The Site of the Archbishops' Palace

The Site of the Archbishops’ Palace

Bishop Wilton

Extracts from the Local History Bulletins CONTENTS The Site of the Archbishop of York’s Palace ......................................................................................................... 2 Wilton’s Deer Park ................................................................................................................................................. 5 I am convinced. Are you? Wilton’s Deer Park – Update ....................................................................................... 9 Aerial View of Hall Garth, Bishop Wilton ........................................................................................................... 10 The Dating of the Palace Site................................................................................................................................ 11 The Dating of the Palace Site – Update ................................................................................................................ 14 A Tale of Two Manors .......................................................................................................................................... 14 The Prebend of Wilton .......................................................................................................................................... 17 The Layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site – Part 1 ...........................................................................................19 The Athelstan Gift ................................................................................................................................................21 The Layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site – Part 2 ...........................................................................................23 The Site of the Palace of the Archbishops of York at Bishop Wilton ..................................................................25 The Archbishops’ Fish Ponds ...............................................................................................................................27 The Fish Pond – Back to Square One? .................................................................................................................30 Official Palace Site Archaeology ..........................................................................................................................31 A Palace Fit for a King .........................................................................................................................................32 Scottish Raids and Lawlessness in the Fourteenth Century .................................................................................33 Notes on this Selection of Bulletin Extracts .........................................................................................................36

19th June 2011 © Contributors

Bishop Wilton Local History – The Palace Site

June 19, 2011

The Site of the Archbishop of York’s Palace Andrew Sefton In 934 1 King Athelstan of Northumbria was about to make war with the Scots when at Lincoln he met a band of pilgrims who had joyously declared that they had been healed of all manner of diseases by visiting the tomb of the blessed John of Beverley. Their story induced the King to pay a visit to the tomb at Beverley by crossing the Humber whilst his army went round by the old Roman road to York. Athelstan placed his knife on the high altar at Beverley, as a pledge of the rewards that he would bestow upon the church if he were successful in his journey. He then saw a vision of John of Beverley appearing before his eyes, and he heard the words “Pass fearlessly with your army, for you shall conquer”. The prophecy came true and Athelstan was victorious in the battle of Brunanburh under the banner of John carried from Beverley. Upon his return, he liberally fulfilled his pledge and endowed John’s church with grants of land, tolls, and the right of Sanctuary. Bishop Wilton is linked to this story by being part of the gift of lands given to the church; this is reinforced by the west window of St Edith’s which portrays a portrait of both King Athelstan and Saint John of Beverley. Drake 2 states that the Manor of ‘Wilton’ was given with three carucates of land to the Archbishop Wulstanus of York (931 – 956) by King Athelstan of Northumbria who died in 939 A.D., along with Beverley, Ripon, Otley, Cawood and Sherburn.

There was no mention of the Palace in the Domesday Book of 1086, but there is reference to a church and a priest. It also mentions that the value of the manor before 1066 was £14 and after was £4. This indicates the manor did suffer under William’s revenge attacks on Yorkshire following rebellion, but at least fared better than Fridaythorpe which is described as ‘waste’ in 1086.

The Palace at Wilton was believed to have been built in the time of Archbishop Gray3 (1216 – 1255), who is thought to have built another residence at Bishop Burton and also added to the manor house at Cawood (his main residence) at this time. The building of the Palace at Wilton may have coincided with the making of Wilton as a ‘prebend’ in 1241 4. The Palace at Bishop Burton was not moated 5, perhaps because it was situated on dry chalk. Bishop Wilton Palace had a fine moat and fishpond system built on clay, filled by a strong running stream fed by the many springs from the upper slopes. Bishop Burton had a fish pond and as this was an important necessity to the Archbishops it warranted the expense of ‘puddling’ or lining the chalk.

The first recorded letters written by the Archbishops from ‘Wylton’ or ‘Wilton’ are found in the Fabric Rolls of York Minster. Archbishop Gray (1216 – 1255) signed at least 52 1

Cawood was developed as the main residence and in 1271 Archbishop Giffard acquired a licence from King Henry III to furnish his manor house with battlements, thus converting it into a castle.

Visitations by British royalty increased Cawood Castle’s importance before and about this time, and it became known as the "Windsor of the North". King John visited it for fox hunting in 1210 and 1212. In 1255 King Henry III and his wife, Eleanor, stayed there en route to Scotland to visit their daughter, Margaret, who had married Alexander III. About 1299 King Edward I started for Scotland to subdue the Scots, who were attempting to free their country from English rule.

Edward’s wife, Margurete of France, gave birth to a prince, Thomas de Brotherton, and she and her son resided at Cawood, with Edward visiting her frequently over the next five years. Edward also held some of his parliaments here. King Edward II stayed at the castle in 1314 after he was defeated in the Battle of Bannockburn. He and his queen stayed there in 1316 and again in 1322. And King Henry VIII stayed at Cawood Castle with Catherine Howard in 1540 when she was a bride.

It is possible that some of these important individuals also visited the Palace at Wilton when staying at Cawood.

‘The Story of the East Riding of Yorkshire’ by Horace B. Browne. 1912.

‘Eboracum the history and antiquities of the city of York’ by Francis Drake. 1736.

3 ‘History of the Parish & Manor of Bishopthorpe’ by John R. Keble. 1905.

4 ‘Wild Heath – The History of Bishop Wilton’ by Richard Sefton 5 ‘The Moated Sites of Yorkshire’, Soc. Med. Archaeol. Monog. Ser. 5. H.E.J. Le Patourel, 1973 2

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documents 6 from Wilton. Prior to this, in the twelfth century, the only reference was Saint William (Archbishop of York, 1140-1154) listing one of his miracles as the healing of a blind woman in Bishop Wilton.

Letters from the Palace are usually written in Latin; examples are one written by Archbishop Giffard in 1272 agreeing to pay his clerk Nicholas de Welles 16s 8d for household expenses, and later Archbishop Greenfield in February 1308 extolling the virtues of a gardener, Johanni Hurland, and a servant named Willelmo le Storur, “serventi manerii nostri de Wylton” 7. Another from ‘Wylton’ in 1289, describes the provision made for the worship of God. Archbishop Wickwaine was there in 1283 8 and Romanus 9 in 1289. A letter from Archbishop Greenfield dated 16th Sept. 1310, in capella de Wylton, talks about election of church officials. 10 In 1311 Archbishop Greenfield ordained the first recorded priest, Richard de Wilton 11, and two years later he witnessed the building of the parsonage, probably on the site of the ‘Old Vicarage’ (No. 94 Bishop Wilton).

The Palace at Wilton seems to have been used all year round: Archbishop Greenfield in 1309 spent Christmas at the Palace, as well as being there in Jan-Feb, Mar - April, and August of that year. 12 Archbishop Alexander Neville was an abrasive character who made many enemies even within the church. He would make pronouncements on the strict running of the church and make sudden visitations on the local Bishops to catch them out. In Beverley he upset the local Bishops so greatly that they pronounced he was no longer welcome in Beverley Minster 13. He spent much money on the building and renovation of his Palaces.

Accounts of his extensions at Cawood exist. On old maps a section of Braygate lane to Youlthorpe was known as Neville’s Row. In 1387 Archbishop Alexander Neville became involved in political intrigue which eventually led to the destruction of the Palace. Alexander supported the unpopular Richard II, who stayed at Cawood as a guest of Alexander many times. In 1387 Richard II was suffering severe political pressure and abandoned London and went on a ‘gyration’ of the realm, in order to gain favour with the local gentleman of power and military forces. During this tour Richard II procured a verdict from a bench of justices that it is treasonable to act against the king’s will, or to dismiss or prosecute his councillors. This caused much anger and resentment amongst the Earls, and Richard II’s youngest uncle, Thomas Duke of Gloucester, and the Earls of Arundel, Warwick, Nottingham and Derby (the son of John of Gaunt) accused as traitors Robert de Vere, Michael de la Pole, Archbishop Neville of York, Sir Robert Tresilian and Sir Nicholas Brembre, in Nov. 1387.

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The Archbishops of York during the time of the Palace at Bishop Wilton Archbishop Gray Archbishop Sewal de Bovill Archbishop Ludham Archbishop Giffard Archbishop Wickwaine Archbishop Romanus Archbishop De Newark Archbishop Corbridge Archbishop Greenfield Archbishop Melton Archbishop Zouche Archbishop Thoresby Archbishop Alexander Neville

‘History of the Parish & Manor of Bishopthorpe’ by John R. Keble. 1905, p. 108 Surtees Society – ‘Archbishop Greenfield’s Register’ Vol 1. 1931 Ref. 478 8 ‘The Historians of the Church of York and its Archbishops’ – James Raines iii, p.210 9 “Ibid”, iii, p. 215 10 “Ibid”,iii, p.214 11 Bishop Wilton Church – List of Vicars 12 Surtees Society – ‘Archbishop Greenfield’s Register’ – various Vols. 1 & 2 13 Thoresby Society – Miscellanea IX. 1928. Notes on Clerical Strikes.

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1216 – 1255 1256 – 1258 1258 – 1265 1266 – 1279 1279 – 1285 1286 – 1296 1296 – 1299 1300 – 1304 1304 – 1315 1317 – 1340 1342 – 1352 1352 – 1373 1373 – 1387

Bishop Wilton Local History – The Palace Site

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The Merciless Parliament, Feb – June 1388, tried and forfeited in absentia Robert de Vere, Michael de la Pole and Archbishop Neville. A number of the king’s other friends were tried and executed. Neville fled, and the Pope, pitying his case, translated him to the Scottish See of St. Andrews in 1388. But the Scots would not receive him and, for three years (until his death in 1392), he served as a parish priest in Louvain in France, where he was buried in the Church of the Carmelites.

In 1388 all of Alexander Neville’s lands and goods were seized. An inventory 14 was taken which includes a long list of personal items such as clothes and linen, but there is no mention of the Palace at Bishop Wilton. It is likely, but there is no proof, that the Palace was destroyed at this time by the Northern Earls. Further evidence of the ransacking of the village exists from a visitation record in 1388.

Extent of Wylton 1388 15: Lands forfeited by Alexander, late Archbishop of York.

(Extract) There is a manor there in a very ruinous state and almost fallen down.

It is of no net value. The herbage and fruits of the garden are worth 5/- yearly. There is an enclosed wood and an adjoining pasture in one enclosure of which the underwood and herbage are worth 20/- yearly.

There is a pasture called ‘Hallecliff’ worth 6s. 8d. yearly another called 'Grenewyke' where 800 sheep can be supported in summer and 500 in winter the pasturage of each sheep being worth 1d. and the total value 108/- 4d. and another called 'le Wolde' supporting 3000 sheep, the pasturage being worth at the same rate as above £12 10/-, if the lord has so many sheep there. There are 3 mills there almost fallen down and no net value and a common oven worth 20s. yearly. Perquisites of court with fines in average years are £10.

There is a further link to Alexander Neville from an entry in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal 16 which quotes Allen who described a church window prior to the church restoration started by Tatton Sykes in 1857.

“According to Allen there was to be seen until lately a shield in a window of the north aisle bearing gules on a saltire or [argent] a crescent sable. These are the arms of Alexander Neville (Archbishop of York 1374-88), fifth son of Ralph, second Lord Neville. “ The manor remained in the hands of the Archbishops of York until the treasurership was dissolved in 1544 when it passed to the Crown.

It is unlikely that the term Palace was used by the locals to describe the site in early times. The field in which the Palace site lies is called ‘Hall Garth’ or ‘Hall Garth Close’ and the name is to be found in the oldest of village documents 17 18. Other similar field names found in the old documents and maps are ‘Hall Cliff’ and ‘Hall Flatts’. We know that the manor house near to the church was also called the ‘Hall’ and that the farm on the same site was called Hall Farm in later years. So was the name transferred from the Palace site when it was destroyed? Or, was the manor house near the church always the original site of the name Hall? This needs further research.

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Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Unknown source – circa 1970s 16 Yorkshire Archaelogical Journal – ‘Ancient heraldry of deanery of Harthill’ p. 104 17 Various, including the will of Sir William Hildyard, 1632. Univ. Hull DDSY/4/166 18 Letters Patent grant to Christopher Estofte. 22 May 1563. Univ. Hull DDGE/3/25 15

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Archaeological investigation could reveal more about the site but so far it has been limited to an excavation 19 by the Archaeology Unit of Humberside Archaeology in 1993. A hand excavation of a cable trench was carried out across part of the northern side of the scheduled monument on behalf of Yorkshire Electricity plc. A partial section was obtained across the moat ditch, and discovered stone foundations of a building located on top of the moat platform. __________________________________________________________________________________________

Wilton’s Deer Park Mike Pratt Starting Point One of the back lanes in the village is called Park Lane because the land that rises from it to the Wolds is known in common village parlance as “The Park”.

Most people who use that term would have no idea of its derivation. But one village resident, Caroline Kernan (a Landscape Historian by profession), voiced an idea that it might be connected with the existence of a Deer Park sometime in the past.

English Heritage manage the Palace site as With this seed sown in my mind, it didn’t take long for a scheduled monument and in their official supporting evidence to emerge from unrelated strands of description they say that the “site is local history investigation. It is this evidence, albeit thought to have been built for Archbishop fragmentary, that is presented here.

Neville during the reign of Edward IV”.

Edward IV reigned from 1442 to 1483 and George Neville was Archbishop from 1465 Historical Context to 1476. Also, English Heritage’s The existence of a Deer Park cannot be looked at in delineation of the site on the southern isolation. It has to be seen as an adjunct to the moated site of boundary is at odds with the evidence the Archbishops’ Palace, a scheduled monument which presented here and with the evidence on exists as a grassed field of earthworks at the eastern end of the ground. Both these points will be the village. pursued and reported on in a subsequent article.

Based on Andrew Sefton’s research, we can attribute the building of the Palace to Archbishop Gray during the period 1216 to 1255 20 (see opposite for the English Heritage position).

With conclusive evidence for deer parks at other residences of the Archbishops of York, notably Bishop Burton and Beverley, it is reasonable to assume that there was one at Bishop Wilton. But what evidence exists?

The Darley Plan of 1765 In her book, Medieval Parks of East Yorkshire, Susan Neave 21 includes the following brief reference to Bishop Wilton: The manor of Bishop Wilton also belonged to the Archbishop of York. Although no documentary evidence for a park has been found, the field names Low Parks, High Parks and Park Head on a plan of 1765 suggest that this manor also supported a deer park, which must have been situated to the south of Hall Garth, site of the archiepiscopal manor house.

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‘An Archaelogical Excavation at the Archbishop’s Palace, Bishop Wilton’, 1993. Humberside Archaeology.

“The Site of the Archbishop of York’s Palace” by Andrew Sefton - Bishop Wilton Local History Bulletin No. 5, November 2003.

21 Centre for Regional and Local History, University of Hull and the Hutton Press Ltd, 1991.

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The plan of 1765 that Susan Neave refers to is reproduced as Figure 1 22. As well as giving us our first fragment of evidence for a Deer Park this plan will be used in support of other fragments.

Figure 1 The Palace site is marked as Hall Garth. The “Park” references are: Little Park, Lakeing Park, Low Parks, High Parks & Park Head.

Why should the term “park” make us think of deer? Susan Neave explains: The word park, derived from the Old English pearroc, simply means a paddock or enclosed field, but in the medieval period it was more specifically used to denote a private enclosure in which deer were kept. The medieval deer park most commonly comprised an enclosed tract of wild, semi-wooded country, sometimes taken in from waste ground on the edge of a manor …

The Bishop Wilton parkland identified in Figure 1 was certainly wooded and it was characteristically divided into separate enclosures, again as Susan Neave describes: … more commonly a park would be divided into coppices which could be protected from the deer by banks and fences, until the woodland had reached a certain age.

22

Reproduced with permission. University of Hull Brynmor Jones Library, Ref: DDSY/106/6.

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Other Evidence Along the same lines, one tiny shred of evidence comes from an inventory drawn up in 1298 23. It details the possessions of the Treasurer of York Minster at his Bishop Wilton property. Although there is no reference to a Palace or its contents, the last item in the inventory is described as follows: “All the timber from a building which was at the park gate, …” 24.

If we accept that “park” refers to the Deer Park this is the only contemporary indication of its existence that has so far come to light.

We will leave that hanging for the moment and move on to 1661. There is a document in the Archives at Hull University for October of that year 25 that records a transaction related to Bishop Wilton. Who was involved in that transaction and why does not really matter at this moment. The document mentions pockets of land or “closes” in Bishop Wilton called Lakin Parke, Hallfield, Hallgarth, Lodge Garth, Lowe Park, Highe-Parke, Cowclose, Ewe Gang, etc.

You will be able to see that all these “closes” are shown on the plan of 1765 in Figure 1 – all except one! Lodge Garth is missing. As the list seems to go round the plan in some kind of sequence we can speculate that Lodge Garth, although not shown, lies between Hall Garth and the Low Parks.

The land lying to the south of the Palace site, on the south side of the beck, appears to be an integral part of it because it is bounded by an interrupted earthwork bank that continues the shape of the site on the south that is formed on the other three sides by the moat. The contention is that the southern boundary of the Palace site was not the beck but an earthwork bank a little further to the south that had a break in it for a gate that allowed access to the Deer Park. Not only that. On the south side of the beck, within the boundary formed by the earthworks, there is evidence on at least two aerial photographs for a possible base for a squarish structure. It is suggested that this structure could have been the Lodge that gave the plot its name of Lodge Garth.

What is the significance of this? Once again we turn to Susan Neave: Most of the larger parks contained a lodge, which commonly provided a permanent residence for the park keeper but which might also be used to accommodate hunting parties.

Although it does not help with the location of Lodge Garth there is a reference in an earlier document of 1587 to a plot called Foster Lodge 26 (in a similar list to that above). With the term of “Lodge” as the common element I take this to refer to the same plot (with the passage of time making the naming less specific). This seems more likely when we consider that one meaning of “Foster” is “one who looks after the lord’s forests or woods”.

So, let us picture it: the Palace site was surrounded on at least two sides by the Deer Park. One of those sides was formed by the moat. On the other side, the south side, there was a bank, probably with a wooden pale or fence on it, to keep the deer out. Access was needed from the Palace to the Deer Park. This was provided by a crossing over the beck and a gate in the boundary bank (possibly the very same gate we left hanging a few 23

York Minster Archives Ref: M2(3)d5. This has been specially translated for future publication in a Local History Group document.

“Marremium totum de una domo que fuit ad hostium parci, …” – from medieval Latin: parcus, parca = park or enclosure; parco = to enclose or empark.

25 University of Hull Brynmor Jones Library, Ref: DDSY/4/173 – “Bargain and Sale for 10s”.

26 University of Hull Brynmor Jones Library, Ref: DDSY/3/25 – “Inspeximus of Letters Patent”.

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paragraphs back!). Close to this gate there was a Lodge for the person who looked after the deer and the woodland in which they roamed.

The View from the Air What must we look for on the ground as evidence for a Deer Park? There are three possibilities that Susan Neave identifies: The boundary of a former park sometimes survives in the form of a curvilinear hedgerow marking a block of early enclosure, surrounded by fields of a more regular shape which had been laid out at parliamentary enclosure in the 18th or early 19th century.

Occasionally the boundary of a medieval park is still marked by an earthen bank, on which the oak palisade would have been set, and an inner ditch following the line of the bank.

Can we find signs of a curvilinear boundary (sign 1) with a bank (sign 2) and ditch (sign 3) anywhere around our Deer Park? If we went out today either on foot or in the air we might not have much luck. But there is at least one old aerial photograph that does show two out of the three signs – see Figure 2 below 27.

A

B

Figure 2 This is a detail from an RAF photograph which was taken in 1951 and it shows the eastern edge of the same territory represented in Figure 1. Wold Farm is visible in the bottom right corner. The visible end-points of the boundary we are interested in are marked as A and B.

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English Heritage (NMR) RAF Photography. Ref: RAF/540/572 Frame 3084 (Dated 30/7/51). Reproduced with permission.

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Still visible in 1951 is a curvilinear boundary marked by a ditch. For some of its length it appears to follow the line of the very edge of the flatter ground (on the right) where the slope falls off into the Park (on the left). This would have been a natural line to follow for a Deer Park as the upward slope would make it harder for deer to jump the boundary.

In Summary We have 4 distinct fragments of evidence: 1. The use of the term “park” that has passed down through the centuries from at least 1298 to the present day.

2. One aerial photograph that shows characteristic signs of the Deer Park boundary.

3. References to a lodge that would have been used by the keeper of the Deer Park.

4. The Archbishops of York were known to be keen on deer hunting and had parks at their other residences. __________________________________________________________________________________________

I am convinced. Are you? Wilton’s Deer Park – Update Mike Pratt Following on from my article in Bulletin 7, a further visit to the aerial photography archives at the English Heritage’s National Monuments Record (NMR) in Swindon has revealed more evidence of a curvilinear boundary that I think marks Wilton’s former Deer Park.

But I recently discovered that you don’t have to study aerial photographs to find such evidence. Looking to the right while driving up Worsendale, just below Flat Top House, I spotted a feature I hadn’t noticed before and I returned to take the photograph shown here in a low afternoon sunlight.

So far, signs of possible remnants of the boundary have been spotted to the south, east and north but not to the west. The search continues …….

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Aerial View of Hall Garth, Bishop Wilton Mike Pratt Although the layout and size of the Palace site with its moat and fishponds can be assessed from the ground, it is not possible to get a good idea of the structures that were contained within it. This is where aerial photography can help. An aerial view of Hall Garth is provided below. It was taken by Anthony Crawshaw of York in February of 1987 when a light covering of snow helped accentuate the features on the ground.

A future bulletin will explore the possible nature and use of the buildings on the Palace site. For the time being the view from the air shows that they were extensive.

Aerial photograph reproduced with the permission of Anthony Crawshaw, Aeroscene Ltd, York.

Photograph taken on 17/2/87. Ref: 99/37

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School roof highlighted for size comparison

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The Dating of the Palace Site Mike Pratt & Andrew Sefton The English Heritage Perspective In an article on Wilton’s Deer Park in Bulletin 7 it was explained that English Heritage who manage the Palace Site say that the “site is thought to have been built for Archbishop Neville during the reign of Edward IV”. This would give a date between 1465 and 1476, but based on Andrew Sefton’s research we think that the date is earlier than that.

We sent a letter to English Heritage in March 2004 explaining our concerns about their dating (and also about the precise boundaries of the site) and asking them if they had any documentary evidence to support their view.

We received a reply in the same month which was encouraging and supportive. The respondent said: “It seems to me highly likely that the site originated at an earlier date”. But on the question of any evidence for the 15th century dating we were told that English Heritage’s “historical information was drawn from information in the local Sites and Monuments Record in Hull”. It was suggested that we supply the SMR in Hull (and English Heritage) with a consolidated report on our research on the site so that they can “update their own records so that these can be fully used in consideration of any planning or other matters affecting the site”.

To help produce this consolidated report it seems worthwhile to investigate the claim that the Palace was built by Archbishop George Neville between 1465 and 1476.

The very first entry for the Palace Site in the SMR records at Hull 28 shows where English Heritage get their dating from: “The site is believed to mark the palace of Archbishop Neville who resided here in the reign of Edward IV. His arms appear on one of the church windows.” A subsequent entry (based on a quotation 29) says that “The site was used by the Archbishops of York in the 13th and 14th centuries”. Is this inconsistency or does it imply that although the site was “used” in the 13th and 14th century, it was only in the 15th century that a palace was built? There are no grounds for such an assumption unless there is evidence that Archbishop George Neville did actually have something built at Wilton.

Although we do not know of any actual documentary evidence, we do know that it was a view that was held in the 1800s. There is this reference to Bishop Wilton in a book published in 1856 30:

The SMR in Hull holds records for the East Riding of Yorkshire in the form of OS Maps that are manually annotated to identify sites of interest. Each site has a reference number that relates to supporting information on record sheets that are stored in physical files. A record sheet for a site contains numbered entries, either typed or handwritten, that include quotations, documentary references, aerial photo references and expert assessments. Anyone can consult the SMR archives by prior appointment

“The place derives its affix from the palace which was erected here by Archbishop Neville, in the reign of Edward IV. This episcopal residence stood in a moated field, near a church, where there is now a large farm house, and some fine avenues of lofty trees.”

28

SMR Ref. No. 717 From The Moated Sites of Yorkshire by H. E. Jean Le Patourel (1971). The actual quote is “desmesne manor house used by archbishop during 13th and 14th centuries”.

30 History and Topography of the City of York; The Ainsty Wapentake; and the East Riding of York by J. J. Sheahan and T. Whellan.

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Does that help us? No, not really, as the description appears to relate to the site of the Manor House (the large farm house) near the Church which we know had lofty trees nearby and which we suspect was surrounded by a moat!

If that isn’t confusing enough there is an earlier reference in White’s Directory of 1840: “The soil belongs to many proprietors, but Sir T. Sykes is lord of the manor, which was formerly held by the Archbishops of York, one of whom, Alex. Neville, had a palace here, in a moated field, near the church, where there is now a large farmhouse, and some fine avenues of lofty trees.”

The phrasing is similar apart from the fact that it attributes the palace to Archbishop Alexander Neville (1374 to 1388) rather than Archbishop George Neville (1465 to 1476)!

A coat of arms in a window in the church (see box) prior to its restoration points to the earlier Archbishop Neville as the one most directly associated with the palace at Bishop Wilton.

The earliest reference found so far, in Baines Vol 2, a directory published in 1823, simply states: Bishop Neville had founded a palace here, which was moated round, and from which it is supposed the village derived its name.”

Andrew Sefton has discovered a reference to the interior of the church prior to restoration in a book published in 1831 called “A New and Complete History of the Church” by Thomas Allen. In association with a “shield of arms” in a window in the church it says, “These are the arms of Bishop Neville, who formerly resided in this parish, which gave rise to the name of Bishop-Wilton. In the neighbourhood of the church is a field moated round, in which it is said his palace stood”. A further discovery

by Andrew, in an edition of the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, specifically attributes these arms to Alexander Neville, “fifth son of Ralph, second Lord Nevile”.

Interestingly the earliest OS map of 1845 identifies the site as that of Archbishop Neville’s Palace.

We have, at least, discovered some sources for the SMR’s dating of the Palace site despite the frustrating discrepancies that they reveal. The question now is what those sources were based on.

There are at least two distinct possibilities. One is that they are based on earlier documentary sources that we have yet to find. The other is that they are based on local knowledge or belief and that the compilers of one or more of the various books actually interviewed people. If the latter, it is possible that they misinterpreted what they were told, e.g. the fact that an Archbishop was said to have resided in Bishop Wilton was interpreted as him having built or founded the palace there; without knowing that there were two Archbishop Nevilles one was confused with the other.

The Local History Group Perspective There is no specific documentary evidence supporting an earlier date for the building and existence of the Archbishops’ Palace; it is all indirect and can be simply stated as follows: 1. Moated sites like the one at Bishop Wilton are thought to date predominantly from the 12th to the 13th century. H. E. Jean Le Patourel who studied the moated sites of Yorkshire says 31: “The moated site of the 12th century is everywhere exceptional, though numbers were clearly increasing in the following 31

The Moated Sites of Yorkshire by H. E. Jean Le Patourel, published by The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series No. 5, London, 1973

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century, to reach a climax in the later 13th century. After 1325, there seems to be a considerable drop in the number constructed.”

2. We know that the Archbishops of York were visiting and staying at Wilton from the time of Archbishop Grey (1215-1255) to Archbishop Alexander Neville (1374-1388) because of the letters they wrote which were dated and identified with the Latin “apud Wilton” meaning “at Wilton”.

3. There is no documentary evidence, found so far, for the Archbishops’ visits continuing after Alexander Neville. There is evidence, however, for the curtailment of ecclesiastical visitations generally across the country after the upheavals of the 14th century. Christopher Dyer says: “Earls and bishops who before the first plague had maintained and visited twenty or more houses and castles, now focused their expenditure on three or four residences, which they could build and furnish to a higher standard” 32.

There is at least one possibility that could embrace both the English Heritage and the Local History Group perspectives but it is very tenuous. We know that a document, dated 1388 33, produced as a result of the forfeiture of land by Archbishop Alexander Neville described the “manor” (i.e. “manor house”) at Wilton as being “in a very ruinous state and almost fallen down”. It is just possible that Archbishop George Neville in the 15th century built a residence by the Church, leaving the Palace site as a ruin, and it is this that is remembered and referred to in the 19th century accounts. This seems most unlikely as visits to Wilton appear to have ceased by then.

In summary, our working assumption at the moment is that the Nevilles were confused one with another in the 1800s and that it is the earlier Archbishop Alexander Neville who was the last and most remembered visitor to the palace at Wilton, but it was not him who built it as it dates to an earlier time when such moated sites were more common.

Continuing Research It is still possible that continuing research will uncover direct documentary evidence for the existence of the Archbishops’ residence on the Palace site thus allowing unequivocal dating.

Without that the only alternative is archaeological evidence should any excavation of the site be allowed by Garrowby Estate and English Heritage in the future.

Postscript The site of the Archbishops’ manor house at Otley has been excavated and H. E. Jean Le Patourel and P. Wood report 34 on finds suggesting post-conquest building work including a chapel and private apartments during the 12th and 13th centuries. With glass from windows indicating a date of the third quarter of the 13th century for some of the building work, this points to Archbishop Gray as the possible initiator especially as he is known to have been responsible for other work in Otley. Actual use of the site is thought to have fallen off early in the 14th century.

As Wilton was on the Archbishops’ circuit contemporaneously with Otley it is just possible that it shared a similar history.

32

Making a Living in the Middle Ages. The People of Britain 850 – 1520 by Christopher Dyer, published by Penguin Books, 2003 All we have is a translated extract, entitled “Extent of Wylton”, the original document having not yet been located.

34 “Excavation at the Archbishop of York’s Manor House at Otley” by H. E. Jean Le Patourel and P. Wood published in the Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 45, 1973.

33

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The Dating of the Palace Site – Update Mike Pratt Since the publication of the article on the dating of the Palace site in Bulletin 9 a significant fragment of historical information has come to light. Whilst researching an article on the fish ponds I was reading what seems to be the most comprehensive collection of papers on the topic, Medieval Fish, Fisheries and Fishponds in England edited by Michael Aston 35. In a paper entitled The Royal Fishponds of Medieval England by J. M. Stearne there is a Gazeteer that gives information on the pond at Fosse, as follows: The castle at York occupied a site just to the north of the point where the river Foss joins the Ouse. To provide it with water defences the Foss was dammed up and created a large pool. Water from the Fosse pool filled the moat surrounding the castle and drove the king’s mill as it flowed into the river Ouse (Brown, et. al 1963, pp. 889-894 36). The pond at Fossa, Fosse or Foss seems to have been largely used for stocking other people’s ponds or simply as a source for royal presents. The sheriff of York was to allow the archbishop of York 30 bream in the fishpond of ‘Fossa’ to install in his fishpond of Wiltan (Cal Cl. R. 1227-31, p.19 37). [my underlining] The “Wiltan” mentioned here has to be our Wilton and the date of the reference underlined, 1227-31, falls within the period that Walter De Grey was Archbishop of York. The “fishpond of Wiltan” (the outline of which is still visible) must have been an integral part of the Palace site of the time i.e. it would not have existed without the other structures on the site. All of which supports the outcome of Andrew Sefton’s research which attributes the establishment of the Palace site to Archbishop De Grey. __________________________________________________________________________________________

A Tale of Two Manors Andrew Sefton The tale of the ownership of the Manor of Bishop Wilton is complex and reflects the turmoil of the times following the Norman invasion, the Reformation and the ways that lands and properties were distributed into lay hands. The story starts with the gift by King Althelstan in 937, of the Manor of Bishop Wilton to Archbishop Wulstanus of York along with Beverley, Ripon, Otley, Cawood and Sherburn 38. Bishop Burton was not acquired by the Dean and Chapter of York until after the Norman Conquest in 1194 39.

35

Part 1 (of 2), published in 1988 by B.A.R. – British Series 182(i).

Brown, R. Allen, Colvin, H. M. and Taylor, A.J. 1963, The History of the Kings Works Volumes 1 and 2 The Middle Ages HMSO, London 37 From the Calendar of Close Rolls at the National Archives (PRO), Kew. Andrew Sefton has found a published transcription of the entry in Latin that is dated March 13, 1228.

38 ‘Eboracum the history and antiquities of the city of York’ by Francis Drake. 1736.

39 Victoria County History Vol. IV (O.U.P.1979), ed. K.J. Allison 36

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Let us speculate as to why these Manors in particular were given. Beverley and Ripon were obviously large and prosperous settlements in Saxon times and would generate considerable income. Otley is the only palace site to have been archaeologically investigated. 40 This excavation discovered the possible remains of a Saxon Hall on the site prior to the building of the Archbishop’s residence. Wheater 41 suggests Cawood was probably built by Athelstan as a defensive manor, the only route through the dense forests, to his ancient seat of Sherburn in Elmet where Athelstan had his palace. Mountain 42 states that Athelstan built a Castle in Cawood in 920. The invading Danes would sail up the river Ouse and embark at a point close to Cawood and Riccall, just as they did in 1066 for their most infamous invasion.

Sherburn was Althelstan’s home, and to give Sherburn to the church was a significant gesture and showed his commitment to the church. But, Bishop Wilton? Why was Bishop Wilton included in these illustrious gifts?

The Palace site in Bishop Wilton was significantly called ‘Hall Garth’ and indicates this was the site of an older Hall. English Heritage 43 in their description of the ancient monument state that the remains visible today overlie earlier structures. The size of the moat surrounding Hall Garth is substantial; was it built by the Archbishop to defend against marauding Scots, or was the palace built on the remains of earlier defensive earthworks built by the Saxons to defend against the invading Danes? Otley was not built with defensive ditches and moat, and if the Scots were priority for defence, then surely they would have been built at Otley. This indicates the defences at Bishop Wilton were older, and the reason for Athelstan’s gift, and simply built upon by the Archbishop, who would have later converted the older defensive ditches into a moat fed by his newly created fishponds 44 around the time of the Scottish raids. This is of course speculation, and can only be answered by archaeology.

Therefore, were the gifts to the church in 937 Manors which could be defended against the invading Vikings, or were they just valuable and rich Manors which could generate revenue? Either way, it is still a mystery as to why such a small Manor as Bishop Wilton, of the hundreds of Manors he could have given, would be included alongside the larger and more impressive gifts of Beverley and Ripon.

The survey of 1086 45 shows Bishop Wilton as one Manor held by Archbishop Eldred with 15 farmers having 7 ploughs. In 1215 Archbishop Walter de Gray became Archbishop of York, a clever man with aspirations to improve the finances and organisation of the Church. He reorganised the parochial system, built churches, instituted vicarages. In the diocese of York, Gray created 36 prebends 46 which would bring income to the church. One of his first acts was to separate the treasurership of the church of York from the archdeaconry of the East Riding. In 1208 the Treasury of York had an interest in Bishop Wilton 47 and the Prebend of Bishop Wilton was created and annexed 48 to the Treasury of York by 7 Jan 1242. Thus two manors of Bishop Wilton were created, one the Bishop’s Manor where the palace site was located and the other the Treasurer’s or Prebendal Manor which included the church and manor house site. It is likely that when the Treasurer of York would visit Bishop Wilton he would stay in the manor house next to the church. When this house was first built is open to conjecture, but this manor house site itself may have ancient origins with a fishpond which is 40

Excavation of the Archbishop of York’s Manor House at Otley YAJ Vol 45, 1975, P. 115 ‘History of Sherburn and Cawood’ by W. Wheater. 1882.

42 ‘History of Cawood’ by James Mountain. 1800.

43 English Heritage ‘Site of Archbishop’s moated palace & fishponds, Hall Garth’ – SM21054 44 Bulletin 10, ‘The dating of the Palace site – Update’, P.2 45 Y.A.J. xiii P.492 46 ‘Ebor: A History of the Archbishops of York from Paulinus to Maclagan 627-1908’ by A.T. Hart 47 Yorkshire Assize Rolls Y.A.S. xliv 1911 p.30 48 Cart. Treas. York No. 21; cf. Reg. Gray p. 198, of 18 Apr. 1242.

41

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recorded as a moat on maps and in the archaeological records. The two above named manors appear in a document 49 of 1638 which mentions the late Sir William Hildyard, lord of the two manors of Bishop Wilton.

The inventory of the manor house by the church was included in the will of Martyn Collins, Treasurer of York, in 1508. 50 Whether this house was used by the Treasurer as a vicarage is possible as one Treasurer, William de Rotherfield (1220-1242), was likely to have been rector of Bishop Wilton 51. A vicarage was ordained in the church on Ascension Day (20 May) 1311. The Vicar (Richard de Wilton) was to have the three principal oblations, with all other oblations, mortuaries and quadrigesimal tithes; tithes of corn growing in the enclosed crofts, tithes of poultry, foals, calves, pigs, geese and such animals; harvest pennies and pennies of Holy bread, gardens, orchards, etc; bees and wax offered on purification day, eggs, and grass in the church yard. 52 The church had 2 aisles added by Archbishop Zouche and was newly consecrated shortly before his death in 1352. The inhabitants of Wilton were later sued by his executors in the Ecclesiastical Court for the sum of 47s 6d due by contract to the Archbishop for the Consecration. 53 In 1531-2 Sir William Bulmer, knight, settled lands for the maintenance of a priest to say Mass daily in the chapel of St. Helen at Wilton, and another priest to be his associate. The master was to receive £4 10s, and the brother £4. 54 This indicates there was a Catholic chapel in Bishop Wilton right up to the Reformation. The vestry of the church today is known as St Helen’s Chapel, and a Chapel associated with the church manor house was mentioned in the inventory of the will of the Treasurer of York, Martyn Collins, of 1508.

Following the Reformation of Henry VIII, the Treasurership of the Church of York was dissolved in 1547.

From here the two manors take a different path of ownership only to be re-united with the marriage of the heiress of Ralph Hansby to Sir William Hildyard of York.

The Prebendal or Treasurer’s Manor Following the Reformation and the dissolution of church lands, all the property owned by the treasury was granted by Edward VI (son of Jane Seymour – one of the six wives of Henry VIII) to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and brother of Jane. This included the Treasurer’s house in York as well as all the other assets. When Catholic Queen Mary came to the throne in 1553, he sold off much of the property or gave it to powerful friends in the Council of the North and the manor was acquired by William Hildyard of Winestead, Recorder of York.

He was one the Council members, who met in the King’s Manor in York and who became very rich from the division of church property. His son William Hildyard was to marry and live in the prebendal manor house at Bishop Wilton and in so doing re-united the two manors once more. This manor had land to the west of the parish of Bishop Wilton and most of the pre-enclosure land of the old open field system which would have the most productive arable land.

The Bishop’s Manor It seems that Archbishop Lee managed to hang on to the Bishop’s Manor which had all the land to the east of the parish including Hall Garth, Callis Wold, Blaeberry Moor, Thorn Park, Small Park, Foster Lodge, Cow Close, Cot Nab and Wetwang Raikes. In 1537 Archbishop Edward Lee granted lease of the above property to his brother Geoffrey Lee for 40 years. 55

49

Brynmor Jones Library Hull, DDSY/4/171 Surtees Soc. 1868 II Testamenta Eboracum Vol. IV p.277 51 ‘The Treasurership of York and the Prebend of Wilton’, Surtees Society 1931 Ap.Greenfields Reg. Vol1. No. 45, Appendix II 52 Domesday Book apud Ebor, Act. Cap. Tb f. 91 53 York Minster Library – Bishop Wilton information sheet.

54 Torre, Peculiars p. 1065 55 Brynmor Jones Library, Hull, DDGE/3/25 50

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The same reference above mentioned states in 1563, the above manor property was leased to another powerful member of the Council of the North, Christopher Estofte of Bishop Burton. He also possessed the preReformation church property in Bishop Burton. He took a 30-year lease on the Bishop’s Manor property, which was to run from 1579. Christopher Estofte was Custos Rotulorum of the East Riding and Feodary of the West Riding and joined the council in 1558, but died in 1568. 56 In 1570 his widow Lady Elizabeth Ellerker gave, along with other property, to Ralph Hansby of Bishop Burton all the property and income by lease mentioned above. 57 Ralph Hansby of Bishop Burton and Tickhill had issue of a daughter Isabella who was sole heiress to his estate.

She married William Hildyard who was knighted in 1603 and who died in 1632. They lived in the Treasurer’s manor house near the church and became the first lords of Bishop Wilton manor to reside in the parish.

This marriage re-united the two manors and Bishop Wilton became again a single manor, as it was in Saxon times. __________________________________________________________________________________________

The Prebend of Wilton York Minster Archivist, via Father James Finnemore Wilton in the East Riding, now known as Bishop Wilton, was held as a manor by Archbishop Aldred before the Conquest and was listed in 1086 as part of the estates of the Archbishop Thomas of Bayeux. Its value had dropped from £14 to £4 and included waste, but it had a church and a priest and land for 18 ploughs.

Originally part of the prebendal estates of Sherburn, created in the late eleventh or early twelfth century, Wilton was created as a separate prebend in 1242 by Archbishop Walter Grey to further recompense the Treasurer’s post for the loss of the endowment that the separation from the Archdeaconry of the East Riding from the post of Treasurer in 1218 had caused. Along with Newthorpe, its history is inseparable from that of the Treasurership.

The income from Wilton consisted of the tithes from lands in Wilton and its hamlets, such as Youlthorpe, Bolton and Gowthorpe, as well as jurisdiction over the whole village and lands in Langtoft. In 1291 this was valued at £33 6s 8d, but by 1535 was not listed separately from the general (considerable) income of the Treasurer. It alone would have provided a reasonably comfortable prebendal living, but was a relatively small part of the Treasurer’s holdings, and the rectorial duties and estates were farmed out by the absentee prebendaries.

Although the lowliest of the four dignitaries, the post of Treasurer was a fabulously rich appointment, second only to that of the Dean, and much sought after. Responsible for much of the cost of supplying and maintaining the treasure and ornaments of the cathedral, as well as bread, wax, rushes etc, the average annual expenditure of some £80 in the Middle Ages still left a generous portion of the £233 6s 8d that the post was worth in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1291.

Archbishop Grey’s pious hope that the Treasurer would be resident did not come to fruition until the latter part of the fourteenth century, when the archbishops were able to use the post as a reward for the heads of their administration, in particular their Vicars-General. Prior to that, appointments to the post from the 1250s onwards were fraught with disputes of “unfathomable complexity” to quote Dobson, as kings and popes sought 56 57

‘The King’s Council in the North’ by R.R. Reid. 1921. P.186.

West Yorkshire Archives – WYL230/3451,3453,3461,3462,3463

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to secure the prize for their favourites or relatives, notably the notorious Bogo de Clare, Amaury de Montfort and Pietro Colonna.

The prebend of Wilton was surrendered to the Crown on 26th May 1547 along with all the other appurtenances of the Treasurer’s post. The post itself was then dissolved, “on account of there being no treasure left to keep”, but the harsh reality was almost certainly that the income, given as £220 per annum in 1535, was the goal and the dissolution more of a formality that prevented any reclamation of the revenues. The prebendal title was recreated in April 2000.

[The seat assigned to the current Prebendary of Wilton can be seen in the Chapter House of York Minster (at least, it could in 2003). The Chapter House is the meeting place of the Dean and Chapter, the governing body of the Minster.] __________________________________________________________________________________________

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The Layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site - Part 1

2. A letter from an Archbishop of York refers to a gardener at Wilton and other documents (admittedly from when the site was in decline) refer to income received from produce from the site.

A

t a Workshop in March 2005 members of the Local History Group discussed the possible layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site based on evidence from a number of sources: 1. Aerial photographs Although there are a number of aerial photographs of the site available from several sources, we are indebted to Anthony Crawshaw of York for two that provide superb views from the north and from the south. The latter is used on the diagram that follows.

2. Architectural features of comparable sites These were identified by Andrew Boyce partly by reference to an English Heritage document “Monument Class Description – Magnates Residences (Medieval)” (ref. www.eng-h.gov.uk/ mpp/mcd/mag.htm).

3. Assessment of the site on the ground This is limited to observation from the perimeter of the site for the time being.

This is enough to allow visual assessment of at least three features: the moat on three sides along with its nature and size; the southern boundary of the site and the land between it and the beck; the area taken up by the two fish ponds and their likely depth.

4. General documentary evidence Ancient and modern sources provide us with useful pointers.

If ever any archaeology is sanctioned on the site in the future this speculative exercise gives us a useful list of assumptions to prove or disprove. Apart from establishing the nature and use of the structures on the site, other questions to answer could include: 1. Is there any evidence for access to the gatehouse over the moat e.g. a collapsed bridge?

2. What is the age of the moat in-fill on the northern side that is sometimes referred to as an access point contemporary with use by the Archbishops?

3. Was the moat dry or is there sedimentary evidence for there having been a continuous flow of water all round?

4. The east of the site appears to be free of structural remains and has been identified as an orchard and/or garden. Is this justified?

5. Can the gap in the southern boundary be established as being contemporary with the site?

The accompanying diagram draws on the outcome of the Workshop to locate features on the site using an aerial photograph. Although this is a speculative exercise it is not one without foundations. Two examples of the evidence or reasoning behind the assumptions that have been made in the diagram will have to suffice: 1. H. E. Jean Le Patourel observes: “Suggestion of gatehouse at SW corner of the site”.1 1 H. E. Jean Le Patourel, 1973, The Moated Sites of Yorkshire, The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series: No. 5.

19

20

Photograph by Anthony Crawshaw, Aeroscene Ltd, York.

Ref: 100/27.

Date: 18/2/87.

Access to & from the site over the fish pond dam, “giving access to the Deer Park”

“Foster Lodge site of the forester/park keeper’s quarters”

Mill House “water mill from the time of the Palace”

“Gatehouse” on west side

“Dovecote or Watch Tower”

“Stables or Barns”

“Kitchen

Fish Garden” Pond 2

Fish Pond 1

“Orchard”

Deer Park

“Feeder Pond”

on South & East sides of the Palace site

Moat filled in for access from Worsendale but likely to be later than Archbishops’ use

Low bank to end of Gap - “possible moat on east side site of a gate to the Park” ----------------- “Southern Boundary of the Site” -------------------High bank

“Court Yard”

Moat on 3 sides: West, North & East

Site of Archbishops’ Palace, Hall Garth, Bishop Wilton

Note: Items in quotes are speculative!

Line of Beck through Fish Ponds - “originally with overflow round the moat”

Main Buildings e.g. “Great Hall, Private Chambers, Chapel, Kitchen, etc”

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The Athelstan Gift Andrew Sefton

The West Window of Bishop Wilton Church rect. The first place to look was in the published descriptions of the village.

Bulmer’s 1892 Directory says: “The manor was granted by King Athelstan to the archiepiscopal see of York”. No mention of it appears in Allen’s ‘History of the County of York’ in 1832, nor does it appear in Sheahan and Whellan’s ‘History of York and the East Riding’ of 1856. It is not mentioned in Baines’ Trade Directory of 1823 nor any volume of Kelly’s or White’s Directories or Thomas Langdale’s Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire of 1822. The main source of it is in the famous Francis Drake work ‘Eboracum; the History and Antiquities of the City of York’, first published in 1736. Drake says the following: “ Mr. Willis (a) says this archbishop [Wulstanus] obtained to his see Beverley, Ripon, Bishop-Wilton, Otley, Cawood and the barony of Sherburn.”

Reference (a) refers to ‘Willis on Cath. Churches’.

By chance, I found at a recent book fair a rebound original copy of Browne Willis “A Survey of Cathedrals” published in 1726.

Drake goes further than Willis by later stating that Bishop Wilton was given (along with the other possessions) together with three carucates of land there, but does not state his source for this. In an effort to

O

ne of the often quoted early references to Bishop Wilton was the gift of the Manor of Bishop Wilton by King Athelstan (895-939) to the See of York thereby making it a possession of the Archbishops of York. The obvious importance of this event to the village is illustrated by the depiction of Athelstan along with St. John of Beverley in the west window of the church, to the left and right of St. Edith (see photographs above).

My own interpretation is that Athelstan is looking to his left in the direction of St. Edith, St. John is looking to his right towards her and Saint Edith seems to look back to Athelstan with a grateful serene expression and holds a book, possibly a bible? Athelstan seems to be offering a piece of paper to Saint Edith and Saint John seems to be beckoning someone? Underneath the window it says “In affectionate remembrance of Sir Tatton Sykes Bart and Mary Anne Lady Sykes – This window is dedicated by their daughter Mary - 1864”. It was probably constructed by Clayton & Bell1 in the Sykes restoration. Was this window invented at the time, or was it from an earlier depiction prior to the restoration? We may never know.

I thought I would investigate the actual source of the story of the gift of Athelstan to see if it was cor-

1 The Buildings of England. Yorkshire: York and the East Riding by Pevsner and Neave

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establish a source, was the case, though I checked the Torre doubt has recently manuscript which been expressed on is held in York Minthis interpretation of ster Library. James history in more reTorre (or Torr) lived cent publications. In 1649-1699 and was the Otley excavation the first historian to report5, it states that look at the records “There is a tradition of the Diocese of that Otley was an York from a hisAthelstan grant but torical perspective. this grew up late”.

Browne Willis – Survey of Cathedrals, 1726.

However, I could The archbishop in (Source of the story of the Athelstan Gift) find no reference his reply to the Quo there to any 10th century charter mentioning Bishop Warranto inquisition of 1279 mentioned above, made Wilton. a distinction between Beverley and Ripon ‘given by The only other reference was for 1279, when Wil- Athelstan’, and other properties including Otley, that liam, Archbishop of York2 was summoned to an- he held a tempore quo non extat memoria, or in other swer the king concerning the plea by what warrant words held ‘from time immemorial’. he claims to have gallows, return of writs, estreats, In The York Gospels6, it states that in 934 King pleas of withernam, and his own coroners within and Athelstan granted a vast estate comprising the whole without the city of York and free Warren in lands free of Amounderness in Lancashire to Archbishop Wulffrom suit, of which Bishop Wilton is included in the stan I and the see of York, apparently in the hope that list. He pleads that as to gallows he claims those in the Archbishop would be able to control this area of his barony outside York of Sherburn, Wilton, Patring- recent Scandinavian settlement in the king’s interton and Otley from time immemorial; at Beverley and est. Looking through the list of other charters made Ripon by such warrant that King Athelstan before the by Athlestan7 and using the theory that the gift was conquest of England, gave the manors to the Arch- made following the battle of Brunanburg in 937, this bishop of York and his successors, from which time leaves one of the last charters made by Athelstan in all Archbishops of York until now have remained in 938; this gave to the church of St. John of Beverley seisin of the liberty. [As an aside, this is most inter- confirmation of immunities, liberties and right of esting as it mentions that gallows were in operation sanctuary, and also added lands in Brandesburton and in Bishop Wilton! Keble3 states that in the twelfth Lockington but made no mention of Wilton. It is poscentury, the Archbishops of York exercised an almost sible that Bishop Wilton was given in this charter, but regal authority in their baronies of Beverley, Ripon, there appears to be no specific reference to the places Sherburn, Patrington, Otley and Wilton. They had in mentioned by Browne Willis, nor indeed any which each their own prisons, gallows, pillory and ducking mention Bishop Wilton directly. stool. They appointed the justices, with full power to St. John of Beverley, who died in 721, was also try, and execute, criminals.]

Bishop of Hexham for 18 years and Archbishop of 4 Wheater in his history of Sherburn states that Sher- York for 13 years. The reason he appears in the west burn and Cawood were given as gifts in 938 follow- window was probably because of the story of Atheling Athelstan’s victory over the Scots at the battle of stan, a cult follower of St. John, giving Bishop Wilton Brunanburg. There seems general consensus that this along with other possessions in gratitude for the vic2 The Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record series CLI – Yorkshire Hundred and Quo Warranto Rolls Edited by Barbara English 3 History of the Parish and Manor of Bishopthorpe by John. R. Keble. 1905.

4 The History of Sherburn and Cawood by W. Wheater.

1882.

5 The Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol. 45. 1973.

H.E. Jean Le Patourel and P. Wood 6 The York Gospels: a facsimile, with intr. essay by Simon Keynes and Ed. N. Baker. 1986.

7 Anglo Saxon Charters, an annotated list and Biography by P.H. Sawyer. 1968.

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tory in the battle of Brunanburg.

Keynes, in the York Gospels, raises the same problem with Otley which has no specific reference, but may have been among the ancient possessions of the Archbishops of York. He states that in the 670s Ecgfrith and Aelfwine, kings of Northumbria, had given some of the properties that later belonged to the Otley estates which may have been an important ecclesiastical (possibly monastic) centre in the late eighth and early ninth centuries. Archbishop Wulfhere is said to have taken refuge there from the Danes following their invasion in the late 860s.

It seems that all the Athelstan references to Bishop Wilton stem from Browne Willis’s mention of the village in 1726, and not by the earlier Torre. Browne Willis also, it seems, misread the Archbishop’s Quo Warranto inquisition of 1279 where he listed the mentioned manors but only specifically said that Beverley and Ripon were given by Athelstan. It is possible that Wilton was given to the Archbishops much earlier than by Athelstan, along with the earlier held properties at Otley, but the documentary evidence for this has long been lost and will probably never be found.

The Layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site - Part 2 Andrew Boyce This article continues and extends the work written up in Bulletin 13 under the same heading.

•

T

he conjectural plan that follows is based on the current Ordnance Survey 1:1250 digital plan which shows the remains of the moat, fishponds, banks and the circular feature in the north-west corner of the site.

In addition, by interpolation of features seen on aerial photographs taken by A J Crawshaw (Aeroscene Ltd, York), a conjectural layout of buildings, walls and other features has been superimposed.

From published sources (see below) an interpretation of possible uses for the buildings has been proposed.

By kind permission of the landowners (The Garrowby Estate) and the lessees and tenants of the land (Messrs Sissons and Kirby), a site walk was undertaken in May 2006 during which it was possible to appreciate the extent and scale of the monument and to further interpret the “lumps and bumps” seen on the photographs.

The plan has benefited from a number of discussions with other members of the BWLHG but the final result is the author’s own work. Any errors, omissions, shortcomings or wild exaggerations are entirely his responsibility.

The plan is a first attempt to bring this intriguing site to life; any comments, criticisms, ideas or greater wisdom, would be gratefully received.

• • • • • • • • • •

Bibliography:

• The Buildings of England, Yorkshire: York and 23

the East Riding; Nikolaus Pevsner & David Neave, Penguin Books, 1995 (ISBN 0 4 07061 2) Dovecotes, Peter & Jean Hansell, Shire Books, 2001 (ISBN 0 7478 0504 0) Water & Wind Power, Martin Watts, Shire Publications, 2005 (ISBN 0 7478 0418 4) Churches in the Landscape, Richard Morris, J M Dent & Sons Ltd, 1989 (ISBN 0 460 04509 1) The Moated Sites of Yorkshire, H E Jean Le Patourel, Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series no: 5, London 1973 The Archaeology of Mills & Milling, Martin Watts, Tempus Publishing Ltd., 2002 (ISBN 0 7524 1966 8) Monasteries in the Landscape, Mick Aston, Tempus Publishing Ltd., 2000 (ISBN 0 7524 1491 7) The English Medieval House, Margaret Wood, Bracken Books, 1985 (ISBN 0 946495 02 5) East Riding Water Mills, K J Allison, East Yorkshire Local History Society, 1970 CBA Research Report No: 17, Medieval Moated Sites, Ed. F A Aberg, 1978 English Heritage Scheduled Monument No: SM21054 description of 1992.

English Heritage Monument Class Descriptions: * Magnates Residences (medieval), April 1990 * Water Mills (medieval), November 1989 * Fishponds, Spetember 1988 * Moats, February 1988

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June 19, 2011

The Site of the Palace of the Archbishops of York at Bishop Wilton

monument managed by English Heritage. In their official record they say that the “site is thought to have been built for Archbishop Neville during the reign of Edward IV” which would give a date between 1465 and 1476. This is thought to be too late for the type of A Summary of Research So Far moated site it is and out of line with evidence (admittedly scant) that we have uncovered3 .

This summary brings together the outcome of The view that the palace was built by Archbishop research conducted over a period of 4 years by Neville, although we consider it to be erroneous, can members of the Bishop Wilton Local History Group be explained. Firstly, an OS map of 1854 refers to as published in the Group’s Bulletins. The articles “Hall Garth. Site of Archbishop Neville’s Palace”. It referred to and identified in the footnotes are listed was prevalent in the 1800s for the site to be attributed at the end of this summary. to Archbishop Neville. But herein lies a problem: there were two egend has it that King Athelstan It is said that Athelstan’s gift was Archbishop Nevilles, one in ofof Northumbria gifted lands to a way of giving thanks for his fice from 1374 until 1388 and one success in fighting the Scots after the church of John of Beverley as a from 1465 to 1476. At least one dihe prayed for assistance at the result of battle victories after 934. tomb of John of Beverley on his rectory from the 1800s makes the This is said to have included Wilton, way north. attribution to the earlier Neville4. hence the depiction of John and The one fragment of documenAthelstan in the stained glass of the tary evidence for our dating of the west window of St Edith’s Church. Another source site as opposed to English Heritage’s is this5: states that King Athelstan’s gift was to Archbishop “The sheriff of York was to allow the archWulstanus of York (also bishop of York 30 bream referred to as “Wulfstan”)1. in the fishpond of ‘Fossa’ No documentary evidence to install in his fishpond for this has been uncovered of Wiltan.” (e.g. in the form of a charter) It is a translation from and it would appear that the Latin of an entry in the succeeding Archbishops of Calendar of Close Rolls York quoted this “legend” at the National Archives in defence of their rights (PRO), Kew. The entry is when questioned by the dated 1228. We assume that King at the time. the “fishpond of Wiltan” Research suggests that (the outline of which is still the Palace at Wilton was visible) must have been an built in the time of Archintegral part of the Palace bishop Walter De Gray site of the time, i.e. it would (also referred to as “Walnot have existed without the ter De Grey”; Archbishop other structures on the site.

The boundary of the Palace site shown above follows of York from 1216 – 1255) a line of earthworks on the south side not recognised All of which supports Anwho is known to have been

by English Heritage. It is thought that the excluded drew Sefton’s conclusion active with building progrey area would have been part of the site, giving it a which attributes the estabmore symmetrical appearance and including an area jects in other areas of his lishment of the Palace site that gave access to the Deer Park. diocese2. to Archbishop De Gray.

The Palace site as it exThe use of Wilton as a ists today is a scheduled

L

1 2

3 4 5

Andrew Sefton, LHB 5.

As above.

25

Mike Pratt & Andrew Sefton, LHB 9.

As above.

Mike Pratt, LHB 10.

Bishop Wilton Local History - The Palace Site

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place of residence for the Archshed.” 7. bishops of York is not open to 2. Aerial photographs provide The first record of a letter written question as there is abundant docevidence for a boundary ditch on by an Archbishop of York when parts of the southern and eastumentary evidence in the form at Wilton that survives appears to of letters written (in Latin), and ern extremities of the “parkland” be one dated 6th May 1225, by De Gray. signed by them with an identificawhich could have served to hamSource: Registers of Archbishop tion of where they were at the time. per the escape of deer8.

Gray, Surtees Society, Volume 56.

We believe that the Palace was As a group we started looking at the possible layout of the Palace in ruins by 1388 when a document declares the “manor”, which we site in March 2005, using aerial take to mean the Archbishops’ residence, to be “in photographs, architectural features of comparable a very ruinous state and almost fallen down”. How sites, general documentary evidence and assessment it declined we do not know for sure. It could have of the site on the ground. This resulted in the publibeen ransacked as a result of the “seizing of the as- cation of an annotated aerial photograph in February sets of Alexander Neville, Archbishop of York, upon 2006 that speculatively identified the main residenhis judgement as a traitor in 1388”6. It is also pos- tial and kitchen buildings, stables, barns, a gatehouse, sible that there was a gradual decline due to reduced a dovecote (or watch tower) with the surrounding usage over what was a very difficult century which courtyard and gardens9.

By October 2006, we were able to publish a more encompassed famine, Scottish raids, the Black Death and general lawlessness. Expert opinion suggests that specific plan produced by our resident architect and both royal and ecclesiastical itineraries were pared group member, Andrew Boyce. This superimposes a down and the number of residences of those who “conjectural layout of buildings, walls and other featravelled around were reduced after the privations of tures” on features seen on aerial photos10.

After discussion of the site for the 4 years of the the 14th century.

The Palace site covers an area of approximately Local History Group’s existence and assessment of it 9 acres taking the moat, fish ponds and a plot on the from the perimeter, members of the Committee mansouth side of the beck into account (see diagram). aged to get permission to conduct a site walk in May It has a moat still visible today on 2006. As Andrew Boyce has put three sides. The fourth side is deit, this made it possible “to appreOld documents which we have limited by an earthwork mound of ciate the extent and scale of the managed to transcribe and translate varying heights that gives the site a monument and to further interfrom the 1300s do refer to the symmetrical shape that it lacks if it pret the “lumps and bumps” seen presence of a Warrener at Wilton. is assumed that it ends at the edges on the photographs”.

While this would support the idea of rabbits being raised in the “park”, of the fish ponds. It encompasses 2 An emerging view of the Palwe have not found any references fish ponds, a mill pond, a dovecote ace site is that it acted as “a larder that would suggest the presence and a range of other buildings. that yielded fish, rabbits, deer and of deer. A part of the Palace site Land surrounding the Palace site pigeons” and that the conception, across the beck on the south side to the east and the south is thought design and landscaping of the site is referred to as “Lodge Garth” and “Foster Lodge” which suggests to have constituted a park that would and its environs envisaged this the presence of a “Forester” or have provided the Archbishops with functionality. Consideration of someone who looked after the park. deer and rabbits. The case for a park the fish ponds in their own right However, these references do postrests on two main pieces of evidence: suggests a degree of engineering date the time of the Palace and have (to manage water levels and wa1. Old documents use the term to be treated with caution. ter flow) that indicates the level “park” to name surrounding of planning (and financial outlay) plots of land. The oldest, an inventory (in Latin) from 1298 Kate Pratt, LHB 11. refers to “All the timber from a building which 7 8 Mike Pratt, LHB 7. was at the park gate, which timber is in the big 9 Joint Effort, LHB 13.

6

Andrew Sefton, LHB 11.

10

26

Andrew Boyce, LHB 14.

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June 19, 2011

that went into the site’s construction11.

Official archaeological attention so far although minimal has produced results that are consistent with our thinking that the Palace site had a period of main use from the early 1200s to the early 1300s, declining thereafter until it was in ruins by 1388.

11

The remains that appear as humps and bumps today have, at least, been well looked after. As a scheduled monument that is under the watchful eyes of tenants of the land, users who graze livestock and village residents who oversee it, the site preserves its secrets well.

Mike Pratt, LHB 15.

The articles on which this summary is based were published in the Local History Bulletin (LHB) as follows: 1. The Site of the Archbishop of York’s Palace by Andrew Sefton, LHB 5.

2. Wilton’s Deer Park by Mike Pratt, LHB 7.

3. The Dating of the Palace Site by Mike Pratt and Andrew Sefton, LHB 9.

4. The Dating of the Palace Site - Update by Mike Pratt, LHB 10.

5. The Extent of Wylton for 1388 by Andrew Sefton, LHB 11.

6. 1298 Inventory for the Manor of Wilton by Kate Pratt, LHB 11.

7. The Layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site, a collaborative effort, LHB 13.

8. The Layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site - Part 2 by Andrew Boyce, LHB 14.

9. The Archbishops’ Fish Ponds by Mike Pratt, LHB 15 (this one!).

The Archbishops’ Fish Ponds Mike Pratt The Palace site at Bishop Wilton is recognised as encompassing two fish ponds. This article clarifies their significance in terms of their design and construction. It also puts the consumption of freshwater fish into its medieval context.

T

he Palace site provided the Archbishop of York and his entourage with a place to stay during diocesan journeys. But it was more than that, it was also a larder that yielded fish, rabbits, deer and pigeons as well as the produce that came from the demesne land in the area and from tithes. It is not surprising, therefore, that the design of the site and the surrounding area took account of this requirement. It incorporated fish ponds, warrens, a deer park and a dovecote along with the buildings to store produce from the land. All of this would have needed the security provided by a moat and a delimited boundary to the wider parkland.

This article attempts to explain the following speculative assumptions: 1. The fish ponds were an integral part of the initial design and landscaping of the Palace site along with the moat that runs along three sides.

2. The main flow of the beck was diverted around the moat in order to protect the fish ponds from fast flowing water and the possibility of damage caused by seasonal flooding. The draining and cleaning of the ponds would also have been facilitated.

3. To maintain the water levels in the fish ponds

and in the moat, a header pond was needed.

4. A series of dams was needed to manage the water levels and the water flow.

One point worth bearing in mind is that the volume of water flowing in the beck is less now than it would have been in the 1200s due to the lowering of the Wolds water table after removal of water for domestic supply.

The Water Mill & Mill Pond It is assumed that another component of the Palace site as initially constructed was a water mill in a similar position to Mill House as it exists today. There is evidence to suggest that a substantial bank (part of which now carries the outbuildings belonging to Mill House, accessed by steps up from the back door) acted as a dam and created a mill pond downstream of the fish ponds and that the water from this powered the mill. The mill and mill pond are shown on the diagram above but they are not explored any further in this article.

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The diagram above is based on the one used by Andrew Boyce in Bulletin 14 for his article on the layout of the Palace site. It has been extended to include a “Header Pond” outside the site. The main purpose of the diagram, as explained in this article, is to show how the fish ponds and the water-filled moat were part of an overall design aimed at managing water levels and water flow through the site.

Slight but significant evidence for fish ‘farming’ is also contained in a 1298 Inventory for Wilton (transPurpose built ponds began to appear in the last 1 quarter of the 12th century . For comparison, in the lated and published in Bulletin 114) which refers to East Riding of Yorkshire, two massive ponds at By- the existence of “3 fish traps”. Interestingly, it also land Abbey were constructed over the period from refers to the existence of a demesne barn and a tithe the late 1100s until the mid 1200s. It was in “1245 barn both of which could have been situated on the Palace site for the secuthat the [second] pond rity it provided. was ready to stock with From a survey map Two publications have been referenced in the ten prime female bream of 1765 that was repreparation of this article: (matrices bremias) from 2 produced in Bulletin 1. Medieval Fish, Fisheries & Fishponds in the Foss” .

75, it would appear that England – Parts (i) & (ii), edited by Michael The only known the pond system we Ashton (later known as “Mick”, of Time Team documentary evidence are considering here fame), BAR British Series 182 (i & ii) 1988. for the creation of the was still water-filled The publication was the result of a day conferPalace site is a fragment at that time. The map ence organised in 1984. Individual contributhat was written about in 3 shows the outline of the tors are credited in the footnotes to this article.

Bulletin 10 . It alludes header pond, the 2 fish 2. Inland Fisheries in Medieval Yorkshire 1066 – to a gift of 30 bream in ponds and the partly 1300 by J. McDonnell, Borthwick Papers No 1228 from the King to filled eastern side of the 60, 1981. the then Archbishop of moat. This suggests that York, Walter De Gray, some of the damming “to install in his fishpond of Wiltan”. It is assumed that this coincides with the was still in place although not necessarily in its 13th century form. initial stocking of the fishpond at Wilton.

Fish Ponds – The Historical Context

1 2 3

J. McDonnell, 1981.

As Above.

The Dating of the Palace Site - Update by Mike Pratt

4 5

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1298 Inventory for the Manor of Wilton by Kate Pratt.

Wilton’s Deer Park by Mike Pratt.

Bishop Wilton Local History - The Palace Site

June 19, 2011

Medieval Fish Consumption6

often located close to domestic structures and are occasionally found within moated islands …

During medieval times freshwater fish “must be In a small pond fish may be netted with relative regarded as part of the diet of the aristocracy” and ease. The simplest form of fishpond is a single for the construction of the ponds to hold them “the stew stocked from a natural source and it is this formidable sums involved could clearly have only type of pond to which documents generally refer been borne by a wealthy minority”. It has to be rebefore the 14th century.7 [My underlining] membered that church rules “forbade meat consumpFrom this we could safely assume that one of the tion, not just during the six weeks of Lent, but also on Fridays and Saturdays in every week, in some house- ponds on the Palace site was a stew or storage pond holds on Wednesdays too, and on the vigils of im- especially as it appears to be located “close to doportant festivals, such as Christmas Eve”. As well as mestic structures”. Looking at things the other way satisfying the resultant need for non-meat meals “one round, we could assume that the structures that show of the functions of fresh-water fish was to contrib- up on aerial photos of the Palace site, close to the fish ponds, are domestic ute to the variety of the and that the area closmenu”.

Although I had studied the fish ponds on the est to the structures is a Medieval fish prices Palace site using aerial photos, I hadn’t inspected “kitchen garden”. suggest that freshwater them on the ground until Colin Robinson told me The fact that there fish were more expenabout some brickwork he had spotted where the were two ponds at Bishsive than sea fish by beck cuts through a channel at the point that Dam op Wilton suggests that weight. Distance from 2 is marked on the accompanying diagram. This they had separate uses. the sea did not seem to encouraged me to walk the whole length of the So, as well as there bemake too much differsouthern bank of the beck that borders the closed ing a storage pond, the ence as sea fish were Palace site and allowed me to make a number of other could have been transported quite widely discoveries which led to the writing of this article. used for breeding and inland. The aristocratic rearing: ideal must have been to Fish will convert be self-sufficient with food into flesh more efficiently than any other private access to a source of sustainable freshwater species in the animal kingdom. Rearing fry obfish stocks. But that access had to be kept secure as tained from natural sources in a predator free en“hunting and fishing rights became a symbol of social vironment will allow a many-fold increase in the privilege, and there is good reason to see more than production of mature fish over those allowed to simple criminality in the mass assaults on parks and mature in the wild.8 ponds frequently recorded in the fourteenth century.”

The 30 bream gifted to the Archbishop of York in 1228 to install in his fishpond were unlikely to have Fish Pond Construction & Management been intended for immediate consumption.

Fish Pond Usage Such gifts, incidentally, are rarely repeated; Multiple fish ponds rather than just one are comthey were plainly in the nature of a “pump-primmon. Separate uses ranged from breeding, through ing exercise”, after which the landlords’ pondrearing and fattening, to the storage of fish ready to be system would be expected to expand stock from eaten. Storage ponds or stews do occur on their own: its own resources. In short, selective breeding Stews or storage ponds in which fish destined was beginning to be practised.9 for the table were concentrated, acted as living It can reasonably be assumed that a system of larders. These ponds need not have been very breeding and storage was being introduced at Wilton large or very deep although deep enough to prewhich required the use of two fish ponds. vent the pond from freezing down to the very bottom during a severe winter. Small stews were 7 Michael Aston, 1988. The Excavation of Fishponds by 6 All quotes and paraphrasing in this section are based on: Michael Aston, 1988. The Consumption of Fresh-Water Fish in Medieval England by Christopher Dyer.

R. A. Chambers with M. Gray.

8 As Above.

9 J. McDonnell, 1981

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Water Flow & Water Levels One assumption is that the main flow of the beck was diverted away from the fish ponds (the remains of which lie along the current route of the beck) around the moat. Expert opinion provides support for this assumption: Stream or river fed systems prone to seasonal flooding require substantial bypass channels and flood banks. The ability to drain ponds for cleaning and repair requires effective sluice gates and leats. The degree of civil engineering skills locally available may have determined the extent to which a particular set of ponds were developed.10 The leat in our case is the moat. The point about sluice gates will be tackled separately below. For what emerges as a complex design and construction task at Wilton we can assume that the Archbishop of York was able to call upon the necessary engineering skills.

(see diagram above). These are individually described below. It is worth bearing in mind the assumed objectives: if you look at the present-day level of the beck and the height of the sides of the fish ponds you will see the extent to which the water level needs to be raised; this needs to be done by maintaining a steady flow of water whilst avoiding flooding; also one fish pond needs to be separated from the other.

The height of the water level required in Fish Pond 1 dictates the level in the moat such that the dam overflow (Dam 2) can continue to supply it. The maintenance of the water level in the moat necessitates the build-up of water in a “header” pond outside the Palace site. Whether or not a dam was required at this point (Dam 1) is not clear although the 1765 map already mentioned does indicate a narrow feed into the moat was present then.

Dams 3 and 4 would have controlled the levels of water in Fish Ponds 1 and 2 respectively.

Dam 4 is a special case as it is thought that there would have been access over it to the southern side of the beck where there was an area of land that was within the bounds of the Palace site. To this day at this point, the water of the beck flows through a brick-built archway over which access to the other side would be possible if it wasn’t blocked by a fence and a hedge.

If there ever were sluices for the emptying of the ponds they would have been in dams 3 and 4.

The positioning and purpose of Dam 5 is the most speculative. The moat is blocked at this point by a causeway that appears to be integral with the rest of the site, i.e. it is substantial and it does not seem to be a quick infill to gain access at a later date. Although some identify it as an access-point to the site there is no reason why it could not have served a double purpose. There is no doubt that a dam was required at some point in the moat in order to establish the water level required to fill the fish ponds.

Dams & Sluices Dams were constructed to hold back water and allow the water level to rise. In the early days of pond construction earthen dams were most common and such dams were “constructed of a core of rubble stone, probably with timber framing”. Dammed water would have spilled over the top of the dam in a specially constructed channel.

Sluices are a later refinement. They can be opened and closed allowing the water level to be manually controlled and in some cases allowing a pond to be completely emptied for cleaning.

It is not really possible to speculate about the nature of the original mechanisms for controlling water levels and flows in the Palace fish ponds. It is possible that archaeological excavation could throw some light on the issue. For the moment we will have to satisfy ourselves with identifying the five places in which it is likely that some mechanism was in place 10

For the Future If the Palace site is ever excavated archaeologically, the fish ponds warrant specific and specialist attention along with the header pond and the moat.

As Above.

The Fish Pond - Back to Square One? Mike Pratt If the two fish ponds on the Palace site serve the purpose of allowing fish to be bred and then stored separately why couldn’t the “fish pond” on the site by

A

fter writing the article on “The Archbishops’ Fish Ponds” in the last Bulletin (No. 15), something occurred to me that I just have to commit to paper.

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the Church be a storage pond also? If, as is possible, it is contemporary with the construction of the Palace site it might indicate a sharing of resources between the Archbishop and the Treasurer of York Minster who held the Bishop Wilton prebend. It is possible that it was planned and constructed as such by Archbishop Walter De Gray, who instituted the prebendal arrangement. This does not explain the “L” shape of the fish pond unless it allowed it to be of sufficient size and still fit the overall dimensions of the plot.

Personally I still favour the idea that it is the last remains of a bigger moat that protected an early manor house and that it was used for fish after part of the moat was filled in.

Once again I have to conclude that archaeological excavation could answer this question and establish whether the site by the Church was occupied earlier than the Palace site.

Official Palace Site Archaeology

Field Archaeology. Three telegraph poles were removed and replaced and a small trench was dug next to one of the poles. The finds were: fragments of ceramic flat roof tile from one post hole dating to between the 12th and 18th centuries; deposits resulting from erosion of the bank of the fishpond (possibly caused by rabbits), comprising two fragments of stone roof tile and one large fragment of plain ridge tile of Jurassic Limestone, all c1200.

[From “An archaeological watching brief at Bishop Wilton” by Humber Field Archaeology.

Report No. 606. SMR No. HU19764]

Mike Pratt

T

he site of the Archbishops’ Palace at Bishop Wilton has received very little official archaeological attention. The two minor excavations that we know about are summarised below:

1. In 1993 “Hand-excavation of a cable trench … across part of the northern side … on behalf of Yorkshire Electricity PLC” for which, in summary, the main outcome was discovery of “the stone foundations of a building … on top of the moat platform”. These foundations were made up of “a structure of chalk and limestone”.

Also, at a depth of less than a metre, on the inside edge of the moat, “sherds of Roman greyware and a 16th century jar or skillet were recovered”.

It is worth noting that “the relevant section of the moat [across which a trench was cut] had already been breached at an unknown date in the post-medieval period by a causeway leading onto the moat platform”.

Further inside the site, coarse sandy ware of the late 13th or early 14th century was recovered.

[From “An Archaeological Excavation at The Archbishops Palace, Bishop Wilton, 1993”

by Humberside Archaeology Ref: hqDA 690 B613 C9]

The foundations discovered in 1993 coincide with a structure that is visible on aerial photographs and thought by us to be a building which is illustrated on Andrew Boyce’s conjectural plan [The Layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site – Part 2 by Andrew Boyce, Local History Bulletin 14].

The presence of pottery from the Roman period (i.e. greyware) is of interest but in view of the fact that it comes from the line of a post-medieval causeway and it was found with medieval pottery suggests that it could have been introduced with infill that came from elsewhere. Also, it is not the only Roman greyware to be found within the village.

The excavations do not tell us any more than we had already deduced but at least the coarse sandy ware pottery found in 1993 and the stone roof and ridge tile found in 2003 date from the period we believe the site was in use.

1. In 2003 A watching brief was undertaken by Humber 31

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A Palace Fit for a King King Edward I stays at Bishop Wilton in 1298 Andrew Sefton

O

ne of the frustrating aspects of studying the history of Bishop Wilton, especially the older history, is that quite often the place name is just referred to as Wilton or Wylton. How do we know which Wilton this is? By studying the context in which it is written, then you can get a good idea. If an abbey, or the ‘prebend of chalk’, is mentioned, then it is likely to be the Wilton in Wiltshire. Any references to a castle would mean it was the Wilton near Guisborough. Mention of locations close to Pickering or Ebberston mean it is likely to be the Wilton in the parish of Ellerburn, North Yorkshire. If there are any references to the Archbishop of York then we are fairly certain that this will be Bishop Wilton.

In 1298, King Edward I was travelling in Yorkshire1, and making preparations for his war with the Scots. His itinery includes a reference to “Wilton”: May 25 – 30

June 4

South Dalton - An Archbishop of York residence

June 5

South Dalton

June 6

Warter - The Priory at Warter

June 6

Warter - The Priory at Warter

June 7

June 8

Wilton2 - Where was this?

June 9

Newburgh Coxwold

June 11

Thirsk

Kirkham - This would be the Abbey

York

There are no references to the Archbishop, and Gough concludes that the Wilton entry refers to WilMay 30 Wilberfoss - Probably ton in the North Riding. However, would the King

stayed at the Priory? have journeyed from Warter up to Wilton in the North Riding, and back down to Kirkham Abbey the folMay 31 Wilberfoss lowing day, and then back up to Coxwold? I think

Catton not. I think Gough was mistaken, and that the “apud Pocklington Wylton” document signed by the King was written at Bishop Wilton. King Edward I must have stayed in June 1 Weighton the Archbishops’ palace on the night of June 7, 1298.

The purpose of his tour was to raise arms, collect taxJune 2 Weighton es and muster troops and horses for his forthcoming

Beverley - To visit the war with the Scots. shrine of St. John Henry de Newark, Dean of York, was elected Archbishop on 12 May 1296 . The temporalities were June 3 Beverley restored to him on June 22 1297; and his consecration took place at York on June 15 1298, after the King’s departure for Scotland. Whilst in Wilton on June 7th, the King issued a writ of protection for the privy seal; Letters of Protection and Attorney were created which list local names such as Rogero de By1 “Itinerary of King Edward I throughout his reign, 1272-1307”, Vol. 2, by Henry Gough, p.165 god and Henrico de Percy. He also issued an order 2 Gough has a footnote which reads “Probably Wilton for the payment of expenses for the removal of the in the parish of Ellerburn, N.R.” King’s treasure and of the rolls of the Exchequer and King’s Bench to York.

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Scottish Raids and Lawlessness in the Fourteenth Century Andrew Sefton

I

n the history group we have often speculated about Scottish Raids But how was the Palace destroyed? Until archaeothe fourteenth century in Bishop Wilton, as we know logical excavait was a time tion is underof turmoil taken, we are and unrest, left to speculate and a pivotal about this. One time for the possible reason village. We was that the Palknow that the ace would have Archbishop’s been looted and p a l a c e destroyed by must have marauding Scots disappeared when Robert the at some Bruce led the point in this Scottish rebelcentury; we lions against the know that the English and the Archbishop King. We know ceased to use that in 1298 Wilton for an King Edward Ecclesiastical I stayed for a Court, as the Map taken from ‘The Wars of the Bruces’ by Colm McNamee, p102 night3 at Bishop last entries 1 appear at that time , and we know that Bishop Wilton Wilton, on his way North to fight the Scots. But the had its first Vicar (Richard de Wilton) and Vicarage question is - did the Scots ever come as far south as ordained on Ascension Day (20 May) 13112. In my Bishop Wilton? article entitled the ‘Tale of Two Manors’ in Bulletin 11, I outlined that Bishop Wilton consisted of two Timeline : 1314 - Scots defeated at Bannockburn Manors. The Palace site in ‘Hall Garth’ was the 1316 - Raids to Barnard Castle & Archbishop’s Manor with lands including the park Richmond land, wooded areas, rabbit warrens, and sheep walks 1318 - Raids to Northallerton, on the Wolds. The other Manor was based on the Boroughbridge & Knaresborough moated Manor House next to the Church, which was 1319 - Ripon devastated by Scots, but did the Treasurer’s Manor. This included most of the not attack York productive arable land of the open fields on the rich 1322 - Raids as far as the Wolds, and clay soils under the wold escarpment. The Treasurer Beverley held to ransom drew much of his income from the area using local labour from the village, and was known to have used “In the Autumn of 13224 there was another ina ‘Proctor’ or Farmer to look after his interests. road of the Scots into Yorkshire. They swept over 1 1367 is the last one I have found when an Inquisition was held at Wilton. Cal. of Inq. Vol.3 Miscell. 1348-1377. Page 244.

2 From an information sheet on Bishop Wilton, held by York Minster Library

3 Bulletin 16 – ‘A Palace Fit for a King’ by Andrew Sefton 4 Quotation from ‘Lives of the Archbishops of York’ Vol. 1 by W.H. Dixon.

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Bishop Wilton Local History - The Palace Site

June 19, 2011 by two attacks by the Scots that she cannot raise the money from them to pay the farm [or rent]”. She asks that certain people of the King and Council’s choosing might be assigned to inquire into these damages, and that her farm might be reduced according to what they find. In a subsequent petition9, Eleanor de Percy asks for “a reduction of the farm of the lease of her son’s inheritance in Yorkshire that she owes for the time that she held it because of the destruction wrought by the Scots”. She held the farm rendering £400 a year, but after only 2 years of the term the Scots entered the county and pillaged her lands, robbing her tenants, and taking their goods away, and on one occasion they killed nearly all the tenants of 7 of the best vills.

This suggests that the Scots were damaging the immediate area round Bishop Wilton, and we know that a relic10, directly associated with the Scots from this time, was found in Bishop Wilton, a seal of Michael of Aberdeen.

much the same ground which they had devastated in 1319. The king sent John de Brittania, Earl of Richmond, with a body of soldiers to watch their movements, but he incautiously allowed himself to be surprised among the hills between Byland and Rievaulx. The invaders, who were at home among the rocks, made prisoners of the English Commander and a number of men. Edward, never dreaming that danger was so near, was all the while in the monastery of Rievaulx.

He fled in haste, two of the monks serving as his guides, leaving all his plate and treasure behind him, of which the enemy possessed themselves.

After scouring the country towards the East and South as far as the Wolds, and receiving a large sum of money from the inhabitants of Beverley for sparing their town, they returned leisurely to Scotland. They carried off with them the Earl of Richmond, and several years passed before he could be ransomed.”

Lawlessness The King’s Patent Rolls clearly show the 14th Century as a time of unrest and lawlessness and give examples of actual destruction within the parish.

By 1350 the Black Death had reached Yorkshire and killed a third of the population. Archbishop Alexander Neville was an unpopular Archbishop of York (1373-1387) and generated much hatred, which manifested itself in many examples of damage to his property and possessions. But from the following accounts, even the earlier Archbishops were affected.

130911 & 131112 Carrying away of goods from Wylton 131313 Trespass at Wylton 132714 Assault at Wilton 134115 Case against Persons hunting in the free warren and causing damage and removing wood, deer and fish 134316 Complaint by Archbishop William that

During this raid Bainton church5 was destroyed, probably in revenge for the actions of the previous rector of Bainton, Sir Edmund de Mauley, who had fought in the battle of Bannockburn and was killed during the English flight. This raid unsettled the people of Beverley and they sent a petition to Parliament to build town wall fortifications.

Pocklington was a likely muster point for the wars with the Scots. The Portable Antiquities Scheme6 have many examples of items such as coins and harness studs which date from this time, found in Pocklington.

The following parishes in our area all had valuations which were reduced by over 50% in 1327:7 Rillington, Thorpe Bassett, Settrington, Kirby Grindalythe, Westow, Burythorpe, Kirby Underdale and Skirpenbeck.

In 1321, Eleanor de Percy8 petitioned the king “that she took the lands of her son’s inheritance in Yorkshire, in the King’s hand in the name of wardship, on lease, but that all these lands, with the exception of the vill of Pocklington, have been so ruined

9 Ibid. SC 8/2/92 10 Bulletin 16 – ‘An Ancient Seal found in Bishop Wilton’ by Andrew Sefton.

11 Edward II Vol.1 P.171 12 Edward II Vol.1 P.421 13 Edward II Vol.2 P.60 14 Edward III Vol.1 P. 71 15 Edward III Vol.5 P.207 16 Edward III Vol.6 P.76

5 Churches of the Wolds by Christine R. Barker 6 See http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk 7 The Wars of the Bruces, Scotland, England and Ireland 1306 – 1328 by Colm McNamee. Tuckwell Press.

1997.

8 The National Archives SC 8/87/4303

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Bishop Wilton Local History - The Palace Site

June 19, 2011

some disturbers of the peace had broken the parks of bour of Hull, and others, entered the free warren at the See of York, hunted there, cut down trees, fished various places in the possession of Alexander includthe stews and carried away fish and wood. Wilton is ing Bisshopwylton, broke his closes and houses there mentioned along with many other of the Archbish- and hunted his parks without licence and felled trees and underwood. At other places they dug his soil op’s possessions July 17th 134717 Commission of Oyer and Ter- and fished in his several fisheries and stews and took miner on persons who broke the houses of Francis de away fish, soil, turves, trees and underwood. They Filiis Ursi, Treasurer of the church of St. Peter, York, took deer from his parks and hares, conies, pheasants the issues of whose lands and rents in the County of and partridges from his warren. They depastured and York, ought to be answered to the king for the expedi- trod down with cattle his crops, and they assaulted tion of the war with France. At Wilton they felled his and wounded his men and servants and his ministrees, at York, Tollerton and Alne, they carried away ters appointed to hold a fair, markets and courts and the trees along with other goods and at Newthorpe to collect toll, amercements and other profits of the Archbishop there. and Acomb. th 18 Mar 3rd 138020 Although Bishop Wilton is not July 8 1353 Commission touching the evildoers who broke the closes and houses of the manors and mentioned, another Commission of complaint made places and the parks of the Archbishopric of York, at for offences similar to the above, was interestingly many places including Wilton, when the same were in brought on local landowners and dignitaries of Henry de Percy, Thomas Roos the king’s hands durFinds from Pocklington logged with the Portable of Hamelak (Helmsley ing the late voidance Antiquities Scheme & Kirkham Priory), who of the archbishopric, must also have had a and entered the free grievance against Alexchaces [sic] and warander Neville. rens, hunted in these 1388 Alexander Nevparks, felled trees, ille was tried as a traitor fished the stews, car[in absentia] and all his ried away the fish, the goods and assets were trees and timber from forcibly seized. He fled the houses, and other to France via Scotland goods in the king’s and ended his days there. keeping there. They Apr 21st 1388 The took deer from the Extent of Wylton21. parks and chaces and IHS-623731 - A Harness IHS-F25803 – A harness mount.

“There is a Manor there hares, conies, pheas- Stud. These are the arms of These are the arms of Simon ants and partridges William de Cantelupe, Lord de Montagu (or Montacute), in a very ruinous state from the warren. of Ravensthorp, who is known a knight who died 1316. The and almost fallen down. th 19 to have served in Edward I’s longbow(?) held by the griffin It is of no net value.”

Nov 8 1375 Commission of Oyer Scottish campaigns (1299- is likely to be an augmentation Valuations of the garden, 1308). Found at Pocklington. of his arms in response to woods and pasture foland Terminer - coma military action that he plaint by Alexander participated in. The longbow low this opening descripNeville, Archbishop played a major part in the battle tive text. of Falkirk in 1298 in which de As can be seen from of York, that Thomas Montagu is recorded as being the events outlined de Ledes of Rypon, present. Found at Pocklington. above, the unrest and John Haukeswyk of lawlessness which preRypon, John Roos of vailed, together with the Beverley, Adam Bar17 18 19

20 Richard II Vol.1 P.469 21 Bulletin 11 – ‘The Extent of Wylton for 1388’ by Andrew Sefton

Edward III Vol.7 P.391 Edward III Vol.9 P.511 Edward III Vol.16 P.227

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Bishop Wilton Local History - The Palace Site

June 19, 2011 year they made sure that the Prebendary of Wilton was ratified.

Was the Palace destroyed by marauding Scots, or as revenge against Alexander Neville, or did it just face general decline and abandonment by the Archbishops?

I wonder if we will ever know.

pressures of population decline, left the Archbishops of York in a vulnerable position. Their income declined and their influence was reduced, and political pressures, coupled with the king having to help fund a costly war with France, all led to the decision to abandon the Hall Garth site, and the consequent destruction of the Palace. However, the Treasurers of York did not abandon Wilton, as it was a useful source of revenue for them, and the Patent Rolls show that each

Notes on this Selection of Bulletin Extracts Mike & Kate Pratt rticles have been extracted from the Local History Bulletins without any significant changes to the contents. The following points should be noted: 1. It has only been necessary to reword the way in which the positioning of images in relation to text is referred to.

2. Footnotes mentioning the Hull University Archives (in the Brynmor Jones Library) should now be taken as referring to the Hull History Centre, in Hull, to which the archives have been moved.

3. There is an obvious difference in styling between extracts in the front half of this document and those in the back half. This is because the former were produced with Microsoft Word and the latter with Adobe Indesign. It was easier to leave the formatting as it was rather than standardising it.

4. The articles are (more or less) in chronological order. In order for the story to build up it would help to read them in that order.

A

The original Bulletin in which each of the articles was published is listed below:

Article

Bulletin Number

The Site of the Archbishop of York’s Palace Wilton’s Deer Park I am convinced. Are you? Wilton’s Deer Park – Update Aerial View of Hall Garth, Bishop Wilton The Dating of the Palace Site The Dating of the Palace Site – Update A Tale of Two Manors The Prebend of Wilton The Layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site – Part 1 The Athelstan Gift The Layout of the Archbishops’ Palace Site – Part 2 The Site of the Palace of the Archbishops of York at Bishop Wilton The Archbishops’ Fish Ponds The Fish Pond – Back to Square One? Official Palace Site Archaeology A Palace Fit for a King Scottish Raids and Lawlessness in the Fourteenth Century 36

5 7 9 5 9 10 11 11 13 13 14 15 15 16 16 16 18