and all its appertenances, to be held by them as freely as William Peverel held the fame in the time of Henry his grandfather. The fame charter confirms the donations of Ranulph earl of Chefter, and other barons, viz. Holywell, Fulbrook, the chapel of Bafingwerk, the antient refidence of the monks, with the mills and their appertenances; likewife Holes, and a moiety of Lecche, and one hundred fhillings of the revenues of Chefter, the gift of the faid earl. Calders with its inhabitants, and finally, Kethlenedei, the gift of Robert Banaftre.

LHEWELYN AP JORWERTH, prince of Wales, and cotemporary with Henry III. confirms all the donations of his ancestors; particularly the fite of their house, the mill before their gate, and the land before their doors; which laft was granted to them by Ranulphus, and his brother Eneas. The fame grant gives them also the land of Meredeth Wawor, in Holywell; Fulbrook; a community of pafturage on the mountains; Hanot de le Wecch, and Creicgraft, with all their appertenances. His fon and fucceffor, David ap Lhewelyn, by another charter, confirms the donations of his father, and adds the lands of Huttred, brother to Meredeth Wawor of Holywell; the church of Holywell, and the chapel of Colful; and the land and pafturage of Gelli, before granted by his father. He likewife empowers them to buy and fell every thing toll-free in all his territories, for the use of their house. Also, the fifth part of the fish taken in his fisheries at Ruddlan; and the tenth of the fish belonging to him in other parts. He confirms to them all the village of Wenbewm, with all its inhabitants and appertenances, being the gift of Howen de Porkenton, and confirmed by Helyfo. He at the fame

time confirms the lands and pafturage in Penthlin, the gift of his father.

DAVID alfo beftowed on the monks of Befingwerk, Folebroc, Feilebroc, or as it is now called Fulbrock, feated near the weftern extremity of the parish; which is mentioned in the confirmation of the grant to that convent by Henry II. and again in the confirmation of the charters renewed to it by Llewellyn ap Forwerth and his fon. The monks had a grainge on thefe lands, and right of pafturage on the mountain, in common with the neighboring inhabitants. The Grange is at prefent a farm-house, the property of Sir Pyers Mostyn, and ftill retains its antient name.

THIS charter is dated from Coleshill in 1240, and witneffed by Hugh bishop of St. Asaph, and his chancellor, the famous Ednyfed Vychan, and others.

TANNER † mentions the tithes of Blackbrook, and the wood of . Langdon; lands in Chanclefworth; the manor of West Kirkby in Cheshire; the filver mine near Bafingwerk; free warren in Gethli, Menegrange, Ouregrange, Beggerburgh, and Holywell.

THE abby also was poffeffed of the hofpital or chapel of Sponne near Coventry, which had been originally founded by Hugh Ceveilioc earl of Chefter, who probably beftowed it on thefe monks t.

THE revenues of the abbot amounted in the whole, reckoning thofe arifing from the mills, lands, cows, and fheep, to 46%. 11s.

IN the grant to the abby of Bafingwerk, of the lands in the Peak of Derbyshire, there is a claufe referving the venison to the

king, with the confent of the abbot and convent; for the preservation of which two foresters were appointed by the king: but the grantees were allowed to kill hares, foxes, and wolves *.

IN 1540, the house and lands in the neighborhood were granted to Henry ap Harry, of the tribe of Ednowain Bendew; whose only daughter Anne, by her marriage with William Moftyn, efquire, of Trelacre, conveyed it into that family, in which it now remains.

I CANNOT recover the names of any more than two of the abbots. Thomas ap Dafydd Pennant prefided over the house in the time of Guttun Owain, a bard who flourished in the year 1480. Befide that, and another eulogift mentioned in p. 34, I may add a third, viz. Thomas ap Rhys op Howel, of Stokyn, who publifhed an awdl or ode in his praife. It is to be found in the Sebright Collection, vol. i. p. 37. among a collection of poems and prophecies delivered by the bard when the awen, or furor poeticus, had full poffeffion of him.

I SHALL not here repeat what I have faid of this celebrated abbot, in pp. 33, 34, but refer to them for his hiftory. I fhall only add here, that the ruins of a noble oak, still to be seen near the remains of the abby, is supposed to have been his cotemporary.

I HAVE spoken of his fon and fucceffor Nicholas, at pp. 24, 34; and fhall again, in the article Bagillt, refume the fubject.

THE whole road from the abby to St. Wenefrede's well, is most remarkably picturesque, along a narrow but deep valley, bounded Sebright MSS.

on

on one fide by hanging woods. In former times the facred ftream hurried to the fea unconfined by the bufy manufactures. During the reign of pilgrimages nothing but the corn-mills, the property of the monks, found employ for its waters.

BEFORE I advance up the valley, let me obferve, that notwithstanding it has the common caufes of health, a rapid stream, and the greatest part of the year a brifk wind (usually from weft to east) yet it is vifited with the ufual difeafes of the country, in a degree even greater than other parts; nor has the angina maligna, hereafter to be fpoken of, fpared the children of this little

tract.

COMMERCE found its way to the valley about fifty years ago. I can remember the building of the works of white and of red lead under the conduct of Meffrs. Smedley. But prior to thefe, a little above, was a tilting-mill, and an iron-wire mill. The firft leffees were Hart and Co. from Yorkshire. They were fucceeded by Mr. Barker and Sir James Creed, who erected a new one on the lower part of the stream. On Mr. Barker's death the remainder of the term was purchafed by Mr. John Norman and Mr. Reuben Chambers. Under a new leafe Mr. John Chambers converted the old mill into a steel-wire-mill; before which his mother used it for a warehouse for a coarfe-paper-mill. The Parys mine company fucceeded to both the premises, and covered them with their important edifices.

Ir must be observed, that the antient corn-mills, belonging to the abby, stood where the paper-mill was, the molendina quæ juxta portam abbatiæ habent *.

Dugdale Monaft. I. 721.

WHITE AND RED
LEAD WORKS.

IRON-WIRE
MILL.

PAPER MILLS.

SNUFF MILLS.

OLD SMELTING-
WORK.

On this stream had been three fnuff-mills; the oldest was occupied by Mr. Edward Jones, tobacconift, now living. It joined the old and uppermoft corn-mill. It was taken down by the cotton company, who on the fite built part of the new corn-mill, near the Holywell spring.

PETER PARRY, tobacconist, had two fnuff-mills, one on the land of John Pierce, joiner, deceased, a little below the crefcent cotton-mill. It was purchased by the brass battering-mill company, for the fake of giving their pool a little greater depth of water, which built another for Peter Parry, below their brassworks.

An antient smelting-work ftood in my memory on the fite of the old cotton-mill, and part of the garden. They were erected before the year 1733, by leafe from Roger Pennant, efq. of Bagillt. I do not recollect the names of the leffees, but the company was known by that of Madam Kaye and Co. The smoke did fuch injury to the fine woods belonging to Sir George Moftyn, of Trelacre, bart. as to occafion many law-fuits between Sir George and the company; fo that there enfued a total ceffation of the smelting-trade in these works. Whether the fuit came to a decifion, does not appear. The fuit must have commenced before March 26th, 1733, from which day all proceedings, which used before to be in Latin, were to be carried on in the Englife tongue. Juft before that period poor Sir George fuffered a nonfuit, for using the word propè instead of juxta ; and was foiled a fecond time, by ufing in the proceeding the title of Sir George Moftyn, instead of George Moftyn, efq. his elder brother being living, and at that time an ecclefiaftic in the church of Rome: and it