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Farndale
Historical and geographical information
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Introduction
Dates are in red.
Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.
Headlines of the history of the Farndale
are in brown.
References and citations are in turquoise.
Contextual history is in purple.
This webpage about the valley of Farndale has the
following section headings:
- The
Farndales who lived in Farndale
- The
Geography of Farndale
- Farndale,
an Overview
- Kirkbymoorside
- Farndale
before the Norman Conquest
- The
Feudal Era and Farndale
- Farndale
since 1500
- Farndale
Timeline
- The
Farndale Hunt
- Wordsworth’s
Farndale
- A
photographic journey of Farndale
The Farndales who lived in Farndale
Our early ancestors were the inhabitants
of Farndale by about 1230. We know of
some of those who lived in Farndale in medieval times (see FAR00001 and
FAR00002).
We know a little of the forest of Farndale (FAR00003
and FAR00004). Edmund
the hermit was of course not our ancestors and indeed until the mid thirteenth century, the area was forested hunting
grounds, with grants given to monks as a source of timber, and with little
evidence of habitation. But there is evidence in the mid thirteenth century of
a campaign of cutting back the land for cultivation and renting it to villeins.
It is the poor peasant folk of Farndale who are probably our earliest ancestors
- perhaps William the Smith of Farndale, 1240 (FAR00009),
John the Shepherd of Farndale, 1250 (FAR00010),
Roger milne (miller) of Farndale, 1265 (FAR00013A)
and Simon the miller of Farndale, 1282 (FAR00021)
were our early ancestors living in Farndale.
Over time, folk started to adopt names
which described them by place or occupation. Examples are Nicholas de Farndale,
the first personal name linked to Farndale (see FAR000006
and Farndale 1), Peter de
Farndale (see FAR000008
and Farndale 2), Gilbert de
Farndale (FAR00018
and Farndale 3), and Simon de
Farndale (FAR00021
and Farndale 4). So our ancestors started to called themselves de Farndale,
and in time just used the Farndale name. That process signalled the start of a
spread of our ancestors out of Farndale to the surrounding lands. At that time,
such movements were no doubt as bold and significant as later emigrations to
Australia, Canada and New Zealand. We know for instance
that De Johanne de Farndale, 1275 (FAR00014) moved
further afield to Egton.
In this genealogical exploration of the
Farndale family, we are therefore most interested in Farndale the place before
about 1400. After that, those who chose to define themselves as ‘of Farndale’
were those who had moved on to live in other places. By the fifteenth century
there were no members of the family still living in Farndale, and none have
returned.
Nevertheless an exploration of the earliest history
of Farndale the place is integral to the family story. It is our beginnings. It
is the cradle of the Farndale family. It is where it all started.
The Geography of Farndale
Farndale location
Farndale 2023
Farndale 1857
Farndale, an Overview
Farndale is a valley located
in the North York Moors National Park in North Yorkshire. The nearest town is
Kirkbymoorside located five miles to the south. Pickering is thirteen miles to
the south-east and Helmsley twelve miles to the south-west.
Farndale
was first recorded as Farnedale, and means Fern Valley. It has sometimes been interpreted
as a derivation of the Gaelic word fearna meaning
alder, since the alder tree is still common in the dale. Farndale’s river, the
Dove, probably originates in the Celtic word dubo,
the black or shady stream. High up on the west side of the valley is a large
boulder, known as the Duffin Stone. This stone might identify one of the two
original forest clearings, named Duvaneesthaut
in the Rievaulx Abbey charter of 1154.
Farndale is surrounded by
some of the wildest moorland in England, and is
sandwiched between Bransdale and Rosedale. To the north-east sits Blakey Ridge
at over 400 m above sea level, and to the north-west, Cockayne Ridge reaching
up to 454 m above sea level is one of the highest points of the North York
Moors. Around the north of Farndale, between Bloworth
Crossing and Blakey is the track bed of the old Rosedale Ironstone Railway
(Rosedale Branch) which forms part of two Long Distance Footpaths these being
Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk and The Lyke Wake Walk.
Farndale is a scattered agricultural community
with traditional Yorkshire dry stone walls. The valley is popular with walkers
due to its famous wild daffodils, which can be seen around Easter time all
along the banks of the River Dove. To protect the daffodils the majority of
Farndale north of Lowna was created a Local Nature
Reserve in 1955.
Farndale is home to two hamlets. Church Houses is
at the top of the valley and Low Mill further down. Low Mill is at the heart of
the daffodil walking routes.
Kirkbymoorside
Kirkbymoorside lies only 25
miles north of York.
The name Kirkbymoorside
suggests one of the key reasons for the settlement’s establishment, that being
the shelter offered by the southern slopes of the moors into which the town
nestles. Our prehistoric ancestors left behind flint and stone axes, and traces
of their Celtic language in the street names of Tinley Garth (garden) and Howe
End (a ’howe’ being a burial mound). Anglo-Saxon and Viking artefacts include a
silver coin dating from around 790, found within the grounds of the parish
church of All Saints.
There is some disagreement
over the spelling of the village: the alternative is Kirbymoorside,
which is how the railway companies spelt the name on the station, as how it is
traditionally pronounced). Signposts read "Kirkbymoorside".
"Kirk" means church and "-by" is the Viking word for
settlement, so that the name translates as "settlement with a church by
the moorside", or as Ekwall argues, Moorside is
"Moresheved" which means "top of the
moor".[5] A valley near the town is known as Kirkdale.
Kirkbymoorside is noted as Chirchebi
in the Domesday Book of 1086. With William the Conqueror came the ’Harrying of
the North’; Saxon landowners gave way to his supporters and in Kirkbymoorside Torbrant was replaced by Hugh Fitzbaldric
and then Robert de Stuteville. The Stuteville family built a moated wooden
castle on Vivers Hill behind the church with
commanding views of the town and beyond. The town grew in importance and
prospered under the Wake family to whom it passed in the 13th Century and in
1254 the Wednesday Market, which still thrives today, was established along
with an annual fair.
Torbrand, the Anglo-Saxon owner, was
"evicted" by the Conqueror, and his home and lands given to Robert D'Estoteville or Stuteville, a Norman who had accompanied
the Conqueror to England. The family rose high in the royal favour,
and figured largely in the annals of Norman England. The De Mowbrays appear to have become possessed, in some way or other, of a
portion of the lordship, and Henry I. deprived both Roger de Mowbray and Roger
de Stuteville of their lands here for rebellion, and bestowed them on Nigel de
Albini, who married the heiress of the Mowbrays, and assumed that name. Shortly
afterwards a dispute arose between the families as to the right of possession,
and the king (Henry II.) restored the barony of Kirbymoorside
to the Stutevilles. It remained with this family till Joan, the daughter and
heiress of Nicholas Estoteville, conveyed it in
marriage to Hugh de Wake.
The Norman baron Robert de
Stuteville built a wooden moated castle on Vivers
Hill.
It has served as a trading
hub at least since 1254, when it became a market town.
The estate passed to the
Wake family in the 13th century, who brought prosperity to the town. However,
it was badly hit by the Black Death of the mid-14th century, after which the
wooden castle lay in ruins. In the 14th century the Black Death hit Kirkbymoorside
and soon the wooden castle was in decay and a loss of order within the town
followed.
Prosperity returned after
1408, when the Neville family took over, although little remains of the
fortified manor they built to the north of the town. The Nevilles remained
Catholic and took part in the Rising of the North of 1569.
Farndale Before the
Norman Conquest
According to
Bede, the Angles came from Ageln in the Jutland
peninsula of Denmark. Archaeological evidence is sparse for the earliest phase
of their settlement in this area.
After the
Angles were converted to Christianity, they left more substantial evidence.
Christianity came to Yorkshire not through the establishment route from Rome
via Canterbury, but from the north and ultimately from the west. Monasteries
were established on sites resembling Lindisfarne, which offered qualities of
remoteness but also access to settlements. Lindisfarne as well as sites such as
Iona in Scotland, were near to navigational routes which were then primarily by
sea.
Whitby was
founded by Aidan himself and Hilda was its most famous abbess. Another cell was
later established in Forge Valley near Scarborough. The founding of an early
monastery at Lastingham is vividly described by Bede. Closer to Farndale, the
little church of St Gregory at Kirkdale near Kirbymoorside
is secluded, lying across the narrow valley.
This part of
Yorkshire saw two Viking settlements, both fairly peaceful,
with no evidence of armed conquest except for the taking of York, the political
centre and market of the area. York fell to the Danes in 867. The extent and
range of settlement isn’t clear. In the early tenth century came a second wave
of Scandinavian speakers, with Norwegian tongues into northern Yorkshire from
Cumberland.
The place
names of the pre Norman countryside provide glimpses
of pastures, valleys, marshes, farms. The sculpture and churches in the tenth
and eleventh centuries hint at a growth of population around the edges of the
moorland and on the lowlands and the coast. Monuments suggest a framework of
parishes along the tabular hills stretching into the low ground.
Northwards from the Wolds, the windswept
moors of Hambleton and Cleveland remain as they have been throughout
pre-historic times, a refuge of broken peoples, a home of lost cultural causes.
Bede described the area as ‘vel bestiae commorari vel hommines bestialiter
vivere conserverant.’ (‘a land fit only for
wild beasts, and men who live like wild beasts.’). Although there are many
pre-historic remains on the North Yorkshire moors, the wooded valleys were very
remote and isolated. The Romans built roads around it and the Vikings skirted
it also. When the Romans left and the Saxons and Vikings arrived, some people
did move into the dales and left their burial mounds and crosses across the
moors. Thus the people who today come from the ‘dales
on the moors’ of North Yorkshire have remained a particular folk for several
hundred years and developed very special characteristics. In many respects they
remain to this day a unique Yorkshire Tribe. (Early
man in North East Yorkshire, 1930 p 219-20 by F Elgee)
Within the porch of
the Saxon Church of St Gregory at Kirkdale, about a mile west of
Kirkbymoorside, above the entrance door is housed a Saxon sundial. It bears the
inscription “Orm the son of Gamel acquired St Gregory’s Church when it was
completely ruined and collapsed, and he had it built anew from the ground to
Christ and to St Gregory in the days of King Edward and in the days of Earl
Tostig”. The inscription refers to Edward the Confessor and to Tostig, the
son of Earl Godwin of Wessex and brother of Harold II, the last Anglo Saxon
King of England. Tostig was the Earl of Northumbria between 1055 and 1065. It
was therefore during that last peaceful decade, immediately before the Norman
conquest, that Orm, son of Gamel rebuilt St Gregory’s Church.
Orm
was prominent in Northumbria in the middle years of the eleventh century. He
married into the leading aristocratic clan of the region. His wife Aethelthryth
was the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Northumbria in the mid eleventh century.
His brother in law was Siward, Earl of Northumbria
until 1055, famous for his exploits against Macbeth, the King of Scots. Orm’s
name suggests that he was of Scandinavian descent, but by his lifetime, he was
very much a Christian, and a part of the Saxon world.
Chirchebi is known to us today as Kirkbymoorside. The Domesday Book
recorded that Chirchebi comprised five carucates of land. A carucate was
a medieval land unit based on the land which eight oxen could till in a year.
So presumably this area of land described the five carucates of cultivated land
around Kirkdale. [I need to do a bit more work on Saxon Chirchebi to
confirm this]. Before the Conquest, civilised Chirchebi was in
the possession of Orm and it comprised ten villagers, one priest, two
ploughlands, two lord’s plough teams, three men’s plough teams, a mill and a
church.
However this area of civilisation was part of a much wider wild estate
which Chirchebi formed, which was said to be twelve leagues (about 42
miles) long by the time of the Normans.
Earl Waltef who had a manor and 5
carucates at Fadmoor which comprised three
ploughlands.
So whilst there was a small
community of folk living at Kirkdale, within this wider estate, the bulk of the
estate was deep forest, stretching up through the dales towards the highlands
of the North York Moors. This forest was probably largely impenetrable, and
certainly not settled. It may have been used for hunting. Centuries before, the
Venerable Bede had described this region as ‘a land fit only for wild beasts,
and men who live like wild beasts’.
Within this uninhabited
woodland, there lay a forested valley, which was then unknown, but which was
nestling quietly in those woods, the place which in time would become the
cradle of the modern Farndale family. The land which was to become Farndale was
little more than a possession, and a place which the owner himself did not
likely know, and which after the Conquest, would continue to be possessed,
transferred, perhaps sometimes hunted within, for another two centuries.
The Feudal Era and Farndale
Medieval Farndale and East
Bransdale
By 1086 the ownership of Chirchebu had passed to Hugh, son of Baldric. Count
Robert of Mortain held Fadmoor
and it was waste. Later it fell into the hands of Hugh
son of Baldric before passing first to Roger de Mowbray and later to William
and then Nicholas de Stuteville in 1200. (Domesday Book and Victoria
County History of Yorkshire).
From the Essay New
Settlements in the North Yorkshire Moors, 1086 to 1340 by Barry Harrison,
in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England,
Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland, Research
Report No 2, Edited by BE Vyner, 1990:
The North Yorks Moors was an
appropriate area for the study of medieval agriculture, since it appears to
have been largely empty of settlements in 1086.The only developed manor in the
moorlands proper was in the Esk Valley where a 12
carucate holding was located at Danby,
In
1086 the area which included the land which would become known in time as
Farndale, lay within the great multiple of Kirkbymoorside, said to be 12
leagues long and in the possession of Hugh FitzBaldric, a German archer who had
served William the Conqueror and became the Sheriff of the County of York in
1069.
The estate passed to the Stuteville family in 1086, when Hugh
died. The Stutevilles were deprived of it in 1106 when it was granted to Nigel d’Aubigny, one of Henry I’s ‘new men’.
On his death in 1129 his widow Gundreda
administered the estate on behalf of her under age
son, Roger de Mowbray. It was she who granted the whole of Welburn and Skiplam together with the western side of Bramsdale to Rievaulx Abbey who developed the whole area as
a series of granges and cotes, including Colt House and Stirk House in Brandsale. It was only to be expected that the monks would
seek to extend their properties into the Mowbray territory further east.
Therefore, at some time before 1155, Roger granted to the monks a wood in
Farndale called Midelhoved (the “Middle Heads”)
(Ordnance Survey Grid NZ 628018) and another wood called Duvanesthuart,
probably in the area of Duffin Stone Farm (Ordnance Survey NZ 645988), at the
north western end of the Dale, together with common pasture rights and
permission to take building timber and wood ‘for those who stay there’. Duvanesthuart embodies an Irish-Norse personal name, but
there is nothing to suggest that it was a functioning settlement by the mid
twelfth century. The whole area was regarded as a private forest of the
Mowbrays – the grant was made ‘saving Roger’s wild beasts’ (ie
reserving Roger’s right to hunt), and it seems to have anticipated that the
monks would want to build a new dwelling there probably for use as a grange or
cote.
The House Mowbray
Sir Roger de Mowbray (1120 to 1188) was an Anglo-Norman
nobleman. He had substantial English landholdings. A supporter of King Stephen,
with whom he was captured at Lincoln in 1141, he rebelled against Henry II. He
made multiple religious foundations in Yorkshire. He took part in the Second
Crusade and later returned to the Holy Land, where he was captured and died in
1187. Roger was the son of Nigel d'Aubigny by his
second wife, Gundreda de Gournay. On his father's
death in 1129 he became a ward of the crown. Based at Thirsk with his mother,
on reaching his majority in 1138, he took title to the lands awarded to his
father by Henry I both in Normandy including Montbray,
from which he would adopt his surname, as well as the substantial holdings in
Yorkshire and around Melton. Roger supported the Revolt of 1173–74 against
Henry II and fought with his sons, Nigel and Robert, but they were defeated at Kinardferry, Kirkby Malzeard and
Thirsk. Roger left for the Holy Land again in 1186, but encountered further misfortune
being captured at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. His ransom was met by the
Templars, but he died soon after and, according to some accounts, was buried at
Tyre in Palestine. There is, however, some controversy surrounding his death
and burial and final resting-place.
And so, in 1154, we are introduced to Farndale the place for the first time in
the Chartulary of Rievaulx Abbey when Gundreda, on behalf of her
guardian, gave land to the abbey.
“Gundreda, wife of Nigel de Albaneius, greetings to all the sons of St. Ecclesiff. Know that I have given and … confirmed, with the
consent of my son, Eogeri de Moubrai,
God and St. Marise Eievallis and the brothers there.
. . for the soul of my husband Nigel de Albaneius,
and for the safety of the soul of my son, Roger de Molbrai,
and of his wife, and of their children, and for the soul of my father and
mother, and of all my ancestors, whatever I had in my possession of cultivated
land in Skipenum, and, where the cultivated land
falls towards the north, whatever is in my fief and that of my son, Roger de Moubrai, in the forest and the plain, and the pastures and
the wastins, according to the divisions between Wellebruna and Wimbeltun, and as
divided from Wellebruna they tend to Thurkilesti, and so towards Cliveland,
namely Locum and Locumeslehit, and Wibbehahge and Langeran, and Brannesdala, and Middelhoved,
as they are divided between Wellebruna and Faddemor, and so towards Cliveland.”
Roger of Molbrai, to all the faithful,
both his own and strangers. Let it be known that I have granted
. . to the Rievallis brothers, in perpetual
alms, Midelhovet - scil. that meadow in Farnedale where Edmund the Hermit dwelt, and another meadow
called Duvanesthuat, and the common pasture of the
same valley - scil., Farnedale:
and in the forest wood for material, and for the own uses of those who remained
there, save the salvage. Witness Samson de Alb[aneia]; and Peter of Tresc; and Anschetillo Ostrario; and Walter
Parar; and Eicardo de Sescal
[or ? Desescal.]; and John the Scribe; and Walter de
la Eiviere; [and] Eiinaldo
le Poer.
And so, as we first lay our historical goggles onto Farndale the
place in 1154, we appear to enter a Lord of the Rings World, with a dash
of Game of Thrones. The House Mowbray (a competitor to the House
Stuteville) has given to the monks, who live in their exquisite Elven home at Rievaulx, a place called Midelhovet,
where Edmund the Hermit used to dwell, and another called Duvanesthuat,
together with the common pasture within the valley of Farndale.
Rievaulx,
in its Elven valley, taken by the website author in 2016
Midelhovet
is almost certainly the area in Farndale known today as Middle Head and Duvanesthuat is probably the place where the Duffin Stone
lies today.
The
northwestern end of Farndale showing Middle Head and the Duffin Stone. The area of Middle Head in 2021
We
are also introduced to the first individual who roamed the lands of Farndale,
who used to live at Midelhovet some years prior to 1154. Edmund the hermit of
Farndale was a legendary figure who lived in a cave in the North York Moors in
the 12th century. He was said to be a holy man who performed miracles and
healed the sick. He was also reputed to have been a descendant of King Alfred
the Great and a cousin of King Stephen. I don’t suppose he was our ancestor,
since he was a hermit, but this is our first introduction to a character
roaming the place.
So by this time, the dale had become known as Farndale.
The name Farndale seems to come from the Celtic ‘farn, or fearn’ meaning ‘fern’
and the Norwegian ‘dalr’, meaning
‘dale;’ and so was the ‘dale where the ferns grew.’ There are historical
accounts which have suggested that the first people to settle in Farndale were
bands of mixed Celtic and Scandinavian stock and that it was they who began to
clear areas in which to build and grow crops. I still need to review the
historical evidence to see if there is evidence of such. We have no records of
them until the 13th Century. Until I see evidence otherwise, I think that
Farndale was likely uninhabited forest until the twelfth century, but this
needs more work to check the archaeological record of Farndale.
Of course whilst Farndale is today dominated by moorland bracken and ferns,
ferns are naturally a woodland plant, so it must have been the ferns of the
forested Farndale which gave rise to its name. Perhaps it was Edmund who must
have known the valley intricately, who first chose its name.
Unfortunately for the monks of
Rievaulx, the Stutevilles came back into favour with the accession of Henry II
and Roger de Mowbray was compelled to hand back Kirbymoorside,
along with many others fees. The Stutevilles favoured
the Benedictine monks of St Mary’s Abbey, York and their own small house of
nuns was founded at Keldholme near Kirbymoorside.
(Ordnance Survey NZ 710863).
The House Stuteville
The Stuteville came to the
region after the Norman Conquest in 1066. The Stuteville family lived in
Cumberland. Their name, however, is a reference to Estouteville-en-Caux,
Normandy, the family's place of residence prior to the Norman Conquest of
England in 1066. The surname Stuteville was first found in Cumberland where
they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor and Barons of Lydesdale
Castle on the western borders of England and Scotland. This ancient family were
derived d'Estouteville-en-Caux in Normandy where the
family held the Castle Ambriers and Robert d'Estouteville was Governor of the Castle 11 years prior to
the Battle of Hastings, in 1055, and defended it against the Count of Anjou.
Robert III de Stuteville
(who died in 1186) was an English baron and justiciar. He was son of Robert II
de Stuteville (from Estouteville in Normandy), one of
the northern barons who commanded the English at the battle of the Standard in
August 1138. His grandfather, Robert Grundebeof, had
supported Robert of Normandy at the battle of Tinchebray
in 1106, where he was taken captive and kept in prison for the rest of his
life.
Robert III de Stuteville
was witness to a charter of Henry II of England on 8 January 1158 at
Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was a justice itinerant in the counties of Cumberland and
Northumberland in 1170–1171, and High Sheriff of Yorkshire from Easter 1170 to
Easter 1175. The king's Knaresborough Castle and Appleby Castle were in his
custody in April 1174, when they were captured by David of Scotland, Earl of
Huntingdon. Stuteville, with his brothers and sons, was active in support of
the king during the war of 1174, and he took a prominent part in the capture of
William the Lion at Alnwick on 13 July (Rog. Hov. ii.
60). He was one of the witnesses to the Spanish award on 16 March 1177, and
from 1174 to 1181 was constantly in attendance on the king, both in England and
abroad. He seems to have died in the early part of 1186.
He claimed the barony,
which had been forfeited by his grandfather, from Roger de Mowbray, who by
way of compromise gave him Kirby Moorside. He is the probable founder of
the nunneries of Keldholme and Rosedale, Yorkshire, and was a benefactor of
Rievaulx Abbey.
Rievaulx Abbey was unable to
sustain its claim to the Farndale property and a little before 1166, Robert de
Stuteville granted Keldholme Priory timber and wood in Farndale together with a
vaccary, pasture and cultivated land in East Bransdale.
This implies that there was
some earlier settlement in the area, but not very much. The Keldholme property
in Bransdale, which could still be identified in a survey of 1610, never
amounted to more than 40 or 50 acres at Cockayne at the head of the valley.
The next mention of
Farndale, also Farendale, Farendal,
Farnedale in the thirteenth century, is found
at the beginning of the 13th century (Cal. Rot. Chart. 1199–1216 (Rec. Com.), 86). It formed part of the fee
of the lords of Kirkbymoorside, of which manor it was parcel.
For an extent in 1281–2 see
Yorks. Inq. (Yorks. Arch. Soc.), i, 249.
Robert de Stuteville had
given the nuns of Keldholme the right of getting wood for burning and building
in Farndale, (Cal.
Rot. Chart. 1199–1216 (Rec. Com.), 86) and in or about 1209 the Abbot of St. Mary's obtained from King
John rights in the forest of Farndale which the king had recovered from
Nicholas de Stuteville. (Pipe R. 11 John, m. 11) The abbot and Nicholas came to an agreement concerning common of
wood and pasture here, this being renewed in 1233. (Feet of F. Yorks. 17 Hen.
III, no. 14).
At about the same time
Robert gave to St Mary’s Abbey, who held the nearby manor of Spaunton, as much
timber and wood as they required together with pasture and pannage of pigs in
Farndale. The contemporaneous documents suggest that Farndale was regarded
primarily as a resource for timber and pasture in the mid twelfth century, with
little evidence of settlement.
In the mid thirteenth
century, Lady Joan de Stuteville successfully prosecuted the Abbot of St Mary’s
York, for exceeding his rights taking wood from Farndale by actually
assarting 100 acres of land. Only a few years later, the Inquisition Post Mortem taken after Joan’s death in 1276 reveals settlement on a grand
scale.
Joan de Stuteville,
heiress of Cottingham (incl. the honors of Liddel and
Rosedale), also known as "Joan de Wake", was born in 1216, the
daughter of Nicholas II de Stuteville.
Only a few years later, the Inquisition Post Mortem taken after Joan’s death in 1276, reveals settlement on a grand
scale. In Farndale, bond tenants holding by acres and paying a standard rent of
1-0d for each acre produced Ł27-5-0d, presumably for 545 acres. In East
Bransdale, bondmen held another 141 acres paying a standard rent of 6d per
acre, but they are said to hold ‘by cultures’. The
significance of these terms is explained in the IPM of Joan’s Son, Baldwin Wake, taken only six years later in 1282,
where the bondmen are said to hold their land ‘not by the bovate of land, but by more or less’. Thus standard
bovate holdings, usually in the lowlands and in some of the older settled
moorland villas, have been dispensed with in favour of holdings of varied size
rented by the acre.
The 1282 extent shows a
considerable increase over that of 1276, but this probably means nothing more
than that a new and up-to-date survey was used as the basis for the later
document. The Farndale rents now amounted Ł 38-8-8d together with a nut-rent and
a few boon works and if the rate of 1s 0d per acre still applied, this would
give a total acreage held in bondage of no less than 768 acres. In
Bransdale rents were up to Ł4-14-3d which would give us about 188 acres at the
old rent of 6d per acre. For the first time the number of bondmen are given - 25 in East Bransdale and 90 in Farndale.
Assarting is the act of
clearing forested lands for use in agriculture or other purposes. In English
land law, it was illegal to assart any part of a
royal forest without permission. This was the greatest trespass that could be
committed in a forest, being more than a waste: while waste of the forest
involves felling trees and shrubs, which can regrow, assarting involves
completely uprooting all trees—the total extirpation of the forested area. The
term assart was also used for a parcel of land
assarted. Assart rents were those paid to the British
Crown for the forest lands assarted. The etymology is from the French word essarter meaning to remove or grub out woodland. In
northern England this is referred to as ridding.
In the Middle Ages, the
land cleared was usually common land but after assarting, the space became
privately used. The process took several forms. Usually
it was done by one farmer who hacked out a clearing from the woodland, leaving
a hedged field. However, sometimes groups of individuals or even entire
villages did the work and the results were divided
into strips and shared among tenant farmers. Monastic communities, particularly
the Cistercians, sometimes assarted, as well as local lords. The cleared land
often leaves behind an assart hedge, which often
contains a high number of woodland trees such as small leafed
lime or wild service and contains trees that rarely colonise planted hedges,
such as hazel.
Assarting has existed
since Mesolithic times and often it relieved population pressures. During the
13th century, assarting was very active, but decreased with environmental and
economic challenges in the 14th century. The Black Death in the late 1340s depopulated
the countryside and many formerly assarted areas returned to woodland.
Assarting was described by
landscape historian Richard Muir as typically being "like bites from an
apple" as it was usually done on a small scale
but large areas were sometimes cleared. Occasionally, people specialized in
assarting and acquired the surname or family name of 'Sart'.
Field names in Britain
sometimes retain their origin in assarting or colonisation by their names such
as: 'Stocks'; 'Stubbings'; 'Stubs'; 'Assart'; 'Sart'; 'Ridding'; 'Royd'; 'Brake'; 'Breach'; or 'Hay'.
The
sheer scale is impressive enough, but there are features which point to a
planned campaign of settlement. It is difficult to imagine how men of
villain status, compelled to pay rents of 1s 0d per acre for minute holdings of
marginal land, could also have managed to undertake their own assarting. It
seems more likely that the land had been reclaimed in advance of letting, as at
Goathland, by the Lord’s agents, while the standard rents suggest a single
campaign on a large scale rather than piece meal assaulting. A number of key questions cannot be answered from the sources we have used so
far. It is not clear whether settlement of the two Dales completed by 1282.
The Lay
Subsidy Assessments of 1301 give us a brief glimpse of the settlement pattern, listing
numerous contributors bearing the names of the farms which are still to be
found in Farndale, such as Wakelevedy (‘Wake Lady Green’), Westgille
(“West Gill”), Monkegate (Monket
House) and Ellershaye (“Eller House”), and which are
scattered all round the dale.
Medieval settlement in upper
Farndale and east Bransdale – the numbered farms are those which still bear
names mentioned in the sources up to 1610.
The 1570 document described 71 tenements in Farndale, 40 on the
east side and 31 on the west, together with two mills and a few cottages paying
altogether just over Ł54 in rent.
As the thirteenth century
Inquisitions Post Mortem make clear, the size of farms
was never uniform. Some farms must have fallen out of cultivation in the later middle ages and may have been combined with others, thus
effecting a considerable reduction in the overall number of tenements. Even so,
there was still remarkably little differentiation among the peasantry as late
as 1610. Farms of 10 to 15 acres producing rents of about as many shillings
were still very common. Only five tenants paid over Ł20 0d rent and only two
paid more than Ł25 0d.
Farndale since 1500
Kirkbymoorside, 1857
Kirkdale, 1857
1857
The Victoria County History –
Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1 Parishes:
Kirkby Moorside, 1914:
Kirkby Moorside is a parish
covering about 13,700 acres, chiefly of moorland. It is practically enclosed
between two streams, the Dove and the Hodge Beck its tributary, which, flowing
down through Farndale and Bransdale respectively, unite to the south of the
town of Kirkby Moorside. The ground is thus well watered and fertile, on a
subsoil of inferior oolite with Upper and Lower Lias
in the dales. There are brick and tile works at Kirkby
Moorside and Cockayne, and jet, coal and limestone have been worked in
Bransdale and Farndale. About half the total area is in cultivation, the
chief crops raised being oats and barley. …
The townships of Bransdale Eastside and Farndale Low Quarter have only a few houses
scattered here and there among the hills. These with Bransdale Westside
from Kirkdale parish and the rest of Farndale from Lastingham were in 1873
formed into the modern parish of Bransdale-cum-Farndale. In the extreme north
of Bransdale, between two branches of the Hodge Beck, is the little hamlet of
Cockayne, with an old chapel of ease and a hall used by the Earl of Feversham as a shooting-lodge.
(Yorkshire Gazette, 4 April
1903)
(Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 31 March 1914) (Yorkshire Post, 15
May 1914)
Farndale Timeline
Bede described the area where Farndale lay as ‘vel
bestiae commorari vel hommines bestialiter
vivere conserverant.’: ‘a land fit only for wild beasts,
and men who live like wild beasts.’.
1035
Orm Gamallson
of Kirkdale was the Lord of Chirchebi, later Kirkbymoorside, which
included the lands which would one day be called Farndale.
Both Orm and Gamel are
Scandinavian names, so Orm is likely to be descended from the Scandinavian
settlers of North Yorkshire. It is possible that he benefited from the handing
out of English Estates by King Canute (1016-1035).
The territory of King Cnut
Orm
was prominent in Northumbria in the middle years of the eleventh century. He
married into the leading aristocratic clan of the region. His wife Aethelthryth
was the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Northumbria in the mid eleventh century.
His brother in law was Siward, Earl of
Northumbria until 1055, famous for his exploits against Macbeth, the King of
Scots.
On November 24, 1034,
Malcolm II died of natural causes. One month later, his son, Duncan MacCrinan, was elected king. For six uneasy years, Duncan
ruled Scotland with a thirst for power countermanded by his incompetence on the
battlefield. In 1038, Ealdred, earl of Northumbria, attacked southern Scotland,
but the effort was repelled and Duncan's chiefs
encouraged him to lead a counterattack. Duncan also wanted to invade the
Orkneys Islands to the north. Over the objections of all of
his advisers, he chose to do both. In 1040, Duncan opened up
two fronts. The attack on the Orkneys was led by his nephew, Moddan, and Duncan led a force toward Northumbria. Both
armies were soon routed and reformed only to be pursued by Thorfinn, mormaer of
Orkney. Macbeth joined Thorfinn and, together, they were victorious, killing Moddan. On August 14, 1040, Macbeth defeated Duncan's army,
killing him in the process. Later that month, Macbeth led his forces to Scone,
the Scottish capital, and, at age 35, he was crowned king of Scotland.
Siward, Orm’s brother in law, is perhaps most famous for his expedition in
1054 against Macbeth, King of Scotland, an expedition that cost Siward his
eldest son, Osbjorn. The origin of Siward's conflict
with the Scots is unclear. According to the Libellus
de Exordio, in 1039 or 1040, the Scottish king
Donnchad mac Crínáin had attacked northern
Northumbria and besieged Durham. Within a year, Macbeth had deposed and killed
Donnchad. The failed siege occurred a year before Siward attacked and killed
Earl Eadwulf of Bamburgh, and though no connection between the two events is
clear it is likely that they were linked.
The Annals of Lindisfarne
and Durham, written in the early 12th century, related under the year 1046 that
"Earl Siward with a great army came to Scotland, and expelled king
Macbeth, and appointed another; but after his departure Mac Bethad
recovered his kingdom". Historian William Kapelle thought that this
was a genuine event of the 1040s, related to the Annals of Tigernach entry for
1045 that reported a "battle between the Scots" which led to
the death of Crínán of Dunkeld, Donnchad's father;
Kapelle thought that Siward had tried to place Crínán's
son and Donnchad's brother Maldred on the Scottish throne. Another historian,
Alex Woolf, argued that the Annals of Lindisfarne and Durham entry was probably
referring to the invasion of Siward in 1054, but misplaced under 1046.
1055
“Orm the son of Gamel
acquired St Gregory’s Church when it was completely ruined and collapsed, and
he had it built anew from the ground to Christ and to St Gregory in the days of
King Edward and in the days of Earl Tostig”. (inscription on the Sundial at the Saxon Church of St Gregory) The inscription refers to Edward the Confessor and to Tostig,
the son of Earl Godwin of Wessex and brother of Harold II, the last Anglo Saxon
King of England. Tostig was the Earl of Northumbria between 1055 and 1065. It
was therefore during that last peaceful decade, immediately before the Norman
conquest, that Orm, son of Gamel rebuilt St Gregory’s Church at Kirkdale.
Kirkdale Church
Photos of the Church and
the sundial taken in 2021
The sundial at Kirkdale is one of a number of late Anglo Saxon sundials in the area. The Kirkdale sundial is
particularly intricate in its design and he best preserved as it was coated I plaster for many centuries prior to 1771 and was
protected by the porch.
The central panel contains the sundial and an Old English
inscription above it which reads “This is the day’s sun-marker at every hour”.
The left panel reads “Orm the son of Gamel acquired St Gregory’s Church when
it was completely ruined.” The right hand panel
reads “and collapsed, and he had it built anew from the ground to Christ and
to St Gregory in the days of King Edward and in the days of Earl Tostig”.
At the foot of the panel, a further inscription reads “Hawarth
made me, and Brad the priest”.
King Edward referred to in the panel is King Edward the Confessor,
1042 to 1066, who restored the Kingdom of Wessex to the English throne. He was
a deeply pious and religious man who presided over the rebuilding of
Westminster Abbey. He left much of the running of the country to Earl Godwin
and his son Harold. Edward died childless in 1066, 8 days after the completion
of Westminster Abbey. There was then a power struggle. Despite no bloodline,
Harold Godwinson was elected to be king by the witan (the high council of
nobles and religious leaders). William, Duke of Normandy claimed that Edward
had promised the throne to him. Harold defeated an invading Norwegian army at
the Battle of Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire, but then marched south to face
William of Normandy in Sussex and was killed at the Battle of Hastings. This
was the end of the Anglo Saxon kings and the beginning
of the Norman dynasty.
Tostig, the son of Earl Godwin of Wessex and brother of Harold
II, the last Anglo Saxon King of England was the Earl of Northumbria between
1055 and 1065. It was therefore in the course of that decade that Orm, son of Gamel rebuilt
St Gregory’s Church.
The surviving parts of Orm’s church adopt a style reflective of
the Romanesque architecture of the eleventh century mainland Europe and it is
possible that Orm may have travelled to Rome when Tostig made a pilgrimage
there in 1061.
Domesday Book recorded that Chirchebi comprised five
carucates of land. A carucate was a medieval land unit based on the land which
eight oxen could till in a year. So presumably this area of land described the
five carucates of cultivated land around Kirkdale. Before the Conquest,
civilised Chirchebi was in the possession of Orm and it comprised ten
villagers, one priest, two ploughlands, two lord’s plough teams, three men’s
plough teams, a mill and a church.
A carucate or carrucate
(Latin, carrūcāta or carūcāta) was a medieval unit of land area
approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single
annual season.
However this area of civilisation was part of a much wider wild estate
which Chirchebi formed, which was said to be twelve leagues (about 42
miles) long by the time of the Normans.
Earl Waltef who had a manor and 5
carucates at Fadmoor which comprised three
ploughlands.
1066
By 1086 the ownership of Chirchebu
had passed to Hugh, son of Baldric. The landholdings of Orm
Gamallson of Kirkdale, were forfeited to Hugh fitzBaldric after the conquest.
Hugh Fitz Baldric
Hugh fitzBaldric
was a German archer in the service of William the Conqueror and was made
Sherrif of the County of York, replacing William Malet after his capture in
1069.
Hugh FitzBaldric
was born in about 1045 in Cottingham, Yorkshire (now part of Hull). He married
Emma de Lascelles in 1050. They had a daughter Erneburga Fitz Baldric (1075-?).
Hugh FitzBaldric
died in about 1086 in Cottingham, Yorkshire, aged about 41 years old.
Hugh first appeared in the
historical record around 1067 when he was the witness to a charter of Gerold de
Roumara. Hugh held the office of Sheriff of Yorkshire
from 1069 to around 1080, succeeding William Malet in that office.
When the land of the Saxon
earls was confiscated after the Norman Conquest, it would
appear that Orm’s property was acquired by, or granted to Ralph de
Mortimer; and Barch’s by Hugh FitzBaldric.
Ralph de Mortimer was the
only son of Roger, who derived his surname from Mortemer en
Lions in the Pays de Caux, between Neufchatel and Aumale in France. Ralph de Mortimer died in his castle of
St. Victor-en-Caux on 5
August 1100 (or 1104) and was buried in the Abbey church there. He left two
sons, Hugh and William; and a daughter, Hawise, who became the wife of Stephen,
Earl of Albemarle and Holderness. Hugh’s descendants became the Earls of March;
William died childless. The family seems to have no recorded connection with
Gilling, except for a later reference (in the 12th century) when
Peter de Ros, who was linked with the Mortimers by marriage, gave two carucates
of land to St. Mary’s Abbey, York. It is likely that this land so granted was
Orm’s, which had probably come into the Ros family by marriage. The Ros family
also had land of Ralph de Mortimer’s in Whenmore. In
the 12th century the land was in the possession of the Mowbrays and the
Stutevilles.
Barch’s portion was granted to Hugh FitzBaldric
(i.e. Hugh the son of Baldric). It is not known which Norman family he came
from, if indeed he was Norman. It has been stated that he was a German archer
in the service of William the Conqueror. However, before 1067 he “witnessed a
charter of Gerald, granting the Nuns of St. Amand in Rouen the church of his
fief of Roumare”. Immediately after the capture of
York by William in September 1069, Hugh FitzBaldric
appears to have been made Sheriff of the County of York by the King. He fell
into trouble by supporting Robert Duke of Normandy against William and
presumably lost his lands. However, nothing more is heard of him.' John
Marwood’s History of Gilling, Chapter 8: After the Saxons: The Ettons of Gilling.
Hugh had lands in
Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and was listed in Domesday
Book as a tenant-in-chief. Hugh's tenure of the estate at Cottingham in
Yorkshire is considered to mean that he was a feudal baron. Katharine
Keats-Rohan states that Hugh lost his lands after the conclusion of Domesday
Book in 1086, likely for supporting Robert Curthose as king against William
Rufus after the death of William the Conqueror. But I. J. Sanders states that
Hugh's lands were divided after his death and does not mention any forfeiture
of the lands.
One of Hugh's holdings
included the village of Bossall in the hundred of Bulford (now in the Ryedale district of North
Yorkshire). In 1086, there were 19 residents and a priest, as well as a church,
in the small community. This property produced an annual income of "3
pounds in 1086; 2 pounds 10 shillings in 1066".
It is possible that the
Hugh fitz Baldric who witnessed a charter of Robert
Curthose's in 1089 is the same person as the former sheriff.
Domesday Book records that
Walter de Rivere and Guy of Croan were son-in-laws of
Hugh.
Hugh gave some of his
English lands to Préaux Abbey in Normandy and St
Mary's Abbey in York.
Hugh was memorialized in
the liber vitae of Thorney Abbey.
When the land of the Saxon
earls was confiscated [by the Normans] after the Conquest it
would appear that Orm’s property was acquired by, or granted to, Ralph
de Mortimer; and Barch’s by Hugh FitzBaldric.
... let us follow what
is known about Barch’s portion. As we have already
seen, it was granted to Hugh FitzBaldric (i.e. Hugh
the son of Baldric). It is not known which Norman family he came from, if
indeed he was Norman. It has been stated that he was a German archer in the
service of William the Conqueror. However, before 1067 he “witnessed a charter
of Gerald, granting the Nuns of St. Amand in Rouen the church of his fief of Roumare”. Immediately after the capture of York by William
in September 1069, Hugh FitzBaldric appears to have
been made Sheriff of the County of York by the King. He fell into trouble by
supporting Robert Duke of Normandy against William and presumably lost his
lands. However, nothing more is heard of him.
In
England Hugh son of Baldric was an important tenant-in-chief in Yorkshire, and
to a smaller extent in Lincolnshire; he also held two manors in
Nottinghamshire, single holdings in Wiltshire and Berkshire, and interests in
four holdings in Hampshire. In Yorkshire Hugh son of Baldric held about 50
manors with many berewicks and sokeland,
assessed at approximately 410 carucates. The greater part of these holdings
passed, presumably by royal grant, to Robert de Stuteville. 'The estates of
Hugh son of Baldric, Domesday lord of Cottingham, weredivided
after his death and the bulk of his lands in Yorkshire passedto
Robert I de Stuteville.' Ivor JohnSanders,
English Baronies: AStudy of Their Origins and Descent
1086-1327
Count Robert of Mortain held Fadmoor and it was waste. Later it fell into the hands of Hugh son of Baldric before passing first to Roger de Mowbray
and later to William and then Nicholas de Stuteville in 1200.
1086
The Kirkbymoorside estate passed to the Stuteville family (Robert
I de Stuteville) in 1086, when Hugh died.
There is more information
about the Domesday Book here.
Orm (son of Gamal) is
associated with 61 places before the Conquest; 0 after
the Conquest.
Kirkby Moorside was
transferred to Hugh son of Baldric. It contained
Households: 10 villagers. 1 priest. Land and resources
Ploughland: 2 ploughlands. 2 lord's plough teams. 3 men's plough teams. Other
resources: 1 mill, value 4 shillings. 1 church. Tenant-in-chief in 1086: Hugh son of Baldric. Lord in 1086: Hugh son of Baldric. Lord in 1066: Orm (son of Gamal).
From the Essay New
Settlements in the North Yorkshire Moors, 1086 to 1340 by Barry Harrison,
in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England, Architectural and
Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland, Research Report No 2,
Edited by BE Vyner, 1990: The North Yorks Moors was
an appropriate area for the study of medieval agriculture, since it appears to
have been largely empty of settlements in 1086.The only developed manor in the
moorlands proper was in the Esk Valley where a 12
carucate holding was located at Danby, Crumbeclive (Crunkley Hill in Glaisdale) and Lealholm.
This was an extensive area, said to measure seven leagues in length by three
leagues in width, within which Danby (six carucates) was the major focus of
settlement. The long valleys on the south side of the watershed appear to have
functioned mainly as resources for woodland and pastures for settlements in the
Vale of Pickering and although some settlements in the moors may have been
subsumed into consolidated Domesday entries for lowland manors, the
descriptions of moorland tracts granted to the new monasteries (Whitby,
Guisborough, Rievaulx and Byland) in the early and mid 12th
century contain very little evidence of functioning communities of any kind.
So we
start with a clear palate, to understand how agriculture developed after the
Norman Conquest.
1106
The Stutevilles were deprived of the Kirkbymoorside estate in 1106
when it was granted to Nigel d’Aubigny, one of Henry I’s ‘new men’.
Nigel d’Aubigny was one of Henry I’s “new men”. Nigel d'Aubigny
(Neel d'Aubigny or Nigel de Albini, died 1129), was a
Norman Lord and English baron who was the son of Roger d'Aubigny
and Amice or Avice de Mowbray. His paternal uncle William was lord of Aubigny,
while his father was an avid supporter of Henry I of England. His brother
William d'Aubigny Pincerna
was the king's Butler and father of the 1st Earl of Arundel. He was the founder
of the noble House of Mowbray. He is described as "one of the most
favoured of Henry's 'new men'". While he entered the king's service as
a household knight and brother of the king's butler, William d'Aubigny, in the years following the Battle of Tinchebrai in 1106 Nigel was rewarded by Henry with
marriage to an heiress who brought him lordship in Normandy and with the lands
of several men, primarily that of Robert de Stuteville. The Mowbray honour
became one of the wealthiest estates in Norman England. From 1107 to about
1118, Nigel served as a royal official in Yorkshire and Northumberland. In the
last decade of his life he was frequently traveling with
Henry I, most likely as one of the king's trusted military and administrative
advisors. Nigel's first marriage, after 1107, was to Matilda de L'Aigle, whose prior marriage to the disgraced and
imprisoned Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, had been annulled based on
consanguinity. She brought to the marriage with Nigel her ex-husband's lordship
of Montbray (Mowbray). Following a decade of
childless marriage and the death of her powerful brother, Nigel in turn
repudiated Matilda based on his consanguinity with her former husband, and in
June 1118 Nigel married to Gundred de Gournay (died
1155), daughter of Gerard de Gournay and his wife Edith de Warenne,
and hence granddaughter of William de Warenne, 1st
Earl of Surrey. Nigel and Gundred had son who would
be known as Roger de Mowbray after the former Mowbray lands he would inherit
from his father, and he was progenitor of the later noble Mowbray family. Nigel
died in Normandy, possibly at the abbey of Bec in 1129.
1129
On Nigel d’Aubigny death in 1129 his
widow Gundreda administered the estate on behalf of
her under age son, Roger de Mowbray (1120 to 1188).
Nigel’s widow Gundreda administered
the estate on behalf of her under aged son Roger de Mowbray.
It was she who granted the whole of Welburn and Skiplam together with the western side of Bramsdale to Rievaulx Abbey who developed the whole area as
a series of granges and cotes, including Colt House and Stirk House in Brandsale.
1133
Henry II became King.
1138
On reaching his majority in 1138, Roger de Mowbray took title to
the lands awarded to his father by Henry I both in Normandy including Montbray, from which he would adopt his surname, as well as
the substantial holdings in Yorkshire and around Melton.
Sir Roger de Mowbray
(1120–1188) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman with substantial English landholdings.
A supporter of King Stephen, with whom he was captured at Lincoln in 1141, he
rebelled against Henry II. He made multiple religious foundations in Yorkshire.
He took part in the Second Crusade and later returned to the Holy Land, where
he was captured and died in 1187. Roger was the son of Nigel d'Aubigny by his second wife, Gundreda
de Gournay. On his father's death in 1129 he became a ward of the crown. Based
at Thirsk with his mother, on reaching his majority in 1138, he took title to
the lands awarded to his father by Henry I both in Normandy including Montbray, from which he would adopt his surname, as well as
the substantial holdings in Yorkshire and around Melton. King Stephen - Soon
after, in 1138, he participated in the Battle of the Standard against the Scots
and, according to Aelred of Rievaulx, acquitted himself honourably. Thereafter,
Roger's military fortunes were mixed. Whilst acknowledged as a competent and
prodigious fighter, he generally found himself on the losing side in his
subsequent engagements. During the anarchic reign of King
Stephen he was captured with Stephen at the battle of Lincoln in 1141.
Soon after his release, Roger married Alice de Gant (d. c. 1181), widow
of Ilbert de Lacy and daughter of Walter de Gant. Roger and Alice had two sons,
Nigel and Robert. Roger also had at least one daughter, donating his lands at
Granville to the Abbaye aux Dames in Caen when she became a nun there. In 1147,
he was one of the few English nobles to join Louis VII of France on the Second
Crusade. He gained further acclaim, according to John of Hexham, defeating a
Muslim leader in single combat. King Henry II - Roger supported the Revolt of
1173–74 against Henry II and fought with his sons, Nigel and Robert, but they
were defeated at Kinardferry, Kirkby Malzeard and Thirsk. Roger left for the Holy Land again in
1186, but encountered further misfortune being captured at the Battle of Hattin
in 1187. His ransom was met by the Templars, but he died soon after and,
according to some accounts, was buried at Tyre in Palestine. There is, however,
some controversy surrounding his death and burial and final resting-place.
Mowbray was a significant benefactor and supporter of several religious
institutions in Yorkshire including Fountains Abbey. With his mother he
sheltered the monks of Calder, fleeing before the Scots in 1138, and supported
their establishment at Byland Abbey in 1143. Later, in 1147, he facilitated
their relocation to Coxwold. Roger made a generous donation of two carucates of
land (c.240 acres), a house and two mills to the Order of Saint Lazarus,
headquartered at Burton St Lazarus Hospital in Leicestershire, after his return
from the crusades in 1150. His cousin William d'Aubigny,
1st Earl of Arundel and his wife Adeliza, the widow of King Henry I, had been
amongst the earliest patrons of the order and, when combined with Roger's
experiences in the Holy Land, may have encouraged his charity. His family
continued to support the Order for many generations and the Mowbrays lion
rampant coat of arms was adopted by the Hospital of Burton St Lazars alongside
their more usual green cross. He also supported the Knights Templar and gave
them land in Warwickshire where they founded Temple Balsall. Roger is credited
with assisting the establishment of thirty-five churches. The House of Mowbray,
the senior line of which would become Barons Mowbray, descended from Roger's
son Nigel, who died on crusade at Acre in 1191.
Robert II de Stuteville, one of the northern barons, commanded the
English at the battle of the Standard in August 1138
Robert II de Stuteville was
born about 1084 in Yorkshire. Son of Robert (Estouteville)
d'Estouteville I. Brother of Nicolas I (Estouteville) Stuteville and Emma (Estouteville)
de Grentmesnil. Husband of Erneburge
(Fitzbaldric) Stuteville. Husband of Jeanne (Talbot)
de Stuteville.
Father of Burga (Stuteville) Pantulf,
Nicholas (Stuteville) de Stuteville, Alice (Stuteville) Fleming, Osmund
(Stuteville) de Stuteville, John (Stuteville) de Stuteville, Patrick
(Stuteville) de Stuteville and Robert (Stuteville) de Stuteville III. Not
believed to have held lands in England. A supporter of Robert Curthose with his
father, he was captured at St.Pierre-sur-Dive
shortly before the battle of Tinchebrai. Died after
1138 after about age 54 in Cottingham, Yorkshire.
The landowners enjoyed significant revenues
from rents, fines, reliefs, benevolences, maritages (the fee paid by a vassal
following the feudal lord’s decision on a marriage), wardships and
opportunities for escheat (the reversion of land when owners died without
heirs). They were also relieved of many of the costs of running modern estates,
because they were owed duties of service. The value of these estates is best
seen not in monetary terms, but in the works they undertook. The castles were
obviously works of significant labour. The growth of monasteries also reflected
the power held by the nobility, including the costs of building churches.
(South
Yorkshire, the History and Topography of the Deanery of Doncaster in the
Diocese and County of York by Rev Joseph Hunter, 1828, page xvi to xviii).
1141
Roger de Mowbray was a supporter of King Stephen, with whom he was
captured at Lincoln in 1141, he rebelled against Henry II.
1154
Gundreda, on behalf of her guardian, gave land to Rievaulx abbey land
which included a place called Midelhovet, where Edmund the Hermit used
to dwell, and another called Duvanesthuat,
together with the common pasture within the valley of Farndale.
See full details at FAR00002.
By 1166, Roger de Mowbray having fallen out of favour with Henry
II, the lands of Kirkbymoorside had passed to the House Stuteville. Robert III
de Stuteville claimed the barony, which had been forfeited by his grandfather,
from Roger de Mowbray, who by way of compromise gave him Kirby Moorside. Roger gave Robert Kirkby
Moorside for 10 knights' fees in satisfaction of his claim (Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of
York North Riding: Volume 1 Parishes: Kirkby Moorside, 1914).
Robert III de Stuteville, Baron of Cottingham, was
son of Robert II de Stuteville (from Estouteville in
Normandy), one of the northern barons who commanded the English at the battle
of the Standard in August 1138. His grandfather, Robert Grundebeof,
had supported Robert of Normandy at the battle of Tinchebray
in 1106, where he was taken captive and kept in prison for the rest of his
life. Robert III de Stuteville was witness to a charter of Henry II of England
on 8 January 1158 at Newcastle-on-Tyne. He was a justice itinerant in the
counties of Cumberland and Northumberland in 1170–1171, and High Sheriff of
Yorkshire from Easter 1170 to Easter 1175. The King's Knaresborough Castle and
Appleby Castle were in his custody in April 1174, when they were captured by
David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon. Stuteville, with his brothers and sons,
was active in support of the king during the war of 1174, and he took a
prominent part in the capture of William the Lion at Alnwick on 13 July (Rog. Hov. ii. 60). He was one of the witnesses to the Spanish
award on 16 March 1177, and from 1174 to 1181 was constantly in attendance on
the king, both in England and abroad. Stuteville by his wife, Helewise de Murdac, had two sons William and Nicholas and two
daughters, Burga, who was married to William de Vesci and Helewise, who was
married firstly to William de Lancaster, secondly to Hugh de Morville and
thirdly to William de Greystoke. He may have also had sons Robert, Eustace and
Osmund. Robert de Stuteville was probably brother of the Roger de Stuteville
who was sheriff of Northumberland from 1170 to 1185, and
defended Wark on Tweed Castle against William the Lion in 1174. Roger received
charge of Edinburgh Castle in 1177, and he built the first Burton Agnes Manor
House. However Roger may have been his kinsman, not
his brother, as son of Osmund de Stuteville (b. about 1125, of Burton Agnes,
Yorkshire, England, d. before Sep 1202) and his wife (m. abt
1146) Isabel de Gressinghall, daughter of William
Fitz Roger de Gressinghall. He is the probable
founder of the nunneries of Keldholme and Rosedale, Yorkshire, and was a
benefactor of Rievaulx Abbey. He seems to have died in the early part of 1186.
He claimed the barony, which had been forfeited by his grandfather, from Roger
de Mowbray, who by way of compromise gave him Kirby Moorside. The Stutevilles favoured the Benedictine monks of St Mary’s
Abbey, York and their own small house of nuns was founded at Keldholme near Kirbymoorside.
Rievaulx Abbey was unable to sustain its claim to the Farndale
property and a little before 1166, Robert de Stuteville granted Keldholme
Priory timber and wood in Farndale together with a vaccary, pasture and
cultivated land in East Bransdale
Rotuli Chartarum, 1199-1216, page 86: Confirmation of Keldeholm. Know
that we have granted and confirmed the present charter regarding Keldeholm, all the signatures that were given to them.
Grant of charters confirmed by the gift of Robert de Stuteville and the
grant of William de Stuteville to his son, that place of Keldholme, with the
whole tract of land towards the north of Kirkeby and the whole tract
towards the south and as divided as marked by the eord
cartis and pasture in the forest of Ravenwich, and there in Farendala
hay, and pasture in the forest of Ravenwich … (this translation needs
to be reworked!)
1173
Roger
supported the Revolt of 1173–74 against Henry II and fought with his sons,
Nigel and Robert, but they were defeated at Kinardferry,
Kirkby Malzeard and Thirsk.
The
Stutevilles came back into favour with the accession of Henry II and Roger de
Mowbray was compelled to hand back Kirbymoorside,
along with many others fees.
1186
Roger left for the Holy Land
again in 1186 to join the Second Crusade, but encountered further misfortune
being captured at the Battle of Hattin in 1187. His ransom was met by the
Templars, but he died soon after and, according to some accounts, was buried at
Tyre in Palestine.
Robert III de Stuteville
died in 1186.
1200
The arrangement of 1166
between Roger de Mowbray and Robert III de Stuteville was not ratified in the
king's courts, and the dispute broke out again between William de Stuteville,
son of Robert, and William de Mowbray, grandson of Roger, in 1200. However in time, William de Mowbray confirmed the previous
agreement and gave 9 knights' fees in augmentum
(Victoria
County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding:
Volume 1 Parishes: Kirkby Moorside, 1914).
In or about 1209 the Abbot of St. Mary's obtained from King John
rights in the forest of Farndale which the King had recovered from Nicholas de Stutevill. Pipe R. 11 John, m. 11.
Robert de Stuteville had given the nuns of Keldholme the right of
getting wood for burning and building in Farndale, (Cal. Rot. Chart. 1199–1216 (Rec. Com.), 86) and in or about 1209 the Abbot of St. Mary's obtained from King
John rights in the forest of Farndale which the king had recovered from
Nicholas de Stuteville. (Pipe R. 11 John, m. 11)
Keldholme Priory had right of pasture in Bransdale and Farndale by
grant of its founder, Robert de Stutevill.
Ryedale Historian,. Vol 1, 1965:
Nicholas de Stuteville (also Lord of Liddell, Stoteville, Estuiteville) (c1182
to 1233) came from the Anglo-Norman family Stuteville .
He was a younger son of Robert III de Stuteville (who died in 1183) and his
wife Helewise. After the death of his elder brother William de Stuteville , the possessions of the family, which included
Liddell in Cumberland and Cottingham in Yorkshire, came first in royal
administration. King Johann Ohneland left it to his
confidant Brian de Lisle , who exploited the goods
ruthlessly. It was not until 1205, when probably Williams minor son Robert
died, Nicholas could inherit the inheritance of his brother. However, the king
demanded an extraordinarily high fee of 10,000 marks from him before the
possessions were handed over to him. Since he could not raise this money, he
had to hand over to King Knaresborough Castle . As from 1213 rebelled a noble opposition to
the king, to mare Ville closed like many other northern English barons Easter
1215 the rebels in Stamford on. With the recognition of the Magna Carta 1215,
the king also had to return Knaresborough Castle to Stuteville. However, Stuteville continued to support the
rebels as the Barons opened war against the king. As a rebel, he was on 16
December 1215 by Pope Innocent III excommunicated .
Apparently, he was captured on May 20, 1217 in the victorious for the royal
party battle of Lincoln . Mare Ville fell into the
captivity of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke ,
the Regent for the minor King Henry III. who hoped for a high ransom from
him. Mare Ville paid over 1000 Mark
ransom, but before he was released, he had to goods from Kirby Moorside and
Handed over to Liddel , who provided annual income of
Ł200. And he probably died before the
end of the war of the barons in September 1217, at the latest before 30 March
1218. Lord Of Stuteville (1191 - 1233).
For rights in the forest of Farndale in 1209, 1210 and 1211, see FAR00003.
1217
The William de Stuteville of
1200 was succeeded by his brother Nicholas de Stuteville, who fought against
the King at Lincoln in 1217 and was taken prisoner there. He bound his manors
of Kirkbymoorside and Liddell to pay 1,000 marks as his ransom (Victoria County History –
Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1 Parishes:
Kirkby Moorside, 1914).
1225
Entries in the Curia Regis
for 1225 and 1227 refer to Nicholas de Stuteville and pastures at Hoton (Hutton), Spaunton and Farendal. See FAR00005.
1229
In 1229 Henry III decreed, ‘the whole of the forest of Galtres and the forest between the Ouse and the Derwent,
and the forest of Farndale, are ancient forests.’ But the forest was not
much used.
The Close Rolls, 13 Henry III for 1229: It should be remembered that the walkers of the forest
of the county of York came runt and recognized before the King that the whole
forest of Gautric and the forest between Usam and Derewent and the
forest of Farendal are ancient forest, and that
they had been deceived in the perambulation of the forest other times in
which it was recognized that certain parts of those forests had been reforested
, which they just brought back to the forest; and thence they brought forth the
finished writing, which was sealed with their seals.
1233
The
abbot and Nicholas II de Stuteville (son of Nicholas I de Stuteville) came to
an agreement concerning common of wood and pasture here, this being renewed in
1233. In 1232 Nicholas quitclaimed common of pasture in Farndale to the Abbot
of St. Mary's, York. (Feet of F. Yorks. 17 Hen. III, no. 14). Nicholas (Coll. Topog. et Gen. i, 11; Baildon, Mon. Notes (Yorks. Arch. Soc., 232). He had an elder son
Robert, who was enfeoffed of 1 knight's fee in Middleton. Nicholas succeeded to
Kirkby Moorside and Buttercrambe. ‘The Abbot grants
that if the cattle of Nicholas or of his heirs or of his men at Kikby, Fademor, Gillingmor or Farndale,
hereafter enter upon the common of the said wood and pasture of Houton,
Spaunton and Farendale, they shall have free way in
and out without ward set; provided they do not tarry in the said pasture.’ 17th
year of the Reign of Henry III. (Yorkshire Fines Vol LXVII). See FAR00007.
At about the same time
Robert gave to St Mary’s Abbey, who held the nearby manor of Spaunton, as much
timber and wood as they required together with pasture and pannage of pigs in
Farndale. The contemporaneous documents suggest that Farndale was regarded
primarily as a resource for timber and pasture in the mid twelfth century, with
little evidence of settlement.
The William de Stutevill of 1200 was succeeded by his brother Nicholas,
who fought against the king at Lincoln and was taken prisoner there. He bound
his manors of Kirkby Moorside and Liddell to pay 1,000 marks as his ransom. His
son Nicholas in 1232 quitclaimed common of pasture in Farndale to the Abbot of
St. Mary's, York (Feet of F. Yorks. 17 Hen. III, no. 14).
Nicholas died in 1233,
leaving two daughters and co-heirs, Joan wife of Hugh Wake, and Margaret, whose
marriage had been granted to William de Mastac (Victoria County History –
Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 1 Parishes:
Kirkby Moorside, 1914).
1241
Hugh Wake died in or about
1241 and Joan obtained the custody of his heirs till their full age.
Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward I,
File 31, Pages 252-262, Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 2, Edward
I. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1906: Extent, Tuesday the eve of the Annunciation, 10 Edw. I. Kerkeby Moresheved.
The manor (full extent given with names of tenants), including the park
a league in circuit with 140 deer (ferarum), a wood
called Westwode a league in length, a messuage and
great close in Braunsedale held by Nicholas son of
Robert Nussaunt rendering an arrow at Easter, rents
of nuts and woodhens, 'gersume,' marchet
and the tenth pig, a messuage called La Wodehouse, waste places called Coteflat, Loftischo, Godefreeruding, Harlonde, and
beneath Gillemore Clif, dales called Farndale
and Brauncedale, and waste places called Arkeners and Sweneklis, held of
Roger de Munbray. Knights' fees pertaining to the manor:—
Circa 1250
In the mid thirteenth century, Lady Joan de Stuteville
successfully prosecuted the Abbot of St Mary’s York, for exceeding his rights
taking wood from Farndale by actually assarting 100
acres of land.
Joan de Stuteville was said to be afforesting her woods here in
the reign of Edward I (1239 to 1307). (Hund.
R. (Rec. Com.), i, 117.)
There is an undated Yorkshire Deed from about this time: Grant
by Nicholas Devias, being in good health and lawful
power (in mea bona sanitate et ligia
potestafe) to Alice his wife, for life, of an annual
rent of 10 li, which lady Joan de Stotevile gave him
for his service, namely, 20s. from the land in Farndale, held of him by
Adam de Ellerschae, and eleven marcs
from his two water-mills in Famedale, and two and
a half marcs from his water-mill in Brauncedale, payable half-yearly at Michaelmas and Easter. Paying
yearly at Christmas one silver penny for all service, etc. Witnesses, Sir
Richard Foliot, Sir Adam Newmarch [de Novo mercato), Sir Henry Biset, Sir Thomas de Hetun, William de Pligt Peter de Giptun, Clement de Nortun, Robert
de Slucropt, Colin de Nortun
and many others. (The Yorkshire
Archaeological Journal, Vol 16, 1893, page 92)
1253
The Close Rolls, 37 Henry III for 1253: For Hugh le Bigod. The King committed to Hugh le Bigod the
whole forest of Farnedala, which the king
recovered by the consideration of the court towards the Abbot of St. Mary, to
be guarded until the King's return from Vasconia, or
as long as it pleased the King, in the same manner as the aforesaid Abbot had
that forest; and J de Lessinton was ordered to
release that forest to the same Hugh to be kept as aforesaid. Test as above.
1254
In 1254 Henry III granted to
Hugh le Bigod and Joan his wife a weekly market on Wednesday at Kirkbymoorside
and a yearly fair there on the eve, day and morrow of the Nativity of St. Mary
1255
In 1255 Margaret was dead,
and Joan Wake had her lands. She married as her second
husband Hugh le Bigod, but as a widow was known as Joan de Stuteville.
Before her death she
enfeoffed in the manor of Kirkby Moorside her son Baldwin Wake, of whom the
King took homage as her heir in 1276.
The Close Rolls,
39 Henry III for 1255: For Hugh le Bygod. It was ordered
to John de Lexinton, justiciar of the King's forest
beyond Trent, that the charter which the king caused to be made to Hugh le Bygod concerning the forestry of the forest of Farendale
he shall make a law before him, and that grant shall be held according to what
is contained in the same charter: and he shall admit the foresters,
greenkeepers and other ministers of the forest for whom the same Hugh is
willing to answer for his presentation in the aforesaid forest.
The
Calendar of the Liberate Rolls, 1251 to 1260, Page 212, 1255: Allocate
to Hugh le Bygot, in his fine of 500 marks for the forestership of Farndale,
100 l, paid at Westminster to Ernald de Mone Pesaz. The associated index
entries: Farndale, Farendale [co York NR], foresterhip of, 212. Forests (i),
chaces, hays, parks, warrens and woods named … Farndale … forestership of
Farndale, 212.
The Keeper of the Royal
Forests reported. ‘the forest of Spaunton between the Dove and the Seven is
so confined that deer do not oft repair thither……..’
(The Close Rolls)
See FAR00004.
In the mid thirteenth century, Lady Joan de Stuteville
successfully prosecuted the Abbot of St Mary’s York, for exceeding his rights
taking wood from Farndale by actually assarting 100
acres of land.
Joan de Stuteville was said to be afforesting her woods here in
the reign of Edward I (1239 to 1307). (Hund.
R. (Rec. Com.), i, 117.)
Only a few years later, the Inquisition Post Mortem taken after Joan’s death in 1276 reveals
settlement on a grand scale. In Farndale, bond tenants holding by acres and
paying a standard rent of 1-0d for each acre produced Ł27-5-0d, presumably for 545
acres. In East Bransdale, bondmen held another 141 acres paying a standard
rent of 6d per acre, but they are said to hold ‘by cultures’.
The significance of these terms is explained in the IPM of Joan’s Son, Baldwin
Wake, taken only six years later in 1282, where the bondmen are said to hold
their land ‘not by the bovate of land, but by more or less’.
Thus standard bovate holdings, usually in the lowlands
and in some of the older settled moorland villas, have been dispensed with in
favour of holdings of varied size rented by the acre.
See FAR00017.
1277
The Survey of the County of York by John
de Kirkby known as Kirkby’s
Inquest, the Nomina Villarum
for Yorkshire) was taken in the fifth reign of Edward I. See p 110 (which
refers to Roger de Mowbray, Fadmore, Kyrkeby (Kirbymoorside)
- In Kyrkeby Moreslieued are 5 caracutes,
the fee of Moubray; whence the church was endowed with a caracute;
and Liser' de Wake ten' 4 caracutes. …) and 320
(Kirkbymoorside was under the lordship of Thomas de Wake, Hovingham under
Johannes de Moubray and Muscoates under Nicholaus de
Stapleton) for the Wapentake of Ryedale and p 234 and 328 for Langbergh.
1280
Alan
Farndale (FAR00011), the son of Nicholas
Farndale (FAR00006), paid taxes to the Eyre Court in 1280. This tax might have been bail
for a poaching incident – see below. (Feet of Fines). Nicholas Farndale (FAR00006)
is the first person who used the Farndale name to describe himself.
William
the Smith of Farndale (FAR00009),
paid taxes to the Eyre Court in
1280 (this tax might have been bail for a poaching incident – see below) (Feet of Fines).
In
the same year, 1280, five Farndales were indicted for poaching and paid bail - From
sureties of persons indicted for poaching and for not producing persons so
indicted on the first day of the Eyre Court in accordance with the
suretieship due to Richard Drye. There follows a long list of names
including,…..1s 8d from Roger son of Gilbert of Farndale
(FAR00028), bail from Nicholas de Farndale, (FAR00022),
2s from William the Smith of Farndale (FAR00009),
3s 4d from John the shepherd of Farndale, (FAR00010),
and 3s 4d from Alan the son of Nicholas de Farndale. (FAR00011) (Yorkshire Fees). (See FAR0019).
The next mention of Farndale, also Farendale,
Farendal, Farnedale
in the thirteenth century, is found at the beginning of the 13th century (Cal. Rot. Chart. 1199–1216 (Rec. Com.), 86). It formed part of the fee of the lords of Kirkbymoorside, of
which manor it was parcel. For an extent in 1281–2 see Yorks. Inq. (Yorks. Arch. Soc.), i,
249.
The sheer scale is
impressive enough, but there are features which point to a planned campaign
of settlement. It is difficult to imagine how men of villain status,
compelled to pay rents of 1s 0d per acre for minute holdings of marginal land,
could also have managed to undertake their own assarting. It seems more likely
that the land had been reclaimed in advance of letting, as at Goathland, by the
Lord’s agents, while the standard rents suggest a single campaign on a large
scale rather than piece meal assaulting. A number of
key questions cannot be answered from the sources we have used so far. It is
not clear whether settlement of the two Dales completed by 1282.
Baldwin Wake died in 1282
and was succeeded by his son and heir John Wake who was summoned to Parliament
as Lord Wake by Edward I.
See FAR00020.
1293
Peter
de Farndale (FAR00008)’s
son Robert (see FAR00012)
was fined at Pickering
Castle
in 1293 and Roger milne (“miller”) of Farndale, also a son of Peter slew a soar in the
forest in 1293.
Roger
milne (“miller”) of Farndale (FAR00013A),
son of Peter (FAR00008)
below together with Walter Blackhous and Ralph Helved,
all of Spaunton on Monday in January 1293, killed a soar
and slew a hart with bows and arrows at some unknown place in the forest. All outlawed on 5th April 1293.
1298
John Wake enfeoffed the King
of his lands in 1298, and they were regranted to him and his wife Joan in fee
simple in the same year.
Joan outlived her husband, and was 'lady of Liddell' during the minority of
her son Thomas Wake.
Lady Joan de Stuteville, heiress of Cottingham, born
1216. She was the daughter of Nicholas II de Stuteville and Devorguilla
of Galloway, wife of Hugh Wake, feudal lord of Bourne and Hugh Bigod, Chief
Justice of England, mother of Nicholas Wake, Sir; Sir Hugh Wake; Sir Baldwin
Wake, III, Lord of Bourne; Joan Burnet; Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk and 2
others, the sister of Margaret de Stuteville, the half
sister of Nicholas III de Stuteville. This Joan, better known as the
"Lady of Liddell," survived her husband, and, resuming her maiden
name, left the barony to her son, Baldwin de Wake. The impression of her seal
bore the device of a lady riding on horseback sideways, a style which she is
said to have been the first to adopt. The Wake line ended in three
co-heiresses, one of whom married the Earl of Westmoreland, who succeeded to
the barony of Kirbymoorside, and it remained in the
possession of this family until 1570. She died on or about 6 April 1276.
The custody of this boy was
granted to Henry de Percy, who transferred it to the Society of the Ballardi of Lucca. This was ratified by the King, but
later, 'not recollecting his confirmation of the grant,' he 'caused
the manor, then in the hands of the merchants, to be taken into his hands, and
he delivered it with its fees &c. to the said Thomas, a minor and in his
custody, who since he has held the said manor has received Ł340 out of the
issues thereof, for which Henry de Percy has made supplication to the king to
cause satisfaction to be made to the merchants for his exoneration.' The
King promised to make payment.
The lay subsidy assessments of
1301 afforded a brief glimpse of the settlement pattern, listing
numerous contributors bearing the names of the farms which is still to be found
at Farndale such as ‘Wakelevedy’ (Wake Lady Green), ‘Westgille’
(West Gill), Monkegate (Monket
House) and ‘Elleshaye (Eller House) and which are
scattered all around the dale. Further confirmation of this pattern is provided
by surveys of 1570 and 1610, both of which give the names of many more extent
farms and allow us to identify others from field names.
Yorkshire Archaeological
Society, Yorkshire Lay Subsidy 30 Ed. I (1301) The Subsidy: Wapentake of
Rydale, The Subsidy: Wapentake of Rydale, Pages 46-56, Yorkshire Lay Subsidy 30
Ed. I (1301):
Farndale:
De Willelmo de Almeheved' ijs ixd o.
De Willelmo Ruddock' ijs iijd
De Nicholao Ruddock' iiijs vijd o.q.
De Willelmo Clerico xxiijd
De Willelmo Wakelevedy iijs ijd
De Nicholao filio Galfridi vd o.q.
De Thoma Kerelle xiijd
De Radulpho de Westgille iijs ijd o.
De Thoma de Birkeheved' vjd o.
De Willelmo de Monkegate iijd q.
De Willelmo
ad Portam iijs iijd
De Johanne de Brannordale ijs vjd o.
De Rogero Bernard' xxjd q.
De Willelmo de Hoton' vd o.q.
De Hugone de Redmyre ijs vijd q.
De Nicholao de Ellrischaye iiijs vijd o.
De Roberto de Brakanthayt' iiijs vijd o.
De Harpino Coyly iiijd
De Waltero de Ellerscaye ijs ijd o.
De Ricardo Beverley ixd o.q.
De Willelmo Westgil' ijs vjd
De Roberto ad Pontem vjd o.
De Simone Molendinario vijs ixd o.
De Johanne serviente ejus iijd q.
De Stephano Alberd' ijs iijd q.
De Radulpho de Capite iijd q.
De Willelmo de Fademore iiijd
De Willelmo filio Henrici vd o.q.
De Galfrido de Hoton' iijs vjd o.q.
De Roberto filio Golde vd
De Laurencio Syffewrythe iiijd
De Willelmo filio Rogeri iijs xjd o.q.
De Galfrido Saunder iijd
De Syther' vidua iiijd
De Ada filio Johannis iijd o.q.
See
FAR00029.
De
Willelmo de Farndale was the first person in the records who used the name
Farndale outside of Farndale itself: De Willelmo de Farndale (FAR00013),
living at Danby paid a tax of 3s in 1301 (Lay Subsidy).
1310
‘In
1310, 20 oxen the property of Nicholas the parker, worth 8s, 6 oxen and 3
stirks of William in the horn worth Ł1 9s, a cow and a stirk of Hugh Laverock
4s 8d and 6 oxen of William Stibbing de Farndale…….’
(NRRY Vol III).
See
FAR00033.
1323
In the
Calendar of the Close Rolls, 22 August 1323: Pickering. To the sheriff of
York. Whereas it is found by an inquisition taken by William de Ayremynne, Humphrey de Waleden,
and John de Kylvyngton, by the oath of the foresters,
verderers, regarders, and other ministers at the
forest of Pickering, and of other lawful men of that county, that the following
persons committed trespass of venison in the forest after it came into the
King's hands as escheat by forfeiture of Thomas, late earl of Lancaster... that
on Friday the morrow of Martinmas, in the aforesaid year, Robert Capoun, knight, Robert son of Marmaduke de Tweng, and eight unknown men with bows and arrows and four
greyhounds came to a place called ‘Ellerbek’, and there took a hart and two other deers (feras), and carried the venison away; and that on Thursday
before the Invention of the Holy Cross, in the aforesaid year, Robert Capoun and seventeen unknown men came with bows and arrows
and greyhounds to the place called ‘Ellerbek’ against the assize of the forest
for the purpose of doing evil, but they took nothing; and that on Friday after
the Translation of Saint Thomas last, Adam (FAR00025)
son of Simon the Miller of Farndale, Richard son of John the Miller, and
three unknown men came to a place called ‘Petrenedle’,
and there took two hinds, and when they were proclaimed by the foresters, they
left one hind, which the foresters carried to Pykeryng
castle and the said malefactors carried the other away with them;... the King
orders the sheriff to take with him John de Rithre,
and to arrest all the aforesaid men and Juliana, and to deliver them to John de
Kylvynton, keeper of Pykeryng
castle, whom the king has ordered to receive them and to keep them in prison in
the castle until further orders.
‘At Pickering before the Sheriff of York in 1323, on
Friday after the translation of St Thomas last, Adam son of Simon the miller
of Farndale, (21), Richard the son of John the miller three unknown men
came to the place ‘Petrenedle’ and there took two
hinds and when they were proclaimed by the foresters they left one hind which
the foresters carried the other way with them...(long list of other
offenders)...... The King orders the Sheriff to take with him John de Rithre and to arrest the aforesaid men and deliver them to
John de Kyltynton, Keeper of Pyckeryng
Castle
whom the King ordered to receive them and to keep them in prison until further
orders.’ Was this the same Adam de Farndale,
who would be 28 at the time which would fit? (Close Rolls 22 August 1323, 17 Edward
II page 15 and 16)
1324
John de Farndale (FAR00026) was
released from excommunication at Pickering Castle on 23 February 1324. This may
have related to a prior poaching offence.
1325
An early
planning dispute with the local authority
The document
relates to Thomas Wake’s costs for his service with the King with foot soldiers
at Berwick and Edinburgh. It also asks the King to order that the Earls of
Leicester and Richmond and Arundel be ordered to accept one homage for Kirkby
in the fee of Mowbray to pay off their demand for homage.
Of relevance to
us, it also asks that the justice of the forest should be commanded to deliver his wood of Farndale. The King
seems to have replied that he should deliver a writ to the justice of the
forest to certify the reason for taking the wood.
See FAR00039.
1327
Johanne
de Farndale (FAR00026), paid taxes at Crofton de Artoft of 2s
1d in 1327 (Lay Subsidy).
.
The
1327 Lay Subsidy
In
late 1326 a popular rebellion led by Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March resulted
in King Edward II being deposed and imprisoned. The King’s closest supporter
Hugh le Despenser the elder, who was lord of the manor of Fairford at that
time, was captured and executed. The King’s son was crowned as Edward III on 25
January 1327 and his father died, probably murdered, while imprisoned in
Berkeley Castle in September of that year. However, as the new king was only 14
years of age at that time England was in effect ruled by Mortimer and his lover
Queen Isabella, Edward III’s mother. One of the earliest pieces of legislation
of the new reign was passed in September to order a Lay Subsidy, a nationwide
tax of the laity intended to raise money to renew hostilities against Scotland
which Edward II had pursued unsuccessfully for some years.
The
Lay Subsidy of 1327 was a flat rate tax of one twentieth of the value of each
person’s moveable goods, hence the tax is also known as the Twentieth. The majority of moveable goods were cattle, sheep and crops
and therefore the tax fell harder on the rural population than it did on those
in the major towns. Two prominent local men in each county were appointed as
Chief Taxers, those for Gloucestershire being Sir William Tracy and Robert de
Aston. They then appointed other local men, known as Subtaxers,
to conduct the assessment and collect the money from people. Those who were
taxed included everyone from the lord of the manor down to his peasant tenants
(both freemen and serfs), traders and craftsmen as long as
they had moveable possessions worth at least 10 shillings. The list of names,
the Roll, was drawn up and sent to the Exchequer in Westminster for approval.
The assessment took some time to complete and it was
not until between February and June of 1328 that the money was actually
collected.
Lay Subsidy Records 1327 for Farndale?
1333
Johanne
de Farndale (FAR00026), paid taxes of 2s at Crofton cum
Hartoft in 1333 (Lay Subsidy).
Lay Subsidy Records
1332/1333 for Farndale?
1336
John
de Farndale (FAR00026), bail by him for poaching, given at
Pickering before Richard de Wylughby and John de Hainbury on Monday 2 Dec 1336 (Yorkshire
Fees).
30 July 1345
‘At Reading.
Licence for the alienation in Frank Almoin by Thomas
Wake of Lyde to the friers of the Holy Order of the Holy Cross of a toft and
10 acres of land in the moor of Blakenhowe in Farndale, for them to found a house of the Order there and to build an Oratory
and dwelling houses.’ (Patent Rolls)
1346
The thirty fifth year of the reign of
Edward III (1312 to 1377) was 1346.
1347
A History of the County of
York: Volume 3. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1974,
The Religious Houses of Yorkshire: The different orders of friars were well represented in the
county. In York itself there were houses of Dominicans, Franciscans,
Carmelites, Austins, and of the short-lived Order of the Sack. In 1257 Walter
de Kirkham, Bishop of Durham, granted 4 acres of land at Osmotherley
for the establishment of a priory of Crutched Friars, and in 1347
Thomas Lord Wake of Liddell had royal licence to grant a toft and 10 acres in Blakehowe Moor in Farndale for the foundation of a house of
the same order, but in neither case does the design seem to have been
carried out. See FAR00039.
Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, File 155, pages 540-556, Calendar
of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 10, Edward III. Originally published by His
Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1921: Inquest taken at Buttercrambe,
Thursday after the Purification, 35 Edward III. Cotyngham
and Wytheton. The manors held of the king in chief as
of the crown by homage and fealty and by service of a barony and by service of
finding a mounted esquire suitably armed to bear the king’s coat of mail
(lorica) in the war in Wales for forty days at his own costs, if there is war
in Wales. Buttercrambe. The manor held of the king in
chief as of the crown by homage and fealty and by service of a knight’s fee. Kirkeby
Moresheved. The manor, with lands &c. in Farndale,
Gillyngmore, Brauncedale
and Fademore, held of John de Moubray by homage
and fealty and by service of a knight’s fee and a half.
1349
Thomas Wake remained in
possession of his lands until he died in 1349.
His heir was his sister
Margaret, wife of Edmund Earl of Kent, whose son John succeeded her.
1350
‘In 23 Ed III. Inquisition taken at Kirby Moorseved refers to an early fair in Farndale.’ (Patent Rolls). See FAR00041.
23
Edward III = 25 January 1349 to 24 January 1350 - https://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/cal/reg11.htm
Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 9, Edward III. Originally published by
His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1916: Inquest taken at Kirkeby Moresheved, Wednesday after SS. Peter and Paul, 23 Edward
III. John Wake, his father, was sometime seised of
the manors of Cotyngham, Wyveton,
Kirkeby Moresheved, Aton and Hemelyngton; which he surrendered into the hands of King
Edward I with all the liberties, fees, advowsons of churches &c. thereto
belonging, together with the reversions of the manor of Buttercrambe,
which Walter bishop of Coventry and Lichfield held for his life by the demise
of the said John, and of the manors of Middelton and Cropton which Letitia Wake
held in dower of the inheritance of the said John. And the said king granted
the aforesaid manors and reversions to the said John and Joan, his wife, and
the heirs of their bodies, with remainder to the right heirs of the said John,
by charter dated 5 January, 27 Edward I. Kirkeby Moresheved.
The manor (full extent given) including ruinous houses, an orchard
called ‘le Orteyerd,’ a park with deer with pasturage
in divers places called ‘les Hagges,’ pastures called
‘le Hallecote’ and ‘le Snapcote,’
meadow in places called ‘le Westeng,’ Stokeng, Alduswra, Apeltreflat, Roundacre, Bulfordsty, Southflat in ‘le Silkeng’ and Northflat in ‘le Silkeng,’
Holker, ‘le Silkenghede,’ Mosyheved
and Scareheved, Slogheved
and Atte Brockedwyth, le Tunge,
Kichynbusk and Gillyngmoreleyes,
a pasture called ‘les Scues,’ a market every
Wednesday, a yearly fair, water-mills at Farndale, Gillyngmore
and Brauncedale, and rent of free tenants at Fadmore. The manor is charged time out of mind by the
ancestors of the said Thomas Wake with 26s. 8d. yearly to the prioress and
convent of Keldholm, and with tithe of the water-mill, worth 13s. 4d. yearly, to the vicar of the
church of Kirkeby. The manor and its members of Farndale, Gillyngmore, Brauncedale and Fadmore are held of Sir John de Moubray by homage and
fealty and by service of a knight’s fee and a half.
1352
John died three years later,
however, without issue, and his sister Joan, 'the fair maid of Kent,' was his
heir.
1353
27 Edward III =
25 January 1353 to 24 January 1354 - https://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/cal/reg11.htm
Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, Files 118 and 119, Pages 41-57,
Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 10, Edward III. Originally
published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1921: Inquest taken at York,
3 February, 27 Edward III. … Kirkeby Moresheved.
The manor with its members in Farndale, Gillyngmore,
Brauncedale and Fademore
(extents given, with field names), held of John de Moubray by service of 1
1/2 knights’ fees. The extent of Kirkeby includes a weekly market on
Wednesday and a fair on the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin; and the
manor is charged time out of mind by the ancestors of the earl with 26s. 8d.
yearly to the prioress of Keldholm and 13s.
4d. yearly to the vicar of the church of Kirkeby for tithe of the mill.
Decrease in value of land &c. through the pestilence.
1358
On 15 Oct 1358, a pardon was given by
the Sergeant at Arms to William Attwode for having
enfeoffed John de Banaby and William Farndale (FAR00034),
chaplains of the Manor of Derleye, held in chief, and
then re-entered into the Manor, which they quit-claimed to him without the
King’s licence and grant that he shall retain the same fee.’ (Patent Rolls).
1360
The Fair Maid of Kent’s
first husband was Thomas Holand, created Earl of Kent in 1360, by whom she had
a son and heir Thomas Holand.
1361
The Close Rolls,
20 February 1361, 35 Edward III: Feb 20, Westminster. To William de Nessefeld escheator in Yorkshire. Order to deliver to
Joan who was wife of Thomas de Holand earl of Kent the manors of Cotyngham, Witherton, Buttercrambe, Kirkeby Moresheved
(with lands in Farndale, Gillyngmore, Brauncedale and Fademore),
Cropton (with tenements in Middleton and Haretoft),
Aton and Hemelyngton, with the members, lands etc
thereto pertaining, taklen into the king’s hand by
the death of the earl, together with the issues from the date of his death; as
it is found by inquisition, taken by the escheator, that Thomas at his death
held no lands in that county in chief in his demesne as of fee, but held the
premises of right of his said wife, and that the manors of Cotyngham,
Witherton, Buttercrambe and
Cropton, one messuage and 14 bovates of land in the manor of Aton are held in
chief, and the residue of that manor and the manor of Hemelyngton
of others than the king; and the king has at another time taken the homage of
the earl for the lands of Joan’s heritage by reason of issue between them
begotten.
See FAR00046A.
1365
Later Joan, the Fair Maid of
Kent married Edward the Black Prince, with whom in 1365 she settled this manor
on Thomas Holand and Alice his wife and their heirs, with reversion to the
prince and herself.
1384
There appears to have been a significant
cattle and horse rustling expedition in 1384 involving John Farndale (FAR00042A).
Calendar of Patent Rolls,1381-1385,
8 Richard III Part I – page 507 and 508:
‘On 10 Dec 1384, At Westminster. Commission of Oyer and Terminer. John
Farndale and others broke their close, houses and hedges at Wittonstalle and Fayrhils,
Co Northumberland and seized 30 horses, 20 mares, 100 oxen and 100 cowes valued at Ł200 and carried them off with goods
and chattels, assaulted his men, servants and tenants and so threatened them
that they left his service. For 13s 4d paid the hanaper.’
1386
In 1386 Thomas Holand complained
that various persons 'besieged Kirby Moorside, assaulted men and merchants
about their business in the market there, and created such a disturbance that
those of that country dared not come to the place; so threatened his tenants
and servants that they dared not come to their lands or do their services,
broke his park and close, entered his chase and warren, hunted therein without
leave, felled trees, fished in his several fishery and took away fish, trees
and other goods and chattels.'
1388
19 November 1388. Licence for the inhabitants of Farndale
(Ferndall) to have masses celebrated in the chapel of Farndale (the York Archbishop Registers).
1396
On 19 April
1396, ‘Pardon to Robert de Wodde of Farndale, for the death
of John Hawlare of Kirby Moorseved,
killed there on Monday, the eve of the Purification in the 18th year.’
(Patent Rolls). See FAR00053.
1397
In 1397 Thomas Earl of Kent
died, and Alice was left in possession for life.
There was a serious armed robbery. Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II, 1396 to
1399, 21 Richard II Part III, 1398, page 365:
‘May 2, At Westminster. Commission of Oyer and Terminer to Henry de Percy,
earl of Northumberland, John Depeden, knight, Thomas Colvyle the elder, knight, John Markham, William Gascoigne,
Richard de Norton, John de Burgh, William de Nenson,
and Miles de Stapilton, on complaint by High
Gascoigne, parson of Staynegreve, that Peter de Clay,
son of John de Clay of Fadmore, Richard de Thornton
of Neuton, Thomas Wolthwayt
of Farnedale, William Irpe,
John de Bolton, ‘coseur’, Robert de Thornton of Neuton, John del Clay of Fadmore,
Richard del Clay, Richard Candy, Thomas de Crathorne the elder, Adam Helmeslay, and other armed malefactors broke his close
and houses at Steingreve, assaulted him, fished in
his several fishery there, and took away his fish and goods and chattels
to the value of 200 marks as well as 1000 marks in money, and
assaulted his men and servants. For 4 marks paid in the hanaper.’ See FAR00054.
1399
Of her sons, Thomas the
elder was beheaded as a traitor in 1399 and his brother Edmund died before his
mother in 1408, when the earldom of Kent fell into abeyance.
The heirs of Edmund were
Edmund Earl of March, son and heir of his eldest sister Eleanor, and the four
sisters of Eleanor—Joan Duchess of York, Margaret wife of Thomas Duke of
Clarence, Eleanor wife of Thomas Earl of Salisbury, and Elizabeth wife of Sir John
Nevill, kt.
Kirkbymoorside seems to have
been assigned with Great Ayton and Hemlington to Elizabeth Nevill.
1446
There is a reference to
William Thornburgh of Farndale, a collector of taxes in the North Riding in The Fine
Rolls, 1446, 24 Henry VI, page 39.
1473
Ralph second Earl of Westmorland,
son of Elizabeth, was in possession of the 'manor' in 1473, when he granted it
to Sir Ralph Nevill, kt., his nephew.
1499
The latter succeeded him and
died in possession in 1499, leaving a grandson and heir Ralph.
Ralph was succeeded by his
son and heir Henry, who appears to have leased the house and park here to his
brother Christopher Nevill.
1569
Both Christopher and his
nephew Charles, the next Earl of Westmorland, were implicated in the Yorkshire
rebellion of 1569 and were attainted.
Kirkby Moorside was thus
forfeit to the Crown. At the time of the attainder, however, the manor was held
by Lady Gascoigne, widow of Henry Earl of Westmorland, for life. Her right had
been disputed by Charles, who had forcibly entered into
possession of the manor, but she apparently made good her claim, and had leased
it to Ralph Bowes, farmer.
On her death he made suit to
the Crown to have his lease continued; this was granted, and his lease was
again renewed in 1571, 1592 and 1595.
1570
Further confirmation of this
pattern is later given in surveys of 1570 and 1610, both of which give names of
many more extant farms.
The 1570 document described
71 tenements in Farndale, 40 on the east side and 31 on the west, together with
two mills and a few cottages paying altogether just over Ł54 in rent.
Humberston’s Survey, 1570
After the suppression of the
rebellion, which raged in the north of England during the months of November
and December, 1569, usually called the Rising in the
North, the estates of the leaders were forfeited by their subsequent
attainders, and came into the hands of Queen Elizabeth. With the object of
ascertaining their value and condition she sent, in the spring of the following
year, certain Commissioners to survey them. The Commission was issued on March
10, 1569-70, and directed to Edmund Hall and William Humberston. The return
made by these two Commissioners, in two volumes, is preserved amongst the
Exchequer papers in the Public Record Office, and is
known by the title of "Humberston's Survey."
The view and surueie of the lordship of Kyrkeby
Moresyde, in the county of Yorke, parcell
of the possessions of Charles, late erle of Westmerland, wyth all his rightes, membres and appurtenaunces, and of all the landes
and possessions in Famedale, Braundesdale,
Fadmore, and Gyllymore, parcell of the sayd manour, made by Edmond Hall, William Homberston,
and John Jenkyns, the seyxt of June in the yere aforsaid (1570). And the said lordship ys
within foure myles of
Malton in Ryedale, and in th'est parte
of the county of Yorke, in the edge of the moreland,
and ys a very stately lordshipp,
and extendyth into the townes,
hamlettes, and dales of Farnedale,
Braundesdale, Fadmore, and Gyllymore, and ys in compas aboue xxvj
miles, and inhabyted with many welthy and substancyall men, and haue very good fermes by
reason of the greate and, large comons
and wastes; and all the tenauntes, except the towne of Kyrkeby, hold their fermes and tenementes by
indenture for terme of yeres,
whiche are very fynable landes, after the leases be determyned.
And the towne of Kyrkeby is
a market towne, inhabyted
all with pore people, and hold their cotages by copye of courte roll to them and
to their heyres, accordyng
to the custome of the manour,
payeng certeyne rentes, customes, and servyces, and haue no landes or other comodytes to theyr cotages, so as their rentes must of necessyte decay, onles the comens which Henry,
late erle,* toke from the tenauntes, aboute viij or ix yeres past, and
enclosed them, whiche was th'only
releyf of the inhabitauntes
of the towne, wherein they kept euery
man one, twoo, or three kyen,
for the releyf of themselves, their wyves and chyldren.
The scyte
of the manour ys scytuat in throne syde of the parke, buylded of stone, and
covered parte with leade
and parte with slate, and served for a removyng house for th'erles, when
their pleasure were to come to hunt and take pastyme in that country. The house is but symple for an erle, but a good
house for a gentleman of worshipp; and the demeane
very good and batefuU for corne
and gresse, and greate
plenty of mewn ground, lyeng
by a fayre ryver," suffycyent
for the provysyon of a house for any gentleman of
worship.
The parke
adioynyth to the scyte of
the manour, very well planted with wood and tymbre, wherin are large laundes, and ys well replenyshed with fallow deere, and conteynyth
in compas two myles and a
half, and in measure, by the pole of xxj fote, clxxvij acres, wherin ys one keper,'
which hath for his stipend yerely \xs, y'ujd.y and suche other casuall comodytes and proffittes as to
the sayd office apperteynyth.
(The Yorkshire
Archaeological Journal, 1893, Vol 17, p146)
1830
House of Lords Journal
Volume 63: 16 November 1830', in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 63,
1830-1831 (London, [n.d.]), pp. 51-101: Farndale: Also, Upon reading the
Petition of the Members of a Society and Congregation of Wesleyan Methodists
worshipping at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Farndale, in the County of York,
whose Names are thereunto subscribed …
1848
A Topographical Dictionary
of England. Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1848: FARNDALE, a chapelry,
in the parish of KirkbyMoorside, union of Helmsley,
wapentake of Ryedale, N. riding of York, 13 miles (N. W.) from Pickering;
containing 463 inhabitants, of whom 188 are in Farndale Low Quarter, and 275 in
Farndale West or High Quarter. These two townships together comprise about 9780
acres, whereof 6220 are in the latter, which is situated on the west of the
river Dove. The chapel has lately been enlarged. FARNDALE-EASTSIDE, a chapelry,
in the parish of Lastingham, union of Helmsley, wapentake of Ryedale, N. riding
of York, 5 miles (N.) from KirkbyMoorside; containing
383 inhabitants. It occupies the east side of the higher part of the deep
moorland dale of the river Dove, and comprises 9103 acres, of which 6341 are
waste land or common. The tithes have been commuted for Ł33. 15. payable to the
Archbishop of York, and Ł21 to the vicar of the parish, who has a glebe of 1˝
acre. The chapel is a small edifice.
1858
The Rosedale Railway was a 31.4
km goods only railway line running from Battersby Junction via Ingleby Incline,
across the heights of the North York Moors to reach iron ore deposits in the
remote hills of the Rosedale valley. It opened to traffic as a narrow gauge railway to Ingleby Incline top in 1858,
converted to standard gauge and opened to Rosedale West in 1861. It closed
completely in 1929. Apart from Ingleby Incline, no major engineering works were
constructed, and as such, particularly the east branch, the railway followed
the contours of the surrounding hillside.
It passed across the heights
of the northern end of Farndale including through a cutting of Middle Head, the
realm of the medieval Edmund the Hermit. There is a walk from the Lion’s Inn
and Blakely How which passes along the northern edge of Farndale, along the line
of the old railway.
1886
The church of St Nicholas
and St Mary, Bransdale-cum-Farndale, was built in 1886 to replace an earlier
structure. It consists of chancel, nave, south porch and small western tower
containing two bells.
1933
Hull was empowered in 1933
to obtain water from Farndale, but the scheme was not proceeded with after the
Second World War. In 1952 the corporation bought the Elloughton
and Brough Water Company, and new works were completed on the River Hull, in
Watton parish, in 1959 (A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1, the City
of Kingston Upon Hull. Originally published by Victoria County History, London,
1969).
The Farndale Hunt
https://www.facebook.com/farndalehunt
There are multiple newspaper
articles about
the Farndale hunt.
(Ripon Observer, 15 January
1914)
Wordsworth’s Farndale
William
Wordsworth, married only a few miles from Farndale.
|
I wandered lonely as a
cloud |
Continuous as the stars
that shine |
The waves beside them
danced; but they |
For oft, when on my couch
I lie |
Tradition says that they
were planted by monks from nearby Rievaulx Abbey.
To explore the daffodils in
the Spring, the traditional walks starts at the tiny hamlet
of Low Mill, a cluster of stone houses. Its 100-seat, corrugated-iron-clad hall
was built for Farndale Silver Band in the 1920s. The signed footpath from the
car park in Low Mill joins the riverside walk beside the River Dove.
Farndale has been
a nature reserve since 1953 and strict by-laws prohibit picking the flowers or
uprooting the bulbs.
The riverside
path passes through many gates to reach High Mill. Two supernatural presences
once inhabited this area: one was a
tenacious hob – a mischievous spirit – that fell out with a local farmer.
When the farmer tried to move house, the hob mounted the removal cart, so the
farmer stayed put. The other ghost is Sarkless
Kitty, a local girl who drowned herself, in her chemise (sark). Over
the years, Kitty’s ghost was seen sitting naked in Farndale’s trees, waving her
sark to signal the deaths of young men. Follow the lane to Church Houses.
Farmers
petitioned the local landlord for a pub in 1875 and the inn was named after
him, the Feversham Arms. Pass the pub and veer right
to the church; there are more daffodils in the churchyard. Follow the lane
uphill. Just past Mackeridge House turn right on a clearly signposted footpath
to Bragg Farm and Bitchagreen Farm.
Enjoy great views
over Farndale from this section. Jet, coal and iron ore were once mined in the
valley, but the greatest threat to its beauty came in the twentieth century.
In the 1930s and the 1960s,
there were plans to dam and flood the valley as a reservoir for Hull. Both were
defeated by conservationists. From Bitchagreen Farm, continue south on clearly
marked paths back to High Wold House and finally Low Mill.
Farndale, a photographic journey
Richard Farndale, Jamie
Farndale and Sarah Farndale in 2016
Sarah,
Richard
and Jamie
Farndale at Farndale in 2016
Dorothy
Farndale (centre front) and Grace Farndale
(right front) at Farndale in about 1922
Farndale views in 1980
Farndale sign at Kirkbymoorside in 1980
Photograph of the sign in 1980
There’s no inflation in Farndale! The fine was still
five pounds in 2016!
A suggestion in 1914:
(Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 31 March 1914)
Farndale, a photographic journey
Links, texts and books
The Ryedale Historian
Volume 1, 1965
Volume 1, April 1966
Gillamoor and Fadmoor
(Ryedale Historian Vol 4 1969)
Life in Ryedale in the 14th century
(Ryedale Historian Vol 8 1976)
(Ryedale Historian Vol 9 1978)
Mesolithic records including Farndale (Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Vol 42, 1966, p 314 317 318 320 321 322)
Early Yorkshire
Charters Stuteville, 1952, Yorkshire Archaeological Society, pages 19, 87
to 88, 92. 93n, 94, 203
