WESTERDALE
The parish is composed of the township of Westerdale and hamlets of Baysdale (fn. 1) and Esklets, all lying
in lofty, narrow valleys among the Cleveland Hills. Its
area is 9,914 acres of land, of which 663 acres are
arable, 1,570 acres permanent grass, 9 acres woods and
plantations, (fn. 2) and the rest grouse moor covered with
heather and bracken, rising from the dales where
the height is about 600 ft. to a height of 1,500 ft.
above ordnance datum. An Inclosure Act was
obtained in 1810–11. (fn. 3)
The earliest recorded lords, the Balliols of Barnard
Castle, (fn. 4) held the forest called first Westerdale, then
Baysdale and finally Stokesley. The second Bernard
de Balliol held this in the latter half of the 12th
century, (fn. 5) and between 1240 and 1251 (fn. 6) Ada de
Balliol granted half the forest of Baysdale (fn. 7) to Hugh
de Eure. (fn. 8) This moiety subsequently descended with
the manor of Stokesley (fn. 9) ; it was described in 1716 as
'a large forest or moor called Stokesley and Stockdale
Moor,' extra-parochial, containing 2,500 acres, (fn. 10) and
still appears as the forest of Stokesley in 1790. (fn. 11)
Between 1154 and 1181 the second Bernard de
Balliol granted to Rievaulx Abbey 2 oxgangs of land
in Westerdale, pasture for 120 animals throughout his
forest of Westerdale, and in connexion with this
pasture a house and close near Wooddale Beck
(Wulvedalebec) by 'Hogthaith.' (fn. 12) With the consent
of his forester the canons might set snares to entrap
wolves, and their shepherds when threatened by wild
beasts or thieves might freely blow their horns. (fn. 13)
The abbey was assessed for 11s. 4d. subsidy in
Westerdale in 1301–2. (fn. 14)
Barrows here have been opened and in two an
axe-hammer and other prehistoric remains have been
found (fn. 15) ; there are earthworks on Crown End. (fn. 16)
The subsoil is upper and lower lias and inferior
oolite, the soil peat and clay. There is no record of
iron mining, but this was carried on by Rievaulx
Abbey in the adjacent parish of Danby, (fn. 17) and besides
the Hole Pits there are eight slag or 'Cinder' hills
in Westerdale. (fn. 18) Jet of inferior quality was worked
for a short time. (fn. 19)
The population is entirely agricultural, the products
of the district being butter, cheese, cattle and wool. (fn. 20)
Of late years great attention has been paid to the
breeding of horses, sheep and cattle.
Ralph Cross on the Moors near Westerdale
At Esklets on Westerdale Moor is the source of the
River Esk, which flows through some of the wildest
scenery in the county on its way to the North Sea at
Whitby. Descending northwards as a mountain torrent, it skirts the village of Westerdale, which lies at
about 650 ft. above ordnance datum. South of the
ribbed mediaeval bridge, over the stream, is the
village street with the church, which stands on high
ground half-way down. There are a Wesleyan chapel
and a Church of England school. Close to the bridge
but almost concealed by woods is Westerdale Hall,
the shooting box of Col. Duncombe. A cross standing
at the lower end of the village early in the 19th
century was destroyed by a farmer whose cart had
been upset by it through the carelessness of one of his
servants. (fn. 21) Westerdale Mill, higher up the rivulet,
belonged to the Templars in 1307, (fn. 22) and afterwards
descended with the manor, as did their capital
messuage here, which had at that time a hall (aula)
chamber, kitchen, stable, oxen shed, grange and
chapel. (fn. 23) At either Westerdale or 'Braithwayt,' a
hamlet then apparently adjoining Westerdale, (fn. 24) the
knights had a great yard (curia) for brewing, a small
yard and two chambers (kemena). (fn. 25)
Among the moors nearly 4 miles to the west is the
site of Basedale Priory by Baysdale Beck. At this
spot, to which the Cistercian nuns of Thorpe (afterwards Nunthorpe) moved in the late 12th century, (fn. 26)
is a farm residence called Baysdale Abbey, the
occasional residence of Viscount Boyne.
From a survey of Basedale Priory made at the time
of the Dissolution (fn. 27) it appears that it consisted of a
church 65 ft. long and 20 ft. wide with fourteen glass
windows, and having the high altar and two other
altars in the quire with one beneath, evidently in a
crypt. On the south side of the church was the
cloister, which measured 50 ft. square and had walks
7 ft. wide, on the east side of which, occupying its
whole length, was the dorter, 50 ft. long and 16 ft.
wide, with the chapter-house, 'a little chamber called
the mylke house, and the larder house, under the said
dorter.' The arrangement is peculiar, as the warminghouse and parlour would more naturally have occupied
this portion of the east range, but the placing of the
kitchen, which measured 16 ft. square, at the 'southeste
corner of the cloyster' no doubt governed this departure from the normal type of plan. On the south
side of the cloister was a range of buildings 50 ft. in
length and 16 ft. wide, containing the frater and 'a
chamber wt a chymney' (perhaps the warming-house).
Under the frater was 'a bedde chambre and one other
litle chamber.' The walls were of timber and the roof
was of slates and thatch. The materials of the church
and the dorter block are not specified, but were probably stone. The buildings on the west side of the
cloister comprised 'the Prioresse chambre, wt a fayre
rounde bay wyndow glasid and a chymney, and one
other chamber wtyn the same . . ., iij other chambres
undir one roofe by the same, callid geste chambres,
and a chymney in the bigger . . . a litle low parler
under the geste chamber conteyning xvj ffoote square,
a chimney . . . and a baye wyndow unglasied . . .
the low halle by the Prioresse chamber conteyning
18 ffoote square' and two butteries under the prioress's
chamber, with a brew-house at the upper end of the
hall. The survey is not sufficiently explicit to make
the position of these various rooms at all certain, but
from the sequence in which they are described it is
probable they were contained in one range, the 'low
halle' being perhaps at the south, with the butteries
at the north end, and possibly a passage between them
communicating with the 'low parlour,' the prioress's
chamber over the butteries, and to the north of this
the three 'geste chambres,' with the 'low parlour'
beneath them. The placing of the prioress's chamber
between the hall and the guest chambers seems unavoidable from the fact that these latter are both said
to be 'by the prioress' chamber.' The upper end of
the hall would then be the southern end, and the
brew-house, the dimensions of which are not given,
might have formed part of a second court, either to
the south-west or south of the claustral block. The
walls of the 'low parlour' were of stone, those of the
prioress's chamber and the guest chambers on the
upper floor of timber, while those of the 'low hall'
were of stone on one side and timber on the other.
Immediately after the description of the kitchen is
mentioned 'the prestes chamber conteyning in length
xviij ffoote and xij foote brode wt a litle side chambre
in th' ende of same, and a chymney of tymbre, and
tymbre walles.' This was probably situated somewhere
to the east or south-east of the dorter blocks. No
mention is made of an infirmary block, but of the
remaining buildings described, which must have included a second court quite independent of the
claustral block, the most important are 'the garnar,'
24 ft. by 14 ft., with a store-house beneath it, 'the
kylne house wt a litle maltynge flore and a litle
garnar in th' one ende,' 30 ft. by 16 ft., the bakehouse, 25 ft. by 16 ft., a chamber over 'the gate at
the goynge in,' a stable, and water-mill by the gate,
and a cow-house, 23 ft. by 14 ft. The survey concludes with the description of the ox-house 'in the
utter yard,' 28 ft. by 16 ft., a hay-house 22 ft. by 14 ft.,
'the house wher they ley turves,' 27 ft. by 13 ft., and
a barn, 30 ft. by 18 ft.
Nether House, a close called Nun Park, Middle
Head House, Whitethwayte, Hall flat and Skalethwayte alias Lodge Green (fn. 28) are among the placenames in Baysdale that occur in 1538. The priory
had also a capital messuage called Monk House. (fn. 29)
Manors
Though probably identical with the
Camisedale of 1086, (fn. 30) WESTERDALE
belonged when first mentioned in the
latter half of the 12th century to the fee of Bernard
de Balliol, (fn. 31) being a member of his lordship of
Stokesley. (fn. 32)
It was granted by the under-tenant Guy de Bovincourt, with the permission of Hugh de Balliol, to the
Knights of the Temple, the grant being confirmed
in 1203 by King John. (fn. 33)
The Knights Templars. Argent a cross gules and a chief sable.
The Knights Hospitallers. Gules a cross argent.
Despite the overlordship of the barons of Stokesley (fn. 34)
the manor, with other Yorkshire possessions of the
Templars, was in the king's hands from 1310–12, (fn. 35)
when the order was suppressed, and seems to have
remained in his custody until it was granted to the
Hospitallers. (fn. 36) The manor subsequently descended
as a member of the Commandery of the Holy Trinity,
Beverley, (fn. 37) until the suppression of the order, after
which, in 1545, the manor with the woods of 'Barwykerowe' and 'Hanyiestrete' in Westerdale was
granted to George and Edmund Wright, the king's
servants, in fee. (fn. 38) George Wright obtained licence to sell
the manor to Ralph Yoward (Yowarth, Eward, Ewart)
in March 1549–50. (fn. 39) It was restored to the order
by Philip and Mary (fn. 40) ; but the order was suppressed
by Queen Elizabeth immediately after her accession, (fn. 41)
and Ralph Yoward died seised in 1567, leaving a son
and heir Robert Yoward of Stokesley, (fn. 42) who was in
1601 succeeded by Henry his son. (fn. 43) Henry died in
February 1605–6, leaving an infant son Ralph, (fn. 44) who
attained his majority in 1622 (fn. 45) and died in 1641. His
son Richard (fn. 46) in 1659 conveyed, perhaps in trust, (fn. 47) the
manor to his kinsman, (fn. 48) Sir James Pennyman (fn. 49) of
Ormesby, and died in 1664, his son Ralph, aged
seventeen, being described as of Westerdale in 1666. (fn. 50)
A conveyance of the manor was made in 1736 by
William Moorcroft and his wife, (fn. 51) and in 1772 it
was sold by Moorcroft Wastell to Charles Turner (fn. 52) of
Kirkleatham; Westerdale from this time till at least
1808 descended with Kirkleatham (fn. 53) (q.v.). Col. the
Hon. Octavius Duncombe, son of the first Lord Feversham, was the owner in 1857, and dying in 1879 was
succeeded by his son Col. Walter Henry Octavius
Duncombe, (fn. 54) the present lord of the manor.
The Templars received a grant of free warren in
their demesne lands here in 1248, (fn. 55) and the vill being
in their liberty was exempt
from taxation, (fn. 56) and was a
peculiar. (fn. 57)
Duncombe. Party cheveronwise engrailed gules and argent with three talbots' heads razed and countercoloured.
Westerdale Hall
Like Westerdale, BAYSDALE (Basedale, xii–xix cent.;
Beasdaile, xvi cent.; Baisdale,
Baysdale, xvi–xvii cent.) was
probably part of the Balliol
fee. Guy de Bovincourt, who
granted Westerdale to the
Knights of the Temple, established the Cistercian nuns of
Thorpe at Basedale, granting
them 'all the land between
Redemire and Hawkemire,
with the whole wood and
mountain ridge as far as Basedale Beck, and Redemire
from the point where Hassokemire (fn. 58) falls from the
mountain ridge to Basedale Beck,' 2 oxgangs of land
in Westerdale and wood for building and burning
at their place in Westerdale, (fn. 59) the meadow 'sub
Refholes,' and pasture for animals specified. These
grants made for his soul and the souls of Robert
de Bovincourt and Bernard de Balliol (fn. 60) were confirmed by Henry III in 1236. (fn. 61)
Basedale Priory was dissolved in 1539, (fn. 62) the nuns
then possessing besides their house 12s. rent from one
tenement in Westerdale. (fn. 63) The reversion after a lease
was sold by the Crown to Sir Ralph Bulmer the
younger of Wilton and John Thynne in 1544. (fn. 64) Sir
Ralph Bulmer died seised in 1558 of the monastery
or 'manor' (for the first time so-called), leaving eight
daughters co-heirs, Joan, Frances, Millicent, Dorothy,
Bridget, Barbara, Mary and Anne, the eldest Joan
already married to Francis eldest son of Sir Richard
Cholmley. (fn. 65) Frances afterwards married Marmaduke
Constable, (fn. 66) Millicent, Thomas Grey of Barton in
Ryedale. (fn. 67) Robert Yoward of Baysdale, who died in
1577, and his younger son Ralph held fifteen twentyfourth parts of the manor at that time and settled
this in tail-male on Ralph. (fn. 68) Thomas Grey and
Millicent conveyed a moiety of tenements and a
water-mill to Thomas Yoward in 1578, (fn. 69) and
Francis Cholmley and Joan and Anthony Welbury
and Anne his wife granted two twenty-fourth parts
of tenements and a mill to Ralph Yoward in 1582–3. (fn. 70)
Ralph Lord Eure, however, died seised of the site in
1617. (fn. 71) It afterwards became the property of the
Fotherleys of Castleton (fn. 72) and in about 1729 was
purchased by Ann daughter of William Peirson of
Stokesley, (fn. 73) who, dying unmarried, was succeeded by
her brother Bradshaw. (fn. 74) The site or manor then
descended with Stokesley (q.v.) until 1808 (fn. 75) or later.
By 1833 it was in the possession of William Russell
of Brancepeth Castle, (fn. 76) who died in 1850 and was
succeeded by his sister Emma Maria wife of Gustavus
Frederick John James Hamilton. (fn. 77) She died in 1870
and her husband (who in 1850 took the additional
name of Russell, succeeded as seventh Viscount Boyne
in 1855, and was created for his political services
Lord Brancepeth in 1866) died in 1872. (fn. 78) Their
son Gustavus Russell was succeeded in 1907 by his
son Gustavus William, the present Viscount Boyne. (fn. 79)
Church
CHRIST CHURCH was rebuilt in
1838 in the Gothic style of the day
and consists of chancel, nave and west
tower, the chancel, however, dating from 1875, in
which year the interior was restored and reseated.
The building was again restored and a porch added
on the south side of the tower in 1896, and the
chancel was renovated in 1911. There is a vestry on
the south side of the chancel and an organ chamber
on the north.
The tower contains three bells. All the fittings
are modern. Some fragments of masonry belonging
to the old church are preserved under the tower and
in the churchyard is the base of a cross. No
authentic record of the appearance or plan of the
former structure has been preserved. (fn. 80)
The plate consists of a cup of 1627, with cover
paten, made by F. Terry of London, the cup inscribed
'Capella de Westerdale Com. Ebor. Ex dono Ricardi
Willis xxijdo die Maij 1628,' and engraved with arms
and crest, and a modern flagon. (fn. 81)
Advowson
The living, a chapelry annexed
to Stokesley (q.v.), became a new
vicarage under the Act of 1868 (fn. 82) ;
it is in the gift of the Archbishop of York. The
chapel always had the right of marriage and burial. (fn. 83)
Tenements in Westerdale and Braythwaite were
burdened with a rent-charge of 16s. 6d. to the chantry
in the Templars' chapel ('the chapel of the manor of
Westerdale'); and a rent of 1 lb. of wax, price 6d.,
from lands in Ingleby Greenhow was paid yearly to
this chapel. (fn. 84)
There was a conventual chapel at Baysdale; Robert
de Longchamp, Abbot of St. Mary's, York, (fn. 85) and the
parson of Stokesley granted to the nuns the privilege
of having a churchyard for barying the nuns and
brothers (fratres) who took their habit; but their
servants and men were to receive burial and all other
sacraments from 'the mother church' of Stokesley.
For this concession the priory was to pay yearly to
St. Mary's Abbey half a pound of incense. (fn. 86)
Charities
The free school, founded by
will of Miss Jane Duck, 1734, and
deed of Mrs. Mary Fish, 1741, is
endowed with a sum of £294 5s. 9d. consols with the
official trustees, arising from sales of land and with a
rent-charge of £3 payable out of a house and farm in
Westerdale. The school, which is subject to the
North Riding education authority, is regulated by a
scheme under the Endowed Schools Acts.
The poor are entitled to annual payments of 10s.
out of a farm in Commondale in respect of the
charity of Joseph Dunn, 1716; 10s. out of a close
called Stubblewhite in the parish of Danby, in respect
of Roger Bell's charity, will 1721, and to £2 out of
a farm in Westerdale, given (as is understood) by will
of Mary Duck, 1734.