Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for PICKERING

PICKERING, a town, a township, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a wapentake, in N. R. Yorkshire. The town stands on the side of a hill, at a rivulet or"beck" of its own name, adjacent to the Molton and Whitby railway, 26 miles N E by N of York; is fabled to have got its name from the recovery of a lost ring of a British king 270 years before the Christian era; datesfrom very ancient times; made some figure in connexionwith an ancient castle; sent members to parliament in the time of Edward I.; serves as a centre for visitingsome very fine surrounding scenery; is a seat of petty sessions and county courts; and has a post-office‡ under York, a railway station with telegraph, two banking offices, three chief inns, a church, five dissenting chapels, an endowed school with £78 a year, alms-houses, and aworkhouse. The castle stood on an eminence at the Nextremity of the town; appears first on record in the time of Henry III.; is believed to have succeeded a muchmore ancient fortalice; was the first prison of Richard II.; was visited by Richard III.; was besieged, captured, and dismantled, by the parliamentarians, in the time of Charles I.; and has left extensive and interesting ruins, occupying about three acres, and commanding fine views. The church is chiefly of the 14th century; includes someremains of Norman architecture; was extensively restored in 1861; consists of nave, aisles, transept, and chancel, with tower and lofty spire; and contains a piscina, threesedilia with sculptured canopies, and two fine old monuments. A weekly market is held on Monday; fairs areheld on the Monday before 14 Feb., the Monday before13 May, 25 Sept., and the Monday before 23 Nov.; and large quantities of brooms are made. Pop. of the townin 1851, 2, 511; in 1861, 2, 640. Houses, 588. The township comprises 14, 280 acres. Real property, £11, 266; of which £52 are in quarries. Pop. in 1851, 3, 112; in 1861, 3, 399. Houses, 728. The manor belonged, in the time of Edward the Confessor, to Morcar, Earl of Northumberland; went, at the Norman conquest, to the Crown; passed, through various hands, to John of Gaunt; and was afterwards annexed to the duchy of Lancaster. The parish contains also the townships of Kingthorpe, Marishes, and Goathland, and the chapelry of Newton. Acres, 31, 785. Real property, £17, 630. Pop. in 1851, 4, 161; in 1861, 4, 501. Houses, 943. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of York. Value, £230.* Patron, the Archbishop of York. The p. curacies of Goathland and Newton are separate benefices.

The sub-district excludes Goathland township, but includes four townships of Middleton. Acres, 26, 920. Pop., 4, 701. Houses, 983. The district comprehendsalso the sub-district of Lastingham, containing threetownships of Lastingham parish, three of Middleton, and the extra-parochial tract of Turnhill; the sub-district of Sinnington, containing two townships of Sinnington parish and two of Kirkby-Misperton; the sub-district of Allerston, containing the parishes of Allerston, Ebberston, Ellerburn, and Thornton-Dale; and the sub-district of Lockton, containing the parish of Levisham and the chapelry of Lockton. Acres, 88,062. Poor-rates in 1863, £2, 689. Pop. in 1851, 9, 978; in 1861, 10, 549. Houses, 2, 189. Marriages in 1863, 115; births, 395, of which 58 were illegitimate; deaths, 258, of which 96 were at ages under 5 years, and 6 at ages above85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 822; births, 3, 280; deaths, 1, 906. The places of worship, in 1851, were 14 of the Church of England, with 3, 346 sittings; 1 of Independents, with 400 s.; 1 of Quakers, with 224s.; 17 of Wesleyans, with 2, 222 s.; and 10 of Primitive Methodists, with 1, 463 s. The schools were 17 public day-schools, with 588 scholars; 36 private day-schools, with 480 s.; and 26 Sunday schools, with 1, 311 s. The wapentake contains fifteen parishes, and parts of twoothers; and is called Pickering Lythe. Acres, 150, 539. Pop. in 1851, 18, 221; in 1861, 17, 866. Houses, 3, 672.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a township, a parish, a sub-district, a district, and a wapentake"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Pickering AP/CP       Pickering SubD       Pickering RegD/PLU       Yorkshire AncC
Place: Pickering

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