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frri|.ieiil« our faiidy Ihores, is very voracious, and feeds on 

 ill lorts of flat fifh, and is particularly fond of herrings and 

 faad-eels, and fometimes cats crullaceous animals, lueli as 

 crabs. The thornbacks begin to generate in June, and 

 bring forth their young in July and Auguft, which (as 

 well as ihofe of the (kate) before they are old enough to 

 breed, are called maids. They begin to be in feafon in 

 November, and continue fo later than fl<ate ; but the young 

 of both are good at all times of the year. Pennant. 



TH0R>5'BURGH, in Geography, a town of Virgmia ; 

 74 miles S. of Wafliington. 



THORNBURY, an ancient market-town in the lower 

 divifion of the hundred of the fame name, in the county of 

 Gloucefler, England ; is fituated 24 miles S.W. from the 

 city of Glouceller, and 122 miles W. by N. from London. 

 The town confifts principally of three itreets, in the form of 

 the Roman Y, "having firil," fays Leland, "one longe 

 llrete, and two horncs goyne owt of it." The corporation 

 is compofed of a mayor, twelve aldermen, and a town-clerk ; 

 but the power of thefe officers is become much limited by 

 difufe. A weekly market is held on Saturdays, but is not 

 much frequented : here are three annual fairs. The church 

 is fpacious and handfomc : the tower is lofty, and orna- 

 mented with rich open-worked battlements, and eight pin- 

 nacles. The population, as returned under the aft of the 

 year 181 1, amounted to 1083 ; the number of houfes to 

 2 16. At the north end of the town are the remains of an 

 unfinilhed callle, which was commenced by Edward Stafford, 

 duke of Buckingham, but (lopped when he was beheaded 

 in 1522. This caftle may be confidered as particularly de- 

 ferring notice, from its affording fome interefting fperimens 

 of the laft gradation of caftellated architefture. The former 

 fplendour of Richmond and Nonfuch, which were con- 

 temporary with it, are known only by defcription and en- 

 granngs ; and Hampton Court, though it rofe under the 

 hands of Wolfey at the fame period, is certainly lefs rich in 

 the minute and capricious ornaments peculiar to the build- 

 ings of Henry VII. and his fucceffor. A fniall part raoft 

 relembling Thornbury, is feen at Windfor Caftle, in an ad- 

 dition made by the firft-mentioned fovereign. It is evident, 

 from a furvey made in the year 1582, that the whole 

 fouthem fide was habitable, and that it confifted of feveral 

 chambers, of magnificent dimenfions. The tower, the walls 

 of which are perfeft, was divided into four rooms, the duke's 

 own apartments : this ftands at the fouth-weft angle of the 

 caftle. The duke was meditating the completion of the 

 quadrangle which would have inclofed an area of two acres 

 and a half, when his fatal attainder clofed his views for 

 ever. Within the circuit walls twelve acres were inclofed : 

 annexed to them are fmall rooms, intended as barracks for 

 foldiers. In the reign of Elizabeth, the principal timbers 

 were taken away ; and time has forwarded the dilapidation. 

 A fingular coincidence has been remarked between the front 

 of Thornbury caftle and that of Chriftchurch, Oxford ; 

 and it appears as if the rivalry of tlie duke and cardinal 



Wolfey was exerted even in their ai-chitcfture Beauties 



of England and Wales, vol. v. Gloucefterfhire ; by J. Britton 

 and E. W. Brayley. Lyfons's " Gloucefterftiire Anti- 

 quities," foho. 



THORNE, a market-town in the lower divifion of the 

 wapentake of Strafford and Tickhill, in the Weft Riding of 

 the county of York, England ; is fituated near the fouth 

 bank of the river Don, at the diftance of 10 miles N.E. 

 from Doncafter, 29 miles S. by E. from York, and 167 

 N. by W. from London. The town appears to be in a 

 progreflive ftate of improvement : it carries on a confider- 

 able commerce by the Don ; and veffels trade regularly to 

 10 



T H O 



London. Ships of a fize fufficiently large for the ooaiting 

 trade, are biiilt at the fuburb called Hangman Hill, on the 

 banks of the river, which is alfo the landing-place for all 

 the merchandize. A canal cut from the Don to the Trent 

 paffes within a furlong on the weft fide of the town. A 

 weekly market is held on Wednefdays ; and two fairs an- 

 nually, each of three days continuance, for horned cattle, 

 woollen cloth, &c. According to the population returns 

 of the year 181 1, Thorne contained 637 houies, the number 

 of inhabitants being 2713. The country about Thorne is 

 for the moft part fertile ; but low, flat, and totally un- 

 pifturefque. On the eaft fide of the town is a field of rich 

 fandy loam, and more elevated than the other lauds in the 

 vicinity. Beyond this are vaft moors, which however are 

 moftly drained and inclofed. 



At the diftance of about three miles weftward from 

 Thorne, and on the Doncafter road, is Hatfield, a Iju-ge vil- 

 lage, famous in the annals of hiftory for the battle fought 

 there A.D. 633, by Edwin, the firft Chriftian king of 

 Northunibria, againft Cadwallo, king of Wales, and Peiida, 

 the Pagan king of Mercia. This conflift, which was ex- 

 tremely fanguinary, terminated fatally for the Northum- 

 brians : their monarch, and his eldeft fon Offrid, were flain, 

 their kingdom fubdued, and their country laid wafte. This 

 village was the birth-place of William de Hatfield, the 

 fecond fon of king Edward III. The extenfive level of 

 Hatfield Chace is faid to contain within its limits 180,000 

 acres, of which nearly one-half was formerly a great part of 

 the year under water. It was fold by Charles I. to Cor- 

 nelius Vermuiden, a naturalized Dutchman, without the 

 confent of the commiffioners and tenants, to drain and cul- 

 tivate ; which he effeftcd at the expence of about 4.00,000/., 

 but the affair involved him in ruinous law-fuits. In the 

 year 1811, an aft was obtained for inclofing between eight 

 and nine thoufand acres of rich common in this neighbour- 

 hood, which muft be ultimately produftive of great public 

 and private advantage. — Beauties of England and Wales, 

 vol. xvi. Yorkftiire ; byj. Bigland. 



Thorne, a fmall ifland of Denmark, in the Little Belt, 

 near the ifland of Funen. N. lat. 59^ 15'. E. long. 



9° 53'- 



THORNESS Bav, a bay on the N.W. coaft of the Ifle 

 of Wight, between Newtown and Cowes. 



THORNE Y, a market-town in the north part of the 

 hundred of Witchford, and county of Cambridge, England ; 

 is fituated in the north-weft fide of the county bordering on 

 Northamptonfiiire, 10 miles W. from March, 5 miles S.E. 

 from Crowland, and 84 miles N. from London. It is fur- 

 rounded by low and fertile grounds, which are now in a very 

 complete ftate of drainage, the expence of which is defrayed 

 by an annual tax of about a ftiilling per acre. Its ancient 

 appellation was Ankeridge, which it obtained from the an- 

 chorites who dwelt in a monaftery, or rather an aflemblage 

 of hermitages, founded here about the year 662, by Saxul- 

 phus, the firft abbot of Peterborough. The Danes de- 

 ftroyed thefe hermitages in 870, and the place lay wafte till 

 972, when Ethelwold, bifhop of Winchefter, founded on 

 the fcite an abbey for Benediftine monks, which became an 

 opulent eftabliftiment, and ranked among the mitred abbeys. 

 In the year 1085, the ancient church was taken down, and a 

 new one commenced by the abbot Gunter, but it was not 

 completed till 1128. This ftrufture poftefted confiderable 

 magnificence, and was, according to Brown Willis, " at 

 leaft five times as large as at prefent." When the abbey 

 was diffolved by Henry VIII. great part of the church 

 was deftroyed ; but the remainder efcaped by being made 

 parochial. The weft front, which is the entrance to the 



church, 



