A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



confirmations of these charters Hart is regularly named. 

 The invocation of the church is first mentioned in a 

 charter of c. 1194, in which it is called the church 

 of the Blessed i^Iary at Hart." Nevertheless the 

 church is now, and long h.i5 been, under the 

 invocation of St. M-iry Magdalene. 



In 1288 Bishop IJek granted a licence to Prior 

 William de Middlesburg and the canons of Guis- 

 borough to impropriate the vicarage of Hart during 

 Prior William's life, so long as the vicarage was duly 

 served by two honest and discreet canons.^' On the 

 death of William the vicarage was to be regarded as 

 vacant, and if the monastery did not present to it the 

 power to do so lapsed to the bishop.^'' In 1308 

 Bishop Bek further granted to the monastery the 

 perm.inent right to the impropriation. The church 

 of Hart and chapel of Hartlepool were to be 

 served by a canon, with an allowance from the 

 revenues of the church, and not by a secular priest, 

 as had been hitherto the case.*' In 1 3 1 1 Bishop 

 Kellaw confirmed the grants of Bishop Bek so long 

 as the vicarage was served by two canons.'** 



To the west of Hart churchyard are the remains 

 of a building of the late 14th or early 15th century, 

 which is believed to have been the residence of the 

 canons. '' 



On the dissolution of Guisborough Monastery in 

 1539 the patronage of the living passed to the Crown, 

 with which it remained till 1888, when Bishop 

 Lightfoot received it in exchange for Satley church.*'" 

 The present patron is the Bishop of Durham. 



In 1 29 1 the church of Hart, with the vicirage, 

 was valued at ;^+o.''' In 1535 the total value of the 

 vicarage of Hart w.is estimated at ^^ 1 2.^' In I 5 39-40 

 the rectory of Hart, with the chapelry of Hartlepool 

 and the tithe of fish, brought in j^22." In i 577-88 

 the vicarage of Hart was worth ^{^ 1 1 I ~s., but a 17th- 

 century note states that its v.due had risen to 



Robert de Brus I seems to have granted to the 

 monastery of Tynemouth two tithe sheaves from the 

 demesne lands of Hartness. He granted the church 

 of Hart to the monastery of Guisborough (see 

 above), and these two contradictory grants caused a 

 long dispute between the two monasteries. In 1 1 46-5 i 

 an agreement was made that Tynemouth should have 

 the two tithe sheaves from the ancient demesne land 

 and from any new land that might be taken into the 

 demesne, while Guisborough should have all the 

 tithes from lands which were or in future should be 

 held in bondage.''^ This agreement was superseded by 

 another in 1212, which gave to Tynemouth the tithes 



of Hart and Stranton, the tithes of Owton in 

 Stranton parish (q.v.), the corn tithes of Klwick 

 township, and the small tithes of the demesne lands 

 of Elvvick. All the other tithes in the two parishes 

 belonged to Guisborough.''" In 1291 the portion 

 of the monks of Tynemouth in the church of Hart 

 was £\o.''' In February 1573-4 the tithe sheaves 

 of Elwick belonging to the monastery of Tynemouth 

 were leased to Thomas Pearson,"** and in 1627 Sir 

 Ralph Delavale kt. paid £4 for \ year's rent to the 

 Crown for the tithes of Elwick."' The tithes of 

 corn of Elwick were in lease, apart from the other 

 tithes of Hart, to William Tunstall for [^i() in 

 1644,'" and they were sold on 29 April 1664 by 

 Susan Luling of London, niece and heir of William 

 Fisher, deccised, to Margaret Barker of London."' 

 They cannot be traced further. 



In I 541 part of the tithes of Hart were leased to 

 Thomas Legh.'- In 1587 the great tithes of Hart 

 were leased for twenty-one years to Christopher Free- 

 man,"-* and in 1605 they were granted to Henry 

 Stanley and others, who conveyed them in January 

 1605-6 to John Lord Lumley. The rectory has 

 since descended with the manor of Hart.'^ The 

 tithes of hay from the ' Broad Meadows ' and small 

 tithes called brevings were paid to the vicar.'* 



The annual Crown rent of ^^22 from the rectory of 

 Hart formed part of the provision for Queen Henrietta 

 Maria on 14 March 1626."" 



In 1 644 all the tithes of Hart were leased to 

 Richard Malam for £zoo per annum."' In 1770 the 

 manor of Hart was free from all tithes except a third 

 of the lamb and wool tithes, which were paid to the 

 vicar.'** In 1857 the vicar received tithes from the 

 farms called the Three Thorps."' 



The chapel of St. Helen lay on the outskirts of the 

 town of Hartlepool, in the north-west corner of one 

 of the common fields called Farwell Field ; the chapel 

 itself was built upon Hart Warren. In 1816 the 

 only traces of it were the name of a well in the field, 

 St. Helen's Well, and a mound where hewn stones 

 were sometimes found.*"' In 1845 the place was 

 excavated, not by antiquaries, but by builders in 

 search of stones. The remains of a tiny chapel were 

 discovered, the architecture of which, as far as it 

 could be traced, indicated that it was built in the 

 1 2th century. A large stone coffin containing a 

 skeleton was also found, but no attempt was made to 

 preserve these remains.*" 



The chapel was probably built by William de 

 Brus (c. 1194-1215), who gave to the monastery of 

 Guisborough his chapel of St. Helen, Hartlepool, on 



confirming 'the churchct of Hanncsj 

 which Ralph [Flambard 1099-1 ijS) 

 Bishop of Durham gave' (ibid, ii, 338). 

 In another charter of 131 1 the same 

 bishop confirmed *the church of Hart and 

 the church of Stranton which Robert 

 Brus the founder gave and which Hugh 

 Bishop of Durham [11^3—1195] con- 

 firmed' (ibid, ii, 339). The tithe offish 

 taken on the ' coast of Hartness' formed 

 part of the rectory of Hart (see Cnl. Cloie, 

 i237-+2> pp. '69, >77 and below). 



^* Gutibro Chartul.^ ii, 324. 



*^ The church was served by a vicar in 

 the 1 2th century (Cufj/ro' /"r/ory [Surt. 

 Soc], ii, 324). 



'* Sharp, Hht. of Hurtlcpool, no. 



" Rig. PiiUr. bimclm. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 

 "37-8. 



»* Ibid. 



"^ Proc. .'^of. Antiif. Nfwcasrle (New 

 Ser.), vi, 178. 



'o Inst. Bks. (P.R.O.). 



" P<i[>! Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 314. 



" ralor Ecd. (Rec. Com.), v, 319. 



^ Guiibro' Chartul. (Surt. Soc), ii, 

 p. xxxiv. 



" Bp. Barnes' Itijunc. (Surt. Soc), 4. 



^ Guishro Ckartul. (Surt, Soc), ii, 322, 



3i3- 



'' Burton, Mon. Ehor. 34i;-6. 



" Pofit Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 314. 



'* Pat. 16 Eliz. pt. vi, m. 13. 



''■' Prac. Soc. Aniiq. Newcastle (Ser. 3), 

 ii, 276. 



'" RoyalisI Comp. P. Dur. and Norlhumh. 

 (Surt. Soc), 25. 



262 



'' MS. Deeds in Newcastle Free Libr. 

 Dur. Misc. D. 10, 27. 



'» L. and P. Hen. nil, xvi, p. 728. 



"' Pat. 29 Eliz. pt. xvi, m. 8. Former 

 leases had been made to Thomas Cotton 

 and Barnard Duhurste (Pat. 27 Eliz. 

 pt. V, m. 19). 



'* Ibid. 3 Jas. I, pt. vii ; Close, 3 Jas. I, 

 pt. vi. 



''^ Exch. Dep. Mich. 9 Chas. I, no. 31. 



'* Rymcr, Foedera, xviii, 695. 



''' Royalist Comp. P. Dur. and Northumh. 

 (Surt. Soc), I. 



'* Hutchinson, //;j;. and Antiq. of Dur, 

 iii, 22. 



'* Fordyce, op. cit. ii, 244. 



*" Sharp, Hist, of Hartlepool, 133. 



•* Ibid. Supplement, 33-4. 



