Skipton On Swale Parish information from Bulmers' 1890.

SKIPTON ON SWALE:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890.

Wapentake and Petty Sessional Division of Birdforth - Electoral Division of Topcliffe - Poor Law Union, County Court District, and Rural Deanery of Thirsk - Archdeaconry of Cleveland - Diocese of York

The townships of Skipton-on-Swale and Catton, formerly under Topcliffe, were constituted an ecclesiastical parish in 1842. The first-named township comprises 796 acres of land, lying on the east bank of the river Swale, and had in 1881 a population of 145. It is valued for rating purposes at £1,231. Lord Leconfield is lord of the manor, but the land belongs chiefly to John Rob, Esq.; J. S. Rob, Esq.; and G. Brooksbank, Esq.

The village, commonly called Skipton Bridge, from the bridge which here crosses the Swale, is pleasantly situated about four miles south-west of Thirsk, and two miles west-north-west of Baldersby station, on the Leeds and Stockton branch of the North Eastern railway. The church is a neat stone edifice, erected in 1842, at a cost of £700, chiefly contributed by the Misses Elsley. It consists of chancel, nave, south porch, and tower containing one bell. The living is a perpetual curacy, worth £130, with residence, in the gift of Charles Elsley, Esq., and held by the Rev. J. A. 0. Oxlee, grandson of the Rev. John Oxlee, the celebrated linguist. The Dean and Chapter of York are the impropriators of the great tithes, which were commuted for £175.

There is a small Wesleyan Chapel in the village, built in 1810, by Mr. J. Watson, who endowed it with the rents of two cottages. A schoolroom was added in 1882.

A School Board, for the two townships of Skipton and Catton, was formed in 1875, and the same year a Board school was erected.

CATTON is a small township of 804 acres, intersected by the Leeds and Thirsk branch of the North Eastern railway. Lord Leconfield is lord of the manor, but Messrs. John and Henry Rob own most of the land. The township is valued for rateable purposes at £2,258, and has 133 inhabitants. The tithes have been commuted for £186 15s., of which £160 is payable to the Dean and Chapter of York, and the remainder to the Vicar of Topcliffe. The village stands on the east bank of the Swale, five miles S.W. of Thirsk. Catton Hall is a modern structure, the property and residence of Henry Rob, Esq.

[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire (1890)]

Directories

• Transcript of the entry for the Post Office, professions and trades in Bulmer's Directory of 1890.

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