The History and Antiquities of Somersetshire: Being a General and Parochial Survey of that Interesting County. To which is Prefixed an Historical Introduction, with a Brief View of Ecclesiastical History; and an Account of the Druidical, Belgic-British, Roman, Saxon, Danish, and Norman Antiquities, Now Extant, Volume 1J.B. Nichols and son, 1836 |
Common terms and phrases
abbeys Abbot acres agger altar ancient antiquary antiquity Augustine Aulus Plautius Avon barrows Bath Beacon Belgæ Belgic Belgic Britons Belgic-British Bishop Brendon hill Brent Knoll Bristol Britain Britannia British Britons Cadbury Caer called Camalodunum Camerton camp castle century Christian Church of Rome Claudius clergy conquests Cornwall crossed Danes declivity defence discovered district ditto Druids early earthworks east England established feet Gaul Glastonbury Hamdon Henry hill hundred Iceni Ilchester inclosure inhabitants John Julius Cæsar King kingdom land Mendip metals miles monasteries monks Neroche Norman numerous occupied ornamented Ostorius parish parochial passed Phoenicians Polden hill possession Prior Quantock Quantock hills reign religious Richard Colt Hoare ridge river river Parret Roman road Saxons Severn side Silures Sir Richard Colt situated Somersetshire spot Stanton Drew station stone summit Tacitus temple tessellated thence traces trackway tumuli turnpike road vale vallum village Wales walls Wansdyke William
Popular passages
Page 20 - When they first landed, they were bands of fierce, ignorant, idolatrous, and superstitious pirates, enthusiastically courageous, but habitually cruel. Yet from such ancestors a nation has, in the course of twelve centuries, been formed, which, inferior to none in every moral and intellectual merit, is superior to every other in the love and possession of useful liberty : a nation which cultivates with equal success the elegancies of art, the ingenious labours of industry, the energies of war, the...
Page 25 - Villans of every village, were to enquire into the name of the place, who held it in the time of King Edward, who was the present possessor, how many hides in the Manor, how many...
Page 118 - In the very toppe of the hille above al the trenchis is magna area or campus of a 20 acres or more by estimation, wher yn dyverse places men may se fundations and rudera of walles. There was much dusky blew stone that people of the villages therby hath caryid away.
Page 30 - that the king is the universal lord and original proprietor of all the lands in his kingdom, and that no man doth or can possess any part of it, but what has mediately or immediately been derived as a gift from him, to be held upon feudal services.
Page 25 - So very narrowly, indeed, did he commission them to trace it out, that there was not one single hide, nor a yard108 of land, nay, moreover (it is shameful to tell, though he thought it no shame to do it), not even an ox, nor a cow, nor a swine was there left, that was not set down in his writ.
Page 25 - Book, one of the most ancient records of England, is the register from which judgment was to be given upon the value, tenure, and services of lands therein described.
Page 27 - Hrichton (Bristol) opposite to Ireland, and extremely convenient for trading with that country. Wulfstan induced them to drop a barbarous custom, which neither the love of God nor the king could prevail on them to lay aside.
Page 72 - ... crime, was originally a protection from lawless oppression and sanguinary revenge. Even the military orders, connected as they were with feudalism, operated as a corrective of its ferocity and injustice. It was not until the power of the English Barons had been broken by the policy of Henry the Seventh, that the abbeys could have been dissolved, without danger to the prerogatives of the Crown and the liberties of the people. But when the feudal system was succeeded by a form of civil polity more...
Page 26 - The bordarii often mentioned in the Domesday Inquisition were distinct from the servi and villani, and seem to be those of a less servile condition, who had a bord or cottage with a small parcel of land allowed to them, on condition they should supply the lord with poultry and eggs, and other small provisions for his board and entertainment.
Page 156 - The descent into it was by seven steps, and a small channel for conveying the water ran along the bottom, turning at a right angle towards the present King's Bath. At a small distance from this was a very large oblong bath, having on three sides a colonnade surrounded with small pilasters, which were probably intended to support a roof. On one side of this bath were two sudatories, nearly square, the floors of which were composed of brick, covered with a strong coat of terras, and supported by pillars...