It is perhaps of interest that, even today, not all of Wrelton’s streets are named. This can be something of a nuisance for delivery drivers, as many of the properties are not numbered. Many have names but these are, occasionally duplicated. For example, the house we live in was ‘Cherry Garth’ in 2012. We notified all the relevant authorities that we did not want to use the name, just the number ‘7’. 11 years on and delivery drivers, using satnav, still occasionally bring parcels for Cherry Garth! Of course, there is another ‘Cherry Garth’, a property off Main Street, which was recently sold. When re-directed people don’t return so I assume they find what they are looking for, or they disappear down Wrelton’s black hole. Anybody know where it is?
The 2022 map of the village, which can be viewed on www.colinday.co.uk/maps, has no street names. Google maps displays some, though it is at odds with some of the village signs. Notably it shows the main north-south road as High Street, when the signs, carefully placed by the council, divide the highway into Main Street and High Street. The east-west road, which enters the village at its Aislaby end and terminates at the ‘T’ junctions with Main and High Streets (or just High Street if you prefer Google’s version), has no name but the satnav in our car calls it ‘Goshen’. This name has been used locally for some time, though exactly when the road got the name is uncertain. Used in the Bible for land east of the Nile delta in ancient Egypt, it can also mean a place of comfort and plenty. Possibly the name is linked to the erection of the Methodist Chapel in1840.
The Minutes of the local council reveal, that in 2005, the residents of the road didn’t want a name sign. I wonder if villagers still feel the same, after all it is an unusual name and would help those poor, lost delivery drivers!
Oh yes, King’s Street. While researching The History of Wrelton, we were loaned an indenture by Chris and Ellen from the Buck. Dated 1791, it deals with the sale of the inn by Elizabeth Blakelock after her husband, Thomas’s, death. It is quite specific about the location of the property, ” the King’s Street being on the south”. King’s Street was the road outside the front door of the Buck. When did it get the name? Who was the king and when did the name drop out of use? Any offers?