Sheriff Hutton

The chronological history of Sheriff Hutton in North Yorkshire

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Introduction

This page tells the story of Sheriff Hutton as a chronology, interwoven with the story of the Nevilles, who held the lands of Middleham and Sheriff Hutton, and with the history of England in the dramatic 150 years from the mid fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, at the time of the Lancastrian Dynasty of John of Gaunt’s descendants, and the Age of Henry V, through the Wars of the Roses between the Houses of York (with whom the Neville family’s story was closely entwined) and Lancaster. During this period a line of the Farndale family lived at Sheriff Hutton and Richard Farndale was a medieval soldier who fought in the Wars at the time of Richard II and Henry V, and whose daughters, Margorie , Agnes and Alice then witnessed the Wars of the Roses from Sheriff Hutton, one of the best places to witness the story unfold.

Dates are in red.

Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.

Section headings are in brown.

References and citations are in turquoise.

The history of the Wars of the Roses is in purple.

The Farndale history is in green

This webpage about the Sheriff Hutton has the following section headings:

• Farndale family history and Sheriff Hutton
• Sheriff Hutton, overview
• Timeline of Sheriff Hutton’s history
• Bibliography

The Farndales of Sheriff Hutton

The Sheriff Hutton 1 Line are the descendants of William Farnedale (FAR00036), born in about 1332. The history of this line of my family is recounted in their genealogy and in green text below. It is not clear exactly how William Farndale fitted into the wider genealogy of the Farndale family, but he was likely to have been related to the medieval lines of the family, originating from the villeins of Farndale itself. It is possible that he was one of the sons of Adam of Farndale (1302 to 1352)(FAR00025).

We know a lot about William’s family, as he left a detailed will in 1397.

In the name of God Amen. I, William Farnedale, on 23 February 1397/8, in good memory, make my testament in this manner. Firstly, I bequeath my soul to God and the Blessed Mary and all the Saints, and my body to be buried in the Churchyard at Schyrefhoton. Item, I bequeath as mortuary payment, the best animal I have. I bequeath to be burned around my body, as candles, 8lbs of wax. Item, I bequeath to the High Altar for sins forgiven, 4s. Item, I bequeath to a Chaplain to celebrate divine services for my soul in the Parish Church of Schyrefhoton for a whole year, 100s. Item, I bequeath to the fabric of St Peter’s York, 6s 8d. Item, I bequeath to Sir John Ferriby, Robert Gyllyng and William Barneby, 6s 8d each (20s). I bequeath to the Church of Schirefhoton for putting lead on the south roof, 20s. Item, I bequeath to each Canon of the Monastery of Marton 12d. I bequeath to every Chaplain ministering on the day of my funeral, 6d. Item, I bequeath to my wife Juliana, 4li and to my son Richard, 4li. Item, I bequeath to every poor person on the day of my burial 1d. Item, I bequeath to my son Richard my small sword with all my knives. Item, I bequeath to my daughter Helen, two cows. Item, I bequeath to my daughter, Agnes 2 bullocks and two plough beasts. Item, I bequeath to Richard Batlay 2 bullocks, Item, I bequeath to Margaret Batlay 2 bullocks and 2 plough beasts. I bequeath the rest of my goods to my wife Juliana, my son Richard and my daughter Helen. And I appoint Sir John Alwent, Rector of the Parish Church of Midelham, Juliana Farndale, Richard Farndale and William Huby, my executors. In witness whereof I have set my seal. Witnesses: Sir Robert de Hoton, Prior of Marton and Sir John de Park, Chaplain and many others, date as above.

William married Juliana, perhaps in about 1358, and they had a son Richard Farendale (FAR00044), and two daughters Helen (FAR00045) and Agnes (FAR00046). It is possible that William Farndayll of Huton (FAR00052) who held lands at Gowthorpe, about 20 km to the southeast, was also his son.

We know from his will that Richard Farendale bequeathed a grey horse with saddle and reins and his armour, comprising a bascinet, a breast plate, a pair of vembraces and a pair of rerebraces with leg harness. He appears to have been armed for military service. Perhaps he had fought in some of the battles of the early fifteenth century. There is evidence which suggests that Richard Farendale of Sheriff Hutton (FAR00044) might have been a soldier who fought in the Hundred Years War in the reign of Richard II, and possibly, as a veteran soldier, in or shortly after the Agincourt campaign with Henry V or his commanders.

Richard in turn left a detailed will in 1435:

The Will of Richard Farendale, proved at Sherifhoton 21 Dec 1435. ‘In the name of God Amen, 8th December 1345. I Richard Farndell being of sound mind make my will in this manner. Firstly, I bequeath and Commend my soul to God Almighty, My Creator, and my body to be buried in my said Parish Church. Item. I bequeath a grey horse with saddle and reins and my armour, viz: a bascinet, a breast plate, a pair of vembraces and a pair of rerebraces with leg harness as my mortuary payment. And I bequeath 3 lbs of wax to be burned around my body on the day of my burial. Item. I bequeath to the Vicar of my Parish Church 6s 8d and to every chaplain taking part in my burial service Mass, 4d. And I bequeath 26s 8d for mending a service book for the use of the parish church. And to the fabric of the Cathedral Church of St Peter York, 12d. And I bequeath to my daughter Margorie at her marriage 10 marks, if she live to be marriageable age. And if she die before she arrives at her years of discretion, I wish the said 10 marks to be divided equally between my daughters Agnes and Alice. And I bequeath to Joan Brantyng 40s and a bed. And to the four orders of friars mendicant of York 20s and two quarters of corn to be divided in equal portions. And to John Pyper 2s. And as regards the rest of my funeral expenses, I wish them to be paid at the discretion of my executors. The rest of my goods, not bequeathed above, my debts having been paid, I bequeath to the said Margorie, my daughter, to be divided among them in equal parts. And I make the said Thomas Robynson and John Couper and Margorie my daughter, my executors, faithfully to implement the terms of my will. Witnesses; Robert, Vicar of the Church of Hoton, William Huby of the same, John Burdley of the same and many others.’

So Richard in turn had three daughters, Margorie (FAR00049), Agnes (FAR00050) and Alice (FAR00051). Assuming they were born in about the 1420s and if they lived until the 1480s or 1490s, the three Farndale daughters would have lived through the Wars of the Roses, in the lands of the Nevilles and Richard Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III. They must have lived their lives through a tumultuous period of English history.

Sheriff Hutton

Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire. It lies about 16 km north-east of York, situated on a long low ridge which runs east to west between the Vale of York and the Howardian Hills.

To the east of the village is our 900 year old Parish church of St Helen and the Holy Cross. Right in the centre of the village you can find our thriving Post Office and two charming pubs; to the west our excellent Primary School and Methodist Chapel and to the south is our Village Hall and a busy industrial estate. Most noticeable of all are the ruins of Neville Castle built in the 14th century which tower over the village (Sheriff Hutton website).

Sheriff Hutton Timeline

The history of Sheriff Hutton is closely interwoven with the Wars of the Roses in the fifteenth century, so the history of the Wars of the Roses, is shown in purple text, for context.

6,000 BCE

Flint tools have been found dating back to about 6,000 BCE.

Roman Period

Roman finds in the area and crop marks indicate settlement in Roman times.

1086

The village is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book as Hotun in the Bulford hundred. Before the Norman invasion the manor was split between several land owners. Those named included Ligulf, Northmann, Thorkil, Thorsten and Thorulf. Afterwards some of the land was retained by the Crown and others given to Count Robert of Mortain who installed Sir Nigel Fossard as lord of the manor. 

Eleven carucates in Sheriff Hutton were reckoned amongst the possessions of the Count of Mortain at the Survey, and were soke of the manor of Bulmer which Niel Fossard then held of the count. There were also 4 carucates which had been held by Turchil, Turolf and Turstan as three 'manors' before the Conquest and had afterwards been unjustly appropriated by Niel. He had surrendered them to the king by 1086, but it would seem that at some later date he or his son Robert regained this land and, probably after the forfeiture of the count's son, acquired the 11 carucates also, since the overlordship of all Sheriff Hutton (with the exception of a close called Bulfordtoftes held of the king in chief) afterwards came to the Mauleys, lords of Mulgrave, who represented the female line of the descendants of the Fossards after the failure of Robert's male heirs. (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

Soon after the Conquest, the land was in the possession of the Bulmer family.

1100

The Norman Church was built in or about 1100. It comprised a tower, a nave and the first half of the chancel or choir.

1120

The earliest clear reference to the existence of a church is a gift to St Mary’s Abbey York by Sir Nigel Fossard, who died in 1120, of the Church of St Helen and the Holy Cross. There is a small window above the west door that may pre-date 1100. The Norman building of magnesian limestone ashlar, thought to be re-used blocks from York's Roman walls, comprise the tower, nave and chancel, all later extended when the four chantry chapels were built in the C15th for the manor-holding families of the Nevilles, Gowers, Wythams and Dacres (Sheriff Hutton website).

1140

Bertram de Bulmer built the first castle in the village during the reign of King Stephen. In 1140, during the reign of King Stephen, a motte-and-bailey castle was built here in the Forest of Galtres by Bertram de Bulmer, the remains of which can be seen to the south of the churchyard. Those remains have been designated Ancient Monument status.

Sheriff Hutton has two castles. The first is a Norman motte and bailey structure of which only the mounds remain. It was built by Ansketil de Bulmer on land given to him by William the Conqueror. Hutton stems from the Old English hoh (a projecting piece of land) and tun (a farmstead) while the Sheriff prefix stems from the association with the Bulmer family, Bertram de Bulmer being sheriff of York in 1115 (Sheriff Hutton website).

Topographical Dictionaries, A Topographical Dictionary of England Hutton-Buscel – Huyton, 1848: This place is celebrated for its castle, erected in the time of Stephen (1140) by Bertram de Bulmer, from whose family it descended by marriage to the Nevilles, who held it till the battle of Barnet, in 1471, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, was slain, and his estates confiscated.

Sheriff Hutton took its name from Bertram of Bulmer, Sheriff of York, who had erected a motte and bailey castle and a church in about 1140 (A History of Yorkshire: County of the Broad Acres, David Hey, 2005, p133). Sheriff Hutton lay on the edge of the forest of Galtres.

Just south of the church are earthworks which probably mark the site of the early castle said to have been built here by Bertram de Bulmer in 1140. They are curious in form and probably indicate that the castle was transitional between the mount and bailey and the keep and bailey types (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1153

After the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, the castle and manor were seized by the Crown before being held for the king by the Mauley family.

1190

Emma daughter of Bertram de Bulmer the sheriff, who died in or before 1166, had married Geoffrey de Nevill before 1176, when he was called upon to account for her father's debts. In 1190 Geoffrey was described as Bertram's heir, a title given at the beginning of the next century to his son Henry, who in 1208–9 rendered account of £100 and a palfrey for having his knights' fees in Raskelf and Sutton. Henry de Nevill, who gave his consent to his mother's grant of a pension from Sheriff Hutton Church, died without issue in 1229 or 1230 (A History of Yorkshire: County of the Broad Acres, David Hey, 2005, p133).

1278

The third Peter de Mauley confirmed grants of land of his fee in this parish to Marton Priory in the later years of Henry III, and the manor of Sheriff Hutton was held of him and his heirs from 1278 to 1331 (A History of Yorkshire: County of the Broad Acres, David Hey, 2005, p133). Note the consistency of the land ownership with that of Doncaster.

1282

Henry de Nevill was succeeded by his sister Isabel and her husband Robert son of Maldred, lord of Raby, whose son and heir Geoffrey assumed his mother's surname. His son Robert de Nevill, who had as Sheriff of York shown his loyalty to the Crown in the Barons' War, died in 1282 seised of the manor, and was succeeded by his grandson Ranulph first Lord Nevill, lord until his death in about 1331 (A History of Yorkshire: County of the Broad Acres, David Hey, 2005, p133).

1331

The manor eventually came into the possession of the Neville family of Raby Castle in the 14th century until 1480, when they were surrendered to the Crown. They enclosed a park and established a weekly market in the village.

The fifth Peter de Mauley released to Sir Ralph de Nevill all his right to his service on account of it. Thenceforward Sheriff Hutton was held of the Crown, the overlordship being merged with the tenancy after its forfeiture on the death of the Earl of Warwick, 'the Kingmaker,' in 1471 (A History of Yorkshire: County of the Broad Acres, David Hey, 2005, p133).

Ralph, Ranulph's son and heir, was steward of the king's household. From him Sheriff Hutton descended to his son John, who had fought with his father in the battle of Nevill's Cross and served in the French wars.

Alice Neville had the Neville Chancery Chapel built in the parish Church at Sheriff Hutton to say mass for deceased members of her family.

Victorian Plan of the Church at Sheriff Hutton

In 1273 there were two chapels connected with the mother church of Sheriff Hutton, for the service of which the vicar was made responsible.

The advowson (in ecclesiastical law, the right to recommend a member of the Anglican clergy for a vacant benefice, or to make such an appointment) descended with the manor until 1273, when it was given by Emma's greatgrandson Robert de Nevill to the Prior of Marton, whose successors held it until the surrender of their house. The church was appropriated in 1274 and a vicarage ordained, some readjustment of tithes between the prior and vicar being made in 1332 and again in 1376.

The Lady Alice de Nevill, presumably the wife of Henry de Nevill son of Emma de Humez, founded a chantry in Sheriff Hutton Church, and assigned 'le Frith close' and other lands for its support. In 1348 Ralph de Nevill, for his 'laudable bearing in the battle by Durham against David Brus,' obtained licence to alienate considerable property, afterwards increased by his heir, to two chaplains who were to celebrate daily at the altar of St. Mary and St. Peter in the parish church for the souls of himself and his kindred.

The church, dedicated in and probably before 1375 in the honour of St. Mary, but from 1443 in the honour of St. Helen or St. Cross, and more recently St. Helen and the Holy Cross, was granted by Niel Fossard to the abbey of St. Mary, York, and seems to have been retained by that house until the early years of the 13th century, when the abbot quitclaimed his right to Emma de Humez. With the consent of her son and heir Henry de Nevill Emma granted the abbot in exchange a pension of 20 marks from the church of Sheriff Hutton.

The 12th-century church was a small aisleless building with a western tower, and of this there remain the lower part of the tower and portions of the east and west ends of the nave, which was the same size as that now existing. The first alteration appears to have been the rebuilding of the chancel in the first half of the 13th century. This building was aisleless and the eastern portion of the north wall with one window remains standing. In the following century the church was enlarged by the addition of wide aisles to the nave extending westward as far as the western face of the tower, in which was inserted the present west door. The north and south walls of the old nave were removed and arcades of two bays erected on each side. A difference in detail shows that the southern is somewhat the earlier in date. A north chapel was also added to the chancel. Early in the 15th century the three arches were inserted in the north, south and east walls of the tower, and shortly after the belfry stage was added. In the middle of the century the north chapel was rebuilt and the vestry added to the east of it by Thomas Witham and his wife, the former east window being removed and inserted in the north wall. At the altar of St. Nicholas and St. Giles in this chapel a chantry was founded by Thomas Witham. Soon after the east wall of the chancel was rebuilt, the side walls being raised and a new roof added. The south wall was entirely rebuilt with an arcade of two bays opening into a new south chapel, the east end of the south nave aisle being replaced by an open arch, and the former east window being re-used in the end wall of the chapel. The last pre-Reformation alteration appears to have been the addition of the nave clearstory. The only modern addition to the church is the west porch, which is of 18th or early 19th-century date, but the building has undergone general restoration and repair (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1332

William Farnedale of Shyrefhoton (FAR00036) was born in about 1332.

1335

Esmon de Claveryng, knight to Ralph de Nevill, lord of Raby: Receipt for an instalment of a pension charged on the said Ralph's manor of Sheriff Hutton (Hoton Viscont). Yorkshire North Riding 9 Edw III (National Archives E210/5277).

South of the church is the park, which has belonged to the manor since 1335, when licence was granted Ralph de Nevill to impark his woods of Sheriff Hutton and make a deer-leap therein. Various grants of the office of keeper of the park in the 15th and two following centuries are extant, and in 1649 the deer and timber it contained were valued at a very high price. At that date there were two dwelling-places within its inclosure; one of these was the 'Great Lodge,' a brick messuage with large and handsome rooms, chapel, gallery and walled-in court and garden 'wherein are severall litle Mounts with Statues thereon placed (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton).

1344

The tomb of Sir Edmund Thweng, who died at the Stirling in the Anglo-Scottish Wars in 1344, lies in the Parish Church. He was born in about 1280 in Cornborough, near Sheriff Hutton, to John Thweng and Joan de Mauley. He married Isabel Constable and they had a son, Mameduke de Thweng. Sir Edmund de Thwenge of Cornburgh, died on 15 Oct 1344 and was buried at Sheriff Hutton, where his effigy in mail armour still exists in the North Chapel.

(This was not the famous Battle of Stirling Bridge against William Wallace of 1297).

1347

Lord Ralph Neville built the chapel of St Mary and St Peter.

Chancery, Inquisitions Ad Quod Damnum, taken as a result of applications to the Crown for license for alternate land. Ralph de Nevill of Raby to grant a messuage, land, and rent in Sheriff Hutton to two chaplains in the church there, retaining the manor of Sheriff Hutton. York (National Archives C143/285/14).

For the next one and a half centuries, the Neville family, from their base founded on Middleham and Sheriff Hutton, were to become the most dominant family in the history of the nation. This was a period of dynastic upheaval which would lead to the War of the Roses, in which the Nevilles would play a key role. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick became known as the Kingmaker and his mother, Cecily Neville and his daughters Isabell and Anne Neville married into the Yorkist and Lancastrian families. Therefore, for the next 150 years, the history of Sheriff Hutton, the Nevilles, and the nation, are intricately entwined.

In order to understand the history which would lead to the Wars of the Roses, it is helpful to understand the complications of the Royal Dynasty at this time. The red text in the genealogy below shows the passage of the Crown from the Plantagenets, to the alternating claims of the Houses of York and Lancaster, to the Tudors. The Neville family were integrated into the genealogical mix, as was Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent, and the Holland family, Stuteville descendants and holding the lands of Kirkbymoorside, and Farndale,

			Edward III 1312 to 1377 Reigned 1327 to 1377 (1) Plantagenet Married Philippa of Hainault
John Neville, 3^rd Baron Neville 1337 to 1388 Married Maud Percy and Elizabeth Latimer		Edward, The Black Prince 1330 to 1376 Married Joan of Kent, the Fair Maid, landholder of Kirkbymoorside and Farndale	Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence 1338 to 1368 Married Elizabeth de Burgh, 4^th Countess of Ulster	Edmund, 1^st Duke of York 1341 to 1402 Married Isabella of Castile and later Joan Holland	John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster 1340 to 1399 Married Blanche of Lancaster	Married Katherine Swynford
Ralph Neville, 1^st Earl of Westmorland 1364 to 1425 Married Margate Stafford and then Joan Beaufort (daughter of John of Gaunt and granddaughter of Edward III)		Richard II 1367 to 1400 Reigned 1377 to 1399 (2) Plantagenet Married Anne of Bohemia and Isabella of Valois	Philippa, 5^th Countess of Ulster Married Edmund Mortimer, 3^rd Earl of March 1355 to 1382	Richard of Conisburgh, 3^rd Earl of Cambridge 1385 to 1415 Married Anne Mortimer	Henry IV (Henry Bolingbroke) 1367 to 1413 Reigned 1399 to 1413 (3) Lancaster Married Mary de Bohun and Joan of Navarre		John Beaufort, 1^st Earl of Somerset 1373 to 1410 Married Margaret Holland
Richard Neville, 5^th Earl of Salisbury 1400 to 1460 Married Alice Montagu, 5^th Countess of Salisbury	Cecily Neville 1415 to 1495 Married Richard, Duke of York		Roger Mortimer, 4^th Earl of March 1374 to 1398	Richard Plantagenet, 3^rd Duke of York 1411 to 1460 Married Cecily Neville	Henry V 1386 to 1422 Reigned 1413 to 1422 (4) Lancaster Married Catherine of Valois	Henry V married Catherine of Valois who later married Owen Tudor in 1428	John Beaufort, 1^st Duke of Somerset 1404 to 1444 Married Margaret Beauchamp
Richard Neville, 16^th Earl of Warwick The Kingmaker 1428 to 1471 Married Anne Beachamp, 16^th Countess of Warwick			Anne Mortimer 1388 to 1411 Married Richard, Earl of Cambridge		Henry VI 1421 to 1471 Reigned 1422 to 1461 (5) Lancaster Then 1470 to 1471 (7) Lancaster Married Margaret of Anjou	Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond 1430 to 1456	Lady Margaret Beaufort 1443 to 1509 Married Edmund Tudor
Isabell Neville, Duchess of Clarence 1451 to 1476 Married George, Duke of Clarence	Anne Neville 1456 to 1485 Married Edward, Prince of Wales (Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou’s son, 1453 to 1471) and then Richard Duke of Gloucester, and when he became Richard III was Queen of England			Edward IV 1442 to 1483 Reigned 1461 to 1470 (6) York Then 1471 to 1483 Married Elizabeth Woodville (8) York	Edmund Earl of Rutland 1443 to 1460	George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence 1449 to 1478 Married Isabel Neville	Richard III 1452 to 1485 Reigned 1483 to 1485 (10) York Married Anne Neville
			Edward V 1470 to 1483 Reigned 9 April to 25 June 1483 (9) York A Prince in the Tower	Richard, Duke of York 1473 to 1483 A Prince in the Tower	Elizabeth of York 1466 to 1503 Married Henry VII	Edward, Prince of Wales 1473 to 1484 Born at Middleham and whilst his burial is unknown, his effigy is in Sheriff Hutton Church	Henry VII 1457 to 1509 Reigned 1485 to 1509 (11) Tudor Married Elizabeth of York Henry VIII 1491 to 1547 Reigned 1509 to 1547 (12) Tudor

The traditional feudal system had evolved over the past centuries, and as a system of the provision of livelihood within royal estates in exchange for rent and service, it was the source from which an army can be drawn when it is required. In the late fourteenth century, relying on this system, Edward III had created duchies for his sons, including the Duchies of York and Lancaster. Administration was devolved and a new powerful class of rival nobility emerged. The feudal bond was mutual, so the ordinary classes of folk demanded protection in return. The duchies grew wealthy and grew in power to be able to raise powerful armies to protect their interests. This was all fine during the reign of Edward III, but the seeds of turmoil were sown for the following decades.

The period was satirically summarised: Noticing suddenly that the Middle Ages were coming to an end, the Barons now made a stupendous effort to revive the old Feudal amenities … During the Wars of the Roses the Kings became less and less memorable (sometimes even getting into the wrong order) (1066 and All That, R J Sellar and Yeatman, 1931)

1350

Grantor: Ralph de Nevill, knight, lord of Raby. Recipient: Robert de Mustroll, of Bubwith, and Robert de Ulram, chaplains in the church of Sheriff Hutton. Place or Subject: Sheriff Hutton, with confirmation by William la Zouche, archbishop of York (National Archives E326/11354).

1357

William Farnedale of Shyrefhoton (FAR00036) married Juliana in about 1357.

1357

Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton (FAR00044) was born in about 1357.

1359

Helen Farndale (FAR00045) was born in about 1332.

1361

Agnes Farndale (FAR00046) was born in about 1332.

1377

On Edward III’s death, his grandson Richard II was crowned, at 10 years old.

Richard II was the son of The Black Prince and Joan (of Stuteville descent), the Fair Maid of Kent, "the most beautiful woman in all the realm of England, and the most loving", owner of the estates which included Farndale.

The young Richard II’s reign was one of crisis and revolt. He increased his income to manage the threats against him. A medieval arms race began. Unpopular taxes gave rise to the Peasant’s Revolt, but Richard II nevertheless lost land in France. Discontent spread amongst the noble class.

1380

Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton (FAR00044) may have served in the Hundred Years Wear in Brittany at this time.

1382

In 1382 John Neville started to build a second castle on a new site in the village.

The extant remains of the stone Castle at the western end of the village were built by John, Lord Neville in the late fourteenth century. In 1382 John Neville was granted a licence to crenellate (crenallate means licence to fortify), which allowed him to chose a different site for a huge new castle, similar in design to Bolton Castle, with tall corner towers four or five storeys high and domestic buildings which were almost as tall arranged around a courtyard.

The site must have been abandoned by 1382, when John de Nevill was empowered to inclose with a stone wall a plot of his own ground at Sheriff Hutton and to build a castle there. This plot of ground lies a little to the west of the earlier site, but on the same side of the village street, and here John built the castle which became 'the heade and capitall residence' of his heirs and later the dwelling of many notable persons. (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

Victorian Plan Sheriff Hutton Castle

John de Nevill, lord of Raby to Robert de Coverham: Appointment of William de Hoton of Tudhoe (Todow) as attorney to receive seisin of lands, etc, in Sheriff Hutton (Shoroton) (Yorkds, North Riding) 6 Ric II (National Archives E210/7161).

1388

William Farndayll of Huton (FAR00052) was born in about 1388.

Parties: William de Blakeden and Ralph lord of Nevill. Place or Subject: Tudhoe (Tuddowe), Newton-Hansard (Newton-haundard) [In Elwick], Deighton (Dyghton) [in Northallerton], Grewelthorpe (Growelthorpp) [in Kirkby-Malzeard], Raskelf (Rascall) [in Easingwold], Lillings-Ambo (Lillyng and Lillyng) [in Sheriff-Hutton]. Dated at Durham. [Letter of Attorney]. County: [Durham] [Yorks W.R and N.R.] 12 Ric II (National Archives, E326/5225).

John Lord Nevill died in 1388, and his son and heir Ralph was created Earl of Westmorland in 1397 for supporting Richard II against the Lords Appellant, but deserted his king two years later (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1397

Ralph Neville, John Neville’s son, supported Richard II's proceedings against Thomas of Woodstock and the Lords Appellant, and by way of reward was created Earl of Westmorland on 29 September 1397.

When Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton (FAR00044) perhaps served in the Hundred Years Wear in Brittany in 1380, he had served under Thomas of Woodstock’s command.

With the addition of Middleham Castle in Wensleydale and large estates in Cumberland, the Nevilles came to rival the Percies as the leading family in northern England.

However his loyalty to the King was tested shortly afterwards. His first wife, Margaret Stafford, had died on 9 June 1396, and Neville's second marriage to Joan Beaufort before 29 November 1396 made him the son-in-law of Richard II 's uncle, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster.

William Farnedale of Shyrefhoton (FAR00036) died, leaving his will:

In the name of God Amen. I, William Farnedale, on 23 February 1397/8, in good memory, make my testament in this manner. Firstly, I bequeath my soul to God and the Blessed Mary and all the Saints, and my body to be buried in the Churchyard at Schyrefhoton. Item, I bequeath as mortuary payment, the best animal I have. I bequeath to be burned around my body, as candles, 8lbs of wax. Item, I bequeath to the High Altar for sins forgiven, 4s. Item, I bequeath to a Chaplain to celebrate divine services for my soul in the Parish Church of Schyrefhoton for a whole year, 100s. Item, I bequeath to the fabric of St Peter’s York, 6s 8d. Item, I bequeath to Sir John Ferriby, Robert Gyllyng and William Barneby, 6s 8d each (20s). I bequeath to the Church of Schirefhoton for putting lead on the south roof, 20s. Item, I bequeath to each Canon of the Monastery of Marton 12d. I bequeath to every Chaplain ministering on the day of my funeral, 6d. Item, I bequeath to my wife Juliana, 4li and to my son Richard, 4li. Item, I bequeath to every poor person on the day of my burial 1d. Item, I bequeath to my son Richard my small sword with all my knives. Item, I bequeath to my daughter Helen, two cows. Item, I bequeath to my daughter, Agnes 2 bullocks and two plough beasts. Item, I bequeath to Richard Batlay 2 bullocks, Item, I bequeath to Margaret Batlay 2 bullocks and 2 plough beasts. I bequeath the rest of my goods to my wife Juliana, my son Richard and my daughter Helen. And I appoint Sir John Alwent, Rector of the Parish Church of Midelham, Juliana Farndale, Richard Farndale and William Huby, my executors. In witness whereof I have set my seal. Witnesses: Sir Robert de Hoton, Prior of Marton and Sir John de Park, Chaplain and many others, date as above.

1398

The second castle was completed in 1398.

Appointment by Ralph [Nevill], earl of Westmorland, lord Nevill, and Joan, his wife, of John Convers and John de Seton, as their attorneys to receive seisin of the manor and castle of Sheriff Hutton [Yorkshire], 22 Ric II (National Archives E326/4517).

The relationship between Henry Bolingbroke and Richard came to a crisis in 1398. A remark about Richard's rule by Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, was interpreted as treason by Henry, who reported it to the king. The two dukes agreed to undergo a duel of honour at Gosford Green near Caludon Castle, Mowbray's home in Coventry. However before the duel could take place, Richard decided to banish Henry from the kingdom (it is said, with the approval of Henry's father, John of Gaunt), although it is unknown where he spent his exile, to avoid further bloodshed. Mowbray was exiled for life.

How long a time lies in one little word!

Four lagging winters and four wanton springs

End in a word; such is the breath of kings.

(Henry Bolingbroke, the future Lancastrian Henry IV reacts to Richard II’s banishment, Richard II, William Shakespeare, Act 1, Scene 3)

1399

In Shakespeare’s depiction, as the Lancastrian John of Gaunt lay dying, he mourned where Richard had taken his Kingdom:

Methinks I am a prophet new inspired And thus expiring do foretell of him: His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last, For violent fires soon burn out themselves; Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short; He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes; With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder; Light vanity, insatiate cormorant, Consuming means, soon preys upon itself.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands, This blessèd plot, this earth, this realm, this England,

This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings, Feared by their breed and famous by their birth, Renownèd for their deeds as far from home For Christian service and true chivalry As is the sepulcher in stubborn Jewry Of the world’s ransom, blessèd Mary’s son, This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land, Dear for her reputation through the world, Is now leased out—I die pronouncing it— Like to a tenement or pelting farm.

England, bound in with the triumphant sea, Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege Of wat’ry Neptune, is now bound in with shame, With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds. That England that was wont to conquer others Hath made a shameful conquest of itself. Ah, would the scandal vanish with my life, How happy then were my ensuing death!

(Richard II, William Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 1)

Whilst campaigning in Ireland, Richard II was deposed by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, who became Henry IV, the start of the House of Lancaster.

No matter where. Of comfort no man speak. Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs, Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth. Let’s choose executors and talk of wills. And yet not so, for what can we bequeath Save our deposèd bodies to the ground? Our lands, our lives, and all are Bolingbroke’s, And nothing can we call our own but death And that small model of the barren earth Which serves as paste and cover to our bones.

For God’s sake, let us sit upon the ground And tell sad stories of the death of kings— How some have been deposed, some slain in war, Some haunted by the ghosts they have deposed, Some poisoned by their wives, some sleeping killed, All murdered. For within the hollow crown That rounds the mortal temples of a king Keeps Death his court, and there the antic sits,

Scoffing his state and grinning at his pomp, Allowing him a breath, a little scene, To monarchize, be feared, and kill with looks, Infusing him with self and vain conceit, As if this flesh which walls about our life Were brass impregnable; and humored thus, Comes at the last and with a little pin Bores through his castle wall, and farewell, king!

Cover your heads, and mock not flesh and blood With solemn reverence. Throw away respect, Tradition, form, and ceremonious duty, For you have but mistook me all this while. I live with bread like you, feel want, Taste grief, need friends. Subjected thus, How can you say to me I am a king?

(Richard II, William Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 2)

Great Duke of Lancaster, I come to thee

From plume-plucked Richard, who with willing soul

Adopts thee heir, and his high sceptre yields

To the possession of thy royal hand. (Edmund Duke of York)

With mine own tears I wash away my balm,

With mine own hands I give away my crown.

(Richard II, William Shakespeare, Act 4, Scene 1)

Quarrels between rival factions continued. The then Duke of York had an alternative claim to the throne, which was arguably a better claim.

1400

Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton (FAR00044) may have served in an expeditionary force to Scotland.

The English invasion of Scotland of August 1400 was the first military campaign undertaken by Henry IV of England after deposing the previous king, his cousin Richard II. Henry IV urgently wanted to defend the Anglo-Scottish border, and to overcome his predecessor's legacy of failed military campaigns.

1401

Ralph was lord of Sheriff Hutton in 1401 (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1404

Three years later Ralph settled the castle and manor on his second wife Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt, and their heirs male, and they were held by her as his widow from 1425 (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1413

The crisis between the Houses York and Lancaster was put on hold during the reign of Henry V, the heroic soldier king, victor of the Battle of Agincourt. His success in France was popular.

1415

Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton (FAR00044) may have served with Henry V in the Agincourt campaign or afterwards, possibly at Harfleur and the Siege of Mantes.

1419

Margorie Farndale (FAR00049) was born in about 1419.

1421

Anges Farndale (FAR00050) was born in about 1421.

1422

Henry V died in 1422 and left a nine month old baby son, Henry VI. The inter noble rivalry would soon pick up again.

Henry VI had no father to guide him to Kingship and he relied on his advisors. He became timid and passive and focused on religion. At this point in history, the nobility needed strong leadership to control their ambitions. After the expensive battles in France, financial resources were depleted. The young king was easily controlled by the rival noble families.

1423

Alice Farndale (FAR00051) was born in about 1423.

1428

William Farndayll of Huton (FAR00052) held 3 bovates of land at Gowthorpe. Gowthorpe is near Stamford Bridge, about 20 km southeast of Sheriff Hutton.

1435

Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton (FAR00044) died leaving his will:

The Will of Richard Farendale, proved at Sherifhoton 21 Dec 1435. ‘In the name of God Amen, 8th December 1345. I Richard Farndell being of sound mind make my will in this manner. Firstly, I bequeath and Commend my soul to God Almighty, My Creator, and my body to be buried in my said Parish Church. Item. I bequeath a grey horse with saddle and reins and my armour, viz: a bascinet, a breast plate, a pair of vembraces and a pair of rerebraces with leg harness as my mortuary payment. And I bequeath 3 lbs of wax to be burned around my body on the day of my burial. Item. I bequeath to the Vicar of my Parish Church 6s 8d and to every chaplain taking part in my burial service Mass, 4d. And I bequeath 26s 8d for mending a service book for the use of the parish church. And to the fabric of the Cathedral Church of St Peter York, 12d. And I bequeath to my daughter Margorie at her marriage 10 marks, if she live to be marriageable age. And if she die before she arrives at her years of discretion, I wish the said 10 marks to be divided equally between my daughters Agnes and Alice. And I bequeath to Joan Brantyng 40s and a bed. And to the four orders of friars mendicant of York 20s and two quarters of corn to be divided in equal portions. And to John Pyper 2s. And as regards the rest of my funeral expenses, I wish them to be paid at the discretion of my executors. The rest of my goods, not bequeathed above, my debts having been paid, I bequeath to the said Margorie, my daughter, to be divided among them in equal parts. And I make the said Thomas Robynson and John Couper and Margorie my daughter, my executors, faithfully to implement the terms of my will. Witnesses; Robert, Vicar of the Church of Hoton, William Huby of the same, John Burdley of the same and many others.’

After Richard died, the three daughters of the probable old veteran soldier, Margorie (FAR00049), Agnes (FAR00050) and Alice (FAR00051), assuming they were born in about the 1420s and if they lived until the 1480s or 1490s, would have lived through the Wars of the Roses, in the lands of the Nevilles and Richard Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III.

1440

Before her death in 1440 the widow Joan Neville (nee Beaufort) transferred her rights in Sheriff Hutton to the eldest son of her marriage with Ralph Neville, Richard Earl of Salisbury (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

Richard, Earl of Salisbury to Henry [Beaufort] the Cardinal of England and Bishop of Winchester, William Felter, clerk, Alexander Nevile, John Constable, and Richard Haryngton, Knights, and others: Demise of the castle and manor of Sheriff Hutton, the manor of Raskelf, and the wapentakes of Hang, Halykeld and Gilling co. Yorks, the manors of Clavering and Catmer, co Essex, the castle and manor of Penrith, the manor of Sowerby, etc: Counties: [Cumberland, Essex, Yorks, N.R.] (National Archives E327/246).

1445

Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou. The marriage is arranged to promote a lasting peace between England and France. Margaret would prove to be the stronger character in the camp of Lancaster. In the early years though, concerns grow as no heir is produced, blamed on Margaret, but more likely caused by the naivety and unworldliness of Henry VI.

In this period Richard Plantagenet, 3^rd Duke of York (husband of Cecily Neville, the daughter of Ralph Neville), a veteran commander and politician, commanded the King’s army in France. However he grew dissatisfied with the King’s conduct regarding the French wars and his failure to send reinforcements (Richard has to fund his troops from his own estates). To make matters worse, Richard, but was replaced by his personal rival, the Duke of Somerset. Somerset sought to influence Henry VI against Richard of York. Despite his influence and wealth, Richard of York was not appointed to the royal council.

Plucking the Red and White Roses in the Inner Temple Garden, an allegorical painting by Henry Arthur Payne, 1910. It depicts the fictional scene by Shakespeare, from Henry VI, Part 1, of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset being challenged by Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York to choose between the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of Lancaster.

Richard Plantagenet (Duke of Gloucester). Since you are tongue-tied and so loath to speak, In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts: Let him that is a true-born gentleman And stands upon the honour of his birth, If he suppose that I have pleaded truth, From off this brier pluck a white rose with me.

Duke/Earl of Somerset. Let him that is no coward nor no flatterer, But dare maintain the party of the truth, Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me.

Earl of Warwick. I love no colours, and without all colour. Of base insinuating flattery. I pluck this white rose with Plantagenet.

Earl of Suffolk. I pluck this red rose with young Somerset. And say withal I think he held the right.

Vernon. Stay, lords and gentlemen, and pluck no more, Till you conclude that he upon whose side The fewest roses are cropp'd from the tree Shall yield the other in the right opinion.

(Henry VI Part 1, Act II, Scene 4)

1447

Richard of York was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. This was a prestigious appointment, but probably made by a cautious Henry VI eager to have Richard placed away from England and France. There was distrust and misunderstanding between Richard of York and King Henry. Richard of York was offended by Henry’s actions and declining of his advice whilst Henry felt threatened by Richard of York.

As commander of the English Army, the Duke of Somerset squandered York’s successes.

1449

Rouen was surrendered without a siege. The French recovered Normandy and Aquitaine.

There was serious unrest and Richard of York demanded stronger government and a rounding up of the traitors who had been so disastrously conducting the war. There were grievances at high taxation and a desire for legal stability.

This was Yevgeny Prigozhin in fifteenth century England. Richard of York did not like the way the King’s advisers were taking things.

Threateningly Richard of York returned from Ireland to England without permission, with his own army, and distributed pamphlets which championed his good governance implicitly implying Henry’s shortcomings in administration. He built support.

This led to his arrest and he was forced to swear an oath of allegiance to the King.

1452

Richard, son of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York and Cecily Neville (one day to be Richard III), was born in Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire. He was born into a world of strife, just as the Wars of the Roses was about to begin.

This was not a civil war between the counties of York and Lancashire, but a baronial war between the Houses of Lancaster and York, who each had widespread interests across the country. The leading families in the East and West Riding of Yorkshire supported the House of Lancaster, but in the North Riding loyalty was divided:

· The Nevilles of Sherif Hutton and Middleham, the Scropes of Bolton, the Latimers of Danby and the Mowbrays of Thirsk supported the House of York.

· The powerful House of Percy, the Clifford of Skipton, Ros of Helmsley and Talbot of Sherfield supported the House of Lancaster.

1453

After further setbacks in France, and the recovery by France of Gascony, Henry’s mental health declined. He was smitten with a frenzy and his wit and reason withdrawn.

The Duke of York took control of the situation and established a regency. Appointed regent, he imprisoned the Duke of Somerset in the Tower of London.

Queen Margaret of Anjou was furious, but was then in a late stage of her pregnancy. She then gave birth to a son, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. The depressed King failed to recognise Edward as his heir which would later give rise to issues with his illegitimacy.

Margaret of Anjou stepped in to take a more proactive role in the preservation of Lancastrian interests. She is probably unfairly maligned as a scheming female protagonist. Rather she was naturally protecting her family’s interests.

1455

Henry made a surprise recovery from his mental illness. Richard of York’s council was dissolved and he was forced out of court. He now faced the risk of charges of treason. The stakes had become higher.

York therefore started to recruit an army. His two principal allies were Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury and his son, Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick. The Earl of Warwick was a political manoeuverist, a master of political spin. It was probably Warwick who spun tales which painted Margaret of Anjou in a bad light. Richard of York benefitted from his own cunning strategist.

In May 1455 Richard of York marched south towards London. The royal army was taken by surprise. On 22 May 1455, they meet at St Albans.

Henry IV’s army, commanded by the Duke of Buckingham as Constable of England, alongside his ally Lord Clifford, were mustered at St Albans. The pacific Henry IV was there himself. This was his first experience of battle.

Richard’s force positioned themselves on the road from the north and barricaded the gateways.

The Yorkists didn’t dare to oppose royal authority directly, but had demands purportedly to protect the King from his poor advisers. Richard of York, suggested he was not opposing the King directly, but demanded the surrender of the King’s forces, and for the Duke of Somerset to stand trial. However his force of arms suggest this is really a coup. But Richard was not for compromise.

Knowing that reinforcements were on the way to support the hastily drawn together royal army, Richard decided to take advantage of his numbers and attacked the barricades. Richard of York’s ally, the Earl of Warwick led an attack of archers. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick outmanoeuvred the royal forces and they abandoned their positions. The Duke of Somerset was hacked to death, as were Clifford and other nobles. A street battle ensues and Henry himself was wounded.

This was the start of a civil war that came to be known as the Wars of the Roses between two rival branches of the House of Plantagenet, the Houses of Lancaster and York.

After the battle the victorious Richard of York bent the knee to Henry VI in a chapel of St Albans church (though some say it was in a smelly tanner’s shop). Having disposed of his enemies, Richard of York apologised for the wounding of the King and assured him of his loyalty. The weak Henry VI did not then act decisively, but forgave those who had fought against him at St Albans.

Richard of York became principal advisor and Constable of England. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick was made Commander of the English forces in France.

Henry VI became a broken man. However Margaret of Anjou gathered support amongst the nobility in resistance to Richard of York.

There was high tension in court over the following years.

1456

However by 1456, Margaret Anjou had taken control of the government.

1459

The six year old Richard, son of Richard of York, was moved to the Yorkshire stronghold of Ludlow Castle.

Henry VI summoned Richard of York, Richard Neville Earl of Warwick, and his father Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury to an inquiry into their actions. The three men decline the summons, but rallied at Ludlow Castle, west of Birmingham. The young seven year old Richard, Edward’s brother, must have been thrilled at the excitement of the Yorkist forces who came top Ludlow Castle, in his father’s cause. The young Richard and his brother George remained at Ludlow.

Margaret of Anjou gathered a large army to prevent the forces from meeting, but when the royal army engaged with Salisbury’s at Blore Heath near Market Drayton (he was travelling south from Middleham), many of her troops switched allegiance and attacked the rear of her own force. The Yorkist force won the battle decisively.

There are traditions that Margaret watched the battle from a church tower and fled after the battle was lost on a horse whose shoes were reversed to confuse her pursuers. In reality she was unlikely to have been there.

However the Earl of Warwick’s troops defected. The Yorkists did not seize power at this stage, and Richard of York fled to Ireland and Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick fled to France. Ludlow castle was then sacked, and everything stolen from the castle, witnessed by the horrified young future Richard III.

The Nevilles were declared traitors and they were disinherited of their lands by an Act of Attainder. Cecily Neville negotiated an income for her and her younger children, including Richard. Richard had been forced to grow up quickly as he witnessed these events during these tumultuous years.

1460

The Yorkists in exile had nothing to lose. In 1460 Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, returned with another army, and with Edward of York, Richard of York’s eldest son.

The Yorkist army gathered support in London and then headed to Margaret of Anjou’s defensive position at Northampton. Once again a large section of Margaret’s army defected and the Yorkist victory was swift. King Henry was taken prisoner again.

Richard of York then returned from Ireland. He arrived in Parliament and provocatively placed his hand on the throne, which shocked even his own supporters. An Accord was agreed whereby Henry VI would continue to rule but Richard of York would succeed him. In reality the discord between factions was such that the compromise in reality only served to enhance divisions. Henry’s son Edward was disinherited and Margaret Anjou was furious. She took Edward to their relatives in Wales, the Tudors.

Margaret of Anjou continued to rally to the Lancastrian cause, but having secured the Accord, Richard of York considered this to be illegal. So he marched an army north, purportedly under the King’s authority, reverting to his old role as Lord Protector.

Richard of York was forced to retreat in the face of Lancastrian opposition to Sandal Castle near Wakefield, The Lancastrian army was led by the new Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland and Lord Clifford of Skipton. On 30 December 1460 at the Battle of Wakefield, Richard, perhaps unwisely, left the security of the castle and attacked the Lancastrian force. The Yorkists were initially the superior force, but then Lord Clifford (whose father had been butchered at St Albans) attacked from the rear. This was the first of two great Wars of the Roses battles fought in Yorkshire.

Richard of York, husband of Cecily Neville, was soon swamped by Lancastrian soldiers and was killed. His younger son Edmund was also killed in the battle. Richard of York’s head was hung on the city wall at Middlegate, York, with a paper crown on its head.

The young future Richard III was sent to the Netherlands for safety.

Richard Neville Earl of Salisbury escaped to Calais after the Yorkist army collapsed in the Rout of Ludford Bridge, having been specifically excluded from a royal pardon. He returned to England with York in 1460, and was slain on 30 to 31 December 1460, the night after the Battle of Wakefield.

1461

The Lancastrians marched towards London, but Edward of York still relied on the Accord signed by the King for his claim to the throne.

On 1 February 1461, Edward led an army of 5,000 to intercept the Lancastrian army near Mortimer’s Cross, close to the Yorkist stronghold of Ludlow Castle. Before the battle the armies saw three suns rise at dawn, a phenomenon called a parhelion caused by the reflection of ice crystals, which was taken by the Yorkists as a positive omen and later incorporated into the Yorkist arms. Edward won the battle.

Margaret of Anjou marched south from the north of England and the Earl of Warwick marched north to make a stand, this time with the Yorkists on the defensive, at St Albans where the armies would face each other for a second time. The second battle at St Albans was once again a battle of urban warfare and this time the Yorkist army disintegrated and King Henry VI was recovered found singing under a tree.

The Lancastrians returned to London with Henry VI.

The Earl of Warwick then began a propaganda campaign, portraying Margaret of Anjou as an apocalyptic woman at the head of a Viking like army, about to threaten the folk of southern England. He gave rise to a probably unfair evil legend of Margaret of Anjou. Edward of York was a powerful, charismatic individual, easily contrasted to Henry VI and insisted on his rightful claim agreed by Henry VI in the Accord. The argument was advanced that Margaret of Anjou had broken the agreement at the Second Battle of Albans.

Queen Margaret’s army was still in Yorkshire and regrouped and she set up her force in position near Tadcaster.

There, the executed Richard of York’s elder son, Edward won a decisive victory against Henry VI at the Battle of Towton on 29 March 1461. This was the second of two great Wars of the Roses battles fought in Yorkshire. The battle was fought in a snowstorm. Edward attacked before his reinforcements from the Duke of Norfolk had arrived. They surprised the Lancastrians with volleys of arrows carried by the wind up the hill into the Lancastrian army. To reinforce their success, the Duke of Norfolk then arrived. It was probably one of the largest battles ever fought on English soil, with over 50,000 combatants and most of England’s nobility. The rivers were said to have run red with blood for days after the battle.

Henry VI, Margaret, and their son the Prince of Wales fled to York and then on to Scotland, while Edward marched south to London..

On 28 June 1461 Edward Plantagenet was crowned King Edward IV at Westminster. The Coronation was lavish.

Richard of York’s younger son, Richard, Duke of Gloucester remained for a time in the care of the Archbishop of Canterbury and was then sent to the lavish household of the Earl of Warwick at Middleham. There he started training as a soldier and courtier.

Richard spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in Wensleydale, under the tutelage of his cousin Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, later known as 'the Kingmaker' because of his role in the Wars of the Roses. Warwick supervised Richard's training as a knight. In the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted Warwick 1,000 pounds for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham either from late 1461 until early 1465, when he was 12.

He met Warwick’s daughter and heir, Anne Neville at Middleham. Perhaps they fell in love, but the records don’t make that clear.

1464

Warwick pursued the Lancastrians in Ireland and in May 1464 defeated a Lancastrian force at Hexham. Henry escaped south.

1465

Henry formerly Henry VI was discovered at Waddington in Yorkshire, close to the border with Lancashire, sheltering with Lancastrian sympathisers. He was captured and returned to the Tower of London.

1465

George Neville was appointed Archbishop of York, reinforcing the leading role of the Neville family in the north of England.

1468

Beneficiary of the warrant: Morris Arnold, the king's serjeant porter. Subject: £9 6s 8d for delivering a grey horse to Lord Wenlock, who then delivered it to a servant of the marquess of Farrowe; and also for the costs and expenses of two persons by him conducted from London to Sheriff Hutton to the earl of Warwick. Authorising clerk: Tilghman. Dated at Westminster, 2 Jul 8 Edw IV (National Archives E404/74/1/46).

1469

It is possible that even at this early stage Warwick was considering the king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne. Young aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended future partners, as had been the case for the young dukes' father, Richard of York.

Relationships between Edward VI and Richard Neville Duke of Warwick then became strained. Edward negotiated with the Duke of Burgundy to restart the war with France. Warwick instead sought an alliance with France through a marriage between Edward and the French King’s daughter. However Edward married a commoner, Elizabeth Woodville, in secret, the widow of a Lancastrian knight. Warwick was furious. The Woodville family were promoted into positions of power.

As the relationship between the king and Warwick became strained, Edward IV opposed the match of his brothers and the Nevilles.

Edward removed Warwick’s brother from the office of Lord Chancellor, and the Neville family influence seemed to be in decline.

Warwick recruited George, Duke of Clarence, the King’s younger brother, and persuaded him to marry his daughter and to start a rebellion against the King. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel, on 12 July 1469, without the king's permission.

George joined his father-in-law's revolt against the king, while Richard remained loyal to Edward, even though Edward was rumoured to have been having an affair with Anne.

In April 1469, there was rebellion in Yorkshire. Warwick and Clarence travelled north purporting to suppress the revolt. Warwick was really plotting to replace the King with George, his brother and his own daughter as Queen.

In the ensuing battles, Edward was captured and taken to Middleham Castle. However it became clear that Warwick and George did not have the necessary public support. Edward was released and reconstructed his regime after the 1469 rebellion.

1470

At this point the Lancastrian Margaret of Anjou exploited the opportunity of intra Yorkist rivalry and returned to England and met secretly with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. They reached an agreement whereby another of Warwick’s daughters, Anne Neville, would marry Margaret’s son, Edward, the once Prince of Wales, and heir to the Lancastrian claim to the throne.

Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and George, Duke of Clarence landed an army in Devon in September 1470. Edward rushed to meet them but was quickly surrounded.

Henry VI was released from prison in the Tower of London. He was restored to the throne, now with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, as well as Margaret of Anjou, in support. George, Duke of Clarance, was rewarded for his treachery to Edward, by becoming the new Duke of York. After rivalry between the Yorkist brothers, it was becoming less clear who was a York and who was a Lancastrian!

Richard and Edward were forced to flee to Burgundy in October 1470 after Warwick had defected to the side of the former Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard's sister Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers could expect a welcome there.

Warwick’s daughter Anne Neville was married to Henry VI’s son, Edward.

Anne Neville

1471

However the new restored Lancastrian dynasty found itself isolated, with too many enemies made from Warwick’s scheming. There were widowed wives and fatherless sons with long memories who despised Richard Neville.

Edward returned from Burgundy and landed in Yorkshire and built a large army founded on Richard, Duke of Gloucester’s large power base in Yorkshire. George, the new Duke of York, sensed a change of the tide, and joined his brothers, probably encouraged by Cecily Neville, relinquishing his title to revert to the Duke of Clarence. Edward was welcomed back into London and Henry was once again imprisoned in the Tower of London, never to leave again.

Edward was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471. Warwick’s troops then confronted Edward’s army at, following the battles of Barnet, just north of London on Easter Sunday in April 1471. Warwick’s army was destroyed in a foggy battle. Richard Neville, Duke of Warwick fled, and despite Edward’s orders to the contrary, he was killed in a brutal fashion. His corpse was displayed at St Paul’s cathedral so all would know that he had died.

By his will the earl left this manor to his widow Alice daughter and heir of Thomas Montagu Earl of Salisbury, with remainder to their eldest son Richard. The countess did not survive her husband's violent death on the morrow of the battle of Wakefield many years, and Sheriff Hutton was held by her son and heir Warwick 'the Kingmaker' when he fell at Barnet in April 1471. (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

Margaret of Anjou then landed with French reinforcements on the south coast and they were joined by soldiers from Wales and their Tudor allies. However they were also wiped out at Tewkesbury. The young Edward, son of Edward IV and now first husband of Anne Neville was killed at Tewkesbury. Anne Neville became a widow.

In both battles the 18-year-old Richard, Duke of Gloucester, played a crucial role and was in the thick of the fighting.

According to Shakespeare, Richard Duke of Gloucester was already scheming by this stage, but this was probably Tudor propaganda:

Things were good after the Yorkist Victory Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this son of York, And all the clouds that loured upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths, Our bruisèd arms hung up for monuments, Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings, Our dreadful marches to delightful measures. Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled front; And now, instead of mounting barbèd steeds To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.

But Shakespeare painted a scheming Richard of Gloucester But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks, Nor made to court an amorous looking glass; I, that am rudely stamped and want love’s majesty To strut before a wanton ambling nymph; I, that am curtailed of this fair proportion, Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time Into this breathing world scarce half made up, And that so lamely and unfashionable That dogs bark at me as I halt by them— Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace, Have no delight to pass away the time, Unless to see my shadow in the sun And descant on mine own deformity. And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determinèd to prove a villain And hate the idle pleasures of these days. Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous, By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams, To set my brother Clarence and the King In deadly hate, the one against the other; And if King Edward be as true and just As I am subtle, false, and treacherous, This day should Clarence closely be mewed up About a prophecy which says that “G” Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be. Dive, thoughts, down to my soul.

(William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 1, Scene 1)

Henry VI died, probably murdered, in the Tower of London. Lancastrians were executed in large numbers. Margaret of Anjou fled to France.

There are many references to the Plantagenet connections with Sheriff Hutton Castle including the Sun in Splendour of Edward IV and Neville and Dacre shields in the stained glass, much of it damaged at the Reformation (Sheriff Hutton website).

When Warwick 'the Kingmaker' fell at Barnet in April 1471, in the same year Edward IV included it in a grant to his brother Richard of Gloucester, which was renewed after the duke's marriage with Warwick's younger daughter Anne . (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

All the Neville’s property was forfeited to the Crown in 1471 to be shared between Edward IV’s brothers. Richard Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III) was given Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, as well as part of the Cumberland estates.

The widowed Anne Neville, his Queen, was under house arrest in London. We don’t know whether Richard was motivated by affection or greed, but he secured Anne’s release.

According to Shakespeare the meeting of Richard and Anne Neville at this stage did not go so well:

ANNE (to the bearers of Edward’s coffin): Set down, set down your honorable load,

If honor may be shrouded in a hearse,

Whilst I awhile obsequiously lament

Th’ untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster.

..… O, cursèd be the hand that made these holes;

Cursèd the heart that had the heart to do it;

Cursèd the blood that let this blood from hence

And when Richard Duke of Gloucester appeared, Shakespeare portrayed him unfavourably:

ANNE: What black magician conjures up this fiend

To stop devoted charitable deeds?

…RICHARD I did not kill your husband.

ANNE Why then, he is alive.

RICHARD Nay, he is dead, and slain by Edward’s hands.

…ANNE Never hung poison on a fouler toad.

Out of my sight! Thou dost infect mine eyes.

(Anne Neville mourning the death of her husband in William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 1, Scene 2)

In Shakespeare’s interpretation, after the encounter, Richard wonders if he might seduce her: Was ever woman in this humor wooed? Was ever woman in this humor won? Shakespeare tells of Anne unable to resist Richard's advances becoming the Duchess of Gloucester, whilst Richard engineers the imprisonment of his elder brother, Clarence, in the Tower of London.

Edward IV invaded France with Richard Duke of Gloucester leading the largest force. Edward later signed a treaty with France which incensed Richard. There was a tension between the brothers. Richard was perhaps still influenced by Richard Neville’s teaching from his youth.

Edward sent his young son Edward to Ludlow Castle to be brought up by the Queen’s brother, Anthony Woodville. His second son, Richard, became Duke of York.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester was a military hero who had shown bravery in battle. He was the wealthiest man in Britain after the King.

1472

As Duke of Gloucester, Richard, later Richard III (aged 20), then married Lady Anne Neville (still aged only 16) of Middleham and Sheriff Hutton, the daughter of the now dead Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker on 12 July 1472, previously married to Edward of Westminster, only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the House of Lancaster. Richard therefore formerly inherited the vast Neville estates.

The Croyland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "The marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence". Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471: Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.

Richard and Anne in stained glass, Cardiff Castle Richard and Anne Neville with their son Edward from an illumination in the Rous Roll, 1483

Whilst reinforcing Richard’s claims to the Neville lands, it may be that Anne had approached Richard with the idea of marriage, for protection in the new Yorkist England. The match was mutually beneficial.

Both the treacherous Duke of Clarence, and the Duke of Gloucester, were married to Neville sisters. This gave both Dukes claims to the Neville lands. A bitter rivalry grew between them. Edward was forced to intervene to divide the Neville estates. The Duke of Clarence didn’t like the deal. He started to spread rumours about Edward’s legitimacy.

1473

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was appointed King’s Lieutenant of the North by Edward IV to solve the ‘problem of the North’ and the threat of the Scots. He gained a reputation for his administration. Richard and Anne worked well together from their base in the Neville lands.

Richard’s links with Yorkshire had developed in his teenage years, when he lived at Richard Neville’s fine castle at Middleham, Wensleydale, to where he returned in his twenties in 1473 to live for a decade with his young bride Anne, daughter of the now dead Earl of Warwick. He held the post of Warden of the West Marches, which included much of modern North West England. With the symbol of a white wild boar, in effect he was the Governor, on behalf of the English Crown, of most of the North of England as the King’s loyal Lieutenant. As a highly respected Lord Protector and High Constable, Richard soon established himself as a champion of justice and equality before the law, admired by rich and poor alike as a good and fair ruler. As Lord of Scarborough, he ordered building of the borough walls and harbour improvements, encouraging trade from Whitby, Scarborough and Hull. Having been granted the Honour of Skipton, he paid for major improvements to the Parish Church. As King he also became a huge benefactor of York Minster, ordering a new chantry and paying for new altars and living accommodation for priests. He was also a deeply committed Christian. He and his wife Anne were members of the Corpus Christi Guild in York. See the Yorkshire Branch of the Ricardian Society.

The Council of the North was established at Sheriff Hutton, York and Sandal. The Council acted as a court of pleas and was a form of devolved government. Members of the Council included the Earls of Lincoln, Warwick and Northumberland and Miles Metcalf, the Recorder of York. It continued to operate for over 150 years, in the manner it had been set up by Richard.

Richard Duke of Gloucester would have stayed regularly at Sheriff Hutton and Middleham.

For a decade from 1473 to 1483, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, governed the north of England. Richard gained a positive reputation and was well respected, even loved. He was a champion of law and equity and by reputation protected the ordinary man against the excesses of the elite classes. He gained a reputation as a good medieval nobleman. Richard of Gloucester began to concentrate his land holdings in Yorkshire and used the castles at Middleham and Sheriff Hutton as his power base.

In 1473 (though perhaps as late as 1476), Richard and Anne had a child, Edward, though he was sickly and stayed at the protection of Middleham Castle. Richard had two illegitimate children from before his marriage to Anne (John of Gloucester (also known as John of Pontefract) and Katherine, Countess of Pembroke), but Edward was his only true heir.

1476

The Duke of Clarence’s wife, Isabel Neville, died in 1476. She had been a calming influence and after she died he started to come up with conspiracy theories.

1477

Edward’s brother George started to misbehave. When his wife died, he tried and executed one of his ladies in waiting accused of poisoning her, and of witchcraft, but thereby usurped the authority of the King. Les Magiste, assuming the power of the King, was an act of treason.

Some additional safeguards against the representatives of the house of Nevill seem, however, to have been thought necessary. The castle and manor of Sheriff Hutton were conveyed to the Duke of Gloucester and his trustees in 1477 by Sir Ralph Nevill and his wife Isabel, in 1480 by Sir John Radcliffe and his wife Katherine, lately widow of Sir Oliver Dudley, the right therein on each occasion belonging to the wife (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1478

George was executed on 18 February 1478. A rumour quickly spread that he was drowned in a vat of Malmsey wine.

1479

Extract from Originalia rolls concerning castles, manors and lordships of Middleham (National Archives E 314/68/39).

1483

In March 1483, Edward fell ill during a fishing expedition and died. Upon his death, his son Edward, only 12 years old, became King Edward V. In a codicil to his will, written a few days before he died, Edward IV had named his brother Richard as Lord Protector.

As Edward IV died, Edward V lived with his uncle Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, brother of the widowed Queen Elizabeth Woodville. The Woodvilles tried to use this advantage to overthrow Richard as Lord Protector and retain control of the new King Edward V’s destiny themselves.

In York, Richard heard of his brother’s death and headed south calling on the Woodvilles to meet him with Edward at Northampton. Edward V also headed south with the Woodvilles in a long procession, but did not head for Northampton, but for London. However Richard took control and seized the Woodvilles, sending Earl Rivers to Pontefract Castle to be executed. In this chaotic situation, there was disquiet and rioting in London. At Sheriff Hutton Castle Anthony Woodville was imprisoned by Gloucester, and here he made his will before being removed to Pontefract for execution in 1483 (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

Richard then accompanied Edward V to the Tower of London, then a royal residence as much as it was a prison.

Where it seems best unto your royal self.

If I may counsel you, some day or two

Your Highness shall repose you at the Tower;

Then where you please and shall be thought most fit

For your best health and recreation

(William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 3, Scene 1)

The young King was to be prepared for his Coronation in May. Elizabeth Woodville took sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Richard then announced a delay to the Coronation. In June Elizabeth was persuaded to allow her second son, Richard of Shrewsbury join her brother in the Tower of London.

The Canon of St Paul’s then declared that Edward IV had been betrothed to another women before he married Elizabeth Woodville, which made the marriage to Elizabeth void, and their offspring illegitimate.

The Coronation was called off. Richard III was crowned King on 6 July 1483. Richard gave his oath in English, for the first time at a Coronation. It appears that he wanted the people to understand his oath as be promised to rule with justice and mercy and to protect the rights of people and church.

The Princes disappeared. If they were killed it is generally felt they would have died in about September 1483. There were subsequent Yorkist Pretender claims by Lambert Simbel in 1487 and Perkin Warbeck in 1490 who claimed to be the princes Edward and Richard respectively, bur Warbeck was certainly an imposter.

Richard has been made villein by the Tudor cause, who having seized the Crown from Richard III had reason to legitimise themselves. This was led by Sir Thomas More during the reign of Henry VIII, the story later taken up by Shakespeare during Elizabeth I’s reign. Whether he really was the monster portrayed is a matter of strong debate, and Richard’s cause is still advanced by the Ricardian Society.

A Villein?

Richard had control of the princes, the ability to silence witnesses, had the motive to kill them, and the events all too transparently point to him usurping the Crown.

A maligned King?

If Richard’s intention was to have usurped the throne he would more likely have displayed the bodies of the young children to prove they had died and secure the throne, claiming natural causes or blaming someone else. There were other suspects, including Margaret Beaufort, who sought the coronation of her son Henry Tudor.

Richard was 30 by this stage, and his past history, including his governance of northern England, do not suggest a villainous man.

There is no reason to suppose he would have so quickly decided to betray his brother Edward IV to whom he had shown every loyalty.

The story of the princes in the tower emerged under the pen of Sir Thomas More in the reign of Henry VIII and the story was picked up by Shakespeare, probably embellished by retelling in the period in between. Shakespeare might have written his play as a veiled parady of the hunchback Robert Cecil. Richard III had scoliosis but this would not have given him the hunched back with which he has been maligned.

After Richard became King he visited York in 1483 and held a ceremony of investiture for his son, Edward, Prince of Wales.

In 1483, a conspiracy arose known as Buckingham’s Rebellion, led by Richard's former ally, the Duke of Buckingham, among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had been supporters of Edward IV. It is possible that they planned to depose Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV.

Richard III granted many annuities to his servants from the issues of the manor of Sheriff Hutton (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

Thomas Wrangwissh, who commanded the city of Tadcaster's forces in June 1483, received an annuity of 20 marks from the issues of Sheriff Hutton (C.C. Guild, 105; Test. Ebor. iv. 205 n.; Cal. Pat. 1476–85, 450).

1484

The historian P M Kendall described Sheriff Hutton Castle as a stone chalice holding the royal blood of the house of York.

In 1484 Richard III established a royal household at Sheriff Hutton for the young Edward Plantagenet, 17^th Earl of Warwick, son of the wine-drowned George, Duke of Clarence and John, Earl of Lincoln. Although Richard himself preferred to live in Middleham, in 1484 he made the castle at Sheriff Hutton one of the two centres that housed the Council of the North. The other was at Sandal, another property of the House of York. This Council was the administrative structure that Richard established to govern the north following his accession as King of England. As an administrative entity, it survived into the seventeenth century.

Edward, Earl of Warwick, the son of Richard III and Lady Ann Neville died aged 11 at Middleham in 1484. Richard and Anne met the young boy’s body at Sheriff Hutton. His alabaster tomb effigy is in the Neville Chantry Chapel of the Parish Church of St Helen and the Holy Cross at Sheriff Hutton, though he is not buried there.

The church is to be found up a small lane and whilst it looks unprepossessing from the outside, it has many fine features inside. Most important is a memorial possibly for a member of the Neville family; until recently this was thought to possibly be a memorial for Edward of Middleham, Richard III’s son, who died in 1484. However recent research has proved that it dates from the first half of the fifteenth century and therefore cannot be associated with Richard’s son. The memorial is a cenotaph, not a tomb, as the body was buried elsewhere, and its present position in the north east corner of the church is not where it was intended to stand. From past records, it would seem that the monument has had several sites within the church. Made of alabaster, it has suffered over the years and during the twentieth century, it was twice restored at the Ricardian Society’s expense.

Edward’s death created a power vacuum. There was no heir.

If Richard Farndale’s three daughters, Margorie, Agnes and Alice had lived to about 60, they might have lived until about the 1480s.

1485

Richard III sent his niece, Elizabeth of York (sister of the ‘brothers in the tower’) and other prominent members of the royal household, to Sheriff Hutton. Elizabeth was believed to have taken walks at the Neville Oak, a prominent tree in the deer park, within sight of the castle.

Richard III visited the chapel and authorised payment of £5 to William Sympson chauntry prest of our Lady Chapelle beside the church of Shiriefhotone to content him for his over due half year’s stipend and £10 a year as his salary.

Topographical Dictionaries, A Topographical Dictionary of England Hutton-Buscel – Huyton, 1848: Edward IV bestowed it upon his brother, subsequently Richard III, and it became the prison of Edward Plantagenet, who was confined within its walls until the death of Richard on Bosworth-Field: the Princess Elizabeth of York, afterwards consort of Henry VII., was also confined here.

In 1485 having fled to Paris after Buckingham’s failed rebellion, Henry Tudor secured support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an invasion. On 22 August 1485, Richard met the outnumbered forces of Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser (an especially swift and strong horse). The size of Richard's army has been estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known, though the royal army is believed to have "substantially" outnumbered Henry's.

On 22 August 1485, Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth.

Thomas, Lord Stanley, was a close ally of Richard, but also Henry Tudor’s stepfather. He was a wily strategist and kept his intentions to himself. There were effectively three armies at the Battlefield of Bosworth.

Richard sent a threatening message to Stanley demanding that he support Richard’s cause. However at the critical moment, Stanley came to the support of Henry Tudor.

Richard was killed after losing his horse. His corpse was stripped, stabbed with blades and treated with disdain. He was taken to Leicester and hastily buried in a rough grave at Greyfriars. He lay there until his burial place in a Department of Social Sciences Car Park, under the letter “R” for “Reserved” (or “Richard” or “Rex” perhaps) was excavated and he was found and DNA tested.

Henry VII became the first Tudor King of England.

When in 1485 the estate of Sheriff Hutton had come into the hands of the first Tudor sovereign the impression still lingered that it belonged to the Nevill heirs, and it was described as 'in the hands of the king by reason of the nonage of Edward son and heir of Edward (sic) late Duke of Clarence.' Somewhat later the revenues were appropriated to the defence of Berwick, and Sheriff Hutton was declared to have been 'of the inheritance of Richard, late Duke of York.' Both manor and castle were in 1495 formally declared to have belonged to the king from the day of his predecessor's death, and they remained in the Crown until 1525 (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1525

Henry VIII granted the manor and castle at Sheriff Hutton to his son Henry Fitzroy, newly created Duke of Richmond and Somerset (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

The Council of the North continued to meet and from 1525 alternated between Pontefract Castle and Sheriff Hutton, though by 1545, the Council was at York.

1536

After the young duke's untimely death without issue eleven years later Sheriff Hutton reverted to his father, its revenues were once again devoted to the garrison at Berwick, and it was even proposed that Marton Priory should be annexed to the manor to make good deficiencies (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1547

From 1547 the castle seems to have been occupied only spasmodically by the Council and declined since then.

1615

Various grants of land were made up to the 17th century when its possession was recorded as belonging to Sir Thomas Ingram. Sir Arthur Ingram (c. 1565 – 1642) was an English investor, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1610 and 1642. He was influential and his financial schemes kept James I and Charkles I independent of Parliament and he grew rich. In 1615 Ingram received the grant of Sheriff Hutton Park, in the Forest of Galtres, and over the next years built the New Lodge there as his country residence.

The Ingram family, by way of various marriages, maintained lordship of the park until 1904, when it passed to Hon. Edward Frederick Lindley Wood.

South of the castle is Sheriff Hutton Park. The house was built by Sir Arthur Ingram in 1621, Sir Arthurs’s main house being Temple Newsom near Leeds.

Topographical Dictionaries, A Topographical Dictionary of England Hutton-Buscel – Huyton, 1848: The castle and manor remained in the hands of the crown till 1625, when they were granted to the Ingrams. The ruins of the castle are of quadrangular form, with a large open court in the centre, and the angles flanked with high square towers; a considerable part of the warder's tower, over the eastern gateway, still remains.

It is not evident from public records at what date the manor of Sheriff Hutton finally passed from the Crown. The family to whom it belonged in the last fifteen years of the 17th century had been connected with the parish since the appointment in 1615 of Sir Thomas Ingram to the offices of ranger and keeper of the park. The park itself was granted seven years later to Arthur Ingram, father of Sir Thomas, for life, with remainder to his elder son the younger Sir Arthur Ingram, keeper of the castle and steward of the honour of Sheriff Hutton from 1627. In 1646 Sir Arthur paid £320 to Ralph Radcliffe and his wife Elizabeth for the manor of Sheriff Hutton, but nothing remains to show that Ralph's interest, from whomsoever inherited, was more than nominal; nor did the Parliamentarian surveyors of 1649 record any manorial rights beyond those of George Kirke by virtue of the grant of Charles I (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1624

No fresh Crown grant was made until in 1624 James I settled Sheriff Hutton on trustees for the use of Charles Prince of Wales, who three years later, as king, granted it for a term of eighty years to George Kirke, a gentleman of his bedchamber, at the almost nominal rent of £24 5s. The actual value was shown by the sale in 1628, to the City of London, of the reversion 'at the ancient rent of £788 15s. 7¾d.' George Kirke did not reap much profit from his life interest here (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1637

In 1637 the hall went to his third son Sir Thomas who removed large quantities of stone from the castle to build stables and a brewhouse (the Rangers House). Thus began the final decline of the castle. In the reign of Charles II the house was sold to the Thompson family. Originally the house was Jacobean in its architecture. This house still survives but about one foot inside the present Queen Anne exterior built in 1732.

1648

George Kirke compounded with the Long Parliament for the manor in 1648 and sold his rights in it in 1650 to Lord Maynard. He was suffering imprisonment for a debt of £4,000 incurred in the purchase of 'robes and wearing apparel' for his late master when he petitioned Charles II for arrears of rent in 1666 (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1668

Grants from the revenues of Sheriff Hutton made in 1668 and 1671 to Viscount Grandison and Edward Villiers were to take effect after the death of Kirke (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1685

In 1685, Sheriff Hutton was the property of Sir Arthur's grandson Edward Ingram Viscount Irvine, who settled a moiety of the manor on his younger brother Arthur. Arthur Ingram succeeded to the family estates and title in 1688. Five of his six sons followed him in turn, dying without issue, and Sheriff Hutton descended to their nephew and heir Charles Viscount Irvine, lord of the manor in and before 1769. Under the will of Charles Isabella Anne, his elder daughter, inherited it after her mother's death in 1807, her husband Francis Seymour Conway Marquess of Hertford then assuming the surname of Ingram (History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923).

1857

Bibliography

Sheriff Hutton Manorial Records at the National Archives.

Parish Records of Sheriff Hutton at the University of York.

Sheriff Hutton Deeds (WYL100/SH Sheriff Hutton within the Temple Newsham Collection (National Archives WYL100, held by North Yorkshire Archives Service, Leeds).

History of the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, Sheriff Hutton, 1923.

A History of Yorkshire: County of the Broad Acres, David Hey, 2005.

Sheriff Hutton and its Lords by Janet Senior, Rosalba Press. The publishing group of the Yorkshire branch of the Richard 111 Society, ISBN 0 907604 05 6.

Some notes on the Castle at Sheriff Hutton by Richard W Howarth, September 1993.

Sheriff Hutton Impressions of a History, a collection of essays written in 2000 to form a book about the history of the village./

Sheriff Hutton Website – History page.

Richard III Society – Yorkshire Branch.

The National Archives Collections

1

1556: court roll, with list of free tenants and tenants at will

North Yorkshire County Record Office

ZDV(F) mic 1189/707

2

1597-1604: ministers accounts

The National Archives

LR 8/351

3

1607-1608: survey (rental only)

The National Archives

LR 2/193/ff. 45-56

4

1610-1611: estreat

The National Archives

SC 2/211/123

5

1624: survey and rental, with other manors

Borthwick Institute for Archives: University of York

Hickleton Papers B6.4

NRA 8128 Wood

6

1624: survey (with names of jury, details of boundaries and information on estate management)

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

TN/SH/B4/1

NRA 7398 Meynell-Ingram

7

1624: survey (manor of Rise, parcel of manor of Sheriff Hutton, with details rel to valuation)

Hull History Centre (Hull University Archives)

DDKG/9

NRA 17763 King

8

1654-1659: steward's accounts

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

TN/SH/B2/1

NRA 7398 Meynell-Ingram

9

1675-1685: rental

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

TN/SH/B3/2

NRA 7398 Meynell-Ingram

10

1702-1742: presentments (119 items, calendered)

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

TN/SH/B5

NRA 7398 Meynell-Ingram

11

1722-1736: call books (4)

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

TN/SH/B6/1-4

NRA 7398 Meynell-Ingram

12

1765: survey (incl field names, acreage of freeholders and land held by the lord, common rights)

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

TN/SH/B4/2

NRA 7398 Meynell-Ingram

13

1820-1842: call books (2)

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

DB/216/66-67

NRA 34058 Dibb

14

1820-1843: jury lists, with other manors

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

DB/216/66

NRA 34058 Dibb

15

1835-1839: warrants (1 bundle)

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

DB/216/69

NRA 34058 Dibb

16

1836-1842: verdicts (1 bundle)

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

DB/216/68

NRA 34058 Dibb

17

1838-1843: legal papers (incl opinions, correspondence, precepts, warrants, 1 bdl)

West Yorkshire Archive Service, Leeds

DB/216/70

NRA 34058 Dibb