Selby

Selby, a market-town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on the right bank of the Ouse, 15 miles S. of York and 20 E. of Leeds. The great cruciform parish church, measuring 283 by 59 feet, was the church of a mitred Benedictine abbey, founded in the 12th century by Hugh, sheriff of Yorkshire. It exhibits every style from Norman to Perpendicular; lost its south transept by the fall in 1690 of the central tower (mealy rebuilt twelve years later); and has undergone much restoration since 1873. Other edifices are a Roman Catholic church (1859), St James's Church (1868), and a modern market-cross. The river is navigable for vessels of 200 tons; and there is also a considerable carrying trade by railway and canal. Selby has manufactures of flax, ropes, leather, beer, &c., besides boat-building and brick-making. It is the traditional birthplace of Henry I. (1068), and in the Great Rebellion was recaptured from the royalists by Fairfax (1644). Pop. (1851) 5109; (1891) 6022. See W. W. Morrell's History of Selby (1867).