The surrounding country is for the most part fertile, but flat and monotonous. Towards the south-east of Thorne lies the flat country which forms the western side of the Isle of Axholme, in Lincolnshire, and on the south is the extensive level of Hatfield Chase.

To prevent inundations, very strong and high banks have been erected to inclose the river, the country being in many parts considerably lower than the high water mark.

A. D.

1852

The Poor Law Union of Thorne comprises thirteen parishes or places, the greater number of which are in Lincolnshire. The Population. population in 1851, was 15,884, comprising 8,032 males, and 7,852 females. The number of houses was returned as 3,795.

THORNHILL

Is two miles south of Dewsbury, the parent stock from whence the parish sprang; it is situated on the Calder, and commands extensive views along its picturesque banks. Anciently, it was the seat of the knightly family of the Thornhills, who intermarried with the de Fixbys, in the reign of our first Edward. Afterwards, namely, in the year 1404, the Thornhills became united with the Saviles of Dodworth, near Barnsley. These families have for

ages been amongst the leading persons in their native county, and have served at intervals in successive generations, the offices of sheriff and representative of Yorkshire. Early in the sixteenth century, in the time of Sir Henry Savile, an inquisition was made of the family estates in Yorkshire, which were stated to consist of 300 messuages, 300 tofts, ten water-mills, and 22,080 acres of land, exclusive of the wastes in the parish of Halifax; the value of the whole of this immense property as stated in this inquisition, was £489 14s. per annum, and that land which will now let for three pounds per acre, was then valued at scarcely threepence! Sir George Savile, for many years the able and patriotic representative of this county in parliament, was the last surviving male descendant of this ancient family. At his death, on the 9th of January, 1784, he was buried with his ancestors, in the chapel of the Saviles, in the choir of Thornhill Church, and his ample estates descended by devise to the second son of his sister Barbara, who married Richard Lumley Savile, afterwards Earl of Scarborough. The records of the Church at Thornhill go as high as the year 1290.

The Civil wars in the time of Charles the First, were fatal to the ancient residence of the Thornhills. Sir William Savile, the fifth baronet, was a zealous supporter of Charles, and his house, the remains of which still show that it had something of the nature of

Antiquity.

A. D.

1644

a castle, was besieged, taken, and destroyed by the forces of parliament. This house stood in the midst of an extensive park, which sloped to the banks of the Calder, and was adorned with aged and romantic woods; and one of the largest Spanish chesnut trees in the north of England still stands at the north-eastern corner of the mote.

A market and fair were granted by charter to Thornhill, in the fourteenth of Edward II., but it is now merely a clothing village, though by no means destitute of striking indications of its ancient splendour.

Church.

TICKHILL

Is a small market town, in the West-riding, on the borders of Nottinghamshire, about seven miles from Doncaster. The streets are disposed nearly in the form of a cross by the roads from Worksop to Doncaster, and from Bawtry to Rotherham. The market, which

is on Friday, is now almost disused, and the principal trade in the place is malting, for which this town was formerly noted.

The church is a handsome structure, with a lofty and handsome tower, and its architecture shows it to be of the age of Henry III. The chancel is an altar tomb, ornamented on the sides with large quatrefoils, and a brass plate fixed in the wall, commemorates the name of William Eastfield, Seneschal of the lordship of Holderness and of the honour of Tickhill, who died December 24, 1386. The church also contains several tombs, mural monuments, and inscriptions, commemorative of different families who have resided in this neighbourhood.

Anciently there was a castle on the south side of the town of considerable celebrity, but little now remains of it except the lofty mound on which the keep stood, with the ditch and part of the wall surrounding the fortress. An ancient gate-way forming the entrance on the western side is the most curious part of the ruins. The northern part of the structure with modern repairs and additions, is the seat of Frederick Lumley, Esq., and a great part of the area within the walls is converted into gardens and shrubberies. The large and towering trees, which skirt the ditch and wall contribute to give a venerable appearance to this interesting relic of the feudal ages.

It is conjectured that the castle was originally built of brick, and that the town takes its name from that circumstance, Tichel in the Dutch language being the name for brick. This supposition is controverted on the ground that the art of brick making was lost after the departure of the Romans from this country, and that it was not revived till the reign of Richard II.; and in the interval,

Tickhill Castle was founded by Rodger de Busli, one of the Conqueror's followers, who built or re-edified Sheffield Castle. Camden says, that " Tickhill was of such dignity heretofore, that all the manors hereabouts appertaining to it were called the honour of Tickhill."

In the civil wars immediately preceding the commonwealth in England, this castle was garrisoned by the King's troops, but after the battle of Marston Moor, which sealed the destiny of the royal cause, it stood only two days when Major Monkton, the governor with his small garrison, surrendered to the parliamentary force; and soon after, namely, on the 13th of April, 1646, an order was issued by parliament, that this castle with a number of others should be dismantled and rendered untenable. This order was strictly executed, and Tickhill castle almost disappeared.

A little to the west of the town, in a deep valley are seen the ruins of an ancient priory of Augustines, founded in the reign of Henry III., but it is probable that the Eighth Henry, who was as great an enemy to monasteries as the legislators of the commonwealth were to castles, divested the priory of its revenue, and suffered it to fall into ruin. The charities of Tickhill are a school and an almshouse.

A. D.

1645

TODMORDEN.

This place, which is situated in the fertile and romantic vale of Todmorden, anciently Todmar-dene, or the valley of the Fox mere, belonged in the reign of Edward III. to the family of Radcliffe, or Ratcliffe Tower, who resided here and at Mearley alternately, for more than four centuries. It subsequently passed by marriage into the hands of Roger Mainwaring, of the county of Chester, by whom it was alienated, and sold about the close of the seventeenth century.

The vale, which is watered by the Calder, abounds with coal, Manufac stone, and timber; numerous mills for spinning cotton, and fac- tures. tories for the weaving of calicoes, fustians, dimities, satteens, and velveteens, have been erected on the banks of the river, and are scattered throughout the valley; the manufacture also of worsted goods has been introduced, and is carried on to a very great extent. In addition to the water mills on the Calder, there are in the township several of which the machinery is propelled by steam. A few years ago, the number of engines employed in the factories was thirty-four, of the aggregate power of six hundred and eight horses; and in the extensive cotton works of Messrs. Fielden-(one of whom formerly represented the borough of Oldham in parliament, and acquired a high degree of popularity owing to his advocacy of a reduction in the hours of factory labour)-there were five steam

A. D.

engines of the aggregate power of two hundred and forty-two horses, and water power equivalent to that of fifteen horses. At the 1852 period of which we speak, about 60,000 lbs., of cotton yarn were spun, and 7000 pieces of calico woven weekly, in the town and vicinity, exclusively of fustians and other goods; ten packs of wool are used weekly in the various kinds of worsted goods.

The town is situated near the junction of several townships, and skirted on the south by the Rochdale Canal, which opens a direct communication with the inland navigation of Yorkshire and Lancashire, and through those channels, with the eastern and western sea ports; the Manchester and Leeds railway also passes within a short distance. The surface, in some parts, is rugged and barren, presenting a dreary aspect, but in others, it is highly diversified ; and the lovers of romantic scenery may here find ample gratification.

A

A Church, dedicated to Christ, was erected in 1832, at a cost of nearly £4,500, by subscription, aided by a liberal grant from the parliamentary commissioners; in the immediate vicinity, are excellent national schools, built in 1844, at an expense of £2,000. school was endowed in 1713, by Rev. Richard Clegg, Vicar of Kirkham, and there is now a mechanics institution, and other provision for the instruction of the young.

The Poor Law Union of Todmorden comprises six townships, Population, and the population, in 1851, was 29,727, comprisisng 14,562 males, and 15,165 females. This shows a decrease of 1929, as compared with the census of 1841, when the number amounted to 31,656. The number of houses, according to the last retnrn, was 6,735, being an increase of 340 in the ten years.

WAKEFIELD.

Wakefield is a borough, market-town, and parish, and the head of a union, in the lower division of the wapontake of Agbrigg. The union created by the new Poor Law, in January, 1837, comprises the following seventeen townships: Wakefield, East Ardsley, West Ardsley, Alverthorpe-with-Thornes, West Bretton, Criggleston, Emley, Flockton, Horbury, Oulton-with-Woodlesford, Shitlington, Sharlestone, Sandal Magna, Stanley-cum-Wrenthorpe, Walton, Warmfield-cum-Heath, and Thorpe.

This town is indisputably of Saxon origin, as its name in the Domesday Survey, Wachefeld, obviously implies. The manor remained in the crown till the reign of Charles I., by whom it was granted to Henry, Earl of Holland, and after passing into the hand of other families, it was purchased in 1700, by the first Duke of Leeds, and is now the property of Sackville Lane Fox, Esq., who married the daughter of the late Duke of Leeds.

The Battle of Wakefield, in 1459, between the Duke of York and the army of Margaret, queen of Henry VI., terminated in the total defeat of the Yorkists, and the duke, with 3000 of his men were left dead on the field. The duke's body being recognized among the slain, the head was taken off by order of the queen, and affixed to the gates of York. During the parliamentary war in the reign of Charles the First, the town suffered materially from the hostilities of the contending parties, by each of which it was alternately occupied.

A. D.

1495

Wakefield is principally situated on the gentle acclivities of an Situation. eminence rising from the banks of the Calder, over which is a handsome bridge of eight arches, affording a commodious approach from the south; it extends over the picturesque and fertile vale of the Calder, and consists of spacious and regular streets of well-built houses of brick, and is paved and flagged, lighted with gas, and supplied with water under acts of parliament. Great improve

ments have been made within the last few years, more especially on the north side, by the erection of handsome ranges of houses, and numerous detached mansions, surrounded with shrubberies and plantations, forming a most pleasing appendage to this part of the town called St. John's. The town is healthy and salubrious; and various circumstances have contributed to render it a favourite residence of the more opulent classes.

Manufac

The manufacture of woollen cloths and spinning of worsted yarn were formerly carried on to a very great extent, affording employ-tures. ment to nearly the whole of the population. Leland, describing the town in his time, says, "it standeth now al by clothyng;" but these manufactures have been transferred to other towns in the West-riding, chiefly Leeds; and the staple trade is now mainly in corn, cattle, sheep and wool. The trade in corn is very extensive, and, according to the official returns, more wheat is sold here than in Mark Lane, London; warehouses for storing it have been erected on so large a scale, that more than 200,000 quarters may be deposited in them at once. The trade in wool is also very considerable, and large quantities, procured in the vicinity, are sold to the manufacturers of the adjacent towns.

The Fortnight Fairs, commenced in 1765, for the sale of fat cattle and sheep, are held on every alternate Wednesday, and still rank as the first in the the north of England, though they have decreased materially, owing to the establishment of similar markets at Leeds and other places. As many as 1,000 head of horned cattle, and 13,000 sheep, have been penned and sold at Wakefield in one day; and the value of the sales here and at Leeds, during one year, have been estimated at nearly a million sterling! There are two annual fairs for cattle, &c. held in July and November.

In addition to these sources of prosperity, there are some large dyeing establishments, among which may be mentioned that of J. Holdsworth, Esq., works for the manufacture of starch, several