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Skelton
Historical and geographical information
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Dates are in red.
Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.
Headlines are in brown.
References and citations are in turquoise.
Contextual history is in purple.
This
webpage about the Skelton has the
following section headings:
- Farndale
family history and Skelton
- Skelton,
overview
- Timeline of
Skelton’s history
- Links, texts and books
The Farndales of Skelton
The
Doncaster Kirkleatham
Skelton Line are the descendants of Nicholas farndaile
(FAR00059).
The Skelton 1 Line are the
descendants of William Farndale (FAR00071).
Other
Farndales associated with Skelton are: Mar Farndale (FAR00084); William
Farndale (FAR00093);
George Farndale (FAR00113);
William Farndale (FAR00123);
William Farndale (FAR00125);
Elizabeth Farndale (FAR00139);
William Farndale (FAR00142A); Elizabeth
Farndale (FAR00155);
George Farndale (FAR00156);
William Farndale (FAR00157);
Mary Farndale (FAR00164);
Ann Farndale (FAR00165);
John Farndale (FAR00167);
John Farndale (FAR00168);
Mary Farndale (FAR00185);
Grace Farndale (FAR00189);
Mary Farndale (FAR00202);
Elizabeth Farndale (FAR00204);
John Farndale (FAR00217);
Elizabeth Farndale (FAR00235);
Anna Farndale (FAR00242);
Hannah Farndale (FAR00245);
Harriet Farndale (FAR00249);
Hannah Farndale (FAR00250);
Martin Farndale (FAR00264);
William Masterman Farndale (FAR00312);
Thomas Farndale (FAR00317);
Elizabeth Farndale (FAR00319);
Teresa Farndale (FAR00325);
Annie Maria Farndale (FAR00334); John
George Farndale (FAR00337);
Elizabeth Farndale (FAR00345);
William Farndale (FAR00356);
Martin Farndale (FAR00364);
John Farndale (FAR00376);
Matthew Farndale (FAR00383);
Charles Masterman Farndale (FAR00429);
Margaret Ann Farndale (FAR00522);
William Farndale (FAR00625);
and Dorothy Annie Farndale (FAR00668).
Skelton
Skelton or Skelton-in-Cleveland is
a small town in the civil parish of Skelton and Brotton in the
borough of Redcar and Cleveland in the North
East. The town lies within the ceremonial county of North
Yorkshire and is governed by the unitary
authority of Redcar and Cleveland. It is situated at the foot of
the Cleveland Hills and about 16 km east of Middlesbrough.
Sceltun, Scheltun
(eleventh cebntury); Scelton
(twelfth century); Sceltona, Scheltona, Skeltona
(thirteenth century); Skolton (fourteenth
century).
Skelton is made up of
North Skelton, Skelton Green and New Skelton.
Skelton Timeline
7,000 BCE
Skeletons of wild ox and deer have been
found in peat bogs just a few miles from Skelton and have been dated’ to around
this time.
4,000 BCE
Many burial sites or howes on the
hills around Skelton provide the first real evidence of humans in these parts.
Anglo Saxon
It is thought that the people buried at
Hob Hill in the Anglo Saxon period were outlying settlers
of the Anglo Saxon region called Deira and spent their lives in the Skelton
area, possibly using Skelton beck as a water supply.
1086
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: In the reign of Edward the Confessor
Uctred had a 'manor' and 13 carucates at Skelton which in 1086 were held of the
Count of Mortain by Richard. They afterwards became
part of the Brus fee and followed the descent of Danby until the division in
1272 of the lands of the third Peter de Brus, when the castle and manor of
Skelton with five knights' fees passed to Walter de Fauconberg
and his wife Agnes.
The Domesday Book entry records 12 villagers; 7
ploughlands. 1 lord’s plough teams. 3 men’s plough teams. Meadow – 20 acres.
Woodland 2 furlongs mixed measures. The whole manor 5 miles long and 2 broad. Annual value to Lord: 16s in 1086; £2 in 1066. The
Normans had lain waste many areas of the North and the 16s taxable value of
Skelton as compared to 40s prior to 1066 is taken to indicate the extent to
which the village was on the receiving end of this subjugation. Tenant-in-chief
in 1086: Count Robert of Mortain. Lord in 1086:
Richard (of Sourdeval).
Lord in 1066: Uhtred.
1124
A Royal Charter granted
Robert De Brus the Lordship of Annandale in Scotland. This came about either
because Robert De Brus, was a friend and supporter of David, the Scottish king
or that his second son, also called Robert, married the heiress to Annandale.
Thus began the chain of events which would see his direct successor, Robert the
Bruce, take the throne of Scotland two hundred years later.
There is a story that
Robert De Brus the younger, of Annandale, fought on the side of the Scots king
and was taken prisoner by his own father, Robert De Brus of Skelton. According
to the Chivalry of the time he was handed over to the king before being returned
to his parents.
1140
Skelton castle was established as the
principal seat of the de Brus family early in the 12th century. The castle is
thought to have been built around 1140 and was lived in by 8 generations of the
de Brus family until the death of Peter de Brus III in 1272. At this time the
de Brus estates were divided amongst four daughters, Agnes, Lucia, Margaret and
Laderina. The first two daughters stayed within the
Cleveland area. Agnes married into the de Fauconberg
family and inherited Skelton castle and nearby esstates,
whilst Lucia married into the de Thweng family of
Kilton castle.
Architecturally the medieval castle has
not survived.
Robert De Brus of Skelton
Castle was a supporter of Stephen’s cause, but now he had even greater reason
to fight as the Scots were threatening his own lands.He was one of those who tried to mediate with
David I and prevent bloodshed.
The
Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: The
castle is situated on high ground near the Skelton Beck in the north of the parish, and is surrounded by park lands and woods and on
three sides by a moat. The old castle was probably built by one of the Brus
family and was the dwelling-place successively of the Bruses,
Fauconbergs, Conyers, Trotters, Stevensons and
Whartons. It seems to have been used as a fortress and for keeping prisoners in
the reign of King John, and in 1265 it was surrendered to Henry III by Peter de
Brus, who was suspected of adherence to Prince Edward.
1141
Death of Robert de Brus II
He was buried in Guisborough Priory. The new lord of Skelton was Robert’s
eldest son, Adam, who was married to Agnes. They had a son, Adam
and a daughter Agatha. Agnes was the daughter of Stephen, the Earl of
Albemarle, and the sister of William, called ‘Le gros’
under whom Adam had fought at the Battle of the Standard.
1208
In order
to obtain the money
demanded by King John. Peter de Brus made an agreement with his Cleveland
tenants within Langbaurgh, by which he agreed to limitations in the exercise of
his authority in return for a guarantee that the knights and free tenants would
make up any shortfall in the rent of forty marks charged by the king. The
witnesses were Roger de Lacy, Robert de Ros, Eustachia
de Vescy, Walter de Faucumberge.
The Charter was lodged with the Prior of Guisborough. It has been suggested
by some that it was a pre-cursor to Magna Carta, when the Barons strove to place
similar limitations on King John’s powers.
Peter de Brus was given
custody of William de Brus, the son of William, as a hostage of King John to
ensure the behaviour of the King of Scotland.
Peter de Brus held 11
“knights fees” of the honour of “Skeltone” in
Yorkshire.
1216
From the 8 to 10 February
1216, King John attacked and took Skelton Castle. Peter de Brus’s men were
taken prisoner. On 15 February 1216, John agreed to receive Peter de Brus and
Robert de Ros under safe conduct: ‘with all such as they should bring with
them unarmed, to a conference, to treat with him about making their peace with
him; and the said safe conduct shall hold good for one month from St Valentine’s day. And for greater security our lord the King
wills that …..Archdeacon of Durham, Wydo de Fontibus,
Frater Walter, Preceptor of the Templars in the district of Yorkshire, with one
of Hugh de Bailloel’s retinue, shall go with them in
person to the Lord King, and escort them; and they have Letters Patent from the
King to that effect; and the said letters are the same day handed to the
aforesaid parties, Thomas, Canon of Gyseburn, being
further added to their numbers’ On 26 February 1216 King John issued the
following mandate: ‘We command you that you receive and see to the safe
keeping of the prisoners whose names are underwritten, taken at Skelton Castle,
who will be sent to you by Dame Nicholas de Haya –that is to say, Godfrey de
Hoga, Berard de Fontibus, Anketil
de Torenton, Robert de Molteby,
Stephen Guher, William de Lohereng,
Robert de Normanby, Roger le Hoste, Robert de Gilling, John de Brethereswysel, Thomas Berard’sman
and Ralph de Hoga’
In July and August the King issued further orders that prisoners taken
at Skelton Castle should be ransomed.
King John died later in
1216 and Henry III became King aged 9. In 1219 Peter de Brus was forgiven for
his opposition to King John and recovered Carlton and other manors in
Cleveland, which the Crown had taken from him.
1227
Peter was given licence to
hold a Market at Skelton on Mondays.
1265
Skelton castle was
surrendered to Henry III by Peter III who was suspected of supporting Henry’s son,
Prince Edward. There is a record of the castle being used for keeping
prisoners.
1269
Skelton-in-Cleveland:
Quitclaim by Alice and Helena, Agnes and Hauisia
sisters, to Peter de Bruis the third, of all their land of Scelton
late belonging to Richard, the reeve, (prepositi) their uncle, viz., a toft and
croft at the entrance of the town of Scelton towards
the east late held by Walter Blevent; 1 acre in Scelton fields lying between the tilled land of Sir Peter
de Bruis called Roskeldesik and the half ploughland
belonging to the Mills; an assart late of Wm. Winde,
lying between Langhacres and the vale
of meadows of Scelton; 1 acre given by Wm. Cusin to Ralf, son of Wine, lying between Roskeldesic and the half ploughland belonging to the lord’s
mills; and 2 1/2 acres in the territory of Scelton on
Lairlandes; for the rents of 1d. to them and their
heirs, heirs of Wm. Cusin for the acre between Roskeldsic and the half ploughland, 2d. to the same for the
2 1/2 acres on Lairlandes, 1d. to the heirs of Rolf
son of Wine for the acre given to Ralf by Wm. Cusin,
and 1d. to Richard Briton for the assart. Witnesses :- Sir Adam de Hilton, Sir Simon de Bruis, Sir
Stephen de Rosel, Sir Berard de Fontibus, John de Tocotes, John de Nutel, Wm. Pitwaltel, Robt de Tormodeby,
Geoffrey the Cook (Coco) Hugh Hauberger, Matthew the
Clerk (clerico) (Yorkshire Archeological
Journal, Vol XIII, London, 1895, p 52, “Yorkshire Deeds, Part 4, by A.S. Ellis).
1272
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923:
North of the
castle is a mill on the Skelton Beck, probably representing the site of one of
the mills appurtenant to the manor in 1272, and to the east is a fish-pond also mentioned at that date.
Peter de Brus III of Skelton Castle
died. For nearly two hundred years six generations of the De Brus family of
Skelton Castle had had male heirs and their possessions had grown through
marriage as the Law was that on marriage the property of the wife becomes the
husband’s. Peter de Brus III’s elder sister had pre-deceased him and both were
childless. The de Brus Estates were therefore divided between his four
remaining sisters.
1280
“25th May,
8th Edward I. 1280 No 54. For Walter de Fauconberg.
The King to Archbishops, greeting. Know ye that we have granted, and by this
our Charter confirmed to our beloved and faithful Walter de Faucunberge,
that he and his heirs for ever have free warren in all his demesne lands of
Skelton, Stanghow and Mersk, Uplithum,
Redker, Grenrig and Estbrune in the County of York. Provided that those lands
be not within the bounds of our forest, so that no one enter those lands to
hunt in them, or to take anything, which may belong to the warren, without the
licence and will of him the said Walter, or his heirs, upon forfeiture to us of
£10; wherefore he will….”
1291
A dispute arose between Skelton Castle
and Guisborough Priory over an area of land around what is now Skelton Ellers,
called ‘Swarthy Head’ and then called ‘Swetingheved’.
This was on the edge of the Skelton hunting park which stretched east to the the Castle and South over Airy Hill to Margrove
Park. Walter de Fauconberg agreed to maintain the
hedges and ditches to prevent the deer straying onto the prior’s meadows and
arable land and to pay tithes on the deer themselves.
1301
The Lay Subsidy of 1301. A Parliament at Lincoln in this year
authorised a Lay Subsidy. This
was a tax on the whole population and was based on a fifteenth part of each
person’s movable possessions. Among the taxpayers of Skelton were ‘a merchant,
a fuller, a weaver, a potter, a tanner, a baker, a smith, a butcher, 2
carpenters and 3 carriers [pannierman, wainman and a carter].’ There were 63 taxpayers in Skelton
who paid a total of £5 13s. Multiplying this by 15 gives the total value of
these villagers possessions as £84 6s. Total taxpayers
in other places in the North Riding of Yorkshire were Guisborough 85, Whitby
96, Marske and Redcar 89, Yarm 72. There were likely many poorer, labouring
people who did not pay tax.
1304
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County
of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: Walter de Fauconberg died in about 1304 and was succeeded by his son
Walter, who died in about 1318, his heir being John his son. John settled the
manor on himself with remainder to his son Walter, in tail, in 1344; he died in
1349 and Walter succeeded him.
1325
In the 1840’s the piece of
stone shown here was found in the old Churchyard, near the Castle, by a Mr T.
M. Fallow. It appears to be part of a sun-dial and
must have come from the old Anglo-Saxon Church which was replaced in 1325. This
second church was in turn replaced in 1785 by the present redundant Church.
A work by
Mrs Margaret Scott Gatty, 1809 – 1873
gives the following explanation of the Skelton stone: Part of the semicircle
remains and 4 hour lines, two of which, viz., midday
and 2 p.m are crossed. Apparently
the dial had been divided into twelve hour spaces. Below these lines there are
portions of 4 lines of an inscription in Old Norse or Danish, with part of a
line of runes down the side. “The runes”, writes Bishop Browne, “I read as
DIEBEL OK, which Mr Magnusson says is good Danish – of latish date – for ‘devil
and’. He tells me that GRERA is part of the word ‘to grow’, and COMA is ‘to
come’. The words ‘devil and’ may well be a pious curse on creatures of that
kind. From the style of the inscription this stone appears to belong to the
early part of the twelfth century.”
1334
The Lay Subsidy of 1334: Skelton was assessed for the
Subsidy at total £2, compared with Yarm £9, Guisborough £4 and Stokesley £1 : 4s.
1349
In 1349 the castle was
described as expensive to maintain.
The Black Death. The Inquisitiones Post Mortem
23 Edward III, which is a survey of the assets of the Fauconbergs
on the death of John, stated “In demesne, 24 bovates of weak and Moorish
land, each worth 4 shillings…before the mortality of men in these parts this
year. 30 acres of meadow each worth 1 shilling per annum before the Death. 3
water mills of which one is weak and ruinous….worth £4
before the Death.” The castle is described in this year as being difficult
to maintain. There is mention of a “..park of oaks
with game, called ‘le Wespark’ and ‘Maugrey Park with deer.” The area to the west of Skelton
Castle, to Skelton Ellars and over Airey Hill to Margrove
Park was part of the private woodland hunting reserve of Skelton Castle. In
this and the following years the plague killed a half to two thirds of the
population of England. It would seem from the above that most of the population
of Skelton died.
1361
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: Walter
died in 1361 and was succeeded by his son Thomas, one-third of the manor, however, being
assigned as dower to Isabel widow of Walter. Thomas granted his two-thirds of
the castle and manor and the reversion of Isabel's third, for his lifetime, to
Henry Percy Earl of Northumberland, who held the whole manor on the death of
Isabel in 1401.
1403
The Skelton estate was taken
into the custody of Henry IV, due to the insanity of Thomas Fauconberg.
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History
of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: Thomas
de Fauconberg suffered from intermittent insanity and
in 1403 the custody of the castle and manor were from this cause in the hands
of the king, who granted their custody to Robert and John Conyers. Thomas in
1407 settled the manor in feetail with successive
remainders to Walter son of Sir Roger Fauconberg, kt., and his heirs, and in default to the right
heirs of Thomas. He died in the same year, his heir being his infant daughter
Joan, while his widow Joan had one-third of the manor in dower. The elder Joan
appears to have died in March 1408–9; the custody of the lands was granted by
the Crown to Richard Cheerowe and Thomas Strickland.
Joan was an idiot from birth, but before she was sixteen
she married William Nevill son of Ralph Earl of Westmorland. William Nevill and
Joan made a conveyance of the manor in 1428. William Nevill was summoned to
Parliament as Lord Fauconberg in 1429,
and was created Earl of Kent in 1461. He died in January 1462–3 seised of Skelton in right of his wife, who being of
unsound mind held no lands after his death.
1407
Owing to the madness of
Thomas Fauconberg, one third of the estate of Skelton
was settled on his wife Joan until her death which occurred in 1409. The other
two thirds on Walter de Fauconberg. In this same year
Walter de Fauconberg died and the estate passed to
his daughter Joan. She had been “an idiot from birth”, but
had been married before she was sixteen to William Nevill, the son of the Earl
of Westmoreland. The Inquisition Post Mortem on Thomas
‘Faucomberge’ shows estate passed to his widow Joan
included “a waste burgage”, “4 waste messuages”, and cottages either ruinous or
waste or “paying nothing.” It is possible that the Black Death which appeared
in 1348 and repeatedly during the previous century had decimated the population
of Skelton, which was about 400 at the beginning of it. Among the long list of
possessions, which also includes the Manor of ‘Mersk’
and Upleatham and many areas of land with now unrecognisable names is:
In the town and
territory of Skelton in Cleveland: 1 built messuage with garden; 1 croft and 6
bovates held by William Shupherde; 1 built messuage
with garden; 2 crofts and 1 bovate held by John Proctour;
1 waste messuage and 1 bovate by John Walkere; 2
bovates by John Harpour; 3 waste messuages and 1
bovate by William Mason senior; 1 burnt messuage, a close called ‘Cadycroft’ and a parcel of land called ‘le Wanles’ by the same; a third part of a messuage and of a
bovate by Roger Homet; with all the services of these
tenants; 4 a. of foreshore at ‘Thilekelde’, ‘Roskeldesyke’ and ‘Grenwalde’
held by John Proctour; 1 close of herbage in ‘Burghgate’ and 1 called ‘Copyncroft’
by John Donaldeson; 1 built cottage by Thomas de
Newsom, and 1 by John Byrde; 1 with garden and croft by William Whytekyrke; 1 garden and croft with 9 a. by William Syng; 1
built cottage with 2 crofts by Robert Hogeson, the
lord’s villein; 1 ruinous cottage by Sibota Westland;
1 croft of herbage called ‘Bruyscroft’ by William
Westland; 1 built burgage and 1 croft by John Pottere;
1 close of herbage called ‘Kyrkebyclos’ and 1 plot
used for making pots (pro ollis inde
faciendis) by the same; 2 waste cottages in
‘Marketgate’ next William Lambard’s tenement on the south, let for a rent of
12d.; 1 cottage now in the lord’s hands, formerly held by William Westland for
20d., now paying nothing; In a place called Stanghow 1 built cottage, 2 waste
cottages, 1 bovate and a tenement called ‘Blackhall’ held by Thomas Carlele; and 1 built messuage, 2 waste messuages and 4
bovates by John West. Also a third part of 3
watermills in Skelton with its members, called ‘Holbekmyll’,
‘Saltbornmyll’ and Skinningrove mill;
a third part of a
fulling mill, and of the profits of the oven, toll, market and fair there, of
the assize of bread and ale, of the court of Skelton, of agistments in pasture
and feedings not in severalty, of waste, of casualties arising in wood or plain,
as in hawks, sparrowhawks, falcons, and other birds of prey or game, of warren
and free chase, waifs and strays, etc. and of the mining of lead, iron, marl
and coal and of quarrying of slate and other mines in the lordship of Skelton
and its members.
1490
In 1490 Skelton Castle was
inherited by William Conyers, when it was described as ruinous. From him it
passed into the Trotter family and then by marriage to the Hall family by the
marriage of Joseph Hall to Catherine Trotter. Their son John inherited and
changed his name to Hall-Stevenson after marrying Ann Stevenson. He formed the
"Demoniacks" club who met at the ruins of
the castle for drinking bouts.
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: At
Joan's death in 1490 the heirs were her grandsons James Strangways, son of her
daughter Elizabeth, wife of Sir Richard Strangways, and William Conyers, son of
her daughter Alice who married Sir John Conyers of Hornby. Apparently
Skelton came to the Conyers, although the Strangways seem to have held some
interest in the manor, which followed the descent of the manor of West Harlsey.
1542
The Lay
Subsidy of 1542: In Skelton
well over half the taxpayers assessed for the Lay Subsidy paid at the lowest
rate, on goods valued at less than £1 or 240 d. Lay Subsidy was a taxation
system based in rural areas of a fifteenth part of a person’s moveable goods
including crops. In towns it was a tenth.
1545
After the dissolution of
the monasteries the Church at Skelton was granted to the see of York. The Archbishop is still patron of the ‘living’, and therefore
controls appointment of local vicar, his payment, vicarage etc.
1556
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: From
William Conyers this manor descended with Hornby to John Lord Conyers, on whose
death in 1556–7 it was divided among his daughters and co-heirs, three of whom,
Anne wife of Anthony Kempe, Katharine wife of John Atherton and Elizabeth wife
of Thomas Darcy, survived the fourth daughter, Joan (or Margaret), who died a
minor in 1560. Anne Kempe's share of the manor followed the descent of her
third of Hornby until 1575, and was bought in 1577–8
by Robert Trotter.
1571
The Skelton Parish Registers
for Baptisms start from 1571, Marriages from 1568 and Burials from 1567.
1576
Anthony Kempe, the husband
of Anne Conyers sold their part of the Skelton Estate to Robert Trotter. Robert
was the son of a Robert Trotter senior of Pickering and married to Margaret who
came from Pudsey. Graves History states that
the remaining two thirds which had been inherited by the other two Conyers
daughters remained in their descendants until the year 1656, when by exchange
or purchase the whole became the property of Robert Trotter and his
descendants.
1603
In the Skelton area Alum production began from about this time. The first profitable
site in Yorkshire was opened in 1603 at Spring Bank, Slapewath,
which was then part of Skelton.
There were some folk of Skelton who were getting themselves into trouble as
‘Papists’. ‘Recusants’ were people who refused the sacraments of the Church of
England. Skelton:- “ William Milner and
Allison his wife. Agnes, the wife of Robert Allenbye.
Jane, the wife of Robert Nelson.
Alice, the wife of John
Staynhous. Robert Sawer. Elizabeth Staynhous. Recusants 8 or 9 yeares,
but poore laborers. Robert
Trotter Esquier, Margaret his wife
; noncommunicants this last yeare. Private baptisme “Xpofer Burdon” husbandman had a childe
secretly baptised, where and by whome they know not. “ Robert Allanbye, Joan, the wife
of William Nelson. Jane, the wife of Richard Locke. Jebbs
widowe Burton widowe r
Averell wife of Xpofer Burdon, John Staynehous.
Thomas Staynhous, Richard Staynhous.
Poore labouring people which came to church before the xxvth
of Marche 1603 & since are become Recusantes.
1611
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: Robert
Trotter died in 1611 and was succeeded by his son Henry, who died in 1623.
Henry's son and heir George was succeeded by Edward, who married Mary daughter
of Sir John Lowther, bart., of Lowther, to whom he
conveyed the manor in 1659.
1613
In April 1613, at the
Quarter Sessions held at Thirsk Robert Tose, Curate of Skelton in Cleveland,
was charged with keeping an alehouse there, contrarie
to the statute in such case made and provided.
1632
The
oldest grave-stone found in the old Church yard at Skelton
was placed in September 1632, commemorating John Slater.
1642
Folklore
has it that Cromwell passed close to Skelton, but missed the Castle hidden in
the woods. The locals, however, were heard and given a good beating on Flowston. A small skirmish took place somewhere between
Skelton and Guisborough between Royalists under the command of Colonel Slingsby
and Parliamentarians under Sir Hugh Cholmley and Sir
Matthew Boynton. Slingsby was taken prisoner and some of his men killed.
1653
It
has been suggested that the brasses on the Fauconberg
blue marble stone in the floor of the old church at Skelton were torn off by
the Puritans during the Protectorate.
1670
3
October 1670 at Malton Quarter Sessions: “That John Tooes
of Skelton in Cleveland having been bound to appear at the Sessions to answere for alluring and entycing’
mens wifes and on other
complaints is to find good sureties for his good behavious
and to appear at next Sessions”.
1681
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: Edward
Trotter was lord of the manor in 1681.
1708
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: Edward
Trotter died in 1708, and was succeeded by his grandson Lawson Trotter, son of
his son John. Lawson Trotter still held the manor in 1721 and in 1729, but
afterwards sold it to Joseph Hall, his sister's husband, probably before 1732.
1733
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: Joseph
Hall died in 1733 and was succeeded by his son John Hall, who assumed the name
of Stevenson in addition to his own. John Hall Stevenson was lord of the manor
till his death in 1785; his son Joseph William, who succeeded him, died a year
later, his heir being his son, another John Hall Stevenson, who assumed the
name of Wharton.
John Hall Stevenson (1718
to 1785)
1740
1764
The Archbishop of York,
Robert Hay Drummond, sent out a Questionnaire to
all his Parish priests. The Skelton in Cleveland, Curate, Thomas
Kitching replied as follows:-
Admitted 20 August
1760. Deacon 18 December 1743, [Samuel Chester]. Priest 22 September 1745,
Samuel Chester. 1. There are about 240 families, 5 of which are Quakers and 4
are Papists. 2. The Quakers have a meeting house at ‘Moorsholme’,
but whether it is licenced or not I do not know. They assemble there every
Sunday in the morning in small numbers. Their speaker is one Philip Narzleton of Moorsholme
aforesaid. 3. There is no publick or charity school
within this Parish. 4. There is no alms-house or hospital in this Parish. There
are some lands and some cottages belonging to the Church, the profits of which
are ‘applyed’ [and I believe very honestly] to the
repairs of the nave or body of the Church. This Curacy was augmented in the
year 1718 by a benefaction of £200 from the Trotter family and others who had
connexions with that family, by £200 more given by the directors of Queen Ann’s
Bounty and by £25 given by the late curate. An estate called ‘Sadler Hills’ in
this Parish was purchased 1735 and the yearly rent is £18. 5. I do reside in
the parsonage-house. 6. I have no curate. 7. I perform divine service at
Skelton on 2 Sundays in the mornings and in the afternoons. I attend Brotton,
which is annexed to the curacy of Skelton. On the third Sunday I perform divine
service at Brotton in the morning and in the afternoon
I attend Skelton. I preach twice every Sunday and I make service at Skelton on
holy days. 8. I know of none who come to church that are not baptized, neither
do I know of any of a competent age, who are not confirmed. I have baptized no
adults since your Grace came to be Archbishop. 9. I catechise at Skelton and
Brotton alternately from the beginning of Lent till Whitsuntide. Many of my
parishioners send their children, but very few of their Servants. At your
Grace’s last confirmation, or rather before it, the Servants did attend me at
the times appointed and I did all I could to meke
them understand the principles of our holy religion. I know of no exposition
they make use of. 10. The sacrament is administered once every quarter both at
Skelton and Brotton. I give notice of it on the preceding Sunday in the form
appointed by the Book of Common Prayer. The number of communicants in the
parish may amount to 375. At Easter 156 did communicate. At other times the
number is not so great. I have refused the sacrament to none since I was
admitted curate. 11. The chapel at Brotton is annexed
to the cure of Skelton and is served in the manner above specified. It is
distant from Skelton about 3 measured miles. There is no particular
endowment belonging to Brotton. We have no chapel in ruins. 12. There
has no public penance been performed since your Grace came to be Archbishop,
neither do I know of any commutations of penance made by any of my parish
within that time.
1770
The castle was rebuilt in the 1770s and
then extended to become a country house in the 19th century. In the 18th
century the house at Skelton Castle was owned by John Hall Stephenson who was a
Cambridge scholar and poet. He entertained other noted contemporary authors
including Laurence Sterne, the author of the book Tristram Shandy. The
house was at the time known as “Crazy castle”.
The Victoria
County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding:
Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: Here in the 18th century lived John Hall Stevenson
(1718–85), the author of Crazy Tales and a friend of Sterne, who was a frequent
visitor at the castle.
On 24 November 1770 William Smith, a
Miller, was murdered at night in his bed at home in Skelton in Cleveland by
Luke Atkinson who also lived in the village. On Sunday evening he told Mr
Wharton that he had without the least provocation for 3 weeks before the
perpetration of the murder several times a strong inclination to commit it; but
had always got the cruel thought driven from his mind, till the unhappy night
in which he effected it, when he went to bed, but could not rest; that he arose
from out of his bed and fell to prayer, in hopes of diverting these thoughts;
but so irresistible was the impulse, that he at last went to the house of
William Smith armed with a mattock and hatchet, broke open the door with the
mattock, and found him asleep in bed, where he struck him several times on the
head, but whether with the mattock or hatchet he did not remember; and that
afterwards he took the deceased’s purse containing one half guinea, a quarter
guinea, about five shillings in silver and sixpence in copper. He declared that
his wife was ignorant of the murder and died penitently.
1785:
The Victoria
County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding:
Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: The old church of All Saints is a plain structure erected
in 1785, consisting of chancel 26 ft. 9 in. by 18 ft. 6 in., nave 61 ft. 6 in.
by 25 ft. 6 in., and west tower 9 ft. square, all these measurements being
internal. There is also a kind of transept, forming a pew, in the middle of the
north wall, 16 ft. deep by 9 ft. 6 in. wide, with a fireplace at its north end.
No record of the former building has been kept. In 1891 part of a dial stone
with an inscription in Anglo-Saxon uncials and in runes, probably of
11th-century date, was found in the churchyard, and Ord, writing about 1846,
mentions 'a vast number of stone coffins' having been found to the north-west
of the church. Three of these, one a child's, are preserved, but the others
have disappeared.
1788
The present house is built of dressed
sandstone with a roof of Lakeland slate. It is a two-storey block with a 5-bay
frontage. It incorporates some remains of the medieval castle. It was
constructed between 1788 and 1817 for John Wharton, Member of Parliament for
Beverley who had inherited the ruined Skelton Castle from his father Joseph
Hall-Stevenson in 1786. John Wharton had changed his name from Hall-Stevenson
to Wharton to comply with the terms of a legacy. He inherited a considerable
fortune from his aunt, much of which he spent of demolishing the castle and
building his new home.
The Victoria
County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding:
Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: According to Ord the demolition of the castle of the Bruses began in 1788, when practically the whole of the
site was cleared and the hill on which the keep seems to have stood was
destroyed. Some terraces which overhung the moat were also removed. Of the old
building no trustworthy account has been preserved. Ord says it had a
'magnificent tower,' and it is described in the Cotton MSS. as 'an ancient
castle all rent and torn, it seemed rather by the wit and violence of man than
by the envy of time.' It was its ruinous condition in John Hall Stevenson's
time that earned it the title of 'Crazy Castle.' The new building, a large
castellated mansion in the Gothic style of the day, was erected about 1794, but
has since been modernized; it is now the residence of Mr. William Henry Anthony
Wharton. Internal alterations were made in 1892 and in 1908.
Skelton Castle
1790
John Wharton of Skelton Castle was
returned as the MP for Beverley, beginning a 40 year
association with that East Riding town. It was to lead to his eventual
financial downfall. Beverley had the right to send 2 members to Parliament and
it was a Nationwide custom to bribe officials and the electorate. The only
people allowed to vote were adult males who owned land, so called freemen, and
Beverley had an above average number of these, as well as voters who lived
outside the area. It became advantageous to have more than two candidates in order to find out who could offer the most in sweeteners.
As well as making direct payments to the voters, candidates paid for such
things as travel expenses, ribbons, innkeepers fees, musicians, security guards
etc. The expenditure did not end there. The MP prior to J Wharton paid over
£650, including £50 towards flagging the streets in 1786, £20 a year on coal
for poor freemen, £10 per year to the master of the grammar school, £25 for the
races, and 5 guineas to the Charity school, besides providing a buck and a doe
for the mayor’s table. John Wharton must have made an excellent job of this
bribery as he received 908 votes from the 1,069 voters, including a high
proportion of the working-class and London voters. Wharton was an active Whig
with radical views. In Parliament he was a staunch supporter of the abolition
of slavery and favoured relief for Roman Catholics and constitutional and
Parliamentary reform. His resounding success in the 1790 election gained him a
considerable popular following in Beverley and his overt political position led
to the development of clear Whig and Tory factions in the town. It was said by
the Whig grandees, “It is beyond the power of imagination to conceive the
popularity of Wharton here… .Perhaps it has never
happened in the History of Electioneering that out of 1,050 voters 908 should
be on one side in favour of our friend and his principles.”
1794
John Wharton lost the election in
Beverley after he disagreed with some of his previous supporters over the war
with France. He was made a Captain in the North Riding of Yorkshire Yeoman
Cavalry.
The winter of 1794 to 5 was one of the
severest in living memory with hard frosts and snow from December to March. Snow
still lay on the Cleveland hills in May. Bad weather conditions had a more
serious effect on people’s lives then than today. Most worked in agriculture
and those who did not ‘live-in’ could not earn. Fuel was used up. The fact that
the country was at war with France added to the problems. There was a shortage
of corn, which drove up the price of bread and there were riots in some places.
Poaching was rife. The landed classes had always considered that any wild life that moved across their property belonged to them.
From Norman times, and
probably long before, any peasant who trespassed on the Lord’s hunting preserve
was liable to harsh penalties. In these times of dearth these were severe. From
1760 night poachers were liable to 3 to 6 months
prison with hard labour and second offenders given 6 to 12 months with a public
whipping. From 1782 to 1799 there were only 26 convictions for poaching in the
N Riding of Yorkshire. To save a family from starvation the risk was taken in
Skelton.
It is recorded, “by October 1780 the
game upon the manors of John Wharton of Kilton, Skelton and Brotton was nearly destroyed”.
In 1800 new legislation made convicted
poachers liable to 2 years hard labour and a whipping. Offenders over 12 could
be sent for military service.
1799
John Wharton was returned to Parliament
as the MP for Beverley, coming second in the bye-election which had been caused
by the death of the sitting MP. He now stood as an Independent and was opposed
by J. B. S. Morritt of Rokeby Park in the North Riding of Yorks. He had mixed
success in the elections which followed up to 1826.
1801
The first national census was carried
out by house to house enquiry, by the local Overseers
of the Poor. The population of England and Wales was estimated to be 9 million.
The population of Skelton was 700 – 317 males, 383 females. There were 167
inhabited houses, with 180 families. 6 houses were uninhabited. 171 people
worked in agriculture and 279 in trades. In the 20 years from 1781 to 1801
there were 612 baptisms, 399 burials and 168 marriages.
1817
The “Roxby and Cleveland Hounds” were
formed on 5 June 1817 and John Andrew, the notorious smuggler, of the White
House, Saltburn Lane was made Master.
From ‘The
Cleveland Hounds’, by A E Pease: “At the Angel Inn at Loftus, on a summer’s afternoon, we may picture John
Andrew Snr, Isaac Scarth, Henry Clarke, Henry Vansittart Esq, Thomas Chaloner
Esq and the other signatories to the rules then drawn up, sitting with their
tumblers of punch, making a treaty. “In 1817, Mr John Andrew was appointed
master. The Hounds were taken to Saltburn, then but a fishing hamlet on the sea-shore, where, for more than fifty years, the management
was in the hands of the Andrew family. They hunted foxes in the winter, and,
with a few of the old Hounds, otters in the summer. A few years after this the
Roxby was dropped from the name of the pack, and they became the Cleveland.
John Andrew hunted them until 1835, assisted by his son, John Andrew Jun, who
took them when his father gave them up. John Jun was master until 1855, when
they were taken by his son, Tom, who had them until 1870, having, previous to becoming master, acted as huntsman to his
father. Tom, altogether, hunted the Hounds for thirty-three years, having many
grand runs, and sometimes hunting when the snow was deep on the ground.”
1821
The population of Skelton Parish was
1235, as recorded by the local Curate, William Close. Skelton village
population was approximately 700.
On 4 August 1821 a most dreadful
storm of thunder and lightning occurred at Marske and Skelton in Cleveland. At
Skelton Mr Mackereth, surgeon of Guisbrough, was
passing from one part of the village to the other, over some fields and in the
middle of the pasture was knocked down and laid insensible for 2 or 3 minutes.
Two women in the adjoining field, making hay, were struck down, but
providentially, the whole three have perfectly recovered.
1822
The
Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire by Thomas
Langdale of 1822 described Skelton Castle: “situated
on the brink of a large sheet of water, in many places 50 feet deep, which
nearly surrounds the castle, except an opening to the south.” Skelton was
described as in the parish of Skelton, east division of the wapentake and
liberty of Langbaraugh, Skelton Castle the seat of John Wharton Esq, 3 ½ miles
from Guisbrough, 11 ½ from Stokesley, 16 from Stockton, population 700.
1823
Baines
Directory for 1823 listed the inhabitants of Skelton, with a population of
around 700: Castle: John Wharton MP. Curate: Rev William Close. Attorney:
Thomas Nixon. Blacksmiths: Thos Crater, Robert Robinson, William Young. Butchers:
William Lawson, Isaac Wilkinson, William wilkinson. Corn Millers: Robert
Watson, William Wilson. Farmers and Yeoman: William Adamson, John
Appleton, Thomas Clarke, James Cole, James Colin, William Cooper, Steven
Emerson, John Farndale, Robert Gill, William Hall, Edward Hall, Jackson
Hardon, William Hutton, Sarah Johnson, William Lockwood, John Parnaby, Thomas
Rigg, William Sayer, William Sherwood, John Taylor, William Thompson, Robert
Tiplady, William Wilkinson, Richard Wilson. Grocer and Drapers: John Appleton,
William Dixon, Ralph Lynass, Thomas Shemelds, John Alater. Flax dresser:
McNaughton D. Joiners: William Appleton, Leonard Dixon, Mark Carrick,
Joseph Middleton. Schoolmasters: Atkinson M, John Sharp. Shoemakers:
Robert Bell, Luke Lewis, Thomas Lowls, George Lynass, Thomas Steele. Stonemasons:
Thomas Bryan, John Pattinson. Straw hat makers: Sarah Sarah, Esther
Shimelds. Weavers: Stephen Edelson, Thomas Dawson, John Robinson, Robert
Wilson. Land agent: John Andrew. Victuallers: William Bean at
Duke William, William Lawson at Royal George. Woodturner: James Crusher.
Gamekeeper: Frank Thomas. Plumber and Glazier: William Gowland. Sadler:
Thomas Taylor. Shopkeeper: Eliza Wilkinson. Carriers: Marmaduke
Wilson - to Guisborough on Tuesday and Friday, departing 8am and returned 4pm;
Robert Wilkinson to Stockton on Wednesday and Saturday, departing 4am and
return 8pm, to Lofthouse on Monday and Thursday departing 9am and return at
6pm; Letters were brought to Guisborough by coach and thence to Skelton by
daily horse post arriving at 10am and mail taken back at 3pm.
1826
John Wharton was
defeated in the election at Beverley and retired from politics, heavily in
debt.
1831
The population of
Skelton was 781. In the last 30 years an increase of 81. The national
population about 14 million. The number of Females in Skelton was 396. Males
numbered 385. Of these 138 were over 20. An entry in the Parish Register for
this year gives:- 174 Families living in 172 Inhabited houses with 12
uninhabited. There was no current house building. This record further divided
these families into 100 employed in Agriculture, 42 in Trade/Manufacture and 24
Others. Agriculture occupiers 1st Class 39, 2nd Class 73 and Labourers 26. Manufacturers
– None. Retail trades and Handicraft – 43. Wholesale and Capitalists, Clergy,
Office Clerks, Professional and other Educated Men – 1 [presumably the Vicar]. Labourers
non Agriculture – 15. All other males over 20 – 1. Male servants 20 and over –
18. Male servants under 20 – 10. Female servants – 22.
1832
The Voting Reform Acty
1832 extended the right to vote slightly and altered constituencies. Up to this
time only only about 3 percent of householders qualified to vote, based on land
ownership. The new rules were still based on wealth and now about 5 percent had
the vote. Skelton was part of the North Riding of Yorkshire and there were only
4 representatives for the whole County. Up to 1821 this had been only 2.
Voting boundaries in
1832
1837
One of the longest cold
periods, beginning January, with temperatures down to -20 at Greenwich, and
lasting some 7 to 8 weeks.
1841
1843
John Wharton died childless and in
poverty in 1843 and Skelton devolved to his nephew John Thomas Wharton of
Gilling.
The Victoria
County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding:
Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: John Wharton made a conveyance of
the manor in 1796; he died in 1843 without issue and was succeeded by his
nephew John Thomas Wharton, who died in 1900, his heir being his son William
Henry Anthony Wharton, the present lord of the manor.
1844
Skelton Tithes Map
1857
1871
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: The
opening of various mines having caused a large increase in the population since
1871. The mining villages of Boosbeck and North
Skelton, to the south and southeast of Skelton village, have stations on the North Eastern railway; Lingdale,
further south, is connected by a special line with the Kilton Thorpe branch
railway, and Charlton Terrace or Slapewath (Slaipwath) has a tramway running from the mines to the
North Eastern railway line which passes it to the north. Rights of mines and
quarries are mentioned in 1366 and 1632.
1880s
The management of the Skelton Park pit
in the 1880s
1881
The Victoria
County History – Yorkshire, A History of the County of York North Riding:
Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: There are Primitive Methodist
chapels and a public elementary school which was built in 1881 and enlarged in
1894.
1923
The Victoria County History – Yorkshire, A History of the
County of York North Riding: Volume 2 Parishes: Skelton, 1923: The ancient parish of Skelton, including
the townships of Great Moorsholm and Stanghow, covers 11,803 acres, of which
2,219 acres are arable land, 4,657 acres permanent grass and 578 acres woods
and plantations. The soil is clay, with a subsoil of Kimmeridge clay, and the
chief crops grown are wheat, beans, oats and barley.
In the north the parish forms a kind of peninsula between the Skelton and Millholme Becks, which have very steep banks, whence the
land slopes downwards, rising again towards the centre and
also towards the south of the parish, where there are wide stretches of
moorland. The greatest height is about 975 ft. above ordnance datum. Skelton
village itself is situated on the northern slope. The whole parish is given up
to iron-stone mining, to which the neighbourhood owes its importance.
The older part of the village is that
nearest the castle. Boroughgate Lane approaches the
western end from the south. The newer village stretches towards the east and is
straggling and uneven; in the north-east on high ground is the new church of
All Saints. There are Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist chapels about the centre
of the village, and in the south is the hospital, with Skelton High Green to
the west, and to the east Skelton Green, where there is a public elementary
school built in 1887 and enlarged in 1892 and 1900.
New Skelton lies to the east of Skelton
and has a school.
Further east is North Skelton, where
there is a church mission-room, Primitive Methodist chapel and a Friends'
burial ground. Boosbeck lies due south of Skelton
village; it was constituted an ecclesiastical parish in 1901 with its church of
St. Aidan.
1925
Skelton Castle descended in the Wharton
family to William Henry Anthony Wharton, High Sheriff of Yorkshire for 1925,
and on his death in 1938, to his daughter Margaret Winsome Ringrose Wharton.
She had married Christopher Hildyard Ringrose, a Royal Navy captain, who had
added the additional surname of Wharton to that of Ringrose. She lived there
until at least 1986, by which time her relative, Major Wharton, actually ran the estate on account of her age.
2016
Links, texts and books
There is an
excellent history of Skelton at http://skeltonincleveland.com/
Skelton Parish
Records – Baptisms
– Marriages
– Burials
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