NEWPORT PAGNELL, BUCKS. NEWPORT is a large market town, situated on the north side of the river Ouse; it is divided into two unequal parts by the small river Lovet, and contains a consider able population. Its name is probably derived from the Paganels or Painels, who obtained it from William Fitz Ausculph in the reign of William II. and kept possession of it for upwards of a century. In the reign of Richard I. the manor became the property of John de Somerie (who married the daughter and heiress of Gervase Paganel), and continued in his family till the time of Henry III. when Roger de Somerie was dispossessed of his lands for refusing to obey a summons to receive the honour of knighthood. It was then granted for life to Walter de Kirkham, with several valuable privileges. In the reign of Edward II. it was conveyed by marriage to Thomas de Botetourt; from this period the succession is unknown. Mention is made by Leland and Camden of a castle that formerly stood here, but no traces of it are now to be discovered, nor are any particulars recorded, but that it remained a place of defence till the time of the civil wars. Three hospitals were in former times founded at Newport; one of them endowed by John de Somerie for six. poor men and women still remains. D NEWPORT PAGNELL. The church is an ancient and spacious edifice, dedicated to the Saints Peter and Paul; it has nothing peculiar in its architecture, but its elevated situation renders its appearance extremely picturesque as seen from the bridge, from which point the accompanying View was taken. In the churchyard, upon the cover of a vault, is this inscription, composed by the late William Cowper, esq. to the memory of Mr. Hamilton. Pause here, and think: a monitory rhime And many a tomb, like Hamilton's, aloud MONASTERY OF GREY FRIARS, WINCHELSEA, SUSSEX. THIS Monastery is reported to have been founded by William de Buckingham, who dedicated it to the Virgin Mary; its possessions were confirmed by king Edward III. further than this its history is extremely obscure. After the dissolution in the thirty-sixth of Henry VIII. its site was granted to William Clifford and Michael Wildbore. The annexed View is part of the church, with a turret, in which is a staircase for ascending to the roof; a stand was here erected by the custom-house officers for the advantage of an extensive prospect along the coast. The town of Winchelsea stands upon the flat summit of a rising ground, about two miles in circumference: and united to the main land only by a narrow isthmus. Except in that part, it was formerly surrounded by the flowing tide; walls and ramparts it needed none; the hill on which it stood, was edged with perpendicular rocks, and at full sea rose from the water's edge. An excellent harbour, perfectly secure from the piratical attempts of those times, gave it superiority over all the cinque ports. Trade flourished, buildings increased, and a castle was built by Henry VIII. for its defence. In short, it grew into a MONASTERY OF GREY FRIARS, WINCHELSEA. town of greater splendour than any town in England, except the capital. About the end of Elizabeth's reign the calamity of a retiring sea began to be felt. The channel which led ships to the harbour was first choked, and by insensible degrees the whole coast was deserted. From this circumstance Winchelsea declined apace, the churches became ruins, and desolation prevailed over the whole compass of the hill, insomuch, that a town once spreading over a surface of two miles is now shrunk into a few houses in a corner of its ancient site: its extensive streets, laid out at right angles, may still be traced. NETLEY ABBEY, HAMPSHIRE. THESE ruins of ecclesiastical magnificence are situated at the distance of three miles from Southampton to the south-east, on the declivity of a hill, gently rising from the water, but so encompassed with trees as to be entirely secluded from view till a very near approach. Netley was formerly called Letley, or Pleasant Place, and also Edward-stow, which latter name occurs in a charter granted by Henry III. who, according to some writers, was the founder of the Abbey. It was afterwards endowed with valuable possessions by Roger de Clare in 1242. Among its subsequent benefactors were Edmund earl of Cornwall, Robert Ver, and Walter de Burg, the latter of whom invested it with lands in the county of Lincoln, which he held of the king in capite, by the service of presenting him with a headpiece lined with fine linen, and a pair of gilt spurs. The inmates of this Abbey were of the Cistercian order, and had been originally brought from the neighbouring abbey of Beaulieu. Their number at the dissolution was thirteen, and the annual value of their possessions, according to Speed, was £160:2:94. "A Monarch bade my cloister'd fanes ascend, |