Market Weighton
town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Market Weighton ( WEE-tən) is a town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is one of the main towns in the East Yorkshire Wolds and lies midway between Hull and York, about 20 miles (32 km) from either one. According to the 2021 UK Census Market Weighton parish had a population of 7,459, an increase on the 2011 UK census population of 6,429, which was an increase on the 2001 UK census figure of 5,212.
History
The 19th-century English lexicographer Sir William Smith proposed Market Weighton as the location of the still-undiscovered Roman camp of Delgovicia. In the 16th century the antiquarian William Camden had also identified Delgovicia with this town, which he called Wighton. Historically the town was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Wicstun", and was granted its charter to become a market town in 1251; the markets ceased in the nineteenth century. 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 19th century. 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 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) tall.
In May of each year local residents take to the streets of Market Weighton for the Giant Bradley Day (formerly Giant Community Day) festival in a celebration of the life and times of William Bradley.
“Market Weighton” enters the record as town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Market, Weighton and town can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Market Weighton” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Market, Weighton and town provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1631680. VIAF identifies the subject as 156396987. The Library of Congress control number is nr98011050. Authority coordinates are 53.864, -0.662. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 2011, 2001 and 1086.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Market Weighton”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Market Weighton primary sources, Market Weighton archive and Market research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Market Weighton” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.