Sherburn in Elmet Parish

SHERBURN IN ELMET, a market and parish-town, in the wapentake of Barkston-Ash, a part in the liberty of St Peter; 3½ miles from Aberford, 6 from Ferrybridge, 7 from Tadcaster and Pontefract, 8 from Selby, 12½ from Leeds, 15 from York, 183 from London. Market, Friday. Fair, September 25, for horses, linen, &c. Principal Inn, Red Bear. Pop. 1,144. The Church, peculiar, is a Vicarage, dedicated to All-Saints (see Churches for photograph), in the deanry of the Ainsty, value, £10. 17s. 1d. p.r. £130. Patron, the Prebendary of Fenton.

The nave of this church is purely Saxon, and the work of some one of the first Archbishops, who became possessed of the place. --Whitaker's Loidis and Elmete. Near the South east corner of the churchyard, appears to have been a detached Chapel, among the rubbish of which, was dug up the head of a very rich and elegant cross. --Ibid.

At this place formerly the Archbishops of York had a palace, and which once belonged to King Athelstan; not a vestige remains, except such parts as may appear in the walls of the church, which was built out of its ruins.

Here is a Grammar School and Hospital, founded in 1619, by Robert Hungate, Esq. who endowed them with £120. per annum, for the clothing and maintenance of the boys, twenty four, in the hospital; and £12. per annum, to the master, payable out of lands in this parish, of Robert Oliver Gascoigne, of Parlington, Esq. A subsequent endowment of £12. per annum, was awarded to the master, on a late enclosure. There are eight boys upon the foundation, who are admitted at the will of Mr. Gascoigne. There are four exhibitions of £7. 10s. each, to St. Johns College, Oxford, and this is one of the schools entitled to send a candidate for Lady Elizabeth Hastings' exhibitions. Master's salary, £34. and assistant, £13.13s.4d. per annum. --Carlisle.

On the 15th of October, 1645, here happened a sharp skirmish between the King's and the Parliament's forces, in which Sir Richard Hutton, Sir Francis Carnaby, and several other officers on the King's side, were slain. --Hargrove.

Sherburn and the neighbourhood are remarkable for a particular species of Plum, called the Winesour.