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Howden, Yorkshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1835.

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HOWDEN:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1835.

"HOWDEN, a parish in the wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, comprising the1 market-town of Howden, the chapelries of Barmby on the Marsh, and Laxton, and the townships of Asselby, Balkholme, Belby, Cbtness, Kilpin, Knedlington, Metham, Saltmarsh, Skelton, Thorpe, and Yorkfleet, and containing 4443 inhabitants, of which number, 2080 are in the town of Howden, 21 miles S.S.E. from York, and 184 N.W. from London. This-place, which- is of considerable antiquity, was chiefly distinguished for its collegiate establishment, founded by Robert, Bishop of Durham, in 1266, for secular clerks, and dedicated to St.Peter and St. Paul: there were originally five prebends, to which a sixth was subsequently added: the aggregate revenue, at the dissolution, was £101. 18. A palace was erected here in the fourteenth century, by Walter Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, as- a summer residence for the prelates of that see, the remains of which have been converted into farm-buildings. The town is pleasantly 'situated in a richly-cultivated and level tract of country, about a mile from the north side of the river Ouse; the houses are in general built of brick, but of mean appearance; the streets are roughly paved, partially lighted with oil, and the inhabitants are but indifferently supplied with water. There is no particular branch of trade carried on, the labouring class being principally employed in agriculture; there is a ferry over the river about a mile from the town, also a small harbour for boats. The market is on Saturday: the fairs are on the second Tuesday in January, April 15th, the second Tuesday after the13th of July, and every fourth Tuesday in the year, for horses and cattle. Courts leet and baron are held occasionally, in a room belonging to the ancient episcopal palace; and a court of requests for the recovery of debts under 40s., was formerly held, but has fallen into disuse. The living is a vicarage not in charge, in the jurisdiction of the peculiar court of Howdenshire, and diocese of York, endowed with £200 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, and formerly collegiate, is a spacious and stately cruciform structure, partly in the early, but principally in the decorated, style of English architecture; with a lofty square embattled tower rising from the intersection, of which the upper part, raised by Bishop Skirlaw, is in the later English style; the west front of the church is of bold and simple character, but a fine composition, and the east end, now in ruins, was one of the richest specimens of the decorated style in the kingdom; the chancel having fallen into decay, the nave was fitted up for the performance of divine service in 1636; the roof is supported by finely-clustered columns and pointed arches, and in the north aisle of the-choir, and in a chapel near the south transept, are two finely-executed monuments in the decorated style.- The chapter-house, the roof of which has fallen, was a superb octagonal edifice, inferior only" in dimensions to the chapter-house at York; it contains thirty canopied stalls richly ornamented with tabernacle-work, and exhibiting a considerable degree of perfection in the principal details, which are extremely beautiful. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Sandemanians. A free school, in which sixteen children are instructed, is supported by a bequest from Robert Jefferson, of £21 per annum, which is paid to the master, and by a rent-charge of £2. 8. A National school, in which three hundred children of bdth sexes are instructed, is supported by subscription and there are Sunday schools in connexion with the established church and the dissenting congregations. Some considerable benefactions have been made for apprenticing poor children, and for other charitable purposes."


"ASSELBY, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 2 miles S.W. from Howden, containing 254 inhabitants. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists."


"BALKHOLME, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIHE, East riding of the county of YORK, 3 miles E. from Howden, containing 105 inhabitants."


"BARMBY ON THE MARSH, a chapelry in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE; East riding of the county of YORK, 4 miles W. from Howden, containing 525 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, within the jurisdiction of the peculiar court of Howdenshire, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Vicar of Howden. The chapel is dedicated to St. Helen. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. Barmby is situated near the junction of the rivers Ouse and Derwent: the manufacture of sacking is carried on in the chapelry. A school is endowed for the instruction of ten boys. Here are two mineral springs, called St. Peter's "and St. Helen's wells, one possessing a chalybeate, and the other a sulphureous, impregnation."


"BELBY, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 1 mile N.E. from Howden, containing 49 inhabitants."


"BOOTH, a hamlet in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 2 miles S.W. from Howden, with which the population is returned. The village lies on the northern bank of the river Ouse, across which there is a ferry, called Booth ferry."


"COTNESS, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 5 miles S.E. from Howden, containing 29 inhabitants."


"KILPIN, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 2 miles E.S.E. from Howden, containing 318 inhabitants."


"KNEDLINGTON, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 1 mile S.W. from Howden, containing 118 inhabitants."


"LAXTON, a chapelry in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 3 miles E.S.E. from Howden, containing 268 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the jurisdiction of the peculiar court of Howdenshire, endowed with £1000 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Vicar of Howden. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists."


"METHAM, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 5 miles E.S.E. from Howden, containing 45 inhabitants. A Roman pottery, including fragments of urns and other vessels, has been discovered here; about a mile from which the ancient Roman military way passes."


"SALTMARSH, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 4 miles S.E. from Howden, containing 179 inhabitants. Three poor children are educated for £1 a year, the gift of Richard Jewitt, in 1735."


"SKELTON, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 2 miles S.S.E. from Howden, containing 221 inhabitants."


"THORPE, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 1 mile N.E. from Howden, containing 53 inhabitants."


"YORKFLEET, a township in the parish of HOWDEN, wapentake of HOWDENSHIRE, East riding of the county of YORK, 6 miles E.S.E. from Howden, containing 199 inhabitants. The village is situated on the river Ouse."

[Transcribed by Mel Lockie © from
Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1835]