Clifton Ings

Clifton Ings is adjacent to Rawcliffe Meadows, the two being separated by the Ings Dyke. To the north of both is Rawcliffe Ings.
In 1708 the corporation, noting that it would be 'of advantage and profit to the city' and that Sir William Robinson had offered his land on Clifton and Rawcliffe Ings as a course, promised to subscribe £15 a year towards a plate. (fn. 83) Racing began the following year and was given corporation and city support throughout the century. (fn. 84) In the winter of 1730 the wardens of Micklegate Ward were ordered to drain Knavesmire by enforcing the existing commission of sewers, and in the following spring the pasture-masters were told to spend £100 levelling, spreading, and rolling the ground; the meeting was first held there that summer. (fn. 85) The attraction of the races never failed and in the middle of the century the amenities of the course were improved by Carr's grandstand and a new road leading to it. (fn. 86) Further buildings were added in 1768.
From: 'The eighteenth century: Social life', A History of the County of
Yorkshire: the City of York (1961), pp. 245-50. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=36353