Scalby Parish information from Bulmers' 1890.

SCALBY:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890.

Wapentake of Pickering Lythe - Petty Sessional Division of Pickering Lythe East - Electoral Division of Scalby - Poor Law Union, County Court District, and Rural Deanery of Scarborough - Archdeaconry of East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish comprises the townships of Scalby and Throxenby, the area of the whole being 3,992 acres, and the population 802. The commons and open fields of the parish were enclosed under an Act passed in 1771. The township of Scalby contains 2,730 acres (including 126 acres of sea coast), and 600 inhabitants. The rateable value is £4,623. The principal landowners are the commissioners for the Ducby of Lancaster, who are lords of the manor; and Lord Derwent. The village of Scalby stands 2½ miles N.W. of Scarborough, four miles east of Hackness, and one mile from the coast, and has a station on the Scarborough and Whitby railway. It is situated on the New Cut which connects the Derwent with the sea, and runs from Mowthorpe near Everby, to the German Ocean at Scalby Mills Hotel. This cut was made in 1804, by the Commissioners of the Muston and Yedingham drainage. Scalby is a place of considerable antiquity. In Domesday Book Scallebi is mentioned as a member of the manor of Walesgrif or Falsgrave. The lands of Scalby subsequently came into the Percy family. Later on Scalby became the lordship of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, who, dying in 1362, his great estates were divided between his two daughters, Maude and Blanche, the latter of whom was married to John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond, afterwards Duke of Lancaster. The manor now belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster. The church (St. Lawrence), is an ancient structure, erected on a commanding site near the Hackness Boad. From this point the elevated range of woods, extending from Raincliffe to Everley, and Silpho to Whitby Moor, stands out in bold relief. It is a neat stone edifice of considerable antiquity, but of what age cannot be accurately determined. Formerly it was in the hands of the Prior of Burlington, having been presented to that establishment by Eustace Fitz John, about 1150. At the dissolution it was given to the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, in whose gift it still remains. It consists of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch, and tower with three bells. In 1887 the church was repaired both externally and internally by private subscriptions and the produce of a bazaar. There are five stained windows, and many brass memorials. The stained east window is of three lights, representing respectively the Baptism, Last Supper, and Crucifixion of Christ. This window, which is richly decorated, was the gift of Mrs. Betsy Hardcastle, of Scalby Villa, in memory of her husband, Timothy Hardcastle, Esq. A new organ was put in, in 1865. The register commences in 1556. The living is a vicarage of the net value of £380. The first incumbent of whom there is any record was Master Henry Dixon, who was inducted in 1238, and in 1662, the celebrated William Mompesson was instituted, and remained here about three years. The present incumbent is the Rev. W. C. Robinson, who has held the living since 1876. Scalby old school was built by subscription in 1828, adjoining the churchyard, during the incumbency of the Rev. Mr. Thurlow. A new building has superseded the old one since 1861, and since then has been enlarged by the addition of a class-room. Average 120. The Wesleyans have a chapel here built in 1873, and the Primitive Methodists meet in the Temperance Hall.

Near Cambouts, Camboots, or Cam Butts (a large hill near Scalby), a tumulus was opened in 1843, in which were found two urns, with arrow heads of flint, and some bones. In Scarborough museum, where these relics were deposited, is also an ancient pitcher, found in Scalby churchyard. On the estate of Mr. Hardcastle, in "Duck Field," was found, by a tenant farmer, Mr. Manson, a girdle of pure gold, 35 inches long, weighing 2½ ounces. Afterwards, on the marriage of Mr. Hardcastle, this girdle formed part of the bride's adornments.

On the night of the 6th August, this neighbourhood was visited by a destructive storm of wind and rain. One man and his family, whose house was swept away, had a miraculous escape. Many houses were flooded to the depth of five or six feet; besides the bridges near the church, Newby bridge was also washed away. The sands, after the storm, from Scalby mill tea gardens to Peaseholme presented a sad scene - the immense quantity of debris including trees, broken bridges, dead pigs, &c., brought down by the flood.

In 1625, the plague which visited England, reached Scalby, and few escaped. The Corporation built a pest house in a retired spot in the Holmes to isolate the disease. Many devices were resorted to to ward off the infection. The family of a medical man attributed their escape to fasting, eating rue and figs every morning. One lady, about to become a mother, caused a cow house in a pasture to be fitted up as a chamber, and hung with the undressed skins of sheep. It is stated that those engaged in tanning and tallow chandlery, escaped the contagion.

The famous bloodhounds, recently used in London for the purpose of tracking the mysterious "Jack the Ripper," are the property of Mr. Edwin Brough, Wyndgate, about a mile from the village.

CHARITIES. - There are almshouses for four widows; bread given every Sunday, valued at £15 a year, coals at Christmas, and one shilling each, three times a year, to 20 poor persons.

THROXENBY township, with Newby, forms a joint township since 1866. It has an area of 1,262 acres, of the rateable value of £3,667, and a population of 202. The principal landowners are the Commissioners of the Duchy of Lancaster, who own the manorial rights, and Lord Londesborough. The hamlet, which is small, is distant about two miles W. by N. from Scarborough, and three quarters of a mile from Scalby. Throxenby Hall is a plain old fashioned building, at present occupied by Lieut.-Col. Hebden, Newby Hall, now a farmhouse, and the property of Lieut.-Col. Steble, is on the site of an old hall built by Christopher Keld, in 1660.

[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire (1890)]

Directories

• Transcript of the entry for the Post Office, professions and trades in Bulmer's Directory of 1890.

Scan, OCR and html by Colin Hinson. Checking and correction by Peter Nelson.