Place:Market Weighton, Yorkshire, England

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source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Market Weighton is a small town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is one of the main market towns in the East Yorkshire Wolds and lies midway between Hull and York, about from either one. According to the 2001 UK census, Market Weighton parish had a population of 5,212.

Historically it is listed in the Domesday Book as "Wicstun" and was granted its charter to become a market town in 1251. Notable architecture includes: a parish church, parts of which are Norman, the Londesborough Arms (an 18th century coaching inn), a Wesleyan chapel, a Methodist chapel and a high street still recognisable from the 1800s. Other sights of interest include the post office, the duck pond and Station Farm. Market Weighton history includes William Bradley, the Yorkshire Giant who at the age of 20 was seven feet and nine inches tall. Another resident was Peg Fyfe, a local witch, who reputedly skinned a young local resident alive in the 1660s and was later hanged for the crime, but swallowed a spoon to save herself only to be "finished off" by two passing knights.

In May of each year local residents take to the streets of Market Weighton for the Giant Bradley Day festival in a celebration of the life and times of William Bradley.

Industry in the town is largely based around agriculture. The town is known geologically for having given its name to the Market Weighton Axis.

The Yorkshire Wolds Way National Trail, a long distance footpath, passes through the town.

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