Pages 140-147
A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1976.
This free content was digitised by double rekeying. All rights reserved.
In this section
BARMBY MOOR
The parish of Barmby Moor lies 11 miles east of York astride the York-Hull trunk road and close to the market-town of Pocklington. (fn. 1) The village was probably a Scandinavian settlement, 'Barne's farm'; it was not until the late 13th century that Barmby was used as an alternative spelling to Barnby. The suffix 'by Pocklington' was used in the 14th century, (fn. 2) when 'in' or 'upon the Moor', perhaps a reference to Spalding moor, also appeared. (fn. 3) Though the parish was occasionally called simply Barnby Moor in the 18th century, (fn. 4) it was not until 1935 that the shortened form was officially adopted. (fn. 5) The irregularly-shaped parish covered 2,578 a. in 1851. (fn. 6) In 1901 50 a. were transferred to Pocklington civil parish, (fn. 7) and in 1960 the boundaries of the civil and ecclesiastical parishes of Barmby were brought into conformity. (fn. 8)
From below 50 ft. above sea-level in the western part of the parish the ground rises to over 100 ft. in the north-east. The village was established just to the north of the junction of the Roman roads from York and Stamford Bridge to Brough, beside a beck running from Keld, or Skel, (fn. 9) spring. The northern and western parish boundaries are largely formed by Black dike, which flows southwards towards the Beck in Thornton. The parish is almost entirely covered with outwash sand and gravel, but Keuper marl and sandstone, glacial sand and gravel, and alluvium form a small area in the north. (fn. 10) The open fields lay north and east of the village on the sand and gravel, and an extensive common was situated on the low-lying sandy area in the west and south of the parish. The open fields and other common lands were inclosed in 1783. A large area to the east of the village was used by the Royal Air Force for Pocklington airfield, opened in 1941. The airfield ceased to be operational in 1946 and closed in 1965. (fn. 11) Part of it was later converted to industrial and recreational uses, and much has been reclaimed for agriculture. (fn. 12)
The Roman road from Brough formed part of Barmby's southern boundary before it entered the parish near the village. The precise course of the branch to Stamford Bridge is now lost. The course of the York branch is, however, still followed by the main York-Hull road. The road was turnpiked in 1764 and the trust renewed until 1881. (fn. 13) A tollbar was situated ½ mile west of the village near the house known in 1974 as Bar Farm; two mile-stones erected by the trust survive. (fn. 14) The road was straightened south of the village in the late 1960s and in the west of the parish in 1974. (fn. 15)
A branch from the main road passes through the village and continues towards Pocklington; it was known as Barmby Row from the 15th century. (fn. 16) Another branch from the main road leads to Yapham and crosses the Pocklington road on the outskirts of the village. Other minor roads lead from the York road to Sutton upon Derwent and Stamford Bridge, and in the east of the parish Hodsow Lane connects the main road with Pocklington. In 1348 a hermit of Stamford Bridge chapel was seeking alms for the repair of a road across Barmby moor, (fn. 17) possibly the road from Stamford Bridge which crossed the common to enter the village from the west until it was diverted to the York road at inclosure. (fn. 18) The railway from York to Market Weighton, opened in 1847, passed through the parish. (fn. 19) The line was closed in 1965 (fn. 20) and the track has been lifted; a former gatehouse stands beside the Yapham road.
The church and the moated manor-house site stand together at the village centre. Further west many houses formerly stood along the margins of the common and its two wedge-shaped projections into the village. (fn. 21) The personal names de and super viridi and 'of the green', used by eight inhabitants c. 1295, (fn. 22) perhaps referred to the common. After the inclosure of the common in 1783 the projections were left as 'greens', one alongside the main street and the other around a parallel street beside the beck. The two streets are connected by short cross lanes on either side of the manor-house site, one of which was called Hall Spout in the mid 19th century, (fn. 23) and by a third lane at the western end of the village along the former common edge.
In addition to the two greens there are wide grass verges beside other streets in the village. By 1772 the beckside green already contained an island garth, (fn. 24) later occupied by the 19th-century Kimberley House and other buildings. Further encroachment occurred in the later 19th century; in 1863, for example, a tenant rented from the lord a piece of land inclosed from the village waste in front of his house. (fn. 25) In 1974 the beckside green was still used for the parish feast, held in July. Most of the village is only loosely built-up. The older houses date from the 18th and 19th centuries, and some of them have recently been renovated with Barmby's increasing popularity as a residential village. Extensive new building includes about 90 council houses, flats, and bungalows, many of them in an estate south of the beckside street. A village institute was built in the 1930s. (fn. 26)
'The George' was referred to in the later 17th century, (fn. 27) and an inn, kept by the occupant of Barmby Moor House, stood on the main road south of the village by 1770. (fn. 28) A new inn is said to have been built on the site by Thomas Heard (d. 1824): (fn. 29) it was sometimes known as Barmby Moor House or Inn, alternatively as the Bunch of Grapes and later the Wilmer Arms. (fn. 30) It closed after 1851. (fn. 31) It is an elegant building with a central pediment, bow windows, and a canopied porch. (fn. 32) The Boot and Slipper, in the centre of the village, has existed since at least 1823, when it was called the Boot and Shoe. By 1840 the New Inn had been built beside the main road 1½ mile west of the village; (fn. 33) it was renamed the Squirrels in 1974.
Outlying buildings include a dozen farm-houses, mostly built in the late 18th and 19th centuries after inclosure. One of them, Barmby Grange, now stands among the industrial buildings on the former airfield. A small estate of bungalows has grown up on the Sutton road, where there is also a turkey farm. Scattered bungalows and houses lie beside the trunk road in the west of the parish.
In that part of the parish transferred to Pocklington in 1901 Wilberforce Lodge, St. John's Lodge, and Dolman House were built by Pocklington School in the 1850s. (fn. 34) The suburbs of Pocklington have spread into the area in the present century.
There were 91 poll-tax payers in Barmby in 1377. (fn. 35) Of the 79 households listed in the hearth-tax return of 1672 17 were exempt; of those that were chargeable 55 had a single hearth, 3 had 2, 2 had 3, and one each had 4 and 7 hearths. (fn. 36) There were about 60 families in the parish in 1743 and 75 in 1764. (fn. 37) From 321 in 1801 the population rose to 537 in 1861, but fell to 437 in 1881. (fn. 38) After the transfer of part of the civil parish to Pocklington in 1901, Barmby's population was 442. (fn. 39) Numbers increased from 455 to 548 in 1921-31. The increase to 787 in 1951 and decrease to 502 in 1961 presumably reflected the changing status of the airfield. Residential development resulted in an increase to 768 in 1971. (fn. 40)
MANOR AND OTHER ESTATES.
Ulf, the son of Torall a prince of Deira, gave Barmby to York minster (fn. 41) before 1066, and 7 carucates and 2 bovates there were held by the archbishop in 1086. (fn. 42) The estate was assigned to the prebend of Barmby, presumably at its formation before 1233. (fn. 43) The prebendal manor of BARMBY UPON THE MOOR was apparently in hand in 1479 and for much of the 16th century, but it was usually let from the 1570s. (fn. 44) Short-term leases in the 16th and 17th centuries (fn. 45) were succeeded in the 18th and 19th by leases for lives. The Beaumont family held the property in the early 17th century. (fn. 46) It was sold by the Commonwealth in 1649 to Tempest Milner and Thomas Hassell. (fn. 47) In 1658 Thomas Geere was dealing in the manor, (fn. 48) which was, however, returned to the prebendary at the Restoration. The Johnson family were lessees from 1661 to 1751. (fn. 49) John Idle was lessee in 1752, but his sister Frances succeeded him before 1758. (fn. 50) The leasehold interest subsequently descended, like Allerthorpe manor, in the Suger, Field, and Duncombe families. (fn. 51) In 1783 Jane Wilmer (nee Suger) had about 350 a. in Barmby, of which 145 a. were held as the prebendary's lessee. (fn. 52)
The manor passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1847 upon a voidance of the prebend (fn. 53) and was sold to Arthur Duncombe in 1853, along with 149 a. of land. (fn. 54) It subsequently descended like Allerthorpe in the Duncombe family. (fn. 55) Other 19thcentury purchases by the Fields and Duncombes included over 100 a. of copyhold and 70 a. of freehold land from the Denison family c. 1860. (fn. 56) In 1902 C. W. Duncombe sold the 203-acre Barmby Moor House farm to T. B. Martin, (fn. 57) but the family still had 392 a. in Barmby in 1916. (fn. 58) B. A. C. Duncombe sold the manor to Henry Whitworth in 1919 (fn. 59) and over 300 a. in three lots in 1920, including 240 a. in Barmby Grange farm to Robert Jack. (fn. 60) In 1944 the manor was vested in H. P. Whitworth, who sold it in 1955 to Henry Frederick, Baron Hotham. (fn. 61) Lord Hotham died in 1967 and was succeeded by his son Henry Durand Hotham, the 8th baron. (fn. 62)
The manor-house passed with the rest of the estate to Arthur Duncombe in 1853, (fn. 63) and Sir Tatton Sykes bought the house and 36 a. in 1861. (fn. 64) The property was apparently acquired by exchange by the executors of the Revd. Frederick Gruggen in 1875, (fn. 65) and they sold the house to Hannah Burland in 1878. (fn. 66) In 1908 Margaret Wanstall sold it to Mary Dunn and she in 1950 to Cecily Tryon. (fn. 67) H. D. Crawford bought the house in 1954 and sold it to Mrs. E. L. L. Elmhirst in 1960. (fn. 68)
The house was mentioned c. 1295 (fn. 69) and the prebendary had a fishpond in the 1340s, (fn. 70) perhaps a reference to the moat which surrounded the house. The present house, now called Barmby Manor, was mentioned in 1649 (fn. 71) and apparently had seven hearths in 1672. (fn. 72) The main range probably represents the complete house of the early 17th century and the kitchen wing an addition made late in the century, at which time the west front was rebuilt with brick pilasters and an enriched doorcase. (fn. 73) Further alterations took place in the early 19th century, when part of the main chimney stack was removed to create an entrance hall and the main range was increased in depth to provide for a staircase. Later in the century much 17th- and 18thcentury panelling was introduced, at least some of it coming from the old church. (fn. 74)
The demesne occupied only a small part of the parish and in 1783 1,678 a. was copyhold. This land was occupied by many tenants, only three of whom had over 100 a., one of them also the lessee of the manor. (fn. 75) Between 1859 and 1926 at least 699 a. were enfranchised and a further 369 a. after the Law of Property Act came into force in 1926. (fn. 76)
The king had 6 bovates in Barmby as soke of his manor of Pocklington in 1086, (fn. 77) but by 1198 John le Poer had been granted the estate, which he held with land elsewhere by the service of providing an archer for the defence of York castle. (fn. 78) William le Poer quitclaimed some Barmby property to Henry of Helium in 1235. (fn. 79) By 1250 Walter le Poer had been succeeded as tenant of 2 carucates at Barmby and elsewhere by John Chamberlain. (fn. 80) Robert de Crepping, who held rent in Barmby of Robert Chamberlain by archery service, died c. 1280 leaving his son John as heir. (fn. 81) Unspecified property in Barmby was settled on Robert Crepping in 1310, (fn. 82) and in 1346 Catherine, widow of Remigius Crepping, held a house and 4 bovates there. (fn. 83) The estate passed to Robert Crepping's daughter Denise Stodowe in 1386, when its serjeanty tenure was mentioned for the last time. (fn. 84) Denise died in 1389, when her heir was Robert Stodowe, grandson of her husband Robert. (fn. 85) Robert granted his Barmby property to Richard Berwyse in 1414, (fn. 86) and it was later held successively by Thomas Couper, his brother William, and John and Joan Hambald, the last of whom were seised of it in 1444. (fn. 87) Its subsequent descent has not been traced.
Pocklington Grammar School acquired 30 a. at Barmby by exchange in 1824. (fn. 88) In 1863 60 a. of former rectorial land was sold to the school by the Swanns, (fn. 89) and by the later 19th century the estate had been much enlarged. (fn. 90) It comprised in 1910 the 183acre Greenland farm, received in exchange for property at Duggleby, and 200 a. in Newland and Field House farms. (fn. 91) The school sold the three farms to Sydney, Alfred, Gilbert, and Hubert Richardson in 1919. (fn. 92)
From 1252 the rectory belonged to the dean of York. (fn. 93) The corn and hay tithes were leased for short terms from 1538 (fn. 94) and were held by the Johnson family from 1679 until at least 1738. (fn. 95) They were worth £63 in 1650 (fn. 96) and were commuted for 298 a. of land and rent-charges of £10 9s. 1d. at inclosure in 1783. (fn. 97) The rectorial estate was vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1844, (fn. 98) and in 1853 John and George Swann, tenants under a lease of 1842, purchased the reversion of 269 a. from the commissioners. (fn. 99) The Swanns sold 157 a. to Frederick Bardwell (fn. 100) and 88 a. to Sir George Strickland in 1862. (fn. 101) Bardwell conveyed his part to his son T. N. F. Bardwell in 1889, (fn. 102) and the latter divided and sold it in 1919. (fn. 103)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
At the Conquest the 7¼carucate archiepiscopal estate at Barmby was held with 3 carucates at Millington as one manor. There was land for 6 ploughs in 1086, and 15 villeins had 9 ploughs there. The estate was worth £5 in 1066 but only £2 in 1086. (fn. 104)
The prebendary of Barmby had 6 bovates, together with three flats containing 28 a., in demesne c. 1295. Five free tenants paid nominal rents and 5s. for five tofts and 4 a. Thirty-one villeins held 60 bovates, paying £7 10s. rent and rendering poultry and eggs at Christmas and Easter, generally at the rate of 2 cocks or hens and 23 eggs to the bovate; they also owed hay-making and hay-carting works, the duty of carting the lord's fuel and timber 'within Derwent', and arbitrary relief and merchet. Twentyseven cottars held 32 tofts, a croft, and 3½ a. for about £1 10s., as well as poultry and eggs, usually giving 23 eggs for each toft. They also owed haymaking service and a day's work at harvest-time, worth 1d., and were bound to work for the lord from Michaelmas to Lammas for 1d. a day. (fn. 105) A day-work was referred to in 1667, (fn. 106) and as late as the 1850s payments were made for 'boons'. (fn. 107) In 1649 the demesne comprised 6 bovates, or 60 a., in the town fields, a 5-acre flat in South field, 20 a. in closes, and 6 beast-gates. Its value was then about £52. (fn. 108)
No open field is named until 1479, when South field was mentioned; it then included land called the Sandholmes. (fn. 109) By 1690 South field had apparently been renamed Great field, which included a 'long sandome'. (fn. 110) It was, however, more commonly known as Hodsow field by the 1780s, when it occupied most of the parish to the south of the Barmby-Pocklington road. East and West fields were mentioned in 1649 (fn. 111) but were called Broat and Furland fields by 1690. In the 1770s Broat field lay north-east and Furland, later Farland, field northwest of the village. (fn. 112)
The moor or common of Barmby was estimated in 1691 to comprise about 1,000 a. and to support 400 horses, several hundred sheep, and other 'beasts' in summer; the pasture was then unstinted. (fn. 113) From 1655 part of the common was let by the lord as a rabbit warren. By a draft lease of 1718 the lord agreed to build a warrener's house, to stock the warren with 600 pairs of rabbits, and to bear the cost of restocking up to 300 pairs in the event of any 'general rot'. (fn. 114) A warrener was mentioned in 1738, (fn. 115) and Greenland Warren survives as a place-name in the south of the parish. Parts of the common may have been temporarily cultivated in the 18th century, when rape was being grown on pared and burnt ground, and sainfoin in closes. (fn. 116) On the eve of inclosure 45 tenants had 74 common rights in the common, which included all the parish south of the York road and west of the present Stamford Bridge road, and also extended to the east of the latter road. Beast-gates mentioned in the 17th century were enjoyed in the stinted Ox pasture. (fn. 117) Great and Keld spring common pastures lay respectively north-west and north-east of the village in the 18th century. (fn. 118)
Some land had already been inclosed by the 17th century. Banbery or Kell spring close was mentioned in 1641, an arable close on the edge of West field in 1649, (fn. 119) Northland close in 1673, and Town end close or Gilman garths in 1691. (fn. 120) A grassland close called Hodsow close, referred to from 1649, may have been taken from Hodsow field. (fn. 121) At final inclosure in 1783 Barmby included about 110 a. of ancient inclosures, situated around the village and in the east of the parish; the tenants of the latter closes included several inhabitants of Pocklington. (fn. 122)
The open fields and other common lands were inclosed in 1783 (fn. 123) under an Act of 1777. (fn. 124) Seventytwo bovates were held by 26 tenants on the eve of inclosure, and many other tenants had only common rights. A total of 2,273 a. was allotted, including 410 a. in Hodsow field and at least 1,031 a. lying in the common, 229 a. in Broat field, and 71 a. in Furland field. Allotments made jointly from Great pasture and the common accounted for 149 a., those from Furland field and Great pasture for 193 a., and those from all three areas for 27 a. A further 163 a. consisted of joint allotments from Broat and Furland fields and Skel spring pasture. The prebendary of Barmby received 145 a. for his land, a common right, and manorial rights in the waste; the dean of York 298 a. and the vicar 23 a. for their tithes; and Jane Wilmer 206 a. for her freehold and copyhold estate. Of the other allotments 4 were of 100-190 a., 6 of 50-99 a., 12 of 20-49 a., and 36 of under 20 a. In the case of the prebendary, dean, and vicar the costs of inclosure were met by the deduction and sale of a proportion of their allotments ; (fn. 125) Jane Wilmer's 206 a. thus included a 28-acre purchase of lands originally allotted to the prebendary. Other proprietors apparently opted to pay their shares of the costs in cash. Several Pocklington tradesmen were among those receiving small allotments.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries there were generally 20-30 farmers in Barmby, of whom 4-6 had 150 a. or more in the 1920s and 1930s. (fn. 126) In 1801 only 233 a. in Barmby were returned as under crops. (fn. 127) By the mid 19th century parts of the former common had been afforested and were known as Elston and Gray's plantations. (fn. 128) Other parts were still unimproved, and in 1824 75 a. of heath land was valued chiefly for its rabbits and turves. (fn. 129) A farmer and warrener at Barmby was mentioned as late as 1840. (fn. 130) In 1836 43 a. of common, allotted to the lord in 1783, were still unimproved, and another 55-acre allotment was partly covered with furze. (fn. 131) By the late 19th century Barmby was noted for the cultivation of carrots, (fn. 132) and there was a carrot and potato dealer there from then until at least 1937. (fn. 133) In 1905 there were 1,678 a. of arable, 501 a. of grass, and 127 a. of woodland. (fn. 134) Arable was still predominant in the 1930s and later, but some waste land remains in the west of the parish and on the former airfield. (fn. 135)
Barmby reputedly had a weekly market before 1823, when an annual fair was still held. (fn. 136)
Weavers at Barmby were mentioned in the 1390s (fn. 137) and in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. (fn. 138) In the mid 19th century hemp pits on the former common were used for retting flax for a Pocklington mill. (fn. 139) In the 1920s and 1930s the repairing of agricultural machinery provided employment, and one or two garages and a refreshment room were opened beside the trunk road. There were gravel pits in the north-east of the parish in the mid 19th century, and the farmer at Barmby Grange extracted sand and gravel commercially in the early 20th century. There was a building firm in Barmby by 1929. (fn. 140) The former airfield was developed as an industrial estate during the 1960s, (fn. 141) and existing and new buildings were used by about 15 firms in 1974 for light and civil engineering, warehousing, and fuel storage.
There was a windmill at Barmby c. 1295. (fn. 142)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Surviving manorial court records consist of rolls for the period 1666- 1941, (fn. 143) surrenders and admissions for 1479-1900, (fn. 144) minute books for 1860-99, (fn. 145) and various other papers, mostly of the 19th century. (fn. 146) A constable was mentioned in 1662 and 1711, and two affeerors in 1726. (fn. 147) In the mid 18th century the officers included 2 constables, 3 bylawmen, and 2 pinders and moormen. (fn. 148) Two affeerors and a pinder were referred to a century later. (fn. 149)
There are churchwardens' accounts from 1822 onwards and accounts of the two highway surveyors for 1817-48. (fn. 150) Barmby joined Pocklington poor-law union in 1836, (fn. 151) and in 1852 eight poorhouses were sold by the guardians. (fn. 152) The parish became part of Pocklington rural district in 1894 (fn. 153) and the North Wolds district of Humberside in 1974.
CHURCH.
Although not named, Barmby Moor, like Fangfoss, was one of the chapels given by the king between 1100 and 1108, along with their mother-church of Pocklington, to the archbishop of York and York minster. They were apparently assigned by the archbishop to the dean, and between c. 1119 and 1129 the king confirmed the assignment. (fn. 154) Barmby was subsequently within the dean's peculiar jurisdiction. In 1252 a vicarage was ordained jointly at Barmby and Fangfoss, with provision that a minister be found for each church. (fn. 155) Thereafter Barmby was a vicarage and Fangfoss a curacy. There were separate ministers in 1525-6, but from 1568 the vicarage and curacy were apparently always held by one man. (fn. 156) Barmby and Fangfoss still constituted a united vicarage in 1974.
The advowson presumably belonged to the dean of York in the Middle Ages and later. In 1650 the Commonwealth held it, (fn. 157) but the patronage was subsequently restored to the dean. (fn. 158) When the rectory passed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1844 the advowson was automatically vested in the archbishop of York, (fn. 159) who was still the patron in 1974.
The vicar's income was £7 in 1525-6, (fn. 160) and the living was valued at £5 6s. 8d. net in 1535. (fn. 161) In 1650 the vicarage was worth £6. (fn. 162) During the Interregnum £12 10s. rent, formerly received by the dean for the great tithes, was diverted to the living. (fn. 163) The income was augmented by £200 from Queen Anne's Bounty in 1777 and 1799. (fn. 164) The average net income of the joint living in 1829-31 was £50 a year. (fn. 165) The living was endowed with a rent-charge of £1 6s. 2d. formerly belonging to the dean, in 1860, and with annual payments from the Common Fund of £24 and £166 in 1860 and 1862 respectively. (fn. 166) The net value of the living was £270 in 1884 and £338 in 1915. (fn. 167)
In 1252 the vicarage was assigned the small tithes. (fn. 168) At inclosure in 1783 the vicar was awarded 23 a. and rent-charges of £2 1s. 2d. in lieu of tithes. (fn. 169) Before inclosure the only glebe was a common right belonging to a house in Barmby. (fn. 170) Between 1809 and 1817 Bounty money was used to buy 23 a. at Misson (Notts.). (fn. 171) In 1860 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners transferred to the vicarage 9 a. formerly belonging to Barmby prebend (fn. 172) and in 1863 39 a. formerly part of the rectory. (fn. 173) In 1868 11 a. in Barmby were bought against the Common Fund annual grant, which was consequently reduced to £179. (fn. 174) Seventy-three acres in Barmby were sold in 1920, 2 a. in 1964, and 7 a. in 1971. (fn. 175) The glebe at Misson had also been sold by 1974. (fn. 176)
The vicarage house at Barmby was in decay in the 1590s. (fn. 177) It was possibly rebuilt in the mid 17th century, (fn. 178) but was ruinous again in 1684 and 1693, and by 1716 no longer existed. (fn. 179) The house may have adjoined the churchyard where a glebe frontstead and garth lay in the mid 18th century: (fn. 180) in the 19th century the site was called the 'little churchyard'. (fn. 181) In 1845 a grant was received from the Common Fund towards a residence, and a house was built in 1847 to the north of the village. (fn. 182) It was enlarged in 1871. (fn. 183) In 1971 a new Vicarage was built in the grounds of the old one, (fn. 184) which was called Northwood House in 1974.
There may have been a chantry in the church, for land in Barmby granted by the Crown in 1571 to Francis Barker and Thomas Browne included a chapel garth, (fn. 185) and it was presumably the same garth which was sold in 1593 along with seven 'St. Catherine's headlands'. (fn. 186)
Besides the vicar there was a chaplain receiving £2 a year in 1525-6. (fn. 187) Thereafter Barmby was probably often without a resident minister until the mid 19th century. The vicar was non-resident in the 1590s and in 1650. (fn. 188) The church was being served by a stipendiary priest in 1691, (fn. 189) and during the 18th and early 19th centuries the incumbent also held the vicarage of Thornton with Allerthorpe and resided in one of the latter villages. (fn. 190) Barmby marriages consequently often took place at Thornton in the 18th century. (fn. 191) The vicar of Barmby also held Pocklington with Yapham in 1835. (fn. 192) Robert Taylor, vicar 1840-85, engaged the vicar of Pocklington to assist him in 1868 and was helped by the Revd. Frederick Gruggen, headmaster of Pocklington Grammar School, in 1871. (fn. 193) Taylor, by will dated 1875, devised £400 to establish a trust for religious education. (fn. 194) An assistant curate was appointed by 1877 but was not mentioned after 1894, when he was possibly responsible for Fangfoss. (fn. 195)
There was a service once a fortnight in 1743, and Holy Communion was celebrated four times a year with about 56 communicants at Easter. (fn. 196) A service was held weekly by 1851, (fn. 197) and by 1865 there was an additional service on alternate Sundays. Communion was celebrated monthly in 1865, but the number of communicants on feast days had fallen to about 20. (fn. 198) In 1894 there were two services a week, (fn. 199) and communion was celebrated at least weekly in 1915. (fn. 200) In 1974 there was one service every Sunday and two once a month.
The repair of ST. CATHERINE'S church was one of the objects of an indulgence granted in 1480, and a church at 'Barnby' was decayed in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. (fn. 201) The church was again in disrepair in 1570 and 1687. (fn. 202) It was reroofed c. 1787 and repewed in 1828. (fn. 203) In 1831 it consisted of chancel, nave with south porch, and west tower with spire, and had two Norman windows in the nave. (fn. 204) The chancel door and a north door also had plain semicircular heads prior to rebuilding. (fn. 205) A choir loft was repaired in the 1830s. (fn. 206)
The church was largely rebuilt in 1850-2 by R. D. Chantrell. (fn. 207) The old tower, with its stone spire, was, however, retained; it has a 15th-century upper stage and west window, but the unbuttressed lower stage is probably earlier. The new church of stone consists of an undivided chancel and nave, with north vestry and south porch; it is 14th-century in style with an elaborate timber roof. It is paved with tiles given by Herbert Minton of Stoke-upon-Trent, Robert Taylor's brother-in-law, (fn. 208) and has a tiled Royal Arms above the vestry door. The fittings include an octagonal stone font given by Delia Duncombe in 1852. (fn. 209) A stoup in the tower stood near the south door until c. 1840 and later in the Vicarage garden. (fn. 210) There is an ornate brass lectern in memory of the Revd. Frederick Gruggen (d. 1872), and a plain mural tablet by Fisher of York.
In 1874 a cottage, garth, and blacksmith's shop were bought by Robert Taylor and settled upon trustees to provide income for repairs to the church. St. Catherine's House was built on the site shortly afterwards. (fn. 211) It was sold in 1953, and the following year the fund had £1,628 stock. (fn. 212)
The church had four bells in 1552 (fn. 213) and three in 1770. (fn. 214) There are still three: (i) 1880, Mears & Stainbank of London; (ii) 1598; (iii) 1670. (fn. 215) The plate includes a silver cup, made in York in 1698 by William Busfield, a plated cup, paten, and flagon, and a pewter paten and flagon dated 1783, the last bearing the name George Hudson. (fn. 216) The registers begin in 1720; those of baptisms and burials are complete, but the marriage registers lack entries for 1811-13. (fn. 217) A worn rectangular stone erected near the south door may be a medieval gravestone, and the churchyard also contains about 60 Royal Air Force graves.
Nonconformity.
In 1664 five recusants from Barmby were mentioned. (fn. 218) A Quaker meetinghouse was licensed in 1707 (fn. 219) and in 1743 there was a Quaker family in the parish. (fn. 220) In 1779 an Independent meeting-house was registered. (fn. 221) The Methodists had 12 members at Barmby in 1787 and 9-26 in 1788-1818. (fn. 222) A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was registered in 1807 (fn. 223) and rebuilt on an enlarged site in 1869. (fn. 224) It was still in use in 1974.
Houses registered for dissenting worship in 1812 and 1820, and a building licensed for use as a chapel in 1825, may have been Primitive Methodist meeting-places; (fn. 225) a Primitive Methodist 'chapel' certainly existed in 1831. (fn. 226) It was presumably a new chapel which was registered in 1834. (fn. 227) It closed in the 1930s (fn. 228) and was used as a dwelling-house in 1974.
Education.
In 1743 there was a school at Barmby in which the parish clerk gave religious instruction. (fn. 229) Twenty children were taught in an unendowed school in 1819. (fn. 230) A schoolmaster teaching reading, writing, and accounts to 8-12 children was employed in 1824 by the trustees of the Poor's Land charity, who also provided coal, stationery, and books. (fn. 231) In 1835 there were two schools in which 38 pupils were taught at their parents' expense. (fn. 232) There were two dame schools and a private school conducted by a master at Barmby in 1844. (fn. 233) In 1845 a National school and master's house were built on a site given by Arthur Duncombe, who also contributed £180 towards the cost. (fn. 234) By 1850 the school received an annual government grant. It was enlarged c. 1859; (fn. 235) the average attendance was 44 in 1850, (fn. 236) 73 in 1867, and 54 in 1871. (fn. 237) The Poor's Land charity continued to support it during the 19th century; (fn. 238) in the 1890s the school received £20 a year from the charity and about 17 pupils were taught free. (fn. 239) By a Scheme of 1908 a separate Poor's Land Educational Foundation was created. (fn. 240)
Between 1906 and 1938 attendance was usually about 70, though it fell to 55 in 1918 and rose to 87 in 1931. (fn. 241) The school was enlarged to accommodate 140 children in 1934. In 1955 the senior pupils were transferred to Pocklington and the school was reorganized as a junior and infants' school. The first part of a new school on a site in the north of the village was opened in 1974, when the old building was also still used. (fn. 242) There were 84 pupils on the roll in January 1974. (fn. 243) By a Scheme of 1965 the income of the Poor's Land Educational Foundation was to be used for exhibitions, financial or other help to those entering employment, and the general promotion of education; in 1973 the income of £21 and money in hand was spent on a school trip and a preschool play group. (fn. 244)
Charities For The Poor.
Thomas Wood, by will dated 1568, devised a rent-charge of £10 a year from an estate at Kilnwick Percy for the benefit of Barmby Moor and many other townships, and in 1824 Barmby received 5s. (fn. 245) Henry Frederick, Baron Hotham, owner of the Kilnwick Percy estate, redeemed the rent-charge in 1961 and £10 stock was subsequently assigned to Barmby. (fn. 246) In 1973 26p were received and distributed with the income of the Poor's Land charity. (fn. 247)
The Barmby poor were entitled to 5s. a year from the charity of William Westoby of Allerthorpe, which was founded before 1659. In 1824 the charity was administered with those of Wood, Layton, and Johnson, (fn. 248) but Westoby's was not subsequently mentioned.
Robert Appleton, by will proved in 1658, left £13 for the purchase of a house for the poor. (fn. 249) The house had been bought by 1666 (fn. 250) and was rented for £1 4s. in 1743 and £1 10s. in 1764. A Dr. Johnson paid 12s. a year to the overseers in 1743 and had left £1 a year for the poor by 1764. (fn. 251) He was probably Henry Johnson, lessee of the manor and a York physician (d. 1744). (fn. 252) No more is heard of either of these charities.
William Layton gave ½ bovate to the poor in 1722, and John Johnson surrendered a messuage and a cottage to the poor's trustees in 1744. At inclosure in 1783 the trustees were awarded 82 a. for the land and common rights of both charities. In 1824, when the charities were apparently being administered jointly, the cottages and land were let for about £38; this income was partly distributed in sums of from 5s. to £2 2s. and partly spent on education. (fn. 253) The poor's allotment in 1783 included 76 a. of common, and this land was called California, or Calley, in the 19th century; the two charities have since sometimes been referred to as the Calley Trust. Part of California was brought into cultivation in the mid 19th century and let in small plots to villagers. (fn. 254) The charities had an average net income of about £43 a year in 1857-61, (fn. 255) and they were jointly administered by a Scheme of 1876, which also adopted Poor's Land charity as an alternative name for Layton's and Johnson's charities. By a Scheme of 1908 £20 of the £63 income was assigned to a separate Poor's Land Educational Foundation. A subscription to a clothing club was being made in 1915. (fn. 256) In 1954 and 1962 the land was sold, (fn. 257) and in 1965 the charity had £2,420 stock, a house, and two cottages. The cottages were sold in 1969. (fn. 258) By a Scheme of 1965 the income was to be used for gifts, cash grants, and subscriptions, and in 1973 £184 was distributed in coal, £57 in other goods, and £34 in cash from an income of £256 and money in hand. (fn. 259)
In 1830 Catherine Straw bequeathed £10 to provide bread for eight poor widows, but the capital was spent on church repairs. (fn. 260)