THE PARISH OF ST. PATRICK, BAMPTON.

Bampton was originally divided into the moieties of Thornthwaite or Bampton Patrick and Bampton Cundale or Carhullen, so named from their respective proprietors.—Patric de Culwen and Henry de Cundale.

ANTIQUITIES.

Within this parish we have Standing Stones, an enclosure and two cairns on Fourstones Hill. "Towtop Kirk" an early homestead, between Staingarth and Carhullen. Foundations of a fort north-east of Measand Hall. Knipe Moor Boundary Cross now in the cemetery. The site of a hospital dedicated to SS. Mary and Thomas the Martyr, mentioned c. 1290 at Gilswath. St. Patrick's Well, west of the river.

THE CHURCH.

The church was appropriated to the abbey of Shap about the year 1170. It was confirmed to the abbey by Robert de Chauncey, Bishop of Carlisle, in the year 1263, and by Bishop Ralph de Irton and the Prior and Convent of Carlisle in 1287. The abbot and monks of Shap were to serve the church as hitherto, by two or three of their canons, one of whom is to be presented to the Bishop as vicar, another to be responsible to them in temporals. They were also to maintain a secular chaplain to hear confessions, etc.

In the "Antique Taxatio Ecclesiastica" of Pope Nicholas IV, made in the year 1291, the church is valued at £13. 6. 8, but by the "Novo Taxatio" of Pope Clement v, made in 1318, the value is reduced to £2. The "Valor Ecclesiasticus" made by order of Parliament in 26 Henry VIII, 1535, gives the following:—

The Commonwealth Survey of 1657 is as follows:—

That the right of presentation to the church was formerly in the gift of the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England. That Mr. Matthew Wilkinson is present incumbent and hath for his maintenance the glebe land which is worth 10s. by the year and other small tithes worth £5 by the year and hath also £8 by the year paid him out of the tithes of Bolton as an augmentation by the honorable Trustees for the Maintenance of Ministers.

On 14 March, 1725, the last sermon was preached in the old church and the first stone of the new building was laid. The new church was opened for divine service on 26 February, 1726 and on 20 June, 1728, it was consecrated by John Waugh, bishop of Carlisle. The church was remodelled in 1884 and re-opened again 22 October, 1885.

The vicarage was re-built by the Rev. James Darling who was vicar from 1861 to 1883.

A list of the Incumbents whose names have been met with during the present research.

THE SCHOOLS.

Bampton Free Grammar School.

Thomas Sutton, D.D., a native of Butterwick in the parish, collected from his parish of St. Saviour's in Southwark, and elsewhere, a sum of £500 and upwards for the erection of a free school and for the maintenance of a preacher in Bampton. The deed of settlement is dated 2 February, 1626–7. Samuel Fawcett, the first schoolmaster, spent £35 of this sum upon building a school-house, which must have been situate upon a corner of the churchyard as many human bones were found when the old building was pulled down and trenches dug for new foundations.

William Walker by his will dated 18 March, 1657, bequeathed £40 "for the advancing of learning therein and the helping of the poor ingenious scholars thereof in their necessities as in books and things requisite." The Rev. William Stephenson, a native and then rector of Laxton, left by his will dated 20 December, 1693, £150 to be laid out in land and the rent to be divided equally between the church and the school. Thomas Denny in 1721 gave £5, the interest of which was to buy ink and paper for the poor scholars. William Noble on 13 November, 1798, gave £100 for establishing a library, four-fifths of the interest or rent was to be spent on fitting up a convenient room and the purchase of books, and one-fifth was to be given to the master for his trouble in keeping the said books and making a catalogue of the same. John Noble, a native, by his will dated 11 March, 1812, gave the interest of £500 in 3 per cent. Stock for the support of the master and "as a mark of regard for that most excellent institution in which he was educated."

The school is reckoned a free grammar school for all the children of the parish who are entitled to be taught the classics without any expense, but a charge is made for teaching reading and writing, according to the ability of the parents. For children not belonging to the parish the master is allowed to make what charge he pleases.

Very justly the school is renowned for the number of eminent men who were educated here; it kept up its reputation for the long period that the Rev. John Bowstead was master, and since his time, but perhaps in a lesser degree, until 1862 when the Charity Commissioners changed the whole institution into a scheme of a purely elementary character. The Trustees, with the exception of the vicar, were very disturbed about it and contended that inasmuch as there were two other elementary schools in the parish, this one ought to be retained as a Grammar School for secondary education.

A new school and house have been built upon a new site.

Roughill School.

Edmund Noble founded this school for the benefit of the children living at Skeughs Cullgist. By his will dated 6 January, 1662–3, he bequeathed to Trustees £40, the interest to be applied to the maintenance of a mistress to teach English. The sum of £7. 5s. was added to the school Stock by William and John Noble and by John and Thomas Hudson. The interest of £5 was left by Thomas Wilkinson and £6 by Joseph Noble to buy books for the poor children; while Deborah Noble by her will dated 1770 left £5 towards paying for two scholars. The children were taught knitting and sewing and reading, but not writing without some extra charge.

The schoolhouse was rebuilt in 1899.

Measand School.

Richard Wright in consideration of the great love and affection which he bore towards the inhabitants of Measand, founded this school, and by indenture dated 20 October, 1711, granted to certain feoffees his messuage and tenement, called Nether Scales and also a cottage and parcel of land called Scale Park, together comprising about 92 acres of land, all in the parish of Orton, to hold the same upon trust, and out of the rents and profits to uphold and keep in good repair a school-house, built or intended to be built at Measand, and also maintain and keep a well qualified person to teach the English and Latin tongue and other good literature as is usually taught at other grammar schools. The instruction amounts to reading, writing and accounts, and the classics if they choose, free of all expense except one shilling as a cock-penny at Shrovetide.

Richard Law of Cawdale, by indenture dated 22 May, 1723, conveyed to the same feoffees the site for the school.

But this school never attained to the renown of the older foundations. As at Bampton a vicar continued to be at loggerheads with the schoolmaster. On one occasion he sent a book-case to the school which the master immediately put up in the loft. The case had been ordered by the vicar without the authority of the Trustees and they repudiated the cost which their colleague had contracted. A law-suit followed at which the vicar was held personally liable for the cost.

The school house was rebuilt in 1883 and it has now become the Mardale School.

BRIDGES.

Bampton Bridge over Hawes Beck in the village of Bampton.

In 1362 John de Askeby, vicar of Bampton, by his will dated 8 September, 1362, bequeathed a legacy to the fabric of the bridge at Bampton.

On 9 June, 1753, Quarter Sessions ordered the High Constables to contract for the repair of this bridge and 300 feet at the north end thereof. On 9 July, 1866, Joseph Bintley submitted a plan for the entire rebuilding of Bampton Bridge when he was authorized to receive tenders for the same. The work was let for the sum of £295. 5. It has a single arch widened to double its original width and bears the inscription, E. Bownes, Bampton, 1885.

Beck Foot Bridge, over Heltondale Beck on the road between Helton and Bampton.

On 7 April, 1823 this bridge being in a dangerous condition since the great flood of 2 February, 1822, was ordered to be rebuilt by the inhabitants within the coming six months. On 14 July the work was let to John Watson of Kirkoswald for the sum of £205. In 1825 it appears upon the list of public county bridges.

Black Bridge, over the Hawes Beck on the road between Bampton and Bampton Grange.

On 16 July, 1689, the Surveyors of Bampton petitioned setting forth that they had been put to great charges in building and repairing Blackbeck Bridge and other bridges and that the inhabitants do refuse to pay their proportions for and towards the same: Quarter Sessions ordered that they do pay or show cause to the contrary. On 31 March, 1788, the bridge was presented as being one of the public bridges belonging to the county and that it ought to be repaired at the expense of the county. It has two segmental arches with a massive cut-water on each side. The width is 10 feet beween the parapets, but there are recesses above the cut-waters, one of which is provided with a stone seat.

Chapel Bridge.

This bridge appears upon the list of public county bridges made in the year 1825.

Church Bridge over the River Lowther in Bampton Grange.

At the Easter Sessions of the Peace, 1661, this bridge was ordered to be repaired and on 24 July, 1685, it was declared to be a public bridge belonging to the County. On 5 October following, when the bridge was in need of repair, it was ordered that the inhabitants of the parish of Bampton do appear at the next General Sessions in order to satisfy the Court whether it be a public bridge or no. On 11 January the inhabitants proved by several "Orders of Sessions" that the bridge had been repaired in former days by the County and therefore it was now ordered that the High Constables of the East and West Wards do survey and report upon the bridge. On 8 December, 1757, the Justices ordered that the High Constables do contract for the repair of Church Bridge in Bampton, it being a public bridge belonging to the County. On 2 October, 1775, the High Constables were ordered to contract for the re-building of the bridge; and on 27 August, 1776, it was reported that the bridge was about to be re-built, but as the builders failed to proceed quickly with the work, it was essential that a temporary foot bridge should be erected there at once. On 6 April, 1812, it was ordered that the road should be widened at the east end of Bampton Grange Bridge, and for that purpose the wall adjoining the Vicarage garth should be taken down and rebuilt at the public expense but that afterwards it should be repairable by the vicar of Bampton. In 18 April 1835, plans for the erection of a new bridge here were adopted. The work was let to Nixon and Denton for the sum of £1030.

Halfa or Halfway Bridge, over Hawes Beck on the road between Bampton and Haweswater.

At the Easter Sessions of the Peace, 1661, this bridge was ordered to be repaired at the public expense and on 24 July, 1685, it was entered as a public bridge. On 5 October following, when the bridge was in need of repair, it was ordered that the inhabitants of the parish of Bampton should appear at the next General Sessions in order to satisfy the Court whether it be a public bridge or no. On 11 January the inhabitants proved by several "Orders of Sessions" that the bridge had been repaired in former days by the County and therefore it was now ordered that the High Constables of the East and West Wards do survey and report upon the bridge. On 9 June, 1753, it was ordered that the High Constables do contract for the repair of Halfa Bridge and 300 feet at the south end, the said bridge being a public bridge. On 2 October, 1775, an order was issued to the High Constable to contract for the re-building of Hawfaw Bridge, but from the following note this seems to have been a widening instead of a re-building. On 31 July, 1891, it was reported that it was a very old structure of two arches originally only about 9 feet in width, and that at some time an addition had been made to it on the south-west side making the roadway double its original width.

Measand Beck Bridge.

A pack-horse bridge of a rude type formed by a great flagstone laid flat across the beck from pier to pier.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

1256

Nicholas son of Gilbert de Cresseby appealed against Adam son of William, Robert his brother, and John son of Juliana concerning the death of Elyas the chaplain, so that they are outlawed in the county. And because the aforesaid Elyas was killed in the vill of Bampton and the same vill did not take them therefore it is in mercy. And the vills of Hepp, Thirneby and Nippe (? Knipe) did not come fully to the Enquiry except four men therefore they are in mercy. Assize Roll, 1256, m. 10d.

c. 1286

Grant by Robert de Morvil in pure alms to God, St. Mary, St. Thomas the Martyr, and to John the priest of the Hospital of Gilswath and the fraternity there, whole as well as leprous, of twenty wagon-loads of peat yearly, to be dug at their own costs in his turbary of Helton Flechan; to be dried and carried away by a suitable way within his bounds which led to the water of the Lowther from the said moor, but no damage was to be done to crops or meadow. Robert stipulated, however, that ten of the wagon-loads should be carried for the use and benefit of the said Master of the Hospital and his successors, and the other ten for the brothers and the lepers dwelling there.

1362

John de Askeby, vicar of Bampton, made his will on the day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, 8 September, 1362, in which he desires his body to be buried in the choir of the church of St. Patric of Bampton. He left "Item fabrice pontis de Bampton iij per equales porciones"; although there is no sum mentioned the "iij" must refer to the three bridges of Bampton, in equal portions. He also left two shillings to the chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury in the church of Bampton. Testa. Karl., 68.

1377 Michaelmas.

The abbot of Hepp, by Thomas Dannay his attorney, against John Prestman in a plea that he render an account of the time when he was bailiff in Bampton for the said abbot. Defendant did not come. Case adjourned until the octave of S. Hilary. De Banco Roll, 468, m. 107.

1377 Michaelmas.

Thomas [Appleby], Bishop of Carlisle, in his own person appeared against John de Bampton, clerk, that he render 100s. which he owes. Defendant did not come. Case adjourned until the octave of S. Hilary. De Banco Roll, 468, m. 124.

1377 Michaelmas.

John de Bampton, chaplain, by Adam Crosseby his attorney, appeared against Adam Makefar and William de Studholme in a plea that each of them render unto him 40s. which they owe. Defendants did not come. Case adjourned until the octave of S. Hilary. De Banco Rolls, 468, m. 139; 470, m. 54; 472, m. 261.

1378 Easter.

The abbot of Hepp, by Thomas Dannay his attorney, appeared against John, vicar of the church of Bampton in a plea that he render unto him six quarters of oatmeal worth 40s., which he unjustly detains. De Banco Roll, 470, m. 267.

1378 Easter.

John de Thresk of Penereth appeared against Nicholas Taillour in a plea wherefore with force and arms the said John was assaulted at Bampton and his goods and chattels found there worth 100s. they took and carried away and his corn and grass lately growing there was with certain animals depastured trodden down and consumed to the value of 100s. De Banco Roll, 470, m. 296.

1378 Easter.

Thomas [Appleby] Bishop of Carlisle, against John de Bampton, clerk, in a plea that he render unto him 100s. which he owes. Ibid.; 471, m. 293.

1379 Michaelmas.

William de Horneby, against John son of Thomas Hotblake, Walter Bakester, Richard Kitson and John Archer, in a plea wherefore with force and arms they cut down and carried away the trees and underwood belonging to the said William and lately growing at Bampton Cundale worth 100s., and his corn and grass worth 100s. with certain beasts they depastured, trod down and consumed. De Banco Rolls, 476, m. 12; 477, m. 21.

1415

Bampton Cundale paid a fifteenth as a subsidy to the king amounting to 34s. and Bampton Patric, 40s. A total of £3 14s. od. Excheq. Q.R. Miscell. Books, vol. 7.

1560 12 April.

Elizabeth, etc. Grant to Giles Parker and Brian Parker, by her Letters Patent of this date, of "all manner of tithes of wool of the whole parish of Bampton, to the yearly value of £3. 4s. 1d., now or late in the occupation of Richard Washington or his assigns and parcel of the possessions of the late monastery of Shap, to hold to the said Giles and Bryan and their assigns . . . of us and our heirs and successors, as of our manor of East Greenwich, by fealty in free socage and not in chief."

1563 29 March.

To all, etc. Richard Asheton, of Whalley, esquire, and Robert Parker of Broseholme, co. York, [? Lancashire] gent., send greeting. Be it known that we for the sum of £172 to us paid by Alan Bellingham of Helsington, esquire, have granted, sold and confirmed to the said Alan all manner of tithes of wool belonging to the parish church of Bampton, co. Westmorland, or late in the occupation of Richard Washington and parcel of the possessions of the late monastery of Shap, as granted by Lady Elizabeth, now Queen, to Giles Parker and Brian Parker the 12 April, in the 2nd year of her reign. To hold to Alan Bellingham his heirs and assigns of the Lady the Queen, her heirs and assigns in free socage and not in chief. Robert Bindloss and Uter Gilpin, clerk, are appointed attorneys to deliver seisin.

1669–1672 Hearth Tax Roll

1669–1672 Hearth Tax Roll, Lay Subsidy 195, n. 73.

BOMBYE.

Five householders were exempted from paying the tax by Certificate.

BUTTERWICK.

GRANGE.

KNIPE.

Eight householders were exempted from paying the tax by Certificate.

LITTLE WATER.

SKEWES.

Seventeen householders were exempted from paying the tax by Certificate.

MEASAND.

Nine householders were exempted from paying the tax by Certificate.

WALMGATE.

Eleven householders were exempted from paying the tax by Certificate, i.e. the majority occupied their houses under the value of 20 shillings per annum, or did not possess goods worth £10.

WHELTER.

Fourhouseholders were exempted from paying the tax by Certificate.

1670

The churchwardens presented as Nonconforming Quakers Thomas Braidley and Margaret his wife, Robert Bowman and Margaret his wife, John Hottblacke, James Airey and Thomas Thomson. In 1672 they further presented William Gibson, Agnes Gibson, Mary Baxter, Margaret Yeal, and John Sampson.

1673

Among those who took the oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy are the names of Thomas Knott, minister, and William Noble, school-master of Bampton.

1696 1 August.

Thomas Knott, vicar, and Thomas Jackson, schoolmaster, signed the anti-Jacobite "Association" formed for the protection of William III.

1702 13 April.

Quarter Sessions allowed the house of John Airey of Butterwick Green to be licenced as a house of public assembly for religious worship.

1740 6 April.

Upon the petition of the surveyor of highways in the parish of Bampton, setting forth that a certain part of the king's highway at a place called "Bomby Stank," containing 600 yards in length is very dirty, founderous and bad so that passengers cannot pass on that way without manifest danger, etc., it was ordered that the parish of Bampton do repair the way or show cause to the contrary. At the following Court the inhabitants were fined £20 for failing to have the way efficiently repaired.

1757 18 April.

Presentment that a certain ancient watercourse at Bomby High Stank in Bampton was and is very much broken and in decay so that the rain waters that were wont to flow through the said watercourse do overflow and remain on the King's highway adjoining and leading to the market town of Shap, and thereby the said highway is greatly injured so that his majesty's subjects cannot pass and ride as they were wont to do to their great damage and that John Jackson and Edward Langhorn ought to sufficiently repair the same by reason of their tenure of lands called "Briglands."

1876

The Bampton Sheep Association for the improvement of mountain sheep was founded for the parishes of Bampton, Shap, Askham and Barton.