Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for LOFTHOUSE

LOFTHOUSE, a village, a parish, and a sub-district in Guisbrough district, N. R. Yorkshire. The Village stands 1½ mile from the coast, 4¾ ESE of Saltburn r. station, and 7 NE by E of Guisbrough; and has a postoffice† under Redcar, and a customary weekly market on Thursday.—The parish contains also the hamlets of South Lofthouse, Wapley, and Street-Houses. Acres, 3,935; of which 160 are water. Real property, £5,849: of which £215 are in mines, and £741 in ironworks. Pop. in 1851,1,192; in 1861,1,103. Houses, 253. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to the Earl of Zetland. Lofthouse Hall is a chief residence. Aluminous rocks abound; and there are alum works, stone quarries, and brick and tile works. A fine plesiosaurus was found here, and is now in the Yorkshire museum. A circular mound, with an ancient entrenchment, is W of the village. A small Benedictine priory stood at Handall, 1 mile S; was founded in 1133 by William Percy; occupied a charming site, among glens and dales, with a fine view of the ocean; and has left scarcely any vestiges. A sword of Sir R. Bruce, of the time of Elizabeth, was discovered on the site of the chapter-house, under a stone coffin, inscribed "the snake-killer; "and that coffin is supposed to have contained the remains of a valiant young knight who rescued an earl's daughter from a serpent in Scaw-wood. The living is a rectory in the diocese of York. Valne, £575.* Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church was rebuilt in 1811, after designs by Bonomi. There are chapels for Independents and Wesleyan Methodists. John Hopkinson, the antiquary, who was so highly respected during the civil war of Charles I., as to receive letters of protection from the rival commanders in Yorkshire, was a resident; and Gen. the Hon. Sir R. Dundas died here in 1844.—The sub-district contains also Easington parish and parts of two other parishes. Acres, 16,302. Pop., 2,339. Houses, 503.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Lofthouse CP       Loftus CP/AP       Loftus SubD       Guisborough RegD/PLU       Yorkshire AncC
Place: Loftus

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