[B] ACONBURY. At this place a nunnery of the order of St. Augustine was founded by Margery, wife of Walter de Lacey, in the reign of King John. The Cliffords were large benefactors to this house, which, at the dissolution, possessed _L75. 7s. 6d._ per annum. There are some remains yet standing, occupied as a farm house. On the summit of Aconbury Hill, a bold and extensive eminence, well wooded, and commanding a charming view over the adjacent county, are traces of a large encampment. [Sidenote: Nunnery.] [C] ACTON BURNELL is celebrated for the remains of an ancient castle, founded by Robert Burnell, bishop of Bath and Wells, a man of eminent abilities, first treasurer, and afterwards chancellor of England, who was much employed by King Edward I. in Welsh affairs. He died at Berwick, in 1292, and was buried in the cathedral at Wells. The castle is a quadrangular building, with a square tower at each corner. The hall in which King Edward I. held his parliament, in 1283, was 183 feet long, by 41 broad, but the gable ends only remain. The Statutum de Mercatoribus enacted here, is from that circumstance better known as the Statute of Acton Burnell. The successor of the bishop, at the castle, was Sir Edward Burnell, son of Philip Burnell and Maud, daughter of Richard Arundel. He served in many actions in Scotland, under Edward I., and always appeared in great splendour, attended by a chariot decked with banners of his arms. He was summoned to parliament from the fifth to the eighth year of Edward the second's reign, and died in 1315. In 1346, the castle came into the possession of Nicholas Lord Burnell, who died in 1382, and is buried in the church under an altar tomb, inlaid with his effigy in brass. In the reign of Henry VI. the Lovell family were in possession of this estate, which was forfeited by Lord Lovell, in consequence of his adherence to King Richard III. Henry VII. being seated on the throne, granted Acton Burnell, together with other estates in this county, to Jasper Tudor, Earl of Bedford; after whose death it reverted to the crown, and Henry VIII. granted it to Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, distinguished for his valour at the battle of Flodden. Sir Humphrey Lee, of Langley, in this parish, was created a baronet, May 3, 1620. Acton Burnell Park is now the residence of Sir Edward Joseph Smythe, Bart. whose family have been seated here from the time of Charles II., when Sir Edward Smythe, of Esh, in Durham, created a baronet, Feb. 23, 1660, married the daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Lee, Bart. of Langley. The mansion, on a verdant lawn, bordered by a shrubbery, presents a handsome elevation of fine white stone, having a noble Ionic portico, under which is the carriage entrance. Behind the house is the deer park, on a finely wooded eminence, affording one of the most beautiful prospects in the county. The chapelry of Ruckley and Langley is in this parish. [Sidenote: Edward I. held his parliament here in 1283.]