YORK IN ITS REGIONAL SETTING 7 



evidence of the significance, historically, of its marshes. After a lapse of 

 centuries, Drake's map of 1736 shows very little settlement outside the 

 mediasval walls ; only a few dwellings in their immediate shadow in 

 Bootham, Monkgate and Marygate. Life and property were not yet 

 altogether secure, and economically the city was languishing. Significant 

 extra-mural expansion was delayed yet another hundred years. With the 

 arrival of the railway, fresh life was breathed into the city, following three 

 centuries of decline due, in large measure, to the decay of the Ouse as an 

 artery of traffic. The railway reached York in 1839 (eight years after the 

 birth of the British Association in the city), and in response houses, 

 primarily of the working-class type, began to spring up beyond the walls 

 mainly to the south and the north-east. The influence of the gravel ridges 

 in connection with these and later developments is discernible, revealing 

 itself in the arms of dwelling-houses extending in the directions of Escrick 

 and Bishopthorpe, along the Mount, and to the village of Acomb.^ 

 More recently, expansion has been particularly marked to the north of the 

 city and on its east side ; this continues. Noteworthy in this connection 

 are the Cocoa Works Model Village at Earswick and the Corporation 

 Housing Scheme at Tang Hall. The limitations placed upon the expan- 

 sion of population north-west and south-east along the banks of the Ouse 

 remain as ever. Within about a mile and a half of Ouse Bridge, in both 

 directions, the river is liable to flood. Such land, however, provides open 

 space and in places is suitable for industrial purposes. The present centre 

 of industry is in the neighbourhood of Foss Island. It is not possible here 

 to enlarge upon the town-planning proposals for York and its rural 

 neighbours to the north, east, and south. It must suffice to say that the 

 demarcation of zones within the area incorporated under the scheme, and 

 the ring and other arterial roads now being developed, will, it is hoped, 

 ensure the healthy expansion of population and industry, and meet the 

 acute need for relieving the traffic congestion in the heart of the city while 

 also preserving its ancient and historic monuments in an appropriate 

 setting. 



Economically, York retains its age-old place as a route centre and the 

 principal market town of a rich agricultural region. Before 1757, when 

 the lock was built at Naburn, about 5 miles below the city, the Ouse was 

 tidal up to York, and the golden age in her economic history depended 

 upon the sea-going boats that tied up to her quays. Early in the sixteenth 

 century the silting of the Ouse was already beginning to agitate certain 

 minds, and, with the progressive increase in the size of sea-going boats in 

 later days, the tonnage reaching the city dwindled until in the eighteenth 

 century it ceased. The Ouse is still serving the city, however, and about 

 140,000 tons per annum are at present carried to and from York by the 

 waterway. The boats most commonly employed carry from 80 to 1 10 tons, 

 chiefly coal, gravel and cement. A larger type, able to accommodate 

 a cargo of about 230 tons, is favoured for the transport of grain and seeds 

 for crushing. 



* It is realised that it is natural for a town to expand along its approach roads, 

 and as these gravel ridges carry such roads they have attracted houses to them. 

 Yet it is fair to claim a direct influence as above. 



