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OTHER TOWNSHIPS IN THE PARISH AND

MANOR OF SINNINGTON.

Little Edstone is a township in the parish of Sinnington, and was at the conquest amongst the lands assigned to Berenger de Todeni, as appears from the Domesday record :

"In parvâ Edestun, (little Edstone,) Torbrand "had three carucates to be taxed. Land to two 66 ploughs. Berenger now has it, and it is waste. "Wood pasture two quarentens long, and one "broad. The whole manor half a mile long, and "half broad. Value in king Edward's time ten "shillings."

Bawdwen's Domesday. p. 121. Torbrand the saxon, was a man of great property in these parts, at the time of the conquest; and Berenger de Todeni held still more extensive possessions at Edstone, Kirkby-Moorside, Lestingham, Spaunton, Sinnington, Hindreskelf, now CastleHoward, Terrington, &c., and was the son of that Robert de Todeni, who built Belvoir castle, the present seat of the dukes of Rutland, to whom it came from the Lords Ros, of Helmsley, Robert de Ros having married Isabel de Albini, the heiress of the Todenis. Vide account of Helmsley.

Marton,* a township in the parish of Sinning

* Marton signifies Marsh-town; from mare, a marsh; and ton, town. The propriety of the name is evinced even at the present day: as the lands around, and the village street itself, are not unfrequently laid under wa ter during the winter; from the rapid rising of the waters of the Seven. What then must have been the case when there was no embankments to confine the waters ?

ton, is a small village on the banks of the Seven, over which there is a neat bridge of one arch. Marton was amongst the lands which at the conquest remained in the hands of the archbishop of York.

"In Marton 3 carucates to be taxed, and there may be two ploughs. St. Peter had, and has it, with sac and soke. Value in king Edward's time 40s., at present 10s."

Bawdwen's Domesday, p. 50. Some of the lands at this place, as appears from the following extract, belonged to the nunnery at Yedingham.

"Marton, super ripam, in Pickering Lythe ; Agnes, daughter of Ralph Hertman, or Kentman, gave to Gundreda, the prioress of Yedingham, one messuage, with a croft, two oxgangs and an half, three acres and one perch of land, in this territory.", Burton's Monasticon, p. 285.

MIDDLETON.

Middleton,* a parish town in the wapentake of Pickering Lythe, 1 mile from Pickering, 7 from Kirkby-Moorside, 10 from Malton, and 28 from York. The parish of Middleton is wide and extensive, stretching in a westerly direction from Pick. ering to Rosedale, and from north to south, from Risebro' to Lockton and Saltersgate; including

* Middleton was amongst the lands remaining in the hands of the king, at the time of the Domesday Survey: Bawdwen's Yorkshire. p. 11. N n

within its limits no less than 8 different townships, which contain a collective population of 1727 inhabitants, viz., Middleton 247, Aislaby 147, Wrelton 193, Cawthorn 22, Rosedale, east side, 339, Cropton* 321, and Lockton 324. At the two latter are situated chapels of ease, distant from the mother church, the one 4 and the other 6 miles, in different directions. Rosedale was also formerly a chapel of ease to Middleton, but has been separated by the governors of the bounty of queen Anne ; the vicar of Middleton still remaining entitled to the patronage. The church at Middleton is a vicarage in the deanery of Ryedale, value in the king's books £10. 11s. 8d., present value of the living according to the parliamentary return, £90. patrons the Rev. Francis Wrangham, archdeacon

* Near Cropton is Beckhouse, once the residence of the Robinson family; and now the property of the representatives of the late Rev. John Robinson, of Welburn. It is used as a farm house, and is inhabited by Mr. George Thorpe, tenant to Messrs. Cayley, Wrangham, and Smith. This house is very ancient, and is said to have been built with materials brought from an old mansion at Cropton. In the south wall of the building, near the parlour window, cut in stone, are the initials

M. M.

W. H. E. H.

1668. T. P.

Near these initials is this singular inscription

HE THAT COMES TO STEAL
A PLOUM LOOK UP AND SZE

WHO IS ABOWN;

BEWARE; GOD SEES.

Over the upper window is the bust of a person in a clerical habit, to whom the depredator is admonished to look when he comes to steal a plum: this figure, it appears, is to represent the deity.

of Cleveland, the Rev. Arthur Cayley, and T. Smith Esq. There is a small but neat parsonage-house attached to the living.

The village of Middleton is on the high road between Pickering and Kirkby-Moorside; from which circumstance, in all probability it derives its name of Middle-town, or Middleton. It consists of one street, in which occur several good houses. The hall, the property of John Watson, Esq, of Pickering, and the residence of John Acton, Esq., is a neat modern mansion built of brick.*

The church is an ancient structure, but in good preservation ;-the interior remarkably neat, and kept in a state of repair highly creditable to the vigilance of the church-wardens, and the parishioners. This church formerly. belonged to the abbey of Kirkstal, near Leeds, as appears from the following curious extract from Burton: On the 19 of Dec. A. D. 1456, William Boothe, archbishop of York, appropriated this church (anciently of the patronage of the lords Wake of Lydel,) to the abbey of Kirkstal; and in recompense of the damages done to his cathedral church, reserved to himself and successors the annual pension of £1, and to his dean and chapter 5s, payable by the said religious, out of the fruits thereof, at Pentecost and Martinmas, by equal portions ;—also £1. 16s. 4d. per annum, to be distributed amongst the poor of the parish, at Christmas and Easter. Moreover he ordained that there be one perpetual secular

Dr. Short, in his account of mineral waters, notices a chalybeate spring near Middleton.

vicar in the church, presentable by the said abbot and convent; the portion of endowment of which vicarage, shall be in this manner, viz., in a competent mansion for the vicar's habitation, taken out of the rectory, and built the first time by the said religious also the vicar shall receive yearly out of the abbot and convent's coffers, the sum of £10. 6s. Sd. in money quarterly, paid upon the high-altar of the church at Middleton; and besides that 6s. 8d. more, for the charge and exhibition of bread, wine, and lights, necessary for the said high altar. And the said abbot and convent shall for ever bear and sustain the chancel, and all other burdens ordinary or extraordinary on the church incumbent, and the vicar shall bear nothing."

Burton's Monasticon, p. 295.

These two latter sums are still paid to the vicar, out of the lands attached to the rectory-house, an old building at the east end of the church-yard; which has been occupied for a long period merely as a farm house.

In forming a drain at the back of the church, during the year 1823, the workmen discovered near the foundation, a medal, in excellent preservation, representing on the obverse, the figure of St. John the Baptist bearing a cross, and the lamb before him, with a glory encircling its head; the motto "Parate viam Domini," prepare ye the way of the Lord; and within the circle formed by the motto 1737-309: on the reverse 3 figures, the first leaning upon the cross, the second holding an infant to her bosom, the third resting upon the

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