Barmby Moor Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

BARMBY MOOR:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake of Harthill (Wilton Beacon Division) - County Council Electoral Division of Melbourne - Petty Sessional Division of Wilton Beacon - Poor Law Union and County Court District of Pocklington - Rural Deanery of Pocklington - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

Barmby Moor (or Barmby on the Moor) parish contains 2,577 acres of land, comprised in one township, belonging chiefly to Colonel Duncombe, of Kilnwick Percy, who is lord of the manor, and T. N. F. Bardwell, Esq., J.P., Bolton Hall. There are several small freeholds. The surface is level, and previous to the enclosure, the greater part was open moor. The soil is rich and sandy, resting on gravel, and carrots are largely cultivated. The rateable value is £3,748, and the number of inhabitants in 1891 was 440.

The parish was given by Ulphus, its Saxon proprietor, to the Cathedral church of York, and the grant was confirmed by Edward the Confessor. Ulphus was a wealthy Yorkshire earl, who enriched the Archiepiscopal See with many wide domains, and his horn, said by tradition to be the symbol of the endowment, is still preserved in the treasure-room of York Minster. Amongst other privileges possessed by the inhabitants of this manor, was freedom from toll in all the markets of England.

The village is of considerable extent, and stands on the York and Beverley road, 11½ miles from the former place, and one-and-a-half miles from Pocklington, whereat is the nearest railway station. It is said to have had its market before that privilege was granted to its near and more successful rival, Pocklington. The weekly market has long been obsolete, but it long retained one market day annually, on the Thursday preceding St. Peter's Day. A yearly feast is still held on the Thursday following July 10th.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Catherine, is a spacious building of stone, rebuilt in 1851-2, in the Perpendicular style. It comprises chancel, nave, porch, and an embattled and pinnacled tower, surmounted by a graceful octagonal spire. The east window consists of five long lancet lights, traceried, and filled with stained glass. There is a three-light pictorial window in the west end, and six double lights of a similar character in the north and south walls. The font is a beautiful piece of work in Caen stone, the gift of the Hon. Mrs. A. Duncombe, of Kilnwick Percy, as was also the pulpit. The brass lectern is a memorial of the Rev. Frederick James Gruggen, M.A., headmaster of Pocklington Grammar School, who died in 1822. The floor is paved with encaustic tiles, the gift of Herbert Minton, Esq., of Stoke-upon-Trent. The register dates from 1682. There was a church here in Saxon times, which was probably erected by one of the early Danish owners of the place; and the ancient font, now standing in the vicarage garden, is said by good authority to belong to that period. The church was rebuilt after the Conquest in the Norman style, and about three centuries later it was restored, and the tower built or rebuilt. A modern spire was subsequently added, and this tower and spire are retained in the present edifice. The church will seat 300.

The benefice is a vicarage, united with that of Fangfoss since 1252, gross yearly value £400, with residence, in the gift of the Archbishop of York, and held by the Rev. William Davison Wood Rees. There are 130 acres of glebe; and a Fabric fund, amounting to £14 yearly, for keeping the church in repair.

The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have chapels in the village. The school is held in a good brick building, erected about half a century ago. There is accommodation for 8O children, and 57 in average attendance. The Rev. Robert Taylor, late vicar, left £400 for the benefit of this school, and 17 free scholars are paid for by the trustees of the Poor's land, which now produces about £65 per annum.

The Roman road leading from York or Stamford Bridge to Market Weighton, passed over Barmby Moor. Urns and vestiges of a Roman pottery have been found here, and in 1763, four human skeletons were discovered in a gravel pit, one of which was enclosed in a stone coffin with an urn at the head. Mr. Gough says that near Barmby Moor Inn this road appears very plain, and may be traced most part of the way on the present road. In the series of maps of Yorkshire by Eman. Bowen, geographer to the King, published in the latter half of last century, this road is traced from near Stamford Bridge, over Barmby Moor, thence through Hayton, past Thorpe le Street to a point between Goodmanham and Market Weighton, and thence forward to Brough, on the bank of the Humber.

[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of East Yorkshire (1892)]

Directories

• Transcript of the entry for the Post Office, professions and trades in Bulmer's Directory of 1892.

Scan, OCR and html by Colin Hinson. Checking and correction by Peter Nelson.