EBBERSTON
Edbriztune (xi cent.); Edbrighteston, Hedbricestun (xii–xiii cent.); Edbriston (xiii cent.); Heberston (xv–xvi cent.).
This parish is composed of the township of Ebberston and hamlet of Bickley (Biggelea, xii cent.). Its
area is 6,095 acres, of which 2,411 acres are arable,
1,426 permanent grass and 336 woods and plantations. (fn. 1) The soil is gravel and alluvium, the subsoil
Kimmeridge Clay and Corallian Beds; some of the
quarries here are now disused. The chief crops raised
are wheat, oats and barley. An award for the inclosure of 1,200 acres of land in Ebberston was obtained
in 1769 (fn. 2) and a further award was made in 1775. (fn. 3)
The roads from both Pickering and Malton to
Scarborough touch the village of Ebberston, which
lies at a height of about 100 ft. above the ordnance
datum, the ground gradually sloping up from the
River Derwent, the southern boundary of the parish,
to the north, where bleak moors rise to 800 ft. above
the ordnance datum.
The village is disposed on either side of a by-road
running south from the main Scarborough and Pickering road and having a water-course along one side of
it. On the west side is a farm-house of the 16th
century. The entrance door has a stone four-centred
arch and at the north end is a very massive chimney
stack of the same material, having a large ingle to the
ground floor. The house was apparently one story
higher than at present, and the old windows have all
been replaced by modern sashes. A certain amount
of Jacobean oak remains, but not in its original
position.
At the southern end of the village street the road
makes an angle, the head of the street being blocked
by a field in which are the remains of a moat and
other earthworks. In this connexion it may be remarked that in 1276 Richard de Pykeham was accused
of having built a house with a curtilage blocking the
king's way in Ebberston. (fn. 4)
The church stands about half a mile to the west of
the village on ground falling fairly steeply from west
to east. The slopes behind are tree-covered and a
short distance to the north-east stands a charming
early 18th-century villa called Ebberston Lodge. It
was built from the designs of Colin Campbell in 1718,
and is illustrated in Vitruvius Britannicus. It is quite
a small building of one story and a basement, having
a front entrance of the Doric order approached by a
broad flight of steps with round arch, rusticated side
columns and a pediment. The entrance is flanked by
square-headed keyed windows and the house is finished
with a balustraded parapet, with stone vases at the
angles. The walls are of rusticated ashlar and the
design is of excellent proportions.
In the park there are the remains of a cross.
Hinderwell wrote in 1798 (fn. 5) that some of the inhabitants remembered 'an inscription on a hill' above
the Lodge over what is known as 'Ilfrid's Hole':
'Alfrid, king of Northumberland, was wounded in a
battle near this place, and was removed to Little
Driffield, where he lies buried.' (fn. 6) Bloody Beck and
Close lie immediately west of the village. Young,
the historian of Whitby, thought that if the tradition
had any foundation the slaughtered hero must have
been Alchfrid, rebellious son of Oswy (the victor at
Winwaed, 655), and remarks, 'the entrenchments at
Scamridge near Ebberston have from time immemorial been known by the name of Oswy's Dikes,
probably because Oswy's army encamped there, before
engaging with the forces of his rebellious son.' (fn. 7) Sir
Charles Hotham-Thompson about 1790 erected a
grotto and intended to put up an inscription to Alfrid. (fn. 8)
Ebberston was a thriving township in 1301–2,
having two smiths, two skinners, a tanner, weaver,
fuller, carpenter and carrier, and paying a subsidy
considerably larger than that of neighbouring villages. (fn. 9)
Bickley lies to the north. Here Thomas de Ebberston (fn. 10) before 1313–14 built a house and inclosed
40 acres of land; at that date the land was waste,
but it had previously been sown with oats. (fn. 11) Bickley
Wood was said in 1334 to be land inclosed from the
waste; it belonged to the vill of Ebberston. (fn. 12)
The priory of St. Mary, Yedingham, stood in the
flat meadows on the north bank of the River Derwent.
The site is now occupied by a small farm-house of 18thcentury date, but on the north side of it is a considerable length of walling forming one side of a shed,
which was originally the south wall of the church. It
is faced with ashlar, and near the western end is a doorway in good preservation with a moulded semicircular
arch of early 13th-century date. A string-course is
carried along the wall at the height of the springing
of the arch, and immediately within the door is an
elegant carved stoup with a projecting trefoil head and
a foliated bracket to the bowl. The priory church
was an aisleless rectangular building 80 ft. long by
20 ft. wide and is thus described in a survey taken at
the Dissolution (fn. 13) : 'The church conteynith in length
xxiiij ffote longe and in bredith xx foote alle one story
wt a lowe roofe coveryd wt leade, xxi windowes . . . .,
the hygh alter and one alter in the quere and ij in the
churche. Item the quere conteyneth in length xlvj
ffoote wt olde stalles of timber and bourdes paynted.'
The remainder of the buildings are here described
with equal detail. The cloister on the south was 60 ft.
square with alleys 10 ft. wide. On the east side was
the dorter with the chapter-house under and on the
south the frater with four little chambers over the
cloister. The other buildings included a kitchen,
'gyle-house, hostry,' cow and ox houses, a swinehouse, barns, stables and a kiln-house with a malting
floor and garner.
Ebberston has a Wesleyan chapel built in 1872
to replace a chapel built in 1810. A public elementary school was erected in 1874, and there is a
school at Bickley. The nearest railway station is that
of Snainton, 1½ miles away.
Manors
EBBERSTON was in 1086 soke of
the king's 'manor' of Pickering (fn. 14) and
belonged to the king in 1166–7. (fn. 15)
Lands in Ebberston were granted by Henry III in
1267 to his son Edmund with the honours of
Lancaster and Pickering (fn. 16) ; Ebberston remained
dependent on Pickering (fn. 17) and did not develop into
a separate manor.
The Ebberstons perhaps had a manor here in
early times, although it is not mentioned until 1334.
A Thomas de Ebberston was living in 1158–64 (fn. 18) ;
William son of Norman de Ebberston is also
mentioned. (fn. 19) Simon son of William de Ebberston
and Henry son of William de Ebberston made grants
in Ebberston to Wykeham Priory. (fn. 20) Hugh son of
Simon owed 20 marks in 1212 for having seisin of 4
carucates of land in Ebberston which had descended
to him (fn. 21) ; a Thomas de Ebberston was bailiff of
Hugh Bigod. (fn. 22) Another Thomas paid 6s. 2d.
subsidy in 1301–2, (fn. 23) and before 1313–14 made the
inclosure in Bickley (fn. 24) which afterwards descended
with the manor (fn. 25) ; he was probably the bailiff of
Pickering who was seised of this manor. (fn. 26) Thomas
de Ebberston the bailiff was succeeded by his son
Thomas, who sold the manor to William Thurnef
of Snainton and Amery Gegge (Grygge) of Scarborough. William enfeoffed Thomas Thurnef of
his part and Amery enfeoffed Robert Wyerne.
Robert left a son William, father of Robert Wyerne. (fn. 27)
In 1334 the joint owners, Robert Wyerne and
Thomas Thurnef, successfully established their rights
in the woods and a long dispute with the commoners
ensued. (fn. 28)
The land of Thomas Thurnef seems to have
descended to William Thurnef, who left a son
Thomas. (fn. 29) Thomas son of Thomas died childless and
was succeeded by his uncle William Thurnef. William
also died without issue and was succeeded by 1428
by his younger brother Robert. (fn. 30) Margaret daughter
and heir of Robert married a member of the family
of Selowe and left a son Richard Selowe; from him
his right descended through his son Richard to a
grandson Robert Selowe who was living in 1518–29. (fn. 31)
In 1442 Roger Selowe had held 20 oxgangs,
while 24 oxgangs were in the hands of Anthony
St. Quintin (fn. 32) of Cayton, probably son (fn. 33) of the
Thomas St. Quintin who with Alice his wife had
land here in 1365. (fn. 34) The St. Quintin holding followed the descent of their manor of Cayton, and at
some time between 1504 and 1509 John St. Quintin
sued Alyson Selowe for the restitution of deeds relating
to a mill here. (fn. 35) This may point to a connexion
between the families, for John's successors held
'Seloes' lands in the 17th century. (fn. 36)
In 1566 Gabriel St. Quintin conveyed the manor
to Thomas Etherington, (fn. 37) who died in 1589 seised
of the 'manor or capital messuage of Ebberston
Netherby' (fn. 38) (evidently the St. Quintin part) and by
right of his wife Margery or Margaret, only daughter
and heir of William Middlewood, of 'the manor or
capital messuage of Ebberston Upperby,' leaving a
son and heir Richard, (fn. 39) knighted in 1603. (fn. 40) Richard
had a conveyance of the manor from Francis Pinkney
and Eleanor his wife (fn. 41) in 1600, (fn. 42) and in a list of
manors in the honour in 1619–21 is the item
'Ebberston, Sir Richard Etherington claims it.' (fn. 43)
He also paid rents in Ebberston at this time for
'lands late St. Quintins,' 'Middlewood's land,'
Bickley, (fn. 44) &c. Appointed in 1606 to all the great
offices in the liberty of Pickering (q.v.), he was outlawed for debt in 1621, when this manor was seized
by the Crown, (fn. 45) but in 1629 he joined with his
son Thomas in conveying it to Thomas Reeve and
Thomas Swinfield, (fn. 46) apparently trustees for the Earl
of Danby, (fn. 47) whose family (fn. 48) held it until early in
1673–4, (fn. 49) when Richard and
Elizabeth Derham conveyed
it to William Thompson, (fn. 50) son
of Stephen Thompson of
Humbleton. (fn. 51) William died
in 1691, his son Francis in
1693. William son of Francis, (fn. 52)
who made a settlement of onethird of the manor in the
spring of 1706–7, (fn. 53) appointed
gamekeepers for the manor in
1716–17 and 1739 (fn. 54) ; he
was Master of the Mint, and
died childless in 1744. (fn. 55) His
uncle the Rev. Stephen
Thompson died in or before
1744 and was succeeded by
his son William, who in 1746–7 appointed a gamekeeper (fn. 56) and died in 1756, leaving a son Lillingston. (fn. 57)
Lillingston died childless in 1771 and was succeeded
by his father's sister Frances wife of Sir Beaumont
Hotham, bart., (fn. 58) of Scarborough. Frances died in
1771, and her son Sir Charles Hotham, who assumed
the name of Thompson, (fn. 59) made Ebberston his residence. (fn. 60) The manor then descended with Wilton
in Ellerburn parish (q.v.) until 1817. (fn. 61) By 1857 it
had come into the possession of the Cayleys of
Brompton, and Sir George E. A. Cayley, bart., is
the present lord of the manor.
Thompson. Party fessewise argent and sable a fesse battled on both sides between three falcons countercoloured having bells and jesses or.
The Hastings, lords of the adjoining manor of
Allerston (q.v.), had rights in the mill and other tenements here in the 12th and 13th centuries, (fn. 62) and
were holding 9 oxgangs of land in the 14th and 15th
centuries. (fn. 63) This from 1513 is called a manor; it
has descended with the manor of Allerston. (fn. 64)
Alan Bushell had rents in Ebberston in 1202, (fn. 65)
and the succeeding lords of Hutton Bushel (q.v.) held
tenements. (fn. 66) These are the Conyers' lands mentioned
in 1442. (fn. 67)
In 1202 William son of Rabell granted Alan
Bushell, lord of Hutton Bushel, 10s. rent from the
mill. (fn. 68) The latter at some time gave all his lands in
Ebberston to Roger son of Ughtred, reserving a rent
to himself and heirs, (fn. 69) and in 1291 the Prioress of
Wykeham as guardian of Simon Ughtred's daughter
and heiress Margaret and Adam de Pickering and
Maud his wife were called on to warrant a third
of two mills in Ebberston to Philip le Gunneys and
Alice his wife. (fn. 70) In 1335 Alan Malcake held the
lands formerly belonging to Philip Gunneys. (fn. 71)
Yedingham Priory had various grants here, (fn. 72) and
was said in 1276 to possess half a carucate of land. (fn. 73)
Thomas Barry of Kirkby Misperton gave the mill
called Godive to Yedingham Priory, a grant confirmed
by Peter de Gaola and Sybil his wife. Baldwin de
Allerston made the same grant, confirmed by his son
John and Alan son of Reynold de Thornton. (fn. 74) Early
in 1218–19 Mary widow of Andrew, clerk of Ebberston, quitclaimed to the nuns of Yedingham her
dower in half the mill. (fn. 75) In January 1539–40
the Crown leased the site of the priory with tenements in Ebberston to William Thwaites of Lund, (fn. 76)
and in 1543 the reversion was granted to Robert
Holgate, Bishop of Llandaff, in fee. (fn. 77) Thomas Holgate
made a conveyance of these tenements in the spring
of 1575–6. (fn. 78)
Land here was also held by Malton Priory, (fn. 79) and
an annual rent of £8 9s. 4d. from lands in Stainton
and Ebberston was part of the endowment of the
Hospital of Jesus of Guisborough provided in 1566
by Robert Pursglove, clerk, (fn. 80) here described as of
Hutton near Guisborough.
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel 34 ft. 4 in.
by 14 ft., nave 63 ft. by 19 ft. 3 in. with
north aisle 38 ft. 3 in. long, making a total width of
27 ft. 6 in., west tower and south porch. The total
length is 108 ft., all the measurements being internal.
The 12th-century church consisted of an aisleless
nave about 39 ft. long and a chancel, and of this
building the south nave wall and part of the north
wall of the chancel are still standing. About the year
1200 the north nave wall was pulled down and an
aisle built out on that side and during the 13th
century the chancel was largely rebuilt, the whole of
the east and south walls being of that period. In the
following century the west wall was removed and the
nave extended some 24 ft. to the west and a western
tower added. At the same time a chapel was constructed adjoining the south side of the lengthened
nave and windows were inserted in the Norman wall
further east. The chapel was probably pulled down
at the Reformation and the arch filled in. The
church has been extensively restored in modern times,
the north aisle being largely rebuilt with the chancel
arch and the south chancel wall. A south porch has
also been added.
The chancel has a small two-light late 13th-century
east window, and the east wall of the same date has
two flat dwarf buttresses against it and a deep plinth.
In the south wall are three single-light windows with
trefoiled heads of the 13th century and in the north
wall is a lancet with a semicircular internal head.
The western part of the north wall is of 12th-century
date and contains a small round-headed Norman
window. The corresponding portion of the south
wall has been largely rebuilt. The chancel arch is
modern and has been fitted with an oak screen.
The nave has a north arcade of three bays built
about 1200 and having circular columns and arches
of two chamfered orders. The capital of the second
column from the east has conventional foliage and
all have octagonal abaci. The bases are of the
'hold-water' type with foliage spur ornaments and
rest on square plinths. This aisle extends only as far
west as the original Norman nave and beyond it the
wall is of 14th-century date. The south wall opposite
the arcade is of the 12th century and contains
three inserted windows with modern tracery. One
of these is a large square-headed three-light opening of 14th-century character. The south door is
semicircular-headed and recessed in two orders, the
outer order of the arch having a roll moulding and
resting on modern side shafts. The door retains some
ancient ironwork. In the 14th-century wall further
west is a very wide segmental pointed arch formerly
opening into a chapel. It is now blocked up with a
two-light window inserted in the filling. The north
aisle has been practically rebuilt, and inserted in the
wall are a small slab bearing a sword, the head of
a floreated cross, and two grotesque heads from a
Norman corbel table. The gabled south porch is a
modern addition. The west tower is small and plain,
the bell-chamber stage being set back slightly and
having a two-light pointed 14th-century window in
each face, except the north, which has a single light.
The tower is unsupported by buttresses and is finished
with a simple embattled parapet.
The font is circular, the bowl being moulded at
the upper and lower edge and dating from the 14th
century. The roofs are modern and slated. On the
south side of the building is a churchyard cross with
a circular base and the lower part of a 15th-century
octagonal shaft. It is now finished with a modern
head. Near it is a massive 13th-century slab bearing
a floreated cross, pincers, horseshoe and a hammer.
The bells were recast in 1913, before which they
were three in number, the tenor cast by Lester &
Pack of London in 1765, the second inscribed, 'Soli
deo gloria S.S. 1663,' and the third, 'Gloria in
altissimis deo 1675 S.S.'
The plate consists of a cup bearing the mark of
Robert Harrington, York, 1631, a cover paten perhaps earlier, and a modern set.
The registers previous to 1812 are as follows: (i)
baptisms 1680 to 1759, burials 1678 to 1760, marriages 1680 to 1753; (ii) baptisms and burials 1761
to 1812; (iii) marriages 1754 to 1812.
Advowson
The living is a vicarage united
with Allerston (fn. 81) (q.v.), both being
originally dependent on the Dean of
York and peculiar of Pickering. (fn. 82) Thomas, priest of
Ebberston, is mentioned in 1166–7, (fn. 83) and the vicar
paid 1s. subsidy in 1301–2. (fn. 84) Lands for sustaining a light in the church of Ebberston were granted
to Edward Downing and Roger Rant in 1590. (fn. 85)
Charities
The Wesleyan chapel, founded by
deed 1811, is regulated by a scheme of
the Charity Commissioners of 1867.
The National school in that part of Snainton which
is in this parish was founded by Hugh Cayley, and
is regulated by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 10 November 1893, whereby the superintendence of the religious instruction of the scholars is
reserved to the officiating minister of Snainton, and
the buildings are used for the Sunday school.