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Muston Parish information from Bulmers' 1892.

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MUSTON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1892.

Wapentake and Petty Sessional Division of Dickering - County Council Electoral Division of Sherburn - Peor Law Union, County Court District, and Rural Deanery of Scarborough - Archdeaconry of the East Riding - Diocese of York.

This parish stretches from the coast westward to the confines of Folkton, and has Filey and Hunmanby for northern and southern boundary respectively. Its entire area is 2,293 acres, of which 2,180 are under assessment. The rateable value is £3,569, and the population in 1881 was 393, and in 1891, 341. Lieut.-Col. J. P. Osbaldeston-Mitford, of Mitford Castle, Morpeth, is lord of the manor; and Mr. William Cooper, Thomas Rivis, Esq., W. H. Harrison Broadley, Esq., J.P., D.L., Mrs. Tyssen Amhurst, H. B. Firman, Esq., C. Boynton, Esq., and the trustees of the late George Darley, Esq., are the principal landowners. The soil and subsoil vary very much in different parts of the parish. Wheat, barley, oats and turnips are the chief crops. Limestone is abundant in the south-west.

In opening a quarry near Fox Hill farm house about 20 years ago, the workmen came upon an ancient British cemetery. The graves, of which there were several, were circular holes, smoothly cut in the rock, and filled up with clay after the bodies had been deposited. The clay had become quite black, and a putty-like substance covered the bottom of each grave.

The village of Muston occupies a low situation on the bank of the small river Hartford, and is distant one-and-a-half miles from Hunmanby, nearly the same from Filey, which is the nearest railway station, and eight miles south from Scarborough. The church, usually styled All Saints, though Canon Raine asserts that its original dedication was to St. Nicholas, is a neat Gothic edifice, rebuilt in 1863, at a cost of £600. It consists of chancel, nave with north aisle, south porch, and small western turret in which are two bells. The church which previously occupied the site was an old dilapidated structure, which was so injured by a gale of wind in 1862, as to render restoration almost impossible. The two bells in the turret (now re-cast) bore the date 1410. The font, still preserved, is Norman, and during the demolition of the old building some stones were found which appeared to have belonged to an earlier church. The old stone altar removed at the Reformation has been restored to its place, but in order to comply with the laws of the established church, an oaken slab is placed on the top. The east window is a triplet of stained glass representing the Crucifixion, with the Blessed Virgin and St. John on either side. It was inserted in 1882, at a cost of about £100, subscribed by the parishioners and friends. The church is furnished with open benches to seat 212. Muston was formerly a chapelry to Hunmanby, and the inhabitants continued to bury their dead there till the year 1828, when the churchyard was consecrated by the Archbishop of York. The registers date from 1754. The living is a vicarage, in the gift of Lieut.-Col. J. P. Osbaldeston-Mitford, and incumbency of the Rev. John Fisher Brown, L,Th. Its gross value is £221, including 10 acres of glebe. The tithes were commuted for £391, of which two-thirds are payable to the patron, and one-third to the vicar.

The Vicarage House, which stands in its own grounds near the church, is a commodious brick building of neat design, erected in 1873, at a cost of about £1,800.

The Primitive Methodist chapel is a plain brick building erected 1824, and has undergone no alteration since. It will accommodate 200 persons. The Wesleyan chapel is a neat wooden structure presented by Mr. Meggitt in 1886. The east window is a copy of Holman Hunt's celebrated picture, "Christ the Light of the World," executed by the donor's niece. The interior is elegantly furnished with plush-covered benches for 90 persons. Mr. Meggitt's ancestors have been associated with the cause since the days of John Wesley, who visited the present gentleman's grandfather at Thorne, near Epworth, on 11 occasions. The old oak armchair, in which the earnest and eloquent preacher sat, is still reverently preserved.

An Independent Chapel was erected by Mrs. Hannah Tate in 1815, and subsequently endowed by her with the interest of £245. She died in 1846, and directed in her will that the interest of £200 should be applied to the repairs of the chapel and the support of the minister - such minister to be chosen and approved by the majority of the members, be ordained, and hold the doctrines set forth in the Assembly's Catechism. Should the minister at any time receive the disapprovle of the majority of the members, and contimue to officiate, the portion of the interest, left after the reparation of the said chapel, is to be invested for the benefit of the next person who shall be chosen and approved by the majority of the members. The testatrix further directed that the interest of £45 should be applied towards the "maintenance, benefit, and advantage of the Sunday school in connexion with the said chapel," as set forth in the will of Francis Hindson, who had bequeathed the said sum for that purpose. The Rev. Luke Nichols was pastor for 50 years, and since his death, in 1875, no minister has been appointed.

The National School (mixed), with master's residence, was built in 1855, at a cost of about £400, raised by private subscriptions and a goverument grant. The site was given by Rear-Admiral Mitford. There is accommodation for 120 children, and an average attendance of 52. It is endowed with the interest of £200, left by the Rev. William Green, a late incumbent, who also left a similar sum to the church.

The poor of the parish receive a rent-charge of 20s. yearly, left by Elisha Trott, yeoman, in 1697, and payable out of a house and land in this parish. The will provides that, if the tenant of the said property withhold the payment, the overseers or churchwardens shall enter the house and remain until it is paid.

A way-side cross formerly stood on the spot now occupied by a guide post, at the junction of the roads from Malton, Filey, and Hunmanby, and some of the stones may still be seen scattered about the village.

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

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


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