Peel Hall is the name of a farm house occupied by Mr. Thos. Hessel; and the Grange is a small farm house.

North Duffield Township. - Area, 3,220 acres; population, 422 persons; rateable value, £3,491. The chief proprietors of the soil are Rt. Scholfield, Esq. (Lord of the Manor), Rev. J. D. Jefferson, and the Rev. Roxby Roxby. At the enclosure 177A. 3R. 21P. of land were allotted to the Vicar in lieu of tithes, and 340 acres to the impropriator.

The Village is scattered, and stands on the road from Selby to Market Weighton, about 5 miles N.E. of Selby, and 14 S.W. of Skipwith. A large fair for cattle, &c., is held annually, on the village green, on the 4th of May. A Primitive Methodist Chapel was built here in 1821, and a Wesleyan Chapel in 1833. Duffield Castle stood on the banks of the Derwent, and the mound and ditches of it may still be traced. It was the seat of Lord Hussey, who was executed for joining his neighbour, Robert Aske, of Aughton, in the insurrection called the Pilgrimage of Grace, in the reign of Henry VIII. (See vol. i., p. 189); but at what period it was destroyed is not known.

Blackwood House and Derwent Cottage are the names given to two farm houses, the former in the occupation of Mr. Robert Sayles, aud the latter of Mr. Samuel Chantry.

STILLINGFLEET. - This parish lies on the east bank of the river Ouse, and includes the townships of Stillingfleet with Moreby and Kelfield. Acaster Selby, in the Ainsty Wapentake, on the opposite side of the river, was formerly a township to Stillingfleet, but is now an independent Ecclesiastical District. (See vol. i., p. 648.) Stillingfleet with Moreby township contains 2,770 acres, and 419 inhabitants; rateable value, £3,341. In the reign of Edward III. this lordship belonged to John, Lord Grey, of Rotherfield, and it was afterwards held by the Lord Evers, the last of whom was attainted for joining the rebellion called the Pilgrimage of Grace. (See vol. i., page 189.) The estate afterwards passed to the Lawsons, one of whom bequeathed it, about eighty years ago, to William Preston, Esq., from whom it descended to Hy. Preston, Esq., the present Lord of the Manor. Lord Weulock is also a principal landowner here. The Living is a Discharged Vicarage, in the gift Dean and Chapter of York, who, as trustees of St. Mary's School, are impropriators. It is valued in the King's Books at £9. 7s. 6d., and now at £412., having been augmented, in 1737, with £200. of Queen Anne's Bounty, and £200. given by the Rev. Robt. Potter and Ralph Nixon. Vicar, Rev. Chas. Hawkins. The Church (St. Helen) is a fine edifice, comprising a nave with aisles, a chancel with north aisle, and an embattled and pinnacled tower at the west end, in which are three bells. The inner door of the south porch

has a beautiful circular arched entrance, the sweep having five mouldings of single and double chevrons, leaves, and birds' heads. On the north side of the church is another but a smaller Norman doorway. The remainder of the edifice is of various styles of architecture, and the walls are partly built with sepulchral tablets, with foliated crosses, &c. The arches of the interior are pointed, and rest on octagonal columns. In the south aisle is the re cumbent effigy of a crusader, in chain mail, one of the family of Morety; and above it is a more ancient mural monument, with mutilated figures of John Acclom, of Moreby, who died in 1611, and Isabel his wife. The nave of this church was new roofed and repaired in 1828, at the joint expence of the Rev. F. Kendall and the parishioners; and the above-mentioned doorway on the south side was well repaired in 1829, at the expence of Archdeacon Markham. The Vicarage House is a large brick building.

The Village is seated on both sides of a stream which runs into the Ouse, and over which is a good stone bridge of one arch, erected in 1820. It lies about 7 miles S.S. by W. of York. A small Wesleyan Chapel was built here in 1820. The National School was erected in 1853, at the cost of the Dowager Lady Wenlock, and it is supported by Lord Wenlock, Henry Preston, Esq., and the Vicar.

Moreby lies about 1 mile N. of Stillingfleet. Moreby Hall, the seat of H. Preston, Esq., is a large and very elegant mansion of cut stone, erected at an immense expense by Mr. Preston, in 1827, and first occupied in 1831, when that gentleman was High Sheriff of Yorkshire. It is in the Elizabethan style, and is constructed of the beautiful and durable white freestone from the quarries at Park Springs, near Leeds. The grounds lie on the banks of the Ouse, and are very beautiful. The Moreby estate is held of the Crown, by the service of presenting a red rose to the Sheriff when demanded.

Kelfield Township.-The area is 1,729 acres; population, 421 souls; and rateable value £1,350. The land is copyhold, and the chief owners of it are H. Preston, Esq. (Lord of the Manor), and Lord Wenlock. The place is noted for the luxurious growth of potatoes, rape, mustard, and flax.

The Village is small but neat, and is situated 6 miles N.N.W. of Selby, and 1 mile S. of Stillingfleet. A Wesleyan Chapel was built here in 1815, and a Primitive Methodist Chapel in 1852. The School is endowed with £440. 16s. 8d., navy five per cents., purchased with £400. left by Mrs. Mary Stillingfleet, in 1802. It has also an annuity of 26s. left by the Rev. Mr. Turvey. The old Manor House, occupied by a farmer, is still nearly encom passed by a moat. The Grange, a good farm house, is the residence of Mrs. Charlotte Wormley; and the Lodge, another farm house, is in the occupation

:

of Mr. Jonathan Dunn. Here are two extensive brick and tile manufactories; and there is a ferry at this place across the Ouse to Cawood.

THORGANBY.-This parish, including West Cottingwith, comprises 3,190 acres; and the amount of assessed property is £2,771. The population of Thorganby is 170, and of Cottingwith 218 souls. The soil is partly clay and partly a sandy loam, in good cultivation; the surface is generally flat, but the scenery, which is enriched with wood, is of pleasing character. The principal landowners are the Rev. Joseph Dunnington Jefferson (Lord of the Manor), S. Brocklebank, Esq., Thos. Reaston, Esq., and Rt. Blacker, Esq.

Here was the Benedictine Priory of Thickett, founded by Roger Fitz-Roger, in the reign of Richard I., and which continued to flourish till the Dissolution, when its revenues were returned at £23. 12s. 2d. The site, conventual buildings, and lands, were granted, in 1542, to John Aske, to whose family the patronage or foundership had descended from the family of Hayes. In 1822 a handsome mansion, called Thickett Priory, was erected on the site, by J. D. Jefferson, Esq., and is now the seat of his son, the Rev. J. D. Jefferson. The house is of brick with stone dressings, and contains a neat domestic chapel. In a tympanum on the top of the edifice are the arms of the possessor. Thorganby Hall is a large brick building, near the church. The Living is a Perpetual Curacy, valued at £53., and augmented with £400. of Queen Anne's Bounty, in 1799 and 1817. The patron, impropriator, and incumbent, is the Rev. Joseph D. Jefferson. The tithes were commuted for allotments at the enclosure, about the year 1810, and other tithes were commuted in 1840. The Church (St. Helen) is a small structure, having a nave, chancel, and tower. The latter appendage is of stone, and is embattled and pinnacled; and the body of the church is of brick with stone dressings, and appears to have been built late in the 17th century.

The Village stands about 9 miles S.E. from York. The parish School and master's house were built by Thos. Dunnington, Esq., who in 1783 endowed it with a rent charge of 40s. per annum. It has also £10. 10s. per annum, left by Robt. Jefferson, in 1803; 40s. left by Richd. Blythe; and 40s. left by Thos. Bradford; making a total of £16. 10s. per annum. The School was rebuilt in 1820, by the late J. D. Jefferson, Esq. The poor parishioners have 23 acres of land in Cottingwith, and 74 acres in Thorganby, supposed to have been bequeathed to the parish by Lord Valentia, about 1580. They have also a rent charge of £6. per annum, left by Robert Jefferson, Esq.

West Cottingwith adjoins Thorganby on the north, and forms, with that place, a long straggling village on the banks of the Derwent. Here is a ferry across the river.

WHELDRAKE.- The townships of Wheldrake and Langwith constitute this parish; the former contains 4,140 acres, and 689 inhabitants; and the latter 781 acres, and 33 persons. Assessed property, £4,957. Rateable value of Wheldrake, £3,709.; of Langwith, £257. With the exception of 217 acres of glebe land, Lord Wenlock (Lord of the Manor) owns the entire township of Wheldrake. The soil is a strong loam, except on the moor, where it is of a sandy quality; the surface is level and well wooded, the hedge rows being generally planted with thriving oak trees. For a considerable distance the Derwent forms the eastern boundary, but at the south-eastern extremity the parish stretches across the river, where it constitutes a valuable tract of rich meadow land called Wheldrake Ings.

The Living is a Rectory, valued at £25.17s. 34d., and now at about £411. per annum. Patron, the Archbishop of York; Rector, Rev. Robert Bryan Cooke. Certain tithes were commuted at the enclosure in 1769, for allotments of land, and other tithes were commuted in 1841.

The Church (St. Helen) consists of a nave and chancel, which are of brick, rebuilt in 1779, and an ancient stone tower, embattled. The interior is plain, and at the west end is a gallery, upon which an organ was erected by subscription in the present year, 1855. The churchyard was enlarged in 1824, by the addition of 30 perches, given by the Lord of the Manor.

The Village is distant 8 miles S.E. of York, and in it is a small Methodist Chapel. Here still stands the "village terror," the stocks. The National School is endowed with £12. 8s. per annum, left by three individuals. The Poors' Land (18 acres) lets for £22. per annum, and there are a few benefactions. There is a Reading Room in the village, supported by Lord Wenlock. There are several scattered farms in this parish, one of which, called Wray's House, is in the occupation of Mr. George Hughes.

Langwith consists of a few scattered houses, about 24 miles N.E. of Wheldrake. The principal landowners are Y. Yarburgh, Esq., and Mrs. Bailey.

SELBY.

Though the ancient market town and river port of Selby stands without the boundary of the East Riding, yet, from its proximity to that district, it is deemed necessary to add as lengthened an account of it as the limits of this work will admit of. The town is situated on the banks of the Ouse, in the Wapentake of Barkston Ash, in the West Riding, and is divided from the Ouse and Derwent Wapentake by the river Ouse, which is here crossed by a swivel bridge, of timber, 70 tons in weight, but worked with great rapidity, on balls similar to those of a cannon. It was completed in 1795.

1

The parish is intersected by the North Eastern Railway, which is here carried over the Ouse by a handsome swivel bridge that opens with great facility for the admission of vessels to the quay. Selby is distant by railway 21 miles S. of York; 30 W. of Hull; 22 E. of Leeds; and 2114 N. of London. The parish contains 3,180 acres, and 5,340 inhabitants. Rateable value, £13,860. The population of the town in 1851 was 5,109 souls, viz., 2,491 males, and 2,618 females. This place was anciently called Salebeia, and is supposed to have been a Roman Station, though history is silent with regard to its state in the times previous to the Norman Conquest. But as it appears to have been a place of some note at that period, it is conjectured that it was built by the Saxons on a Roman foundation.

The Abbey. In the year 1069 William the Conqueror founded a Benedictine Abbey here, which was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and St. Germanus, the great opponent of the Pelagian heresy. In process of time the establishment acquired such extensive possessions and immunities, as rendered it equal in rank with the church of St. Peter at York. The superiors of this house, and that of St. Mary's Abbey at York, were the only mitred Abbots north of the Trent. In 1070 the royal founder of Selby Abbey visited the institution, accompanied by his Queen, Matilda, for the purpose of settling the endowment; and during the stay of the royal party, the Queen gave birth in the Abbey to her youngest son, who filled afterwards the throne of England, under the name of Henry I. The monastery flourished in great splendour till the Dissolution, when its revenue was valued at £819. 2s. 6d., and it was surrendered by Robert de Selby, the last Abbot. In 1541 it was granted to Sir Ralph Sadler, Knt., in consideration of £736., and an annual rent of £3. 10s. 8d. The site of the Abbey, with the little park containing about ten acres, and the manor of Selby, soon afterwards passed to Leonard Beckwith, and descended to his heirs, the Walmsleys of Dunkenhalgh, in Lancashire; from whom it was carried in marriage to the noble family of Petre. The Selby estate was recently sold to Lord Londesborough, by the Hon. Mrs. Petre (widow and sole executrix of the Hon. Edward Petre), for, it is said, £270,000.; and that lady has retired from the world, and entered a nunnery in France.

The church of the Abbey was made parochial by letters patent in 1618, and a great portion of it still remains. The principal buildings of the monastery were on the west and south side of the church. The great gateway was pulled down about fifty years ago. Over it was the Abbot's court house, with two rooms for the jury and the witnesses; and on each side of the gate were the porter's lodge and a room to serve the poor.