BRANDSBY-WITH-STEARSBY
Branzbi (xi cent.); Brandesby (xii–xvi cent.);
Estiresbi (xi cent.).
Brandsby-with-Stearsby is a parish about 3,000
acres in extent on the wooded slopes of the low
Howardian Hills, 12 miles north of York. The
whole parish slopes down towards the south from a
height of 525 ft. above the ordnance datum to some
300 ft. lower.
On the west it is separated from the neighbouring
parish of Crayke by a little stream called Brandsby
Beck, which flows down the wooded valley of Brandsby
Dale through the Dale Pond, and further south works
the water-mill which has been among the possessions
of the lords of the manor of Brandsby since the 16th
century at least. (fn. 1) On the north and east the boundary
line follows for some distance another beck which
flows through the Maidensworth Wood. It then
turns southward through woodland called Stearsby
Hag, and runs through the middle of the little hamlet
of Foulrice, which thus belongs half to Brandsby parish
and half to Whenby, the neighbouring parish on the
east. The southern boundary runs just south of a
small plantation called Spellar Wood to meet the
Brandsby Beck at the south-west corner of the parish.
To the south-east of Dale Wood is a stretch of
moorland called the Black Moor, where there is the
track of an old race-course. South of it is another
wooded hill called High Wood, from which the
ground slopes rapidly downward to the church.
Brandsby is a somewhat scattered village situated
on a heavily timbered hill-side. There are numerous
signs of recent expansion and advance in the village
and several large houses have been built in the neighbourhood within recent years. The church lies a
short distance to the east, and near it is Brandsby Hall,
the seat of the Cholmeley family. The house was
built by Francis Cholmeley on the site of an older
house in 1767 from designs by Thomas Atkinson of
York, the architect of Hackness Hall, who designed
the church at the same time. It is a square stonefaced building with numerous windows symmetrically placed in each face and giving it a bald and
uninteresting appearance. On the opposite side of
the road stands the rectory-house, an interesting
building of two dates. The original house, dating
from the early part of the 16th century, is a long, low
structure parallel to the road. The front is two
stories high and lighted by mullioned windows with
rounded heads to each light. The ground floor
windows have three and the first floor two lights each.
Near the centre of the front is the original doorway,
now blocked up, and at the back the tiled roof is
brought down to the level of the first floor. The
walls are built of rubble and the interior retains no
features of interest, being now largely used for offices.
At the east end of the old house a substantial stone
building was added in 1809 by the then rector; this
now contains the chief living rooms.
At the back of the Hall on its north side runs the
road which connects the three groups of houses in
the parish, the group near the mill on the western
boundary, the Hall and the buildings near it, and the
hamlet of Stearsby, nearly a mile to the east. Opposite the Hall, on the other side of this road, which is
called the 'Town Street,' is the church. The main
road from Stillington to Gilling runs northward
through the parish near its western boundary. It
meets Brandsby Beck in the neighbourhood of a farm
called Seaves, in the south-west corner of the parish.
Brandsby Lodge, the residence of Mrs. Carr, lies west
of the Black Moor.
There are several old quarries and gravel-pits on
the hill-sides. Thomas Cholmeley, lord of Brandsby,
spoke at the beginning of the 18th century of his
'slate-pits within the warren of Brandsby,' (fn. 2) by which
he must have meant the now disused quarries in
Brandsby Dale. He mentioned at the same time 'a
piece of woody ground called Anmett,' (fn. 3) a curious
name which has now disappeared. 'Henry the
hermit of Brandsby' is mentioned in the 13th
century as witnessing a charter of Roger Prior of
Newburgh. (fn. 4)
The soil of the parish is sand and gravel on a subsoil of Middle and Upper Lias and Inferior Oolite;
1,172 acres are under cultivation, and wheat, barley,
oats, beans, seeds, potatoes and turnips are the
principal crops. A rather larger area is devoted to
pasture. (fn. 5)
An inclosure award for Brandsby Dale and Common
was made in 1859. (fn. 6)
The Roman Catholic chapel attached to Brandsby
Hall is served from Ampleforth.
Stanley, Earl of Derby. Argent a bend azure with three harts' heads caboshed or thereon.
Manors
BRANDSBY was before the Norman
Conquest in the hands of Cnut, who
held there and in Stearsby a 'manor,'
with 11 carucates of land. These in 1086 were held
by Hugh son of Baldric. (fn. 7) It is generally supposed that
Hugh son of Baldric forfeited his lands by taking part
in the rebellion of 1106. (fn. 8)
Some of them, including
Brandsby, were then granted
to Niel Daubeney, whose
heirs, the Mowbray family,
continued to hold the overlordship here. It followed the
descent of their manor of
Thirsk (fn. 9) (q.v.) and came with
that manor into the possession
of the Earls of Derby.
From an early date Brandsby
was held of the Mowbrays by
the family of de la River. The
pedigree of the Yorkshire
branch of this family is not very well established in
its early stages, but they seem to have been lords of
Brandsby from the 12th century. In 1166 Walter de
la River was holding a knight's fee in Yorkshire of
Roger de Mowbray, (fn. 10) and Henry son of Walter de la
River gave 4 oxgangs of land in Brandsby to Newburgh Priory. (fn. 11)
De la River. Vair and a border gules bezanty.
In the reign of Henry III Richard de la River
held a fee of Niel de Mowbray 'in Brandsby and
elsewhere,' (fn. 12) and made a grant
to the Abbot and monks of
St. Mary of Byland, (fn. 13) which
was afterwards confirmed by
his son Richard, a minor at
the time of his father's death. (fn. 14)
His successor was Nicholas de
la River, (fn. 15) who in 1284 held a
knight's fee in Brandsby of
Roger de Mowbray. (fn. 16) Thomas
de la River was the next lord
of the manor. His name first
appears in 1298, when William
de Roos obtained a commission
of oyer and terminer against him
on a charge of breaking his park in Storthwaite. (fn. 17) He
was lord of the manor in 1301, (fn. 18) and it was probably
he whom the king removed in 1315 from the post
of verderer in the forest of Galtres 'for insufficient
qualification.' (fn. 19) A William de la River of Brandsby
is mentioned in 1322, (fn. 20) but, as Thomas de la River
and his wife Joan were living in the same year (fn. 21) and
in 1326, (fn. 22) William can hardly have been lord of the
manor. In 1352 John son of Thomas de la River
was in possession of Brandsby. (fn. 23) He still held it in
1383 (fn. 24) and died in or about 1386. (fn. 25) His heir was
Marmaduke son and heir of his son William and a
minor in 1388. (fn. 26) The manor had been settled on him
by his grandfather. (fn. 27) Marmaduke was succeeded
by his son Thomas, (fn. 28) who died in 1451, leaving
directions that his body should be buried in the
parish church of Brandsby. (fn. 29) He mentioned in his
will his son Richard, but not his eldest son Marmaduke, who succeeded. (fn. 30) Marmaduke died in 1484,
and was succeeded by his son Thomas, a minor. Sir
Thomas Mauleverer, kt., had the issues of the
manor for four and a half years after the death of
Marmaduke, claiming that the latter had executed a
deed of feoffment to him and his heirs until Thomas
should be of age. This claim was disallowed in
1490. (fn. 31)
Thomas de la River had a son and heir Thomas,
on whose son Walter he settled the manor of Brandsby
in 1527. (fn. 32) Thomas, the father of Walter, however,
came into possession, and the latter laid violent claim
to his rights. Thomas complained that Walter and
others entered upon his land, broke the windows of
his cottages 'and such poore Implements and household stuf as the said poore tenants had in the said
houses . . . the said ryotous persons in most vyolent
manner dyd cast out of the said houses uppon the
Donge hepe and other vyle places.' (fn. 33) Walter denied
the violent entry and pleaded the settlement, (fn. 34) but it
seems never to have been executed.
Cholmeley. Gules two helms argent in the chief and a sheaf or in the foot.
In 1557 Thomas de la River the younger made a
new settlement of the estates. He had four
illegitimate daughters, Jane, Thomasina, Eleanor, and
Elizabeth. (fn. 35) Of these Jane was married to Roger
Cholmeley, Thomasina to his brother Richard, and
Elizabeth to Francis Thynne. (fn. 36) The settlement of
1557 provided that the manors of Brandsby and
Stearsby should remain to Thomas for his life, and
after his death should pass to Roger Cholmeley and
his wife Jane and their heirs; failing such heirs to
Thomasina, Eleanor and Elizabeth. A further
succession was elaborated in the event of all these
heirs dying without issue. (fn. 37) Thomas de la River
died in 1558, (fn. 38) and Roger Cholmeley and his wife
Jane succeeded to the manors, (fn. 39) which have remained
ever since in the possession of their family. Their
heir was their son Marmaduke, (fn. 40) who died in 1602
and was succeeded by his brother Richard. (fn. 41) At the
beginning of the 17th century the family appears in
all the returns of recusants for Yorkshire, and seems
to have been more active than most recusant families
in observing the rites of the Roman Catholic religion.
Richard Cholmeley and his sister-in-law Mrs.
Ursula Cholmeley, widow of Marmaduke, were
both presented for recusancy in 1604, and it was
reported that 'many straing
persons repaire to the house
of Mrs. Urseley Cholmeley
which come not to the churche,
and there hath been seminaryes
kept in her house'; while
Richard Cholmeley had contracted a secret marriage with
Mary Hungate 'in a fell with
a Popish priest.' (fn. 42)
Richard was succeeded in
1624 by his brother Thomas, (fn. 43)
whose lands were forfeited for
recusancy in 1627. (fn. 44) They
must have been regranted to
him, however, for his son
Marmaduke (fn. 45) compounded for the manor of Brandsby
in 1653. (fn. 46) In 1717 Marmaduke's grandson (fn. 47) Thomas
Cholmeley made a return of his lands, from which it
appears that the old service from tenants of 'one
boon day at the hay, one at harvest,' still lingered in
Brandsby at that date. (fn. 48)
His eldest son and heir was Thomas Cholmeley, (fn. 49)
who was succeeded by his brother Francis in 1742. (fn. 50)
Francis died in 1780, when his son Francis
Cholmeley succeeded to the manor. (fn. 51) He was
followed in 1808 by another Francis, who married
Barbara Darell and had three sons. (fn. 52) The first,
Francis, died one year after his father in 1855, (fn. 53)
and his brother Henry Philip in the next year. (fn. 54)
The son of the latter, Francis Henry Cholmeley, next
succeeded and died in 1876. (fn. 55) The manor then
passed to his uncle Thomas Charles, who assumed
the prefix of Fairfax by royal licence in 1886. (fn. 56) At
his death in 1889 it came to his son, the present
owner, Mr. Hugh Charles Fairfax Cholmeley.
The Abbot and monks of St. Mary, Byland, had
free passage through the wood of Brandsby to Scackleton. (fn. 57) Henry de la River granted land here to the
Prior of Newburgh, (fn. 58) which was confirmed to him
in 1389. (fn. 59)
A grant of free warren in his demesne lands at
Brandsby was made by Edward I to Thomas de la
River in 1304. (fn. 60)
The first mention of a water-mill at Brandsby occurs
in the 16th century. (fn. 61) From that time it followed
throughout the descent of the manor. (fn. 62)
STEARSBY (Estiresbi, xi cent.) followed the
descent of Brandsby continuously (fn. 63) ; in fact, it is
probable that the two formed one manor throughout
their history, as they did at the time of the Domesday Survey. (fn. 64)
A family bearing the name of the place held land
here of the de la Rivers in the reigns of Henry III
and Edward I. (fn. 65)
A messuage in Stearsby which had belonged to
Marton Priory was leased to Thomas de la River
in 1539–40, (fn. 66) and was possibly granted to him later
on in fee.
Land in Stearsby was granted to St. Mary's Abbey,
York, by Robert de Birdsall, and the grant was confirmed by Richard I and Edward II. (fn. 67)
Brandsby Church from the South-west
The hamlet of FOULRICE (Fulryse, xiv cent.;
Fowlrize, xvii cent.) was held in 1301 by Elizabeth
Tyes, (fn. 68) probably a tenant of the de la Rivers. It
appears among the lands of the Cholmeley family
in the 17th century, when it was called Fowlrize
hamlet. (fn. 69) In Thomas Cholmeley's return of his
estates in 1719 it is described as a manor, (fn. 70) but it
can hardly have been so in reality. It seems to have
followed the descent of Brandsby Manor. (fn. 71)
Church
The mediaeval church of ALL SAINTS
of Brandsby appears to have stood on a
part of the site now occupied by the
Hall, but the old building was pulled down about
the year 1767, when the present structure, bearing
the same dedication, was begun by Francis Cholmeley. (fn. 72)
During the period of the rebuilding, which apparently
lasted from 1767 to 1770, the parishioners registered
at Dalby. The new church is an unusually pleasing
and original example of English Renaissance, following
rather the traditions of the school of Wren than the
contemporary style of design. The building is a
simple rectangular structure of stone, the long sides to
the north and south pierced with round-headed
window openings, three rusticated and two plain.
The east window has three lights and the door, at
the west end, a plain cornice above it. The walls
are finished with a deep stone cornice, with the
hipped roof brought out to the edge. The stone
slabs of the latter are pinned on with mutton bones.
Across the centre of the church is carried a double
arcade of three semicircular arches resting on Doric
columns, the space between being covered with a
groined plaster vault and producing an effect equally
unusual and attractive. These arcades support an
octagonal stone lantern on a square base, which rises
from the centre of the roof. The octagonal portion
has an arched opening in each face with Doric halfcolumns at the angles, and is covered with a small
dome, which bears the inscription: 'This church
built Anno Domini 1767 by Francis Cholmeley
Esqre, Thomas Atkinson, Architect. Richard Scurr,
Mason.' The font is an urnshaped vessel, resting on a
short column, and fixed in
the south wall is a carved
mediaeval crucifix in stone,
found in the churchyard.
At the west end of the
church is a small gallery.
The bells, two in number,
hang in the lantern and are
inscribed (1) 'Gloria in Altissimis Deo 1669'; (2) 'Campana Beate Marie Virginis,'
without date, but apparently
mediaeval.
The plate of the church
consists of the following
pieces: a large cup (London,
1625) inscribed 'Ex dono
Gulielmi Berman nuper
Rector parochiae de Bransby
anno 1665,' a paten (same
date and maker) inscribed
W. B., a cup (London, 1772)
inscribed 'Bransby Church,'
a paten (London, 1839) and a flagon (London, 1868).
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i)
mixed entries 1575 to 1670; (ii) mixed entries 1665
to 1808, marriages to 1753 only; (iii) marriages
1754 to 1812; (iv) baptisms and burials 1809 to
1812.
Advowson
There was a church with a priest
at Brandsby in the time of the
Domesday Survey. (fn. 73) It was found
in the 13th century to be endowed with 1 carucate
of land in the vill. (fn. 74)
The right of patronage has always been in the
hands of the lords of the manor. (fn. 75) In 1278, when
Richard de la River, the heir, was a minor, his
mother Aubrey had the right of presentation on every
third occasion as part of her dower. The other two
presentations were made by Maud de Mowbray in
right of her overlordship. (fn. 76)
The living is a rectory, but it was once usual at
least in the 13th century for the rector to leave a
vicar in possession, taking as his share of the proceeds
a pension of 100s. a year. (fn. 77) Thus we find Richard
de la River in 1227 presenting a kinsman to the
rectory, or rather to the pension, for the vicar was
left in charge. (fn. 78)
The advowson has been rented at various times
from the Cholmeley family. (fn. 79) Sir Thomas Belasyse
in 1621, (fn. 80) Henry Beane in 1682, (fn. 81) Leonard Thompson
in 1733, (fn. 82) Thomas Lumley in 1765, (fn. 83) and Thomas
Smith in 1806 (fn. 84) have presented to the living, and it
is at present in the gift of the trustees of the late
Mr. B. Wimbush.
Charities
Lawrence Littlefair left 40s. per
annum for the poor, to be paid at
Christmas out of a close called 'The
Poor's Close,' now the property of Mr. Hugh Charles
Fairfax Cholmeley.
Anthony Hardwick, by will, 1600, left £40 and
William Hebden, by will, 1699, left £20 for the
poor, the income to be given to them every Good
Friday 'while the world endured'; the two sums
of £40 and £20 with £60 added, being benefactions
by a Mrs. Rawdon and by Edward and Mary Belwood,
are now represented by £154 16s. 11d. consols.
Samuel Wiley, by deed, 1874, settled a sum of
£109 11s. 9d. consols with the official trustees, for
the benefit of the poor. The sums of stock are held
by the official trustees, and the dividends, amounting
together to £4 12s. 6d., were in 1904 divided in
money among ten poor persons.