433 



CHEMMIS. 



CHER. 



434 



figured by huge pews and galleries. In the churchyard is a mutilated 

 cross. The other churches are Trinity, St. John's, St. James's, St. 

 Paul's, St. Philip's, Christ church, and St. Peter's. Christ church, 

 the most generally admired of these buildings, will accommodate 2000 

 persons ; it is a pleasing edifice of a mixed modern gothic style, with 

 a tower 174 feet high. St. Peter's is a picturesque specimen of the 

 Norman style ; the interior has a very chaste appearance. The Wes- 

 leyan, Calvinistic, New Connexion, Primitive and Association Method- 

 ists, Independents, Baptists, Quakers, Unitarians, Roman Catholics, 

 Jews, and Mormonites have places of worship in the town. 



The principal educational establishment in Cheltenham is the Pro- 

 prietary College, situated in the Bath -road. The building, an imposing 

 structure in the Tudor collegiate style, was erected in 1843. It has a 

 frontage of 240 feet; the lecture-room is 40 feet by 32 feet; the prin- 

 cipal windows are 35 feet high by 20 feet wide. In 1852 the college 

 was attended by 412 students. The Free Grammar school, in the 

 High-street, was founded in 1578 ; it has now an income of about 

 800/. a year. There were 175 scholars in 1852. The school possesses 

 10 scholarships and exhibitions at Oxford University, none of which 

 is less than 601. a year. There are six National schools, three British 

 schools, and four Infant schools. A Church of England Training 

 College has been founded for educating masters and mistresses of 

 infant and parochial schools. The building for male students recently 

 erected contains residences for the principal, vice-principal, assistant- 

 master, and 100 students. The cost of this building (defrayed by sub- 

 scription, aided by a government grant) was upwards of 10,0002. The 

 architect of the building, which has a quaint monastic character, was 

 Mr. Daukes. For the female establishment a house is rented which ac- 

 commodates three governesses, a superintendent, matron, and 60 pupils. 

 There were 75 male and 60 female students in residence in 1852. 



' in i'enham possesses an hospital, an infirmary, a dispensary, 

 almshoMses, parochial charities, and a very large number of benevo- 

 lent and charitable institutions. There are also a savings bank, a 

 literary and philosophical institute, horticultural, choral, and numerous 

 other societies and clubs. A county court is held in the town. There 

 is a daily market ; seven fairs are held during the year. 



Of the numerous mansions in Cheltenham and its vicinity, Thirle- 

 stane House, the seat of Lord Northwick, in the Bath-road, deserves 

 particular mention, on account of its extensive and excellent collection 

 of paintings, including many admirable works by both old and 

 modern masters. It is open to the public under certain regulations. 



(Atkyns, Oloucesterthire ; Cheltenham Hiitoria and Guides; Com- 

 munications from Cheltenham.) 



CHEMMIS. [AcHMin.] 



CHEMNITZ, a town in Saxony, the capital of the Erzge'oirge 

 circle, is situated at the foot of the Erzgebirge, in a beautiful and 

 well-watered valley which extends about ten miles in every direction. 

 It stands in 50 50' N. lat., and 17 55' E. long., and about 976 

 feet above the level of the Baltic. Chemnitz was for four centuries a 

 free Imperial city. It is now the principal manufacturing town in 

 Saxony. In no place indeed have the English improvements been 

 introduced with such care and skill as in Chemnitz. There are 

 several large spinning and weaving establishments, numerous manu- 

 factories for printing cotton goods, and some in which the yarn is 

 dyed red like Turkish yarn. The woollen manufactures, which were 

 formerly very considerable, have much decreased in the last fifty 

 years ; but in the town, as well as in its neighbourhood, there are many 

 stocking manufactures. The manufacture of linen-cloth and of spin- 

 ning machinery also employs many of the inhabitants. Chemnitz 

 carries on a considerable trade, being situated where the road between 

 Prague in Bohemia and Leipzig, and that which unites Bavaria with 

 Dresden, cross one another. IU exports to the United States of 

 North America are of considerable amount. The town contains 

 28,650 inhabitants, and is well built ; the streets are spacious 

 and mostly straight, and many of its houses look more like 

 palaces than dwelling-houses. It is lighted with lamps and is 

 remarkable for the great cleanliness of its streets. The public 

 edifices are in a good style, but none of them particularly distin- 

 guished. Among them may be named the Great Church, the Rath- 

 hau.-s or town-hall, and the Gewandhaus, or cloth-halL 



CHEPSTOW, Monmouthshire, a market-town and port, and the 

 neat of a Poor-Law Union, in the pariah of Chepstow and upper 

 division of Caldicott hundred, is situated on the right bank of the 

 river Wye, in 51 38' N. lat., and 2 39' W. long. ; 16 miles S. by E. 

 from Monmouth, 135 miles W. from London by road, and 141J miles 

 by the Great Western and South Wales railways. The population of 

 Chepstow town was 4295 in 1851. The living is a vicarage in the 

 archdeaconry of Monmouth and diocese of Llandaff. Chepstow Poor- 

 Law Union contains 38 parishes and townships, with an area of 64,930 

 acres, and a population in 1851 of 19,000. 



Chepstow is situated about 24 miles from the junction of the Wye 

 with the iestuary of the Severn. The town was at an early period 

 strongly fortified. The castle is now in ruins, but its remains indicate 

 its former strength and extent. The remains consist of four courts 

 and a central building, and stretch for a considerable distance along a 

 precipitous cliff. The area of the castle is above three acres : but it is 

 narrow in comparison with its great length. The entrance is by a 

 gateway between two large round towers, and has been protected by 



OBOO. DIV. VOL. II. 



an iron door, double portcullises, machicolations, and other defences. 

 Chepstow Castle is said to have been founded shortly after the Con- 

 quest by Fitz-Osborne, earl of Hereford, but the greater part of the 

 building is of at least t two centuries later date. The castle has 



force, endeavoured to regain possession of the castle, but the garrison 

 refusing to yield, and time pressing, he delegated the conduct of the 

 siege to Colonel Ewer, who obliged the garrison to surrender, though 

 not till their commander, Sir Nicholas Kemeys, and 40 of their 

 number were slain, and their stock of provisions was exhausted. 

 Henry Marten, one of the Judges who tried Charles I., was confined 

 for upwards of 20 years in the keep of Chepstow Castle : he was how- 

 ever allowed to have his family with him, and to receive the visits of 

 his friends. He died in the castle and was buried in Chepstow church. 

 The keep is now commonly designated Marten's Tower. One of the 

 ancient gate-houses of the town is still in a tolerably good condition. 



Chepstow church is an edifice of Norman erection, and originally 

 formed part of the Benedictine priory of Chepstow. In the inte- 

 rior are some handsome monuments. The church has been lately 

 enlarged, and affords sittings for 1600 persons. The Roman Catholics, 

 Wesleyan Methodists, Independents, Baptists, and Irvingites have 

 places of worship. There are a Free school for 12 boys, a National 

 school, an hospital, and several almshouses : also some parochial 

 charities. The town possesses a literary institution, a horticultural 

 society, a choral society, and a savings bank. A inarket-houso and a 

 theatre are among the public buildings. The railway bridge across 

 the Wye is a remarkable construction, the part on the Gloucestershire 

 side being tubular but open at top, while on the Monmouthshire side 

 the rail runs upon arches : this construction was necessary to avoid 

 impeding the navigation. 



The town of Chepstow is built on a hill, which rises with a gentle 

 slope from the river, and has a picturesque appearance. The bridge, 

 erected in 1816, is constructed of iron : it is a substantial and rather 

 handsome structure of five arches, and is 372 feet long. The rise of 

 water at Chepstow bridge at high tide, is 50 feet, being the greatest 

 tidal rise in Europe. On a few occasions it has risen much higher. 

 The river being narrow the rush of water at rise and fall of the tide 

 is extremely fierce. For large vessels the Wye is navigable to Chep- 

 stow bridge; barges of from 18 tons to 30 tons can ascend the river 

 as far as Hereford. The number and tonnage of vessels registered 

 as belonging to the port, on 31st December 1852 were as follows : 

 sailing vessels under 50 tons, 42, tonnage 1154; above 50 tons, 14, 

 tonnage 1309 : steam vessels 1 of 17 tons, and 1 of 53 tons. During 

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

 inwards, 396 vessels, tonnage 10,247; outwards, 112 vessels, tonnage 

 7426 ; and 1 steam vessel inwards of 65 tons. In the colonial trade 

 inwards, 1 vessel of 145 tons; in the foreign trade inwards, 4 vessels, 

 320 tons. 



There are no manufactures in the town or neighbourhood. The 

 town is lighted with gas ; the streets are well paved and cleansed. A 

 county court is held at Chepstow. The market days are Wednesday 

 and Saturday ; four fairs are held in the course of the year. 



Near Chepstow is Hardwick House, the seat of the Bishop of Llan- 

 daff. Mathern House, the former residence of the bishops of LlandaS', 

 is near the sea about a mile and a half from Chepstow. Close by 

 Chepstow is Piercefield, the grounds of which are of much celebrity. 

 From the walks are obtained rich and extensive views of the 

 valley of the Wye and the country beyond. Views of eqvial beauty 

 and nearly equal extent are also obtained from the summit of Wynd- 

 cliff, a rock 970 feet high, situated about a mile and a half farther up 

 the Wye. Five miles from Chepstow are the famous and most 

 picturesque ruins of Tintern Abbey. But the whole country around 

 Chepstow is unusually beautiful and interesting. 



(Cox, Monmouthshire ; Cliffe, Book of South Wales ; Land We Live 

 In, vol. i. ; Communication from Chepstow.) 



CHER, a department nearly in the centre of France, comprehends 

 that part of the ancient province of Herri called Upper Berri and a 

 portion of Bourbonnais. Its northern boundary is formed by the 

 department of Loiret, on the south it has the department of Allier, 

 on the west the department of Loir-et-Cher and Indre, and on the 

 east the department of Nievre and the river Loire. It is included 

 between 46 18' and 47 40' N. lat., 1 50' and 3 5' E. long. Measured 

 north and south its greatest length is 86 miles, and its greatest 

 width east and west 56 miles. The area is 2780 square miles, and 

 the population according to the census of 1851 was 306,261, which 

 gives 110'16 to the square mile, being 64'554 below the average per 

 square mile for the whole of France. 



The department consists almost entirely of a vast plain of very 

 unequal fertility. The eastern part, which belongs to the basin of 

 the Loire, is extremely fertile. The northern district (which is called 

 Sancerrois, from its chief town Sancerre) has several ranges of low 

 hills, which sweep in parallel curves from south-east to north-west and 

 west ; between them are valleys watered by rivers, which follow the 

 direction of the hills, and here the soil is sandy and in many parts 

 covered with heaths and marshes. In the north-western districts, 

 which form part of the dismal region called Sologue [LoiR-ET-CHEBJ, 



2 F 



