly coa- 

 gulated, the curd is broken into very small particles, 

 which are left to subside, and the whey is poured off.' 

 This process is repeated till the whey is nearly expelled. 

 Then the curd is placed in a vat, and occasionally sprink' 

 led with salt, of which some dairy women use about 

 three handfuls to a cheese, making it a rule to put the 

 greatest quantity near the middle. The vat is filled ve- 

 ry full, and the whey repeatedly squeezed out, before 

 it it placed in the press, as it is very material to expel 

 all the whey, keeping the vat at the same time quite full 

 of curds. The cheese is commonly taken twice or thrice 

 from the vat, to place fresh cloths, pare off the edges, 

 and turn it ; and sometimes it is immersed in hot whey, 

 which is supposed to harden its coat. After remaining 

 in the press two or three days, it is next conveyed to the 

 salting house, where it is put in a salting tub, in which 

 having continued for about three days more, it is next 



