THE ENVIRONS OF BATH. 



Notes on the Principal Parishes within Four Miles 

 OF the City. 



W. Daubeny. 



Bathampton. Distance 2 miles E. — This Parish, formerly 

 known as " Hantone," afterwards as " Bathentune," and then 

 as Bath-Hampton, was one of the exempt Liberties of the 

 Church of Bath, and included in the Hundred of Bath-forum. 

 The Manor of Bathampton formerly belonged to the Church 

 of Bath, and continued in its possession till 1548, when the 

 Bishop of the See exchanged it with the King for other 

 property belonging to the Priory of Bath. In 1 5 5 2 it became 

 the property of one William Crouch, but shortly afterwards 

 it was sold to Thomas Popham, and from him passed to the 

 Hungerfords, and Bassets ; Sir William Basset's heirs selling 

 it in 1 701 to Charles Holder, through whom it came to 

 Ralph Allen, of Prior Park, the members of whose family 

 still hold it. The Church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, was 

 mainly rebuilt in 1754, the north aisle being built in 1859. 

 The tower contains five bells, the third and fifth being 

 pre-Reformation — with Latin inscriptions on them ; on the 

 fourth bell is inscribed the date, 1622, the initials of the 

 caster, Robert Purdue, and the arms of the Prince of Wales, 

 with the motto Ich Dien, and the letters " C.R." There 

 were under the south wall of the old Church, two recum- 



