374 



CHERT - CHINA. 



to surrender, (hough under promise of quarter, 

 hoping to escape by means of a boat, which they 

 had provided for that purpose. A soldier of the 

 parliament army, however, swam across the river 

 with a knife between his teeth, cut the cable of 

 the boat, and brought it away. The castle was at 

 length forced, and Sir Nicholas Kemys, with forty 

 men, sViin in the assault. This event was consi- 

 dered by the parliament so important, that the 

 captain who brought the news was rewarded with 

 50, and a letter of'thanks was sent to Colonel Ewer 

 und the officers and soldiers engaged in that service. 

 In 1045, the castle and park of Chepstow, toge- 

 ther with the chase of Wentwood, and several 

 .3 which belonged to the marquis of Worces- 

 ter, and other loyalists, to the amount then of 

 JC-2MO a \ear. were settled on Oliver Cromwell. 

 At the restoration of Charles II., the castle, &c., 

 were restored to the marquis of Worcester, and 

 has since continued in the possession of his de- 

 scendants. The duke of Beaufort is present pro- 

 prietor. One of the most interesting parts of the 

 castle is Marten's tower, or the tower where Harry 

 Marten, the regicide, was long imprisoned. 



CHERT is a rock compound of silicious parti- 

 rles, mixed with limestone in such a way as to in- 

 dicate that its formation has been partly owing to 

 chemical solution of the flinty matter and partly 

 mechanical solution of the lime. 



CHERTSEY; a market-town in the county of 

 Surrey, situated on the banks of the Thames, over 

 which there is here a bridge of seven arches; nine- 

 teen miles W. S. W. from London. The principal 

 articles of commerce here are flour, malt, iron- 

 hoops, and brooms. Population in 1841, 53 17. 



St Anne's Well, in the parish of Chertsey, was 

 formerly in great repute for curing diseases of the 

 eyes, and St Anne's hill, one of the most delight- 

 ful situations within its boundaries, was the resi- 

 dence of the celebrated C. J. Fox, in the latter 

 years of his life. In the Porch House, at Chert- 

 Bey, also, did Cowley close his days. Day, the 

 author of Sandford and Merton, lived in this vicin- 

 ity. 



CHESTERFIELD; a parish and market-town 

 in Derbyshire ; the latter, twenty-five miles N. E. 

 from Derby, is of more trading importance than 

 any in the county. At the time of the Norman 

 survey it was called Cestrefield, and was then 

 merely a bailiwick to Newbold the latter now 

 but a small hamlet in the parish ; subsequently it 

 advanced to considerable importance, and king 

 John conferred upon it a charter of incorporation, 

 with the privilege of two markets and a fair : this 

 charter was ratified by succeeding sovereigns, en- 

 larged by queen Elizabeth, and confirmed by 

 Charles II. The new municipal act (passed in 

 1835,) vested the government of the town in a 

 mayor, four aldermen and twelve councillors. The 

 town occupies a considerable extent of ground, and 

 is irregularly built. It has extensive manufactories 

 of cotton, silk, carpets, gloves, hosiery, &c. The 

 neighbourhood abounds with coal, iron-stone, and 

 lead-ore, all of which are successfully wrought. 

 There are several iron-foundries in the parish, 

 where all kinds of machinery are made ; and lead 

 is sent in great quantities from Chesterfield, by the 

 canal that runs from that place into the Trent, a 

 little below Gainsborough. There are also pot- 

 teries in 'this parish, chiefly employed in making 

 coarse brown ware, at which some hundreds of 

 people are employed Chesterfield gives the title 



of earl to a branch of the Stanhope family. Po- 

 pulation of parish in 18;U, 5775; in 1841. (1212. 



CHICHESTER; a city and county in its-elf, 

 locally situated in the hundred of Box and Stock- 

 bridge, and rape of Chichester, county of Sussex, 

 lying on a gentle eminence, surrounded on all sides, 

 except the north, by the small river Lavant, It 

 boasts of great antiquity, and i-, deemed by Hor- 

 sley to be the Regnum of the Romans. After 

 being destroyed by Ella in the fifth century, it wa s 

 rebuilt by his son Cissa, who called it Ci/sa Ceas- 

 ter after himself, and made it the capital of the 

 kingdom of the South Saxons. It subsequently 

 suffered much from the Danes, but was benefited 

 after the conquest by the removal to it of the epis- 

 copal see from Selsea. Since that period the siege 

 which it sustained under Charles I. seems the only 

 historical fact worthy notice. This town was ori- 

 ginally strongly walled, having four gates fronting 

 the cardinal points of the compass, and from these 

 gates four principal streets, named after their gates, 

 and respectively meeting in its centre nearly at 

 right angles, where there still stands an octagonal 

 cross erected in 1478 by Robert Storey, on his 

 being translated from the see of Carlisle to that of 

 Chichester in the decorated style of English ar- 

 chitecture, which, in simplicity of design, and ele- 

 gance of execution, is supposed to surpass anything 

 of the kind that is to be met with in the kingdom. 

 The gates have long ago been removed, and the 

 walls taken down, except on the north and east 

 sides, where they were, upwards of a century ago, 

 formed into terraces, covered with gravel which, 

 now shaded with rows of lofty elm trees, afford a 

 delightful promenade for the inhabitants, and are 

 highly ornamental to the city. The houses are 

 generally substantially built, the streets well-paved 

 and brilliantly lighted with gas. The palace of 

 the bishop is chiefly remarkable for its extensive 

 and admirably planned gardens. The cathedral, 

 built in the form of a cross, with a fine tower ris- 

 ing from the centre, surmounted by an octagonal 

 spire, is a most beautiful building. The following 

 are stated to be the dimensions : 



Total length from east to woet, including Lady chapel 407 



I, onirth of transepts from north to south - - l^ri 



Hoiirlit of the spire from the door - - - - id/1 

 Height of the vaulting of the nave ... 



Height of the vaulting of the choir - - 59 



The trade of this town consists chiefly in malt, 

 flour, corn, timber, and coal. Population in 1831, 

 8270. Collins, the poet, was a native of Chiches- 

 ter, and a monument, executed by Flaxman, is 

 erected to his memory in Chichester cathedral. A 

 statue, from the chisel of Mr Carew, has also been 

 erected here to the memory of William Huskison. 



CHINA, (a.) The modern empire of China, in 

 addition to China Proper, (which, with its eighteen 

 rich and fertile provinces, each of them equal in 

 extent and population to some European kingdoms, 

 covers an area of 1,298,000 square miles,) now em- 

 braces Chinese Tartary, a region extending from 

 the sea of Ochotsk, on the east, to Bukaria, on the 

 west, and from the Altay and Nershink mountains, 

 on the north, to the Great Wall, on the south. 

 China is strengthened by having Thibet on the one 

 hand, and Corea and Loo Choo on the other, al- 

 most entirely subject to its influence; while its im- 

 portance in the eyes of eastern nations is augmented 

 by claiming to include Cochin-China, Camboja, 

 Burmah, and Siam among its tributary kingdoms. 

 It thus presents a dominion extending over thirty- 



