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Long Marston Parish information from Bulmers' 1890.

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LONG MARSTON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890.

Wapentake of the Ainsty of York - Rural Deanery of Ainsty - Archdeaconry and Diocese of York.

This parish comprises the townships of Long Marston, Angram, and Hutton Wandesley, embracing an area of 4,594 acres, and had, in 1881, a population of 530. The first named township contains 2,643 acres, the lordship and chiefly the property of Andrew Montagu, Esq., Ingmanthorpe Hall, Mr. George Baddeley, Scholar Green, Stoke-upon-Trent, possesses an estate here. The surface is generally flat, and the soil a stiff clay, alternated with portions of lighter quality. The township is valued for rating purposes at £2,934.

The village stands on the York and Wetherby road, about 7½ miles from the former place, and three miles from Marston railway station. On the moor near the village was fought one of the most sanguinary battles that mark the disastrous conflict between Charles I. and the Parliament. The Royalists were led by Prince Rupert and the Marquis of Newcastle, and the Parliamentarians were generalled by Oliver Cromwell and the two Fairfaxes. It was the 2nd of July, 1644, when

 
"On Marston Heath
Met, front to front, the ranks of death;
Flourish'd the trumpets fierce, and now
Fired was each eye, and flush'd each brow;
On either side loud clamours ring,
'God and the cause! - ' God and the king!'
Right English all, they rush'd to blows,
With nought to win, and all to lose."

This battle, which has been more fully described on pages 78 and 79, was fatal to the royal cause. Relics of the strife are still occasionally dug up.

The Church, dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient edifice, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, north transept, and organ chamber and western tower. In the year 1400 a commission was granted to the parishioners, because their old church was ruinous, and far distant from their habitations, to translate the same from that place to another chapel in the parish, and there to build themselves a new church, provided that they kept enclosed the cemetery where the old church stood. In pursuance of this faculty the old church was taken down, and the stones used in restoring or re-building the chapel, which thenceforth became the parish church. Tradition says that every stone of the old church was carefully removed and re-used in the present edifice. The walls exhibit some fine rubble work. The style is generally Norman, with some late Gothic. The church was restored in 1869, at a cost of £1,500. The coating of plaster with which, in later times, a tasteless generation had covered the walls was removed, displaying the beauty of the work hidden beneath. A north transept was added, and the Thwaites' chapel converted into an organ chamber, The south porch was removed and a very handsome east window inserted. A brass plate in the wall near bears the following inscription:- "To the honour of God. This window is the gift of Edward Akroyd, M.P., of Bank Field, Halifax, of the kith and kin of William Aikerode, M.A., instituted rector of this church June 13, 1477."

"The rector made his last will and testament September 12, 1518, in which he directed his body to be buried in the chancel, near the body of his mother. He also founded the 'Aikerode Exhibition' in the university of Oxford, or that of Cambridge, for the benefit of his kith and kindred for ever, to be managed by trustees, one of whom, at the present day, is the aforesaid Edward Akroyd, November, 1869."

The reredos was the gift of the Dayrell family. It is a beautiful work of art, representing in the centre, cut in stone, Christ blessing the cup at the Last Supper, with the Apostles seated at table beside Him. The pulpit is of marble, and was given by Mr. Sanderson, of York, and the brass lectern by the Rev. Charles Johnstone, a late curate-in-charge. The doorway is a very fine Norman one, resting on circular columns at each side, and arches of a similar character divide the nave from the aisle. The monuments previously in the chancel have been removed to the tower; among them is one to J. Thwaites, Esq., who died in 1602. The font, an ancient one, was rescued from a farmyard, where it had been sacrilegiously prostituted to form a drinking trough for cattle. The living is a rectory, worth £960 a year, in the gift of George Baddeley, Esq., who purchased the advowson about 14 years ago, and held by the Rev. Edmund Baddeley, M.A.

The most noteworthy among the rectors of Long Marston was Dr. Thomas Morton, who was presented in 1598, and displayed conspicuous courage during the prevalence of the plague in 1603. He was afterwards successively Bishop of Chester, Lichfield, and Durham. He was ejected from the last named see during the Cromwellian regime, and committed to custody, from which he was only released after several month's detention. He spent the rest of his few remaining years in retirement, and died, in 1659, at the venerable age of 95.

The Wesleyan Chapel is a plain brick building, built in 1850.

All Saints' School, erected about 30 years ago, is a neat brick structure, containing a school-room and class-room capable of accommodating 70 children. It is endowed with £10 per annum.

The old Manor House, now in the occupation of Mr. Francis Hudson, retains traces of its former elegance. Several of the rooms are wainscotted with oak, and in one, tradition says, Oliver Cromwell spent the night before the battle of. Marston Moor.

CHARITIES. - Breck's bequest, invested in the three per cent. consols, produces £4 per annum, which is distributed at Christmas. The parish also shares in Topham's charity for apprenticing poor boys, who are provided with clothes, and at the expiration of their apprenticeship receive a kit of tools.

ANGRAM is a small township of 518 acres, the property of the exors. of the late E. C. York, Esq. The soil is a medium between light and strong, and the chief crops are wheat, barley, and oats. Its rateable value is £525. The hamlet, which consists of farmhouses and a few cottages, stands about two miles from Long Marston.

HUTTON WANSLEY or HUTTON WANDESLEY township comprises 1,223 acres, the property and lordship of the exors. of E. C. York, Esq., Hutton Hall, and the rector of Long Marston. It is rated to the poor at £1,405, and contains about 116 inhabitants. The hamlet is situated between Long Marston and Angram. Hutton Hall, the residence of Mrs. Celina Rose, York, is a brick mansion apparently erected in the latter part of the 17th century. A portion of the moat may still be traced.

[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire (1890)]

Directories

  • Transcript of the entry for the Post Office, professions and trades in Bulmer's Directory of 1890.


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