Langtoft Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

LANGTOFT:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake of Dickering - County Council Electoral Division of Nafferton - Petty Sessional Division of Bainton Beacon - Poor Law Union and County Court District of Driffield - Rural Deanery of Buckrose - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish comprises the township of its own name and the chapelry of Cottam, covering a total area of 6,168 acres, of which 3,582 are in Langtoft. The soil is mostly chalk, and generally very good. The township is valued for rating purposes at £3,350, and had in 1881 a population of 618, and in 1891, 565. The principal landowners are Sir John Gibbons, Bart., who is lord of the manor, Stanwell Place, near Staines, Middlesex; William Henry Harrison Broadley, Esq., B.A., D.L., J.P., of Welton Hall; the Rev. T. D. T. Speck, in right of the glebe; Mr. Thomas Nettleton, Scarborough; Mr. George Huthwaite; Sir Tatton Sykes; Mr. Wharram Lamplough, Kilham; Richard Pattison, Hutton Cranswick; Rev. R. H. Foord; and Major Prickett.

The village is picturesquely situated in a valley, and from the hills that surround it some beautiful views may be obtained. The Driffield and Scarborough road passes through Langtoft, which is six miles from the former place and three from Kilham. An inscription on the end of a cottage informs the passer-by that there was a great flood here on the 10th of April, in the year 1657. Another flood occurred on the 9th of June, 1888, which did a considerable amount of damage. It was caused by a waterspout that burst on the hill sides close by the village. The water rushed down the declivity with terrific force, denuding fields and gardens of their covering of soil, leaving in places the bare chalk rock, and depositing vast quantities of mud and boulder stones in the village street, where the water stood between three and four feet deep. The time of the occurrence was about half-past one, and some who saw the phenomenon as it approached the village, driven at a furious rate by the wind, say it looked like Sir Tatton Sykes' monument turned upside down.

The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is a stone structure, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch, and a western tower. In the latter are two bells, dated 1620 and 1641. The style of architecture of the tower, the oldest part of the edifice, is that which prevailed in the 13th century. The chancel retains its trefoil headed sedilia, and the font is also ancient. The east window is a memorial of William and Hannah Lamplough, erected in 1867; and there are two marble tablets on the walls to members of the Knowsley family, formerly of Cottam. The register dates from the year 1587. The living is a vicarage, with the perpetual curacy of Cottam annexed, in the gift of the Archbishop of York, and held by the Rev. Thomas Davies Tullock Speck, M.A., of St. John's College, Cambridge. The gross value is £443, derived chiefly from 300 acres of glebe. The Vicararge House is a handsome red brick building adjoining the church, erected in 1887, at a cost of £1,350.

There are two non-conformist chapels in the village. One belonging to the Wesleyans was built in 1874 to supersede an older one. It will accommodate 300 persons, and cost about £1,000. The other chapel belongs to the Primitive Methodists, and was built in 1839. The National School is a good building, erected in 1846. It will accommodate 150 children, and has an average attendance of 110. There is also an Institute and Library in connection with the church.

This village was the birthplace of Peter de Langtoft, a poet and chronicler of the 14th century, who became a canon in the monastery of Bridlington. He was the author of several works, but is best known by the "Chronicle of England," which he wrote in French verse. This was translated into English metre by Robert Brunne, in the reign of Edward III., and was published at Oxford, by Hearne, the antiquary, in 1725. This translation was reprinted in London, in 1810. Thomas Wright, the eminent Saxon scholar, published an edition of it in 1867, under the direction of the Master of the Rolls. The Chronicle begins with the earliest traditionary account of the Ancient Britons, tracing their origin from Brutus, grandson of Yneas, a Trojan prince, and ends with the reign of Edward I. A manuscript of the Chronicle is preserved in the Cottonian collection of the British Museum, and another copy is among the Arundel MSS., in the Herald's College. He also translated from the Latin into French verse Bosenham's "Life of Thomas a Becket." He died in the early part of the 14th century, and was buried in the priory, at Bridlington.

COTTAM is a township and chapelry in this parish containing 2,586 acres, situated two miles south-west of Langtoft, and five miles north-by-west of Driffield. The land is divided into three farms, and belongs chiefly to the Rev. R. H. Foord, Sir John Gibbon, the Earl of Londesborough, and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, who own about 850 acres of warren, and are lords of the manor. The rateable value is £1,897. The population in 1881 was 113, and in 1891, 99. The hamlet consists of a few scattered houses. The chapel is a small plain edifice of brick, consisting of chancel and nave, with turret containing one bell. The font is ancient and bears some finely sculptured figures of men and animals. Another beautifully carved stone of ancient work is built into the west end. The curacy is united with Langtoft. The great tithe, amounting to £215, belongs to the prebend of Langtoft, in York Cathedral, and a lessee.

[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.