FULL SUTTON
The Village of Full Sutton, which was an Anglian
settlement, lies about 9 miles east-north-east of
York, at the end of the Escrick moraine. (fn. 1) It had
acquired the descriptive prefix, meaning 'foul' or
'dirty', by the 13th century. (fn. 2) Much of the parish
lies at about 50 ft. above sea-level and is covered by
outwash sand, gravel, and clay. The land rises to
over 75 ft. east of the village, however, and reaches
100 ft. at the parish boundary. The higher ground
consists of boulder clay, glacial sand and gravel,
and Keuper marl, and it is on a sand and gravel
outcrop that the village is situated. (fn. 3) The small
Winter beck flows westwards across Full Sutton
towards the river Derwent. The parish, which is
wedge-shaped, covers 881 a. (fn. 4)
The former open-field land lay all round the
village, and Full Sutton common occupied the
southernmost part of the parish. Open fields and
common were inclosed in 1766. The wartime Full
Sutton airfield, which was in use in 1944-6, (fn. 5) lay
south of the village, partly in Bishop Wilton and
Fangfoss parishes. (fn. 6)
From Full Sutton village minor roads lead southwards towards Fangfoss, westwards towards Catton,
and northwards to join the former Roman road
which leads to Stamford Bridge. The entire northern boundary of the parish follows the Stamford
Bridge road. The road was turnpiked in 1765 and
the trust was continued until 1872. (fn. 7) The railway
line from Market Weighton to York crosses the
former common. (fn. 8)
The village lies mainly around an oblong 1¼acre green, (fn. 9) from which a footpath leads to the
parish church, standing behind the outbuildings
of Glebe Farm. A small pond which lay beside the
road west of the green (fn. 10) has been filled in. Most of
the village houses date from the 19th century.
They include a farm-house built by the Revd.
Richard Lucas in 1837, (fn. 11) and Full Sutton Villa or
Hall, a grey-brick house built by Thomas Pearson
c. 1860. (fn. 12) A village hall was opened in the outbuildings of Glebe Farm in 1949 and enlarged in 1962. (fn. 13)
Fishponds north-east of the church (fn. 14) may have
been associated with the manor-house. A Full
Sutton innkeeper was mentioned in 1741 (fn. 15) and there
were one or two licensed houses in the later 18th
century. (fn. 16) A beerhouse was recorded in 1840. (fn. 17)
Of the three outlying farm-houses in the parish
Street Farm, on the Stamford Bridge road, was
formerly known as Spence's Farm, (fn. 18) and Common House was demolished when the airfield was
built.
There were 45 poll-tax payers at Full Sutton in
1377. (fn. 19) Twenty-three households were included in
the hearth-tax return of 1672, 11 of them exempt.
Of those that were chargeable 8 had only one
hearth each, 2 had 2, and 2 had four. (fn. 20) There were
18 families in 1743 and 14 in 1764. (fn. 21) The population
rose from 100 in 1801 to 174 in 1861, before falling
to 119 in 1901. (fn. 22) It remained fairly constant in the
earlier 20th century but fell to 92 in 1971. (fn. 23)
MANOR AND OTHER ESTATE.
Full Sutton
was not mentioned in 1086, when it lay within the
manor and soke of Catton. (fn. 24) The lordship subsequently descended with Catton in the Percy,
Seymour, and Wyndham families, (fn. 25) but little land in
Full Sutton was attached to Catton manor. An
allotment of 12 a. to the earl of Egremont at inclosure in 1766 (fn. 26) comprised the whole of his estate
there; it was sold by Lord Leconfield in 1921. (fn. 27)
Full Sutton may have been held under the
Percys by Peter son of Grente in the later 12th
century, (fn. 28) and all 6 carucates there were held by
William Dawtry or Dealtry in 1284-5, 4½ of them
in demesne. (fn. 29) William was dead by 1312. (fn. 30) John
Dawtry held the estate in 1315, (fn. 31) and he and
Eleanor Percy were said to be lords of the place in
1316. (fn. 32) The estate apparently descended in the
Dawtry family, and in 1577 William Dawtry held
the reputed manor of FULL SUTTON
(fn. 33) About
1602 it comprised 16 of the 36 bovates in the township. (fn. 34)
In 1675-6 John Dealtry conveyed the manor to
Thomas Langley and Samuel Walker (fn. 35) and by 1705
it had probably passed to Francis Elwick, who then
had the advowson. (fn. 36) Elwick's granddaughter Frances
married John Eyre, and in 1726 she sold the manor
to William Simpson. (fn. 37) The estate comprised 483 a. in
1766. (fn. 38) It was presumably another William Simpson
who by will dated 1766 devised the manor to trustees to hold successively for his brothers John and
Lindley Simpson. After Lindley's death it passed
before 1785, under the terms of the will, to John
Bridgman, son of William Simpson's niece Elizabeth and her husband Sir Henry Bridgman, Bt.
John Bridgman took the name Simpson on succeeding to the estates, (fn. 39) and in 1788 he sold the manor
and 349 a. to John Ramsey (d. 1801). (fn. 40) The lands
remained in the hands of Ramsey's trustees until
the mid 19th century. (fn. 41) In 1868 204 a. were conveyed to Robert Freer, and in 1877 they were sold
by Thomas Freer to Joseph Fearnsides. (fn. 42) Susannah
Fearnsides's executors sold them to Charles
Mennell in 1898, and Mennell acquired more land
in Full Sutton in 1903 and 1919. (fn. 43) The Mennells
sold Manor House farm, comprising 187 a., to
R. Q. Triffitt in 1923, and the Triffitts still had
most of it in 1973. (fn. 44) The present farm-house is a
19th-century building.
Land in Full Sutton belonged to the chantry of
St. Mary the Virgin in Lund church and after the
suppression was granted to William Mylton in
1563. (fn. 45)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
Agricultural arrangements at Full Sutton in the Middle Ages are not
documented. All the land was held by freeholders
of Catton manor in the late 16th and early 17th
centuries, five men having 36 bovates c. 1602, for
example. (fn. 46) By the 17th century there were three
open fields, known as Hunland field, Wrengthorne,
Wrainthorne, or White Cross field, and Hatkill or
Sindill field. (fn. 47) There was also a stinted pasture
called Ox close, mentioned as early as 1630, (fn. 48) in
which the rector had a gate in 1716. The common,
in the south-west of the parish and adjoining High
Catton common, provided turf and whins, besides
pasture. (fn. 49) Parcels of meadow called Kirkwinterbecks, mentioned in 1653, (fn. 50) were apparently held
in severalty, and other closes were recorded in the
17th century, including West Flat and Furrland
closes in 1630. (fn. 51) Forelands is the modern name for
land adjoining Stamford Bridge township. By 1766
there were 324 a. of ancient inclosures in the
parish.
The open fields and common were inclosed in
1766 (fn. 52) under an Act of 1760. (fn. 53) A total of 529 a. was
allotted, including 112 a. from Hunland field, 91 a.
from Hatkill field, 70 a. from White Cross field, 69
a. jointly from Hunland and White Cross fields, and
187 a. from the common. The earl of Egremont, as
lord of the manor, received 12 a., the rector 99 a.,
William Simpson 249 a., and four others 78 a., 61
a., 28 a., and 3 a. respectively. In addition exchanges
were arranged involving 40 a. of ancient inclosures.
In 1795 there were 451 a. of arable and 24 a. of
waste in the parish, (fn. 54) and in 1905 638 a. of arable
and 228 a. of grass. (fn. 55) There was still a notable
amount of pasture around the village in the 1930s
and later. (fn. 56) In the 19th and 20th centuries there
have usually been about six farmers in Full Sutton. (fn. 57)
In 1851 one man had 300 a. and another 150 a. (fn. 58)
Little non-agricultural employment has been
recorded. A Full Sutton man worked as a weaver
in 1580, (fn. 59) and in the 1930s there appeared a sand
and gravel merchant and a motor engineer. (fn. 60)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
Surviving court records
for the manor and soke of Catton, within which
Full Sutton lay, show that a constable was appointed
for this township in the 1470s, the 1660s, and the
19th century. (fn. 61)
No parochial records before 1835 are known.
Full Sutton joined Pocklington poor-law union in
1836 (fn. 62) and Pocklington rural district in 1894. (fn. 63) It
became part of the North Wolds district of Humberside in 1974.
CHURCH.
Full Sutton church was first mentioned
in the early 13th century when, as a chapel of
Catton, it was granted independence in return for
certain payments, (fn. 64) which were later resolved into
an annual pension of £1 13s.4d. (fn. 65) It was subsequently regarded as a rectory. The living was united
with Skirpenbeck in 1919. (fn. 66)
The advowson belonged to Ralph Dawtry in
1234 (fn. 67) and thereafter descended like the manor in
the Dawtry family. (fn. 68) It was for some reason held
by Thomas Fairfax and another in 1658. (fn. 69) The
advowson passed with the manor to Langley and
Walker in 1675-6. It was held by Francis Elwick in
1705, by Joseph Eyre in 1713-14, and later by the
Simpsons. (fn. 70) It was separated from the manor
between 1823 and 1829, when it was acquired by
Charles Duncombe, created Baron Feversham in
1826. (fn. 71) In 1880 W. E. Duncombe, created earl of
Feversham in 1868, exchanged the advowsons of
Full Sutton and Holtby (Yorks. N.R.) with the
Crown for Kirkbymoorside (Yorks. N.R.). (fn. 72) The
Lord Chancellor still exercised the patronage on
behalf of the Crown in 1972. (fn. 73)
The church was worth £6 13s. 4d. in 1291 (fn. 74) and
£10 12s. 8d. net in 1535. (fn. 75) Payment of the pension
to Catton was disputed by the rector of Full Sutton
in 1555. (fn. 76) The living was worth £40 in 1650 (fn. 77) and
the average net income in 1829-31 was £150. (fn. 78) The
Catton pension was still being paid in 1865. (fn. 79) The
living was worth £198 net in 1884 and £129 net
in 1915. (fn. 80) Glebe land in 1716 comprised a close and
an unspecified amount of open-field land. (fn. 81) At
inclosure in 1766 the rector was awarded 105 a.
in lieu of glebe and tithes, and he already had an
8-acre close. (fn. 82) All the land was sold in 1925. (fn. 83) The
parsonage house was out of repair in 1704. (fn. 84) In
1777 it was a brick house containing four groundfloor rooms and four bedrooms; it was replaced by
a larger house between 1825 and 1849. (fn. 85)
In the Middle Ages the living was held by several
members of the Dealtry family. (fn. 86) At least two 18thcentury incumbents were non-resident, living at
their other cures of Hatfield (Yorks. W.R.) in 1743
and Thorne (Yorks. W.R.) in 1764. (fn. 87) After 1919 the
rector lived at Skirpenbeck, and since 1941 he has
also been rector of Scrayingham with Leppington
and Howsham. (fn. 88)
A service was held each Sunday in 1743 and
Holy Communion was celebrated four times a year
with about 20 communicants. (fn. 89) There were monthly
communions by 1868 and weekly ones by 1884,
when there were about 6 communicants. By 1877
two services were held each Sunday and one on
Fridays. (fn. 90) Only one service was held in January
1974 but communion was celebrated on the other
Sundays.
The church of ST. MARY, of ashlar, consists of
chancel with north vestry, and nave with west
bellcot and south porch. The church was in decay
in 1615, (fn. 91) and in 1723-4 the porch was repaired and
a buttress rebuilt. (fn. 92) The whole church was rebuilt
and enlarged in 1844-5, partly with old masonry. (fn. 93)
The chancel is in a 14th-century style and the nave
has some small reset windows of the 15th century.
There were two bells in 1770, (fn. 94) and in 1877 it
was reported that two new ones had been provided. (fn. 95)
The plate includes a silver chalice and a paten,
presented in 1878 by Mrs. Darcy Wyvill and J. S.
Salman, vicar, respectively, and a plated cup, a
plate, and a flagon. (fn. 96) The registers of baptisms,
marriages, and burials begin in 1713 and are
complete. (fn. 97)
The churchyard was enlarged in 1909. (fn. 98)
NONCONFORMITY.
The Methodists had 11-27
members at Full Sutton in 1814-16. (fn. 99) Houses were
licensed for worship in 1761, 1813, 1823, and
1827, (fn. 1) and a Wesleyan chapel in 1829. (fn. 2) Most people
were said in 1865 to attend both church and
chapel. (fn. 3) The chapel closed in 1974. (fn. 4)
EDUCATION.
A schoolmaster at Full Sutton was
licensed in 1596. (fn. 5) In 1819 children attended school
in a near-by parish, but a school was started at
Full Sutton in 1823 and ten children attended in
1835. (fn. 6) A school supported by parents was mentioned
in 1865, (fn. 7) but subsequently children were said to go
to schools in Fangfoss and Skirpenbeck. (fn. 8)
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
Thomas Wood,
by will dated 1568, devised a rent-charge of £10
from an estate at Kilnwick Percy for the benefit of
Full Sutton and many other townships. In 1824
2s. 6d. was distributed in Full Sutton, along with the
interest of the Town Stock. (fn. 9) Henry Frederick,
Baron Hotham, owner of the Kilnwick Percy estate,
redeemed the rent-charge in 1961 and £5 stock was
subsequently assigned to Full Sutton. (fn. 10) The income
was given to one person in 1966, but in 1972 the
17p received was not distributed. (fn. 11)
The Town Stock comprised gifts of £1 by
Richard Green, £1 by Elizabeth Pearson, and £1 6s.
8d. by George Dealtry, all in 1659, £1 by Dorothy
Green in 1674, and £2 by William Ringrose in
1728. By 1736 a further £1 3s. 4d. had been added
by the parish. (fn. 12)
John Cobb, by will of 1783, directed that bread
should be distributed out of the profits of a close
in the parish. His next of kin apparently gave £40
as an endowment. Two-shillings' worth of bread
was subsequently given out four times a year.
Elizabeth Cobb, by will dated 1809, bequeathed £72
net to the poor of Full Sutton. (fn. 13) The two bequests
were used to buy £106 stock and the joint income in
1974 was over £1; in recent years the income has
been allowed to accumulate and occasional grants in
money or goods have been made to the sick and
poor. (fn. 14)
David Beal, by will proved in 1853, bequeathed
£60, the interest to be distributed in bread every
third Sunday. In 1972 the income was over £1
from £61 stock; it was not distributed that year. (fn. 15)
The dole shelf is now in the church vestry.