Bridlington, Yorkshire, England. Further historical information.

BRIDLINGTON

BRIDLINGTON, or Burlington, or Bridlington Old Town, a parish in the wapentake of Dickering; 8 miles from Hunmanby; 12 from Driffield, 18 from Scarborough, 40 from York, and 201 from London, by way of Lincoln. This town is situated on the Eastern coast, about a mile from the shore, in the recess of the commodious and beautiful bay to which it affords its name. It consists chiefly of one long irregularly framed street, extending along the Southern declivity of a small elevation, and its situation is both pleasant and salubrious.

The antiquity of Bridlington, it is difficult, perhaps impossible to ascertain, but it is clearly of Saxon origin. Early in the reign of Henry I. Walter de Gant. the son of Gilbert de Gant, one of the barons of William the conqueror, founded here a priory for the Black Canons of the order of St. Austin, which he dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary. This priory which stands at the East end of the town, is pleasantly situated, with the command of a fine sea prospect, and was, - according to Burton, inclosed with walls and houses, built of stone and lime, in 1388, in order to fortify it from the enemy's ships, which frequently entered the harbour. But it was not merely against their enemies, but also against their friends, that the Canons found it necessary to seek protection, for we find them under the pontificate of pope Innocent III. complaining, "that the archdeacon of Richmond going to one of their churches, had travelled with 97 horses, 21 dogs, and 3 hawks-" tribau avibus venatoriis, whereby he consumed more of their provisions in one hour than would have maintained their house for a long time;" on which his holiness forbade that ecclesiastics, should, for the time to come, travel with a greater retinue than is allowed by the statutes of the council of Lateran, which limits the train of an Archbishop to 50 horses, a Bishop to 30, a Legate to 25, and an Archdeacon to 7. The priory continued to flourish through a succession of ages, but in the time of Henry VIII. it shared the fate of other religious houses, and William Wode, the last prior, was executed for high treason, in the year 1537, on a charge of having engaged in the rebellion in the North and East of Yorkshire, which succeeded the Pilgrimage of Grace, and aimed at the same object. At the period of the dissolution this monastery was endowed with rents, of the value, according to Dugdale, of 547L 6s. 1d. and according to Speed, of 682L 13s. 9d. per annum. The church of the priory appears from its remains to have been once a noble structure. The West end yet displays no inconsiderable degree of Gothic magnificence, and the date 1136, preserved on a stone placed conspicuously over the entrance, is supposed to mark the year of its foundation; originally it had two towers, but they are now both demolished. The East end, and the transepts are also entirely destroyed, and the remaining part is only a small fragment of the ancient building. Of the walls and fortifications which once inclosed the priory, nothing now remains except an arched gate-way, at the distance of about half a furlong from the West end of the church. Above the arch is a large room, now used partly as a Town's hall, and partly as a National School, (The average number of boys instructed in this seminary during the last year was 118, and a School for Girls is about to be established on the same system, which is that of Dr. Bell.) and beneath are some gloomy cells, called the Kit-cote, which serve as places of confinement for petty delinquents. - This monastery has been the residence of several persons distinguished in their day and generations amongst these may be reckoned, Robert, the Scribe, who flourished about the year 1180, and who possessed not only great dexterity in writing, at a time when that art was a, rare accomplishment, but also, composed and left several books to posterity; William, of Newburgh, the celebrated Monkish historian was a native of Bridlington, but having become a Canon of Newburgh, took his surname from that place: John de Bridlington, a native of this town, - was distinguished for his abilities, and having at his death, in 1379, left behind him a fame for piety so great, as to obtain for himself a rank amongst the saints, and for his shrine the repute of a place of miracles: Sir George Ripley, a canon of this priory, and a distinguished alchemist, who, after employing about twenty years in the vain endeavour to find out the philosopher's stone, the grand desideratum of an ignorant and credulous age, left behind, him at his death, in 1490, twenty five books, of which the chief was his "Compound of Alchemy, in twelve books, inscribed to Edward IV. and his Aurum Potabile, or the Universal Specific."

On the confiscation of the monastic estates, the manor and rectory of Bridlington became vested in the crown. After several changes, the manor was at length purchased in the year 1633, for £3260. by Wm. Corbett, and twelve others of the inhabitants, on behalf of themselves, and all the other tenants and freeholders within the manor. This manor, does therefore, in effect, belong to the town, and is held by feoffees on their behalf. On the second day of February, in every year, these feoffees elect one of their number as chief lord of the manor, in whose name the courts are called, and the business of the town transacted. The manor in all its changes was charged with an annual fee-farm rent of £152. 17s. 5¾d. which is still paid to the representatives of the late H. T. Jones, Esq. The lordship contains upwards of 2000 acres.

The Church, or rather the Chapel, dedicated to St Mary, stands at the East end of the town; and the Archbishop of York is the patron. This venerable Gothic pile indicates its origin to be of the fourteenth century. Not more than one third of the building is fitted up for religious worship, but that portion of it is calculated to accommodate 1000 persons. The living is a perpetual curacy, of which the Rev. G. Smith, is the incumbent, by the nomination of Sir Francis Lindley Wood; Bart and his Lady, and Catharine Esther Buck, since married to the Rev. Alexander Cooke; these ladies were the daughters and co-heiresses of the late Samuel Buck, Esq. Recorder of Leeds, who inherited the right of nomination from his brother The Rev. Matthew Buck

The Quakers, the Baptists, the Independents, and the Wesleyan Methodists, have each their respective places of religious worship here; and the Ranters, or Primitive Methodists are by their zeal and perseverance swelling their numbers.

The charitable institutions here are neither very numerous, nor important; there is however, in addition to the National School, already mentioned, a Free Grammar School founded by William Hustler, in the year 1637, and endowed with £40. wherein twenty boys the sons of parishioners, receive gratuitous instruction; William Bower, in his life time, founded a school house, and at his death endowed it with £20. per annum, in which school 12 poor children are now taught to read and knit; and William Cowton, by will, dated April 10, 1696, bequeathed £13. per annum to the minister of Bridlington, for a sermon to be preached every Wednesday, 6s. 8d. weekly, to be distributed in bread to the poor parishioners, and 1s. to the parish clerk for making the distribution, to be paid out of the rental a certain lands demised for the purpose, and the residue distributed amongst the poor of Bridlington. Bridlington Quay and Hunmanby, for ever, which land at present let for about £170. per annum.

The history of Bridlington is not in any material degree mixed up with the general history of the country, but in the time of the civil wars between Charles I. and his parliament, this town served as the point of debarkation for those arms and military stores which the Queen purchased in Holland, with the crown jewels Her Majesty's debarkation took place on the 20th of February, 1643, and early in the morning of the 24th Admiral Batten, who had been charged with the duty of intercepting her commenced a heavy cannonade upon that part of the town in which she was known to have landed and placed her ammunition. According to a letter written by the Queen herself to the King "the balls sung merrily over her head, and a sargeant was killed at a distance of twenty paces from her." After remaining at Bridlington nearly a fortnight her Majesty departed for York, which city she reached on the 8th of March, with three coaches, an escort of eight troops of horse and fifteen companies of foot, conveying the ammunition and arms which consisted of thirty pieces of brass and two pieces of iron cannon, with small arms for 10,000 men. Amongst the most zealous and enterprising of Charles's adherents was Richard Boyle, the Earl of Cork, who, for his courage and constancy, received the dignity of an English Earldom, under the title of Earl of Burlington. Contemporary with the last Earl of Burlington was William Kent, a native of Bridlington, born in 1685, whose family name was Cant, the two first letters of which he not very unpardonably changed; and of whom Walpole, in his anecdotes of painting, says " he was a painter, an architect, and the father of modern gardening.- In the first character he was below mediocrity; in the second he was a restorer of the science; and in the last an original, and an inventor of the art that realizes painting and improves nature. Mahomet imagined an Elysium, but Kent created many."

Bridlington, generally so peaceable and obedient to the laws, was roused into a state of insubordination by the passing of the militia act in 1757; on that occasion a very alarming riot took place here, during which the rioters broke open several granaries, and committed other excesses. Several of the ringleaders being apprehended were brought to trial at York, and Robert Coal, an inhabitant of Bridlington, having been convicted, was sentenced to die for the offence, and was afterwards executed.

In the year 1779, when the navy of England was less triumphant than during the revolutionary wars, several engagements took place in the British seas, and the inhabitants of the coast were frequently thrown into a state of alarm by Paul Jones, the intrepid Anglo American Buccaneer. This man had formerly been in the service of the Earl of Selkirk, whence he was expelled with disgrace; and, having repaired to America, he volunteered to make a descent on the British coast. Being at first entrusted with the command of a privateer, he landed on the coast of Scotland, and in resentment plundered the mansion of his old master; he also burnt several vessels at Whitehaven, and performed a number of other daring exploits. These services insured his promotion, and procured him the command of a small squadron, consisting of the Bon Homme Richard, and the Alliance, each of 40 guns; the Pallas, of 32 guns; and the Vengeance armed brig. - With this force he made many valuable captures, insulted the coast of Ireland, and even threatened the city of Edinburgh. - On Monday the 20th of September, 1779, an express arrived at Bridlington, from the Bailiffs of Scarborough, with intelligence that an enemy was cruising off the coast. - The same night the hostile squadron was descried off Flamborough Head, and it was soon discovered that Paul Jones was the commander. In the night of Tuesday, a large fleet of British coasting vessels sailed into the bay, and the harbour became so completely crowded, that a great number could only find security in being chained to each other on the outside of the piers. Two companies of the Northumberland militia, then quartered in the town, were called to arms by beat of drum, after midnight, and the inhabitants, armed with such weapons as could be most readily procured, proceeded to muster at the Quay, while a number of the more opulent were making preparations for sending their families into the interior. Business was now completely at a stand, and the attention of all was directed to the expected invasion. On Thursday a valuable fleet of British merchantmen, from the Baltic, under the convoy of the Serapis, Captain Pearson, of forty-four guns; and the Countess of Scarborough, Captain Piercy, of twenty-two guns, hove in sight, and were chased by the enemy. The first care of Captain Pearson was to place himself between the enemy and his convoy, by which manoeuvre he enabled the whole, or the merchantmen to escape in safety into the port of Scarborough. - Night had now come on, but the moon shone with unusual brightness. About half past seven o'clock the thunder of the cannon announced that the engagement had commenced, and the inhabitants of the coast, on hastening to the cliffs, were presented with the sublime spectacle of a naval engagement by moonlight. The battle raged with unabated fury for two hours, when at length Captain Pearson, who was engaged by the two largest of the enemy's frigates was compelled to surrender. Captain Piercy made also a long and gallant defence against a superior force, but he was in the end obliged to strike to the Pallas. The enemy purchased his victory at a prodigious price, not less than 300 men being killed or wounded in the Bon Homme Richard alone, which vessel received so much injury that she sank the next day, with many of the wounded on board.

The port of Bridlington, though well situated for commerce, has never enjoyed any very extensive trade. Malt and ale were formerly considered its staple commodities, and large quantities of each were, as we learn from Mr. Thompson's historical sketch of that place, annually shipped to London. About half a century ago, the number of malt kilns here amounted to upwards of sixty, nearly all in full operation, but this trade has greatly declined, and most of the kilns have been either taken down or applied to other purposes, not more than six remaining, and even those only in partial employment. The market, which is held on Saturday, has existed for upwards of 600 years, and it is plentifully supplied with all the necessaries, and as many of the luxuries of life, as the wants of the inhabitants require. The corn market is well attended both by buyers and sellers, and this is one of the few ports from which the data for the average returns of the kingdom are supplied.

There are here two banking concerns: Messrs. Harding and Holtby, who draw on Sir J. W. Lubbock, Bart. Foster, Clarke, and Co. London; and Messrs, Hagues, Strickland, and Co., of the North-Riding Bank, who draw upon Barclay, Tritton, Bevan and Co. London. The post office is eligibly situated on the North side of the High street, and the information connected with this establishment will be found under its proper head, subjoined to the directory of the town.

The vicinity of Bridlington is healthful and agreeable. The valley which skirts the town on the South extends many miles to the West, and is adorned by the seats of Sir William Strickland, Bart. of Boynton; and of William Bosville, Esq. of Thorpehall, both which mansions are delightfully situated within a mile of each other, in a pleasant and fertile vale, watered by a romantic rivulet, and sheltered by rising ground on the north and on the south.

The following is the entire data from Langdale's Topographical Yorkshire Dictionary: --Market, Saturday. --Fairs, Monday before Whitsuntide Oct, 21, for horned cattle, linen, &c. --Bankers, Messrs. Harding, and Holtby, draw on Messrs. Sir John Lubbock and Co., Mansion-housestreet. --Principal Inn, Green Dragon and Black Lion. --Pop. including the Quay, 4275. The Church is a perpetual curacy, dedicated to St. Mary, in the deanry of Dickering, value, p.r. !83L. 10s. Patrons, Sir Francis Wood, Knight, and the Rev. A. Cooke.

Bridlington, situated within a mile of the sea, gives name to a commodious and beautiful Bay, which consists chiefly of one long street, upon the side of a small elevation; its situation is both pleasant and salubrious. The chief feature in Bridlington, is the grand remains of its once magnificent Priory, of which the church is almost its only vestige. This Priory, Walter de Gant, early in the reign of Henry I. founded for black Canons, of the order of St. Austin, and dedicated it to the Virgin Mary; and gave them all his estate in this town, and confirmed to them all other lands, which his tenants who held of him, had given them, --valued at the dissolution at 547L. 6s. 11d. per ann. Dugdale, and 682L. 13s. 9d, Speed. Wm. Wode or Wolde, the last Prior, was hanged at London in 1537, for high-treason, and the estates belonging to this priory confiscated.

"This Priory," says Burton, "was pleasantly situated, being defended on the north and north-west by the walls, having a pleasant prospect towards the sea, on the east and south-east side; but although the Canons reaped many advantages from such a situation, they, nevertheless, some times suffered from the ships of the enemy, that entered this harbour; wherefore, on a representation thereof, King Richard II. in 1388, granted them his licence to inclose this Priory with walls, and houses built of stone and lime, the same to fortify for the time to come".

No traces of the walls or fortifications are now visible, except an arched gateway. The lower part contains some dark rooms or dungeons, used as places of confinement for petty delinquents. Above the arch is a large room employed as a Town's hall, and adjoining it a National-school for boys. The Church of the Priory appears by its venerable remains, to have been a magnificent fabric. It had two towers at the west-end, long since made level with the nave. The east-end and the transept are gone, and what remains are only fragments of the ancient building. The west-end, which seems to have escaped the wanton rapacity of the commissioners of Henry VIII. yet displays much magnificence, and its architecture is of far more florid style than any other part. The date 1106, preserved on a stone placed very conspicuously over the entrance, is supposed to mark the year of its foundation. In 1813, a stone coffin was discovered, containing the bones, it is supposed, from an inscription on the margin of the stone, of Robert Brystwyk, the 25th Prior. --Burton. --Hinderwell.

The Register-book of this Priory is in the hands of Sir William Ingilby, of Ripley, Bart.

In 1643, Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I. landed at Burlington, from on hoard the Princess Royal of Great Britain, under convoy of Admiral Von Trump, from Helvoetsluys. The Queen had a narrow escape from the shot of Vice-Admiral Batter, who had drawn up his ship during the night opposite to where the Queen lay, and discharged upwards of 100 great shot, &c. some of which entered the very house where she slept, and obliged her to get up and seek shelter in a ditch. --Drake.

Of the men of eminent abilities, who were either natives or have resided in the Monastery, we find the following, John de Bridlington, a native of this place. He was twice elected Prior, and established as great a character for piety, that he was reputed a saint. He died in 1379, aged 60.

William, of Newburgh, the famous monkish historian, was also a native of Bridlington, though he took his name from the former place, where he was Canon regular. He lived in the reign of King John.

Robert the Scribe, the fourth prefect of the Canons regular, of this house. He took his name from his great dexterity in writing, an art of great importance before the invention of printing. He was not merely a transcriber from other works, but he left many of his own writings to posterity. He flourished about the year 1180. Sir George Ripley was also a Canon of this Monastery. He was a great alchemist, to the study of which he devoted all his time. He died in 1492. Some of his works were published by the late Elias Ashmole, Esq. in his Theatrum Chymicum Britannicum.

The longevity of Parr and Jenkins, is known to all; but, the extreme old age of Thomas Newman, has escaped the attention of historians:- a tablet to his memory, is in the church-yard, at Bridlington, with this short inscription:

 "1542
 Thomas Newman, aged 153." 

The stone was refaced in 1771, to preserve the
recollection of this remarkable prolongation of human life. --Hargrove.