SOUTH DUFFIELD
The village of South Duffield lies 1½ mile north of
Hemingbrough. on ground rising slightly above the
generally low land bordering the river Derwent. It
was an Anglian settlement standing close to a stream
now called Folly drain, one of several crossing the
township and forming parts of its boundary. South
Duffield also has a short frontage upon the Derwent.
The township covered 1,686 a. (fn. 89)
Apart from the small 'islands' of higher ground
around the village almost the whole of the township
lies at less than 25 ft. above sea-level. The small
open fields were situated north of the village, entirely on the lower ground, and much of the township was covered by early inclosures. High and Low
Moors in the far north adjoined North Duffield,
Osgodby, and Skipwith commons, and a small area
of common pasture called the Dyon lay beside the
stream on the township boundary towards the Derwent. The riverside alluvium was used for common
meadow land. The final inclosure of the open fields,
commons, and meadows took place in 1834.
The road forming the main village street of South
Duffield leads northwards towards Skipwith and
southwards to Hemingbrough. Other minor roads
lead to Osgodby, Woodhall, and Bowthorpe, and the
turnpike road from Selby to Market Weighton
crosses the northern end of the township. South
Duffield is also crossed by the railway from Selby to
Market Weighton, opened in 1848 (fn. 90) with a station
north of the village. The station was closed in 1884 (fn. 91)
and the line in 1965. (fn. 92) The Derwent Valley Light
Railway crossed the township as it approached Cliffe
Common station. (fn. 93) South Duffield had a landingplace on the banks of the Derwent. (fn. 94)
The most noteworthy houses in the village are
South Duffield Hall, Manor House, (fn. 95) and the
Knowle. The last-named is an 18th-century house,
remodelled and stuccoed in 1913, (fn. 96) and it has a
wheelhouse among its outbuildings. The few recent
additions to the village include eight council houses.
There were one or two licensed alehouses in South
Duffield in the later 18th century. (fn. 97) The only inn
mentioned in 1823 and later was the Cross Keys, (fn. 98)
which apparently closed during the Second World
War. (fn. 99) The outlying farm-houses include several
which originated before final inclosure: Larabridge
Farm, Lowmoor House, and North Toft House
north of the village, and Dyon House and Holmes
House to the east. (fn. 1) Holmes House is an outstanding
17th-century building. (fn. 2) A 'mansion house' in the
North Toft was described as 'lately built' in 1709. (fn. 3)
There were 75 poll-tax payers at South Duffield
in 1379. (fn. 4) Thirty-seven households were included in
the hearth-tax return in 1672, 4 of them exempt. Of
those chargeable 20 had one hearth each, 9 had 2,
2 had 3-4, one had 7, and one had eight. (fn. 5) The
population was 160 in 1801; it subsequently fluctuated, reaching a maximum of 236 in 1861 and
standing at 204 in 1901. (fn. 6) It fell to 159 in 1931 before
South Duffield was united with Cliffe civil parish. (fn. 7)
MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.
An estate
of 6 carucates at South Duffield belonged after the
Conquest to William Malet and 2 carucates were
said to belong to the king's manor of Pocklington.
By 1086, however, 7 carucates and 5 bovates were
held by Niel Fossard from the count of Mortain and
1½ carucate was soke of the bishop of Durham's
manor of Howden. (fn. 8) By c. 1180 part of South Duffield belonged to William Esveillechien, (fn. 9) but by
1284-5 all 8 carucates there belonged to the bishop
of Durham. (fn. 10) The overlordship subsequently descended with Howden, and the bishop was allotted
15 a. as lord of the manor at the inclosure of 1834. (fn. 11)
The demesne tenant under William Esveillechien
c. 1180 was Alan Wastehose, (fn. 12) and by 1284-5 the
Wastehose estate had passed by marriage to the
Amcotes, Richard of Amcotes then holding 4 carucates. (fn. 13) By 1302-3 it had passed to Anthony
Dealtry, (fn. 14) and the Bassett family held the manor of
SOUTH DUFFIELD by the 1340s. (fn. 15) The estate
was split up and sold by Alexander Amcotes in
1573-4, some of it passing to the Fawkes family. (fn. 16)
The other 4 carucates in South Duffield were held
in 1284-5 by Nicholas de Stapleton, (fn. 17) and in the
15th century the estate belonged to the Knight
family as under-tenants. (fn. 18) In 1529 this manor of
SOUTH DUFFIELD was conveyed by John
Knight to William Maunsel, (fn. 19) and some of the land
subsequently passed to the Laton and Fawkes
families. (fn. 20)
Various holdings in South Duffield, including
Laton and Fawkes property, were acquired in the
late 16th and early 17th centuries by William Hildyard, (fn. 21) who in 1626 sold his estate to Matthew Topham. After the death of Arthur Topham in 1699, the
chief house and 16 a. of land passed to his widow
Elizabeth, and thence to John Preston in 1700 and
to Richard Sawrey in 1701. Anne Sawrey married
Bacon Morritt, who also bought other land in the
township. (fn. 22) In 1777 J. S. Morritt sold 290 a. in
South Duffield to Sir William Lowther. (fn. 23) A house
and 106 a. were conveyed to Joseph Kirlew in 1805,
and, known as South Duffield Hall, to Isaac
Crowther in 1836 and William Haddlesey in 1867. (fn. 24)
The property was bought by Jonathan Dunn in 1874
and James Thompson in 1893. (fn. 25) J. H. Thompson
sold it in 1943 to Francis Tindall, and on the death
of Nellie Tindall in 1965 it was sold by her executor
to G. Holman & Sons, (fn. 26) the owners in 1973. The
Topham's house had seven hearths in 1672. (fn. 27) The
present South Duffield Hall is an 18th-century
farm-house, enlarged in the 19th century, and it
retains traces of a moat.
The largest estate in South Duffield built up
from the land of the two former manors was that of
the Barstows, a York family. (fn. 28) It included part of the
Amcotes manor, and also Holmes House farm,
which Michael Barstow is said to have acquired in
1663. (fn. 29) Thomas Barstow had 405 a. in the township
in 1861. (fn. 30) The family retained the estate until
1925-6, when Sir George Barstow dispersed it;
Holmes House farm went to Richard Bramley, (fn. 31) and
the Bramleys still had it in 1973.
Holmes House has many of the features associated
with the 'Artisan Mannerism' of the late 17th
century and it was probably built by Michael
Barstow. It has a central two-storeyed porch with
pilasters, pediments, and a shaped gable, and the
mullioned and transomed windows of the main
front all have pediments. One end of the house retains its shaped gable. (fn. 32) There are traces of the
moated site of an earlier house.
Another estate in the township belonged to the
Robinson family. After Mary Robinson's death in
1839 it was held, like her land in Barlby, by trustees (fn. 33) and in 1890 they sold the 195-acre Manor
House farm to William Wheldrick. (fn. 34) This may have
been the house and land which Thomas Robinson
bought from Harland Grainger in 1758. (fn. 35) The
Wheldricks sold it to A. H. Blakey in 1959. (fn. 36) Manor
House is an 18th-century building which was given
a regular front seven bays long in the early 19th
century. The extensive outbuildings include a dovecot.
Drax priory had a holding in the township, including a windmill. (fn. 37)
The rectorial tithes of South Duffield descended, like those of Hemingbrough township, with
Hemingbrough manor. (fn. 38) They were worth £30 in
1650 (fn. 39) and were commuted in 1834 for 293 a.,
awarded at the inclosure of the township to Thomas
Wilson, John Tweedy, and the trustees of Thomas
Smith (d. 1810). (fn. 40) In 1863 the estate, comprising
Lodge Farm and 282 a., was sold to John Banks,
who disposed of part of it the same year. (fn. 41) The
house and remaining 108 a. were conveyed to
Edward Morrell in 1886 and to Henry Ward in
1901. (fn. 42) Ward's trustees sold the farm, then of 138 a.,
to Mr. A. A. Robinson in 1956. (fn. 43)
ECONOMIC HISTORY.
On the larger estate in
1086 there was land for four ploughs but only one
plough, on the demesne, was then working. There
was pasturable woodland two leagues long and half
a league broad. The estate had decreased in value
from £4 before the Conquest to £2 in 1086. (fn. 44)
Woodland later lay in both the north and the south
of the township. Adjoining the commons and woods
of Skipwith and North Duffield in the north was
Blackwood, belonging to the bishop of Durham,
where Emme Wastehose had common rights in
1256. (fn. 45) In the south other woodland adjoined the
woods of Hemingbrough and Brackenholme.
The medieval reclamation of woodland and waste
is scantily recorded, though there was mention of
Richard le Venur's assart 'towards the bridge of
Bowthorpe' in 1311. (fn. 46) The 40-acre Eastwood was
still in existence in the 1590s, (fn. 47) but Blackwood had
apparently been inclosed by 1622. (fn. 48) The southern
woods gave way to inclosures known as West Haye
moors and Wood closes by the 19th century, (fn. 49) and
there is still a small Haymoors wood.
The open-field land included Mill and West
fields by 1606, Worm field by 1685, (fn. 50) and Townend
and Far fields by the 18th century. (fn. 51) At final inclosure in 1834, (fn. 52) under an Act of 1820, (fn. 53) about
460 a. were dealt with, including the open fields,
extensive commons occupying the former Blackwood area, a small stream-side common called
Dyon, and meadow land near the Derwent. Allotments were made from High and Low Moor
commons, totalling 258 a., Dyon common (15 a.),
the ings (39 a.), Far field (39 a.), Worm field (30 a.),
Mill field (18 a.), Townend field (16 a.), and Far
North field (14 a.); a further 35 a. were in allotments
made from more than one open field, together with
small areas of roadside common. An allotment of
262 a. was awarded, along with 31 a. of old inclosures, to the impropriators in lieu of tithes. There
were 2 allotments of 60-79 a., 2 of 10-19 a., and 15
of under 10 a.
There were usually 10-15 farmers in the 19th and
20th centuries. Seven of them had at least 100 a. in
1851 (fn. 54) and 3 had 150 a. or more in the 1930s. (fn. 55) In the
20th century the southern part of the township
has been largely arable, with much more grassland
in the north and east. (fn. 56)
A linen weaver of South Duffield was recorded in
1685. (fn. 57) A windmill was mentioned in 1311 (fn. 58) and in
the 17th century. (fn. 59) A mill was worked throughout
the 19th century and a miller was last mentioned in
1925. (fn. 60) The tower still stands, at the north-west end
of the village.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
No manorial records
are known. South Duffield joined Selby poor-law
union in 1837; (fn. 61) its poorhouses were still standing in
1850. (fn. 62) The township became part of Riccall rural
district in 1894, Derwent rural district in 1935, (fn. 63) and
the Selby district of North Yorkshire in 1974.
NONCONFORMITY.
A house in South Duffield
was registered for dissenting worship in 1808. (fn. 64)
A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1824 at
the expense of Jane Haddlesey. (fn. 65) It was closed in
1969 (fn. 66) but still stood in 1973.
EDUCATION.
In 1871 South Duffield children
went to school at Hemingbrough and Skipwith, (fn. 67)
and there is no mention of a school at South
Duffield until one was built in 1881. (fn. 68) It was taken
over by a school board in 1885. (fn. 69) In 1913 a temporary building was moved from Barlby to accommodate infants. (fn. 70) Attendance at the school was about
30-40 in 1908-38. (fn. 71) In 1960 senior pupils were
transferred to Barlby secondary school, and South
Duffield school was closed in 1962 and the pupils
transferred to Hemingbrough. (fn. 72) The building still
stood in 1973.
CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.
An unknown
donor at unknown date gave 7 a. at Hemingbrough
for the poor of South Duffield and Osgodby. The
rents were distributed in 1823. (fn. 73) No more is known
of the charity.
South Duffield also benefited, with Barlby, from
Mary Carr's charity. (fn. 74)