Full Sutton

FULL SUTTON

The Village of Full Sutton, which was an Anglian settlement, lies about 9 miles east-north-east of York, at the end of the Escrick moraine. (fn. 1) It had acquired the descriptive prefix, meaning 'foul' or 'dirty', by the 13th century. (fn. 2) Much of the parish lies at about 50 ft. above sea-level and is covered by outwash sand, gravel, and clay. The land rises to over 75 ft. east of the village, however, and reaches 100 ft. at the parish boundary. The higher ground consists of boulder clay, glacial sand and gravel, and Keuper marl, and it is on a sand and gravel outcrop that the village is situated. (fn. 3) The small Winter beck flows westwards across Full Sutton towards the river Derwent. The parish, which is wedge-shaped, covers 881 a. (fn. 4)

The former open-field land lay all round the village, and Full Sutton common occupied the southernmost part of the parish. Open fields and common were inclosed in 1766. The wartime Full Sutton airfield, which was in use in 1944-6, (fn. 5) lay south of the village, partly in Bishop Wilton and Fangfoss parishes. (fn. 6)

From Full Sutton village minor roads lead southwards towards Fangfoss, westwards towards Catton, and northwards to join the former Roman road which leads to Stamford Bridge. The entire northern boundary of the parish follows the Stamford Bridge road. The road was turnpiked in 1765 and the trust was continued until 1872. (fn. 7) The railway line from Market Weighton to York crosses the former common. (fn. 8)

The village lies mainly around an oblong 1¼acre green, (fn. 9) from which a footpath leads to the parish church, standing behind the outbuildings of Glebe Farm. A small pond which lay beside the road west of the green (fn. 10) has been filled in. Most of the village houses date from the 19th century. They include a farm-house built by the Revd. Richard Lucas in 1837, (fn. 11) and Full Sutton Villa or Hall, a grey-brick house built by Thomas Pearson c. 1860. (fn. 12) A village hall was opened in the outbuildings of Glebe Farm in 1949 and enlarged in 1962. (fn. 13) Fishponds north-east of the church (fn. 14) may have been associated with the manor-house. A Full Sutton innkeeper was mentioned in 1741 (fn. 15) and there were one or two licensed houses in the later 18th century. (fn. 16) A beerhouse was recorded in 1840. (fn. 17)

Of the three outlying farm-houses in the parish Street Farm, on the Stamford Bridge road, was formerly known as Spence's Farm, (fn. 18) and Common House was demolished when the airfield was built.

There were 45 poll-tax payers at Full Sutton in 1377. (fn. 19) Twenty-three households were included in the hearth-tax return of 1672, 11 of them exempt. Of those that were chargeable 8 had only one hearth each, 2 had 2, and 2 had four. (fn. 20) There were 18 families in 1743 and 14 in 1764. (fn. 21) The population rose from 100 in 1801 to 174 in 1861, before falling to 119 in 1901. (fn. 22) It remained fairly constant in the earlier 20th century but fell to 92 in 1971. (fn. 23)

MANOR AND OTHER ESTATE.

Full Sutton was not mentioned in 1086, when it lay within the manor and soke of Catton. (fn. 24) The lordship subsequently descended with Catton in the Percy, Seymour, and Wyndham families, (fn. 25) but little land in Full Sutton was attached to Catton manor. An allotment of 12 a. to the earl of Egremont at inclosure in 1766 (fn. 26) comprised the whole of his estate there; it was sold by Lord Leconfield in 1921. (fn. 27)

Full Sutton may have been held under the Percys by Peter son of Grente in the later 12th century, (fn. 28) and all 6 carucates there were held by William Dawtry or Dealtry in 1284-5, 4½ of them in demesne. (fn. 29) William was dead by 1312. (fn. 30) John Dawtry held the estate in 1315, (fn. 31) and he and Eleanor Percy were said to be lords of the place in 1316. (fn. 32) The estate apparently descended in the Dawtry family, and in 1577 William Dawtry held the reputed manor of FULL SUTTON (fn. 33) About 1602 it comprised 16 of the 36 bovates in the township. (fn. 34)

In 1675-6 John Dealtry conveyed the manor to Thomas Langley and Samuel Walker (fn. 35) and by 1705 it had probably passed to Francis Elwick, who then had the advowson. (fn. 36) Elwick's granddaughter Frances married John Eyre, and in 1726 she sold the manor to William Simpson. (fn. 37) The estate comprised 483 a. in 1766. (fn. 38) It was presumably another William Simpson who by will dated 1766 devised the manor to trustees to hold successively for his brothers John and Lindley Simpson. After Lindley's death it passed before 1785, under the terms of the will, to John Bridgman, son of William Simpson's niece Elizabeth and her husband Sir Henry Bridgman, Bt. John Bridgman took the name Simpson on succeeding to the estates, (fn. 39) and in 1788 he sold the manor and 349 a. to John Ramsey (d. 1801). (fn. 40) The lands remained in the hands of Ramsey's trustees until the mid 19th century. (fn. 41) In 1868 204 a. were conveyed to Robert Freer, and in 1877 they were sold by Thomas Freer to Joseph Fearnsides. (fn. 42) Susannah Fearnsides's executors sold them to Charles Mennell in 1898, and Mennell acquired more land in Full Sutton in 1903 and 1919. (fn. 43) The Mennells sold Manor House farm, comprising 187 a., to R. Q. Triffitt in 1923, and the Triffitts still had most of it in 1973. (fn. 44) The present farm-house is a 19th-century building.

Land in Full Sutton belonged to the chantry of St. Mary the Virgin in Lund church and after the suppression was granted to William Mylton in 1563. (fn. 45)

ECONOMIC HISTORY.

Agricultural arrangements at Full Sutton in the Middle Ages are not documented. All the land was held by freeholders of Catton manor in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, five men having 36 bovates c. 1602, for example. (fn. 46) By the 17th century there were three open fields, known as Hunland field, Wrengthorne, Wrainthorne, or White Cross field, and Hatkill or Sindill field. (fn. 47) There was also a stinted pasture called Ox close, mentioned as early as 1630, (fn. 48) in which the rector had a gate in 1716. The common, in the south-west of the parish and adjoining High Catton common, provided turf and whins, besides pasture. (fn. 49) Parcels of meadow called Kirkwinterbecks, mentioned in 1653, (fn. 50) were apparently held in severalty, and other closes were recorded in the 17th century, including West Flat and Furrland closes in 1630. (fn. 51) Forelands is the modern name for land adjoining Stamford Bridge township. By 1766 there were 324 a. of ancient inclosures in the parish.

The open fields and common were inclosed in 1766 (fn. 52) under an Act of 1760. (fn. 53) A total of 529 a. was allotted, including 112 a. from Hunland field, 91 a. from Hatkill field, 70 a. from White Cross field, 69 a. jointly from Hunland and White Cross fields, and 187 a. from the common. The earl of Egremont, as lord of the manor, received 12 a., the rector 99 a., William Simpson 249 a., and four others 78 a., 61 a., 28 a., and 3 a. respectively. In addition exchanges were arranged involving 40 a. of ancient inclosures.

In 1795 there were 451 a. of arable and 24 a. of waste in the parish, (fn. 54) and in 1905 638 a. of arable and 228 a. of grass. (fn. 55) There was still a notable amount of pasture around the village in the 1930s and later. (fn. 56) In the 19th and 20th centuries there have usually been about six farmers in Full Sutton. (fn. 57) In 1851 one man had 300 a. and another 150 a. (fn. 58) Little non-agricultural employment has been recorded. A Full Sutton man worked as a weaver in 1580, (fn. 59) and in the 1930s there appeared a sand and gravel merchant and a motor engineer. (fn. 60)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

Surviving court records for the manor and soke of Catton, within which Full Sutton lay, show that a constable was appointed for this township in the 1470s, the 1660s, and the 19th century. (fn. 61)

No parochial records before 1835 are known. Full Sutton joined Pocklington poor-law union in 1836 (fn. 62) and Pocklington rural district in 1894. (fn. 63) It became part of the North Wolds district of Humberside in 1974.

CHURCH.

Full Sutton church was first mentioned in the early 13th century when, as a chapel of Catton, it was granted independence in return for certain payments, (fn. 64) which were later resolved into an annual pension of £1 13s.4d. (fn. 65) It was subsequently regarded as a rectory. The living was united with Skirpenbeck in 1919. (fn. 66)

The advowson belonged to Ralph Dawtry in 1234 (fn. 67) and thereafter descended like the manor in the Dawtry family. (fn. 68) It was for some reason held by Thomas Fairfax and another in 1658. (fn. 69) The advowson passed with the manor to Langley and Walker in 1675-6. It was held by Francis Elwick in 1705, by Joseph Eyre in 1713-14, and later by the Simpsons. (fn. 70) It was separated from the manor between 1823 and 1829, when it was acquired by Charles Duncombe, created Baron Feversham in 1826. (fn. 71) In 1880 W. E. Duncombe, created earl of Feversham in 1868, exchanged the advowsons of Full Sutton and Holtby (Yorks. N.R.) with the Crown for Kirkbymoorside (Yorks. N.R.). (fn. 72) The Lord Chancellor still exercised the patronage on behalf of the Crown in 1972. (fn. 73)

The church was worth £6 13s. 4d. in 1291 (fn. 74) and £10 12s. 8d. net in 1535. (fn. 75) Payment of the pension to Catton was disputed by the rector of Full Sutton in 1555. (fn. 76) The living was worth £40 in 1650 (fn. 77) and the average net income in 1829-31 was £150. (fn. 78) The Catton pension was still being paid in 1865. (fn. 79) The living was worth £198 net in 1884 and £129 net in 1915. (fn. 80) Glebe land in 1716 comprised a close and an unspecified amount of open-field land. (fn. 81) At inclosure in 1766 the rector was awarded 105 a. in lieu of glebe and tithes, and he already had an 8-acre close. (fn. 82) All the land was sold in 1925. (fn. 83) The parsonage house was out of repair in 1704. (fn. 84) In 1777 it was a brick house containing four groundfloor rooms and four bedrooms; it was replaced by a larger house between 1825 and 1849. (fn. 85)

In the Middle Ages the living was held by several members of the Dealtry family. (fn. 86) At least two 18thcentury incumbents were non-resident, living at their other cures of Hatfield (Yorks. W.R.) in 1743 and Thorne (Yorks. W.R.) in 1764. (fn. 87) After 1919 the rector lived at Skirpenbeck, and since 1941 he has also been rector of Scrayingham with Leppington and Howsham. (fn. 88)

A service was held each Sunday in 1743 and Holy Communion was celebrated four times a year with about 20 communicants. (fn. 89) There were monthly communions by 1868 and weekly ones by 1884, when there were about 6 communicants. By 1877 two services were held each Sunday and one on Fridays. (fn. 90) Only one service was held in January 1974 but communion was celebrated on the other Sundays.

The church of ST. MARY, of ashlar, consists of chancel with north vestry, and nave with west bellcot and south porch. The church was in decay in 1615, (fn. 91) and in 1723-4 the porch was repaired and a buttress rebuilt. (fn. 92) The whole church was rebuilt and enlarged in 1844-5, partly with old masonry. (fn. 93) The chancel is in a 14th-century style and the nave has some small reset windows of the 15th century.

There were two bells in 1770, (fn. 94) and in 1877 it was reported that two new ones had been provided. (fn. 95) The plate includes a silver chalice and a paten, presented in 1878 by Mrs. Darcy Wyvill and J. S. Salman, vicar, respectively, and a plated cup, a plate, and a flagon. (fn. 96) The registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials begin in 1713 and are complete. (fn. 97)

The churchyard was enlarged in 1909. (fn. 98)

NONCONFORMITY.

The Methodists had 11-27 members at Full Sutton in 1814-16. (fn. 99) Houses were licensed for worship in 1761, 1813, 1823, and 1827, (fn. 100) and a Wesleyan chapel in 1829. (fn. 101) Most people were said in 1865 to attend both church and chapel. (fn. 102) The chapel closed in 1974. (fn. 103)

EDUCATION.

A schoolmaster at Full Sutton was licensed in 1596. (fn. 104) In 1819 children attended school in a near-by parish, but a school was started at Full Sutton in 1823 and ten children attended in 1835. (fn. 105) A school supported by parents was mentioned in 1865, (fn. 106) but subsequently children were said to go to schools in Fangfoss and Skirpenbeck. (fn. 107)

CHARITIES FOR THE POOR.

Thomas Wood, by will dated 1568, devised a rent-charge of £10 from an estate at Kilnwick Percy for the benefit of Full Sutton and many other townships. In 1824 2s. 6d. was distributed in Full Sutton, along with the interest of the Town Stock. (fn. 108) Henry Frederick, Baron Hotham, owner of the Kilnwick Percy estate, redeemed the rent-charge in 1961 and £5 stock was subsequently assigned to Full Sutton. (fn. 109) The income was given to one person in 1966, but in 1972 the 17p received was not distributed. (fn. 110)

The Town Stock comprised gifts of £1 by Richard Green, £1 by Elizabeth Pearson, and £1 6s. 8d. by George Dealtry, all in 1659, £1 by Dorothy Green in 1674, and £2 by William Ringrose in 1728. By 1736 a further £1 3s. 4d. had been added by the parish. (fn. 111)

John Cobb, by will of 1783, directed that bread should be distributed out of the profits of a close in the parish. His next of kin apparently gave £40 as an endowment. Two-shillings' worth of bread was subsequently given out four times a year. Elizabeth Cobb, by will dated 1809, bequeathed £72 net to the poor of Full Sutton. (fn. 112) The two bequests were used to buy £106 stock and the joint income in 1974 was over £1; in recent years the income has been allowed to accumulate and occasional grants in money or goods have been made to the sick and poor. (fn. 113)

David Beal, by will proved in 1853, bequeathed £60, the interest to be distributed in bread every third Sunday. In 1972 the income was over £1 from £61 stock; it was not distributed that year. (fn. 114) The dole shelf is now in the church vestry.