ELVEDON, a small village, was formerly of some note, for the session of certain justices of the peace, who, when the king's commissioners appointed to apprehend, try and punish the riotous inhabitants of Bury in 1327, for the outrages committed by them against the abbot and convent of that town, only indicted them for a trespass, boldly proceeded against them as felons, on which they were brought to trial, and nineteen suffered death.

Elvedon gave the title of viscount to admiral Keppel. To the right of the village is Elvedon-Hall, the seat of the earl of Albemarle, whose attention to laudable and useful pursuits entitles him to not less respect than his rank. This nobleman has here taken into his own hands a farm of 4000 acres; "he promises," as Mr. Young observes, " to be a very active and experimental farmer: and will, by improving and planting, change the face of the desert which surrounds him.”+ He has introduced the system of drill-husbandry on a large scale upon his farm, consisting chiefly of a blowing sand: and by a trial of a flock of 900 Norfolk sheep, against the same number of South Downs, has established the decided superiority of the latter.

The manor of ERESWELL was held of the king in capite, as of his honor of Boulogne, by-Ralph of Roucestre, and his descendants; and in the first of Edward II. by Robert de Tudenham, and Eve his wife. Besides the parochial church, there was at the north end of the parish a chapel dedicated to St. Lawrence; and in one of these was a chauntry of the yearly value of 91. 4s. 6d.

EXNING, or IXNING, is a village about a mile from Newmarket, in the centre of a small portion of Suffolk, joined only by the high road to the rest of the county, and otherwise surrounded by Cambridgeshire, to which, in the reign of Edward I. it gave the

name

quent works, erroneously assert, on the authority of Holinshed, that in October 1568, twenty-seven fishes of prodigious size, the smallest measuring twenty feet in length, were taken near the bridge of this village. The Downham spoken of by Hulinshed, is Downham-market, eleven miles from Lynn, in Norfolk.

Agriculture of Suffolk, p. 403.

name of a half hundred. Kirby, in his Suffolk Traveller, says, that this place, with Newmarket, is reckoned in the hundred of Stow; but the general method which makes this detached dis trict part of the hundred of Lackford is here adopted.

This village is pleasantly situated in a small vale, with a rivulet running through the midst of it, and well shaded with fine poplars, producing an agreeable contrast to the monotony of the surrounding country, which in general presents one uniform, naked plain. The church is a good and spacious building, with a lofty square tower, which commands a very extensive prospect, and is seen at a great distance. In the chancel, very near the communion table, is a square altar tomb close to the wall. It is of a coarse sort of grey marble, and was formerly adorned with brasses, which have been torn away. Neither tradition nor any memorial has preserved the name of the person for whom it was erected. In the window over the altar remain a few panes of painted plass; some of them with mutilated figures. One of these without head, has a golden wand, which probably formed part of a crosier. A large quadrangular brick mansion here, was formerly the seat of the Shepherds, who possessed a good estate in this county, but was sold by the late lady Irwin, the heiress of that family. One side of the town of Newmarket is situated in the parish of Exning, as is also part of the heath so celebrated in the annals of racing.

Exning was formerly of greater note than it is at present. It was the birth-place of Etheldred, daughter of king Anna, whom the pope canonized for a virgin, though she was married to two husbands. Here also Ralph Waher, earl of the East-Angles, planned his conspiracy against William the Conqueror, with Roger de. Britolio, earl of Hereford, Waltheof, earl of Northumberland, and some other persons of high rank. Their design to kill William, or to drive him out of the realm, was, however, soon quashed, partly by the desertion of earl Waltheof, and some of the chief confederates, and partly by the vigilance of the king's friends,

the

Suffolk Traveller, second Edit. P. 127.

the Bishops of Worcester and Bayeux. Ralph, finding his situa tion hopeless, fled first into France, and then to Denmark, leaving his possessions, and those of his adherents, to the mercy of their adversaries.

ICKLINGHAM, four miles eastward of Mildenhall, on the north of the Lark, has two parishes, and two parish churches, St. James and All Saints. In the latter, within the rails of the communion table and about the chancel, is a considerable quantity of Roman bricks, or tiles, which were some time since ploughed up in a neighboring field, and placed here for their preservation. They are of different shapes, slightly traced with the figures of animals, flowers, human faces, &c.; some few of them are vitrified. This place is supposed by some to have been the ancient Roman station, Combretonium, or, according to Horsley, Comboritum Here, at any rate, says the author of a Tour through England, ascribed to the pen of Samuel Richardson, are vestiges of a settlement, which seems to have extended half a mile in length, at a small distance from the river. On the west side of the ruins is a square encampment, which appears to have contained about twenty-five acres, and is now called Kentfield, said to be a corruption of Campfield. The vallum is visible all round it, except where the moorish ground has brought it to decay. Coins and fibulæ have been found here, especially in a ploughed field half a mile north-west of the town, and also in the moors, when dug for the purpose of being fenced and drained. Many years since an ancient leaden cistern, containg sixteen gallons, and ornamented as with hoops, was likewise discovered by a ploughman, who struck his share against the edge of it. Westward of the camp, upon Warren-hill, are three large barrows, each encompassed by a ditch.

One of these parishes gave birth to John Michell, lord-mayor of London, 3d Henry VI.

NEWMARKET, the most considerable part of which is situat

ed in Suffolk, has already been described in treating of Cambridgeshire, to which the reader is here referred.*

THETFORD, is in a similar predicament with the preceding place. The whole, or at least by far the greater part of this once celebrated town, seems to have been originally on the Suffolk side of the Little Ouse, where in the reign of Edward III, were situated thirteen out of the twenty parishes which it then comprehended. There is still one parish, St. Mary's, with about thirty houses in Suffolk, but in regard to ecclesiastical matters, under the jurisdiction of the archdeacon of Norwich.†

HUNDRED OF THINGO.

This district is bounded on the east by the Hundred of Thedwestry; on the south by Baberg and Risbridge; on the west by Risbridge and Lackford; and on the north by Lackford and Blackbourn.

In this hundred is situated the metropolis of the western division of the county,

BURY ST. EDMUND'S.

This town stands on the west side of the river Bourne, or Lark. It has a charmingly enclosed country on the south and south-west, and on the north and north-west champaign fields extending into Norfolk; while on the east the country is partly open and partly enclosed. Bury is so pleasantly situated, commands such extensive views, and the air is so salubrious, that it has been denominated the Montpellier of England. The want

See Beauties, Vol. II. p. 139.

For a description of Thetford, see Beauties, Vol. XI. Norfolk, p. 241 -250.

of

of wood, however, is justly deemed a great detraction from the beauty of the country immediately surrounding the town; and the air here, though acknowledged to be extremely wholesome for persons of robust constitutions, is considered too sharp for those who enjoy but a delicate state of health, and especially individuals afflicted with pulmonary complaints.

Being situated on a rising ground and sandy soil, the streets of this place are always extremely clean. Most of them are paved with pebbles, one only, Abbey-gate street, having a foot-way on each side of flag-stones; but in 1811 an act of parliament was obtained, for the purpose of extending to the whole town the advantages of paving, lighting, and watching. Including the suburbs, it is about a mile and a quarter broad, from east to west; and about one and an half in length, from south to north. It is divided into two parishes, and according to the enumeration of 1811, it contained 7938 inhabitants.

Bury is governed by a recorder and twelve capital burgesses, one of whom is annually chosen alderman, and acts as chief magistrate. Six others are assistant justices, and one holds the office of coroner. The remainder of the body corporate consists of twenty-four common-council men, and these thirty-six persons only, return two members as representatives for the town in the parliament of the United Kingdom.

Bury dates back its origin to a very remote period; but the most intelligent and inquisitive antiquaries differ much in their opinions respecting the precise time in which the site of this town began to be inhabited. Some writers, among whom are Camden,* Batteley, and Gale have supposed that it was the Ro-, man station, denominated Villa Faustini, but the want of circumstances to corroborate this conjecture, has led others, apparently with great justice, to question its probability. It seems, however,

Camden was at first inclined to fix the Villa Faustini, at Chesterford in Essex, but afterwards determined in favor of this place.

+ Salmon supposed Malden, in Essex, to be this Villa Faustini; Horsley