BOSSALL
Boscele (xi cent.); Bozhal, Bosdale (xiii cent.);
Bussehall (xiv cent.).
The parish of Bossall with Buttercrambe lies on
the west bank of the Derwent. In 1831 it contained the townships of Bossall, Buttercrambe, Harton,
Claxton, Sand Hutton and Flaxton, the whole covering an area of 9,638 acres, but in 1861 Sand Hutton
and Claxton were constituted a separate parish. (fn. 1) The
greater part—4,974 acres—is arable land, but 3,139
acres are laid down to grass, and woods and plantations cover 991 acres. (fn. 2) The chief crops are grain
and roots, and agriculture is the main occupation of
the inhabitants. (fn. 3) The soil is various; the subsoil is
generally of Keuper Marls and Bunter Sandstone.
The average height of the land is about 100 ft. above
the ordnance datum.
A branch from the York highway enters the parish
from Gate Helmsley and runs north-east over Buttercrambe Moor. After passing through the little village
of Buttercrambe it crosses the Derwent by a stone
bridge of one arch. A tributary of the river forms
a mill-race at this point. In 1530 there were two
bridges in Buttercrambe; both were much decayed
by 1656, when the authorities had difficulty in
deciding whether the lord of the manor and the
townsfolk of Buttercrambe or the inhabitants of the
North and East Ridings were responsible for their
repair. A gratuity of £20 was granted in 1678 for
the arch of one of these bridges, known then as now
as Buttercrambe Bridge. (fn. 4)
There is now no village of Bossall, the church
having in close proximity only the rectory, a modern
building, and Bossall Hall. The latter stands within
a very complete square moated area with an outer
line on the north side. The house itself may be in
part Jacobean, and built possibly before 1644 by
Sir Robert Belt, but was practically rebuilt in the
18th century, to which period the staircase and most
of the internal panelling belong.
Buttercrambe is a small, well-kept hamlet on the
left bank of the River Derwent, 2 miles south of
Bossall. Buttercrambe Chapel stands on the east side
of the village street, and to the north of the village are
the mansion and grounds of Aldby Park, the property
of Mr. Cecil Geoffrey Darley. It is a Georgian house
of red brick and stone.
Claxton is a small hamlet 1½ miles west of Bossall,
consisting of a few cottages of no great age with a
round duck-pond on the green. It has Wesleyan and
Primitive Methodist chapels, dating respectively from
1842 and 1850.
Flaxton is a large hamlet with a station on the
York and Malton line. It is built on either side of
an extensive green. There are here a modern church,
a sessions-house, Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist
chapels and a school.
The hamlet of Harton stands a mile north of Bossall,
and is built round a large green. The manor-house
has some portions of late 17th-century date, but is of
little interest. At the junction of the lane leading
to Harton and the main York road are two deserted
lodges, with gate piers crowned by demi-griffons
between. There is here a school.
The hamlet of Sand Hutton is small and mostly
modern. To the south stands the modern mansion
of Sand Hutton Hall. Here are also the ruins of
St. Leonard's Chapel in the churchyard of the modern
church of St. Mary.
A Private Act was passed in 1806 for the inclosure
of the open fields of Sand Hutton. (fn. 5)
Place-names in Buttercrambe of the 13th century
are Rokelond and Borghenge, of the 17th Burgott
Land, Mowsebathe, Breake land and Ranbeck, (fn. 6) which
still survive. Wheelewright Holme and Forby Lands
belonged to Harton in the 16th century. (fn. 7)
Manors
To the manor of Scrayingham, once
of Torchil, and owned by Hugh son of
Baldric in 1086, belonged berewicks in
Barnby, Bossall and Buttercrambe, containing altogether 7 geldable carucates. (fn. 8) The overlordship of
the BOSSALL lands followed the descent of the
manor of Buttercrambe (q.v.), of which they were
held from 1282 to 1603.
In the 13th century the manor of Bossall belonged
to a family who bore its name. Paulinus de Bossall
and his wife Juliana, living in 1202, were possibly
the parents of Richard de Bossall, (fn. 9) patron of the
church in 1231 and 1233. Richard's heir William
was in the custody of Devorgill de Stutevill in 1238,
and was sheriff at the beginning of the Barons' War.
He was living in 1277, (fn. 10) but by 1280 he had been
succeeded by Sir John de Bossall, (fn. 11) whose successor,
another William, contributed to the subsidy levied
in 1301, (fn. 12) and was returned as lord of Bossall in
1316. (fn. 13) Thomas his son, of whom Juliana, widow
of Nicholas de Bossall, held land in Claxton in 1328, (fn. 14)
had been succeeded by 1349 by William de Bossall,
and he in 1353 by Robert de Bossall. (fn. 15) Another
William de Bossall, who held the fee in 1416, (fn. 16) was
dead in 1423, (fn. 17) and his manor afterwards came to
the Redmayne family. Thomas Redmayne, before
his death in 1514, settled Bossall on his elder daughter
Elizabeth wife of the younger William Thwaites of
Marston, (fn. 18) with whom in 1528 she granted rent from
the manor to Anne Redmayne, widow. (fn. 19) More
than thirty years later, as Elizabeth Kirkby, she
joined her son Thomas in making a settlement of her
inheritance on the marriage of his only child Anne
with Sir William Ingleby. (fn. 20) After Anne's death
without issue Bossall came to her cousin James
Thwaites, (fn. 21) lord at his death in 1603. (fn. 22) The manor,
then heavily burdened by a settlement for 'the
advancement' of James's daughters, was conveyed by
William son and heir of James
in 1613 to William Smithson. (fn. 23)
Half of it was bought ten
years later by William Belt, (fn. 24)
acting probably on behalf of
his brother, who, as Sir Robert
Belt of Bossall, was lord of the
manor before 1644, and was
afterwards dispossessed for his
loyalty to the king. (fn. 25) After
the death without issue of his
two elder sons Bossall descended to Robert son of his
sixth son, Jasper, who was
followed in the direct line
by four other lords bearing
the name of Robert Belt. (fn. 26)
William Robert Belt, son of the last of these, held
the manor in 1872 and until 1889, but from 1901
till 1911 it was in the hands of the trustees of Sir
Robert James Milo Walker, who came of age in the
latter year.
Redmayne. Gules three cushions ermine with tassels or.
Thwaites. Azure a fesse between three stars or.
Belt of Bossall. Gules a cheveron argent between three bezants with a cross formy fitchy between two molets azure on the cheveron.
Free warren in his demesne lands of Bossall was
granted to William de Bossall in 1257. (fn. 27) View of
frankpledge is mentioned in the 17th century among
the appurtenances of the manor, (fn. 28) to which belonged
three dovecotes in 1811 and one windmill and two
dovecotes in 1830. (fn. 29)
A manor of 6 geldable carucates and 2 oxgangs in
BUTTERCRAMBE (Botercram, Butecrame, xi cent.;
Buttercrampe, xvi cent.), Scrayingham and Flaxton,
once owned by Egelfride, came with other land in
Buttercrambe to Hugh son of Baldric before 1086,
and was always held of the Crown in chief. (fn. 30)
Darley. Gules six fleurs de lis argent in a border ermine.
The steps by which the manor of Buttercrambe
came from Hugh son of Baldric to the de Stutevills
had been forgotten by the latter part of the 13th
century. It was then asserted by their heirs that
their ancestor, Robert Frontdebois, on coming over
with the Conqueror had acquired this and other
manors, in which, after the ejection of his son by
Henry I, his grandson, a third Robert de Stutevill,
had been reinstated by Henry II. (fn. 31) Though the
first part of this story is disproved by Domesday Book,
there is no doubt that Buttercrambe was owned by
Robert de Stutevill under Henry II, (fn. 32) and from the
latter part of the 12th until the 16th century it
followed the descent of Kirkby Moorside. (fn. 33) In
1557 it was sold by Margaret daughter of Ralph
Nevill Earl of Westmorland, with her husband Henry
Earl of Rutland, (fn. 34) to William Darley, (fn. 35) who made a
settlement of the manor on the marriage of his son
and heir Richard with Isabel Beaumont. (fn. 36) Richard,
who succeeded his father in 1563, was called upon
two years later to make good his title. (fn. 37) He was one
of the gentlemen of the North Riding declared fit to
lend the queen £25 in the Armada year. (fn. 38) At his
death in 1598 he was succeeded by his son and heir,
another Richard Darley, (fn. 39) lord
in 1620 and 1633, (fn. 40) whose
son and heir Henry seems to
have sided with the Parliamentarians and engaged in
conspiracy after the Restoration. (fn. 41) He or another Henry
Darley, lord in 1708, (fn. 42) had
been succeeded before 1745
by Henry Brewster Darley, (fn. 43)
from whom Buttercrambe
descended through son and
grandson, each bearing the
name of Henry Darley, to his great-grandson another
Henry Brewster Darley, (fn. 44) whose grandson Mr. Cecil
Geoffrey Darley is now lord of the manor. (fn. 45)
Licence to hold a Saturday market and a fair on
the vigil and feast of the Holy Trinity was granted
to William de Stutevill in 1200 and was renewed to
Thomas Wake in 1343, the market being transferred
to Monday and the fair increased to two on the days
of St. Botolph and St. Leonard. (fn. 46) In 1353 a grant to
Thomas Holland fixed the market for Wednesday and
the fairs were reduced to one on the vigil, feast and
morrow of St. Botolph. (fn. 47) The 'well-built' capital
messuage of 1282 may have been the building inclosed
and fortified by William de Stutevill and probably
stood on the site of Henry Darley's house which was
burnt before 1654. (fn. 48) In the 13th century the manor
had two, in the 16th and 17th centuries three, watermills, in 1708 one only. (fn. 49) The liberty of gallows
was one of its ancient appurtenances, (fn. 50) besides toll of
passage of the bridge over the Derwent and free
fishery. (fn. 51) Free warren, disclaimed in 1279, appears
with court leet in the 16th century, view of frankpledge
not till the 17th century. (fn. 52)
At CLAXTON (Claxtorp, xi cent.; Clakeston, xii
cent.) a 'manor' of 3 geldable carucates held by
Gospatric and Arnenger under the Confessor and in
the hands of the Conqueror in 1086 was granted by
Ivo Taillebois to St. Mary's Abbey before 1176 and
remained amongst its possessions until its surrender. (fn. 53)
It was included in Elizabeth's grant to Thomas
Bamburgh of Foston Manor (q.v.), with which it
descended until the latter part of the 18th century.
Since 1857 it has been the property of the lords of
the manor of Sand Hutton (q.v.).
Another carucate in Claxton belonging to the
Count of Mortain in 1086 (fn. 54) may be the fraction of
a fee here from 1282 to 1426 associated with Bossall
(q.v.).
In FLAXTON (Flaxtune, xi cent.; Flaxton-onthe-Moor, xvi cent.) 2½ geldable carucates, held as
three 'manors' by three thegns before the Norman
Conquest, belonged to the king in 1086. (fn. 55) This
land seems to be the fee held from 1282 to 1428 of
the manor of Sheriff Hutton (q.v.), and was probably
afterwards merged in it.
Of the few surviving names of sub-tenants of the
Nevill lords in Flaxton the most important is that of
Patrick de Westwick, who in 1268 had tenants holding
one-tenth of a knight's fee, and in 1282 himself held
one-quarter of a knight's fee. (fn. 56) A court baron here,
with view of frankpledge in 1557, (fn. 57) may have been
held for the tenants of this land.
Another 'manor' of 6 geldable oxgangs, once
owned by Ulf, belonged to the Archbishop of York
in 1086 and afterwards formed part of the prebend
of Salton. (fn. 58)
There was also here a berewick of the manor of
Buttercrambe (q.v.) held of it from the 11th to the
15th century. Richard de Dunstable, tenant in 1282,
had been succeeded before 1349 by John de Dunstable
and Peter de Richer, whose names occur again in 1416. (fn. 59)
It is not clear whether Edmund Darell, returned
as lord of Flaxton in 1316, (fn. 60) held of this or of the
Nevill fee.
Bamburgh. Argent a pheon sable and a chief sable with a lion passant argent therein.
Twelve geldable carucates in HARTON (Heretune, Hottune, Hotone, xi cent.), once of Gospatric,
belonged to the king in 1086. (fn. 61)
This manor, which had come
into the possession of William
de Stutevill before 1203, was
granted by Robert de Stutevill
to the abbey of St. Mary,
York, and continued with that
house until its surrender in
1539. (fn. 62) It remained in the
Crown, some leases of its lands
being made in the interval,
until 1590, when Elizabeth
granted it to Thomas Bamburgh. (fn. 63) From that date Harton has followed the descent
of the manor of Crambe (q.v.).
A capital messuage and windmill, court leet and
view of frankpledge were appurtenances of the manor
in 1590.
Seven carucates once held by Sprot at SAND
HUTTON (Hottune, xi cent.; Onegate Sutton,
Sundhoton, xiii cent.; Sandhoton by Overhelmsley,
xiv cent.) and bought of him by William Malet for
10 marks of silver were owned by Hugh son of Baldric
in 1086. (fn. 64) This land afterwards came with other of
Hugh's possessions to the Mowbrays and was held of
their heirs and successors as of their manor of Thirsk
(q.v.) until 1604, (fn. 65) after which year the overlordship
seems to have fallen into abeyance.
In the 13th century Sand Hutton Manor belonged
to the Percys of Kildale. Walter Percy held land
here in 1219, Nicholas, perhaps a son, (fn. 66) was tenant in
1268, and Arnald his grandson in 1281 settled the
manor of Sand Hutton on James de Lyssington and his
wife Agnes and her heirs. (fn. 67) By the close of the 13th
century it had come into the possession of the Grays of
York. William Gray was principal landowner here
with Matthew de Louvain in 1300 and with John
de Barton and the Prior of St. Andrew in 1316,
and was described in 1301 as holding the manor
itself (fn. 68) ; he can hardly be identified with the
William Gray who held certain offices from 1345
to 1372 (fn. 69) and who seems to be the William son
of John Gray charged in 1356 with defrauding the
king's chapel near York Castle of its rents from
Sand Hutton. (fn. 70) His son Thomas was father of a
John Gray who held lands in Sand Hutton in 1413
and on whom as Sir John Gray of Ingleby (Lincolnshire) a settlement of the manor was made in
1431. (fn. 71) From him Sand Hutton descended to
Denise Tempest, great- or great-great-granddaughter
of another John Gray, Sheriff of York in 1311, (fn. 72)
who with her husband William Mallory sold it in
1463 to John and Henry Thwaites. (fn. 73) From Edmund
Thwaites, lord at his death in 1501, (fn. 74) Sand Hutton
descended to his grandson Henry, who died in 1520,
leaving two infant daughters. (fn. 75) Frances, the elder,
seems to have inherited her sister's share before she
held the manor with her husband John Gresham in
1538 and 1558. (fn. 76) She was a widow in 1564 when,
with her daughter Elizabeth wife of Sir Henry Nevill, (fn. 77)
she sold it to Henry Dixon. (fn. 78) Henry was succeeded
in 1570 by his daughters Mary and Isabel, (fn. 79) and on
Mary's death, ten years later, the whole manor came
to her sister, then wife of Ralph Hungate. (fn. 80) Isabel and
Ralph's four daughters and co-heirs entered on their
inheritance in 1611, when Margery, the youngest,
had attained her majority. (fn. 81) Jane, the eldest, held
one-quarter of the manor with her second husband,
Thomas Allanson, in 1631, when they settled it on
Thomas, her son by her first husband, Nicholas Fairfax. (fn. 82) From Thomas Fairfax, lord in 1654 and
1655, (fn. 83) this evidently descended to his son Isaac, (fn. 84)
whose widow Katherine and daughters Frances,
Katherine and Mary held in 1688. (fn. 85) In 1703 the
three sisters, with a younger, Meliora, sold their fraction of the manor to Thomas Bawtry, (fn. 86) from whom
it came to the Pearsons and by 1776 to William
Read. (fn. 87) Another quarter held by the second daughter
Anne with her husband William Consett in 1619, 1622
and 1630 seems to have been conveyed by them in
1630 or 1631 to Henry Darley. (fn. 88) Gertrude, the
third co-heir, wife of Christopher Simpson in 1611,
in 1630 and 1634 held her quarter with her second
husband, Thomas Pudsey. (fn. 89) This, which is said to
have been sold by Ralph Pudsey to Edward Nelthorpe in 1638, (fn. 90) was sequestered for the delinquency
of Peter Pudsey before 1652, when James Harwood
claimed it by right of marriage with Peter's sister (fn. 91) ;
James Nelthorpe claimed it by right of purchase from
the treason trustees. (fn. 92) James Harwood, whose claim
was allowed in 1654, (fn. 93) held with his wife Margery in
1655 and 1677, (fn. 94) though Peter Pudsey's right survived until 1662. (fn. 95) This may be the fraction of
Sand Hutton Manor in which Barbara Read had a
share in 1710 and John Read in 1733. (fn. 96) The last
quarter, brought by Margery Hungate to her husband,
Henry Darley, (fn. 97) seems to have descended with the
manor of Buttercrambe until 1704, (fn. 98) and possibly until
1787, when Henry Brewster Darley acquired another
eighth from Robert and Elizabeth Wright. (fn. 99)
Walker of Sand Hutton, baronet. Argent a cheveron gules between three crescents azure with three rings or upon the cheveron.
In 1806 one-eighth of the manor belonged to
Richard Darley and the remaining seven-eighths
to Thomas Cutler Rudston
Read. (fn. 100) Before 1857 it had
been bought from the heirs of
the latter by James Walker,
created baronet in 1868, and
descended through his son and
grandson, each bearing the
name of Sir James Robert
Walker, to his great-grandson
Sir Robert James Milo Walker,
now lord of the manor. (fn. 101)
A dovecote and windmill,
the latter newly built on the
moor in 1604, with free
fishery in Sand Hutton Carr,
were 17th-century appurtenances of the manor. (fn. 102)
In the 14th century the Prior of St. Andrew,
York, held 2 carucates of the Mowbray fee in Sand
Hutton and land in Flaxton, both of considerable
value in 1540, when rent in Bossall also belonged to
this house. (fn. 103) The Sand Hutton property, granted in
1541 to Thomas Earl of Rutland, was acquired, after
two alienations, (fn. 104) by Robert Holgate, Archbishop
of York, in 1547; on his death in 1556 he left it
to his hospital at Hemsworth. (fn. 105) In 1558, before the
accession of Elizabeth, it was conveyed by Martin
Anne to Thomas Spencer, (fn. 106) whose son William twenty
years later obtained pardon for having acquired it from
his father without licence in 1572. (fn. 107) In 1604 this
land with its capital messuage, Sand Hutton Grange,
belonged to Ralph Hungate. (fn. 108)
Land in Sand Hutton owned by Thicket Priory
from 1219 to 1535 was granted by Elizabeth to
William Haber and John Jenkyns in 1565. (fn. 109)
A carucate and a half in Flaxton came to St. Mary's
Abbey with the manor of Foston (q.v.) and followed
its descent. (fn. 110) To this house Robert de Stutevill granted
1 oxgang and the tithes of his demesne in Buttercrambe, which were conveyed in 1603, as the almoner
or ambler tithes, by Richard Foster to Richard Darley,
and were the subject of commissions of inquiry in 1609
and 1611. (fn. 111)
Land in Flaxton and Sand Hutton belonged to
Marton Priory; the priories of Kirkham and Nunburnholme also had land at Flaxton; Durham College
had small holdings in Claxton and Flaxton. (fn. 112) From
the 13th to the 16th century the hospital of St.
Nicholas, York, held land in Buttercrambe, the rent
of which amounted to 10s. in 1535. (fn. 113) It is possible
that part of a carucate in Sand Hutton, once of
Gospatric and held by the king in 1086, was the
land appropriated by Edward I to the royal chapel by
the mills without York Castle. (fn. 114)
Churches
The church of ST. BOTOLPH
is a cruciform building 92¼ ft. in
total length and 65 ft. across the
transepts. It consists of a chancel 41 ft. by 18 ft.,
nave 38½ ft. by 20½ ft., north transept 24½ ft by
15½ ft., south transept 24½ ft. by 15½ ft. wide, central
tower and south porch.
The earliest portions of the existing structure date
from the last quarter of the 12th century, when the
whole church was completely rebuilt. To this date
belong the nave, transepts and central tower. The
chancel was again rebuilt towards the close of the following century, the width being slightly decreased by building the north wall on a line somewhat south of its
predecessor. At about the same date a larger window
was inserted in the east side of the north transept and
its walls strengthened by the addition of two buttresses.
Little further was done to the church till the 15th
century, when two small windows were inserted in the
quire walls and the west end of the nave strengthened
by two buttresses. In the 18th or early 19th century
all the nave windows and four of those in the south
transept were modernized and enlarged and a porch
added outside the south door. The church has been
restored in recent years and the roofs renewed.
The chancel has an east window of late 13thcentury date with three uncusped lights and a segmental pointed internal arch. The side windows,
one on the north and two on the south, are all of
two lights with traceried heads of the simplest forms.
Further west in the south wall is a priest's door of
the same date, and close up to the tower on either
side are late single-light windows. In the south quire
wall is a trefoil-headed piscina with a restored shaft to
the bowl. The quire is supported externally by a
pair of buttresses at each of the eastern angles.
Plan of Bossall Church
The central tower dates from the late 12th century
and rests on four arches, those to the east and north
being badly distorted. Each arch is pointed and of
three chamfered orders. The responds are rectangular
with three attached shafts on the face, two being
circular and the centre one a large bowtel. The
capitals are bell-shaped with square abaci. The vice
adjoins the north-west pier and is entered by a door
in the nave. At the base it is very confined, but
becomes larger above, the projection being carried on
a fine corbel of a muzzled bear. Above the roofs the
belfry stage of the tower has a two-light 14th-century
window inserted in each face, and at the angles are
squinches for the reception of a spire. Externally the
tower is finished with a parapet string or corbel table,
with a series of grotesques, and is covered by a low
pyramidal roof.
The north transept dates from the late 12th century.
In the north end are three lancet windows, of which
the central one is placed high in the wall. In the
centre of the west side is a similar window, but
opposite it, in the east wall, is a late 13th-century
two-light window. This wall was buttressed at the
same time and a diagonal buttress added at the northeast corner. A moulded string-course is carried round
this transept and the nave, internally, below the
window sills, and a second string-course is carried
round externally at the same level. The string below
the upper window of the north end has billet ornament and the side walls are finished with a corbel table.
The south transept is similar in general character,
but here the three original lancets remain in the east
wall, but those in the south end and the west wall
have been enlarged and modernized.
The nave is of the same date as the transepts, but
the two pairs of lancet windows in the north and
south walls, with the two at the west end and the
round window in the gable, are all modernized,
though doubtless representing original openings. The
south door is the most handsome feature of the church
and is a fine example of the last years of the 12th
century. The round arch is recessed in four deeplymoulded orders enriched with dog-tooth ornament.
The jambs have each two attached and two free
shafts, the latter now missing, and the capitals, all
foliated in differing designs, have square abaci. This
doorway projects under a square-headed thickening
of the wall and is now inclosed by a modern porch,
the floor of which conceals
the bases. The north door
is of similar date but much
simpler design. It is roundheaded and of two orders,
with side shafts and capitals
having square abaci. The
corbel table to the south
wall of the nave has a fine
series of carved grotesque
heads, while the corbels on
the north side are voluted.
Two buttresses were added
in the 15th century to support the west end of the
nave.
The roofs of the church
throughout are modern, and
under the tower is a flat
plaster ceiling. The modern
reredos is a handsome carved
work in oak. The font is
of unusual form and late
12th-century date. The
bowl, on plan, is a square
with half-circles on each side
and is hemispherical in
section. The shaft and base
are modern and the wooden cover belongs to the
17th century.
On the floor of the quire is a slab of circa 1300,
with a half-obliterated Lombardic inscription, of which
only the words 'de Brame Robertus' are now legible.
Near it is a small mutilated armed figure in brass commemorating 'Robertus Conestable armiger, quondam
cancellarius Dunelm,' who died in 1454, with a shield
of his arms above. On the north quire wall is a large
tablet, with a shield of arms, to Sir Robert Belt, who
died in 1650; Grace, his wife, 1664; Leonard, his son,
1662; Joseph Oley, gent., husband of his daughter
Sarah, and others, with the arms of Belt impaling Azure
a cheveron or between three harts' heads razed proper.
A second tablet on the south wall commemorates
Robert Belt of Bossall, who died in 1690, and Sarah
above mentioned, 1690, and there are others to the
same family. Above the north nave door is a panel
of the arms of Queen Anne, 1710.
The bells are four in number: the first of 1719,
recast in 1882; the second, inscribed 'Gloria in
altissimis deo 1666'; the third, cast by Thomas
Mears, 1799; the fourth, 1883.
The plate consists of a cup (York, about 1630)
and cover paten, probably of the same date, a flagon
engraved with a landscape and figures, probably
foreign, a salver (London, 1708) inscribed 'IHS
1710,' and a small 17th-century paten.
The registers previous to 1812 are as follows:
(i) baptisms 1611 to 1672, burials 1613 to 1674,
marriages 1613 to 1651 and 1661 to 1673; (ii)
baptisms 1654 to 1657, burials 1654 to 1658, marriages 1654 to 1672; (iii) Buttercrambe register,
baptisms 1665 to 1776, burials 1664 to 1743, marriages 1708 to 1725; (iv) baptisms 1673 to 1681,
burials 1673 to 1684, marriages 1673 to 1683;
(v) baptisms, burials and marriages 1695 to 1731;
(vi) baptisms and burials 1732 to 1774, marriages
1732 to 1753; (vii) baptisms and burials 1775 to
1803; (viii) marriages 1790 to 1812; (ix) baptisms
and burials 1804 to 1812 respectively.
The chapel of ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST at
Buttercrambe consists of a chancel 30 ft. by 15 ft. and
an aisleless nave 39¾ ft. long
by 16¼ ft. wide, the total
internal length being 69¾ ft.
The earliest portions of the
existing building date from
the 13th century, when the
church consisted of a nave
of at least four bays with a
south aisle and a chancel.
In the 15th century the
chancel was entirely rebuilt,
with the exception of the
chancel arch, the nave was
shortened to three and a half
bays and the south aisle taken
down, the arcade being built
up between the pillars. The
church has been drastically
restored within recent years.
The chancel has a restored
15th-century east window of
three lights, with two-light
windows to the north and
south of the altar. Further west is a single-light
window. In the south wall is a small piscina. The
chancel is well buttressed externally, with a heavy plinth
carried all round. The axis shows a marked deviation
to the north from that of the nave. The chancel arch
is of late 13th-century date, but much restored.
All the windows of the nave are modern, of two
lights and 15th-century character. In the south wall
are the piers and arches of three and a half bays of
the 13th-century arcade, the 15th-century west wall
cutting across the westernmost bay. The piers are
circular with moulded capitals. In the 15th-century
filling is a small blocked doorway of that period.
Above the junction of the nave and chancel is a
modern stone bellcote containing two bells. The
roofs of the church are modern.
On the north wall of the chancel is a large mural
tablet to Dorothea wife of Richard Darley of Aldby
and daughter of Thomas Waite, who died in 1674,
with the Darley arms. On the opposite wall is an
elaborate marble monument to Richard Darley of
Aldby (died 1706) and two sons. There are other
memorials to the same family, and also in the quire
is a brass inscription to Sarah Annington, 1795.
Built into the filling of the nave arcade are several
fragments of floreated cross slabs.
The plate consists of cup and cover paten by
James Plummer of York, 1639.
The church of ST. MARY at Sand Hutton was
built in 1840–2, the quire being added later. It is a
Gothic building, consisting of aisleless nave and quire,
with a porch at the south of the nave, forming the base
of a tower with a shingled spire. The church possesses
two altar frontals of fine old Spanish needlework.
The plate, given in 1841, consists of a cup of 1665
(London), a paten of 1718 (London) and a flagon of
1758 (London). There is also an old pewter paten.
Buttercrambe Church from the North-west
In the churchyard to the north-east of the modern
building are the ruins of St. Leonard's Chapel. It
was a rectangular structure 45 ft. by 17 ft., of which
the north and west walls have almost entirely disappeared. The structure was of late 12th-century
date with windows inserted in the 15th century. One
jamb of the east window remains, and in the eastern
end of the south wall is a square-headed traceried
two-light window of the 15th century and the remains
of a curious piscina or aumbry. At the west end of
the same wall is a late 12th-century door with a
round arch of two orders with foliated capitals at the
sides, the shafts, however, being lost. The chapel
retains two 18th-century buttresses at either end of
the south wall. The font still standing here has a
plain circular bowl, a built-up stem and a square base.
The church of ST. LAWRENCE at Flaxton is a
small stone structure built in 1853 in the 13thcentury Gothic style. At the west end is a bellcote
with two bells. The plate includes a cup and cover
paten by James Plummer, York, 1638.
Advowson
There was a church and a priest
in Bossall in 1086. The advowson
at first followed the descent of the
manor, (fn. 115) but in 1378 belonged to John Nevill, by
whom its alienation to Durham Priory for the maintenance of Durham College, Oxford, was accomplished
by 1386. (fn. 116) An order for its appropriation to this
college was issued by Urban VI in 1404, and the
priory's title to the church was established shortly
afterwards. (fn. 117) On the surrender of Durham College
Henry VIII granted the church of Bossall to the
Dean and Chapter of Durham, (fn. 118) in whose gift it still
remains. (fn. 119) The rectory has always followed the
descent of the advowson.
In 1454 Robert Constable willed 7 marks 'to an
honest prest to synge for me a yere after my deth in
Bossall kirk,' and a similar provision was made by the
'vicar' shortly afterwards. Vestments, service books
and other bequests were left the church by both
testators and an earlier 'vicar.' (fn. 120) There was a gild
of St. Botolph here in the 16th century. (fn. 121)
The chapel of Buttercrambe has been associated
with the parish church since 1404. In 1646 George
son of Isaac Montaigne of Westow was allowed a
diminution of his fine to the Parliament on condition
of settling £20 a year on the 'church of Buttercrambe.' (fn. 122)
The church of Flaxton was a perpetual curacy
until, in 1867, it was declared a rectory. It is in
the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Durham. (fn. 123)
Before 1351 there was a chapel of St. Leonard in
Sand Hutton for preaching and catechizing, wherein
Robert Hungate made some provision in the 17th
century. This, once in the gift of the Dean and
Chapter of Durham, has now fallen into decay, and
the patron of its successor, the church of St. Mary,
is Sir Robert J. M. Walker, bart. (fn. 124)
Charities
Township of Sand Hutton.—By
will, 1619, Robert Hungate charged
a close called Thorpe Hills with 20s.
yearly towards the easement of the poor from cessments, now paid by the representatives of the late
Mr. H. Darley.
In 1700 Thomas Fisher charged his house and
land in Spofforth with 5s. a year, now paid by
Messrs. J. & C. Greenwood of Harrogate.
In 1763 John Read by will charged his estate
with 30s. a year, to be equally divided at Christmas
among six poor persons of the township.
In 1770 John Graves by will charged his biggenhouse in Claxton with 1s. a year for the poor of
Claxton and 1s. a year for the poor of Sand Hutton,
now paid by James R. Whitwell.
These annuities are duly distributed together with
5s. a year received from the representatives of the late
Sir James Walker in respect of Henry Bullock's
charity.
Township of Flaxton.—It is stated in the Gilbert
Parliamentary Returns (1786) that £10 was given
by John Pool and another for the poor. Nothing
has been received for many years.
Poor's Dole.—A sum of 10s. a year is received
from the trustees of Mr. J. R. Smith on New Year's
Day out of lands in Flaxton under the name of
Atkinson's charity, to whom the lands formerly
belonged.
In 1891 John Hodgson by will directed the income
of £150 York Corporation redeemable 3 per cent.
stock to be expended in coals at Christmas amongst
necessitous poor.
In 1894 the Rev. James Griffith by will bequeathed
£18 12s. 10d. consols, dividends for the benefit of
four poor and deserving widows.
In 1895 Mrs. Louisa Margaret Griffith left
£9 6s. 2d. consols for necessitous poor.
These charities are applied in accordance with
their respective trusts, and the sums of stock are held
by the official trustees.