Welton Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

WELTON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake of Howdenshire - County Council Electoral Division of Welton - Petty Sessional Division of South Hunsley Beacon - Poor Law Union of Sculcoates - County Court District of Hull - Rural Deanery of Rowden - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

The parish comprises the township of its own name and that of Melton, embracing an area of 3,643 acres, including water and foreshore. The parish stretches from the Humber to the Wold, and is generally well wooded. Welton township contains 2,653 acres, 659 inhabitants, and is valued for rating purposes at £4,948. The soil is chiefly wold land, and the subsoil chalk. Wheat, oats, barley, and turnips are the general crops. Col. William Henry Harrison-Broadley, J.P., D.L., is lord of the manor and owner of the greater part of the township. The North Eastern Railway Company own the land occupied by 1,052 yards of the Hull and Selby railway, for which they are rated at £1,052. There is a small manor attached to the vicarage.

Welton village is situated on the fringe of the Wolds, on the Hull and Market Weighton road, 10 miles west-by-south from the former place, one-and-a-half miles from the Humber, and the same distance from Brough station, on the Hull and Selby railway. The scenery around is of a pleasing sylvan character. On the north side of the village is a deep picturesque glen, winding between two hills, the sides of which are thickly studded with beech trees, intermixed with other varieties. At the further extremity of the dale is a circular building of stone, surmounted by a dome, built by Robert Raikes, Esq., in 1818, as a mausoleum for his family. Tourists wishing to visit this beautiful dale are requested to obtain a pass from Mr. Robinson, farm bailiff, in the village.

The church, dedicated to St. Helena, is an ancient edifice of stone, in the Early English style, built in the reign of (if not by) William Rufus, and there is reason to believe that a church dating from Saxon times had previously occupied the site. The edifice underwent a thorough restoration in 1863, at a cost of £6,000, defrayed by the late Miss Broadley. The late Sir G. G. Scott, R.A., was the architect, and among other improvements effected was the addition of a south aisle and north transept. During the progress of the work, six silver pennies, of the reign of William Rufus, were found in the foundations. The building is cruciform, consisting of chancel, nave, north and south aisles, north and south transepts, south porch, and a large square central tower, containing four bells. Several of the windows are filled with stained glass, and are very fine specimens of modern art. The nave is separated from the aisles by two pointed arches, resting on octagonal pillars, and similar arches support the central tower. The original piscina remains in the south wall of the chancel, and in the south aisle is the effigy of a Knight Templar, very much defaced. There are several handsome mural tablets in the church. On a slab outside was formerly to be seen the following specimen of 18th-century churchyard literature

          "Hear lieth he, ould Jeremy,
           Who have eight times married been,
           But now in his ould age
           He lies in his cage
           Under the grass so green.
       Which Jeremiah Simpson departed this life in
          the 84th year of his age, in the year of
          our Lord 1719."
 

The living is a vicarage, formerly in the gift of the Crown, but transferred,. in exchange for the rectory of Ecton, to the late Miss Sophia Broadley, through whose munificence the restoration was effected. It is endowed with the rectorial tithes, which were commuted for land and a yearly modus at the enclosure in 1792. The present net yearly value is £500, including 352 acres of glebe. The Rev. Thomas Bradley Paget, M.A., of Trinity College, Cambridge, canon of York, rural dean of Howden, and chaplain to the Archbishop of York, has held the living since 1846, and was the last nominee of the Crown.

There are chapels in the village belonging to the Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists, built in 1815 and 1869 respectively. There are schools for boys, girls, and infants, attended by 69 boys, 46 girls, and 35 infants on an average. All are now free. A Foresters' lodge was opened in the village in 1842, and in 1849 a hall was erected, in which their lodge is now held. There is also a juvenile branch of the society held here.

Welton House, the seat of W. Hy. Harrison-Broadley, Esq., J.P., D.L., is a fine mansion, surrounded by picturesque grounds, commanding extensive prospects. Mr. Harrison-Broadley succeeded to the estate on the death of his aunt, Miss Sophia Broadley, in 1864, and assumed the additional surname of Broadley.

There are charities amounting to about £15 yearly, which is distributed amongst the poor.

MELTON is a township and extinct chapelry, containing 990 acres of land, lying on the bank of the Humber. Col. W. H. Harrison-Broadley is lord of the manor and owner of nearly the whole township. The rateable value is £2,860, of which sum £1,430 is assessed on the Hull and Selby railway, which passes through the township. The soil is wold land and part clay, and the subsoil chalk and clay. The population in 1891 was 171.

The village is small, and stands about one mile east of Welton, a quarter of a mile from the river, and one-and-a-quarter miles north-west from Ferriby station, on the Hull and Selby railway. The scenery around is of a picturesque character. Melton Hill is a handsome residence, the property of Col. Harrison-Broadley, and occupied by Arthur Burton Pease, Esq.; and the Grange is the residence of E. S. Wilson, Esq.

[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.