Sutton On The Forest Parish information from Bulmers' 1890.

SUTTON ON THE FOREST:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890.

Wapentake of Bulmer - Petty Sessional Division of Bulmer West - Electoral Division of Sheriff-Hutton - Poor Law Union, County Court District, and Rural Deanery of Easingwold - Archdeaconry of Cleveland - Diocese of York.

This parish is situated on the west side of the river Foss, and contains, according to the Ordnance Survey, 10,654 acres. It was formerly a part of the Royal Forest of Galtres, and the Crown still retains possession of two farms here. The soil is generally of a sandy nature, resting on a substratum of clay and gravel. The parish is divided into two townships, and had, at the last census, 1,070 inhabitants, most of whom are employed in agriculture. In the township of Sutton there are 5,729 acres of land under assessment, of which, the rateable value is £5,248. The principal owners are Arthur Duncombe, Esq., M.P. (lord of the manor), who has about 3,000 acres in the township; Thomas S. Whittaker, Esq., Everthorpe Hall, near Hull; Mrs. Kilvington; Rev. F. C. Morris, rector of Newton-upon-Ouse; H. Rogerson, the Crown, and a few freeholders.

Sutton is a place of considerable antiquity, and when Domesday Survey was taken, had a resident priest, and one may therefore infer that it had also a church. The manor then belonged to Ligulf, but it afterwards came into the possession of the Bulmers, and Emma, the daughter and heiress of Bertram de Bulmer, conyeyed it in marriage to Geoffrey de Neville. The estate remained in the possession of this family till forfeited by attainder, when it reverted to the Crown. Subsequently it came into the possession of the Harlands, who were seated at Sutton Hall upwards of two centuries ago. Anne, daughter and heiress of Philip Harland, Esq., and widow of the Rev. Henry Goodricke, married, secondly, Charles Hoare, Esq., who assumed the surname and arms of Harland, and was subsequently created a baronet, but dying without issue, the title became extinct. His widow, Lady Hoare Harland, survived till 1826, and was succeeded by her nephew, W. C. Harland, Esq. This gentleman represented the city of Durham in Parliament from 1832 to 1841. He married the daughter of R. E. Duncombe Shafto, Esq., and dying in 1863, without issue, the late Admiral Duncombe succeeded to the estate under the will of Lady Harland. The gallant Admiral died in February, 1889, and this estate passed to his second son, Arthur Duncombe, Esq., M.P., for the Howdenshire Division of the East Riding.

Sutton Hall is a plain red brick mansion, surrounded by pleasure grounds and a neat lawn.

The Village of Sutton (i.e. South town) is situated on the high road from York to Helmsley, and is distant about eight miles from the former city. The route of the old Roman road from York to Crayke Castle lay near the village.

The Church (All Saints) is a handsome edifice, and in excellent order, having, with the exception of the tower and the south wall of the nave, been entirely rebuilt in 1877, on the lines of the old church, which dates from the early part of the 13th century. Its parts are a nave, with north aisle and south porch, chancel, and lofty tower. The east window is a good specimen of the Decorated style. The others are square-headed and plain. A few fragments of stained glass are preserved in the lower part of the west window. The alms box, secured by two padlocks, is dated 1673. There are several marble tablets in the church to the memory of members of the Harland family. The Living, originally a rectory, was given to the Priory of Marton, and a vicarage ordained therein in 1223. At the dissolution of monasteries, the patronage was granted by Henry VIII. in exchange to the Archbishop of York, but it has recently again passed by exchange to the Lord Chancellor. The living is rated in the King's Books at £17 3s. 4d., but its present value is £350 net, with an excellent residence. Vicar, Rev. Henry Martyn Sanders, M.A.

Sterne, the author of "Tristram Shandy," held this living and resided here until the vicarage house was accidentally destroyed by fire, when he removed to Coxwold.

The Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1864 at a cost of £500, and superseded an older structure, now converted into a barn. The Primitive Methodists have also a chapel in the village, a plain brick building, erected in 1861.

The Cemetery, situated a short distance from the village, contains about one acre of ground, and was consecrated in December, 1866.

CHARITIES. - The poor receive three small rent-charges, amounting to 57s., left by Robert Parkinson, John Sturdy, and Ann Cobb in 1622, 1711, and 1728. John Harland, Esq., in 1729, gave Gigle Pitt close, and £31 in money, the rents and interest to be distributed every Lord's Day, after evening prayer, among such poor as constantly attended church. Elizabeth Harland, in 1766, left £60, the interest to be distributed in bread every Sunday, and in 1782, another Elizabeth Harland left £200 to the poor of Sutton and Huby. The late W. C. Harland, Esq., in 1863, left the sum of £1,000 to be invested in the public funds, two-thirds of the interest thereof to be distributed among the poor in the township of Huby, and the remainder in Sutton.

HUBY. - In this township there are 4,484 acres of land under assessment, of which, the rateable value is £4,363. The inhabitants, in 1881, numbered 495. The principal landowners are W. B. Richardson, Esq., J.P., Huby Burn, Easingwold; Arthur Duncombe, Esq., M.P.; Mrs. Kilvington; Joseph Buckle, Esq.; Hon. Payan Dawnay, Beningbrough Hall; the trustees of Henry Newton, Esq., Crayke House; Mrs. Croker, Stratford-on-Avon; Mrs. Lockwood, Thornton-le-Clay; and Joseph Horatio Love, Esq. There is also a good number of small freeholders. Sir G. 0. Wombwell, Baronet, is lord of the manor, but does not now own any land in the township.

The village is pleasantly situated nine miles N. of York. There was formerly a chapel here, which was built before 1223. It stood about the middle of the village, and some remains of it were visible a few years ago. The Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists have each a chapel here, and the Society of Friends a small meeting house, with burial ground attached. A school was erected in 1861, by subscription, on a site presented by Sir G. 0. Wombwell. It is attended by about 70 children, and is under the charge of Mr. J. B. Clapham. It is licensed for church service.

Huby, written Hobi, in Domesday Book, constituted part of the Soke of Easingwold, and belonged to the royal demesue of the Forest of Galtres. After the battle of Evesham, A.D. 1265, Henry III. gave Huby and numerous other manors and lordships to his favourite son, Edmund Crouchback, whom he created Earl of Lancaster. Thomas, the second earl, was executed at Pontefract, after the battle of Boroughbridge, and Henry, his brother, succeeded to his forfeited honours. Henry, son of the latter, was raised to the dukedom, and is known in history as the "good Duke of Lancaster." He left two daughters, one of whom, Blanche, married John of Gaunt, Earl of Richmond, afterwards Duke of Lancaster, and received all the lands of her father in Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Northumberland, The manor of Huby subsequently passed, by the marriage of Joan, the duke's daughter by Catherine Swinford, to Ralph Neville, the great Earl of Westmoreland, and it remained in the possession of this family till the forfeiture of their estates in the reign of Elizabeth, when it reverted to the Crown. Charles I. granted Huby, along with the manor of Easingwold, to Thomas Belasyse, the first Lord Fauconberg, from whom the present lord of the manor, Sir G. 0. Wombwell, Bart., is descended.

New Parks, a quaint, many-gabled mansion, now occupied by a farmer, is said to have been the hunting seat of James I. Though curtailed and modernized in later years, it still bears traces of former magnificence. On the east of the village is Huby Old Hall, or rather all that is left of it, with its fish ponds and the other accessories of a genteel residence in the olden time. It was formerly the seat of the Wakefields, of which family was William Wakefield, the eminent architect.

CHARITIES. - Five small rent charges, amounting to £5 15s., have been left to the poor by various donors. The poor of Huby also receive two-thirds of the interest of £1,000, left by W. C. Harland, Esq., in 1863.

[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.

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