THIRKLEBY
Turchileby (xi cent.); Thurkilby, Turkylby,
Turkelby-under-Wynstan, Thurkelby near Whitstan
(xiii cent.); Thurcelby (xiv cent.); Thirtleby
(xvii cent.).
Thirkleby Park, Thirkleby
The parish of Thirkleby includes Osgodby. The
ground rises from about 100 ft. above the ordnance
datum to the north-west, where, towards the Hambleton Hills, it reaches an elevation of over 400 ft. The
upper soil is clay on a subsoil chiefly of Keuper
Marls and lower lias, but there is alluvium in the
vicinity of Thirkleby Beck. The area is rather over
2,689 acres, of which 1,100 are arable land, 1,376
pasture and 104½ woods and plantations.
The inhabitants are mainly engaged in agriculture,
the chief crops being wheat, barley and oats. The
nearest station is Sessay, on the main line of the
North Eastern railway, 3 miles distant.
The main road from Thirsk enters the parish from
the north-west, touches Thirkleby Park at its western
corner and then strikes out south-east to Easingwold,
while the Low Lane branches to Coxwold, skirting
the southern side of the park. From it the Long
Causeway runs north and forms the eastern side of
the park, which extends to 200 acres. Within it is
the church of All Saints and close by is the site of
the ancient Thirkleby Hall built in the time of
Elizabeth and itself probably the successor of the
capital messuage which Roger Burton held here in
1308. (fn. 1) The modern hall, the residence of Sir
Ralph W. Frankland Payne-Gallwey, bart., was built
on higher ground to the north by Sir Thomas Frankland from designs by Wyatt in 1780–5. The
mansion, which is in the dignified classical style of
the period, stands in a park of 200 acres, and is
backed by the Home Woods. The village stands
on the Long Causeway at a point where it turns
east to the ford, while the Mill Lane leads north to
the mill mentioned in the 16th century and to the
vicarage. The capital messuage called the Parsonage
House is mentioned in 1545 and belonged to Newburgh. (fn. 2)
Little Thirkleby lies on the east side of the beck
along a lane which eventually joins the Low Road to
Coxwold below Arden Bridge. No early mention
of this bridge has been found, but Thirkleby Bridge
on the Easingwold road is probably the successor of
a bridge mentioned in the 13th century. (fn. 3) Edward I
was at Thirkleby on 5 October 1304. (fn. 4)
Osgodby, which consists of three farms, is in the
north of the parish.
Osgodby Hall was originally Jacobean, but it
was considerably altered and refronted in the 18th
century, and is now a rectangular structure of some
size, with two wings projecting to the rear. The
front, to the west, is two stories high with 18thcentury windows and facing. The porch, placed
centrally, is, however, Jacobean and is built of rusticated work, with an arched doorway, side pilasters,
moulded imposts and a panelled key. On either side
within are semicircular domed recesses and the porch
is finished with a flat cornice. The northern end of
the house retains its early form and is here built of
red brick, with stone quoins, having a massive
chimney stack and moulded stone string-courses. Of
the two rear wings the southern is entirely of 18thcentury date, but the northern is original, and,
although much patched, retains its plinth and
string-courses. The interior of the house contains a
fine broad staircase of the early 17th century, with
heavy turned balusters and square newels surmounted
by balls. In the northern room on the ground floor
is a handsome panelled Jacobean overmantel in oak,
extending to the ceiling and enriched with Ionic
pilasters. Two of the first-floor rooms retain their
panelling. In front of the house is a raised terrace
with a broad flight of steps opposite the porch. The
terrace walk termina es at two square-headed doorways, with raised keys and cornices, piercing the side
walls of the garden. The latter are of faced stone
with a heavy weathered coping ramped up on either
side of the piers of the entrance gateway. The
garden is square and the gate is flanked by handsome
piers with pilasters on the outer face and large stone
balls on the coping. To the north of the house
stands a rectangular orientated building, said to have
been once the chapel, but now used as a cow-house.
It stands on a plinth, but the openings are all
modern, and at the west end is a bellcote resting on
stone buttresses and containing one bell.
Among the place-names are Hall Flatt, Wheate
Rigge, Over and Nether Riddings and Halynges. (fn. 5)
Manors
At the time of the Domesday Survey
the 8 carucates of THIRKLEBY were
included in the large manor previously
held by Copsi at Coxwold. (fn. 6) In 1086 it belonged to
Hugh son of Baldric. The overlordship came into
the hands of the Mowbrays and followed the descent
of the manor of Thirsk (q.v.) until at least the end of
the 16th century. (fn. 7) Robert de Bussy or Buscy held a
mesne lordship and some demesne land here (fn. 8) and
granted land in the vill to the abbey of Byland
apparently at the end of the 12th century. His son
and heir was William de Buscy. (fn. 9) Oliver de Buscy,
who was the mesne lord of Thirkleby in 1284–5,
seems to have been the son of William. (fn. 10) In 1308
the manor was held of William de Buscy, the son and
heir of Oliver, (fn. 11) and it was probably his daughter
and heir Lucy who quitclaimed her right in the
manor to her uncle, John de Buscy of Lavyngton,
in 1348. (fn. 12) Some twenty years later Alice Buscy
impleaded Sir Thomas Ughtred and Katharine his
wife for the manor. (fn. 13) The name of Robert Buscy
occurs as one of the holders of a small amount of
land in Thirkleby in 1428. (fn. 14)
The earliest known tenants in Thirkleby were the
Meynells. Robert de Meynell held lands here, (fn. 15) and
was succeeded by Gilbert, who gave lands at the close
of the 12th century to Byland Abbey. (fn. 16) Gilbert
was succeeded by Stephen, whose name occurs in
connexion with land here in 1224 (fn. 17) and 1237. (fn. 18)
Walter de Meynell was party to a fine as to land
here in 1240. (fn. 19)
Robert de Meynell gave 1 carucate of land here to
his niece Cecily as dower on her marriage with Walter
son of Thomas de Thirkleby. (fn. 20) Walter may possibly
have left co-heirs, for in 1272 John de Staveley
and Sybil (fn. 21) his wife granted messuages and lands in
Thirkleby to Roger de Burton, lord of West Harlsey, (fn. 22)
whose wife Joan had herself perhaps added to Roger's
possessions here. (fn. 23) Thirkleby followed the descent
of the manor of West Harlsey in Osmotherley (q.v.)
until its forfeiture by Sir Roger de Burton. This
manor, like West Harlsey (q.v.), was recovered by
Anthony son of Sir Roger, but before 1428 it had
been divided among various tenants, being apparently
the land held at that date by Edmund Darell, Peter
de Mylton, William Dayvill, Robert Wicham,
Thomas (?) de Topcliffe and others. (fn. 24) From this
date Thirkleby was evidently divided into two principal holdings, which have followed separate descents
until the present day.
The larger part, which was afterwards known as
GREAT THIRKLEBY and represented the manor,
was the land held by William Buscy and forfeited by
him for his part in the rising of 1322. (fn. 25) It was
acquired from the Crown in 1361 by Sir Thomas
Ughtred, kt., who obtained a grant of free warren in
his demesne lands in Thirkleby in 1363. (fn. 26) In 1383
he quitclaimed the manor to Sir Roger Fulthorpe, kt.,
'except 2s. 3½d. rent and the rent of one pair of spurs
and one pair of gloves and one root of ginger in the said
manor.' (fn. 27) Sir Roger Fulthorpe forfeited the manor
to the king, but it was sold by the Crown to his son
Sir William Fulthorpe, kt., in 1389 on condition
that Sir William or his heirs paid £40 a year to
Roger for life. (fn. 28) Sir William Fulthorpe was seised of
the manor in 1404, (fn. 29) and in 1428 a William Fulthorpe was returned as a tenant in Thirkleby. (fn. 30)
Thomas Fulthorpe died seised of the manor in 1478
and was succeeded by a son William. (fn. 31) A William
Fulthorpe held the manor in 1535 and at his death
in February 1550–1, (fn. 32) and was succeeded by his son
John, (fn. 33) who was afterwards attainted for his share in
the Insurrection of the North.
Osgodby Hall, Thirkleby, from the West
Frankland, baronet. Azure a dolphin or and a chief or with two saltires gules therein.
Russell. Argent a lion gules and a chief sable with three roses argent therein.
In 1570–1 the manor of Great Thirkleby was
granted by Queen Elizabeth to Ambrose Earl of
Warwick, who returned it to her in the following
year, but obtained a regrant of it in 1576. (fn. 34) The
earl at once alienated it to William Frankland, a
wealthy member of the Clothworkers' Company,
from whom it passed to his nephew Hugh Frankland. (fn. 35) Hugh made a settlement of it just before
his death in 1606. (fn. 36) He was succeeded by William
Frankland, who died seised of the manor in 1640
and left a son and heir Henry, (fn. 37) who had been
knighted by Wentworth, Lord Deputy of Ireland,
at Dublin in 1636. (fn. 38) William Frankland, eldest
son of Henry, was created a baronet in 1660, (fn. 39)
and joined with his father in a settlement of the
manor in the following year. (fn. 40) Sir William died in
1697, when it passed to his son Thomas, who married
Elizabeth daughter of Sir John Russell of Chippenham.
On his death in 1726 his son Thomas succeeded to
the baronetcy and estates of which he made a settlement in 1735. (fn. 41) Sir Thomas died without male
issue in 1747, leaving two daughters, Elizabeth,
who married John Morley Trevor of Glynde, co.
Sussex, and Dinah, who married George Henry
third Earl of Lichfield. Sir Thomas married, secondly,
Sarah Moseley (fn. 42) and made three wills in her favour,
the last giving her all his estates absolutely. His
successor in the baronetcy upset this last will, but
the Court pronounced in favour of the second, which
gave the widow a life interest in Thirkleby. She
died in 1783, having survived her husband's successor
in the baronetcy, Sir Charles Henry Frankland,
who died in 1768. (fn. 43) The baronetcy passed to his
brother Thomas, then Vice-Admiral of the Red.
He inherited the estate of Thirkleby in 1783 and
died in the following year, his successor being his
second but eldest surviving son Thomas. On his
death at Thirkleby in 1831 the baronetcy and
estates passed to his only surviving son Robert, who
in 1837 assumed the name of Frankland-Russell on
the bequeathal of the Chequers Court, Bucks., estate by
his cousin Sir Robert Greenhill-Russell. Sir Robert
died without male issue in 1849, and Thirkleby,
after the death of his widow in 1871, passed to
his daughter and co-heir Emily Anne Lady Payne
Gallwey, who took the name of Payne-Frankland in
1882 (fn. 44) and is now lady of the manor.
The second holding in Thirkleby, afterwards
known as LITTLE THIRKLEBY, was formed from
the third of the manor given in dower to Isabel
wife of Roger Burton. (fn. 45) Isabel seems to have married
Sir Walter de Fauconberg as her second husband
and in 1361 they obtained a confirmation of her
rights. Shortly afterward Hugh [? de Stapleton] of
Myton received a grant of two parts of the lands
here and the reversion of Isabel's portion. (fn. 46) Hugh
appears never to have come into possession of the
two-thirds, but he quitclaimed the reversion of Isabel's
share to Marmaduke Darell in 1363, (fn. 47) and from
that date it has followed the descent of Sessay (q.v.),
Viscount Downe being the present lord of the
manor.
Before the Conquest 3 carucates at OSGODBY
(Ausgotbei, xi cent.; Augodeby, xii cent.; Osegoteby,
xiii cent.) were included in the 'manor' of Coxwold
and in 1086 were held by Hugh son of Baldric. (fn. 48)
Land which probably represented the whole of
Osgodby was acquired by the abbey of Byland from
Gilbert de Meynell in the latter part of the 12th
century, (fn. 49) and this, afterwards known as Osgodby
Grange, belonged to the abbey at the Dissolution (fn. 50)
and was granted to the Archbishop of York in 1543. (fn. 51)
It was sold by the trustees for the sale of church
lands in 1649, but appears to have been restored at
the accession of Charles II. (fn. 52) In the 17th century
the Grange was demised to members of the family
known as 'the Askwiths (Ayscoughs) of Osgodby,' (fn. 53)
who, however, had no freehold here, though they
made it their dwelling-place.
Church
The church of ALL SAINTS consists
of a chancel, south chapel, north vestry,
nave with narrow aisles, a porch at the
west end of the north aisle and a north-west tower
with an octagonal stone spire. The present building,
which is of limestone and in the style of the 14th
century, was erected in 1851, at the cost of the widow
of Sir Robert Frankland-Russell, as a tribute to his
memory. The building which it replaces was built
in 1722 by Sir Thomas, the third baronet.
On the floor at the west end of the nave are three
slabs. One is to Judith daughter of John Burgoyne
of Sutton, Bedfordshire, and wife of William Ayscough
of Osgodby in this parish, who died in 1688. Over
it is a shield of Ayscough impaling Burgoyne. The
second has a shield with Ayscough impaling Thornton
and an inscription to William Ayscough, who died in
1676. The third has lost its brass inscription. On
the south wall of the nave are two large marble
tablets to Sir William Frankland, who died in 1697,
and Arabella his wife, daughter of the Hon. Henry
Bellasis, who died in 1687. She was sister to the
first Earl Fauconberg, son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell
It is to be noted that Sir William was nephew of
Earl Fauconberg and his wife niece of the countess.
There are other later and modern monuments and
slabs, notably a fine group by Flaxman to the memory
of the four children of Sir Thomas, the sixth baronet;
two of these children were painted by Hoppner in
his well-known picture 'The Sisters.'
There are three bells cast by Taylor & Co. in
1851.
The plate consists of a silver cup of the normal
Elizabethan type, a cover paten with the York mark
for 1617, a paten, probably silver, but without marks
and having a plated stem, and a very fine pair of
flagons with rich repoussé ornament, bearing the
London mark of 1646. The dolphin embowed of
the Franklands of Thirkleby is worked into the
ornament of the barrels.
The registers begin in 1611.
Advowson
The church of Thirkleby, which
in 1145 was granted by Roger de
Mowbray to the priory of Newburgh,
was only a chapel dependent on the church of
Coxwold. (fn. 54) In or before 1269 a vicarage was
ordained. (fn. 55) After the Dissolution the rectory and
advowson were in 1545 granted by Henry VIII, in
exchange, to the see of York, (fn. 56) to which they still
belong.
Land in the fields of Little Thirkleby and other
land lying in the fields of Great Thirkleby, called the
'Lady Hedeland,' was given towards the finding of
lights in the church. (fn. 57)
Charities
The Poor's Land consists of 4 a. 3 r.
of land at Bagby (purchased in 1692
with £62 10s. parish poor stock, let
at £8 a year) and 5 acres in Easingwold (purchased with
other charitable donations, particulars of which are
unknown), let at £6 15s. a year. The official trustees
also hold £56 11s. 10d. consols arising from sale of
timber. The rents and dividends are applied, after
payment of 10s. for a sermon on Christmas Day, in
gifts of money to the poor varying in amount.