FULFORD

The Parish of Fulford is well known as the site of the battle in 1066 at which Earl Tostig and Harold Hardrada defeated the English before going on to their own defeat at Stamford Bridge. (fn. 1) The village lies little more than a mile south of York and a substantial area of the parish has long possessed an entirely suburban character. (fn. 2) Gate Fulford village itself, sometimes known as Over Fulford, remained distinct in 1972, though increasingly hemmed in by further suburban development. It was an Anglian settlement, standing on a ridge of higher ground running parallel with the river Ouse; along the ridge the York-Selby road forms the main street, and at the southern end of the village Germany beck flows eastwards into the river. The road and a 'foul' crossing-point over either the beck or the river Ouse gave the village its name. (fn. 3) A little to the south, the hamlet of Water or Nether Fulford lies close to the Ouse. From the two townships the parish took the name Fulfords Ambo, first recorded in 1828. (fn. 4) The area of the elongated and irregularly-shaped ancient parish was 2,021 a. in 1890, of which 356 a. were in Water Fulford. (fn. 5) The boundaries of the ecclesiastical parish have not been altered but in 1884 536 a., including the suburban part of the parish, sometimes called New Fulford, were for civil purposes incorporated into the borough of York. (fn. 6) The remaining civil parish was given the name Water Fulford in 1895, (fn. 7) changed to plain 'Fulford' in 1935. (fn. 8)

Much of the parish is flat and featureless, lying at between 25 ft. and 50 ft. above sea-level, and in places the riverside ings are lower still. Parts of the ridge on which the village stands, however, exceed 50 ft., and in the north the parish extends to the crest of the York moraine at 75 ft. to 100 ft. Apart from alluvium beside the river, glacial and outwash sand and gravel cover most of the parish, with a small area of boulder clay on the moraine. (fn. 9) The open fields lay mainly on the higher ground, and extensive common moors occupied the lower areas in the east and south of the parish, including part of the watery Tilmire which stretched into Heslington, Grimston, and Deighton. (fn. 10) Open fields and commons were inclosed in 1759.

The entire western parish boundary is formed by the Ouse and sections of the boundary elsewhere follow streams or dikes. The straight eastern boundary apparently follows the line of a former Roman road running southwards from York. (fn. 11) In the north-east the boundary ran along a prehistoric earthwork known as Green Dykes, which lay across the moraine. (fn. 12) As the result of a dispute with the vicar of St. Lawrence's, York, the dikes themselves were in 1456 declared to be in Fulford. (fn. 13) The boundary between Gate Fulford and Water Fulford seems to have been uncertain in the mid 19th century. The Ordnance Survey showed the boundary on its map of 1853 but also indicated a more far-reaching boundary line 'claimed by the township of Water Fulford'. (fn. 14) A stone cross, still standing beside the main road from Fulford to York in 1972, apparently marked the boundary of York's rights of commonage in the parish. (fn. 15)

Apart from the main York-Selby road there are few roads in Fulford which date from before the period of suburban development. From Gate Fulford village Heslington Lane leads eastwards to Heslington, and in Water Fulford another road branches from the Selby road towards Naburn. A road from York to Heslington (Heslington Road) crosses the northern tip of the ancient parish. Church Lane (now St. Oswald's Road) leads from the main road towards the river Ouse, ending near the old church of St. Oswald standing remote from the village. It is possible that the church marks an older site of the village before it was moved to the main road.

The houses of the village line the York-Selby road, their crofts and garths running back to two lanes, that on the east called Back, later School, Lane and that on the west known as Fenwick's Lane from the mid 19th century. (fn. 16) The main street includes a great variety of houses, from small 18thand 19th-century cottages to substantial farmhouses and elegant Georgian and Regency residences whose presence and style derive from the proximity of York. Among the larger 18th-century houses are the Old House, a three-storeyed brown-brick building, the White House, a stuccoed two-storeyed building with iron balconies to its first-floor windows, and Fulford House, which was acquired by William Richardson in 1751 and formerly belonged to a member of the Redman family. (fn. 17) It was enlarged in the mid and late 18th century, a water spout bearing the date 1785, and again after 1845, (fn. 18) when another William Richardson bought adjoining property to enlarge the site. (fn. 19) Fulford Park, a 19thcentury stuccoed villa, has a later stable block in a French Gothic style.

Several 18th-century buildings also stand in the back lanes, and in St. Oswald's Road there is a single-storeyed cottage of that date with Gothic windows. In the western back lane stand two large early-19th-century houses in their own grounds, Delwood Croft and Gate Fulford Hall. The former, which was built before 1742 and enlarged before 1827, (fn. 20) has a three-storeyed garden front with canted bays rising through all the floors. The latter, then known as Fulford Grove, was acquired by Robert Fen wick in 1862 (fn. 21) and it was he who called it Gate Fulford Hall and gave his name to the back lane. In and adjoining the main street there are several 19th- and 20th-century rows of cottages, and more recent building has also taken place both in the main street, where it includes a block of flats, and in the back lanes. There are three inns in the main street, the Bay Horse, the Plough, and the Saddle, all of which existed by 1822-3. There had been 7-9 alehouses in the parish in the 1750s and 1760s, and 4 or 5 later in the century. Three others also existed in 1822-3, at least two, the Light Horseman and the Barrack Tavern, being in the York suburb. (fn. 22)

The two or three surviving houses in the hamlet of Water Fulford, besides the hall, (fn. 23) include Hall Farm, a long four-bay house of the 18th century.

Few houses isolated from the village are known before inclosure in 1759. One was Well House, next to St. Oswald's church and the river, (fn. 24) and nearer to York was Lady Well House, which was occupied by an innkeeper in 1745. (fn. 25) The latter house stood close to New Walk, a riverside promenade begun in 1732 by York corporation which leased ground in Fulford called Pickell or Pikeing for the purpose. (fn. 26) Inclosure released land for building and changes were taking place around the turn of the century in that part of the parish lying closest to the city. The first buildings of York cavalry barracks were put up in 1795-6, (fn. 27) for example. A 'mansion house' called Field House was built c. 1790 near the York road, (fn. 28) and by 1794 another large house, Fulford Grange, had been built near New Walk. (fn. 29) Close by, in the former Lady Well close, eight houses were built in New Walk Terrace c. 1836. (fn. 30) Other small houses were being built in the 1830s and 1840s (fn. 31) on the north side of the cemetery which was opened in 1837. (fn. 32) To the east of the cemetery The Retreat lunatic asylum was built in 1796, (fn. 33) and by 1840 houses called Garrow Hill and Belle Vue had appeared near by. (fn. 34) As a result of such developments the northern part of Fulford, though still largely open, contained by 1850 a scattering of large houses and other buildings, and several streets of modest dwellings. Two or three large nursery gardens had also been laid out along the York road, and a few houses had been built in Church Lane and on the main road at the north end of the village. (fn. 35)

By 1890 there were more houses on the main road close to the York boundary and several new streets had been built up near the river, including Frances Street, and north of the cemetery, on both sides of the York-Heslington road. Further building had also taken place in Church Lane. (fn. 36) In the same period the barracks were greatly extended and other military buildings erected, and a depot was built for the York-Fulford tramway that was opened in 1880. (fn. 37) Between 1890 and 1907 the most extensive new building was in more streets laid out between the York road and the river. (fn. 38) A pumping station was built near St. Oswald's church as part of York's new sewerage scheme, opened in 1895, and in Water Fulford the York City Asylum (now Naburn Hospital) was built in 1906. (fn. 39)

More rapid development took place between the two World Wars when, in addition to infilling nearer the city, a large area was built up around Broadway, between the barracks and Heslington Lane. The suburbs had thus reached the northern end of Gate Fulford village. After the 1940s the most noteworthy extension to the built-up area was eastwards along Broadway and Heslington Lane. (fn. 40) Twentieth-century additions to the buildings in the suburban area included more new barracks and several city schools. (fn. 41) The Sir J. J. Hunt Memorial Cottage Homes were built close to the village in 1954, (fn. 42) and near by in St. Oswald's Road a group of old people's homes called Connaught Court was built by the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution in 1971. (fn. 43)

South of Gate Fulford village, in the rural part of the parish, a new cemetery was opened in 1915 to serve the city in general as well as Fulford, and it has several times been enlarged. (fn. 44) Beyond the cemetery much private and council housing has been built, especially since the Second World War, including council estates in Fordlands Road (formerly Dam Lands Lane). Two new hospitals were opened next to Naburn Hospital in 1954, (fn. 45) and for a time Fulford golf course lay near by: it was opened in 1906 but moved to Heslington in 1936. (fn. 46) A York bypass was being constructed across the southern part of the parish in 1974.

There were 112 poll-tax payers in Fulford in 1377, besides an unknown number in St. Peter's liberty in Water Fulford. (fn. 47) In 1672 there were 67 households, of which 13 were exempt from the hearth tax; of those that were chargeable 28 had one hearth each, 13 had 2, 6 had 3, 5 had 4 or 5, and 2 had nine. (fn. 48) In 1729 there were 18 houses and 42 cottages in Gate Fulford. (fn. 49) There were said to be 52 families in Fulford chapelry in 1743 and 50 in 1764. (fn. 50) The population of Gate Fulford was 642 in 1801; it rose throughout the century, reaching 1,939 in 1851 and 8,162 in 1901. (fn. 51) In 1911 the civil parish that remained after the extension of York's boundaries in 1884 had 1,408 inhabitants. The number rose to 1,707 in 1951, 2,339 in 1961, and 3,265 in 1971. (fn. 52) There are few separate figures for Water Fulford. It had 7 houses in 1629, 4 houses and 2 cottages in 1729, and populations of 34 in 1811 and 55 in 1901. (fn. 53)

MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.

In 1086 Gate Fulford comprised a single estate of 10 carucates, held by Count Alan of Brittany, which had belonged before the Conquest to Morcar. (fn. 54) About 1100 it was given by Count Stephen of Brittany to St. Mary's abbey, York, along with a carucate and 3 bovates in Water Fulford. (fn. 55) The abbey retained the manor of GATE FULFORD until the Dissolution, when it was worth about £48. (fn. 56) Afterwards numerous Crown leases were made of lands in Fulford, but in 1600 the manor was granted in fee to Richard Burrell and John Ryder. (fn. 57) In 1615 the manor was conveyed by Richard and John Burrell to Thomas Marshall and James Godson, (fn. 58) and in 1654 Samuel and Arthur Marshall sold it to William Taylor. (fn. 59)

Taylor was succeeded by his son John, grandson Thomas, and great-grandson John. (fn. 60) In 1745 the manor was conveyed by John Taylor to Robert Oates subject to Taylor's own use for life. (fn. 61) At inclosure in 1759 Taylor, described as lord of the manor, was allotted 83 a. as part of his life estate. (fn. 62) Oates, who was himself allotted 101 a. in 1759, devised all his property to his cousin John Key by will proved in 1763, (fn. 63) and in 1773 Taylor conveyed his life interest in the manor, with 180 a. of old and new inclosures, to Key. (fn. 64)

By 1810-11 the Keys had 614 a., roughly equally divided between Gate and Water Fulford. (fn. 65) The estate descended in the family (fn. 66) until the death of R. E. Key in 1961, (fn. 67) and in 1964, when it comprised 647 a., it was sold to Key's nephew Mr. William Wormald. (fn. 68)

In 1086 Erneis de Burun held a carucate and 3 bovates in Water Fulford. (fn. 69) The land subsequently descended, like Burun's estate in West Cottingwith, (fn. 70) successively to Geoffrey son of Pain, William Trussebut, Hilary de Builers, and William de Ros. (fn. 71) In 1285 Robert de Ros had 8 bovates at Fulford. (fn. 72) Under the Ros family the manor of WATER FULFORD was apparently held in 1343 by Walter of Heslerton and in 1346 by Osbert of Spaldington. (fn. 73) After the attainder of Thomas, Lord Ros, in 1461 the estate in Fulford, including Ros Hall, was the subject of several grants for life by the Crown between 1464 and 1484. (fn. 74) On the accession of Henry VII the manor was restored to Edmund de Ros. Edmund's sister Eleanor married Sir Robert Manners and at Edmund's death in 1508 the manor passed to her son Sir George Manners. In 1525 Sir George's son Thomas Manners, Lord Ros, was created earl of Rutland. (fn. 75) Water Fulford was sold by Henry, earl of Rutland, to John Redmayne in 1553. (fn. 76)

The manor descended in the Redmayne or Redman family (fn. 77) to Thomas Redman (d. c. 1695), whose sisters Frances and Susannah married Noel Barton and Robert Clarke. (fn. 78) In 1702 the Bartons and the Clarkes sold it to Robert Oates; it then comprised Ros Hall and 11 bovates in Water Fulford. (fn. 79) It subsequently descended with Gate Fulford manor. (fn. 80)

The medieval manor-house was mentioned in 1343, (fn. 81) but the oldest part of the existing building is unlikely to be earlier than the 16th century. It was a timber-framed range of two storeys which is now completely enclosed by later work, and it probably does not represent the whole of the early house. It was extended to the south and east early in the 18th century and to the north in 1764. There were more additions on the north and east in 1851 (fn. 82) and at about this time bays were added to the south-west room. The house has recently been reduced by the removal of some of the 19th-century kitchen builddings, and it has been subdivided into two residences, but most of the 18th-century fittings survive together with a quantity of reset 17th-century panelling. In the grounds are a stable range and a large dovecot.

In 1086 an estate at Water Fulford of a carucate and 3 bovates was soke of Clifton (Yorks. N.R.) and belonged to Count Alan of Brittany. (fn. 83) About 1100 it was given to St. Mary's abbey and subsequently it descended with Gate Fulford manor. (fn. 84)

The archbishop of York held a carucate and 2 bovates at Water Fulford in 1086. (fn. 85) The estate was assigned to Ampleforth prebend, presumably at its formation before 1219-34, (fn. 86) and c. 1295 the prebend had 12 bovates of land, 6 a. meadow, and a toft there. (fn. 87) Unspecified property in Fulford later descended with the prebend's manor of Heslington. (fn. 88) Part of the tithes of Water Fulford certainly belonged to the prebend, (fn. 89) but the only other reference to land is to 5 a. belonging to the prebend in 1844. (fn. 90)

Besides their interest in Gate Fulford manor the Taylor family had a substantial estate in the parish. About 200 a. of it, comprising Tilmire farm, were sold by John Taylor in 1769 to Timothy Mortimer. (fn. 91) Charles Mortimer conveyed them to Henry Bland in 1815, and Bland's trustees to N. E. Yarburgh in 1838. (fn. 92) The farm descended with the capital manor of Heslington and was sold with it in 1964. (fn. 93)

Several York religious houses, in addition to St. Mary's abbey, had estates in the parish. Two houses and 12½ a. in Fulford were granted to St. Andrew's priory by Thomas Thurkill in 1395. (fn. 94) They were let to Ralph Prince in 1593. (fn. 95) St. Leonard's hospital had property in Fulford at the Dissolution, some of which descended with land in Naburn. (fn. 96) In the 12th century common rights in Fulford were granted to St. Nicholas's hospital by St. Mary's abbey. (fn. 97) The hospital's former property there and in York was granted by the Crown to John Somer and Thomas Kerry in 1564. (fn. 98) Between 1203 and 1241 Hilary de Builers gave a bovate, a toft and croft, and certain meadow in Fulford to Warter priory. (fn. 99) After the Dissolution the land in Fulford descended with Warter's property in Naburn. (fn. 1)

The tithes belonged to St. Mary's abbey until the Dissolution. (fn. 2) In 1613-14 those of Gate Fulford township were granted by the Crown to Francis Morrice and Francis Philips, having been in the tenure of John Redman. (fn. 3) There were disputes about their payment in 1598 and 1613. (fn. 4) Morrice and Philips apparently conveyed the tithes to Sir Thomas and Humphrey Smith, who sold them in 1615 to John Goodman the elder and younger. (fn. 5) In 1650, when they were worth £80, they were said to belong to Henry Belton. (fn. 6) In 1668 another John Goodman suffered a recovery of them, (fn. 7) and he or a namesake still had them in 1689 (fn. 8) and 1708. (fn. 9) They passed to Francis Taylor in 1713 and to George Meeke in 1723. (fn. 10) At the inclosure of Gate Fulford in 1759 Francis Meeke was awarded £3,909, to be paid by the various proprietors for exemption from the tithes of both old and new inclosures in the township. (fn. 11) The payment of the curate's stipend devolved upon John Taylor and succeeding lords of the manor. (fn. 12)

The tithes of part of Water Fulford township, amounting to 167 a., (fn. 13) apparently descended with those of Gate Fulford, and in 1759 Francis Meeke was awarded £210 for them. (fn. 14) The tithes of the rest of the township were divided into three equal parts. One, worth £33 in 1810-11, belonged to the lords of the manor, (fn. 15) the second, worth £5 in 1649, belonged to the prebend of Ampleforth, (fn. 16) and the third belonged to the rector of St. Martin's, Micklegate. Each was commuted for £28 a year in 1844. (fn. 17)

ECONOMIC HISTORY.

In 1086 Morcar's estate at Gate Fulford had land for 10 ploughs; there were then, in fact, 2 ploughs on the demesne and 2 held by 6 villeins. There were also 20 a. of meadow. The estate had decreased in value from £1 in 1066 to 16s. (fn. 18) Little is known of the process of reclamation in the Middle Ages or of the arrangement of the common fields and meadows. Much of the southern half of the township was waste or moor, stretching out to the area known as Tilmire. There is mention of 7½ a. in an assart there called the new ridding. (fn. 19) The citizens of York were entitled to common pasture in Tilmire, a right which they maintained after a dispute with St. Leonard's hospital in 1401 and which was included in an agreement made with St. Mary's abbey in 1484. (fn. 20) The moor also included a turbary: in 1375, for example, the abbey granted a right to take turf there. (fn. 21) The unlicensed digging of turves was presented in the abbey's manorial court in 1447, as well as fishing and fowling in Tilmire, which was described as the abbey's demesne fishery. (fn. 22) The agreement made between York and St. Mary's in 1484 also confirmed the citizens' rights of pasturage in part of the open fields and meadows of Gate Fulford. The arable land included, in the extreme north-east, Seward How field. Some land in the fields already belonged to York men, (fn. 23) and that continued to be the case in later centuries.

During the 17th century there may have been attempts to grow new crops and improve upon old rotations in the open fields, reflected in a pain laid in 1695 forbidding the sowing of open-field land 'out of course of husbandry'. (fn. 24) More of the waste land was also being reclaimed. Closes called New fields were mentioned in 1642 (fn. 25) and reference to open-field land called Breck butts in 1684 (fn. 26) indicates that the near-by brecks already existed. In the mid 18th century the old inclosures of Gate Fulford included a large block of land in the south of the township, surrounded by the moors, comprising nearly 30 closes called New fields and about 20 called Intacks. More old inclosures, including the brecks, lay between the village and the moor, and other closes lay between the open fields and the moor. (fn. 27)

The remaining open fields and commons were inclosed in 1759 (fn. 28) under an Act of 1756. (fn. 29) Allotments made totalled 907 a., comprising about 307 a. in Fulford field, lying between the village and York, 38 a. in Dam Lands field, south of the village, 54 a. in the riverside ings, and 508 a. in the commons. The commons included approximately 50 a. in Low moor, 125 a. in East moor, 200 a. in West moor, and 125 a. in Tilmire. John Taylor was allotted 345 a. for manorial and other lands, Robert Oates received 101 a., and the citizens of York got 52 a. for their common rights. There were also 2 allotments of 30-50 a., 13 of 10-29 a., and 21 of under 10 a. Ten and a half cottages had common rights attached to them and these were replaced by £15 for each cottage, to be paid by those who were allotted land. The tithes of the township were commuted by the award for money payments. (fn. 30)

For Water Fulford no economic information was given in 1086. The Ros manor included 60 a. of arable and 14 a. of meadow in demesne in 1343, (fn. 31) and much the same in the early 16th century. (fn. 32) The prebendary of Ampleforth's estate c. 1295 contained 6 a. of meadow in demesne and 12 bovates held by 5 bondmen and one other tenant. The prebendary's tenants rendered money rent, hens, and eggs, mowed the lord's hay, and for each bovate provided five men to reap his corn. There was also one toft held by a cottar. (fn. 33)

The town fields of Water Fulford were mentioned in the early 18th century, together with parcels of meadow in the ings, (fn. 34) but inclosure took place about that time. About 1716 four closes were described as former open-field land, and inclosure by Robert Oates was mentioned. (fn. 35)

There were usually about ten farmers and marketgardeners in the whole parish in the 19th century, but the number later fell and there were four in the 1930s, only one of them having 150 a. or more. (fn. 36) Of the four farms on the Fulford Hall estate in 1964, one was of 209 a. and the others each about 130 a. (fn. 37) There were 468 a. under crops in 1801, (fn. 38) and in Water Fulford alone the tithable land in 1844 comprised 66 a. of arable and 192 a. of grassland. (fn. 39) In 1905 the parish included 721 a. of arable, 793 a. of permanent grass, and 48 a. of woods. (fn. 40) There has continued to be a substantial area under grass, especially near the Ouse and around Water Fulford. (fn. 41) The ings at Water Fulford were still in divided ownership in 1972 and more than a dozen boundary stones remained marking off the parcels.

The river Ouse has naturally always provided a means of transport for the parish, and a few Fulford men may have made a living by fishing. In 1744 Robert Oates and York corporation agreed to exercise concurrently the fishing rights that they both claimed. (fn. 42) At inclosure in 1759 all those who received allotments were said to enjoy the right to land goods from the river. (fn. 43) The chief wharf may have been that shown c. 1850 at the end of Landing Lane, between Gate and Water Fulford. (fn. 44) There was also some brick-making in the parish: a brickmaker was recorded in 1692, for example. (fn. 45) On a larger scale was the quarrying of gravel in the area north of Church Lane, and c. 1850 there were several pits from which rail tracks led down to riverside staiths. (fn. 46)

Siward mill hill, the site of a windmill, was mentioned in 1546, (fn. 47) and Siward How mill in 1587. (fn. 48) It stood on the moraine in the north-east of Gate Fulford (fn. 49) and was several times mentioned in the 18th century. It was then known as Lamel, Laming, or Lammon hill mill, and a new mill was apparently erected on the site between 1733 and 1758. (fn. 50) It was described as decayed in 1836. (fn. 51) A second windmill, called Fishergate mill in 1600, (fn. 52) is perhaps to be identified with White mill, recorded in 1767, (fn. 53) and with a mill shown next to the York road near Fishergate on maps of 1772. (fn. 54) A miller was last recorded in Fulford in 1823. (fn. 55)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

For the manor of Gate Fulford there are transcripts of court rolls for several years between 1333 and 1400, (fn. 56) surviving rolls of 1447, 1483-4, and 1509, (fn. 57) extracts of rolls of 1637-43, (fn. 58) rolls of 1692-1703, together with several lists of pains, and a court book of 1771-1854, with some additional notes to 1877. (fn. 59) The records of St. Mary's abbey formerly included accounts of the steward of 'the manor of Sywardhow' for several years from 1327 to 1369, (fn. 60) but there is no other evidence that land in the north-east of Fulford comprised a separate manor.

All the courts were mainly concerned with domestic and agricultural business, but offences against the assize of ale were dealt with in the 15th century. A constable, 2 rent-collectors, 2 moorreeves, 2 bylawmen, and 2 aletasters were elected in 1447, and a constable, 2 moor-reeves, a house-reeve, a cottage-reeve, 4 bylawmen, 2 aletasters, and a man described as prepositus de manegreves in 1483. In the 1690s a constable, 4 bylawmen, and a pinder were elected, and in the late 18th and earlier 19th centuries a constable and a pinder: the latter was still sworn as late as 1877.

Surviving parochial records include churchwardens' accounts for 1821-98 and vestry minutes for 1827-37. The former record the levying of rates for the churchwardens and for the constable. The select vestry in 1829 withdrew from an agreement made in 1820 for the use by Fulford of the workhouse at Holme upon Spalding Moor. Fulford had several poorhouses and in 1835 the occupant of one of them also had 'the prison house'. (fn. 61) Fulford joined York poor-law union in 1837. (fn. 62) It became part of Escrick rural district in 1894, Derwent rural district in 1935, (fn. 63) and the Selby district of North Yorkshire in 1974.

CHURCH.

The surviving fabric of the 'old' church, which was replaced in the 19th century, shows that it was built c. 1150. (fn. 64) It was acquired by St. Mary's abbey, York, though it is not certain by what means. The right to the chapel may have derived from Count Stephen of Brittany's grant of Gate Fulford to the abbey c. 1100. (fn. 65) Alternatively it may have derived from Count Alan's grant of St. Olave's church, York, to the abbey before 1086, (fn. 66) and certainly after the Dissolution Fulford was dependent upon St. Olave's. Neither grant, however, mentions a chapel. In the Middle Ages both Fulford and St. Olave's were chapelries dependent upon the abbey. (fn. 67) Fulford chapel was first expressly mentioned in 1349, when it was dedicated and its yard licensed for burial while the plague lasted. (fn. 68) Gate Fulford burials otherwise took place at St. Olave's, a custom enforced by the abbey in 1398 after a man had been buried at Fulford. (fn. 69) After the Dissolution, however, the churchyard at Fulford was again used, (fn. 70) and at least by the mid 17th century baptisms and marriages also took place at Fulford. (fn. 71) It was nevertheless still described as a chapelry of St. Olave's in the earlier 18th century. (fn. 72) By the 19th century it was styled a perpetual curacy (fn. 73) and by 1872 a vicarage. (fn. 74)

The township of Water Fulford was equally divided between Gate Fulford chapelry and the parishes of St. Paul's, Heslington, and St. Martin's, Micklegate, in York. (fn. 75) The Heslington part corresponded to the prebendal estate and the St. Martin's part to the Ros fee. Hugh Annesley, by will proved in 1401, and Elizabeth Pindar, by will proved in 1558, asked to be buried respectively in the chancel of St. Peter's, Fulford, and in St. Paul's, Water Fulford; (fn. 76) it seems likely that these were references to Heslington church, which was formerly dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. (fn. 77) In 1585 John Redman, lord of Water Fulford, was licensed to use Gate Fulford chapel because of the great distance of St. Martin's church, (fn. 78) and several Redmans of Water Fulford were later buried in the chapel. (fn. 79) A later lord of the manor, Robert Oates, unsuccessfully disputed his liability to pay rates to St. Martin's in 1716-22, (fn. 80) and rates were also paid to Heslington in the 18th century. (fn. 81) Annotation 748

St. Olave's church was served by a chaplain from St. Mary's abbey, (fn. 82) and some provision was presumably made by the abbey for a chaplain to serve Fulford. After the Dissolution a grant of the 'advowson' of Fulford to the archbishop of York in 1558 (fn. 83) presumably lapsed on the accession of Elizabeth I. Subsequently the impropriators provided curates at Fulford (fn. 84) and later presented to the vicarage. The advowson passed from the Key family to the archbishop in 1892. (fn. 85)

The stipend paid to the curate by the impropriator amounted to £6 13s. 4d. in 1650 (fn. 86) and £4 in the 18th century. The curate also enjoyed the letting of certain headlands in the open fields, of ground called Pickell, and of the churchyard, which increased his income to £8 1s. 6d. in 1727. By 1743, moreover, he received a payment for each house and cottage in Fulford, as well as fees and offerings. (fn. 87) At inclosure in 1759 John Taylor, lord of the manor, was given an allotment in return for undertaking the payment of the curate's stipend, and he was to pay a further £2 a year for some of the glebe headlands, which had been incorporated in his allotments. (fn. 88) A payment of £2 2s. a year was received under the will of Mary Key, dated 1781, for preaching Good Friday and Ascension Day sermons. (fn. 89) The living was augmented from Queen Anne's Bounty in 1746, 1767, 1778, and 1808, each time with £200, on the two last occasions to meet like benefactions from John Key. In 1813 a parliamentary grant of £600 was given to meet a benefaction of £400 from the incumbent, Robert Sutton. (fn. 90) Bounty money was used to buy 7 a. in Southcoates (in Drypool), 14 a. in Fulford, 6 a. in East Cottingwith, and 9 a. in Huntington (Yorks. N.R.). (fn. 91) The average value of the living was £96 net a year in 1829-31. (fn. 92) In the early 19th century a payment of 5s. a year was made from Fulford to St. Olave's church for 'St. Olave's lights', (fn. 93) but it was stopped in 1873. (fn. 94) The gross value of the living in 1884 was about £100 and the net value in 1915 was £160. (fn. 95) Key's benefaction for sermons was still received in 1972-3. (fn. 96)

There was apparently no parsonage house until one was built in 1875 (fn. 97) in Fulford Road, at what was later to be the corner of Derwent Road, £1,150 for it being given from the Common Fund. (fn. 98) It was replaced in 1960 by an existing house near the church in Fulford Road. (fn. 99)

In the 18th century the curate was non-resident, living in York in 1743 and at Walkington in 1764; in the latter year he had an assistant curate, who lived in York. (fn. 1) In 1835 he was also a prebendary at Ripon and rector of St. Michael, Spurriergate, in York. (fn. 2) From the 1860s the incumbent resided at Fulford and had no other living, though he was chaplain at the barracks; he usually had an assistant curate. (fn. 3)

A service was held each Sunday in 1743, with Holy Communion four times a year attended by 30- 50 people. (fn. 4) By 1865 there were two weekly services and communion was held ten times a year. Communion was celebrated monthly by 1868, twice monthly by 1877, and weekly by 1884. In 1877 an additional weekly service was held on Wednesdays. (fn. 5) Three services were held each Sunday in 1972. After the building of the new church in 1866 the old one was used as a mortuary chapel from 1871. (fn. 6) Monthly services were held there in 1966, (fn. 7) but in 1973 it was declared redundant. Use was also made of an unlicensed chapel in Barrack Street in 1871, and a service was held each Sunday and Thursday at a mission room in 1884. The latter was perhaps St. Andrew's mission room, Frances Street, at which a Sunday and a weekday service, as well as twice-monthly communion, were held in 1894. (fn. 8) It was replaced by a new building in Alma Terrace in 1901, (fn. 9) which was used until 1955. (fn. 10)

The 'old' church of ST. OSWALD, in St. Oswald's Road, consists of chancel, nave, and west tower. It has been suggested that the nave was built c. 1150 and the chancel added c. 1180, the rubble masonry of the chancel being built up against the finer ashlar of the nave. (fn. 11) Two original windows survive in the north wall of the chancel and there is a plain 12th-century doorway in the nave. The chancel east window, of three lights, dates from the 14th century and two large square-headed windows in the nave south wall and a smaller one in the chancel south wall from the 17th. The north wall of the nave has been rebuilt without openings. The 'steeple' of the church was in decay in 1577 (fn. 12) and the surviving brick tower is thought to have been built c. 1795, (fn. 13) when a faculty was obtained to erect a vestry beside the belfry and to insert a west gallery. (fn. 14) A faculty of 1809 authorized new pews to be provided and a new pulpit erected, (fn. 15) and the plastered ceilings are of the same period, although the roofs may be earlier. The church was roofed with fishscale tiles c. 1870 (fn. 16) and there is a lych-gate dated 1890. There is one bell. (fn. 17) The interior has been partly stripped of its fittings.

Burials under the church floor are mostly of members of manorial families, the earliest apparently being those of John Redman (n.d.) and John Taylor (d. 1705). The earliest headstone in the churchyard dates from 1740. (fn. 18)

A new church of ST. OSWALD was built on Fulford Road to replace the old one and was opened in 1866. It is of stone and consists of an aisled chancel, with north and south chapels, an aisled and clerestoried nave, transepts, and south-west tower, originally with a spire. The architect was J. P. Pritchett. (fn. 19) A vestry was added in 1875. (fn. 20) The church was burnt out in 1877 but restored and reopened early in 1878. (fn. 21) The unsafe spire was removed and the belfry stage of the tower rebuilt in 1924. (fn. 22) The 18th-century font was transferred from the old church.

The plate includes a brass alms-dish of 1708, a silver chalice and paten given by Ann Key in 1768, a silver flagon given by John Clifford in 1866, (fn. 23) and several later pieces. There is one bell, made by William Blews & Sons of Birmingham in 1869. (fn. 24) The registers date from 1653 but for the 17th century they are incomplete. (fn. 25)

The churchyard at the old church was closed in 1902 (fn. 26) and since the new church had no burial ground burials subsequently took place at Fulford cemetery. (fn. 27) Edward Bowdler (d. 1906) left £600 to the churchwardens, £500 of it to be used to build a house for the keeper of 'the burial ground'. A dispute over where the house should be built was settled in 1910 when it was decided that the parish council should erect it at the new burial ground, on condition that the council should maintain the old churchyard. The other £100 was invested and the interest used for the upkeep of the Bowdler family's graves in the churchyard. (fn. 28) A church hall was built in the grounds of the new church and opened in 1960. (fn. 29)

NONCONFORMITY.

In 1627 Thomas Metham and his wife were reported for recusancy. There was one family of Roman Catholics in the parish in the earlier 18th century and about ten individuals later in the century. (fn. 30)

There were 16 protestant dissenters in 1676 (fn. 31) and a family of Quakers in 1743. (fn. 32) Houses were registered for worship by protestant dissenters in 1759 (fn. 33) and 1777, (fn. 34) and a Methodist society was formed at Fulford in 1799. (fn. 35) Houses were registered in 1797, 1802, 1808, 1809, 1817, and 1825, and a room in 1829, most if not all for use by the Methodists. (fn. 36)

A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1820 in Back (later School) Lane, and the building still stood in 1972, when it was used as a farm building. It was replaced by a new chapel in the main street in 1845 (fn. 37) and there were 34 members in 1885. (fn. 38) The chapel was rebuilt on the same site in 1896, (fn. 39) constructed of brick with stone dressings, in the Gothic style. It was still used in 1972. It was said in 1865 that few of the Wesleyans in the village failed also to attend the parish church but that in New Fulford, the suburban area, a third of the population were dissenters and a third attended no place of worship. (fn. 40)

EDUCATION.

Thirty children were taught at a petty school in Fulford in 1743. (fn. 41) A free school was founded by John Key, by indenture of 1771; 20 pupils were supported by his endowment of a house and £9 12s. yearly rent-charge, and others were taught at their parents' expense. Mary Key, by will dated 1781, gave £100 for the school, from which the income in 1824 was £4. (fn. 42) In 1835 there were 26 boys and 6 girls at the school. There was also an unendowed school in the village in 1819, with 20 children, and two in 1835, one with 22 children and the other, which had started in 1831, with 20. (fn. 43)

The free school was held in the master's house, now no. 27 Main Street. (fn. 44) Schoolrooms for girls and for infants were built by Amelia Cholmley in 1844 (fn. 45) and 1846 (fn. 46) respectively, standing side by side in Back (later School) Lane, behind the old schoolhouse. The school was united with the National Society. (fn. 47) The boys remained in the original schoolhouse until 1865, when a mixed school was begun in the Back Lane buildings. By May 1866 attendance had risen from 28 to 44. An additional room was built later in 1866, (fn. 48) and the attendance was 111 in 1871. (fn. 49) An annual government grant was received by 1865, (fn. 50) and Miss Cholmley, by will proved in 1874, left stock to produce £10 a year for the school. (fn. 51) The buildings were extended in 1882 (fn. 52) and there were 160 children on the roll in 1885. (fn. 53)

When Fishergate board school, in York, was opened in 1895 18 children were transferred there from Fulford school. (fn. 54) Many children from within the extended city boundary, however, still attended at Fulford, more than 50 in 1914, for example. (fn. 55) Attendance fell from 215 in 1908 to 170 in 1914 and 147 in 1919, but it later rose to 230 in 1922. (fn. 56) A new school was built near by in Heslington Lane in 1930, (fn. 57) and in 1938 the attendance was 290. (fn. 58) The buildings were extended in 1948 and 1954. The school also continued to use the old Back Lane buildings, part of which was converted to a social hall. (fn. 59) There were 286 pupils on the roll in April 1972. (fn. 60)

A county secondary school was built in Fulfordgate, Heslington Lane, and opened in 1963. It was renamed Fulford School in 1970 and became comprehensive. (fn. 61) There were 640 pupils on the roll in February 1972. (fn. 62)

CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.

Mary Key, by will dated 1781, left £150 to provide £2 2s. a year for the minister and bread for the poor of the parish, as well as £100 for the school. (fn. 63) George Waite, by will proved in 1806, left £10 to provide bread. By 1824 these various legacies had been used to buy £436 stock. Catherine Key, at unknown date, left £100 for bread, represented by £104 stock in 1824. There was also in 1824 a benefaction fund of £100, made up of £45 given by John Redman, £10 by Eleanor Bailey, £5 by the Revd. Thomas Mosley, £35 by William Smith, and £5 from an unrecorded source, all at unknown dates but the first three before 1743. (fn. 64) The fund produced £5 a year interest in 1824, of which £1 15s. was distributed in cash as instructed by Smith and the rest in bread. Out of the total income for bread from all the above-mentioned charities a weekly distribution was made to 20 families. (fn. 65)

Anne Richardson (d. 1848) left £100 to provide coal, (fn. 66) T. W. Wilson, by will of 1856, bequeathed £50 for coal, (fn. 67) and John Smith, by will proved in 1875, left £100 for the poor of the parish. (fn. 68) No more is known of Richardson's bequest.

The charities of Mary and Catherine Key, John Smith, George Waite, and T. W. Wilson, as well as the benefaction fund, were later administered together. In 1972-3 the income was £18 from £137 stock, and doles of 50p. were given to 31 people. (fn. 69)

Fulford benefited from the charity of John Hodgson for parishes in York poor-law union, (fn. 70) and grants were made to four residents of Fulford in 1972. (fn. 71)

Footnotes

Annotations