RE P 



R E P 



Such are cucumbers, melons, &c. ; fucli alfo are ivy, the 

 vine, and bryony. 



REPTON, 111 G'-ography, a confiderabk- town in the hun- 

 dred of Repton-an'l-Grellfy, and county of Derby, Eigland, 

 is fituated near th ■ bwks of the river Trent, at the Jiflance 

 of eight miles S.W. from the town of D^rby* and four N.E. 

 from Burton-upon-Trent in SLaftorddiire. Among anti- 

 quaries it 13 celebrated as the fcite of the capital of the 

 Mercian monarchy, and the burial-place of feveral of its 

 fovereigns. At that period it was called Hreopandune ; 

 and is conjeftured by'fome to iiave rifen upon the ruins 

 of the Roman ftatinn Repandunum ; and the town is 

 called Reppendune in ancient deeds. In the Saxon an- 

 nals Repton is faid to have been noted for a noble nio- 

 naftery of rien and women, eilablifhed, under the go- 

 vernment of an abbefs, previous to the year 660. This 

 abbey wis deftroyed by the Danes in the reign of Buthred, 

 the laft ^i'lg of Mcrcia, and remained in a defecratcd Hate 

 till the year 1172, when it was refounded as a priory by 

 Matilda, widow of Ranulph, fecond earl of Cheftcr, who 

 bellowed upon the monks the tithes of Repton, and con- 

 fiderable ellates in the neighbourhood, befides Bartlow in 

 Effex, and lands at Granfden, in Huntingdonihire. At the 

 diflblutioH its revenues were eftimated at 167/. iSs. 2d. In 

 the original ftrutlnre were depolited the remains of feveral 

 of the Mercian kings ; as were hkewife thofe of Ryne- 

 chardus, brother to Sigeberl, king of the Weft Saxons. 

 Some portions of the later buildings are yet in exiftence, 

 being converted into a fchool houfe and apartments for the 

 mafter and ufher. The fchool-room, as appears from the win- 

 dows and other traces, was either the refeftory, or the hall, of 

 the priory. It is fupported by a row of ftrong round columns, 

 with pointed arches. At the northern extremity of this 

 room v/as the dormitory ; and on the eaft fide were fituated 

 the cloilfers, the area of which is now a garden. Adjoin- 

 ing the cloilters itood the church which Fuller, in his 

 " Church Hillory," defcribes as an elegant and fpacious 

 ftrudlure, fupported in the interior by pillars of alabafter, 

 fragments of which have been occafionally laid open. 

 Foundations of other buildings, befides thofe mentioned, 

 may ftill be plainly traced in various directions ; and on 

 the fcite of the prior's lodging is a manfion called Old 

 Trent, built about a century ago, which difplays, towards 

 the water, a curious brick tower with an ornamental cor- 

 nice, part of a former building, erefted by Prior Overton 

 in the reign of Henry VI. 



Repton confiils chiefly of one ftreet of fcattered houfes, 

 extending about a mile in length, and watered by a fine 

 Itream, which difcharges itfelf into the Trent. At the 



lower end of the town (lands the parifli church, a largr, 

 handfome edifice, ornamented with a fine fpire two hundred 

 feet high. Tradition affirms that the prefent 13 the third 

 churcii which has occupied the fame fcite ; and there can be 

 no doubt that parts of it are of difterent and dillant dates. 

 The nave and fide aides fecm to be of the reign of Ed- 

 ward III. ; but the chancel is probably more ancient, as its 

 columns are maflive, and its arches femicircular. Beneath 

 this part of the church is a crypt, bearing a Itrong relcm- 

 blance, in form and ornaments, to the crypt under Canter- 

 bury cathedral, and alfo to that under St. Peter's in the Eaft, 

 at Oxford. In the interior of this building are feveral 

 handfome monuments to tile memory of the Thacker family. 

 Within a clofe behind the church, a labourer fome years 

 ago dilcovercd a cemetery, which contained among many 

 other human flceletons. one of an extraordinary fize, mea- 

 fiiring nine feet in length. This difcovery is noticed by 

 Dr. Pegge in the Philofophical Tranfadlions for the year 

 1734. An old Hone crofs, confifting of a fingle (haft, 

 placed upon eight odtagonal Heps, (lands in the area front- 

 ing the church. The parilh of Repton, according to the 

 parliamentary returns of 18 ii, contains 326 houfes, and 

 1648 inhabitants, who are cliiefly engaged in purfuits con- 

 nedted with agriculture. 



At a fhort dillance from" Repton is Sudbury, the feat 

 and property of tlie family of Vernon, which is of great 

 antiquity, deriving its defcent from Richard de Vernon, a 

 Norman lord, who accompanied the Conqueror to England ; 

 and was one of the (even barons created by Hugh Lupus, 

 tlic great earl of Cheftcr. Sir Ralph de Vernon, who 

 was alive in the reign of Edward II., is faid to have 

 reached the extraordinary age of 150 years. Sudbury 

 church, an ancient fabric, (landing in the garden near the 

 houfe, is decorated with many fepulchral tombs to members 

 of this family. One, in commemoration of Catharine, 

 daughter to the late lord Vernon, is remarkable for the 

 beauty of the epitaph, which was written by William 

 Whitehead, poet-laureat. 



At Egginton, on the banks of the river Dove, weft of 

 Repton, is a feat of fir Henry Every, whofe family was ori- 

 ginally feated in Somerfetflilre. Part of the old manfion 

 here was deftroyed by fire in the year 1736, and the 

 pre!ei,t houfe then erefted on its fete. 



Bretly park, the feat of the earl of Chefterfield, is about 

 three miles S.W. of Repton. About three miles E. of 

 Bretly is Calke hall, the feat of Jir Henry Harpur, bart 

 The houfe is a fpacious quadrangular edifice, feated in a 

 park furrounded by eminences. Beauties of England and 

 Wales, vol. iii. by John Britten and E. W. Bray ley, 1802. 



END OF VOL. XXIX. 



Strahan and Prefton, 

 Ncw-Sirret S([imre, London. ' 



