STANWICK (ST-JOHN), a parish in the western division
of the wapentake of GILLING, North riding of
the county of YORK, comprising the townships of Aldbrough,
Caldwell, East Layton, and Stanwick St.
John, and containing, exclusively of a portion of the
township of Stapleton, which is in this parish, 928 inhabitants,
of which number, 59 are in the township of
Stanwick St. John, 7 miles (N. by E.) from Richmond.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Richmond,
and diocese of Chester, rated in the king's books
at £6.13. 4., and in the patronage of John Wbarton,
Esq. The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, is
a very ancient stone structure, and contains two fine'
marble statues to the memory of Sir Hugh and Lady
Smithson. In this parish is a most extensive intrench-,
ment, enclosing an area of nearly one thousand acres;
it has been ascribed to the Romans, and also to the
Scots; butWhitaker, the learned-antiquary, considers
it the site,of an ancient camp, or city, of the Britons.