Data from the 'Collectio Rerum Ecclesiasticarum' from the year 1842.

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

Data from the 'Collectio Rerum Ecclesiasticarum' from the year 1842.

The place: SKIPTON.     Church dedication: HOLY TRINITY.     Church type: Discharged Vicarage.

Area, 26,760 acres. Staincliffe wapentake, E.D., and Upper Claro. - Population, 6,193 *1; Church-room, 1,364 *2; Net value £185. -This Church was appropriated to Bolton Abbey, to which it had been given by William de Meschines and Cicily de Romeli, his wife ; and, at the Dissolution, it was given to the Dean and Canons of Christ Church, Oxford, who are the present patrons and impropriators.

A Vicarage was ordained 16th September, A.D. 1326. Dr. Whitaker gives the purport of this endowment.

The Church is valued in Pope Nicholas's first taxation, at £30; in the second, at £13. 6s. 8d., and the Vicarage at £8; in the King's books, the Vicarage at £10. 12s. 6d.; and in the Parliamentary Survey, vol. xviii. page 211, it is stated : " The impropriate Rectory is worth about £150 per annum, and the Vicarage £24."

Augmented in 1718, with £200, to meet benefaction of £200 from the Earl of Thanet ; in 1830, with £200, to meet benefaction of £200 from the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford; and in 1832, with £200 from the Parliamentary grant, to meet benefactions of £100 from the Rev. J. Pering, the Vicar, and £100 from Mrs. Pyncombe's trustees.

" The Church is endowed with part of the small tithes. There is a discretional benefaction of £20 per annum given by the Earl of Thanet. A library, of indifferent value, is settling by Silvester Pettyt, Esq. of Barnard's Inn. The value of the Vicarage is between £30 and £40 per annum." Signed, " Roger Mit-ton,Vic." -Notitia Parochialis, No. 856.

Dr. Whitaker gives a list of the Vicars.

27th April 1719, faculty to new pew the Church.

7th December 1786, ditto to erect a gallery.

26th November 1802, ditto to erect an organ and gallery.

28th July 1835, ditto to erect an additional gallery.

Inclosure Acts were passed 7th Geo. III. (Tarn Moor), 7th Geo. III. (Halton Green), and 13th Geo. III.

The glebe house is fit for residence.

The Register Books commence in 1592. No entries of burials, 1644-1648.

Charities:
Free Grammar School, founded by William Ermystead, Clerk, 2nd Edw. VI. Endowment: 287a. 0r. 9p. of land, houses, (of which 83a. and the houses are occupied by the master), rent-charge of £3. 15s. 10d. per annum, £719 new fours, and £150 at interest. It was decided by the Court of King's Bench, in the cause Withnell v. Gartham, 6th Term Reports, p. 388, that the power of appointing the schoolmaster was well executed by the Vicar and a majority of the Churchwardens: in case of neglect to appoint, lapse to Lincoln College, Oxford. The school was reported to be properly conducted, and about seventy boys gratuitously instructed.

The Clerk's School. The deeds are lost. The sum of £12 per annum rentcharge, being the only known income, is paid to the parish clerk for teaching the national school. -Vide 17th Report, Page 778.

TOWNSHIP OF SKIPTON.

The Earl of Cumberland's gift. Rent of 4a. 1r. 5p. of land, bought with £50 given about 1643. Distributed among the poor.

Lord Craven's gift, by will, dated 28th May 1647. Rent of 10a. 1r. 22p. of land, and interest of £50, distributed among the poor at Christmas.

Elizabeth Newby's dole. Rent-charge of £2 per annum, distributed among poor persons not receiving parochial relief.

Jackman's gift. Rent-charge of 20s. per annum for the aged poor.

Mrs. Parker's gift. Interest of £30, distributed in bread on the last Sunday in every month.

Catherine Priest's gift, by will, dated 9th July 1784. Interest of £30, to be given in bread on the second Sunday in the month.

Robert Robinson's gift, by will, dated 5th February 1801. Interest of £89. 7s. for one poor industrious person whose legal settlement is in the township of Skipton, not having less than three children, and who has not received parochial relief within one year before. No person to receive the benefit more than once. TOWNSHIP OF BARDEN AND DRAUGHTON. Newby's dole. 5s. per annum among the poor not receiving parochial relief.

TOWNSHIP OF EMBSAY WITH EASTBY.

Poor's Land. Rent of six acres of land, given on St. Thomas's day in sums of 10s. and under.

TOWNSHIP OF EAST HALTON. Gott's dole. Rent-charge of £1 per annum, to the poor.

Poor's Land. Rent of 5a. 2r. of land, distributed on St. Thomas's day among the poor.

TOWNSHIP OF STIRTON WITH THORLBY.

Newby's dole. 5s. per annum to the poor. -Vide 13th Report, page 642.

Beamsley Hospital, founded by Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, 16th March, 35th Elizabeth, for thirteen poor women, called the mother and twelve sisters, who are appointed by Earl Thanet. The mother is paid £18 per annum, and the sisters are each paid £16 per annum. A reader, appointed by Earl Thanet, reads the prayers on a Sunday and on three other days in the week, for which he receives £20 a year. A clergyman also administers the sacrament four times a year, for which he receives 50s. per annum, and to the steward, for keeping the accounts, &c., £28. The income arises from the rent of 229a. 1r. 26p. of land and dividends, on £449. 8s. 9d. navy fives ; and at the time of the Report, there was £234. 12s. 7d. in hand. -Vide 3rd Report, page 507.

TOWNSHIP OF HAZLEWOOD WITH STORITH.

School. Endowment : £15 per annum from Silvester Petyt's charity. A considerable number of children are instructed gratis in reading, writing, arithmetic, and the Church Catechism. 1s. is paid for entrance.

Thomas Holmes's gift. Rent-charge of 5s. per annum to the poor of Hazlewood.

William Frankland's dole, by will, dated 19th August 1574. £3 per annum, paid by the Clothworkers Com-pany in London, among the industrious poor who support their own families. -Vide 4th Report, page 438.

A post town.

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References:
Torre's MS., page 419. Abp. Sharp's MS., vol. i. pages 123 and 344. Wood's Bodleian MS., No. 5101. Mon. Ang., vol. vi. page 201. Burton's Monasticon, page 119. Whitaker's Craven, page 223 Gent's Ripon, page 37. Bray's Tour, page 311. Hargrove's Knaresborough, page 388. Gilbert's Liber Scholast., Page 309.

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Notes:
*1 Viz. Barden, 214 ; part of Beamsley, 207 (the other part is in Addingham parish), Bolton Abbey, 112 ; Draughton, 223; Embsay with Eastby, 891; East Halton with Bolton, 144; Hazlewood and Storith, 221 ; and Skipton, 4,181. -The parish of Skipton extends into Upper Claro wapentake. In the townships of Embsay and Skipton, upwards of 100 men are employed in stone quarries.

*2 In 1818, the Church-room was returned at 2,300.

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Other information:
SKIPTON CASTLE. - The Castle and Lordship of Skipton was the inheritance of Robert de Romeli, and, by Alice, his daughter and heiress, came to the Courtneys, then to the Earls of Au-merle, and, for default of heirs of that noble family, came escheated to the Crown, and by Edward II. was granted to Robert, Lord Clifford, and 1st Edward IV. granted to Sir W. Stanley, Knight, in special tail.

The Rectory in the Castle was valued, at the Dissolution, at £4. 8s. per annum ; and the Chantry at the altar of St. Mary at £4 per annum.