A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



is dated 1776 and bears the motto ' Fugit hora,' with 

 latitude 54° 38'. There were repairs in 1877,'^ and 

 a stone reredos in memory of the Rev. Charles Ford 

 (vicar 1858-88) was erected in 1889. In the chancel 

 are two old oak chairs, each bearing the initials VV.B., 

 and below the tower an oak chest. 



The font is apparently of late i zth-century date 

 and consists of an octagonal bowl shaped to round on 

 a circular b.inded stem and moulded base. 



There is a ring of three bells cast by C. & G. Mean 

 in 184.7. 



The plate consists of a chalice and cover paten, 

 without hall-marks, the former inscribed 'Hunc sacrum 

 poculum voluit D'"" Ricardus Croft Ecctia:de Bishopton 

 V'icarius. Anno Christi : 1680' ''; and a chalice, two 

 patens and flagon of 1849-50, the chalice inscribed : 

 * Presented to Bishopton Church by the Rev. Thos. 

 Burton Holgate, B.A. Vicar, and by his sisters Elizabeth 

 Holgate and Alice Bamford the widow of Robert 

 Walker Bamford, B.D. late Vicar, Easter 1850.' The 

 two patens bear a similar inscription. 



The earliest date in the register is 1649, but the 

 early items are entered in rather a confused manner, 

 and appear to have been copied from an older book. 

 The first volume has regular entries from 1653 to 



'752- 

 The churchyard, which is chiefly on the south side 



of the building, contains the base of a cross. What is 

 said to be a copy of the old cross was erected on the 

 village green opposite the church in 1883. 



The advowson must have been 

 ADFOJVSON appurtenant to the manor originally, 

 for about 1 1 80 the church was 

 granted by Roger de Conyers with the assent of 

 Robert his son and heir to the Hospital of Sherburn."*^ 

 The rectory and advowson remained uith the hospital 

 down to i860, when the advowson w.is sold under the 

 scheme made by the Charity Commissioners in 1857 

 for the better government of the hospital."' The 

 hospital continues to hold the rectory, i.e., tithes of 

 corn, lamb and wool. The trustees of C. Bramwell 

 were patrons about 1885. The patron now is 

 the Bishop of Durham, who recently acquired the 

 advowson from the Rev. George Worthington 

 Reynolds. 



The rectory was valued at j^20 a year in 1291'*; 

 in 1535 it appears to have been les; than this.'' The 

 date of the ordination of the vicarage is not known, 

 but in 1291 the vicar's stipend was untaxed, as less 

 than 6 marks.*'' In I 3 14 there was a parish chaplain 

 as well as the vicar,"' but in later times only one seems 

 to have been resident.'^ In 1535 the vicar's emolu- 

 ments were valued at £\ ~s. Sd. a year, out of 



which 2j. was paid to the archdeacon."' An aug- 

 mentation was granted from Queen Anne's Bounty 

 in 1708. 



A chapel and garth with an oxgang of land, formerly 

 belonging to the church of Bishopton, by the grant of 

 the Abbot of Blanchland, were in 1585-6 sold to 

 Anthony Collins and George Woodnett.*^ The ox- 

 gang, which was called ' Harbott ' oxgang, was devoted 

 to the upkeep of a light in the church of Little 

 Stainton. There is no other mention of a church 

 there. 



In 1686 Thomas Barker by his 

 CHJRITIES will gave j^i yearly to the poor, issuing 

 out of lands at East Newbiggin. 

 In I 71 5 Robert Thompson by his will gave £^ to 

 the poor in pursuance of the will of his uncle William 

 Robson. A yearly sum of 5/. is paid out of a field 

 known as ' Bell's Field ' in Bishopton in respect of this 

 charity. 



An annual sum of 5/. charged on some houses in 

 Bishopton and an annual rent-charge of I 3/. \d. issuing 

 out of land in Little Stainton, the origin of which is 

 unknown, are also received by the poor. 



The foregoing charities are administered under the 

 title of ' The Charities of Barker, Thompson and 

 others' by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners of 

 16 March 1897, the income thereof being distributed 

 among the poor in small sums of money. 



The Bishopton Church Fund now consists of two 

 cottages adjoining the churchyard purch.ised with 

 a gift made in 1881 by the Rev. William Cassidi and 

 a sum of j(^loo contributed by Mr. John Eden. The 

 cottages were conveyed to trustees by a deed of I July 

 1882, upon trust that the rents should be applied for 

 the maintenance of the parish church and for ordinary 

 expenses of divine worship. The cottages arc let for 

 £26 yearly. 



The fund known as ' The Bamford Fund,' founded 

 by the Rev. William Cassidi by deed poll of 1 4 January 

 1874, for the distribution and circulation of religious 

 books, consists of various small sums invested in 

 London and North Eastern Railway stocks producing 

 £•, 5/. yearly. The income is applied in buying 

 books for the parish lending library. The district 

 of Stillington in Redmarshall also benefits from this 

 trust to a like amount. 



The National School at Bishopton was endowed 

 under the will of the Rev. Thomas Burton Holgate, 

 and also benefits from the funds of Sherburn Hospital.*' 

 The school at Great Stainton was endowed in 

 •779 by Anthony and Isabella Hubbock on condition 

 that four poor scholars of Little Stainton should be 

 educated there.*^ 



CRAYKE 



This parish was transferred to Yorkshire in 1844. of the County 0/ fori CNorti Riding), vol. ii, 

 An account of it will be found in Fietoria History pp. 1 19-124. 



'* The nave gable crois bears this 

 date. 



'^ Proc. Soc. Artti-j. NewcaitUf iv, 12. 

 It is figured on p. 13. 



"• Charter of Bishop Hugh in Surtees, 

 op, cit. i, 2S3. 



" Char. Rep. 1904 (Sherburn House). 



^^650 was received and applied towards 

 building improvements at Sherburn. 



" Pope NUh. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 317. 



" yahr Eal. (Rec. Com.), v, 308. 

 The tithes of Bishopton and Stillington 

 were worth ^^17 6r. SJ. 



w Pope Nic/i. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 317. 



216 



*' Reg. Palal. Dunelm. (Rolls Scr.), i, 

 633. 



*' Bp. Barnes^ Irtjunc. (Surt. Soc), 56, 

 App. p. XXX. 



" f'alti- Eccl. (Rec. Com.), v, 320. 



•* Pat. 26 Eliz. pt. ii, m. 4. 



«r.C.H.Z)ur. 1,404,410. "Ibid. 406. 



