Garton Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

GARTON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake of Holderness (Middle Division) - Petty Sessional Division of Middle Holderness - Electoral Division of Aldhrough - Poor Law Union of Skirlaugh - County Court District and Rural Deanery of Hedon - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish includes the hamlet of Grimston Garth, and contains 1,828 acres of land, lying on the coast of the German Ocean. For ecclesiastical purposes it also includes a portion of the township of Owstwick. There are 1,787 acres of land under assessment, rateable value £1,514; and the population in 1891 was 130. Mesdames Byrom and Hobart, who are ladies of the manor; the Ven. Archdeacon H. W. Yeoman, Marske-by-the-Sea; D. B. Kendall, Esq., M.D., Walton, near Wakefield; the executors of the late Mr. Joseph Wilson, Fitling; and Mr. G. M. Gale, Atwick, are the principal landowners. The soil varies, but is generally of a free nature; the subsoil is clay, and the chief crops are wheat, oats, beans, and peas.

Garton, at the time of the Norman Survey, was a soke belonging to the manor of Easington, and must have been a place of some importance, as it had a priest and church. Subsequently it acquired separate manorial rights, and was held by the family of Ross or Roos. From this family it passed to the Gowers, and from them to the Grimstons, early in the 17th century.

The village of Garton is pleasantly situated about one-and-a-half miles from the sea, two-and-a-half miles south-east from Aldbrough, and 12 miles north-east from Hull. The nearest railway station is at Ryehill, seven-and-a-half miles distant. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, is an ancient structure of stone, in the Transition Norman style, erected probably between the years 1175 and 1200. The church mentioned in Domesday Book had previously occupied the site, but not a trace of that building has been met with. The present edifice consists of chancel, nave, south aisle and porch, and a low western tower. The latter, with its massive walls, fine arch, and narrow lancet windows, presents, most probably, much the same appearance now, saving the look of newness, as it did when it left the hands of the builders; but the body of the church has changed its aspect. Sometime between the years 1300 and 1375, a south aisle was added, and the gabled ridge of stone in the side of the tower shows that the original roof of the nave was one of high pitch. At the east end of the aisle was a chantry chapel, now the vestry, but previously used as a school as late as 1841. The windows of the clerestory are square-headed, and there is a similar one on the north side of the chancel. Three of the windows of the south aisle are depressed-pointed, and those on the north side of the nave are pointed. The present east window, a pointed one of three lights, representing "The Last Supper," is a memorial of the late Colonel Marmaduke Jerard Grimston, of Grimston Garth and Kilnwick, who died in 1879, erected by his daughters. The lower part is embellished with shields of arms, showing the forty quarterings of the Grimston family. The brass lectern is also a memorial of the same gentleman. The nave is separated from the chancel by a finely-carved 14th-century oak screen (restored), and from the aisle by three pointed arches, springing from hexagonal piers. The font is 15th century work, and has been restored. A stone pulpit was erected a few years ago, by the children of the late Rev. Henry Ward, who was vicar of the parish from 1876 to 1879. In 1878, the church underwent some repairs, at an outlay of about £100, and in 1887 a further sum of £750 was expended in the restoration of the interior. The wagon-head roofs rest on corbels, erected about 45 years ago. They are copies of those in Patrington Church. Garton Church has been the occasional burial-place of the Grimstons since the Reformation, and members of the Garton and Gower families were also interred here, in the 15th and 16th centuries, but no monuments remain to perpetuate their memory. In the chancel is a blue-stone flag, from which the brasses have been torn. It is said to have covered the grave of Elizabeth Grimston, wife of Thomas Grimston, who died in 1515. In the churchyard lies a curious stone slab: around the edges are carved quatrefoil ornaments, and in the centre is a grotesque head, said, by the Rev. A. B. Prole, to represent a Cuthite idol. The same ornament is also repeated on the jambs of the porch. A fragment of the old churchyard cross is preserved in the tower: on one side is represented the Crucifixion, on the other the Ascension. The church will seat 150. The registers date from 1582.

The living is a discharged vicarage. Originally it was a rectory, which was given to Thornton Abbey, Lincolnshire, to which it was appropriated by Archbishop Grey. At the Reformation, the patronage reverted to the Crown, and is new exercised by the Lord Chancellor. The gross yearly value is returned at £95, derived from tithes and 15 acres of glebe, with residence. The tithes were commuted, in 1836, for £87 10s.; the impropriate tithe amounts to £16. The Rev. Jeremiah Alexander Donovan, B.A., Trinity College, Dublin, the present incumbent, was instituted in January, 1891. There are three-and-a-half acres of land and five cottages belonging to the church, the rents of which are applied to the repairs of the fabric.

The Wesleyans have had a chapel in the village since 1826. A Reading Room was established in 1887, in one of the cottages above mentioned. Near the village is Blue Hall, the old manor house of Garton. It was for some time the property of the Constables, who also held the manor of Garton, and it passed from that family in 1774 to John Wright, of Nottingham, gentleman. Subsequently it was purchased by Mr. Stocks, of Manchester, and now belongs to Dr. Kendall. The house, now in the occupation of Mr. H. Johnson, farmer, has been modernised, and the moats nearly all filled in.

GRIMSTON, is a hamlet, once the ton or enclosure of Grimr, one of the Scandinavian sea-rovers who established himself here, gave name, after the Conquest, to a family who have held it through all succeeding centuries. Sylvester de Grymeston is said to have accompanied the Conqueror to England as standard bearer, and was present at the battle of Hastings, for which he received Grymestone, Holmpton, and several other places. Sir John de Grymestone, of Grymestone, was knighted by Henry II. Sir Marmaduke Grimston, who was High Sheriff of Yorkshire in 1598, received the honour of knighthood from James I. in 1603. His only son, William Grimston, Esq., of Grimston, was one of those gentlemen who suffered severely for their loyalty to Charles I. His lands were sequestrated, and, to redeem a portion of them, he was obliged to sell Flinton, Waxham, and part of Grimston. The present owners are Mrs. Byrom and Mrs. Hobart, daughters and co-heirs of the late Marmaduke Jerard Grimston, Esq.

Grimston Hall was built by Thomas Grimston, Esq., between the years 1781 and 1786. It occupies an elevated situation in an extensive park, near the sea, and is built in the castellated form, with five circular towers at the angles, and a polygonal erection rising from the centre. The approach to the park is through a noble entrance lodge, with sham portcullis, and flanked by an octagonal tower at each corner. Above the gateway is the Grimston coat-of-arms. The hall is at present (January, 1892) unoccupied.

The ancient residence of the family stood at Grimston Garth, and was destroyed by a conflagration in the lifetime of William Grimston, who was born in 1640. A farmhouse now stands on the site, and a part of the wall of the old hall has been incorporated in it. The farm is occupied by Messrs. John Clarke & Son.

There are a few cottages and a school at the north end of the park, forming the hamlet. The school was built by the late Col. Grimston in 1860, for 50 children, and is attended by about 24. Adjoining is a house for the teacher.

[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of East Yorkshire (1892)]

Directories

• Transcript of the entry for the Post Office, professions and trades in Bulmer's Directory of 1892.

Scan, OCR and html by Colin Hinson. Checking and correction by Peter Nelson.