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Whitkirk Supplementary

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In 1822, the following places were in
the Parish of Whitkirk:


"AUSTHORPE, in the parish of Whitkirk, lower-division of Skyrack, liberty of Pontefract; (Austhorpe Hall, the seat of Joseph Fields, Esq.) 3 miles E. of Leeds, 8 from Wakefield, 10 from Ferrybridge. Pop. 150.

Here was born, May 28th, 1724, the celebrated mechanic and civil engineer, Mr. John Smeaton. If there were no other monument of his fame, the building of the Eddystone Light House, would establish his character. It was first built by Mr. Winstanley, who, in 1696, was furnished by the Trinity House with necessary powers. In 1700 it was destroyed, and the projector perished in the ruins. In 1709, another was erected by Mr. Rudyard, which in 1755 was consumed by fire; the present one was completed by Mr. Smeaton, in 1759, Mr. Smeaton was seized with a paralytic stroke in September, 1792, and died in the October following. In the choir of Whitkirk church is an elegant marble monument, on which is a beautiful representation of the Eddystone Light House to his memory."


"COLTON, in the township of Temple Newsam, and parish of Whitkirk; 5 miles W. of Leeds, 9 from Wakefield, 10 from Pontefract."


"CROSS GATES, 2 or 3 houses in the townships of Seacroft and Barwick in Elmet, and parishes of Whitkirk and Barwick in Elmet; 4 miles from Leeds."


"DIAL HALTON, (toll bar) in the township of Temple Newsam, and parish of Whitkirk; 2¼ miles E. of Leeds."


"HALTON, in the township of Temple Newsam, and parish of Whitkirk; 3¼ miles from Leeds."


"KILLINGBECK, scattered houses in the township of Seacroft, and parish of Whitkirk, liberty of Pontefract; (the seat of F. Walker, Esq.) 3 miles from Leeds."


"MANSTON, a farm-house in the township of Austhorpe, and parish of Whitkirk; 4½ miles from Leeds."


"NEWMARKET, in the parish of Whitkirk, lower-division of Skyrack; 3½ miles SE. of Leeds."


"NEWSAM GREEN, in the parish of Whitkirk, wapentake of Skyrack; 4½ miles ESE. of Leeds."


"SEACROFT, in the parish of Whitkirk, lower-division of Skyrack, liberty of Pontefract; 4¼ miles E. of Leeds, 10 from Wetherby, 11 from Tadcaster. Pop. 886.

A famous battle was fought near this place, in the year 655, betwixt Penda, King of the Mercians, and Oswy, King of Northumberland: the Mercians, though far superior in number, were defeated, and a great part of their army cut in pieces, amongst which was Penda, and near thirty of his principal officers. In the year 1643, here happened an engagement between a detachment of the parliament's armies, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax, and a large body of the king's horse, commanded by Lord Goring, in which the latter gained a complete victory. --Hargrove."


"TEMPLE NEWSAM, in the parish of Whitkirk, lower-division of Skyrack; 4½ miles E. of Leeds, 8 from Wakefield, 9 from Pontefract. Pop. 1,166." (There is further information for Temple Newsam).


"THORNES, a farm-house in the township of Temple Newsam, and parish of Whitkirk; 2¼ miles from Leeds."


"THORPE HALL, a single house in the township of Thorpe Stapleton, and parish of Whitkirk; 3 miles from Leeds.

knights templars, one carucate. It afterwards became the estate of the Skargills, who resided here: one of that family erected a chantry at Whitchurch. The Roman Via Vicinalis, leading from the great military road upon Bramham Moor is visible here for 400 paces together. --Whitaker's Ducatus Leodiensis."


"THORPE STAPLETON, in the parish of Whitkirk, lower-division of Skyrack; 3 miles from Leeds, 10 from Wakefield, 13 from Tadcaster. Pop. 25. It contains three houses."

[Description(s) edited from various 19th century sources by Colin Hinson © 2013]