YORK.sHIR'E. 



coiumii, with afuitableiiifcriptioii and trophies, was ordered 

 by Coiigrefs to be ercttcd on the fpot in commemoration ot 

 ttie event ; 8 miles E. of Wilhamfburgh. 



YORKSHIRE, a county in the northern part ot 

 England, which, for extent, for its number of inhabitants, 

 and for its natural and artificial produdions, is by tar the 

 n.oft confiderable in the kingdom. In its general form the 

 county is an irregular quadrangle ; the longeft diagonal ex- 

 tends from N.W. to S.E. about 130 miles, and the fliorteft 

 from S.W. to N.E. about 90 miles. The area of the 

 county comprehends about 5,960 fquare miles, or above 

 3,814,000 (latute acres. Yorklhire, taken at its extreme 

 points, is fituated between the parallels of 53° 18', and 

 54° 40' N. latitude-, and between 2° 40' of W. and o" 10' 

 of E. longitude from Gre.-nwich. On the N., the E., and 

 part of the S. fides, it i? diilinttly defined by rivers and by 

 the fea. On the N. it is feparated in its whole extent, from 

 the county of Durham, by the river Tees. From the 

 mouth of r is river to the entrance of the Humber, the 

 whole E. )' is wafhed by the German ocean. By the 

 eftuary of »he Humber and the river Trent, it is divided 

 from Lincolnfhire oa the S. The limits between York- 

 fhire, and the count-es of Nottingham, Derby, and Cheller 

 on the S., and tbife feparating it from Lancafhire and 

 Weftmoreland on the W., are merely conventional, being 

 indicated by no natural feature of the country ; the latter, 

 however, in general, coincide with the mountainous range 

 which diftinguifhes the northern from the fouthern pro- 

 vinces of England. At a very early period of the Saxon 

 dominion, the great county of York was fubdivided into 

 three diftrifts, lliU recognifed, and ilill under the corrupted 

 name of ridings. Thefe are termed north, eaft, and weft, 

 in reference to their relative pofitions with refpeA to each 

 other, and to the capital city of the county. The North 

 Riding is fubdivided into 1 2 wapentakes, the Eaft into 7, and 

 the Weft into 1 1 wapentakes ; the whole county thus con- 

 taining 30 wapentakes and 563 parilhes. The wapentake, 

 a divifion adopted in certain northern counties of England, 

 correfponds generally to the cantred or hundred of the 

 fouthern provinces. The whole county comprehends one 

 archiepifcopal city, York, and 59 market-towns, of which 

 13 are parliamentary boroughs. Of thofc laft in the 

 North Rid)agare 5, viz. Malton, Northallerton, Richmond, 

 Scarborough, and Thirfk ; the Eaft Riding contains three^ 

 boroughs, Beverley, Heydon, and Hull ; in the Weft Riding 

 the five boroughs are, Aldborough, Boroughbridge, Knaref- 

 borough, Pontefraft, and Ripon. Yorkftiire fends thirty 

 members to parliament ; viz. two for the county, two for 

 the city, and two for each of the borouglis juft named. 

 According to the official reports made in 18 ri, the number 

 of houfes and iniiabitants in the county was the following : 

 — In the North Riding 33,567 houfes, and 152,445 inha- 

 bitants; in the Eaft Riding (York city included), 31,420 

 houfes, and 167,353 inhabitants ; and in the Weft Riding, 

 129,575 houfes, and 653,315 inhabitants. From this ilate- 

 nient, Yorkfhire, at that period, contained altogetlier 

 194,562 houfes, and 973,113 inhabitants, or on an average 

 163 perfons for each fquare ftatute mile. 



General Appearance^ Soil, and Climate Yorkftiire is an 



extenfive and interefting county : in its geographical fea- 

 tures, and geological charafteriftics, it prefents important 

 themes for inquiry and difquifition. Its a.xient hiftory, 

 and the numerous antiquities with which it abounds, afford 

 other and not lefs interefting topics for inveftigation and 

 comment. The manufaftures, commerce, and trade of the 

 county ; its mineral produftions, and agricultural praftices, 

 are alfo entitled to the moft careful and critical develope- 



9 



ment of the topographer. It is, however, to be regretted, 

 that neither of thefe fubjefts has hitherto been fatisfaAorily 

 elucidated by a local hiftorian : whence we ftiall be necefli- 

 tated to relort to and cautioufly analyfe feveral detached 

 and imperfeft works, to rendes a ftiort topographical ac- 

 count of this widely-extended county in any degree iifeful 

 to the general reader. In the fequel thefe works will be 

 referred to. 



Yorkftiire prefents a great variety of furface : mountains, 

 hills, vales, moors, fens, rocks, coaft, and rivers, are its 

 component parts ; but thefe are greatly diverfified. The 

 North Riding confifts principally of two hilly regions, 

 feparated by a comparatively low traft, which opens on the 

 S. into the Ipacious plain or vale of York. The hilly parts 

 are commonly termed, from their pofition and their nature, 

 the E. and the W. moorlands. Thofe on the E. bounded by 

 the valley of the river Tees on the N., and by the fea on the 

 N.E., occupy a fpace of 30 miles from W. to E. by about 

 half as much from N. to S. They confift in general of 

 bleak heath, interfperfed with loofe blocks of ftone, or with 

 peat-mofs and bog. The whole is deftitute of wood, ex- 

 cepting in a few interefting dales or valleys, where culti- 

 vation is prafticable. Of thefe dales a few are of moderate 

 extent, particularly Eflcdale and B'lfdale, in the eaftern 

 parts toward the fea. The weftern extremity of thefe 

 moorlands, in the diftrift of Hamilton, produces heath in- 

 termingled with large quantities of coarfe grafs. Between 

 the N. edge of the moorlands and the river Tees is the fertile 

 diftrift of Cleveland. Several produftive valleys interfeft 

 the W. moorlands, of which Wenfleydale is the moft con- 

 fiderable. Watered by the river Ure, the bottom of the 

 valley furnifties rich grazing grounds, bordered on each fide 

 by floping inclofed fields, which reach up the hills for more 

 than a mile from the river. In the Eaft Riding the face <if 

 the country, although varied, is lefs boldly charafterizeJ 

 than that in the N. It is divided in the middle into two 

 extenfive plains, by the Wolds, a range of hills ftretching 

 N. and S. Towards the fea the coaft of this Riding is in 

 general low when compared with that of the North Riding; 

 but in feveral places it rifes to cliffs of confiderable height, 

 as at and in the vicinity of Flamborough-head. The S.E. 

 part of this Riding confifts chiefly of a traft of fen and 

 mardi, about 20 miles in length, and four in breadth, which 

 fpreads from the fea to the Humber. This part of the 

 Riding, forming the wapentake of Holdernefs, runs out to 

 the S.E. and S., and terminates its courfe at the Spurn, a 

 well-known point on the N. fhore of the Humber. A 

 fucceflion of eafy rifings forms the eaftern afcent of the 

 range of the Wolds ; but on other fides they are fteep ; and 

 the whole have an agreeable and pecuHar appearance. 

 Confidered with refpeft to extent and population, to manu- 

 faftures and trade, the Weft Riding is by far the moft im- 

 portant divifion of Yorkftiire. Its furface i< very irregular, 

 varying from the low marftiy trafts in the E. to the rocky 

 mountainous country in the W. The level marfhes are the 

 continuation of thofe already mentioned in the Eaft Riding, 

 and extend weftward nearly to the great N. road through 

 Doncafter. Still farther weftward lies the middle divifion 

 of the Weft Riding, gradually and beautifully fwelling into 

 hills, and extending to Sheffield, Bradford, and Ottley. 

 Beyond thefe towns, the country becomes rugged and 

 mountainous, and is compofed chiefly of black moors, 

 which terminate in the lofty range of hills bordering 

 on Lancafhire. Thefe hilly and mountainous trafts are 

 not, however, without many beautiful and romantic 

 valleys, among which are thofe watered by the rivers 

 Aire, Nid, and Wharf. Several of the fmaller daks are 



-B-elL 



