A History of the County of York, East Riding

Book excerpt: The latest Yorkshire volume provides an authoritative and comprehensive account of an important area centred upon Sledmere. This volume covers seven parishes and some sixteen ancient settlements on the eastern dip-slope of the Yorkshire Wolds. Its rich and varied past extends from the important Iron Age settlements with their well-known chariot burialsto the great estate - at its high point one of the largest in England - built up by the Sykes family in the 18th and 19th centuries and centred upon the village of Sledmere. The volume includes a substantial introduction coveringthe history and archaeology of the area as a whole and analysing the impact of the Sledmere estate on local villages, churches and farmsteads. There are also detailed sections on the landscape and topography, economic, social andreligious history of the parishes and their settlements. The villages covered by the volume are Cowlam, Duggleby, Fimber, Fridaythorpe, Helperthorpe, Kirby Grindalythe, East and West Lutton, Sledmere, Weaverthorpe and Wetwang. DAVID and SUSAN NEAVE are former staff of the University of Hull.