New Yorkshire Gazetteer (1828) page 222
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the tbwnship of High Abbotside, pa-
rish of Aysgarth, wapentake of Hang
West, 1 mile N. E. from Hawes. Near
this place are several subterraneous ca-
verns, called the Maze Holes, the roofs
and sides of which are covered with va-
rious petrifactions and incrustations.

Segsworth, W. R. (4) a hamlet
in the township of Fountains Earth,
parish of Kirkby Malzeard, wapentake
of Claro,
2ยง miles N. from Pateley
Bridge.

Selby, W. R. (5) a parish, town-
ship, and market town, in the wapen-
take of Barkston Ash, 3 miles S. E.
from Cawood, 15 S. from York, 181
from London; inhabitants, 4097; a
vicarage, value 17/. 10s.; patron, the
Hon. E. Petre; market, Monday; fairs,
Easter Tuesday, June 22, and Oct. 11.
Here is a grammar school, founded by
Edward VI., and a hospital for seven
poor widows, endowed by Leonard
Chamberlain. Selby is situated on the
west bank of the Ouse, which glides by
in a deep, broad, and majestic stream :
the bridge, constructed of timber, is
contrived to open and shut, for the ad-
mission of vessels, in the space of one
minute. The town is tolerably well
built, and has a handsome Gothic mar-
ket cross. Here is a manufactory for
sail-cloth, an iron foundery, and a ship-
yard, for the building of small vessels,
which can now clear out for any part of
the kingdom, without being compelled
to stop at Hull, as formerly, a branch
custom-house having lately been here
erected: by means of the canal from
the Ouse to the Aire and Calder na-
vigation, a communication has been
opened with Leeds, and Selby has thus
become the unloading port for the West
Riding. The steam packets which now
ply from this place to Hull, add much
to the briskness of the town. The soil
of the surrounding district is rich, and
large quantities of woad are planted for
the use of the dyers; the warp land,
over which the waters of the Ouse
are permitted to flow, are particularly
luxuriant; by means of sluices, the wa-
ter is detained till it deposits a sedi-
ment, and on land so fertilized, much
spring corn is grown. The ancient
glory of Selby was its monastery,
founded by William the Conqueror,
for Benedictine Friars, in 1069; in the
following year, the King visiting Selby
with his Queen Matilda, she was here
delivered of a son, Henry I.; and it
was probably on this account that the
abbey was'favoured by his successors,
with many privileges; the abbots of
Selby and York were the only two
mitred abbots north of the Trent; the
monastery flourished in great splen-
dour till its dissolution, in 1539: the
remains of the abbey church show it to
have been a noble fabric, erected at va-
rious periods, and in different styles of
architecture: in 1690 the great tower
fell down, and did great injury to the
south end of the transept, and to the
roof of the south aisle, but this ancient
edifice is still majestic in its niins: the
present steeple was erected about the
year 1702; the west part of the struc-
ture and the porch are worthy of par-
ticular notice. Selby gave birth to
Thomas Johnson, a botanist, who pub-
lished the first local catalogue of plants
in the kingdom; but his great work was
an improved edition of Gerard’s Herbal;
he was killed in a skirmish with the par-
liamentarians, in 1644, at the siege of
Basing-house, having been raised to the
rank of colonel in the royalist army.
The parish and township of Selby are
co-extensive.

Selside, W. R. (4) a hamlet in the
township and parish of Horton, wapen-
take of Ewcross, 9 miles N. from Set-
tle. A little to the north of this village
is Alum, Pot, a cavity in the limestone
rock, about ten yards in diameter, and
of tremendous depth; a rivulet falling
into this pit, fills it with spray, and in-
creases the horror of the abyss.

Sessay, N. R. (5) a parish and




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