Masham in 1843
Masham is a parish and market-town, partly in the liberties of St. Peter of York and Richmondshire, but chiefly in the wapentake of Hang-East, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, about 218 miles from London, 30 miles north-west of York, and 14 miles south by east of Richmond, pleasantly situated on the western bank of the Ure, in a very fertile country, near the boundary of the West Riding. The parish comprises the townships of Masham, Burton-upon-Yore, Ellingstring, Ellingtons, Fearby, Healy-with-Sutton, Ilton-with-Pott, and Swinton-with-Warthermask, and had an aggregate population of 2,995 in 1831, and 2,974 in 1841.
The living is a vicarage, annexed to that of Kirkby-Malzeard, in the archdeaconry of Richmond and diocese of Ripon, and was formerly a prebend, the richest in the cathedral church of York. The church is small, but handsome, with a lofty spire, and dedicated to St. Mary ; and there are chapels for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists, and several schools, one of which is a grammar-school, founded in 1760 by William Danby, Esq., and endowed with about £50 per annum, and another a charity-school for 36 children, on the same foundation, and endowed with about £24 per annum from the benefaction of three other persons.
The town is well built, and has a considerable manufacture of woollen yarn, and a flax-mill, which in 1838 employed 122 persons. Coarse straw-plait for making hats is also produced here. The town has a weekly market, of but little importance, on Wednesday, and fairs on the 17th, 18th, and 19th of September. The population of the township of Masham alone was 1,276 in 1831, and 1,318 in 1841. |