HISTORY
CRIGGLESTONE
- A BRIEF HISTORY
That the Anglo-Saxons once ploughed the fields of Crigglestone there is little
doubt. That the land was occupied prior to their settlement is less certain.
The fortuitous discovery of artefacts in the district in recent
years in the form of a Celtic head at Chapelthorpe, Early Bronze
Age axe head at Kettlethorpe and flint arrow heads on Woolley edge
and Pugneys shows that some form of primitive occupation existed
in earlier times.
Unfortunately, nothing dating from the Anglo-Saxon occupation
is known to exist locally. Any vestige of their presence was swept
aside by the invasion of the ruthless and dreaded invaders from
Scandinavia - the Vikings.
Justifiably feared by the Anglo-Saxon settler, their record of
murder, plunder and pillage requires little reference here, needless
to say that eventually they became the absolute overlords in our
region.
Those who survived the murderous onslaught were reduced to slavery
by the Pagan invader, lordship of the soil ultimately reverting
to heathen ownership.
It is from this period of time that we can, with some veracity,
trace our local beginnings. Primarily with the founding of new
villages to which the Viking settler bestowed a name, often using
the suffix ‘thorpe’ which in Viking terms meant hamlet
or village, or ‘tun,’ which meant farmstead. Many of
the village names in our parish derive their origins from this
period, namely: -
Painthorpe - Pagan’s hamlet
Kettlethorpe - Ketel’s hamlet
Hollingthorpe - Hamlet with the holly bushes
Chapelthorpe - Hamlet with the Chapel
Crigglestone - Farmstead on Cryc Hyll
Slack - A valley or hollow
Dirtcar (Durkar from 1906) - from the Viking drit kjarr, meaning
dirt marsh.
Thus, Yorkshire ceased to be an Anglican Kingdom and became a Danish province.
Within three generations, almost every family of note was Danish by the father’s
or mother’s side - so complete was the fusion between the Angles and
their conquerors.
The Viking conquest of northern England was complete by the end
of the 9th century and following this a form of orderliness, though
fractious at times, descended over the region for a period, eventually
culminating in the conquest of the Norman King, William, in 1066.
Following the change to Norman Lordship, a new order of government
was introduced which brought into being the establishment of the
feudal system and in 1086 the great land survey - the Domes day
Book.
The survey provided the King with a record of all taxable holdings
within his English
Kingdom. Recorded in the book were the numbers of plough teams
and amongst other information the rights of common pasture and
other manorial rights enjoyed by the local inhabitants.
The Domesday Book records that in ‘Crigeston’ and ‘Orberie’,
(the entries are combined), there were four socmen (free tenants), One villein
(an unfree tenant, usually annexed to the Lord’s person, to whom he undertook
agricultural work in return for a landholding and right to graze on the common
pasture). Three bordars with 4 ploughs ( A bordar was a villein cottager and
one of the lowest ranks in feudal society who had some land for subsistence
but was obliged to perform agricultural services freely for the Lord ).
There is no known physical evidence of the Norman occupation
in our parish today.
For evidence of local occupation from this period of time it is necessary to
make the short journey to Woolley where the Church of St Peter exhibits a fine
Norman tympanum (door arch) in its south aisle.
It is of course possible that a Norman Chapel was constructed
in Chapelthorpe on the site of the present Parish Church. There
is little doubt that the village name originated from Viking times
and we do know that Crigleston had its own chaplain - Simon. He
was party to witnessing documents prior to 1229 and would have
served in the Chapel there. All evidence that there may have been
of this earlier Chapel was lost when the Old Chapel at Chapelthorpe
was demolished in 1771, prior to the erection of the present structure.
Reference to the early Chapel can be found in the Manor Court
Rolls for 1314 when it was recorded that: -
‘Margery la Wryghte sues Agnes, daughter of‘ Geoffrey
de Newebyggyng (Newmillerdam), for assaulting her in Crigelston
Chapel and breaking her head with a shingle’
References to such misdemeanours are commonplace in the Court
Rolls - where the findings and adjudications of the Manor Court
- set up to enforce the customs of the Manor, are recorded. In
the Court Rolls of 1274 - 1275 it is recorded that: -
‘Robert son of Henry de Crikleston is charged with taking
a hare in the
warren and gives 2/- to be under the surety, of Adam Tulling until the
next Court’
One such reference to the action of the Manor Court in Crigglestone
is of significant interest. In the Court Roll of 1316, it is recorded
that Robert son of Hugh de Chapelthorp was found guilty of : -
‘ Cutting down ashes and apple trees worth 8d without
permission and
making a ditch in seeking for coals’.
For this offence, Robert had his free land confiscated and was
fined 12d. This is a significant entry in that it is the first
known reference to mining of any form in the ancient Township of
Crigglestone.
The above matters were the subject of Manor Court ‘hearings’ at
the local court, -
the Court Leet, which attended to petty offences. This court met twice yearly
at the
Manor House (now demolished), which was situated at Little Cliffe in Crigglestone.
The Court was presided over by the Lord of the Manor or his Steward. Other
duties of the court included the appointment of parish officials such as the
constable, ale taster and pinder.
The process of local history is inextricably linked to the history
of the country, and though there is little documentary evidence
to such occurrences as the Black Death or to the peasants’ revolt
in Crigglestone, there is little doubt that both must have left
their mark on the community.
As we have seen with the Manor Court Rolls, some documentary
evidence does occasionally survive the ravages of time. Two such
documents relating to Crigglestone are the Poll tax return of 1379
and the Hearth tax return of 1672.
The Poll tax return records the tax, which was levied on fifty
of the inhabitants of the ‘Villata De Crigelston’.
The Hearth tax levied a payment of two shillings on every hearth
or stove in every dwelling house. There were exemptions to this
tax however, including schools, smiths’ forges and bakers’ ovens.
The Hearth tax was collected in two instalments, On Lady Day and
at Michaelmas.
The return shows that of the 101 dwellings in the Township at
that time, two had six hearths, these being the properties of George
Ellis and Thomas Pilkinton.
The Medieval history of Crigglestone is, as with any contemporary
area, inevitably bonded to the Religious activity there. It is
from ancient records relating to the Church that we glean so much
of the information on which our study of the past is based.
We know for instance, that following the Act of Dissolution;
the little Chapel at Chapelthorpe was closed and for some years
used as a cottage. We know that in 1578 Thomas Leake, the Chaplain
at Chapelthorpe was teaching ‘scollers’ in his Chapel
- his class comprised the majority of the children of the 100 householders
in the area.
Church records are also invaluable when physical research is
being undertaken, especially in respect of land ownership. Many
of our present day field enclosures derive their names from early
times, many can still be traced - Endel, Haver Royd and Tan Yard
Close are just three of many referred to in our old church documents.
One of the most important surviving historical parish documents
is the Inclosure Award and plan of 1799 / 1800. There is much reference
in the Award to land enclosures which formed so much a part of
the way of life of the parishioners, such as the Great Butts, where
all the able bodied men in the village were required to practice
their archery; Pithills, where they extracted their coal; Quarry
Close where they obtained their building stone, Clay pit, where
they dug their clay for brick making and perhaps most enthralling
of all - Hanging Close!
The Inclosure Award records the ownership of all land within
the Parish, and where let, the name of the tenant. It also specifies
the valuation of each individual enclosure of land and its area.
The document is truly a local historians ‘treasure trove’.
Many other plans survive which demonstrate the vast changes,
which have taken place in the parish over the years. Many of these
plans inevitably have a mining connotation.
A cursory look at the surface plans of Cliffe Colliery at Painthorpe
show how that immediate district has changed, albeit mainly in
the past 150 years.
It is a worthwhile exercise using these plans to trace the development
of Crigglestone and its ‘satellite’ villages from the
mid 1800’s to the present day. Many of the major developments
from this period, including mining, railway and other local industrial
activities, have been spawned, have prospered and ultimately abandoned
during this time. It is a sobering thought, that the mining industry
which for so long provided such a local dominance and upon which
our fathers and their fathers for many generations before them
relied upon for a living, has gone forever.
Our Parish has ceased to be the vast rural area whose expanses
of arable and meadowland provided for the livelihood of the farmer
and agricultural worker. It has become a district truly Urban in
character, probably better defined as ‘commuter land’. If
planning development continues in the present unabated trend, it
will continue to develop on these lines.
Fortunately we do have a documented record in plan, text and
illustrated form of how our environs once were. Let us hope that
future generations will forgive any indiscretions we have made
along the way in the care taking of their inheritance.
Councillor Keith Wainwright
Local Historian
April 26th 2001
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