Seaton Ross Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

SEATON ROSS:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake of Harthill (Holme Beacon Division) - County Council Division of Londesborough - Petty Sessional Division of Holme Beacon - Poor Law Union and County Court District of Pocklington - Rural Deanery of Weighton - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish comprises an area of 3,426 acres, of which 3,391 acres are available for assessment. The rateable value is £3,010, and the popoulation in 1891, 401. The soil is generally sandy, and the subsoil clay and sand. The usual cereal and root crops are cultivated. The Selby and Market Weighton branch of the North-Eastern railway passes through the parish, but the nearest station is at Holme, in the adjoining parish.

The manor anciently belonged to the Seatons, one of whom married the sister of the King of Scotland. Subsequently, through this marriage, the family became more Scotch than English, and in the wars between England and Scotland, in the reign of Edward I., they espoused the cause of the latter country. Their English lands were in consequence forfeited, and this lordship was granted to Edmund de Mauley, as a reward for his valour in those wars. From his descendants it passed to the family of Ross, but was again forfeited with other estates by the fidelity of Thomas, Lord Ross, to the House of Lancaster. It was given by Edward IV. to John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, and subsequently came into the possession of the Constables of Everingham, from whom it has descended to the present owner, Lord Herries, of Everingham Park, who is also the principal landowner. The other proprietors are Major Preston, of Moreby Hall; the Vicar of Seaton Ross (43 acres of glebe); Thomas Middleton, Albert Stephen Walker, and James Fisher, Seaton Ross; Ann F. Birdock Croft, R. H. Southern Estcourt, and several small freeholders.

The long and straggling village stands about six miles S. by W. of Pocklington. The church, a plain red brick building, dedicated to St. Edmund, consists of chancel, nave, and small west tower, containing one bell. It was rebuilt in 1789 by W. H. Maxwell Constable, Esq., and the parishioners. The interior is plain, with plastered walls and ceiling. An old massive stone font stands at the west end, but is not now used. The registers date from the year 1653. The living is a vicarage, worth £95 a year, including glebe land, in the gift of Lord Herries, and held by the Rev. Edmund Wm. Atkinson, who resides at Harswell.

In the churchyard lies buried William Watson, who died in 1857. On his tombstone is the following doggerel rhyme

       "At this church I so often with pleasure did call,
       That I made a sun dial upon the church wall."
 

He was a farmer, and obtained a considerable local fame for making sun dials.

There are chapels in the village belonging to the Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists. The former was built in 1822; the latter was rebuilt in 1878, at a cost of £200, and will seat 130.

The National school, a grey brick building erected in 1858, stands near the centre of the village, and is attended by about 60 children.

On the borders of the parish is the hamlet of Rytham Gate, where formerly stood the gate that separated the common from the enclosed land.

Charities - Mr. Henry Watson, of Thorpe Arch, but a native of this parish, by will dated 20th February, 1873, bequeathed the sum of £150, the interest thereof to be distributed yearly among the poor of the parish of Seaton Ross about Christmas time. With this money £163 0s. 0d. consolidated three per cent. annuities were purchased. The poor also receive 10s. a year from Lord Herries, the same sum from Lord Leconfield and Mr. Michael Sanderson, of Seaton Ross and 3s. 4d. from Wood's dole.

[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.