OSBALDWICK
Osbaldeuuic, Osboldewic (xi cent.); Osbaldewyk
(xii–xv cent.).
The parish of Osbaldwick, which includes the
township of Murton, is still partly in the Liberty of
St. Peter's, York, to which it formerly belonged. It
is about 2 miles east of the city on the ancient road,
from York to Market Weighton, which forms the
southern boundary of the parish. On the west are
the parishes of St. Cuthbert and St. Nicholas, both
within the city boundaries. Osbaldwick has an area
of 730 acres, of which rather more than half is laid
down to grass. (fn. 1) The surface is rather flat, averaging
a height of 50 ft. above ordnance datum. The soil
is loam and clay, the subsoil chiefly alluvium. The
chief crop is wheat, but a great part of the land is
pasture. Osbaldwick Beck runs through both Osbaldwick and Murton, and joins the River Foss as Tang
Hill Beck in the parish of St. Cuthbert.
An Inclosure Act for this parish was passed in 1769. (fn. 2)
The village of Osbaldwick stands to the north of
the main road from York to Driffield and lies on
both sides of a green with a road in the middle. A
small stream crossed by two small brick bridges runs
through the village. The cottages are picturesque
but of no great age, none being earlier than the 18th
century. St. Thomas's Church is separated by the
beck from the Hall. In the churchyard is buried
Mary Ward, foundress of the Institute of Mary, the
first community of women under the Roman Church
to be established in England after the Dissolution.
She came to Yorkshire in 1642, and after a short
stay at Hutton Rudby (q.v.) settled at Heworth
outside York. There she died in January 1645–6,
and at Osbaldwick her followers 'found out a little
churchyard where the minister was honest enough to
be bribed' and defy the recusancy laws. (fn. 3) West of
the church are traces of a moat. There is a Wesleyan
Methodist chapel.
North of Osbaldwick is the township of Murton,
which has an area of 844 acres, of which 368 are
arable and 430 grassland. (fn. 4) The northern part of
the township is occupied by Murton Moor. There
is a small village of Murton, at the north-east end of
which is an early 18th-century house of some size
with a large walled garden. The ruined chapel of
St. James stands in a field to the west of the hamlet
and is a simple rectangular structure without division
or buttresses and measuring internally 41 ft. by 16½ ft.
The east and north walls are much ruined, but the
south and west are still standing almost to their full
height. In the south wall are two window openings,
repaired in brick, and a south door probably of 13thcentury date. In the west wall is a small single-light
window, perhaps of the same period. It is now in
course of restoration. There is a Wesleyan chapel
at Murton.
The following place-names occur in the 17th
century: Haverclose, Townendfield, Roughill field
closes, The Slacke and Butt Leyes. (fn. 5)
Among the more famous of the prebendaries of
Osbaldwick were Nicholas Wotton (appointed 1545–6),
Edward Fox (1527) and George Pellew (1824). (fn. 6)
In 1635 the Dean and Chapter of York and the
inhabitants of Osbaldwick and other neighbouring
townships presented a petition to the Crown concerning the payment of rates and ship money. As
part of the possessions of the cathedral these townships
had of old been assessed with the wapentakes to which
they belonged as part of the county of York and of the
Liberty of St. Peter's. About 1632 the mayor and
citizens of York had obtained a grant annexing these
townships to the city of York, and Lord Wentworth,
then President of the North, ordered that the townships should pay their rates with the county, being
assessed for municipal matters with the city. (fn. 7) In spite
of this decree the mayor and sheriffs continued to lay
a shipbuilding tax on them, so that their taxes came
to be paid twice over. (fn. 8) In 1636 the king issued a
new Order in Council declaring that it was no part
of his intention that any of the liberties of the
cathedral should be infringed, or that any of his
tenants should suffer wrong by his charter to the
city. The mayor was ordered to give up the grant
of 1632, and another charter was to be granted by
which the ancient rights of the cathedral should be
preserved and all differences settled. (fn. 9)
Manors
In the time of Edward the Confessor
6 carucates in OSBALDWICK were
assessed with the city of York and were
held by the canons of the cathedral church in that
city. (fn. 10) Thomas, the first Norman Archbishop of York
(1070–1100), is said to have constituted the several
dignities and prebends which afterwards belonged to
the cathedral, (fn. 11) and probably the prebend of Osbaldwick was founded at this time, although the first prebendary of whom mention is made is Richard le Brun,
who was appointed to his stall in 1270–1. (fn. 12) The
prebend was endowed with the vill of Osbaldwick,
Robert de la Ford, prebendary in 1294, holding
here a manor and 13 oxgangs in demesne. (fn. 13) The
manor pertained to the prebend till the 19th century, the prebendary in 1840 being lord of the vill
of Osbaldwick with a manor and jurisdiction over
all his tenants. (fn. 14) In 1852 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners were empowered to sell the lands belonging
to this stall. (fn. 15) The manor appears to have been sold
to T. S. Watkinson, who held it in 1857. (fn. 16) Before
1859 it passed into the hands of William Richardson, (fn. 17)
and was held in 1905 by William Benson Richardson. The present lord of the manor is Mr.
Thomas Hildyard Richardson of Burn Hall, near
Easingwold.
The 'manor' of MURTON (Mortun, xi cent.) is
entered with Osbaldwick on the Domesday Survey;
it was assessed at 4 carucates, and was held, like
Osbaldwick, by the canons of York Cathedral. (fn. 18) For
many years there is no further trace of Murton, but
presumably it formed part of the prebendal estate of
Osbaldwick, for in 1840 the prebendary was lord of
the vill of Murton and had jurisdiction over all the
inhabitants. (fn. 19) It was apparently sold with Osbaldwick,
for Mr. T. S. Watkinson had land here in 1859;
before 1905 it had passed to the Richardsons, who
now hold both Osbaldwick and Murton. (fn. 20)
The greater part of Murton, however, was copyhold of the prebendal manor of Strensall, (fn. 21) and with
it is now in the possession of Mr. Richardson.
Church
The church of ST. THOMAS consists
of an aisleless nave and chancel, without
structural division, 47 ft. 6 in. long by
18 ft. 6 in. wide, a south porch, a western bellcote
and a north vestry. Though considerably restored,
the building is substantially of 12th-century date. A
window on the south side of the chancel is apparently a
late 13th or early 14th-century insertion, and the east
window dates from the 15th century. The modern
additions include the vestry and the south porch and
the bellcote is a modern rebuilding. The church was
restored in 1877–8.
The 12th-century chancel is lighted by a threelight 15th-century east window with a depressed
head. In the south wall are two windows, of which
the eastern is a single round-headed 12th-century
light and the western a two-light late 13th or early
14th-century insertion. The nave, also of the 12th
century, has two round-headed windows of that date
in the north wall and one in the south, but all these
are now divided into two lights by modern mullions.
In the west wall is a similar window with a small
12th-century circular opening above it. The 12thcentury south door of one chamfered order has a round
head and a chamfered label. The roofs throughout the
church are modern. The ancient font, now in the
chancel, is broken, and has a circular bowl of 12thcentury date. The communion table and rails are
17th-century woodwork, and the pulpit is Jacobean
with enriched arcaded panels to each face. The
door is now utilized to form the front of a reading
desk on the north side. A panelled dado, partly of
16th-century date, is carried round the nave walls.
There are no monuments of interest within the
church, but against the east wall of the porch
is a good headstone commemorating Mary Ward,
foundress of the Institute of Mary. The inscription,
which is in good running script, reads: 'To love the
poore, persever in the same, live, dy and Rise with
them was all the ayme of Mary Ward, who Having
lived 60 years and 8 days dyed the 20 of Jan. 1645.'
The register records that Mrs. Dorothy Paston Bedingfield, superior of the order, who died in 1734, was
also buried here.
The modern bellcote contains two bells.
The plate includes a cup (London, 1659) inscribed
'Osbolldwick cum Murton 1660,' but the rest of the
set is modern.
The registers are as follows: (i) mixed entries
1581 to 1655; (ii) mixed entries 1661 to 1731;
(iii) mixed entries 1731 to 1808, marriages to 1754
only; (iv) marriages 1754 to 1812.
Advowson
No mention is made of this church
in Pope Nicholas's Survey, but it is
said to have been appropriated to the
prebend of Strensall in 1485, in which year a vicarage was ordained. (fn. 22) The connexion of the prebendary
with this church, however, goes back to an earlier
date, for in 1416 it is stated that there were notorious
defects in the glass windows of the quire in the
chapel, the repair of which was the charge of the
prebendary of Strensall. (fn. 23) The living was a peculiar.
The rectorial tithe was appropriated to the cathedral
church of York. (fn. 24) The vicarage is mentioned in the
time of Henry VIII. (fn. 25)
The advowson belonged to the prebendary of
Strensall until 1843. (fn. 26) Since that date the living has
been in the gift of the Archbishop of York. (fn. 27)
The chapel of St. James at Murton was formerly
in the patronage of the prebendary of Strensall. In
1511 Dr. Carrifer, then prebendary, granted a toft
and half an oxgang of land in Murton to William
Davy and Richard Beverley to be used for the benefit
of this chapel. (fn. 28) They repaired the chapel from
time to time, and in 1601 sums of 6s. 8d. and 5s.
were set apart from this land for the curate, who was
to read divine service every second Sunday between
Allhallowmas and Candlemas, 4d. being deducted
for each Sunday on which he should neglect to do
so. (fn. 29) The land having been lost by inclosure, a
further arrangement was made by the Commissioners
of Charitable Uses in 1674, by which the money was
to be raised from the two fields belonging to the
manor of Strensall, known as Far Watterland Field
and Little Watterland Field. (fn. 30) By 1815 the chapel
had fallen into a state of great dilapidation and
became unfit for service, no repairs having been done
for nearly thirty years. The vicar, churchwardens
and parishioners petitioned the Lord Chancellor, and
some repairs were done. Services were held again in
1818. (fn. 31) After this the chapel was once more allowed to
fall into ruins, and it has not been used since 1836. (fn. 32)
Charities
John Rawson, by will 1626, gave
20s. for two sermons to be preached
annually in the parish church on
24 June and 27 December, and 5s. on each of those
days to the poor, charged on lands called Oxcloses.
Mrs. Elizabeth Rawson (mother of above), by
will, date not given, gave 20s. for two other sermons
on the Sunday before All Saints' Day and on Trinity
Sunday, and 5s. also for the poor on each of those
days. The rent-charges of 30s. are regularly paid
out of a copyhold estate called Slackfield, holden of
the manor of Strensall.
In or about 1638 Isabel Spenceley gave the annual
sum of 40s. out of Moreland Close; 20s. thereof for
two sermons at Christmas and Ascension Day, 10s.
for bread and wine for the communion on those days,
and 10s. for the poor on those days. The rentcharge is paid out of copyhold land at Osbaldwick in
the prebendal manor of Strensall.
Charity of John Straker, see parish of Holtby.
In 1728 Mrs. Mary Thistlethwaite by will gave
40s. yearly out of her land called Broad Oak, 30s.
thereof for teaching six poor children of the townships of Osbaldwick and Murton and 10s. for the
poor thereof.
In 1765 William Hutchinson by deed conveyed
to trustees 1 a. 2 r. situate in St. Marygate in the
parish of St. Olave, York, upon trust to pay £4 a
year to the vicar of Osbaldwick, £3 a year to a
schoolmaster, the residue for the purchase of books
and for distribution of money and bread for poor.
The same William Hutchinson, by his will 1772,
augmented his charity by a legacy of £100,
represented by £110 £4 per cent. stock of the
North Eastern Railway with the official trustees.
The land comprised in the deed of 1765 was sold
and the proceeds invested in 1885 in £1,490 15s. 8d.
consols with the official trustees.
The charities are regulated by schemes of the
Charity Commissioners of 24 July 1866 and 12
January 1886.
By an order made under the Board of Education
Act, 1899, the sum of £960 consols, part of abovementioned consols, was determined to be applicable
for educational purposes, and likewise the sum of
£50, part of the aforesaid railway stock, and also
the yearly sum of 30s., part of the rent-charge belonging to the charity of the above-named Mary
Thistlethwaite.