SCAWTON
Scaltun (xi cent.).
This parish covers 2,875 acres and lies among the
moors on the west bank of the River Rye, the bank
of which is 250 ft. above ordnance datum. The
River Nettle forms the northern boundary of the
parish and joins the Rye a little to the north of
Rievaulx Bridge. From these two rivers deep gills
cut into the hill-side, but the land rises steadily
towards the south and west, reaching 876 ft. at
Scawton Moor Plantation. The High Street runs
across the moor from east to west and forms the
southern boundary of the parish. From it a road
runs north to the village of Scawton, which lies on
the hill-side just east of Brignal Gill. The road
from the village to Helmsley makes a steep descent
through woods of pine, fir and larch, much of the
way to Rievaulx Bridge passing along the bottom of
Scawton Howle. No less than 267 acres in the
parish are covered by woods, while 481 acres are
under cultivation, (fn. 1) oats and barley being the chief
crops grown. The soil is poor and the subsoil
Kimmeridge clay.
In the angle between the Rye and the Nettle lay
the 'Oswaldengs,' given in the 12th century by
Hugh Malebiche to Rievaulx Abbey. (fn. 2) This meadow
extended on one side from 'Brunesdalechelde'
(? Bungdale) to the Nettle, and along this to the
Rye, on the other from Bungdale under the hill at
the edge of the wood in a straight line to the Rye. (fn. 3)
Another early place-name is 'Brochesholes,' now
Brock Hill. Land from Brock Hill to 'Aldenetoftes'
(Antofts) was also granted to Rievaulx Abbey, and all
the holme at Hanging Bridge between Antofts and
the Rye.
Manors
In 1086 Robert Malet held a 'manor'
and 3 carucates at SCAWTON, the
former tenant having been Archil; the
Count of Mortain also held here a 'manor' and
2 carucates previously held by Uctred. (fn. 4) Robert
Malet (fn. 5) took the side of Duke Robert in the rebellion
of 1106 and was killed at the battle of Tenchebrai.
His lands in Scawton and those held by the Count of
Mortain came into the hands of Niel Daubeney and
afterwards formed part of the fee of Mowbray, (fn. 6)
following the descent of Thirsk (q.v.).
At the close of the 12th century Scawton was held
in demesne by Richard Malebiche, who forfeited it
for his attack on the Jews of York in 1190. (fn. 7) It was
restored to him on payment of a heavy fine in 1201, (fn. 8)
and in the same year he obtained a grant of free
warren here. (fn. 9)
Richard was followed by a son John, (fn. 10) who was
holding the fee in 1214, when Amice, the sister of
Hugh Malebiche, and Stephen de Blaby her husband
owed 20s. for having a writ of mort d'ancester against
John in respect of 3 carucates in Scawton. (fn. 11) John
was succeeded by a son William, (fn. 12) who was living in
1260–70, when he granted 1 oxgang and a toft
to Agnes de Bingeley. (fn. 13) In 1285 (fn. 14) and 1301
Richard Malebiche, son of William, (fn. 15) held 6 carucates in two moieties each for a quarter of a knight's
fee. He had a son John (fn. 16) living in 1315, (fn. 17) when
John confirmed to his sister Maud a messuage in
Scawton previously granted to her by her father
Richard. John Malebiche died before April 1316, (fn. 18)
and, his son and heir William being seventeen years
old, the manor came for a time into the king's
hands. (fn. 19)
Malebiche. Argent a cheveron between three hinds' heads gules.
In 1339 (fn. 20) William had licence to impark his wood
of Holt in Scawton, and he was still holding the fee in
1341, when Thomas Fairfax
was one of his trustees. (fn. 21) In
1348 he settled the manor of
Scawton in tail-male on his
four sons, Thomas, John,
Richard and Walter, (fn. 22) and died
about 1365. (fn. 23) Sir Thomas,
the eldest son, died in or
about 1360, leaving an only
daughter and heir Elizabeth,
who married Adam de Beckwith. (fn. 24) Walter Malebiche,
wishing to raise money for a
journey to the Holy Land,
made Richard Fairfax his heir,
on condition that he changed his name to Richard
Malebiche. (fn. 25) The necessary funds were supplied by
two brothers, William Fairfax, (fn. 26) the father of Richard,
and John Fairfax, (fn. 27) rector of Gilling, who were holding Scawton in 1369, (fn. 28) Walter Malebiche having
died in the Holy Land. (fn. 29) John Fairfax, rector of
Gilling, was seised in demesne of the manor, which
he granted for rent and the service of one knight's
fee to Richard and his heirs male, (fn. 30) who assumed
therewith the name and arms of Malebiche, and in
1383–4 Adam and Elizabeth Beckwith quitclaimed
to him their rights in Scawton. (fn. 31) On the death of
John Fairfax (fn. 32) the reversion of the services came to
Thomas Fairfax, his eldest
nephew, and from him descended to his son Richard,
to whom Richard Malebiche
paid rent. (fn. 33) Richard Malebiche died in 1401, (fn. 34) leaving
a son and heir William. Isabel,
the widow of Richard, married
Nicholas Saxton and took possession of the custody of the
lands of her former husband
under an alleged grant by
John Fairfax. (fn. 35) In 1406 (fn. 36)
their right to wardship was
disputed by Richard Fairfax,
who maintained that Richard Malebiche died in
homage to him. (fn. 37) He established his claim and recovered the lands and guardianship of William Malebiche, (fn. 38) then about thirteen years old. (fn. 39) William
died without issue, (fn. 40) his heirs being his two sisters;
one of them married William Beckwith and the other
Thomas Fairfax. (fn. 41) Scawton continued in the family
of Fairfax of Gilling in Ryedale (q.v.) through successive generations until Charles
Gregory, the last Viscount
Fairfax, who succeeded to the
family estates in 1738, (fn. 42) sold
it to Sir Thomas Worsley of
Hovingham, the owner in
1751. (fn. 43) It followed the descent of that manor (q.v.) till
1864, when it was sold to
Robert Tennant, who in 1880
again sold the manor to the
trustees of the late Mr. H. W.
Bolckow of Marton; it is now
in the hands of Mr. Henry
William Ferdinand Bolckow.
Fairfax. Argent three gimel bars gules with a lion sable over all.
Bolckow. Gules a fesse between eighteen acorns argent with a boar azure running on the fesse.
The 'manor' and 2 carucates held by the Count of Mortain in 1086 (fn. 44)
evidently went with the rest of the land to Niel
Daubeney. His son Roger Mowbray made considerable grants of land in this neighbourhood to Rievaulx
Abbey, (fn. 45) and probably included Scawton. Hugh
Malebiche granted a meadow called Oswaldengs (fn. 46)
and other lands in Scawton to Rievaulx, a grant
confirmed afterwards by Henry II, Richard I and
Edward III. (fn. 47) Hugh Malebiche made a further
grant to the abbey, confirmed in 1252 by Henry III. (fn. 48)
The abbot also received a yearly pittance of £4 from
William and John Fairfax in 1369, (fn. 49) out of their
manor of Scawton.
All the possessions of Rievaulx Abbey in Scawton
were granted in 1541 (fn. 50) to Thomas Earl of Rutland
and continued in his family till 1711, when the
trustees of the Duke of Buckingham sold the lands to
Charles Duncombe, and they are now in the hands
of the Earl of Feversham. (fn. 51)
The right of free warren was granted to Richard
Malebiche in 1200 (fn. 52) and claimed under Edward I. (fn. 53)
The same right was claimed in 1272 by the Abbot
of Rievaulx, who was free of all fines and amercements
in Scawton. (fn. 54)
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel measuring
internally about 18 ft. 3 in. by 14 ft. 3 in.,
nave 31 ft. 6 in by 18 ft. 5 in. and a south porch.
Plan of Scawton Church
The church was built about the middle of the
12th century, and beyond the alterations to the
windows, roof, &c., it has undergone no change;
the chancel is slightly later than the nave. The
piscina is of early 13th-century workmanship; so
also is the peculiar lavatory recess on the north side.
Several windows are 15th-century enlargements, and
those north of the nave are of the 18th or early 19th
century. The church was restored some years ago,
and is now in a good state of repair, although few of
the walls are vertical.
The east window is a late 14th or early 15thcentury insertion of three trefoiled lights under a
square head. The eastern of the north pair of
windows is a 12th-century round-headed single light
with splayed jambs and semicircular rear arch; the
external chamfer is rather larger than usual. Below
it inside is a curious recess in which is a long and
deep rectangular stone basin or sink with an outlet at
the back. Standing in the sill are two shafts with
moulded bases and capitals, with the small volute
carving of the transitional 12th to 13th-century
period; these support a slab which has a moulded
edge. The use of this basin and shelf, evidently a
lavatorium, is not apparent, and one is tempted to
believe that it was not made for this church at all,
but was brought from Byland or Rievaulx after
the Dissolution and placed here. The other north
window is a 'low-side,' and is of similar detail to
the first, except that it has a flat lintel inside; its
inner eastern jamb is splayed more than the other.
Of the two south windows the first (or easternmost)
is a late insertion of a single plain square-headed
light somewhat wider than usual; the other is a
narrow rectangular light with a low sill. Below
the first is a plain pointed piscina with a projecting half-round basin. West of it are two sedilia,
the first of which has been cut down for the
window; the second has a pointed projecting arch.
In the same wall is a blocked square-headed doorway
of somewhat rough workmanship. The chancel arch
has plain square jambs, that on the north side being
partly restored; the arch is a plain half-round springing from plain chamfered abaci. On either side of
the archway are two arched recesses, each 4 ft. 2 in.
wide, and of the date of the nave; they have edge
rolls with bases and scalloped capitals and round
arches. These recesses are rare, if not unique, for
their date, and appear to have formed parts of two
side nave altars. Their backs have been pierced in
later times to form squints into the chancel.
Of the nave windows the first in the north wall is
probably of the early 19th century, and has two
wood-framed lights, the second is an original narrow
round-headed lancet and the third is the same as
the first. Below and to the east of it is a blocked
square-headed doorway. The south window is an
old one of three plain square-headed lights, probably
of the 16th or 17th century. West of it are the
west jamb and part of the head of a blocked roundheaded 12th-century lancet like that opposite. The
south doorway is of the 12th century; it has two
square orders in the jambs with modern shafts in the
angles. The capitals are scalloped in addition to
having a kind of pellet and lozenge ornament; the
abaci are chamfered. Both orders of the round arch
are enriched by zigzag ornament, and the label is a
double pellet mould. The west window is all restored
outside, but retains its 12th-century inner splayed
jambs and rear arch. The porch is a modern one
with a pointed outer doorway. In its east wall is set
a part of a late 13th-century coffin slab, on which is
carved a foliated cross with a leaf ornament in one
spandrel and what appears to be a pineapple in the
other.
The walling is of rubble. The roofs of both chancel
and nave are low-pitched, the latter entirely modern;
the chancel has some old plain timbers, perhaps of
the 17th century. The altar table is modern, but
standing behind it is an ancient stone altar slab with
inscribed crosses and chamfered edges; it is in two
pieces cemented together. The font is of early 13thcentury workmanship. It has a round bowl with an
edge roll around the top edge, below which it bulges
out. The stem is octagonal and the base moulded,
both apparently contemporary with or little later
than the bowl. The pulpit and other furniture is
modern. The only gravestone in the church is one
to Ann the wife and Ann the daughter of Thomas
Hudson, a former rector; they both died in 1758.
A small fragment of old glass, consisting of a portion
of a black letter inscription, remains in the first north
window of the chancel.
The two bells are hung in a modern wood turret
above the west end of the nave, and are at present
inaccessible from below. One is said to date from
the 14th century and bears the inscription, 'Campana Beate Marie,' and a shield with the arms of
Roger second Abbot of Byland—a pastoral staff, a
bell and a candlestick—surmounted by the inscription,
'Johnes de Copgraf me fecit.' The other is inscribed
'T Scelton 1776.'
The plate includes an old silver cup without hall
marks and a paten, flagon and alms basin of pewter.
The registers begin in 1813.
Advowson
A chapel here was built by the
monks of Byland in the time of
Roger, the second abbot (1142–96), (fn. 55)
for the relief of Hugh Malebiche.
In 1203 the abbot quitclaimed the advowson of
the chapel to Richard Malebiche, (fn. 56) and the lords of
the manor have retained the presentation to the
present day, (fn. 57) Mr. H. W. F. Bolckow being now
patron. (fn. 58)
The chapel must have obtained the status of a
parish church towards the close of the 13th century (fn. 59) ;
in 1279 it is styled the 'church or chapel,' and in
1291 (fn. 60) it is entered with other parish churches in
the deanery.
There are no endowed charities in this parish.