The natural history of this county would of itself, if justice were done to so copious a subject, supply materials for a yolume of considerable bulk. The antiquities of it would fill a volume of equal size, and demand the assistance of another able hand. The historical, biographical, and genealogical departments. should be allotted to persons who have been respectively conversant in studies of this nature. When so many discouragements unite to alarm the apprehensions even of the most profound and skilful antiquary, we need not wonder that so little hath been done towards a complete history of the county of Devon; and that the collections which have hitherto been made for that purpose, should chiefly be confined to private libraries, in manuscripts little known and seldom consulted. Hooker's Description of Devon, so frequently referred to by Prince, and other authors, (but of which Mr. Chapple could never gain any information, notwithstanding the most diligent inquiries,) and Westcot's View of the County, still remain in MS. in the curious library of Mr. Coffin, at Portlege, near Bideford and Sir William Pole's celebrated MS. on the same subject is preserved in the hand writing of the original author, and was lately revised and put into a more decent and commodious form by Mr. Incledon, of Pilton, at the request of Sir John Pole. Those papers were written, in the infancy of antiquarian studies, by authors who were chiefly indebted to Camden for the light they have thrown on the remoter antiquities of Devon; and the defect of information is particularly complained of by Westcot, whose researches and sagacity could but ill remedy the grievance which he so frequently la ments. Had those manuscripts, however, been published, they would have awakened curiosity, and some more able writers might have been induced to exert themselves, to supply their deficiencies and correct their errors. The foundation was laid, and the superstructure might have been raised with more satisfaction to the public, and with more credit to the author. When almost every county in England had been honoured by its historian, it was the wish of many respectable gentlemen in Devonshire, that a county of such extent and importance should have the same tribute of respect paid to it; and, as they were justly dissatisfied with the meagre and unpolished memorials of Risdon, it was natural for them to desire more ample and better digested information than the public hath already been favoured with; and when Mr. Chapple published his proposals, his plan was generally approved of; and, though his education and talents excited no very flattering expectations of an elegant and liberal history, yet the known industry of the man had raised an expectation of curious and accurate information, and he obtained all the credit his ambition could have aspired to as the editor of Risdon's Survey, with corrections and additions. He engaged for nothing farther; and, had the materials which he collected for this purpose been presented to the public, they would have had no cause for complaint. But, as he advanced in his work, so proportionally the materials of it increased both in bulk and consequence; and, not being able to fulfil his engagements to the extent his projected history required, he from time to time amused the public with excuses and promises, and at length died without completing his design. His papers contain a mass of curious, though heterogeneous, information, and may be of vast use to any one who hath leisure, abilities, and resolution, for the work which he had left unfinished. Much trouble will be saved for the future historian. Many hints are given which may be pursued to great advantage in elucidating the antiquities of the county; and he, who may hereafter avail himself of the collections which I have laboured to reduce to some degree of system and arrangement, will not forget his obligations to Sir ROBERT PALK, whose love for his native county, and earnest wish to make them useful to the public, hath rescued these papers from oblivion, and placed them in his own library as a valuable deposit for futurity, and a monument of the laudable and industrious researches of WILL. CHAPPLE. Yours, &c. 1786, Sept. SAMUEL BADCOCK. IV. Particulars in the History of Barn-Elms. THE value of topographical facts has been universally admitted. Waving many advantages resulting from the establishment of truth, nothing is more likely to excite pleasing and useful emulation between the people of towns and villages, and ultimately to promote national benefit, than representations of improvements upon the face of nature in the various parishes, than accounts of the virtuous and eminent persons who were born, or who resided, in them, and of the moral conduct and good government of their respective inhabitants. The parish of Barnes, in Surrey, has been distinguished into the town or village itself, and Barn-Elms. It is situated on the side of the Thames, between Putney, an healthful and lively town, and Mortlake, once famous for its tapestry. Barn-Elms has, for a long time, been in the possession of the family of Hoare, the Banker. Its majestic elms have been the subject of many a pastoral poet. Count Heidegger, the founder of Italian operas, resided in the mansion of the present possessor. King George II. made a visit to him here; upon which occasion innumerable lamps were hung from the stately trees, and, as stars shining through solemn shades, beautifully illuminated the scene. Jacob Tonson lived and died at Barn-Elms. He had there a gallery of the portraits of all the members of the Kit-Cat Club, so denominated from the name of the landlord, Christopher Cat, at whose house their meetings were held. It need hardly be added, that Pope, Addison, &c. often sanctified this spot with their classic wit. Village-tradition says, Queen Elizabeth had a palace at Barn-Elms, to which she frequently retired; and that the unfortunate Earl of Essex resided near the green. When the citizens, in gaily-decorated barges, went up the river annually in August, to mark and count their swans, which is called swanhopping, they used to land at Barn-Elins, and, after partaking of a cold collation on the grass, there merrily danced away a few hours. This was a gala-day for the village; and happy was the lad or lass admitted into the party of the fine folks of London. This practice has, however, been long discontinued; it is hoped not to give place to one less innocently festive. Cowley the poet lived at Barns; as did the painter Vanderbank. In this retreat also Henry Fielding drew some of his excellent pictures of life. Heretofore, during high spring tides, carriages could not safely pass between Barnes and Mortlake; but, since the spirited inhabitants have embanked the river, this inconvenience has ceased. This rural town has had many a bishop and brilliant character for its rector. Bishops Hare and Hume were pastors here; Dr. Ferdinando Warner, author of the History of Ireland, and other valuable works, immediately preceded the present good Bishop of Bristol;* who, at more than seventy years of age, preaches nearly every Sunday, and otherwise approves himself as exemplary a parish-priest as diocesan. It is pleasing to observe what the rational appropriation of superfluous riches, the influence of example, and zealous endeavours, will effectuate. No place has experienced more their good effects than this; nor has any one more deserved them, if being favourable to health, as the longevity of many inhabitants has proved, or if recluseness and contemplation be titles to regard. Much, indeed, has been owing to the late Sir Richard Hoare, Bart. He might be truly stiled the father of the wretched, and patron of every undertaking in the parish, calculated to relieve distress, and promote religion and morality. The system of comfort and instruction is indeed, here, excellent, and does credit to the inhabitants. In addition to a well-regulated workhouse, there is a charity-school for twenty children; and, to complete the scheme of good works, a Sundayschool has been lately instituted. Sept. 1788. Yours, &c. TOPOGRAPHICUS. V. A concise Account of the Parish of Widworthy, in the County of Devon; intended as an Answer to the Queries proposed by the Rev. R. Polwhele, for his History of Devonshire. By William John Tucker, M. A. Rector of WYDWORTHIE (the ancient spelling) is undoubtedly a Saxon name indeed, the appellations of most of the parishes in the county of Devon are of Saxon origin, and they are not unfrequently denominated from their approximation to some river with which this hilly country abounds, or are expressive of their situation or shape; as this of Widworthy, that is, Latus Fundus, the Wide Farm. This parish is situated in the hundred of Colyton, in the South-east part of the county; and in one part adjoins to [Dr. Christopher Wilson, canon-residentiary of St. Faul's, prebendary of Finsbury, and rector of Barnes. He was appointed to the see of Bristal in 1783, and died in 1792, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. E.] Dallwood, in the county of Dorset.- Widworthy is rather a small parish, about eight miles in circumference, nearly resembling in form a trapezium, bounded on the West and North by Offwill, on the east by Shute, and on the South by Colyton, and a small part of Northleigh. The soil varies, being in part meadow and pasture, part arable; and in the centre, on a hill, private property, though not inclosed, there is a very deep and extensive stratum of limestone, in the North-west part of the parish, which employs many of the inhabitants in burning that useful article for building and manure. There is likewise some excellent free-stone from the Northern and Southern extremity of the lime-stone rock. About a mile distant from each other, issue two remarkably transparent, warm springs, which, when diverted over some meadows immediately beneath them, leave a considerable slime on the surface, and render them luxuriantly fertile. The one falls into the river Coly, the other into a rivulet on the West side of the parish. The parish is inclosed with very good turf-hedges, on which the underwood grows fast; and the usual sorts of timber-trees are flourishing, and abound in the hedge-rows and coppices. The roads made and repaired with Hints are sound, but rather rough. There is only one village, Wilmington, where a fair or revel is held the Monday after St. Matthew's day. It is situated on the great Western road, which divides the parish from Offwill on the North. The houses are all thatched, except the manor-house, and are neat and compact; and have all, even the cottages, gardens and a little orchard annexed to them. The inhabitants are all tenants at rackrent. Their farms are in as good a state of cultivation as most Devonshire farms, and are from fifteen to a hundred pounds per annum. The number of houses, of every description, is about thirty-five. Reckoning six souls to a house, you will nearly have the number of parishioners; among whom are not more than three freeholders. The men are mostly employed in husbandry; the women spin wool. Benedictus Marwood, Esq. of Hornshays, in Colyton, first purchased the manor of the Chichester family, and, dying unmarried, left it to his brother Thomas, whose grandson now inherits it. Besides the manor and barton of Widworthy, there are two capital estates in this parish, Cookshays and Sutton, with large, decent houses on each, built by the Marwoods about eighty years since, and twenty years before they purchased the manor of the Chichesters. See Risdon, part II. p. 64. "Widworthy hath had divers Knights so named dwellers there and Lords |