CIRENCESTER CLONFERT. 



389 



stance connected with their original privileges. 

 The "decline and fall" of the Cinque ports from 

 their ancient eminence, may be attributed to the 

 ruin or injury of their harbours, by the long-con- 

 tinued recession or destructive effects of the sea; 

 the abolition of their exclusive commercial privi- 

 leges ; and the alteration which has been made in 

 the system of raising a maritime force. Their 

 decay consequent on these changes, was progressive, 

 though its results were not the least certain. 



The court of the Cinque ports, for holding pleas, 

 as well as the grand assembly of the same, was 

 originally held at the Shepway-cross, near Limne, 

 where the oath was administered to the lord war- 

 den on his induction into office. This high func- 

 tionary is now generally sworn in at Bredenstone 

 hill, to the south-west of Dover, opposite the cas- 

 tle, where the ancient court of Shepway was held, 

 and most of the business relating to the Cinque 

 ports transacted. In addition to the above, the 

 lord warden also holds a court of equity, as chan- 

 cellor, and a court of admiralty as admiral of the 

 ports, which is generally kept in the church of St 

 James at Dover. Walmer castle, about a mile to 

 the north of Deal, has long been appropriated as 

 the residence of the lord warden of the Cinque 

 ports. 



CIRENCESTER; an ancient town in the 

 county of Gloucester, situated on the west bank 

 of the Churn, a few miles from its confluence with 

 the Thames, eighty-nine miles W. by N. from Lon- 

 don. Cirencester is said to have been a town of 

 some importance when Britain was occupied by the 

 Romans, at which period its walls enclosed an area 

 two miles in circumference. During the hep- 

 tarchy it passed alternately into the hands of the 

 kings of Wessex and Mercia, and was stormed by 

 the Danes in 879. Canute held a parliament here. 

 It was again stormed and dismantled by Henry III. 

 in his wars with the barons, and in the reign of 

 Henry IV., the lords Surrey, Salisbury, and others 

 having taken up arms to restore Richard II., were 

 assaulted and slain at an inn in the town by the 

 bailiff and inhabitants, who sent their heads to 

 London ; in return for which good service the king 

 granted them four does and six bucks annually, out 

 of the forest of Bradon, a pipe of wine, and a 

 charter of incorporation. Here was anciently a 

 castle, and an abbey for black canons, established 

 in 1117, by Henry I., on an old foundation, for 

 prebendaries, which had existed before the conquest. 

 Its abbot was a mitred one, and sat in parliament. 

 Forn.ei'ly the manufacture of woollen cloth was 

 carried on here to a considerable extent, but 

 the trade now is trifling. Population in 1831, 

 5420. 



CLARKE, JAMES STANIER, LL.D., F. R. S., 

 canon of Windsor, rector of Preston cum Hove, Sus- 

 sex, and deputy clerk of the closet to George IV. ; 

 was the eldest son of the Rev. Edward Clarke, 

 rector of Buxted, in Sussex (son of the Rev. 

 William Clarke, the intimate friend of Mr Bowyer, 

 the learned printer ; see Nichol's " Literary Anec- 

 dotes," vol. iv. p. 382.), by Anne, daughter of 

 Thomas Grenfield, Esq., and brother to Dr E. D. 

 Clarke, the celebrated traveller. He was of Jesus 

 college, Cambridge, LL. B. 1805., LL. D. per Lit. 

 Reg. 1816. He was for some years a chaplain in 

 the royal navy, and was chaplain to Lord Nelson 

 at the battle of Trafalgar. He afterwards distin- 

 guished himself as a preacher at Park street and 

 Trinity chapels; and having been introduced by ad- 



miral John Payne to George IV., was for many years 

 domestic chaplain and librarian at Carlton House, 

 and honoured by the particular favour of his royal 

 master. He was instituted to Preston in 1790, 

 and he was also for some time rector or Coombs, 

 Sussex, in the gift of the earl of Egremont. The 

 following are the titles of Dr Clarke's publications: 

 "Naval Sermons," preached aboard H.M.S. the 

 Impetueux, 1798, 8vo. " The Progress of Mari- 

 time Discovery, from the earliest Period to the 

 Close of the Eighteenth Century," 1803, 4to. " Fal- 

 coner's Shipwreck, with a Life of the Author," 

 1804, 8vo. " Naufragia, or Historical Memoirs of 

 Shipwrecks," 1805, 3 vols. 12mo. " Life of Lord 

 Nelson," (in conjunction with John M'Arthur, 

 Esq.), 1809, 2 vols. 4to. An abridgement of the 

 same, 1810, 8vo. " Sermon at the Anniversary of 

 the Sons of the Clergy," 1811. An edition of 

 Lord Clarendon's Essays, 1815, 2 vols. 12mo. 

 " The Life of King James II.," from his own Me- 

 moirs and the Stewart MSS. at Carlton House, 

 1816, 2 vols. 4to. (The prince regent had then 

 appointed him historiographer to the king.) He 

 was also the founder of the monthly miscellany 

 called " The Naval 'Chronicle." He died Oct. 4. 

 1834, at Brighton. 



CLIFTON. See Bristol. 



CLITHEROE ; a market-town of Lancashire, 

 distant from Manchester thirty miles N., from Lan- 

 caster twenty-six S.E. It is situated at the foot 

 of Pendle-hill, on the east bank of the Ribble. 

 The business of the place is, generally speaking, 

 the cotton manufacture, for the spinning, weaving, 

 and printing of which there are extensive establish- 

 ments both in the town and neighbourhood. The 

 market-day is Tuesday. This place belonged ori- 

 ginally to the family of Lacy, who erected a castle 

 here sometime in the 12th century. This castle 

 was bestowed upon Monk by Charles II., and dis- 

 mantled by order of the parliament in 1649. A 

 modern castle has been built within its precincts. 

 The first charter of the borough, granted during 

 the life-time of Henry de Lacy, who died about 

 the middle of the 12th century, has been confirmed 

 by many successive monarchs. By this charter the 

 government was vested in two bailiffs, chosen 

 annually by the burgesses out of their own body. 

 Clitheroe sent, from the time of Elizabeth, two 

 members to parliament, but was deprived of one 

 member by 2 Will. IV. c. 45. and schedule B. 

 Population in 1831, 5213. 



CLONFERT; a parish, and the seat of a dio- 

 cese, in the county of Galway, Ireland, containing 

 5915 inhabitants. A monastery is said to have 

 been founded here, about the year 553, by St 

 Brendan, who died on the 16th of May, 577, in the 

 ninety-fourth year of his age. Moena, the succes- 

 sor of St Brendan, was the first bishop ; and 

 the treasures of the place frequently induced the 

 Danes to visit it as an object of plunder. During 

 the middle ages this church was famous for its 

 seven altars; and the western front, erected by 

 John, bishop of Clonfert in 1270, was remarkable 

 for the delicacy of its workmanship. The present 

 cathedral, which is both capitular and parochial, is 

 an ancient and capacious structure. The see was 

 united to Kilmacduagh in 1602 ; it extends thirty- 

 seven miles in length and thirty-two in breadth, 

 occupying an area of 215,000 acres, and reaching 

 into the counties of Galway and Roscommon. The 

 chapter consists of a dean, archdeacon, eight pre- 

 bendaries, and a sacrist. The fifty-nine nnrishes in 



