Easington Parish information from Bulmers' 1890.

EASINGTON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890.

Wapentake and Petty Sessional Division of Langbaurgh East - Electoral Divisions of Hinderwell and Loftus - Poor Law Union of Guisborough - County Court District and Rural Deanery of Whitby - Archdeaconry of Cleveland - Diocese of York.

This parish extends from the coast about 3½ miles inland and is bounded on the landward side by the parishes of Loftus and Hinderwell. Its total area according to the census returns is 6,220 acres, and the number of inhabitants 1,333. The soil is various but generally a strong clay. The parish comprises the township of its own name and that of Liverton, the former of which contains 3,893 acres, and is valued for rateable purposes at £3,490.

The manor of Easington was, according to Domesday Book, within the soke of the manor of Loftus, and had then one villein with one plough, a wood, and a cattle pasture one mile long and half-a-mile broad. Soon after the conquest this manor was granted to the De Brus, from which family it passed, by the marriage of an heiress, to Robert de Ros. We next find it in the possession of the Conyers, and in 1664, it was conveyed, by the marriage of an heiress of this family, to Richard Myddleton of Offerton, County Durham, whose daughter carried it in marriage to Sir Thomas Heron, Bart., who took the name of Myddleton, but he, dying without male issue, it descended to the next heir Robert Wharton, Esq., grandson of Mary, younger daughter of the above Richard Myddleton, by her husband, Robert Wharton, Esq., of Old Park. On succeeding to the estate Mr. Wharton assumed the name of Myddleton also. From the representatives of this family the manor and estate (5,000 acres) passed by purchase to Charles Mark Palmer, Esq., recently created a baronet, and M.P. for Jarrow, the present owner, by whom the hall (Grinkle Park) was rebuilt in 1883, in a mixed style of architecture (English and Norman).

The village of Easington is situated about 1½ miles E. of Loftus, and near the coast line of railway to Whitby. Its name dates from an early period of Anglo-Saxon history, and is one of the many evidences of the existance of clanship among our Saxon forefathers. Here settled the Esings or sons of Esa from whom, according to Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ida the first King of Northumbria was descended, and their homestead staked out and surrounded by a hedge was called Esingtune or Easington. The church (All Saints) was founded before the Norman Conquest, but was without a priest when Domesday survey was made. Sometime after, Roger de Rosel gave it to the priory of Guisbro', and it continued a rectory in the patronage of that convent until the Dissolution, when the advowson fell to the Crown. The church was rebuilt in 1772, in a plain inartistic style, upon the site of the old Norman edifice. This was taken down in 1888, and a neat structure erected, at a cost of £2,215. It is in the 14th century Gothic style, and has been built from the designs of Mr. C. Hodgson Fowler, F.S.A., Durham. Whilst excavating for the new foundations, several moulded and carved stones, the relics of an early church were discovered, and are preserved in the tower, The new edifice consists of a nave and north aisle of three bays, a chancel with organ chamber and oak screen, two vestries and a western tower, the lower story of which forms a porch being separated from the nave by an oak screen. The chancel is seated with choir seats and stalls. The font is of Caen stone, and was the gift of the children of the parish. The old stone facing of the last church has been re-used on the north side and east end with good effect. The church was opened by the Archbishop of York, on the 24th of October, 1889.

The living with which Liverton is annexed, is valued in the King's Books at £14 8s. 6d., but is now worth £600. The tithes of the township were commuted for £400, those of Liverton for £200, but they are now of much less value. The present rector is the Rev. A. L. Lambert, M.A.

A handsome national school was erected by C. M. Palmer, Esq., in 1868, and near this is a beautiful and elaborate fountain erected in 1873, to the memory of the late Rev. Dr. Morehead and Margaret his wife, by five sisters, their granddaughters.

About a mile east of Easington, near the sea, is the straggling and ruinous village of Boulby. The rocks which here line the coast are bold and precipitous, and in one point known as Boulby Cliff they rise to a height of 679 feet above the sea level. Large deposits of aluminous shale occur in these rocks, and as early as 1615, fifteen years after the introduction of the alum manufacture into England, works were erected here for the extraction of that chemical. There was also an alum house at Loftus, but the manufacture has been discontinued at both places for several years. Jet occurs in the lias rocks, and is quarried to a small extent.

Scaling is a hamlet about three miles S. of Easington. Here is a Wesleyan chapel erected by G. Hebron in 1850; there is also a small school in connection with the parish church.

LIVERTON is a township and parochial chapelry in this parish, but in Cleveland Parliamentary Division, containing 2,400 acres. The rateable value is £3,920. The manor of Liverton was anciently included within the soke of Loftus. and belonged to the De Brus family, lords of Skelton, from whom it passed by marriage to the Thwengs, and afterwards to the Latimers, Willoughbys, and others, The manor and estate now belong to Viscount Downe. Mr. Thomas Petch is also a landowner.

The village is situated about 3½ miles S.W. of Easington. The church (St. Michael) is a small primitive structure with an Early Norman chancel arch. It was given by Henry Fitz-Conan to the monks of Guisbro' in 1219. The living is consolidated with the rectory of Easington. There are 30 acres of glebe. The school is chiefly supported by Viscount Downe.

Liverton iron mines were opened out in 1866, and came into the possession of the present proprietors - the Cargo Fleet Iron Co. in 1882. Between 100 and 200 men are employed, for whose accommodation a village with school, chapel, and hospital has been built near Loftus.

The poor of Liverton receive 12s. 6d. a year, the interest of £20 invested in the three per cent. consols, and a rent charge of 5s. out of land owned by Mr. T. Petch.

[Description(s) from Bulmer's History and Directory of North Yorkshire (1890)]

Directories

• Transcript of the entry for the Post Office, professions and trades in Bulmer's Directory of 1890.

Scan, OCR and html by Colin Hinson. Checking and correction by Peter Nelson.