CRAMBE
Crambun (xi cent.); Grammum, Cramburn (xiii
cent.); Crampholme, Crawme (xvii cent.).
The parish of Crambe lies in the picturesque and
pastoral valley of the Derwent, which separates it
from the East Riding and the adjoining parishes of
Howsham and Kirkham. The high road from York
to Malton runs in a north-easterly direction through
the townships of Barton-le-Willows and Whitwellon-the-Hill, and is crossed soon after it enters the
parish by the York and Scarborough branch of the
North Eastern railway, which has one station at
Barton Hill and another, Kirkham station, just
within the boundaries of Whitwell.
The height of the parish varies from 300 ft. to
50 ft. above the ordnance datum. The area of the
whole parish is 3,794 acres, of which 1,357 acres
are arable and 1,906 acres are laid down to permanent grass, while 152 acres are woodland. (fn. 1) The
subsoil of Crambe and Whitwell is Upper, Middle
and Lower Lias and alluvium, of Barton Keuper
Marls and alluvium.
The Spittle Beck flows through Barton and Crambe
south-east and east, finally, as Braisthwaites Beck,
emptying itself into the Derwent. In the 16th
century Leland crossed this brook half a mile from
Whitwell village at a place 'communely called the
Spitel corruptly for Hospitale,' (fn. 2) which has been known
as the Spittle Bridge since the 14th century, when
the Prior of Kirkham was charged with its repair. (fn. 3)
The scouring of the beck and repair of the bridge
and highway were occasionally neglected by the
townsfolk of Crambe, Barton and Whitwell in the
17th century. (fn. 4)
Whitwell-on-the-Hill, the largest of the three
villages, is mainly built on the summit of a ridge some
250 ft. high along a lane running westward from
the main road, though the school and the church of
St. John the Evangelist lie by the highway. Close
to the church is the manor-house, formerly the
residence of the late Mr. Digby Cayley, J.P. There
was a manor-house in Whitwell in 1670. (fn. 5) Whitwell
Hall, the property of Sir E. A. Lechmere, bart.,
lies in park land to the west of the village. It
was built about 1830 by Joseph Haigh. Included in
the stable buildings is the old chapel of Whitwell.
It has been largely altered and rebuilt, and has a
three-light traceried east window of 15th-century
character. The roof is modern.
A mile or more south-east the picturesque little
village of Crambe with its church of St. Michael and
old school buildings lies in a deep hollow open on
the south to the Derwent valley and away from the
main road. The capital mansion called the Hall
Garth, which had belonged to Kirkham Priory, was
the subject of various leases by the Crown from 1565
to 1588, (fn. 6) while Nicholas Wilson held a capital
messuage in the other moiety of the manor. (fn. 7) In the
south-west of the parish is Barton-le-Willows, where
the houses cluster round a large green. It contains
a small modern chapel of ease built of brick in 15thcentury Gothic style with a four-light east window.
Here the Prior of Kirkham had a 'demesne messuage'
in the time of Edward III. (fn. 8)
The children of all three villages attend the provided school erected at Whitwell in 1874. There
has been a small Wesleyan chapel at Barton-leWillows since 1823. (fn. 9) In 1890 a reading room and
library were opened in Whitwell, where there is
also now a convalescent home in connexion with the
York hospitals.
Some 16th-century place-names in this parish are
those of the Severall pasture and Prior Arme in
Crambe Inges in Crambe, and Bosseledaleyng in
Barton, all once possessions of Kirkham Priory. (fn. 10)
A few prehistoric remains have been found in this
parish. (fn. 11)
Manors
A 'manor' and 4 carucates in CRAMBE
which had once belonged to Sumorled
were reckoned among the Conqueror's
estates in 1086, but after the returns of the Survey
were included in a fief granted to Robert Brus. (fn. 12)
Between the foundation of Kirkham Priory in 1122
and 1167, when 'the Canons' were associated with
Walter Percehay in a plea connected with Crambe, (fn. 13)
most of this fief seems to have been granted to that
house. The prior was lord of lands here in 1252,
1279 and 1301, and was returned in 1316 as one of
the two principal landowners. (fn. 14) Again in 1347 and
1428 he was found to hold of the Brus fee 3 carucates in Crambe, (fn. 15) which came to the Crown in 1538
on the surrender of the priory. (fn. 16) Edmund Forster,
who then held the manor, (fn. 17) had been followed by
other lessees before 1590, when Elizabeth granted its
reversion to Thomas Bamburgh, (fn. 18) son and heir of
Thomas Bamburgh of Howsham. (fn. 19) The new lord
was succeeded in 1593 by his eldest son William, (fn. 20)
created a baronet in 1619. (fn. 21) Sir William's two sons,
Thomas and John, who succeeded him in turn, both
died minors and unmarried, (fn. 22) and the family estates
descended to the sole survivor of their five sisters, (fn. 23)
Katherine, then wife of Sir John Hotham, and their
nephews Thomas Wentworth of North Elmsall and
William Robinson of Newby, the sons of their sisters
Mary and Amy. (fn. 24) Katherine Hotham died in 1634
and was succeeded in her third of the Bamburgh estates
by Thomas her son and heir by a first husband, Sir
Thomas Norcliffe. (fn. 25) The next year proceedings were
instituted in the Court of Wards and Liveries against
Sir John Hotham on behalf of his stepson, then aged
eighteen, who prayed that he might not be married
without the consent of the Lady Fairfax (Mary widow
of Sir William Bamburgh, then married to Thomas
Viscount Fairfax of Emley) and that Sir John's reflections on his grandmother and her second husband might
be expunged. (fn. 26) Apparently the Fairfaxes won their
case, for in 1639 Thomas Norcliffe married Dorothy
daughter of Sir Thomas Fairfax by his first wife. (fn. 27)
About the same time a settlement of another third
of the Bamburgh estates then held by Thomas
Wentworth was made, apparently as a preliminary
to his marriage with Agnes daughter of Sir Henry
Bellingham. (fn. 28) William Robinson, the third co-heir,
died unmarried in 1643, when his heirs were found
to be Thomas Wentworth and Thomas Norcliffe. (fn. 29)
It is probable that the moieties of the manor of
Crambe, henceforward held by these two cousins,
were united within the next thirty years by the
marriage of Sir John Wentworth, son and heir of Thomas
Wentworth and Agnes Bellingham, with Katherine
daughter of Sir Thomas Norcliffe. Thomas, their son and
heir, died without issue in
1689, and his estates descended
to his cousin John son and
heir of his father's younger
brother Henry. (fn. 30)
Wentworth. Sable a cheveron between three leopards' heads or.
By his second wife, Lady
Elizabeth Cavendish, John
Wentworth, created baronet
in 1692, had an only son and
heir, Sir Butler Cavendish Wentworth, (fn. 31) who was
lord of the manor of Crambe in 1731 and 1736. (fn. 32)
On Sir Butler's death in 1741 the Wentworth estates
passed to his half-sister Katherine Wentworth, then
wife of Hugh Cholmeley, (fn. 33) who held the manor with
her in 1745. (fn. 34) Their son and heir Nathaniel Cholmeley
of Whitby and Howsham left no male issue, and
Crambe eventually descended to Sir George Strickland, son of Nathaniel's third daughter and co-heir
Henrietta wife of Sir William Strickland. In 1874
Sir George was succeeded by his son and heir Sir
Charles William Strickland, who died in 1909, and
was succeeded by his son, Sir Walter William Strickland, ninth baronet, the present lord of the manor. (fn. 35)
Another 'manor' in Crambe, also of 4 carucates,
which had belonged to Waltheof, was held by Robert
Count of Mortain at the Survey. (fn. 36) It is likely that
this was afterwards held of the count by his tenant
Richard de Surdeval, who became tenant in chief of
many of his overlord's lands after their final forfeiture. (fn. 37)
Maud, perhaps daughter of Richard, and her husband
Ralph Paynel were probably in possession of Waltheof's
manor as well as of his moiety of the church, (fn. 38) which
their son Alexander described as 'of my fief.' (fn. 39)
Alexander's granddaughter, or great-granddaughter,
Frethesent brought considerable estates in Yorkshire
to her husband Geoffrey Luttrell, (fn. 40) and a fee in
Crambe of the same extent as Count Robert's Domesday manor was held in 1300 of their great-grandson,
another Geoffrey Luttrell. (fn. 41) Andrew his son was
overlord in 1347, (fn. 42) and was succeeded by his son,
another Andrew Luttrell, of whom the manor was
held in 1384. (fn. 43) The last male heir of this branch
of the Luttrell family died without issue in 1417, (fn. 44)
and within ten years their rights in Crambe had
passed to Lord Latimer. (fn. 45) Another Lord Latimer
was declared to be overlord in 1510, (fn. 46) but in 1586,
when the last mention of the overlordship of this
manor occurs, it was found to be held of the queen
as of the manor of Sheriff Hutton. (fn. 47)
Luttrell. Or a bend and six martlets sable.
Nevill, Lord Latimer. Gules a saltire argent charged with a ring sable for difference.
Percehay of Ryton. Argent a cross paty gules.
The sub-tenants of the Paynel and Luttrell lords
of Crambe belonged to the family known from the
14th century as the Percehays of Ryton, (fn. 48) descendants
probably of one Walter Percehay, whose name was associated
with Crambe in 1166 or
1167. (fn. 49) More than 120 years
later the manor was held by
Joan Percehay, (fn. 50) possibly the
widowed mother of the Walter
Percehay who was lord of
Ryton (q.v.) in 1284–5. (fn. 51)
William son of Walter in
1344 made his will in which
he mentioned his son and heir
William Percehay (fn. 52) whose son and heir Sir William
Percehay was seised of the manor of Crambe at his
death in 1384. (fn. 53) It then descended to his son
Robert, who was involved in the rebellion of 1405
and suffered temporary forfeiture of his lands, obtaining pardon, however, in 1407. (fn. 54) At his death in
January 1426–7 one-third of the manor of Crambe
was returned as part of his estates. (fn. 55) His son John
and widow Joan held the Luttrell fee in conjunction
with other tenants in 1428. (fn. 56) John was followed
by a son Edmund, father of Sir Lionel (fn. 57) or Lyon, on
whose death in 1482 these lands passed to his son of
the same name. (fn. 58) By the second Lyon's sons Walter
and William (fn. 59) Crambe was sold in or before 1523 to
Sir William Compton, (fn. 60) at whose death from the
sweating sickness in 1528 (fn. 61) the manor was held by
trustees for himself and his heirs. His only child
Peter died a minor, leaving a son and heir Henry, (fn. 62)
afterwards Lord Compton, (fn. 63) by whom in 1572
the manor of Crambe was sold to Nicholas Wilson,
a Prebendary of York. (fn. 64) At his death fourteen
years later Nicholas was succeeded by his eldest
son and heir of the same name, (fn. 65) who with his wife
Frances sold the manor to William Bamburgh in
1594. (fn. 66) It is probable that from that date it was
absorbed in the manor once of Kirkham Priory,
which already belonged to the Bamburghs, and
followed its descent, but in 1617 and 1619, and
again in 1650, (fn. 67) a branch of the Metcalfe family
enjoyed considerable possessions in the parish and onethird of a manor here.
The 'manor' of WHITWELL (Witevella, xi cent.;
Whytewell, xiii cent.) and 5 carucates of land belonged to Waltheof in the reign of Edward the
Confessor. Before the Survey it had come into the
possession of the Count of Mortain, who united to
it other lands in the township once held by Orm,
Archil and Norman. (fn. 68) When Count Robert's estates
escheated Whitwell seems to have been granted to
Walter Espec, who in 1122 gave it to the priory he
was then founding at Kirkham. (fn. 69) It was among the
possessions which the prior and canons proposed to
cede to the monks of Rievaulx at some date before
1139, but the agreement was not carried into effect
and the manor remained with the older house. (fn. 70) In
1252, and again in 1293, the prior was the acknowledged lord. (fn. 71) He was returned as sole landholder in
1316, (fn. 72) and the manor remained in possession of his
house until its dissolution. (fn. 73)
In 1540 Henry VIII included it in a grant of the
estates of the late monastery of Kirkham to Sir Henry
Knyvett and his wife Anne. (fn. 74) Anne survived
Sir Henry and her third husband John Vaughan (fn. 75)
until 1582, when Kirkham and Whitwell Manors
descended to her son, another Sir Henry Knyvett. (fn. 76)
Three years later the second Sir Henry, in conjunc
tion with his brother Thomas, alienated both estates
to Francis Vaughan, (fn. 77) their mother's son by her third
marriage. (fn. 78) A settlement of
Whitwell was made by Francis
and his wife Anne in 1596
on the marriage of their son
and heir Henry with Susan
daughter of Edward Stanhope
of Grimston. (fn. 79) In the following year Francis was slain in
an obscure skirmish, fighting
against the rebels in Ireland, (fn. 80)
and Henry succeeded him at
the age of sixteen. (fn. 81) His
tenure, extending over nearly
sixty years, was chequered by
various embarrassments. It
was possibly in consequence of
financial difficulties inherited
from his father that he leased part of his lands in
Whitwell when he attained his majority (fn. 82) and
mortgaged or sold other family estates in 1614 and
again in 1647 and 1649. (fn. 83) In 1651 he and his wife
Clare were under suspicion 'for feloniously and traytorously harbouring' Richard Montaigne, (fn. 84) a Royalist,
who had openly proclaimed Charles II king at New
Malton and been found shortly afterwards at Kirkham
in the company of Thomas Vaughan. (fn. 85) Sir Henry
had already been compelled to compound as a delinquent, and when he fell ill on an expedition to
borrow money to meet the very heavy fine inflicted
on him the sum he had procured was seized by the
Parliamentarian agent. (fn. 86) The records of the sessions
held in this part of the North Riding abound in
references to the suits and complaints brought against
him by his neighbours, and in 1654 their attacks
culminated in the indictment of Sir Henry Vaughan
and his wife Dame Clare as 'common barrectors.' (fn. 87)
Sir Henry was succeeded by his son Thomas, who
seems to have died without issue, for the manors of
Kirkham and Whitwell afterwards descended to
Francis elder son of Sir Henry's other son John. (fn. 88)
John Vaughan, who had fought for King Charles,
died in or before 1649. (fn. 89) Of his two sons, Francis
and Henry, both also Royalist soldiers, the elder was
outlawed for manslaughter in 1658, 'and soe dying,'
as his brother wrote to the king two years later, 'the
estate of Whitwell and Kirkham in the county of
York became forfeited to your Majesty.' The
petition of Henry Vaughan, who had served his
king beyond seas (fn. 90) and only returned to England in
1659, (fn. 91) was answered by a grant, made in December
1660, of the manors of Kirkham and Whitwell to his
nominees Edward Stanley and William Thursby. (fn. 92)
The next year the manor of Whitwell was transferred
by them to Henry Vaughan, (fn. 93) on whom they finally
settled the whole of his inheritance in 1662. (fn. 94)
Within two years Henry had been succeeded by his
three sisters and co-heirs, one of whom, Susanna, in
August 1664, made a settlement of her third of the
family estates on Thomas Marshall, probably already
husband of her sister Anne, and Richard Etherington, as a preliminary to her marriage with Herbert
Jeffreys. (fn. 95) Their respective shares in the two manors
were mortgaged by Herbert Jeffreys and his wife
Susanna in 1666, and in the two following years
by William Bonner and his wife Douglas and Thomas
Marshall and his wife Anne. (fn. 96) In 1670 the three
sisters, Susanna, Anne and Douglas, in conjunction
with their husbands, sold Whitwell Manor to Sir Ralph
Ashton, Sir William Ingleby and Henry Marwood, (fn. 97)
who were probably acting as trustees for Alan
Bellingham of Levens, Westmorland, for whom a
fortnight later they acquired other property. (fn. 98) From
Alan Bellingham the manor descended to his son
Henry, whose daughter and heir Frances, in or before
1702, brought it in marriage to Sir Reginald Graham,
bart. (fn. 99) Their grandson Sir Bellingham Graham, (fn. 100)
who made a settlement of one-fourth of the manor
of Whitwell in 1765, (fn. 101) was succeeded by his son and
heir of the same name. (fn. 102) At his death Sir Bellingham's estates descended to his son Sir Bellingham
Reginald Graham, lord of Whitwell in 1810. (fn. 103) Whitwell was bought in 1829 by John Haigh for £105,000. (fn. 104)
He died within a few years and his son and successor
died in 1837, when the estate passed to his sister
Miss Louisa Rosamund Haigh, who attained her
majority in 1858 and brought Whitwell by marriage
to Sir Edmund Anthony Harley Lechmere, bart., (fn. 105)
who died in 1894. Their son and heir Sir Edmund
Arthur Lechmere is the present lord of the manor.
The three 'manors' of BARTON-LE-WILLOWS
(Bartun, xi cent.), once held by Turchel, Gamel,
and Scanchel, and containing 8 carucates, had been
united into one in the possession of the Count of
Mortain before 1086. (fn. 106) This probably came with
Whitwell to Walter Espec, whose sister and co-heir
Odelina by her marriage with Peter de Roos became
ancestress of the family of Roos of Hamlake. (fn. 107) From
1253 the overlordship of this manor followed the
descent of Helmsley (fn. 108) (q.v.).
Vaughan. Sable a cheveron argent between three boys' heads with serpents entwined about their necks all in their proper colours.
Graham of Norton, baronet. Or a chief sable with three scallops or therein, quartered with Or a fesse checky argent and azure with a cheveron gules in the chief.
Lechmere, baronet. Gules a fesse or with two pelicans or in the chief.
Barton of Oswaldkirk. Ermine a fesse gules with three rings or thereon.
Pickering. Ermine a lion azure with a golden crown.
From the 13th to the 16th century the manor
seems to have been generally broken up into small
fees sometimes corresponding
in number to the three holdings of which it had consisted
before the Norman Conquest. (fn. 109)
The earliest tenants whose
names have been preserved are
the Bartons of Oswaldkirk.
Alan de Barton held land in
Barton in 1204, (fn. 110) and the first
of three Williams de Barton,
father, son and grandson, (fn. 111) is
described in the charter of
1336 which records their gifts
to Kirkham Abbey as 'lord of
Barton.' (fn. 112) There is more
definite information about the tenure of the Pickerings and Bruses, with whom the Bartons were connected. (fn. 113) In 1285 and 1294
Adam Brus of Pickering was
acquiring land and other property in the township from
Peter de Roos, Peter son of
Peter and Thomas Russell, (fn. 114)
fifteen years later his brother
Robert de Pickering held the
third of a knight's fee here, (fn. 115)
whilst a third brother, William
de Pickering, paid in the following year a large share of
the subsidy then raised in
Barton. (fn. 116) In 1316 Robert,
who had succeeded his brother
William in the deanery of York four years before, (fn. 117)
was returned as sole lord. (fn. 118) He died in 1332, (fn. 119) and
before 1335 his estate had descended to William (fn. 120)
son of his brother Adam Brus, who was William
Pickering's heir in Oswaldkirk. (fn. 121) William Brus, who
in 1325 had bought lands in Barton from Richard
son of Stephen de Strensall, (fn. 122) and was the wealthiest
tenant in 1327, (fn. 123) was still holding the third of a
knight's fee in 1343. (fn. 124) Nine years later he had been
succeeded by his widow Maud, then wife of Alexander
Nevill. (fn. 125) Part of a knight's fee in 'Barton in Bulmershire' was in 1415 in the possession of Joan
Brus, (fn. 126) possibly a widow holding under a settlement;
William Brus in 1428 is named as the first of several
tenants here. (fn. 127) At some later date the manor of
Barton-le-Willows came into the possession of the
Ecclesfield family through the
marriage of Elizabeth, one of
the three daughters and coheirs of Sir William Brus,
with Richard Ecclesfield. (fn. 128)
Their son Robert was probably an ancestor of Brian
Ecclesfield, who was seised
of the manor of Barton-leWillows at his death in 1539. (fn. 129)
It then descended to his eldest
son Thomas, whose grandson
Francis in 1591 conveyed
some part of his rights to
Francis Nuttall, (fn. 130) and sixteen years later in conjunction with Ashton Nuttall and his wife Hester sold
the manor of Barton-le-Willows to Sir William Bamburgh. (fn. 131) Its descent from 1607 has been identical
with that of the manor of Crambe (q.v.).
Ecclesfield. Argent three eagles gules.
In the 14th and 15th centuries small fractions of a
knight's fee in Barton were held of the Roos lords by
the families of Borcher and Hill. (fn. 132) The undated
grant by William 'lord of Barton' of land and
pasture to Kirkham Priory was followed by similar
gifts from his heirs and other donors, (fn. 133) one of whom,
Emma Lovell, received in return from the prior a
skep of corn and a skep of lilies and an annual present
of a mantle worth 4s. (fn. 134) Some part of the holding
of Kirkham Priory in Barton, valued in 1535 at £3
per annum, (fn. 135) was afterwards granted to John
Farnham. (fn. 136)
In 1709 or 1710 a 'manor of Barton-le-Willows,'
which may have been composed of these tenements,
passed from Henry Cutler and his wife Elizabeth to
John Savile and Francis Foljambe. (fn. 137)
The Prior of Kirkham had a grant of free warren
in Whitwell and Crambe in 1252, (fn. 138) his right to the
assize of ale, according to his own showing forty-one
years later, dating from time immemorial. (fn. 139) In both
Crambe and Whitwell he held view of frankpledge
and court leet. (fn. 140)
Free warren in Barton was enjoyed by William
Brus and his heirs from 1335. (fn. 141) In this township
there was a fishery called Barton Pool which once
belonged to the monks of Kirkham Priory. (fn. 142) Both
Barton and Whitwell Manors had dovecotes, and in
the 13th century Emma Lovell granted land to
William Hill (Hull) on condition that he should
grind corn at her mill in Barton. (fn. 143)
Plan of Crambe Church
Churches
The church of ST. MICHAEL
consists of a chancel 28 ft. by 14½ ft.,
a nave 55 ft. by 19½ ft., and a
western tower 10½ ft. square, all measurements being
internal. The earliest portions of the existing
building appear to date from the 11th century and
may be either before or after the Conquest. At this
date the nave was about 38 ft. long only, and the
north and south walls with the chancel arch are still
standing. The chancel was apparently rebuilt early
in the 12th century. The next alteration was the
removal of the west wall of the nave and the addition
of about 17 ft. to its length; this was done in the
13th century, and the lines of junction between the
two periods are still quite evident. At the same date
the north door was altered. In the 14th century
the eastern angles of the chancel were reconstructed
and a pair of two-light windows inserted at the east
end of the side walls of the nave. In the following
century the west wall was rebuilt and the tower
added. The church has been restored in modern
times, and the east gable and south wall of the
chancel largely rebuilt.
The east window is a modern pointed one of two
lights, and three of the side windows, the first on
the north and two on the south, are modern singlelight openings. Between the two latter is a pointed
priest's door also new. The second window in the
north wall is the only original one left in the chancel,
and is a narrow round-headed 12th-century light,
the eastern jamb of which has long and short quoins.
The chancel arch is of very rude construction and of
unusually large span for its early date. It is about
12 ft. wide and quite plain; the responds are square
and have roughly chamfered imposts, and the voussoirs
of the arch are not set radially, but depressed on
either side with a larger wedge-shaped stone set in
the head as a key. The inner face of the arch is set
back on either side some 3 in. from the face of the
responds, and above it is a relieving arch of similar
construction. The whole arch has subsided, throwing the nave walls, especially the southern, seriously
out of the perpendicular.
The first two windows in the nave are restorations
of apparently 14th-century openings and are both of
two lights. Further west is a pair of original 11thcentury windows, one on each side, placed high up in
the walls and having round-headed single lights of
very small dimensions; that on the south has the head
carved externally with knot work. The north door,
which is the main entrance to the church, is the 11thcentury opening altered in the 13th century. A
corresponding south door with a plain semicircular
arch is now walled up. The two angles of the
original nave are visible immediately to the west of
these doors on the outside of the building. The
western part of the nave is of 13th-century date with
a single lancet window in each wall. The west wall
was reconstructed when the tower was built and is
supported by 15th-century buttresses of three offsets.
The 15th-century tower is a handsome structure
three stages high and opening into the nave by an
arch springing from grotesques, that on the south, a
large face, appearing to be of considerably earlier date.
The west door is round-headed, but of 15th-century
work, and above it is a three-light window with a
traceried semicircular head. The second stage of
the tower is blank except for a loop in the west wall,
and the belfry is lighted by a two-light round-headed
window in each face
with cusped heads and
a trefoil in the spandrel. Externally the
tower is faced with
ashlar and supported
at the western angles
by diagonal buttresses
of five and six offsets
respectively. The
stages are marked by
string-courses and the
parapet is embattled
with crocketed pinnacles at the angles
and in the centre of
each side.
The walling of the
ancient portions of the church is of small rubble and
the roofs are modern and slated. The fine late 12thcentury font has a square bowl, the sides of which
are ornamented with a shallow interlacing arcade of
round arches. It rests on a central and four subsidiary piers, all cylindrical, and all having moulded
bases standing on a common square plinth. The
capitals of the smaller piers have carved foliage somewhat mutilated.
The communion rail rests on old turned balusters
and the octagonal pulpit is Jacobean, the sides having
enriched arches and panels. It stands on a modern
base. In the quire are modern monuments to the
last members of the Cholmeley family of Whitby
Abbey.
On the eastern jamb of the first window on the
south side of the nave is an inscription running
'Hic infra jacit corpus Thom[as] Stubley An[n]o D[omini] 1602.'
There are three bells: the first dated 1727, the
second inscribed 'Deo Gloria 1761,' and the third
'Gloria in excelsis deo 1677.' An oak beam of the
bell frame bears the date 1619.
The plate consists of a cup without mark or inscription, but apparently of the 17th century, a small modern
paten and a plated set of cup, flagon and two patens
given in 1863.
The registers before 1812 are as follows: (i) mixed
entries 1711 to 1758; (ii) baptisms 1759 to 1801,
burials 1759 to 1793; (iii) marriages 1754 to 1812;
(iv) baptisms 1802 to 1812 and burials 1793 to 1812.
The modern church of ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST at Whitwell was built in 1860 from the
designs of G. E. Street. The style adopted is Gothic of
late 13th-century character, and the building consists
of an aisleless nave and chancel with a tower on the
south of the latter, the base of which forms an organ
chamber. The three-light east window has geometric
tracery in the head. The stone spire is squat and
somewhat heavy, as is most of the detail employed
in the building. On the south side is a modern
churchyard cross.
Advowson
The history of the church of
St. Michael can be traced back to
1086, when the parish of Crambe
had a church in moieties which belonged to its two
manors respectively. There is reason to believe that
it was the moiety of the Count of Mortain, in whose
fee, according to the Survey, were one priest and one
church, (fn. 144) which was given by Ralph Paynel to the
priory of Holy Trinity, York, (fn. 145) and ceded by Philip,
prior here in 1175, to the church of Kirkham and its
canons, (fn. 146) to whom the other moiety had already
probably been given with the manor. (fn. 147) A pension
of 40s. was henceforward paid to the Prior of Holy
Trinity from the church of Crambe, (fn. 148) which remained
amongst the possessions of Kirkham Priory until its
surrender. (fn. 149) In 1545 the church and advowson
were given by Henry VIII to the see of York in
exchange for certain manors, (fn. 150) and this grant was
renewed eleven years later by Philip and Mary. (fn. 151) The
patronage belonged to the archbishop (fn. 152) until 1868,
when by an exchange of benefices it was vested in the
Crown, (fn. 153) and the Lord Chancellor still presents.
The rectory, which had been appropriated to
Kirkham Priory before 1291, when a vicarage had
also been ordained, (fn. 154) has always followed the descent
of the advowson.
A manse, glebe land and tithes have belonged to
the vicarage of Crambe since 1535. (fn. 155) The rectory
tithes, tithe barns and lands in Crambe, Huttons
Ambo and Henderskelfe were included in the grant to
the Archbishop of York. (fn. 156)
In 1391 Patrick Barton, rector of Catwick in
Holderness, left £20 to the 'fabric of the church of
Barton in Bulmershire.' (fn. 157)
A separate district was formed in 1861 for the
church of St. John the Evangelist in the township of
Whitwell-on-the-Hill, which had been built by
Sir Edmund and Lady Lechmere. (fn. 158) Sir Edmund
A. Lechmere, bart., is patron of the vicarage.
Charities
A sum of £17, given to the poor
by — Surr, which was formerly held
on personal security by a Mr. William
Joye of Crambe, has been lost.
A Wesleyan chapel was erected at Barton-leWillows in this parish, and a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners was established in 1881 for its administration.