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prodigious numbers of extraneous fossils. This vein is about six or eight feet thick; and the shells in it are so numerous, and lie so close, that, as Woodward jusly observes, the mass is almost wholly composed of them, there being only a very little marl interposed. These shells consist of a great variety of univalves and bivalves, as concha, ostreæ, buccinæ, &c. They are very brittle, and for the most part resemble those found at Tours, in France, and at Hordwell Cliff, in Hampshire: some of them are impregnated with mundic. Below the church is a chalk pit, in which echini and other extraneous fossils are found." +

Adjoining to Charlton is the extraparochial hamlet, formerly the parish, of Kidbrook; this was part of the possessions of the priory of St. Mary Overie, in Southwark ; at the dissolution of which, this parish came to the crown.

the title of baron to Sir William Hervey, one of the distinguished commanders of the English fleet in 1588; he was created in 1628, baron Hervey of Kidbrook. The manor is at present the property of lord Eliot, and the manor house is a farm. The antient church has been demolished upwards of two hundred years.

WOOLWICH.

The learned Camden calls this "the Mother Dock of England," and it is supposed to be the most antient naval arsenal in this kingdom. In the third year of the reign of Henry VIII. the great ship called "The Harry Grace de Dieu," was built here; and during the reign of queen Elizabeth, that monarch honoured Woolwich with her presence at the launching of the ship of war which went by her name.

Antiently Woolwich was but a small fishing town, liable, on account of its situation, to the inundations of the Thames, before an embankment took place. By the Saxons it was denominated Huluiz, signifying the habitation, or street on the creek.

* Woodward on Fossils, vol. i. p. 42, of the Catalogue.

+ Environs of London, IV. p. 324. Note.

VOL. y. No. 107.

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It appears by the confirmation by Edward the Confessor, of the gift of Elthruda of the manor of Lewisham to the abbey of Ghent, that Woolwich was considered as one of the appendages to that manor; but in the roll of military fees taken in the seventh year of Edward I. this town is not mentioned as part of that domain, but as forming part of the manor of Eltham, held by that king.

By referring to Domesday Book we obferve, that "Among the possesions of Hamo, the sheriff, he held in the half of the lath of Sudtone in Greaviz hundred, sixtythree acres of arable land, which belonged to him in Wulviz, which William Accipitrarius (or the falconer) held of Edward the Confessor. There were on the estate eleven bordarii, who paid a rent of forty-one pence; and the whole was worth three pounds."

This was an estate denominated the manor of Southall, alias Woolwich, and not the principal manor of Wook wich, which is coextensive with the parish, and is held of the crown by Sir John Gregory Shaw, bart. in right of his ancestors as lessees under the crown of the manors of Eltham and Woolwich; to the manor of Woolwich belong a court leet and court baron, separate from Eltham, a which the jury appoint the two constables and all tasters for the town and parish; and in the court baron the tenants are all free tenants.

The manor of Southall was held about the beginning of the reign of Edward I. by Gilbert de Marico, who assumed that name from his possessions in the marshes. He held it of Warren de Munchensi, baron of Swanscampe; it was afterwards held, in the same manner, by Sabina de Windlesore, till about the seventeenth of Edward II. when it was again held of the crown, which had then the possession of the barony of Munchensi. It came in succession to Sir John de Poultney, (ancestor of Pultney, the great earl of Bath, in the reign of George II.) four times lord mayor of London, who was much in favour with Edward III. in whose family it remained, till it came to William Chichele, sheriff in 1404, afterwards alderman of London, and youngest

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youngest brother of archbishop Chichele.

Through va

rious descents it came by sale to the family of Bowater; and, with the manor of Jeffrys, is in the present possession of that family, though subordinate to the royal manor of Eltham.

The DOCK YARD has, in many instances, the preference to most others in the kingdom; the largest ships may ride in safety near the town; the Thames being remarkably deep, and, at high water, nearly a mile broad. The yard has been progressively enlarged, from the time of its establishment; and includes a space of five furlongs in length, and one broad; in which are two dry docks, several slips, three mast-ponds, a smith's shop, with forges for making anchors, a model loft, storehouses of various descriptions, mast-houses, sheds for timber, dwellings for the different officers, and other buildings. The whole, as in Deptford, is under the immediate inspection of the Navy Board. The resident officers are a clerk of the checque, a storekeeper, a master shipwright, and his assistants, a clerk of the survey, a master attendant, a surgeon, &c. The number of artificers and labourers, is between three and four thousand. Several very fine first and second-rate ships have been built here, as well as many third-rates and frigates to which will shortly be added the lord Nelson, of one hundred and ten guns; and the Venerable, of seventy-four. The ill-fated Royal George, which sunk at Spithead, with the brave admiral Kempenfelt, and upwards of four hundred of her crew, besides two hundred women, was built here in 1751; as was the Sovereign of the seas, in the reign of Charles the First. This ship, which was the largest that had then been built in England, was one thousand six hundred and thirty-seven tons burthen. The Dutch are said to have called her the "Golden Devil," from the havock which her cannon made among their seamen. She was curiously ornamented by carving, gilding, and emblematical devices, designed by Haywood, the dramatist, who described her, in a quarto tract, which accompanied an engraving on two plates bý Payne,

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Payne, published in 1637, the year she was launched. In this description, her length is stated at one hundred and twenty-eight feet, and her breadth at forty-eight: she had three flush decks, a forecastle, half-deck, quarter-deck, and round-house; and carried one hundred and seventy-six pieces of ordnance: she had five lanthorns, one of which would contain eleven persons standing upright; and eleven anchors, the largest weighing four thousand four hundred pounds.

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The largest cables for men of war are made in an extensive ROPE WALK, and on the lower part of the town is GUNPACK, containing vast quantities of cannon for the use of the navy, in tiers; there are often laid up eight thousand pieces of ordnance, besides innumerable mortars, shells, and other implements of destruction..

The military and civil branches of the OFFICE OF OrdNANCE, have subsisted since the reign of George I. in this place, and have been very instrumental in its rapid increase of population. The nature of this institution has been so amply detailed in various publications, that it would be improper to dwell on the subject.

The Foundery for cannon, was originally at the back of Upper Moorfields, near Windmill Hill, at a place used afterwards as a Dissenting chapel by Mr. John Wesley. A dreadful accident happening there in consequence of recasting some cannon, in 1716, which had been previously mentioned by Mr. Andrew Schalch, a Swiss, from his experience in casting metals; that gentleman, was sought out by public advertisement, and he was told that "the Board of Ordnance had it in contemplation to erect a new foundery at a distance from the metropolis, and that through the representation which had been made of his ability, they offered him a commission to make choice of any spot within twelve miles of London, for the erection of such a building, (having proper reference to the extensive nature of the works, and carriage of the heavy materials,) and also to engage him as superintendent of the whole concern."

This proposal was too advantageous not to be readily accepted by Schalch, who immediately began his search for a proper place for the new establishment; and having inspected various spots, at length fixed on the Warren at Woolwich, as the most eligible situation. Here the new foundery was erected; and the first specimens of ordnance cast by Mr. Schalch, were so highly approved, that he was fixed in the situation of master founder, and continued to hold that office for about sixty years, when he retired to Charlton, having been assisted during the latter part of that term, by his nephew, Mr. Lewis Gaschlin; who, though more than eighty years old, is still employed in the arsenal, as principal modeller for the military repository. Mr. Schulch died in 1776, when about the age of ninety, and lies buried in the churchyard in this town: he had one daughter, who was married to general Belford, of the artillery. Some of the largest mortars now remaining in the arsenal, were cast under his direction, and have his name upon them. His attention, and scientific knowledge, were so successfully exerted, that not a single accident happened amidst all the hazardous processes in which he was engaged during the very long period they were dircted by him. Thus rose the ROYAL ARSENAL, SO stiled by his majesty George III.

The LABORATORY is under the care of a comptroller, and subordinate officers, and is appropriated for the making cartridges and fireworks for the use of the navy. The other structures in the arsenal are storehouses, workshops, in one of which is a planing machine, and offices of various descriptions. The number of artificers, labourers, and boys, employed in the various departments, is about three thousand; exclusive of the convicts, for several of fences against the public, belonging to one of the Hulks, which is stationed on the river, opposite to the arsenal: the other hulk lies before the dock yard. The convicts amount to about nine hundred; they are generally employed in the

* Beauties of England; extracted from Mr. Moser's Vestiges, &c.

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