Skelton or Skelton in Cleveland, North Riding of Yorkshire
Historical Description
Skelton or Skelton-in-Cleveland, a township and a parish in the N.R. Yorkshire. The township stands 2 miles S by W of Saltburn station on the N.E.R., and 3½ NE of Guisbrough, was once a market-town, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office. It includes the villages of Skelton, Skelton Green, New Skelton, North Skelton, Lingdale, and Boosbeck, and comprises 4309 acres; population, 6382; of the ecclesiastical parish, 7886. The parish includes besides these the township of Stanghow, the villages of Stanghow, Margrove Park, and Charlton, and the township of Moorsholm, which comprises Great and Little Moorsholm and Gerrick. It is governed with Brotton by an urban district council consisting of twenty-one members. The manor was given by William the Conqueror to Robert de Bruce. Skelton Castle was built in the 12th century by one of the Bruces, passed to the Fauconbergs, the Nevilles, and others; was the residence of John Hall Stevenson, the " Eugenius " of Sterne's " Tristram Shandy," and the author of " Crazy Tales;" retains few portions of its original masonry, yet is all very ancient, and belongs now to the Wharton family. Skelton is a great centre of ironstone mining, the mineral being found at a depth of 64 fathoms in some places. The average annual output is 200,000 tons. The living is a rectory in the diocese of York; gross value, £580 with residence, with £330 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for three curates. Patron, the Archbishop of York. The old church was rebuilt in 1785, and a new parish church was built 1 mile east of it in 1884. This has a clock tower with six bells. Both are used for divine service. There is an iron church at Boosbeck, and a new stone church at Moorsholm. There are two Methodist chapels, a cottage hospital, a cemetery, and charities.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Yorkshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Skelton All Saints | |
Liberty | Langbaurgh | |
Poor Law union | Guisborough | |
Riding | North |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Skelton or Skelton in Cleveland from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Skelton (All Saints))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for the North Riding of Yorkshire is available to browse.
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following North Riding newspapers online: