GLAISDALE
Glasedale (xiii–xvi cent.); Glacedale (xvi cent.).
In 1831 Glaisdale was a parochial township in the
parish of Danby, of which, however, it is now
entirely independent. (fn. 1) There is no fixed boundary
between the two places, but an arrangement was
made about 1870 by which the line of division runs
south from the undivided moor north of Oakley
Walls through Howlsyke to the Esk up Fryup Beck
to within half a mile of Woodhead Farm; it then
strikes further south-west. (fn. 2)
Glaisdale township contains the hamlets of Lealholm Bridge, Howlsyke, Green Houses, Stonegate
and part of Great Fryup. (fn. 3)
The name of 'Glaisdale Moor' occurs in 1223, (fn. 4)
but no township or hamlet of Glaisdale is noticed
during the Middle Ages. (fn. 5)
Glaisdale is one of the many small valleys formed
by the streams that flow from north and south to the
River Esk. All these streams descend through the
districts known respectively as their 'Head' and their
'Dale' to their 'End' at their junction with the Esk.
From the south Danby, Little Fryup and Great Fryup
Becks descend from Danby High Moor, about 1,300 ft.
above the ordnance datum. Then follows Glaisdale
Beck, which rises on Glaisdale Moor, at a height of
1,100 ft. above ordnance datum, and flows north
through Glaisdale Head and Dale to the village of
Glaisdale End. Through the erection in about 1864
of iron furnaces (now dismantled) Glaisdale End was
transformed from a 'scattered hamlet' into a 'closely
built and populous village.' (fn. 6) Its High Street leads
from the vicarage and church at the south to the
Green on the north. Glaisdale Hall, a farm, lies to
the west, and to the south is the once haunted farm
of Hart Hall. Here visited a beneficent 'Hob,' who
rendered mysterious aid in the fields to the husbandman until he was driven away by a well-meant gift
from the grateful farm-hands. (fn. 7)
From the north the Esk is
joined in Danby and Glaisdale parishes by Commondale Beck, part of the western
boundary of Danby, Ewe
Crag Beck which enters it
at Dale or Danby End,
Clither Beck which flows by
'Doubting Castle,' Park
Head Beck which joins it
at Lealholm Bridge, a hamlet three-quarters of a mile
west of Lealholm Hall, and
finally by Hardale Beck. Hardale Beck forms part of the
northern and, with Glaisdale
Beck, the eastern boundary
of the parish, passing (beside
those hamlets) under the
names of Green Houses Beck
and Stonegate Beck, and
joining the Esk at Hole
Trough Bridge by Rake
Wath. The wooded valley
of the Esk west of Lealholm
is called Crunkley Gill. (fn. 8)
There were five mediaeval stone bridges over the
Esk, three in Danby (q.v.), one in Glaisdale and
the fifth near Sleights station; the earliest dated
from about 1286, and all were built beside a previous
wath or ford. (fn. 9) At the point where Glaisdale Beck
enters the Esk is the Glaisdale 'Beggar's Bridge.'
The original 14th-century bridge here had probably
disappeared by 1577. (fn. 10) The present structure bears
the date 1619 and the initials T.F. for Thomas
Ferris (Ferries, Firris), an alderman of Hull, the
traditional builder. According to some accounts
Ferris was a poor native of Egton or Danby; according
to others he came into the district as a tramp. Saved
by stepping-stones at this point when crossing the
stream in a time of flood, he vowed that if ever he
were able to afford it he would build a bridge as a
token of gratitude. The bridge was called 'Ferris
Bridge' in 1676. (fn. 11) Lealholm Bridge is mentioned
in 1630. (fn. 12)
Beggar's Bridge, Glaisdale
The area of the parish has not been separately
ascertained, but is reckoned with Danby (fn. 13) (q.v.).
Glaisdale Moor and Lealholm Moor are common
to the townships of Danby and Glaisdale. (fn. 14) The
'Forest of Heckedale' in Lealholm belonged to
Danby Manor in 1272. (fn. 15) Glaisdale contains 1,719
acres of arable land, 2,676 of permanent grass and
290 of woods and plantations. (fn. 16) The chief crops
are wheat, barley, oats and potatoes. Like Danby,
the parish is purely agricultural, containing small
scattered farms. A water-mill in Glaisdale was
appurtenant to the manor of Danby in 1327, (fn. 17) and
there are now a water corn-mill at Lealholm, a
water-mill at Stonegate, and Walk Mill, now disused,
at Glaisdale End. There was once a paper-mill at
Lealholm. (fn. 18)
Peter de Brus I (fn. 19) granted to Guisborough Priory
the pasture of Whaytelandehevedes and the banks
of Stonegate Beck (Staingateside) bounded by Little
Wood Dale (Parva Wluedale) (fn. 20) as it descends
from the common path by Cnapetres to Hellewath,
and by Hellewath Beck till it falls into Weltewath
and Langwath. The canons were not to build there,
and Peter's men of Danby were to be allowed to
pasture their cattle. (fn. 21) He also granted the whole
pasture of the ridge of Glaisdale from Blawath (fn. 22) to
Glaisdale Beck (the boundary between the Brus lands
and those of Peter de Mauley), (fn. 23) by this beck to
Postegate (now Post Gate Hill), through the Lawn (fn. 24)
of Postgate as the moorland road goes, (fn. 25) and from this
road over the causeway of Busco (fn. 26) to Yarlegate (fn. 27) and
by the ridge of Beanley Bank (Bainwitlith) (fn. 28) southwards, skirting the covert of the wood as far as the
stream (Fryup Beck) (fn. 29) and from this stream to the road
from Shunner Howe (Senerhou) to Loose Howe (fn. 30)
(Lushou), with all the wood. None but the canons
might build in this district. (fn. 31) Peter also granted
them all Swinesheved with the wood on each side of
the stream, and licence to dig, inclose and build at
pleasure; the whole pasture from Swinesheved to
Blakey (Blakenhou, Blakehou, the high moor south of
Danby parish) by the road from Blakey to Ralph's
Cross (still standing), then skirting the covert of
Botton (Bothine) (fn. 32) to Mosebec, and from Mosebec
skirting the covert of Fryup to Trough (Troch) (fn. 33) and
thence outside the covert to Yubec. (fn. 34) The canons
were not to carry bow or arrows in these boundaries
nor to snare game. Finally Peter gave the whole
forge (fabrica) that he had in Glaisdale with the sole
right to take iron within the above boundaries. (fn. 35)
All these gifts were confirmed to the priory by Peter
de Brus II in 1223, (fn. 36) but the grant seems to have
remained a dead letter. There was a dispute, and
in 1227 the prior agreed that if Peter would again
raise the prior's houses in Swinesheved that had been
levelled and restore his cowsheds, hays (fn. 37) and forges
he would pardon him the £9 0s. 8d. damage for
the houses and the £20 for the cowsheds and forges
destroyed in Glaisdale. (fn. 38) In 1227 and 1228 the
prior surrendered all right in the pasture of Glaisdale except what pertained to his lands in Danby,
and accepted in exchange 16 librates of land in
Bottleburn near Market Weighton in the East
Riding. (fn. 39) In 1234 the prior surrendered any claim
to the moor (which Peter was to have 'in the state
in which it was left when the prior's houses were last
thrown down by the king's justices of the forest') in
return for lands in Southburn, but the priory was to
have three shelters (each 20 ft. by 12 ft.) on Glaisdale
Moor for shepherds, carpenters and charcoal-burners,
and access to the pasture and wood of Glaisdale. (fn. 40)
The subsoil is upper, middle and lower lias,
Kimmeridge and Oxford clay; the soil, like that of
Danby, is very varied, clay, sand and peat being found
in the same field. There are quarries at Glaisdale
End and disused quarries elsewhere in the parish.
That iron was worked in the early 13th century
is evident from the grants to Guisborough Priory
already described. From 1234 the priory had no
mineral rights here, and at the Dissolution the issues
of its property in Glaisdale only amounted to 16s. (fn. 41)
The mines descended with Danby (q.v.). In 1874
three furnaces had been erected in the previous ten
years, and the South Cleveland Iron Works Company,
to which the mines were leased, intended to open them
out. The company were then working two mines
in the Esk valley, one near Grosmont, the other at
Glaisdale near the furnaces. About 100 men were
employed, and there was an output of 1,000 tons per
week, both output and labour being expected shortly
to double. Only one of the furnaces in blast was
worked with Cleveland ironstone; the other two
were supplied with ore from Cumberland, Ireland
and Spain. (fn. 42) The furnaces, however, are now dismantled, and iron is no longer worked.
The parish has two stations on the North Yorkshire and Cleveland branch of the North Eastern
railway, one at Glaisdale, the other at Lealholm
Bridge. There are Wesleyan chapels at Glaisdale
End, Glaisdale Head, Great Fryup and Lealholm
Bridge and a Primitive Methodist chapel at Howlsyke.
A School Board was formed in 1873 (fn. 43) and the
public elementary school at Lealholm Bridge was
built in 1874, that at Glaisdale End in 1898.
Manors
The whole of GLAISDALE belonged
to the fee of the lord of Danby, (fn. 44) but,
although called a manor in 1577, (fn. 45) this
seems to be the only mention of it as such.
In 1086 LEALHOLM (Lelum, xi–xvi cent.;
Lelon, Lelom, Lelholme, xiv cent.; Lealam, Lealholme, xvii cent.) was a berewick of Crunkley, (fn. 46) and
contained 10 oxgangs of land, (fn. 47) which descended with
the manor of Danby. (fn. 48)
Richard de Lealholm in 1301–2 paid 3s. 3¼d.
subsidy in Danby. (fn. 49) During the reign of Edward I
a William de Lealholm (fn. 50) had acquired in fee from
Peter de Mauley 70 acres of land and meadow in
Egton (q.v.), and William his son and heir acquired
11 acres from the succeeding Peter de Mauley without licence, but was pardoned in February 1325–6. (fn. 51)
William the son died in or before 1356. (fn. 52)
Emma widow of Thomas Lovell held 'the manor'
in 1402. (fn. 53) Finally, in 1686, Richard Shipton of
Lythe and Thomas his son conveyed the 'messuage
or farm called Lealholm Hall in the manor of Danby'
to George Metcalfe and Thomas Meriton of Northallerton. (fn. 54) It is now a farm-house.
Churches
The church of ST. THOMAS
stands on the slope of the hill-side,
the ground falling from west to east,
and is a plain stone building erected in 1793–4, in
plan a rectangle measuring internally 66 ft. 6 in. by
25 ft., with a tower 7 ft. 6 in. by 7 ft. at the west
end. Of the building which preceded it no record
has been kept. (fn. 55) The present structure, which was
restored in 1876–9, is of no architectural interest.
It is built of coursed stone without buttress, and the
roof is covered with blue slates overhanging at the
eaves. The tower, which contains one bell, finishes
with a pyramidal slated roof behind an embattled
parapet, and the building is lit by three pointed
windows on each side and a wide one of three lights
at the east end. There is a west gallery 13 ft. 6 in.
deep, approached through the tower by an external
staircase. The entrance is by a doorway on the south
side of the tower, the lower stage of which forms
the porch. There are no monuments or other features
of interest.
The plate consists of a set of two chalices, two
patens and a flagon of 1876, each piece inscribed,
'Presented to Glaisdale Church by the Corporation
of the Trinity House in Hull in memory of Thomas
Ferres their mutual benefactor.' There is also a
brass almsdish given in 1876 by the Rev. Edwin
Evers, vicar. (fn. 56)
The registers begin in 1758.
The burial-ground was consecrated in July 1793.
The tradition that there was a mediaeval chapel at
Glaisdale arose from a memorandum in the 18th-century parish register that the old chapel was supposed to
have been consecrated in 1383, as appeared 'by the
date upon a stone now fixed in the new chapel steps
leading into the gallery' formerly over the south
door in the old chapel. (fn. 57) The date on the stone,
however, is 1585, (fn. 58) a date that agrees with the earliest
documentary evidence. In 1542 John Nevill Lord
Latimer (fn. 59) bequeathed 5 marks 'towards building the
chapel of Glaisdale.' (fn. 60)
The church of ST. JAMES at Lealholm Bridge
was erected in 1902 as a chapel of ease to Glaisdale.
Advowson
The living is a 'new vicarage,'
and has always been in the gift of
the Archbishop of York. (fn. 61)
Until the latter half of the 19th century half of
all expenses payable out of the church rate in Danby
was paid by Glaisdale township, and among other
ecclesiastical restrictions which then became disused
all marriages were solemnized in Danby Church.
The rights of Danby respecting marriages were
resigned about 1872. (fn. 62)
Charities
Charities for the poor.—The poor
of Glaisdale receive annually a sum
of £4 0s. 8d. derived from the charity
of John Frankland and the charities known as the
Annual Payments. In 1906 sums varying from 1s.
to 5s. were distributed amongst twenty-four recipients.
In 1890 William Wilson, by deed, gave £52 15s. 3d.
consols (with the official trustees) for the poor, the
dividends of which, amounting to £1 6s. 4d., were
divided among ten recipients in sums varying from
2s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. The poor are also entitled to 6s. 8d.
from Ralph Marshall's charity (see under Egton).
Charities for education.—The school founded by
Samuel Prudom (1741) is endowed with an annuity
of 10s. charged on the Laws Gate Farm, paid by
Mr. F. W. Wood of the Laws House, Turvey, Beds.;
£53 8s. 1d. consols, known as the Lord and Freeholders' Gift (1863), and £52 9s. 10d. consols, John
Watson's gift. The sums of stock are held by the
official trustees, and the dividends, amounting to
£2 12s. 8d., are applied towards the expenses of the
public elementary school.
The Lealholm Lane School is endowed with
£154 9s. 10d. consols (including £48 6s. 5d. consols
derived from the will of Robert Dale in 1855), producing £3 17s. a year. The stock is held by the
official trustees, and the school and its subsidiary
endowments are regulated by a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners of 13 June 1876.
Ecclesiastical charities.—Alderman Ferris gave
annuities of £6 13s. 4d. for the minister and £2 for
repairs of the church.
Nonconformist charities.—The Wesleyan Methodist chapel, schoolroom, caretaker's house and burialground in Glaisdale were acquired by deeds of 8 May
1821 and 13 July 1850, and are regulated by a
scheme of the Charity Commissioners, dated 11 July
1902, whereby the trust property is directed to be
held by the trustees thereby appointed upon the
trusts of a deed dated 3 July 1832, being the trust
deed of the Wesleyan chapel at Skircoat in Halifax.
The Wesleyan chapel at Fryup in Glaisdale was
founded by deed dated 24 November 1838. It is
endowed with a rent-charge of £7 issuing out of
property at Westerdale belonging to the Featherstone
family—£6 is paid to the Danby Circuit Board and
£1 to the chapel trust.
By an order of the Charity Commissioners of
26 April 1895 the trust property is vested in the
official trustee of charity lands.