KIRKBY-IN-CLEVELAND
Cherchebi (xi cent.); Kirkeby, Kyrkebi (xiii cent.);
Kirkby in Cleveland (xvi cent.).
This parish in 1831 contained the hamlet of
Dromonby and the townships of Great and Little
Broughton, and covered an area of 4,863 acres.
Great and Little Broughton now form a civil parish
of 3,093 acres, the soil of all being alluvial on a subsoil of lower lias. There are 1,572 acres of arable
land, where wheat, oats and beans are grown, and
2,593 acres of permanent grass and 231 acres of woods
and plantations. (fn. 1) The ground rises gradually from
250 ft. and 275 ft. above the ordnance datum in the
north of the parish to the hills in the south, which
reach a height of 1,350 ft.
The North Yorks. and Cleveland branch of the
North Eastern railway enters the parish from Little
Busby and runs through both Kirkby and Broughton
in an easterly direction. About a mile south of
Stokesley station, in this parish, lies the little village
of Kirkby, built on both sides of a road which leads
northwards into Stokesley, where it joins the Stockton
and Helmsley highway. The church stands at the
north end with vicarage and school near, and some
distance to the west are Dromonby Hall, once the
home of the Constables, (fn. 2) Dromonby House and one
or two more buildings. South-east of Dromonby
House is Mill Hill, perhaps the Windmill Hill of
1479 (fn. 3) and the site of the mill of 1311. (fn. 4)
The village of Great Broughton, which is large and
populous, lies about half a mile east of Kirkby on the
main road from Stokesley to Helmsley. The Hall
stands in the north-east, and to the south on the same
side of the road are the Congregational chapel, built in
1853, and the school now licensed for divine service.
There are also Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist
chapels, both here in 1857. The hamlet of Little
Broughton, which consists of a few farms, lies about
a mile and a half away. In 1811 the common fields
of Great Broughton were inclosed under a Private
Act. (fn. 5)
Both Kirkby and Broughton are well watered by
small streams. Eller Beck (fn. 6) separates Kirkby from
Stokesley on the north and is crossed here by Kirkby
and Bense (fn. 7) Bridges, the latter probably the modern
successor of the Bense Bridge of 1618 and 1632. (fn. 8)
In 1462 the rector of Kirkby left money for the
fabric of the bridges of Great Broughton and Kirkby, (fn. 9)
and grants and assessments were made for the repair
and building of bridges in both Broughtons in the
17th and 18th centuries. (fn. 10)
Old names of places in Kirkby are Fulburne,
Dymples, Lang and Schort span-how, Lang and Schort
lillyngs and Magodes-leyses; in Great Broughton,
Gude monondayes, Branbi-forris, Jacgarthend, Malknoll, Hell-Karre, le Wych bush, le Faln-cross, Gosmodre, Hurig-leyse, lez Hert breks and Tabard place;
in Little Broughton, le Cotes flatte, le Threpland
flatte, Moubray-flatte, Pondarplace, le Croft-sykflatte, la Mecote-heued-land, Skald-thorne-more, BesKarre, Bentescrofte, Halleburn-gavell and Casseholme,
all of the 15th century (fn. 11) ; and in Great Broughton of
the 13th century, Dunlanga-brotes, Littlehan-dailes,
Smalebrot and Waitehil (fn. 12) ; of the 17th century,
Penniclare, Lynbeck and Layth butts. (fn. 13)
Manors
The soke of 4 carucates in KIRKBY
belonged in 1086 to Stokesley (fn. 14) (q.v.),
coming with that manor to the Balliols
and forming part of the fee of Clavering. With
Stokesley it was granted in free marriage with Ada
daughter of Hugh de Balliol to John son of Robert. (fn. 15)
Hugh de Eure, younger son of Ada and John son of
Robert, (fn. 16) held Kirkby in 1285, (fn. 17) and this manor
followed the descent of Stokesley (q.v.) until 1618,
when William fourth Lord Eure sold the manor of
Kirkby to Sir John Constable, a member of the
family of Constable of Dromonby. (fn. 18) On the death
of Sir John in March 1627–8 Kirkby descended to
his daughter Alice, then a minor, who with her
husband Edmund Anderson entered into possession in
1633. (fn. 19) They, with Dorothy mother of Alice, sold
the manor three years later to Thomas Edmunds of
Worsborough and Henry his son. (fn. 20) In the spring of
1658–9 George Lord Eure seems to have made a
conveyance of the manor to Henry Edmunds. (fn. 21)
Thomas Edmunds, son of Henry's nephew and
heir Thomas, was lord in 1720. (fn. 22) At some later
date Kirkby is said to have been sold to Thomas
Wayne by John Matthews of Stokesley (fn. 23) ; Thomas
Wayne was lord in 1808. (fn. 24) Later owners were in
1827 Joseph Donaldson and his wife Esther, (fn. 25) Richard
Hindson in 1846, but at this date most of the soil
belonged to other proprietors. (fn. 26) Before 1857 the
manor was sold by Mr. John Hindson to James
Emerson of Easby Hall, lord of the manor until his
death in 1892; it is now held by his son Mr. John
James Emerson. (fn. 27)
In the 13th and 14th centuries the family of
Kirkby were landowners of some importance under
Ada de Balliol, Hugh de Eure and his son John. (fn. 28)
Court leet and view of frankpledge were appurtenances of Kirkby Manor in the 17th century, when
it had also two dovecots. (fn. 29) In 1311 there was a
mill here. (fn. 30)
A small amount of land here belonged before the
Dissolution to Basedale Nunnery. (fn. 31)
Five geld carucates in GREAT BROUGHTON
(Broctun, Magna Brocton, Alia Broctun, xi cent.;
Magna Browcheton, Magna Brouton, Magna Browgheton, xiii cent.; Magna Broghton, xiv cent.; MekillBroghton, xv cent.; Broughtons Ambo, xvii cent.)
were held by Norman and Ulchil as two 'manors'
before the Conquest and by the Count of Mortain
in 1086. (fn. 32) The overlordship came through Niel
Fossard, the count's sub-tenant, (fn. 33) to the Mauleys, (fn. 34)
overlords in 1285 and 1303, (fn. 35) when their rights were
probably already falling into abeyance. (fn. 36) It is probable that 4 geld carucates here, once of Siward, and
amongst the king's lands in 1086, (fn. 37) were afterwards
acquired by the Count of Mortain or by Niel. (fn. 38)
In the 12th century the Meynells of Whorlton
were the Mauleys' sub-tenants in Great Broughton.
Henry de Meynell, who confirmed gifts of land here to
Rievaulx Abbey before 1191, was brother of Robert, (fn. 39)
lord of Whorlton (q.v.), which manor Great Broughton followed in descent until 1316, (fn. 40) when Nicholas
de Meynell surrendered this lordship to the Abbot of
Rievaulx. (fn. 41) In the 12th century lands here granted
by Jordan Payn, Alan Barn and other donors had
been confirmed to this house by Richard I. Other
gifts were added later, (fn. 42) and in 1299 the abbot held
about half the Meynell fee, (fn. 43) the rest being in the
tenure of John Malebiche in 1316. (fn. 44) No later record
of secular occupation to any considerable extent
survives.
In 1538 the last Abbot of Rievaulx leased the manor
or grange of Great Broughton to Leonard Sayer, (fn. 45)
who became bailiff here under the Crown after the
surrender of this house. (fn. 46) The manor of Great
Broughton, late of Rievaulx, and now leased in small
holdings to a large number of tenants, (fn. 47) was granted
by the Crown in 1544 and in 1556 to Thomas
Lord Wharton, (fn. 48) who sold it in 1560 to Robert
Tempest. (fn. 49) Robert settled Great Broughton on his
son Michael and his wife Dorothy in 1564, (fn. 50) and
Michael was lord in 1569, when he joined the
Northern rising. (fn. 51) After his attainder Robert Bowes
entered into possession of the manor, (fn. 52) which, though
it was included in a grant of 1573 to Edward Gresham
and Percival Gunson, (fn. 53) he retained until he sold it to
the queen in 1580. (fn. 54) When Michael Tempest died
in 1584 (fn. 55) his widow Dorothy claimed and obtained
restitution of Great Broughton for life, (fn. 56) but it was
again in the Crown in 1587, when Elizabeth leased
it to John Constable. (fn. 57) In 1613 James I granted
the manor of Great Broughton to William Whitmore
and Edmund Sawyer, (fn. 58) from whom it passed before
1629 to Thomas Viscount Fauconberg. (fn. 59) His second
son John Belasyse, created Lord Belasyse of Worlaby
in 1645, held the manor in 1661 with his son Sir
Henry Belasyse, whose son Henry succeeded his grandfather in 1689 and died childless two years later. (fn. 60)
Great Broughton seems then to have formed part of
the dower of his widow Anne, to whom in 1719,
when Duchess of Richmond, a rent-charge was due
from John Talbot, then holding a moiety of the
manor. (fn. 61) Another part owner in 1737 and 1742
was Henry Harper. (fn. 62) In 1738 a quarter of the
manor was held by Barbara daughter of the first
Lord Belasyse and co-heir of the second lord with
her husband Sir John Webb. (fn. 63) Sir Thomas Webb,
their son, (fn. 64) sole owner in 1746, (fn. 65) was succeeded in
1763 by his son Sir John Webb, lord in 1764,
1767 (fn. 66) and 1783, when he sold Great Broughton to
Richard Marshall. (fn. 67) In 1811 John Preston was lord. (fn. 68)
In 1872 and 1890 William Edward Surtees held the
manor, which has descended with Kirkby since 1901.
Belasyse. Argent a cheveron gules between three fleurs de lis azure.
Webb of Odstock, baronet. Gules a cross between four falcons or.
A capital messuage granted by Thomas Ayr to
Rievaulx Abbey (fn. 69) was perhaps succeeded by the
capital messuage or grange called Great Broughton
and Greenhaugh, leased to Lord Eure by Michael
Tempest in 1564 (fn. 70) and existing in 1587, (fn. 71) and by
the capital messuage of Sir John Webb in 1764. (fn. 72)
A mill in Broughton was given by Adam Barn to
Rievaulx Abbey. (fn. 73) Free warren granted to this
house in 1268 (fn. 74) was, with view of frankpledge and
court leet, amongst the appurtenances of Great
Broughton Manor in 1556. (fn. 75)
In the 13th century the Templars held land in
Great Broughton still known as their 'plot' in
1479, (fn. 76) and included in 1586, as 'land late of St.
John of Jerusalem,' in a grant to John Aubrey and
John Ratcliffe. (fn. 77)
Eight carucates in LITTLE BROUGHTON
(Broctun, xi cent.; Parva Brouton, xiii cent.; Parva
Broghton, xv cent.; Broughtons Ambo, xvii cent.),
soke of Stokesley in 1086, were held with Kirkby
(q.v.) of the Balliol fee (fn. 78) until the greater part came
to Hexham Priory and Rievaulx Abbey.
Gifts of land in this township had been made to
Rievaulx Abbey before 1302, when Sir John Eure
released the abbot from homage and services due to
him for lands and tenements in Little Broughton, (fn. 79)
and in 1428 the abbot held 3 carucates, once of
John Eure, in Little and Great Broughton and other
townships. (fn. 80) The possessions of the abbey in Little
Broughton, which seem to have been very small at
its surrender, (fn. 81) were included, under the title of the
manor of Little Broughton, in the grants to Lord
Wharton and the sale to Robert Tempest, (fn. 82) but seem
to have been afterwards absorbed in Great Broughton
Manor, with which lands in the smaller township
were associated in 1564 and 1585. (fn. 83)
Wyvill. Gules three interlaced cheverons vair and a chief or.
A far more considerable holding was that of
Hexham Priory, the nucleus of which may have been
a grant of 5½ acres made by William de Mowbray in
1194. (fn. 84) In 1294 William's great-grandson of the same
name released the prior from services due from 6 carucates in Little Broughton. (fn. 85) The prior was returned
as sole lord in 1316, (fn. 86) and in 1428, besides lands
held in frankalmoign, had 2 carucates here and in
other townships once of the fee of John Eure. (fn. 87)
The priory rental of 1479 shows that the whole
manor of Little Broughton with tenements in Great
Broughton and Kirkby then belonged to this house, (fn. 88)
whose possessions here, rented in 1536 by William
Hewardyne for £12 18s. 3½d. a year, (fn. 89) came to the
Crown on its surrender. (fn. 90) The next mention of this
place occurs in February 1593–4, when William Lord
Eure died seised of the manor of Little Broughton. (fn. 91)
This was sold by his son and heir Ralph to Sir Marmaduke Wyvill in 1611, (fn. 92) and no later reference to Little
Broughton as a manor has been found. Sir Marmaduke's grandson and heir of the same name (fn. 93) sold
property here in 1622 to Henry and Matthew
Hebborne, (fn. 94) and other lands
in Little Broughton settled by
the elder Marmaduke in 1615
on his younger son Marmaduke were valued at the latter's
death in 1623 at £5 per
annum. (fn. 95) In 1647 William
Hebborne held land here described as part of the 28 oxgangs of Sir Marmaduke
Wyvill. (fn. 96) Tithes in this township were in 1716 the property of a later Sir Marmaduke
Wyvill, (fn. 97) and were owned in
1774 by the Rev. Christopher
Wyvill and his wife Elizabeth, heir of the Wyvill
estates. (fn. 98)
Free warren in his demesne lands of Broughton
was granted to the Prior of Hexham in 1286. (fn. 99)
Two centuries later his house owned water-mills in
Little Broughton and Kirkby and a capital messuage
and common bake-house in Great Broughton, (fn. 100) and
there was a water-mill in Little Broughton until
1647. (fn. 101)
In 1086 3 carucates in DROMONBY (Dragmalebi, xi cent.; Dromundeby, xiii cent.; Dromunby,
xiv cent.; Dromondbie, xvi cent.; Great and Little
Dromonby, xvii cent.) were like Kirkby soke of the
'manor' of Stokesley (fn. 102) ; they afterwards formed part
of the Balliol fee. Dromonby was included in the settlement of lands in Stokesley (q.v.) and other parishes
made by Ada de Balliol on her sons Robert and Hugh
de Eure, (fn. 103) and the overlordship followed the descent
of Stokesley. (fn. 104)
Constable. Quarterly vair and gules a bend or.
Land in Dromonby was held in 1285 by William
Sturmy, (fn. 105) and the manor was settled in 1310 on his
son John by Richard le Machun and his wife
Alice, who had some rights here. (fn. 106) From John,
living in 1333, (fn. 107) it came to his son Thomas, to whose
widow Isabel Robert de Eure granted the marriage
of their son and heir John in
1365. (fn. 108) John was probably
dead in 1428, when William
Eure was returned as the chief
landowner here. (fn. 109) Alice, John's
daughter and heir, married
Sir Robert Constable, (fn. 110) and
Dromonby descended to their
son Robert, who made over
his lands here and in Kirkby
and Broughton to his wife
Beatrix and their son, another
Robert Constable, shortly before his death in 1454. (fn. 111) In
February 1544–5 this younger
Robert's grandson, John Constable, died seised of the
manor of Dromonby, which he had settled on his
wife Margaret Fulthorpe, with remainder to their
son and heir John. (fn. 112) John, a boy of sixteen, succeeded his mother in 1549, (fn. 113) but did not enter into
possession until 1558. (fn. 114) On the death, in 1619, of
his son John, Dromonby came to his son and heir
another Sir John Constable, (fn. 115) who settled it about
four years later on Thomas Middleton of Belsay
Castle, husband of his father's sister Dorothy. (fn. 116) Robert
Middleton, grandson and heir of Thomas, died unmarried in 1656, and the family estates descended to
Sir William son of Thomas's younger brother Ralph, (fn. 117)
whose son Sir John Middleton was lord of Dromonby
in 1707 and 1715. (fn. 118) Public records are almost
entirely silent on the later history of this manor,
which belonged to Robert Farrers in 1815, and to
other members of his family in 1846. (fn. 119)
In 1859 Mrs. Hindson was lady of the manor,
and in 1890 it was in the possession of Mr. George
Hindson. (fn. 120)
A dovecot was an appurtenance of Dromonby
Manor in 1365, (fn. 121) a windmill in the 17th and 18th
centuries. (fn. 122)
Lands in Dromonby were owned by Fountains
Abbey from the 12th to the 16th century. (fn. 123) Other
religious houses holding land in Kirkby, Great
Broughton and Dromonby were Guisborough Priory
and its hospital of St. Leonard Lowcross. (fn. 124)
Church
The church of ST. AUGUSTINE
was rebuilt in 1815 in the style of the
day with chancel, nave, and west tower,
the windows all being round-headed with barred
sashes, and the tower in a plain Gothic style with
west doorway and embattled parapet with angle
pinnacles. The church was restored in 1906, when
the chancel was entirely rebuilt in the Gothic style
with clearstory and north and south aisles, its roof
standing well above that of the nave. (fn. 125)
The only remaining portion of the former church
is the vestry on the south side of the chancel, but
some drawings in the possession of the vicar made
before 1815 show a very interesting cruciform building with central tower. (fn. 126) The plan, however, has
been lost, and in the rebuilding of the chancel no
traces of the foundations of the older fabric were
discovered. (fn. 127) The vestry is of late date and probably an addition to the body of the original building.
Three fragments of a pre-Conquest cross with interlaced ornament have been found, (fn. 128) together with a
cross head probably of later date, a 12th-century
scalloped capital, and two 12th-century sculptured
stones, one with the figure of a Norman knight on
horseback with a sword in his right hand, and the
other with the figure of a female in long gown with
hanging sleeves. (fn. 129) There are also two mediaeval grave
slabs with crosses, one built into the wall with the
earlier stones and the other in the floor of the nave
at the east end. (fn. 130) The head of another is preserved
in the gallery.
The new chancel measures internally 35 ft. by
13 ft. and is open to each aisle by an arcade of three
tall pointed arches. It is faced internally with
ashlar, and the east window is of three lights placed
high up in the wall. (fn. 131) The whole is a very good
example of modern Gothic work, with a wide
middle chancel arch and narrower flanking arches to
the aisles facing the older nave. The roof is covered
with red tiles. There is a modern oak chancel
screen and all the other fittings are modern.
The nave, which measures internally 51 ft. 6 in.
by 25 ft. 6 in., preserves all its original features
except that the wooden window frames have been
replaced by leaded lights. The walls are plastered,
and there is an open boarded and slated roof with
overhanging eaves. The west gallery is approached
from a staircase on the south side of the tower in the
angle of the nave. Over the outside doorway to the
gallery is a sundial dated 1815 with the motto
'Dum spectro fugio.' The font is ancient and consists of a small octagonal bowl on a plain circular
stem. The bowl has the appearance of having been
originally circular and may be of 12th-century date.
The tower is of three stages, measuring internally
10 ft. 6 in. by 10 ft. and has a round-headed louvred
belfry window on each side and a west window in
the middle stage. The two lower stages north and
south are blank.
In the churchyard on the north side is a mutilated
altar tomb with the recumbent effigies of a man and
woman supposed to represent members of the family
of Eure. The legs of the man below the knees and
the head of the woman have disappeared.
There are two bells in the tower.
The plate consists of a secular cup without marks,
the bowl richly chased with flowers, leaves, and peacocks, and bearing the crest of Vernon and the date
1821; an oval salver on four feet, made in 1777 by
Robert Makepeace and Richard Carter of London,
and inscribed 'Ecclesiae Kirbiensi. L.V. Vernon,
Rector D. a.d. 1821'; a plated cup inscribed
'Kirkby, 1821'; two plated patens, one similarly
inscribed, and a plated flagon. There are also two
pewter plates by Edmund Harvey. (fn. 132)
The registers begin in 1627.
Advowson
The church, dedicated in the
15th century, if not earlier, in the
honour of St. Augustine the Bishop, (fn. 133)
was granted in the middle of the 12th century by
Adam de Ingleby son of Viel to Whitby Abbey, a gift
confirmed by his overlord Bernard de Balliol, (fn. 134) whose
descendant John de Eure surrendered all right to the
advowson in 1305. (fn. 135) The church had been appropriated and a vicarage ordained before 1291, (fn. 136) and a
pension from the rectory was paid to the abbot until
the surrender of his house. (fn. 137) In 1543 the advowson
and rectory were included in a grant by Henry VIII
to the see of York, to which they have ever since
belonged (fn. 138) ; the rectory was a sinecure in the gift of
the archbishop, the patronage of the vicarage being
exercised by the rector until 1872, since which year
the archbishop has presented. (fn. 139)
Licence to found a chantry of three chaplains in the
chapel of St. Mary, Kirkby in Cleveland, was granted
to John de Eure and his wife Agnes in 1311. (fn. 140)
In 1479 the vicar of Kirkby held divers tenements
and lands in the manor of Little Broughton on
condition of having mass celebrated and the Gospel
preached and of providing a chaplain at certain
seasons in the chapel of St. Margaret there, (fn. 141) possibly
the chapel of Broughton which had been destroyed
before 1786. (fn. 142) Thomas Aleby, rector of Kirkby,
left money in 1458 for the fabric of a vestry to be
built near the quire of the parish church, (fn. 143) to which
church four years earlier Robert Constable had bequeathed his blue damask gown and a silver box. (fn. 144)
A century later there was an obit here, besides money
in stock for supplying a light, (fn. 145) and in 1575 a house
and other tenements in the parish appropriated to
the maintenance of a lamp in Kirkby Church and
prayers for the soul of John Lockwood on St. Augustine's Day were granted by Queen Elizabeth to John
Sonkey and Percival Gunson. (fn. 146)
Charities
For the school founded by Henry
Edmonds, 1708, see article on
'Schools.' (fn. 147) The poor are entitled
to receive the interest of £45, left, as it is understood, by one Metcalfe.
Township of Broughton.—The sum of 6s. a year,
issuing out of land near Little Broughton Mill, now
belonging to Mr. William Hebron, is distributed
among poor widows of the township; and the sum
of 10s. a year, charged on a farm at the Spring
House, now the property of Mr. Arthur Alderson, is
likewise distributed among the poor.
In 1870 the Rev. William Vernon Harcourt
founded the parochial school and endowed the same
with £1,334 North Eastern Railway 3 per cent.
debenture stock, with the official trustees, producing
an annual income of £40 0s. 4d.