UPPER HELMSLEY
Hamelsec (xi cent.); Hemelesei, Heneleseya (xii
cent.); Hemeleshey (xiii cent.); Over Hemylsey,
Overhelmesley (xiv–xvii cent.); Upper Helmsley
(xviii cent.).
The parish of Upper Helmsley covers an area of
nearly 833 acres, 492 of which are arable land, where
barley, wheat and potatoes are grown, and 208 permanent grass. (fn. 1) The soil is sandy on a subsoil of
Keuper marls and bunter sandstone. In the west
and north of the parish the elevation is 125 ft. above
the ordnance datum, in the east the general level is
75 ft.
The village, which consists of only a few buildings,
lies in the north of the parish round a bend in a road
which enters it from Gate Helmsley on the south and
runs northwards into Sand Hutton. Here on the
site of the old manor-house and surrounded by extensive grounds is Upper Helmsley Hall, a modern house,
the residence of Mr. E. A. F. W. Herbert, standing
on a considerable eminence between the church and
the 'Hall Garths' (fn. 2) to the north and the Home Farm
to the south. The York, Market Weighton and
Beverley branch of the North Eastern railway traverses
the south of the parish on its course from Warthill
to Holtby station, which stands within the borders
of Upper Helmsley, a short distance east of the point
of intersection of the railway line and main road.
Another road leads from the village to the Grange
in the south-east of the parish, near which is Low
Moor. Upper Helmsley Common, which was inclosed in 1868, (fn. 3) lies in the north-west, south of and
adjoining Sand Hutton Common. Eastwards again
Scrogs Wood, of which a considerable part belongs to
Buttercrambe, recalls the 'Skroggehill' and 'Skroggeclose,' which were part of John Thweng's demesne
before his forfeiture in 1570. (fn. 4) Other names of the
same date which seem now to have disappeared are
Kelland Field, Broke Close, Colman's Garth and
Langland Closes. (fn. 5)
Manor
In 1086 there were 4 geldable carucates,
mostly waste, in UPPER HELMSLEY,
which were held of the Count of Mortain by Niel Fossard. (fn. 6) Two carucates afterwards
came, probably on the forfeiture of the count's son
and heir, (fn. 7) to Niel Daubeney, and by him were
granted to the hospital of St. Peter of York, (fn. 8) better
known by its later invocation to St. Leonard. (fn. 9) The
possessions of St. Leonard in Upper Helmsley were
still in the hands of the master of the hospital in
1328 when he sued his late bailiff for failing to
account for the receipts of his bailiwick, (fn. 10) but, like
other benefactions to this house, they had been
alienated (fn. 11) to some extent before 1519, when only
the overlordship of the manor remained to it. (fn. 12) Forty
years later Upper Helmsley was declared to be held
of Henry Bowar in socage as of his manor of Beningbrough, (fn. 13) but in 1579 and 1589 the overlordship
belonged to the queen by right of her hospital of
St. Leonard. (fn. 14) The last vestige of the ancient connexion of the manor of Upper Helmsley with this
house disappeared soon afterwards, and from 1593 to
1637, when the latest mention of the overlordship
occurs, it was held of the Crown as of the manor or
castle of Sheriff Hutton. (fn. 15)
It is probable that from the time of the Domesday
Survey, when the soke of Upper Helmsley and of
11 carucates in Sheriff Hutton was in Bulmer, (fn. 16) the
other 2 carucates here followed the descent of that
manor, coming with it into the possession of the lords
of Sheriff Hutton. The earliest mention of them,
however, seems to occur in 1282, when one-eighth
of a knight's fee in Helmsley was held of Robert de
Nevill. (fn. 17) A part of this overlordship (fn. 18) had lapsed
before 1428, when lands held in Upper Helmsley
and other parishes by twelve separate tenants were
described as formerly of Ralph Nevill. (fn. 19) Some memory
of it was revived in the latter years of the 16th
century, when it was recorded that one-eighth of a
knight's fee, parcel of the manor of Upper Helmsley,
and once held of the heirs of Robert Nevill of Raskelf
or Sheriff Hutton, was now held of the queen as of
her manor of Sheriff Hutton. (fn. 20) It is noteworthy also
that 2½ carucates which must be identified with the
former possessions of St. Leonard's Hospital in this
parish were at the same time described as one-third
of a knight's fee held of the queen as of the same
manor by military service, (fn. 21) and not, as in 1579 and
1589, in socage. (fn. 22)
It is said that in the reign of Edward II the manor
of Upper Helmsley was brought by Alice daughter and
heir of Walter de Helmsley to her husband Edward
Thweng and passed through the unbroken line of
their male descendants to Marmaduke Thweng, (fn. 23) who
died seised of it in 1518. (fn. 24) This statement is partially
corroborated by the fact that in 1330 a settlement of
a very considerable amount of property in the two
Helmsleys and elsewhere was made on Walter de
Helmsley and his wife Alice. (fn. 25)
Thweng. Argent a fesse gules between three popinjays vert.
The manor of Upper Helmsley, shown by the
inquiry of 1519 to have been held by Marmaduke
Thweng of the hospital of St.
Leonard, (fn. 26) descended to his
son and heir George, then
aged eighteen, who died in
possession of it in 1560. (fn. 27) Ten
years later John, his eldest son
and heir, a man of mature
age, (fn. 28) 'departed beyond the
seas,' and, according to the
petition of his children in
1573, 'there liveth, his lands
and goods being seized for the
Queen.' (fn. 29)
Both the Helmsley manors
had already been granted, in
consequence of John's forfeiture, to one John
Morgan, (fn. 30) but an allowance of £12 a year was made
from them for the maintenance of the fugitive's five
children. (fn. 31) John Thweng must, however, have made
his peace with the queen before his death in 1578,
when he was found in undisputed possession of his
patrimony. (fn. 32) His eldest son Marmaduke died seised
in 1589, leaving only an infant daughter Margaret. (fn. 33)
Six months later a posthumous son, also named
Marmaduke, was born, but lived only three years.
His lands then reverted to his sister, (fn. 34) who made a
settlement of her inheritance in tail-male in 1605,
when she married George Wilmer of Stratford-leBow. (fn. 35) The next year George and Margaret obtained
livery of the 'manor or hamlet' of Upper Helmsley, (fn. 36)
which descended in 1632, on the death of Margaret,
then wife of Henry Fairfax, to their son and heir,
another George Wilmer. (fn. 37) The younger George, who
had been admitted to the Middle Temple in 1623,
and was, like his father, a collector of the petty
customs of merchant strangers, (fn. 38) made a settlement of
his manors of Upper and Gate Helmsley in 1640 on
his marriage with Rebecca daughter of Randall
Baskervill. (fn. 39) Randall, their eldest son and heir, (fn. 40) lord
in 1691, (fn. 41) left the manor of Upper Helmsley to
Thomas his son by a third wife, Isabel Wood. (fn. 42) From
Thomas, who died a minor in 1728, Upper Helmsley
passed to his uncle and heir-at-law John, at whose
death nine years later it came to Randall and John,
sons of the elder Randall Wilmer by his second wife
Sarah Stainforth. (fn. 43) Both brothers died in 1761, and
the manor came, once more in moieties, to the second
Randall's daughters. Anne, the elder, married her
cousin Wilmer Gossip, grandson of her uncle George,
the elder Randall Wilmer's son by his first wife,
through the marriage of his daughter and co-heir
Anne with William Gossip. (fn. 44) In accordance with the
terms of their marriage settlement Anne Gossip's
moiety was conveyed in 1771 by herself and her
widowed mother Jane Wilmer to her husband. (fn. 45)
Wilmer Gossip died without issue in 1790, two years
after he had devised this estate by will to Joshua Field
for the use of his wife and mother-in-law. (fn. 46) In 1798
his nephew and heir William Gossip executed a deed
of release for manors and lands
in Upper Helmsley and elsewhere, (fn. 47) and six years later
he sold the moiety of Upper
Helmsley Manor to Joshua
Field. (fn. 48) The two moieties
were thus reunited, the other
having come into Mr. Field's
possession by his marriage in
1774 with Mary, Randall
Wilmer's younger daughter
and co-heir. (fn. 49) From John
Wilmer Field, their elder son,
who succeeded his father in
1814 and died without male
issue in 1837, the manor
passed to his younger brother Joshua Field. (fn. 50) He
also left no son, and on his death in 1863 Upper
Helmsley descended to Joshua Francis Whittell, son
and heir of John Wilmer Field's elder daughter Mary
Anne by her husband Eugene Thomas Whittell. (fn. 51)
Mr. Whittell died in 1867, leaving a daughter Anna
Maria, who two years later married LieutenantColonel George Edward Herbert. (fn. 52) Their son
Mr. Edward Arthur Field Whittell Herbert is now
lord of the manor.
Field. Barry wavy argent and azure a lion or with two scallops or in the chief.
Whittell. Gules a cheveron ermine between three talbots' heads razed or.
Herbert. Party azure and gules three lions argent.
Very little is known of the early history of the
Nevills' fee in this parish. For a period of more
than eighty years after 1282, when William de
Kelingthorp held one-eighth of a knight's fee of
them in Upper Helmsley, (fn. 53) no sub-tenant's name is
recorded, (fn. 54) but in 1367 it was found that William
Gray and Richard Bernard held 2 carucates here of
Ralph de Nevill. (fn. 55) William's moiety passed before
1388 to his son Thomas, whose son John held in
1413 and 1428. (fn. 56)
It would seem that John died without issue, (fn. 57) and
that his little property in Upper Helmsley came to
the Tempests of Studley Royal. Isabel daughter
and heir of 'Sir John le Gras of Studley,' presumably
one of the Grays of York, since he was high sheriff of
the city in 1309, (fn. 58) became by her marriage with Sir
Richard Tempest grandmother of Denise Tempest, (fn. 59)
who with her husband William Mallory sold
'half the manor of Upper Helmsley,' part of the
inheritance of Denise, to John and Henry Thwaites
in 1463. (fn. 60) Richard Bernard may have been the
ancestor of Robert Bernard, who in 1428 was one of
the tenants of the Nevills in certain vills, amongst
which Upper Helmsley was included. (fn. 61) Before 1518
both moieties had been absorbed in the manor held
of St. Leonard's Hospital by Marmaduke Thweng. (fn. 62)
Court leet and view of frankpledge were mentioned
as appurtenances of the manor of Upper Helmsley in
Elizabeth's grant to John Morgan. (fn. 63) At that date it
had a capital messuage, a horse-mill and a dovehouse, (fn. 64) and there seems also to have been a dovecot
here in 1641. (fn. 65)
Church
The church of ST. PETER was entirely
rebuilt in 1888, and is a stone structure
in the Norman style consisting of chancel
with apse, nave and western tower. The previous
church was erected in 1795 by Mrs. Jane Wilmer.
Built into the south wall of the chancel is a stone
slab bearing an incised cross. The font has a plain
12th-century hemispherical bowl resting on a circular
shaft.
There is one 17th-century bell, and three others,
which are new.
The plate consists of a set of cup, paten and flagon
of 1733 (London) inscribed 'The gift of Jane
Wilmer to the church of Upper Helmsley,' and
bearing the arms: Gules a cheveron or dividing three
eagles displayed, a crescent for difference impaling
argent a cross moline azure. The paten bears also
the crest, an eagle displayed rising from a mural
crown, and the motto 'Neutrisque extinguar.' The
flagon bears the same inscription, coat of arms and
date mark. There are also two pewter almsdishes.
The registers begin in 1600.
Advowson
There is some doubt whether the
church of Upper Helmsley was given
to the hospital of St. Leonard by Niel
Daubeney or by his son Roger Mowbray. (fn. 66) It is not
mentioned in the charter of Henry I, which confirms
Niel's grant of land to this house, and in the charter
of Henry II Roger is named as donor. (fn. 67) On the
other hand, a bull of Pope Adrian preserved in the
chartulary of St. Leonard places it amongst Niel's
benefactions, (fn. 68) and if this document be genuine it
may be assumed that Roger merely confirmed his
father's gift of church and land. (fn. 69) The church was
valued at £5 before 1291, (fn. 70) and at £2 after that date;
it came to the Crown on the surrender of St. Leonard's
Hospital in 1540, (fn. 71) and remained in its gift, the lord
chancellor exercising the patronage on behalf of the
sovereign from 1829 until 1899. (fn. 72) It was then united
with the living of Gate Helmsley, and the lord
chancellor and the Archbishop of York now present
alternately. (fn. 73)
In 1535 a dwelling-house with toft and croft
belonged to the rectory, (fn. 74) and the glebe-house was
described as fit for residence three centuries later. (fn. 75)
It has since been sold and pulled down. (fn. 76) Forty-three
acres of glebe with residence are now attached to the
combined living.
There are not apparently any endowed charities in
this parish.