235 



geld, ami 1 2 i^loughs, may be [there] : All are stated to be waste, 

 except "VVirueltune, in Avhich there are 20 villanes -with 8 ploughs. 

 It was, therefore, a cultivated settlement at the time of the conquest, 

 Avhen it was bestowed by the Conqueror with a large In-eadth of 

 territory upon the Count of IMortain in the Avranches, France — a 

 younger sou of Herleva, mother of the Conqueror— who fought at 

 the Battle of Hastings, [Note R. H. Scaife on Domesday]. The 

 old Saxon ]-'arish thus changed hands in a very forcible manner. 

 The name Whorlton is evidently derived from " Whorl," which 

 Skeat says is the same word as " Wharl," the name for a piece of 

 wood or bone placed on a spindle to twist it by ; the particular form 

 "AVhorl" may have been borrowed, he says, from 0. Du , and 

 introduced 1iy tlie Flemish weavers. On this, the late Canon 

 Atkinson said that Skeat would have modified his statement had he 

 knoAvn of our Cleveland " Worcel " or " Wirrel," so much anterior 

 in date to "the Flemish Aveavers." The "ton" at the end of 

 Whorlton is the Saxon for a settlement or place fenced in, equiva- 

 lent to the Danish " by." Whorl Hill is a striking natural object, 

 and therefore the settlement under the round hill woidd easily 

 suggest the name. Scandinavian influence was very great here as 

 portrayed in the nomenclature of per.sons, jilaces and fields, etc., 

 and of the townships or suli-districts of the Parish — Swainby, 

 Huthwaite, Potto, Scanh, Trenholm and Scugdale. In fact, the 

 Danes and their allies thoroughly colonised this part of the country 

 and reduced its inhabitants to slaverj', in a very different manner 

 from the way in which the Northmen invaded, and held Normandy, 

 simply by military tenure, as there is little evidence there of 

 Northern blood or occupation, except in Bayeux and places in the 

 vicinity of it. 



The Meinells soon appear upon the scene as lords here. 

 Stejthen, Son of Robert de Meinill, founded a religious house at 

 Scarthe at the West end of the Parish — the site is known, but 

 there are no remains ; a stone coffin can still be seen in a field near. 



In the second year of Henry III. the custody of his whole 

 barony Avithin the County of York was given to the Archbishop of 

 Canterbury. 



Nicholas de Meinill was summoned to Parliament among the 

 Barons from the 9th to the 16th Edw. III. He " held the Manor 

 of Whorlton, of the Archbishop of Canterbury, by the tenure of 

 serving the said Archbishop Avith the cup, in Avliich he should 

 <lrink, on the day of his Consecration." 



