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Pickering (St. Peter)

PICKERING (St. Peter), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in Pickering lythe, N. riding of York; containing, with the chapelries of Goadland and Newton, and the townships of Kingthorpe and Marishes, 3901 inhabitants, of whom 2992 are in the town, 26 miles (N. N. E.) from York, and 222 (N. by W.) from London. The origin of this place is said to be very remote, being dated by tradition 270 years before the commencement of the Christian era, and ascribed to Peridurus, a British king, who was interred here, on the brow of a hill called Rawcliff. According to local tradition, also, its name is derived from the circumstance of a ring having been lost by the founder whilst washing in the river Costa, and subsequently found in the belly of a pike. An ancient castle, of great strength, which occupied an eminence near the northern extremity of the place, was the prison of Richard II. after his deposition, and previously to his removal to Pontefract, where he was murdered. During the great civil war this fortress was dismantled by the parliamentary forces. The town is long and straggling, and situated on a declivity, at the bottom of which, and through part of the town, flows a stream named Pickering beck. The castle hill commands a fine view of the fertile vale of Pickering, and on one side is a mountainous district called Black or Blake Moor, which extends to a considerable distance, and furnishes materials for making brooms. On the river Costa, which rises at Keldhead, and on the Old Beck stream, are several flour-mills. The Whitby and Pickering railway, twentyfour miles long, was opened in 1838, and has since been extended from Pickering to the York and Scarborough line near Malton. The market is on Monday; and fairs are held on the Mondays before February 14th and May 13th, on September 25th, the Monday before November 23rd, and the second Monday in all the other months, principally for cattle.

Pickering was formerly of more importance than it is at present, and was the chief town in the district; in the 23rd of Edward I. it sent members to parliament. It is still the head of an honour in the duchy of Lancaster having jurisdiction throughout the lythe and wapentake, which are co-extensive, including two market-towns and forty-six townships. A manorial court, for all actions under 40s. arising within the honour, takes place on Monday in the first whole week after Easter-Monday, and on the first Monday after Old Michaelmas-day, at the court-house in the castle. The township comprises 12,152 acres, of which 4500 are common or waste land. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the patronage of the Dean of York, valued in the king's books at £8. 3. 9.; net income, £158. The great tithes have been commuted for £1181; the vicarial glebe consists of 38 acres. The church is an ancient and spacious edifice, with a lofty spire. At Newton is a chapel of ease, and at Goadland a separate incumbency. There are places of worship in the parish for the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans. The free school is supported by the interest of various endowments, amounting to about £80, with some small legacies. The union of Pickering comprises twenty-eight parishes or places, and contains a population of 10,251. On Pickering Moor are vestiges of two Roman encampments of great strength, and there are several others between the barrows and the town, as well as on the western moors.


Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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