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Kirkby Malzeard, Yorkshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1835.

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KIRKBY MALZEARD:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1835.

"KIRKBY MALZEARD, a parish in the lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, comprising the market-town of Kirkby- Malzeard, the chapelries of Hartwith with Winsley, and Middlesmoor, and the townships of Connenley, Fountains Earth, Gravelthorpe, Laverton, Down Stonebeck and Upper Stonebeck, and containing 4263 inhabitants, of which number, 682 are in the town of Kirkby-Malzeard, 6 miles W.N.W. from Ripon. The market is on Wednesday; and fairs are held on Whit-Monday and October 2nd; all which, after long disuse, have been recently revived. The living is a vicarage, with that of Masham, either in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of York, or in that of the manor court of Masham, being claimed by both, and the matter not determined; it is in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge, The church -is dedicated to St. Andrew. A school, in which fifteen children are instructed and five clothed annually, is supported by the proceeds of a rent-charge of £ 5, the benefaction of Gilbert Horseman, in 1640, subsequently augmented with the interest of £.100 given by Gregory Elsley, in 1716."


"BRIMHAM, a hamlet in the chapelry of HARTWITH, parish of KIRKBY-MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, 6 miles W. from Ripley. The population is returned with Hartwith. Brimham Craggs, an assemblage of rocks covering about forty acres of ground, are thought from their singular position, to have been thrown together by some extraordinary convulsion of the earth; the spot is also supposed to have been chosen for the performance of the sacred rites of the Druids, from the appearance of altars, rock-idols, rocking-stones, and other rude symbols."


"COZENLEY, a township in the parish of KIRKBY MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, 4 miles W.N.W. from Ripon, containing 579 inhabitants."


"FOUNTAINS EARTH, a township in the parish of KIRKBY-MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, 3 miles W.S.W. from Ripon, containing, with the chapelry of Middlesmoor, 441 inhabitants. An abbey of the Cistercian order was founded here in 1132, for thirteen Benedictine monks of St. Mary's near York, who leaving then: house with the design of observing a more strict and reformed rule, obtained from Thurstan, Archbishop of York, a grant of land sufficient for their purpose. It was dedicated to the honour of the Blessed Virgin, and was endowed with great revenues, said to be worth, at the dissolution, £ 1173. 0. 7. The abbey was situated in a valley environed by well-wooded hills, on the banks of a small stream called the Skell: the ruins, occupying an area of about two acres, are considered the most extensive and interesting monastic remains in the kingdom; they are partly in the Norman, and partly in the early style of English architecture, and consist of the church, with its lofty tower, two cloisters, the chapter-house, refectory, dormitory, and kitchen, besides the appendages of the gate, the mill, and the bridge."


"GREWELTHORPE, (or GRAVELTHORPE) a township in the parish of KIRKBY-MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, 6 miles W.N.W. from Ripon, containing 527 inhabitants."


"HARTWITH, a chapelry, joint with Winsley, in the parish of KIRKBY-MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, 4 miles N.W. from Ripley, containing 675 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Prebendal court of Mashan in the Cathedral Church of York, or in that of the Dean and Chapter of York, being claimed by both, and the matter not yet determined, endowed with £1100 private benefaction, and £800 royal bounty. A small school-room has been erected, and is endowed with an estate by Robert Haxby; the present annual income is £29."


"LAVERTON, a township in the parish of KIRKBY-MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, 6 miles N.W. from Ripon, containing 430 inhabitants."


"MIDDLESMOOR, a chapelry in the parish of KIRKBY-MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, 15 miles N.W. from Ripon. The population is returned with Fountains-Earth. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Masham, in the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of York, though claimed to be in the special jurisdiction of the church, late the prebend of Masham, endowed with £200 private benefaction, £1200 royal bounty, and £ 800 parliamentary grant. John Lazenby, in 1743, de-. vised lands, now producing about £18 a year, for the establishment and maintenance of a free school for ten boys; als.o Simon Homer, in 1809, gave a rent-charge of £20, for the education of poor children."


"STONEBECK DOWN, a township in the parish of KIRKBY-MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, 14 miles S.W. from Ripon, containing 568 inhabitants."


"STONEBECK UP, a township in the parish of KIRKBY-MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK 16 miles N.W. from Ripon, containing 361 in- habitants."


"WINSLEY, a chapelry, joint with Hartwith, in the parish of KIRKBY-MALZEARD, lower division of the wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, 3 miles W.N.W. from Ripley. The population is returned with Hartwith."

[Transcribed by Mel Lockie © from
Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1835]