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Elvington Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

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ELVINGTON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake and Petty Sessional Division of Ouse and Derwent - County Council Electoral Division of Heslington - Poor Law Union and County Court District of York - Rural Deanery of Bulmer - Archdeaconry of Cleveland - Diocese of York.

This parish lies on the western side of the Derwent, between the parishes of Kexby and Wheldrake. Its total area, according to the Ordnance Survey, is 2,371 acres. The soil is various, but near the river it is a rich alluvial deposit, forming excellent meadow land, called Ings. Willows are here extensively grown for basket making. The rateable value is £2,631, and the population in 1881 was 376. The principal landowners are John Dobby, Esq., Cromwell Road, Scarborough, who is also lord of the manor; Lord Wenlock, Eskrick Hall; Thomas Henry Preston, Moreby Hall; John Hall, Esq., Brinkworth Hall; Geo. Tindale, Elvington House; William Williamson, Bank House; John Barker, Dunnington; Robert Spence; William Pybus, Melbourne Terrace, York; Mrs. A. Smith, Oswestry; and the Rev. Canon John Erskine Clarke, 6 Attenburgh Gardens, Clapham Common, London.

The Derwent, which forms the eastern boundary of the parish, is tidal up to Elvington locks, where there is a rise, at high water, of about two feet six inches. The river, here, divides into two channels enclosing a small island. The fishery, on the Elvington side of the river, belongs to the lord of the manor, and is rented by Messrs. Aspinall and Masterman, of York, who are also the lessees of the fisheries on the Sutton side, and adjacent parts, of the river. The salmon season commences on the 1st of February, and ends on the 31st of August. Lamperns are caught during the winter months and forwarded to Grimsby to be used as bait for sea fishing.

The village is a pretty rural retreat, with a green in the centre, seated on an acclivity on the right bank of the Derwent, seven miles east-south-east of York, to which town there are carriers passing through Elvington on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The river is here crossed by a stone bridge of two arches. This is a place of considerable antiquity, and is mentioned in Domesday Book as Alvinetone. Various explanations of the name have been given, but that which seems most probable is, that it was the tun or settlement of a Saxon clan named Helvelings, or perhaps of the Ælfingas, or sons of Elf. The church of Holy Trinity was rebuilt in 1877, when the old one, which stood close by, was taken down. The latter was built in 1801, on the site of an ancient edifice, chiefly at the expense of the Rev. A. Cheap, who was then rector. The present edifice consists of chancel, nave with north aisle, north porch, and north-western tower, containing a clock and four bells. The nave is separated from the aisle by an arcade of four arches of brick, springing from cylindrical stone pillars; the chancel arch is also brick, the rest of the building is of stone. The east end terminates in a pentagonal apse, in each side of which is a lancet window, long and narrow, by which the chancel is lighted. There is a stained glass window on the south side font is modern, of rough hewn stone, with circular cap and octagonal base. The of the nave, inserted by Ann Elizabeth Spence, to the memory of her sister. The pulpit is of oak, supported by a stone shaft. The seats are pitchpine, and will accommodate 250 persons. There are tablets to the memory of members of the families of Clarke, Cheap, Maude, Mather, and of Smith Wormald, Esq., J.P., whose wife, Judith, gave the site of the church. The register dates from 1600. The living is a rectory, yearly value £270, derived from 203 acres of glebe and tithes, amounting to £40, in the gift of the Rev. Canon John Erskine Clarke, rector of Battersea, and held by the Rev. Henry Collins, F.R.A.S., who lives at the Rectory House, opposite the church.

The Wesleyans have a small chapel in the village. The school is a brick building, with a small turret, erected in 1857 by the patron, whose property it is. There is accommodation for 100 children, and an average attendance of 55. It is mixed, and under the care of a mistress. The Reading Room is open during the winter months only. Over the door is a sun dial, above which was formerly the the following admonition


"Redeem thy misspent moments, past,
And spend this day as if thy last."

There are several neat residences in the parish. The Grange is the seat and property of the Rev. Canon J. E. Clarke. Brinkworth Hall, the property and residence of Mr. John Hall, is a modern brick building, occupying the site of an ancient mansion. It stands about one mile west of the village, in a well-wooded park of about 70 acres. Elvington House is the property of Mr. G. Tindale, and the residence of Mrs. Tindale; and the Old Hall, in the village, is occupied by Dr. Wm. Von Beverhoudt.

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

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


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