Ganton, whence it runs due east to Yedingham Bridge, to which place it is navigable for small barges. From Yedingham it pursues a sluggish course through the low marshy grounds north of Scamston Hall, to near Wycomb, where it is greatly augmented by the united waters of the Rye and Costa, which here fall into it. Hence, its course is by the town of New Malton, to which place, from the Ouze at Barmby-on-the-Marsh, it was made navigable under the powers of an act of the 1st of Anne, entitled, 'An Act for making the River Derwent, in the county of York, navigable.'
The course of the Derwent from Malton, lies through a beautifully diversified district, passing by Welham House, Mennithorpe, the ruins of Kirkham Abbey, Howsham Hall, Aldby Park, Stamford Bridge, and Kexby, to East Cottingwith, where the Pocklington Canal locks down into it. Thence, its course lies directly south, by Bubwith and Wressel Castle, to Barmby, where it falls into the tideway of the River Ouze, about seven miles below Selby.
The length of the original navigation to New Malton, is thirty-eight miles, viz. from the Ouze to the first lock, between Sutton-upon-Derwent and Elvington, is fifteen miles and a half; from thence, to Stamford Bridge Lock, six miles and a half; to Buttercrambe Lock, it is two miles and three quarters further; from whence, to the fourth lock, near Howsham Hall, it is three miles and a half; thence, to the last lock at Kirkham Abbey, it is two miles and a half; and to New Malton, it is seven miles. From the last-mentioned town, the river was made navigable, in 1805, to Yedingham Bridge, a distance of nearly eleven miles and a half, making a total navigation of forty-nine miles and a half in length.
This river, as a navigation, is the private property of Earl Fitzwilliam, and was, by his ancestor, the Marquis of Rockingham, let on lease to Mr. William Fenton, for the term of twenty-one years, commencing on the 20th of October, 1755; and subsequently, by the present noble owner, to Thomas and James Fenton, who quitted possession of it on the 25th March, 1805; since that period, we believe, it has been in the occupation of the proprietor, and is used chiefly for the supply of Malton, and the country
