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

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WENSLEY:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1835.

"WENSLEY, a parish in the western division of the wapentake of HANG, North riding of the county of YORK, comprising the chapelry of Bolton Castle, and the townships of Leybourn, Preston under Scar,Redmire, and Wensley, and containing 2182 inhabitants, of which number, 317 are in the township of Wensley, 3 miles W.N.W. from Middleham. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Chester, rated in the king's books at £49. 9. 9., and in the patronage of Lord Bolton. The church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The river Ure runs through the parish, and is crossed by an ancient bridge of three or four arches, which was erected about the commencement of the fourteenth century, and has been lately widened and repaired, at the expense of the riding. Above Wensley are the ruins of Bolton castle, built in the reign of Richard II., by Richard, Lord Scroop Lord High Chancellor of England. According to Leland it consisted of four principal towers, and was eighteen years in building, the expense having amounted to one thousand marks yearly, or £12,000 sterling in the whole. The timber was brought from Inglewood Forest in Cumberland, the conveyance of which was the chief cause of the great expense incurred in the building."


"CASTLE BOLTON, a chapelry in the parish of WENSLEY, western division of the wapentake of HANG North riding of the county of YORK, 7 miles W.N.W. from Middleham, containing 278 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, with that of Redmire annexed, in the archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Chester, endowed with £1000 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Rector of Wensley. The chapel is dedicated to St. Oswald. On the brow of a hill are the ruins of the castle, which was built by Richard, Lord Scrope, Chancellor of England in the reign of Richard II., in which the Q,ueen of Scots was kept prisoner, in 1568. During the parliamentary war it sustained a pressing siege, which terminated in its surrender to the insurgents in 1645: the north-eastern tower fell down in 1761, and the eastern and northern sides are entirely in ruins; the west front, however, is in good repair. There is a small endowment in land for the instruction of poor children, bequeathed by the Rev, Thomas Baynes, in 1725."


"LEYBOURN, a market-town in the parish of WENSLEY, western division of the wapentake of HANG, North riding of the county of YORK, 46 miles W.N.W. from York, and 236 N.N.W. from London, containing 810 inhabitants. This town is pleasantly situated in a fertile and picturesque district; adjacent to it, along a continued ridge of rocks, is Leyburn Sparol, one of the finest natural terraces in the kingdom. It is well built, and consists principally of an oblong square, which forms the market-place. The mineral productions in the vicinity are lead, coal, and lime. The market is on Friday; fairs are held on the second Fridays in February, May, October, and December, and are noted for large sales of cattle. There are places of worship for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists, also a Roman Catholic chapel. A school is supported by voluntary contributions; and various benefactions have been made for apprenticing poor children, and other charitable purposes."


"PRESTON UNDER SCAR, a township in the parish of WENSLEY, western division of the wapentake of HANG, North riding of the county of YORK, 5 miles W.N.W. from Middleham, containing 378 inhabitants. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists."


"REDMIRE, a chapelry in the parish of WENSLEY, western division of the wapentake of HANG, North riding of the county of YORK, 6 miles W.N.W. from Middleham, containing 399 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to that of Bolton, in the archdeaconry of Richmond, and diocese of Chester, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and £400 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Rector of Wensley. The chapel is dedicated to St. Mary. There is a place of worship for Wesleyaii Methodists. The Rev. Thomas Baynes, in 1725, founded a free school and endowed it with lands and tenements now producing an annual income of about £19, for which fourteen children are instructed. The lead mines formerly in operation here have been almost exhausted, but calamine is got in abundance. Coal also is obtained in the neighbourhood; and there is a fine spring strongly impregnated with sulphur, with convenient well for bathing, the water having been found efficacious in the cure of rheumatism, scurvy, and weakness of sight."

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