A Topographical Dictionary of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848.
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PIMLICO, a parochial district, formerly a chapelry, in the parish of St. George, Hanover-Square, liberty of the city of Westminster, county of Middlesex, 3 miles (S. W. by W.) from St. Paul's. The origin of Pimlico is comparatively modern, but the name is of earlier date, though at what period, or on what occasion it was appropriated to this suburb of the metropolis, westward of St. James's and the Green Parks, is uncertain. Most, if not all the present buildings are of a date subsequent to the erection of Buckingham House, in the beginning of the last century. The eastern part contains a range of handsome houses called Grosvenor-place, extending southward from Hyde-Park Corner, and fronting the Green Park and the Royal Gardens; and the ground to the west between Knightsbridge and Chelsea, once called the Five Fields, is now occupied by many well-executed and several truly magnificent buildings, forming streets and squares, erected by the late Marquess of Westminster. To the north is Wilton-crescent, a semicircular range, with another along the diameter, the latter ornamented in front with Corinthian pilasters. Eaton-place and Wilton-place, especially the former, contain some handsome mansions. Belgrave-square, which may be termed the finest in the metropolis, includes in its plan four detached lines of buildings, respectively fronting the east, west, north, and south, with four isolated structures at the angles. From this square, Belgrave-street forms a noble avenue to Eatonsquare, in which is the church of St. Peter. Great additions and improvements are now in progress, under the direction of Mr. Cubitt, to the south-east of Pimlico, towards the Thames: among the new buildings here is Eccleston-square. The Royal Palace, occupying the site of old Buckingham House, is noticed under the head of London.
The principal streets and squares are well paved, and lighted with gas, under the direction of commissioners; and water is supplied chiefly from the Chelsea waterworks, which were constructed in 1724, when the proprietors were incorporated by act of parliament, and a canal was made from the Thames, near Ranelagh, to Pimlico, whence the water is conveyed by pipes to the reservoirs in Hyde Park and the Green Park. Here are some saw-mills, a Roman cement manufactory, whitelead works, an establishment on an extensive scale for the manufacture of machinery, and a distillery; on the banks of the Grosvenor canal, extending from the Thames, and on those of the basin in which it terminates, are coal, stone, and timber wharfs. In Grosvenor-place are Tattersall's betting and auction-rooms.
Pimlico was constituted an ecclesiastical district, by an order of council, in July 1830. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is a Grecian edifice, with a grand Ionic portico of six fluted columns, supporting a plain pediment, behind which is a square tower surmounted by a dome and cross. The building was commenced in September 1824, and completed in 1827, at an expense of £5555, by the Parliamentary Commissioners; it was consumed by fire December 3rd, 1836, when the walls only were left standing entire, but it has been restored. The living is a district incumbency; net income, £700; patron, the Bishop of London. St. Michael's church, Chester-square, consecrated in April, 1846, and towards the erection of which the Grosvenor family gave £5000, is in the decorated English style, with a stone spiral steeple, and contains 1200 sittings: the living is in the gift of the Marquess of Westminster; income, £800. St. Paul's church, Wilton-place, is described under the head of Knightsbridge. The episcopal chapels are, Belgrave chapel, in Halkin-street, the front of which has a noble Ionic portico of four plain columns; Charlotte chapel, in Charlotte-street, erected as a chapel of ease to St. George's; and Ebury chapel, near Chelsea. In Palace-street, near the border of St. George's parish, is Buckingham chapel, a place of worship for Independents. The grammar school, in Ebury-street, erected in 1830, is a handsome structure, with a well-executed portico of two Doric columns between pilasters, supporting a pediment decorated with triglyphs and dentils: the institution is supported by a proprietary subscription, for the classical education of youth on moderate terms.
Pimperne (St. Peter)
PIMPERNE (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Blandford, hundred of Pimperne, Blandford division of Dorset, 2½ miles (N. E.) from Blandford; containing 545 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £19. 2. 6.; net income, £548; patron, Lord Portman. The church has several Norman portions, including an enriched doorway, and an arch between the nave and chancel; the font is very ancient, and in the churchyard are some coffin-shaped stones, each having a cross carved on it. Some irregular earthworks here once formed part of a maze, which covered about an acre of ground, but was in 1730 almost obliterated by the plough.
Pinchbeck (St. Mary)
PINCHBECK (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Spalding, wapentake of Elloe, parts of Holland, county of Lincoln, 2¼ miles (N. by W.) from Spalding; containing 2769 inhabitants. This parish comprises by measurement about 12,000 acres, and is intersected by the road from Louth and Boston to London. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £40. 6. 5½.; net income, £840; patron and incumbent, the Rev. W. Wayet; impropriators, the Master and Fellows of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Land was allotted to the vicar in lieu of tithes, under an act for inclosing the fens, about 30 years since. The church is a fine structure, erected probably about the period of Henry VII.'s reign; the chancel appears older than the rest of the edifice. There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans; also a school endowed with £29 per annum. About £28 per annum, arising from two bequests, are distributed among widows; and benefactions to the same amount among the poor generally. In the garden of the mansion-house, which is an ancient moated building, a large Commodus of brass was found in 1742; on the reverse appeared a female sitting on a globe, the right hand extended, and in the left a Victory. Several pipes of baked earth, also, were met with in 1743.
PINCHINGTHORPE, a township, in the parish and union of Guisborough, E. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York, 5 miles (N. E.) from Stokesley; containing 60 inhabitants. This place, in Domesday book styled Thorpe only, was at that period held by the family of Mallet; the Thorpes afterwards had an interest in the property, and among subsequent owners appear the families of Conyers, Bulmer, and Lee. The township is on the road from Guisborough to Stokesley, and comprises 880 acres of land, of which 89 are common or waste; the surface is level, and encompassed by the Cleveland hills, and the soil is a strong clay, in good cultivation. The tithes of the township have been commuted for a yearly rent-charge of £150, payable to the Archbishop of York.
PINDLEY, a hamlet, in the parish of Rowington, union of Warwick, Henley division of the hundred of Barlichway, S. division of the county of Warwick, 4½ miles (E.) from Henley-in-Arden; containing 23 inhabitants, and comprising 277 acres. A Cistercian nunnery, in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was founded here in the time of Henry I., by Robert de Pilardinton: at the Dissolution it had a revenue valued at £27. 14. 7.
Pinhoe (St. Michael)
PINHOE (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of St. Thomas, hundred of Wonford, Wonford and S. divisions of Devon, 2½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Exeter; containing 568 inhabitants. This place is said to have been the scene of a sanguinary conflict between Ethelred and the Danes in 1001. The parish is intersected by the road from Exeter to Bristol, and comprises 1750 acres; the surface is rather hilly, and the soil consists for the most part of clay and sand. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14. 13. 4., and in the gift of the Bishop of Exeter: the vicarial tithes have been commuted for £265, and the rectorial for £235; there is an acre of glebe, with a house. The church has a screen and pulpit of wood highly enriched; a gallery has been erected.
PINNALS, an extra-parochial liberty, in the union of Atherstone, hundred of Sparkenhoe, S. division of Leicestershire, situated 1½ mile (N.) from the town of Atherstone.
Pinner (St. John the Baptist)
PINNER (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Hendon, hundred of Gore, county of Middlesex, 2½ miles (N. W. by W.) from Harrow; containing 1331 inhabitants. This place received a grant from Edward III. of a weekly market, and two fairs, one on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and the other on the decollation of the same saint. The London and Birmingham railway passes through the parish. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £100; patron, the Vicar of Harrow; appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford. The church is a large edifice, chiefly of flints, erected in the year 1321; in it lies interred Sir Bartholomew Shower, an eminent lawyer in the time of James II. Here died, in 1798, John Zephaniah Holwell, governor of Bengal, who published a curious account of his confinement, with many other persons, in the Black Hole at Calcutta.
PINNOCK, a parish, in the union of Winchcomb, Lower division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 3½ miles (E.) from Winchcomb; containing, with Hyde, 61 inhabitants. The living is a discharged rectory, annexed to the vicarage of Didbrook, and valued in the king's books at £3. 13. 4. The church is demolished.
PINNOCK, ST., a parish, in the union of Liskeard, hundred of West, E. division of Cornwall, 4 miles (W. S. W.) from Liskeard; containing 421 inhabitants. It is situated a little to the south of the great Plymouth and Falmouth road, and comprises 3487 acres, of which 112 are common or waste; the soil generally is best adapted to the growth of corn. A stream called Herod's Foot runs through the parish; and there is a lead and silver mine of the same name, but not at present worked. Stone of excellent quality is quarried for flooring and building purposes. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £17. 13. 6½., and in the gift, in turn, of J. T. Coryton, Esq., J. Thomas Trefry, Esq., and the Rev. James Rawlings: the tithes have been commuted for £285; the glebe consists of about 30 acres. The church is an ancient cruciform structure in the early English style. There is a place of worship for Calvinists.
PINVIN, a chapelry, in the parish of St. Andrew, Pershore, union, and Upper division of the hundred, of Pershore, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Pershore; containing 223 inhabitants, and comprising 1032 acres. Land was assigned in lieu of certain tithes, in 1775.
Pinxton (St. Helena)
PINXTON (St. Helena), a parish, in the union of Mansfield, hundred of Scarsdale, N. division of the county of Derby, 3 miles (E. by S.) from Alfreton; containing 889 inhabitants. The parish comprises by measurement 1260 acres, and is situated on the southeast border of Derbyshire. It is intersected by the Erewash canal, and the Cromford branch canal terminates at Pinxton, whence a railway extends to Mansfield, passing through a country abounding with minerals, and in which means of transport were previously much wanted. In the neighbourhood of the wharfs has arisen a considerable village called New Pinxton. Some coalmines are worked. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £6. 0. 10., and in the gift of D'Ewes Coke, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £228, and the glebe comprises about 40 acres. The church, situated at some distance from the village, is a neat edifice, with a tower of ancient date on one side of the chancel: the nave and chancel were built about a century ago. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; also a school partly supported by D'Ewes Coke, Esq.
Pion, Canon.—See Canon-Pion.
PION, CANON.—See Canon-Pion.
Pion, King's (St. Mary)
PION, KING'S (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Weobley, hundred of Stretford, county of Hereford, 4 miles (E. S. E.) from Weobley; containing 424 inhabitants. It comprises 2407a. 3r. 1p., of which 1170 acres are arable, 1050 meadow and pasture, 80 woodland, and 32 in roads. The living is a discharged vicarage, with that of Birley consolidated, valued in the king's books at £5. 11. 8., and in the patronage of S. Peploe, Esq. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £2. 12., and those of the vicar for £252. 14.; the great tithes of Birley have been commuted for £60. 13., and the vicarial for £134: the glebe comprises 12 acres.
Pipe (St. Peter)
PIPE (St. Peter), a parish, in the hundred of Grimsworth, union and county of Hereford, 3 miles (N.) from Hereford; containing, with Lyde, 141 inhabitants. It comprises 1620a. 1r. 21p., of which 21 acres are roads; and is intersected by the road from Hereford to Shrewsbury. Stone is quarried for building and other purposes. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 3. 1½.; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Hereford: the great tithes have been commuted for £150, and the vicarial for £140; the appropriate glebe comprises 42 acres. The church, which stands in nearly the centre of the parish, is supposed to have been erected prior to 1558. Four almshouses were built in 1830.
PIPE-HILL, a township, in the parish of St. Michael, Lichfield, union of Lichfield, S. division of the hundred of Offlow and of the county of Stafford, 1¾ mile (S. W.) from Lichfield, on the road to Walsall; containing 110 inhabitants. Here was a Roman station extending to Wall, and coins have been found a mile distant. Pipe is a very ancient manor and constablewick, no fewer than nine contiguous hamlets being members within its jurisdiction. The township comprises 506 acres of land, in equal portions of arable and meadow, with a little wood; the surface is undulating, the scenery pretty, and the Birmingham canal passes through. The principal proprietors are the Earl of Lichfield, and Mrs. Mary Bradburne, of Pipe Place.
PIPEWELL, a hamlet, in the parishes of Great Oakley and Wilbarston, hundred of Corby, and partly in the parish of Rushton, hundred of Rothwell, union of Harborough, N. division of the county of Northampton, 6¼ miles (N. N. W.) from Kettering; containing 121 inhabitants. An abbey for Cistercian monks, in honour of the Blessed Virgin, was founded here in 1143, by William de Boutevylein: at the Dissolution it had a revenue of £347. 8.
Pirbright, county Surrey.—See Purbright.
PIRBRIGHT, county Surrey.—See Purbright.
Pirton (St. Mary)
PIRTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Hitchin, hundred of Hitchin and Pirton, county of Hertford, 3½ miles (N. W.) from Hitchin; containing 764 inhabitants. This place is called Perstone in Domesday book; and Ralph de Limesy, an eminent Norman soldier, to whom the township, with many other possessions, was given after the Conquest, founded a church here. The parish comprises by measurement 2700 acres, and is two miles distant from the London and Bedford road. The females are employed in the manufacture of straw-plat. A fair is held for sheep early in November. The living is a vicarage: the tithes were commuted for land and a money payment in 1811; the glebe consists of 154 acres, valued at £200 per annum. The church has a chancel entirely separated from the body of the edifice. Upwards of thirty skeletons of various sizes, with several urns containing burnt bones, and some fragments of coarse pottery, were lately found in a field called Dane-field; the bodies appeared to have been placed regularly, a yard asunder, with the heads towards the east.
Pirton (St. Mary)
PIRTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Henley, hundred of Pirton, county of Oxford, 1 mile (N.) from Watlington; containing 711 inhabitants, and comprising by computation 4500 acres. The ancient manor-house, which is in the Elizabethan style, was the residence of Hampden. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17. 9. 4½.; net income, £238; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford. An almshouse for four men and six women, was founded in 1820, by Sir Francis Stonor, and endowed by him with a yearly rentcharge of £62.
Pirton, with Trescott
PIRTON, with Trescott, an ancient prebend, in the parish of Tettenhall, union, and N. division of the hundred, of Seisdon, S. division of the county of Stafford, 3 miles (W.) from Wolverhampton; containing 306 inhabitants. These are neighbouring hamlets, lying on the road from Wolverhampton to Bridgnorth.
Pirton (St. Peter)
PIRTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union, and Upper division of the hundred, of Pershore, Pershore and E. divisions of the county of Worcester, 4½ miles (N. N. W.) from Pershore; containing 210 inhabitants. It is intersected by the Birmingham and Gloucester railway, and comprises 1682 acres of land; the soil is of a very stony quality, and the surface hilly. The living is a rectory, united to that of Croome-D'Abitot, and valued in the king's books at £8. 3.: 142 acres of land were allotted in lieu of tithes, in 1763. The church, a little to the south of the village, is a neat structure with a small tower, containing 200 sittings, of which 130 are unappropriated.