Speeton Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

SPEETON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake and Petty Sessional Division of Dickering - Electoral Division of Flamborough - Poor Law Union, County Court District, and Rural Deanery of Bridlington - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish, formerly a chapelry under Bridlington, contains 1,844 acres of land, lying on the coast between Reighton and Buckton. It is valued for rating purposes at £1,955, and had, in 1891, a population of 151. The earl of Londesborough is lord of the manor and principal landowner, and Col. Yarburgh G. Lloyd-Greame has also some land in the township. The surface rises into a ridge, which terminates in a bold cliff on the coast. The highest point was anciently known as Ravencliffe. Here a beautiful view unfolds itself, extending from Scarborough to Flamborough head. These cliffs are the haunts of vast numbers of sea fowl, especially in the breeding season, from June to August, and their eggs are collected by the natives, who let themselves down over the face of the rock by means of a rope, one end of which is tied round the waist of the daring adventurer, and the other securely fastened to a stake firmly driven into the earth. Puffins, auks, petrels, guillemots, and several varieties of the gull are found here. These rocks are also interesting from a geological point. The regular stratification is dislocated by a fault which may be seen and studied at Speeton Gap. The softer strata - a kind of bluish clay - abound with the fossil relics of a former world, such as belemnites, ammonites, several beautiful crustacea, &c. The soil is wold chalk, the subsoil chalk and clay, and the chief crops wheat, barley, oats, and turnips.

The village stands a little off the main road from Hunmanby to Flamborough, about five-and-a-half miles north-by-west of Bridlington, and half-a-mile from the railway station on the Hull and Scarborough line. The church which is dedicatd to St. Leonard, is an ancient stone structure, consisting of chancel, nave, and a square bell turret containing one bell. It was probably founded by the canons of Bridlington, to whom the village was given by one of their early benefactors. The chancel arch is Norman, and the font is ancient, but there is very little of interest about the deserted and dilapidated building. The living is a vicarage, gross value £40, in the gift of the Earl of Londesborough, and held conjointly with Bempton.

The Wesleyan Chapel is a plain brick building, erected in 1847, at a cost of £125, exclusive of the site, which was given by the lord of the manor.

For scholastic purposes the parish is under a School Board, whose jurisdiction also extends over Reighton. The Board was formed in 1875, and consists of five members. The school, which stands midway between the two villages, was erected in 1876, for the accommodation of 80 children.

Near the village is an eminence called Standard hill, whereon was formerly a beacon. Stone axe heads, arrow heads, and other flint implements of the early Britons have been frequently fcund in the locality.

[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.