Parishes: Sheriff Hutton

SHERIFF HUTTON

Hotone, Hotun (xi cent.); Schyrrevehoton, Hotonscireve (xiii cent.); Shirrefhoton, Hoton Viscount, Shirrevehoton (xiv cent.); Sherefwoton, Shyryfhouton (xv cent.); Sheriffhutton, Shyreveton (xvi cent.).

The parish of Sheriff Hutton with the township of Cornbrough covers an area of 5,634 acres; Lillings Ambo and Stittenham, its other townships, contain respectively 1,769 and 1,676 acres, and Farlington, a chapelry in 1831, but in and since 1871 described as an independent civil parish, (fn. 1) extends over 1,465 acres. In Sheriff Hutton, Cornbrough and Stittenham there is less arable land than pasture, but in Lillings Ambo and Farlington the proportions are reversed. In the whole parish there are above 180 acres of woods and plantations, 51 of which are in Sheriff Hutton and Cornbrough and 75 in Stittenham. (fn. 2) The soil is mixed, on a subsoil of Lower, Middle and Upper Lias. Wheat, barley, oats, turnips, potatoes and beans are the chief crops. The land, which rises to a level of 250 ft. and sometimes 300 ft. above ordnance datum in Stittenham, and 200 ft. near the village of Sheriff Hutton, sinks from 150 ft. to 100 ft. in Farlington and Lillings Ambo.

The principal road in the parish is the highway from York to Hovingham, which enters it from Strensall on the south and leads north and north-east through Sheriff Hutton and Cornbrough. Lillings Ambo is connected with this thoroughfare by Lillings Low Lane and New Road. In the 17th century the inhabitants of all three townships were accused of neglecting the repair of their roads (fn. 3) and bridges, and in 1680 and 1693 gratuities were granted for making a stone bridge for coaches and carriages in Sheriff Hutton and repairing two bridges here and one in Farlington. (fn. 4) All three were over the little River Foss, which enters Farlington from Moxby and separates it from Sutton on its east and south-easterly course to Sheriff Hutton and Lillings Ambo, where in the 14th century the townsfolk appropriated a part of the king's demesne to make a dyke for it. (fn. 5) A still smaller stream, Farlington Beck, falls into the Foss from the village of Farlington on the north, and in the extreme east of the parish Bulmer Beck separates Stittenham from Bulmer.

That Sheriff Hutton and its townships were once part of Galtres Forest is shown by the 14th-century petition of their inhabitants against threatened reafforestation and other records of later date. (fn. 6) Wood as well as pasture always belonged to the manor, (fn. 7) and from its revenues fees were paid to the foresters of Galtres. (fn. 8)

In the 16th century, however, Leland saw low meadows, moorish ground and but very little wood in this quarter of the forest, (fn. 9) and at the present day there is not very much woodland apart from Sheriff Hutton Park and Stittenham Wood.

The village of Sheriff Hutton is long and straggling; it is built, as a writer of the first quarter of the last century describes it, on each side of a cutting which runs through the greater part of its main street, (fn. 10) and is crossed near its western extremity by the highway from York. The castle stands toward the west end immediately to the south of the village street. No other buildings except the church are of any interest or antiquity. There are both Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels. The church stands at the eastern extremity of the village, where the main street forks into two foot tracks. Next to the church and west of it is the vicarage, successor of the toft which in 1273 was set apart as a dwelling-place for the vicar of Sheriff Hutton; 4 acres of meadow were appropriated to the maintenance of his horse. (fn. 11) His dwelling-house, described as valueless in 1535, (fn. 12) had been succeeded before 1651 by a parsonage-house, then sold, with lands and tenements of the rectory, by the trustees of the Long Parliament to John Drake. (fn. 13)

Between the castle and the vicarage is the marketplace, now grass-grown and until recently occupied in part by buildings. John de Nevill obtained the grant of a market here on Mondays and a fair on the vigil and feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in 1378. (fn. 14) This market does not seem to have survived, but the fair appears among the appurtenances of the manor three centuries later, (fn. 15) and has been succeeded by a hiring fair for servants held on the second Wednesday in Martinmas.

South of the church is the park, which has belonged to the manor since 1335, when licence was granted Ralph de Nevill to impark his woods of Sheriff Hutton and make a deer-leap therein. (fn. 16) Various grants of the office of keeper of the park in the 15th and two following centuries are extant, (fn. 17) and in 1649 the deer and timber it contained were valued at a very high price. (fn. 18) At that date there were two dwelling-places within its inclosure; one of these was the 'Great Lodge,' a brick messuage with large and handsome rooms, chapel, gallery and walled-in court and garden 'wherein are severall litle Mounts with Statues thereon placed' (fn. 19); this must be the 'new lodge' built by Sir Arthur Ingram before 1624. (fn. 20) The present house, called the Hall, is a good early 18th-century building of brick, two stories high and having a hipped roof brought down on to a deeply projecting wood cornice, with a row of dormer windows to the attics. The house is rectangular on plan with a later wing added on the east. It contains several fine rooms with carved chimneypieces and enriched ceilings. The stables probably comprise some of the house built by Sir Arthur Ingram. (fn. 21)

Cornbrough consists of a few scattered farms, one of which, about a mile north of Sheriff Hutton, called Cornstore Farm, stands on the site of the manor-house of the Thwengs. It is surrounded by a moat roughly rectangular in form and complete except on the south. The area within it is divided by a cross moat into an inner and smaller inclosure on the north and an outer on the south. The house with its chapel, 'great grange,' various adjacent buildings and cellars, and its surrounding gardens, orchards and woods must have been of considerable importance in the 14th century. (fn. 22) The chapel of St. Giles of Cornbrough has entirely disappeared. (fn. 23)

East Lilling is a scattered hamlet in the south-east of the parish, and at West Lilling, a mile south-west of Sheriff Hutton, there is a small village with a moated Grange Farm. The village contains one thatched and a few more modern cottages. Stittenham, 2 miles east of Sheriff Hutton, consists of three large farms, one of which, the Hall Farm, stands south of the wood on the site of Stittenham Hall. No trace of the chapel of St. James is left. Farlington village is picturesquely placed in a hollow 3 miles west of Sheriff Hutton at the junction of three roads; the church stands on a bluff to the south and the Wesleyan chapel is further down. A small tributary of the Foss runs through the hamlet.

The common fields of Sheriff Hutton and West Lilling were inclosed in 1769, (fn. 24) those of Cornbrough in 1858. (fn. 25) Part of the 'Low Wood' in Farlington was inclosed by Sir Robert Stapleton before the end of the 16th century, (fn. 26) a later inclosure being made in 1813. (fn. 27)

Among numerous place-names once known in Sheriff Hutton itself are Bulfordtoftes (xiv–xvii cent.), a close of some 80 or 90 acres, le Cotegarth (fn. 28) (xiv cent.), Conygarth, a parcel of land adjacent and belonging to the castle, Pighill, Galowgate, Saltenge (fn. 29) (xv and xvi cent.), Scorbyfeldes, Lez Nabbis, Notesall Noake, Marshall Nobbs, Sydeinge, Malynghorne, Castle Ile, Crooken meadow, Trevenholme, Kirkhill, Dusky-severall, Angeram, Dycegate, Reddinge (fn. 30) (xvi and xvii cent.), and North Ings, Dumphill and Duddyhill, which have survived from the 17th century to the present day. (fn. 31) Fourteenthcentury names in Cornbrough were le Graistan flat, le Grenoutgangflat, le Hidermarkirkefurlanges, Aghtlandesflat, le Lynlands, Hardeng, Gairbrades, and le Intak, (fn. 32) the last occurring also in the 16th century, to which belong Mawnsell House close, Butterfeld, Welcomsyrr, Fosse-ynge, Manfeilde Garthe and Les Leedes. (fn. 33) In the 16th and 17th centuries certain closes in Farlington were known as the Hobbie, Long or Lawriddings, the Wyse, Buskye Close, Kiddlings, Breckon Wood, Wandmyer and Parson's Close. (fn. 34) Baunleues and Balezunes were known in Stittenham in 1240. (fn. 35)

Castle

Just south of the church are earthworks which probably mark the site of the early castle said to have been built here by Bertram de Bulmer in 1140. (fn. 36) They are curious in form and probably indicate that the castle was transitional between the mount and bailey and the keep and bailey types. (fn. 37) The site must have been abandoned by 1382, when John de Nevill was empowered to inclose with a stone wall a plot of his own ground at Sheriff Hutton and to build a castle there. (fn. 38) This plot of ground lies a little to the west of the earlier site, but on the same side of the village street, and here John built the castle which became 'the heade and capitall residence' (fn. 39) of his heirs and later the dwelling of many notable persons. Here Anthony Woodville was imprisoned by Gloucester, and here he made his will before being removed to Pontefract for execution in 1483, (fn. 40) and tradition connects the infant son of Richard III with the monument of a child in the parish church. (fn. 41) Two of the same king's prisoners here afterwards brought to London for very different destinies after Bosworth were Elizabeth of York and Edward Earl of Warwick. (fn. 42) In 1525 the boy Duke of Richmond, natural son of Henry VIII, was sent to hold his court at Sheriff Hutton, where he spent some years. (fn. 43) A view of the castle taken during his residence showed weakness in its defences even then, (fn. 44) though Leland, who visited it about 1534 and 'saw no house in the north so like a princely logginges,' marking its great and high towers, stately stairs and magnificent hall, described it as well maintained. (fn. 45) During the occupation of the Duke of Norfolk, whose cruelty towards the northern rebels in this neighbourhood was notorious, the castle was in frequent use as a prison, and stood in great need of repair (fn. 46); but, though an estimate was made for this purpose under Elizabeth, (fn. 47) it had fallen into complete decay by 1618, when James I granted it to Thomas Lumsden. (fn. 48) Six years later his commissioners found only 'the case of a stately castle, the inward materialls transposed and the walls ruyned,' (fn. 49) whilst the silence of the Parliamentarian surveyors of 1649 shows that by that date it had ceased to be of any value. (fn. 50)

The castle stands on the edge of a ridge, the ground falling away steeply towards the south. The ruins command an extensive view over the plain of York and are a landmark from the higher ground to the north. All the existing remains of the castle date from the latter part of the 14th and the early years of the 15th century. The structure was roughly rectangular with a lofty tower at each angle connected by lower lines of building surrounding the central courtyard. In form it may be compared to Bolton, Wressle, and other contemporary castles in this county.

The remains consist of the south-west and northwest towers, and ruinous fragments of the other two, with traces of the outer walls connecting them. The area within is now used as the stack-yard of the adjoining farm. The main entrance adjoining the south-east tower was approached by a roadway embanked on the south and having a retaining wall supported at intervals by buttresses, traces of four of which remain, and having a chamfered plinth. It is possible that this wall was carried up to surround a base court, but it can now only be traced for some 60 ft. to the east of the tower.

A length of walling adjoining the north-east tower some 47 ft. in length may indicate the opposite extremity of this outer court, which must in that case have been very extensive. Its site is now occupied by the house and buildings of Castle Farm. Little can now be said of the general disposition of the main quadrangle, but the great hall appears to have occupied the western half of the southern face, and somewhere within the castle stood a chapel dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St. Mary.

The four angle towers were apparently all of about the same size, approximately 55 ft. by 35 ft. Of these the south-western is the best preserved, the western wall rising to its full height, with the adjoining portion of the south wall. The other two sides are only complete to the two lower stories. The tower was four stories high, of which the first two are perfect, each having a massive barrel vault of rubble. The lowest stage or basement is badly lit and is now approached only by a break in the south wall; it was, however, formerly entered from the large vice in the north-west angle of the tower. The latter, though it has lost many of its steps, is otherwise largely intact. The floor above has two trefoil-headed single-light windows on the west side and a third in the south wall, from the west jamb of which runs a short passage in the thickness of the wall, giving access to a garderobe in the south-west angle. In the east wall is a fireplace 6 ft. wide, and the apartment is entered by a door in the north wall. The two upper stages are marked externally by offsets and the first floor was lit by three tall two-light windows with square heads, now denuded of most of their worked stone. The top floor has two windows of similar form, and a straight stair in the thickness of the wall leads up to the base of the turret at the south-west angle, which is approached by a newel stair. The parapet of this wall is gone and the single remaining turret is square and rises boldly above the adjoining wall with an embattled cresting. Adjoining this tower on the east was a range of buildings about 47 ft. wide which probably included the great hall. The lower part of the outer wall remains standing for a distance of 70 ft. and is pierced by a series of four single-light windows; the three eastern of these had each a garderobe opening off the eastern jambs. Nothing is left of the upper floors. Below the western window and close to the south-west tower is a small postern door about 4 ft. wide at the level of the tower basement. The westernmost apartment on the ground floor of this range had a fireplace in the wall of the tower, and a garderobe communicating with it still remains in the thickness of the southeast angle of the tower. The south face of the castle was 10 ft. in length between the angle towers, being brought out to a point 50 ft. away from the south-east tower. The outer wall here has been replaced by modern work. The remains of the south-east tower are very fragmentary. The ground floor apartment was roofed with a barrel vault, the ridge running east and west, but of this only the spring remains. In the south-east angle is a garderobe and in the south-west are remains of a vice. The first and second floors have each two windows in the south face, those to the second floor being perfect with trefoiled heads and rear arches.

The main entrance to the castle stands immediately to the north. It appears likely that this is an addition of the early 15th century to the original structure, as it is built up against the quoins of the south-east tower. Above the four-centred archway, most of the voussoirs of which have gone, is a relieving arch, and still higher up a long panel containing four carved shields, two surrounded by garters and the others by twisted wreaths. The first, second and fourth bear the arms of Nevill and the third Nevill impaling Beaufort. As Ralph Nevill, first Earl of Westmorland, did not receive the garter till 1402, the gateway must have been added after that date. Immediately adjoining this structure on the north is a rectangular barrel-vaulted apartment 22 ft. by 15½ ft. inside and lit by two narrow single-light windows in the east wall and one in the west. Externally this building is much ruined and little is left of the facing. All trace of the outer wall between this building and the north-east tower is now gone, and the tower itself is ruined on this side. A lofty fragment remains standing, however, almost to the full height at the north-east angle, and sufficient is left of the lower floors to show that it bore a close resemblance to the south-west tower. The barrel-vaulted basement is almost intact, but owing to the ruin of the vice in the south-east angle it is not now approachable. The ground floor was also vaulted, and of this the northern half is still standing. In the east wall is a large fireplace 7 ft. wide, and to the north of it a single-light window much broken. A more perfect window pierces the north wall. Of the floors above, the north-east angle is the only relic, and this appears to be in a precarious state. Connecting the northeast and north-west towers was a straight wall about 85 ft. long, forming the outside of a range of apartments with vaulted cellars beneath. The former existence of these is, however, only proved by a line of deep depressions in the ground, much overgrown with underwood. The north and west walls of the north-west tower remain standing to their full height, and the building differs little in character from that first described. Unlike the south-west tower, however, it rises five stories in height, the vice, which has now gone, having been in the north-east angle. The barrel vault of the basement has fallen in, but the western portion of that to the ground floor is still standing. At this level there are a fireplace, a single-light window and a garderobe in the north wall, a second window in the west wall, and a third in the south-west angle. The fireplace has a brick backing. The first, second and third floors have also fireplaces with four-centred stone heads, that on the top floor being perfect. The upper floors are lit by two-light windows, each light trefoiled under a square head. Most of these windows are still entire. A stretch of straight wall 96 ft. long formerly connected the north-west and south-west towers, but of this nothing now remains. The size of the central courtyard was approximately 73 ft. from north to south by 57 ft. from east to west, but no trace of its walls is left above ground. The castle is constructed throughout of a reddish rubble carefully laid with ashlar quoins and dressings.

Manors

Eleven carucates in SHERIFF HUTTON were reckoned amongst the possessions of the Count of Mortain at the Survey, and were soke of the manor of Bulmer which Niel Fossard then held of the count. (fn. 51) There were also 4 carucates which had been held by Turchil, Turolf and Turstan as three 'manors' before the Conquest and had afterwards been unjustly appropriated by Niel. (fn. 52) He had surrendered them to the king by 1086, (fn. 53) but it would seem that at some later date he or his son Robert regained this land and, probably after the forfeiture of the count's son, acquired the 11 carucates also, since the overlordship of all Sheriff Hutton (with the exception of a close called Bulfordtoftes held of the king in chief) (fn. 54) afterwards came to the Mauleys, lords of Mulgrave (q.v.), who represented the female line of the descendants of the Fossards after the failure of Robert's male heirs. (fn. 55) The third Peter de Mauley confirmed grants of land of his fee in this parish to Marton Priory in the later years of Henry III, (fn. 56) and the manor of Sheriff Hutton (fn. 57) was held of him and his heirs from 1278 to 1331, (fn. 58) when the fifth Peter de Mauley released to Sir Ralph de Nevill all his right to his service on account of it. (fn. 59) Thenceforward Sheriff Hutton was held of the Crown, the overlordship being merged with the tenancy after its forfeiture on the death of the Earl of Warwick, 'the Kingmaker,' in 1471. (fn. 60)

The early connexion of Sheriff Hutton with Bulmer and Niel Fossard and the prefix which distinguishes it from the other Huttons of Yorkshire are in favour of the commonly received tradition that its manor came into the hands of the lords of Bulmer in the 12th century. (fn. 61) Emma daughter of Bertram de Bulmer the sheriff, (fn. 62) who died in or before 1166, had married Geoffrey de Nevill before 1176, (fn. 63) when he was called upon to account for her father's debts. In 1190 Geoffrey was described as Bertram's heir, a title given at the beginning of the next century to his son Henry, (fn. 64) who in 1208–9 rendered account of £100 and a palfrey for having his knights' fees in Raskelf and Sutton. (fn. 65) Henry de Nevill, who gave his consent to his mother's grant of a pension from Sheriff Hutton Church, (fn. 66) died without issue in 1229 or 1230. (fn. 67) He was succeeded by his sister Isabel and her husband Robert son of Maldred, lord of Raby, whose son and heir Geoffrey assumed his mother's surname. (fn. 68) His son Robert de Nevill, who had as Sheriff of York shown his loyalty to the Crown in the Barons' War, (fn. 69) died in 1282 seised of the manor, and was succeeded by his grandson Ranulph (fn. 70) first Lord Nevill, lord until his death in about 1331. (fn. 71) Ralph, Ranulph's son and heir, was steward of the king's household. (fn. 72) From him Sheriff Hutton descended to his son John, who had fought with his father in the battle of Nevill's Cross and served in the French wars. (fn. 73) John Lord Nevill died in 1388, (fn. 74) and his son and heir Ralph was created Earl of Westmorland in 1397 for supporting Richard II against the Lords Appellant, but deserted his king two years later. (fn. 75) Ralph was lord of Sheriff Hutton in 1401. (fn. 76) Three years later he settled the castle and manor on his second wife Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt, and their heirs male, (fn. 77) and they were held by her as his widow from 1425. (fn. 78) Before her death in 1440 (fn. 79) she transferred her rights in Sheriff Hutton to the eldest son of this marriage, Richard Earl of Salisbury. (fn. 80) By his will the earl left this manor to his widow Alice daughter and heir of Thomas Montagu Earl of Salisbury, with remainder to their eldest son Richard. (fn. 81) The countess did not survive her husband's violent death on the morrow of the battle of Wakefield many years, (fn. 82) and Sheriff Hutton was held by her son and heir Warwick 'the Kingmaker' when he fell at Barnet in April 1471. In the same year Edward IV included it in a grant to his brother Richard of Gloucester, which was renewed after the duke's marriage with Warwick's younger daughter Anne. (fn. 83) Some additional safeguards against the representatives of the house of Nevill seem, however, to have been thought necessary. The castle and manor of Sheriff Hutton were conveyed to the Duke of Gloucester and his trustees in 1477 by Sir Ralph Nevill and his wife Isabel, in 1480 by Sir John Radcliffe and his wife Katherine, lately widow of Sir Oliver Dudley, the right therein on each occasion belonging to the wife. (fn. 84) Katherine Radcliffe's mother, Elizabeth widow of George Nevill Lord Latimer, the fifth son of Ralph Nevill and Joan Beaufort, had also surrendered her claims to the Nevill inheritance in the same year as her daughter. (fn. 85) Richard III granted many annuities to his servants from the issues of the manor. (fn. 86) When in 1485 it had come into the hands of the first Tudor sovereign the impression still lingered that it belonged to the Nevill heirs, and it was described as 'in the hands of the king by reason of the nonage of Edward son and heir of Edward (sic) late Duke of Clarence.' (fn. 87) Somewhat later the revenues were appropriated to the defence of Berwick, and Sheriff Hutton was declared to have been 'of the inheritance of Richard, late Duke of York.' (fn. 88) Both manor and castle were in 1495 formally declared to have belonged to the king from the day of his predecessor's death, (fn. 89) and they remained in the Crown until 1525, when Henry VIII granted them to his son Henry Fitzroy, newly created Duke of Richmond and Somerset. (fn. 90) After the young duke's untimely death without issue eleven years later (fn. 91) Sheriff Hutton reverted to his father, its revenues were once again devoted to the garrison at Berwick, and it was even proposed that Marton Priory should be annexed to the manor to make good deficiencies. (fn. 92) No fresh Crown grant was made until in 1624 James I settled Sheriff Hutton on trustees for the use of Charles Prince of Wales, (fn. 93) who three years later, as king, granted it for a term of eighty years to George Kirke, a gentleman of his bedchamber, at the almost nominal rent of £24 5s. (fn. 94) The actual value was shown by the sale in 1628, to the City of London, of the reversion 'at the ancient rent of £788 15s. 7¾d.' (fn. 95) George Kirke did not reap much profit from his life interest here. He compounded with the Long Parliament for the manor in 1648 and sold his rights in it in 1650 to Lord Maynard. (fn. 96) He was suffering imprisonment for a debt of £4,000 incurred in the purchase of 'robes and wearing apparel' for his late master when he petitioned Charles II for arrears of rent in 1666. (fn. 97) Grants from the revenues of Sheriff Hutton made in 1668 and 1671 to Viscount Grandison and Edward Villiers were to take effect after the death of Kirke. (fn. 98)

It is not evident from public records at what date the manor of Sheriff Hutton finally passed from the Crown. The family to whom it belonged in the last fifteen years of the 17th century had been connected with the parish since the appointment in 1615 of Sir Thomas Ingram to the offices of ranger and keeper of the park. (fn. 99) The park itself was granted seven years later to Arthur Ingram, father of Sir Thomas, for life, with remainder to his elder son the younger Sir Arthur Ingram, keeper of the castle and steward of the honour of Sheriff Hutton from 1627. (fn. 100) In 1646 Sir Arthur paid £320 to Ralph Radcliffe and his wife Elizabeth for the manor of Sheriff Hutton, (fn. 101) but nothing remains to show that Ralph's interest, from whomsoever inherited, (fn. 102) was more than nominal; nor did the Parliamentarian surveyors of 1649 record any manorial rights beyond those of George Kirke by virtue of the grant of Charles I. (fn. 103) In 1685, however, Sheriff Hutton was the property of Sir Arthur's grandson Edward Ingram Viscount Irvine, who settled a moiety of the manor on his younger brother Arthur. (fn. 104) Arthur Ingram succeeded to the family estates and title in 1688. Five of his six sons followed him in turn, dying without issue, and Sheriff Hutton descended to their nephew and heir Charles Viscount Irvine, lord of the manor in and before 1769. (fn. 105) Under the will of Charles Isabella Anne, his elder daughter, inherited it after her mother's death in 1807, her husband Francis Seymour Conway Marquess of Hertford then assuming the surname of Ingram. (fn. 106)

Isabella Anne died in 1834, and the manor then passed to her sister Frances, who married Lord William Gordon and died in 1841. Her sister Elizabeth had married Hugo Meynell of Hoar Cross, and the manor was now inherited by their son Hugo Charles Meynell, who assumed the additional name of Ingram. He died in 1869, (fn. 107) and was succeeded by his son Mr. Hugo Francis Meynell-Ingram, who died in 1871; he had devised all his estates to his widow, the Hon. Emily Charlotte Meynell-Ingram, daughter of the first Viscount Halifax, who died in 1904. Her nephew the Hon. Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, M.P., of Temple Newsam (fn. 108) is now lord of the manor.

In 1331 Ralph de Nevill received a grant of free warren in his demesne lands of Sheriff Hutton. (fn. 109) Fishery in the Foss was associated with the manor in 1545, (fn. 110) 1628 (fn. 111) and 1685. (fn. 112) The capital messuage, valued in the 13th and 14th centuries at 10s., in 1649 was found to be worth £10 a year. (fn. 113) To the windmill and water-mill which had belonged to the manor from 1282 there was added before 1490 another water-mill known as Bulfordtoftsmill. (fn. 114) All three were in use nearly thirty years later, but by 1545 the third was in decay. (fn. 115) Between 1609 and 1612 leases of one windmill with Windmill Hill on which it stood, of another windmill and of three water-mills were granted by James I, all five being excepted from the grants of 1627 and 1628. (fn. 116) A common bake-house belonged to the manor in 1331 and 1628, when a forge was also appurtenant. (fn. 117) Views of frankpledge and courts leet belonged to the manor in the 17th century. (fn. 118)

The Prior of Marton had here 8 oxgangs and 'le Frith close,' both appropriated to the church and chantry. (fn. 119) His capital messuage here was mentioned in 1535, (fn. 120) and was still standing in 1608, when the tenant was Edmund Bennett, who held it for a term of lives. (fn. 121)

The land in Sheriff Hutton and Farlington which had once belonged to Moxby Priory was granted in 1543 to the Archbishop of York, (fn. 122) and appears to be now in the possession of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Before the close of the 13th century Ranulph de Nevill gave 200 acres of marsh here to Kirkham Priory, but the land was worthless owing to its boggy character. (fn. 123) Mention is also made in 1275 of the Prior of Bridlington as holding 3 carucates in Sheriff Hutton 'of the fee of Ralph de Sheriff Hutton,' (fn. 124) but no further mention of this holding has been found.

A 'manor' of 9 geld carucates at CORNBROUGH (Corlebroc, xi cent.; Corneburc, xii cent.) once held by Ligulf was amongst the possessions of the Count of Mortain in 1086. Here as in Sheriff Hutton (q.v.) the heirs of the sub-tenant (fn. 125) Niel Fossard seem to have acquired the overlordship, and Cornbrough was held of the manor of Sheriff Hutton by knight service. (fn. 126)

Certain lands were held in demesne by the lords of Sheriff Hutton (q.v.), which they have followed in descent to the present day, being now in the possession of the Hon. E. F. L. Wood, M.P. (fn. 127)

The township of Cornbrough was in the hands of Hugh son of Leofwin at the close of the 12th century. (fn. 128) A hundred years later the most important holding was in the hands of a branch of the family of Thweng, Marmaduke de Thweng having a lordship here in 1285. (fn. 129)

Marmaduke de Thweng (fn. 130) with his wife Isabel afterwards gave the manor of Cornbrough to his brother John. (fn. 131) John de Thweng was a fugitive from justice in 1293 (fn. 132) for the murder in this township of Roger Colstan, but he was in possession in 1300 and 1316. (fn. 133) Edmund his son and heir, (fn. 134) who died in 1344, was succeeded by his son, another John de Thweng, a minor. (fn. 135) One-third of the manor, then held by Joan, the elder John de Thweng's widow, descended to her grandson in 1346, when a like share was still held by Isabel his mother. (fn. 136) Before he died in 1369 the younger John granted lands in Cornbrough to his son Marmaduke, who came of age six years later, and was still holding in 1413. (fn. 137) William de Thweng, Marmaduke's son, lord from 1426, (fn. 138) made a settlement of the manor in trust on or after the marriage of his daughter Agnes with Thomas Witham, (fn. 139) and in 1441, when William was dead, his widow Joan surrendered her rights therein. (fn. 140) In 1465 Thomas Witham, who was chancellor of the exchequer under Henry VI and Edward IV and otherwise a man of note, (fn. 141) made a settlement of the inheritance of his wife, (fn. 142) to which before 1440, by gift of Joan Countess of Westmorland, he had added the Cornbrough lands previously retained by the Nevill lords. (fn. 143) His marriage was childless, and after his widow's death in 1495 the manor of Cornbrough was divided among his three co-heirs, Richard Westhorp, great- or greatgreat-grandson of Joan, one of the daughters of the John de Thweng who died in 1369 and husband of Thomas Witham's niece Joan, Margaret widow of George Witham and daughter and co-heir of John Wauton grandson of Alice another daughter of the same John de Thweng, and Matthew Witham, son of Ivetta, John Wauton's other daughter and co-heir. (fn. 144)

Richard Westhorp's share, which consisted of half the manor, descended through his son George (fn. 145) to his grandson Ralph, who died in 1528. (fn. 146) Ralph's son Hugh was succeeded at his death in March 1544–5 by his son James, (fn. 147) a minor, for whom writs of livery were issued in 1557 and 1561. (fn. 148) From James Westhorp's elder son Ralph Cornbrough descended to a younger brother William, who came of age in 1595 and died seised nine years later. (fn. 149) Of his two sons, Ralph the elder died a minor in 1618, and was succeeded by his brother Thomas, then aged seventeen. (fn. 150) Thomas, for whom a writ of livery was not issued until February 1637–8, (fn. 151) four years later sold his moiety of Cornbrough Manor to Robert Thompson, (fn. 152) in whose family it remained until 1689, when Richard and Robert Thompson sold or mortgaged it to Sir Samuel Barnardiston, bart. (fn. 153)

The second share of the lands of Thomas and Agnes Witham passed to Margaret Wauton. She was described as George Witham's widow early in 1496, (fn. 154) and seems to have been then already married to William Tocketts, with whom she held her inheritance in this township in 1498. (fn. 155) When she died twenty-seven years later it was found that long before her death a quarter of the manor of Cornbrough had been recovered from herself and her second husband for the use of John, her son by George Witham, and his wife Agnes, daughter of Sir John Gower of Stittenham, and that Agnes, who had been a widow about ten years, was then in possession. (fn. 156) Margaret's grandson and heir, Thomas son of John and Agnes, came of age in 1529 (fn. 157) and died in March 1537–8, when his mother was still holding the quarter of the manor which had fallen to his grandmother. (fn. 158) This came afterwards to his son and heir John, who added to it certain lands in Cornbrough which his grandfather John Witham had left to Christina, his daughter by his first wife Margaret Knight. (fn. 159) Christina had brought this property, which consisted of 250 acres, in marriage to John Silton, (fn. 160) and their daughter and heir Elizabeth afterwards held it with her husband Robert Dalton until its sale in the spring of 1560–1 to John Witham. (fn. 161) On John's death in 1588 his quarter of the manor of Cornbrough descended to his son Anthony, (fn. 162) by whom ten years later it was conveyed to Ralph Rookbye. (fn. 163)

The third portion of the lands passed to the heirs of Ivetta, the second daughter of John Wauton. Between 1493 and 1500 a suit in Chancery was brought by Thomas Witham, husband of Ivetta, against his nephew John, and Robert Auckland, chaplain of the Witham chantry in Sheriff Hutton Church and trustee of the elder Thomas Witham and Agnes, (fn. 164) for detention of lands in Cornbrough promised him by his uncle the chancellor on his marriage. (fn. 165) Matthew son of the younger Thomas, however, had entered on his inheritance here before 1498, when he and William Tocketts successfully defended themselves against the Prior of Marton on a charge of breaking into his property, cutting down trees and perpetrating 'other enormities.' (fn. 166) On his death in 1545 Matthew Witham was succeeded by his grandson William, who died in 1562 seised of a quarter of Cornbrough Manor. (fn. 167) This descended to his brother Cuthbert and was sold by him seven years later to Henry Nevill. (fn. 168) From Philip, Henry's son and heir, it came to his sister Jane Rodley, who conveyed it to Thomas Waite of Haxby in 1626. (fn. 169)

The later history of these three holdings is far from clear. A quarter of the manor of Cornbrough conveyed by John Marks to John Kay (fn. 170) in 1640 was reconveyed by the latter (fn. 171) to John Marks sixteen years later, and conveyed by Richard and Charles Marks to Edward Gale in 1662. (fn. 172) This may be the quarter which Daniel Boldero and his wife Elizabeth held in 1674 and 1703. (fn. 173) Edward Gale Boldero died in 1772; his son Lewyn Boldero took the name of Barnard and died in 1783, (fn. 174) when his son Henry Boldero Barnard was lord of the whole manor. (fn. 175) It was in the possession of William Charles Harland in 1827, (fn. 176) but the manorial rights seem to have afterwards lapsed.

In 1282 Peter de Roos and Robert Haget, lord of Whenby (q.v.), held half a knight's fee here of Robert de Nevill. (fn. 177) Of the holding of Peter de Roos no further mention has been found, but Robert Haget was tenant in 1285 of 2 carucates, one held directly of the Nevills, the second under the mesne lordship of Marmaduke de Thweng. (fn. 178) In 1300 Thomas de Allerthorpe settled 21 oxgangs here on Robert Haget and Ellen his wife and her heirs. (fn. 179) Thomas de Allerthorpe was returned as one of the joint lords of the vill in 1316, (fn. 180) and was perhaps trustee of Ellen widow of Robert Haget; the other lords were John de Thweng and the Prior of Marton, but the later history of this holding has not been traced.

The Prior of Marton held certain lands in this parish which were confirmed to his house by the third Peter de Mauley in the later years of Henry III. (fn. 181) His most important holding at that time consisted of 2 carucates in Cornbrough, I of which, granted for life to Walter Haget in 1235, (fn. 182) may be the carucate ascribed to the priory in 1347 and 1428. (fn. 183)

The capital messuage in Cornbrough which belonged to the priory of Marton in the 13th century was perhaps on the same site as the 'Foss House' of the 16th and 17th centuries. (fn. 184) This with several closes was leased by Henry VIII to William Witham in 1538, the reversion being granted by Philip and Mary twenty years later to Thomas Lawson. (fn. 185) In 1635 the 'Foss House' was the property of Thomas Bolles of Towthorpe. (fn. 186) The Prioress of Moxby also had rights here. (fn. 187) Free warren in their demesne lands of Cornbrough was granted to the Prior of Marton and his successors in 1333. (fn. 188)

There was a mill in Cornbrough in 1300 and also in 1372. (fn. 189)

Two 'manors' of 7 carucates in FARLINGTON (Ferlintun, xi cent.; Ferlington, xiv cent.) and Upper Towthorpe, once in the possession of Ligulf, were held by Niel Fossard of the Count of Mortain in 1086. (fn. 190) The overlordship of the greater part of this land seems to have followed the descent of the manor of Sheriff Hutton, of which the manor of Farlington was held. (fn. 191)

The earliest sub-tenants of the Nevills whose names survive were possibly descended from Ralph and Henry de Farlington, living one in 1167, the other in 1190. (fn. 192) In 1195 Henry de Farlington was constable of Norham Castle, while Walter de Farlington was constable of Durham. (fn. 193) It may have been this Walter de Farlington who had married the daughter of Henry Pappede without licence in 1209. (fn. 194) Their daughter and heir married Henry Walens. (fn. 195) John de Farlington, who held Farlington and West Lilling as one knight's fee in 1282, was living in 1318, (fn. 196) but died early in 1319, when his son Giles (fn. 197) granted the manor of Farlington for life to Robert Manners, who, however, died in the same year. (fn. 198) It seems possible that Giles may have left three co-heirs, for in 1328 Sir John Strickland, kt., and Alice his wife sued Gaudinus de Whitchurch and his wife Alice for the manor, claiming it as the right of Alice Strickland. The suit was protracted until 1331, Gaudinus and Alice maintaining that they held the manor to themselves and their heirs by the gift of Sir John de St. Philibert. (fn. 199) Sir John was perhaps a relation and trustee, for he held no lands in Yorkshire (fn. 200) at his death in 1359, though his daughter Alice, widow of Stephen Waleys, brought a third of the manor of Farlington to her second husband Sir Brian Stapleton. (fn. 201) Laurence son of Warin Trussell, another coparcener, (fn. 202) in 1377 released to Brian all his right in the manor of Farlington held by Brian and Alice of the inheritance of Laurence. (fn. 203) Alice may have held the manor under settlements, for on her death a partition was made between her son and heir the younger Sir Brian Stapleton and two other coparceners, Maud widow of Sir Warin Trussell and Sir John Place, to whom in 1383 Maud transferred her purparty. (fn. 204) The wardship of Brian, his grandson and heir, was granted to Sir Thomas Percy and leased by him to the boy's uncle, Sir Miles Stapleton, who died in February 1399–1400 seised of two-thirds of the manor. (fn. 205) The younger Brian was succeeded in 1417 by his son Brian to whom a third of Farlington descended on his mother's death in 1448. (fn. 206) It came afterwards to the younger branch of the family, (fn. 207) and in 1518 Sir Brian, great-grandson of Sir Miles Stapleton, left annuities from his manor of Farlington to his younger children. (fn. 208) Christopher, his eldest son and heir, was succeeded by his son Robert, who died lord of the manor in 1557. (fn. 209) His son and heir, another Sir Robert Stapleton, lord in 1585 and 1588, had conveyed Farlington to John Bourchier before 1600, when John sold it to Richard Dawson. (fn. 210) Richard died in 1602, and in 1613 his son William was granted the livery of his manor of Farlington. (fn. 211) Another William Dawson was lord in 1710 and again in 1740; ten years later Farlington Manor was sold by William Dawson, clerk, and his wife Mary to Stephen Croft of Stillington (fn. 212) and it followed the descent of Stillington Manor (q.v.) until the last quarter of the 19th century. (fn. 213) Since 1889 the manor has been in the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

A water-mill was one of the appurtenances of the manor in 1585, a windmill in 1588. (fn. 214) The capital messuage which formed the principal item of the sale of 1600 was then associated with court leet and view of frankpledge. (fn. 215)

In the reign of Edward the Confessor 4 carucates in LILLING (Lilinge, xi cent.; Lillinga, xii cent.; Estlilling, xiv cent.; Lillings Ambo, xix cent.) were held by four thegns as separate 'manors.' Their land was owned by the king at the Survey, and with 2 oxgangs then in the possession of the Count of Mortain (fn. 216) afterwards formed the township of East Lilling. The overlordship belonged to the manor of Sheriff Hutton, of which West Lilling was held from the 13th century.

In the latter part of the 13th and early years of the 14th century a manor of East Lilling was in the hands of a family who bore the name of the place. It was settled by Sir Paulinus de Lilling in the reign of Edward I on his son Simon (a tenant of St. Mary's Abbey in 1301), (fn. 217) with his wife Hawise and their issue. (fn. 218) Another settlement on Simon and his wife Alice and their issue was made in 1305–6 by Roger de Nunwick, (fn. 219) from whose custody, nine years later, Simon's son and heir John was forcibly carried away by Robert Manners of Stittenham. (fn. 220) John apparently died without issue as Thomas Dawtrey, son of his sister Joan who had held the manor after her brother's death, brought a suit against Thomas Bolton for its recovery in 1366. (fn. 221) It probably escheated soon afterwards, for in 1388 the capital messuage and court there were in the hands of the lord of Sheriff Hutton (fn. 222); it has followed that manor in descent to the present day.

The whole township of East Lilling was leased by the Crown to John Clapham in 1518–19 at a rent of £20. (fn. 223) In 1583 Elizabeth demised it to the Earl of Huntingdon, who surrendered his lease three years later in favour of Henry Hall, (fn. 224) presumably the Alderman Hall who was a tenant of the Crown here in 1608. (fn. 225) Hall Plumer seems to have enjoyed some rights in the manor of East Lilling in 1774. (fn. 226)

There was a capital messuage belonging to the manor in 1388 and also in 1608. (fn. 227) A dovecot and free fishery were amongst its appurtenances in the 18th century. (fn. 228)

In 1086 there was only one township of Lilling.

The manor of WEST LILLING (Lilinge, xi cent.; Lillinga, xii cent.; West Lilling, xiv cent.; Lillings Ambo, xix cent.) seems to have been formed from two holdings, a 'manor' of 14 oxgangs here, once owned by Ulf, but part of the king's lands at the time of the Survey, and a carucate and 2 oxgangs held of the Count of Mortain by Niel Fossard. (fn. 229) It was a member of the manor of Sheriff Hutton (q.v.), which its overlordship followed in descent.

John de Farlington, (fn. 230) sub-tenant of the Nevill lords here from 1282 to 1318, in 1300 held with Nicholas Fleming, (fn. 231) who had been enfeoffed by James le Fleming. (fn. 232) John mortgaged his 11 oxgangs and other possessions here to Nicholas le Fleming and Ellen his wife in 1307, (fn. 233) and litigation followed; finally John's son Giles de Farlington surrendered all his rights in this township in 1322 to Ellen, then a widow. (fn. 234) In 1367 and again in 1388 the Nevill fee in West Lilling was divided between several tenants, of whom John de Bulmer held the largest share, (fn. 235) but from the 15th century it has been, as has the manor or lordship of East Lilling, merely a parcel of the manor of Sheriff Hutton. (fn. 236) The lease of East Lilling (q.v.) to John Clapham and Henry Hall included this township.

In the 16th and 17th centuries there was a capital messuage here, probably the 'halle place' leased with its lands and a 'gyrse house' to Maude Hardgill in 1506. A dovecot was another appurtenance in the same period. (fn. 237)

Two oxgangs in Lilling (fn. 238) may have formed the nucleus of the carucate in West Lilling which belonged to Marton Priory in the 14th and 15th centuries. (fn. 239) This seems to have been alienated before 1535, when the farm of tithes in East Lilling was the sole possession of the house in these townships. (fn. 240) The abbey of St. Mary's, York, had free tenants in East Lilling in 1301 and at the Dissolution. (fn. 241)

Two 'manors' of 15 carucates in Bulmer and STITTENHAM (Stidnum, xi cent.; Stitnum, xii cent.; Stitelom, Stytenom, xiv cent.) which Ligulf and Norman had formerly owned were held of the Count of Mortain by Niel Fossard in 1086. (fn. 242) The overlordship here as at Sheriff Hutton (q.v.) descended to the Mauleys, of whom Stittenham was held without intermediary in 1278 and 1300. (fn. 243) Before 1485 the manor of Stittenham had come under the overlordship of the Prior of Malton, and in 1579 it was held of the queen as of her priory of Malton in socage. (fn. 244)

Though tradition says that the Gowers of Stittenham held this manor from the Norman Conquest, (fn. 245) the first known mention of them occurs in 1166–7 when William son of Guhier was apparently tenant. (fn. 246) In about 1198 a grant of land here to Rievaulx Abbey was made with the consent of William Gower (Guer), the donor's lord. (fn. 247) The charter of Abbot Adam to Robert Gower more than fifty years later shows that Robert, like his father Walter a benefactor to the abbey, was then holding the fee of Stittenham. (fn. 248) In 1278, however, this was in the tenure of John Vescy, (fn. 249) who had been succeeded in or before 1300 by John Gower, possibly the father of Master John Gower, lord in 1316. (fn. 250) In 1412 lands and tenements in Stittenham were held by Walter Gower, (fn. 251) who at his death thirty years later bequeathed to his wife Janet during her widowhood his chief manor-place in Stittenham with lands belonging to it. (fn. 252) Thomas Gower, his son and heir, was the father of Sir Thomas Gower, lord in 1485, when he left two sons both minors. (fn. 253) The elder, another Thomas, survived his father less than two years, and the manor was held by his brother John until his death on the field of Flodden. (fn. 254) Sir Edward Gower, John's son and heir, was succeeded in 1579 by his grandson Thomas, lord until 1592. (fn. 255) On his death in that year a considerable part of his Stittenham property was held by his mother Barbara Sheppard, widow of Sir Edward Gower, and his own widow Mary Fairfax, (fn. 256) but before 1633 this had come into the possession of his son and heir Thomas, (fn. 257) the first baronet of his line. (fn. 258) The next baronet, another Sir Thomas Gower, who with his father and brothers suffered many losses for adherence to the royal cause, held until 1672. (fn. 259) From his grandson and heir of the same name, who died unmarried in 1689, (fn. 260) Stittenham passed to his uncle Sir William Leveson-Gower, whose son Sir John, in 1703 created Lord Gower of Stittenham, (fn. 261) was succeeded by his son John, lord in 1744, (fn. 262) afterwards Viscount Trentham and Earl Gower. Granville Leveson-Gower, the next heir in the direct line, held in 1779, (fn. 263) and was succeeded in 1803 by his son George Granville LevesonGower, (fn. 264) afterwards Duke of Sutherland, whose greatgreat-grandson the present duke is now lord of the manor. (fn. 265)

There was a capital messuage in Stittenham in 1443, (fn. 266) probably 'Mr. Gower's auncient Manor Place,' which Leland saw more than a century later. (fn. 267) One water-mill, an appurtenance in 1603, had been succeeded within fifty years by two, whilst from 1690 to 1808 the manor owned three; from 1633 until 1808 it had also a windmill. (fn. 268)

Stittenham was among the places at which the abbey of St. Mary's, York, obtained land in 1380, (fn. 269) and here the hospital of St. Nicholas, York, and Rievaulx Abbey also had small properties. (fn. 270)

Churches

The church of ST. HELEN AND THE HOLY CROSS is a large building consisting of chancel 30 ft. by 17 ft., with chapel and vestry on the north and a chapel on the south, nave 31½ ft. by 22½ ft., north and south aisles, each about 13 ft. wide and extending to the west face of the western tower, tower 14½ ft. by 16 ft. from north to south and west porch.

The 12th-century church was a small aisleless building with a western tower, and of this there remain the lower part of the tower and portions of the east and west ends of the nave, which was the same size as that now existing. The first alteration appears to have been the rebuilding of the chancel in the first half of the 13th century. This building was aisleless and the eastern portion of the north wall with one window remains standing. In the following century the church was enlarged by the addition of wide aisles to the nave extending westward as far as the western face of the tower, in which was inserted the present west door. The north and south walls of the old nave were removed and arcades of two bays erected on each side. A difference in detail shows that the southern is somewhat the earlier in date. A north chapel was also added to the chancel. Early in the 15th century the three arches were inserted in the north, south and east walls of the tower, and shortly after the belfry stage was added. In the middle of the century the north chapel was rebuilt and the vestry added to the east of it by Thomas Witham and his wife, the former east window being removed and inserted in the north wall. At the altar of St. Nicholas and St. Giles in this chapel a chantry was founded by Thomas Witham. (fn. 271) Soon after the east wall of the chancel was rebuilt, the side walls being raised and a new roof added. The south wall was entirely rebuilt with an arcade of two bays opening into a new south chapel, the east end of the south nave aisle being replaced by an open arch, and the former east window being re-used in the end wall of the chapel. The last pre-Reformation alteration appears to have been the addition of the nave clearstory. The only modern addition to the church is the west porch, which is of 18th or early 19th-century date, but the building has undergone general restoration and repair.

The east end of the chancel has a five-light 15thcentury window with a traceried four-centred head. The first opening in the north wall is a 13th-century lancet, now communicating with the vestry, and further west are the vestry door and the 14th-century pointed arch to the north chapel. In the south chancel wall are two 15th-century arches with octagonal pier and responds with moulded capitals and bases opening into the south or Gower chapel. Externally the east wall is of 13th-century date, below the sill of the east window, and is finished with a low gable and parapet. The weatherings of the earlier steeppitched roof are visible above the chancel arch. The vestry at the north of the chancel is lit by two plain square-headed single-light openings and is entered by two doorways; that from the north chapel still retains its original oak door with traceried panelling. The north chapel dedicated to Holy Trinity and St. Nicholas is lit by two windows in the north wall; the first is of three lights with net tracery and a square head of the 14th century, which was probably the original east window of the chapel, and the second is a two-light window of similar date. This wall appears to have been rebuilt when the vestry was added and the old windows were reused; the external buttresses are of 15th-century work.

The south chapel dates from the latter part of the 15th century. The east window, of three lights with net tracery and a flat pointed head, is similar to the first window in the north chapel, and was probably the old east window of the 14th-century aisle. The two 15th-century windows in the south wall are uniform, of three cinquefoiled lights under a segmental pointed head. The chapel is faced externally in ashlar with buttresses of one stage, a deep battered plinth and a modern low gable at the east end. The arch between the chapel and the south nave aisle springs from corbels enriched with plain shields and cusping.

The nave arcades are each of two bays, that on the south being somewhat the earlier. It has octagonal piers and responds with foliated capitals and pointed arches of two chamfered orders, all of the second half of the 14th century. The capitals of the north arcade are moulded only, but the work is otherwise similar. In the eastern respond is a small niche for a light. Above the arches is a clearstory added in the late 15th century and pierced on each side by three two-light windows with elliptical heads. The weathering of the earlier roof is visible on the east wall of the tower. At the ends of the nave arcades and adjoining the eastern piers of the tower are the original angles of the 12th-century nave with traces of a chamfered plinth. The nave aisles are similar in date and character. They are each three bays long and lit in the first and second bays and at the west end by two-light 14th-century windows with square heads. In the third bay on each side is a simple pointed doorway, and at the east end of the south wall a plain piscina. The buttresses, where original, are two stages, and the walls, of roughly coursed ashlar, are without parapets.

The western tower was three stages high, of which the two lower date from the first half of the 12th century. The Norman walls have, however, been pierced on the east, north, and south by early 15th-century pointed arches, and above each of them is a small blocked 12th-century window with a round head. A small window of similar date in the west wall still remains open, but the pointed west door is an insertion apparently of c. 1400. Covering this door is a featureless west porch probably built in the 18th century. The belfry stage of the tower was added early in the 15th century, and has a two-light pointed window in each face. It is finished with an embattled parapet and string with small pinnacles at the angles. The 12th-century work is built in small rubble, but the belfry stage is ashlar-faced.

The aisles and chancel of the church are covered with lead, but the nave and chapels are slated, and the nave has a flat plaster ceiling.

The fittings of the church include a communion table and rails of late 17th-century date, and at the west ends of the two chapels and on the north side of the southern are remains of the bases of parclose screens.

In the north chapel are two monuments of considerable interest. In the first window recess is a recumbent effigy in freestone of circa 1300, probably of John de Thweng, in mixed mail and plate, with a long surcoat, angels at the head and a shield of the arms of Thweng of Cornbrough. On the base of the tomb are five coats of arms, of which the first and fifth are Thweng; the third is similar, but has apparently three molets on the fesse; the second is quarterly, second and third vair, a bend; and the fourth shows three martlets on a bend. In the second window recess is an altar tomb of alabaster supporting a small recumbent figure of the same material in civilian dress of the 15th century and wearing a curious cap. The front of the tomb, which has evidently been moved, has a carving of the Trinity in the centre niche, with angels bearing shields, and saints on either side. The two ends of the tomb are now loose and bear large shields, one plain and one charged with a plain cross gules; Dodsworth records that the Nevill arms formerly appeared on the tomb, and there is, at any rate, a possibility that it represents Edward, Prince of Wales, only son of Richard III, who was probably buried here.

The church contains also several brasses; one on the floor of the north chapel commemorates Thomas Witham of Cornbrough (died 1480) and Agnes his wife (died 1495, daughter and co-heir of William de Thweng of Cornbrough). The shield is charged with Witham impaling Thweng of Cornbrough. The curious inscription runs: 'Vestibulum fieri qui fecit et ista capellam | Hic cantariam sistere perpetuam | ffundans xp'e Thome Wytham miserere | Agneti sponse qui simul hic recubant sueq[ue].' In the chancel is a small brass figure and inscription to Mary wife of Henry Hall (1657), and in the south chapel a much defaced inscription, with a shield and evangelistic symbols lost, to Thomas Gower, lord of the manor of Stittenham, who died in 1486 (?). In the floor of the nave at the east end is a brass, with two chrysom children, to Dorothy and John Fenys, 1491, probably the children of Sir Thomas Fiennes Lord Dacre. On the south wall of the south chapel is a funeral achievement consisting of an ornamental wood shield, a helmet of about 1610 with the crest of a dog sable collared or, a gauntlet, spur and banner bearing the arms of Leveson-Gower. The colours are now indistinguishable, but clearly show the punning leaves of Leveson.

In the north chapel windows are some remains of ancient glass, including some quarries bearing the sun in splendour. In the first window, also, is the head of an abbot with a crosier. The windows of the north nave aisle have remains of 14th-century glass in the heads, with tabernacle work and three coats of arms—Nevill of Raby (in the west window), Nevill of Thornton and Dacre.

The tower contains three bells, the first inscribed 'Soli deo gloria, 1642 wl (fn. 272) . es . rh.'; the second 'Soli deo gloria pax hominibus 1663'; the third 'Jesus be our speed, 1663.'

The plate includes a cup (York, 1633) with a chased bowl and maker's mark for James Plummer, a paten (London, 1868) given in 1875, and a flagon (Sheffield, 1875) presented at the same date.

The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) mixed entries 1637 to 1705; (ii) mixed entries 1705 to 1783, baptisms 1705 to 1760 and marriages 1705 to 1753 only; (iii) marriages 1754 to 1804; (iv) baptisms 1761 to 1812, burials 1783 to 1812; (v) marriages 1804 to 1812.

The chapel of ST. LEONARD at Farlington is a small rectangular building 50 ft. by 16 ft. (internal measurements), consisting of a nave and chancel without structural division, a vestry north of the chancel and a western bellcote. The church is substantially a 12th-century structure, only altered by the addition of buttresses and windows of various dates. It has undergone extensive restoration in modern times, when the vestry was added and the bellcote rebuilt.

The east wall has three narrow and deeply splayed 12th-century windows, all partially restored, the centre one having a shouldered head, probably a later insertion. The clasping buttress at the south-east angle is of two stages and perhaps original; the other buttresses to the south wall are probably 13thcentury additions. On the south side of the chancel is a two-light square-headed window of the 15th century, and further west a single-light window with a restored cusped head of similar date but placed high up in the wall. In the same wall is a small trefoil-headed piscina. The nave windows are restorations, the first in the south wall being a plain, square-headed opening probably of 16th-century date. The north and south doors are both of 12th-century date, the northern having a deeply cut moulding and the southern a plain chamfered edge. Both have semicircular heads.

The church is built of large rubble brought to a face, with a modern roof covered externally with slate.

The font has an octagonal bowl resting on a circular shaft and is probably of 13th-century date. The oak communion table of the early part of the 17th century has turned legs, and in the vestry is an old oak parish chest.

The west end with the gabled bellcote over, containing two bells, is modern.

The plate includes an old cup, now kept at Marton Church (q.v.).

The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) mixed entries 1614 to 1719; (ii) mixed entries 1719 to 1777, and a marriage book.

Advowson

The church, dedicated in and probably before 1375 in the honour of St. Mary, (fn. 273) but from 1443 in the honour of St. Helen or St. Cross, and more recently St. Helen and the Holy Cross, (fn. 274) was granted by Niel Fossard to the abbey of St. Mary, York, (fn. 275) and seems to have been retained by that house until the early years of the 13th century, when the abbot quitclaimed his right to Emma de Humez. (fn. 276) With the consent of her son and heir Henry de Nevill Emma granted the abbot in exchange a pension of 20 marks from the church of Sheriff Hutton. (fn. 277) The advowson thereafter descended with the manor until 1273, when it was given by Emma's greatgrandson Robert de Nevill to the Prior of Marton, (fn. 278) whose successors held it until the surrender of their house. (fn. 279) The church was appropriated in 1274 and a vicarage ordained, (fn. 280) some readjustment of tithes between the prior and vicar being made in 1332 and again in 1376. (fn. 281) In 1545 the advowson came to the see of York by an exchange of livings and manors with the Crown. (fn. 282) The grant was renewed by Philip and Mary about ten years later, (fn. 283) and the living remained in the gift of the archbishops (fn. 284) until 1867, when the next nomination and every alternate turn were transferred to the trustees of Leonard Thompson. (fn. 285) Their right of patronage came before 1889 to Mr. R. M. Lascelles, and now belongs to Mrs. J. Lascelles alternately with the archbishop. (fn. 286)

The rectory, valued at £37 in 1535, when it was granted for life to the late prior, (fn. 287) has generally followed the descent of the advowson.

The Lady Alice de Nevill, presumably the wife of Henry de Nevill son of Emma de Humez, (fn. 288) founded a chantry in Sheriff Hutton Church, and assigned 'le Frith close' and other lands for its support. (fn. 289) In 1348 Ralph de Nevill, for his 'laudable bearing in the battle by Durham against David Brus,' obtained licence to alienate considerable property, afterwards increased by his heir, to two chaplains who were to celebrate daily at the altar of St. Mary and St. Peter in the parish church for the souls of himself and his kindred. (fn. 290) These foundations were perhaps superseded by the chapel within the castle in which marriages were solemnized in the 15th century. (fn. 291) This was served by two chaplains whose duty it was when any great man lay at the castle to sing mass there or at the parish church. (fn. 292) In 1509 the perpetual chantry of Holy Trinity and the Virgin Mary, Sheriff Hutton, was in the king's gift, (fn. 293) and the priest then presented was one of the two castle chaplains of 1535. (fn. 294) Their successors were found eleven years later to own two dwelling-houses with a garden and half an acre of land. (fn. 295)

Thomas Witham, who added to the parish church the north chapel in which he lies, and left 20s. to the fabric of the quire and south chapel should they not be completed in his lifetime, (fn. 296) obtained licence in 1449 to found a chantry at its altar of St. Nicholas and St. Giles, a permission afterwards renewed to his executors. (fn. 297) Here as in Cornbrough chapel an obit was kept in his memory on the vigil of St. Thomas. (fn. 298) This chantry, which was generally known by the name of the founder who had endowed it with land, was under the invocation of the Blessed Trinity and St. Nicholas in 1546. (fn. 299) In 1442 Adam Blenkinsop's will provided for a chaplain to celebrate in Sheriff Hutton Church on behalf of the souls of himself and his kin for one year after his death. (fn. 300)

There was a gild in the church described in 1564 as the 'Guilde de Roode chappell.' (fn. 301)

In 1273 there were two chapels connected with the mother church of Sheriff Hutton, for the service of which the vicar was made responsible. (fn. 302) One of these, the chapel of St. James in Stittenham, described in 1546 as endowed neither with lands nor tenements and dependent on first fruits paid by the inhabitants, (fn. 303) seems to have disappeared not long afterwards. The chantry of St. Leonard of Farlington, however, was in more fortunate case, having lands of the gift of the Prior of Marton, patron of both chapels in the 16th century, when its congregation of sixty 'howslynge people' were ofttimes prevented by raging waters from reaching the parish church. (fn. 304) From 1557 to 1613 the advowson of this church or chapel of Farlington descended with the manor. (fn. 305) In the 18th and 19th centuries, however, the patronage lay with the archbishop, to whom as a chapel of Sheriff Hutton it naturally belonged. (fn. 306) It is still in his gift, and since 1836 has been united with Marton-inthe-Forest, (fn. 307) since 1889 with Marton-in-the-Forest and Moxby. (fn. 308)

Cornbrough also had its chapel, which stood in 1345 in the village without the chief messuage. (fn. 309) To this, as his 'parish church of Cornbrough,' Marmaduke Thweng in 1426 left money for the leaden roof of the belfry and the fabric of the porch. (fn. 310) The original building had been replaced by a new chapel built by Thomas Witham before 1465 (fn. 311) and under the invocation to St. Giles in the following century. (fn. 312) In this chapel was a chantry, also founded and endowed by Thomas Witham, but unfinished in 1475, when he left it certain missals and vessels on the condition that they should be retained for service in the manor of Cornbrough when weakness or bad weather prevented his widow from reaching the chantry. (fn. 313) Thomas Witham's obit was celebrated here until 1546. (fn. 314) The chantry-house, leased in 1545 with other buildings and land thereto belonging by the chantry priest, was sold by the Crown in 1549. (fn. 315)

Charities

The trust known as the Flaxton Poor's Lands consists of a farm-house and about 12 a. acquired by deeds of 1745 and 1782, the land comprised in the latter deed with moneys left by one Robinson for educational purposes, but the lands cannot be separately identified. The income is £33 10s. a year. A sum of £210 11s. 9d. consols arising from sale of timber was held by the official trustees until 1912, when the stock was sold to rebuild the farm-house. The trustees also hold under the title of Poor's Stock £68 0s. 11d. consols, representing a legacy of £40 left in 1779 by will of Edmund Philliskirk, and £8 10s. 1d. consols, being a gift of £5 by Richard Adamson in 1767. By an order under the Board of Education Act, 1899, dated 8 August 1905, £140 7s. 10d. consols, being two-thirds of the first mentioned sum of stock, and two-thirds of the net rents were determined to be the Educational Foundation, the remainder of the net rents and the dividends of the remaining sums of stock being applicable for the benefit of the poor.

In 1670 Christopher Richardson gave a close called Nether Flatts for providing an annuity of £2 12s. for the poor of West Lilling and Sheriff Hutton in bread. The rent received is £6 a year.

In 1711 Richard Winter by will devised a close called Four Corner Field containing about 9 a. upon trust that out of the rents £1 should be paid to the vicar for sermons on St. Thomas's Day and St. John Baptist's Day and £2 12s. for poor in bread every Sunday, the surplus rent to be applied for educational purposes. These charities are duly administered.

John Hodgson, by will proved in 1891, left £310 9s. 1d. consols, income to be applied in the distribution of articles in kind among the poor, who are also entitled to benefit from a trust fund of £5,000 North Eastern railway preference stock founded by the same testator for the benefit of persons residing within York Union and Sheriff Hutton.

In 1894 Richard Rowley bequeathed £75 to be accumulated to £100, and the interest then applied in maintenance of window in church and subject thereto for poor.

Township of Farlington.—The charities subsisting in the township are regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners, dated 25 February 1890, namely:—

The Poor's Stock arising from sundry small benefactions, the memorials of which are now lost, consisting of £138 5s. 8d. consols with the official trustees;

A rent-charge of £1 out of a small portion of Farlington Moor taken up in 1812 under the Inclosure Act agreed to be let to the owner of Woodhouse Farm, paid by Mr. Joseph Johnson;

A rent-charge of 5s. agreed to be paid by the owner of the 'Blacksmith Arms' for accommodation land part of the said moor;

A sum of £100 secured by promissory note of Edwin Gray of York, solicitor, being a legacy by will of William Raisbeck, proved at York in 1811.

By the scheme the dividends on the stock, amounting to £3 9s., are applicable in prizes or rewards to children attending a public elementary school, and the income of the other charities for the general benefit of the poor. In 1905 coals and flour were distributed among six families and gifts of money to two persons.

Township of Lillings Ambo.—The Poor's Stock arising from sundry small benefactions consists of £54 deposited in the York Savings Bank. The interest of £1 7s. is distributed among the poor of the township in money.