| Early
History of the Area
Prehistory The burial mounds, boundary ditches and various earthworks on Levisham and Lockton Moors show that the area was settled in prehistoric times. 1 – 4th centuries Remains of a Roman villa have been found near Farwath, while a few miles to the west was the big Roman camp at Cawthorne with a road crossing the moor to a signal station at the coast. 7th – 10th centuries The names ‘Lockton’ and ‘Levisham’
suggest settlements that date from the Anglo-Saxon period
when ‘-ton’ and ‘-ham’ place-name
endings indicate a village or farmstead. Nothing has been
found to locate precisely where these settlements were.
They are among a string of villages – Hutton-le-Hole,
Spaunton, Lastingham, Cropton, Newton-on-Rawcliffe - along
the south-facing slope of the Tabular Hills, dropping down
to the Vale of Pickering. 11th century Domesday Book records the names of Lockton and Levisham, and also gives a hint of the terrible devastation, the ‘harrying of the north’, brought upon the area in the winter of 1069 following rebellion against the Conqueror. Domesday Book notes that the number of plough-teams working in the whole area round Pickering had gone down from 27 to 2, and the value of the Manor of Pickering had dropped from £ 88 to 20s 4d. 12th century From their layout, it seems likely that Lockton and Levisham were re-established in the 12th century. Their recovery was helped by grants to monks from Malton Priory who set up a sheep farm at Dundale on Levisham Moor. The Priory records (the Malton Cartulary) provide valuable information about the villages during the mid-12th century when the Bolebec family held the Manor of Levisham and also land in Lockton. Their main power-base was at Fulstowe in Lincolnshire, but he had a Reeve or Bailiff in Levisham, and there is reference to ‘Hugh of Lockton A stone church was built in the valley by Ralph de Bolebec, of which only the chancel arch remains. His may be the gravestone with a sword inscribed on it, preserved in the chancel of the old church. Background of the Group The Lockton and Levisham Heritage Project grew out of active work on the local history of the two villages over a number of years. The Heritage Group was set up in 2003 under the Chairmanship of David Barnett of Lockton. In 2004, we received a grant of £25,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund. We identified a number of projects to enhance appreciation of our heritage by both residents and the many visitors to the area. • Archaeology: investigation of the site round the
Valley Church, under the direction of Community Archaeologist
Kevin Cale. Our Current Project The Archaeology Project started in the spring of 2004 with a group of about 6 -12 from both villages meeting on Mondays, using Levisham Village Hall as our base. We are a mixed bunch – both long-standing residents and newcomers, between us contributing long memories, knowledge of archaeology and local history, experience with computers and digital cameras, and above all a willingness to put in what we can. The funding provided computer equipment for recording our work. We aimed to find out more about the relationship of the Church Garth site with the two villages. We started by collecting all the maps covering the area,
from 17th century p to the latest O.S. map. From these we
could trace changes in fields, tracks, buildings, over the
centuries. We also began making a collection of digital
copies of old postcards and We worked by exploring the site, observing carefully all that is there. Back in the Village Hall, we learned how to record our findings on a database in a form that can be accessed by other interested bodies. Then came the attempt to interpret what we had found, to see if we could answer the questions about the site that had been in our minds at the start, especially WHY WAS THE CHURCH IN THE VALLEY? This exhibition tells where we have got to so far. The Legend about the Plague People who are curious about the Church in the valley are likely to come across the legend of the Plague. According to this story, the village of Levisham was originally situated down in the valley, clustered round the Church, but moved to a new site after being struck by the Plague. The story was written up in the Scarborough Mercury in 1972 under the heading ‘The Village that died of the Plague’. According to this account, ‘… the church in the valley … at one time stood in the centre of a flourishing rural community … . Not any more. The Black Death struck the village in 1348. By 1349 it had lost all its 22 inhabitants … including 4 rectors in 15 months. The old village disappeared. Between 1450 and 1500 a new church was built of stone to serve … the new village. Before long it fell into disrepair through disuse, the people of Levisham remaining firmly attached to the valley church.’ This makes a vivid and dramatic story, but is it true? Where does the information come from? It is noticeable that not a single source is quoted! Where the supposed ‘facts’ given here can be checked, they turn out to be wrong. From the list of Rectors of the Parish in the porch of the present church, we discover that one priest died in 1349 and his successor only lasted one year, but that Richard de Aislaby who succeeded him in 1351 remained in the post for 11 years. So much for the ‘4 rectors in 15 months’. It is true that at some time during the medieval period a Chapel of Ease was built in the centre of the village – but the fall into disrepair happened not ‘before long’ but during the 19th century, when it was rebuilt and is now the Parish Church. There is evidence from various documents that there was a village on its present site during the 13th century, a hundred years before the Plague. Its layout, with regular-sized plots or ‘garths’ arranged on either side of a main street follows the same pattern as other villages in the area rebuilt during the 12th century in the time of recovery after the Norman Conquest. It is more than likely that Levisham, along with the rest of the country, was struck by the Plague, which is estimated to have wiped out at least a third of the whole population. But there does not seem to be any evidence to support the idea that the 14th century Black Death brought about the wholesale removal of the village up the hill from the valley. Rowl Spring and the Stream - see image 1 Levisham Beck rises in the Hole of Horcum and flows S, then W, then SW for about 5km before joining Pickering Beck at Farwath. It is fed by many little streams rising from the lower levels of the escarpment bounding the valley on the N & W sides. One of these, just below the present Levisham Village, has its main source at Rowl Spring and flows for about 220m before joining Levisham Beck, forming the western border of Church Garth. It almost certainly played a significant part in the development of human occupation on this area of the valley, partly because of its high quality drinking water, and possibly also because of its calcifying properties, which tended to be regarded as mysterious and religiously important. There is a minor mystery in the course of the stream. After rising at Rowl Spring it flows SE for about 50m, being supplemented by several lesser springs, before reaching the present track along the NW side of the valley, which bounds Church Garth. At this point the obvious course to Levisham Beck would be down the middle of the field, but instead it turns SW and rounds a small hillock before resuming a southerly direction. This prompts the question whether the course was deliberately diverted, and why? It is just possible that there could have been a small mill on the stream. There are records of a mill at Levisham dating back to the 12th century but it need not have occupied the recent site. Summary - see image 2 The stream from Rowl Spring almost certainly played a significant role in the early human occupation of the valley. It provided good drinking water and possibly had religious importance due to its calcifying properties. A Short Note on St. Mary’s, Levisham St. Mary’s, Levisham, the “Church in the Valley”, has a very ancient though very obscure origin. A superb collection of carved stones, architectural pieces and parts of crosses, of 9th to 12th century origin, point to an earlier church. Some of these can be found in St. John’s Church in the village and some in Ryedale Folk Museum in Hutton-le-Hole. The tower was built in 1897, in memory of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The church was deconsecrated about 1970 and subsequently the nave roof was removed. The chancel was retained intact and the nave’s memorials moved under cover, to join those already in the chancel. They name previous Rectors and villagers. Levisham Mill - see image 4 A number of documents from the 13th Century contain references
We have not found any further documents mentioning the mill, but there are court records from 1293, 1312, and 1316 of Ralph the miller and his son William being fined for poaching. It has generally been assumed that the medieval mill was on the same site of the later mill, but was it? When we were looking at the way the stream from the Rowl
Spring had been diverted, we wondered why – and then
considered the possibility that the first mill was somewhere
here. Ancient Tracks - see image 3 From old maps such as Jeffrey’s map of 1771 we can see that in the past, some of the major tracks did not follow the same route as today’s roads. The valley by the Church was a point where several well-established tracks converged. A traveller from Pickering would come along the old Sleights Road, - now a cart track, but once a broad track with hedges on either side - which dropped down from the present Pickering-Whitby road midway between Kingthorpe and the Fox and Rabbit, following the contour of the valley above Levisham Beck on its east side. Just below the Church, a ford across the Beck led into a well-defined track past the Church and on up into Levisham village. On older maps, this route up to the village appears to be more prominent than the road past the Mill, suggesting that it was perhaps the earlier road. From the junction of the Sleights Road with Lockton Bank, the traveller could proceed up the hill to Lockton and beyond. Above the Church, a lesser track followed the valley down on the west side of the Beck to Farwath, connecting with both the Sleights Road and an east-west track to Newton. Today, these are footpaths to be explored by walkers, with occasional use by farm vehicles. Once, the site of the church which seems to us so remote and secluded was right beside roads in regular use by people going about their daily work on foot or horseback. The Dragon Stone - see image 4 The Dragon Stone is a grave-cover of about the 10th century. It probably originally had an upright carved stone at either end. It is not unique in Ryedale, where other similar ‘Ribbon Beasts’ are known from cross shafts at Middleton, Kirkbymoorside and Sinnington, giving rise to the theory that Ryedale had its own school of carvers in the 10th century. Our beast makes its sinuous way along the stone, within
a double outline. It has a spiralled tail, but no limbs,
and its fangs pierce each of its jaws. It is held fettered
by a single-outlined snake which winds itself over and under
the ‘dragon’, and is itself decorated by pairs
of opposed scrolls. 10thC Carved Cross - see images 5,6,7 This is a fragment of a sandstone wheelhead cross, one arm and part of the wheel. The outer face is a rectangular carving, the centre a plain rectangle surrounded by two strips of interlace, all held within a roll-moulding. One side-face shows part of a Staffordshire knot, with large pellets in the spaces, surrounded by a roll-moulding. The other side is more worn and may have carried basket-plait within a roll-moulding. It is a local type, occurring at Middleton and Kirbymoorside and may even have been carved by the same hand. It dates to the 10th century Anglo-Scandinavian sculpture of Ryedale. 12th C Carved Cross This is a finial crosshead, very crudely carved. An almost central boss is surrounded by irregular saltire crosses. The reverse is badly defaced, with two more saltires and – can you see a crude figure of Christ in a long, straight gown and with outstreached arms? This piece is later, Romanesque, at least a hundred years later than the other crosshead and probably twelfth century. Earthworks Church garth contains a complex of shallow earthworks. The remains consist largely of small building platforms and two larger platforms. The earthworks appear to be consistent with a single phase of activity, pre 18th century in origin and possibly Anglo-Scandinavian in date. Conjecturally the two largest earthworks have been attributed to the site of a prestigious dwelling and a church. Pottery - see images 8,9 Field walking over Church Garth has produced very little in the way of evidence of former occupation. Only 7 small sherds of pottery have been found, all dating from early medieval times. One rim sherd represents a shallow dish and two others, conjoining, are part of a jar or cooking pot. All the sherds are very small and therefore it is difficult to determine the shape of the vessels they represent. As they all came from molehills, we are hoping for better things when our dig starts in the Chapel Garth. One of the small sherds, a red fabric, probably a cooking pot, is hand-made and could be Anglo-Saxton or Norman of the 9th to 11th centuries. The shallow dish and the two joining sherds are probably later, of the Normans of medieval period, i.e. 11th to 14th centuries. Documents The earliest documentary references to Lockton and Levisham are in Domesday Book, compiled in 1086: very brief in each case. There is no mention of a church in either village, which does not necessarily mean none was there – very few churches were recorded in North Yorkshire. Levisham and Lockton next appear in documents in the 13th century. The references to the site in the valley come from the time when the Lord of the Manor of Levisham, Ralph de Bolebec, who also held land in Lockton, was involved in legal transactions with Malton Priory concerning the Mill, 20acres of land and 16 acres of meadow which, along with a bovate (about 12 acres) belonging to Adam the Reeve. From the 17th century onwards the church, churchyard and glebe land are detailed in church Terriers. Various wills from the 16th century onwards mention burial in the church and churchyard. The Parish Registers can provide links with the wills and monumental inscriptions. A comprehensive collection of documents relating to the history of Levisham including (among much else) copies of Parish Registers, Census Returns, Wills, newspaper articles, is kept in the Village Hall, and can be consulted by arrangement. Memorial stones - see image 10 Seventeenth and eighteenth century wills for the Levisham area sometimes contain a request too be buried south of the church in the churchyard or within the church. No upstanding stones in the churchyard or memorials in the church remain today which can be linked directly to the people who made these wills, but it does give an indication that there are many unmarked graves in the churchyard. The oldest stone which can be observed and read is that of John Storry son of John Storry, who died in 1713 aged nineteen. Through the existence of two wills and the inscription on the stone his family can be identified, living in Newtondale. The inscriptions on the stones which are still standing can frequently identify people and their families who lived in the village of Levisham and whose lives are recorded in other documents like Parish Registers and census returns. For example, the Lightowler family whose gravestones can be seen in the churchyard has entries under baptism, marriage and burial, and the census returns from 1841 to 1871 give further information on this family. Places other than Levisham are often written on the stones giving vital clues for Family Historians as to the whereabouts of other recorded sources. Levisham Mill is mentioned on several stones and in the case of the Walker family, Leeds and Lockton are also mentioned. Sometimes, especially on the earlier stones, the stone mason’s name and a place are inscribed giving further interest to both Family and Local Historians. Community Archaeology - see image 11,12 “A Community Archaeology Project is a collective action that encourages people to appreciate and share their sense of place” It is uncertain when the term Community Archaeology was
first applied to a particular approach to heritage studies.
However, in North Yorkshire it was used for the first time,
in a pilot project, in 1995. There were three main factors
that contributed to the establishment of this Community
Archaeology Project, namely; an opportunity to engage and
train members of an existing archaeological group in landscape
studies; a need to enhance the Sites and Monuments Record
with monument specific data; a wish to demonstrate that
archaeological work could be undertaken without resorting
to excavation. Community Archaeology Ltd There are many advantages to involving the community. The members of the group come from all walks of life and with a wide variety of skills and contacts (important when needing to do an investigation on a building site or a farmer’s land). At the same time, the group benefits from the expert advise of the community archaeologist In the case of the Lockton and Levisham Heritage Project, this investigation is just one of a group of projects it has taken on under the Local Heritage Initiative with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund. We are also preparing a Then and Now book based on old and new photographs taken in the two villages and a collection of local walk leaflets highlighting the most interesting footpaths from each village. A fourth project has already begun. It is an interactive course based on the collection of local history material housed at the Village Hall and the village itself, and is aimed at primary children. It is run by the North York Moors National Park. Geophysics In our survey, the main discovery was the buried hydraulic pipe. This caused an intense magnetic field that might possibly have prevented any other older evidence being detected near by. However, slight traces of anomalies were detected that may be connected to drainage, others possibly linked to the earthworks across the site. Tufa - see image 13 Tufa is a hard rock formation riddled with holes like a sponge. It is formed by calcium-rich water emerging from a spring and constantly trickling over vegetation – often mosses – to create a rigid calcium carbonate encrusted deposit. Tufa occurs in large and small deposits in various localities in this and other countries. The Peak district, the Mendips and Malhamdale have large deposits; at Knaresborough a tufa depositing spring has been turned into a tourist attraction by the calcification of strategically-place hats, gloves, toys etc. In the area is Newtondale Well, formerly regarded as a
health-enhancing spa; a chained metal cup enabled visitors
to drink the spring water. Small tufa deposits can often
be found where water seeps out above an impervious rock
layer having drained through calcium-rich strata. Water Recent history of the Rowl Spring Water In 1894 the Poor Law Guardians decided that it was essential to give Levisham a better water supply than that provided by the cisterns which had been relied on previously. The solution was to use a water wheel driven by the main flow of Levisham Beck to pump water from a cleaner course, Rowl Spring, up the 100m height difference to a reservoir near the Horseshoe Inn. The reciprocating pump and the water wheel were housed in a wooden or corrugated iron hut, and a weir was built to ensure a good supply to the wheel. The water was brought from Rowl Spring the 200m down to the pump by a cast iron pipe, with a similar delivery pipe alongside it, under Church Garth. Both are apparently still in situ. By about 1930 this arrangement in turn had become inadequate. Hydraulic rams offered both a greater flow and reduced maintenance, as they have few moving parts. They operate by interrupting a flow of water and causing a pulse of pressure which pushes a relatively small quantity into a delivery pipe against a significant head pressure. In most installations the output water is taken from the main flow, but it is understood that a different source could be used. We believe that in this installation the water supply continued to be derived from Rowl Spring. The head needed to provide the power for the two hydraulic rams was generated by locating them 280m down the valley. A 15inch concrete pipe brought the water from the pond above the weir, and it is still in situ. The improved arrangements allowed Lockton to be supplied, from Levisham reservoir, and the supply was further boosted in the mid 1950s by a diesel pump. In 1962 a mains water supply was provided to a new reservoir at Levisham, making the Rowl Spring source redundant. Summary From 1895 to 1962 Levisham village and later Lockton, were supplied with water from Rowl Spring. Some of the pipework involved in this has rather interfered with our attempts to find evidence of early occupation. Ralph De Bolebec & the Stone Graveslab The name RALPH DE BOLEBEC appears in a number of documents relating to Levisham between the years 1166 and 1252. During this time, a succession of at least 3 Bolebecs all called Ralph held the Manor of Levisham along with some land in Lockton. It seems likely that it was during their time that the village of Levisham was laid out on its present plan – a typical lay-out for planned villages during the 12th century in this part of the world. This was also the time of the building of the first stone church in the valley. A document dated 1252 refers to Ralph de Bolebec as ‘patron of the church at Levisham of which Robert le Bel is rector, worth 8 marks by the year.’ An archaeological investigation into the church in 1977 found a stone set into the floor of the nave which had a sword incised into it. Was this perhaps a memorial to the Bolebec who had founded the church? The Bolebecs were closely involved with Malton Priory,
and amongst the documents of the Priory (the Malton Cartulary)
are a number of charters concerning grants made by Ralph
de Bolebec to the Malton Canons. We know from the Malton documents that Bolebec needed to raise money, and made deals in which land both on the moor in the Dundale area and in the valley and the mill were granted to the Canons of Malton in return for money put up by Jewish money lenders. This was a common practice at a time before there were banks to provide mortgages. The Sword in the Stone: a Templar gravestone? When a team of archaeologists investigated St Mary’s Church in 1977, they discovered this stone set into the floor. It has been dated as being from the 12th century. As this was the time when the Bolebec family held the Manor of Levisham and were closely involved with the church, one possibility seemed to be that this was the gravestone of the Ralph de Bolebec who built the 12th century church. Research for this exhibition has shown similarities between this carved sword and others known to have marked the graves of Templars. The Knights Templar was founded in 1118 under the title of ‘Poor Fellow- Soldiers of Jesus Christ’. Their members were soldier-monks. Their particular task was to protect pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land, and to fight against the Turks to defend the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem. In time, they became wealthy and powerful and attracted a lot of jealousy and resentment. All sorts of rumours circulated about their unholy goings-on, and in 1308 the Order was suppressed by the Pope and their property handed over to the Knights Hospitaller. Their houses, called Preceptories, were found all over Europe. There were several in this area: one at Westerdale, one at Foulbridge near Yedingham, another at Staintondale. They welcomed gifts of land which they cultivated to raise money to finance their work – 750 acres of land was needed to equip and maintain one knight! The name ‘Temple Garth’ is a reminder that they once held land in Lockton. The cross carved on the ancient font (now in St John the Baptist Church, Levisham) also resembles Templar crosses. So – was there a Templar connection with the Church during the 12th century? Another mystery! Our Current Thinking Geology Church Garth lies on a gentle south-facing slope at the point where the narrow, steep-sided valley of Levisham Beck widens out, and before it becomes extremely boggy as it approaches the junction with Pickering Beck at Farwath. It is the one place in the valley where settlement would have been possible, as well as being a place where the Beck is easily forded. The Oxford Clay of the valley floor makes good grazing land, though generally too heavy for ploughing. The Rowl Spring is one of a series of springs along the valley sides at the level where the porous limestone rock meets the impervious layer of clay. Prehistoric Times Although no evidence has been found of prehistoric activity in the valley, the spring would have provided a water supply and we can imagine that its calcifying properties might well have given it ritual significance. Pre-Conquest From their names, we know that Lockton and Levisham were Anglian settlements during the centuries following the Roman occupation. A grave stone carved in a typical Anglo-Scandinavian style
and several pieces of carved crosses (later incorporated
in the rebuilt church walls) all dating from the 10th century
suggest that by then this was a Christian site with a burial
ground. There is no evidence of a church, not even a wooden
building, on the site of the present church, but we wonder
if the large building platform to the west of the present
church and on the same orientation was the site of an early
wooden church. The stream from the Rowl Spring has been redirected so that instead of following its natural course directly down the Beck, it has been artificially diverted round the field. We wonder if this was done to get a better fall of water to use for some purpose such as milling. We suspect that the original site of a mill might have been here. We envisage the possibility of a pre-Conquest settlement with church, mill a large house and a collection of smaller huts, clustered beside the ford. Post-Conquest Both villages are briefly mentioned in Domesday Book, but it is from the following centuries that firm evidence relating to the site appears. The chancel arch, the earliest part of the remaining structure of the church, dates from the 12th century, while various 13th century documents refer to the church, the mill, and to cultivated land and meadows with an acreage that. matches the fields between the mill and Farwath. We picture Ralph de Bolebec, the Norman Lord of the Manor, laying out a new village up the hill as he tried to bring about the recovery of a community that had gone into decline during the general devastation of the area after the Conquest, perhaps re-siting the mill but deciding to build the new stone church on the site that had its long religious associations. The first known name of a Rector comes from one of these 13th century documents. We imagine that the gravestone with a sword incised on it may have been that of Ralph de Bolebec. 13th – 19th centuries We know of the continued use of the church from Terriers, some of which suggest that the whole field was used as the graveyard. There are no headstones from before the 18th century, but wills tell us of burials both within the church and in the churchyard. Traces of medieval painting survive on some of the stonework. More Recently … The church was completely rebuilt during the incumbency of the first Robert Skelton in 1801, with a stone stable near the gate into the churchyard for the Rector’s horse. The tower was added in 1895 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. Early in the 20th century, the churchyard was extended and the stable moved to the top of the field, where remains can still be seen Towards the end of the 19th century, first piped water supply to Levisham village came from the Rowl Spring, pumped up to 3 standpipes in the village street by a waterwheel beside a weir in Levisham Beck, and later by a hydraulic ram further down the Beck. The church, which for some considerable time had only had occasional use, was made redundant in the 1950’s. When alternative uses for the building were not found, it became dangerously insecure and would have been demolished in the 1980’s had not a plan been accepted to remove the unsafe roof of the nave and turn it into a ‘controlled ruin’. The graveyard is still in use. During the 1950’s, the field was sometimes used as a camping ground by youth organisations. The field is owned by the Church Commissioners, and leased to a local farmer. Latest Update Archaeological Dig Kevin Cale directed the digging of 2 test pits, on levelled areas we had identified in the field as sites of buildings. The largest of these levelled areas was thought to be the likely site of a large domestic building. The test pit on this platform yielded over 100 pieces of pottery which an expert has dated to the 13th and 14th centuries. This seems to provide definite evidence of settlement in the valley in the early ages. © Lockton & Levisham Heritage Group 2005 |