CAWTON is a township, distant from Gilling and Hovingham stations 2 miles east and west respectively. There are several small charities, amounting in all to £3 10s. yearly. T. Metcalf esq. of Towton, Tadcaster, is lord of the manor and principal landowner. The soil of the high land is principally limestone, and the lower parts are peaty, loamy and clayey, and produce wheat, oats and barley. The area is 1,056 acres; rateable value, £1,248; the population in 1911 was 102.