466 PENXRIDGE PAlUSli• • . -yea.rs ago ; · and about half a mile higher up the river is tb~ ancient " Cnt­ "tlestone Bridge," which gives name to this Hundred. is undoubt­ oodly a place of great antiquity. .According to Camden and some other anti­ quaries, it is the Pennocrttcium of :the Romans, mentioned in the Itinerary rof Antoninns ; but :Plot, Stukeley, and Horsley have placed thltt station near Stretton, a village in this pari.Bh, situated 3 miles S.W. of Penkridgtt, and on the north side of the Roman Wailing street. Though differing with ..respect to the site of this station, all authors agree in con-sidering Penk­ .ridge as having risen out of its ntins. A brass head af the bolt of • cata­ Jlulta was found here about the middle of last century. The town consists of several short streets and a spacious Market-place ; butthe mm·ket, which was held every Tuesday, has been obsolete many years. Here are, however, three large FAIRS for horses, cattle, &c. held annually on April 80, Sept. 2, and October 10. These fairs are allowed to be among the first in "for saddle Blld draught horses, and one of them is held 'Under a grant of .Edward IT. to Hugh Blount or Flavus, who was then lord of Penkridge. Penkridge Union is already noticed at page 439, and has its Workhouse and ()ffi.ces at . Penkridge Parish is very extensive, 'Comprising about 16,000.A., but only 3129 inhabitants residing in its 4 township~ viz., 2488 in Penkridge, 119 in Coppenhall, 2;)0 in Dunston, and 272 in Stretton. The ibree latter are also chapelries, and there is a new church at Gailey. PENK• .JUDGE TOWNSHIP comprises more than 12,000 acres, and is divided into four Oonstablewicks, which repair their roads separately, viz., Penkridgt 'Quarter; Quarter, which includes the hamlets of Drayton, Long­ .ridge, and Preston; Pillaton Quarter, which comprehends Line Hill, Oiber* ton, Rodbaston, Water-Eaton, Gailey, and Wolgarstone; and Whiston Quar­ J.er, which comprises Bickford, Congreve, and M:itton. Lord Hatherton is impropriator of the tithes and owner of a large portion of the 11arish. He is also lord of the manors of Penkridge, Pillaton, Galley, Preston, Levedale, Drayton, Otherton, W olgarstone, and Teddesley. The other lords of manors are lld. Congreve, Esq., of Congreve; the Earl of ·, at Dunston; Lord , of Coppenhall and Mitton ; Lord Willoughby de Broke, of Rodbaston; Lieutenant General Monckton, of Stretton; and T. W. Gifl'ard, Esq., of Whiston. There are many smaller landowners in the parish, as will be seen in the description of the hamlets. · Penkridge CuuRcu, (St. Michael,) is supposed to have been founded by King Edgar, in the year 964, and is a large and handsome Gothic building, which was thoroughly repaired and beautified in 1831, when the interiot was repewed and enlarged by the erection of a north gallery, so that it has now 1200 sittings, of which 450 are free. The cost of this reparation was ..£2000, of which £250 was given by the society for building and. enlarging churches, and the remainder was raised by a rate on the parishioners. At the same time, a new peal of eight bells was placed in the tower, and all the ancient monuments of the Littleton family, in the chancel, were re-chiselled and polished, so that they now wear a modern aspect. The organ was pur­ chased by subscription. In 1206, King John made this church collegiate, and settled the advowson of it on the Archbishop of Dublin, who was gener~ ally dean here, and had the collation Of the prebettdaries, who were thirteen in number. Edward II., in the 11th year of his reign, declared that the church qf Pencriz, and the chapels under it, were his free chapels, and a& such, "exempt from all ordinary jurisdiction, impositions, and contribll" tions; and he accordingly ordained that none should presume to encroach upon .their immnnities." The college was dissolved by the act of the lst of Edwal'd VL, and its possessions were subsequently grant"Ald to Wm. Bigg& .and Wm. Buckbird. The old house called the Dea'Ref'!l Hall., was long~