SNAITH, a parish, in the West riding of the county of YORK,
comprising the market-town of
Snaith, the chapelries of Armin, Hooke, and Rawcliff,
and the townships of Balne, Cowick, Goole, Gowdall,
Hick, Hensall, and Pollington, in the lower division
of the wapentake of OSGOLDCROSS, and the chapelry of
Carleton, in the lower division of the wapentake of
BARKSTONE-ASH, West riding of the county of YORK,
and containing 6909 inhabitants, of which number, 834
are in the town of Snaith, 23 miles (S. by E.) from York,
and 175 (N. by W.) from London. The town is situated
on a gentle declivity on the south bank of the river Aire:
it is small and irregularly built; the streets are lighted
with oil; the houses are chiefly of brick, and rather of
mean appearance, but a few handsome and substantial
dwellings have been lately erected; the inhabitants are
well supplied with water from wells. Flax is cultivated in
the neighbourhood to a considerable extent, and conveyed
to the market at Leeds by the river Aire: the canal
from Knottingley to Goole passes southward of the
town. The market is on Thursday, and fairs are held
on the last Thursday in April, and August 10th, for
cattle, &c. Courts are occasionally held for the manor.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the jurisdiction of
the peculiar court of Snaith, and in the patronage of
Nicholas Edmund Yarburgh, Esq. The church, dedicated
to St. Mary, is an ancient and spacious structure,
in the later style of English architecture, with a low
square tower surmounted with pinnacles and a belfry
of wood. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan
Methodists. The free grammar school is of unknown
foundation: in 1741, Nicholas Waller gave a rent-charge
of £30 for its endowment: twenty boys are educated,
but classical instruction has been long discontinued.
There are almshouses for six poor persons, founded by
the Yarburgh family; and others for six poor widows,
which were rebuilt, in 1802, by Lord Viscount Downe.