In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Wetherby like this:
WETHERBY, a small town, a township-chapelry, and a district, in W. R. Yorkshire. The town stands on the river Wharfe, and on the York and Harrogate railway, 12 miles NNE of Leeds; was known to the Saxons as Wederbi; belonged to the Knight Templars, and afterwards to the Knights Hospitallers; was garrisoned by the parliamentarians in the civil wars of Charles I., and repelled two attacks of the royalists; belonged all, till 1824, to the Duke of Devonshire; was then sold in small lots or freeholds, and subsequently underwent very great improvement; is a seat of petty sessions; publishes a weekly newspaper; carries on brewing and agricultural implement-making; and has a head post-office,‡ a r. ...
station with telegraph, two banking offices, two hotels, a six-arched bridge, a town hall of 1846, a reading room, a church of 1842, built at a cost of £4,300, two Methodist chapels, a national school, agriculturaland horticultural societies, a weekly market on Thursday, a horse and cattle fair on every alternate Thursday, and hiring-fairs in Nov.—The chapelry comprises 1,570 acres, and is in Spofforth parish. Real property, £6,816; of which £25 are in gasworks. Pop. in 1851, 1,494; in 1861, 1,682. Houses, 371. The manor belongs to A. Montagu, Esq. An ancient castle stood on high ground, contiguous to the Wharfe; and is now represented only by substructions. A Roman military road crossed the river at St. Helen's Ford, a short distance below the town. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Ripon. Value, £120. Patron, the Rector of Spofforth.—The district contains 4 parishes, parts of 7 others, and an extra-parochial tract; and formerly was a sub-district of Knaresborough. Acres, 32,459. Poor rates in 1863, £3,499. Pop. in 1851, 6,518; in 1861, 6,668. Houses, 1,409. Marriages in 1863,31; births, 195,-of which 17 were illegitimate; deaths, 145,-of which 59 were at ages under 5 years, and 4 at ages above 85.
Wetherby through time
Wetherby is now part of Leeds district. Click here for graphs and data of how Leeds has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Wetherby itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Wetherby, in Leeds and West Riding | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/14451
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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