LITTLE TAINTON is a hamlet and manor. It was held by William, son of Norman, at the time of the survey. Hugh de Kelpeck held the manor of the King, by the service of guarding a hay, or wood, near Hereford, at his own charge. By marriage with Hugh's daughter and coheiress, Isabel, it came to William Waleran, and was purchased of him by Bogo, or Bevis, sheriff of Salop and Staffordshire, Edw. I. With him it continued till 1339, when it passed to the Verdunes, and afterwards to the Casseys (51), of Cassey-Compton, the last of whom died 1596. John Viney, Esq. was lord of the manor at the beginning of last century, and his descendant, James Viney, Esq. is the present proprietor.

Other proprietors are John Nourse, Esq., Mr. T. Perkins, &c.

Twenty freeholders voted in 1776.

Population, 200—250—378. Houses inhabited, 69. The benefice is a rectory in the Forest deanery. The dean and chapter of Gloucester are patrons; and John Luxmore, D. D. dean of Gloucester, is incumbent.

Maud de Teynton gave the church of Teynton to St. Peter's Abbey, to find lights; and Radulph Avenal confirmed it, likewise giving a hermitage here, with a villein and his family to the same house; and in the charter of endowments after the dissolution, the patronage of this church was confirmed to the chapter of Gloucester cathedral. A portion of tythes, formerly belonging to Kilpeck priory, co. Heref. is held under the same chapter by James Viney, Esq.

The old church, which had been built in very ancient times, and stood at the north end of the parish, was, together with the parsonage, burnt down in the civil wars. The present church, dedicated to St. Lawrence, was

erected during the usurpation of Cromwell, principally by the interest of Thomas Pury. It consists of a nave and a low spiral turret, and is dedicated, like the former, to St. Lawrence. Contrary to general custom, it stands north and south 18.

In P. N. tax. the church of Teintoue, 87.

the sacrist of St. Peter, Glouc. 17. Os. 8d.

prior of Kilpeck, 16s.

In the King's books, 9l. 6s. 8d.

Portion of

Portion of the

CXCIX. UPLEADON, anciently LEDENE,

Is a small parish, containing about 1000 acres, distant eight miles N. from Gloucester. The soil is a red loam, about a third of which is in pasture and meadow, on the banks of the Leden, which bounds it on the east. The ploughed fields are planted with fruit trees, of the choicest sorts, particularly the squash-pear.

There were formerly considerable iron forges here, which are now converted into flour mills.

St. Peter's Abbey at Gloucester held this manor, containing four hides, before the time of the Conqueror, and continued in possession of it till the general suppression. It was then granted to John Arnold, and continued in his family till the beginning of the 17th century, when Dorothy Arnold, the heiress, carried it by marriage to Sir T. Lucy, of Charlecot, co. Warw. who was lord of the manor 1608. T. Brown, Esq. alderman of Gloucester, was afterwards proprietor. William Dowdeswell, Esq. was the next lessee, of whose representatives it was purchased by the Rev. John Foley, rector of Newent, who is now lord of the manor, with a considerable estate.

James De Visme, Esq. is proprietor of an estate containing about 200 acres.

The Hay estate belongs to the Rev. Mr. Beale, of Evesham, about 60 acres.

Benjamin Hyett, Esq. has an estate here, of about 80

acres.

Drews, containing 100 acres, is the property of Mr. White.

Seven freeholders voted in 1776.

Population, 100-80-160. Houses inhabited, 31.

The benefice is a curacy in the Forest deanery, held by licence under the Bishop, and augmented with fortythree acres of land. The impropriation, formerly belonging to the abbey, was granted to the dean and chapter of Gloucester, and is in lease to Rev. John Foley, charged with 147. 10s. to the curate. Thomas Davies, clerk, is incumbent.

The church is small, with a low wooden tower at the west end. On the north side is an elegantly ornamented door-way, of Saxon architecture.

Among the temporal possessions of the abbot of Gloucester, in P. N. tax. is the following entry :-" He holds "also, in the manor of Upleden, eight acres of meadow, "valued at 1s. 4d. per acre.

"The portion of the abbot of Gloucester in the chapel "of Upleden, 21.”

II. DUTCHY OF LANCASTER.

In 50 Edw. III. Lancashire was erected into a county palatine, and John of Gaunt, son of that King, was created Duke of Lancaster. All the estates in Gloucestershire, that came to him in right of Blanch his wife, daughter of the preceding Duke of Lancaster, were severed from the hundreds to which they formerly belonged, and erected into a new one.

When the Duke of Lancaster came to the throne, under the title of Henry the Fourth, the dutchy was extinct in his person, by reason of the union of it with the crown, but he, (suspecting himself to be more rightfully Duke of Lancaster than King of England,) determined to save his right in the dutchy, whatever might befall the kingdom, and therefore separated it from the crown, and settled it so in the natural persons of himself and his heirs, as if he had been no king or politic body at all. In this condition it continued during the reigns of Hen. V. and VI. who descended from him; but when Edw. IV. had, (by recovery of the crown,) reassumed the right of the house of York, he appropriated that dutchy to the crown again, but suffered the court and officers to remain as he found them; in which manner it came, together with the crown, to Hen. VII. who, approving of Hen. IV.'s policy, (by whose right he also obtained the kingdom,) made a like separation of the dutchy, and so left it to his posterity, who still enjoy it.

All matters appertaining to the dutchy, or county pa

latine of Lancaster, are decided in the dutchy court, by a decree of the Chancellor. The principal officers are, Earl of Liverpool, Chancellor; J. Ord, Esq. Attorney General; T. Plumer, Esq. King's Serjeant; Lord Bolton, ReceiverGeneral.

Persons resident within the dutchy enjoy the peculiar privileges of being exempt from the payment of toll, tonnage, pickage, pontage, and other such like duties and demands within the kingdom of Great Britain. To enable them to establish their claim, it is only necessary to produce an annual certificate of their residence within the dutchy, under the hand of the minister of the parish; but when the residence is changed to a different hundred, the right ceases. This is the case in the county of Gloucester, but does not exactly apply in all other places where the custom prevails. A burgess of the town of Monmouth, whether by birth or otherwise, carries the right with him, wherever he resides, and to justify his right to immunity, has only to produce the certificate, or patent of his freedom, under the seal of the corporation of Monmouth.

CC. BULLY, BOLAY, anciently BULELEGE, Is a small parish, containing 500 acres, distant w. from Gloucester five miles, bounded on the s. by the turnpikeroad leading to the Forest. The soil is a deep red loamy clay, producing plentiful crops of grass, corn, and fruit. The elm and oak grow luxuriantly here and in the neighbourhood.

Walter Balistarius is recorded in Domesday as proprietor of Bulelege in Westberie hundred, taxed at four hides. The immediate successor is not known, but the manor was in the family of Musgrose during the reign of Hen. III,