STOCKTON WARD 



BISHOPTON 



BISHOPTON 



The parish comprises three townships : Bishopton 

 in the north-east, East and West Newbiggin on the 

 south, and Little Stainton on the west. The surface 

 is comparatively level, having a general elevation of 

 170 ft. to 200 ft. .ibove the ordnance datum, except 

 for the depression in which the Bishopton Beck winds 

 its way through the centre of the parish and then 

 along the northern boundary, the bed of the stream 

 being little over 100 ft. above the ordnance datum on 

 the eastern boundary. The areas of the component 

 townships are : Bishopton, 2,178 acres; East and West 

 Newbiggin, 852 ; Little Stainton, 1,145. 



The village of Bishopton is centrally placed in its 

 township, on elevated ground north of the beck. The 

 church is in the middle of the village, and the ancient 

 earthwork called Castle Hill lies on low ground to 

 the south-east.' There is a Wesleyan chapel built in 

 1879 to replace an earlier building which existed in 

 1850. Stony Flat and Gilly Flat stand in the southern 

 part of the township, Gately Moor on the east side, 

 and Woogra in the western corner. The house called 

 Sauf Hall is in the east of Newbiggin ; in the western 

 part is a homestead moat.^ There is a plantation in 

 the north of Little Stainton ; otherwise the woodland 

 in the parish is but scanty. 



Three roads meet at the village of Bishopton. One 

 of these goes south-east, with a branch east to Red- 

 marshall, to meet the roads between Darlington and 

 Stockton, and may be part of an ancient road from 

 the south, through Yarm and EgglesclifTe, to Durham. 

 Another road leads north-cast to Whitton ; the third 

 goes west to Stainton le Street, with branches to Little 

 Stainton and to Stillington ; to the last-named place 

 there is a footpath from the village. Through Little 

 Stainton an ancient road leads north towards Durh.im. 

 There is no railway line within the parish. 



Agriculture is the chief industry. The soil is a 

 strong clay, and wheat, oats, and beans are grown. 

 About 1850 there were 2,370 acres of arable to 1,522 

 of pasture^ ; the arable land is 1,558 acres, permanent 

 grass 2,218, and woods and plantations 107.'' Bricks 

 and tiles are made in Little Stainton. 



The parish feast was kept on St. Peter's Day. 



The principal antiquities are the Castle Hill and 

 moat above-mentioned. The history of the place has 

 been uneventful, with the exception of the resistance 

 to Comyn related below. Twenty-five of the in- 

 habitants joined in the rising of 1 5 69, though, 



according to Sir George Bowes,' against their will, 

 and seven of them were executed. The Protestation 

 of 1 64. 1 was signed in this parish,'' but the Sequestra- 

 tion Books show that two residents took up arms 

 against the Parliament — William Rowntree ' and 

 Christopher son of Lancelot Todd, ' papist.' In the 

 latter case the parish constable said he was present 

 when ' old Todd ' said, ' My son Cursty shall go and 

 fight for the king ; and who knows but he may come 

 back a captain, in spite of the crop-ears r ' * There 

 were also the following ' papists ' in Little Stainton 

 in 1644 • ^■'- Midcalf, Henry Johnson, and 

 Richard Johnson of Newbiggin '•' ; their lands were 

 sequestrated.'" 



BISHOPTON (Biscopton, xii cent.), 

 MJNORS with Stainton and Sockburn, was granted 

 by Bishop Ranulf to Roger Conyers early 

 in the i zth century, to be held for one knight's fee." 

 On the usurpation of the see by William Comyn in 

 I 1 43, Roger refused to do him homage as other barons 

 had done, and fortified his house at Bishopton so 

 strongly that Comyn's band thought it useless to 

 attempt its capture. The lawful bishop on coming 

 into the bishopric stayed a few days at this place, 

 receiving the homage of some of the barons, and then 

 went forward to Durham. Being resisted, he returned 

 to Bishopton for a time, but it was not for another year 

 that Comyn yielded." After this the Conyers family 

 appear to have preferred Sockburn as their chief seat, 

 and an account of the descent will be found under 

 that place. Roger de Conyers gave to Durham the 

 three sons of Eylof of Bishopton, with their issue, in 

 return for a horse and 6 marks the monks had 

 afforded him in his need.'^ Bishopton regularly 

 appears in the Conyers inquisitions.''' It was called 

 a 'manor' in 1239 '" '^^ release by Robert de 

 Conyers to John de Conyers.''' A grant of free 

 warren was obtained by Sir John Conyers in I 372-3.'"' 

 Sir George Conyers in 161 3 began to alienate his 

 lands," so that Bishopton became divided among a 

 number of freeholders. The manorial rights, how- 

 ever, were not sold,"* and appear to have descended 

 with Sockburn ; they are now held by Sir H. D. 

 Blackett, bart. 



Among the purchasers of land from Sir George 

 Conyers were Michael Forv\'ood (5 J oxgangs),'' John 

 Humfrey (3 oxgangs),^'* Francis Welfoot-' and William 

 Leadom -^ (each 2 oxgangs), Cuthbert Beckfield (about 



' r.C.W. Dur. i, 353. 



'Ibid. 356. 



* Lewis, Trjpog, Dicr. 



* Statistics from Bd. of Agric. (1905). 

 ' Sharp, Mtm. of Rebtlliov, 43, 251. 



« Hut. MSS. Com. Rtf. V, App. 125. 



' Royalist Comp. in Dur. (Surt. See), 7. 



*Ibid. 13, 14 ; inventory, 29 ; Surtcef, 

 op. cit. iii, 68-9. 



'Ibid. 15. Capt. P is added, 



whom SurCees makes Porter. 



"Ibid. 17,19,66,67,73. 



>' Harl. MS. 805, fol. 131*, from Dods 

 MS. cxiii, fol. 184. A confirmation 

 by the Prior and convent of Durham, 

 addressed to Archbishop Thurstan, is also 

 given in Harl. MS. 805, fol. 131. 



'* Simeon of Dur. (Rolls Scr.), i, 150. 



" Charter in Surtees, Hiit. of Dur. iii, 

 418. 



'* Dep. Ktcper's Rep. xliv, App. 353-62 ; 

 xIt, App. 172-80. 



" Reg. Palat. Dunelm. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 

 887. See Sockburn. 



" Dep. Keeper's Rep. xxxii, App. i, 269. 



" Ibid, xl, App. 485-6. A licence to 

 convey the various manors to trustees ; 

 also licences to convey lands in Bishopton 

 to Michael Forwood, John Humphrey, 

 Francis Welfoot, and William Leadom. 

 See also Surtees, op. cit. iii, 68. For con- 

 veyances see Dur. Rec. cl. 12, no. 2 (3). 



" Dep. Keeper s Rep. xliv, App. 365, 

 367. 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 94, ra. 57 ; cl, 12, 

 no. 2 (3). 



213 



» Ibid. 



" Ibid. This was probably the Francis 

 Welfoot who succeeded his father William 

 in 1 606 to an estate of about 600 acres in 

 Little Stainton. His heir seems to have 

 been Thomas Welfoot whose nephew 

 Francis Welfoot succeeded him in 1618. 

 Another Thomas Welfoot died io March 

 1625-6 holding 40 acres in Bishopton 

 and 120 in Little Stainton. Hit brother 

 and heir was Francis (Dur. Rec. cl. 3, 

 file 182, no. 30 ; 186, no. 10). 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 94, m. 57 ; cl. 

 12, no. 2 (3). He died in 1623, leaving 

 daughters and co-heirs Mary and Thomas- 

 ine (ibid. cl. 3, Ale 189, nos. 91, 155). 

 Some of his land was purchased by 

 Ralph Welfoote (ibid, file 1 88, no. 96). 



