KIRKLINGTON
Cherdinton (xi cent.); Kyrtelyngton (xiii cent.).
In 1831 the ecclesiastical parish of Kirklington
included the townships of Kirklington with Upsland,
Howgrave, Sutton (Howgrave) and East Tanfield.
These are now civil parishes. Kirklington lies low, the
height above ordnance datum varying generally from
125 ft. to 150 ft., but the ground rises in a few places to
175 ft. The soil is strong loam on a subsoil of either
Keuper Marl, Magnesian Limestone, or alluvium.
The area of the whole ecclesiastical parish is about
4,164 acres. The chief crops are barley, seeds and
turnips, about two-fifths of the area being respectively
arable and pasture land, while about one-fifth is
woodland. (fn. 1) There is a railway station at Sinderby
on the North Eastern railway. Leeming Lane forms
the eastern boundary of the parish.
Kirklington with Upsland lies in the north of the
parish. The village of Kirklington is built about an
oblong green shaded by a number of fine chestnuts
and sycamores and entered at each corner by lanes.
The houses are generally two-storied, brick built
and tiled. At the south-west end stand the church
of St. Michael and the rectory, and further up the
green to the north is a Primitive Methodist chapel
built in 1877. The lane at the north-western
extremity of the green is lined with trees, and leads
a short distance down-hill and then across Healam
Beck to Kirklington Hall, the residence of Mr.
Wandesford, uncle of the present owner, and formerly
the seat of the Wandesford family.
The house is of rubble with dressed quoins, two
stories high with attics, and stands within a moat now
largely filled in. The gardens are inclosed by a massive
red brick wall of the 17th century, containing numerous
niches, the purpose of which is uncertain. The north
gable of the house fell in at the end of the 18th century,
and that part has been rebuilt in an unsatisfactory
manner, but the external walls are largely intact and
the southern end remains untouched. It is rectangular
on plan, with wings projecting to the westward at
the north and south ends. The entrance, however,
is in the centre of the side opposite these projections
and fronts east. This side is fitted with modern
sash windows and retains no ancient features. The
original south wing dates from about 1570, and is
finished with a gable with moulded copings and pinnacles at the apex and bases. The pinnacles have
octagonal wreathed shafts and moulded capitals and
bases. A similar gable rises at the south end of the
house. The windows to the wing are of three lights
each, with stone mullions, that in the gable being
transomed. The west or garden front with the
exception of this wing has been much altered, but
retains two stone chimney stacks resting on corbels,
one of which is original to the top, having a square
shaft of ashlar and an embattled capping. Another
chimney stack of two coupled shafts and similar
character remains on the south wing. The northern
wing has been despoiled of its parapets and stone
windows, and is now bare and uninteresting.
The interior of the house contains two rooms of
interest. The drawing room at the south-east angle
of the first floor is an exceedingly handsome example
of Elizabethan work. Round the room runs a richly
modelled plaster frieze with escallops, pomegranates
and grotesque animals in great variety. It bears also
the initials [W C E] with a fleur de lis for Sir Christopher
Wandesford (died 1590) and Elizabeth (Bowes) his
wife. Below the frieze the walls are panelled and
divided into bays by fluted pilasters, each panel
having an arched enrichment. The fireplace has an
elaborately carved overmantel, flanked by fluted
pilasters, and having a large shield in the centre
encircled with the garter with supporters on either
side. It bears the quartered coat of Hastings Earls
of Huntingdon, and is probably that of Henry third
earl (died 1595). The rich plaster ceiling is divided
by moulded ribs into geometrical panels, with five
pendants. Each panel is enriched with pomegranates,
salamanders, escallops and other designs, with four
coats of arms which have been recently coloured.
There are two shields of Wandesford impaling Bowes.
The other two are the arms of Wandesford quartering
Musters, Colvile, Norton, Fulthorpe and Bland. The
crest is a church proper, the spire azure. Opening
out of this room is a small closet. The smoking
room to the north of the drawing room is fitted
with panelling of the time of Charles II with a deep
wooden cornice. The fireplace is flanked by Jacobean
Ionic pilasters. The small staircase leading to these
rooms has a solid newel wall and early 18th-century
balusters.
North of Kirklington Hall is Yarnwick Garth, in
which is the southern extremity of earthworks connected with the series round Camp Hill in Carthorpe
(q.v.). The barrow known as Stapley Hill, half a
mile east of the village, was opened in 1903, and the
arms and other objects recovered are preserved in
the village reading-room. (fn. 2) The Healam Beck flows
through the parish in an easterly direction towards
the village and forms the mill race, then flowing
northwards it forms the boundary line between Kirklington and Carthorpe. Upsland is in the southwest corner of the parish and consists of one or two
farm-houses, near which are the remains of a moat.
Howgrave Hall, the former home of the Bendlowes, stood on the north-west of Sutton Howgrave
hamlet, which lies to the south-west of Kirklington.
The existing house is a fragment only of the original
late 17th-century building, and has been lowered in
height and covered with rough-cast. The southern end,
however, retains its moulded string-course and rusticated
angles, and an old round-headed doorway is refixed in
the east side. To the north-west of the house stands
a red brick two-storied building, now a barn, of similar
or earlier date. The gable ends are shaped and
pedimented, and were formerly ornamented with
stone balls. The brick cornice to the eaves is five
courses high, and between the stories is a moulded
string. The upper floor was lighted by four windows
on the south side with eared brick architraves, and the
building appears to have once served as a banquetinghouse. Old red brick and stone walls inclose a considerable garden area, and on the north are two
handsome rusticated gate piers. The field to the
south of the house also shows traces of extensive
terraces and gardens in that direction.
To the south lies the small village of Sutton Howgrave, consisting of a Wesleyan Methodist chapel and
a few houses. The village is connected with the road
to Kirklington by Lythe Bank, which passes Brunskay
pond.
The villages of Yarnwick and East Tanfield have
been long depopulated. The former had disappeared
before the reign of Henry VIII (fn. 3) ; the 'Towngate' of
East Tanfield is still marked by well-defined banks in
a field near the Ure. North of the site is the most
southerly of the line of circular earthworks that stretch
into the parish of West Tanfield ; there are several
tumuli in the neighbourhood, and north of the earthworks is Chapel Hill, where are old marl-pits and the
site of what is said to have been a chapel.
Le Utterest Exgang, Overams and Ruffy Hills occur
among the early place-names found in the parish.
The 'Newefelde' was among the lands of St. John of
Jerusalem. (fn. 4)
Manors
In the time of Edward the Confessor
Roschil had at KIRKLINGTON a
'manor' and 9 carucates; they passed
at the Conquest to Count Alan, (fn. 5) with whose successors
the overlordship remained. In 1086 the count's
tenant was Robert de Musters, whose sons Lisois and
Geoffrey succeeded him in turn. Robert son of
Geoffrey confirmed grants of his grandfather to St.
Mary's Abbey, York. (fn. 6) Geoffrey, (fn. 7) probably his son,
was succeeded by another Robert, patron of the
church in 1231. (fn. 8) John de Musters, the next lord,
had a son Robert, (fn. 9) who held Kirklington in 1286–7. (fn. 10)
His son William de Musters was lord of Kirklington
in 1316. (fn. 11) In 1330 a dispute arose between William
de Musters and Philip de Stowe and his wife Maud,
widow of Robert de Musters, father of William. (fn. 12)
Philip and Maud claimed the manor, which they
said had been granted by William to Maud and her
issue by Robert de Musters. They pleaded that
Maud had been seised of the manor in the time of
Edward II, but that William held it in 1329, and he
replied that he only held part of the manor, as John
de Musters, son of Robert, and two other tenants
also held land there. William de Musters died
without heirs, and his nephew John eventually succeeded as lord of Kirklington. (fn. 13) His son Henry
had an only daughter Elizabeth, through whom
the manor passed to the family of Wandesford.
Elizabeth, who held Kirklington in the reigns of
Edward III and Richard II, married first Alexander
Mowbray and secondly John de Wandesford, (fn. 14) whose
grandson John was in possession of Kirklington in
1436. (fn. 15) He died in 1463 and was succeeded
by his son Christopher Wandesford of Kirklington. (fn. 16)
Christopher's heir, Sir John Wandesford, kt., died
without issue, (fn. 17) and was succeeded by his brother
Thomas, who was seised of the manor at his death in
1518 and left a son and heir Christopher, then fourteen
years old, but already married to Anne daughter of
Sir John Norton, kt. (fn. 18) Christopher died in 1540. (fn. 19)
Francis his son, a minor at his father's death, (fn. 20) died
in 1559, leaving a son Christopher, (fn. 21) knighted by
Elizabeth. (fn. 22) Christopher died in 1590 and was
succeeded by his son George, (fn. 23) who was knighted by
James I (fn. 24) and died in 1612. (fn. 25) Sir George's son
Christopher is the most noted of the Wandesford
family. Born in 1592, he succeeded his father just
after he left Cambridge. He sat in Parliament from
1621 to 1628, became an intimate friend of Sir
Thomas Wentworth, afterwards Earl of Strafford, and
like him passed from resistance to the service of the
Crown about 1629. He was appointed Master of
the Rolls in Ireland and sworn of the Privy Council
in 1633, and in 1640, when Strafford left Ireland, he
became lord deputy, but died in the same year. (fn. 26)
His eldest son George was drowned in the Swale
unmarried, (fn. 27) and the manor of Kirklington afterwards
passed to another son Christopher, who was created a
baronet in 1662 and died in 1686–7. (fn. 28) His son Sir
Christopher Wandesford was advanced by Queen Anne
to the peerage of Ireland as Viscount Castlecomer in
March 1706–7, (fn. 29) but dying in September of that year
was succeeded by his son Sir Christopher Wandesford,
second Viscount Castlecomer. (fn. 30) He was succeeded at
his death in 1719 first by his only son Christopher,
who died unmarried in 1736, and afterwards by his
brother George, who was holding the manor of Kirklington in 1745, (fn. 31) and died in 1751. His son
Sir John, fifth Viscount Castlecomer, was created Earl
Wandesford in 1758, but the earldom expired at his
death in 1784, his only son having died before him. (fn. 32)
The manor descended to Lord Wandesford's daughter
and heir Ann, who married John Earl of Ormonde
in 1769. (fn. 33) Their fourth son Charles Harward
Butler-Clarke-Southwell-Wandesford held Kirklington in 1830 (fn. 34) and died in 1860 (fn. 35) ; the manor descended through his third son
Walter to his grandson Charles,
who died unmarried in 1881.
Kirklington then passed to
Sarah the sister of Walter
Butler - Clarke - Southwell Wandesford; she had married
the Rev. John Prior in 1836,
and was authorized to take
the additional surname of
Wandesford in 1882. (fn. 36) Mr.
Richard Henry Prior-Wandesford, her grandson, now owns
the manor.
Musters. Argent a bend in a border engrailed gules.
Wandesford. Or a lion azure with a forked tail.
Prior. Vert a bend ermine with three cheverons gules thereon.
In 1086 (fn. 37) Count Alan was
in possession of a 'manor' and 5 carucates of land in
EAST TANFIELD (Tanefeld, xi cent.; Estanfeld,
xiv cent.) that had belonged to Archil; the overlordship remained with the Earls of Richmond, (fn. 38) although
Eustace de Vesci claimed either the overlordship or
the mesne lordship of part of East Tanfield in 1215, (fn. 39)
and John de Vesci is said to have held 2 carucates
there of the king in 1286–7. (fn. 40) This lordship was
held by Sir Henry Clifford in the reign of Henry VII. (fn. 41)
The tenant of Count Alan was Gospatric. (fn. 42) In 1243
Avis Marmion, lady of West Tanfield (q.v.), obtained
a grant of free warren in her demesne lands in Tanfield, (fn. 43) and in 1286–7 she is said to have held in
demesne 2 of the 8 carucates in the vill of John de
Vesci, and to have exercised a mesne lordship over
the remaining 6, which she held presumably of the
Earl of Richmond. (fn. 44) John Marmion, grandson of
Avis, obtained a charter of free warren in his
demesne lands of East Tanfield in 1292. (fn. 45) The
Marmion holding descended with Carthorpe (q.v.)
to Elizabeth the wife of Sir Henry Fitz Hugh, kt.,
who was seised of the manor at her death in 1427, (fn. 46)
and after this time East Tanfield followed the descent
of West Tanfield (q.v.) until 1885 or 1886, when it
was purchased by Mr. Thomas Nussey from the
third Marquess of Ailesbury. His son Sir Willans
Nussey, bart., D.L., J.P., is now the chief landowner,
but does not exercise any manorial rights. (fn. 47)
Cleasby. Gules two bends argent and a quarter ermine.
In 1286–7 the 6 carucates over which Avis
Marmion had a mesne lordship were held by her
tenant Robert de Cleasby, (fn. 48)
apparently as inheritance from
his grandfather Robert de
Cleasby. (fn. 49) Emma daughter
of the later Robert married
Robert de Hastings, (fn. 50) who
had a grant of free warren in
his demesne lands here in
1314, (fn. 51) and was said to be
holding part of Carthorpe and
East Tanfield with John Marmion in 1316. (fn. 52) Robert de
Hastings died without issue,
and his part of East Tanfield
came with Cleasby (q.v.) into
the hands of Emma's second husband Henry Fitz
Hugh of Ravensworth. James de Cleasby, who
claimed to be the son and heir of Robert, with John
son of Thomas Laton and his wife Christine, released
it to Sir Henry Fitz Hugh, kt., in 1348. (fn. 53) This
part of the vill was evidently re-united with the
Marmion manor through Sir Henry's great-grandson
Sir Henry Fitz Hugh, kt., who married Elizabeth,
the representative of the Marmions. (fn. 54)
Bishopric of Durham. Azure a cross or between four lions argent.
The 'manor' and 4 carucates in SUTTON HOWGRAVE (Sudtone, xi cent.; Sutton Holgrave, xiv
cent.) held before the Conquest by Floteman had become by 1086 demesne of
Count Alan. The soke of 3
of these carucates belonged to
the Bishop of Durham. (fn. 55) The
overlordship continued with
the Earls of Richmond.
Savage, Earl Rivers. Argent six lions sable.
Egerton, Duke of Bridgewater. Argent a lion gules between three pheons sable.
The manor belonged in
the middle of the 13th century to Gilbert de Rougemond, or Richmond, whose
son Ralph was the principal
tenant here in 1286–7. (fn. 56) In
1333 Peter de Richmond,
who was evidently acting on behalf of the family of
Rougemond, conveyed the manor to Henry le Scrope, (fn. 57)
who died seised of it in 1336. (fn. 58) Richard son of
Ralph and grandson of Gilbert de Rougemond claimed
the manor against Hugh Mortimer and Margery his
wife, who was the widow of Sir Henry le Scrope (fn. 59) ;
she vouched to warranty Richard le Scrope, (fn. 60) the son
of Sir Henry. While the plea was pending the manor
was taken into the king's hands, but Richard de
Rougemond evidently did not make good his claim, as
Sutton Howgrave is afterwards found with the Scropes.
In 1358 Sir Richard le Scrope held the custody of all
lands and tenements there. (fn. 61) His son Sir Roger was
seised at his death in 1403 of the manor of Sutton
Howgrave, (fn. 62) and it followed the descent of Castle
Bolton (q.v.), with which it was divided in 1646
among the illegitimate daughters of Emmanuel Lord
Scrope of Bolton: Mary, who married first Henry
Cary Earl of Monmouth, and then Charles Paulet
afterwards Marquess of Winchester, Elizabeth, who
married Thomas Savage Earl Rivers, and Annabella,
who married John Grubham Howe. (fn. 63) How long
each of these families retained their share it is difficult to determine. All three were parties to a fine
concerning the manor in 1653. (fn. 64) In 1676 Thomas
Savage, the eldest son of Lord Rivers and Elizabeth,
seems to have been in possession of the manor of
Sutton Howgrave. (fn. 65) He died before his father, and
his brother Richard, who succeeded to the earldom,
held the manor in 1706, and died without children
in 1712. Their cousin, who became Lord Rivers,
was ordained a priest of the Roman Church before
1712, and at his death soon after 1735 all his
honours became extinct. (fn. 66) Francis Duke of Bridgewater, who was the grandson of the fourth Earl of
Bridgewater and Jane daughter of the Earl of
Sunderland's eldest daughter Mary, was in possession
of the manor of Sutton Howgrave in 1760. (fn. 67) He
died unmarried in 1803 and the manor passed to his
cousin and heir John William Earl of Bridgewater,
who died without children in 1823. (fn. 68) After the
death of his widow in 1849 his estates went to his
great-nephew John Hume Home-Cust, son of Lord
Brownlow, (fn. 69) but it is uncertain whether Sutton
Howgrave was included amongst them. An estate
in Sutton Howgrave has been lately acquired by
Mrs. John George Oddy of Holt, Norfolk, from
I. and W. Lutin, then owners, but there are no
manorial rights attached to it. (fn. 70)
Bishopric of Durham. Azure a cross or between four lions argent.
At the time of the Domesday Survey there were
5 carucates in HOWGRAVE (Hogrem, Hograve,
xi cent.; Holgrave, xv cent.) belonging to Count
Alan. Of these the earl had 1, the Archbishop of
York 2, and the Bishop of
Durham 2. (fn. 71) In 1316 the
vill of Howgrave was reckoned
as within the Bishop of Durham's liberty of Northallerton, (fn. 72) and to this it still belonged
in the 17th century. (fn. 73) Robert
de Conyers held Howgrave
under the Bishop of Durham
in 1316, (fn. 74) and shortly afterwards he granted a messuage,
land and rent in Hutton
Conyers and Howgrave to a
chaplain in the church of St.
John the Baptist, Hutton
Conyers. (fn. 75) In the 16th century, when Howgrave
seems to have been first called a manor, it was in the
hands of the Wandesfords of Kirklington. Francis
Wandesford died seised of it in 1559, (fn. 76) and after this
time it followed the descent of Kirklington (q.v.)
until at least 1830. (fn. 77) Howgrave Hall Farm, where
there is an old tithe-barn, is now the property of
Sir Willans Nussey, bart., D.L., J.P., who purchased it from the executors of Mr. Other soon after
1900. (fn. 78)
The two 'manors' and 3 carucates which Archil
and Torfin had held at UPSLAND (Opsala, Upsale,
xi cent.; Uppeslunde, xiii cent.) were held in
demesne in 1086 by Count Alan, (fn. 79) whose successors
retained the overlordship. In or before the 13th
century the mesne lordship of Upsland was divided
between the lords of Tanfield and Middleham. (fn. 80) Hugh
son of Gernegan had rights there (fn. 81) which his successors,
the Marmions and Fitz Hughs, retained until the 16th
century. (fn. 82) The Nevills' share formed part of a knight's
fee belonging to their manor of Crakehall. (fn. 83) In 1286–7
William de Holteby held 2 carucates in Upsland
under Mary de Nevill, lady of Middleham, and 1
carucate under Avis Marmion, (fn. 84) but part if not all of
Upsland seems to have passed shortly afterwards to
Thomas Colvill, who held 2 carucates of Ralph and
Mary Nevill (fn. 85) ; his successors are later also found
holding of the Fitz Hughs. (fn. 86) The heirs in this
family were called Thomas Colvill for four generations and were tenants in Upsland until 1405, when
Sir Thomas Colvill, kt., was seised at his death of
the manor, held of Sir Henry Fitz Hugh, kt. (fn. 87) His
heir was John Percy of Kildale, (fn. 88) to whom he was
second cousin once removed, (fn. 89) but in consequence
of his forfeiture a certain William Yearsley, said to be
the brother of Thomas Colvill, obtained from the
king in that year a grant of Upsland Manor for life,
with reversion to the Crown. (fn. 90) John Percy of Kildale, however, was restored in 1417, and at his death
in 1442 he was seised of the manor of Upsland. (fn. 91)
Upsland is next found in the possession of William
Bulmer in the reign of Henry VII. (fn. 92) He had probably
acquired it by marriage with one of the daughters and
heirs of the last John Percy of Kildale (q.v.). The lands
of both William Parr Marquess of Northampton, the
descendant of the Fitz Hughs, and Charles Nevill
Earl of Westmorland, escheated to the Crown in the
reign of Elizabeth, (fn. 93) and their right in Upsland was
granted by her, among others, to William Cecil Lord
Burghley, (fn. 94) of whom a William Bulmer held it at his
death in 1575. (fn. 95) William Bulmer had settled half
the manor on his wife Margery and leased the other
half to Francis Haggeston for twenty-four years in
1571. (fn. 96) His son and heir Christopher was a year
and a half old in 1575, (fn. 97) but does not seem to have
succeeded his father in Upsland. He must have
sold the manor to Lord Burghley, who was seised
of it at his death in 1598 (fn. 98) ; from this time Upsland
followed the descent of the manor of West Tanfield
(q.v.) until the 19th century. When the Yorkshire
property of the third Marquess of Ailesbury was dispersed in about 1886 Upsland was broken up amongst
several small proprietors. Mr. Alnwick, Mr. Thompson
and Sir Willans Nussey are now the chief landowners. (fn. 99)
YARNWICK (Gernuic, xi cent.; Marnewyk,
xiv cent.), where Gernan previously had a 'manor'
and 3 carucates, was among the lands granted to
Count Alan after the Conquest (fn. 100) ; it afterwards
became a member of the honour of Richmond. In
1086 Yarnwick was held by Robert de Musters,
whose descendant Robert held a mesne lordship at
the beginning of the 14th century. (fn. 101) Under him
Robert de Tateshall was returned in 1286–7 as
another mesne lord of 1 carucate which was held of
him by Roger de Ingoldsby. (fn. 102) Robert de Tateshall's
successors, (fn. 103) the Nevills of Raby, retained rights of
overlordship in Yarnwick until at least the end of the
14th century. (fn. 104) One of the tenants in the latter
part of the 13th century was Hugh son of Thomas
de Yarnwick; in 1294 he conferred his lands and
tenements there upon William le Scrope, (fn. 105) who had a
grant of free warren in his demesne lands of Yarnwick
in 1296. (fn. 106) His younger son Geoffrey le Scrope (fn. 107)
'acquired the rights of several different holders in
Yarnwick, rendering to William de Musters as chief
lord of the fee a barbed arrow for all his services.' (fn. 108)
Geoffrey received a grant of free warren there in
1317. (fn. 109) In 1340 he granted the manor of Yarnwick
to Thomas de Nevill and Cicely his wife in exchange
for the manor of Watlass. (fn. 110) Sir William de Nevill of
Pickhill, their son and heir, was in possession in
1389, (fn. 111) and the manor descended with this family of
Nevill (fn. 112) to Thomas Nevill of Holt, (fn. 113) who sold it to
Anne Wandesford in 1544. (fn. 114) Her son Francis
Wandesford was seised of the manor at his death in
1559, (fn. 115) and from that time it followed the descent of
Kirklington (q.v.), with which it became united.
Tateshall. Checky or and gules a chief ermine.
Nevill. Gules a saltire argent.
Church
The church of ST. MICHAEL consists of a chancel measuring internally
43 ft. by 19 ft. 8 in., north vestry, nave
51 ft. 8 in. by 22 ft. 4 in., north and south aisles,
west tower 12 ft. by 12 ft. 7 in. and north and south
porches.
The angles of the original aisleless nave, which was
probably built early in the 12th century, show at the
north-east, south-east and north-west, and there is a
piece of cheveron ornament in the east wall of the
south aisle. The chancel dates from about a hundred
years later, but appears to have been remodelled and
partly rebuilt about 1340, when the aisles were added.
The west tower and clearstory of the nave are of the
late 15th century. The vestry and porches are
modern, but have replaced old ones.
The chancel has a large 15th-century east window of
five cinquefoiled lights, having on its sill the marks of
the fitting of a contemporary reredos, and on each side
a trefoil-headed locker rebated for a door. In the
north wall are three 13th-century lancets, one looking
into the vestry, and at the west end a 14th-century
window of two trefoiled lights with a quatrefoiled
spandrel; its jambs are splayed, but the head is not
and sets forward on shaped corbels. There are two
doorways in the wall—a blocked one of the 13th
century, with nail-head on its abaci, and a 14thcentury doorway to the vestry of two continuous
moulded orders. In the south wall are two 14thcentury windows similar to that opposite, and beneath
the sill of the eastern one is a double piscina; the
third bay is taken up by a modern organ recess, and in
the fourth bay is a two-light 14th-century window of
more elaborate detail with leaf tracery. The chancel
arch is two-centred and of two chamfered orders, of
which the outer dies into the wall, and the inner
springs from half-octagonal moulded capitals of a
rather coarse section resting on splayed corbels.
The nave has north and south arcades of four bays
with octagonal columns and two-centred arches of
the same date and detail as the chancel arch, but
having labels stopped with a rather unusual set of
carvings, those in the south aisle being particularly
notable. One is a large human head from whose
mouth two lizards crawl and bite smaller heads on
each side, and another shows two lizard-like monsters
on the shoulders of a man. The late 15th-century
clearstory has three two-light windows a side having
trefoiled lights under flat heads. The aisles have
14th-century windows in their side walls like that in
the north wall of the chancel, those in the east
walls being similar to the south-east window of the
chancel. There is a small recess to the north of the
east window of the north aisle and a plain bracket
to the south of the corresponding window in the other
aisle. The north and south doorways, also 14thcentury work, are in two continuous wave-moulded
pointed orders interrupted at the springing by small
moulded capitals. The tower arch is in two chamfered
orders dying out at the springing; the west window
of the ground stage is of three uncusped lights
with tracery and at the south-east is a stair turret
entered from the inside of the tower and having
over the doorway a small two-light window. The
stages of the tower are unmarked by external stringcourses and there are diagonal buttresses running
the full height and ending at the embattled parapet
in disproportionately small pinnacles. The belfry
windows are square-headed, and have two trefoiled
lights divided by a transom. There are very few
other openings except the west window already
noted, those that do exist being plain square-headed
lights.
The font is modern and has a circular bowl with
elaborate ornament; it stands at the west end of
the south aisle. In the lancet window looking into
the vestry is some old glass; in the top part are three
heads of saints, in the centre is the crest of the
Wandesfords, a church. In the south wall of the south
aisle are two ogee-arched tomb recesses with trefoiled
heads with good 14th-century mouldings and finials.
In one of these is the effigy of a knight in plate armour
with a mail hauberk and a pointed bascinet; the
material is fine limestone and the execution is extremely
good. On the left arm he bears a shield with a
beautifully carved rampant lion. In the second recess
is the companion figure, that of a lady in mantle and
close-fitting gown ; both effigies lie on parts of a now
destroyed altar tomb decorated with blank shields. To
the east of these effigies is a fine tomb to Sir Christopher Wandesford, 1590, with his recumbent effigy,
and behind it a scrolled inscription panel with obelisks
and heraldry. On the base of the tomb are four fine
shields unusually good for the time: (1) Wandesford,
a lion rampant double queued; (2) the same impaling a cross moline, for Fulthorpe; (3) the same
impaling ermine three bows in pale, for Bowes; (4)
a bend within a border engrailed, for Musters. The
shield above is of six quarters: (1) Wandesford, (2)
Musters, (3) Colville, (4) Norton, (5) Fulthorpe,
(6) Bland. In the floor close by is a brass inscription
to John Wandesford, 1463, and Eleanor his wife.
Above the tower arch is a painted hatchment for
Christopher Wandesford, who died in February
1686–7, and there is a grave cover within the tower
incised with a plain cross and a chalice.
The screens to the tower and chancel are modern,
but there is a 17th-century lectern with a chained
'Companion to the Temple' by Dean Comber of
Durham; the hexagonal pulpit is a fine piece of
Jacobean carved woodwork. Its appearance is damaged
by a band of carving fixed on the top of its cornice to
heighten it. A helm with the curious Wandesford
crest, two gauntlets and two banners are fixed on the
south wall of the nave above the arcade. The east
end of the south aisle, formerly the Wandesford
chapel, is now provided with sittings for the Hall.
There are three bells : the first inscribed '1617
Jesus be our speed'; the second, 'Christopher
Wandesford baronet, Ri: Tatham recktor,' and bearing an ornamented band including three flagons impaling a cheveron between three bells; the third,
'Thomas Walker & Ro: Jobling churchwardens.
Gloria in supremis deo 1725.'
The plate includes a cup with a cover paten with
the London date mark 1632, a large paten of 1718,
a flagon of 1721, a cup of 1782 and a large almsdish
of 1720.
The registers begin in 1568.
Advowson
Robert de Musters was seised of
the advowson in 1231, (fn. 116) and from him
it descended to his great-grandson
William, who granted it to his brother Robert for life
in 1332. (fn. 117) William de Musters afterwards granted the
reversion to Robert's son John and his wife Alice and
their heirs. (fn. 118) From John and Alice the advowson
descended to their son and heir Henry, and from him
to his daughter Elizabeth, first the wife of Alexander
Mowbray and afterwards of John de Wandesford. (fn. 119)
In 1384 a dispute arose between John and Elizabeth
de Wandesford and Michael de la Pole. The latter
claimed the advowson, which he said had been granted
him by John de Musters in 1352. Although he
produced a charter to this effect, he was unable to
substantiate his claim. (fn. 120) The advowson has followed
the descent of Kirklington Manor (q.v.) until the
present day. (fn. 121)
At the Dissolution there was a chantry dedicated to
St. Mary in Kirklington. (fn. 122) An obit, endowed by the
ancestors of the Wandesfords, and a lamp maintained
in the quire of the church by the farmers of 'Sexton
Lands,' were mentioned in 1546. (fn. 123)
Charities
The Poor's Land consists of 18 a.
in the parish of Pickhill, purchased
in 1732 with moneys belonging to
the poor and £50, the gift of the Rev. John Wandesford, then rector, for the use of the town and parish.
In 1718 Richard Stoney, by will, devised 4 a. known
as the Ings Close, the rents to be distributed yearly
among the poor of the township of Kirklington.
The charities are administered together. In 1903–4
the net rents amounted to £27 10s., which was
applied in the distribution of coal among the poor of
the parish and townships.
Townships of Sutton Howgrave and East Tanfield:
Poor Lands.—These townships are entitled to a
moiety of one-third of the rents of the 18 a. above
mentioned.
Philip Benlowe alias Bendelow, at a date unknown,
left £50, which was laid out in the purchase of land
and cottages thereon, now producing £8 15s. a year,
which is distributed in coal.