161 



BROACH. 



BROMVVICH. 



church, there is a place of worship for Baptists. There is a National 

 school. A fair is held on the Monday after Ascension Day. 



BROACH. [BAROACH.] 



BROADSTAIRS. [KENT.] 



BROCK. [CANADA.] 



BROCKVILLE. [CANADA.] 



BROD. [BOSNIA.] 



BRODY, a town in the Austrian Crownland of Galicia, is situated 

 in a swampy plain bounded by forests, and on the rivulet Sucha- 

 mielka, which flows north into the Styr; in 50 7'N. lat., 25" 18' E. 

 long., and has 24,000 inhabitants. Brody is large, but ill built and 

 dirty ; the houses are mostly constructed of wood. Above 8000 of 

 the inhabitants are Jews, on which account the town has been 

 nicknamed ' The German Jerusalem.' There are several squares and 

 open spaces ; several Greek and Roman Catholic churches, three syna- 

 gogues, a convent, a large palace belonging to the Potocki family, and 

 other handsome buildings. It has two Jewish schools, a Roman 

 Catholic grammar school, a seminary for female education annexed to 

 the convent, a Jewish hospital, a theatre, and public baths. Brody 

 was made a free town in 1779. In a commercial point of view, it is the 

 most important town in Galicia. The trade is almost exclusively in 

 the hands of the Jews, and consists principally in the export of cattle, 

 horses, honey, wax, tallow, isinglass, hides and skins, leather, aniseed, 

 dried fruit, &c. ; jewels, pearls, colonial produce, and manufactured 

 goods are imported by way of Odessa ; there is also a transit trade in 

 merchandise to Russia, Turkey, &c. The chief industrial products of 

 Brody are leather and linen ; ite fairs are well attended. 



BROEK. [HOLLAND, SOUTH.] 



BROMBERG. [PosEX.] 



BROMLEY, Kent, a market-town and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, 

 in the parish of Bromley, hundred of Bromley and Beckenham, and 

 lathe of Sutton-at-Hone, is situated on elevated ground on the right 

 side of the small river Ravensbourne, in 51 24' N. lat., 1' K. long. ; 

 10 miles S.E. from London. The population of the parish of Bromley 

 in 1 Nil was 4127. The living is a perpetual curacy iu the archdea- 

 donry of Maidstone and diocese of Canterbury. Bromley Poor-Law 

 Union contains 16 parishes and townships with an area of 41,333 

 acres, and a population in 1851 of 17,640. 



The origin of the name of this place is doubtful. The manor was 

 given by Ethelbert, king of Kent, in the 8th century to the bishop 

 and church of Rochester. After the conquest it was seized by Odo, 

 bishop of Bayeux, the brother-in-law of the conqueror, but was restored 

 in 1076 to the see of Rochester through the exertions of Archbishop 

 Lanfranc. The dean and chapter of Rochester are the patrons and 

 impropriatora of the great tithes. The present mansion, a plain brick 

 building, was erected in 1777. In the grounds is a spring of mineral 

 wat'T, known as St. Blaise's Well, which was at one time in great 

 repute for its healing properties. Bromley church is a spacious gothic 

 structure, with an embattled tower. It is partly of perpendicular 

 architecture, but has been much disfigured by repairs and alterations. 

 The interior contains some monuments of several bishops of Rochester. 

 'A chapel of ease, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was erected in 1841. 

 There are places of worship for Wesleyau Methodists and Independents, 

 National and Infant schools, a literary institution, and a savings 

 bank. Bromley College, founded in 1666 by John Warner, bishop of 

 Rochester, for 20 poor widows of clergymen, has been enlarged by 

 subsequent benefactions so as to accommodate 4 widows, each receiving 

 38t a year, with an allowance for coal and candles. The college is a 

 me pile of buildings, standing at the entrance of the town from 

 the London road. Other charities are in the parish. Bromley consists 

 chiefly of one long street, in which are some well-built houses. The 

 town is paved, and is lighted with gas. Petty sessions and a county 

 court are held here. Bromley being on the main road to Tonbridge 

 Wdls and Hastings, formerly possessed a considerable posting trade ; 

 since the construction of the South-Eastern railway this trade has 

 greatly declined. It is now mainly dependent on the trade of the 

 agricultural district in which it stands and of the families of the 

 ,, in the vicinity of the town. The -market day is Thursday. 

 Fairs are held on February 14th, and August 5th, for cattle, horses, 

 sheep, and hogs. 



BROMLEY ABBOTT'S. [STAFFORDSHIHK.] 



BROMLEY ST. LEONARD'S. [MIDDLESEX.] 



BROMPTON. [KENT.] 



BROMPTOX. [MIDDLESEX.] 



MR /MPTON. [YORKSHIRE.] 



BROMSGROVE, Worcestershire, a market-town and the seat of a 

 Poor-Law Union in the parish of Bromagrove and upper division of 

 the hundred of Halfshire, stands near the small river Salwarp, in 

 52' 20' N. lat., 2' 3' W. long., 13 miles N.N.E. from Worcester, 116 

 milps N.\V. from London by road, and 127 miles by the North- 

 Western and Bristol and Birmingham railways. The population of 

 the town in 1851 wa 4426. In the reign of Edward I. Bromsgrove 

 returned two members to Parliament; but when the trade of the 

 town declined the inhabitants petitioned to be freed from the fran- 

 The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry and diocese of 

 Worcester. Brornsgrove Poor-Law Union contains 15 parishes and 

 townships, with an area of 47,206 acres and a population in 1851 of 

 24,824. 



aeon. DIV. VOL. n. 



The town consists principally of one good street about a mile in 

 length, lighted by gas, and paved. Commissioners were appointed 

 under the powers of an Act of Parliament obtained in 1846 for the 

 purpose of effecting various improvements in the town. This measure 

 has been highly beneficial. 



The church of Bromsgrove, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is 

 situated on a gentle eminence ; it has a beautiful tower and spire, 

 together 189 feet in height. There was a church :\t Bromsgrove at 

 the time of the Conquest. A chapel of ease at, Cats Hill iu this parish 

 has been made a district church. There are three or four Dissenting 

 chapels, a literary and scientific institute, National and Infant schools, 

 and a savings bank. A Grammar school founded by Edward VI. in 

 1553, and further endowed by Sir Thomas Cookes, Bart., in 1G93, has 

 an income from endowment of about 35/., and had 58 scholars in 

 1852, of whom 12 were free scholars. The 12 boys on the foundation 

 are educated, clothed, and apprenticed ; and in Worcester College, 

 Oxford, are six scholarships and six fellowships, the vacancies in 

 which are filled up by boys selected from this school. 



The linen manufacture was formerly carried on at Bromsgrove, but 

 has been abandoned. Nail-making is now the principal trade ; there 

 is also an extensive manufactory for patent buttons. In the parish of 

 Stoke Prior, and closely adjoining that of Bromsgrove, are situated the 

 extensive salt and alkali works of the British Alkali Company. The 

 manufacture of salt has been carried on for centuries in the adjoining 

 borough of Droitwich, where it is prepared from rich springs of native 

 brine. Rock-salt was discovered in 1829 at Stoke Prior in the course 

 of sinking a pit in search of brine. The beds of salt were of great 

 thickness, and were excavated to a considerable extent ; but at present 

 the supplies for making refined salt are derived from a natural brine 

 spring, which has communicated with the excavations. Immediately 

 after making this discovery, the proprietors erected extensive works 

 for the manufacture of salt, and for the preparation of British alkali 

 by the decomposition of this substance, which very speedily changed 

 the green fields and retired lanes into an active manufactory and a 

 populous village. The Birmingham and Worcester Canal passes 

 near Bromsgrove and Stoke Prior. Bromsgrovo is situated in a 

 highly-cultivated and richly-wooded valley. On the Lickey Hill, 

 which forms one of its acclivities, are the sources of the river Rea, 

 which flows through Birmingham ; of the Salwarp, which passes 

 through Droitwich ; of the Arrow, and of several small streams, some 

 of which fall into the basin of the Severn and ultimately into the Irish 

 channel, while others descend in the opposite direction to the basin of 

 the Trent and the German Ocean. The strata belong to the new red- 

 sandstone formation. The Lickey Hill is composed of quartz, and is 

 regarded by geologists as the source from whence have been derived 

 the vast beds of gravel which extend through Oxfordshire, in the 

 valley of the Evenlode, and even along the Thames. 



BROMWICH, WEST, Staffordshire, a mining and manufacturing 

 town, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union in the parish of West 

 Bromwich aud hundred of South Offley, is situated in the heart of a 

 mining district, near the river Tame, in 52 31' N. lat., 1 59' W. 

 long., four miles from Birmingham, 113 miles N.W. from London by 

 road, and 115 miles by the North-Western railway. The population, 

 which in 1831 was 15,327, increased by the year 1811 to 26,121 ; iu 

 1851 it was 34,591. The parish is divided into two districts, namely, 

 north-east (16,706 inhabitants) and south-west (17,885 inhabitants). 

 It is governed by the county magistrates, who hold petty sessions. 

 The living is a perpetual curacy in the archdeaconry of Stafford and 

 diocese of Lichfield. West Bromwich Poor-Law Union contains six 

 parishes and townships, with an area of 20,165 acres, and a population 

 in 1851 of 69,718. 



The circumference of the parish of West Bromwich is about 13 

 miles, nine of which are marked by the course of the river Tame as 

 it flows from Oldbury to the Trent. In the 12th century Birmingham, 

 Castle Bromwich, Little Bromwich, and West Bromwich all belonged 

 to one feudal lord ; and Bromwich is said to have been distinguished 

 from Bromwicham (Birmingham) by the prefix West, which indicates 

 its relative position. West Bromwich affords a remarkable instance 

 of the growth of population and wealth through mining and manu- 

 facturing industry. Within the space of a few years it has grown up 

 from being little else than a barren heath to a town nearly three miles 

 in length. The iron and coal beneath the surface of the whole parish 

 have caused the growth of the town. The manufacture of iron goods 

 is carried on very extensively at Bromwich : guns, gun-locks, swords, 

 bayonets, saddlers' ironmongery, fire-irons, coach ironmongery, chains, 

 bolts, nails, and agricultural implements are among the iron goods 

 made here. 



The Earl of Dartmouth, who is the chief landowner, has a seat at 

 Sandwell Park, near West Bromwich ; it occupies the site of a small 

 Benedictine priory. The earl has appropriated about four acres of 

 ground, inclosed by a wall, for the use of the inhabitants. The 

 Birmingham and Wolverhampton Canal supplies West Bromwich with 

 water-carriage for heavy goods. 



All Saints parish church belonged to the priory of Sandwell, and 

 the original structure is supposed to have been built about seven cen- 

 turies ago ; but the body of the church was nearly all rebuilt iu 1785, 

 and the upper part of the steeple was rebuilt in 1824. Christ church 

 was built in 1828. Trinity church and St. James's have been erected 



M 



