596 
S T O C 
or architectural relic3 of their antiquity. Stockport was a 
barony under the ancient earls of Chester; bnt the time 
when that honour was conferred on it is still a matter of 
doubt, as it has been of much argument. In the time of 
Edward I. Robert de Stokeport, earl of Chester, made 
Stockport a free borough. In 1260, he also obtained a 
grant of a market and an annual fair. Soon after the Nor¬ 
man conquest, the manor of Stockport belonged to the De 
la Spencers. It is now the property of Lord Viscount Bulke- 
ley. In the year 1173, the castle of Stockport was held 
by Geoffrey de Costentine against king Henry II. It 
afterwards belonged to the Stockports, and subsequently to 
the earls of Warren; but the whole has long since been 
demolished. During the civil wars in the reign of Charles I. 
Stockport was considered an important post, and was gar¬ 
risoned by the parliamentary army. In May 1644, prince 
Rupert appeared before it with his army; the garrison, to 
the amount of 3000, drew out to oppose him, but were 
repulsed, and the town taken. In 1745, the bridge here 
was blown up, to prevent the retreat of the rebels after their 
advance to Derby. Market on Friday. Great quantities 
of corn, oatmeal, and cheese, are sold at it, for which, 
especially the latter, it is regarded the best market in the 
county. Here are four annual fairs, chiefly for cattle; 7 
miles south-east of Manchester, and 176 north-north-west 
of London. Lat. 53. 25. N. long. 2. 12. W. 
STOCKPORT, a township of the United States, in 
Wayne county, Pennsylvania, on the Delaware. There is 
a portage from this place to Harmony, on the Susque- 
hannah. 
STOCKS, s. [Commonly without singular.] Prison for 
the legs. Dr. Johnson.—Stock is our old word for a fetter ; 
afterwards transferred to the wooden instrument of confine¬ 
ment for the legs. Todd. 
Fetch forth the stocks: 
As I have life and honour, there shall he sit ’till noon. 
Shakspcare. 
Wooden work upon which ships are built; public funds. 
STOCKSTADT, a small town of Germany, in the Bava¬ 
rian States, on the Maine, with 1100 inhabitants; 4 miles 
west of Aschaffenburg. 
STOCKSTI'LL, adj. Motionless as logs.—Our preachers 
stand stockstill in the pulpit, and will not so much as move 
a finger to set off the best sermon. Addison. 
STOCKTON, or Stockton-on-tees, a market town 
and borough of England, in the county of Durham, situated 
on the north bank of the Tees, about ten miles from its 
mouth, where the river expands into a wide estuary, and 
joins the German Ocean. The town stands on a moderate 
ascent from the river. It is neat, clean, and airy, and on 
the whole perhaps the handsomest town in the north of 
England. The streets are well paved, flagged, and lighted ; 
the houses are in general built with brick, and covered with 
tiles. The principal street extends for about half a mile in a 
direction nearly north and south, and is remarkable for its 
width, which, in the centre, at the market-place, is upwards 
of sixty yards, and continues nearly as broad throughout, a 
circumstance which renders the entrance from the north or 
south peculiarly striking. Several smaller streets branch off 
in different directions; and at the north-east side is a spaci¬ 
ous square, which contains some good buildings. Near the 
middle of the principal street stands the town-hall, a large 
square building, with a lofty cupola and spire. Near this is 
a handsome column of the Doric order, where the market is 
held. Stockton was constituted a distinct parish in the year 
1711, being prior to that time a chapelry to Norton, a plea¬ 
sant village about two miles to the north. During the epis¬ 
copacy of Bishop Poore, who died in 1234, a chapel of ease 
-was erected here, which was taken down, and a new church 
opened in 1712. This is a handsome brick building, with 
the doors and windows cased with stone; its length, includ¬ 
ing the tower and chancel, is 150 feet. The tower is at the 
west end, and is 80 feet high. It contains a fine organ, and 
the whole interior view is neat and uniform, In the vestry 
K T O N. 
is a collection of books in divinity, which is increased every 
year by a small subscription, and circulated in the parish. 
Besides the church, the town contains also meeting-houses 
for Presbyterians, Quakers, Methodists and Roman Catholics. 
The custom-house is a plain but commodious building near 
the water side, and the theatre also is a neat building, but 
in a very incommodious situation. The bridge over the 
Tees is an elegant structure of five elliptical arches; the 
centre arch is 72 feet wide, and 23 feet above the river. The 
foundation of this building was laid in 1764, and the whole 
was completed in 1771, at an expense of 8000/. In 1820, 
the debt upon the bridge was wholly discharged, and it was 
opened to passengers toll-free. The general appearance of 
the town and its approaches has been much improved lately. 
Waste pieces of ground have been inclosed, fenced in, and 
planted with shrubberies, forest trees, &c.; and an agreeable 
promenade has been formed from the town to the bridge. 
Stockton contains a charity school for 20 boys and 20 girls; 
to this a national school, consisting of between 300 and 400 
children, has been annexed, and a large and commodious 
room, built by a legacy of 1000/. left for that purpose by a 
native of the place; a school of industry for girls, a gram¬ 
mar-school, two Sunday schools, a dispensary, and alms¬ 
houses for 13 poor families belonging to the parish. These 
alms-houses have been rebuilt upon a large and elegant 
Gothic plan, in consequence of a legacy of 3000/., be¬ 
queathed for that purpose. The same building contains a 
committee-room, where the business for the poor is trans¬ 
acted, as well as the concerns of a bank for savings. Stock- 
ton is well situated for trade, on account of its vicinity to the 
sea and to the river. Below the town, the river flows in a 
very circuitous course, and as it approaches the German 
Ocean, expands into a large bay, upwards of three miles 
wide, within which many vessels that are not concerned in 
the trade of the river, seek shelter in tempestuous weather. 
In the year 1810, (in pursuance of an act of parliament ob¬ 
tained for that purpose), a navigable cut or canal was made 
across an isthmus or neck of land, about half a mile below 
the town, by which means this bend or winding in the river 
of difficult and dangerous navigation, extending upwards of 
two miles and a half in length, was shortened to less than one- 
twelfth part of that distance: This undertaking has proved 
of great advantage to the shipping-interest of the port, in 
facilitating the loading and delivery of goods, and has also 
amply paid the share-holders or proprietors. The commerce 
of the town began to revive soon after the restoration, and 
the principal officers of the customs were removed hither 
from Hartlepool in 1680, and lawful or free quays were set 
up under a commission from the exchequer in 1683. In 
1795, the number of vessels belonging to the port were 47, 
carrying 5733 tons. At present the trade is of very con¬ 
siderable extent. Large imports are made from the Baltic, 
Hamburgh, Norway, and Holland, of hemp, flax, iron, 
timber, linen, yarn, sheetings, hides, bark, smalts, seeds, 
geneva, &c. The exports are chiefly of lead (in pigs), hams, 
butter, pork, cheese, leather, grain, flour, sail-cloth, hucka¬ 
backs, plain linens, tammies, and various other articles, 
chiefly to the London and northern markets. The manu¬ 
factures of Stockton consist of two manufactories of sail¬ 
cloth, and a considerable one of damask, diaper, and hucka¬ 
back linens, two breweries, two rope-walks, a large dry 
dock, two ship-yards, where large vessels are built for the 
East and West India trades, and others for the coasting and 
river trades; also two iron foundries, chiefly for mill-work, 
and a manufactory of patent agricultural machines. Stockton 
consists of two parts, one called the Borough, where all the 
land is freehold, and the other the Town, where it is copy 
or leasehold, held under the vicar and vestrymen, and not 
within the Borough jurisdiction: for this reason there are 
two constableries, with peculiar officers, though both form 
one parish. The civil government is vested in a mayor, 
aldermen, and recorder, besides inferior officers. The mayor 
is elected by a majority of the burgesses, though it is 
requisite that he should first have been an alderman. Stock- 
ton is a borough by prescription, its origin is uncertain, but 
