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Scawton Parish main page |
Wapentake and Petty Sessional Division of Ryedale - Electoral Division, Poor Law Union, County Court District, and Rural Deanery of Helmsley - Archdeaconry of Cleveland - Diocese of York.
Scawton is a small parish of 2,875 aores, situated on the fringe of the Hambleton Hills, Rateable value, £1,195; population, 132. A large portion of the land is open moorland, with a thin covering of soil resting upon a substratum of rock. The principal crops are oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips. C. F. H. Bolckow, Esq., and the Earl of Feversham are the owners of the soil; the first-named gentleman is lord of the manor.
The village of Scawton (the Scar ton) consists of the church and about a score of scattered houses lying about five miles W. by S. of Helmsley. The church (St. Mary) was built A.D. 1146, by Roger, second Abbot of Byland, for the accommodation of Hugh de Malbys and his tenantry, the said Hugh then possessing the manor and having a residence here. It consists of chancel and nave, with a south porch. All the walls, with the exception of the porch, are the original Norman work. The south doorway is richly carved. The wall between the chancel and nave is very interesting. On either side of the chancel arch is a round-headed recess, two feet deep; that on the northern side has a Norman cap, base, and shaft on either side. A western bell-cot, which is much in need of repair, contains two bells - one bearing the date 1776 and the words T. Scelton, minister, above which is a band of rich ornament; the other, and smaller bell, bears the inscription "Campana Beate Marie," and, judging from the character of the lettering, is of early 14th century date. The latter bell came from the Abbey of Byland, when Scawton was a chapel-of-ease thereto. The benefice is a rectory, in the gift of C. F. H. Bolckow, Esq., worth £145, the present commuted value of the tithes. By an order of the Queen in Council, dated July 19th, 1883, the vicarage of Cold Kirby was annexed to this rectory. The Rectory House is pleasantly situated near the village, and has a good southern aspect. It was built in 1886, at a cost of £1,580, which was raised by the sale of the old rectory and 33½ acres of glebe land to C. F. H. Bolckow, Esq., for £1,300; £165 obtained from the late rector for dilapidations, and £105 16s. for trees felled on the glebe land. The deficit was contributed by Mr. Bolckow, The Rev. N. A. Holttum, the present rector, was presented in 1882.
The parish is intersected by two gills or ravines, through one of which passes the road to Rievaulx and Helmsley, between groves of lofty trees.
[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire (1890)]
Scan, OCR and html by Colin Hinson. Checking and correction by Peter Nelson.