EAST HARLSEY
Herleseia (xi cent.); Herleshey (xiii cent.); Eastherlesey (xvi cent.).
East Harlsey is a detached part of the wapentake
of Birdforth, lying between West Harlsey, in Allertonshire, and Ingleby Arncliffe in Langbaurgh West.
Of the 3,060 acres which make up the area of the
parish about 1,450 are under cultivation. (fn. 1) Nearly
an equal area is devoted to pasture. The population
is agricultural. Wheat, oats, barley and beans are
grown, the soil being clay on a subsoil of Keuper Marls.
The parish is bounded on the east by the River
Wiske, once called the Foulbroke, (fn. 2) a name which it
still deserves.
One main road runs through the parish connecting
West Rounton on the north with Ellerbeck on the
south. The village of East Harlsey is situated midway
between the two on a lane branching off to the east,
and stands on a slight eminence of about 370 ft. As
the ground slopes downward from the village to the
western boundary it commands a fine view over the
valley of Deepdale. The village is decidedly picturesque, owing to the variety of houses, some brick,
some stone and some rough-cast, and the trim gardens
in front of them. There is a single village street with
the more important buildings, school, vicarage and
Methodist chapel, all on the south side. Opposite
the vicarage is a house with pilasters, classical cornice
and moulded doorway, on the lintel of which is carved
the date 1671. The houses in the village vary much
in date from some plain early-looking buildings on the
south side to several 17th-century houses with considerable external decorations and a variety of later
types. Further back from the street, and also on the
south side of it among a group of trees, elm, chestnut
and sycamore, are Harlsey Hall and the church of
St. Oswald. Morton Grange, belonging to Rievaulx
Abbey, was just south of the church. (fn. 3)
North of the village, between the road and the
river, are four farms called Siddle Farm, Siddle
Grange, High and Low Siddle, representing the old
estate of 'Sythell,' and a little south of Siddle Low
Moor Lane branches westward from the high road
and runs through Deepdale to the moated manorfarm of East Sawcock. The ruins of the priory of
Mount Grace lie about 2 miles south-east of the
village and are reached by a lane branching eastward
from the high road. They lie at the foot of a steep
slope with the monks' fish-ponds in front and woods
behind.
Mount Grace Charterhouse, (fn. 4) the most complete
survival of the Carthusian order in this country,
stands on an artificially levelled site on the west side
of a high and well-wooded range of hills running
north and south. The buildings are disposed round
two irregular four-sided courts on different levels and
form together an elongated pentagon. They consist of an outer court surrounded by buildings on the
north, west and south sides, the great cloister to the
north of it surrounded by nineteen monks' cells and
gardens, the conventual church standing between the
two courts and a second group of six cells and gardens,
impinging on the area of the outer court. Three
periods are distinguishable in the remains, of which
the great cloister, the church and the western range
of the outer court date from the foundation of the
house circa 1400. About twenty years later the
church was extended to the east, the central tower
built and two chapels added, the second group of cells
being erected at the same time and various minor
alterations made. The most important subsequent
addition was the building of a large chapel south of
the presbytery of the church. The buildings were
apparently suffered to fall gradually into decay after
the Dissolution until 1654, when Thomas Lascelles
transformed a portion of the western range of the
outer court into a dwelling-house.
The outer court is entered by a gate-house near
the middle of the western range, consisting of an
outer porch with a four-centred arch, the mouldings
of which die into the jambs, and an inner gate-hall
which was entered by a second arch fitted with doors.
Both portions were roofed with a stone vault, having
transverse, diagonal and wall ribs, of which only the
springers remain. A vice in the north-east angle led
to the floor above, which is now destroyed. Extending southward from the gate is the ruined shell of a
two-storied building, divided by buttresses into five
bays on the outer face and four bays on the inner.
The latter is much ruined, but each bay retains
remains of a doorway, that in the third bay being
still perfect, with a four-centred head. The windows,
five in number, are of one and two lights and the
ground floor was evidently cut up into at least four
apartments. The story over was occupied as a corn
store, as there are two doorways in the outer walls
only approachable by ladders. The west wall was
pierced by square-headed windows of two lights.
The south side of the outer court was originally
inclosed only by a wall, but against this, on the outer
side, was subsequently constructed a range of stables,
barns and outbuildings two stories high and now
much ruined. The westernmost is the latest in date,
and the central portion, used as a stable, retains its
gable end almost to the full height. The boundary
wall of the eastern side of this court forms a retaining
wall to the higher ground without it. Returning to
the west side, immediately to the north of the gatehouse, a two-storied building, probably the guesthouse, extended northward for about 125 ft. and was
divided by buttresses on the west face into six bays,
beyond which another structure formed a seventh
bay. This was the building a portion of which was
transformed by Thomas Lascelles into a dwellinghouse, his only actual additions to the structure being
a wing projecting to the east in the second and third
bays from the gate-house and a small porch opposite
it on the outer face. The mediaeval features of the
building are much obscured, but traces of a window
extending through both stories are visible on each
side of the fourth bay. All the buttresses are of
15th-century date, together with most of the squareheaded windows in the fifth, sixth and seventh bays,
none of which were included in Lascelles's building.
The 17th-century house presents a handsome front
to the west, having two ranges of large three-light
transomed windows to the first and second floors
respectively and an embattled parapet. Three stone
gables pierced with windows gave light to a long
gallery in the roof, but the southernmost of these,
together with the adjoining parapet, has been
removed. The gables are finished with stone balls
to the apex and base stones and the large windows
have moulded labels. From the centre of the front
projects a stone porch with a flat pointed doorway and
a room over, lighted by a window similar to the others
on this side and finished with an embattled parapet
with balls at the angles. The ground floor is divided
up into three apartments, the hall being in the centre.
It has a large fireplace in the south wall with a door
beside it leading into the parlour or great chamber,
which also has a large fireplace. To the north of the
hall was the kitchen, and the great fireplace here has
a curious joggled arch. The projecting wing to the
cast contains the staircase, but the whole of the east
front has been largely masked and concealed by the
modern additions of Sir Lowthian Bell. The two
bays to the north, left roofless by the Lascelles, have
now been inclosed and added to the house. Forming
the northern end of the western range was a block
extending east and west and divided into two rooms,
now much ruined. The larger and western of these
was probably the brew-house, as against the north
wall was subsequently added a large circular vat
buttressed on the west. In the south-west angle of
the same room is a rectangular structure, entered by
two four-centred arches on the north and divided
internally by a similar cross arch. The western division has a pointed recess on the west, lighted by two
square-headed windows one above the other. The
whole is covered by a pyramidal roof of stone, finished
with an embattled chimney and was probably a kiln
for drying the malt. The eastern apartment in this
block has a semicircular oven projecting from the
north wall and appears to have been the bake-house.
The frater, which stood to the north-east between
the outer court and the cloister, has been destroyed
with the exception of the north and part of the west
walls. Its arrangements have been furthermore much
obscured by later alterations undertaken with a view
to reducing its area. In the north wall to the cloister
is a 'turn' and further west a door to a cellar.
Adjoining the frater at the south-west angle remains
of a later building have been found, probably serving
as the kitchen, and a pentice communicated between
the bake-house and frater. Adjoining the east side
of the latter building and of similar width was the
prior's cell (38½ ft. by 26 ft.). On the cloister side
are a doorway and 'turn' and a fireplace. To the
west of the door is the moulded base of a semioctagonal oriel window lighting the chamber above,
but the upper part of this wall together with the whole
of that on the south has been destroyed.
The conventual church consists of a nave with two
chapels of similar form projecting to the north and
south, a central tower and a quire and presbytery
with a chapel projecting to the south of it. The
original building was an aisleless parallelogram four
bays long (88 ft. by 26 ft. average) subsequently
lengthened one bay east and having a total internal
length of 118 ft. Of the eastern arm of the church
the western half of the north wall remains standing
almost to its full height and contains two squareheaded three-light windows at the clearstory level
with remains of a third adjoining. Below these are
plain marks of the canopies of the monks' stalls.
The remainder of the quire and presbytery walls are
destroyed to the ground level, but the lowest course
of the altar and remains of the 'gradus chori' are
yet apparent. Immediately west of the latter two
doors led on the north into the chapter-house and on
the south into a narrow chapel, projecting two bays
to the south, and having diagonal buttresses at the
angles. Against its eastern wall were placed two
altars and between them is the base of an altar tomb.
The central tower was an addition to the original
design. It rests on two strong parallel walls 6½ ft.
apart, built across the church and pierced by tall
pointed arches. Other arches, the mouldings of
which intersect those of the former, support the north
and south walls of the tower, which is internally only
9¼ ft. by 6½ ft. In the south-east angle of the space
beneath is a vice leading to a chamber in the tower
with openings into the quire and nave and small
windows with trefoiled heads in the north and south
walls. The belfry stage above is lighted by a pointed
cinquefoiled window in each face, originally transomed. The tower is finished with an embattled
parapet with pinnacles at the angles rising from
diagonal buttresses with niches at the level of the
belfry floor. The weathering of the roofs remains on
both the east and west faces of the tower, and below
it on the east are traces of the wagon roof of the
quire, while on the west are the holes of the roodloft, below which were two altars flanking the tower
arch. The nave walls, except for a portion on the
south side, remain standing. At the west end is a
wide doorway, formerly furnished with double doors,
and above it is a five-light window-opening with a
segmental-pointed head which has lost all its tracery.
To the north of the door a square window was subsequently walled up. The south nave wall was
pierced by a window in each bay, but the eastern of
these had the sill cut down and the tracery removed
to form an entrance into a chapel (19½ ft. by 15½ ft.).
This latter has diagonal buttresses and a large window
of five lights in the south wall. To the south of the
chapel altar is a mutilated drain and to the north a
small doorway to a destroyed vestry standing east of
it. A corresponding chapel (19 ft. by 10 ft.) having
a window apparently of seven lights in the north
wall was added on the north side of the nave, into
which it opened by a wide arch yet standing. In
this chapel is a plain tomb slab of grey marble.
The church was entered from the great cloister by a
door in the north wall under the tower, approached
by a pentice with a small chamber to the west and a
second chamber of timber above containing a chapel.
The building on the north side of the nave, between
it and the great cloister, underwent considerable
alteration after the construction of the north chapel
and was then transformed into two cells. The westernmost of these retains its northern gable with a doorway and 'turn' below and two windows in its south
and east walls opening into the church. The second
cell to the east of it was a narrow apartment (16 ft. by
5 ft.) with a lighting area on the south. The
chapter-house lay between the presbytery and the
great cloister and was a rectangular apartment (29 ft.
by 24¾ ft.), entered from a pentice on the west.
This side has, however, been completely destroyed
and the chapter-house itself is devoid of ornament.
Adjoining it on the east were the garden and cell of
the sacrist, with which it communicated by a small
door. The cell retains little besides a perfect fireplace in the east wall and remains of the door with a
'turn' in its west jamb. The great cloister is an
irregular square about 231 ft. long on the south, east
and north sides and 272 ft. on the west. The wall
inclosing it is more or less complete except on the
east, where modern work has taken its place. The
roof of the cloister alleys was probably originally a
pentice, but on the east and half the north sides a
massive buttressed arcade wall has been uncovered.
From fragments discovered it appears that each bay
contained three sets of three cinquefoiled lights under
segmental arches. A slighter arcade wall was also
found on the south.
Opening from the great cloister are the monks'
cells, of which there are five on the west, north and
east sides. They are all of the same size, 27 ft. square
externally, and formed complete two-storied buildings.
The entrance was by a wide four-centred door from
the cloister, and near it about 3 ft. from the ground
was a square serving hatch, having a right-angled 'turn'
in the thickness of the wall through which food was
passed without the server being visible to the inmate.
The ground floor was divided by wooden partitions
into a lobby on the cloister side, a living room provided with a fireplace and two smaller apartments
used respectively as a bedroom and study. The upper
story has in every case been almost entirely destroyed,
but apparently consisted of one room only used as a
work-room, with a window on the garden side. The
cell roofs ran parallel to the cloister, being terminated
by gables, one surmounted by a chimney and the
other by an ornamental cross. The chimney shafts
were octagonal with either an embattled or pierced
conical top. Each cell, with one exception, is set in
the angle of a small garden, with which it communicated by two doors opening into pentices, the rear
one leading to a garderobe projecting from the outer
wall. The living room and bed room in the cells
were lighted by plain two-light transomed windows
looking on to the garden and the study by single-light
windows. At Mount Grace the cells on the north
side are the most complete, and one of these has been
restored, refloored and reroofed by the late Sir
Lowthian Bell, and gives an excellent idea of the
appearance that all formerly presented. The labels
of a number of the cell doors terminate in carved
shields, the first at the south end of the west side
bearing the arms of Archbishop Scrope—a bend and
a label of three points within a border sown with
mitres. The arms on the fourth cell are those of
Gascoigne—on a pale a pike's head couped—which
are repeated on the small shields of the fifth cell.
The eighth cell being the centre one on the north
side stands free of the garden walls at each side but is
otherwise similar. Except for the side towards the
cloister, the cells on the west are almost completely
destroyed. To the south of the southernmost cell on
this side and encroaching on the area of the garden
are two cellars, one approached by a door from the
frater, the other, a later erection, by a door in the
cloister wall. The apartments over these were connected with the cell and the centre one was lighted by a
large window of three cinquefoiled lights in the east
wall. The lavatory remains near the centre of the
south wall of the cloister and has a rectangular projecting basin, moulded on the front and set in a
chamfered recess with a four-centred head.
Owing to a large increase in the endowments of
the house in 1412 a second cloister was built to the
south of the church on ground forming part of the
outer court. It included six new cells and was
approached by a passage from the south-east angle of
the great cloister between the sacrist's and the first
cell on the east side. The cells here vary much in
size and were probably built separately. They are
all ruined to the ground level. There is a small
stone reservoir to the north-east of the great cloister
and a conduit head known as St. John's Well—
a circular tank with a pyramidal stone roof a short
distance to the south-east of the priory buildings.
It fed an octagonal conduit in the centre of the great
cloister, of which traces were found, and from which
lead pipes carried a supply to the cells and other
buildings.
About half a mile to the east of the monastery on
the top of a steep bank are the ruins of the house and
'chapel on the mount' assigned to the last prior at
the Suppression and now commonly known as the
Lady Chapel. The chapel (30½ ft. by 14½ ft.) is
standing at the west end to nearly half its height. It
is supported at this side by diagonal buttresses and
has a double plinth. The south door has a moulded
four-centred head and in the west wall was a large
window. The east end abuts against a modern
cottage. The chapel once stood free and there are
traces of a porch to the doorway in the north wall.
The house was a later addition, having an open court
to the north of the chapel with two apartments to the
north and east of it respectively. The larger eastern
room (28 ft. by 14½ ft.) has a fireplace at the north
end and traces of two windows in the east wall.
The lesser room has also traces of a fireplace and a
rebated opening or hatch into the larger apartment.
The court was inclosed by a wall on the west having
a small doorway. The domestic buildings are now
entirely ruined.
For long after the Dissolution Mount Grace was
a place of pilgrimage, and both inside and outside the
Lady Chapel and inside the west wall of the south
transept are scratched the marks of pilgrims, usually
with calvary crosses. Amongst others are 'O.C.
1649' and 'IHS merce hav on me | Son of Mary
hear | To thy cross i flee.' (fn. 5)
Brus. Argent a lion azure.
Bellewf. Sable fretty or.
Manors
In 1086 EAST HARLSEY was in
the hands of the king (fn. 6) ; 6 carucates
here were afterwards granted to Robert
Brus, (fn. 7) and the manor was held of the Brus fee,
passing at the division of 1272 (fn. 8) to Laderina wife of
John de Bellewe (Bella Aqua) (fn. 9) and her heirs. (fn. 10)
The tenants in demesne in the 12th and 13th
centuries were the family of Lascelles. Robert
Lascelles granted land in this parish to Rievaulx
Abbey in or about 1158. (fn. 11) He had a son Geoffrey,
who confirmed grants of his father (fn. 12) and of his tenant
Joscelin de Harlsey to that abbey. (fn. 13) He seems to
have been succeeded by Robert, who was living in
1234. (fn. 14) Another Robert held a fee of John de
Bellewe in 1281. (fn. 15) He was succeeded by Edmund,
who in 1284–5 held land in Harlsey, Bordelby, Siddle
and Sawcock, 7 carucates of which were held in
service. (fn. 16)
In 1301 the manor of Bordelby (q.v.) was settled
by Edmund de Lascelles on Robert de Furneaux, one
of the lords of Lotherton, and his wife Maud with
remainder to her heirs. (fn. 17) East Harlsey was clearly
the subject of a similar settlement, for Robert and
Maud held the whole estate of the Lascelles for half
a fee in 1301. (fn. 18) Maud, who must have been a
Lascelles, apparently married as her second husband
Geoffrey de Hotham. He was lord of the manor in
1316, (fn. 19) and Maud de Hotham paid subsidy in 1327. (fn. 20)
Her heir was Richard de Furneaux son of Robert, (fn. 21)
and Richard was succeeded by his son and heir
Robert, (fn. 22) who was in possession in 1348. (fn. 23)
Ingleby of Ripley. Sable a star argent.
If Harlsey followed the descent of Bordelby (q.v.)
it must have passed next to the Bentley family and
from them to the Inglebys of
Ripley, who held in 1428
the land which had belonged
to Robert Furneaux. (fn. 24) William
Ingleby, the tenant in that
year, died ten years later,
leaving a son John (fn. 25) his heir.
John lived till 1456, when
his son and heir William was
only a year old. (fn. 26) The latter
settled the manor of East
Harlsey on his son John with
Eleanor his wife in 1482.
John died in possession twenty
years later, (fn. 27) and Eleanor held the manor till her
death in 1517. (fn. 28) William son of John was his heir (fn. 29)
and died in 1528, when he was succeeded by his
son, another William. (fn. 30) In 1564 William Ingleby
and Anne his wife sold the manor to Leonard Dacre, (fn. 31)
who as leader in the rebellion of the north (fn. 32) forfeited
his estates in 1570.
The manor of East Harlsey was granted in 1610
to Edward Bates (fn. 33) and was sold almost immediately
to Thomas Grange. (fn. 34) He died seised in 1614, and
was succeeded by his son Thomas, (fn. 35) who had a son
William. (fn. 36) William was succeeded by Gregory
Grange, who petitioned in 1651 against the sequestration of his land here. (fn. 37) In 1652 Captain Lascelles,
who was in the Parliamentary service, compounded for
the East Harlsey estate, which he had just purchased
from Gregory Grange, 'not knowing but that he or
Grange might compound for it.' (fn. 38)
Bannerman of Elsick, baronet. Gules a banner argent with a quarter azure charged with a saltire argent.
In 1654 Gregory Grange and Thomas Lascelles
sold the manor to Richard Trotter, (fn. 39) whose family
seems to have held it for
several generations. (fn. 40) It finally
descended to Isabella Trotter,
who married Sir Alexander
Bannerman, bart., of Elsick,
Aberdeenshire. (fn. 41) He died in
1747 and was succeeded by
his son Sir Alexander, who
was in possession of the manor
in 1767. (fn. 42) His heir was Sir
Edward Trotter Bannerman,
who was succeeded by a distant cousin Alexander Burnett
(previously Bannerman), who
resumed his name of Bannerman on succeeding in 1796 to
the baronetcy. (fn. 43) It must have
been this Alexander Burnett who held East Harlsey in
1789, (fn. 44) though nothing has been found to show how
he became possessed of it before inheriting the family
estates. The manor is next mentioned in the possession of William Burnett in 1806. (fn. 45)
Maynard of Harlsey. Argent a cheveron vert between three left hands gules cut off at the wrists with five ermine tails or on the cheveron.
Between that year and 1825 it passed to the
Maynard family. Anthony Lax Maynard 'of Harlsey
Hall' died in 1825 and was
succeeded by his nephew John
Maynard of Harlsey Hall, who
was in possession as late as
1849. (fn. 46)
In 1872 Mr. John Beaumont was lord of the manor.
He was succeeded by his
daughter Mrs. Grove-Grady,
from whom the estate was
purchased in 1897 by Mr.
Thomas Standbridge. His
widow Mrs. Standbridge was
lady of the manor from 1901
to 1907, when she sold it to
Mr. Joseph Constantine. (fn. 47)
Three generations of a
family bearing the name of the place held land in
Harlsey in the 13th century. Joscelin de Harlsey,
a contemporary of Geoffrey Lascelles, (fn. 48) was succeeded
by William, who had a son Ralph. (fn. 49) The families of
Hernville, (fn. 50) Upsall, (fn. 51) and Middleton (fn. 52) also held here
under the Lascelles.
A considerable amount of land was held in East
Harlsey by the abbey of Rievaulx, (fn. 53) to which the
family of Lascelles made numerous small grants during
the 12th and 13th centuries. (fn. 54) The abbot had free
warren here by grant of Henry III. (fn. 55)
The abbot's lands in East Harlsey seem to have
followed the descent of his largest estate (fn. 56) here,
MORTON GRANGE (Mortona, xi cent.), which
formed with East Harlsey part of the Brus fee
at the end of the 11th century. (fn. 57) It was granted
by Robert Lascelles to the Abbot of Rievaulx in
about 1158. (fn. 58)
In 1506 the grange was leased to the Prior of
Mount Grace for ninety-seven years at a yearly rent
of £13 6s. 8d. (fn. 59) The prior and convent, being
'determined and concluded to meddle with little
husbandry,' assigned their lease in 1534–5 to Robert
Wilson, then farmer of Morton Grange and a servant
of the prior. (fn. 60)
The grange was granted by Henry VIII in 1540
to Sir James Strangways of West Harlsey. (fn. 61) In the
same year he had licence to alienate Morton Grange
with other estates to William Lord Dacre and Greystock and his sons. (fn. 62) This he did by an unratified
fine in 1541. (fn. 63) On the division of the Strangways
estates (fn. 64) Morton Grange was allotted to Dame Elizabeth Strangways, widow of Sir James, for her life,
while the reversion was granted to Robert Roos of
Ingmanthorpe. (fn. 65)
Elizabeth and her second husband Francis Nevill
leased the grange for Elizabeth's lifetime to Leonard
Dacre, (fn. 66) on whose attainder in 1570 it was taken
into the hands of the Crown. At about the same
time Robert Roos conveyed his reversion to William
Tancred, (fn. 67) whose heir Thomas sold it with the reversion of Potto (fn. 68) to the Earl of Rutland. (fn. 69) The grange
appears among the earl's estates in 1587, (fn. 70) and also
among the possessions of Elizabeth Lady Roos his
daughter. (fn. 71) But apparently they never came into actual
possession, as the grange in 1641 was still in the hands
of the king. (fn. 72) The subsequent descent is confused by
the various claims of the Roos family to the estate.
It is now the property of the lord of the manor of
East Harlsey.
The manor of MOUNT GRACE was called
BORDELBY (Bordelbia, xi cent.; Borthelby, xiv
cent.) till 1398, when the Priory of Mount Grace
was founded and gave its name to the estate. During
the greater part of its existence as the manor of
Bordelby it followed the descent of East Harlsey
(q.v.), with which it was associated in the Domesday
Survey. (fn. 73) It passed from the Lascelles (fn. 74) to the Furneaux, who were in possession till 1348 at least. (fn. 75)
Cecily widow of Richard Furneaux claimed dower
here in 1332, (fn. 76) and in 1347 Nicholas Furneaux
brought an assize of novel disseisin for land in
Bordelby and Lotherton against Robert son of
Richard Furneaux. (fn. 77)
In 1366 John Bentley, who at that date held lands
in Lotherton also, (fn. 78) appointed Thomas Sawcock and
others his attorneys to deliver seisin of the manor of
Bordelby to Richard de Ravenser and others who
were evidently trustees. (fn. 79)
Holand, Earl of Kent. ENGLAND differenced with a border argent.
In 1373 Thomas de Ingleby and Katherine his
wife made an agreement concerning the manor with
Ralph de Ripplingham and his wife Alice. (fn. 80) By this
agreement the Ingleby family obtained Bordelby,
and they were associated with
the foundation of the priory
of Mount Grace thirty years
later. The actual founder was
Thomas Earl of Kent and
Duke of Surrey, who had
licence in 1398 to alienate
his manor of Bordelby to
found a house of the Carthusian order. (fn. 81) But the prayers
of the monks were asked for the
souls of Thomas de Ingleby
and Katherine, and for their
successors (fn. 82) John de Ingleby
and Ellen. (fn. 83) Moreover, John
de Ingleby is frequently described as the founder of Mount Grace, (fn. 84) and his
descendants held the advowson of the priory. (fn. 85) Probably the Duke of Surrey bought the manor from the
Ingleby family for the express purpose of founding
the priory. (fn. 86)
The duke took part in a conspiracy against
Henry IV and was put to death by the people of
Cirencester shortly after the foundation of Mount
Grace, (fn. 87) and the prior and convent were disturbed
by numerous claims upon the manor of Bordelby.
In 1440 they obtained a confirmation of the original
grant. (fn. 88)
The site of the priory and the manor of Mount
Grace were leased in 1540 to John Cheyne of
Drayton, Bucks., for twenty-one years. (fn. 89) The reversion and the yearly rent were granted in the same
year to Sir James Strangways of West Harlsey. (fn. 90) He
conveyed it with many other manors to William
Lord Dacre in the next year. (fn. 91) By the royal award
of 1544 (fn. 92) Mount Grace was assigned to Dame Elizabeth Strangways for life, and after her death to Robert
Roos. (fn. 93)
In the same year Robert Roos sold his right in
the manor to Ralph Rokeby for 700 marks. (fn. 94) Ralph
Rokeby died seised of Mount Grace, which was
inherited by his son William (fn. 95) in 1556. In 1653
it was in the possession of Grace, the granddaughter
of William Rokeby. (fn. 96) She had married Conyers
Darcy, son and heir of Lord Darcy, and the manor
had been settled on her and her husband in 1616. (fn. 97)
In 1653 they sold it to Thomas Lascelles, (fn. 98) who
had bought East Harlsey from Gregory Grange in
1652. He was a Parliamentarian, and was arrested
in 1665 on suspicion of 'turbulent and seditious
practices against his Majesty's Government.' (fn. 99) He
was succeeded by his son and grandson both called
Thomas. (fn. 100) Robert, grandson of the younger Thomas, (fn. 101)
was in possession in 1744, when he sold the manor to
Timothy Mauleverer of Ingleby Arncliffe (fn. 102) (q.v.),
with which it henceforth descended. The Mauleverer
estate was purchased in 1900 from Mr. W. Brown
by Sir I. Lowthian Bell, bart., (fn. 103) whose son Sir Hugh
Bell, bart., is the present lord of the manor.
Mauleverer of Ingleby Arncliffe. Gules three running greyhounds argent with collars or.
Bell of Rounton, baronet. Argent a fesse between three hawks' lures azure with three bells argent on the fesse.
Free warren was granted to Geoffrey de Hotham
in 1310, (fn. 104) and was afterwards enjoyed by the Prior of
Mount Grace. (fn. 105)
The estate of SIDDLE (Syvehill, xii cent.; Sidill,
Sifthil, xiii cent.) seems to have belonged to the
manor of Bordelby (q.v.). Robert Lascelles of Bordelby, who lived in the 12th century, granted his mill
there to the abbey of Rievaulx. (fn. 106) This mill was still
in existence in 1605, (fn. 107) but it has now disappeared.
The history of SAWCOCK (Salcok to xv cent.),
as far as it is continuous, is connected with that of a
family of the same name. A William Salcock or
Sawcock had a domestic chapel here in about 1250. (fn. 108)
William son of Warner Sawcock, who lived towards
the end of the 13th century, granted to Guisborough
3 oxgangs and a house with tofts here, (fn. 109) a grant confirmed by his descendant William son of Walter. (fn. 110)
In 1284–5 Thomas Sawcock was a tenant of
Edmund Lascelles in East Harlsey, (fn. 111) and appears to
have held this manor. Another Thomas Sawcock held
it of the heirs of Bellewe in 1348. (fn. 112) At the beginning
of the next century Thomas Sawcock granted it to
William and Robert Lambton, who settled it on him
in tail, with remainder to his uncle John Sawcock,
and a further remainder to William Lambton. (fn. 113) John
Sawcock appears in possession of the manor in 1428, (fn. 114)
but in 1430 he demised it to Thomas Lambton for a
rent of 8 marks. (fn. 115)
In 1497 Thomas Lambton conveyed the manor to
certain trustees to his own use for life, then to his
wife Agnes and his right heirs. (fn. 116) There is no further
mention of Sawcock as a manor. Its present owner
is the Rev. Barnabas Binks, rector of Welbury. (fn. 117)
Church
The church of ST. OSWALD consists of a chancel measuring internally
23 ft. 6 in. by 15 ft., organ chamber,
north vestry, nave 35 ft. 6 in. by 17 ft., north
aisle 28 ft. by 9 ft. 6 in., south porch and west bellturret.
With the exception of some old walling and one
window in the south wall of the chancel the building
is modern. The east window is of three trefoiled
lights, and in the south wall is a square-headed
trefoiled light of the 15th century; near this are
an old piscina and a modern two-light window.
The modern chancel arch is pointed. The north
arcade of the nave is in three bays, and in the opposite wall are two three-light trefoiled windows and a
south doorway. The roofs of chancel and nave are
low pitched and panelled.
The font is modern.
In the chancel is the effigy of a knight in mail and
surcoat; he has prick spurs but no gambeson and his
hood is folded back, his bare head showing a profusion of curly hair; his hands are folded, and on his
arm is a shield bearing a label of five points. In the
north aisle is a slab incised with two floreated stepped
crosses; one has a shield bearing three cocks, doubtless for William Sawcock (see below), and a sword
crossed behind it; the other cross has a book on one
side and a pair of shears on the other. Hidden
behind the organ is a slab with the matrices of two
figures with their shields below.
In the north aisle is a late 12th-century slab
incised with a cross and bearing an inscription of
which only 'Hic jacet Joha . . . .' can now be
deciphered.
There are two modern bells.
The plate includes a fine cup, silver gilt, the bowl
repoussé and bearing the London mark of 1616, while
the plain stem, which replaces the original stem,
bears the York letter for 1706, a cup of c. 1710 stamped
BU in three places, but containing no date mark, a
foot paten of 1708 and a large pewter almsdish.
The registers begin in 1693.
Advowson
In the 12th century the church
of East Harlsey was claimed by the
Prior of Guisborough as a chapelry of
Ingleby Arncliffe. (fn. 118) In 1196 the chaplain of East
Harlsey, who is described as ministering in the chapel
as rector, openly repudiated the authority of Guisborough, (fn. 119) and the pope issued a commission of inquiry.
The result was to establish the claims of the prior, to
whom the chaplain of East Harlsey was ordered to
pay a pension. In 1234 Robert Lascelles quitclaimed
to the prior all his right in the advowson. (fn. 120) In 1308
the Archbishop of York satisfied himself of the prior's
title to Ingleby Arncliffe, East Harlsey and other
churches (which are here all referred to as 'ecclesiae
parochiales') where 'perpetual vicars were not
appointed.' (fn. 121)
In 1509 the chapel and lands appertaining were
let to the Prior and convent of Mount Grace for
fifty years. The lessees were to find a chaplain to
perform divine service, and when the lease expired
were to let to the Prior and convent of Guisborough
a grange for the tithes. (fn. 122) Before the lease had
expired, however, both houses had surrendered.
In 1569 the chapel was let to Nicholas Wayneman. (fn. 123) It had been granted to Henry Ughtred in
1555, when it was in the tenure of Robert Wilson, (fn. 124)
perhaps a member of the same family as Robert
Wilson, farmer of Morton Grange in 1534–5. (fn. 125) In
1608 the chapel was granted in fee to Francis Phelips
and Richard Moor. (fn. 126)
In the middle of the 17th century the rectory
and tithes of East Harlsey were in the possession of
the lord of the manor. (fn. 127) The advowson appears in
an agreement concerning the manor in 1767, (fn. 128) and
from that date is associated with the manor. (fn. 129) It
appears, however, that a Mr. Lawson, who had no
connexion with the manor, was patron in 1786, (fn. 130)
and that the presentation was in the hands of Sir
John Lawson, bart. (of Brough) in 1808. (fn. 131) It is probable
that the Lawson family leased the advowson from the
lords of the manor, in whose possession it still
remains.
William Sawcock had licence in the middle of the
13th century from the Prior and convent of Guisborough to found a chantry in his chapel of
Sawcock. (fn. 132) This chapel, which was to be dependent
on the chapel of East Harlsey, has now entirely
disappeared.
Charities
Margaret Lawson by her will (date
unknown) charged an estate at West
Sawcock with a yearly sum of £5, of
which £3 should be paid to the schoolmaster and £2
distributed in bread. By an order of the Charity
Commissioners dated 22 November 1904 a scheme
was established appointing trustees, and determining
that three-fifth parts of the net yearly income should
constitute the educational foundation and two-fifth
parts the eleemosynary charity, the latter to be
applied by the trustees in the supply of food or other
articles in kind for the poor or in such way as they
consider most advantageous to the recipients. The
distribution is made in bread.
Jane Garthwaite, by her will dated in 1742, gave
the yearly interest of £40, 20s. thereof to be paid to
the curate for preaching a sermon on 2 May yearly
in memory of her late husband, and the remainder
to be laid out in bread for the poor. By an order of
the Charity Commissioners of 22 September 1891
the land upon which the annuity of £2 was charged
was sold and the proceeds invested in £108 18s.
consols with the official trustees. The sum of £1 is
paid to the incumbent for the sermon. In 1905
there were forty recipients of bread after the sermon,
and money was given to ten widows.