897 



BARNSLEY. 



BARNSTAPLE. 



accounts.' The town possesses two endowed almshouses ; one for 

 six poor and aged widows or maidens, the other for six poor widows. 



The affairs of the town are administered by a magistrate, high 

 constable, and subordinate officers ; and a court leet is held at Easter. 

 The market is held on Monday ; and there are fairs ou the 8th to the 

 10th of April, and the 4th to the 6th of September, the latter being a 

 Tery important fair for the sale of cattle. Barnet races, which are 

 largely attended, are generally held on the last day of the great fair. 



A spring of mineral water of a mild purgative quality was discovered 

 upon Barnet Common in 1652, and was for a time in much repute. 

 On Gladsmore Heath, in this neighbourhood, was fought on April 

 1 4th, 1471, the decisive battle between the Yorkists and Lancasteriaus, 

 which is known as the battle of Barnet. The forces of York were 

 headed by Edward IV., and those of Lancaster by Neville, earl of 

 Warwick (the 'King-Maker'), who, with many of the nobility and a 

 great number of men perished on the field. This event has been 

 commemorated by an obelisk, erected in the year 1740 by Sir Jeremy 

 'look, on the spot where the road divides towards Hatfield and 

 St. Albans. 



(Chauncy's Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire; Lysona's Emi- 

 rotu of London, &e.) 



BARNS LEV, or BARNESLEY, West Riding of Yorkshire, a 

 market-town in the parish of Silkstone and wapentake of Staincross, 

 stands in the midst of a mining district, in 53 33' N. lat., 1 29' 

 W. lung., 39 miles S.W. from York, 172 miles N.N.W. from London 

 by road, and 185 miles by railway, vii Derby, Leicester, and Rugby : 

 the population of the town in 1851 was 13,437. The living is a per- 

 petual curacy in the archdeaconry of Craven and diocese of Ripon. 

 Barnsley for poor-law purposes is still under the operation of the Act 

 43rd Elizabeth, cap. 2. 



The ancient church of Barnsley has been rebuilt. It was stated 

 in the locnl journals in March 1850 that at that time the founda- 

 tions of this church were so much endangered by the excavation of 

 coal mines immediately beneath it as to render it necessary to take 

 precautions for the safety of the building. Two new churches have 

 been erected by the assistance of the parliamentary commissioners, 

 both of which have districts assigned. There are chapels belonging 

 to the different religious denominations, including four for Wesleyan 

 Methodists, and one each for Independents, Baptists, Quakers, and 

 Roman Catholics. A Free Grammar school was built and endowed 

 in 1'iHS by Thomas Keresforth. This school is at present free for 

 the teaching of Latin and Greek to children belonging to the parish 

 i>f Silk-stone. It is a pay school for all other branches of learning. 

 The income from endowment is 16t 17. 2rf. a year with a house : the 

 number of scholars in 1852 was 36. There is a National school 

 erected by the trustees of George Ellis' s charity; and there are 

 several other schools connected with the chapels. There are also 

 a church institute, a mechanics institute, and a savings bank in 

 Barnsley. An Act was obtained in 1837 for the general improvement 

 of the town, but no marked changes have occurred within the last 

 few years. 



Barnsley is situated on a hill : the surrounding views are pleasing, 

 the roads are good, and much of the land is very fertile. The manor 

 belongs to the Duke of Leeds. The streets generally are narrow, but 

 there are some good houses ; they are well paved and lighted with 

 gas. The market-house is a spacious building. There is a market on 

 Wednesday for corn, and one on Saturday for provisions. Barnsley 

 owes all its importance to its manufactures. Wire-works were in 

 existence here in the time of James I., and the town had for a long 

 pi-riud the reputation of producing the best wire in the kingdom. 

 This manufacture has however greatly declined, and but little wire is 

 now made in the town. Barnsley has lost its ancient trade and has 

 acquired a new one, to which its present prosperity is entirely owing. 



The linen trade is now the chief support of this populous town. 

 list fabrics are linen-cloth, damasks, diapers, drills, ducks, checks, and 

 The great improvements which Hamsley has made during a 

 very recent period in the production of these articles, is a main cause 

 of the prosperous state of the town. In damasks and drills it is said 

 that Barnsley stands unrivalled. Some of the above goods are tech- 

 nically called unions, from both linen and cotton being united in 

 th'-ii- production. Much of the flax which is spun in the large flax- 

 mills of Leeds is sent to Barnsley to be woven: there are however 

 two flax-spinning mills in Barnsley. Weavers in this town are not 

 generally employed in factories, but the manufacturers give out yarn 

 to them, which they weave at their own houses. 



There are extensive bleaching-worka and dye-houses connected with 

 the staple commodity of the town. The numerous coal-mines and 

 the iron-works in the immediate neighbourhood find occupation for 

 hundreds of people ; there are also several iron-foundries, and a glass- 

 . The coal mines became a subject of painful interest in 1847, 

 when by :in explosion at the Oaks Colliery 72 lives were lost. The 

 Dearne and Dove Canal connects Barasley with the Don, and the 

 Barnsley Canal connects it with the Caldcr. The Midland railway 

 passes near Barnslt'y ; and there is in the town a commodious station 

 of tin' l)<in<M.it.>T, Slii-tfield, and Barnslny railway, by which Barnsley 



towns in the West Riding. 

 Banutey.) 



BARNSTAPLE, Devonshire, a market and sea-port town, a muni- 



oioo. DIV. vol. i. 



cipal and parliamentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, 

 in the parish of Barnstaple and hundred of Braunston. It is situated 

 on the right bank of the river Taw, in 51 4' N. lat., 4 5' W. long., 

 40 miles N.W. from Exeter, 192 miles W.S.W. from London : the 

 population of the parish in 1S51 was 8,667; that of the parliamentary 

 borough, which includes parts of the parishes of Bishops Tawton and 

 Pilton, was 11,371. The borough is governed by six aldermen and 

 eighteen councillors, of whom one is mayor ; and returns two members 

 to the Imperial Parliament. The living is a vicarage in the arch- 

 deaconry of Barnstaple and diocese of Exeter. Barnstaple Poor-Law 

 Union contains 39 parishes and townships, with an area of 149,729 

 acres, and a population in 1851 of 38,178. 



The town is very ancient ; it is believed to have existed previously 

 to the reign of King Athelstau, who is said to have built a castle here, 

 and to have erected the town into a borough. At the time of the 

 Domesday Survey there were. 40 burgesses within the walls and 9 

 without; and the inhabitants were exempted from serving on any 

 expedition or from paying any taxes except when Exeter and Totnes 

 did so. In the petition of the town of Barnstaple, in the 18th of 

 Edward III., the townspeople declared that among other privileges 

 granted them by the charter of Athelstan (which they had un- 

 fortunately lost), they had ever since that time enjoyed the right of 

 sending two burgesses to Parliament. After three inquests it was 

 finally declared that there was no proof of this supposed charter. 

 (Hallam's 'Middle Ages,' iii. 46.) King John had previously 

 confirmed to them the privileges of which they were actually possessed 

 in the time of his great-grandfather, and the charter of King John 

 was afterwards confirmed by Edward IV. In Risdon's time there 

 were remains of a castle, the origin of which was assigned by some to 

 King Athelstan, and by others to Joel of Totnes, to whom the manor 

 of Barustaple was granted by the Conqueror. This Joel founded, 

 either in the reign of the Conqueror or that of his successor, a priory 

 for Cluniac monks, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, which was at 

 first made dependent on the priory of St. Martin de Campis at Paris, 

 but it afterwards became independent, and so continued until the Disso- 

 lution, when its gross income amounted to 129J. 13s. 9rf. and its net 

 income to 123J. 6*. 9d. The community appears to have consisted of 

 13 members. Henry VIII. granted the site to William Lord Howard 

 of Effingham and Margaret his wife. No portion of the priory now 

 remains. The date when the market at Barnstaple was first granted 

 is not ascertained. The town was first incorporated in the reign of 

 Henry I., and has returned representatives to Parliament ever since 

 the 23rd of Edward I. 



Barnstaple is about 8 miles from the sea, but it has always been 

 considered a sea-port. In this character it contributed three ships 

 towards the fleet fitted out against the Spanish Armada ; but it has 

 long since declined from its former maritime importance. The river 

 is of considerable breadth, but it is shallow, and the harbour is unfit 

 for vessels of much burden owing to the accumulation of sand and 

 mud. In consequence of the disadvantages of its harbour much of 

 the trade of Barnstaple has been transferred to Bideford. Neverthe- 

 less it still enjoys the advantage of being the port for an extensive and 

 improving inland district, and carries on a steady trade. In the year 

 ending 31st December, 1852, there were registered at the port of 

 Barnstaple, under 50 tons burden 56 vessels, with an aggregate burden 

 of 2140 tons, and above 50 tons, 26 vessels of 2679 tons. During 

 1852 there entered and cleared at the port, in the coasting trade, 

 inwards, 831 sailing vessels of 30,487 tons burden, and 142 steam 

 vessels of 13,386 tons; outwards, 304 sailing vessels of 11,387 tons, 

 and 100 Jteam vessels of 10,065 tons : colonial and foreign trade, 

 inwards, 13, tonnage 1516; outwards, 2, tonnage 419. The roads in 

 this part of the county are generally very good, and there are 

 considerable facilities for communication with various parts of the 

 country. 



The manufacture of baizes, serges, merinoes, Barnstaple-stuffs, and 

 other woollen goods, once the staple of the town, has been entirely 

 discontinued ; and only one of the three lace manufactories is now 

 continued. The only manufacture of any consequence now carried 

 on at Barnstaple is of pottery. There is however considerable 

 general trade, and the place altogether is said to be flourishing. 



Barnstaple is a neat and generally well-built town, and may be 

 regarded as the metropolis of North Devon. Many respectable fami- 

 lies have been induced by the beauty of the situation, its salubrity, 

 the social advantages of the place, and the comparative cheapness of 

 provisions to settle here. Barnstaple has of late years greatly 

 increased and is still increasing in importance. Many new houses 

 have been built, particularly in the suburb on the London road, 

 named Newport? The town is about a mile hi length ; the streets are 

 well paved and lighted with gas. A fine quay stretches along the river 

 side to a great length, and is terminated at one end by a handsome 

 piazza, over the centre of which is placed a statue of Queen Anne. 

 The river is crossed by an ancient stone bridge of sixteen arches, 

 which has been widened in a very ingenious manner by iron-work on 

 each side, supporting foot-paths, and the approaches have been much 

 improved. 



The original parish church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, is 

 an ancient and spacious edifice, affording accommodation for 2000 

 persons ; but it is of no great architectural merit. It has been 



