SEATON-ROSS.- Area, 3,380 acres; population, 568 souls; rateable value, £2,819.; assessed property, £3,351. This was anciently the lordship of Christopher Seaton, who had married the King of Scotland's sister; but in the wars with Scotland, it was given by Edward I. to Edmund de Mauley, as part of a reward for his valour in those wars, From his descendants it passed to the family of Ross, of whom Thomas, Lord Ross, for his adherence to the Lancastrians, having forfeited his estates to the Crown, this manor was given by Edw. IV. to John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, who was then steward of that King's household. Wm. C. Maxwell, Esq., is now Lord of the Manor, owner of a great part of the soil, impropriator, and patron of the living, which is a Perpetual Curacy, worth £93. per ann., having been augmented with a Parliamentary Grant of £1,200. in 1825. Incumbent, Rev. G. M. Webb. The Church (St. Edmund) is a small plain brick edifice, rebuilt in 1789, by W. H. M. Constable, Esq., and the parishioners. It consists of a nave, chancel, and tower.

The Village is long and straggling, and stands about 6 miles W. by S. of Pocklington. The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have chapels here.

Howdenshire Cèlapentake.

THIS division of the East Riding is bounded on the north by the Holme Beacon division of Harthill Wapentake; on the east by that of Hunsley Beacon; on the south by the river Ouse; and on the west by the Derwent. It is about ten miles in length, extending westward on the north bank of the Ouse, from its confluence with the Trent and Humber, to the point where it receives the river Derwent. It is a level district, now highly cultivated, well drained, and very fertile, though a great portion of it was, till the latter part of the last century, a moory and fenny morass, one part called Bishop Soil, and the other Walling Fen. The former contained 3,668 acres, on which the parishes of Howden, Eastrington, and Blacktoft, had right of stray. On its enclosure, under an Act passed in 1767, allotments amounting to 2,6224. 2P. were awarded to the 14 townships of Howden parish; 702A. 2R. 16r. to Eastrington parish; and 343A. 1R. 35P. to Blacktoft parish. Nearly 1,000 acres of these allotments are copyhold, under the Bishop of Ripon. Walling Fen comprises about 5,000 acres, extending eastward into the South Hunsley Beacon division of Harthill Wapentake. On the enclosure of this fen, under an Act passed in 1777 (but the award was not ratified till 1781), it was divided amongst the 48 surrounding townships, which previously had the right of stray upon it; and many of these allotments lie at the distance of from four to five miles from their respective townships. Upwards of 1,235 acres of it were awarded to Eastrington parish; 954 acres to Howden parish; and 365 acres to Blacktoft parish. Of the two first allotments, about 500 acres are copyhold under the Bishop of Ripon. The Market Weighton Canal is cut through the middle of Walling Fen; and near Newport and New Village is a small building called the Forty Eight House, from its being erected by the 48 townships, as a place of meeting for their delegates, who assembled in it to settle the affairs of the fen when it was an open pasture. The Wapentake includes the parishes of Howden, Blacktoft, Eastrington, and Wressle, containing altogether 30,342 acres, and 7,984 persons, viz: -3,975 males, and 4009 females. The Manorial Liberty, of which the Bishop of Ripon is now Lord Paramount and chief bailiff, extends also into Barlby, Brantingham, Hemingbrough, Skipwith, Walkington, and Welton-cum-Melton, in the East Riding; and Holtby, in the North Riding. Before the enclosure and drainage of Bishop Soil and Walling Fen, and the improvements of the embankments, the river Ouse often overflowed and inundated all the low grounds about Howden. In 1700, a dead body was brought in a boat from Barmby to Howden church; and during a flood in 1763, when the bank of Barmby Marsh was broken, a boat with five men and a boy in it, sailed from the town over the enclosures to Howden Dyke.

HOWDEN.

Howden, the capital of Howdenshire, called in Domesday Hovedene (and by Gent, Howlden), is an extensive parish, comprising the market town of Howden and thirteen townships, noticed hereafter. The area of the entire parish is 16,292 acres, and in 1851 it contained 5,178 inhabitants. The amount of assessed property in 1815 was £25,767.

The Manor of Howden and its dependencies form a Baronial Liberty and Church Peculiar called Howdenshire. In the Saxon times the manor and church belonged to the Abbey of Medeshamstede (now Peterborough), from which institution they appear to have been wrested, in consequence of the non-payment of the tax called Danegelt, by that monastery. After the battle of Hastings the Conqueror gave the manor, church, &c., to Wm. Karilepho, Bishop of Durham, and that prelate shortly afterwards gave the church and its appurtenances to the monastery of Durham, and retained the manor for himself and his successors. According to Domesday, King Edward the Confessor had this manor, when it was valued at forty pounds; but when the Norman Survey was made, it belonged to the Bishop of Durham, and was only worth twelve pounds. This reduction of its value tells a fearful tale of the ravages which the country had undergone. William Bishop of Durham being accused of joining in the conspiracy of the rebellious Barons, in the reign of William Rufus, that monarch ravaged Howden and Welton, and seizing these and several other places belonging to that See, in Yorkshire, bestowed them upon Odo de Campania, and Alan, Count of Richmond, his favorites. Henry I. afterwards restored them to Ralph, the then Bishop. In several records it is stated that the Bishops of Durham held all pleas within his Liberty of Howdenshire, which he was entitled to hold in his County Palatine of Durham, pleas of the Crown only excepted. Some of the Bishops appointed Justices of the Peace for Howdenshire.

The manor and its appurtenances appear to have been demised on various occasions to meet the pecuniary wants of several of the Bishops, who held it from time to time; and it has at various times been the subject of forfeiture, of grant and of re-grant, nevertheless always coming back to the See of Durham. Bishop Barnes demised to Queen Elizabeth, for a term of 90 years, the manor of Howden, and its appendages, together with the park (les groves) and three water corn mills, at a yearly rent of 34s. 8d. He also demised to the Queen the fisheries, shores, passages, and ferry boat at Howden Dyke, for 10s. 4d. per ann.; a horse mill at Howden, for 23s. 4d. per ann.; and the horse tracking, fishery, and passage, from the river Ouse to the stone bridge, in the street called Briggate, in Howden, for the yearly rent of 12d.

The manor of Howden was in lay hands during the Commonwealth, and was again attached to the See at the Restoration. Here it continued till the bishopric of Ripon was formed and constituted in 1836, from which time it became an integral part of that See. A considerable portion of the manor is of the tenure called customary freehold; the fines are small and certain; and in addition to a considerable revenue derived from these fines, the Bishop has about 600 acres of land in Howden, 80 in Barmby, 250 in Skelton, and 280 in Saltmarshe. He has also the fisheries and rights of ferries on the the river Ouse, from Cawood to Melton, a distance of thirty miles.* Не appoints the Coroner, and other officers of the Liberty, for which a court

* The Bishops of Durham certainly claimed the right of fishing and other manorial rights in the river for this distance, but these exclusive rights would hardly be found tenable at this day. In 1342, two whales and two sturgeons were caught on the shores of the manor of Howden, and carried away by the populace; but as they were said to appertain to the Bishop of Durham, King Edw. III. issued his writ to bring the offenders to justice. The fisheries formerly abounded in salmon, and were of considerable value, but during the last half century, they have become nearly valueless.

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for the recovery of debts under 40s., is held every Saturday three weeks; and he also holds courts leet, baron, &c. Lord Howden is the steward. The Bishop's principal lessees for the above-mentioned demesne lands are the Rev. J. D. Jefferson, Philip Saltmarshe, Esq,, and Wm. Scholfield, Esq. Howdenshire, for ecclesiastical purposes, was a peculiar in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, but now it is merged in the Archdeaconry of the East Riding.

Howden township was in two manors in 1670, called Metham and Harforth; and the chief proprietors of the soil at present are the Rev. J. D. Jefferson, Mrs. Dunn, Colonel Richardson, and the Rev. Robert Sutton.

The market town of Howden is situated one mile N. of the river Ouse, 23 miles W. of Hull, 10 E. by N. of Selby, 20 E.S.E. of York, 175 miles N. by W. of London by coach road, and 220 by railway. The ferry across the Ouse at Howden Dyke is one mile S., and Booth Ferry, two miles S.E. of the town. The Howden Station, on the Hull and Selby Railway, is about 1 mile N. from the town. The township contains 2,774 acres, including the river coast, and in 1851 it had 2,491 inhabitants, 2,235 of whom resided in the town, viz:-1,060 males, and 1,175 females. The rateable value of the township is £6,491.; and the amount of assessed property, £6,390.

The town consists of a Market Place, in which there is an ancient stone cross, and a few well built well paved streets, which are lighted with gas, from works erected by Mr. J. Malam, in 1832, and now belonging to Mr. Thomas Haydon, of Hull. The inhabitants are amply supplied with water. The Market is on Saturday, and on every alternate Tuesday is a market for cattle. A Wool Market is held on three Wednesdays every year, in the months of June and July.

The Spring Fair for horses, cattle, &c., established some years ago, is held on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of April, when the meeting of the Howdenshire Agricultural Society takes place; and on the 26th of September, and six following days, a great and long celebrated horse fair is held here. The latter is perhaps the largest fair for horses in the world, and it is usually attended by dealers, breeders, and purchasers, from all parts of this and many foreign countries; some of whom are frequently commissioned to purchase horses at this far-famed mart, for Emperors, Kings, and Princes. This great fair was established by a charter of King John, in 1200, and during its continuance the town is densely crowded. A pleasure fair is also held during that week. An annual Foal Show was established on the 30th of August, 1855. An annual Steeple Chase now takes place here on the 18th of April, being established three years ago. The first Horticultural Exhibition at this place occurred on the 16th of August, 1855. Petty Sessions are held here before the magistrates of the district, on the first Saturday of every month; and the County Court is held monthly, before Judge Raines. There is a neat Police Station, containing apartments for the superintendent. Howden is a polling place in the election of the Parliamentary representatives of the East Riding. A public building was erected in the Church Yard, in 1850, in which the Savings' Bank* is held, as is also the Petty Sessions and the Mechanics' Institute. There is a branch of the York City and County Bank at Howden. Some years since a Court of Sewers, for Howdenshire and the west part of the East Riding, was held here, and had an extensive jurisdiction, having existed from the time of Henry VIII. The ancient Moot Hall, which stood in the Market Place, was taken down about 40 years ago.

The Mechanics' Institute was founded in Feb. 1849, and now numbers about 150 members. The Reading Room is well supplied with newspapers and periodicals, and the Library contains about 400 vols. Lectures during the winter months. This institute has tended to promote most materially the intellectual progress of the people of Howden.

THE CHURCH.-Howden is celebrated for its ancient and interesting church, a noble edifice, which for beauty of architecture, may vie with any other in England. It is dedicated to St. Peter, and is supposed to occupy the site of a heathen temple. It was at first a Parochial Rectory, in the patronage of the Prior and Convent of Durham, and so continued till the year 1267, when Walter Giffard, Archbishop of York, seeing that the parish of Howden was very wide and large, and that the profits and rents of the church were sufficient for the maintenance of many spiritual men, ordained that there should be in it five prebends for ever, each of them to maintain at his own proper costs, a priest and clerk in Holy Orders, to administer in the same church, in a canonical habit. Thus was the church of Howden made collegiate. The same prelate ordained that certain revenues should be assigned to the Canons, which said Canons, should, for three months in the year at least, make their personal residence in the church; that the Prior and Convent of Durham should have the patronage of the said prebends; and that the area, or church yard, should be proportionately divided to the prebendaries for their habitations. The prebends were those of Howden, Thorpe, Saltmarsh, Barmby, and Laxton. In 1279, Wm. Wickwane, Archbishop of York, with

* The Howdenshire Savings' Bank was established in 1818. The number of depositors in November, 1854, was 706; and the total amount due to the depositors was £21,794. 168. Mr. Charles Hutchinson, Secretary. The new bank was opened for business, March 29th, 1851.