EAST COWTON
Cottune (xi cent.); Magna Couton, Cuton (xiixiii cent.); Temple Couton, East Cowton (xiv cent.);
East or Long Cowton (xvi-xviii cent.); Atclay or
Long Cowton (xviii cent.).
When Northumbria was ravaged by the Danes in
the 9th century the monks who bore the bones of
St. Cuthbert from Lindisfarne halted at South
Cowton. (fn. 1) In 1086 there were three contiguous
hamlets afterwards known as North, South and
East Cowton. Subsequently two other settlements, Atlow Cowton and Temple Cowton, were
formed between these three Cowtons, and as Atlow
Cowton lies east of North and South Cowton it
was sometimes called East Cowton before it merged
in the last-named, while East Cowton itself, as shown
above, occasionally took its title from the Templars'
lands that lay within its bounds and also enjoyed the
qualifications of 'Great' and 'Long.' This confusion
led Gale to note: 'Atlowecouton. Villa eadem
quae et East Cowton.' (fn. 2) The parish lies geographically in the vale of Mowbray, though it was never
part of the fee of the barons of Mowbray. The
ground is richly wooded and comparatively low and
level, the height varying from about 160 ft. to 190 ft.
The road from North Cowton in Gilling parish runs
east through East Cowton and ascends to Great
Smeaton, from which fine views are to be obtained
over 'the vale.'
At Northallerton, 5 miles south-east of East
Cowton, the English forces were assembled in 1138
against David I of Scotland, and on Cowton Moor
was fought the battle of the Standard, (fn. 3) where 10,000
Scots are said to have been slain; there in Gale's
time were still to be seen trenches that bore the
name of the 'Scots Pits.' (fn. 4) In 1300 Edward I,
who at this time made York his capital and was
advancing with a new army against Robert Bruce,
stayed at Temple Cowton. (fn. 5)
The area of the parish is 3,369 acres, and about
a fourth of the whole area is grazing ground. The
subsoil is red sandstone and marls, the soil clay
and gravel. The chief crops are wheat, oats and
barley.
The village lies irregularly along the road, with
narrow strips of grass in places, with a slight descent
at the western end, where one branch leads south
through the park to Pepper Arden House, the main
road continuing past the rectory to the small church,
which stands in an exposed position on a slope half
a mile to the west of the village.
A National school was erected in 1842 and a
Primitive Methodist chapel in 1903. The inhabitants are mainly engaged in agricultural pursuits.
Cowton station is on the main line of the NorthEastern railway, about a mile north-east of the
village.
The following place-names, among others, occur
in 1240–1: Mikeleighflat, Wigenholm, Heyricotes,
Ukkemannenge, Ellekelde, Wedholmes, Walthesdile,
Stapelhilles, Castelland, Cotegrene, Thurkilbergh,
Novasbreches, Vetlesbreches, Cokelbergh and Redholmes. (fn. 6)
Manor
EAST COWTON belonged in the
time of the Confessor to Torchil, from
whom it passed at the Conquest to
Landric the man of Count Alan. (fn. 7) It was ever afterwards held directly of the lords of Richmond, its
owners doing suit at the court of Richmond every
three weeks. (fn. 8) From some time in the reign of
Stephen (fn. 9) to the end of the 12th century it was held
as one fee (and must have included South Cowton, (fn. 10)
q.v.) by Conan son of Elias, who, again, was son
of Theophania daughter of Roald the Constable. (fn. 11)
Conan was probably seneschal of the lord of Richmond, and had, like other household officers a station
at Richmond Castle, his being at the east, outside the
wall and close to the court of the keep. (fn. 12) Conan had
no children, and his inheritance was divided between
his aunts Beatrice, Parnel and Constance. (fn. 13) William
de Lascelles, son of Parnel, and Elias de Crakehall, son
of Constance, (fn. 14) granted their parts to their heir Sir
Richard Fitton (fn. 15) of Bollin in Cheshire; but the part
of Beatrice, who married one of the family of Hornby,
was retained by her descendants until her greatgrandson Thomas de Hornby (fn. 16) in 1241 granted half
of one third of the capital messuage and fish-pond to
Sir Richard Fitton (fn. 17) in exchange for a quitclaim in
Smeaton. (fn. 18) This Sir Richard was seneschal of the
Earl of Richmond for eighteen years in the time of
Ranulph Earl of Chester (fn. 19) (1181–1232). (fn. 20) His
descendants (fn. 21) held East Cowton (fn. 22) until his greatgrandson John gave it to William Clervaux of Croft
for life, (fn. 23) and in 1324 confirmed the reversion to
him. (fn. 24) From this time until 1548 the Clervaux
family of Croft (q.v.) held East Cowton. (fn. 25) Richard
Clervaux obtained a grant of free warren in February
1477–8. (fn. 26)
In 1548 John Clervaux conveyed the manor and
advowson to George Dakyns, (fn. 27) presumably a connexion
of the benefactor of Kirkby Ravensworth Hospital
and School (fn. 28) ; in 1577–8 George, son and heir of
George Dakyns and Elizabeth Mary otherwise Mary
his wife, made a settlement of the manor, (fn. 29) and in
1622 Arthur Dakyns and Elizabeth his wife conveyed it to Sir Henry Anderson, kt. (fn. 30) The new
owner of East Cowton was possibly a very turbulent and certainly a very unfortunate person. He
wished to buy from one Bacon, the lessee of the
hospital, the lease of East Cowton advowson, which
Dr. John Dakyns had granted to the hospital at
Kirkby Ravensworth, and, when Bacon refused, he
connived at his agents cudgelling and beating
Bacon with staves and pitchforks and bidding him
'get out of the town, like a skipjack fellow as he
was, or else he should be beaten out'; but, instead
of making the village too hot to hold Bacon, he
found himself, his son and two of their agents committed to the Fleet, and was heavily fined and forced
to pay £100 to Bacon as indemnity. Crippled by
debt, in about 1640 he leased East Cowton to
Richard Remington of Lund and his brother Sir
Thomas Remington of Beverley as security for a loan
of £1,000. In 1650, while still in the Fleet and
'without means to pay his debts or to subsist,' he
was charged with having been about Northampton
with Royalist proclamations, and was committed to
the Tower. Absolved on this account, he for some
time remained a prisoner for debt. (fn. 31) In 1662 his son
Henry Anderson and others sold the manor to Thomas
Earl of Elgin, Lord Whorlton. (fn. 32) Robert Earl of
Aylesbury and Elgin and others in 1667 conveyed the
manor to John Lord Belasyse, (fn. 33) whose only surviving
daughter and heir Barbara
married Sir John Webb of
Great Canford in Dorset and
Odstock in Wilts., third
baronet. (fn. 34) From her it has
descended to Lady Chermside
of Newstead Abbey, Notts.,
second daughter of the late
Frederick William Webb and
the present lady of the manor.
Webb of Odstock, baronet. Gules a cross between four falcons or.
In 1240–1 Robert Chambard, an under-tenant in East
Cowton, (fn. 35) granted 6 oxgangs
of land to the Knights of the
Temple (fn. 36) ; this seems to have
been the only land held here by them, and to have
formed the manor of TEMPLE COWTON, the
custody of which was granted at the dissolution of the
order to Duncan Makduyl. (fn. 37) Temple Cowton was
granted with the other lands of the Templars to the
Hospitallers, who in the early 16th century held 'the
lordship of Felixkirk and Temple Cowton.' (fn. 38) The
order lost these lands at the Dissolution, but in 1558
Philip and Mary restored to them the capital messuage.
It was again seized by the Crown, and in 1568 was
granted in fee to Percival Bowes and John Moysier. (fn. 39)
Probably this land was sold to Cuthbert Pepper, for
in 1567 he bought seven-eighths of a messuage from
Sir George Bowes, (fn. 40) and in 1608 Sir Cuthbert
Pepper died seised of the reversion of the capital
messuage of Temple Cowton with 180 acres of land,
then held for life by Dame Margaret Dakyns. (fn. 41) The
Templars' lands were held by John Arderne in the
middle of the 18th century. (fn. 42)
In 1205 St. Mary's Abbey, York, had a grange in
this parish, (fn. 43) and kept it until their dissolution. (fn. 44)
Of their capital messuage here Brian Smithson died
seised in 1633, (fn. 45) and was succeeded by his son
Christopher. (fn. 46) The Abbot of Fountains also held
lands in Magna Cowton. (fn. 47)
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel 17 ft. 7 in.
by 13 ft. 2 in., with a small north
vestry, nave 34 ft. 3 in. by 19 ft. 3 in., south porch,
and a tiny brick tower 4 ft. 10 in. by 4 ft. 6 in.,
inside measurements.
The church appears to date from the 14th century,
although it is not improbable that there is earlier
work in the walling of the nave; but it has been
so much altered in its details since its erection that
there is no original detail left except in the chancel.
It is now a mean-looking little building, and being
at some distance from the village, and in a bad state
of repair, has been abandoned in favour of a new
church built in the village.
The east window appears to have old tracery of
three trefoiled lights with mullions crossing in the
head; the label outside is of plain section and has
mask stops. To the north of the window is a moulded
image bracket, and to the south part of a projecting
string-course of red sandstone, very much decayed.
The only opening in the north wall is a modern
doorway into the vestry; the latter is of brick. The
south-east window of the chancel is now blocked; it
was a single light, but of what form cannot now be
seen. The south-west window was a low-side window,
but its lower part is now filled in; it is a single
square-headed light with a segmental rear arch. The
walls of the chancel are of rubble, plastered
outside and in. The roof is modern. The chancel
arch is apparently of 14th-century date; the jambs
and arch are of two chamfered orders, the bases are
buried, and the moulded capitals have been more or
less recut. On the soffit of the arch is a groove
which received the former boarding behind the rood
loft.
All the windows of the nave have wood frames
of 18th-century or later date, generally with brick
jambs. At the west end is a wooden gallery. The
south doorway is modern. The south porch is of
brick. In the west wall is a small square-headed
doorway into the turret, and over it the round head
of a former window, now blocked by the tower.
The brick 'tower' is open from the ground, and is
lighted near the top by small round-headed windows;
it used to contain two bells, one of which has now
been transferred to the new church.
The font is of 12th-century date, cylindrical in
form, with a cable mould and edge roll at the top
and zigzag carving on the sides. One of its old
staples remains, and it shows signs of having once
been painted. There is an 18th-century altar-table
and panelling, also a 'three-decker' pulpit.
A piece of an early 14th-century coffin-lid is used
as a chancel step; it has leaf carving on its chamfered
edge. In the churchyard east of the church is
another long slab with a cross carved upon it, having
a floreated head, and leaves on both sides of the stem.
The plate includes a cup of 1570, with a maker's
mark R. G. for Robert Gylmyn of York. It is bellshaped, with egg pattern round the base of the bowl.
The paten is dated 1910.
The registers begin in 1754.
Advowson
The advowson of the church
afterwards known as that of St. Mary
of Cowton was given by Conan son
of Elias to Bridlington Priory, and his gift was
confirmed by Pope Eugenius and King Stephen (fn. 48) ;
a charter of Henry II confirmed the gift as that
of Eustace son of John, (fn. 49) the ancestor of the family
of Vescy, (fn. 50) but this is the only known record connecting that family with this place. In 1330, with
the consent of the Prior and convent of Bridlington,
of the Bishop of Coventry and the Chancellor of
Lincoln, the Archbishop of York assigned the church
for life to a canon of Bridlington, who was to pay
3 marks yearly to the prior and convent. A vicarage
was ordained in 1272, and in 1292 the church was
said to be appropriated to the Prior of Bridlington. (fn. 51)
Bridlington Priory held the church (fn. 52) until at the
Dissolution it passed to the Crown. Although no
grant of it to him has been found, the advowson
must have come into the hands of John Clervaux,
for in 1548 he sold it to George Dakyns. (fn. 53) Two
years later the king granted it to John Bellows and
William Fuller, (fn. 54) who were probably fishing grantees,
as the Dakyns certainly purchased the advowson (fn. 55)
and gave it to the new hospital and school at Kirkby
Ravensworth as provision for the schoolmaster after
ten years' services and when he became old and
decrepit. (fn. 56) The patronage has from this time (fn. 57) to
the present day been exercised by the Warden and
Poor People of the hospital.
A dispute between the Prior and convent of
Bridlington and Sir Richard Fitton and Sir Hugh
his son was brought to an end in 1240, when it was
decided that the Fittons should pay tithes to the
mother-church of Cowton, and should have at their
own costs a chantry in the chapel of St. James in
this parish. (fn. 58) Of this chapel there is no subsequent
mention.
Charities
Dr. Dakyns's Foundation. See
under Kirkby Ravensworth, the
hospital of St. John the Baptist.
Dame Mary Calverley's Charity. This parish is
entitled to benefit under her will, 1715.