Ledsham (All Saints)

LEDSHAM (All Saints), a parish, in the Upper division of the wapentake of Barkstone-Ash, W. riding of York; containing, with the township of Fairburn and part of Ledstone, 1061 inhabitants, of whom 340 are in the township of Ledsham, 4½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Ferry-Bridge. This parish, which is near the great north road, comprises by computation 5150 acres. The soil is in some parts fertile, in others luxuriantly rich, but in more very indifferent land; the substratum abounds with coal and limestone of excellent quality, of which several mines and quarries are in operation. The village is pleasantly situated in a vale, near the source of a rivulet. Facility of conveyance is afforded by the Aire and Calder rivers, which bound the parish; and the Leeds and Selby, and York and North-Midland railways both pass in the immediate vicinity. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 4. 2.; net income, £397, with a glebehouse; patron, the Rev. Charles Medhurst. The vicarial tithes of Ledsham township have been commuted for £46, and the glebe consists of 52 acres. The church contains a splendid monument to Lady Elizabeth Hastings and her two sisters; she is represented seated on a sarcophagus, reading a book of devotion, and the statues of her sisters Frances and Ann are on pedestals by her side: opposite is a monument of Sir John and Lady Lewis, her grandfather and grandmother. Schools for 20 boys and 20 orphan girls, the latter of whom are also fed and clothed, were liberally endowed by Lady Elizabeth. An hospital for five aged bachelors and six unmarried women was founded in 1670, by Sir John Lewis, who endowed it with £60 per annum; the endowment was augmented by Lady E. Hastings, with a rent-charge, which has been increased by her trustees, and by benefactions, and the present income exceeds £152 per annum: the building was repaired in the year 1816.