Bilton Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

BILTON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake of Holderness (Middle Division) - Petty Sessional Division of Middle Holderness - County Council Electoral Division and Poor Law Union of Skirlaugh - County Court District of Hedon - Rural Deanery of Hedon - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish, formerly a chapelry, was separated from Swine in 1794, and in 1867 the townships of Ganstead and Wyton were severed from the same parish and annexed to Bilton. The original chapelry was co-terminous with the township of Bilton, the area of which is 1,204 acres, the rateable value £1,342, and the population in 1891 was 101. The soil is of a clayey nature, the subsoil clay, and the chief crops are wheat, oats, beans, and seeds. The Hon. Col. Lewis Payan Dawney, of Baldersby, Thirsk, is lord of the manor, and owner of the whole township with the exception of the glebe.

In the last years of the Saxon period the manor of Bilton was held jointly by Aldene, or Haldane and others, the former having one carucate of taxable land. The church of John, of Beverley, had also some land and a berewic here, probably the gift of King Athelstan. Soon after the Conquest, the de Biltons appear as owners, but little is known concerning this family. In the reign of Henry VIII. John Flower sold the manor to Sir William Knowles, Knt., from whom it passed to the Stanhopes.

The village is small but pleasantly situated on the high road from Hull to Hedon, about four miles distant from each of those places, and three miles east-south-east from Swine station, on the Hull and Hornsea branch of the North-Eastern railway. The church of St. Peter is a small edifice of stone, rebuilt in 1852 on the site of a previous one which dated from Anglo-Norman times. The entire cost was defrayed by the Hon. Lydia Dawnay, sister of the late Viscount Downe. It is in the Early English style, and consists of chancel, nave, south porch, and a western bell gable containing two bells. The chancel retains the sedilia and piscina, and is divided from the nave by a screen of Caen stone. A beautifully carved reredos of the same material was erected at the expense of the vicar in 1886. In the centre panel is a well executed representation of the Ascension of Our Lord. The font is octagonal, and on one of its facets, in high relief, is depicted the Baptism of Christ. The font is covered by a very handsome conical cap of wood. The east window was filled with stained glass by William Raines, Esq., of Wyton Hall, in memory of his parents, who were buried in the chancel of the old church. There are two memorial windows in the south wall of the chancel to the same family, one to William Baines, Esq., J.P., who died in 1874, and the other to his brother Henry. Several members of the Raines family were interred in the chancel of the old church, and a brass plate in the chancel step records their several names, from Henry Raines, who died in 1630, to William, who died in 1833. The west window was presented by Lady Downe, and there are two stained-glass memorials in the nave. The church will seat 100 persons. The entrance to the churchyard is through a lych gate.

In the Cromwellian survey of church livings the commissioners state that "Bilton and Wyton hath each a chappell, and the mynister hath for his sallarye out of the impropriaton six pound, the tithes of Bilton in yearely value thirtye pounds, the tythes of Wyton in yearely value eighteene pounds, the tythes of Gansted, in yearely value twentye pounds; Thirkley wee conceyve fitt to be joyned to Bilton, and is worth yearely ffifteen pounds, suma totalis ffowre score and three pounds." The living is now a vicarage, worth about £300 a year, in the gift of Lieut.-Col. the Hon. Lewis Payn Dawnay, M.P., and held by the Rev. Henry King Quilter, M.A., of St. Peter's College, Cambridge. There are 43 acres of glebe.

The School (mixed), with master's house attached, was built about twenty years ago by the lord of the manor. There is accommodation for 50, and an average attendance of 45.

GANSTEAD township comprises 802 acres of land belonging to Mrs. Pechell, of Hull; Mrs. Wells; Mr. William Johnson Atkinson, Newland, Hull; W. H. Richardson, Esq., Ganstead Grange; Col. Haworth-Booth, Hull Bank House; and Mr. Fred Greayer, Ganstead. Mr. William Johnson Atkinson, Poplar House, Newland, Hull, is lord of the manor. The soil is clay, and the chief crops are wheat, oats, beans, and seeds. The rateable value is £982, and the population in 1891 was 87.

At the time of the Norman Conquest the manor of Gagenstad belonged jointly to Fran and Aldene, but they were dispossessed by the Normans and their lands given to Albert, a vassal of Drogo. In 5th year of Henry III. (1221), the manor was purchased by Sir William de la Twyer, and it remained in the possession of this family for several generations, passing eventually from them to William St. Quintin, of Haswell, by his marriage with the heiress. It remained with this family for a long period, and then passed to the Constables, who had held a fourth part before the reign of Henry VII.

The hamlet is pleasantly situated one-and-a-half miles north from Bilton, five miles north-east of Hull, and one mile south from Swine station. Ganstead Old Hall, the property of the Wells family, is at present unoccupied. Ganstead Grange, the property and residence of William Hutchinson Richardson, Esq., is a neat structure of brick built in 1847. Turmer Hall, belonging to Mrs. Pechell, and the residence of Mr. Joseph Thompson, is an ancient edifice partly rebuilt in 1840. It was, according to Mr. Poulson, once reputed a manor, and formerly belonged to the Bosses of Hamlake.

WYTON township contains 791½ acres, and is valued for rating purposes at £968. The population in 1891 was 71. The soil is a rich loam resting on marl, and the chief crops are wheat, oats, beans, seeds, and barley. The trustees of the late William Raines, Esq., are the lords of the manor and owners of the greater part of the land. The vicar of Bilton, Anthony Nornabell, Lund-on-the-Wolds; George M. North, Wawne; and David Parkinson Garbutt, have land in the township.

In very early times this place was held by a family styled de Wyton. In Kirby's Inquest (A.D 1281), Henry de Wyneton is returned as holding here five carucates and a half where 48 carucates make one Knight's fee. Subsequently the estate came into the possession of the Brighams of Brigham, in the East Riding, and in 35 Henry VIII. (1542), Thomas Brigham, Esq., is returned as holding the manor of Wyton. On the death of William Brigham, Esq., without surviving issue, in 1767, the manor and estate, consisting of 400 acres of enclosed lands, were sold by public auction.

The family of Raines was long identified with the township, in which they appear as landowners from the early part of the 17th century, and became, by purchase, proprietors of the manorial estate. They resided at Wyton Hall, which was rebuilt by Captain Raines about the year 1785. Mr. Raines, in 1807, sold the hall with 200 acres of land to Mr. Meadley, of Aldbrough, from whose devisees it was purchased by Mr. Craven. The estate was re-purchased by the late William Raines, Esq., barrister-at-law, and now belongs to his two daughters, Mrs. Atkinson and Miss Baines, who are joint ladies of the manor. The Hall is occupied by Joseph Winkley, Esq.

The hamlet of Wyton, anciently called Widetune and Wyneton, is well-built and pleasantly situated on the road from Hull to Aldbrough, five miles north-east of the former town one-and-a-half miles north-east of Bilton, and two-and-a-half miles east-by-south of Swine station, on the Hull and Hornsea branch of the North-Eastern railway. A survey of church livings, &c., made in the time of the Commonwealth, mentions a chapel here as well as at Bilton; but there is no trace now left of such an edifice. There is a small chapel belonging to the Wesleyans.

[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.