PATRINGTON, a market-town and parish in the
southern division of the wapentake of HOLDERNESS,
East riding of the county of YORK, 56 miles (E.S.E.)
from York, and 189 (N. byE.) from London, containing
1244 inhabitants. This place, which is of great antiquity,
is supposed by some antiquaries to be the Prcetorium
of Antoninus,. and the point where the Roman
road leading from the great Picts' wall terminates: about
seventy years ago, a stone, which had formed part of a
Roman altar, was dug up'here. The town is pleasantly
situated near a small river, which empties itself into the
aestuary of the Humber, and although in a flat country,
different points in the vicinity afford commanding views
of the Humber and its fertile shores, as far as Spurn
Point, about seven miles south-eastward, and also of
the opposite coast of Lincolnshire: the houses are
but indifferently built. The haven, about a mile distant,
according to tradition, was formerly capable of admitting
large vessels, but it has become so obstructed by
the accumulation of silt, as only to afford access to small
craft, which convey corn to Hull and London, and import
lime and coal from the West riding. The market
is on Saturday, principally for corn, the trade in which
is considerable; and fairs are held on'March 28th,
July 18th, and December 6th, for shoes, linen-drapery,
woollen cloth, copper and tin ware, toys, &c. The living
is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of the East riding, and
diocese of York, rated in the king's books at £22, and
in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of Clare
Hall, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to St. Patrick,
is a spacious and handsome cruciform edifice, combining
the decorated and later styles of English architecture:
it is surmounted by a fine lofty spire, visible at a great
distance, and forming a land-mark for mariners approaching
the mouth of the Humber. There are places
of worship for Independents, and Primitive and Wesleyan
Methodists.