HESLINGTON
The Village of Heslington, an Anglian settlement,
lies little over a mile south-east of York, on the
lower slopes of the York moraine. (fn. 1) Despite its
proximity to the city the parish largely retained its
rural aspect until the 1960s, when the estate of the
lords Deramore, centred upon Heslington Hall, was
split up and sold. Suburban housing development
has begun along the northern margin of the parish,
but the establishment of the University of York at
Heslington has altered the landscape far more. Most
of the ground lying between the village and the city
boundary has been included in the university
campus and by 1972 there were buildings catering
for 2,600 students. (fn. 2)
The parish of Heslington, roughly rectangular in
shape, formerly covered 2,645 a., of which 1,401 a.
were in the parish of St. Lawrence, York, (fn. 3) until
1869, when they were transferred to St. Paul's,
Heslington. (fn. 4) The two parts remained separate civil
parishes until they were united in 1884. (fn. 5) 'Heslington
St. Paul' comprised the lands of the prebendal
manor and 'Heslington St. Lawrence' those of the
capital manor, and the boundary between them had
cut the village in two. The open fields and commons
were also divided between them. (fn. 6) Heslington civil
parish was enlarged in 1935 by the transfer of
Langwith township from Wheldrake, (fn. 7) but in 1968
153 a. in the north of Heslington were transferred to
York. (fn. 8)
In the north of the parish the moraine lies mostly
at 50 ft. or more above sea-level and in places exceeds 100 ft. To the south is a great expanse of
lower ground, with only the modest Holme Hill in
the south-east relieving the flatness of the landscape. The open fields lay partly on the boulder clay
and glacial sand and gravel of the moraine but extended into the lower ground, which is entirely
covered by outwash sand and clay. (fn. 9) A regular field
pattern over much of the parish results from the
inclosure of the open fields in 1857 and of much of
the low-lying commons in 1762. (fn. 10) Part of the commons, however, in the south-western corner of
Heslington, remained as open moor and scrub into
the present century. (fn. 11) That section lying along the
western parish boundary has been occupied by Fulford golf course since 1936, when the club moved
from Water Fulford. (fn. 12) On the low ground much of
the parish boundary is formed by dikes, and on the
moraine it mostly follows the line of the former
Roman road from Brough to York. Parts of the
western boundary with Fulford follow the line of
another Roman road and the prehistoric Green
Dykes. (fn. 13)
From the northern end of the village roads lead
westwards to Gate Fulford (now Heslington Lane),
north-westwards towards York (now University
Road), and north-eastwards to join the main road on
the northern parish boundary (now Field Lane).
Several other roads lead from the village into the
fields. One short lane gives access to a surviving
stretch of rough pasture known as the Out Gang; the
lane was made in 1762, following the inclosure of the
copyhold commons, for the benefit of the freeholders and replaced a lane running behind the
garths on the west side of the village. (fn. 14)
Improvements were made to the lines of several
of the roads by the Yarburgh family. The road to
York was altered in 1798, (fn. 15) for example, and in 1855
the Fulford road and its continuation past the hall
and church was realigned and straightened. (fn. 16) At the
inclosure of the open fields in 1857 the line of the
road running north-eastwards was confirmed and a
branch from it northwards to the main road, largely
on the line of a former field road past the windmill,
was laid out. (fn. 17) The improvements of the 1850s took
place at a time when Heslington Hall was being remodelled and its grounds improved. The gardens
and park, with its fishpond, extended to the west of
the hall as far as Spring Lane; the line of the lane
was moved further away from the hall in 1865,
enabling the park to be extended and a larger pond
made. (fn. 18) The former Roman road along the northern
boundary of Heslington has become the main York-Hull road. It was turnpiked in 1765 and the trust
was renewed until 1872; (fn. 19) an old mile-stone survives. Field Lane was improved and given a new
junction with the main road in the 1960s. (fn. 20) A York
bypass was being constructed across the south and
east of the parish in 1974.
The village lies for the most part along both sides
of a long main street, with wide grass verges, which
begins at the Fulford road near the hall and the
church and ends to the south with a sharp turn into
the winding Common Lane. The village pond, which
formerly lay at the south end of the street, was filled
in in 1855. (fn. 21) Behind the street to the east lies a back
lane, now School Lane but known in 1857 as School
House Road and Garth Ends Lane. A footpath,
called School Lane in 1857, leads from the main
street to the back lane. (fn. 22) Behind the garths to the
west of the street runs a footpath known as Boss
Lane, (fn. 23) on the line of the freeholders' former road to
their commons. (fn. 24) Away from the main street a
smaller section of the village lies along the Fulford
road, beyond the hall grounds; it was entirely in the
township of Heslington St. Lawrence, whereas the
larger part of the main street was in St. Paul.
The older buildings are concentrated along the
main street with only a few outliers along the Fulford road. There are several 17th- and early-18th-century houses, all of brown brick and low profile,
and a few larger houses set back behind gardens. The
latter include Little Hall, which has a plaster ceiling
dated 1734, Moor Hall, which is mid-18th-century
in date but was refronted with canted bays later in
the century, and Manor House. (fn. 25) The built-up
frontage also includes various 19th- and 20th-century houses and farm buildings.
There were three alehouses in the village in the
mid 18th century, later generally only two, (fn. 26) known
in 1823 as the Robin Hood and the Ship and in 1840
as the Bay Horse and the Fox. (fn. 27) The Bay Horse was
renamed the Charles XII after the winner of the
1839 St. Leger flat race, owned by N. E. Yarburgh. (fn. 28) By 1872 the second inn was called the
Yarburgh Arms, and in 1967 it was renamed the
Deramore Arms. (fn. 29) Apart from 32 council houses in
and beyond School Lane and 4 council bungalows in
Main Street, few additions were made to the buildings in the village until after the establishment of
York University. A conservation area was established in 1969, (fn. 30) and by 1972 Main Street had still
been little altered beyond the intrusion of several
branch banks. On the Fulford road more than a
dozen detached houses of traditional design have
been built, as well as one or two, like Patch House
(1968), in a more contemporary style. There is also
a group of nearly 30 small brick and timber houses
and flats (1968–9), and a 'neighbourhood development' of more than 100 red-brick houses and flats
(1969–73), built for members of the university. (fn. 31)
HESLINGTON c. 1850
The university was founded in 1960 and has a site
of a little over 200 a., mostly lying between the Fulford and York roads. Heslington Hall forms its
administrative headquarters. The old lake was
greatly enlarged and many of the new buildings are
situated around it. The architects were Robert
Matthew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners, and most
of the buildings are constructed in 'Clasp', an
industrialized building system with a light steel
frame and concrete cladding panels. The first two
colleges were opened in 1965, and by 1972–3 there
were six, together with laboratories, library, central
hall, concert hall, and other buildings. Groups of
houses are also included, some at Bleachfield and
others near the old Spring Lane. (fn. 32)
By 1840 there was an inn, the Black Bull, on the
main York-Hull road, (fn. 33) but the growth of the York
suburbs into the parish did not begin until the 20th
century. By c. 1940 there were 40–50 houses along
the south side of Thief Lane, which forms the
boundary of Heslington in the north-west, and a
similar number near the Black Bull and in near-by
Mill Lane. (fn. 34) Playing fields belonging to St. John's
College, York, have been situated in Mill Lane
since 1937. (fn. 35) In 1957 the York Waterworks Co.
built a large water tower, a dominating castle-like
structure, on the moraine at Heslington Hill (fn. 36) close
to a prominent prehistoric barrow. (fn. 37) By 1972 there
was a housing estate, known as Newland Park, south
of Thief Lane, and a larger one, called Badger Hill,
between the York-Hull road and Field Lane. Archbishop Holgate's Grammar School moved from
York to a site near Badger Hill in 1963. (fn. 38)
There were 73 poll-tax payers in Heslington, excluding St. Peter's Liberty, in 1377. (fn. 39) In 1672 there
were 59 households, of which 4 were discharged
from the hearth tax; of those that were chargeable 40
had one hearth each, 8 had 2, 5 had 3 or 4, one had
6, and Heslington Hall had sixteen. (fn. 40) In Heslington
St. Paul alone there were about 23 families in 1743
and 20 in 1764. (fn. 41) The population in 1801 was 416,
of which 150 were in St. Paul's township. Heslington St. Lawrence was usually the more populous of
the two in the 19th century. The total population
rose to 513 in 1821 and 571 in 1861, but fell to 477 in
1881–91; in 1901 it was 506. (fn. 42) The number subsequently fell to 447 in 1931, but with the post-war
expansion of the village it reached 882 in 1951,
1,223 in 1961, and 2,029 in 1971. (fn. 43)
Sydney Smith, the renowned canon of St. Paul's
cathedral, lived in Heslington in 1809–14, in the
house which later became the Vicarage. (fn. 44)
MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.
Of the three
Domesday estates in Heslington one consisted of 5
carucates held by Count Alan of Brittany, and another of 3 carucates held by Hugh son of Baldric. (fn. 45)
Hugh's holding later passed into the Mowbray fee.
By 1148 a total of 5 carucates from the two fees had
been given to St. Peter's (later St. Leonard's)
hospital, York, by the under-tenant Robert son of
Copsi. (fn. 46) At the Dissolution the hospital's property
there was worth about £26. (fn. 47) It had been let to
William Mennell in 1520. (fn. 48)
This manor of HESLINGTON comprised property that was often subsequently known as king's
hold or freehold. (fn. 49) It was let by the Crown to Sir
Thomas Eynns in 1557, and again in 1567 together
with other parcels of former St. Leonard's property
in Heslington. (fn. 50) In 1575–6 the manor-house was
granted in fee to Christopher Hatton, (fn. 51) but he sold
it soon after to Eynns's son, another Thomas (d.
1578). (fn. 52) In 1601 Richard Eynns conveyed it to
Thomas Hesketh. (fn. 53) After the death of Eynns's widow
the lease of the manor was sold in 1584 to Francis
Nevill, and it later passed to Sir Richard Lewkenor
and then to Thomas Wendy and Adrian Staughton. (fn. 54) In 1601, however, the manor was granted in
fee to trustees (fn. 55) and conveyed by them to Thomas
Hesketh later that year. (fn. 56)
Apparently in 1693 moieties of the manor were
settled upon the daughters of Thomas Hesketh,
namely Anne, who in 1692 had married James
Yarburgh, and Mary, who in 1693 married Fairfax
Norcliffe. (fn. 57) The manor was reunited in 1793 when
Thomas Norcliffe Dalton, great-grandson of Mary
and Fairfax Norcliffe, sold his share to Henry
Yarburgh. (fn. 58) Heslington descended in the Yarburgh
family until the death of N. E. Yarburgh in 1852,
when it passed to his nephew Yarburgh Greame. (fn. 59)
The latter took the surname Yarburgh and died in
1856. He was in turn succeeded by his nephew
G. J. Lloyd, who also assumed the surname Yarburgh, and in 1875 the manor passed to his daughter Mary and her husband G. W. Bateson (d. 1893).
In 1876 Bateson took the additional surname de
Yarburgh and in 1892 he changed his name from
Bateson de Yarburgh to de Yarburgh-Bateson;
he became the 2nd Baron Deramore in 1890. (fn. 60)
Numerous small freehold and copyhold properties
were added to the estate in the 18th and 19th
centuries. (fn. 61)
After being put to military use during the
Second World War Heslington Hall stood empty
until it was sold, together with 17 a. around it, in
1956 to the Joseph Rowntree Social Service Trust
Ltd. In 1962 the hall was acquired for the new
University of York, 165 a. of the estate having been
bought for the university site the previous year. (fn. 62) In
1964 the rest of the estate, comprising 2,076 a. in
Heslington and 792 a. more in adjoining Deighton,
Fulford, and Langwith, was sold to S. A. Spofforth
and E. C. Bousfield. (fn. 63) The Deramores continued to
live in Heslington, at Manor House, in Main Street,
until 1968. (fn. 64)
Heslington Hall, a large brick house, was built
between 1565 and 1568 (fn. 65) for Sir Thomas Eynns,
secretary to the Council in the North (1550–78). (fn. 66)
It extends round three sides of a square courtyard.
The central, western, range has a nearly symmetrical
elevation to the court with a central doorway and
two canted bay windows running the full height of
the house. The original planning appears to have
been conventional, with the two-storeyed hall and
the principal room to the north of the entrance.
After 1852 there were extensive alterations, designed by P. C. Hardwick. (fn. 67) The west, garden,
front was extended by the addition of new rooms
between the original projecting towers which terminated the elevation, the wings were remodelled
and most of the windows enlarged, the roofline was
decorated with new parapets, gables, and chimneys,
and the interior was replanned. Further alterations,
which may have included the addition of a southwest wing, were made in 1876. Early in the present
century the interior was restored, much of the mid19th-century panelling being removed and replaced
by new work in late-16th-century style; minor
alterations to the exterior included the removal of
the steep 19th-century roofs of the towers. After
1960 further alterations were made when the house
was converted to university use. To the west of the
house there is a possibly contemporary walled
garden, with much topiary work which is probably
of 18th-century origin. (fn. 68) A gazebo and orangery are
also of that date. The stable block was built after the
straightening of the Fulford road in 1855. (fn. 69)
The third estate in Heslington in 1086 consisted
of 4 carucates and belonged to the archbishop of
York. (fn. 70) The chapter was said to have 5 carucates in
1284–5. (fn. 71) Four of these were assigned to Ampleforth prebend, presumably at its formation before
1219–34, (fn. 72) and c. 1295 the prebend had 32 bovates
and other property there. (fn. 73) In the 16th century and
later the prebendal estate, sometimes called the
manor of HESLINGTON
(fn. 74) and comprising land
called Peter hold or copyhold, (fn. 75) was usually let along
with that in Dunnington and Fulford. It was sold
in 1649 by the parliamentary commissioners to
Clement Baker, (fn. 76) but was recovered at the Restoration. In the 18th century the lessees were generally
the Wickham family. (fn. 77) The estate was vested in the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1842, upon a voidance of the prebend, (fn. 78) and in 1851 it was sold by
them to N. E. Yarburgh. (fn. 79) It subsequently descended with the capital manor.
The chief house on the prebendal estate may have
been the large brick farm-house in the main street
known since at least the 19th century as Manor
House. (fn. 80) The Yarburghs held a house called Low
Hall on the prebendal estate in 1747. (fn. 81)
The remaining carucate of the chapter's land was
apparently assigned to Driffield prebend, which had
been formed by 1166. (fn. 82) About 1295 the prebend
had a toft and a carucate of land at Heslington. (fn. 83) In
the 18th and 19th centuries the estate was known as
the manor of VERDENAL PLACE, (fn. 84) no doubt
after the Verdenel family, who held land in Heslington in the early 14th century. (fn. 85) In 1685 there were 8
houses and 8 bovates of this so-called Vernal hold
land. (fn. 86) At least some of it later became part of the
Yarburgh estate, for in 1785 3 houses and 4 bovates
of it which had belonged to the Wightman family
were sold to Charles Yarburgh. (fn. 87)
An estate in Heslington descended, like the capital manor of Fulford, in the Taylors, Oateses, and
Keys in the 18th and 19th centuries. (fn. 88) Allotments of
168 a. and 58 a. were made at the inclosures of 1762
and 1857 respectively, (fn. 89) and they comprised practically the whole estate. It was merged with Lord
Deramore's estate in 1920, when the 241 a. comprising Tilmire and Grange farms were sold by
W. H. Key. (fn. 90)
The tithes of Heslington St. Paul belonged to the
prebend of Ampleforth and descended with the
prebendal manor. In 1649 they were worth £30, (fn. 91)
and in 1841 they were commuted for £190. (fn. 92) The
rectory of St. Lawrence's, York, including the
tithes of Heslington St. Lawrence, belonged to the
chapter of York by the late 12th century. (fn. 93) The
tithes on the prebend of Driffield's estate were,
however, assigned to that prebend. The chapter's
tithes were valued at £30 in 1649 (fn. 94) and the Vernal
tithes at £6 13s. 4d. in 1650. (fn. 95) They were commuted
in 1841 for £215 payable to the chapter and £37 to
the precentor of York, (fn. 96) to whose property the prebend of Driffield had been annexed since 1485. (fn. 97)
The lessee of St. Lawrence's rectory leased a plot of
ground beside St. Paul's churchyard from the prebendary of Ampleforth in 1299. (fn. 98) A tithe barn was
later built on it and still stood in 1855. (fn. 99)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
No information is given
in the Domesday Survey about the condition of the
estates in Heslington. Subsequent assarting of waste
land in the royal forest of Ouse and Derwent is reflected in a payment of 15s. by the township to the
sheriff in 1187 for 30 a. of oats grown in the forest. (fn. 1)
About 1295 the prebendary of Ampleforth had 8
bovates of land in demesne and 24 were held by 12
bondmen, each bovate including an acre of meadow.
Another 1½ a. of meadow lay in Priest croft. There
were also 4 cottars, each holding only a toft and
croft. The bondmen and cottars rendered moneyrents, hens, and eggs, and the bondmen also owed
mowing and carting works and provided 5 reapers in
autumn for each bovate that they held. (fn. 2) Besides the
arable land and meadow revealed by the prebendal
survey there were extensive common pastures in the
southern half of the parish. The pasture and turbary
belonging to St. Leonard's hospital there were mentioned in the 12th century and later, (fn. 3) and c. 1295
Ampleforth prebend had a pasture and turbary said
to extend to Thursepole in the west, Langwith in
the south, and Threkes in the east. (fn. 4) In the extreme
south the commons included the wet area known as
Tilmire, and dikes draining it were alleged in the
14th century to cause flooding in townships further
south. (fn. 5) The value of the capital manor was said in
1364 to have been reduced by flooding. (fn. 6)
The open-field land in the 16th century apparently
included Little field, mentioned in 1595, and the
meadow land included West ings, adjoining York
moor in Fulford. The brecks, also mentioned in
1595, (fn. 7) were presumably intakes from the waste.
They were recorded as early as 1520, when St.
Leonard's hospital's miller was entitled to summer
pasture there for his horse and a cart-load of hay for
winter feed. (fn. 8) Mill field was mentioned in the 17th
century, and in 1633 there was open-field land in
'the Brend', (fn. 9) later called Brend field. The name
Little field used for a close in 1696 suggests that
there may have been some early inclosure of openfield land, (fn. 10) probably south-west of the village where
'Little field gate' gave access to the commons. (fn. 11)
Other field land may have been inclosed north-west
of the village, where 37 a. lay in five Fog closes,
between Green Dykes and Mill field, in 1658. (fn. 12)
Surviving ridge-and-furrow, both south-west and
north-west of the village, (fn. 13) also indicates the former
existence of open-field land. Other closes named in
1696 included Tile pits, Clover Grass close, and
Whinny brecks. (fn. 14) By the later 18th century there
were about 530 a. of closes in the capital manor,
mostly north-west and south-west of the village in
Heslington St. Lawrence. (fn. 15)
To the east of the village, adjoining Grimston
township, was a stinted pasture called Ox close, first
recorded in 1649. (fn. 16) It was inclosed and subdivided in
1698 by agreement between the 17 proprietors who
enjoyed beast-gates there, 154⅓ gates in all. The
close was said to contain 137 a. and allotments totalling 128¾ a. were made. Apparently in 1710 a
Chancery decree was sought to confirm the agreement. (fn. 17) Within the commons one early inclosure was
made in the extreme south-west, near Pool bridge;
it was called Tilmire close in 1658 and was said to
contain 100 a., together with a house. (fn. 18) In 1696
another 'great piece of ground' called 'the lord's
several' was described as still uninclosed from the
commons. (fn. 19)
The commons stretched right across the parish
from Fulford in the west to Grimston, and extended
from the open fields and early-inclosed lands southwards to the boundary with Langwith. A dike called
Wade Gote crossed the commons and there were
several ponds and watery areas. From the southern
end of the village a wide 'outgang', with a branch on
either side of Brend field, gave access to the commons, and a similar drove-way extended from the
Fulford road west of the village alongside the parish
boundary. (fn. 20) Both freeholders and copyholders
shared the commons, but in 1754 the former claimed
to have been deprived of their rights and agreed to
sustain a law-suit against the copyholders. (fn. 21) It is not
clear whether the two groups intercommoned over
the whole of the commons or had separate areas
within them, but an undated map, apparently
earlier than 1754, shows the 'pretended division'
between the King's hold (or freehold) and Peter hold
(or copyhold) commons. (fn. 22) It was presumably the
dispute of 1754 which led to the inclosure of the
copyhold common in 1762, (fn. 23) under an Act of the
previous year. (fn. 24) Altogether 786 a. were allotted, of
which 172 a. went to Charles Yarburgh and 168 a.
to Robert Oates; there were also 2 allotments of
50–100 a., 10 of 20–49 a., and 4 of under 20 a. In
the outgang 32 a. were inclosed, leaving a much reduced outgang leading to the freehold common. An
agreement of 1762 about a lane to the outgang (fn. 25) was
signed by 13 copyholders and only 3 freeholders,
who were copyholders as well.
The remaining open fields were known in the
18th century and probably before as Gravel, Low,
Kimberlow, and Brend fields. (fn. 26) It was Gravel field
which had earlier been known as Mill field. Inclosure of the fields took place in 1857, under the
general Inclosure Act of 1836. (fn. 27) Allotments totalling
714 a. were made, including 230 a. from Kimberlow
field, 214 a. from Gravel field, 173 a. from Low field,
and 90 a. from Brend field. G. J. Yarburgh received
600 a., Samuel Key 58 a., and there were 17 allotments of under 15 a. each. There had already been
some departure from customary crops and rotations
in the fields, for turnips, potatoes, mustard, and
flax were being grown in Heslington in the late
18th and early 19th centuries, and potatoes were
said to replace a fallow in the open fields. (fn. 28) Chicory
was also apparently grown in the parish, as in nearby Dunnington, for a pain laid in the manorial court
in the early 20th century prohibited the washing of
it in any watercourse. (fn. 29)
The number of farmers in the parish has decreased from more than 20 in the mid 19th century
to about a dozen after 1900, and there have usually
been one or two market-gardeners as well. About
1930 nearly half of the farmers had 150 a. or more. (fn. 30)
The arable acreage remained relatively low until the
inclosure of the open fields: in 1801, perhaps in
Heslington St. Paul alone, there were only 340 a.
under crops, mainly wheat and barley (213 a.), (fn. 31)
and in 1839 St. Paul's included 438 a. of arable,
654 a. of meadow or pasture, and 6 a. of woodland. (fn. 32)
By 1905, however, there were 1,626 a. of arable,
compared with 575 a. of grassland and 56 a. of
wood, in the whole parish. (fn. 33) A considerable area of
common land has survived in the south of the parish.
In 1856 there were 272 a. in Tilmire common and
11 a. in the Out Gang, and 6 men had 166 gates
there, all but 14 of them belonging to G. J. Lloyd. (fn. 34)
The Out Gang and much of the common remained
in 1972, including the former drove-way beside the
parish boundary, which had long been known as
West Moor and which had become part of the golf
course. (fn. 35) The pasture land in the 1930s and later
included the area occupied by the University of
York in 1972; most of the remaining farmland in the
parish was arable. (fn. 36)
There was a gravel-dealer in Heslington in 1840
and gravel was sold from pits on the moraine. (fn. 37) A
bleach works north-west of the village was described
in 1804 as 'lately built'. It was used by Messrs.
Stablers, linen cloth makers of York, and later by
John Swale, who had a flax-mill in Lawrence Street
in the near-by suburb. By 1857 the works were
disused and the property was then bought by the
Yarburghs. (fn. 38)
A windmill at Heslington is mentioned in 1530, (fn. 39)
and it was called Stublowe mill in 1551. (fn. 40) Two windmills were shown north-east of the village, on the
moraine, in 1787. (fn. 41) A new smock mill was built
there in 1794–5, (fn. 42) later replaced by a brick tower mill;
it is said to have lost its sails c. 1910 and a miller was
last mentioned in 1913, but the stump was not
demolished until 1941. (fn. 43)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Several fragmentary
16th-century court rolls survive, one of them for a
court held by the farmer of the capital manor in
1595. (fn. 44) There are surviving call rolls for 1860–1925,
and a court book and pains for 1900–25 which show
that two bylawmen, a bailiff, and a pinder were
elected. (fn. 45)
There are churchwarden's accounts for Heslington St. Paul for 1712–1883 and for Heslington St.
Lawrence for 1753–1823. (fn. 46) Accounts of the constable
of St. Paul's for 1754–1823 refer to the existence of
a 'freehold constable' for St. Lawrence's. (fn. 47) There
were similarly two copyhold and two freehold bylawmen, and the accounts of the former survive for
1748–1817; their sole income was from the letting
of common balks in the open fields. (fn. 48) Heslington
joined York poor-law union in 1837. (fn. 49) It became
part of Escrick rural district in 1894, Derwent rural
district in 1935, (fn. 50) and the Selby district of North
Yorkshire in 1974.
CHURCH.
The church of St. Paul, Heslington, was
in the peculiar jurisdiction of the prebendary of
Ampleforth, (fn. 51) who provided a curate to serve it.
Though technically a chapel, it appears to have been
fully parochial in the Middle Ages and was mentioned in 1299 together with its burial ground. (fn. 52)
Part of Heslington, however, was in the parish of
St. Lawrence, York, the church of which was near
by in the city suburbs. It was separated from St.
Lawrence's and united with St. Paul's in 1869. (fn. 53) St.
Paul's, which had previously been styled a perpetual
curacy, was thenceforth called a vicarage. (fn. 54) The
township of Langwith was transferred from Wheldrake to Heslington ecclesiastical parish in 1971. (fn. 55)
Curates were nominated by the prebendary until
1842, when the prebend passed to the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners and the advowson became vested in
the archbishop of York. (fn. 56) He is still the patron. In
1650 and later the curate received a stipend of £5
from the prebendary's lessee. (fn. 57) The living was augmented from Queen Anne's Bounty in 1740, 1772,
1787, and 1795, each time with £200. (fn. 58) Bounty money
was used to buy land and common rights at Grassington (in Linton, Yorks. W.R.), later represented
by 18 a., together with 10½ a. at Newton upon
Derwent and 17 a. in Holderness. (fn. 59) The average net
value of the living in 1829–31 was £63. (fn. 60) Endowments totalling £228 a year were received from the
Common Fund in 1870–1, of which £50 was to meet
the gift of the Vicarage, (fn. 61) and in 1884 the net value
of the living was £270; in 1914 it was £284. (fn. 62)
There was no parsonage house until 1871, when
a large existing house in Heslington Lane was
provided by the Yarburghs. (fn. 63) It was replaced by a
new house in School Lane in 1965, together with an
Anglican chaplaincy centre known as Bede House. (fn. 64)
The curate lived in York in 1764; he was also the
vicar of St. Lawrence's, York, in 1743 and 1764, and
in the former year held Huntington (Yorks. N.R.) as
well. (fn. 65) In 1835 the curate was also a vicar-choral and
sub-chanter at the minster, perpetual curate of a
York living, and again vicar of Huntington. (fn. 66) In the
1860s, before the unification of Heslington as St.
Paul's parish, the incumbent also held St. Crux's,
York, but employed an assistant curate at Heslington. (fn. 67)
There was one service monthly and Holy Communion was administered three times a year in the
18th century, with about 15 communicants in
1743. (fn. 68) By 1851 there was a weekly service, (fn. 69) and
between 1871 and 1894 there were two or three each
Sunday, sometimes with a Wednesday service as
well. Communion was celebrated four times a year
in 1865, once a month in 1871, twice a month in
1877, and weekly in 1884. (fn. 70) In 1972, when the
church was used jointly with the Methodists, there
were three Anglican services each Sunday.
The old church of St. Peter and St. Paul consisted
of chancel, nave with north aisle, and west tower;
most of the fabric was said to be 'late and poor',
but several windows were described as Norman. (fn. 71)
The bylawmen paid £32 in 1769 'for building the
church steeple etc.'. (fn. 72) A new church of ST. PAUL
was erected on the same site in 1857–8, comprising
chancel, nave, vestry, west tower with spire, and
south porch. It is of stone, was designed by J. B. and
W. Atkinson of York, in the Decorated style, and was
paid for by G. J. and Alicia Lloyd. The two undated
bells from the old church were retained. (fn. 73) Extensive
alterations were made to the building in 1973,
including the conversion of the chancel to a chapel,
the removal of the high altar to an enlarged nave,
and the addition of meeting rooms and vestries on
the north side.
The plate formerly comprised a plated cup, paten,
and flagon, the last dated 1861. (fn. 74) The chalice and
paten were stolen in 1966, (fn. 75) but two new chalices
and patens have been acquired. (fn. 76)
The registers begin in 1653 and are largely complete, the chief gaps being those in the marriages in
1656–64, 1703–16, and 1754–8. (fn. 77)
The churchyard was enlarged in 1862 and 1921. (fn. 78)
NONCONFORMITY.
Methodism is said to have
been introduced into Heslington in 1812, (fn. 79) and
houses were licensed for dissenting worship in
1807, (fn. 80) 1816, 1820, 1826, 1829 (two), and 1846. (fn. 81) A
chapel was opened by the Wesleyan Association in
the 1830s and was still used in 1851, but no more is
known of it. In the 1840s two more chapels were
built, by the Wesleyan Methodists in 1844 on the
west side of Main Street and by the Independent
Methodists in 1847 on the east side. (fn. 82) The Wesleyans
had fourteen members in 1884. (fn. 83) The Independent
Methodist chapel was acquired by the Primitive
Methodists and registered by them in 1887. (fn. 84)
The former Wesleyan chapel was closed in 1949 (fn. 85)
but the second Methodist chapel was used until
1971, when the Methodists and Anglicans arranged
for the joint use of St. Paul's parish church. (fn. 86) A
Methodist service was held in the church each
Sunday in 1972. Both the former chapels still stood
in 1972; the Wesleyan, then used as a meeting hall,
is a brick and slate building with wide overhanging
eaves and Tudor windows.
EDUCATION.
The first school in Heslington was
built in the back lane (now School Lane) in 1795, on
ground given by Henry Yarburgh and at the expense
of the township; (fn. 87) the bylawmen paid £4 towards the
work that year. (fn. 88) In 1835 20 boys and 20 girls were
taught there at their parents' expense. (fn. 89) A new
school was projected by Yarburgh Yarburgh and
built in 1856, after his death, by G. J. and Alicia
Lloyd. (fn. 90) The earlier building, containing two
ground-floor rooms and an attic, still stood in 1972.
Yarburgh Yarburgh bequeathed £1,000 to the school
and in 1858 £31 interest on it was received, as well
as subscriptions and school pence. The average
attendance was 54 in 1857, (fn. 91) and there were 72 in
attendance in 1871. (fn. 92) The school was united with the
National Society and it received an annual government grant by 1860. (fn. 93) The stock of Yarburgh's
charity was sold to pay for the school's enlargement
in 1907. (fn. 94) Attendance was about 90 in 1906–14, but
it fell to 53 in 1938. (fn. 95) The buildings were again
extended in 1957 and 1965, on the latter occasion to
accommodate 280 pupils. The school had been
reorganized in 1958 as an infants' and junior school,
senior pupils being transferred to Fulford. (fn. 96) The
number on the roll in September 1972 was 224. (fn. 97)
A county infants' school was built on the Badger
Hill housing estate and opened in 1968. (fn. 98)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
Sir Thomas
Hesketh (d. 1605) proposed to found a hospital at
Heslington and it was built in 1608 by his widow
dame Julia beside the York road, north of the hall. (fn. 99)
The hospital was endowed by indenture of 1630 with
£50 a year from Castle Mills, York. A master was to
receive £6 13s. 4d. a year and eight other inmates,
one a woman, were to get £5 each. A further endowment of £5 a year from land at Hutton Rudby
(Yorks. N.R.) was probably given by another of the
Heskeths. (fn. 1) The hospital was rebuilt on the Fulford
road by Henry Yarburgh in 1795. (fn. 2) The twostoreyed brick building had a chapel in the pedimented centre, with terraces of four two-roomed
apartments on either side for the men and a room
behind for the woman. The hospital was repaired and
modernized by Richard, Lord Deramore, in 1968. (fn. 3)
In 1974 the endowment income was still £55, the
former rent-charge on Castle Mills being paid by
York corporation, and contributions were made by
the inmates. (fn. 4)
Yarburgh Yarburgh, by will proved in 1856,
bequeathed £1,000, three-tenths of the income from
which was to go to the poor of Heslington. In 1972
Heslington's share of the income was £6.50,
distributed in 50p doles to thirteen people. (fn. 5)
Robert, Lord Deramore, in 1903 built four almshouses for spinsters or widows at the south end of
Main Street, in memory of his wife Lucy. (fn. 6) By an
indenture of 1902 Lord Deramore endowed the
charity with £1,125 stock and declared that the
inmates were each to have £10 a year. In 1973 the
income was £24 from £959 stock. (fn. 7)
Heslington benefited from the charity of John
Hodgson for parishes in York poor-law union. (fn. 8)