Whitby in 1823

Extracts from the description of Whitby in Baines' Directory 1823:

The town stands on two opposite declivities at the mouth of the Eske, by which river it is divided into two parts, which are connected by a draw-bridge so constructed as to admit vessels of 32 feet wide …

Owing to the northern aspect of the district and the rising of the land to a considerable distance into the country, the sun beams fall so obliquely on the town and its immediate vicinity, that its climate may be considered nearly on an equality with Shetland and the Orkneys.

It is closely and irregularly built, though the houses of the opulent inhabitants are large and commodious; the streets in general are narrow and inconvenient, and the act obtained for paving, lighting and widening them has been very imperfectly carried into effect …

The ruins of the once famous abbey stand on a high cliff south-east of the town near the parish church, and the ascent to it from the town is by a flight of two hundred steps.  A small distance south of the abbey Mr Cholmeley has a splendid mansion, built probably with the materials from the monastery …

if the situation [of the abbey] is bleak the prospect is commanding and presents a view of the town and port of Whitby, with the frowning heights of the black moors rising in the horizon in front, while in the rear is the vast expanse of the ocean, and the tout ensemble is truly magnificent …

When the abbey of Whitby was in the zenith of its glory, the town was little more than a small fishing station … the important discovery of the alum mines at the close of the reign [of Queen Elizabeth] raised Whitby from its obscurity … and elevated the town to a degree of maritime consequence … two great branches of trade were opened at the port of Whitby – one for supplying the works with coals, the other for conveying the alum to distant parts.

Stokesley in 1823

As described in Baines' Directory of 1823 (the 16 pubs are listed near the end of this blog post):-

Stokesley in the wapentake and liberty of Langbargh: 9 miles from Guisborough; 9 from Yarm; and 16 from Northallerton. 

A small market town of Cleveland, consisting chiefly of one broad street, running east and west, and washed on the south by a principal branch of the river Leven, which is a remarkably fine trout stream. 

The buildings are neat, and for the most part in the modern style. 

The market is held on Saturday, and is plentifully supplied with provisions on reasonable terms.  Of the fairs which are held here, an account will be found appended to the first volume. 

The lands near the town are chiefly in grass, and occupied in small allotments.  The surrounding lands are rich and fertile, and being a fine sporting country, the situation possesses all the advantages of rural sports and agreeable retirement. 

The beautiful and majestic chain of mountains, called the Cleveland hills, including Roseberry Topping, range at a distance of from four to six miles from the town, with a peculiarly bold and romantic outline, and form a sort of semi-circular amphitheatre, of which Stokesley is the centre. 

Hutton Rudby & parish in 1872

Rudby parish as described in the Post Office Directory of 1872:

RUDBY-IN-CLEVELAND is a township, parish, and small village, 4 miles south-west from Stokesley, and 6 south-east from Yarm, in the west division of Langbaurgh liberty, Stokesley union and county court district, rural deanery of Cleveland, archdeaconry of Cleveland, and diocese of York, situated on the northern bank of the river Leven.

The church of All Saints is an old Gothic stone building in good repair, with a tower, nave, aisle, chancel, porch, and 3 bells; the interior contains a sarcophagus, with the date 1423, to the memory of Robert Wyclyft, rector of this parish; also a monument to the Layton family, dated 1594, and marble tablets to the memory of the Honorable George Cary, son of Lucius Henry Viscount Falkland, who died April 11, 1792, aged 81; also his wife, Isabella Cary, who died the 12th day of April, 1799, aged 81.  The register dates from the year 1584.

The living is a vicarage, with Middleton and East Rounton annexed, joint yearly value £270, with residence, in the gift of Viscount Falkland and held by the Rev. Robert Joseph Barlow, M.A of Trinity College, Dublin.  The vicarage is a neat modern building, situated on a commanding eminence about a mile from the village, erected by the present incumbent in 1843.

Adjoining to the churchyard, to the west, is a school-house, erected and endowed about the year 1740, at the expense of Charles Bathurst, esq., for the education of boys and girls.

The charities, bequeathed by Lady Amherst, are of £10 yearly value.  Viscount Falkland is lord of the manor and chief landowner.

The soil is loamy; subsoil, strong clay.  The chief crops are wheat, beans and oats.  The population in 1861 was 69, and in 1871, 61; the area is 880 acres; gross estimated rental, £1,341; rateable value, £1,222.

Parish Clerk, Spencer Holmes.

The nearest post office is at Hutton Rudby.-  Henry Willins, receiver.  Letters arrive from Yarm at 9.35 a.m; dispatched, 4.15 p.m.  Yarm is its money order office.

CARRIERS TO - 
MIDDLESBROUGH – James Sidgwick, Friday
STOCKTON – John Bainbridge, Wednesday and Saturday; William Richardson & James Sidgwick, Wednesday
STOKESLEY – William Richardson, Saturday

Crathorne in 1840

Crathorne, as described in White's Directory 1840:

Crathorne, a village and parish on the Thirsk road, and on the western side of the vale of the river Leven, 4 miles S by E of Yarm, contains 304 souls, and 2,460 acres of land, mostly the property of Mrs Mary Tasburgh, of Burghwallis, the lady of the manor and patroness of the Church, (All Saints) which is a small ancient edifice, and has in its chancel the recumbent effigy of a crusader, supposed to represent Sir Wm Crathorne, Kt, who lived in 1322, and whose family was long seated here.  The rectory, valued in K.B. at £10 11s 10 ½d and now at £205, is enjoyed by the Rev Ralph Grenside, B A.
Here is a Catholic Chapel, which was rebuilt about sixteen years ago, and was founded by the Crathorne family.  The interest of £74  4s 8 ½d, left by Thomas Baxter, in 1769, is paid to a schoolmaster for the education of poor children.

Crathorne in 1823

Crathorne, as described in Baines' Directory 1823:

Crathorne in the wap and liberty of Langbargh; 4 miles SSE of Yarm.
The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient plain structure;  in the chancel is an effigy of a knight cumbent in armour cross-legged, with the arms of Crathorne on his shield.  This, it is conjectured, is the monument of Sir William Crathorne, Knight, who lived A.D 1322, near which is a mural monument, to the memory of Ralph Crathorne, Lord of Crathorne.  The living is a rectory, in the patronage of Lord Viscount Cullen.
Here is likewise a Catholic chapel, and a place of worship for the Primitive Methodists.
A mineral spring has been discovered about half a mile from this place.  The village consists of about sixty-six houses pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Leven.  Pop 330.

Hutton Rudby & parish in 1859

The entry in Whellan's Directory of 1859 is lengthy, and the following is an extract.

There are various interesting points in it - the details of the mills in the parish are useful and I don't think there is any other record of the 'Hutton Rudby Brood Mare & Foal Show'.


RUDBY.- This parish, usually called Rudby-in-Cleveland, comprises the townships of Rudby, Hutton Rudby, Middleton, East Rouncton, Scutterskelf, and Sexhow.  The area of the whole is 7,386 acres; population, 1,119 souls.  The township of Rudby contains 880 acres, according to the Parliamentary Return, but 993 acres, according to local estimation.  Rateable value, £1,023.; population, 66.  The land is mostly the property of Lord Falkland, the Lord of the Manor.  The soil is chiefly a strong clay.

The Village of Rudby.- is small, and stands on the north side of the Leven, 3 ½ miles W by S of Stokesley – Hutton Rudby being on the opposite side.

The Church (All Saints) stands on the margin of the Leven, and is an old structure in good repair, which belonged to the Priory of Guisborough before the Dissolution.  It has a body in two aisles, a chancel, and a tower which contains three bells.  In the east window is a shield on painted glass, representing quarterly the arms of Conyers, Darcy and Meinell.  Within a niche is the effigy of an ecclesiastic, bearing a chalice – the top, apparently, of a monumental slab.  There are also a monument to the Layton family, dated 1594; and tablets to the Carey family.  In the north wall, raised above a sepulchral niche, now empty, is what may be termed a genealogical epitaph, traced in large distinct capitals on stone, still in good preservation.

The Living is a Vicarage, with the Chapel of Middleton annexed, worth about £200 a year, having been augmented with a Parliamentary grant of £1,200 in 1814.  It is in the gift of Lord Falkland, and incumbency of the Rev Robert Joseph Barlow.  The Vicarage House, situated on an eminence about half a mile from the village, was built in 1844 by the present Vicar.  The great tithes were commuted for £262, and are in seven shares, belonging to four persons.

Hutton Rudby Township.- Area, 2,341 acres; rateable value, £3,330; population, 777 souls.  Principal proprietors of the soil, Lords Falkland and De L’Isle and Dudley, Kirkleatham Hospital, J. Emerson, Esq., and Messrs. Garbutt, Gray, and Rickerson. 
Mr Mark Barker is Lord of the Manor, and resides in the Manor House, a small farmhouse, situated about a mile west of Hutton.

Hutton Rudby and parish in 1840

From White's Directory 1840:-

RUDBY-IN-CLEVELAND is a small village on the north bank of the river Leven, 3 ½ miles W. by S. of Stokesley, and has in its township 81 souls, and 880 acres of land, mostly the property of Lord Falkland, the lord of the manor, impropriator, and patron of the Church (All Saints,) which is a perpetual curacy valued at £185, and augmented with a parliamentary grant of £1200 in 1814.  The Rev. Robt. Jph. Barlow, M.A., is the incumbent.
The parish comprises also Hutton, Middleton, East Rouncton, Scutterskelf, and Sexhow townships. 

HUTTON RUDBY is an extensive village, on the southern acclivities of the picturesque dale of the river Leven, 4 miles W.S.W. of Stokesley.  Its township increased its population from 707, in 1801, to 1027 souls, in 1831; and contains 1890 acres of land, including many scattered farm houses, bearing different names.  Part of the village is called Enterpen, and many of the inhabitants are employed in the manufacture of linen cloth, ticks, drills, checks, diapers, &c., there being here a large flax-mill, and about 250 weavers.  The executors of the late Mark Barker, Esq., are lords of the manor, but a great part of the soil belongs to other proprietors, and the co-heiresses of the late Geo. Weatherill, Esq., are impropriators of the great tithes.  The Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists have each a chapel here, and the former have a Centenary School.  Here is also a National School, built in 1836, and a Free School erected in 1740, and endowed with £5 a year, left by Chas. Bathurst, Esq.  The poor have a yearly rent charge of 20s, left by David Simpson in 1783, and the dividends of £100 three per cent. consols, purchased with £70 left by James Young, in 1807.

MIDDLETON-UPON-LEVEN is a small township and chapelry of scattered houses, in the picturesque dale of the river Leven, 4 ½ miles S.E of Yarm.  It contains 89 souls, and 850 acres of land, mostly the property of Colonel Wyndham and Lord Falkland, the former of whom is lord of the manor, and the latter impropriator of the tithes.  The Chapel of Ease is a perpetual curacy united with Rudby, and augmented with £1000 of Q.A.B., from 1740 to 1824.  Directory:- Jas Coulson, corn miller; Walton Fawell, vict., Chequers; and Hy Colbeck, Bartw. Gouldsbrough, Thos Legg, Thomas Righton, Wm Sleigh, Wm Smith, and John Tweddale, farmers.

ROUNCTON (EAST,) 7 miles S. of Yarm, is a small village on a lofty eminence, and has in its township 127 souls, and 1600 acres of land, belonging to various families.  The Grange is the seat and property of John Wailes, Esq.  The Chapel of Ease is a perpetual curacy annexed to Rudby, and augmented with £1000 of Q.A.B., from 1747 to 1817.  Directory:- Wm Carnagie, gardener; Mrs Ann Granston.; Wm Hildreth, tailor; Wm Lilburn, vict. and smith, Black Swan, Trenholme Bar; John Wailes, Esq.; Thos Wailes, shoemkr; John Atkinson, Ann Kilvington and Son, and Rd Scarth, farmers and owners; and Jph Fidler, John Hall, Rt Kendall, and David Smith, farmers.

SCUTTERSKELF, or SKUTTERSKELF, 3 miles W.S.W. of Stokesley, is a small township containing only 38 souls, and 880 acres of land, all the property of the Rt. Hon. Lucius Carey, Viscount Falkland, and Baron Carey, a Scotch peer, whose seat is Scutterskelf Hall, a handsome Grecian mansion, erected in 1831, in the sylvan dale of the river Leven, near Leven Grove, which was the seat of the late Lady Amherst, but was taken down a few years ago.  The farmers are John Dodsworth, John Redhead, and John Wrighton; Pp. Hibberd, gamekeeper; and Roderic McRea, gardener.

SEXHOW township, on the south side of the vale of Leven, 4 miles S.W. by W. of Stokesley, has only 35 souls, and 540 acres of land, all the property of Sir Wm. Foulis, but formerly belonging to the Laytons, whose ancient hall is now occupied by two farmers, Geo. Redhead and Thos. Chapman.  The other farmers are John Duck, Rt. Newsam, and Stephen York.

Middleton-upon-Leven and East Rounton in 1823

The hamlets of Middleton-upon-Leven and East Rounton, both then in the parish of Rudby-in-Cleveland, as described in Baines' Directory 1823:-

MIDDLETON-UPON-LEVEN, in the parish of Rudby, wap. and liberty of Langbargh; 4 ½ miles SE. of Yarm.  The Chapel of Ease, dedicated to St Cuthbert, is a small modern structure; patron, the Hon. Lady Amherst, and the Rev. Richard Shepherd, vicar of Rudby, officiates as curate.  Pop 111.

Farmers                        Rountree Robert
Colbeck  Henry            Rountree Wm
Foster  Thomas            Sligh  Wm
Righton  Wm                Tweddle  Thomas

Fawell Watson, vict. Chequers
Sayer Wm. bleacher & cornmiller

ROUNCTON EAST, in the parish of Rudby, wap. and liberty of Langbargh; 7 miles NNE. of Northallerton.  Pop 135.

Wailes  John, Esq. Grange

Ingledew  Matthew, yeoman
Kilvington  John, yeoman
Smith  William, yeoman

Hutton Rudby in 1823

The parish of Rudby-in-Cleveland as described in Baines' Directory 1823:

HUTTON, in the parish of Rudby, wap. and liberty of Langbargh; 4 miles SW of Stokesley.  An extensive, pleasant and populous village adjacent to the small village of Rudby, wherein is situated the parish church, there being at Hutton only a Methodist chapel, and one for the Primitive Methodists lately erected.  Here is likewise a Union Sunday School, capable of containing one hundred and ten children.  Linen is manufactured at this place to a considerable extent.  Population, 919.

RUDBY, in the wap. and liberty of Langbargh; 3 ½ miles WSW of Stokesley; a small village, pleasantly situated near the banks of the Leven.  The church is an ancient plain structure, dedicated to All Saints; the living is a vicarage, in the patronage of the Hon. Lady Amherst; incumbent, Rev. Richard Shepherd.  Here is a small school, with an endowment of £5 per annum, for teaching six poor children of the village.  Population, 76.

SEXHOW, a small hamlet, in the parish of Rudby, wap. and liberty of Langbargh; 4 miles SW of Stokesley.  Population, 38.

SKUTTERSKELFE, or LEVEN GROVE, in the parish of Rudby, wap. and liberty of Langbargh; 3 miles WSW of Stokesley.  Near to this village is Folly Hill, a conspicuous seamark, which may be seen at the distance of twenty leagues upon the German Ocean.  Population, 32.