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Wrangbrook, N. R. (1) a ham-
let in the township of North Elmsall,
parish of South Kirkby, wapentake
of Osgoldcross, 7 miles S. from Pon-
tefract.
Wrelton, N. R. (2) a township
in the parish of Middleton, wapentake
of Pickering Lythe, 3 miles N. W. from
Pickering; inhabitants, 193.
Wrenthorpe, W. R. (8) a town-
ship with Stanley, in the parish of
Wakefield, wapentake of Agbrigg, 1
mile N. from Wakefield. Wrenthorpe
seems to be an alteration from War-
renthorpe, it being once a part of the
manor belonging to the Earls War-
renne; by some strange corruption
the place is now commonly called Po-
tovens.
Wressle, E. R. (5) a parish and
township with Loftsome, in the divi-
sion of Holme Beacon, 6 miles E. from
Selby; inhabitants, 183; a vicarage,
value 5/. 13s. 9d.-, patron, the Earl of
Egremont. Wressle is remarkable for
the remains of its ancient castle, built by
Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, in
the time of Richard II.: the castle and
manor continued in the Percy family
till the death of Josceline, the eleventh
Earl of Northumberland, in 1670, when
. the barony of Percy descended to his
daughter, who married Charles Sey-
mour, Duke of Somerset; the Seymours
continued lords of Wressle till the
year 1750, when the Duke of Somerset
dying without issue male, his estates
were separated; those which came from
the Percy family, were divided be-
tween his daughter, who married Sir
Hugh Smithson, and his nephew, Sir
Charles Windham, who succeeded to
the title of Earl of Egremont; to this
noblemen fell the Yorkshire estates of
the Percy’s, and in his descendant, the
present earl, they now remain. Wressle
castle was a quadrangular building with
five towers, one at each corner, and
one over the gateway ; it was moated
round on three sides, being erected on |
a site just sufficiently elevated to pro-
tect it from the inundations of the river
Derwent, the prospects which it com-
mands are consequently totally unpic-
turesque : in this castle, the Earls of
Northumberland displayed a magnifi-
cence, resembling, and scarcely inferior
to that of the royal court; their house-
hold was established on the same plan,
their officers bore the same titles, and
their warrants ran in the same style :
various curious information respecting
this picture of feudal manners, are de-
tailed in a scarce book, published in
1770, by the Duke of Northumber-
land, entitled, “ The regulations and
establishment of the household of Hen-
ry Algernon Percy, the fifth Earl of
Northumberland, at his castles of Wre-
sill and Leckenfield, in Yorkshire, be-
gun 1512.” The civil war of Charles I.,
proved fatal to this splendid man-
sion, as, notwithstanding the earl had
espoused the parliamentarian cause, an
order was issued, in 1650, for disman-
tling Wressle castle-; three sides of the
quadrangle were thrown down, the
south side alone beiqg left to serve as a
manor house ; thus shorn of its great-
ness, it was soon deserted as a man-
sion by its lords, and was occupied as
a farm house till the year 1796, when an
accidental fire nearly completed its
destruction, and the naked walls are
now the only remains ot this monu-
ment of ancient < The parish
of Wressle contairs tlm township of
Newsholme and irrnd Entire popu-
lation, 360. ;
Wrose, iW. R. (4) a hamlet in the
township of Idle, parish of Calverley,
wapentake of Morley, 3 miles N. from
Bradford.
Wycliffe, N. R. (1) a parish and
township with Thorpe, in the wapen-
take of Gilling West, 2 miles E. from
Greta Bridge; inhabitants, 153; a rec-
tory, value 14/. 12s. Id.-, patron, Francis
Constable, Esq. Wycliffe Hall is the
seat of Mrs. Constable. The church is |
