News & Events
“Wall paintings in Pickering Church”
Prof Kate Giles, Dept of Archeaology, Univ of York
Wed Sept 25, 7.30 pm, Husthwaite Village Hall
Entry at the door, £5 includes glass of wine or fruit juice
Everyone welcome, children and students free
A fresh insight into 15th C mural painting. Kate deals with the rediscovery of these paintings, their restoration and conservation and the local responses to the appearance of medieval art in a rural community.
Dick Turpin - the true story
Wed June 19 7.30pm
A performance by Ray and Lottie Alexander about the true story behind Dick Turpin. He may not be the hero we think he is! Richard Turpin (bapt. 21 September 1705 – 7 April 1739) was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft.
Doors open 7 pm
Husthwaite village hall
Tickets at the door £5 include a glass of wine or juice
Children and students free entry
Hidden treasures – recent discoveries at Shandy Hall
Wed 20 March 7.30 pm Husthwaite Village Hall
Chris Pearson
Entry £5 includes a glass of wine or fruit juice
Children and students free
Shandy Hall is principally known for being the former home of 18th century writer Laurence Sterne, but it has a much longer history. For 600 years it has been a lived-in house, and traces of its history and of former residents are still emerging. In this illustrated talk Chris Pearson, who has lived there for 20 years, reveals some of the more recent discoveries.
Also on display boards - Graffiti on pews in Coxwold Church
English Heritage Collections
Susan Harrison
(English Heritage Collections Curator)
Husthwaite Village Hall Wed 11 October 7.30 pm
Entry at the door £5 includes a glass of wine or juice
This talk will take us on a trip through English history focussing on the work of an English Heritage Collections Curator. We will visit local sites, explore the discovery and research of archaeological finds and view recent museum projects.
Susan Harrison is based at Helmsley Archaeology Store and works across the North of England. She has previously given inspiring talks in Husthwaite and conducted tours around the store and is now returning to give an update. All are welcome at our events at which children and students have free entry.
Review by Peter Fox
If Henry Ford, who notoriously said that history was bunk, had heard visiting speaker Susan Harrison in the Village Hall on Wednesday 11th October, he would have changed his tune.
Susan is English Heritage’s Collections Curator for the whole of the North of England who brought the region’s history from the Bronze Age (2,000 – 800BC) to the late 17th century to life. Beginning her imaginative presentation with a quiz, to focus attention on what was to follow, everyone recognized Byland Abbey but few if any knew that it has the most extensive mediaeval tiled floor in the whole of Europe.
Our learning curve then moved through archaeological finds of Roman life at Aldborough, near Boroughbridge where the local blacksmith’s offering pot to Vulcan, god of fire, (120 – 140 AD) had been unearthed, its purpose being to persuade the pagan power not to let the premises catch fire, an ever present hazard. Another was a stone emblem of the “lost” Roman 9th Spanish legion, stationed in York, which only made the mystery of its disappearance the more curious.
Further afield is Susan’s particular present focus, Lindisfarne Priory, at the time of the Lindisfarne Gospels (700 – 800 AD). In the year 793 the first Viking invasion there shook the whole of Europe, then the entirety of the known world. It was the equivalent of the Twin Towers attack of 9/11. Recent discoveries are attracting international interest, with artifacts being lent to Germany and Spain. Despite the devastating impact at the time it was interesting to hear that life of the faith was not extinguished, as evidenced by the discovery there of 9th century “doom stones” showing the fate of the wicked in the life hereafter. Following further incursions, however, the monks of Lindisfarne were constrained in 875 to flee their base, only to found what we now know as Durham Cathedral.
Back home to Byland we were shown a pieced-together inkwell of some size with holes for quill pens and one for water to clean them. This was precisely contemporary with the dissolution of the monastery by King Henry VIII in the late 1530s and we were left wondering whether it had played a vital part in the signing of the surrender document by the abbott.
More up to date we were taken to Belsay Hall in Northumberland. There Civil War weaponry of the mid 17th century has been found on account of the Middleton family’s involvement, but of peculiar interest were not only the old gate post sculptures but a stained glass window of as late as 1699, all depicting the mythological figure of the “wild man”, sometimes known as the “green man” whose mystical tradition in rural culture goes right back to pre-historic times.
These were just a few of the many fascinating finds linking past to present. Yet most impressive of all was our speaker’s demonstration of how English Heritage has completely revamped the previous rather musty and admittedly often boring presentation of the history of these various sites. At Rievaux, Whitby, Aldborough, Lindisfarne and Belsay visitors are now treated to well lit, lively and attractive presentations, making real sense of what went on at these places in their heyday and relating the present to the real life of the past. That is our speaker’s very worthwhile mission and these visitors’ centres well deserve re-visiting.
Her talk was followed by questions from an attentive audience which she was only too pleased to answer. They covered a variety of topics arising, including one where she explained modern methods of conservation, a separate subject of its own.
The evening ended with a vote of thanks proposed by fellow curator Guy Wilson and endorsed with enthusiastic response. Henry Ford would have joined in!
Highlights of Byland Abbey: Ruins, Revenants and Romance
Dr Victoria Cadman
Husthwaite Village Hall 7.30 Wed 26 April 2023
£5 at the door (includes a glass of wine or fruit juice)
Everyone welcome, children free
Byland Abbey was regarded in its heyday as one of the three great monasteries of the north of England, alongside its fellow Cistercian foundations of Fountains and Rievaulx. Victoria Cadman, one of English Heritage's volunteer guides at Byland, will give an overview of its history and discuss its key features, including the large cloister, the mediaeval tiles and the abbey church, which is regarded as the most elaborate attempted by the Cistercians in the period, and one of the first buildings in the north to fully break away from the Romanesque architectural tradition. The talk will also touch on the significance of Byland's famous ghost stories and how the ruined abbey and its contemporaries influenced the Romantic age.
Review by Emma Kissack
Victoria animatedly took us through the sweep of Western monastic history, drawing out the distinctions as different orders emerged. These distinctions remain evident on our doorstep. The remains of the closed cells up at Mount Grace where the Carthusian monks spent their days in isolated contemplation contrast with the large dormitories of Byland's Cistercian order. At Byland, the primary division was with the lay brothers, seen in the ruins now by the separation of cloisters and range buildings. These lay brothers farmed the marshland around, spurring and applying some incredible innovations, including in land drainage. As a result, sheep farming flourished, creating a lucrative demand for the high-quality of Yorkshire wool, and Byland grew to become one of the largest Cistercian abbeys before Henry VIII's Dissolution decree.
Victoria showed us maps of Europe to illustrate the connectedness of this Cistercian network that so successfully diffused innovation. Byland's arches, for example, were swift to incorporate the Gothic point that had been found to support bigger windows, letting more light into these huge and heavy stone buildings. She also revealed the beauty of Byland's rose window that inspired York Minister's (and which archaeological evidence now suggests wasn't in the original plan; the craftsmen adapted as they built). She highlighted the intricacy of the well-preserved tiles around the south transept, on display when our local weather allows. And she wove stories of the ghosts and legends that still haunt the area.
Victoria's passion and knowledge, and her engaging style, would alone have made for a memorable evening. But we were treated to a final flourish from one of our neighbours, who, in doing up his shed, had uncovered a floor of colourful, moulded tiles. He proffered a sample to Victoria: they were undoubtedly from Byland Abbey and English Heritage would be as excited as the audience to examine this discovery further!
For those that missed this evening, Victoria and her fellow – expert - volunteers open Byland Abbey's museum Friday to Sunday in the summer, and offer tours at noon each Saturday. Do head down the road to this wondrous site that once dominated our local landscape and economy.
Lewis Carroll: Curiouser and Curiouser Connections
Chris Lloyd, award winning journalist
Husthwaite Village Hall 7.30 Wed 7 June 2023
£5 at the door (includes a glass of wine or fruit juice)
Everyone welcome, children free
All – every single one – of Lewis Carroll’s fantastic characters in Alice in Wonderland is inspired by the ludicrous local stories that he learned during his childhood in Croft-on-Tees, from shape-shifting waters to quarrelling landowners to the tyranny of railway time to fire-breathing dragons to grinning cats…
Review by Richard Wood
Curious and Curiouser Connections
The speaker at the June meeting of Husthwaite History Society was Chris Lloyd, chief features writer of the Darlington & Stockton Times and the Northern Echo. Alice in Wonderland, he said, is the world’s favourite childhood book, and his mission was to convince us of the “curious and curiouser connections” of every nonsensical character and event to a small area around Croft-on-Tees in the north of North Yorkshire.
There are two ponds called Hell’s Kettles. Folk say they are bottomless pits linked by a subterranean passage: the “curious” scene of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland!
Croft was a spa town and people came to taste its well water. Chris called the taste “eggy farty”. Even so it made people feel gigantic, and so the connection to Alice growing huge when she tries the bottle labelled “Drink Me”.
The curious connection to the Cheshire Cat is to a stone carving of a grinning cat in Croft church. When you kneel to pray the cat’s head drops out of sight, leaving only the grin. Hence the Cheshire Cat teases Alice as it appears then disappears leaving only its grin.
“I have often seen a cat without a grin,” thought Alice, “but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw.”
Two Croft village families endlessly squabbled over who were the biggest toffs. Croft Church's Cheshire Cat
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee agreed to have a battle.
The author Lewis Carroll was the second of the thirteen children of the Rector of Croft. He was the entertainer for his brothers and sisters. His magazine – Useful and Instructive Poetry included A Stanza of Anglo Saxon Poetry. This became a nonsense poem, The Jabberwock in Alice Through the Looking Glass.
Chris connected the poem to the Sockburn Worm. For years a dragon devoured the people of this village. A heroic knight, Sir John Conyers put on a coat of razor blades and took his vorpal sword in hand. When the Jabberwock came whiffling through the tulgey wood, Sir John’s sword went snicker-snack and left it dead. The poem remains nonsense but its curious connection to a local tradition makes a colourful story.
Chris made many other “curious connections”. He was tongue in cheek. Accept them or laugh them off: he didn’t mind.
In his vote of thanks Hugh Richardson congratulated him for speaking so entertainingly for an hour about … nonsense!
Modern Methods in Archaeology
Jonathan Clark BA MA DPhil
Husthwaite Village Hall 7.30 pm Wed 12 Oct 2022
Tickets at the door £5 (include a glass of wine or fruit juice)
Children and students free
Jonathan is an archaeologist who specialises in historic buildings and is currently the Director of the Historic Buildings section of FAS (Field Archaeology Specialists) Heritage based in York. He has research interests in a range of medieval sites and buildings in the British Isles and has recently published a book on the archaeological investigations at Lincoln Castle. He is currently working on Calverley Old Hall, a medieval manor house near Leeds where rare wall paintings have been discovered, writing up a study of York Castle and is the consulting archaeologist at Ripon and Lincoln Cathedrals.
Successful archaeological projects demand a wide range of methods and skills, with recent developments in science and technology greatly advancing our ability to understand and appreciate the human past. Jonathan will be providing a talk which will look at a range of projects to show how an archaeologist works in the field and applies a range of analytical techniques.
The Belasyse Tombs in Coxwold Church
Moira Fulton
Wed 23 March 7.30 pm 2022 Husthwaite Village Hall
£5 entry includes a glass of wine/juice
One of the most striking features of St Michael’s Church, Coxwold is the collection of funerary monuments in the Chancel. These are all tombs of members of the Belasyse family of Newburgh Priory and date from 1603 to 1830. They make an interesting case study, as not only do they demonstrate the changing fashions in funerary monuments, but they also illustrate the way that that religious beliefs and attitude to death evolved over time.
This is Archaeology – challenging perceptions and redefining meanings
Neil Redfern
Wed 6 April 2022 7.30 pm Husthwaite Village Hall
Entry £5 at the door, includes a glass of wine or fruit juice (students free)
Neil spent much of his youth with his family at Beacon Banks, Husthwaite and has given several presentations in the past when he worked for English Heritage as North Yorkshire Team Leader, Inspector of Ancient Monuments and Field Monument Warden. Two years ago he became Executive Director and Company Secretary for the CBA (Council for British Archaeology).
He will be exploring a philosophical approach to what is archaeology and will be discussing how we might widen the perception of archaeology to understand its role and impact in today’s world. This will be followed by a subsequent talk by Dr Jonathan Clark about modern methods in archaeology.
Wed 8th September, 2021 7.30pm, Husthwaite Village Hall.
Sir John Vanbrugh - A Life of Irony.
Written and performed by Ray Alexander (local resident)
Sir John Vanbrugh led an extraordinary life; born the son of a seventeenth century businessman, he became a soldier, was imprisoned by the French as a spy, upon his release he became a playwright and his first play was an instant success. He turned to architecture and his first house was Castle Howard and his second Blenheim Palace. He was appointed Deputy to Sir Christopher Wren the Department for Royal Works; then, with no knowledge of Heraldry, he became the second most important Herald in the College of Arms. A change of government saw him cast into penury only to be revived by a new King.
When researching the life of Vanbrugh in order to tell his story in character in the Great Hall of Castle Howard, Ray Alexander discovered that Vanbrugh’s life appeared to be made up of a series of ironies. His performance for the Husthwaite History Society will be in character and costume and a specially written, expanded version of the one he gave at Castle Howard.
Thur 7th October, 2021, 7.30 pm Husthwaite Village Hall
Masons' Marks, and the men who built Beverley Minster.
John Phillips (from Friends of Beverley Minster)
Using masons’ marks, and architectural comparisons with other buildings, such as Hedon church, and Fountains, Meaux and Jervaulx abbeys, the earliest eastern part of Beverley Minster has emerged as the only standing example of a number of churches designed by the same man, or group of men in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. These marks have helped to establish the building sequence of the Minster over 240 years.
Tickets at the door £5 (free entry for children and students) will include a glass of wine or fruit juice.
Chairs will be separated and village hall covid precautions followed.
New book by Stuart Marriott
The Lowland Collieries of North Yorkshire
It may come as surprise that several of our country villages were once host to a business so closely identified with Industrial England as coal mining. This new book is not the first to mention local collieries but it is the first to explore the story in both detail and breadth. Its main focus appears from the subtitle Birdforth Coxwold Kilburn 1791–1865.
The account of individual collieries and their working is set against a background of local geology and the former coal–lime industry of the North York Moors. Sites and remains of three areas of coal getting and another of lime manufacture are explored. The book is the work of local author Stuart Marriott. It is paper-backed, presented in attractive ‘landscape’ layout, and illustrated in colour throughout.
Lowland Collieries is priced at £10 (packing and postage extra) and can be ordered from:
Letterworks, Rose Cottage, Carlton Husthwaite YO7 2BJ
tel 01845 501490
email letterworks@btinternet.com
Review
The title hides an unexpected detective story. It’s about a coal mining industry that, astonishingly, flourished around our bit of North Yorkshire and then, after barely 30 years, vanished completely. To go back a bit; England was struggling at the end of the 1700s. We had been at war more or less constantly for ages, so the number of people able to work the land was shrinking. The Board of Agriculture survey published in 1800 recorded how unproductive many North Yorkshire farms were. It talked about the appetite for improvement and what could be done with the land that was still being changed from common land to farm fields.
One of the things you really needed to improve your fields was lime. To make lime you burn limestone, which was abundant. For that process you need lots of coal. The 1800 survey said that there wasn’t a serious amount of coal in North Yorkshire, except for a few old pits on the Moors. But there was, it said, a pit between Easingwold and Thirsk that was so advanced, it had installed one of the new steam engines. That was a clue that set Stuart Marriott off on the trail of this mysterious pit. The result is a story of a short-lived industry that came and went, and was totally forgotten. This book is a wonderfully readable glimpse into a fragment of our local past and the human lives that kept it going.
For this unlikely industry to come into existence, several ingredients needed to come together all at once. Demand for lime was growing. Producing lime needed coal, but it was really difficult to get around here. It had to come by pack horse from the north or by water from the west and south. Whichever way it came it was prohibitively expensive. But geology was becoming better understood and there were men around who could tell you where you might find coal nearer to home. Add to that the fact that a steam engine, if you could afford one, could allow you to dig deeper and drain out the water. Things came together and the mining started.
Stuart’s book is the story of this brief flurry of mining in a small local area where you would least expect it. It’s the story of pits in Birdforth, Kilburn and Coxwold and how poor quality coal was got with considerable difficulty out of narrow seams. Some of it went to farmers’ home fires but most was carted across to the lime kilns near Kilburn. Four tons a week went that way from Birdforth alone....no mean achievement when you think about the farm carts it went in and the roads in winter.
Stuart tells us about the pits (we all pass the sites often without knowing it) and about the men and women who worked them. It’s an absorbing story and the result of a prodigious piece of research work. It’s a particular skill to take an unknown story which is intensely local, to make a fascinating narrative out of it and link it to national matters. It reminded me just how the best local history illuminates a much wider world.
Andrew Coulthard
An evening with Phil Thomas at Carlton Husthwaite Church Do join us at 6.30 pm on Wednesday May 15th at St Mary’s Church, Carlton Husthwaite for a talk given by Phil Thomas, formerly Church Buildings Officer for York Diocese. You can guarantee to be entertained and informed in equal measure by a raconteur and historical expert whose enthusiasm for architecture enables him to find details of the history of the church building that would otherwise go untold. Tickets are £7.50, to include refreshments, and are available in advance from revliz@trundlebug.co.uk or by phoning 01347 822809
Event postponed due to illness - date to be rearranged
This is the last talk in the series which included St Nicholas’ Husthwaite and St Michael’s Coxwold – both very popular and enjoyable events.
October 24 2019 7.30pm
"Local history through Early Postcards"
Illustrated talk by Robin Cook
Robin Cook from Swainby gave an excellent illustrated talk about some of his large collection of old postcards from North Yorkshire. These rare cards show people going about their lives in the early 1900s and the collection chosen included many photos of Thirsk and its market, gypsies from Germany on their travels in this area and life in and around Whitby.
Husthwaite Local History Society Talk
“Husthwaite - A Village at War 1914 – 1918”
Margaret Hewitson
As part of the First World War Centenary commemorations, Margaret Hewitson will talk about the research for her booklet, “Husthwaite, The First World War, 1914-1918. The booklet covers the years from 1914 up to 1921, when the Archbishop of York, dedicated the War Memorial in Husthwaite churchyard.
The talk aims to provide a picture of village life at this difficult time, with the newly formed Husthwaite Ladies War Working Party working together to raise funds for war charities and providing comforts for soldiers, and the Husthwaite Volunteer Training Corps who received lessons in military drill and marched to Coxwold to take part in a friendly shooting competition.
Some of the stories of Husthwaite families whose young men enlisted in the war will also be included.
Husthwaite Village Hall 7.30pm Wednesday 14 November.
This event was well attended and a donation of over £200 was given to Blind Veterans UK, a charity that was established in 1914 and continues to help blind ex-Service men and women to lead independent and fulfilling lives.
Husthwaite and Coxwold Local History Societies Exhibition
Husthwaite Village Hall Sat 24 June 10.30 – 4
With over 140 visitors throughout the day, all the exhibitors and people who kindly volunteered to help with refreshments were kept busy and much interest was shown in the wide variety of things on display. Exhibits included “Farming in the Old Days”, “Husthwaite in WWI”, “Shandy Hall”, “Newburgh Priory”, “Coxwold Railway Station”, “Coxwold Pottery” and “St Michael’s Church”. Both villages had researched “Trades and Businesses” from times past and there was a good display of old postcards covering both villages, together with other memorabilia. A selection of Family Histories for Husthwaite were shown and Parish Records could be accessed for those seeking family ancestors. Various interesting trends were revealed from this ongoing project – e.g. the significance of being “buried in woollen”. Projected photos showed the Fun and Games in Husthwaite in the late 19th C and early 20th C. Many local history booklets and CDs were sold.
Roger Inman and Anne Jenner from the Yorkshire Archaeological Trust displayed Roman and later pottery, some of which was probably made in the Howardian Hills. The response to requests for people to bring along sherds from their gardens or fields attracted a number of people from other local villages. The sherds were examined and their locations plotted on a large OS map. The experts were able to give a quick ID but took names and addresses so that a more detailed note can be sent to participants at a later date.
The majority of the wares were green glazed Brandsby and Ryedale types, though they were happy to look at everything from green glazed to transfer printed wares. They say “we were thrilled to take over 20 contact details for those who are interested in helping with further work identifying local green glazed wares, and in particular Ryedale wares from the area and thought the day was a great success and are very much looking forward to the next event”.
The Husthwaite displays were redisplayed on Nov 5th when over 30 people attended, half coming from other local villages. 15 children from the Primary School visited it the following morning.
Dr David Wilkinson sadly died on 16th October 2016 after a long illness. He wrote the introduction to this website and will always be remembered for putting together "Coxwoldshire" and establishing Husthwaite Local History Society. He was actively involved in the millennium publication “Husthwaite Then and Now”. Once he retired from working at York District Hospital, he was also known for his interest in horse racing for which he obtained an M.A. He privately published an expanded version of his dissertation " Early Horse Racing in Yorkshire and the Origins of the Thoroughbred" which soon sold out (Old Bald Peg Publications, Old Byland, York; 2003). Once he had left Husthwaite he maintained a lively interest in the history society.
Autumn Talk October 19th 2016
Yearsley Water Mill
Geoffrey Snowdon and Elizabeth Sanderson
An updated illustrated talk on the archaeological excavations and documentary research related to the unrecorded medieval mill site on Yearsley Moor.
This talk was attended by a lively and appreciative audience from both Husthwaite and other local villages.
New Books 2016
Aspects of Baxby
Compiled by Elaine Smith and Stuart Marriott
Husthwaite Local History Society
Extensively illustrated in colour and black & white, this is a broad account of Baxby history from 1086 and its first mention in the Doomsday Book. Apart from Baxby Manor and farm itself, outlying farms such as Throstlenest (originally Scaw Carr), Woolpots, Providence Hill etc have been researched. It costs £5 and it is available from The Husthwaite History Society from Angela Ovenston via this website.
The Manor of Husthwaite From the Norman Conquest to the 20th Century
By Stuart Marriott
Published by Carlton Letterworks
Much of the material in this book was previously unpublished and is the result of Prof. Marriott’s painstaking research in archives. With black and white maps, illustrations and copies of archive material, it makes a fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of Husthwaite and Carlton and their area. It is obtainable at a cost of £7 (postage £1.50 extra) from Stuart Marriott, at Rose Cottage, Carlton Husthwaite, North Yorkshire, YO7 2BJ (or from Angela Ovenston, via this website).
New Coxwold Booklet
March 2016
This supersedes and is based on the excellent booklet written and published by Kennneth and Julia Monkman in 1974. In bringing the booklet up to the present day, benefitting from modern photographic and print techniques, members of the Coxwold History Society remain respectful and grateful for the original work.
Copies are available for £2 from Coxwold village hall, Newburgh Priory, Shandy Hall, St Michaels Church or Coxwold Tearooms.
AUTUMN TALK 2015
Thursday 22 October 7.30 pm, Husthwaite Village
"English Heritage Collections"
Susan Harrison
English Heritage holds collections from guardianship sites including local castles and abbeys, this talk will highlight the work of the English Heritage Curator in the North of England and detail fascinating objects which tell stories of English History.
Susan gave an excellent presentation about the Helmsley Archaeological Store seven years ago and is now curator for the whole northern area.
AUTUMN TALK 2014
“Archaeology in Gilling Park and Yearsley Moor”
Geoffrey Snowdon and Elizabeth Sanderson
Village Hall - Wednesday, October 22nd at 7.30pm
Between 2009 and 2013 a group of volunteers carried out an archaeological survey in Gilling Park and Yearsley Moor, as part of the National Park's 'Lime and Ice' project. They confirmed the presence of many significant features including Bronze Age burial mounds, 'Bell Pit' mines and dams, lakes, temples and carriageways associated with the 18th century landscaping.
These investigations continue and they will be excavating the 'watermill' site again in Sept/Oct so should have some new material to report. The illustrated talk lasts about 40 mins and there will be various artefacts and maps to look at afterwards. Everybody is welcome. £5 entrance at the door includes a glass of wine.
This talk was well attended and greatly appreciated.
Much more history has been unearthed from from further excavations during 2015 and will be the subject of a follow-up talk in 2016
NEW BOOK
“The Wailes family from Husthwaite”
This book charts the life of a family who lived in the village for at least four centuries. They first appeared as yeoman farmers in the late 16th century. The last member of the family to live in the village, Marjorie Eteson Rowe (née Wailes), died in 1976. By the mid 18th century they began to diversify into other professions such as law and later engineering and the army, taking some of them away from the area. However, by the 19th century, many of the family had returned to live or visit Husthwaite.
One of the earliest buildings occupied by a Wailes was Lodge Farm which was successively handed on to members of the family, ultimately being farmed by tenants. In the mid 19th century, the family built Beacon Banks in a prominent position above the village. At the turn of the 19th century, this large house was inhabited by other families, all of interesting backgrounds, all from Northumberland - their lives are also described. For hundreds of years the Wailes also occupied or owned many other houses in the village, including those now known as the White House and The Old Stores.
The research for this book was greatly assisted by previous publications by Stuart Marriott into the houses of the village and and Annie Richardson’s book about the field systems in the village. Jane Collard provided a timeline for each century highlighting events of both national and local importance.
On sale at £8 December 2014 (sold out, available on CD)
The Goultons of Highthorne
A Husthwaite family through two centuries
by Stuart Marriott
Reviewed by Jan Coulthard
Prof. Marriott has charted the progress of the Goulton family from 1620-1815 in this beautifully produced and illustrated little publication, which details their connection with Highthorne in Husthwaite.
The painstaking research shines through, especially when it is revealed that in those days sons were forenamed after fathers and grandfathers; this made it difficult to decipher which Christopher, for instance, figured in the documents confronting the researcher. This he did, thus usefully sorting out the sequence of events for future researchers. Old names for areas in and around the village also needed to be placed in their modern geography, so that an idea of the extent of estates and ownership of land could be assessed. In the 17th century manorial custom still ruled as is shown on court rolls and agreements.
As they moved from yeomanry to merchant class, the family acquired property, including Highthorne, before moving on in later years to Hull and Lincolnshire.
The author also looked at Highthorne, the Goulton family home, a grand house officially listed as “of special architectural or historical interest”. He questions the tradition that parts date back to the Elizabethan era (more likely the next century), pointing out that though many interesting early features remain, the house has endured so many additions through the centuries, demolition, rebuilding after fire and remodelling in a traditional style that it would take a professional surveyor to work out exactly what was what!
Stuart Marriott has added, through his detailed research, to the study of the history of our village, and produced an interesting resource and example of scholarship for local historians; it is also of interest to families who wish to delve into the past and recover our village history.
The book is available for £3 from Stuart at Rose Cottage, Carlton Husthwaite. Postage £1.50 extra.
Medieval Field Systems of Husthwaite by Annie Richardson 2013
This book by Annie Richardson details the evolution of field systems and settlement of Husthwaite, North Yorkshire, from the Saxon period to enclosure.
This work began as research into the seventeenth-century field systems of Husthwaite, undertaken at the North Yorkshire County Records Office. The structure of the field system of the early 1600's was achieved by close examination of Husthwaite's court roll of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; using the court roll as the principal research tool is an innovative method which has proved to be invaluable in determining field morphology and evolution.
The book traces the development of agriculture from the 5th century to complete enclosure in the 18th century, and describes the effect the changing field systems had on the settlement of Husthwaite. Maps, field-names, and the derivations of field-names are included.
Available from Amazon or for local people, via this website.
"Making the Past Live: From Mary Rose to Castle Howard, the Fun of Research"
Illustrated talk by Guy Wilson
Guy Wilson, Husthwaite Local History Society’s much travelled historian and arms expert, entertained a fascinated and enthralled audience to a dramatic presentation in the village hall on the evening of March 27th 2014.
He first described his experiences following his recent return from Nepal. There he was charged with updating the material and displays at the Ghurkha Military Museum at Pokhara and to extend the training of the staff there. He was treated to traditional Gurkha hospitality and thoroughly enjoyed being an honoured working guest. In addition he helped to install computers in local schools - something that had hitherto been absent. His use of photographic slides and movie material, where appropriate, added reality to the spoken word.
Following his Nepalese experience, some investigations closer to home were described. On behalf of the Yorkshire Country House Association Guy was commissioned to research the wartime involvement of the various families and staffs of the Partnership during time of war dating back to Napoleonic times. His findings, with particular reference to Castle Howard, formed the second topic of the evening.
Guy finally described his historical interest with the raising of the 'Mary Rose', Henry VIII's carrack-type warship salvaged in 1982. His particular interest was in the weaponry on board and the group was keen to ascertain the effectiveness of a particular type of gun. Together with a local friend and iron work specialist, Chris Topp, the team recreated the gun and demonstrated on film the results of their hard work. The evening really finished 'with a bang' as his audience enjoyed visual and ear splitting evidence that the gun worked perfectly!
Roy Leverton
Recent publications by Professor Stuart Marriott
Carlton Letterworks
Have you seen our new series of booklets on local history? So far published:
Peterhold: Carlton and Husthwaite in the Liberty of St Peter of York, (£2)
An account of the peculiar system by which the two villages were governed from York Minster rather than by the North Riding. The story continues until the end of the Liberty in Victorian times. A5, 30 pages, illustrated.
The Chapelry of Carlton Husthwaite, (£3)
A history of the ‘chapelry’, including the building and the system of local government connected with it. Relations with the parent parish of Husthwaite are also explored. A5, 43 pages, illustrated in colour
The Old Farms of Carlton Husthwaite, (£3)
Charts the layout and ownership of the township’s seven farms from the 1660s to the day before yesterday. A4, 30 pages, extensively illustrated in black and white. (Poplar Farm, Sunny Bank Farm, Church Farm, Carlton Hall Farm, Old Hall Farm, Manor House Farm, The Cedars Farm and Common Hall Farm)
The Goultons of Highthorne, A Husthwaite family through two centuries, (£3)
Aspects of Baxby (£3)
Compiled by Elaine Smith and Stuart Marriott
The Manor of Husthwaite From the Norman Conquest to the 20th Century (£7)
By Stuart Marriott
The Grand Agitator (a life of George Denham of Baxby, who helped lead a rebellion against the Crown in 1663 and was executed for his trouble). (£8)
The Lowland Collieries of North Yorkshire (£10)
By Stuart Marriott
Published by Carlton Letterworks
All the above are available for collection at Rose Cottage, Carlton Husthwaite (telephone 01845 501490, e-mail letterworks@btinternet.com). For post and packing a charge of £1.50 is made on each item.
Carlton Letterworks is a local and not-for-profit venture run by Stuart Marriott. Titles are published under a Creative Commons licence, with almost no ‘copyright’ restrictions.
Jubilee Exhibition in the Village Hall, 2-5 June 2012
As part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the village, Angela Ovenston, with various helpers from the History Society, assembled and created a display of photographs and memorabilia loaned by people in the village. This showed six decades of life and times in Husthwaite, alongside six decades of events in Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The exhibition was enjoyed by over 200 people in total, including residents past and present, and stimulated lively reminiscences of village life both then and now. All the children from the village school visited the exhibition on the following Monday.
The listing of key factors for each decade and material displayed on the walls will be retained in an archive, available for future reference.
New articles - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II - I was there! by Freddie Pickstone
- Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Exhibition
Brenda Duffield, a well known local resident and local historian sadly died after a short illness on 19th Dec. 2011 aged 86. An article about her life and contributions to local history can be seen in Publicatiions/Articles. Some photographs of her family were recently contributed by her for the website gallery - see gallery/people and event.
Husthwaite Family History
For Family History researchers and anybody else interested in the people who once lived in Husthwaite, up-to-date detailed Register of Burials and Grave Plans for the Cemetery at the west end of the village are now available on-line and may be downloaded from under Publications/Family History. Information includes name, occupation, age of death, place of death and burial date for those interred here from 1897 onwards together with the name of the person officiating at the interment. The information shown has all been extracted from the official record held by the Parish Council.
A detailed list of monumental inscriptions for St Nicholas' churchyard is now also available on line. This list was originally made in 1912 for all stones and monuments then standing. It has now been updated and is a useful source of reference, particularly for some of inscriptions which have become illegible or disappeared.
After much hard work, the baptismal records for Husthwaite and Carlton Husthwaite have now been transcribed and data between 1854 and 1813 may now be downloaded.
The Hildred, Gale and Jackson families
Contact via this History Society website with John Jackson from Iowa, Trevor Gale from County Durham and Gilly Scott from Canberra has revealed that they all link back to George Gale (agricultural labourer, (1798-1875) and his wife Jane (1796-1867). They lived in Husthwaite in one of the tenements once called Passmans Row (demolished) and where the terraced houses in Elphin View now stand (Stuart Marriott, “Husthwaite House Plots, Village dwelling sites from the early Seventeenth Century to 1841”). All have sought information about their families and have been put in touch with each other. Their individual articles can be found in Publications/Articles.
Life and TImes
To find out more about the times in which your ancestors lived, both in the village and elsewhere, Jane Collard compiled a time-line of significant events which may be viewed in the Articles section. It covers four centuries between 1600 and 2000. For each century the list of monarchs has been added.