Description and History of Site:-
Former tramway which served agricultural nurseries, which only appears on the 1891 OS map. The greenhouses shown on the maps would have been used for growing flowers, with the
tramway being used for moving materials around the site. With such spacing
between the tracks there would have been ample room for flowers, fruit and vegetables to have been
grown in beds between the tracks and hand-pushed wagons on the rails would have
been used for moving soil, compost, etc. The track layout on the maps suggests
it may have been made by the French company Decauville, though Fowlers of Leeds
were also making 2ft gauge tracks of that type around the same time.

There were various farmers, market gardeners and nurserymen in the area; E Wiley was
a market gardener on Burton Lane, its original name prior to it being
renamed Burtonstone Lane as it now is. The pub by the name of the Burton
Stone was at the junction with Clifton.

There was also a W Wiley designated as a Market Gardener at 96 Newborough Street and it
is likely that they were related.

White’s Directory for 1895 shows Edward Wiley (born 1824 in Crayke, died 26 May 1908 at
33 Priory Street, York) as a gardener on Burton Lane, whilst his son William
Willey (now shown in the records with double L) was born in York in 1857. He
became a grocer on Newborough Street who would sell the produce.

In the census for 1881, 1891 and 1901 both are recorded as market gardeners/grocers who
were resident around the Burton Lane area. An individual called C. Wiley was also winning prizes for
flowers in local gardens shows at the time.

Further Reading and References:-
Information researched and kindly supplied by Derek Rayner.

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Key Words :- Tramway

Viewing the Site :- From the A19 and Avenue Terrace

Address :- Clifton, York, North Yorkshire, YO30 6AW
Grid Ref :- SE 595 528
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.967861 , Long -1.094491
Local Authority :- North Yorkshire Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - North Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site redeveloped to residential housing
Site Dates :- Not known - Not known
Record Date :- 13 September 2023

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Jane Ellis