HAMPTON. 



BANBUBY. 



relict of mooumenU of the Karln of Bath. Petton chapel was rebuilt 

 and enlarged in 1848. There are two places of worship belonging to 

 Dissenter*. An endowed National free school was founded in 1821. 

 There is an Infant school supported by subscription. 



(Coutmvniettt ion from Hampton.) 



BAMPTON, or HAMPTON IN THE BUSH, Oxfordshire, a market- 

 town in the parish and hundred of Hampton, is situated on a small 

 stream which falls into the Thames a few miles below the town, in 

 ! 44' N. lat, 1 83' W. long., distant 14 miles W. from Oxford and 

 71 miles W.N.W. from London : the population of the township of 

 Hampton in 1851 was 851, that of the entire parish 2780. The living 

 is a vicarage divided into three portions in the archdeaconry and 

 diocese of Oxford. 



Hampton is a place of great antiquity. It had a market when the 

 Domesday Survey was made. The church is a very ancient and inter- 

 esting edifice. The oldest portion is of Norman date ; the circular 

 arch of the chancel, the beautiful south doorway, and two or three 

 windows are good examples of this period. The piers and tower are 

 of early English date and style ; the lofty spire, a very handsome 

 example of this style, is visible for many miles. The whole church 

 appears to have been remodelled in the reign of Edward II.; the 

 clerestory windows and low roof have been added since. The Free 

 Grammar school founded in 1670 has an endowment of 201, per 

 annum arising from rent of land, and had one scholar in 1851. There 

 is a National school supported by money put out at interest ; and 

 there are schools attached to each church and chapel in the parish. 

 There are also some charities. In the town i a permanent library 

 containing several hundred volumes, which is open to subscribers. 

 The lighting and watching of the town are managed by a board of 

 inspectors. There is a substantial town-hall of recent erection. The 

 business of the town is chiefly that which arises from its being the 

 centre of an agricultural district The market, principally for grain, 

 is held on Wednesday. There are fairs on March 26th and August 

 26th and 27th ; the last is an important horse-fair. 



Only a few very slight vestiges remain of Hampton Castle, the 

 erection of which is attributed to Aymer de Valence, earl of Pem- 

 broke, 1321. The deanery is a mansion of the Elizabethan period. 

 Cote House is another ancient building which deserves notice. 

 Phillips, the author of the ' Splendid Shilling,' was born in Hampton. 



(Giles's Hitlory of Hampton; Communication from Hampton.) 



BANAQHER, King's County, Ireland, a post-town in the parish 

 of Reynagh and barony of Qarrycastle, is situated in 53 13' N. lat., 

 7* 54' W. long., on the left bank of the river Shannon, which is here 

 crossed by a bridge leading to Qalway by way of Eyrecourt ; distant 

 24 miles S.S.W. from Shannon harbour, where the river is connected 

 by the Orand Canal with Ballinasloe on the west and Dublin on the 

 east, and 82 miles W.S.W. from Dublin by the high road : the popu- 

 lation in 1841 was 2827, in 1851 it was 1846. The town is built on 

 the intersection of the Birr and Eyrecourt road with that leading from 

 Shannon harbour to Limerick. The old bridge of 18 arches was 

 removed in 1843, and a new bridge of 6 arches of 60 feet span each, 

 with a swivel arch of 45 feet span for the passage of vessels, was erected 

 in its stead by the Irish Board of Works. At the eastern end of the 

 bridge are a barrack and a magazine, and there are batteries which 

 command the bridge and its approaches on both sides of the river. 

 The trade consists chiefly in nulling and distillation. Prior to the 

 Union, Banagher was a corporate town, and returned two members to 

 the Irish Parliament. Petty sessions are held here. Fairs are held 

 on May 1st, September 15th, October 28th, and November 8th. The 

 adjoining district is flat and in the immediate vicinity of great tracts 

 of bog, but it is well cultivated. 



BANAT. [HUNGARY.] 



BANBRIDOE, county of Down, Ireland, a post-town and the seat of 

 a Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Seapatnck and barony of Upper 

 Ivmgh, is situated on the left bank of the river Bann, on the leading 

 road from Ncwry to Belfast, in 54 20' N. lat, 6* 16' W. long., 13 

 miles N. by E. from Newry and 76 miles N. from Dublin : the 

 population in 1841 was 8824, in 1851 it was 3301, exclusive of 478 

 inmates of the Union workhouse. Banbridge Poor-Law Union com- 

 prises 28 electoral divisions, with an area of 124,929 acres, and a 

 population in 1841 of 87,100, in 1851 of 74,844. 



The principal part of the town is built upon an eminence, having a 

 steep declivity towards the river. To obviate this inconvenience the 

 centre of the main street, which was of width sufficient to admit of 

 the alteration, was lowered to a depth of fifteen feet, leaving elevated 

 causeways on each side. In carrying this arrangement into effect it 

 was necessary to remove the old market-house which formerly stood 

 in the middle of the street on the summit of the hill : a viaduct con- 

 necting the opposite terraces now occupies the site. The town consists 

 chiefly of this main street, and is substantially and neatly built, but 

 has no building of pretension except the new market-house and the 

 church. The church is pleasingly situated on a level green adjoining 

 the bridge, on the right bank of the river. The Wesleyan Methodists 

 hare one and the Presbyterians have three chapels. Petty sessions are 

 held here, snd there is a station of the constabulary force. Twelve fairs 

 are held in the course of the year. The linen trade in nil iUi branches 

 in carried on with great activity in the immediate neighbourhood. 

 The line of the Bum, from a distance of several miles above the town 



to the border of Armagh, present* an almost continuous succession of 

 bleach-greens. At lluutley Glen, a little below the town, is a large 

 thread-spinning factory ; and at Seapatrick an extensive establishment 

 for weaving union cloth by machinery. A bridge has stood at this 

 ]>int of the Bann from a very early period In the itinerary of King 

 John, A.D. 1210, the place is mentioned under its present name. 



(Fraser's J/tin<ll>,,k for Irrlaml ; Original Communication!.) 



BANBURY, Oxfordshire, a market-town, municipal and parlia- 

 mentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, in the i 

 nnd hundred of Banbury, is situated near the northern extremity of 

 the county, on the right bank of the river Cherwell, in 52 4' N. lat, 

 1 20' W. long., distant 23 miles N. from Oxford. 71 miles \.\V. fr.mi 

 London by road, and 78 miles by the Banbury branch of the London 

 and North Western railway. The population of the nmnic.ijul borough 

 in 1851 was 4026, that of the parliamentary borough was 8715. 

 borough is governed by 4 aldermen and 12 councillors, one of wh<nn 

 is mayor, and returns one member to the Imperial Parliament The 

 living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry and diocese of Oxford. Ban- 

 bury Union contains 52 parishes and townships, with an area of 77. -'.'i> 

 acres, and a population in 1851 of 29,584. 



Banbury is a very ancient town. Its Saxon name, according to 

 Camden, was Banesbyrig : it stands in Domesday Book, Banesberie. 

 Roman coins were frequently found at Baubury before the time uf 

 Camdeu ; and a Roman altar, discovered long ago, was preserved 

 under an arch in the street near the present Old George Inn, thence 

 called in old writings the George and Altar-Stone Inn. These circum- 

 stances led some antiquaries to place the Roman station Brinavic at 

 Banbury ; but that station was on the Portway, which led frou i 

 Castra (Alcester, near Uicestcr) to Ixanimvnria (Burnt Walls, near 

 Daventry) ; and the line of this road has been clearly traced by Mr. 

 Baker about three miles to the eastward of Banbury. Hrinav:c is 

 therefore placed with great probability at Black Grounds, near 

 Chipping Warden, six miles distant. Roman remains have however lie CM 

 discovered not only at Banbury, but at several places in the vicinity. 



In the year 1125, or soon after, this town was strengthened with a 

 castle erected by Alexander de Blois, the famous Bishop of Lineoln, 

 to whom the manor belonged. In 1139 this prelate, being taken 

 prisoner by King Stephen at Oxford, was compelled to resign Banbury 

 and some other fortresses ; but it was shortly afterwards restored to 

 the see, and is frequently mentioned as the occasional residence of 

 the bishops. In the year 1469 a battle was fought at Danesmore, 

 near Banbury, between the forces of Edward IV., under the Earl of 

 Pembroke, and a great body of insurgents from the north of England, 

 whose rebellion had been fomented by the king-making Earl of \\ n 

 wick. After the battle a quarrel took place at Banbury between the 

 Karl of Pembroke and another nobleman, Lord Stafford, who held a 

 high command in the royal army ; in consequence of which the latter 

 lord quitted the town with his numerous archers, and the Eni-1 of 

 Pembroke weakened in his resources was defeated the next day with 

 immense loss, and he and his brother with ten other gentlemen being 

 taken prisoners were beheaded at Banbury. In the first year of 

 Edward VI. Bishop Holbech resigned the manor, &c., of Banbury to 

 the crown. Queen Elizabeth granted the castle to the Saye and Sele 

 family, who resided in their neighbouring castellated mansion at 

 Broughton. In the same reign Banbury Cross, so celebrated in nursery 

 rhymes, was destroyed by the Puritans, who then fanned a predo- 

 minant party at Banbury. The zeal of the inhabitants in the cause 

 of the commonwealth has been often mentioned ; but although the 

 castle was defended by 800 infantry and a troop of horse, it surren- 

 dered a few days after the battle of Edgehill, in 1646. Being 

 garrisoned by the king, it stood several attacks, including two 

 desperate sieges in 1644 and 1646. Not long after this the castle was 

 demolished by the Parliament to prevent it* again becoming a strong- 

 hold for the Royalists in a Puritan district. Nothing now remains of 

 it except the name and some small portions of the moat and of one 

 of the walls, upon which last a cottage has been erected. The rest of 

 the site ia occupied as garden ground. 



Banbury was a borough by prescription ; but in the first year of 

 Queen Mary a charter was conferred on it as a reward for the services 

 of the inhabitants against John, Duke of Northumberland, who main- 

 tained the claims of Lady Jane Grey. 



Banbury has long been noted as a thriving place of trade ; i 

 so recorded by Leland in the reign of Henry VIII. This is chiefly 

 owing to its being the centre of that district of rich red land which 

 Arthur Young describes as the glory of the county of Oxford, and as 

 some of the most fertile in the kingdom. The line of the Oxford 

 Canal running by Banbury, and communicating through other canals 

 with all parts of the kingdom, has been the means of continuing and 

 improving the trade of the town. The neighbourhood is very thickly 

 covered with villages. There is a considerable manufacture of plush, 

 shag, and girth and other webbing carried on at Banbury, which 

 employs within the parish above 100 men, besides women and chil- 

 dren. A manufacture of linen-weaving formerly carried on in Banbury 

 has been abandoned. There is a manufactory of agricultural imple- 

 ments. The weekly market, which is on Thursday, is considered to 

 be the best within many miles round. There are 9 chartered fairs 

 and 2 annual great markets. Banbury cakes, which have been cele- 

 brated from the time of Ben Jonson, ore still in high repute ; and 



