"CHESTER, comprising the parishes of Holy Trinity, St. Mary On The Hill, St. John and several others;} it is a city, port, municipal and parliamentary borough, and a county of itself, locally situated in the hundred of Broxton, in West Cheshire, 178¼ miles distant from London by the London and North-Western railway, and 213 by the Great Western, 84½ from Holyhead, 84¼ from Birmingham, and 52 from Manchester. It is connected, by the Ellesmere canal, with the Mersey and with Nantwich. It is a bonding port, and is 22 miles distant from the sea. It does not appear that Chester was a place of any importance before the Roman era. It was then walled round, and was called in the Cymric language Caer Lleon vawr, the "Camp of the Great Legion." It is probably identical with the Deva of the Itinerary of Antoninus, and was called Deunana, or Deva, by the Romans, from being half encircled by the Dee. After many struggles the Saxons finally wrested it from the Britons in 830, the Danes from the Saxons in 894, and again the Saxons from the Danes in 908. It was an important post as a fortress on the Welsh frontier, and as a stronghold against Danish invaders. Edgar received at Chester the homage of six kings in 972. As the story is told by William of Malmesbury, Edgar sat in the prow of a boat on the Dee while the six kings plied their oars. After the Conquest Chester fell to the share of Hugh Lupus, nephew of William the Conqueror, who was created Earl of Chester, and who built the castle, in which were held the courts of the county palatine of Cheshire. From Domesday Book it appears that, at this time, there were 431 houses taxable, and 56 belonging to the bishop, and that it had a "guild mercatory," equivalent to a corporation, with a chief magistrate, called "præpositus regis," or provost. The descendants of Hugh were earls of Chester until the reign of Henry III., when the earldom, being again in the gift of the crown, was conferred upon Prince Edward, whose son, Edward of Carnarvon, was the first Prince of Wales. The title still belongs to the eldest son of the sovereign. In 1159 Henry II., met Malcolm IV. of Scotland at Chester, when the latter ceded the three counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, which had been wrested from the English crown. Edward of Carnarvon, the first Prince of Wales, received the homage of the Welsh in this city in 1309. Chester was one of the six cities which coined silver in the reign of William III. The Chester Mysteries, or plays founded on scriptural subjects, were formerly acted by the city companies in church, and are attributed by some to Randle, a monk, by others to Higden, a poet, who wrote the "Polychronicon." Their date is probably about the 13th century, and they were 25 in number, with a range of subjects including the Creation and the Judgment. Bradshaw, a poet, Molyneux and Brerewood, mathematicians, and Dean Whittingham, the translator of the Geneva Bible, were also natives of Chester. The city sustained a siege of some length during the Civil War. It was in the hands of the royalists, and was at length compelled to surrender to Brereton, the general of the parliamentary army. It is said that Charles I. saw, from the Phoenix Tower, the defeat of his own army on Rowton Heath. Chester is situated on a bend of the river Dee, and is built on red sandstone rock. The plan of the town is commonly compared with that of a Roman camp, the streets intersecting each other at right angles; and it is supposed that modern Chester covers the same ground that was occupied by the 20th Legionthe Vale's Victrix; and that the Roman camp has grown, without change of position, into the English city. In the centre of the city formerly stood "The High Cross," which was removed after the surrender of Chester to the parliamentary army. At this point the four principal streets converge. A portion of the cross itself is still to be seen in the grounds of Netherley House. The appearance of the streets-especially of Old Bridge-street and Watergate-street-is very picturesque; the houses are generally ancient, and are ornamented with the gables of the 16th century. The most remarkable feature in the architecture is," The Rows," and this feature would be unique, did not Berne, in Switzerland, share it with Chester. These Rows constitute the ordinary trottoirs, and are level with the first-floors of the houses; the second-floor projects over them and protects them from the rain. In the Rows are the principal shops. The streets are cut into the red sandstone rock to the depth of about 10 feet, the Rows marking the natural level. It has been argued that this fact is additional evidence of the Roman origin of the city-that where the Rows are there were formerly vestibules, and that the shops beneath the Rows were cryptæ and apothecæ. The old walls of Chester are among the most perfect in England; they are more than 1¾ miles in circuit. Though no longer a protection, they afford an excellent promenade to the inhabitants. Two persons can walk abreast on them in the narrowest part, and they command a pleasing view, including the Welsh hills, Wirrall (as the peninsula between the Dee and the Mersey is called), the Beeston rock, and the course of the Dee. There were formerly several towers at intervals along the walls, each within bow-shot of its neighbour; but of these only two now remain-the Phoenix Tower and the Water Tower. The Water Tower, called also the New Tower, was built in 1322. Rings were fixed into the masonry, to which ships were fastened before the sands had made their last inroads upon the channel of the Dee. The tower is, as it were, a monument to the memory of the former commercial prosperity of Chester. It has long been impossible for any vessel to approach it, and it is now not even at the water's edge. The Phoenix Tower was formerly called Newton Tower, and takes its present name from the crest of the Company of Painters and Stainers who met in it. The Phoenix Tower is the last which remains of the ancient fortifications, the Water Tower having been built at a later date and for a different purpose. Chester has four gates, marking the four points of the compass: East-gate, North-gate, Bridge-gate, and Watergate. The East-gate was the termination of the great Watling Street road, or the Via Devana, as it was here called; it was rebuilt in 1769, and has a principal arch, above which appear the arms of the Grosvenors, and two posterns for foot-passengers. The North-gate was rebuilt in 1810; it was formerly used as the city prison. The Bridge-gate was rebuilt in 1782 at the expense of the corporation. Water-gate was rebuilt in 1775, and the funds were provided from the ancient murage duties. The Dee is crossed by four bridges: by the Old Bridge, of seven arches, which is of great antiquity, but has been several times rebuilt; by the new bridge, to which the Queen (then Princess Victoria) gave the name of Grosvenor Bridge, on the occasion of her visit to Eaton Hall; by the Suspension Bridge, which has been still more recently erected; and by the iron girder bridge of the Chester and Holyhead railway. There is easy communication by railway with all parts of the kingdom, and the station is one of the most convenient and handsome in the provinces. Chester Castle is, with the exception of one tower, modern; it is built of stone, and was designed by Harrison. It serves the different purposes of county gaol, barracks, shirehall, assize court, and county court. The shirehall is of noble proportions, and is approached by a portico resembling the Acropolis at Athens. It is semicircular in form, and is supported by twelve Ionic columns. Of the other buildings the principal are the common hall, in which are portraits of the Grosvenor family, and in which the sessions are held; the county lunatic asylum, which stands on an eminence in the Bath road, and is well designed; the theatre, formerly St. Nicholas' chapel; and the engine-house, built by the Duke of Ormond, in 1680. There is much to interest the antiquary in Chester, both in the buildings of the city itself; and in the Roman remains which have been discovered; amongst the latter are altars, coins, fibulae, inscribed stones and tiles, a statue of Pallas Armata, and a hypocaust. Chester has now no great commercial importance, though it had a considerable trade both before and after the Conquest. The navigation of the Dee is difficult, and the advantages possessed by Liverpool and the Mersey render rivalry impossible. There is, nevertheless, a considerable number of sailing vessels and steamers belonging to the port. Chester possesses an iron ship-building yard, tobacco and snuff manufactories, tan-yards, smelting-works, timber-yards, corn mills, and saw-mills. Ropes, sails, whips, fringe, thread, tobacco-pipes, and woollen hose are also manufactured. Chester, even in Saxon times, had its trade companies. After the Conquest it received charters from the earls of Chester and from the kings Edward I., Edward III., Richard II., and Henry VII. In 1242 a mayor was elected by the principal citizens assembled in a guild. The power of the corporation seems to have grown somewhat despotic, for in the reign of Henry VIII., the mayor, whose name was Gee, issued an order regulating the dresses of the women and their diet, prohibiting any women between the ages of 14 and 40 from waiting in any hostelry. In 1506 the city of Chester was constituted a county of itself by a charter of Henry VII., which was rescinded in 1660, but restored by Charles II. in 1664. It is divided into five wards, and the corporation consists of a mayor, recorder, sheriff, 24 aldermen, and 20 common councilmen. The mayor is elected for one year, the aldermen for three. The recorder-ship is in the gift of the crown. The sheriff is chosen by the town-council. The borough of Chester has returned two members to parliament since 1541. Under the Reform Act the limits of the borough include the six parishes of the city, and portions of three other parishes, the cathedral precincts, the castle, gaol, and barracks, with Handbridge, Spittle Boughton, and part of Great Boughton. Assizes and sessions are held at Chester, which is the head of the Welsh Circuit, as well as of the County Court and Excise districts. Chester is also a military station, the headquarters of the Cheshire militia, and the seat of a Poor-law Union, which is co-extensive with the city. The municipal and parliamentary limits are also co-extensive. The population is 31,110, of whom 14,898 are males, and 16,212 are females. According to the census returns of 1861, there are 5,971 inhabited houses, 245 unoccupied, and 76 in process of building. The population appears to be steadily on the increase. The diocese of Chester is in the province of York. It was created by Henry VIII. after the dissolution of the abbey of St. Werburgh, which was one of the wealthiest monastic establishments in England. Though formerly of greater extent, it now includes only Cheshire and the deanery of Warrington. It is divided into two archdeaconries-Chester and Liverpool-and, comprises nine deaneries. The bishop has a fixed income of £4,500. The chapter consists of the dean, the two archdeacons, a chancellor, 6 prebendaries, 4 honorary canons, and 4 minor canons. Chester Cathedral is remarkable for its antiquity and its associations, but, externally at least, is of no extraordinary beauty. It has grown out of the church of St. Werburgh's Abbey, to which additions have been again and again made, at different times and in different styles. St. Werburgh may be considered the patron saint of Chester. She was the daughter of Wulfhere, King of Mercia, and her body, which was looked upon as a sacred relic, was removed, in the year 875, to Chester, for security against the Danish invaders. A nunnery was built, and the remains of St. Werburgh enshrined in the church. Chester soon afterwards fell into the hands of the Danes; but was retaken by the Saxons in 908, when Ethelfleda, the illustrious daughter of Alfred the Great, is said to have founded St. Werburgh's abbey on the site of the nunnery. The present cathedral is in length 350 feet; in breadth, including the aisles, 74½ feet. The length of the transept is 200 feet, and of the Lady chapel 65 feet. The length of the nave is 120 feet, and its breadth 41 feet. The height of the tower is 127 feet. The best feature in the building is the western entrance, which is in the florid Gothic style. The bishop's consistory court is on the right of this entrance, and his palace on the left. The greatest curiosity in the cathedral is the bishop's throne, which, if tradition may be trusted, was the shrine of St. Werburgh, or rather, as Pennant considers it, the base on which the shrine was placed; it is very elaborately carved, and adorned with figures of the kings of Mercia. The chapter-house, the oldest portion of the building, dates from the 13th century, and is in the early English style. In the cloisters, which form a quadrangle, is the burial-plate of the earls of Chester. In 1724, the remains of the first earl, Hugh Lupus, were dug up; they were wrapped in leather in a stone coffin, and at the head was a stone cross, with his cognizance or crest, a wolf's head, on it. The living of St. Bridget's with St. Martin's, is a rectory, of the value of £160, in the gift of the bishop. The church is a handsome building, and has accommodation for 1,000 people. St. John the Baptist's is a vicarage, value £300, in the gift of the Marquis of Westminster. It is said that the church was built on the site of Ethelfleda's Abbey, which was founded at the beginning of the 10th century. In design it was originally cruciform, and it is in the early Norman style of architecture. It was formerly a collegiate church and the cathedral of the diocese of Lichfield, of which Chester once formed a part. It possesses some ancient monuments and brasses. Little St. John's is a perpetual curacy, of the value of £230, in the gift of the corporation. St. Michael's with St. Olave's is a perpetual curacy, value £173, in the gift of the bishop. St. Peter's is a rectory, value £120, in the same patronage. Partly without the city is the parish of Holy Trinity; the living is a rectory, value £290, in the gift of the Earl of Derby. St. Mary-on-the-Hill is a rectory with Upton curacy, value £400, in the gift of the Marquis of Westminster. The church is in the early English style, and contains some curious monuments; it has also a fine painted window. Lache with Saltney is a perpetual curacy, value £55, in the gift of the bishop. St. Oswald's is a vicarage with Bruera, value £245, in the gift of the dean and chapter. The S. transept of the cathedral is used as the parish church, but it has a distinct parish. St. Paul's, Boughton, is a perpetual curacy, value £150, in the gift of the Vicar of St. John's. Christ Church is a perpetual curacy, value £170, in the gift of the bishop. The Roman Catholics, the Unitarians, the Independents, the Wesleyan, New Connexion, and Primitive Methodists, the Welsh Calvinists, the Society of Friends, the followers of Lady Huntingdon, and the Presbyterians severally have chapels of greater or less dimensions. Chester has a grammar school, which wag founded by Henry VIII., and is called the King's school; it is under the direction of the dean and chapter, is attached to the cathedral, and is endowed with one scholarship. The blue-coat school was founded in the year 1700, at the suggestion of Bishop Stratford; a portion of the hospital of Little St. John is assigned to it. It boards 32 blue-coat boys, and receives 60 as day scholars. The school is supported partly by voluntary contributions, and partly by its own revenues. The Marquis of Westminster's free school educates more than 400 boys and girls. The consolidated Sunday school, and working school for girls, serves as a training place for the blue-coat girls' school, to which the scholars are promoted according to merit. The diocesan training school was founded by Bishop Law in 1812, for the education of poor children, natives of the diocese of Chester, and with the object of providing teachers for the National schools. The hospital of Little St. John was founded before the time of Edward III. by Randal Blundeville, Duke of Brittany, for the support of 13 poor and impotent persons. On the same foundation is the chapel of Little St. John. The patronage is in the hands of the local charity trustees. There are many benevolent institutions in Chester. The General Infirmary was built in 1765; the building faces the Dee, and is well adapted for its purpose. There is also a lying-in charity and a female penitentiary. There are almshouses known as Deane's, Smith's, and Jones's. There are also public baths and wash-houses, which were erected in 1849; a house of refuge, a house of industry, a public library, a savings-bank, and a mechanics' institute, with a museum in the Water-gate. The city is paved with stone and lighted with gas. The racecourse, called the Rood-eye, Rood-ee, or Roodie, lies between the walls and the river. The course is one of the best in England, and the whole length of it is seen from the walls. Chester has from a very early period been celebrated for its horse-races, and the race for the Chester Cup is now one of the great events in the sporting year. Antiquaries are at variance upon the question of the origin of the name Rood-eye. The most amusing, if not the truest story, accounts for it in the following manner: There was at Hawarden, in Flintshire, in the year 946, a church containing an image of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Rood, as she was there called, which image had a great reputation for curing all afflictions. Among other supplicants Lady Trawst, wife of the governor of the castle, was saying her prayers, when the Virgin toppled from her pedestal upon the head of her ladyship, and broke it. The offence was considered so great that the Virgin was sentenced to banishment, and thrown out on the sands of the river. The tide carried her away and landed her safely near the walls of Chester. She was buried with great solemnity by the inhabitants of the city, and the place of her interment was called the Roodeye. A new neighbourhood of villas has grown up in Curzon Park, on the S. bank of the Dee, and there are many handsome mansions within a short distance of the city. Eaton Hall, the seat of the Marquis of West-minster, is about 3 miles from Chester. The country round it is unfortunately flat; but the Hall itself is magnificent. It is built throughout in the florid Gothic style. Overleigh Hall, about 1 mile distant, contains many portraits of the Cromwell family. Chester supports three newspapers: the Chester Chroniele, the Chester Courant, and the Farmer's Herald. The ordinary market days are Wednesday and Saturday, and the corn market is held on Saturday. There are cattle fairs on January 29th, February 16th, March 26th, April 23rd, May 20th, July 6th, August 4th, September 3rd, October 10th, November 26th, and December 17th, and fairs for the sale of cheese every month on days fixed by the town council."

"CHESHIRE, one of the sea-side counties in the N.W of England, lying between 52° 56' and 53° 34' N. lat., and between 1° 47' and 3° 11' W. long. It is bounded on the N. by Lancashire and Yorkshire; on the E. by Derbyshire and Staffordshire; on the S. by Shropshire and Flintshire; and on the W. by Denbighshire, Flintshire, and the Irish Sea. Its form has been compared to that of an eagle's right wing extended, as it were, from the Wirrall to Yorkshire. Its extreme length from N.E. to S.W. is about 58 miles; its extreme width from N. to S. about 32 miles. It is about 200 miles in circuit. Its area is 1,104 square miles, or 707,078 acres, and it includes within its limits 103,294 houses, of which 5,420 are unoccupied. Its population is 505,428, according to the census of 1861. There has been an increase of 49,703 persons, or 11 per cent. since 1851, and of 313,123 persons, or 163 per cent. in the last 60 years. The old Celtic inhabitants of Cheshire had, in common with those of Staffordshire, Flintshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, and Leicestershire, the name of Cornavii, or Cornabii. This, at least, was the Latinised form of it, and it may, perhaps, still be traced in the name of Kinderton, the ancient Condate. Cheshire was included in the Roman district Flavia Cæsariensis. When the Romans abandoned the island, the Britons again became masters; but were compelled to yield this portion of their territory Ethelfrith, the Saxon King of Bernicia, in 607. 28, Egbert, King of Mercia, conquered and annexed it to his own dominions, giving it the name of Ceastrescyre. About 200 years afterwards it was overrun by the Danes, but recovered from them by Alfred in 877. Chester first became an earldom under Canute, who bestowed it upon Leofric. There were, however, only three earls of Chester before the Conquest, when William gave the county to Hugh d'Avrenches, or Lupus, with the permission to hold it "tam libere ad gladium, quam ipse Rex tenebat Angliam ad coronam." It was constituted a county palatine. The earls of Chester had eight barons holding of them, their own parliament, and their own courts of law. The government of the county continued to be equally independent even after the earldom had become an appanage of the Prince of Wales; but in the reign of Henry VIII. it was made subordinate to the crown. The Cheshire families made common cause with Hotspur, and lost 200 knights and squires at thee battle of Shrewsbury. They suffered also terribly in the wars of the Roses, and especially at the battle of Blore Heath, when the Cheshire men were engaged in almost equal numbers on each side. In the Civil War Cheshire was the scene of several engagements. Lord Byron, the royalist commander, defeated Sir William Brereton at Middlewich in 1643, and laid siege to Nantwich in 1644. He was at length put to flight by the united forces of Fairfax and Brereton, and compelled to take refuge in Chester. The whole county submitted to the parliament after the battle of Rowton Moor and the fall of Chester in 1646. A royalist insurrection broke out in 1659 under Sir George Booth, who raised 3,000 men and fought a battle with General Lambert at Winnington Bridge, near Northwich. He was defeated, and afterwards taken at Newport Pagnell, whence he was sent to the Tower. The surface of Cheshire is generally flat, and the county was formerly called "the Vale Royal of England," from the abbey of Vale Royal, founded by Edward I. There is, however, on the eastern border a range of hills extending into Derbyshire; and on the western side a line of hills extending from Fredsham southwards. Beeston Rock, on which there is a castle, is one of the outlying hills of this range. It is a conspicuous object from every part of the county. There are no forests in Cheshire, for Delamere Forest has no claim to the title; it is a barren sandy tract, covered with heath and moss. The county is not very well wooded, but there are some very fine oaks growing in the hedge-rows. There are several meres, or lakes; but none of them of great size: Comber Mere, from which Lord Combermere takes his title, is the largest, and is three quarters of a mile in length. Cheshire is watered by the Dee, the Mersey, the Weaver, the Wheelock, the Peover, the Tame or Thame, the Dane, and the Bollin. The Dee rises in Merionethshire, flows eastward through Denbighshire, past Bangor, Iscoed, and Worthenbury. It then flows N. to Chester, marking for some distance the boundary between Wales and Cheshire. From Chester Bridge it runs in an artificial channel, 3 miles in length, and near Flint Castle it becomes an estuary, 3 miles wide, and empties itself into the Irish Sea. The sands at the mouth of the Dee render the navigation very difficult, but ships of 600 tons may reach Chester by the cut which was made in 1754. The Mersey is formed by the junction of the Etherow, the Tame, and the Goyt. From Stockport to Liverpool it forms the boundary between Cheshire and Lancashire. Between Runcorn and Liverpool it is an estuary of considerable breadth, but at Liverpool its channel is contracted to the width of three-quarters of a mile. About 5 miles further N. it falls into the Irish Channel. Its navigation, like that of the Dee, is impeded by sands at its mouth, but the evil is not beyond the remedy of an excellent system of pilotage, to which Liverpool is mainly indebted for its commercial prosperity. The Weaver was, in 1720, made navigable by a system of locks from Frodsham Bridge to Winsford Bridge. It rises in the N. of Shropshire, receives the Dane and the Peover as tributaries, and itself falls into the Mersey below Fredsham, The Wheelock is a small tributary of the Dane. The Bollin rises in Macclesfield Forest, and falls into the Mersey at Rixton. The Tame rises in Yorkshire and joins the Mersey at Stockport. There is also in Cheshire an excellent system of water communication by canals. The Bridgwater canal traverses about 24 miles of the county, crossing the Mersey at Ashton. The Grand Trunk, or Trent and Mersey canal runs through the centre of the county from Preston Brook past Northwich, Middlewich, Sandbach, and Church-Lawton, into Staffordshire. There is a canal between Chester and Nantwich, which is connected by the Middlewich branch with the Trent and Mersey canal. The Ellesmere canal affords communication between Chester, Nantwich, Middlewich, and Whitchurch. The Macclesfield canal joins the Grand Trunk with the Peak Forest canal, passing by Church-Lawton, Congleton, and Macclesfield, to Ashton-under-Lyne. The climate of Cheshire, like that of Wales, is moist, but not very cold. The Derbyshire hills on the E., the Welsh hills on the W., and the Irish Sea beyond, produce an annual rainfall far above the average of the eastern counties. The land is consequently well adapted for grazing, and but very little corn is grown. A clause is generally inserted in the leases to the effect that not more than one-fourth part of a farm shall be ploughed, meadow and pasture being more valuable than arable land. The farms in Cheshire are not commonly more than 100 or 150 acres in extent, and the chief produce is the cheese for which Cheshire is famous. The soil is generally clayey or a sandy loam, with a substratum of marl, resting upon the New Red sandstone. The most important minerals found in Cheshire are rock-salt and coal. The salt was first discovered near Marbury, in the parish of Budworth, in 1670. There are now mines at Witton, Wincham, Marston, and Lawton. The salt is sometimes found white and transparent, sometimes of a reddish brown colour-in the for mer case it is chloride of sodium, almost pure; in the latter there is a small proportion of oxide of iron present. Many thousand tons of salt are also annually extracted from the brine springs, which were known to the Romans, who from this circumstance named Nantwich Salinæ. The district in which the salt is found at traversed by the Weaver and its tributaries, and the transit is consequently easy. Coal of good quality and in considerable quantities is found at Denwall, in the hundred of Wirrall, and at Worth and Poynton, in the N.E. of the, county. The two latter collieries supply Stockport, which is in a degree dependent on them for its prosperity as a manufacturing town. There are quarries of freestone at Runcorn, Manley, and Great Bebington; and of limestone at Newbold-Astbury. Mow-Cop Hill supplies mill-stones. Iron and cobalt have been found at Alderley Edge; copper and lead at Alderley Edge and in the Peckforton hills. The great increase in the population of Cheshire during the present century may be attributed to the prosperity of its manufactures, of which cotton and silk are the chief. Large numbers of immigrants are attracted by them from Wales and from Ireland. Fustian, calico, tape, ribbons, thread, gloves, and stockings are also manufactured at Stockport, Macclesfield, Congleton, Sandbach, and Knutsford. The mines also afford employment to a considerable number of labourers. According to Domesday Book there were 12 hundreds in Cheshire, but the county then included portions of Flintshire and Lancashire. It is now divided into 7 hundreds: Bucklow, Macclesfield, Northwich, Eddisbury, Nantwich, Broxton, and Wirrall. The shire is divided into North Cheshire and South Cheshire, each division returning two members to parliament. The former consists of the two hundreds of Bucklow and Macclesfield, the latter of the remaining five. The county is included in the North Wales circuit, and the assizes and quarter sessions are held at Chester. Cheshire constitutes an archdeaconry belonging to the bishopric of Chester, and includes 7 deaneries and 147 parishes. It has 13 market towns Chester, the county town, a seaport, and a city; Stockport, Macclesfield, Congleton, Knutsford, and Sandbach, manufacturing towns; besides Nantwich, Northwich, Middlewich, Malpas, Frodsham, Tarporley, and Altrincham. Other important towns are Stalybridge, a portion of which is in Lancashire; Runcorn, a port on the Mersey; Hyde, Sutton, Crewe; the three watering-places of Great Neston, Park-Gate, and New Brighton; and Birkenhead, the great suburb of Liverpool, which lies on the Cheshire side of the Mersey. There are some remains of Birkenhead Priory, of Rock Savage Priory, and of the castles of Haulton (built by John of Gaunt) and Beeston-rock. There are many tumuli near Prestbury; and in the township of Butley, near the high road from Stockport to Macclesfield, several cairns were discovered in 1808, about 3 feet below the surface. The great sword of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, was formerly in Sir Hans Sloane's collection, but is now in the British Museum. It is nearly 4 feet long; its blade is 21 inches wide at the top, and tapers gradually to a point; the handle is gilt, ornamented with scrolls of foliage and flowers, and inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Cheshire is divided into nine Poor-law Unions: Chester, Stockport, Macclesfield, Altrincham, Runcorn, Northwich, Congleton, Nantwich, and Wirrall. Among the natives of Cheshire were Bishop Heber, who was born at Malpas; Bishop Wilson, who was born at Burton, in the Wirrall; Holinshed and Speed. At Nantwich Milton's widow died in 1726. The principal noblemen's seats are those of the Marquis of Westminster, at Eaton Hall, near Chester; of the Marquis of Cholmondeley, at Cholmondeley Castle; of Viscount Combermere, at Combermere Abbey; of the Earl of Stamford and Warrington, at Dunham Massey; of Lord Crewe, at Crewe Hall; of Lord de Tabley, at Tabley Hall; of Lord Vernon, at Poynton; and of Lord Delamere, at Vale Royal Abbey. There are, in addition to these, many others belonging to the untitled aristocracy of the county, several of which are built of wood and are of great age. Railways and telegraph wires cross Cheshire in all directions from Birkenhead to Chester; from Holyhead and the extreme North of Wales to Chester; from Manchester and Warrington to Chester; from Chester to Crewe, and from Crewe to Stockport and Manchester; from Stockport, by Macclesfield and Congleton, into Staffordshire; and from Chester, by North Wales, to Shrewsbury. The London and North-Western railway and its branches connect all these lines with London and with the North."

"BOUGHTON SPITTLE, (or Spital), an extra-parochial liberty in the city of Chester, locally in the parish of Chester St. John, and hundred of Broxton, in the county palatine of Chester.

"CHESTER CASTLE, an extra-parochial place, in the city and county of Chester."

"CLAVERTON, an extra-parochial hamlet in the city of Chester, in the county of Chester."

"GREAT STANNEY, an extra parochial place in the hundred of Higher Wirrall, county Chester, 5 miles N. of Chester. It is situated on the Mersey and Chester canal, and formerly belonged to Stanlow Priory.

"KINGSMARSH, an extra parochial place in the higher division of the hundred of Broxton, county Chester, 6 miles N. W. of Malpas. It is situated on the river Dee."

"MIDDLETON-GRANGE, an extra parochial place adjoining the chapelry of Aston-by-Sutton, county Chester, 3 miles E. of Frodsham. It is situated on the river Weaver."

"NO-MANS-LAND, an extra parochial place in the hundred of Macclesfield, county Chester."

"PRIORS-HAY, an extra parochial place in the 2nd division of Eddisbury hundred, county Chester, 4 miles E. of Chester."

"SHOT WICK-PARK, an extra parochial place in the higher division of the hundred of Wirrall, county Chester, 3 miles N. of Sutton railway station, and 4 N.W. of Chester. There are slight traces of a castle mentioned by Leland, and formerly belonging to the crown, in which Henry II. lodged on his way to Ireland in 1156, and Edward I. in the years 1260 (when prince) and 1278."

"SPITTLE-BOUGHTON, an extra parochial place, in the city and county of Chester."

"STANLOW, an extra parochial place in the higher division of Wirrall hundred, county Chester, 4 miles E. of Sutton, and 5 W. of Frodsham. It is situated on the river Mersey, and consists of a few cottages. In 1178 a Cistercian abbey was founded by J. Lacy at Stanlow Point, which was made a cell to Whalley in 1296, and of which some traces still remain."

"THREAPWOOD, an extra parochial place in the hundreds of Maylor and Broxton, counties Flint and Chester, 3 miles S.W. of Malpas. Wrexham is its post town. It is situated near the river Dee. There are brick and tile kilns. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of St. Asaph, value £87, in the patronage of the Bishop of Chester."

"WILLINGTON, an extra parochial place in the second division of Eddisbury hundred, county Chester, 3 miles N.W. of Tarporley. It was anciently part of the demesne of Whalley Abbey."

"HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY, a parish in the city and county of Chester.

"BROXTON HUNDRED, one of the 7 hundreds or subdivisions of the county palatine of Chester, situated in the south parliamentary division of the county, and bounded on the N. by the hundred of Wirrall, on the E. by the hundreds of Eddisbury and Nantwich, on the S. by the county of Flint, and on the W. by the county of Denbigh. It is separated into the Higher and Lower divisions The Higher contains the parishes of Coddington, Farndon, Harthill, Shocklach, and Tilston, with parts of Aldford, Bunbury, Handley, Malpas, and Threapwood. The Lower contains the parishes of Christleton, Eccleston, Guilden-Sutton, Pulford, Tattenhall, and Waverton, with parts of Aldford, Backford, Doddleston, Handley, St. Mary-on-the-Hill, St. Oswald, Plemonstall, and Tarvin. In the Norman survey, this hundred is called Dudesten. The entire hundred comprises an area of 77,470 acres."

"BUCKLOW HUNDRED, one of the 7 hundreds or subdivisions of the county palatine of Chester, situated in the northern parliamentary division of the county, and bounded on the N. and W. by the river Mersey, separating it from Lancashire, on the E. by the hundred of Macclesfield, on the S. by the hundreds of Northwich and Eddisbury. It contains the parishes of Ashton-upon-Mersey, Bowdon, Grappenhall, Knutsford, Lymm, Mobberley, Runcorn, and Warburton, with parts of Great Budworth, and Rostherne. The hundred extends over an area of about 107,700 acres."

"DANE RIVER, rises, and is situated on the borders of Derby and Cheshire, and runs 30 miles W. to the river Weaver at Northwich."

"EDDISBURY, a hundred in county palatine of Chester; one of the seven hundreds into which the county is divided. It is bounded on the N. by the river Mersey and hundred of Wirral, on the E. by the hundreds of Bucklow and Northwich, S. by the hundred of Nantwich, and W. by the hundred of Broxton. It is in two diva.; the first contains the parishes of Little Budworth, Delamere, Over, Tarporley, Whitegate, and parts of Bunbury, Middlewich, St. Oswald, and 21 townships The second division contains the parishes of Barrow, Frodsham, Ince, Thornton-le-Moors, Weaverham, Willington, and parts of Great Budworth, Plemonstall, Tarvin, and 28 townships The whole area is 83,021 acres."

"HELBRE ISLANDS, a ridge of rocks at the mouth of the Dee, county Chester. On the principal rock is a beacon pointing out the passage over the Hoyle Sands, with 11 feet to 8 fathoms water leading into the Dee, or by Hoylake into the Mersey."

"HILBRE ISLAND, a small island on the coast of Chester, in the hundred of Lower Wirrall, county Chester, 3 miles W.N.W. of West Kirby, and 9 W. of Birkenhead. It is the largest of a small group of islands situated near the river Dee's mouth. It is extra parochial, having formerly belonged to Chester Cathedral, but has been subsequently purchased by the corporation of Liverpool."

"HOYLE SANDS, in county Chester, extend for about 4 miles along the Wirral side of the Dee's mouth, and have inside a roadstead called Hoylake, with 3 fathoms water, which conducts into the S. channel of the Mersey."

"MACCLESFIELD HUNDRED, one of the subdivisions of Cheshire, situated in the north-eastern part of the county. It includes the town of Macclesfield, and the parishes of Alderley, Cheadle, Gawsworth, Mottramin-Longden-Dale, Northen, Prestbury, Stockport, Taxall, and Wilsonslow, with portions of Astbury and Rostherne, comprising an area, exclusive of the town of Macclesfield, of about 148,000 acres. It gives name to a deanery in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester."

"NANTWICH, a hundred in the county of Chester. It contains the parishes of Acton, Audlem, Baddiley, Coppenhall, Marbury, Church-Minshull, Nantwich, Wistaston, Wrenbury, Wybunbury, and parts of Barthomley, Sandbach, and Whitchurch, comprising an area of 87,640 acres."

"NORTHWICH, a hundred in the county of Chester, contains the towns of Congleton and Northwich, and the parishes of Brereton-cum-Smithwick, Church-Lawton, Davenham, Swettenham, Warmingham, and parts of Astbury, Great Budworth, Middlewick, and Sandbach, comprising an area of 69,460 acres."

"RINGEY, a stream of the county of Chester, rises near Macclesfield, and joins the Bollin below Wilmslow."

"ROCK CHANNEL, the southern approach to the Mersey, county Chester, off New Brighton. It lies between Burbo Sand and the shore, and is in a line with Horse Channel. The passage is marked by a lighthouse 88 feet high, with a revolving minute light seen for 15 miles."

"SALISBURY SANDS, a bank at the mouth of the river Dee, county Chester, 4 miles E. of Point of Ayr. It extends nearly 7 miles in length, but is traversed by a narrow channel called Salisbury Gut."

"THE MERSEY, a river in the N.W. of England, forming the boundary between the counties of Cheshire and Lancashire, and second only to the Thames in commercial importance, being the channel by which vessels approach Liverpool, the second port in England. It is formed by the junction of the rivers Goyt and Thame, which unite their streams at Stockport; and, after receiving the waters of the Irwell, Bollin, and Weaver, falls into the sea a little below Liverpool, by way of the Victoria Channel, which has from four to twelve fathoms water between the Burbo and Formby Flats. At its entrance, which is marked by the Black Rock Light, its channel is deep and narrow, but expanding, a little higher up, into a wide sandy estuary, the shores of which have been converted into spacious docks. [See Liverpool.] Several artificial cuts have been made to facilitate the navigation, so that small craft can ascend as far as Runcorn.

"WEAVER, a river of county Chester, rises near Nantwich, and being joined by the rivers Dane and Croke, falls into the Mersey near Frodsham."

"WIRRAL, a hundred in two divisions, higher and lower, lying between the Mersey and the Dee, county Cheshire. The higher division contains the parishes of Burton, Eastham, Neston, Shotwick, Stanlow, Great Stanney, Stoke, and parts of Backford, Bromborough, St. Mary-on-the-Hill, St. Oswald, and Holy Trinity; and the lower division contains the parishes of Bebington, Bidstone, Birkenhead, Heswall, Thurstaston, Upton, Wallasey, Kirby West, Woodchurch, and part of Bromborough; comprising together 63,220 acres, with a population, in 1861, of 69,448. This place gives name to a Poor-law Union and to a deanery in the archdeaconry and diocese of Chester."

"OVERCHURCH, a parish in the lower division of Wirrall hundred, county Chester. See Upton."

"ST. CHAD, three parishes of this name, one in the borough of Shrewsbury, in the county of Salop; another united with the parish of St. Mary, county Stafford; and a third a district parish in the parish of Malpas, higher division of Broxton hundred, county Chester."

"ST. OSWALD, a parish in the city of Chester, county Cheshire, which see.

"BACHE, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, Chester, lower division of the hundred of Broxton, in the county palatine of Chester, 1 mile to the N. of Chester. The principal residence is Bache Hall, which occupies the site of a more ancient mansion."

"CHURTON HEATH, (or Bruera Chapelry), a chapelry in the parish of St. Oswald, in the lower division of the hundred of Broxton, in the county of Chester, 5 miles S.E. of Chester. The living is a curacy annexed to the vicarage of St. Oswald, in the diocese of Chester, value £245, in the patronage of the dean and chapter. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a small ancient building, called the Church on the Heath. The chapelry includes the adjoining townships of Huntington, Leacum, Newbold, and Saighton. Here is a small school supported by subscription.

"CRABWALL, a hamlet in the parishes of Chester Holy Trinity, and St. Oswald, hundred of Wirrall, in the county of Chester, 1½ mile N. of Chester. Lord Crewe is lord of the manor. It is situated near the Ellesmere canal, and together with Blacon forms a township."

"CROGTON, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, higher division of the hundred of Wirrall, in the county of Chester, 4¼ miles N. of Chester. It is situated on the Mersey canal."

"CROUGHTON, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, higher division of the hundred of Wirrall, in the county of Chester, 4 miles N.E. of Chester, its post town. It is situated near the Mersey canal, and contains four houses."

"GREAT BOUGHTON, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, Chester, locally in the hundred of Broxton, in the county palatine of Chester, in the east suburbs of the city. It is situated on the river Dee, and is crossed by the Chester and Crewe railway. It contains many good houses, and has a National school. Boughton Hall is the seat of Dr. Currie. Great Boughton is the head of a Poor-law Union, which includes several parishes in Flintshire.

"HUNTINGTON, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, lower division of the hundred of Broxton, county Chester, 3 miles S.E. of Chester. It is bounded on the W. by the river Dee, which is here crossed by a ferry to Eccleston."

"IDDENSHALL, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, hundred of Eddisbury, county Chester. It is included in the city of Chester."

"LEA NEWBOLD, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, county Chester, 6 miles S. by E. of Chester. It is a small agricultural place.

"LEA-NEWBOLD, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, lower division of the hundred of Broxton, county Chester, 6 miles S.E. of Chester. The township is of small extent, and is situated on a branch of the river Dee. The Marquis of Westminster is lord of the manor."

"NEWTON-BY-CHESTER, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, lower division of the hundred of Broxton, county Chester, 1½ mile N.E. of Chester. It partly contains the hamlet of Flookers-brook. There are extensive nursery-grounds in this township, and a tan-yard."

"SAIGHTON, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, lower division of Broxton hundred, county Chester, 4 miles S.E. of Chester, and 1½ mile S.W. of the Waverton railway station. It is a small agricultural village, situated near the Crewe railway and Nantwich canal."

"WERVIN, a township in the parish of St. Oswald, county Chester, 3 miles N.E. of Chester, on the river Mersey and Dee canal."

"WHALLEY, a parish lying within the counties of Lancaster, Cheshire, and the West Riding{ of Yorkshire}. It is an extensive parish about 30 miles in length, by 15 in breadth, with a population in 1861 of 167,456. The parish includes the municipal and parliamentary borough of Clitheroe, the market towns of Burnley, Colne, and Haslingden, besides the villages, hamlets, or townships of Altham, Barlby, Barrowford, Briercliffe, Chatburn, Church-kirk, Clayton-le-Dale, Cliviger, Coldcoates, Downham, Dunnockshaw, Extwistle, Foulridge, Goldshaw Booth, Habergham-Eaves, now a district parish, Hapton, Henheads, Henthorn, Heyhouses, Higham, Holme, Huncoat, Little Rowland, Little Ireland, Marsden, Great and Little; Meazley, Nelson Station, Old Lund Booth, Padiham, Pendleton, Portsmouth, Read, Reedley Hallows, Rough Lee Booth, Sareden, Simondstone, Sykeside, Trawden, Twiston, Wheatly-Car-Booth, Wiswell, Worsthome, Worston, West Close Booth, Whitewell, and Wheatley. It anciently included also the present parishes of Blackburn, Chipping, Mitton, Ribchester, Rochdale, and Slaidburn, which have been separated from it at different times. The rivers Calder and Ribble form a junction at the western extremity of the parish, and there are stations of the Bolton, Blackburn, and Clitheroe railway. The village of Whalley, which gives name to this parish, is situated on the river Calder, and contains the ruins of the abbey, founded in 1296 by Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, and now the property of John Taylor, Esq., of Morton Hall. Its revenue at the Dissolution was £551 4s. 6d. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Manchester, value £315, in the patronage of the Hulme trustees. The parish church, dedicated to All Saints, was repaired in 1855, when alterations were made in the interior, which contains several old brasses and monuments, screen work brought from the old abbey, and 18 ancient stalls. There are besides above 50 churches and chapels-of-ease within the limits of this parish, noticed under the several places named above, in which they are situated. The free grammar school founded by Queen Elizabeth was rebuilt in 1725, and has an interest in 13 scholarships founded in Brazenose College, Oxford, by Dr. Nowell in 1572. There are traces of a Roman road, which passed through the parish, and of Roman camps."

"WHITCHURCH, a parish and market town, partly in the hundred of Nantwich, county Chester, but chiefly in the Whitchurch division of North Bradford hundred, county Salop, 11 miles N.W. of Market-Drayton, 19 N.E. of Shrewsbury, and 20 S.W. of Chester. It has stations on the Cambrian and on the Crewe and Shrewsbury branch of the London and North-Western railways, and has water communication by means of a branch of the Ellesmere canal. In ancient times it was called Album Monasterium, or Blancminster, probably from an hospital founded in the reign of Henry II., and bad an ancient castle near the mill. The parish includes, besides the town of its own name, the parochial districts of Ash and Tilstock, the village of Wirswall, and 14 townships It is situated on the borders of Wales, from which it is separated by a stream called the Red Brook, and has three small lakes, called Osmere, Blackmere, and Brown Moss-water. The site of the town is on the old road from London to Chester. It contains the townhall, in the High-street, where a county court is held monthly; a savings-bank, two commercial banks, the National Provincial, and Whitchurch and Ellesmere; a police station, inland revenue office, news-room, union workhouse, enlarged in 1855; working men's club, young men's institution, several insurance agencies and gasworks. The town has recently been much improved by the completion of the sewerage works. There are several breweries and maltings, an iron foundry and machine factory. The boot and shoe trade, formerly the staple, has much declined, but considerable business is done in malt, hops, and agricultural produce. The population of the parish in 1861 was 6,093, and of the town 3,704. The local government is administered by a high steward, appointed by the Earl of Brownlow, who is lord of the manor and principal landowner. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Lichfield, value £1,000. The church, dedicated to St. Alkmund, was rebuilt in 1713 on the site of an ancient Gothic edifice, and contains several monuments of the Earls of Shrewsbury, including an effigy in stone of John Talbot, first Earl of Shrewsbury, and Marshal of France in the reign of Henry VI., surnamed the English Achilles, who was slain in France in 1453. At Dodington is a chapel-of-ease, dedicated to St. Catherine, and at Ash and Tilstock are district churches. The free grammar school, founded by Sir John Talbot in 1550, and rebuilt in 1849, has an income from endowment of £500. There are also several National, infant, and mixed schools in various parts of the parish. The parochial charities produce above £1,000 per annum, including the school endowment and Higginson's bequest of £220 for the support of 6 almshouses. Whitchurch is a polling place for the county elections and a petty sessions town; it is also the seat of a new County Court and of a Poor-law Union. Courts leet and baron are held in October at the townhall by the lord of the manor. Market day is on Friday. Fairs are held on the second Friday in April, Monday in Whitsun week, Friday after 2nd August, and 28th October."

"WIRSWALL, a township in the parish of Whitchurch, county Chester, 2 miles N. of Whitchurch."

Search the GENUKI Gazetteer. [Click the Gazetteer link at the top of any page, not the search box which searches GENUKI pages.] 
The GENUKI Gazetteer covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland and can be searched by place-name (or part of a place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg NZ183848). If there are multiple place-names matching the name you enter, you will initially be presented with a drop-down list of the matching place-names with their distances and bearings from London, England.

The GENUKI Church Database. [Click the Churches link at the top of any page, not the search box which searches GENUKI pages.]
This covers the whole of the UK and includes facilities for listing other churches and parishes within any specified distance of the parish church.

• The Vision of Britain site provides: A vision of Britain between 1801 and 2001. Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions. 
  - read the guide to searching places, units and locations 
  - check the sources on which this excellent site is based
• The downloadable PARLOC program is available from Dave & Chris Bennett's site.
• The Open Domesday project enables you to locates places (and their details) from the Domesday book.

GENUKI Gazetteer maintenance - Ireland

Basic information

All the Irish Civil Parishes and Townlands appear in the gazetteer, but for many we do not have an actual location. So as a starting point it uses the centre of the county when we have no location. Where we have a parish location we use that as a starting location for the townland. All very approximate but it helps guide reasearchers to the appropriate area and as we add locations it gets nearer and nearer to the real value. So most of this work is to achieve that. There is also other documentation describing how it is achieved.

• The status of each county section can be seen on the statistics page which helps identiy the amount of work required for each county.
• Details of the format of the source files and basic techniques are described in the Gazetteer maintenance page.
• Work already mostly done on developing the Irish counties is a useful adjunct.

Work required

The starting point for each county is to take a look at the Parishes column on the statistics page. If you hold the mouse over the numbers it explains what they represent. We want to get to the stage where there is just single number here where we've created a web page for each parish. If there is a name other than Phil Stringer in the Maintainers column then somebody is already working on this county.

In the end we want to get to the stage where there is nothing in the Approx column, and nothing in the No links column but it is easiest to do some of the tasks in a particular order.

Exact location for parish

In the Approx column, if there is a number marked Parishes with an approximate location this is the simplest one to resolve first. It is those parishes that had a location in our original data and location should be nearly right. Click the number for the names of the parishes, and click each name to see a page with links to online maps. Select This place shown on a Google map. Zoom the map appropriately and drag the icon to where you think the centre of that place is. You then have the correct value to go the csv file and can change the Approx field (column C)from Y to N. If you find the Google map does not take you to a place and ther is none nearby on the map, then perhaps then perhaps an error was made in the past. So use the instructions in the next step for finding the centre location of the parish.

Parishes where we need a location

These can be identified in the Parishes column, and are labelled Civil parishes for we don't yet have a location. Click the number and see the list of names. Click a name to take you to links to online maps, the ones in the south are much easier to do.

• North - the Irish Times site is your friend as it shows where they all are on a map. It is not always easy to relate this to the modern Google map as it does not show place names. But you need to open a Google map in another browser tab and pan it and move the marker to then centre of the area shown on the Irish Times. You then have the centre location of the parish.
• South - follow the link to the Irish Ordnance survey site. Use the search menu on the right, and select the county and then Historic parishes. That shows you a historic map of the parish along with its boundaries. Pan the map until the red cross is in the centre of the parish. Don't pan it again on subsequent clicks as it changes the location that you've just found!. I find it best then to go to the 'Preview map series' menu on the right and select 'Wind report' it changes to a modern map which is much easier to relate to the Google map. Zoom, without, panning so that you can see place names that you can relate to a Google map that you've open in another tab. So look at that the OS map with one eye and move the marker on the Google map to the same location. You then have the centre location of the parish.

Cut and paste the location (Lat/Lon) into column B in the csv file for that parish entry. Change the Approx field (column C) from Y to N. Now for all the townlands without a location in this parish, change the Approx field (column C) to P, and add the parish centre location to column B. This makes the most significant improvement to the gazetteer.

Places with no location at all

As updated versions of the csv file are updated the entries that need attention in the statistics file thankfully drop. At this point the Places with no location at all in the Approx column should now have disappeared. If not it is worth fixing these now as there will be very few left for this county. Sometimes you may see Market Town in column K with the name of a description in column L. Search the gazetteer for this place to read the description. It may tell you this is also a parish. If so copy column L into column L for the parish where it is missing and then you can probably just delete the duplicate Market Town entry. For others a Google search can help identify it and lead to a location.

Townlands with a parish centre location

We are now getting to the more tedious work, but once done it makes it much more useful for researchers. In the Approx column there is probably a significant number entitled Places with a parish location. This gives list of all the names which can be clicked to link to maps, such as Google centred on the parish centre, the value in that entry in the csv file. However going through this alphabetically can be slow and it isn't as easy to spot mistakes.

The easiest method I've found is to look in the csv file at all the entries in a parish, the smaller parishes being easier. Use the gazetteer to search for the entry for the parish and ask it to display all the places in the parish on a Google map. There will be townland names on the Google map which should match the ones you need to find. If none match then the parish location may be wrong! There do seem to townlands in other parishes with the same name as actual parishes. In the rare event that this has happened, then fix the parish centre location as described above. Drag and drop the marker on the map to find the location of the townlands and change the location field in the csv file and also change the Approx to N.

Start with the ones where we already have an approximate location as they show up reasonably easily to start with. Then compare the unknown townland names nearby on the Google map with the csv file. Where they match, drag and drop and you have another answer. Google does at times have two identical names close by. I tend to use the one in the larger font as that seems to be the older one. If both are the same size I drag to point mid-way between.

So what about the townlands that don't seem to be on the Google map? Well we can go to the Irish OS site and search for the townland and see where it is on the map. Be careful that the one you get is the one you want as there can be multiple townlands with the same name. Again a useful check is to look at adjacent ones on the map and see if they are in that parish in the cav file. The Irish OS technique can only be used for counties in the South as it doesn't have the countties and townlands in the search menu for the north. If it is a county in the North try the map provided by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency. We haven't found a way to link into a location so you will need to zoom and pan to the parish location and then search for townland names. There does seem to be better coverage than Google, and it appears to have more accurate locations.

There will be some very small townlands that the Irish OS site doesn't have in the menu. If it is an island, then browse the Irish OS 6" historic map for the parish and pan and zoom across the wet areas. It is easy to find island names there. For tiny townlands that aren't islands, try a Google search as somebody may have described the location. Otherwise you are left with panning the historic 6".

There is also a technique that will find the townlands plotted on a Google map. Go to https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@?dg=dbrw&newdg=1 and put the place and county in the search bar. It normally finds it and shows a marker on a map with a rough outline of the townland. What you want is the location of the marker. So right click next to the marker and a menu will appear. Select What's here? and the lat/lon is placed in the search bar. I tend to compare that with other places in the parish to make sure it is nearby and so the right one.

In the larger parishes I find it useful to put in a framework of townlands, upload the csv file, and wait for the nightly update. Things are then clearer on the map the next day. There is less clutter and it is easier to finds ones that still need doing. You need to zoom in for Google to make some visible.

The remaining places with approximate locations

That ones that are left with approximate locations come from the CIA World Fact Book. Some will be duplicates of existing places, some geographic features and some places smaller than townlands. So take each one in the list, and select nearby places on a Google map.

• Look at nearby places marked on the map, and if a duplicate, remove it from the csv file.
• I look at all Cross Roads and tend to remove any that match the name of a nearby townland. If it is a new name check on the Irish OS map and zoom in when it usually becomes visible. You then know the exact location and can drag/drop the Google marker. It is also useful loohing at the historic 6" to see which parish it was in, and put that name in the Parish field. The CIA didn't always get the spelling right, so make any adjustments that are needed.
• If it is a named bridge, then I keep these setting the exact location, and filling in the Parish name.
• Then any small places I treat in a similar way.

It is during this phase that the towlands with parish boundaries running through them become visible as we have two or more markers at the same spot. Zoom in to make it clearer and perhaps drag one to the side to check the names and the parishes.

We only want the user to be presented with a single place at that location. We don't multiple gazetteer entries for any of these as we are trying to specify where they are, not to document an administrative hierarchy. But we can do our best to tell the user that it is in multiple parishes. So for the first entry for the townland put the names of the parishes it lies in, in the parish field separating the names with a colon ':' character (without quotes). Then delete the entries from the other parishes. We then have a single place listing all the parishes it is in.

Gotchas

There do seem to be some parishes split across counties. If you find one, get in touch with Phil as he has devised a technique to handle it but has not yet implemented it.

The Post Office's Postcode Finder

The Post Office no longer supports their postcode finder tool. Instead they advise: for the most up-to-date address and postcode details, please use your preferred mapping service such as Google Maps or Apple Maps, or use a search engine.

• The GENUKI Gazetteer covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland and can be searched by place-name (or part of a place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg NZ183848). If there are multiple place-names matching the name you enter, you will initially be presented with a drop-down list of the matching place-names with their distances and bearings from London, England.
• A Gazetteer of British Place Names provided by the Association of British Counties. This comprehensive place-name index for Britain lists more than 50,000 places and gives the Ordnance Survey grid reference, the ancient or geographical County, and current local government information for each place name. There is comprehensive coverage of alternative spellings (including Welsh and Gaelic versions) and detailed notes specifically aimed at historians and genealogists. Appendices relate present day registration districts to local government areas and list those places which lay in a different "registration county" to their ancient County in the 19th century.
• The GB1900  Project - a crowd-sourced historical gazetteer based on the 1:10560 Ordnance Survey mapping of Great Britain
• GENUKI Church Database provides an online Parish Locator covering the whole of the UK. This includes facilities for listing other churches and parishes within any specified distance of the parish church.
• UK Placename Finder from Popular Archaeology includes details of 160,000 UK places.
• The archived copy of the BBC Domesday Project Reloaded website provides a method of searching the contents of the original BBC Domesday Gazetteer disk - a huge crowd-sourced description of the UK, dating from 1986 - by using the TNA Discovery Catalogue's results filtering facility.

Some historical gazetteers:

Lewis, Samuel. A Topographical Dictionary of England. 4 vols. London: S. Lewis and Co., 1831

Southall, Humphrey; Aucott, Paula; Fleet, Christopher; Pert, Tom; Stoner, Michael. GB1900: engaging the public in very large scale gazetteer construction from the Ordnance Survey “County Series” 1:10,560 mapping of Great Britain. Journal of Map & Geography Libraries, Vol. 13, No. 1, (2017), p. 7-28. [PDF]

Wilson, John M. The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. Six Volumes. Edinburgh, Scotland: A. Fullerton, 1870

The National Gazetteer: A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands. Virtue and Co., London (1868) 3 vols. [Full text - vol 1 (A-E), vol. 2 (F-M), vol. 3 (N-Z)]

Gazetteer of the British Isles. Edinburgh, Scotland: John Bartholomew and Sons, Ltd., 1966.