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History of the Parish

Seamer Parish History

The first inhabitants of the parish were people of the Mesolithic Age about ten thousand years ago whose settlement at Star Carr was discovered in 1947.

Next came the Bronze Age people, to be followed by the Romans who lived nearby. These in turn were succeeded by the Anglo Saxons.

From Seamer Moor there would have been a good view of both Lake Pickering and the North Sea which would have given rise to the village name - SEA-MER(E). It was during this time that Seamer probably took shape as a village.

Seamer was a busy village in Norman times and from the eleventh century there has been a succession of Lords of the Manor. In 1066 Seamer had both a church and a priest so it must have been a place of some importance.

By the middle of the twelfth century the original wooden Saxon church had been replaced with a stone building with a tower which served as a minor castle. In the fourteenth century the size of the Manor House was increased. The village became more affluent and in 1337 King Richard II granted a charter for an annual fair to be held.

Despite the population being decimated by the ‘Black Death’ the village survived and flourished. By 1760 there were nine inns. During the 1800s Primitive and Wesleyan chapels were erected. The Victorian Board School was established in 1879 and the Parish Council was formed in 1894.The economy of the parish was based on agriculture and there were 27 farmers recorded in 1913.

With the establishment of the railway and the increase in public and private transport the quiet, peaceful parish of Seamer was ripe for expansion after the First World War. Large housing developments have taken place at Seamer and Crossgates since the 1960s and an industrial estate now occupies the south-eastern corner of the parish.

Seamer Parish Council - First Meeting

The first meeting of the Council was held in the school room at Seamer on 13th December 1894. The Minutes of the meeting were:
 
"The first meeting of the Parish Council for the Parish of Seamer, in the Rural District of Scarborough, was held in the Board School, Seamer, this thirteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and ninety four, at seven o'clock in the evening.
 
All the Members were present, viz Herbert Greenlay, George James Jackson, Thomas Pearson, John Rhodes and William Stockdale.
 
Each Councillor signed the Statutory Declaration accepting Office, and then the Meeting proceeded to the election of a temporary Chairman of the Meeting.
 
Mr. Greenlay, proposed by Mr. Rhodes and seconded by Mr. Jackson, was unanimously voted to the Chair.
 
The Council then proceeded to elect the Chairman of the Parish Council for the ensuing year, and this office was, on the motion of Mr. Stockdale, seconded by Mr. Pearson, unanimously conferred on Mr. Greenlay.
 
The following resolutions were then passed:
 
(1)   That Mr. Wm. Hebden be asked to accept the office of Treasurer to the Parish Council.
 
(2)   That Mr. J. H. Oates be, and is hereby appointed, Clerk to the Parish Council, at a salary of £1 to the end of March 1895, the subsequent salary to be determined at the April Meeting of the Council.
 
(3)   That a Precept for £8 to meet expenses until the 25th March 1895, be made on the Overseers.
 
(4)   That a Minute Book, Guide to the Local Government Act (1894), and necessary stationery be purchased by the Clerk.
 
(5)   That Monthly Meetings be held on the first Monday in each month, at 7 o'clock P.M.
 
(6)   That a Report of this Meeting be sent to the local press.
 
The Meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman.
 
The above Minutes were accepted as correct -
 
                                              Signed     H. Greenlay
                                                              Chairman
                                                              Jan 7th 1895"