A History of Kilton, North Yorkshire

A history of Kilton and Kilton Thorpe in North Yorkshire from prehistoric times to a thriving Georgian agricultural community, through a period of Victorian change, to the twenty first century

No place can equal Kilton for loveliness standing as it does in the midst of sylvan scenery, beautiful landscape and woodland scenery and what a perfume of sweet fragrance from wildflowers, particularly the primrose-acres that would grace any gentleman’s pleasure ground for beauty and for loveliness. Kilton, as it is situated, is fitted only for a prince (John Farndale, 1864)

Home Page Return to the Home Page of the Farndale Family Website

The Farndale Story The story of one family’s journey through two thousand years of British History

The Farndale Lineages The 83 family lines into which the family is divided. Meet the whole family and how the wider family is related

The Farndale Directory Members of the historical family ordered by date of birth

Themes Links to other pages with historical research and related material

Related Family Stories The story of the Bakers of Highfields, the Chapmans, and other related families

Kilton was the heart of the Farndale family story for two hundred and fifty years.

Charles Farndale of Kilton Lodge John Farndale who wrote about Kilton in the late nineteenth century

This page provides a chronological history of Kilton, with detailed research notes, for all those with an interest in this remarkable place. If you find this page helpful, or if you have further information to share, please email the author, Richard Farndale, at rcfarndale@hotmail.com.

For ease of navigation:

Chapter headings and sub headings are in brown.

Dates are in red.

Links to other pages are in dark blue.

References and citations are in turquoise. References include links to the original source material, where available.

Introduction

Kilton is a lost settlement, with a remarkable history, in the civil parish of Lockwood (Lockward Parish information), within the borough of Redcar and Cleveland (Redcar and Cleveland Council, Mapit boundary map) in the County of North Yorkshire, in medieval times within the Wapentake of Langbaurgh. Once a thriving settlement, Kilton today comprises mostly farmland, with a small residential settlement at Kilton Thorpe. To the east is the narrow ravine of the Kilton Beck Valley through which the Kilton Beck flows towards the sea at Skinningrove. In the midst of the heavily wooded area of that valley lie the ruins of Kilton Castle. About two kilometres to the north is the town of Brotton and Carlin How and Craggs Farm. To the south of Kilton Thorpe there are the scrag heaps and disused buildings of the industrial graveland of the old ironstone mines.

Hidden behind a contemporary agricultural scene, lie clues to Bronze Age and Anglo-Saxon Settlement; Norman fortification; a thriving Georgian village; and profound agricultural change in the nineteenth century.

My great x3 grand-uncle, John Farndale wrote that no place can equal Kilton for loveliness, standing as it does, in the midst of sylvan scenery, beautiful landscape and woodland scenery, and what a perfume of sweet fragrance from wild flowers, particularly the primrose-acres that would grace any gentleman’s pleasure ground for beauty and for loveliness. Kilton, as it is situated, is fitted only for a prince.

We believe Kilton had the pre-eminence of many of its neighbouring villages. We knew no poachers, no cockfighters, no drunkards, or swearers. Kilton people were church-going people, yet, on a Sunday afternoon, what hosts of young men and young women mustered for play, their song was:

There is little Kilton, lies under yon hill,

Lasses anew lad, come when you will;

They’re witty, they’re pretty, they’re handsomely bound,

A lo! for the lasses in Kilton town

(Farndale, John. 1870. The History of Kilton With a Sketch of the Neighbouring Villages By the Returned Emigrant. Middlesborugh: Burnett and Hood).

He also wrote that Kilton stands unrivalled for its antiquity, and its beautiful scenery cannot be excelled. The brightest and fairest scenes in Italy cannot be compared to the lovely prospects which Nature displays in this secluded part of Cleveland. This place stands on a ridge of rich loamy land, with Huntcliffe on the north, known to all sea-men. On the east is the beautiful bay of Skinningrove and the hall of A C Maynard Esq, formerly the residence of F Easterby Esq. Skinningrove was once a noted place for smuggling. On the north west is Old Saltburn which was formerly considered the King of the Smuggling World. Near which is New Saltburn, about to become one of the most fashionable sea bathing places on the eastern coast, thanks to the enterprising gentlemen who conduct the railway operations in this neighbourhood, and who are the public’s benefactors, in a commercial, social point of view, and are indeed, in every sense of the word, the friends of the people. (A Guide to Saltburn by the Sea and the Surrounding District, With remarks on its picturesque scenery, Fifth Edition, Dedicated to John Thomas Wharton Esq of Skelton, By John Farndale. Late of Skelton Castle Farm, Darlington, Printed by Charles W Hird, 1864, page 11).

Kilton was of great interest with a great hall, stable, plantation, and ancient stronghold in ruins (Kilton Castle). It is still a small place he says and he described how many have left it and made their name. (John Farndale’s Memoires)

In 1913, in a less romantic style, William L’Anson wrote that the Kilton Beck, which flows into the North Sea at Skinningrove, rises some five or six miles inland, in a wild and lonely region of moorland 800 to 900 feet above sea level, and taking, with many windings, a northerly course, and being augmented by the waters of two or three other becks, flows rapidly seawards down a beautiful and picturesque dingle or ravine. In fact Kilton Beck flows from two higher becks which join about one kilometre upstream from the castle: Hagg Beck which drains from Moorsholm Moor and Liverton Beck. Liverton Beck becomes Mill Beck further upstream and is fed by Stubdale Beck which flows from Liverton Moor and Skate Beck which flows from Gerrick Moor. Some four miles from its source, in one of a series of bold and graceful curves, it sweeps round the foot of a precipitous headland projecting outwards some 180 feet above the beck on the left or western side of the ravine. On the summit of this narrow ridge, which seems specially designed by nature for the site of a small medieval fortress, Pagan Fitz-Walter, the second holder of what subsequently became known as the Fief of Kilton in the Barony of Percy, founded, in the reign of King Stephen, the little-known castle of Kilton. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 55). It was in fact more likely to have been Robert de Brus who built Kilton Castle, in the time of King Stephen.

Within the fiefdom, later the estate, and now the farmlands of Kilton, there are antique features, which each hide a rich history.

This chronology is accompanied by separate pages which explore aspects of Kilton and its history in further detail.

Kilton Thorpe The medieval settlement with Iron or Bronze Age roots, referred to in the Domesday Book alongside Kilton	Kilton Castle In romantic and picturesque grandeur, few ruins in England can equal this venerable relic of antiquity.	Kilton Hall The Georgian Hall, the centre of the community, later rebuilt	Stank House Farm A medieval farmstead which evolved into an important Victorian farm	Buck Rush Farm A medieval farmstead, which is still a farm today	Greenhills Farm An antique farmstead on Kilton’s central landscape
Kilton Woods and Kilton Beck The dense woodland to the east of Kilton with very steep slopes to Kilton Beck, and which hides the medieval castle	Kilton Mill A mill is noted at Kilton in 1323 and 1344.	Kilton Mines The ironstone mine which operated from 1871 to 1963	Lumpsey and Lumpsey Mine A site of medieval agriculture and a mine from 1881 to 1954	Chapel Fields Three fields which lie on a medieval trackway from Kilton	The 1767 Estate Map The remarkable detail from the 1767 Estate Map showing a stage in the gradual evolution into modern Kilton

A Chronological History of Kilton

There is evidence of dispersed settlement in the vicinity of Kilton dating to prehistoric times.

9,600 to 4,000 BCE

Mesolithic Hunters

The Mesolithic is the period prior to the commencement of farming, when hunters and gatherers roamed to plains and hills of Yorkshire. Tools of stone and flint show that humans were in this area, surviving by hunting and making temporary camps.

There is extensive evidence of Mesolithic activity in the vicinity of the North York Moors particularly in the uplands and in the watery world of the Vale of Pickering, including at Star Carr. Mesolithic finds in Cleveland evidence Mesolithic activity, though the finds are more limited. See for instance Daniels, Robert. 2015. The Mesolithic in North East Yorkshire. Tees Archaeology.

Flint scatters and arrowheads, including a 5,000-year-old ripple-flaked oblique arrowhead discovered near the Carr Ponds on the Eston Hills, evidence human activity, hunting, and travel routes across the northernmost edge of the uplands overlooking Teesside (Neolithic Journey, Eston Hills arrowhead is well-travelled!, Cleveland Archaeology Trust; Ice and Fire, Eston Hills Rescue Archaeology, Spencer Carter, 2017).

Flint tools (Dorman Museum, Middlesbrough)

Skeletons of wild ox and deer have been found in peat bogs just a few miles from Skelton and have been dated to around 7,000 BCE. It has been suggested that layers of charcoal are the result of human activity (Skelton-in-Cleveland History, 12,000 BC to 410 AD, the Late Bill Danby).

Hammer-axe of Greenstone, from a ‘houe’ on Skelton moors

There have been some Mesolithic finds of flints around Seamer Carrs to the west of Stokesley (not to be confused with Seamer Carr near Star Carr), including a tranchet flint axe (Rowe, Peter. 2015. Hunting the Hunter-Gatherers, Mesolithic Teesside, Historic England), but no concentration which might indicate seasonal camps.

Mesolithic visitors in this area may have been seasonal visitors to small lakes in this area. As the weather improved during the later Mesolithic period there was increased activity across the uplands, including around the Upleatham Hills. (Spratt, D A. 1979. The Archaeology of Cleveland).

Steve Sherlock, during his archaeological excavations at Street Houses Farm in September 2026 explained that most of the region was forested during the Megalithic. It seems likely that there may have been Mesolithic activity along the coast. There is no evidence yet of Mesolithic activity at Kilton, though it seems likely that the area may have begun to encounter human activity, through dense forest and perhaps in clearings.

c 3,800 BCE

Neolithic Farming and industry

The many burial sites or howes on the hills around Skelton provide the first substantive evidence of humans in these parts. Neolithic people began farming and living in settled communities. They clearly believed in an afterlife and buried their dead in long barrows, communal tombs covered with a mound of stones. These graves are found on high ground and thought to be connected with sun and ancestor worship. Cremation had often taken place and the remains buried with items of jewellery, weapons and articles of daily life.

In Cleveland, these more permanent settlements began primarily to emerge on the coast, with access to seaborne transport.

There have been extraordinary Neolithic finds excavated Street Houses Farm site, only four kilometres to the northeast of Kilton, above the cliffs overlooking the North Sea. The excavations at Street Houses began in the 1930s by William Hornsby. A Neolithic cairn was excavated by Blaise Vyner in 1981. Further sites were excavated by Steve Sherlock from 2014 and the work is ongoing. The excavations include a ring ditch, a possible Neolithic house, a mortuary complex and a cairn. This coastal hilltop site is a regionally significant centre of early Neolithic life dating to approximately 3,800 BCE. Evidence of hearths, broken pottery, and storage pits suggests this is the earliest Neolithic salt-making site discovered in Britain. Because salt was a highly valued, essential commodity for preserving meat and dairy through the winter, this site suggests that early farmers operated a more efficient, larger-scale cattle economy than previously thought. A multiphase Neolithic cairn with a burnt timber façade and mortuary structure was used for the deposition of cremated human remains. A Late Neolithic palisaded ritual monument known as the Wossit is located a short distance from the cairn. This roughly 6,000-year-old Neolithic hub predates Stonehenge by over two millennia and is among the earliest found in Western Europe. The activity at nearby Street Houses is indicative of agricultural activity in the vicinity.

Salt making at Street Houses

The rich history of the Street Houses Farm site, so close to Kilton, which must have been a significant influence on Kilton’s earliest history, is told in more detail on a separate page.

The Street Houses Farm Excavations

Further detail about the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman-British and Anglo-Saxon archaeology at Street Houses Farm

Kilton and its relationship to Street Houses and Warsett Hill, also showing the location of the Roman signal station

c 1500 BCE

The Bronze Age Settlement Pattern

The largest single group of prehistoric monuments in the county of Cleveland is the Bronze Age burial mounds. Although there are remains of over 100 of these mounds within the county, their distribution is markedly restricted to the high land, usually over 150 metres OD, to the South of the River Tees. Within this area, the main concentration of burial mounts is on the present day moor lands of the Cleveland and Eston Hills. (Crawford, G M. 1990. Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Cleveland. Cleveland County Council).

Whilst the Street Houses site close to Kilton continued to be a centre of Bronze Age significance, evidence of human activity emerged in Kilton.

On Kilton Lane south of Brotton at NZ 695188, adjacent to Craggs Hill, is Howe Hill. This was the site of an Early Bronze Age barrow. Here a burial was discovered in a tree trunk coffin. The coffin had decayed badly when it was discovered and the remains of a skeleton was associated with the coffin, with bones and a brachycephalic (ie unusually short and wide) skull. The tree trunk coffin was similar to another found on Gristhorpe cliff between Scarborough and Filey. Similarities with coffins in Denmark suggested these were incomers, though this has since been doubted. It may be that these were individuals who were simply using local forest resources, similarly but independently from Danish practice. Nevertheless, the coffins are suggestive of dugout canoes, which may indicate that these were indeed incomers across the North Sea, or folk used to travel on waterways. They may have been sea-faring folk. The resource required to shape such a coffin was significant, suggesting domination by significant beliefs. In the barrow there were many cupstones, including one where there were hollows within rings.

The site was excavated by William Hornsby and Richard Stanton in 1917. The Dorman Museum in Middlesbrough displays important Bronze Age barrow artifacts, including log coffins from the Loose Howe mound excavation at the head of Rosedale and local prehistoric finds curated by former museum curator and archaeologist Frank Elgee.

Surveys by antiquarians and archaeologists like G M Crawford in 1980 noted the fading profile of the site. It is now barely visible as a low swell beside the Brotton to Kilton road.

Tree-trunk coffin, Gristhorpe Cup and ring stone, Howe Hill, Kilton Eight stones with cup marks, Howe Hill, Kilton Barrow at Howe Hill, Kilton

(Elgee, Frank. 1930. Early Man in North-East Yorkshire. Gloucester: John Bellows. Page 73-76).

Cup and Ring Stone from Howe Hill (Dorman Museum, Middlesbrough)

Early men certainly knew this beautiful part of England, for a coffin hollowed out of the trunk of a massive oak which had been split lengthwise was found at Brotton in a barrow at a place the local people called Howe Hill. In the coffin was the skeleton of a Bronze Age man who lived in the district, 2000-1,500 BC. A second barrow was discovered on the summit of Brotton Warsett Hill, to the east of Saltburn. Around the barrow was a circular wall of stones, one foot high, and about three feet in width. The body had been cremated and a food vessel placed over it. There was also another vessel on the south side of the barrow. (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 373).

This carved stone from the Neolithic period, possibly up to 8,000 years old, was found at a barrow at Howe Hill in 1913. Many hundreds of stones with hemishephrical depressions surrounded by rings have been found on the North Yorkshifre Moors. Their meaning is unknown. We can only speculate that they may have marked significant events such as births or deaths. (Dorman Museum, Middlesbrough)

A dug out canoe discovered in 1926 in the River Tees oppositie Thormanby High Wood, at a depth of 7 to 8 feet below the sand. The canoe is approximately 3,000 years old and was hewn from a single oak trunk, showing a high level of workmanship, and there are still traces of the fire which helped to hollow it out. The bottom is pierced with three circular holes, each fitted with a cylindrical plug, which were probablyu used to drain out any water when it had been brought on land. (Dorman Museum, Middlesbrough)

Another seven barrows were found at nearby Warsett Hill on the cliffside north of Brotton, a group of seven hillocks in the Beacon Field. It has been suggested that the Warsett ridge was part of a natural line of communication between the moors and the sea. There may have been a line of barrows of which Howe Hill may be a rare survivor. Howe Hill may have been a part of a ritual landscape. A large slice of the Howe Hill barrow was cut off when the road was built. As well as the cup and ring stone, there was a pile of stones with cup markings. The cups probably had religious significance. (Hornsby, William and Stanton, Richard. 1918. British Barrows near Brotton in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Volume 24 Page 263-268).

The seven Warsett Hill mounds were opened up by Canon Atkinson and later excavated in 1917 by W Hornsby and R Stanton. These mounds occupied a central ridge and were intervisible. The large barrow at Howe Hill is now only visible as a low swell in an arable field at 140 metres above Ordnance Datum (“OD”, measured from the Newlyn Tidal Observatory in Cornwall, roughly equating to mean sea level). The barrow would have originally measured about 20 metres in diameter. Howe Hill had been excavated by Hornsby and Stanton in 1914. (The Burial Mounds at Brotton and Boulby in Crawford, G M. 1990. Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Cleveland. Cleveland County Council pages 18-22).

Warsett Hill 2026 (by the author)

This fertility statue is an unusual monument carved during the Bronze Age, up to 4,000 years ago, found on Saltburn beach. The form seems to be a pregnant woman and may have been a tribal fertility symbol or deity. (Dorman Museum, Middlesbrough)

The figure was reputedly found at the foot of Huntcliff in 1886 and was placed on a pedestal outside of the nearby Ship Inn. In 1980 it was moved to the Dorman Museum in Middlesbrough where it can be seen on display. Headley Swain commented that the Saltburn figure probably qualifies as Celtic through default, although it could possibly be of Romanesque origin. (The Smell of Water, Swain, Headley (1995), Talking heads: three ‘Celtic’ heads from East Cleveland in Moorland Monuments, CBA Research Report 101).

600 BCE

Iron Age Settlement

An initial pattern of dispersed settlement of individual farmsteads emerged in prehistory, which led, by the Iron Age, to increased nucleation or concentration into a tightly clustered settlement (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 33).

The use of iron for tools and weapons was introduced. Some historians say tribes of Celts displaced their predecessors at about this time. There were perhaps intermittent movements of people across the North Sea, as this was to be the pattern for the future. The use of iron made it possible to farm the heavier soils of the lowlands. There is no evidence of settlements in the earlier Iron Age period, which would have been of timber and thatch, but the Iron Age people built earthworks on high positions for defence and remains of these can still be seen.

100 BCE

The Tees valley was a place of agricultural revolution during the Iron Age. Agricultural practices, such as crop choice and processing, varied geographically, reflecting distinct subregional identities and differing scales of arable production. (van der Veen, Dr. Marijke. 1992. Crop Husbandry Regimes: An Archaeobotanical Study of Farming in Northern England 1000 BC - AD 500, Sheffield Archaeological Monographs 3).

A 2002 archaeological excavation at Kilton Thorpe revealed a regionally significant Later Iron Age open village with no enclosing bank or ditch (2002. Sherlock, Stephen. An Archaeological Excavation at Kilton Thorpe, Nr Brotton. Johnson, P, & Sherlock, SJ. Excavation of an Iron Age open settlement at Kilton Thorpe, Brotton. 2010. Sherlock, Stephen John. An Examination of Late Prehistoric Settlement in North East England with Specific Emphasis on the Settlements of the Tees Valley. University of Leicester, School of Archaeology and Ancient History). The Iron Age village at Kilton Thrope Lane comprised of ten prehistoric houses and was identified as an open village characterised by roundhouses, boundary ditches, and evidence of mixed agriculture including cereal processing and livestock management with no enclosing bank and ditch. Internal partitions divided the site into zones across an area of half a hectare. Finds included 334 sherds of pottery and briquetage, a quernstone and evidence of ironworking. The site, which dates from c 50 BCE to c 50 CE (radiocarbon dated to circa 317–174 cal BCE through to 90 cal BCE–cal 210 CE, indicating continuity into the early Roman period), contained evidence of up to ten roundhouse timber structures and a local salt industry. The Kilton Thorpe site is an important benchmark for Late Prehistoric settlement in North East England. In contrast to earlier enclosed farmsteads, it represents a more open village-style community that eventually emerged across the Tees Valley. Excavations on the site produced notable finds, including coarse pottery associated with on-site salt production. The site, covering approximately 0.5 hectares, yielded handmade pottery, rotary querns, and briquetage associated with small-scale salt production.

This might suggest a long association with the salt industry at Street Houses.

A small archaeological excavation took place in August 2002 at Kilton Thorpe, 0.5 km south of the village of Brotton in North Yorkshire. The excavation was on the site of an Iron Age village that is thought to date from 100 BC. The site was located west of Kilton Thorpe Lane; it was originally discovered in 2000, with further excavations taking place in 2001. (Sherlock, Stephen J (2002), An Archaeological Excavation at Kilton Thorpe, near Brotton, Excavations during August 2002).

Site of Kilton Thorpe Iron Age Village, taken 2026 (by the author)

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The Iron Age village at Kilton Thorpe Lane comprised ten prehistoric houses and could be considered to be an open village in the sense that it is not enclosed by a substantial bank and ditch. Whilst enclosed Iron Age villages have been recognised by aerial photographs south of the River Tees and as earthworks on moorlands as at Great Ayton Moor, open villages like Kilton Thorpe are rare in North East Yorkshire. The earlier excavations in 2000 and 2001 had been restricted in area to the extent of the development, but it was clear that the Iron Age village extended beyond these developments to both the north and the south. The excavation in 2002 was sited 6 m south of the area excavated in 2000, in the adjoining field to see if the village extended much further to the south. (Sherlock, Stephen J (2002), An Archaeological Excavation at Kilton Thorpe, near Brotton, Excavations during August 2002).

The excavation has found the southern limit of the Iron Age village whilst the excavation has found the ditches and features found in 2000 continued to the south, demonstrating that the ditches and features found in the area opened in 2002. However, no further structures were found in the area opened in 2002. Furthermore two trial trenches, 2m wide extended south from the limit of the excavation for a further 12m and they did not reveal any further features. The features discovered in the excavation are thought to represent a driveway and ditches that were part of a prehistoric landscape that formed an entrance to the village. The driveway may well have been created as part of a process of organising and managing the Iron Age landscape. The driveway would have allowed access into the village from the surrounding fields and communities. There was ceramic from the driveway ditches and some evidence for prehistoric cereals form the soil samples within the ditches. However, the small amounts of pottery and cereals would suggest that these features are on the edge of the settlement rather than at the nucleus. Driveways and tracks leading into Iron Age villages have been recognised elsewhere, at Thorpe Thewles a trackway led from the south towards the unenclosed settlement (Heslop, DH (1987), The Excavation of an Iron Age Settlement at Thorpe Thewles, Cleveland 1980 to 1982, CBA Research Report 65, London, figure 34). Recent excavations at Long Newton have exposed a series of ditches that delimit a trackway leading from a stream northward to the possible settlement (Sherlock forthcoming). One feature of note is the relationship of the southern gully 20 to driveway boundary 47 the alignment is similar and they both terminate at the same point on the west, this is similar to a feature excavated in 2001. The excavations in 2001 exposed a long ditch with a narrow gully, feature 168, adjacent on the same alignment. In the case of the ditch and gully excavated in 2001 it was proved that the narrow ditch 168, was cut by the larger boundary ditch. The suggestion is that ditch 168 was earlier and may have been marking out boundaries that were later reflected and respected when a more substantial boundary was created (Sherlock and Vyner (2001), Brotton-Boulby Pipeline, The Iron Age Settlement at Kilton Lane, Brotton. Tees Valley Archaeology, page 5). It is suggested that gully 20 excavated in 2002 may form a similar function to gully 168 in 2001, in that it is an earlier feature that the later farmers could respect and use. The date of feature 20 is unknown although it could still be Iron Age in date for two reasons. Firstly the gully is respected in terms of alignment possibly because it is still in use as a boundary, secondly whilst no dating material was recovered from this ditch, Iron Age pottery was found in feature 168, the comparable ditch to the north. (Sherlock, Stephen J (2002), An Archaeological Excavation at Kilton Thorpe, near Brotton, Excavations during August 2002).

The excavation has established the southern limits of an open style of Iron Age village similar to that at Thorpe Thewles (Heslop, DH (1987), The Excavation of an Iron Age Settlement at Thorpe Thewles, Cleveland 1980 to 1982, CBA Research Report 65, London). The settlement here at Kilton Thorpe is thought to date to the Late Prehistoric period although there are no recognisable Romano-British influences. The radio-carbon dates for the site excavated in 2000 range from 2230 + or - 55 (OxA10518) to 1955 + or - 45 (OxA 10655), whilst the ceramic evidence is in accord with those dates. There are other unenclosed Iron Age settlements in the area at Roxby and on Percy Rigg, but they are different in that they lack the evidence for cereal production. At Roxby four prehistoric roundhouses were recorded adjacent to a track that is thought to be a long distance route from the North York Moors to the coast (Inman et al. 1985). The site on Percy Rigg noted an unenclosed settlement of five houses, only two of which are thought to have been contemporary, Percy Rigg is also adjacent to a long distance moorland track (Close, R (1972), Excavation of Iron Age Hut Circles at Percy Rigg, Kildale, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Volume 44, pages 23 to 32). There are Iron Age sites nearer to Kilton Thorpe that add to our knowledge about the immediate landscape around the parish of Skelton and Brotton. During the creation of the Skelton‑Brotton bypass in 1999 traces of Iron Age fields were discovered approximately 500m north of the present site (ASUD, 1999). A further site is known from aerial photography at Craggs Hall; here a subrectangular enclosure has been recognised (Vyner, personal commication). The gas pipeline from Brotton–Boulby Potash Mine was sited in the field to the south of the cropmark where trial excavations in 2001 revealed a single linear gully containing Iron Age pottery (Sherlock and Vyner (2001), Brotton-Boulby Pipeline, The Iron Age Settlement at Kilton Lane, Brotton. Tees Valley Archaeology). The Craggs Hall enclosure is undated but similar cropmark enclosures at Thorpe Thewles and Foxrush Farm, Redcar have proved to be Iron Age upon excavation. Clearly the site village at Kilton Thorpe is part of a landscape that is intensively occupied by the end of the Iron Age (70 AD). The Tees Valley has been intensively farmed since Late Prehistoric times (Haselgrove, CC (2001), The Later Bronze Age and Iron in the Lowlands, in Past, Present and Future, The Archaeology of Northern England, pages 45 to 69, Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland, Research Report Number 5, page 57) as is suggested by the evidence from the Sites and Monuments Record for Teesside that shows there are 90 known Iron Age sites within the former area of Cleveland County. The excavations at Kilton Thorpe should perhaps be seen as an opportunity to glean an insight into the Iron Age landscape south of the River Tees. In this respect there is still further work to do before the wealth and economy of the area is fully understood. Two further questions that need to be resolved in connection with the site at Kilton Thorpe are how much further to the north does the site extend and how does this site relate to the other sites in the immediate area to the NE. The first question could be resolved by further excavations to the N of the area excavated in 2001 to find the limit of the Iron Age settlement; this could then provide a plan to show the extent and limits of the known site. In the longer term a programme of fieldwork at Craggs Hall may provide dating, environmental and cultural material that will allow comparisons to be made with the site at Kilton Thorpe. (Sherlock, Stephen J (2002), An Archaeological Excavation at Kilton Thorpe, near Brotton, Excavations during August 2002).

The 2000 and 2001 excavations relate to the same site, namely an Iron Age village which, over the two campaigns of excavation, have presented evidence for at least nine prehistoric roundhouses. The Northern Archaeological Associates excavations revealed six circular structures within boundaries and fields that were adjacent to Kilton Thorpe lane (Abramson, P (2001), An Iron Age Settlement at Kilton Thorpe, Cleveland, Teesside Archaeological Society Bulletin, Volume 6, pages 4 to 8). The structures all had entrances facing east as is common in Iron Age buildings whilst one of the buildings, structure 1, had remains of a hearth and possibly a floor surface. The principal finds from the excavation were prehistoric pottery and a quern, or corn grinding stone. Unfortunately metalwork and bone did not survive, possibly because of the acidic soil, however, evidence was recovered for the cultivation of cereals and it was possible to obtain radiocarbon dates for the site that date the occupation from about 200 BC.

The excavations in 2001 revealed evidence for a further three round houses with a suggestion of a fourth ring ditch very near Kilton Thorpe lane. In addition to the houses further field boundaries were revealed, the most prominent of which seems to form an enclosure or boundary ditch that at one time delimited the site. Interestingly, two of the round houses found in 2001 were outside the enclosure and it seems the enclosure ditch had been backfilled and then an open settlement extended across the hillside. A similar feature was noted at the Iron Age village at Thorpe Thewles (Heslop, DH (1987), The Excavation of an Iron Age Settlement at Thorpe Thewles, Cleveland 1980 to 1982, CBA Research Report 65, London) during the later phase of occupation of the site, c 100 BC. The finds from the second year at Kilton Thorpe were similar to those in 2000, namely prehistoric pottery and some pieces of Flint. Two finds were of particular interest, a shale or jet spindle whorl and a piece of decorated stone found in a post hole in House 2. The evidence for plants and cereals suggested that this site was a self-sufficient producer site, particularly of spelt wheat, whilst for heath grasses was also found.

The excavations over two seasons have demonstrated that a substantial Iron Age farmstead existed at Kilton Thorpe and the full extent of the site has yet to be established. A recent national survey of the British Iron Age (Hazelgrove etal (2001), Understanding the British Iron Age, an Agenda for Action) has identified priorities for action in studying Iron Age settlement. Among the recommendations are to examine what is happening beyond the enclosure or settlement and to obtain more carbon dates from sites. There are other questions that need to be answered such as what relation what is the relationship between adjacent sites and to try to understand more about the settlement within the enclosure. Some of these research questions can be addressed by excavation outside the areas currently excavated at Kilton Thorpe.

(Sherlock, Stephen J (2002), Excavations at Kilton Thorpe in 2002).

The best preserved of the roundhouses was Structure 1 situated on the east edge of the site and continuing beyond the limit of the excavation area. The circular ditch measure c 6 m in diameter and within this the remains of a hearth and several postholes were recorded. A small, heavily disturbed area of sandstone cobbles in the extreme eastern area of the structure may have been the only surviving trace of a floor surface, The entrance to the structure may have been from the southeast, a feature probably common to the neighbouring houses in the southern part of the site.

It is tempting to view the site as comprising a group of single phase structures each situated within its own irregular enclosure. The relatively short period of use implied by a single phase of activity contrasts with the evidence from the Iron Age site at Thorpe Thewles (Heslop, DH (1987), The Excavation of an Iron Age Settlement at Thorpe Thewles, Cleveland 1980 to 1982, CBA Research Report 65, London), some 30 km to the west where the complex stratigraphy clearly pointed to multiple phases of construction. At Catcote, 3km southwest of Hartlepool (Long, CD (1988), The Iron Age and Romano British Settlement at Catcote, Hartlepool, Cleveland, Durham Archaeological Journal, Volume 4, pages 13 to 55), the site was occupied for more than 600 years, spanning the Iron Age and Romano-British periods. It is of course possible that at Kilton Thorpe evidence for re-use of the site has been destroyed by ploughing, or, the settlement ‘shifted’ and earlier or later phases of the site await discovery in the surrounding fields. Indeed, several hundred metres to the north of the site a large enclosure, measuring 90m by 80m was sample excavated during the construction of the Skelton to Brotton bypass (Wardle, S (2000), Skelton-Brotton Bypass: Archaeological excavation undertaken on behalf of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, Northern Archaeology Associates 00/15). Although no evidence of settlement activity was recorded in the enclosure, it was considered to be of Iron Age or Romano-British date and its proximity to the Kilton Thorpe Iron Age settlement suggests a possible relationship between the two sites.

Fortunately at Kilton Thorpe not all of the deposits had been truncated and, unusually for Iron Age sites in the region, a sizable assembly of pottery was recovered from the site. Blaise Vyner has undertaken an assessment of the assemblage prior to a more detailed analysis. His provisional findings are very interesting. Kilton Thorpe has provided one of the largest assemblages of later prehistoric pottery to be recovered from excavation in Yorkshire and northeast England, and is of particular value because of the paucity of other Iron Age pottery assemblages from northeast Yorkshire. The assemblage appears to belong to the middle or later part of the pre Roman Iron Age, dating perhaps from the 4th or 5th century BC. The absence of Romano British pottery suggests that activity in the excavated area had ended by the 1st century AD.

Although limited by comparison with the extensive assemblage from Thorpe Thewles, nevertheless the pottery assemblage from Kilton Thorpe is larger than all other Tees Valley Iron Age assemblages. Existing pottery assemblages include the mainly Iron Age material from Eston Nab, as well as later pottery from Dixons Bank, Nunthorpe. Both sites lie some to the north of Kilton. Apart from a few small assemblages from the sites on the moorland fringe, among them Percy Rigg and Great Ayton Moor, there is little in the way of local comparative material. In terms of size, this collection of pottery finds its best comparator in the recently excavated assemblage from Brampton, North Yorkshire. The material thus represents an important addition to knowledge of later prehistoric settlement and ceramics in the area.

Kilton Thorpe is one of only a handful of excavated Iron Age sites in Cleveland.

(Abramson, P (2001), An Iron Age Settlement at Kilton Thorpe, Cleveland, Teesside Archaeological Society Bulletin, Volume 6, pages 4 to 8).

c 50 BCE to c 50 CE

In the wider Cleveland area, Iron Age farmsteads and enclosures reflect dispersed settlement patterns on fertile boulder clay soils, with pollen evidence suggesting forest clearance and arable expansion from the late Bronze Age onward.

A pottery assemblage from Kilton Hall included the lower part of a handmade Iron Age cooking jar (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in Northeast England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 43).

The Crag Bank Iron Age and Romano-British settlement is a significant archaeological site located in Kildale. The inhabitants practiced mixed farming with evidence of iron smelting and smithing, and large numbers of beehive quern stones used for grinding grain. Occupation began in the Late Iron Age, the settlement continued to be used into the Romano-British period. (Close, RS, Hayes, RH and Spratt, DA. 1975. Romano-British Settlements at Crag Bank and Lounsdale, Near Kildale North Riding in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Volume 47, pages 61-68).

70 CE

Romano-British activity

This area was part of the realm of the Brigantes, which stretched from the Peak district north to the Tyne and coast to coast. At first the Brigantes accepted a client state position under the Romans but later tensions mounted leading to the Roman march north.

In about 71 CE, the Roman legions were ordered North, made their headquarters at Eboracum (York) and defeated the Brigantes at Stanwick, near Richmond. Forts were established at Malton, Catterick and Aldbrough. Northern England was to remain under Roman rule for the next 350 years.

Second Century CE

Roman influences in the Cleveland region included low-level farmstead occupation and integration into local networks, though no major Roman sites have been identified in or around Kilton. The area's peripheral position relative to military routes like Dere Street limited intensive development, with continuity from Iron Age practices evident in artefact assemblages lacking finewares or coins.

It seems likely that Iron Age folk continued to live much as before the Roman occupation, increasingly abandoning the moors which had become less fertile. Nevertheless the Roman army had insatiable appetite for goods taken to market and tribal warfare between tribal bands was likely to have been supressed (Spratt, D A. 1979. The Archaeology of Cleveland).

Wade’s Causeway was constructed in the early second century which may have increased communication to the areas north of the moors.

Third Century CE

There are no known Roman villas in Cleveland, but the third century CE probably brought peace and greater prosperity. A third century CE copper alloy Roman cavalry helmet was found at Guisborough. The deities depicted on the brow-plate include Victory, Mars and Minerva. (British Museum number 1878,0910.1; Dim, David and Kaminski, Jaime. 2017. The Production and Deposition of the Guisborough Helmet in Arms and Armour Volume 14, pages 1-33; Archaeologist on a mission to raise awareness of Guisborough discovered historic Roman helmet, 16 September 2017, Darlington and Stockton Times). Whilst there were Roman period settlements in the area, these were probably more continuations of the Iron Age culture in this area. This was far from Roman military activity.

Fourth and Fifth Centuries CE

Its relative isolation may have meant that Cleveland was not so directly impacted by the Roman withdrawal as the area south of the moors towards Eboracum (York). Cleveland had formed part of the military zone of Roman Britain but had never enjoyed the same degree of wealth and civilisation that had been widespread in the southern part of the country. It did not offer a particularly tempting prospect for those seeking booty, and in the 5th century may well have suffered more from internal disputes than external threats. (Spratt, D A. 1979. The Archaeology of Cleveland).

Roman coastal Signal Station at Huntcliff (by the author, 2026)

Huntcliff Roman Signal Station. Somewhere between 367 and 385 AD, a Roman Signal Station was built on Huntcliff. Unfortunately, erosion has destroyed virtually all trace of it. The Roman Empire was under heavy pressure from sea raiders attacking from beyond Hadrian’s Wall and along the east coast of England. Among a number of signal stations were built, from the Humber to the Tees, and perhaps to the Tyne. These could have been used to send messages by means of visual and land-based communication. The fortlets were small structures, built in stone. The central tower was surrounded by a high stone wall with bastions at each corner; all were topped with timber fighting platforms. The turrets were generally square and the fortlets were manned by small garrisons of soldiers. Life was probably hard and monotonous, with duties including maintenance of the fortlet, lookout, and signalling. Part of the fortlet at Huntcliff was excavated in 1911–12 by William Hornsby and R. H. Forster. The excavations found coins dating from 367–392 AD, bowls, jars, and a large iron knife. It is unlikely that the fortlets continued in use much beyond the end of the fourth century AD; however, Huntcliff may have had a particularly violent end. The excavators reported widespread burning and more significantly, human remains were found in the well. The well was set between the tower and outer wall, adjacent to the entrance, and was 24m deep. The remains of fourteen people were found in the well, comprising men, women, and children, and it is difficult to understand this except as the result of a violent attack. (North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast).

Anglo-Saxon Kilton

The site of Kilton Thorpe, a place of occupation since the Iron Age, continued to be occupied as a settlement (Medieval settlement and open field system at Kilton Thorpe, National Heritage List 1019915 listed in 2001 at NZ 689176).

Ridge and farrow corrugation at Kilton, taken in 2016

The earthworks at Kilton Thorpe are complicated and it should be remembered that they are the remains of at least 500 years of activity. In addition the construction of the present road and buildings have destroyed a large portion of the remains making it difficult to interpret what survives. It is suggested that the earthworks are those of two farmsteads A and B and that A has at least two phases of earthworks. The lighter hatched areas are low-lying eroded pathways through and around the farmsteads. The boundaries around the farms were probably a mixture of hedges and fences and farm A has two routes out into the fields, one of which is shared with B. A central area within A contains platforms on which buildings probably stood. A1 was probably the earliest site and a later farmstead A was reduced in size and a new boundary and building established A2. The main buildings in the farmsteads would have been longhouses, about 20 metres long and 7 metres wide with a central doorway. To one side of the doorway was the living room of the family, while the other side would have been used as a cattle byre creating medieval central heating. The longhouses would be of crock construction with thatched roofs and low clay and stone walls and their possible position is shown on the plan of the earthworks. A map of 1765 shows the present road at Kilton Thorpe. The medieval farms had probably been abandoned by the 17th century. (Local information at Kilton Thorpe).

The medieval landscape at Kilton evolved from farmstead to hamlet to village, each associated with areas of ridge and furrow reflecting the agricultural economy. Milling emerged at Kilton mill to the north east. The road from Brotton to Kilton is almost certainly of medieval origin. Apart from the wooded valleys to the east, the whole area was cultivated at some stage. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 33, page 41).

Reconstruction of the medieval landscape of Kilton (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 49)

By the mid sixth century cultural corelands emerged in the lands of Deira and Bernicia, in agricultural heartlands in such places as the Lower Tyne Valley and the Vale of Pickering, which had once formed the Romano-British landscape (Roberts, Brian. 2010. Northumbrian Origins and Post Roman Continuity: an exploration in Finds from the Frontier: Material Culture in the 4th – 5th centuries, Council for Archaeology Research Report 162, page 123). The kingdom of Deira comprised the lands south of the Tees which stretched over the moors and across the vales to the Yorkshire Wolds (P Hunter Blair. 1949. The boundary between Bernicia and Deira in Archaeologia Aeliana, Series 4, Volume 27, pages 46 to 59). The future Kilton found itself in the borderlands between the composite kingdoms of Deria and Bernicia, which over time fused into Northumbria.

In about 650 CE, in the northern lands of Deira which Norsemen would later rename Cliff-land, a high-status woman was buried at the Street House site in a lavish bed burial, overlooking the sea, with her exquisite jewellery (Kirkleatham Museum. Street House Exhibition. Adams, Max, and Colm O’Brien. 2025. Northumbria AD 367–867. Edinburgh: Birlinn. Page 105). This Anglo-Saxon aristocrat, perhaps a Deiran princess, reflected the richness of an emerging Northumbrian culture. The Anglo-Saxon Street House Burial is evidence of the continuing importance of the nearby site on the coast.

An isolated fifth to sixth century bronze penannular brooch, perhaps Romano-Brittonic from the transitional age to Anglo-Saxon dominance, was found at Yarm and there were finds of burials and cremations at Hob Hill near Saltburn, perhaps an outlying group of settlers in the far north of Deira (Anglo-Saxon Teeside, Tees Archaeology, 2020; Spratt, D A. 1979. The Archaeology of Cleveland; Gallagher, DB. 1987. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Hob Hill, Saltburn in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Volume 59, pages 9-29). The Dorman Museum has artefacts excavated from the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Hob Hill.

865 CE

Scandinavian influence

From place name evidence Cleveland was one of the areas of Northumbria most densely settled by the Vikings. It was they who gave the name Cleveland to the area, though judging from later saga references, it extended from the River Tees to Scarborough in the south. (Spratt, D A. 1979. The Archaeology of Cleveland). The name Cleveland appears to derive from the Old English word clifa land or the Old Norse Kliflond. The Vikings named it land of cliffs because of the dramatic, steep terrain of the coastline where the hills from the North York Moors meet the North Sea. The name was deeply embedded in the region's history and it was recorded in the 12th-century Orkneyinga Saga.

When the brothers Paul and Erlend had succeeded to the government of the Orkneys, King Harald Sigurdson (Hardradi) came from Norway with a large army. He first touched Hjaltland; from thence he went to the Orkneys, and left there his Queen Ellisif, and their daughters Maria and Ingigerd. From the Orkneys he had many troops; both the Earls went with him on the expedition. He went from Orkney to England and landed at a place called Klifland (Cleaveland), and took Skardaborg (Scarborough). Then he touched at Hallarnes (Holderness), and had a battle there, in which he was victorious. The Wednesday next before Matthiasmas (20th September) he had a battle at Jórvík (York) with the Earls Valthióf and Mórukári. Mórukári was slain there (Hjaltalin, Jon A and Goudie, Gilbert (translated from Icelandic). 2018. The Orkneyinga Saga. Chapter 24)

Located on the edge of the North York Moors and vulnerable to North Sea coastal raids, the hamlet at Kilton remained a quiet farming settlement. It was situated near the deep ravine of Kilton Beck, a steep valley that later made an excellent defensive position. The settlement was recorded in the Domesday Book as Chitun. Chitune is probably derived from Old English cild tūn, sometimes cilda-tun meaning farmstead associated with the young men or freemen. Place-names ending in -ton suggest an Anglo-Saxon foundation, likely dating back to the arrival of Germanic tribes in the 5th to 7th centuries. Another interpretation of the name points to an Old English/Old Norse translation of narrow-valley farm. The name may be a combination of Old English and Old Norse. The Ch- shifted to K- under Scandinavian linguistic influence. The name Kilton may be derived from Norse language and may therefore refer to a farm settlement in a narrow valley. The suffix -ton was later commonly adopted or "Scandinavianised" into the local lexicon following Viking invasions and the establishment of the Danelaw in the ninth and tenth centuries.

Kilton Thorpe is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Thorpe. Thorpe is a Scandinavian word for a small settlement and the use of this name indicates that there were a number of Scandinavian farmers in the area. Thorpe names are very common in Yorkshire and medieval clerks added the Kilton element to the name as a distinction. Since there were many Thorpes in northern England, the settlement became known as Kilton Thorpe. The use of the name Thorpe suggests that Kilton was a more important settlement.

Freeborough Hill is a prominent, conical landmark near Moorsholm. While the hill itself is a natural geological formation, its distinctive shape made it a focal point for prehistoric communities, and the surrounding Moorsholm landscape is rich with Bronze Age barrows and ancient activity, including the Black Howes. Early names suggest the hill may have been called Freyasberg or Freya's Hill, dedicating it to the Norse goddess of love and war but it may derive from Old Norse frithborh, referring to a frankpledge or surety in legal assemblies, possibly suggesting its early use as a meeting or boundary site. John Hall Stevenson of Skelton Castle later mischievously raised speculation that Freebrough Hill was immortal Arthur's tomb.

1086

Norman Conquest

When recorded in the Domesday Book in 1286, Chitune (Powell-Smith, Anna. Open Domesday. Kilton) comprised a principal settlement of 2 ploughlands, with 8 acres of meadowland, which was held by Thorkil prior to the Conquest and directly by King William after the Conquest. It was described as wasteland before and after the Conquest.

Chitune also comprised 0.5 ploughlands, held by Uhtred prior to the Conquest and Count Robert of Mortain after the Conquest.

Kilton Thorpe (Torp) was recorded separately as two separate holdings each of one ploughland (Powell-Smith, Anna. Open Domesday. Kilton Thorpe). As with Chitune, the first was held by Thorkil prior to the Conquest and then by King William; and the second was held by Uhtred prior to the Conquest and later by Count Robert of Mortain. Again this land was described as waste before and after the Conquest.

Hence it is apparent that in 1087, with the exception of one bovate in Stanghow, half a carucate in Great Moorsholm, two carucates and a half at Kilton Thorpe, and three carucates at Kilton, which were in the King’s hands, and of the Kilton portion of which Torchil was the tenant, the entire parish or district of Skelton, comprising thirty two carucates all but one bovate, had been granted to Robert, Earl of Mortain, and was held of him by Richard de Surdeval. (Atkinson, Rev J C. History of Cleveland Ancient and Modern. Volume 1. Barrow in Furness: J Richardson. Page 317).

Robert Earl of Mortain

Lands in both Kilton and Kilton Thorpe were thus held for the King by the Count of Mortain. Robert, Earl of Mortain and Cornwall, son of William the Conqueror’s mother by Herlewine de Conteville and so half brother of William, was granted 215 manors in Yorkshire many in Cleveland. He subinfeudated many manors in Cleveland to Richard de Surdeval. The House Mortain later lost possessions due to conspiracy against William 1088, but Surdeval kept his manors as tenant in chief. It has been suggested that it was Surdeval who built Skelton Castle.

Robert, Count of Mortain (c 1031 to 8 December 1090) was the half brother of William the Conqueror and one of the greatest landholders in England after the Conquest, holding some 797 manors. He is known to have faught at the Battle of Hastngs and is pictured in the Bayeux Tapestry at Pevensy seated with his brothers William and Odo.

From the Bayeux Tapestry

In 1069, together with Robert of Eu, Robert led an army against a force of Danes in Lindsey and effected great slaughter against them (George Edward Cokayne. 1913. The Complete Peerage of England Scotland Ireland Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant Extinct or Dormant, Volume 3, Edited. Vicary Gibbs. London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd. Page 428).

Nearby Broctune, later Brotton, was a settlement of 11 ploughlands with 9 villages, 1 lord’s plough team and 4 men’s plough teams, with 22 acres of meadow. It was also in the possession of Uhtred before the Conquest and Richard of Sourdeval in 1086 with Robert of Mortain as his tenant in chief. (Powell-Smith, Anna. Open Domesday. Brotton). Other settlements in the locality, all within the Hundred of Langbaugh, were Loftus and Little Moorsholm

Domesday Book tells us that in 1086 the King held land at both Kilton and Kilton Thorpe. In Kilton Thorpe there was a small manor of two and a half carucates, and at Kilton there was a manor containing three carucates of land and eight acres of meadow. The Count of Mortain also held land there. In Kilton Thorpe he had a small manor of one and a half carucates, and in Kilton one carucate. (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 297).

We cannot be quite so sure that Little Moorsholm originally formed part of this fee. In Domesday this small manor of one caracute was held by Richard de Surdeval of the fee of the Count of Mortain. Its history in the twelfth century however is not very clear; but it may possibly have been subinfueded with the Kilton property, for when we next hear of it, in 1257, it is in the hands of Mamaduke de Thweng, the then lord of Kilton. Admittedly this evidence is late, but it does at least show that Little Moorsholm formed part of the Kilton fee before the Brus partition of 1272. (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 298).

Little Moorsholm Farm to the south of Kilton, 2026

Following the Norman Conquest, Kilton emerged as an agricultural township tied to the nearby parish of Brotton, with lands passing after 1088 from the exiled Count of Mortain to Robert de Brus I, who consolidated holdings in Cleveland as part of his barony centered at Skelton.

1090

Robert was succeeded by his son, William de Mortain (c 1084). From childhood, he harboured a bitter dislike for his cousin Henry I and proudly demanded from him not only his father's earldoms of Mortain and Cornwall, but his uncle Odo, Bishop of Bayeux's Earldom of Kent. William of Malmesbury described him as a person of shameless arrogance. The king kept putting off William's demands for the earldom of Kent and instead offered him the hand of Mary of Scotland, Queen Matilda's sister, which William promptly rejected. He rebelled against the King with Robert de Belleme, but they were finally defeated on 24 April 1106 at the Battle of Tinchebrai. William was imprisoned for many years in the Tower of London, and in 1140 became a Cluniac monk at Bermondsey Abbey, across the River Thames from the Tower of London. (George Edward Cokayne. 1913. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant Extinct or Dormant, Volume 3, Edited. Vicary Gibbs. London: The St. Catherine Press, Ltd. Page 428).

On the death of Earl Robert of Mortain his son William succeeded him in his earldoms of Moreton in Normandy, and Cornwall. In 4 Henry I (1104) the King ‘seized upon all his possessions in England, razed his castles to the ground and banished him from the realm’ for rebellious practices. In 1106 he was taken prisoner in open war in Normandy and sent to England ‘there to be secured during his life. After which, the King, causing his eyes to be put out, bestowed his Earldom of Moreton on Stephen of Blois. (Atkinson, Rev J C. History of Cleveland Ancient and Modern. Volume 1. Barrow in Furness: J Richardson. Page 317).

Robert de Brus (and the potential interest of Alan de Percy)

1100

When William de Mortain was banished for conspiracy, it seems that both villages at Kilton, the two and a half carucates, another five and a half carucates and eight acres of meadow passed to Robert de Brus. The land around Kilton and Skinningrove was given to the de Brus family, who had arrived in England in or about 1094. At this time the manor of Little Moorsholm also formed part of the Kilton Fee. That of Great Moorsholm did not join the Kilton Fee until 1272. It seems too that the Soke of South Loftus, six carucates of land, joined the Kilton Fee soon after the Domesday survey. North Loftus was much bigger and was part of the Chester Fee.

Robert de Brus is first named during the period 1094 and 1100, as a witness to a charter of Hugh earl of Chester which is of very dubious authenticity (Chartulary of Whitby, n 25), granting the church of Flamborough to the church of Whitby. Possibly the earl of Chester about 1100-1104 enfeoffed Robert of certain portions of his Cleveland fee in Lofthouse, Upleatham, Barwick, Ingleby, and other places. During the period 1103-1106 Robert de Brus attested with Ralph Paynell and 16 others a charter of William, count of Mortain, to the abbey of Marmoutier. In 1109, at a council of all England held at Nottingham, he attested the charter of Henry I confirming to the church of Durham certain possessions which the men of Northumberland had claimed. During the period 1109-1114 he was in possession of the lands late of Orm, Turbern, Ulchil, Chetel, Ravenchil, and other English thegns in Borgescire (Claro) wapentake and, as chief lord, consented to the gift made to the monks of Marmoutier by Ralph Mauleverer, his tenant, of the chapel of Allerton Mauleverer. About the same period he attested the charter of Henry I, issued at Woodstock, confirming the above gift. When the Lindsey Survey was made (1115-1118) he was in possession of the fee which William Taillebois had held at the date of the Great Survey, namely Turvert’s manors in West Ashby, near Horncastle, and Alford. It is a strong presumption from these circumstances that Henry I had given Robert his Yorkshire fee soon after the battle of Tinchebrai (28 September 1106). The enrolment of the details of this fee in the Great Survey does not appear to have taken place until after 1120, because a reference therein to Robert Fossard seems to indicate that Nigel Fossard, the Domesday tenant in chief, was then dead, and that event did not occur until after 1120. About the year 1131 Brus was in the retinue of Henry I at Lions, in Eure. About the same time he attested with his 3 knights, Roger de Rosel, Guy de Lofthus and Robert Francais, a confirmation of Alan de Percy to the monks of Whitby. (Farrer. 1915. Early Yorkshire Charters. Volume 2. Page 11).

Farrer included Kilton and Kilton Thorpe within the Brus fee before 1129, lands formerly held by the Count of Mortain and Richard de Surdeval (Farrer. Early Yorkshire Charters. Volume 2. Page 19).

It is thus probable that as early as 1100 Robert de Brus I held as tenant in chief that part of Kilton and Kilton Thorpe which in 1086 had belonged to the Count of Mortain (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archeaological Journal, Volume 34, page 297). It is generally thought however that Robert de Brus received his Yorkshire fee after the Battle of Tinchebrai in 1106 (see Farrer above). The Brus family thus came to hold large estates based on Skelton, Danby and in Kildale. (strike through text shows elements of references which appear, with the benefit of contemporary analysis, to be in error).

Castleton was the centre of the de Brus estates in Cleveland, an estate which comprised 40 villages, which may explain why a large defensive work was constructed at Castleton whilst a smaller ringwork was constructed at Castle Fevington, near Yarm (Cleveland). Sometime shortly after 1104 Robert de Brus received the Skelton estate (Cleveland) from Henry I, and the principal de Brus seat moved to Skelton from Castleton. (Excavations at Castle Hill, Castleton, SJ Sherlock, Volume 64, 1992, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Volume 64, 1992, page 41).

By the early 12th century, the settlement at Kilton focused on mixed farming around farmsteads in Kilton Dale, supported by meadow and ploughlands.

A medieval moor edge settlement emerged around the large 13 carucate manor of Skelton, together with a smaller manor of Moresum. However the township of Kilton had a slightly different history from the rest of the Brus fee. (Barry Harrison. 1990. New Settlements in the North Yorkshire Moors 1086-1340 in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 28).

On Farrer’s analysis, relying on a later grant by Ilger of Kilton of land in Kirkleatham, by the mid twelfth century, Kilton and Kirkleatham were part of the Kilton fee held by Brus. The greater part of Kilton and Kirkleatham was held by Ilger de Kilton of the fee of Brus, namely of that part of the fee of Brus which belonged at the Survey to the fee of Mortain and previous to that had belonged to Uctred of Cleveland (Farrer. 1915. Early Yorkshire Charters. Volume 2. Page 67, Folio 722 and notes, see also page 68 Folio 723 and 724).

In this context the Kilton fee or the Fief of Kilton refers to the whole landholding of the person, rather than the place which later became Kilton itself. On Hebditch’s analysis, the Kilton fee was a composite fee derived from more than one overlord. Kilton and Kilton Thorpe was held until 1272 of the de Brus House. Kirkleatham was Westlidun in the Domesday Book and later Lyum. In the Domesday Book Kirkleatham had been divided between the King, Earl Hugh of Chester’s Fee, the Count of Mortain’s Fee and William de Percy’s fee. The Kirkleatham lands were held partly of the Percys but primarily of the de Brus overlords. (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 304). The original fee comprised Kilton and Kilton Thorpe, part of Kirkleatham and posssibly Little Moorsholm.

It appears that the Kirkleatham elemtn of the Kilton fief led to an erroneous assumption of Kilton’s association with the Percys.

1106

William L’Anson believed that by 1106, the township of Kilton had become part of the holdings of the Percys (L’Anson, William M. 1913. Kilton Castle in Yorkshire Archeaological Journal, Volume 22, page 57) (“The L’Anson Model”).

W Hebditch later provided an alternative model, that the fee passed to the Brus line, with whom it remained until 1272 (“The Hebditch Model”). He suggests that the only part of the fee held of the Percys was the Kirkleatham property (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 305).

Hebditch argued that soon after the Domesday Survey, North Loftus (Lochtusum), which formed an extensive soke including Liverton, Guisborough, Markse and Kirkleatham, formed part of the fee of the Earl of Chester. Hebditch argues that rather than subinfeuding his Loftus property to William de Percy, he actually enfoeffed Robert de Brus, or the greater part of it.

To understand these arguments, the relevant Percy genealogy is as follows:

		William de Percy Willame als gernons (‘with whiskers’) Died 1096, buried at Antioch Arrived after the Conquest Appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a significant landowner, holding 30 knight's fees, including some lands which had belonged to a Saxon lady, whom, as very heire to them, in discharging of his conscience, he later married First Feudal Baron of Topcliffe Hugh Lupus, on becoming Earl of Chester, transferred to him his great estate of Whitby, where he re-founded the Abbey of St. Hilda's, and appointed his brother Serlo de Percy the first prior. Married Emma de Porte
Alan de Percy Died 1130 to 1135 Second Feudal Baron Founder of the Kilton fee according to L’Anson Married Emma de Ghent	Walter de Percy	Richard de Percy Lord of Dunsley	William de Percy Monk Second Abbot of the re-founded Whitby
The powerful English House of Percy, Earls of Northumberland were descended via an early thirteenth century female line, and the Dukes of Northumberland via an eighteenth century female line

William de Percy was a smaller tenant in capite (tenant in chief holding directly from the King) in Cleveland at the time of the survey. His son Alan de Percy, the second feudal baron, was granted significant additions to the Percy estates in Cleveland, principally from the lands of the Earl of Mortain. From these additions, the L’Anson Model suggested that Alan de Percy founded the Fief of Kilton in the Barony of Percy in about 1106 and that the fief of Kilton was granted to a certain Walter, who was probably a member of the Percy family, or closely allied to them. (L’Anson, William M. 1913. Kilton Castle in Yorkshire Archeaological Journal, Volume 22, page 57). This was disputed by Hedditch. L’Anson’s analysis is probably wrong.

L’Anson thought that Walter subdivided the fiefdom into (1) the Fief of Kilton proper; (2) the Lordship of Hinderwell; and (3) the Lordship of Kirkleatham. In the Fief of Kilton there were the manors of Kilton Thorpe and Little Moorsholm the Soke of South Loftus.

According to L’Anson, there was a subinfeudation under the Percy family around 1106, establishing the Kilton Fee with manors at Kilton and Kilton Thorpe aggregating several carucates. William de Percy, first feudal baron of the most historic of our great English houses, “the founder of a great name, whose genuine bearers soon passed away,” says Freeman (iv, p. 297), “ but which has been, like that of the Caesars, artificially handed on to later times,” was one of the smaller tenants-in-capite in Cleveland at the time of the Survey (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 57). The fief was divided into three portions, viz.: — (i) The Fief of Kilton proper ; (2) the Lordship of Hinderwell ; (3) the Kirkleatham property. The Fief of Kilton Proper contained the two manors of Kilton, the two manors of Torp or Kilton Thorpe, the manor of Little Moorsholm, and the soke of South Lofthouse. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 58). The Kilton fief proper, therefore, consisted in all of six manors, five lying on the west and one on the east side of the Kilton beck, and aggregating in all fifteen carucates of land. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 60).

L’Anson suggested that the newly-founded fief of Kilton was granted by Alan, second feudal Baron de Percy, to a certain Walter, to be held by knight service. Of Walter we know nothing whatever. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 63). This is probably also in error.

Kilton and Kilton Thorpe undoubtedly formed the basis of the Kilton Fief. No further proof of this is needed than the fact that at a very early date we find a small feudal castle established at Kilton as the capital messuage of the fee (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 297).

The Hedditch Model corrected the L’Anson analysis. We are now in a position to go back and re-read, in the light of what we have ascertained, Mr. I’Anson’s account of the composition of the fee. The first and most obvious correction to be made is the statement about the overlordship of Kilton. As we have indicated, the Kilton fee was a composite fee held of more than one overlord, and to describe it as “The Fief of Kilton in the Barony of Percy” is completely misleading. At Kilton and Kilton Thorpe the overlord was until 1272 a Brus. The only part of the fee which was held of the Percys, and not of the Brus lordship as Farrer suggests, was the Kirkleatham property. The second point that emerges is that the original fee was much smaller than we have been led to imagine. Kilton and Kilton Thorpe, part of Kirkleatham, and perhaps Little Moorsholm — these are the only properties we have any valid authority for including in the Kilton fee. (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 304).

The Brus genealogy is reproduced on a separate webpage.

1119

In 1119, Robert de Brus founded the Augustinian priory of St Mary at Gisborough. The priory is generally spelt Gisborough, in contrast to its town of Guisborough. It became one of the richest monastic foundations in England with grants from the crown and bequests from de Brus, other nobles and gentry and local people. This was a period of religious revival. Known as regular canons, the monasteries who followed the Rule of St Augustine of Hippo were distinct from other monks whose lives were governed by the rather stricter Rule of St Benedict. Robert appointed his younger brother William as the first prior at Gisborough.

Gisborough Abbey, 2026 (by the author)

As his wealth grew, Bruce established an Augustinian Priory at Gisborough in Yorkshire, which the family continued to patronise right up until the early 14th century. Indeed, so important was this abbey to them that, despite their conventional piety, they never established another ecclesiastical foundation, even in Scotland, after they settled across the border. Gisborough Priory, it would seem, stole their hearts. (Robert the Bruce, the Champion of a Nation, Stephen Spinks, 2024 page 35).

1129

After he founded Gisborough Priory, in 1129 Robert de Brus granted to it the whole of Kirkleatham, that is to say, nine carucates of land with that part of Coatham which is adjacent to it and all other things appurtenant, and the tithe of my demese of Kirkleatham (Gisborough Chartulary, Volume 1 page 3. See also Volume 2, page 96). It seems likely that the nine carucates of land at Kirkleatham corresponds with the nine carucates held by Mortain, which came into the hands of Robert de Brus.

I have also given to the aforementioned brothers the whole of Lyum (Kirkleatham), namely, nine carucates of land with that part of Cotum (Coatham, near Redcar) which adjoins it, and all other things pertaining to it, as well as the tithe of my demesne of Lyum, and the churches of Mersc, Burnnus, Scheltona, Daneby, Uplyum, Staintona, Levintona, and the church of Hert, and Strantona, with all their appurtenances and lands.

1135

Hebditch concluded that the de Brus family held Kilton directly. L’Anson’s model seems to have erred in suggesting that the fee was subinfeudated to Walter and then to Pagan Fitzwalter. Hebditch rejected this, arguing that there is nothing whatever to indicate [Walter Fitz-Pagan] was ever lord of Kilton (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 306).

In the 1130s to 1140s, land grants to Gisborough Priory, founded by de Brus in 1119, fostered medieval growth, including donations from early lords like Pagan de Thweng for church foundations and agricultural tenements, solidifying Kilton's role within feudal manors of the de Brus honor. This period marked the village's crystallisation around a central farmstead site, later associated with Kilton Hall, emphasizing arable and pastoral economies in the dale.

It may be that Richard de Surdeval continued as sub-tenant to Robert de Brus. Evidence from charters involving Robert de Brus indicates that his wife Agnes was an heiress of the Surdeval family. Her exact parentage is not known. She may have been an unrecorded daughter of Richard de Sourdeval, who held many manors in the Yorkshire region. Alternatively, she may have been a daughter of either Richard's son Robert, or his daughter Matilda Maude de Sourdeval who married Ralph (Radulf) Paynel, Sheriff of Yorkshire. In 1086 the Yorkshire lands of the Mortain fee were divided between two tenants, Nigel Fossard and Richard de Surdeval, who later held them in capite after their forefeiture either by Count Robert in 1088 or his son William in 1106. The majority of the Surdeval share elsewhere in Yorkshire subsequently passed to Ralph Payne, probably through marriage to Richard's daughter, Maud; and although there is no clear evidence for the means by which Robert de Brus received his own, smaller, Cleveland share of Surdeval lands, there are several pointers to suggest that they also came through a judiciously arranged marriage, undoubtedly with the connivance of the king. (Blakely, Ruth Margaret. 2000. The Brus family in England and Scotland 1100-c.1290. Doctoral thesis, Durham University).

Kilton Castle was built in about 1135 to 1140, initially in timber on a narrow rocky promontory overlooking Kilton Beck. This was the original timber castle, later reconstructed in stone in about 1190 to 1200. The fortification capitalised on the site's natural defences, including steep southern slopes and a western neck of land suitable for a defensive ditch. Whilst L’Anson suggested that Kilton Castle was probably founded by Pagan Fitzwalter, a tenant under the early Norman overlords with connections to the de Percy and de Brus families, it was more likely to have been built directly by the House de Brus, or by the sub-tenants, the Surdevals.

Relying on the error of L’Anson, Minnie Horton suggested that Fitzwalter built Kilton Castle between 1135 and 1140. His descendants took the name of Kilton and held the castle until 1213. (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 379).

Rather, it is more likely that Kilton castle is of great antiquity, affording fine specimens of the Norman architecture, and was probably built by Robert de Brus, about the same as Skelton castle, viz the reign of King Stephen (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 270). Indeed Skelton Castle was built in about 1140.

This was during the period of the Anarchy between the Empress Matilda and Stephen.

L’Anson’s ideas set out below, are probably therefore wrong, though there are elements of his description of the building of the castle which are helpful.

Pagan Fitz-Walter, the second holder of the fief, married a daughter of Robert Fossard, feudal baron of Mulgrave, who bore the arms Sable, a bend or. Pagan's brother-in-law, William Fossard, was one of the chief commanders of the Anglo-Norman army at the famous Battle of the Standard. His son William left a daughter and heiress, Joanna, who married Robert de Turnham, who, in turn, left a daughter and heiress, who married Peter de Mauley I. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 63).

Pagan is principally noted as being the founder of Kilton Castle. The original capital of the fief was probably at Seaton, but the intestinal warfare and utter anarchy which prevailed at this time appear to have led Pagan to abandon his father’s manor-house, and to select for the site of a new residence the promontory already described as existing on his manor of Kilton. Here, between 1135 and 1140, he founded the castle of Kilton, which subsequently gave name not only to the fief but to the family who held it. Pagan probably felled the trees within bow-shot of the promontory, roughly hewing them into shape for the erection of the palisade. He then enclosed the summit of the ridge by a strong stockade of vertical-pointed beams driven well into the ground and firmly strengthened behind. The eastern and southern facades were effectually guarded by their precipitous slopes ; on the north, where the ground fell away steeply but not actually precipitously, the palisading would be probably from 20 to 25 feet in height and of great strength ; on the west a great ditch or fosse was carried right across the neck of the promontory until it merged into the ravine on either side, completely cutting it off from the adjacent ground. As bearing upon the subsequent reconstruction of the castle by Sir William de Kylton, it is important to notice that the usual “Motte” or artificial mound, is conspicuous by its absence. Probably Pagan considered that the great natural strength of the site made the formation of a “Motte” unnecessary. There is practically no doubt that the “palace”, i.e. the hall, kitchen, private apartments, etc., was situate at the eastern end of the promontory, the stabling, outhouses, etc., at the western end. The site was one which could easily and economically be made practically impregnable, and a castle such as that founded by Pagan could be erected in a very short time. For instance, it is recorded that the erection on Baile Hill, at York, of such a castle by William the Conqueror occupied only eight days. Probably nearly all the so-called “adulterine” castles, variously estimated at from 700 to 1,000 in number, hastily run up in the reign of Stephen, were after the style of Pagan’s castle of Kilton. Pagan had issue five sons, Walter, Osbert, Galfridus, Adam, and Richard, and two daughters, Helya and Matilda (Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Folios 865 and 866 at page 147). He was probably buried at Hinderwell in the church he had built. Walter Fitz-Pagan, third holder of the Kilton fief, Pagan’s eldest son and heir, does not appear to have held the fief for any great length of time. He gave a bovate of land at Kilton to the Priory of Guisborough (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Folio 868, page 149). He was succeeded by his brother, Osbert. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 64).

In time, the medieval township comprised the villages at Kilton and Kilton Thorpe, farmsteads near Stank House and Buck Rush and perhaps Greenhills, together with the castle. The castle had its own fishponds, park and gardens and would have created work and boosted the local economy. The main occupation would have been mixed farming, producing cereals and raising sheep and cattle. The strips of the medieval farms can still be seen in the corrugations of ridge and furrow which survive in the area. Each of these strips would have had cereals grown on them which were harvested by hand. Ridge and furrow is created by a team of oxen ploughing up one side of each strip and turning the soil towards the centre and then returning down the other side, again turning the soil towards the centre. The curved shape is thought to be the result of beginning to swing the team of oxen around ready to turn them. Blocks of ridge and furrow were called furlongs and at the end of each furlong there would be a headland where the plough was lifted from the soil and turned around. Crop rotation was normally by furlong and people whose livestock strayed into the crops would have been fined. The landscape of the township has seen three major changes, The first probably occurred in the twelfth century when the village of Kilton was reestablished as a planned settlement of two opposing rows of farmsteads. The earthworks at Kilton Thorpe probably date from this period as does the castle and the field system. In the eighteenth century the medieval fields were enclosed and the farmsteads moved to their present positions. In the nineteenth century the opening of Kilton and Lumpsey Ironstone mines had a significant impact on the landscapes and brought the railways to the township. (On site information at Kilton Thorpe)

The castle may be of significance in assigning a date to the establishment of the two-row settlement at Kilton, since it may be that the construction and subsequent works on the castle were a catalyst in bringing the quantity of resources and people into the area to justify and enable the establishment of a planned village. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in Northeast England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 47).

The debate about the early lordship of Kilton was passionately argued in the early twentith century. Historians disagree. Who was the actual founder of the ancient fortress is a question even more perplexing than that of its foundation. The historians, Graves and Ord, in their works on Cleveland history, describe Kilton as a part of the Brus barony, and the latter writer assigns the building of the castle to Robert De Brus, in the reign of King Stephen. A later historian, the Reverend JC Atkinson, questions the accuracy of this statement, and asserts that there is no proof that Kilton was ever in the hands of the Brus family, and furthermore declares that the family of Thweng were in possession of the castle and manor many years before and the partition of the skeleton estates in 1271. (Northern Weekly Gazette, 26 May 1906). It seems to be sufficiently clear now that the de Brus model is correct.

William Camden touched on the topic in 1607. Beneath Sken-grave is situate Kilton Castle within a parke, which belonged sometime to the habitation of the Thwengs, whose patrimonie descended to the Barons of Lumley, Kilton, and Daubeneie. And there joineth almost close unto Skelton Castle, appertaining to the ancient family of the Barons Brus, who derive their descent from Robert Brus the Norman. The said Robert had two sonnes, Adam Lord of Skelton and Robert of Anandale in Scotland, from whom is descended the roiall stem of Scotland. But Peter Brus the fifth Lord of Skelton died without issue, and left his sisters to inherite: namely Agnes, wife to Walter Falconberg; Lucie, wedded to Marmaduke Thweng, of whom is come the Baron Lumley; Margaret, married to Robert Ros; and Laderina to John Belle-eau, men in that age of honorable reputation. The heires successively of Walter Falconberg flourished a long time, but in the end by a femall the possessions came to Sir William Nevil, who was a redoubted Knight for martiall proesse, and by King Edward the Fourth advaunced to the title of Earle of Kent. And his daughters were bestowed in marriage upon Sir John Coigniers, Nicholas Bedhowing, and Richard Strangwaies. (William Camden. 1607. Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland. Yorkshire, East and North Ridings, Section 44).

1140

It is therefore probably in error that it was suggested by L’Anson in 1913 that by 1140 Walter Fitz-Pagan’s son Osbert had began the stone construction from the local orange-brown sandstone. It was suggested that it was he who assumed the name de Kilton. It seems more likely that the stone construction dated to about 1190. It is more likely that the castle was built by Richard de Surdeval, as tenant to Robert de Brus.

Again L’Anson’s analysis is reproduced here, but is probably in error.

Osbert de Kylton, fourth holder of the fief, who was the first to assume the surname of de Kylton. He bore the arms Azure, a cross patee or. These arms were subsequently borne by Sir Simon Warde, High Sheriff of Yorkshire in the time of Edward II. There does not appear to have been any connection between the families of Kylton and Warde, but the former family was extinct by the time of Edward II. In 1875, a seal of this Osbert, showing the family arms, and bearing the inscription, “Sigillum Osberti de Kiltune,” was in the possession of a Mr. Corner, wine merchant, of Whitby. The natural strength of the castle would be so great that Osbert would probably be in no great hurry to replace his father’s palisading by permanent walling. But the substitution of masonry for perishable stockading was a natural and logical sequence, and would take place gradually, yet within a comparatively short period of the foundation of the fortalice.

It may be that by 1160 Osbert had rudely walled in the entire promontory, the stones used being poor and small, and the workmanship indifferent. Roughly speaking, this walling would occupy the lines of the original stockading. The theory of masonry foundations was, however, so little understood at this time, and the sides of the promontory were so steep that it was probably found necessary, even previous to the commencement of the reconstruction in 1190 by Sir William de Kylton, to rebuild, or at any rate strengthen, this walling. But Osbert was quite content, in all probability, to reside in the wooden “palace” erected by his father, merely replacing the timber curtain by one of masonry.

He gave two oxgangs and a toft in Kirkleatham and two bovates of land at Ivilton to the Priory. He married a daughter, name unknown, of Conan Fitz-Henry, a feudatory of the Earl of Richmond, who bore the arms Argent, a cross engrailed gules (Nicholas, Nicholas Harris. 1829. Rolls of Arms of the Reigns of Henry III and Edward III, page 19). He died about 1170, and was buried in the west end of the north aisle of the chancel of Guisborough Priory, and a permanent memorial, which evidently survived the destruction of the Priory Church by fire in June, 1289, appears to have been erected over his grave. Leaving no issue, he was succeeded by his brother, Adam de Kylton. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 65).

It seems likely that there was an organisation of the farmland at Kilton, Stank House, Buck Rush and Greenhills.

Plantagenet England

1166

Ilger de Kilton

In 1166 the subtenant of Kilton was Ilger de Kilton and remained so until 1190. According to Hebditch, the Kilton fee was not subinfeudated until about this time, though it may be that it remained subinfeudated to the Surdevals in the interim. The fact that Ilger had adopted the Kilton name by this time indicates that he held the Kilton fee. Bearing in mind that part of the Kirkleatham lands were held by the Percys, it seems likely that Ilger de Kilton’s father was in fact Roer, if in the Carta Willelmi de Percy he is Ilgerus filius Roeri (Carta Willelmi de Percy in The Red Book of the Exchequer, page 425) It is possible that Ilger’s father Roer was the first sub-tenant, though this is speculation. (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 306). This link with the Percy interest in Kirkleatham seems to have led to the error regarding the association of Kilton with the Percys.

There are few references to Ilger de Kilton, and none relating to his forebears. He had 6 sons, of whom only Roger and William need be noticed. Roger, son of Ilger de Kilton, gave land in Coatham to Byland (Egerton MS 2823, the Chartulary of Byland Abbey), and it is probable that he was father of Matilda by whom these manors were carried to the family of Thweng. The references to William de Kilton, apart from those in the chartularies of Byland and Gisborough, are rendered of doubtful value by the fact that there was a Durham family of the name contemporary with the Cleveland family. In 1195 William de Chilton proffered to have the right of a knight’s fee in Great and Little Chilton (co. Durham), against Jordan de Heirun and Alan de Chilton, by the pledge of Henry de Percy and Alan de Wilton. In 1202, as William “de Kilton,” he paid 3m of this fine by the hand of the sheriff of York, and after that the balance was to be demanded in Yorkshire by the receivers of the bishopric. This may or may not have been William de Kilton of Kirkleatham. The latter was dead towards the end of John’s reign, and Matilda his niece and heir was the wife of Richard de Hauterive at Michaelmas, 1220. In Hilary term following Richard and Matilda claimed the advowson of the church of Kirkleatham against the prior of Guisborough, and afterwards recovered it on the ground that William de Kilton, uncle of Matilda, had made his gift of the church to the canons when on his death-bed. In January, 1229, Matilda was the wife of Robert de Thweng, her former husband being dead, apparently without issue. Michael, prior of Gisborough, at that date granted to Robert and Matilda their seisin of the presentation of the church. Their son Marmaduke presented to it in me and held Kilton, Kirkleatham and 14 carucate in Moorsholme in 1284-5. Early in the reign of John an agreement was made between the canons of Guisborough and William de Kilton touching a chantry in the chapel of Kilton. Osbert de Kilton, brother of the said William, gave to Guisborough 2 bovates in Kilton, and Adam, another brother, confirmed the gift. In 1231 the prior of Guisborough, Robert Buscel and Adam de Kilton were bringing a plea of mort d’ancestor against Matilda, wife of Robert de Thweng. (Farrer. Early Yorkshire Charters. Volume 2. Page 67)

We are now in a position to state that the earliest sub-tenant about whom we have any authoritative evidence is Ilger de Kilton, and that he may well be the person referred to in the carta of William de Percy in 1166. The descent and history of the later members of this family present few difficulties. (The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee, W Hebditch, 1939, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 307). This seems the best analysis, except that there was likely to have been an interim sub-tenancy interest of the Surdevals.

In early times Kilton gave a surname to a family, of whom Ilger de Kilton, an early benefactor to Guisborough, (Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 147) was succeeded by his son William, (Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Pages 108–9, 148) who was living in 1219 (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 96; Coram Rege R. Hen. III, no. 51, m. 9.).

Adam de Kylton, the fifth holder of the fief. He confirmed Osbert’s gifts to the Priory (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 147), and married a daughter of William de Tameton, the Seneschal to Peter de Brus, who bore the arms Sable, a lion rampant or, and who was related to the famous Mowbray family. He was succeeded by his son, Sir Ilgerus de Kylton, the sixth holder of the fief, who gave, with the consent of William, his eldest son and heir, two oxgangs of land in Kirkleatham to the Priory of Guisborough (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Folio 771 at page 108). He married a daughter of Alan de Wilton, and had issue five sons — William, Adam, Osbert, Ralph, and Richard (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Folios 745 to 747 at page 147, Folios 865 and 866 at page 147). He died about 1186, and was probably interred in Kirkleatham Church. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 66).

It is interesting that Adam de Kilton married the daughter of the Seneschal (a senior administrative official in a medieval household or estate, functioning as a chief steward) of Peter de Brus.

The gifts to Gisborough Priory, and the continued associations with the House Brus tend to support the Hebditch Model, suggesting that the tenant in capite remained the de Brus family during the early phase of Kilton’s history.

The sub-tenancy of the Kilton Fee

The sub-tenancy holding the Kilton Fee thus answered to the House Brus as the tenant in capite, in turn answering to the King, though L’Anson, probably erroneously, suggested the overlord was the House Percy.

To help make sense of the alternative analyses of the L’Anson Model of 1913 and the Hebditch Model of 1939, the genealogical table below shows the sub tenancy of the Kilton fee. The evidence favours the Hebditch Model. It is likely that the L’Anson elements of the genealogy below are in error.

			Walter Possibly a member of the Percy family or closely allied to them according to L’Anson.
			Pagan Fitzwalter (according to L’Anson model) The second holder of the Kilton Fee according to the L’Anson Model
Walter Fitzpagan (according to L’Anson model) The third holder of the Kilton Fee according to the L’Anson Model According to Hebditch, he may have been a small freeholder on the manor of Kilton	Osbert	Galfridus	Adam	Richard	Helya	Matilda
					Richard de Surdeval c 1023 to 1090 May have contined as sub-tenant of the Kilton Fee from the Conquest
					Matilda (Maud) de Surdeval c 1065 Married Ralph Paynel
	Osbert de Kilton (according to L’Anson model) L’Anson says he assumed the name Kilton The fourth holder of the Kilton Fee according to the L’Anson Model	Adam de Kilton (according to L’Anson model) The fifth holder of the Kilton Fee according to the L’Anson Model	Roeri (according to Hebditch model) See reference to Ilgerus filius Roeri
		Ilger de Kilton Died c 1190 Subtenant of Kilton by 1166 and until 1190 The sixth holder of the Kilton Fee according to the L’Anson Model The Earliest sub tenant of Kilton according to the Hebditch Model The name and family of Ilger’s wife are unknown		Matilda Married Ellis
William de Kilton Died before 1219 Referred to as son and heir in grant by Ilger de Kilton to the Canons of Guisborough of two bovates at Kirkleatham (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 108-109; Farrer. Early Yorkshire Charters. Volume 2. Page 67) Married Alice (who later married Robert de Laceles) Granted the church of Kirkleatham to Guisborough Priory between 1195 and 1206	Osbert de Kilton Granted two bovates and a toft in Kilton to Guisborough Priory and witness to the grant of his brother William (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Pages 147, 97)	Ada or Adam Confirmed his brother Osbert’s grant (Gisborough Chartulary 147, 97)	Ralph Witnessed William’s grant (Gisborough Chartulary 97)	Richard Witnessed William’s grant (Gisborough Chartulary 97)	Robert Referred to as the brother of Wiiliam de Kilton in an agreement between Marmaduke de Thweng and the Prior of Guisborough in 1251 (Gisborough Chartulary 149)	Roger Mentioned by Farrer who says he granted land in Coatham to Byland (Farrer. Early Yorkshire Charters. Volume 2. Page 67)
						Matilda or Maud Niece of William, possibly the daughter of Roger It was probably she who succeeded William of Kilton Married Richard de Autrey (Alta Ripa) (no issue) There was a plea by Richard de Autrey and Matilda in 1219 regarding a third part of five bovates and 12 acres in Kirkleatham, of which William de Kilton, formerly husband of the said Alice, was sometime seised (Farrer. Early Yorkshire Charters. Volume 2. Page 68-69) In 1221 Matilda and Richard de Autrey raised a question of their right to the advowson of Kirkleatham (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 99) Married Robert de Thweng in c 1226
						The Thweng Dynasty See below

1190

In about 1190 to 1200, the Kilton family rebuilt Kilton Castle in stone, transforming it into a keepless enceinte castle, relying instead of a keep on robust curtain walls and the promontory's topography for protection. Enceinte (from Latin incinctus meaning girdled, surrounded) is a French term that refers to the main defensive enclosure of a fortification. For a keepless castle, protection is provided by the main defensive line of wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the position. The stone construction used local orange-brown sandstone rubble faced with ashlar blocks, marking an early example of such design in northern England.

Kilton Castle functioned primarily as a fortified manor house and caput (head) of the Kilton fief, held by knight's service under the de Brus overlords, encompassing manors such as Kilton, Kilton Thorpe, Little Moorsholm, and the soke of South Loftus, valued at 3 to 7 knights' fees.

Ilger’s heir was William de Kilton. Ilger of Kilton, by the counsel and consent of William my heir, to God and the Church of St. Mary of Guisborough, and to the brethren serving God there, two oxgangs of land in Lyum [ie Kirkleatham], namely, those that belonged to Uchtred Long, in free, quit, pure, and perpetual alms, which they claimed against me by the command of the Lord King. Witnesses: Alan of Wilton, Ivo of Seaton, Robert of Maltby, Walter of Stainsby, Robert of Hestdwie, Eustace of Busby, Ernald son of Muriel, John of Tocketts, Roger of Thornton, Robert of Thorpe, Roger Cat, Peter of Upleatham, Hugh of Heslerton, Geoffrey of Boulby. (Translated from the Latin: Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 108-109).

The castle was probably finished by William de Kylton between 1190 and 1200. The castle, constructed around 1190 from local sandstone by either the De Brus family or the de Kiltons was designed as an impregnable baronial fortress to protect surrounding lands from incursions, incorporating features like a moat, towers, bastions, and curtain walls. It included a Chantry Chapel of St Peter, built by Sir William de Kylton.

Sir William de Kylton, [seventh holder of the fief], was the most famous of the de Kyltons, and practically the builder of the castle, the remains of which we see to-day. Under the iron ride of the second Henry, special licences to build castles, or to add to the defences of existing structures, had to be obtained. When, however, Richard I came to the throne, in order to raise money for his expedition to the Holy Land, he granted these licences with reckless indifference, and when he had departed many were built or strengthened without the formality of obtaining any licence at all. Kilton was one of these castles.

In 1190, it was merely a more or less strongly walled enclosure, without rectangular, shell, or Juliet keep, and with a “palace” constructed of timber. Consequently, William was not hampered by important existing buildings of a permanent character. He, therefore, in his reconstruction, merely made the best use of the natural features of the site, not strictly following any of the former principles of castellation. But the structure he erected may be considered a fair example of the earlier class of castles of the Enceintric or Keepless type, the predecessors of the magnificent Concentric, or, as they are commonly called, Edwardian fortresses. So far as the writer is aware, and he has visited every castle between the Trent and the Tweed, Kilton is the earliest example in the north of England of a castle of the Enceintric type, just as the neighbouring castle of Danby is the earliest example of the fortress-palace type. Both the magnificent Norman castle of Newark-on-Trent and the formidable fortress of Cockermouth are keepless, but they cannot be classed as Enceintric, as they are devoid of the bold flanking towers which are the main feature of this class, whilst Alnwick, another Norman castle, which possesses flanking towers of the drum variety, is really a fortress of the shell-keep type.

The main characteristic of the Enceintric type was that the keep was abandoned altogether, or, as in some of the earliest examples, retained in the Juliet form, but relegated to the position of being the largest of the flanking mural towers; and this new class of fortress depended for its defence on a lofty and massive wall of enceinte completely enfiladed, where necessary, by projecting apsidal, cylindrical, or three-quarter round towers of bold external but little internal projection.

This particular type of castle can only properly be studied in Wales or on the Welsh border, where the earliest and finest examples are to be found. Carreg Cennan, standing on a terrific precipice with a drop of some 500 feet, perhaps the most picturesque castle in the world. Caergwrle, Chirk, Carew, Castroggy, Grosmont, Pencoed, Elanfair, the beautiful castle of Manorbier, and the gloomy, grim, gaunt Whitecastle, are well known examples.

Sir William reconstructed the whole of Kilton with the exception of the extreme western end. He appears to have commenced operations at the eastern end, rebuilding the private apartments there, or rather replacing the timber rooms by permanent structures of masonry. There was probably a small Norman tower at the north-east angle; this he replaced by a very fine apsidal Early English tower, which is now the most interesting portion of the ruins. About the same time he erected a large rectangular mural tower, approximating in shape to a rectangular keep, in the centre of the northern fagade. In a later or more perfect example of the Enceintric castle, the latter tower would probably have been apsidal or cylindrical, and not rectangular in shape. The north-east tower is set at an angle to the other portions of the eastern fagade, which may have been caused by the presence at this angle of more permanent structures than at any other part of the fortalice. The whole of this work was apparently done between 1190 and 1200, and a chantry chapel, dedicated to Saint Peter, appears to have been erected along the northern curtain between the north-east tower and the northern rectangular tower, which is described in the charters referring to it (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 111-112 and 148) as being “infra castellum de Kylton.” (“within his castle at Kilton”)

(Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 66).

It was from Sir William de Kylton that the Prior and Canons of Guisborough extorted the long-coveted grant of the advowson of Kirkleatham Church. More than half the present parish of Kirkleatham was then the property of the Priory, but the patronage of the parish church was in the hands of the de Kyltons (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 69).

Ord in the History of Cleveland wrote that as a fortress, it must have proved impregnable previous to the introduction of artillery; being placed on a high jutting eminence, surrounded by steep precipices, except to the west, where the ditches, foss, inner vallum, and traces of the barbican gate are distinctly observable (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 270). The castle was built on a promontory of rock above Kilton Beck with steep valley walls plunging about 90 metres down to the Beck. The ground on the far side of the Beck rose to a similar height, but sufficiently distant from the castle to be a threat. To the west was a narrow strip of land protected by a deep ditch on either side. Ord in the History of Cleveland considered the castle to be the “most powerful baronial fortress in Cleveland.” Within the inner ward the Castle had a Great Hall, kitchens, a private chapel and the apartments of the Lord of the Manor. In time, the Castle had gardens, and a fishpond. However the Castle was unusual by not having a Keep, which may have caused it to be obsolete by the fourteenth century.

Kilton Castle, in the collection at Kirkleatham Museum

Kilton Castle in 2016 (sleeping silently within Kilton woods)

1200

Willemus de Kilton was recorded in 1200 (The Great Roll of the Pipe, John (1200 to 1201), page 58).

1213

The de Autrey Family

William's heir was his niece Maud, who married first Richard Hawtrey (de Alta Ripa), by whom apparently she had no issue, and secondly Robert de Thweng, who was her husband in January 1228–9 (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 99 to 100 – this reference may not be right).

For eight years from 1213 the Hauterive family held the fief as tenants of the Percys. (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 379). Richard de Autrey (Alta Ripa) had married Matilda de Kilton, but they had no issue.

Sir Richard de Alta Ripa, who, in right of his wife, became the ninth holder of the fief, was descended from Sir Joceline de Alta Ripa, a nephew of the Joceline de Loraine (son of Godfrey, Duke of Loraine, and Count of Brabant, and brother of Queen Adeliza, second wife of Henry I), who married Agnes, one of the daughters and heiresses of William, third feudal baron de Percy. Josceline of Loraine assumed the name of Percy, but retained his paternal arms, or a lion rampant azure. His nephew, Josceline de Alta Ripa, assumed the ancient arms of the Percies, Azure, five fusils in fesse or (Sussex Archaeological Society, vi [1853], p. 36). (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 71).

1215

Peter de Mauley tried to besiege the castle between 1215 and 1216 when Sir Richard de Autrey (sometimes Hauterive, sometimes de Alta Ripa) occupied the castle. But Sir Richard de Alta Ripa, Sir William’s successor, immediately upon his accession, would appear to have become involved in a feud with Peter de Malo Lacu, or de Mauley, Baron of Mulgrave, the chief adherent in this part of Yorkshire of King John. He may have found this particular portion of the fortalice already pulled down with a view to its reconstruction, and instead of rebuilding it of new and excellent material to match the remainder of the structure, he apparently, in a very hurried way, put it together again, using up the old materials in this rebuilding. He constructed a large block of buildings, probably used as barracks and stabling, on the site of the original Norman stabling at this point. This work was probably done about 1214 (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 69).

De Mauley was a Poictevin, and as a boy attracted the attention of King John, then Prince, who, taking a great fancy to him, persuaded his mother, a widow, to permit the boy to accompany him to England (Chronicon de Melsa (Chronicle of the Monastery of Meaux), Volume 1, page 105). As it is by no means improbable that Kilton Castle, about 1215-1216, was actually besieged by de Mauley, it can hardly be out of place to briefly mention the methods of attack and defence which would probably be employed. Owing to the great natural strength of the site, we may take it that no commander would attempt a coup de main, unless he were prepared to lose a disproportionately large number of men in the attack. The southern and eastern facades were unapproachable, owing to the precipices guarding them; the northern facade, where the slope was somewhat less steep, was thoroughly enfiladed by boldly projecting mural towers; the western facade, the weakest part of the fortalice, was very short in length, and the besieged could, therefore, mass a number of men at this point, and it was guarded by outworks, an outer ward, and a deep fosse. In order to attack the castle with any hope of success, siege engines would have to be employed. According to Camden, when King John besieged Bedford Castle he brought into action seven large Trebuchets, one of which was sufficiently large to throw heavy mill-stones into the castle; when the Dauphin lay siege to Berkhampstead, in 1216, eight of these machines were used, and the artificial platforms of earth on which they stood still remain; and when, in 1224, Henry III attacked Bedford, his train of artillery contained two Beffrois and seven Trebuchets. The Trebuchet was the most formidable engine used in a siege at this time; it weighed from five to ten tons. A wooden arm, sometimes exceeding 40 feet in length, was pivoted into a substantial timber framework, so that a long and a short portion projected on either side. To the shorter arm a heavy weight, contained in a swinging cradle, was affixed, which, of course, raised the longer arm into the vertical position. When the latter was drawn downwards the weight was raised, and on a sudden release the long arm swept upwards in a curve, and threw the missile, sometimes weighing as much as 2 cwt., hurtling through the air for a distance of 300 yards. Accuracy of aim was, naturally, difficult, otherwise this powerful engine could have done tremendous damage. Even as it was, it was superior as a siege engine to any cannon of the time of the Civil War, and should one of its missiles crash into a “ bretasche,” it would smash it to pieces, and it could destroy the battlemented parapet of the wall of enceinte. In addition to the well-known cross-bow, the besiegers would be provided with arbalists, a similar but more powerful weapon, which shot iron-tipped darts; with espringols, weapons throwing with some degree of accuracy gigions or stone balls, and which were actuated by the sudden release of a compressed spring. The Ram, a heavy beam suspended by chains from the crossbar of a timber structure, used to batter the walls, could only with difficulty have been brought to the foot of the northern and western curtains at Ivilton. The men working it were protected by a pent-house, called the "Snail”, which had a roof of heavy beams. To defend the walls against this engine, the besieged would let down sacks filled with straw or wool by chains from the battlements. The Beffroi, or movable tower, could only with very great difficulty have been used against Kilton, and then only on the north and west sides. It was a tall wooden tower on wheels, of the same or a greater height than the wall against which it was placed. One of these was used at the siege of Barnborough by William Rufus. The defenders would be well provided with cross-bows, arbalists, and espringols. Wooden platforms, hastily run up, would be placed in suitable positions along the interior of the curtains. The summits of the towers would carry timber galleries or “bretasches”, supported in position by heavy wooden beams inserted into holes in the masonry made for that purpose, with sloping roofs resting on the summit of the battlements. These galleries were loopholed for the use of the cross-bow, contained holes in the floor through which stones, etc,, could be dropped on the enemy beneath, and were entered from the battlements of the tower. They were not permanent structures, but were hastily rigged up in case of anticipated attack. A castle such as Kilton, throughout the whole period of its habitation, would be practically impregnable, provided it were efficiently garrisoned and provisioned, and as the baronial party in this part of Yorkshire was strong enough to compel the royal forces to raise a siege, the attack, if such an attack did take place, on the castle by de Mauley, whether merely a coup de main or a properly organised siege, would, in all probability, be unsuccessful. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 73).

After King John’s death in 1216, a settlement was agreed between de Mauley and de Autrey.

In 1217, after the death of John, Alta Ripa made his peace with the royal representatives, and his feud with de Mauley came to an end. In the same year, Alice, Sir William's widow, married Sir Robert de Lascell, Knt.,1 and in the following year brought an action against the new lord of Kilton and his wife with regard to her dower in Kirkleatham (Coram Rege Rolls of Henry III, Number 51, Membrane 9).

The Prior of Guisborough appears to have attempted to obtain a confirmation from Sir Richard de Alta Ripa of William de Kylton’s gift of the advowson of Kirkleatham, but met not only with a direct refusal, but with the intimation that so soon as his wife (Matilda de Ivylton) came of age, he would contest the validity of the grant. In April, 1221, Matilda came of age, and she and her husband at once raised the question of the ownership of the advowson, contending that when Sir William made the grant he was of unsound mind (Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Folio 75, 2a – this reference seems to be wrong). The Prior denied this, and produced his deeds of gift and King John’s confirmation (Coram Rege Rolls of Henry III, Number 14, Membrane 256). No decision appears to have been arrived at, and as Sir Richard died in the following year (1222) without issue, the question remained unsettled. Sir Richard was probably interred in the chancel of Kirkleatham Church. The fief again, for the second time in eight years, reverted to the overlord, and de Percy at once gave the widow and heiress, then under 22 years of age, in marriage to Robert de Thweng, the grandson of one of his knights, Sir Marmaduke de Thweng, Lord of Thwing, in the East Riding. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 74).

1219

There was a plea by Richard de Autrey and Matilda in 1219 regarding a third part of five bovates and 12 acres in Kirkleatham, of which William de Kilton, formerly husband of the said Alice, was sometime seised (Farrer. Early Yorkshire Charters. Volume 2. Page 68-69).

1221

In 1221 Matilda and Richard de Autrey raised a question of their right to the advowson of Kirkleatham (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 99)

The evidence from the Cartulary of Guisborough Priory is worth collating here, since it evidences the interests of the Kilton brothers in Kilton. The association with Gisborough also tends to suggest the de Brus family overlordship.

Osbert of Kilton, to God, etc., along with my body, two bovates of land in Kilton—namely, those which Geoffrey son of Freyesand held, together with that toft, the buildings, and all other things pertaining to that toft (which belonged to Helys and Matilda, my aunt) in the same village—with all appurtenances, liberties, and easements pertaining to the aforesaid bovates of land both within and outside the village, in wood and open land, in meadows and pastures, and in all liberties and easements, as free, pure, and perpetual alms. Moreover, Adam of Kilton, my brother, and his heirs shall warrant the aforesaid two bovates, with all their appurtenances, to the aforementioned Canons of Guisborough against all men, and shall acquit and defend them from all secular services, customs, and exactions. To this Adam and his heirs, indeed, I have given three bovates of land (less three acres) in the same village, so that they may warrant and defend the aforesaid two bovates of land to the aforesaid Canons in perpetuity against all men. Witnesses: Henry son of Conan, Eudo de Humet, Richard de Hutton, William de Hamerton, Richard de Levington, William de Camera, Patrick de Westerdale, Robert Esturmi, Richard the Cook, Thomas de Guisborough, Robert de Kethou, William and Wido the Clerks, Adam de Kilton, Alan de Parco, and many others. (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 147).

Adam de Kilton [confirms] to God and the Canons of Guisborough the gift which Osbert de Kilton, my brother, made to them of two bovates of land in Kilton, together with his body [for burial]; namely, those which Geoffrey son of Freyesand held, along with the toft and all buildings and everything else pertaining to that toft—which formerly belonged to Elias and Matilda, my aunt—in the same village. [He grants] the land, with all appurtenances, liberties, and easements pertaining to the aforesaid two bovates of land—both within the village and outside it—in free, pure, and perpetual alms, just as is set forth in the charter of my brother Osbert which they hold regarding this matter . . . Witnesses: William de Tanton, Henry son of Conan, Eudo de Humet, Richard de Hutton, William de Hamerton, Richard de Levington, William de Camera, Patrick de Westerdale, Robert Esturmy, Thomas de Guisborough, Richard the Cook, Robert de Kethov, Guy the Clerk, and many others. (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 147).

To all the faithful of Christ who shall see or hear these letters, Alexander, by the grace of God Abbot of Melsa, and Master Milo the Canon, and Master William the Precentor of Beverley, send greetings in the Lord. Let it be known to you all that the case pending before us by the mandate of the Lord Pope—between the Canons of Guisborough and William de Kilton concerning the chantry of the Chapel of Kilton—has been settled by an amicable agreement in this manner: namely, that the aforesaid Canons have granted to the aforesaid William and his heirs two oxgangs of land in Thorp and three in Kilton, to be held with all appurtenances—lands which were anciently assigned to the mother church of Skelton for the purpose of maintaining a chantry three times a week in the aforesaid Chapel. The terms are these: namely, that the aforesaid William and his heirs shall sufficiently and honorably provide the necessities for the chaplain and clerk continuously ministering in the said Chapel, as well as whatever is necessary for the celebration of divine services. And if, by chance, he or his heirs should cease to provide these necessities, the Chapel shall cease to hold divine services. Furthermore, it shall be the particular right of the aforesaid Canons to appoint, install, and remove—at their own discretion—a suitable chaplain for the aforesaid Chapel; this chaplain shall provide them with sufficient security and a pledge of fidelity regarding the faithful preservation of the mother church of Skelton from loss. Nor shall the said chaplain perform or receive any parochial dues, other than those related to the divine services he celebrates in the Chapel. Moreover, the oft-mentioned William, having taken a solemn oath in person, swore that neither by himself nor through his agents would he seek any means or device whereby the possession of the aforesaid Chapel by the said Canons might be in any way disturbed; rather, he would preserve intact, to the best of his ability, all tithes and revenues belonging to the mother church of Skelton—a pledge which the other parishioners also confirmed with a similar oath—so that the mother church would suffer no loss or detriment. As for the parishioners of Kilton, [they acknowledged] the synod through the agency of the aforesaid Canons... They shall make satisfaction annually. Moreover, in order that this peaceful agreement may maintain firm stability for the future, we have fortified it with the protection of our seals. The parties have done likewise. Witnesses: the Chapter of Beverley, Ralph, Parson of Lyum, Osbert, Parson of Hylderwell, Robert Engelram, William Wirfac, William de Braythewat, Alexander de Cotum, and many others. (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 147-148).

Be it known to all to whom the present writing shall come, that in the year of grace 1250 First, in the Octave of St. Martin, an agreement was reached between John, Prior, and the Convent of Guisborough on the one part, and Marmaduke de Thweng on the other, namely: that the said Prior and Convent gave, granted, and demised at fee-farm to the aforesaid Marmaduke and his heirs three bovates of land with appurtenances in Kilton—two of which they held by the gift of Osbert de Kilton, and the third by the gift of Walter son of Pagan—and one bovate of land with appurtenances in Little Moorsholm, which Alan the Clerk formerly held; and an annual rent of four shillings and one *scepp* of salt from two bovates of land in Liverton, which Uchtred Long formerly held; and one and a half acres lying between the croft of the said Marmaduke on the one part and Westbeck on the other. To hold to the aforesaid Marmaduke and his heirs freely, quietly, and honourably, rendering therefor annually to the aforesaid Prior and Canons twenty-six shillings sterling at two terms, namely: thirteen shillings at Pentecost and thirteen shillings at the Feast of St. Martin in Winter. Provided that if the aforesaid Marmaduke or any of his heirs should fail to pay the aforesaid farm-rent at the aforesaid terms, it shall be lawful for the aforesaid Prior and Canons [to distrain upon] the aforesaid lands and rents, and likewise half a carucate of land with appurtenances in Liverton—namely, four bovates, of which Robert son of Adam held two (lying between the land of the aforesaid Prior, which Ralph son of Thomas held, on the one part, and the land of Nicholas de Fulthorpe on the other) and the other two bovates... William de Kylton held one of these, and his brother Robert the other; they lie between the land of the aforesaid Prior, which Alan Bulloc held—on one side, and the land of Ralph de Lyum on the other; [they have the right] to distrain at their own discretion until full satisfaction has been made to them regarding the unpaid rent and any damages sustained on this account. Furthermore, it shall be lawful for the aforesaid Marmaduke to enclose the aforesaid acre and a half and join it to his croft. Moreover, the Prior and Convent shall warrant the aforesaid lands, with their appurtenances, to the aforesaid Marmaduke and his heirs in perpetuity against all men, in return for the aforesaid rent. In witness whereof, both parties have mutually affixed their seals to this document. (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 149-150). This is where L’Anson assumed the prior sub-tenancy of Walter Fitzpagan.

Archbishop of York and Primate of England by the grace of God, to all the sons of Holy Mother Church to whom this present writing shall come, greeting in the Lord. Let it be known to you all that we, out of regard for divine charity, upon the presentation of William, Knight of Kilton, and upon the resignation of Ralph, Parson of Lyum [ie Kirkleatham], to have given and granted to our beloved clerk, Peter Ward, the church of Lyum with all its appurtenances, and to have instituted him as parson therein. Provided, however, that the aforesaid Ralph shall hold the said church for his entire lifetime as a perpetual vicarage, paying annually to the aforesaid Peter Ward, the parson, by way of a pension, all the tithes of fish from Cotum and of grain from Huverby belonging to the church of Lyum. And so that our gift may remain valid and firm in the future, I have confirmed the same church to the said Peter Ward by the authority of this present charter. Witnesses: T., Prior of Thurgarton; Alan, Canon of Ripon; William, Chaplain; Jordan, Chaplain; Master Ralph de Kyme; Master Gregory; Master John of York; Master Richard de Turri; Master Ralph de Hampton; Nigel, Clerk; Thomas Baldevin; Thomas de Ebinford; Michael de Burgo; Henry de Swinlington; Roger de Ledesham; John Thalavat; William his brother; and others. (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 98).

On the morrow of the Ascension, 5 Henry III (21 May 1221). An assize comes to recognize which patron, in time of peace, presented the parson—who is now dead—to the church of Lithum [ie Kirkleatham], which is vacant, etc., the advowson of which Richard de Alta Ripa and Matilda his wife claim against the Prior of Gisborough. The Prior appears, etc., and says that an assize ought not to be held on this matter, because William de Kilton—Matilda’s uncle, whose heir she is—gave that church to him; and in support of this, he produces a charter of the said William, which testifies that William gave them, along with his body [for burial], the gift of the church of Livum and whatever right he held in it, etc. He also produces a charter of King John, which confirms that gift to them as having been reasonably made, etc., and he asks that they warrant that gift to him. Richard and Matilda his wife appear and say that William’s charter ought not to prejudice them, because it was made on his deathbed and at a time when he was not of sound mind. The Prior says that the charter was made while William was in full legal capacity and in perfect health—at a time when he had the power to grant it—and he puts himself on the witnesses and the country regarding this. Richard and Matilda do likewise. Let a jury be summoned, consisting of the witnesses named below (agreed upon by both parties) and twelve free and lawful men of the [same] neighborhood, etc., to determine whether the said William gave them that church while in full legal capacity and whether the charter they hold was indeed his, etc. A day is appointed for them to appear before the Lord King at York upon his arrival, etc., and the jury is to appear then. And Matilda appoints her husband Richard in his place, and the Prior appoints William de Bolleby and John de Scipton in his place (Coram Rege Hen. III, No. 14, m. 25). In the Octave of St. Hilary, 18 Hen. III (Jan. 14–20, 1228–9), at York: Michael, Prior of Guisborough—who had brought a writ of right concerning the right of advowson of the Church of Lythe against Robert de Tweng and Matilda his wife—appears by his attorney and requests leave to withdraw from his writ; this is granted, and he concedes to the aforesaid Robert and Matilda their seisin regarding the presentation to the same Church. And therefore Robert and Matilda are to have a writ to the Archbishop of York, [directing] that, notwithstanding the objection, etc. (Ibid. No. 85, m. 4) (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 99).

See also the translation in Tweddell, George Markham. 1872. The people's history of Cleveland and its vicinage. Stokesley: Tweddell & Sons. Page 121 especially page 2 on the gift of Lyum (Kirkleatham).

1228

Sir Robert de Thweng, ‘Will Wither’

In 1222 Richard Hawtrey (or de Autrey) died and his widow, still aged only 22, was given by the owner of Kilton Castle, Sir William de Kylton, to Sir Robert de Thweng (1205 to 1268) through marriage to Matilda de Kylton, niece of Sir William de Kylton and widow of Richard de Autrey. This coincided with a dispute with the prior of Guisborough about the ownership.

The fief then passed via marriage to the de Thweng family around 1228, when Robert de Thweng wed Matilda, niece of Sir William de Kylton, under grant from overlord William de Percy. Robert's descendants, including Marmaduke de Thweng (d. 1283) and his son Marmaduke II (summoned to Parliament 1307–1322), elevated the estate's status through royal service and inheritance of de Brus lands in 1272, residing at Kilton until around 1309.

It seems a fair deduction from the facts given above, that Maud, the niece and heiress of William de Kilton, son of Ilger de Kilton (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 108) married first Richard de Alta Ripa, by whom she had no issue, or at least no issue male, and secondly Robert de Thweng, by whom she must have had issue, as both Kilton and Kirkleatham were in possession of the Thweng family at the time of Kirkby’s Inquest (The survey of the county of York, taken by John de Kirkby, commonly called Kirkby's inquest. Translated 1867. Page 125), where the editor has wrongly identified Lithum with Upleatham. Four of William de Kilton’s brothers, Adam, Osbert, Ralph, and Richard, are mentioned in this chartulary (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Folios 745 -747, 865, and 866: see above) but there is no evidence to show which, if any, was Maud de Thweng’s father. She was only just of age when the first action about the advowson was brought in May, 1221, as in the preceding Michaelmas an action against her and her first husband, Richard de Alta Ripa, was adjourned until she should be of age (Coram Rege Rolls of Henry III, Number 2, membrane 105). (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 100 note 2).

The parentage and descent of Robert de Thweng is far from certain. He undoubtedly derived his name from Thwing in the East Riding, where his descendant Marmaduke, son of Marmaduke de Thweng, held lands in 1284-5 (The survey of the county of York, taken by John de Kirkby, commonly called Kirkby's inquest, page 56). It seems most probable that originally the Thwengs came from the county of Durham. Their arms, three popinjays or parrots, bear a strong resemblance to those of the FitzMarmadukes, Barons of Horden in Durham, and they themselves held the manor of Lund, near Beverley, of the Bishop of Durham, which seems to have come to them through the Darels (No. 1089p). The earliest mention of the family I have come across is contained in a Coram Rege Roll for Trinity Term, 7 John (1205), about the advowson of the church of Legsby (Leggebi) in Lincolnshire, which it was alleged had been given to the Priory of Sixhills by Robert, son of Robert de Tueng, a gift which had been confirmed by Robert (de Chesney), Bishop of Lincoln, 1147-1166 (Abbreviatio Placitorum, page 48: The Abbreviatio Placitorum, a 19th-century printed calendar of early English judicial records, typically covers Curia Regis (King's Court) pleas spanning the reigns of Richard I through Edward II (1189–1327)). There is no other evidence connecting the Thwengs with Legsby, so it is not certain that this Robert de Tueng was ancestor of the Yorkshire family of the same name. (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 100 note 2).

1232

Sir Robert possessed a full share of the great bodily strength, the physical beauty, and the wonderful charm of manner which for generations seems to have distinguished his house. "Juvenis elegans et miles strenuus”, (an elegant young man and a vigorous soldier) says Matthew Paris of him (Chronica Major a, Rolls Edition, iii, 217). But he was like the rest of his race, hot - tempered and determined, and finding that he could obtain no satisfaction from the Legate, he was at length driven to desperation by the intrusion of a Papal nominee into his advowson of Kirkleatham. Gathering together a picked body of his retainers, and accompanied by several youths of his own age, he played havoc with the property of the Romish clergy who had, against the wishes of lay patrons, been installed in many benefices in the north of England. From Trent to Tweed these usurpers were visited, their houses and barns destroyed, and themselves maltreated. Assuming the nickname of “Will Wither”, he grew more daring as time went on, making ceaseless warfare on all connected with the Romish Curia, taking of their superfluity and giving liberally to the poor. When pressed, he would retire to his practically impregnable castle of Kilton, which was filled with rich goods taken from wealthy monastic houses. There is no evidence of any value that Robin Hood was ever more than a mere creation of the popular imagination, and it was probably the actions of such a man as the youthful lord of Kilton which led to the creation of this mythical personage. Sir Robert's exploits made him well-known throughout the whole of the north of England. The Legate, annoyed by the failure of his efforts to capture him, at length excommunicated Sir Robert, who at once appealed to the northern nobles. The Lords Percy, Nevill, Fitz-Randolph, de Vesci, de Mauley, de Menyll, de Roos, and de Brus, with some twenty knights, assembled at Kilton Castle at the request of Sir Robert, who was formally appointed their accredited ambassador to the Pope. This meeting was probably one of the most important and picturesque events in the history of Kilton Castle. Sir Robert, armed with letters from all the leading northern nobles to the Pope, Gregory IX, undertook a journey to Rome, and as a result of an interview with His Holiness, the Papal Legate and the Archbishop of York received strict orders from Rome that in the future they should refrain from any interference with the rights of the lay patrons. So far as the advowson of Kirkleatham was concerned, we learn from Coram Rege, Hen. Ill, No. 35, M. 4, that it was formally restored to Sir Robert and Matilda his wife. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 76).

After an attempted appeal to Rome, the frustrated Sir Robert rebelled and raided church property in about 1232, using the nickname Will Wither, or William the Angry. It is said that he then distributed the spoils, Robin Hood like, to the poor. He was excommunicated in consequence, but was supported by other local noble families including the Houses of de Brus, Percy and Neville. Another appeal to Henry III met with royal support and Pope Gregory IX was persuaded to rule in his favour. The rebellion came to an end. (Dictionary of National Biography, page 362).

Marmaduke de Thweng’s son Robert was a man of some celebrity in his day. Matthew Paris, under the year 1282 (Matthew Paris’ Chronica Majora (Rolls Edition) Volume 3, page 217), speaks of him as “juvenis elegans et miles strenuus ex partibus Anglie aquilonaribus originem preclaram ducens" (a refined young man and vigorous soldier, tracing his distinguished lineage to the northern parts of England), and says that he, under the nickname of Will Wither, was one of the most prominent leaders in destroying the 8 of the Romans who were farming the benefices which had been granted them by the Pope. The cause of Thweng’s fierce hostility against the adherents of the Roman Curia in this country was the intrusion of a Papal nominee into his advowson of Kirkleatham, called by Matthew Paris Luthunum and Luhumum. So strongly did he feel on this subject, that he declared he preferred to be unjustly excommunicated, rather than be deprived of his benefice against right. This case raised such an outcry in England, that in a letter to the Pope from the magnates of the country complaining of the Papal infringements of the rights of lay patrons, it was brought forward as an illustration of the way in which foreigners were against the patrons’ wishes intruded into English benefices (Matthew Paris’ Chronica Majora (Rolls Edition), Volume 3, page 609). (Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 100 note 2).

In 1222 Percy gave Matilda de Kilton, widow of Sir Richard de Hauterive in marriage to Sir Robert de Thweng. Sir Robert has been called the district’s Robin Hood. When Pope Gregory II took advantage of the weak Henry III to strengthen his power in England, he made such heavy demands for money from the clergy that the King’s brother declared ‘England is like a vineyard with a broken hedge, all steal the grapes.’ At this time the pope also demanded that Italian priests should be presented to English livings. About 1229 a priest from Italy was appointed to Kirkleatham Church of which Sir Robert de Thweng rightly claimed the advowson. He appealed to the Papal Legate, the Archbishop of York and the Prior of Gisborough, but received no satisfaction. Under the assumed name of Will Withers he gathered a band of Norman knights and their retainers around him and took matters into his own hands. This determined band pillaged the property of the Italian clergy between the Tweed and the Trent, and brought back rich spoils to Kilton Castle. These they distributed to the poor. Because of these raids Sir Robert was excommunicated. This meant that he would no longer be allowed to take Holy Communion, a prospect that appalled him for he was a devout churchman and if he died he would be buried in unconsecrated ground. The band of knights met and decided that Sir Robert should make the long journey to Rome to see the Pope personally. This he did. The Pope reciognisd the justice of his plea, and the advowson was restored to him. (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 379).

Robert de Thweng was noted for his opposition to the foreign ecclesiastics sent to England in the reign of Henry III and went on a successful mission to Rome for the redress of the matter. (Dictionary of National Biography, page 362)

Kilton Castle will always be associated with the name of Thweng. Sir Robert, who at the age of 20 became the 10th lord of the Kilton fief in right of his wife, seems to have at first borne the arms, Argent, a fesse gules between three popinjays gules, or “Scutum album cum fessa rubea et paginibus rubeis”, as the shield is described by Matthew Paris, Chronica Majora, Rolls Edition, vi, 477. But he afterwards altered the colouring of the parrots, and his descendants have always borne the famous arms, Argent, a fesse gules between three popinjays vert, now borne by his representative, the present Earl of Scarbrough. Sir Robert was the eldest son and heir of Sir Robert de Thweng, knight, who held the fief of Lund in the East Riding under the Percy family (by his wife Emma, heiress of Dunekin d’Arel, Lord of Lund, who bore the arms, Azure, a lion rampant or, crowned argent), and the grandson of Sir Marmaduke de Thweng, Lord of Thwing, in the East Riding. It seems highly probable that the Thwengs, the Fitz-Marmadukes of Horden, co. Durham, and the Lumleys of Lumley, co. Durham, were all descended from Marmaduke, the favourite illegitimate son (often described as the nephew) of Ranulph Flambard, the famous Bishop of Durham and Chancellor of England, favourite of William Rufus. There is a striking similarity in the arms of the three families, and all three held their original lands under the Bishops of Durham, if not directly then from the Percies, who held under the bishops. The Fitz-Marmadukes, who may be said to have been the hereditary Seneschals of the Prince-Bishops of Durham, bore the arms, Argent, a fess gules bearing three popinjays argent ; and although the Lumleys claim an entirely mythical descent from a line of Saxon princes, their original arms, Gules, six popinjays argent, lead one to imagine, especially as parrots are a most unusual bearing, that their descent was the same as that of the Thwengs. Sir Marmaduke de Thweng, Robert’s grandfather, was probably a son of Sir Marmaduke de Thweng, of Thwing, and his wife one of the original Nevills of Raby, and took a prominent part in the civil wars of the time of John as an ardent supporter of the baronial party, but in 1217 made his peace with the royal representatives (Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum, Close Rolls, Volume 1, 274). In 1226, or four years after the marriage of his grandson, he was appointed one of the Justices Itinerant in Yorkshire (Ibid., ii, 138). He died in 1230 at the age of 71, and his son Robert, lord of Lund, having predeceased him, the ancestral estates and also the kef of Lund passed to his grandson Robert, already in right of his wife, lord of Kilton. All three kefs, aggregating seven knights’ fees (Percy Chartulary, No. 403, pages 131-132), were held under the Percies, and the castle of Kilton becoming the capital of the combined kefs, now entered upon the period of its greatest importance. Immediately upon coming into possession of Kilton, Robert appealed to the Archbishop of York with reference to the disputed advowson of Kirkleatham. The Archbishop referred him to the Legate, the Legate to the Archbishop, the Archbishop to the Prior of Guisborough, and for some months these princes of the Church played an exasperating game of shuttle-cock with the young lord of Kilton. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archeaological Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 75).

The owners of Kilton Castle had the right to appoint a priest to the wealthy church at Kirkleatham. The Prior of Guisbrorough was desperate to gain this right and his Canons had abused their spiritual position to persuade Sir William de Kylton to sign the church over to them, when he thought he was dying. Immediately on obtaining the signature a messenger was dispatched to King John for him to confirm the gift. Recovering from his illness Sir William repudiated the gift, declaring that it was extorted from him when his mind was unhinged. In 1222 the Castle of Kilton came into the hands of Robert de Thweng through his marriage to Matilda, niece of Sir William de Kylton, the previous holder. Robert de Thweng was the grandson of Marmaduke de Thweng, one of the most powerful lords of Yorkshire at the beginning of the 13th century. On Marmaduke’s death in 1230, Robert inherited all of his lands, in total seven knights fees and Kilton which became the centre of this powerful estate. Robert de Thweng was handsome, charming, passionate and stubborn. He could not tolerate the acts of the Prior of Guisborough and he appealed to the Archbishop of York for justice. The Archbishop passed the petition to Papal Legate (Pope’s representative) in England. The Papal Legate passed the petition back to the Archbishop who then passed it to the Prior of Guisborough! The Prior of Guisborough passed it back to the Archbishop and so on. A papal nominee was appointed to the Church at Kirkleatham, a foreign clergyman, somebody interested only in lining his pocket. Robert de Thweng had had enough. He gathered together a body of local nobles and waged war on the foreign clergy who were milking the church in Yorkshire. Using the name of ‘Will Wither’ he burnt tithe barns, attacked the foreign clergy, re-distributed the ill gotten wealth to the poor and made his name feared throughout Yorkshire. His headquarters throughout this time was Kilton Castle. The Papal Legate, Cardinal Otho, excommunicated Sir Robert. This was serious for Robert de Thweng; under excommunication he could lose his lands. He appealed to the great northern nobility. In 1227 they came to Kilton:- Lords Percy, Nevill, Fitz-Randolph, de Vesci, de Maulay, de Menyll, de Roos and de Brus accompanied by twenty lesser knights. These were the people who ruled the north of England, not the King or the Church but this awesome group of nobles. They had common cause with Robert. He was one of them, and if his rights were under attack, theirs could be too. Sir Robert was entrusted with letters to the Pope setting out their grievances and making clear the power they wielded. Sir Robert de Thweng of Kilton Castle went to Rome and had an audience with Pope Gregory IX. He returned armed with strict instructions to the Papal Legate, the Archbishop of York and the Prior of Guisborough that they should restore his property to him and no longer interfere in the rights of the great nobles. In 1229 the advowson of Kirkleatham was restored to Sir Robert de Thweng and ‘Will Wither’ disappeared into history. (The Story of Robert de Thweng: a local Robin Hood in Medieval Teeside, Tees Archaeology, Archaeological Booklet No 5, Page 12)

Kilton Castle hosted assemblies like the 1232 gathering of northern barons to oppose papal interference.

1233

Sir Robert appears to have been the intimate personal friend of Peter, 1st Baron de Mauley of Mulgrave, already mentioned as the enemy of Alta Ripa. In 1233, de Mauley, who had been given the custody of the royal castle of Devizes (Close Rolls, 18 Henry Ill, m. 31, page 361), appointed Robert to the post of constable of this castle, which office he appears to have held for three years, spending, perhaps, three months of the year at Devizes.

Lord Peter de Brus III married Hillaria, eldest daughter of Peter de Mauley I, and had issue five children. According to Dugdale and the Brus pedigree the marriage took place in 1237, when Hillaria would probably be about 20 years of age. The five children were born between that date and October, 1241, when Peter de Brus III died, and was interred in the south aisle of the chancel of Guisborough Priory.

Peter de Mauley the younger, eldest son and heir of Peter de Mauley I, had married a sister of Peter de Brus III, so the two families were very closely connected. In 1241, Peter de Mauley I left England for the Holy Land (Yorkshire Inquisitions, Volume 1, page 12), and the barony of Mulgrave and the lordship of Doncaster passed to his son Peter, who became the second Baron de Mauley.

(Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archaealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 78).

1242

Robert de Thweng went on a crusade, returning in 1242, (Dictionary of National Biography, page 362) in which year he acknowledged that he had given the manor of Kilton to his son Marmaduke and his wife Lucy de Brus, (Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 101 notes) sister and co-heir of Peter de Brus. (Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum, Volume 6, page 268).

In 1242 he acknowledged that he had given his son Marmaduke the manors of Lithum and Kilton with their appurtenances, except the advowsons of the church of Lithum and the chapel of Kilton, to dower Lucia de Brus, Marmaduke’s wife (Coram Rege Henry III, early records of the Court of King's Bench dating to the reign of King Henry III (1216–1272), Number 7, membrane 7).

In 1242, Peter de Mauley II arranged with Sir Robert de Thweng that Marmaduke, Robert’s eldest surviving son and heir, then 17 years of age, should marry his niece, Lucia, the second daughter of Peter de Brus III, who, at this time cannot have been more than two or three years of age. The custody of all the children had been given to de Mauley II, who, as the husband of Joan de Brus, was in a double sense the uncle of the orphans. In 1242, Sir Robert gave the whole of the Kilton fief, with the exception of the lordship of Hinderwell and the advowsons of the church of Kirkleatham and of the chapel of St. Peter, “ infra castellum de Kilton,” to his son Marmaduke to dower Lucia de Brus (Coram Rege Henry III, early records of the Court of King's Bench dating to the reign of King Henry III (1216–1272), No. 7, m. 7). Whether the marriage took place at once, the bride being some three years old, and the bridegroom between 16 and 17, is uncertain; probably it was celebrated a few years later. However this may be, Robert, the eldest child of the marriage, was born and baptised at Kilton Castle in 1255, his mother being then between 15 and 16 years of age. The most probable date of the marriage is 1247, when Marmaduke, on the death of his father, entered into full possession of the whole of the Thweng property. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 78).

1247

Marmaduke de Thweng

With Marmaduke de Thweng, who follows next, we stand on surer ground. In 1199 he was one of the sureties of Richard Malebisse, who had got into serious trouble with the King for the murder of the Jews at York, in a sum of fifteen marcs ; and in 1208 was bound in ten marcs for Richard de Scal’, a William de Thweng, his brother (No. 438), being bound at the same time in five marcs (Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus, pages 41, 462). In 1205 he paid three marcs to have such seisin of three bovates of land in Lund, of which he had been disseised by Henry de Puteaco, as he had on the day on which he was put in the King's prison, unless he had done anything afterwards he ought not (Ibid. 807). The crime which brought him into trouble was homicide. In 1204 he paid 100s. to be allowed to be in the custody of twelve lawful men until the arrival of the Justices; and again, in the same year, Robert, son of Roger, R[oger], Constable of Chester, and Peter de Brus, paid a fine of forty marcs for having Marmaduke de Thweng in their custody, and undertook that he should cause no tumult in the country (Ibid. 221, 282). He seems to have sided with the Barons in the disorders in John’s reign, as in 1217 he made his peace with the King (Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum, Close Rolls, Volume 1, page 374). Nine years later he and William de Tameton were Justices Itinerant in Yorkshire (Ibid. ii. 188). In 1227 an agreement was entered into between Sir Marmaduke de Thweng and William Constable, son of Robert Constable of Holderness (Willelmum Constabularium, filium Roberti Constabularii de Holdernesse), about a bovate of land in demesne (in dominio) in Kilham (Killum), and the service of six carucates there, which Marmaduke had given to William in frank marriage with his daughter Cecilia (Dodsworth MSS. c. 80). In 1280 Marmaduke de Thweng, one of the Coroners of Yorkshire, was ill (Close Roll 14 Henry, membrane 1, Part 11 membrane 3). In the same year he appointed his son Robert, and Robert de Esington, as his attorneys against Geoffrey de Neville and Mabel his wife, in a plea of the death of ancestor (in placito mortis antecessoris); at the same time offering the King 100s. to cause his parceners, John de Amundeville and John de Atton, to be summoned to take part in the suit (Yorkshire Assize Rolls. 15 Hen. 111. membrane 22). As we hear nothing more of Marmaduke it is permissible to suppose that he died about this date, 1280. (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 100 note 2).

In 1242 Robert de Thweng acknowledged that he had given his son Marmaduke the manors of Lithum and Kilton with their appurtenances, except the advowsons of the church of Lithum and the chapel of Kilton, to dower Lucia de Brus, Marmaduke’s wife (Coram Rege Rolls of Henry III, Number 7, membrane 7). This throws the marriage of Marmaduke and Lucia much earlier than supposed. Robert was still alive in 1246, when he was plaintiff in a fine about the advowson of the church of Hinderwell [Hyldreswell] in which Adam de Seton was deforciant, whereby it was agreed that after the death of the then Parson, John de Newark, the presentation should be alternate, Robert presenting the first (Pedes Finium Ebor, a final concord or feet of fine recorded in Yorkshire during the 25th to 30th years of the reign of King Henry III (1240–1246, Folio 246). He must have died shortly after this, as in 1257 his son Marmaduke had & grant of freewarren in the demesne lands of his manors of Tuenge, Lyum, Kylton, Morsum, and Thorpe (now Kilton Thorpe), and elsewhere; a market on Thursdays at his manor of Lunt, and & fair on the eve, day, and morrow of All Saints (Nov. 1); a market on Wednesdays at his manor of Tuenge, and a fair on the eve, day, and morrow of the Translation of St. Thomas the Martyr (July 7); a market at his manor of Cotum on Wednesdays, and a fair on the eve, day, and morrow of St. Lawrence (Aug. 10) (Charter Roll. 41 Henry III, membrane 8). As early as 1251 he had a demise of lands in Kilton and Kirkleatham, from the Priory of Guisbrough, which were released to him in 1270 (Nos. 868 and 779). In 1271 he acquired in right of his wife, Lucia de Brus, the manor of Danby and other valuable estates, as her share of the inheritance of Peter de Brus 111., his wife's brother. He and his wife in 1275 made an arrangement with Walter de Faucumberg and Agnes his wife, the eldest sister of Peter de Brus, about the right to the advowson of the Priory of Guisbrough (Vol. i. p. 98). He was dead before 1284-5, when ‘heres Marmaduci de Thwenge" was in the King’s custody (The survey of the county of York, taken by John de Kirkby, commonly called Kirkby's inquest. Translated 1867. Page 127). (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 100 note 2).

When Sir Robert died in about 1247, the castle passed to his son, Marmaduke de Thweng, who had married Lucia de Brus in about 1247 and had been born and baptised at Kilton Castle in 1225. When her brother Peter de Brus died childless in 1271 his four surviving sisters shared his 30.5 knight’s fees of which nineteen were held in chief. Lucia inherited the manors of Danby, Yarm, Brotton, Skinningrove and other places in Yorkshire. (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 379).

Sir Robert died at the manor house of Thwing in 1247, at the age of 45, and was interred in the chancel of Thwing Church, where many of his family were buried. He had issue five sons, Robert, who died young ; Marmaduke, who succeeded him; Richard, Thomas, and Gawen. Marmaduke, 1st feudal Baron de Thweng of Danby, eldest surviving son and heir of Sir Robert de Thweng, was born and baptised at Kilton Castle in 1225. As a boy of sixteen he became lord of the castle and of the Kilton and Kirkleatham portions of the Kilton fief, valued at three knights' fees, and subsequently married Lucia de Brus, second daughter of Peter de Brus III by his wife, Hillaria de Mauley. On his father’s death in 1247 he inherited the whole of the Thweng property, which, according to the Percy Chartulary (No. 403), was valued at seven knights’ fees. “ Lund, Thweng, Kilton, Thorpe, Lythum, etc., a tenir par les services de sept feez de chivaler.” He was, therefore, a man of considerable importance, holding as much land as many a feudal baron in capite, and Kilton, as the capital of these fiefs, was necessarily a well-known castle at this time. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 79).

1254

There was an inquiry regarding land at Kilton held by Roger, son of Stephen and William Gamel in 1254. For Roger son of Stephen and his associate. Since it has been established by an inquest that six bovates of land with appurtenances in Kilton Thorpe, of which Roger son of Stephen holds four bovates and William Gamel holds two, are not part of the king's serjeanty of Pickering, the Sheriff of York has been ordered to cause the said Roger and William to have full seisin of the same six bovates of land with appurtenances, which had been taken into the king's hand because it was alleged that the land belonged to the said royal serjeanty. Witnesses as above. By H. de Bath. (Close Rolls of the reign of Henry III, 1253 to 1254, page 57).

1255

Marmaduke’s eldest son Robert was born at Kilton Castle in 1255, then came seven more sons and five daughters, the last born in 1276.

The sub-tenancy of the Thwengs and the Lumleys

Thweng coat of arms

Robert de Thweng Will Wither Married Matilda de Kilton 1202 to 1247

Robert de Thweng Died Young

Marmaduke de Thweng Born and baptised at Kilton Castle in 1225 First feudal Baron de Thweng of Danby Married Lucia de Brus (c 1223 to after 29 March 1282), second daughter of Peter de Brus II, in about 1247 At this point the Thweng’s sub-tenancy merged with the Brus tenancy in capite extinguishing the mesne lordship

Richard

Thomas

Gawen

Robert de Thweng Born at Kilton Castle in 1255, died 12 May 1279 at Kilton Eldest son and heir Married Matilda, daughter of Roger de Merlay of Morpeth Castle in about 1266 Died in 1279 leaving only a daughter Lucia

Marmaduke de Thweng Born at Kilton Castle in 1256, died at Kilton on 23 April 1323 Later first Parliamentary Baron de Thweng When his niece Lucia died in January 1347, ownership of Kilton passed to Lucia’s Uncle, Marmaduke Thweng Faught his way out after the chaos of the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 Faught at Bannockburn, but did not flee Married Isabel de Ros

Hillaria Born at Kilton, 1258 Eldest daughter,

Galivanus Born at Kilton, 1259 Third son

John Born at Kilton, 1261 Fourth son

Edmund Born at Kilton, 1263 Fifth son

Matilda Born at Kilton, 1265 Second daughter

Richard Born at Kilton, 1267 Sixth son

Alicia Born at Kilton, 1268 Third daughter

Peter Born at Kilton, 1270 Seventh son

Johanna Born at Kilton, 1271 Fourth daughter

William Born at Castleton, 1273 Eighth son

Roger Born at Castleton, 1274 Ninth son

Margery Born at Castleton, 1276. Youngest daughter Margery, named after her aunt, Margery or Margaret de Brus (who married Robert de Roos) Became the second wife of Ralph, Lord Nevill of Raby and Middleham

Lucia de Thweng Born at Kilton Castle on 24 March 1279. Only Child. Died 8 January 1347. Became a ward of King Edward I. Grew up in Kilton Castle under the protection of her uncle Sir Marmaduke de Thweng. In 1294 Edward I gave her in marriage to Sir William Latimer IV, against her will and that of her uncle (who wanted her to marry Marmaduke Junior). In 1305 Latimer divorced Lucia on the grounds of her adultery. In 1313 Lucia married Sir Robert de Everingham, who was killed in the Scottish Wars three years later. In 1320, then aged 41, Lucia married her third husband Sir Bartholomew de Fanacourt. He outlived her. Lucia had illegitimate children by Marmaduke de Thweng and Nicholas de Meynell.

Marmaduke de Thweng 1274 to 1297 Affair with his cousin, Lucia de Thweng

William de Thweng Died in 1341 Succeeded to Kilton on his father’s death in 1323 Arrested the alleged murderer of Edward II in Naples William’s widow Katharine obtained dower in November 1341 on William’s death The decline of Kilton Castle probably began on his death

Robert de Thweng Born c 1277, died before May 1344 Parson of Warton in Kendale, Lancashire On Katharine’s death, Kilton passed to Robert. He probably never took up residence there. No issue

Thomas de Thweng Born at Kilton Castle in 1283, died 1374 Also a priest, Rector of Lythum (Kirkleatham) from the age of 9 Succeeded to Kilton on the death of Robert The last of the Thweng Lords of Kilton No issue

Lucy or Lucia de Thweng Married Sir Robert Lumley

Margaret de Thweng Married Sir Robert Hilton

Katherine de Thweng Married Sir Ralph d’Aubenie

William de Latimer C 1275 to 1340 Lucia had an illegitimate son with Marmaduke during her first marriage, known as William de Latimer III William instituted a somewhat belated inquiry into the question of his legitimacy and on 1 July 1328 a convenient finding was arrived at: William, the reputed son of Sir William le Latimer not illegitimate

Marmaduke Lumley Thomas granted the reversion of Kilton to his nephew Marmaduke Lumley Died within months of assuming the Kilton fee in 1374

Robert de Lumley Born at Kilton Castle in 1358, died at Danby Castle on 12 December 1374 Marmaduke de Lumley’s eldest son and heir, and the great-grandson of Marmaduke, first Parliamentary Baron de Thweng ’of Kilton Succeeded his great-uncle, Thomas, last Baron de Thweng of Kilton, in 1374

Ralph de Lumley Painting in Leeds Castle of Ralph Lumley with Richard II Born at Kilton Castle in 1361, executed in 1400 Lord of Kilton in 1374 Built Lumley Castle, Chester-le-Street Still in his minority and custody passed to John, Lord Nevill of Raby and Middleham, who also erected Sheriff Hutton Castle Assumed the Thweng arms of his mother Married Eleanora, daughter of John, Lord Nevill of Raby Administrator under Richard II and stripped of titles for rebelling against Henry IV Ultimately executed

Thomas Lumley

William Lumley

Isabel Lumley Married the knight, W Fulthorp

Sir Thomas Lumley Died a minor in 1400, implicated in his father’s treason

John Lumley Born 1383 Restored in blood by Act of Parliament in 1411 and was Lord of Kilton from 1432 Married Felicia, daughter of the knight, Sir Mathew Redman

Marmaduke Lumley Died 1450 Educated at Cambridge Lord High Treasurer of England

Catherine Lumley Died 1461 Married Sir John Chideock of Devon

Elizabeth Lumley Married Adam Tyrwitt of Ketleby

Thomas Lumley 29 September 1408 to 1 April 1485 Became Lord Lumley in 1461 on the reversal of the attainder of his grandfather for his support to Edward IV Governor of Scarborough Castle Married Margaret Harington, daughter of the Constable of Liverpool Castle

George Lumley

1445 to 1508 Had the fee by 1506 Sheriff of Northumberland Married Elizabeth Thornton, daughter of Roger Thornton, a merchant of Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Thomas Lumley Died in lifetime of his father Married a natural daughter of Edward IV, Elizabeth Lucy

Ralph Lumley

Roger Lumley

Richard Lumley Married Alice, the daughter of John Conyers of Hornly Castle Died seised on 26 May 1510 when his son, John was 18

John Lumley 1493 to 1544 Faught at Flodden Married Joan, the daughter of Henry, Lord Scroope of Bolton Involved in the Pilgrimage of Grace insurrection Received livery of his lands on 18 July 1515

George Lumley Assumed the Kilton estate on his marriage to Jane, daughter of Richard Knightly of Upton, Northamptonshire in 1524

Executed for his participation in the Pilgrimage of Grace (the Yorkshire based uprising of 1536 protesting against Henry VIII’s break with the Catholic Church). Found guilty of treason and executed The Crown took possession of Kilton in 1537 when the castle was a gaunt, grim and ivy ruin. The castle became a source for local building material

John Lumley 1534 to 1609 Was restored to Kilton In the reign of Elizabeth John Lumley was suspected of plotting in favour of Mary Queen of Scots and was imprisoned in the Tower between 1570 and 1573

Jane Lumley Married Geffery Markham

Barbara Lumley Married Humphrey Lloyde

Kilton was afterwards in the possession of a branch of the Thweng family, but it is not clear how they related to the ancient barons of Thweng

Rev Dr Lloyde In 1723 claimed the barony of Lumley

Marmaduke Thweng of Ratsey Perhaps held Kilton during the reign of Henry VII

Richard Thweng Married Margaret

Edmund Thweng Married Anne, daughter of Thomas Middleton

Marmaduke Thweng Living in 1612 Married Dorothy who was from Appleby in Nottinghamshire Held Kilton

John Thweng

Robert Thweng

Batholemew Thweng Living on 22 October 1612 Held Kilton

Ralph Thweng

Elizabeth Thweng

Dorothy Thweng

Ann Thweng Married Marmaduke Johnston

Thomas Thweng, whose daughter and heiress married William Tullie (see genealogical table below which picks this up) may have descended from one of this generation.

For the latter part of this genealogical table, see Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 269.

1257

Kilton Castle served as an administrative and military centre, controlling local resources including mills (valued at 30 shillings annually by the 1320s), with warrens, markets, and fairs granted in 1257 and 1292.

In 1257, Marmaduke had a grant from King Henry III of free warren in the demesne lands of his manors of Thwing, Lyum, Kylton, Morsum, and Thorp; a market on Thursdays at his manor of Lund, with a fair on the eve, day, and morrow of All Saints (Nov. 1st) ; a market on Wednesdays at his manor of Thwing, together with a fair on the eve, day, and morrow of the Translation of Saint Thomas the Martyr (July 7th); a market at his manor of Cotum on Wednesdays, together with a fair on the eve, day, and morrow of St. Laurence (August 10th).

(Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 79, Calendar of Charter Rolls, Volume 1, Henry III, 1226 to 1257, page 472).

1270

The castle's chapel received a 1270 chantry grant, underscoring its ecclesiastical role within the fief (Kilton Castle, Gatehouse Gazetteer). A chantry was granted to an existing chapel at the site.

Let it be known to all the faithful of Christ who shall see or hear this writing that, in the year of grace 1270, at the Nativity of the Lord, an agreement was reached between Ralph, Prior of Guisborough, and the Convent of the same place, on the one part, and Marmaduke de Twenge, on the other … The aforesaid Prior and Canons also granted to the aforementioned Marmaduke and his heirs a chantry within his castle of Kilton, on the condition that the aforesaid Marmaduke and his heirs, in return for the offerings to be made therein in the future by themselves, their free household, and passing guests, shall pay annually on All Saints' Day, upon the altar of the mother church of Skelton, six pence of silver. All greater and lesser tithes, as well as all other rights whatsoever belonging to the said mother church, are reserved to that church except for the aforesaid offerings from the said Marmaduke, his heirs, and all their men, which in any way pertain to the aforesaid mother church. Furthermore, the aforesaid Marmaduke released, on behalf of himself and his heirs, any agreements whatsoever previously made between his ancestors and the Canons of Guisborough regarding the chantry of the chapel of Kilton, such that the Prior and Convent of Guisborough shall henceforth in no way be bound by such agreements against their will. For fuller evidence of this matter, the aforesaid Prior and Convent have affixed the seal of their Chapter to this chirograph on the one part, and the aforesaid Marmaduke has affixed his seal on the other. Witnesses: Sir John de Bulmer, John de Tocotes, Nicholas de Fulthorp, William de Fulthorp, Stephen son of Richard, Ralph Mart’, John Terri, Matthew de Glaphou, John de Redmershill, and others. (Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 113).

One of the towers of the castle is said to date from the thirteenth century after the castle had been acquired by the Twengs (Pettifer, Adrian (1995), Kilton Castle in English Castles, Suffolk: Boydell Press, page 292).

1271

Late in 1271, or early in 1272, Marmaduke took up his residence in the old Brus castle on the Danby lordship, giving Kilton to his eldest son, Robert. The reasons for this removal were, perhaps, mainly sentimental, for the Brus castle was probably not superior either as a fortress or a residence to that at Kilton. But whilst at the latter place Marmaduke was merely the most powerful of the Percy feudatories, at Castleton he was a great baron, holding his lands in capite. The sporting advantages of the Castleton residence also probably appealed to him, for he seems to have taken little or no interest in public affairs, devoting his time to the management of his extensive estates and to outdoor sports and pursuits. The castle at Castleton was only some six miles south of Kilton, and had been founded by Adam de Brus in the reign of Stephen. Like Kilton, it was one of the numerous “adulterine” fortresses erected during the civil wars of the period, but the original stockading would appear to have been replaced by masonry at a much earlier date than was the case at Kilton. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 82).

By 1272 on the death of Peter de Brus III, Moorsholm, Stanghow and Girrick seem to have been appurtances of Skelton populated by bondmen each holding a bovate of land, cottagers and a small number of substantial freeholders with larger holdings. (Barry Harrison. 1990. New Settlements in the North Yorkshire Moors 1086-1340 in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 28).

1271

Sir Robert de Thweng

Sir Robert de Thweng, eldest son and heir of Marmaduke, feudal Baron de Thweng of Danby, was born and baptised at Kilton Castle in 1255. In 1271, at the age of 16, he married Matilda, third and youngest daughter and co-heiress of Roger III, last feudal Baron de Merlay, of Morpeth Castle, Northumberland.

1272

This Kilton Fee remained in the overlordship of the House Brus until 1272.

In 1272, following the death of Peter III de Brus, Lord of Skelton and Cleveland, 1241 to 1272, his four sisters became co-heiresses of the de Brus estates.

Agnes, the eldest, married Walter de Fauconberg and took, as her share, the manors and castle of Skelton, Marske, Upleatham and Kirkleatham. Lucia, the second sister, married Marmaduke de Thweng of Kilton castle, taking with her the manors of Yarm, Danby and Brotton.

The death of Peter de Brus II in 1271 without a male heir led to the de Brus estate being divided among four sisters, with the Danby, Wolvedale, Lealholm (Yorkshire), Brotton and Skinningrove estates (Cleveland) being given to Lucia, married to Marmaduke de Thweng of Kilton (Cleveland). The Danby estate passed via their son Robert to his daughter, Lucia de Thweng, who in 1296 married William le Latimer. The couple had a new castle built for the Danby estate, some 3 miles east of Castleton. Danby Castle is thought to date from between 1300 and 1305. 6 If this is the case the ‘ruined peel’ referred to in 1335 must refer to the Castle Hill, Castleton, establishment (Excavations at Castle Hill, Castleton, SJ Sherlock, Volume 64, 1992, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, Volume 64, 1992, page 42).

On the occasion of his marriage, Kilton Castle was handed over to Robert by his father, the latter removing to Castleton (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 84).

The layout of the medieval Kilton Castle depicted in 1913 (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 103)

The medieval Kilton Castle re-imagined using artificial intelligence

When a tenant in capite acquired or merged into the tenure of their immediate sub-tenant, the intermediate feudal layer, the mesne lordship, was extinguished. A mesne lordship was an intermediate lordship, holding land from a superior lord, but who also acted as a lord to their own sub-tenants. This middle status derived from the Old French word mesne (meaning middle).

The sub-tenant was elevated to hold their land directly from the Crown, becoming a tenant in capite themselves.

The House Fauconberg were now tenants in capite of the separate Skelton and Kirkleatham.

1279

Marmaduke de Thweng

So Marmaduke’s second son, Marmaduke the Younger, born in Kilton Castle in 1256 had moved to Danby, and Kilton had passed to the eldest son Robert who died in 1279 leaving only a daughter Lucia.

However in 1279, Robert, Marmaduke’s eldest son, died, leaving an only daughter and heiress, Lucia. Marmaduke then, with perhaps the royal consent, and certainly with that of Lord Percy, arranged that the ancestral estates of the Thweng family, viz. the fiefs of Kilton, Thwing, and Lund should, after his death, pass to his second son, Marmaduke, and that Lucia, Robert’s heiress, should only succeed to the property which had come into possession of the Thwengs by the Brus partition of 1271. He then handed over to Marmaduke, who some years previously had married Isabella, daughter of Sir Robert de Roos, Knt., of Ingmanthorpe, the whole of the Kilton fief, with the exception of the lordship of Hinderwell. Marmaduke I died in the same year, and was interred, with all the pomp and ceremony befitting the joint patron of the house, in the north aisle of the chancel of Guisborough Priory. In all probability, a monument bearing effigies of himself and his wife was erected over his tomb. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 83).

The sole issue of the marriage of Robert and Matilda was a daughter and heiress, Lucia, born at Kilton Castle on the Friday before Palm Sunday, 1279 (Yorkshire Inquisitions, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series Volume 23, 1898, page 170). Robert died in May, 1279, the age of 24, and was interred in the north aisle of the chancel of Guisborough Priory. Lucia de Thweng, the only daughter and heiress of Sir Robert de Thweng, of Kilton Castle, by his wife, Matilda de Merlay, was born at Kilton Castle on the 24th March, 1279, and baptised on Palm Sunday in the chapel of St. Peter, “ infra castellum de Kilton,” by Alan, private chaplain of the castle. There were present at the ceremony Sir Richard de Thweng, the infant’s great-uncle ; Peter Mariscallus, a knight in the Percy service ; Richard le Estyvor ; Lucia, the infant’s grandmother, wife of Marmaduke, 1st Baron de Thweng of Danby ; and the infant’s great-aunt, Margery (de Brus), widow of Robert, Lord de Roos. Lucia’s father died a few weeks after her birth, and her mother, who never seems to have recovered from the illness which followed the birth of her daughter, died in June of the same year, at the age of 16. On the death of her grandfather, in December, 1279, Lucia became one of the chief heiresses in Yorkshire and a ward of King Edward I. This well-descended heiress was related to the de Mauley, de Brus, de Merlay, and de Roos families, and the custody of her person was given to her uncle, Sir Marmaduke, then 22 years of age, who was now lord of the ancestral Thweng estates. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 85).

1284

Marmaduke was dead by 1284–5, when this manor passed by settlement to Marmaduke his second son by Lucy de Brus. (The survey of the county of York, taken by John de Kirkby, commonly called Kirkby's inquest. Translated 1867. Page 125; Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 146.). The younger Marmaduke fought in the Scottish wars in the reign of Edward I, and after the battle of Stirling was put in charge of the castle there. (Dictionary of National Biography, page 362).

1285

Kirkby's Inquest, a survey of English counties commissioned by Edward I and directed by John de Kirkby, was primarily conducted and compiled in the year 1285. It wrote of Kilton, Brotton, Lythum (which may have referred to Upleatham), Morsum (Great Moorsholm) and Danby, They also state that the status of the vills of Kilton, Brotton, Lithum, Morsum, and Danby, with their appurtenances, was altered by the late Marmaduke de Twinge the elder, who held them, in that, whereas they were accustomed to pay a common amercement, they have refused to pay it for the past ten years. (The survey of the county of York, taken by John de Kirkby, commonly called Kirkby's inquest. Translated 1867. Page 125).

Marmaduke de Thweng was holding 5 carucates in Kilton. Marmeduke de Tweng holds in Lyth 6 carucates, also in Kilton 5 carucates, hence 11 carucates (Page 238). Lucy, daughter and heiress of Robert (son of Marmaduke) de Twenge, and grand-daughter of Lucy, sister and co-heiress of Peter de Brus. The proof of age of "Lucia, filia et haeres Roberti de Twenge, et consanguinea et lucres Marinaduci de Twenge, defunctoruni," was taken March 17th, 1294-5. The jurors say that "praedicta Lucy a nata fuit apud Kylton in Clyveland die Veneris proxima ante Dominicam Palmarum, anno regni regis Edwardi septinio, et die Dominica proxima sequente baptizata in capella Sancti Petri ejusdem villse per Alanum, capellanum Marmaduci de Twenge, militis, prsesentibus domino Ricardo de Twenge, Petro Mariscallo, Ricardo Le Estyvor, Lucya, uxore Marmaduci de Twenge, et Marjoria de Brus" (Cal. Gen., ii., 513). Lucy de Twenge married, first, Sir William le Latimer, junior, from whom she was divorced about 1312 (Sir William Dugdale's The Baronage of England, Volume 2, Page 37), secondly, Robert de Everingham, and, lastly, Sir Bartholomew de Fanacourt. Some curious particulars relating to this lady, who died in 1346 (Episcopal Registers of William Zouche, Archbishop of York, 310 b), are given in the Fasti Eboracenses (Lives and Legacies of the Acrhbishops of York, Volume 1, page 377). (Page 307 note d). Kilton Thorpe in the possession of Marmaduke de Thweng (Page 328).

Lucia de Thweng

In 1285, after Marmaduke’s death, Lucia de Thweng (born in Kilton castle in 1279 and baptised in the castle chapel) inherited her father’s lands, initially through the custody of the King, until she came of age. This heir was his granddaughter, Lucia, his son and heir Robert having predeceased him, of whom a full account is given in Cartulary of Gisborough Priory. Volume 1. Translated 1889. Page 123. (Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 100 note 2).

Kilton chapel apparently contained a chapel within its precints, in conection with which it is recorded in Dugdale’s Baronage that Lucia, daughter of Robert de Thweng, and afterwards wife of William le Latimer, was born at Kilton Castle on the Friday preceding Palm Sunday, 1279, and was christened on Palm Sunday in the chapel of St Peter there, Sir Robert de Thweng, Peter de Marescale, Richard de Estyvour, the Lady Lucie, wife to Sir Marmaduke de Thweng and brother to the infant’s father, and Lady Margerie de Brus being present. This chapel is also mentioned in the Inquisition held after his death on the estates of Thomas de Thweng. It is worthy of notice that the old church at Brotton is dedicated to St Peter, as were two earlier churhces on the same site, both of which were under the patronage of the Lords of Kilton. (Northern Weekly Gazette, 26 May 1906).

Lucia de Thweng was born at Kilton Castle on 24 March 1279. She was the only child of Robert de Thweng and his wife Matilda, daughter of Roger de Merlay of Morpeth Castle. Lucia’s parents died while she was still just a baby and she became a ward of King Edward I. She grew up in Kilton Castle under the protection of her uncle Sir Marmaduke de Thweng. She would have been taught the social arts which young ladies of high status were expected to learn. In 1294 King Edward I gave her in marriage to Sir William Latimer. In 1305 Latimer divorced Lucia on the grounds of her adultery. In 1313 Lucia married Sir Robert de Everingham, who was killed in the Scottish Wars three years later. In 1320, then aged 41, Lucia married her third husband Sir Bartholomew de Fanacourt. He outlived her. Lucia had illegitimate children by Marmaduke de Thweng and Nicholas de Meynell. Lucia spent her childhood at Kilton Castle. After her first marriage she lived at the old castle in Castleton, at Danby Castle, and then at the Latimers’ manor house at Brunne in the East Riding. For a time she lived with her lover Peter de Mauley at Mulgrave Castle, and then with another lover, Nicholas de Meynell at Whorlton Castle. She spent her later years with her second and third husbands either at Kilton Castle, or at her manor house at Brotton. Lucia’s hand in marriage was sought by many barons of Yorkshire and beyond, as she was the heiress to a quarter of the de Brus estates. She is known in history as being the mistress of several northern barons as well as for marrying three of them. One divorce and three marriages was an unusual life story for a member of the northern aristocracy. Lucia died at her manor house at Brotton on 8 January 1346, at the age of 67. (Cleveland & Teeside Local History Society)

Young Lucia, who had been born at Kilton Castle on 24 March 1279, became a ward of the King, while custody of her peson was given to her uncle Sir Marmaduke Thweng of Kilton Castle, a soldier who was highly esteemed in his day and became Baron de Thweng. All her life young Lucia had had, as her close compaion, her cousin Marmaduke whom she idolised but, in her sixteenth year, the King gave her in marriage to William de Latimer, the son of his friend the Lord of Corby. Lucia and her young lover resisted the King’s command but to no avail, However, after the marriage, her husband found that the defiant Lucia was expecting a child to Marmaduke. She stayed with her husband a year, and then returned to Kilton Castle and lived with Marmaduke, but their happiness was short-lived for the handsome young knight had to march with his father and his troops to join the King’s army in Scotland. In 1297, the English met the Scots at Stirling where they were utterly defeated by William Wallace. Marmaduke was killed. His father, Baron de Thweng, found himself the only person in command of the English side. According to Surtees, when all was lost, the Baron cut a way for himself and his men through the Scottish lines, for he was a man of immense strength and splendid physique. After his troops got to safety, he seized the bridge over the Forth and set it alight to prevent the Scots from pursuing the remnants of the disordered English army. After Marmaduke’s death, she returned to her husband. Marmaduke’s son was named William de Latimer III, but a few weeks after his birth the Lord of Corby, his grandfather, received a grant for life from the King of the Lordship of Derby, on the grounds of the child’s illegitimacy. The Scottish wars were still being waged, and now Lucia’s husband, William de Latimer was forced to march north. In 1304, while he was away fighting, Lucia went to live first with Peter de Manley at Mulgrave and then with Nicholas de Meynell, Lord of Whorlton, by whom she had a son, Nicholas de Meynell Nothus (bastard), who became heir to his mother for the Manor of Yarm. He died before her at the age of 27, and the Manor passed to his daughter Elizabeth. Lucia’s lover, Nicholas de Meynell, never married. Lucia was divorced by William de Latimer in 1313 [probably 1305] and then she married Sir Robert de Everingham, but he too was killed in Scotland. She made her last matrimionial venture in 1320 by marrying Sir Bartholemew de Fanacourt, a Frenchman. (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 380).

The White Lady

Kilton was also a place of many old stories and also I remember the time that The White Lady of Kilton Castle was seen there frequently in a very ghostly apparel. She was often seen just around the bend from the farm where the Pond was and some many years earlier had been a Blacksmiths shop. If you drive past the Hall entrance by about 50 yards and turn right, on the left was the area I speak of. The white lady thing went on for a long time until it was solved. It was generally seen by motorist going around the bend and as they did the White Lady ran along the hedgeback beyond the pond. Eventually is was realised that if you stopped dead, so also did the White Lady. If you set off again, so did she. It was of course the Car Headlamps reflection off the pond and onto the hedgeback behind. I personally saw this phenomina. Mind it was fun and lasted quite a while. Some had very scary moments. The story of the White Lady is however worth reading. Lucia de Thweng was born in Kilton Castle, and as an heiress of considerable wealth she was made a ward of the King, in the care and protection of her uncle. She was brought up in the company of Marmaduke, her cousin. He was also Lucia's lover. When she was 16 years old Lucia was given in marriage by the King to William le Latimer, the son of one of his friends. After their marriage William found out that Lucia was pregnant with Marmaduke's baby. She returned to Kilton Castle to live with Marmaduke but their happiness was short lived. At the Battle of Stirling in 1297 Marmaduke lost his life. Lucia returned to her husband, and Marmaduke's son was named William le Latimer. The Scottish war was still raging and William le Latimer was ordered to march north to join the King's army. No sooner had he set off, than Lucia went to live with Peter de Li Manley at Mulgrave Castle. Then she went and lived with Nicholas de Meynell at Whorlton Castle. Here she had another illegitimate son, Nicholas de Meynell Nothus. Not surprisingly, when William le Latimer returned from the war he divorced Lucia. She then married Sir Robert de Everingham; he too was killed in the Scottish war. Her fourth husband was Sir Bartholomew de Fanacourt. Lucia died in her manor house at Brotton. During her lifetime she gained the title 'The man eater of Cleveland', usually an appellation given to 20th century film stars. A shimmering figure in flowing white robes has been seen walking along Kilton Lane. Is this the ghost of Lucia looking for her lost loves? It is not surprising that the history of the de Thwengs overshadows the village of Kilton. Some of the local lads at the time said they would love to meet her (she was however a Man eater)? The mind boggles? I think I would have erred to the side of safety. She went through too many husbands and some of them had dreadful futures. So in future when you drive these old country lanes, remember you are travelling the roads of a wonderful historical era. It is not just Kilton Lane, it is a domain of by gone Kings and rulers. I love my area and the history associated with it. (Derick Pearson, Nostalgic North Riding, 22 February 2022).

1292

24 May 1292, Westminster. Grant to Marmaduke de Twenge, and his heirs, of free warren in all the demesne lands of his manors of Twenge, Lyum, Kilton, Morsum, Thorp, Holm in Holdernes, Oketon, Rottese and Lunt, co. York; grant also of a weekly market on Thursday at his manor of Lunt, and of a yearly fair there on the vigil, the feast and the morrow of All Saints; grant also of a weekly market on Wednesday at his manor of Twenge, and of a yearly fair there on the vigil, the feast and the morrow of the translation of St. Thomas the martyr; and of a weekly market on Wednesday at his manor of Cotum, co. York, and of a yearly fair there on the vigil, the feast and the morrow of St. Lawrence.

(Calendar of Charter Rolls, Volume 1, Henry III to Edward I, 1257 to 1300 page 428).

1294

Lucia spent her childhood at Kilton, and in August, 1294, when fifteen years and five months old, she was given in marriage by the King to Sir William le Latimer, Junior, the eldest son of a brave but needy and avaricious soldier, William le Latimer, Senior, a personal friend of the King, who had taken a very prominent part in the Welsh wars. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 85).

William Latimer, Junior, and his wife resided first at the old Brus castle on the Danby lordship; but the proximity of Lucia's cousins at Kilton led him to move to the manorhouse at Brunne, which had also, as had everything he possessed, come to him through his wife (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 86).

At hearings in 1294, proof of Lucy’s age was ascertained.

Writ dated at Westminster, 28 October, 22nd year (1294), and directed to Thomas de Normanville. Proof of age of Lucy, daughter and heir of Robert de Tuenge, and cousin and heir of Marmeduke de Tuenge, taken at Scelton in Clyvelande, co. York, on the morrow of the Epiphany, 23 Edw. (7 January 1294-5), by Sir William de Roseles, Sir Richard de Tuenge, Sir Ingeram de Bovynton, John de Redemershil,'' Roger Daunay, William le Venur, William de Ebor., Adam de Levynthorpe, Robert de Leysingby, William Humet, William de Wardhouw, and Peter Marshal (marescall) who say upon their oath that the said Lucy was born at Kilton in Clyveland on Friday before Palm Sunday, 7 Edw. (24 March, 1278-9), and on Palm Sunday in the same year was baptized in St. Peter's chapel there by Alan, chaplain of Sir Marmeduke de Tuenge; Sir Richard de Tuenge, Peter Marshal, Richard le Estywur, lady Lucy, wife of Marmeduke de Tuenge, and Margery de Brus then present. William le Latimer," who held certain lands and tenements of the said Lucy's inheritance, was called and came not, but one Robert Bussel, his bailiff, comes and shows, or says nothing, why the lands and tenements of her inheritance ought not to be restored to her. William de Layburne and Walter de Rokeslee came not, because they hold nothing of her inheritance in the county of York.

A writ dated at Aberconewey, 22 January, 23rd year (1294-5), and directed to the same Thomas de Normanville. Whereas the return concerning the proof of age is insufficient, because no mention is made of the age of the heir, or whether or not William de Leyburne and Walter de Rokeslee were warned to be present at the inquiry. Proof of age of Lucy, daughter and heir of Robert de Twenge, and cousin and heir of Marmaduke de Twenge, taken at Kyrkebrunne, on Thursday after the feast of St. Gregory the Pope, 23 Edw. (17 March, 1294-5) before Thomas de Normanvile, by Roger de Aunay of Uplythome, Adam de Levingtorpe, William le Hunter of Levington, Peter Marshal (mariscalluni) of Skelton, John de Crauncewyke, Thomas Scott of Etton, Robert Rolande, Hugh de Colvile, Thomas de Cardoyl, Thomas de Wymundthorpe, William de la Gerge and Roger le Sumenor of Lokynton ; who say upon their oath that the said Lucy was born at Kylton in Clyvelande, on Friday before Palm Sunday, 7 Edw. (24 March, 1278-9), and on the Sunday following (26 March), baptized in the chapel of St. Peter in the same town, by Alan, chaplain of Marmaduke de Twenge, knight, in presence of Sir Richard de Twenge, Peter Marshal, Richard le Estyvor, Lucy wife of Marmaduke de Twenge and Marjory de Brus. She was fifteen years old on Friday before Palm Sunday, 22 Edw. (9 April, 1294), and she will be sixteen years old on Friday before Palm Sunday, in the 23rd year (25 March, 1295). [M.s].

The aforesaid William de Layburne warned to come to this inquiry was solemnly called and came not. Walter de Rokesley was warned and called, and one Walter de Throkynge, his attorney, came in his stead, and said that whereas William de Layburne, to whom the king had committed the custody of the manor of Kyrkebrunne with appurtenances up to the lawful age of the heir of Robert de Twenge, committed the manor for the said time to Walter de Rokesley, who was in good and peaceful seisin for two years and more ; the said Lucy, Thomas le Latimer, and others unknown, entered into the same on Monday before the feast of St. Martin in winter in the 21st year of the king's reign (9 Nov., 1293), and ejected Walter against the peace, and although the age of Lucy was not proved ; and they took all the issues of the manor up to the quinzaine of the Purification of the B.V.M. next ensuing (i6 Feb., 1293-4), in contempt of the king, and to the damage of ;£6o to the said Walter. At which day he was reseised of the manor by the king's writ and Thomas de Normanvile, the king's escheator, and so he was seised from that date up to Thursday before the feast of St. Bartholomew, in the 22nd year (17 Aug., 1294), when William, son of William le Latymer, and Lucy his wife, Thomas Latimer, and others unknown, entered the manor by force and arms, and violently ejected Walter, taking all his corn and goods and all the issues of the manor from that day up to the octaves of St. Michael (6 Oct.) next ensuing, in contempt of the king and to the damage of £20 to the said Walter, who was then reseised of the manor by the king's writ and the said Thomas, his escheator, but on the morrow was violently ejected by the said William and Lucy his wife, and others unknown. These took and carried away all the issues up to Tuesday after the feast of- St. Martin following (i6 Nov.), in contempt of the king and to the damage of ;£30 to Walter, at which day he was the third time reseised by the king's writ and by the said escheator, and by the view of William de Midleton the king's bailiff, and other freemen. He was so seised up to Friday before the feast of St. Nicholas, 23rd year (3 Dec, 1294), when more persons unknown, from Skamstone and Kyrkebrunne, on the part of the said William and Lucy, entered the manor by force and arms, broke the doors of the hall and grange, took Walter's corn and goods, ejected him, and beat and ill-treated Walter de Throkynge (his attorney). Therefore he says that the lands' and tenements which are of the said Lucy's inheritance ought not to be restored to her until satisfaction be had to the king for contempt, and to Walter for damages for the said William and Lucy his wife, who are yet in seisin of the manor.

(Yorkshire inquisitions of the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I, translated 1892, page 170 to 172, Brown, William. 1898. Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series Volume 23. Yorkshire Inquisitions in the reigns of Henry III and Edward I, Volume 2, page 170 to 172)

Proof of age, taken at Scelton in Cleveland, on the morrow of the Epiphany, 23 Edw. I.The jury say that the said Lucy was born at KUton in Cljrsreland on Friday before Pabn Sunday, 7 Edw. I., and on Palm Sunday in the same year was baptized in the chapel of St. Peter in the same town by Alan, chaplain of Sir Marmaduke de Tueng [alias de Tweng] in the presence of Sir Richard de Tueng, Peter Marescall, Richard le Estywur [alias le Estivor], lady Lucy the .wife of Marmaduke de Tueng and Margery de Brus.

William le Latimer who held lands &c. of the said Lucy's inheritance, being called did not come, but Robert Bussel his bailiff came and said nothing why the same should not be restored to her.

William de Layburn and Walter de Rokeslee did not come because they hold nothing of the inheritance of the said Lucy in the county. Writ (ad melius inquirendum), the previous inquisition being insufficient because it makes no mention of the age of the said Lucy nor whether William de Layburn and Walter de Rokeslee, who held lands &c. of the inheritance by the king's commission, were warned to be present, 22 Jan. 23 Edw. I.

Proof of age, taken at Kyrkbrun on Thursday after St. Gregory, 23 Edw. I. The jury say that the said Lucy was born at Kylton on Friday before Palm Sunday, 7 Edw. I, was baptized the Sunday following (as above), was 15 years of age on Friday before Palm Sunday, 22 Edw. I, and will be 16 on Friday before Pahn Sunday, 23 Edw. I.

Willam de Layburn, being warned, came not; Walter de Rokesley was warned and Walter de Throkyng his attorney came and said that although Wilham de Layburn, to whom the king had committed the wardship of the manor of Kyrkbruim until the lawful age of the heir of Robert de Tweng, had committed the same to Walter de Rokesley, who for two years had peaceful seisin, yet on Monday before St. Martin, 21 Edw. I. the aforesaid Lucy, Thomas le Latimer and others unknown, ejected him and took the issues of the manor until the quinzaine of the Purification following in contempt of the king and to the said William's damage of 60l; on which day Walter was re-seised by the king's writ, and remained in seisin until Thursday before St. Bartholomew, 22 Edw. I, when Willam son of William Latymer, Lucy his wife, Thomas Latymer and others unknown violently ejected him, and took all the issues &c. until the octave of St. Michael following, to his damage of 20I. &c., when the said Walter was re-seised by the king's writ : on the morrow he was violently ejected by the said William and Lucy and others, who took aU the issues until the feast of St. Martin foUowing to his damage of 30l, when he was re-seised by the king's writ by the escheator and by view of William de Midleton, the king's baUiff, and others. He remained so seised until Friday before St. Nicholas, 23 Edw. I. when several persons unknown from the towns of Skamston and Kyrkbrunn, on behalf of the said William and Lucy, entered by force and broke the doors of the hall and grange, took his corn and goods and ejected him and beat and ill-treated Walter de Throkyng, his attorney. Wherefore he says, the lands &c., of the inheritance of the said Lucy ought not to be restored to her, untU they have satisfied the king for the contempt, and the said Walter for his loss. The said WiUiam and Lucy are stiU in seisin of the manor.

(Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 3, (Edward I, 1291 to 1300), Folio 213, page 139)

1297

During the 13^th and 14th centuries, Kilton Castle supported Scottish border conflicts, with lords mustering forces there for campaigns such as the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.

1300

In 1300, the Latimers abandoned to decay the old feudal fortress of Castleton, and commenced what is now known as Danby Castle, some two miles east of the original stronghold. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archeaological Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 86).

1301

We get a flavour of the inhabitants of Kilton Thorpe below the level of tenants in capite and their immediate sub-tenants in 1301. Those paying tax for the funding of Edward I’s Scottish wars in 1301 in Kilton Thorpe were listed in the Yorkshire Subsidy. The inhabitants were John de Westbec who paid 5s 7d; Benedict de Thorp who paid 4s 4d; Alexandro the Chaplain who paid 2s 11d; Richard de Harters who paid 3s 10d; John V who paid 2s 3d; William the son of Robert who paid 18d; Nicholas de Lennox who paid 13d; Thomas of Thorpe who paid 3s 4d; and Roger de Lofthouse who paid 2s 1d.

(Brown, William. 1894. Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series Volume 21, page 44. Yorkshire Lay Subsidy being a fifteenth collected in 1301 in the reign of Edward I).

1304

In 1304, when her husband was fighting in Scotland, Lucia fled from Brunne and became the mistress of young Peter de Mauley, afterwards the notorious Peter V. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 87).

Lucia, his wife, residing at his manor house of Brunne, com. Ebor, was taken away (with divers goods there) by certain unknown persons. Whereupon the King sent his Precept to the Sheriff of Yorkshire to make strict search for her throughout all that county, commanding him, in case he did find her out, he should, if need were, raise the power of the county, and carry her back to Brunne (William Dudgale).

But Lucia never returned to her husband. From Mulgrave she went to Kilton and from Kilton to Whorlton, where she became the recognised mistress of Nicholas, Baron de Menyll of Whorlton, one of the most violent and warlike of the northern nobles. Lucia was now 26 years of age. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 87).

1305

Lucia had thus married, against her will, to William de Latimer, but they were divorced in 1305 after Lucia famously eloped with a Knight. William le Latimer then applied for and obtained a divorce. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 88).

Marmaduke de Thweng

Lucia returned to Kilton Castle, though it is possible that even by this date, the castle was falling into ruin. Lucia (who died in January 1347) by design avoided the de Thweng estates falling to her own sons, and ownership of Kilton passed to Lucia’s Uncle, Marmaduke Thweng, the First Baron Thweng.

Marmaduke, the first Parliamentary Baron de Thweng of Kilton Castle, was second son of Marmaduke, feudal baron of Danby, by his wife, Lucia de Brus, and was born at Kilton Castle in 1256. He married, in 1273, at the age of 17, Isabella, daughter of Sir Robert de Roos, of Ingmanthorpe, Knt., and on his brother’s death, six years later, took up his residence at Kilton Castle (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 88).

Marmaduke took a prominent part in the Scottish wars of the period. He was present at Newcastle when Baliol did homage to King Edward I for the Crown (1292), and took part in the capture of Berwick (March 30th, 1296).

From the collection at Kirleatham Museum. Marmaduke II de Thweng played a prominent part in the Scottish wars and a major part in the Battle of Stirling on 11 September 1297 where his eldest son Marmaduke was killed.

Marmaduke was summoned to Parliament as a baron in 22 Edward I (1294), and regularly from 35 Edward I to 16 Edward II.

From 1295 until 1307 Marmaduke spent nearly the whole of his time in Scotland, returning at intervals to Kilton for a short visit.

Besides Robert, Marmaduke had a younger son, Marmaduke, who carried on the male line (No. 864). This Marmaduke distinguished himself very much in the Scotch wars. “Strenuissimus ille miles" (that most vigorous soldier) he is called by Walter of Hemingburgh (Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough, chronicler and Augustinian canon, Volume 2, page 188, this may not be the right page) in his account of the battle of Stirling, when the English were utterly defeated by William Wallace. The minute particularity with which this battle is described renders it probable that the account was derived from an eye-witness, possibly Thweng himself, whose seat, Kilton Castle, was not far from the Priory. At the Battle of Stirling Thweng seems to have been the only person in authority on the English side who kept his head. When all was lost he cut a way through the Scotch army for himself and his followers, as he was a man of great strength and very tall, ‘‘fortis robore et staturs procere” (strong in physique and of tall stature), and seized the bridge over the Forth, which he caused to be burnt, and thus prevented the Scotch from pursuing the disordered English army. A little episode in this battle is worth repeating. Whilst Marmaduke was cutting his way to the bridge, his nephew was wounded and stunned, and his horse killed under him, but he managed to stagger on his feet and call out, “Master, save me". To which Thweng replied, “Get up behind me”, ‘I cannot," was the answer, ''because my strength is failing”. Then a companion, Thweng’s esquire, dismounted, and helped him up, and said to Thweng, “I will follow you, master, wherever you go", and followed him to the bridge, and they were thus both saved. It is pleasant to think that such a brave feat met with a proper reward. After the battle Thweng was left by the English general, the Earl of Warrenne, in command of the Castle of Stirling, with a promise that he should be relieved within ten weeks. This promise was not observed, and the next year (1298) he was obliged to surrender to Wallace, who treacherously imprisoned him in Dumbarton (Chronicon de Melsa (Chronicle of the Monastery of Meaux), Volume 2, pages 269, 270). He was still alive and in possession of Kirkleatham in 1315-16 (The survey of the county of York, taken by John de Kirkby, commonly called Kirkby's inquest, page 328). (Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 100 note 2).

1307

After 1307 he does not appear to have again visited Scotland, and at the age of 51 settled down to a life of ease at his castle of Kilton, where he appears to have kept up considerable state. But two years later (1309) his wife, Isabella de Roos, died, and was interred in the north aisle of the chancel of Gisborough Priory. Marmaduke then retired to his manorhouse of Thweng, giving up Kilton Castle to his eldest surviving son, William. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 93).

1314

During the reign of Edward II in his eighth regnal year, Kyrkelythum and Kylton. 3 knights fees, whereof 10 carucates make a fee, held by Marmaduke de Thweng (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 5, (Edward II 1307 to 1316). Page 323).

1321

In 1321, when 65 years of age, and in very feeble health, Marmaduke made a formal grant of the manors of Kirkleatham and Kilton, together with the castle of Kilton, to William (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 93).

1323

William de Thweng

Marmaduke died in 1322 or 1323, being succeeded by his grandson William, (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 6, Folio 407 page 239) whom two years previously he had enfeoffed of the manor (Chancery Inquisitions Post Mortem from the 16th year of the reign of King Edward II (1322–1323), number 51).

It was, I believe, Marmaduke de Thweng’s son, William de Thweng, who avenged the death of Edward II. The Meaux Chronicler (Chronicon de Melsa (Chronicle of the Monastery of Meaux), Volume 2, page 855) states that Sir Thomas Gurnard [Gurney], who murdered Edward II, fled beyond the sea, “sed per dominum Willelmum de Thwenge, militem, longe lateque quesitus captus est, et, pro nimio dolore causa vindicte in ipsum exercende, victui parcens mortuus est in mari, sed t&men mortuus in Angliam est reductus" (However, he was sought far and wide and captured by Sir William de Thwenge, a knight; then, overcome by intense grief and a desire for vengeance against himself, he refused food and died at sea, though his body was nonetheless brought back to England) (Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Volume 2. Translated 1889. Page 100 note 2).

Marmaduke died in April, 1323, at the age of 67, and was interred near his wife in the north aisle of the chancel of Guisborough Priory (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 93).

The Inquisition Post Mortem for Marmaduke de Thweng listed the manor alias manors (extent given), held of Henry de Percy by knight's service; whereof two years before his death the said Marmaduke enfeoffed William de Tweng (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 6, (Edward II, 1316 to 1327). Folio 407 page 239). Robert Daniels referred to a reference in this Inqusition that there is in the same place of the rent of the free men per annum £8 8s … and there is at Thorp of rent of the free holders per year 10s though I have not found this reference (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 48).

The castle would have provided economic opportunities for the surrounding countryside. When the Castle was inhabited, there was a village of some size occupying the site of the modern farmstead of Kilton Hall, some 600 metres north west of the Castle. There was a park attached the castle which was described in 1323 as “… a certain park without beasts of the chase in which there was no profit apart from herbage thereof …” Attached to the castle in 1323 was a certain park without beasts of the chase in which there is no profit apart from the herbage thereof (The National Archives, C 134/75/18 16 Edward II).

Adjacent to the Castle, medieval Kilton comprised both Kilton and Kilton Thorpe and there were farmsteads at Stank House, Buck Rush and Greenhills. The farming was probably of a mixed nature, growing cereals and rearing sheep and cattle. Teams of oxen ploughed up one side of each strip and turned the soil towards the centre creating the ‘ridge and farrow’ corrugations which are still visible today. Blocks of ridge and farrow were called furlongs and at the end of each strip was a headland, where the ploughs were lifted from the soil and turned around.

Kilton Mill is a historic, Grade II listed former watermill in Loftus, Redcar and Cleveland, situated along Mill Lane and Kilton Beck. Though it no longer operates as a mill, the buildings remain. A mill has been recorded at this location dating back to 1323, originally serving the medieval Kilton Castle. The surviving mill building and outbuildings, built in the 19th century, straddle Kilton Beck. (Kilton Mill, National Heritage List).

There was milling at Kilton Mill. The road from Brotton to Kilton probably dates to the medieval period as the ridge and furrow archaeology is consistent with this. The road from Kilton to Kilton Thorpe is also medieval. The amount of ridge and farrow in the area of Kilton suggests that almost all the land was cultivated.

A mill is noted at Kilton in 1323 and 1344 when it was worth 30s per annum. The 1767 map shows a mill perhaps in the approximate location of the medieval mill. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 39).

1327

Marmaduke’s son William de Latimer III instituted a somewhat belated inquiry into the question of his legitimacy. On 1 July 1328 a convenient finding was arrived at: ‘William, the reputed son of Sir William le Latimer not illegitimate’ (Fasti Ebor 337n). Remembering that his grandfather had received Danby on the grounds that he was Marmaduke’s son, the findings must have been a surprise. (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 381).

25 March 1307. An order to cite Sir Nicholas de Meynell and Lucia, daughter of Sir Robert de Tweng, to answer to a charge of adultery. A very singular story. Nov. 2, 1305, the chapter of York announce that William de Latimer has been ex-communicated at the instance of dame Lucy, daughter of Sir Robert de Tweng. Sept. 4, 1309, commission to receive the purgation of dame Lucy de Tweng, wife of Sir "William de Latymer, knight, for adultery and incest with Sir Nicholas de Meynyl. On the Friday after the Epiphany, 1309, Meynyl and the lady enter into a bond to pay 40l. each to dan Henry de Botelford, the keeper of the fabric at York. On July 8, previously, Meynyl as a punishment had been fined 10l by the archbishop. The frailty of Lucy de Tweng cast a doubt upon the legitimacy of her husband's son, but on July 1, 1328, it was found out, upon a formal enquiry, that Sir William, the reputed son of Sir William de Latymer, was not illegitimate, but the son of Latimer and Lucy de Tweng. (Fasti Eboracenses, Lives and Legacies of the Archbishops of York, Volume 1, page 377).

York. Quindene of Martinmas, i Edw. Ill, 1327. William de Thweng, quer., Bartholomew Fanacourt and Lucy his wife, def., of the manors of Thweng, Lund, Kilton, Lythum, and Great Moresum, and the advowson of the church of the manor of Lithum: To hold to William and his heirs. Quit-claim and warranty by deforciants for themselves and the heirs of Lucy. William gave 100 marks. (Feet of Fines for Yorkshire, YAS Series Volume 42, page 4)

William was summoned to Parliament as a baron from 18 Edward II to 15 Edward III, but to the last summons he is noted on the roll “mortuus est.”

He is principally noted as the avenger of the horrible and dastardly murder of the unfortunate King Edward II, and much may be forgiven him on this account. Sir Thomas Gourney, who devised and executed the crime, fled abroad, and for a long time escaped justice, “ sed per dominum Willelmum de Thweng, militem, longe lateque quaesitus captus est, et, pro nimio dolore causa vindictae in ipsium exercendae victui parcens mortuus est in mari, sed tamen mortuus in Angliam est retuctus ” (Chronica Monasterii de Melsa (Chronicle of the Monastery of Meaux), Volume 2, Page 355). “But he was captured by Lord William de Thweng, a knight, and, having been sought far and wide, he was spared food for the sake of revenge against them, and died at sea. However, he was brought back to England dead.” (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 94).

Lay Subsidy Rolls, 1327 for Langburgh included records of the taxpaying inhabitants of Kilton and Kilton Thorpe, as well as Brotton and Skelton:

(Walker, J W. 1929. Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series Volume 74. Miscellaneous Volume 2, including Lay Subsidy Rolls I Edward III North Riding of Yorkshire and the City of York, page 146).

1333

John Bertram of Kilton acknowledged that he owed John Sturmy of Dromundeby 20 marks to be levied, in default of payment, of his lands and chattels in county York (Close Rolls of the reign of Edward III, 1333 to 1337, page 111).

1340

(Calendarium inquisitionum post mortem sive escaetarum, Volume 2 (1327 to 1377), page 95)

1341

William de Thweng died without issue in 1340–1, his widow Katharine obtaining dower in November 1341 (Chan Inq pm 14 Edw. III (1st nos.), no. 31; Cal. Close, 1341–3, p. 320); his brother and heir Robert, parson of Warton in Kendale, Lancashire, (Chan. Inq. p.m. 14 Edw. III (1st nos.), no. 31.) died before May 1344, and was succeeded on the death of Katharine by his brother Thomas, also a priest. (Chan Inq pm 18 Edw. III (1st nos.), no. 45)

The decline of Kilton Castle probably began on the death of William de Thweng. Kilton Castle seems to have been abandoned and by 1341 it was described as small and worthless.

The First Baron’s son died without heir, and his grandson was killed at the Battle of Stirling Bridge.

Robert de Thweng

William died 14 Edward III (1341) and was interred in the chancel of the Priory Church of Handale, two miles east of the castle, a Benedictine nunnery founded in 1133 by William de Percy, of which not a trace now remains, although, according to Graves, the west end of the chapel was still standing in 1808. From his death the decline of Kilton Castle may be said to date. By his wife, Catherine de Furnival, he left no issue, and the barony passed to his brother Robert. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 94).

Robert was a priest and didn’t take up residence at Kilton. He died in 1344 and his brother, the 62 year old Thomas, the last Thweng Lord of Kilton, Rector of Kirkleatham, followed Robert, but was more attached tio Kirkleatham.

On 19 November 1341, in the Inquisition Post Mortem of William de Thweng in 14 Edward III, Kilton was described as the decayed manor held by Sir Henry de Percy by knight’s service (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 8, (Edward III, 1336 to 1347), page 201 (Folio 277)).

The Lumleys

Thomas granted the reversion of Kilton to his nephew Marmaduke Lumley, (Chan Inq pm 7 Ric. II, no. 168; Feet of F. Yorks. 21 Edw. III, no. 53; Cal. Pat. 1343–5, p. 252) son of his sister Lucy who had married Sir Robert Lumley, (Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Ric. II, no. 168) while some rights here were also assigned to his niece Elizabeth, wife of William de Botreaux, daughter of his sister Katharine. (Chan. Inq. p.m. 7 Ric. II, no. 168).

Leaving the question of its founder and the debatable point as to whether or no Kilton Castle came to Marmaduke de Thweng by his marriage with Lucia, sister to Peter de Brus, we may continue its history with more certainty by stating that, after remaining in the Thweng family for many generations, it passed, in the forty eighth year of the reign of Edward III, by marriage of Lucy, daughter of Marmaduke de Thweng, to Robert de Lumley. In the first year of Henry IV, Sir Ralph, Lord Lumley, joined the Earls of Kent, Salisbury and other noblemen in the insurrection for the restoration of the deposed king, Richard II, and being slain in battle his lands were adjudged forfeit to the crown. Five years later his second son, John, upon doing homage, had the lands restored to him. The Lumleys, thus restored, remained Lords of Kilton until Sir George was beheaded as one of the chief leaders in the rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, and the castle along with other estates passed by attainder to the crown. (Northern Weekly Gazette, 26 May 1906).

The castle reached peak occupancy under the Thwengs in the early fourteenth century, but began declining by mid-century due to economic shifts, such as reduced feudal obligations in peacetime, dispersal of family holdings among heiresses after William de Thweng's death without issue in 1341, and the impacts of the Black Death, rendering it a decayed manor by 1345 inquisitions.

The old castle of Kilton was greatly neglected, and although Catherine, the widow of William, Lord Thweng, continued to reside there in strict seclusion until her death in 1349, she probably only occupied a few rooms, the remainder of the structure being practically allowed to go to ruin. From 1349 1358 the castle remained untenanted, but in the latter year Sir Marmaduke de Lumley, Knt., who had been Prior of St. John of Jerusalem in Ireland, and who some two years previously had married Margaret Holland, took up his residence there without, however, making any alterations in the gloomy old structure, which was now hopelessly out of date. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 96).

Purely fortress castles of the type of Kilton were now as completely out-of-date as was the chain-mail armour of their builders. Never comfortable to live in, with draughty great halls, cramped and inadequate private apartments, and gloomy chambers, they had been tolerated in the days of the early Plantagenets, because of their defensive properties. But with the establishment of an efficient administration of justice, combined with a growing demand for greater comfort and even of luxury, they were now a complete anachronism, and those, such as Castleton, which had not been abandoned altogether, had been converted, like Raby, into residences where comfort, cheerfulness, and luxury were more considered than defensive properties. An entirely new style of castle had now come into vogue, the great fortress-palaces of which Bolton-in-Wensleydale is such a stately and imposing example. This magnificent structure, commenced in 1379 by Richard, Lord Scrope, was completed in 1396 at a cost, according to Leland, of £12,000, equivalent to over £130,000 of modern money. These new palaces were rectangular buildings, erected round a quadrangle or courtyard, with large towers at the angles. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 98).

A watermill was appurtenant to the manor in 1341 (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 14 Edw. III (1st nos.), no. 31).

1344

In the Inquisition Post Mortem of Robert de Thweng on 3 May 1344 in 18 Edward III, his fee included Certain tenements (extents given), including at Kilton a little castle and two parts of a little park, held of the said Henry de Percy by knight's service. The yearly value of the manors of Kilton and Lythum with their members is less by £7 7s. than it used to be, because the said Robert, long before his death, by his writing granted to Katherine, late the wife of William de Tweng, divers lands &c. in the said manors, to hold in dower, in allowance of divers knights' fees in the said county, which ought to have belonged to her in dower ; and the said Katherine, by virtue of the said gift, is still seised of the said lands &c. She also holds in dower a third part of the said manors and tenements, which third part after her death ought to pertain to the heirs of the said Robert. Edmund de Tweng holds for his life, of the grant of the said Robert, the manor of Octon, together with certain tenements in Swathorp and Twenge, which after his death ought to pertain to the heirs of the said Robert. (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 8, (Edward IIII, 1336 to 1347), page 369 (Folio 525)).

Robert Daniels took from this Inquisition, regarding Kilton Castle, at Kilton a certain little castle and nothing of value within the walls and ditches that is able to be repaired for less than 41s per annum, inferring that the site had been abandoned by this time. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 37).

A watermill was appurtenant to the manor in 1341 (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 18 Edw. III (1st nos.), no. 45).

By about this time Kilton Castle had fallen into disrepair and it seems likely that the lands and wider settlement of Kilton entered into a period of decline.

1347

Once the impregnable stronghold of the De Thweng’s, Kilton Castle fell into disrepair and by 1347 had only one occupant – Catherine de Thweng, a widow – and later in the same century, it was described as being totally abandoned. Even less of Kilton castle exists today, despite its Ancient Monument status. Peter Appleton provided information regarding the de Thweng’s: “In 1272, Peter de Brus III died without male heir. His four sisters became co-heiresses of the de Brus estates in north-east Yorkshire. Lucia de Brus married Marmaduke de Thweng and had, as her portion of the estates, the manors of Yarm, Danby and Brotton. The latter included the township of Kilton. Her older sibling, Agnes, received the manors of Skelton, Marske, Upleatham and Kirkleatham, whilst her younger siblings, Margaret and Laderina, received respectively, the barony of Kendal and the manor of Carlton-in-Cleveland.” (Kilton Castle, East Cleveland Image Archive).

Following the abandonment of Kilton Castle by the mid-14th century, the settlement entered a prolonged period of decline influenced by broader economic shifts, including changing trade routes and agricultural depressions that diminished the area's feudal importance.

Lucia died at her Manor House at Brotton in January 1347. Her husband was her sole executor and legate. The Langbaugh Liberty passed to her cousin John de Fauconberg. On Sir Bartholemew’s death in 1352, his brother succeeded to Skinningrove and other lordships, but he forfeited them by rebellion and they were taken into the King’s hands until, in 1359, they were granted to Robert de Routh and William of Everington (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 381).

1349

The Black Death struck the area in 1349-1352 with terrible ferocity. The mortality was so great, it is said that ‘the living scarce had strength to bury the dead. The little graveyard around the Parish Church [at Brotton] had to be enlarged, and by the time the plague had passed, two thirds of the population of Cleveland had perished. (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 374).

1352

(Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 10, (Edward III, 1352 to 1361), Folio 35).

(Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 10, (Edward III, 1352 to 1361), Folio 43 page 27).

1367

In the Inquisition Post Mortem of Ralph Bulmer, tenements of Kilton Thorpe were held of Ralph Neville (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 12, (Edward III, 1365 to 1370), page 98).

In the Inquisition Post Mortem of Ralph Neville, the lands at Sheriff Hutton and Kilton Thorp were listed (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 12, (Edward III, 1365 to 1370), page 136 and 137).

In the Inquisition of Henry de Percy:

Hilton is not a reference to Kilton, but the association with Kirkleatham might be relevant.

(Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 12, (Edward III, 1365 to 1370), page 225)

1370

(Close Rolls of the reign of Edward III, 1369 to 1374, page 139)

1374

Thomas died in June 1374. (Chan Inq pm 48 Edw. III (1st nos.), no. 68) Robert Lumley, son of Marmaduke, died a minor in the following December, (Chan Inq pm 49 Edw. III, pt. ii, no. 5) his brother and heir Ralph being also a minor. (Chan Inq pm 7 Ric. II, no. 168).

Robert de Lumley, Marmaduke de Lumley’s eldest son and heir, and the great-grandson of Marmaduke, first Parliamentary Baron de Thweng ’of Kilton, was born at Kilton Castle in 1358, and succeeded his great-uncle, Thomas, last Baron de Thweng of Kilton, in 1374. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 96).

He, however, never entered into full possession, dying at Danby Castle on the Sunday before the Nativity (24th December), 1374.

Ralph de Lumley

Ralph de Lumley followed him.

Ralph did away with the expensive chantry chapel at Kirkleatham, and about 1398 dissolved the chantry chapel of St. Peter within the castle of Kilton, a sure sign that no further extended residence was contemplated there. But he seems to have lived at Kilton between 1389 and 1398, when Lumley Castle was in course of construction, but, naturally, made no alterations to it. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 99).

Thomas de Thweng’s Inquisition Post Mortem on 6 June in 48 Edward III listed Kylton. The castle, with the hamlets of Lyverton, Thorp by Kylton, Skelton and Esyngton, held of Henry de Percy, knight, by knight’s service; Skynnergreve. A tenement and 2 bovates of land, held of Adam de Everyngham, knight, by knight’s service. Brotton. A messuage and 4 bovates of land, similarly held; Hilderwell. A toft, with the advowson of the church, held of Henry de Percy, knight, by knight’s service; Lythum. The manor, with the hamlet of Cotom and the advowson of the church of Lythom, similarly held. (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 14, (Edward III, 1374 to 1377), page 56 (Folio 58)).

Robert son of Marmaduke de Lumley’s Inquisition Post Mortem on 6 June in 48 Edward III listed the tenements in Lythum, Mersk, Hildirwell and Lund are held of Henry de Percy, those in Brotton of the heirs of Peter de Bruys, those in Skynnergreve of the heirs of Walter Fauconberge, those in Lyverton of the heirs of Lucy Latymer, those in Northcave of the fee of Stotevill, those in Swaythorp of the fee of Chauncy, those in Thorp by Kylton of the fee of Bulmer, and those in Thweng of John de Percy of Kildale, all by knight’s service. (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 14, (Edward III, 1374 to 1377), Folio 76).

1376

John Bertrom of Kilton was accused of poaching and assault (Patent Rolls of the reign of Edward III, 1374 to 1377, page 326).

1382

Thomas de Thweng:

(Calendarium inquisitionum post mortem sive escaetarum, Volume 3 (1377 to 1413) page 51)

1388

On the Inquisition of John de Neville of Raby, Knight on 23 October 12 Richard II, Wilton in Cleveland. Two-thirds of the manor, held by Randolf de Bulmer, knight, by service of 1 1/2 knight’s fees, with Thorp by Kilton, held by service of rendering 6s. 8d. yearly and Wilton in Clyveland with Thorp by Kylton. One fee and a moiety of a fee, held by Ralph de Bulmer, knight. (Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 16, (Richard II, 1384 to 1392), Folio 736 and 750).

1389

In 1389, Ralph Lumley obtained a licence from Bishop Robert Skirlaw, and in 1392 another from King Richard II, to convert his manor-house at Lumley into a castle, and in the former year he commenced the erection of the present fortress-palace of Lumley. Ralph did away with the expensive chantry chapel at Kirkleatham, and about 1398 dissolved the chantry chapel of St. Peter within the castle of Kilton, a sure sign that no further extended residence was contemplated there. But he seems to have lived at Kilton between 1389 and 1398, when Lumley Castle was in course of construction, but, naturally, made no alterations to it. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 98).

1396

In 1396 Elizabeth de Botreaux granted her rights in Kilton to this Ralph Lumley, Lord Lumley, her kinsman, (Close, 20 Ric. II, pt. i, m. 32 d) who, having taken part in the insurrection to restore Richard II, was slain in a skirmish at Cirencester in January 1399–1400 and attainted. (G.E.C. Peerage, v, 176; Chan. Inq. p.m. 1 Hen. IV, pt. ii, no. 2b.)

The Houses of Lancaster and York and the Wars of the Roses

1400

Ralph Lumley’s eldest son Sir Thomas died a minor in 1400, (Chan Inq pm 5 Hen. IV, no. 30) and the second son John, who succeeded, was restored in blood in 1412. (G.E.C. Peerage, v, 176).

1401

Thomas Holland, the former 3rd Earl of Kent and Duke of Surrey, formally forfeited his lands in 1401. Following his failed rebellion (the Epiphany Rising) to restore Richard II to the throne, he was executed in 1400. Parliament subsequently declared him a traitor in January 1401, legally confiscating his possessions. In the Inquisition regarding this forfeiture, there was reference to Ralph de Lumley holding lands including the castle and manor of Kilton (Calendar of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (chancery), Volume 7, 1399 to 1422, Folio 54).

1403

The Inquisition Post Mortem on Thomas Lumley, a ward to the King, provided:

Ralph de Lomley, chivaler, on the day of his forfeiture was seised in fee tail, to him and the heirs of bis body, of the castle and manor of Kilton and the manor of Lythum with Cotum, the advowson of the church of Lythum and that of the church of Hildrewel on alternate vacancies, and 2s rent out of a meadow in the territory of Hildrewelle, called Windmillenheng, with all the homages …

Ralph was also seised of one messuage, 17 tofts and 13 oxgangs of land in Great Morsom, of the gift of the said Marmaduke de Thweng and Lucy his wife, to the aforesaid Marmaduke their son and the heirs of his body [as above] ; held of the King by knight service, worth yearly £4 clear. Also one oxgang and 12 acres of land with 2 tofts in the vill and territory of "Petit" Morsum, by gift as above ; held of the King by knight service, worth yearly 30s. clear. Also 8 messuages and 16 bovates of land in the vill of Thorpe near Kilton, Brocton, Skynnergreve and Lyverton, by gift as above ; held of the King by knight service, and worth yearly 50s clear.

(Inquisitions post mortem relating to Yorkshire, of the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V, page 38 and 39, Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 18, (Henry IV, 1399 to 1405), Folio 955).

(Calendarium inquisitionum post mortem sive escaetarum, Volume 3 (1377 to 1413), page 296)

(Inquisitions post mortem relating to Yorkshire, of the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series Volume 59, Volume 5, page 38 and 39)

1406

(Close Rolls of the reign of Henry IV, 1405 to 1409, page 164 and see also Close Rolls of the reign of Henry IV, 1409 to 1413, page 27).

Inquisition on Ralph Bulmer, knight and Ralph his son:

(Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 19, (Henry IV, 1405 to 1413), Folios 107 to 109)

(Inquisitions post mortem relating to Yorkshire, of the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series Volume 59, Volume 5, page 51)

1407

Inquisition of Joan, wife of Thomas Faucomberg, knight:

(Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Volume 19, (Henry IV, 1405 to 1413), Folios 107 to 109 and 387).

Sir Thomas Fauconberg, successor to the House Brus and Lord of Skelton, Marske, Upleatham and Kirkleatham died in 1407. In 1403, the estate, by reason of Sir Thomas’s insanity, was put into the custody of King Henry IV who, later, placed it in the custody of Robert and John Conyers. His son Walter de Fauconberg also died in 1407. His grandaughter, also Joan Fauconberg, inherited the estate as an infant. She was described as an ‘idiot’ from birth. The castle passed, via her marriage, to her husband, Sir William Neville, who was made Earl of Kent by Edward IV in 1461. They made alterations to the castle in 1428.

There is a suggestion in this Inquisition on Thomas Faconberg’s death, that Kilton had become part of the interests of the Skelton lordship by this time. It may be that the situation was fluid.

1409

Inquisition of Ralph Bulmer, 11 October 1409:

(Inquisitions post mortem relating to Yorkshire, of the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series Volume 59, Volume 5, page 84).

1410

On 28 March 1410 a pardon was granted to Thomas, a servant of Walter Faucomberg for the death of William Porter of the castle of Kilton on Sunday 2 February 1410 after vespers before the gate of the castle (Patent Rolls of the reign of Henry IV, 1408 to 1413, page 184).

1420

At John Lumley’s death in 1420 (Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Hen. VI, no. 42) his heir was his son Thomas. (Chan. Inq. p.m. 10 Hen. VI, no. 42).

1461

Thomas Lumley

Thomas became Lord Lumley in 1461 on the reversal of the attainder of his grandfather.

1480

Thomas Lumley died in about 1480 and was succeeded by his son George. (The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Volume 5, pages 176-177)

Tudor Kilton

1506

William Burton of Hagnes held 4 bovates of land in Thwyng, worth 13s 4d, held of George Lumley, knight, lord de Lumley, as of his manor of Kylton, by service of rendering 6d. yearly (Calendar of inquisitions post mortem, Henry VII, Volume 3, Folio 262).

F

1507

Thomas son of George Lord Lumley died in the lifetime of his father, (The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Volume 5, pages 176-177; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxi, 77) who was therefore succeeded by Richard his grandson in 1507. (Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), xxi, 77)

George Lumley, knight, had the fee of Kilton by a gift made by Marmaduke de Thweng (Calendar of inquisitions post mortem, Henry VII, Volume 3, Folio 432).

Writ 1 December, inquisition 23 February, 23 Henry VII.

Long before his death he was seised in fee tail of the under-mentioned manor and castle of Kylton and manors of Lethom, Cothom and Twenge by virtue of a gift thereof made by Marmaduke de Twenge to Marmaduke de Twenge, his son, in tail. After the death of Marmaduke the son the premises descended to the said George Lumley as his kinsman and heir, to wit, son and heir of Thomas Lumley, knight, son and heir of John Lumley, knight, son and heir of Ralph Lumley. knight, son and heir of Isabel daughter and heir of Robert Twenge son and heir of the said Marmaduke the son.

He was also seised in fee of the xinder-mentioned third part of the hamlet of Rotsey, towns of Great Morsom and Thornton in Cleveland, hamlet of Little Morsom with Glaphowe, and manor of Hempholme.

By his charter indented dated 12 September, 22 Henry VII. he gave all the premises to Henry Lescrope of Bolton and William Conyers of Conyers, knights, Thomas Lambton and Ralph Melott. esquires, John Raughton. clerk, James Hayton, clerk, and William Thorpe, clerk, Robert Clergenett and Simon Emreson, to hold to them and their heirs to the use of himself and his heirs and for the performance of his last will. Afterwards, by his deed indented dated 12 December, 22 Henry VII. he made his last will and directed that his said feoffees should stand seised of the premises to his use during his life, and after his death successively to the use of Richard Lumley. esquire, and the heirs male of his body, the heirs male of the body of Thomas Lumley, esquire, deceased, the heirs male of his own body, and his own right heirs.

He died 13 November, 23 Henry VII. Richard Lumley, esquire, then aged 30 years and more, is his kinsman and heir, to wit, son and heir of Thomas Lumley, deceased, his son and heir.

York. Manor and castle of Kylton and manors of Lethom and Cothom, worth £50, held of Henry, earl of Northumberland, services unknown.

Manor of Twenge, worth £48, held of the heirs of John Percy of Kyldale, services unknown.

Manor of Hempholme, worth £25, held of the provost and chapter of St. John of Beverley, services unknown.

Moiety (sic) of the hamlet of Rotsey, worth 46s 8d, held of the king in chief by knight-service.

Towns of Great Morsom and Little Morsom and Glaphowe, worth £4, held of the king in chief by knight-service.

Manor (sic) of Thornton, worth £6, held of the heirs of Margaret de Roos, services unknown.

In the Inquisition of William Burton of Hagnes on 28 June 1506:

(Calendar of inquisitions post mortem, Henry VII, Volume 3, Folio 432 and Folio 262)

1510

Richard Lumley died seised in 1510, (Chan Inq pm xxv, 114.)

1524

John Lumley

Richard Lumley’s his son John in 1524 settled the Kilton manor on his son George on his marriage with Jane daughter of Richard Knightley. (Chan Inq pm clxxiii, 44)

1537

The castle stayed in the hands of the Lumley family until 1537 when George Lumley was executed for his participation in the Pilgrimage of Grace (the Yorkshire based uprising of 1536 protesting against Henry VIII’s break with the Catholic Church). The Crown then took possession of the castle and certainly by the end of the sixteenth century, the castle was in total ruin.

The history of Kilton Castle subsequent to 1389 need not detain us long. John, 7th Lord Lumley, married Joan, daughter of Henry, Lord Scrope of Bolton, and his son, George Lumley, was one of the principal leaders in the Pilgrimage of Grace, being executed for his share in that adventure.

When, in 1537, the Crown took possession of Kilton Castle, the old fortalice was a mere shell. The long neglect of 140 years had told its tale. Roofless, ivy clad, its timber floorings long since rotted away, trees and shrubs growing in the courtyard and right up to the walls, it stood gaunt and grim, a mouldering memorial of a long dead past.

(Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 99).

By 1537 when the Crown took possession of Kilton Castle it was a gaunt, grim, ivy clad ruin. Thereafter it was used as a local source of building material.

By the 16th century, the castle stood as a ruined structure, its stone quarried for local buildings, while the surrounding village contracted significantly, transitioning from a medieval community of farmsteads and trades to dispersed farmland. (Victoria County History, North Riding of Yorkshire, Vol.2, 1923).

In a deposition of Dr John Pykering on 2 June 1537, he gave evidence that he went to Loftus and then to Kilton to the Lord Lumley (Letters and papers, foreign and domestic, of the reign of Henry VIII : preserved in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and elsewhere in England, 1862, Volume 12, Part 2, Folio 12).

1538

George Lumley was attainted and executed in 1538 for joining in the insurrections of 1536 and 1537 (Dictionary of National Biography, page 272); John Lord Lumley then settled the estates on his grandson John son of George, (Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxiii, 44) who in 1547 was also restored in blood. (Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxxiii, 44; Pat. 1 Mary, pt. vi, m. 10).

1554

(Patent Rolls of the reign of Philip and Mary, 1553 to 1554, page 157 to 159)

1570

In the reign of Elizabeth John Lumley was suspected of plotting in favour of Mary Queen of Scots and was imprisoned in the Tower between 1570 and 1573. (Dictionary of National Biography page 273).

1573

The map drawn by Humfrey Lhuyd of Denbigh, shortly before his death in 1568, has been described as the first modern map of England and Wales. It was published at Antwerp by Ortelius in his Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terr arum, 1573. It included a crude depiction of Cleveland, which included Guisborough and Skelton.

Seventeenth Century Kilton

1607

John Lumley made conveyances of the manor at various dates, (Feet of F. Div. Co. Trin. 39 Eliz.; East. 5 Jas. I; Pat. 27 Eliz. pt. viii, m. 53) but was still lord in 1607, (Recov. R. Mich. 5 Jas. I, m. 32).

1607, Easter Term, 5 Jas 1

(Yorkshire Fines for the Stuart Period, Volume 1 (1603 to 1614), Edited by William Brigg, Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series, volume 53, 1915, page 65 (Folio 72).

Mercator’s Map of the British Isles (the first edition of the Atlas Minor, conceived by publisher Jodocus Hondius in 1607, created to make Gerardus Mercator’s pioneering folio maps more accessible) of 1607 included a reference to Kilton, as well as Skelton and Guisborough.

The map suggests the continuing principal role of Kilton, the site of the ruined castle, in seventeenth century Cleveland.

1609

John Lumley died seised in 1609, succeeded by his nephew Splandrian Lloyd, son of his sister Barbara. (Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), cccxi, 109)

1616

John Speed’s 1616 North Riding of Yorkshire map, showing the Langbaurgh (Langbargh) Wapentake

This early seventeenth century map engraved for John Speed’s The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine (1611–1612), was later issued in the 1616 edition of the atlas.

1622

Michael Drayton’s map of 1622 showed a crude depiction of Cleveland which included only Guisborough.

1635 to 1657

To review papers of Fairfax of Gilling which include papers relating to Kilton 1635 to 1657 (North Yorkshire County Records Office ZDV(F)).

1643

J. van Langeren’s map of 1635 was reprinted in 1643 to show distances to London and included reference to Kilton.

Civil War Kilton

There is a story that Kilton Castle was besieged and destroyed by Cromwell but this but a legend, since the castle had been uninhabited for 240 years. The story that Oliver Cromwell attacked Kilton Castle in North Yorkshire is a popular local myth that is historically impossible. Kilton Castle was in a ruinous state by the 14th century and was abandoned by the 16th century. The English Civil War did not begin until 1642. By the time Oliver Cromwell rose to military prominence, Kilton Castle had been a deserted, crumbling ruin for generations. It held no strategic value, housed no Royalist garrison, and was never subjected to a Roundhead siege or bombardment. It was common across England, and Yorkshire in particular, for local folklore to attribute any heavily ruined medieval structure to the destructive forces of Oliver Cromwell. During and after the Civil War, Parliament ordered the slighting or intentional destruction of many active Royalist strongholds to prevent them from being used as fortresses again. Examples in Yorkshire included Skipton Castle and Pontefract Castle. Because Cromwell became the ultimate symbol of this wartime destruction, communities over the centuries mistakenly blamed his armies for the decay of castles like Kilton, which actually just succumbed to natural abandonment and time.

There is an interesting local tradition relating to the castle which is worth putting on record. As related to the writer when a boy, unfortunately nearly twenty years ago, it ran as follows :“Kilton Castle was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell. He came into Cleveland with a large army and a train of artillery, but had great difficulty in finding the castle, which was then held by a party of Royalists. After much marching and countermarching, Cromwell and his men, as evening approached, rested on the side of a hill. As they rested, across the stillness of the evening air came the gentle tinkle of a bell ringing for vespers. Cromwell at once sent forward scouts to localise the sound. They returned, and announced that they had discovered it came from the castle chapel. Having thus found the castle, he advanced to the attack, and after a long siege, in which he lost many men, succeeded in taking it, and then blew it up with gunpowder” (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 100).

In A Guide to Saltburn by the Sea and the Surrounding District, With remarks on its picturesque scenery, Fifth Edition, Dedicated to John Thomas Wharton Esq of Skelton, By John Farndale. Late of Skelton Castle Farm, Darlington, Printed by Charles W Hird, 1864, John Farndale therefore recounted this mythical story when he wrote When Cromwell came that way, He heard the bell at noon; Fixed his cannon as they say, And brought the castle down.

In his poem about the castle, John Farndale acknowledged its ruinous state.

All ruins are lovely when o’er them is cast

The green veil of ivy to shadow the past;

When the rent and the chasm fearfully yawned,

By the moss of the lichen are sweetly adorned.

When the long grass doth carpet the desolate halls.

And trees have sprung up in the old, withered walls,

And woven a curtain of loveliest green,

Where once the rich folds of the damask were seen.

But such thoughts are unheeded while idly we gaze,

On the desolate grandeur of earlier days;

‘Tis the wreck that is lovely, the wider the rent

The fuller the view of the landscape is lent.

The wind that now sighs through the tenantless hall

No thoughts of loved voices to memory call;

All ruins are lovely when o’er them is cast

The green veil of ivy to shadow the past.”

(John Farndale)

In Farndale, John. 1870. The History of Kilton With a Sketch of the Neighbouring Villages By the Returned Emigrant. Middlesborugh: Burnett and Hood, John Farndale wrote: Camden, in speaking of Kilton and Kilton Old Castle, as Farndale has it in his Guide to Saltburn by the Sea, says “It is situated in a park belonging to the ancient families of Thweng and Lumley’s. Baron Lumley, of Kilton Castle, died in battle, having joined the Earl of Kent and others to restore King Richard, then deposed. Kilton Manors, for there were two, became forfeited to the crown, but restored to the Thwing’s and Lumbley’s, by Henry IV, and by marriage to Wm Tulley Esq., who died at Kilton Hall, and was interred in Brotton Church 1741, aged 72 years. Then to Dr Waugh, of Carlisle, and next in kin to the Misses Waugh, who sold the estate to Miss Wharton, of Thirsk Hall, a rich old lady, and this lady presented it as a gift to her nephew, J Hall Wharton Esq., MP, and now it is the property of JT Wharton Esq., of Skelton Castle. At the above date Kilton Hall was then a beautiful building, much admired. Mr Ord, in giving a description of Kilton Castle, says “Few ruins in England can equal this venerable relic of antiquity – as a fortress it must have proved impregnable previous to the introduction of artillery. Standing on a high triangular precipice unapproachable except on the west, and here it was defended by a moat and draw bridge, and large massive gate way doors”

1647

Yet there was royalist activity associated with Kilton during the civil war.

George Thweng of Kilton (born around 1600, active through 1649) was an English Royalist landowner from Yorkshire who took up arms for the King during the English Civil War. He fought in arms for the Royalist cause during the conflicts of the 1640s. Recorded in the Yorkshire composition papers, his delinquency for supporting the king led him to take the Oath in November 1645. He later took the parliamentary Covenant before Mr. Barton on 27 April 1645 and formally submitted his petition to compound for his estate on 10 January 1647. He was part of the ancient Thweng family associated with Kilton Castle in Cleveland, Yorkshire. He married Ann Gascoigne, daughter of Sir John Gascoigne of Barnbow and Parlington, Baronet.

George Thweng of Kilton. His delinquency that he was in arms but took the Oath Nov. 1645, he petitioned 10 Jan 1647, took the Covenant before Mr Barton 27 Apr. 1647. He is seized in fee of the manor of Kilton with the demesnes in the parish of Skelton worth yearly 25li 12s 8d, of the manor of Heworth and of lands in the parish of St. Cuthbert, York worth yearly 200 li. He hath household stuff and cattle worth 30li. He owes 6ooli all which moneys the compounder deposeth were borrowed by him towards the payment of the purchase of the manor of Kilton. He owes more to several persons 1200 li.

Petition of Ann, the wife of George Thwing, gentleman. It is prayed that she may have her part allowed her by ordinance of Parliament of her husband’s lands at Heworth and of the moiety of her husband’s manor of Kilton and that she may be admitted tenant to the residue upon reasonable terms whereby she and her children may be enabled to subsist.

19 Feb. 1646. Ordered by the Standing Committee for the North Riding. Let the sequestrators allow the petitioner the 5th part of the profits of her husband’s estate and also certify to this board the value of the land.

(Clay, John William. 1895. Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series Volume 18. Yorkshire Royalist Composition Papers. Volume 2, pages 184 to 185).

1676

A playing card pack of maps of the counties of England and Wales in 1676 included a card depicting Yorkshire, which showed Kilton.

1669

By 1669 Kilton was again in the possession of a branch of the Thweng family. In that year Alphonso Thweng and Thomas Thweng, probably his son, made a settlement of the manor. (Feet of F. Yorks. 21 Chas. II; Recov. R. Mich. 21 Chas. II, m. 180) Thomas Thweng left a daughter and heir Ann (Graves, Cleveland, 371); she apparently married first Chichester Graham, who in 1691 and 1693 held the manor in right of his wife Ann. (Feet of F. Yorks. Trin. 3 Will. and Mary; Trin. 5 Will. and Mary) She was certainly married to William Tullie by 1696, when it was conveyed, probably in trust, to Samuel Diggle. (Feet of F. Yorks. Trin. 8 Will. III) William Tullie died without issue in 1741, (Graves, Cleveland, 371) and was succeeded by his nephew Joseph Tullie, (Graves, Cleveland, 371) from whom the estate passed to the Rev. Dr. Waugh, chancellor of Carlisle. (Graves, Cleveland, 371). (The wapentake of Langbaurgh (east): Brotton, in A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2, ed. William Page (London, 1923), British History Online pages 326-332).

Kilton was afterwards in the hands of a branch of the Thweng to William Tullie, who, dying without issues in 1741, left the property to his nephew, Joseph Tullie, from whom it descended to Dr Waughr, Chancellor of Carlisle, whose daughters and co-heiresses sold it to John Wharton, ancestor of the present proprietor, Mr WHA Wharton. (Northern Weekly Gazette, 26 May 1906)

	Alphonso Thweng? See also genealogical table above
	Thomas Thweng
Chichester Graham Held the Manor of Kilton from 1691 to 1693	Ann Thweng Died 7 September 1719 Sole daughter and heir of Thomas Thweng Married Chichester Graham and later William Tullie	William Tullie Died 26 May 1741 Married Ann Thweng by 1696 Held the Manor of Kilton Died without issue	Brother of William Tullie
			Joseph Tullie Held the Manor of Kilton from 1741 Joseph Tullie’s Estate Plan was drawn up in 1767 Described as Lord of the Manor of Kilton in 1771 and gifted a gilt chalice to Brotton church in 1773
	John Hall Stevenson 1718 to 1785 Lord of Skelton, 1733 to 1785 Married Anne Stevenson and added Stevenson to his surname John was an author and friend of Laurence Sterne, who wrote The Life and Times of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman He had a reputation for throwing wild parties for his friends (including Lawrence Sterne, Zachary Moore and Panty Lascelles) who were known collectively as the Demoniacs He was something of a hypochondriac and wouldn’t get out of bed if there was an east wind blowing. The story goes that Sterne paid a youth to fix the weathervane, so it never showed an east wind. The castle at this time was in a state of disrepair, earning for itself the nickname Crazy Castle		Rev Dr Waugh Chancellor of Carlisle Estate of Kilton passed to Rev Dr Waugh after Joseph Tullie
	Joseph William Hall Stevenson 1742 to 1786 Lord of Skelton, 1785 to 1786		Dr. Waugh's daughters sold Kilton Estate to John Wharton Descent thereafter followed the manor of Skelton It is suggested that this was before 1807, but it seems likely that this was in or about 1790.
	John Wharton (born Hall Stevenson) 21 June 1765 to 29 May 1843 Lord of Skelton, 1788 to 1843 On 3 May 1788, he took the surname of Wharton only by sign manual on succeeding to the fortune and estates of his aunt, Mrs Margaret Wharton. He then demolished the old Skelton Castle and between 1788 and 1817 built a similarly named Gothic country house in its place He acquired the Kilton estate, probably in about 1790 There was a sale at Skelton Castle to raise funds in 1818 Ran up large debts and on 6 December 1827, he was confined in Fleet Debtors Prison, London Landowner and MP	Rev William Hall Wharton, MA, Vicar of Gilling Married Charlotte, daughter of Thomas, first Lord Dundas
		John Thomas Wharton 9 March 1809 to 1 March 1900 Lord of Skelton, 1843 to 1900	James Charles Wharton
		William Henry Anthony Wharton 14 November 1859 to 12 December 1938 Lord of Skelton, 1900 to 1938 Married Harriot Emily Yeoman Commanding Officer of the 4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment, the Green Howards, prior to the outbreak of the First World War	Philip Thomas Wharton
		Margaret Winsome Ringrose-Wharton 3 October 1894 to 4 February 1991 Lady of Skelton, 1938 to 1991 Married Captain Christopher Hilyard Ringrose. Mrs Ringrose Wharton took an active part in running the estate and supported many activities in the local community. There were no children from this marriage and so the estate passed to Anthony	Lawrence Humphrey Wharton
			Major Anthony Charles Philip Wharton DL 10 August 1946 to 9 January 2026 Lord of Skelton, 1991 to 2026 Following the death of Major Anthony Charles Philip Wharton DL on 9 January 2026, the individual expected to inherit the family's ultimate lineage of the Skelton and Gilling Estates remains publicly unannounced

1680

Through the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries, open fields were enclosed, reducing the number of small holdings and consolidating land into larger agricultural units, with Kilton Hall, built around 1680, emerging as the central farmstead amid the shrinking population (Joseph Tullie’s Estate Plan, 1767; The Impact of Agricultural Change on the Rural Community - a case study of Kilton circa 1770-1870 by Janet Dowey).

Thomas Thweng and William Tulley or Tullie

About 1680 a Mr Thomas Thweng purchased the Castle from the Crown, probably a descendant of a junior branch of the family. He certainly did not live there and it was probably he who built the original Kilton Hall some one mile away from its stone. His only daughter Ann married Mr William Tullie and at the east end of the chancel of old Brotton church (now no more) was a large memorial which said "Sacred memory of William Tullie of Kilton in this county, Esq, who departed this life 27 May 1741 aged 72 and is interned underneath this monument. He married Ann sole daughter and heiress of Thomas Thweng of Kilton Castle in this county, Esq, by whom he left no issue."

1692

On 12 September 1692 there was a conveyance of a burgage cottage on the East Row of Northallerton by Timothy Baxter of Northallerton, weaver and his son and heir Francis Baxter of Kilton Lodge, weaver to Henry Harrison of Northallerton, weaver (North Yorkshire County Record Office ZBA 1/20/4).

1694

William Brown, late of Kilton, a farmer and packer of butter for sale, was indicted in the Quarter Sessions at Stokesley on 14 August 1694 for selling ten firkins of butter in Whitby that were deficient in weight by four pounds at 4d per pound (North Yorkshire County Record Office QSB 1694 6/42).

Eighteenth Century Kilton

In the eighteenth century, the medieval fields were enclosed, and the farmsteads had moved to their present locations.

1705

The Farndales and Kilton

By about 1705, Kilton was the home of the Farndale family for almost two hundred and fifty years. By the late seventeenth century and in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries there were Farndales at Liverton, Moorsholm, Skelton and Kirkleatham. John Farndale wrote of the late eighteenth century: My children’s children comprise the sixth generation of our family that has lived at Kilton estate upwards of two hundred years. (A Guide to Saltburn by the Sea and the Surrounding District, With remarks on its picturesque scenery, Fifth Edition, Dedicated to John Thomas Wharton Esq of Skelton, By John Farndale. Late of Skelton Castle Farm, Darlington, Printed by Charles W Hird, 1864). The steward always called old J Farndale to the vice-chair, he being old, and the oldest tenant. Farndale’s was the most numerous family, and had lived on the estate for many ages…. here we have chronicled something like a genealogy of a race of people once throng the streets of Kilton, but where are they now to be found? Many of them have gone to their everlasting reward, yet a few, a small few, remain unto this day (Farndale, John. 1870. The History of Kilton With a Sketch of the Neighbouring Villages By the Returned Emigrant. Middlesborugh: Burnett and Hood).

The Farndale association with Kilton probably started in around 1705, with the arrival of John Farndale, probably when he married into the Bennison family of Kilton.

John Farndale

27 June 1680 to 56 October 1757

The first Farndale of Kilton

There were three families of the Farndale family at Kilton, the large Kilton 1 Line, the Kilton 2 Line and the Kilton 3 Line.

1707

Roger Todd of Kilton Thorpe, a yeoman, was indicted for assaulting Frances Fairfax at Kilton Thorpe on 9 June 1707, the offence witnessed by a number of witnesses and ignoramus (North Yorkshire Records Office QSB 1707 6/19).

1729

Peter Keer’s map of 1651 was updated by Van de Aa in 1729 and included reference to Kilton C, which may have been a reference to the ruined castle.

Joseph Tullie

1741

At the east end [of Brotton’s church] is a large mural monument in blue marble, "Sacred to the memory of William Tullie, of Kilton, Esq., who departed this life 26 May, 1741, aged 72, and is interred underneath. He married Ann, sole daughter and heiress of Thomas Thweng, of Kilton Castle, Esq., by whom he left no issue: she died Sept. 7, 1719, and is buried in the same vault as her husband. Joseph Tullie, of Kilton, Esq., impressed with a due sense of his many amiable qualities, caused this marble to be erected, to perpetuate the memory of one whom he affectionately loved and whom all should imitate." (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 267)

1754

The Newcastle Courant, 30 March 1754: To be Sold. Now Growing at Kilton, within two miles of the Sea, near Guisborough, in Cleveland, Yorkshire. A Large Quantity of full groan Oak, Ash and Elm etc. For further particulars, inquire of William Jackson of Guisborough, who will fell said trees.

1759

The beginnings of Methodism in Kilton

The current owners of Kilton Hall tell me that John Wesley, the co-founder of methodism, once preached at Kilton Hall.

Pending that information, I have not seen a historical record or entry in John Wesley’s journals confirming that he preached at Kilton Hall. Whether Wesley preached at Kilton Hall, he was very active in the immediate region. He travelled through the area and preached nine times in the nearby market town of Guisborough, beginning in July 1759, as well as in Loftus and the marketplace in Stokesley. Local residents from the Kilton and Skelton areas frequently travelled to these nearby towns to hear him speak. The locality of Kilton and across Cleveland, there are deeply rooted connections to early Methodism. Subsequent generations in Kilton became fiercely committed Wesleyans. Local families, such as the Farndales of Kilton Hall Farm, were prominent local preachers and circuit stewards in the Loftus and Staithes Wesleyan Circuit during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Local Wesleyan Methodist services were originally held in a village cottage. After economic changes led to the consolidation of the estate's smaller farms and the emptying or demolition of local streets, the local Methodist community adapted. For many subsequent years, the Methodist services in Kilton were held in the spacious farm kitchen of Charles Farndale at Kilton Hall Farm, also referred to as Kilton Lodge. The Farndale family maintained a long-standing, dominant tradition of local leadership within the Wesleyan Church circuit in Cleveland.

1767

The Eighteenth Century Nucleation

The nucleated settlement pattern which began in prehistory had failed with the ruin of the castle. In due course there was another period of nucleation which was mapped by the estate map of 1767. By this time there was an attempt to increase the intensity of cultivation of the land by creating new farms and laying out new roads. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 33).

Three maps provide the main sources for this period – the Estate Map of 1767, the Tithe Map of 1844 and the first Edition Ordinance Survey 6 inch map of 1856 (see below).

An estate map of Kilton was commissioned by Joseph Tullie and surveyed by R Richardson in 1767 and the original map is held by Skelton and Gilling Estates.

The 1767 Estate Map shows an enclosed landscape, with the various tenancies marked. All the fields were named and tracks and paths were marked. The map shows marked changes from the medieval landscape. The 1767 map shows a landscape which, while containing much of the medieval past, had undergone a dramatic transformation. Enclosure of the medieval fields had taken place and probably partly as a result of this the number of farmsteads had increased from perhaps five in the medieval period to eight in 1767. An estate village had been established at Kilton, a hunting lodge at Buck Rush and a number of new buildings had been built. In addition, two new roads had been constructed, the first linking Brotton to Kilton Thorpe and cutting through the enclosure boundaries of Middle Field; the second running from Kilton Lane to the new farm at Stank House, which continued on to the Lodge and Buck Rush. The latter survives much as built and is a fine example of a broad c 18^th century road which contrasts markedly with its medieval predecessors.

The landscape had undoubtedly been deliberately reorganised yet again. It is particularly interesting to note the re-establishment of a major village at Kilton and the similarity of the plan formed to its medieval predecessor and, indeed, to see that this attempts to create a major nucleation within the Township was as unsuccessful as its predecessor. It may be that the forces at work were much the same, the prosperity of the post medieval village being dependent on the hall at its head in much the same way as the medieval village may have been dependent on the castle.

The date of the reorganisation is not known, it was certainly post medieval and probably post enclosure. Unfortunately the date of enclosure is not known either. However, the complete appearance of the estate village when set against its decayed nature in 1845 might suggest that the reorganisation had taken place not long before.

(Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 53).

The following are extracts from the estate plan of 1767 (“Joseph Tullie’s Estate Plan”), with many thanks to Tony Nicholson for his help and annotations and to Skelton and Gilling Estates for allowing me access to the princiapl estate map (Joseph Tullie’s Estate Plan 1767 is held by Skelton and Gilling Estates and hangs on the office walls. The estate today has over 11,000 acres of land and owns over 200 houses, which it still lets to tenants).

The 1767 Estate Map

The detail from the 1767 Estate Map is now shown on a separate page.

The 1767 map shows a landscape which, while containing much of the medieval past, had undertaken a dramatic transformation. Enclosure of the medieval fields had taken place and probably partly as a result of this the number of farmsteads had increased from perhaps five in the medieval period to eight in 1767. An Estate village had been established at Kilton, a hunting lodge at Buck Rush, and a number of new buildings had been built. In addition, two new roads had been constructed, the first linking Brotton to Kilton Thorpe and cutting through the enclosure boundaries of Middlefield, and the second running from Kilton Lane to the new farm at Stank House, which continued on to the Lodge and Buck Rush. The last of these roads survives much as built and is a fine example of a broad eighteenth century road which contrasts markedly with its medieval predecessors.

The Kilton of 1767 was very different from medieval Kilton. While some of the medieval properties either side of Kilton Lane had buildings on them, the village had been moved to the north. A finer state village had been created, with a street and green and two rows of cottages facing each other across it. A post mill was shown at the western end of the South row.

The 1767 map shows a complex of at least three buildings, wrongly labelled as Wilton Mill. The mill building is shown extending over the stream and the wheel may have been contained within a housing.

1770

Adam's Weekly Courant, 11 December 1770 reported on Mr Turner’s Hounds. The hunt founded by the smuggler, Andrew Turner, later the Roxby and Cleveland Foxhounds, which passed through Kilton.

1771

The start of a constant battle between landowners and tenants and poachers may have started with a report by the Newcastle Chronicle, or, General Weekly Advertiser, 24 August 1771: Whereas the Game and Fish within the Lordship or Manor of Kilton, in the North Riding of the County of York, have, of late years, been greatly destroyed in the night and at other times, by poachers and other persons, without the leave of Joseph Tullie Esquire, Lord of the said Manor; Notice is hereby given, that all unqualified persons killing game or fish within the said Lordship, will be prosecuted with the utmost rigour: and it is particularly requested that no gentleman will hunt, shoot, or fish within the said Lordship, without Leave in Writing of the said Mr Tullie.

1773

Rev Dr Waugh

There is a 1773 estate map which is unhelpful in its depiction of Kilton, but includes some representation of Craggs. It doesn’t reach the area of the main village and Hall.

Extract from A map of an Estate belonging to John Hall Stephenson Esq lying at Skelton and Brotton in Cleveland in the North Riding of the County of York, produced in 1773 after a survey by Watson and Seagrave (Kindly provided by Tees Archaeology)

The street and green at Kilton village were not a thoroughfare, and only gave access to the hall and there is no trace either on the ground or maps of there ever having been a thoroughfare. The new two row settlement cut existing property boundaries.

John Farndale was a tenant of Craggs Farm on the Wharton Estate in 1773, but also had an alum business in Old Saltburn. My Grandfather, who was a Kiltonian, employed many men at his alum house, and many a merry tale have I heard him tell of smugglers and their daring adventures and hair breadth escapes (John Farndale. 1864. Guide to Saltburn by the Sea and the Surrounding District with remarks on its picturesque scenery, also online).

The author John Farndale’s grandfather, this John Farndale was this website author’s great x5 grandfather.

John Farndale

Old Farndale of Kilton

28 February 1724 to 24 January 1807

The patriarch of the Kilton Farndales, regaler of smuggler tales, alum merchant and farmer

Joseph Tullie of Kilton Castle gifted a massive silver gilt flagon paten and chalice in 1773 to the church of St Margaret, Brotton (Cleveland Standard, 29 July 1949).

1778

A new bridge was planned in 1778. The Newcastle Chronicle, 18 July 1778: LOFTHOUSE BRIDGE. Any person willing to contract for the building of a Carriage Bridge over the brook dividing the townships of Lofthouse and Kilton, near to the highway leading from Kilton to Lofthouse aforesaid, may deliver in a plan and proposals as soon as possible, to Mr Lawson of Stokesley. Mr Farquharson of Lofthouse will show the place where the intended bridge is to be erected.

1786

In Farndale, John. 1870. The History of Kilton With a Sketch of the Neighbouring Villages By the Returned Emigrant. Middlesborugh: Burnett and Hood, John Farndale imagined his return to Kilton after years of absence when he recalled:

… some one hundred and twenty parents and children, besides men-servants and women-servants; I remember ten farmers occupant of some seven hundred acres of land, and now it’s absorbed into one large farm, by laying field to field, and adding farm to farm. Surely this gentleman must be Lord of Kilton Manors, for formerly it comprised two Manors. Then he asked, where are all those respected farmers? Had they and their sons to find a home in some far-away land, and to perish out of sight? I see in the book recorded and registered in olden time, the names of farmers who once occupied this great farm – R and W Jolly, M Young, R Mitchell; W Wood, J Harland, T Toas, J Readman, J Farndale, S Farndale, J and W Farndale, all these tenants once occupied this great farm; now blended into one.

I remember what a muster at the Kilton rent days, twice a year, when dinner was provided for a quarter of a hundred tenants, Brotton, Moorsholm, Stanghoe, those paid their rents at Kilton; and were indeed belonging to the Kilton Court, kept here also, and the old matron proudly provided a rich plum pudding and roast beef; and the steward also a jolly punch bowl, for it was a pleasure to him to take the rents at Kilton, the day before Skelton rent day. The steward always called old J Farndale to the vice-chair, he being old, and the oldest tenant. Farndale’s was the most numerous family, and had lived on the estate for many ages.

Kilton had many mechanics, and here we had a public house, a meeting house, two lodging houses, and a school house, to learn our ABCs, from which sprang two eminent school masters, who became extremely popular; we had a butcher’s shop, we had a London tailor and is apprentice, and eight other apprentices more; we had a rag merchant and a shop which sold song books, pins, needles, tape and thread; we had five sailors, two soldiers, two missionaries, besides a number of old people, aged 80, 90 and 100 years. But last, not least, Wm Tulley Esq., who took so much interest in the old castle – planted its orchard, bowling green, and made fish ponds, which were fed by a reservoir near the Park House, Kiltonthorpe, Kilton Lodge, together with all these improvements around the castle, which are now no more.

In A Guide to Saltburn by the Sea and the Surrounding District, With remarks on its picturesque scenery, Fifth Edition, Dedicated to John Thomas Wharton Esq of Skelton, By John Farndale. Late of Skelton Castle Farm, Darlington, Printed by Charles W Hird, 1864, John Farndale wrote of the late eighteenth century:

Kilton formerly contained a few tradesmen – namely two joiners, two coopers, two weavers, one butcher, a publican, a water miller, a rag merchant, an old man with nine children, two sailors, and a banker’s cashier. At one time it had four sailors – one was taken prisoner in the French War, an old man, aged 87, and yet living – another, a missionary to the French prisoners, died in France, aged 87, a noble fellow, was formerly in the Life Guards. Seventy years ago Kilton had eight farmers; it now has only one. It had then fifty four children, now only seven – then twenty four parents, now only five – and then nine old men and women rom eighty to one hundred and five years of age. The inhabitants of this village, as may be expected, were long lived; most of the old men were of the giant tribe, their ages averaging at death eighty seven years. My children’s children comprise the sixth generation of our family that has lived at Kilton estate upwards of two hundred years.

In former days the inhabitants of this district were Jacks, and Toms, and Mats; now they are either Misters or Esquires, and thick as mushrooms around us. In those days there were no Mistresses or Ladies among them, they were all Dames – there wore no silk gowns, no veils, no crinolines, no bustles; but home spun garments, giving employment to the inhabitants, warmth and comfort to the wearers, and lasting for fifty years. Specimens at home.

John Farndale recalled one family named Swales noted for oddness and singularity of manners. When they dined together they all dipped into one dish. The parent once called out for bread, exclaiming “I eat bread to every thing.” A little urchin answered “Now, Fadder, thou lies, thou doesn’t eat bread to cake!” When the old man died, a large multitude gathered at his funeral. He was brought through Kilton to Brotton to be buried, and this youth was noticed last at the grave side, and looking into the grave he at length broke the silence and said “Farewell, fadder!” and a second time he said, “Farewell, fadder!” and a third time, with all his might, making the welkin ring, he exclaimed, “Farewell, fadder!” and then left the graveside with a sad heart and a sorrowful countenance. The end of this rough, untutored fellow was untimely. In an evil hour his cart overturned over him, and two nights and a day he lay dying. The following lines he intended for his tombstone:-

“Whea lies here? Whea dye think?

Poor Willy Swales, he loved a drop o’ drink.

Drink to him as you pass by,

For poor Willy Swales was always dry.”

There was another servant of my father’s, named Ralph Page, equally as singular as Willy Swales. As Ralph was once busily ploughing, a French Privateer, threatening land at Skinningrove, fired into the town. Those in the district who had guns assembled on the cliffs and fired a volley in return. To intimidate the enemy the women mustered strong and attired in red cloaks and shouldering sticks, to represent a body of soldiers, they stood far away in the distance. Ralph took little notice of the privateer, not bothering his head either with the French or the English, only they let him be, when a young woman passing in haste, cried out “Ralph, French is landing.”. Ralph, turning round, with the greatest coolness replied, “Then run yam, and sup all’t cream,” and unconcerned he ploughed away as though nothing was the matter.

The next day the king’s cutter arrived, and the privateer and her had an engagement, when the Frenchmen were beaten and the vessel taken, to the great joy of the inhabitants of the surrounding district.

Here let me narrate one anecdote more or a man whom I well knew, and who lived and died at Moorsholm. There was an assize trial at York, about a water course running under ground, and Paul, for that was the man’s name, who was a fine upright fellow, with a high brow and a bluff face, had to appear as a witness on the occasion. When Paul went into the witness box, the counsellor on the opposite side having silenced a man of letters, very promptly said to Paul, as he stared at him, “Well Mr Baconface, and what have you to say on the subject?” “Whya.” Replied Paul, with a significant grin, “If my bacon face and thy calf face were boiled together they wad mak good broth!” The councillor looked abashed, and the whole court roared with laughter. The counsellor recvering his self possession, then tried to put Paul into a fix about the watercourse by inquiring what he knew about it, and in a triumphant tone of voice he said, “And how, my man, do you know that the same water ran out of the course that ran into it?” “How did I know that?” reiterated Paul, “Whya, I tuek care thou sees t’ muddy watter before it went in, and it cam out muddy.” The court enjoyed a hearty laugh, and the result was, the learned councillor lost his cause.

1790

Old Johnny Farndale, known sometimes as Old Farndale of Kilton, was a patriarch of Kilton in his old age. The Squire reflected on how he would be missed when he was gone.

They balanced accounts, over a bottle of Hollands gin, and after eulogising each other, the squire would rise and say, “Johnny, when you are gone, there will never be such another Johnny Farndale”. (Farndale, John. 1870. The History of Kilton With a Sketch of the Neighbouring Villages By the Returned Emigrant. Middlesborugh: Burnett and Hood).

John Wharton

Dr. Waugh's daughters sold [Kilton Estate] to John Wharton (Graves, Cleveland, 371) before 1807, (Graves, Cleveland, 371) and henceforth it followed the descent of the manor of Skelton, Mr. William Henry Anthony Wharton being the present lord of the manor. (The wapentake of Langbaurgh (east): Brotton, in A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2, ed. William Page (London, 1923), British History Online pages 326-332).

The estate descended, via Mr Tullie’s nephew, to the Rev Dr Waugh whose legatees sold it to Squire Wharton of Skelton Castle. (Horton, Minnie C. 1979. The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend. Cleveland County Libraries. Page 373).

John Wharton (21 June 1765 – 29 May 1843) was a British landowner and member of Parliament. He was the eldest son of Joseph William Hall-Stevenson of Skelton, John Wharton succeeded his father in 1786, inheriting the ruinous Skelton Castle. He demolished the old Skelton Castle and between 1788 and 1817 built a similarly named Gothic country house in its place. By 1829 he was in debt and spent the next 14 years in the Fleet Debtors Prison, where he died childless in 1843. He had married Susan Mary Anne, the daughter of General John Lambton of Lambton, County Durham. He had two daughters who both predeceased him and was succeeded by his nephew, John Thomas Wharton.

John Thomas Wharton, to whom John Farndale’s book is dedicated, was born in York on 9 March 1795 and died at Tadcaster on 25 September 1871, aged 76. His uncle, John Wharton died childless and in poverty in 1843 and Skelton devolved to John Thomas Wharton of Gilling.

John Wharton of Skelton Castle was the Squire of Kilton.

It was in or about 1790 that John Wharton (born John Hall Stevenson) acquired the estate of Kilton. Concurrently, he demolished the old Skelton Castle and between 1788 and 1817 and built a similarly named Gothic country house in its place.

John Wharton

1793

Johnny’s grandson, the author John Farndale spent his childhood in Kilton before leaving, but later wrote extensively of Kilton as it emerged from rural tranquility through a period of profound change.

John Farndale

15 August 1791 to 28 January 1878

A man of enigmatic complexity who wrote extensively and has passed down stories of our family and of industrial change in early Victorian Yorkshire

My first remembrance began in my nurse's arms when I could not have been more than 1 1/2 years old; a memory as vivid as if it were yesterday. She took me out on St Stephen's Day 1793 into the current Garth (a small enclosure) with a stick and 'solt' to kill a hare. A great day at the time.

On 25 July 1793 the coroner, Thomas Smith of Stokesley, gave a verdict on a female ‘bastard child’ as stillborn (North Yorkshire Record Office QSB 1794 2/16/3).

1794

Yet another John Farndale was farming in Kilton by 1794.

John Farndale

5 October 1755 to 26 October 1829

Known as Farndale Junior until his father died in 1807 

Mr Wharton had a bay colt called Kilton at York races in 1794 (Hull Advertiser, 23 August 1794), suggesting he had an interest in Kilton by say about 1790. He may well have named one of his racehorses after his acquisition of the estate.

1795

Kilton Hall stood at the end of the rows of cottages in Kilton village. The old hall was sketched for John Farndale’s book.

Kilton Hall, Sketched from memory (as it stood in 1795) specially for John Farndale’s Guidebook The same image coloured by AI

1797

On 24 January 1797, William Swales, a labourer, and Joseph Ellerby of Skinningrove, were convicted of using a gun to kill game without a licence on 26 December 1796 at Kilton. The case was heard at Kirkleatham. (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1797 2/10/3 and 4).

North Riding of North Yorkshire

Be it remembered that on the twenty fourth day of January in the year of our Lord 1797 at Kirkleatham in North Yorkshire in the North Riding of the County of York, William Swales of Stanghow in the said North Riding of York, labourer was duly convicted before Mr John Fawcett Esq, one of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace in and for the said Riding for that the said William Swales on the twenty sixth day of December now last past, at Kilton in the said Riding did use a certain Engine called a Gun for the Destruction of Game without having obtained a Certificate required by law for that purpose contrary to the form of the Statute and I do declare and adjudge that the said William Swales hath forfeited for his said offence the sum of twenty pounds of lawful money of Great Britain to be distributed as the Law decides. Given under my hand and seal the day and year first above mentioned

John Fawcett

A similar declaration was given regarding Joseph Ellebry.

Also in 1797, Robert French, a labourer, late of Kilton was indicted for felony, for stealing half a peck of oats valued at 6d from Ralph Crosier, a yeoman at Kilton on 25 June 1797. Ralph Crozier and his servants Richard Page and James Robinson, Esther Bell, as well as Robert French, John Robinson, and Lewis Arnill gave evidence. (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1798 2/6/6 and 2/7/7).

On 30 October 1797, Robert French of Kilton Lodge, a labourer, and John French of Westow, a tanner, were cited to give evidence as to whether Thomas French, the millwright of New Malton was the father of the ‘bastard’ child of Mary Armstrong, a single-woman of Henderskelfe (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1798 4/11/2).

1798

In 1798, 1816, 1817, 1818, in the Return of Alehouse Keeper’s Recognizances, Ralph Newbiggin was recorded as the alehouse keeper at Kilton (North Riding County Records Office QSB 1798 4/12/8, QSB 1816 4/12/4, QSB 1817 4/12/7, QSB 1818 4/12/4).

1799

The Hull Advertiser, 19 January 1799: Education. Miss Greens’ respectfully acquaint their friends and the public that their school opens again on Monday 21, at Kilton Lodge, near Guisborough, where YOUNG LADIES are taught every branch of useful and ornamental education on the following terms: Entrance £1 1 0. Board, English grammar, and every kind of needle work £16 16 0. Writing and arithmetic £1 1 0. Geography £1 1 0. Use of pianoforte £1 4 0. Use of drawers £0 5 0. Each Young Lady to bring a pair of sheets, two towels, spoon, knife and fork, or pay one Guinea for the use of them.

Kilton of this time was summarised in a case study:

The most predominant family at Kilton was the Farndales, their ancestry ages old. Its most distinguished member John Farndale wrote numerous books on the area. Kilton, the village itself had been a thriving community consisting of a public house, a meeting house, two lodging houses and a schoolhouse, from which sprang two eminent schoolmasters. A butcher's shop, a London tailor and his apprentice and eight others, a rag merchant, a shop which sold some books, pens, needles, tape and thread. Five sailors, two soldiers, two missionaries plus a number of very old people.

The picture John Farndale paints is of a peaceful rural community who boasted of no poachers, no cockfighters, no drunkards or swearers. A church going people who met together on a Sunday afternoon. Kilton at that time had nearly 20 houses and a population of 140 men, women and children, a Hall, stables, plantation and the old Castle plus 12 small farms. When John wrote these books he was speaking of a time long since gone (the early nineteenth century), he listed each family that lives lived within the village.

Robert Jolly was a farmer and a staunch Wesleyan. After his death his farm was carried on awhile by his sons. This being the time of Nelson's death (1805), John goes on to say that there was great reformation in Kilton estate, "the little farms were joined together, about 150 acres each. Every farmer had to move to a new farm. The sons of Robert Jolly each moved away at this time, one became a lifeguard to George III and the other eventually became a minister. William Bulmer was another native of Kilton and married with nine children, he made his living buying and selling, but all his children moved away into 'respectable' situations."

Many of the farmers were weavers too, one in particular, George Bennison, had two looms plus his land and also prepared a colt for Northallerton fair once a year stop. The children of these farmers continually moved away from the district and agriculture. John Farndale says "and now they disappear, but where are they gone, I know not". John Tuke says "it is observable, but in those families which have succeeded from generation to generation to the same farm, the strongest attachment to old customs prevails. For conduct and character, the farmer under survey must deservedly rank high among their fellows in any part of England, they are generally sober, industrious and orderly; most of the younger part of them have enjoyed a proper education, and give a suitable one to their children, who, of both sexes, are brought up in habits of industry and economy. Such conduct rarely fails meeting its reward; they who merit, and seek it, obtain independence, and every generation, or part of every generation, may be seen stepping forward to a scale in society somewhat beyond the last."

However Thomas Hardy in his book "Tess of the D'Urbervilles", states "all mutations so increasingly discernible in village life did not originate entirely in the agricultural unrest. A depopulation was going on." The village life which Hardy talks about had previously "contained" side by side with agricultural labourers an "interesting and better informed class". These included a carpenter, a Smith, shoemaker, huckster "together with nondescript workers" in addition to the farm labourers. A group of people who "owed a certain stability of aim and conduct to the fact of their being life-holders or copyholders or occasionally small freeholders." When the long holdings fell in they were rarely again let to identical tenants, and they were usually pulled down, if they were not needed by the farmer or his workers. "Cottagers who were not directly employed on the land were looked upon with disfavour, and the banishment of some starved the trade of others, who were thus obliged to follow." Families such as these had formed the backbone of the village life in the past who were the depositories of the village traditions, had to seek refuge in the large centres; the process, designated by statisticians as the tendency of the rural population towards the large towns being really the tendency of water to flow uphill when forced by machinery.

(The Impact of Agricultural Change on the Rural Community - a case study of Kilton circa 1770-1870, Janet Dowey).

Early Nineteenth Century Kilton

In the 19th century, Kilton largely bypassed the direct impacts of the Industrial Revolution, remaining focused on agriculture despite nearby ironstone mining in East Cleveland, which introduced temporary economic activity but did not alter the village's rural character.

1800

On 24 December 1800 John Readman, a tailor of Brotton was summarily convicted for using snares to take a pheasant in Kilton on 10 November 1800.

1801

In 1801 the nearby town of Brotton had only 77 houses and 373 occupants, but it became embroiled in the industrial revolution after the discovery of ironstone.

The population of Kilton was 129. Population of Kilton in 1801, 129 (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 271).

In 1801 the inhabitants of Stanghow were indicted for failing to upkeep the highway from Stanghow to the Glapa Farmhouse of Robert Gill to Kilton Lane from 10 April 1801 (North Yorkshire County Records Office 1802 3/6/8).

1805

At the age of 14, after celebrating the victory of Trafalgar in 1805, John Farndale was found dangling head foremost down the draw well hanging by the buckle of his shoe. I remember a draw well stood near the house of my father’s foreman. One day I was looking into this well at the bucket landing, when I fell head foremost. The foreman perceiving the accident, immediately ran to the well to witness, as he thought, the awful spectacle of my last end. I had on at the time a pair of breeches, with brass buckles on my shoes (silver ones were worn by my father and others), and to his great astonishment, he found me not immersed in water at the bottom of the well, but dangling head foremost from the top of a single brass buckle, which had somehow caught hold. Since this accident I have ever been thankful for my wonderful deliverance, I am now an old man, yet I hope my humble production will by many be found worthy of perusal.

He remembered "an old relation of my father". There were numerous Farndales in Kilton at that time. He criticised his elder brother George as a prodigal son, claiming that John was the son at home with his father, but this was probably just sibling rivalry. But John describes how he got up to many frolics and had some narrow escapes, although he was no drunkard or swearer.

His parents, he said, were strict Church people and kept a strict look out. I became leader of the (Brotton) church signers, clever in music and he immodestly claimed that he excelled his friends. He had a close friend, a musician in the church choir. One day he met him and said he had been very ill and had been reading a lot of books including Aeleyn's Alarum and others which nearly made my hair stand on end. Alleyn’s Alarm was a pious text from the time, which no doubt follows a tradition of somewhat threatening alarums since the seventeenth century.

His friend told him that he was going to alter his way of life and if John would not refrain from his revelries, he would be obliged to forsake your company. That was a nail in a sure place. I was ashamed and grieved as I thought myself more pious than he. Now I began to enter a new life as suddenly at St Paul's but with this difference, he was in distress for three days and nights but for me it was three months. He fasted all Lent and described his torment. How often I went onto the hill with my Clarinet to play my favourite tune.

John was clearly competitive and determined to be better than his peers at whatever challenges came his way. He therefore embarked on a phase of competitive piety. It appears to have been no more than a phase, since we have evidence of him picking up on his revelries again before long.

His companion lived a mile away, probably in Brotton, and they met half way every Sunday morning at 6am for prayer. He remembered well meeting in a corner of a large grass field. George Sayer began and he followed. When they finished they opened their eyes to see a rough farm lad standing over us, no doubt a little nervous. Next day this boy said to others in the harvest field 'George Sayer and John Farndale are two good lads for I found them in a field praying.' On the following Sunday they moved to a small wood and met under an oak tree and met an old man who wanted to join them. As usual George began and John continued when the old man began to roar in great distress.

In 1805 the inhabitants of Kilton were indicted for failing to repair the highway between Kilton and Moorsholm after 27 December 1804 (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1805 1/6/14). There was a motion for respite in the matter in 1805 until John Hidgson, surveyor of Ugthorpe and Ralph Mitchell of Kilton could prove that the repairs were being done (North Yorkshire County Record Office QSB 1805 4/9/10, QSB 1806 2/9/9, QSB 1806 3/9/4, QSB 1807 1/9/10). On 6 October 1806 it was noted that the roads at Stanghow and Kilton were said to be in good repair, but could not be certified by two justices until the spring (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1806 4/9/6). On 3 April 1807, after an application had been made to the two justices, they certified that they had been unable to attend for the purpose (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1807 2/13/1).

1806

The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald, 21 Jun 1806, Sat ·Page 3 reported the death of George Thompson of Kilton on 29 May 1806 who had been master of a ship, the Glory, of 98 guns, who had been involved in more than 25 engagements across the world during his life.

C Smith Map of Great Britain, 1806

1807

Old Johnny Farndale died in Kilton on 24 January 1807 and is buried at Old Brotton churchyard.

1808

At a little distance from the village towards the south, on the brink of a natural precipice, washed by a small mountain rivulet, stand the remains of Kilton Castle, the baronial residence of the ancient family of Thwengs; but the edifice is now in so ruinous a state as to render it impossible to form any idea of its former strength and magnificence. From the foundations of the outer walls, it seems to have been in the form of a parallelogram, inaccessible on the east, north, and south, and fortified by a deep fosse or ditch on the west, the only entrance was probably kept by a drawbridge. The situation of the castle is romantic and retired (Graves, History of Cleveland , 1808, pp. 370-372).

1809

We have a snapshot of the tenant farmers in Kilton in 1809. The Skelton and Kilton Terrier in 1809 provided a detailed record of the tenanted farmland in 1809. A terrier is a record of field names, with reference number, land use, acreage, value per acre and rent. The Kilton Terrier included records of the landholdings of William Bennison, George Bennison, William Farndale, Robert Solley, Robert Barker, Ralph Newbiggin, William Stephenson, Ralph Mitchell, John Farndale, and William Wood. The Skelton and Gilling Rent book for 1810 provides further comparative evidence.

The Tenants of Kilton in 1809

Evidence from the Terrier and Rent Books of 1809 and 1810 which provide a snapshot of the tenants of the Kilton part of the estate

William Farndale, the son of old Johnny Farndale, was farming in Kilton in 1809, a tenant of 110 acres. John Farndale his son wrote And now we come to our grandfather’s and father and mother, William and Mary Farndale, and their seven children’s birth place; farmers and merchants of wood, rods, coals, salting bacon; church people. And those premises are held by our youngest brother, held from generation to generation this two hundred years. Springing from this roof may be said to be forty Farndales of this last generation.’ William Farndale pulled down the old Kilton Lodge, connected with the, by then, ruined Kilton Castle, to build the new family home. ‘ connected with the castle is Kilton Lodge which my father pulled down to build a new house.’ The original farmstead of Stank House was built of the stone of Kilton Castle. In the east wall of the outbuildings is a large carved stone which would appear to have once born a coat of arms, now completely obliterated. (Farndale, John. 1870. The History of Kilton With a Sketch of the Neighbouring Villages By the Returned Emigrant. Middlesborugh: Burnett and Hood).

Yet another John Farndale was a also tenant in Kilton in 1809.

William Farndale Farmer of Kilton and a merchant of wood, rods, coals, salting bacon; a churchgoer

John Farndale 24 March 1750 to 23 October 1828

1810

Mary Farndale of Kilton, the widow of William Farndale (1727 to 1777) lived to the age of 98 and was recorded in Bailey’s Records of Longevity in 1857. (Bailey, Thomas. 1857. Records of longevity : with an introductory discourse on vital statistics. Page 160).

1811

Population of Kilton in 1811, 101 (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 271).

In 1811 Jane Wood, aged 100 and Dorothy Page, aged 106, both died at Kilton, leaving their 80 year old servant (Hull Advertiser, 29 June 1811). This was a village of long lasting folk.

The case of Mary Richardson of Kilton was heard in the Christmas Quarter Sessions in 1811 (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1811 1/8).

North Riding

The Information of Mary Richardson, taken in the said Riding and taken before me John Stanly Esquire one of His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the said Riding this 7th day of November 1786.

Who saith that she lives as a servant in Husbandry with Mr. Matthew Young of Kilton in the said Riding aforesaid. That on Saturday evening last she was milking in a parlour belonging to the said Matthew Young adjoining the highway leading from Brotton in the said Riding to Kilton aforesaid. That on going out of the said field in the said Highway near the gate he forced a small parcel lying on the turnpike. That he carried the same to her Mistress’ house, the said Matthew Young’s wife who opened the same but in their it for making presence and it contained a piece of Cotton. That her Mistress was then not well and when they were milking that her Mistress bid her to put it home which she did and tied it on the table and after that denied that this information. That this morning their Mistress informed her she was gone to Guisborough and to bring the Cotton.

A Bond of Indemnity of £100 was paid by William Barker, Kilton, yeoman, and Robert Barker, his father, yeoman to Thomas Pulman and Benjamin Taylor churchwardens and Thomas Hudson and Thomas Atkinson overseers the poor of Guisbrough to maintain ‘bastard’ child or children of Mary Andrew, late of Lofthouse (The National Archives PR/GU/1/7/49 held at Teesside Archives).

1812

R Wilkinson, The British Isles, 1812

The wife of Alderman Wormald of York died, aged 56, at Kilton in 1812 (Hull Advertiser, 31 October 1812).

1815

In 1815, by then aged 24, the author, John Farndale was celebrating the victory at Waterloo in Brotton where he led the singing as they burned an effigy of Napoleon. From Kilton How Hill we have a fine view of the German ocean, Skinningrove, Saltburn, Huntcliff, Roe-cliff, Eston Nab, Roseberry Topping, Handle Abbey and Danby beacon. Here, too, at not much distance from each other, may be seen no fewer than five beacons, formerly provided with barrels of tar to give the necessary alarm to the people if Buonaparte at that period had dared to invade our peaceful shores. After the great battle of Waterloo, and Buonaparte had been taken prisoner, that glorious event was celebrated at Brotton by parading his effigy through the street and burning it before Mr R Stephenson’s hall, amidst the rejoicings of high and low, rich and poor, who drank and danced to the late hour. The author formed one of a band of musicians that played on the occasion, and he composed a song commemorating the event, which became very popular in that part of the country. Brotton never before or since saw the like of that memorable day.

I am grateful to Dr Tony Nicholson who has explained that the hall was built by the Stephenson family in the 1780s after they had made a fortune as woodmongers, trading in timber as a fuel source, and then when timber became scarce, in coal. With the money from this trade, Robert bought a third of the manor of Brotton, and then built ‘Stephenson’s Hall’.

Regarding John Farndale’s account of the wild celebrations at Brotton after the battle of Waterloo, Tony elaborated that the old gentleman, Robert Stevenson, provided barrels of ale and a band of musicians, headed by John Farndale, who then sang and danced till dawn.

The church has been greatly improved, new slated roof and a most radical change in the interior; the old pews and pulpit are all gone, and from the walls Our Fathers’ prayer; the Belief; the ten commandments, in the xx chapter of Exodus, saying “I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; thou shalt have none other gods before me.” Had I not seen those well known tablets of young Squire Easterby, of Skinngrove Hall, and Wm Tulley , Esy of Kilton Hall, on beautiful white marble, I should have been at a loss to have known the old church again. I looked at the place where the old pulpit stood, and I remembered the ministers that once preached Jesus and the resurrection, among them my old master, the Rev Wm Barrick, of Lofthouse, - he would descend from the pulpit and join in the chorus of some twenty voices, 57 years gone, when I had the happiness to be their chieftain. The parishioners had … most gladly … and paraded down the mid street at the celebration of the great battle of Waterloo, and burned before Mr Stephenson’s Hall, when barrels of ale were given to the frantic multitudes, and the old gentlemen danced and sang until day break, and here we find young Farndale, once dangling at the mouth of the well, with his bugle and clarionet, the chief musician to the old gentleman, and who had also composed the following lines for the occasion

His poem to the celebration of Waterloo went as follows:

Hail! Ye victorious heroes, England’s dauntless saviours, ye Who on the plains of Waterloo, Won that glorious victory.

It was a day the world may say, When Napoleon boldly stood, Upon the plains of the Waterloo, There flowed rivulets of blood.

Before the foe he bravely fought, And when he’d all but won the day, Would it were night, or Blucher up, Our hero Wellington did say.

But now behold in effigy, Him to whom kings such homage paid, Napoleon mounted on a mule As though he were on grand parade, Behold with joy all England sings, Brotton too is up and gay, The band, the flag, the ball, the dance Ne’er ceased till the break of day.

(Farndale, John. 1870. The History of Kilton With a Sketch of the Neighbouring Villages By the Returned Emigrant. Middlesborugh: Burnett and Hood).

There was a warning against trespass after man traps were laid at Kilton in 1815 (York Herald, 21 January 1815).

1817

The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald, 22 Nov 1817, Page 3 reported that the Roxby and Cleveland Foxhounds were to meet at Kilton Mill Monday 24 November 1817. There were many similar notices over the following years. The Roxby and Cleveland Hounds were formed by the notorious smuggler, John Andrew of the White House at Saltburn. There was a similar notice in York Herald, 13 November 1819.

At a coroner’s inquest held at Kilton on 9 September 1817, it was concluded that Arthur Beadle had died by the visitation of God (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1818 2/16/2).

1818

There was a sale at Skelton Castle to raise funds in 1818. John Wharton was beginning to find himself impecunious.

1821

According to Ord, Kilton’s population was 100 in 1821. Population of Kilton in 1821, 100. (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 271).

1822

The Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire by Thomas Langdale of 1822 described Kilton, in the parish of Skelton, east division of the wapentake and liberty of Langbaraugh, 7 miles from Guisbrough, 15 from Stokesley, 16 from Whitby, population 129. Kilton Thorpe was also listed with the same description, but no population was given.

On 2 April 1822, witness evidence was given by John Newbegin of Kilton, a yeoman and James Cushner a wheelwright of Skelton against a maintenance order for the ‘bastard’ son of Dinah Walton of Kilton, a single-woman of Kilton who had been born on 25 January 1822 (North Yorkshire County Record Office QSB 1822 2/7/17).

1823

The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald 22 Nov 1823, Sat, Page 1 reported that man traps and spring guns had been set in the woods, plantations and pleasure grounds of John Wharton Esq at Skelton, Kilton, Brotton and Great Moorsholm to stop trespassers.

1824

The rateable returns for Kilton are held by North Yorkshire County Record Office QFR(V) 8/16.

There was a motion to respite an order made in a case between the churchwardens and overseers of Kilton (appellants) and the churchwardens and overseers of Whitby (respondents) on 13 July 1824 (North Yorkshire Records Office QSB 1824 3/9/14).

On 13 April 1824, there was a removal order from Whitby to the township of Kilton concerning Richard Sweeting (the illegitimate child of Jane Sweeting), his wife Abigail and their children Richard aged 6, Jane aged 4 and John aged 25 days since Richard Sweeting had not gained any legal settlement to remain in Whitby, but the order was suspended since Abigail was ill (North Yorkshire County Record Office, QSB 1824 3/11/11).

1825

The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald 11 Jun 1825, Sat, Page 3 gave notice of the diversion of a part of the highway at Skinningrove and Kilton leading from the market town of Guisborough to Lofthouse, of a length of 344 yards and 15 feet in breadth, and for making a new highway more commodious to the Public to replace that section from a lane at Kilton and Lofthouse and extending south east and north east through and over the lands of John Wharton Esq and John Maynard.

1827

John Wharton ran up large debts and on 6 December 1827, he was confined in Fleet Debtors Prison, London

1831

Ord recorded Kilton’s population in 1831 at 80. Population of Kilton in 1831, 80. (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 271).

1833

There were general elections in 1832 and 1835. The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald 14 Sep 1833, Sat ·Page 1 gave notice that the three gentleman appointed to revise the list of voters for the North Riding of the County of York would come to Guisborough on 11 October 1833 in order to revise the list of voters for a number of towns including Kilton and Brotton.

1835

Consolidation of the estate

By 1845 the village was in decay. There was no indication of the post mill and new sets of buildings had begun to develop to the east of the road. The tithe map of 1845 showed the estate village in decay and it is obvious that the reorganised landscape was not being sustained. The eighteenth century nucleation had not taken root and by the early nineteenth century its failure was followed by the consolidation of the estate. The township reverted to a dispersed pattern of individual farmsteads. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 33). The lodge had disappeared as had the buildings at the earthworks at Stank House and two of the farms within the western arm of the township. Land use by 1845 was predominantly arable, as it had been in the medieval period, but there seems to have been more pasture then at the height of medieval cultivation.

The Yorkshire Herald and the York Herald 5 Sep 1835, Page 1 gave notice that a Commissioner had been appointed to execute An Act of for Inclosing Lands in the Manor of Skelton, in Cleveland, in the County of York and in doing so the Kilton Road was to be divided and enclosed. The Act of 1813 was passed for the enclosing of the lands of the manor of Skelton and the Commissioner was appointed to make inquiries and examine witness living within the manor boundaries.

Victorian and Industrial Kilton

In the nineteenth century, the opening of the Kilton and Lumpsey ironstone mines, and the arrival of the railway into the township, had a major impact on the landscape.

The Kilton John Farndale knew and loved had changed beyond belief. Several of the very old and larger states were less crowded than they had been; where a better cultivation had taken place, the small cottages had given way gradually to shape a farm worthy of the person having such money to improve it. A lot of the field structures and hedges were still in place, only some of the hedges had been taken out to make bigger fields. The hedge structure at Kilton was probably there 50 years before John Farndale was born. In one instance a hedge appears to have been put in to divide a field. Some of the reasons for the demise of Kilton were the industrial revolution, which was the need to centralise craftsmen from the small villages, a revolution in farming methods and farming machinery, a wholesale destruction of the village for the town. The Napoleonic Wars had an influence on the price of farm produce, the price of food was kept at a fairly high level during the war but after the war finished the price of grain fell to one of its lowest levels along with falling meat prices, and disastrous harvests. Farming methods were needed to get the harvest in quicker. This finally led the landlord to enlarge the farms and bring in a farmer with money to modernise the farm. The mechanisation of farming policies on the one hand and the progressive quantity of urban factories on the other, combined to drastically alter that rural life. Taking into consideration also the turnpike roads, the invention of the railway and the canal networks it is obvious that economic and technological forces were bringing far reaching changes. During the period when enclosure was in progress, "the revolution in agricultural methods", there was moderately steady process of new village creation, a considerable upsurge within the 18th century. Enclosure or amalgamation of the Kilton village farms, probably happened in the late 1860s, thus was the complete destruction of the village. Kilton became a victim not only of the "Monstre farm" but also of the Industrial Revolution. (Impact of Agricultural Change on the Rural Community - a case study of Kilton circa 1770-1870, Janet Dowey).

John Farndale bid a sad farewell to the old Kilton.

And now dear Farndale, the best of friends must part,

I bid you and your little Kilton along and final farewell.

Time was to all our precious boon,

Time is passing away so soon,

Time knows more about his vast eternity,

World without end oceans without shore.

John Farndale. 1870

However he had a quiet respect for the innovation and new opportunities.

Now much has changed, we oft times have looked and looked again, but no corner of this large farm has been neglected. Witness, this rich stack yard of 100 acres of wheat, the staff of life, and 100 more, oats, beans, peas, hay, clover, potatoes and turnips piled up against the winter storms. In the fold are housed 100 head of sheep, a stable with 14 farming horses, besides the young horses, pigs and geese in abundance, carts, wagons, ploughs and harrows and all implements.

1839

The Yorkshire Gazette, 2 November 1839 reported that Hannah Mitchell of Kilton won a sovereign for the best cheese made out of the district at the Whitby Cheese Fair.

The inhabitants of Great Moorsholm were indicted for failing to repair the highway between Great Moorsholm and the corner of Kilton Low road, extending to Kilton township (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1839 2/6/26).

1840

Kilton, a small neat village, 6 miles NE by E of Guisborough, has in its township 80 inhabitants and 1,510 acres of land, all the property and lordship of John Wharton Esq and formerly belonging to the ancient family of Thweng, who had a castle here, of which some traces still remain. Directory: Jph Newbegin, vict; Thos Robson, miller; and Matthew and Martin Farndale, George Jennings, George Moore, Thomas Raw & Joseph Thompson, farmers. (White’s History, Gazetteer and Directory for 1840 for Yorkshire, East and West Ridings). By 1840, Martin Farndale and at that stage his brother Matthew Farndale who would later emigrated to Australia were predominant farmers of Kilton.

The inhabitants of the North Riding of Yorkshire were indicted for failing to repair Kilton Mill Bridge, which had been in disrepair since 1 January 1840 (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1840 2/6/3, 2/13 and 3/13). There was a report by the Bridge-Master on 20 October 1857 (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1857 4/14/4).

1841

Kilton had a population of 86. Population of Kilton in 1841, 86; acres, 1510; rental, £1,922. (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 271).

The Hours family lived at Buckrush Farm, the Farndales at Stank House, the Davisons at Green Hill Farm, the Thompsons at Kilton Thorpe and William Lofthouse at Lumpsey (1841 Census).

1843

John Thomas Wharton

John Wharton died and the Skelton and Kilton estates passed to his nephew, John Thomas Wharton.

John Thomas Wharton

1844

Skelton Enclosure Map 1844 (North Yorkshire County Records Office Guide No 3, Maps and Plans available for consultation, QDD(D) S, MIC 1579).

The 1844 tithe map and census revealed a sparse population of around 80-90 residents, primarily engaged in farming (Tithe Map & apportionment for Kilton, The National Archives Reference PR/BRP/9/1, held at Teesside Archives).

Kilton Tithe Map 1844

The tenant farmers and population of Kilton in 1844

The Tithe Map of 1845 shows the estate village in decay and it is obvious that the re-organised landscape was not being sustained. The Lodge had disappeared as had the building at the earthworks at Stank House and two of the farms within the western arm of the township. The township was reverting to an intensity of settlement very similar to that evidenced in the medieval period. The Tithe Map also provides a picture of land use, showing which settlements were farming which areas of land. Land use in 1845 was predominatly arable, but there seems to have been more pasture than at the height of medieval cultivation. The information about the land farmed from each unit is useful in confirming those areas which fell within the remit of Greenhills, Buck Rush and Stank House. Those defined in 1845 were probably little different from the medieval. The same would apply to Lumpsey, if it is indeed a medieval farmnstead. Kilton and Kiltoin Thorpe are more problematical, their combined areas may be the same as the medieval but the boundary between the two runs along the post-medieval road from Brotton to Kilton Thorpe. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 55).

1845

Skelton Enclosure Map 1845 (Skelton and Gilling Estate Office Records)

The mill complex changed little by 1845, but by 1856 it had grown with the addition of a courtyard farm. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 55).

1846

In 1846, in the village is a small inn, on which it is inscribed the wretched doggrel: “Joseph Newbegun, And by a licence he trusts he shall, Cheer all your hearts with the very best Yall”. Notwithstanding the boast of the Kilton scribe, his ale proved if possible still worse than his rhymes. (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 271).

In 1846, Ord also wrote of the ruined Kilton Castle. Standing among the tottering fragments, we gazed upon a vast forest expanse, embrowned with the sombre hues of declining autumn, which fitly harmonised with the calm magnificence of the scene: at our feet rolled the rapid mountain-torrent along a deep, rocky channel; the perpendicular declivities frowning gloomily beneath, were rendered impervious with nettles, brambles, moss-grown crab-trees, and prickly furze; whilst at the further boundary of the wood, Freeburgh's conical mount soared in solitary majesty, like some guardian monarch of the woods and vales. Near at hand, nestling in its sylvan nook, was the pretty village of Skinningrave, looking on the sea; Lofthouse was perched aloft before us, with its rural hunting-box in the woods, and graceful poplars dividing the hedge-rows; and, far as the eye could reach, stretched mountain and moorland, forest and vale; such as minstrel's eye might of old love to contemplate from turret and tower of the now mouldering pile. (Ord, John Walker. 1846. History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall. Page 268 to 270).

The rateable returns for Kilton are held by North Yorkshire County Record Office QFR(V) 27/8.

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Lady Day and 30 June 1846:

1851

In 1851, Kilton had a population of 83. Martin Farndale farmed at Kilton Hall.

(1851 Census)

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of drainage costs (for which the landlord would have been responsible for reimbursement) between 1851 and 1854 which included the interests of Martin Farndale, James Garbutt, James Taylor, John Porritt and William Wood, who were tenant farmners at that time.

1853

Kilton 1853 showing Kilton, Lumpsey (top left) and Buck Rush (bottom centre)

A series of summary convictions were recorded from 1853.

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
27 September 1853	Richard Child of Kilton, miller	On 5 September 1853, having a one-stone weight and a two-stone weight in his mill that were not according to the standard of the Exchequer	Guisborough	QSB 1853 4/10/9/27

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of payment to John Walton for blacksmith works in 1852 in the sum of 3s 6d and Mrs Garland for work in 1852 in the sum of £2 4s 9d, both relative to Kilton Hall Farm.

1856

An 1856 map showed the decline of Kilton was continuing. A courtyard farm under development in the north row and the present kilton Hall Farm had been built to the South of the village, probably indicating the absence of the landowner and the establishment of a substantial tenant farm.

Little change seems to have taken place between 1845 and 1856, the decay of the estate village continued but the only significant occurrence seems to have been the development of courtyard farms. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 55).

Following the failure of the re-organisation of the landscape in the 18^th century a consolidation took place in the 19^th century, perhaps between 1870 and 1893, and certainly between 1856 and 1893. The attempt to foster a village at Kilton was abandoned and a single, if substantial, farm was established. The financing of these measures may well have been derived from the ironstone mines, but there is little else to indicate the impact of industrialisation on the landscape. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 55).

The 1856 Map of Kilton, surveyed in 1853:

There is a copy of the 1856 edition Ordnance Survey map which includes Kilton showing the position of boreholes (The National Archives U.SG/8/1 held at Teesside Archives).

1857

In a Report by the Bridgemaster on 20 October 1857 (North Yorkshire County Records Reference QSB 1857 4/14/4), he reported that I halted at Kilton Mill Bridge on the road to Skinnigrove, no damage had been done to the foundations of this Bridge, but the old cracks in the arch had opened.

1858

There is a bundle of leases and corresspondence between 1858 to 1891 relating to J T Wharton relating to various mining interests (The National Artchives BS/BB/4/1/57 held at Teesside Archives).

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of ironstone worked in 1858.

1860

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
24 December 1860	Henry Wilson of Loftus, labourer; Matthew Johnson of Lofts, labourer; Frank Marley of Loftus, labourer; George Agar of Loftus, labourer	On 9 December 1860 for taking a salmon from Kilton Beck belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire of Skelton Castle and the Earl of Zetland	Guisborough	QSB 1861 2/10/9/4 to 7

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Lady Day 1860:

1861

Ordnance Survey First Series, 1861

By 1861, William’s son, Martin Farndale was a farmer of 210 acres with 8 employees at Kilton Hall Farm.

Martin Farndale

11 August 1798 to 22 June 1885

A Farmer of 600 acres

The population of Kilton was grew slightly to 93, mainly due to expanding families.

(1861 Census)

A certain Mr Jolly had been wonderfully blessed by hearing John Wesley preach and conduct worship … .he asked Mr Wesley to come to Little Kilton and preach there. To a man like Mr Jolly this did not seem an exceptional or unreasonable request. Had he not been to Scarborough, Whitby, Stokesley and even Guisborough, his umbrella is still at Guisborough as a treasured relic of his visit there, then why not Kilton? But Wesley, busy man as he was, one only has to read his journal to realise how busy, found this impossible. Not to disappoint the enthusiastic Mr Jolly, one of the helpers in the Wesley team was detailed to come. So the first Methodist service in this area was conducted in the kitchen of Kilton Hall, the actual date being uncertain. The spacious kitchen of Kilton Hall became a hallowed place and many who attended the ervices were blessed and helped, and entered into a new Christian experience. Luike My Jolly they wanted others to share in this new found life and so decided that a more permanent place should be sought,. A little cottage in the mining village of Brotton was acquired for the purpose and was certified for worship on 18 January 1861. The cottage still stands, a stone’s throw away and almost opposite the present chapel. (Wainwright, Greta (1966), Brotton Methodist Church, 1866 to 1966).

1862

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
25 November 1862	Joseph Robinson of Brotton, labourer	On 11 November 1862 for stealing hazel sticks value 1s from a wood belonging to and occupied by John Thomas Wharton of Skelton esquire in Kilton; with costs paid to Francis Walkington of Skelton police constable	Guisborough	QSB 1863 1/10/10/21

1865

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
6 June 1865	John Burke of Kilton, labourer	On 23 May 1865 for being drunk and riotous in the street in Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1865 4/10/8/17
11 July 1865	James Mullen	On 23 June 1865 for stealing a dog, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1865 4/10/8/35

Various leases and supplemental leases relating to the Wharton’s ironstone royalties by Bolcklow Vaughan Co Ltd between 1865 to 1925 relate to Kilton mine (The National Archives BS/BV/5/1/6 held by Teesside Archives) .

1866

Formerly a township in the parish of Brotton, Kilton became a separate civil parish, the ecclesiastical parish of Kilton, in 1866 (A Vision of Britain, Kilton Parish, Formal Status; F. Youngs. 1991. Local Administrative Units: Northern England. London: Royal Historical Society).

The new Wesleyan Chapel at Brotton was opened on 25 May 1866 by Reverend JH Beech, Chairman of the District. The Kilton Society now held a preaching service quarterly, and for all other services came to Brotton. The Farndale family, occupants of Kilton Hall, walked the distance regularly, rain, snow or shine. (Wainwright, Greta (1966), Brotton Methodist Church, 1866 to 1966).

On 14 June 1866 Thomas Wood, farmer of Kilton, was summoned to appear on a jury on the Traverse Jury in the Midsummer sessions in 1866 (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1866 3/1/80).

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
1 May 1866	James Clough and Isaac Allan of Brotton, miners	On 21 April 1866 or trespassing in the daytime in search or pursuit of game on the land of John Thomas Wharton esquire occupied by John Porritt in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1866 3/10/7/36 and 37
16 June 1866	William Ford, late of Leeds, hawker	On 14 June 1866 for assaulting William Judson of Skelton farmer in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1866 4/10/8/3
7 August 1866	John Porritt, farmer of Kilton	On 7 August 1866 for maliciously damaging a gate post, the property of Robert Etty	Guisborough	QSB 1866 4/10/8/60

1867

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
19 November 1867	John Charlton of Brotton, blacksmith	On 19 November 1867 for catching three salmon in Kilton Beck during the close season	Guisborough	QSB 1868 1/10/8/23 and 26

1868

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
3 November 1868	Robert Garbutt of Skelton, miner	On 28 October 1868 for trespassing in the daytime in search or pursuit of game on land belonging to and occupied by John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1869 1/10/8/29
22 December 1868	George Shimmings of Brotton, miner	On 15 December 1868 for trespassing in search or pursuit of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Thomas Hall in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1869 2/10/8/7

1869

Martin Farndale had been summoned for permitting eleven heifers to stray on the highway, in the township of Kilton, but he claimed to have a right of 28 years standing, the case was dismissed, the bench having no jurisdiction. (York Herald’s Report of Petty Sessions on 6 November 1869).

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
20 April 1869	George Robinson of Brotton, labourer	On 9 April 1869 for trespassing in search or pursuit of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Thomas Hall in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1869 3/10/7/19
8 June 1869	Robert Melvin of Kilton, labourer	On 29 May 1869 for being drunk and riotous in the street in Loftus	Guisborough	QSB 1869 3/10/7/47
27 July 1869	James Hall of Brotton, miner and William Hinson of Brotton, blacksmith	On 24 July 1869 for assaulting John Porritt of Kilton farmer in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1869 4/10/9/70 and 71

1870

Kilton developed as a township tied to feudal land tenure, with its manor once belonging to T. Wharton, Esq, and real property valued at £1,787 in the 1870s, when the population stood at 93 residents across 13 houses.

There were further farm amalgamations between 1870 and 1893 demolishing the remnants of the eighteenth century estate village to make way for brick farm buildings (Kilton: A Survey of a Moorland Fringe Township by Robin Daniels, 1990).

Kilton, a township in Brotton parish, N. R. Yorkshire; 6 miles NE of Guisbrough. Acres, 1,643. Real property, £1,787. Population, 93. Houses, 13. The manor belongs to T. Wharton, Esq. A castle was built here, in the time of King Stephen, by Robert de Bruce; passed to the Thwengs; and is now an extensive ruin, amid fine woods (John Marius Wilson. 1870. Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, Volume 3, page 1102).

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
21 June 1870	Thomas Brown	On 18 June 1870 for trespassing in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1870 3/10/7/133
13 September 1870	Joseph Henderson of Kilton, miner	On 1 September 1870 for being quarrelsome and disorderly in Moorsholm on the licensed premises of Thomas Johnson of Moorsholm and refusing to leave when asked by the said Thomas Johnson	Guisborough	QSB 1870 4/10/8/91
4 October 1870	Thomas Davidson and James Wright of Brotton, miners	On 25 September 1870 for maliciously damaging trees and underwood growing in a plantation belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1870 4/10/8/119 and 120
25 October 1870	Samuel White of Liverton, William Garnall, Thomas Whaite, William and John Robinson of Brotton, miners	On 16 October 1870 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to and occupied by John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1871 2/10/8/1 to 6

Plan and section of proposed railway to Kilton Ironstone New Winning in 1870 (The National Archives U.SG/8/6, U.SG/8/7 held at Teesside Archives).

1871

The first mine in Cleveland had opened in Skinningrove on 7 August 1848. The mining of ironstone at scale in Cleveland followed the discovery two years later of the Main Seam at Eston by John Vaughan and John Marley. Underground mining started shortly afterwards. An iron rush led to some forty mines being established within two decades, supplying about a third of Britain's iron by the 1870s. Over half a million tons of ironstone was raised annually by the mid-1850s. Early mining relied on the labour-intensive pillar and stall method using picks and blasting powder. The boom caused a mass population influx, with workers arriving from across Britain and Ireland to live in purpose-built pit villages like California at Great Ayton, Skinningrove, and Eston. It was inevitable that the indigenous rural population, including at Kilton, would see an influx of mine workers and some would be drawn to the mines themselves for work.

Kilton mine began operating in 1871 after sinking two 700-foot shafts and continued, intermittently until 1963. A mine also opened on Craggs hill in 1871 and at adjacent Carlin How in 1873. Craggs operated until 1893 and Carlin How, which came to be called Duck Hole because of the wet working conditions, until 1924.

There is a Plan showing land given up to Kilton Ironstone Co by Bell Bros at Kilton (National Archives, U.SG/8/37, held at Teesside Archives).

There are copies of leases dated 7 January 1871 of ironstone from J T Wharton of Skelton Castle to various ironmasters, of ironstone and iron ore in Kilton and Great Moorsholm (National Archives, U.SG/1/2, held at Teesside Archives).

Martin Farndale was still at Kilton Hall Farm, by then a farmer of 600 acres with 16 employees. The population of Kilton was growing, particularly with the arrival of a large number of ironstone miners.

(1871 Census)

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
21 February 1871	Levi Porritt of Kilton, miner	On 6 February 1871 for being the owner of a dog that chased a sheep, the property of Anthony Lax Maynard esquire, causing two-poundsworth of damage in Skinningrove	Guisborough	QSB 1871 2/10/8/62
4 July 1871	William Whitfield and John Topkins of Brotton, miners	On 24 June 1871 for assaulting William Mapson of the township of Kilton, miner, in Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1871 4/10/8/48 to 49
10 October 1871	Charles Lowe of Kilton, deputy	On 7 October 1871 for maliciously damaging the door of the house occupied by John Smith of Kilton deputy	Guisborough	QSB 1872 1/10/8/45

There are Conditions for a lease of Ironstone Royalty in Kilton and Moorsholm June 1870; with terms for proposed lease of land upon the Kilton Estate to the proposed North Cleveland Ironstone Company Ltd relating to their South Loftus Royalty for railway purposes and relating plan. The Conditions are dated 4 March 1871. (The National Archives U.SG/1/1 held at Teesside Archives).

1872

In Kelly’s Post Office Directory of 1872: Kilton is a township, 6 miles north east by eat of Guisborough, and one south from Brotton. Here was formerly a castle of which but few traces remain. Here are church schools, recently erected and supported by John Thomas Wharton esq who is lord of the manor and landowner. The population in 1861 was 93; in 1871, 222; acreage 1,723; gross estimated rental £1,731; rateable value £1,593. Kilton’s commercial activity included Farndale, Martin & Charles, farmers ; Garbutt, John, miller, Kilton Mill; Judson, William, farmer, Stank House; Kilton Iron Stone Co; Porritt, John, farmer, Buckrush; and Wood Thomas, farmer, Greenhow.

John Farndale imagined his return to Kilton after years of absence when he took the well known lane down to Kilton, when at Howe Hill, and seeing a towering chimney above all; what misgivings now trouble his unprepared, peaceful breast. But when he neared his father’s homestead, and no place of it could be found, he moved forward, and looking right and left, he saw some twenty cottages and farmsteads, and behold that beautiful hall and stables that once graced this little town had all disappeared. And he would have enquired had there not been some eruption or some hostile invasion, or had the city not been burnt to ashes, for said he, here are marks of violence and desperation. But “I know nobody no not I, and nobody, nobody here cares for me,” and he lifted up his voice and wept aloud. And he began to examine the book of records, and genealogies of former days, days of his fathers’, and of his youth. (Farndale, John. 1870. The History of Kilton With a Sketch of the Neighbouring Villages By the Returned Emigrant. Middlesborugh: Burnett and Hood).

The picturesque scenery, however, in this neighbourhood still retains its loveliness, and the late John Wharton, Esq., of Skelton Castle, did much to improve its beauty. On every side where there was any waste land he planted it with wood to a great extent, and a large number of larches and oaks then planted, I planted with my own hands. On visiting this place lately, what was my astonishment on perceiving that many of these larches were cut and measured fifty cubic feet, while the oaks were in thriving condition and measured twenty four cubic feet. The site of these plantations is delightful, as they are finely sheltered from the piercing north winds. The scenery of these woodlands, together with the woods of Lady Downs and the Earl of Zetland, appear so truly picturesque from Kilton height that it is utterly impossible for my pen to describe it. Beyond these woodlands rise in view the village of Lofthouse, with the Alum Works, and the seat of the late Sir Robert Dundas. These works are now superintended by William Hunton Esq., an old school fellow of mine. A little further on lies Easington and Boulby Alum Works, conducted by G Westgarth, Esq., a gentleman much respected. Still further, situate on the sea shore, stands the well known fishing village of Staithes, formerly proverbial for the roughness and rudeness of its inhabitants. Though rough, however, they were then as they are now a hardy, kind, and hospitable people, who obtain a living by braving the perils of the great deep. Poor Thrattles, once reckoned the King of Staithes, and who was a good fellow, is now no more, and the place is much changed since bis days. But the reader, perhaps may not care about lingering at Staithes, so we shall take our stand again on Kilton How Hill, from whence may be seen the most delightful scenery in the district. (A Guide to Saltburn by the Sea and the Surrounding District, With remarks on its picturesque scenery, Fifth Edition, Dedicated to John Thomas Wharton Esq of Skelton, By John Farndale. Late of Skelton Castle Farm, Darlington, Printed by Charles W Hird, 1864).

In 1872, Martin Farndale was involved in setting up a new Urban Sanitary District for the Guisborough Union area (Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough, 16 October 1872).

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
23 January 1872	Henry Turner of Middlesbrough, labourer	On 18 January 1872 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1872 2/10/9/52
20 August 1872	Watson Whittaker of Kilton, engine driver and William Whittaker of Eston, fireman	On 8 August 1872 for maliciously damaging trees growing in a plantation belonging to and occupied by John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1872 4/10/7/119 to 120
24 September 1872	George Thorpe and John William Dearden	On 21 September 1872 for assaulting Elizabeth Johnson of Kilton singlewoman in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1873 1/10/9/29 and 30
1 October 1872	George Bishop, Robert and Joseph Peacock and Philip Richards of Carlin How, drivers; Ursula Richards and Helen Richards of Brotton; John Atterton, George Wicks and John Hansford of Liverton, miners; Elizabeth Atkinson, Esther Charlton of Loftus	On 16 September 1872 for maliciously damaging trees growing in a plantation, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1873 1/10/9/38 to 61
3 December 1872	Edward Annis of Kilton, miner	On 28 October 1872 for trespassing on the Cleveland Railway, having been warned not to do so by one of the servants of the North Eastern Railway Company in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1873 1/10/9/175
10 December 1872	Edward Reed of Kilton, labourer	On 8 December 1872 for being drunk and riotous in the street in Brotton and for assaulting Richard Jones, a labourer of Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1873 2/10/6/19 and 35

There was a conveyance of a site for Kilton Thorpe National School by John Thomas Wharton in 1872 (The National Archives PR/BRP/7/1, held at Teesside Archives).

1873

Contemporaneous with the global Long Depression, Britain's agricultural depression was caused by the dramatic fall in grain prices that followed the opening up of the American prairies to cultivation in the 1870s and the advent of cheap transportation with the rise of steamships. British agriculture did not recover from this depression until after the Second World War. In 1882 Charles George Milnes Gaskell wrote that the vast increase in the carrying power of ships, the facilities of intercourse with foreign countries, [and] the further cheapening of cereals and meat meant that economically and politically the old landed class were no longer lords of the earth. The depression also accelerated Britain's rural depopulation. The 1881 census showed a decline of 92,250 agricultural labourers since 1871, with an increase of 53,496 urban labourers. Many of these had previously been farm workers who migrated to the cities to find employment. Between 1871 and 1901 the population of England and Wales increased by 43% but the proportion of male agricultural labourers decreased by over one-third. According to Sir James Caird in his evidence to the Royal Commission on the Depression in Trade and Industry in 1886, the annual income of landlords, tenants and labourers had fallen by £43M since 1876. No other country witnessed such a social transformation and British policy contrasted with those adopted on the Continent. Every wheat-growing country imposed tariffs in the wake of the explosion of American prairie wheat except Britain and Belgium. Subsequently, Britain became the most industrialised major country with the smallest proportion of its resources devoted to agriculture.

From this point we find extensive records of Martin Farndale being involved in criminal proceedings against poachers, trespassers and damage causers on his land. Since this was a time of depression, we might have some sympathy with those who were acting out of desperation and remember Martin’s ancestors, who had been fined, outlawed and excommunicated, around Pickering Forest, for poaching in the King’s forest. On the other hand, we must recognise the difficulty for farmers in protecting their livelihood. What we can conclude is that these were difficult time, as from this point, we start to see large numbers of cases brought by Martin the criminal courts to protect his livelihood.

There was a ploughing and hedge-cutting competition on Martin Farndale’s land at Kilton in 1873 (The Whitby Gazette, on 18 January 1873).

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
3 June 1873	William Jones of Skinningrove, miner	On 11 May 1873 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Martin Farndale	Guisborough	QSB 1873 3/10/7/164
10 June 1873	John Wilson of Kilton, engine driver and Thomas Roberts of Kilton, miner	On 27 May 1873 for trespassing in search of game on land belonging to Viscount Downe and occupied by Daniel Walker in Liverton	Guisborough	QSB 1873 3/10/7/172 and 173
22 July 1873	Isaac and David Himpey, labourers and John Atkinson, quarryman all of Boosbeck	On 13 July 1873 for trespassing in the daytime in search or pursuit of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by John Porritt in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1873 4/10/7/62 to 66
9 September 1873	Robert Johnson of Brotton and William Green, John Bowler, George Waite of Carlin How, all miners	On 27 August 1873 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Martin Farndale	Guisborough	QSB 1874 1/10/7/43 to 51
4 November 1873	John Taylor, joiner of Brotton	At 12 o’clock midnight on 3 November 1873 for taking a rabbit in a close of land occupied by Martin Farndale	Kilton	QSB 1874 1/10/7/118
15 November 1873	Samuel Kirk of Kilton, miner	On 21 October 1873 for wilfully obstructing Francis Baker of the township of Ingleby Greenhow in the execution of his duty as station master of the North Eastern Railway Company at Ingleby Greenhow	Stokesley	QSB 1874 1/10/9/18
16 December 1873	Joseph Carter and William Adams of Carlin How, miners	On 10 December 1873 for trespassing in the daytime in search or pursuit of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Martin Farndale	Guisborough	QSB 1874 2/10/6/13 and 22

There are various notes on leases including relative to Kilton and Lumpsey mines between 1873 and 1926 (The National Archives U.SG/1/3 held at Teesside Archives).

There was correspondence in 1873 between H French of Middlesbrough and E B Hamilton of Saltburn-by-the-Sea regarding the transport of slag from Newport to Kilton and Stanghow mines (The National Archives U.SG/9/4 held at Teesside Archives).

1874

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
13 January 1874	Richard Craze of Kilton, miner	On 28 December 1873 for assaulting Alfred Bentley of the township of Kilton platelayer in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 2/10/6/63
13 January 1874	John Hedley of Kilton, engineman	On 6 January 1874 for assaulting Isaac Hopper of the township of Kilton engineman in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 2/10/6/66
17 February 1874	James Gallagha of Liverton, labourer	On 8 February 1874 for trespassing in the daytime in search or pursuit of game on land belonging to and occupied by John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 2/10/6/121
17 February 1874	Thomas Burgess of Carlin How	On 14 February 1874 for maliciously damaging the fence of a field occupied by Martin Farndale in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 3/10/5/18
24 March 1874	Joseph Playford of Lumpsey, labourer	On 14 March 1874 for being drunk and riotous in the street at Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 3/10/5/48
14 and 21 April 1874	James Ford, John Hawkey and George Payne of Lingdale Lane, navvies	On 29 March 1874 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by William Judson in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 3/10/5/86 and 87 and 109
5 May 1874	John Hicks of Kilton, miner	On 14 April 1874 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Thomas Hall in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 3/10/5/149
9 June 1874	William Green of Liverton, miner; William Jeffrey and William Waters, sinkers of Stanghow; and William Kates of Lumpsey	On 1 June 1874 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by John Garbutt in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 3/10/5/211 to 236
2 June 1874	Thomas Bennett of Kilton, driver; Luke and Thomas Stafford of Lumpsey, also drivers	On 28 May 1874 for maliciously damaging trees growing in a wood belonging to William Hodgson Barrow esquire in Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 4/10/6/10 to 12
9 June 1874	John Hicks the Younger, William Jones, Joseph Williams and Arthur Holmes	On 21 April 1874 for keeping two dogs while only having a licence for one or one dog without a licence; on the information of John Edgar officer of excise; all at Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 4/10/6/17 to 21
7 July 1874	William Freeman of Kilton, sinker	On 26 June 1874 for being drunk in the street in Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 4/10/6/59
21 July 1874	William Hedger of Kilton, labourer	On 20 July 1874 for being drunk and riotous in the street in Skinningrove	Guisborough	QSB 1874 4/10/6/84
22 September 1874	Joseph Playforth of Kilton, miner	On 13 September 1874 for being drunk in the street in Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1874 4/10/6/162
19 May 1874	William Jones of Skinningrove, miner	On 13 May 1874 for trespassing in the daytime in search or pursuit of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Martin Farndale	Guisborough	QSB 1875 1/10/7/20
28 July 1874	Ann Henderson of Kilton, wife of Edward Henderson	On 22 July 1874 for being drunk in the street at Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1875 1/10/7/86
15 September 1874	George Moore and William Clarke of Skinningrove, miners	On 13 September 1874 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Mr Martin Farndale in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1875 1/10/7/135 and 136
29 September 1874	Thomas Stanway of Boosbeck, miner	On 29 September 1874 for stealing apples from the orchard belonging to Mr Martin Farndale in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1875 1/10/7/153
3 November 1874	Thomas Stafford of Kilton	On 2 November 1874 for being drunk in the street in Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1875 1/10/7/236
10 November 1874	Thomas Pettitt of Kilton, sinker	On 8 November 1874 for assaulting John Porritt of the township of Kilton farmer in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1875 1/10/7/269
24 November 1874	John Porritt of Kilton, farmer	On 16 November 1874 for being drunk and riotous in the street in Carlin How	Guisborough	QSB 1875 1/10/7/307
15 December 1874	Rebecca Fletcher of Kilton, wife of Edward Fletcher of Kilton, hind	On 11 December 1874 for assaulting Isabella, wife of James Bell of the township of Kilton, hind	Guisborough	QSB 1875 2/10/7/24
15 December 1874	Edward Fletcher of Kilton, hind	On 11 December 1874 for assaulting James Bell of the township of Kilton hind	Guisborough	QSB 1875 2/10/7/26
22 December 1874	Charles and Thomas Stafford of Kilton, miners and Samuel Emmett of Kilton, sinker	On 14 December 1874 for being drunk or drunk and riotous in the street in Brotton, Thomas at the Royal Hotel licensed to Ann Glover	Guisborough	QSB 1875 2/10/7/37, 47 and 53
29 December 1874	Robert Gurd of Kilton, bricklayer	On 18 December 1874 for being drunk in the street in Brotton	Guisborough	QSB 1875 2/10/7/79

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Michaelmas 1874:

1875

Kilton Mine, opened in 1875 after sinking two 700-foot shafts, operated intermittently until the early twentieth century, contributing to local employment but closing after brief periods due to operational challenges, with its shale heap remaining a visible legacy.

John Porritt of Kilton, farmer; Robert Harrison of Stockport, inspector of police; and James Cooke of Guisborough, police constable, were cited to give evidence on 6 September 1875 in a case against John George Kershaw for stealing a hose belonging to John Porritt of Kilton (North Yorkshire County Record Office QSB 4/7/17 and QSB 1875 4/8/17).

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
14 January 1875	John Farndale of Kilton, labourer	On 26 December 1874 for being drunk and riotous on the street in Carlin How	Loftus	QSB 1875 2/10/7/125
14 January 1875	Charles Stafford of Kilton, miner	On 5 January 1875 for being drunk in the street at Brotton	Loftus	QSB 1875 2/10/7/124
22 April 1875	James Lambert of Kilton, sinker	On 8 April 1875 for assaulting William Elders of Kilton sinker in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1875 3/10/6/111
13 May 1875	Henry Cooper of Carlin How, miner	On 5 May 1875 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by John Garbutt in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1875 3/10/6/129
13 May 1875	William Clarke and George Moore of Skinningrove, miners	On 4 May 1875 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Martin Farndale in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1875 3/10/6/130
24 June 1875	Thomas Breckon of Loftus	On 16 June 1875 for assaulting William Judson of Kilton farmer in Loftus	Loftus	QSB 1875 3/10/6/177
3 November 1875	William Clarke	On 13 September 1875 for keeping a dog without a licence; on the information of Frederick Miles officer of excise	Guisborough	QSB 1875 4/10/7/22
31 August 1875 and 9 September 1875	Thomas Broxholm of Kilton, miner	On 28 August 1875 or being drunk and riotous in the street in Brotton and for assaulting Thomas Severs of the township of Brotton in the execution of his duty as a police constable and for refusing to leave the house of John Simpson beerhouse keeper when asked by the said John Simpson	Guisborough and Loftus	QSB 1875 4/10/7/179 and 180 and QSB 1876 1/10/7/34
9 September 1875	Elizabeth Holt of Kilton, married woman	On 31 August 1875 for maliciously damaging with intent to steal a quantity of peas and beans growing in a field, the property of Martin Farndale of Kilton farmer	Loftus	QSB 1876 1/10/7/38
14 October 1875	John Baxter of Skinningrove, miner asnd John Hall and John Hindson of Brotton, miners	On 26 and 29 September 1875 for maliciously damaging the underwood in a plantation, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1876 1/10/7/82 and 83
14 October 1875	Ann Ward of Lumpsey, wife of Joseph Ward, miner	On 30 September 1875 for damaging a waggon, the property of the North Eastern Railway Company used for conveying minerals from Kilton Mine	Loftus	QSB 1876 1/10/7/85
14 October 1875	Thomas Broxholm of Kilton, miner	On 9 October 1875 for being drunk in the street at Brotton	Loftus	QSB 1876 1/10/7/90

1876

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
22 June 1876	John Baker and Samuel Stevens, bricklayers and William Moment, miner, all of Lingdale Lane	On 4 June 1876 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Thomas Hall	Loftus	QSB 1877 1/10/7/15
14 September 1876	Robert Foster and Anthony Ward both of Kilton, joiners, and William Silvester and Richard Annear both of Brotton, miners	On 4 September 1876 for trespassing on the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Martin Farndale in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1877 1/10/7/42
26 October 1876	William Coates and Adam Silverwood both of Brotton, miners	On 15 October 1876 for maliciously damaging underwood growing in a plantation, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1877 1/10/7/89
26 October 1876	Thomas Bennett and William Gurd, both of Lumpsey, labourers	On 15 October 1876 for maliciously damaging the fence of a field occupied by William Judson in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1877 1/10/7/97

There is a Plan of the Kilton Ironstone Company's Mines in about 1876 (The National Archives U.SG/8/10, held at Teesside Archives).

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Lady Day 1876:

1877

In August 1877 Martin Farndale’s services were recognised as a Guardian of 38 years since the inception of the Guisborough Board of Guardians (The Yorkshire Gazette, on 27 October 1877).

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
9 April 1877	George Barker and Frederick Teeseman of Kilton, labourers	On 22 March 1877 for being 40 yards from the cart he was driving in Thornaby Road, Thornaby and not having control of the horse drawing it	South Stockton	QSB 1877 3/1012/3 and 4

1878

Martin Farndale suffered an outbreak of pleuro-pneumonia on his Kilton farm in October 1878 (The Northern Echo, on 25 October 1878, The Daily Gazette for Middlesborough, on 30 October 1878, The Newcastle Courant, on 1 November 1878, Leeds Mercury on 1 November 1878, the Leicester Advertiser, 9 November 1878. Pleuro-pneumonia is a lung disease of cattle and sheep. It causes an inflammation of the lungs. The disease is caused by the bacterium mycoplasma mycoides. Fever, thirst, loss of appetite, and difficult breathing are signs of the disease. The Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act 1878 was passed by Benjamin Disraeli's Conservative government after a select committee was appointed in 1877 to investigate animal diseases. The resulting Act established central rather than local control over all outbreaks of animal disease. The agriculturist Jacob Wilson considered the Act an undoubted benefit conferred upon the agricultural interest by the Conservative Government.  It was opposed by the Radicals.

1879

Commercial activity in Kilton included Martin and Charles Farndale, farmers; John Garbutt, miller, Kilton mill; William Judson, farmer, Stank House; Kilton Iron Stone Co; John Porritt, farmer, Buckrush; Thomas Wood, farmer, Greenhow (Kelly’s Post Office Directory 1879).

The Primitive Methodist Society held their annual picnic on Saturday in a field belonging to end to Mr Farndale at Kilton. The weather was fine and there was a good number present. The usual games were indulged in, and all seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. (The Northern Weekly Gazette, 12 July 1879).

In 1879, Matthew Farndale took the farm at Craggs and his descendants, the Craggs Line of Farndales, farmed there until well into the twentieth century.

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Michaelmas and 31 December 1879:

1880

About 1880 the late Mr. J. T. Wharton, of Skelton Castle, who appears to have taken a considerable interest in the preservation of the ruin of Kilton Castle, repaired the footings and base of the north-east tower, part of the eastern curtain, and the fragment of walling at the east end of the stabling. Since that date the ruin has been strictly preserved. It is now the property of Mr. W. H. A. Wharton, of Skelton Castle, the master of the Cleveland hunt, who is descended from the old baronial house of De Brus of Skelton through his great-grandmother, Margaret, Lady Dundas (wife of Sir Lawrence Dundas, Bart.), who was a daughter of Major Alexander Bruce of Kennet, a direct descendant of both the royal house of Scotland and of the Brus barons of Skelton (Bruce pedigree). Historically, the Whartons have no connection with Kilton. They are descended from an ancient family of that name who, in the late Plantagenet period, were settled at Wharton, in Westmorland. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 115).

Agricultural workers for George Lancaster at Kilton Hall in the late 1880s

The 20th century brought administrative mergers and rural transformations to Kilton, which forms part of Lockwood civil parish.

John Garbutt of Kilton Mill, miller took a building lease at Loftus for 99 years (North Yorkshire County Records Office ZNK V 3/3/28).

A Counterpart Lease for 10 years was granted from Martin Farndale of Kilton, farmer to Bell Brothers Limited of Middlebrough of the dwellinghouse called Brotton House and the garden for £32 yearly (The National Archives U/AA/1/41 held at Teesside Archives).

1881

In 1881, Charles Farndale was the farmer at Kilton Hall Farm (1881 Census).

Charles Farndale

17 January 1838 to 18 March 1914

Charles took over the farming of Kilton Hall Farm where he farmed 577 acres

Lumpsey mine, at the site of the old farm, was active from 1881 to 1954.

The population had by then grown significantly, mainly due to the mines.

Lumpsey was heavily populated with miners:

(1881 Census)

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
13 May 1881	Luther Bugdall and Thomas Arnold of Brotton, miners	On 24 April 1881 for maliciously damaging a lock on a bogie on the Kilton branch of the North Eastern Railway, the property of the North Eastern Railway Company	Loftus	QSB 1881 4/10/8/15
27 May 1881	Alfred Howard of Liverton, labourer	On 17 May 1881 for maliciously damaging an ash tree growing on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1881 4/10/8/22
26 August 1881	John Speck, Charles Speck and George Arnold all of Brotton	On 21 August 1881 for maliciously damaging beans growing in a field occupied by Martin Farndale and Charles Farndale in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1882 1/10/7/13
26 August 1881	Elizabeth Raw of Kilton, married woman	On 10 August 1881 for assaulting Elizabeth Porritt of the township of Kilton married woman	Loftus	QSB 1882 1/10/7/16
14 October 1881	Elizabeth Mason and Sarah Pearson of Liverton	On 10 August 1881 for maliciously damaging the trees and underwood growing in a wood belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1882 2/10/5/32
28 October 1881	Thomas Hartgrove of Redcar horse dealer	On 7 October 1881 for being the owner of nine horses found straying on the highway in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1882 2/10/5/38
23 December 1881	Benjamin Cavell, James Billam, Arthur Cavell, Charles Johns, Samuel Rouse, William Wallis, Henry Hastell, William Gilbert and Richard Turner all of Skinningrove	On 19 December 1881 for maliciously damaging a holly tree growing in a wood belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1882 2/10/5/42

Papers relating to the appeal by the North Eastern Railway Company against rate assessments including notices relative to Kilton, 1881 to 1882 (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1882 1/9/18 and QSB 1882 3/9/22)

1882

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
5 September 1882	Thomas Beedle, joiner, Benjamin Smith, miner, Thomas Battersby, miner, Harry Worth, miner, and William Gill, miner, all of North Skelton	On 27 August 1882 for maliciously damaging the fences on land belonging to and occupied by John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1883 1/10/6/1
9 October 1882	Elizabeth Porritt married woman, Elizabeth Cherry singlewoman and Mary Ann Glenright singlewoman, all of Brotton	On 26 September 1882 for maliciously damaging the underwood growing in a wood called Kilton Wood belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire	Loftus	QSB 1883 2/10/7/16
14 August 1882	Thomas Tippett, servant, James Mitchell, driver, Robert Newbiggin, driver and George Tilley, leader, all of Brotton	On 6 August 1882 for maliciously damaging beans growing in a field occupied by Charles Farndale in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1883 3/10/5/5
27 November 1882	James Gray of Carlin How miner	On 9 November 1882 for maliciously damaging grass and underwood growing in a wood, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1883 3/10/5/9

1883

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
26 January 1883	William Jolly of Kilton labourer	On 13 January 1883 for being drunk in the street in the township of Brotton	Loftus	QSB 1883 2/10/7/40
24 April 1883	William Gregory of Great Moorsholm engineer	On 8 April 1883 for maliciously damaging grass growing in Kilton Wood, belonging to and in the occupation of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1883 3/10/5/80
28 September 1883	Thomas Butterworth, Alfred Partridge and Richard Bacon all of Carlin How	On 16 September 1883 for maliciously damaging beans growing in a field occupied by Charles Farndale in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1884 1/10/6/28
23 November 1883	Thomas Hudson of Loftus a miner employed at Carlin How Mine	On 9 and 10 November 1883 for contravening one of the rules by unramming a charge of powder which had misfired in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1884 2/10/8/1
28 December 1883	John Duncalf, William Bacon, Henry Lantsbury and Alfred Partridge all of Carlin How, drivers	On 18 December 1883 for maliciously damaging a holly tree in Kilton Wood, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire	Loftus	QSB 1884 2/10/8/17

Kilton Mill road diversions including stopping-up of a highway leading through the farmyard of John Garbutt at Kilton Mill and plan dated June 1884 showing the diversion of the road at Kilton Mill (North Yorkshire County Records Office QSB 1887 2/13, QSB 1887 2/13/1, QSB 1887 2/14/21, QSB 1887 3/13, QSB 1887 3/13/1).

1884

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
13 June 1884	George Cox of Carlin How cartman	On 5 June 1884 for tethering a horse on Kilton Lane	Loftus	QSB 1884 4/10/7/46
12 September 1884	Charles Foster of Carlin How, a boy	On 4 September 1884 for assaulting Mary Cryer of the township of Carlin How	Loftus	QSB 1884 4/10/7/73
12 September 1884	Thomas Butterwick of Carlin How, driver	On 4 September 1884 for assaulting Edith Eleanor Dale of the township of Carlin How, singlewoman	Loftus	QSB 1884 4/10/7/77
8 August 1884	David Shaw of Moorsholm cartman	On 27 July 1884 for being the owner of two horses found straying on the highway in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1885 1/10/8/14

1885

The local landowner, J T Wharton, allowed a 50% land rental for the half year because of the Agricultural depression, which received the thanks of the fraternity of tenant farmers (The Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough, 13 January 1885).

The concession was marked by the tenants in an illuminated scroll now held by the Skelton and Gilling Estate Office. Amongst others, it was signed by Martin and Charles Farndale.

To J T Wharton Esquire Skelton Castle

We the undersigned Tenants on your Skelton Estate most respectfully beg your acceptance of this Address as a token of our respect and appreciation of the manner in which you have met us at the present, as also on a former occasion, under the great Agricultural Depression, by remitting ten per Cent on the Rent of the Arable Land at the half yearly rent audit held January 12th 1885. And we earnestly hope that you will be long spared in health and strength amongst us.

Martin Farndale, Charles Farndale, Matthew Young, William Judson, John Smith, William Raw, Henry Robinson, Ralph Lynas, Thomas Petch, Henry Atkinson, Robert W Stevenson, William H Petch, Charlotte J Thompson, Elizabeth Wotton

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
23 January 1885	John Lantsbury and Edward Hanson both of Carlin How, miners	On 17 January 1885 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Martin Farndale in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1885 2/10/7/67
24 April 1885	William Brown of Liverton, engine driver and Henry Lantsbury, Thomas Hestlewood and Albert Jordan all of Carlin How	On 29 March 1885 for maliciously damaging the trees and underwood growing in Kilton Wood, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1885 4/10/8/5 and 6
24 April 1885	John Hutton labourer and Arthur Partridge, both of Carlin How	On 13 April 1885 for maliciously damaging the grass growing in a field in the occupation of John Garbutt in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1885 4/10/8/8
8 May 1885	George Smith of Kilton, miner	On 2 May 1885 for being drunk and riotous in the street in the township of Brotton	Loftus	QSB 1885 4/10/8/12
24 July 1885	Thomas Gilbert, Edward Hanson and Joseph Hore all of Carlin How	On 8 July 1885 for maliciously damaging underwood and young trees growing in a wood belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1886 1/10/6/20
28 August 1885	William Cate and Richard Cate both of Brotton, labourers	On 3 August 1885 for wilfully damaging underwood in a plantation called Merry's Gill, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1886 1/10/6/26

There is a memory of all the family coming to worship (at the Methodist chapel in Brotton), all except the youngest, Ernest, and he being only two was left in the care, or so it was thought, of an experienced person. Evidently the little chappie didn’t relish this, so he followed on behind. When he reached the end of Kilton Lane he was lost. Someone seeing him crying, and knowing where the family was, took him to the chapel. So distressed was he and yet so relieved to be with the family that, needless to say, he was never left behind again. Little Ernest died when only 2 ½ years old, but the elder members of the family remember the incident well. (Wainwright, Greta (1966), Brotton Methodist Church, 1866 to 1966).

1886

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
8 January 1886	John Henry Hutton, Henry Lantsbury, and George Wright of Carlin How and John Plews and Frederick Glover of Brotton	On 17 December 1885 for maliciously destroying a holly tree in Kilton Wood, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire	Loftus	QSB 1886 2/10/8/38
8 January 1886	Arthur Cumberland and John Lewis of Loftus labourers	On 15 December 1885 for maliciously damaging underwood growing in Kilton Wood, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire	Loftus	QSB 1886 2/10/8/43
14 May 1886	Edward Hanson of Brotton, miner	On 24 April 1886 for trespassing in the daytime in search of conies on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Charles Farndale in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1886 3/10/6/49
14 May 1886	Richard Cate of Brotton miner	On 13 April 1886 for maliciously damaging underwood growing in a wood called Merry Gill, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1886 3/10/6/51
14 May 1886	Paul Willows, Joseph Hewry and James Watts of Loftus	On 2 May 1886 for maliciously damaging underwood and young trees growing in a wood, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1886 3/10/6/52
8 October 1886	William Richardson of Carlin How miner	On 23 Serptember 1886 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on a piece of land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by Charles Farndale in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1887 1/10/6/106
8 October 1886	Arthur Rispin and Vincent Vodden both of Skinningrove	On 30 September 1886 for maliciously damaging underwood growing in Kilton Wood, the property of John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1887 1/10/6/107

1887

There was a significant sale of horses, stock and farm tools at Charles Farndale’s farm in April 1887. Perhaps this was due to the agricultural depression, or perhaps it was just part of a general management scheme (The North Star (Darlington), on 4 April 1887).

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
26 August 1887	Frederick Glover miner and Thomas Barker labourer both of Brotton	On 21 August 1887 for maliciously damaging a quantity of turnips growing in a field belonging to and occupied by John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1888 2/10/7/14

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Lady Day and 30 June 1887:

1888

Kilton in 1888:

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
9 March 1888	George Smith, Richard Cate and John Walker all of Brotton, miners	On 4 March 1888 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land occupied by John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1888 3/10/6/23
13 April 1888	John Garbutt the younger of Kilton, miller	On 22 March 1888 for assaulting Eliza Welford of the township of Kilton housekeeper	Loftus	QSB 1888 3/10/6/36
11 May 1888	John Wright miner and John Saunders labourer both of Lingdale	On 4 May 1888 for trespassing in the daytime in search of game on land belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire and occupied by William Petch in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1888 3/10/6/52
13 July 1888	Charles Massingham of Loftus miner	On 29 June 1888 for assaulting James Flinn of Kilton police constable in the execution of his duty in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1888 4/10/6/3
26 October 1888	John Henry Hutton, Robert Butterwick and William Dack all of Carlin How, miners	On 14 October 1888 for maliciously damaging apples growing in an orchard occupied by and belonging to John Thomas Wharton esquire in Kilton	Guisborough	QSB 1889 1/10/6/11

1889

Date	Person(s)	Offence	Where case heard	North Yorkshire County Record Office Reference
8 March 1889	Richard Morgan of North Skelton, miner	On 19 February 1889 for wilfully damaging young trees growing on land called Merry Gill Wood belonging to and occupied by John Thomas Wharton of Skelton Castle esquire in Kilton	Loftus	QSB 1889 2/10/6/151

1890

The new Kilton Hall in about 1890 Four Farndale sisters at time of Charles Farndale' family at Kilton Lodge in about 1890

Owing to repairs to Kilton Hall at this time, Mr Charles Farndale moved up to Kilton Lodge. This was intended to be a temporary move, but he never returned. Another Methodist family, Mr and Mrs Charles Bell moved into the Hall, and many are the memories of garden parties etc held there. Open air concerts, with the piano placed near the windows, and yours of the gardens and farm were great features of those pleasant afternoons and evenings. The Farndales carried on their enthusiasm for Methodism up to Kilton Thorpe, then a thriving mining village, but now a place where only a few houses remain inhabited. The school, now in ruins, never used for its intended purpose, was used for Methodist services for a short time, but Brotton, with its larger congregation, was the bigger attraction. So the Sunday morning and evening trek to Brotton was still a feature of the Kilton society but it remained a separate body for finance, class tickets and quarterly assessment until December 1938. (Wainwright, Greta (1966), Brotton Methodist Church, 1866 to 1966).

1891

By 1891, Kilton had a much larger population with large numbers of miners living at Bell’s Pit, Carlin How, Stevenson Street, Dixon Street, Hood Cottages. Bell's Pit, officially known as North Loftus Mine, known colloquially as the Duck Hole due to its notoriously wet working conditions, was an ironstone mine located in Carlin How, but was associated with Kilton in the census. Stevenson Street was located in Carlin How, an ironstone mining village also associated with Bell’s Pit. This large population was therefore separate to the agricultural community.

Hood's Cottages were a group of estate workers' dwellings located in the rural settlement of Kilton, but was associated mostly with miners in the 1891 census.

There was also a station master at Station House; blacksmiths, milkmaids, as well as:

This was now a sizeable population in the area of Kilton.

(1891 Census)

1892

There was a Lease of Ironstone Mines in the township of Kilton and parish of Skelton between John Thomas Wharton and Bell Brothers Limited for the term of 39 years for the surface rent of double the agricultural value of the lands being no less than £2 per acre and £6,000 for the yearly number of 270 000 tons weight of raw ironstone, also 1d per ton of raw ironstone raised for wayleave and 5 1/3d per ton of raw ironstone as a royalty. With conditions. An attached letter from J. T. Wharton to Bell Brothers Limited concerned deductions of rates dated 1 January 1892. An annexed Memorandum dated 3 July 1907 concerned a sale of three pieces of land under lease, this property thereby becoming void in the lease. (The National Archives BS/BB/4/1/4, held at Teesside Archives).

There was an Agreement with plan dated 22 October 1892 as to mining near the Kilton Viaduct between Bell Brothers Limited and The North Eastern Railway Company specifying distances and that any resulting damage to the viaduct will not be compensated. (The National Archives BS/BB/4/1/6, held at Teesside Archives).

1893

Kilton in 1893:

Substantial changes occurred at Kilton in the late nineteenth century. The estate village was demolished and a range of brick built farm buildings were constructed over the site of the village. These buildings served Kilton Hall Farm, which was the only domestic dwelling to the west of the road. On the opposite side of the road, a row of estate cottages were built in the same architectural style as the outbuildings.

Following the failure of the reorganisation of the landscape in the eighteenth century, a consolidation took place in the nineteenth century, perhaps between 1870 and 1893 and certainly between 1856 and 1893. The attempt to foster a village at Kilton was abandoned and a single, substantial farm was established. To the west, Greenhills Farm moved from its position on the western boundary into the centre of its area. Elsewhere within the Township farmhouses were renewed and a state cottages built. The financing of these measures may well have been derived from the ironstone mines, but there is little else to indicate the impact of industrialisation on the landscape. The estate and Township were not dependent on industry and so the landscape of Kilton survived the closing of the mines extremely well and the Township today is primarily an agricultural landscape, almost completely given over to crop production.

There are a few areas of grassland which coincide with the original medieval earth works.

Craggs operated until 1893 and Carlin How, which came to be called Duck Hole because of the wet working conditions, until 1924.

1894

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Lady Day and 30 June 1894:

1896

Kilton Mine, 1896

The remains of the mine works at Kilton in 2016

The old mine works at Kilton in 2026

1899

In 1899, a vacancy for a ploughboy was advertised. Ploughboy (strong) Wanted, about 17, to go with horses. Apply Charles Farndale, Kilton Lodge, Brotton (Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough, on 27 November 1899).

There are Monthly Returns of Ironstone Wrought including at Kilton Mines from January to December 1899 (The National Archives U.SG/6/17 held at Teesside Archives).

Twentieth Century Kilton

1900

William Henry Anthony Wharton

John Thomas Wharton died on 1 March 1900 and the Skelton and Kilton estates passed to his son, William Henry Anthony Wharton

William Henry Anthony Wharton

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Lady Day and 30 June 1900:

1901

In 1901, Charles Farndale aged 63 was living at Stank House on the Kilton estate (1901 Census).

Bell’s Pit Yard, Dixon Street and other locations had very sizeable populations of miners. The population of Kilton was very large by 1901, but with two distinct sub-populations of miners and agricultural workers, though of course many agricultural workers, or younger sons of large families, found work in the mines.

(1901 Census)

There was an Agreement dated 31 October 1901 as to ironstone under and adjoining Kilton Viaduct made between Bell Brothers Limited and The North Eastern Railway Company (see also National Archives BS/BB/4/1/6 of 1892) to leave ironstone shown on attached plan in yellow untouched but to work those shown in blue and green, with detail over removal of pillars, etc. with the payment of 10 pence per ton of ironstone unworked and to William Henry Wharton Esq. the sum of 5 1/3 pence per ton. There is also a copy of letter from Bell Brothers acknowledging receipt of payment dated 7 November 1901. (The National Archives BS/BB/4/1/22 held at Teesside Archives).

There are monthly returns of ironstone wrought including for Kilton Mine between January and December 1901 (The National Archives U.SG/6/18 held at Teesside Archives).

There was an Address from the Owners, Workmen and Officials of the Brotton, Carlin How, Huntcliff, Kilton, Lumpsey and North Skelton Mines and other friends in the District to Sister Arabella, Marton in April 1901 (The National Archives H/BR/3/3 held at Teesside Archives).

A Wesley Guild was formed in the early 1900s with Misses Mary and Grace Farndale, active workers, and Mr W Hedley as energetic secretary for many years. This formed a great part of the church’s life, often the schoolhouse being filled to capacity each Thursday evening in the winter. Concert parties from Middlesbrough and aroudn are well remembered. The grand leadership of Mr Hedley played a big part in the enjoyment and thrill of the Guild. How he cared for the young folk was shown for instance in the times he took them in his little car to his home to share in parties and family fellowship. During the years of the great depression 1921 to 1932 free concerts were held to help the men, and many happy nights were spent in the schoolroom with Mr Hedley as main organiser. (Wainwright, Greta (1966), Brotton Methodist Church, 1866 to 1966).

1902

Ordnance Survey Revised 1902

Charles Farndale continued a long tradition of involvement with the local Wesleyan Church. But the Kilton of Wesley's time was a very different place to the deserted village of today. It could then boast of crowded streets and many shops. It was evidently a place “Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain” and where oft times “All the village train, from labour free, led up their sports beneath the spreading tree”. But alas.as in the case of sweet Auburn “All these charms are fled and desolation saddens all thy green”. Wesleyan services were held in a cottage until through certain changes, whole streets were left empty, and have sent since being demolished. For very many years services have been held in the spacious farm kitchen of Mr C Farndale, Kilton Lodge, which was also that of his father before him. Methodism in the neighbourhood and the cause of righteousness generally owes much to the high Christian character and active interest in all good works displayed by this devoted Methodist family. Here the preachers have always found a hearty welcome and ministers and others who know the circuit spent under this hospitable roof. (The Methodism in Cleveland, The Methodist Recorder 17 April 1902).

The Farndales. Perhaps now is the place for a quotation from the Methodist Recorder. In 1902 Reverend SH Terrill wrote of the Farndale family, “Methodism in this neighbourhood and the cause of righteousness generally owes much to the high character and active interest in all good works displayed by this devoted family. Here the preacher found a hearty welcome.” Many remember, before the bus service, the preacher from Staithes coming on a Saturday afternoon by train and staying on Saturday and Sunday nights at Kilton Lodge, returning home Monday morning. All this would have been impossible had not the family been marvellously saved from extinction by a narrow escape. Mr John Farndale, grandfather of Mr Charles and Mr Matthew, when a little lad fell headlong into a deep well. The little boy was discovered suspended by the buckle of his show. That shoe buckle alone intervened between life and death. What vast issues hang on the merest trifles! Cragg Hall next comes into our history. This is where Mr Matthew Farndale farmed, and where many happy Sunday School picnics were held. How well such incidents as drawing water from the well near the door are thrillingly remembered. When his son Herbert Farndale took over, garden parties became a regular feature, and occasionally public worship was held in the new Cragg Hall when the lounge was filled to capacity with 60 to 70 worshippers. Recently barbeques have been taken there, and the last remembered social event was a dance in one of the barns organised by the young people in aid of the Mission House Nigeria appeal fund. (Wainwright, Greta (1966), Brotton Methodist Church, 1866 to 1966).

Vincent Grainger worked with the Farndales at Kilton in the early 1900s and became a member of the family. In about 1985 he made a sound recording about Charles Farndale and his family and Kilton at that time. He left Kilton in 1912 and emigrated to Canada. Here is a transcript of his memoires of Kilton at the turn of the twentieth century:

Regarding Kilton Hall, when I was with the Farndales, a man by the name of Charlie Bell had that farm. It was quite a large farm, at least it was in those days, but of course not today, but at least there was around 500 acres. And across the road from the farm entrance there were four cottages, all in a block, where he had four married men working for him. And he had at least 200 head of cattle of various sizes. And I think, as far as my memory allows me, he had at least 300 sheep. And I believe, if I got this straight, that when Charlie Bell was quite a young man, he came there and worked on that farm. And that is one fact that I'm not too sure about. And he was a very successful farmer. And that's about all that I really have on Kilton Hall.

When I was at the Farndales there were a few people living at Kilton Thorpe and one of them was the constable and I'm not sure of this fact but I believe at one time there used to be a school. There wasn't a post office or a store. But a girl, it was a girl that used to walk all the way from Brotton, which was at least two and a half miles, I'd say, and bring the mail to us. And that was, we got it daily, I think, as far as my memory will serve me, but as you well know, long time back since I was there. Well, when I was there, unless they'd come there after my time, there wouldn't be that many people living there. There were very few. The one man I do know that lived there was the, in fact there might have been both of them, was the outside manager of the mine and the inside manager. Some of these people would be mine workers. They walked quite a piece, three or four miles, some of those chaps, and they used to come right by Farndale's house and up to the mine. It was between the two farms but didn't interfere whatsoever with the farming operations.

The Squire owned all the farms and he got royalty out of all those mines right through the Cleveland area. He was a very good landlord. As a matter of fact I was twice down the mine that was between the two farms on the Farndale property. They were down 750 feet and in those mines they weren't like the coal mines they had much higher ceiling and they had used draft horses shires at that time and they had quite a number of horses down there and a barn and stable and everything, and it was quite an operation. The way they brought the iron stones onto the surface, well, you call them lifts, I guess, but they were large. They loaded the iron stone into little bogies and they were pulled to the pit head and then loaded onto the, well, elevator, whatever you want to call it, and it brought up the surface 760 feet up. And that's how they got the iron out. So it was quite an operation. Oh, yes, it was throughout the Cleveland area. There were mines all through there. And then they were sort of owned, then each one would be owned by whoever owned the land that it was on. But the Squire owned the land and he'd get, as I already mentioned, he'd get a royalty. But the operation of it was by companies.

I also remember Matthew Farndale of Craggs Farm and his son Herbert, now dead, but I knew him quite well. Matthew's elder brother, Martin, was living at Tidkinhow Farm near Guisborough, only a few miles from Kilton Lodge. His son Alfred was the youngest of 12, and seven of them settled in Alberta. I didn’t know Tidkinhow.

Charles Farndale actually had eight children, but some of them died very young. As a matter of fact, the first one only lived two years from 1873 to 1875. And let's see, there's another one, Ernest, 1883 to 1885, so they died just as little children. I understand that Charles died in 18 March 1914, and there's a memorial to him in Brotton Churchyard and Ann, that was his wife's name, died in 1934.

Regarding Kilton Hall, it was a very large house, as were all the farm homes at that time. And one thing, it was pretty well surrounded by trees that didn't stand out in the open like Kilton Lodge did. And one thing I remember about, there were quite numerous farm buildings. But one thing that stands out in my memory, in one cow byer, as they call them, there were 24 milk cows, short horn breed. And there were milk cows too, but there were a bunch of calves, and these calves were kept in a pen away back up the yard from there and I'll never forget the stampede that took place when it was time for them to go for their breakfast. They opened the gate and they came out of this pen helter-skelter and down the aisle there, alleyway and into that barn. There were two doors to go in the barn. And I'm not positive about this one, but if my memory serves me, and of course, as it's a long time back, but I think they were really cows, they were real milkers. One of them, I think, was even suckling 3 calves, and quite a number of them were suckling 2. And it was remarkable how the calves used to get to the right cow practically every time.

(From Tweddell, George Markham. 1872. The people's history of Cleveland and its vicinage. Stokesley: Tweddell & Sons).

The barns and farm buildings were built of brick, but the Farndales’ farm buildings, not the house, farm buildings were built of stone that they used from what they called Kilton Castle, and it was on the edge. There was a wood that ran along the edge of Farndales Farm and there used to be a castle there and there were still a few of the ruins left there but apparently the farm buildings at Farndales were built of stone that they took from that old castle. The castle must have been quite a fair size because of all those buildings, all of them were built of stone. All the farm buildings, the outbuildings, not the houses. Buck Rush, I forget, I think that was a brick building.

There wasn't a gardener in sight. We clipped the hedges and I might mention that coming in off the turnpike, as they call them in England, there was quite a drive up to Farndale's house and there were hedges on both sides and we used to keep them clipped and around the house. There was a very nice hedge but that was all done by us but as far as who looked after the lawn and that kind of thing, I can't remember that part. I think the girls did that and probably the garden too because I never did any gardening or even learned how, but I've clipped miles a hedge, I might say, in my time. It's one skill that I wouldn't have to put to use on the prairies anyway. I guess I probably didn't clip another hedge until I retired from the farm in Canada and moved to Ontario.

Regarding their supplies from, like their groceries, they used to shop in Brotton. They kept the butcher supplied in Brotton. Sometimes we would take, usually we took one or maybe two cows, up to Brotton. We used to walk them up there and to the butcher and of course that's where we got our meat. Yes, it was a fair-sized town, you know, and there was stalls there. We got our staple foods there. Well, when I was in England, the last time I was living there in 1912, there used to be a butcher come around once a week with me and a pony and cart and that's how they used to get the beef there. There wasn't a store, I don't think, in that bit of a village. I can't remember one anyway.

After I left for Canada, I didn't, of course, hear from them for years. I spent a week or two there when I was over in the winter of '65, '25 and '26. That's when I gave that talk at Brotton.

Vincent Grainger aged 16 Vincent Grainger August 1985 (aged 93)

1905

Review Bolckow Vaughan and Co. Ltd. - 'Wharton, W.H.A., Walker, Maynard & Co. Ltd.: Kilton Mine' 1905 (The National Archives BS/BV/3/2/1/225 held at Teesside Archives).

1907

Additional lands including at Kilton appeared on the North Eastern Railway Plan in 1907 (North Yorkshire Record Office QDP(M) 334).

There was an agreement dated 10 August 1907 between Bell Brothers Limited and The North Eastern Railway Company to build an embankment within 4 years for the railway replacing the viaduct. Bell Brothers were to leave unworked all areas marked blue and purple on map for this purpose and, until completion all marked pink, green and yellow. After completion, areas marked green and yellow may be worked for the sum of £1,091 12s 6d. Blue and purple areas, in lieu of being untouched were to be be compensated by the Railway company. (The National Archives BS/BB/4/1/32, held at Teesside Archives).

There was an agreement dated 12 September 1907 between Cleveland and Durham Electric Power Limited and Bell Brothers Limited for supplying electric current until 31 December 1931 or until determination of lease (not earlier than 15 years) for use at Carlin How Mine at Kilton the sum of 7/8 penny per unit (The National Archives BS/BB/4/1/33 held at Teesside Archives).

1908

Picnic at Kilton Lodge about 1908. Vincent Grainger, Ann and Charles Farndale, George Farndale, Grace Farndale, an unknown person and Mary Farndale (also coloured by AI)

1910

Kilton Tea Party about 1910 - Mrs Ann Farndale, Charles Farndale, visiting vicar (The Rev W Slader, O Wardley or W Nicholson perhaps?), Vincent Grainger (who worked on the farm) and Grace Farndale (also coloured by AI)

Kilton Lodge about 1910 - Back row: unknown person, George Farndale, unknown person, Grace Farndale, Charles Farndale - Front row: Ann Farndale, three unknown people, Vincent Grainger

Under the provisions of the Finance (1909 to 1910) Act, 1910, the Commissioners of the Inland Revenue were instructed to cause a valuation to be made of all the land in the United Kingdom. The valuation books for North Yorkshire, also known as Domesday Books after their only comparable precedent, are deposited at the Record Office. They include the names of the owners and occupiers of land, a description of the property and its situation, a reference to the series of valuation maps. These maps are not available at the North Yorkshire County Record Office but are held by The National Archives, Kew, the original gross value with deductions for buildings and other structures and the original full site value with deductions for public rights of way, rights of common, easements etc. The records include Kilton. (North Yorkshire County Records Office NG/V).

There is a Plan of workings at Kilton between 1910 and 1915 (The National Archives U.SG/8/28 held at Teesside Archives).

1911

Charles Farndale was working in partnership at Kilton Lodge with his son, George Farndale by 1911 (1911 Census). Charles Farndale, 73, still lived at Stank House. Mary Farndale and Grace Farndale helped with dairywork. Albert Farndale was an architect and two others were working on the farm.

George Farndale

24 August 1876 to 14 February 1970

The last Farndale of Kilton

From 1911, census records separated into individual households. There were still very large mining populations at such places as Dixon Street. Charles Farndale, 73, farmer, still lived at Stank House, Kilton with Ann Farndale, 63; George Farndale, farmer’s son and partner, 34; Mary E Farndale, 33, farmer’s daughter, dairywork; Grace Farndale, farmer’s daughter, dairywork; Albert Farndale, architect and two others working on farm. (1911 Census).

1912

Buck Rush Farm about 1912 (it was part of Kilton Lodge Farm under Charles Farndale)

George Farndale joined a subscription to relieve striking miners in 1911 (Teesside Weekly Herald, 6 April 1912).

Valuation List for Kilton Parish, 1912 to 1926 (National Archives DC/SB/20/2 held at Teesside Archives).

The entries include Charles Bell at Kilton Hall; Charles and George Farndale at Stank House and Buck Rush; William Hutchinson at Green Hills, Joseph Maugham at Lumpsey, and James Richardson at Kilton Mill. Bell Brothers operated the mines at Lumpsey and Carlin How. The record can be consulted for a more detailed list of the population at that time.

1913

Lumpsey Mines in 1913 The remains of Kilton castle in 1913

Kilton Castle in 1913 (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, pages 102 to 125)

L’Anson described Kilton in 1913, observing that in feudal times, when the castle was inhabited, there was a village of some size occupying the site of the modern substantial farmstead known as “Kilton Hall”, and the land adjoining it, some 700 yards north-north-west of the castle. This village is now represented only by the Hall and three modern brick cottages, but the fields to the north of the site are still described on the Ordnance Survey as “Town End Close”, whilst the lane which leads to Kilton Mill (some half-mile north-east) is still known as “Braygate" and is so described on the Ordnance Map. This hamlet would be very pleasantly situate with a delightful southerly exposure, and protected from the north and east winds by rising ground. The present hall occupies the site of a Georgic house, which itself stood on the site of a still older manor-house, probably built of stone brought from the ruins of the castle. In 1853, according to the survey of that date, the old Georgic village still existed, as indeed it did until some forty years ago, there being live old houses, one ivy-clad structure being known as “Primrose Cottage”, a smithy (which still exists, but is not used), and the old hall. Two wells, connected with these old houses, still remain. Approaching the site of this village from the north down Howe Lane over Town End Close, the road is some 470 feet above sea-level. Magnificent views are obtained, a perfect panorama of mountain, moor, and woodland being spread out before our eyes, with stupendous sea-cliffs rising to a height of some 600 feet sheer above the waters of the northern sea. This view is now marred to some extent by signs of industrial activity; but sixty years ago, before the opening out of the Cleveland ironstone mines, it must have been one of the most picturesque, most lonely, and most sparsely inhabited stretches of country in the county. The road dips down to the site of the village, which is some 330 feet above sea-level. It then turns at right angles westward, and climbing a slight rise turns southwards, to what is still known as “ Park Gate,” the original entrance to the park surrounding the castle. At the foot of a short steep bank this ancient road diverges, the portion on our left leading to Stank House Farm, which lies some 500 yards west of the castle. The original road, now only a footpath, leads across the fields to the ruins of the castle, leaving Sweet Hill Wood on our left. (Kilton Castle, William M L’Anson, Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 22, 1913, page 102).

There was correspondence concerning projected sewerage works near Kilton Mill in 1913 (The National Archives DC/SB/4/29, held at Teesside Archives).

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Lady Day and 30 June 1913:

First World War

1914

Charles Farndale, of Kilton Lodge died age 76 and was buried at Brotton on 21 March 1914.

1915

Private Frederick Harker served in 10th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment. He was born in Kilton Thorpe, enlisted in Whitby, and resided in Staithes. He was killed in action on 26 September 1915, and is commemorated on the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery in Souchez, France. (North Yorkshire War Memorials, Staithes).

1916

Herbert Farndale, of Craggs Hall Farm, won the military medal for bravery in 1916 on the Somme. The website author has his medals.

Herbert Farndale of Craggs

An appeal tribunal heard an appeal against conscription regarding John William Andrew, aged 18 of 1 Liverton Road, Loftus. The appeal was raised by his father and employer, T E Andrew. Evidence was given that T E Andrew was the only saddler between Skelton and Whitby, supported various farms, and worked for Cargo Fleet ironstone mines of the Skinningrove Iron Company, engaged in munitions and the East Cleveland Cooperative. Without his son, who had just become useful, he couldn’t adequately perform his work. However the Tribunal thought the son should join the army and the appeal was dismissed on 4 November 1916. (North Yorkshire County Record office NRCC/CL 9/1/1996).

Kilton mine was operated by Bell Brothers Limited from 1916 to 1922.

1917

Conditional exemption for three months was given to a Carlin How mines check-weighman; and conditional exemption was also granted to a farmhand at Buck Rush, Kilton. In supporting the appeal Mr G Farndale said the man was the only skilled man he had on both farms. He was two men short on the farm now. (Whitby Gazette, 27 April 1917).

Another appeal tribunal heard an appeal against conscription regarding John Sanderson, aged 35 of 7 Whitby Road, Loftus on 6 July 1917 and 26 October 1917. He gave evidence that I have for some time been carting for the hutments for Messrs McAlpines. Now it is finished I have been asked by Messrs Bell Bros. Ltd. Of Lumpsey Mines Pit to do their carting work and I am fully engaged in doing this, carting timber for pit props. This work is likely to last a long time and there are three pits to keep going, Lumpsey, Carlin Howe and Kilton. It has taken me some seven years to get together and if I have to go it means selling up everything I have and there is no-one to carry it on. The appeal was allowed and he was exempted until 1 October 1917 and later to 31 March 1918, conditional on remaining in present occupation loading timber for mines. (North Yorkshire County Record office NRCC/CL 9/1/3816, NRCC/CL 9/1/4368).

There was an Agreement dated 13 March 1917 as to working ironstone in the Kilton mine under a portion of the Kilton Thorpe Branch between Messrs Bell Brothers Limited and The North Eastern Railway Company for the sum of £36 5s 7d from 1 January to 30 September 1916 with subsequent accounts each year, including conditions and liability for damages. (The National Archives BS/BB/4/1/41 held at Teesside Archives).

1918

An appeal tribunal heard an appeal against conscription regarding James William Cook, a newsagent, stationer and assistant overseer of Brotton on 7 November 1918. The National Service representative gave evidence that I contend that it is not in the national interest that this man should be retained in civil life as a newsagent and stationer and consider that he would be more usefully employed in military service. The local tribunal had previously granted a three-month exemption to 6 February 1919 on the grounds that Cook would suffer serious hardship as he is fully employed in his present occupation which in addition to that of a newsagent and stationer includes a sub-post office. He is also the assistant overseer for the Parish of Kilton and having regard to his age 43 and the fact that he is now attached to the anti-aircraft battery at Brotton, the tribunal were of opinion that in view of the present state of affairs the man was doing very useful work at home. The case was not heard (North Yorkshire County Record office NRCC/CL 9/3/84).

There was an Agreement dated 9 July 1918 as to working ironstone in the Kilton Mine under a portion of the Kilton Thorpe Branch between Messrs Bell Brothers Limited and The North Eastern Railway Company including conditions and liability, the account to be made to 31 Dec 1918 (The National Archives BS/BB/4/1/42 held at Teesside Archives).

Inter War Years

1919

Shortly after the war, new roles were advertised for Kilton farms. Wanted young man, as horseman, for farm work. Apply J Farndale, Kilton Lodge, Brotton (North Star (Darlington), 12 June 1919). Wanted, Strong Youth, for Farm Work. Apply George Farndale (North Star (Darlington), 21 June 1919).

1920

Kilton Lodge Farm in about 1920

1921

In 1921, there was still a very large population of miners at Bell’s Huts and Carlin How. Davison Johnson lived at Kilton Castle cottages and was a Police Constable with North Riding Constabulary. Frank Hector was a game keeper working for Colonel Wharton also at Kilton Castle cottages. At Kilton Thorpe, William Shaw worked as a forester for Colonel Wharton; William Hedley was a mechanical engineer working for the mines; and Joseph Henry Ousely was a mines overman. (1921 Census Records).

1922

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Lady Day and 30 June 1922:

1923

The mine was operated by Dorman, Long & Company Limited from 1923 until 1954.

There are a series of plans drawn up to give notice of Dorman Long's plans to mine under railway lines, including at Kilton. The plans were drawn as part of the procedure stipulated by the Mines (Working Facilities and Support) Act 1923. (The National Archives BS/DL/9/2/3/1/26 held at Teesside Archives).

The history of Dorman Long and Co Ltd between 1889 to 1970 is contained in 152 boxes of papers (The National Archives BS/DL held at Teesside Archives).

1925

Kilton Lodge about 1925 - George Farndale and Grace Farndale sitting Photo of George Farndale taken about 1925

There is a record of Ironstone worked from Kilton Mine for half year ending 30 June 1926 (The National Archives U.SG/6/22 held at Teesside Archives) and 31 December 1925 (The National Archives U.SG/6/25 held at Teesside Archives).

1926

There is a record of Ironstone worked from Kilton Mine for half year ending 30 June 1926 (The National Archives U.SG/6/30 held at Teesside Archives) and 31 December 1926 (The National Archives U.SG/6/34 held at Teesside Archives).

There is a Notice to Make Returns relative to Mineral Rights Duties, for 1926 to 1927 issued to Col. W.H.A. Wharton dated 5 October 1926, regarding Kilton Mine, Leased by Dorman Long and Co. Ltd (The National Archives U.SG/5/13 held at Teesside Archives).

1927

There are some rough notes regarding royalties at Lumpsey, North Skelton, South Skelton, Kilton and Stanghow (The National Archives U.SG/12/18 held at Teesside Archives).

There is a record of Ironstone worked from Kilton Mine for half year ending 30 June 1927 (The National Archives U.SG/6/35 held at Teesside Archives) and 31 December 1927 (The National Archives U.SG/6/36 held at Teesside Archives).

In the period from Michaelmas to 31 December 1927 the rent paid at Kilton to William Henry Anthony Wharton included, amongst others:

George Farndale as executor for Charles Farndale paid rent for Stank House Farm (139 acres, 1 rood and 4 perches, £69 14s 4d), Buck Rush Farm (165 acres, 1 rood and 31 perches, £62 10s 0d), Pheasant Pen Field Castle (2 acres, 1 rood and 34 perches, £2 12s 0d) and the Old Railway (£2 10s 0d).

An acre was the primary unit of land area. A rood was a quarter of an acre. A perch was a 160^th of an acre or a 40^th of a rood.

E Hudson paid rent for land of the late Goldby, Kilton Lane (3 acres, 1 rood and 7 perches, £2 10s 0d).

William Hutchinson paid rent for Greenhills Farm (171 acres, 3 rood and 34 perches, £61 17s 9d).

A V Neal paid rent for a Cottage, Castle, of the late J Watson (£3 5s 0d).

Nixon Brothers paid rent for land at Lumpsey Field (26 acres, 2 rood and 13 perches, £25 0s 0d).

North Riding County Council paid rent for small holdings at Carlin How held for 12 years from 1 January 1916 (48 acres, 2 rood and 16 perches, £42 10s 0d), and the police station at Kilton Thorpe (£3 10s).

PL Ford paid rent for a cottage at Kilton Castle (£3 10s).

Jas Richardson, executors, paid rent for land at Kilton Mill (20 acres, 3 rood and 1 perches, £22 4s 0d).

Jas Ruddock, executors, paid rent for part of the land at Lumpsey (3 acres, 3 rood and 29 perches, £5 17s 6d).

J Robinson paid rent for East Pastures Farm (32 acres, 3 rood and 20 perches, £5 4s 0d).

(Rental accounts for Kilton, 31 December 1927, Skelton and Gilling Estates records)

1928

The general rate book for the parishes of Brotton, Kilton and Moorsholm dated October 1928 (The National Archives DC/SB/22/18 held at Teesside Archives). The full records can be consulted for a detailed list of those living in Kilton.

The Farndale entries are:

There is a record of Ironstone worked from Kilton Mine for half year ending 30 June 1928 (The National Archives U.SG/6/37 held at Teesside Archives) and 31 December 1928 (The National Archives U.SG/6/38 held at Teesside Archives).

1929

There are copies of mining leases between 1929 to 1940 by William Henry Anthony Wharton of Skelton Castle to Bolckow Vaughan and Co. of ironstone in Skelton Stanghow and Kilton 23 Nov. 1929; from W.H.A. Wharton esq. to Dorman Long and Co. of ironstone mines in the township of Kilton known as the Lumpsey Mine 31 March 1932; from Mrs. H.M. Young and others to Mrs. M.W. Ringrose Wharton and others of ironstone mines under Hollybush Farm, Skelton, 31 Dec. 1940 (The National Archives U.SG/1/5 held at Teesside Archives).

There is a record of Ironstone worked from Kilton Mine for half year ending 30 June 1929 (The National Archives U.SG/6/39 held at Teesside Archives) and 31 December 1929 (The National Archives U.SG/6/40 held at Teesside Archives).

1930s

In the 1930s, Lockwood absorbed adjacent areas, including Kilton, streamlining local governance amid declining rural populations.

Ironstone worked from Kilton Mine during the half year ending 30 June 1930, Dorman Long and Co Ltd (The National Archives U.SG/6/42 held at Teesside Archives).

1931

Kilton parish recorded a population of 140 residents.

There are Statements of Ironstone drawn by Dorman Long and Co Ltd from South Skelton Mine and Kilton Mine for January and February 1931 (The National Archives U.SG/6/47 held at Teesside Archives).

1933

On 18 August 1833, there was a Coroner’s Inquest at Kilton on the body of William Archer, aged 80 (North Yorkshire Records Office C/3/4/1 (1933/42)).

There are Accounts for the ironstone mines and quarries at Kilton and Lumpsey worked by Dorman Long (The National Archives BS/DL/4/5/15/5 held by Teesside Archives).

1934

There are journals with entries for Kilton mine between October 1934 to March 1964 (The National Archives BS/DL/4/18 held at Teesside Archives).

1935

The Skelton and Gilling Estate Records include details of half yearly rents due at Lady Day and 30 June 1935:

1938

R Richardson submitted a plan for a wooden shed on Kilton Lane in June 1938 (National Archives DC/SB/PL/490 held at Teesside Archives).

Margaret Winsome Ringrose-Wharton

William Henry Anthony Wharton died on 12 December 1938 and the Skelton and Kilton Estates passed to his daughter, Margaret Winsome Ringrose-Wharton.

Margaret Winsome Ringrose-Wharton

Second World War

1939

In 1939, George Farndale was living at Stank House in Kilton, with his sister Grace Farndale (1939 Register). They continued to be involved with the local Wesleyan Church.

1940

In 1940 George Farndale sold the stock at Kilton and this was the end of the Farndale association with Kilton. He and his sister Grace Farndale moved to Saltburn and George Farndale died there in 1970.

For over a century the Farndale family have been associated with the Loftus and Staithes Wesleyan Circuit, a connection which is soon to be severed by the removal of Mr George Farndale from Kilton Lodge to Saltburn. A member of the third generation of the well known family, Mr Farndale has been a circuit official for over 20 years, and a steward for seven. His grand father was a local preacher in the circuit for a number of years, and the late Charles Farndale upheld the family tradition by serving for the major period of his life as circuit official and steward. In the outlying districts of the circuit Mr George Farndale has worked equally hard, and stands as Trustee for many of the circuit chapels. (Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough, 8 March 1940).

Herbert Farndale still farmed at Craggs Hall Farm and became a councillor.

This is Carlin How football field. The goal is the Kilton Lane end of the pitch and in the distance at the left end of the houses can be seen Lower Cragg Hall farm. To the left of that and higher can be seen Upper Cragg Hall farm buildings and house among the trees. Herbert Farndale owned this when we were youngsters. I believe one of the teams was a Skinningrove works team. I lived in that left hand house in the late 1940s and we could watch the matches over our garden fence. This was what was fondly known as Bells Huts and is behind what is now the Bullet and Bayonet on Kilton lane. The foundry now stands exactly where that row of houses was. (Derick Pearson)

Post War Kilton

1945

British War Office, Ordnance Survey, 1945

The area now consists of individual farms with the exception of the small hamlet at Kilton Thorpe, the school of which has since been converted into a private dwelling. The estate workers’ cottages at Kilton and adjacent to the castle remained in use by the estate. The steep sided valley of Kilton Beck became heavily wooded. There was some small-scale quarrying in the valley, but this was unobtrusive.

Earnings records for North Skelton, Lumpsey and Kilton from 1944 to 1950 are available (National Archives U/IM/1/4 held at Teesside Archives).

1948

There is an Ordnance Survey map including Kilton showing ironstone mines, with manuscript notes (The National Archives U.SG/8/33 held at Teesside Archives).

1950s

Post-World War II rural depopulation affected Kilton, with farming modernisation reducing tenancies, but this was partially offset by growing tourism drawn to the castle ruins and surrounding dale landscape.

Kilton Hall not far from Brotton and Carlin How. When I was very young it was called Bells farm and Braygate Bank close by on the way to Carlin How was also called Bells bank. That was followed by the Family called Blacketts. Hence the farm became Blacketts and also Braygate bank became Blacketts bank.They were there many years and as children we would go Potato picking there or at Farndales Farm (High Cragg Hall) just over the hill towards Brotton Bank. Then there was inter marriage between the Blacketts and Halls and eventually the farm became Halls farm with a gent called Ramsey at first then later Richard (his son I believe) having the farm for many years. The Braygate bank however was not referred to as Halls Bank as far as I know. It was a place where there are quite a few photos of Church / Chapel people as far back as the late 1800s. They had some arrangement for outings at the farm. Tony Nicholson would know as I have photos of his family members at Kilton Hall. (Derick Pearson, Nostalgic North Riding, 22 February 2022).

For the period from Michaelmas to 31 December 1950, the rent paid at Kilton to Mrs Margaret Winsome Ringrose-Wharton included, amongst others:

J Blacket paid rent for Kilton Hall Farm (507 acres and 14 perches, £750).

An acre was the primary unit of land area. A rood was a quarter of an acre. A perch was a 160^th of an acre or a 40^th of a rood.

Jos Bonas paid rent for Park Claphow Farm (65 acres, 18 perches, £65).

R Bosworth paid rent for Buck Rush Farm (181 acres, 2 roods, 32 perches, £156), instalment on electric light (£7), Field 143 at Kilton Hall (17 acres, 31 perches), house and land at Stone Row (20 acres, 2 roods, 27 perches, £41) and a cottage at 7 Brick Row (£15 12s).

Carlin How Allotment Association paid 1s for the easement and office buildings and paid rent for allotments (48 acres, 2 roods, 16 perches, £93 11s).

S Chapman paid rent for land at Lumpsey (5 acres and 36 perches and 3 acres 3 roods and 29 perchaes for late Bosworth, £18).

W R Cross paid rent for access rights (1s).

Dorman Long and Company paid rent for land at Lumpsey, Gardens, Kilton Pit, late Stank House, Carlin How, Bells Huts, No 9 Kilton Thorpe, No 10 Kilton Tjorpe, No 8 Kilton Thorpe (School House), for a pipeline from Lumpsey Mine into Millholme Beck, lighting and cottages at 2 Stone Row and 6 Brick Row.

J G Hind paid rent for land at Kilton Mill (20 acres, 1 rood, 34 perches, £60).

G W Hutchinson paid rent for Stank House farm (146 acres, 3 roods, 3 perches, £176 8s) and instalment on electrical lighting (£5 15s).

(Rental accounts for Kilton, Michaelmas and 31 December 1950, Skelton and Gilling Estates Records)

1951

The Kilton civil parish population was 250 residents (A Vision of Britain Through Time, Kilton Parish).

Photograph taken on 11 July 1951 of two men loading ironstone into wagons at Kilton mine, working for Dorman Long & Co Limited (Teesside Archives)

1954

Kilton mine was operated by Dorman, Long (Steel) Limited until it closed in 1963. Mines, Collieries and Quarries Plans of Kilton Mine (Dorman, Long (Steel) Limited) of about this time show the area of Kilton mine worked out and those still to be worked out (The National Archives BS/DL/9/2/3/1/20, held at Teesside Archives).

Mine and Quarries Ledger, Kilton, North Skelton (Dorman Long (Steel) Limited) (The National Archives BS/DLS/3/2/2/24, held at Teesside Archives).

There is a photograph taken on 11 July 1951 of two men loading ironstone into wagons at Kilton Mill working for Dorman Long & Co Ltd (The National Archives BS/DL/7/2/1/1/469 held at Teesside Archives).

1960

Three Mines, Collieries and Quarries Plans of Kilton Mine (Dorman Long (Steel) Limited) of about 1960 include the ventilation plan, and the main seam plan. The main seam plan is complete with a drawing of shaft section of the mine (The National Archives BS/DLS/3/2/2/24, held at Teesside Archives).

Copy plan showing the layout of mines across the Cleveland ironstone mining area including Kilton and Lumpsey (The National Archives BS/DL/9/2/3/1/25, held at Teesside Archives).

1963

The ironstone mining finished in the 1960s and has left behind the great spoil heap at Kilton mines. The earthworks of the railways, built to service the mines, still survive along with a solitary signal post which is set to halt.

Ironstone mining ceased in 1963, leaving the area to revert to agriculture and woodland, while recent conservation efforts have focused on preserving the Grade I listed castle remains and Kilton Dale's heritage features through scheduled monument protection.

Because the estate and township was not dependant on industry it has survived the closing of the mines extremely well and the township today is primarily an agricultural landscape, almost completely given over to crop production. There are a few areas of grassland which coincide with the medieval earthworks. Settlement in the township consists of individual farms with the exception of the small hamlet at Kilton Thorpe, the school of which is now being converted into a private dwelling. The estate workers cottages at Kilton and adjacent to the castle are still in use by the estate. The steep sided valley of Kilton Beck is still heavily wooded, with some plantation and some relict woodland. There is some evidence of small scale quarrying in the valley, but this is unobtrusive. The ironstone mining finished in the early 1960s and has left behind the great spoil heap at Kilton mines. The earthworks of the railways, built to service the mines, still survive along with a solitary signal post set to halt. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 56).

1964

There was an acquisition of land for road improvement at Carlin How on 13 March 1964 (The National Archives U.OME(3)/342 held at Teesside Archives).

1965

Herbert Farndale retired from farming at Craggs Hall Farm.

1967

G L Hannah began to restore the derelict Kilton Mill, then 300 years old, and converted it into a residential property.

Two sets of excavations were undertaken at Kilton Castle, first in the 1920s and then between 1967 and 1969 under Dr Alan Aberg of the University of Leeds (Aberg, F A (Ed) (1979), Medieval Moated Sites; bronze spout from Kilton Castle, in the Antiquities Journal, pages 411-12, Council for British Archaeology Research Report Number 17). At this time consolidation work rescued the castle from falling further into disrepair. There were 250 boxes of unrecorded late twelfth to fifteenth century pottery from Alan Aberg’s excavations which may still need assessment (Irving, Anne (2011) A Research framework for post Roman ceramic studies in Britain, Medieval Pottery Research Group Occasional Paper No 6, page 31). Hedley Swain did a survey of the fabric of Kilton Castle in the 1980s.

1968

Estate Map of Kilton, 21 February 1968 (Skelton and Gilling Estate Records)

1974

The 1974 local government reorganization transferred the area from the North Riding of Yorkshire to the new county of Cleveland, later becoming part of Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in 1996. From 1974 the former civil parish of Kilton was abolished (Cleveland Registration District, civil parishes, Kilton).

1980

Countryside at Kilton in 1980

Kilton Hall, 1980

1990

A large nineteenth century mill with its outbuilding still stands on Kilton beck and may occupy much the same location as its medieval predecessor. It is no longer used for milling purposes. (Robert Daniels. 1990. Kilton: A Survey of Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North East England. Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland Research Report No 2, edited by B E Vyner, page 55).

1991

Major Anthony Charles Philip Wharton DL

Margaret Winsome Ringrose-Wharton died on 4 February 1991 and the Skelton, Gilling and Kilton estate passed to the great great grandson of John Wharton, Major Anthony Charles Philip Wharton DL.

Anthony Charles Philip Wharton

Kilton into the Twenty First Century

2016

Construction of a single 1,500 kilowatt inshore wind turbine took place around in mid 2016, with archaeological surveys noting local medieval and pre-Roman historical traces in the surrounding soil during work (The Windpower, Kilton Thorpe Lane) after objections in 2014 (Plan for 100m wind turbine near Brotton unanimously kicked out by councillors, Teesside News, 27 November 2014).

The countryside at Kilton in 2016

Kilton Hall in 2016

2021

The 2021 UK census recorded that the civil parish of Lockwood (including Kilton) had a population of 316.

2026

Today, Kilton is a quiet rural hamlet within the North York Moors National Park's influence zone, supporting eco-tourism and arable farming on holdings like the 243 hectare (600 acre) Kilton Hall Farm (see How three farmers are building fresilience to their businesses, Farmers Weekly, 19 September 2024).

Major Anthony Charles Philip Wharton died on 9 January 2026. His heir remains to be announced.

Bibliography

The Skelton and Gilling Estate hold an extensive record of diaries, maps, rent records and other details, which record the history of Kilton.

Adamson, Philip (2001), An Iron Age settlement at Kilton Thorpe, Cleveland in Teeside Archaeological Society Bulletin, Volume 6, pages 4 to 8.

L’Anson, William M (1913), Kilton Castle in Yorkshire Archeaological Journal, Volume 22, page 55.

Atkinson, Rev J C (1874), History of Cleveland Ancient and Modern, Volume 1, Barrow in Furness: J Richardson.

Brotton Howe, Brotton, Cleveland, North Yorkshire, The Northern Antiquarian.

Crawford, G M (1990), Bronze Age Burial Mounds in Cleveland, Cleveland County Council.

Danby, Bill, Ice Age to Romans and Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in Skelton-in-Cleveland in History.

Daniels, Robin (1990), Kilton: A Survey of a Moorland Fringe Township in Medieval Rural Settlement in North-East England, page 33.

Dowey, Janet. Impact of Agricultural Change on the Rural Community - a case study of Kilton circa 1770-1870.

Elgee, Frank (1930), Early Man in North-East Yorkshire. Gloucester: John Bellows.

Farndale, John (1870), The History of Kilton, With a Sketch of the Neighbouring Villages, By the Returned Emigrant, Dedicated to the Rev William Jolley. Toronto, Canada, America, Middlesbrough, Burnett & Hood, “Exchange” Printing Offices.

Farndale, John (1864), Guide to Saltburn by the Sea and the Surrounding District, With remarks on its picturesque scenery, Fifth Edition, Dedicated to John Thomas Wharton Esq of Skelton. Late of Skelton Castle Farm, Darlington, Printed by Charles W Hird.

Graves, Rev John (1808), The History of Cleveland. Carlisle: F Jollie and Sons.

Hebditch, W (1939), The Origin and Early History of the Kilton Fee in Yorkshire Archealogical Journal, Volume 34, page 296.

Historic England, North Yorkshire Moors and Cleveland Hills. National Charatcter Area 25.

Hornsby, William and Stanton, Richard (1918), British Barrows near Brotton in Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Volume 24 Page 263-268.

Horton, Minnie C (1979), The Story of Cleveland, History, anecdote and legend, Cleveland County Libraries.

Map of an Estate belonging to John Hall Stevenson Esq lying at Skelton and Brotton in Cleveland in the North Riding of Yorkshire produced in 1773 after a survey by Watson and Seagrave, copy held by Tees Archaeology.

Ord, John Walker (1846), History and Antiquities of of Cleveland. London: Simpkin and Marshall.

Sherlock Stephen J and Vyne, Blaise E (2001), Brotton-Boulby Pipeline, The Iron Age Settlement at Kilton Lane, Brotton, Report by Tees Valley Archaeology. *

Sherlock, Stephen J (2002), Excavations at Kilton Thorpe in 2002.

Sherlock, Stephen J (2002), An Archaeological Excavation at Kilton Thorpe, near Brotton, Excavations during August 2002.

Sherlock, Stephen John (2010), An Examination of Late Prehistoric Settlement in North East England with Specific Emphasis on the Settlements of the Tees Valley, University of Leicester, School of Archaeology and Ancient History.

Sherlock, Stephen J (2012), Late Prehistoric Settlement in the Tees Valley and Northeast England, Tees Archaeology Monograph Seies Volume 5, Hartlepool. *

Sherlock, Stephen J (2012), A Royal Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Street House, Loftus, Northeast Yorkshire, Tees Archaeology Monograph Seies Volume 6, Hartlepool. *

Sherlock, Stephen J (2019), A Neolithic to Late Roman Landscape on the Northeast Yorkshire Coast: Excavations at Street House, Loftus 2004 to 2017, Tees Archaeology Monograph Seies Volume 7, Hartlepool. *

Sherlock, Stephen J (2021), Early Neolothic salt production at Street House, Loftus, northeast England in Antiquity, Volume 95, pages 648 to 669. *

Sherlock, Stephen J (2025), A Romano-British Saltern at Street House, Loftus, Northeast Yorkshire in Durham Archaeological Journal Volume 24, pages 85 to 95.

Spratt, D A (1979), The Archaeology of Cleveland. Middlesbrough Borough Council.

Spratt, DA (1982), Prehistoric and Roman Archaeology of North-East Yorkshire. British Aarchaeological Reports British Series 104.

Surtees Society (1894), Cartulary of Guisborough Priory. Durham: Andrews and Co.

Tullie, Joseph (1767). Joseph Tullie’s Estate Plan. A map of an Estate belonging to John Hall Stephenson Esq lying at Skelton and Brotton in Cleveland in the North Riding of the County of York, hangs on the Wall as Skelton and Gilling Estates Office.

Tweddell, George Markham (1872), The people's history of Cleveland and its vicinage, Stokesley: Tweddell & Sons.

Victoria County History (1923), The wapentake of Langbaurgh (east): Brotton in A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2, ed. William Page. London. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/north/vol2/pp326-332.

Vyner, Blaise E (2000), Report on the Iron Age and Roman Period Pottery Assemblage Excavated from Kilton Thorpe, Cleveland, Report for Northern Archaeology Associates. *

Vyner, Blaise E (2001), The Pottery in the Iron Age Settlement at Kilton Lane, Brotton, Report by Tees Valley Archaeology. *

Vyner, Blaise (2024), An Indication of Northern Souls: Revisiting the ‘Territory of Ritual’ in Offa’s Dyke Journal, Volume 6, page 10-53.

Wilson, Chris Scott and Butler, Ray (1984), Cleveland’s History. *

* indicates articles not yet reviewed by the author.